#i was going to add a section on possible replacements but this was long enough

[hasufin]

Modification

I want to share a little project I've been working on this past week. It may seem like nothing, but it was a lot of work and a big pain until I got it done.

Back when my spouse and I moved into our current house, I immediately recognized a dearth of counter space in the kitchen. We resolved this by purchasing a buffet table from Ikea. The table in question was a "Norden" model, which they have since discontinued. Simple enough table, a bit over a meter long and maybe a third that in depth, two drawers and two additional shelves. Great for holding kitchen appliances on top and storage below.

The first thing I did was add locking casters to the bottom so I could move it around easily. That's been a big bonus, as it makes cleaning much easier. I also put some hooks on the ends to hang my cast iron pans.

The problem arose I guess about three years ago when I upgraded to a commercial-grade espresso machine. The Gaggia was okay, but the Expobar is in a completely different class. And that's GREAT for good coffee. For a tabletop that's made of laminated particle board? Not so much.

Now, I had been aware of this problem for a while. I'd tried to ameliorate it by putting a silicone baking mat on top of that side of the table; that slowed down the deterioration, but did not stop it. It was also a daily annoyance, as the espresso machine moved a bit when I torqued the portafilter in place and it would get bunched up. About once a week I would have to lift the espresso machine and move things back.

This came to a head two weeks ago when I took the espresso machine in for some repairs and had to face that the tabletop was ruined. My initial thought was to get a replacement top from Ikea and then put maybe a piece of stone countertop in where the espresso machine sits.

This ran into two problems. First, as I mentioned before, this particular item is discontinued. Ikea will honor the warranty, and the Ikea rep tried pretty hard to make that work, but the reality is I got it too long ago and whatever abuse it's undergone is my problem; they don't sell the parts for it anymore.

Second, stone countertops are EXPENSIVE. While I just want what might be considered scrap, it was still going to be a lot of money, and I was not able to find a source.

Eventually I want to replace the entire thing with something I build myself, and I have some ideas for that. However, right now I have neither the time nor skill to make that happen. I was going to have to replace the top myself.

Since I didn't want to pay for stone, I opted for metal. I ordered a 4'x2' sheet of metal from McMaster and proceeded to prep the top. I sanded down the areas which were bubbling up and roughed up the rest of the surface.

Then, once the metal arrived I used my angle grinder to cut it to width and round the sharp corners. I had this notion that I might bend it over the top and maybe nail it down, or see if I could knurl the edges. However, while I think that was maybe possible, to do it well would have called for tools I don't have and skills I generally lack. The steel was 0.03" thick rolled mild steel. While that's not exactly a knife's edge, and you can touch it without cutting yourself, it's not exactly safe. And although I got much better with the angle grinder in the process (I had a grinder and hardly ever used it), the cut edges were a but uneven. So, I ordered some rubber edging.

In the meantime, I put the metal on the buffet table and prepared it.

I opted for a matte finish, since I would need better buffing tools than I have to get a mirror finish, and matte is easier to maintain than brushed. Since it's mild steel - which rusts easily - I sealed it with a spray lacquer.

Today, the rubber edging finally arrived. This is the same stuff you have on the edges of your car door. I glued it in place, except for one small section which is removable so I can easily clean detritus like coffee grounds off the table top. I also added two receivers to hold the feet of the espresso machine so it doesn't move when I put in the portafilter.

And, behold!

The result looks almost nothing like the original buffet table from Ikea. Someday I'll make something better, but whatever I make will be strongly informed by this, which has been heavily modified to fit my use case.

[ssmtskw]

Hello and welcome!

Replacing my pinned with a list of the stuff I've written for anyone checking my account out. Heh. Everything is sorted by fandom, and then word count! (And if there's something I should add to the tagging, please feel free to send me a message about it so I can make the edits.) Enjoy... hopefully!

RWRB

some part of me came alive - 10,979 words [college-ish AU, 5+1]

"Bye David." David's head snaps back to Alex's direction, eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly you'd think it wasn't even there. Alex, having just removed his glasses again as he yawns once more, doesn't see it. David takes a couple seconds before slightly shaking his head, like he's just imagining something and is now actively wiping the thought away. He opens the door before he responds. "Bye Alex."

(Or: The five times Alex unintentionally calls Henry by his dog’s name, and the one time he does it on purpose.)

Francesca - 10,189 words [graphic depictions and references of violence/abuse/injuries]

Once, in a much worse place before all of this; Alex had worked for someone with one side of his office overflowing with books. He'd read all sorts of things there: Anatomy, selected works in philosophy, Oliver Twist, war hero accounts, law. Anything he could get a hold of in the dark, really. Among those books were a bible. There's a passage there that stuck— something he'd only read past but had barraged into the walls of Alex's mind three years ago, Book of Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse 9: The heart is more deceitful than anything else and is desperate. Who can know it?

Love Songs in the Key of Liam - 8,152 words [Liam POV/centric, 5+1]

It's fucked. He's fucked — Liam, that is. There was no way this was going to work. Ever. What's the next worst thing to growing up closeted in a typically close-minded neighbourhood? Probably developing a crush on your best friend who lives in said neighbourhood. (Or: The five times love songs reminded Liam of his now estranged best friend, and the one time it reminded him of someone else.)

Terrible Things - 4,038 words [Hanahaki AU, hurt/no comfort]

"How long?" That, he can answer. "A year or so." He croaks out, not really wanting to strain himself any further.

water in my hands - 3,521 words [sickfic(?), has references to illness, hurt/no comfort]

It takes Alex a good amount of time to realise; sometimes love just isn't enough to keep the world going, even if he desperately wanted it to.

no question (he'll hold your heart if you let him) - 2,837 words [June POV/outsider POV, post-canon]

June doesn't think much about it at first, putting the box along the pile, but she belatedly realises what it is and gets an idea. A satisfied grin makes its way onto her lips when she finally finds it, an edition of Astrotalk that detailed star sign compatibilities. June doesn't open the magazine all the way to the Libra section, stopping short at someone else's instead. (Or: June finds a box that contained one of her teenage fixations and goes through it for old time's sake.)

Smoke Slow - 2,026 words [shotgun kissing oneshot basically]

“Hey.” Alex says, just for the sake of saying something, the silence between them wasn’t stifling but he didn’t want to risk their interaction coming to an end just because he’s not engaging enough. Henry gives him a sideways glance. “Teach me how to do that.”

“Do what?”

“That. The shotgun.” For a moment, Alex briefly considers how idiotic that probably sounded to Henry. It wasn’t a hard task to mimic, but Alex had long thrown out his composure out the fences of Pez’s house when Henry put the goddamn stick into his mouth. 

i'll be happy (just to have known you) - 1,855 words [hurt/no comfort]

Henry resigns himself to the reality that Alex—albeit distant and unattainable—still managed to break through his dismal world and grant him a light he never imagined was still possible to exist. This was enough. This was more than he'd ever expected for himself. It was the universe's way of extending an olive branch in response to the cards he'd been dealt with. He'd be stupid not to take it.

dreamy little you - 1,666 words [crack-ish AU, post-canon]

"Of course, love, but would you love yourself if you were a worm?" This visibly stumps Alex. If the way his mouth just opened for a rebuttal and coming up empty is anything to go by.

only got a hundred - currently at 4,008 words

An ongoing collection of 100-word drabbles written according to the Brownstone server's prompts.

Haikyuu

Ceilings (he thinks it's not real, it is) - 6,009 words [light angst and pining with a happy? ending]

“Yo, you sleepy?” Takahiro meant to say that no, he isn't. That Issei looks stupid with his hair messed up like that. That he should be asking Issei that, with the bags under his eyes speaking for themselves. Instead, what comes out is, “I miss you.” It would be so easy to take the opportunity now. But still, Takahiro is terrified of ruining things. Or: Takahiro has graduation blues, and Issei makes him feel better, but things don't just end there.

Bloom - 1,444 words [two-dialogue challenge oneshot, retrospective? angst/no comfort]

Matsukawa Issei is not much of a sentimental person, save for special occasions where he has no choice but to reminisce.

Cruel (what your mind can do for no reason) - 1,012 words [light angst/comfort, implications of dissociation]

Issei struggles through a bad mental health night, Takahiro breezes him through the tail end of it.

Shameless (US)

big guns out, shoot now - 3,257 words [first kiss oneshot]

It's kind of out of character for Ian, really, he's always careful about not blurting out or doing shit that tapped into his feelings on the brunette, around the very subject of his affections. Has been, in fact, for the last two years and counting. Not that it got any easier to maintain, there are always slip ups (Exhibit A: right here, right now), but that's solely his problem.

On the Off Chance - 5,780 words [soulmate AU, ongoing]

To say Ian was relieved when he hears Mickey confirm how he did not, in fact, get his soulmate mark just a couple days after coming of age would be a huge understatement. (Or: Soulmate marks only show up when the younger of the pair turns nineteen– which isn’t uncommon, to say the least.)

[elipheleh]

The White Night Riots

Continuing my series of learning about things referenced in the book, I'm looking at things Alex references when he talks about engaging with queer history. These are all tagged #a series of learning about things that are referenced in the book, if you want to block the tag.

This post got quite long, so the detailed content about the White Night Riots specifically is under the read more.

I'd like to preface this one with a content warning. I will talk about the assassination of a gay politician, and the grief that surrounds that. There is also talk of the two men being shot, and homophobic slurs. The former will be clearly marked, but please take care.

Rioters outside San Francisco City Hall on the night of May 21, 1979

On the 21st of May, 1979, Dan White was convicted of the assassination of Harvey Milk and George Moscone. He received the lightest possible charge, enraging the city's gay community who then marched through the Castro, and violence erupted at City Hall. In retaliation, the police raided a gay bar in the heart of the Castro, Elephant Walk, shouting homophobic slurs and attacking queer people on the street. The night's events were coined the "White Night Riots", after Dan White.

-----

To add some context about the lead up to the riots, I need to go back in time a bit, and talk about Harvey Milk.

Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. In 1977 he became a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He moved to San Francisco in 1972, opening up a camera store in the heart of the Castro - a popular place for queer folk to live and hang out. He ran for city supervisor in 1973 and 1975, closely missing out each time.

New mayor, George Moscone, appointed Milk to the Board of Permit Appeals in 1976, making Milk the first openly gay city commissioner in the US. After the supervisor elections in San Francisco were reorganised to allow districts to elect their own choice of supervisor, Milk ran again for this position. In November 1977, Milk won by 30% against 16 other candidates. He made national headlines, being the first non-incumbent (already in office) openly gay man in the US to win a public office at an election. In a first for the city, sworn in alongside Milk were a single mother, a Chinese-American man, an African-American woman. Dan White, previously a police officer and more recently a firefighter, was sworn in as a first time supervisor as well.

Initially friendly with Milk, White later vowed to - and did - vote against every initiative Milk supported, after Milk changed his mind about the placement of a new mental health facility being placed in White's district - Milk voted in favour of it, meaning White lost and it went ahead.

Ten months after being sworn in, White resigned from the Board of Supervisors. His reasoning was that his salary was not enough to enable him to support his family. Five days after resigning, having been offered support and loans by family & constituents, he approached Mayor Moscone to ask for his resignation to be withdrawn. Initially Moscone seemed to agree, but ultimately decided he would replace him with someone more liberal, in line with the diversity of White's district & the Board of Supervisors.

-----

The following section discusses the assassination of Harvey Milk & George Moscone. I will note when this section ends so you can skip it if necessary.

Moscone called a press conference for the 27th of November, 1978, where he planned to announce the replacement for White. Around an hour before this was due to take place, White entered the building through a basement window - to avoid metal detectors - and went to Moscone's office. Asking for a meeting with him, Moscone accepted and while Moscone poured them both a drink, White pulled out a gun and shot the mayor twice. When Moscone was on the floor, White shot him again at close range in the head. He then reloaded his gun, and headed to Milk's office. Dianne Feinstein, then-President of the Board of Supervisors, called after him as he ran past her office. White interrupted a conversation Milk was having, and asked him to step into White's former office. After a short conversation, White shot Milk five times, including once into his head at short range.

White then fled the scene, and Feinstein entered Milk's office. She checked for a pulse, but found he was dead. At 11:20 am, she addressed the media who were waiting for the announcement of a new supervisor. Shaking badly, requiring the support of the police chief, she said:

As President of the Board of Supervisors, it's my duty to make this announcement. Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed. The suspect is Supervisor Dan White.

Harvey Milk was 48 years old, George Moscone was 49.

This marks the end of the section discussing the assassination.

White had left the building without being challenged, and called his wife from a payphone. After meeting her, he turned himself in to the precinct he had previously served at as a police officer. He was charged with two counts of murder, held without bail, and he was eligible for the death penalty. His arrest and trial demonstrated the serious tensions between the liberal San Franciscans and the more conservative, predominantly working-class Irish-American police force. Whilst White sat in his cell, former colleagues on the police force joked about the situation, and police openly wore t-shirts which had "Free Dan White" printed on them. White demonstrated no remorse.

The jury for the trial also concerned Milk's supporters, as it consisted of white, mostly Catholic, middle-class San Franciscans. They found White guilty of voluntary manslaughter, a lesser charge than first degree murder, and he was sentenced to seven years in prison. He could be released after five.

-----

Following the announcement of White's sentence, Cleve Jones - Milk's friend and activist - addressed an audience of around 500 who had gathered in the Castro to share the news. He led a crowd to City hall, which grew to over 5,000. The queer-friendly police chief, Charles Gain, ordered officers not to attack protestors from City Hall. The rioters attacked the building, as well as police cars while expressing their anger at the verdict. After three hours, police moved in to stop the riot. Many covered their badges with black tape in an attempt to avoid identification, and attacked the crowd with their nightsticks. After around three hours of fighting between the protestors and police, following the use of tear gas, the riots ended.

Tom Ammiano, State Assemblyman from 2008-2014, who took part in the events said of the mood of those involved:

This guy had killed a hero of ours and a friend of ours and he got treated like he had shoplifted. Dan White was a former cop and he got away with murder.

A few hours after the rioting was quelled, police retaliated. Dozens of riot-gear clad officers in police vehicles headed to the Castro, and entered a gay bar - the Elephant Walk - despite orders not to. They shouted "dirty cocksuckers" and "sick faggots" at patrons of the bar; wielding their nightsticks they damaged furniture, and injured a dozen people. They then withdrew from the bar and attacked gay people on the streets indiscriminately. When Police Chief Gain heard of the events he immediately went to stop it, and ordered the policemen to leave. Officers were later seen celebrating the raid at a bar. When a police captain was asked why officers attacked the bar, he responded “We lost the battle at City Hall. We aren’t going to lose this one.”

