#i only had enough tape to do this once and thankfully it went well!!

[yoomster]

Shion washi tape art! 🌹

[domripley]

Video Star

pairing: jackie taylor x natalie scatorccio

warnings: all characters are 18+, recording, dom jackie, sub nat, begging, overstimulation, light dom/sub, mentions switch jackie and switch nat, dirty talk, fingering.

summary: nat got a new video camera and confides in jackie that she wants to record them fucking.

kinktober 23/24’: sex tape

edited by my lovely girlfriend @specialinterestshows 🥰

“You want to do what now?” Jackie asked.

Nat smirked, “You heard me. I just got a new video camera and I want the first thing I record to be us fucking.”

Jackie bit her lip, contemplating the thought. It sounded hot. Finally, she came to her decision. “I’m down. Let’s do it.”

Nat was a bit surprised, not expecting Jackie to agree so soon - but the thought excited her even more.

“Do you want to come to my place? Lot and Tai are going to be gone for the night,” Nat suggested.

Jackie nodded, “That works. Shauna is going to be at mine all night and I would rather not risk her walking in or hearing us.”

Nat smirked, “To be fair, I offered to give you my fingers and you said you could be quiet.”

Jackie rolled her eyes, but a blush was creeping up at the memory. They talked for a little while longer before going their separate ways. All through her classes, Jackie could only think of Nat. How were they going to do all of this? Who was going to hold the camera? All these questions ran through her head as her professor went on with the lecture.

As soon as Jackie was done for the day, she rushed to her apartment to get ready for the night, packing her backpack that she always brought with her to Nat’s. Before she could put her hitachi that Nat enjoyed into her bag, Shauna appeared from the doorway, causing Jackie to jump. She watched as Shauna turned her attention to the toy that was in her hand.

”I take it you’re going over Nat’s?” she asked with a knowing smirk.

”I am,” Jackie nervously laughed, putting it into her backpack.

”I hope you have fun,” Shauna teased.

Jackie rolled her eyes as she continued to grab what she would need for the night. Once she had everything packed and ready, she took a quick shower before leaving the apartment. Thankfully, Nat was roommates with Lottie - whose father paid for their own place - instead of the apartment she lived in with Shauna.

Jackie knocked on the door, looking at her phone as she waited for her girlfriend to answer it. Finally, after a minute of waiting, Nat answered the door with a smile before stepping aside to let her in. Jackie entered, making her way to Nat’s room without saying a word.

Putting her backpack on the ground, she sat down on the edge of the bed just as Nat walked in with two waters. She handed one to Jackie, giving her a soft smile before sitting down next to her.

“So,” Jackie said.

“So,” Nat repeated, placing her hand on Jackie’s thigh. “Wanna get started? Or we can watch something for a bit?”

Jackie hated how awkward she felt. They had been dating for a good year and a half now, and the amount of times they’ve fucked should be enough for her to not feel that way. But here she was, sitting awkwardly as Nat began to rub Jackie’s thigh in the way that always got her going. As if reading her mind, Nat leaned in, kissing her neck as Jackie closed her eyes and hummed.

“It’s up to you if you wanna do this, Jax,” Nat reassured her. She sucked on her skin gently, causing Jackie to whimper.

“F- Fuck,” she moaned, pulling away so she could turn her body to look at the blonde. “I want to do this, just… unsure of how to go about it is all.”

Nat nodded at her explanation, giving Jackie a comforting smile. She leaned in, kissing the brunette softly. When Nat pulled away, Jackie bit her lip.

“Well, are you in the mood to bottom tonight? I’m good with either, honestly,” Nat asked, licking her lips. Nat didn’t care as long as she was going to come.

Jackie shook her head, “No, I want to fuck you.” she paused with a smile. “I brought over the hitachi too.”

Nat bit back the noise that was threatening to escape. “Good, well, I can just push play on the camera and all we really have to do is act as if it’s not there,” Nat explained. “Would that be okay?”

Jackie nodded, “Yeah, that’s… that’s more than okay.”

Nat got up and put the camera on the tripod Jackie had gotten her for Christmas when she mentioned she needed a new one in passing. Jackie smiled at the memory, eyes going back to Nat who was now turning on the camera.

“You’re so fucking sexy,” Nat hummed.

Jackie blushed, “All I’m doing is sitting here, but honestly, have you seen yourself?”

“God,” Nat groaned. “Do you want me to grab the hitachi for you before I hit the record button?”

Jackie nodded, taking her own shirt off before removing her pants. When Nat turned around with the hitachi, she almost dropped it when she noticed that Jackie was already naked. “Hey you didn’t let me watch,” Nat pouted, moving around to plug in the hitachi to the wall.

“You’ll live,” Jackie rolled her eyes, “Now get undressed and turn on the camera or I’m going to just get myself off.”

Nat didn’t have to be told twice. She was quick to strip, turning on the camera just before climbing to the bed with Jackie. Before she could get off her knees, Jackie pushed Nat onto her back roughly.

“Fuck,” Nat whimpered as Jackie pulled her a bit further down on the bed so the hitachi was able to reach her pussy.

“We’re going to have to invest in a cordless one soon,” Jackie laughed, moving in between Nat’s legs, “Or at least get an extension cord.”

Nat bit her lip, watching as Jackie grabbed the hitachi and placing it right on her clit. Jackie took a deep breath, trying her best to keep her voice steady. “Beg,” Jackie demanded.

“Please, please, please turn it on,” Nat begged, but Jackie shook her head. She brought her free hand up, pinching at the closest nipple of Nat’s. Jackie smirked as Nat whimpered, grinding against the hitachi.

“I haven’t even turned it on and you’re already grinding? Pathetic, but cute,” Jackie hummed, looking at Nat who was pouting. “But you can do much better than that.”

This time, Nat let out a loud whine that almost made Jackie give in. But she stood her ground, pushing the hitachi harder into the blonde’s clit.

“Please, Jackie, please. I’ll- I’ll do anything!” Nat cried out.

Jackie turned the hitachi on at the highest setting, causing Nat to scream out. “I want you to come over and over until I think you’re done. Got it?”

Nat nodded as Jackie moved so she could keep the blonde’s legs open. To Jackie’s surprise, Nat’s first orgasm came fast. She held the hitachi firm against her clit, refusing to move it as Nat tried to pull away.

“You try that again and I’ll tie you to the bed,” Jackie warned.

Nat stopped moving, looking at Jackie as she rode out her high. “Fuck, b- babe, please,” Nat whimpered.

“Please what? Give you another one? Good girl,” Jackie hummed, slipping two fingers into Nat.

Nat cried out, another orgasm fast approaching. Jackie fucked her fingers in and out of her, slipping in a third finger which sent Nat over the edge.

“Such a good girl,” Jackie praised. “My good little video star.”

Nat was already red, but the nickname deepened the shade. “Please, please.”

Jackie continued, looking up to see crying. Her voice soft, “Can you give me one more, baby?”

Nat nodded as she sniffled, “I-I can.”

“Good girl,” Jackie praised. “That’s it, come for me.”

Nat came hard, arching her back as she rode it out. Jackie turned the hitachi off and pulled her fingers out. Slipping her fingers into her mouth, she hummed as she looked down at Nat.

“G- Give me about ten minutes and then it’s your turn,” Nat said, catching her breath.

Jackie pulled her fingers out of her mouth, “Looking forward to it.”

[ponds-of-ink]

FNAF Security Breach: Analyzing Vanessa’s Therapy Tapes With Violet-Tinted Glasses

Or at least an attempt to, as we’ll see shortly.

My main goal for today is to show what we could learn if—emphasis on that if—William Afton was controlling Vanessa at certain points of these sessions. Both for Vanessa’s character and for William’s.

This is also assuming that someone (or something) else is controlling Patient 46 in order to avoid a conundrum.

Buckle up once again. This is going to be even wordier than last time, and a whoooole lot more in head-canon territory rather than actual theory. Below is a summary of each session with certain parts of dialogue being discussed.

——

Tape 1

This is what I’m going to call “The Benchmark Tape”, as this is Vanessa at her most… Well, I say normal, but she’s still pretty irritated.

Cone to think of it, I can’t tell if her defensive tone is because of her genuinely not knowing why Fazbear’s has called her in or not. If I recall correctly, she had a similarly aggressive tone in the FNAF movie. I know that’s a very different timeline, but I can’t help but wonder…

Anyway, it turns out that this isn’t her first time here. She was actually brought in for anxiety sometime prior to—I can only assume—Glitchtrap’s antics in Help Wanted 1.

Her new issue is “sudden” and had “come up unexpectedly”, according to the therapist. I assume this is about the encrypted conversation she’s having with Glitchtrap and/or 46, but I suspect there’s something else too. Something I’ll get to in the next tape.

Vanessa does admit to talking to Luis from the marketing department. She thinks “he’s nice, I guess”. Keep that in mind for later.

Before I move on, however, there’s one thing I have to confess: I honestly thought that Vanessa’s voice went flat only a couple of times after this tape. And, thusly, it was a good indicator for when William is the one actually talking.

Turns out she’s actually deadpan for nearly the rest of the recordings.

Soo.. Yeah. That wasn’t a good strategy after all.

Thankfully, FNAF Wiki’s transcript of the CDs and @kevciaran’s William Analysis came in clutch. I’ll be combining both of their methods and using them as tools: The Wiki’s use of marking Vanny’s fainter lines, and anything that lines up with what Kev noticed in his Sister Location segment.

Anyway, onto…

Tape 3

A new therapist has replaced the old one. Vanessa, though obviously more “tired”, is aware enough to notice. The new woman, however, isn’t all that worried. According to her, all this research she’s been doing makes it feel like they’ve “known each other for weeks”!

Therapist 2 recaps on something we haven’t heard about before: her dad Bill. She double-checks on the name, but all the only answer she gets is muttering… For a second. Then we get our first response from William.

“I try to do what I’m supposed to do.” - I want to say he’s ignoring the question (as he did in Sister Location), but.. He sounds so tired, I can’t tell if it’s intentional. He might actually be just thinking out loud or—dare I imply it this soon��even deflecting for entirely different reasons? Either way, it’s.. even more ominously morose than that one Scraptrap line. Which is a feat.

Therapist 2 unwittingly agrees with “Vanessa”, then goes back on topic. She walks through the custody case, understandably badmouthing her (“her”?) dad along the way. She concludes the gentle-as-possible recap with relaying the fate of Vanessa’s mom— Which, although censored out by an audio glitch, does not bode well. What also doesn’t bode well is this sudden response:

“I was supposed to be a good girl” - Yes. The Wiki’s ‘faintly’ method implies that it’s William saying it under the guise of Vanessa. Considering that this is unprompted as well (along with the even more noticeable voice crack [and now I’m getting even more concerned for the man’s wellbeing]), I can only assume that William was having some… worrisome memories and was trying to get his thoughts out while staying in character.

Thankfully, Therapist 2 comforts Vanessa as best she can. It wasn’t Vanny’s fault, after all. Yes, she did provide the testimony that caused her mom’s apparent demise— But, again, it’s her dad that should be blamed here. Not her.

Or… “her’, if the whole custody case thing was the sudden issue that came up. Given the fact that the previous therapist didn’t bring it up at all in the Benchmark Tape, the fact that Vanessa suddenly gets all deadpan from here on out, and Patient 46’s introduction into this narrative… Call it a wild hunch from left field, but I now have my suspicions.

Tape 5

Therapist 2 confronts Vanessa about her texting a non-employee during work hours. A manipulative non-employee at that. When she asks about who this person is, Therapist 2 hears this response:

“I get a lot of messages from friends. I like when Luis writes to me, he's funny.” - William not only dodges the question (again), but he also attests to texting Luis. …That, or he’s trying to match up with how Vanessa acts again. Either way, he thinks Luis is funny— Even cracking a half-smile of sorts, which I wasn’t expecting. Make of this what you will, I guess?

Therapist 2 is having none of this. She warns Vanessa that her files are being hacked. Files with a whole bunch of details about her life on them. And what does Vanessa answer after being asked about the ramifications?

“I'm not in the tech department. I just type on the computers.” - …Yet another deadpan dodge by William. Given his prior work in both business and technology, he’s gotta know the actual answer to that.

Therapst 2 agrees with “her” again, but once again issues a word of caution: This stranger definitely knows a lot about her. And the reply?

”Lots of people know more than I do. Sometimes I need to listen.” - Okay, now we’re back to William just thinking out loud. This is pretty telling, however. It almost implies that William’s confidence has dwindled a bit since UCN… Though, again, it’s also possible that he’s trying to impersonate Vanessa for currently unknown reasons. I’m definitely not ruling that out.

Tape 7

Therapist 2 is out [blame Patient 46], and Therapist 3 is in. However, this time, neither Vanessa nor the therapist seems bothered by this. In fact, they have a very brief talk about candy before they start. Therapist 3 offers some, but “Vanessa” answers:

”No, thank you. Those have thirty-five calories a piece.” - …Well, I’m not completely sure if this is William answering here, going by the lack of indicators. However, given the fact that Vanessa apparently orders cupcake cookbooks according to a scrapped FNAF AR email (and, y’know, the fact that she later has a job that requires her to run up three floors), I’m going to assume that’s the case. This does imply that William is bizarrely health-conscious… Which makes a lot more sense when you remember that one description of him from the Silver Eyes. Guess he doesn’t want to look “fat and affable”, even as a ghost haunting someone else’s body ..

