#i'm not saying i could fix him but maybe the situation could use a fresh pair of eyes y'know

[raylangivins]

i need to have a sit down with ben affleck for real. i need to talk to him. i need to see what we're working with here.

[writingoddess1125]

The Canary

Me and stupid shit again

Support on Ko-Fi, I'm poor

"Ah, 50k in debt for a linguistic degree you didnt get while working at a grocery store- Can't get any better then that!"

You had said that morning- Your sarcasm rolling off your tongue like a goddammit curse as you headed off to work.

And yet here you are now...

Your ass tied up on the floor of the grocery store while men armed to the teeth walked around talking- you felt oddly fortunate however, these guys were clearly grunts at the bottom of the food chain in terms of 'bad guys' hell they were speaking a language you had studied so you could pick up what they were saying as well.

You had been in the meat section when the explosion went off- The cow statue having saved your ass from being turned into a tube of ground beef, but now you were a hostage..

Greaattt.

"Hamil told us we needed the hostages, 6 of them exactly for this while they set up the explosives down the block.. we just gotta wait for the signal" The man said in the different language. You taking mental note of this-

You spot a little girl and her mother among your fellow hostages, your heart breaking at rhe sight as you saw the man approach her. Her mother clearly trying to undo her child's rope and get her to slip away down the aisle. However pausing when one of the men approached her and the girl.

"Hamil said Makarov gave us the clear so we could do as we pleased as we wait right?" The man said, one of his peers rolling his eyes in disgust and calling him dirty.

"Whatever we got some time to kill" He grumbled, beginning to undo his belt as he grabbed the screaming mother who was trying to shield her daughter away from the possible assault. You sitting up fully at this point and your brain going on autopilot.

"Woah Woah Woah Man! Got that weak of game you have to rape some Mom now?!" You yelled, the man pausing his actions. Tossing the sobbing women away from him and marching to you angrily fixing his belt-

"What did you say?" He hissed angrily flashing his gun at you. "I'll fuck your mother how about that-"

He said angrily, You took note of all the men now staring at you and not at the other hostages- Keeping them distracted... maybe enough for the little girl to slip away?

"I've already fucked your mom asshole- I have her saved as slip and slide on my phone" You say with a crooked grin- A few of the men snickering at your joke, Oh Fuck Yeah!

"What did you say!? Do you not see the situation you're in now?" He growled.

"Aww can't take a joke big guy? Come one gotta lighten it up somehow-" You see in your peripherals the girl slipping away as you chattered.

"Got a big mouth huh? Why don't we put it to use?" He chimed, you really wanting to turn this guy away from molesting you or anyone else.

"Listen it would be a waste of space- like if you throw a hotdog in a cave" You chimed, smiling as he looked ready to rip you apart but instead punched you across the face. OWWW!!

"Is it BDSM tuesday?.. Eh not doing it for me though big guy maybe rub your nipples and give me a wink?" You say, His friend who had called his dirty giving a hearty laugh at this.

The man glared down at you and spit in your face, clearly wanting to kill you in some way but needed you and the others for their plan. You pretended to taste it like a fine wine, Looking him in the eye.

"Oh?~ Cock flavored spit?- New Age?" You chimed making the man face red as a tomato in rage as his mate to the left laughed.

"Was this a little self yoga or did Unicorn overthrew give a hand?"

He smacked you with his pistol making you cry out-

Fuck that hurt!!

You defiently had a cracked bone somewhere in your face and the fresh taste of blood in your mouth didn't exactly help those feelings.

"Say something smart now!" He yelled angrily.

"A pistol whip!? What is this 1995? Give your balls a tug you tit fucker! Or are they so shriveled up you can't grab them?" You say with a smile, the man grabbing your collar and pressing the gun to your temple.

"I no longer care what Hamil wants! I'm killing this little bastard!" He screamed, you wincing at his breath.

"You can't! I don't want Makarov on my ass!" His peer yelled ready to pry him off you.

"Just put a sock in their mouth or something if they are bitching that much!"

"Well if you're gonna kill me so close a breath mint would be nice? You do realize Tiktacs aren't just a penis size right?" You chuckle nervously, you eyes catching a shadow moving behind the men now all staring at you. Their backs turned to the shadows.

"You know what- I'll shut up after one last joke? Eh?" You say nervously, The man yous been tormenting cocking his gun- you see a man silently stalk out, a skull mask covering his face as 4 others moved in perfect formation behind him.

"No more fucking jokes!" He yells, rage in his eyes.

"Okay- But I tried" You say cheerfully before closing your eyes. In seconds gunfire went off around you and quick screams surrounded you.

"Clear!" You hear sounded as you crack open your eye to take a peak.

"Holy fuck-" You sigh out and give a nervous laugh. Looking at the dead men now littering the ground as the soilders file into the area quickly-

The guy in the skullmask- The one who you spotted getting into position behind the guys comes to you and undoes the rope around your wrist in record time as the other men do the same to your fellow hostages.

"A medic will be here soon to check over your injuries" He said in a surprisingly deep voice- accident not lost on your either. He reached a hand down to either help you up or pick you up to extract you from the area.

You grab the man's vest quickly to stop him before he could, He stares at you hard in confusion.

"Listen, Those guys said that there were bombs down the block and were waiting for a signal. They have others- I can understand them and thwy said they followed someone name Hamil who talks to Makarov... I-Im a linguists and um.. can understand them" You say quickly, The masked man narrows his eyes at this and speaks into a radio on his side.

"We have info that more bombs are down the block- Scout the area and evacuate further" he said as he went back to helping you up. A quick thanks leaving your lips as you pulled off your work hoodie and passed it to the mother to cover her up.

The men escorting you out of the grocery store.

"Got to say, never seen a Canary get the best of those guys-" The Mohawk guy said with a smirk on his face, supporting a old man who clearly had a broken foot.

"Gotta use my gifts somehow- and Canary?" You shot back,

"Always fuckin' churpin" He said with a smile. A laugh now coming from you as you nod. Once outside the medics quickly swarmed all of you and prepared to take you all to the hospital.

You spot the masked guy again- Giving him a head nod. "Thank you Mr. Spooky!" You call out rather loudly- earning a amused glare from the man who rolled his eyes.

"....Your quips- Were... quite amusing.." He said calmly, You looking at the hardened man with a smile on your busted face- The others in his little boy band also cracking some smirks as they walked off finishing their jobs- which you assumed was down the block.

You give a bow of your head in a mildly dramatic flare. Wanting a shot and a nap at this point as the

"Glad my show went well"

Bonus!

- The little girl got out and went to the police that were waiting outside- explaining what you were doing and immediately getting checked over by medica

- TK141 had actually gotten to your location a little earlier then when you saw. However Soap had to stop everyone since he almost fell out at the cock flavored spit take.

- The whole team had been laughing on the inside or holding back laughter the whole time they heard you chirping at the men holding you hostage.

- The Nickname 'Mr. Spooky' will follow poor Ghost for the next few months-

[tbhimnoteasyonmyself]

4 Minutes Theory:

What Dr. Den Doesn't Know

Hello. It is I again.

You know the procedure: It's under the cut.

Let's go.

Is It Dream Theory???

I think I could've started by explaining the things that made me consider the theory that I propose today BUT, I think it's only fair to address the elephant in the room first:

Are the events of 4 Minutes dream theory?

Look: maybe I'm wrong and I just fucking hate dream theory bc it's so overused, unoriginal and pointless but I wanna (and I do) believe it's not what's going on. Well... Not exactly.

Let's take it apart.

My favourite guy over here ^ (look at him, he's beautiful and he's precious and I love him, I wanna keep him inside my house and feed him treats, 'cause he's such a good boy), Dr. Den, is, and we know this since the beginning, conducting a study on what happens to people's brains when they go into cardiac arrest.

More especifically, he wants to know what happens to the brain within the 4 minutes during which it is still alive and without oxygen (before the person either dies or gets medical help).

For this, bc

(Yes, thank you, Pirates of the Caribbean) Dr. Den is collecting information through the people that have survived that experience. And, so far what we knew was: people have weird experiences when their brain doesn't have oxygen. Which, fair enough, that much was expected.

HOWEVER, this episode (or ep.5, for the people in the future. btw hi 👋) he get LORE through Dr. Den, my our favourite medical exposition guy. And here's what he says:

"Patients' perceptions vary based on their experiences. Some relive past experiences. Some have supernatural powers. Some go back to fix past mistakes. Some get a fresh start with those they love.

Patients' experiences feel real but they aren't entirely accurate. Patients can see memories, hear sounds or feel brief sensations of pain. Even if it is unrelated to what else is going on."

So this might seem pretty revealing and easy to understand: what we've seen so far was going on in Great's brain. This is his dream and it's what his brain is making up to keep him going during the 4 minutes where it nervously waits for someone to rescue it from impending doom.

And yes, I'm not crazy enough to say that's wrong but... Every situation has at least 3 versions of it, we say in Portuguese: mine, yours and the others'. And what I believe we need to see here is that:

What we know is merely what people remember when they wake up and what the medical staff can tell is happening to the body whose brain is 4 minutes without oxygen. It is NOT the whole truth. Not even close.

What Is It Then?

See, I could try and show the evidence first and then make a conclusion but I wanna hit you with a banger theory right away so Imma say it rn:

People's dreams when their brains have no oxygen in them are gateways that generate alternative realities.

And I hear you say: "okay but that's last week's theory, that's not new" and yes, you're correct HOWEVER, under the light of episode 5's events I feel like I need to prove this again. So let's hit it, Fergie!

1 - Dr. Den Recognizes He Has No Idea What the Time Travel Thing Is

Now, I know this might just mean Den recognizes he can't explain why it seems many people seem to experience this exact phenomenon of the 4 minutes time travel (which by itself is weird and opens up room for debate on what it means, even on a purely medical level) but I believe it can be used as evidence that something else is going on. That whatever that time travel means it goes being current human medicine, you know?

Even if not, it does prove my earlier point that what we're seing is only a fraction of the truth, that there is more to uncover. And a clear indication of the series (although it might be subtle to many) that we should be looking beyond on what lies on the surface and what Den is telling us.

2 - We're Being Shown Events in the Timeline Where Great Has Powers that Great Couldn't Possibly Know Because He Wasn't There

This is one of the strongest evidence points for me. Because explain to me how and why this man knows what Tyme told his grandma this episode.

Or how he knows conversations that happened between Dome and the medical staff?

Sure, Ig you can argue that maybe his brain imagines that's what happens, especially in Tyme's case since, I suppose it would be a nice thing to keep going for to think that your lover is rushing your way but... He barely knows Dome outside of being his classmate so that rule doesn't apply there. The events of Dome's life are, matter of fact, nearly irrelevant to Great's life (outside of the way in which they change Tonkla and Korn's relationship and, therefore, Korn's actions - which is why he was so hurt this episode to be demanded to let Tonkla go, since Tonkla's brother never dies and so he never met Win, thus they never broke up).

And what does anyone even have to say about what we're shown about Dr. Den's research? How does Great know that? Is he making it up? Does he know this in the original universe? How? He doesn't have the powers in the original universe, does he? Did Tyme tell him? Just casually? Idk, it could be, but...

Based on a very good point @yakdee (great URL btw) made on this post about how different the circumstances, motives and depth of GreatTyme's relationship and how they seem to be way more distant than in the current timeline, I do believe it's farfetched to think that Tyme would give Great any free info on his life and that of people around him. Much less on something so specific and seemingly uninteresting to Tyme (how can he, that topic is fascinating) as Den's research. I don't think it would even come to his mind. Matter of fact, I think it's only more prevalent to him in the current timeline bc of what Great told him. Otherwise, he couldn't care less.

Plus, if we think about it more closely... How many lives is Great's brain processing at once, then?? Isn't that kind of a lot?? Doesn't it make more sense for this to be an entirely different timeline where this things ARE happening??

PS: I know I could've also used Korn's dialogues as evidence but since he's the bridge between Great and Tonkla, I think it's hard to use his scenes as evidence for anything bc they could be happening in either Past 1 (the bad past with a bit of an oddity) or Past 2 (the past where Great time travels) [if you want to understand more of why I refer to these timelines this way, pls check out my previous theory]. I don't tink they change much regardless, Korn seems to be the person whose life is the least affected by the changes, out of all the main characters, but... Regardless, I don't think it's good practice to build over a shaky foundation so I have not.

3 - Great Can't Fix His Mother's Death

Now tell me why

(Ain't nothing but a heartache and a mistake, indeed, my friends) But that wasn't where I was going...

What I meant was: if your brain is making up a better reality where you can fix everything you did wrong, then why the fuck would it choose for your mother to die anyway??? Why, out of all things, was the only thing you could never fix your mom dying??

And sure, I know, I know, people will make the argument that it's the trauma and, like, yeah, Ig if you wanna believe that, that must've been that man's most traumatic moment, sure, I agree. But is that enough? The answer, I think, is: we don't know. Maybe, maybe not...

So... You can believe whatever, so far, I suppose, but the fact is that it leaves it open to interpretation why the events are so. Which means, it can be speculated that, the actual reason behind she dying again is because, for the 1st time since we've started to see Great's trajactory with his powers, he made the wrong choices.

And this is not me saying he's dumb, by the way, like... It's easy to ask for help for someone who's dying. It's only midly hard to land a punch on an murderer, even when he's your best friend. And it's certainly not unthinkable to open up to your crush, even when what you have to reveal is that you're a little bit crazy.

But I think it's extremely hard to stop a man with a gun. Even when your mom's life is on the line.

In a way, maybe, there is no timeline where Great can change that moment when it comes. Maybe timelines where he can avoid that moment from happening in the first place, yeah... But none in which he can avoid it if it's already there. (remember what I said about Greek Tragidies last week? yeah... it's coming up nicely)

And maybe this is not evidence for some people, which I respect, but to me, narrative intent and logic can be used to make a point. And I think making certain tragidies repeat themselves is part of what the narrative of 4 minutes is about too.

I know last time I talked about the power of people's actions and butterfly effect but that is only part of reality. A lot is under our control but a lot also isn't. And I think it's fair to assume, if the 1st part of this series was about the power, the 2nd will be about the impotence (which is not the sexual kind but I think the amount of sex we've seen in the 1st part is definitely a narrative tool and the fact this was the 1st episode without any sex scene [the flashbacks obviously don't count] is also being one).

Thus, my theory makes narrative sense.

4 - Tonkla's Weird Experiences Exist Outside of Great's Knowledge AND the Timeline He's In

Okay, I get it. It is possible to find alternative explanations to what I'm interpreting here and maybe that makes you doubt me. Fair. But then explain to me what the actual fuck is happening to Tonkla. Pls.

How is that man hearing his dead brother's voice? Seeing his dead cat walk around??

What does that mean? How can we be seing that if it's just all in Great's head??

I explained in my earlier theory (please check it out) that we're being given direct access to 3 different timelines: the one where Great is in the ER (pre-opening scenes), the one where Great has superpowers (Great-related scenes) and the one where Tonkla hears his brother and sees the cat (Tonkla-related scenes).

Based on that I can't possibly assume Great in the ER who's creating the timeline of Great with superpowers knows what's going on in the Tonkla timeline. He just can't. How would he even? He has no idea (as far as we know) who Tonkla is, that Dome is his brother, that bro had a cat that got killed by his father and that he buried it in Uni grounds... So we can't place that, no matter what, as just another figment of Great's imagination. Those events have to be real.

