#if I were his underling I'd be asking why

[superwholockian93]

Seo Doyoung looking at Shin Hakyun's character

"This pathetic scaredy old man has bewitched me mind and soul"

[sunnysana]

Kim Suncheol x F! Reader / hospital buddies

Summary: You and Suncheol met each other in the hospital frequently and get closer. What will it become?

Warning(s): none?

A/N: I don't know if there are many Suncheol lovers out there, but when I got the idea to write about this, I just had to. I haven't seen a fic about him before so I'll have to make one myself. I hope you guys enjoy it!

There you are again, the same place with the never-ending white walls. Neat and sterile as a hospital should be.

You visited the place often as your younger sibling had been placed there diagnosed of a rare disease. It is curable. However, it would take time to heal.

That's why they have to stay in the hospital for an unknown amount of time. So often after school you head there to pay them a visit.

Though maybe it's not the only reason you visit the place this often. There's this attractive guy who comes to visit the room next to your sibling often around the same time as you. Though you like to call it a bonus of coming here often.

You've chatted many times with him for the last couple of weeks as you crossed paths. You found out he's around your age, but a year higher whose school is Yuseong technicall high.

However, you were from a neighboring school. To be honest, you've heard tons of bad rumors about his school and how it's a crazy place you don't mind it.

How can he be dangerous when he's so sweet and polite to you and the man he visits? Maybe you're a bit naive. He does look a bit rugged from the outside with his piercings, but that's just your type. He's just a secret softie somewhere inside.

Just as you were about to leave to get back home you spot Suncheol leaving his grandfather's room about to close the door. He had told you about how much his grandfather liked to study and frequently did a test.

Suncheol noticed you, too, and stopped his tracks. "Oh, hey, I didn't think I'd see you again," he stated meanwhile he had hoped upon arrival he'd catch a glimpse of you. His friends would definitely laugh at him if they saw the way he was around you.

You replied with a chuckle and asked the question that had become a routine. "How is he doing?" And he'd always ask the same. "He's doing alright as usual. How about the brat?" He says playfully. "Just fine but not healing yet... wanna head for a walk senior? We have to head the same way anyway"

You nudged him and took his arm, linking it with yours with a playful smile etched on your face teasing him. On the inside, he blushed like a school girl but tried keeping up an indifferent expression but a small smile to look tough.

What you both didn't know was that his grandpa had seen the encounter from the space between the unclosed door, making him smile. It gave him a bit of hope to see his grandson around a good girl, though he had already known about you.

Suncheol had mentioned you to his grandfather before when he was asking around like usual about his life and when he'd finally get a girlfriend. He just tried to play it off as nothing serious but a small crush.

"Oh, the junior wants to go on a walk?" He received the same energy passing the vibe. "Sure, I'm sure you're dying to chat again as always."

You started walking through the white halls to the exit, still holding his arm losely. Luckily, no one from yuseong was around, or he'd have been ridiculed for acting this softly. He's not exactly known for being the brightest as he's Hanwools 'underling'.

Though his two best friends would probably be proud of his for finally getting closer to you as they know about you cause they've spotted him around you at the hospital exit before.

The walk was nice as you both chatted away like usual. Like an immediate click, you both got along from the start as you've never experienced before.

He made you feel a bit shy even though you're extroverted by nature. Even you managed to see him behind the tough facade he had built and have seen the real him. Though you had no clue about the way he acts at Yuseong.

Footsteps are heard on the pavement as you walk side by side, nearing a convenience store. He had been thinking about ways he could un obviously ask you on a date and got a perfect idea.

"Hey, it's getting a bit late, wanna grab some Ramyeon? My treat." He offered, trying to make it seem casual. "Bet! sounds good. I could use a bite to eat. I'm starving for some Ramyeon."

You accept his suggestion, happy he somewhat asked you out. That's what you liked to think. What you both were oblivious to was the fact you both wished it was a real date.

He opened the door for you, and you both head in, picking out your favorite type of ramyeon. You start preparing them with hot water as he purchases some drinks.

With the steaming hot cups, you walk to a seating area and wait for him to sit opposing to you. Subconsciously, you place your head on your hand leaning on the table as you admire him from afar.

Your friends would probably think you have an odd type, especially cause he's from a school like Yuseong, but you never cared.

You quickly raise your head up and perfect your posture a bit as he takes a seat, placing two bottles of strawberry milk on the table. He had picked it with the thought of you when picking it, associating you with the sweet flavor and cute demeanor

"You do like strawberry milk, right?"? He says, popping a straw in each drink, hoping he got something you like. "Yeah it's my favorite actually" a small blush tints your cheeks making them a bit rosy "thanks".

That relieved him, and he took a sip himself. "I've never really been the one for sweet things however lately I've been doubting that." He states knowing he's hinting its you but hoped you wouldn't catch on.

"What made you pick this then?" You place the end of the pink straw in your mouth and sip on it as well, looking him in the eyes. He thought for a moment and replied, "Just started liking something sweet lately. I just got a craving for it. Actually kinda like it now."

He admitted sheepishly before trying to shift your attention. "Here, let me help you with this..." he reaches out before you could react and open the lid of the ramyeon cup more than you had when pouring in water, ripping it off with care. Making your heart flutter.

"You know, you're not bad for a Yuseong senior," you mumble shyly. His heart skipped a beat, noticing your demeanor.

A chat and cup of ramyeon later you both finish up and he throws aways the emty cups. Then signals for you to come with a nod of his head to come so you can head out together.

Only inches apart, you walk side by side, leaving the convenience store you had both had your first unofficial date at.

It wasn't that late yet, and you didn't wanna part ways yet so you brought up an offer. "Wanna hang out more? My place is right around the corner and my parents aren't home right now..."

You try to be smooth and casual but fail to hide your nervousness anticipation his reply.

He, on the other hand, didn't think you'd ask. He had been trying to get an excuse to be with you for longer as well and saw this as a perfect opportunity.

"Yeah? Sure, let's go." He accepted freaking out a bit inside, the cute girl he'd be pining on for a while now asked him over to her place? Ofcourse he's accepting that.

The walk was short but pleasant. As you get there, you both take your shoes off and get on the sofa. Sitting a bit closer than usual, he speaks up after some conversation. "You know, it was really fun back there... do you maybe wanna go on a real date next time?"

He tried acting tough and cool to impress you but failed to hide his nerves. He had been trying to man up and ask you out for real the whole night. Now he finally got confident to ask he just had to pray you'd accept.

You, on the other hand, became a blushing mess. You had been only dreaming on this moment but not daring to believe it would happen. "You wanna go on a date with me?"

You process and light up with joy. "Yes, yes please, you don't know how long I've been waiting for you to ask." You hug him.

Imagine the reaction of his grandfather and friends when they find out just how much of a softie he became for you.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A/N: I loved writing this smmmm. It's so fluffy and cute to me, and I hope you guys think the same. Now I'm just hoping there's people who know/like this cutie.

More requests coming up soon!

[hitomisuzuya]

hey Suzu!! I just had an idea 😩😩

A fatui!scara x agent!reader where he’s coming back from a mission and we welcome him by being his Christmas gift, wearing his fav lingerie 🤭 idk if it’s really clear, I hope so..

Scaramouche x fem!reader. Comfort smut. Cunnilingus. Praise. Soft Scara.

It was perfectly clear😳😌

Scaramouche had told you no when you asked to go with him on his mission. It was too cold outside for yo, humans got cold easily. But, after he'd kissed you goodbye, he'd promised that he would be home to spend Christmas with you.

Honestly, he thought you were going to be pissed at him. The usual incompetence from his underlings made the mission go on longer than it should've. He was determined to keep his promise to you.

"I'm home," Scaramouche called out, taking off his hat to brush the snow off of it as he closed the door behind him. Huh? He was confused when he wasn't greeted with the usual hug and "I missed you." that you always graced him with.

You were nowhere to be found.

"Wait, wait, don't come in yet. Why won't this stupid thing tie?" He heard you say. He blinked. What was this nonsense?

He could hear you sighing in an annoyed manner, and was about to come into the bedroom to help you because it obviously sounded like you were struggling with something. However, a few moments later, you appeared in the doorway of the bedroom.

Scaramouche immediately saw what you had been struggling with. There you were, standing in the doorway wearing his favorite purple and black lingerie with a red ribbon tied like a bow around your wrist.

"I was going to be waiting by the Christmas tree, but you came home before I was ready," You admitted, looking away with a shy blush on your cheeks.

A smirk tugged on the corners of Scaramouche's mouth as he reached from your wrist. "If you don't mind, I'd like to unwrap my gift now," He said, tugging on one of the ends of the bow.

He scooped you up bridal style and carried you over to the bed. Gently he set you down in front of the bed, his hand already reaching back to unclasp your bra.

Scaramouche pressed gentle kisses down your neck as he dropped your bra to the floor. You let out a shaky sigh, goosebumps dotting your skin. He kissed a line from your throat to your breasts. "Purple always looks so pretty against your skin," He said, sweeping his tongue out to kitten lick your nipple.

Hearing praise from Scaramouche sounded as good as his lips and tongue felt on your nipple. Bolts of pleasure went straight to your clit, your nipple hardening as he swirled his tongue around it. He sucked until soft moans sounded from you.

To further stimulate you, he gave your other nipple the same attention, dipping his hand down between your legs to rub and stroke your cunt outside your panties.

He rubbed slow circles on your throbbing clit, moving your hips flush with his so you could feel his hardening cock press against your thigh. He gently put more pressure on your clit when you started to roll your hips into his fingers.

Scaramouche kissed you, swallowing your moans of protest when he took his fingers off your clit. He backed you up towards the bed, gently laying you down on your back.

His thumbs skimmed lovingly on the insides of your thighs, pulling your panties off and spreading your legs. "Let me show you how much I appreciate my gift," He said, brushing his fingers featherlight over your hips.

His tongue darted out to lick slow lines up and down your cunt. He moaned loud in bliss, his tongue eagerly soaking up how good you tasted as he swirled it around your clit.

Your hips jerked up when Scaramouche latched his lips around your clit. Your hand flew to the back of his head, pressing his mouth down onto your cunt. He caressed your hips, watching your face contort in pleasure.