-----

The following night, 4,000 people gathered in the Castro to commemorate Milk on what would have been his 49th birthday. With volunteers wearing white armbands & shirts reading "please no violence", and Feinstein ordering police to stay away, the event was peaceful.

Milk's replacement, Supervisor Harry Britt, made it clear at a press conference that no-one was going to apologise for the riots.

Harvey Milk's people do not have anything to apologize for. Now the society is going to have to deal with us not as nice little fairies who have hairdressing salons, but as people capable of violence. We're not going to put up with Dan Whites anymore.

Attempts by the press to find a 'gay leader' who would apologise for the rioting were unsuccessful.

Mark Leno, a member of the California State Senate from 2008-2016 said in 2009:

“The White Night Riots were the culmination of many changes that were impacting the city at that time. It was as if it all came to a head through the outrage of the injustice of Dan White’s sentence. It was a jolt to the civic fabric as if we had to experience all of that to be able to move forward to become the city that we have become today. The experience I had at that time continues to inform my public office today. That we have had to fight for every right that we have gained and we have had to be vigilant every step of the way so as not to ever lose anything we have again.”

Sources: Wikipedia - White Night Riots Wikipedia - Harvey Milk Wikipedia - Moscone-Milk Assassinations SF Chronicle - SF’s White Night riots’ 40th anniversary: Long-buried photos show a city torn apart Bay Area Reporter - Thirty years ago, the White Night riots inflamed San Francisco Libcom - 1979: The White Night Riot

Additional Reading: NBC - Flashback: Harvey Milk Assassinated In San Francisco The Mayor of Castro Street - Randy Shilts, 1982 (ISBN 978-0312560850) The Times of Harvey Milk - 1984 documentary film (I have not watched this) Milk - 2008 [n.b. this stops at the assassination, and doesnt cover the riot] Howard University - A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: Harvey Milk Youtube - The Last Words of Harvey Milk [Full Audio Clip] - in theory, this link should connect to the full transcript in the comments. SF Gate - Myth of the 'Twinkie defense' FoundSF – Chris Carlsson, White Night Riot

[lady-wallace]

Official Paperback Collection Contents Release!

Thanks so much to everyone who voted on the poll to help me pick out which stories I should put into my JoJo part 5 story collection bind-up! I ended up choosing more for the collection than anticipated based on the highest votes plus a few suggestions (including a couple of my whumptober fics that I will hopefully be able to extend a little) so that will just mean it’s going to be a pretty chunky book when I’m done with it.

(I am also pretty sure I have decided on what to title the collection as a whole, but I will be announcing that later when I do the cover reveals ^_^)

Without further ado, the lineup:

I’m Not Okay (I Promise)

Heat of the Moment

Old Habits

The Small Things

Too Far and Not Far Enough

The Things You Can’t Replace

Dead Man Walking

Drink Up

Little Lion Man

Bloodstains and Bandages

The Scars You Hide

In Your Shoes

Mission Failure

Night Out

Only Strong Until You Break

The Doctor Is In

Belonging

Breaking In

Cold Inside, Warmth Without

The Scars Series:

-Our Burdens to Bear

-Scars

-Skin Deep

-Breaking Chains (A new collection exclusive story)

Between the Styx and the Lethe (Extra PDF/Paperback)

I ultimately decided to make Between the Styx and the Lethe separate from the actual collection because it is just very long and I actually want to add more to it now that I’m not rushing to finish it before the end of whumptober. So it will come as an extra PDF whenever you purchase a copy of the collection, and I’ll possibly make it available to upgrade it to a paperback if enough people are interested in that.

If you are, please let me know through the interest/suggestion form below. There’s also a section on it where you can make suggestions on merch items for this or Family Matters. I’m mostly done with them, but am still stuck on a couple designs. (Merch suggestions are not necessary if you just want to get your input in for the Styx and Lethe paperback)

Fill out form HERE

Also here’s a sneak peek of my finished Merch designs so far plus the collection print WIP:

[chipped-chimera]

I always felt the live push was kind of weird, and that explains it (goddamn corpos).

Maybe an unpopular opinion (please do not boo me off stage) but I think Live could have a place if done correctly and - and this is the important one - regulated. I think the primary problem with live - aside from feeling like it is constantly being shoved down our throats - was it felt more like it was trying to capitalize on the TikTok adjacent, influencer farming, algorithmic content bs that frankly so many of us are fatigued from being exposed to. The amount of control a Tumblr user has over the content they choose to engage with by comparison is phenomenal. And Live was the direct INVERSE of this principle.

Live could work well as a feature, but as long as it integrates with the rest of the existing experience. The current problem is it feels like Tumblr and then this weird thing tacked onto the side of it. Again people are here on Tumblr to get AWAY from being pushed content from people they're not following and have no interest in.

To really get this to work I feel you need to restore the user control here. For example - an artist you really like is going to stream? Cool! Maybe you can get a reminder when they go live (again, only if you choose to get the notification from them - either because they have a promotional post and you can click it to 'set reminder for this stream' or something) and you could pop the stream out like the videos do and keep it on the side of your dash with a chat box underneath while you scroll through your dashboard (at least for the desktop experience). Or you can open a tab of 'who is live now' from people you actually follow. Now if people actually want to go through a discovery section that's more algorithmically managed, that should be contained in it's own thing.

Honestly I feel this is the underlying theme of why a lot of us long-haulers cling to Tumblr - we want the user experience to be prioritized. We don't want to be 'told' what we like constantly and feel like we're merely being grifted for money all the time. Algorithms can be good, I don't mind poking around in the 'For You' tab on occasion to find new people to follow, but that's merely to add to my existing curated dashboard feed. Not to replace it.

In summary, the closing points of my Live related TED talk:

Live could work, but it has to fit with what core Tumblr actually IS if you want it to work.

Content curation is extremely important to Tumblr users and is the whole appeal in an internet that is just constantly using machine learning to squeeze as much money out of us as possible. It's against the grain. It's our hellsite.

Don't shove Live in peoples faces unless they choose for it to be there. And if they choose to look in the algorithmic section, for the love of god please have categories, filters, tagging etc. and whatever it takes to keep the pornbots off it please. (aka another reason why forcing live = bad because now you've got the full monty on your dash and you can't control it)

Emphasize user privacy and choice. I've been seeing shit about the intense level of data Tumblr Live apparently collects, which I am presuming is within the terms of that contract. Tumblr users, again like control. Of both what they choose to engage with and what is done with our data. We pass around enough firefox/adblock/anti-data-scrape posts as it is, it should be obvious.

USER. CHOICE. That's it. No really think about it, the whole internet is turning into a wriggling pit of algorithmic bs that's engulfing everything. It's going to get stale, really quick (I mean with the way I keep seeing articles about social media 'dying' - it already is. And they're all sites that have either been heavily focused on or pivoted towards algorithm). Freedom of choice is the whole appeal here.

Treat your userbase well, they'll treat you back. It's a longhaul strat but it's more guaranteed than alienating your entire userbase to make a quick buck (see the website formally known as Twitter for this one). This is an extremely out of left field example but - Final Fantasy XIV, I feel has treated its community excellently over the years. That game initially was a train-wreck. It's now considered one of the best (and possibly biggest) MMOs, all because they stuck to their core userbase who stuck by them, and listened. I am willing to let my FFXIV sub roll over, for months, without playing sometimes because it's one of the few subs I will pay for where I feel what I get out of it EXCEEDS the value of what I'm paying. And I'm actually happy to do that, I consider it a donation.

Look up 'Enshittification'. Yeah. Don't do any of that basically.

Uh thanks for coming to my TED talk idk where else to stick this so sorry it's being tacked on here 💀 Signed, person who has been on tumblr way too long (since 2010) and seen like 2-3 social medias die in my lifetime.

Since the other ask didn't seem to cover it, Why is Live being kept as a feature? It's almost universally hated, there's a post that circulates every week reminding us to turn it off so we don't forget to do so, the only feature live has is porn users which appeals to small portions of the user base but otherwise isn't worth the hassle. Why is this feature still Around? I'm genuinely wondering, this isn't meant as an attack, I just do not understand how a feature so detested could possibly be beneficial to the site.

We have a contractual obligation to try to make Live as successful as possible through the end of the year, and we'll do our best there. By January, aligned with the new more focused approached of Tumblr teams, we'll re-assess whether it should be part of the Tumblr app anymore. That's all I can really say about it, and I hope that answers your question and gives you something to look forward to in 2024.

[thatfrailsoul]

– Divinatory Jukebox ♪♡♪

readings inspired by your songs

pictures → pinterest : one, two, three

They say that when a song decides to stay in our mind for so long that its words start to replace our thoughts, its rhythm starts to guide our heart... Then there is a reason to it. Something deeper than just a song stuck in our mind. A message, perhaps an answer or a sign, that is trying to reach us through one of the easiest ways in which our attention can be caught. From the Universe, our guides, our own higher self and soul - it reaches us in hopes that we slow down for a moment and try to understand the meaning behind those rhymes.

| How it works |

– How you can send me your suggestion?

I'm accepting your song suggestions through the "What's on your mind..?" option on my blog.

– What you can or need to mention when sending your suggestion?

In your suggestion you can put any song that is currently on repeat in your mind, the one you feel almost scarily often the need to listen to, or simply one of your favourite ones. It doesn't matter the genre of the song, its year or artist. If it's on your mind than it is important enough.

When suggesting your song you will need to mention that it is for the Divinatory Jukebox, the title and the artist of the song. (In case you think that the song is perhaps very niche and that it can be difficult for me to find it, you can also add the Spotify or YouTube link to it, and the link for the translation of the song if it's not in english.)

And if you want to, you can also let me know the specific part of the song that you are more addicted to right now, that you like the most, feel more connected to, or that you repeat more often in this period of your life.

– How exactly your song will "inspire" a reading?

Based on the text of the song and the story that it narrates, I will create related questions, the answers to which I will look for in my cards, diving as deeper as possible in that topic or situation.

– How will it be decided which suggestions will be used for the pick a pile readings?

I will do a pick a pile reading for every suggestion that I will receive. Even if it is a song that we already did a reading for. Simply because our lives are different and ever changing, and so are the ways we listen and perceive a song, and the message that it gives us.

– Will you know if your suggested song made it into the Jukebox?

Yes. Once I will arrive to your suggested song starting to prepare a reading for it, I will answer your request through a post by letting you know that it will be used for our next pick a pile reading. (Please note that I will answer you only through the post to your suggested song, and not in dms - I will accept and consider only the suggestions sent through the "What's on your mind..?" section on my profile.)

– How long will it take me to post the readings?

I receive a lot of requests every day, so reading for all of them takes a lot of time and energy. And most importantly, I do it as something that I simply and truly enjoy, and not an obligation. For this reason, while still going through every request I will ever receive, I will do so at my own pace. Without any pressure or limitation. And for this reason I ask you to remember to be kind, respectful and patient towards me, others and yourself as well. As this is just a fun way for us to understand better ourselves, our lives and our reality through divination.

—

{ ♡ songs we listened so far ♡ }

—

Open your playlist, grab your favourite drink, and let's see what message is trying to reach us through the songs we hear.♡

[gins-potter]

The Yaya and Torrey of it all...

To distract myself from the fact that Chicago Med likely won’t be uploaded for hours yet, and also because I’ve been kind of slack about posting about One Chicago lately, I thought I’d write down some thoughts I’ve been having about Yaya and Torrey leaving.

At first I was stunned, like I did not see that coming at all.  Tbh I’d forgotten completely that with this being the sixth season most of the main casts contracts would be up.  Fire owns my heart so I’ve mostly been following news about Jesse and Taylor’s contracts, while keeping half an eye on news about PD contracts - Med was so not on my radar.  But once I think about it, Torrey and Yaya leaving kind of makes sense.... emphasis on kinda.

(it got kinda long so full thoughts under the cut)

April Sexton - Nurse Practitioner

I think everyone agrees that this is the departure that makes the most sense of the two.  I think I remember being a little worried when this storyline started that this was a way of writing April out but I guess I just settled into the assumption that she would study off-screen and maintain a work/study balance ala Penelope from ODAAT (if you’ve never seen that show the main character Penelope works as a nurse while studying to be a NP at the same time and both are shown on screen).  Presumably now April will just be written out completely to go study.  

I’ve seen some theories floating around that she’ll move out of state to be with Noah (where did he move to? Atlanta?) and I think that could really work.  I do wonder how this might be tied in with Archer’s offer to get her into that school she wanted.  I cold see April going back and forth for a few episodes deciding if she wants to take him up on his offer or not, so I’ll be interested to see how that develops.

I’ll definitely miss April, she was never my favourite character, but I think season 6 was really good for her and seeing her work in two different areas she was clearly passionate about was nice to see.  And as far as storylines go, writing her out so she can advance her career is a good way to do it, it’s hard to be too sad about her leaving when you’re happy for her as a character.  I am a little bummed in terms of the Chexton of it all just because I did ship them for a little while, and I did kinda see them getting back together eventually, but I guess that won’t be happening now.  I’m not too heartbroken about it but I did think they had moments where they were good together.  I think one of the biggest downsides to writing April out is that it means we’ve completely lost another sibling duo in the One Chicago universe (and if I’m counting right that leaves only the Halstead bros standing?)(editing to clarify I mean siblings who are main characters/regulars on the shows not characters who have siblings in general).  But it sounds like Yaya already has a new show lined up in which she’s the lead (correct me if I’m wrong about that part) and I think this NP storyline really serves for a good exit for April and Yaya both.

Natalie Manning - Where the hell does she go from here?

The one that makes less sense to me has to be Nat’s exit.  And I say that in the context of the entire show, her current storyline trajectory makes a lot of sense actually.  Obviously we don’t know for sure what’s going to happen but there’s a lot of theories going around that make a lot of sense.  Where we’re at as of writing this post (I haven’t seen 6x14 yet) Nat’s taken the pills, Will’s in trouble for it, and she knows he’s in trouble for it.  It seems plausible to me that from here we get a couple episode of Nat fucking around trying to come up with a way to get Will out of trouble, before ultimately coming clean to save his ass, the repercussions of this being that she has to leave the hospital.  I have two problems with this.

