#i'm just.. 99% convinced of it so it's hard to not look at it in those lenses

[notgonnaedit]

The Red Bandana

Summary: The story of how Hunter got his bandana

Warnings: None

A/n: I absolutely loved writing this. I'm very proud of it and it was the first of my writings that I've ever shown my dad

Art is mine

Hunter blew the long strands of hair out of his face. His desire to be like his defective brothers was why he even grew out his hair. But during training it was always in the way. The thick brown curls always got in his eyes and messed up his aim.

As much as he loved his long hair, Hunter knew that in the heat of battle it would cost him. It had to go.

The enhanced clone stood in the barracks refresher staring at the mirror. Looking back was the young clone. Dark hair hanging in eyes that changed with the light. Technically, he was around 8 years old. But because of the Kaminoans’ accelerated ageing, he had the mind and body of a 16 year old.

Hunter turned the blade in his hand. He had been training with Commander Cody in hand-to-hand combat. Learning to use a vibro blade was his favorite part. Now the blade was being used for something he'd rather not do, but he had to be practical. If his hair was in the way in the middle of a battle, it might cost Hunter his life. Or worse, his brothers.

He let out a sigh, no longer stalling. He reached behind his head with his left hand and gathered the thick locks. He held them tightly and raised the knife to them. He took a deep breath, ready to cut his hair.

"Hunter?"

The young clone faltered. He had not heard anyone enter. He cursed himself silently for not paying closer attention. Him and Tech had come to the conclusion that whenever Hunter felt strong emotions his heightened senses were dulled significantly. Tech had suggested that since because Hunter had stronger senses, his emotions were stronger too and, therefore, cancelled his other senses. It seemed maybe he was more attached to his long hair than he had previously thought.

Hunter lowered his blade and turned to the older clone in the doorway. "99, what are you doing in here?"

The older clone hobbled into the refresher. "You're late for evening mess." He said. "Your brothers were wondering where you were." His gaze shifted to the knife in his hand. "You're cutting your hair?"

Hunter looked down at his blade. He technically wasn't supposed to have it since he was still a cadet, but Cody had convinced a few of the trainers to let it slide. "Let the kid practice." He had said.

"Uh, yeah?" Hunter said a little sheepishly. 

"I thought you liked your long hair." 99 questioned.

"It gets in my face when I train, and it makes me kinda sweaty." Why did Hunter feel like he needed to explain himself? He hadn't done anything wrong. 

99's gaze bored into him. "Why did you grow out your hair in the first place?"

"Well," Hunter fidgeted with the blade in his hand. "My brothers are all different than the regs, and I guess I wanted to be different too."

99 looked at him quizzically. "But you are like your brothers, Hunter."

Hunter shook his head. "No, I mean look different. The regs call them names because of how they look, but not me. I thought that if I looked different, maybe the regs would, well, hate me too."

"You want them to hate you?" 99 asked.

Hunter clenched his fists. "Yeah. When we're done with training, I'm supposed to lead us into battle. If I look like a reg, they’ll end up hating me too. How am I supposed to lead my squad if my brothers don't even respect me?”

99's gaze softened. "Oh, Hunter. You know your brother's look up to you no matter what you look like, right?"

"Not Crosshair." The young clone scoffed. "He doesn't even care if I look like them. He says that it's obvious what I'm trying to do, and I should just give up because I'll always look like a reg."

99 chuckled. "Are you going to change everything about yourself for one person?"

"I'm not changing everything, just..." Hunter trailed off, not sure of where he was going.

99 seemed to be smirking, but it was hard to tell with his lopsided face. "So, you’re cutting your hair because of something one person said? I thought you didn’t care what people said about you. Or have you been spending time with the regs?”

Something stirred inside Hunter. A feeling of defiance. "I am not a reg." But the more the thought about it, he realized 99 was right. He was cutting his hair and looking more like a reg to lead his squad, a batch of  “defective” clones. They were anything but normal. Hunter realized he didn’t need to change for anyone. He liked his long hair, and Crosshair could stow it if he said anything about it.

A smile spread across Hunter's face. "Yeah, who cares? I'm gonna do what I want with my hair, no matter what Crosshair says." But there was still one problem. "Oh," His smile faded when he realized this. "Um, 99?"

"Yes, Hunter?" 99 said with a smile.

"My hair still gets in the way a lot." Hunter scratched the back of his head.

99 chuckled lightly. "I think I may have a solution for that. Come on."

Hunter followed the older clone through the halls of Kamino. They ignored the regs snide remarks and dirty whispers. Hunter dug his fingers into his palms to keep from punching them. He could hear everything. Every comment meant to hurt them, and they knew it. 

Eventually, they made it to the armory. Hunter looked around. There were blasters, detonators, bombs, and anything that Wrecker would try to steal. The armory also housed armor and clothes in the back. 99 lead him towards the back.

"Uh, 99, where are we going?" Hunter asked.

The older clone stopped by the bundles of tunics, undershirts, and pants. They were tied together with a belt and the boots to complete the uniform were sitting next to it. 99 unrolled the bundle and took the red undershirt sleeve. He ripped a decent sized strip off from the red cloth.

"I doubt anyone will care if we just take this off." 99 said cheekily. He set the rest of the clothes down and held out the strip of cloth. "Turn around."

A bit confused, Hunter obeyed and turned. He felt 99 put the cloth around his head and tighten it. He tied the ends.

"There," 99 stepped away. "Now you can keep your hair and it won't get in your way."

Hunter looked walked to the mirror at the end of the room. He could still feel a few strands of hair on his forehead, but they no longer hung in his eyes. His chocolate locks were held back by a red banana. Now, he could be himself without risking anything. 

“And just so you know, Hunter.” 99 spoke up again. “Your brothers don’t look up to you because of how you look. It’s because you have a good heart.

Hunter turned to the older clone and smiled. "Thanks, 99."

99 may never see active duty, but he was always there to help Hunter and his brothers prepare for their own battles. And that was something the young tracker would be eternally grateful for.

Tags for other wonderful writers @royallykt @bibliophilesince2003 @hugmekenobi @awkward-tension-art

[blueishspace]

Looped Sun 3

Loop #68

Scott: So this is really happening huh... ?

Grian: Yeah, we don't know much about it either so maybe we can learn together?

Scott: That would be...nice.

Loop #69

Scott: Well, loop 69.

Scar: Yes!

Scott: I expected it to be more special or something.

Scar: Why?

Scott: Eh, it doesn't matter.

Scar: I don't get it. What's wrong with 69- oh ohhhhhh.

Loop #73

Grian had been having a blast this loop, somehow having Scott in the loops meant being able to start in Empires and it was great. The Grian Empire was back and bigger then ever!

Scar was having an awful time this loop...ok, that was an exageration it was actually prett fun but nobody at warned him about the paper work! He's dyslexic how is he supposed to do this much writing quickly!??

Scott was doing good....Grian and Scar being here made him hopeful they would be able to get rid of Xonorth thus time around...

Loop #77

Grian: So everyone is a goat-creeper hybrid this time around?

Scott: I don't get it.

Grian: It's because...Docm77...and loop 77.

Scar: Wait is that why!?!

Grian: ... What did you think?

Loop #80

Grian should have expected a royalty variant eventually but do nobles really have to wear these kinds of clothes!? It's so stiffy!

...

At least Scar seemed to be having fun being a prince.

Loop #82

Grian woke up at the start of the newest loop to see Scott drowning himself with wine.

Grian: Scott? Had a... bad loop?

Scott: Woke up in Xonorth place *hic* spent the entire time unable to control myself because of Exors *hic* co-corruption.

Grian: ... I'll get you some water, can't have getting an hungover.

Scott: ... T-thanks.

Loop #89

Grian had just been elected mayor of the season 7 shopping district was ready to keep his promises...plus some additional stuff.

Scar: Oh, since you won does that mean I get to be mother spore?

Grian: Nah, still me.

Scar: But the shopping district is already-

Grian: Who said it will ve just the shopping district?

Scar: ... Don't you dare cover the entire server! I'll be.... Father...grass? I'll come up with a name later!

Loop #92

Grian: This is possibly the best possible outcome.

Grian and Scar watch as Stress is elected mayor of the shopping district.

Scar: Still, I wanted to have more fun with it!

Loop #94

Grian: How???

Grian stares in open mouthed shock as Technoblade is elected mayor of the shopping district.

Grian: HOW!??!?

Technoblade: Eh?

Grian: You don't even live here!

Loop #95

Grian: Finally! Mumbo won!

Scar: That was harder then I tought.

Grian: Now I'm going to rest for a straight loop.

Scar: Who knew convincing people to vote for Mumbo would be so hard? Oh well.

Loop #97

Grian took one look at Herobrine himself being made mayor and promptly left the server for the rest of the loop.

Loop #99

Scott: You know, the two of you have been here for almost 100 loops.

Scar: Yeah! ...why?

Scott: That's what? Almost 300 years? Give or take?

Grian: ... Oh gods we have been here for almost 300 years.

Scar: Welp, never guessed I would make it to my 330's... sorry...

Loop #100

Grian: Look a shooting star!

Scar: Did you make a wish?

Grian: Did you?

Scar: Aha! Not telling!

Loop #102

Scott started the loop waking up in a bed of golden flowers, faint light coming a hole above him.

Scott: Huh...

He made his way towards a purple door preparing for the way ahead.

A floating golden star? Scott doesn't think anyone will mind if he touches it.

Grian: The shadow of the ruins looms above, filling you with determination.

Scott: Grian!? How long were you here? Where are you.

Grian: Since the loop started, and It's hard to explain, I think I'm a ghost.

Scott: I hate that flower.

Grian: You spared him?

Scott: It's the principle.

Loop #107

When Scar arrived Scott was laying on fresh grass.

Scar: Scott! You're in this loop too?

Scott: Sure thing.

Scott looked up towards Scar inclining his head.

Scott: Something wrong?

Scar: No! No. Just, there is no Grian in this loop.

Scott: There is.

Scar's eyes widened in surprise.

Scar: No there isn't! I checked everywhere!

Scott: Have you looked up?

Scar: Huh?

Scar confused looked up to the sky and there he saw, instead of the sun in the sky was a glowing very unhappy Grian.

Scar: Grian!?! How did you get there!?

Grian: This time around the sky is a dome... And I'm stuck here.

Scott: Considering everything I'm surprised it took that long for this to happen.

Loop #109

Grian: This is what people call karma.

Grian was trying very hard not to laugh but this was just so funny.

Scott the literal star wasn't very enthused but stars can't talk.

Loop #114

Scar: Grian you good?

Grian: Huh? ...yeah... just a bad loop.

Grian looked like he was just hit by a car, which was impressive since the loop had just started a few minutes ago.

Scar: What happened?

Grian: It was one of those "what if 3rd Life wasn't a game but instead was serious?" variants which would be fine but there was like extra gore and Dogwarts experimented on people...

Scar: Oh... I...do you need something to drink or eat?

Grian: Just stay here...please?

Scar: Yeah! I can do that! I'm very good at staying here!

Grian: ... Thanks.

Loop #118

Scar had to admit, camp halfblood was so much fun and getting to be a child of Demeter was even better! He could grow plants now, Grian said some powers would stick across loops and he really wanted to see if these would. Still, without the others it was a little lonely.

He wasn't alone! I took a while but after they discovered camp Jupiter he finally found Scott!

Scott: Yeah, I'm a child of Venus. Surprised I wasn't made a son of Arcus considering Empires season 2.

Scar: Arcus?

Scott: Right, roman Iris.

Scar: Ooooh.

It was the time, Scar and Scott had hidden and were spying as Medea began to summon Helios. Scar was panicking and Scott was desperately trying to stop the summoning from taking place and then... She managed to do it and Helios was- wait.

Scar: Grian!?!

Loop #119

Scar: Wait wait, if I still have the plant thing do you-?

Grian: ... Yeah

Scar: Can I see? Please?

Grian sighed before exploding with light.

Loop #122

Grian: Supeheroes?

Scar: I know right! Isn't it great!?

Scar and Grian were on top of a skyscraper, scanning the city for crimes.

Scar: And I actually get to be Hot Guy! For real this time!

Grian smiled at Scar's antics before looking back at It's own outfit.

