#idk who the new first talon would be but i Do have a series of very dramatic scenes in my mind

[trevisos]

i don’t think leaving the crows entirely is in the cards for magpie and lucanis but i can see a post game future where lucanis gives up the first talon seat, probably after caterina dies and he’s been forced to actually Do His Job as first talon for a couple of months and has a breakdown about it lol. i think after that he and magpie just like, operate more or less independently but are still technically crows. because magpie simply will not leave while viago is there. that isn’t an option. but if lucanis giving up on being first talon is what keeps them both sane and allows them to spend more time with neve she could do that. so probably they just live out their days killing blood mages and cultists across tevinter for insane sums of money and in between help neve solve her cases and still host family dinners with viago and teia occasionally :)

[mortuarywriting]

Falling into Place

Ao3 Link - [First] - [Next Chapter ->]

All things considered this isn't what you were expecting to wake up to when you went to bed. One minute you're on your phone, trying to pass out, and the next? You're here. You've had some interesting greetings in your life, but dropping about six feet and having twelve guns leveled at your face? That takes the cake

Warnings:

Reader Insert, Plus-Size Reader, The Author Regrets Everything, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Isekai, canon divergence Look we're gonna dig into the implications of omegasverse changing bits and pieces of history as well as addressing whatever the FUCK is happening as CoD's history. Idk man Godzilla is canon and nobody bats an eye at that fact and you think I'm gonna be normal about that? No

You could be having a worse day, you think, as you stare at the interrogation table you're cuffed to. They could've shot you the second you fell the six feet from the sky into a random army base. That's a very real thing that could've happened.

But no, you just had a dozen guns pointed at you in one moment and a slew of questions you didn't have satisfying answers for.

No, you had no idea how you got there. You'd been in bed tooling around on your phone and then you were falling.

They asked who you worked for, and were not impressed by your mundane answer. You didn't work for some pmc or intelligence organization. You asked them to their faces if they thought you could pass a PT test if you tried. Not that they answered or appreciated your point, mind.

It was only after you gave them whatever identifying information you had that things got… spicy.

"I would love to tell you what this designation of yours is if you tell me what you mean. Is it like a classification of civilian versus enlisted? Is it physical? Is it your horoscope? I don't know what I don't know," you explain again for the Nth time. You didn't wanna play twenty questions but here you fuckin were, captive audience and all.

The man asking you questions had lost his charming good cop look. He was getting more and more annoyed on this one, "your designation," a demand, not a question and sure as shit not an answer.

"Again, would love to tell you! I don't know what you mean! Feels like some kinda Star Wars thing," you grumble the last bit to yourself but the man cocks his head.

His eyes narrow, "what are… Star Wars, you said?"

You blink owlishly, "beg pardon?"

"Star War. Clarify."

It's your turn for your brow to furrow, and furrow it does, "Star Wars? As in the multi-billion dollar franchise created by George Lucas and eventually sold to Disney," your tone is questioning, just shy of asking if the guy lived under a rock but his expression didn't let up and the last thing you needed was bad cop, so you continued, "the story of what happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away? The political space series of movies versus Star Trek's more scientific and discovery based longstanding TV show? Nine major movies and the Clone Wars before Disney sunk their talons in. Like yeah we got more shows and movies that expanded the universe but they also cut out decades of book contributions in their acquisition and that kinda sucked. But yeah, that Star Wars?"

"Nine movies," his tone is disbelieving, and now it's your turn for your eyebrows to raise, "can you name them?"

You nod, "well yeah. Do you want them in episode order or release?"

His brows furrow, "did they not release in order?"

"In a sense? Three trilogies, 4-5-6 back in the late 70s early 80s, then 1-2-3 in the late 90s early 00s, and 7-8-9 through the teens. So order, yes, just… not a cohesive one."

"Release, then," he leaned back and crossed his arms, a position you'd love to mimic if you weren't cuffed to the table for… an indeterminate period of time now, actually.

"A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi-"

"Woah now, empire? What's a jeddy?"

You give him a blank look, trying very hard to mask your disbelief as you look between him and the mirror behind him. You look at your reflection, take a deep breath, and- "sir would it be easier for you to maybe check the internet?"

He seemed to bristle, nose flaring and looking at you expectantly.

You just… kinda sat there. You tapped your fingers together on the desk and kept the eye contact he was intent on. It took a good minute and him getting progressively pissier before you simply ask, "would you like the other movies now?"

You didn't expect an explosion of movement from the man. He downright snarled and slammed his hands on the table as he burst to his feet, the sudden change sending his chair screeching back before falling with a clatter. You leaned as far back as your cuffed hands would allow, eyes wide and a panic rising.

Both of you turned to look at the door when it slammed open with a barked, "Williams!" 

The man who opened it reared back a bit, "Christ, layin' it on a bit thick," he groused, his tone sounding more like someone chastising a teenager for using too much Axe body spray. He smoothed his posture back into something casual as he fanned the air dismissively with a hand, "cap wants you to take a walk."

Your interrogator- Williams, apparently- stares at the man in the door, the two locking eyes before the one in the door straightens from his purposely relaxed posture. You watch the both of them, noting the shoulders tensing as the two just. Staring at each other? Eventually the guy who'd been grilling you looked away and stormed out, the man in the doorway letting him slip out easily enough before turning a charming look back to you.

He took a minute to fan the door a few times to get newer, blissfully cool air in before he entered the room, "sorry 'bout him. He really did a number in here," the new guy tsked before closing the door quietly behind himself.

Your brow furrowed even as you slowly relaxed a bit, had this Williams guy like… farted or something? A nice quirk of ventilation keeping you from smelling something abhorrent? Either way you simply shrug as he walks in and tips the chair back up, sitting and giving another reassuring smile, "how you doing, love?"

You opened and closed your mouth a few times before simply settling on, "I'm a bit… whelmed? This has been," you give as vague a rolling gesture as you can without your cuffs rattling too badly, "a lot? And I have no idea what just set him off either?"

It's the man before you's turn to quirk a brow, "no idea?"

"If I knew the answers to his questions I'd've given 'em by now. I don't, though, and then he just started staring? And hell I just thought it was some kinda macho 'I can stare the truth out of you,'" you pitched your voice lower and pushed your shoulders out for a second to mimic the douchebag behavior before settling, "so I kept eye contact because I'm so out of my depth I have no reason to lie at all and now…" you trail off, gesturing around the room, "all that."

The man nods slowly, "alright love, could you tell me about the last five years?"

Your brows furrow, "oh fuck, 2019 was five years ago wasn't it. God, time is an illusion. Anyway, you want what I was doing leading up to and through the pandemic?"

You think he might've startled for a second but he simply moved to scratch his chin, "mhmm. Just your thoughts on the last five years is all."

So… you ramble. Because he was nice and not prodding or asking weird questions. You talk to him about your job before the pandemic, how people thought covid was just a flu until the death tolls kept climbing, how tons of governments dropped the ball on a local or country-wide level and how that kicked back onto your life, and then the absolute crapshoot of the last election cycle, the shitty 'oh no this is the new normal everything is fine' behavior that has lead to surges and cycles of a fucking plague and so on. He simply nodded, gave some sympathetic hums and winces appropriately at your experiences.

"And did you go back and watch Star Wars through that? Or other things Disney owned?"

And, well, that was a weird way to phrase it but you shrugged, "the mouse is just shy of a monopoly and not one that anybody can take that down so… yeah, I guess? They kept putting shows out and expanding their Star Wars universe so that's been kinda neat to watch but not just them, no. Couple other games and stuff like that to keep me busy, too," you kinda handwave and shut up because panic rambling to MILITARY PERSONNEL is probably not your smartest move in hindsight. Especially when you don't know his name. A+, self.

You tap your fingers against the metal table as he looks at you, "and you said covid has a long term effect of ruining people's senses of smell and taste?"

You nod slowly, "yeah, dude? It's one of the biggest warning signs for most people? Like if everything starts tasting like it was made by a middle class white mom who keeps shoving random letters in her kids names you should swab? That kinda shit?"

What rock has this guy been living under? You were pretty sure the military were supposed to be way more familiar with this shit all things considered, but you've been wrong before.

It was his turn to give you a bit of a wide eyed look before he poorly covers a laugh, "alright, that's fair. I need to go talk with my captain," he hooks a thumb over his shoulder to the window, which didn't surprise you that there had been people back there. He offers a reassuring smile as he stands, humming idly as he pushes the chair back in. He pauses mid-step, "you mentioned that there were cards…?"

You find yourself nodding slowly, "yeah it was important and you couldn't fly or go to certain places if you didn't have one for a while. Should still have a picture of mine buried on my phone," you really didn't wanna get another first-round of covid shots, you REALLY didn't wanna repeat the 24 hours of suck for no reason.

"Cool, thanks," he flashes another charming grin before he slides out of the room.

You lean back in your chair, what an odd guy. Nice though.

-------

"Right," Gaz says as he opens the door to Price and Ghost, "either our mystery guest is off her nut or she's legitimately from somewhere and somewhen else."

Ghost and Price look at each other before turning back to Gaz, this… complicated matters.

Well, it's not like you hadn't given them information to identify yourself. They'd dig up who you were one way or another.

-------

You stare blankly as the nice man from before gives you a sympathetic look, "what do you mean I'm dead?"

Behind him is a guy you're not sure if he's just fuckoff huge or if he's just moderately huge and it's forced perspective.

You don't think it's forced perspective.

You are absolutely trying not to panic spiral.

You are absolutely doing a horrible job at that.

"Well," he opens the file before him and there's a news article, proudly proclaiming "Locals Die in Horrible Freak Accident" like that's not some form of you that was looking like some smear on the pavement, "there's this. Fingerprints match up. Can check for dental if you're really curious."

"Were there even any teeth left after that," you mumble as you take and read the offered article. Seven people were involved, the pictures used are mostly flattering. Hell, you almost don't mind what pic they used for an alternate you but… "that's certainly not the pic I would've wanted. Maybe this me had different tastes?"

You take the time to actually read through the article. It's not helping because for as much as you stare at the page you're not absorbing any information. Some form of detachment, if this was really you? You'd died. A different you but a you nonetheless. You died and you're reading how it happened. There was a lot to unpack in all this and you just needed to put the suitcase away for now. You'd much rather throw it away at this rate.

You were rapidly coming to the understanding that you and Toto were not in Kansas anymore, and there wasn't a convenient yellow brick road to get yourself back home. No easy way to get the hell out of Dodge either. Was it Dodge or the O.K. Corral that was in Kansas? No the O.K. Corral wasn't in Kansas- Dodge was though, that's right. 

This analogy was getting away from you and some part of you figured this was just your brain trying to protect yourself but… wait, wasn't this a metaphor? There wasn't 'like' or 'as' or goddammit not again.

You recognize some names here and there but largely everyone involved were perfect strangers. The article doesn't cover if it would've been slow or quick. You hope for the smear that it was quick. Smears like that don't happen slowly, right? Well, not unless it's like a dramatic slide down a window, but not usually across pavement like that.

Still not sure how you feel about all of it. Bit morbid being confronted with your mortality like that.

Certainly answered a lot of questions about your theoretical passing you never thought about. Like if the obituary for you in what you know to be your own home and world is just as… really kinda just mediocre as this. Have you really done nothing of note for an obituary? Damn.

You kept pouring over the article, each pass bringing new words into focus that help connect the picture a little bit, but… Something repeated in the article made you pause, "two alphas, four betas, and an omega?" 

There was no decent way to ask about that. Any questions invoked from here would border into dangerous territory better kept between yourself and a private browser history. You knew what you were about but there was no fucking way.

"Their designations," the nice man whose name you still hadn't caught explains, "mostly explaining their secondary gender."

You look at him owlishly. You pray to whatever God might be listening that you wake up shortly. Or that the earth below your feet opens up and swallows you. Whichever comes first, the mortification will snipe you otherwise.

"Please tell me this is an elaborate joke at my expense," you are very quiet as you are trying to get really cool with a lot of things really quickly.

"Negative," the big fucker in the back practically growled and you knew that voice would do things to you if you weren't half stepped out of your own body. 

You missed whatever his followup was but your brow furrowed when you checked the date on the article, "I've been dead for months? That…" you let the paper fall from your hands. Everything about this is wild at best and very overwhelming at worst. 

A lot of this qualified as worst.

You look up at the two, missing the odd look they shot at each other as you try to pull yourself back together, "so now what? You've got a not-a-smear of me that fell from the sky onto a secure military base, and where I'm from we didn't have," you paused to gesture between the paper and the two soldiers, "dynamics was it? That was just a fanfiction special."

"Fanfiction."

The way he said it was so carefully neutral you paused, "oh my god without Star Trek to popularize fanfiction and the fan community, how has fandom evolved? Is fanfiction a thing- well, yes, it does fanfics have been a thing since Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy and even before- well, the question is more if it's still popularized? Are there still the wattpad fics of- I am getting so off track. What exactly is the next step?"

You look from the nice man to the big fucker and back, neither saying anything but looking at you with careful blankness.

You felt like you were being weighed and measured in their eyes.

You hoped to anyone listening that you weren't found wanting at least. Not when you're in the shit situation it looks like you ever so increasingly fell into.

"Considering I'm. Not smear. And very much not from here? Are blanks a thing? Or is that what a beta is I'm," you trail off, brow furrowing, "fuzzy. On the whole thing. The flavor of understanding, dynamics, and population skew tended to be dependant on the author's level of horny."

The did get a bit of a snort from the pretty one before you, the one in the back tilting his head just so as the pretty one spurred you on, "okay please don't take this the wrong way, you have given me nothing to go on but A/B/O and-" a finger was raised in question to that, you quickly explaining, "the fanfic shorthand for the universe without being a mouthful. Anyway- I've seen population numbers being roughly the same across the board, I've seen alphas and omegas at roughly 1% of the population of society on either end, I've seen alphas at about 5% and omegas at 1%- those ones are usually the most horny I swear.

"And it's all over the board, no consistency- sometimes it's betas are infertile, sometimes they're the straightman to the comedy that's an alpha and omega trying to woo each other without being too horny to function. Sometimes it's a sliding scale where being beta just means you're more the more middle-ground regulated hormonally with alphas and omegas being the opposing ends of a spectrum. Can you please say something and give me a fucking break because my panic rambles are probably like. Some kinda prejudiced. I'm still not over the 'I'm supposed to be a smear on the ground we don't even have dental images of to confirm who it is anymore' nugget you dropped on me. I think I'm doing well for this"

You would rather not tell them that as soon as you're out of this box of a room you were gonna be curled up in a ball and unabashedly weeping. That was none of their business.

The pretty one gave you what you're sure was supposed to be a reassuring smile but the quiet stretched just a bit too long. You looked from one to the other before leaning forward, "is this supposed to be soothing in some way? Because it's just a bit of an extended awkward silence and that's uh-"

It was the big one in the back's turn to give an amused snort, the pretty one looking bashful, "right, sorry, we uh-"

You jerk a bit, "wait, was that supposed to be some scent thing," you really didn't wanna say pheromones and potentially dig yourself into a deeper, more awkward hole based on Horny Pseudoscience.

Pretty rubbed the back of his neck, "something like that. You really couldn't smell anything?"

You know the exact Face you're making. It's very much your 'I have told you this and I'm getting tired of having to repeat it' face. You can tell he clocks it but for the record, because to your mortification this has to be recorded, you simply give a succinct, "no, I haven't smelled anything. Not from you, not from him," you jerk your head towards the big fucker, "and not from douchebag from be- Williams! His name was Williams. Nothing. Really had no clue why you were fanning the door when you came in."

You sigh, rubbing the heels of your palms into your eyes, "okay. Assuming I'm not about to be put into past tense a second time. Do we have any idea what popped me out here?"

The sentences are stilted, you know you're getting more rattled the longer you're here but sue you alright it's been the worst six hours of your life here.

They just continue to look at you, pretty keeping a polite almost customer service look as big one just stares unceasingly.

"Right. Okay. Am I going to be reintegrated to society or is this," you gesture around the little room as much as you can, "looking like my home for the foreseeable future."

No change in what you can see of either's expression, and you just sag. Deep breath in, deep breath out, "cool. Alright. Well. I know nothing of how biology is altered here, I'm not sure how that has impacted changes throughout history, and frankly I don't know what your pop culture has done. I'm assuming math and written languages are largely the same but in all fairness I don't know what I don't know."

You just stare quietly at the table for a bit longer before looking back at the two of them, "is there anything else you need because I can feel the freakout creeping up and while I know there's no real privacy, uh…"

The pretty one looked back to the big one, at some point you're sure you'll get some sort of names but for now? Now you watch the big one nod, the pretty one give you a polite smile and some vaguely polite bullshit your brain is swiftly going too far out to hear.

You only hope that whoever is behind the mirror is polite enough to look away as you put your head down on the table and give yourself the opportunity to, just this once, cry. As a treat.

[Next Chapter -> ]

[mothtarts]

i would first and foremost define what overwatch and talons main goals are. we don’t even rlly know that yet?? i would not bring up sombras goals until the goals and dynamics of the main organizations are established.

i would also define how much power the 2 groups have.

talon would be huge and have networks everywhere. they would be working with big world governments like tne u.s, russia, u.k, china whatever. just supplying them weapons and power. i wouldn’t want them to be manipulating all governments in the background because that is to similar to a lot of antisemitic conspiracy theories. it also takes away from how evil these world powers actually are by making an “evil corrupt group” be behind them instead.

overwatch would be a small vigilante group not approved by the government. there would be internal conflict about wether they should try to get government approval, but eventually it is decided that’s its best to do what they want without government rules. they instead set up an online network we’re average ppl ask them for help. there are barly any members and no one wants to join from the negative emotions still remaining from old overwatch. i want them to be checked and monitored by the ppl directly but i don’t know how to achieve that. maybe some sort of weekly meeting with nominated reps?

the two forces would clash in different locations that overwatch was informed about. the main characters in this arc where talon and overwatch interact would be reaper, baptiste, ana, soldier76, sombra and moira. i feel that all of them(except sombra but i’ll get to her) have the most interesting story potential for this kind of fight between organizations. overwatch would uncover the crazy amounts of power that talon has and work to take it down. baptiste would be first introduced as talon but change sides half way thro. soldier and ana start to suspect something is up with reaper/ reaper doesn’t know who soldier is but has strong deja vu around him. something something gay stuff. sombra temporarily joins up with overwatch to take down a huge chain of weapon manufacturers and sweat shops owned by talon.

sombra would also be there to st up a different series or the next arc where it focuses on the new gen of overwatch + some of the younger veterans as guidance, that would include pharah, d.va, kiriko, sombra and Brigitte as the main focuses. cassidy, genji and mercy would be role model/ mentor characters. (if you’ve seen young justice think the dynamic of the justice league with the team in s1) reinhart and tracer would also be relevant but not as important. hanzo would be there but i dunno how to stick him into such an already packed cast. the other cast from the past arc/show would be in this as well. it’s important that they have some focus , but they already had their time to shine and got developed in their struggles during the past show/arc. this arc is about the new gen breaking the generational cicle and finally healing the trauma caused from the struggles of the past. they would disband talon with the help of sombra and reaper who had a change of heart thanks to old friends (and lovers i love gay old men)

there could be a spin off novel focusing on kiriko genji and hanzo and their shit. they take down the shimada clan it would be fuuuuun

i also do not care about the Australians sooo idk their just vibing. i forgot some characters that i do love like mei, orisa, widowmaker and ashe but i don’t know how to fit them into already such a packed cast. with ashe i would at least give her a spin-off comic with cassidy

this got super fucking long but it was super fun! if you read all of it thank you

[freedfromthegalactichivemind]

It's hilarious to me that of the two Skeletor and Hordak, Hordak is the one who gets a reboot that ends with him getting a Happy Ever After.

