#i love you mystery woman with zero screen time

[kitsunecrows]

all at once, everything looks different

now that i see you 🪺🪽

[pucksandpower]

So Good to Her

Charles Leclerc x Reader

Summary: the public reacts to the TikTok challenge you and Charles inadvertently participated in

Read So Good to Me (about the TikTok challenge) here

The TikTok that the British influencer posted of his encounter with you and your incredibly generous boyfriend quickly goes viral, racking up millions of views, likes, and comments within mere hours.

It spreads like wildfire across social media platforms, with people sharing it on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook — even LinkedIn of all places. Everyone marvels at this mystery woman with the boyfriend of all boyfriends who casually sent her €10,000 just to buy a pair of shoes.

In a cozy London flat, a group of university students and diehard Charles fans gather around a laptop, eyes wide as they watch the now-viral video for the umpteenth time.

“I can’t believe Charles has a secret girlfriend!” Megan, a petite blonde wearing a red Ferrari cap, exclaims. “How did we not know about this? We follow his every move!”

Her best friend Ethan nods in agreement, his brow furrowed. “Seriously, who is this girl? She’s drop dead gorgeous and apparently Charles is just casually sending her 10 grand for shopping sprees?”

“Okay but like, goals though,” Lexi chimes in dreamily, clutching a Charles Leclerc poster to her chest. “Imagine having a boyfriend who’s not only mega hot and talented but also spoils you rotten. She’s living the dream.”

Ethan scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Oh come on, he can’t just throw money around like that. I bet this whole thing was staged for clout.”

Megan shoots him a withering glare. “Don’t be ridiculous. What would be the point? Charles is already one of the most popular drivers on the grid, he doesn’t need to pull PR stunts for attention.”

“Plus did you see the way he talked to her on the phone?” Lexi points out, rewinding the video. “That was not acting, that was real love and affection in his voice. I’m so soft for them already, ugh.”

The trio falls silent as they watch the clip again, zeroing in on every little detail and facial expression from both Charles’ mystery girlfriend and the clearly shocked TikToker.

Ethan chuckles and shakes his head. “I still can’t get over her reaction though. Just a guy who loves driving fast cars — I mean, the cheek! She really knows how to keep a secret, gotta give her that.”

“An icon, honestly,” Megan declares. “The fact that she told him to donate the money to an animal shelter too ... okay, I can’t even be mad. She seems like a sweet person.”

Lexi sighs happily, starry-eyed. “They’re literally a power couple. The sheer confidence and BDE of it all. I’m so jealous but also like, rooting for them? We have to find out who this girl is!”

As if on cue, Megan’s phone pings with a Twitter notification. Her eyes widen as she swipes to view it. “Guys. GUYS. The TikToker just confirmed her first name is Y/N and posted another video with a few more details about her!”

“Well don’t just sit there, play it!” Ethan demands, practically launching himself across the couch to peer over Megan’s shoulder at her phone screen. Lexi scrambles to join them, bouncing with anticipation.

In the new clip, the TikToker is grinning excitedly at the camera, an extra bounce in his step as he walks along the same Monaco street where he first approached you.

“Right, so I’m sure by now you’ve all seen my video with Charles Leclerc’s girlfriend go absolutely mental viral,” he begins, running a hand through his artfully tousled hair. “Which, can I just say — thank you so much for the insane support and love, you lot are the best fans ever.”

“Get to the point,” Ethan mutters under his breath, earning a sharp “Shh!” from both girls.

“Anyway,” the TikToker continues. “After she left and I finally picked my jaw up off the floor, I did some digging. I headed to that little boutique she mentioned in the call with Charles, just to see if she actually went in and bought anything. Thought maybe if I asked the staff, they might be able to give me some more info, you know?”

Megan, Ethan, and Lexi all subconsciously lean closer to the small phone screen, hanging on to his every word.

“So get this — not only did she buy the shoes, she apparently also went next door and purchased, and I quote, a frankly alarming amount of lingerie. The cashier said she dropped over 5 grand like it was nothing!”

Lexi lets out a scandalized gasp as Ethan chokes on his sip of Red Bull. Megan just shakes her head in wonderment. “The actual legend,” she murmurs reverently.

The TikToker laughs and waggles his eyebrows suggestively at the camera. “I don’t know about you lot, but I’m definitely sensing some spicy thank you for the shopping money activities were planned for a certain Ferrari driver, if you know what I mean. Get in there, Charles!”

“Gross, I so did not need that visual,” Ethan grumbles, but there’s a slight smirk playing on his lips all the same.

“Oh shut up, as if you wouldn’t do the exact same if you were dating Charles,” Lexi retorts with a playful shove to his shoulder.

“ANYWAY,” the TikToker presses on, “I did manage to squeeze a few more details out of the lovely shop girl. Apparently Charles’ girlfriend is named Y/N, no last name given for privacy reasons. But she’s a regular customer and, I quote, an absolute sweetheart who only ever has glowing things to say about her man. So there you have it, folks — Y/N and Charles are the real deal and we’re all just peasants watching a fairytale unfold.”

Megan sighs dreamily as the video ends. “Y/N and Charles,” she repeats to herself, already typing the names into her social media search bars. “God, even their names sound good together. I have to find out everything about her.”

“Dibs on making their ship name hashtag go viral,” Lexi calls out, already furiously typing away on her own phone.

Ethan snorts and rolls his eyes affectionately at his friends, but there’s no denying the small, reluctantly impressed smile tugging at the corners of his mouth too. “I give it two days before they’re papped together on some glamorous date night now that the secret’s out. Hope she’s ready for the attention dating an F1 star brings.”

“With that level of confidence and the way Charles clearly adores her? I think our girl Y/N will handle the spotlight just fine,” Megan says confidently.

Lexi nods in firm agreement. “Yep, a true queen. Charles better lock that down and wife her up real quick before one of us tries to snatch her for ourselves!”

***

In a cozy apartment not far from the very street where you had your memorable encounter with the TikToker, three young women huddle around a laptop screen, eyes wide and jaws slack as they watch the now viral video for the umpteenth time.

“I can’t believe this,” mutters Isabelle, a pretty brunette with an impressively encyclopedic knowledge of Formula 1 stats. “Charles has a girlfriend? Since when?”

“And he just sent her €10,000 like it was nothing!” Exclaims Maia, nervously twirling a strand of her platinum blonde hair. “I mean, I know he’s loaded but holy shit, the way he spoils her ...”

The third girl, Claire, bites her lip, a pensive look on her delicate features. “Did you hear what she said at the end though? Just a guy who loves driving fast cars. She was obviously talking about Charles. But the way she said it, all mysterious and like it was some inside joke ... I don’t know, it just rubs me the wrong way.”

Isabelle scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Please, she was totally gloating. Didn’t even have the decency to act a little humble about the fact that THE Charles Leclerc is apparently head over heels for her.”

“Exactly!” Maia chimes in, nodding vigorously. “Like okay, congrats, you bagged a hot, rich, famous race car driver. No need to rub it in the rest of our faces.”

Claire wrinkles her nose. “I just don’t get the vibe that she actually cares about him, you know? I mean, who asks their boyfriend to send them money in the middle of the day for some stupid shoes? While he’s working? She seems like such a gold digger.”

“Ugh, you’re so right,” Isabelle agrees, her lips curling in distaste. “Poor Charles is probably blind to it because he’s so gone for her. He didn’t even hesitate to transfer that money!”

Maia sighs dramatically and falls back on the bed. “God, it’s so unfair. Why can’t I find a man who’s that generous and totally obsessed with me? I’d treat him so much better than she does, you can already tell.”

Claire hums and taps her chin thoughtfully. “You know what, I think this smells fishy. How do we even know she’s actually Charles’ girlfriend? For all we know, she could have paid some guy who sounds like him to play along for a TikTok clout.”

Isabelle’s eyes narrow as she considers this possibility. “That’s true ... I haven’t come across any photos of them together or anything. Why has no one ever seen her before if they’re supposedly so in love?”

“Exactly!” Claire exclaims, growing more animated. “I’ve been a Charles fan for years and I’ve never seen or heard anything about a girlfriend. If they’re really dating, there’s no way it wouldn’t have come out before now.”

Maia sits up, suddenly energized by this new conspiracy theory. “Oh my god, you’re right! She’s probably just some wannabe influencer trying to get famous by pretending to be with Charles. That’s so pathetic.”

Isabelle nods slowly, a determined glint in her eye. “You know what? We should do some digging. Try to find out who this girl really is and expose her for the fraud she clearly is. Charles and the world deserve to know the truth.”

“Yesss, I’m so down for an investigation!” Maia says gleefully. “Imagine if we’re the ones who reveal that this whole thing is fake. We’d be doing Charles a huge favor.”

Claire is already pulling up Instagram and Twitter on her phone. “Let’s start by going through the comments on that TikTok and seeing if anyone has identified her or posted any receipts. There have to be some clues somewhere.”

The girls spend the next few hours poring over social media, searching for any scrap of information they can find about the mystery woman who has supposedly captured Charles Leclerc’s heart. They work themselves into a frenzy, convincing each other more and more that you can’t possibly be Charles’ real girlfriend. In their minds, you’re clearly just an opportunistic clout chaser looking for your 15 minutes of fame.

“God, I hope Charles sees through her act soon,” Isabelle says for the hundredth time, shaking her head. “He’s too good for some two-bit gold digger who’s just using him.”

“We’ll make sure he finds out who she really is,” Claire assures her firmly. “And then he’ll have no choice but to dump her lying ass.”

Maia sighs wistfully, hugging a throw pillow to her chest. “Do you think once he’s single again, I might actually have a chance? Like, if I run into him at a race one day and strike up a conversation, maybe he’ll realize I’m the girl he’s meant to be with ...”

“Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Claire says with a laugh. “First step is taking down this fraud of a girlfriend. Then we can daydream about being Mrs. Leclerc.”

The girls giggle and go back to their social media sleuthing with renewed determination. They’ve decided you’re public enemy number one and they won’t rest until they’ve exposed you for the fake, money-hungry, clout-chasing liar they’re certain you must be. In their eyes, they’re crusaders for truth, fighting to save their beloved Charles from your clutches.

What they don’t realize, of course, is just how very real and very deep Charles’ feelings for you actually are ... and that you’re not going anywhere anytime soon, Internet conspiracy theories be damned.

***

In a dimly lit basement somewhere in Italy, a group of die-hard Charles Leclerc fans huddle around a computer screen, their jaws dropping as they watch the video for the umpteenth time.

“Guys, are you seeing this shit?” Enzo, the self-appointed leader of the group, asks incredulously. “Who the hell is this girl and how did she bag Charles freakin’ Leclerc?”

“Dude, we don’t even know for sure that it’s actually Charles,” Giovanni points out skeptically. “She never said his name. It could be some other rich dude with a fast car.”

Enzo scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Oh come on, who else could it be? €10,000 like it’s nothing, is it possible that Leclerc has a secret girlfriend we don’t know about all this time? A guy who likes driving fast cars? It’s obviously Charles! Our boy is LOADED and that’s exactly how he’d spoil his girl.”

Luca nods in agreement, a dreamy expression on his face. “God, can you imagine being with Charles though? Having him call you all those cute pet names and just showering you with love and gifts? I’d fucking die.”

“Yeah, she has to be the luckiest woman on the planet,” Enzo sighs wistfully. “I mean, I’m straight, but even I’d let Charles ruin me, you know what I’m saying?”

The other guys murmur and nod in emphatic agreement, all of them momentarily lost in a fantasy of being Charles Leclerc’s pampered significant other.

“Okay but like, how is this even fair?” Giovanni gripes, breaking the spell. “The rest of us mere mortals are out here busting our asses on Tinder and Hinge, praying a decent girl will swipe right, and Charles just gets to date a literal goddess who is probably a model?”

“Life isn’t fair, Gio,” Enzo says solemnly. “Charles is on a completely different level. He could have any woman he wants and they’d all say yes before he even finished asking. The rules don’t apply to a guy like that.”

Luca suddenly sits up straight, his eyes widening with realization. “Holy shit, guys. Do you know what this means? If Charles is taken, that’s one less F1 driver on the market for all those grid girl groupies to throw themselves at! Maybe the rest of us actually have a chance now!”

Giovanni snorts derisively. “Yeah, you wish. Those chicks are still gonna be busy trying to get with Sainz or Verstappen or Norris. They’re not gonna settle for some nobody Ferrari fan. Let’s be real.”

“Wow, way to kill the vibe, Debbie Downer,” Luca mutters. He turns back to the computer and hits replay on the video, watching enviously as the TikToker clearly shows the €10,000 bank transfer on your phone. “Seriously though, how is this chick not freaking the fuck out? If Charles Leclerc randomly sent me 10 grand I’d be screaming and probably pass out.”

“She’s probably used to it,” Enzo says with a shrug. “I bet this is like, a regular Tuesday for her. Just casually strolling around Monaco, stopping into designer stores whenever she feels like it, Charles’ black credit card weighing down her Hermès purse. The bougiest of WAG lives.”

“God, what I wouldn’t give to trade places with her for just one day,” Giovanni says longingly. “Can you imagine getting to wake up next to Charles every morning? Having him make you breakfast and give you forehead kisses and tell you how much he loves you in that sexy accent?”

“Okay, now you’re just torturing yourself, bro,” Luca laughs. “You’ll be lucky if you can get a Tinder match to agree to split the bill at McDonalds.”

“Why you gotta bring me back to my sad reality like that?” Giovanni groans, chucking a throw pillow at Luca’s head. “Let me live vicariously through Charles’ bougie mystery girlfriend for a little while longer, damn.”

Enzo sighs and leans back in his chair, hands behind his head. “You know what the craziest part of all this is? The fact that Charles managed to keep a whole ass girlfriend hidden from the world. Like, the media has been speculating about his love life forever and no one had a clue he was actually in a serious relationship. That man moves in silence like a ninja.”

“Yeah, and did you see how he just casually threw out that he loves her?” Luca gushes. “He was all I love spoiling you, you deserve the world. My dude is head over heels for this girl and I am LIVING for it.”

“Ugh, why can’t I find a man like that?” Giovanni whines dramatically. “All I want is a guy who will write me cute Instagram captions in three languages and buy out the Gucci store for me but I guess that’s too much to ask!”

“Maybe if you stanned Charles harder, the universe would reward you,” Enzo snarks. “Start leaving thirsty comments on his shirtless pics, see if that manifests your dream F1 boyfriend.”

“Bold of you to assume I don’t already do that,” Giovanni retorts with a smirk. “How else do you think Oscar Piastri ended up in my DMs last night?”

“Wait, WHAT?” Luca and Enzo exclaim in unison, whipping their heads around to gape at their friend.

Giovanni bursts out laughing at their shocked faces. “I’m just kidding, jeez! You think I’d be sitting here listening to you losers if Oscar freaking Piastri actually messaged me? Puh-lease.”

“Man, don’t even joke about that,” Enzo grumbles, clutching at his heart. “You really had me going there for a sec.”

Luca huffs and slouches down in his seat. “Can we get back to being jealous of Charles’ sugar baby girlfriend now? I was enjoying that more than whatever the hell this conversation turned into.”

“She’s not his sugar baby!” Enzo argues. “They’re clearly in love! Did we watch the same video? The way he talked to her was mad cute. That’s his GIRL girl.”

“You’re right, you’re right,” Luca concedes, holding his hands up in apology. “Charles might spoil her but he obviously adores her for more than just her looks. That’s the real relationship goals right there.”

“Imagine being so secure in your love that you can just ball out on your partner like that and know it’s only going to make them love you more,” Giovanni muses. “Cannot relate.”

Enzo nods sagely. “Charles is just built different, man. In more ways than one.”

“Truer words have never been spoken,” Luca agrees. “So, are we watching this video another 50 times or are we moving on to the Grill the Grid compilation I found of all of Charles’ most adorably flustered moments?”

Enzo grins maniacally and reaches for the mouse. “Oh, you know we’re watching the hell out of this absolute gift again. And then we’re gonna spend the next three hours cyberstalking Charles and seeing if we can find any other crumbs about who this legendary mystery woman is. For research purposes.”

“This is the most productive thing we’ve done in months and I’m not even ashamed,” Giovanni declares, cracking his knuckles in preparation for the intense social media deep dive they’re about to undertake.

***

In a crowded sports bar in Dublin, a group of die-hard Ferrari fans gather to watch the latest race. But today, there’s another bit of F1-related content that has their attention. They huddle around a phone, repeatedly watching the now-infamous TikTok video.

“Can you believe it? €10,000 just like that!” Exclaims James, a tall, lanky guy with a mop of curly hair. “I mean, I knew Charles was loaded but damn ...”

“Forget the money, did you see his girlfriend?” Tom, a stocky redhead, chimes in. “Absolutely stunning. Like, how does a race car driver land a girl like that?”

Mark, a quieter guy with glasses, rolls his eyes. “Uh, maybe because he’s Charles freaking Leclerc? The man’s a beast on the track and has the face of a Greek god. Girls probably throw themselves at him left and right.”

The guys all mutter in begrudging agreement, a note of envy coloring their voices. On screen, the video replays yet again, showing you confidently calling up your boyfriend and securing the small fortune without batting an eye.

“God, what I wouldn’t give to have a woman look at me the way she probably looks at Leclerc,” Tom sighs wistfully.

“In your dreams, mate,” James scoffs. “Girls like that are way out of our league. We can’t compete with a Ferrari paycheck and Monaco real estate.”

“Still doesn’t seem fair though,” grumbles Mark. “The dude’s already got it all — talent, fame, money. Leave some for the rest of us!”

On screen, the video reaches the part where you coolly inform the gobsmacked TikToker that you don’t need his measly €2,000 and he should donate it to an animal shelter instead. The guys let out low whistles, clearly impressed by your classy move.

“See, that right there, that’s what separates the Monegasque princess types from regular girls,” says James with an air of authority. “We would’ve taken the cash in a heartbeat.”

“Speak for yourself, I’m a man of principle,” Tom jokes, puffing out his chest exaggeratedly. The others snort and shove him playfully.

As the video ends, the guys sit back, each lost in their own wistful imaginings of what it must be like to be Charles Leclerc. To have the money, success, and effortless charm to win over a girl like you.

Mark is the first to break the contemplative silence. “Maybe we’re looking at this all wrong,” he muses thoughtfully. “I mean yeah, Charles is a lucky bastard, no doubt. But that girl, she seems like a real catch too. Like the kind of person who’d keep you humble and grounded, even when you’re a superstar athlete with the world at your feet.”