The first, where the hell does this leave Natalie?  Because at this point we’re contending with two different entities, the drug company who was in charge of the trial (spacing on the name) and Chicago Med as a hospital.  Will’s in trouble with the former so to save him that’s who Nat’s primarily gonna have to come clean to, and I’m having a hard time seeing how realistically they wouldn’t want to charge her with the theft.  But where would that leave Nat besides probably in jail and Owen on his own with a sick grandma?  It’s kind of a shit ending for Torrey’s character, and I just can’t see the Med writers going that route.  So I guess my theory is that Sharon steps in and brokers some kind of deal with the drug company where she convinces them not to press charges but to show that Nat is facing consequences she’s fired.  Then she either stays in the city with Owen and just (presumably) finds a new job, or I can even see her also moving out of state as I think her parents live in Seattle?

My other problem is that this kind of doesn’t make sense in the broader context of the show.  The Chicago Med docs are always up to shady shit, Will and Nat most especially, why is now suddenly the time they face consequences for their actions (besides the fact that Torrey is leaving of course).  It just seems mighty convenient to me, and that’s not something I particularly like about character exits like this.

In terms of Nat’s character in general leaving, my feelings are pretty similar to April’s exit.  While I think the exit itself hasn’t been set up great (I much prefer how they’ve set up April’s) I am vaguely sad about Torrey/Nat leaving.  Much like April, Nat was never my favourite character, in fact I swung wildly between eh she’s alright and oh my god I hate this chick for a while there.  But again, like April, season 6 was good for her, and I even got on board with Mancel (rip that relationship) and it’s sad to see her go just when I was starting to like her again after really really not liking the way Manstead ended.  Speaking of, I think even more so than Chexton I fully expected Manstead to get back together by the end of the show, and I even thought they were setting that up by giving them storylines together in the back half of this season (now I just wonder if they wanted to give fans a chance to see them interact again before Torrey left).  So it feels very weird to me that we won’t see them again now after spending seasons thinking of them as an endgame ship.  I can see there being some kind of final romantic moment between them, especially if Nat’s written to move out of state but idk if I would want that or if it would just be rubbing salt in an open would.  That all being said I wish Torrey all the best, I read that she already has a movie gig lined up so that’s awesome for her.

Final Thoughts

Look, the writing on Med has always struck me as kind of repetitive if not weak in general so I can’t really blame either Yaya or Torrey for wanting to move on to new things.  Even if it was the best writing in the world, playing the same character for 6 years is a long time and while there are plenty of actors who like a steady gig there are also plenty more who like the challenge of new characters/stories/sets etc.  And like I said above, they already have new gigs lined up so this is clearly something they both want so I’m at least glad that that allowed the writers to set up somewhat believable exits for them both.  I don’t know if I would say I hope they come back someday, but it seems like they’re certainly going to leave it open for that.  Unless they pull an Ava Bekker-esque last minute death, it seems like they’re both going to leave the show alive and somewhat happy so there’s always a chance they bring them back one day (this feels more likely for April/Yaya then Nat/Torrey but you never know).  All in all definitely not the worst character exits I’ve seen in this franchise, or even this show, yeah I’m looking at you Ava Bekker.

[daryldamnson]

Surprise, Surprise Part 3

part i - part ii - part iii - part iv - part v

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Cheerleader!Reader

Summary:  Eddie has to reckon with the fact that the rich cheerleader he thought he could brush off as another basic conformist has a few surprises up her sleeve.

Follows the basic plot of S4 (kind of), sarcasm, soft!kinda-touchstarved!eddie, soft(for eddie)!reader, wayne and reader bonding, pure fluff really

Reader: has she/her pronouns and in this chapter is referred to as wearing a bra

Word count: 456

ao3 link

After my favourite dumbass tried to sacrifice himself:

You’d jumped right back through to go after him.

He’d willingly thrown himself back into the fray of danger, well aware he was likely sacrificing himself to save the others, and you’d had none of it.  You surprise him at every turn, he should really know this by now.

He’s on the ground, bleeding out, head in Henderson’s lap as he mutters about not running this time.  His eyes flicker over to you and he finally notices what you’re actually doing.

“Woah.  Am I already in heaven?”  His voice is just a croak, and you hate how nice his smile is even when his teeth are stained red with blood and you’re fuming mad at him.

You’ve taken your shirt off - no time for modesty when someone is literally bleeding out in front of you - and are ripping it into long strips.  He can’t help but think of Nancy doing something similar for Steve - what feels like years ago now - and the implications he’d picked up from the gesture.

He doesn’t have any more time to wonder what the implications are here - if there are any - or to ogle at your bra-clad chest, because you speak to him and his brain is so fuzzy at the moment it takes all of his willpower to focus on one thing at a time.

“I’m sorry, Eddie,” you mutter, pulling earring after earring out of your ears.  “I’m so sorry.  Dustin, hold him down.”

You direct Dustin’s hands - one down to Eddie’s hip and one to his shoulder, shoving down to indicate the pressure needed.

“For what?”  Eddie mumbles, baffled, before screaming in pain.  He tries to writhe but Henderson must be freakishly strong or he must be freakishly weak because he doesn’t get far.  Looking down, he sees why the numbness of blood loss was so quickly replaced with piercing pain.

You’re hooking your hooped earrings through his worst wounds.

“What the fuck, Y/N?  What the fuck?”  He screeches, tears falling down the sides of his face.

“I know, I know, I’m sorry, Eddie, I’m really sorry, but I can’t let you bleed out.”  Your voice cracks on the last two words and it takes him another agonising 30 seconds before his brain catches up and he understands what you’re doing.

You’re using the earrings as makeshift stitches.

Where the fuck did you learn how to do that?

He has just enough time to realise you’ve once again surprised the shit out of him before you’re pressing sections of your shirt down onto his wounds, winding tight to add as much pressure as possible.  The pain makes him feel nauseous.  Then it makes him feel nothing.  He’s out cold.

[moralanxietystudio]

Coming out on September 8th! — Roadwarden Devlog

Greetings, travelers!

Now, here’s quite a jump forward — Roadwarden will be out on Steam on September 8th, 2022!

It’s an illustrated text-based RPG in which you explore and change a hostile, grim realm. Roadwarden has been in development for almost 4 years now, and we’re on the final stretch!

The last few months were all about tying up the loose ends and hunting for bugs — but there are still a few new features to talk about!

Difficulty Selection Screen

The time limit is the most restrictive system in Roadwarden. Given enough time, the player can heal their wounds, earn coins to buy useful equipment, or gain trust of the locals. However, some of the quests are time-sensitive and players who repeatedly fail at preparing themselves for exploration and combat may reach the game’s epilogue without completing some of the major storylines.

While it’s possible to complete all of the major quests in less than 25 in-game days, most newcomers will struggle to efficiently optimize the Roadwarden’s systems. Adding an “easy mode” for players who are not used to RPGs (or video games in general) and the “hard mode” for returning players is meant to open the game up to a variety of expectations and playstyles.

Updated Quick Menu

After many months of being untouched, the buttons in the top-right corner are not only reshuffled…

…but I also replaced the Trade button with a quick access to the Character Sheet.

When tested, it turned out that it’s a bit too easy to omit the Trade option while talking with various NPCs. From now on, the trading is available through the dialogue options, always staying in the player’s field of view:

The Ancient Bug

This annoying line of code has crashed the game more times than I can count.

Here you can see how it should look like:

The reason why it destroyed me is that the game didn’t break when this bit of text was loaded. Instead, it could lurkin the shadows for minutes, until it appeared in a completely different area or conversation. I spent many hours tracking down the source, especially after it crashed the game of one of the demo players.

“Is it a memory leak? Is the game simply falling apart after some time? Am I going crazy?”

But now, the bug is no more! I’m FREE!

And all sorts of tiny, yet important details

And what is this just below the quick menu? Is this the new, fancy clock?

Why, yes it is!

It’s less distracting and offers more information at once whenever pointed at, with fewer space restrictions.

The item list in the inventory is now more flexible. In the early stages of the game, it remains small, but…

…once the player gathers enough items, it resizes, usually filling the entire screen without forcing the player to scroll down to see everything at once.

Also, while the owned coins are still meant to be displayed together with the other “Merchandise”, the game now recognizes when there are no other items from this category. In such cases, the coins are moved to the Misc section, instead of occupying the entire row by themselves.

While some quests may still need updates in the journal, they now more often use gray font to hide outdated information, and horizontal lines to divide quests into sections, for example — separating the old part of a quest from the new one, which gets pushed to the top of the entry.

And last but not least — autosaves occur more frequently, after roughly 20 dialogue choices. It’s still not recommended to play without manual/quick saving, but the game is now more resistant to unfortunate crashes and bugs that would punish players who forgot to save in a long time.

---------

Thank you for taking a look at this devlog, and for your support and feedback over the years!

You can also find me on socials, and Roadwarden has Steam and GOG pages where you can add it to your wishlist — I hope it will be available on September 8th!

Have a great day!

[imthepunchlord]

I know you've had your own opinions on the miraculous powers, but have you ever had any thoughts about their weapons? Given the chance, I'd give the rabbit a huge pestle or mallet, in reference to the rabbit-in-the-moon stories in Asia.

Yeah some tools I'd change, I'd like them to be used either for power or for over all use, like Chat's baton he uses a lot despite the power not tied to it. Also tools that also act as tails I'd just rather replace cause when that's removed to be used they just look weird.

That or I add onto their capability.

Mouse I'd change up to have a ribbon wand instead of jumprope tail. The wand is tied to French culture viewing mice as fairies (tooth fairies in particular).

TIger's weapon I'd rather be a gauntlet than bolas tail weapon. It already has a unique enough look to separate it from the rest of the costume and is tied to the power which is about punching. So just let it officially be the tool for Tiger. Especially as that'd be one of the more wicked looking tools.

Now, Rabbit's umbrella has grown on me, but if it's to be changed up, it'd depend on the power, and as the umbrella acts a sword and shield, it may be better for a more offense based miraculous as rabbits aren't known for their offensive capability. If White Magic could have a hammer that sends out a white ring that restores and heals. Or if Burrow was more teleportation, have a trumpet that you blast to open the portal, which can give away your current location but when your enemy arrives, you gone.

Dragon's sword just felt like it was done because it was planned for Kagami, and personally, I thought umbrella would've been a better fit as this is a weather related miraculous. And we see that the umbrella acts as a sword and shield and this is more offense based miraculous. And what's extra nice is that most people would look at an umbrella and not think of it as a weapon, which would have been perfect for Dragon, while it's a powerful creature, it's known to be gentle and helpful. And you're more approachable with an umbrella than a sword. And my idea of just changing Dragon to be a Carp, umbrella can still work for it.

Now Snake's lyre, I wouldn't mind if it was for a music related power, like hypnosis through music. But it's not. Alternatively, I would reveal that the lyre can have potential hidden weapons to it, just like HM's cane has a sword. Have the lyre split in half to be twin sickles to wield, or it can have an unbreakable whip between them making it a long range sickle tipped weapon that can be use in battle or getting around. Otherwise the lyre is just a weight to carry around. Maybe as a reference to Father Time, the tool could've been a scythe, which you can get elaborate with in battle. It could also match snakes have a long fanged reached.

Horse would be the one I'd vote for a sword, not only as they are commonly war mounts, but you also have the kwami named Kaalki, one of the avatars of Vishnu who was known to conquest chaos. If you wanted to keep Horse as a portal based miraculous, imagine just slicing the air and that opens your portal. Or if going off my idea of Haywire instead, manipulate and even be electricity, imagine the sword becoming a literal bolt of lightning. If keeping horseshoe, then I'd have it be like the lyre and could have hidden capabilities to it, like divide in half to be twin lightsabers.

Rooster's quill I'd keep but give it a writing power like Chicken Scratch, otherwise, what do you even do with it? Can it sharpen enough to be a little knife? Or maybe it can multiply a lot and be throwing knives? It's a possibility as concept art wise, Mayura looked like she could split up her fan to be throwing knives or darts.

And that reminds me, so I am good with Peafowl having a fan, but I wish they kept this concept art for it than soft feather tips, cause that looked more like a war fan that could have edges to it. And to give it some limit with it's power of creation, every section of that fan makes a sentimonster, and make too many you have no more fan. Otherwise it can be divide into be twin war fans to wield or come together to be a shield.

Now everything else I'm pretty ok with. Definitely prefer tools that can have a versatile use in the field or are tied to the power. And many of them can cover that.

[sunlight-moonrise]

Sugar, Spice, and Everything (Not So) Nice (Reid Imagine)

Summary: Being a Barista and falling for a regular is as cliche as it gets. Having that customer become your new professor? Not so much. 

A/N: *Peeks head out* Hello everyone. I have come back from my unannounced hiatus to show off this baby. Major thanks to @definitelynotkatesblog​ and @clean-bands-dirty-stories​ for helping me put this fic together. This was written for the lovely @httpnxtt​ for the secret-fic-swap in the Discord (thanks @imagining-in-the-margins​.) I hope you all enjoy this smutty goodness. 

Category: Smut

Content Warnings: Face Slapping, Degradation, Slight Hair Pulling, Oral Sex (male receiving), Fingering, Spanking, Penetrative Sex, Unprotected Sex/Creampie

Word Count: 6.4K

Masterlist

Being a barista is pretty awesome. Sure, there were bitchy customers and super early mornings but it had it’s redeeming perks. We got free coffee, tea, and snacks during our shifts, which served the caffeine addict in me. I also learned how to make popular lattes, mochas, and frappes that I ended up making at home for myself one too many times. While there were the occasional assholes who couldn’t appear human before getting their hands on some caffeine, there were the regulars who made it worth it. Most of the regulars were so sweet, I appreciated a familiar face when they came in. Some.. more than others.

“He’s baaaaaaaaack,” my coworker Hazel whispered to me in a sing-song voice as she scribbled a customer’s name on a cup. I turned to see who she was talking about, but I already had an inkling about who it was.

My suspicions were correct. I turned to see one of our kindest regulars, my personal favorite customer, Dr. Spencer Reid. Is it weird to know the full name -including the honorific- of a customer? Possibly. But when I’d asked for his name to write on his cup the first time he came in, he accidentally gave me his full name. 

“Dr. Reid- uh, Spencer. Sorry, work habit.” He stuttered, avoiding my eyes after the mistake.

“No worries! What can I get started for you?”

As a Criminology major,  I learned to study the people who catch my attention before indulging them. Call it an old habit. 

Dr. Spencer Reid had earned his title and then some. He’d joined the FBI at only 22, having six degrees under his belt by the age of 27. He’d written several dissertations and co-wrote novels with his colleague, David Rossi. Someone with his reputation could be a pompous ass and have a leg to stand on, which is what made his humbled demeanor so much sweeter. He was also incredibly easy on the eyes, which was a nice little bow on top. 