Like I feel like in the 80's Hordak and the Horde were the (More Evil) ones compared to Skeletor, heck Skeletor "Saved the Children" in the Christmas speical.

In 2002 He-Man they had Hordak be all "Dark Lord Sauron" type figure.

Yet Hordak got to have the version where he gets the "Happy Ever after" first and not Skeletor.

IDK, that will always be hilarious to me as someone who too enjoys the older verions for nostlagic reasons.

Yeah! You would think that Skeletor would get some kind of redemption arc in new media, wouldn't you? At least if they went down the Comedic Villain route like the first cartoon did. I am imagining Skeletor doing that goofy smile that he did in the Christmas Special when he got the warm, fuzzy feeling from helping the children, Relay the Robo-Puppy on his arm! Noteworthy in that, Hordak was still doing the Steal Christmas for Horde Prime mission, kidnapping everyone in his Dildo-copter. That aircraft will haunt my dreams forever. It is...very cool. It really is like the New Hordak and the OG Hordak are completely different people. 2002 Guy was very different from either of them. (I never watched the 2002 series, but I have seen the sequence with Hordak on Youtube. I want to call him Deathclaw Hordak because his talons remind me of a Deathclaw from Fallout). That guy...is basically Sauron. And he's interesting because he's all about magic - very much a Dark Sorceror type. OG Hordak practiced some magic (depending on the writer), but was generally suspicious of magic, seeing it as inferior to Horde-tech and something to be wary of. New Hordak is a cybernetic-fitted clone who is entirely tech-based and we don't see him using magic even once, is shown to just plain not understand it and to give all magic-doings over to Shadow Weaver. And for added flavor, he's religiously-traumatized dude with painful physical issues. They kind of existed to tell different stories.

[catsnkooks]

Knight in Tested Armor

Commander Wolffe x princess!reader

summary: Separatist attacks and threats against your home planet lead to Jedi Master and General Plo Koon and his famous Wolfpack assisting with guarding the royal palace until the threats have alleviated. Being in close proximity to the clone commander leads you to a new understanding and respect for the sacrifice he and his brothers give to the Republic, as well as a little more.

Everyone says a knight in shining armor will save a princess if she is in need. A knight in shining armor has never had his honor tested. He will not defend you properly. A knight in tested armor has proven his honor, and will not fail you. Not now, and not ever.

word count: 1,675

rating: g for now but rating may change

warnings: mentions of violence, mostly just general introductory stuff

a/n: here’s the first installment of the wolffe series i’ve been talking and teasing for so long!! idk how many chaps there’s gonna be but i hope y’all stick around for the ride!!

taglist: @wille-zarr @readsalot73 @cherieboba @rishi-moon @clonewarslover55 @littlevodika @highlycommendable

here it is on ao3!!

---

Chapter 1

The wind whistled in your ears on the landing pad. You stood beside your mother and father, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Republic battalion who were to be your protectors for the near future. Your hands fisted your dress at your sides, and you glanced nervously at the charred remains of the Separatist flying droid at the other end of the landing pad—one of the many reasons why three Republic LAAT/i gunships were now landing on your planet.

The door to the leading ship opened and out stepped a Kel-Dor in brown Jedi robes followed by a tall man in white and gray plastoid armor. One of the clone troopers, you guessed, the ones you heard about from your friend in Coruscant.

“Good afternoon, Master Jedi,” your father greeted, bowing slightly. You followed his example and bowed respectfully.

“Good afternoon, your majesty,” the Jedi replied, also bowing. His voice was surprisingly deep from behind his mask. “I am Master Plo Koon. This is Commander Wolffe of the 104th Battalion.”

The commander had already taken off his helmet and he snapped to a smart salute. You weren’t sure what you were expecting, but the warm, tanned skin that greeted your eyes was not it. You recognized the features your friend gushed about after a few too many drinks from the clone bar she frequented—high cheekbones, defined jawline, the barest hint of corded muscles, and honey gold eyes. Well, eye, in the case of Commander Wolffe. Your eyes traced the sharp scar that ran through his right eye, his milky white cybernetic staring straight ahead.

“I assure you, your majesty,” Master Koon continued, snapping you out of your thoughts, “no harm will come to you or your family while we are here.”

“Your assurances are warmly welcomed,” your mother said. She linked her arm through your father’s arm. “Let us talk more about this as we show you around.” She turned and motioned for him to follow.

“That would be wonderful.” He gave her a small bow before turning to the commander and giving him a small nod. Commander Wolffe nodded back and turned to the gunships as the rest of his men unloaded.

As Master Koon fell into step beside your parents, you spared one last glance at the clone commander. He stood in front of the lead gunship, talking to another clone with silver hair. He must have felt himself being watched, for he turned around to meet your gaze. Your eyes widened and you quickly ducked your head, trailing behind your parents.

What you failed to see was the barest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of Wolffe’s lips.

---

You retired to your room after the tour with Master Koon assuring you the first patrol of guards would be ready before dinner. Sure enough, a knock came to your door right as you were finishing getting ready for dinner.

“Tell them to come in, please!” you told your maid as she reached for the control pad of the door.

Two clone troopers entered, holding their helmets at their sides and snapping to a smart salute. You could see their resemblance to their commander, though they had different hairstyles: one with stark silver hair and the other with two stripes of red going down his head.

“Sergent Sinker and Trooper Boost for your guard, your highness,” said the one with silver hair.

You turned to face them and smiled. “Pleased to meet you both. I'm almost done getting ready, but in the meantime, would you like to sit?”

They both looked to the seats that you had gestured to, before turning back to you.

“Thank you, ma’am,” began the silver-haired one again. “However, it is our duty to—.”

The other man interrupted him by jabbing an elbow into his side. “What Sinker means to say,” he said, extending his hand in a formal gesture, “is that it is our duty to serve you and that we would be honored to sit and wait.”

You smiled again at their antics, as the one called Sinker grumbled to the other, Boost. “What’d you do that for?!”

“You can't say no to royalty, vod!”

As your maid finished securing the last of your elegant pins in your hair, you talked to the two troopers assigned to you for the evening rotation. You learned that they referred to each other as their brothers, and that Sinker and Boost were particularly close because they were batch mates. They loved working with their general, Master Plo. Yours was the prettiest planet they had been on so far. And they had been told to keep you away from their newest member, a “shiny,” who had a penchant for getting in trouble around pretty girls.

“And how is Commander Wolffe?” you found yourself asking after a lull in the conversation.

Sinker shrugged and Boost grinned. “He’s not that bad,” Boost said. “He seems like he’s all tough and everythin’, but on the inside, he’s a total softie.” He winked at you. “Why do you ask?”

“I would just like to get to know him better,” you said, willing your heartbeat to return to a normal speed, and hoping he couldn’t see the flush you felt rising to your cheeks. “I would like to know the man who is in charge of keeping me and my family safe.”

This time Sinker elbowed Boost in the side. “He’s a really great commander,” Sinker said in earnest, turning to you. “We’ve been through a lot with him an’ the general, an’ I would do anything if I was by their sides.”

“Then I know we’ll be in good hands,” you said, smiling at the way they both lit up with pride for their commander, their brother.

---

“Darling, would you like to tell Master Plo here about your love for Jedi?”

You groaned and put your face in your hands. Your father liked to tell embarrassing stories to dinner guests, especially this dinner guest. “Father, please.”

“Oh, no, please, I am interested,” Master Plo, as he’d requested you call him, said. Although you could not see much of his face, you could sense his joy in his voice.

“One of your order came to see us,” your father began. “It was quite a time ago. I believe his name was Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi.”

Master Plo nodded. “Yes, I remember Qui-Gon mentioning he visited here before he tragically died. And Master Kenobi still talks about his time here during council meetings.”

“Yes, we were so distraught hearing about Master Jinn,” your mother tutted. “But it is nice to know little Obi-Wan still talks about us.”

“How old were you, darling, when they visited?” your father asked you.

You huffed and held your head up with one arm, pouting. “I was five, father.”

“Oh, yes!” your father exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “She was absolutely fascinated by Master Qui-Gon. She probably begged him to do your Force tricks five times a day.”

“Indeed?” Master Plo brought a taloned hand up to where his mouth would be, his shoulders shaking with laughter.

You puffed out your cheeks in indignation. “I still think it’s cool,” you muttered, pushing your remaining food around in your plate. You heard laughter behind you, and you turned around in your seat to find Boost and Sinker laughing at their spots along the wall. You stuck your tongue out at them before your father called your name.

“You may leave now, my dear,” he said.

“Before you tell any more embarrassing stories?” you taunted. However, you stood and walked to his chair, giving him and your mother a kiss on their cheek. “Goodnight, father. I will never see you again.”

Everyone left at the table laughed as you scurried away to your room, a smile stretching across your face. You paused under an archway in the hallway to wait for Boost and Sinker to escort you to your room. However, you only heard one set of footsteps approach you and you turned to face them.

“Oh! Commander Wolffe!” You recognized the gray patterning on his armor and he nodded to you. You felt the flush return to your cheeks. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”

“I was assigned to your evening guard, your highness.” His voice was much the same as Boost and Sinker, although you thought it was much gruffer. The low growl of his voice sent a shiver down your spine. He motioned in front of you, breaking you out of your trance. “Shall we?”

“Oh, of course.” You turned and walked down the hallway, willing your cheeks to return to their natural shade. The door to your room opened automatically and you took a step inside before turning back around to face him again.

“Have you eaten yet, Commander?” you asked.

“Not yet, your highness,” he replied, standing tall and broad in front of you, his hands behind his back. “I will after my replacement shows up.”

“And when will that be?” you asked again, crossing your arms.

“Sometime in the night,” he replied again.

Your eyebrows shot up. “That is much too long to go without food. Please, go eat something. I promise I won’t go anywhere.”

“I'm afraid I can’t do that, ma’am,” he said. His resolve was much stronger than yours was. “I will be fine until then.” He paused before adding, “I promise.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you promise to eat as soon as your replacement comes?”

Commander Wolffe sighed, but his voice did not show any annoyance. “I promise.”

You held up your hand, pinky extended. “Pinky promise?”

A sound came from behind his helmet, and you swore it was a quiet chuckle. “Pinky promise.” He extended his own pinky and you clasped them together before releasing them.

“Goodnight, Commander,” you said, smiling up at him.

“Goodnight, your highness,” he said, nodding to you respectfully and stepping to the side of your door.

You hoped he was smiling under his helmet.

[thedinanshiral]

My personal DA4 wishlist + thoughts

I’ve been teasing this post for a couple of weeks over at Twitter, i’m the worst! But anyway, since game journalism has decided to confirm, once again, that the next Dragon Age game will be set in Tevinter like that’s breaking news, now’s as good a time as ever to write all this down.

Locations: Tevinter, clearly. It’s been pretty much a given since the end of Trespasser in 2015, with that scene where the Inquisitor stabs a map on a table directly on Tevinter as they promise to go after Solas to stop him. But also concept art and several stories from Tevinter Nights heavily imply Antiva, Nevarra, the Anderfells, and maybe Rivain. For those of you who don’t know your Thedosian Geography 101, that’s basically Northern Thedas. And it makes sense, since so far for three games straight we’ve been first stuck in Ferelden, then the coast of the Free Marches, and later the rest of Southern Thedas. We’ve never been North, only heard of it. So in DA4 i’m sure we will finally be able to visit.

Characters: If we’re going to Tevinter, we must meet Dorian again, maybe meet Maevaris Tilani as well (previously only seen in comics), judging from the latest comics series, i’m hoping for Fenris too. And going by the latest teaser trailer, we might see Varric again. As for characters that so far we have no news of, i’d like to see Cole, the Iron Bull, and if by any chance BioWare feels like blessing us with a Hawke/Fenris reunion i might just die happy.  I’d also very much like to see the Inquisitor, but more on that later.

Companions: considering concept art and the latest teaser trailer, plus Tevinter Nights stories and new characters, we have an interesting repertoire of new potential companions. A Tevinter mage, an ancient elf (like a temple guardian) or a dalish elf (like Strife), a Nevarran mortalitasi or spirit, Antivan Crows, Lords of Fortune (new faction, kind of like treasure hunters), Qunari lady, maybe an alchemist or shapeshifter, Grey Wardens (possibly a dwarf), a liberated or escaped slave, a Siccari (Tevinter spies/assassins)..even past agents of the Inquisition could return. 

Plot: We know Solas wants to take down the Veil. We know there’s two archdemons left, and Grey Wardens are regaining some spotlight in concept art lately. We might have to fight on multiple fronts simultaneously and be strategic about it. Solas might even unleash a double Blight just to keep us distracted while he focus on his own goal, who knows. But many other things are happenig in the margins and all over the place. The Qunari Antaam is having a crisis with some of its members supposedly going rogue, the order they’re so proud of is breaking up, and the whole of Northern Thedas is facing an imminent threat of invasion. Tevinter is still dealing with remnants of the Venatori and might soon be dealing with a slaves rebellion and/or a political and social reform (Magisters Dorian and Maeveris have been working wirh the Lucerni, a group aiming to restore and redeem Tevinter). The Antivan Crows -the de facto rulers of Antiva - may be dealing with a succession crisis, as their First Talon, a powerful feared and respected but old lady, might not be around for much longer and seems her chosen heir has died before his time. Meanwhile in the Anderfells nobody’s heard anything from the Grey Wardens’ HQ at Weisshaupt since the end of Inquisition, and as told in the novel Last Flight, the sudden reappearance of griffons may have had something to do with that radio silence. So you see, get ready for another +100 hours long game because BW has plenty of stuff to keep us busy with. But in short, DA4 seems will be about primarily searching, finding, and dealing with Solas. Regardless of what you decided at the Exalted Council in Trespasser, the Inquisition or what’s left of it is most likely the group orchestrating that mission. As it was so clearly stated then, they need new people Solas doesn’t know so he can’t foresee their actions, so it’s possible the DA4 protagonist is a new agent or a third party hired to do what the Inner circle can’t due to their familiarity with Solas in the past. But at the same time -and this is assuming we get to find Solas in this game - i definitely think the Inquisitor could easily show up again. No, losing an arm doens’t mean they’ve retired forever, prosthetics do exist in Thedas, a world where you can combine dwarven craftmanship with enchantments, seriously, i don’t ever want to hear “but they lost an arm” ever again as an excuse to write them out. And no, marrying Cullen or joining the Red Jennys is no impediment to join the “Stop Solas” Squad; the end of Trespasser means something, mainly that this is personal. Be it they loved them as lovers, as friends or ended up hating his guts for using and betraying them, the Inquisitor’s relationship with Solas makes this very personal, and so having any other character do that face off would cheapen all of it, all that bittersweet angsty development and expectations of either revenge or closure. That moment should happen between those two. It adds a ton of motivation due to their past historyas well, something a new protagonist would lack entirely.  My personal best hope is for a sort of dual protagonist thing, say we play new protagonist for most of the game but a selected missions or scenes where we play as the Inquisitor once again and take over for key and heart-wrenching dialogue options. My second best hope is for the Inquisitor to show up as playable for the moment we catch up with Solas. My third and final best hope is for the inquisitor to be a sort of advisor but more like new protagonist’s boss/employer to whom they report back to and get new missions from. The Inquisitor can be stuck in meetings for the most part of it, i just want to know they’re there, behind a door, super busy but there. A cameo like Hawke’s in Inquisition is the bare miminum i can take, anyhting less than that like a mention in a sidequest description or a footnote in a codex entry would be a total  injustice. 

Romances: I’m open for pretty much anything, as any good BW fan would be. But i’d like romances to feel more alive in the sense that they don’t abruptly get stuck once you exhaust all related quests and dialogue options. As much as my Adaar liked that spank from the Iron Bull, that it was the only thing they could share after their romance was locked was a bit..meh. I liked Dorian’s tho, because his gave one the option to talk a bit, go for a walk, gossip, and sure, it all happened off-screen, and there were limited possibilities, but it was nice and made their relationship feel a bit more real, like they had more to it than kissing and stuff. It happens in most games, once you secure a romanceable companion suddenly you run out of things to do and share with them, and you get stuck with the same 3 lines of dialogue over and over again. There should be a way of solving that.

Side quests: i’m ok with fetch quests initially as it is a good way of forcing the player to go out and explore huge maps, but i’d also like the fetching to have some meaning other than checking things off a list. I want to explore many ruins, and -can’t believe i’m actually saying this- i want a Fade quest. Wait! I know what you’re thinking but don’t kill me just yet, here’s my idea: what if we could visit the Fade at certain locations to witness memories or meet with spirits and recollect information on Solas, his past, his present? Both to understand him better (keep in mind we’ll most likely get a new protagonist who isn’t familiar with him like we are as players) and try to locate him or predict his next move. It would be i think i great way of having visions of Arlathan in its golden age, maybe seeing some of the other Evanuris, how they interacted with each other and with the elves in their service, what really happened ...i just want that sweet, sweet lore, i need it.

Technical stuff: ok, graphics will be amazing for sure, but i also would really really like: better, more varied and longer hairstyles, PLEASE. Body sliders, it’s damn time we get them. Mounts that actually make a difference! Let staves blades make damage in combat, I’M BEGGING HERE. Combined classes, MAGICAL ROGUES! A homebase we can fix up/build on/redecorate as fully as possible (Skyhold was great and i love it to pieces but why were those walls NEVER repaired????) . More casual outfit options, idk i love to dress up my characters, maybe some transmog? A day/night cycle and please i would love to see Thedas’ second moon, also weather variations depending on the region. Yes, i’m ambitious.

Gameplay: i’d like more AI options for companions, but not quite like in DAO, that was too much and i rarely used it. I’m curious how they’ll do combat this time but i know for sure i don’t want the kind of combat that has me going almost frame by frame pausing at every second, it’s annoying for me. I want large areas like in DAI but with a bit more stuff to see and do although one of my favourite maps is the Hissing Wastes so i won’t complain if we get a literal desert but i’d also like it to have secrets hidden around, make me work to find and solve them, i love exploring, i jump and click on EVERYTHING like i’m still a kid playing Monkey Island. A companion in concept art seems to be holding what looks like some form of rifle, so i’m curious how they’d incorporate that in the game. I know Tevinter has the magics and dwarves have the skill, a firearm is totally within the possibilities in-game without breaking any lore; also super curious what sort of skill trees Crows or Lords of Fortune could have, are they rogues, or warriors, or both??

So far, that’s what i got in my head.Well, most of it anyways, i may have missed something but this post has to end somewhere lol

What’s in your head? Feel free to share! Have you been thinking on how you’ll create your next protagonist? All i can think of is magical rogues and that  glowing bow was all the hype i needed.

[alpacaparkaseok]

Where you should be

Chapter 5: Latibule

Kinda a shorter one today, but the most important thing about today is it’s two people’s birthdays! Shoutout to Kim Taehyung (idk if you guys have heard of him) and @taylorroe3​! 🥳

Genre: Hobi x oc

Warnings: this series contains stalking, blackmail, and similar stressful/fear inducing situations. Also unrequited love, which is perhaps the most terrifying of all.

Word Count: 2.7k

Latibule(n.): a hiding place, a place of comfort and safety

I’ve learned three very important details since exiting the building.

First, the man’s name is Jihun.

Second, Jihun worked for Source Entertainment’s CEO, So Sung-jin. He was his bodyguard.

And lastly, Jihun has since been fired.

Oh, and one bonus fact: he’s not very happy about it.