Grian: I just feel like this whole "Cute Guy" outfit is a bit tacky.

Scar: Nah, you look amazing G!

Grian blushed and looked away.

Grian: Thank you Scar.

Loop #123

Scar: Wooho! Another superhero loop? So cool!

Grian: And I get to be poultry man this time, villains prepared to get egged!

Scar: ...pegged?

Grian: No no no no no, Egged, like egg, very very different.

Loop #125

Hotguy was alone this time, he had given up searching for Grian months ago when he saw him... her?

Scar: Grian? What's going on?

Ariana Griande: What? After being a hero 3 times in a row I got bored. So, decided to bring the people happyness in a new way!

Scar: Oh! I'm not supposed to be here am I?

Ariana Griande: Oh yeah, the media is going to have a field day, superhero hotguy seen with superstar singer Ariana? We'll be on so many covers.

Scar: Oh I'll leave then-

Ariana Griande: I didn't say that, Scar?

Scar: Yes?

Ariana Griande: Will you dance with me?

Prev Next First

[wataksampingan]

Very long Chapter 96 feelings/thoughts below cut coz I saved my hard-earned Naver cookies for this and I'm going to react while it's fresh dammit.

Spoilers in every possible way, as always.

Oh my God its their first official date and of course it doesn't go Theo's way at all coz he's fighting a lost cause against an author with a sense of humour I share. Thank God his people love him

Nearly 100 chapters later and only now do we start steering towards Therdeo "My angel" Lapileon from the prologue (which I still find it difficult to fathom; the road is long and arduous from Therdeo 'Face as Red as My Eyes' Lapileon we see right now)

I have yet to translate the dialogue properly, but that last panel of him honestly unnerves me (and judging from Google Translated comments in Korean, I'm not the only one.) I'm not really one for the kind of ML who is madly obsessive over their love interest to extremely difficult extents coz I'm too old and cynical to see this as a good thing in a relationship, fictional or otherwise (This is purely a personal preference; no judgement if that's your jam and jelly)

But the thing is that it makes sense. Of course Theo would get dangerous over the first woman he's fallen in love with. Of course he'd do anything to keep her now that, yknow, she's actually made her feelings known. After 90+ chapters of angsting, literally watching her die a few times in front of him, holding such huge feelings of guilt for what his blood has done to her, quietly despairing over keeping anyone close to him coz he's a Lapileon and they succumb so often to death -- this overwhelming fear of losing her is understandable. The idea of her leaving now must be intolerable, like "not after every damn thing I've been through. Everything we have been through. Over my cold dead body".

...I've had the thought quite a few times that seungu succeeded in convincing me that Theo is scary, and this chapter - while also very sweet - is really laying that fact out again in no uncertain terms: Therdeo Lapileon really shouldn't be messed with.

The thing is, meta-wise, there is no end to cold, stern dukes of the frozen North with fearsome reputations, black/dark hair and red/dark eyes - it's one of the most longstanding fantasy romance tropes in manhwa after all. Throw a stone and you'll hit a milord with a chest so wide you can fit a full dresser sideways between his shoulders and a face so stony Medusa is taking notes. And of course, his grace is going to have the reputation of Ultimate Warrior and Sovereign of His Land, Tamer of the Terrain, Reviver of the Barren Soil Now Made Fertile under His Leadership, because only such a powerful man with a heart of ice and terror would have the wherewithal to bend the unyielding north to his will. He isn't emperor/king simply because of circumstances (TM), character and/or choice.

To name just a few: Prince (...kinda? Sorta? Its a long story) Killian from Like Wind on a Dry Branch, Hades from I Married the Main Lead's Dad, Riftan from Under the Oak Tree, Kandel from I Thought My Time Was Up, Milian from Karina's Last Days; heck, even the other Killian from Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story is about to inherit a territory that isn't so great but which he will no doubt develop into a thriving land coz he's Capable that way. If you remove the hair and eye colour conditions, there are even more examples. 99% of them are said to strike fear into the hearts of men just by being mentioned in a room.

...ngl, putting my gigantic bias aside, Theo truly is among my top three scariest ML. Not even Killian (Rieta's) gives me pause the way Theo does, and I have immense respect and admiration for the way Like Wind on A Dry Branch is told (and translated). I know Killian is a powerful man; I feel Theo is threatening. (Brief aside here to acknowledge that Killian has game for days, while Theo is....... look, he's trying.)

Take this opinion with many grains of salt, but few MLs that I've seen so far (and admittedly my repertoire is probably very limited compared to others) has come close to the time Theo plain snapped during Celphi's bullying arc, and when he nearly decapitated a wholeass princess in front of the entire court because she killed his wife (again. And yes, justifiable but still, in front of the EMPEROR HIMSELF.)

Also, the man looked like THIS when the servant who poisoned her begged him to "go back to the princess":

I say this with all love: Theo is not a balanced individual.

We already know this is a world where medieval torture is par for the course, but so far it's been reserved for Gen, who tortured and experimented on a child, and this dude who's been an accessory to Dodolea's crimes since the beginning. Theo does not give a single fuck about trivial things like consequences when it comes to Celphi and Perry's wellbeing. The world will burn if it must, just so he can find out who hurt them.

I said before that Saoirse is a true Lapileon, and Theo was the softest hearted of the siblings. I still maintain it's true, but with the addendum that Theo isn't far off in ruthlessness. You just need to make the mistake of hurting his wife or his son.

Granted, the obsession is only a problem if he restricts Perry just because she's "His". And she's proven a few times that she will Do Shit She Wants regardless of the Lapileons, Princess Dodolea or even herself (god, the way she second guessed herself so hard, only to bust back into the room with those shackles and physically FIGHT MIA OFF in ch 92 - Phineas owes her impulsiveness his life literally). I don't think the story can logically progress that way unless Perry has some sort of personality transplant. And I trust seungu too much for that. The fear is in more what he'll do behind her back (please don't Theo, we've been through this, you know what happened the last time you did things without telling her first - and even if other things went well (like suppressing ugly false stories in publications) that doesn't guarantee you're doing the right thing by not keeping her informed, you walnut.

...yes I know she also has the same bad habit of Not Telling You Her Business but she's LEARNING. I think.)

...also, tbf, Theo doesn't need his obsession to make him a danger to his own love life. Romance or not, he's still Socially Awkward and Fucked Up so lord only knows how many awkward mistakes he's going to make trying to actively court his wife 🥲

Then again, it's not like she's any better considering her last serious relationship was so awful, she literally died and went back in time. I'm not surprised, and in fact quite glad, it took her this long to admit to her finer feelings. However, now this is slightly uncharted territory, and this woman bottles up her feelings and lies to herself just about as much as Theo does. (Why are you so bothered Mia spent so much time around him? Why are you so upset that you can't do more to help him? Why are you so worried whenever he's seemingly avoiding you? Why do you look away each time he gives you puppy dog eyes, Pereshati? HMMM? WHY INDEED)

And now they have to return to the capital with all these revelations, and be within reach of the imperial family again and I AM AFRAID FOR THEM, PRECIOUS, I TRULY AM.

On a completely different tangent: I am truly not a fan of the novel ending where Theo ends up being crowned emperor. So if this manhwa ends with the coronation of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Therdeo Lapileon and Her Imperial Majesty Empress Pereshati Jahardt, I will be heartbroken. Like, I would have the same reaction to it the way Game of Thrones fans reacted to Season 8. That's how bad I would take it. I hope to all things good seungu deviates from there as well. It feels like the romance is following the novel just a smidge more - a soupçon if you will - in this season, so I'm a little trepidatious about what other aspects might follow. I remain a big fan of how different the manhwa direction is, so... GO SEUNGU!! FOLLOW YOUR STAR!!

P/S: my train of thought while reading ch 90:

Seungu is just bringing all of Phineas' personal trauma in full technicolor when he flashes back to his younger self witnessing his parents fight while his older brother sustains a severe eye injury, oh my god. This poor boy - no wonder he wanted to run so badly.

Oh god, Gloria having to try and save her children from this insane man.

Okay, so this cements that it was Theo's grandfather who was tyrannical as fuck and abused everyone including his youngest grandson? not Theo's father who also looks like he was just Trying His Best? But Gen's dialogue mentions "abeoji" (father)? Did Phineas' older brother neglect his kids or grow up into another abuser??? oh GOD THIS FAMILY

PPS: I cannot WAIT to see how the English translators handle that panel in ch95 when he finally finds enough braincells to return her embrace (that's not just any hug, cmon - that's a full on, no holds barred, literary Embrace)

I'm fairly sure she said "It's/I'm cold", but I also got overexcited because I thought she said "I like you" (???) It's easy to overlap/overhear either phrase as each other coz they sound fairly similar if you say it quickly (same energy like saying "suki" in Japanese but you need context to know if they mean they like a person or something else entirely).

Either way, it was definitely NOT "saranghae", which let's face it, IS FAR TOO DEEP for where they are right now. These two doofuses have only just begun to find out what their feelings mean, tho Theo may be too quick a study , eomma help.

PPPS: Ep 87 comes out in English tomorrow morning (for us in GMT+8 anyway) AND I WILL HAVE WORDS ABOUT THAT CONVERSATION, VJFHDJSKSKSL I CANNOT WAIT

PPPPS: it just occurred to me that all the examples I mentioned about the other comparable dukes of the North have more or less Definitively gotten together with their love interests, emotionally and/or physically. I mean if someone came up with a gantt chart/comparative timeline/line graph of when each duke finally kissed/tumbled into bed with their love interests to prove me wrong/right, that'd be fantastic but anyway

Theo has only just hugged her in ch 95.

They have shared a bed for over 90 chapters and it is ONLY JUST NOW that there is prolonged bodily contact apart from holding (often gloved) hands.

...I keep saying this because it's true: I love this slow burn so much.

[maraschinomerry]

Hi! Ive really enjoyed your Lockwood and Co fic’s so far, especially how you incorporate gn-readers! As for a prompt to give: A George Karin X GN Reader fic where George works himself sick on researching a case and no one else really notices he’s sick other than Reader, and Reader makes him stop and takes care of him for the night. A quote to go along with this maybe: “No one ever cared about me like you.” There’s really not enough George fics out there, so thank you for rectifying that!

Chicken Soup

Pairings: George Karim x gn!reader

Content: literally just 99% fluff, the other 1% is reader misunderstanding when George tries to confess his feelings

A/N: this fic takes me to less than 1000 words off having posted 30,000 words in 4 weeks 🤯 will have to see if I can post another later!

Word count: 2.1k

Taglist: @neewtmas @marinalor @ettadear

George looked tired.

He usually looked at least a little worn out, so you weren't overly surprised, but this time it was more distinctive. Plus, his exhaustion was always paradoxically frantic, brought about by rushing to prepare for a case that needed solving yesterday, but this time Lockwood had specifically said nobody was going anywhere near the site until you and George were confident there was no more research to be done. You'd hoped that would mean George would take his time, but it seemed his brain had forgotten how to function in any way that wasn't cramming 3 days' worth of research into 3 hours.

"Let's call it a day," you prompted. The two of you had been glued to your seats around a stack of papers in the Archives all day and your back was getting horrendously stiff. George couldn't be faring much better, hunched so far over his book he practically disappeared into his orange plaid shirt.

"You head back, I just need a bit longer to finish off," he replied, not even glancing up. Under normal circumstances, you'd be able to use his frustration at the impossible deadline to lure him away, but what on earth were you supposed to say when it was self-inflicted?

"Are you sure? Lockwood did say to take as long as we need, so it can wait until morning."

George looked up then, only to shake his head. You knew what he was thinking: by tomorrow, the book he needed could have been borrowed by someone else; by tomorrow, Kipps' crew could have swanned in and solved the whole case; by tomorrow, there may not be anyone at the site left to employ them. You sighed.

"Sorry, I know it's a pain. Will you be okay getting home alone?" Trust him to be worrying about you when you were worrying about him. You assured him you'd be fine, and promised to have a cup of tea ready when he got home.

"You're the best," he said with a weary smile. Secretly he didn't want you to leave, he enjoyed your company, but it was unfair to make you stay just because he wanted to. As you walked away, you heard him sniff, which built into a sneeze. Hmm.

