#l. kate deal

[thefugitivesaint]

L. Kate Deal, 'The Wild Swans', ''Child Library Readers'', Book Four, 1928

[calochortus]

Land and Water by Kathie McMillan Via Flickr: "Science Stories Book Two" of the Curriculum Foundation Series. By Wilbur L. Beauchamp, Harriet M. Fogg, Gertrude Crampton and William S. Gray. Copyright 1935 by Scott, Foresman and Company. This series present textbooks of the highest quality, with 3 well-known artists of children's books listed as well as 2 well-known scientific illustrators. Great attention is paid to the readability levels, and the books are printed on good quality paper.

[widowlyy]

🥎 ❀ HOMERUN DEAL

analysis. its the first game of your season and you were a nervous wreck the entire time. Close enough to quitting, your softball coach had pulled you to the side and offered you a bargain if you were to snap your head into the game and win.

pairing. softball coach!natasha x player!reader

warnings. MINORS DNI | Smut. Legal age gap (N is late thirties, R is early twenties), strap-on (R receiving), daddy kink, possessive nat, mean nat (if you squint), teasing, semi-public sex (almost got caught, in office), degradation, praising, dirty talk.

wc. 4.8k

authors note. the games begin, in the series and between me and a fellow friend 😼😼 — expect more coming soon. @thewidowsledger im ringing the dinner bell come here

taglist. @idkwhatever580

⧗

Monday mornings were never your favorite, who even enjoyed them anyways? Tomorrow is going to be the first softball game of the season after a week of practice and a week of you fawning over your coach, and it was clear your teammates noticed. You walked into your building with a empty cup of coffee that was sloppily made from the starbucks worker, and you didn’t even have the time to open your mouth and complain due to Kate wanting to meet up early and gossip in the parking lot. You remind yourself of the message you got in the morning before you woke, the familiar image of the redhead had filled your mind as she reminded you to go to her office in the morning to go over plans and to understand your point of view more on who should play where.

You walked through the halls, ensuring your shoes dragged amongst the floor, squeaking in complaint just like you were twenty minutes earlier to the black haired girl you adored. The sound of a door opening, the metal hinges silently groaned as the raspy yet teasing voice announced, “L/N, stop dragging your feet down the hall, come on in,” Turning your head to see the opened door with the woman herself standing in the doorway, taking in her outfit, the wide-legged black dress pants had perfectly fit her waist with the white blouse as her top. You tried to focus on the redhead's face rather than Natasha’s soft colored skin and curves, noticing the soft smile on her face as she lured you into the trap of her office as you stepped into the office. Ensuring to lift your feet to prevent the obnoxious noise. Hearing the door close behind you and the feeling of a hand brushing against your lower back as she gestured for you to sit across from her seat behind the desk. You hesitated at first, before you felt her lean in behind you as her lips brushed against your ear. Is this a teasing way? Was she just playing with you, fighting the blush on your cheeks as she softly mused out, “Come on, we have plenty of time for you and me to discuss the game plan tomorrow,”

“Right, uhm, what are you thinking?” You tried to hide your nerves as you asked your coach what her plans were, watching as the redhead had ensured to sit across from you looking into your eyes as soon as you looked up to meet hers with that smirk plastered on her lips before she turned to look at her computer screen and explain her thoughts.

“Well, I thought I could place Brooke at third with you at short. Kate pitching with Carol catching,” She confidently stated out as she looked over the positions, her eyes trailed over as your brows creased and a small frown found your face and you spoke up.

“No, swap me and Brooke. She plays at short usually while me at third, that’s been our dynamic for years,” you had explained softly, mind hazy as all you could think about was Natasha’s arms. Seeing them lean against the desk to look closer at you before she hummed softly, adjusting the positions, another suggestion fell off your lips, “You’ll want to have Maria warm up as well, if Kate goes for too long in an inning she’ll get in her head and it won’t work for any of us,”

She quirked a brow, a soft smirk playing on her lips as she nodded, “Abby at second right? Then we bring Wanda in center, Anna in right and Karlie in left,”

You nodded quickly at the redheads statement for the rest of the positions, your eyes flicked to the screen as your coach turned it around so you’d get a look at the batting line up. You were batting third, wincing a bit but hiding it quickly as you nodded, “seems good to me,”

The redhead smiled softly at you, green eyes twinkling before she pulled her laptop back and shut it, her focus going solely on you which had the butterflies in your stomach churning. Swallowing, you also mumbled out meekly, “is there anything you need me to tell the team, such as signs, specific things or plays you want?”

“No, I think I can have it handled,” Natasha responded softly before spinning her chair and standing up, the aroma of coffee filling the office air as your eyes took in how your coach had a coffee machine in her office. Surprise filled your orbs, she turned back as she got two mugs, “do you want a cup? I made a little too much,”

“Yeah sure,” You agreed, “lots of sugar if you have it, creamer too,” 

“Ooh, you like it sweet? Does that explain how sweet you are?” She teased lightly, a brow quirking as she poured you a cup. Pouring a scoop of sugar in and then creamer, surprisingly enough to suit your taste as she stirred it and handed it to you. Flushing as your eyes found your feet, muttering a small thanks and taking the cup gracefully.

“You seem tired malyshka, how much sleep did you get?” Your coach asked softly, pouring herself a cup and having a scoop of sugar before mixing it in well enough as she sat down in front of you again. Taking a sip as you tried to comprehend how black the woman liked her coffee. Calculating the hours of sleep, you weren’t as tired as you were anymore, too busy ranting on call with Kate while playing stupid games or doing assignments. Yet somehow it took a toll on you last night, actually trying to go to bed early but all you could do was stare at the ceiling and hope that sleep would take you. Sleeping medication, such as melatonin, didn’t work anymore due to early years of you being unable to sleep and overtaking it to where the medicine didn’t have an effect on you anymore.

“Err, about six hours, I was up finishing a report for one of my minor classes,” You meekly admitted, you had easily lied to teachers before. A bat of your eyes with a soft plea that your cat had gone missing due to her being a minx and you were worried too much to work on schoolwork because that cat was the last thing you had with a resemblance of your mother. Your cat is in fact with your mother, who lives in a separate state, who you never talked to after you declared that it was your time for independence and that you can go through with your dreams. You still regret it, it’s one of the things that has your mind reeling at night with a gut-wrenching feeling of guilt.

Your mind wandered enough for Natasha to see the haze in your eyes, she cleared her throat as her raspy yet soft voice slightly scolded in concern, “you need eight hours honey, that’s not healthy especially when you play a sport like this. I need you up and running tomorrow, okay?”

Your eyes lifted, a slight nod had bobbed at her words as you took a sip from the mug she handed you. Nose scrunching as you considered her words, a meek thanks leaving your lips as you felt the scorching liquid torment your tastebuds before you swallowed it down your esophagus. You swore you’d take coffee out of your mornings after you spazzed out one day in highschool, hands too shaky for writing and you broke your personal school chromebook that had your dad in your ear about having to pay for it and your mom yelling at him and defending you quickly. 

“I plan on going to bed earlier tonight, Kate’s working so I can’t call her. I have nothing due for my classes either so I’m free,” You reassured your coach, a shy smile finding your features as your eyes softened slightly from the tension and exhaustion as you looked at the redhead who gave you a smile in return.

“That’s good, I hope you don’t mind but I contacted your first classes professor about you not being there for us discussing plans,” She informed you, a hum left her throat, “if you want you can stay here and rest, I’m not doing anything special but scheduling more games. The couch there is open if you want to nap,” 

Your eyes widened at her gesture, astonished at the generosity before you nodded quickly. Taking a moment to think before opening your phone to check the time, at least two hours, you’ll be able to last. A hoarse rasp left your throat from the hot liquid and tiredness, “thank you coach, I’ll be out of here five minutes before first period is done, I’ll set an alarm,”

As you stood to go lay down on the couch. You settled yourself, head resting on the arm as you were about to set an alarm on your phone as movement caught your eyes. Natasha waved it off as she offered with a hum, “don’t worry about it, I can wake you up, just get your beauty sleep malyshka. That’s all I need,”

A simple nod against the fabric was enough to indicate you trusted Natasha to wake you up, a small smile found her face as she was finally gaining your trust. Noting how your breathing faded to something soft you fell asleep, a small sigh left her lips. Finding ways to get you to rest was hard, exhausting you at practice as she made you run drills harshly weren’t enough. Maybe the gentle approach was better, all she knew is that she was getting closer to you. That’s all she wanted, and she found a suspicion that’s what you wanted too.

—

You fought with the belt buckle to hold your pants up, to tie the outfit together. Black jeseries with red pin stripes with black pants, white socks and the white belt that is struggling to close around your hips. Finally snapping it down as you sighed, you had your hair bubble braided and you stood in front of the mirror in the athletic locker room. Eyes fixing in on your form before a sudden whistle left someone’s lips and you saw the familiar raven colored hair stood beside you.

“Your ass is fat, what happened to the pants? Or did you just randomly grow,” Kate teased, hand grazing your shoulder before she moved to put her hair up in a lazy bun. Your eyes gave the infamous mom glare as you sighed, you were pretty sure you were given the wrong size in pants. First time wearing them, and you had planned to take a trip to Natasha’s office after the game to ask if you can swap pants with how tight they were. A small squeeze in your lower abdomen was there for pressure in your breathing, but it wasn’t fatal yet.

“The pants are a size too small, I plan on going to coaches office after the game to ask for a swap,” You shared the game-plan about your pants with Kate, letting out a soft grumble as she quirked a brow as a teasing giggle left her throat, “maybe coach picked you a size smaller on purpose,”

A smack was emitted from where you were at, you had slapped her bicep with another glare that could kill as the girl put her arms up in defeat, “Joking! I was joking, gosh! Who’s got your panties rolled up?”

You sensed there was a second part Kate wanted to share with that final sentence but luckily the girl was smart enough to not push it anymore. You hauled your softball bag over your shoulder and clapped her on the shoulder with a rough, “Let’s get going, maybe I’ll make you run an extra lap for warmups to put your head in the game,”

“Yeah while you have your head somewhere else,” Kate rolled her eyes and she was lucky she was a few distances behind you as you hissed out her last name in a scolding manner. Walking down the cement path towards the fields as you hauled a bucket of balls while Kate follows behind you like a lost puppy.

“Come on, let’s get our head in the game,”

—

Your head wasn’t in the game. You didn’t know what was happening, you have been struggling to field a simple ground ball and you have bobbled it everytime it got into your mitt and you overthrowed it or was too late. When you were up to bat you could barely hit, it was a slow pitcher which you absolutely hated on waiting for and you fouled it many more times than it went into play. When it went into play? It was dead, dying in the dirt as quick as it hit it and you were thrown out every time you ran through the bag. Your ribs were aching, pants too tight as you struggled to breathe as water dribbled down your chin, sweating profusely as you sat in the corner every time you were in the dugout for being on the offensive side while your teammates hit.

Natasha stood at third base every inning when your team was hitting, when your team was on the field she sat on her bucket giving signals to the catcher and pushing her face into the clipboard everytime a mistake was made. You grimaced every time when you saw the sweaty redhead cringe and you felt the wave of disappointment.

It was the last inning, the last at bat and the score was tied. 6-6, you were on deck and you swung the bat lazily to try and warm yourself up. Try and shake out the jitters, the bat cracked from Kate and went flying to rightfield. Bases were loaded, and a time was called as the other coach ran to the pitchers mound for some type of talk.

A hand found your shoulder, dragging you to the third base area away from earshot as Natasha pulled you back and her slender hands gripped the mask of your helmet, “what’s going on?”

“I-I don’t know, coach I can’t do—,” A jerk forward from the helmet brought you insanely closer to the redhead, piercing green irises staring into yours as she finished your sentence, “you can do this Y/N, stop doubting yourself. You can hit off of her easily, just a small one over the fence and we win. Just time up your load carefully, don’t lunge, and don’t roll your wrists,”

You stared hopelessly into the redheads eyes, how can Natasha give this advice so simply? Cheeks flushed at how your coach was so close as Natasha ever so slightly leaned in and deviously, yet quietly bargained, “you hit a home run over that fence and I’ll take you in my office and fuck you,”

Your eyes widened, mouth agape at the offer, well bargain she handed you. She was your coach and she just offered you sex for a home run? Biting your bottom lip as you blinked before she added on, “I’ve seen the looks you give me, you can’t deny it princess,”

“Okay, okay, I’ll take it but what happens if I don’t?” As soon as you asked the umpire asked—yelled—for you to come up to the plate. Swallowing as the redhead’s eyes darkened before she patted the helmet you wore and you traipsed up to the batter’s plate. 

Stepping into the box, you watched the pitcher wind up and throw a ball right over your head. Steadily breathing out as you stepped out to look over at your coach. No signs, she meant the words she said. Stepping back in and swinging your bat against your cleats like the ritual you do every time you go up to bat. 

Wind up, load back, and you swung your arms forth. The sound of the ball hitting the bat cracked over the field and you dropped it and ran. Watching the baserunners start running, your assistant coach pumped their arms to signal you to turn and go to second. You pumped your legs faster, puffing slightly as you suddenly heard clapping. It was a good hit but was it enough for the spectators to clap. You turned your head to see Natasha clapping as well, a smile on the redhead’s face as you noticed the fielders moved to the side. 

You made it to three and kept running, finally recognizing the fact you hit the ball over the fence. Your team rushed out of the dugout to congratulate you, as soon as you stepped on home plate your thighs were grabbed and you were hauled up as they lifted you and cheered. The yell of game over had everyone dancing in enthusiasm, as soon as you were set down on the dirt you lined up and high-fived the other team with your squeaky mumbles of good game.