As the rest of this session concerns inkblot tests, I’m going to assume Vanessa quickly regained control here and move on. Her answers are something to note, being “a tree house” and “a beetle”. There is also ‘I like to sit outside and read’ in response to one of the questions, but this really could be either of them.

Tape 9

This session starts with Vanessa smelling some flowers that Therapist 3 has set out. They then have a one-sided conversation about gardens and hobbies, which reveals Vanessa apparently doesn’t have hobbies. Therapist 3, always being the chill kinda person, offers up her craft space in her basement as a place to do stuff. “Vanessa” refuses, saying this almost as an aside:

”I don’t like dark basements” - Given William’s history with dark and empty rooms, this one’s actually not that surprising. Dark basements, though? …I’d say this is a reference to Sistsr Location and brush this off, but that bunker had plenty of lighting. Maybe—dare I say it—we have another hint that William’s childhood was miserable??

Tape 10

This one is short, but at least it gives a hint as to what Vanessa actually looks like when haunted by William.

Case in point: Therapist 3 notes “Vanessa’s” comfy posture, even stating ‘It looks like you could take a nap’. Guess Will really likes the chair.

Therapist 3 also brings up Vanessa’s discussions with the Encrypted Individual, mentioning that it’s getting more serious. She asks if it’s distracting her from her work, which prompts this:

”My work is important. There's a non-disclosure agreement.” - There’s not only a grit of her teeth during ‘My work is important’, but there’s also a slight smugness in ‘There’s a non-disclosure agreement’. For a second, the William we’ve seen for the past ten years comes back in full force.

Key words there: For a second. As we’ll see in the next tape, things quickly become less smooth-sailing and more “oh no” inducing.

Tape 11

This session begins with Vanessa admiring the blue sky, which Therapist 3 comments on. The conversation quickly changes once Therapist 3 brings up Vanessa’s search history. Therapist 3 inquires if Vanny’s been doing private searches on company time, which leads to:

”I get breaks” - Short, sweet, to the point. Also completely dodging the question. Again.

Therapist 3 tries again, but from a different angle. She brings up the fact that Vanny is ordering some stuff to make a costume. She asks “what are you going to make?”, which gives us the return of the indistinct muttering.

Therapist 3 (with much better hearing than Therapist 2, I reckon) catches a part of what Vanessa is saying. “Did you say the costume is a secret?” she inquires in genuine confusion. “Why is that?”

“Vanessa” panics.

“I can't talk about this. He said he would always be watching. He could be here or there or anywhere in between.” - …As if I wasn’t concerned about William’s wellbeing already. Not because he sounds paranoid here, but because there’s a very high chance he’s right. Patient 46 has had a habit of being the cutting off point for the last two therapists, and Therapist 3 hasn’t been cut off yet…

Therapist 3, unfortunately, doesn’t take this as a warning. She assumes that this is about Vanessa’s dad and advises Vanny to resolve the issue. Vanessa seemingly pushes William aside and yells about “locking ‘him’ away” (most likely referring to Glitchtrap). Her voice finally breaks the deadpan threshold, only to sink back into it a few seconds later.

The tape ends with Therapist 3 and Vanessa talking about facing a memory head-on. This could be narrative foreshadowing somehow, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Side Note: I can see William saying “I have! I compartmentalized him. He's locked away.”; but Vanessa sounds like she briefly regained control there. If that’s the case, then it could be inferred that William got too scared and ‘let go’. Maybe.

Tape 12

Unfortunately, it’s time for Vanessa to go to the Pizzaplex. Therapist 3 offers to continue the sessions away from Fazbear Entertainment, but the offer is shot down by Vanessa:

“I'm needed somewhere else now. Thank you.” - Short, bittersweet, and absolutely ominous. For Vanessa, we know where she’s heading. But William? No idea. What we do know is that Vanessa definitely regained most of her control by the time Security Breach happens. So that probably means William’s haunting was only a temporary procedure. And, until we get more explanations, we’re not going to know exactly why.

(Also: It’s kinda heartwarming to imagine William thanking this therapist with a geniune half-smile. Vanny’s tone is seriously so warm, yet so tired.)

(And, by the way, Therapist 3 disappears after this tape. Somehow, Patient 46 strikes again…)

Final Notes

William, as expected, is not up for answering questions directly. Unlike in Sister Location, however, he seems to not take pleasure in this. There’s no smile in his words here, save the occasion ones that I’ve mentioned. Just a general sense of weariness.

When he does show emotion, it’s mostly just panic and/or self-loathing. He could still be trying to act as Vanessa, sure, but he did also crawl out of UCN. Maybe it broke his confidence enough that he can’t even trust himself anymore…? To the point where he’s also in danger of being manipulated? I mean, it did happen with him in Fazbear Frights epilogues…

Tangent aside, he is definitely not the same after the FNAF 6 fire. There is not a lot of bragging. There is not a lot of smiling or hinting at plans. He even mutters a few times, which is something he’s never done up to this point. He’s officially reached the same levels of brokenness his son Mike had, whether Will wants to admit this narrative irony or not.

Also, Vanessa apparently has enough trust to let him talk during the majority of these sessions. I dunno why that’d be the case, but maybe it’s just a temporary truce.

TL;DR on the whole thing: I’m very concerned for both of them, if this turns out to be true. It’s one thing to have an innocent bystander get mentally hijacked by a bizarre virus. It’s another thing entirely if the bystander and the ghost that’s haunting her are in agreement about being in absolute peril. Especially if it’s the ghost of an absolute villain whose entire livelihood once centered around making others suffer.

[palmofafreezinghand]

happy thanksgiving

when renee bails on bella, she spends thanksgiving with some unconventional hosts. on ao3 here.

thank you to @birchbees for requesting a story of "esme being a good mom to bella"

Bella and Edward were supposed to be enjoying a peaceful fall afternoon together, ideally cuddled up in front of the Cullen fireplace reading from a well-worn copy of ‘Wuthering Heights.’  Bella had fallen asleep within minutes, tired from having spent the previous night talking. She woke up an hour later to find Edward had been dragged out by Emmett who had possibly detected a black bear but needed a telepath to be sure, Emmett still had yet to give up hope Edward’s gift would suddenly apply to animals. 

She learned all of this from the handwritten note in beautiful cursive taped to her forehead. Thinking the house was empty she went to fetch a glass of water. Despite the fact, the entire family had risked their lives for her, more than once, Bella was still terrified of leaving any trace of evidence in the house that she was alive. 

She walked into the kitchen checking her phone, Renee had called for the first time in three weeks. Bella would call her back, maybe in a day or two. Their conversations were getting less frequent, especially after Renee had broken the news she was spending the holidays with Phil’s sister and her children. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. There was no reason it should have upset Bella as much as it did, she couldn’t think about it for too long. 

She wiped what was definitely not a tear as she swung open the kitchen door. 

“Good morning,” a familiar voice said from the kitchen bar. Bella jumped a little before realizing it was just Esme, probably the least threatening person she knew, especially for a technical murderer. 

“Hi,” Bella smiled, trying to aggressively wipe away the certainly not tears. She knew Esme noticed but thankfully was kind enough to not mention it. 

“Can I get you anything?” Esme asked. She was sifting through a large book of fabric swatches while looking back and forth between her laptop screen, the book, and the plans she had strewn across the marble countertops. 

“I was just getting water,” Bella said, suddenly afraid of being an imposition. 

Esme smiled and returned her attention back to her work. “Edward will be home soon,” she said as Bella filled a water glass. 

“I know. He left a note.” 

“Figures. But he promised he’d hide my left socks if I didn’t relay the message.” 

“I’ll make sure to tell him. Your socks are safe,” Bella said, taking a sip of the water. Esme at some point had started keeping a pitcher of water in the empty fridge, she infused them with different fruits today’s selection was orange and lemon. 

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, Bella refilled her glass once. 

“Are you doing anything for Thanksgiving?” Esme asked as she carefully tore out a pink striped upholstery fabric. There was no way Esme would have known Bella would rather do anything but think of the holiday season, but it still felt cruel of her to bring it up. 

“No,” Bella muttered. “My mom is spending the season with her new in-laws, and Charlie has to work so I’ll probably just have a quiet night at home.” 

“That’s a bummer,” Esme frowned.

“It’s alright,” Bella shrugged. “The only thing I really like about Thanksgiving is my grandma’s pumpkin pie without the pumpkin but I haven’t had that in years so it’s fine.” 

She omitted the fact she could eat an entire tray of sweet potatoes with caramelized marshmallows on top, would eat cranberry sauce straight out of the can like it was candy, and used to wait anxiously in front of the oven window watching the turkey roast. 

“Well, we’d love to have you over. Although we might not be much fun.” 

She showed up at the Cullen house for another mundane afternoon, three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches stowed in her backpack, a Cosmic Brownie for Thanksgiving dessert, and a Diet Pepsi as a treat. It was a pathetic excuse for a holiday dinner but she supposed this would be how holidays would go for the rest of forever, it’s not like vampires would ever spend fourteen hours in the kitchen just for nostalgia. 

“What is that?” Rosalie whisper-shouted, appearing in front of Bella’s truck in a flash. 

“What?” Bella frowned. 

“The food in your bag,” Rosalie hissed. 

“It’s my… dinner?” 

“Edward didn’t tell you,” she scowled. 

“Tell me what?” Bella asked. 

Rosalie rolled her eyes, a gesture that somehow involved her entire body. “Give me the sandwiches,” she whispered. When Bella didn’t do as she said, thinking she couldn’t be serious. “Now,” she held her hand out in front of her. “Please,” she added quickly. 

Bella did as Rosalie said. “Thank you,” Rosalie muttered. “Now go in there and say thank you.” 

“Thank you?” Bella said, not understanding why she was thanking Rosalie for stealing her food but doing so anyways. 

“Not to me,” Rosalie said, rolling her eyes once again. “Just go inside, please,” she smiled slightly, lightly pushing Bella towards the house. 

When Bella opened the front door she was greeted by the smell of spices and something sweet baking in the oven. 

Edward poked his head out of the kitchen, grinning when he saw her. “Happy Thanksgiving.” 

Bella walked into the kitchen to find one of the most extravagant spreads she had ever seen. It wasn’t an Edward extravagant, expensive and lavish, but lovingly extravagant, homemade dinner rolls, two different salads, a small turkey, and a honey-roasted ham. 

Edward and Esme were both in the kitchen, although Edward was standing off to the side, more an accessory than an actual assistant. He greeted her with a kiss on her cheek, his arm wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. “Suprise,” he whispered into her temple. 

  Esme was wearing an apron that looked straight out of ‘Leave it to Beaver’ and well-loved over the years, her curls piled on the top of her head in an unruly bun. “Happy Thanksgiving,” Esme smiled as she pulled a pie out of the oven. 

“Happy Thanksgiving,” Bella said, trying to swallow the sob that had been threatening to jump out her throat all day, this time for a very different reason. 

“Alright,” Esme said, sliding three pies across the counter towards Bella. “I give up. I tried,” she laughed lightly. 

Bella looked down and there, sandwiched between two almost pumpkin pies was a version of her grandmother’s pumpkin pie without the pumpkin looking up at her. 

“Pumpkin pie, without the pumpkin,” Bella said looking at the pie crust filled with vanilla ice cream topped with whipped cream. The sob in her throat was now declaring war against her. 

Esme looked at the pie in disbelief, “you’re kidding. That’s it?” She asked, pointing at the pie. 

The only response Bella could muster was to wrap Esme in a hug. “You nailed it,” she whispered, her voice no louder than a rustle of leaves. “Thank you.”

[beardedmrbean]

Hmm I was watching this video https://youtu.be/DHF8LdiFhW8?si=U3QcuoufihSLEONt

And in the comments they pointed out that parents of the 50’s were children on the Great Depression. Which got me thinking

As you know a lot of people who came from poverty goes crazy when they get famous or successful. The…black community is like that as we can barely comprehend so much wealth at once. Not all as many are slick enough to start their own record labels, clothing, etc.

But that comment got me thinking about the great generation. I can only imagine how crazy they went with the fact they grew up in the Great Depression and then boom the USA is on top of the world. Then they sent their kids to college who got brained that Kinsey studies was good for society.

Yes I know the previous generations prior to boomers had libidos, I mean look at Walt’s and his colleagues/competitors works when the female body got more defined in cartoons.

But we really need to look into the boomers upbringings and their parents prior to prevent another one.

I wish this was the stawman it looks like but I've seen this all before on here.

Wonder if they'd be terribly shocked at how much "GAY" was ignored in the 50's and beyond.

Couple of teachers at the Christian (ND but Pentecostal run) school I went to, ladies that had a duplex they rented next to each other and always had neither one married or dated that anyone knew of and they were just "really good friends" and had been forever. Both taught 5th grade too.

Didn't even click for me what was likely going on till I was in my 20's and they drifted into my head for some reason, but ya that was in the 80's that was going on.

The arguments about divorce and women not having their own bank accounts honestly hold a lot more water.

The…black community is like that as we can barely comprehend so much wealth at once. Not all as many are slick enough to start their own record labels, clothing, etc.

Herb from "Peaches and Herb" was working well here

"Once again, Fame returned to law enforcement and joined the U.S. Marshals Service in 1986 as a deputized court security officer at the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims."

Big part of that I think was him getting shafted on royalties, but initial payouts still should have kept him comfortably middle class for life after the 3rd peaches.

Then we have MC Hammer and Mike Tyson, though being shit with handling money and the fame that comes with it isn't exclusive to any one group regardless of the demographic they're in.