“-There is nothing worse than coming home to your wife - who’s six months pregnant, by the way - and telling her that your supposed steady job was suddenly bought out by another company. Except for one thing, maybe.” Jihun glares down at me, continuing to walk around the building. “Would you like to know what’s worse?”

I’m sure he can see me swallowing down the lump in my throat as I slowly nod my head. My hands are shaking and numb from the cold, but I refuse to put them in my pockets in case I need to somehow defend myself.

“What’s worse,” Jihun spits out, “is telling her that your job won’t be under fire. Telling her that So Sung-jin will still keep you, because he’s still the CEO, isn’t he? Why wouldn’t he need a bodyguard anymore? Well, I suppose he does. Just one.”

Everything begins to make sense with that statement. “...but before he had-”

“Eight.” Jihun stops, coming to stand in front of me. “Eight full-time bodyguards for him and the other officers of Source. How do you tell the man you’ve been protecting for years that he should fire everyone else except for you? Tell me, how would I go about going behind my friends’ backs like that?”

I blink up at him, taking a small step back and cursing myself when Jihun notices and steps closer. “I- I don’t know-”

Jihun laughs loudly, the sound harsh. “You don’t know? You?” He bends down just enough so we’re eye-level, and I flinch at what I see behind those eyes. “Don’t act innocent with me, Jung Ha-rin. Did Bighit promise you that all the jobs would be secure for those of us left at Source? Or did you not even bother asking when Jung Hoseok flashed his smile-”

“What do you want from me?!” I shout, seeing red. “I didn’t do anything-”

Jihun smirks, straightening back up as though feeling quite pleased with himself. “80% of the little people at Source lost their jobs thanks to you. Source may not have lost their company, but we lost jobs. Bodyguards, caterers, program coordinators, all gone. Source didn’t need all of us anymore, not when Bighit started taking care of them.”

He’s nearly panting now, but there’s a gleam of victory in his eyes. Like he’s got me right where he wants me.

“I...I’m sorry.” I choke out, my heart thumping like a rabbit. “I really am. I had no idea...I didn’t know. I didn’t think about everyone else. But, I don’t understand. What do you want me to do?”

Jihun’s eyes focus on me like a hawk. I’m sure I’m the little hare now, running for my life while he swoops in with his gleaming talons.

“You know what So Sung-jin said to me when I told him that I couldn’t afford to lose my job?” He pauses for a moment, but continues on with spite dripping from his tongue. “He told me to take it up with her. He said that if I needed a job so badly, I should take it up with the girl who started this whole mess.”

Jihun steps back, laughing a little as he looks to the skies. I take a step backward, but he looks back down at me with a snap of his head, silently daring me to try to run.

“It took me so long to find you, Jung Ha-rin. Bang Si-hyuk was smart, he made sure your ‘promotion’ seemed natural. Who in their right mind would buy out an entire company for one little producer? But there was always something about it that confused me. As it turns out, there were a few of us that were a little suspicious. So while we struggled to find new work, we found each other. And we began to look into things a bit more.”

I remember with a start the other two intruders who had left notes at my studio. They must have been other previous employees at Source. It would appear that Jihun found some friends to investigate with him.

“By the time we began to formulate an idea, you had already disappeared. ‘Sunny’ appeared in your place, but we couldn’t find anything to prove our point. That is, until I saw you outside of your apartment.”

Chills run up and down my spine as I remember all those nights I saw Jihun wandering up and down my street like a hound following a scent.

“It was the only good thing that came out of this mess. You see, my wife left me not long ago. I can hardly provide for our small family, turns out fired bodyguards aren’t in high demand. So now if I want to see my daughter, I have to travel to the other side of Seoul. Luckily for me, that’s where you live. Imagine my luck when I saw that you were not only still around, but that you had Jung Hoseok wrapped around your little finger!”

Jihun takes a moment to glance around, making sure we have no unwanted visitors listening in on our conversation. “So what do I want you to do?” He tilts his head, sizing me up. “Fix this. You’ve proven your ability to worm your way into whatever you want; now it’s time for you to think about somebody else for once in your life.”

“But how-”

“Oh, there you are!” Hajoon sticks his head out the door, smiling at me. “Adora’s looking for you. Everything alright?”

Staring at Hajoon with wide eyes, I shake my head as lightly as possible. “Hajoon, would you mind coming out here for a second?”

As Hajoon steps outside, Jihun chuckles. “It was nice catching up with you, Ha-rin. I’ll email the details to you later, ok? Unless you want me to just send off the photos?”

Jihun looks comfortable in his act, but as he tilts his phone to me I understand why. Right there is perhaps the most incriminating photo of all: me clinging to Hoseok as we sit in his car the night Jihun approached us. How he got a photo of us I have no idea, but I have a hunch that one of his little friends might have been present and with a camera handy.

“No!” I shout, Hajoon faltering in his steps as he nears. “I, uh...I’ll take a look at the email first.”

“Sounds great!” Jihun turns on his heel, waving at me over his shoulder. “See you later!”

I watch as he walks away, his back straight and shoulders back. Hajoon comes to stand beside me, utterly oblivious.

“Adora’s on the-”

“Hajoon.”

“Yes?”

I turn to him, feeling the tears welling up in my eyes. “I...I need to talk to Bang PD. Now.”

♟

“What do you mean-”

“I mean,” I say through gritted teeth, “that this is worse than we thought! And it’s all my stupid fault!”

Bang Si-hyuk stares up at me from his desk, Hajoon standing just outside the closed door to deter any visitors. As soon as I uttered the words ‘blackmail’ and j-hope, he was quick to invite me in.

“Ha-rin, I need you to sit down and breathe for a second. Can you do that?” I begrudgingly take a seat, staring down at my hands. “Thank you. First off, this is not your fault. If anyone is to take the blame, it should be between So So-jin and I. Not you.”

“But he said-”

“Are you really about to believe what some maniac stalker said to you?” Bang Si-hyuk gives me a look that perfectly explains how crazy he thinks that makes me.

I shrug, fighting the tears that have been threatening to fall for a while now. “I...I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

Bang PD’s eyes soften for a moment as he takes in my shaken state. “We’ll work through this. I promise. For now, we need to work through this with Hoseok.”

Nearly choking on my spit, I glare up at him. “What? Why? This is about me-”

“And him! He is in those photos as well, Sunny. He’s being exploited too, and he deserves to be aware of the situation.” He leans forward, looking at me with an analyzing stare. “What do you have against Jung Hoseok?”

“...nothing.”

“Good.”

♟

By the time Hobi’s knocking on Bang PD’s door, I feel like I’ve successfully turned into a stone. My neck refuses to move as I hear the door open, my eyes remain trained forward as I offer up a prayer to whoever’s listening.

This is a dream, this is a dream this is-

“Thanks for meeting with me on such short notice,” Mr. Bang says, gesturing for him to take a seat. “How’s it going?”

I can hear the confusion in Hobi’s voice as he takes a seat. “I - great. Things are great. What’s all of this about?”

In my peripheral I can see him looking at me, but I refuse to look at him. The second I do, he’ll see right through me.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed in recent months that Sunny has acquired a bodyguard?”

Hoseok is silent as he processes the information. “Is everything ok?”

If this were a perfect world, I’d be sinking through the floor and disappearing right around now. However, it isn’t, and I’m still stuck here with my cheeks burning red as I dread what’s about to come next.

“We’ve dealt with similar situations in the past, but this time around there are certain factors at play that I must admit we’ve never encountered before. The two of you are close, are you not?”

Our shocked silence answers his question.

“It would appear that a few people with a grudge against Bighit and Sunny have noticed that. Now they are using that information against us.”

Hoseok sits up straight, his gaze jumping between the two of us. “Who? And how? We don’t hardly see each other as is. This is probably just some weird threat, don’t you think?”

Bang PD shakes his head, looking grave. “Sunny, would you mind logging into your email for me?” He motions for me to come around his desk. Rising on shaky legs, it’s a miracle that I’m able to make it over to his side without collapsing.

Hoseok’s gaze is like a hot brand as I log into my email, but I refuse to look at him. Not as the memory of that night in his apartment is playing over and over again in my mind.

Of course all of this had to blow up right as things were finally getting better between us.

“There you go,” I mumble, going back to my seat.

“Hoseok, take a look at this.”

Now it’s Hoseok’s turn to stand beside Bang PD, shuffling past me as he makes his way over to him. I instinctively hold my breath as he leans down to see what’s on the screen.

Hoseok’s eyes shutter as he sees the photos Jihun sent along with the email as a nice little reminder of why I should follow his instructions.

I watch as Hobi shuts down, his worried demeanor slowly turning cold and distant until he strides back to his chair and sits with a determined expression.

“What’s the plan?”

Bang PD leans back in his chair, looking back and forth between the two of us. “Well, first off, I need to know what all of this is about. I understand that photos like these can be misinterpreted, but I can’t help but think that the two of you haven’t been completely honest with me. Is that correct?”

Silence reigns in the office as neither one of us deign to answer him. Bang PD sighs, pulling his phone out and searching for something while we drown in the silence.

My eyes are burning holes into the wooden desk before me, and I wonder for a moment if this is what people standing before the guillotine felt like as they awaited their execution. Bang Si-hyuk sits before us, the unwavering executioner with his list of convictions. As he finds what he was looking for on his phone, I know for a fact that there is nowhere left for me to run. For a year now, I’ve hid everything away. I’ve done it well, I think.

I suppose I could only run for so long.

“Thirteen months ago I received a message from you, Sunny.” Hoseok stiffens beside me as he undoubtedly does the math in his head. We both know what happened thirteen months ago. “You were very worried as you had been spotted with Hoseok. You were quite convincing in asking me to not retaliate against Hoseok, and I didn’t even stop to ask myself why you were so quick to worry about him. You stated, ‘Hoseok is my close friend and has acted as a mentor for me during my time as Bighit. Please do not blame him for his kindness. I understand the terms of my contract, and I still respect them. I do not have feelings for him.’”

The small office has suddenly turned into the unforgiving tundra as Bang PD fixes me with an icy stare. Hoseok remains closed off and cold beside me, although I can see the way his hands have turned into fists against his thighs.

“I need you to realize all that is at stake here, Sunny.” Bang PD looks at me with a hawk’s glare, but I refuse to squirm in my seat like some child. “Were you telling me the truth that night?”

I’m pretty sure Hobi has stopped breathing as he waits to hear my answer. For so long now, I’ve known that I was lying.

For thirteen months, I’ve been living that lie.

I’m so tired.

Were you telling me the truth that night?

For the first time in what feels like ages, I shed the mask I’ve held onto so tightly.

“No.”

Bang PD’s eyes widen. “Am I correct in assuming that at the time of this message, you did indeed harbor feelings for Hoseok?”

So quiet in here. I wonder for a moment if they can hear my heart beating like a hammer. My mouth opens, but no words come out.

“I need an answer, Sunny. If we’re going to make it through this mess, we need to untangle your web of-”

“That’s enough.”

Hoseok’s eyes appear to be aflame as he sits up in his seat, slowly rising until he’s glaring down at Bang Si-hyuk.

“What do you mean-”

“I mean,” Hoseok hisses out, and there I can finally see it. That side of him that I’ve heard people whisper about. “That if you want to get ‘through this mess’, as you so beautifully stated, you don’t need to interrogate people for information you already know. This is a ploy for money and to take down your company, so I’d suggest that you take the necessary action to defend it before it’s too late.”

The frozen tundra has suddenly burst into flames as Hoseok turns to me, a sound that almost sounds like a sigh of relief pushing past his lips as he nods at me. “I think you should head home, it sounds like you’ve had a long day. I’ll have someone bring a car around for you.”

I get up and follow him out, hardly daring to look at him as he holds the door open for me. Band PD sits as his desk in silence as we exit.

Hajoon stands beside the door with a wide-eyed gaze, looking between the two of us as though expecting an explanation.

“Would you please retrieve Ha-rin’s things from her studio and bring them out to my car?”

Hajoon scurries away, and I look up at Hobi to see him slowly starting to calm down. “Your car?” My voice is scratchy as I ask the question, almost sounding like I haven’t spoken in years. 

Hobi’s gaze turns soft as he looks down at me, and I find myself able to breathe easier as I glimpse the kind friend that always showed up with a bag of food at my studio door.

“Can we talk?”

If you liked this chapter, would you consider giving this a like/reblog?

Previous - Next

taglist is open! 

taglist: @taylorroe3​ @dreamcatcherjiah @diorhoba @eusticenatalie @ddaeng-i-need-help

[red-winters]

*Batfam fic-recs

*Some are Tim Drake Centric

**Some links are not working in mobile (and ONLY mobile) for some reason? And some titles that were bolded in the original post are ALSO not displaying on mobile correctly. Idk what to do about that, but you can still look up the fic, I guess.

The Bat’s Crest - livierambles

Note: I will always keep recommending this fic. It’s epic, thrilling, and hilarious and sometimes angsty. Also, everyone is confused, including the ones doing the confusing. Maybe especially the ones doing the confusing. Also, some Tim and Damian bonding, which is always nice.

Summary: Tragedy strikes the hero community when Bruce Wayne commits a crime so heinous even the best start asking for blood. However, as the heroes try to recover from the hit and carry out justice for their friends, a random assortment of people start acting oddly, including the current Speedy Tim Drake, a child hostage in Gotham, and a young man from an unremarkable circus amongst others. All of them seem intent on saving Bruce Wayne from the grasp of the Justice League for no apparent reason, going as far as betraying their previous allegiances.

Unknown to the Justice League, these people are equally confused. Clearly they're stuck in another dimension, but how do they get back? How did they even get here? Who else is stuck in this world? And how long will Tim's patience last? Back home, the Bat was a planetary symbol that struck fear in the hearts of criminals. In this new world, it has no meaning, save for the handful of stranded souls.

In the Shadows - Kieron_ODuibhir

(shortened) Summary:

“I’m not like you.”

The cowl still looked like something he was wearing, but Clark knew it was not. It flexed like skin when Batman narrowed his blank white eyes and said, “I can see you know that.” 

Chirp - AmariT

Summary: Every piece of the signal Tim unlocked revealed more locks, and by the time he broke through the last one, he was already mentally rehearsing his many upcoming talk show appearances. 'Yes,' he told the interviewer, 'it was difficult for me, a ten-year-old genius, to break open the worldwide alien conspiracy. That's why it took a whole hour.'

When the crackling audio started, he expected some weird alien language. Maybe squawks and high-pitched squeals mixed with musical woofs. Maybe they wouldn't talk at all, and images would beam directly into his mind. Maybe they'd talk in practiced English with a Midwestern drawl like their other resident alien.

Instead he heard a low, guttural voice growling out of his computer speakers. "Robin," it said. "Are you in position?"

A Better Cage - Mangaluva

Note: I was absolutely DELIGHTED to see a Young Justice Crossover with the Justice Lords (Earth-50) from the animated Justice League series, which is near and dear to my heart. I admit I haven’t really had much time to hunker down and read this, but even skimming, it’s an intriguing piece of work. Also, Justice Lords.

Summary: Wally's grateful to have woken up at all, really. He just doesn't know what to make of the world he's woken up in. At least they want to find a way to his world as much as he does, if not exactly for the same reasons...

Common People - AmariT

Note: The Bat boys are all Bruce’s blood sons, but it still feels very much like a found family. I haven’t really read everything in this series, but I feel the author has an amazing grip on all the characters. Lovely and heartwarming.

Summary: His whole life, Jason’s mom had told him his dad was Bruce Wayne, but he’d never been dumb enough to actually believe it. They lived in a rundown, one-room apartment in the worst part of town, and in every single picture he’d ever seen of that rich bastard he was wearing a suit or sipping champagne worth more than everything they’d ever owned.

But if he wasn’t Bruce Wayne’s kid, then what the hell was he doing sitting outside the man’s office in Wayne Towers?

Red Robin and the Hood - momoejaku

Note: Haven’t read this in a while, but it made an impression. Though it’s a fic set during the Red Robin arc, it very much is about both Tim and Jason. Plus, it fleshes out the Pru and Z a bit more, too.

Summary: Bruce Wayne is dead. Superman brought back his body, and the family mourned him, holding a quiet funeral in secret so that the legacy of Batman could live on. But not everyone has been able to put him to rest.

Reeling from the loss of Bruce, his identity as Robin and his trust in his family, Tim Drake sets out on a personal quest that will take him across the world to prove what he knows in his heart: that Bruce Wayne is alive.

Though intending to make his way alone, Tim reluctantly accepts help from his predecessor, Jason Todd, who knows from personal experience that death is not always as final as it seems.

Together, they are Red Robin and the Hood.

Liminal Spaces - Calamityjim

Note: Skimmed this only since I’ve been busy, BUT it does look well-written, and I’m always a sucker for alternate dimension/dimension travel intervention-type of fix-its. It’s a very specific trope.

Summary:

Bruce's habit of collecting strays is not limited by dimension.

Or

When Young Justice Batman comes across an angsty, seemingly abandoned by his Batman Tim Drake, he decides to step up to the plate and parent the crap out of him.

Little Bird’s Vengeance - KatHarkness-Katara

Note: Crossover with Avengers. Awesome fic with Tim and Jason and some Outsider POV (via the Avengers) of these dimensional stragglers. I think Tim’s team shows up in the later chapters, too. If you’re reading on mobile, it’s still very much worth reading despite FF.net’s horrible format and abundance of advertisements in the mobile version.

Summary: Why is life never simple? Red Robin's ended up worlds away from home once again, and now what's he to do? What do the Avengers want from him; do SHIELD have another agenda; and is there any way back? Pre-New 52. No slash. Rated for inevitable language/violent themes.

A Displaced Red Robin - dragonprincess1988

Note: Worth reading despite FF.net’s horrible format and abundance of advertisements in the mobile version. Well-written fic! EMOTIONS! I love them. Younger Dick Grayson is adorable, Tim is a competent fixer-upper for other people but not so much himself. He’s kind of angsty and making YJ Dick want to keep him (and YJ Bruce, too, if you read between the lines). On the plus side, seems like he’s making good friends with Young Justice Roy. This fic was written before certain episodes of YJ came out, though, and the fic reflects/will continue to reflect that. Still, I give it five stars.

Author’s Summary: Tim gets transported to the cartoon Young Justice world, and he's not sure he knows how to deal with it. Attention: If you want to know about Artemis or people from Tim's world the final note on my profile is for you. Also, a special thank you to angel-gidget over at Tumblr, who made the wonderful cover art for this story.

The Till-then From the Ever Since - Keiron O_Duibhir

Note: Fandom classic. Definitely a must-read for Batfam fans, in my humble opinion.

Summary: It began, or seemed to begin, with Jason.

Usually that would have meant something in the order of fire and explosion and probably at least one gunshot wound, but for once (as Tim said, sourly), it wasn't actually Jason's fault.

The Wayne Family Ghost - pupeez4eva

Note: Please read this. Especially if you’re sad or anxious or just have time. I couldn’t stop laughing. It’s my go-to cheer-up fic. Absolutely hysterical.

Summary: In which Bruce realizes that having a legally dead son, who regularly hangs around the family, might be slightly problematic. 

Bloodline - chibi_nightowl

Note: Complicated family dynamics, this time centering around Tim, Selina, Bruce and, surprisingly, Damian. Jason and Dick make an appearance as supportive big bros, too. It works. Take a read, it isn’t that long.

Summary:

“Mr. Drake, I can’t think of a better way to say this, so I’ll just be blunt. This file is for your first adoption. By the Drakes.”

Tim blinked. “My what?”

