#i have tried so hard to explain to this man that not everyone is operating at such a high level of natural effusiveness that they can

[hahaifolded]

141 x POC!GN Intelligence Operative - Say the Word Author's Notes: I have no clue how the military works or even how a base looks like and not gonna lie I don’t respect it enough to do research. Warnings: MDNI, Racism

Ghost really wished he was a better man. Because a better man would have thanked you for your gift instead of ridicule you for it. A better man would have dropped everything to be at your side. A better man would have chosen you over duty. 

But alas Ghost is just a ghost. A husk of a man. A monster. 

But if there’s one silver lining here is that only a monster can recognize another monster and Ghost knew that look in Nikto’s eyes — it’s the same one he sees everyday in the mirror. Ghost couldn’t protect you from himself but that doesn’t mean he won’t try to protect you from this new monster. 

So as you inch your face closer to Nikto’s mask to hear him, Ghost does not hesitate to rip you from the Russian’s jaws. 

“Nikto!” he barks. Nikto slowly turns, almost annoyed by the sudden intrusion while you fly back, feeling ashamed for… talking. When this is all over, Ghost will rid you of this guilt. He promises. 

“You should stand next to me. Will make it easier when I introduce you to the rookies,” Ghost explains. The two lieutenants were tasked in going over basic combat skills with the rookies. 

(And you were here because you’ve been wanting to dust off your own skills and after you heard Nikto was joining Ghost this time around, you felt more comfortable in joining.)

Nikto begrudgingly makes his way over to Ghost, leaving you alone on the mats. And just on cue, the rookies walk into the training room. They surround you with sadly, your “favorites” opting to stand at both of your sides. 

Ghost quickly introduces Nikto and splits the room in half. One half would work with Nikto while the other with him. Ghost pretends not notice the “help me” look your shot at Nikto when you got stuck with him. That was his imagination… that had to be in his head. 

Ignoring the tightness in his chest, Ghost walks up to his group and quickly goes over today’s lesson plan: submission, how to take down your opponent without any weapons. Easy and just the perfect way to get under you… for professional reasons, of course. After calling you as his partner, which your eyes nearly popped out of your head when he said so, he asks the rest to pair up and take a spot on the mats. 

However, before the group split, one of the rookies that especially loved to give you a hard time, spoke up. 

“Lieutenant, quick question?” 

“Make it quick,” Ghost snaps. You are literally about to throw him to the ground. He needs this rookie to shut up. 

“Does the pencil pusher really need to be here? They’re literally just taking space,” he asks. The rookie shoots you a taunting smile. 

You couldn’t believe it. You felt your body go hot.

“Say that one more time,” you spit back. You got in his face. Fuck professionalism. 

And it seemed like the rookie agreed as he got in your face as well. “Learn your fucking place,” he hisses. “You’re just a means to check off a box. No one actually wants you here so why don’t you go back to your office and fuck off, —!” Your ears start ringing at that last word. He towers over you and stares straight into your eyes. Pure hatred is in his eyes. 

You haven’t felt this level of anger in so long. Fuck this guy. Fuck this job. Fuck the 141. Fuck the military. Fuck everyone. You pull your arm back ready to swing when…

Nikto flies past you, throwing the rookie to the ground. He starts to wail on the dumb fuck. The rookie’s little posse tries to pull Nikto off but it’s no use— Nikto pushes them off like nothing. You remain still and watch the scene before you. 

And you’re not the only one. Ghost is in utter shock. In the matter of seconds, Ghost was cockblocked, you were disrespected, and a rookie was getting his face caved in and Ghost didn’t do anything. He just watched. Ghost is a man of action. But he just couldn’t at this moment. Why?

“Lieutenant!” one of the rookies shriek. That finally breaks Ghost of his trance. He rushes over to Nikto and pries the man off the rookie. The fellow lieutenant fights back. However before Ghost can really get into it with the Russian, your voice is heard. 

“Nikto,” you say. No emotion, just a statement. You look at the two and just shake your head. Nikto stops and moves towards you. He cradles your face and gently buds his head into yours. He grabs your hand and begins to walk out the training room with you when he turns around. 

He stares daggers in Ghost’s face and hisses.

“Ask yourself this lieutenant! Why did he feel comfortable enough to disrespect your teammate in front of your face?” 

And with that he leaves with you, leaving Ghost with the question he didn't know the answer to.

Word Count: 838

More Thoughts - Next Thought

[blu3-ja3]

What is a mother without violence? Without scorn or ire, hatred or venom? What is a mother who can't protect her young? In nature it's known to never mess with a mother bear when she has cubs, a wolf with her pups, or heifer with her calf. We do not fault a magpie for protecting her nest nor a goose for chasing away children from her nest. For what is a mother without vengeance?

Maevis O'Connor isn't a violent woman, acting first with care and kindness. Even towards the hardest of soldiers on base, always a gentle hand and soft voice. She treats these soldiers, these men who have killed hundreds with precision, with such love. She's forgiving almost to a fault, even when they do the same stupid maneuvers over and over again. Rushing head long into dangerous situations. She forgives them and helps them. So when the 141 has to interact with Graves again after Las Almas they were expecting Doc to be the one holding the peace.

Instead Ghost has to grab the second captain and pull her away. As soon as the man appeared in the intelligence tent she lunged towards him ready to murder, almost grabbing him. But Ghost was quick to react, Roach, Gaz, and Soap were stunned and Captain Price moved to hold O'Connor's shoulder.

"Why the hell is he here?" There's venom in her voice, like she plans to kill the man if she was let go of. She was asking towards Laswell but never once took her eyes from Graves. Even as Laswell explained the same stupid shit to her, because a soldier can't be tried as a war criminal if he was given an order from his superior to do so.

"I was just following my orders Captain, surely you understand?" And Soap is the one to react getting right into the man's face breathing heavily with rage in his eyes "Just give me the order Doc, I'll show him what following orders looks like," but Price puts a hand on his shoulder and pulls him away.

It takes a bit for them to get through the briefing with Laswell, even longer to get into gear and onto the boeing. O'Connor just stares daggers into Graves, even as she holds conversation with Soap about him possibly designing her next tattoo to finish her sleeve.

When the mission progresses she's distant and rude towards him but subtly, if you didn't know better it would seem O'Conner was back to her kind-hearted self, but there was subtlety to her venom. It was more so what she didn't do than what she did do, always checking in with the team by name but never checking in with Graves always forcing him give updates on his own.

The mission goes well, only minor scrapes and the worst is a bruise on Gaz from tumbling down a hill while making their way towards extraction. Doc takes care of everyone but never once moving towards Graves, only tossing him a bandage to cover the cut on his cheek.

"Thanks Doc for all the help! Doing a wonder-," Graves voice drips with sarcasm before he's cut off as O'Connor wheels on him. She's right in his face towering over the man forcing him to look up to her, she's only a few inches shorter than Ghost.

"You can make do with what I give you. You're a big boy so deal with it, unless you want me to give you a proper wound for me to tend to? No? Then handle your shit yourself Graves. And never call me Doc, it's either Doctor O'Connor or Captain O'Connor understood boy." O'Connor is quiet but it's even more quiet around them so everyone can hear O'Conner over the comms.

She sits down next to Roach and goes about checking his cuts and scrapes, cleaning and tending to them with sure care it nearly gives everyone whiplash.

They land and tell Laswell about the details of the operation and what they recovered. They're given to go ahead and are dismissed to go back to home base. As soon as everyone is out of the tent there's a loud crack as Ghost rounds on Graves throwing punch, hard and fast, to the man's face. Three more to his stomach and gut, each punch punctuated by Ghosts voice.

CRACK! "For Las Almas"

CRACK! "For Alejandro and his men"

CRACK! "For shooting Johnny"

CRACK! "For shooting me"

No one moves to stop Ghost nor to grab Graves as he drops to his knees, face already swelling and spit out some blood and possibly a tooth.

"Captain Price I'll meet you at the yard at 0600 for punishment due to insubordination" Ghost rumbles, satisfaction evident in his voice.

"No need, I'm sure cleaning the mess hall and kitchen with the staff will be plenty of punishment enough... Maevis you may want to check on Graves, he might need some assistance." Price said walking away from the tent.

"Eh the bastards fine, just ice it and don't talk for a day. You'll be doing everyone a favor," She smiles and waves her hand walking off with the rest of 141.

Once back on base O'Connor pulled Ghost and Soap into a hug, saying she's proud of them for not putting the man down like a rabid animal despite how much they probably wanted to. Ghost does end up cleaning the mess and kitchen but with Soap's help.

Roach is the one to approach Doc after dinner, she's in her office reorganizing her many pouches and her main pack.

"Captain? You okay? You seemed pretty angry today, don't think we've seen you so pissed. Not even when you were mad at the Lieutenant," he spoke fast and trailing off, like if he didn't say it all at once she'd send him out.

O'Connor turns to the boy, just holding eye contact with him for a minute before speaking, "You are all my boys and I don't like when you get hurt. I especially don't like when that hurt causes you to wake from terrors in the night. And if there's a person who can be blamed for that hurt I will make their life a living hell." She pauses before saying "I'm sorry if I scared you boys I'll do my best to not get that angry again..."

"No need for that Doc, we were just shocked is all ma'am" Gaz says from behind Roach "It's not often we get to see the Bloody part of Bloody Mother Hen," there's a smile and chuckles from the joke.

For what is a Mother without furry towards those who hurt her young?

[sputnikodin]

had a conversation with a very high-energy very sociable coworker the other day where he was genuinely shocked that i wouldn't be offended if a cashier didn't say hi to me when i walked up to their station. lmfao

[honeybadgercomeback]

Not Yet Goodbye

Saying goodbye to colleagues is hard, especially when you know they don’t want to leave. So yes, you’ve been hiding from Daniel while he’s saying goodbye to people in the garage before his last race. But he won’t let you away without a final conversation.

—

You’d never revealed your feelings.

Originally it had been a point of pride - you co-ordinated race weekends for McLaren, determined to not fall for the faces you saw every weekend. Sleeping with someone who was one of the hundreds of faces you saw in all corners of the globe was a catastrophe waiting to happen. When it was one of the men whose employment and the sponsors he brought in meant you could keep your job, then you were even more determined. You could drool from afar, watch from a distance, but your crush would remain a crush.

But this was Daniel’s last race, and your heart was breaking at the realisation you wouldn’t be spending any time with him next week. You wouldn’t hear him call your name to ask a question about setup, wouldn’t see the wide grin that had become oh so rare. Wouldn’t get another hug after a winning race, wearing one shoe as he hopped back to his drivers room. It was November in Abu Dhabi, and you were about to stop having Daniel in your life again.

Most of your job was done and you could finally take a deep breath. Usually at this point on a Saturday you’d be planning your next flight, leaving almost as soon as the checkered flag went to the next race destination, but this time you’d just be going home to England.

He’d been saying goodbye to people all weekend, some friends in the MTC had sent photos of him there with everyone. He’d gone to every person individually to thank them, and you didn’t think you’d cope with that. You didn’t want to cope with it.

It was funny, you didn’t even think he knew your name for the first few weeks. Lando vaguely knew of you, waving and nodding to you as you rushed around to make sure everything was as it should be. He’d been in the same meetings as you about logistics, you’d explained the scenarios that would take place moving from Bahrain to Italy and how things would operate. He’d asked questions Lando and Carlos never had about how the cars would be packed away and what ways it would change, and you’d appreciated getting to explain how you worked and what you did.

This time was different. The paddock was buzzing for the end of the year and you were avoiding someone who’d been your friend. You’d heard the news he was moving to Red Bull and were delighted for him, but you’d still miss him. So you kept your head down, staring at your reports and working out exactly what was needed in your job to keep things going and get everything back to base when the race finished.

It wasn’t until after qualifying that you were cornered as you walked out of the paddock, badge around your neck, when photographers were suddenly all around you and you realised Danny was striding up to you.

“Want a ride to the hotel?” He asked and you shook your head, but he didn’t take no for an answer as you ended up in his McLaren driving to the hotel you were all staying in.

“I didn’t think I’d get a chance to talk to you. I’m not gone yet, you don’t need to avoid me.”

“I’m not avoiding you…” you trailed off, staring out into the dark night. There were lights on the water from the boats that you tried to focus on instead of the man beside you.

“But every time I try to talk to you you magically have something to do?”

“I’m bad at goodbyes. Ask Carlos, I didn’t say it to him until I saw him in a Ferrari shirt.”

“So when I turn up next year in a Red Bull shirt you’ll say it then?”

“Maybe.”

It was awkward, the drive nearly over when Daniel pulled over, the engine switching off as you stayed staring at the windscreen.

“Will you at least look at me?” He was uncharacteristically quiet and you turned, emotion visible on his face.

“I’m gonna miss you, Danny. More than I thought I would.”

You tried smiling sadly at him, pasting what you thought was a proper smile on your face.

“We can get lunch in the paddock next year? I’ll sneak you into Red Bull hospitality for catering!” It made both of you laugh, the shared jokes around the paddock surrounding that topic not lost on either of you.

“As long as you bring me Tim tams. You got me hooked, did anyone bring any with them?”

“Box of them in my room for you, I asked Mum to bring them with her.”

You were actually smiling now, and his face lit up into the grin you knew so well. Danny’s hand cupped your cheek, long thumb running over your cheekbone as you looked at him.

“Can I?” It was so intimate, the tension rising between you as you stared into his brown eyes.

“Daniel…” you leaned up, and he leaned down to kiss you.

In the quiet of a hotel room you’d let yourself imagine what kissing Daniel Ricciardo would be like. But you never thought your first kiss would be nervous in his car, his hands pulling you closer as you ran fingers through his curls, a slight groan from his throat as they caught. You couldn’t help but grin against his lips as you separated breathing heavily. Daniel paid his sweaty forehead against yours.

“I wanted to do that for a while.”

“Me too.”

The silence was interrupted by his phone ringing, Daniel picking it up and shaking his head.

“Hey Mum…yeah. I’m nearly there. Is there space for someone else? I gave someone a lift back to the hotel, she hasn’t eaten yet. Perfect, we’ll be there in five.” He hung up and turned to you to see your wide eyes. “You never eat in the paddock. And Mum’s never stopped talking about how nice you were to them when you met them, so c’mon.”

How could you reject him when he smiled at you like that? Instead you nodded and settled down so he’d finish driving. Before you got out of the car it was a squeeze of your hands as you got ready to head in.

Dinner was wonderful, a glass of wine your limit because of work the next day. You’d met every Ricciardo who was there at one race or another. Getting to spend time with them outside of a professional setting was an experience you weren’t prepared for, but it was a private room where nobody from work would see you yet. Drinking and laughing with everyone was a lot of fun, Daniel’s arm around the back of your chair making it clear that there was something between you. Grace’s eyes were glancing between the two of you and the easy way you interacted, but you just smiled until it was time for you to leave, waving goodbye. Daniel squeezed your hand in goodbye to make you smile.

The next morning was manic, everyone wanting Danny’s attention and to give him support. You stuck to your plan and got the dismantle list together as you let the chaos unfold around you. It was nice to relax and unwind while everyone else was busy. Michael stood behind you as you worked.

“He’s up in his driver room, asked if you were around.”

“I didn’t think he’d want to be disturbed?” He shook his head, watching you closely.

“You’ve never disturbed him. Go say hi.”

It was easy to slip away and to his room. Two knocks and the door opened for him to see you, his characteristic grin on his face.

“I thought you were ignoring me.” If you hadn’t spent so much time together you’d think he was joking, but instead you knew it was the little insecurities creeping out.

“I didn’t want to distract you.”

“Never.”

He leaned over to kiss you, a smile between the two of you as you separated.

“I wanted to kiss you goodbye last night, but I didn’t think you’d want me to in front of my parents. But I want this to be more than the weekend.”

“So do I.” You leaned up to press your lips to his, sealing your words with a kiss. “I believe in you, Daniel. And I want to believe in us. Outside all this chaos and the paddock we’ve got something. I’ll see you after the race, ok?”

“Definitely.”