—

Less than ten minutes after you returned to Portland Row, the heavens opened. Rain hammered against the front door like it was begging to be let in, and wind whistled through every corner it could find from the attic downwards. 

You, Lucy and Lockwood sat around the dining table, soaking in every ounce of the warmth that seeped from the oven while dinner cooked (a steak pie you'd made when you got back, to distract yourself from the anxious knot in your stomach).

"How did it go at the Archives?" Lucy asked over a steaming cup of coffee.

"We're making progress, but I'm worried George is overworking himself."

Lockwood gave a wry chuckle. "Trust me, if George has a limit, I haven't seen him hit it in all the time I've known him."

That wasn't overly convincing - having bursts of intense hard work followed by a couple of days to recover was one thing, but working flat out for this long was another, especially when you knew from hearing the way the house shifted that he hadn't been sleeping.

"He was sneezing when I left," you pointed out. If Lockwood knew him so well, he'd know he wasn't much of a sneezer, even in the height of pollen season.

"This case dates back decades," Lucy countered. "Imagine how much dust is on some of those files." Just thinking about it made her nose crinkle. You could only hope they were both right.

—

A long-cold cup of tea and the remaining quarter of the pie awaited George when he returned, the last embers of daylight being snuffed out by the heavy rainclouds above. The second the key rattled in the front door, you sprang from where you'd been falling asleep on the Thinking Cloth and clicked the kettle on.

"You didn't wait up for me, did you?" George croaked from the kitchen doorway. Something had happened to his voice in the hours since you'd left him.

"I promised you tea!" As you turned in mock outrage you noticed something else wrong. He was shivering and pale. Instinctively, you stepped closer, brushing a hand across the droplets on his shoulders and spotting more in his hair. Had he walked home in this weather? No. There wasn't enough water for that. This was just from the cab to the door. He wasn't shivering from the cold. You suddenly remembered the sneeze earlier.

George was ill.

This was a disaster, and it was all your fault. You should have forced him to come home with you. Should have noticed sooner and never let him out today in the first place.

"Oh Georgie," you murmured, almost as much to yourself as him. "Give me one minute with that tea and then you need to get to bed."

"I'm f-fine," he stammered around chattering teeth. "It's nothing."

As if he'd been summoned as backup, Lockwood sauntered in on his way to the basement. "Glad to see you missed the rain," he joked. George gave another sneeze, a spray of said rain flying from his curls with the force of it. "Bathroom's free if you want a bath to warm up." Misguided as Lockwood was in his reason for the advice, it wasn't a bad idea actually.

"I'm just heading up," you shot him a grateful look before George could object, "I can set it running." Lockwood grinned and disappeared. Today was not one of his observant days, it seemed.

"I can run my own bath," George grumbled, still in the doorway, but his cheeks flushed a little and he made no move to stop you. Probably because his hands were shaking so much he would have struggled to even turn the taps. You took his freshly brewed tea in one hand and his arm in the other and guided him to the library to cosy up until the bath was ready.

—

Half an hour later, you were debating whether to go and make sure George hadn't fallen asleep in the tub when he emerged. His dark curls were damp yet fluffy from the towel, a slight glow had returned to his skin and he was dressed in the clean pyjamas you'd looked out for him. He frowned at you as best his tired muscles would allow, pondering the fact you'd clearly spent the entire time sitting on the bottom step outside the bathroom. Before he could comment, however, the warmth of the bath began to wear off and the tremble returned to his bones. You reached behind you and sheepishly held out a fuzzy forest green bundle.

"I, um… I couldn't find any of your jumpers, I think they're all in the wash, so you can borrow this one. It should fit."

George took hold of it and unfolded what turned out to be the softest hoodie he'd ever felt in his life. He wriggled into it, his one working nostril breathing in the way the smell of you lingered in the fabric. It was so comfy that he found himself burrowing into it, bringing it up under his chin and tucking his hands into the sleeves.

You caught yourself staring at him, marvelling over how he could look so adorable in such an unfortunate situation, and gave him a soft smile. "Better?"

He nodded and mumbled out a "thanks" which ended up somewhat drowned in the hoodie as he shuffled away. Halfway through his bedroom door, he stopped and turned back to you. "What's that?"

You went to see what he was referring to, hands on his shoulders to support yourself as you pressed close on tiptoes to peer past him. Suddenly very aware of how close you were, you focused your attention on the flask on his bedside table.

"Oh. It's chicken soup. I wasn't sure if you'd want it just yet, so I used a flask which should keep it warm for the next few hours."

If you hadn't been aware of how much you were in George's personal space before, you certainly were now as he practically melted against you.

"That's so thoughtful." He sounded shocked. Not at you being thoughtful towards him, at anyone being so. Unsure of what to say, you gave his shoulders a supportive squeeze and then used them to steer him towards his bed.

His room was a little chilly, so you checked that his window was properly closed before drawing the curtains. George, energy almost completely drained, flopped onto the bed. You helped him tuck his legs under the duvet,  bringing it up around his chest. He sniffled again, and without a word you nudged the box of tissues you'd found and set out for him. His eyes grew wide and incredulous, suddenly scrunching shut with another bout of sneezing.

"Do you need anything else?"

The sneezing paused. "I think I left my book in the library…"

"Georgie, no." Your voice became stern even as you used his nickname affectionately. "No more research until you're feeling better." He began to protest. "Think about it. The more you rest, the sooner you'll recover and the quicker you can get back to it." He couldn't argue with logic, and you both knew it.

You ended up fetching him a glass of water, some paracetamol and a couple of contraband biscuits. When you returned, you found him sipping the soup, and his face lit up at your last offering.

"You're too nice," he sighed, insisting on splitting the first biscuit with you. "I love you."

You almost choked on your half of the biscuit, bursting into a coughing fit you'd expect from the actual ill person in the room. George immediately rose from the pillows to pat your back as you tried to remember how to breathe. "Are you okay?" His hand stopped patting as your coughing subsided but it didn't leave your back, instead rubbing gentle circles.

"I…" you spluttered, finally dislodging the rogue crumb. "Do you really mean that?"

"Of course I do! No one ever cared about me like you."

His words were kind, tender, yet your heart still sank. He'd just said it because you were looking after him. You couldn't believe you'd actually thought for a moment that he loved you. There was nothing more you wanted than for the ground to swallow you up, but when George kept talking you stayed and listened. "Lockwood and Lucy do so much for me, don't get me wrong, and my parents did their best, but I'd be lost without you. I mean, all this…" he gestured around at the flask, the hoodie, you still sitting on his bed,  "nobody else even noticed there was anything wrong. But you did. You see me, and I love you for it."

Tears welled in your eyes. You blinked them away, refusing to obscure your view of the beautiful boy beside you. His hand stilled on your back, twitching away, afraid he'd said the wrong thing. You leaned into his side, strengthening the touch. "I love you too."

His eyelids fluttered, a mixture of exhaustion and adoration. His free hand linked with yours. "Remind me to kiss you once I'm better."

"Why can't you kiss me now?"

"Because I'll make you ill, if I haven't already!"

"I'll take that risk." You leaned in.

"Nooo," he whined, a hand on your chest to keep you at a distance, "I'd feel bad. But lucky for you, I have a fantastic doctor, so I'll be better in no time."

"Oh yes, I hear they're exceptional and very committed. Now lie down."

George did as he was told, gasping at the rush of cold air as the duvet was lifted behind him. You eased yourself into the bed, legs tangling in his and pulling you closer until his back leant against your chest and your face was buried in his hair.

"What did I just say?!"

You shushed him. "It's fine, if I catch it you can look after me." You pressed a kiss to his temple as you reached over to click the lamp off. He groaned in the darkness.

"You're impossible."

"You love me, though."

His hand found yours again, bringing your arm to wrap round his stomach. Your fingers traced the warm, soft skin underneath the hem of your hoodie. He sighed contentedly, the rise and fall of your chest behind him lulling him closer to sleep. "I do."

You sneezed.

Damn it.

[powerbrokerreadalong]

Tumblr Should Read the Power Broker

So 99 Percent Invisible is a podcast by Roman Mars.  It talks about the design of everyday things, like postage stamps and walking trails and gas ranges. It's the sort of stories that tumblr likes. You can check out the podcast here. Roman Mars also has a thing about flags, as you can see here:

But I'm not really here to talk about why you should listen to 99 Percent Invisible in general (though hey, I like it).  I'm here because I've failed after a decade to leave this website. Also, 99 Percent Invisible is reading The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York and you, tumblr, should join the readalong.

Okay. What is The Power Broker? It's a 1,336 page biography of Robert Moses by Robert A. Caro.

Why am I suggesting that Tumblr read The Power Broker?

You all would love to hate the subject.

I'm sure some of you already do! Robert Moses stands for bureaucratic power and the midcentury city planning that prioritized cars over people. He was never elected to any office but was able to shape one of the largest cities in the world. And Robert Caro, the author, carefully notes how he was able to amass power. Also, he hated Robert Moses. You can think of it as an extremely long and detailed call out post. On that note.

It's extremely well researched.

Look. I think, after James Somerton and the scourge of AI printed materials, there's a lot of people that are feeling lied to. We want to see people do the work.The research.The footnotes. We want someone to be willing to turn over every rock, and spend years on a single project. Robert Caro is the author we need right now. He is thorough. He is willing to work diligently, reading every memo, talking to everyone involved who would talk to him. And by God, there will be footnotes.

Tumblr is the land of hyperfixation

The main stopping point for The Power Broker is that it's long. So? That's like 705,000 words. I know at least some of you monsterfuckers have written that many words in a year and read them in a weekend. And you'd be reading it along with other people, so there'd be some sort of accountability. If there was ever a social media website where I think people would be willing to go down a very deep and detailed rabbit hole on civil engineering, it would be Tumblr. Also maybe Metafilter. They've probably already read The Power Broker, though. 

It'd be funny

Being really into The Power Broker is a very dad thing to do. Getting all of the (gender neutral) Tumblr girlies into The Power Broker and giving it a very Tumblr treatment would be very entertaining. Transmascs, you can think of being into the Power Broker as a non-toxic way to affirm your masculinity. Haven't you ever wanted to commit to the bit so hard that you end up reading a seminal piece of midcentury American nonfiction? Now's your chance.

Okay, you've convinced me.  What do I do?

Acquire the Power Broker. Honestly, I'd probably just check your local used book store. I don't think it ever came out in ebook.

Read the Power Broker at your own pace. I'm not your real dad.

Listen along to whatever 99 Percent Invisible has cooked up.  I have no idea what they're planning. I'm not affiliated with them in any way. But they do have an episode up already.

Profit?  IDK.  If you feel like posting, tag it correctly and I might reblog.

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

Johnny and Dora | Spencer Reid

Add yourself to my taglist! | Here’s my masterlist!

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Gun use, mention of alcohol, not proofread

Author's note: This is basically the episode from Brooklyn 99 in season two where Amy and Jake get together. I'm fully aware that the BAU might not work on an identity theft case, but let's just pretend they do for the sake of this story, yeah?  

Words: 4.078

Y/N wasn’t too sure how she’d ended up in this position. One minute she was trying to catch Brooklyn’s most prolific identity thief they had been chasing for days in New York, the next she had her co-worker pressed up against a tree with her lips on his. 

It had all started when the BAU team was sent to Brooklyn, New York to investigate an identity theft that had been haunting Brooklyn for a couple months now. The team was working hard to find the man responsible for the crime, working every possible angle and trying to figure out the how and why before actually going en-route to catch the guy. 

“Tonight, Augustine will be handing off the laptop to a buyer from China,” Detective Peralta told them, concluding his briefing to the BAU team. 

Hotch nodded his head before turning to his team. “Reid, Y/L/N, I want you tailing Augustine until he makes the drop, then arrest him and the buyer.”

“Good call, though I suppose I could take Morgan,” Spencer objected with a light tone. “I’m sure Y/L/N has something better to do…” 

“No, I don’t,” she replied, confused as to why he would say that. 

“Really?” asked Spencer. “‘Cause I swore I overheard you saying to Prentiss you didn’t like… tailing… people…” 

Y/N stared at him with an incredulous look. “You think I said that?” 