Hazel liked to joke about how we’d make a cute couple but I know she only did it to watch me get flustered.  

I walked towards the counter to take his order, leaving Hazel with the task of refilling the caramel syrup. I’m always the one to help him since he very aptly pointed out that I’m the only one who makes his coffee just how he likes it.  

Some days, he’d let me surprise him with a random creation. I’d confirm if he wanted caffeine (he always did), iced or not, and any flavor requests. He’d take his drink, tip me handsomely and let me know his thoughts on the drink the next time he came in. So far, his favorite was the almond milk honey latte I’d concocted. It was nice to have a little bit of fun, especially with regulars who were as consistent as him.

“Hey Doc, what can I get ya’?” I asked.

“The usual, please,” he said with a smile. I nodded and set off to make his drink: a venti dark roast with a shit ton of sugar, a dash of nutmeg, and a tiny bit of cinnamon.

“Of course!” I quickly go to fill his order, making sure to put a complimentary treat in a bag for him. I know he had the ultimate sweet tooth so I try to sneak him a confection whenever I can. At first, he was a bit reluctant to take the free pastries, but nowadays he usually smiles when he sees the small bag. 

“Here ya’ go.” I handed him his steamy cup of caffeine along with the little treat, seeing him smile at the small pun I add to his cup, “Have a BREW-tiful day, Doctor!” I watched as his lips landed on the rim of the cup, taking a long sip of the hot coffee. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, the sight making my cheeks promptly flush. I cleared my throat before asking, “Is it good?”

“It’s always good when you make it,” he stated matter of factly, a small smile touching his lips. The heat in my cheeks rose again. “Will you be taking a course this summer?” he asked, taking another sip of his coffee.

“Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. My first day is actually later today. I’m surprised the class section was open, to be honest.” Super surprised actually. I’d been trying to enroll in this class for the past couple of semesters but it was always full by the time I was able to even load the registration page.

“Well, I’ll wish you luck, but I’m sure you won’t need it.”

“How can you be so sure?” 

“I can just tell.” He stated calmly, like it was common knowledge. I raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain. Before he could respond, an insistent cough caught both of our attention. I peeked over Spencer’s shoulder to see a customer waiting for his order to be taken. I turned my attention back to the Doctor, an annoyed look painted on my face. He nodded, taking a hint from the impatient mouth breather behind him. 

“Thank you for the coffee. Enjoy the rest of your day. I hope that class goes well.”

“Bye, you too.” I waved, watching as he exited the door. I turned to the waiting customer, a bit miffed that he interrupted our conversation. But because I was at work, I plastered a fake smile on my face so that he wouldn’t see just how annoyed I was. “Welcome, how may I help you?”

●●●

After clocking out at 2:30 PM, I made a dash for the building where my class would be held. It’s not supposed to start for another half-hour, but I wanted to be sure to get there in time to choose a good seat and settle in before the rest of the class arrived.

Luckily room 301 was relatively empty so I was able to score a perfect seat by the window. I decided to kill some time by listening to some music and doodling randomly in my notebook. Some time had passed when I felt someone take the seat next to me. I turned to see a young man occupying the chair beside mine. He looked to be a frat boy based on the Greek letters he was sporting. Who wears a cap and hoodie in this weather? I really hope he didn’t expect to cheat off of me- although these types of guys always seem to do so.

I was about to return to my doodle when I felt a poke on my shoulder. I turned to give the offender my full attention, removing one of the earbuds from my ears. 

“Hey, I’m Tony,” frat boy said, with a wide smile adorning his face. I must admit, his boyish grin melted the slight annoyance I had begun to stir toward him. I returned his greeting and introduced myself as well. “I don’t mean to be a bother,” he continued, “but I like to have at least one buddy in each of my classes. In case we need help or miss an assignment or something.”

I nodded my head - a friend in a class was always useful when it came to studying and swapping notes. We chatted a bit more, learning about each other’s major and why we both decided to take a summer course. Tony is a double major and this course will satisfy the credits he needs for his psychology requirement. This is why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. 

It wasn’t until I heard the hush of the classroom that I realized the class was about to begin. I turned back to my notebook, preparing to jot down some important information despite it being the first day of class.

“Good morning class.” Wait. That voice... I didn’t even need to pick my head up to know who had spoken. “This is Criminal Psychology and I am your instructor, Doctor Spencer Reid. Unfortunately, Professor Monroe could not cover this course so I’ll be his permanent replacement. Now…”

I raised my head, watching as he continued to talk about what is to be expected in this course while a TA handed out the syllabus. He went on, able to capture the attention of everyone while speaking of the experiences he had with an array of criminals. His eyes scanned the room and for a brief moment I thought they would land on me, but they continued to take in the mass amount of students before him.

My concentration was broken by Tony passing me a copy of the syllabus. I scanned it over, making sure to highlight all the important dates. I didn’t want any exams or projects conflicting with my work schedule. I also made note of how the overall grade system is broken down. The whole thing seems pretty fair and everything was spaced out enough where I wouldn’t feel too overwhelmed with the workload.

“… and that pretty much wraps it up. Does anyone have any questions?” I tuned in just as he was pulling the first class to a close. No one raised their hands, so he dismissed us with a reminder to read the first chapter of the textbook and to check for any emails.

“So do you want to grab lunch?” Tony asked from beside me. I contemplated whether or not to go with him. He must have seen the hesitation in my face because he quickly added, “Not as a date or anything, I just wanted to grab a bite and I didn’t want to do it alone.”

“Sure,” I smiled, “Let me just ask the professor a quick question about his office hours and I’ll meet you at the food court.”

“Sweet, I’ll see you in a bit.” With that, Tony gathered his stuff and exited the back door. 

I focused my attention on the podium, seeing a gaggle of girls surrounding him asking redundant questions. From what I could hear, their questions could have been answered if they’d read the syllabus. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt, they were probably more focused on him rather than what he was saying during class. I waited a few more minutes for them to finish up before I made my way to him.

“So do I call you Doctor or Professor now?” I laughed. 

“From you, I’d respond to either,” he replied warmly. The comment made me blush. If he looked into my eyes at that moment, he’d see more stars in them than the night sky. I bit my lip to stop the idiotic grin from spreading across my face. 

He’s your professor, get a hold of yourself.

“How can I help?” he asked, bringing me back to the original reason as to why I was standing in front of him without a cash register between us. 

I cleared my throat. “Um, I was wondering if it was possible to see you outside your normal office hours? I usually work the morning shifts and I don’t want to flood your emails with my questions.” I asked.

“Of course,” he said. “You can come to my office at whatever time works best for you. I know balancing a work and school schedule can be hard. Besides, I’m usually there handling paperwork anyway.” He gave a small shrug, pushing his hands in his pockets. 

“Thank you so much. I look forward to the rest of the semester Professor Reid.” I liked the way his newfound honorific rolled off my tongue. 

“Goodbye, Y/N.”

“Goodbye, Professor.” With that, I left and headed out to meet Tony. 

I was able to find him at the food court. We got some food and chatted more about our classes as well as life outside of school. He made it easy to be his friend, and it was nice having someone to talk to. He works as a waiter so we shared our customer service horror stories and tales of sneaking food at work. It was a nice distraction that took my mind off of Dr. Reid and the ongoing battle of calling him Doctor or Professor. As Tony rambled, my mind wandered about other things I’d like to call Spencer instead. 

●●●

In that short span of two weeks, we already had an exam, an oral presentation, and a report on the psychoanalysis of serial killers. Not one day had been wasted, but this is what to be expected from a summer course. The essay was due the day before. Now we had to wait for our grades which gave us a moment to take a breath.

I was worried that my paper was subpar; especially since I chose to write about Andrei Chikatilo, a serial killer from Ukraine. He wasn’t as popular as those in America, so I ended up spending hours on deep research to find substantial information about his crimes. It also didn’t help that some of the original reports weren’t in English. I had worked hard, and hoped Professor Reid would see that, even if my writing could sometimes be a little weak. I was worried about the grade as our research papers held the weight of 20% of our final mark. 

“Hello? Earth to Y/N! Anyone in there?” Hazel’s voice pierced through my worry bubble, her hand waving in front of my face. I shook my head, trying to focus on restocking the coffee beans.

“Sorry Haze, I’m thinking about this class.”

“Funny you say that; your favorite professor just walked in. Thought you might want to take his order.” She wagged her brows at me, making kissy faces as I hurried to the front register, trying my best to not let my eagerness be so glaringly obvious.

There he was, in his usual handsome glory, patiently waiting for me to take his order. He greeted me with a small smile that I happily returned.

“Hey Doc, what can I get you today?”

He debated for a moment before saying, “Surprise me.”

“Gotcha.” I already had an in my head; it’d been a while since he asked me to make him a random drink so I’d had plenty of time to plan. We got an early shipment of ingredients for our fall-themed drinks and I figured he would appreciate some pumpkin spice in his caffeine. “How are the papers coming along?” I asked casually as I rang him up.

“Pretty well. I’m almost done, so you’ll all receive your grades later today.” Wow, that was fast. I wondered if he stayed up reading all those papers to be done by today. Probably not, a TA must have helped him.

“I am a bit nervous about mine, especially since it’s worth a huge part of our final grade.” I really wanted to get an A in this course, but it was hard juggling everything in such a short amount of time.

“Don’t worry about it too much,” he reassured. “I haven’t properly finished yours yet but it looked great just from what I’ve seen thus far.” His words gave me a little reassurance.

“Thanks. I put a lot of effort into it. Let me grab your coffee now.” Spencer walked towards the pick-up station while I grabbed a venti cup for his drink. Just when I was about to make his order, I saw another familiar face come up to the register. “Tony, hey!” I shouted, placing the cup back down, “What can I get you?” 

This was the first time he’d been here, despite him saying for the past few days that he’d stop by for a visit, even with the promise of a cake pop if he did. It was nice to see another familiar face.

“Hey coffee girl, how you doin’ today?”

“Just peachy. My feet are killing me, though.” Just saying the words caused the ache on the soles of my feet to spike higher. I thanked my lucky stars I was almost done with this eight-hour shift.

“Give me the chance to sweep you off your feet, I promise you won’t regret it.” he offered boldly. It wasn’t the first time he’d joked about taking me out. I laughed, especially since he had a girlfriend. She met us for lunch one day and we became fast friends- she was an incredibly sweet and intelligent girl, polite and elegant as well. It is a wonder how his frat boy charm won her over but opposites attract, I guess.

“Shut up, Casanova. What are you gonna have?”

“I’ll have a grande iced matcha latte, please.” I should’ve known. He told me that he loves matcha flavored food and drinks the first time we grabbed lunch after class. He had complained that there was no good place to get one on campus. 

“Coming right up.” I quickly filled his order since it was faster to make compared to the pumpkin spiced latte. I handed him his bribe-cake pop, matcha flavor of course, while he waited for me to finish making his drink.

“By the way, we’re still studying at the library for the exam later tonight, right?” Tony asked.

“Yup, I’ll meet you at 8.”

“Copy that, see you later coffee girl.” He turned to leave while I turned to make Professor Reid’s order. I put extra whip cream and a bit more syrup to satiate his sweet tooth. I grabbed a fresh chocolate muffin from the display case and popped it into a bag for him as well, drawing yet another pun on the good doctors bag. “Thanks for being such a TEA-rrific professor!”

“Here ya’ go Doc,” I called out before placing his drink and muffin on the counter. I looked up to see him no longer smiling. “Is everything okay?”

Ignoring my question, he said, “I wasn’t aware you were so close to Mr. Montgomery.”

“Oh yeah, we study together once in a while.” I could have sworn I saw his frown deepen before his features became void of any emotions. He shifted his eyes downward, his hand moving rapidly to grab the cup.

“I should get going.”

“Oh, okay” Before I could say goodbye, he was already halfway out the door. 

That was weird. I looked at the counter and noticed that he left the cupcake behind. Maybe he was in a rush?

I shook my head. I needed to concentrate on making it through the last couple of hours of work. 

●●●

I made my way to the classroom, smiling at Tony as he pulled out my seat for me. Professor Reid walked in a few minutes later, his tall figure drawing all the attention to the center of the small stage. He let us know he already graded the papers and that they would be distributed by the TA before the end of class. I had a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach but decided to brush it off and pay attention in class. Despite my attempts to focus on his lecture, I found my mind wandering every so often anyway.

I couldn’t help but think he was less animated today. Usually, he taught with such passion that the class couldn’t take their eyes off him. But today, it felt as if we were all in a boring seminar with an ancient professor. Tony kept glancing at the clock, probably also wondering why time felt like it was going by so slowly. 

I couldn’t shake the unsettled feeling the entire class. It didn’t help matters that every time I would raise my hand to answer a question, he would call on another student. What the hell did I do? 

I decided to tune out the rest of the class. There is no point in being an actively engaged student if I wasn’t going to get treated like one. I’d just get the notes from Tony later.

Thirty minutes before the end of class, the TA handed out our essays while Professor Reid wrapped. 

“Some of you did very well, while a few others struggled with the assignment.” His eyes landed on mine as he said that. It was the first time he had glanced in my direction the whole class. He moved on to the other side of the room. My mind was probably just playing tricks on me. “If you have any questions you can see me at my office hours next week or send me an email. You are dismissed.”

The TA finally made his way over to me, handing my essay in a slight fold. I looked at the grade on top and almost dropped the paper. My heart sped up as I stared at the letter in bright red ink. No way, no way this could be my report. I looked at the right-hand corner and saw my name at the top. I read through the first page and saw they were indeed my words.

How the fuck was it possible that I got a D on this paper? I knew my writing wasn’t the strongest, but a D? 

“How you’d do?” Tony asked. For a moment I forgot I was in a room with other people.

I cleared my throat, trying to relive the lump so that he didn’t hear the croak in my voice. “Umm, not what I expected. I’m going to try to speak to him about it.” Tony was a smart kid, so I was sure he could see how tense I was. Luckily he didn’t question me any further and instead told me he’d text me later before leaving the classroom.

Fortunately, there were no other students in the classroom to slow me down this time. I walked right up to the podium, watching as Professor Reid placed some papers in his satchel. 

“Professor, I need to speak with you.”

“Not now, I’m busy,” he replied, not even bothering to glance in my direction. This can’t be real. The sweet, kind Doc could not be the man acting like a total asshole right now.

“I really need to discuss with you my paper,” I pressed, raising my voice a little louder in an attempt to get his attention. That was wishful thinking on my part since he continued to fiddle with his satchel.