He gave you one final kiss, eyes shining and his hand squeezing yours as Michael came around the corner to see the two of you standing there.

“Sorry lovebirds, he’s needed in the garage. Glad to see you’ve finally done something about this tension.”

“Was it that obvious?” You asked, your face starting to heat in embarrassment.

“Lando owes me money, he was convinced neither of you would do anything about it. I figured you would though.”

“Thanks?” Dan said, squeezing your wrist in goodbye before going out. You took a moment to get yourself together before heading out, all smiles thanks to the cameras you knew would be lurking around the garage. No matter what was happening in your personal life it was work that needed to come first.

Standing around in the garage and watching the cars get ready to leave never failed to take your breath away. It was beautiful, the way it seemed like abject chaos but was a tightly choreographed moment. Your orange and black shirt was on display and someone had stuck a Stetson on your head for Danny. He spotted you and smiled. Once everyone was back from the pit lane you found yourself beside Danny’s family. His mother reached over for you to tuck you in with the family.

“How long have you kept that quiet?” She asked as the cars started their formation lap.

“I’m not sure what you—“

“I know my son well. The way he was last night isn’t anything new, so how long have you been together?”

“Last night. We’re still working it out, but we said it just as you called him. We’re working out what’s going on. But it could be something.”

Telling the mother of the man you’d kissed all of four times that you were starting something was hard, but her smile was worth it. You caught sight of a camera watching you as you’d been speaking, nerves hitting you around what people could say seeing you there. It wasn’t unusual to have paddock gossip. But this felt different. It felt special.

Your heart was in your throat as the group of you watched the race. Daniel pitted only once, the mechanics coming in and out for him and Lando as you stared. The screens showed just how close Seb was to him. You hated not wanting Seb to pass him out but those final seconds and watching Danny make P9 made the garage erupt in cheers. Both drivers in points, Daniel making up four places, it was as good a performance as you could dream of. Arms wrapped around you as you cheered and jumped up and down.

The monitors showed him doing donuts alone and you smiled at the display. It didn’t take long for him to arrive back to the garage. You slipped out of the family area to go pretend to be working and keep things private as possible. Grace squeezed your arm as you left, a smile between the two of you.

The garage was a hive of people starting to break down, tyres being returned to Pirelli and people starting to get ready. There were parties happening but you weren’t in the mood for them, too focused on keeping an eye on what was happening.

A hand clasped your wrist and you turned, Daniel standing there and pulling you into a kiss.

“Hey,” you murmured, too aware of the crowds around you despite the wall hiding you.

“I’m not worried if you’re not.”

“Not yet?”

He separated and smiled, awareness clear on both faces. It was beginning to get even busier, parties starting up and down the paddock.

“Come out with me tonight?” He asked and you nodded. “We’re doing a family dinner tonight, Mum wants you there. Michael will be there too. Please? And we can talk about a relationship later? This isn’t just an end of year thing for me.”

You smiled, gripping his hand tightly.

“It’s not just for me either. Let’s go out.” He was surprised as you held onto him to leave your little cubby, eyes on the two of you in the garage.

“I owe Michael so much money,” Lando groaned as he came over and stared at your hands.

“Why were you betting on us anyway?” Daniel asked, his spare hand lifting up his niece.

“What else were we supposed to do? It was a boring year really.”

You just laughed, Daniel pulling you in for a kiss on your forehead. No matter what happened next year with your jobs it felt right, and that’s all you cared about.

[sc0tters]

Operation Get Together | Cole Caufield

summary: it may have taken two summers but you and Cole are finally ready to make that move to get together.

request: yes/no

warnings: none.

word count: 1.82k

authors note: writing for Cole makes me happy so even though I’ve had this request for weeks, I’ve been waiting for her. I do love this so much though!

It seemed like everyone was on the same page.

Well everyone but you and Cole.

You had made your second appearance at the lake house after Luke met you during orientation week at UMich.

The friends the two of you had formed quickly blossomed making you his best friend outside of hockey.

So it was no surprise when you were invited to the lake house in the summer of freshman year.

Cole swore that he wasn’t meant for love before he met you. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be in love but instead that he couldn’t seem to find it.

Unlike Cole, you were desperate for love. As a child you watched all of those Disney movies that caused you to crave that fairytale ending.

The place were your stories intertwined was that neither one of you felt like you had a person that truly got you.

It was a warm day when you arrived at the lake house, everyone else got there just a few days before you “we are going to find you a girl this summer.” Trevor announced patting the older boy on the back who let out a laugh at the offer.

Cole shook his head “don’t bother,” he sighed thinking about how he had just given up on dating apps.

Before the Ducks player had the chance to respond there was the sound of scream that came from inside “should we go check on that?” Cole asked with wide eyes as he got up already heading to the door before the younger boy could say no.

Luke let out a gasp as he spun you around in his arms “can’t believe you’re here!” His words made you laugh as Quinn thought it would be funny getting you an earlier flight without Luke knowing.

Trevor furrowed his eyebrows seeing the pretty girl who stood in front of them “you want to introduce us to your friend Lukey?” The Ducks player asked locking eyes with you.

The youngest Hughes boy shook his head “don’t get any ideas with her Z,” Luke protectively wrapped his arm around you causing a laugh to fall from your lips “I’m y/n.” You took note of Cole as he stood behind the taller hockey player.

Cole kept quiet as he took in your features “I’m Trevor, but you can call me whatever you want.” Luke had warned you that Trevor was going to be forward so this was only proving his case.

But you couldn’t help it when you let out a laugh.

This was going to be a long summer, you just hoped that it was going to have a lot more of Cole in it.

That request for the most part seemed to fall on deaf ears. Sure you and Cole grew closer but each time you tried to flirt with him, he just seemed to deflect your advances.

Yet you still ended the summer with his number and that meant Cole spent most of his off time keeping up with you.

A giggle left your lips as you watched Luke roll his eyes “yeah so there is a party tonight to celebrate the boys win.” You explained applying your lipgloss as you stared at your mirror.

Cole couldn’t help it as he watched you through the FaceTime call “you have fun tonight peach?” Cole asked scratching his jaw as you liked back at him.

He had just finished training and called you before called you so his hair was still sweaty as it fell down on his face “you know I will.” You smiled feeling your cheeks grow warm as you thought he was the hottest man alive in that moment.

Luke coughed reminding you that you two had to go “I gotta go Cole,” you sighed sending him a pout “have fun with Luke.” Cole sent you a salute before he hung up.

You turned to Luke with a stupid grin on your face causing your friend to smirk “got something you want to tell me?” Luke asked crossing his arms.

It was hard for you to keep anything a secret from Luke and this was no different “I think I like Cole?” You confessed as you shrugged.

That was months ago and the new operation going into summer was getting you and Cole together.

The boys all agreed that Cole clearly had the hots for you after he turned down a girl in Montreal.

Trevor couldn’t believe his eyes when that girl walked away from Cole “how the hell did you fuck that one up?” Trevor asked furrowing his eyebrows as he let out a scoff.

Jack nodded in agreement “she was like totally into you!” He slurred his eyes as he spoke in a duh tone.

Cole grumbled as he ran his fingers through his hair “I’m interested in someone else.” The HABs player shrugged nonchalantly despite the fact that this was the first time he was letting his friends learn about this.

The youngest boy’s eyes went wide “is it y/n?�� Jack wasn’t an idiot as he had watched you get close to the boy. And Ellen had told her son that she thought it was cute how you and Cole talk after you sent Cole a snap with the Hughes mother.

If Cole tried to hide it then he wasn’t doing a very good job “yeah.” He nodded letting his words match his red cheeks.

It surprised all of the boys that nothing happened between you and Cole during the second summer, so with one week left at the lake house. They were all trying to help Cole get his graft on.

And that’s what brought you being paired up with him at the final golf game of the summer “you want to drive?” Cole asked as he followed you to the golf cart that you had been assigned.

He watched as you spun around to face him as you twirled the keys in your hand “you drive,” you nodded holding the keys out for him to grab “like it when you’re in charge.” Now that comment wasn’t meant to be sexual but Cole tried his hardest to ignore that.

Jack and Luke couldn’t help but laugh as they watched the interaction between you two as the older boy helped you load your clubs onto the back of the kart “you think they’re finally going to do something?” Jack asked turning his attention to his younger brother.

Luke shrugged “I mean I know y/n likes him.” You spent all of sophomore year turning down any advances that guys sent your way. And it was probably because she wanted Cole “she does?” weirdly enough the boys never actually had a conversation with Luke in their plan of getting you with the HABs player.

The youngest Hughes boy laughed as he nodded “last time she even looked at a guy like that was Quinn and she did that for two days.” When you first met Luke’s brothers you thought his eldest brother was hot but you quickly turned away from that idea as you began something with one of the other players on the ice hockey team.

Jack nodded playing his hands on his hips “maybe you’re right.” He shrugged thinking that operation get Cole and you together might have been easier than they all thought.

The game had gone on with nothing more than the occasional bit of flirtation thrown here and there but the biggest moment happened at the eighteenth “no peach.” Cole shook his head between his laughs as he watched you line up your club to putt this ball.

You sent Cole a glare “rather than laughing you could help your partner.” You reminded him causing the rest of the boys to laugh.

Cole took your offer though as he walked over to you “for a starters you gotta relax your arms.” When his hands went over yours you did the exact opposite of what he wanted.

His head rested on your shoulder “this angle is all wrong too.” He added shifter your feet so that you were now parallel to the hole.

Your head nodded as your breathed hitched feeling his hands readjust themselves on your op of yours “and there!” Cole let out a cheer as he swung your club watching as you finally got the ball into the hole on the first putt.

He moved his hands to wrap around your shoulders as he congratulated you “well done.” Cole mumbled pressing a kiss to your temple.

The moment you two had made was cut short as Trevor let out a dramatic gag “get a room you two!” It made the boys laugh as both of your cheeks turned red.

After that you two seemed to go back to your quiet states, barely talking as you both helped unpack the car “wonder where they went?” You mumbled seeing that the cooler boxes were the only things left in the trunk of the car and none of the boys were in sight.

Cole laughed as he shrugged “decided we didn’t need them.” He joked as he grabbed the extra cooler before you could get the chance “not so fast.” The hockey player shook his head as you let out a groan.

It made him smile “what kind of gentleman would I be if I made you take it peach?” He cocked his head flashing you a grin.

You let out a laugh as you shook your head “you are so cheesy!” You giggled placing your hands on your hips “only for you,” Cole shot back watching as you leaned against the car.

The only real thought that went through his mind was how pretty you looked with the stars shining down under the night sky “like that about you,” you confessed ignoring how your cheeks turned red.

Despite the fact that there was the brief two year age gap, Cole felt like he was falling for you fast “think I like you.” The boy shot back as he placed the cooler on the driveway letting the gap between you both shut.

You grinned like a kid in a candy store hearing that “think I like you too.” By the time you got your words out his hands were on your cheeks tilting your head up to meet his.

As he kissed you it was soft, could even call it loving as you melted under his touch “get it Coley!” Alex whistled causing you two to pull away to then see that all of the boys were stood by the front door watching you.

It made you hide your face in his chest “none of that tonight peach,” Cole shook his head as he hooked his fingers under your chin “gonna show you off to the whole world.” He mumbled pecking your lips as he smiled.

This was definitely the best end of the summer that you could have planned for.

[historicfailure]

After you told Kakashi exactly what you were thinking of him, you still expect nothing to change with his behavior. But for once, the man listened.

Catching up faster with the chapters than intended, so here is the next one.

Thank you for all the comments on the last chapter, it really makes my day to see that people still follow this fic despite the long break ^^

Hopefully you guys can have some fun with this chapter as well :D

~ X ~

“Kakashi, could we speak for a moment?”

From experience, he already knew this wouldn’t be good. Kushina had that special look on her face: eyebrows pinched together, a forced smile on her lips, and one of her hands was balled into a fist, ready to gently bonk him on the head and remind him that no matter how much taller he was than his stepmom, her disappointment in him would always hurt more than the little contact of her knuckles against his body. And he also knew that the only reason Kushina restrained herself from instantly giving him a lecture was the fact that they were still in the middle of the open office, with everyone working around them.

Well, not everyone. Automatically, Kakashi looked over to her desk. No one was there, personal belongings had vanished as well. The bad feeling deep down in his guts worsened. Did she call out for today?

He nodded at Kushina, only to look back at the desk. That one desk he always tried to keep in his peripheral vision whenever he entered the office. No one there, still. Of course not, but… 

“Kakashi. Now.” 

He hadn’t noticed how Kushina walked ahead of him, towards her office. Too captured in wondering where you went. But, measured by the anger radiating from his adoptive mother, he would find out soon enough. He followed slowly, throwing more tentative glances towards the empty desk as he did so. 

“What the fuck,” Kushina hissed as soon as the door of her office closed behind Kakashi, “did you do now?”

“Nothing.” Albeit true, the truth still burned like acid in the back of his truth. “What happened?”

“Your coworker came in and wanted to take some personal time off. She looked like she cried her eyes out”, Kushina said, eyes hard and the lines around her face as sharp as a knife. She gestured towards the chair in front of her desk. He followed the silent command, knowing that resisting any further would only lead to a bigger “talk”. The woman didn’t sit, but stood with crossed arms behind her desk, torching his very skin with her eyes. “So, again, and better be honest right now: what have you done, Kakashi Sakumo Hatake?”

For a very short, dangerous moment, Kakashi considered just keeping his mouth shut. What would Kushina do; throw him out?

But then his mind cleared. Yes, Kushina wouldn’t throw him out, but take the appropriate steps on the road of being thrown out. An official reprimand could be very possible, after all the other times he objectively caused trouble to the day-to-day operations, and especially after the last few weeks. The dinner had been his last chance to get off scot-free, and he thought he managed. But he…

I fucking forgot.

“I…” He started, only to pause. This was harder than he imagined it to be. Admitting how much he actually fucked up. “I know the entire point of the dinner was to explain and apologize to her for my… immature and quite frankly, despicable behavior-!”

“No sweet-talking your way out of this one.”

“Okay.” A short nod, then he pressed forward, all the while his fingers wrung themselves into the hems of his sweater. “I may have… forgotten to do one of the two things.”

Kushina sighed; a long and heavy one which made Kakashi wish he would have not said anything at all. 

“Kakashi… This is above anything else you have done so far.”

“It wasn’t deliberate!”

“That doesn’t matter. You…” His mother shook her head, a few red strands which had escaped her high ponytail wiping around her head. “No matter what happened today, I have to write you up. It’s more than well deserved at this point.”

Kakashi’s stomach sank. That really had to be expected. “Okay.”

“That makes now two write-ups…”

“Wait, two?”

“Yes, you had one lying around from an incident a few years back with Anko.”

“But she said she would try to retract it?”

“Well, apparently she didn’t,” Kushina clapped her hands together, “and I, for one, am really happy that she didn’t. Two write-ups equal to a mandatory training course in office communication. You know the drill.”

With a low sigh, he waved it off. “And what else?”

“If you don’t know what else you are supposed to do to make things right between the two of you,” Kushina shook her head, the disappointment so clear on her face that it hurt even looking at her, “then I have failed you as a parental figure.”

~ X ~

It should have been a telltale sign to just stay at home when you entered the office and the first thing you saw was Anko leaning against your desk. She was obviously waiting for you, her usual trench coat hanging loosely around her frame and arms crossed over her chest. 

“Morning.” Without another word, you pushed past her, around the corner of your desk, only to drop your stuff onto the table. Quickly, your eyes flitted over the surface, as it was now second nature to you. 

No note. Another sign that staying home would have been a great idea. 

“So…” Anko didn’t look at you, as her eyes were scanning the area around, sharp and attentive to every little detail. “Who needs to be beat up?”

“No one.” 

“Bullshit. Doesn’t matter anyway. It has to be Hatake.” Only now, the other woman pulled out her usual resting bitch face. Honestly, Anko was one of the people who could look meaner than anyone without even trying. “Just give me a hint, and he’s done for. High time he gets a bit of a beat down.”

