#i’ll add on if i know! sorry this is so underwhelming!

[barbiebutgayer]

Rating Talia al Ghul’s Outfits:

*disclaimer this is just my personal opinion based on my style/taste and everyone style’s different so take this with a grain a salt*

1. Starting out LOVE the Matcha green color on her and we already know this girly can rock a skin tight leather anything at this point. Personally, wouldn’t have added a belt but we know if miss girl can incorporate an accessory to her look she will take the opportunity. It does bring more attention to her shape because it hits right under her natural waistline that, mixed with how the neckline hits, creates a nice harmony that compliments her figure well. I’ll give the nails a bonus point as well. My only downside is that while cute it would be a headache to wear with that fabric all day. I know queen is picking the wedgies out left and right when she wears this. Also she only has a front zipper which means she has to peel off that entire suit just to use the bathroom especially when it’s hot outside. With all that being said I’ll give it 6/10. The color of the suit with the nails is to die for but while it’s aesthetically is cute it’s a little underwhelming. Also the idea of trying to peel that off at the end of a long day is a no for me.

2. Love Love Lovveeee this one!! Her in vibrant pinks slay every time it’s always a vibe like you go you dramatic lil groovy barbiecore gal 💞 Anyways getting onto the look the waistline is gorgeous it looks like either gold boning or fabric draped down along the body whatever it is it’s stunning and adds a dramatic yet dainty detail. I’m also loving the pleats on the skirt and the sleek sophisticated yet playful feel the fabric and sleeves gives her. I know this one is a specific type of taste but personally it’s a yes for me I’d give this one an 10/10 Ik Ik it’s only the 2nd one I’ve rated but I’m a big fan of this look and am always here for a good high neck moment also feeling the slit yes queen get the airflow. That is one downside of the dress is the slit fairly high so prone it accidentally flashing and some people could find the high neck stiff and restricting but overall with the shape, color, fabric, the gold on the dress paired with matching gold bracelets the look gives a very feminine elegance that while soft makes a powerful statement.

3. …..total early 2010s vibes with the chunky bracelet paired with the even chunkier necklace. It’s perfect for the era of when this comic came out but I’m sorry it’s not the vibe personally. Love the shoes and the blouse but just maybe not with that skirt paired together. Or you know what the outfit is do able I take that back the combo isn’t too bad. It’s just not the best for what she’s trying to do like I’m sorry this doesn’t scream “I’m the woman who’s going to world dominate and take your business” she’s still girl bossing and dominating yes, but in a Vegas Nightclub Receptionist way. Which isn’t a bad thing I say that as someone from there. It’s just idk something about it ain’t hitting. My baby is always pretty and her hair flows gorgeously in harmony with her blouse maybe it’s her stance the photo but idk I’d give it a 3.5/10. 🤷‍♀️

4. A simple look but she does her job bringing back the hot pink in the form of cargo pants. It’s Talia’s world and everyone else just lives in to when she walks around in pink. Her blouse is super cute and length of her sleeves give her a “let’s get down to business” energy. It’s not her most over the top and flashier moments but it’s giving effortless intelligent beauty who might or might not be some sort of doctor/professor. I’d give it a 7/10 nothing bad aesthetic wise and comfort wise you’re pretty set. A little bit on the basic side for someone like Talia but for someone who constantly wears statement pieces. A casual civilian moment is refreshing to see on someone like her. Definitely a perfect outfit to for a cute hiking date or mission with Bruce. Not high enough to be a 10 but too cute of an outfit to be a 5.

5. Yeah you know not really feeling this one either. I know different artist have done variants of this suit but no matter the art style it just doesn’t do any thing for me aesthetic wise. Like idk what it is about it because I ofc love white on her and I can appreciate the symbolism behind the suit but idk i feel like they could of gone different directions. The suit just is a little stiff looking. Which I know that is the point of the look but I’m sure she definitely not comfortable imagine getting a back itch in this outfit not the vibe. The gloves are little too medical feeling especially with the straight jacket looking bands. I know I’m tearing into this one but a positive of the look is the texture of the suit I do like that added detailing gives her a bite of a regal white knight in shining armor feel. Overall would give it only a 3/10.

6. Idk about y’all but I’m feeling the long slit midi skirt with the black garter or weapon giving a free little show. The whole ensemble all together gave camp steampunk pirate feel in the best way. What I’ve learned making this post is that our girl loves a good blouse and any outfit she pair with it. The sleeves on this one is a lot more of a puffier bishop than the ones she’d d normally wear. I also really like the little belt she has sitting at her natural waist with the gold in the center. It’s a tiny detail but the gold on the belt pick up on the gold rose on her skirt. I’d rate this one a solid 8/10 maybe that’s too high of a rating but it’s different it’s dramatic without it being too over the top. Very Talia as well. 🏴‍☠️

7. It’s iconic, it’s an OG style on the queen we all know and love just with added accessories. Always the moment whenever she wears this type of style dress and she knows it. It’s a 9.5/10 ofccc! Love the plunging neckline again personally wouldn’t of done a belt if so maybe a gold one to pair with the gold jewelry but maybe that would of been too much gold and draw too much attention. Her shoes are so cute and look comfy which is a plus. Her cape piece and how the fabric falls gives her such an ethereal but modern essence when she walks through the door.

8. -10000/10 Love an orange moment on her just not when it’s a prison uniform…. #freemygirl

9. Another iconic look from an iconic moment. She reminds me of the blue fairy from Pinocchio. The twinkle in the night serving femme fatale but also girl next door at the same time with the pink dainty shoes. A simple but timeless dress comfortable enough to tend to Bruce’s wounds while also looking good. Some people might say it give night gown vibes but in a 13 going on 30 way. I’d give it a 7/10

10. Basically her high neck pink dress but in a sun-kissed orange and more gold accents with a ruby gem draped over her waistline with a slit. My god and though SLEEVES giving Shakespearean vibes ! 😍 Since it’s a version of the other one ofc I’m going to give it a 10/10 🧡

But yeah that’s it maybe I’ll make a part 2

[loveless-fairy]

Evan Buckley and why the writing choices for him in the season finale were crap

This is my take on Evan Buckley, and it's a long one.

I have to start to say that yes, I am a Buddie shipper, but also I think it’s fair to say that before that, I am an Evan Buckley truer. So my take comes from my love for the character, rather than my hopes for the ship.

With that out of the way, let’s get into it.

I have a lot to say about the season finale, but I’ll concentrate my thoughts on Evan Buckley and how this show managed to give us development and no growth at all, all at the same time.

It’s really important to remember that last night’s episode was meant to be a series finale. They made this episode with the thought of “this is the last time” on their heads.

This was a send-off, and as such, it was quite awful.

Maddie’s and Chim’s closure was fine, Athena and Bobby's was perfect because they finally get to have their honeymoon, and without telling anyone. Very on brand. Hen and Karen was a happy note, but it left me wondering, why now? I mean, it’s been a while since we saw this storyline and it kinda came out of the blue. A surprise if you will. A good one though. Karen and Hen deserve the world. The thing is that seemed rushed.

The lack of Ravi. I’m gonna just leave it at that.

Eddie. I have to be honest, this felt weird and also out of the blue. Just like people on Twitter were asking. Where did he get her number? That entire scene felt off. But that’s an analysis that I’m whiling to do another day. For now, let’s just say that it was a no for me. That’s how we were supposed to say goodbye to Edmundo Diaz? I’m sorry but no. He deserves better. We deserved better.

Now, let’s talk about Buck. It’s gonna be quite a ride, so bear with me. As I see it Evan Buckley is a very complex character and sometimes I get the feeling that even the writers and showrunner of the show don’t fully understand how deep they can dig, so it’s understandable that fans feel underwhelmed with the decisions regarding Buck. As viewers, we tend to analyze everything. As fans, we like to see different sides of our favorite characters and we pay attention to everything. We keep track and sometimes, and not just with Buck, I feel that we do a better job at knowing the characters than the writers do.

With that said. We had Buck dying at the beginning of the second part of the season. It was quite a shock for the 118 and in my opinion, it was very well done. The emotional aspect of it was painfully good, so I had my hopes up for true growth for Evan Buckley. And we were heading that way until we weren’t.

I feel that after everything he went through, having to say goodbye to Evan Buckley with him getting involved with someone he just met and without really addressing his trauma was lazy writing. Plain and simple.

One of the things that always bothered me about how the show decides to write Buck is that he never truly faced his traumas.

Let’s see. Since he joined the 118 he got a truck landing on his leg, a pulmonary embolism, found himself in the middle of a tsunami with Christopher and he even thought the little guy was dead for several hours. He had to watch his best friend get shot in front of him, and for the second time, he feared for Eddie’s life. Just like Maddie said, just another trauma to add to the pile.

He almost died in a factory fire and was struck by lighting. Not to mention he was in an overpass collapse with his entire team. I know I left a few things out, but you get the idea.

And all of this is just since he joined the 118.

Let’s talk about his life before coming to Los Angeles.

I am a firm believer that Evan Buckley doesn’t really know what love looks like and what to do with it.

True. Growing up he had Maddie, and she did as much as she could with the few emotional tools she had. She was a kid herself. We know she raised him, and she did a fantastic job, but at the end of the day, she was his sister. The sister who had to step up into the mom role, even when their own mother was living under the same roof.

Buck grew up feeling that his parents didn’t really want him. Now we know why but can you imagine how confusing and painful must have been growing up like that?

They were his parents. They were the ones who should have loved him no matter what. They were supposed to be his safety net, the one place where he could feel safe. But they weren’t.

How damaged a kid had to be for him to realize by himself that only when he gets hurt he can get his parent's attention? Let that sink in for a minute.

As Taylor Swift said: “You know there's many different ways that you can kill the one you love. The slowest way is never loving them enough”.

And that’s what they did. They never loved him enough.

So, no. Evan Buckley doesn’t really know what healthy and unconditional love looks like. He had Maddie but the ones who were supposed to do the job and show him and teach him about love didn’t.

Not having that growing up leaves you with scars that will haunt you for years and years. And trust me, I know what I’m talking about. On a good note, he’s surrounded by love at the 118. And we’ve seen him learn about love right in front of our eyes. But the trauma doesn’t go away. That’s not how it works.

We’ve seen him being left behind, and jokingly doubting if the members of his chosen family will come for him when needed - which they did. His self-worth was on the freaking ground, but slowly but surely has been getting better.

So, yes. After him realizing why his parents never loved him enough (Love me anyway), and finally letting Taylor go, I thought we were going to see a new side of Evan Buckley. And with the couch analogy coming to life, I really thought we were going to get a growth storyline, especially after they decided to kill him.

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against Natalia, and I understand why he felt like she ignited a spark in him. I really do. But I also thought he was going to realize it was a temporary thing, because overall having someone fetishizing your death is not really attractive.

As I said before, even after years of being surrounded by love, the trauma and the psychological scars of not being loved enough as a kid will haunt you to adulthood, especially if you don’t go to therapy to deal with it.

And they showed us just that at the beginning of the second half of the season.

As someone who wants love and loves so fully, when the same love is given back, Buck doesn’t know what to do with it.

I see it like this. When someone didn’t have physical affection growing up, as an adult is more likely to have an aversion to touch. But what happens when that person craves a hug, when that person knows it needs a hug but has no idea how to ask? And if it gets one, what happens then? It doesn’t know how to react and what to do.

After being struck by lightning we saw a parade of people worried about him and whiling to be there during his recovery and Buck was done. One would think he will take advantage of the situation and will let them shower him with affection, but it was quite the opposite. The concept of this kind of love made him uncomfortable.

And then he had people reminding him that he actually died –for 3 minutes and 17 seconds, mind you- when he clearly was trying to downplay what happened.

So yeah, Natalia really ignited something new in him, because since the lightning she was the first one who looked at him without worries and fear. Quite the contrary, she was fascinated by the fact that he died. She literally was the getaway car for these traumas, so he saw an opportunity and took it.

I wasn’t really that surprised when he said to Eddie that she really sees him, because from his point of view that may be true. But the thing is that she’s only seeing what he wanted to show, which is this version of him that’s running away from his trauma. Meanwhile, the people in his life who are a constant will see that too but also, eventually, will dig deeper and will force him to see and face what he is purposely avoiding.

At the end of the day, he was looking for validation that what happened wasn’t that bad and that it was not worth the fuss, and he found that with Natalia.

So, sure. Being with her was easy for about 2 seconds. Then she runs away, pretty much in the same way Taylor did. Because people are right, is not hard to see the parallels between how Taylor and Natalia happened. Both after major trauma.

In my head, I could see Natalia coming back so they can give it another shot, but Buck will have realized by then that he reached out in the first place for all the wrong reasons. He would have to face his mortality and grow from it. Maybe he would work on himself and put his energy into growing at the job since he was having doubts before, and rightfully so.

I’m serious when I say that I’m in charge of pushing the Evan Buckley lieutenant-era agenda.

And with the couch metaphor, what can I say? In my perfect fantasy world, Buck would have realized the couch was Eddie and then we would have had Buddie canon. But since that’s virtually impossible as long as Kristen Reidel is the showrunner of 911, I thought the season was gonna end up with Buck buying the damn couch by himself since he realized his own worth, and that he as “just Buck” is enough and him knowing himself and seeing himself for what he is, is the most important relationship he has. An open and hopeful ending. A full circle with the moment back at the beginning of the season when he realized what the couch represented in his life.

What a send-off.

And maybe, in another season that now we know is a sure thing, after the trauma and growth, he can reconnect with Natalia and really see if he wanted to be with her because of how she treated his death or because there was something real there after all.

But no, they decided to go with the safe route and have him ignore his trauma and have him dive into a romantic relationship, which according to 911 is the cure for everything.

I was mad at the beginning of the second half of season 6 because I felt they made him forgive his parents way too easily. I know they went to therapy together, but it felt like all the damage and the hurt were overlooked in favor of giving the Buckleys the redemption arc they didn’t deserve. It was the show invalidating Buck’s trauma and that didn’t sit well with me.

And also, when I saw the promo for the finale I thought they were going to do the full circle thing with Buck taking charge at the scene and proving that he can act as interim captain. The parallel between the first episode of the season and the last would have been beautiful. Him buying the couch by himself and acting in charge at the house meanwhile Bobby is getting better.

That would have been a great way to say goodbye to Evan Buckley. Showing us he is more than his relationships. He, by himself, is more than enough.

What did I say before? Lazy writing.

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that they have him delivering “his baby”, which is not really his, and having him act all professional even when we saw the moment he broke his own heart for a second there right before he passed the baby to Cameron, and they still managed to left us with the feeling that there was no growth for the character.

One step forward and 150 steps back.