“I said I’m busy,” he uttered once again, his voice void of any emotion. He was about to walk past me, ignoring my whole being. His blatant disregard made my cheeks burn, and not in the usual way they usually did when I was around him.

“Spencer,” I barked, “We need to talk. Now.” For a few moments, he stood in front of me, his back facing my direction.

I was about to speak again before I heard him say, “My office. Half an hour.” He exited, leaving me alone in an empty classroom. The only things keeping me company were the fuming feelings swirling inside me and the failed paper clutched at my fist. 

●●●

I knocked on his office door ten minutes earlier than he’d told me. The anger in my gut brewed hotter the longer I waited. As soon as I heard a “Come in,” I rushed through the door, slamming it behind me. He regarded me coolly, but didn’t comment on my actions. 

“What can I do for you Ms. (Y/L/N)?” I walked up to his large desk, not bothering to take a seat in the chair in front of me. I took a moment to calm myself down before replying.

“Well, you can start by explaining to me why I got such a low score on my paper.” I guess he didn’t like being the only one of us sitting down because he stood up and leaned against the wall behind him.

“It did not meet the requirements for a passing grade as outlined in the rubric. The information given was boring and the overall topic was uninteresting. It was tedious to get through,” he responded nonchalantly, like he was giving me a weather report.  

“You said that you enjoyed it so far.” I rebutted, placing my hands on the desk. I needed something to offer me stability so that I wasn’t visibly shaking.  

“I’d mistaken your work for another student’s. Maybe Mr. Montgomery,” he dryly clipped.

A bitter laugh escaped me as I put the puzzle together. Was- was he serious? Was this man acting like this because of Tony? The audacity! The laugh that bubbled from my lips must have unsettled him. He left his position from the wall in favor of standing in front of me.

“You want to know what I think?” I didn’t give him a chance to respond before continuing, “I think you’re jealous that I have another guy that isn’t you getting friendly with me at the shop and because of your inability to keep your---“

“That is enough,” he grounded out, shaking his head. But I didn’t stop talking.

“--private feelings away from your professional ones, you decided to give me a failing grade. Do you know how hard I worked in-” my voice rose up higher and higher until I was yelling.

“I said that’s enough,” he said again, louder this time. But I wasn’t done.

“-this class? This is my life, my fucking future on the line. I’ve told you how important this all is to me and you don’t even give a shit! You’re going to let your interpretation of my relationship with another student influence the way you do your job? And here I thought you were a decent man, Professor.” I hissed, “Do you even give a damn abo-”

“Enough,” he roared, slamming his hands on the desk and caging me against the wood. His breathing was matching the upbeat pace of my own. His quick movement and the sheer volume of his voice caught me off guard, effectively silencing me. 

“I don’t deserve to be punished over your envy,” I whispered, locking eyes with him in a steady gaze.

“You want to see a real punishment, darling?” he hissed, the heat of his words almost breaking my glare, his breath fanning along my face.

We stared at one another for a while, neither of us willing to be the first to back down. The tension between us kept rising and rising until the inevitable happened. I couldn’t be sure who made the first move but before I knew it, our lips collided with a mix of rage and desperation. My arms draped around his neck as he pressed me on to the desk. He placed his hands on the back of my thighs, lifting me up high enough until I was perched on the cool wooden surface.

Spencer’s lips were soft, a stark contrast to the harsh way he was kissing me. His tongue parted my lips, gliding over mine with fervor. I couldn’t help but moan as he rolled his hips into me. He continued his rough grind, keeping my legs open as we moved as close together as our bodies would allow. He overwhelmed my senses- the smell of him, the taste of him, the feel of him. Everything was making me absolutely feral for this man. 

I never expected the gentle Dr. Reid to be so fervent, so sensual. The kindhearted, sweet professor who regularly drank his weight in caffeine never gave me this impression. But then again, I’m sure he was shocked by my attitude as well. He knew me as the friendly, bubbly barista, now student, who enjoyed his class. He was about to meet a whole new side of me, just like I was going to for him.

Spencer pulled away from me, our mouths making an audible ‘pop’ sound from the sudden separation. I tried to catch my breath as he stared at me, our chests rising and falling together. If I were to move a bit closer to him, we would be touching once again.

He took a few steps back before motioning me to step in front of him. “I want you to get down on your knees. Now.” I wasn’t going to argue with him, mainly because I wanted the exact same thing he did. I kneeled down, keeping my eyes on his face.

“You going to shut me up, Professor?” I teased, feeling powerful, even though he was looming over me. He didn’t reply, just continued to look down on me with those honey colored eyes- full of lust and rage.

I watched as he slowly placed his hands on his slacks, undoing the belt and buttons. He drew down his pants and boxers at the same time, just low enough to reveal his impressive size. My mouth salivated at the sight of his bulge as he came closer to me.

“We’re going to put that smart mouth to better use. Open.” He said, gripping my face between his fingers, forcing me to follow his orders. I opened my mouth slightly, not giving him exactly what he wanted. Instead of ordering my mouth to open further like I expected, he placed his thumb inside. He pushed the digit deep, pressing it against my tongue. I moaned around the finger, softly nibbling at the skin. He continued to slide his finger within my mouth before dragging it out completely. He wiped the excess spit on my cheek before lightly smacking it. The small shock of pain sent a shiver down my spine.

“Open, and do it right this time.”

I obeyed, opening wide enough to accept him into my mouth. My lips were stretched almost uncomfortably in an attempt to fit around him. He was so hot and thick, I couldn’t help but hum at the taste of him on my tongue. The soft “fuck” that fell from his lips had me purring around him. I went to place my hands on the remaining portion that couldn’t fit, but he batted them away.

“You’re using only your mouth.” 

Fine, have it your way, Sir. 

I placed my hands behind me as I bobbed my head, hallowing my cheeks with every rise. His shallow thrusts encouraged me to suck harder. I slowly pulled away to run my tongue against the vein protruding on the underside of his cock. I was rewarded with a groan escaping his lips.

“I should have known that you would be so good at this, darling,” he said, his voice slightly hoarse as he tried to control his grunts.

I made sure to look in his eyes as I swirled my tongue around the head of his cock. The face he made was purely angelic. The muscles of his neck protruded more evidently and his breathing became more labored. I placed him back in my mouth, this time taking my time to go down on him.

“That’s right, Princess. Show me what a good girl you are for me.” He moaned as I felt his hands weave in my hair before he pushed my head down on to him, causing me to gag around him, tears pricking my eyes. He continued his thrusts into my mouth, barely allowing me a chance to breathe. My nose repeatedly touched the base of him as I swallowed around his hard length.

Spencer tightened his fingers in my hair and I knew he wasn’t going to last much longer.  The pace was brutal, but I enjoyed the rough treatment. Knowing that I was the one making him feel good was such a turn on. He buried himself deep in my throat after a few more thrusts to finish. I swallowed his release like the greedy brat that we both now knew I was.

He eventually pulled out, a satisfied sigh leaving his lips. I swiped the back off my hand across my mouth to clean off any leftover spit and cum.

“Get up,” he ordered, his voice hoarse.

I did so, rubbing the ache in my knees as I slowly rose. “I want you bent over the desk,” he continued.

“I want you to answer my previous question.” I quipped.

“You’re not in the position to be making commands,” he growled. He wrapped his fingers in my hair again, pulling just roughly enough so that I was looking up at his face. “If you want this to end well for you, I suggest bending over my desk before I stuff my cock in that bratty little mouth of yours again.”

He released me, eyes still on my face waiting for me to follow through on his order. I turned to his desk and did as he asked, bending over the wood until my chest laid flat against the surface. I waited as patiently as I could for him. It felt as if I was in this position for an eternity before he touched me. He pushed both my underwear and skirt down to my knees before placing his hands on my hips. I heard it before I felt it- the smack on my ass that caused me to yelp.

“Fuck, Spencer. What the—” I was cut off with another resounding smack.

“Did you really think that I wasn’t going to give you a real punishment, darling?” I took a deep breath as another shiver went down my spine. He had no business sounding so hot right now. Another smack, this time on my opposite cheek, had me biting down on my lip to stop myself from crying out.

“This” *SMACK* “Is” *SMACK* “What” *SMACK* “Happens” *SMACK* “To” *SMACK* “Bratty” *SMACK* “Little” *SMACK* “Girls” *SMACK*. A sob ripped from my chest as the last blow landed. My ass was on fire and surely littered with his hand prints.

“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood since you sucked me off so nicely, or I would have made that worse.”

Gee, thanks.

“You look like such a dirty slut like this.” I felt a finger enter me easily, the wetness gathered there making my entrance ready to take him. “So wet. Was it the spanking that got you like this, or your mouth around my cock?” A moan was my only reply as he added another finger, the two digits moving in a scissoring motion. 

“Are you gonna be my sweet girl, now?” He asked as I moved my hips along his fingers, desperately trying to seek some more relief for the fire burning between my thighs as his mouth littered marks along my thighs. I closed my eyes, focusing on the pleasure he was giving me as he curled his fingers, a slow moan falling from my lips. He pulled them out of me, wiping the slickness against my still burning ass. Fucking bastard. I wiggled my hips against him, hoping he would grant me a reprieve and put his fingers back inside me. Instead, he spanked my ass one more time- one quick, sharp blow against the bruised cheek.

Just when I was about to yell at him, he placed the head of his member against my entrance. He moved up and down my drenched entrance before penetrating me in one full thrust. I took a short breath in, trying to get used to feeling so full. He was stretching me out in the most amazing way.

Spencer waited until I was grinding against him before he pulled out and pushed back into me. “Look at you, such a wanton little bitch aren’t you?” He could call me whatever he wanted, as long as he didn’t stop fucking me.

He kept a steady pace, making sure to grind into me every time he slammed back in. The obscene sound of our skin smacking against one another’s and the moans escaping our throats was an erotic symphony that had my body heat raising the temperature in the room.

He hitched my leg on top of the desk, entering in an angle that made the pleasure so much better. I couldn’t stop the whines that kept escaping my mouth every time he pounded into me. His hand stayed upon my leg, holding me down and limiting my movements. His nails dug into the skin so harshly I was sure there would be bruises left in their wake.  

“Fuck, you feel so good wrapped around me,” he hissed under his breath. “Should have known you just needed to be fucked like the cheap whore you are.” He sped up, hips snapping at an almost punishing pace. The desk creaked every time he slammed into me. I hoped no one was nearby to hear what was going on. A whine left my throat when I felt his fingers rub against my clit. I was so close now.

“Should I stay inside you? Fill you up so you walk around campus carrying my child?” He growls, his pace increasing with each passing moment. “Knock you up so the whole campus knows what a whore you are for me?” He asks, earning a cry ripped from my throat. 

“Who’s fucking you?” he grunted. I don’t know how he expected me to form a coherent statement at this current moment. My eyes could barely stay open at this point. 

“Spencer, please.” He smacked the outside of my thigh.

“Try again, who’s fucking you?” 

“You are, Doctor.” Apparently, that was the wrong answer too, because it earned me another smack on my thigh. I had tears streaming down my face from the pleasurable pain he was giving me.

“You have one more chance or else I’m not letting you come. Now, who’s is fucking you?”

“Professor Reid!” I cried out.

“That’s right darling. Now come on my cock.” A harsh bite on my neck was the ultimate push that had me seeing stars. Spencer thrusted a few more times before fully sheathing himself within me.

He slumped over me, the feel of his breath against my neck causing me to shiver once more. We took a moment to have the high leave our body before he pulled out of me, a gasp leaving the both of us. Spencer was the first to break the silence between us.

“Would you like to have dinner with me?” he asked, his voice a bit shy. 

I giggled at his demeanor. A few moments ago, he was fucking me senseless and spanking me over his desk like a porno, and now he was asking me out to dinner. 

“Absolutely,” I smiled. “But I should probably cancel my study plans.” I quickly added. 

He led me to the faculty bathroom so I could freshen myself up. When I emerged, he was back to being the prim and proper professor I knew him to be. Just before we left his office, he leaned down and whispered, “By the way, you got an A.”

[rapsgoddess]

Washing Machine Heart Part 1. (Erik Killmonger x OC)

This is unedited so please have mercy on me in the notes 😭

Nahla knew she didn’t mean a thing to him. Next to being a mercenary, Erik was a player. He came and went as he pleased, spent his nights with more than one woman, and didn’t feel a single shred of regret whenever his girls would pour out their hearts to him. 

Nahla knew she didn’t mean a single thing to him, yet she still somehow fell in love. 

It was a painful realization. One that she came to during one of Erik’s many long term absences. It was another sleepless night for her and she was sitting in bed with her laptop open to her right and her keyboard directly in front of her. For the past week, the same melody had been on loop inside her head. A broken tune that conveyed so much sorrow that it nearly brought her to tears whenever she hummed it. Each day after she got home from work, she would add onto the melody bit by bit, putting in different instruments and sounds to create a beautiful symphony. 

When it came time to write lyrics for the song, all she could envision was a tune about unrequited love. The same unrequited love that she had been feeling for a while. 

It wasn’t until she put a name to that feeling when she finally realized how she truly felt about Erik. 

She decided to try and keep things suppressed for a while, hoping that her childish feelings of romance would disappear after a few days. 

They didn’t. 

When Erik returned a few weeks later, she didn’t, know how to act. The man made it known that he was not committed to anybody, and Nahla was no exception. On the rare occasion Nahla would catch a glimpse of him on social media, she would see him surrounded by women who looked as if they could be models. Women who were leagues ahead of her. The photos never failed to resurrect her insecurities. They made her question why Erik even bothered to give her the time of day. Yet those insecurities melted away whenever he came to visit her. 

Flash forward to the present, and Nahla found herself laying next to Erik’s naked frame in her bed. The faint sound of her washing machine echoed throughout the house, giving a sort of rhythmic banging as her shoes tussled around inside. The night was still fairly young, having only been a few minutes past seven, but all of the plans that Nahla had for that evening were discarded the moment Erik showed up on her doorstep. 

It didn’t take much for his words to lull her into bed and for his lips on hers to enrapture her. His low, smooth voice was like music to her ears, and her moans being music to his. Each praise that left his lips was like a toxic lullaby. Nahla knew that he had repeated the same words to dozens of women in the past, yet in the moment, they made her feel as if she were the only woman in the world. 

“You feel so good around me baby…”

“You don’t know how much I missed this pussy.”

“Say my name so everybody know who’s fuckin’ you right.” 

Thinking back to his words sent shivers down her spine. She was wide awake, restless and too excited to fall asleep. It was rare for Erik to stay after having sex, let alone fall asleep before her, but her inner turmoil prevented her from falling asleep. 