“Word for word,” Spencer said with a slow nod of his head as though he was trying to convince no one but himself. 

Y/N stared at the man in disbelief until Hotch cut in between the two. “All right, enough. Prentiss and Morgan will join them in a surveillance van.” 

The detectives and the BAU team all dispersed. Y/N was determined to find out what was happening with Spencer. They had gotten along since the day she joined the team over a year ago. To say his sudden change of demeanor towards her confused her was an understatement. 

“Okay, what did I do?” she asked, slamming the door of the breakroom shut so the two of them had some privacy. Spencer looked up from where he was making his coffee, confusion written in his eyes. “Why are you so bent on keeping me off this case?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Spencer muttered as he turned back to his coffee. 

Scoffing, y/n shook her head. “Come on, Spence. Is it because I finished your report for you last week? Because I was just trying to help you. I knew you wanted to leave early to call your mother.” 

With a sigh, Spencer turned to look at the woman. “I don’t care about that. I appreciate you doing that.” 

“Then what is it?” 

Inhaling deeply as if to calm himself down, Spencer put down his hot coffee again and took a few tentative steps towards y/n. He stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep him from fidgeting so much. “The reason I didn’t want to work with you is–” he puffed out a nervous breath. “C-can you not look at me like that?” he asked, suddenly changing the topic. 

Y/N was looking at him with interest, her head tilted ever so slightly, her eyes swimming with worry. 

“Like what?” 

“Never mind,” he grumbled and went back to his coffee. 

“No, Spence. Tell me what’s going on so I can fix it. I hate having  you mad at me.” 

Taking another deep breath, Spencer’s eyes met y/n’s. “Fine… I just… Remember when you told me you’d never want to date any law enforcement?” Y/N nodded her head slowly, trying to understand what he was saying. “It kinda… It kinda bummed me out?” 

“What?” The one-worded question came out in a soft whisper. 

“I was kind of thinking about asking you out…” 

Y/N’s breath hitched in her throat. “Oh… Okay…” she brought out, not really sure what else to tell him. 

“But I know that that’s not what you want, and I totally get it…” 

“Spence…” y/n heaved in a deep breath. “This is weird… And the whole reason for me not dating anyone in the field is so it wouldn’t be weird at work, you know?” 

Spencer offered her a soft smile. “Okay, then just– let’s make it not weird, okay? This is a case; we work cases together all the time, and we’re really good at it, so, you know, we’re professionals.” 

“That’s all I want,” y/n responded steadfastly. “For us to be professional.” 

Nodding his head, Spencer reached for his coffee again and as he passed y/n, he placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. 

Later that day, Spencer, y/n, Derek and Emily followed behind Augustine in their surveillance van. The bright red car they’d been following brought them to a fancy-looking restaurant. 

Confused, y/n turned to her co-workers. “Why’s he getting out here?” she asked. “I thought that detective told us he was going to be dropping it off at the park?” 

“Maybe he’s having dinner with his sidepiece first,” Emily countered. 

Y/N’s eyes landed on the object in Augustine’s hand. “He’s got the laptop with him,” she told them. “We should just arrest him right here.” 

“No,” Spencer replied. “The buyer’s the bigger collar. We gotta follow him in and wait for the handoff.” 

Nodding her head, y/n moved to open the door, only for Derek to stop her. “You can’t go in like that. You look like FBI.” 

“Right, you’re right,” y/n whispered as she shook off her blazer and unbuttoned her shirt a little further. “How’s that?” she asked Spencer, who was sitting next to her. A blush fanned his cheeks and reached the tips of his ears as he turned away from her. 

“I don’t know,” he stuttered. 

Emily chuckled at Spencer’s nervous behavior while Derek shook off his leather jacket. “Here, wear this,” Derek said and handed the black piece of clothing to her. Surprisingly, Derek’s jacket fit her very well. 

Once the jacket was hanging off her shoulders, she turned to Spencer and untied his tie. “What are you doing?” he asked, nervously while she lifted his tie over his head and handed it to Emily. 

“For heaven’s sake, Spence, just trust me,” she all but grumbled and unbuttoned a couple of his buttons too. “All right, think we’re good to go.” 

The two of them walked inside the restaurant, scanning the place for the suspect. “Did you know that restaurants are germ-infected? Even the tables are germ-hotspots, especially during rush-hours when the staff is more focused on giving peop–” 

“Spence,” y/n nudged him to shut him up. 

“Right, sorry,” he whispered. “Do you have eyes on–”

Y/N grabbed his arm and cleared her throat. Once Spencer’s eyes landed on who she had seen, he smiled politely. “The hostess stand,” he finished his sentence. “Hi. Table for two, please.” 

The suspect and his girlfriend were right in front of him, talking to the hostess. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, there’s nothing available. We’re totally booked up,” the woman replied. 

Knowing they weren’t going to get in unless they had a really good reason for the woman to make an exception. Without thinking twice about it, she grabbed Spencer’s bicep and leaned in closer to him. “Oh, that’s horrible. Tonight’s a really big night for us. Johnny and I just got engaged and this is where we had our first date,” she said dreamily. 

Spencer looked down at her for a moment in surprise. Over the years of having known her, he’d wanted her to say something along those lines for a very long time. While she was oblivious to his little crush, the rest of their co-workers weren’t, which is why it was always them two who got paired up to do stuff like this. 

“Oh, yeah, it would mean so much to Dora and me…” Spencer chimed in, jumping on the idea immediately. “I-I would’ve made reservations, but I didn’t know if she was going to say yes…” 

“Aww, I love how nervous you were, you little goose,” she cooed before leaning up and kissing his cheek, catching the man completely off guard. 

The look he gave her was one of surprise mixed with confusion. He had no clue what was happening. 

“You two are just the cutest,” the hostess said with a hand over her heart. “I’m sure we can find room for two young lovers.” 

It was the way she said it that made the butterflies in her stomach well up. Aside from herself, no one had ever even thought about them being lovers, let alone called them it. 

“Yeah,” Spencer croaked. “We are two lovers… Together… In beds…” 

“Okay,” she whispered, trying to keep her composure. 

The hostess asked them to follow her to the waiting area and told them they just needed a moment to free up a table for them. As y/n and Spencer stood together at the high table, she couldn’t help but glance over at him. He looked very handsome tonight. Having decided to discard his tie and loosen up a couple of buttons was a good call. She couldn’t deny that it did look very good on him. 

“Sorry about springing that engagement stuff on you,” y/n told him. 

Spencer shook his head. “No, no, no. That was great. It’s what’s got us in here.” He inhaled sharply before jokingly adding, “The cheek-kiss was a bit much though. And wet.” 

Smirking, y/n tilted her head a little. “What can I tell you? Dora’s sloppy.” 

Both of them chuckled but before either could add anything else, the hostess reappeared at their table. “All right, your table is ready. You can follow me.” 

They nodded their heads and followed behind the woman. “Okay, we can go back to being Spencer and y/n on the lookout for the suspect,” Spencer muttered, almost glad he didn’t have to sit through an entire dinner pretending he was madly in love with her as it wouldn’t even be pretending on his part. It would kill him knowing that all of it would be over when the case was done. 

“All right, there you go,” the hostess said, placing down the menus on their table. When the couple co-workers looked up, they realized they had gotten a table right next to the suspect and his date. 

The girlfriend gasped as she turned to y/n and Spencer. “You’re the couple that just got engaged.” 

“That’s us!” Spencer exclaimed as he reached for y/n’s hand. “Johnny and Dora,” he said, holding up your intertwined hands. “Definitely a couple…” 

Y/N and Spencer took their seats, both of them chuckling nervously. Augustine and his girlfriend even sprung them champagne and oysters to celebrate their fake engagement. 

“Wow, champagne and oysters,” y/n said with a sarcastic tone. “You really shouldn’t have, guys.” 

“Well, it’s a special night,” said Augustine. “So when did you guys meet?” 

Not having practiced any of this, the two lovebirds weren’t quite in sync with their backstory. “Last year,” y/n responded while Spencer went for “Two years ago.” 

Upon seeing the confused looks of Augustine and his companion, y/n chuckled. “We first met two years ago but we don’t count it because…” 

“I was dating a super smart scientist,” Spencer finished her sentence. 

“And I was dating the bassist of an up-and-coming Brooklyn-based band,” y/n continued the lie. 

“Anyways, about a year ago, we bumped into each other again in a bar and…” Spencer turned to y/n with a soft look on his face. “We haven’t been able to keep our hands off each other since.” 

Y/N hummed, unable to wipe the smile on her face. 

Augustine’s girl propped her head up on her hand, her elbow resting on the table. “So, how did you know she was the one?” she asked Spencer dreamily. 

Sighing, Spencer turned back to his fake-fiancée. “I’d love to answer that,” he said, surprising y/n a little. She was curious to hear what he was going to come up with. “Um, you know, just whenever I look at her face… and the… attached physique,” he answered a little awkwardly as though he didn’t want to say what he actually thought of her. 

“And you?” the girl asked y/n. 

Y/N’s eyes locked with Spencer’s and she couldn’t help but smile as her insides melted at the sight of his honeycomb eyes. “He’s the smartest guy I know and … he makes me laugh,” she responded honestly. 

“And, you know,” Spencer chimed in again, looking at the other couple. “There’s really no one else’s opinion who I care about more than hers, so…” When he looked back up at Y/N, he saw something in her eyes that he had never seen before and Spencer had studied those beautiful eyes before, remembering every detail about it thanks to his eidetic memory. 

“Okay, so enough chit-chat, let’s see the ring!” 

Panicking a little, y/n moved the ring from her ring finger on the right side to to one on the left before showing her hand to the woman. The ring was one she had gotten from her grandma when she had graduated from the academy. Y/N had always worn it as a token of good luck. It was the thing that kept her safe. 

The girl gasped. “It’s beautiful!” she exclaimed as she studied it. The band looked like twigs from the rose bushes in her grandmother’s garden with a small diamond that presented the rose. It reminded y/n of the days she’d spent at her grandparents’ house and helped her grandma with the rose bushes. 

“When I saw this ring, I knew I had to get it for her as it reminded me of the rose bushes her grandma had in her garden. Whenever Dora talks about spending time with her grandma in the garden, her eyes light up like a child’s on Christmas Eve and I just knew…” Spencer explained and though y/n knew in the back of her mind that all of this was just a ruse, she couldn’t help but turn into mush on the inside. 

How y/n survived the entire dinner without turning into a puddle, she didn’t know, but she somehow managed to get through to dessert. 

“Can you get the car from the valet, babe?” Augustine said to his girlfriend, handing her the keys. “I’m gonna go in the back and say hi to the chef.” Spencer and y/n exchanged glances when they noticed Augustine reaching for the laptop. 

“Good luck on your wedding, guys,” the girl said to them. “Oh, have fun on your honeymoon!”

“We will,” Spencer replied. “We’re going to Waco, Texas,” he said a little too excitedly. 

The girl looked at him for a moment before chuckling, “Huh, okay. Bye!” 

“Bye,” y/n greeted, giving her a wave that she couldn’t even see anymore, before turning to Spencer. “Waco, Texas?” 

“I’m sorry,” Spencer hissed. “It just slipped out.”

Shaking her head, y/n put the napkin down on her half-eaten dessert before scraping her chair back. “Let’s go, Augustine’s making the drop.” 

Spencer nodded and followed y/n to the kitchen where they found Augustine with the chef. “Look, there’s the buyer,” y/n pointed out, but then got confused when Augustine didn’t hand over the laptop. “Or he’s just actually saying hi to the chef?” 

As Augustine turned, his eyes landed on the couple near the door. “Oh, no. He’s seen us,” Spencer whispered and before he could properly think twice about it, he cupped y/n’s cheeks and kissed her on the lips. 

Confused and surprised, y/n wasn’t too sure what to do but then decided to follow along and melted into the kiss. His lips somehow slotted perfectly with hers and the tingle in the pit of her stomach felt natural. 

“Excuse me,” Augustine’s voice interrupted them. 

“Oh, sorry,” Spencer apologized. “We were just looking for a place to, uh…” 

A little groggy from that spine-tingling kiss, y/n finished Spencer’s sentence while holding onto him for dear life. “Boink…” 

“Yep. Boink…” Spencer agreed. “That’s my preferred term for it as well.” 