—

“There could’ve been a lot of improvement, but it was a good first game,” Natasha spoke as she stood, you and your teammates were sat in the grass in leftfield and listened to her advice for how the game went and her overlook, “you guys make a great team, but if you keep getting in your heads like that and keep on making mistakes we’ll never learn and we will lose every game, luckily Y/N hit that grand slam for us,”

You felt a few hands clap your shoulders, hair down as you were tired and didn’t want to wait until home to take the amount of mini rubber bands out. You were unable to process the congratulations still on how you managed to hit it over the fence as your eyes slightly peered up to look at the redhead, she was quiet for a second before adding on, “rake the fields, put everything away,”

Standing up, you went to go help the teammates go pick up, blinking for a moment before a harsh order came out in the night air, “Not you Y/N, my office, now,”

You swallowed, watching your coach walk past you and you ducked your head and followed Natasha like a lost puppy as confused looks found your teammates faces. It felt like hours walking to the building of your school, watching the redhead open the doors for you and place a hand on your shoulder to guide you to her office.

Door hinges opened with a small creaking in protest, walking in first before two hands grabbed your waist and the door was shut. Hands moving to fumble with the lock of the office door as Natasha’s head pushed into the crevice of your neck as sloppy, wet kisses were littered across your skin. Hands finding her hair and a hopeless whimper left your throat as she kept you pinned against the door as the handle dug painfully into your lower spine.

“Didn’t believe me when I offered you this huh malyshka? Trust me, daddy keeps her promises,” the huskiness of Natasha’s voice sent a throbbing ache between your legs as you mewled as her teeth gently sunk into your throat before the warm muscle of Natasha’s tongue soothed the mark.

“Tell me what you want baby, what does the little winner want from daddy, hmm?” She cooed out mockingly, pulling her head back with a wicked grin on her facial features. A calloused hand grabbing your chin to make you look at her, unable to form a single thought in your head with words. Your body moved on its own, hips thrusting forward against the redheads hip. Hand leaving your face to grip your waist and pushed you back.

“Uh uh, tell daddy what you want or you’re not going to get what you want and I’ll decide for you,” She tutted, a mocking pout finding her perfect lips as she leaned in and pressed a kiss against your pretty lips, teeth gnashing down on your bottom lip as you moaned out. Tongue pushing way into your mouth before she pulled back, leaving you wanting and chasing her lips.

“Want you, please,” You softly whined, hands gripping the redheads coaching shirt as a brow quirked. Her hand moving to unbutton your jersey, fingernails tracing the shape of your bra as she taunted, “what part of me my dear?”

You flushed, swallowing as you grabbed Natasha by the waist and pulled her closer. Smashing your lips into hers and she grabbed the back of your neck, pulling you in before flipping you around. She pushed your hair out of the way and pressed her lips to your neck again, teeth biting, sucking, doing all that she can to leave her marks as a hand went down to grope your ass.

“Fuck, these pants really do show your ass, hm? My perfect little baby with the body of a goddess,” She lovingly cooed, pushing your jersey off your body. Unclasping your bra before her hand cupped one of your breasts, fingers rolling over the nipple as you whined out. Softly moaning into the air, “tell me baby, do you wanna ride daddy’s cock? I’m sure that’s a reward you want, or maybe have you bent over my desk as I fuck that pretty pussy until it’s full,”

Her hand from your ass lifted and grabbed your jaw, tilting your head back so you can look into her eyes, “hmm? Too dumb to think now are we? Poor girl,”

She pulled you away from the door, bringing you over to her desk as she kissed you again. Savoring your taste on her lips as you grasped at her shirt again, hands fiddling with the buckle of your belt before undoing it. Her hands shoved your pants and panties down, revealing your throbbing cunt into the cold air and you gasped.

“Such a slut, I’m your coach and you’re getting off with how I treat you,” She scolded, turning your body around as a hand found the spot between your shoulder-blades and pushed you down so you were bent over her desk. Uncaring for the paperwork, she can always print more. Loving how you were bent, hands gripping the wood like it was your lifeline while you were on the tips of your toes, your entrance open and needy as your arousal stuck to your thighs.

“Mmph, daddy please,” You whimpered out, needy enough as you slowly pushed your hips against the desk to get at least some friction until a slap was emitted on the globe of your ass.

“Don’t move,” Came the harsh words from your coach, a whimper left your lips as you blubbered incoherently. Hearing a belt buckle undone, the slide of pants falling down. The feel of silicone against your thigh had you clench in anticipation, the redhead traced her fingers down your spine before she slid the toy inside you. 

Your eyes crossed, unfamiliar with the stretch and as you felt her hips move back slowly anticipation creeped into your veins before a knock was sounding at the door. You froze, Natasha froze. The door was locked, but if someone were to actually peer through the thick glass on the door the silhouettes of you two would be seen.

“Coach, practice is cancelled tomorrow right?” Came the voice of the familiar blonde, Carol was right outside the door and you felt the lump in your throat. A hand moved to grip your throat, squeezing as your breathing restricted, the gruff voice leaving the body who was behind you.

“Yes Carol, practice is cancelled tomorrow. But I have a very important email I’m writing and you just interrupted me. Would you like a one on one practice with me yourself or leave me alone?” The harshness of Natasha’s words had you gush around the strap and she felt it. A smirk finding her plump lips before a quiet ‘yes coach’ was heard and the sound of feet moving down the hall.

Your fingers clawed at the desk, the grip on your throat didn’t loosen and the redhead slammed the toy back into you. The tip right against your cervix as you cried—well tried to—out. 

“Oh baby, you fit my cock so well, such a pretty girl. You like it when I treat you like this, don’t you?” She cooed out softly, pulling her hips back and thrusting in. Molding her body to your back as her hips snapped steadily, thrusting in and out of you as she held you down as to pitifully nodded and moaned out.

“Daddy’s good girl, fuck I should’ve taken you earlier. Your pussy is so addicting,” She moaned out, her hand leaving your throat as a series of moans left your lips. Pressing her lips to your throat as her hand found your clit, rubbing soothing circles into it as you grinded back into your coach.

“Uh, uh, uh,” left your throat, cockdrunk already as your mind grew hazy. A snort left the redhead’s mouth, a soft snicker escaping the older woman’s throat at your lack of thought. 

“Gonna cum,” you softly whined out, walls clenching around the strap on as you felt the coil in your abdomen tighten to that familiar feeling. A harsh laugh left the coach, before she pulled the toy out of you and a broken cry left your lips. Tears starting to bubble in your eyes, the hand on your clit moved back to your hip.

“Poor baby, you needed to let go that bad?” She mocked, pulling you up from the desk as she sat down in her office chair, pulling you to straddle her lap and face you. A brow quirked and she gave that devious smirk of hers, “I’m sure you can hold it for daddy, ride my cock malyshka,”

You slid back down onto her cock, head nuzzling into the crook of her neck as you felt the gush of arousal flush out around the faux dick and onto Natasha’s thighs. Hips touching hers, before you slowly started to grind.

“That’s a good girl,” She praised, and a moan left your lips as your speed quickened. Grinding went to lifting your hips and bouncing. Your coach’s hands went to your hips and guided your movements, your breath right against your neck. Panting as you had your nails dig into her clothed shoulder.

“Daddy, feels so good,” You moaned out your praise for how the redhead made you feel. Sniffling out as you felt the tug in your core, blinking heavily as you felt the overstimulation every time your clit brushed against the strap. 

“See how good daddy makes you feel baby, all you needed was a bargain for a good fuck and you do good. Are you that much of a slut Y/N, or is this just for me?” She asked, slowing your pace down as you sobbed out between moans. You thought you were going to be able for release as your reward, and all she is doing is refusing it? As frustrated as you are, you can’t help but moan loudly and love her more.

“All for you daddy, please let me cum, I’ll be your good girl,” You begged, and oh you beg so prettily for her. Softly whimpering, she guided your hips quicker again, feeling that sinking feeling come back as you inhaled sharply.

“Let it go baby, make a mess of daddy’s cock,” She permitted your release, and as soon as the sentence was over you snapped your hips faster and felt the coil snap. Juices flooding out of your entrance and over her dick, ruining Natasha’s dress pants and coating your thigh. You shuddered, movements stopping as you shakily breathed.

Thinking you were done with the hazed mind, it wasn’t until you registered the movement of your hips again that Natasha was moving you again, “daddy too much!”

The complaint left your lips lazily, all the redhead could do was scoff, “it’s not too much, daddy will tell you when it’s too much. Now be quiet and let daddy use you, hmm? Daddy needs to be taken care of too,”

You nodded weakly, not able to defy or complain to the redhead anymore. Letting her move your hips, the pleasure and overstimulation taking over but she had a point, Natasha needed to be taken care of right, it’s what you owed her. It wasn’t until you released two more times, and being covered in Natasha’s release is when she called it. She wanted to talk to you about what happened, but when you slumped against her with your nose scrunched, mouth partially open and eyes closed that she decided to let you rest. She put her pants back on, and then dressed you back up. She knew it wasn’t proper, but could she really resist? She left the building with you in her arms and in the passenger seat of her car. And that was all you remembered when you woke up in her arms the next morning, in her bed, with your face pressed in between her boobs without a care in the world for the responsibilities for the day, maybe this could work out after all.

[cthulhus-curse]

Swan Song

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4,325

Warnings: Queen!Wanda Maximoff, Princess!Reader, Stepcest, Blood Kink, Bondage, Breeding, Cunnilingus, Degradation, Drugging, Dubious Consent, Face-Sitting, Forced Orgasm, Jealousy, Knife Play, Manipulation, Mommy Kink, Possessive Behavior, Praise, Pussy Spankings, Smut, Strap-Ons, Vaginal Fingering, Magic Use | 18+ Minors DNI

Summary: Your queen doesn’t like seeing her pet whoring herself out to anyone, much less to a peasant girl. In order to remind you of your place, Wanda gives you a night you won't easily forget.

Being a princess was much more than sitting around on a throne waiting for the hours to go by as the king and queen ruled over the empire. It was tedious work. Having various dress fittings, keeping up with bumbling fools who visited from other kingdoms with the hopes of having their sons betrothed to you, and overall dealing with a royal life which was as dull as the rocks you splashed on the river along with your friend.

At times you wished to have Kate’s life. Ever since you were a child you had known each other. She was the daughter of the stable boy who was eager to follow in his footsteps and claim her loyalty to your family. Kate had been there when your mother passed, listening each day to your teenaged ramblings about the suspiciousness of her death. She was poisoned, you were sure, but unbeknownst to you the witch who would soon claim the empty spot as your second caretaker had done so as a means to set her plan in motion. While the woman aimed to rule over the kingdom in the shadows behind her recently wedded husband, your father, you were far too busy prancing around even when adulthood arrived acting out as the wild princess who spit on the royal name just to be free.

Well, at least that was until Wanda had taken matters into her own hands. She wouldn’t let an insolent, brat of a princess tarnish the family name which was not even hers to begin with. That was the first time she had dare take you, take your chastity, as a means to keep you tamed and dumbed down — to control your wild mannerisms and teach you to be a well-behaved toy for your owner to use as she pleased.

Even then you found time to sneak around and visit your friend at the stables. She was the only one who didn’t see you as anything other than Y/N. Not a princess, not a willing fucktoy to be corrupted. Just you. She lived in peace working at the stables only needing to worry about tending for horses which were tame as hay.

At times you couldn’t help but spend hours talking with Kate or even setting off to the village via horse and with a disguise. Your stepmother did not allow for such misdemeanors. You were a princess, not a peasant, and yet you felt at peace among the commoners.

On a rather particular day you drifted off from the market to the forest, gnawing on a recently acquired apple as your horse had already downed his own. You were far too distracted by the orchestral chirping of the birds and the wind whooshing through the leaves of the enormous trees to realize it was time to leave. Only when the sun set low enough to disallow you to even make out your own hands from the darkness did you become filled with fear and rush back to the castle. Although your father was away, the queen would not be pleased in his place.

Rushing into the castle drew various eyes of the staff. You were known to be hectic and fortuitous, but each of them felt great fear as they knew you headed to the belly of the beast. You counted your luck for having decided to wear a simple attire for horse-riding, tight pants and a loose blouse along with your boots rather than a pristine dress suited for a princess. It’s not like you could get into town without going unnoticed with the latter.

Breathlessly reaching the dining hall where you knew the queen was to have her dinner at a sharp hour, you eyed your surroundings. The dimly lit room was adorned by a woman who brought a glass of wine to her lips which showed a perfect line. She didn’t dare spare you even a glance, eyeing her food with animosity while holding her knife with deep ardor. A pair of guards were at each of her sides. Even with only the light of the candles making her presence clear and ominous, Wanda was beautiful.

“My queen, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” you greeted as the ends of your mouth reached your ears. Eyes dripped with wonder as the older woman waltzed across the dining hall, her head held up high as her hands went to clasp together in front of her. “How was your day? I see father has yet to come back from his trip, I’m sorry to say. Perhaps the two of us can-”

“I don’t think it’ll be necessary for you to speak again while I’m here,” was all Wanda said as she took another bite of her food. “Guards, please leave myself and the princess alone. There are rather sensitive matters we must discuss.” You knew that tone which invited trouble.

Each guard that surrounded the dining room nodded before moving away. Everyone knew not to question anything she said, even your father. The dominance she had over the entirety of the castle, the kingdom at that, was truly remarkable. At the spoken words, you couldn’t help but rub your thighs together before taking a seat adjacent to the queen’s who sat at the head of the table.

Once only the two of you were in the room, with Wanda sitting by your side, the woman hummed. Your fear was ever-increasing, holding you frozen in place as you did not allow yourself to take even a sip of your water.

“I was told you were seen with the stable girl today,” Wanda muttered, her voice filled with antipathy. “That the two of you were getting…close.”