Thankfully the lawyers and accountants are getting better at convincing people to knock it the fuck off so we don't wind up with.

To be fair to Willie his accountants had screwed him and there were some bad investments, oversight of accountants is also part of the bit above this with the getting them to knock it the fuck off part.

Ted Nugent ran into similar, but the accountants had made some really bad investments instead of just flat out not paying his taxes for years.

But ya guys like Dre, Jay Z, Beyonce, and Rhianna from that end of the spectrum have done very well, Michael Jackson for all his eccentricity made some great investments that should be enough to keep his grandkids doing wonderfully even. (as long as they still have half the Beatles catalouge at least)

As for libidos, we been horny since the dawn of horns it got played down some round WW1 or so and people started to reset their memories, there's some nasty stuff out there from the Victorian to Edwardian ages.

[spaceselkie]

Lots of progress this weekend.

Firstly, the shoes are finished. I'd love it if I never have to make gladiator sandals again, personally. I had to redo the top of each one several times for fit, and I completely depleted the scrap fabric I was using to make these.

I also went ahead and finished the necklace. I've have the prism part done since about November or so but I was putting off doing the necklace because I hate foamwork. I really love the resin gem. I added glitter to the bottom when I cast it which creates a nice depth when the light hits it.

I managed to get it to work as a solid band around the back of the neck - not particularly important for Dimitri, who has hair that will cover that spot, but important for Felix, who my wife is cosplaying and who has a ponytail and will continue to have a ponytail as a genderbend.

Ugly seam is ugly, but it can be because it's hidden. The closure is magnetic and nestles behind the gem. The 5 mm foam is thick enough to hold its shape when pressed together, so I didn't need another stabilization point. Ideally, I would have liked to match the color on this for the felt, but it's hidden anyway and that was the closest color I had on hand that wouldn't give me an allergic reaction (I have wool felt in that color, but it would cause me trouble on my neck).

I got a chunk of beading done on the tabard sides, and added the last of the trim that it needed. Hopefully I can finish the beading on the tabard today. I also want to go in on the silver part of the skirt and add some silver preciosa bicones at some point.

I think I finished everything that I wanted to do with my Cricut Maker as well. I cut 12+ crests for each of us in holographic vinyl (blue for me, transparent blue for her... they're both blue and transparent though). These will be on our dangles as an embellishment.

I also cut my rhinestone flock template. This will be used to add hotfix rhinestones to the bottom of the skirt. I'm planning to color match so it should be subtle.

In case you also have a Maker, I cut this flock without the paper backing, flock side up on a standard grip mat with the bonded wool felt setting, and ran it through twice. Once probably would have worked fine but I wanted to make sure it would work.

If you want to do anything with rhinestone templates, I can't recommend flock enough. It was pretty easy to design (I just went over the Blaiddyd Crest with dots the right size), mirrored and flipped pieces as needed, and cut it in my cricut. It worked on the first try with how I'd spaced everything. This is so much faster and precise than placing everything by hand would have been.

And here's the test on a scrap piece of dupioni with scrap rhinestones in the same size that came with my rhinestone brush. Unimpressed dog in background is unimpressed. 20 seconds at 320 F with my heat press at about 30 lbs of pressure did the job and caused no problem with the silk. Only one rhinestone of the entire design got displaced, which I adhered with gem tac (I didn't want to get my hotfix tool out).

👀 And not because I know from experience or anything, but don't use cricut transfer tape for rhinestone transfers. It isn't heat resistant and will try to melt on your heat press (I got it off in time).

Thankfully I figured out my rhinestone flock came with transfer tape so I'm all set tor doing this on my actual costume.

I won't be getting as much done this coming weekend because I'm going out of town Thursday night - Friday midday, then I have a friend coming in that afternoon from out of town, and on Saturday, I get my Byleth tattoo on my leg so I won't really feel like doing much after that.

[demonateher]

Joys of being a predictable fangirl

I'm going on about three and a half years of obsession now. Most people who aren't totally dense in my social circles have come to associate KnY with how happy it makes me. Unlike many other obsessions over the years, this one is a bit worse because I like collecting stuff for it, which also sort of adds to the obsession.

So anyway, just some moments and interactions below the cut.

--A friend asked me once if I liked to keep the nice tins that sweets came in, even if they don't have the sweets. I assumed this question was in regard to KnY stuff and answered it depended on if I liked the designs. Sure enough, months later, she sent me a care package with KnY tins. Thing is, she had received these and eaten the sweets while they were still good. She took great care in filling them with regular grocery sweets, taping them shut, and returning them to the original packaging. I was surprised and found it funny.

--Formal New Years Greetings. My tea ceremony classmate and I are in nice kimono, bowing with foreheads close to the tatami, asking to be in each other's good care and company in the coming year. As such, she formally asks if I would do her the favor of attending a movie theater showing of KnY with her again. I humbly accepted.

--When I had the opportunity to visit my family last year I took it upon myself to teach my youngest siblings some basic swordsmanship (you know, in case they ever need it). While explaining how they keep the tip of the katana consistently aimed at their opponent's throat while changing stances, as though there's a line extending from the tip, one of them (who has only casually watched the anime) responded with, "oh, you mean like in Kimetsu no Yaiba?" and my heart was warmed with pride.

--A local friend not asking me, 'Do you want to go to the Total Concentration exhibit together,' but instead, "what day do you want to go?"

--I had a very, very, very long day a few months ago and got stuck taking care of a lot of stuff in overtime. A part-timer wanted to get me something sweet at the convenience store to cheer me on, and asked what I wanted. I asked for the cheap wafer snacks with collectable stickers and she hunted them down and obliged.

--One of my other previous coworkers also brought me cheap KnY snacks sometimes, unprompted. Other times he felt he should inform me of things like KnY yatsuhashi on sale at the train station (which I thanked him for but also informed him I had bought some already).

--A best friend of mine, whom I haven't gotten to watch it, is nonetheless supportive of my interests. She knows how much I require total darkness to sleep and how excited I was for how well the KnY eyemasks worked for me, but I bemoaned in passing that the straps on my Nezuko and Zenitsu eyemasks (which were of course chosen because they were funny as eyemasks) were too loose to use them well anymore. While I went to work she went sightseeing, and that evening, she pulled out a present saying, "here, you don't have this one yet!" and it was a Tanjiro eye mask. That is currently what I wear to bed.

--This one is a little complicated. I did successfully drag another bestie into KnY, and her immediate favorite was Inosuke, though she's admitted that she mainly stays familiar with KnY through the joy that I keep getting out of it. When she finally moved to Japan after many pandemic related delays, I had a box of tissues with Inosuke on it (because that's funny) to give her as a housewarming gift. However, not even 15 minutes into our long-awaited reunion she underwent a small tragedy, and as she having a serious breakdown, I, albeit recognizing the levity of the box decor was not quite fitting for the situation, opened my suitcase to pull out a big box of Inosuke tissues for her. Thankfully she found it funny. ----Part two, I have given her a small handful of other KnY things. Like the care-package I sent her while she was stuck in quarantine? She didn't give me enough detail about what she wanted, so of course I just gave her a bunch of cheap KnY snacks of my choosing. There's also been a cute Inosuke accessory or two here or there. She kept saying that someday, someone was going to go over to her house and assume that she was a huge fan due to all the KnY stuff she had gotten from me (and enjoys due to associating it with me). And then it happened! And that person also happened to be a big fan and was thrilled. Long story short, we very, very unexpectedly got to meet each other for about an hour the following day, and we had a special moment with glitter and flowers filling the air around us.

--Day one of my new job, feeling nervous and excited, navigating my way through a transfer at a very busy subway station, I'm looking around for a sign and then bam, there's Tanjiro on a screen. Joy! That is always pleasant. While passing by the posters for the Osaka Metro event going on, the friends who I got dinner with last night of course immediately looked to me to be sure I saw it.

--Speaking of Tanjiro, I'm grateful to be involved with outside activities where everyone knows my KnY fandom enough that I'm not shy at all to use KnY LINE stickers in group chats, which I'm otherwise too shy to use in, say, work chats. I got a couple of messages of people wishing me luck and I had the pleasure of responding with Sumiko, in full make-up, promising to work hard.

Oh, at the new job? They don't know yet. I'm sure they'll find out I like KnY. Then it'll be a question of when they find out how much.

[independentzaun]

Family issues and Zombies

Modern zombie Apoc starter for @cold-blooded-candy

((Quick few back story notes just so we have something to reference (if I got anything wrong here feel free to let me know I’m entirely willing to change and adapt). Silco adopted Jinx. Tried to adopt Vi, but couldn’t get it done in time. Vi blames Silco for being a homewrecker, and doesn’t know Silco tried to keep the sisters together. They do not have a good relationship at all. Vander is dead (car crash/accident), and things were complicated between him and Silco ala estranged spouses. Most of the bad stuff got blamed on Silco be it true or not, Vander is why Silco has his scars/bad eye. There’s a lot Vi doesn’t know/understand, and neither Vander nor Silco ever told her all of it. Silco has an arrest record for one reason or another. Silco has currently gotten separated from Jinx (who has Sevika with her) and everything is going to hell because zombies. With that, here we go.))

It would be easy to assume a man in his forties who was perhaps inching closer to fifty than he’d like to admit would have problems moving through town on foot while avoiding zombies. That assumption would be very wrong with Silco moving through a neighborhood he knew like the back of his hand. Silco had boots on that had seen him through a hundred punk shows, protests, and late night excursions. A heavy black leather jacket that went down to his hips, and a vest under it with a “nazi punks fuck off” patch on one side and another patch that said simply ACAB on the other. He hadn’t worn the vest in a few years not having had the opportunity to go to a show, but looking into his closet with a mix of frantic worry and the cold mindset that had gotten him out of so many bad situations before Silco simply hadn’t been able to resist grabbing it. Thankfully it still fit perfectly as did the rest of his outfit, and the backpack strapped to him that was perhaps half full didn’t impede him all that much as he moved.

His bad eye currently covered with an eye patch not wanting to take the chance that one of his decorative contact lenses would fall out Silco stalked through an alleyway. He’d spent practically his entire life in this town, and it showed as he took a side cut here or hopped a fence there or climbed up a fire escape only to move across the roof tops for a few buildings. A life spent with the first few years being chased by police or shop owners, the racist skinheads he’d fought more than once trying to grab him, or even just having fun with a friend running around all made it easy for the man to avoid zombies and get to where he was going with little issues. A shortcut through an abandoned apartment building did lead to one short deadly moment during which a zombie turned around growling in front of the window he needed to go through. Without hesitating for a second Silco simply shoved the makeshift spear he’d made out of a baseball bat he’d carved down, and a butcher knife attached to it with a few leather straps as well as duct tape and glue through the zombies face into it’s skull destroying the brain and kept going. It wasn’t something he enjoyed, but Silco had already seen more than enough examples of just what could come from allowing a zombie to live and get close to you to know he couldn't allow that.

Eventually he got to the college Jinx was supposed to be having her first semester at praying that she was still there, and with Sevika by her side. Pulling out a solar powered walkie talkie he hissed into it. “Jinx! Sevika! Are either of you there? Come in...Fuck!” Clicking it off Silco shoved it back into a cargo pocket on his pants, and continued through the college. There had been a disastrously high amount of zombies roaming around here near the start of the infection, but by now most had either died or left or gotten distracted and simply stayed in one building or another with nothing prompting them to do anything. Spotting the building that had the store for necessities and text books and snacks Silco frowned before heading that way figuring it was as good an idea as any. Slipping into it he glanced around hissing out Jinx’s name, and then Sevika’s before heading towards the food section first. Food, and then first aid was his plans. At some point however Silco heard a foot step and spun around pulling out the knife that had been sheathed on his belt as he’d put the spear down to scavenge. Blade very clearly held in a steady grip that spoke of a willingness to use it Silco paused for a moment realizing who was there, and turned his head just a touch to get a better look at her with his good eye.

“Vi?...Of course…” He shouldn’t be surprised. If anyone could survive this shit it was Vi, and as much as he felt that immediate rush of anger and resentment rising up there was also weirdly a faint small tiny hint of relief deep down inside not that he would ever admit it. Glancing past her to make sure she wasn’t followed he put the knife down by his side and took a breath shaking his head. “Look we don’t have time for a long conversation, or yelling. Not with the biters around so making this quick I got separated from her. Sevika should be with her and I need to find her…” Lips tightening a bit his scars twitched before he spoke again. “I suppose. We. Need to find her. Now we have our issues, but we both want Jinx safe and whole.” What ever issues he had with Vi. With the daughter he’d tried so hard to keep side by side with Jinx, but had failed and instead of keeping his family whole and together had seen it split. There was no doubt in Silco’s mind that here and now in this wasteland of death if there was one thing they shared it was that need to ensure Jinx was safe.

“So either we can work together, and not get in each others way or we can keep stumbling over each other as we look for her and risk pulling the biters down on us.” The knife slipped into it’s sheath as he stared at her. “Because I’ll never stop looking for her. So what’s it going to be Vi?” The woman was, he was sure, smart enough to know two people together was far safer than one. At least assuming the two people could trust each other enough to work together, and Silco knew quite well you didn’t have to like someone to work together. There was of course a soft growling sound from somewhere be it in the back of the building, or outside. Still far too many zombies, and too much risk to stay where they happened to be at that moment for long.

[pbandjesse]

Today was exhausting and I have a horrible headache right now. But it was not a bad day. It was just a lot.