Anyway, I really hope next season something change with the showrunner or in the writing room, because we’re going in circles with Buck and people are getting tired.

My takeaway from the season is that Evan Buckley died for 3 minutes and 17 seconds and didn’t learn a damn thing.

Give that man a breakdown and have him go to a therapist. He desperately needs therapy.

Finally, I hate to think they had the opportunity of a lifetime to give closure to a character as complex as Evan Buckley and they decided to reduce him to a romantic interest.

Thank god that wasn’t the last episode of 911.

There’s still room for redemption.

On another note, Eddie realizing that Pepa was wrong and that in order to be happy you don’t need a romantic relationship; that would have been a good ending too. I understand where she’s coming from, but in this day and age, being alone is not a sad and pathetic thing as she made it look.

[totallynotthecrystalskull]

(Kinda Late) Nintendo Direct thoughts (2/8/23)

Teensy bit late on this one due to being at work all day, but I wanted to capture my thoughts on the latest nintendo direct (since we hadn’t had one in months and who knows when the next one is). Go over the highlights, the cool, the meh, and everything that I thought was interesting. Not gonna cover absolutely EVERYTHING, just the things that caught my attention (sorry Samba de Amigo and Fashion Dreamer, I’m sure you’re fun games and all, I just have other things I wanna talk about)Pikmin 4: Looks neat, that’s kinda all I’ve got on it. Visually it’s beautiful for a Switch game, but it’s not a franchise I’ve really cared about, so I’m pretty indifferent on it. Pretty happy for the Pikmin fans though, I know you guys have REAAAALLY been waiting on this one, so good to see it’s finally getting shown off. The dog thing Oatchi feels a little... weird though. Kinda like Pikmin’s version of Poochy or some other example of added dog-like companion getting added to a series, they always feel a little funky when added in my opinion. I dunno though, maybe it fits right in with the rest of Pikmin, I’m not exactly super knowledgeable on the series anyways. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC: That’s neat for Xenoblade fans. I only ever played X on the Wii U, so I don’t have much of a connection to the series, but hope fans of the game are hyped (also, was that Shulk and an older Rex? That was kind of a surprise to see). Who knows though, maybe I’ll try the series out again sometime in the future (probs not though, they seem too big for me) Dead Cells DLC: Ok, with every update this game seems to get, the more tempted I am to get into the game. Actually, why haven’t I gotten it yet?! It looks fun as hell, and it’s got a ton of fun crossovers with Shovel Knight, Katana Zero, Castlevania, and so so so many more games. I Really gotta give it a go at this point. Ghost Trick port: oh HELL yeah, I’ve been wanting to play this one for ages now! The Ace Attorney Trilogy has been a fun way for me to get into those original DS games, and I’m hoping this Ghost Trick port will accomplish the same thing! Bayonetta Origins: It looks ok. That’s about all I’ve got for it. It’s style is pretty different from the other Bayo games which I really like, but this one’s just not really speaking to me as much. Splatoon 3 DLC: Ok, first we’re gonna get Inkopolis as a DLC... Hub? Ok, that’s a bit odd in my opinion. Like, it’ll be nice to revisit Inkopolis after ALL these years, but at the same time it’s like... it’s just a hub... DLC just for an different hub area? Feels kinda... underwhelming I guess? I dunno, just feels like a weird thing to add. As for the Side Order DLC, now THAT ONE’S catching my eyes! More Pearl and Marina, and Splat 2′s hub being completely white and covered in Coral is so mysterious, I love this!! Fire Emblem Engage DLC: I don’t care who you add, I’m not playing this FE Game! Omega Strikers: Honestly, I’ll probs forget about this game in a bit, but I do like the character designs. I dunno, looks fun enough, a neat take on Air Hockey. Might pick it up as a Multiplayer game when I have friends over (ya know, if that ever happens). Etrian Odyssey Collection: Oooooooo, ok, I’m down for this. Only ever played a bit of EOU2: The Fafnir Knight, but the mechanics of it’s dungeon crawling and custom map making was a lot of fun!! Might pick this collection up! Advance Wars 1+2 ReBoot Camp: Hell yeah! I’ve been looking forward to this one ever since it was announced!! It’s also a series I haven’t played before, but it looks so charming and fun, happy it finally has a release date! NSO GameBoy Advanced: Didn’t care much about the GB additions, but the GBA being added?! YEAAAAAH!!! I mean I wish it wasn’t a part of the Expansion pass, but also, YEAAAAAAH!!! I love the sprite work on so many GBA games, and plenty of them I’ve wanted to play myself, so I’m really happy they’re being added (especially both Superstar Saga and The Minish Cap, I fucking love the sprite work in those games so god damn much, AAAAAHHHHH!!!) Metroid Prime Remake: Hell yeah (again)! I’ve always wanted to try the Prime games, so this should be a fun way to get into the series! And available today too?!?! Mario Kart DLC: I’m liking the look of this new course, and getting Birdo in any Mario game is always awesome!! Hoping they’ll add more characters now too since we know that’s not off the table anymore. I’d love Fawful or Starlow to appear in a MK game, but let’s be realistic, that’s not happening Extras: Magalor mode in Kirby seems alright I guess, looks a little forgettable though. That Detective Danganronpa game looks weird. New Fantasy life is neat, first game was enjoyable enough, but I’ll probs pass on this new one. Neat that there’s gonna be a new Professor Layton game. The DecaPolice game looks like it could be fun, but at this point I’m hesitant on any game where you play as cops (though at the same time, it looks to be more Detective than Police, and it’s probs based more on the Japanese police rather than western police. Still hesitant though) And last, but ABSOLUTELY not least

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: This section’s probably going to get pretty long since I am a huge Zelda fan, but first, let me just say, HOLY SHIT WAS THAT MATTHEW MERCER IN ZELDA!?!?!! FUUUCK YEAAAAH!!! Ok, all of my hype aside though, I am actually a little mixed on him being in it. Not cause there’s anything wrong with Matt’s performance (dude always kills it in his roles!), but because now when I’m playing the game, I’ll just hearing him as Matthew Mercer instead of whoever he’s playing (though, that’s not bad either. Hearing Mercer playing any role is always a very enjoyable experience, dude’s got a magic voice and I love every bit of it). And better yet, was he playing mother-fuckin’ GANONDORF?!?! I mean, he’s not immediately who I would’ve imagined for Ganondorf’s voice, but god damn am I always down for some more wonderful Matthew Mercer villain dialogue, especially for my favorite Villain!! But that said though... there’s also the possibility that the trailer mislead us and he’s NOT going to be Ganondorf, but instead playing the role of a new hidden villain instead (another Zant, Ghirahim, Astor, ect., an evil minion type character). I thought it was a little odd that there weren’t any shots of Ganondorf actually speaking, and Mercer’s voice feels a little mismatched for the (currently) dried up and mummified corpse of the Gerudo King, so that makes me wonder if we’re actually hearing dialogue from an unrevealed new villain (though alternatively it could just be dialogue from a... *ahem*,Rehydrated Ganondorf, but we don’t know if that’s going to actually happen or not). I’m not entirely sold on this theory myself (as I could very easily just be looking too far into some small details), but it is a theory I did want to bring up. The Dialogue and framing certainly point to him possibly being the King of all Evil, but those little things... it just feels... a little suspicious is all. As for everything else in the trailer though, OH MY GOD AM I HYPED!!! More Zonai stuff, plenty more enemy varieties, it looks like we’re getting both some sky islands AND underground stuff, there looks to be a ton of interesting changes to hyrule itself, and I CAN’T TELL IF THAT WAS A REDEAD OR A STALFOS BUT OH MY GOD AM I HAPPY THEY’RE BACK!! Looks like we’re getting some new Shiekah stuff, lots of new Zonai stuff, and Link’s new arm looks so interesting!! God am I hyped for this SO GOD DAMN MUCH!!! May can’t come soon enough!!

[ducktracy]

hey what are some good youtube channels that are focused on cartoons and stuff? like reviews and the history of them etc :)

OH I DON’T REALLY KNOW AS FAR AS YOUTUBE CHANNELS... quite honestly i don’t really WATCH a lot of youtube. but KaiserBeamz (link) for one (who made the bosko video i just linked as well as the one second of every looney tunes cartoon), thad komorowski and bob jacques have a SUPER informative podcast where they discuss cartoon history (link)... SORRY THIS ISN’T MUCH!! i don’t really spend as much time as i should digging around for videos. i’ll certainly add on if i know of anyone and you guys are free to add your own recommendations!

[svnoofy]

forever & always — p.js

pairing: ex boyfriend! jay x fem reader (she/her pronouns!)

genre: angst | lovers to exes | arranged marriage au

warnings: profanity

word count: 2.9k words

taglist : please send an ask and i’ll add you to my permanent taglist >v<

listen to this while reading for alleviated emo vibes #💔🥀

───────────────────────

tears were dripping down your cheeks, each drop staining the soft material of your ex boyfriend’s shirt as you cuddled into his chest for the last time.

“i’m so sorry, y/n, i really am so sorry”, jay speaks, tears threatening to fall as he strokes your soft hair.

he stares at the silver band around his ring finger, one that you also wore around your ring finger as a sign of the everlasting love you had for each other, which he will have to replace permanently in less than a week.

as you cried into his shirt, you remember the day he gave the ring to you.

“i promise i’ll always be by your side and protect you, forever and always”, he said as he slid the silver band on your finger, placing a chaste kiss on the back of your hand right after.

you knew jay and you knew he was a man that always kept his promise, but here you were, crying into his chest, disappointed and hurt at the promise that was shattered in to pieces.

the fact that in less than a week: your jay, the light of your life and the man who never failed to make you smile— would be someone else’s man and someone else’s reason to smile, hurt you so intensely.

however, as hurt as you were, you couldn’t find a single bone in your body and a strand of hair on your head to blame and lash out on him for not standing his ground on your relationship.

jay felt like his whole world came crashing down when he was informed about the whole arranged marriage ordeal.

what infuriated him most was the fact that his parents told him about it two weeks before the wedding was supposed to happen.

how the fuck was he supposed to process this in his head?

his world came to an abrupt stop and rose up in flames when you came over, for the last time, and cried into his chest, your sadness far too painful for you to say anything else.

if only he could’ve told you how beautiful you were every single moment of the day and remind you how much he loved you, he would.

hell, if given the choice, he’d give you the whole world and more because that’s just how much you meant to him.

“i love you jay, so fucking much”, you say, breathless after crying— your voice sniffly and congested like.

when your eyes met, he knew for sure: he had just made the biggest mistake in his life.

“i love you too. so much more than you think, i’m sorry y/n— let’s meet in another life, yeah?”, jay brings his thumbs up to caress your tear stained cheeks before placing a kiss on your forehead.

jay didn’t know why he couldn’t stand up to his parents and tell them the only person he knows he can love is you. no one else.

so, as he stood in front of the mirror in the groom’s room in the venue, adjusting his suit, he smiles as memories of you and him flood his mind.

when the after party started, he could not see you anywhere— which made his heart break a little yet made him feel a little relieved.

he felt relieved, not because he was moving on, but because: if he saw you at his wedding, at any place but next to him, he wasn’t sure if he would be strong enough to continue. 

───────────────────────

hera’s note : thank you for reading my first oneshot! aaaaa i’m in my emo feely feels tonight so like :/ sorry if this was underwhelming or bad!! i have had massive writer’s block and i wanted to release this because amongst my other drafts, this was by far the one i liked most :>

hera loves you! stay safe & take care ♡

[panda-writes-kpop]

Chapter Fifteen (Avengers AU): A Broken Bottle Top

A/N: Hi guys, girls, and non-binary pearls! It feels hard to believe that this is the final chapter of the main series, but here we are. I want to offer a friendly reminder that you definitely can and should request for more chapters of your favorite character(s)! Is there two characters that you're dying to see interact, or do you have an ideal match for Y/N in your mind? You should totally let me know which character you think would work best with the reader, and I may just make your dream a reality. ;)

Avengers AU Masterlist | Masterlist

TW: Reader drinks alcohol and is legally old enough to do so, Y/N has the impeccable ability to predict the future with their thoughts, Y/N also gets a well-deserved break, cursing, there's a bar fight, Ryujin's kind of scary lol, a nameless character gets harassed by a drunkard, Ryujin punches one guy and does a cool knife trick guys go sailing over the bar counter, a vague and underwhelming ending awaits you :(

I never would have thought that I was one to bar hop, but here we are!

After getting a drink or two with the infamous Deadpool herself, you decide to head to another bar to clear your head. You had enough of Chaeyoung’s antics, but not enough willpower to resist giving her your cell phone number.

She’s much nicer and funnier than I expected… but I guess that’s the way you have to be in order to not lose yourself when you’re some kind of superhero.

You remember a time when everyone else would say, “It’s not every day that you meet a superhero!”

Man, I really wish that applied to me!

The cold evening NYC air wraps you in a tight hug as you admire the bright neon lights that decorate nearly every building and street sign. Other people are walking along the same street that you are, but you can’t help but feel as if you’re all alone, and for once, that feels really fucking good.

You manage to make your way to another bar - one that was far enough away from the one that Chaeyoung was at, but close enough that you could figure out how to get home once you were done with the night.

Or if the night decides that it’s done with me. I welcome whichever shall come first!

You head to the bar area, and you quickly flash your ID to the bartender before taking a seat at the bar. You order the same drink as always, and it comes out in no time.

You’re seated at one end of the bar area, and you spare a glance to the other end of the bar area. A blonde, short-haired woman wearing black lipstick and a black t-shirt with a white skull on it is seated at the other hand. Her black denim ripped jeans and silver dangling necklaces complete the ‘touch-me-and-I’ll-fuck-you-up’ look, and you quickly look away before you can cause more trouble than you’ve already put yourself into today.

Yeah, I don’t need to add a bar fight to my list of current issues.

Unfortunately for you, not everyone has your peaceful attitude in mind. As you’re sipping on your drink, you notice a drunk man that stumbles to the bar.

“Excuse me, miss, could I ask you for another drink?”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t serve more alcohol to intoxicated customers. It’s against the owners’ rules.” The bartender calmly explains, but the man scoffs.

“Bitch, I thought that you would-” He can’t get another word out of his mouth before the blonde woman from before taps his shoulder.

“I think you should leave her alone.” She calmly crosses arms across her chest as the man puffs out his chest. “In fact, I think you should leave this place immediately.”

“And why would I do that, beautiful? I think she likes the attention.” He stumbles over his words as the bartender shakes her head.

“Ryujin, don’t-”

“Stay out of this.” Ryujin hisses at the bartender, who immediately complies and scampers off to the kitchen area in the back.

“Well, if it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get!” The man loudly declares. “I’ll even let you throw the first punch!”

