#let Fraser monologue

[sammaggs]

1x09 A Cop, a Mountie, and a Baby | Amaroq

It’s time for another episode of

Let 👏🏼 Fraser 👏🏼 Monologue 👏🏼

[marley-manson]

WHAT IS IT about due south that makes my brain whirr like a loud laptop fan as soon as I think about any second of it

Those tags led me to thinking about Ray in the first non-pilot episode, Free Willie, being held at gunpoint while Fraser walks away because he refuses to give up the bonds a bank robber wants, telling her that he can’t forsake his duty to uphold the law so she and Ray are shit out of luck. “[A bond is] an instrument of trust between two people indicating a promise that must be honored. Much like a promise I made to uphold the law. So you see, the problem is now that I have the bonds in my hands I'm honor bound not to give them to you.” So Ray thinks he’s going to die but happily robber gets so pissed off at Fraser she tries to shoot him instead, giving Ray the chance to grab the gun. So ofc once the problem is solved Fraser proceeds to explain that it was a purposeful ruse, he wanted to enrage her, and he’d never actually let Ray die just to protect money.

Which is a perfect contrast to Vault, the early season 2 episode in which that same bank robber returns to rob another bank, inviting the overt comparison between these two episodes. In this sequel episode Fraser drags Ray into the bank vault and seals it from the inside to protect it, virtually ensuring their inevitable deaths when they either run out of air, or the thieves bust it open and shoot them. He genuinely argues that it’s their duty to protect the money with their lives. “Ray, would please just listen to me? This isn't about the loss of millions of dollars from some bank! This is about the average ordinary citizen who has placed their trust in an institution. We're here to guard that trust.” Ray, conversely, tells him the money is insured, they were off-duty anyway, it’s not worth dying for, and he’s fucked up.

The difference of course being that in between these episodes Fraser lost his shit and tried to run away with a (different) bank robber so now he’s doubling down hard on his devotion to duty and is maybe arguably passively suicidal and willing to drag Ray down with him.

But like it’s so good as a compare contrast - Ray doesn’t intrinsically trust Fraser to save him in episode one despite having already ended up in the hospital for him once, and it turns out he’s actually kind of right not to! Fraser may have been playing up his devotion to duty over his loyalty to his friends in the first episode, but as a way of establishing a very central theme that gets explored a lot more in some darker ways, it’s excellent.

Like, the pilot and ep 1 really hit this one two punch of Ray devoting himself to Fraser at the expense of everything else important to him including himself, while letting the audience question Fraser’s priorities in return. In Free Willie there’s also a sequence where Fraser gambles Ray’s job on the case without Ray’s input, leading to a scene where Ray fully believes he’s about to be fired. It works out ofc, but it really underscores the ambiguous question of Fraser’s priorities.

And in Vault Ray brings up the number of times Fraser has risked their lives without consulting him as a point of contention, and the overarching theme of the episode is feeling undervalued (Ray’s sister has a whole monologue about it too lol). But Ray is resigned to Fraser risking his life without asking: when Fraser comes up with a risky plan Ray wearily tells him to just do it without explaining first. Their conflict is resolved when Ray tells Fraser to value himself more and stand up for himself, rather than when Fraser, say, prioritizes Ray over duty. 

Basically Free Willie and Vault together are a perfect examination of Ray and Fraser’s unbalanced relationship.

[keepingupwiththecullensblog]

🌟🚗 Welcome back to “Keeping Up with the Cullens”! Today, I’m hitting rewind on the story to focus on one of the most intense parts of the saga: when Bella and Edward have to lead James away from Charlie. But I’m not just talking about the plot—I’m here to praise the *Midnight Sun* audiobook and compare it to both *Twilight* and the *Twilight* audiobook, especially when it comes to those gut-wrenching “Goodbyes” chapters. Trust me, if you haven’t listened to these audiobooks yet, you’re missing out on some serious emotional roller coasters! 🎧🧛‍♂️

As you know, I loved *Twilight* years ago. 🥰 Honestly, now I’m into books like *Outlander* (Jamie Fraser, anyone? 😏), but I thought revisiting the *Twilight Saga* as an adult would be fun—making fun of my old crush, Edward, from my early 20s. 😂 But here I am, deep-diving into *Midnight Sun* and the audiobooks, and I can’t believe how much I’m analyzing (and still making fun of) this series! Who knew sparkly vampires could still capture my attention? 🧛‍♂️✨

Let’s talk about that “Goodbyes” chapter in *Twilight*. You’d think a scene where Bella is forced to lie to Charlie, leave him behind, and run for her life would be dripping with emotion, right? Well, not so much in the audiobook. 😬 Don’t get me wrong—no offense to the narrator, Ilyana Kadushin, but her reading of that chapter left me feeling a little... underwhelmed. 😐 It was like listening to someone reading a grocery list rather than a life-or-death situation. Maybe it was the director's choice, but either way, the emotion just wasn’t there. I mean, Bella is supposed to be terrified, desperate, and heartbroken, but the delivery was flat. You need to feel the tension, the fear, the urgency—and, unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. 😕📖 It’s like Bella was reading her breakup lines off a cue card. You’d expect more drama from someone who’s about to fake-break her dad’s heart and then flee from a murderous vampire! 🥀