The others consider this, nodding slowly. “Fair point,” concedes Tom. “Behind every great man and all that jazz. Leclerc may have his millions but he still needs someone to call him out on his BS from time to time.”

“Exactly,” agrees Mark. “And did you hear the way he spoke to her on the phone? The dude’s completely smitten. He may have all the money and fame, but I bet she’s the real prize in his eyes.”

“Alright, alright, settle down Dr. Phil,” James interjects with a good-natured eye roll. “You gonna start writing romance novels in your spare time now? Maybe they’ll make a movie — The Tifosi Who Loved Me: A Charles Leclerc Story.”

The guys all crack up laughing at that, the tension broken. Their envy towards Leclerc’s charmed life remains, but it’s now tinged with a newfound respect and even a touch of empathy.

“Y’know, jokes aside, I do hope he realizes how lucky he is to have her and treats her right,” Mark says sincerely as their chuckles subside. “A love like that seems rare these days.”

Tom reaches over to clap Mark on the shoulder. “No worries, mate. Did you see the dopey grin on Charles’ face in those paparazzi pics of them together that came out earlier? That man is whipped with a capital W. He knows he’s got a keeper.”

“As he should,” nods James sagely. “Behind every great Ferrari champion is an even greater woman keeping his ego in check. Tale as old as time.”

On that note, the guys clink their pint glasses together, silently saluting the unnamed woman who stole the heart of Charles Leclerc and the envious admiration of Formula 1 fans worldwide. The mystery girlfriend with impeccable style and a heart of gold.

As the pre-race coverage starts up on the bar TV, the guys settle in to cheer on their favorite driver, their fleeting jealousy replaced by the camaraderie and excitement of race day. But in the back of their minds, a single wistful thought remains — what they wouldn’t give to find a love like Charles and his girl seem to share. Guess that’s just one more thing to add to the list of reasons to idolize Charles Leclerc.

***

Among the hordes of viewers obsessively replaying the clip are three best friends gathered for a girls night at a posh Parisian penthouse. Colette, the willowy blonde draped across a velvet chaise lounge, takes a sip of her champagne and shakes her head in wonder.

“God, can you imagine having a boyfriend who just casually drops 10k on you like it’s nothing? Talk about relationship goals,” she sighs dreamily.

Next to her, Nadia snorts derisively while scrolling through Instagram on her phone. “Oh please, like that’s hard to find. I bet loads of rich guys would do that for their girlfriends. It’s not that impressive.”

From her perch on a tufted ottoman, Stephanie raises a skeptical eyebrow. “Really? You think Liam would send you that kind of cash without batting an eye? Mr. I-Need-To-Check-With-My-Financial-Advisor-Before-I-Buy-A-New-Tie?”

Colette erupts into giggles at the scathing impression of Nadia’s banker boyfriend. Even Nadia cracks a reluctant smile before tossing her sleek dark hair.

“Whatever. I’m just saying, that TikTok chick’s boyfriend can’t be THAT special. I’m sure if we did the same challenge our boyfriends would come through too,” she declares with more than a hint of competitiveness in her voice.

“Oooh yes, let’s do it! Let’s recreate the video and see what happens!” Colette squeals, bouncing up and down on the chaise with excitement.

Stephanie, ever the voice of reason, looks uncertain. “I don’t know, guys ... isn’t it a bit tacky to demand money from them like that? What if they get mad?”

Nadia rolls her eyes. “Oh come on Steph, live a little! It’s just a silly experiment. Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“Okay, okay fine,” Stephanie relents, unable to resist her friends’ cajoling. “But I’m blaming you both if Omer breaks up with me over this!”

“Deal!” Colette grins impishly as she grabs her phone. “I’ll go first — let me call Henry and we’ll see if he’s as generous as Mystery Monaco Man.”

With a deep breath, she dials her property developer boyfriend and launches into her rehearsed plea as soon as he picks up. “Baby!” She whines. “You’ll never believe what happened. I’m out with the girls and my Louboutins broke! Like the heel just totally snapped off. I’m absolutely gutted, these were my faves. Is there any way you could send some money to my account so I can grab a new pair on the way home? Pleeeaaase, I’ll love you forever!”

There’s a heavy pause before Henry’s clipped voice comes through, tinged with annoyance. “Christ, again with the bloody shoes? What is it with you women and wasting my hard earned money on bits of leather you don’t need? Can’t you just take the broken ones to get fixed?”

Colette’s perfectly glossed pout trembles, her blue eyes shining with disappointed tears as Nadia and Stephanie look on in pity. “Never mind,” she mumbles. “Forget I asked. Chat later.” She hangs up and flings her phone down despondently.

“What an ass,” Nadia spits. “You deserve so much better.” Colette shrugs sadly but rallies as she turns to Stephanie expectantly.

“Okay Steph, your turn to give Omer a ring! Let’s hope he restores our faith in rich boyfriends everywhere.”

Stephanie grimaces but dutifully calls her Qatar-based hedge fund manager beau. In her most saccharine voice, she makes her case. “Habibi, you know that gorgeous YSL bag I showed you last week? It finally came back in stock but only for today! Could you maybe pop some cash in my account so I can treat myself? I’ve been working so hard lately and-”

“Wallahi Stephanie, how many handbags does one woman need?” Omer cuts her off irritably. “If I buy you this one, I don’t want to hear any more whining for designer things for at least 6 months, got it? I’ll send you 500 euros, that should more than cover it.”

“Oh. Right. Thanks, I guess ...” Stephanie replies glumly before ending the call. She shakes her head at her friends. “Well, it’s something at least?”

“Hardly,” Nadia scoffs. “These men, I swear. Okay, time for me to show you girls how it’s done. Watch and learn, ladies.”

With a confident smirk, she video calls Liam who answers distractedly, clearly still at the office despite the late hour. “This better be important Nadia, I’m right in the middle of-”

“Liam. Focus,” Nadia cuts him off crisply. “I need you to send €10,000 to my account right now. No questions asked.” She arches a commanding eyebrow, daring him to argue.

Liam just blinks at her for a moment before letting out an incredulous laugh. “I’m sorry, you need me to do what now? 10 grand, are you mad? For what possible reason?”

“To prove you love me,” Nadia retorts smugly. “I saw this thing on TikTok, some girl’s boyfriend sent her-”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Liam interrupts. “I’m not one of your little social media playthings to manipulate for views, Nadia. My money is not a toy. I’ll buy you a thoughtful gift for your birthday next month, but I’m not in the business of flinging cash at you for no reason. Now if you’ll excuse me, some of us have real work to do. Goodnight.”

With that he abruptly ends the call, leaving Nadia staring at the blank screen, a red flush of embarrassment and anger creeping up her elegant neck. Stephanie and Colette exchange knowing looks.

“So … that went well,” Stephanie quips sarcastically.

Colette sighs morosely as she flops back onto the chaise, hugging a silk pillow. “Maybe that girl’s boyfriend really is one of a kind. God, I bet she feels like the luckiest woman alive. Can you even imagine being THAT loved and adored?”

Nadia seems to deflate, her bravado evaporating. “No,” she whispers. “I can’t. You’re right, Col. Mystery Monaco Man is clearly in a league of his own. I bet he makes her feel like an absolute queen every damn day.”

Stephanie nods thoughtfully, twirling a lock of hair. “You know what though? Good for her. She seems lovely and down-to-earth in the video. If anyone deserves that fairy tale romance, it’s a girl like that who doesn’t even realize how special it is.”

“Ugh, so true. god I’m depressed now,” Colette groans, reaching for the champagne bottle to refill her glass. “To Mystery Monaco Man — may he set the standard for rich boyfriends everywhere. And to the girl who’s lucky enough to love him — may she live happily ever after and never take a single moment for granted.”

“Hear, hear,” Nadia and Stephanie chorus, clinking their glasses against Colette’s.

As the bubbles fizz on their tongues, the wistful faraway looks in their eyes betray the same thought — what they wouldn’t give to trade places with you for just a day, to know what it feels like to be cherished so completely by a man like Charles. To them, you’re living the ultimate dream.

If only they knew the best part isn’t the extravagant gestures or lavish gifts.

It’s the little moments. The soft kisses pressed to your temple. The fingers intertwined with yours. The sleepy smiles over morning coffee. The shared laughter and inside jokes. The unwavering support and unconditional acceptance. The bone-deep feeling of safety and coming home.

That’s the real fairy tale. And no amount of money could ever buy it.

***

Back in Monaco, Lando Norris slouches comfortably in his gaming chair, eyes glued to the triple monitors in front of him. He’s meant to be reviewing telemetry data in preparation for the upcoming race weekend, but the notification chime from his phone proves far too tempting. Lando picks up the device, fully intending to only glance at it for a second before dutifully returning to his work.

But then he sees it — the TikTok that at least a dozen people have sent to him in the past hour alone. Curiosity piqued, Lando clicks on the video and watches intently, his brows steadily rising towards his hairline with each passing second.

“Wait, is that ...” he mutters to himself as the clip plays out. When your boyfriend’s voice comes through the speakers, Lando’s eyes bug out comically. “Holy shit, it is Charles! And Y/N!”

A knock on the door makes Lando jump slightly. Before he can respond, a familiar mop of tousled chestnut hair pokes into the room. “Hey mate, did you see-” Max Verstappen starts to say.

“The TikTok of Charles simping hard for Y/N? Yup, watching it right now,” Lando finishes for him, eyes still glued to his phone screen in fascination.

Max invites himself into the room fully and flops down on the couch. “Absolutely crazy, right? Who just casually sends their girlfriend 10k for a random pair of shoes?”

Lando snorts. “Certainly not you, you stingy Dutchman,” he ribs playfully. Max chucks a throw pillow at him in retaliation.

“Hey, even I splurge on my girlfriend sometimes!” Max protests. “I just bought her ... erm ...” He racks his brain trying to remember the last lavish gift he purchased unprompted.

“A six-pack of Sugar Free Red Bull last week?” Lando supplies dryly.

“... Shut up.”

The two dissolve into snickers before turning their attention back to the TikTok, which has now looped to the beginning again.

“Charles is so whipped for Y/N,” Max observes, shaking his head in amused disbelief. “He’s just asking to get taken advantage of, throwing money around like that.”

“I think it’s kinda sweet,” Lando admits with a shrug. “He just wants to make her happy. Don’t act like you wouldn’t do the same if your girl asked!”

Max scoffs. “What, fall victim to a gold digger? No thanks mate.”

“Y/N’s hardly a gold digger and you know it,” Lando chides. “She works hard for her own money and buys plenty of expensive gifts for Charles too. They just like spoiling each other ‘cause they’re in luuurve.” He draws out the last word in a silly voice, making dramatic kissy faces.

“Yeah, yeah, true love and all that sappy bullshit,” Max says dismissively, though there’s no real heat behind it. “I’m just saying, no way in hell I’m sending 10k on command for a pair of fucking shoes!”

Lando hums thoughtfully. “I would.”

Max’s head whips around to stare at him incredulously. “You what.”

“If it was the right girl? Sure, I’d do it,” Lando says nonchalantly. “Maybe not for something frivolous like shoes, but if my girlfriend called me up and said she needed 10k transferred ASAP? I’d do it, no questions asked. You gotta have that level of trust.”

Clearly torn between wanting to take the piss out of his friend and feeling a reluctant sort of respect, Max just grunts noncommittally in response before turning back to rewatch the clip once more.

Debate rages online among the fans about the cute interaction. Most find the whole thing adorably romantic, cooing over what a doting and generous boyfriend Charles is. They swoon at the obvious love and care between you two, speculating excitedly in the comments about when Charles might pop the question.

Others are more cynical, rolling their eyes at Charles “simping” so hard and accusing you of only dating the Ferrari driver for his money. However, these naysayers are quickly drowned out and ratio’d by your legions of adoring supporters.

Through it all, you and Charles pay the speculation little mind, blissfully wrapped up in your fairytale romance.

Charles returns home that evening to the mouthwatering aroma of his favorite pesto pasta dish wafting from the kitchen. He grins when he spots you at the stove, swaying your hips to the sultry jazz music playing from the speaker as you stir the sauce. Quietly, he comes up behind you and slips his strong arms around your waist, pressing a kiss to your temple.

“Mmm, smells amazing,” he murmurs appreciatively.

You turn in his embrace and loop your arms around his neck, smiling radiantly up at him. “Welcome home, Cha-Cha,” you greet him, using the silly pet name that never fails to make him chuckle and scrunch his nose adorably. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

“And what’s for dessert?” Charles asks with a playful waggle of his eyebrows.

Biting your lip coyly, you untangle yourself from his arms and saunter off towards the bedroom. “Come find out after we eat. Oh, and I picked up a little something special to express my gratitude for earlier ...” you call over your shoulder with a wink.

Charles’ megawatt grin could power all of Monaco for a year. Viral TikTok or not, the Monegasque knows he’s already the luckiest man in the world to have you as his partner through this crazy ride called life.

No amount of money could ever compare to the joy of being loved by you.

[ryo-apologist]

Racer! Link

Racer! Link x Reader

CW: Smut, Minors DNI, I will block your ass, author knows nothing about racing and it shows

AN: Yes, this is about that Link. The one with the elf ears, says "Hyah!". Yeah I'm a Linked Universe Nerd. Sucks to be y'all. Keep ya guessing on which fandom has my balls this week.

~Darling XOXO

☾ So, I hesitated writing this for a number of reasons, but I decided I don't care. Hozier has a new song, April has me face down in the mattress with how hard it's fucked me and I just want to write about a Link near and and dear to my heart.

☾ Mario Kart Link.

☾ He's just a silly lil goober who's always having a good time. Especially when I play as him because what is second place? He'll never know.

☾ I know, canonically, both are Skyward Sword! Link and Breath of the Wild! Link. I do not care.

☾ Because come with me, sinner, as we explore a whole new world. A world where Mario Kart isn't a silly lil game. It's an empire.

☾ Like Fast and the Furious (I think, idk I never watched any of them). OR like sk8 the infinity at S. I do know that one.

☾ There are real things at stake here. It's intense, and it's heavy.

☾ Here, give me a break while I do some worldbuilding here. Mystery blocks are still a thing, they work by magic idk, except getting hit by one of those things is devastating. It's why the newcomers don't last long.

☾ All the main screen players (Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Inkling boy, etc.) are high level racers. They are A-listed and the ones you look out for if you see them in the lineup.

☾ Including Link himself. He drives a motorcycle he named Epona, which he built himself from scratch.

☾ I spent a lot of time (three minutes) trying to figure out a clever nickname for him, and then I saw some of the names other people gave their Linksona's and, while there's nothing wrong with them, I quickly realized I was overthinking things.

☾ It's mostly a stage name, his name is Link and outside of the raceway, he goes by it.

☾ But, for shits and giggles, and point of discerning him from the others, I don't care. Call him ratchet, greaser, racer, cypher, tank, axel, sparks. I'm giving you all the freedom! Me? Personally? I'm going to call him:

☾ Neo- a combining form meaning “new,” “recent,” “revived,” “modified,”

☾ Great I gave you some background, let's get into the fun parts.

☾ Neo, where do we begin with you.

☾ Have y'all read A Court of Mist and Fury? You know Rhysand?

☾ He's Cassian coded.

☾ LMAO You thought.

☾ He's a fun, kind-of guy but when shit gets real, he can shift from zero to a hundred like that.

☾ He'll be laughing with a newbie, patting them on the shoulder, but the second that visor comes down, he's unrecognizable. He's an A-lister for a reason.

☾ He's infamous for taking shortcuts that are insanely dangerous. He's almost always bandaged somewhere, but not his pretty boy, play bunny face.

☾ So Cassian and Lightning McQueen.

☾ He's totally the kind to shoot a wink and a flirty wave, spend the night and then be gone by morning. Or have them escorted out by his Zelda in the morning, Tony Stark style

☾ He's a slut.

☾ Can you tell I like my men slutty?

☾ And he's such a....character in bed.

☾ He's a selfish lover, but make no mistake about it. His partner gets their end. That's right. I said lover. He's fucked bowser.

☾ I'm kidding

☾ No I'm not.

☾ He doesn't care who's in his bed. Man, woman, the funky others who say FUCK YOU to the gender spectrum /pos

☾ He'll bottom, top, switch it up mid-way through. He just like me fr.

☾But he's not lazy. Selfish, yes, but lazy? No. He's the best rider both on and off Epona, yk yk.

☾ And he has such a pretty cock too. A pretty flushed pink, circumcised with such a lovely vein running up the bottom of it. And while pretty, sorry his balls aren't much to write home about.

☾ They are dangerously sensitive though. Suck on them and run your thumb along the head of his dick and he'll whimper.

☾ SPEAKING OF-

☾ He whimpers so nicely. God, when he's in the middle of bouncing up and down on you (artificial or organic both are good), and his own hands are running up his chest, plucking at his own pebbled nipples and playing with the piercings as his head is thrown back in pure bliss-

☾ He's probably sponsored by Monster Energy

☾ Has a sugar daddy FOR SURE. God wish I was HIM.

[trekmupf]

"We're all mad here" 🐇👸🔫🐯

Pro

The famous massage intro

Sulu and McCoy taking a lovely little walk together

Sulu is such a botany nerd; I love these small character moments

McCoy thinking he's loosing his last marbles

Spock literally thinking that humans go on shore leave to run up and down meadows like dogs

The way Kirk smiles when he thinks Bones is pranking him is lovely

Kirk's facial journey when he realizes McCoy and Spock played him

The first time Kirk calls McCoy Bones

The way the running is filmed and the way they run – and boy do they run in this episode

Sulu, gun enthusiast

The easy friendship between Kirk and McCoy- the way they joke and laugh with each other is so beautiful

McCoy is so beautiful in this episode, I could screenshot every second. He smiles so much and is so at ease, I mean

Continuing what we know from E3 Kirk wasn't the super cool Bro at the academy but actually the bookworm people bullied

Kirk saying that Ruth hasn't aged a day since they last were together ages ago, and the actress being the same age as Shatner when we see her... canon Kirk being into older woman okay.