“Oh, really?” You clicked your tongue. “Unfortunately, as tempting that might be, casual violence in the office might be bad for me. And for yourself, of course.”

“Some things are worth the consequences.” Anko smiled; a promising yet dark grin, with way too many teeth showing. “Besides, Hatake also bullied me a bit when I joined, but I made clear to him that he’s out of his league if he keeps that up.”

“Do I want to know?”

The other woman thought for a moment. “Probably not. I also kind of signed something to not talk about it in detail.”

“This makes it much worse, honestly.”

“Oh, not for me.” Anko grinned another feral grin, smug like the cheshire chat. “For the brat.”

“The term “brat” certainly fits him,” you mumbled more to yourself, before grabbing your planner and a pen. “But as I said, he doesn’t need to be beat up. Thanks for the offer, though.”

“Anytime.”

According to the weekly planner in your hands, another weekly meeting for the entire floor with Minato was about to happen. At the thought of sitting yet again in a room with Kakashi and knowing that he knew he finally broke through your shell was torture, but you were an adult. An adult had to face their problems, no matter how much one wanted to run back home, crawl back into their bed and rewatch some childhood cartoons for comfort. 

It will be fine. After today, after meeting Kakashi again and having to look into his face, it will be alright that you ripped him a new one. He will never speak about it, I will surely not ask him about it, and we can stay silent about this ordeal — like adults do.

Another deep breath in, with your planner clutched into your hands, then you pushed the door open, with a fake smile plastered onto your face. 

Your eyes scanned the conference room, jumping from seat to seat. Once, twice around the table, but there was no silvery mop of hair in sight. Was Kakashi not present today? Maybe he was out sick? Or meeting another client?

“Move.” Anko whispered harshly, before pushing past you. Damn, you had blocked the door and didn’t notice how long you actually scanned the room for Kakashi’s presence. Quickly, you followed the woman, sinking into a chair by her side, all the while trying not to be too anxious about the door opening more and more. Every time, you tried not to look like a deer looking into the headlights of a rapidly approaching car, and you had the distinct notion you failed, measured at Anko’s stifled snorting at every single one of your reactions.

“Relax,” she leaned over when the door opened for the fifth time, spitting Gai into the room, “if Hatake isn’t here already and didn’t enter with Gai, then the chances of him coming into the meeting sink into the Mariana trench.” 

“Are you sure?”

“At least 99% sure. And for the 1% off-chance…”

“You put one less spoon of coffee into your cup. I swear, whenever you make the pot for our lunches, the coffee smells like it could peel the tapestry right off the walls.” A weak smile crossed your face at Anko’s grumbled explanations that she needed her coffee that strong. 

The door opened again, and again, your eyes flittered over to check on the newcomer. It was Minato, folders under his arm and looking as busy as ever. As you watched your boss get settled, your entire body relaxed, little by little, nerve by nerve. Maybe that meant Kakashi wouldn’t come in today. That would be a gift from the heavens, to not have to face him just one day after the… incident. 

“So…” Minato coughed weakly, capturing everyone’s attention easily. “Let’s start with our meeting. I know we’re a bit ahead of time, but I have a scheduled phone call right after this meeting, so it would be beneficial to keep everything short and concise today. I see you, Gai, and yes, I have the potential gym memberships as work benefits still in the back of my mind. No need to worry there.”

As Minato droned on about technical details, your mind started to drift off. In your current project, you weren’t the lead, not even the second lead. So, you could space out a little bit, jotting down haphazardly, unreadable notes and nod absent-mindedly when the others nodded as well. 

As your mind wandered, your thoughts inevitably turned to the notes on your desk. Since the entire fiasco with Kakashi started, you barely had time to breathe. Trying to find out who the note writer was who left you such thoughtful scribbles on your desk had been totally out of the question. 

Who could it be?

I already crossed out Kakashi due to his handwriting, which doesn’t match with the handwriting in the notes.

I’m going ahead and also crossing out all the people who I know are in committed relationships.

Automatically, your hand with the pen started to write. Letters formed on an empty page of your planner, first slowly, but growing more and more determined. 

Minato. Kakashi. Iruka. Asuma. Gai. Genma. Anko. Shizune. Kurenai. Kushina. A complete list of people you were working with on the marketing team. Quickly, you scratched out Minato, Kakashi, Kurenai and Kushina. Minato and Kushina for obvious reasons, and Asuma and Kurenai were obviously smitten with each other, no matter how hard they tried to deny that. And Kakashi’s handwriting didn’t match the notes, so he was also off the table. Which left you still with quite a sizable list of possible secret… note writers.

Thinking of them as secret admirers is… weird. 

The door opened once again, and you jolted up, violently ripped out of your thoughts. Your eyes widened as you saw Kakashi walking in, without his usual nonchalance, but carrying two large boxes stacked on top of each other with an annoying sense of elegance around him. 

“Sorry for being late,” he dropped the two unremarkable white boxes onto the table, “I had to take a detour because of a black cat crossing my way.” 

“Sure.” Minato raised an eyebrow at the boxes. “A birthday I forgot?”

“No, just high time I’m doing something like this.” When Kakashi spoke, his eyes flew over to you, and you found yourself transfixed. Just a mere moment, not longer than the time it took to blink, and yet, this dumbass of a man had you shaking in your chair with anxiety. What did he plan now to humiliate you?

Instead of explaining things, Kakashi opened one of the boxes. Beside you, Anko leaned in to peer over the rim, but subconsciously, you were leaning backwards as if the man just opened the lid to a basket filled to the brim with snakes. 

Though, the smell of bread, freshly cut vegetables and fried meat reached your nose instead. The other people in the meeting started to cheer, obviously enjoying the fact that Kakashi got them some free food, but you were merely puzzled. 

“I got everyone something to eat,” the man said, arms crossing over his chest and slouching forward, “and I also brewed some fresh coffee for everyone already. It’s in the break room.”

Minato asked the one question which burned on your very soul. “Alright. What kind of spirit possessed you to do this?”

“I…” The man paused, his eyes flickering downwards. “I realized that I have been a terrible colleague so far, to several people in the office.”

“And that has nothing to do with that…” Minato ended the sentence right there, but Kakashi nodded.

“The communication seminar I have to attend is due to my actions. Yes, partly. But mostly because,” he breathed loudly in, “Because my behavior caused something I’m not proud of. So, I want to sincerely apologize. To everyone, of course, but especially to a colleague I treated more than unfairly during the last weeks.”

Again, his eyes found yours. Every muscle in your body went tense, anticipating and yet dreading the next words out of his mouth. But he didn’t talk to you directly, half-smiling which showed an adorable dimple on his cheek, but turned quickly to the others. “I’m asking not only for forgiveness, but for your willingness to work with me while I better myself. I can’t promise anything, but I’m ready to go forward. This,” he gestured towards the breakfast-spread, “is just a small show of my gratitude for bearing with me for so long.” 

The dull cheer of the other present people echoed in your ears. You blinked in quiet confusion, trying to not lose your mind. 

Kakashi, apologizing publicly. Kakashi, bringing breakfast for everyone in the office to make up for his assholery. Kakashi, looking at you with those dark, dumb, pleading eyes, as if he was trying to convey something. 

What does he want? 

Obviously, as Minato also still had to take his business call, the seriousness of the meeting quickly dissipated. The others quickly indulged themselves in the breakfast, grouping up to snack away and some even walking up to Kakashi to talk with him. Thankfully, no one noticed that you stood up, grabbed your notebook and left the room. Not even Anko, but she was too busy eating her unexpected sandwich than to notice. You couldn’t blame her, they smelled delicious. But you just wanted — no, needed — a few quiet moments to collect your scrambled thoughts. 

The floor with all its running PCs but no humans around had a bit of an eerie feel. Yet, the silence was exactly what you wanted. Gently, you placed down your notebook on your desk, eyes scanning across the surface for a by now more than welcomed bright-yellow note. But nothing; no little pick-me-up or cheerful comment about the day which would distract you from the adult-task of having to possibly change your opinion about Kakashi Hatake. 

No, I don’t have to change anything. 

He apologized in front of the entire office.

And? He didn’t specify anything, didn’t clarify. He could have made this entire show just to appease me.

Why couldn’t you just worry about the identity of your secretive notewriter? Instead, you had this absolute trash fire on your hands, constantly having to worry if you were going to be fired because of badly hidden nepotism or if Kakashi wanted to bully you out of the office for good. 

You sighed weakly, only to shake your head. Again, no time to worry about this. You had to start work, and maybe, maybe, you could worry about Kakashi a bit more in the evening, when you were back home. First off, though, you would take a little bit of an advantage of a free coffee pot as well as an unoccupied kitchen. 

Like Kakashi promised: when you entered the break room, the rich scent of freshly brewed coffee greeted you. But not only that, he had also prepared a kettle. The metal of the kettle was still hot as you touched it, nearly singing your fingertips off. 

And just as you inspected the damage, the gentle rap of knuckles against the wooden door frame made you look up. There was Kakashi, like he popped out of a dark corner of your mind to haunt you. In his dark-emerald-green pullover and black jeans, he looked as casual and comfy as always, and as he leaned there, his unruly hair fell into his face like he came straight out of a shampoo commercial. 

How unfair. Why does an asshat like him have hair like that?

But even your thoughts weren’t as frustrated and angry with him as before, as in the last days, as yesterday. Like you couldn’t bring up the energy anymore to hate him properly. With a weary sigh, you leaned against the kitchen counter, arms crossed over your chest and trying very hard to look into his eyes without flinching. 

“So…” 

“So, yeah.” Kakashi shrugged weakly as he leaned casually against the frame of the door. “I’m owing you a private apology.”

“Great. Get started, then.”

“Ouch. But I deserve that one, no questions asked. What you didn’t deserve, though, was my attitude towards you.” There was no small glint in his eyes, no laughter on his face. Just honest sincerity, and you had no idea what to do with it. So, with your face like stone, you just listened to him. 

“I apologize for how I treated you. I acted like a child for no reason at all. You deserved better than that, and still deserve more. I can only hope you will forgive me one day, and even then, you’re not obligated to do anything.” One of his hands came up to scrub through his hair, only to burrow itself back into the pockets of his pullover. “I’m sorry for being an absolute asshole in the first place, for treating you like an intern. I’m sorry for being overall an antisocial asshole. And I’m sorry for not giving you this apology when you actually needed to hear it.”

Finally. After all the weeks of worrying, of being angry, and tired of having to worry, you finally had a real, honest, sincere apology. One which sounded like Kakashi actually meant it. Slowly, you nodded, paused, then nodded again. 

“Yeah”, you said, “that’s… that’s great to hear. Thank you.”

“Do you still want to work together on the Akatsuki-Project?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” Kakashi straightened himself out. “If my behavior bothers you again, please instantly go to Minato and Kushina and write a complaint. Do not come to me to ask me to stop, just go to them directly.” 

“Never had anything else in mind.”

“... Good. That’s… good.” Though, you couldn’t help but believe that Kakashi hoped for just another answer. Too bad. He wouldn’t get another one, not on this particular matter. 

After a long moment, Kakashi nodded again. “Alright. Anyway, sorry for keeping you here.”

“Well, it was kind of worth it. To finally get an apology, at least.” 

“So…” He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, shoulders drawn up and peeking through the strands of his unruly hair. “Anything going on today?”

You paused. What kind of question was that? Were there any deeper intentions hidden within those words which you couldn’t decipher? Or was he mocking you, thinking that now as he apologized already, he was off the hook for any wrongdoings on his part? Or, last but not least, were you overthinking yet again and trying to find a fault where there was none present?

“You know…” you breathed in, “just work. Nothing else, pretty much.”

“Oh. Okay, okay. Sorry, that was a stupid question.”

“Don’t apologize too much, it’s going to wear out at some point.”

“I don’t know about that one. Anyway, good luck today. If there’s anything you need me for, you know where to find me.”

Again, you nodded. Slowly, deliberately, and still trying to gauge if Kakashi was serious or not. You just couldn’t really grasp the man and his character, if he was serious or more of a jokester. Maybe something in between, with a bit of social awkwardness. 

Nevertheless, it was hopefully now over — for good, this time. Maybe, you could now focus on your work, on trying to prove yourself, and potentially even on finding out who wrote the little notes and left them on your desk. 

~ X ~

Kakashi was in the middle of staring at the still empty page of his notebook, all the while twirling a pen between his fingers, when Minato walked up to his desk. The man waited for a second, drilling holes into Kakashi’s soul, only to rap his knuckles ever so gently against the wooden surface. 

“Knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“Your boss.” But Kakashi knew the tone Minato had swinging in his voice: all soft and mushy and unbearably proud. No, that wasn’t his boss talking with him, but his step-father. Only after a look around, he dropped the small book onto the table and gave Minato his entire focus. “What’s up?”

“I had a talk with Kushina yesterday. About what… she talked to you about.”

“Yeah. I figured that much.”

“I honestly didn’t know if you would do something about it.”

“As I just proved, I can do something about it, and I can do it properly.”

“I didn’t question your commitment, just your… awareness.”

That was probably the kindest possible reminder to not overdo it that Kakashi ever received from Minato. Kakashi sighed, but fell silent. Even when his boss was also his adopted father, he himself always had asked to never be treated differently to his colleagues, and now he paid the rightful price for declining just a little bit of nepotism. 

“Nevertheless, I’m glad you managed to find a way to rectify the situation, for everyone involved. Very smart move to bring breakfast for everyone.”

“I learned from the best.” 

Minato smiled a thin, weary smile, nothing more than a quick uptilt of his mouth. “Don’t overdo it. Still, I’m glad. Now, keep up the good work, I’m expecting big things from the Akatsuki campaign.” 

And that, Kakashi pondered, was the biggest problem. Expectations. The expectations Minato had in him, the expectations everyone else had in him, the expectation Kakashi himself had in his work and skills and creativity, were the problem. What to do when he would fail all the expectations?

Minato had long left the desk when Kakashi wrote in big, fat letters the word “expectations” into his notebook. Another twirl of the pencil around his fingers, and he went to work. Sometimes, one had to force oneself just a little bit to get some results. 

[inawickedlittletown]

Take A Look At Us Now

Notes: I wanted to give writing Tommy a go and then I wound up trying to figure out how we got from the Tommy in Chim and Hen begins to the Tommy we meet now. With some Buck thrown in for fun, of course.

Summary: There is a magic to finally finding your true self and maybe Tommy has a deeper understanding of what that journey is like and can see it plainly as it is happening to Buck.

Ship: Buck/Tommy

Words: 2,913

On Ao3

-

Everyone would probably think that Tommy saw himself more in Eddie than in Evan. There was just so much about them that was similar, it was why they had hit it off right away. It was Evan that Tommy saw a lot of himself in, though, and he hadn’t known it, not until Evan called him asking for a tour of LAFD’s Air Operations. 

Right away, from the moment that Chim arrived with the two firefighters, Tommy had been taken aback by how gorgeous they were. They barely had time to talk before he had smuggled them away into a chopper while they awaited Hen. The whole flight out had been tense and yet it was easy to tell how close they all were. It had left Tommy wishing he were a part of them too. 

Asked after the fact why he’d done it, Tommy had just shrugged and smiled. Only once did he explain that it was the right thing to do and he trusted Chimney and Hen enough to know they wouldn’t put their whole careers and lives in danger unnecessarily. 

Tommy had a lot of respect for Chim and Hen. With Chim, there was of course how he’d literally saved Tommy’s life, but Tommy had also seen how tough he had it. Tommy hadn’t helped there, at all, but he’d been different back then. He’d been just a couple of years out of the army, maybe a little troubled about it. In so many ways, Tommy hadn’t had any idea who he was and had been playing a part. Just one of the guys. It was easier. Safer. Going along with Captain Gerrard meant being a part of something bigger than himself and he didn’t want to compromise that by speaking up. 

Chimney earned his respect and Tommy considered him a friend. They all took him in as one of their own. When it came to Hen, things got tense again. Gerrard’s sexism and misogyny and racism and homophobia coming through in a way that squeezed Tommy’s insides. He was too much of a coward to say anything at first, but even he could recognize how hard Hen worked. He also quickly realized how brave Hen was. 