But OMG, let me tell you—*Midnight Sun*’s audiobook is a game-changer. 🙌 Jake Abel, who narrates *Midnight Sun*, absolutely nails it. He reads Bella’s part with so much emotion that it’s like you’re hearing her cry and yell in real-time. And honestly, that chapter needed it! 😭 The way he brings Bella’s terror and heartbreak to life is so intense that it’s impossible not to feel it. The difference is night and day. While *Twilight*’s audiobook felt like a distant memory, *Midnight Sun* pulled me right back into the chaos and desperation of that moment. It’s the perfect example of how a great narrator can completely change the experience of a book. 🎧💥 Jake Abel made me feel like I was in the room with Bella, crying and panicking, and it was everything I didn’t know I needed! 😅

But it doesn’t stop there. Throughout the entire *Midnight Sun* audiobook, Jake Abel is fantastic at switching tones and voices for the different characters. His Edward is spot-on—full of angst, confusion, and that deep, obsessive love that we all secretly swooned over back in the day. 💔 He really brought Book Edward to life in a way that makes you understand his internal struggles on a whole new level. It’s like hearing Edward’s voice in your head, and suddenly, all those dramatic monologues make perfect sense. Jake’s performance is so good that it might just make you fall for Edward all over again. 😅❤️ It’s like he’s channeling Edward’s inner drama queen with every word—seriously, I had flashbacks to all the times I swooned over this sparkly vampire back in the day! 😂✨

I mean, let’s be real—Rob Pattinson is the perfect Movie Edward, no doubt. 🖤 But when it comes to the book version of Edward, Jake Abel takes the crown. 👑 His narration is everything I didn’t know I needed from *Midnight Sun*. He captures Edward’s torment, his love for Bella, and his struggle with his vampire nature in such a compelling way that it’s hard not to get swept up in it all over again. Rob and Jake together would be like the ultimate Edward dream team! 😍 Imagine Rob’s smoldering looks paired with Jake’s emotional voice acting—my heart wouldn’t survive! 😵💖

So, if you’re looking for a way to experience *Midnight Sun* on a whole new level, I highly recommend the audiobook. 🎧 And if you’ve already read *Twilight* and felt like something was missing, give *Midnight Sun* a listen—you might just find that the story hits a little harder when you can hear Edward’s pain, fear, and love in every word. 🔥 Trust me, it’s worth the emotional rollercoaster—stock up on tissues and get ready to feel all the feels! 😭🎢

I might write one more post about *Midnight Sun*—specifically that insane car chase—before I move on to *New Moon*. 🚗💨 Seriously, the way Edward steals a car like he’s auditioning for *Fast & Furious*—it’s almost too much! It’s just so over-the-top dramatic that I can’t not talk about it. There’s just so much more to discuss! 📚 Until then, keep your eyes peeled for more deep dives into the world of sparkly vampires, teenage drama, and all the things that made us fall in love with this saga in the first place. 💫✨

[flammenkobold]

Writing Pattern Tag Game

Rules: List the first line of your last 10 posted fics and see if there's a pattern! (I’d take it literally and just do the first sentence but if I feel like it works better with the first two sentences, that’s what you’ll get lol)

(I was tagged by @icescrabblerjerky)

Teen Wolf - Never Gonna Give You Up

When Talia returns from the dead, Peter feels like his mind has broken permanently.

2. Evilive - kindling for the funeral pyre

Dong-soo is looking at that damnable picture again that he still insists on carrying in his wallet. He gets like this sometimes, nauseatingly maudlin, especially after two or three glasses of the good Whiskey.

3. Due South - Real Adventures

“What are you going to do now?” Ray asks, squinting at some point behind Fraser’s shoulder before his attention skitters to somewhere else. Fraser in turn finds it hard to not not look at Ray. 

4. Kane and Feels - First Name Basis

Getting high with Jenny and Kane was a mistake. Or the best idea ever.

5. Due South - Not Running Towards the Future but Walking Steadily

He comes back to Chicago as Armando Langoustini, he gets shot as Ray Vecchio and falls in love with Stella Kowalski at first sight. That’s the easy part.

6. Murderbot Diaries - Shower

The hotel suite SecUnit had (illegally) secured them was luxurious, but they didn’t have much time.

7. Murderbot Diaries - Look Away

“Look away,” it said, pleaded really. But that was the problem.

8. Murderbot Diaries - Better than Friendship Bracelets

We needed to infiltrate the research facility. Unfortunately, its security wasn’t just top notch, the scanners were worryingly in-depth and even ART wouldn’t manage to fool them.

9. The Fall of the House of Usher - Still Farther South

He spends the rest of his life in prison. It’s not the most pleasant time but it’s far from the worst.