McCoy rolled a natural 20 on charisma

me @ yeoman Borrows being super into McCoy's flirting: same girl same

Also I actually like that for once McCoy is the one having a little romance and getting to flirt / be desired, which is rare (because he's older and not the leading man; Tumblr, of course, disagrees)

every time the tiger is on screen I remember that Shatner literally wanted to fight it and it makes me laugh

fake character death trope! (also Bones is a beautiful corpse)

Spock like no offence lady, I'm to gay for this, Spock out

“Did you have fun guys?” “Yes we did Mr Spock” wink emoji implied, like you guys know it sounds like you had group sex right

the setting and scenery is beautiful and a nice change

the score underlines the whimsy and lightness of the episode

the premise is so silly but works well. I miss episodes like this on modern TV, just some downtime with no large scale danger, war or plot, just silly crew shenanigans that gives us more time to spend with our guys

sometimes Sci-fi has great special effects, and sometimes they just hold an antenna really close to the camera and call it a day and I love that

I'm Yeoman Borrows; Look at him being all happy

Con

McCoy's death has no lasting impact on anyone, it's just a short time plot device and then gets shelved for more adventure / silly time; Even though he does come back, I wish it wouldn't have been so trivialized here

weird wind chime sound effects of the planet

Finnegan as a character is super obnoxious and too over the top (which is saying something in the episode with Alice in wonderland)

especially the second confrontation takes ages, especially as we now have more pressing matters in the narrative

treatment of yeoman Borrows (We already know weird things are going on based on what McCoy saw, yet Kirk doesn't believe her and shows zero empathy towards her distress), also her main purpose is damsel in distress

Kirk is a bit slow to unravel the mystery and almost stupid at times? It might be excused by him using the opportunity to let go of his responsibility and being with Angela / letting out his anger with Finnegan

the amount of references and jumping between visions is too jumbled and all over the place, which is why the pacing is off. some bits are so short, they'd better be cut (Rodriguez side adventure) and some just go on (Finnegan)

Counter: Shirt rip Kirk

Quote: "You've got your problems, I've got mine. But he's got ours, plus his, plus 430 other people" - McCoy about Kirk Moment: Opening Scene, where Kirk thinks Spock is massaging him and being super uncomfortable when its a female crew member

Summary: Silly and light episode with no deeper meaning but some great character moments, funny scenes and further development of the interpersonal relationships

In another universe this is a classical painting

Previous Episode - Next Episode - All TOS Reviews

[wttcsms]

💖 second couple syndrome! one shot event;

˗ˏˋ second couple syndrome ´ˎ˗ when you find yourself rooting for/being more invested in the secondary couple as opposed to the main pairing

˗ˏˋ about this event ´ˎ˗ just like how secondary couples don't get much screen time to develop their story, this event is accepting requests only for characters that are underloved, underappreciated, and/or undervalued. whether it's because they're forgotten by the fandom in general, the fandom itself is underrated, or their canon screen time totals up to six minutes and five lines of dialogue, it doesn't matter. this event is their shot at being the main character and getting the happy ending for once!

˗ˏˋ more about this event ´ˎ˗ going with the secondary couple theme & playing on the fact that this is for the more "forgotten" characters, the prompt requests are going to be based on pairings that would most likely be the usual secondary couple's trope!

˗ˏˋ rules ´ˎ˗ -> this is for underrated characters only. while there's no hard min/max, if i look up your requested little guy and he has more than 4 pages worth of fics on ao3 or his tumblr x reader tag is very much still active, i don't want to see that request!! for ex: don't ask for oikawa or gojo. be so for real with me rn -> please specify whether you want nsfw or sfw. -> the prompts to pick from aren't hardcoded, meaning it doesn't have to be that specific au!! if you want, i can tailor it to canon, or if you kinda get the gist of what i was getting at, you can follow that pattern & create your own 'second couple pairing trope' <;3 -> fandoms i write for: haikyuu, bnha, blue lock, cod, jujutsu kaisen, aot, genshin impact, honkai star rail

˗ˏˋ prompts to pick from ´ˎ˗ -> instead of the ceo x secretary, it's the ceo's right hand man x the secretary's bestie -> instead of the troubled pop star x heart of gold bf, it's the pop star's stressed out manager x pop star's equally stressed out publicist -> instead of the high ranking employee x lower ranked employee, it's the two interns who are both competing for the one full-time offer -> instead of the good girl x mysterious bad boy, it's the good girl's boy best friend (who's been hopelessly in love with her for a while) x the new girl in town who's her complete opposite -> instead of the college tutor x the athlete, it's the athlete's coach x the athlete's professor whose class they're failing -> instead of the dilf x babysitter, it's the newly divorced woman x her new hot neighbor that's always willing to lend a hand -> instead of the down on her luck stripper x rich ceo (who just happens to be at a strip club??), it's the sarcastic nightclub bouncer x babyfaced reader whose real ID he just broke -> instead of the barista x her future sugar daddy, it's the owner of the cafe x the owner of the cafe's biggest competitor -> instead of the lawyer x down on their luck client, it's the police officer x the district attorney -> instead of the mortal x the god, it's the two immortal gods who've had a bone to pick with each other for eons -> instead of the journalist x the celeb, it's the up and coming podcaster/social media star x their number one hater -> instead of the normal girl x the ceo getting into a marriage of convenience, it's the ceo's shopaholic sister x the normal girl's brother who happens to be the deliveryman -> instead of the hot, rich older man x the poor naive girl, it's the hot, rich older man x the spoiled heiress who's not so easy to impress or get -> instead of the maneater x womanizer, it's the happy go lucky lover girl x cute lovable idiot with zero game & has never had a girlfriend ever -> instead of the soldier x the civilian, it's the mercenary-for-hire x spy on the run -> instead of the knight x the princess, it's the king's royal advisor x the princess's lady-in-waiting

˗ˏˋ requests ´ˎ˗

[sydneyofalltrades]

Okay here is my post about my Ride the Cyclone ✨animation/animatic✨ ideas I’ve been formulating but never really posted bc I cannot draw for the life of me 🥲

@gay-little-axolotl read at your own risk (you’ll be here a while, trust me)

Karnak’s Dream of Life

Basically the exact same as in the show, headless body singing eerily, finding a little doll and popping off the head

there’s a shot of Karnak’s machine at the end of the song which snaps into Welcome…, which is just talk so we don’t need to animate that shit

Fall Faire Suite/Uranium Suite

Since I love them both, I’m writing their ideas both in the same category

When the kids start singing at the beginning of the song, all six of them are in the bandshell, Penny included

However, every time we think we actually get a good look at Penny, something coincidentally blocks her face, whether it be Mischa’s figure, Ocean’s arm, a quick shot of Ricky playing the tambourine, shit like that

The world is in full color while the kids are alive (I’ll explain why that’s important in a sec)

As Karnak explains how the kids got into the accident, we see them get into the coaster*, Ricky needing help from Mischa and Noel, and we see the ride function as normal

In Uranium Suite, you can hear Jane vocalizing ominously in the background, and that little warning sign is present in the way the kids are all a little tense

Once Karnak says “hurtling the children to their deaths,” the color is gone. The kids are drawn in white outlines and all there is is a black screen

During Fall Faire Suite, each kid goes back in color as they speak, only for it to disappear once they’re done

During the “sailing through space” bit, they’re back on the coaster, in slow motion as it falls, then quickly cuts to them in purgatory

“Empty streets of empty shops” has Ocean taking apart little buildings and Constance scooping up the pieces to make a mall

“Smart ones all packed up and went” has Noel dragging out a bunch of suitcases and Mischa labeling the abandoned houses for sale

Very few visuals of Penny are shown, like she disappeared without a trace

“Did we finally leave our town?” has them all in color for a second, then back to white.

Meet Jane Doe

Ocean whispers her line, Karnak says his, and BAM! Spotlight from nowhere

Foreshadowing TBOJD, Jane floats as she’s introduced, and touches ground once she speaks

As she speaks, flashes of the aftermath of the incident show up

“They found my body/not my head” has professionals finding the kids’ bodies, and flashlights looking for Penny’s head

“No parents came” actually has a little boy with a black cape running to the headless girl, screaming a name no one hears

“My life, an unsolved mystery” has pictures of Penny with the choir, her face always strategically covered

What the World Needs

Here we go with the solos!! Ocean’s in color in her song, along with everything she interacts with, the others are in black and white

Ocean wears a varsity jacket with her name in the back, along with a blue shirt that says “Vote for Ocean!” with her hair in a ponytail with a bandana

The others are dressed in “Vote Ocean” propaganda, but whenever Ocean herself insults them, they become newspaper clippings of the people she’s calling them (sandwich artist, security guard, Wal-Mart greeter)

“The move” has Ocean dancing in a club

“The shake” has an earthquake that is covered by a statue of her

“The headline maker” has a newspaper thrown on screen with a headline saying “World’s Greatest Woman!” and a snazzy picture of Ocean

During the second verse, as Ocean is berating Mischa, Constance, and Ricky, there’s a story book-esque animation of each of her interpretations of their lives, under smaller, less important articles

“And as we move through life” is a sliding shot of Ocean standing on top of the world, with the others tiny and insignificant

As the “zeros” bit happens, a big fat 0 is written over everyone’s newspaper picture, and Ocean rips up the paper as she just shoves the thought aside

For the climax, the world spins as Ocean stands on top of it, with the others just barely catching up to admire her and her glory

Final shot is EXACTLY like the 2016 promo shot, her on top of everyone in a human pyramid

Noel’s Lament (TW: drinking, smoking, mu*der, s//h)

Now Noel’s Lament was more fluid for me to think of. Noel himself and his reality is grey, but when he sings about Monique or from her perspective, the world is bright and alive

Noel doesn’t do the quick change, it’s a transition shot from his iconic pose to Monique in a similar stance

The “good girls call me the town bicycle” is Constance and Jane in their costumes (beauteous dresses of the time) whispering while Monique walks past

Claude is Ocean. I will not elaborate (psst she’s in a suit with the cutest low ponytail)

“Ten! Times! In! His! Back!” shows the stabbing, but cuts to Monique holding a cigarette innocently

“Never ending carnival” is a revolving shot of Monique’s hand holding booze, a cigarette, and another man’s hand

The accordion (piano if you’re a 2016 bootleg fan) solo has the little nischa dance, i literally cannot take that away

“I think I am in love with you” cuts to a close up of Monique’s eyes widening a little, whether in fear or in recollection, I’ll leave that up to you

“I give in to the fantasy” is like a little spicy cut, that’s all im saying

“for i sing sONGs” has people passing Monique by as she trips on the road scrounging up some loose change, and she moves into an empty alleyway

Time passes a little, and there are deep lines in Monique’s face and her eyes are heavy with lack of sleep

“In some rat infested Chinese dive” is just Monique smoking alone in an alleyway, pressing the hot cigarette to her arm to try and get a reaction

“Eight months later” is Noel telling the story, then the little gasp is a quick shot of Monique’s eyes filling with tears

We see her forced out of the house and she desperately drags herself through an alley

She’s slumped against a wall when Ricky as the priest approaches her

During the first “for I sing songs,” we see through Monique’s hazy eyes as she spots a bottle of booze and drags herself towards it

We see her drink it, and then her hand goes limp and the bottle shatters

In the real world, Noel’s now in costume, standing on that chair

During the climax, Noel’s singing face is projected over flashes of Monique’s life, her tragedy shown in clips and hastily sewn together

And finally, the song ends with Noel draped against the chair, the others surrounding him

Every Story’s Got a Lesson

Short and simple, but Ocean snaps about Noel’s song and Karnak deadpans

As Ocean says “No.. every story has a lesson!” she finds a grad cape and cap and throws it on

As she sings, a blackboard appears with the words of the song written in chalk

The others, also in capes and caps, whistle and sing along

Somehow Karnak gets a hat on his head too

This Song is Awesome

Unlike Ocean and Noel, since being a rapper isn’t Mischa’s dream or desire, he’s black and white while the others are in full color, along with the contents of his music video

You read that right. Music. Video.

Specifically a music video shot by a seven year old with a short attention span and edited by a bunch of preschoolers

Not that it’s bad, it’s just got focus on things that are irrelevant, the editing goes insane, there’s a brief moment where Jane is literally photoshopped into the sky (TBOJD ref hehe)

Mischa wears a black and gold tracksuit but since it’s black and white you wouldn’t really tell

The others are Mischa’s background dancers, wearing blue and white

Basically every single time Mischa says “awesome,” the word is like edited onto the screen like a history teacher’s presentation

There are really good shots tho, like Mischa driving a convertible to the Hard Rock Cafe with Noel and Ricky

Surprisingly there is a Learjet in the video, no one really knows how that got there

The girls are all fawning over him in the club and then he sees a girl wearing punkish clothes and a white flowy skirt and the music video falls apart

Talia

The second Mischa lays eyes on Talia, the color slightly blooms into the video and he walks over to her

Instead of a photo of her, he genuinely talks to her, and you can see the love and care he has for her

When the others come back, they’re not in a club anymore, they’re out in a garden in a traditional Ukrainian wedding

While the girls escort “Talia,” who’s now been replaced with Jane, the boys help Mischa get prepared

When Mischa and Jane finally do interact, instead of Jane’s doll face, it’s Talia’s big brown eyes and warm smile that greets Mischa

They dance together, happily in love, with the others singing cheerfully in the background

Then Talia is suddenly ripped away from Mischa as he falls, falls, falls from the rollercoaster

As he does, his phone, also falling, flashes a picture of Talia on the lock screen

Mischa’s now in normal clothes, staring at the picture, while the others just dance around him, it’s a whole vibe

Then it cuts to Mischa and Talia in a grainy video, Mischa picks Talia up, spins her around, and she kisses him

Space Age Bachelor Man

I have SO MANY ideas for this song so this is gonna be LONG!

Song starts with Ricky alone, a single spotlight illuminating him in black and white.

“Others from outer space” has a peculiar spacecraft arriving in front of Ricky

Once those claps start, you know it’s gonna be wild

The spacecraft opens and spills a light that makes Ricky come into color, and the boys, in Zolarian couture, alert Ricky of their duty

When Ricky arrives on Zolar, the girls, now space aliens with tails and cat ears, practically throw themselves into his arms

“The naughty/holy daughters of the realm” has a shot of Ricky being crowdsurfed (for lack of a better term) through a sea of cat ladies

Um before the guitar solo, Ricky kisses Cat!Ocean. I don’t make the rules

Now the.. that scene is kept covered for a reason, so naturally I’d also just use shadows to convey wtf is happening then

“Now there is a new challenge” has the boys worried in front of holographic screens showing K-9’s enemy fleet

“For they’re at war with K-9!” had Ricky bursting out with the wildest, sexiest, most glittery costume you could EVER expect and it is everything to me

Suddenly everyone’s holding a laser gun and that makes Ricky freak out

So instead of announcing war, he goes to a podium and explains his desire of peace, which is broadcast to K-9’s fleet (idk how, i just think it’s funny)

“And they listened/and they heard my message” is Ricky breaking the fourth wall, pausing the action Emperor’s New Groove style before going back to the scheduled programming

The rest of the song is basically then partying in the spacecraft as it sends Ricky back home to Earth

The Ballad of Jane Doe

Jane, in a plain white dress, is alone. And everything is black and white. Not a single sliver of color anywhere

Everyone else is in funeral wear, however they pay no attention to Jane, like she was never human to begin with

We see Jane play with the decapitated doll and a rollercoaster toy, watching as it went up, then fall out of the seat

Every so often a flash of color and the faintest hint of a life beyond Jane is shown, but it’s so brief there’s no way to actually see it

As Jane begs St. Peter to let her into heaven(?), Jane tries to look for a helping hand but no one assists

“Wont you tell me at last who I am?” has Jane reaching out, not just to the sky, but to the funeral goers who can’t seem to notice her

Then we cut to Ja/enny (flashes between perspectives) in the rollercoaster, and how she lost her head

As Jane starts flying, her pleads become angry, more scornful since no one is giving her answers, but she’s still getting only tiny flashes. Not even a face, just a feeling or an emotion

“Time eats all his children” is Jane standing ominously, slowly pointing out into the non-existent crowd

“A melody floats through the air” has her flying through the funeral, the others ignoring her as she desperately tries to find herself. Her name

She flies through the graves, her desperation becoming more and more apparent

There’s a flash of a baby, a little boy, a monkey puppet, a thermos

Then Jane stops in front of a freshly dug grave, and she knows it’s her own. But its headstone is unmarked

And she just cries as the funeral goers surround the tomb of the empty girl

The New Birthday Song

Also short and sweet

Everyone wears a birthday outfit and Jane has the cape and hat

As she stands in the middle of the circle, holding the cupcake, the others dance around her

Then Constance gently nudged her arm and gestures to the cupcake

(Jane tries to eat it but Constance blows it out first)

Jawbreaker & Sugar Cloud

Lumping them both bc of the themes

We see the accident through Constance’s eyes. See the way it rose, then suddenly fell

“My heart just welled up” is a shot of Constance’s eyes widening, her terrified face morphing gently into a smile

As this happens, the flashbacks of the mundane things Constance learned to love are shown over it. We see her going back to bed, hanging upside down, her brother, her friends

And she starts to laugh as the coaster falls. And tears spill from her eyes as she does

In the present, Constance, in white outlining, wipes away her tears and collects herself for Sugar Cloud

As the song begins, we see a little flashback of Constance as a little girl given her first jawbreaker. She’s excited, then starts slowly sucking away the layers and gets visibly disappointed

“At first it seems so sweet” shows some clips of Constance growing up, and then she just loses the sparkle in her eye and spring in her step

Then the song starts to pick up and color arrives, everywhere as Constance just siblings merrily

Constance and the others aren’t in the warehouse anymore, they’re in the skies of blue, pink, gold, and purple

Constance jumps through a gold, pink, and blue cloud and emerges with her outfit, a pink jacket over a gold top and blue flats. A pink top hat attached to a headband is on her head

Twirling a cane, Constance genuinely sings happily with the others as they dance and jump through the multicolored clouds

The recorder solo is as memorable as always, with the others hyping Connie on by dancing and cheering excitedly

With no guilt in her heart, Constance happily shouts from the top of the sugary puffs her love for everything in her life, and the others happily back her up

It’s Not a Game/It’s Just a Ride

At this point in time, everyone’s back in their normal uniforms, drawn in their white outlines

The portal’s light gives Jane color, as she’s the one the others picked

Before Jane goes through the portal, she hugs Constance and Ricky, then steps through

A slideshow of clips appear showing of Penny’s life, before and after LEGOLAND, and the others all cuddle together to watch

As the slideshow goes by, the others are overlayed above it, so we can see their expressions now that Penny was brought back

As Penny grows older, she’s closer to her brother, she gets married, has children, is happy

When the slideshow starts showing clips of Penny growing much older, a clip is shown of children pointing at a picture

Older Penny takes a look at it and smiles. “They were my friends,” she seems to say, gently holding the picture of her and the choir

As she dies, Karnak says his final line as Virgil cuts the power cable

As sparks fly and the kids huddle close, they learn they’re not five. They’re six

Penny had come back to the afterlife after her death and the six of them were alone, in their white outlines

“But it’s not a game, it’s not a game” has Ocean picking up pieces of their outfits. A “Vote Ocean” pin, a feather boa, and black and gold cap, a cat ear headband, a doll with no head, a headband with a hat

“It’s just a ride!” has the kids in their outfits actually riding the Cyclone in full color, passing the loop that ended their lives and finishing the ride

*Now that they finished the ride in the afterlife, they all get out of the rollercoaster and reminisce about life together

“We’re all just sailing through space” is the kids as they revolve through all their outfits of the show, while talking about their lives, and their death

“It’s just a ride” has them all holding hands and spinning around, wearing the outfits for their individual songs

Then they fall to the floor and smile as they’re all together again

“And the world will keep on spinning/With no ending or beginning” has flashes of their songs, Ocean’s victory pose, Noel’s dramatic end, Mischa stopping his video, the couple’s fateful kiss, Ricky and his cat warriors, Penny taking Jane’s place on her named grave, and Constance in sugary clouds

Now in their uniforms, the Saint Cassian Chamber Choir is just a group of friends, who are all together and happy in the afterlife forever

“I know this dream of life is never ending” cuts to a girl with French braids waking up on the ground. She stands up and sees the light of the sun

“It goes around and ‘round and ‘round again” shows six friends, bonded by fate and together through time

THIS IS PROBABLY MY LONGEST EVER POST BUT I LOVE IT SO HAHA

[forlornmelody]

Queer Movie Review # : Glass Onion

When I set out to watch this Glass Onion, I never suspected I'd one day be writing a review of it. After all, I only take the time to review queer movies. And while many on Tumblr theorized that Benoit Blanc might be gay, I needed it to be canon. And I got my wish! And Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is such a fun romp. I enjoyed it even more than the first installment.