Y/N nodded her head to try and sell the point further. “I get it,” Augustine then said. “Newly engaged kids. Enjoy.” 

The couple watched as Augustine was out of sight before springing apart. “Good. Good, good, good, good,” Spencer mumbled, trying to convince himself. We kept our cover intact. Nice work.” 

“Quick professional thinking out there, Reid. Very quick. Very professional,” y/n rambled, not entirely thinking straight just yet. 

Trying to keep up his poise and to remind himself that they are, in fact, working, Spencer held out his hand for her to shake, which she quickly did. “Agent,” he said ceremonially. 

“Doctor,” y/n responded before the two of them headed out of the restaurant. 

As the couple joined their co-workers in the van again, they felt a little awkward. Neither of them was saying anything. Not to each other. Not to Emily and Derek. The two at the front found it slightly weird that Spencer wasn’t spewing facts and y/n wasn’t singing along to one of her favorite songs that was playing on the radio. 

“Okay, you’re being weird,” Derek pointed out. “What happened?” 

“Spencer and I kissed,” y/n responded with a roll of her eyes. 

“WHAT?!” Emily and Derek exclaimed simultaneously. 

“It was just to keep our cover from being blown,” Spencer responded. “We didn’t have a choice.” 

“Tell me everything!” Emily ordered, overly excited. 

Y/N shook her head. “Em, there’s nothing to tell, okay? It was for work. It was nothing.” She repeated the words in her head to convince herself that it was indeed nothing. That what she felt when Spencer’s lips were on hers was just a reaction to someone kissing her. That it wasn’t because it was Spencer kissing her. 

“Yeah, who cares about a kiss? Call me when you grab each other’s asses,” Derek chimed in. “He’s pulling over,” he then said when the red car in front of them had his blinker on. 

“Nothing like that is gonna happen, okay?” Spencer said before citing some facts about how in theater, the leads of the play almost never fall in love with one another and that it always just stays on-stage. 

“Guys, it’s not a handout,” Derek informed them as they watched Augustine drop off the case, cutting Spencer’s fact-spewing short. “It’s a drop-off.” 

“Okay,” y/n said. “Em, you and Derek follow Augustine.” 

“Right, and you two, follow your hearts,” Emily added, causing y/n to roll her eyes. 

“No, we’re gonna stay with the package.” 

Y/N and Spencer got out of the car and hid behind a tree to keep an eye out on the laptop case. The air was chilly for a summer evening, so y/n was glad she was still wearing Derek’s jacket. 

Spencer turned to y/n. “We’re cool, right?” 

“Yeah, totally,” y/n answered determinedly. “We’re fine.” 

“Good,” Spencer nodded. “You know, I’m actually quite hungry. I never really ended up eating anything at that fancy restaurant.” 

“Same. You know what I’m gonna get when I get to the hotel?” she asked with a grin. 

Spencer nodded his head. “Yeah, you’re gonna order Burger King and you’re gonna get the Crispy Chicken burger with cheesy chili fries, onion rings and a grape Sprite,” he summed up without hesitation. The fact that he’d remembered her exact order from Burger King surprised her and surprisingly also turned her on a little bit. 

“That’s exactly what I’m gonna get…” she mumbled, trying to shake off the feeling. 

While Spencer went on a ramble about what he was going to eat, y/n was distracted by the man a few feet away from them, closer to the package. She wasn’t paying much attention to anything Spencer was saying as she was trying to determine whether or not that was their UnSub. 

“Spence,” y/n tried to cut him off, but he kept on going with some facts about the restaurant he always went to. “Spence, he’s looking at us…” Before Spencer could turn his head to look at whatever y/n was looking at, she had already grabbed his face and brought his lips to hers, pressing him against the tree. 

Once again ignoring the feeling in the pit of her stomach, y/n opened an eye to watch the buyer walk off with the laptop in hand. She detached herself from Spencer and reached for her gun, stopping the guy in his tracks. 

“FBI! Freeze! We are co-workers!” she yelled, mostly to remind herself. 

“You’re under arrest!” Spencer joined in, pointing his gun at the man, too. “This is a work event!” 

Later that night, y/n found herself in her hotel room, pacing the floor with her crispy chicken burger getting colder and colder with every minute she didn’t touch it. She couldn’t stop her brain from rethinking everything that had happened that day. Every time she remembered the kiss with Spencer, her insides tingled and her heart skipped several beats. 

None of this made sense. She had been able to go about her days for the last year without thinking about Spencer this way. The thought had crept up on her once or twice, but she had always managed to shake it off. Why was this time so different? 

Before she could rethink everything, a knock on her door caused her to snap out of it. She secretly prayed it was JJ or Emily, just so she could rehash the whole thing and get everything off her chest. Though when she opened the door, she didn’t find JJ nor Emily there, but instead she was looking into those beautiful honey eyes that had melted her insides mere hours ago. 

“Spencer, I–” 

“Can I come in?” he asked, not allowing her to finish her sentence. Nodding, y/n stepped aside and let him in, closing the door right after. “A lot has happened today, huh?” he asked, wringing his hands in nervousness. 

“Yeah, I-I guess so…” 

Spencer sighed as he let go of his hands and stepped closer to y/n. “Look, y/n, I don’t want anything to get weird between us, okay? I understand why you don’t wanna date anyone in the field and I respect that. So, can we just forget today happened?”  

Going over her options, y/n’s mind skidded back and forth between every kiss and every word they had shared today. She could either ignore everything she had felt today and agree with him, forgetting about it all. Or she could take the plunge and try to figure it out with him. 

“I don’t think I can, Spencer,” she whispered. 

Spencer’s head tilted slightly as his brows furrowed in confusion. “Wh-what do you mean? I–” 

Before he could finish his sentence, y/n took two long strides towards him and cupped his cheeks, much like she had done before in the park, and kissed him deeply. At first, Spencer wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but he quickly melted into her body, grabbing her by the waist to pull her closer. 

“Y/N!” Emily’s voice sounded before they heard the knock on her door. “Can we go out for some drinks?!” 

Y/N looked up at Spencer and offered him a soft smile. “I’ll be right down! Order a Chardonnay for me, will you?” 

The two of them waited until they heard the footsteps of their co-worker recede before heading out the door together. Neither of them said anything. Neither of them needed to, either. They knew what they felt for one another was real and that they needed to figure something out, but that was not going to happen tonight. 

But whatever they would figure out, they would have to thank Johnny and Dora for pushing them this far.  

Everything taglist: @calamitykaty @littlemissaddict @n0wornever @wanniiieeee @unnowhatthisistbh @Jassy122

[jikookuntold]

Tbh answer I expected. I only bring in taennie to prove my point. Me, you and all others who are not taekookers or have an unnecessary hate boner for blackpink knows they were real pics and videos. But a majority portion is obsessed to prove it was fake because the argument was there were no quality videos/pics where Tae's face was clear and clear pics were edited. Likewise, whoever not jikookers or generally JK shippers knows its real video 🤷‍♀️

Ik his face wasn't clear. We all know it lol. But other evidences are very clear. Forget about the exact Dora hairstyle he had in that period or black outfit it can be setup, even though the grainy pic you posted looks like JK's silhouette. But his apartment? Same switch boards and couch ? The window ? The mood lamp which color changi order was exactly like his lamp ? His own dog who's tail is not amputed.. walking around him just like bam does ? I didn't even saw karmy who are biggest jikookers trying to prove it was fake 🤷‍♀️ idk man, all of it seems like too real to be fake especially when we are trying to not be biased while watching Jikook.

Btw, when he posted his latest gcf army saw a cropped Harley jacket which is way petite for him to wear. It obviously belongs to a girl. Forget about hello kitty plushie or two helmets we can ignore them as his. But I don't think he needs a small cropped jacket in his home if there was no girl. I also remember he outlined a female hourglass body in one of his karoke lives... goes along with my point

I'm just asking doubts which I have for long time, was waiting for you to become active, and I'm sure many of jikookers here still have even if they act cool pretending none of these affected them because that's what 99% of jikookers here did that month. While 1% accepted its real and been inactive since. All those back to back things he did and we found out affected me and made me rethink about Jikook.

I'm so flattered that you have been waiting for my come back to ask me about some shadows moving around. I don't know how you did the statistics, but I'm not in that 99% nor the 1%. Maybe you are new here, but I have seen many things real-time, including the Mijoo drama and I know what goes on here.

You started with that video, and I told you any kind of authenticity is questioned when the quality is that horrifying. But eventually you reached the point of trying hard to involve JK with girls and your proof is a kitty plushie or a crop top? Are you serious right now? Is this the best you can to force heterosexualoty on someone? 🤡

I don't and I can't take you seriously because it's getting boring already. Only in the past year JK has been forged into dating with 11 different women (yes, I counted and I have the list) from a random bystander to a staff or even famous idols, just because he breathed the same air with them for half a second. Aren't you tired? I'm genuinly asking.

Btw no one said that girl in Jeju was staff. JK was there with high school friends, (surprise! He attended mixed gender high school), so she was either a friend or a friend's date.

You can keep trying to find a faceless woman for JK and convince yourself that he is a straight fckboy, or you can be creative for once and come up with the Daeun/Jimin furniture theories, but you have to know you are not affecting me or Jikook or anyone else, you are just clowning yourself 👻

[do-androids-dream-ao3acc]

Whump Meme

"Stop crying and listen to me,"

Sooo you let me choose a character (which was hard because I'm not the imaginative type, you know!) and... for whatever reason, I chose Omega from The Bad Batch. So here's my small contribution, thanks a lot for the ask! If anybody still wants to do this, here's the whump meme (pleeeeease give me a pairing or a character, I'm so lost!) 😂

......

"Stop crying and listen to me."

There’s something in the man's voice that makes Omega look up. Something familiar. His words are firm, but almost any adult would speak like that; above all, they contain a certain authority. The man doesn't look like a soldier, but looks can be deceiving, especially in these times.

"I didn't cry," she says, wiping her face fleetingly with her hand. 

It's not a genuine lie. It's okay not to always tell the whole truth. Tactical. She clings to this thought, because it connects her to her past, to something she wants to return to. Someone, rather. The thought stings, but it also causes a warm feeling in her stomach. How peculiar. Omega doesn’t dwell on her train of thought. Times are hard on everyone, and she can do this. She will survive.

"That's alright," the stranger replies, "you must be scared. I'm sure you've been separated from your parents."

She looks up at the man, thinking, if you only knew. But then again... what is clone force 99 if not the closest to Omega's abstract idea of parents? She takes a deep breath. This man only wants to help, and that is rare in these times. In all the chaos around her, fire and screams and blood and rubble, she just seems like a frightened child. And maybe there actually was a weak moment. Not because of the attack that hit this planet out of the blue and abruptly interrupted her search for information, for answers, for the possible whereabouts of her unit. 

She has been alone for weeks, separated from her friends, her family, her bad batch. Now they carry this designation like an award, and Omega is one of them, and she’s proud of it. Whatever her purpose was, and it was probably not a good thing, is forgotten, because together they all make it a good thing.   The thought almost makes her eyes moist again. Almost. But it's good if the man in front of her, holding out a hand - she must have fallen during the last impact - thinks she's a child. Harmless. 

Omega takes the man’s hand, thanks him and looks around. Chaos everywhere. Perhaps there will soon be nothing and no one left here, and her search will come to another dead end, but that can't stop her. It must not. The pit of her stomach burns, but that's not fear. It must not.

"Where do you belong?" asks the stranger. 

His question is innocent, but is he harmless? Omega can't trust anyone, not even the kindness of a stranger. That's what Hunter would advise her to do. Echo would suggest gathering all the facts, Tech would agree with him, and Wrecker... well, he'd say that if nothing else helps, you can always shoot your way out. Or punch, Omega thinks, because she doesn't have a gun. 

And Crosshair... Most of all, and this is surprising, it hurts to think of Crosshair. He has made his decision, and so must Omega. But that doesn't mean she has to forget him. Because Crosshair, that much is clear, would have some very specific advice for her. 

Follow your orders.

Omega straightens and smiles at the man, a shaky little smile, but a genuine one. 

Trust no one. Follow your orders.