“You were adopted as a newborn by Jack and Janet Drake.”

“Excuse me, but what the fuck are you talking about?”

Talon!Tim AU Series by keeptogethernow

Note: Found family, from a different angle. Cool fic and well-written.

Summary of Tso’ape Mumbichi, first in the series: Ten years ago, two people made a deal with the devil--unlimited funds in exchange for their child. And now it's time to pay up. But there's no way to ensure that the child will cooperate.

Shutterbug Series by goldkirk

Note: Exactly what it says on the tin! Found family.

Summary:

Tim Drake is thirteen, runs the famous BatWatch blog that has spiraled hilariously out of control, has absentee parents that suit his purposes just fine, is training himself to run the streets at night, and is doing absolutely peachy, thank you.

Alfred and Jason disagree, and get Dick and Bruce involved in figuring out their weird next door neighbor kid’s life. Everything goes uphill from there.

Thursday’s Child - anthalogia

Note: Well-written and has found family and Tiny!Tim? Automatic win.

Summary:

He’s not the first child with nowhere else to go that Bruce Wayne has taken in. Dick Grayson was the first and the most high-profile – because no one would have thought Bruce Wayne was interested in ever raising a child, let alone the orphaned son of circus performers – but Jason was maybe just as much of a shock to society for being a street kid who came out of seemingly nowhere. Tim Drake is ordinary by comparison – his parents died in a plane accident. He can’t think of anything very special about him except that he met Bruce a few times when his parents hosted parties to keep in touch with Gotham society.

Or, tiny Tim Drake is adopted by the Waynes a little earlier than scheduled.

We’re Not Driving (How did we get here?) - TimTheToaster

Note: Short and sweet, a little angsty, and then very sweet.

Summary:

Tim stared at his phone, as if that would change what was on the screen.

Dick Grayson @FlyingDGrayson

It took some doing, and in some cases a little blackmail, but we've finally got the whole family together for a movie night! #WayneManor #movienight #familytime #schedulingisanightmare

15 minutes ago

Take It Back Now Y’all - TimTheToaster

Note: And Tiny!Jason has made his appearance. Also, Tim, I am begging you to please take care of yourself—ah, Bruce has made his appearance. Interesting. Also, I gotta say this author is good.

Summary:

There was absolutely no way this sunshine was from Gotham in April.

Not possible.

Which meant, Tim was no longer in Gotham, in April.

(In which Tim finds himself in the past, and tries to do the right thing. It's more complicated than he'd like.)

Takes a Little Time, Takes a Lotta Twine (To Get Us Back Together) - TimTheToaster

Note: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, beginning of reconciliation, and brotherhood. A satisfying, cathartic moment during the Red Robin arc to soothe your heart.

Summary:

Tim was in Gotham.

Tim had pretty specifically been avoiding thinking about Dick as much as possible for the last few weeks.

For the last year, really. No need to open that can of carnivorous worms.

Dick had other plans.

Everybody’s Heard (Bird is the Word) - TimTheToaster

Red Robin Era ANGST, but like, deliciously well-written. Also, protective Dad Bruce is always epic. Light bashing of Green Arrow and BC, though. But considering the situation (in this fic), kind of warranted.

Summary:

5 times Batman heard other heroes talking about his wayward brother,

And 1 time they were talking about his son.

A Choice to Make - scorbusfics

Note: fresh and interesting premise! Cool world building, too.

Summary: They have to choose. Dick and Bruce have to choose one person each to save, and one to disappear through the door.

“Send one of us,” Dick says fiercely, not for the first time. His face is dark and angry and desperate, eyes flicking from brother to brother. “Send one of us instead. I won’t choose.”

“Neither will I,” Bruce says.

But Tim knows.

Secret Places - RenaRoo

It’s ANGST, but the author knows how to use it well. Also, Jason’s line at the end killed me. Damn.

Summary: Tim Drake goes missing. The search to find him begins.

[starsreign]

☆ /  @irnmaidn​ :  🌠 give me all of them !!! 💖            SEND 🌠 && I'LL RECOMMEND A PLOT FOR US TO TRY OUT !!  || accepting !!

i added a few recently too so like...this gonna be long sry....

☆ AHRI.   i mean...would cass like to meet a sexy fox spirit ?? because she could if she wants !! she’s curious && fairly cordial but she’s very deadly && mysterious && just kind of comes off with an air of uncertainty whether u should trust her or not && i think that’d be fun with cass cause we kno she loves dangerous mysterious women with a taste for biting wit. but in my tangled verse it’s similar to her canon -- she’s a fox spirit && has been alive for so long, ever searching for where her people like her are && where she came from. so perhaps cass could run into her && help ahri post series ?? or she could simply be along for the ride with mysterious && selfish reasons she won’t say but either way it’s always interesting to think about when her cloak finally drops && cass gets to find out about the fox ears && nine tails ;’) also she’d probably flirt with cass sry not sry

☆ NEEKO.   iiim admittedly still working on her tangled verse cause she’s a chameleon but pls love my lesbian chameleon girl she deserves the world tbh ?? she’s extremely sweet despite her entire tribe being destroyed && killed && she FELT every single bit of it && felt her people fade away. she’s pure sunshine but she WILL fight when she has to, when there’s no other option or when people with good sho’ma are endangered. she’s looking to make a new tribe for herself now -- made up of everyone, not just oovi-kat, so she really takes in everyone who she can && who is willing. she can shapeshift by extending her sho’ma to other’s sho’ma which is a sort of spiritual essence && she can borrow their appearance, gain current emotional state && recent memories to better camouflage as them && immediately kno friend from foe so i think it’d be rly neat tbh for cass to encounter that ?? plus with neeko she wouldn’t have to open up too much or have to fight to express her emotions or voice them since neeko can feel && sense && taste emotion -- they have colours && tastes to her. she can also split herself into two, sending out a clone of herself while she becomes invisible && has a lot of floral / plant based magic as well so i think she’d rly vibe with ur cass portrayal !! but tbh she’s very chipper upbeat && kinda rapunzely personality wise -- she’s just very curious about the world && wants to learn everything since she was from a magical tribe that isolated themselves from the world, so for hundreds of years she’s literally ONLY known her tribe && their home && it’s EXTREMELY different from the world ?? she’s so used to not physically speaking && just extending sho’ma && reading emotions from each other, so she struggles with communication && that can frustrate her sometimes, but she’s knows emotions && she can see past like faking things or past all those walls she’s got up !! it’d be neat...theyd be....cute tbh... i rambled too much but i just rly love neeko sm n if u wanna kno more about her or any of these u can ask too !! also...not for nothing but neeko rly rly loves n swoons for strong badass ladies !!

☆ KINDRED.    kindred is literally just...y’kno...death, the grim reaper whatever u wanna call them !! they’re as old as the concept of death && started as one man who cleaved himself in two so he’d have a friend -- they understand the deep pain of loneliness despite having each other now because they were born from loneliness. they’d sense that from her && i think there’s plenty of times she could have met them, when death was near to her or around her && theyre certainly not entirely happy about her resurrection. they’re easily translatable into any verse but they are very ethereal && magical && love to play with people. so anything considering death. near death or perhaps just running into them if cass happens near a particularly brutal bandit robbery about to take place on the road that ultimately she wont be able to stop even if they tell her about it :’)

☆ HANA.   hjdksmd u kno i love these already n all we’ve talked about aa !! but also i’d literally be up for anything i love them sm already !! but like ?? soft moments ?? cass getting to come to her kingdom ?? getting to pilot the mechs n getting to just uuhhhh live her life be free n be happy ??

but also :eyes: hehe what if we also have a plotline where hana finds out about the moonstone thing n meets her while she has the moonstone n tries to talk her down :’) possibly mushy stuff they don’t wanna say could come out too mayhaps :thinking:

☆ AMITY.   she’s a little witch !! in her tangled verse she’s still a witch but she && her family are more in hiding about their powers && school so they’re all hidden away but amity’s family is a very, very noble family with a lot of money && power -- which extends to magic too lol. but it’d be Neat to meet cass n like amity looking up to her ?? she’s a lot like cass tbh, pretentious mean girl type who is rly rly icy n mean n sassy on the outside but she’s soft inside she just CANNOT show weakness n she oof is rly oppressed by her family n standards set for her n she ALSO has a crush on a sunshine girl who happens to be human. n she reads to younger kids n helps them out she’s softe secretly...just has a lot of pressure on her -- her parents wont let her hang around witches with lesser talent either. they’d get along i think after like tension but she’s just a lil teen witch n needs a good strong role model but she could also help cass out with the whole magic thing ykno ?? 

☆ PERFUMA.   ooooh they’d be cute !! perfuma is just...so sweet n positive n !! i’d love to interact with her in any of ur she.ra verses or i could absolutely try to fit her into a tangled verse but i’d absolutely want to keep her plant powers but that’d be neat with ur cass n her powers too !!

oh !! or aaalso, concept: we could have perfuma interacting with chrys !! n like when her n cass start working with the princess alliance n her helping them out n giving them insider info even if shes nervous n its dangerous n just perfuma helping her with that n giving her pep talks about her being brave ?? helping her with fashion stuff, helping her adjust to life where her sister can’t help as much ?? that’d be so cute bhadjksbh

☆ AKALI.   hehehee akali n cass would be hilarious at first i swear it -- they’re both headstrong, stubborn && sassy tbh. she’s from an order of acolytes that try to keep the balance of the spiritual / magical realm && the outside realms; she was raised in it && her mother && father were higher ups && very powerful in the order -- her father died in an attack led by her master’s friend on the order && they had to flee && try to remake with smaller ranks when she was very young. she succeeded her mother as the fist of the shadow but could not vibe with the way her master wasn’t taking action like she wanted to -- she wanted to restore balance in her way && she wanted to spill blood to do it because that’d be the only way to do it, so as an adult she just peaced off to do it her own way. && tbh that could fit in with a tangled verse -- just in the shadows, keeping the balance of magic unseen to most. she’s a trained assassin && she can literally throw three kunai && pierce three different hearts while in the midst of a smoke bomb like she’s insanely good -- she is also tiny n has some amazing muscles on her arms back && has very visible abs n she sexy n she kills me daily !! but they could get along ?? she does some magic but she was never the best at it tbh but depending on where in the timeline they meet it could be interesting ?? like s1 would be neat for her to meet someone like akali ?? another strong woman fighter but she also comes from a place that praised women’s strength instead of putting it down -- buuuuut she was hiiiighly ignored by her own mother in favour of another neophyte growing up so....ykno...Mood right ?? it stings a lot -- she saved everyone from a corrupted tree spirit n had the girl she looked up to spit in her face because she lost her leg n blamed it on akali && then her mother praised the girl instead of akali despite the other kids telling her what akali had done n singlehandedly dragged them to safety n she was like around nine or ten or so at the time... but it’d be cool if they met s1 n got to kno each other n maaaybe akali joins them on their journey since it has a lot to do with restoring the magical balance of the world n they could use a master assassin but also...the angst with cass taking the moonstone n the conflict akali would face about having to oust her cause ykno...shes fucking up the balance n thats her ykno....entire purpose riiiip

☆ WIDOWMAKER.   IDK BUT OOF i love widow. i haven’t thought about a tangled verse or a fantasy verse but like uuhhh something about being a french noblewoman married to a freedomfighter but ending up being brainwashed by some magical sect or talon but they’re part of zhan tiris crew or whatever ?? might be neat. she killed her husband && she’s just a little bit possessed now && a ruthless killer. so maaaaaybe....her trying to stop them on their journey to the dark kingdom ?? but her brainwashing starts wearing off the more she’s away from the source tbh -- but also, she’d be on cass’ side when she has the moonstone n honestly that’s very powerful, she’d have a very powerful ally to keep her on track && help like tell her she’s doing great because in the end she’s on zhan tiris side && she can probably see her the whole time && would be working to help get her back to power. also up in the air whether she ends up regaining herself later on && helping cass escape or whatever but she’d feel intensely guilty yikes but anyway i think it’d be honestly rly rly interesting n i’d love to do something with this if u’d be up for it bhdajkmd n like i said we can talk about any of these if u want too !! 

☆ BENSON.   i have zero ideas for this right now because his series is just so far removed from tangled....it’s a post apocalyptic universe where there’s extremely large animals some of which can talk n want to destroy humans who all live under the surface mostly except the ones who try to survive on the surface. TBH u’d love it...i think u’d love wolf specifically too ?? i dont wanna spoil anything but yeah it might be something u might enjoy ??

but also like mlm wlw solidarity pls ?? he’s a pretty carefree but smart gay teen, he’d get along pretty well with her n play off her iciness cause he’s just like that ?? he started off just caring only for himself n his bug buddy n just thieving a lot but like got a lot of character development -- but i guess he could be a thief in tangled verse ?? n like grow out of it or she could show him there’s better ways n stuff ?? idk...

[artificialqueens]

Feelings On Safety (Part 2) (Branjie)- Ortega

a/n: i actually wrote a part 2 to Your Move??? who is she??? i loved the verse i made for these two a lot so when people wanted more i did not at all mind writing it. thank u all for the amazing response to Your Move and i hope u like this as much as u did the first part!!! i feel like u benefit from reading Your Move first but i guess this could be read standalone too?? idk do what u like (Title from Trip by Ella Mai. i listened to so so much Ella Mai writing all this i’m so in my feelings rn)

Summary: Brooke is not falling for her secretary, despite what Detox is telling her. She only wants to be with her every hour of the day, treat her to nice things, make her laugh and maybe sort of make her her girlfriend. Shit, maybe Detox is right after all.

***

Brooke was fucked. Both physically and mentally.

She hadn’t really known when sleeping with Vanessa had become such a regular thing- after the first time she’d felt awkward, she hadn’t known how to play it, and she hadn’t known how Vanessa had felt about things so instead of asking her like a normal human being, Brooke had avoided her instead. That was until around five days later when Vanessa basically locked them both in her office and demanded to know why she was getting avoided as if she had herpes or something, and Brooke stuttered everything out in a completely flustered and very un-Brooke way. Vanessa had watched with a slightly open mouth and a surprised sense of amusement until Brooke was finished verbalising all that she’d been worrying about, and then she’d crossed around to behind Brooke’s desk, sitting on her lap gently and bringing every searing hot memory to the forefront of Brooke’s head.

“Look,” Vanessa had said matter-of-factly, bringing her hands up to cup Brooke’s jaw so that she had no choice but to lock eyes with her. “Did you like fuckin’ me?”

“Oh God,” Brooke had looked away in embarrassment and laughed. “Vanessa, it’s 9.15.”

“Bitch, just answer the question! Did you like it when I let you pin me to the ground and ride my face? Did you like bending me over your desk and spanking and fingering me?”

“Oh Jesus,” Brooke exhaled. She’d missed hearing Vanessa talk like that, her voice all low and sultry and answering her own question for her. “Fuck yes, I liked it.”

Vanessa had smiled. “Do you want to do it again?”

Brooke remembers darting her eyes from Vanessa’s own quickly down to her red painted lips and back up again. She had nodded once, and Vanessa had leaned in and pressed a small kiss to her lips.

“So that’s all that matters. You liked it, I liked it. We both want round two. We know where we both are now so why are we puttin’ up a front about it?”

And after that Brooke had put her arms around Vanessa and pulled her close, kissing her all needy and desperate, and Brooke hadn’t known what she’d been worrying about at all. That had been the second time, and since then there’d been a third and a fourth and a fifth, until Brooke had very nearly lost count. She knew they’d been at it for about a month, which was probably a long time, but for Brooke it had gone by quicker than anything.

But there was only so much sex you could have with somebody before you started developing feelings, and Brooke knew that. If she was being honest, she’d been feeling things that were more than lust for her for quite a while now, and Brooke didn’t really know what to do. Every time Brooke deadpanned something sarcastic about a client she felt a sense of achievement whenever Vanessa laughed, crinkling up her nose and flashing her bright white teeth. Or after they were finished and they were both lying on the rug exhausted, Brooke remembers the first time that Vanessa rolled over, put her head on Brooke’s chest and threw an arm around her waist, and Brooke’s heart had felt like a bubble that was seconds away from popping. The trouble was, how did she breach that topic with Vanessa?

Brooke decided to start small. It was a Friday, and everyone in the office was in a good mood. The week had seemed long, and everyone was excited to go home. Lots of people were leaving early, so when Vanessa bounded into Brooke’s office at half past four, she was excited.

“I think we could be in luck tonight, Ms. Brooke,” she beamed, Brooke wanting to laugh at the now-unnecessary formality. “This place is gonna be dead by quarter to five, and then it’s gonna be just us!”

Brooke smiled at her from her position at her filing cabinet where she’d been putting cases away, her heart lifting at the little phrase Vanessa had used at the end which made her happier than the other girl would know. Still, part of her was scared for what she was going to propose. “Yeah, I wanted to talk about that, actually-”

“Oh. Okay,” Vanessa’s face dropped, her body language instantly disappointed. She gave a sad smile. “You wanna stop all of this, huh?”

“Oh, fuck no!” Brooke replied instantly, the other girl looking so defeated that Brooke wanted to wrap her up in a hug. She was so pleased when Vanessa perked up again, her expression turning happy and curious all at once. Brooke grew nervous. “I just thought…you know, there’s only so much comfort that my office can actually provide. And my flat has like…soft furnishings and stuff.”

Vanessa burst out in a laugh that ripped through the room. “Soft furnishings, bitch what the fuck?! Just say bed. Or couch. Who d’ya think you’re talking with, the queen of fuckin’ England?”

“Definitely not,” Brooke raised an eyebrow. She let the filing cabinet drawer roll shut as she crossed over to where Vanessa had taken a seat. She was still giggling. “Hey. Stop laughing at me, bitch.”

Vanessa bit her lip, trying to hide her smirk. “Or what? You gon’ shut me up?”

Brooke felt like a spring that was beginning to be slowly wound up. She loved what Vanessa could do to her in just a few words. “That mouth’s going to be busy doing something else if you don’t watch it.”

“Like what, eatin’ that pussy out?”

Brooke threw her head back and gave a soft laugh, her hands playing with the hem of her skirt impatiently. “Fuck, there’s never any nuance with you, is there?”

Vanessa ran her tongue along her teeth and smiled as she shook her head. Brooke sighed needily. “Mm, I can’t wait.”

Vanessa frowned in mock-disapproval, tutting gently. “You’re whinier than I am today, Mami.”

“Fuck, stop it. You know what that does to me,” Brooke moaned. She really desperately wanted Vanessa- the week had been long and she’d been too caught up in her caseload to do anything with her- but she also wanted to have her back to her flat, so she decided to gently ask Vanessa again. “So uh…would you want to come round to mine? You know, just so we have a bed.”

Her heart felt like it was in her mouth as Vanessa smirked quietly back at her. She waited for the inevitable rejection, the narrowed eyes and the questioning why, but none of those came. Instead, the smirk broke into a smile and Vanessa shrugged. “Sure. I’d like that.”

Brooke felt a tidal wave of relief wash over her. It was only a small step forward, but they weren’t going to go from casual sex to in love in the space of one conversation. “Amazing. Give me five minutes to finish up here, then we can go.”

So that was how Brooke ended up driving Vanessa back to her apartment, a nervous flutter in her chest as Vanessa sang softly along to whatever was on the radio. They talked easily with each other about little things, Brooke telling Vanessa about her clients and Vanessa laughing, or gasping in shock, or ranting about how much of a cunt somebody was. Brooke was happy that Vanessa didn’t mind her venting, and she hadn’t realised she was still talking until she had walked out the elevator and reached her own front door.

“Sorry,” she said, self-conscious. “I hadn’t realised I’d been ranting so much.”