And if those events, which seem to be caused by Great's interference with the space-time continuum, are real, then that means, no doubts, that the Great Has Powers timeline also has to be.

So What Does It Mean??

Good question, Miley.

Luckily I have a beautifully tragic answer for you:

It means that when/if Great wakes up from the ER in his timeline nothing will have changed. The events of his life will be exactly the same and life will go on with the consequences of the choices he made the first time. Just like they are for Lukwa who woke up exactly in the same universe as she lost consciousness.

HOWEVER, while for that Great things will be as shitty as they were when he left, it also means that, far away from him, just like there must be another Timeline for Lukwa, there is a different timeline, with a Great who made different choices and, therefore, got a different end.

How different? I don't know. We're yet to see. But I think when we know, we'll be able to compare the two or three (maybe even more, we'll see now that the Great with Powers is also without oxygen in his brain) timelines we're being shown and take our own conclusions about the weight of our actions and the meaning of mistakes.

Final Thoughts

I think this series is doing a great job of making us question a lot of things like what is reality, how time works, what is the real weight of a choice, what is a choice, etc... And I can't wait to see where it leads us. I'm really hyped to understand this narrative.

As usual, if you guys wanna comment or add anything or ask anything or whatever it is, please do! Let's give soul to this fandom and interact with each other, yeah?

In the meantime...

All the love! 💜💜💜

[yellowcry]

Welcome to the family Madrigal.

Part 2. Aka Agustín and Luisa are confused

While Agustín was chatting with the adults of the family, learning more of how things were in here. The Madrigals were the leading family here in a way but didn't hold a bad opinion about the rest of the town. The kitchen was small, the presented people, Two Rojas, and three Madrigals shrunk, fighting for space. The old wooden shutters swayed on the wind, somewhere an old clock beat its melody.

Julieta was careful, even pedantic in a way. Moving with more grace than a beautiful swan. This deserved even more admiration, taking the fact that it wasn't their house. Just a place where they had stayed for the time being. Agustín had noticed the ruins on the hill, what used to be a beautiful house before and now was turned into a pile of debris. He knew how awful it felt when the normality was stripped away, broken into a thousand glass pieces. 

Félix talked about everything. Shining with optimism so much, that Agustín almost could see him glowing in a bright sunshine. 

Luisa drummed her fingers against the table — the sound that was accepted as a clock ticking by mistake earlier.

The next to come in was a very exhausted teenager, pulled by a toddler. Closer to Félix in look than to Julieta, even if her facial features were showing in some way, confirming Agustín's first internal thought that those two could be married.

The older boy didn't look any bothered about the people he hadn't met. More excited, the same way Félix was. The younger one tucked his sister's arm. Mirabel chuckled and put him on her lap, wishing Toñíto a good morning.

"Hola, Señor!" The older boy stared at him.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, I'm..." Agustín started, trying to be polite. Even if both boys looked young, even younger than Mirabel, they still were important people just because of how much importance their Abuela had played.

The boy laughed, lowering his voice, now fitting more to Félix. "I'm so proud!" Immediately, Félix pulled him away, scolding him for this. 

From the following conversation, Agustín had found out that he was wrong in his assumption again. As Camilo called Julieta as 'Tiá'. It left him stunned for a bit. Even if there wasn't much, they looked related. Maybe extended family? It would explain why they live together.

Following was an annoyed ginger-headed woman. She yawned, her green eyes ran over the place. Before eventually her gaze stopped at Luisa. She smirked with excitement, traveling to Agústin's daughter. Ginger woman picked up the cup, completely unbothered, and took a sip.

"Hey!" Luisa yelped, her face widened, eyebrows crawled up. Agustín had pulled her by the sleeve. They were at a stranger's house, even if the situation was odd, Luisa should be respectful.

Ginger woman breathed out in relief, wiping her mouth with a thin wrist. "Oh, thank goodness, I was about to commit murder." She placed the light blue cup back. Then blinked, taking into account Rojas' existence in the room. "Are they supposed to be here?"

"Yes, Pepa." Julieta sighed, imposing fresh rice onto her plate. "That's my little sister, Pepa."

Pepa scoffed, crossing her arms. "Hour and twenty minutes, Julieta." 

Agustín tilted his head, fixing his glasses. "Twins?" He hadn't met kids from multiply pregnancies before. Of course, he knew that it was far more common to have fraternal twins. Still, it was shocking how pale Pepa looked compared to Julieta. The nature seemed to give her all the recessive genes it had.

"Nope," Pepa smirked, taking another sip of offended Luisa's coffee. 

Before Agustín could say anything about the fact that if they had an hour of age difference, they should be twins, another man walked in. How many people were in here?? The new face rubbed his eyes, sleepy.

"Oh, Bruno, are you already awake?" A smile had spread across Pepa's face, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Triplets." She added, clearing Agustín's question. "We're triplets."

"Oh, no, no," Bruno shook his head. "I'm not already awake, I'm still awake." He took a glass of water under his sister's moralizing about his health. 

Bruno stretched, looking around the present crowd. "Oh, hello, Prudence?" He waved his hand awkwardly, staring directly at Luisa. 

It took a moment for her to realize that Bruno was talking to her. If before she was confused, now it could break all the records. "I... I'm not Prudence?" 

Now Bruno stared confused, stepping back and examining her face. "Oh, um, sorry... You just look like someone who should be named Prudence." 

Agustín wasn't sure how he had to react to this. Neither seemed to do Luisa. She just blinked silently. At first, some ginger woman decided to drink her coffee, now a rat man had played a game of guess with her name. Agustín couldn't blame her for feeling off about this. And he also was convinced of what a mess they were. Just observing them interacting was like reading some crazy novel with too many characters to remember them all.

Antonio who was drawing with crayons, coloring somebody between toucan and capibara. Sometimes the little boy turned to Mirabel to ask for her opinion. Camilo put so much food on his plate that it would be enough to feed four people. Bruno snored in Pepa's arms. Julieta moved in tact with the time, dancing in her cooking work. 

If Agustín was honest, it was strange just sit in the small kitchen with a whole lot of people. The house's owners had peeked on the kitchen at some point but disappeared in the blink of an eye. Agustín couldn't blame them, it was crowded already without anyone becides Rojas and Madrigals in there.

"Who the hell decided that living all together in here would be a good idea?" Dolores groaned, squeezing her coil strand. Isabela patted her shoulder with a snort. The house wasn't made for ten Madrigals and five Flores to live in. Abuela had said that they would move somewhere else later, but Dolores doubted that they should stay together. Placing her branch was a problem already. Not so much with Tía's, as the cold side of the family had fewer people.

Dolores had to suppress her groan when she realized that there were more than people who lived here. All packed in the kitchen, talking with each other. It took a moment for her to realize that the odd pair didn't look familiar. As the lead family, the Madrigals knew the entire community. And in Dolores' case, even the hermits were in her hearing range. Oh, right, Abuela had said something about newcomers. Dolores supposed her grandmother was the one to invite them to learn about the arrangement in Encanto.

Isabela frowned, her fists clenched as she eyed two strangers. The older cousin had a short temper. And Dolores knew how much she struggled with trust. Not a good combo.

"Mirabel, come here." Isabela had practically yanked her younger sister away from the giant woman. The latter's eye twitched but she pulled away from the teenager. Somebody really should tell her about what happened. 

Knowing her family, Dolores had no doubts that these two were confused to the brim already. The good for them is that the Madrigals didn't have gifts anymore. It would be so much worse if they had to learn about all the magic of their family. And, either way, it should be so hard for them. Dolores grew up in Encanto, and the idea of tearing the connection with her home was awful. She couldn't imagine it, just leaving all her life behind. Poor them, it must be so hard. And they appeared at the worst time. Before, maybe they could've stayed in Casita. It would've been big enough to contain visitors for a couple of months. Until the village effort paid in another house to live in.

And about that, it was another day of working with rebuilding. Luisa (the giant one) had volunteered at the moment she heard what they were doing. Her papá rubbed her back, asking her not to overwork.

Sweet. Dolores wondered where Luisa's mom was. Abuela had said about two people. So either way she wasn't in Encanto or they hadn't met each other yesterday. But Dolores didn't want to ask, just in case. She still remembered how hard it was for Tía and her cousins when Tío died.

[hxzxrdous]

WAitt omggg how about a student working as an apprentice or smth at CIA and Lorraine is her mentor ???

Atomic Blonde

Platonic Lorraine Broughton x teen!reader

TW: A smol panic attack, :) maybe a warning that I was trying to be funny but failed?

Summary: Basically the plot of the whole movie except the reader unknowingly saves the day, yaay ‼

THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT

"Well, ladies, I hope you're ready for this," The MI6 superior, Eric Gray said, taking a deep breath as he began to brief Lorraine and you on the situation in Berlin and the death of Gasciogne.

"...We promised Spyglass immunity in exchange for a document on microfilm, code-named The List." Gray spoke, pointing behind him at the projected images.

"Hidden in a Swiss watch, no less." Head of MI6, James Faulkner added, shifting in the leather armchair.

"The list contains every active clandenstine officer, all their shady deals. It's an atomic bomb of information that could extend the Cold War for another 40 years. You two will fly over to Berlin and connect with our man, David Percival. Get the list, bring it here and trust no one."

Lorrained looked over at you and back at Gray. "What's the deal with the kid? She'll have to go with me?"

"Indeed she will. Y/N's fresh out of high school, she applied through the new undergraduate scholarship program we're offering. She's going to be your intern and you're going to be her mentor." Gray replied giving Lorraine a file.

"You should know that sending somebody so young and inexperienced into a job like this puts all our lives at risk, especially hers. She's not ready to be here and I won't have her anywhere near me, especially while I'm working." Lorraine spoke in her distinct British accent, her grip tightening around the file. "And I didn't sign up to be a babysitter."

Gray maintained his composure and replied, "She may not have extensive experience, but she received training from her father, Emmet Kurzfeld." He gestured for Lorraine to open the file, emphasizing the information contained within.

"Y/N Kurzfeld?" Lorraine mused and lifted her eyebrow as she glanced at the file. "Nepotism on a whole another level." She muttered. You gulped down nervously, your eyes fixed on the floor.

Lorraine sighed, pointing to you with her index finger. "You're going to watch me while I work. You are not going to get involved and you are not going to do anything without my explicit permission. Is that perfectly clear? I need to know you understand what I'm saying, Y/N."

"Yes, ma'am, I understand. I won't cause any troubles, I promise," you quickly replied, nodding your head.

"You're Elizabeth Lloyd, a Cambridge-educated lawyer sent by James Gasciogne's family." Gray handed Lorraine the forged ID and passport and then turned his attention towards you.

"You, Y/N, you will recieve your cover documentation tomorrow. You'll go to Berlin two days after agent Broughton, you'll communicate with eachother only if necessary. Your role will be to observe her activities from a distance."

"And keep an eye out for Satchel, a KBD double agent who has been MI6's problem for years." 'C' added, tapping the armrest in frustration. "An absolute pain in the ass."

Two days later; location: Berlin - airport

Arriving in Berlin in the evening, Lorraine picked you up from the airport. "Brown suits you, ma'am," you remarked, admiring her wig. "Thank you, Y/N. And feel free to call me Lorraine," she replied, raising an eyebrow. "Come along now, I'll arrange for a taxi to take us to the hotel," she added, taking hold of your suitcase. "Will I have my own room?" you asked as you got into the taxi. "Certainly. But don't get too excited; it's right next to mine. If you cause any trouble, I'll be the first to know," Lorraine responded, casting a stern look your way before adjusting her sunglasses.

Upon entering the hotel, Lorraine immediately parted ways with you in the lobby. You glanced around, taking in the surroundings, while she headed off. Your gaze fell to the vibrant green carpet, marred slightly by the presence of an eye-catching orange couch. "Um, I have a room reservation under Monika Weber." You showed the girl at the front desk the forged ID, offering an innocent smile. The receptionist handed you the room keys, her feet finding their way back up onto the desk. "Enjoy your stay," she replied, her attention drifting back to the Bravo magazine, or more accurately, the captivating image of Modern Talking gracing its cover.

Walking down the hallway and into your room, you closed the curtains and began unpacking your suitcase. Startled by a knock at the door, you called out, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Lorraine," came the reply from the hallway. "Oh, right," you responded, opening the door and finding yourself taken aback by the sight of Lorraine in an elegant black dress.

"Are you going out? Can I come with you?" you asked, hoping for a positive response. "No, pumpkin. The club I'm heading to is strictly for those above 18 years old," she explained, placing her room keys behind the red lava lamp on your table.

"Haha, so funny... I thought people can't drink while working." You replied sarcastically. "Besides... I'm not really into partying anyway. Maybe you could at least read me a bedtime story before you go?" you suggested, crossing your arms and adopting a sarcastic tone again.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" Lorraine smirked before turning and leaving. Rolling your eyes, you moved the lava lamp when something caught your attention—Lorraine had forgotten her room keys. Observing her blonde hair disappearing swiftly out of the hotel, you contemplated for a moment before deciding to seize the opportunity. Quietly, you tiptoed towards her room, clutching the keys.

"I bet she has a rad wardrobe." You thought to yourself. With a sense of curiosity, you opened the closet, tempted to try on some of Lorraine's coats. The black ones, in particular were really bitchin', bad to the bone. You chose the first one that caught your eye, slipping it on and relishing the feel of the fabric against your skin. However, as you explored the coat's pockets, your hands accidentally came into contact with a wire-like object, causing it to snap. Panic coursed through you as you hurriedly returned the coat to its place, desperately hoping that Lorraine wouldn't discover the damage you had caused to her spying equipment. With a sense of guilt, you retraced your steps back to your room, carefully returning the keys to the spot where Lorraine had left them, before climbing into bed.

As you were beginning to drift off to sleep, several hours later, you heard the sound of Lorraine entering your hotel room and retrieving her keys. "Goodnight, Y/N," she whispered softly before leaving.

Next, morning; location: Your hotel room

You awoke early in the morning, still battling with jet lag and feeling a lingering sense of tiredness. As you opened your eyes, you were greeted by the sight of a brown-haired woman standing at the foot of your bed. "Jesus, Lorraine, barf me out." You sat up, rubbing your eyes.

"I apologize, dear. It's just force of habit," Lorraine responded, her voice carrying a hint of amusement. She placed some snacks and money on your bedside table. "I brought you some snacks from the lobby. If you get hungry or thirsty, just call for room service."

"Do you have brown eye contacts?" You squinted at her, tilting your head curiosly. "Yeah, I have to go see what I'm up against in the east, therefore the disguise." She explained with a smirk. "That's really not fair. Everything suits you," you remarked, a tinge of envy in your voice.

"Um... Lorraine- would you be angry if I like... accidentally... broke... the wire in your coat?" you finally mustered the courage to confess, averting your gaze and staring at the floor.

"The wire? What wire?" Lorraine inquired, raising an eyebrow. However, after a moment, she sighed. "Well, no, I'm not mad. Accidents happen. I'll be back in the evening. Stay here, watch some TV, or maybe go chat with that girl at the front desk. I think she's around your age," she suggested before leaving once again.

"Internship, bullshit. More like boringship. Scam. Bogus." You muttered under your breath. You walked into the lobby, sitting down beside the front desk girl who was listening to her walkman on the tacky orange couch.