I slept better last night. I think having the fan on did help. Wasn't so quiet. When I woke up my alarm went off and I felt pretty good. James came and gave me a hug and they made the bed while I went to go get dressed. I didn't feel great about my clothes today. But it was fine. I would feel cute eventually. The problem really was I was cold but I didn't know what to wear I would also just too tired to think of a better outfit. I did appreciate that this dress has pockets. Because the black girl had yesterday does not. So even if they look very similar they are very different.

I checked on my mice and they were doing pretty good. Every warmed up their heating pad and fed them and then James helped me carry things to the car. And they told me I better be safe and that they would only be safe if I was safe. Which seems fair. And then they biked off and I took a moment to settle myself before I drove to camp.

I would go and drop my mice off in the girls between. And hope that Mom mouse would come find them. But I was not that lucky because as soon as I walked in there I found two more mice. I was so mad. That was not the plan. I just put them in with the other two and hoped for the best.

And for real for the first hour I was there I was just running back and forth to different buildings just getting the last pieces to set everything up. Was stupidly stressful for some reason. I just feel like I wasn't awake. Like I wasn't that tired but I was not thinking things through and not getting everything I needed. And then I went to get the schedules and I realized I accidentally gave them an hour and 45 minutes for lunch which messed up the whole afternoon. So I had to fix that and reprint them and then I went to the lodge to make sure everything was set up and then I didn't have anywhere to plug my laptop in so I had to figure out how to get an extension cord with the whole thing. And then I found an extension cord but it only had two prongs and so that wouldn't work. Thankfully Elizabeth would find something in the office that I could use and it would all work out but man was that stressful.

It was really grateful for my co-workers today making the program work so well. I hope they do come to me with some feedback because I know that I can trust them. And the kids today work right. They did come late which was fine. We started at 10:00. And I was able to get everything going basically right away. We were able to push the whole day about 15 minutes and that worked out wonderfully.

I really enjoyed this group. Just really nice kids. And enthusiastic. I love enthusiasm. And with both my intro and with brush making They were just all in and they did such a good job.

I did decide after watching the makeup brushes that we cannot use blue. Well ideally you would use glue they're just isn't enough time and it makes too big of a mess. So we're going to get more tape and string and that's just going to be the way we're going to make them from now on. Which honestly will make them sturdier for what they're doing today. And I ran around and helped a few people but everyone made brushes and all of the chaperones were awesome. It was a great way to start.

Once they were done I sent each group off with one of my co-workers. Elizabeth was awesome with fixing the schedule and getting all of the numbers done. Because I would have spent so much time figuring that out.

And doing that first half hour I would clean all of the tables so that they would be nice for lunch. And during second half hour I would do a loop and then sit down for a few minutes just to catch my breath.

I found an interesting little cluster of mini mushrooms. Pictured above. I thought that they were a plastic cow buried upside down but when I touched them they were mushrooms. It was very surprising.

I had a talk with the groups leader and showed him the mushroom picture. And we talked about having a hike at the end of the day. He originally had asked to do a fire but he changed his mind. And I said that it was probably fine but we should check with Elizabeth. And he was like okay but I could also tell that he didn't understand why I wasn't just saying yes. I don't really have that authority. And I also don't know any of the trails. So I didn't want to leave anyone in the wrong direction.

So at lunch they would talk about that and they were kind of a kerfuffle about it because none of their chaperone teachers wanted to walk so it was a little unsure about ratios and having enough people and it was a little strange. But it was fine. We would work it out.

And the last two programs went so well. I did my loops and checked on everyone and everything seemed to be going great. I haven't gotten any feedback that there were disasters yet. And everyone seemed like they were having a great time. Elizabeth said that she only heard one curse word all day. Which was when a child was struggling to use our fire sticks and just said that he was "sick of this shit". Which is objectively funny so you can't get in trouble when things are funny. But overall I was just here in a lot of positivity and laughing and it was good.

Plus it was just a beautiful day. I have been very cold in the morning but once it warmed up and I was able to just be in my T-shirt I felt pretty good. I was very happy with my shoe choice but the inside of my shoes has a hole in the lining that bothers the underside of my foot. I had put medical tape on it and that had held for a while but it seems like it's not holding anymore and I'm annoyed by that. I'll fix it but it's fine for now.

After our last program the plan was to have everyone come and meet at the totem pole and then go on a hike with Elizabeth in the front. I was going to join them. It was under the rest but I was still going to do it. I have been walking around knitting all day. I had figured out how to shove my ball of yarn in the folds of my tied t-shirt. But then as they were getting ready to leave some of the chaperones handed me a couple things to take back to the lodge and so I did that and I told Elizabeth I would catch up. But I never caught up.

Not for lack of trying but I couldn't figure out where they were. I could hear them because there were 50 people walking in a group. But I couldn't figure out which direction to go and I'm not very fast. So instead I just went up to the art building and cleaned up pigments socelia wouldn't have to worry about it. And then I went to the lodge to start cleaning up over there.

And we finished up and I said thank you to everyone and it was great. I do wish we would have gotten a little bit of a closing but it's good It's not a huge loss. They were very sweet kids and it was a good day.

Jesus was I exhausted. I was just so tired. The feet hurt so much and I just wanted to sit down but I knew that there was so much to do still. I started packing things up while Nick and Sarah were starting to wipe down and pack at the tables and chairs. They would also sweep with Celia. And I would go and get my car. I made a stop at the office to ask about paint for tomorrow and they said I should go grab Joe who had just parked up top. So I went up there and asked him and he asked if I could drive him to Tlingit to his paint shed storage. I had never been in there before so I drove up with him and we talked about how annoying it is when the car does not turn off all the way when you turn off the engine. And he gave me the paint and we chatted and it was nice. He's such a nice guy.

Then I worked on collecting old stuff. Appreciate my coworkers putting all of the things in the boxes for me. I had to make one stop at the art building and then go to the lodge to get the last of the things before I came back to the building again. But that was totally fine. And I got everything into the art shed and then put my fibers boxes on the tables to start resetting them.

I'm definitely going to have to spend some time making a reserve of all of my materials. Because while it doesn't take very long. I am so tired after the program that this just kind of a nightmare of two reset them. I think having no glue will help the next one. But I laid everything out and I figured out a good system. I had a video going and I was most of the way down when Celia came up and asked if she could help. I sent her to go find me more sticks. Because I need a hundred sticks every time. And she did a very good job finding sticks that were all the same size. Well I finished resetting the bags and making sure that all of the boxes have the same material and enough of everything.

Once that was done she left and I collected walkies and put them in my car with my laptop and drove down to the office.

The next 40ish minutes we would spend debriefing with Elizabeth. The group really enjoyed the day but next week we're having 90 kindergarteners. And they want it to be free choice. First of all. I love free choice. I think it's great idea and it's really really good. Within reason. There needs to be parameters and boundaries. And they want to have those. But when you're doing it with 90 kids it can get outrageous at the very quickly. And I don't know if any of us are really set up or ready for that. It would be different if they were running the programs but they still want us to run them and we don't really have lessons that are pop up. So I don't exactly know how we're going to do this.

I'm in charge of arts and crafts so I'm going to have a great time. And I suggested that I do a community painting. And asked if I could buy a drop cloth. Elizabeth said that it sounded good to her. And she gave me her work credit card and told me I could leave whenever I want. I took a minute to sit and complain with them about how it's not fair to ask a facility staff to change the way they do things when we are not employees of other company. Like we are not doing things the way that you do them but if you want to do anyway you should have your staff do it. But whatever. I still really enjoy them I just hope that we can come to a meeting of the mines and an agreement on the way we're going to proceed.

I would follow Elizabeth to her car because she had to figure out where her purse was. And when she gave me her card and reminded me to get a receipt I drove up to the girls the train to see if mice were still there.

This is a mixed bag. My two boy mice that have been thriving so much last night and we're still in the box. I was not thrilled I was hoping that Mom would have come and taken them. But there were two more mice on the ground. A boy and a girl. And they were not doing good. They were cold and the one was covered in spider webs. They were still moving but barely. I put them in the box. But the two I found this morning were not there anymore. I have no idea if one of the two I found this afternoon or the same ones. And then my two boys from last night were cold too because the little jar of formula I had left in there with them had not been closed all the way or something and had spilled all on the inside and so the rags that they have been cuddled in or damp. And everyone was so cold. I was so upset.

My first plan was to try to warm them up so I collect it all four of them and I put them in my shirt and tried to keep them warm for a few minutes but I realized that wasn't working and my best bet was to just finish my errands and get them home and try my best to warm them up then.

Put them in the car and wash my hands and then went to the Amish market.

I've been looking forward to this all day. I was going to get pretzels for me and pretzel hot dogs for James and a couple other treats. And it was great. I got out there after getting stuck in a little bit of traffic. And it was busy because they were having a sidewalk sale but I got everything that I wanted and everyone was so nice and I got two pretzels, two hot dogs pretzels, mini cheesecakes, cinnamon buns, two whoopie pies, and six deviled eggs. For less than $30. Amazing.

After that I drove down the street to go to home Depot. The drop cloth sizes were very bizarre so I hope the one that I picked works out the way that I'm imagining it will. I paid for that and I think the guy thought I was Jewish because he kept saying happy holidays and happy Rosh Hashanah to me. Which thank you. But it was very funny. He was Indian. He was very nice. And I love that for him. I love when people are very nice.

I went home and all the nice were alive but the two that I found at the end of the day we're not doing well. I had had James pull out our smaller electric heating pad because I thought we could put it under the case to keep everyone warm and that has been a great idea tonight and I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. I put that on I got everyone set up and I got milk.

But the two were just not doing good. I put them directly on the microwave heating pad to try to warm them up and they did get warm. They were breathing but it was shallow and the other two I put inside the washcloth like they had been fed them and they held the eyedropper and it was great. But an hour later I went back and the two new ones were stiff. They weren't breathing or moving. I picked them up and then other women's even dropped. They were gone.

I wrapped them up in a tissue together and James buried them in our plants. I'm just glad they were warm at the end.

The other two seem to be doing great. I fed them a few times and I've made sure that they're not too warm in there. The he can grab turns off every 2 hours so I don't know if they will be okay overnight but it's better that they have been so we'll see. I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. I might just leave some at home. But we'll see.

I was really happy to see James. They got me yellow flowers and they are so lovely. But I was exhausted. And then I was so sad about my nights. James would sit with me in the bedroom while I told him about the day and they told me drama at work. And they were very excited because they are going to be interviewing someone who is a former NFL player tonight. Which is what they're doing right now. So I'm trying to be quiet.

I'm so happy for them that their podcast is such a nice little bit of joy. I like listening to them laugh and I'm glad it gives them something to research.

And while they were doing that I was in the other room putting on clothing make Olympia costume. Don't want to wear a corset. And I wasn't loving my green dress that I usually wear as an overlay. So I picked my new blue dress that I've been loving and I'm going to layer that with a pee pieces and do skip pickups and I think it's going to be great. Plus it was really fun to put together.

I wasn't sure where the bag was that I keep all of our costume stuff in and I exhausted myself for a little while trying to find it. James took apart the closet and him to find it. It turned out I had taken everything up the tote bag and put them into a suitcase. So at least I know where it is now. And I hung up our costumes and I'm really excited for next weekend.

Speaking of excited. Just booked our Disney trip for January. So that is going to be really cool. It's expensive but not as bad as I thought. And we're doing it in three payments so it's not even a huge deal. I already have the money saved for it and I am excited for this big trip. It's going to be really cool. We're already working on a document with all the things that we would like to do while we're there. She goes to Disney all the time but I haven't been since I was in fourth grade. So I'm really excited to see things with her that she knows so well. I'm really going in with almost no expectations. Though I do think it's funny that and all my research so far I pretty much just want to do all the boat rides. Anything that's on water or slow. Those are the things I would like the most.

Now though I am really tired and a little dehydrated. I have taken a bath a little while ago and that was nice but I wish it had helped my achy body a little bit more. I think I would have been worse if I didn't take it though so I'm taking it as a positive still. Now though I am going to just rest and wait for James to be done their podcast. And tomorrow I'm hoping we'll be a good day.

You don't do field trips on Friday which is nice. I'm going to update some stuff in my lesson plans and my files so that they run a little smoother for our next one. I have a couple supplies that need to be fixed. And then I'm going to paint a door. And I don't know what else. I think it will just be a chill day. That is what I'm hoping. I'm hoping for it to be quiet.

Hope you all sleep well tonight. Be safe out there. Take care of yourselves. Until next time.

[doublegoblin]

First and Last line tags

Great googely moogely I was mentioned a lot today. So there was some overlap in the tags so I went ahead and combined them into a singular post. When it comes to the responding tags uh...pick whichever you haven't done or would like to do again I guess lol.

For the first line I thank : @asterhaze

For the Last line I thank: @lola-theshowgrl (Technically your alt) and @tailoroffates

As per usual I'll be putting snippets of Rituals and Red Tape on here and maaaaaaybe a sneak of something new~

FIRST LINE:

Salt, sun-baked sand, and hot asphalt were the first things I could smell. Opening my eyes I beheld before me a landscape familiar, yet, foreign in some indiscernible manner. A thought nagged at the back of my mind, a feeling of uncertainty and unease. This thought had only existed for a moment before the panic crashed over me. I was no longer at home, let alone in my bed. A heavy weight pressed against my chest as my mind raced. How was this possible? My last memory before this sudden displacement was the hum of an electric fan, the soft caress of a hand sewn blanket, and the cradle of the perfect pillow.  Now I stood alone under a high sun with a damp wind wrapping around me like a serpent.  I closed my eyes once more. Inhaling and exhaling to a slow beat.