"My good girl," He vibrated a moan on your clit, pushing two fingers inside of you, "my sweet girl, giftwrapping yourself just for me." He nudged and curled his fingers into your sweet spot, his tongue relentless as he lapped and sucked on your clit.

His pleasure was secondary tonight. He would gladly ignore his aching cock all night to watch you shake and writhe, drawing the sweetest moans from your throat while he slowly built up your orgasm.

Scaramouche increased the pace of his fingers, hearing your moans turned higher in pitch. "S-Scara.." was all you could manage to say, tugging on his hair as you bucked your hips into his mouth.

"Shh, relax and cum for me," He purred encouragingly, scissoring your walls apart when they clamped around his fingers.

He knew all it would take was a few more nudges into your sweet spot for the knot of your orgasm to break apart. He withdrew his fingers when he felt your release gush on them, replacing them with his tongue to taste your release.

Scaramouche nursed you through your orgasm, kitten licking your clit, leaving you breathless as you shook from the intensity.

[pinkiemachine]

Hi- it's the anon who asked about potential Dami love interests. I'd LOVE to hear more!!!

*cracks knuckles*

Dear little Damian is a troubled soul, and sadly he takes after both his parents. A travesty, I know. When trying to root around the comics and surrounding media for that one perfect love interest that everyone agrees on, I didn’t find anything except maybe Flatline, but even that’s not unanimous, and I myself am part of the reason it’s not unanimous. When I thought about it reeeally hard, I realised why the idea of putting Damian in a relationship at all has felt so tricky up until now. In short: kid’s messed up and probably shouldn’t be dating at all. A travesty, I know.

But I didn’t let that stop me!

I’m just kidding, I did, BUT THEN I had a BETTER idea!

Ahem, ahem…

Chapter 1:

In my AU, the story goes like this: Damian had never given love a second thought. He was told that one day he would need to marry to continue the Al Ghul bloodline, but nothing more. Actually, it was entirely possible that he would wind up in an arranged marriage, so it was something he really, really hadn’t bothered to think about. Then, when he turned 14, he joined the Teen Titans as their leader and met Princess Amethyst. Heir to the throne of Gemworld, temporarily on Earth due to story shenanigans, but must go back home eventually to reclaim her kingdom.

Amethyst (or Amy) became a member of the TT shortly after arriving on Earth, and at first, Damian purely saw her as an underling, but Amethyst, oh, she didn’t stand for that. See, she was raised in the courts of the Gem Palace. She had received the best education money could buy, she had been personally tutored in magic since the age of four, and she was a well-bred young lady. Whenever Damian wanted to, he got lippy and snarky and smarter-than-you toward just about anyone, but when he did it to Amy, he got back what he served and then some. Amy didn’t shrink from his angry, snide tone, she didn’t hesitate when he got philosophical or witty, she could spit facts and wax poetically as fast as he could, and she didn’t take any of his insults lying down. The other Teen Titans would often stand on the sidelines in fear and morbid entertainment as they watched the two of them go back and forth, arguing for hours sometimes. Honestly, if you asked any of them if Damian and Amy got along, they’d probably tell you they were mortal enemies. And yet, both of them found themselves willingly plunging into each argument as if they had been eagerly awaiting it. As if this other person was the first person in a long time who could actually stand on their intellectual level and not bat en eye.

Well, a few missions go by and this remains the status quo. No major relationship changes of any kind, just lots of back and forth banter.

BUT THEN—

The TT were on one mission in particular and it involved a shapeshifter. It’s nighttime, the team is in this big old abandoned building, they know this shapeshifter character is around somewhere, then they get attacked, and the group is split. Damian and Amethyst wind up alone. Together. In a section of the building. Amy suddenly appears distraught. She turns to Damian, blinking her big eyes, and while no one else is around to hear her she asks if he’s ever… felt for another person before. Damian… stares blankly at her. “Uh…” (Internally, warning bells are blaring, and he doesn’t know what to do.) Amy comes closer to him, and asks him if he’s ever felt… like he wanted to kiss someone before. Damian continues to stare blankly. “Uh…” (Inwardly, there are no more thoughts, only panic and melt down! He was never trained for this!) Amy hesitates, feeling sure that he wouldn’t understand, and for a moment, Damian thinks he’s in the clear, but then Amy changes her mind, musters her courage, and kisses him! Goosebumps. Hair standing on end. Fireworks. The whole shebang! …And then Damian falls unconscious. Yeah, that wasn’t Amethyst. That was the shapeshifter! It’s Nobody, by the way 👇 Yeah, I wanted to give her shapeshifting, because I think it would be cool for her character and other plot related reasons… see previous.

Anyway, so Damian wakes up after the mission, having been totally blindsided by Nobody, tricking him into kissing who he thought was Amy, and now he doesn’t know what to do with all that! So he pretends it never happened. No one else needs to know. And yet, he can’t help but feel some type of way whenever Amy walks by. He can’t even argue with her anymore—it makes him feel too weird! So he starts avoiding her like the plague. He doesn’t talk to her, he doesn’t look at her, she might as well not exist to him! And this… was not the smartest idea.

Ever since joining the team and meeting Damian, Amy’s felt the full sting of his insults and attacks. She’d never admit it, of course, and she tries her best to not let him get to her, but after weeks and weeks and weeks of this, she’d be lying if she said his words didn’t chip away at her heart just a little bit, wearing down her self esteem. And now, with Damian ignoring her, it only made things worse. He hated her. She was sure of it. He hated her and he wished she had never joined the team, and maybe it would better if she’d never come at all. Again, she locked these feelings away, trying her best to ignore them, but they were still there, waiting for their opportunity to make a mess, and make a mess they did.

It all came to a head after the TT came back from a botched mission. Damian was in a particularly bad mood and was tearing into some of his teammates, lecturing them about what they did wrong, and then Amy stepped up to defend them. That was the first time in weeks Damian acknowledged her, and he was savage. He didn’t pull any punches—he said aloud every single thing Amy most dreaded to hear. “You’re a burden to this team! You don’t know what you’re doing! It would be better if you’d never come to Earth at all!” Everything short of saying “I hate you.” And Amy… usually so resilient and proud and strong… finally broke. Tears slipped out before she could stop them, and she ran from the room, embarrassed. The other Titans were furious with Damian, and went to go console Amy. Even Jon, who tried his best to be patient with his friend because he knew about his awful upbringing, couldn’t defend him this time. He’d gone too far and been unnecessarily mean to someone who had only ever tried to be his friend. Jon was going to go join the others consoling her.

Damian flew back to Gotham in a rage. He spent three hours on the training course, then went up to his room and slammed the door shut. Alfred could see what was wrong the moment he set foot in the house, so he called Nightwing, hoping that the two of them could have a little chat. And chat they did. They snuck out on patrol together and Dick prodded the truth out of Damian, but he insisted that he hadn’t done anything wrong! Amy overreacted! It wasn’t his fault! Dick had to have a very long talk with him that night, and what Damian took away from it was this: Amy was his teammate, but more than that she was his friend. He can’t go around insulting her and making her cry, and the only way to stop being mean to her is to learn how to care about her and her feelings. This is a difficult concept for Damian to grasp.

The next day, Damian goes to Jon and asks him about “caring.” How does one do it? Jon does his best to explain, though he doesn’t put it quite so eloquently, and then he asks why Damian wants to know. Is this about Amy? Hmm? Does he want to care about Amy? Does he secretly like Amy? HMMM???

Damian reacts with nothing but hostility at first, rejecting such an utterly ridiculous idea, but then… he remembers the night he thought he had kissed Amy… and then he started recalling so many other things about Amy… things he admired about her… and he had to take a step back. Holy cow. He did like her. He made Jon swear to never, ever tell anyone about this under any circumstances, ever. This was a secret he would take to his grave. Especially since… Amy would leave one day, anyway. She had her kingdom to go home to. Rule as queen…

So following that conversation, Damian then goes to find Amy and apologise to her, but it doesn’t go well. Amy wants the truth out of him. No more insults or arguments or beating around the bush, she wanted to know exactly what Damian really thought of her. The truth! But Damian couldn’t tell her. She asked again. And again, he just couldn’t tell her. She left him, saying “I’ll think about accepting your apology.”

For a while, nothing more was said about it. An uneasy peace had been negotiated between the two, and while their constant ignoring of one another left the rest of the team feeling uneasy, it was at least a small improvement from constant arguing.

Finally, something came along to help set things right. During one of the big season finales, Amethyst is in mortal danger. Damian, seeing no other alternative, dives headfirst into danger, taking a bullet for her and saving her life. Amethyst refused to leave his bedside while he recovered, but once he did wake up, she made herself scarce. She was beyond grateful to him, but she couldn’t tell him that. To his face, anyway. Damian knew she was just beyond the med room door, though. He understood how she felt, and he knew the flowers by his bed were from her. He’d never appreciated flowers more in his life. But he couldn’t tell her that. Not to her face, anyway.

From that day on, Damian and Amy were on continuously improving terms, and every once in a while it wasn’t unusual for one or the other to find a gift left for them in their room or their Titans locker. Small things, usually. Get-well-soon gifts after getting injured in battle for example. They argued less, but they still never spoke to one another. Casually, that is. During missions, it was a necessity, but now they found themselves agreeing on battle strategies instead of butting heads all the time. The rest of the team was speechless.

However, all good things must come to an end. By the end of the Ultimate Teen Titans run, Amethyst’s kingdom is saved, and it’s time for her to go home and become queen. She can no longer be a Teen Titan. As she stands by the portal, waiting to take her home, she says one final goodbye to all her friends she’s come to love over the course of her stay. Lorena and Jenny… Jon, Jaime, and Virgil… and then there’s Damian. Team Captain. She gave hugs to all the others, but when she gets to Damian, she falters. In the end, all she can muster is a handshake, and all Damian can think to do is accept it. She says goodbye. He says goodbye. Even though there’s much more they wanted to say… it almost felt too cruel to say it now, on the verge of her leaving. So, Amy turns and starts walking… but that’s when Damian felt his heart pounding in his chest. He knew he’d regret not saying something now while he could—he needed to say something quickly!

“Amy!”