Not just being a female firefighter, or sticking it out despite being unlucky enough to have to work under Captain Gerrard. It was that she was herself. Wholly herself. 

The way that he’d grown up, he’d known what happened to guys that showed any interest in other men. Had seen it first hand. The first time that his eyes lingered too long on a guy, Tommy felt nothing but panic. So, he’d doubled down on looking at women and talking about women. By the time he was in the army, it came second hand. It wasn’t like he was supposed to talk about it anyway, then.  

Afterwards, when he was back to being a civilian, Tommy just continued on in the same manner. It was easy for him, he was a man’s man. Interested in cars, sports, martial arts, and flying. Nothing about him would ever scream gay, and so Tommy kept that hidden. 

Tommy spoke a big game about the latest girl that he’d shown his chest scar to. He was continuously a bachelor, staying single and not mingling. No one would ever question him, they considered him a player and Tommy just went with it. High fived the other guys when they made questionable comments, joked and laughed with them and tried to tamp down the churning in his stomach. 

Sometimes there was a joke made…or some reference aimed at Tommy and Tommy had to pretend he didn’t understand something or that he was in on the joke. It did get tiring. Hen made him rethink living his life like that, to hide such a huge part of himself. 

He was too weak and cowardly to do anything loud and outward, but one night he decided enough was enough. 

He drove to a part of town where no one was likely to know him, dressed a little differently. Not flamboyant or something that wasn’t him, but like he knew what he was doing and he knew he looked good. Then, he walked into a gay bar. 

Tommy had done his research and he knew what he was walking into and even then he didn’t expect to immediately come upon two men kissing. Maybe it was his wide eyes, or his clear inexperience, but it didn’t take long for someone to look at him with some curiosity. 

“First time coming here?” 

“Uh. That obvious?” 

The man talking to him had a head full of curls that tumbled artfully over his forehead. His shirt was tight across his chest and his pants seemed painted on. 

“It is to me. There’s a tell. The awe. The nervous energy.”

He did feel nervous, like something was churning in his stomach wildly. 

“Get a drink, it will ease your nerves. What’s your name?” 

“Tommy.” 

“I’m Neal.”

Tommy was used to being in his element. This wasn’t that at all. 

“Hey, Jerry,” Neal called out. 

The bartender came their way. He was broad shouldered, a black beard trimmed close on his chin and jaw. A white kitchen towel hung over one shoulder. 

“Get my new friend a drink.” 

“Rum and coke,” Tommy said. 

It was delivered to him in minutes. Neal remained next to him and for a moment, Tommy did wonder what they looked like. 

“Now, you don’t have to answer me, but what made you walk in here?” 

All his life he’d been lying. As he glanced around he saw what was normal at any bar in LA. Young people mingling, flirting, smiling, and laughing, and making connections. Gender wasn’t a barrier. 

“I’m…I guess I’m finally ready to accept who I really am.” 

“And you are?” Neal asked. 

“Gay,” Tommy said. “I’m gay.” 

The words felt strange in his mouth. They also felt true. Tommy felt free. 

Neal let out a loud cheer. “Now that’s out of the way. How about you bring that drink and I introduce you to a few people.” 

That was the first night that Tommy realized he didn’t need to keep hiding. Not that it made it any easier in his regular life. Neal introduced him to a bunch of people that first night and Tommy felt like he belonged. He blushed so red the first time a guy actively flirted with him and then loved the feeling so much that he chased it. 

He flirted with men. Danced with them. It was on his second visit to the bar that he finally kissed a guy. He was one of Neal’s friends, a little shorter than Tommy with a strong build. His lips were pillow soft and if Tommy hadn’t known before, the kiss confirmed everything. 

After that, Tommy just…well, he needed to try everything. There was always someone that was interested. His first exchange of handjobs happened in the bathroom and it was so hot that it lasted minutes but replayed in his memory for days. 

For a long while, that was all he could manage. Bodies pressed together, hands groping, kissing that was so dirty and messy that it was obscene. One night, he went home with a guy. He was someone Tommy had seen around at the bar, but never grown the courage to approach. Matthew approached him and by the end of the night, charmed him enough to leave the bar and drive to his apartment. 

Matthew wasn’t pushy, he was actually sweet in how he took his time with Tommy. They drank beers in Matthew’s living room, edging closer together until they were kissing and touching and then their shirts were off followed quickly by their pants. 

Tommy had done his research, and he was prepared, except that of course he wasn’t. Thinking about it and reading about it and even watching porn was in no way enough to prepare for the reality. Tommy had no regrets. He did wish that he hadn’t rushed in and gotten caught up in the excitement of finally being able to embrace such a huge part of himself. 

All that time, he never told anyone in his day to day life. Keeping the personal and the professional separate just felt that much easier. Once Gerrard was gone, it almost felt like the right time to come out, but there was still Sal and some of the others. Neal told him it was okay to take his time. So, Tommy did. 

Then, he just decided it wasn’t worth it to shake things up when things were going so well. He had his nights at gay bars and clubs and sometimes he took someone home — more often than not he let them take him to their homes. The 118 was going through Captains at such a speed that it was even more crucial than ever that everything else was steady. 

By the time they were told they were getting some guy from Minnesota, they were used to no one making it longer than a year. Captain Bobby Nash was different.

For one thing, he was younger than the last six Captains, even if that meant he was completely in over his head…or at least, it seemed that way at first. Looking back, Tommy did have some regrets about leaving the 118. Seeing the way that they were now, it was what Tommy had thought the 118 was back in the day — but it wasn’t. He could have been a part of that. Of course, it would have required that he be a bit more open about himself and Tommy didn’t know if he would have been brave enough to do that. 

Combined with his interest in getting back in the air, Tommy was ready for a new start. When a spot opened up with Air Operations, Tommy jumped on it and he was their first choice when considering all his experience as an Army pilot. Entering that new space, he did it without hiding. It wasn’t like he was shouting it for all to hear, but when it came up he just said it. 

“I’m into men” or “I’m actually playing for the other team” or “not into women” or any variation including “I’m gay”. 

Tommy did keep in touch with Hen and Chim. Not often, but enough to hear about how well Captain Nash was doing. Rare though it was, they even did occasionally overlap on calls. He, Chim, and Hen sometimes even met up for drinks. One night, Hen introduced him to a firefighter from the 115. Casey was gay and out and proud. Tommy was amazed by him. 

He didn’t know if Hen had figured him out, or if she’d somehow heard. Tommy wasn’t mad. Casey was captivating and by the end of the night, if Hen hadn’t known, she probably did. Casey also wasn’t one of the guys that Tommy found at a bar or club. He was a relationship guy and it was something entirely new for Tommy. 

Casey had been out since he was a teenager and he seemed to immediately peg how inexperienced Tommy was. He gave him perspective and showed Tommy what it was like when you actually cared about the person you were with. At one point, Tommy had been sure he was in love with Casey, until it all came crashing down, and he realized that he wasn’t as broken up about it as he should be. 

There were guys after Casey. Nothing that ever lasted. Tommy didn’t mind casual, even found he preferred it considering his line of work. It didn’t mean that he didn’t want to settle down. It just meant he hadn’t found the right person. 

He didn’t know Evan was into men right off the back. Suspected it, maybe, but only in the way that meant he was hoping because then he had just a speck more of a chance with him. 

When he saw Evan for the first time after flying into a hurricane on Hen’s instincts and Chim’s insistence, Tommy was taken by him. Out of his firefighter uniform, he looked different. A little lost, maybe, but beautiful. His attraction to Evan was undeniable. Tommy didn’t know why Evan had bothered to ask for a tour, not when he knew right away that Evan wasn’t actually interested in transferring and leaving the 118. Still, there was something about the way he smiled at Tommy, hopeful when Tommy mentioned giving him flying lessons. 

Evan’s cheeks even went a little pink as he offered to buy Tommy a drink. For a moment, just a moment, Tommy wondered if he meant it as more than just two friends. Shook that thought off because Tommy just wasn’t that lucky. 

Tommy had been torn between wanting to take him on that offer and knowing that he’d made plans with Eddie that he couldn’t exactly cancel. He’d seen Evan’s face fall a bit and then he’d been left hopeful that Evan would call again and they could get that beer. That they could make more plans. 

Evan didn’t call. Tommy was too busy answering Eddie’s phone calls, but he would have answered if Evan threw out that offer to share a drink. Instead, he was busy with Eddie. It wasn’t that Tommy didn’t have other friends. It was that all of his friends were married with kids or divorced with kids or too far away and too busy for Tommy to see without extensive planning. Eddie was available. He should have known that it wasn’t that easy. 

It should have been Eddie’s girlfriend that got territorial, instead it was Evan. Tommy immediately felt bad. 

Going to see Evan to clear the air had only felt right. And, yes, maybe he did want to see Evan again. If it meant that his eyes could wander over Evan’s strong arms and appreciate the blue depth of his eyes then it was just a plus. What was more, was Evan’s own admittance that he’d been jealous and acted rashly. His vulnerability and honesty just shone through. Evan was like a small bird with a broken wing and Tommy wanted nothing more than to fix up his wings and let him fly. 

Evan then changed everything. The whole time, he’d been feeling bad for making Evan feel like he was taking away his best friend, when it was about Eddie getting to spend time with Tommy. His brain made leaps, picking up all the signs…all the very confused signs. 

When Tommy kissed him, it felt like a spark igniting between them. For all that it was the simplest, softest of kisses, Tommy knew it felt right. Evan’s hesitance, the way that he looked when Tommy pulled back, and yet the fact that despite his shock he kissed Tommy back, it cleared up everything.

Tommy was elated. He wanted nothing more than to kiss Evan again, but it didn’t take much to know that this was the first time Evan had kissed a guy. Tommy knew what that was like, the delicate nature of it. 

As Evan agreed to a date, cheeks pink and something like pleased surprise in his expression, Tommy let himself take in the moment and tried not to show how stunned he was at everything Evan brought out in him. He knew he had to be careful handling his little bird, and it was an honor to be the one to lead Evan to new discoveries. It meant not kissing him a second time and leaving before he couldn’t help himself any longer. 

If he couldn’t stop smiling through his whole shift that night, no one needed to know his reason was a gorgeous blue eyed firefighter with a heart of gold. 

Two nights later, when Evan admitted that it was his first date with a dude, Tommy didn’t pretend he wasn’t aware. 

“We’ll do this at your pace, Evan.” 

“It’s not…it’s not some—”

“What?” 

“A deal breaker?” 

“What, on dating you?” Tommy asked and he knew he couldn’t shake his smile. 

“Uh…yeah,” Evan said, dropping his eyes to the table and looking far too adorable. 

“It’s not,” Tommy said. “You wanted my attention, you got it, Evan.”

He blushed beautifully, his skin going rosy in increments. His blue eyes were shinning. Tommy remembered the wonder that came with finally knowing yourself, but even more so in embracing it and admitting it. Seeing it in Evan was glorious. When it changed into pure panic at the arrival of Eddie and a woman Tommy presumed was his girlfriend, Tommy did his best to smooth things over and act like nothing was wrong. 

They were lucky the hostess hurried Eddie and Marisol along to their table, because Tommy wasn’t sure that Evan was going to be able to not blurt out something he wasn’t ready to say yet. 

“Hey, you okay?” 

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” 

Tommy couldn’t help his smile. “This is the hard part. You don’t owe anyone anything about yourself. Your truths are yours and you can tell them whenever you are ready. Like I said, we do it at your pace.”

“So, if I wanted to keep this on the down low…”

“Then we do that,” Tommy said. 

The smile that Evan gave him was wide. Content. 

“I don’t want to hide,” Evan said. “Not when I’m finally who I’m meant to be.” 

[mercurygray]

Blind Dates 2024: Capt. Marion Brennan, WAC

My second submission for this year's @blind-dates-fest! I'd love to introduce you all to Marion Brennan.

Fandom: Masters of the Air (2023) The waiting was the worst part.

She’d been overseas for nearly a year now, and she could take everything else that came with the job in stride - the bloody faces, the vomit, the smell of piss and fear seeping out of flight suits, the way a boy tried to steady his shaking hands so that his buddies wouldn’t see that he was still scared. But the waiting was always fresh, always raw - and the fear returned anew each time the planes went up, and each time they came back down.

And when they came back down, she went to work. Except for today.

Marion surveyed the names on the large blackboard on the other side of the Operations Room, reading each one over as though she didn’t already know them all by heart. Her boys, day in and day out. Move them around, re-assign and re-group them, but she would know them even when their own mothers wouldn’t. Because I see them when no mother should - and hear the things no mother should ever have to hear.

Did you take any flak? Did you see any chutes?

And was he on the radio? What heading was that? Tell me what the plane’s condition was.

What time was that?

"Why, it’s barbaric," one of the new women had said once, after watching a particularly grueling session in the interrogation rooms. (Marion had made the flight engineer tell his part of the story twice, blood already clotting his face from a wound under his helmet, his face white with exhaustion.) "Making them tell you all that all over again. Those boys have just been through hell and you make them do it twice?"

Out loud, she explained about accurate after-action reports, finding coordinates for downed airmen, establishing times of death and declaring Killed In Action status. But it was more than that. If I have to explain it, you’ll never understand, Marion wanted to say. They come in bloody and shaking and afraid, and when we are done they leave the mission with me, and my girls, and I let them return to the world unburdened.

And who will do that for them in Telergma?

She knew the whole base was on edge. It was one thing to send out a task force knowing that they would come back to you, that after eight hours inside the inferno there was something you could do to ease their way in the world by bandaging a wound or patching a wing or serving a cup of coffee. But this waiting? This was the worst sort of waiting imaginable, because no one knew what they would find there. Was there an ambulance? Hot coffee? A bed with clean sheets?

When you land there, who will count you in? Who is there to care?

“Captain Brennan.” Marion turned away from the ops board to see Colonel Harding standing in the doorway. He looked like he’d slept in his uniform - a first, for him. Army Air Corps COs didn’t just fall asleep on couches, and men from West Point even less so. “I didn’t think you took shifts in this room.”

It was a polite way of saying that she wasn’t where she was supposed to be - and he was right. Captains didn’t take night shifts in the ops room - even female captains, whom Man and the Army had decreed a somewhat lesser species. She tugged a little at her jacket. “I sent Sergeant Wilcox along to bed - the poor girl was nearly asleep in her chair and I didn’t think she was much use to anyone in that state. ”

Harding didn’t seem to think much of that. “That shift change was hours ago. Where was her relief?”

More bad news. Marion took a breath and braced for impact. “Sergeant Hastings has the flu, and Wilcox thought she could use the rest. She didn't want to leave the post unmanned. I told her to go to bed. I can answer a telephone as well as the next woman.”

She waited for the blow to fall, but it didn’t come. If anything, Harding looked...impressed. “That was kind of you, Captain.”

Kind! What a word. But Harding wasn’t made of stone. Everyone was worrying about this one, and he knew it. It was one of the things that made him a good leader - that he had his nose in the wind, as it were, instead of being unreachable in his office with his reports. Still. Kind wasn’t a word you were supposed to use for officers. “It was also against regulations,” Marion acknowledged, trying to be as matter-of fact about it as she could. “You can write me up for it tomorrow morning  if you feel it's appropriate.”

Harding actually laughed at that, and she realized, belatedly, that it wasn’t a sound she heard very often. (And why should she? Most of the time they spent together was reviewing debriefing reports.) “Do I already have a reputation for being that much of a hard-ass, Captain?” He winced and paused. “My apologies. My language.”

And just where do you think I’ve been the last twelve months, Colonel? Curse as much as you like - I won’t break for hearing it. “I've heard worse, sir,” she assured him. “Regulations exist for a reason, and as the CO you're responsible for maintaining order and making sure your instructions are followed. Including watch rotations. It might be good to set an example. ” He looked impressed by the answer - possibly more than he needed to be. “My father was a West-Pointer, sir. Career Army, too.”