“My queen, I-”

“Did I give you permission to speak?” She asked with bewildered eyes. When you looked down and shook your head, Wanda’s lips remained thin before she carried on. “You dumb little slut. I give you everything and you throw it away for a stupid, lowly peasant? You disgust me,” she spat with green eyes soon glowing red. Shaking her head at your apparent fright, Wanda sighed. “I suppose I must teach you once again who you belong to.”

Nothing happened between you and Kate — you were merely friends, that’s all. Wanda knew that. Still, the idea of her green jealousy slipping through the cracks made your mouth water. For her to once again show you who owned your body and soul filled you with giddiness.

Wanda remained silent for a moment. She grabbed her own cup of wine before shaking her head with disbelief. If you wanted to misbehave and prance around a lowly peasant without her permission, you would be treated as such. Her fingers danced over the blood red drink, the tips glowing in a mad hue.

“Drink this,” she ordered, offering you the cup which you were only recently old enough to down.

“What is it?”

“I didn’t tell you to question it. I will not repeat myself again, pet. Drink. This. Now.” There was a darkness deeper within her eyes that you couldn’t put a finger on. It reminded you of the first time she made you bleed underneath her palms for daring to get too close to one of the suitors your father wished for you to wed. Wanda did not approve of her slutty mutt being touched by anyone other than her. The faint scars underneath your breasts, stomach, and inner thighs proved so much. “There you go.” She shoved the drink to you again.

“Wanda I-”

“Hush, detka. You know that’s not my name,” the offered softly. “Be a good girl for me and drink it. Don’t you want to make me happy, sweetheart? Do as I say and maybe I won’t hurt that stupid Bishop girl.”

That was enough for you to give in. You knew better than to challenge Wanda on that front. She could and would take the life of another if it kept those she ruled over in line whether she had to send one of her guards or take matters into her own hands.

You took a swing of the wine, humming at how good it felt running down your throat. It was a toe-curling burning sensation which overtook you. All your senses were heightened for a moment, the area between your legs desperately throbbing as the smell of Wanda’s vanilla-scented perfume filled your nostrils which you became drunk with. As soon as you went high, you came right down, leaving you a brainless little mess who could barely put together a handful of words.

“Mommy,” you tried again, “I don’t feel so good.”

“I know, sweetheart, but don’t you like the yummy juice mommy got for you. It’s making your head all nice and fussy just for me. You don’t have to worry about anything from now on. Just let mommy take care of it all.” She leaned in and breathed deeply. “And once I’m done with you, you’ll wish you never so much as met that stupid stable bitch. I can’t wait to see you bleed for me,” Wanda mumbled as she ran fingers down from your jaw to your exposed chest, ripping the buttons from your blouse, “My princess.”

The honorific had much deeper connotations than anyone could know. She was your queen to the naked eye, but behind closed doors, Wanda put it upon herself to completely dominate you. She wanted you to beg, to squirm each time she so much as dragged one of her fingernails down your frail, bruised and abused body she loved to hurt. And yet she was tender once in a blue moon. Your mommy knew best, she knew you, and of course she wouldn’t let anyone take that, take you, away from her.

“Close your eyes, malyshka. Don’t fight it,” Wanda guided you as she cupped your face with both hands. “Don’t worry. You won’t even remember a thing.”

Striking bloodshot eyes were the last thing you saw before everything went black. With a body sagged and your face falling against the table, Wanda simply stood by watching with a devilish smile on her face. It would be the last time you dared willingly defy your queen.

｡☆✼★━━━━━━━━━━━━★✼☆｡

“It’s time to wake up, sleeping beauty. Mommy’s waiting for you.”

The sweet caramel voice that made an orchestra in your ears was the first thing you hear when you awoke. Your eyelids felt heavy which made it difficult for you to take sight of your surroundings. All you knew is that a sudden dry taste occupied your mouth and when you tried to move, your limbs remained in place.

“There’s my pretty princess. I underestimated the strength of that funny drink. Next time I’ll be sure to get it to wake you up sooner,” Wanda laughed as she hovered above you. When flicking your hazy, barely-open, drugged eyes upon her, you noticed the state of nakedness she was in, one which mirrored your own. A hand went to your cheek before tenderly slapping it to bring you to a better state of consciousness. “Seeing you like this has made mommy feel so warm down there, sweetheart. Would you be a dear and take care of it? Your cute little tongue always makes my pussy feel so…fucking…good.”

She didn’t need to wait for an answer. Ever since her guards had dragged you to her chambers, dropping you over the bed before being sent off, Wanda’s cunt throbbed with need. She desperately needed to use you. Binding your wrists to the headboard with her magic had been easy, but cutting off your clothes with a trusty blade, a handle which had a vial of your blood ingrained to it, made it difficult for her to control herself. For a moment she allowed herself to slip a pair of fingers inside your cunt just to feel how wet you were. The silence in you, only small whimpers thrown at her from your unconscious body, made her snarl. She wanted to hear you scream, to hear every single little sound you let out as she rained hellfire upon you.

Wanda crawled her way up your body, dropping a variety of kisses upon your lips before setting a last one on your mouth. “Be a good girl and make mommy cum with your mouth. Only then will you get a reward,” she whispered by your ear, nipping down on your earlobe before moving forth.

Her thighs were at each of your sides as your eyes were met by the sight of Wanda’s cunt. She was more than drenched, juices practically oozing from between her legs down her skin, all slick and glistening under the moonlight.

Wanda eased herself down on your lap. At the first taste of her, one which you knew so well, you groaned. Still drugged, you could barely do anything but be driven by animalistic instincts. Your tongue lazily stuck out before sliding up her slit. You were humming, eyes content while licking her luscious pussy clean.

“There’s a good fucking slut. You’re always amazing at making mommy feel good,” Wanda let out a deep breath as she rode your face. Her hips rhythmically moved so that she was grinding over your mouth, her folds being spread before your tongue found her clit. She always moans and arches her back when you swirl your way around her erect bud. “Keep going, little whore. Fuck me with your mouth. Go ahead and give me exactly what I fucking want.”

Wanda tugged at your hair while remaining in position. She moved desperately, her peak coming in a matter of seconds. It was intensified by the way your tongue teased her tight entrance, but when she squeezed her thighs around your face enough to prevent you from breathing, you knew to give up any mischief and instead give your queen what she desired.

When Wanda came, she was a loud, dripping mess. She sat over your face with a body which shook tremendously, instantly being filled with the loving embrace of relief. “That was so good, princess. So fucking good,” she praised while grazing her pussy over your face a few times for added affect. “You did so well for mommy. Now I do think it’s time for you to feel good, huh?” She raised her eyebrows, but you were far too much of a mess to know what she alluded to. “Come on, honey. I can practically smell how badly you want me to fuck you. I just need to do one thing first.”

The witch moved off your body with her hunger only partially sated. It took a few moments for her legs to stop shaking. When they did, she flicked her wrist so that a pair of straps were tightly wrapped around her waist, holding a rather large and thick dildo which was filled with the special treat she loved giving you. Standing between your legs, she grabbed her knife.

“What are you going to do?” You groggily questioned as alarms went off in your head. Still, the warmth overtaking your body as the dull side of the blade was inched up your skin made it give you an embarrassing flush over your features. “Mommy?”

“Darling, you know that your queen needs an heir, right? That’s exactly what my pretty princess is going to give me. You and I both know I won’t stop until I get what I want.” She tilted her head and stared at you with softness. “Now sit tight, honey. This will hurt so, so much.”

The blade of the knife was driven down your stiff, breathless body — you were far too afraid to let out a peep knowing the repercussions would be unfavorable. Although the first scratch was merely superficial and not strong enough to ever draw a drop of blood, the following were shallower and stronger.

Wanda drove her blade from your chest down to your belly, leaving beautiful red marks along the way. Each second that passed made the previously white cuts turn scarlet before drops of blood began falling from them. Only did she get artistic when reaching your thighs were the initials “WM” were carved on the area where they met your waist.

“It hurts so much!” You cried and yet such pain shot a jolt down between your legs. You were sticky and drenched with your own juices, your pussy practically pleading for Wanda to slide her fingers inside. “Mommy make it stop, please. I promise I’ll be a good girl from now on. Please!”

“What is it, puppy? This is exactly what you asked for.” It wasn’t, but neither of you minded pretending. Once she was done filling your skin with cuts, Wanda dropped the knife on the bed. “You can hold out a little longer for mommy. It’s not that bad. Stop exaggerating, baby girl.”

“Sorry, your highness,” you mumbled sadly.

The redhead merely raised her eyebrows before leaning down. It was time for her own tongue to stick out and glide its way along your skin. It was soft under her touch, blood trickling into her mouth. She tasted every last drop, humming at the metallic and familiar taste of it. Wanda was drunk with the gorey state of your body, cleaning every bit, only truly making it sloppier, with her mouth.

“You taste delicious, Y/N,” Wanda said as she sat back and licked her blood-stained lips. She allowed one of her fingers to inch closer to your pussy, teasing you before cupping it entirely. “What a wet little bitch you are for mommy. This is all for me, right?”

“Yes, mommy. All yours,” you were quick to respond, chest heaving up and down as your eyes flickered over your bloody body. There was something awfully terrifying and macabre about it which aroused you to no end. “Can I cum now, please? I was good for you, mommy. Please let me have my reward.”

“Of course, my little angel. You can have mommy’s special treat too while you’re at it.”

Wanda did not hesitate to align her thick cock at your entrance. She spread your legs apart whether you liked it or not. Slowly easing the dildo, she stretched out your tight, wet velvety walls that would forever welcome her, and her only – she would make sure of it.

You tried holding back a moan only to let it out loudly. Wanda did not stop whatsoever, instead inching herself deeper without letting you get used to the large toy inside you. She tilted her head to get a better look at you. Your body was writhing beneath her, clearly enjoying the feeling of having her shoved herself in your pussy until the tip of her strap-on rammed against your belly. When a small bulge appeared on your tummy, Wanda, filled with amusement, used both hands to press against it which only heightened your lust.

“You’re so big, mommy.”

“I know, sweetie. It’s bigger than anything your pretty pussy has ever taken,” Wanda agreed as she thrust her hips forth. Although she couldn’t feel the warm, tightness around her cock, she watched intently as she slid herself in and out of your cunt. “Do you remember the first time you took mommy’s cock? It was right after you came back from that trip with your father. You practically threw yourself at me that night. It had been weeks since I last saw my beautiful princess. I just knew you needed something more than my fingers then.” She grabbed your hips tightly, nails digging into your skin, while forcing her toy inside you over and over again. “Your pussy was so tight. It was only a few months after I took your chastity, huh? You were begging for me to stop but it made your cute cunt feel so good. Mommy had so much fun, she couldn’t even get herself to stop.”

“Then I came all over your cock, mommy. I remember,” you replied with a satisfied smirk over your features. You didn’t know if it was the drug or your arousal, maybe both, that left you sobbing for more at the idea of Wanda forcing herself inside you whether you liked it or not. “Mommy I don’t want your pups. Not right now, please.”

“I know honey, I know, but you have to. I really need you to do this for me. You can either say yes to me now and I promise not to make it hurt, or you can say no and I’ll make you either way.”

“But mommy-”

“No buts, missy. You take the gift mommy gives you and say thank you. I didn’t train you to be such an ungrateful little whore,” she growled before beginning to pound her thick cock inside you. “You’re my property, Y/N. Mine. Mine. mine!”

Wanda was not soft by any means. She kept pumping herself in your needy pussy, groaning as she listened clearly to the sloshing sounds of your insides being fucked along with your lustful noises. Her eyes went back and forth between looking at the bulge on your belly and your face which was contorted, all scrunched up, with deep pleasure stricken. As you came undone, the knot on your lower stomach finally loosening, your lover kept going without any sign of stopping.

She squirted her white seed inside you without warning. Her cock was squeezed by her hand, only the tip inside you as cum began filling you up. You felt hot all over, crying out of pleasure while taking every single drop that she gave you. With her eyes over your own, Wanda’s dark, macabre being which hid deep within the façade of the righteous queen began showing.

“Look at you, a useless cumrag that’s just supposed to be used for my own pleasure. I bet no one’s going to want to touch this slutty pussy now that your mommy has used and ruined it,” Wanda laughed maniacally as she pumped her cock in you a few more times before beginning to pull out. “Did you cum, baby?”

“Yes, mommy,” you whimpered. Tears dripped down your flushed features as Wanda cock left your cunt. As disappointed as you were to no longer be filled to the brim, it was quickly substituted by fingers which shoved themselves as deep as they could. “Wha- Wanda! I can’t take it anymore, please. I’m too tired. Let me close my eyes for a second and then we can try again. Please, mommy.”

“Shhh quiet down, little one. I promise it’ll feel good,” Wanda cooed as she thrust her two digits quickly. She fucked the cum back into your pussy, her fingers all white as they plunged themselves far enough to touch your sweet spot. “Come on, baby, cum.”

“I can’t take more.” It was a lie and you knew it, but you also realized that while your arousal was at its high once again, you would only grow even more exhausted than carrying heavy eyelids around.

Wanda huffed before pulling her fingers out swiftly. She didn’t allow you to speak, only instead slapping her hand over your pussy. The smacks seemed never-ending, your lover hitting you with much more strength by the second. It went on until you were begging for her to stop, but she only kept being rougher before plunging her finger inside your cunt all over again and fucking you with might.

“Cum now, Y/N.” It wasn’t a request, but an order.

“Mommy, I can’t! It’s too much, I can’t do it.”

“Oh you stupid little whore. I have to do everything myself,” she grumbled angrily. Flicking the wrist of her free hand, Wanda eyed you with mischief. She kept pumping her digits deep inside you, curling them up at your depths until it all became too much. You couldn’t take more and yet your queen urged you to cum. No, she forced you.