She turned around at once, hoping desperately that he would say the words they had both left hanging in the air. She wanted him to tell her not to go… he wanted to beg her to stay… but…

“…I… take care of yourself…”

At once, Amy’s spirits fell so low, it was just unbearable. With a quivering lip, she gave him a smile, said, “You too,” and then vanished into the portal.

Damian was left standing there, still in shock.

Over the course of the next few weeks, Bruce would routinely go looking for Damian and find him in his room, curled up on the floor by his fireplace. Titus the Great Dane was usually close by. Damian would never admit it in a million years, but Bruce knew he had been crying, at least the first time, right after Amy had left. After that… he was in a deep depression and barely ate, barely slept, and barely went outside. He would get back into the swing of things eventually—he was the son of Batman and Talia Al Ghul for pity’s sake—but for those few weeks… while he was alone… he was just a 14-year-old boy who was beating himself up over missing his last shot to tell Amy… he loved her. And now she was gone forever.

End of Chapter 1.

[mental69er]

Yandere Victoria with kidnapped reader

content: yandere victoria neuman, fem reader, kidnapping, head popping, possessive and obsessive behavior, multi part series, might not be sfw, part one of ??

"Hey, how are you holding up?" Victoria asked as she sat down next to you on the couch, glass of bourbon in her hand. The apartment was sparse, consisting of plain white walls, a bathroom, bedroom and joint living room and kitchen, all barely decorated but containing the necessities. It would be your future for however long it was deemed.

A sour truth, and one you needed help swallowing down.

"Honestly," you said, gratefully taking the cup from her and holding it between slightly trembling hands. "Not the best."

It had only been a short 24 hours ago that you had witnessed the head of one of your coworkers being exploded right in front of you. You could still remember the blood and viscera splattering all over you as your mouth gaped open in silent shock.

You swore you could still feel the stick of it, the impact of the thud of the chunks flying onto you. You felt sick to your stomach recalling it, recalling his last cry.

You gulped down the beverage in one sip, wincing at it's burn. It helped with the memories, a bit.

"Hey, easy on that," she chided you softly, dark eyes searching your face as she took the glass back. "I don't want you overdoing it."

"It...why did it have to be him. He was my friend," you murmured, squeezing your eyes shut and missing out on seeing the dark look that passed through her eyes.

"Maybe the supe thought that he was more than that to you. Maybe he thought your friend was more than a simple friend and he wanted to hurt you that way."

"He was my friend and nothing else. He shouldn't have had that happen to him just because. If I had known, I never would have been friends with him." You plopped your hands into your face, rubbing your brows.

Victoria's hand was warm on your back.

"It's going to be alright. None of this is your fault."

"It is. Some wacko has been stalking me for months and now someone is dead because of me." A sob sat thick in your throat, but your eyes were dry. You had cried everything out.

"I'd rather you be safe. Who knows if you were their next target."

"But what did I do to deserve this?" you mumbled, feeling confused and lost. Victoria sat closer to you, pressing her side into yours.

"I won't stop until I find them," she swore, fire in her voice. "Until then, you can stay in my personal safe house. No one but me knows you're here."

You pulled your head out of your hands to smile at her, something warm and tender and tentative. "Thank you. You don't have to do this for me Vic. Seriously. I'm just an underling for you at work."

"Nonsense," she dismissed. "Our whole job is regulating supes and what kind of a boss would I be if I let another one of my employees get hurt?"

"Right." You nodded your head, linking your arms around her to hug her. "Thank you though."

She sunk into the hug, face melting into one of intense need as she felt your body against hers. Warm, soft, and scented of lilacs. How she dreamed of how you'd feel in her arms at night. Her hand crept up your back, feeling the knobs of your spine through your thin shirt.

You were delicate, you needed protection. How could she not want to keep you safe? Locked up and away from anyone else? Especially that 'friend' of yours. He had wanted more from you and for that reason he had been the perfect catalyst to ensuring you thought your life was in danger.

With you locked up under her lock and key, she had all the time in the world to worm her way into your heart. To make you love her unconditionally.

She bit her lower lip in anticipation of how it would taste to finally kiss you. She'd no longer have to sneak away half finished cups from your desk in an attempt to taste your lingering chapstick on it. She would no longer have to track down your every movement out of the office to make sure you weren't kissing anyone else. Not when you were all hers.

"No need to thank me," she murmured, inhaling your scent as subtly as she could, trying to memorize it for the road back when she could roll up the privacy divider in her car and fuck herself in the back seat thinking about you. "I just want to take care of you."

"I don't know how to repay you for this," you told her, leaning back. "Maybe once this is all over, I can."

It would never be over because by the time she finished you would never dream of leaving her.

She smiled at you, a practiced fake smile before she delivered bad news. "We'll think about it then. For now, let me know if you need me to bring you anything that will help comfort you. Favorite foods, drinks." She already knew everything you favored, but she couldn't quite say that.

"Maybe something to read? Or play? To keep my mind off of things." You shrugged. "Seriously though. I know you're busy. You don't have to bother with checking in on me."

She cupped your chin, placing a finger on it, teasingly grazing your bottom lip. "I'm taking this personally. Don't worry your pretty little head over me. Worry about yourself."

She smiled again, resisting the urge to kiss your pretty pink lips that were right there. How had she ever lasted this long not kissing them? It seemed like insanity that they weren't pressed against her mouth or wrapped around her clit.

There would be time later. She'd make sure of it.

"I'll bring some board games and we can play something," she assured, dragging her eyes from your mouth. "Sound good?"

"Yes."

Her mind filtered through the dirtiest board games she could find. Strip poker came to mind. But perhaps too on the nose, too out of character for the charade Victoria was maintaining.

"Until then," she promised, excited to have her own princess in the castle. She needed to retreat to think about how best she could play with you now.

To be continued...

[ellieinink]

Code Blue, Heart Stolen

Baek Kang-hyuk x Reader

Genre: Slow Burn, Humor, Medical Drama, Fluff, Light Angst, Social Media AU

Warnings: Medical emergencies, hospital setting, occasional strong language

Synopsis: You’re a trauma center resident trying to survive under the infamous Baek Kang-hyuk. Between chaotic ER shifts, teasing coworkers, and life-or-death situations, you never expected your biggest challenge would be dealing with Kang-hyuk himself. As rumors spread and tension builds, one question remains—are you just another one of his underlings, or is there something more?

Chapter 12: Kiss and Tell (Or Don't)

Location: Trauma Center – Morning Rounds

The hospital hallways were already buzzing with early-morning activity when you arrived. Unfortunately, that meant one thing:

There was no escaping Jang-mi.

The moment you stepped into the trauma center, she pounced.

"SO?!"

You barely had time to react before she was right there, grabbing your shoulders with a dangerous amount of excitement.

You groaned. "Jang-mi, it is too early for this."

"It is never too early for gossip!" She practically shook you. "Did you or did you not kiss Baek Kang-hyuk last night?"

A throat cleared behind her.

Jang-mi froze.

Slowly, she turned her head—

And there was Kang-hyuk, arms crossed, watching the while thing with an amused smirk.

"I'd also like to know," he said.

Your jaw dropped. "Excuse me?!"

Jang-mi gasped. "You mean—you don't remember?!"

Kang-hyuk grinned. "I just wanted to see how flustered she'd get."

You smacked his arm. "You're the worst."

He chuckled. "That's not what you said last night."

You could've died on the spot.

Jang-mi screamed.

Location: Rooftop

You needed air.

Between Jang-mi's relentless questioning and Kang-hyuk's infuriating smirk, you were going to lose it.

Which was why you found yourself on the hospital rooftop, taking deep breaths and trying to calm your racing heart.

You had barely been there for five minutes when the door opened behind you.

You sighed. "Jang-mi, if you followed me, I swear—"

"It's me."

You turned—

And there was Kang-hyuk, leaning against the doorway, watching you with that annoying yet irresistible smirk.

You groaned. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "A little."

You folded your arms. "And if I jumped off this rooftop?"

"I'd catch you," he said without hesitation.

You blinked.

For once, he wasn't teasing.

You looked away. "You're impossible."

He took a step closer. "So... are you going to answer he?"

"Answer what?"

He tilted his head. "Did we kiss?"

You stared at him. "Are you seriously asking me that?"

He smirked. "I dunno. Maybe I just want to hear you say it."

You wanted to punch him.

You also wanted to kiss him again.

You exhaled slowly. "If I say yes, will you stop teasing me?"

"No promises."

You rolled your eyes. "Fine. Yes. We kissed."

Kang-hyuk hummed, stepping even closer. "See? That wasn't so hard."

You glared. "I hate you."

"Do you?"

He was so close now that you could feel the warmth of his breath, see the way his eyes flickered between yours and your lips.

Your heart skipped a beat.

"...Maybe not all the time."

He smiled. "Good."

Then—

He kissed you again.

Previous Chapter | Masterlist | Next Chapter

taglist: @ryujinxzyy @study-with-reine234 @redhoodedtoad

[bigball-thefrog]

Naught Darlings Get Punished: Crocodile X Reader

______________________________

Poll

I am back again with the second vote on the Crocodile poll I did awhile back. Sorry this took a few days for me to post, periods are a pain in the ass, and the vagina.. But I've finally finished and am posting now! I think after this I'm gonna focus on emptying out my requests before I post my next votigg poll, the next one will be very spicy ;) But for now enjoy this, and I'll get back to you soon

Warnings/Tags:

Mentions of user and Buggy being tipsy

Secrets being esposed

Gender neutral reader

Mentions of user wearing revealing clothing

Spanking

Wedgie

Comfort at the end

Implications of future sexual acts.

______________________________

Narrator POV

You were a strong and fierce pirate with a large bounty and a loyal crew. With your status as a pirate, you were asked to be apart of the Cross Guild, joining forces along side, Buggy the Clown, Dracule Mihawk and Sir Crocodile.