That, at least, impressed him where it needed to. “Is that so?” He studied her for a moment, processing this new information. “I can see that, now that you've said it. Is that how you got here?”

She nodded. “We moved a lot as a kid, and when I turned 18...Army life was all I knew. I started as a clerk, and worked hard, got a few promotions here and there, and when they let us put in for overseas assignments...” She let that hang for a moment, smiling as she thought about what she’d been spared because she hadn’t gotten what she wanted all those years ago. “I never did make it to Manila, or Maui, but maybe that’s for the best. Hamilton Field was about as far West as I got.”

She wasn’t in the habit of giving her life story out around the base - her girls needed a leader more than they needed a friend, and the scant four or five years she had on most of them was only good for so much, where authority was concerned. But it felt right that Harding ought to know a little something. After all, wasn’t he the one coming in with a reputation behind him, and the shoes of the former CO to fill? Everyone knew that he’d been at West Point, that he’d coached football, that he’d come to Thorpe Abbotts by way of Palm Beach and Spokane, Washington.

“And you still like the work? Little bit different than what you’d be doing at home.”

“Free a man to fight” looks different from here, that’s for sure. After everything she’d seen, everything she’d heard, she could say that much. “I do, sir. It’s important - making sure that the facts are straight, that we’ve learned everything we can before it fades out.” She had another thought, and paused, considering whether or not she should share. “I think they tell things differently, to a woman. They used to try and be more precise - cut around the edges a little wide so I wouldn’t see the bad parts. I think they know that we’re all used to it, by now.” I’ve been in every single op this wing has flown - turret, tail, and cockpit. I fly them in my sleep.

Harding nodded, considering all of it in that thoughtful way of his - a coach reviewing game-day footage to look for his next play.

There was some movement, at the door of the ops room - a woman coming in and realizing, late, that the person she was looking for wasn’t there. Marion spoke up. “Lieutenant Callaway, can I help you with something?”

The lieutenant's face was plainly guilty - a daughter caught sneaking in the front door with her shoes off - but she was trying valiantly to play it cool. It almost made Marion smile. "I was just...wondering if there was any news yet, ma'am. My shift's just starting and I ...thought I'd tell the girls, if we’d heard. Sergeant Wilcox said she'd tell me, if she...got news."

"Sergeant Wilcox was sent to bed," Marion replied. (Was that why she’d stayed on duty past her time? Because she wanted to be there to report out to Callaway?) "There's been nothing so far. We'll send a runner to Tower if we hear anything."

Callway nodded, obviously disappointed by this news and more unnerved than she had a reason to be, and she left looking a little shaken. Marion looked over at the Colonel and saw he was studying the lieutenant's exit with mild interest.

"Something there you think I ought to know about, Captain?" He asked, his expression thoughtful and vague.

Marion knew what he meant. A total ban on fraternization was impossible, given the confines of the base, but there had to be some separation of church and state, and making girlfriends out of her officers was a good way to undermine productivity. Still, if Cordelia Callaway had a beau, Marion knew she also had enough brains to keep it to herself, and she wasn't about to go spoiling that for her. She was a good egg, at the end of the day - maybe just the thing one of those fly boys needed to keep himself on the straight and narrow. "They all care a little, Colonel. I think it's impossible to live like this and not to." That's the strange thing about the army, isn't it? You get assigned to a place and suddenly you've got a whole band of brothers you never asked for.

Brothers, husbands, sons. Everything to everyone - one big, mad, teeming family.

Another noise at the door - Sergeant Dacre, a tiny mouse of a woman, nearly squeaked when she saw her CO and her supervisor in deep conversation, the lights half-off and the day just beginning.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, sir, I thought Sergeant Wilcox...”

“Captain Brennan was just leaving, Sergeant,” Harding said with a knowledgeable smile. (They were starting to teach that earlier - how to be a softer touch with the women. Marion could remember officers who would have shouted at Dacre to get her ass inside and moved her to tears.) “I don’t think we’ll need to do anything in the way of reprimands, Captain Brennan - for any of the business,” he added, being intentionally vague while Dacre readied her station. “But tell that Hastings girl she ought to get herself on the sick list, if she’s thinking she can just get out of work for a cold.”

“It’ll be the first thing I do, Colonel.”

The phone buzzed, and Harding swooped to answer it before Dacre could get her hand in. “Yes? Yes.” A visible sign of relief crossed his face, and she saw his shoulders relax. “Yes, very glad to hear it. We’ll look for those directly. Yes, thank you. Good-bye.” He put the phone back in its cradle and beamed. “Ground Control has them at Telergma. No details yet but - someone made it through.” He took a deep breath, still smiling. “I’ll get it out on the PA but you’d better tell Callaway out at Tower first. An officer doesn’t break her word.”

She almost smiled at him for that. The worst part, over. Now the details would come, but she could face that like she always did. “Of course, sir.' A pause, and - "I hope you have a good morning, sir.”

“And you, Brennan.”

Someone appeared with coffee, the room whirring into life as the day rotation came on board, and Marion took her leave, pausing at the door to look back at Harding, now studying the map with renewed enthusiasm.

Hughlin never made much of a father, she thought. All that waiting nearly did him in. But I think you’ll do just fine.

--

So that's Marion! She and the version of MOTA she inhabits can be perceived as being adjacent to the alternate history in my fic The Darkening Sky.

If you'd like to meet Cordelia Callaway, you can read more of my writing for her here at her tag on tumblr.

[blues824]

Hi!! I don't know if you write about country!reader, it's like hetalia (I don't know if you watch anime) can I request about twisted wonderland with vietnam!reader?

Since you didn’t specify who, I thought I would pick out the characters I think go best with this! Going off the Wiki, btw!

Targeted towards a female reader, but no gender-specific pronouns are used.

Cater Diamond

Honestly, he appreciated your strength and resilience… especially against Ace since that little stinker tends to get into a lot of trouble. You both often clashed heads, and Cater has been there to record and post it on his Magicam.

Speaking of, this is after you get over your camera shyness. You told him that you didn’t think you were very photogenic, and he just told you that you needed to learn how to get in touch with your good side. So, he takes this opportunity to help lead you and get closer to you.

What he wasn’t expecting was you not knowing how to smile. Everyone knew how to smile! Well, everyone except you, apparently. So he went online and searched up ways to make people smile. One thing came up, and he was excited to try it.

The next morning, you woke up to your doorbell ringing. You opened it to see Cater standing there with a bouquet of flowers that he picked up at Sam’s shop, and the kind gesture made you smile. He let out a cheer as he squealed about how he finally got the smile out of you, and you laughed at his antics.

Ruggie Bucchi

You reminded him a lot of the women of his homeland: fierce people who were usually warriors and soldiers. In addition to this, he was a total simp for you and you didn’t even know it yet. When he saw how resourceful you were, it was over for him. He was down on his knee and holding a ring in his hand.

When he visits home, it upsets him when he writes so many letters to his parents about you but he has no pictures of you to show them how beautiful you were. So, he asked if he could take a picture of you, but you said no since you didn’t know how to smile.

Now, he has put many smiles on people’s faces within his life thus far, so he was confident in his abilities to bring one to yours. Ruggie decided that there was no gift like freshly prepared and well-made food to make you smile, so he set to work.

The hyena decided to surprise you on the way to lunch, since you both liked walking together to the cafeteria on days where Leona went to classes in-person. He handed you a container filled with a nice, warm meal, and you smiled at the kind gesture. He quickly snapped a picture, putting it as his lock-screen and homescreen, just so he can always be reminded of you.

Floyd Leech

Yeah, he fell in love with you when you attacked him with the boat paddle you always carried the first time he tried to give you a big squeeze. No one had ever fought back as bravely as you did, so he fell and he fell hard. 

There was one time where he asked why you never smiled, and he was shocked to learn that you simply didn’t know how. So now he was an eel on a mission: Operation Make Y/N Smile or Die Trying. He did thorough research, too.

He first tried to tell jokes, but a lot of them were really cheesy and dumb. Not really smile material, rather getting a huff out of your nose at the most. He was getting frustrated, and that got him in a bad mood for the entirety of the day. Not even you could cheer him up.

Eventually, you were fed up with his attitude and confronted him about it. He explained why he was upset, and that was enough to get you to laugh. This brightened his mood significantly as he exclaimed loudly about finally being able to see your smile.

Kalim Al-Asim

Mans tries to be friends with everyone, so it was no surprise that he tried to be friends with you. He thought you were interesting, since you were the only student without magic in a school full of students that have a natural affinity towards magic. He applauded your determination and diligence within your academics, and looked up to you because of it.

However, he noticed that he had never seen you smile, and it was very disheartening. So, he decided to try and make you laugh. He noticed that him spoiling you didn’t really make you smile, but you were still grateful for it all.

He tried jokes, wearing a really weird outfit, smiling at you whenever you both saw each other, but nothing was working. Kalim wasn’t discouraged, though. He became even more determined whenever his attempts failed.

Now, he was down to his last idea. He took you on a magic carpet ride. And lo and behold, there was a smile on your face as you both flew through the sky. You felt as though if you reached above you, you could touch the moon, and the breeze that ran across your skin was just heavenly. Kalim was glad to know that this made you smile, since he would love to do it more often.

Vil Schoenheit

You had a resilience that he admired. You weren’t a pushover, and you didn’t let anyone walk all over you. Vil has seen you beat both Ace and Epel since they decided to underestimate you very often.

When you both got into a relationship, he wanted to take at least one picture of you so he can be reminded of you during a stressful day at work. That is when you admitted to him that you didn’t know how to smile.

Vil had a bit of an idea of what he could do. You watched as he went through his entire vanity looking for the softest but functional brushes that he owned, along with his best skincare products. You see, his goal was to tickle you while getting you ready for the photo.

He was glad to see that it worked, and he quickly got a few photos of you, which he later saved into a private folder that was locked to everyone else. After all, he wanted to protect your privacy since you were already stepping out of your comfort zone by letting him keep these pictures.

Malleus Draconia

You reminded him of the stories he heard about his grandmother when she was younger. She used to be hard-headed, resilient, independent; all a good sign of being a crowned heir of the throne. You acted just like her.

However, you never smiled. Did you not like him? Would you rather him stay away and go back to going on nightly walks by himself? After voicing his concerns, you resolved the misunderstanding and explained that you simply didn’t know how to smile.

Malleus went to his retainers to ask for methods that might get a grin to grace your face, and Lilia had a very special idea that the prince was hesitant on, but eventually agreed to try. It had to do with the heart of his dragon hoard.

During your nightly walk that night, the dragon fae explained the courting process of his species of fae, and told you that the heart of his hoard was an emerald. He held it out, and told you that he wanted you to have it. Since you knew the symbolism behind it, you smiled at how much trust he was placing into your hands. You gently put the necklace around your neck and hugged the tall prince, and he returned it just as happy.

[mynahlolwillbehere123]

Lap of luxury

Being a doctor, especially a neurologist wasn’t easy………..you worked extremely hard to earn your position in the medical profession. You were one of the best of the country, politicians, businessmen, rich people in general approached you and only you. You were the best after all. But being the best neurologist wasn’t the only popular trait you had….you gorgeous face and oh so perfect body had everyone swooned over you. People would blush after only having a few words with you, you were smart, extremely sharp and smart but also stoic. You didn’t really pay attention to anyone, just did your work and took your pay check every month. You lived in a modest apartment, it was only you, your family lived in your home country. Everything was quiet until the famous politician, Kletus king showed up. You didn’t know about him before, apparently he was a very influential man that practically owned the country. You didn’t know much since you came to this country for career purposes.

You were casually sitting in your hospital office, you had just finished a good 6 hour surgery. You were playing Roblox (or whatever) on your phone when suddenly there was aggressive shouting outside. Startled by the noise, you tried to listen carefully but you still couldn’t make anything out of the shouting so….you returned to Roblox, occasionally chuckling on the creative insults the children throw at each other on voice chat. It was concerning the amount of cusses they knew but hey, you have your entertainment. The door of your office suddenly banged open loudly, the director himself was standing there, his hair disheveled, his glasses rest low on his nose bridge and his loud breathing. He looked like a panicking mess. In his shaky voice, he told you that you have to take another surgery. You were about to refuse but something in his eyes told you not to. You asked him why, he silently shut the door before whispering,

“I-it’s him, please please just perform the surgery, his officials will kill me if he doesn’t make it”, you were even more confused now, who was this ‘him’? And why was the director scared of him? Before you could ponder further, a few tall, muscled men barged in. One of them shot the director a heated glare before turning to you, he glare softening slightly. He respectfully explained everything to you, how you need to perform surgery on kletus king inorder to remove a bullet from his brain. You agreed, the director took a breath of relief.

Upon entering the operation theatre, you saw a huge brawny man on the operating theatre. He was extremely muscular with a lot of hair everywhere, he was honestly scary to look at. His complexion was pale. Soon, the operation began. It was an excruciatingly long surgery, the bullet was deep into his brain but you got it out somehow. The surgery was obviously a success, you were the main surgeon. Kletus was kept in the operation theatre for a few hours, before returning to his huge hospital room. You were thanked by the officials, it was an okay experience. You did take updates on Kletus every day since you operated on him, he woke up after a few days. His first reaction was to act aggressive and scare the nurses and doctors away, his imposing 6’7 height, muscled body along with the rough scowl he always had on his face scared everyone but his aggression and shouting made some cry. He did calm down a bit after his secretary explained everything to him, he explained to Kletus how he was shot in the head during an assassination attempt and had to be brought to the hospital. The dumbass secretary went as far as taking your name and how you saved him from death, how he should be grateful to you, Kletus was enraged again, why should he be thankful to a puny doctor like you? However, somehow Kletus did give in to thanking you.

You were called into his room, Kletus was facing the window. He was in his normal clothes since it was his last day at the hospital. His beard was groomed now and his 3 piece suit crisp and clean. As he heard the door close, his green eyes shifted to you…..the glass of water that was in his hand slipped from his hand, to him everything left like it was in slow motion. His heartbeat picked up at the mere sight of you. Your shiny (h/c) locks, lush curves and beautiful face…fuck….,it was love at first sight. He didn’t even notice the glass breaking, he was too busy imagining, taking you out on dates, proposing to you, marrying you, having you shiver beneath him as he makes babies with you, having you swollen with his children, you being his lovely house wife with his children. He literally imagined everything in 10 seconds meanwhile you were awkwardly standing there. His face twisted into a smile as he walked towards you, kissing your hand like a gentleman before putting his muscular arm around your slim waist and taking you infront of the big window. His grip on your waist was tight but not too tight. His deep, masculine voice whispered to you how beautiful you are and how talented you are, his huge, calloused hand caresses your hip, very carefully. You tell him that you have other patients to take care of, you are about to leave when he grabs your wrist, before saying the words,

“Marry me, doctor”

[enemyoflactose]

I finished rewatching season 1 of Yu-Gi-Oh. My redemption arc is 1/5 complete. (I have to watch the dub because I don't wanna support Crunchyroll and I don't know where else to watch the sub)

My main thoughts are about voice acting since of all the arcs, Duelist Kingdom and Domino City side stories make me the least angry.

So to start off, a comparison between Dub and Sub acting and which voice I like more as of now.

Yami: His sub voice in season 1 is honestly so cute. He just sounds like he's having a constant blast.

His dub voice on the other hand, sounds so hot 🥵. And Dub Yami is what's keeping me from doing drugs.

Overall, I like both a lot. I do however think Dan just makes the character.

Little Yugi: similar thing as Yami, only his dub voice doesn't sound hot. Just cute. I love both voices and honestly can't pick between them.

Joey Wheeler: I like his dub voice more. That's where the personality is. His sub voice just sounds generic.

Tristan: For the first few episodes of the dub, Tristan has this really stupid voice that I just don't like, so for that alone I like his sub voice more.

But then from the Rex duel and onward it's Greg Abby, and then I like both his sub and dub voice.

Téa: I think I prefer her sub voice. Just a little less grating. (I still love you Téa)

Ryou: He sounds like Gachapoid in the sub 🥺. I love Gachapoid!