You do your best to hold in a chuckle as you take a sip of your drink.

This ought to be good.

“Are you sure about that?” She softly asks before cracking her knuckles.

“Yeah, I bet you couldn’t hurt a fly, you-” He can’t finish his words before Ryujin’s fist connects with his face.

He stumbles with his back directly against the bar counter, and he holds his face with one hand as the other attempts to shield himself from further injury.

Ryujin lets out a cold laugh before roughly grabbing his shoulders.

“You’re going to regret opening your mouth.” She says in a low whisper, and you’re surprised that no one else is paying attention to this except you.

Is this a usual occurrence at this bar? That’s awful.

Ryujin spares no time before tossing the small man over the bar counter. He crashes to a shelf of expensive liquor. The loud crashing sound draws the attention of the rest of the bar, who are split between running for their lives, and staying to watch the brawl go down.

You can tell that the drunk man is unconscious, but that appears to be the least of Ryujin’s problems as two much taller and stockier men make their way to her.

This is about to get more interesting…

“Did you boys come to get round two for your friend, or are you just that stupid?” She says mockingly before grabbing a knife that was left out on the bar counter.

You down the rest of your drink, and you wipe your mouth with the back of your hand.

I have the best seat in the house to witness what will probably be public humiliation for two men who probably peaked back in high school.

No words are exchanged as one of the men charge Ryujin. She dodges his advances at the last possible moment, which sends him flying over the bar counter to join his knocked-out companion.

She tosses the knife up in the air, as a show of power, before grabbing the handle as it comes back to the ground.

The other man looks her up and down before running for the hills. The surrounding crowd cheers for Ryujin, and boos the other man for being a coward.

After everyone calms down and goes back to what they were once doing, the bartender emerges from the back before cautiously approaching you.

“I’m so sorry for what you have to see. Those guys usually aren’t more than just empty threats, but occasionally they’ll act like this and trash the place.” She apologizes before grabbing your glass. “Would you like something else? It’s on the house - by the owner’s request. She tries to make sure everyone has a good time, and anyone who isn’t usually here gets a drink or two to reassure them that we do prioritize customer satisfaction.”

“I’ll pay for my own, don’t you worry.” You reassure her before ordering another drink. “Do you have a pen, by any chance?”

“Yeah, I do.” She hands you a pen.

You grab the bar pen, and you quickly scribble a message on the napkin she handed you.

You’ve got a nice right hook. Do you give lessons? My fist-to-fist combat isn’t what it used to be.

You hand her back the pen, and you also hand her the napkin.

“Can you hand that to your friend over there?” You nod at Ryujin, which causes the bartender to laugh.

“You’re not hitting on her, are you?”

“What do you take me for, an idiot?!?!” You say, slightly offended by what the bartender was implying.

“Fine, but don’t blame me if it explodes in your face.”

You nervously watch as the bartender hands the napkin to Ryujin before making your drink. A smile smirk appears on her face as she sets down the knife that she was tightly clutching in her grasp. Ryujin grabs a pen from the other side of the bar counter, and she flips the napkin over before beginning to write on it.

After a few moments of unbearable silence, she calls the bartender over and hands the napkin to her. The bartender chuckles before shaking her head. The napkin reaches you, along with your drink.

“I guess it’s your lucky day, then. Ryujin usually isn’t fond of strangers.”

“I’m not your average stranger, it seems.” You mutter before unfolding the napkin.

Do you have a price, or can I name my own? My services don’t come for free, as you can assume. I’m quite popular around here.

You chuckle before setting the napkin down.

“So, do you have something in mind?” Ryujin’s voice comes from the seat next to you, and you jump ever-so-slightly.

“I’m more interested in what your price may be.” You play coy as you try to keep her attention.

“It’s not something you can pay with money, you know.” She takes a sip of her drink, and you can hear your heart beating faster in your chest.

“I’m still interested, no matter the price.” You mutter softly.

Ryujin laughs softly before looking you in the eyes.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve come across someone who’s intrigued me this much.”

“I could definitely say the same.” You try to hide the nervousness in your voice, but you’re positive that your efforts are fruitless.

“Well, the night is young, so who knows what may happen.” She shrugs, and you push your glass towards hers.

“Shall we see where the night takes us, then?” You offer her a small wink before pulling your drink back in front of you.

“I think that’s an excellent idea.”

[spiderlingh]

Élite Season 4 Review

as an og fan of élite who’s been binging every single season on the day it came out, i watched the fourth season yesterday. here’s my thoughts. obviously includes spoilers for both the new season and some short stories.

the short stories of carmuel and caye/rebe/guzman were the best for me.

the new characters were… uh… how do i put this nicely

ari is the new lu. but less interesting. hated her at first, felt kinda sorry for her at the end though.

mencía is a cardboard copy of miss marina. 🙄

idk how to feel about their dad?? uhhh

i was really hyped for phillipe’s character (idk how to spell it i’m sorry lmao) but man what a letdown.

ya know what… i really liked cayetana this season! i felt neutral about her before but i rlly liked her this season. wish she’d had more screen time.

THEY BUILT UP GUZNADIA FOR THREE SEASONS ONLY FOR THEM TO BREAK UP WITHIN THREE EPISODES AND HAVE GUZMÁN GO AFTER A DIFFERENT CHICK?? W H A T

i liked ander back in season 1… but his character just becomes less and less likeable over the seasons. fight me.

shoutout to samu’s hair this season. hot.

okay but what the fuck was up with all the fucked up relationships this season?? omander. carmuel. guznadia. samu and guzmán. samu and rebe’s friendship, which come on, could’ve gone back to the way it was back in s2.

speaking of rebe, this girl got hurt way too much this season?? pls stop she deserves happiness thanks

HAHA i forgot patrick… no. nah. i didn’t like him.

i cannot stress this enough: FUCK LOVE TRIANGLES. for me it worked in season 1 with carla/polo/christian because they actually seemed to be into polyamory and it actually benefited the fucking plotline around covering up marina’s murder. but that was it. AND THEY HAVE ONE OR TWO EVERY SEASON. it’s exhausting. jesus.

HEY BY THE WAY… what happened to la inspectora from the first three seasons? ma’am?? where you at?? the kids fucked up again and someone nearly died. then someone actually died.

the mystery this season was so fucking dull. like i forgot what was even going on kinda dull. the interrogation scenes were not nearly as compelling as in the previous seasons, they didn’t give you chills, didn’t make you wonder what the hell happened.

you don’t even need a murder mystery to make it interesting. season 2 was my favorite season, and there was no murder mystery — samuel had gone missing. his disappearance and the interrogation scenes were interesting, no one saw the guzmán teamup coming or his relationship with carla. it was exciting and thrilling and this season did not have that even a little bit.

solid plot twist. i’ll give them that. i did not really see that whole armando storyline coming, although i did figure out he had something to do w it because they kept him around for so long.

at the end after guzmán shot that mf in the back i was like NO DONT LEAVE THE BODY?? and then i saw he and samu and someone else i think (i don’t even remember man) dropped his body into the lake. i liked that, reminded me of the trophy.

the fuck is up with the fasion getting more and more extra this season? compare the party outfits from season 1 to the ones we have now. a little extra is good, but now they’re just plain ugly. anyway s1 and s2 fashion >>>

that one scene in the restaurant where guzmán spoke of marina and the way she was as a person and a daughter… that was so well written. i feel like so many people (the writers included) forgot about marina bc she was the first to die and only appeared in season 1, but still. like this teenage boy lost his sister (and so much more) in such a short span of time. i’m glad they at least acknowledged it.

dude… obviously i know that the show isn’t realistic at all but these kids have been through so much. guzmán has been through the worst shit. losing his little sister to murder and then his best friend as well? seeing him die in his fucking arms? and the other kids? they’re still teenagers man. it is beyond wild to think that they’d be as carefree as they were displayed to be this season.

obviously that joke rebe made in the short story about not being able to take any more interrogations and murders and shit was, well, a joke, and it was delivered well, but if you think about it… come ON. they’ve been through hell and back. the show has never been just light-hearted, it has dealt with several serious issues and deaths and murders and things like that. these kids are broken. why couldn’t they have shown more of that? or at least acknowledged it a little? have someone go to fucking therapy??

i thought overall the whole season was underwhelming. kinda boring.

before the season came out, someone said that they didn’t think the show could thrive without carla, lu, nadia, valerio, polo… and i agree now.

i feel like this season had such a different vibe than the previous seasons. not in a good way.

i miss season 1 and 2 man. those seasons had the best mystery, the best vibe, the best cast. i don’t just miss carla, lu, polo, valerio, nadia… i miss christian and nano as well.

even the soundtracks of the previous seasons were better. i’m sorry to sound this negative in the whole review but man i waited so long for the new season only to be disappointed.

you could consider this a small rant. might add more later.

[criticallyacclaimedstranger]

Fic: Wild

Rating: Explicit

Fandom: Triple Frontier

Relationship: Francisco 'Catfish' Morales x You (established relationship, no kids)

Tags/warnings: PinV sex and some light unintended violence but nobody gets hurt, not even feelings. fLuFf. Idek what I am anymore.

Summary: Sometimes, accidents happen, even in the throes of passion. Good thing Frankie has a sense of humour.

”Coming to bed?” You sit up on the couch and stretch, yawning a little. Frankie hums, not looking away from the TV screen.

”Depends. You in the mood?”

”You’re gonna have to try a little harder than that, lazy ass...” You elbow him playfully, which does inspire him enough to turn his attention away from the show he’s watching.

”I think we’ve been together long enough not to dance around the subject,” he grins, reaching for you but not fast enough; you’re already on your feet and walking out of the living-room. You turn around by the door to give him a wink.

”If you promise foreplay’s not going to be as underwhelming as that, then yeah, I’m game.”

”Just gimme a sec, then.”

You have time to brush your teeth and get into bed before Frankie comes upstairs, and he doesn’t disappoint when it comes to the foreplay. His moves may be familiar to you but they never get boring. He starts with an old school makeout session, kissing you until you’re breathless, caressing the hills and dales of your body. Proceeding to licking, kissing, and biting your nipples before going down on you, he makes you squirm with intense pleasure. He stops only to ask if it is underwhelming enough for you.

”If you stop now, I’ll punch you,” you whine, and he happily continues until the orgasm tears through you and leaves you gasping for breath. When he finally slams into you, hands on your knees and spreading your legs wide apart, you’re quivering with anticipation. Your head is thrown back at the impact, a hoarse groan escaping your lips. Frankie doesn’t give you any time to adjust but goes for it, pumping into you at a solid pace. He lets go of your knees and lowers over you, taking your arms up above your head and locking them there, effectively trapping you underneath him while purposefully fucking you, steadily and smoothly. You savour his lips and the prickle of his facial hair on the sensitive skin of your neck, and you put your hips into motion to meet his thrusts, letting your body move with his. Sex with Frankie may be predictable and safe sometimes, but that doesn’t make it bad. On the contrary: you always know you’ll have a good time and one, often several, orgasms. Holding back your loudest moans so as not to alert the entire apartment building, you are vocal nevertheless, communicating your pleasure to Frankie, as if he didn’t know from your flushed body and the way you keep squeezing your inner walls around him.

”Fuck, baby, that’s good,” he huffs and lets go of your arms to prop himself up with one elbow on each side of you. He kisses you breathlessly and does a series of quick, deep thrusts that pin you to the mattress. You keen, snaking your arms around his shoulders and digging your nails into his skin.

”Don’t – stop!”

Frankie grunts from the exertion but keeps the fast pace up before coming up onto his hands and really going to town on you with fast, shallow thrusts. You reach down between the two of you to rub your clit, your body tensing up and lower lip caught between your teeth to keep your voice down.

”Come on, baby, cum for me,” Frankie coaxes you, his voice strangled. ”Come on, come on –”

You press your fingers to your clit and throw your head back with a low moan, lightning bolts zapping up and down your spine and your pussy clenching around Frankie’s cock. He growls, and gives you a few last, deep pushes, finishing with a forceful slam that makes you shout out in surprise. Your hand, guided by some strange instinct directly connected to that last smash of his hips against yours, flies up, balled into a fist, and connects with Frankie’s face. The strike is not delivered with much strength but the abruptness makes Frankie call out and topple over.

”Fuck!”

Still reeling from the orgasm, it takes you a second to understand what happened, but as soon as you realize that you actually hit him, you sit up.

”Jesus christ, Frankie, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?”

He’s staring at you in disbelief, a frown lining his forehead vertically, one hand gingerly cupping his cheek. You put one hand on his knee and reach the other to his face, putting it gently over his.

”Did I hurt you?” you ask despondently.

”You hit me!” There is more wonder than anger in his voice.

”I didn’t do it on purpose, I swear, baby, I’m so, so sorry!” you reassure him, desperate to make him see that it really was an accident. You roll over onto your side of the bed and reach to turn on the bedside lamp. In the soft light, you turn back to Frankie, who’s now looking incredibly smug with a cocksure, broad smile.

”I know you’re wild but baby, that was on a whole ’nother level.”

”Stop joking, Frankie, are you okay?” You scan his cheek for signs of injury, finding none.

”I’m fine, don’t worry.” He chuckles. ”You hit like a girl.”

You bristle, forgetting your worry.

”I can try again and make it harder,” you say acidly. ”Glad you find this amusing. I was really worried and I felt awful!”

”Ah, c’mon, baby,” Frankie tries, scooting over next to your and kissing your shoulder. ”I got a right to tease you, you did actually punch me in the face.”

He looks up at you and to your infinite consternation you see that he can barely keep back his laughter.

”While cumming!” he adds with delight. You sigh, rolling your eyes. Relieved that he’s okay, you’re starting to feel less bad about punching him. Should’ve punched him harder, knock some sense into him.

”Is this going to be one of those things that you won’t let go of?” you ask in a resignated voice.

”You bet.”

”Thought so. Well, since you’re okay, I’m gonna sleep now.”

You lie down on your side of the bed and plump up the pillow before setting your head on it with finality. Pulling up the cover, you demonstratively hog more than you need of it. Frankie stretches out behind you with a deep sigh that you ignore. Your last orgasm was cut short and you’re not experiencing that wonderful, slack, post-coital feeling you usually enjoy after sex, and it’s making you crabby. Besides, there was no need for Frankie to be like that. You were genuinely concerned, and he just made fun of you...

You notice a tiny ripple in the mattress, and a sniffing sound from next to you. You turn around quickly and glare at Frankie while trying not to let the corners of your own mouth go up, because his mirth is contagious.

”You asshole!”

”I can live with that,” he wheezes, and give him a gentle slap on the arm and poking a finger between his ribs, causing him to yelp.