In the early days of the pandemic, five eccentric and wealthy individuals recieve a mysterious puzzle box from the equally eccentric billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton.) Benoit Blanc also recieves the box at his partner's apartment. (Say that five times fast. I dare you.) Once they solve the puzzle, it breaks into an onion, giving them the date, time, and coordinates of a luxurious weekend at Bron's private island. Bron has a unique murder mystery for them to solve: his own. (Sorry to disappoint everyone, but he's still alive.) Turns out, someone is dead at the party. But who? Time for Blanc to flex, this time with a mystery helper.

While Knives Out coded Benoit Blanc as queer, Glass Onion confirms it, albeit quietly. The movie simply shows Blanc's domestic partner, Phillip (played by Hugh Grant), answering the door with an apron and oven mitts. Then we see Blanc playing Among Us in Phillip's bathtub. It's such a simple note, but it says so much. Fans also point out the screen where Birdie (Kate Hudson) hits on Blanc rather aggressively. But maybe it's just me, even as a pan woman, I find Birdie's behavior in that scene severely unattractive, regardless of my sexual orientation. Can we as fandoms stop perpetuating that men automatically want the attention of women if they're attractive? Anyway.

Knives Out felt like a traditional murder mystery. Glass Onion had so many twists and turns--it made my head spin. And I loved it. Everyone in the movie has a secret, but the secret to the mystery hides in plain sight.

I enjoyed Knives Out, but I LOVE Glass Onion. I'd totally watch it again, even though I know how the mystery is solved. (Edit: I watched it a second time, with my girlfriend. I have zero regrets.) I recommend this film to EVERYONE.

Queer Movie Review Masterpost

Recommend A Queer Movie

[breezybeej]

The Emergent Narrative in Elden Ring

I've been wanting to talk about this since I met brother Corhyn but I waited because I wanted to see how far my story would carry me. And the answer was all the way. Warning that I will be spoiling some major plot points in the game.

I started Elden Ring with next to no knowledge of the plot. I had watched zero videos, read zero synopses, nothing. At the character creation screen, I said, "I want to walk into this with a backstory." I saw that confessor was a starting class and came up with one very easily:

A woman of mid-high rank in a religious order. The high priests falsely accused her of heresy and had her burned alive. That inspired this appearance. Meet Estrelle:

I fell in love with this look so hard that the only headgear I ever wore was the commoner's headband. I wanted to see this.

So I enter The Lands Between. I am told of the Elden Lord and what needs to be done to deliver these lands from their current catastrophe.

One of the first things I find is a book of prayers. I take it to a priest named Corhyn. The prayers turn out to be heresy against the dominant religion (the Golden Order is the presiding power). I am immediately hooked because my character was accused of the same in my own made up backstory. So I immediately start exploring what counts as heresy in these lands because if my own order could be led astray, could not the Golden Order?

After some time, I meet Miriel who is a pastor of divine wisdom. He hits me with this line which was nothing short of absolution:

"Heresy is not native to the world; it is but a contrivance. All things can be conjoined."

From here on, all heretical writings were brought to Miriel because I know he will teach without judgment.

As the game progressed, I learned more of the Golden Order, of how the church maintained a social hierarchy alongside the royalty in the capital city of Leyendell. One thing to know about the lands between is that it grows more destitute the farther away from the capital you travel. The Fringelands, they are called, where societies become so desperate for change that they enact abominations upon themselves and others in the hopes of finding a power that can unseat the current Lord.

It turns out that most of these religions--but primarily the Golden Order--answer to the Greater Will which is a mysterious eminence beyond understanding which bequeaths power to those deemed fit to hold the title of Lord etc etc. Allegedly, only a select few understand the machinations of the Greater Will. Estrelle had heard all this before. Hogwash, we'll call it.

So the seed is planted in my mind. The social hierarchy needs to be overturned and the influence of the Greater Will needs to be cut off.

That's when I met Ranni the Witch. As it turns out, she had some similar ideas to me. She was selected as Lord-worthy but she wants nothing to do with that. She wants the Lands to be without a lord. Through her, I discover it is possible to kill the ones who are enacting the Greater Will's manipulations. All I have to do is carve a path for her.

So I do. During all this, I also discover that the loss of Death in this realm can be undone. That the strange immortality that many experience can be cut off. So I can simultaneously bring back the concept of mortality and end the meddling of an outside entity and destroy the societal constructs that are causing so much inequality.

And then something magical happens. You see, my primary companion has been a woman named Melina. She tells me that, in order to progress, she will have to sacrifice herself to the fires of creation. I am saddened at this news but she seems determined. I know how horrendous death by fire is. This young woman does not deserve this fate.

But someone tells me there's another way. I have to explore this if I can save Melina. I learn of the Frenzied Flame. It represents chaos. I go through hell to find this flame and an the way, I find one of the most powerful images in the game. One of the lowly wretches, one who follows the frenzy, one who is emaciated, blind, poor, and-- to the understanding of the Order--unable to experience grace, is playing an instrument. He is sitting on a ledge and playing a mournful tune and I sit and listen to him for a long while. This man in the middle of all the strife and chaos is creating something beautiful. I am determined to put an end to the Golden Order. The meek shall inherit.

I press on into the lair of the Frenzied Flame and I'm shocked to learn that it is one of the agents of the Greater Will, though it is not connected to the others, it seems. So I enact a plan. I ally myself with the frenzied flame because I need it to spare Melina an excruciating death. I do not intend to maintain this allegiance. There is a cost, however. The flame engulfs my body and I think "I was killed by fire, I know this pain and I can withstand it."

Melina, upon learning of this, believes I have thrown my hat in with a force that will ruin the world. She abandons me but that is fine as long as she lives. So I use the flame to gain access to the inner realms of the kingdom (which involves me, once again, sacrificing myself to fire.) My character is covered in scars from the repeated burnings. I look like this now:

Something interesting happened, though, when I severed my connection with the frenzied flame. Something subtle that had no impact on the literal narrative of the game but which made me lose my mind. Estrelle's vision was restored.

By sacrificing herself through the frames of frenzy and then again to access the inner realms, by choosing to submit to fire to save her friend, Estrelle found herself with her useless eye renewed.

Quite literally, she could see what needed to be done. This was a sign, not from God, not from the Greater Will, not from any holy text, but from within her own body, her own soul.

Along the way, she discovered an ability. In game terms, it was the Inescapable Frenzy incantation but essentially you grab someone by the head and forcibly make eye contact with them and your force of will drives them to insanity. The description of this ability reads:

"To gaze into one another's eyes is truly the most intimate form of human contact."

One of the last obstacles in my way was someone determined to maintain, even increase, the influence of the Golden Order. When Estrelle grabbed him and looked into his eyes, when she opened wide both windows into her soul, it overwhelmed this tiny man and his understanding of the world and he fucking died.

I was fucking losing my mind at this point. All of this storyline was happening because of a random decision I made to come up with an arbitrary backstory that was created before I knew any of the game's plot.

I carry on with the game and finally defeat the current Elden Lord. From here, unfortunately, I have to choose one ending. Either Ranni's path or the path of restoring death to the lands. In my heart, I know that both things happen though in the 'canon' only one does.

And this is how I ended Elden Ring. Someone who died in flames at the hand of religious abuse proudly bearing the molten scars of repeated fiery sacrifice to free The Lands Between from the influence of 'gods' who do no more than subjugate the poor and unfortunate.

There are so many other connections in the game to this backstory but this post would be like 4 times longer if I tried to go through all of it and most of them are not as Holy Shit Big as these were.

[freakshowrefugee]

Spoilers for Bayo 3 ahead!!!

Aight I'm playing Bayonetta 3 rn and I have some thoughts that I HAVE to share for the sake of my mental health. In no particular order:

LUKAON??? Bro the entire Luka plot in this game is almost impressively cringy. Who the fuck plays Bayonetta 1 & 2 and thinks—hmm, this Luka fellow should DEFINITELY become central to the plot for this game to REALLY work. Also, they somehow managed to write out any sort of endearing characteristics of the Luka from previous games?? New Luka's entire personality until now seems to be "uhhhh, me man find woman pretty". I won't even get into the masterclass in bad writing (and bad design tbh) that is "Lukaon" (henceforth named Whiter Luka in this rant). If they were going for a "mysterious stranger" kind of vibe, personally I think they fucking failed miserably. B3Luka is only Luka in name and (arguably) appearance. He has the depth of a blank piece of paper.

I fucking HATE playing as Viola, and this colors my opinion of the character too. No shade to the voice actress, I'm sure she did her best with what she was given, but I have audibly groaned almost every time she appeared on screen. I was okay with the idea of her being an edgy, cringy teen, but she eats up SO much fucking screentime that it becomes jarring. Her gameplay is painfully monotonous, even though I find Cheshire adorable, and her controls are stiffer and very limiting in comparison to Bayonetta herself. Gameplay-wise, Viola is everything a Bayonetta game should NOT be (in my opinion)—LIMITING.

Speaking of limiting, the Jeanne levels. Now, anyone who knows me knows that Jeanne is my queen, but HOLY FUCK those levels. Again, controls do not feel right, level design is atrocious and it all feels like a slog to go through. Why did they think we needed more gimmick levels for the love of fuck?? Why can't I just play Bayonetta in my Bayonetta fucking game? They did my queen dirty, on God...

Why the FUCK are we not exploring the Bayonetta alternative selves more??? There is so much fucking potential, the Egyptian version seems genuinely fascinating to explore, but NOPE!! Why should the Bayonetta game be about Bayonetta when it can be about new character we don't give a shit about and comic-relief-side-character that the writers PROMISE is srs bsns bro, I swear. Ask yourself this, if you were given the choice, would you follow the Viola storyline? I'm genuinely fucking curious.

Ngl, I'm not crazy about the gameplay. It's too much, too fast, nothing seems to matter and nothing is special. They constantly throw enemies at us with no sense of pacing or progression. Same for weapons. Remember the Grace & Glory entrance cutscene from the first game? Remember how memorable that was? Well, hope you DIDN'T like that, cause Bayo 3 will likely never give you that feeling. It's the DEFINITION of too much, too quickly. When everything is meant to be special, nothing is really special. Bayonetta 3 is flashy, for sure, but it feels shallow, at least on the first playthrough. I fucking hate saying this, but I'm genuinely disappointed. I think there are some good bones. I would love to be able to use the new weapons and techniques in a better designed, petter paced game (like Bayonetta 1), but as it stands, playing 3 feels cheap. When I got hit in Bayo 1 I never felt frustration, because most enemies and arenas were designed to allow you to experiment and figure out your own play style. With Bayo 3 I have literally dropped my controller out of frustration (usually when playing Viola). Listen, if be okay with Viola if she was an optional character, like King Zero from the first game or Rosa from the second. As she is, she makes me NOT want to fucking play the game, which is insanely frustrating.

The Crow and Cat umbran tears illustrate the weaknesses of Bayonetta 3's controls VERY fucking well. Why so many fucking gimmicks?? Who plays Bayonetta for the Route 666 and beginning of Isla del Sol, WHO??? Because they would probably love Bayonetta 3.

The world is sadly also quite poorly designed. Everything which shares an aesthetic blends together and orientation without a map of some sorts is a logistical nightmare. Again, it seems like they took the worst parts of Bayo 1 and filled 3 to the brim with them. Gimmicks, backtracking, the fact that you can MISS verses because of the poor map design.

It bears repeating, but this is very personal thing and less of a critique. I don't care about Viola. I don't care about Luka or Whiter Luka. I don't care about the Singularity or Sigurd. I'm. Or even curious about them at this point. Why was Bayonetta relegated to a side character in a game that is NAMED AFTER HER?? I care more about Ed and Edna than I do all previous individuals mentioned. The story of Bayonetta was never great, even in 1, but it was held together by memorable characters. You can't TELL me that a character is memorable, you have to show me. Even the character of Bayo herself has suffered as a result of the poor writing. The depth of her personality is nowhere to be found in 3. And no, it's not the voice change, I love Hale's work and she is doing a great job. We overlooked faults in the story in Bayo 1 (and arguably 2) because the gameplay loop was satisfying. Bayo 3 doesn't have that. And it makes me really fucking sad...

[storiesforallfandoms]

permanently ~ corpse husband

word count: 1456

request?: yes!

“Corpse husband x female reader. The reader is corpse wife but they keep there really private only a few people know that corpse is married, one day people start asking corpse if he is seeing someone and corpse doesn’t know if he wants to reveal he’s married because he worried she will get hate so he talks to the reader about it and his worries and the reader comforts him about his worries. Later corpse reveals in a video that hes married and everyone really happy and supportive of his marriage.”

description: in which he reveals a surprising secret to his fans after months of questions about his love life

pairing: corpse x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist (one, two)

It started when his fans heard her speak during a stream.

Corpse had been careful to keep his love life a secret for so long. He loved his fans, but he knew that if he even gave the slightest indication that he was seeing someone, the more extreme of his fanbase would go looking for her. He didn’t want any hate messages sent her way, she didn’t deserve any of that.

They had been so careful. (Y/N) would stay away from Corpse’s streaming room while he was streaming, or she’d sit next to him and make zero noise. Luckily, (Y/N) wasn’t famous, so they were able to share pictures and videos on her private social media accounts.

She had slightly pushed open the door to his streaming room one night, trying her best to make as little noise as possible in case his mic was on. Corpse noticed her from the corner of his eyes and turned to look at her.

“Mic off?” she whispered. Corpse chuckled and nodded. “I sent you a text but you didn’t respond. I’m gonna go get something to eat, do you want anything picked up?”

“I’m good for now, thank you.”

(Y/N) smiled and crossed the room to give him a kiss before leaving again.

For the half hour she was gone, (Y/N) lived in ignorant bliss, unaware of the chaos happening online.

When she got home, she found her husband pacing the kitchen. Concern was written all over his face, and it deepened when (Y/N) walked through the front door.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“The mic wasn’t off,” he said.

(Y/N) knew what he meant immediately, but she still couldn’t help but ask, “What?”

“When you came in during my stream, I thought I had shut my mic off, but I didn’t. My viewers heard us talking, and they heard us kiss. The chat went wild and it’s trending on Twitter already; #corpsesmysterywoman.”

(Y/N) grabbed her phone and went into Twitter. It was the top trend and it was flooded with tweets that ran from shocked to supportive and happy to, of course, hateful.

“On the plus side,” she started, “they’ll never be able to identify me just by my voice.”

“Doesn’t mean they won’t try.”

(Y/N) sighed as she watched Corpse start to bite his fingers, something he did whenever his anxiety ran high. She felt bad for him. He shouldn’t have to worry about his fans having a negative reaction about their marriage, and he definitely shouldn’t feel like he was to blame if his fans found her, which she knew he would.

(Y/N) touched Corpse’s shoulder, causing him to stop and look up at her. She took his hands in hers, wiping away the blood he had drawn.

“It’s okay,” she assured him. “We’ll get through this. Besides, I’m a big girl. I can handle this if anything happens.”

Corpse nodded. “I know, I just didn’t want you to be brought into this.”

“It was bound to happen eventually. Could’ve been worse.”