His british accent tho 😩

Yami Bakura: Gachapoid doesn't suit him unfortunately. I like his dub voice more.

Pegasus: stunning. Both of them. The performance is impeccable. But Dub Pegasus never said "Jesus Christ".

Seto Kaiba: a hard one. In the sub he screams so much, but in the dub he doesn't sound like he's one insult away from killing himself... I can't decide.

Mokuba: they both sound the same.

Mai: I think I prefer dub. Just sounds deeper idk.

Weevil: I love him and his voices.

Rex: I prefer his sub voice. Just less grating and he doesn't sound like he has bronchitis.

Everyone else: meh. Could go either way.

Now to talk about the characters, and if I relearned anything:

Téa's friendship speeches are so sweet and cheesey I can't believe people don't like them. She is always there for her friends and clearly cares so much. I will never forgive Téa bashers for what they did to her during the great Yaoi Revolution.

Joey isn't as stupid as I remember him being, just a beginner at Duel Monsters. Nothing wrong with that. He's trying. His utter determination to get that money for his sister's operation is seriously so heart warming. I love whenever he says "Time roulette go!"

Tristan threw a dead body at Satan. And grabbed Ryou's leg while climbing the tower because he was getting impatient.

Yugi being uncertain of Yami until the Bakura duel is crazy. Like he wasn't even having memory issues. Bro huh? He's also so supportive! Like baby boy was the one to suggest he and Yami fight PaniK for Mai. He told Yami not to attack Kaiba and send him falling to his death. He gave Joey Time Wizard! Yugi is a bro.

Yami is such a good friend. Helping Joey out with duels, got Mai her star chips back, freed both Mokuba and Kaiba's souls because Mokuba asked, tried getting pink shirt his star chips back, and never believing that Joey couldn't duel by himself.

Ryou was, certainly there. Honestly his impact doesn't really matter. He just explains Duel Monsters to Tristan and Téa whenever Yugi is dueling. His first appearance isn't even that impressive because instead of killing himself to save everyone like in the manga, Yami switches the places of Ryou and Yami Bakura. So even if he tries to help, someone else always helps way more.

Yami Bakura is so hot. I'd suck his dick if he asked. I also just love how his deck can not only do tarot readings, but is also really annoying to go up against. Like boy had 3 morphing jars, an electric lizard, a man eater bug, and change of heart. Those cards were fucking devastating back in the day. He also would have won that duel if he used Just Desserts one turn later, but oh well. Why did he lick the millennium eye tho? I get the tarot reading, but why did he lick the eye?

Mokuba. Oh sweet Mokuba. He just wants to help his brother, but he suffers so much.

Kaiba is awesome. He hacks into Industrial Illusions and causes a satellite to crash into an office. Killing people. He helps Yami win a duel. He rips a Blue Eyes. He annihilates with Crush Card Virus. My man uses Saggi the Dark Clown. His devotion to rescuing Mokuba is amazing and is really what has me start caring for him when I first watched the series 5 years ago. His comebacks and sheer distaste for the Yugi gang are fun and amazing to watch.

Pegasus, the star of season 1. He's in my top 5 favorite characters list. I absolutely love eccentric villains, especially when they love cartoons and are actually threatening. Pegasus is a beast. If we ignore his millennium eye for now, he's a fantastic and fun duelist! His deck is interesting and entertaining to watch, neither of his duels were boring, and the man is so funny. "Do I spin it like a top, or roll it like a ball!" I love him. He's also (so far) the only villain I feel genuine empathy towards. Y'all, I'm a sap. If a villain's reason is being evil because they lost their Significant other than I'm sorry I'm crying. My poor guy.

Grandpa: he trained Joey and Yugi, he gave Yugi his deck, he appeared in dream sequences to help Yugi beat his opponents, and he gave Yugi the puzzle. If this man didn't exist, Yu-Gi-Oh wouldn't happen.

Duke Devlin: I forgot how much I hated him when I first watched his dumbass Dungeon Dice Monster 4 episode showdown. He's so fucking mean.

Rebecca: not much to say other than I like her.

The duels:

Seto vs Yami (first duel of the series): a fantastic way to start off the series. Kaiba finds out Yugi's grandpa has the Blue Eyes White Dragon card he's been searching for, he steals it, rips it, and Yugi challenges him to a duel.

Yami takes control and is surprised by Kaiba's duel arena having the ability to make life-like holograms of the monsters on the cards.

The duel begins and for the entire thing, it's honestly pretty equal. Yami summons a monster, Kaiba destroys it. Kaiba summons a monster, Yami destroys it.

It's a back and forth kind of deal until Kaiba pulls out his own Blue Eyes White Dragon card, shocking Yami. He surprises Yami again by summoning another Blue Eyes, but then gets hit with swords of revealing light.

Kaiba summons Judge Man, and it gets Destroyed by the Dark Magician.

During this, Yugi is having his doubts about winning because of Kaiba's Blue Eyes and can't seem to draw cards. Especially when Kaiba summons his third Blue Eyes White Dragon and destroys the Dark Magician.

This leads into Yami and Yugi having an inter monologue with Grandpa about Exodia. How Exodia is split into pieces. Pieces like a puzzle.

Yami gains the courage to draw and he gets all five pieces of Exodia! Instantly winning the duel!

Kaiba is then given a mind crush and starts to question all his life choices.

Rex vs Weevil (half a duel): in this not really a duel, we are introduced to two characters. Since they have names they are obviously important to the plot.

The duel starts with Rex summoning King Rex and instantly getting vortexed. Then Weevil summons his Basic Insect and equips it with Insect Lazer Cannon. This lets him wipe out all of Rex's Life Points.

Weevil is then named Regional Champion, and Rex is the runner up.

Yugi vs Pegasus (second real duel): this is where we are introduced to Pegasus as a villain.

He makes Yugi duel him on a 15 min time lock.

During this duel, Pegasus is cheating. Not just with his millennium eye, but he's sending subliminal messages to Yami. It's not mentioned in the dub, but it still happens.

Yami finds out that duel monsters was created in ancient Egypt and Pegasus starts talking up a storm so he can waste time.

Pegasus wins the duel due to the time limit and steals Grandpa's soul.

Weevil vs Yami (the third duel): This duel was initiated because Weevil decided to be a little dick and threw Exodia off the ship to Duelist Kingdom.

Yami bets his deck and star chip, Weevil bets both his star chips.

The duel begins, and we find out about field power bonuses. Insects get lower from the forest, warriors get theirs from the meadow, dragons and winged beasts get theirs from the mountains, zombies get them from the wastelands, and fiends get theirs during night time.

Unfortunately, Yami doesn't get many bonuses.

During the duel, Weevil summons a full board of monsters. He gets mirror forced.

Then he plays his Petite Moth and Cocoon of Evolution combo. He gets Burning Landed.

He then summons his Great Moth. He gets Makiyued and Summoned Skulled.

This is a simple explanation of what happened, but Yami wasn't met without struggle.

A lot of his monsters that he summoned got destroyed. They usually only lasted one turn.

Anyways, Yami won and has three star chips. Joey steals Weevil's dueling glove.

Joey vs Mai (Duel 4): this is Joey's first duel! Hooray!

He doesn't understand that his land monsters can't attack flying monsters, and gets demolished.

Mai adds several equip spells and uses Elegant Egotist to multiply her Harpie lady card.

Joey finds out Mai is cheating with perfume.

Joey then summons Baby Dragon and the Time Wizard and uses them to win the duel.

He got a star chip and his first rival!

Mako vs Yami (duel 5): Yami duels Mako Tsunami.

Mako's monsters are in the water and can't be attacked.

Yami attacks the moon and then uses his Burning Land card.

Yami wins

Mokuba vs Yami (half duel): Mokuba is trying to keep Yami from dueling Pegasus because he wants to save his brother's company.

He loses the duel.

Yami vs Ghost Kaiba (duel 6): Kaiba jumped off a cliff and died. Now his ghost is dueling Yami.

He's psychology tormenting everyone except Tristan. Mokuba quickly became distraught.

Ghost Kaiba summons his Blue Eyes one at a time, and they all get destroyed.

The first one is destroyed by the real Kaiba because OH MY! He ain't dead! That's just some fat ass pretending to be Kaiba! (Or he's Kaiba's dark half)

The second Blue Eyes gets destroyed because Yami summoned Mystical Elf and Raised the Attack points of the Blue eyes he stole from the graveyard.

Yami wins the duel!

Mokuba got rekidnapped tho.

Joey vs Rex (duel 7): Rex is dueling Joey because he wants to duel Mai, but Mai will only duel him if he beats Joey.

Joey again gets his ass beat and is saved by Time Wizard.

His spoils are some chips and the Red Eyes Black Dragon!!!!

Yami Bakura vs Yami (duel 8): in this duel we are introduced to two new characters. Ryou Bakura and Yami Bakura.

Before the duel, the gang and Ryou are talking about their favorite cards (important). Then Ryou challenges Yugi to a duel, Yami Bakura appears, takes them to the Shadow Realm, puts the squads souls in their favorite cards, then tries to steal the puzzle.

Yami challenges Yami Bakura to a duel and when he summons the Cyber Commander, he finds out that all of his have had their souls placed inside their favorite cards.

Tristan dies to the white magical hat or some shit and Joey Flame Swordsman gets summoned. Then Tristan Cyber Commander gets resurrected, then Yugi Dark Magician gets summoned, then Téa Magician of Faith gets places face down. (She's a flip monster)

Throughout this whole ass duel Yami and the gang are getting their ass handed to them.

Yami gets Morphing Jared like 3 times, had Man Eater Bug eat Joey, had Just Desserts taking life points from him, and Yami Bakura was looking at him like

(𓁹‿ 𓁹)

The whole time.

Anyway, Yami Bakura plays the Change of Heart card and we get to see Ryou in a dress.

We get to see Ryou in another dress because he betrays Yami Bakura and takes control of his Lady of Faith and tells Yugi to attack him.

Yami then thinks about how Yami Bakura took the souls of his friends out of their bodies and put them in the cards and then wonders if he can do the same. He can he does.

We then see Yami Bakura in a dress but he doesn't slay as hard as Ryou.

Yami Bakura is defeated but he took a page out of William Afton's book because he comes back instantly.

Yami vs PaniK (duel 9): This duel starts immediately after Mai gets defeated by PaniK.

Yugi calls this fucking giant of a man a bully, PaniK tries to kill him with fire, and the duel starts.

PaniK is hiding in the dark and Yami calls him a pussy multiple times.

PaniK sure is a duelist. He loses his temper easily and doesn't think about the opponent's strategy. This Leads his Reaper of The Cards to get caught in a Magic Circle (I can't remember the name) and destroyed by his monster.

PaniK gets Swords of Revealing Lighted and his Castle of Dark Illusions has its floatation ring knocked off. His monsters get destroyed and he loses.

Mai got her star chips back :D

Joey vs Kaiba (duel 10? Does this one even count?): the entire duel is Joey getting annihilated. He loses. Badly.

And Kaiba gets insulted.

Joey vs Bonz (duel 11): This duel happened because Joey got kidnapped.

We also get introduced to Bonz, Sid, Zygor, and Bandit Keith.

Bandit Keith used to be the intercontinental champion, and he hates Pegasus.

Bonz is just a little guy who doesn't really like Bandit Keith, but he wants to duel with his zombie cards. Keith is helping him out. So they just gotta work together.

Sid and Zygor are Bonz's friends. They're just kinda there.

During this duel, they are in a cave and Joey is getting scared because Bonz is ugly (no he's not 😤) and zombies are spooky.

Joey is managing pretty alright for the first half because Keith keeps making Bonz play not zombies and they keep getting destroyed.

However, Keith wanted this. Because he put a Call of the Haunted in Bonz's deck. This means that Bonz can bring his monsters back from the graveyard as zombies, they're indestructible, get stronger each time they come back, and they keep destroying Joey's monsters.

Bonz then summons his Pumpking and makes his zombies stronger, but it gets destroyed by the Red Eyes Black Dragon.

Then Red Eyes gets destroyed by ways I don't remember.

Now all Joey has left is his Battle Warrior and Sword and Shield.

He summons Battle Warrior , uses Sword and Shield, wins the duel!

The Yugi gang are now trapped in a cave and Bonz and his friends get their shit rocked by Bandit Keith.

Joey and Yami vs the Paradox brothers (duel 12): Ryou leads the gang here.

We meet the Paradox brothers. A pair of eccentric twins who can't shut up and keep rhyming.

The duel is a tag duel. Meaning they take turns, if one opponent loses all of their life points that team loses, and they can help each other out.

The duel is in a maze. Each card can move up a space for as many levels as it is.

Beaver Warrior gets destroyed instantly by the Wall Shadow, which gets destroyed by KUNAI WITH CHAIN.

Some other shit happen, Yami and Joey gotta face some tank and a worm and spider.

Don't know what happened to the tank, the spider got stabbed with Mystic Box, and the worm had something something Magical Hats.

Gate Guardian is a thing and Yami says it's in the class of Exodia even tho it's not an instant win. (Shout out Gate Guardian for getting support 😔✊)

Yami and Joey won the duel with Black Skull Dragon and make it out of the maze with some coins.

Yami vs Kaiba ( Duel 13): this duel starts after Pegasus told Kaiba that dueling him was a privilege, not a right.

Yami and Kaiba duel with the new Duel Disk system. They're using the advanced rules, that's why it's one monster at a time.

With the duel system, you can recall your monsters and replace them with a different one.

Yami falls for the Crush Card Virus trap and can now only use weak monsters.

He makes his Kuriboh wall, and Kaiba summons his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon to try and get past it. He doesn't.

Yami then uses his stupid fucking arrow card that I can never remember the name of because it's so stupid and dumb to fuse his Mammoth Graveyard to the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon.

The dragon starts to decay, Kaiba has a panic attack and threatens to kill himself, Yami says "Bet", Yugi stops him, Kaiba wins.

Téa vs Mai ( duel 14): Téa wants to get Yugi his star chips back and challenges Mai to a duel.

During this duel Téa summons a bunch of wimpy cards like Petite Angel and most of them get destroyed by Mai's Harpie Lady.

Mai has a bunch of equip spells on her Harpie and Téa Wabokued her once.

Shining Friendship gets summoned, gets an equip spell, and Téa activates De-spell to remove Mai's equips.

Mai surrenders and Téa gives Yugi some chips.

Pegasus vs Kaiba (duel 15): in this duel Kaiba is trying to get his brother back.

Kaiba tries to get Pegasus to use his new Duel Disk system, but it doesn't go well.

The duel begins and Kaiba destroys some of Pegasus's monsters, but then Pegasus steals a Blue eyes and turns it into an Ugly Ass Toon.

Kaiba starts losing.

We learn that toon monsters are hard to destroy because they hide in a book.

Also Kaiba falls for his own Crush Card Virus trap and loses.

Mai vs Yami (duel 16): I'm pretty sure Yami was originally being sexist, but I watched the dub so Yugi is the one actually doing most of the dueling here. He doesn't want Mai getting hurt.

Yugi and Yami keep falling for the stupid Mirror Wall thing and their monsters keep getting wrecked.

Then we see Harpies Pet Dragon.

Yugi Mind Controls it and puts it on a catapult to destroy the Mirror Wall (shit looked epic).

Harpies Pet Dragon comes back and we get three Harpie Ladies.

Yugi let's Yami help and they do the Black Luster Soldier ritual and win.

Joey vs Bandit Keith (duel 17): I love this duel.

Joey gets his entry card stolen and Mai gives him hers, so wholesome.

During the duel Joey is fucking shit up. He's doing so good.

Then Keith starts cheating. But Joey prevails.

He uses trap hole, kunai with chain, time wizard, baby dragon, red eyes black metal dragon, and time machine!

Bandit Keith is using Machines and everyone is wondering why. Like bro, machines are a good monster type with a lotta cards.

Anyway Keith is pulling cards out of his wrist band, tries to use Shield and Sword to wipe out Joey, it doesn't work, Keith loses.