LAST LINE:

Retrieving my notebook I jotted down the characteristics of this particular anomaly. Finding the right words was hard, but nothing one couldn’t just bullshit their way through. While debating whether to call the colors iridescent or prismatic I heard the low thrum of tools and the ghosts of voices from beyond the pale. With an electrical pop the whirling and thumping mistake was stabilized into a harsh glowing sphere; I scrawled in the margins that sound did carry. A bitter wind blasted my back and I paced in the deep snow to distract myself from useless information; I gnawed on the back of my pen in thought.

taggies: @stanrendipity @hallwriteblr @gummybugg @randomstupidchaos @angie-j-kay

Sneaky Peeky:

Hey folks. So ol’ Tom here got himself into a bit of a pickle. First rule of being in the outdoors, know the weather. I ignored all the signs and found myself soaked to the bone. Thankfully I was lucky enough to stumble across this…well…I don’t know what to call this place. Office building? Either way it doesn’t matter, the place is a bit run down but theres power and more importantly a roof over my head. Theres no sense in going out right now, looks to be a real bad storm given how dark it is.

[whennnow]

Late 1890s Corset Part 2 - Mockups

March 11, 2021

[Image ID: a photo of Alex's torso wearing a navy and red corset mockup, split down the middle to show the left half wearing the poorly fitting first mockup and the right half wearing a well-fitted third mockup.]

Pattern Selection

I had my heart set on a Symington pattern from the start (because heaven forbid we make things easy on ourselves), and I knew I was aiming for the late 1890s, so I was able to significantly narrow down my pattern search just like that.

Doing research into materials and costs (and my limited spending money) narrowed things down one step further - I needed a pattern I could make as a single-layer corset, aka no fashion fabric (aka no beautiful, expensive silk), aka no cording.

Because of these limitations and my own sense of style I was able to narrow down my choices to five patterns which I traced in Illustrator, printed, cut, and assembled into five small paper corset models. I used those to get a sense of the shape created by the original pattern and make my final pattern selection based on the shape and how difficult it might be to construct. I ended up going with the Symington pattern that has instructions (though we'll see later whether or not I end up following them).

From there I followed the Wicked Rain Studio tutorial on scaling a pattern to your measurements to create my pattern. I had measured the paper model incorrectly on the first go-around and created some... alarming shapes. Once I re-measured it, though, and re-did my math the process went really smoothly! (Note to self: consider switching to the metric system! Converting decimals to fractions of an inch is hard!) I did make a slight adjustment to the process, though - I added an underbust line, so I would know approximately where to end the bust curve. I didn't measure around the underbust, just the distance from there to the bust and waist lines.

After I drew out the pattern I double-checked my bust, waist, and hip measurements, cut the pattern out, and 'walked' my seams to make sure the seams and measurement lines matched. Thankfully, everything matched pretty well!

Mockups

Then I gathered my supplies - I had a mostly-suitable mockup fabric in my stash, heavy-duty zip ties to use as bones (admittedly not ideal, but I already had them and I'm on a budget), and stash ribbon for boning channels. Then I borrowed some 'hacks' I've seen other people use, including using grommet trim/tape instead of setting grommets for the lacing and using a heavy-duty zipper which will be reinforced with zip tie 'bones' instead of a busk. Because I don't know the height of the corset yet, I didn't want to buy bones or a busk only to have them be the wrong length!

At long last, it was time for mockups! I traced my pattern onto the fabric and cut the pieces out with a generous 2" seam allowance on the sides (you don't need seam allowance at the top and bottom edges), and then thread-marked the seam lines and the bust, waist, and hip lines. I made the seam allowances so wide so that I could make any adjustments on those pieces instead of cutting new pieces since I don't have much mockup fabric left.

My first mockup went together quickly (minus some thread tension issues), but had some glaring fit issues. It was too large overall and left me with no lacing gap. Even completely laced it was slightly too large in the waist, but was slightly too snug in the hips (I suspect this was because I had used my full hip measurement instead of my high hip measurement, which is where my hip bones stick out and sits about 1.25" higher than the hip measurement I had taken). The front of the corset was also too long - it came up higher on the bust than I liked and was long enough that the bones stabbed me in the legs when I sat down.

To account for these issues, I took 1" at the bottom of the center front (evening out at panel 3), 1.75" at the center front top (evening out at panel 4), 2" off the bust and hip lines all around and 3" off the waist (all spread evenly across each seam). I then remembered that I needed more room in the hips (aka hip spring) at certain seams, so I added a bit back to those seams. The pattern pieces were re-traced, re-thread marked, and re-sewn into mockup #2.

The second mockup seemed to fit a lot better, with the only glaring error being an uneven lacing gap - about 2" at the top, which I wanted, but almost 5" at the bottom, which is way too much. I wore the corset mockup around the house for a few hours that evening to understand how the corset would feel after being worn for a few hours, and I'm VERY glad I did that. The pattern encourages a slightly conical shape sloping from the underbust to the waist, and it seems that my lower two ribs are NOT amenable to that (I have a decidedly rectangular rib cage) and I started to experience discomfort in that area after about two hours that was bad enough by hour four that I had to remove the corset entirely. I expect to wear my corset for hours at a time for events and such, so this had to be fixed. (I was uncomfortable enough that I forgot to get photos of the second mockup, and put it back on briefly a few days later.)

On the bright side of things, I decided I had my pattern close enough to the final that I went ahead and ordered my busk, boning, and lacing cord! I put off making my third mockup until those arrived so that I could practice inserting a busk and also so that I could have one lacing cord instead of three mismatched stash ribbons.

[Image ID: a 3/4 view of ALex's torso wearing a navy and red corset mockup, with three mismatched ribbons tied around the waist.]

My adjustments for the third pattern included evening out the bust curve and adding width to the waist and hip of pieces 1-4. I also had to shorten the height of the back panels (piece 6) to account for the fact that I underestimated how long the spiral steel bones on either side of the lacing needed to be, though that adjustment didn't make it into the mockup as I didn't want to remove and reattach the grommet strips.

The third mockup gave me a much more consistent lacing gap (though still not completely parallel, it got narrower at the hips), but slightly less waist reduction. I wore it around the house again to see how my ribs felt, and it was really comfortable! I had it on for four hours in the morning and another five in the afternoon (with about an hour break in between for a nap). Lacing it up was infinitely easier with a proper lacing cord!

Finishing Up

Ultimately, I was content with my third mockup and deemed that my final pattern! I took apart my final mockup, ironed the pieces, and compared them to the pattern to ensure wearing hadn't warped them (it hadn't).

That means I'm ready to start on the final corset!

My next blog post will go over the construction of the final corset and material costs. Then there will be a fourth and final post looking at flossing and decoration and the final reveal. I can't wait to see how my first corset turns out!

[aberdoniandoesfilm]

This Is Our Cue (Gaffer)

I got asked to gaffer for this film and to help the camera crew if need be for any dolly shots. I had never gaffer before so I would be going out of my comfort zone a bit. I'm glad to take this opportunity, getting the chance to work with a lot of people I haven't before. It was a bit last minute however I agreed to the project so didn't have much time to properly look over the script and lighting plans.

One thing I made sure to do was wear full black on set. I was reading up that is good on set etiquette to do so and helps you blend in/ not be distracting for talent.

The shoot was at 10:45 at the Ball Room pool bar in Meadow-bank. I was quite excited, with filming in this location. It felt like a cool place to be shooting and felt like a step up in production value for a student film. It would a interesting challenge as well to so continue on shooting, while the place was opened to the public.

Once we got the equipment in the first thing I did was ask Lewis Norton (DOP) where the first shot be set up and what he was looking for lighting wise.

It was decided we would use diffusion paper on the lights that were directly above the pool tables. It meant having to ask for a ladder from the venue to be able to reach the roof to tape on the diffusion paper. However we weren't able to reach some of the lightly safety enough from the ladder. So then it was decided to cut a strip of diffusion paper the length of the pool table to be able to reach over the multiple lights. This made a big difference in the lighting and look good through the monitor.

It had quite weak tape on it, which was a bit of a pain. This was to stop it stripping off paint from the roof, which stronger tape would of done. However it did mean it did have to re taped ever so often. Thankfully it never fell down during a tape which was my biggest fear!!!

Dedolights were being used and for the shoot we ended up really only using one. Then a mix of either the reflector or the black flag to help manipulate the light into the desire effect . It was important tor remember however when moving the light to make sure that the wire was being taped down with gaffer tape. One thing I could of done better as well was switching off the light immediately between takes

It was interesting figuring out the dynamic of being a gaffer on set. I started as the shoot went on getting better at knowing where to start positioning lights, without having to have initial conversations with heads of departments. I felt as lighting did come down the pecking order in terms of what was being dealt with in the forefront. It was important to do as much as I could do myself , to help keep the shoot moving smoothly. It meant when it came down to having discussion about lighting with Lewis, finalising lighting could be done quicker.

Overall I had a good time on set and it was a great crew to work with. It was good to push myself out of my comfort zone and to gaffer on set for the first time. Definitely my theoretical understandment of lighting could definitely improve. However getting hand on experience with lighting it very beneficial and think can help me for sure in my cinematography work as well .

[thefreakymunson]

Anywhere But Here, chapter 2 (Eddie Munson x reader)

READ CHAPTER 1 HERE

SUMMARY: First sold out show jitters, lots of nerves, and a little flirting. A/N: I'm so glad you guys are liking this so far! I've got a lot planned for this lil fic. Hope you enjoy!

You were woken up by the sound of the bus air breaks letting out which meant one thing: You arrived at the destination. You could hear several individual faint snores and sighed in relief. Thankfully the guys had slept in by the sounds of it. You slid out of your bed, grabbing your toiletry bag, and headed to get ready for the day. Just as you were reaching for the bathroom door, you heard soft humming from the other side as the shower ran. You were too late. Someone had beat you to it.

You settled for making coffee and sitting down to wait until the bathroom was available. The first big show was tonight and you were excited to see what these guys could do. They sounded great on tape so you just knew they were going to sound great live.

However, when the door opened and its occupant stepped outside, you nearly choked on the hot liquid that was in your mouth. Eddie’s long hair clung to his shoulders, the towel tied around his waist left little to be imagined. Eddie Munson was hot and it was getting harder to deny. You had only known the guy for less than twenty-four hours but the attraction was there. Apparently. You could feel it in the way your legs involuntarily clenched together whenever he was around.

“Morning,” he flashed you a quick smile and a wink, “Bath’s all yours, doll.”

Doll? Did he just call you DOLL? Who the fuck did this smug bastard think he was?...and why did you like it so much?

You watched as he walked in through the bunk door and shut it gently behind him, leaving you standing there staring in awe.

The rest of the day went by fairly smoothly. You walked around the venue, making sure everything was set up and going smoothly. It was going to be a big crowd tonight. 500 tickets sold out nearly immediately. As you were standing inside, listening to the band perform a soundcheck, you could hear the people chanting Corroded Coffin’s name through the steel barriers. It was one of your favorite parts of your job, seeing the small smiles the band shared as they listened to their name being screamed. They were all still humble and didn’t realize the impact they were going to have on the music industry. You were so excited to watch them grow.

You sat in the lights booth with the tech, watching as they went through their first song. It was a cover of a Iron Maiden song. It wouldn’t be the song they started their set with, but it was challenging enough to get everyone warmed up. They were playing to an empty room and yet they still were so amped up.

Once the sound techs were happy and gave the thumbs up, the band dispersed to get ready for the night.

Thirty minutes before stage time, you were walking through the hallway on the dressing rooms, making sure everyone had what they needed. Jeff needed water, Gareth needed a cigarette, and Freak was too busy staring at himself in the mirror as he got himself ready.

Eddie’s room was the last to visit.

You walked to his door and knocked twice and the door was yanked open, seeing Eddie standing there halfway dressed. He sighed in relief when he seen it was you and gently pulled you into the dressing room before he shut the door behind you.

“You okay?”

“No,” he sighed as he held his hands up. You could visibly see them shaking.

“Woah, what’s wrong?” You frowned, watching as he paced the room, his belt buckle clanking as he walked.

“There’s a lot of people out there. That’s what’s wrong.” He said as he chewed on his nails, “This place seats what?...500 people?”

“Yes.”

“And it’s sold out?”

“Yes.”

“That’s so many fucking people.”

“I thought you said you weren’t nervous?” You sighed softly.

“Yeah, well, I lied I guess.” He snorted, “I can’t do this.”

“Yes you can.” You said sternly, “And you are. You’re going to be fine. Here.”

He watched as you pulled a pack of cigarettes out of your pocket and placed it between his lips, lighting the end for him, and stepping back. He took what must’ve been the longest puff you had ever seen as he leaned back against the wall. You watched as he blew the smoke out around him and quickly licked his lips before he looked over at you, “Are the guys okay?”

“They’re a little anxious as well,” you nodded, “But you guys sounded great at rehearsal. You’re going to sound even better tonight.”

“It’s not that,” he said softly, “Yeah, we sounded great. But we went from playing shows with like...five drunks tops at The Hideout to now nearly 500 people. This isn’t real.”

“It is real and this isn’t The Hideout anymore, bub.” You said as you tucked your clip board under you arm.

Just as you were about to continue on with your statement, the opening band started playing which drowned the noise out. He finished his cigarette and tossed the butt into the nearest trashcan. He jumped around for a few minutes, trying to calm himself down as he listened the opening act. You sat and watched silently as he tried to buckle his belt but because of his shaking hands, he feed the post through the small hole, and you hated seeing him struggle.