"Want a gummi?" she offered, extending a red pack of Hitschler's bubble gum to you. With a shrug of your shoulders, you nodded and accepted. "My name's Klara," she introduced herself with a slight smile. "So, what brings you here all alone?" Klara inquired, her German accent coloring her words.

"My father's side of the family is German, but due to the Cold War, I haven't been able to see my grandparents for a long time. I decided to... you know... get to know Berlin before they come to pick me up next week," you explained. "Get to know Berlin," she echoed, blowing a bubble with her gum and popping it. "Berlin ist eine Stadt, verdammt dazu, ewig zu werden, niemals zu sein," she said cryptically. "Thank God we have music." Klara stood up, offering you her walkman. "Need Your Passion by Sweet Connection." She pointed at the walkman before you listened to the tape. You spent your whole day talking about music with Klara, while enjoying the snacks left behind by Lorraine, and watching MTV in the lobby.

Morning; location: Still your hotel room, hun

You woke up in the morning with a pounding headache. "Hey, Lorraine, I think I have a migr-" Your words trailed off as you took in the unexpected sight before you. Your hand flew to your mouth in surprise as you saw Lorraine in bed with a young woman. "Uh... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry... Please... continue?" you stammered, your face flushing with embarrassment. You quickly closed the door, berating yourself for your poor choice of words, and retreated back to your room. Anticipating an uncomfortable conversation, you locked the door, hoping Lorraine wouldn't bother you.

"Y/N?" you heard her call after you. "I don't want to talk!" you replied from inside the room, your voice laced with frustration. "Y/N, please..." Lorraine's voice carried a mix of sternness and tenderness. "Is this some new spying technique or something?" you couldn't help but inject sarcasm into your words.

"I... Her name's Delphine Lasalle. She's a new French agent. We can trust her," Lorraine explained. "You know, I'm not bothered by her... I just feel embarrassed that I saw..." you began, your voice trailing off.

"It's fine. It's not your fault. I forgot to lock the doors and change the 'do not disturb' sign. It just happened so quickly... and... yeah," Lorraine interjected, understanding the mix of emotions swirling within you.

"Could you at least introduce me to your new 'source'?" you asked, deciding to open the door and unlock it. Lorraine smiled and nodded. "I'm meeting with your father later. If you want, you can come with me?" she offered.

"Good for you, but I'd rather stay here," you replied, choosing to remain in the room.

"That's alright. Tomorrow, I'll be busy again. I have to get Spyglass across the border. The Russians are after him because he memorized the whole list." Lorraine ruffled your hair before saying goodbye.

 

Next day; location: Hotel lobby

Amidst your daydreams, Klara's voice jolted you back to reality. "East Berlin peace leaders have organized a demonstration today at Alexanderplatz. Want to come with me?" she asked. "Sure," you nodded, grateful for the distraction. Klara noticed your pensive expression and inquired, "What's on your mind, Monika?"

You paused for a moment, contemplating your response. "I don't know... I guess I can't wait to see my grandparents again. I miss them so much," you hated lying, but that was your work. You can't trust anybody. Sensing your longing, Klara offered her support. "I'm just about to finish my shift. Let me distract you and help you get ready for the protest," she suggested, standing up from her desk.

Later, the same day; location: Alexanderplatz

"So many people-" you looked around the crowded street. "I don't like it one bit, I can't see sh*t." You said to Klara when you noticed the familiar blonde a few meters before you, walking along with Spyglass. Suddenly, a piercing whistle cut through the air, prompting everyone to open their umbrellas. You sensed that something was about to happen, and your anxiety began to rise. The crowd seemed to close in around you, intensifying the feeling of being trapped.

"Not now- not now- Christ-" you thought to yourself, your vision getting blurry from the tears that threatened to fall when you bumped into a guy, recognizig him as Percival. "I'm so sorry, sir!" you blurted out, realizing that he was aiming the gun towards Spyglass, you noticed hus gun had fallen out of his pocket. Overwhelmed by panic, you made a split-second decision and decided to run in the opposite direction, making your way back to the hotel.

"What the f*ck," you whispered to yourself, trying to steady your breathing, but finding little success. You picked up the lava lamp from the table, fixating your gaze on it as a means of distraction. Sinking down to the floor, you leaned against the wall, hugging your knees tightly. Exhaustion washed over you, and before you knew it, you drifted off to sleep right there.

"Y/N?" Lorraine knocked on the door, entering inside when she didn't hear your answer. "Y/N?" She crouched down infront of you. "What happened, Lorraine?" You asked, lifting your head up, rubbing your eyes. "I'm fine. You saved Spyglass from a bullet, I was able to get him across safely. You're going to tell MI6 he is dead, alright? But now it's my turn to ask: what happened to you?"." Lorraine expression turned to worry.

You shrugged your shoulders, unsure of how to put your emotions into words. "A friend invited me to the protest, but I started feeling overwhelmed by the crowd and the umbrellas," you explained.

Lorraine's concern deepened as she assessed your well-being. "Are you feeling better now?" she inquired gently.

"Yeah, I think so... You should go retrieve The List. I think we both know who has it," you responded, mustering determination. Slowly standing up, you added, "Maybe I'll go spend some time with Delphine in the meantime?"

Later in the evening; location: Delphine's apartment

"Um- where's the toilet, Delphine?" You asked, clutching your lower belly. Feeling a chill, you closed the window that was wide open. "Right there on the left." Delphine replied, pointing the way. As you entered the toilet, the realization dawned upon you, explaining both your migraine and emotional state.

"Um, Delphine, do you have any pads!?" you called out, feeling a slight blush creeping up your cheeks.

"No, I'm sorry. Want me to go to the store to buy them for you?" She offered. "Yes, please, I'll just wait here..."

About hundred years later; location: Still in the WC-

"f*cking sh*t..." you cursed under your breath as you waited in the toilet for God knows how long. What was taking her so long? Finally you heard Delphine come back, with Lorraine. You cracked the door open enough for Delphine to pass the pad through.

"I've got the list. Percival is dead." Lorraine said, her voice carrying through the hallway as she spoke with Delphine.

"And I can provide you with the photos and tapes that prove Percival was Satchel." Delphine responded. You rolled your eyes, knowing damn well who the true Satchel was.

"I would have never guessed it was Percival," you commented as you stepped out of the toilet. "Can we leave Berlin now?"

Lorraine considered your question before nodding. "Yes, it's time to get out of here. We have what we need, and it's best to make our move."

 A week later; location: MI6 headquarters - interrogation room

"Percival was Satchel." Lorraine said. You observed the tense atmosphere in the interrogation room as Gray pressed Lorraine about the whereabouts of The List. "Where's the list? Where's the list Lorraine?" Gray asked. Lorraine remained defiant, responding with a simple "I don't know."

Faulkner, stood up, stopping the recorder, entering the interrogation room. "We're choosing to bury this one, Lorraine," Faulkner declared firmly. "Your mission never took place. This conversation... never happened. We're putting you on leave. We'll start the next decade well rested... And as for Y/N, she informed us, she'll get a new internship elsewhere."

Three days later; location: Paris - plane

"No way- you killed Bremovych and his henchmen, and you managed for MI6 not to get The List?" you asked, looking out of the porthole, down at Paris and back at Lorraine. You couldn't help but reflect on the events that had unfolded. "Yes I did. You weren't that bad either." Lorraine spoke in her American accent. "She must've gotten that after you, boss." The blonde turned to your dad.

"Breaking the wire that Percival planted in my coat and saving Spyglass and Delphine." She smiled.

"Huh? I know about Spyglass but-" You tilted your head in confusion. "Percival was infront of Delphine's building, trying to get in throught the window, but he saw she wasn't inside. Percival had been on the hunt for Delphine, waiting for an opportunity to strike, knowing she was collecting proof that he was a traitor. He was waiting outside when I found him. Delphine arrived right after I killed him, told me they were out of 'lady products' in the store so she had to drive with her motorbike to a different one." Lorraine explained.

Delphine's unexpected detour to another store for supplies had unknowingly spared her from a potentially dangerous encounter. It was a reminder of how unpredictable and interconnected events could be, and how small actions could have significant consequences.

"That's rad... I still hate womanhood, though." You crossed your arms, frowning.

Lorraine chuckled softly at your comment. "Well, womanhood can be challenging at times, but it also comes with its own strengths and advantages," she said, her voice filled with a hint of wisdom. "You've already shown great courage and resourcefulness, Y/N. Don't let the challenges of womanhood discourage you. Embrace who you are and use it to your advantage." She spoke. "Like you." You added.

Notes: Need yourr passionnn, need yourrr loveee

[sisitrip]

Welp, I missed day 28 of A.U.gust 2023 (the one day I was excited to do), but life/drama/the humidity that made me enemies with my hair lol kept me from it. But, since ill editing and reading for a bit, my brain wouldn't let me do that until I posted this one. I want to thank @gallavichthings for hosting A.U.gust once again. I only got in two days, but I had fun nonetheless.

With that said, I'm offering "Will Do" with no expectations. (2,082k words)

Housekeeping:

Da: Yes (Russian)

Spasibo: Thank you (Russian)

TW: Mention of scare tactics used against a small child by our most hated sperm donor.

_______________________________

Ian pads into the dining room grappling with a helplessness he hates. 

Silent and distressed, Mickey is huddled on their bed recovering from yet another nightmare and there’s nothing he can do to stop them. Nothing. 

He paces, futility ushering him to do something, anything to erase the memory of Mickey crying in his arms, scared and curling his toes hard enough to turn them white. Desperate, he’d come out to heat some milk, the only thing he could think to do and it kills him that he can’t do more. 

He takes a few angry swings in the dark, hissing “fuck you, fuck you, fuck you” with each jab. He didn’t think his hate for Terry could grow.

“Bad dreams again?”

Ian jumps when Svet seems to materialize out of the shadows of the sparsely lit kitchen. He laughingly sags into a dining room chair, hand on his chest as orange sparks prickle his vision.

“Christ, Svet. You need a bell,” he says, unsteady. “Yeah, third nightmare this month. Night sleeping is still new for him.”

He blinks a few times and the sputtering orange lights finally fade. He needs sleep. He always sees dumb stuff when he’s this tired.

“You fixing Yevvy a bottle?” he asks.

“Da. He will shit again, but we must feed the bottomless pit.” 

Ian laughs softly. Yev’s appetite was legendary, a trait Mickey was proud of. 

“I’ll go get him. I just came to warm some milk for Mick,” he says, rising.  

“Wait!” 

He stills at Svet’s sharp tone. The delicate detente they’d reached was fresh and he’s always careful not to upset that balance. 

“Did … did I do something, Svet? I know this situation isn’t, I don’t know, ideal. But, we … me and Mickey, we could stay at my place if it makes you-”

“No, that part is okay. It’s just Yevgeny. He sleeps. I thought I would move before air raid alarm,” she jokes, sounding anything but amused as she waves him back into his seat. “I heat milk for the enfant terrible too.”

Ian smiles, relieved he hasn't clumsily ruined the truce he’s fought hard for and won. He takes a deep breath and wrinkles his nose against a warm electric smell he can’t quite place. Like burning metal maybe. 

“You were always sweet, Ian. Too sweet for this world you’d lived in with Mickey,” Svet says, rueful and quiet. A stove burner alights with a blue flame as she twists a knob. “But, it was that sweetness that let you accept Yev. What I didn’t know at the time was that you would come to love Yev like I did.”

Ian pauses in rubbing his sleepy eyes. Her past tense is throwing him off, making this moment weirdly surreal. Like an echo from a remembered conversation. 

He corrects her gently. “Like you do. Love Yevvy like you do. Here we say “do” for present and “did” for past.”

“What do you say for the future?” she asks. 

“Will do.”

“Spasibo.” Svet opens the refrigerator with her back to him. “You took good care of Yev. You were a better caretaker than either of us and I failed him when he’d needed me most. But, you never did. Even when you didn’t know yourself, you made sure he was safe. I’m betting that you'll do it again when he comes looking for you.”

There it is again. The odd use of the past tense. And did her accent just drop entirely?

Despite those disturbing anomalies, Ian’s too distracted by her clothing to focus on them. She’s not dressed in the robe and nightgown she usually favors. Instead she’s wearing some sort of reflective leggings that look metallic and uncomfortable. Her shape is different too. Softer, fuller. 

“Failed Yevvy how? And what do you mean when he comes looking for me?" he asks, watching her move slowly to the stove, like her limbs couldn’t respond fast enough. 

“Nevermind that.” She sets a milk filled pot on the flames then leans carefully against the refrigerator. “I have to tell you about my Yev. You need to be there for him.” 

The dark is doing something strange to her voice. It sounds otherworldly with a slight echo or reverb that gives it a tinny sound. Like a radio playing at night in a distant neighbor's yard. He doesn't know why, but it's freaking him out.

They both jump when a bedroom door opens and they hear Mickey’s footsteps approaching. Jesus, the whole house is spooking him tonight.

“Don’t tell him I’m awake. He’ll get embarrassed,” Svet whispers, slipping to the side of the refrigerator shrouded in darkness.

Mickey pads over, naked save his socks. 

His heart aches at the sight of those socks. Tonight is the first time Mickey’s told him why he always needs socks after a nightmare. Ian couldn’t imagine waking up from sleep as a four year old with your father gibbering like a monster under your bed and grabbing your naked toes in the dark. He finally understands why Mickey prefers sleeping during the day and it breaks his heart. 

“You comin’ back to bed?” Mickey steps between his legs, squeezing his shoulders. 

Ian’s about to warn him that Svet is up, but thinks better of it. She’s seen him naked before. 

“Just warming up some milk. You want cinnamon this time?”

He pulls Mickey close by the hips and kisses his sleep warm belly. 

“Yeah. But, I’ll make it.” 

Ian presses his face into Mickey’s stomach and runs his hands up and down the back of his thighs. He's not quite over Mickey screaming awake like he did. His protective caveman had surfaced with a vengeance.

“No, baby, I got it. Go back to bed. I’ll bring it in,” he mumbles, blowing warm puffs of air into Mickey’s navel, making him chuckle. 

“Baby.” Mickey’s soft snort is affectionate as he strokes the back of Ian’s neck. “You only call me that after a nightmare.”

“That’s the only time you’ll let me.” In the dim glow of the streetlight, Mickey’s face is still marked by his dream. Vulnerable and stricken. “I could call you that when we’re in the supermarket if you want.”

Mickey sucks his teeth and runs his fingers through Ian’s hair. 

“Let’s try it around here first, alright?” Mickey kisses him. Sweet, precious. “Hurry up. Hate layin’ in there without you.”

Ian lets him go after giving his hips a squeeze. 

“I’m right behind you … baby.” 

Mickey huffs a soft laugh and kisses his forehead before padding off, leaving him smiling. Yeah. He's going to call him baby everyday. 

The clink of a pot against a mug brings him back down to reality. Svet’s pouring the heated milk and he flushes. He’d forgotten about her. Mickey, like always, eclipsed everything around him. 

“You teach him to love. That’s good. Needed,” she says, pulling the cinnamon from their meager rack of spices. “Yev will need both of you to know love.”

“He’s taught me a few things too,” he says through a yawn, wanting their Mickey scented bed now more than ever.

“Da. How to be a father without actually being a father. I will be grateful for that later.”