Corpse wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. She hugged him back, dreading the next time he’d have to go online.

~~~~~~

A week passed and the buzz around Corpse’s “mystery woman” did not die down. The hashtag trended for two days, and his fans were still speculating on Twitter. Corpse took some time off social media in hopes it would all blow over, but it became evident very soon that it would not. Everyone was still tweeting him about it, and it even began to escalate to people would ask Corpse’s friends during their streams.

Enough was enough, and Corpse decided it was time to address the issue.

He announced he would be doing a Q&A stream on his Twitter. Within seconds, the stream was trending.

(Y/N) sat on the floor next to Corpse’s chair as he set his stream up. She could see he was shaking with anxiety over the situation. She put a hand on his leg, bringing his attention to her.

“It’ll be okay,” she assured him. “I promise.”

Corpse gave her the best smile he could muster. He laced his fingers through hers, trying to calm himself down. Before he could back out of it, he started the stream.

The chat flooded with questions immediately, most of which were asking about her. Corpse was able to avoid these questions for as long as he could, until someone donated a super chat question specifically asking about Corpse’s relationship status.

“Are you taken?” he read. “Well, I guess I can’t get around it now. The answer is yes, I am taken, and I am taken permanently.”

The chat went wild at this. Corpse’s hands began to shake again and (Y/N) squeezed the one she was holding, trying to look up at him sympathetically. His attention was focused on the screen in front of him, trying to get the words out the best he could.

“The truth is, I was seeing someone for a long time. She isn’t a content creator or famous in any way, so I wanted to keep our relationship to ourselves. We’ve made it public with her friends and family, but as far as my YouTube life goes, I wanted to keep it a secret. At first it was because I didn’t want to announce the relationship and have it go south and we break up, but the longer we kept it a secret the more I knew I wanted it that way because it was just another aspect of my life I thought would be better to keep to myself. I didn’t want to bring her into a spotlight that she didn’t want, and honestly, I didn’t want any of my fans to know who she was.

“And marriage...well, it wasn’t something I ever expected to happen to me. We weren’t even dating all that long when we both got drunk one night and I just...I asked her. We both laughed it off at the time, but the next morning when we sobered up I realized I still wanted to marry her. So I asked her again, promised her I’d get her a ring when I could, and she said yes. Flash forward about a year and...I’m a married man.”

(Y/N) leaned her head against Corpse’s leg and smiled up at him. Through his nervousness and anxiety, she could see him reminiscing on the history of their relationship, the way she liked to do sometimes. Especially on the hilarious story of their engagement.

“I won’t be giving any more details besides that,” he said. “I will not stream with her if she does not feel comfortable, I will not be publicly stating her real name, I certainly won’t be posting her face on any of my social media. Especially without her permission as she has already said she doesn’t really want a life in the public eye. I am sorry I kept this from you all for so long, but I hope you can understand my reasoning, and I hope you will all treat my wife with respect. That’s all I really want.”

He continued with the Q&A. After enough time had passed for that information to sink in, you decided to check Twitter to see what the reaction had been. The top trend, within a matter of minutes, was #wearehappyforcorpse. The hashtag was flooded with kind messages congratulating Corpse on getting married and on finding the one. A few people were sharing Corpse’s wishes and warning the extreme fans not to go looking for whoever Corpse’s wife was until one of them made her identity public. There was very little negativity and, although (Y/N) had told Corpse this would likely be the case, she was relieved to know that it actually was.

When the stream ended, (Y/N) could almost physically see the weight that had been lifted off Corpse’s shoulders. She stood from the floor to sit on his lap. He took her in his arms and buried his head in her shoulder, letting out a long sigh of relief.

“That went well,” she said. “Almost like I said it would.”

“Don’t say I told you so,” Corpse said, lifting his head to smile at her. “Although, I also knew it would go fine.”

“Even if it went different, we would’ve dealt with it together. That’s what married couples do.”

Corpse leaned forward and kissed her gently. (Y/N) smiled as she broke away and kissed the tip of his nose.

“I’m so lucky to have you,” he said.

“You are.”

Corpse chuckled and playfully squeezed her as he kissed over her neck and face.

[chuckaf]

Chuck Fic Rec List: Updated

So my fic rec post was in my notifs again the other day, and I noticed a while back that the formatting on the post has gotten all messed up and it’s also had like three reblog additions to it anyway meaning there are three versions out there lol. so, I wanted to do another list of chuck fic recs! I’ll keep the other one up still, so I’m not gonna repeat every fic here, just some I really recommend. I’m also adding the fic summaries, which I didn’t on the old post, and some more of my own opinions so, buckle up for a long post!

Chuck Versus the Steampunk Chronicles | Steampunk.Chuckster

1896. A world powered by steam, where humans and machines coexist, and airships are the fashionable mode of transport. The US Empire's deepest and darkest secrets arrive at Chuck Bartowski's doorstep. Have they fallen into the wrong hands? Or will the inventor prove his mettle, even while he's forced to hide from the very people he's protecting? AU, ongoing chronicle, Charah.

A genuinely incredible AU story, with an entire crafted world and universe, so detailed it frequently blows my mind. There is heart and family and infuriatingly brilliant slow-burn, plus a buttload of danger and super fun historical/steampunk action. Oh how I LOVE it.

Chuck vs the Charade | somedeepmystery

When computer nerd Chuck Bartowski returns home to an empty apartment and a dead girlfriend he finds himself embroiled in a deadly game of espionage and deceit. Everyone around him is playing a part to get what they want and when he starts falling for the new woman in his life, he can't help but wonder if he can trust her or if she's the one he should fear the most.

An action and twist-filled AU based on the movie Charade, which is just such a brilliant fic concept I absolutely adored it from the start.

Two Sides of the Same Coin | dettiot

When you're a spy, there's all kinds of occupational hazards when you work with another spy. For Sarah Walker, though, one mission becomes a life-changing experience. Because working with Charles Carmichael leads to protecting Chuck Bartowski.

The first time I read this fic my mind was just blown to its genius. Such a brilliant interpretation of what the Intersect and its concepts set up in the show could be, and ooooof the Chuck/Sarah interactions, my HEART. Related to it, its companion piece:

A Flip of the Coin | dettiot

What made Charles Carmichael agree to become Chuck Bartowski? Well, to start, it wasn't as much of a change as you'd think. A companion to the early chapters of Two Sides of the Same Coin from Carmichael's perspective.

Chuck vs The Butterfly Effect | n7agentbartowski

Chuck Bartowski is a normal guy who just hit rock bottom. No girlfriend, no career and no super computer stuck inside his head. It isn't until Chuck meets a gorgeous stranger on the beach that he begins to think his life is about to change for the better. An AU Chuck fic without the Intersect. "Change one thing and it changes everything."

I said it on the OG post, but this story has one of my top 5 Chuck/Sarah fic meetings. So funny, so... very Chuck. The story is a little angsty overall, but a great read.

Chuck vs the Rogue Spy | Crumby

When a rogue spy from Chuck Bartowski's past shows up to help him during his first solo mission, Chuck hopes that he'll finally find out what happened to Sarah Walker. Post-S2 AU.

There’s a lot of Season 3 fix-it fics out there, which I don’t usually read bc I actually love season 3 lol, but this one’s a good one! A twisty deviation from canon, but still feels really true to character.

Chuck Versus the Nerds Rewrite | Steampunk.Chuckster and David Carner

What happens when two nerds talk endless hours about their favorite TV show? A new take on the show you know, but with the flair, twists, and turns you've come to expect from Steampunk . Chuckster and david . carner. Somewhat canon. Charah.

As the summary says, a different take on the show, which honestly makes a couple changes I would too, but also adds a bunch of fun twists and plots that make it totally new and fresh. Seeing Chuck and Sarah’s thoughts in the more canon sections is just delicious, too.

The Trapped Assassin | SarahsSupplyCloset

After a mission goes awry, the CIA's most lethal assassin is ordered to take vacation while her superiors figure out what to do with her. But when she meets a disarming tourist, their immediate connection only adds to her disillusionment with the agency and her career. Will he be enough for her to finally take the plunge and leave the only life she's ever known? Charah AU

A warning for the very justified M rating if you don’t like that sort of thing, but this is definitely a plot-heavy fic, too. A really neat Sarah-heavy AU, with a whole lotta Chuck/Sarah fancy French vacationy goodness.

Chuck vs the Second Chance | malamoo

AU from mid-season 2 and onwards. Chuck and Sarah part ways only to be reunited years later. COMPLETE.

Literal, crying-at-my-screen angst. Not even a super happy ending. But a brilliantly written, part-reflective/flashback fic, exploring what would’ve happened if Chuck and Sarah’s relationship really was an assignment all along-- and the aftermath. It’s heartbreaking. But if you want a little heartbreak, this is your fic.

Ready at Your Hand | dettiot

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, a Catholic plot against the queen comes to the attention of spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. To protect Elizabeth, he develops an unusual plan: hide the passing of intelligence between two agents by a false romance. When Lady Sarah Walker and Chuck Carmichael meet, though, their pretend flirtation becomes much more.

I love Chuck fic for the very reason that it’s inspired such adventurous and totally unique AUs. Here’s some Elizabethan fake-dating Chuck and Sarah! They have to be so Proper, it’s like that hand moment from Pride and Prejudice but Elizabethan and times a billion. The pining!!

Sarah Versus Getting Married | Steampunk.Chuckster

Sarah Walker is getting married. Canon. Charah.

I’d recommend all of SC’s fics if I had the room, and I’m already recommending a ton sksks but most of my fic recs are AUs, and this one isn’t! It’s canon, and covers some of in the gap in 4x24, with Sarah just before the wedding itself. Super sweet, heart-tugging, brilliant.

A Chuckmas Carol | Mikki13

A new twist to Dickens' beloved "A Christmas Carol". When Sarah begins to shut out the world around her, three spirits come to show her the error of her ways. Season 3 AU.

Another Season 3 AU, this one written pre-series so it definitely doesn’t fit to canon, but it’s still wonderfully rich in character depth and angst and it also made me cry. Plus, festive!

Chuck Versus Thin Ice | Steampunk.Chuckster

On the doorstep of the Olympics, top American curler Sarah Walker has lost her mixed doubles partner and her boyfriend in one fell swoop. Her coaches throw newbie Team U.S.A. curler Chuck Bartowski onto her team and thrust them into the Olympics, hanging America's curling hopes on two people who only have a short amount of time to learn to trust one another. Charah AU.

Do you like curling? Or the Winter Olympics? It doesn’t really matter because somehow this fic made me extremely invested in both of those things, as well as Chuck and Sarah and them being INSUFFERABLE. Catch me now knowing a ton about curling thanks to this fic.

Walker’s Eleven | Moonlight Pilot

Not the same plot as the movie. Sarah Walker never got out of the con game or became a spy, and now she's on her final con. What happens when true love and betrayal get added to the mix? Twists, turns, and Jeffster!

Con!Sarah always interests me, and this fic is full of her. Lotta con plot, lotta Chuck and Sarah.

The Detective and the Tech Guy | thecharleses

Sarah Walker is a Pinkerton detective. Chuck Bartowski is an electronics genius. They wouldn't have met except for a case of mistaken identity and murder. Will the detective and the tech guy solve the mystery, distracted by the riddle in their own hearts? An homage to The Thin Man film series. Formerly co-written by Steampunk . Chuckster and dettiot, now ONLY Steampunk . Chuckster.

Everyone in this fic is so damn cool. There are so many martinis. But also great heart and family and like, standing up for who you love, and later also Chuck with Baby Clara content which frankly the show robbed us of. Also, PI!Sarah!!!

Gravity | Poetic4U

AU. Sarah makes a decision that altered her life forever.

This is just a one-shot, which many of these stories are not, so a good one if you don’t fancy a big read! Just because it’s short, though, doesn’t mean it’s lacking; a really awesome what-if AU, and heavy on the Chuck and Sarah.

A Yuletie Tale | Steampunk.Chuckster

Sarah Walker was dumped the day before Christmas Eve, and her Plus One at her work’s annual Christmas Eve Soiree is now officially a Plus Zero. Her best friend Ellie Bartowski has a solution to her problem, and Sarah finds she isn’t quite as sure about it as Ellie is. AU Christmas Charah.

I’m particularly in love with this fic because, instead of beginning with a meet-cute, it involves Chuck and Sarah already two years into a friendship-- Sarah is Ellie’s best friend. And she’s been crushing harrrd on Ellie’s brother. Also Chuck is in a tux. It’s pretty.

Set, Spike, Dive! | Frea O’Scanlin

Chuck never expected to even make it to the Olympics. Everything is working against him: he's too tall for a diver, too inexperienced for a medal, too much of a wildcard to really make his mark. But an unexpected meeting at the airport, some intriguing new friends, and a whirlwind romance on the sand just might set up London 2012 as the time of Chuck Bartowski's life.

A London 2012 AU, because why not. This is just a fun Olympic-y ride!

OTP (One True Pairing) Prompts | David Carner

A series of Prompts I found online about different times and places in Chuck and Sarah's life. Mostly AU, mostly one-shots. I assume mostly fluff, but I might get deep. I doubt it, it's me. Charah...ALWAYS (It says complete, but if an idea strikes me...)

If you’re not so into long stories, this fic is perfect. Individual set-ups and stories, all Chuck and Sarah, and all super cute. You could dip in and out and just pick a scenario you enjoy.

Chuck vs The Frontier | ninjaVanish

AU: Chuck was enjoying a simple life as a 19th century watchmaker until an encounter with a beautiful Secret Service agent thrust him into a world of intrigue and adventure he never wanted. But then, with Agent Walker around, it can't be all bad, can it?

This fic gets props for being historically-set but still including the Intersect. Again, a historical AU, so the pining!! the need to be Proper!!! But besides all that, there’s a lot of action fun as well.

Chuck Versus The Crosswalk: Remastered | WvonB

Will a last minute mission help our two favorite characters finally get together? This is the remastered version of my first story.

The original version of this fic is on my first list; this is the updated version! It’s not a complete AU, instead a story that diverges from canon, so if you’re more into canon characters and setting than a new AU scenario, this is a great fic for that.

Little Girls, Paper Wreaths, and Choc Chip Cookies | DanaPAH

Very AU: Sarah Walker is a single mother whose Christmas spirit needs a boost after a tough divorce. She isn't quite ready to go looking for romance, but her little daughter's affection for their new neighbor may lure it right to her doorstep, anyway.

An incredibly sweet AU one-shot where Chuck and Sarah are new neighbours, and Sarah has a super cute little girl. So much sweetness and love and hope. I love this fic so much it literally led me to write my own neighbour-kid-AU, so, not to toot my own horn but I’ll link it here anyway.

May Your Walls Know Joy | halfachance

Looking for a fresh start after some tough times, Sarah and her three-year-old daughter move to LA. When they meet a sweet curly-haired nerd who lives next door, though, Sarah realizes they might just find more happiness than they'd ever imagined, if only her past doesn't catch up to her first. AU.

It’s what the summary says; if you wanna read, feel free!

Chuck vs the Sound of Music | quistie64

AU. Chuck, nerd extraordinaire, is a man with seven children and Sarah must protect them all from Fulcrum's evil designs. Warning: there will be singing.

I mean. Not much mystery as to the concept with that title and summary lol, but this is a super fun, soft ride with a lotta sweetness, and yes, singing.

Just Two People | David Carner

Meet Sarah Walker PhD, Psychologist, specializing in personality traits. Meet Chuck Bartowski, man who has left THE electronic company of 2020. When Burton Consultants tries to figure out what is wrong with the morale of Orion Industries, what happens when a guy named Chuck meets a woman named Sarah. I'll give you a hint, it's me writing.

David’s done something pretty special with this fic. It’s Chuck and Sarah centric, but very much an ensemble piece, too, with a lot of Team Bartowski and other familiar faces throughout.

Chuck Versus the Con Game | Steampunk.Chuckster

AU. Chuck and Sarah are partners in the con game. It's an existence wrought with danger and violence. Every day could be their last. Every mission could be the end of the line.

This is where I freak out SC and declare this fic the reason I ever got hooked on Chuck fic and then wrote Chuck fic, and the reason I still love it today but. that is true lol. Just so. so good. It’s also written with the chapters out of chronological order, which is super fun from a reading perspective. But con!Sarah AND con!Chuck?? Best. The kind of fic you will be thinking about for days (if not, y’know, years).

As you can tell by the repeats, I highly recommend just about anything by Steampunk.Chuckster, dettiot, or David Carner, but there are a TON of amazing Chuck fics and authors out there. I’ve never known a writing community so wildly creative-- there are so many unique AUs and canon explorations and story concepts that this show has manifested, and it’s all so much fun.

Most of the Chuck fic community is still over on FFN rather than AO3, so if any of these whet your appetite, feel free to have a browse there for more stories. I’m sure you’ll find something great. Personally, all the incredible writing there has also led me to write a buttload; I’m at halfachance on FFN, so if you see any of my stuff or wanna chat fic, feel free to message me there or here.

Happy reading, folks!

[crazyintheeast]

I loved WW84. It was an amazing movie but what I loved even more was how it really showed how utterly irrelevant Batman has always been in the DC universe. Like we already got some hints in the Batman vs Superman  movie where Batman was not even considered news but seriously. Could you imagine just how crazy the DC universe is? Like the world was pretty normal until the 80′s. Oh there were some urban legends about mythical woman during WW1 but you know how those urban legends tend to be dismissed.

But then in 1984 suddenly every electronic device in the world switches to show you the face of some American dude who was known for running a pyramid scheme and he tells you to make a wish. And it fucking works. Even the people who were skeptical about it suddenly decide to make a wish when they see everything going crazy around them. Complete chaos and insanity ensues and humanity is half an hour away from wiping itself out of existence. Then the gentle feminine voice tells you that you could be a better person and literally talks humanity out of the brink of annihilation

Then things get normal for a while although normal is a relative term when your entire world was flipped  And then a guy dressed as a Bat appears in Gotham. The entire world holds their breath. Is this going to start a  chain reaction and throw everything in chaos the way it did in the 80′s? But nope nothing happens. Guy just turns out to be a dude dressed in a Bat with zero powers. The world completely loses interests in like two days

Then an actual super powered person appears on screen . This time humanity does not loses interests especially after an actual alien invasion happens. Everybody tries to learn more about Superman until he finally relents and gives several interview to help people feel safer. After seeing his expression when asked why he didn’t suggest to his people to simply colonize Mars humanity collectively decides that Superman is a well meaning himbo. Once again nobody outside Gotham actually cares about Batman despite the fact that he is now fighting random clowns and animal themed villains

Then a crazy alien monster attacks. Superman, Batman and a mysterious woman battle it. The entire world is at the edge of the seat and everything is streamed live. Superman dies like the himbo he was. Going on a suicidal charge againt the monsters instead of simply giving the magical spear to the mysterious woman who is clearly a master of melee combat. The Batman is also there and everybody is just wondering what on Earth is he doing there. Then still traumtised from their favorite himbo’s death they hear the voice of the mysterious woman and everybody loses their shit. That’s her. That’s the woman who talked to the entire world in 84. Batman is once again completely forgotten and the few times he is mentioned it’s like meme about how useless he is compared to the others. Gotha city official gleefully dunk on him as well since due to his illegal brutalization of criminals and his constant  disruption of the chain of evidence pretty much any criminal who can afford a half way decent lawyer walks