Without saying anything, you walked over to him and turned him around to face you as you gripped his belt, tightening it around his waist, and then fastening it before you gripped his chin and forced him to look at you.

“You’ve got this, Eddie.” you said loud enough for him to hear. In return, he gave you a small smile that said he wasn’t sure of anything and bordered on a ‘please help me’ grin.

And before long, it was time for them to go on stage. The crowd had flooded into the arena and were chanting even louder. You were standing with them on the side stage, watching as they peeked out of the curtain. The headliner had already performed and had already gotten the crowed amped up. You could feel the anxiety pouring off of them as they finished their bottles of water and glanced at each other.

“Four minutes,” you called out to them.

You watched as they huddled up, arms linked around reach others shoulders. You couldn’t hear what was being said over the crowd screaming as the lights cut out, developing everything in total darkness on stage.

“Hellfire!” They all shouted and broke the huddle. They all walked out onstage under the disguise of the dark and you noticed Eddie stayed still. You knew he was going to lead them off and they were all waiting on his first chords.

“Eddie?” You said loud enough to where he could hear you as you gripped his shoulder, “You got this. You’re going to go out there and melt their fucking faces off, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said, jumping a bit on his heels, “Hell yeah.”

“Let’s go!” You said, taking a deep breath and shoving him out onto the stage. He would thank you for that later. No matter how nasty of a look he shot you as he glared back at you.

You stood on the side lines, hearing the first few notes of their hit single, Hellfire, slice through the quietened crowd. The lights flicked on as soon as Eddie started singing and the crowd went crazy, pressing as hard as they could up against the front barricades.

They sounded amazing and you could see how much they were enjoying themselves as they toyed around on stage. The crowd was wild, you could feel the electricity spewing off of them and bouncing onto the band. You stepped off stage and stood with the crew between the stage and the barrier, snapping a few photos of the band as they played.

Any time they stepped close to the stage, arms and hands were reaching for them. A few instances called for hands to be jerked off of their legs. Jeff lost a shoe at some point. The nervousness had erased from their faces, or maybe they were good actors, you hadn’t decided yet. They sounded amazing and looked even better. You were proud of them and you had only known them less than two days.

They were going to own the heavy metal music world and you were getting to see the first part of their takeover.

When they got off stage, they shared tight hugs with each other. They were handed wet towels to cool down and Eddie tossed it over his head. The smile on his face was unmatched. It spread from nearly ear to ear. Their guitars were taken from them and you ushered them backstage amidst the swarm of techs and road crew.

“How’d that feel?” You asked them once the door was shut. They were all still breathless and a sweaty mess, most of them shirtless by now.

“That…” Eddie grinned as he looked around at the guys, the towel still draped over his head, “Was fuckin’ amazing. We sounded great.”

“Fuck yes you did!” You grinned.

“Holy shit,” he panted, collapsing down into the chair closest to him.

“Got about an hour until we head out. Backstage passes are being let in now and the oom’s stacked of everything you’ll possibly need.” You arched your eyebrows, “Have fun. Don’t contract anything.”

“Well where are you going?” Eddie asked as if the fact that you were leaving didn’t sit right with him.

“Got some business side of things to tie up. And I don’t want to see any of you hooking up with any of these girls.” You wrinkled your nose, causing them all to laugh except for Eddie. He had a strange expression on his face as he looked over at you...like he was pleading silently for you to stay.

You opened the door and the squeals of the girls on the other side sliced through the air as they rushed into the room. You watched only for a second as the girls swarmed each member, shoving items to sign in their faces or trying to hug and touch them. You looked back once more to see Eddie looking at you once again before his attention was drawn down to a woman asking him to sign her chest as she peeled her shirt off.

You had never walked out of a room so quickly in your life.

When everyone was back on the bus, a few extra girls in tote much less to Eddie’s prior words, you managed to slip back into your bunk after changing out of your clothes and into a pair of shorts and a tank top. The back lounge had been the designated hookup area for the night apparently. You were sure all the guys were back there enjoying themselves, as they should be able to, until you heard the unmistakable flicking of a lighter. You poked your head out and looked through the door from the front lounge, seeing Eddie flopping down onto the couch in the darkened room.

An occasional passing car headlight would illuminate his silhouette but the amber glow from the tip of his cigarette easily helped you locate him. You sat down beside of him, curling your knees up under you, as you looked over at him.

“You okay?” You asked softly.

“Yeah,” he nodded, voice a bit raspy from overuse earlier, “I’m okay. I just...guess I’m taking it all in. I just played my first sold out show.”

“Feels good, huh?” you smiled, bumping your shoulder with his.

“It does,” you could hear the smile in his voice, “It feels really fuckin’ good, Y/N.”

“Then why aren’t you back there celebrating the old fashioned way?” You laughed to yourself, “There was some hotties that came in.”

“Just not my style to sleep around,” he shrugged, “They all have serious relationships back home and I know it’s their business but...still a little shitty in my mind.”

“A lot of musicians separate home life from road life,” you nodded, “Do you have a relationship?”

“No,” he shook his head slightly, “Not anymore. Being on tour would’ve been an issue to her so we got into a big fight before I left.”

“That’s horrible,” you frowned, “I’m sorry.”

“What about you?” He asked softly.

“Nope. I’m afraid of commitment.” You said with a soft laugh, “Relationships scare me, I think. Putting all that trust into someone else...hoping you won’t get hurt in the end...and most of the time, it happens anyway.”

“They’d be a fool to hurt you, Y/N.” Eddie said softly, cigarette bobbing in his mouth as he spoke, “Thank you...for earlier. The whole dressing room thing. I don’t get nervous often but it got the best of me.”

“If looks could kill, I would’ve been dead when I pushed you out on stage.” You smirked.

“Oh, I could’ve thrown you off the stage at that point.” He said, making you laugh. He smiled as he looked over at you, “You would’ve learned to fly in that moment.”

You decided then that you liked him. He was handsome and sweet, kind and caring, and extremely humble. You could see the two of you having a good friendship. You wouldn’t let your dumb feelings get in the way of that. You let your guard down and rested your head on his shoulder in the dark room.

As you were reminding yourself that you don’t mix business with pleasure, you felt a foreign touch on your chin. Eddie’s fingers was tilting your head back just enough for him to place a kiss on your lips. You tried to stop him, tried to get your mind to move the rest of your body and push him back, but his kiss was warm and welcoming. The only thing your brain told your body to do was to open your mouth, feeling his tongue swipe against yours. You closed your eyes and kissed him back, earning a soft moan from him.

Goosebumps fleshed out on your chilly skin as his hand trailed down to your neck, his thumb trailing over your jaw as the kiss deepened.

Your hands came up to his face, nuzzling into him as you kissed him hungrily. He tasted like beer and cigarettes, something you didn’t know you liked the taste of until you tasted it on him. His fingers threaded through your hair, licking his lips once you broke for air.

“We can’t,” you said softly, “I’m not supposed to have any relationship with my clients.”

“No one has to know,” he shrugged.

“I’ve got eyes on me at every turn, Eddie.” You frowned.

“I understand,” he nodded. You could see the disappointment etched on his face even in the darkness, “Jobs are important...but you can’t tell me you didn’t feel that, too.”

You laughed softly and nodded. Of course you did. It felt like electricity pulsing through your veins the moment he touched your chin. And if you were any other sane person, you would’ve gotten up and went to bed.

However, a car light coming through the window illuminated his face and the way he was looking at you was enough to send that familiar longing through your body. You moved to straddle his lap, fingers linking through his hair as you kissed him again. He spread his legs as he sunk down in the couch, knocking you a bit further up his body until your chest was resting against his. His hands roamed over your back before dipping into the back of your shorts, his fingers skimming the band of your panties.

“Wished we had some place different to do this,” you mumbled.

You kissed down his neck, feeling him tilt his head to the side as he sighed softly.

“I don’t think they’re going to come out of that back room any time soon,” he mumbled, fingers coming up to pull your shirt from your body.

You sat back, tossing your shirt to the side, watching him as he turned over one of the lamps to give you just enough light to actually see on another.

“Hi,” he laughed softly.

“Hi,” you smirked, bending forward and pressing another kiss to his lips.

It was addictive. Once you started, you couldn’t stop yourself. His kiss was soft, plush lips feeling like a small piece of heaven against your own. His hands came up to the back if your head, cradling you to him as you experimentally grinded yourself against him, illiciting a soft moan that was muffled by your mouth.

Just as you were about to reach for his pants, the backdoor swung open and the two of you jumped. You rushed to pull your shirt back on as he stood up and blocked the entry to the room, wanting to cover you and give you a bit of modesty. It was dead silent as he leaned back against the door, keeping it still as it rattled with whoever was trying to come through it.

Embarrassment painted your face red and you felt the humiliated tears well up in your eyes. You didn’t think anyone saw you but...still. Once he seen you were dressed, he let the door go and let the throng of people into the front room, the scent of sweat and weed billowing them in behind them.

You glanced up to see Eddie staring at you as if he wanted to say something, but you dipped out of the now crowded room, walking back to the bunk where you shut the curtain and buried your red hot face into the pillow.

If only you had gotten your way once in life….

[kitashousewife]

forever, alright

an: another song fic! this is based on 4EVER! by LANY. this song is super fun and cute so enjoy!

pairing: gojo x fem!reader

warnings: alcohol mentions, fluff! sorcerer!au but no deaths and everyone is happy and gets along :D

-

gojo satoru is nothing if not full of himself. you know that. he knows that. his love for himself was made clear while you were in your first year at jujutsu high.

watching gojo and his fellow third-years do their thing was amazing. they were incredibly talented, serving as perfect role models for you and the other first years. unfortunately for you, you didn't get to experience gojo firsthand. sure, you had greeted each other on campus once or twice, been at the same parties, and even went on group missions together. but, besides a couple words exchanged here and there, the two of you hadn't really talked.

that changed a year ago.

many years had gone by since those times. while you were still a sorcerer, helping out at the school from time to time, you liked to keep a pretty low profile. thankfully, your friend shoko was the same.

"would you want to come out with me later?" the two of you lay on the ground, a fan in front of each of you, trying to cool off in your hot apartment.

"depends where," the sound of your voice distorted by the blades of the fan. rolling over to face her, you notice her sitting up.

"just to the bar downton. my friends are meeting there and i wanna bring ya," unlocking her phone, you see her typing away, probably letting her friends know to save an extra seat.

"yeah, i'm down. anywhere is better than this sauna i live in."

that evening, you found yourself in a booth with some familiar faces. nanami, who you knew well, as well as utahime and geto. grabbing the water cup in front of you, you notice an extra water placed across from where you sat.

"is someone else coming?" you ask, tilting your head towards the extra glass as a bead of condensation rolls down its side.

"satoru said he would come," nanami says, rolling his eyes. "but, i doubt it."

geto laughs. "yeah, he always tells us that he'll come, but never-"

"c'mon sugu," shoko shakes her head. "you've met him before, right?"

realizing that was directed towards you, you look up from your glass.

"only a couple times, but i doubt he would remember me, i was a first year," you mumble, poking the ice in your glass with the straw.

feeling suddenly shy, you sip at your water. if shoko told you gojo was going to be here, you probably wouldn't have come.

your thoughts are interrupted by the clap of hands.

"speak of the devil," nanami huffs.

"satoru! i'm so glad you could make it! here, have a seat," shoko waves him over, taping the open seat next to her.

sliding into the booth, gojo's knee taps yours. you jump a little.

"i'm so sorry," he looks up, eyes wide. his eyes get even wider when he notices who you are. "y/n! how are you doing? you look great!"

smiling, you give him a small wave. "gojo, it's good to see you! i'm surprised you remember me," you look down at your drink for the third time that night.

"of course i do! you were-"

"as much as i love listening to you, gojo, we've been waiting a while for you to show up," utahime says from the back of the booth, waving her menu in the air. gojo laughs. "fine, princess, whatever you want."

the rest of the night is a blast. drinks, music, and plenty of quips back and forth between the group. sitting back, watching it all, you tried to keep your laughs to yourself.

while he is still full of himself, gojo wasn't how you remembered. he was taller, if possible, and seemed a lot more mature. he was incredibly handsome, which was hard to ignore all night. you are pretty sure he saw you staring a few times.

he did.

by the end of the night, shoko and utahime were trashed, geto and nanami being kind enough to take them home. unfortunately, that meant your ride was not available.

"did you need a ride?" gojo holds the door of the bar open for you as you walk through, the cooler night air hitting your skin.

"well, shoko was my ride, but it's okay. it isn't a far walk." you fix the hem of your dress, refusing to look him in the eye.

"you set yourself up," gojo laughs checking his hair in the reflection of his phone.

"excuse me?"

putting his phone in his pocket, he smiles at you. "everyone knows shoko is a borderline alcoholic. why would you trust her to be sober enough to drive you home?"

your cheeks heat up. crossing your arms over your chest, you huff. "i thought it would be different tonight."

kicking a pebble off of the sidewalk, gojo turns to look at you. lowering his black shades a little, he looks you in the eye.

"that's just wishful thinking."

you feel hot. you know gojo has a reputation with women, and you can see why. his charm is really pulling you in. while it's tempting, you really aren't in the mood to get thrown aside by another man.

"well, my thinking has earned me a nice walk. so, i'm going to get go-"

"not alone, nuh-uh," gojo shakes his head. your head tilts in confusion, brows furrowing. gojo wants to just eat you up. you are the cutest thing he has ever seen.