You were well respected and well liked among your peers and the underlings, but one stood out more than the others and that was Crocodile. He was always cold and harsh with everyone and never let anyone get close, but you were different, he couldn't explain it properly, but he felt like he could be more relaxed around you, and soon you both started a secret relationship. He didn't see why you should keep it a secret, if people knew you were together, you'd be considered a power couple, a fearsome duo amping pirates, but Crocodile insisted that you two keep it a secret and you agreed. Currently you and Buggy had been drinking and were slightly tipsy, you two were sitting in your room, laughing and telling each other little secrets, "You actually used to date Red Haired Shanks?!" you said surprised at the clowns confession, "Yeah! We broke up after that asshole betrayed me! The fucker didn't even wait long before he found someone else..." Buggy admitted before drinking again, you pat his shoulder for comfort, "You got any relationship stories?" Buggy asked looking up at you now, "Uhh not really, never had any serious relationships... Oh, but I am dating Crocodile." you drunkly confessed, Buggy laughed, "You seriously think I'd believe that?! No one can get Croco boy to be vulnerable and in love!" "I am serious and I'll show you!" you got up and walked to our closet, Buggy kept calling you a liar until you took something out from your closet and walked back. He looked at you curiously and you placed a thong in his hands. "Look at the ass" you told him, he turned it around and was surprised, on the ass part of the thing was Crocodiles pirate symbol, he examined it with his eyes popping out of his head, then you handed him a letter as well, "Read it, it came with the underwear." Buggy opened it and it read:

"For my love. A little gift for only you and I to see, and to remind you that you are mine and mine only."

Buggy looked up at you with a shocked expression and you gave him a smug look and crossed your arms. Buggy's eyes, quite literally popped out of his head in shocked. You panicked a little and put his eyes back in his head and at the same time Crocodile walked in. He saw you both and scoffed, "What the hell are you two doing??" you were about to say that you were just drinking but it was at that time Buggy found his voice again. "YOU AND CROCODILE FUCK?!" You turned red while Crocodile turned pale, meanwhile a few of the crew, and Mihawk stuck their heads through the door, obviously their heard about yours and Crocodiles relationship. Everyone started mumbling and a few were even teasing, Crocodiles face went from pale to red with rage as he bit down on the cigar in his mouth, so he picked up Buggy and threw him out the door, knocking over a few of he crew. Once Buggy was out he slammed the door shut before turning to you. Your heart dropped and became nervous, knowing that you were in trouble.. "You told the damm clown?!" "H-hey didn't belive me when I said we were dating..." "That's the point! No one was supposed to know we were in a relationship!" "But why?! Why are you so secretive of our relationship?! Are you ashamed to he seen with me or something?! Why did you even decide to date me if you're just ashamed of me.." You shouted, sounding quite sad. Crocodile sighed and knelt down in front of you and lifted your chin up to look up at him." I'm not ashamed... I just wanted to protect you... We may be strong, but we still have enemies, and if they find out that I'm dating you then there's a chance that someone stronger than you could take you away from me and hurt you... I'd never be ashamed for being with someone that's made me feel safe to be vulnerable..." He said, gently rubbing your chin with his thumb. You closed your eyes and sighed, relaxing a little at his gentle touch until he grabbed your chin," But don't think I'm letting you off easy, you still embarrassed me I'm front of my colleagues, you need a little punishment~"

Crocodile let go of you and stood up, "Put that underwear on, then get over to the bed and lay over my lap." He said as he walked over your bed and sat on the edge. You quickly got up and took your bottoms and previous underwear off and put the thong on. Once you walked over to Crocodile who was waiting patiently, now with a more smug look rather than his previous angry expression, he patted his lap and waited for you to lay over it. You crawled onto his lap, laying over it so your ass was right on his lap, facing him. Crocodile brought his hand up to your ass and gently caressed it, "Such a beautiful sight~ Almost a shame I'm gonna have to turn it raw and red so it's owner will learn their lesson~" he said and raised his hand, with a loud hard slap, his hand went flying down, colliding with your ass and spanking it. You screamed out in a mix of pain and slight pleasure as he spanked you on the ass, he brought his hooked hand to gently caress the top of your head, making extra careful as to not cut or pierce you, "Shh, it'll be alright, you just have to sit through a few more smacks, you can do that, right my love?" you gave him a weak nod and his mouth curved into a smile as he spanked you a second time, "That's my darling~" he said, rubbing your head again. After the fourth spank, he decided to give you one more, but decided he wanted to tease you a little first, so he brought his hook away from your head and hooked it against the thong, pulling it up a little to make you gasp slightly, "Look at this perfect ass~ tug Such a soft tug beautiful tug ass. tug And it's all mine~" he gave one last tug, causing the thong to pull high up against your ass and Makin you squirm from being uncomfortable and moan in confused arousal. After a few seconds of letting you squirm, Crocodile let the thong go and raised his hand. With an even harsher bring down of his hand he spanked you one last time, letting it be the harshest.

You cried out and sniffled and whimpered a bit, letting a few tears fall as Crocodile carefully picked you up and layed you flat on our stomach across the bed, before getting up and grabbing a container of cream from your bedside table. He opened it up and balanced it on his lap as he dipped his fingers in it and gently applied it to your red ass. You winced in pain but Crocodile just gently shushed you and applied the moisturizing cream to help with the swelling. Once he was done he put the cream away and put out his cigar before taking off his shoes and coat and climbing into bed next to you, positioning you half across his chest and his arm underneath you so he could hold your hand while you both slept and used his hook to gently run through your hair again. You managed to calm down a little and mumbled an apology, "I'm sorry Crocodile... I just wanted them to know that you're mine..." "It's alright now Love, but now you understand why I keep secrets, to protect those I care about... But let's forget about it now, you've learned your lesson, and the secrets out now, but if danger comes, I won't leave your side, you're mine and I will make sure it stays that way forever." He said, placing a rare gentle kiss on your forehead" Now get some rest, when your ass is better I'll make sure to make it up to you~" he said with a slight purr in his voice, giving away what he had planned when you were feeling better. You blushed and hid your face in his chest causing him to chuckle and hold you closer, both of you soon relaxed and fell into a comfortable slumber, dreaming about what would happen the next day.

[summer-nights19]

Omertá part 3

Romeo Scorpius Lucci x fem reader Part 2

Part 4

As you were eating breakfast in the cafeteria the morning after your deal with Romeo, your phone buzzed from a message notification. Trying not to sigh, you opened it. Who could be bothering you this early in the morning

Unknown number: This is Romeo. Come to my office immediately after finishing breakfast so we can discuss your work for the next week.

You: Ok. How did you get my number ?

Romeo: I'll explain later. Stop wasting time and hurry up.

You put your phone back in your pocket, growing increasingly exasperated. The day had barely started and you already had a feeling it wasn't going to be an easy one. Unfortunately, it couldn't be helped, so after finishing up your coffee, you headed back to Sinostra and straight for Romeo's office.

Once you reached the door, the usual guy standing on guard waved you in dismissively. You assumed Romeo had informed him you'd be coming ahead of time.

"You're late, Y/N. In the future, if I call you to my office, I expect you to be there within five minutes of me sending the message,"

You tried to keep the irritation out of your voice. After all, this was still the man who could technically decide to kill you at any point.

"Mr Lucci, this campus is enormous. Unless I somehow develop the ability to teleport, how am I meant to go from one place to the next in five minutes,"

Romeo glared at you. Looks like you weren't the only one who was irritable in the mornings.

"That's not my problem. Also, it's Fico. I despise being addressed as Mr Lucci- it was my father's title, and I share nothing in common with that WTWUT,"

"WT what ?" What was it with this man and abbreviations ?

"Wall to wall useless trash, obviously," Romeo rolled his eyes at you as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, and you sent a sharp glare in his direction.

"From my experience, Mr Lucci, all men of your ilk are the same. If you want to be called by a different title, you'll have to prove that you're different,"

Gritting his teeth, Romeo scowled. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see him clenching his fist around his expensive fountain pen.

"You'd do well to remember that I can still do whatever I want with your life, Y/N. Keep talking back and you'll see what happens,"

Glowering at him, you took a seat at his desk and decided to leave it at that.

"Why did you call me here ?" You tried to keep your tone as calm as possible, which was no easy task. Apparently, the Sinostra vice captain could get under your skin just as much as you could his.

"I'm here to discuss your work for today. If our agreement is to amount to anything, you should try to become familiar with how the Casino works. We still have an hour before we open officially, so read this,"

Romeo reached under his desk and took out a thick, leather bound notebook, which he thrusted in your direction. As you skimmed through it, you frowned.

"What is this ?"

"The full record of business activities, investments, costs and profits for the last six months. I'd recommend you read it before you start working,"

"Before ?? You mean I'll be doing something other than studying this tome all day ?"

Romeo sighed, and he glared at you as if you'd just asked the world’s stupidest question.

"Obviously ! You will experience all the positions in our casino. In the morning, you'll do all the front of the house work - that includes card dealers, cleaning, and waitressing. Then, in the afternoon, you'll experience some of the less ... public positions with a few of my underlings. You'll just be picking up cargo and dropping something off to a customer, so even you could manage that,"

You looked at him, trying to work out if he was joking or not, but when you met his gaze, his face was completely deadpan.

"You're trying to say that I need to do all that work today ? That would take like eight employees !"

Romeo slammed his hand down on his desk, causing piles of documents to collapse and flutter to the ground.

"Be silent ! If you want to live, you'll follow my orders,"

Taking a deep breath in, you looked down at the notebook and started to study it. There was no point in delaying the inevitable. You saw Romeo smirk to himself out of the corner of your eye as you started skimming the notebook, but you decided a reaction wasn't worth the effort.

After about half an hour of silent study of the records, you cleared your throat.

"Mr Lucci, I think I've located a potential issue. A lot of your slot machines have people winning too frequently, so you're not really making much of anything from them. If I had to make a rough estimate, I'd say halving the odds would maximise your profits. Also, with the roulette table-" you completely lost your train of thought as you noticed how Romeo was looking at you. His face was almost the same unreadable mask he'd worn last night, but now, he looked kind of interested, maybe even a little impressed. You could see a smirk forming on the corners of his lips.

"Keep going, BB. For once you're saying something of value,"

Deciding to ignore the jab, you resumed your explanation of how he could tweak the casino games to maximise his profits,trying to give him rough estimates where possible. By the end, he was fully smirking, and his face almost seemed to have lost some of that coldness.