Then Keith tries to say that Joey didn't use his own tournament entry card, but Joey shuts that down

Then Keith gets accused of cheating and is sent falling to not at all death.

Yami vs Joey (duel 18): we have to sit through a long ass montage.

Joey throws some cards away, Yami wonders why.

Yami falls for a few traps, then Joey falls for some traps, this whole time Ryou is explaining the birth of the universe to Téa while Tristan kinda stares off into space.

Joey uses his last Time Wizard of the season to bring out his Thousand Dragon, but Yami planned this.

Yami's Dark Magician has become the Dark Sage and he uses Makiyu to stop Joey's attack and wipe out Joey's life points.

Yami wins and I cried the first time I saw this duel.

Pegasus vs Yami (duel 19): the final duel of the arc.

Pegasus tells Yami that if he wins he gets whatever he wants, but if Pegasus wins he gets his soul and the puzzle.

Yami says he wants Mokuba, Kaiba, and Grandpa's souls to be released and Pegasus says "Damn I thought you hated Kaiba", but Yami just doing that for Mokuba.

The duel starts, and Yami is immediately having trouble. He can't destroy the rooms and the Gorgon's Eye is keeping him from defending.

Pegasus also turned Summoned Skull into a toon and it's being creepy.

Yami keeps getting his mind read and Yugi comes in like "what if we switch places?" And Yami says they should.

This gives Pegasus some trouble. It gives him so much trouble that the toon world gets destroyed and he takes the duel to the Shadow Realm.

Yugi dies.

The Yugi gang feel this and send him some good vibes.

This means Pegasus still can't read Yami's mind.

Pegasus does some shit with Relinquish and Yami tries his Kuriboh stunt and his Magician of Black Chaos is there.

Yami wins and gets the souls back.

Pegasus does like 10 minutes later.

Other shit that happened that was interesting/Important:

During the Pegasus and Yami duel, Tristan and Yami Bakura go off on an adventure to find Mokuba's body. This leads to the ring getting thrown in the forest.

The ring goes back to Ryou because love or something.

In the sub Mai offered Rex anything he wanted during their first encounter. This was changed in the dub.

We still don't know how Ryou snuck in the ship to Duelist Kingdom.

Shadi doesn't even try to find Yami Bakura. He just goes to one person (Yugi) and gives up.

I'll never forgive 4kids for editing out Yami Bakura sexily licking the Millennium Eye.

If Joey had a Magic Jammer he would have won his duel with Yami.

Domino City side stories:

Rebecca's cool. I like her.

Rebecca vs Yami (duel 20): this duel happened because Grandpa got accused of stealing Rebecca's Blue Eyes White Dragon card.

Rebecca's strategy is also pretty good for the time. Her deck is centered around milling cards to power up her Shadow Goul, and she uses cards like Witch of the Black Forest and Sangan to do this.

During the duel Grandpa is having flashbacks because he had a duel go exactly like this. We find out Rebecca is the granddaughter of Grandpa's friend, Arthur.

Yugi drew Soul Release, but didn't use it because... I don't know. We find out that's how the duel between Arthur and Grandpa ended.

Arthur appears, says some shit, and we never see Rebecca again.

That dumbass game thing:

I wasn't paying attention to this because there weren't any actual duels and I didn't like this part.

Duke Devlin:

This bitch really gonna say Yugi cheats in his duels and steal all the girls. Bro.

Duke vs Joey (duel 21): Joey almost wins, But Duke does an ass pull and wins at 50 life points.

Duke vs Yami (Dungeon Dice Monsters): Duke doesn't explain shit because Yami is King Of Games and should know how to play a game he's never heard of.

Duke makes fun of Yami for not knowing how to play the game he never explained, gets angry when Yami figures stuff out, and is just an ass this whole game.

I wasn't really paying attention, until shit actually started to happen because there was just a whole lotta nothing.

Eventually both players have monsters on the field, some are doing magic, others are just standing there.

Orgoth the Relentless is certainly a thing. He gets beat by the Dark Magician.

Yami wins.

Other thoughts on the Domino City stories:

I laughed when Joey told Duke "I like ya game, just not you."

More characters gotta duel like Rebecca.

The existence of Adina is weird. If Kaiba made her, ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ. If the Big Five Made her, then fine I get it. Mokuba is like a damsel in distress. I just don't like it.

I hope you enjoy this long ass wall of text. My redemption is going steady. I have noticed no change other than being slightly more unhinged.

Imma do this every time I finish a season.

[cabezadeperro]

Oooh Spotify wrapped game! Can I get something with Rex for, uh, 57? :)

hi friend!!!!

the song was fade into you, by mazzy star. have 600w of rex and obi-wan (can be read as platonic or as pre-relationship). T, set early during the war.

--

The general thinks himself alone. Rex listens to the sound of his footsteps over the frozen dead grass and exhales, his breath leaving his mouth in a white cloud. The hand that’s holding his cigarette is so cold it hurts: Rex places the cigarette in his mouth and stuffs them both in the pockets of his coat.

The wind’s calmed down, and the night sky is huge and dark and full of stars. The base camp at Rex’s back is a reassuring black mass: he should be in bed like everyone else, but it’s been a hard couple weeks. 

Kenobi pauses. Rex doesn’t turn to look at him, but he can feel him there—at his back and a bit to his left, standing next to the crates piled up high.

“Lieutenant Rex?” 

Rex doesn’t sigh. He drops his hand, instinctively tucking his cigarette behind his back, and turns to look at the Jedi.

“Sir,” he says in greeting. Kenobi blinks at him, nonplussed, and then he smiles. He looks tired. He cradles a paper cup of something warm in his gloved hands.

“Lieutenant. I didn’t expect to see you here,” Kenobi says. 

That was kind of the point. 

This is his first op with the battalion, and his third operation as an ARC officer. He knows he’s good at it—if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be alive—but he’s finding it never gets easier. Rex is tired in a novel, newly awful way, and he tried to bed down and sleep and he found he couldn’t, so he dug out what was left of his contraband cigarettes and found himself a place to smoke and sulk and lick his wounds instead.

“I thought we had run out of caf, sir,” Rex replies, jerking his chin at the paper cup in Kenobi’s hands. Kenobi snorts. He moves closer to Rex until they’re standing shoulder to shoulder.

“You thought right, lieutenant,” Kenobi explains. “This is just hot water, I’m afraid.”

“Damn. You got my hopes up, sir.”

“Apologies.” 

They fall quiet again. Rex resumes his smoking. He feels Kenobi’s attention on him, and he knows Kenobi knows he knows he’s being watched, but—but. 

Rex was on Geonosis: he learned then that Jedi are fallible, that they make mistakes and bleed the same as everyone else. This is the first time it really sinks in that Kenobi is just a person: this is the first time Rex really believes that Kenobi is just a man. There are circles under his eyes, and the skin of his face is dry and reddened by the cold and the merciless sun, and his bulk against Rex is reassuring. 

Rex finishes his cigarette. He reaches inside his coat, grabs the pack—there’s just one left. He sighs. 

He lights it anyway: what’s the point of saving anything for tomorrow when tomorrow may never come. 

The wind’s picking up again: Rex curses under his breath, cupping the cigarette in the cradle of his hands until it catches. The wind blows the smoke in the general’s face then, and Rex curses again, this time louder.

“It’s alright,” Kenobi says. “I used to smoke when I was younger. Not often, but—”

Kenobi trails off. Rex glances at him: the general’s watching the horizon, his gaze very far away. Rex clears his throat and offers the cigarette to him; Kenobi blinks, looks down at him.

“It’s your last one,” he says. It’s not a question. Rex shrugs, doesn’t deny it, doesn’t attempt to explain himself. 

Kenobi leaves his paper cup on the ground by their feet and plucks the cigarette from Rex’s hand. He closes his eyes after that first hit, his blonde eyelashes shadowing the thin skin under his eyes. He breathes out the smoke through his nose—Rex snorts. Show off. 

They share that last cigarette under the stars, and then they start making their slow way back to their tents. They survive the next morning, and the one after that, and Rex kind of regrets rushing through that last pack of smokes, but not really.

[61a7ax22]

Ghosts of the past

Content: death, grieving leon, mentions of vomit, gross misuse of the word "crying" and the word's synonyms, ghost dreams, Leon failed to save Ashley AU, Leon and Ashley being friends beforehand AU

(This is the first installment in this AU, please feel free to give me criticism as I do not write a lot of fanfics.)

Leon's hands trembled as through blurry eyes, he watched the backend veins in his hands pulse.

He looked to Ashley, or what had remained of her, he felt the bile come forth from his stomach full of raw fish and eggs depositing onto the chicken shit covered ground. He had been so close. So, so close to saving her. He had failed he had failed he had failed he had failed her, he had failed his country and he had failed himself.

The coughing and weezing that had happened shortly after the vomiting episode that looking at his slaughtered friend had endused made his lungs burn. A choppy sob moistened his dehydrated dirty face, and he clutched his side in anguish and moved to her corpse, cradling her head. Her eyes once so lively, now opened in rigamortis.

How long had he been out? How long had she been alive begging for him to wake up with her last breaths? Was she even able to call for him? Her cooled blood stained his clothing, mixed with his hot tears and he clutched onto her with all of him.

---------------------------------‐--‐-‐-----------------------

The rescue was hardly so. A half dead man desperately clinging to the remains of a dead woman was a hard sight for the helicopter operators to see. Any moment of trying to get him to let go of her remains was met with an almost animalistic protection of the corpse. Sobs broke through the pilot's headphones almost every moment of ride back home, and when they finally got 'home,' the corpse was separated from his arms did Leon finally quiet. His body shook softly.

They'd known each other for roughly a year before her kidnapping. He had blamed himself, a night off he had taken to celebrate a promotion. Maybe that's why he got so lost in killing everyone of those bastards that even made her yelp with fear. Maybe if he hadn't - Maybe if he had been more level-headed, separated his relationship from the rescue, she would still be alive.

The questions were the worst part, having to tell so many people who looked up to him as an example of how he had failed so horribly to protect her. He had to look at her body again to explain every cut and bruise he could recall. They wouldn't stop asking questions even when his sobs clouded his words. To look her father in his eyes as he had to explain why his daughter had died. The hurt of the hug that had happened afterward. Feeling the fingers of a broken father clutch the back of his finest suit in agony as he had tried desperately not to acuse the man his daughter once called her best friend of being the reason she was dead.

The sleepless nights clouded his head as if he were actually dreaming of being awake. The dark bags under his eyes and the alcohol bottles that contained a liquid almost to the same color of his yellowing used-to-be white shirt. It's then when he first saw her in his beer endused nap, the first one in weeks he had claimed to himself.

Her blurry face focusing into the woman she was, wearing that damn coat he had lost that fucking damned day. He ran to her stopping inches to her face as he didn't want to hug her, to grasp onto her just for her to be gone. He cried silently looking at her face.

"Leon." Her calling of his name was short and simple her arms opened as she enclosed the distance between them as a fuzzy hug warmed what had been cold since her death.

"Ashley." He sobbed as his arms grabbed onto her. It felt real- too real. His body shook as the feeling of remorse, regret and udder despair had washed away from him for just a moment.

"Leon." This time his name was whispered before letting go of the hug, he had harder bared it and tried to cling onto the remains but failed. "I-ive been trying to-" Her face went blurry again and when it had focused she looked worried for a moment and grabbed onto his hand as if they were as a shopping mall again, as he was about to buy her a treat.

"I've been trying to tell you. It's okay- it's not your fault you had-" her voice had become fuzzy this time. He couldn't make out the rest of her words but she smiled at him with wet eyes when her static was finished being spoken.

Maybe it was that pang he had felt realizing how much he had missed that smile. His hand entertwined with hers, almost knowing this was a goodbye.

"I'll see you again." Then first clear words in a while had come from her mouth, and leon buried himself in them as his warm dream had broken from himself. He woke up to that damnned room and was crying, his hands wrapped around air. He grasped at his own hands and covered his face.

He took his first shower in a while. The grime leaveing his body with every pelt of those artificial raindrops from the shower head. When he stepped out of the shower, he looked to the fuzzy mirror and held back the urge to punch it.

"I'm gonna see you again." He mumbled to himself as he swallowed the urge.

"I promise."

[cha-melodius]

Hiii, congratulations on your milestones! I am not very good at prompts buuuut how about Napollya + some creepy abandoned house? Or a cemetery. Idk, it's not Halloween but I'm feeling spooky loool Feel free to go paranormal with it <3

(Outsmarted tumblr to answer this lmao. You said go paranormal and my brain said 'what about rival paranormal investigators??' Mark this down as another AU concept I never thought I'd write. Hope you enjoy it!)

chamel’s fandom fest info | read all the fics

The Harrowed and the Haunted

(napollya, 2.7k, T; read it below or on AO3)

The tiny blue car is already there when they arrive, tucked off to one side of the gigantic, decrepit mansion, and Napoleon swears under his breath.

“How did he even know we were coming here?” he complains. “No one knows this place.”

“Everyone knows about this place, Solo,” Gaby sighs from the passenger seat. “It’s a local legend. And you weren’t exactly subtle when you teased it as our next location in the podcast.”

Napoleon twists in his seat to look at her. “You think he listens to the podcast?”

She levels a look at him that he doesn’t know how to interpret. “You two are hopeless,” she says instead of answering him, then unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out of the car.

She’s already elbows deep into the equipment by the time he walks to the back end of the car, so he elects not to push her on what she means. Besides, the one time he’d tried, she ended up on some long tirade about how they’re obsessed with each other and it would be funny if it wasn’t so frustrating and also if she didn’t have to listen to him all the time. To which he had responded that she’s his best friend and morally obligated to listen to him complain about his nemesis.

Also, he’s not obsessed with Illya Kuryakin.

Yes, Napoleon watches all the videos Illya posts and reads all the stories he publishes on his blog. Of course he does, Illya is the competition. Napoleon has to keep up with the locations he’s visiting and the kinds of footage he’s getting so that he knows how best to make his own superior content. Because Napoleon has a secret weapon that means his videos are always in better resolution, with wider shots so you can see that he’s not just using tricks, and his data are more robust. That secret weapon is Gaby and the completely bonkers ghost detecting equipment that she builds.

Napoleon had been a skeptic when he started doing paranormal investigation; his whole schtick was proving that there weren’t ghosts in the places where the other guys had recorded their sightings. Then he’d met Gaby at a convention and she’d bet him fifty bucks that she could show him a site that not only had ghosts, but also that she could prove it with hard science. He’d been intrigued despite himself, and their partnership was born. The friendship came about fifteen minutes into that first trip, when it became obvious that they shared a similarly sarcastic, dark sense of humor and brutally pragmatic outlook on life.

Together, they still spend the majority of their time proving that locations aren’t haunted, but occasionally things happen neither of them can explain. Not that he’s convinced that the explanation is actually ghosts, but it’s certainly something outside the realm of known science. With Gaby’s help, his business really took off: there’s the YouTube channel that he started with, but now they have a wildly successful podcast as well. The Discovery Channel has made overtures about a show. Things are good.

At least they are when Illya Kuryakin isn’t around.

Illya came out of nowhere with his blog Prizraki and a fledgling YouTube channel of his own. He shouldn’t have ever drawn an audience because he has zero camera presence, for all his good looks. He’s not even in his own videos all that much since he’s a one-man operation. But. The man can write. The way he crafts a story, the sheer atmosphere of it—he more than makes up for the shoddy camerawork and rudimentary editing. Napoleon had thought his work would be easy to discredit, but Illya is thorough. Meticulous. Irritating, especially when he anticipates Napoleon’s next move and makes it his job that much harder. Napoleon would swear Illya has it out for him specifically.

So yeah, they don’t get along. Their rivalry is well-known among the paranormal investigation community at this point. And if he spends an inordinate amount of time following Illya’s content, it’s only because he has to, professionally. He certainly doesn’t enjoy it.

They find the man himself on the second floor, apparently scanning one of the rear bedrooms. He’s hunched over his device, which is emitting a random-sounding beeping as he moves slowly across the room. Napoleon and Gaby had been led there by the readouts on their own equipment, although things start going all funny once they get into the room. Napoleon is pretty sure it’s just the interference from Illya’s shitty gear.