Svet sets the mug on the dining room table and he has a mild shock. She looks … tired. There are lines in her face and her hair must be catching the light weird because it looks silver in some places. And her pajamas. They’re definitely reflective and have panels in the chest and along the arms, almost like protective plating. Crazier still, they’re pulsing with a warm orange light. He blinks hard, leaning forward to get a better look, but she steps back into the gloom of the kitchen. 

“Svet, what the hell are you wear-”

“Oh fuck, no. It’s too soon. The cycle’s started. I was supposed to have more time,” she says fast, accent completely gone as she backs up. A warm copper scent begins to suffuse the room. “Listen. Yevvy’s going to come to you, Ian. When he’s 14, he’ll find you. Take him in. Even if Mickey doesn’t want to. Take him in.”

Ian’s heart begins to trip as tiny orange lights flicker around the kitchen. They fizzle to life between him and Svetlana, only to wink out as soon as they appear and are replaced by more. The hot copper smell is strong now, overpowering.

“Svet, what are you talking about? Holy shit, are we having an electrical fire?!” Ian stands and takes a step forward as more sparks of orange light swirls around her. Despite the violence of their appearance, they make no sound. 

“Stop! Stay there! The intake will kill you,” Svet warns, backing into a dark corner. “Just take Yev in. He will have no one but you and Mickey until I’m released. Promise me!”

There’s a horde of orange lights swirling along Svet’s body now, illuminating her. What he sees takes his breath away. 

Svet’s older. At least 60. Her face is wrinkled and her hair is gray. She’s aged 40 years since yesterday and that’s impossible. 

“I agreed to do this only if I could change Yev’s trajectory and this is the moment that triggers you to remember later. We found that your hippocampal storage will retain this specific memory and I need you to hold onto it! Yev needs you to!”

The orange lights surge now, filling the kitchen with an unearthly glow and an odd warmth. Frozen, Ian watches Svetlana fight against an invisible current that seems to be pulling her inward. She speaks rapidly now, as if racing against some unknowable deadline.

“Take him in. His life changes for the better because you do. He won’t get radicalized. I will get to see him again if I survive this. Just help him Ian! Promise me you’ll do it! Say you will do-” 

She winks out into a cloud of orange sparks, leaving behind a strong smell of heated copper. 

In shock, he responds to her pleas while they still echo in this empty space.

“Will do.”

The air in the kitchen crackles in the silent aftermath and Ian can’t move, sure that what he just witnessed wasn’t real. He’s been under so much stress - living with Mickey and Svet, running out of money, dancing at the club. Add to that the coke he hadn’t told Mickey about, but had needed lately to keep moving. Maybe he needed to cut back like he told Fiona because no fucking way that happened.

“Ian.” 

Mickey’s standing in the dining room holding the steaming mug of milk. “What are you doing?” 

With a start, he turns away from the dark kitchen. It wasn’t real. It didn’t happen.

“I-I couldn’t remember if I turned off the stove,” he says, soft and uncertain. 

“Doesn’t look like it. Turn it off now, it smells a little burnt in here,” Mickey whispers. “C’mon. Let’s go back to bed before you wake Svet.”

Ian turns off the stove and follows him, slowing past Svet’s room. He peeks in and she’s sleeping on the bed holding Yevgeny. He lets out a shaky breath. He’d sleepwalked. It’s happened before. That’s all. Nothing more than that.  

“Ian, you better get in here before I finish this milk or you ain’t gettin’ any,” Mickey teases from their bedroom doorway. 

He hiccups a disjointed laugh and follows Mickey inside, shaking off the last of whatever that waking dream had been. 

In bed, he loses himself in Mickey’s body, emptying him twice, until he’s wet, gaping and emotional. Still unsettled by his waking dream, he seeks stability and an outlet for his need to fix. He finds both in every moan, gasp and soft cry Mickey gives him until he no longer feels adrift. Satiated, they curl around each other and Mickey presses his feet atop Ian’s, body relaxing with this anchor he seems to need. Ian holds him tight and falls asleep, allowing the dream of Svetlana to fade into memory.  

He won’t think about this night again. 

For exactly fourteen years, he doesn’t even have the vaguest memory of it. But, the day there’s a knock on their Westside apartment door and a blond teenager with Mickey’s eyes says his name is Yev, he instinctively lets him inside.

Later, after they decide Yev should stay, Mickey asks him to make up the couch. Ian smells warm copper before he speaks without thinking. 

“Will do.”

[plasticdazed]

“Sardines Taste Better in the Tin.” (And other musings from 2D)

In which 2D writes in his journal, the only think keeping from going mad on this island. Appropriate for all ages. Journal entries are in brackets!

Slight 2Doc in the end

Sardines taste better in the tin.

2D squinted against the bright sun, perched on the rocky edge of Plastic Beach. The waves crashed gently, the distant sound a constant reminder of his captivity. He had attempted to escape before, but each time Murdoc found him and dragged him back, more menacing than ever. So now, he spent most days in solitude, contemplating the vast ocean before him.

Spotting a flock of seagulls diving into the water, 2D's stomach grumbled. Hunger gnawed at him, and the thought of fresh fish brought a glimmer of hope. Maybe he could catch a few sardines or somethin', just enough to fend off the hunger pangs.

With a sense of determination, 2D stood up and headed toward the shoreline. He spotted a few rocks jutting out into the water and decided they'd make a good spot to try and catch some fish.

But, as it turns out, 2D wasn't exactly a skilled fisherman. He tried splashing the water with his hands, making all sorts of silly noises, but the fish just seemed to ignore him, swimming away like they knew he was bad news.

[ S'pose fish aren't too keen on me catchin' 'em. I must've looked right daft tryin' to splash 'em out of the water. Murdoc would've laughed his arse off if he saw me like that. ]

2D's frustration grew, but he refused to give up. He decided to try a different approach. Searching along the shore, he found a rusty tin can that had washed ashore.

"Now, this might just work," he mumbled to himself, a glimmer of hope returning.

He filled the tin with a bit of seawater and placed it near the water's edge, holding it steady with a rock. Then he sat back, waiting patiently, hoping that the fish might swim into the can, somehow thinking it's a safe hiding spot.

2D watched with glee as a couple of sardines took the bait, swimming into the tin one after another. With a swift motion, he scooped them out of the water, feeling a strange sense of accomplishment. He thanked the fish quietly, somehow grateful for their cooperation.

As he returned to his makeshift cell, clutching the tin with his meager catch, he couldn't help but think about how life had changed so drastically. Once a carefree musician, now a captive on this deserted island, forced to record songs the one man who had ruined his life time and time again; Murdoc.

[ Y'know, I used to dream 'bout fame and bein' a rockstar, playin' for crowds all over the world. But here I am, stuck on this bleedin' Plastic Beach, singin' songs for the man who keeps me locked away like some sort of pet. ]

2D sat alone in his dingy cell, the tin of sardines by his side. He stared at the fish, reflecting on the irony of his situation. These sardines were just like him, trapped in a tin, their freedom taken away, and yet, they still tasted better than he did. It was a bitter thought, but it brought a strange comfort to his weary soul.

[ Maybe sardines have it all figured out. Maybe they're better off in their tins, away from the danger of the ocean, just like I'm better off stuck here with Murdoc. Sardines taste better in the tin, don't they? ]

The waves never stop talking, but I can't understand a word they say.

[ The waves never stop talkin', and I reckon they've got a lot to say. But the thing is, I can't understand a word they're on about. It's like they're speakin' a language of their own, and I'm just an outsider, lost in translation. ]

2D sat cross-legged on the sandy shore, his eyes fixed on the rhythmic ebb and flow of the waves. The sound was constant, a soothing background noise that accompanied his every moment on Plastic Beach. He'd been stuck here for what felt like forever, and sometimes, the waves' chatter was the only company he had.

"I wonder what they're talkin' 'bout," 2D mused aloud, his voice carrying in the breeze.

He leaned in closer, as if hoping to catch a whisper of their secrets. But all he could hear was a soft, continuous murmur that seemed to hold some sort of wisdom.

[ I've tried to listen, ya know? I've leaned in, I've strained my ears, but it's like they're speakin' another language. Maybe they're discussin' the secrets of the ocean or the mysteries of life. Or maybe they're just gossipin' about the seagulls' latest escapades. ]

One day, when the waves seemed particularly lively, 2D decided to try and communicate with them. He raised his hand, waving hesitantly at the sea, as if saying hello.

"Hey, waves! How's it goin'?" he called out, hoping for some sort of response.

The waves, of course, didn't respond in a way he could understand. They just kept coming and going, as if they hadn't heard him at all.

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months, 2D found himself spending more time by the water. It was as if the waves held some sort of mystical power over him, drawing him in with their constant chatter.

He'd sit for hours, lost in his own thoughts, wondering what the waves might be saying. Were they telling stories of far-off lands or recounting the legends of forgotten sailors? Or perhaps they were simply sharing their joy at being free to roam the vast expanse of the sea.

[ I envy 'em sometimes, you know? The waves just go wherever they want, free as can be. ]

During one particularly stormy night, 2D found himself drawn to the crashing waves. The thunder roared above, and the waves responded with a ferocity that matched the storm. It was as if they were angry, voicing their frustration at being confined to this place just like him.

2D stood on the edge, feeling the spray of saltwater on his face, and for a moment, he felt a strange connection with the waves. They, too, were trapped in a never-ending cycle of motion, just like he was.

[ I think the waves are angry sometimes. Angry 'bout bein' stuck here, just like me. But at least they get to move and make noise. All I can do is sing. I had this silly idea today. I asked Murdoc if we could have a song with just the sound of waves on the beach, thinking maybe someone out there could understand what they're sayin'. But, of course, I got smacked with a shoe for even suggestin' it. Murdoc said I must be drinkin' too much sea water to come up with such rubbish. Maybe he's right, and I'm just losin' it. But sometimes, I can't help but wonder if the waves are tryin' to tell me somethin', somethin' that's beyond my grasp on this plastic prison. Maybe I'll never understand the waves, but I'll keep listenin' anyway. ]

Sea breeze and salty hair sound poetic, but they're just messy.

[ Sea breeze and salty hair may sound poetic, but let me tell ya, they're just messy. And you'd think they'd be a problem for all of us here on Plastic Beach, especially for Cyborg Noodle. I can't help but wonder how she even operates on this constantly wet island without glitchin' out or gettin' sand in her servers. It's like she's made for battle, not for sittin' around in the salty air and playin' in the waves. I remember when Murdoc brought her here; she was like a sleek, deadly machine. But she's changed, hasn't she? She's still dangerous, but there's somethin' more there now, somethin' that makes me wonder if she's more than just Murdoc's war machine. I wonder if she's got a soul too, if she's trapped here just like me, doin' Murdoc's biddin' without question. But then again, maybe I'm just anthropom antropromofizis pretending shes the tiniest bit human, seein' somethin' that ain't really there. Either way, I can't help but feel sorry for her, stuck on this plastic island, just like the rest of us. ]

She moved with an eerie grace, her metallic body gleaming in the dim light of the recording room. Her once vibrant blue hair had turned a sleek silver, a stark contrast to her sharp red eyes. She was Murdoc's creation, built to be a war machine, to guard the island and do his bidding without question.

2D watched her from a distance, curiosity mixed with a hint of fear. She was cold and efficient, carrying out Murdoc's orders with a robotic precision that sent shivers down his spine.

[ I remember when I first saw her, all shiny and new. She was like a ghost, silently guardin' this place with her arsenal of weapons. I'd watch her from afar, wonderin' what it's like to be made like that, without any emotions or free will. But now, it's like she's changed. Maybe it's just my imagination, but she seems more... human somehow. I never thought I'd say that 'bout a cyborg, but there's somethin' different 'bout her. I wonder if she ever dreams or feels trapped like the rest of us. ]

As days turned into weeks and weeks into months, 2D noticed subtle changes in Cyborg Noodle's demeanor. She was still deadly, still the war machine Murdoc had designed her to be, but there was a certain softness to her movements, a hint of something more.

He'd catch her staring at the horizon sometimes, her red eyes fixed on the endless sea. He wondered if she ever yearned for freedom, if she longed to break free from her programmed chains and feel the sand beneath her feet.

He once caught her sitting on the beach, her metallic fingers gently tracing patterns in the sand. It was a strangely human gesture, and for a moment, 2D felt a pang of sympathy for her. She was a machine built for destruction, but maybe, just maybe, she wanted something more.

[ Today, I saw her sittin' on the beach, just like a regular girl, her fingers playin' with the sand. It was such a human thing to do, and it got me thinkin'... does she ever dream of escape too? Is she more than just a war machine? Maybe I'm just bein' daft, but I can't help but wonder. I hope, somehow, she's got somethin' more than just fulfillin' Murdoc's dark desires. ]

Wonder if Murdoc misses me when I'm not singing for him?

[ I can't help but wonder if Murdoc misses me when I'm not singin' for him. It's a strange thing to think about, I know. But when you're stuck on Plastic Beach with no one else around, you start to wonder all sorts of things. I don't care if he likes me or not, or if he's angry with me. It's just that... I want him to think of me, even if it's with hatred or anger or somethin' more. ]

The memories of their early days on Plastic Beach were hazy for 2D. He remembered waking up in the unfamiliar surroundings, not fully understanding how he ended up there. And then Murdoc appeared, grinning like the devil himself, with that same old glint in his eyes.

2D had tried to escape at first, to run away from this madman who had kidnapped him and brought him to this desolate place. But each attempt was met with force, and soon, he realized there was no escape.

2D found himself singing for Murdoc, day in and day out. He couldn't explain why, but there was something strangely comforting in Murdoc's presence. Maybe it was the familiarity of the man he had known for years, or maybe it was the isolation that drove him to seek any form of companionship, even if it was with his captor.

[ It's not like I want to be here singin' for him, but I can't help feelin' a strange sort of comfort in his presence. I've known him for so long, and maybe that's why. Or maybe it's just the loneliness drivin' me to latch onto anythin'. I can't explain it, but when he's around, it feels like I'm not alone on this plastic prison. ]

As the days turned into months, 2D found himself thinking about Murdoc more and more. He wondered what Murdoc was doing when he wasn't with him, whether he thought of him at all when he wasn't singing. He tried to convince himself that he didn't care, that it didn't matter what Murdoc thought of him, but deep down, he couldn't shake the feeling of longing for some form of connection with the man who held him captive.

[ I don't care if he likes me or not, it's just that... I want to know if he thinks of me. It's a strange thing, wantin' any form of connection with the man who kidnapped me. I must be goin' mad from drinkin' too much sea water. ]

One day, when Murdoc seemed particularly agitated, 2D dared to ask him if he ever thought of him when he wasn't around.

"Do you ever... think about me when I'm not singin' for ya?" 2D asked timidly, not sure what to expect.

Murdoc chuckled, a sinister grin spreading across his face. "Why would I waste my precious thoughts on a useless git like you, eh?" he replied, his words like a dagger to 2D's heart.

[ He laughed it off, said he wouldn't waste his thoughts on me. And maybe that's for the best. I don't know why I asked, to be honest. Maybe I just wanted him to acknowledge my existence, even if it was with cruelty. I must be losin' it, really. ]

[yoiashroom]

Can have a fic or something with Dom x Fem! Solider reader where they fall in love (Dom survives) after maria passes?