”I’ll jab you in the chin soon if you don’t stop!”

”I’m terrified of you now,” he admits, wrapping his arms around you. He’s still smirking when he kisses you and you slowly drag a finger over his cheek.

”Are you sure you’re okay?” you ask softly.

”For the last time, yes,” he promises you, with equal tenderness. ”You caught me by surprise, is all.” He chuckles, sliding one hand down to your ass. ”You made me shrivel up pretty fast. Barely got to finish.”

”If it makes you feel any better, I got cut off as well,” you confess.

”It does a little, actually.”

Softly, your hand seeks him out under the covers.

”I feel like I owe you,” you whisper before kissing him, and he has absolutely no objections.

Later, when you’re almost asleep, he murmurs in your ear:

”I’m gonna bring home field gear from the base. Let you really go to town on me.”

”Not funny...”

”I just like the way you say sorry, that’s all.”

”Good night.” You turn around and fall asleep.

[bluesfortheredj]

A little extra to love.

Smut ahead.

A/N: Here we are; the last ever request. What an odd thing to type! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

The towel you’d wrapped around yourself in the bathroom gapes open at your stomach and you can feel the cool air on your skin before you quickly grab both sides of it and hold it together to preserve some sort of dignity as you rush across the landing to your bedroom. Ben was downstairs watching the telly while you were getting ready after a long day at work, and the thought of him catching a glimpse of you in this sorry state was stomach churning. You sit down on your bed and the towel opens up completely with absolutely no hope of bringing the two ends together across your protruding belly and a for a moment you sit there with tears stinging the back of your eyes at how disgusting you felt. It had been a tough year thanks to the pandemic, but what was even tougher for you was the weight you’d gained throughout your time at home; you were already big enough at the beginning of the year but now that you were two stone heavier you felt completely defeated. All you wore these days were men’s XXL t-shirts with jogging bottoms or leggings, and most of your wardrobe had been chucked out as soon as a charity bag had been posted through your door due to half of it not even fitting any more.

“You alright up there?” Ben calls out after a few minutes of you wallowing.

“Yeah… um, I don’t think I can go tonight though… I’m not feeling very well.”

“Oh love, is there anything I can do?” he asks as you hear him ascending the stairs.

“Uh, no, no, it’s okay. I’ll be down in a minute.”

“How about I make you a cup of tea?” he offers.

“That would be perfect.”

His footsteps retreat back down the few steps he’d climbed and you breathe a long sigh of relief as you look down at your excess paunch that had grown significantly the last few months. You’d been both jubilant and hesitant at reuniting with Ben after such a long time apart, especially as you could hide your extra chins on a video call, but he’d been as sweet as he was the day he asked if you wanted to be with him, and he somehow didn’t flinch at the sight of you. You quickly get dressed into your oversized pyjamas and head downstairs to find Ben already settled into the sofa with a steaming cup of tea waiting for you on the coffee table.

“How are you feeling?”

You hold your hand out flat and shake it from side to side to indicate you were feeling a little dodgy, then he reaches out a hand to your face and gently tucks your hair behind your ear.

“You do look a little pale,” he worries.

“Think it might be a migraine coming on,” you shrug, “I don’t know.”

“Well then I guess we’ll just be staying here and cuddling on the sofa,” he smiles, “and after months of not being able to do that with you, I’m certainly not complaining.”

A hesitant smile from you greets his excited grin, and he frowns a little at your underwhelmed reaction to the fact you’d be snuggled up with your boyfriend all evening but he lets it go and puts it down to you not feeling your best. You lean forward to the table to pick up your mug and adjust your top by pulling it away from your body as you sit back up again, making sure that none of the fabric got caught in your folds. The steam from your tea wafts up into your face when you lightly blow on the liquid and you keep your eyes focused on the television in front of you as Ben shuffles a little closer so he can drape his arm around your shoulders. He was a naturally tactile person whereas you were quite the opposite, but it still didn’t excuse the times you’d rejected his intimate advances purely for the reason that you didn’t want him to see what was lurking beneath your clothes.

“Relax babe,” he says quietly before kissing the side of your head, “I can feel how tense you are, it can’t be helping your head.”

You put your now empty mug back on the coaster on the table and lean back against his arm then purposely drop your shoulders to try and relax into the side of his body, and he brings his other arm over so his hand can rest on your thigh. His touch is soft, as if a blanket had just been placed across your lap, and it’s just as comforting too after being deprived of it for so very long. His fingers begin to tap a little before he gives your leg a purposely slow squeeze then he moves up just an inch and repeats the action but adds a kiss to your temple this time, and your eyes close at the feel of his hand moving higher while his kisses move lower until his lips press against yours while his fingers squeeze down between your thighs and rub along the outside of your pyjamas.

“Ben,” you moan involuntarily against his mouth.

“Mhmm,” he hums.

Your eyes fly open as you finally recognise the situation and you gasp as you pull away from him, “sorry, I can’t… sorry.”

You rise from the couch to take your mug into the kitchen as Ben looks on with a baffled frown; this wasn’t the first time you’d rejected his advances and after such a long time apart the only conclusion that made sense to him was that you must have completely gone off the idea of being with him during lockdown. He quietly follows you out to find you standing at the sink staring out of the window listlessly, and he clears his throat to gain your attention.

“If, uh, if you’re feelings have changed then you just need to say,” he mumbles, avoiding eye contact and choosing to look around the room instead, “I can leave if you want me-”

“Ben, I’m fat,” you interrupt him.

“What?” he scoffs.

“I don’t like you touching me because I’m… overweight, fat, obese, whatever you wanna call it. I’m that. And I don’t want you to feel all… this. Not before lockdown, and especially not now.”

“I… wait… are you serious?”

“Yes of course I am.”

“So… wait a minute… why do you think I asked you out in the first place then?”

“I really have no idea,” you sigh.

“Oh my god, (Y/N), come on! I fancy the pants off you! That’s why.”

You shake your head and scoff at his comment then attempt to walk past him but he blocks your path quite defiantly and wraps his arms around your body no matter how much you fight against the comforting embrace.

“Hey, would you please stop trying to wriggle away?!” he says, his muscular arms tightening a little more around you.

A defeated sigh is breathed into his t-shirt as you finally give up on trying to escape his cuddle, but you keep your arms by your sides in one last attempt at trying to show him you weren’t completely giving in yet, and he laughs a little as he rocks you from side to side.

“So this is why you keep pushing me away, huh?” he mutters into your hair, “well I’m relieved that it’s not because you’ve gone off me, and I’m also pretty glad that you didn’t succeed in trying to get rid of me.”

He leans back and holds you at arms length before moving the hair back from your face so he could see you properly, and you avert your eyes from his intense gaze in embarrassment. His hands leave your body and you look up at him just as he lifts his top up and pulls it over his head to then throw it onto a kitchen chair behind you, then your eyes move leisurely over his torso from his stomach until they reach his plump lips.

“Everyone seems to think I have a constant six pack,” he sighs, turning sideways and placing a hand on his small tummy, “as you can see, that is very much not true. I just really love food,” he shrugs with a wobble of his stomach.

“But that’s cute… mine is bleurgh.”

“Bleurgh?” he questions with a single raised eyebrow, “can I at least judge for myself?”

“I really don’t want you seeing my stretch marks Ben.”

“Then blindfold me.”

“What?!” you half laugh.

“If you don’t want me to see them then cover my eyes, but please let me touch you.”

Your mouth opens, then closes, then opens again as you try to get your head around what he’s suggesting, and he gently takes your hands before leading you upstairs to your bedroom.

“Ah!” he exclaims excitedly when he sees a silk scarf hanging from the door of your wardrobe, “perfect. Here; blindfold me,” he winks, handing you the scarf.

“Uh… right...”

He sits down on the bed and you kneel behind him before holding the piece of soft fabric between your hands and lowering it over his face to cover his eyes then eventually secure it at the back of his head.

“I’m gonna say this now before it actually happens; if I get an erection during this then please feel free to ignore it,” he forewarns.

“Do you think you will?”

“My hands on your body… yeah, I’m pretty sure I will.”

“Oh,” you giggle, startling yourself at the fact that a girlish laugh just escaped your lips.

Your weight shifts on the bed as you move to stand up again, then you quickly switch the light off and take your position in front of Ben who now has his legs wide open for you to stand in between, and your heart rate quickens as he tentatively lifts his arms for you to take his hands. There’s a few seconds as you hesitate, but you guide his hands to the waist band of your pyjama trousers and he hooks his finger tips inside the elastic so he can pull them down slowly. They drop to the floor then you step out of them as Ben’s feather light touch glides over your legs; up and down your calves the around your thighs where he massages your skin, and he leans forward to press gentle kisses along the dimpled surface. His hands blindly feel their way up over your underwear and swiftly pull that down out of the way, then continue their journey under the cover of your top while his lips caress the skin you were so ashamed of as it hangs down above your thighs with nothing covering it for once.

“Can I take off my blindfold?” Ben whispers; his lips tickling your tummy.

You look around the room and how much light from the landing is coming through the gap in the door, then carefully pull one end of the neat little bow you’d made with the scarf so that it slips from his face, and he’s left blinking into the dim light as his eyes adjust.

“Wow,” he exhales as his hands run up and down your sides to lift your top and give him just a glimpse of your flabby pouch; this was not the reaction you were expecting.

He lets go of you briefly to wriggle out of his jeans without moving you away too much, then he pushes himself up the bed so that he’s leaning his back on the headboard with only his boxers covering his growing bulge.

“Do you want to come and sit?” he asks, patting the thigh that was nearest to you.

You nod in response and pull your top down to cover the bottom of your stomach then get on the bed and crawl up to where Ben sits with a knee either side of his leg.

“You’re so beautiful,” he sighs as one hand slides up your thigh and the other caresses your face, “you don’t even realise how beautiful you are do you?”

“I’m not,” you reply shyly as you lean into his touch.

“But you are,” he insists, “I love these,” he pauses to look down at your thigh as he squeezes it, “and this,” he strokes the part of your stomach that hangs lower than the rest, “and everything about this,” he smiles as he looks up at your face; his thumb sweeping across your cheek gently, “and I’ve been dreaming about the day I can show you just how much when mere words are not enough.”

“Ben,” you chuckle self consciously.

“It’s true! Now come closer,” he invites, dropping his hand from your face to your hip and guiding you forwards as far as you can go, “do you want to keep that on?” he asks, tugging at the hem of your top.

He’s met with a nod and gives you a warm smile in return, then he weaves his fingers through your hair and pulls you in for a kiss as he bends his knee slightly to press his thigh against your exposed lips. You hum with pleasure at the feel of some pressure against you, then he allows one hand to travel down your back and come to a rest on your cheeks so he can encourage you to move back and forth along his leg; your slit naturally opening up wider and allowing your sweet spot to rub against the skin. Your hands are resting on his shoulders for stability but you take one away and drag it down his torso until your fingers are able to pull the waistband of his boxers away from his body and release his erection; your hand immediately wrapping around his length once it’s free and working its way up and down the shaft with your thumb circling his tip at every opportunity it gets.

“Mhmm,” Ben purrs into your mouth as his hips twitch.

Everything feels so natural with him and even though this was your first time being intimate with one another it felt as if you knew each other’s bodies already, and when Ben diverts his kisses down along your jaw and onto your neck where he gently nibbles at your skin you can’t help but allow a moan to erupt from your throat. You can feel his finger tips digging into the soft flesh of your backside as he motivates you to move a little faster and your body responds to his touch almost instantaneously with your hand sliding along his member to match the pace that you’ve set. Pants, moans and whines fill the room along with a warm, damp atmosphere thanks to the heat your bodies were creating, and you’re soon both completely lost in the moment without a thought for anything else until Ben rests his head on your shoulder and stills as his excitement drips over your hand. You carry on stroking him slowly while your own climax builds inside but soon you have rest your hand on his stomach as your core tightens like a spring, then releases with a series of pulsations that cause a short moan to escape with each one.

“Wow,” he repeats once more.

“Yeah,” you agree breathlessly.

The two of you clean up before sinking down onto the bed in a sleepy, tangled mess and the glow of the bliss you’d just both experienced seems to add more light to the room as Ben kisses your head between strokes of your hair. His other hand slips underneath your top and rests on your stomach where his thumb runs small, comforting circles right over one of your stretch marks, and a smile spreads across your lips at the meaningful gesture.

could you do a fic where Ben and the reader have been dating but she is very insecure about being overweight and they haven't been physical yet because of it. But Ben won't give up on her and finally convinces her that he really loves her and it ends in smut when they finally sleep together and its super fluffy, passionate and romantic?

@lv7867 @aynsleywalker @pink-lemo @itisjustmethistime @mamaskillerqueen @queenslandlover-93

[kpopmakesmequestionmylifechoices]

Kingdom Round 3: "Plagiarism", rigged voting and fanwars.

[Disclaimer: It is possible that for fans of certain groups I'll come off as offensive. I like each of the groups, I possess albums of TBZ, SF9 & SKZ, and I watched HOURS of content/debut programs of ALL the participating groups. Nevertheless, I will ALWAYS say my honest opinion. If you want to fight me, you're ofc allowed to do so but I hope you're all mature enough to not feel offended by opinions.]

Act 1: Tbz, where do your ideas come from?

So what I've noticed is that there's a massive difference between tbz behind the scenes and other groups'. Not only in this episode. So far, tbz simply DID NOT show how they create ideas, stages, how they practice. They picked a song, fooled around, and then met up with RTK members. It was cute sure, but it had NOTHING to do with the stage. The other groups showed practice scenes, showed their ideation process, showed who taught them and how. The boyz didn't. No practice, no ideation. Only song choice. We didn't see them practicing the choreo, we didn't see how they even got the idea for this stage. Their behind the scenes footage sadly has NOTHING to do with their performance. I really wish we could see them practicing and coming up with ideas.

Another big problem I see with this, is that they literally don't explain where their ideas come from. Now for people who know Game of Thrones (GoT hereafter), it probably appears rather obvious that the previous and also this stage was inspired by GoT, right? The white walkers? Ice and fire? The throne? The freaking red wedding??? I can't be the only one who sees a connection between their stages and GoT. ATEEZ said they were inspired by Pirates of the Carribbean. SF9 said they were inspired by film noir and showed how they worked with an actor on their storyline. iKON explained how they associate inception with dreams and put together their ideas. But TBZ didn't freaking talk about any of this. Either it was never recorded, or it never was aired. In any way, it's extremely suspicious in my eyes. Moreover it's just pretty shit to not say where your idea comes from. Especially not when you even name your stage after the iconic red wedding... Now IF they were NOT inspired by GoT, then it would be some... extremely huge coincidences... especially the stage title is just a bit too much tbh. But more to that stage later.