"Oh, but my family is back there," she says with convincing astonishment. 

She feels a little sorry for the man, because maybe, just maybe, he really is just being friendly. Really just someone who wants to help another person in need. Omega keeps that in mind, because she knows compassion is another thing that sets her apart from the ordinary clones, and that's important.

But now she enthusiastically points to a group of chalactans frantically turning a corner just a few blocks away. People are running everywhere, and only now does Omega hear the sirens. An opportunity, that's all she can think about. 

The man looks skeptically in the direction indicated, and Omega doesn't want to give him time to realize that she doesn't really look like a chalactan. She jumps up, she runs; briefly turns around and shouts a cheerful "Thank you". Her legs are often faster than her mind, but it usually works. Five streets and a pile of rubble that she has to laboriously climb over later, Omega turns around. There is no one to look out for her; she is just a child wandering around aimlessly like everyone else trying to get to safety. 

There is no safety, there’s only the Empire, and they’re still looking for her. It’s a crushing thought for somebody so small, an overwhelming thought causing a searing behind her eyes. She’s alone, and that’s a burden for most people. 

Only that Omega isn’t most people.

Fear can be transformed into determination. Another lesson from her friends. Omega looks at the smoldering wreckage all around, and the noise and screams and wailing of the sirens become quiet inside her. She looks up at the smoke-filled sky with dry eyes.

Follow your orders, she thinks. There is no one who can command her now, and there is no command. There is only Omega, and she gives herself an order. 

Find them.

[idontwikeit]

thank you for taking the time to respond to your messages, it's so nice to actually talk about these things! the whole dreamstat thing really hammered home what the execs want and think is needed. we know amc intervened to have him in the season, even though that was not the plan (to this extend). he never haunted the narrative, he was fucking in it. it didn't work for me and not only that, they just had to shoehorn him into a scene where a poc opens up about a horrific past, only to make light of the situation and basically be a mouthpiece for the racist fanbase. was it that hard to have genuine moments between the two leads, without once again putting the white man in there? and you cannot convince me those fans are not absolutely seething that the big episode that made people take notice of the show, that got talked about online to an extent that didn't happen before and currently is the highest rated episode is 2x5 (and it's not that there weren't two white men in it, just not their white fav). not having heard anything from jacob and assad together, about how they approached those scenes, what they mean to their characters is insulting. but let's ask jacob for the millionth time about how great dreamstat is, i guess. i also "love" how defensive those people are about how race plays such a huge role in the show and they try to make it into some sort of "well that's only one way to look at it and it depends on where you're from/your own background". like no. it's the only way. i'm white, from a country that is 99% white, the show is not subtle, you cannot not see it. they are just racists throwing a tantrum.

I grew to like dreamstat but I do agree at some point he is redundant in it esp during armand's monologue scene. Their wish to retain the white audience/book fans and insert dreamstat def play a big part in the show's direction, and honestly them choosing to have assad paired with eric to pander to devil's minion fans when it would make more sense to pair up assad and jacob for s2 press but no, not even once!! like not even one with assad jacob and sam together smh and there's a reason some lestat fans complaining ep5 is the worst when it has some of the best acting in the show

[vee-beeee]

The Die-Hard episode

This is genuinely my first piece of writing anything sooo please forgive me lol

I watched die-hard and then Brooklyn 99 and Detroit become human and I wanted to mix those together, sorry if this has been done before but now I'm doing it baby.

Also It's my first time writing these characters so its a whole party

Conner and nines x (fem) reader

IM SORRY FOR SPELLING ERRORSS AND PLOT HOLES

Warnings: violence kinda, worry, die hard

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Conner is this what I think it is"

"Please stay quiet y/n"

"That's impossible for her to do Conner. You've given her an impossible task"

"Thank you for your insight Nines"

"Anytime"

"I've scanned the area, the store is definitely being robbed"

(Record scratch, freeze frame on 3 faces who all look equally pissed.)

Yup. That's us. You're probably wondering how we got into this situation.

It started it off so innocent. I was a detective working at the Detroit police station, and my partner was a dog. Which made me public friend number #1 in Conner's eyes. When he first introduced himself to me it was after he deviated and things had settled down. I had seen him milling around before but never got a chance to say hi.

But then he came up with his cute little smile to say hi and ask about my dog.

So obviously we started dating.

And then Nines came in, and he was my new partner. He was grumpy and less smiley than Conner, but it was very endearing. Oh and very hot.

So then he and Conner had a chat.

So then I was dating him too.

Now were all caught up. Tomorrow is Hank's cop-aversary, and me and the boys wanted to buy him something super special. More specifically, me and Conner wanted to buy Hank something and Nines just came along "to provide proper protection". But a case had run long for me and Nines, and Conner and Hank ended up helping. Then Conner had to find an excuse to leave with me and Nines, and this excuse ended up being "We have to go help detective y/n with finding female sanitary napkins " and quickly left after seeing Hank's disgusted face. Works every time.

But that didn't matter to much, we were still late. And the store was currently being locked by an employee who looked absolutely dead inside.

Que 3 maniacs running down the street.

"Wait!" I shouted from down the street, absolutely out of breath and wheezing. The 2 androids ahead of me slowed to a stop and started bargaining with the guy locking up while I caught up with them. I put my hands on my knees and was on the verge of passing out. While Conner was using his puppy dog eyes on the employee, Nines turned around to look at me and smirked.

"Aren't you a police officer? That was nothing but a light jog."

I puffed out a breath and stood up, pointing at him very menacingly.

"Watch it mister. I can totally run faster than you."

He huffed out a laugh, his tone teasing as he challenged me to test that theory.

"Oh your so on" I laughed, regaining my breath. I was actually about to start getting into a silly racers pose but Conner turned around having successfully convinced the man to let us in by just waiting until me and Nines were both not looking and handing the guy closing up a 20 after he realized his negotiating was not working.

"I got us in, but we have to hurry." He held the door open for us as we shuffled in and I noted how nice and empty the store was. The lights were dimmed and soft music was playing through the store. I grabbed Conner's hand and intertwined our fingers, asking how he convinced the guy to let us in. He blushed blue, his LED turning a slight yellow and simply stated

"I'm programmed to be a top-notch negotiator y/n."

I was about to totally believe him when Nines interrupted by grabbing my other hand and gave Conner a signature Nines stare and teasingly said

"You bribed him with a 20 after puppy dog eyes didn't work , didn't you?"

Conner stuttered and I burst out laughing, while Nines shook with small laughter. Conner started to reprimand him for being mean but I noticed the store had some old-timey albums for sale and bolted in that direction. Nines and Conner noticed and took off after me. I stopped in front of the Metal section and Conner started pointing out Hanks favorite artists. We were looking through the selection when we heard a giant crash and yelling. Conner was instantly crowding my back and alert. Nines went quiet and leaned down, listening.

That catch's us up to the were we are now. Huddling on the floor while Conner and Nines communicate through their LEDs, leaving me slightly in the dark.

Conner had his hand on my back and was encouraging me to crouch while still crowding me, and Nines sat in front of me, shielding me with his massive frame. In the dim light, I could make out the light of Conner's LED flashing yellow in the reflection of the smooth floor. More yelling occurs and I hear Conner whisper to me

"They are securing and locking the exits."

And suddenly, my favorite movie I had recently shown Conner and Nines on our annual movie night pops into my head. Before I can stop myself I excitedly whisper

"Real. Life. Die Hard."

This caught Conner so off guard he took his hand off my back to lean forward and look at me, while Nines had even turned around to give me a confused look. I realize I had maybe sounded TOO excited and tried to correct it.

"I mean, oh no!! Crime!!"

Nines smirked and turned around and I could feel more than hear Conner's subdued laughter. I smiled to myself, but before I could do anything else another crash and shout are heard.

But closer this time.

Now I really try to stay quiet and I see Nines lean out of the isle we are huddling in to discreetly look both ways. His LED flashes red as he turns around to fully face me and Conner and motions for us to waddle backwards. Conner wraps a hand around my waist to direct me to crawl on my hands and knees behind him so he stays in front while Nines stays behind me. We stop at the end of the isle and Conner checks if the coast is clear. He nods his head to me and we cross. We manage to crawl to a corner of the store, the home section that contains bedsheets and blankets and towels. Feeling confident we wont get caught the second I open my mouth, I start asking questions.

"What's going on? Why are they robbing this regular store? And why are they taking so long?"

Conner kneels back on his heels too address me and Nines.

"In my scan I counted 13 men." He says quickly, as Nines pops in with a comment saying they have unusually dangerous fire arms and I shudder. Why would they be taking this long to rob a simple store? And with heavy duty weaponry? It must be something else entirely.

"They must be here for another reason" Conner, seemingly reading my thoughts, points out.

I see Nines close his eyes and his LED flash yellow and red and back to blue. He opens his eyes and they hold more worry than before.

"The building next to this one appears to be a bank. With how many men there are and the time this is taking, I believe this is far past a simple store robbery." He finishes, looking to Conner.

"What are we going to do? Are we going to try and stop them?" I ask, looking at both of them before fiddling with a bracelet on my wrist, full of anxious energy. I definitely didn't want to be dealing with this after the rough day today, and we are supposed to be getting something special for Hank's special day.

"We need to call the station, we need backup from the looks of their firearms. We need to be careful." Conner looks to me and notices my bracelet fiddling, and reaches out to hold my hand, giving it a firm squeeze.

Nines quietly says he's on it and I see him send the message for the station.

"You're kidding." He angry spits out, his brows furrowed as he looks to Conner.

"There was some riot about something stupid down town that has tied up most officers, and the station says the latest they can be here to provide back up is in 40 minutes." He looks absolutely pissed. We all stay quiet, trying to think of what to do when I have the most brilliant idea ever to be thought.

"Guys" I grab there attention and they both turn to me. "Lets die hard it."

They look at me like I'm and idiot (specifically Nines does and Conner just looks more confused. ) I decide to continue with my idea

"You know in Die Hard, John McClane takes out the evil bad guys one by one and then saves the day? Lets do that and take them out one by one while we wait for the back up to get here. We can set up traps and have cool weapons and stuff!"

I started to get excited but their combined faces make my mood go to bummer mode.

"I mean, it could work. Its an option" Conner starts, looking to Nines. They proceed to continue to have the conversation, but telepathically, by the looks of their hard stares and blinking LEDs.

"No. They are dangerous people and we are not letting her get herself hurt." Nines pipes up finally, LED still red.

"Well I mean, she can handle herself. Besides, it's a smart idea." Conner protests for you.

Nines is quiet while he processes before he gives Conner one more hard stare and turns to look at me. I see his gaze soften as he asks me what we need to do. I bounce on my heels and clap my hands quietly an whisper shout a yay while Nines rolls his eyes, and Conner give me an adoring look. We then start on a plan.

And it goes a little something like this.

(35 minutes until police back up)

Me and Conner go to the craft section to politely steal a pen for a very important part of the plan, writing the bad guys names down. He protests when I rip open the package of sharpies but I reason the manger will be thanking us later for stopping a robbery and being cool while we do it. He finally nods and smiles at me.

While me and Conner do this, Nines goes to investigate his theory that the real reason the criminals are here is because they are robbing a bank that's adjacent to this store. Me and Conner had made him promise and pinky swear he wouldn't actually be going in to try and beat all the guys up by himself.

As me and Conner started to make our traps for the guys, we heard one guy walk past with a walkie talkie. His name was "Mark" which was totally un-villan like to my dismay. But what he was saying was more interesting. They had apparently taken all store employees as hostages and locked them in the back. I raised my eyebrows in shock and looked to Conner, his LED blinking red and his expression getting darker every second. The man eventually walked away to deal with a mysterious shadow someone saw, and I took the opportunity to write Marks name down. Along with the person he was taking to, which I dubbed his name Hans. Conner quietly noted that its not really healthy to use marker on my skin but I just kissed his cheek and continued writing, watching him turn blue.

We moved on to equip ourselves with a little arsenal to deal with the robbers.

A now, and epic montage of Conner and his girlfriend knocking out 6 guys using:

-Christmas balls

-Fire pokers

-Lamps

-Legos

-Paint

-Conner's fist

(20 minutes until police back up)

You got done checking off the last name you had written on your arm when Nines snuck out of the dark to you guys. He looked pissed and worried.