She turned back to look over at Erik, taking in every aspect of his being as if it were the last time she would see him again. No matter how many times she laid eyes on him, she would never be able to find the words to describe how beautiful he was. He had a smile that could light up a room and warm eyes that made her heart flutter each time she looked into them. It often left her wondering why exactly he even entertained the thought of her when he was way out of her league. 

A heavy sigh left Nahla’s lips and she threw the covers off the lower half of her body. She looked back at Erik one last time while putting on her robe, making sure that he stayed asleep. Slowly and quietly, she crept out of the room and down the hall to her makeshift studio, closing the door behind her and turning on the lights. She used her studio as an escape from both the real world and her own mind, and right then she needed an escape from both. Turning on her equipment and opening up her laptop, she opened up the file that held her latest project. The one that helped her come to her realization in the first place. She made sure the speakers were low as to not wake Erik up and pressed play, listening to her voice blend with the gentle melody. 

She had only written a few lines so far and could feel the next verse just on the tip of her tongue, but lyricism had never really been her strong suit. Muttering random words under her breath, she opened up the notes section on GarageBand and began writing down whatever sounded nice, replacing and adding words where she deemed fit. 

“Might as well give it a go,” she sighed, getting up from her chair and walking over to the small corner where her mic and the rest of her recording equipment was set up. She pressed record on an empty track and began singing the second verse, her voice coming out soft and almost broken in contrast to her usual strong, belty tone. She was tired, both physically and emotionally, but she couldn’t walk back to that room. Not with him still laying asleep in her bed as if the two of them were a couple. 

After a few more takes, she had finally gotten her voice warmed up enough to where it didn’t sound completely like shit and she walked over to her work station to edit the track on top the music. 

With her mind now completely engulfed in her music, she didn’t noticed the sound of her toilet flushing or her bathroom sink running down the hall. She didn’t notice the sound of footsteps leading to her studio and her door opening slightly. 

It wasn’t until the feeling of a hand snaking its way around her neck drew her from her work as she jumped in her seat while clutching her chest in panic.

“Whatchu scared for? It’s just me,” Erik muttered, his voice still laced with drowsiness. “What are you doing up? Any other day you’d be knocked out.” His fingers gently squeezed at her neck and he leaned down to plant a kiss on the top of her head. It was weirdly intimate of him.

“I couldn’t sleep so I decided to work on something.” Nahla spun her seat around to face him. He had on a pair of low hanging shorts. She recognized them as being one of the pairs she bought for him whenever he decided to stay over. She mentally scoffed at the thought; buying clothes for a man who she wasn’t even in a relationship with. 

“You’re not leaving?” She asked. It had just dawned on her that, miraculously, Erik was still there. 

“Nah. I haven’t seen you in a while so I figured I’d stay for a little bit.” 

The sentiment made her heart flutter but she quickly grounded herself back to reality. She couldn’t afford to get her hopes up. 

“So, what are you working on?” He asked, his arms folded across his chest as he looked past her and at the open editing software on her computer. 

“Oh. Well I had a melody that was stuck in my head for a while so I put it down and write lyrics. I lowkey wanna find a mini orchestra to record it though.” 

“Well can I hear it?” He suggested. 

Nahla’s eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. Despite knowing each other for the better part of two years now, this was the most he had ever expressed genuine interest in her music. 

“U-Uhh, I’m not sure… I get really sensitive about my stuff. Plus it’s not what you’d expect it to be,” she said, swirling her chair back around to face her work station as she hesitantly placed her hand on the mouse  and moved the cursor over the “play” button. After taking a deep breath, she played the song and closed her eyes as she waited for it to be over. Throughout the entirety of what little she had to play, Erik was silent, giving no response, comment, or critiques. When it was over, she reluctantly turned around to face him. 

“So? What do you think?”

“Yeah, I can definitely hear an orchestra going behind that. Maybe start off with piano first, then bring in strings or some shit during the hook,” he suggested, walking over to the other chair in the corner of her studio and sitting down. 

“Okay. Thanks.”

For about an hour or two, the two of them stayed up in her studio talking about random things while sharing a blunt together. They eventually migrated back to the bedroom and made their way beneath the covers together, Nahla’s body molding perfectly into Erik’s as they cuddled. 

“Nah, I’m deadass. I thought I had locked his cage, but he always finds a way to get out,” Nahla giggled, referring to her pet chameleon who always managed to get out of his cage. “I remember a few day ago I had just woken up and went into the kitchen to get some juice and I see him inside the sink just sitting there. Then he have the nerve to look up at me like ‘what are you doing here?’ No sir, what are you doing here.” 

Erik laughed softly while shaking his head. “Nah, I don’t think I could handle an animal just freely roaming my shit like that.”

“You get used to it after a while. I was low-key thinking about getting a snake too, but I gotta figure out where to put the tank.”

“Oh hell nah. If you get a snake, I’m not coming by anymore.”

“What?! You used to be a whole Navy Seal and you’re scared of snakes, E?” She asked, a bit surprised that he even shared that information with her. 

“Girl, I don’t know how you can even stand them things,” he mumbled, “slithering around and shit. What if it gets out when you’re sleep and starts choking you?”

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” she giggled, earning an eye roll from Erik. 

Though it didn’t seem possible, she pressed herself against Erik even harder, somehow managing to get even closer to him. Resting her head in the crook of his neck, she had a perfect view of the many scars and keloids that littered his body. She could tell some of them are new. Whether or not they were accidental or self inflicted, she didn’t want to know. 

It was times like these where Nahla wished that her outlandish fantasies of romance weren’t fantasies at all. Having never been in a real relationship before, she constantly longed to be loved by someone in a romantic sense. Though she knew that Erik probably never thought of her as more than a fuck buddy, it was nice to feel his warmth underneath her. Even if it was an illusion, it was nice to imagine him as her lover while he was holding her close. 

“What’s on your mind?” He pried, letting out a deep sigh before closing his eyes and relaxing his muscles. 

“Where do you go when you disappear?” She partially lied. Even though that wasn’t what truly was on her mind, it was still a question that lingered over her head for a while. 

“That, I can’t tell you ma. At least not right now.” 

She wasn’t satisfied with how curt his reply was. Sitting up, she supported her head with her hand, her elbow buried into the pillow beside his head as she peered down at him. 

“You can tell me,” she pried. A childish grin spread across her face. “If it’s something illegal I promise I won’t tell.”

Erik peaked one up up at her, a smile of his own taking over his featured. He pushed his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. “Mm… Maybe I could tell you a little bit. I don’t even know where to begin though without you thinkin’ I’m crazy.”

“I won’t think you’re crazy.”

“You say that now.” There was a pregnant pause, and then, in the most serious tone ever, he said, “I’m apart of African royalty.”

“So there’s this country in Africa called Wakanda. At first glance, it seems like a small lil third world country, but in reality, they’re the most advanced civilization on the planet. They got this metal called Vibranium that allows them to all sorts of things, but they keep it hidden from the rest of the world.”

“How? And if they kept it hidden from the world, then how do you know about it?”

“They have a dome that surrounds the entire country. It’s practically impenetrable. And the only reason I know is because my father was the prince. He was sent here on an undercover mission in America but quickly saw how shitty thing were here, so he wanted to change it. “

“Wait, your father is the prince of an African country?” Nahla couldn’t believe her ears. Despite being secretive and mysterious, she knew that Erik wasn’t one to lie. After all, what could he possibly gain from lying about something as far fetched as this?  

“Was. He was killed before he could enact any change; by his own brother no less.”

She could hear a pain and vulnerability in his voice that she’d never heard before. Now she definitely knew that he wasn’t lying. 

Erik’s face had turned to the side in a fruitless attempt to hide the tears that welled up in his eyes. He’d never brought up his family or much of his life before he met her in a conversation, and now she could see why. 

Hesitantly, Nahla reached up to wipe away the tears that left his eyes. “So you plan on going back and getting revenge?” She pondered. It would make sense why he’d want to stay under the radar,  having no social media accounts, no permanent phone number, and constantly disappearing for months at a time. If he wanted to infiltrate an entire hidden country, then he’d have to be the closest thing to a ghost a person could be. 

“It’s on the list,” he replied, sitting up in bed while resting back against the headboard. “But, my main goal is to change the world. Wakanda has technology and weapons that people can’t even begin fathom. If our people were able to get their hands on that kind of fire power, we wouldn’t have to worry about the White man oppressing us any longer.” 

The sadness that was once present in his eyes had long disappeared, instead being replaced with a burning passion. It filled her with joy to see him get passionate about something, but it also put her on edge. Nahla knew what his plan implied, and she didn’t put it past him to sacrifice countless lives in order to see his vision come to life.

Staying silent, she simply nodded, too afraid that she’d say the wrong thing if she opened her mouth. Tearing her gaze away from the man, she began contemplating on everything she had been thinking about prior to his arrival. Her feelings for him were still unwavering, but now she was starting to ponder on whether or not being with him was a wise decision. It didn’t take being a genius to know that Erik’s path was a set one. He was a determined, goal-driven man, and when his mind was made up, there was no convincing him to go back on his decision. 

If she followed him down that path, she wouldn’t be able to turn back. 

“Do I scare you?” 

Nahla looked back up only to be met with obsidian eyes boring straight into her deep brown ones. His question threw her for a loop, no doubt, considering how Erik was never one to be considerate of other people’s feelings. 

“H-Huh? What do you mean?” She knew exactly what he meant. 

“That look in your eyes… You’re scared of something. What is it?” He demanded in an eerily calm manner. 

Attempting to spare his feelings would be a futile decision; Erik read people like his favorite novel. Yet, for some reason, Nahla had no control over the words that left her mouth. 

She almost never did when she was around him. 

“Nothing. I just get a bit spooked in the dark,” she chuckled. 

Erik simply blinked at her, a look of uncertainty and doubt dancing around in his eye before he shrugged it off and laid back down in the bed, facing her completely. 

“You should get some rest. Goodnight,” he said softly, his eyes never leaving her. 

Upon hearing his words, Nahla felt an immense tiredness wash over her as if he casted a sleeping spell over her. She glanced over at the clock and noticed how it was nearly 4 AM. She had only three hours before she needed to get up and get ready for work. 

She was tired, but fear kept plaguing her mind. A fear that he wouldn’t be there when she woke up. Or, even worse, a fear that she had dreamt the entire night. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll be here when you wake up,” he whispered. 

Nahla wanted to believe him, so she did, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep. 

[mellow-em]

Bittersweet Temptations

CHAPTER 3

[special dts: @bluewingedangel @siennamariia <3]

Your neighbors, Nathan and Elena, have been friends with your parents for years. Whether it’d be family gatherings or vacations, they were around; they were family. But when you return home from your final years of college, what will happen when you find that it isn't just them living in the house next door anymore?

_____________________________________

I wanted to say something.

I knew based on the long expressions plastered across their faces, that they were waiting impatiently for me to say something too.

But I physically couldn’t.

A knot cemented itself at the back of my throat, suffocating me as I tried to swallow. I could feel my mouth suffer through a drought as I did so.

All I could do was look at the three of them, internally wallowing in embarrassment with a load of questions making my head spin.

How could Nate and Elena keep something like that from me? What were they thinking? No. What was I thinking?

Suddenly, the voices of people scattered amongst the yard became too loud. Though, the stares directed towards me were louder.

“Y/n can you say something?”

Without even thinking, I felt my body turn away from them, and I carried myself away.

“Y/n?” I could hear Elena calling after me.

“I’ll just be a minute” I finally croaked back to her, relieved that I could finally get a word out.

I rushed past the deck towards the side of the house.

I knew in the back of my mind that I was being ridiculous. It wasn’t something to run away from; knowing they probably felt just as awkward telling me.

But I had to get away from Sam.

I couldn’t bear standing there while his smug grin could be seen in the corner of my eye.

It was driving me crazy.

Why does he insist on making this hard on me?

I continued to let my feet travel, not even worried about where I would end up. It felt good to step away from the chaos that my parents organized, for a while anyway.

But I soon found myself at the dead end of the street, in front of the wooded patches that lined the edges of the pavement; sectioning off the neighborhood from the forest.

Without any hesitation, I stepped past the barricading trees, and onto the trail that led to a place of sanctuary.

A small body of water sat on the indented ground, with blooming ferns and bushes fencing it. Farther away from the pond, large rocks collected together, forming makeshift seats to take in the atmosphere.

It looked like it belonged in a cheesy disney movie, or a landscape renaissance painting.

I found this place with Nate when I was little, and since then I would escape here when things become too much to handle.

I sat myself down on one of the largest slabs of rock, almost seeing the memories with Nate passing around me in the form of faded visuals; they were almost ghost-like.

I took myself into these moments one by one; succumbing to the laughter, the playfulness, the smiles, the thrill.

Even though I love my parents more than anything, the bundles of memories Nate and I shared, showed me a glimpse of adventure that my parents couldn’t give me.

The overwhelming feeling of contentment pushed a smile onto my face.

But in an instant, it all faded.

Sam.

That one moment with him feasted on my conscious mind like a ravenous vulture. It made my stomach churn in the worst possible way.

I sunk my head into my hands, huffing in frustration.

That is, until I heard a few raucous cracks of leaves and sticks not too far from me.

I fix my posture while whipping my head towards the direction of the noise, only to be met with guilty eyes.

Nathan stood there, leaning his upper body on the stiff trunk of a tree.

Perfect timing, Nate..

My lips flatlined as I scratched at the corner of my forehead, “Hey.”

He steps closer, leisurely but surely.

“Hey,” he gestures to the vacant space next to me, “can I?”

“Yeah.”

Placing both of his hands on his thighs, he plops down next to me, slightly grunting. We sat there in silence; but it wasn’t peaceful, it was impatient.

The both of us were longing to say something to one another, but neither of us preferred confrontation in the slightest. So we sat there, staring at the grove.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been here.”

I look over to him, noticing the tinge of nostalgia sketched upon his features.

“uh yeah.. yeah it really has,” I release a breath, reverting my eyes back to the pond, “almost 5 years.”

It was two days before I left for college. Screaming echoed throughout the house, and reverberated through my head, overwhelming my senses.

My parents chalked it up to being stressed over ‘my big move,’ which I can believe. But the words said that day pushed its way through me. I finally had enough of the nonsense and hollered back at them.

Big mistake. ‘you’re an absolute failure’ They said, ‘you’re never gonna go far.’

Long story short, I ran out of the house, and into the forest. I sat on this same rock, with tears planting glistening streams down my face.

Nate apparently heard the commotion, which wasn’t too surprising, and he made his way to me.