A scream broke out through the entirety of the castle as Wanda’s magic made it so that you couldn't hold yourself back any longer. You came for the second time, tears stinging as they traveled down your messy face. Your entire body crashed and burned with your partner taking possession over what was hers.

“Now was that so hard, baby?” She asked with unamused raised eyebrows. “I have to say that I’m impressed. You did really well, darling. Mommy is so proud of her cute little puppy.”

“Thanks,” you muttered back, eyes droopy and fucked up, but you still faced the woman who you loved so much. Relief came in as your hands dropped to your sides, Wanda finally having released your wrists from the magical bindings. You were the only one who knew of her secret, which was being a witch. Never would you dare spill your heart out to potentially get her laced in danger. “Hold me?”

“After being such a good pet, you deserve it,” Wanda hummed. She positioned herself behind you, hugging your body close to her own with a pleased smile. “You are always such a perfect princess. I know it hurt so bad,” she commented when ghosting her fingertips over your dried up cuts, “but I needed to teach you a lesson. You are to tell mommy whenever you want to leave the castle. You can’t go running away like that in secret. I never want my little one to be hurt. You’re far too dumb to take care of yourself, Y/N, so let me.”

“You promise to always love me?” you asked with a hint of hope.

Wanda smiled tenderly at that, moving slightly and accidentally sliding her strap-on against you. The mewl that you let out made her cunt throb with need once again. Squeezing your maimed body, she spoke again. “I promise, sweetheart. Mommy will always be there to love and care for you. No one gets to hurt my little princess.” She paused. “Well, except for me.”

[cheshireliam]

Ikemen Villains April Fools 2025 Surprise Short Story

My Villain Is a Plushie!?

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection; expect mistakes, grammatical errors, and some creative liberties. All original content and media used belongs to Cybird. Please support the game by buying their stories and playing their games. Reblogs appreciated.

Read this before interacting

???: …, Kaaatteee! 

???: … Oi, get up already! 

Kate: Mm…? 

I sat up in bed when I heard voices coming from who knows where. 

(I thought I heard someone talking, but there’s no one else in here.) 

I looked around my room, but I couldn't find the owners of those voices anywhere. 

Kate: Maybe I’m dreaming… 

The warm weather lulled me back to sleep, but I fought the urge and stretched. 

While I was stretching, the cushion in my hands fell—

???: Uwaah!! 

???: Oi! Whaddya think ya doin’!!? 

Kate: Huh?

There was a familiar voice coming from under my bed, and so I leaned over to have a look.

What I found were…

Plushies — one that looked like Jude, and one like Victor. 

Kate: Why are there plushies here? 

The most shocking part was,

Victor: Ahh, you finally noticed! Over here, Kate! 

Jude: Watch where ya throw stuff! Almost killed me! 

The plushies started flapping their little arms about and talking. 

Kate: … Am I still dreaming? 

Jude: Too bad, this is reality. Now look over here, ya idiot. 

The plushie resembling Jude stood up on its tiny feet.

Kate: Wha— a-are you two really Jude and Victor? 

Victor: That’s right! I know it’s hard to believe, but it's really us! 

The Victor plushie placed a hand over its chest, seemingly in an attempt to prove its identity. 

Kate: Why are you plushies…? 

Their voices sounded desperate, but the faces on the plushies remained unchanged. 

(I still don't get what's happening… but they look kind of cute.)

???: Ack. 

???: Ouch, Ring…!

???: S-sorry. 

Suddenly, the door to my room flew open, and in came more familiar voices. 

(No way…) 

I looked toward the door and saw two completely black plushies covered in dirt—

Kate: … Could these be Nica and Ring?

Nica: Spatzi, save meeee… 

Ring: Wait, Nica, I’ll just…!

Nica: Ow! Ow! Ow! Stop moving! 

The Ring plushie squirmed around on top of the Nica plushie.

Nica: Spatzi, do something about Ring! 

Kate: O-okay! 

Ring: L-let go of me! 

I hurriedly picked Ring up, his arms and legs flailing around in protest. 

Ring: B-being carried by you is kind of… uhh…

Nica: Deal with it, Ring. There’s no way we can walk properly in this state. 

Nica: Also, now I’m unbelievably dirty… pick me up too, Spatzi. 

Kate: Huh? O-okay. 

I lifted Nica by his tiny hand, holding him in my right hand, while cradling Ring in my left. 

(Let’s head to the bathroom for now to clean them up!)

…

After placing them down next to the bathtub, Nica sighed.

Nica: You were the one who invited us for breakfast, but because you didn't wake up, we came to get you. 

Ring: Didn’t expect us to end up like this along the way. 

Kate: I’m sorry, but how on earth… 

Just then, Victor called out behind me—

Victor: We have a problem, Kate! Ellis and Harrison are in the hallway! 

Kate: What!?

…

I rushed outside. 

In the middle of the hallway, I found a plushie that looked exactly like Ellis lying on the floor. 

Nearby, a Harrison plushie was staring at him in silence. 

Kate: Are you two okay!? 

Harrison: Looks like you’re safe from this. 

Ellis: Phew… it's hard to walk. 

Ellis picked himself up and waddled towards me with tiny footsteps that sounded like “pitter-patter”.

Ellis: Oof. 

Harrison: Hopeless. 

Ellis tripped again and titled his head, looking troubled. 

Kate: Why is everyone a plushie…

I sat on the hallway floor, holding my head in my hands.

Ellis spoke up.

Ellis: Come to think of it, the tea we had in the dining hall this morning tasted weird.

Harrison: Could that be the cause?

While listening to the two plushies discuss their situation, I realised… 

Jude and Victor…

Nica and Ring…

Harrison and Ellis too— 

(They're ridiculously cute! What should I do!?) 

I felt like I was going to lose my mind over how adorable the size plushie-fied men were. 

(... Could this be… my golden opportunity?) 

Even though I still felt like I was dreaming, an idea crossed my mind.

These irresistibly cute plushies— or rather, they were now completely at my mercy. 

I could dress them up in cute outfits, even if they protest. 

Since they could walk properly, I could carry them around and take them on outings. 

And since they get dirty, I could clean them up… in all sorts of ways. 

With excitement bubbling inside me, I reached my hands toward him. 

My day with the plushie version of him had only just begun. 

[7s3ven]

WHAT HAPPENS IN VAGAS STAYS IN VAGAS. simon riley

( just an idea)

I recently watched a movie set in Vegas that had the title (what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas) as its motto and I thought it’d be a really funny plot. I’ll use Ghost as a placeholder for now.

But yeah, imagine reader and Ghost (total strangers) get married in Vegas and they’re like “wtf” and they don’t officially divorce so, hey, Ghost actually has a wife on paper. And then Laswell introduces TF 141 to a transferred worker and what do you know, it’s Ghost’s Vegas wife.

Ghost wasn’t known for drinking past his limits. In fact, he barely had any. He wasn’t a light weight in the slightest. He could drink at least twenty large pints of beer and still be fully sober. But, it seems Vegas had fucked him over. He blamed Jonny for convincing the team to take a holiday to America.

He could still taste the fruity cocktails on his tongue as he sat up, rubbing his face. His mask was discarded to the side, lying on the floor. The room was surprisingly tidy as he leaned over the body beside him to retrieve his mask- wait, that wasn’t right.

Ghost let out a grunt of surprise, staring at the person beside him. His gaze immediately landed on the wedding ring that glinted in the dim light. His heart lurched. Had he slept with a married person? His brows creased as he tried to remember what had happened. Who even was this strange woman? He had never seen her before.

Ghost racked his brain for clues until he realized that the woman beside him was the one he had been eyeing all night in a drunken state. He thought she was pretty and he hadn’t seen the ring before.

He looked down at his own hand, eyes widening even more at the sight of a matching wedding band. It didn’t take a genius to piece everything together.

Ghost hadn’t slept with an already taken person, he had fucking married a stranger instead. Well, in the grand scheme of things, that seemed a little better than ruining a marriage because he drank too much.

You stirred and Ghost froze as you opened your eyes, blinking in confusion. “Where am I?” You were just as confused as he was. “Hey, did we sleep together? You don’t have a girlfriend, do you?” Your words slurred together. You glanced at the ring on his finger, lurching back. “Oh my gosh! Are you married?! Did I fuck a married person?! I’m so sorry!”

“Look at your own finger.” Ghost grumbled. “Wasn’t married before I met you.”

At least you were a smart one. “Oh… we married each other… um, what’s your name?”

“Simon Riley.”

“Y/N L/N.”

The two of you shook hands, still tangled in the white bedsheets.

“So… what happens now?” You mutter.

“I gotta get to work. Give me your number so I can call ya and we can… figure whatever the hell this is out.”

You hand him a piece of paper with your digits written on it. It doesn’t take you long to get dressed and walk out of the hotel, already texting your friends on what you had woken up to.

Hours passed and then days and finally months. And there was no call from the handsome man you had accidentally married. And there was no chance of even divorcing if you couldn’t get in contact with him.

So you endured it. And whenever your friends asked about the ring, you told them the story of how you had managed to get drunk and marry a total stranger. They found it hilarious.

Kate Laswell was the woman who entirely changed your life, in more ways than another. When you were a teenager, she helped you out of a slump. You owed her a great deal for saving you at your worst. So when she asked you to transfer from your secretary line of work in the military to a special operations unit as their new intelligence operative, you agreed.

She had given a meaning to your life, a well-paying job that could support you, and unintentionally reunited you with the man who was bound to you on paper.

“This is Y/N. Treat her nice.” Laswell says to the four large men towering over you. But you only have eyes for the one with the Skull mask. You could recognzie those vivid eyes anywhere.

He wasn’t wearing gloves, giving you a perfect view of the wedding ring still sitting on his finger. You couldn’t blame him, you still wore yours too for some reason.

“Ey, LT, yer gon’ a burn a hole in the poor lassie if ya keep starin’ like that.” John Mactavish, aka known as Soap or Jonny, said, laughing. “You like ‘er or somethin’?”

“Yeah, I guess. She’s my wife after all.” Ghost grunts. You want to pinch the bridge of your nose. How could he say such a thing without context?

Gaz is the one who makes a fuss over Ghost’s statement. “Wait, you’re married?! And you didn’t invite us?!”

“It was in a dingy church.” You say to fill in the gaps.

“Where?” Gaz presses on.

You and Ghost exchange a look, embarrassed about your reckless actions. “Vegas.” You both say in unison.

You can practically see the cogs working in Soap’s head as he gasps. “Is that where yer disappeared off to? Ya got married to a pretty lass without tellin’ us? How long have y’all known each other?!”

You clear your throat as you hear the quiet sound of Laswell chuckling. Glad to see she finds your predicament amusing. “We don’t.”

“So you married a stranger?” Soap’s eyebrows furrow. “Ey, how come you got married before me?!”

“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” Ghost reminds his team members.

It’d be really funny if, even after that, you and Ghost still don’t divorce. And y’all actually start treating each other like lovers.

Like, yeah, we were strangers and got married in a church in Vegas but we won’t divorce because the married life is actually better than expected. What about it?

Ghost literally brushes off the fact that you guys were strangers. He treats you like his wife, bringing you food and wiping your makeup off when you’re too tired to do so. And eventually, you guys just accept it.

[kneecapsbelong2me]

Marvel Women x Diabetic!Reader HCs:

When your blood sugar is low

Characters: Kate Bishop, Natasha Romanoff, Maria Hill, Wanda Maximoff, Carol Danvers

A/N: this can be read as platonic or romantic! Also, world diabetes day was last week, but here we are.

Kate Bishop:

Before you met, the food scene at Kate’s apartment was dismal

The only things she ever really kept on hand were boxed Mac and cheese, microwave popcorn, and chocolate bars

Now, (in addition to real food and snacks you can eat more regularly) Kate’s apartment is filled with all of your favorite carb-filled, high glycemic index snacks and drinks

When you go low, she’s immediately offering you everything under the sun

If your favorites are from abroad, she WILL order them, shipping costs be damned

If you’re having a super mild hypo, she’ll pop downstairs and grab you a slice of pizza

Kate Bishop is a bit of a hoverer

Constantly checking in to make sure your sugar levels aren’t going down further

She HATES waiting 15 minutes to see if you’re back above 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L)

Lowkey more anxious about it than you sometimes

“Are you sure you’re not going to collapse?”

“Kate, I’m only at 68, and I had a snack. I’m fine.”

“That is not fine!”

Natasha Romanoff:

Natasha is super observant (obviously, she’s a spy)

Seems to know you’re going low before you do

Will tell you to check your blood sugar because she’s noticing you look a little shaky and out of it

Other times will rummage through your bag and hand you a pack of gummies just as you’re about to tell her you feel low

She keeps little hard candies/gels hidden in the most random places for you

Once you were out and she pulled a candy from a pocket in her shirt you didn’t realize was there

Will never force you to do anything, but will give you her hardest stare if you don’t immediately treat your low (especially if you wear a continuous glucose monitor [cgm])

“I don’t even feel shaky, and you know this thing sometimes shows false lows,”

“I can tell you’re about to go low. Here, drink this.”

“Where were you hiding a juice pouch?!”

“I have a lot of things hidden on my body,”

“IS THAT A GRENADE??”

Maria Hill:

When she found out you were diabetic, Maria did a whole bunch of research, including on the signs of hypoglycemia and how to treat it

She has your lows down to a science

If you have a cgm, she definitely has the app on her phone so it tells her when you’re going low

If the cgm says you’re low, but you don’t feel the symptoms, she makes you check with the finger stick

Has things portioned so each serving has exactly 15 grams of carbs

Makes sure you eat a more substantial snack with protein in it once you’re back in range

Keeps a journal of the dates/times you go low and how effectively different treatments work for you

“I think you should start having an afternoon snack. I’ve noticed you have the most hypoglycemic incidents an hour or two before dinner.”