“Got tired of coming up with your own ideas, Peril?” Napoleon says as they walk in, the ancient floorboards creaking under their feet.

Illya doesn’t bother to look away from his scan. “Don’t know what you are talking about,” he mutters. He finishes a sweep of the far wall and pauses. “I have plans to investigate this property for months. Check my website if you don’t believe me.”

Napoleon doesn’t, because he’s read every word of that blog and he never mentioned this property. Not that he’s going to tell Illya this.

His nemesis finally straightens and turns toward them, his usual sour expression somehow failing to keep him from being ridiculously, irritatingly gorgeous. Napoleon would wager that at least half of his subscribers are only there for the occasional eye candy. And look, Napoleon knows his own looks bring him hits—leverages it, specifically—but Illya pretends to be above all that, which is annoying. After all, his numbers had shot up rapidly after that one video where he’d somehow ended up shirtless while investigating some kind of haunted bog (and if Napoleon had watched that one any more than the others, it was only because he couldn’t get over the idea of a haunted bog, that’s all).

“I take it you haven’t found anything yet,” Napoleon counters, looking around the room. It’s largely empty at this point, save for a massive wardrobe that’s probably too heavy to move, the florid wallpaper faded and yellowed by time and marked by no small amount of water damage. “Not that I fault you for that, given your equipment.”

“I have found plenty—”

“Solo,” Gaby interrupts. She’s across the room, and when he turns to look she’s tucking her own scanner away and sliding a hand over the seemingly featureless wall. “I think there’s something here.”

Jackpot. Napoleon quickly crosses over to where she stands and starts carefully inspecting the wallpaper, his competitor all but forgotten behind them. Well, almost. The seam is well hidden, but it’s there, and Napoleon feels out the secret panel within minutes. When a door pops open, he turns back toward Illya and smirks with immense satisfaction.

“What was that about finding things?”

Illya just about growls at him.

“Look, while you two have this little pissing contest, I’m gonna go get my auxiliary power block,” Gaby announces before they can get going again. “There are some really wacky readings going on here and I think I’m going to need the boost.”

With that, she disappears out the door, and a moment later they can hear the clunk of her boots on the wooden steps.

“So, you are planning on leaving, right?” Napoleon asks.

“I was here first,” Illya grits out, and then the asshole just storms right past Napoleon and into the secret passageway, like he has any right to it.

Napoleon follows him, because he can’t not. The passage is narrow, barely wider than the span of either of their shoulders, and nearly pitch black save for the illumination provided by their flashlights and the meager light that filters in from the main room. The house is enough of a labyrinth that it could go almost anywhere; it’s promising, for sure.

“Only because you knew we were coming here,” Napoleon calls after him.

Illya stops a short ways down the passage and turns to glare at him. “You cannot prove that.”

“And we found the secret passage,” Napoleon continues. “If we weren’t here you’d still be going around in circles, chasing your own tail.”

“The discovery was inevitable. Maybe you sped it along, but now you are just in the way.”

Jesus Christ, this is going nowhere. Fine, Napoleon can be the magnanimous one, especially if he can use it later to argue that Illya was unreasonable. “Look, you wanna investigate right now, be my guest, but you can’t be here when Gaby gets back. Your equipment causes too much interference.”

Illya hesitates a beat. “She said you were getting strange readings. What kind?”

“Like I’m going to tell you,” Napoleon scoffs.

“Did you have to learn to be this much of an asshole, or were you born this way?”

“Oh, that’s rich coming from the guy who—”

He doesn’t get to finish that thought, because suddenly it sounds like every door in the house slams at once, including the one to the bedroom that they’d left open. They both jump a mile, startled out of their skins, and Napoleon whirls to look behind him, though of course there’s nothing there.

“Wind gust?” he tries weakly.

He doesn’t even blame Illya for the exasperated look he gets in response. They both know there hadn’t been even a light breeze, plus, he can feel it. Illya probably can too. There’s something about the atmosphere that makes his skin crawl and his hair stand up on end, and as a professional ghost hunter, that’s not easy to do. He’s learned to trust his gut, and it’s telling him something is definitely hinky here. He walks back over to the door, but there’s no handle on the inside, which seems like poor design for a secret passageway.

“Not getting out this way,” he tells Illya. “Maybe the other side?”

“We don’t know where it goes,” Illya counters. “Should we not just wait for Gaby to return?”

He’s got a point, but Napoleon really doesn’t like being cooped up in here. He’s not claustrophobic, but there’s a closeness to the air that goes beyond what can be explained by the narrow space. Not that he’s going to let on what’s driving his decision.

“Wait if you like,” he says with a shrug. “I’m going to do what I came here to do.”

Except Illya is standing between him and the rest of the passage, which is really not large enough for the two of them to easily pass by each other. Still, there’s nothing for it; Napoleon starts walking toward him, assuming Illya will get out of the way, only when he’s less than a stride from the other man, he trips.

He’d like to pretend the floorboards were uneven, but it feels like something fucking winds around his ankle, effectively binding his legs and sending him sprawling into Illya. At nearly the same time, there’s a loud pop and the bulbs in both of their flashlights just about explode in a shower of sparks. The end result is that Illya is too surprised or too distracted to stay upright himself, and they tumble to the ground in a heap with none-too-few curses in both English and Russian.

“Get off of me,” Illya protests, trying to shove Napoleon away, and Napoleon would like to, truly, but one of Illya’s elbows caught him in the diaphragm and he can’t exactly breathe at the moment.

“Gimme a fucking minute,” he manages, trying to catch his breath while simultaneously ignoring how he’s managed to land pretty much astride one of Illya’s very muscular thighs. There’s not exactly a lot of room here for him to maneuver, anyway, and in the pitch dark the very last thing he wants to do is put a hand somewhere it shouldn’t go. He manages to fish his phone out of his pocket, hoping for an alternative light source, only to find it won’t turn on. “Damn. Phone’s dead.”

“Think it was an EMP,” Illya groans. “Will knock out—”

“I know what an EMP is,” Napoleon snaps, then he sighs heavily. “I don’t suppose you have a lighter?”

Illya doesn’t answer, but a moment later there’s a faint snick and a small flame flickers to life, washing the two of them and the passageway in a faint orange glow. It also reveals the deep scowl on Illya’s face. “Now will you get off?”

“Aw, but I was just starting to enjoy myself,” Napoleon teases. And then, because he can’t resist an opportunity to fluster the other man in any way possible, he gives his hips a little wiggle. 

Something flashes in Illya’s gaze, though he can’t quite read it in the flickering light. “Do not start something you do not intend to finish, Cowboy,” he growls.

Which is— Napoleon cannot have heard that right. He hit his head on the way down, maybe, except for the fact that he knows he didn’t; he landed on Illya’s ample chest, which he still hasn’t really moved from. Their faces are no more than a handful of inches apart. Illya takes a deep breath in and out under him, and the thigh between Napoleon’s shifts slightly. Napoleon licks his lips, and Illya’s eyes follow the movement.

“Who says I don’t?” Napoleon manages, his voice tighter than he’d like. “And what about you? I thought you hated me.”

“Too pretty,” Illya murmurs. “Annoyingly so. Anyway, you hated me first.”

Napoleon can’t help the soft puff of laughter that escapes him. “Gaby says I’m obsessed with you.”

“Is that so?” Illya asks with a smirk that Napoleon would kind of like to bite.

“I’m not,” Napoleon protests, but he doesn’t get a chance to get any more out because Illya tugs him down into a kiss.

Napoleon shocks himself by kissing him back, tilting his head until their mouths fit perfectly together, letting his arms go out from under him until his body is fully pressed up against Illya’s again. It’s hard and it’s fast and it’s filthy, and Napoleon can’t get enough of it. Illya’s hands go to his waist then slide down to his ass, which he grabs enthusiastically, pulling Napoleon’s hips closer as his rock up against Napoleon’s thigh.

He never thought— never let himself think— Fuck. He wants Illya Kuryakin so badly he can hardly breathe, which is a pretty fucking novel revelation right about now. He doesn’t even notice that Illya has dropped the lighter, plunging them into darkness, until there’s a loud creak outside the passageway and the door rattles in its frame.

They startle apart, or at least try to; Napoleon attempts a roll sideways, but there’s not really any place to go, so he just kind of ends up jammed next to Illya, his heart climbing into his throat because he’d maybe gotten so caught up in the moment that he’d forgotten that they’re in a fucking abandoned house that supposedly haunted, with actual weird phenomena happening around them, and he’d really rather not die—

The door rattles again, then swings open to reveal Gaby holding a lantern in one hand and her bag of equipment in the other. She takes one look at them and her eyebrows climb all the way up to her hair.

“Oh, thank god,” Napoleon exhales heavily. “You didn’t get hit by the EMP?”

Gaby frowns at him. “What EMP?”

“The one that exploded our flashlights and turned our phones into bricks.”

“That’s not how EMPs work,” she says flatly. “Care to explain how that relates to… literally any of this?”

Napoleon winces. “Not really?”

The look she gives him quite clearly says that he’s not getting out of any part of said explanation, even if she’s willing to let it go for the moment. “So. Ghosts?”

“Apparently so,” Napoleon groans as he attempts to extract himself now that he can actually see where he’s going.

“And we’re… collaborating?” she asks, looking pointedly at Illya.

Napoleon glances over to find Illya staring at him uncertainly, which is probably fair considering they’ve discussed precisely nothing about this. Still. He looks back at Gaby.

“Apparently so.”

~~~~~

(The Haunting of McAllister Mansion is their first joint video, published simultaneously on both channels; it breaks all their previous records for views, likes, and comments.

The latter are split between people confused because they were sure Napoleon and Illya hated each other, and those who just comment: called it.)

[selamat-linting]

if yall think that department store job is bad wait until you hear about the stock broker job i almost had.

so, i recently turned 19 at the time and was desperate for employment. there's this walk-in interview ad on the local job site. i went there, hand in my resume, and without looking at my file the HR told me im accepted for a three day training program. it should be a red flag, but i came in anyway.

our trainer is a man in a fancy suit. the first thing he said other than the over-excited greeting was thanks. thanks for not believing the naysayers who said this job is a scam.

i might be stupid, but im not stupid enough to ignore that. immediately i was hyper aware of everything this trainer was doing and saying. our first day was all motivational speeches and bombarding everyone who dared to question their scheme with noises and covert shaming so they'd get in line. the actual product we're selling, the daily operation, he either sidesteps the question or explain it in such a vague nothingburger way that you couldnt understand it. at least they gave us free lunch though.

when i get home, i began looking up the name of the company. theyre formally certified as a broker company, but its hard to find an actual job desc or the benefits. there's even accounts of costumers who felt theyre getting scammed out of the whole deal. i still came in the next day.

i dont know what i was thinking tbh. i guess there is a part of me who wished it was all a misunderstanding, or a part of me who thinks i can actually make a sale and get money despite the circumstances, and a part of me who wants to convince myself that im not a quitter. i was a mess. i went on my second day, and at least a quarter of people are gone. we did our training, this time we're taught how to trade stocks, using software we barely understand with principles we dont even get. and ofc when we get the job, the money we use for trading would be our customers' money.

during break time, they told us to get comfortable with the workers who have been there for months. i was friendly with them, but i realized they're the ones i could actually get a straight answer from. i basically cornered and made one of them to admit this is a job with no base pay, just a commission scheme. and some havent closed anything for months since the day they start working. i admit, i did it for myself, but i hope other people who enrolled in training with me heard it too.

it was then i made the decision to drop out. dont get me wrong, commission only jobs are a standard practice for a lot of sales industry, and i respect people who do the hustle. actually, i might even try it one day if (big IF here) im skilled and financially stable enough to weather the rough months. but its wrong for that company to avoid explaining that aspect especially when the job is convincing people to fund your trading business and you cant even educate your workers on the product properly! its predatory and scammy as fuck.

and for years after that sometimes i hear a story of a coworker who tried their luck. all of them failed. well, one girl i know manage to close a deal. except she got screwed by her seniors and she didnt get her earnings. one guy i know even end up drowning in debt because of that job. but then again, i dont feel sorry for him because i overheard him confessed to raping a girl at a party once so he deserved it lol!

anyway, the office of that trading company was soon shut down around 2020. i heard they got sued, or they cant pay the rent for the building, im not sure. they were closed though. and everyone who knows that place but doesnt work there, recognized they have a not so stellar reputation. however, they recently reopened under a new name. different company name, same business model. thats capitalism.

[quincyhorst]

Quincy Horst Headcanons (New Year Edition 🐉🇦🇺)

Hello. Happy 2024! 🎇

I still struggle to articulate my thoughts at the moment, but I want to thank everyone for the support during this 2023. 💞 I'm genuinely grateful that even if this blog remains small, there's people out there that want to listen to the silly stories I give these characters. There's so much to share yet, like the Euro B coaches and the Toro Blanco, but I have confidence I will be able to do it soon. Thank you for waiting, and on the meantime, let's talk about something else today.

Back on my main blog @/brucemarlin I remember reblogging a drawing with THE Bruce Marlin for the first post of the year 2023. Why not doing the same for here, too? Given I don't post much about Quincy Horst despite my URL, I guess this is a good way to fix it.

To clarify, this is a summarized outline. So unlike Gareth -which I divided in detailed parts-, this is a bullet point with smaller pieces, but that do explain my overall ideas with Quincy at least until the FFI. This is also a very rushed post, so forgive me for any mistakes.

Quincy was born in Kalgoorlie, the so-called aussie city of gold. However due to issues his family had to move out to Esperance later on.

Overall, the Horst family had been operating a mining company since their arrival to Australia, but lately the business has been struggling with many things, such as past controversies and their main goldmine starting to dry out.

This is where Quincy's profile comes out, he desires as to find a goldmine mainly as economical support (and a quick way to gain fame for himself). Ironically he does get into the geological aspects later on in life.

He is the 5th child in a family of 7, mostly composed of girls. The other boy in the family went already to study at Canberra, so he's absent most of the time. This led for Quincy to interact with his sisters more, obviously with the consequence of him getting mannerisms, atitude and interests that can be seen as """girly""". Not a bad thing at all, but it did gave him a hard time at school; specially from the other boys.

But unlike similar situations, Quincy did the risky thing of actually fighting his own bullies back. It didn’t end up well, and while it helped his parents realize the gravity of the situation, by that point Quincy had gotten tried.

For the rest of his adolesnce, he developed the radical choice of hating anything girly (Be interests or even just the color pink), at the same time trying to find ways to look "cooler" or "macho". Until he grew up from it, this did strain the relationship with most of his sisters; specially those he once used to play with.

But not everything was bad, at least. Around the end of Primary School, turns out Quincy's aunt started to date a man of surname Marlin, who also had a son. The boy named Bruce was quick to befriend Quincy due to their similar age and interests, so at least Quin finally had another boy to rely on. Hell, he does consider Bruce to be more of an older brother figure than his actual bro.

Thanks to him Quincy also got onto soccer, though by getting accidentally hit by one of his show-off shots. The sudden incident at least made Quincy develop interest into becoming a goalkeeper. While researching aboit the sport he soon stumbled upon Jean Baker, the keeper from Sydney whose fame was slowly growing. Finding him badass, Quin started to use him as a role-model on his training. But soon the sentiment grew from "I want to be like him" to "I will be BETTER than him C:&lt;"

I guess that's the most essential info for now; there's still quite lots of things to talk about Quincy and his family on detail, but this is a good outline of what I have.

But, here's a little add-on, since we are on the Year of the Dragon: Since their origins, the Horst family has kept for generations the very exclusive belief of the Horst Dragon, a mythical draconic creature that has been protecting them for centuries, even when the family moved from Germany to Australia. Even to this day Mr. Horst is a firm believer of this creature, and he was succesful to pass this enthusiasm on his son. Quincy is the most passionate child about the Horst Dragon, even more than his other -skeptical- siblings. He even claims at times that the Horst Dragon helps him to guard the goal. Huh.