Edit: It came to my knowledge that according to deobis, Cre.Ker will post the content after Kingdom on tbz social media. Whoever took that decision needs to be fired tbh. If the content will be released, I'll link to it and add some few words to it.

Act 2: The good, the bad, and ... All hail king Juyeon?

Let's talk about the performances now.

SF9: What I dislike is the fact that as I stated in my previous Kingdom post, they are forced to do such dramatic musical/movie stages to even be recognized as part of the show. Moreover, I found it weird and unfitting that they held guns during the group dance parts, to me it seemed a bit off. Also, at times, their energy level seemed a bit low.

What I liked is that even tho it was a MASSIVE set, the performance still was extremely easy to understand and follow. They all looked insanely good tho, SF9 simply is mature and manly. I liked the concept, it was fresh because it for once had no fantasy vibe but actual criminal mafia energy. My favourite parts were Jaeyoon's fighting scenes because they were very well choreographed. Altogether, I really enjoyed it and also found it interesting how they referred to the Boyz crown scenes on RTK.

The Boyz: In my eyes, this is already the second GoT inspired concept they did. Not a fan of this. Moreover, I'm a bit pissed that it looks as if they are selling all that as their own ideas. As I said before, I believe this is GoT inspired, the name at least definitely was - but it's never said that the inspiration comes from there, because we literally have no information about where their ideas come from and if it's even their own ideas. To me it has the bitter aftertaste of wanting to hide sth the viewers aren't supposed to see. But this is not tbz fault but the fault of whoever writes/directs/edits their footage.

With the title of the stage given, I actually thought I'd see a wedding. But what I've seen was a woman in a bird cage. And then many more women. I failed to see what this all had to do with a wedding, and I moreover failed to see the connection to "THE" red wedding. And I failed to understand the plot once again, and because they didn't explain it beforehand, I'll never understand it.

What I liked is that the performance was way less dramatic than it was ever before. It didn't seem like a stunt show anymore, it didn't seem overdramatic anymore. It was easier to focus on the performance. Sadly, I noticed that this "downgraded" (aka slow-paced and less dramatic) stage was unfortunately underwhelming in comparison with what they did before - which was sth I predicted from beginning on. At some point you can't go bigger anymore, and if you tone it down it'll automatically seem underwhelming.

Edit: It's sad that they have this pressure to outperform themselves because they've won RTK. But honestly, it was clear that the winner would have this pressure on them. I don't see why I would pity them for this, after all, each of the groups feel pressured anyways and I rather feel sorry for ALL groups together because this whole ranking/competition thing is just unnecessarily stressful. But once again, I don't understand why you all blame MNET for this. Don't forget that the companies have contracts with MNET and knew that shit would go down. If you blame any bigger instances, then please also the companies who put their idols on the show. It's not like they got forced to make their groups participate.

My biggest criticism this time however is the fact that they give the most screentime to Juyeon (and Sunwoo because of the rap parts), and the rest of the members barely appear, or basically aren't shown at all. I already felt before that there was a strong focus on Juyeon, but now it's srly showing very clearly. I really like Juyeon, but I don't find it fair. I think that doesn't do justice to the other members, which deserve screentime as well. In conclusion, tbz on kingdom is an extreme mess in my eyes, with lots of communication- and management flaws.

iKON: I belong to the group of people who heavily prefers THANXX over inception, so I was a bit sceptical about the song choice. They really made a YG version out of this tho, I was pretty impressed. The stage concept was pretty nice, iKON surely knows how to use light. Now the stage seemed very inspired by Inception (the movie) which makes a lot of sense - but wasn't communicated either. Just mentioning this because I critisized tbz earlier, so I think the same applies here to some degree. I didn't recognize the song anymore tho but I found it pretty refreshing. In my eyes they did the best so far in making another group's song their own. This could have been an iKON song for sure. As always, a fun stage.

My personal ranking will follow after the other stages.

Act 3: About cheating and faking.

The Voting looks as follows:

Views: 1. SKZ 2. iKON 3. ATEEZ 4. BTOB 5. TBZ 6. SF9

Online Voting: 1. SKZ 2. SF9 3. iKON 4. BTOB 5. ATEEZ 6. TBZ

Btw if anyone knows the overall voting, please comment or send a message, because I somehow missed it?

I said it before, and I say it again, this entire voting is rigged and I totally don't care about it anymore at this point because it's absolutely not trustable. Experts didn't know about the budget differences, who even are the experts, why did SF9 get zero on-site votes, and then ofc the fans who created 50 accounts to vote...this voting is a joke. What I can totally not understand is how ATEEZ and TBZ can rank last for online voting. Sth seems off here to me, especially the fact that SF9 ranks last in views but ranks 2nd in votes? I'm sorry to say this but I think that's the result of the ZZZ fanwar. My assumption is that there must be a big mass of people who purposely voted NOT for TBZ & ATEEZ, and my guess is - no offence - that those were stays. In accordance with the fanwar, they didn't give their 2 other votes to the other ZZZ groups but to whatever other group. Or in general the ZZZ fandoms purposely not voting for each other. That would explain extremely well why SF9 could suddenly rank 2nd. I'm tired of this voting, of fanwars and all this drama and I decided to not care about the official voting anymore.

If you got to this point, I wanna let you know that I feel very blessed that you made it through this long post hahaha. Thanks! And for the next week, I expect BIG THINGS. I'm the most excited for BTOB. Them covering back door is the most absurd thing I've imagined for a long time hahahaha. But Eunkwang with tattoos really is a good sight, isn't it ;)?

[appleflavoredkitkats]

Do you have any more info on the fiance situation in Las Nevadas au? :-D or just anything in that au in general (only if you want tho sbajjdkfL) since its vv cool <3 /p

▪︎Beep

i've talked about the fiances before but i'm down to expound on it a little further :DDD this is kinda half assed but still long so MSJDJD

tw: self-destructive behavior, memory loss, breakups (not too horrible i promise)

/dsmp /rp

quackity is definitely immensely hurt by his loved ones leaving him. it ruins him. he feels like his heart is left to bleed out every single day he sees that no one from the south is coming over. he has a telescope atop his hotel, the tallest building, which he uses to look closely at the south (where kinoko kingdom lies). on his free days, or sometimes in the afternoon when he doesn't attend the events, he sits on the roof and looks out at a distance.

i think the longest he's been out on the roof was when karl messaged their chat through the communicator. it was a simple “where am i”, and quackity was quick to respond. he instructs karl to go to las nevadas, assuming he was lost, so he basically cancelled every gig he had to observe his surroundings.

(turns out, he never came. quackity sat on that roof for 15 hours before he was pulled away by fundy.)

but their abandonment was never intentional. quackity knows there has to be something more to it, but it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.

he at least also got word from sapnap. after much encouragement from schlatt, quackity finally was brave enough to send him a message. first, he sent a simple “sapnap? where have you been”, then a more desperate “what happened to us?”.

sapnap replies almost immediately that it threw quackity off, “been around, adventuring, getting away from things.” then the second one took a bit longer, “not gonna lie, i thought our engagement was off ever since we kinda. stopped talking to one another. you kind of left us, didn't you?”

and quackity is hurt. he's baffled, he's irritated, but he's fucking livid. schlatt has told him multiple times that he needs to control his anger a little bit better, but in times like this, no matter how petty it may be, he wanted to fucking wreck his room. and so he did— first he threw his communicator against the wall. it was still salvageable, so quackity decided to grab his glowstone lamp and toss it against the communicator. he flips his dresser, throwing it against his bed, and it bounces off and destroys his cabinet. when he looks at his right, he sees a window, and he raises his fist to punch—

and someone is grabbing back. “q, quackity, alex, please,” schlatt pleads. when did schlatt get to his room? “come on, self-destruction is my kind of thing,” schlatt adds, and it summons a smile from quackity's lips before a sob tears out. and it doesn't stop. quackity cries— and he doesn't cry often, especially in front of his coworkers or family or whatever they are. he hates it, he hates emotions— he tried to fucking suppress it all in las nevadas because all of this, all of these casinos and hotels and bars are meant to be his coping mechanism, his distraction. the tears always finds a way to seep through, though.

eventually, they do crumble to the ground, and they sit like that for a while. quackity crying against schlatt's blazer as schlatt merely rubs comforting circles on his back. eventually, fundy does come in with some snacks and a deck of cards, and it was enough for quackity to at least feel better for the rest of the day.

on another day, where quackity was supposed to have fun partying around and doing the same old shit he does every other day, a mysterious green, whorled portal appears in the middle of his casino. most of the staff and the customers stand back, but from the portal, a white-clad brunette falls from it. he doesn't look all to phased by his fall, but when he stands, he realizes the predicament he's in and immediately stiffens awkwardly.

quackity knows him. that's karl— the karl who somehow disappeared from the server for so long that quackity forgot he even fucking existed. what happened to him? why is he all white? why have his eyes become spirals? what's going on?

“hi,” karl greets casually, but his eyebrows are furrowed awkwardly, “uhm, where am i?”

“karl?” quackity says immediately. he stands in uncertainty before fundy nudges at him to go closer whispering “talk to karl, i'll be in charge of the event.” fundy claps twice and immediately announces that their slot machines will double in payout for the next hour, and the crowd immediately goes wild. karl seems a bit lost by the noise, but quackity quickly grabs him away from the crowds and out to the streets.

“gee, those people were. eager to waste their money. gosh darn rich people,” karl says, and quackity laughs, but his smile immediately drops when karl adds,” nevermind them, i guess, but uh, who are you, exactly?"

and quackity's heart churns. he's heard of a few memory loss cases in their server—it's quite scary to hear how common it's become to just lose yourself entirely—but he didn't think it'd apply to karl. he doesn't even know where karl has BEEN all this time. what happened? why does karl not remember? does sapnap know about this?

quackity decides to not reveal much immediately, so he puts on his typical charming façade and replies, “i'm quackity, or alex, any will do. i'm the owner of this place— las nevadas. it's a place for gambling, drinking, and well, fun! do you, uh, do you remember me?"

quackity sees karl visibly shift awkwardly, and it does summon a sigh out of quackity. “guess you don't, huh?” he says sardonically.

“time travelling kinda... ruins you, sometimes,” karl replies

time travelling...? is... is that what made karl leave? not make karl remember? when in the ever living hell did karl, the nicest, sweetest man he knows, ever been allowed to time travel?

“oh,” he just says instead, “well, uh, i was a close friend of yours."

"oh?" karl replies, “kinda like uhm, uh, do you know sapnap? or george."

damn. quackity's façade immediately melts— how does he know about them and not HIM? why did karl remember them and not quackity? why was he forgotten? quackity immediately hisses, turns away and responds, “i'm giving you a free hotel room for the night and i'm calling sap to pick you up. just walk seventy blocks to your right and talk to manifold, or something, christ you fucking irritate me.” he knows karl probably won't understand, and he knows he's breaking this already broken relationship even more, but he can't... he can't look at them the same way anymore.

karl does get to a hotel room, and quackity does visit him just to make sure everything is alright. thankfully, fundy did repair his communicator after his last tantrum, and he uses it to tell sapnap to pick karl up from las nevadas. sapnap doesn't ask where it is— he simply tells him “ok” and goes offline.

when sapnap arrives, he doesn't look as miffed as quackity expected him to be. he looks... well, definitely more composed than him and karl, but he still looked a bit tired. he has some new scars, but quackity guesses sapnap probably wasn't lying when he said he was out adventuring. before quackity could greet sap, sapnap enters the room abruptly and karl practically throws himself at sapnap.

and jealousy is a fickle thing, isn't it? quackity's heart is still torn, it's still bleeding, and it continues to do so the longer he stares at the sight of the other two. he withholds a scowl, mostly because he knows he might go on another temper tantrum if he doesn't, and he also knows he can't... he can't get mad at them. he's waited forever for this moment.

“wow,” quackity murmurs, and sap turns to him, “things really have changed."

sapnap sighs, “we built you a house in kinoko, but you never came."

"and i made las nevadas entirely for you as well." quackity responds, “i guess it's just... unfortunate timing, and all." it's silent for a few moments until, “i'm sorry”.

sapnap's look softens, “i'm— i'm sorry too.”

there's so much more words to say, things to clarify, stories to catch up on, but quackity wonders how worth it it is to cling onto his past. karl and sap's visit is quite... underwhelming, to say the least. but maybe it isn't underwhelming at all— maybe he just found a new purpose outside of them, and he's just... moved on. it hurt, obviously, but when he looks out of karl's hotel room window, he sees las nevadas. he sees the casinos he's designed for schlatt and fundy, and the bars he's designed for jack and sam, and the stages he's designed for charlie— it's just... different now. he loves karl and sapnap still, of course, but he's also been hurt by them, and he's grown into a different person from that hurt. he thinks sapnap has grown the same way as well.

but still, “you know you're invited to las nevadas if you ever want to visit again,” quackity offers with a melancholic smile.

sapnap sighs, but he mimics quackity's smile and nods, “i'll consider it.” sapnap pauses for a bit, then, “thank you for everything, quackity— i really do mean it. i hope... i hope you enjoy the life you've made for yourself here, kinda looks cool,” sapnap says, and his words were very soft and genuine— something quackity needed to end this chapter of his life with them.

“thank you too, i hope you guys do well too. take care,” quackity says, and sapnap and karl take their leave with simple goodbyes.

it isn't exactly forgiveness or getting back together but it's... closure. quackity's journey up to this point isn't exactly all smiles and rainbows, but he's happy where he is now. he just hopes sapnap, karl, and george are feeling the same as well.

[logically-asexual]

Hold me like you mean it

summary:

Logan’s feelings for Virgil and the fact that now Virgil barely notices him are stopping him from getting any work done. Janus offers a way for Logan to cope, by disguising himself into Anxiety. but is this really what Logan needs? and what’s in it for Janus, anyway?

Alternatively, an angsty story about rejection, denial, and manipulation.

warnings: (for the whole fic) unrequited love, rejection, manipulation, unhealthy relationships, gaslighting, dependency, dubious consent and non consent for kissing, sad ending, depression (vaguely described), angst in general, nightmares. let me know what else i should add.

taglist: @gummibearbullet @chara-07 @the-sympathetic-villain

Read on AO3

Chapter 3

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words: 1057

The next few days were stressful, to put it lightly. Logan couldn’t focus on his work properly, constantly bothered by thoughts about Virgil. Sometimes they were pleasant, when he contemplated the possibility of Virgil actually responding to his advances and planned for when they could be close again. But the thoughts would instantly become distressing, once he remembered the likelihood of Janus’ argument being true. Normally, he wouldn’t consider whatever idea that came from Janus as truthful. However, given the evidence in front of him, he couldn’t just rule out the possibility.