“Hmm, okay. But only if you take a break and have a snack with me.”

“If that’s what it takes, deal.”

Wanda Maximoff:

Wanda is an even bigger worrier than Kate

She’s lost so many people in her life, and she’ll be damned if she lets you die from something she can directly stop

She keeps a closer eye on your blood sugar than you do

Like Maria, if you have a cgm she has the app to track

Wanda makes sure EVERY alarm is turned on and at the highest volume

When you go out, she carries more snacks than you do

If you have glucagon, Wanda keeps a dose with her, even if you also have one on you

The instant she knows you’re low there is a candy in your hand (before you can even access your own stash)

“If that doesn’t do it, I have three juice boxes, two packs of fruit gummies, and about two dozen hard candies in my bag,”

“Geez, Wanda. That sounds heavy. Which one of us is diabetic again?”

“I just want to make sure you’re okay!”

“Sorry, I know. Thank you for caring so much about me.”

“Of course.”

Carol Danvers: 

You go low while on Carol’s ship once, and she gives you juice from an alien planet and it’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever tasted

She finds out how much you like it and goes back to the planet just to buy it for you so she always has some on her ship

Forget a phone app, Carol has low glucose alerts hooked up to all of her tech no matter what technology you use

She somehow managed to get your finger stick connected to her suit and her ship

If she happens to be off-world and she gets an alert about you going low, she stops what she’s doing to text you

But if she’s “close,” no matter where she is on Earth (or near it) when you go low she will use her super speed to get to you, even if you assure her your fine

“Carol, you really didn’t have to leave your meeting with Fury for this. I have my own snacks.”

“I know, but I’m planetside and I have that juice you like.”

“Thanks for always taking care of me.”

“Of course, I’ll always be here when you need me.”

[annaphoenix1994]

It Goes On - Simon Riley x OG Female Character Fanfiction Novel - Book l Masterlist 1 & 2

Assigned by Station Chief Kate Laswell, Case Officer Kiera Dutton is assigned to track and locate the missing American missiles as well as the threat of Quds Force Major Hassan Zyani. Befriending Ghost during her missions was not indeed part of her plan, but it was hard to ignore the reckoning that yearned for the other over time. How soon will Ghost let her break down his walls he had worked so hard to put up over the years? This will be no easy task, he would think. Boy, was he wrong! Yellowstone x Call of Duty Crossover! Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Names, songs, characters, businesses, places, events, locations, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner (Paramount Network and Activision Publishing). Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended for malicious use. Song inspiring this series: "It Goes On" by Zac Brown and Sir Rosevelt

Masterlist Below:

Part Two Masterlist:

Author's Interpretation of Characters

Aftershock

Borderline

Cartel Protection

Close Air

Interrogation

Reconnaissance

El Sin Nombre - 1

El Sin Nombre - 2

Devil's Deal

When the World Fades

Dark Water

Uncharted Territory

Whiskey Fever

Everlasting Lover

Something in the Orange

No Stone Unturned

Hell or High Water

Ain't Gonna Drown

Among Us

Silver Run

No Kindness for the Coward

White Flag

Beat

Aftermath

Homeward

Familiar Touch

Dutton Christmas - 1

Dutton Christmas - 2

Dutton Christmas - 3

The Storm

Yours

Touching Your Enemy

Friends Close, Enemies Closer

The Devil Wears a Suit and Tie

War Stories

Vague History

Tensions High

Sabotage

Black Powder Soul

Meaner Than Evil

Intertwine

Let Me Love You

Help From a Friend

Triangle Betrayal

No Mercy for the Coward

The Interrogation

By Your Grace

Fire Away

Grounded

Loose Ends

Plans

All I See is You

Letting Go

Double Trouble

Across the Pond

Granny Express

Valentine's Day

Distant Memories

Cut My Roots Away

Big Chief

Veruca Salt

Assurance

The Ball

No Russian - 1

No Russian - 2

Sound the Bugle

Violence and Timing

Home is Where You Are

The Night Terrors

MacTavish's Return

"Our World Just Got Better"

Nesting

Welcome to the World - 1

Welcome to the World - 2

Uncle Johnny

Family of Four

Preparations

Happy Birthday, Baby - 1

Happy Birthday, Baby - 2

The Perfect Ring

Price and Evie

Daddy's First Heartbreak

No Such Thing as Quick

British Teddy

Baler Harrison

A Mother's Touch

A Bitter Surprise - 1

A Bitter Surprise - 2

Rough Start

The First Stepping Stone

Antics

Thankful - Part 1

Thankful - Part 2

Ghost the Brat Tamer

Christmas Plans

Baler's First Christmas

"You Keep Me Sane; I Keep You Wild"

Baler Riley

To be continued... (Masterlist 2 above)

[deancasbigbang]

Title: Physical Graffiti

Author: entropic_saudade

Artist: BasketcaseBetty

Rating: Explicit

Pairings: Endgame Dean Winchester/Castiel, Brief Dean Winchester/Ash, Brief Dean Winchester/Max Banes, John Winchester/Kate Milligan, Past John Winchester/Mary Winchester, Past Dean Winchester/Lee Webb, Past Dean Winchester/Cassie Robinson, Past Dean Winchester/Others, Past Castiel/Others, Implied Bobby Singer/Rufus Turner, Past Bobby Singer/Karen Singer, Harper Sayles/Vance, Edward Carrigan/Madge Carrigan, Jenny Sorenson/OMC, Larry Pike/Joanie Pike, Background Max/Stacy.

Length: 75000

Warnings: Archive Warnings: Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings. Additional Content Warnings: Self Harm, Alcohol Use Disorder, Recreational Drug Use, Child Abuse, Past Non-Con, Past Underage, Past Drug Addiction, Minor Character Death, Mental Health Issues

Tags: Case Fic, Murder Mystery, Horror Elements, Slow Burn, Journalist Dean Winchester, Detective Cas, Eventual Hopeful Ending, Families of Choice

Posting Date: November 4, 2024

Summary: The only ghosts and demons are the ones inside his head.  Fresh from a prematurely-ended stint at an inpatient psychiatric facility, ‘former’ self-harmer and functional alcoholic Dean Winchester returns to Sioux Falls, where he works as a crime journalist. His editor, Bobby Singer, sends him back home to Lawrence to gather the story on the murder of a teen boy and the recent disappearance of another. Painful memories from growing up resurface as the missing boy turns up horrifically dead and another goes missing.  The investigation is further complicated by the town’s gossipy tight-knit nature, Dad’s judgment, and botched attempts at making inroads with his estranged half-family, Kate and Adam Milligan.  Dean crosses paths with Castiel Novak, a renegade detective from Kansas City with a troubled past of his own. As they work together, they slip past each other’s defenses, unearthing each other’s secrets and digging for the truth.  As it turns out, monsters just might be real—and they just might live at home.  A Sharp Objects-inspired AU.

Excerpt: A dumpy parking lot, leaning against Baby’s hood, looking to the stars—it reminds Dean of doing the same with the football jocks. The way he’d smuggle stolen beer cans in Dad’s jacket pocket, turning him from ‘homo’ to ‘hero’ in their eyes. Stupidly, it reminds him of Lee.  Dean sneaks a glance over at Cas’ profile, tracing the angle of his jaw as he tilts his head up. The same stupid butterflies flap in his stomach. He suffocates them with a few swigs. “So, our arrangement. I’ll answer a question for each one you answer,” Cas offers, his adam’s apple bobbing.  “Deal.”  “What was it like growing up in Lawrence?” Dean whistles. “Starting with hardballs, huh? You don’t pull any punches.”  “Would you rather I ask for your favorite color?” Cas teases.  He groans. “No, none of that grade school shit. Gimme the real scoop.” Cas raises a pointed brow. You first. “Alright, Lawrence.” He sighs, bracing himself. “Mom had… my brother when I was four.” His voice wavers slightly when he brings up Sammy.  “Adam is much younger, though, isn’t he?”  “Different brother, Kate’s my stepmom. Me and Sam, we’re our Mom’s. She died when Sam was six months old. House fire.” Cas’ eyes sadden, but he doesn’t say anything. “But, as far as growing up—normal, I guess. Went to the school district nearby, was in wrestling for a little bit. I wasn’t some prodigy but I did okay, grades-wise.” “I bet you were Mr. Popular.” Dean barks a laugh. “Uh, no. Sorta depends on who you ask.” Depends on what year. “After graduation, I left for college.” Dean skips over the rest of the highlight reel.  “And Sam?” “Hey, you gotta answer at least one question first,” Dean pokes him. “Why is a detective from Kansas City down in Lawrence?”  “My supervisor likes to send me out on solo cases for assists. I don’t exactly work well with others.”  “Well, you and I make a pretty good team—a little chaotic, maybe, but at least we ruled two suspects off your list.”  “That we did. It’s a shame you’re not a detective.” “Reporters are detectives of sorts. We both look for narrative, just in different ways.” Cas gives a thoughtful hum. “My turn again. What happened to Sam?” Dean’s throat convulses. “He died. We were in our teens.” “What happened?” “He was sick all the time. One day, he just… kept getting worse. His body couldn’t take it.” Sammy’s ghost observed them, sadly, flickering in an in-between state.  “I’m sorry, Dean.”  They sit in silence for a few moments. Panic builds in Dean’s chest, and he worries that he’s ruined whatever rapport they’d been building.  “I’ll tell you something if you swear to not tell another soul?”  Dean nods, relief settling over him. He eats secrets for breakfast.  “The real reason I work Homicide is because it’s better than what I used to do.”  “What’s so bad that working Homicide is better?” Cas looked down and didn’t answer.

DCBB 2024 Posting Schedule

[clarkmied]

SMALL BUT FEISTY - caitlin clark x reader

It’s my first time writing again after a couple years of a hiatus, but i’m back in my caitlin clark obsession (i never left it 🤫), but bare with me cause it might be a little rocky writing. If there’s any spelling errors that make the story confusing let me know !

──────────────────────

Your relationship with Caitlin had started back when you were in Dowling Catholic with each other. You had been the new kid from Michigan, and Caitlin had taken a interest from you since the first day of your guy’s Sophomore year.

Caitlin had figured out very quickly that despite your height that you were quite feisty. Instead of being on the basketball team, you had played for Dowling’s soccer team as a CAM. Often you could be seen either arguing with the ref’s about another player not being carded for a foul, or a yellow card you had received.

Other times it was a player from another team, there was one time that the argument had turned physical leading to you being sent off the field with a red. The point being you had a problem with running your mouth (even though it was mostly justified).

Even though you had problems with arguing, your skills had managed to earn you a spot in the USWNT national camps before the 2019 World Cup, Jill had been very impressed with you and how you played that she had put you on the World cup roster. Managing to open the scoring for the United States during the group stage, with also managing to score the final goal against the Netherlands.

When you had won the World Cup, your initial thought wasn’t falling down on the ground in proud tears or celebrating with your team. You had B lined right toward the friends and family section where Caitlin, her family, and some of your family sat. Like a complete maniac you had jumped over a couple of barriers, before pulling yourself into the stands to kiss Caitlin in front of the world.

From then on your name had blown up all over social media platforms, and deals from all sorts of sponsors had flooded in. The picture of you on your tip toes in a passionate kiss with Caitlin had broken the internet for months (it was also in a small frame that you would end up taking with you to college.)

When decision day rolled around you had a few choices, University of Iowa (where you could be with Caitlin), University of Michigan, UCLA, Stanford, UW Madison, Purdue, or Rutgers. Obviously after seeing Caitlin’s choice, you had committed to Iowa.

So that’s how you found yourself in today’s situation. Facing off with UW Madison, a day that you hadn’t been looking forward too. With the Badgers knowing exactly how to get you to lose your cool, and the fact that not only was Caitlin in the stands but Monika and Kate were too.

“She does not look happy..” Monika mumbled, as she watched you get off the ground for what seemed like the hundredth time today.

“It’s not even halftime and she’s been on the ground more times than she’s had the ball.” Kate added, as she glanced over at your girlfriend.

Caitlin had been getting fed up herself with the Wisconsin players, every time she saw you go down she noted that it was starting to take a little longer for you to get back up again. Her hands running through her hair, as she watched you trying to keep your cool.

“They know how dangerous she is when the ball is at her feet, but I don’t know how much longer she can take this.” Caitlin told them, worry slipping into her voice. She knew when it came to Wisconsin that a potential red card could be coming your way, and no matter how hot you looked when mad, she worried about how far people would push you to your snapping point.

“Only a few more minutes before half time, Cait. After that it’ll be a home stretch.” Kate tried reassuring, as she reached over Monika to give Caitlin’s a reassuring squeeze to her hand.

“Hey Y/L/N !” Liv Curry yelled to you, as she came towards you. “I thought you were supposed to be some next big thing, but I guess your just another washout.” She told you, knowing exactly how you could doubt yourself.

“Why don’t you kiss my ass, Curry.” You growled, as you pushed her away from you. “Oh you got to be fucking kidding me..” You mumbled, as you saw the ref come towards you and holding a yellow above his head. “Yeah, I see. You keep booking us but not them.. sell out.” You mumbled bitterly.

“What was that?” The ref asked, as he turned back towards you with a slight glare.

“Nothing.” You told him through gritted teeth.

“This isn’t going to end well..” Caitlin sighed, as she watched your team and the Wisconsin team walk back to the locker rooms for halftime.

“What’s their problem with our superstar anyways?” Monika asked, as she turned her head towards Caitlin.

“Jealously for some, others just go at her because once my girlfriend gets the ball at her feet she’ll send it into the back of their net.” Caitlin replied, as she turned her head to look at her friends. She was so happy that her best friends treated you so well, and that they saw you as their own as well.

“I wouldn’t be surprised that the Wisconsin coach put a little money into the ref’s pocket for the lack of fouls and cards called.” Kate sighed, as she glared at the ref’s talking in the middle of the field. If she could she would’ve stormed down there to give them a piece of her mind.