Vanessa frowned. “Don’t apologise. It’s important to you.”

Brooke’s heart felt all warm and glowing as they shared a smile, only breaking it when she pushed down on the handle and was met by a deafening series of beeping noises that cut through the moment.

“Fuck, what is that?!” Vanessa yelled, holding her ears comically. Brooke hissed as she dashed inside, stabbing at the security system she’d still not managed to get the hang of yet.

“Shit, sorry, sorry, sorry,” she said anxiously, growing frustrated as she pressed button after button with her long talons. “Come on, fuck.”

“Bitch can you hurry it up a little? It ain’t playin’ one of Beethoven’s sympathies, get it movin’!”

Finally, mercifully, Brooke keyed in four numbers and the racket stopped. Registering what Vanessa had said, she turned and smiled at her affectionately. “Symphonies.”

Vanessa looked confused. “What did I say?”

“Sympathies.”

The other girl snorted, shaking her head. “Fuck. Well, are you gonna invite me in?”

The nerves flaring up again, Brooke gestured for her to come inside and watched as Vanessa stepped in, her heels clacking softly against the black marble floor and her eyes wide as they darted about and took everything in. For Brooke it was just where she lived, but she felt suddenly embarrassed at the opulence of everything around her. For Brooke, it had been for convenience’s sake- she hadn’t had the time to sit and work out where to pick up furniture or flooring or wallpaper for her new place so she’d hired an interior designer to do it all for her. It was all marble and dark wood panels and white fluffy throws and rugs, and Vanessa walked down the hallway slowly, as if she was dreaming. She stopped as she came to the living room, and Brooke followed behind her anxiously, wondering if she’d made a mistake bringing Vanessa here.

Brooke watched as Vanessa walked past the two white couches, the tall, dark wood bookcase and the coal fire, and stood at the huge floor-to-ceiling windows with wide eyes, taking everything in. She finally turned around and smiled softly at Brooke.

“Wow. So this is like my Julia Roberts Pretty Woman moment, right?” she laughed gently, visibly overwhelmed.

“Sorry,” Brooke said, without really knowing what she was apologising for. Vanessa cocked her head inquisitively like a little bird, giving a laugh.

“Why? It’s beautiful. Don’t go all coy on me now, Ms. Brooke,” she smiled, shrugging off her pink fake fur coat. For a second she looked awkward as if she didn’t know where to put it, and so Brooke crossed the floor and took it from her gently.

“I like this, by the way,” Brooke said thoughtfully, stroking the material on the outside. It made Vanessa look like a cute little Barbie doll, which she loved. Vanessa smiled shyly.

“It’s probably not…I don’t know…the standard you would buy.”

Brooke rolled her eyes and snorted. “Vanessa, I can’t even remember the last time I bought myself new clothes.”

Vanessa smiled, taking two steps towards Brooke and standing on tiptoe slightly as she leaned into the other woman. “Hmm. I think you look better without any on, anyway.”

Brooke gave a little murmur, draping Vanessa’s coat over the headboard of her couch before turning back to her. “You think that’s when I look best, yeah?”

“No, you look best when you’re naked and on top of me,” Vanessa purred, smiling naughtily before leaning in to kiss Brooke lightly once, twice, then deeply with her hands tangled in Brooke’s hair as Brooke eventually pulled away and led her to her bedroom, her heart pounding in her chest.

The sex had once again been amazing, minute after minute of complete unfiltered lust, and Brooke decided that inviting Vanessa back had been the best decision she’d ever made in her life. As her afterglow hit, she turned and threw her arm over Vanessa who rolled over, smiled, and laced her fingers with hers in a surprisingly intimate gesture that made Brooke’s heart melt.

“That was fun,” Vanessa said, her voice even more gravelly than usual. “You gon’ tell me how a well-educated Harvard grad learns to talk so nasty? Or is that part of the curriculum?”

“Oh, stop it,” Brooke rolled her eyes, reaching back and hitting Vanessa with a pillow in embarrassment. The other girl laughed loudly as she curled herself up into a ball, Brooke thumping her a couple more times before her arm got tired and she threw the pillow away in exhaustion. As her laughter died down, Vanessa gave a sort of contented sigh before she sat up in bed.

“Well, as amazing as that was…I guess I’d better leave now,” she shrugged a little, peering down the side of Brooke’s bed and quickly pulling her underwear on. Confused and a little sleepy, Brooke sat up.

“Oh no, I mean…don’t feel like you have to leave,” she stammered out slightly, wanting to hit herself for how pathetic and needy she sounded. Her worst fears came true as Vanessa smiled at her sadly.

“No, it’s okay, honestly. Thank you for having me round your lovely home,” she said quietly, the humble tone in her voice making Brooke want to scoop her up, take her in her arms and never let go of her. Brooke watched as Vanessa left for a moment and returned with her coat and her heels back on. She awkwardly stuck her head back in the door and gave a little wave.

“Bye, Brooke,” she said quickly, before ducking back out of the doorframe and walking back down the hall, where the front door clicked softly shut behind her.

Brooke. Not with a Ms. attached to it, not a ma’am, not anything else. Just her name on Vanessa’s lips, and even though the day hadn’t ended like Brooke had hoped, this had to be a good sign, surely?

***

On Monday morning, before work, Brooke went to Michael Kors and dropped $425 on a pink, faux fur coat without even so much as batting an eye. In any normal, rational situation, and if the coat had been for her, Brooke would have agonised over the decision for ages- would she get enough wear out of it, was it really worth it, did she have one like it already- but since it was for Vanessa, Brooke made the entire transaction as if she was under a spell. That was kind of how she felt whenever she was with Vanessa, or even thinking about her- enchanted, entranced, and completely and utterly irrational.

As she arrived at work, she had already planned how she was going to pitch things to Vanessa. Of course she’d bought the coat just for her, but that was going to seem fucking weird if she admitted it, especially when she didn’t even know if Vanessa had feelings for her or not yet. So as she walked towards her office and Vanessa’s desk, she slipped the box that the coat came in into an old, battered plastic bag and rehearsed what she would say in her head.

Vanessa spoke first, her eyes lighting up as she saw Brooke. “Hey! Morning, Ms. Brooke. How are you?”

“I’m good. How are you? Did you get home okay on Friday?”

“Mhm. Slept so good afterwards as well,” Vanessa smiled lazily, stretching up to the ceiling. Brooke self-indulgently allowed herself to imagine waking up next to Vanessa on a rainy day and getting to hold her close and make her coffee and bring her breakfast. Fuck, now she was getting delusional. Completely smitten, Brooke put the bag on top of Vanessa’s desk as she spoke.

“Before I forget- remember the other night when we were talking about that coat you have? Well, I was just going through my closet this morning when I remembered, I actually do have one exactly like it,” she said, trying to keep her tone nonchalant and avoid Vanessa’s eyes as she slipped the bag off the box. “It got me thinking- I never actually wear it, and it’s still got all the tags on, so I thought you might get more wear out of it than I do.”

Brooke finally looked at the other girl, who had opened the box and was gazing at what was inside with her mouth slightly open and her eyes wide. Brooke watched as Vanessa lifted the coat up to see it and then put it back down, running her fingers over the fur in disbelief. Vanessa picked out the tags against the label and frowned as she looked at them.

“Brooke,” she began, and Brooke’s heart jumped as she heard her name with nothing attached to it again. “This is Michael Kors.”

“Yeah?”

Vanessa frowned at her. “Well like…how much do you want for it? Because I don’t even know if I could stretch to two hundred this month, I got my phone bill coming soon and it’s already, like-”

“Vanessa,” Brooke interrupted, smiling and trying to hide her nerves. “You don’t…you don’t have to…uh. Just take it.”

Vanessa burst out a laugh, then screwed her face up as she looked at Brooke. “Wait. You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Brooke was now so nervous that she didn’t trust herself to speak, so she just nodded. In haste, she added, “I mean, if you don’t like it I can just give it to charity, or sell it on Craigslist or…whatever.”

Vanessa smiled at Brooke as if she was an idiot. “Sell it on Craigslist, oh my fuckin’ God. I mean, no, I love it. If you’re sure I can just…take it?”

Brooke nodded shyly again. Vanessa gave a little exhale, raising her eyebrows. Finally, she looked up at Brooke and smiled. “Thank you so much, Ms. Brooke. I mean it. That’s real sweet of you.”

“Oh no, don’t worry about it! As I say, I didn’t get much use out of it anyway,” Brooke smiled back, so happy her gift had been well received. She awkwardly shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “I guess I’d better get to work. But, uh, hey. Do you want to come round again tonight?”

“I can’t tonight, I’m getting my nails did,” Vanessa pouted. “Can we do tomorrow?”

“Sounds good. See you later,” Brooke gave a little wave and disappeared into her office. Sitting at her desk, she smiled as she watched Vanessa take the coat out of the box again, smile, hug it to her chest, and drape it over the back of her chair. Brooke didn’t have long to bask in her satisfaction- she had a firm meeting this morning and she needed to gather what she needed for that, but she couldn’t help looking at Vanessa through the blinds and allowing her heart to swell up, wondering if Vanessa’s was too.

Her contentedness lasted all of about ten minutes when Detox came barging through her office door and practically launched herself into the chair opposite Brooke before she could say “Hey, girl”.

“Okay, spill,” she suddenly said, Brooke’s heart giving a small jump but keeping herself cool.

“On aisle three? What the hell are you talking about, girl?” Brooke shook her head, clicking at something on her laptop and avoiding her friend’s gaze. She could hear Detox’s voice- faux-inquisitive, as if she already had all the answers.

“I just think it’s funny how your secretary is out there with a new coat. Never seen her wear it before. Obviously looks very expensive. Did she, I don’t know…come into some money, or something?”

“Fuck would I know, why are you asking me?” Brooke kept her tone detached, although a sense of dread was beginning to creep up on her. She finally looked at Detox, who had the biggest, largest, shit-eating grin on her face.

“Well, I don’t know, I thought you might know a little bit about it since, when I complimented her on it out there, she told me it was you that gave it to her.”

“Yeah, and what? It was an old coat, I never wear it, I gave it to her because she has one similar,” Brooke brushed her off, getting up to file something away.

“An old coat? How old was it, ten fuckin’ minutes? Because I know,” Brooke turned around to look at her friend, who had narrowed her eyes at her. “that that coat is from the current Michael Kors Spring/Summer collection, which only arrived in stores yesterday.”

Brooke’s mouth suddenly felt very dry. She said nothing as Detox paused, then carried on. “Now, I’m just wondering, Brooke…why would a lawyer buy her secretary a brand new five hundred dollar coat? And I’ve been going over it and over it in my mind and the only possible conclusion I can come to…is that you’re pussy whipped.”

Brooke looked at her friend, blinked, then frowned. “It was $425, actually.”

“You SON OF A BITCH-” Detox screamed, laughing as Brooke rushed across the room to shush her. “You are! You actually are, aren’t you? Oh my FUCKING God, this is the best day of my life. This is the greatest thing to ever happen to me. Brooke Lynn Hytes is fucking her secretary. Oh my God.”

“Shut up, Jesus. It’s not a big deal.”

“NOT A BIG DEAL?! Oh my fuck- now, we can’t be talking a one-time thing, B, not if you’re buying her gifts and shit. How long?” Detox asked her excitedly, her eyes sparkling.

“I don’t know, like a month?”

“A FUCKING MONTH!” Detox screeched again, Brooke terrified that she would have the whole floor outside their door in a matter of minutes.

“D, you cannot tell anybody, I swear to God,” Brooke hissed, agonised.

“Why not, bitch? It’s not illegal. You’re not gonna get fired. We all know Frank from accounts has been having an affair with Ariel, jeez. That’s far worse.”

“Yeah, but…” Brooke frowned, trying to verbalise her feelings and realising they made her sound pathetic. She sighed deeply before she spoke. “If this gets around the office, then it’s just going to seem really seedy and weird and..I don’t want Vanessa to get embarrassed and to think she’s some cheap fucking Bratz doll because she’s actually a really fucking beautiful person and I…I really don’t want to fuck things up with her, okay?”

Brooke blushed as Detox laughed and grabbed her hand. “Aww, that is adorable. Fuck, it just gets better. Not only is Brooke Lynn Hytes fucking her secretary, not only is she a fucking Sugar Mommy to her secretary, but she is actually falling in love with her secretary. Jesus fuck, this is going to be the hardest secret to keep since I found out Paul hires hookers every Saturday.”

“I am not her fucking Sugar Mama, I got her one gift. Jesus Christ, D,” Brooke rolled her eyes as she grabbed her briefcase and made for the door. Stopping, she turned around. “Wait, what was that about Paul?”

Lying in bed that night, she felt as if her heart was never going to stop beating as fast as it did whenever she thought about Vanessa. Detox was being a dick- she wasn’t falling in love with her, that was dumb, they barely knew each other- but she desperately wanted to make things work with the girl. Still unable to stop thinking about her, Brooke rolled over in bed (which she hadn’t yet changed the covers of and never really wanted to), grabbed her phone from its charger, then typed a text to Vanessa without even thinking.

B: Hope you had a good day today. Sorry I never got to talk much :( Glad you liked the coat x

Within a few minutes there was a reply, Brooke smiling without even realising at the knowledge that Vanessa was up late too, and she couldn’t help but wonder if she was up thinking about her.

V: my day was great thanks for asking!!! dont worry we can talk loads tomorrow night xo im actually wearing the coat right now if u wanna see xo

Brooke bit her lip as she threw one leg over the other and rolled over in bed, hoping this conversation was about to go the way she thought it was going. She texted Vanessa a simple yes and waited impatiently as she rubbed her thighs together, her heart leaping as a photo came almost instantly. As Brooke opened the message, she moaned as the picture filled the screen of Vanessa lying on top of her bed with the coat on but clearly nothing else, her golden hair fanned out on the pillow, and her perfect legs stretched out so that Brooke could see she’d kept her heels on.

B: Fuck, this is how I want you tomorrow night    

V: okay Mami xo

“Jesus,” Brooke breathed, teasing herself with her fingers as she stared at the picture and thought about her reply. Suddenly, another message came through.

V: are u touching yourself right now Brooke xo

There was her fucking name again, typed out and on the screen in front of her, and in that moment it was the sexiest thing she’d ever been sent.

B: You know I am

V: well stop. ur not allowed to until u see me tomorrow xo

Brooke frowned.

B: Is that a joke?

V: i’m not playing, baby xo

“Oh, fuck this,” Brooke hissed, frustrated and defiantly moving her fingers underneath the silk of her pyjamas as she looked up Vanessa’s name in her contacts and phoned her.

The bitch had the audacity to pick up after four rings. “Hi, Mami.”  

“What the hell are you playing at, you fucking tease, sending me that and telling me I’m not allowed to get off to it?” she hissed, her breathing all jagged as she felt how wet she was.

Vanessa’s tone came down the line all playful and mocking. “Is that any way to speak to your baby, Ms. Brooke?”

Brooke felt as if she was slowly melting with every word Vanessa spoke. She felt herself whine down the phone. “No, but it’s not fair. I mean, are you touching yourself?”

“Fuck yeah, I’m touching myself, imaginin’ you all hot and wet and frustrated and not bein’ able to have my tongue on you until tomorrow.” Vanessa’s voice was all breathy down the line, the end of her sentence punctuated by a little gasp that made Brooke buck her hips and moan suddenly. Vanessa’s voice came back down the line, stern. “I can hear you touching yourself, you fuckin’ whore. Tell me how wet you are.”

“Fuck, so wet, Mami,” Brooke gasped, shocking herself a little as she used that name she’d thought Vanessa had just reserved for her. She didn’t really know how Vanessa would react to it. If it was anything like the effect it had on her, then Brooke was about to use it a whole lot more often. She was rewarded with a breathy giggle and a sigh down the line.

“Be a good girl and take your hand out your pants.”

Brooke felt herself let out a pathetic sob as she wrenched her hand away. She didn’t know whether she would kiss Vanessa tomorrow or kill her. “Vanessa you drop this act and let me cum right now or I swear to God I’ll spank you so hard tomorrow you won’t be able to sit right for a month.”

Brooke heard Vanessa laugh down the phone. “Fuck, Mami, you know I like it when you talk to me like that.”

Brooke whined, guiltily trailing her hand back down between her thighs. Vanessa’s voice came sharp down the line.

“Brooke, you keep on touchin’ yourself like that and that picture is the only thing you’re gettin’ from me for the next week, and I’m serious,” Vanessa growled, Brooke rolling over helplessly in bed as she finally understood why Vanessa liked her speaking to her all authoritatively, and not being able to touch herself was pure torture.

“Fuck, you’re such a bitch,” she whined, tearing a hand through her hair as Vanessa laughed.

“Stop whinin’ and tell me how much you want me.”

“I want you so bad, Vanessa,” Brooke breathed, her heart feeling like it was about to give out.

“Tell me how much you’re going to punish me tomorrow for doin’ you like this.”

Brooke’s mind felt it was short-circuiting as she spoke, unsure if anything she was saying was making any sense. “I’m not even going to touch you. You’re going to have to fuck me and eat me out and make me cum hard, and I swear to God, Vanessa, it better be the best orgasm I’ve ever had in my fucking life or you’re getting put in my car and dropped off home, all dripping wet like a bad, dirty little slut, and you’re going to have to deal with what I did to you on your own.”

“Fuck, baby,” Vanessa’s voice was hot and urgent down the line, and with a pang of jealousy Brooke could tell she was close. A small, evil little part of her realised she held a lot of power in this moment. She deliberately yawned slowly and affected tiredness in her voice.

“You know what, actually, it’s getting pretty late…I should probably hang up-”

“Oh fuck, no, no, no-”

“Beg me.”

“Ay, fuck, pretty please Mami, please, please, por favor, Mami, me lo merezco, please-”

As Vanessa descended into desperate, feverish Spanish, Brooke cut off the call with a delicious sense of satisfaction. Returning her phone to its charger and jumping out of bed to take a freezing cold shower before she went to sleep, she decided that those $425 had been worth every penny.

***

The marble floor was freezing under Brooke’s bare feet as she carried two glasses of icy water through to the bedroom. The shock of going from the boiling hot bed into the chill of her flat had sobered Brooke up a little, and previously she’d been drunk on lust and a little bit of something that could be more. When her feet hit the soft cream carpet it was a welcome relief, and she quickly padded back over to the bed to where Vanessa lay staring, unblinking, at the ceiling as if she was under a spell.

“Here,” Brooke said gently, as she slipped under the covers and handed Vanessa one of the glasses. The other girl stirred a little, sitting up and fluffing a couple of pillows as she gratefully took one of the glasses and drank a huge gulp of water.

“Fuck. Don’t think I’ll need to go to the gym tonight after that,” she laughed quietly, moving to place the glass down on Brooke’s bedside table then stopping suddenly, her eyes darting around. Brooke suddenly realised what it was she was looking for and laughed.

“Don’t worry about coasters, just put the damn thing down.”

Doing as she was told, Vanessa put the glass down and then sank back under the covers, the two of them laying there silently for a moment. Brooke wanted so much to reach out and take Vanessa’s hand, but she also didn’t want to move unless the whole moment was a dream. Suddenly, she became aware that Vanessa had said something and was looking at Brooke for a reaction. Her face was calm and serene, and it made Brooke wish she had heard her the first time.

“What?”

Her heart fell as Vanessa looked down sheepishly, a light blush hitting her cheeks. “Nothing. Don’t worry ‘bout it.”

Brooke could have pushed her for an answer, but something made her decide against it. Instead, she decided to take another leap. “Hey. You want to order food?”