Then Midway City gets taken over by what looks like to be zombie monsters. The world is once again fascinated and  when literally a big chink of the major military installation on the planet.

Just when humanity is recovering from that there are are apparently insects aliens over the world again and somehow Superman is alive now? And he is back with the Wonder Woman but this time there is also a gorgeous man with a Trident and some weird kid in a red uniform that can move at an incredible speed? Batman is also there but apart from Gotham once again nobody actually cares about him and everyone is focused on the now living Superman , the Wonder Woman and the two new guys

Our gorgeous Trident man once again makes the news when literally entire garbage in the ocean and a big chunk of ships get washed up on every major beach in the world. Nobody knows whats happening but Trident gets caught live on every camera ripping it up in an small Italian city alongside a mysterious red headed woman with water powers. The world is once again fascinated with this new hero

Then in Philly of all places we get a new super powered hero who goes by Shazam. First people assumes he is another Kryptonian but he quickly clarifies that he just got his powers. Then he makes several tween references confusing people even more. Once again Batman is completely ignored by pretty much anybody and there are whole petition to kick him out of the what is dubbed as the Super Squad and replace him with the Philly hero

And then Birds of Prey happens and Harley blows up . And usually she would be a one day wonder about a clown lady who went on a rampage  but then someone uncovers footage from her in Midway City and Harley gets on social media and starts spilling the tea. Amanda Waller, the Suicide Squad, Enchantress...everything. She adored the attention and when she finds out how much people enjoy watching her beat up criminals (she doesn’t kill them on camera because she quickly finds out that a lot of kids are subscribed as well) she begins regularly live streaming it. Batman is not even the most famous weirdo out of Gotham anymore. Harley now has firmly cornered the market. But he doesn’t actually care. He didn’t fight crime to get famous or get attention. In fact he likes being in the shadows and the fact that Harley Quinn targets criminals now and keeps the casualties to a minimum to maintain her likes is a good thing. But then one horrifying day the internet learns that Harley’s hyena is named Bruce and they start shipping her with Bruce Wayne. Harley loves it and encourages it and everybody loses their mind. People write smutty fanfiction about them, the Harley/Bruce win all the internet polls, every time there is an interview he has talk about her. And worst of all one day he opened up his mail to see that someone had sent him the link to incredibly graphic deep fake of a Harley/Bruce/Batman three way.

And that’s when Bruce Wayne decides to spend several dozen billion dollars to construct the Watchtower. Because he absolutely does not want to be on this planet anymore

[palecomputerduck]

In Sharon Carter defense, as usual

What bothers me the most about the whole "Sharon was just a love interest." and " I love Sharon but I hate her with Steve"  "She was underdeveloped" is the colossal double standard and sheer stupidity of it.

Let's begin by saying Sharon Carter is THE. MOST. IMPORTANT. FEMALE. CHARACHTER. in Captain America comics. Overall her importance to Steve's life isn't just their off-and-on romantic relationship but their friendship, their partnership, their camaraderie, and their relationship with other characters from comics. To summarise, her overall importance and influence are immense.

In summer 2016, I watched Captain America: Civil War.

What happened was the following:

In a previous movie, Steve Rogers asked Sharon Carter out without knowing who she is and all by himself. When Natasha asked about the blind dates set up, he never said no when she mentioned Sharon.

At Peggy's funeral, Sam elbows Steve recognizing her. Sam and Sharon never met on screen in CA: TWS, meaning Steve told Sam about her. Steve is off to fight the five dangerous super-soldiers he has no idea how that will turn up. In front of him is a beautiful woman, who saved his ass a couple of times and who he has a crush on (!canon facts!) And he kisses her. Chastely, for like 10 seconds.

That's it. That's literally it.

I thought the kiss was a bit oddly placed, but okay. Captain America: Civil War had many flaws, that kiss was the least of them. 

And then I logged into this God-forsaken app. Hooohoo holly shit, holy shit.

The Shipper Squadron masquerading as Female Empowerment League and LGBTQ representatives collectively acted like she murdered the litter of puppies on screen.

Now, saying that character that important, with that much relevance and history, is there to "kiss the gay away" (men can't suddenly be bisexual if they kiss a woman?)  or "just as a love interest" is like, peak stupid. I am sorry I was looking for a more eloquent expression but only this fits.

Sharon has a limited amount of time and scenes, but in those scenes, she moves the plot significantly (actually in CA:CW she has and more plot relevance than Bucky, but you're never ready for that conversation) and has a personality and she obviously isn't there just for Steve!

You didn't focus on her career (which she has!) on her ambitions (which she has!) you didn't talk about what's gonna happen to her while she's on the run. What does she think about Sokovia Accords, her relationship with Peggy, or anything that remotely has to do with her, you only mentioned her to mock and betitle her, you called her ugly, you called her a beard (that not just misogynistic but biophobic as well so kudos on the combo) you ignored everything else and zeroed in on that 10 seconds.

You decided that this was the best course of action because *checks notes* she was "there to be a love interest, the poor underdeveloped girl she deserved better"  

Sure, Jan.

Where’s the double standard?

Well, men can be genocidal maniacs, abusers, can eat other people, can be absolute human garbage, can have only with two or three lines but if they're white and hot you have 100k about their left eyebrow and how they "just need a hug" and 600k of a redemption arc for them. 

Men not having lines makes them mysterious, men needing to be saved constantly makes them "vulnerable"

I am not gonna write what you say about female characters doing or needing the same.

You shipped (vigorously) men that never ever ever interacted, minors with adults, actually blood-related brothers whole ass internet has cheered for aunt and nephew "to get it on" in Game of Thrones, and this, somehow, crossed the line?

Fandom is a mostly transformative place, you see the female character being badly written and you decide not to write her better but to bury her completely? This happens in every fandom, I was in! All the time!  And when you remember that a lot of it came from other women under the guise of feminism it's just a whole different level of disappointing.

Sharon Carter is to appear in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier tomorrow.

And I know I know I know that every talk about her is gonna be to shit on Steve and his ending and to shit on Peggy calling her cunt, pussy, coochie all the fun names you can think of.

And of course the Shipper Squadron masquerading as Female Empowerment Leauge and LGBTQ representatives warnings about "if she is the love interest I Will Fight Marvel"

It's okay to hate the characters, it's okay to hate the ship.

It's okay to hate one female character and love another.

An you. Don't. Need. A. Reason. For. That.

“I am petty and I don't like” it is a reason enough. Stop with the "hot takes" and analysis, and pretending you're doing it for the "woke" cause.

Being critical of the media you consume is necessary.

But I honestly haven't seen criticisms of Sharon that aren't drenched in misogyny or criticisms that hadn't come from a place of ship bias.

And for once, please, when you talk about Sharon let it be  about Sharon only.

Or at least tag your shit properly. Please. 

[athenasbloodyspear]

The Viper: Chapter One

What happens when an agent of the Red Room falls into  the hands of Hydra? What happens when Hydra puts out a hit on their  favorite assassin? Who is the mysterious woman with a twisted history  and an even more twisted mind?

The team wants to know. They want to know what you know. Nat and Bucky want to know if there’s any light left in you.

They want to know you.

Bucky x Female Reader

The Viper Master List | My Writing Master List

The sounds of car horns are loud around you. The blaring, beeping and  bustle of pedestrians creating layers and layers of sound. You’re  trained well enough to sift through the sounds, listening to pieces of  conversation and various sounds of your environment to orient yourself.

You can feel the smallest shift of every person who’s moving in the  space around you. Your senses are so focused you can practically hear  the blood rushing through the people closest to you. Your prey is about a  block up, completely oblivious to where you followed.

The streets around you were loud and the sounds were strong, but nothing could keep your focus off your mission.

Underneath your hood and the rim of your baseball hat, your face was  hidden in shadow. If anyone would have seen or marked it, they would  have seen the wicked gleam of a grin.

--

“What’s got you all in a tizzy, Tony?” Nat asks from Bucky’s right.  The whole team was gathered around a conference table in Avengers tower  looking kinda bored. Tony had called everyone here this morning, much to  everyone’s chagrin because he had promised a week off and then  apparently changed his mind a mere three days later.

Bucky sighed and rolled his shoulders, leaning back in the office  chair he currently sat in, lifting the two front feet off the floor. All  he really wanted was to go back downstairs and into the city with Nat  and finish looking for a birthday gift for Steve. That’s what they were  doing this morning before they were quickly called back to the tower.  He’d procrastinated too long and really had zero idea of what to get the  man.

“I’m confused about something and I don’t like being confused.” Tony retorted.

“Oooo” Sam piped up from across the table. “The great Tony Stark  admits to not knowing something. I’m surprised there isn’t steam coming  out of those ears.”

Bucky smirks at his friend. God he loved Sam and his remarks. He  would say something similar, but his relationship with Tony still wasn’t  perfect and he didn’t want to push his luck at the moment.

“What is so confusing, Iron Man? Don’t know what to get Pepper for  your anniversary? Or did you say something stupid again and your giant  brain can’t figure out exactly which asshole statement pushed her over  the edge this time?” Nat chimed in with a mocking smirk.

Tony pointed a single finger at Nat. “I have had our anniversary  present for two months already and I’m actually getting better at  figuring out which one of my snarky comments goes too far, just so you  know.” He sighs and presses a few buttons on the large screen under the  glass conference table, whipping up a bundle of information to appear on  the screen behind him. “What I’m confused about is why Hydra put out a  public hit on one of their top agents.”

At that, Bucky’s chair drops back to all four legs abruptly. The  confusing piece of information startled him into finally giving his full  attention to the conversation. His heart rate picked up a bit.

“They did  what ?” Steve asks from the end of the conference table opposite Tony, voicing the question on all their minds.

“This morning Hydra posted a bounty on a known dark web forum. It’s  not unheard of for them to post some of their lower enemies on this  anonymously for unaffiliated assassins and bounty hunters to take down.  What’s different this time is they made it very clear that  Hydra  was posting.” He whipped up what looked eerily similar to a reddit post up on the screen. “And what makes even  less sense is I know for a fact that the person they called a hit on has been their little secret weapon for over ten years.”

Bucky scanned the post up on the screen. Sure enough, it said that  Hydra had a hit out on a well known assassin and was offering 50 million  along with diplomatic immunity in a country of their choosing for the  head of the operative.

“Who’s the target?” Nat murmured.

“So, this is the fun part. Especially for you two.” Tony continued, pointing at Nat and Bucky.

“What?” Bucky grumbled. Fun for him? What the hell? What could  possibly be in Tony’s twisted brain to think anything to do with Hydra  would be  fun for him?

“Here’s the mark.” Tony pulled up a blurry photo of a figure wrapped  in muted colors clearly captured on some sort of security camera  somewhere on a bustling street. If Bucky was tracking the cobblestones  and architecture of the buildings correctly he’d guess it was taken  somewhere in Cairo.

“Is that the best fucking picture you can get us, Stark? You can  barely see their face.” Sam quipped, leaning forward in his seat to  squint at the screen.

“This is the clearest photo of her face, yes.”

“Her?” Nat snapped, popping her eyes to Tony.

“Yes. Her.  The Viper .” He smirked back at Nat. Bucky heard a quick intake of breath from his right. Nat.

“No…” She whispered, and trailed off.

“Oh yes, Natasha. Oh yes.” Tony flicked his fingers across the table  again and all the known stats on the Viper pulled up on the screen.  “This is where the fun begins for us. This is what we know about the  Viper. She was “found” at a young age somewhere in middle America. It’s a  little unclear where, but from where I tracked it must have been  somewhere in the Midwest.”

“They stole a kid from Wisconsin? Why would Hydra bother when they  had their fingers in so many other countries?” This was from Steve.

“It wasn’t Hydra…” Nat murmured.

“ What? ” Bucky piped up again. He felt like his brain was  spinning. A top Hydra assassin? Did he know her? He would have to spiral  into his memory to find out if he ever met this Viper…

“It was the Red Room.” Nat whispered then. Her eyes staring directly at the table.

“Yes indeed!” Tony quipped. “Remind me Nat, were you still there when  they dragged in the little girl kicking and screaming or not?”

“Tony!” Steve seethed from his end of the table.

“I wasn’t living there anymore, no. I had just graduated. She was a  couple years younger than me. They said she caused quite a nuisance  during the assassination of a target. Instead of killing her they decided  to bring her back. I saw her maybe twice. They had always referred to  her as the snake. She was less refined than the other girls, she started  her training a little too old, but she was… desperate to make up the  difference.” Nat shuddered a bit then and Bucky felt compelled to reach  out and place a hand on her shoulder. “She reminded me of… me.”

There was a small moment of pause before Tony started again. “So our  little snake graduated from The Red Room and spent a few years as an  agent for them before falling in with our buddies at Hydra.” Tony looked  at Bucky then, “Where she was trained and conditioned to fill a missing  position in their ranks after they unfortunately lost control of a very  important  asset. ”

“You’re a prick Tony.” Steve muttered, his eyes falling on Bucky.  Bucky waved him off. He was fine, really. He’d started making peace with  his history when he was on Wakanda and though he still had a long way  to go, he wasn’t going to fall to pieces at the mere mention of the  Winter Soldier.

“You’re telling me that they…” He trailed off, his mind spinning in  circles. This poor woman he didn’t even know subjected to what he went  through, simply because he had left. He knew it wasn’t his fault, but he  still felt responsible that someone else had to fill a hole he had  created.

“Yes they trained this little spitfire to be their top assassin and  she has been in their top ranks since about 2010, only stepping into the  role of top assassin after the events in 2016 finally severed you  completely from the organization. She’s been racking up kills ever  since. Much like you my dear metal armed friend, she’s nearly impossible  to catch on camera, let alone see with your own eyes.”

From the corner of the room, where he sat in a chair separate from  the table, Bruce finally spoke. “I always thought The Viper was a  myth.”

“Yeah and you thought the Winter Soldier was a myth. Hell I always  thought Thor and Loki were just some folklore.” Sam remarked. “I believe  almost everything nowadays.”

“Wait so, this woman was a trained Red Room assassin, then a top  Hydra operative and now they’re asking the internet to kill her? Why  didn’t they just take care of her themselves? Surely they had her locked  up or brainwashed somehow.” Bruce said.

“You guys are seriously just assholes sometimes.” Steve murmurs.

“I’m fine, Steve.” Bucky says. “It’s a valid question. Even when they  wanted me eliminated, they only worked with people inside.”

“Exactly.” Tony said. “My theory is, they want us to know that they  want her dead. In fact, my more specific theory is that this is bait in  order to get us to hunt and eliminate her. I want to know why.”

“She must have slipped away from them.” Nat said then. “Even if no  average internet bounty hunter could ever touch her, surely they’d at  least keep her a little busy. Busy enough that we might be able to get a  jump on her. She must know something.”

“Exactly. What does she know? And why don’t they want her to utilize whatever information she knows?”

“So we’re going to find her then.” Steve said. “What if this is a  trap? Specifically set up to intrigue us into bringing their very own  top operative into our facilities.”

“It could be.” Nat responded. “But it seems a little weird to send a  bunch of people they don’t control after her unless they genuinely  didn’t care about what happened to her. It seems unlikely she’s still an  asset to them if they’re willing to risk her actually being caught off  guard, no matter how unlikely that is.”  

“See, this is what I meant by being confused.” Tony quips then,  heading for the door. “I’ve sent everything I know about the woman to  each of you. Study it. See what conclusions you come to on your own.  We’ll reconvene here tonight to discuss an action plan.”

--

You sat in a corner booth at a tiny cafe, facing the door. There was a  swinging door into the kitchen to your left, which led to three back  exits. Directly in front of you was the only door facing a main street.  The whole front of the coffee shop was glass, giving you a clear view of  the two targets you’d been tracking all morning, who had stopped to  grab breakfast at a restaurant across the street.

You were twirling a long since lukewarm cup of coffee in your hands,  your eyes flicking back and forth between your marks and the swinging  kitchen door at your shoulder.

You watched as your marks both stretched and stood up. The woman hailed a cab. They seemed disgruntled.

 Interesting.  

While the woman tried to snag the attention of a cabbie, you threw a  few crumpled bills on the counter of your table and slipped through the  swinging kitchen door. There were a few shouts of alarm as a stranger  wandered into the bustling diner kitchen, but you quickly weaved through  the crowded kitchen and out a back door. You jumped on the sleek black  Kawasaki bike you’d stashed behind a dumpster in an alley.

You pushed the bike out and around the corner before turning it on,  waiting to confirm that they had both piled into a cab. You revved the  engine and punched the accelerator, weaving quickly   between the piled  up traffic, causing lots of horn honking and a few near rear-end  accidents.

Your heart was hammering in your chest, the adrenaline coursing through your veins as you tore after that cab.

The grin still plastered on your face.

--

Bucky’s head was reeling as he read through the intel, albeit a small amount, that Tony had managed to dig up.

There were a total of 3 videos captured on a security camera of the Viper on a job. He watched them all multiple times.

The Viper was ruthless and unnervingly calm. It reminded him of  himself, what he saw in the footage of the Winter Soldier. It made the  bile in his stomach churn. He knew that feeling of uncontrollable calm  very well and it made him break out in a cold sweat.

The first video showed her walking calmly up to a high security  warehouse, putting bullets between the brows of every operative in  sight, barely even looking in their direction before pulling the  trigger. She walked directly with purpose toward the door that was  clearly her mission. Once every operative in view of the camera had  fallen she reached for the door handle. Before she slipped inside, she  lifted her pistol without looking and fired one round into the camera,  cutting the feed. With the hood on her jacket, there was no clear  footage of her face. Bucky wondered how they were even sure it was her.  Her murderous calm must have been enough evidence.

The second was a terribly grainy video taken in some basement  somewhere. There was someone strapped to a chair and he watched as the  Vipers fists slammed into the man repeatedly. A choppy, distorted, and  heavily accented voice spoke about 40 seconds in. “Good, Viper. You may  play now. Make sure there’s something left of him to interview  tomorrow.” Bucky flinched as he saw the woman stride toward a table,  likely filled with instruments of torture. The man strapped to the chair  began to scream, pleading in Russian that he’d say anything they wanted  him to. He heard a low woman’s voice come through the video, murmuring  “Too late.”

The third was a more recent video according to the time stamp. It was  less than six months ago off a security cam in Maracaibo. It was about a  9 second video, just watching the woman cross a bustling street in  Venezuela. Bucky remembered that some hot shot Hydra agent had been  found dead in Venezuela this year. Could it have been the Viper taking  down one of their own? Is that why they were mad?

There were about 5 other attachments of images. The only photographs  that Friday could find of this enigma apparently. 4 were blurry security  camera footage from various places. The one Tony had shown this morning  was truly the only one that even sort of showed the woman’s face. Well,  except the 5th.