"Its what I thought, they brought explosives to get into the bank. And they have hostages."

You and Conner looked at each other, and confirmed with Nines you had heard about the hostages. He stated he had located them and you all thought about your next move. Your epic awesome die hard plan was veering off the tracks when you said

"We should go help the hostages, they are just employees and are probably scared."

Conner nodded his head with you and Nines volunteered to lead to way.

Which ended in Nines and Conner getting caught, while they shoved you out of the way. You hid in a clothing rack and saw 8 guys pushing their guns and shoving your boys into the back rooms. Where you saw a glimpse of the hostages. You knew combined, Conner and Nines could take those guys, but you guessed they didn't want to cause any gunfire. You waited patiently and tried to breathe slowly as the doors shut on your android boys.

You slid down the metal pole in the center of the rack, trying to figure out what to do next. Now it was REALLY Die hard. Only you were left.

Suddenly, a really good idea hit you.

The vents.

Que you sliding through the stores barely-big-enough-for-you vents and mumbling die hard quotes to yourself as you managed to get to a grate that was directly above the hostages. You noted at least 15 hostages, some androids and some human. You also noticed Conner getting a gun pointed right to his temple.

You almost let out a gasp of shock but quieted yourself as you watched the head macho guy explain how he hates cops and androids, and tell Conner his android kill count. While he was monologuing you spotted Nines sitting a ways away trying not to make it obvious he was staring right at you, LED spinning yellow. You briefly forgot how on earth he could see you there, but remembered

android stuff.

And so you turned your body to see how many men were behind the macho man who was very quickly finishing up his speech, and decided screw it.

So you punched the grate as hard as you could and fell with the grate right on the monologuing guys head. You both groaned and you briefly saw Conner and Nines jump up to use your distraction to take out the 4 other guys in the room. The guy below you seemed to be knocked out so you lay there, eyes blinking shut, until you saw a pair of classy shoes in your vision come to your head. They creased as the owner leaned down (Nines) to gently ask you to untie him and ask if you were okay. His face was a mix of amusement and worry, and you felt another pair of gentle cuffed hands pull you up into a sitting position. You blinked and immediately started undoing Nines cuffs, and he shook his hands and tended to the hostages that were huddled in the corner. You then saw the hands that helped you up and a very worried Conner enter your vision. You smiled at him and started undoing his cuffs while you saw his LED blinking, and you realized he was probably scanning you. He blinked harshly a couple time and informed you that you should have a couple bruises and you might have a minor concussion. When you finished his cuffs, you kissed his cheeks

"I'm okay Conner, thank you"

He smiled and kissed your cheek back and proceeded to help Nines with the hostages. You sat for a minute, really now fulling feeling that minor concussion. After a couple minutes, you started to hear sirens getting louder and moving to your location.

You had successfully Die harded it.

(Skip to the next day)

The police did some digging and found out the guys had broken into the store to blow up the wall right next to the bank. But your boys and you had successfully stopped the crime from escalating.

And also got Hank his gift for free.

So after the whole fiasco, you were now sitting in Hanks home, getting warm under a blanket. Androids by your side, Sumo at your feet, watching Hank excitedly undo the wrapping on his present surprising quickly. He let out a whistle at the old album you guys had gotten him and thanked you all with a surprising amount of sincerity. He might have felt guilty that you all almost died trying to get him gift, but oh well.

All in a days work for Conner and Nines McClane and Y/N Gennaro.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THANKS FOR READING

I literally wrote this on a whim so I hope its good and I might write more ideas out.

Sorry if the ending is rushed too :(

[gummybugg]

find the word tag!

tagged by @digitalsatyr23 here! havent done this tag in a bit, but i have more writing now so its not so difficult to find new words :'D

rules: find the words in your writing and paste a sample here

my words to find: wrong, find, dream, and cloud

(Wasn't sure if this post warrents a content warning, but it does reference suicidal ideation, dissociation, and kidnapping, so be aware.)

...

WRONG

(from my dormant wip the mice come out at night - morgana's pov/diary entry)

I was supposed to have died that day, I found myself thinking. But this thought wasn't out of scorn or hatred for the times I had made since then, it was a matter of fact. I didn't get what I had been promised, yet this time I wasn't so sure what I had expected at the time. Morgana then and now were two cherries separated at the stem. Our concept of what we thought we needed mirrored, the reflection a jarring contrast. "You must have the wrong guy," I found myself saying, cutting through my rampant thoughts. I highly doubted there was anything Vincent could be capable of lying to us about. Even if he decided to tell the others and not me, I was at least 99% certain Juniper would have spilled it by now.

FIND

(from my wip crater city - melony's pov)

Darcy looked down at his hands and the tears that fell into them. "I'm crying." He said, as if baffled by the phenomenon. His voice grew more distant, attempting to fade seamlessly into the background noise. "Look what you've made me do." "Darcy..." I began. "It feels warm and achy. But something is there. It's times like these that make me feel real. Feel human." "Darcy, you are human." "At this moment, I am. In the next few seconds, I won't be anymore. I hate it when emotions fade out of existence..." He sat at my desk with his face buried in his hands. It was customary for when his "mind checked out," as he used to say. "Your emotions don't go away. They're just hiding." He looked up at me with hollow eyes and a slack jaw. But they weren’t hollow because they were empty; they were hollow because they had yet to return. "They're just playing a game of hide and seek.” He grunted in agitated confusion. I sighed, picking up where I left off in the clutter. “Right now, sadness is 'it' and it's having a hard time finding the others. Hmm, I'd wager that anger is hiding in a prickly blackberry bush. Fear isn't always smart, so it's hiding clear-as-day behind a tree. Happiness is relaxing way up high in a tree..." I stood on my toes to prop the last textbook at the top of the shelf. The ridiculous analogy made Darcy chuckle. "It seems it found laughter first," I stuck out my tongue. Darcy came over to help, except my balance was a bit off and the book may have accidentally slipped from my fingers. It knocked him on the head before hitting the floor with a deafening belly flop. Instead of complaining about his head, his eyes lingered on the fallen book for a few extra seconds.

DREAM

Uhhhh none i think

CLOUD

(from my wip crater city - blair's pov)

I slapped the dented trunk of the sedan shut. The trunk was a briefcase from the show Steal or No Steal, and I was the pretty lady in red. But the look on Elijah’s face told me he was not fully convinced that this was the deal of a lifetime. He was starting to get on my nerves. He didn't know how to appreciate an offer of such high demand. It was honestly insulting. However, my TV show escapade was short-lived once I realized that he wasn’t going to let up. He was really upset, wasn't he? I could see it in his vacant stare: his soul had left his body. He took a step back, hands hovering cluelessly at his sides. “Uh, Elijah? What’s wrong, man?” I leaned against the creaky trunk, which snapped further shut, almost forfeiting my balance. It really needed more bungee cords, come to think if it. “This…this isn’t even one of the guys that harassed me.” “Come again?” Elijah was such a joker. “Blair…” The abstraction of my friend clutched my shoulders, causing the damp fabric to press into my skin. His hollow eyes sat constricted in their sockets, white about to burst in urgency. “It’s just some guy with green hair…” “Yeah, and…?” I raised a brow. Of course, he had green hair. What was he going on about? I saw a man with the same colored hair as one of the guys Elijah described, then I…wait, where did I even find this guy? I don’t even remember his face. And it would really be embarrassing to double-check by popping open the trunk. Had I really…? I searched the swirling green clouds for an answer. Then Elijah called my name and my wandering eyes found their way back to his.

...

gently tagging @asterhaze @ditzybitzyspider @forthesanityofsome @frostedlemonwriter @new-royston-cursebreakers and anyone else

rules: find the words in your writing and paste a sample here

your words to find: pull, back, away, and whenever

...

crater city mayhem taglist (dm to be added/removed): @writeouswriter @lyra-brie @digitalsatyr23 @talesfromtheunknowable

[edge-oftheworld]

thinking about i'm still your boy and how from the very start i thought this will be one that grows on me, even if i didn't fall in love with it on the first listen

thinking about how every line adds insecurities to the emotional soundscape of the song, reminding me of chords where you add one note and then the next but they're sustained so each one just keeps playing while the next one joins its sound

sat in the driveway (tired from a drive i'm not sure i should've done) but i can't go in (worrying about seeing someone inside the house) the green fence is fading (it's been so long since i was last/first here) it's sinking in (yeah all of this now i'm questioning what am i doing) wish i was younger (regret, fear of getting older) so i knew the end (fear of uncertainty and bad endings, actually, a terror something i need so badly could go wrong) i'd move to orlando and i'd be your friend (daydreaming about a past that never existed but it suits my fantasy even though there never was a possibility) tore you apart to put me back again (regret, why can't i just exist without hurting people) time's such a bastard and I'm wearing thin (frustration) still in chicago with things that i miss (fragments of me i've left everywhere and i'm spiralling thinking of the good and bad of each place) you can't have tequila without half a gram (remembering my own addictive tendencies and how when i see it in my loved ones i get worried, when i see it in myself i feel ashamed)

it was alright til i got angry. made a fist hole shape in the wall. regret. shame on myself for feeling like that. ruining it. self blame

but with everything that's built up til this point it's no wonder really, no wonder the noise became so loud and so layered in my head that i had to go and punch a wall? i can feel it, my nervous system slowly activating, everything stacking up, i can feel it, not knowing, not understanding what was coming thinking if i could push it down i could maybe overpower it but instead i escape through substances or i go and punch a wall hard enough to break it. you've seen me do both.

i'm still your boy. it's all i can say in the haze while i'm losing my mind. it doesn't fix it.

take it all apart. i want it, miss it, need it, so bad. processing it all, processing me and oh god why am i like this why do i have to ruin everything the minute i think i'm doing alright, doing well. the aftermath of it is now. don't know what's worse, i can't go back. but my nervous system won't relax and i don't understand that yet. don't understand it. don't understand why. all i know is i can't be without you i'd fall in the void. i can't dance around it i've gotta be yours. it's all focused in on that one person. the one lifeline i have so i can breathe through all this self blame and shame and regret that's adding to the pile of everything in my head.

more notes. it's getting ugly, we've used up just about every element of the scale and some notes that aren't even notes but actually out of tune sounds in between the twelve notes on the chromatic scale. (luckily isyb sounds don't actually do this, or we'd hate it). it's torture. of course i'm going to latch onto whatever relief i can find in it. and of course i'm not gonna have the capacity to look very far.

i'm still in orlando or chicago or sydney or wherever really, spread thin and dissociated between memories of places where i've been or my loved one has been, we're blurring together in my brain, spread thin. time is all at once and not at all. can't have tequila without half a gram.

it was alright before i got empty, made a mess of the room in your heart. at least that's what i convince myself. in reality it was messy a lot earlier but i don't realise that i don't go from 0-100 in a moment. i'd been at 99 for so long i just got used to it. but if i wasn't unable to think i'd know. i'd know what i see in the aftermath heavy with guilt. this has happened a thousand times.

i'm still your boy. i remember the good and i want to live in it. do you feel the same way too? don't answer that.