“It’s not going to take much more of them pushing her before she gets herself sent off.” Caitlin told them, as she played with the chain around her neck.

“Caitlin!” You called, as you were jumping up to catch her attention. And when you did, you waved her to come down to talk to you for a few moments. Once she was looking down at you at the barrier, you jumped up to pull yourself up so you could be somewhat eye level.

“Shouldn’t you be in your locker room?” Caitlin questioned, as she tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear.

“Coach D let me come talk to you for a few minutes, said that if it helped me that it would be worth me missing out of some of the locker time.” You admitted, a slight bitterness filled you as you thought about the Wisconsin team.

“Speaking of helping.” Caitlin raised a brow slightly, before pulling you up over the barrier so you were in the stands with her. “What can I do to help ease that frustration?” She asked sincerely, as she held one of your hands while rubbing small circles over your knuckles.

“Help me murder them after the game?” You asked, mostly joking.

“I can’t believe i’m saying this, but don’t focus on the bogus stuff. Just worry about putting that ball in the back of the net.” Caitlin told you, ignoring the way your eyes gave away that you were somewhat serious about murdering the Wisconsin girls.

“Who are you and what have you done to my girlfriend?” You mumbled, before leaning your forehead into her chest.

Caitlin chuckled softly, wrapping a arm around your waist while the other rubbed your back slightly. “I’m proud of you.” She whispered, before pressing a kiss to the crown of your head.

“I love you.” You mumbled, feeling somewhat better with the comfort Caitlin brought you. But you knew once the game was done and you were back in Caitlin’s arms that everything would be okay again.

“I love you too, baby.” Caitlin told you sincerely, as she pried you from her chest so you would look at her. “So so much. I love you more than you know.” She admitted, before moving to lean in to kiss you before being interrupted by one of your teammates.

“Sorry to interrupt.” Samantha told you both, before giving a kind smile. “But, it’s time for the line up again.” She told you, before jumping down and walking back to the tunnel.

“That’s my cue.” You mumbled, before leaning up to press a kiss to Caitlin’s cheek. “Kate. Monika.” You gave them a small smile, before jumping down from the stands and moved towards the line up.

Everything had gotten messier in the second half. More tackles were made not only against you but now the rest of the midfield were receiving the most of the ground. The refs had called a few fouls against Wisconsin this time, but they mainly called it against your team.

Your blood was basically boiling, just waiting for the right thing for the kettle to set off. The anger had only pushed you into scoring a hat trick, leading the team into a lead of one point.

It’s when the 85th minute hit is when you had snapped. Curry had made a comment about how you didn’t deserve Caitlin and then proceeded to almost take your ankle out in a bad tackle.

“What the fuck, Curry!?” You yelled, as you got up on your feet. “You could’ve almost ended my season!” You growled, as you came up to her.

“You should’ve been watching yourself.” Liv told you with a small smirk on her lips. “But then again Y/N you don’t really matter in this world.”

One minute you had been listening to Liv’s words, the next you found yourself punching her straight in the nose. Liv had taken a few steps back, before punching you straight in face. The two of you had basically charged each other, taking each other to the ground throwing punches at the other. The Wisconsin girls had been quick to try and come to Liv’s aid, but hell even some of them got into it with your team.

It was about another five minutes of both teams trying to break up the fight, when Samantha had managed to pull you off of Liv and away from the Wisconsin players. Once the Badgers had seen that the main source of danger had been taken away the fighting had died down.

The main ref had showed a red card to Liv, and then turned to you before holding up a immediately red to eject from the game. Along with holding yellows to a few members of both teams.

Kate and Monika basically had to hold Caitlin back from getting onto the field to run to you during the fight, both of them surprisingly struggling to stop your girlfriend. Once you had been taken off the field and to medical, they had let her go so that she could go find you.

After a good ten minutes of searching she had found you sitting on one the physio’s tables with a ice pack to your lip and nose that was clearly broken.

She moved to stand in between your legs, so that she could look you over herself. A hand brushing the messy pieces of hair out of your face.

“You scared me back there.” She admitted, as she placed a hand against your cheek gently. “Watching you get hit by Liv and those other players really scared me, Y/N.”

“I’m sorry..” You mumbled, as you looked down at the floor.

“I know, sweetheart.” She reassured, before putting her hand under your chin to make you look at her. “But, I know that it wasn’t your fault. I still love you, Y/N. Nothing will ever change that, Okay?” Caitlin raised a brow slightly, keeping her hand under your chin.

You nodded your head, as you kept your eyes on hers. Your face contorted slightly as a small wave of pain hit you.

“What’s wrong? Am I hurting you?” Caitlin asked worriedly, as she retracted her hand.

You shook your head slightly, before moving the ice pack away from your face. “I have a minor concussion.” You admitted, before leaning your head against her chest.

“What am I going to do with you?” Caitlin chuckled softly, as one of her arms wrapped around you while the other held the ice pack to your face.

“Take me home and cuddle with me?” You mumbled, a slight pout on your lips as you pulled away to look at her.

“Whatever you want, babe.” Caitlin chuckled softly, before kissing your lips. She pulled away from you, before turning so her back was towards you. “Hop on, Princess.”

“Yes ma’am.” You said teasingly, as you got onto her back.

“Ready?” She asked you, as she held onto your legs.

“Ready.” You nodded, before ducking your head as Caitlin carried you out of the physio room and out of the stadium.

“Look who it is!” Monika laughed softly, as they watched Caitlin carry you out.

“Damn Y/N, they got you good.” Kate told you, as she stood in front of you and Caitlin.

“You should see the other girl.” You grinned at her, despite your busted lip.

“We put your bags in the car.” Monika told you, before pointing towards Caitlin’s car. “Samantha brought it to us while Caitlin went to go get you.”

“Thanks guys.” You nodded, a small smile on your lips.

“I gotta get this one home, concussion and all.” Caitlin laughed softly, before beginning to walk towards the car with you still on her back.

“We’ll see you guys later!” The two called out, before walking to their own cars to leave.

Once both of you were settled in the car, Caitlin had started the journey back to your shared place. The car ride had been pretty much silent, seeing as you had fallen asleep pretty quickly in the passenger seat exhausted from the match and the fight. When the car was parked in the parking lot, Caitlin had left yours bags in the car and carried you inside bridal style.

You groaned lightly as you felt yourself being placed in bed, your eyes slowly fluttering open. “Baby?” You mumbled, as you reached out towards her.

“It’s okay.” She reassured, as she came back into view with some clothes in her hands. “Let’s get you into something more comfortable, yeah?” Her tone was more of her telling you than asking, and you had zero energy to argue with her.

You slowly lifted yourself up and with her help you had been able to change into one of Caitlin’s shirts and a pair of shorts.

“I’ll be right back, baby. I’m gonna go change into something more comfortable.” She pressed a kiss to her your forehead gently, before walking away to get changed.

You were about to whine that she was taking to long, but then you felt a dip in the bed and Caitlin wrapping arm around you so she could pull you into her. One of your hands moved to interlock with her hand that was wrapped around you.

“You’ll take care of me right?” You mumbled sleepily, as you glanced over your shoulder at her.

“Of course I will, whatever you need i’ll get it for you.” Caitlin told you honestly, as she rubbed your back with her free hand.

“Just hold me for right now?” You asked, as you felt your eyes fighting to stay open.

“Whatever you want, baby.” She told you, before pressing a kiss to your shoulder. “Get some sleep, baby, i’ll wake you up when it’s time.”

“I love you.” You mumbled softly.

“I love you too.” She told you, watching as you fell asleep in her arms.

Caitlin had done what she had said. She was there for you every moment, when you were startled awake before rushing to the bathroom, Caitlin had sat with you holding your hair as she rubbed soothing circles on your back. When you asked for something to eat, she had left to go make you something that you could keep down. She made sure to wake you up at the intervals, before making small talk to keep you up before letting you fall asleep again. Despite getting little sleep herself, she didn’t mind it at all. You were her everything, and she would always take care of you.

[thefugitivesaint]

L. Kate Deal, 'The Old Possum and Her Kittens', ''Child Library Readers'', Book Four, 1928

[rei-ismyname]

Exceptional X-Men #4 REVIEW

I've been singing the praises of Eve L Ewing and Carmen Carnero's Exceptional X-Men, so let's see what they manage to do now that the premise is established and they've got 5 main characters we're invested in. A benefit of establishing your characters early is that you get to focus on introducing plot elements, special guests, and complications - like serialised storytelling does. Uncanny is a good example of how a lack of focus early on weakens everything you try to do. It's hard to care about The Outliers or Nightcrawler when they feel like wallpaper, and now they're running around an event without knowing who they are. The stakes lay primarily with Rogue. Trista/Bronze is a fantastic example of this done right, and as you'll see we can explore plot developments that wouldn't make sense elsewhere. Spoilers ahoy, caveat emptor.

Trista gets a lot of focus which works because we know who she is and what she wants.

Due to Kate pushing back against taking these kids somewhere isolated for training, we get to see them try to live normal lives. Trista has friends outside the tiny mutant peer group, a crush, and an interest in theatre. She declared last issue that her goal is to not hurt anyone, and she's struggling with what people tell her to be and what she wants. She's a sweet kid, and I'd say there's a racial component to this dichotomy - how black kids are perceived and how they need to act to get by in a white supremacist world. That's outside my experience but I'm invested in how Trista deals navigates the issue. After all, being strong, kind, gentle and lovely aren't mutually exclusive

I hesitate to compare to Uncanny again, but they both have high school scenes and the difference is stark. Westinghouse College Prep is a real life school in Chicago (that Biggie, Jay Z, Busta Rhymes and DMX all went to) and it is ranked pretty highly nationally. According to its website it has 98% minority enrollment. Importantly, it feels like a real school in 2024 with real people attending it, and not just because it actually is one IRL. There's no need to reach for played out generic high school tropes when the characters feel like real people with real problems already - verisimilitude.

After a smash cut to Trista with a sentinel looming over her, we learn that Emma does a pretty damn good Danger Room analogue. Trista seems determined and in control at first, using her different powers in concert effectively. She does manage to Empire Strikes Back trip the Sentinel up, but wigs out when it falls on top of her, understandably. Emma calls it, and we see more proof of why she's considered good at training young mutants.

Bobby's entrance at the end of last issue felt like a cliffhanger by virtue of being on the final page, but I'm glad his presence doesn't derail the plot entirely. It's implied that some time has passed, maybe a week - enough time for Bobby and Trista to get to know each other and enough time for Bobby to feel Kitty is avoiding him. Trista picks up on his odd behaviour and asks Emma about psychic ethics, heh. Her answer is funny and sardonic while still getting the point across. Emma and Trista having one on one time tells us a lot about Emma's sincerity and the trust she's earned through good works.

The subtext of Trista's distraction is made text - she's preoccupied with the audition, her crush, and the fear of exposure/social rejection. While we know this already, or could guess, it's effective to have newer characters tell their story. What they say is as important as what they don't say or how they say it. She responds well to being listened to and positive reinforcement, accepting the reframing of the audition as an opportunity.

Bobby is definitely up to something and acting weird. His persona feels performative. He's explicitly faking bathroom usage to text privately, and while his texting is worded vaguely enough to not give much away, it does seem sinister. At minimum he is lying about why he's there. Kitty picks up on the same weirdness Trista did and she's really not having it. He doesn't have the vibes of a friend seeking or offering support, though Kitty isn't interested in either and tells him to leave. Idk if Bobby even has a home right now - he was living in Antarctica because ORCHIS poisoned him and he couldn't hold a solid form for long. He was back with Romeo last time we saw him but also didn't have a physical body. I can't blame the creators for not explaining that, I have to assume they're under the same editorial direction everyone else is.

Trista's warmup scene has excellent layout, with the other kids' faces in circles next to their supportive texts. It's a clever way of showing their faces in an issue they're mostly absent from, and it's a solid method of variety in an issue with more texting than most. Showtime!

Trista meekly introduces herself to the casting guy/director and he suggests that the lead might not be right for her. He's polite, though she's about to disagree when her mutant life and school life clash in an unexpected way. One of those yellow beasts from X-Force appears from a portal and grabs her crush. You don't need to have been reading X-Force, it's a big monster (that were confirmed to be appearing globally in that book) and it's here. Trista rallies and uses her training to bronze up and get her head in the game.

It's a dangerous situation but has a simple solution suited to Trista's skillset. She grabs it with her tentacle things, ties it up and yeets it through the portal. Her overcoming it with pure force or martial skill would be a bit silly, but by linking her training and the progress she's made with Emma to a simple solution, it feels like an appropriate and believable triumph. Strong yet gentle. Neutralizing the beast and protecting herself and others without using overwhelming violence. It's a very effective character beat and the support/adulation from the theatre people is earned. She nailed the audition, and gets offered her choice of parts, though interestingly she turns it down in favour of her training. The theatre folks show solidarity and swear to keep her mutanthood a secret.

Trista shows up to training and seems more confident, her posture showing strength and positivity. It looks like Bronze, Axo and Melee are all benefiting and even Kate manages a smile. Then she overhears Bobby on the phone while grabbing some equipment. It's not a good look.

What Bobby is saying is so weird that she's not even sure it's him. Kate phases her hand next to his heart and straight up threatens him. He explains that everyone is worried about her and she says she's choosing this life. He tries to bring up ORCHIS and she shuts it down, saying out loud that she killed people. A little too loud, it turns out.

The kids overhear and are horrified, understandably. They're really young and don't have the kind of life experiences that come with being an X-Man - of course they are! Tom Brevoort has made a lot of noise about the X-Men killing people in Fall of X, an argument that has ignored the nuance of being at war with genocidal fascists. The issue hasn't made it to the page in a meaningful way until now, and I couldn't be more impressed. Rooting the issue in Kate's trauma and shame - as something that terrifies the students she's trying to help and likely damaging the trust she's built - approaches it on a believable character level.