The idea of Janus’ theory being accurate distressed him for several reasons. One, his work was being disturbed by Virgil’s presence in his mind, which could be solved if Logan simply wanted to establish dialogue with him, but if he really had romantic attraction for the anxious Side, then there was a very limited assortment of solutions. Two, these “solutions” would be practically impossible to achieve, since Virgil was closed off and would never consent to a relationship as intimate as the one Logan wanted (or would want, he corrected, in the hypothetical case that he did have a crush). Three, feelings were not his department, and he would have to admit to himself that if he didn’t know how to handle or acknowledge his own, much less would he be able to help with Virgil’s anxiety.

Each day was less productive than the last, and each day Logan became more aware of the faint signs towards a crush being the real problem. He had carried on with his plan, which meant their discussions went on smoothly, and he and Anxiety often reached helpful conclusions for Thomas. And yet, Logan felt hurt every time Virgil smiled towards anyone else, while not glancing towards him at all, or when Virgil agreed with a point Logan had brought up only when Thomas or one of the other Sides repeated it. It pained him to admit it, but despite the successful results he had gotten with Virgil, Logan still couldn’t work well by himself, and needed an outlet for these… feelings.

After several failed attempts to clear his mind and sleep, he gave up, and resolved to stop his emotions from getting in his way. With that decision made, he stood up from his bed and summoned the deceitful Side, who appeared by his desk.

“Logic! So lovely to see you. Although I would appreciate it if you didn’t interrupt me during my beauty sleep.”

Logan knew this wasn’t true, the Dark Sides had a flipped sleep schedule, and slept for most of the day, which was the reason why Virgil still had a hard time sleeping the whole night through. Refuting this wasn’t important right now, though, so he ignored it.

“Anyway,” Janus continued, examining his hands as if he could see his nails underneath the yellow gloves, “I assume I’m here because you are ready to accept my offer?”

“Yes.” Logan sighed. “I seem to be stuck and I can’t think of a better alternative.”

“Excellent!” Janus said, smirking.

“But not right now! I still need to sleep. I just needed to be done with this so I could stop thinking about it.”

“Alright. Then I’ll see you in my room tomorrow at six pm. Don’t be late, sweetheart.” He finished with a wink. After he left, Logan went back to bed.

—

Logan was sitting comfortably next to Virgil on the couch of Anxiety’s room. He could feel the pressure of the other’s body sitting so close to him. He remembered he wanted to tell Virgil something, but no words could come out of his mouth as Virgil softly held his chin and tilted his head towards him. Suddenly, they were kissing.

Logan had never kissed anyone before, and didn’t know what to expect. The feeling was… underwhelming, to be honest. He felt the pressure on his mouth, but not much else, not any different to feeling touch in any other part of his body. He felt detached, even if it wasn’t precisely unpleasant. He closed his eyes and tried to relax his shoulders, but they still felt tense. Still, he leaned forward and let himself get lost in the sensation of being so close to Virgil. In the back of his mind, he tried to remember how he got here, it all happened so fast. Virgil kept kissing him gently, and Logan kissed him back.

He wanted to be closer, so he reached up with his right hand to hold Virgil’s neck. When he did, he was met by the cold, slippery sensation of scales. He pulled his hand away as if it had just been burned and moved back as far as he could on the couch, but when he looked at the Side in front of him, he could only see Virgil’s concerned face. He was talking to him, but Logan couldn’t make out the words, only able to hear his own heavy breathing. As the other moved closer, he could understand the faint voice better.

“Logan. Logan, it’s me. It’s alright, it’s just me.”

He shook his head and kept his eyes shut as he backed away, but Virgil continued moving closer and trying to grab him. Logan felt tears form in his eyes as he screamed at the other to get away from him, but Virgil wouldn’t listen, still calling his name. Finally, Virgil grabbed him by both of his shoulders and forced him to turn around and look him in the eyes. Logan’s heart stopped as he saw both eyes shining bright yellow, the intensity augmenting until their light was blinding. Just when his vision had gone completely white, he woke up with a gasp.

After a minute, his thoughts came back to him, and he found himself in his room, sitting on his bed. He looked at his alarm clock. It was 4:36 am. He stared at the blinking light that marked every passing second, and followed it to regulate his breathing. At 4:45, he laid back down on the mattress, staring at the ceiling and not stopping counting each cycle. He still had some time to sleep before the alarm rang at 6:00, so he closed his eyes and drifted away once more, with only one thought in his mind: What am I getting into?

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notes: >:3c

by the way my headcanon is that the Dark Sides sleep from like... 9 am to 5pm or 10 to 6 or something similar. also the reason why they like to start acting up at night (like Remus with his intrusive thoughts), when Logic is asleep and Thomas is vulnerable to them.

i'm so sorry i'm not good at like hiding stuff.. it was probably super obvious that it was a dream (and in the last chapter that it was janus all along) but also it's alright, i don't mind if you can tell from the start, i think it's compelling both with and without the surprise.

[f00tball-imagines]

Clandestine Meetings - James Rodríguez

Player: James Rodríguez

Word count: 1.280

Prompt: “Hello, can the next swap sunday projects be another part of Illciit Affairs (for you) and a sequel to Mirrorball (for Laura)? ✨” (Request by Anon)

A/N: Another Swap Sunday, another angsty James piece! ✨💗 This story is a sequel to @alltoolewin’s Mad Woman-inspired imagine 🥰 If you’re new here, you should read my Illicit Affairs fic first, though! 💖

His name lights up on my phone screen. Which lights up my pitch black bedroom. James pink heartlet-purple heartlet-sparkly heartlet. Because a single red one would have been inappropriate. I know damn well that my name in his phone isn't even a name. Just my first initial. Not even a full stop after it. A lonesome letter. Because apparently, that's much less suspicious. 

James pink heartlet-purple heartlet-sparkly heartlet wants to know whether I'm still awake at this ungodly hour. After not talking to me for two whole weeks. "Yes," I type into the message box. I'm a fucking fool for texting back. I hit send. I hit my head against the wall. I'm in love with a married man who's kicking a ball around for a living. Who possibly can't and won't love anything or anyone that isn't his daughter. I'm a fucking mess. Please, James, get a pair of glasses, another one, a better one. What do you even want from me? I can't drink from a can unless someone's asking the waiter for a straw. I can't ask waiters for straws because I'm goddamn shy. I can't. I just can't. So why can't James find himself someone better?

My phone vibrates twice. Three simple letters. A "W", a "Y" and a "D". And a lonely question mark. I don't know who's teaching him English slang, abbreviations, the cool stuff. I don't even know why he's pretending to be cool. As I said, the man kicks a ball around for a living. That's not cool. That's fucking weird, now that I'm thinking about it. 

"Nothing." What would I be doing at three in the morning? I spend my nights staring at my ceiling unless we're having sex. He knows that. "You?" Did I ask out of common courtesy or do I really want to know what's keeping him awake tonight? 

He replies right away. "I'm in bed, I just can't fall asleep."

"Try drinking some tea. That helps."

He sends me an emoji, the facepalming one. I have to laugh, I really cannot help it, but I do find it hilarious when grown-ass men unironically use anything more than just a normal smiley or the occasional thumbs up. James pink heartlet-purple heartlet-sparkly heartlet ups the ante then. "You're a pain in the ass, princesa."

"You're a pain in-" I stop in my tracks. In my fucking vagina. I delete what I've written so far, just to type it out again. "You're a pain in general, Jamesito." I find myself giggling into the darkness. "My aches are developing aches because of you." I add the one emoji with the bandaged head, then I hit send.

"Want me to kiss it better?" It should've been "you're a pain in my vagina". Definitely. 

"James, you're being silly. It's half past three. Go to sleep."

"Told you I'm fucking restless. Talk to me." Pouty puppy-eyed emoji. Dude, please!

I sigh, putting the phone down for a second. Yeah, sure. All of a sudden, I'm interesting again. Because there isn't anything else to entertain him. Of course. I should've known. "What about?" My text immediately is marked as read, homeboy isn't even closing our chat in-between messages it seems. I should be flattered, but instead, I just feel like there's something weird about this. Like, why don't you talk to your wife? Why aren't you on video call with your daughter? It's barely nine in Medellín, I know that. Of course I know that, I've pinned Colombia's local time to my home screen. 

"Can I call you?"

You have a fucking phone in your hand. You certainly can. "No. Come over." I hate myself for putting myself through that. I hope he's got somewhere to be in the morning. I can't help but wish for him to turn me down.

"Now?"

Now... Now it's my turn to send him a facepalming emoji. No. Next Christmas, dummy.

"Okay," he replies after a split second. Okay, I'm coming over? Okay, cool, a stupid little emoji? Okay, fuck off? Okay what? Another second passes. Buzz buzz. "I'll be there in ten."

"Drive safe," my fingers type out. Crash that fucking car. After running me over, of course. End our misery. Please and thank you. I roll out of bed to put on some pants. He can deal with my washed out tee, he's seen worse. My naked body, for example. I stumble into the bathroom to pile on mascara, to take the fluffy, pink scrunchie out of my hair, to wash the thin film of cold sweat off my forehead. I don't know nervousness when it comes to him. There's just... anxiety. Every time we have one of our little fall-outs, my amount of working braincells gets reduced by two.

I sit down on the toilet lid to catch my breath. I'm gonna get dicked down and then discarded. It's okay, I'm used to it. I'm a one-trick-pony. But I'm just so good at that one trick that James keeps on crawling back to me. The pinkish polish on my nails is starting to chip, so I decide to adorn my fingers with a few rings to distract from that. They look cheap, they were cheap, but I consider them cute, so it's alright. 

I don't like texting after my autocorrect has dubbed him Hummus not once, not twice, but several times. He doesn't like calling as his stutter tends to get worse on the phone. So this is nice. The real thing is always nice. "I missed you," he rasps with his arms still wrapped around my torso. "I missed you, too," I whisper back. Lies. I spent a long, long time cursing his name, relatively sure that I would never be moaning it again, that we were over and done. "I still haven't said Happy New Year," he states the obvious. We haven't spoken since Christmas. "No," I confirm, shaking my head. It was the worst New Year's Eve of my life. I've seen the pictures Daniela had posted on her Instagram. At least James has had a great time, apparently. 

"Sorry. I thought I should leave you alone." Yes. Because that's the easy way out. "But... Happy New Year. I guess."

"Thanks. To you, too." It truly feels like New Year's. Waiting for the big something, just to end up disappointed because the big something turns out to be some underwhelming bullshit. "Better late than never." There's still snow on the streets, so it's alright, I guess.

"Yes."

"You're fucking annoying, James."

"Oh. Why?" And fucking stupid as well.

"Did you really come over to stand around in my hallway and wish me a Happy New Year? What are you? A caroler?"

"You told me to come."

"I'm not used to you doing as you're told." I force a laugh. I'm not used to niceties and such. I'm used to... the bad stuff.

He just shrugs. He's so unbelievably apathetic, I hate it! "You have the place to yourself tonight?"

"No. You're here with me." I know quite well that he was referring to my roommate. Who, in fact, is staying with her boyfriend for the weekend. I know quite well that he only asked because he is the furthest thing from an exhibitionist I could imagine. 

"Ah. Yes. True." So damn stupid! I wish I could get up and leave. But I'm already standing and there's no way to escape my own apartment. "Well?" I ask in an awful attempt to make conversation. Well, he's gonna fuck me. He's gonna break my heart once again and I'm gonna like that. We've been there before. And we're gonna be there time and time again.

[refinedbuffoonery]

Flawless (7)

Con Artist AU. masterlist. 

Content Warning: swearing, PTSD, violence, sex

Before we get started here, you all need to know that Flawless will be going on a mini-hiatus. This chapter is the end of my original outline, and I need to spend some time planning out the next plot arc before I write the next chapter. 

(Also, shoutout to the lovely humans who translated the line in French. Y’all are the real MVPs.)

Anyway, this is it. The chapter you’ve all been waiting for. The heist. It feels so surreal to finally write it. As always, thank you for coming on this wild ride with me. ❤

*****

In the shadow of its brightly illuminated landmarks, Paris hummed to the tune of debauchery. 

Paparazzi gathered around the Louvre’s glass pyramid, waiting to capture a clear picture of a celebrity guest entering the afterparty. Riley shielded her face with her clutch as she walked in, careful to remain unidentifiable in the barrage of photos. The gold buttons on her emerald jacket-dress caught the warm light emanating from the pyramid and the bright camera flashes. She was well dressed, but not enough to stand out. Tonight, Riley needed to blend in. 

She ran a hand through her hair, making sure the loose curls covered her earpiece. For the sake of stealth, the team’s comms were skin color, but they were Nikki and Cage’s skin color, not Riley’s. 

Riley was half-tempted to throw her comms into one of the fountains out of spite. 

She was the last of the Five Eyes to arrive. They staggered their arrivals to avoid being associated with one another, as a precaution. Pulse thrumming in anticipation, Riley bounced on her toes slightly as she waited in line to check in. The Louvre security team meticulously checked each guest’s ID against the guest list; there would be no party crashers tonight. 

It had been all too easy for Riley to add the Five Eyes’ cover identities to the guest list a week ago. Now, she handed the stone-faced security guard a drivers’ license bearing her face and the name “Danika Jackson.” Returning her ID with a nod, the security guard stepped aside, allowing Riley to enter the party. 

Everyone is responsible for their own entrance and exit. That was her new rule. She got everyone’s names added to the guest list, but her assistance ended there. If someone ran into trouble, it was on them to bail themselves out. 

Riley had learned that rule from her mentor when she first dipped her toes into the world of two-faced schemes and nimble-fingered cons, but she never truly understood it—or saw the need to enforce it—until she felt the bite of handcuffs digging into her wrists. 

It was a mistake she’d never make again. 

Riley strolled through the hallway bearing massive Italian paintings, slowly making her way to the room containing the most overrated painting of all time—and the rendezvous point. 

The Mona Lisa room was empty aside from a blonde woman in a beaded, blood-red cocktail dress standing much too close to the glass-encased painting. Riley stood to the woman’s right and studied the painting as well. It was underwhelming. 

“You’d think the most beautiful woman in art would be wearing a prettier dress,” Nikki remarked.

Riley snorted, crossing her arms. “Says the woman who just bought a four-thousand-dollar cheetah print pantsuit.”

Nikki feigned offence. “You’re just jealous because you couldn’t pull it off. Anyway, quiz time. What year did da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa?” 

“1503,” Riley answered easily. “And the woman’s name is Lisa del Giocondo.” Nikki’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What’s that look for?” 

“I didn’t think you actually listen when I talk about art.” 