"let me walk you home, lead the way now!"

the walk home was short, only taking a few minutes. gojo asked you all types of questions. what you've been up to, if you still go on missions, how your life is. by the time you get to your front door, you feel like old friends.

"thanks for walking me home, gojo. you really didn't have to," you mumble, playing with your necklace. he smiles.

"satoru, and don't worry about it. pretty girls like you shouldn't walk alone, especially at night."

your breath hitches, and it doesn't go unnoticed by gojo. he is very much aware of the effect he has on women. but, this time, he isn't just in it for the thrill. all night long, he just had this urge to talk to you, to get close to you. seeing his friends was great, sure, but you were so alluring. doing something he never does, gojo decides to take a leap of faith.

"c-could i have your number? s-sorry," gojo clears his throat and shakes his head. what's gotten into me?

your eyes widen. now's the chance. you debate for a second, trying to decide if this was worth it.

"s-sure! um, i could write it down, i'm sure i have a sticky note somewhere," you blurt out, reaching for your door handle. before you change your mind, gojo interrupts.

"you can just put it in my phone! save a tree, whatever it is they say."

you laugh at that. the strongest man in the world, flustered, telling you a bad joke. you hold out your hand, and gojo quickly pats his pockets in search for the device.

adding your contact quickly, you hand him back his phone.

"thank you for waking me home, satoru," you smile, opening your door.

"have a good night! and don't worry about it." gojo turns on his heel, waving as he walks back down the street. you shut your door and lean against it, heart racing.

let's see if he even texts me.

-

one year later, and gojo has never been so obsessed with someone in his life.

shortly after getting your number, he texted you day after day, to which you happily replied. a week later, he took you out on a date, and he's been hooked ever since.

love was a feeling he never wanted to let go of. every day he spent with you was better than the last, warming his heart up a little at a time.

quickly after you started dating, gojo asked you to move in with him. he used the temperature of your apartment as an excuse, complaining about how it's just inhabitable, which you fully understood, but you didn't believe him.

for the past 10 months, you have been living with gojo at his place. it was quite sweet, the perfect blend of the two of you. every inch of the home was full of care and love, which was felt by everyone who visited.

of course, your friends had a tough time getting used to things. geto was floored at the fact that gojo invited anyone over, let alone asked someone to move in with him. shoko was thrilled, mostly because you were so happy, but a little bit because she was finally done listening to gojo's nonsense about women.

while he was off on longer missions, you would send him letters every week, full of how much you missed him, how much you loved him, and how excited you were for him to be home. gojo will forever cherish those letters, and keeps them in a box under his side of the bed, reading them when he feels a little down.

as the weather warmed up again, the days got longer, you were quite thankful to be in a place with proper air conditioning.

"i love you," gojo murmurs, kissing your forehead as the two of you sway back and forth in the kitchen, the last rays of sunlight painting the room in a golden hue.

"i love you more, 'toru," you beam up at him. he spins you around, your laughter filling the room.

"let's get married," gojo blurts out as he pulls you back in.

giggling again, your brow quirks. "okay."

"i'm being serious." gojo looks at you, and something flashes in his eyes that you can't quite put your finger on.

"and so am i," you smile. gojo shakes his head.

"i don't even have a ring yet though," he whines. "i wanna do the whole proposal, and i want everyone to be there, but,"

cupping your face in his hands, gojo swears he has never seen a prettier sight.

"i just love the way you love me, and i want everyone to know you're mine," he whispers, scared if he speaks any louder his wish won't come true. "be my wife."

smiling bigger than you ever have in your life, tears prick at your eyes. "i would love nothing more."

leaning down, gojo kisses you as if it was the last time.

"i love you, for ever and ever and-"

you cut him off with a kiss, and gojo's lips form a small smile. he is absolutely certain. certain that he will never be more in love, never be happier, with anyone else but you.

[artxyra]

Damian Acting Like A Teenager? Impossible.

When Damian entered the halls of Gotham Academy, the first thing he notices was the change in the dark atmosphere. It felt oddly kinder and more lighthearted. Everywhere he turns, there are whispers focus around the new girl. At first, he didn’t care about the gossip, well, that was until he met her.

It was an unusual encounter, something that he would look down on.

It was the passing period, and she was running down the halls in a hurry as he was walking to his next class, one that he didn’t particularly care for; they bump into each other, causing a standstill in the halls. Everyone wondered how the dark prince would react to their newly dubbed princess of sunshine. They expected a yelling match, which, of course, occurred, but what they didn’t expect was an eventual best of the worst of alliance ever made.

Several months passed since the two had met and several weeks since the blooming of Damian and Marinette’s friendship, and not a single student could say that there weren’t surprised.

The moment Marinette had broken down any (and all) walls that the boy had placed, she was able to make the stoic teen become his age. It started small with a joke here and there; then it progressed into card games followed by video games. To this day, Damian swears that he’ll beat her at a shooting game at one point, to which Marinette would respond with a laugh and an over-the-shoulder wink. The young Wayne swears that he has never blush a day in his life, but the photographic proof on Marinette’s phone says otherwise.

The school soon became accustomed to being Daminette’s playground. At first, the teachers were opposed to the idea, but after seeing how slightly more open Damian has become, they slowly agreed to the concept of allowing the duo to have less strict rules. That and they didn't want to be sued by the Wayne family.

Which now brings us to this moment: Marinette swings on a swing set while Damian practices his form with a katana; don’t ask how he managed to get it past security-- cause there is no answer.

“You know, maybe we should do something wild?” Marinette thinks aloud, looking up to the sky with a mischief smirk on her lips.

Damian doesn’t turn to her; he only sets the blade down to his side. “What mayhem do you have in mind?”

Marinette giggles uncontrollably.

Let’s assume that whatever Marinette had in mind would rule the yearbooks for years to come.

~☾★☽~

Since his partnership with Marinette, Damian has been hiding his characteristic change at home. Surprisingly, it was simple. A few death threats here and there, maybe sneaking out moments every so often. No one at the Wayne cared enough to pay any attention to it. It only then became a shock when Damian left for school along the lines of being late. Alfred had offered to take him to school to which Damian declined and got onto his “normal” motorcycle and speeds off.

“Does anyone else seem to think that Damian is acting strange?” Dick asks, pipping his head down from the ceiling. He’s on the chandelier again. Poor Alfred, maybe Dick should dust the chandelier for him as an apology.

Tim walks in with a large, filled to the brim, coffee mug in hand, “Which one?” He absently wonders, taking a long sip. The dark circles and bags around his eyes explain it all.

“I do concur with Master Richard; the young master has been acting somewhat strange for quite some time now.” Alfred appears out of nowhere, thus starting an array of concerns.

It wasn’t long before Jason came in shouting demands with the head of the household trailing behind him. Alfred reprimands Jason for the yelling as he hands Bruce a cup of coffee.

Not caring enough about the conversation and looking like a madman, Jason shouts, “Look, I can’t explain it, but we’re going to need Demon Spawn for something huge.”

“Uh, why would we need Baby Bird?” Dick asks, dropping onto the floor and twisting his body. “Not that I don’t mind getting Damian involved.”

“Look, there’s no time to explain,” Jason facepalms and begins to push everyone towards the door despite the lack of proper wear they have on.

After several protests and one change of clothes, the Wayne household now stands in front of the gates of Gotham Academy.

“Is it me, or does this place look less you know Gotham-y and full of life?” Tim ponders, narrowing his eyes, as he takes a long sip from a to-go coffee cup with Red Robin’s emblem.

“No, no, Timmy, I see it too.” Dick whispers as Jason struts past the gates and onto the school’s property like a man on a mission.

Bruce sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “Come on, let’s go get your brother so Jason can stop being Jason.”

Tim shrugs before passing the gates himself, with Dick following him.

Upon entering the school, they could immediately see that it was either a passing period or free time from the number of students in the halls. Some student dared to pull out their phones while other whispers amongst themselves.

Bruce makes his way to the attendance office, where the attendance assistant, Joyce, resides sitting at the desk.

“Hello Joyce, I’m here to pick up Damian. He has a, uh, dentist appointment this evening.” Bruce speaks, hoping that she wouldn’t catch the lie.

“Well Mr. Wayne, Damian is, uh…” After lingering in her thoughts, Joyce turns to someone besides her. “Do you know where Damian Wayne would be at today?”

“Try the art room.” A feminine voice answers, followed by a series of typing noises.

Joyce turns back to the Wayne family and smiles, “He should be in the art room; it’s down the hall to your right, you should not miss it, as it’s in the only hallway that has a series of artwork posted on the walls. Before you go, please sign here."

Joyce hands Bruce a sign-out sheet, to which the man signs and ushers his wards to search for his youngest.

“They’re so screwed.” The same feminine voice speaks, causing Joyce to break out laughing.

It took a total of four different locations for the men to find the youngest Wayne.

First, they went to the art room like Joyce’s co-worker told them to do.

When they got there, Damian wasn't there, but the teacher did show Bruce a couple of Damian's artworks. Bruce couldn't help but feel proud.

While looking around the room, one of the art students told them they last saw Damian playing Pokémon Go near the gym; he was trying to catch a legendary Pokémon that spawned there.

So, of course, after an awkward eye contact with one another, they walk to the gym. Once again, Damian wasn’t there but a different student in his stead. He tells them that Damian was making ice sculptures out of ice cream at the cafeteria. The student then goes on to explain that Damian had some wicked skills with a knife.

Jason, with wide eyes, practically shouted at the student that he was crazy and that Damian would never, and he means NEVER would do something that stupid. The student shrugs it off like it was an everyday occurrence. It was Dick that had to hold Jason back from thrashing the teen. Bruce then apologizes to the instructor for their disturbance, as Tim walks casually behind Dick carrying Jason.

By the time they got to the cafeteria, it was damn near empty aside from a few students still eating. There were no signs of ice cream or the tools that would go into making an ice sculpture. Tim had to ask a few students to see if Damian was in here at some point in time. One of the workers overheard the question and answered him. Evidently, Damian was there earlier making sculptures out of ice cream before handing it out to students.

When they asked the question that has been slowly driving the four insane, the worker replies with: “Upstairs racing on these old colorful scooter board down the halls."

After three locations and no Damian, Tim wanted nothing more but to have a mental breakdown, and he would have if it wasn’t for Bruce holding him up and taking his coffee away.

So, they quickly found themselves on the second level of the school. There was no sight of Damian Wayne, though there were wheel tracks smudged into the flooring.

“Are you kidding me?” Jason shouts out into the ceiling. Thankfully, there were no students in the halls to hear it. Well, that might have been the case if it wasn’t for a teacher to open their door and shh the male. It took every bone in Jason's body not to show the teacher his middle finger.

After a beat of silence and walking down the hall, they overhear a familiar voice.

“Angel, you are desperately in the wrong here. The bear only wears one color, so it has to the color red.” Jason stops dead in his tracks and turns to railings.

The voice was too good to be true.

Looking over the staircase, they find an alcove, and sitting in it is none other than Damian Wayne himself, but he’s not alone.

“I’m telling you, Wayne. Pooh’s favorite color is yellow.” The female answers before taping her fingers as she makes her points, “He loves honey, which is by default a yellow color. He's never seen with a yellow background, and if yellow didn't clash with his fur, he would definitely be wearing it.”

“I disagree. Winnie the Pooh has been drawn on numerous of occasions with red items, not yellow. Case in point, the red balloon, his shirt." He counters. The conversation continues with banters and statements; whether it was true or false is up to debate.

This was not happening.

Tim.exe has stopped working.

Jason.exe has stopped working.

Jaws dropped, a low groaning sound.

They cannot be witnessing this. The most deadliest of the Wayne’s is currently arguing about Winnie, the motherfucking, Pooh’s favorite color.

Bruce has no words. He's practically in the same stance as his middle children. Dick, on the other hand, pulls out his phone and begins to record what remains of the conversation.

No one dares to move or utter out words. This version of Damian is the apocalypse. Nothing in the world is okay.

Slowly, the four Waynes exit the school; no one saw them leave.

Legend has it that Damian never went home that day despite being excused from his classes. When he had returned home, his family didn't utter a word to him. He was meet with either a profusely blinking, unwanted hug or laughter, as they were still in shock at what they just encountered. It wasn’t until a couple of months later that all hell breaks loose. Damian had introduced the family to Marinette.

----

A retouch version of Request #2

[the-bau-quinjet]

Secret's Out

Summary: Request! Reid and Y/N are secretly dating, but their business doesn't stay their business for long.

Warnings: Criminal Minds level violence

Word Count: 2974

a/n: Thank you for the request! I hope you like it :)

Sorry this took forever! It took me a while to think of case details that I liked and then I kept rewriting parts. I think I'm finally happy with it though!

Masterlist

"Spencer!" You pushed him away. "The doors could open at any moment! How are we supposed to keep this a secret if Morgan walks in on us kissing in the elevator?" You raised a brow at him.

"On average, elevators travel at a speed of 200 ft/min or about 4 seconds per floor. Being on the fifth floor means we have about 20 seconds to ourselves." He smiled triumphantly.

"Yeah, until someone surprises us on floor 3." You rolled your eyes, stepping out of the doors once they opened.

"I can't help it. I'm just... really happy with you." He whispered softly.

"I'm really happy too." You smiled at him. You were about to lean in when the elevator doors opened once again to reveal JJ and Emily.

"Hey guys, ready for another case?" Emily glanced between you suspiciously, but thankfully didn't ask any prying questions.