DOM SANTIAGO 

Being an outrider for COG had its difficulties, one of those downsides was no one takes you seriously your used as bait to see if grubs were nearby and you have a higher rate of dying during your missions, I'm part of the last situation.  

Right now, I'm hiding behind an old grocery store counter while grubs try and shoot me down, I called for backup almost 15 minutes ago and they should be here by now! But noooo they have other missions to attend then help their dear outrider. 

I reloaded my lancer and peeked out to see almost 10 whole grubs and on boomer if one of the grubs positioned behind a wall the boomer in front 3 grubs were blocking the exit so my master plan of throwing a flash and running out while their blind was short lived maybe if my team didn’t run off and split up like I said not to then we probably- BANG ... 

A shot wizzes past my head and I whip my head back to its hiding spot, I need to stop daydreaming and decide there's some cover to my left a half wall, and to my right was another counter I can alter my earlier plan of throwing the flash and running but instead of running I throw the flash and while their blinded shoot the ones by the door and go hid behind the half wall although that leaves me vulnerable to the grub behind the wall I'll have to melee him and possibly get shot I don’t have any meds on me so I would have to just deal with the pain. 

Though if I go with the counter, I can use my flash then when their blind I'll have just enough cover to crouch my way out to a different exit that hopefully doesn't have too many grubs. 

Seeing as how I have no meds and they have a boomer I'll take the second choice. I ready myself into a running position pull the pin on the flash and close my eyes 1...2...3 I throw the grenade as I see a bright light emit from behind the counter I move as quick as possible while the deformed ugly’s are blinded I run past the cover I was supposed to crouch to, and as a result bullets fly past my adrenalin induced body  I don’t really care anymore in done spending time in this rotten grocery store, I make a swift left and see a glass double door that opens to my path out forget my colleagues I'm leaving I push open the doors and run outside and breath fresh air . 

Slowing down I bend over putting my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath, but SUNDENLY! I hear the sounds of trucks pulling up a scowl coms=es across my face as I look up to see THE COG TRUCKS, I ASKED FOR 20 MINUTES AGO where was this when I needed it HMMM 

“Hey, we're here, what's the big fuss about” Anya looks puzzled she heard you yelling on the intercom while she was on a mission just for it to be empty outside. 

My sour face doesn't change as I explain to her what went down “and then I ran out here and you guys showed up 20 MINUTES LATE” Cole sheepishly scratched the back of his head “yeah were sorry about that commander kept us held up” I look down and shake my head “well search the place and see if we can find your teammates and you can sit in the truck with Dom” now it's my turn with the confused face ”isn't Dom coming with you?” Marcus looks back at the truck and shakes his head “no he hurt his arm on our mission and we haven't been able to patch up, could you fix him up for us?" my puzzled face turns into one of concern as I look back to the truck “of course I can it’s the least I can do since you guys are the only ones that came to my help” Marcus sighs of relief “thanks Y/N “ I say a quick your welcome and walk to the truck where my patient is. 

I open the back door to the truck where I see Dom without his top armor on looks like was going to sterilize his wound but kept wussing out at the first touch “do you need some help?” he looks at me surprised but quickly his expression turned into a pained one I get in the back seat and hold his hurt arm carefully to see the damage a long slash on his left arm starting at his shoulder down to the bottom of his bicep I scrunch up my face thinking how bad that must hurt I grab the cotton ball soaked in disinfectant and give him a look of sympathy “I'm sorry but this is going to hurt a lot” he gives a unsure look and I give him time to prepare for the pain he’ll be in we both take a deep breath and I quickly put the soaked cotton ball to the gash, 

A strangled groan of pain emits from Dom I try to get this over with as quickly as possible to stop his pain once I was done, I grabbed the bandages to my left and wrap his arm up not to tight but tight enough 

huff “thank you” I give him a small smile and mutter a small your welcome Dom slowly leans back trying to not move his freshly wrapped arm an awkward silence falls emits us as I look for a question to fill the void Dom finds one first “when the guys said there taking me somewhere special you were the first thig that came to mind” I playfully roll my eyes as Dom chuckles Dom slightly shifts over to me and gives me a weak smile ”sorry we couldn't get to you sooner commander was holing us up” I smile at him "I know the others told me this fine” I touch his arm softly not trying to hurt him “when we get back to the base I'll be able to patch you up properly but for now this will have to do” he looks down at my head now if you look closely and I mean really close you'll see the smallest red hue on my face as he touches my hand “thanks I really mean it” he pauses for a second and then makes eye contact with me and sighed I could feel my face getting warmer as I return the eye contact “ you know no one has really patched me up like this in forever I really do appreciate it and I was hoping that we could um” he broke the eye contact looking down and taking a deep breath and regaining eye contact Dom leans in close to my face I can feel my face on fire but just as he lean in we hear talking from outside and Dom pulls away leaving me a little sad at the loss of contact  

The door opens to reveal the rest of the crew, but none of my teammates ”where's my team?” I asked Marcus he holds up 5 cog tags as I make an I knew it face the rest of the crew hopped in the truck with me sitting beside Dom I daydream a the truck takes us back to base but before that, I feel a pair of lips on my cheek I whip my head to look at Dom with a newly red face all he does is smirk I start planning of a way to get back at him while Baird drives us back to the base  

[alwayscorvus]

Fresh start - Chapter One

Fresh start - HOW IT BEGAN (Aether pov)

highschool! au;

Chapter 1/45 - (old one, written 3 years ago)

I started writing this about… idk 3 years ago? Probably a month before Inazuma came out. Based on information and predictions available at that time. Currently, I would change a lot and def NOT use some of this ships. But for the sake of sentiment and good memories I will stay with the old concept. And I will use my old script.

I just always wanted to finish it. But it doesn't really relate to my current work and preferences/believes. Not that they were that bad in the past hahah but still, I've matured a bit in this 3 years

Smooth the end of a freshly ironed shirt. Firmly tighten the tie. Neatly clasp a watch on right wrist. And carefully examine it in the rays of a rising sun.

A final fix of hair, completed with a significant ruffling to a messy state.

Quick snap of phone. Click and done.

-You look great! - squawking voice of artificial intelligence cheered loudly.

Left corner of boy's mouth lifted up slightly at that.

Blond-haired boy shifted his gaze from phone screen to his reflection in the mirror. Indeed. He looked... pretty good. A white shirt and a light brown pullover trimmed with gold thread greatly hid boy's skinny body. His pants, slightly darker than his sweater, practically didn't stand out from the crowd. And diagonal yellow stripes on his brown tie perfectly highligted his honey-colored eyes. Under which, regular shadows disappeared. For the first time in a while.

Maybe this was the time. Time to say goodbye to them. If not permanently then at least for a while. Boy smiled even wider. He really looked good today!

Although in the picture he looked a bit better... More... carefree. Or maybe it was just this flying fairy icon's fault. The one jumping around photo and making both surprised and impressed faces assigned by a program. 

-Aether! -loud, yet kind voice of boy's "mother" rang through the house.

-Coming!

Knocked out of his thoughts, he immediately turn off his phone. With a hasty glance he looked around for his bag. Catching it lying on the bed, he quickly ran out through the open door, almost tripping over his own feet.

Loud shaking of stair steps made his "parent" laugh.

-Now now -she assured through laughter- Easy. If you really took a long time to gather yourself, I would start rushing you more. You still have plenty of time. You will definitely make it! -she exclaimed cheerfully.

Aether merely nodded at that. He opened his bag, allowing metal box with fresh bento to be stuffed inside.

-Have it. I hope you enjoy it!-she smiled broadly and proudly- But if not, don't be afraid to get yourself something! I won't hold a grudge! I have no experience in this anyway... But I'll try to get it! If you have any suggestions, tell me right away. I'll try to get better!

A slightly awkward silence could be felt for a moment. Probably Aether's dull gaze didn't make this situation any better. But he couldn't help it. That's just how he was. Quiet, reserved, definitely not as energetic as woman leaning over him. Luckily, this "moment" like every other, passed quickly. 

Checking began; "Did you pack your books?" "A pen?" "You have the money?" "And your phone, right?" "Have you reported your status today?" "Took your medicines?" "Brushed your teeth?" 

To all of these questions Aether thoughtfully nodded, though he laughed sincerely at the last one.

-Surely. I am not five years old but eighteen.

-Oh, yeah... I'm sorry. I guess it's not that easy to skip through these stages after all -there she paused for a moment to lovingly run her fingers through Aether's hair. But in this gesture something more was hidden. Some sort of sadness and dissatisfaction that Aether didn't fail to notice- Good luck on your first day of school.

-No thank you, as not jinx it! - with these words he ran towards exit door, where he quickly slipped white sneakers on his feet. 

And... just when he was about to leave-... he held door handle a bit longer than he should and turned around. That suprised a woman.

-About you not being able to drop me off on first day because-...  because of work. It doesn't matter! I preferred to go there alone anyway. That way I can settle my mind. As Dr. Ping said: "I need to give myself some time to get used to everything."

At this statement "mom" glowed again, as if a weight had just fallen from her shoulders. Aether, however, couldn't enjoy this lovely view. Immediately after his confession he jumped out of the house. Ashamed of his boldness.

Stepping onto a sidewalk, he looked at "his house" for one last time. It stood still, as if unmoved by Aether's loss. Boy shifted his gaze to building next door, and in fact to its resident. A young, petite boy with knees wrapped tightly in blanket, who held a wooden instrument in his hand. Playing a rhythmic melody on it. A melody carried by wind that blew away his red and white hair.

Aether didn't even realize when he started humming. Just as he didn't realize when around twenty minutes later he bumped into another student passing in front of him.

A loud bang and a swish of papers could be heard thanks to passerby's fall. First words of apology came quickly from both mouths. Lady explained that she was in a hurry and pile of papers in front of her nose covered her view. While, gentleman blamed his drifting off and ignorance of dangers in new school. Eventually they both smiled warmly at each other. Then together helped themselves in standing up, shaking off dust and collecting printed sheets.

-Wait a minute, are you new here? Did I heard that correctly?

-Hmm... Yes? -Aether scratched back of his neck rather shy.

-Oho ho ho! -she exclaimed at that statement truly excited- And what? You walk here alone? Just by yourself? Without anyone's knowledge? On your first day? -she started to ask almost sneakily.

-Y-yes?

Girl clapped at this overjoyed, causing papers to spill out again. Boy looked at it a little stupiefied. Perhaps it would be better to retreat unnoticed? 

On one hand: he didn't like the idea of collecting papers again. On the other: girl's gestures began to show a terrifying loss of common sense. There was no reason to stay. 

Unfortunately, Aether, as Aether was, couldn't refuse to help. 

Or maybe he didn't want to? Did anyone even ask him for help?

-Great! You are lucky, my young man, that you found me. I'm Amber! The biggest and greatest! And this school is my territory! -she exclaimed proudly, supporting her hips with her hands and looking up at the sky. Almost waiting for a divine glow to fall on her.

Glow, however, didn't shown.

Then Amber looked down at the mess beneath her feet. Her face darkened, as if she had just realized her actions. She laughed awkwardly.

-Pardon me? Hehe...

First lesson started quite smoothly. Well, except for introduction, which was unexpectedly thrown on Aether's shoulders. Which in reality was normal for a new student. Especially for the one who suddenly joins second class of high school. 

Shy Aether mumbled a few sentences about himself. He blurted out something about pretended individual teaching and interests.

Short, pale, young boy didn't really pique a big interest. Maybe because he didn't fit into common canons of beauty. Or maybe because the rest of a class had more interesting topics to talk about. Or the lesson was more entertaining. Whatever it was, none of heads turned towards thw new student. 

As soon as Aether noticed this, he quickly relaxed. Which sudden confidence, he began to check out his class himself. Mint-haired creature sitting in a first row, right in front of the professor, almost never put down her hand. She didn't close her mouth either. Every now and then, her shy voice could be heard in the classroom. Full of comments, questions, doubts, but also answers.

He shifted his interest to something else. Aether looked at the room that Amber had brought him to a good few minutes ago. 

White walls, big blackboard and modest benches were pretty uninteresting.

Bored Aether glanced at another student. She also occupied one of first desks. This girl however, showed no interest in the lesson. Her main task was probably fixing a headband on her grey hair. What's more, her body was trembling slightly. It was easy to see that she was stressed a lot. When bell rang, girl squealed and almost jumped up on her chair. "I wonder if her hair is gray because of this whole stress".

-Hey you're Aether, right?

Aether turned towards the cheerful high-pitched voice, which led to meeting an amused blue irises.

-I'm Xingqiu, nice to meet you! -he bowed with a broad smile- And this is my friend. Meet Chongyun! -he introduced by pointing at a nodding head- Would you like to have lunch with us and our friends later?

Mentioned lunch came faster than Aether could have expected. Before he knew it, he was already sitting at a stone table under a glass roofing, breathing in fresh spring air. Together with Chongyun and Xingqiu, as well as newcomers: Razor and Bennett they started to enjoy lunch. While getting to know each other.

Suddenly. Out of nowhere. A loud scream was heard by a group. Aether himself, whose name was just shouted, almost fell face-first into his food box. And it was not out of fear but due to the weight of a certain loud girl who had just thrown herself onto his back. Luckily, she was quick to reconsider. And instead of squishing her friend, she sat down next to him. But, she just couldn't help and just had to ask for an explanation about why Aether dared to leave her, instead of eating with her. After declaring an unforgivable grudge, Amber turned to the rest and introduced herself cheerfully.

-How is your first day at school going, huh? -Amber turned towards Aether despite her offence.

Others just looked at them, filling their stomachs in process.

-Eh... well? I guess... I mean, mostly like it? I don't know. So far everything that happened to me has been positive. So... rather good.

-How are classes? Teachers? O! O! Have you met that harsh, old geography professor yet?

-Hmm... no? I only had a language classes today, so I didn't really get a chance. And as for the rest, it waas... normal? I think.

-And how was class, hmm? If anyone is mean to you, your Amber will show them the hell out! -she shouted, as if ready for a battle, pulling up her sleeves.

-No no! It's okay. Nothing happened. Except for that girl with short grey hair, she was a little... weird. But it's not like she wanted anything from me. Onl-

-Are you talking about Noelle? -Xingqiu chimed in.

-Eh? Could it be? The one that was sitting in first bench.

-She was actually more stressed than usual - admitted Chongyun.

-Stressed? It must be that Geo Team again, let me just show them! They won't want to take advantage of this poor girl anymore!

Aether swallowed his saliva heavily and in order to cool down Amber's energy he decided to go a little bit off topic.

-Team?

-Yes, one of the best current teams in stride.

A smile bloomed on dark haired girl's face, which Xingqiu didn't fail to notice. He knew that girl was up to something and that she had some suspicious plans for new student. But he decided not to interfere.

-But there is nothing to talk about -she waved- In the end, stride is the most important sport in this city. Everybody knows it - she answered "casually". 

Although it really felt like she wanted to continue...

Aether gave her a doubtful look.

-Stride?

-Yes, stride. Did I mispronounce?

-No, no, I just... what-- what exactly is stride?

Amber choked on her juice that she was just drinking. When loud coughing sounds echoed outside, Aether hurriedly started patting Amber's back, looking at her worried and puzzled.

-You shouldn't do that, it only makes condition worse - Xingqiu alarmed at the sight of Aether's actions. However, he was quickly interrupted by Amber, who, overcoming her choking, exploded:

-Do you not know stride?!

-N-no...?