Riley offered her friend a small smile. “I’m always listening to you.” The sound of heels clicking down the hall made them pause. When the coast was clear, Riley murmured, “Is everyone in position?”

“Yeah. Desi and Sam should be inside already, and Jill checked in a few guests in front of me.”

“How did that go?”

“Easy peasy.” Nikki glanced at Riley and softened her tone. “Are we sure Jill is ready for this?”

“We’ll find out, won’t we? Don’t forget, it was your idea to recruit her.”

Nikki turned back to the Mona Lisa. “You know, you really do suck at pep talks.” 

“Oh shut up.” Riley rolled her eyes. “Are you sure you want control room duty?” 

Nikki spared her a sideways glance. “I’ll do it. You did it last time.” Her second sentence hung heavy in the air, a reminder of the job gone horribly wrong. And a reminder of all the things they still hadn’t talked about. 

Riley brushed it aside. They could talk after they were each forty million dollars richer. 

Pulling a flash drive hidden inside an old lipstick tube out of her clutch, Riley instructed, “Plug this in, and it’ll do half the work for you.” 

“Thanks.” Nikki put the tube in her own purse. “See you on the other side.” 

“Don’t get caught.” 

“Don’t get caught,” Nikki parroted, and Riley strode down the hall toward the party.

She followed the pulsing music and the stream of guests to a room in the far corner of the museum, passing the employee door Nikki would sneak into along the way. Crossing the threshold, she couldn’t conceal her gasp. Riley had seen plenty of opulent rooms over the years, but the Galerie d’Apollon was something else entirely. Gold moulding framed the dozens of paintings covering the walls and the arched ceiling. Display cases containing the French Crown Jewels formed a line down the middle of the rectangular room. Despite the party’s couture dress code, the bedazzled guests looked entirely underdressed compared to the grandeur of the gallery.

She only let herself be awestruck for a few seconds before getting to work, marking the exits and security cameras. Riley didn’t like how deep the gallery was in the museum—and how far she would have to walk to make a clean escape with the jewels. 

She would be the one walking out with them. No one else. Riley had made that crystal clear during the team planning meeting a few days ago. 

Draped in black fabric, the case containing the designer jewelry sat in the middle of the gallery. A security guard stood by it, no doubt to ward off nosey guests wanting a sneak peek. 

A wave of nausea passed through her, reminding Riley that the closest thing to a substantial meal she’d eaten all day was the two pastries she ate a few hours ago. She slipped through the crowd with practiced ease, heading for the snack table. Jill was already there, gorging herself on bread and cheese. Eyes wide, the blonde froze as Riley sidled next to her, evidently thinking she was in trouble. 

But Riley simply reached for a piece of bread and asked, “Which cheese is the best?” 

Exhaling audibly, Jill pointed a manicured, light blue nail. “That one.” Riley tried it. Jill was right; it was delicious. 

“You ready, Blondie?” Riley asked, lowering her voice. “There’s no job unless you get this right.” 

Jill rolled her shoulders back, snarking, “No pressure or anything.” There was a bite to her words, one Riley noticed only came out when someone, namely her, pushed the blonde a little too far. 

“Sorry,” Riley said, and she meant it. “You can do this. Don’t second-guess yourself. Commit.” 

Jill merely nodded, swallowing another piece of cheese. 

Riley wandered off, not wanting to stay with Jill too long. With her back to a wall, she scanned the room in search of Desi and Cage. When she didn’t see them on her first sweep, Riley furrowed her brow. Where the hell were they? 

A bright laugh carried across the room—Cage. There you are, Riley thought. She spied her teammate enjoying the spotlight in the center of a group of models all cooing over Cage’s pale pink dress. It suited Cage, with its billowy sleeves and flowy skirt that hit just below her knees. Cage giggled again, putting her hand on a woman’s shoulder a little too boldly for the gesture to be casual. 

Predictably, Desi wasn’t far away, staring daggers at her shameless flirt of a girlfriend. 

Riley unmuted her comms. “Easy there, Des. It’s just an act.” 

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she snapped. Even from a distance, Riley could see Desi’s tight grip on her champagne flute. 

Riley cooed, “So jealous.” 

The woman wrapped a proprietary arm around Cage, clearly welcome to the blonde’s advances, and Cage beamed at her. 

It was enough to push Desi over the edge. “Don’t forget whose bed you’re sleeping in tonight, Samantha,” she snarled. “And I don’t remember agreeing to share.” 

Cage excused herself from the group. “My love, did it ever occur to you that I’m making you jealous on purpose? Because we both know—”

Nikki cut her off, rescuing the team from whatever filthy thing was about to come out of Cage’s mouth. “Don’t be gross, you two.” Riley stifled a laugh. She and Nikki had been subjected to many things they didn’t want to hear over the years. This would hardly faze her now.

Focus. They needed to focus. 

Riley finally spotted the sharp-eyed assistant she noticed at the runway show. Always two steps behind the designer, the young woman obediently trailed him as he floated from group to group. The assistant finished her drink, setting it on the tray of a passing waiter, and strode toward the main hallway in this wing of the museum. 

“I think she’s going to the bathroom,” Jill said. “Do I follow her?” 

Snagging a drink of her own, Riley answered, “No. Bump into her when she comes back.” She watched Jill make her way toward the far side of the gallery, ready to intercept the assistant and steal her keys. 

Everything was going to plan. Jill just had to steal the keys, and then all they had to do was hurry up and wait for the big reveal. Eight o’clock, Riley was told upon arrival. The designer would commence his speech at eight, then reveal his masterpiece to the world. 

Riley checked her watch. Thirty more minutes. 

She knew she’d been standing in this spot for too long already, but Riley was loath to give up the relative safety of having a wall at her back. The twinge of fear she’d felt earlier at the runway show came raging to the surface, rooting her stiletto-clad feet in place. Leaving the wall meant having people in her blind spot. No one’s going to hurt me, Riley promised herself. This is a party, not a prison. 

Her legs felt like lead weights, but Riley forced herself to re-enter the crowd, one agonizing stride at a time. She made it as far as the nearest display case before she had to stop, and her eyes landed on a tiara resting in the center of the display. Countless tiny diamonds formed flowery swoops and swirls, with a handful of emeralds scattered between them, filling what would otherwise be empty spaces. In the center, the diamonds framed a large, round emerald, mimicking the shape of a flower. 

It was exactly what Riley would have stolen had the Five Eyes agreed to rob the Louvre itself, rather than this party. Maybe she’d come back for it, one day. 

Using the case as a pseudo-wall, Riley took a deep breath and re-scanned the room in search of Jill. Unsurprisingly, Jill was exactly where Riley had last seen her.

She kept an eye on the recruit, knowing Desi and Cage were doing the same. Riley was impressed; Jill had quickly figured out how to linger without being obvious she was waiting for something. Jill mindlessly pushed up her glasses—the only visible sign of her nerves—and the movement drew Riley’s attention. 

But not to Jill. 

To another blond head, far behind her. One Riley desperately hoped to never see again. 

“We have a problem,” Desi said. 

“I saw.” 

Nikki’s ex-boyfriend stalked into the gallery, a taller, older man at his heels like a shadow—the same men who chased Riley, Nikki, and Jill through the taco shop a few weeks ago. 

Fuck.

Ducking her head to avoid being spotted, Riley hissed, “Nik, get your ass to the control room and lock the door behind you. We’ve got company.” 

“Already here. Accessing system controls as we speak. Whoever designed the security system in this place should be fired, because this is ridiculously simple. I should’ve left it in French just to keep it interesting.” A pause. "Who's here? Wait. No. Let me guess. Interpol? The mob? That bitchy designer I once robbed point-blank?" 

"Your ex." 

"Oh."

"You didn't tell him about our dream job, did you?" The words came out a little too accusatory, but Riley didn't care. She needed to know. 

"No! Of course I didn't. He— Look, I don't know why he's here, and we can figure that out later. Right now, you need to keep him busy. He's smart, Riles. Maybe even smarter than you. Be careful." 

Riley scoffed. "Smarter than me? We'll see about that." 

"I'm serious, Riley." 

But Riley ignored her, instead giving instructions of her own. "Cage, you watch Jill. Des—" 

"I've got the big one." Classic Desi, never letting her finish a sentence and yet always knowing what she was going to say. The habit was obnoxious at first, but over time Riley learned to appreciate it. "See the bulge on his left side? He keeps touching it." Desi said. "He's armed." 

“He’s what?” Jill exclaimed. 

Chuckling, Desi said, “Now look at my left side. We match.” A small, terrified squeak was the only response. “Well, what did you think I meant when I told you I’m the team’s exfil specialist?” 

“Not that!” 

“And Nik’s ex?” Riley asked, redirecting the conversation. 

“Seems clean.” 

“He is,” Nikki confirmed. “Mac hates guns.” 

“You know,” Riley said, studying the larger of the two men, “The other one kind of looks like a guy who dated my mom once.” 

“Really?” Desi asked. “Think he’s the same guy?” 

Riley took a closer look. He was tall, with broad, muscled shoulders and a buzzed haircut, and considering how often he fidgeted with his tie, he didn’t get dressed up often. He smiled at a passing waitress. He had an open, friendly smile, which totally contrasted with the systematic way he scanned the room. “Nah.”

Jill squawked, “Wait! Are we really still going through with this? Didn’t it just get a whole lot harder?” 

“You say harder, I say more fun,” Cage said. “Just stick to the plan. You’ll be fine.” 

Jill, it seemed, wasn’t so easily reassured. “Am I the only one who sees this is a trap?” 

“It’s only a trap when you don’t know about it. When you do, it’s a challenge,” Riley said. 

“But what if the plan goes wrong? Then what?” 

At the same time, all four women answered, “Improvise.” 

Riley muted her comms as she approached Nikki’s ex; Jill didn’t need the added distraction. Help her, Riley pleaded with the universe. You owe me. 

Pushing her concerns about Jill to the back of her mind, Riley studied her target. There was a champagne flute in the spy’s hand, but he didn’t drink it—not even a sip—and his methodical gaze swept the room, no doubt making note of each guest and who they interacted with. 

He was cute, she had to admit. Definitely Nikki’s type. 

Purposefully not watching where she was going, Riley collided with him, narrowly avoiding sloshing his drink onto her shoes. She pretended to stumble, and his free hand caught her waist, ensuring Riley stayed upright. “Oh! I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going. Pardon me.” 

His hand left her side. Frowning, he asked, “Do I know you?” 

Don’t lie. Evade. Her former mentor taught her that. 

Riley smirked. “I bet you use that line on every beautiful woman you stumble into.” 

“Only when I’m too blown away to say something original.” He winked. 

Maybe this would be easier than Riley anticipated. “Care to wander the museum with me while you practice your next line?” 

“Normally I would, but I just got out of a relationship, and I’m not looking to start anything new.” 

So much for that plan. 

His honesty, however, was surprising. 

“Not even a little fun?” she goaded, but Nikki’s ex declined once more before excusing himself and vanishing into the crowd. 

At least Desi had better luck keeping the other spy occupied. She had him cornered, her body carefully angled to prevent him from seeing the slight bulge from the gun hidden in her dress. The plunging neckline had two purposes—easy access to the gun holstered at her side while providing a distracting view of her chest and intricate tattoos. It was just enough to snag wandering eyes and keep them focused on the front of her body, rather than the side. To the spy’s credit, his eyes remained pointedly fixed on Desi’s face. 

“Got the keys,” Jill announced. Perfect timing. 

Riley breathed a sigh of relief. “Good work, Blondie.” 

Now, all they had to do was wait.

*****

While the designer yammered some pretentious bullshit about fine jewelry as the centerpiece of fashion and art, Riley slowly pushed her way to the front of the crowd gathering for the reveal. A few feet away, Cage did the same. Across from them—closest to the still-covered jewelry display case—Desi and Jill took their places. None of them were particularly interested by the designer’s speech, but Nikki would be hanging on every word if she were here. 

The designer rambled on, explaining how particular pieces among the French Crown Jewels influenced the designs of his own work. It was awfully arrogant, Riley thought, comparing his own work to such timeless pieces. The longer he spoke, the more Riley disliked him and didn’t feel even an ounce of guilt for robbing him. 

Lingering on the edge of the crowd, Nikki’s ex and his partner seemed content to remain out of the way. For all Riley cared, they could stay there all night. 

The gallery lights flickered once. A few guests glanced up nervously, but the majority remained transfixed on the designer. 

Nikki’s voice crackled through the comms. “Everyone ready? Nod once if you are.” Riley nodded. One by one, so did everyone else. “Alrighty then. Lights out in five…”

Riley counted the number of paces between her and Cage—six. 

“Four…”

Paces from Cage to the jewelry case—eight. 

“Three…”

Paces from the case back to her original position—ten. 

Two…

Closing her eyes, Riley waited. 

“One.” 

Several women shrieked when the lights went out. 

Riley opened her eyes, and before they’d even adjusted to the dark, she strode toward Cage. Six steps. She collided with Cage, dropping her purse on the ground and taking Cage’s identical one, containing replicas of the necklace and earrings. 

Cage shouted that someone stole her purse, causing a scene. She’d chatted and flirted with enough people throughout the night for her voice to be easily recognized, and a murmur broke out among the agitated crowd, creating just enough background noise to cover the sound of Riley’s heels clicking on the floor. 

Eight steps to the back side of the jewelry display. Riley could just make out Jill and Desi unlocking the case with the assistant’s keys. She braced for an alarm to sound, but there was nothing. Atta girl, Nikki. 

Riley opened the purse. Carefully, Desi replaced the real jewels with the fakes, depositing the real ones inside Cage’s purse. 

Jill locked the case and replaced the cover, and Riley returned to her original position among the crowd. The designer and his assistant remained oblivious to what transpired behind them, even as Jill slipped the keys back into the assistant’s dress pocket.

“Lights on in three,” Nikki warned. 

Emergency lights flickered on, casting a harsh white light over the murmuring crowd. A man angrily questioned what happened, followed by a chorus of “Yeah, what he said!”s in a variety of languages. The assistant urged the crowd to remain calm, promising everything would be sorted out shortly. 

Riley looked over her shoulder, searching for Nikki’s ex. He was nowhere to be found. She narrowed her eyes, but with two hundred million dollars worth of jewelry in her hand, Riley decided she didn’t particularly care. 

The woman Cage flirted with the longest stepped forward, picking up the purse Riley had tossed near Cage’s feet. “Isn’t this your purse?” she asked Cage. 

Riley’s teammate feigned embarrassment, gracefully reclaiming the purse. “Yes, that’s it. Thank you.” 

Just as an outraged Cage exclaimed the purse was empty, Riley melted into the dispersing crowd, slowly making her way toward the museum’s exit. That was the plan. She’d leave first, and once she escaped with the jewels, everyone else would exit as well. 