The 5th made Bucky even more sick than the footage of brutal  violence. It was a Polaroid image of what appeared to be a 16 or 17 year  old girl in ballet clothes, standing in the middle of what he assumed  was a dance studio. It would have been normal, a young woman after a  dance class, if it wasn’t for the red blood splattered up her pink  tights, dripping off her knuckles and smeared on her jaw. The subject  wasn’t looking at the camera, but rather seemed to be standing at  attention with her focus to the right of the photographer. Written in  sloppy Russian at the bottom corner of the Polaroid was “Option 4.”

What does that mean?  Bucky thought to himself.  Option for what?  

It made him sick staring at that photo. If the blood wasn’t there, it  would just look like a young woman preparing for a ballet class, or  perhaps being photographed so a costume designer could see her figure  while they created dazzling outfits for a production. It was so wrong  for someone so young, whose face was filled with innocence, to be  covered in blood. He felt so protective over her, this young woman he  didn’t even know. This young woman who he knew grew up to be a murderer  with a kill list almost as long as his.

He knew, looking at that photo, that this woman had never wanted  this. He didn’t know how he got such a gut reaction to the image, but he  saw himself in it. A young person who was given the worst hand of cards  to ever be dealt, and was simply trying to stay alive. He stared at her  thin frame, the hollow look in her eyes and nearly wept.

He needed to find her. He needed it more than he’d needed anything in  a long time. He needed to find out how far she had fallen from this  image, and if he could pull her back.

He needed to do it, because he’d always be grateful that someone did it for him.

--

Your marks had gone into the tall skyscraper a few hours ago. You  were too antsy to sit around and wait to see if they’d venture back out  into the city.

You prowled the sidewalk like a caged animal. Tracing patterns through the busiest blocks. Keeping track of nearby cameras.

Everything smelled like garbage and piss. You hated it. You loved it. It was such an easy city to get lost in.

An even easier city to be found in.

--

When Bucky finally dragged himself back to the conference room that  evening, he felt like a wreck. He had worked himself up considerably  throughout the afternoon. He was antsy and apprehensive.

He really didn’t know what was wrong with him. It was just some random assassin, why was he so worked up?

Steve noticed his touchy mood as soon as he walked in and raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m fine.” Bucky grumbled. “Just want to figure this out. It’s bothering me for some reason.”

“Maybe because it’s a little too personal, Buck.” Steve said quietly.

“Yeah maybe.” Bucky coughed out. His chest felt tight with someone who knew him so well staring at him like this.

Before Steve could rib Bucky more, Tony sauntered into the room with  Nat behind him. “So what’s everyone’s thoughts on our little snake in  the grass?”

“I think the woman is damn fucking scary.” Sam piped up from the same  chair he’d been in this morning. “And really good at her job. Reminds  me of robocop over there a little too much if you know what I mean.”

“That’s what I find so interesting.” Steve says. “Because obviously  we know that Bucky wanted out, and was not the person that the camera  showed. I wanna know what’s really going on in her brain.”

“Banner, question for you, if we managed to set a little trap for our  snake and actually got her in here, would you be able to scan her brain  and see how much of it was under her actual control?” Tony said as he  dropped into a chair at the head of the table.

Banner responded from where he sat in his normal chair in the corner.  “I could compare a brain scan to early scans of Barnes’s brain. See how  similar they look. Then compare to his post-Wakanda scans. In a sense,  yes. But the brain is complicated as you know.”

“Can’t we just talk to her?” Bucky pipes up. “I mean, if it makes you  feel more comfortable to hook her up to a lie detector whatever, but I  just… I know what they do to people there and let me tell you there’s no  way she’s in control.”

“What makes you so sure?” Tony questions. “I mean, I was wrong about  you. I’ll admit that. I’m a bigger man now. But not everyone is Cap's  former BFF brought back from the dead with a heart of gold trapped in a  twisted hydra web. She could have gone willingly. In fact, I have a hard  time believing that a Red Room agent was accidentally captured by  Hydra. What if she went to them willingly?”  

“But then why did she leave?” Natasha counters. “Who’s to say that  she ended up in all this willingly. I don’t know the whole story of how  the Red Room got her, but it’s rare that people join without coercion.  There’s more to this story, I can feel it.”

“Me too.” Bucky whispered. There had to be so much more to that 17 year old girl than a brutal murderer.

“Nat, can you explain this image to me?” Tony says, pulling up the  very polaroid that was going to haunt Bucky for weeks. “This looks like a  pretty willing agent to me.”

Bucky cringed at Tony’s short sighted assessment. Sure, the subject looked relaxed but that didn’t mean willing. Nat sneered.

“Well Tony, when every week your instructors challenge two students  to spar and the loser is killed however the classmate prefers, you too  would willingly fight back, to the death if necessary.”

Steve flinched, and looked at Nat with eyes full of grief. “They made you kill each other?”

“Kept us from attaching to each other.” Nat said simply.

Steve just shook his head, placing his face in his palms. This was  one of the reasons Bucky and Nat had gotten along pretty quickly. They’d  come to terms with their trauma, and the others sometimes had a hard  time brushing past the torture that the two of them had simply moved on  from.

“Touche.” Tony shrugged. “So why does this image say option 4?”

“That I don’t know.” Nat sighs. “No photos were ever allowed to be  taken of us, but the fact that this was clearly taken by an instructor  confuses me.”

“So we have no answers.” Sam quips. “Do I need to go stand on the  street with a sign that says “Viper take a crack at me” so we can maybe  get a glimpse of her? I’m only doing it if I can wear the suit Tony.”

“That’s the thing, there have been no sightings of the woman for  years, and the one tiny glimpse in that surveillance shot from Venezuela  6 months ago was a blip. There was no record of anyone matching that  description entering or leaving that country or any near it. We have no  idea where she is.” Tony muttered. “I have Friday combing every single  camera we can get access to, and hacking into those we don’t. The tip  line on that forum is blank. No one seems to have seen her.”

There was silence for a moment, as everyone sunk into their own minds. Letting the gears turn.

“Mr. Stark.” Friday’s voice came lilting out of the ceiling. “I have a hit.”

Everyone jumped a bit, leaning forward in their seats.

“Put it on the screen.” Tony snapped. Suddenly the whole blank wall  of the room was filled with various camera angles showing crowds of  people wandering on the sidewalk. In the middle of a cluster of  pedestrians was a figure draped in black, a baseball hat on their head  and a hood pulled up over it. As the person moves, the different  security camera’s flip past on the screen, keeping up with their  movement.

Instantly, Bucky’s blood ran cold.

“Where is this?” Sam whispers.

“Queens.” Bucky, Steve and Tony answer in unison.

“Very close to Parker’s apartment…” Tony whispers.

“It’s empty.” Steve mentions. “Happy and May are on vacation and Peter is staying with his friend. That Ned kid.”

“I know.” Tony says. “Doesn’t mean I like her being around the corner from his place regardless.”

The room goes quiet for a few moments as they all watch the Vipers  progress through the streets of Queens. She never picks up her head,  seeming to be watching the sidewalk in front of her. She slips easily  between groups of people, never bumping into anyone even though she  doesn’t seem to be looking at anyone.

“What are we doing?” Sam says then. “We know exactly where she is. She’s so close. Let’s go suit up.”

“There’s no way she’s here by accident.” Nat says quietly. “It’s like she wants us to find her…”

“Another layer of intrigue.” Tony snarks.

“She wouldn’t be stupid enough to show up in this city unless she  actually wants us to find her.” Nat continues. “Either they sent her  here as a trap and finally had her look into a security camera long  enough for us to track her, or she’s doing this on her own. Either way, I  don’t understand the motive.”

There’s another moment of silence as they all watch the cameras track the target.

Abruptly, the Viper stops in the middle of the sidewalk. The  pedestrians continue to flow around her, many seem to be grumbling and  some throw rude gestures in her direction.

There’s now only a single security camera in the area able to capture her image, she stands right in the center of the frame.

“What is she doing?” Steve whispers.

Through the grainy camera footage, the whole team watches as it looks  almost like her shoulders shake slightly. She seems to be looking at  her feet.

No one breathes as the woman in the center of the video lifts her  head slowly. Her eyes land directly on the lens, as if she’s peering  straight through the shitty security camera and into Avengers tower.

There’s a huge grin on her face.

Then, from the pocket of her hoodie, she pulls a pistol and calmly points the barrel at the camera.

The last thing the camera sees in her head dropping back as she begins to cackle. Then she pulls the trigger, ending the feed.

“Holy shit.” Sam whispers.

Bucky is speechless. His heart is pounding in his chest. He felt like  her eyes seared through the camera and right into his chest. He can  barely breathe.

“Friday, show us the other cameras in the area.” Tony barks.

Friday pulls up tons of camera angles of the street the Viper was  just standing on. The crowds are screaming, attempting to run away from  the spot that the Viper had clearly just been standing. However, there  are no further gun shots and no one looks injured.

“What the  hell? ” Bucky says under his breath. She just shot out a camera in the middle of a busy street in Queens? For what?

“Are there any figures matching her description on any of these feeds?” Tony snaps again.

“No sir.” Friday replies. “I’ve scanned every camera in the borough and I can’t see her on any of them.”

Everyone sits in shocked silence as the security footage continues to  roll. The NYPD show up, helping to calm the pedestrians. They watch  quietly as they start to tape off the area. Everyone knows however that  if no one was hurt, it’s unlikely that the cops will pursue the incident  further. They have much bigger fish to fry in this town.

“Well goddamn.” Sam finally breaks the silence. “That was quite a little performance.”

“She really wants us to find her then.” Nat mutters.

Around the room everyone mutters their agreement.

Bucky finds his voice finally.

“So let’s find her.”

--

There’s unending adrenaline in you now. It was reckless you knew  that. It was also so obvious what game you were playing with them at  this point, but you didn’t care.

They clearly weren’t going to make a move, so you had to play your hand first.

For better or worse, it was their move now.

[reignstormz]

✓WORK IT OUT ✓

|IMAGINE; PART ONE|

INTRO; You run into a handsome man at the gym, well, maybe in a different way than you had hoped. You never intended to go any further with him despite how interested you really were, but one touch led to another, and things got really nasty.

WORD COUNT; 5,023? (idk tbh Tumblr is tripping)

WARNINGS; Sexual content ahead, read at your own risk. Also, covid doesn't exist in this imagine. Also, there's a part two to this! Keep your eyes open!

CAST; You (Y/N) / Roman Reigns / Jey Uso /Paul Heyman.

🦋Tampa, Florida 🦋

🦋 February 20th, 2021🦋

You walked into EOS fitness gym, with absolutely no energy or motivation in your body. The emotions you felt all week had tugged you down, including this morning; Tired, gloomy, unhappy, nonetheless, heartbroken. It's been two weeks, or maybe one--you definitely weren't counting, since you had found out on Valentine's Day that your ex had been sleeping around with other women. Two in fact, and caught him right in the act. In you're house, in you're bed, meanwhile, you've given this man everything. A five year relationship, gone down the drain. You started to wonder what you did wrong, or what you could've done better to make him not make the mistakes he made.

Were you not pretty enough? Were you not pleasing him enough? Were you boring? Why did he treat you the way he did? and how could he betray you like that? All of those questions ran through your mind. In all honesty, none of it was your fault. The problem was, from the very beginning, you didn't love yourself. You didn't appreciate your value, and when you don't appreciate your value, you leave a window of opportunity for another person to do the same, and that's exactly what happened. However, you were still lost. You tried to do anything, absolutely anything to get this mess off of your mind. The last resort was the gym, and maybe that was just the thing to help for the time being.

It was about six in the morning, and rarely anyone was there except for about a three or five people. You liked it better that way anyway, working out when the gym was packed irritated you to the fullest. Walking further into the building made goosebumps rise all over your skin due to the air conditioning blasting throughout the gym. You sighed dreadfully, slowly taking off your jacket as you hopped onto the treadmill.

"I knew I should've worn a long-sleeved shirt," You scolded yourself. As you hit the button, putting the speed only on number two, you slid your earbuds into your ear and played the playlist of your liking while you walked. You stared the treadmill's screen ahead of you, until you noticed someone else walk into the gym. It was a man. You looked down briefly before you did a double take, gosh, such a beautiful man. It was like you were hallucinating, even though you weren't.

"Damn.." You muttered under your breath as you stared at the handsome guy. He was tall, muscular, had olive-like toned skin, black long hair that fell to his shoulders, and a beard that covered his angelic face. You're eyes traced his every move as he made his way over to the weights, where all the jacked, crazy fit individuals typically stayed in the gym. Today though, it was just him. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt which caused his muscles to show through, including some black sweatpants.

It was too early in the morning for this, you thought. He dropped his bag next to the bench, and wrapped his hair into a neat bun. You're mouth watered at the sight at him, but you quickly snapped out of it. You needed a distraction, but that was far from what you needed, especially from another dude. Stay focused, you reminded yourself continuously. You decided to put the treadmill on higher speed, figuring that if you were at a running pace, then you would've gotten your attention back. Long story short, your resolution didn't solve.

You're eyes worked against you, slowly looking forward once again to see him. He had a heavy set of weights on his shoulders, while squatting over and over again. Not only did his capability of strength make you drool, something else did as well underneath it. His ass, was unreal. If you could just reach out and touch it, you probably would've. Deep down, you were a little mad at yourself for not toughing it out, but you couldn't help it. He looked so sexy, and you could watch him all day.

Little did you know, the beautiful man before you, was completely aware that he had an audience. Well, you were his audience after all. As he worked out, there was a mirror in front of him and he caught your glance in his reflection. Even though you were a little too far away to notice him looking, the mirror gave him a better view to look at everything that surrounded him. He smirked to himself, admiring the woman behind him. The fact that you most likely had no idea that you had his attention, made him chuckle a bit as his legs began to burn from the squats, but he decided to keep going, hoping that your attention would stay fixated on him.

Roman was also a single man, a mafia boss to say the least. He kept his identity more on the low, and rarely let anyone in his circle. His trust issues were thin, but he had a big heart that he deeply wanted to share with someone else. The Samoan had been with other women in the past, but never found someone that completed him fully; The money, relevancy, extravagant lifestyle, and everything in between he had, often found himself in situations where he was used, they were never with him because they truly loved him. Now, he's focused on himself for awhile and his empire he's been working on for years, however, if the right woman were to walk into his life, he wouldn't hesitate to give it a chance.

Before you knew it, something awful happened. You were so lost into the mysterious man, that you had accidentally stepped in front of your left foot, tripping yourself and you lost all of your balance. A huge thud echoed across the gym, and you held your head in pain after you slid off of the treadmill. The few people that were in the gym slightly gasped, and after a few seconds, awkwardly went back to what they were doing. Assholes, but you were too out of it in order to notice. You bit your lip, trying your best to hold back tears at how bad the fall was to your head. You're eyes were closed shut, and you were about to attempt to get back up until a large hand rested on the small of your back, stopping you.

"Are you okay, Mama?" The deep, montone voice asked gently. It was smooth like butter, yet chilling. You had no idea who it was still due to how unconscious you were.

You slightly turned around on your back, and your arm naturally rested around the person's neck as he lifted your body up with his arm. You're eyelids slowly lifted back open, but your vision wasn't all the way there yet. Who was talking to you? You turned your head to the left, seeing who had come to help you. Since you were still a little dizzy, you were seeing double vision of the person in front of you. Once your head finally stopped spinning for a second, you were finally able to determine who was it front of you, and it was him. His pretty brown eyes, stared into yours with concern as you stared back into his, nervous out of your mind. It couldn't get anymore embarrassing than this.

You gulped, avoiding his gaze. A lie was told by the nod of your head, despite being hurt, "Yeah, I'm fine-"

"No, stay." He warned politely as you tried to stand up fully. His arm was secure around your waist, and then his eyes trailed up to your head. The look in his eye softened even more, "You're bleeding."

You furrow you're eyebrows, going to touch your head. You sigh, looking at the marks of blood on your fingers, "Shit..I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" The man chucked, and rubbed a small circle on your back before getting up to get a paper towel from the nearby wall. He squatted back down to your level and gently put it against your wound. You winced a little at the pain, but took deep breaths in between. As he continued to wipe some of the blood off your head, you on the other hand stared at him the entire time. From far away, he was out of this world fine, but up close was even better. Looking at him was like being hypnotized.

"What's your name?" You asked bluntly.

He alternated looks between your eyes and your head, and smiled small, "Roman, and yours?"

Damn, and you thought he couldn't look anymore good. His smile was..

"So sexy.." You blurted out, thinking at first that you said it in your head, but you didn't. Shit, you thought. You lowered your head, closing your eyes from embarrassment. Roman paused from wiping your head, and stared at you a little bit from what you said. His lips turned into a smirk, with his tongue lightly brushing over them.

"So are you," He shoots back. What did he just say? Your eyes widened a tiny bit and you lifted your head up to meet his glance. Roman gave you a subtle wink before getting up, and throwing the paper towel in the trash can. He walked back to you, giving out his hand for you to take.

"Come on," Roman nodded his head towards the gym with a comforting smile. "Let's get out of here."

Depending on how hard you hit your head, you were still a little out of it and wasn't sure what to make out of this situation. Were you really about to leave with a guy you barely even knew? Despite how fine he was, a part of you thought this was a terrible idea, and made zero sense if you went through with it. However, you didn't care. The stars that you were seeing currently, especially when you looked at him gave you butterflies in your stomach that were unexplainable, and you just couldn't say no. Who was he? You needed to know.

A slow, small grin appeared on your face as you hesitantly took his hand, letting him take you wherever he wanted to go.

⏩

After about an hour or two of slumber, your eyes flew open, slightly closing due to the lights piercing through the ceiling. You blinked a couple of times, and realized there was something cold on the top of your head. You furrowed your eyebrows, bringing your hand up and gently touching the ice pack that was laid there. Then, you slowly sat up, setting the ice pack next to you as you looked around at your surroundings. You had a brown, fuzzy blanket wrapped around your body and you were laid against a long, white couch.

Not to mention, the living room that you were in was extremely huge. You had a hard time remembering exactly how you got here. All you remembered was that you were at the gym, you saw a handsome man; What was his name, Roman? You thought. After that you face planted on the treadmill, and he went to help you, anything after that was a complete blur. Where were you right now?

You turned your head to the left, and saw the night life outside of the window. Thousands of lights, and the settle stars of the night sky had you in awe. As you continued to stare at the view, a voice interuppted, "You alright, Uce?"

You jumped back a little, putting a hand on your chest from feeling startled. You looked ahead to see a brown-skinned, attractive man with unqiue tattoos on both of his arms and a gold chain around his neck. He was very swagged out, from head to toe. You looked him up and down, and slightly tilted your head, "Excuse me?"