"I knew you could be useful if you tried hard enough. Good girl,"

You felt your face heating up as he praised you, so you decided to avert your gaze. Maybe you were coming down with a fever after the stress of the last few days.

"Also, Y/N, you should take this. I can't stand seeing your hands in such horrible shape," This time, Romeo took out a jar from one of his desk drawers and placed it next to you.

You looked down. It was luxury hand cream, imported directly from Italy. Trying not to laugh, you thanked Romeo and put it on your bag. He did seem like the kind of person who would want to get everything from back home, no matter how expensive and impractical.

"Maybe I do have a last bit of advice, Mr Lucci. You should stop spending so much of your earnings on fancy trinkets and reinvest some in your casino," this time, you were the one smirking, your eyes glinting with silent laughter as you finally looked up at Romeo.

"I also have advice, BB. Keep such useless and ridiculous insights to yourself. Now leave, they're expecting you at the roulette table in five minutes,"

Rolling your eyes, you slung your bag over your shoulders and walked out of the office, mentally preparing yourself for the start of what was sure to be a very long day.

Masterlist

[dragon-susceptible]

Hi!! I wanted to let you know that I ABSOLUTELY enjoyed your analysis of the Moonshadow Elves fighting in episode 3 - it's SO nice to see someone paying such attention to the tiniest details, and just ENJOYING it so much. Just wanted to pointed out one thing - if you go frame by frame, you can see that Runaan doesn't just throw the guard to the ground with his bare hands - he actually throws the guards against his knee, kicking him in the stomach, before striking him in the back with his elbow, which I find absolutely amazing.

And I also wanted to ask you, since your guesses are SO good and detailed - what do you think were Runaan's exact injuries at the end? Cause we only see a couple bruises and a broken horn, but there's obviously more going on (which I'm guessing is not shown due to the rating and keeping the scene bloodless). But he's struggling to breathe, struggling to keep his balance and stay on his feet, and then after he comes back in Season 7 he is constantly seen holding his side. Do you think it would be due to some broken ribs, or was there something else going on that was just not shown?

Would LOVE to see your take on it.

Also take care and I wish you all the best (also can't wait for more Different Part Taken chapters<3)

Oh he definitely had broken ribs. Some of the bruising we see on his torso is worse a few days later in the dungeon, which admittedly could just be further beatings, but given he can breathe again, I'd say it's more likely that he had broken bones Viren chose to fix just enough to keep him alive for questioning. The ribs alone would account for trouble breathing, but there's also a very real possibility that he had a punctured lung as a result of them too. He definitely still had one functioning though.

I also think that with how low his horn was broken, first of all, it should have been bleeding pretty heavily because that would have been in the still living part of the horn that has veins in it. So he would have been having a hard time seeing through blood in his left eye at least, from that. The amount of force required to break it, too, could well have left him with a concussion. Soren is monstrously strong for an 18 year old, and I honestly would be willing to bet he's the one who did most of the damage to Runaan considering how effortlessly both of them are handling each other's underlings.

So definitely a couple of broken ribs, which are the internal source of that bruising we see on his torso. Broken horn, which is very much an injury that would have caused him to suffer from some issues from blood loss. Punctured lung. Concussion. I would guess that his collarbone is fine given he can still draw that massive metal bow, and his arms are clearly in pain (you can see him clutching one of them to his side) but they're intact. He does seem to be having some trouble walking on his way out to the balcony, and part of that is just pain and struggling to breathe from his other injuries, but one of his ankles does seem to give way a bit, so he might have sprained or fractured a foot or ankle as well. All of this on top of general scrapes and bruises from having his armor broken off of him, as we see he's missing parts of it at the end of that scene.

He's in far better shape a few days later in the dungeon, despite starving himself, so my headcanon is that Viren partially healed him using Dark Magic to keep him alive and lucid for questioning. That's also part of why he's stripped of so much clothing despite how that's clearly not common practice in Katolis (we see plenty of other characters become prisoners, and that's never done to anyone else - it's not even done again when Runaan's a prisoner in season 7 at Ezran's order), so that Viren could ensure his spell worked.

Also, I do want to acknowledge your point about what Runaan actually does to that guard, slamming them against his knee, because first of all, yes, acknowledged! This is true! But also fucking hell, that's cool. I think it's a really neat choice to have him (and Skor, but he's the one we know more about in canon) forgo weapons entirely sometimes. That means he uses his legs a surprising amount in combat for an archer and swordsman, which is just a really interesting choice for him to be making. Is this something he trained to do? Is it instinctive? Why do we see him and Skor using kicks and knees so often (Skor uses his legs just as much as his swords!)? Unlike the parkour and the leaping up things to come down on an opponent that's not a habit that we see repeated with Rayla or the other elves all that much. So what prompted that style for those two?

[sweetfirebird]

So Chief Roberts stepped in (when he did not have to step in) to pause the order a lower court gave for the federal government to return Kilmer Abrego Garcia, the man sent to El Salvador by ICE and Rubio and Bondi despite no evidence he was a criminal. (And to be clear, I am not supporting sending criminals to El Salvador either. This is about this case.)

Chief Roberts stepped in personally, probably because Trump asked him to.

The lower court judge ruled that the decision to deport this man without so much as even a hearing, with no evidence, was "wholly lawless." And gave the government a deadline to return him.

Then Roberts stepped in and paused this order.

Now. Now. Here is where the constitutional crisis would be--except that Trump jumped in again to keep to the appearance of legality. Which is fascinating. And by Trump I mean his people. That guy is probably golfing.

Trump's people are pushing for no checks and balances and total power. They said they would and they are. But so far, each time this happens, where a judge or a state governor says no, they make a bunch of noise and try to bully, but don't take the final step.

I'm not sure why. They want to be more certain before they do this? Project 2025 has them itching to declare martial law and then never revoke it so they can have nearly unlimited powers. Yet they've hesitated again. And I wonder why. What are they waiting on? They still want us, the people, to make the "wrong" move first? Why? They've made it pretty clear they don't care about the world's opinion. Do they not have the widespread support they are pretending they do? Dissent in the ranks already? Is their rich daddy Peter Thiel stopping them? I doubt they care about the one or two elderly Reagan Republicans still kicking around and pretending to give a shit about the rule of law.

Did they expect less resistance? Like did they believe their own "mandate" story and finding any resistance at all has made some of them hesitate?

Did they expect MORE resistance? Like, immediate riots across the country even though they are still touting the mandate from the voters (and Musk, allegedly)?

But anyway, so Roberts did as Trump said and stepped in, and temporarily paused the order.

There are a few theories as to why:

this poor man is already dead. Killed in the hellhole prison or by ICE while in custody. And it will look bad to say so and they know it (see above as to why they would care, at this point, and yet they might.)

the government in El Salvador truly lost this man in the system already. which also does not look good.

the government in El Salvador is ignoring the Trump administration... which makes them look weak and they don't want to admit to it.

they don't want to back down because backing down weakens your public image of strength, but know they have no legal case to do so, because the arguments they already tried were legally speaking, stupid as hell. so the delay is to give them time to think up some new bullshit OR to distract everyone in America and hope we forget.

(you know, forget the death of due process. but sure.)

Still don't get why they are hesitating, but here we are. They are hiding behind Roberts, who has offered at least this much shelter. But does he want to be the 'death of due process' guy? I don't think he does, although he might do it because he is... like that. Some suggest he stepped in when asked to please Trump but is just hoping the DOJ comes back with a better argument.

And I am sure Bondi is screaming at her underlings to find a "better" argument.

For the appearances of legality.

Which, again. Fascinating, in a horrible way, that they are bothering. *Something* is still keeping them from coming out in the open and I'd like to know what it is.

If they wanted us plebs to riot, then one would think finally openly ignoring the courts would be a step they would take. So... are some of them balking behind the scenes? Rubio is fine giving speeches on TV but still does not want to be the killer of America in the history books? Does he have that much self-awareness? Are there rumblings among the military and the lower-level DOJ staff? Hegseth and the others were out committing (alleged) war crimes and violating national security without the president even being aware(or giving a shit). And they probably still are. But it's secret so it's fine?

Are they just waiting for DOGE to finish stealing our money to control us first? Only DOGE is using AI to try to code, so that might take a while?

Edit: Roberts clearly does not want to be the death of due process guy but also doesn't want to anger Trump, so he is sort of side stepping the issue for now, but the administration is gonna try again. So he is waiting for a better argument except they don't have one. Not a legal one anyway.

ICE admitted they made a mistake. Even the government is saying it was like a clerical error. But they are claiming they a) have the right to ship people off to foreign countries but also b) do not have the right to ask for those people back from those countries, even though they have already asked for El Salvador to return some of these people and El Salvador did.

The 18-whatever wartime law the government has been citing to justify this, is a wartime law, but also even the people back in the 1800s got hearings, btw.

It really should not be on the courts to be the remaining check, btw. Republicans in congress bowing to Trump gave up their own power, and I don't think all of them realize it. They think they can step forward again when it pleases them, and that is not how power works.

[xxlemon-chanxx]

Ok, what about if philip/belos has a partner toxic as him but they still love each other?

Now—there are a LOT of relationship dynamics that fall under the general “toxic” umbrella. I'm going to go ahead and explain the one my mind went to first when I initially read this ask, so it might not be the same version of “toxic” that you're thinking of. I'm sorry in advance!

Also, this is going to be more or less the same between Philip and Belos, so I'm not going to do two separate sections, and I'm just going to explain the one that I'd find more interesting narratively.

So—here’s the “toxic” relationship that I first imagined:

⚠️⚠️TW for suicide baiting and general emotionally abusive behaviors!⚠️⚠️

overly dependant, insecure SO who constantly needs reassurance and hangs off of Belos’s every action because they worry he’ll grow bored of them and leave them, and is overall very possessive of him to the point of being incapable of wanting to leave Belos’s side for even a moment + overly-controlling and manipulative Belos who revels in the idea that his love is too desperate to ever want to leave him despite his flaws.

S/O can barely stand it. Their husband constantly talks to countless people every day—its part of his job description as the annihilator of an entire populous! And there are so many talented, intelligent, and attractive witches that make up the castle staff. They can't help but feel that rush of anxiety in their chest when one of said witches needs to talk to their husband—seriously, why not give the news to them? They'd be more than happy to pass along the message to their husband if it was really THAT important.