"Yep, let's go!" You turned quickly, walking into the round table room without so much as a glance back at the three agents by the elevator.

"What's with her?" JJ questioned.

"Said she didn't sleep well last night. Must be all the caffeine." He held his own cup off coffee up in solidarity before also walking to the round table room.

"Alright, we've got 3 dead in Billings, Montana. All three were law enforcement, and all three were found this morning around the city." You listened as Penelope introduced the details of the case.

"Could be someone who feels the police didn't do a good enough job protecting a loved one?" You threw out a theory.

"Or someone who feels wronged by the criminal justice system as a whole." Rossi added on.

"Either way, they likely won't stop until we catch them. Wheels up in 20." Hotch rose from his seat as he spoke, wasting no time in preparing for take off.

You all dispersed briefly to grab your go bags, meeting back at the SUVs to head to the jet.

Once boarded, it didn't take long for the conversation to start up again.

"When we land, L/N go to the morgue. Dave, Prentiss take the first and second crime scenes, they're only a mile apart. Morgan and Reid, check out the third scene. I'll head to the precinct with JJ."

With Hotch's instructions set, you took what little time you had left on the flight to go over the causes of death.

-

"Anything stand out to you on the bodies?" You asked the ME after going over the blunt force trauma and bullet wounds.

"There's tape residue and bruising on the wrists and ankles. Based on the state of bruising, they were likely held for about 3 days before they were killed."

"Thank you for your help." You shook hands, pulling out your phone to call Hotch.

"Hotchner."

"Hotch, they were held for days before they were killed. How did nobody notice they were missing?" There was nothing in the reports that indicated the victims were reported missing prior to being found.

"We just found the same pattern. They all used vacation days for various reasons in the days leading up to their deaths. Meet us back at the precinct and Reid can explain the whole pattern."

"Okay, I'm leaving now." You hung up just as you reached the SUV. Throughout the drive, you couldn't stop thinking that something wasn't adding up.

The victims were taken in the same day. It didn't make sense for the unsub not to escalate. So, why aren't any officers unaccounted for?

Suddenly, a truck crashed into your SUV, sending you flying off the road. A figure dressed in black opened the door and dragged you from the car.

"Agent L/N, it's so good to see you again." A male voice spoke, but you couldn't place it.

He hit you over the head with a handgun before dragging you to his own vehicle.

-

"Where's L/N?" Emily questioned when her and Rossi returned from the second dumpsite.

"On her way back from the ME." Hotch answered. "Did you find anything useful?"

"They truly are dumpsites. Both bodies were found by dumpsters, sending a pretty clear message." Dave replied.

"Same for the third site." Derek added on.

"All three victims were single and took time off leading up to their death. Nobody would've notice that they were missing until it was too late." Reid supplied the final bit of information gathered.

Hotch's phone rang before anyone else could comment. The frantic sound of Garcia's nails clicking against her keyboard echoed through the phone. She was talking before anyone could greet her.

"You need to see this, check your tablets."

Confused glances were exchanged as everyone, barring Reid, opened their tablets. Reid glanced over Morgan's shoulder to observe as well.

A seemingly live video that Garcia received a link to was streaming to the tablets.

A single woman sitting in a chair could be seen in the frame. Her wrists and ankles were bound to the chair with thick, gray tape and a bag was over her head.

"Garcia, what is this?" Hotch asked almost immediately.

"I was emailed the link just now. It's not streaming anywhere else online." Her reply came quickly, the sound of typing still filling in the silence.

"Can you trace it?" Rossi questioned.

"I'm trying, but it's being routed through multiple proxy servers."

"Did the email say anything?" Emily chimed in.

"No, it was just the link- Wait. I just got another email." She paused as the new email loaded. "It's addressed to Reid."

Every set of eyes in the room turned to Reid.

"What does it say?" He felt the nerves beginning to grow waiting for Garcia to read the words aloud.

"Dr. Reid,

I hope you remember me. What am I saying, of course you do. I've got something of yours that you might want back. You see Dr. Reid, you and your team ruined me. My family, my career, all of it, just gone. I thought I'd return the favor. A person's phone can be so informative. Tell me, does your team know about your girlfriend? I've so enjoyed getting reacquainted with her.

Happy hunting."

Spencer's face went white as he looked at Morgan's tablet again. His thoughts were racing. How did he not recognize you before? Even with the bag over your head, he should've known it was you.

"It's her." His words were barely a whisper.

"This is your girlfriend?" Morgan gestured to the screen again. Spencer could only nod in reply, his mind unable to focus on anything except you.

"Reid, listen to me. You've got to tell us everything you know about her. We'll have to split up. You can go back to Quantico with Emily and Morgan, the rest of us will stay here to work on our current case." Hotch was already devising a strategy to work both cases.

"There's no need." His words made sense to him, but sounded cryptic to the rest of the team.

"Kid, of course there is. We'll help you get her back." Morgan placed a hand on his shoulder, effectively shocking him back to the present situation.

"There's no need to split up because she's here. She's in Montana." Before he could continue, everyone was asking questions.

"Give me a phone number and I'll get you a location." Garcia was already typing away again.

"Are you sure she's here?" JJ's brows furrowed. She did her best to hide the hurt of her best friend hiding his girlfriend from her, again.

"Why would she be here?" Rossi added.

"How did she get here? Maybe we can track the transportation and figure out means of abduction." Emily was the only one thinking about the case.

Like ripping off a bandaid, Spencer blurted out the truth.

"It's Y/N."

He was met with silence in the room as everyone absorbed the information.

Garcia caught up first, a sudden gasp sounding through the phone.

"So, then that's Y/N... in the video..." Her voice wavered.

As if a switch was flipped, the team was back on the case.

"Garcia, get me a list of anyone who would have a grievance with the team." Hotch ordered.

"Go through anyone who was falsely accused. Start with cases in or around Montana. He would want to keep this close to home." Rossi specified.

"We've only had one case in Montana since Y/N joined the team." Reid supplied the knowledge as it came to him. "A name, I need a name." He muttered to himself, pulling his hair as he roughly ran his hands through it and over his face. "Garcia, look into Jameson Braddock."

"Got it." She immediately began a background check, searching through case files and news articles for additional information. "i'll get back to you with locations." With that, she hung up.

"Fill us in, kid. Who is Jameson Braddock." Morgan lead Reid to a chair, gently easing him into it.

"Our last case in Montana, Emily and I went to interview a witness." Emily nodded, the memories slowly coming back to her.

"He wasn't very forthcoming, and then he tried to run." She added on.

"Exactly, except he didn't make it very fair. We arrested him, but it turned out he was only guilty of selling alcohol to minors. When word of his arrest got out, the whole town thought it was for the serial rapes and murders we were investigating even though it was never confirmed."

"By the time we corrected the media, it was too late." JJ supplied, also remembering the man.

"So, he killed three officers just to draw us out back out here?" Morgan refocused the conversation on the current case.

"It looks that way now. The media knew we were coming, so he must have as well." Emily theororized. "If he followed us from the airport, he would've seen Y/N leave by herself."

"He likely didn't know about your relationship until he abducted her and went through her phone." Hotch paced the room.

"He's flaunting his power over us." Rossi chimed in just as Hotch's phone rang again.

"Garcia, what've you got?"

"Three addresses in Billings, Montana. Jameson Braddock has been on a downward spiral since your last trip there. His entire life fell apart, like he said. Divorced, his wife moved to Nebraska with their two kids. He lost his job at the high school, and was evicted from his house when he could no longer pay the bills." She listed the information quickly.

"He has ties to three addresses. Nobody has moved into his previous house, so it's vacant. He's got a small apartment in the northern part of the city which he pays for through working odd hours at Taco Bell. Finally, he briefly worked security at a now abandoned warehouse."

"An apartment wouldn't be enough space to hold her without the chance of someone hearing. She's not there." Rossi eliminated the location as an option.

"We'll split up to cover the warehouse and the house-" Hotch began, but Reid cut him off.

"No, we shouldn't split up. She's got to be at the house. The warehouse has no connection to his previous life. He wants revenge for our perceived wrongdoing, he wouldn't make his last stand at a new location." Reid was already putting on a bullet proof vest. Despite how his mind was racing, he refused to show how afraid he was.

"You're sure?" Morgan asked, on the fence about committing to one location.

"Absolutely." With that, Reid was out the door heading for the SUVs.

-

"Rossi, Emily head around back. I'll take the front with Reid. JJ and Morgan, the side door." Hotch instructed the team to split up upon arrival at the house.

Reid wasted no time in approaching the house. He was confident you were inside, but he didn't know what was happening to you.

The main floor was cleared quickly. Again, the team split up to cover the upper level and the basement.

Knowing you were likely downstairs, Reid immediately started that direction, JJ and Hotch following him.

It wasn't hard for him to find you. You were still tied to the chair in the middle of the room, bag over your head.

Before anyone could stop him, Reid lowered his gun and ran to you. He gently maneuvered the bag off your head, stopping his movements only when he felt something press into his back.

"Dr. Reid. So kind of you to join us." Braddock spoke maniacally, pressing the gun against Reid's head.

"Drop your weapon." Hotch commanded, but the man only cackled in response.

'Y/N... Y/N." Reid gently shook you in an attempt to wake you up.

"She can't hear you." Braddock singsonged.

"What did you do?" Reid tried to turn to him only to feel the gun press further into his head.

"Like I said in my email, you people ruined my life. They took everything from me, so I thought I'd try to return the favor." During his short speech, Braddock shifted just enough for JJ to get a clean shot.

He fell to the ground, gun clattering across the floor.

Reid moved quickly to remove the tape binding you to the chair while Hotch called for a medic in the basement.

The entire team watched as you were wheeled into the ambulance, still unconscious, none more scared than Spencer.

-

"She's going to be fine, Spence." JJ tried to reassure him, nonetheless his pacing continued.

"You don't know that. We don't even know what he did to her." He had one hand anxiously running through his hair, the other pinching the bridge of his nose in distress.

Just then, a doctor emerged from behind closed doors.

"F/N L/N." She called into the waiting room, slightly taken aback when the group of agents rushed to her.

"It was touch and go for a while, but she got here just in time." It was visible to even the least qualified profiler how relieved the team felt. Their previously tense shoulders relaxed, frowns turned to small smiles, wide eyes and raised brows pinched together with joy.

"What happened?" Emily posed the question everyone was thinking.

"In short, she was drugged. It's not clear what exactly was used, but it was likely a mix of drugs that attempted to stop her heart."

"Can we see her?" Morgan spoke next, cautiously eyeing Reid.

"You may, follow me." The doctor lead them through a series of hallways to your room. "She should be waking up soon."

With that the doctor left, allowing the team to file into the room. You looked strangely peaceful for someone who almost died.

"So..." JJ glanced between you and Spencer. "Girlfriend, huh?"

His eyes went wide. Instinctively, he turned to you for help, but you were still asleep. He opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out.

"Relax, kid." Morgan grinned. "We're happy as long as you two are happy."

Spencer smiled gratefully, looking at you with an adoring gaze. "We are happy."

"How long?' Emily gestured to your joined hands. Just before Spencer could answer, you groaned.

"I want to hear your guesses first." Your voice was raspy, but there was a clear smile on your face. "Also, what happened?"

The quickly explained the email Garcia received and the events that followed.

"Now that that's cleared up, do tell us how long you think we've been together. I know you've got a bet going." You narrowed your eyes, playfully glaring at each team member.

"4 months." Hotch begrudgingly admitted. JJ followed with 3 months, Derek and Rossi both betting 10 weeks, and Emily going with 6 weeks.

"Ha, you're all wrong." You smiled triumphantly, leaning closer to Spencer.

"Wait, we haven't heard from Garcia." Derek smirked as he rung her on speaker phone.

"Oh, my beautiful crime fighters. Y/N, are you okay?" Your smile widened at the concern in her voice.

"I am indeed, but I have a very important question for you." You glanced as Spencer briefly before continuing. "How long do you think Spence and I have been together?"

"Oh, I know this one!" Her excitement caught everyone but you off guard. "7 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days."

Spencer's jaw dropped as he stuttered out, "that's exactly right..."

"How'd you figure it out?" The group of profilers wore matching expressions of surprise as Penelope explained.

"Well, we had just finished testifying in the Bigelow trial. The whole team went out for drinks, and I could just see it in Y/N's eyes the next day that something wonderful happened. At first I just thought that she got some, but then I saw her and the good doctor in the kitchen getting coffee and I knew." Penelope's voice held a mixture of smugness and pure excitement.

"Babygirl, you didn't tell me?" Derek sounded genuinely offended.

"Y/N asked me not to." Even though you couldn't see her, you knew she punctuated the statement with a shrug.

"You knew, she knew?" Spencer turned to you in shock.

You nodded. "I could see it on her face the second I walked out of the kitchen. But she promised not to tell, so I didn't either."

"The two of you, thick as thieves." Rossi lamented.

"I love you so much." Spencer whispered into your ear as he pulled you in for a hug.

"I love you too." You whispered right back.

"Honestly, I'm glad the secret's out." You smiled at Spencer before looking at the rest of the team. "Although, I wish I didn't have to be kidnapped to tell you."

You spent a few more hours in the hospital before being cleared to go back to the hotel.

The next morning, you smiled to yourself as you were finally able to cuddle with Spencer during the flight home.

Permanent taglist:

@averyhotchner

@jesuswasnotawhiteman

@strawberryspence

@sebastnstn

Criminal Minds taglist:

@mac99martin

@goldeng1rl8

@measure-in-pain