Vanessa perked up and smiled, nodding enthusiastically.

“Can we get a big fuckin’ messy burrito? Aw wait,” she frowned, glancing at the huge marble clock built into the wall. She turned to Brooke and shrugged. “I should probably get goin’, huh.”

Brooke bit her lip. “You could, or…you could just stay here.”

Vanessa turned to Brooke and looked a little disbelieving. “Really?”

Brooke shrugged and nodded, wanting with every fibre of her being to stay chilled out and neutral despite the fact all of her was screaming silently for Vanessa to say yes. Vanessa smiled gently, reaching across the bed and resting her hand on top of Brooke’s. “That would be nice.”

That night, they hardly moved from the bed. They ordered burritos, like Vanessa had wanted, and watched whatever film had been on TV at the time, talking about little details of their lives that neither of them had known about the other before. When it got to midnight, Brooke realised they had said they would go to sleep an hour ago, but neither of them had been able to keep that promise, too intent on staying up and talking or kissing each other with every lull in conversation. When she saw the time, Brooke sighed in the darkness, pulling Vanessa in close to her.

“We should go to sleep, baby,” she yawned, kissing Vanessa’s neck lightly and wishing that time could stand still. Vanessa squirmed a little in Brooke’s arms as she got comfortable and swept her hair over her shoulder.

“Brooke, I meant to ask,” Vanessa murmured sleepily, and Brooke felt the sudden question make her hang by a thread. “Are we, uh…I mean. Are you thinking we should be exclusive or nah?”

Brooke suddenly tensed up, and she felt Vanessa grow tense underneath her as well. Why was she asking that? Did she want to be exclusive? Is that what she was asking? Or was she afraid of it, only asking when the lights were off and when Brooke couldn’t see her face or her reaction? She gave her another option too- or nah, giving herself an easy out. As Brooke frantically thought about it more and more in the seconds that followed Vanessa’s question, she had managed to completely convince herself that Vanessa absolutely hated the idea of a relationship with her and slightly breaking her own heart in the process.

“Brooke?”

Brooke swallowed. “Uh, no, I mean…we don’t have to be, I mean let’s not put a label on it. Go out with whoever you want, you know. That kind of thing doesn’t bother me, I’m not a jealous kind of person.”

She didn’t know if she’d imagined it, but she felt like Vanessa relaxed in her arms. It felt like a stab to the gut.

***

The plus side to Vanessa staying over was that she had to borrow some of Brooke’s work clothes for the next day, and seeing Vanessa in her own navy pant suit had made Brooke want to immediately tear it off her again. They’d talked and laughed on the way into work as they usually did, Brooke trying to ignore the nagging feeling in her stomach that she’d made a terrible mistake not immediately seizing the chance to make her her girlfriend.

The down side to Vanessa staying over and wearing Brooke’s pant suit was that Detox crashed through her office door around fifteen minutes after she arrived at work, excitedly pointing out to where Vanessa sat on the phone, oblivious.

“WHY is your secretary wearing your clothes?” Detox whisper-screamed, launching herself forward to grip Brooke’s arm.

“Oh, fuck off, D, are you really going to make me say it?”

“Fuck yes I am!”

Brooke rolled her eyes. “Vanessa is wearing my clothes because she stayed over last night, Detox.”

“Fuck me with a baguette, this is the best day ever and it’s only 9.15,” Detox sighed, crashing down into Brooke’s chair as she watched her busy herself around the office. “So when are you asking her on a proper date?”

“Do you not have a caseload to be working on, or am I the only one around here that gets shit done?” Brooke scowled, not in any way in the mood for talking about her and Vanessa considering she’d just blown the whole thing.

“Excuse me, I finished all my cases last week! My new client doesn’t get here til 10. Jeez, what’s got you so touchy?”

Brooke sighed, slamming a huge lever-arch folder into a bookcase. “Vanessa asked me if we should be exclusive last night and I said no.”

“You absolute fucking grade A idiot,” Detox frowned, fixing Brooke with a look of disapproval. “What the hell did you do that for?”

“I don’t know!” Brooke exhaled loudly, tearing a hand through her hair. “It sounded like she was asking me because she didn’t want to be like that with me. So I panicked. I wanted to reassure her.”

“But fuck what you want, right? Look, Brooke, I haven’t seen you this happy since…well, maybe ever. And I also know that you don’t give up easy. At least, you normally don’t, but right now you’re like a kitten in a sock on a freeway and you’ve just accepted your fate.”

“Okay, what’s your advice, Dr fucking Phil?” Brooke raised an eyebrow at her.

“Exclusivity doesn’t matter at this stage, right? I mean, you’ve not even been on a date. So, that’s what you should do.”

“What, ask her on a date?”

“No, yeet yourself off Brooklyn Bridge in a pair of Heelys, fuck yes ask her on a date!” Detox became impassioned, slamming Brooke’s desk and quickly shutting herself up as her eyes darted to the door. Brooke’s heart stopped as Vanessa came in, smiling apologetically and holding a small sticky note.

“Sorry to interrupt- hi, Ms. Detox,” she said softly. “Mr. Blake phoned to cancel his appointment today, he’s got shingles.”

“Hah! Shingles. Is that what they’re calling a hangover these days,” Detox piped up. Vanessa smiled politely then carried on.

“I also wanted to ask, Ms. Brooke, am I able to leave early next Monday night? Like half an hour or so,” Vanessa asked her, darting her eyes to Detox as if she was wishing she wasn’t there.

“Uh, that’s fine, yeah,” Brooke shrugged, distracted by everything going on in her head. “What for?”

Vanessa looked startled, as if the question had been unexpected. “Oh, uh…just a doctor’s appointment, you know.”

“BULLSHIT!” Detox suddenly exploded, scaring them both. “All the doctor’s surgeries close at 4, so leaving at half 4 wouldn’t get you shit. Half 4 is like, prime nail and hair appointment times. The question is…who are you getting your hair and nails done for, Vanessa?”

Brooke narrowed her eyes at her friend as she watched Vanessa laugh awkwardly and blush. “Detox, for fuck’s sake. She doesn’t have to tell you-”

“I’m going on a date, actually,” Vanessa said casually, making Brooke’s whole world stop, freeze and shatter like ice. She was aware Vanessa was looking at her to gauge her reaction, and Brooke was trying her best not to look horrified, but she was aware she probably wasn’t doing a very good job of it.

“Oh. Cool! No, that’s…that’s fine. And I mean, it’s none of my business anyway, so-”

“That’s such a coincidence actually, because Brooke was just about to ask you something!” Detox smiled at Vanessa, then turned her head to look at Brooke patiently.

Brooke was going to slap the bitch. She fixed a fake smile to her face. “Gee, well, I would, Detox, but there’s a loud, obnoxious, LA whore in my office.”

Finally, mercifully, Detox smiled wickedly and slinked away out of the room, making sure to shut the door before retreating back down the corridor. It left the two of them alone together- Vanessa standing opposite Brooke, still gazing at her with interest.

“So, uh, what was that thing you were gonna ask me?” Vanessa scratched the back of her neck and looked to the floor, as if she was embarrassed.

“Well, uh,” Brooke started, equally as embarrassed but aware that she needed to find something to say. “I was, um. Going to ask you out too.”

Brooke’s heart gave a jump as she saw Vanessa’s face brighten up in surprise. “Oh!”

“Yeah, but, uh, you know, no big deal if you’re already going out with this other girl or guy or…whatever,” Brooke stammered her way through her sentence and watched as Vanessa’s smile grew bigger and bigger.

She laughed softly. “He’s a guy. His name is Nate.”

Brooke had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Of course it fucking is. Breathing deeply, she shrugged and moved to sit behind her desk. “Cool. Like I say, it doesn’t matter if you’re already going out with him.”

“No, it’s okay. I mean, I can go out with you and I can go out with him. And I mean, it’s not as if you get jealous, right?” Vanessa commented offhandedly, a little sparkle in her eye sending a sudden flood of tension through the room, and Brooke wasn’t giving in to whatever Vanessa was doing.

“Exactly, yeah. So, uh, is that…”

Vanessa broke into a smile. “It’s a yes. I would like to go on a date with you.”

Brooke tried and failed to bite back a smile which burst out over her face. “Amazing! I mean, fine, yeah. It’s just casual, really, isn’t it?”

“It’s whatever you want it to be,” Vanessa instantly replied. Fuck, how was she so good with her words when Brooke felt like a melted puddle on the floor?

“Can we say, um…” Brooke pretended to look at the diary which she knew was empty. “Friday night?”

“Friday night is good,” Vanessa smiled, biting her lip.

“Good.”

“Good,” Vanessa replied, smiling and locking eyes with her before looking out to her desk where the phone was ringing. “I should go-”

“Yeah, sure,” Brooke nodded frantically, as Vanessa flashed her one last smile and rushed back out to her seat. Brooke hadn’t quite known what had just happened. There were so many things she was feeling, and they weren’t all positive (who the fuck walks around in this day and fucking age with a name like Nate) but she found her heart soaring as one main thought stuck in her mind.

I asked Vanessa on a date, and she said yes.

***

In the time it had taken for Brooke to push her finger to the buzzer at Vanessa’s flat and for Vanessa to appear at the bottom of her stairwell, a thousand thoughts had already seized the chance to run through Brooke’s mind and taunt her. Her outfit- a silk, emerald-green mid-length dress- was too much, and so was her makeup. Her hair looked ridiculous down, all long and wavy and in the way- she would book a haircut tomorrow. Vanessa had probably changed her mind about the entire night, and she was going to look ridiculous standing outside a slightly run-down apartment block in her evening wear. Why had she brought flowers? Vanessa probably didn’t even like lilies, and these were blue ones at that, Christ, what the fuck had she been thinking? The restaurant she’d chosen was too much. It was too opulent and would be too much for Vanessa and it’d intimidate her and she’d want to go home. Did she even like seafood? Fuck, was she allergic to seafood?! Would she be too polite to say she couldn’t have anything on the menu and end up eating a scallop and sending herself into anaphylactic shock?!

Brooke was near enough having a panic attack by the time the front door opened to reveal Vanessa, and what she was wearing only made Brooke ten times more nervous. She stood, visibly nervous, in tall sparkling gold heels, with a gold and silver dress that was dripping in a fringe of jewels to match. Her long hair was loose and wavy like Brooke’s, but hers managed to look so much better than Brooke’s own. Her makeup was beautiful, but Brooke felt she could have opened the door with a bare face and she’d still have looked perfect.

Brooke spoke first. “Hey. You look gorgeous.”

Vanessa scrunched her face up and laughed. “Comin’ from you. Jesus. I feel like a bag of garbage. Fuck, you’re so beautiful.”  

Brooke blushed, and Vanessa seemed to feel a little shy about her outburst as she blushed and looked to the ground. Straightening up, Brooke saw her take a deep breath. “Sorry. Should we, uh-”

“Sure! Oh-” Brooke nervously thrust the bouquet of flowers out in front of her, a bewildered Vanessa taking them in her arms. “These are for you. The colour’s kind of crazy, so you probably won’t like them, but none of the other flowers seemed to suit you, so…”

“The fuck is that meant to mean?” Vanessa laughed, as they reached Brooke’s car and she held the passenger door open for her. “What happened to a red rose or some shit?”

Brooke tilted her head as she tried to explain her reasoning. “Yeah, but they’re so…conventional and classic and very not you. I couldn’t get you any white flowers because that would imply some form of purity,” she raised an eyebrow and Vanessa gave a guilty little sultry laugh. “So I found these. But there isn’t really a flower that can describe you. There isn’t really anything that can describe you.”

Brooke locked eyes with the girl opposite the car to her, who was smiling with her cheeks flushed a little red, and she suddenly realised how intense she’d sounded. Suddenly, Vanessa laughed.

“No, I love them. Thank you. God, why we so nervous about this?” she exclaimed. “I mean most people usually go on a date and then fuck. We got the hard part out the way, this is s’posed to be easy.”

“Right,” Brooke laughed in reply, even though she wanted to tell Vanessa that she was wrong, that the sex was the easy part because they could throw up a front where the only language was touching and kissing and rough and gentle, and if they did speak it was a thousand times easier than anything she’d say tonight because calling the girl she cared so much about a whore and a slut and a bitch when they were under the covers and slick against each other was so much easier than telling her how Brooke actually felt about her.

But Brooke didn’t say all that, of course- she jumped into the car and motioned for Vanessa to join her and the two of them were off on their way to dinner, and Brooke’s nerves weren’t dissipating a single bit.

“So where are you takin’ me? All you said was dress fancy,” Vanessa asked, a little smile to her voice that calmed Brooke down only a little.

“It’s called Le Bernardin. Basically a seafood restaurant, but then I realised while I was waiting on you to come down that I never checked if you liked seafood or not, so if we end up eating McChickens in a car park somewhere then I’ll understand.”

Vanessa gave a little bark of laughter. “No, no don’t worry. I actually love seafood. So is this place like Red Lobster?”

Brooke stifled a laugh- they were about to go and eat from a two hundred and twenty five dollar tasting menu, and Vanessa would have been happy with Red Lobster. “Yeah, a little.”

It was only when Brooke had parked the car, walked with Vanessa into the restaurant, and been sat at their table for a few moments that Vanessa spoke up.

“Brooke,” she said with wide eyes, after having peeked at her menu. “This ain’t like Red Lobster at all, you know.”

Brooke spluttered a laugh, then had to stifle it as the sommelier approached their table. He reeled off all the different wine recommendations, Brooke having to bite the inside of her cheeks as she watched Vanessa’s face grow more and more incredulous with every word he spoke. As he finally reached the end of his spiel and asked Vanessa what she wanted to drink, she cast her eyes to the bar.

“Yeah, uhh, lemme get a French martini,” she said, leaning back in her chair. The sommelier cast a glance to Brooke, who smiled politely.

“Whatever the lady wants,” she smiled, Vanessa smiling back at her cheekily. Brooke ordered a bottle of champagne and watched with mirth as the sommelier walked away shaking his head.

“They got caviar here. Damn, this is a real nice place,” Vanessa said softly, looking at Brooke with concern. “I don’t really know how I’m gonna be able to-”

“Vanessa. I’m paying,” Brooke cut her off, holding her hand up to stop the other girl protesting. “It’s me taking you out on a date. So I’m the one that pays. Have literally whatever you want, I don’t give a fuck.”

Vanessa bit her lip and smiled. “It’s real nice of you to treat me to all this, Ms. Brooke. I won’t complain.”

“Well. You deserve nice things, so,” Brooke shrugged, sensing the shift in atmosphere as she made eye contact with the other girl. Suddenly, she broke it as a waitress appeared with their drinks, Vanessa’s eyes growing wide with delight as her martini appeared in front of her with a wedge of pineapple stuck at the side. They got two glasses of champagne poured, and Brooke held hers up to Vanessa’s.

“What are we toasting to?” she asked, Vanessa tilting her head in thought.

“It is cringey if we say us?”

“It’s not cringey, it’s nice,” Brooke smiled, touching their glasses together lightly. “To us, then.”

“To us,” Vanessa repeated shyly, Brooke amazed at how different she seemed already this evening, how nervous and quiet she was. It was such a change.

They passed much of the evening the same way, talking in dropped tones as if they were whispering. Vanessa ordered a seafood platter and caviar, just so she could say she’d tried it, and Brooke laughed as she took the tiny spoonful she’d been given and scrunched up her face. When her platter arrived, Brooke watched Vanessa look at the heads of the langoustines with interest, before showing her how to take them off. She was currently watching in slight awe as she shucked the oysters surprisingly well.

“It’s like a shot of fish. A fish shot,” Vanessa shrugged, giving Brooke the verdict on the oysters.

“Classy,” Brooke smirked, Vanessa sticking her tongue out at her in response.

“It’s a shame Detox couldn’t have been here. You should have invited her. Then again, she’s prolly outside with a huge cup pressed against the wall,” Vanessa suddenly said from nowhere, Brooke rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, sorry about her the other day. She’s an idiot, but she’s also my friend, so I guess I’m stuck with her,” Brooke pinched the bridge of her nose. Vanessa smiled.

“She’s sweet. So she knows about us then?” she said, clearly feigning disinterest. Brooke panicked.

“Yeah, but I made her promise not to tell anyone.”

Vanessa avoided Brooke’s eyes as she picked apart a clam. “Why, ‘cuz you’re ashamed of me?”

“What? No, Jesus, no. I just don’t want…” Brooke wanted to tell Vanessa everything, but her mouth wouldn’t allow the words to come out. “I don’t want the whole office knowing and chipping in their two cents all the time.”

To her relief, Vanessa didn’t seem offended. “That’s fair. Told my friends about you and that was bad enough.”

Brooke smiled. She liked the thought of Vanessa telling other people about her. “What did they say?”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “So there’s Silky and Akeria. Silky basically screamed in my ear for a solid half hour. Bitch is nuts. Akeria was like fuckin’ Oprah tryin’ to get all the details. And I mean all the details.”  

“Like what?”

Vanessa raised an eyebrow and gave Brooke a wink. “You know exactly what.”

Brooke shifted in her seat. “Did you tell her?”

“What the fuck do you think, bitch? She got nothin’ from me. Give a girl some credit,” Vanessa rolled her eyes and jabbed a scallop with her fork.

The rest of the night passed by in a blur of champagne bubbles and hushed conversation, Brooke realising halfway through the evening that she had forgotten she’d taken her car, but it didn’t matter. She could get an Uber home, and as she paid the bill she realised with a pang that she didn’t really want the night to end. As the doorman grabbed their coats, Brooke felt a stab to her heart as Vanessa gave a little satisfied sigh, signalling that the night was over.

“Can’t believe you forgot you brought your car,” Vanessa laughed as Brooke finished up ordering her Uber.

“Are you sure you don’t want dropped off? We can go past your flat-”

“Nah, don’t worry. I can get the subway home, it’s not far. Well, thank you for a lovely time, Ms. Brooke,” she smiled, shrugging on her coat. “This was maybe the classiest first date I’ve ever been on.”

Brooke ran her tongue over her teeth as she got her own coat and opened the door for her, pausing until they were back out on the sidewalk to speak again. The evening was beginning to get dark but the streetlamps weren’t lit just yet, and the warmth from the day still hung heavy in the air. “So do I get to take you on a second?”

Vanessa pursed her lips in consideration, smiling playfully as she began to walk away from her. “I’ll need to think about it. Got a lot of demand, you know. Seeing this Nate on Monday. But this was fun, Ms. Brooke,” she said lightly as she turned around. “See you Monday.”

And as Vanessa began to walk away and Brooke saw her Uber pull up beside her, something inside her snapped and broke from all the tension. It was too much for her any more. Ignoring the car that began to toot its horn at her in frustration, Brooke ran as fast as she could to Vanessa, grabbed her hand and spun her round. The last thing she saw was Vanessa’s shocked face as she took her face in her hands and kissed her, rough and protective and jealous, and Vanessa must have been able to tell because Brooke could feel her smile against her lips as Vanessa brought a hand up to tangle in her hair.

As Brooke broke the kiss, she started speaking and wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to stop. “I was wrong. I was a fucking idiot, actually. I do get jealous. Well, I never thought I did, but I do. I can’t stand the thought of you with anyone else, kissing someone else, feeling some type of way about anyone else. And I’m frustrated it’s taken me this long to admit it because, what, I can tell you all the things I want you to do to me when we’re naked but I can’t tell you straight how I feel about you?”