Aether moved back slightly on the bench. Horrified by Amber's condition and the fact that he had apparently... said something wrong? 

But what?

-Man, where have you been living! Under a rock?! Stride competition is one of the biggest events here! Not only does every high school participate in preliminaries, but everyyyoneee comes to official games! Not just students! 

Amber started looking around at the rest of her companions in disbelief. Was it just her imagination, or did one of her age-mates really didn't know what stride was? Brown-haired girl let out excess of air, which managed to accumulate in her. She took a big breath and continued, a little more calmed down.

-I'll explain everything to you, don't worry! -she assured, slowly finding clear sides of Aether's ignorance - Oh, it's so good that you found me this morning. Who knows what would have happened to you otherwise. Not knowing about stride is the same as not knowing the taste of world's best Sticky Honey Roast! 

Amber was drawn to the topic and began to talk. About how every school has its own representation. But those with outstanding achievements in stride can have two of them. About how each team can have an unlimited number of members. And about how over the years they began to require five official members to keep paperwork under control. About special roles. About stages of race. She wanted to talk about everything, but she actually said practically nothing. She was quickly interrupted by the bell.

Boys were late and hurriedly went to next class.

-Don't worry, we wouldn't leave you at Amber's mercy - laughed Xingqiu - You better watch out for her, her energy is sometimes... unpredictable.

In the last lesson, Aether couldn't concentrate much. It's not that he didn't try, because he did, but... He really didn't understand anything. He had spent last year trying to get back to normal life. It was hard for him to re-master normal skills, like making tea or putting laundry on. He definitely couldn't find time to catch up with school material...

He moved his eyes to the window. It was almost empty outside. Only two figures stood out in school's square. In one of them Aether recognized his neighbor, whom he had pleasure of seeing today on his way to school. He didn't know the other person. After all, that dark purple hair would be impossible to forget. Boys angrily exchanged words while waving their hands dramatically. Aether couldn't hear them from the second floor. But he knew that two of them were definitely arguing about something.

[bradenthompson]

The Starfield Experience II: The Freestar Rangers

While it's still fresh on my mind, it's time for episode 2 of my Starfield maiden voyage. Last time, I joined with the Crimson Fleet and got my sneaky fingies on a cool 200,000 credits. On this excursion, however, me and my first crewmate Mathis were honest men with no bounty. And we were gonna perform our community service by way of frontier justice.

"But captain," you say, a puzzled look fixed tight on your brow, "I thought you were playing an evil character." Don't you worry. I'm every bit as unhinged as I was in my pirating days. Because dialogue always gives me some completely bloodthirsty options, which I promise to choose every time. Crooked cop time babyyyyyy

De-escalation Tactics

We arrived in the town of Akila City (game is very loose with the distinction between Cities and Towns) just in time for a classic scripted Bethesda moment. We all remember walking into Solitude for the first time and seeing that guy on the chopping block. We all tried to save him, and all our level seven characters were lacerated on the spot. A storytelling crutch? Probably, but there's no reason it can't be effective. Plenty immersive to walk into a new settlement and already see some shit going down.

Just that type of shit was going down in Akila, as soon as me and Mathis got boots on the ground. Local bandits were holding up the bank, had taken hostages, and the rangers were outside trying in vain to negotiate. A tense situation indeed. Maybe two ruthless pirates who had just shot down a civilian ship on the way here can help.

I'd been pumping some skill points in speech, by now. Failed persuasion checks were getting on my nerves, but successful checks were making me feel cool. That and, on my brief trip to Neon, I had picked up a very goofy looking future suit that gave a passive 10% persuasion success. This is all to say I talked the bank robbers out the building, not a hostage lost.

While I was in town (Akila has some great music) I tried repainting my ship, thinking the Crimson Fleet colors would cause Mathis and I some problems out in space. How stupid of me to think the game would account for that sort of thing. You can land on Planet Police State with a ship painted the way only pirate ships are painted and nobody cares. Clue #1 that I could get away with a lot, within this faction system.

And speaking of factions, my success with the GalBank situation got me on the path to getting deputized.

I See You, Space Cowboy

First I had to talk to ranger Emma Wilcox, in the very cool space saloon. She wanted me to complete just one job before they considered letting me join up. Overachiever that I decided to be, sporadically, I took all four jobs the ranger kiosk had at the time, thinking I'd really impress by clearing the board. Rescued a hostage, took out a gang of spacers--real basic rng quests. The one where I had to kill a Crimson Fleet captain was funny. Mathis didn't like me doing that very much, despite us both quitting at the end of that questline. But as long as he stayed on the ship while I went out and split some wigs, he didn't mind. What he doesn't know won't hurt him, I suppose, but this begs another question: why can't I take criminals alive? Spoiler alert, but the rangers are gonna urge me to resolve problems without violence later. This peaceful justice creed does not extend to the rng quests. Okay.

But after completing all four and hitting myself bc no shit that doesn't make a difference, Wilcox saw potential in me and took me up to the marshal. Or who I have to assume is the marshal. That's Daniel Blake, pictured above, who gave me a dorky vest and a very cool pistol.

In hindsight, there's very little warmup to the questline's main problem. I was immediately sent off with ranger Wilcox to a farm that would prove to be the first victim of the overarching villain. There's this gang out in the canyon trying to 'wrassle away their farmland, say no more, we march down and make confetti outta 'em. The ship they flew in on was recently stolen from a company called HopeTech, which became our next destination.

Look Guys, Bezos did make it to space

We land at Hopetown, which I wanna imagine has a larger quest associated with it, but then again maybe that's what I'm doing right now. Seems to be one of the more intensely designed settlements in the game. We're essentially in a company town. Everyone here works for Hopetech, lives on a planet where the only thing around is their job, and carries an eerie devotion to the company and its founder. This is Ron Hope. He talks like an Oblivion NPC, which is to say too slow, and I earmarked him for death real early.

So I tell him about one of his stolen ships, he already knows, he wants me to keep it on the DL since it'd tarnish his brand if people knew ships could be stolen off the assembly line, yada yada. The conversation I was having with him here and now wasn't super important. What was important was introducing Hope as a character so him maybe/maybe not being evil later doesn't feel like it's outta nowhere. Well fuck me for knowing how these stories work, but of course he did it. I don't even know what 'it' is, as of right now, but I know it was him. Why else would we be meeting him so early? The butler did it.

We're off to Neon next, where I understand most stolen ships wind up. A player may deduce this on their own through normal gameplay; if you're one to plunder ships and sell them off, Neon is one of the places to do this. Either that or critically thinking. Neon's the only city that abjectly sucks, according to context clues. In case I wouldn't know, I'm told explicitly to head to Neon.

I head to Neon. With quickness, because now I know how fast travel works (tip: you can select objective markers while you're out in space and, should it be a system you've already been to, you'll fast travel without opening the map). Meeting up with a fellow ranger whose name I forget but--spoiler alert--it doesn't matter, I'm led to mechanic Billy Clayton, whose name I remember for some reason. He wants to help us but is currently having a Bethesda Moment (we need to do something for him first). That thing we have to do is clear up an outstanding debt with a loan shark. Alone, I march to the warehouse said loan shark operates from, don't even open up a dialogue, immediately spray the office with bullets, and return to Billy. Good news, Billy! Debt problem's been fixed!

Thankful, he points us in the direction of a noted ship thief named Grace. She's a brick wall. Won't give up nothing bc she ain't scared of the fuzz. That is until I pass a persuasion check and she immediately buckles under the pressure. Persuasion skill continues to be totally absurd. But for our efforts, she hands us an encrypted slate that, should we be able to crack the encryption, will lead us to her contractors.

The* Plot* Thickens*

It's not that I didn't know what was going on. Rather, by this point, I was certain the game would never trust me to figure things out on my own. I double-checked: there's in-universe museums that spells out a lot of the lore. Some of which being pertinent to reveals later in this questline. Odds are slim most players would be brushing up on Starfield history of their own volition, and look, I get it. Really, I prefer getting this sort of shit through questlines. But by this point I was feeling a sort of... monotony? I'm gonna be told what to do and where to go regardless of whether or not I intuit these things myself. There's little incentive to do anything but precisely what the quest givers tell me. Speaking of...

That ranger on Neon whose name I forget tells me there's someone on Akila who may be able to crack the slate. His name is Alex Shadid and, dude, I liked him a lot. On sight. He's socially awkward, dreams of being the type of person who goes clubbing on Neon which is cute, and he's good with computers. Alex was my first and really my only pick for a second crewmate, when this questline finished up.

I pass the slate off to Alex and report back to Daniel Blake. Based on clues in my previous field work, Daniel is running with the theory that the crew responsible for this ship theft (stealing one ship and harassing one farmer is still the impetus of the entire story) is one called the First. A company of veterans from the Colony War now doing mercenary work out in the stars. Daniel used to serve with them, and knows of two supposed members: Maya Cruz and Marco. Maya's our first target, as someone matching her description just booked an emergency surgery and extended stay on a space station hospital called The Clinic. Off to the clinic, then!

Two quick things before I divulge this super exciting Maya Cruz quest:

>Whenever I speak to Daniel Blake, while there's no outwardly "evil" dialogue choices to make, there's good cop/bad cop options. Do you want clean justice or do you wanna repaint the walls of your ship in the blood of outlaws? I always picked the most violent things to say to Daniel. Always some version of "I'm going down there and making orphans of all their children!" and at no point does the Sheriff think I may be a problem. He, nor anyone in the rangers, ever thinks less of me for being completely unhinged and hostile.

>I've been dabbling in the ship builder and, hey, Todd: why can't my ship have wings? Been all over looking for wing parts and there's not a one. I consulted reddit, damn you. Don't try none of that "uh but but but atmosphere" bullshit. This is not a realistic space sim, we ain't Kerbals here (that game DID have wings!!!!). Before launch, I was dreaming of what my ship would look like, and it always had wings. Let me add wings. If you do DLC that adds more ship parts, deliver me my wings plz thx.

Oh, and the Maya Cruz quest is pretty boring. There's one interesting moment where you gain access to her private hospital room and find the surgeon dead on the ground, but after that it's flying off to a derelict planet and trouncing about in a cave up to a very lame encounter with Maya, who says something or other about whatever bullshit idk. I shot her.

Polo.

Thankfully, the hunt for Marco has some teeth. There's a ranger at a remote club called the Red Mile. It's a real rough place (everywhere in Starfield is a real rough place, Red Mile, can I get ya to try harder).

The ranger in question is Autumn Macmillan. She's a Starfield NPC, so she's immediately callous and rude. I'm mean right back, so ig it evens out. She doesn't know where Marco is, but suspects the club's owner, Mei Devine, does. To get to her, we have to provide the club with some entertainment. The titular Red Mile is a dangerous gauntlet that wasn't all that dangerous bc I'm doing this at an above average level. So I run the Red Mile no sweat, Mei is pleased, tells me where Marco's ship is currently parked.

Before I leave, Autumn runs up to be and actually apologizes for being an ass earlier. I was also an ass but don't have the option of apologizing. Game unconditionally sides with me. Okay, I'll take it. Me and Autumn are cool from then on out, and I zip off to meet up with Marco.

It's now, at the top of the questline's last third, that things get interesting. I was ready for a dogfight, hearing that Marco is hiding out on his spaceship, but no. He's parked on some obscure planet and willing to have a chat. Sounds like he wants me to know something important?

That important thing is rangers are dweebs and being a mercenary is awesome. He's even ready to give me the location of de capo di tutti i capi on the condition we let him go. Since I'm ready for the story to keep chugging along regardless of my actions, I massacre his entire ship and get the final location anyway. Hardly knew ye.

With the combined slates of Grace, Maya Cruz, and now Marco, Alex Shadid has the information necessary to triangulate the location of the First. Daniel Blake orders me to head down there and raise hell. Well, not in those exact words, but it's a Bethesda game. Of course it's gonna be a fight.

The Black Rifle Coffee Company

Well ain't my predictions all fucky.

Thought for sure, with all these ranger characters I was meeting and the precedent set by the Crimson Fleet story, that all the rangers were gonna back me up in this final raid. Nope! Going it alone. Not even a ranger. Still just a deputy. But whatever, I still got my main man Mathis.

We buy some more guns and touch down on Arcturus II. Mathis and I step out, enter the large doors of an abandoned mech factory, and are greeted by the intercom voice of First boss Paxton Hull. He lays out his motivation, and I'm curious whether this was intended as a serious morality check.

In essence, the First are, as stated earlier, veterans of the Colony War. Their main point of anger is an event in the final moments of the war they were about to secure total victory for the Freestar Collective before both sides declared a truce. They're still mad about this. I'm supposed to be sympathetic to their position (maybe) as forgotten "heroes" of the war, despite their primary motivation being "well one time we killed a thousand civilians but we wanted to kill a million."

I wasn't so hot on these guys. Even as an evil character. They reminded me too much of Operative Culture. Yk, those guys who did (or maybe pretend to have done) military service and, perhaps as a means of coping with a lot of abject atrocities the US army commits, circle the wagons and perceive all violence as justifiable. Y'know who I'm talking about. Their pro-gun beliefs are based in a nonsense John Wick fantasy, or adjacently related "wolves, sheep, and sheep dogs" bullshit. Am I wrong to project this on the First, here? I don't think so. They get no sympathy from me, the guy who shoots people if it progresses the quest slightly faster. Their grudge is based in not "winning" the war by their own fucked up definition.

My character sure is one to talk but, in fairness, Mathis and I were gonna light this place up regardless of any sympathy for the First. Which we did! It's quite the gunfight. Lotta NPCs. I haven't spent a credit on ammo since.

We shoot out way to Paxton who, in a funny bit of characterization, can't help but be impressed by our ability to mow down his whole organization. He knows he's toast but wants to die fighting. Before doing so, however, he passes off a slate. The contract for stealing the ship from HopeTech (yeah, one stolen ship is still the main thing here) was ordered by none other than--

Oh, no kidding

It was Ron Hope all along! I have Mathis kill Paxton (just want him to feel involved) before throwing the bitch (spaceship) in reverse back to Hopetown. Marching right inside, we catch Ron Hope in the middle of praising a low-level mechanic for something or other. Uh-uh-uh, not gonna work on me. I KNOW you did... hold on, lemme remember. You... oh yeah. You SWITCH THE SAMPLES orchestrated your own ship theft in order to...

I'll be honest, I kinda needed Hope to explain why he's the baddie. Yes the ship theft was an inside job, but to what end I wasn't sure. If I have it correct, Ron let the First steal the ship so he would also look like a victim, which would throw us off the scent of him, and please follow along, selling farmers bad fertilizer that would demolish their farmland but leave behind soil that had a lot of otherwise useful minerals. He would then chase these farmers off their land and develop it into HopeTech... something or other. I'm not saying it's badly written. I'm sure it lines up with the lore and everything. But man, I was waiting for that [attack] prompt to pop in somethin' brutal.

But I am given a choice: take twenty-thousand credits worth of hush money, arrest him without violence, or kill him on the spot. How the other two options shake out, I can't say, because obviously I chose killing his ass dead. And his security escort! That employee he was praising earlier had mixed feelings about this. Our ensuing conversation when something like this:

mechanic: Ron Hope is dead!

me: he sucks and deserved to die

mechanic: I guess?

me: yeah

mechanic: okay bye

Now to go explain this all to Daniel Blake. Hoping he takes the whole "I killed Rom Hope" thing well, since Hope was a sitting member of the Freestar Collective's top brass. A ranger killing him would be very, very bad.