Even when Belos tells them countless times that he'd never trade them for a witch, no matter how much venom is in his voice as he practically spits the word, there's that lingering doubt. They're so much prettier. Does he think those witches walking the halls are prettier than them? His gauntlet lingered by that coven head’s hand for a few moments too long for their tastes, surely that means he's having an abhorrent love affair with that witch.

Whenever their anxiety flares up like this, it inevitably ends in a freakout and breakdown. They’ll fall to their knees at Belos’s feet, clutching letters that were strictly business but had just enough reverent language from an underling for S/O to misconstrue as romantic or intimate feelings between them.

They’ll scream, they’ll cry, initially demanding to know why he'd trade them for a witch, after all they've given him. What do they have that they don't? What could they possibly offer him? Is it their body? They're prettier than me, is that it? Are they smarter than me? What is it, damn you? What? What? WHAT?

Then, after Belos manages to calm them down, that rage turns to sorrow as they realize that they snooped through their husband's possessions, his private, confidential letters to find evidence that didn't even exist. They’ll apologize incoherently, clutching at his robes, spewing promise after promise that this was going to be the last time, that they were never going to snoop again and please don't leave them because they can't imagine a world where he doesn't want them, and please, if he doesn't want them, they might just die. No, scratch that. They WILL die. They. Will. DIE. If he tosses them out like trash.

And as they fumble out their apologies and half-baked, empty, rehearsed promises, Belos simply wraps them in his arms, tucking their head under his chin as a soft, tired smile graces his lips. He knows this will not be the last time, but he can't bring himself to be too annoyed by it. After all, he does partially enjoy a few of the behaviors his beloved exhibits.

He loves the way they're practically attached to his hip. He loves the way he never has to worry whether or not they're truly loyal to him or if they genuinely love him. That desperation is so thick he could cut it with a knife and spread it on toast. He doesn't need to constantly have his hand in them like a sock puppet because they follow him around like a lovesick puppy, staying quiet and out of the way while he does the important work and then swooping in during down moments to squeeze in some affection and much-needed fishing for reassurance.

He still lies to them, obviously. His dishonesty is probably the biggest trigger for S/O’s insecurity. Nevertheless, S/O would never leave Belos because—well…who else would willingly put up with that level of inconvenience? And Belos would never want them to leave because that's the most loyal and devoted to him someone could possibly be, and they're a human who accepts him despite his issues. Why in the Hells would he ever give that up?

[danieyells]

"Lulu~!" Taiga called out cheerily as the doors to the VIP room were pulled closed behind him. Romeo glared up over the corner of one of his security laptops at the sudden intrusion, but he couldn't truly be angry at his underlings for letting Taiga in without question. No matter their factions, Taiga was Captain at the end of the day and they all listened to him. Except Romeo, of course.

"What is it now." He returned his eyes to the Eyes In The Sky on his screen, carefully monitoring the cameras for any foul play. Despite that he was paying close attention to everything happening, somehow what Taiga said next was a surprise.

"Ran out of cash again!" The boss laughed, throwing himself carelessly onto the couch nearest Romeo, as he snapped his head towards him with fury in his eyes. Taiga only grinned in response. "Gimme some more money and I'll pay you back, eeeh, before tomorrow morning!"

"Are you serious, you BTH!?" How Taiga's luck worked never really crossed Romeo's mind--he assumed it was part of his stigma or his pact--but he knew he was being honest about getting the money back to him eventually as Taiga always wound up with more than enough. It didn't make his frivolity regarding wealth any less annoying however. "How did you lose all of it!?"

"Gyahaha! If you keep yelling like that, your pretty voice's gonna get all raspy, Lulu!" As if paranoid, Romeo reached for the drink on the table. "You've been watching the cameras, you shouldn't have to ask me how I lost. That's just how gambling is. You win some you lose some."

"Why should I give you more money if you're just going to lose it all!?"

"Because you know I'll make it all back." He wasn't wrong. He always paid back what he owed, usually with interest Romeo hadn't even asked for. Taiga put his arms behind his head and made himself comfortable, watching Romeo try and bring some semblance of calm to himself before he started getting wrinkles. "You know I don't lose in the long run."

"And what happens when you don't." Romeo sounded tired. He returned his attention to the cameras, not wanting to be distracted. "What happens when someday you lose it all and I'm not there to give you more?"

Taiga rolled over, resting his cheek on his hand. His eyes never left Romeo's face. "All you've gotta do to make money in this world is get your hands a little dirty."

His sharp grin widened as Romeo cringed. "I'd prefer not to have to get dirty at all."

Taiga reached a hand out towards Romeo's scrunched brow, to which Romeo leaned far out of his reach, judging his filthy hand. "That's what you've got me for, Lulu." He took his hand back and smiled at him. It was almost gentle, as sweet a smile as someone as vicious as Taiga could manage.

"I'm here so your pretty hands can stay pretty and clean." Taiga crossed his arms under his chin, resting them on the armrest. "I made you a casino so people would hand you everything they've got for a chance at fortune, and so you could see people who judged you feel just as bad as you did when you lost everything. You've got me so you'll never lose everything again, not for long."

". . .and why do you do all of that?" Why do all of that for someone he fights and terrorizes and hurts and hasn't gotten along with for months, if not a year? Why do all of this, saying it's for him, then give him more problems? Taiga's sweet smile turned toothy again. It was still a little sweet even with the row of fangs in his mouth.

"I do all this so someday I come home--to my own place, not to this place--" Taiga scooched closer to Romeo, draping his arms over the arm of the couch to loll comfortably. Romeo glanced at him to make sure he wouldn't try and touch him again before returning his gaze to the EITS. "I come home, a mess of blood and shreds of someone else's life. And you look up and tell me to stop tracking blood on your floor."

Romeo blinked and looked back at his grinning captain. ". . .why am I there?"

"And I drop a stack of cash in front of you and you stop being mad for long enough to say 'good job, BTH. Your dinner's in the kitchen BTW.'"

"This little story of yours sounds one trip to Mortkranken away from me being KU."

". . .'Knocked up?'" Taiga cackled after giving the acronym a thought. "Gyahaha! I mean if that's all it takes to get you to sleep with me, we could go to Mortkranken right now and take the rest of the week off!"

"It's Sunday."

"It'll be a long week." Taiga rolled over again, and Romeo snapped at him for putting his shoes on the couch. He was ignored, as always. "You wouldn't be the one cooking, by the way. You pay people to cook and clean. With the money I give you."

"And the Institute?"

"Eh. Jin calls me if he needs something or someone dead. Sometimes I still help out because anomalies taste better than just about anything else I can eat."

"And what's the timeline for this little prediction of yours? If that WNP is in charge it must be a ways off."

"Not sure yet. Just making my plans for the future." The ideal future. One he won't want to abandon. It won't be this one, he's pretty sure. But it's nice to think about.

"And what exactly am I doing in this future?"

"Whatever you want, Lulu!"

"And you think I want to spend the rest of my life with you!?"

"I think you'll want the sure thing. And you and I both know I can be the sure thing. And I don't think anyone else will be able to afford," Taiga rubs his fingers together to emphasize the monetary meaning, "to give you the life you want without asking for anything in return."

Romeo watched Taiga silently, trying to banish a blush from his face. Taiga watched the EITS, occasionally criticizing the choices of customers, the behavior of dealers, and the casino overall, insisting Romeo make changes he knew he wasn't listening to.

The distant thought of returning to a carefree and wealthy life like in his youth, the only payment he had to make being that he would see Taiga every day, didn't sound bad at all. The only bad part(aside from that he would ultimately be relying on Taiga of course) was that it sounded like Taiga imagined him staying home all day.

He didn't particularly want to work hard--he would happily lean into the brand influencer lifestyle, or perhaps become a socialite and do nothing but attend parties and events(the thought of attending an Institute event and matching fake smiles with Jin for photos crossed his mind making his eye twitch--perhaps not that)--but he couldn't imagine himself not getting restless after a while.

Perhaps he would find a creative outlet--get into fashion design maybe--or. . . .

He imagined himself doing what he does now. An unassuming front business hiding illegal activities. Perhaps he wouldn't have to handle the more sensitive things himself, in such an ideal world--Taiga would give him trustworthy people who would dirty their hands at his command--but the ones with debts would grovel at his feet and be at his mercy nonetheless.

The thought of losing everything again crashed the rising high of this shared daydream.

". . .There are no sure things." He finally sighed, trying to get a grip on what he'd missed on the cameras while zoned out. "Least of all with money. And gambling."

"Yeah, yeah." Taiga agreed, of course. Anyone in their line of work would have to know how fragile wealth and power were. "But do you really think I won't be able to make back what I'm asking for? C'mon, help your boss out~!"

"You already lost everything I gave you!" Taiga laughed and admitted that was true. Nonetheless, Romeo pulled his wallet out of his pocket and fetched a decent amount of yen to offer to him. "Your interest is double the total. Per day!"

"I'll give you triple by tomorrow afternoon!" Taiga cheered, hopping up and snatching Romeo's whole wallet and heading out the doors before he could do more than aim his rifle at him in protest. "Thanks, Lulu~!"

"YOU BTH, GET BACK HERE--!" Romeo yelled after him, slamming a fist into the table and starting to rise. He grit his teeth, hearing Taiga laugh through the slammed VIP room doors, but didn't want to abandon the cameras in case there was more trouble than Taiga out there. Tucking the intended loan away in his pocket, he watched Taiga exchange a large amount of his money for chips and make his way to a table and put a stack down and play. He cursed his name and resumed security, occasionally glancing at wherever he caught Taiga's red head, counting the chips as they increased with every win.

By the time it was time for him to take a break(watching screens all day would do terrible things to his eyes, for one thing) and a certain 'BB' had arrived to keep an eye on the cameras for him, Taiga had made enough to pay him back. His luck was the only somewhat reliable part of him.

He kept playing anyway, perhaps set on that triple repayment. Taiga didn't think of money as strictly as Romeo did--he made it, he threw it away, if he lost it the biggest problem was hearing Romeo complain, not having no money. Romeo envied that lackadaisical mindset. Once upon a time he felt similarly--money was something to be spent, and he would always have it.