This is a big part of what caused Kate to hang up her Spandex and it's something she's going to have to reckon with. Add the kids' emotional and ethical reaction and you've got a fantastic cliffhanger with the promise of explosive drama.

Kate grabs Bobby's phone and it's Rogue on the other end. She doesn't look like she's at Haven or in uniform, so who knows what's going on there? They're clearly ahead of Raid on Graymalkin as Iceman is in league with them, as if that book needs more characters. Kate doesn't care and hangs up on her. I wasn't going to compare to Uncanny a third time, but if the two are crossing over it invites comparison. Kurt's glib comment about thinking he was a murderer felt trite and silly, next to the dramatic execution of Shadowkat's actions being confronted it looks downright amateur. Kate is clearly having a PTSD flashback or intrusive thought during this conversation - whereas it wouldn't work for Bobby or Emma to announce that she has PTSD, for example.

I do enough shitting on Uncanny's writing in my reviews of that book, my point is how well similar beats are executed in this book. Eve L Ewing and Carmen Carnero's Exceptional X-Men is aptly named and frankly, if you're not reading it you're missing out. We know all these characters well enough that we care about their reaction to this revelation. Kate looks like she's about to break down, and Bronze and Axo's body language is heartbreaking. Emma knows shit is about to hit the fan and she's surely aware she killed people in Fall of X too. That's how you do a cliffhanger. Issue #4 managed to do a Trista focus issue, some slice of life, excellent character work, and lit a fuse to explode next issue all in 20 pages.

Exceptional X-Men is fantastic and you should be reading it.

[kurishiri]

Hellooo I came rushing to ask what your favorite Darius bond story is and why🏃🏻‍♀️‍➡️

hihi michelle! i was mulling over this for a long while bc i do think all his bond stories got their charm…but if i had to choose just one, i would personally say the white devil (l. 15) one! wbu? which one(s) were your favorites so far, or which r you looking forward to??

also im gonna ramble below abfjshghsgs ↓

in that one, darius basically protects kate from a bunch of what r presumed to be thugs who attacked her, by using his ability (off screen, but it is implied from the dialogue). there is smth kind of unsettling abt that story — he protected her, but it also kinda showcases that yandere side of him more clearly. i also feel that maybe bc of the way he says “favorite” in this story…its almost like he’s trying to sort of fit or shape kate into the mold that he wants her to be in, even though at this point his feelings r starting to become more “romantic,” by which i mean obsessive or controlling. simply put, it shows a sort of new side to his char that wasn’t all that present in previous bond stories, so i would say i like that part of it particularly.

i havent translated that one yet — truth be told, im kiiinda stalling bc the next bond story is a tad boring to me (like the “match with you” one). ig it would be more accurate to say its like a trope used so much, it doesnt add way too much imho ndjjshfshgsg

anw just overall he gives me the vibe of one of those love interests where it probably would have been better for them to stay as friends — if i can call them that — bc darius before he had any feelings that were more intense than those of wanting to coddle a “favorite” was, yk, genuinely more friendly. and probably just wanted to have fun and amuse himself for the heck of it with kate while also sort of getting close to her to find out whats her deal being in crown despite being a “human.”

[imaginedanvrs]

encrypted relations

part 1 l masterlist

summary: yelena belova x reader. when natasha takes you under her wing, she becomes like family, and the last thing you want is to lose that. but when you meet her younger sister who you know is off limits, you have to decide between what you really want and hope for minimal damage

word count: 3.6k

warnings: alcohol, mentions of past toxic relationship and manipulation, sexual themes, implied death

“I cannot believe you met Nat's sister before me!” You exclaimed as you threw yourself down on your sofa and glared up at the ceiling, furious at the universe's mockery. 

  “Dude, I know! I wanted to call you but every time I was about to, someone started shooting at us again,” Kate said with a huff. “But I got her number and told her to text me next time she's in town��she hasn't been responding yet so it might be a fake number,” you could hear the pout.

  “Kate!” You whined, earning a curious glance from Marty who jumped up onto the sofa to settle down on top of you.

  “I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you,” she tried.

  “I'll hold you to that,” you huffed until a smile crept onto the corner of your lips. “So tell me everything,” you grinned as you held the phone closer to your ear. You always loved hearing about Kate's missions. Having known the young archer since before you managed to introduce her to her favourite hero, you had witnessed Kate's adventures transgress from more delinquent than crime fighter, to taking on the KingPin single handedly. You were confident her first fight with aliens was right around the corner. 

  At that, Kate lit up, springing into an animated recollection of everything that had happened in the past few days. Her account was no doubt exaggerated and a little out of order with how often she got side tracked with minute details, but you were able to gain at least an overview of the events that led their paths to cross. In short: widows. 

  Yelena had been able to trace down the small group of assassins who had slipped under her radar, due to their inbuilt paranoia now that the red room’s foundation had crumbled, and led her to New York. The widows, acting on their manmade instincts, had made some trouble in town that Kate had stepped in to deal with without knowing the full scale of what she faced. Fortunately, Yelena had jumped in just in time to stop Kate getting killed but in the chaos of it all, the widows got away. 

  After a great deal of persistence from Kate, Yelena eventually gave the archer the rundown and in doing so got herself a companion for the rest of her time in the city until they were swiftly able to find the widows once more and release them from their chemically induced trance. 

  “So what was she like?” You asked once you had processed Kate’s story. 

  “Total badass,” Kate summarised. 

  “Knew it,” you muttered as you scratched behind Marty’s ears.

  “Anway, I gotta take Lucky for his routine checkup so I’ll talk to you later,” Kate said before you could ask any more questions. 

  “Good luck, Lucky,” you called down the phone, hearing a distant woof in return before the call ended. You immediately opened your messages. 

  Me: yelena was back in town??? You typed out furiously. It took less than a minute to get a response, that meant that Nat was probably doing paperwork.

  Nat: haha yeah, you guys meet up?

  Me: no she was too busy hanging out with kate!! 

  Nat: i didn’t get to see her either :( you frowned as you read over the message, surprised that Yelena hadn’t gone to see her sister when she had the chance. 

  Me: what?? :( you paused, tapping your thumbs against the sides of your phone.

  Me: you free for lunch? 

  Nat: come by the tower? She was definitely doing paperwork. There had been so many times in the past where Natasha had been too swamped with paperwork to go out with you for lunch that you had developed somewhat of a routine for you to go and have lunch with the Russian as she worked. Much to her credit, her ability to hold a conversation while recollecting her missions was admirable. 

  Me: omw

  “Come on, Marty. We’re going to the tower,” you said as you patted his back. Your dog was quick to scramble off of you and make his way to the door, grabbing his collar and leash off of the hook while you grabbed your jacket. You took it from his mouth gently and fastened it on before making your way out. 

  It didn’t take you long to get through the security at the Avenger’s tower. In earlier years you had some issues, especially with the addition of Marty, because you had to sign in as a visitor even though you were accessing floors visitors couldn’t. Eventually, Tony had gotten you a pass that let you whizz through the gates and checks. 

  “Hey, Steve, how’s it going?” You greeted the soldier as you entered the common room. 

  “Hey kid, not so bad. I haven’t seen you in a while though, how’ve you been?” He asked as he crouched down to give Marty all the attention he had been anticipating. 

  “Same old,” you shrugged, settling into an easy catch up with the blond as he recollected his latest pop culture enrichments and visits to see Peggy. The pair of you didn’t get to talk for too long though, because Nat appeared at the other side of the room with her arms crossed across her chest. 

  “Mind if I steal this one away, Rogers?” Natasha asked with a slight grin. 

  “Course not, see you around, y/n,” Steve chuckled as he picked up his lunch and took it away. As soon as he did, Marty dashed across the room to the Russian with his tail wagging madly. It was obvious who his favourite was in the tower, same as you. 

  “Hi, Mutt,” Natasha cooed as she pampered the dog.

  “I told you not to call him that,” you said with a roll of your eyes even though it was hard not to smile every time. 

  “Why not? That’s what he is,” Natasha pointed out as she stood up and gave you a fond hug. You went through to the corner of the conference room with the sofas where Natasha had her laptop and two plates of pb&j sandwiches. 

  “So how come you didn’t get to see Yelena while she was in the city?” You asked right away. You and the Russian had never had a small talk type of relationship. 

  “She hadn’t been planning to come to the city in the first place, that was just where she was led to, but once she had handled everything she needed to, she was being called to chase another lead,” Natasha explained with an air of disappointment. 

  “I guess between Kate and the widows she was more than preoccupied while she was here,” you said as you reached for your sandwich and pondered Yelena’s general mission that took up so much of her time. In fact, it seemed to be an almost constant thing. 

  “Yelena’s been at this for what? A year now? Is she anywhere close to being done with it all?” You asked, knowing that the scale of what the young Russian had taken on was great but that the work she put in was greater. 

  “She reckons so,” Natasha said with a spark of hope in her eyes that was impossible not to catch. “I want her to come home, wherever that may be to her,” the spy admitted, knowing that her sister wouldn’t want to stay by her side forever. 

  “Even if you’re not home, you’re a pretty great timeshare.” You thought that was a nice thing to say, but the pb&j sandwich Nat threw at your face said otherwise. You grinned back at the redhead, knowing she didn’t have to worry about Yelena growing distant with her again and hoping the same would always apply to you. 

*

“So if Steve could lift mjolnir and they ruled Asgard together, would that make them some kind of power couple?” Kate asked as she leant against the wall next to your door. 

  “Like work husbands?” You rummaged around in your pockets for your keys while the archer continued. 

  “Royal work husbands,” she corrected. 

  “You’ll definitely have to ask them at the next party,” you chuckled as you eventually found your keys and started opening your apartment door. 

  “I wanted to ask at the last one but I thought as it was my first time meeting them that I should-”

  “Kate Bishop.” You and Kate spun in the direction of the voice as you fumbled for the light switch. “Y/n l/n,” the Russian continued once you had a light on her. 

  “Yelena!” Kate exclaimed with a broad smile as Lucky immediately dashed over to the blonde. Marty stayed close to your side as you stared at Yelena in awe while she greeted the labrador. “You know you don’t have to break into everyone’s apartments the first time you go to them, right?” The archer asked, placing her jacket on your coat rack while you continued to stand glued to the spot. 

  “I did not break anything and you were taking forever!” Yelena argued defensively as she stood up and set her eyes on you. “Y/n l/n,” she greeted. You could feel her assessing you, just like her sister had the first time she stood where the blonde was. 

  “Yelena Belova,” you said, taking in the Russian in front of you. Her blonde locks were loose over her designer jacket that had various broches scattered across it and had been matched perfectly with black trousers that fit comfortably enough to highlight her figure. She was clearly someone who took pride in how she looked and you understood why, she was beautiful. 

  You watched a smile inch at the corner of her lips and wondered what kind of assessment she had made of you. Had she noticed that your eyes had lingered a little too long on the curve of her hips or trace of a smile? You swiftly looked away, reminding yourself that maybe you shouldn’t be looking so intently at Natasha’s sister. 

  “It’s about time you guys met, huh?” Kate said as she glanced excitedly, though oblivious, between you both. Yelena was still looking at you, a fact you were aware of because her gaze was as intense as her sisters. 

  “Of course, my sister’s told me a lot about you,” Yelena informed as she observed you take Marty’s lead and collar off. 

  “Likewise,” you said with a brief glance in the Russian’s direction in hopes of avoiding picking up on any more of her perfections. “What brings you over here?” You asked to at least distract yourself. 

  “A lead,” Yelena tore her eyes away from you and moved to where Kate was sitting comfortably on your sofa. 

  “Already? It’s only been a few months since you were here last.” You listened to the pair converse as you strolled to the sliding glass panel that separated your bed from the rest of the studio apartment and threw your satchel down. 

  “This is bigger than last time,” Yelena explained, her voice dropping to that of a serious one. “I called Natasha but she didn’t pick up,” the Russian huffed. 

  “She’s in the Philippines,” you added as you reemerged, meeting Yelena’s emerald eyes. “They all are.”

  “So you want us?” Kate jumped in, clearly unbothered that she was the Russian’s second choice. 

  “I heard you’re good with tech, think you can access this?” Yelena held out a small device in your direction. You took it without letting your fingers brush and recognised the device right away. It was a sort of USB stick, though slightly modified so that it couldn’t fit into any ordinary USB port. You hadn’t seen one in a while but fortunately you had an adapter you could use to get started on it. 

  When you didn’t confirm if you could in fact access the device’s information, Kate didn’t hesitate to do it for you and started asking the blonde what her plan was and how she could help and how come she didn’t respond to the memes she sent her. Instead of listening, you brought out your adapter and set to work on analysing the task ahead of you. It didn’t take long to realise the coding it required was advanced. Not too advanced for you, but enough of a challenge that you wouldn’t be able to hand the device back over that night. 

  “It’s gonna take me a while,” you admitted openly to the Russian. “I’m sorry, I know it’s probably time sensitive but it’s just a little-”

  “It’s okay, y/n l/n,” Yelena was quick to assure. In your line of work, you weren’t used to patience so you looked at the blonde sceptically, wondering if she actually understood how long ‘a while’ could be. “Just text me when it is ready and I will come back.” Oh. So she did know. 

  “You can stay if you want,” you offered as Yelena stood up. She gave you a smile, one that you knew you would be thinking about for the rest of that evening because it felt like it was just for you. 

  “Yeah, it’s friday night and we have jello shots in the fridge,” Kate added, already setting off in the direction of the kitchen. 

  “Some other time,” Yelena said as she went to leave. 