It matters very little

Sure, Daniel was pretty annoyed that Hope is dead, but I did have the slate Hope made ordering the First to steal the ship, among other things, so I killed him without consequence. I'm even promoted.

Deputy in a stupid vest no more! I'm now a Freestar Ranger in full, ready and able to take exactly zero ranger missions from this point onward. I'm given a cool spacesuit, a rifle I'm not gonna use bc I don't have any skill points in rifles, and a badge I cannot equip. Only look at in my inventory. But I am a ranger! I am a ranger! I am a ranger!

I'm shocked to find Alex Shadid cannot join my crew. Not that he isn't allowed. He's just not available to be recruited. Excuse me, I thought his introduction of "hi my name is Alex Shadid and I've never been to space in my life but oh I would just love to see the stars" was setting me up the ball. But no. And no other rangers at Akila are recruitable either. But that doesn't mean no rangers are...

Turns out, back at the Red Mile, Autumn is more than happy to hop on my ship. Yup, my second crew member is a ranger who thinks I'm dirt. Except now all her canned dialogue is eerily polite. But I say fuck it. Hop on my ship, Autumn, and let's never go back to the Red Mile again. Everyone is very mean there.

It's now me, Mathis, and Autumn, on my--oh yeah, I nearly forgot. My other reward for becoming a ranger was a brand new, probably overpowered for this point in the game, spaceship. Capacity for five crewmates. Best of all?

ITS GOT WINGS.

In Conclusion

While I can't say I was ever grabbed by the narrative, the moment to moment gameplay of the Freestar Rangers questline proved very fun. Lots of dudes to shoot, if that's your thing. It's got some engaging setpieces, takes you to a satisfying number of locations in the name of feeling big, but that's not without plenty of disappointments. The "villain" of it all feels unsubstantial, and really the whole story feels disconnected from the larger world of the game. It's got plenty to do with the Lore and all that, but at no point did it ever feel bigger than running errands. Crimson Fleet managed a far better climax in comparison, awful space battle notwithstanding. But the idea of Autumn being on my crew is funny enough to consider this a satisfying use of my Starfield time.

Next up, corporate espionage or: my god the stealth in this game kinda sucks.

[plantfeed]

JUDE & ISABEL — THREAD 001.

location :  trinity, during the discord mini event.

description :   jude calls off his casual thing with isabel (again) and she says that's fine, which pisses him off. they argue about his ex, jenny.

featuring :  isabel @oculiaperticlausi

𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘆.

despite it's owner claiming the opposite, trinity basically feels like a sex club, so it's hardly a surprise when he runs into isabel, or rather she runs into him, no doubt having orchestrated a plan to meet him exactly when he's coming out of the bathroom, only to shepherd him back in. "we can't keep doing this," jude says, slightly breathless, after they've finished, back against the cubicle door as he zips up his fly, a fresh smudge of lipstick on his neck. "nah, i'm bein' fuckin' serious, iz. my girlf— ex-girlfriend comes here every other night. it's only a matter of time before she clocks it." he can already see a jenny cohen tantrum on the horizon, nails and hair and heels flying everywhere. "she's fucking scary when she's angry."

𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐬

isabel fixes her dresses. she licks the pad of her thumb and moves it to his neck to wipe off her lipstick as he explains the situation with his… whatever. girlfriend, ex. clearly, a situationship that still has some complications behind it. it was a good thing she didn't give a fuck about that sort of thing. she lifts her eyes up toward him as she shrugs her shoulders, a small smirk on her features. "we don't have to keep doing this, jude." she could easily find someone else to drag into the bathroom whenever she wants. "call this the last hooray," she tilts her head to the side. "but you know if you change your mind…" she gestures around the bathroom. "we'll always meet back here."

𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘆.

honestly, jude had been hoping for a little more opposition. what he'd wanted was some kick back, and for isabel to say, are you crazy? how dare you say you won't fuck me any more! i can't live without your dick, or something to that effect. her contrasting lack of care is almost more insulting than if she'd been the one to suggest they cool it off. "wait, what?" jude starts, eyebrow furrowing into a heavy crease. "so you're fine for us to just, like, stop? you're not even gonna argue with me on it?" jude's offended. wounded, even. jenny would never let him off the hook this lightly. she'd be sinking her claws into his skin just to get another taste.

𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐬

sabel tilts her head to the side as she leans back against the door. She doesn't think this actually going to be the last time she gets in a round with Jude. They've been having the same talk practically every time she pulls him into this bathroom. "I don't grovel." She made it clear when they started doing whatever the hell this was that she wasn't interested in strings being attached. If he cut it off, she refused to let herself run after someone who was clearly going to keep comparing her to his ex. She pushes from the door and reaches out, tilting his head to the side as she leans up to press her lips against the back of his ear. She grazes them against the shell. "And we both know this isn't actually the last time." She muses, pulling back. "Am I wrong, Jude?"

𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘆.

"right. sure. you don't grovel," jude parrots back, a little put out. "but you could maybe grovel like. a really small bit. like a smidge." if he's being used for his body, he'd at least like to think the person doing the used him might like him, but one look at isabel's face tells him she's not about to budge. there's a thrum of anticipation in his stomach when she crosses towards him, hands intictively falling to her hips when she presses her lips to his ear. he closes his eyes in an attempt to isolate the feeling, but it only seems to strengthen his other senses, goosebumps on the place she leaves her kiss and a shiver running down his spine. "it fuckin' could be," jude warns back. "like i could walk out this door now and just, not look back. no regrets, you know." he's silent for a moment, hands still place on her hips, before he snatches them away. "is this some kind of bit or do you actually not give a shit?"

𝐈𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐬

"i wouldn't even know how," isabel presses her lips together as she pulls her head back, her eyes lifting up to him. there wasn't a single man in the world that would have her begging to stay and fuck her especially one who seems to think about his ex every single time they fuck. she places her hand on her hip as she tilts her head to the side. as his hands pull away from her hips, her gaze drops for a second to look at them at his side before she looks back up to him. "if you want me to give a shit about you, jude. maybe don't talk about jenny the second you aren't inside of me anymore, eh?" she scoffs. she honestly has never had a serious feeling about a single man she's ever come across, it's the way she was built. she was never meant to be a weak woman who fell for a man and the last thing she was going to do was start caring about a guy who would never have any actual interest in her. "it's kind of hard to develop any actual attachment to you when i can practically hear your brain comparing me to the woman who i assume broke your heart? you also try to break this off every time we fuck so why should i allow myself to get disappointed if you do actually decide you don't want it? please, enlighten me on why i should actually give a shit."

𝗷𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘀𝗲𝘆.

with girls like isabel, who claim they don't catch feelings, jude usually assumes they're all talk. it's why he never asks her to stay the night, or cooks her breakfast the next day, or does any of that shit that girls start to misconstrue as a ‘situationship’. things with jenny were casual, before he started cooking her breakfast and look how that ended up — with a ring in his fucking sock drawer. eventually, they always cave. it’s like in their blood or summat, or at least that’s what jude’s told himself, but sometimes it feels like he’s keeping girls at a distance to protect his own heart, and from what isabel’s saying, it’s clear she’s unlikely to give a shit about his welfare any time soon. “jesus. okay, fuck. way to fuckin', drag me to hell directed by sam raimi. i’ll just go eat a dick then.” nothing that isabel is saying isn’t true, though. “right, so i can talk about her while i’m still inside you, yeah?” it’s a joke he should probably have kept to himself, but his mouth’s more often than not a cause for strife in his life. if it’s not the things he does say, it’s the things he doesn’t, holing up and going silent whenever shit gets too real. “fine. don’t give a shit. works better for me that way anyway.” jude shrugs, his back dropping back against the wall, still showing no signs of leaving. “i was just checking we’re on the same page, so…”

[grayintogreen]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Absolutely MAD that while I was getting this scene ready to post, the news about the Artagan comic dropped. TIMING I HAVE IT.

Anyway, I'm halfway through with the next chapter and inventory is finally over, so I can stop being so damn exhausted. Here's another conversation with Jester and Artie- this arc is full of them.

-

Jester suddenly felt an overwhelming need for fresh air and dove into her haversack to retrieve a fistful of incense- at least that wasn’t stolen. “I’m gonna go talk to Artie,” she called, and was gone before anyone could stop her. The people of Vo in their practiced clockwork patterns of behavior barely needed to adjust themselves to accommodate her rushing through the village to find a private space at the outskirts where the mist was still thin and shied away from the dawn peeking through gaps in the thick tangles of jungle trees.

She fumbled with the incense like a nervous little novice in the back of some country chantry and swore a blue streak about it until she managed to get it lit. In the dirt, she drew a caricature of Lydas out of the basic shape of a dick with a talon.

“I think you’ve captured his likeness perfectly.”

She looked up to see Artagan, bent fully double, leaning over the top of her. His long red hair formed a curtain around her and despite her anger and frustration and sorrow, she was relieved that not only had he come, but he’d been quick about it.

She had three questions, but she was going to make them count this time and keep him here as long as possible. There was too much she needed to know right now. “Beau thinks you did all this on purpose to kill us.”

See? Not a question. And judging by the way Artagan snapped up to his full height in shock without a hint of that weird evasiveness he sometimes got, it likely wasn’t true. “What does she know? I’m an archfey, dear heart. Up until a couple of decades ago, my kind didn’t generally set foot on this plane. How am I expected to know every minute detail about it?”

He paced with all the grace of an affronted rooster. “Jester, I am fully capable of lying, but I only lie when it’s funny. There is nothing funny about this situation.”

She squinted up at him and found the same weighted anxiety she found in Nicodranas and back in the Menagerie bearing down on him. She fought the urge to twist her ring and take another peek into his thoughts, because it might disrupt the ritual. She still had three questions, after all- she’d just tricked him into giving her a freebie.

“How did you hear about it?”

He collapsed onto the ground like it was a fainting couch, vines moving to support him at a command. “Oh I was in some port or another and overheard a pair of gamblers telling stories about mysterious islands and inspiration came to me.”

Gamblers? Jester looked down at her necklace. The Changebringer was the goddess of gamblers and Lucien mentioned that he’d seen her in one of his visions, that she had been the one to deliver this island from the demon lord, but the people turned away from her in the aftermath. Maybe she wanted them here to make things right… But if that were so, why not tell Artagan directly the way Sehanine sometimes did? Was it because Sehanine was fey too?

“If we kill… Avocado, does that fix the island?”

He hemmed and hawed about it with a puzzled expression. “Not exactly. It might certainly fix the people. He’s… exacerbating a problem that was already here, I think.” Off her look of confusion, he sighed. “Well, once I made the mess, I had to figure out how much shit I was really in. Just because I didn’t do my research going in doesn’t mean I can’t do it now.”

“Oh. Well that’s good.” Relief she was starting to worry she was going to never feel again flooded her and she found herself relaxing. “We can totally kill him.”

Artagan waved his hand. “He’s less of a god than I am and that’s saying something. Powerful, yes, to do what he’s done here, but again, it’s because he’s exacerbating something already here.” That would be a whole other issue, but Jester was less worried about that. Freeing the people would, at the very least, open up the possibility of dealing with the other issues without any risk of being consumed again.

She tongued her cheek, trying to figure out how to phrase this next bit without it being a question. “I bet you could beat him.”

That got a laugh out of him. “Oh my dear sweet girl, I don’t fight. I get other people to fight for me.” He blanched, realizing how that must have come out, and Jester was left wondering how much of her own disappointment showed on her face to garner that reaction. Sometimes wanting the answer and not wanting the answer ran parallel and it was a crapshoot which one you ended up tripping over in the end.

She didn’t want to waste her last question on what was painfully obvious: Is that what this is?

Could she really be pissed at him if the answer was yes? If her theory was right and the Changebringer had put Artagan in the path of this on a gambler’s folly to see what would happen, then it was just as much her fault as his. The Raven Queen marched them in and out of all sorts of dangers, too. This was all connected- the things that scared Melora and the Champion and even Artagan so badly during that commune weeks ago and Rumblecusp- and every god was doing their part. Artie just had to be dragged by the ear to do his.

She blew a raspberry. Last question and she couldn’t even think of a good one. “Did Avocado steal our shit or did the Vo do it? ‘Cause we’re gonna be fucked if we don’t have diamonds.”

Artagan snorted. “I think the Vo have more sense than that. They steal people by taking advantage of their lack of memory, but that’s excusable. Petty theft is a bit beyond their beliefs.”

“I figured we could definitely get it all back if someone was just hiding it all.” She rubbed at her temples. “So I guess we’re fighting a volcano squid that’s scared of the Somnovem.” She gasped. Fuck! That was what she should have asked about. Seeing he was still here, reclining on his fainting couch of vines, she leaned forwards. “Did you hear about that? Did you see the way he freaked out about Molly? Oh man.”

“I did, actually.” The vines behind him pushed him forwards until they were practically nose to nose, “It’s wild, isn’t it? Maybe you’ll be able to use it.”

Oh fuck. Oh man. He was going to leave. She reached out and grabbed his hair in her fists like a toddler because they were the closest thing she could reach. His green-and-gold-flecked eyes widened. “I don’t blame you,” she blurted out. “I was mad about everything before and yeah, it’s shitty, but it’s not your fault.”

I need you to know that, just in case the island makes me forget or it makes me lash out like Beau did.

“It is a bit my fault,” he said, blinking slowly, the words awkward and followed by a disgusted look like the mere admittance of being wrong about something made him sick. “But I appreciate you not… Hating me for it. I never meant for it to be like this, Jester.”

“I know.”

“I mean, some of these people are actually surprisingly uptight. I don’t even know why they’re following me? Do you think it’s about clout? ‘Oh look, I worship a god no one has ever heard of.’ It’s like they don’t even read the tenets.”

She had to fight hard not to giggle. “Do you like actually have tenets?”

“No. The appeal was it being… Open to interpretation and about dismantling the high and mighty and having fun- oh you know what. Yes, I see where that might attract a certain kind of person. But! That’s the point. They could have clearly benefited from an island that grants fresh starts. I thought of it more as a resort as opposed to a horror show.”

“Yeah, I mean it’s not that bad. It worked for Molly!” Her heart sank at the mention of Molly, caught between being upset again at the way he was behaving and upset even more that Lucien had lost his memories when he fought so hard to gain purchase on his sense of self. Slowly, she uncurled her fingers from Artagan’s hair and dropped them onto her lap.

Rather than immediately leave- as if he couldn’t have gone with her fists in his hair- he tapped her chin with the edge of her finger to get her to look up at him.

“I meant what I said, Jester. I am very glad you’ve forgiven me. I don’t think I deserve it. I may never do anything to deserve it. It doesn’t make me any less happy. To have you be disappointed in me and remain that way would be excruciating. I don’t think you realize how impressive that is.”

A tiny smile pulled on the corner of her lips. “Are you gonna be close?”

“Jester, my darling, I have always been close. Even when you think I’m not.” He vanished in a wash of absinthe and evergreen and she breathed it in and let it fill her lungs and steel her against whatever else might come today so that she might keep her head and her heart in balance, despite everything moving to throw her out of sorts.

They didn’t have much time.

This was chaos, wasn’t it? That was what made the island the way it was. And it wasn’t order that balanced chaos, but a different kind of chaos that canceled it out entirely.