Taiga had no problem getting money one way or another, even if Romeo wasn't fond of his methods.

If not for Darkwick he'd likely never have to borrow a cent from Romeo.

Taiga's little fantasy crossed his mind again, the idea that he was the closest to a 'sure thing' Romeo could safely get. Of a life as cushy and privileged as he could want, his only payment that he would have to deal with Taiga for the rest of Taiga's life(because he most certainly would outlive that buffoon.) Essentially the sugar baby of a yakuza.

Well, sugars didn't usually live with and care for the houses of their benefactors.

He'd jokingly called the imaginary future version of himself a housewife, but that was the closest thing he could imagine between them in such a scenario.

That Taiga would be his Blundering Thoughtless Husband.

He slammed his hand in frustration against the bar, cursing Taiga's name and finishing his drink before demanding the laughing Rui make him another.

"It really is good to hear about you guys spending time together again, though!" Rui chimed, sliding Romeo his spritz. He hadn't told him the whole story though, just that Taiga had taken his wallet but he had enough to pay. "It's like all's right in the world when you two are together, y'know? You were together when we all got here, so it doesn't feel right having you apart!"

Somehow that only made him feel more embarrassed. Him being with Taiga being right.

It had always felt right.

Taiga had also proved right about his gambling, passing Romeo his wallet and several stacks of ¥10,000 notes when the vice captain returned to Sinostra a little tipsy, before making his way to the depths of the ship where his own room was, complaining to one of his guards about being hungry again.

Romeo counted it once he'd returned to his own room. Exactly what had been in his wallet times three.

A shower and a lengthy bedtime beauty routine later, and Romeo lied in bed, drifting off after a long day.

He hated it when Taiga was right.

But he hoped Taiga might be somewhat right about a better future.

[thewertsearch]

Asks Comp 4/8

The thing is, Davesprite's situation is more complicated than an unfulfilled time loop. His timeline isn't an irrelevant offshoot - in fact, it's integral to the existence of the Alpha Timeline, and presumably always was. Davesprite forms part of a weird, fully intact time loop which spans multiple timelines.

And since this is a future Dave, you have to assume he knows about Bro. The two clearly had a complicated relationship, but he's surely shaken by his death - if nothing else, it's a sign of how serious things have become.

That'll be a fun thing to check out when I've finished the comic! It reminds me of those Hunger Games simulators that were doing the rounds a couple of years ago.

That's true. Dave knows how strong the Underlings have become - and yet, he's still confident that Jade can stand up to them. Presumably she finds some sort of workaround for their First Guardian powers?

Sunslammer is so good! A standout song, even in a comic with as many bangers as this one.

Honestly, part of why I'm dragging my feet on the album reviews is because I want to hear these songs for the first time in context. If I'd heard Descend before watching Descend, I feel like it would have robbed the song of some of its dramatic weight.

I assumed it was just because witches are associated with frogs.

That would have explained why they're part of her Land, but I'm pretty sure that Kanaya's glitched planet was also a frog Land, and she's not a Witch, so...?

*The rest of Sal's response has been redacted, lest we fall once more into the Frog Theory Black Hole.*

I'm pretty sure that's a statue of Echidna, the mother of monsters and Jade's Denizen. Dave's probably close to LOFAF's Palace!

The Seer sees all - and sometimes, she understands the implications before we do.

It'd certainly be interesting. I just reread that conversation, and the biggest takeaway would have been that the kids were going to befriend the trolls, and get involved in their personal drama. This would certainly be consistent with the tone established by an Act 1 Hivebent!

Yup. Vriska was only able to 'create' Perfect Jack because Becquerel didn't object.

Really, he could have prototyped anything he liked, no matter what Vriska did. Even if she tried to shut the Entry down by incapacitating Jade, he could simply have activated the piñata himself.

I mean, that's basically what happened!

If any Aspect is geared around survival, then it's Feferi's. There's no breath left in her body, but our girl is still in the game!

Getting back to the trolls will be interesting, especially since - I assume - we'll be zipping back to when Feferi was still alive. The Veil is a much less friendly place, now - but does Feferi know this? What, exactly, is about to happen to the trolls?

I suppose. I guess there's no reason for every Carapacian to be created with knowledge of the Rings.

Actually, Sburb might not want them to know - Jack's probably not the only one who wouldn't respect the Ring's rules. There could be potential ringwielders out there who are far more dangerous.

Thank you! I feel like I've been doing a lot more character analysis in Act 5 versus previous Acts, where most of my speculation was about the lore. It's a fun change of pace.

Damn, I didn't think we'd actually be explaining these!

It's moments like these which really enhance the comic for me - justifications for things that I genuinely thought were just nitpicks on my part. It's really gratifying, honestly.

@thelegendofgreg asked: Here's some commentary from the jade enter flash, theres uh. alot to read but its all neat stuff "I talked about this way back, maybe even in an earlier book? Well, here I go again, so hold on to your ass. There are four entry items: Apple of knowledge, Bottle of wine, Crow's egg, Dog piñata. A, B, C, D. All of them are related to new life or new beginnings. You bite the apple, you fall from grace, enter a new world, begin this wild journey. You smash a bottle to christen a ship. An egg hatches, creating new life. You break a piöata to celebrate a birthday. Each involves breaking or puncturing something. Each involves a form of sustenance, or something to consume (piñatas have candy inside). Two are vessels for the substance (bottle, Piñata), two are the food items themselves (apple, egg), and one arguably counts as both (egg). Two of them drop from the same basic tree template (apple, piñata). They ramp up in complexity. John's is a simple test: bite the forbidden fruit. Not much to it. A single unit of departure, almost conceptually elemental, like an apple, as Rose goes on about later. The challenges get trickier. Rose has to break a bottle. Easy enough idea, but things go wrong, and she has to take a blind leap to get it done. A sacrificial gesture, and one of faith in a friend (Jaspers). Dave's is even more obscure. A simple test of patience, but one that's not clear. He isn't told what to do and just has to wait. Non-action is the key, and in a way it's another gesture of faith under dire circumstances. Finally, Jade's challenge incorporates a lot of these elements. It's another "blind faith" situation. She has to take a shot in the dark. There's a sacrificial gesture, but instead of risking herself (like Rose), Jade must symbolically sacrifice her friend via effigy and cannot complete the sacrifice without help from that friend. (Bec must redirect the bullet. There's no way this works if he doesn't.) It is also a signifier that the pet she knew as a friend her whole life is about to, in a way, become her enemy. Like a good dog gone bad, who now must be put down."

So they are all intended to be foodstuffs! And, apparently, alphabetical - although I think 'Crow's egg' is a bit of a stretch.

There are also themes of sacrifice and faith that I didn't really think about before. Choosing to enter Sburb at all, knowing the stakes, is absolutely a leap of faith - and it's a game which sacrifices your whole planet. Skaia's been telling us the score this whole time.

Homestuck absolutely deals with dark themes - but they start out buried under the surface, and even now, are still in the process of revealing themselves. This makes sense for Homestuck, a coming-of-age-story whose protagonists are slowly coming to terms with some dark truths about their lives.

Awful Hospital, however, immediately says: here's our protagonist. Her baby is dying. She just woke in a strange room. She doesn't know how she got here. Her baby has been stolen. There are monsters inside her brain. By the way, here's a quip, because this is actually a funny comic. It just felt... dissonant, and not in a fun way. I don't really know what it's going for, tonally.

Don't take this as a negative review, though! I only read a couple dozen pages, so I'm really not qualified to rate the comic - I just wasn't feeling it at the time, so I shelved it. I enjoy a lot of Bogleech's writing, and Awful Hospital's lore sounds pretty interesting, so I'll probably give it another shot at some point.

Not for the most part! I'm super into time travel stories, though, so I'm well-Primed to understand their intricacies.

So there might be intermittent stages between the four we've seen in the kids' session? That'd be interesting - I'd love to see the intermediary stage between John's 2D chessboard and Rose's 3D cube.

There are, at this point, too many awesome songs for me to pick favorites. Umbral Ultimatum and Sunslammer are excellent, but what songs aren't, at this point?

I can't imagine what we're in for when we reach the Act 5.2 finale...

Ooh, interesting. Considering how many accidental references Hussie seems to make, it's honestly up in the air whether that was intentional.

That said....

Jack is looking awfully divine these days.

I suppose Tavros has probably logged the most rocket-hours, yeah.

I'm sure all Breath Players probably learn to fly, unless there are some oddball classes which don't let you interact with your Aspect.

Anonymous asked: forwarding this message to you from someone who doesn't have a tumblr account. ~DJ "Important fact. Dave and Aradia both use musical instruments for time travel, but different ones. Aradia’s is a music box, it has a single prerecorded music, the only way to “play” it is to turn it so it plays the music that was always in it. Dave’s is turntables. They contain a preexisting music, but what you do with them is to jump, cut and shuffle this music, creating something new, having full control of it. - RM"

I like it! As Time Players, they both follow the set path of the Alpha Timeline - but Dave gets a little funky with it, multiplying himself with a complex series of time loops.

Aradia, ever the fatalist, instead turns to doomed clones for reinforcements. I don't think we've ever seen her make a stable loop.

[elizart5]

Adam is honestly very interesting to contrast from Charlie.

She is nice because she genuinely hate being too assertive or even agressive.

Meanwhile, Adam love reminding that he can still tear to shreds any overlords stupid enough to want the smoke, but he can't just go out and kick asses to get what he want, because this violence is why he was kicked out and would just convince overlords to join forces to kill him.

And if he become an Overlord, it mean denying the possibility of ever returning to Heaven.

And unlike Charlie, Adam's redemption program is obviously something that is self centered, so he need to convince the sinners that he's genuine.

Also, the thing with Katie show that Lute became less keen on Adam's carnal shenanigans, is that because she's a demon, unlike the winners and Heavenborns of before (which we see she doesn't seem really bothered about from her reaction regarding the drummer and that Virtue woman) or because they've grown closer so it feel worse than when they simply were a mix of best friends with benefits (they clearly were the closest to each other, and I doubt there was no such physical stuff between them) and boss-underling?