"How are you feeling?" He repeated, looking at you weirdly. Did she not understand the slang? But the again, it was Samoan slang, not everyone understood it off the bat, He thought. You sighed, slightly face-plamimg your forehead gently before apologizing once again, "I'm sorry, Who are you? and how did I get here?"

"Jey Uso," He introduced shortly. I stared at him blankly, still having no clue who he was. He sighed, pointing at a picture of three children on the wall, "Roman's cousin?"

You looked at the picture, seeing Jey, another kid who looked exactly like him and Roman who I believed was in the middle. You wanted to coo at how adorable the picture was, but you were still confused. Damn, they're cousins? So is everyone attractive in his family or is it just them? Besides, why is he here anyway, standing there like some guard? Was he watching you this entire time?

"You guys are cousins?" I ask in disbelief. He nodded quietly, looking a little confused as to why I was surprised, "What, he didn't tell you?"

"No, because I just met the guy?" I say dumbfoundedly, "And I have no idea how I even got here in the first place. I need to go back home." You plead, starting to get a little nervous.

"Relax, this is Roman's place. He only brought you here because you got hurt at the gym and he didn't think it was safe enough for you to be driving back home." He informs, "I'll actually go get him, now that you're awake."

Before you could open your mouth to speak, he left the room. You sighed, and then thought a little about what he said afterwards. You knew that this was nice of him to do, and it did mean a lot that he cared, but you were still on the fence about being at a random guy's house you didn't know too well. Roman's intentions were in the right place, but this was the last thing you needed to be involved in right now. You were focusing on yourself, and yourself only, and it just hurt too much to have someone else in the picture at the moment. It wasn't the time to catch feelings or be interested in someone new, especially him, he was too fine and you knew it would be too easy to give in.

As you played with your fingers, the two gentleman stepped into the room, making you look up. Roman looked back at you with a soft, yet relieved expression as Jey stood behind him. He was wearing a dark blue muscle shirt, that showed a long, tribal patterned tattoo that covered his entire right arm, along with Jordans on his feet to match with his shirt. It's like this man had so many secrets about him that you had no idea about, the tattoo was like the perfect touch and made him look even more sexy than he already was, it also was identical to his cousin's. He turned his head, whispered something to Jey. He nodded his head and walked away, leaving you and Roman alone.

"Hey, sleeping beauty." Roman called you, which made you chuckle a bit, making you a less nervous. You watched him make his way over to you, and he sat down, putting the pack of ice on the coffee table in front of you.

"How's your head?" He asked, gently putting his fingertips under your chin, trying to get a good look at it which sent shivers down your spine. You licked your lips subtly, watching him but you sighed, closing your eyes. Get over yourself, Y/N.

"It's fine, um.." You trailed off, grabbing his soft, large hand and took it off of your chin. You really didn't want to let his hand go either, but you had to listen to your pride.

"Listen, I think I should go." You suggest, standing up from the couch and he looked up at you, clearly not wanting you to leave.

Shit, was I coming on too strong? Roman thought. This might've been an unusual way to approach a woman, but the moment he met you at the gym, he just knew he had to get to know you more. There was something about you, that pulled him in and had his full interest. You were beautiful, out of this world gorgeous, your body and the way the heavens shaped you drove him crazy, and the way you looked at him made Roman feel something that he doesn't feel everyday. Usually he was a bit more straight forward on what he wanted, and he wouldn't have to tell anyone twice for him to have it. He had a whole different side to him, that you had no clue about, but that's because you were different to him. He wanted to be careful with you.

Before Roman could respond, You felt around your neck and realized that it was completely bare. You froze and your blood ran completely cold. You remember going to the gym wearing a gold necklace that had your name written in cursive, which was a valuable gift of yours that you received on your birthday years ago. You never took it off, and you thought you might've lost it when you got hurt. Fuck, you thought, starting to feel upset all over again.

Roman realized a change in your mood, and he raised his eyebrow shortly, "What's wrong?"

You shook your head, not wanting to stress about it, even though deep down you were, "Nothing."

Roman looked at where your hand was, which was motioning at your neck. He then remembered the gold necklace that you dropped when you both walked out of the gym. He made sure to get it for you before you guys left.

"Are you missing something, gold maybe?" He teased playfully, knowing that you didn't want to worry him. Your eyes widened and you snapped his head at him, how did he even know that?

"You have it?" You say in a hopeful tone, with a brief smile on your face. He smiled back, with a light-hearted chuckle which made your heart melt, "Yeah, I got it. I'll go get it."

Roman stood up, and then looked back at you, "Just promise me you won't leave once I give it to you." You sighed in relief, and nodded agreeing. He left the room, leaving the room to get your necklace. You admired how kind he was, especially how much of a gentleman he was. He didn't have to help you at all or care about your well being, but he did. Give it a chance, go for it, you tried convincing yourself. It seemed like he also was interested, but then your insecurities kicked in, there was no way a guy like him would be interested in someone like you. There were you again, second guessing yourself. You just wished you didn't get yourself involved in this situation to begin with.

Roman went to his office, and picked up your necklace from his desk. He read your name quietly to himself, "Y/N..."

Such a gorgeous name, he thought. As if she couldn't seem any more perfect that she was. He smirked to himself, staring at your necklace for a couple of seconds before returning to the living room. Roman motioned you to turn around, and you followed, letting him put the necklace around your neck. Once it was, you touched it, thanking God in your head that you didn't lose it. You then turned around, facing him. You were more closer to him than you thought you would be. Roman stared down at you, looking into your eyes as you stared into his brown ones. The things you would do to him, you bit your lip and was able to pry away from his stare, backing up a away from him a bit.

Damn it, Roman cursed to himself. He cleared his throat, backing away from you, hoping he wasn't making you feel uncomfortable, even though you weren't. On the other hand, you were just hoping you wouldn't make a fool out of yourself again.

"I was just kidding about what I said earlier," He said. You looked back up at him, wondering what he was talking about. He smiled small, "If you still want to leave, I'd be happy to take you home."

You couldn't help but hold back a smile, finding his gestures heart warming. I guess showing your appreciation wouldn't hurt, in your way. You raised your hand to his cheek, holding it gently and tilted your head, kissing his other cheek sweetly.

"Thank you, Roman." You said appreciatively. His eyes were glued onto you, not being able to tear them off of you. Roman's blood turned warm, and his heart that was already racing began to go even faster. It's like there was a glow around you, that nobody else could see except for him. You were a diamond in the rough, angel in disguise, a woman that should be treated like a queen. He didn't know if you were seeing anyone else, but quite frankly he didn't care. You were going to belong to him soon.

"Are you good?" You asked, trying to get his attention. Roman nodded, trying to disregard his thoughts before he said them out loud, which he did most of the time.

"Yeah," He says. Roman picked up his keys off of the coffee table, and looked down back at you, not being able to look away from your beauty, "After you." He insisted, wanting you to go first. You nervously smiled, thanking him again silently before you walked in front of him. He took the opportunity take a look at your rear end, he bit his lip and sighed. All that, will be mine he said to himself in his head before he went and followed you.

➰

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[reyescarlos]

26, 65 or 74? hurt/comfort? i love ur style of writing and i wanna see where you take these 🥺🥰

this is just the sweetest. you’ve really been making me so happy with all your kudos and comments in this collection! thank you so much! this one kind of ran away from me and is a bit heavier than my previous fics. it comes with trigger warnings so... overdose tw, drugs tw

#26 “How did you find me?”

TK sits with his knees to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs as he looks out across the field. To any passerby this wouldn’t be anything remarkable. It’s nothing more than an expanse of dry grass but this particular vacant spot is arguably one of his favorite places in all of Travis County. This is the field where he allowed himself to dive headfirst into something real with Carlos, the two watching an anomaly in the sky above as something organic bloomed between them.

Austin has been leaving its mark on TK, the new memories and bonds forged here almost enough to eclipse all of the bad he’s left behind.

But there are certain aspects of his past that he can’t quite run from, despite his best efforts to. Life enjoyed playing with him too much to allow good times to last long. TK supposes he may be a touch melodramatic but after the last call he and his team were dispatched to, he can’t shake the idea that the universe likes tossing in harsh reminders of a life he’d rather forget.

The scene they were called to was far too similar to a scenario he had personal experience with. A worried mother stood watch for the crew’s arrival outside the door to her daughter’s apartment, tears in her eyes and she begged and pleaded with them to break down the door and get to her child.

The young woman was unresponsive, passed out on her bathroom floor. Beside her was an empty orange vial and two small clear baggies. It was as if seeing an alternate version of his life. Michelle bustled in, Tim and Nancy flanking her as they worked in tandem to save the woman. Narcan passed from Tim straight to Michelle in the blink of an eye, leaving her to administer the dose in almost no time at all.

TK was vaguely aware of his father’s voice but his ears were ringing too loudly to make out any of the words, let alone any other sound coming from the room. He could see Michelle calling out orders, see her team’s lips moving in response. But the dial was turned down to zero; TK was unable to register any of it. He could recall the touch of his father’s hands on his shoulders and hands, urging him away.

But it was all TK could do to stand there, feet planted like a formidable oak as he watched the young woman’s eyes flutter open, to hold his breath as she emptied out her stomach, her body too weak to even move herself away from the mess she’d made.

“TK,” his father had said a bit more forcefully in his ear, a hand on his elbow to take him away from the threshold.

He stumbled backwards as his father pulled him away, his vision of the apartment blurred as tears filled his eyes. The young woman would be okay but the image of her sprawled out against the tiles, TK knew, would always haunt him, never mind the sheer anguish on her mother’s face.

The ride back to the station was painfully quiet, the team—for his sake, more than anything— not saying a single word. But TK didn’t even feel like he was in the truck at all. His mind was somewhere else entirely, a thousand miles back in New York on his living room floor. It all came rushing back in such stunning clarity.

He’d gone through the motions of showering and dressing once they returned, enduring another quiet ride, this time home with his father.

TK had gone straight to his room though Owen tried getting him to open up and talk about what they’d just seen. His room made him feel like a caged animal as he paced the length of it. Before he could fully register what he was doing, TK was fleeing the house without saying a word to his father, hoping to find someplace where he could be alone and hopefully wind up feeling better.

TK’s top pick would have been Carlos’ condo but the last thing TK wanted to do was burden his boyfriend with this. He’s done his best to shield Carlos from the sordid details of his past, so keen he is these days on maintaining a brighter future.

He closes his eyes, listening to the sound of crickets hidden in blades of grass, feeling the soft evening breeze blow across his skin. This was the perfect place to settle on.

The road his mind wants to travel down is a dangerous one and it takes everything within him to keep on a safer path. The silence of the field helps. He tries to mirror it for himself, an open space and an open mind.

Out here with no one around, the noise in his head dies down long enough for him to steady himself and recalibrate.

His peacefulness is broken about twenty minutes later by the sound of tires approaching. TK scrambles to his feet quickly at the sudden intrusion. The car’s headlights make it hard to see much of anything but as the engine is cut and the lights are as well, TK feels his chest tighten at the sight of Carlos’ Camaro.

He stands frozen in his spot as he waits for Carlos to get out. When he does, his boyfriend’s eyes are locked in on him, his expression unreadable as he comes to a stop in front of him. Carlos doesn’t waste time with a preamble, jumping right into things.

“Your dad told me about the call you guys had today,” Carlos says delicately.

TK looks away, cracking his knuckles. His skin feels stretched too tight around his body. It’s a perfectly cool evening and yet he feels like he’s suffocating, his face and neck suddenly feeling hot.

“He was worried when you left and refused to answer his texts and calls. That’s when he reached out to me, hoping that you were at my place. He was worried sick...as was I.”

“I didn’t mean to make you all worry. I just needed...to breathe.”

Carlos frowns. “I know that call must have been horrible for you but you can’t go AWOL like that, TK,” he says, voice still gentle. “If you needed this time on your own, just say that next time, please. When you disappear, we can’t help but to get scared that you’re hurt or—”

“I didn’t do anything stupid. I didn’t, you know,” he concludes lamely, unable to even bring himself to say the word relapse.

“I didn’t think you would but thank you for telling me. I’m glad you’re hanging in there. I tried calling but it kept going straight to voicemail.”

TK’s brows furrow as he takes his phone out of his pocket. He touches the screen but it remains black. He hadn’t even thought to check on his phone, not that it mattered either way given he was practically in the middle of nowhere. It’s then that Carlos’ appearance really sinks in.

“How did you find me?”

For the first time since he arrived, Carlos smiles faintly.

“There’s a reason I still earn a paycheck every two weeks. You may think you’re a mystery but I know you,” he says, reaching for TK’s hands.

TK lets him hold on, realizing now just how cold his fingertips feel once he’s met with Carlos’ warmth. For as much as he wanted to be alone, TK is glad for Carlos’ presence now. It’s a powerful thing to be seen and loved by someone.

“I figured you’d go somewhere you could be by yourself, that’s nice and remote but also someplace that made you feel comforted as if you weren’t actually alone. That night we spent out here came to mind so I thought I’d check it out first.”

TK huffs out a sound similar to a laugh and shakes his head, looking back out across the field. “Impressive work, officer. But as you can see, I’m doing just fine so you don’t have to worry.”

“I wouldn’t call running away and isolating yourself fine, T. Please, can you talk to me about what you’re feeling right now?”

TK can hear traces of panic in his voice though, to Carlos’ credit, he tries to disguise it. But TK can read the strained look in Carlos’ brown eyes and the set of shoulders. This was precisely what TK was hoping to avoid, making someone he cared for so concerned. But he supposes he brought this on himself. Had he just spoken up when it mattered most, Carlos wouldn’t have had to go tracking him down.

Carlos turns and walks back towards his car, sitting on top of the hood. TK watches him for a moment, the man’s hand outstretched in invitation. This takes him back to that glorious night where there didn’t seem to be any limits to how happy and free he could be.

It feels like such a déjà vu. There may not be northern lights above them now but the stars shine so brightly that it’s captivating all the same. Carlos still looks at him with wonder and care in his eyes, just as he’d done months ago. The car is just the same, the spot beside Carlos empty and waiting for him.

But inside TK feels different. Something has monumentally shifted due to that call. So much of this scenario may feel familiar but he feels a long way off from the guy he was that night.

Something in his expression or body language gives him away; he knows Carlos can see his unease. The man lowers his hand and sits cross legged, just staring at him patiently.

It’s just one of the many things TK appreciates in Carlos. He never forces him to speak if he isn’t ready. He’s simply just there and that counts for so much more than TK can even say. It’s more than he deserves, of that he’s certain. But it’s exactly what he needs so he’s grateful.

After another moment, TK’s legs finally begin moving forward, the soles of his shoes crunching against the dried grass. He slides upwards onto the hood of the car, laying back wordlessly against the windshield. Beside him, Carlos follows his lead, reaching for his hand again. He brings it to his lips to kiss each of TK’s knuckles before resting his hand against his chest.

TK stays quiet for a beat, taking just a moment to relish in Carlos’ touch. A conversation is inevitable but before they get underway, he knows he needs to contact his father and attempt to put the man at ease. He dreads the thought alone but it’s the least he owes his dad now for bailing like he did.

“I should probably borrow your phone and give my dad a call. Let him know that I’m okay.”

“I sent him a text before I got out of the car. He knows you’re with me.”

A ghost of a smile plays at TK’s lips at the implication of that last sentence. Being with Carlos amounts to the same thing as safe.

TK pulls in a breath, trying to collect his thoughts but everything in his head is a wreck. He plucks out one thought and goes from there, just needing to get something off his chest so he could breathe a bit easier.

“Being on that call today, seeing that girl’s mom absolutely lose it....,” he trails off, closing his eyes to the memory but the images still flood him anyway. “It just made me think about my dad finding me when he did. If he’d come over to my place even five or ten minutes later, I likely wouldn’t even be sitting here right now.”

He has to stop short there, swallowing hard past the lump in his throat.

“I’ve put him through so much and I don’t ever want to do that again, cause even a fraction of the fear that woman had. Her daughter looked so helpless and all I could think about was ‘what if this girl doesn’t make it?’ Her mom wouldn’t have been able to survive that. And I thought back to New York, my dad being there, saving me. I’ve been doing well now but this thing is always going to be in me, no matter what and I hate that more than anything. One setback could undo everything. It’s happened to me before and I barely made it through that time.”

He lets out a shaky breath. “Sometimes it seems like it’d be safer not to let people in just in case I relapse again. I don’t want to drag anyone else down this road. My dad, you, the family I’ve made here. You all are so important to me and nothing terrifies me more than the thought of losing you guys, one way or another.”

Carlos sits up at this and from his periphery TK can see that his boyfriend is looking at him but TK can’t bear to look back. Instead he keeps his eyes trained on the stars just wishing he could trade places with them now, be light years away from the troubles of this world.

“Hey, no. The people you have in your corner are going to be there for life. We all love you so much and will always stand with you.”

There’s such conviction in his words that leaves no doubt about his sincerity and commitment. TK can’t help the tears that fall from the corners of his eyes and race back to his hairline as he keeps vigilant watch on the sky. He knows that if he looks at Carlos now, the little bit of restraint he’s been clinging to will break. Carlos continues speaking, undeterred, or perhaps motivated, by TK’s silence.

“I’m not in the business of giving up on people. Serve and protect, right? If I can care deeply for perfectly good strangers every day, why on earth wouldn’t I be able to do the same for you, the man I’m so incredibly in love with? You couldn’t push me or anyone else who loves you away. You and I agreed, right on this very spot, months ago that we were a team. I have every intention to hold up my end of that promise.”

TK lowers his gaze, finally letting his eyes land on Carlos. The man’s face is flushed, beautiful brown eyes tinted pink from unshed tears but there’s a fierceness in them despite the sadness.

TK sits up and draws nearer, resting his head against Carlos’ shoulder. TK’s wrapped up in the man’s embrace instantly, those steady hands rubbing soothing circles along his back.

He lets himself be cared for, ignoring how weak he feels now. Carlos, he knows, is strong enough for the both of them at this moment. There’s no judgement or shame to be felt, not with Carlos.

“You’re so much stronger than you even know,” Carlos murmurs against the shell of his ear. “There’s nothing you can’t get through and there’s definitely nothing we can’t do together. You’re so loved, TK. You are so loved and needed. Always.”