Brooke was scared, frightened, terrified, all of that, but as she looked down she saw Vanessa’s eyes shining in the small amount of light they had on the street, and her smile beaming at her. She seemed so happy and it made Brooke wonder- had Vanessa wanted this all along? “I really fucking like you, Vanessa. That’s why I didn’t want Detox telling anyone about us, because if I fuck this up with you it’ll be the worst mistake I’ve made in my life and everyone would know, and I don’t want people thinking it’s just some fling between the lawyer and her secretary because fuck, I thought that was all it was too but then it just became so much more than that? It started to be about making you happy, and making you laugh, and getting to be close to you and spend time with you, and that scared me so much, you know? And that was why when you asked me if we should be exclusive I said no, because I started overthinking and I didn’t think you wanted that so I just went with it because I thought it’d make you happy, but now I feel like I’ve made a huge fucking mistake and-” Brooke cut herself off as she suddenly gasped for air, pulling Vanessa in close to her and being suddenly so afraid of losing her. She looked into her eyes as she spoke. “Please don’t go on that fucking date on Monday, Vanessa. Please be my girlfriend instead.”

The blood in Brooke’s veins gave a jump as she heard Vanessa gasp with delight as she spoke the word girlfriend, filling Brooke’s heart with so much hope that she felt as if she was on the very edge of a cliff, and if Vanessa said no now she might well go into cardiac arrest. In reply, Vanessa stood on her tiptoes and kissed Brooke gently, stroking her thumb against her cheek in an affectionate gesture that made Brooke want to melt. As Vanessa broke the kiss, she bit her lip and smiled. “God, Brooke, all you had to do was ask. Yes I’ll be your girlfriend. Jesus.”

And Brooke was suddenly so blinded with happiness that she picked up Vanessa, her girlfriend, her fucking girlfriend, and spun her around in the air in the middle of the street, the two of them laughing and giggling like teenagers and Brooke’s heart beating at a deafening pitch in her ears because she said yes, Vanessa was her girlfriend, Vanessa was her girlfriend, and the future was suddenly so bright and exciting and optimistic and full of colour and Brooke could suddenly see the beauty in every single little thing around them, even the fucking bins.

“There was no Nate, by the way,” Vanessa laughed, making Broke stop suddenly and put her down.

“What?”

“There was no Nate. And there was no date. I just wanted to make you jealous.”

“Well, you succeeded,” Brooke laughed, lacing her hand in Vanessa’s.

“I panicked. Said his name was Nate because it rhymed with date.”

Brooke burst out laughing and pressed a kiss to Vanessa’s hair. “You’re so stupid.”

She realised that neither of them had a clue where they were walking. Vanessa seemed to sense the same thing as she suddenly stopped, smiled seductively, and rested her hands on Brooke’s waist. “All night I’ve been thinking that dress would look better on the floor.”

Brooke let out a small whine. There was nobody, not a single person on earth, who could make her feel like Vanessa made her feel, and Brooke wouldn’t trade that for the world. “Come back with me?”

Vanessa leaned in and smiled, pressing her lips against Brooke’s before teasingly breaking away.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

[gronjon44]

Ok. So I'm sure this has been done before, but I want to make a sort of "Petition" as to why we need an Overwatch film now

As popular as the game is and as much content as it may have, we lack a concise story that fills in the gaps that Blizzard has yet to fill. I think we could really use an animated film that can fill in what we need and or don't have. I have theories as to why they haven't made the film yet and solutions as to how to get it done without complications.

First, the Plot Holes

One big plot hole right off the bat that needs explaining is Reapers motives. He was a loyal member of Overwatch and friend to Jack Morrison. And yet he oh so willingly swapped sides to join Talon, even though he was angry at them and wanted to kill them, proof being Antonio. And he lost his good friend Gerard LaCroix to a Talon attack. There is no explanation to why he's changing sides with no real reason, he just does it.

I think if we had a film we could be given a real reason to why. Maybe Talon explained that Antonio was the only one responsible for Gerard's death, and the new Talon was what the world needed. Or maybe after the attack on The Swiss base, the event that caused the final fall of Overwatch, he was brought back and brainwashed himself like Widowmaker, turned into a violent monster who only remembers a hatred towards Overwatch, especially Jack and Ana.

Now this isn't the only Plot hole or empty info slot that needs to be filled. We need more explanations for different events, like what actually happened at the Swiss Base when it was blown up, who blew up the base, was it an inside job, Is Mercy secretly Gay and having an affair with Pharah idk. We need info.

Now we'll most likely (and by that I mean hopefully) get more info from the cinematic videos they release, but those are few in none, with the most recent being Dva in "Shooting Star". They may give us additional information as they release heroes but that isn't enough till they realease something worth us watching it for more than eight minutes.

And on the topic of new characters, that could be another reason why they haven't given much else in story. They may not feel like they have enough characters yet for a full film. But they don't need one full film they have the potential for a franchise. They can use the cast of characters they have and add more as the film gets enough popularity and money to make a sequel. They have the money and skill to make a film on par with the likes of Disney and DreamWorks, maybe something better. They just need to do it. Even a simple phrase of, "Oh we're considering it" or " Oh we have something in the works" that's enough hope to last for a year and a half. A Film would not only offer a new advertisement opportunity, but it would help bring in New money that they're gonna lose with the loss pf Loot boxes.

Now for those who don't know, certain countries have deemed Loot Boxes a form of Child Gambling, and are ordering Blizzard to pull them from the game. America isnt being affected yet by this but it will be. And when it does this is alot of money that the game is losing. A film would make up for a lot of lost revenue, helping to bring the game out more to the public. And honestly, I think they need a new movie based off one of their games after Warcraft.

Unrelated, I like Warcraft as a film. It offered enough story to be filled in by a sequel, it could become a strong trilogy franchise, and it had amazing cgi. But here's the thing.

IT SHOULD'VE STAYED ANIMATED

Like I said, Blizzard has animation that's on par with the likes of Disney and Pixar, hell even DreamWorks. They could become a full movie studio with no problem. But they faced the same problem like all video game film's. They went Live action.

Some games could work in Live action. Rampage pulled it off well. But I think Warcraft would've done better as an Adult Animated film. Now don't think I'm talking about it being like film's such as "Sausage Party" or "Happy Time Murders". But I think it would've made a good film. Adults can watch animated film's, as long as they appeal to the wider audience. And this is what they need to do with Overwatch if it becomes a film.

If you go on YouTube you'll find plenty of videos talking about Potential castings for an Overwatch Live Action film. And not to say they're bad choices the actors are amazing I'd recommend Andy Serkis to be Winston the man is a good at playing CGI apes. But I think the film would just transition better as an animated movie. And it doesn't have to be for kids, I don't think people realize this. Adults can like animated film's and cartoons too there's nothing wrong with it. They just need to do it right.

Now, I could be dumb and they've been planning it for a long time. But the thing is, the game will lose it's relevancy. Other games like Evolve and even Fortnite. They have the potential to be great movies or shows, Fortnite could be an amazing YouTube series and Evolve could've been one hell of a movie with an amazing cast. But Evolve lost its chance to make itself relevant after it stepped up to the plate. And Fortnite does what it can to stay relevant and it does a pretty good job so far, even taking endorsements from Samsung and Avengers: Infintity War. But Overwatch needs to do something. Or it'll die faster than you can say "Cheers Love"

[firefrightfic]

Ok did you think that Batman 45 was NOT what would have actually happened if Bruce didn't become Batman? Because Idk lol I think Dick would have become talon. I think really that Jason would have ended up in a terrible place from having to grow up and survive on the streets. Idk I think he would have either ended up dying, becoming an addict - addiction CAN run in the family so if he got high once it'd probably be easier to become addicted fast. BUT that would probably take a while to get into

Sum up for Batman 45 Jason - I think his life would have ended up much worse even if it wasn’t either of those things I’d mentioned. And Tim! I don’t think he’d be working in a cubicle lol. Drake industries?? Even if not he’s super smart. Anyhow what your thoughts - if u’d like to share maybe Also didn’t they look older than they do in canon now?

There were certainly a few aspects of the issue that came across as lazy and ill thought out to me, and the entire idea of the story arc first and foremost feels like padding, purely for the sake of having Bruce and Selina’s wedding be able to take place in issue #50. Now, I could be wrong. There could be more to be revealed in the next two issues that will justify the choices made here (I don’t, for example, know enough about Booster Gold to say if he’s really a stupid enough character to think doing something like this was actually a good idea. And I absolutely do believe some explanation for why any supers that go to Gotham turn into Jokers will happen), but you’re right, the rest of the Batfamily’s fates were what bugged me most.

Personal opinions below the cut.

Dick’s is the biggest. I just can’t see how, in a universe without Bruce, he would have landed on the idea of Batman himself? Except that Batman existing in every reality is something DC seem determined to cleave to. It would have made much more sense for a universe where Bruce never took up the cowl and Dick’s own parents still died that the Court of Owls would snap him up, since in post-52 canon his adoption by one of the most famous people in Gotham was the only reason why they didn’t. Or, they could have gone with the idea of Raptor successfully taking Dick in and raising him himself, which would have been very interesting to me to see. Other universes like Earth 2 have explored what kind of life Dick would live without Bruce as well. There he became a war photographer and married Barbara, at least until Apokolips came along and destroyed the Earth. Please read Earth 2, guys, it’s so good. Letting him become a cop would have worked too! But yeah, primarily for me if you wanted to give Dick a worse life in Bruce’s absence, the Court of Owls is right there. I would have been far more intrigued by him as a Talon than killer Batman aka Jason in BftC.

Jason’s… Jason’s is actually okay, the more I think about it? It is nice to see a universe where he’s doing well at least, and working with cars feels appropriate as a job he would go for (personally, I’d have loved to see him as a librarian or teacher, though *cough*). Maybe he even actually started off working in chop shops before breaking free and starting his own legitimate business. But if they explored a route where he became a full on criminal as Bruce always feared he would have been without his intervention my fanfic senses are tingling towards an involvement with Black Mask, or possibly gone the addict route that led to him becoming Father Todd in Flashpoint, that also would have felt a natural progression in terms of Jason’s pre-Batman backstory. They could have even done a Robin Hood type thing? I would be all kinds of down for criminal Jason still with a heart of gold.

(Or you know, maybe he just got murdered but didn’t come back. A page of a gravestone inscribed with his name would have 100% killed me. Ow.) 

But yeah, thinking it through, this one I don’t mind so much. It’s just not what I would have chosen. it also bugs me that it doesn’t actually feel like King thought it out much beyond, “haha tyres, geddit?”

Now onto Tim. Tim. As you said, it feels so wrong to see him stuck in a dead end office job, and that’s probably what they were going for (evidently sticking to the New 52 reboot of Tim’s parents not being wealthy business people the way they were originally, else surely he would be running Drake Industries by now). But my gut also tells me Tim would have found something else to turn his focus on. He’s smart, he’s capable. He’s always the one who says that he never actually wanted to be Robin, but did because he felt he had to. He’s also the most well-adjusted out of the lot. Getting stuck in a cubicle for the rest of his life doesn’t feel like him. I’m going to pretend he’s doing the Elliot Alderson thing and is secretly a social justice hacker only working this job as a cover.

Damian doesn’t exist without Bruce. This one makes perfect sense and I have no quarrel with it. I also loved seeing Talia stand up to Ra’s with “No, I will be the one who inherits your kingdom. No one else is worthy.” Go, Talia, go!

Duke’s is awful, but with them running the plot that anyone with powers turns into a Joker it works within the rules of the universe established so far. So… *flaps hand*

I do have to be honest, it’s a Wonderful Life style plots are never my favourite, and I did groan back when I saw the original solicitations for this arc come out, so i was somewhat biased from the start. But I also like Tom King’s writing and have really been enjoying his run on the series so far, so I hope he makes this end up better than it initially seems to be. Then again, maybe it’s because his focus is so intently on Bruce and Selina that was done with the Robins here feels like such a throwaway. I can’t say for sure, only wait and see what happens in the next two issues.

[surveystodestressme]

21.

1. When you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? usually more milk than cereal

2. Do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a winter day? i love it!!! i can’t wait for that feeling, honestly

3. What random objects do you use to bookmark your books? like receipts, sometimes napkins or toilet paper, or usually whatever is near me when i need a bookmark

4. How do you take your coffee/tea? i have a lil sugar and some milk in my coffee, and a lot of sugar and sometimes honey in my tea

5. Are you self-conscious of your smile? not at all

6. Do you keep plants? i don’t have any plants inside my home.  we used to have a tomato plant outside but it never grew back

7. Do you name your plants? -

8. What artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? occasionally i draw and when i do i use permanent marker

9. Do you like singing/humming to yourself? sure, i don’t usually mean to hum but i sing to myself allll the time

10. Do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? it’s a mixture between my stomach and my side

11. What’s your inner joke you have with your friends? ummm, i have so many it’s hard to think of one right now though.

12. What’s your favourite planet? i think jupiter is incredibly fascinating

13. What’s something that made you smile today? seeing my sister graduate from retraining

14. If you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? i’d like a really nice apartment.  nothing too big or too small.  i want a large kitchen though, where there’s enough space for all of my stuff and so me and jack could coook together in a nice space.  i want the bathroom to have a tub/shower combo so we can take baths and showers together.  i don’t really care how big the bedroom is, but i want a walk in closet bc i have a lot of shit.  then i want the living room area to be big enough so we can both have our desks and computers in there, and our 2 couches that we already have.

15. Go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! “Neutron stars can spin at a rate of 600 rotations per second.”

16. What’s your favourite pasta dish? oh golly.  i love pasta salad.  i’m very picky on it though

17. What colour do you really want to dye your hair? purple

18. Tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. omg so one time i made videos on facebook for my friends when i was really young.  i made a video about stupid shit like unicorns and sex and my friends tagged me in it every single year to remind me about it until i eventually deleted it and now they found another one of those videos and they still bug me about it allll the time,

19. Do you keep a journal? What do you write/draw in it? yes, but i don’t write in it nearly as much as i used to

20. What’s your favourite eye colour? i don’t have one

21. Talk about your favourite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. well, my mother got me this really nice tote for christmas either last year or the year before and it is pink and grey striped and it says “punky” on it, which is my nickname.  i take it to work with me every day and i just love it to pieces... but it really needs to be washed lol.

22. Are you a morning person? absolutely not

23. What’s your favourite thing to do on lazy days where you have no obligations? i like to lay down and either watch a show or read

24. Is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? my boyfriend.

25. What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? i’ve broken into my own house before... actually, a few times

26. What are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit? i had a pair of moccasins that i wore with EVERYTHING but i just recently got rid of them because they were pretty nasty and worn down

27. What’s your favourite bubblegum flavour? anything fruity

28. Sunrise or sunset? sunset.

29. What’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? i love when jack talks about computer stuff, he loves it to much and it just makes me happy and kind of turns me on sometimes..

30. Think of it: have you ever been truly scared? yeah

31. What is your opinion of socks? Do you like wearing weird socks? Do you sleep with socks? Do you confine yourself to white sock hell? Really, just talk about socks. yeah, i love socks almost as much as i love shoes.  i never wear socks to bed because it makes me feel hot.  i do have white socks but they’re no show socks so nobody sees them anyways.  the weird thing is, i always have to buy new socks because i forget to cut my toenails and then they become talons and they cut through the fabric of my socks and then i have holes in my socks and i have to throw them away... lol.  it sucks

32. Tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with your friends. oh god.  my friends and i used to party a lot after we graduated high school.  i’ve definitely almost lost my virginity at one of those parties.  i also kind of threw myself at anyone there.  like, by the end of the night i had ended up kissing almost everyone at the party.  it was kind of pathetic and i;m very glad that i’m passed that.

33. What’s your favourite pastry? i don’t think i have one

34. Tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. What is it called? What does it look like? Do you still keep it? i never had a stuffed animal as a child.  i had a baby blankie that i just recently converted into a pillow case

35. Do you like stationery and pretty pens and so on? Do you use them often? nahh

36. Which band’s sound would fit your mood right now? i dunno, something mellow and relaxing

37. Do you like keeping your room messy or clean? clean

38. Tell us about your pet peeves! i have so many, man.  like, i had when i can hear people chewing on their food, when i am trying to sleep i need the room in complete silence and when someone (my cat or if i’m sleeping in the same room as someone else) makes noise it really pisses me off

39. What colour do you wear the most? black.

40. Think of a piece of jewellery you own: what’s its story? Does it have any meaning to you? i don’t wear a lot of jewelry to be honest.

41. What’s the last book you remember really, really loving? i just finished the illuminae books and they were terrific!

42. Do you have a favourite coffee shop? Describe it! i like the broken tree that’s a couple minutes driving distance from my house

43. Who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? jack probably

44. When was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? right now

45. Do you trust your instincts a lot? i try to

46. Tell us the worst pun you can think of. i am so not good with puns guys

47. What food do you think should be banned from the universe? beets.

48. What was your biggest fear as a kid? Is it the same today? oh god, i had a fear that something was going to come out of the toilet while i was sitting on it and eat me or drag me in or something.  and then after i watched the movie mirrors, i was terrified to look into any reflective surface (i still am sometimes)

49. Do you like buying CDs and records? What was the last one you bought? i haven’t bought any in a really long time

50. What’s an odd thing you collect? i collect shot glasses, but i don’t think that’s weird

51. Think of a person. What song do you associate with them? i think of same love when i think of my sister bc she’s gay lol

52. What are your favourite memes of the year so far? i’m not really into memes

53. Have you ever watched The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Heathers? Beetlejuice? Pulp Fiction? What do you think of them? i’ve actually never seen any of those but i really, really need to

54. Who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face? this guy at red lobster who sat down before us but didn’t get waited on until 10 mins or so after we had gotten waited on, i felt bad 4 him

55. What’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point? i’m so dramatic, man, i can only imagine

56. What are some things you find endearing in people? idk

57. Go listen to Bohemian Rhapsody. How did it make you feel? Did you dramatically reenact the lyrics? i love that song! it makes me feel so many emotions, especially the first time i heard it.  i always dramatically lip sync that song lol i love it so much

58. Who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? Why? i am definitely the vodka aunt and i think my friend mariann would be the wine mom lol, just how our personalities would be

59. What’s your favourite myth? bigfoot

60. Do you like poetry? What are some of your favourites? i’m not a huge poetry person honestly.

61. What’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? The stupidest one you’ve ever received? i got a silly figurine last year that made no sense to me and i gave my brother a snuggie for his dick as a gag gift a few years back lol

62. Do you drink juice in the morning? Which kind? nope, but if i did it’d be apple juice

63. Are you fussy about your books and music? Do you keep them meticulously organised or kinda leave them be? yes  i have my books in alphabetical order according to series and stuff like that.  and then i have the books i haven;t read on a second shelf so i know that i need to read them

64. What colour is the sky where you are right now? black.

65. Is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with? of course

66. What would your ideal flower crown look like? light blue, dark blue, purple, and red.  big big flowers

67. How do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel? i actually really like them

68. What’s winter like where you live? it’s freezing as hell.

69. What are your favourite board games? i feel like i’ve answered this question soooo many times

70. Have you ever used a ouija board? my friend used to have one but i am not into that freaky shit

71. What’s your favourite kind of tea? lipton? lol

72. Are you a person that needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it? yeah

73. What are some of your worst habits? i bite my nails a lot, and the skin around my nails.  and i bike the inside of my cheek and my lips a lot.