He didn’t even say a word before wrapping his arms around me; embracing me with a comforting warmth that slowly eased me back to normal.

‘Sic Parvis Magna,’ He said.

I was more than confused with those few words, until he began to speak once more.

‘Greatness from small beginnings. Now this isn’t exactly small, you know, with you leaving me here to go to college and all. But it is a new beginning- your new beginning. Don’t let anyone stop you from moving forward.’

That was the last day I saw this beautiful spot of ours, and the last time I really had a solid conversation with Nate; it made the final memory bittersweet at best.

“It really hasn’t changed a bit though.”

“Probably because change is dining elsewhere,”I tried to whisper under my breath, but unfortunately, he heard me loud and clear.

I look up at him in the corner of my eye, noticing his presence fall into a sea of guilt again.

He runs his hand through his surprisingly neatened hair, letting out a sigh that releases all of his proper posture.

“Look, y/n, I wanted to tell you. I really did. But it’s just-”

“Nate all I gotta ask is why? Why would you keep something that major from me?”

I had my body fully turned to face him now, while he still remained there; slouched with his head bowed to his fidgety hands.

I could tell he was stalling, swallowing his responses with force.

“Nate. Just tell me. Please.”

His eyes closed as he exhaled, “It’s a very long story.”

“I’ve got plenty of time.”

“Not exactly.” Roars of laughter within the distance cause both of us to look at the trail leading out of the woods, “we’ve still got a party going on, which happens to be for you, if I may add-”

“Seriously Nate, you think I care?” I was growing fretful, mentally pleading for him to just give up on excuses.

His hands raised in defense, “Fine, fine, okay..”

———

It didn’t even occur to us how long we’d been out here until the streams of sunlight disappeared from the ruptures in between the trees. The day was just replaced with the beginning of nightfall.

“So you’re telling me that Sam, your brother...who was presumed dead for 15 years, dragged you out across the globe to find Henry Avery’s treasure in 3 months because a drug lord was gonna kill him if you didn’t?”

Nate stifled a low chuckle, nodding along.

“So I take it you found it and gave the son of a bitch his cut? Well, since he’s alive and all-”

“Hey, language missy.” He attempted a scolding tone, but I could see through his thin facade.

I rolled my eyes, shoving him playfully,“Haha very funny. Now answer the question mister.”

“Well, it turns out the son of a bitch was Sam. He uh- lied about the whole thing.”

My eyes widened, “Wait what? So the drug lord- the sole purpose of the treasure hunt..”

“Yep it was all bullshit.”

I averted my wide-eyed gaze from him to the pond that was now lit with the blaring lights of fireflies,“Wow. I’m surprised no one got the chance to kick him in the face.. or balls.”

“Yeah Rafe- he pretty much took care of that one..”

The both of us laughed, causing a few birds to flutter away from the branches closest to us.

I missed this.

“Figured I’d find you two here.”

As our fit died down, we glanced over to a beaming Elena emerging from the trail with her arms crossed over her chest.

“I told your parents that you were comin’ over with us. I assumed you wanted some space from all the chaos.”

I showed my relief in the form of a warm simper, up until the realization punched me in the face.

Sam is gonna be there.

My body tensed, becoming a stiff statue in place. The lack of saliva in my mouth was back, and I felt my breath hitch silently.

I guessed the two of them noticed my change in demeanor.

“Are you okay y/n? You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Elena’s tone was gentle, as her grin faltered slightly.

“No no it’s fine it’s just- it’s nothing don’t worry,”I abruptly stood up, scratching at my forehead again, “lets go, back.”

“You sure?,” I felt Nate’s arm fall over my shoulders, giving me a faint squeeze as the three of us trudged down the path.

I needed to take my mind off of Sam, hopefully I can avoid him.

“Yeah..” my voice trailed off, “as long as I get to play a certain game that I happened to have the highest score of.” walking confidently with my head held high, I could still see Nate rolling his eyes.

“Actually, Elena has since claimed that title for herself.” Nate said frankly.

A dramatic gasp escapes my lips,“Elena, are you kidding me!”

“Hey, don’t get mad at the pregnant lady here,” she looks back at Nate and I as we continue to walk down the trail, “how about this: you two compete to try and beat my high score.”

Nate looks down at me with the same contemplative look I give him.

“And what’s the catch, hun?” Nate asks.

“Loser gets pushed or thrown into the pool.”

Well well well, Elena’s finally getting in on our shenanigans.

I smirked, “This is gonna be light work.”

“Oh really now? I just know you’re secretly afraid that I’m gonna win.”

“Sure, Nate. I’m not gonna lose, you’re all bark and no bite.”

It was his turn to let out a theatrical breath,“How dare you accuse me of such a thing?”

While Nate and I went on with our child like banter, Elena laughed hysterically at our foolishness,“You two are absolutely ridiculous.”

Nate glances back at me, only this time his fist patiently waited in front of me for a fist bump, “you ready to get destroyed?”

I scoff, hitting my fist on his, “You’re on.”

[forbidding-souda]

Can I request the V3 boys brushing their fem S/O's hair?

DV3 Boys brushing their fem S/O hair

YES!! Cute stuff right here

I’ll just say Saihara’s is still hair related but he doesn’t brush her hair technically.

-Mod Souda

Shinguuji Korekiyo

“Do you think there are going to be things you haven’t seen before?” You ask, still a bit flustered by the feeling of his hands brushing against your neck.

He hums in amusement. “Things I haven’t seen before? Quite possibly. But I’m sure I know their history better than any contemporary source.”

A new museum opened up, and with the news popping up, you wanted to take him to it. He accepted happily.

Before every date, though, he always helps you get ready. Helps you get out of the shower, dries you both off together, dresses you, and does your hair.

Not something flashy, you told him, and he listened. The soft coo of the brush replaced the typical electric purrs of a curling iron. 

“Can I add a braid?” He asks, already sectioning off parts of your hair.

“Korekiyo - a small one.”

“A small one,” he reassures. 

Rantarou Amami

You curl against your pillow, holding it like it another person.

And he sits behind you, holding your hair softly, brushing it. The soft sounds of the brush soothe you.

You have a hard time sleeping, which is not a new thing at all, and it seems like nothing but his touch can ease you into sleep.

There’s a silence in the room. No words. No ticking clocks or birds outside. Just the soft hums of the hairbrush.

When you close your eyes, it feels like you are safe. Like this is where you are meant to be. 

Shuichi Saihara

“You can’t brush your hair when it’s wet,” he says from his spot on the sofa. You walk past him in a hurry to the kitchen, dressed in pajamas.

His words didn’t even process to you. 

You stop, hairbrush still pulling through the wet knots. “What?”

“It’s more fragile while it’s wet, you’re going to weaken it.”

And after dragging you to the bathroom, he uses his fingers to calmly soothe the parts you hadn’t reached yet.

You watch his movements in the mirror. He seems at peace like this. No concern laced into his brow.

He pulls a towel off the rack and hands it to you. “I’ll be right back,” he says, “don’t wrap your hair.”

Jeez. All you think to do is squeeze sections of it, trying to collect the water. You think you’ve seen a beauty guru do this one time. It sounds about right.

“Alright,” he appears at the doorway once again, “here.”

You don’t even recognize it as an object at first. Oh! It’s just a bonnet.

“Why do you have this?”

He just shrugs. “I used to have long hair. Put it on, it’s good for your hair.”

Kokichi Ouma

He puts a small kiss on the back of your neck. It illuminates your spine, sending your nerves dancing like fire flies. 

A small noise even leaves your lips. 

“Oh? Did I catch you off guard?” He snickers, continuing to run the brush through your hair.

“I just wasn’t aware that was even an option.”

The response amuses him enough to smile behind your back.

His brain keeps swirling for possible ways to catch you off guard, until, after a second, he leaves the thought alone.

Plus, you seem seconds away from falling asleep in his arms.

Maybe next time.

But for now, the calm aura maintains.

Gonta Gokuhara

“Can Gonta try?” He holds his hand out for the hairbrush. He wouldn’t dare try to take it from your hands - nor would he even want to try and demand it from you either.

A smile forms on your lips. You just got done brushing through his hair, braiding parts of it and adding butterfly clips throughout it.

“Of course you can,” you hand him the brush.

You continue, “start at the bottom and work your way to the top, just like I did with you.”

He whispers okays under his breathe while his big hands runs down the first layer of your hair. Calmly. As if smoothing it with his fingers.

The breath in his lungs remains there. What if he moves a little too rough? What if he pulls on your hair?

A few of his worries subsides when he hears you hum in happiness at how kindly he was brushing your hair.

Kaito Momota

“I don’t trust you - not one bit, Kaito Momota!”

“Ay - I got it, I got it, just let me see the brush!”

You complain about brushing your hair all the time. Sometimes, if you are just lazy enough, you will refuse to do it altogether.

And as entertaining as it is... it does open up an opportunity for him to take.

He snatches the hair brush out of your hands with a confident look on his face. “Prepare to be amazed,” he whispers, a little calmly this time.

A bit of your heart melts when his rough demeanor calms down. There’s no jabs. No silly teases and whispers.

All you get are soft hums and the calming presence of his fingers through your hair.

Ryoma Hoshi

“Please,” you sit down, back leaning against the bed. “I have a presentation in like an hour and I’m not done with my makeup - could you brush my hair for me?”

He sits up and rubs the tired from his eyes. Even though he’s in a daze, he doesn’t need you to repeat yourself. He had heard all of what you said.

“Is there a specific way I’m supposed to do it.”

“Uhm,” you pull your mirror closer to you to try and focus on your lipstick, “I don’t know, bottom to top?”

He grumbles back the instructions before sectioning your hair. There’s a lot of thought he put into it. Big sections? Small sections? 

The sound of the brush waving through was something he hasn’t heard in awhile. It’s a soft noise. 

The bristles slow, and the noise gets softer. 

“How long do I have to do it for?” He asks in a much quieter tone.

“Until I’m done with my makeup, I suppose.”

The answer amuses him. It was worth being woken up for.

Kiibo

You switch your gaze from him to the hair brush in his hand.

“And you say you saw it in a movie?”

“Yes!” He chimes back. “And I thought that I could try it! If you are okay with that.”

Out of instinct, you run a hand through your hair, testing out the knots. “Good news, I am okay with that.”

A smile forms on his face. The first thing he even does is sit down, and motion to the floor in front of him. “Sit here! And I will brush your hair.”

Following his instructions, you smile. “Very exciting.”

A lot of things are new to him. Things you were surprised about at first. He didn’t understand why you painted your nails, or why people use blowdryers.

This is one of the simplest things he’s been curious about.

He lifts up a part of your hair, getting a bit... anxious? Over whether he will pull too hard.

Is hair fragile?

But worry not, he runs the brush smoothly through.

It’s so much more effortless than he imagined. The steady pace of the brush gliding through your layers lets out a soft hum. 

You find no words, nothing to say. You don’t want to interrupt him.

He finds it very romantic, as well. It makes a soft pink pull to his cheeks.

[dalekofchaos]

Red Dead Redemption remake

Either Rockstar should give us a RDR2 that gives us a expansion to let us play RDR1′s story or there should be a complete remake these are things and some changes I’d love to see if we ever do get a complete remake of the first game.

Updated graphics. Update RDR 1 with RDR2′s graphics. New Austin looks beautiful in RDR2. Simply put, make that the look for a potential RDR1 remake. Also just imagine how gorgeous  Nuevo Paraíso will look.

Retell the story we know and love. This goes without saying. We re-experience the story we know and love and the stranger missions as well.

Outfits from the first game. We’d gain the outfits from the first game and more

RDR2 voice actors return. Have Abigail, Uncle and Javier’s RDR2 voice actors dub over their characters RDR1 lines, while the rest of the voice acting of the first game remains the same

Add in fishing. I think we should implement the hunting and fishing mechanics from RDR2. 

John continues to write in his journal. Either he writes in Arthur’s old journal or he has a new journal completely. Also, since John would write in his journal, we would have more context about John and Abigail's daughter who passed away.(personally my theory was their daughter died before the events of RDR2′s epilogue, hence why John’s horse is named Rachel, but that was debunked by Abigail’s “surprise” conversation at the ranch)

Giving more context as to how and when Bill and Javier split with Dutch. Through thick and thin, these two remain loyal to Dutch, no matter how crazy he gets. Sadly, that's not the case in the first Red Dead Redemption. When John comes to arrest them, they've long since separated from the big man. What's more, is that Bill's spiteful tone says that he's glad to be rid of his old boss. in RDR2, despite the gang falling apart, Bill and Javier still stick by Dutch. Arthur implores them to think for themselves, but they've stopped listening to him at this point. The epilogue gets even more confusing. Players see Dutch join up with Micah, whom he walked away from, but Bill and Javier are nowhere in sight. These two are only loyal when the plot says so. So maybe we could add in dialogue suggesting that Bill has had enough with Dutch's lunacy and decided to lead for himself and Javier just left. Maybe John could point out what Javier told us in camp about his revolutionary past and became Allende's thug for hire. "how the mighty have fallen, old friend" and Javier simply says "Colonel Allende promised me a full pardon, all that mattered was returning home."

Since John never mentions Arthur, maybe to go with RDR2's High/Low Honor animal dreams, maybe John could be visited by Arthur's animal spirit. idk like they have to do something with Arthur in this remake

Keep Irish as a sidekick throughout the Mexico section

The confrontation between John and Bill should be longer

Replace Nastas with Charles, only don’t kill Charles. The Bureau of Investigation offers Charles a full pardon. Act as informant to Dutch’s new gang and he will be freed and he will help free Natives the from Dutch’s silver tongue and prevent them from suffering a similar fate to Eagle Flies. The change is Charles would be injured, but John makes it in time to give Charles the aid he needs. Charles would later join John in the mission to bring down Dutch.

Keep Uncle’s colorful character from RDR2 for the remake. In RDR1, Uncle was a cantankerous curmudgeon old bastard. RDR2 made him likable, so keep that likability and sprinkle in a mention of Lumbago, have dialogue on the ranch that has Uncle telling tall tales to John, Abigail, and Jack and in the final mention have Uncle say “This looks like The One Shot Kid’s  final stand”

Maybe prior to John's death, maybe we could learn about the fate of the gang during the events of RDR1. We could learn what happens to Sadie, Charles, Tilly, Mary-Beth, Pearson, Swanson and Trelawny. They could decide to visit John and Abigail in Beecher's Hope. One final happy memory before John's death.