  “So you do know how to use a door,” you couldn’t help but quip as Yelena stood in the doorway. 

  “See you soon, y/n l/n,” Yelena smiled with a glint of something promising in her eyes. The moment she shut the door you spun around in your chair to face Kate. 

  “She’s kinda intense.” Kate shrugged as she carried a tray over with a few snacks and shots on. Anyone else would have thought she lived with you. 

  “You get used to it.” 

  “I didn’t say it was a bad thing,” you muttered as you joined the archer on your sofa. She didn’t miss your comment. 

  “She’s also kinda cute though, don’t you think?" Kate commented as she flicked through your tv. You didn’t answer until you finished your first cup of jello. 

  “I guess,” you said nonchalantly. Kate hummed, about to pry further to confirm her suspicions when her phone chimed. 

  Yelena: meet tomorrow at central park? Bring the bow and arrow

  “Be careful, Kate,” you vocalised your concern. 

  “Always,” she assured with a nudge to your shoulder. “Guess that means these are all for you though,” the archer said, pushing the shots your way. Just as you downed the second one and Kate picked a film, your own phone chimed. 

  Unknown number: you need better locks on your window

  “Did you give her my number?” Kate looked over at your screen and chuckled to herself. 

  “Nope,” she said simply, amused that the blonde had managed to get it on her own. 

  Me: i dont usually have to worry about spies breaking in you typed out, choosing not to mention that you lived in a S.H.I.E.L.D apartment as that clearly wasn’t adequate enough.

  Yelena: really? How have you made it this long?

  Me: im kind of friends with the best spy in the world

  Yelena: we’re friends already?? You rolled your eyes at that and bit back a smile. 

  Me: we’ll see ;) 

  You turned your phone off and took another shot just as your phone chimed again. Kate gave you a questioning look as you ignored the device and tried to give all your attention to the tv. “I knew you guys would get on great,” she said smugly. 

  “She’s pretty cool,” you admitted nonchalantly before sneaking a glance at your phone once more. 

  Yelena: see you soon ;)

>>>

Slam.

  You jumped, spinning around to face her as she stepped into the living room. You never hear the keys jingle on the other side of the door. You never even hear the door open or the two steps into the apartment before she slammed the door shut, eyes already set on you. The control she had over deciding when you’re aware of her presence had always been something your girlfriend found entertainment from and took full advantage of. She never hid that, she didn’t have to. It wasn’t like you were actually going to voice your discomfort. 

  “Hi,” you greeted, cautiously searching Rae’s eyes for any indicator of what the mood of the evening was going to be. She doesn’t respond and that’s what you were hoping she wouldn’t do. Instead, she looked at the screen behind you as she ventured forwards. You glanced back at the monitor and can’t see how it’s anything of much interest. To anyone else it might be, but your girlfriend had seen it all before. 

  “Find anything good?” She asked as she stood so close to your side that her arms were brushing your own. 

  You were on NASA’s website, the secure part, the part you had to do some amateur hacking to get into. You had done it before. In fact, you frequented the site from time to time though not nearly as much as you used to. It had lost its appeal since the first time aliens invaded and had put an end to the question of life on other planets. S.H.I.E.L.D held the information that was of real interest to you, but NASA uploaded prettier pictures in their reports. 

  “They think they’ve found a black hole that’s going to collapse in on itself in a few thousand years. Last month S.H.I.E.L.D said Carol Danvers confirmed it collapsed years ago,” you shrugged. Your girlfriend hummed. “How was your day?” You asked after a long moment. 

  “Shit. I need you to look up a report for me, something under the name Dmitriev,” she continued. You didn’t push it, no matter how much you wished you could talk normally about your days like other couples did. Instead, you made your way into S.H.I.EL.D’s system as your girlfriend disappeared to grab a drink, knowing it could take you a while to get in in a way that ensured you wouldn’t be detected. Dozens of challenging (though not impenetrable) firewalls later, you were browsing the system as Rae spelt out the name to you. Nothing appeared. You heard a frustrated huff behind you and tried again in an encrypted corner of the system. Nothing. You could feel the fuse shortening, closing in on something eruptive. 

  You swallowed the small lump in your throat and tried to take a moment to think. You had never searched anything specific in S.H.I.E.L.D before, only ever browsing through the categories that caught your interest, making you question more what your girlfriend wanted with such specific information from the division. She had never asked for anything like that before, only ever sharing your curiosity in what was going on beyond your atmosphere. Hacking wasn’t your job, just a hobby. 

  You heard the barstool scrape across the wooden floor a couple feet behind you and a dull clink as Rae set her drink down on the worktop and sat down, eyes boring into the screen the same way they did to you when she wanted something you were reluctant to give. Then an idea came to mind and you hurriedly ran your homemade scanner extension over the screen, revealing a single report file titled ‘Dmitriev’. Rae was at your side in an instant. 

  She didn’t stop you from opening the file yourself, nor did she say anything as you realised you were reading a forty page document about a Hydra operative that was currently in a S.H.I.E.L.D safehouse. You frowned as you read on, willing yourself to stop because you knew information like that was harmful to possess and that you had put yourself in danger the moment you opened the document. Yet you continued and sat there in silence for a full half an hour. You only stopped reading once you felt light kisses being peppered along the side of your neck. 

  “Good job,” Rae muttered against you as you craned your neck and she moved to straddle your legs. Her lips moved to the side of yours as she held your face in her hands, helping you forget all of the questions that were building. She always had a way of making you disregard right and wrong. “Good girl,” she continued and finally kissed you properly. Your head was spinning, it wasn’t often she got like that. 

  Her hand ventured into the waistband of your sweatpants in a silent promise of a long, tender night. She was gentle, insatiable and rewarding at every moment’s peak until you had nothing left to give. You were entirely consumed in one another both in motions and mind, as though there was nothing outside of your proximity and an illusion that nothing would ever compare that connection of sensations. She was your universe and it was devastatingly easy to forget that you were far, far less than that to her. 

  Rae’s strikingly good mood lasted for several more days that you were glad to have cherished. Your willful illusion of peace was shattered when she threw a vase at you, one that you had bought a few weeks prior. As the emptiness crept up on you, so did the questions about your S.H.I.E.L.D search that you would never ask aloud, until one night, when Rae was out with people you had never been introduced to, you returned to your computer and went through the motions to find the file. This time, when you opened the document, blood red letters covered the entirety of the first page. 

  ‘Deceased’. 

  There were several new paragraphs in the document. You didn’t read them. You logged off the sight, turned your computer off and went to bed. What you didn’t know couldn’t haunt you. 

[brf-rumortrackinganon]

I have a question, The Sun has the photo with the children on their front page, and it came from her IG, when there was a photo of Lilibet with H on the 4th of July, Page Six posted it without blurring her face while the Daily mail blurred the face, what's the law here? Can The Sun use a photo from her IG without permission? And can Page Six post Lilibet's face without permission but the Daily mail can't? or did they give permission to those publications? Also L's 1st bday photo was it an

So there's a couple of different issues here. First I am not in journalism so please take everything I say here with salt and feel free to check me/follow up with your own research.

Can a publication reprint someone's photos from social media?

Yes and no. The act of posting personal photos/videos to social media constitutes copyright so as soon as Meghan puts a photo up on Instagram, she automatically has copyright over it and publications that wish to use the photo must contact her for permission and license the photo.

There is, however, a way to get around that, and that's to embed the photograph from the app in their article. If you embed the photograph from the app, then you don't need separate permission because you're showing the original source and not saying, hinting, implying that the photograph is yours alone.

So specific to The Sun's use of that particular photo of Meghan and the kids - I think they licensed it from her directly, as in someone asked her for permission to reproduce that photo because the photo is not embedded.

(Also, merch alert: I've just now realized Meghan can now start charging the media for using her personal photos. I wouldn't be surprised if she is.)

What's the deal with the 4th of July photo? Daily Mail blurred the kids' faces, Page Six did not.

It's the privacy laws. The UK has a privacy law in place where publications that use paparazzi photographs of children whose parents who did not consent to being photographed will blur their faces. That's why the DM blurred their faces; it was a paparazzi photo (or a bystander photo) and they knew if they asked Harry and Meghan for permission to run the photo, they'd likely reject it because it shows the kids' faces and they wouldn't make money from it, so they blurred the faces and published the photo.

Note that this privacy law is a guaranteed way of telling whether something was a papwalk - look at whether the kids' faces are blurred. Pippa used to papwalk with her eldest at times, and in those photos his face wasn't blurred. But there are other times she was spotted by paparazzi and in those photos, the kid's face is blurred. (I think the rules are different for the Wales kids because we've seen pap photos of them and their faces aren't blurred - I believe it has to do with the fact that they're public figures, but I'm not really sure.)

The US does not have a law like that so American media - which Page Six is - does not blur faces.

How was Lili's first birthday portrait published?

The Sussexes licensed it out. There are two ways that happens:

The Sussexes give their photo to someone who distributes it on their behalf - Getty, Reuters, the BRF, Misan Harriman, etc. This is usually the nonexclusive option, which means they probably aren't getting paid for this.

The Sussexes sell their photo specifically to a publication, like when Meghan gave photos of her and Guy to People magazine and People slapped an "exclusive" sticker on them. This is the exclusive option. I think this means that publication is then responsible for licensing the photo out to other agencies/media, but i don't know for sure.

Switching gears here for a second - so before Kate's photogate scandal, KP used to send their photos directly to Getty, Reuters, etc. and certain Fleet Street publications. The publications would print the photos and Getty would license them out to the media. After #photogate, KP stopped sending their photos out and began posting them exclusively to their social media, which meant that anyone who wanted/wants to use photos or stills from their videos must now personally reach out to KP comms to license/request permission to use the photos. (I haven't followed this closely so I don't know if KP is still exclusively publishing photos to IG or if they've gone back to freely distributing them.)

Getting back to Lili's first birthday photo. The photo itself wasn't an exclusive to The Sun. I can't find the article where I saw this again (I just looked it up! daggoneit), but the byline/credit for Lili's portrait was Duke and Duchess of Sussex/Misan Harriman/Handler: Reuters, meaning the Sussexes owned the copyright, Misan was the photographer, and Reuters licensed the photo for distribution to the media -- in other words, the Sussexes or Misan gave the photo to Reuters to license out and distribute.

What was an exclusive to The Sun was the details about the birthday party the Sussexes threw Lili at Frogmore Cottage (which no one attended) and the big reveal that The Queen/the palace banned the Sussexes from taking photos of Her Majesty with the kids.

[airandyeah]

Sweater Weather (Depressed!Gojo X Reader) Pt. 2

Flashback chapter! Y/N will be in this chapter, keep in mind, there will be a lot of angst. The spotify playlist is here (Currently playing: Army Dreamers; Kate Bush) (Not adding lyrics to the text so I can write more) Series masterlist My masterlist

It was raining the day Haibara died. Nanami had returned with the corpse, it now lays cold on the table of the morgue. Satoru got assigned to deal with the curse now, knowing that it was too much for the younger sorcerers. He approached the area at a fast pace, he was grieving the loss of the happy sorcerer, but he also wanted to hurry with this mission, he needed to try and be there for Nanami, Yuu was his best and only friend after all. He knew his words wouldn't console the man, but he hoped his efforts may assist in his loneliness. ~~~ He approached the area, searching for the curse and following the cursed energy residuals. The rain poured down around him, but he kept his infinity up, dry as can be. He walked into the school building, following the residuals where he finds a woman, her back turned to him. She wore black, it could've been a uniform, but he couldn't locate buttons from the back. She was sitting with her shins against the ground, slumped over as if defeated, but the sight of a dissipating curse made him realize that she has already taken care of his mission. "S'cuse me?", he called out, attempting to break her from her revery. She turned slowly, her eyes emotionless, but the sheen of her buttons told him what he needed to know. "Yes?", she asked, voice quiet, barely above a whisper, but they echo in the empty gymnasium. "What's your name?", he asks the simple question, not moving from his spot. As if she was broken from her daze, her pupils finally came to a visible state and she stood up to bow in greeting. "Y/l/n Y/n, from Kyoto sorcery academy", she told him, and he responded with his name in kind. Everything was quiet for a moment before he asked why she was here. She lifted from her bow, and took a few steps closer, leisurely approaching him, "I heard there had been a casualty and I was only a few buildings down so I came to exorcise the curse". "What grade?" he asked. "Me or the curse?", she asked for his clarification. "Both.". "It was a grade 1 curse, I'm the third recognized special grade sorcerer.", She told him, her voice even, controlled even, as his eyes widened. "You will file the mission report?", he asked his last question. "Yes.", she responded. And Satoru left. ~~~ *Current day* Satoru had his sunglasses thrown over his nose as he entered the elders meeting area, each sitting behind their own traditional screen, their faces unknown. They began talking to him, telling him he needed to find the man, Nanami Kento, and return the Grade 1 sorcerer to their ranks. "Nanami won't be easily swayed to return", Satoru replies, his patience thin with the old men that believed they could tell anyone to jump into a raging inferno, physically and emotionally, with no hesitation. "You'll have help". One of the elders responds, his voice resounding in the room. "Being?", Satoru's response is clipped, full of attitude and disrespect. "We recently got into contact once more with another retired sorcerer from Kyoto, she apparently is close friends with Nanami, and has agreed under certain conditions to help with his retrieval back into sorcery.", a different elder this time explains, his voice sounding even older than the last. "Who is the sorcerer, and what is the condition?", his patience has thinned completely, the tension in the room before their response was thick, it could've even been sliced by the thin layer of Satoru's infinity. "Y/l/n Y/n. Her condition was that she would be allowed to work closely with any and all students at the academy.", The first elder answered his question. Satoru couldn't help but smile, he hadn't seen you since you nearly kicked his ass during the school exchange event years back. 'This would be fun', he couldn't help but think.

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