74. Describe a good friend of yours without using their name of gendered pronouns. idk

75. Tell us about your pets! okay so we have this sweet boy named boone he’s 1 and he is a mini aussie with one blue eye and an eye that’s half blue and brown he’s really dopey.  we are babysitting my sisters dogs ava (4) and laklyn (1), laklyn is brown and has lil freckles on her face and she’s boones sister and ava is their aunt.  i have a gray and white kitty named boots, she��s 3 and she is the cuddliest and sweetest cat in the world she even gives kisses.  then there’s kitten who is a black 20lb monster of a cat she’s 5 and she pees everywhere because she’s a bitch.  then we have taz who is a fluffy calico who is afraid of everything in the entire house, she has a snaggletooth.  then there’s egg who is a large tiger striped kitty, egg loves attention & her and taz are sisters and are both about 12.

76. Is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t? sleeping

77. Pink or yellow lemonade? either or

78. Are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub? i can’t stand the damn minions

79. What’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you? jack bought me boots on our anniversary shortly after my baby passed away

80. What colour are your bedroom walls? Did you choose that colour? If so, why? purple

81. Describe one of your friends’ eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of. striking.

82. Are/were you good in school? it’s a good school, yeah

83. What’s some of your favourite album art? idk man

84.  Are you planning on getting tattoos? Which ones? yep!! tons

85. Do you read comics? What are your favourites? kickass and scott pilgrim

86. Do you like concept albums? Which ones? sure

87. What are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives? the saw movies!!!

88. Are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy? all of ‘em

89. Are you close to your parents? i think so.  more so to my mother

90. Talk about one of your favourite cities. idon’t have one

91. Where do you plan on travelling this year? i don’t have a plan to travel anywhere this year,  but next year jackson wants to go to visit his family in south carolina

92. Are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch? i’d rather have a lot than a little

93. What’s the hairstyle you wear the most? my hair down bc it’s too short to do anything with right now

94. Who was the last person you know to have a birthday? uhhh... my mother a few days ago actually

95. What are your plans for this weekend? the weekend is almost over lol

96. Do you install your computer updates really quickly, or do you procrastinate on them a lot? procrastinate

97. Myer Briggs type, Zodiac sign, and Hogwarts house? idk, aries, and slytherin

98. When’s the last time you went hiking? Did you enjoy it? it’s beena  really long time, and i really did enjoy it

99. List some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them. idk

100. If you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go five years into the past, the other five years into the future, which one would you press? Why? definitely five years into the future.  i would just want to see how everything is in my life, see if it turned out how i wanted it to.

[mothtarts]

coming back to this but more seriously

i would first and foremost define what overwatch and talons main goals are. we don’t even rlly know that yet?? i would not bring up sombras goals until the goals and dynamics of the main organizations are established.

i would also define how much power the 2 groups have.

talon would be huge and have networks everywhere. they would be working with big world governments like tne u.s, russia, u.k, china whatever. just supplying them weapons and power. i wouldn’t want them to be manipulating all governments in the background because that is to similar to a lot of antisemitic conspiracy theories. it also takes away from how evil these world powers actually are by making an “evil corrupt group” be behind them instead.

overwatch would be a small vigilante group not approved by the government. there would be internal conflict about wether they should try to get government approval, but eventually it is decided that’s its best to do what they want without government rules. they instead set up an online network we’re average ppl ask them for help. there are barly any members and no one wants to join from the negative emotions still remaining from old overwatch. i want them to be checked and monitored by the ppl directly but i don’t know how to achieve that. maybe some sort of weekly meeting with nominated reps?

the two forces would clash in different locations that overwatch was informed about. the main characters in this arc where talon and overwatch interact would be reaper, baptiste, ana, soldier76, sombra and moira. i feel that all of them(except sombra but i’ll get to her) have the most interesting story potential for this kind of fight between organizations. overwatch would uncover the crazy amounts of power that talon has and work to take it down. baptiste would be first introduced as talon but change sides half way thro. soldier and ana start to suspect something is up with reaper/ reaper doesn’t know who soldier is but has strong deja vu around him. something something gay stuff. sombra temporarily joins up with overwatch to take down a huge chain of weapon manufacturers and sweat shops owned by talon.

sombra would also be there to st up a different series or the next arc where it focuses on the new gen of overwatch + some of the younger veterans as guidance, that would include pharah, d.va, kiriko, sombra and Brigitte as the main focuses. cassidy, genji and mercy would be role model/ mentor characters. (if you’ve seen young justice think the dynamic of the justice league with the team in s1) reinhart and tracer would also be relevant but not as important. hanzo would be there but i dunno how to stick him into such an already packed cast. the other cast from the past arc/show would be in this as well. it’s important that they have some focus , but they already had their time to shine and got developed in their struggles during the past show/arc. this arc is about the new gen breaking the generational cicle and finally healing the trauma caused from the struggles of the past. they would disband talon with the help of sombra and reaper who had a change of heart thanks to old friends (and lovers i love gay old men)

there could be a spin off novel focusing on kiriko genji and hanzo and their shit. they take down the shimada clan it would be fuuuuun

i also do not care about the Australians sooo idk their just vibing. i forgot some characters that i do love like mei, orisa, widowmaker and ashe but i don’t know how to fit them into already such a packed cast. with ashe i would at least give her a spin-off comic with cassidy

this got super fucking long but it was super fun! if you read all of it thank you

they should just put me in charge of writing overwatch lore. i would do so well. first thing would to make reaper 76 cano-

[mochatea-and-kittens-blog]

So I lose notes a lot even on my phone, or sometimes just forget them completely so here’s the notes I have currently on my Star Trek AU! Overwatch ;;; hopefully someone gets something outta this??? Idk??? If anyone has feedback or smthn I’d be happy to hear it I guess ;;

This is technically a Voyager AU, bc that seemed like the most interesting to explore w the Overwatch characters 88,) and also I’m biased Voyager is my favourite,, there are some changes ; like Talon exists instead of the Marquis (am I spelling right 88,) ), n obviously the characters and shit, but all the aliens that exist in Voyager exist in the AU.

Some of the characters are aliens lol..

More important provisional members ;; McCree, Junkrat and Roadhog were part of Talon in this AU so that makes five !

So obviously this has a plot closer to that of Voyager than that of Overwatch..

I did consider just going all out and renaming Starfleet Overwatch but ??? Idk ???

This is an AU I came up with after a night of no sleep quickly followed by being reminded by someone how much I love B'elanna Torres so . Idk ??? It’s probably bad..

Anyways here are the position headcanons!!!

Main Bridge: Captain: Jack Morrison (Security) First Officer: Ana Amari (Medical) (Commander) Conns: Tracer (Ensign) Ops: Hana Song (Ensign)

Others: Security Chief: Gabriel Reyes (Lieutenant) (“Provisional”) Jesse McCree (Lieutenant Junior Grade) (“Provisional”) Fareeha Amari (Lieutenant Junior Grade) Reinhardt Wilhelm (Lieutenant) Aleksandra Zaryanova (Lieutenant Junior Grade) Chief Scientist: Winston (Lieutenant Junior Grade) Mei-Ling Zhou (Lieutenant Junior Grade) Medical Chief: Angela Ziegler (Lieutenant) Tekhartha Zenyatta (counsellor too, no rank ???) Lúcio Correia dos Santos (Ensign) Chief Engineer: Torbjörn (Lieutenant Commamder) Satya Vaswani Jamison Fawkes (Ensign) (“Provisional”)

N/A:

Sombra

Mako Rutledge

Amèlie Lacroix

Hanzo Shimada

Genji Shimada

Bastion

So the three marked with “Provisional”, along with Sombra, Roadhog, and Widowmaker, were the six main Talon members who got allowed to be parts of the crew.

Ana originally trained to be a medical officer, completed that training, and continued on to become a Commander.

Jack was training in security 88,)

Probably Gabriel went to Starfleet Academy but he was thrown out for something that wasn’t his fault and now he’s salty and leading a small group of Talon agents on missions. (Talon has fixed teams I guess???)

It’s been a while since I watched Voyager ,,, at the beginning, were the Marquis trying to stop Starfleet from doing something, or did Starfleet get Intel on where to find a group of Marquis? I’ll rewatch the first season sometime.

Anyways;; Talon was probably specifically attacking the Voyager (hey maybe I’ll call the ship Overwatch!) to gain something.

Talon is more of a terrorist organisation that the Marquis 88,)

Athena is the ship’s AI

I’m not sure whether to make Zen a robot/android or smthn, or an alien. Either would work..

Sombra is either an alien or a sentient hologram. Haven’t decided yet.

Genji got assimilated by the Borg during a mission for the Shimada clan, and Hanzo blames himself bc he had not yet finished his own mission when Genji was sent out and it would have been him sent instead of Genji if he’s been faster.

Hanzo stowed away onboard Voyager bc he heard they were supposed to be an exploration or whatever type thing 88,) and he’s looking for Genji

I think I made Genji the Seven of Nine of this AU, huh…

Idk what to do with Winston ???

I can’t remember the sciences subdivisions but I’ll decide that later when I’m more awake

Same with Aliens

We don’t rly no much about Doomfist but dumb side note! He’d probably be Trill

I kinda wanna make Ana half Klingon and Fareeha a quarter Klingon but bare with me.

Zenyatta is a trained medic but he acts as the ships counsellor. I think the counsellors had ranks but I’m not sure if I want him to be a Starfleet member or not yet. He’s a Lieutenant JG for now.

Hog is probably an alien but I’m not sure what yet

Junkrat too maybe???

I’m a little rusty on the aliens of Star Trek, sorry,,,

There are some others who I’m considering making aliens;;

Genji/Hanzo, Widow, Symmetra, and the ones I’ve mentioned previously. Idk I’ll sleep on it.

Reinhardt was assigned as Security Chief, and the first to be promoted, discounting provisional ranks given, whilst in the Delta Quadrant, but he stepped down when the crews merged as a sign of good faith. Torbjörn probably dislikes Reyes bc of this,,,

tbh Reyes was another character I was considering for Klingon

Side note two; Ensign Hana Song is my new favourite thing,,,

Also Ensign Lúcio helping Mercy around the medbay,,,

I honestly don’t remember much from the science departments in any of the series’??? Were they important???

Symmetra mans the transporter and you can’t convince me otherwise!!!

How is Rat still allowed inside Engineering? We will never know..

Reyes’ team was a nightmare to work with; three of them wanted to go in covert, two of them wanted literally everything to blow up, and the sixth kept missing their meetings and actually dresses up like a cowboy.

Poor Reyes.

Idk what to do with Bastion???

If I knew how to put this post under a cut, I wood. Apologies.

Any feedback or smthn? Anyone get through it? This is kinda a mess sorry..

If I figure anything else out I’ll like

post it I guess..

[diiscordare]

really  LONG  CHARACTER  SURVEY.      RULES.  repost ,   don’t  reblog  !    tag  10  ! good  luck  !      TAGGED.   @vortship thank u !!      TAGGING. if u see it do it, say i tagged.

BASICS.

FULL  NAME :   adrastia dranias NICKNAME :   ad, addy, adra, lady ruin, patron wrath, empress of fire.  AGE :   ancient. BIRTHDAY :   --- ETHNIC  GROUP : yolgonian | closely reminiscent of greeks+sicilians. NATIONALITY :   yolgonian | arca’treskri LANGUAGE / S :  English+Omnilingual to a majority of earth languages -- fluent in primarily all romance languages, rusty in others | Draconic | Elven ( old & new ) | Dwarven | rusty Demonic SEXUAL  ORIENTATION :  n/a. the concept of sexuality & romance is different in her culture, and not bound to terms. Adrastia is, however, majorly interested in males with a few exceptions.  ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION :   see above. majorly male. RELATIONSHIP  STATUS :   verse dependent. main ship with alex mercer. HOME  TOWN / AREA :  Potestas, Capitol of the Yolgonik Empire on planet Arca’treskri. CURRENT  HOME :   Potestas, a few small locations scattered about earth.  PROFESSION :  Empress of the Yolgonik Empire | High Enchantress 

PHYSICAL.

HAIR : to her ankles, extremely thick and curly/wavy. often pulled into a half bun. varying shades of bright red, orange, yellow, and plum.  EYES :   black scleras, orange/red irises, yellow pupils. ring of red around irises. FACE :  oval-diamond. strong jawline & features. flat nose bridge, a similar trait in dragons & elves. LIPS :   full, upper lip tattooed black & lower lip tattooed with a thick line down the center. COMPLEXION :  taken care of, smooth and lightly freckled it appears.  BLEMISHES : none. SCARS : across the bridge of her nose, and one down her right eyebrow. various others scattered about, less noticed.  TATTOOS :  none yet. post-war, she’ll have one. HEIGHT :   6′6″ and growing. expected to reach 7′ by the time the war ends. WEIGHT :   400+, she’s heavy. BUILD :   slender, athletic/toned/muscled. curved hips, small bust, defined. FEATURES :  large horns that curve about her face ( think argali horns ), pointed ears, sharpened teeth, talon-like fingers. scales cover her body, though can be hidden at will by magic. sometimes a ridged back. four large wings. nipple piercings! common in her culture.  ALLERGIES :   n/a. USUAL  HAIR  STYLE :  let loose and wild, like a giant mane. USUAL  FACE  LOOK :  minimal eye makeup, usually black and sharp. lower lip stud, septum piercing.  USUAL  CLOTHING :   it varies depending on her duties. a mix of regal wear and battle armor, silks & leather combined with worn metal armor crafted just for her. plenty of jewelry ( rings & necklaces her favorite ), neck hoops, and anklets. headdresses even, adorned in feathers or scales, bones as well -- dependent on if it’s for war or for other occasions. war face paint, in black, and certain sections of her body exposed -- primarily back,though covered in scales. 

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S :   lack of control | lack of freedom | cold, open water | drowning | losing any more children | failing her empire | confined spaces  ASPIRATION / S : Succeed in the war, further strengthen the empire. Become a dragon sorceress and restore magical balance. return shiloh to the realm, so she can have an heir to the throne.  POSITIVE  TRAITS : Motherly | Brave | Intellegent | Confident | Passionate | Protective | Proud  NEGATIVE  TRAITS :   Manipulative | Explosive | Angry | Violent | Possessive | Stubborn  MBTI :   EXECUTIVE (ESTJ-A) ZODIAC :   Leo TEMPEREMENT :    Choleric SOUL  TYPE / S :   leader, performer, hunter ANIMALS :   lion, bearded vulture.  VICE  HABIT / S :   growling, eyebrow raising, nail tapping, facial expressions, eye rolling, joint cracking. fidgets with hair, ears twitch.  FAITH : believer & follower of the 9 Dragon Gods.  GHOSTS ? :   yes   AFTERLIFE ? :   varies REINCARNATION ? :   varies ALIENS ? : yes POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT :  n/a.  EDUCATION  LEVEL :   full education in her world. battle-trained and magic trained as well. 

FAMILY.

FATHER :   lykos mathisis MOTHER :   leukotheia dranias SIBLINGS :   kenos mathisis EXTENDED  FAMILY :   n/a NAME  MEANING / S :   adrastia ( adrestia/adresteia ) “she who cannot be escaped” “the inescapable” “the goddesss of righteous anger”, greek origins and tied to greek mythology. leukotheia chose the name to honor her daughter’s fiery and stubborn nature, as adrastia is truly inescapable. i chose it similarly when I was making her, as adrastia is known as lady ruin and patron wrath, a force one cannot escape. she is rutheless. HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ? :   adrastia is written about in many ancient tomes in vague mention, never by name, but titles. she’s one of the many ancients to have roamed earth and influence human history, as was her mother. she was found and written about primarily in ancient greece, ancient egypt, and all over the middle-east -- though she does have some influence in scandanavia & asia when she was in search of shochraos ( second oldest of the dragon gods ). 

FAVORITES.

BOOK :  n/a. historical tomes native to earth and her world.  MOVIE : n/a 5  SONGS :  n/a. DEITY :   i associate adrastia with sekhmet a lot, though of the dragon gods she has always favored shochraos, who has close ties to aiding all royals.  HOLIDAY :   n/a. MONTH :   July SEASON :   summer PLACE :   deserts/anywhere hot or warm. hawaii is nice too -- she sleeps in the volcanoes.  WEATHER :   hot, dry or humid. SOUND : rumbling of volcanoes or fire crackle.  SCENT / S :   mulled wine. fresh meat. smoke.  TASTE / S :   raw meat. sweet fruits. blood at times. gems. FEEL / S : silk, chiffon, leather, soot.  ANIMAL / S :   caltixens, native to her world.  NUMBER :  n/a COLORS :  reds, oranges, purples. rich, warm colors.

EXTRA.

TALENTS :   super flexible/strong--well trained in fighting with hands and weapons, magical arts, leading,  BAD  AT : being nice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TURN  ONS :  biting, scratching, confidence, anger, violence lol gross ad !!, dominance...it’s difficult to say, there are a lot of lil things that get her going. TURN  OFFS : HUMANS. cold. idk. ad is weird. she hates being insulted, belittled, and disrespected--easiest way to lose her interest or possibly get eaten by an enraged dragon.  HOBBIES :   meditating, reading/researching/learning, singing, yoga/exercising.  TROPES :  n.a. too many. QUOTES :  “ Well-behaved women seldom make history. “ “ My touch is lethal, my touch is power. “ “ You philosophers are lucky men ; You write on paper, and paper is patience. Unfortunate Empress that I am, I write on the susceptible skin of living beings. “ “ Power without a nation’s confidence is nothing. “ “ Blessed be she who is both furious and magnificent. “ 

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC / S : wrathia bellarmina and gal gadot.  ALT  FC / S : OLDER  FC / S :   YOUNGER  FC / S :   VOICE  CLAIM / S : n/a. GENDERBENT  FC / S :  

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 :   if  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own  movie ,   what  would  it  be  called ,  what  style  would  it  be  filmed  in ,  and  what  would  it  be  about ?          A1 :  idk about a title but, lotr meets the magic of doctor strange, probably a series focusing on the world of arca’treskri and the 10 year war of yolgonik. probably an origin of adrastia and then the war. this story spans novels.  Q2 :   what  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like ?          A2 :   reminiscent of dragon age: inquisition, audiomachine, and inspired by afro + aztec drumming. lots of instrumentals with intense sound and loud drums, chanting in draconic or elven.  Q3 :   why  did  you  start  writing  this  character ?          A3 :   i wanted to branch into the world of tumblr rp with an oc, after writing a canon muse for a few months -- so i made a multimuse, which featured adrastia. she’s changed a bit since i first made her, but not too much. eventually she kicked all the other muses out and now I’ve had her for 4 years runnin’. i hope to write a series one day. if i get off my ass ! Q4 :   what  first  attracted  you  to  this  character ?          A4 :   she’s like...the embodiment of female power, strength, and raw emotion. i liked the idea of writing a character that embodied chaos, anger, and power, while still maintaining a regal & empiric poise. adrastia is very deadly, but very poised. i love her...... Q5 :   describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse.          A5 :   i love adrastia excuse me. Q6 :   what  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse ?          A6 :  im a firm believer in strong female power and being a bad bitch. im also angry 99% of the time. Q7 :   how  does  your  muse  feel  about  you ?          A7 :  she’d prolly dislike me bc im human but i’m her mom so she has to love me. Q8 :   what  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions  with ?        A8 : she has interesting interactions with everyone i’ve threaded with -- i enjoy her interactions between nonhumans a lot, though, as she tends to immediately push away human muses. other dragons is always a plus too, seeing the different cultural interactions between my dragon lore and theirs.  Q9 :   what  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse ?         A9 :   dark, intense music -- instrumental and lyrical. watching/playing/reading anything fantasy-related, and reading lore, mythologies, and religions. i study that shit hardcore.  Q10 :   how  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete ?          A10 : too long. this has been sitting in my drafts for a fuccin m o n t h.