How Jack becomes the way he does in the epilogue. We could make it as long as RDR2's epilogue and show how Abigail dies(even be about the first half of Jack taking care of Abigail) and see that Sadie, Charles and possibly Landon Ricketts teaching Jack learn what he needs to in order to avenge John and kill Ross

[princecharmingmendes]

Heart by Heart | Chapter IV | Raul Mendes

                                                 *secret agent AU*

Y/N and Raul have been friends ever since they could remember. And falling in love with your best friend can be pretty tricky and messy 99% of the times, add that to the fact they're constantly risking their lives side by side on the field since they're both secret agents, and the best team that's ever existed. Perfect recipe for disaster.

Hi, this is the fourth chapter, you can find the first one here. This one's a bit shorter but I still hope you like it anyway. Please read the warnings on this one, if you don't feel comfortable with the contents listed on the "warnings" section, please read something else, there are a lot of other works on my masterlist and on the "fic rec" hashtag on my blog. Please give me some feedback and I hope you guys like. Happy Reading! 

                                              previous chapter | masterpost | next chapter 

*Word Count: 2.9K+.

*Warnings: cursing, jealousy, mentions of weapons (barely any), slight angst (if you squint). 

Please don’t read it if any of this subjects make you uncomfortable, feel free to check my masterlist for other writings. 

*Posted: July 22nd, 2021.

                                                  -*-

Raul was fucked. 

He learned that ages ago, but every passing day, it just seemed to get more and more fucked. 

Y/N was the most beautiful girl he’s ever laid eyes on, he knew that the day he met her all those years ago, while she was still a kid like him. And as the time went on, she proved him wrong every single day, every time he looked at her, in his eyes, Y/N surpassed her own beauty and taking her own title as the pretties one. Raul knew he was a goner the first time he made her laugh, truly laugh, throwing her head back as she almost lost her breath, he knew he would have to do it all over again for the rest of his life just to hear the most beautiful melody ever created. 

And maybe he was a fool, and obvious one for not even holding back whenever she was hurt or needed him. He would give Y/N anything in the world and he could be pretty reckless about it. Sure, Raul was capable of keeping it to himself all these years, even from his spy family and her, but Peter was slowly catching onto it and he knew it. There was a reason why Peter wasn’t a field agent and his not so subtle approaches only proved that right. But he honestly didn’t care, as long as he got to have her as his best friend and best girl, he didn’t give a fuck about what the rest of the world thought. He only cared about Y/N. 

So watching her progress on the ring (hell, having his ass kicked by her was probably the best thing that’s ever happened to him), watching Y/N taking part of such an important role as to plan the mission that would take down one of the biggest criminals on the world left him so proud. He couldn’t even describe it. Watching her sleep peacefully among his bedding, the glimmer of pure and utter happiness whenever she watched one of the marvel movies or ate her favorite cake made butterflies go wild in his stomach. 

And as Aaliyah would say, he was probably a simp for her. As sappy as that sounded, it was probably true. 

“Still with me, champ?” Y/N’s voice ringed on his coms.

Raul had to hold back a smile as Jack smirked at him on their watching point across the street “Always, doll, see anything?”

“Not really” she muttered annoyedly “think the package is late�� 

“Oh, sorry the bad guy didn’t show up on the perfect time according to your planner”

“Fuck you, darling, before I forget”

Raul huffed a chuckle as he changed channels on the surveillance system she hacked the night prior. 

He was with Jack sitting on his apartment watching Y/N from the perfect window. The initial plan was pretty simple, Y/N would be dressed in casual common clothes, going through her computer on Genoff’s favorite coffee shop, to possibly catch him after coming back, so he could be used to some of their faces on his absence justifying new people around. Her undercover role was as a graphic designer that pretty much had a home office, which would justify her always being around that area. Tommy was the local barista trainee, summer job to pay for his scholarship, and this way he could hear some stuff and also be ready to jump and protect whoever was undercover there that day.

Celine was working on the front desk on Geonoff’s cover up business building, she was replacing the other girl that just left due to maternity leave, so it wouldn’t look suspicious at all. James got the work as an executive driver on a company that often was hired to transport Geonoff himself and his people, and Raul would also be on home office as a free lancer photographer, he’d be in an untitled relationship with Y/N which would be a good cover for them always being out and about together.

They would all be living in the same neighborhood, Peter and Celine would be living in the same apartment complex, which was just next doors to the one Jack, Y/N and Raul were placed. This way it would still be safe and pretty low profile enough to not draw curious eyes. And since the mission didn’t exactly have a precise deadline, they didn’t have a precise date to actually leave, so their flat was poorly furnished and decorated, filled with the ultimate basic things they could need in a month period. And of course, heavily armed in every corner and drawer anyone could think about.

“He just left his car two blocks away, think he might be just a bit behind your schedule, Y/N” Jack called from his place behind the screens she had set up the night before “Tommy, grab the cash register as soon as you can”

“Yes sir” Tom mumbled under his breath.

Raul inched a bit closer to the window on a spot no one could see him from bellow, watching as Geonoff himself entered the shop with two other man right behind him. Probably security team. He had to hold back his breath once he noticed the way the man had his eyes fixated right on Y/N’s table, before quietly muttering something to the other with him.

“Hm, excuse me miss?” a deep slightly hoarse voice caught her attention from the fake project displayed on her computer screen, Y/N looked up to find Geonoff right next to her booth.

“Oh hi”

“Why is he talking to her? He wasn’t supposed to just approach her!” Raul practically growled to Jack as the other just shrugged in response “fuck” 

“Dude, calm down, Tom is literally just across the bar and she’s a fucking spy, chill, she knows how to handle this” Jack said shoving Raul’s shoulder playfully, to which he just rolled his eyes huffing in annoyance.

“I know, I know that” 

Jack arched his eyebrow at him, a knowing smirk playing on his lips “Is this your way of admitting you love her?” 

“Shut up and pay attention to their conversation, you idiot” Raul said pushing his friend off of his sit. 

“I'm sorry, I just had to ask, I haven’t such a pretty girl like you around in a while, are you new in town, darling?” Geonoff asked leaning his hip against the sit across from Y/N.

“Oh no, not new in town” she responded with a giggle, trying to ease the nerves and slight nausea from talking to him and his half attempt of flirting “I moved to this neighborhood last month though, used to leave on the other side of the town” 

“Oh, was it for work? How are you liking this place so far?”

“It’s nice, I thought it was going to be quieter but it doesn’t really bother me” she said with a soft smile on her features “I moved here because I work from home, so I needed to get out of my last place cause my roommate was not exactly quiet, and my boyfriend said there was an available apartment on his floor, so it just seemed like a great opportunity” 

Raul’s heart raced a bit more on his chest when she referred to him as ‘boyfriend’, which was completely stupid. Y/N was his best friend and this was only for a cover. But sometimes his feelings got the best of him.

“Boyfriend? Is he here?”

“Oh no, I think he’s at work now, he’s a photographer”

“It makes sense, he has the prettiest muse at home” he added with a wink, which made Y/N’s stomach twirl in her tummy, this man is absolutely gross and she just wants to find a way out of this conversation “is he joining you today or should I keep you company?” 

“Tell him I’m on my way, sweetheart, don’t want this man any closer to you” Raul said through coms, Jack already grabbing his backpack with the material they had separated to be Raul’s cover as he threw a denim jacket and a pair of glasses.

Y/N gave Geonoff a gentle smile as she shrugged before adding “he told me he’d be coming here, something about the cupcakes being the best he’s ever had”

“Oh shut up, this is the worst excuse to get me to buy you cupcake ever” Raul muttered through coms as he jogged across the street and Y/N had to cough to hid a little giggle that threatened to escape at her best friend’s comment.

“Yeah, they’re really good, I think you’d like the chocolate one” 

“Okay, thank you for the tip” she said, quickly noticing the mop of curls clumsy coming into the shop, a big grin blossoming on her lips as she waved at the heaving figure of her best friend “oh, there he is!”

Raul’s eyes found hers and he could only smile, forgetting only momentarily that one of the most wanted man in the country was just beside her, he shook his head to gain a bit more focus as he shortened the distance between them with every step “hi baby” 

Y/N got up from her sit and was quick to throw her arms around his neck, as he did the same with her waist, planting a kiss to the crown of her head “Hi, honey this is… Oh my, just realized I never caught your name, I’m sorry, that was so rude”

“Geonoff, darling” he said with a smug smile on his lips, probably waiting some sort of reaction and proud of it.

And to Raul’s amusement, Y/N didn’t move a single muscle, didn’t give a single reaction, only offering a polite smile “Oh, nice name, I’m Y/N and this is my boyfriend, Raul”

“Beautiful name, suits such a gorgeous girl like you” he said, eyes on Raul waiting for some sort of response.

“Oh yeah, she doesn’t like it but I’ve always found it beautiful” he said softly.

“Well, I’ll leave you guys alone now, nice meeting the two of you” Geonoff said as his guards approached him with a paper bag “and Y/N, let me know if you need anything, I’m always around”

“Thank you” she said before pulling Raul to sit by her side on the booth as Geonoff walked out of the little shop “how was your day, honey?”

“Good, angel, got a couple of photos I think you’d like to see whenever we get home” he said throwing his arms around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

“You two are gross to watch” Jack grumbled through the coms making them both laugh.

Y/N turned her head to face him “you wanna go home to show me or you want to grab a cup of coffee first?”

“I think I want a bit of coffee, but we can order it to go, yeah?”

“Sure, whatever you want” Y/N said before sliding off the booth and pulling him with her, before stuffing her computer on her little backpack, which Raul promptly took from her.

“Come on, baby, can’t wait to lay down a bit” he ushered her to the register, where Tom waited patiently for them “hello there, I’d like an espresso please” 

“Sure, anything else?” Tommy asked as he clicked on the little screen.

“Do you want anything, baby?”

“A red velvet cupcake to go, please”

Tom nodded looking a little nervous before speaking up “the other man with the security guards left this note and cupcake for you, ma’am” he then grabbed the little pastry and a fancy business card alongside it.

“Oh, I- are you sure it was for me?” she asked in disbelief as Raul tightened his arm around her.

Tom only nodded in response “positive, do you still want the red velvet one?”

“I- yes, please” Y/N let out before almost chocking on air, gently grabbing the card that contained the business information from his company (that she already had) and a little handwritten phrase next to a phone number, the note read ‘if you’re ever looking for a real man, let me know’. 

“Someone’s got a crush on you” Raul teased trying to mask the anger bubbling up on his throat, but he knew she saw right through his facade. After all, Y/N knew him better than anyone else.

“Well, I feel bad for him, because I’m already taken, yeah?” she giggled at herself, lightly poking his chest to try and loosen his nerves a bit.

“Yeah, since I have you, know that I’m never letting you go” Raul pressed a kiss to her head huffing a small chuckle.

“Here it is, sir” Tom cut Raul out before handing him the paper bag, and he placed the money on Tom’s hand.

Raul offered a smile as he lead Y/N back to their place “Thank you, take care, kid” 

As they were crossing the street, Y/N dropped the cupcake from Geonoff on the sidewalk, making it look like an accident as she cried out an ‘oh no, I can’t believe I dropped it!’ before tossing it on the bin. On the elevator to their apartment, Raul still seemed tense and too quiet for his normal self, but Y/N decided to drop it, maybe give him some time to deal with today.

Just as they opened the door, Jack was quick to pull them inside, grabbing the card from Y/N’s hand and tossing it into a special bag and running downstairs, probably to deliver it to a team so they could take it to the lab to run some tests. Celine was stretched on the couch, a knowing look in her eyes as she signaled for them to join her. Raul went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water in complete silence as Y/N sank down on the soft cushions with Celine.

“What’s wrong with him?” she muttered quietly, since there were no walls separating the rooms on this flat, only the bedroom and bathroom and Raul was standing pretty close.

Y/N sighed with a shrug “No clue, maybe just didn’t expect the interaction to go like that, I don’t know”

“By the way, you did great, he even got interested in you” 

“Ew, no need to remind me, seriously that man is just gross, there’s something about him that’s just creepy, and I’m not even bringing up his criminal record” Y/N added grabbing a bottle water that Raul tossed at her after she nodded at him.

Celine nodded in understanding “Don't blame you, I think I would’ve punched him five seconds into talking”

“You wouldn’t last a single second with him talking” Jack said as he closed the door behind him.

Y/N and Celine laughed as Raul joined them on the couch, sitting on the armrest right behind Y/N as she leaned her weight on him. He threw an arm around her. 

“I think we should order a pizza and have some beer, yeah? This was a successful day, Tom’s gonna be here any minute now and Raul didn’t die out of jealousy in 24h, only reasons to celebrate!”

“Don’t start celebrating now, Jack, he might combust at any second now” Celine said with a laugh and Y/N giggled shaking her head, looking up at him only to see his serious expression and a light pink tinting his cheeks.

“So, pizza and beer it is?” Jack asked pulling his phone.

“I think it’s a great idea” Tom said as he climbed through the back window.

“Okay, Jack, order the pizzas and grab us the beer” Y/N decided and Jack stared at her in shock.

“Why me?!”

“So you can do something useful for once instead of gossiping” Raul said playfully and Y/N smiled at that as Jack feigned hurt with a dramatic gasp. 

“Well, there’s that and the fact that this genius idea belongs to you, doesn’t it?” Y/N asked 

Jack stared at her and nodded “Well yeah but-“

“Then make it happen, darling” Y/N only threw a wink at him and he shook his head, but grabbing his phone to start ordering. 

“Hey Tom, can I see the piece you brought back?” Celine asked without moving from her place on the couch. 

Y/N took the opportunity to properly face Raul since the others were seemingly busy, so she cupped his face gently bringing his attention down at her “are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course I am, doll” he said turning his face to place a kiss at the palm of her hand before looking back at her. 

“Are you sure? You didn’t seem fine five minutes ago”

“I just didn’t think he’d take such an interest on you so soon, I mean, you’re insanely gorgeous so it was obvious he was going to notice you, I guess I was just unconsciously hoping he wouldn’t” Raul sighed leaning his head against her hand and she let it slide on his face until she was able to curl her fingers on his hair “it’s stupid, I’m sorry, I was just being stupid yeah? Let’s focus on something else and relax”

“Are you sure?” she asked tugging on his hair a bit as he closed his eyes, nodding his head softly and she sighed “okay”

                                                  -*-

*Please reblog or like this post if you liked it so I’ll know.

*I’m sorry if there are any spelling mistakes.

*Please do not repost this without giving me the credit, this is a completely original piece and I do not give permission to copy this!

*Hope you guys enjoyed it!

*xoxo

-🌙