Or both?

Adam is a hot mess in this situation, because yes, he doesn't care about redemption or even believe in it. the only reason he went through with it was because ate the heaven embassy when he met with Charlie she told him this selfless act could get him back into heaven, of course Adam took this opportunity and ran. The building he gets for his project was a gift from Charlie who has been really excited about redemption. When he went in to pitch at 666 news he had no plan despite Lute staying up all night to make talking points, he wanted to show off and bluntly turned them down saying "Chill your tits, I got this! I'm Adam the first man, who wouldn't listen to me". He goes up to talk and isn't very clear, saying things like "Our rehab center can, I don't know, make you good and shit? To get me- YOU into Heaven. shit i should have planned this..." He turns to song because he is better at coming up with things on the fly that way, interrupting Katie and Tom mocking his poor delivery,

Let me stop you right there, just give me some time

So what I'm suggesting is letting you climb

up the Ladder 'cause I'd rather cross the pearly gates

Sorry bitches there is no defying your fates

because Hell is forever whether you like it or not

As you can see he almost tried to sell his idea, but fell a little short and started speaking his mind. Adam has no filter and won't hesitate to say what he thinks. Of course Lute is absolutely seething that he messed this up for them and is very annoyed with the cameraman hitting on her whilst simultaneously mocking Adam.

Adam and Lute are a lot closer in this AU because they are the only ones they can trust. As ex-exterminators the population of Hell hates them and there have been multiple attempts on their afterlives. An example of needing protection is Lute, as Adam and Lute aren't sinners and are fallen angels they have freedom to go to any ring they want. Lute has been in Hell longer than Adam, 12 years to be exact, and the only being that would make it so she didn't have to fend off the furious population of Hell all the time was Mammon. In exchange for her protection she would have to become one of Mammon's clowns, which of course she hated, but it was her only option. When Adam comes and offers her a way out she goes for it with no questions asked. Adam on the other hand came down and was dead set on finding a way out immediately, he was to cocky to assume that sinners might actually want to harm him. When he finally finds Lute it's at one of her performances, and he recognizes her instantly as one of his exterminators. He likes her from the get go but doesn't want to tell her, she starts off as seeing him as a kind of savior for her but than as he gets more affectionate in his own way she starts liking him to. Being in a situation with only one person you can really rely on defiantly makes any bond stronger, Lure gets jealous easier now and so does Adam. Unlike Lute though Adam doesn't handle it as well as lute does and he will openly voice his distaste for another.

[notbecauseofvictories]

a brief list of people I talked to during my vacation, incomplete:

the woman who kindly escorted us to her favorite pubs in Dublin. I'd guess she was in her late fifties/early sixties, and she was very kind about squiring several jetlagged/semi-drunk tourists to her favorite bars. She talked about her daughter and her holidays and kindly left us to soak in the beer, atmosphere, and local music, before floating back to the hotel on a cushion of sleep deprivation and alcohol.

the tour guide who took us through Cork to Killarney, who was extremely chatty---but it was invaluable local color, in my opinion, since I think it's rare to find someone so willing to talk about their childhood with complete strangers. She told us about how her mother would send them out to pick blackberries for jam, the weekly washings, the annual Medicine Taking in the spring (it was horrible and completely useless, according to her), and how her father would load up their milk to head to the processing shed and collect town gossip there. Apparently, there was a Traveler family that used to park their wagons in her family's yard, and the family would share leftovers, help the Traveler's daughter to school in exchange; she remembers when the daughter died, and then there were no more visits.

the other tour guide, who was very polished and professional---he had lots to say about the extant education and healthcare systems, as much as history, and only teased me a little bit for mispronouncing "cairns." He ruefully admitted he hadn't understood Banshees of Inisherin, even when I mentioned it had inspired my trip to Inis Mor. (I was quietly in love with him.)

the staff at [redacted] in Galway, which is where I and my family hung out after our long days ended. I loved their bartenders specifically, the cheerful woman who kept (not so subtly, but amusingly) needling us to buy more, and joking with us; the uni student who wanted to know what "Notre Dame" was and told us she was studying education; the man with the thick Russian accent who went into detail about the Prigo/zhin crash and why it had occurred; the young man who talked about the bars in Dublin, and how he'd just returned from because he'd forgotten his ID at one of its best ones.

the fellow traveler, who I also sat with at that bar---he was only there to pick up his wife for a mini-vacation, but he was charming and I loved listening to him talk about Dublin, about what he remembered as the best spots, comparing notes with the bartender to see whether certain bars were still "cool" or if that was 10 years in the past.

the owner---as I later found out---of The Bar on Inish Mor, who is competent and capable as any manager I've ever had. When I first saw her she was pulling pints behind the bar; only after an hour or two of observation did one of the underlings mention that, oh no, she wasn't just a manager, she was the owner. But of course anyone quietly instructing staff to clear tables or wash dishes, making sure that food arrived on time, and exchanging charming banter with customers, has to be the owner. I don't know her name, but I admire her intensely.

(sidenote, the guy who wiped out on the biking path, who rose up laughing at himself, and his friends who gathered around him taking the absolute piss out of their mate even as they catalogued his injuries---I love all of them.)

the staff at the Little Museum of Dublin, one of whom asked if I was a history student (I'm not, but was charmed) and then talked about the creeping horror of bog bodies and the museum's planned expansion until they had other duties to attend to.

the curators at St. Auoden's, who talked to me about the function of the church, its graves, and also discovering headless bodies beside the churchyard.

that curator at Marsh's Library, who gamely entertained all my questions about Latinate titles and preserved skulls. I still need to know more about the Irish book of prophecy prohibited by the Vatican but benignly ignored by the Dublin clergy; I guess I'll email them directly.

the woman I helped across the street in Dublin. She had vertigo, and was not confident she could make it by herself. A lovely woman, with sere white hair and blue eyes, and she thanked me so profusely afterwards. I hope she's having a good day.

the kindly night manager of the hotel, who asked whether I was okay when I showed up at 3am in the hotel lobby. (My bus to the airport left at 4am.) He told me about his family and the rhythms of the job; I told him about Chicago/what I'd seen in Ireland so far.

Obviously there was a lot of notable history and peerless attractions, but there's something about the people you meet on vacation that's just....well, it's like lightning, in that it doesn't strike twice and it fills you with awe every time.

[mylifeasaserver]

226

I showed up today with a raging erection because I was so excited to "do what it takes for the patients."

When I got there we had over 100 new prescriptions in data entry from just this morning. The pharmacists had almost 100 in verification (where they make sure the tech inputted the prescriptions correctly.) There were 226 in fill.

And then the callouts began.

For context, we were supposed to have 4 techs plus me, and I'm a rental at this store.

We had 2 techs. Including me.

The pharmacy closes at 8. The tech that arrived before me was scheduled to leave at 4. I was scheduled to leave at 5.

This poses a very real problem, since you can't just have one person working in the pharmacy, so there are 3 hours where only the pharmacy manager would be there. Not like they can just pull somebody from the store either - they need anybody working back here to be certified.

The pharmacy manager begins making desperate calls trying to find another tech to cover the hours. This store is out of techs, as everybody was either scheduled and called off or is already here. The other stores in the area are in the same boat - though with less callouts. Not to mention it's Saturday and nobody wants to work weekends to begin with.

So this poor manager - I really do like her because she's competent and understands that corporate decisions are dumber than drinking yourself to sleep every night - calls the regional asking him what she should do. There's no overtime, no techs to come in, and they don't want to pay the extra for a pharmacist to come in.

He authorizes overtime.

She first asks the tech that actually works at that store if she wants to stay for overtime pay. It makes sense that she'd be asked first, she's full time and regularly works there.

She declines.

She asks me if I'll stay. I will not.

She calls the regional back, and reports that nobody will work the overtime.

The regional decides that he needs to flex his managerial muscle and talk directly to the techs to convince us to stay. The other tech gets the talk first, but she's selfishly unwilling to leave her kid alone at home after the babysitter leaves. This is not prioritizing the patients like the company wants at all!

Then he gets me. He doesn't want this conversation. I don't want this conversation. The regional doesn't like me, and I don't think about him enough to care one way or another.

"John, we need you to stay until close tonight. I know we can count on you." He phrased it this way because it removes the illusion of an option. But after declaring the company can't afford overtime, I'd rather shit in my hands and clap than work it to save their asses when it goes sideways.

"You can't count on me for that. I'm sure you'll figure something out. You'll just need to step up and do what it takes for the patients." I hear that familiar exasperated sigh on the other end of the call, heard many times over years of working with mid-level managers who don't understand why their underlings won't do anything to protect their easily replaced jobs.

I transfer him back to the pharmacy manager.

**Author's note** I did have a conversation with the pharmacy manager after she got off the phone with this galaxy-brained dipshit. She's well aware that I'm not refusing because of her or anything she's done. It's because her boss is a dumbass and his bosses have nothing more than a barely-functioning brain stem. We're on good terms. When I left, the pharmacy closed.

The regional had authorized the astronomical pay for a pharmacist to come in to close with the manager. They all declined. No tech from another store was willing to show up for a 3 hour shift, especially since most of them would have to leave the store they were already working at just to come to this trash fire. I did helpfully suggest the regional comes in for those hours, but that was a non-starter for some reason.

Do you know how fucked things have to be for a retail space to close early?

I left sharply at 5, and spent most of my day running the register. The pharmacy manager put up a sign that we closed early due to understaffing and encouraged people to notify corporate with their displeasure. I volunteered to take the hit for it should that come back to bite her.

Checked Indeed tonight. There are plenty of open pharmacy tech positions. And if things keep up this way, I'll be taking one of them.

Oh and when I left? Over 300 new prescriptions in entry. Over 500 in fill. It'll take days to dig out from that.

Lucky for me, I'm not scheduled again until Wednesday. And barring them paying me extra to come in on my day off, I'm going to enjoy my time off. Maybe go fishing. Maybe teach myself to cook Korean food. Who knows? Not gonna lie, this job shit the bed really fast. Went from "nothing to post" to "what the fuck is this place even?" Maybe I need to go back to restaurants. Or sell meth. For legal reasons I'll specify that selling meth is a joke. -J