i want it so bad i want it so bad i want it so bad

that's all i know. whether it's addiction to substances or people, a specific person, or maybe it's a good thing, some relief from the noises in my head, this stack of notes or insecurities that never stopped, all i know is it feels right, feels cathartic, the idea of it really, as if this is how it was always meant to be when in fact all i'm asking is for something to bring me back from the very edge of my tolerance down to something that's still very painful but so, so much better because it feels lighter and feels like i can just maybe sustain it. a 95 maybe instead of 99 or 100. a few less sounds, an actual chord with harmonies that aren't fully drowned out. luckily we've got the rest of the album to do this.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Cancel the Character: Viserys and (almost everyone in HOTD could be cancelled but I'm choosing him because the narrative keeps justifying his shit in season 2 and that annoys me, also please forgive me because there are spoilers abound). Viserys should be cancelled for pressuring his first wife Aemma Arryn into having children when she didn't want to have another miscarriage and chose to kill her for the sake of his unborn son without her consent, probably knowing that her own mother died giving birth to her. Then he listens to his advisors about remarrying and chooses to marry Alicent Hightower, his 15 year old daughter's best friend who was pressured into courting him by her father. He then forces Alicent to have four children with him yet refuses to spend any time with them, neglecting them in favor of Rhaenyra because he's rightfully guilty for killing her mother. He never considers changing which child of his should be heir even though his sons threaten his daughter's succession and doesn't put absolute primogeniture (the policy where the oldest child succeeds their parent in the line of a monarchy's or lord's succession) into law to protect her, instead expecting the lords to let Rhaenyra rule after his death just because he made them swear an oath to him. Viserys' favoritism for Rhaenyra goes so far that when his son Aemond gets his eye cut out as a child by his nephew he chooses to chastise him for calling his nephew a bastard (he is) and lets Rhaenyra threaten to have him 'sharply questioned' (full on interrogated if not tortured) about where he heard that rumor from. He has such little knowledge of his own children with Alicent outside of that incident that he doesn't even know his daughter Helaena is a Targaryen seer even though he always wanted a kid of his to be one, knows or refuses to acknowledge any of the bad things Aegon does or even knows what his youngest son Daeron looks or acts like because he didn't even have him live at court with the older three. And even though Rhaenyra is his favorite child Viserys sets her up for failure by forcing her to marry Laenor Valeryion, her gay, blonde, biracial cousin (he's chill) and blatantly ignores it when she has three white, brunette boys. At least he could've quietly had them legitimized but he didn't (and even then Rhaenyra should've chosen to have an affair with a man of color if she was going to have bastard kids, but she didn't). He threatens to have a nobleman's tongue cut out for questioning the legitimacy of Rhaenyra's kids and wanting to legally inherit lordship only for his brother to kill that guy immediately after. Hell, even the iron throne itself, the symbol of Targaryen power known to cut unworthy kings, cuts him and gives him a blood infection that he fucking dies from because even the universe rightfully hates him. Yet the writers of HOTD want to convince the audience that he was a good king, father and person. He was not.

"Thats nothing" | "Ehh Slap on the wrist." | "Thats Questionable" | "It was accidental." | "Morally Gray." | "Yea... thats kind of Bad." | "Thats hard to justify." | "Thats Really F***ed up." | "How is this character not a Villain?!" | "Cancelled." | "Cancelled BEYOND Cancelled."

Not just him, like 99% of game of Thrones characters would be cancelled so I am covering the base now.

But yea, yikes. Glad I never watched

[popironrye]

🐥☁️🎀🧸 (just on anon cause I don’t really have a main blog (I do roleplay) and didn’t want to make you uncomfy with that just cause I love reading your stuff! Haha)

Oh, no need to worry! There's not much that will make my uncomfy, I promise. 😊 I like roleplay too. But WOW! Thank you so much! 🥰That means so much to me! ❤️

Since this is technically a self ship post, I'll do Erin and Dwayne (The Lost Boys) since the last question one was with them, but I would love to info dump about any of my ocs, fcs, or sonas if you're interested. 💞 🐥 - how are mornings for you guys? are you groggy and grumpy when you first wake up?

While she may get a little groggy, Erin is a pretty chill person first thing in the morning. Just kinda going about her normal routines. Dwayne is much more on the grumpy side. I imagine as a vampire it's not so much any feeling of tiredness, rather than immense hunger first thing. Like he and the boys need to take at least one person off the town census before they're ready for a night of fun.

☁️ - whats your nighttime routine? is it easy for you guys to fall asleep or does it take awhile? do you have anything you do before bed, like reading or journaling?

It doesn't take too long for Erin to sleep, especially if she's had a hard day. Stomach sleeper all the way, only a couple minutes after hitting the sheets and she's out for the night. Sometimes she has to toss and turn a few times, but usually once she's asleep she'll sleep all night. Dwayne's sleep schedule is like a tight switch. He follows the time of the sunrise to a t and once he's set on it, he's out and he's a very heavy sleeper.

🎀- do you two enjoy dressing up? or would you rather stick with comfier clothes? what are you guy’s favorite outfits?

Erin LOVES dressing up, at least to the best of her abilities. She loves feeling cute with minimal makeup, spinney skirts or dresses, high heels, and all sorts of accessories. She doesn't get the chance to dress up often, so when she does it's all or nothing. Dwayne on the other hand is comfort over style every time. Although there was a time Erin convinced him to wear a white button down with suspenders and black slacks, and the look on her blushing face was worth every moment of it.

🧸 - do either of you have any stuffed animals? how does the other feel about them?

Erin has a few stuffed animals. Mostly cat ones, a couple dogs, a bat cushion, and a purple unicorn from when she was a small child, but her favorites are the sea based ones she has including a giant puffer fish and an octopus. She doesn't sleep with the animals, instead they're on display in a book case where Erin keeps other knick knacks like figurines and desk ornaments. Dwayne doesn't mind them and in fact when Erin gets one to show him, she'll light up in excitement and hug them which he finds very cute. While they're mostly decorative, they're a comfort to Erin, and Dwayne wouldn't risk them getting ruined even a little bit.

I have SO MANY ocs it's actually crazy, and like 99% of ocxcanon ships. I am open to any and all questions for any of them. I'm afraid to talk about them without people asking cause I don't want to annoy anyone, but if there is a specific one you wanna know about, LET ME KNOW. pls :3

[captaindibbzy]

Getting a bit upset over the US election today cause like 99% of the comments I see about it go:

"well one option is Donald Trump, the man who has openly tried to take over the US by force and is leading the biggest decline in global democracy in nearly 100 years. But the other guy is Joe Biden and he has a stutter and is old. So really it's such a hard choice."

And at this point I'm about ready to reach through the screen and go: actually it's not a hard choice. You're just abelist and ageist. Biden is your CURRENT president. You can look at what he is CURRENTLY doing, like, RIGHT NOW! And Trump is your PREVIOUS president. You can look at what he did! Just 4 years ago! These are very easily measurable things! They are not untested! You can look at the promises they made and then see if they completed them and what other things they have done!

But you're all so stuck in the god damn propaganda loop thinking you're so very smart, too smart to be led on by psyops and media bias. You reached this conclusion all on your own where being over 80 means you're useless, and having a stutter means your brainless.

Take it from the UK. The reason Labour won this election is not just cause people voted for them. In fact over all less people voted Labour this time than they did in 1997 when our last labour government got in. This worked in the lefts favour this time, but it is exactly the same lay out.

A lot of people stayed home because they didn't want to vote Conservative but couldn't bring themselves to vote for anyone else. Turn out was about 10% less than last time.

Conservative vote was then further split by third parties (Lib Dem and Reform taking conservative votes).

And then people switched to Labour. This caused a huge swing in Scotland especially and the north of England.

That is where this election victory came from.

And that's what the right wants you to do in America.

They want the left to stay home.

They want the left to split the vote.

They want to convince undecided voters to switch.

So every time you talk about how old Biden is, and how he stutters and how that automatically means he's unfit you are repeating their talking points. You have litteral documented evidence to make your decision on and see what Trump would do in comparison to Biden.

Ugh I'm annoyed. I'm gonna go nap. I fucking hate American politics and how it affects the whole fucking world and we just have to sit here watching you dorks um and ar about centrism Vs litteral fascism like it's a hard choice.

[goldkirk]

Greetings!

1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 15, 25, 29, 52, 60, 63, 76, 95, 97 and 99?

P.S.: I read your tags, so thanks for the compliment! :-D

oh my god this is so many, you're a riot hahaha! thank you for sending this in!

Most favorite activity?

This is so hard. I love so many things. I guess my best effort to sum a lot of things up would be "hoarding and organizing information in my notebooks), a beloved pastime from about age six to now lol.

2. Least favorite one?

Either brushing my teeth or touching wet dirty sink dishes while needing to hand wash them or load a dishwasher.

3. One activity you really hate?

I've been trying to think of one but I'm drawing a blank. I guess cleaning dog poop out of my shoes after someone has left dog poop on the sidewalk or another walkway.

6. Do you have any idols?

Nah I don't go in for that these days. I definitely have some people I admire or look up to. Not to any level I'd say idols though.

8. Favorite music genre?

Dance! I love all types of genres but I listen most often to dance music.

11. Which kind of animal are you most afraid of?

Hmm. AFRAID of...jellyfish.

14. Do you think there’s a higher species than us humans?

Nah, at least not on our planet. But I don't think we're particularly high among all species, I think we're just particularly unique.

15. Do you believe in ghosts?

As a weird subjective phenomenon some of us experience in our lives? For sure. As "ghosts are the unfinished-business spirits of human dead people", no.

25. Can you dance? Is there any dance you want to learn someday?

Not well anymore, but I'm working on it. I was in love with ballet and wanted to do it forever. I'd like to get back into ballet classes, for adults this time. It's still the way my body most wants to dance. I took a ballroom dancing course for a hot minute. We were allowed to do swing dances when I was homeschooled, so I got pretty good at swing dance and some swing dance tricks.

29. Good memory from your childhood you keep remembering?

The first time I saw a snake in real life and it was a woman in public wearing a snake while walking down the street and she didn't get mad I was interested, she totally treated me like a Small Human Being and answered my questions and LET ME HOLD AND PLAY WITH IT MYSELF. I was like 7 and this was a core memory for me, much to the horror of my poor family members who were with me at the time when I dead-stopped us all in a state we didn't live in in a city we didn't know to talk to a strange woman and bond with her over a huge larger-than-adult-size-feather-boa-scarves snake lmao.

52. Do you think there are some breathing beings on earth contained behind ceilings or walking amongst us somehow with special abilities or powers? (as in most sci-fi and fantasy books, comics, movies)

Man this would be cool but unfortunately no lol

60. If you would have the money to donate what would you donate for?

Oh god I literally have a list about this! I'd donate all over the place, but the first few donations would definitely be to a few grassroots charities I care about and the all the local food pantries and education nonprofits that I can.

63. On your opinion, what should people do about climate change?

Force industry regulations, despite all the kicking and screaming the firms and their political-system lobby groups will throw at all of us about it.

Create a fast-moving national campaign of interconnected state and local ecosystem experts that can partner with local landowners all over their area and any municipalities they can convince to help to rewild as much land as possible with the actually-native plants. MOST PRIMARILY IN THE BREAD BASKET. The soil has GOT to be replenished, and the native grasses store at minimum roughly two times as much carbon underground than any of the cash crops or hay or weed grasses do.

Seriously invest right now, immediately, right away, in any adaptations your area will need to make in order to cope better with the changing and intensifying storms, floods, water level rises, droughts, wildfires, deep freezes, heat waves, etc., anything and everything that your area will for certain have eventually impact it.

End unethical overseas labor systems and the cobalt mining/electronics burning/etc. markets that exist because of the inequity and greed at every level and continual corruption not being overthrown.

Drastically reduce all western meat culture and industrial farming to the normal, sustainable levels of meat eating human families averaged until the very recent past.

Actually stop the driving forces behind systemic mistrust, conspiracy rabbit holes, and succeptibility to misinformation.

And do anything possible to slow tropical deforestation and invest in antibiotic research as fast and effectively as possible. We're already far behind the enemy because it hasn't been profitable to research antibiotics in the eyes of the pharmaceutical companies. With the climate and ecosystem shifts, we're going to have a wild ride with both insect bugs and bacteria bugs, I'm sure.

76. What’s the most romantic thing you ever have done for someone?

Oh man, I can't answer this one, I'm sorry. It's not that I wouldn't like to, I just don't know if I've ever tried to do something truly romantic, because I'm still not sure I understand what romantic most accurately means, so I'll have to get back to you on this one.

95. What’s something you really want to do some day with your/a partner?

I never thought about this until you asked it just now. I guess...maybe...............go overseas and explore some part of another country? My brain keeps giving me blanks, I don't know if it knows how to think about this yet. I'll keep working on it. But it does sound fun to go with a partner on a sort of few-places trip of random interest events or something.

97. Worst catchy song you ever heard?

"Blurred Lines".

99. Does it matter to you there is no 100th question in here?

Hahahaha! It does kind of bug me, not gonna lie, but I chose to embrace it as a rounder, artistic, more organic experience of the concept of an "ask game 100 questions list", like an art exhibit

Thank you for the questions!! Hope you're doing well! <3