Riley retraced her steps, heels clicking on the hardwood flooring of the museum’s endless long hallways. She didn’t look at any of the art as she passed, not even a single glance. Art had always been more Nikki’s thing than hers. 

Weaving her way back to the exit, Riley prayed Nikki hadn’t missed any of the cameras. She was supposed to loop them all, allowing Riley to leave the museum unseen. But with each additional camera—some obvious, some not—Riley’s anxiety rose. 

Nikki knows what she’s doing, Riley reminded herself. She won’t let anything happen to me. 

Two years ago, that reassurance would’ve been enough. 

Now, her distrusting brain shot back, Are you sure? 

Riley didn’t dignify it with a response. 

Passing the museum’s security checkpoint, Riley smiled at a bored-looking security guard. “Vous partez déjà?” he asked. 

Riley hoped the security guard asked why she was leaving so soon. She never did get around to brushing up on her French. “Oui, I have a flight to catch.” Not a lie, although the flight wouldn’t take off until early tomorrow morning. 

The crisp night breeze prickled Riley’s bare skin. She took a deep breath, letting the cold air fill her lungs. For the first time that night, Riley finally felt her body start to relax. The vast, empty plaza felt so much safer than the packed gallery. Still not safe enough to let her guard down, but safer. Riley slipped her hand into the purse, fingers closing around an earring. It was surprisingly heavy in her palm. 

Another flawless job. The Five Eyes were back in business. 

She was halfway across the plaza when Nikki started cursing, but Riley didn’t slow. Everyone is responsible for their own exit. The job was done. No turning back now. 

There was a distinct male voice in the background, but Riley couldn’t make out what he said. 

“What do you mean, ‘I had a feeling you’d be here’?” Nikki demanded. “We haven’t spoken in months, Mac, and I know you didn’t track me here on your own.” 

Her ex’s voice was nothing more than a low, indiscernible rumble. 

“What?” Nikki whispered, her voice breaking mid-word. 

As much as Riley wanted to know what he said, she kept walking. But that didn’t stop the others from hissing Nikki’s name, demanding to know what was going on. 

Nikki yelped, and then the male voice purred, loud and clear, “I know you’re listening, Riley. Why don’t we go on that little walk now?” 

With a cold laugh, Riley said, “In your fucking dreams.” How did he know her name? As far as she knew, Nikki never mentioned her. 

Still, she kept walking. Everyone is responsible for their own exit. No matter what. 

Riley muted her comms, and Nikki’s piercing shriek filled her ear. A muffled grunt followed.

Then nothing. 

Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay. 

“Riley, you need to come back,” Jill pleaded. “Nikki needs help.” 

She didn’t answer, clenching her jaw with the effort to keep silent. An airplane flew overhead, and Riley tracked its path across the sky. Every step brought Riley closer to her own flight home—and the freedom that entailed. Turning around now would only put that in jeopardy. 

But every step also took her away from her best friend. The woman she once believed she’d do anything for. 

Jill was overreacting, Riley reasoned. Nikki was more than capable of getting herself out of a bind. Riley lost track of the number of impossible situations she and Nikki had found themselves in over the years, and they always found a way to escape. 

“Sam is getting Jill out,” Desi said, slightly out of breath. “Riles, I don’t think I can get Nikki out on my own. Jill is right. You need to come back.” 

Riley faltered. If Desi thought there was a problem, then something must’ve gone really, really wrong. 

Maybe Jill wasn’t overreacting after all. 

“Des—” Cage started. “They opened the case.” 

“So?” 

“They know the jewels are fake. If Riley comes back, it won’t just be Nikki going to prison.” 

Prison. 

Riley didn’t think she was breathing. Heart thudding wildly, her stomach tied itself into knots, and her clothes became damp with sweat. The sense of safety she’d felt earlier was gone, and Riley fought the urge to run. Every little noise—traffic, pedestrian chatter, a siren in the distance—was coming for her, ready to drag her into some dark hole she’d never emerge from. 

Nothing was logical anymore, like the part of her brain capable of rational thought had gone to sleep. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, trying to wake up, but it was no use. 

Run, while you still have the chance, her body screamed. 

Everyone is responsible for their own exit, her brain repeated. 

She needed to turn around. Nikki couldn’t go to prison. 

Two years ago, Riley had gone to prison in Nikki’s stead. She let herself be arrested to protect her friends. Her family. 

If Nikki went to prison now, then Riley’s sacrifice would be in vain. 

But Riley’s body refused to turn around. Her worst memories from prison flashed before her eyes—ones Riley desperately wanted to forget—like a cougar crouching in the shadows, waiting for the exact moment she was at her weakest to pounce. 

She couldn’t go back there. She couldn’t go through that again. 

She wouldn’t survive it twice. 

“Riles,” Nikki pleaded, her voice barely above a whisper. “Where are you?” 

Run, that voice in her head said. Don’t look back. 

Her steps were slower now, less sure. But Riley didn’t stop. She couldn’t. 

“I need you.” 

Save yourself, girl. 

“I’m sorry,” Riley whispered, but her comms were still muted. With a shaking hand, Riley unmuted them one last time. 

It’s better this way, the voice promised. You’ll see. 

It was all too easy to slip into the brutal, emotionless persona she’d built while in prison, the process having become instinct. It was necessary then, to keep her safe and alive. Now, it did the same, preventing Riley from making a mistake every cell in her body knew she wouldn’t come back from. 

In a cold, unflinching voice, Riley said, “Everyone is responsible for their own exit.” 

She threw her earpiece into a nearby fountain, and the click of her stilettos echoed in the night. 

~ Tag List ~ Want to be added? Send me an ask.

@macrileyedits / @hellishrose / @losingitovermacriley​ / @mylifequotesshowallofthem / @thecarrieonokay / @holbytlanna​ /

[yakuzadumpingground]

Well since I'm feeling contrarian I'm gonna rank all of the yakuza games I've played (which is everything except the original 1 and 2, Dead Souls, and the Japan only games) which is guaranteed to piss someone off. Starting with the best-

1. Yakuza 0

Ok, not a controversial choice. I'm sorry. But the general consensus is correct. On top of having one of the best stories in the series, a really fun combat system (albeit not very challenging, but it's not like i play yakuza for challenge), and some of the most memorable sidestories, the setting really gives this game a certain style that nothing else in the series has. Also, one of the few yakuza games that's decently paced. Honestly, most of my complaints about this game are nitpicks (such as how grindy maxing out your character is) it's just a kind of boringly perfect game, really.

2. Yakuza: Like a Dragon

"BuT iT's TuRn-BaSeD" ok cool guess you're just gonna miss out on a fantastic fucking game. I gotta say, it was a real hard choice between "I wanna see the side stories" and "I GOTTA know what happens next in the story" sometimes. I don't know else I can say about this game: great story, great characters, just a great time. Admittedly, as an RPG it.... needs work. The encounter rate is WAAAY too high and the job class system is pretty busted. Even still, the genre change is a breath of fresh air and honestly pretty charming at times. Play this, goddamn

3. Yakuza Kiwami 2

It was a real toss up between Kiwami 2 and the game in the 4th slot, but in the end, Kiwami 2 wins by being more consistently enjoyable. Unlike the first two games on this list I can't say Kiwami 2 had a good story exactly, but I can say it's an entertaining one. I was rarely bored playing this, and in terms of sheer fun, Kiwami 2 wins that crown. I was *howling* at the ending, my God.

4. Yakuza 5

I'm of two minds when it comes to this game. On the one hand, some of my favorite stuff is in this game. The intro is very unusual but hit me in a weird way that really stuck with me. It finally made Saejima likable. Playable Haruka. Shinada, my beloved. On the other hand, while Yakuza games having pacing problems is pretty much the norm, whoo boy does yakuza 5 test your patience. Sloths move at the speed of fleas on meth compared to this game. Also, the actual overarching story is pretty weak and uninteresting. It's really best viewed as a collection of loosely connected stories. This game definitely has it's flaws, but the high points more than make up for them

5. Yakuza 6

Someone's gonna get mad that this game isn't lower, I'm sure. Yeah, it's flawed. It's not best send off for Kiryu. It's lacking in content. The ending is fucking terrible. But there's still plenty here to love. I love Onomichi, it's honestly one of my favorite locations in this series, even if there's nothing to do in it. It's just wonderful to look at and walk around in. I like the Onomichi cast. Beat Takeshi is there. Having Kiryu's saga cap off with a game about family is a great idea, and until this game's awful fucking ending it's a touching exploration of that theme. But fuck this game's ending. Seriously.

6. Yakuza 3

This is... a weird one. I can both see why the fanbase rejected it at the time and why fan appraisal has gotten so much kinder to this game. Like y6 (honestly y6 is really an unofficial remake of this game) it's a game about family. That being said, I rank it lower than 6 because of the relatively lower stakes and weak plot. It takes a long time for the main plot to actually start, and honestly it can take it's dear sweet time. Whenever I was going main story quests all I can think was about how much I'd rather be dinking around doing mundane shit for the kids. But I can't say this game isn't charming as hell. It's really one of the few times you really see Kiryu as just a... guy. Raising his kids, just living his life. For a series all about high octane melodrama, slice of life is a welcome change of pace

7. Judgment

Ooh, HERE'S the controversial take! Yeah, I didn't really care for Judgment. Judgment is the opposite of y3, where instead the main plot is actually very interesting but we spend. So. Much. Time. On. Bullshit. It's not a short game either. I spent so much of this game wondering when we're getting to the goddamn fireworks factory. Putting the pacing problems aside, the characters are fun but apart from Yagami and arguably Sugiura they don't get much in the way of meaningful development (it feels like Higashi's character arc is almost entirely off screen). The "detective" gameplay is meaningless fluff and adds nothing (note to game developers: tailing missions always suck. They sucked in Assassin's Creed and they suck here) and the attempt to bring back style changing is half-baked. I didn't hate my time with this game, but it left me underwhelmed

8. Yakuza Kiwami

This was actually my first yakuza game. And thank goodness Kiryu is hot because this game is... rough. First off, the story is just not very good. It spends a lot of time with tedious red herrings and extraneous shit with characters we don't care about. I honest to God had a hard time following the plot on my first playthrough because the cast is like 90% unmemorable middle aged Japanese men that show up like once in the first hour and then once in the last (but you're expected to remember them). It doesn't fare any better gameplay wise. It does make one good decision, bringing back style changing, but then for some reason they decided to make every boss fight an awful chore by having them regenerate their hp several times a fight (unless you happen to have the heat to do a heat action, and even then they regen hp so fast it may not help that much). What. The fuck. This snowballs into the Majima Everywhere which... look. I know. Goromi. But this system is still one where you have to fight a boss over and over and over again (in a game where fighting bosses is a chore). I've seen people slide off the series after going from 0 to kiwami, and that sucks. Maybe it was best i started here; if I liked this game, I'll probably like the rest

But there's one game I'd say that'd worse

9. Yakuza 4

When I played Yakuza 4 the first time, it was the ps3 version and I hadn't played 3 yet (it was more expensive.) So when I replayed 4 it was after playing 3, and honestly I was appreciating the game a lot more. After the slog of 3 it was nice to have a game with a snappier pace. And Akiyama was a fun change of pace. Him and Hana have a fun dynamic. I remembered not liking this game; was I too harsh? Could I have appreciated 4 more if I could see the improvements from 3? Then I got to Saejima's section then I remembered why I don't like this game. Honestly, I could go ON about how much Saejima's part sucks, it is easily the worst time I've had playing a yakuza game. I'll spare you that novel for now tho. And from here, the game never really recovers. We move on to Tanimura, the worst yakuza protagonist by the sheer virtue of how boring he is. By the time Kiryu shows up again I was so damned thrilled to see him. But he doesn't really save this game. Yakuza plots are usually convoluted and sometimes hard to follow, but 4's just gets exhausting to keep up with. By the time you get to your 28th betrayal you just can't care anymore. And it all caps off with a lazy fucking ending and the absolute worst final boss fight in the series. Oh Curryman. You deserve a better game.

[write-orflight]

Golden: SpencerXReader Sneak Peek.

Here’s a sneak peek of my new Spencer x Reader. best Friends to lovers series. Let me know what you think or is you wanna be tagged?

Since that moment, you and Spencer had been inseparable. Spending most of your days in the library so he could help you study and at various campus bars so you could help him live a little. Soon you were leaving your little Caltech bubble, him with his third Doctorate and you with your B.A in journalism. He left to join the FBI and you went to work at the San Francisco Bugle. Though you weren’t close you still kept in touch and talked on the phone almost every week. Years passed and you found yourself with a phone call from Spencer’s boss, SSA Aaron Hotchner, apparently the profiling team Spencer was on was losing their Media Liaison as she went on Maternity Leave and Spencer had put your name in the ring. You graciously accepted the position and packed your life up to head to Quantico. 

More years passed and you were still working as Media Liaison now that JJ was moved to full time profiler. You loved this job, working in media and families was something you always wanted to do and you had Spencer to thank for it. The two of you had only grown closer and closer to the point that the team would play jokes that you guys were practically an old married couple at this point and they were kind of right, you were like that. 

Just with none of the benefits. 

You stirred when you heard light bickering at your front door. One voice you recognized as Spencer was asking to be let into the apartment and another voice, one you didn’t recognize, telling him to get lost. You suddenly remember the events from last night and the random hookup you had invited over. You sprinted out of bed and ran out of your room to the commotion. 

Spencer looks at you in relief when you see him. “Hey, Spence, Come in. I overslept, I’ll be ready in 15 tops.” 

The hookup (Ryan? Brian?) looks awkward. “I’m sorry dude, she-uh, didn’t tell me she had a boyfriend.” 

You and Spencer instantly enter defense mode. “He’s not--We’re just friends” “She’s not my girlfriend, we just carpool.” 

“Oh okay, that makes this make sense.” Brian/Ryan/Tyler says. “Total nerd doesn’t seem like your type.” 

That makes Spencer look sad down at the floor and your eyes fill with rage. “Alright it’s time for you to get the fuck out of my apartment.” You say, rushing the man out. “I would say I had fun and we should do this again, but it was wildly underwhelming and I doubt I’ll want it again.” You say, slamming the door in the man’s face before he could make his second point. “Sorry, Spence. What an ass.” 

“I thought you said you weren’t doing hookups anymore.” Spencer adds. 

“Ugh, I know!” You say, exasperated. “My blind date stood me up and that guy was the lucky bartender, I poured my troubles into.” 

“Seems like you poured more than your troubles.” Spencer says, sarcastically. 

“Haha, slut-shaming is below you, Reid.”