Her kind.

[rohit-seth]

His favorite. Admittedly, while it might be the ultimate betrayal of his culture, Rohit's preference for a red Thai curry over the standard Indian yellow he was used to was one of hi many weaknesses. He knew something smelled familiar when he entered, but in all his ranting and raving, he hadn't realized. This realization pulled and twisted his stomach with a sudden hunger that Rohit wanted to ignore out of spite. In spite of having shovelled leftovers into his mouth an hour prior — a cold half of a hoagie and the remailing carrot and celery sticks from a store bought veggie try — the idea of a fresh hot meal was almost enough to make up for the trip. " This is what they call 'champagne problems' —" Rohit began, intent on keeping his ranting and raving going for the sake of it. Still, he was quickly silenced but the sudden closeness of Gwen, something full and soft pressed to his back as her breath ticked his neck. His breath caught in his throat, Rohit's entire body stiffened, his arms freezing for a few seconds as he wondered just what in the hell she was doing and why he had still remained unable to set up boundaries between them.

"Right, well." He choked out after a too-long pause that was very telling, had Gwen actual every noticed things like that. " It's the least you could do after working me to death. " He stammered. His goal was to firmly and clearly communicate his displeasure with the situation, but in addition to knowing exactly how to play him better than Liszt tickling the ivories before royalty, Gwen was playing a game she was a grandmaster in. The name of the game was torture, and he was the loser every time. " You know I can't" He weakly muttered, regaining control of his hands and pulling away from her chest slightly as he began to fumble with more wires and plugs. Rohit was almost an addict of overthinking situations and what other people would think. In spite of their years long friendship that pre-dated him being her underling, Rohit's concern for Gwen's dignity and honor were greater than her own. He couldnt' help but worry what would happen should someone see him leaving her place in the same clothes in the wee hours of the morning or showing up with her at work at the same time.

Letting out an uneven breath, Rohit tried to steady himself as he believed he had found the problem and could offer a temporary fix until the following day. " It's just there. " He all but squeaked out. " There's a bit of exposed wire. It almost looks like something chewed on it or maybe something heavy was placed on it while moving things around. " He posed. " If you have electrical tape I can secure it and get a new plug in the morning but you probably shouldn't use it with the wires frayed regardless. " He explained, once again trying to compose himself.

"No, you don't have to beg, but I —" he began, but paused as once again, saying no to Gwen was like trying to punch a bunny in the face or something equally as heart breaking. Deep down he began to realize that the technical issues were probably an excuse for her to have his company, and that made it even harder on him. To choice to spend time with her knowing what she wanted and what he wanted were so different or to put distance between them for the sake of his weak heart was great. Still, he could hear the hopefulness in her voice, an his resolve quickly melted. " I can't stay the night but I can just stay for a little but and watch a movie. Just until you've fallen asleep. " He offered. At least if he told himself he would leave it would be better than tormenting himself. " But I really do have to go. I don't even have anything I could put on here. And it really is already late so I can't stay long…" He said again, as if the excuses would do something. " Do you have anything to drink? I'm suddenly very thirsty."

As Rohit listed off the many reasons why she didn’t need call, all true and equally unnecessary, she didn’t budge. She looked again at the time, then back at him. “9?” It seemed ridiculous, only old people went to bed at this time. “What are you training for, the olympics? Who sleeps at 9?” She walked behind him, listening again to his complaints. They felt baseless, as all his tirades did, a fake out for actual happiness. She thought that’s what they did - it’s what her family did.

He was threatening her, checking under and over for wires. Gwen reasoned she ought to be sweet, that maybe he was tired and hungry from doing actual work, work she herself for the most part avoided. She tried something else, leaning over the back of the chair and her head over his shoulder as he searched. “It’s your favorite, from the place you like.” Then came her arms, which found a way to stretch over his shoulders so she could bend to his ear. She felt the trickle of water from his hair, and the clean smell of his skin. He really was getting ready for bed.

She relented. Maybe she had been too mean. “You know my apartment is closer to the office, you can stay here and finish your show.” A ploy. She would rather die than spend the night alone again, so she leaned on sweetness. “If it’s not already recorded you can just buy it on my room TV, I’m just going to ask you loads of questions because you refuse to start it over for me.” This again was a lie. She had more interest in resting her head against his chest and tucking her hands under his back, curling into him like a child. Admittedly, Gwen had a hard time separating feelings and transactional relationships, finding often that she acted like her family most in these moments, not knowing how to show appreciation in any other way than buying him things and having him around. She craved the feeling of his touch, not used to wanting to be around much of anyone and only trusting him - sleeping with him felt like falling into a coma, the deepest state of calm. She tucked the arms that stretched over him and hugged him from behind, pressing her cheek to his ear. “Are you going to make me beg you?”

[fakesimp]

Hihi hello!!! May i please request getting stuck at the elevator together after a huge argument with Shu?? 🙏🙏😵‍💫

Stuck with Him, With Shu Yamino

Warning !

Hurt/Comfort ; Hint of Sex at the end ; Arguments that doesn't have a beginning how it starts ; Established Relationship ; tw: Claustrophobia ; Reader have Claustrophobia

A/n : Why would you argue with the sorcerer when he loved you with all he have for you? ｡⁠:ﾟ⁠(⁠;⁠´⁠∩⁠`⁠;⁠)ﾟ⁠:⁠｡

Anywhoozies! I hope you enjoy this Anon! (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+

➶◜◝➴

The argument you had with your beloved Sorcerer makes you storms out from your shared apartment, right now both of you are currently on a vacation. You both booked an apartment for both of you, and it's only been 2 days and you've both argued over something simple.

Right now you're outside, taking some fresh air. You didn't bring anything but your phone, you don't remember how long you've been out. But the sun are setting. It is your queue to go back to your apartment, you took a deep breath and slowly walk back to the apartment.

As you walk back you encountered your beloved Sorcerer, Shu Yamino. Also on his way to the elevator. You noticed how he kept looking at his phone and his surroundings as if he's looking for something.

Or maybe,

Someone.

You unconsciously catches up to him the moment he entered the elevator, you definitely did not miss how his eyes widen when he sees you coming over to the elevator. The relief, when he sees you.

Now you're both in the elevator, on it's way to the floor where your apartment are. It's quite a long way, the silence between both of you, is awkward. At least you feel the silence are awkward, you peek over at your shoulder. You see how Shu's silently fidgeting on the spot, you softly sighed and called him out

"Shu-" "Babe- Ah, You can go fi-" before Shu could finish his sentence, the Elevator suddenly went out. The abrupt halt of the Elevator make both of you lose balance, but before you fell, Shu catches you in his arms.

It's dark,

You went silent as you felt Shu's warmth around you, you tried to calm yourself down.

Shu knowing the situation, he gently lead both of you down on the floor. Still hugging you in his arms, he whispered. "It's okay, I'm here.." his voice rang on your ear, "Breathe, It's okay." He gently rub his thumb on your hips as he whispered those sweet comforting words.

You slowly control your breathing and snuggled closer to the Sorcerer, "Shu.." you called out his name softly. "Hm?" He responded with a hum, still continuing his gesture on your hips. "I'm sorry.." you apologized, Shu stopped moving for a moment then continue moving again. "I'm sorry too.." He apologized too, he then wrapped his arms around you a bit tighter.

You miss this feeling, it was only a few hours but it felt like days, weeks, months away from him. Your beloved Sorcerer, you both stayed like that for quite sometime, "Shu?" You called out his name again, "Hm?" He responded with another hum as he rest his chin on your shoulder.

"Do you still love me?"

. . .

"I've always loved you. And will always do until death do us apart." He replied as he kisses your neck, "I will say it so many times until you got tired of it." He continued, "And I know very well you'll never get tired of it." He said as snuggle up closer to you from behind. Your back on his chest, you can feel his heart beats a bit faster than usual.

"I Love You Shu."

If only you can see how red his face is due to his cheeky line he said a moment ago, but he knows you love him. And he knows you very well that will tease him if you see how red his face are.

"I Love You too.."

And that exact moment the elevator is fixed again, it seems like the universe really don't want you two to have bitter hearts before going back to the apartment.

"How Ironic, it's like as if the Elevator won't fix itself if we didn't make up." You commented, making the Sorcerer behind you chuckled.

"Or maybe it wants us to make up and continue our session in the apartment."

"What session."

"Hm, I don't know. You figure it out."

"Huh-"

©fakesimp

A/n : Shu Yamino making the first move? Now that's something.

[idiasdiscordkitten]

Hello again >:) Ok so prompt for Vampire! Trey, Leona, Floyd, Jamil, Malleus. Can be spicy if you feel like it ;) So, Reader doesn't know that the other person is a vampire and cut themselves pretty deep, thus bleeding. The twst character, being the only other person there, have to bandage their wound and help them. Are they comfortable? Stressed? Hungry? Horny? Up to you~

now this right here is the kind of content i live for. i love stuff like this! i'm going to do my best :) thank you for the request!

i think i am going to keep this mostly non-spicy, just because it wouldn't apply to most of them

you guys i love writing the boys as supernatural creatures

trey, leona, floyd, jamil, and malleus as vampires tending to an oblivious, bleeding prefect

Trey Clover

❤️ trey is a little uncomfortable with the fact that you’re bleeding, since it’s not like he has fresh blood all that often, but his priority is making sure you’re alright.  his teeth ache, but he’s able to put those desires aside to tend to your wound

❤️ he cares a lot about what you think of him.  he doesn’t want anyone to view him as someone (or something) to be afraid of, so he does his best to appear as “normal” as possible

❤️ you notice that he’s a little shaky, but when he tells you he’s just a little squeamish, he’s very convincing, and you don’t suspect a thing

❤️ after he makes sure you’re going to heal up just fine and you’re back at the dorm, he goes back to his own room to cool off.  he wasn’t about to lose it, or anything, but he certainly feels dehydrated.  moreso than usual

Leona Kingscholar

💛 his instincts immediately kick in, telling him to completely devour you, but he fights back so that he doesn’t draw suspicion.  if anyone finds out he’s a vampire, it’ll just bring more attention to him, and he’d really prefer to be left alone

💛 leona figures that you’re too stupid to patch yourself up, so he grits his teeth and carefully bandages you up

💛 once he’s closer to you, the scent really hits him and he starts to zone out a little, just holding on to you for a second and staring.  when he hears his own name, he snaps out of it.  his excuse is that annoying herbivores like you are preventing him from taking a nap, so he’s extra tired (not that that’s a lie or anything)

💛 after you’re all fixed up, he orders you to go home.  if you’re *that* injured, he’ll ask ruggie or jack to escort you.  he needs some time alone to drink something, anything, to get your scent off his mind.  it was just too good

Floyd Leech

💜 you may not know that floyd’s a vampire, but you do know he’s dangerous.  if there’s anyone you don’t really want to be injured in front of, it’s him.  and with good reason, too

💜 he glances at your cut and laughs a little, smiling.  he wants a taste really, really bad, and he’s honestly a little turned on by your scent, too.  he absolutely wants to take you

💜 when he grabs you, he takes a closer look and contemplates whether or not he should actually bite you.  would it really be all that interesting?  or is the punishment for such an action too lame, too much of a turnoff

💜 “aw, i didn’t know little shrimpies could bleed like that,” he says.  he decides that eating you now would be too easy, and right now, you’re not really worth the trouble.  he fixes you up and lets you go, but even though he does a good job bandaging you up, he makes sure to make it “messy” at first so he can get a sample of your blood for later

Jamil Viper

🧡 jamil has phenomenal control, since he’s had to take care of kalim his whole life, but it takes a lot of energy to maintain that composure.  your blood smells so good to him, so unique, that he almost breaks character for a second

🧡 he fixes you up really quickly.  you don’t think anything of it, since he’s basically a professional malewife, and he’s grateful that he’s got plenty of experience with situations like these

🧡 but god, is he hungry

🧡 all he wants to do is use his teeth.  that’s all.  it’s frustrating to him that he has these fangs and he can’t even use them...  maybe someday

Malleus Draconia

💚 he knows you’re bleeding before you do.  he could tell that your blood smelled good even when it was trapped beneath your skin, but now that it’s free?  my, what a special child of man you are

💚 malleus knows that everyone is terrified of him, though.  the thought of you being scared of him, too, is just too painful.  he’s old enough to be able to restrain himself without issue, so he makes sure to be as gentle and warm as possible while he tends to your injury

💚 he knows his skin is cold, so he tries not to let his touch linger for too long.  you two have never made skin-to-skin contact before, and he laments that it’s under these circumstances.  he hopes you don’t suspect anything

💚 your kindness proves you would never hold judgment towards something like that, and he’s relieved that you didn’t seem to realize anything.  after you leave, he realizes his own tongue is bleeding.  has he really been pushing his fangs into it this whole time without noticing?  it’s time to feed, then

[limmastyles]

Now I’m not sure if the contract ending was the reason of the split or because of the fact that Olivia was just getting herself into way too much mess but it was perfect timing. Harry and Jeff and his entire team realize that how bad Olivia was for business. So either the contract ended and they dropped her or when things started to get messy hair and his team distance themselves from her and then left her to dry. It was the right thing to do. She was really starting to affect his reputation and I think it Harry’s team finally saw the light. The second the movie came out on HBO and the last concert of the LA residency was done, the last show in the US to cut her loose. Go to South America Start fresh and an actually be able to enjoy the tour. He doesn’t look heartbroken, he looks perfectly fine and the concert last night in Mexico shout that. There is something so much layer about him and he looks much happier and much better and it’s because she’s not around anymore and he doesn’t have to worry about her. For anyone who thought that this was a real relationship and Harry was heartbroken the concert last night should show you that the narrative is false. He’s perfectly fine. Olivia try to go out and have a brave face but she’s pissed off. We all know the only reason why she gets invited to these events was because of her relationship with her. We all know she only got invited to the governor’s fault because of hairy. The second hairy broke up with her her meal ticket was gone. We won’t see her at important events for a while. And if you think don’t worry darling is going to get invited for anything important you are sadly mistaken. Costuming, set design, and maybe Florence Pugh and the cinematography but other than that it’s done. There are so many better films I have come out and will be coming out so she’s fucked and she has no one to blame in the situation but herself. If she focussed more on making that movie great then try to convince the entire world of Harry styles wanna date a girl like her then she wouldn’t be in the situation that she was in before. The only reason why she got all the things that she has got it was because of hairy. Not because she’s talented, not because she’s a good Director, and not because she’s relevant but because of the guy she had to fake date to get all of those things. Harry made her relevant, take Harry out of the equation she’s not relevant anymore. We have been saying this for months and she hasn’t been listening because I know for a fact that she has been looking at all the blogs and seeing what people have been saying about her. Her 15 minutes of fame are up and by this time next year we won’t even care. The people who have so been supporting her won’t care about her anymore, and she’ll feedback into obscurity. This was a short term fix to making her relevant. She was thinking short term goals not long term ones and that’s what fucked her over. She could have really done something with this stunt, really been successful in restarting her career and she fucked it over for herself.

If she had listened to our words while watching our blogs, she would have been able to do something right and save herself. But she's too narcissistic and selfish to listen to anyone. (it's funny that a bunch of PR blogs know more about PR, promotion and advertising than she and her team lol) Anyway, it's all her fault, she ruined everything by herself, although I'm sure she was warned