10. Murderbot Diaries - Weakness

Shows and movies always have these over the top evil guys that like to monologue, the kind of villain you don���t ever really find in real life. Except I seemed to have stumbled over the rare exception.

hmmmm as for patterns I think a lot of it is: this is the situation/this is what another character does/what happens and this is how PoV character thinks/feels about it or how they respond. (If anyone sees another pattern please let me know)

Am going to casually tag: @yszarin, @kd-heart, @bittercape, @theallknowingowl, @kristsune

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

“At 10 PM, UK time on Thursday, two truly historic announcements were made within minutes of each other. One was that I, Andy Zaltzman, am a contestant on the next series of the Taskmaster TV show, which will be broadcast in September. And as if to bury bad news, the New York court made an announcement that Donald Trump was guilty of all 34 counts in his current head to head against the US judicial system. The serial bankruptcy celeb, misogyny superstar, impeachment veteran, civil war reenactment fan, and insurrectionist chaotistician was found guilty of, essentially, being himself. Specifically, in these 34 cases, of falsifying business records. Guilty on all charges, much to the delight of… everyone, I guess. It pleased everyone who think it’s completely appalling that America ever elected a person such as Trump, and they now have legal confirmation, not only that he is a sex pest, from last year, but also now a crook, as well. And also to the delight of everyone who thinks that only a crook and a sex pest can make America once again the great nation of crooks and sex pests that it was in its greatest Halcyon days.” - Andy Zaltzman, Bugle 4305, 2024-06-02

Thank you, Andy, for reminding me that I saw this post while I was immersed in all the Taskmaster news on Thursday night, thought, oh that's funny, perfect use of the old John Oliver "We got him" gif, invoking its original context that has now been taken so much farther, on a day when it both becomes literally true (they did in fact get him) and its original sarcasm and point still works (doesn't mean he won't be president), solid Tumblr post, I should reblog that. But I only thought that briefly before forgetting about it, and to be honest forgetting about most of the massive global news in general, because there was so much Taskmaster going on. Thanks, Andy, for reminding me to go back to that and reblog this.

(I'm also slightly disappointed that the guests on this weekend's Bugle are Josh Gondelman and Anuvab Pal, both good Bugle guests and Josh in particular is the right person to cover this Trump news, but any of the British guests, or even someone like Alice Fraser who's not British but follows their comedy scene and knows Andy well, would have been nice to have on right now because they'd make a big deal about the Taskmaster news. I would love to hear Nish in particular hyping Andy up on the Bugle for his Taskmaster spot, Nish wouldn't have let him get away with burying one little reference to it in a monologue and then moving on. Josh and Anuvab seem to incorrectly believe that Donald Trump was the main news from Thursday night that we should be focused on. Sorry for taking over your post and turning it into a Taskmaster thing, Lee. I like the gif.)

GUILTY ON THIRTY FOUR COUNTS

[kimkitsuragi]

Final Cut News!

All right, so, by now most people are probably aware that we got a glut of new information about Disco Elysium: The Final Cut yesterday. However, so much content from so many sources can be a bit overwhelming, so I’m making a roundup of links to all the new articles, art, music, and videos I can find, highlighting the details that I personally find interesting.

(under a read more because this will be quite a long post!)

To start with, new official art of Harry and Kim has been released! This art was created by Anton Vill, who did the art for the in-game Thought Cabinet.

ZA/UM's Head of Publishing, Mikk Metsniit, also posted art of Martinaise in the official Disco Elysium Discord. This art has been shared in lower quality before as part of a promotional image for the collector’s edition of Disco Elysium, which will include it as an “illustrated fabric map”. The file Metsniit posted is named “Martinaise Revitalization ‘48.″ In-universe, a design studio previously made an attempt to restore Martinaise to its pre-war state, but ultimately failed. This piece appears to show the planned development of Martinaise--except it’s being swallowed up by the Pale. Fun!

Along with the first piece of art come two new songs by British Sea Power, which will be featured in the final cut:

Advesperascit, named after the city in Vesper-Messina where Dolores Dei was crowned Innocence in-universe. Apparently the name is Latin and roughly translates to “evening comes”

Ignus Nilsen Waltz, named after a prominent communist figure in-universe.

I think these songs will likely be tied to the new political vision quests, which are four new questlines that are each associated with one of the game’s four political ideologies. More information about them, along with other details, can be found in the following articles and videos:

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut Is Like Going From A Black-And-White Movie To Color, article from GameSpot’s Phil Hornshaw. In this article, voice over director Jim Ashilevi talks about adding full voice acting to the game and says that The Final Cut will feature 59 voice actors from countries around the world, chosen to reflect the backgrounds of Revachol’s diverse inhabitants. Lead artist Kaspar Tamsalu speaks about the political vision quests, saying that they will allow the player to meet new characters, learn more about the existing ones, and dive deeper into the politics, secrets, and history of Elysium. Tamsalu also says that The Final Cut will add the ability to fast travel and include Twitch integration, allowing stream viewers to vote on streamers’ decisions and even influence the build of the protagonist.

Biggest Changes In Disco Elysium - The Final Cut, video from GameSpot’s Phil Hornshaw, accompanies the above article. This is a fairly short overview of The Final Cut’s new features as detailed in GameSpot’s article. It includes samples of new voice acting, clips of new animations from the end of the game involving the protagonist and his coworkers (1:47, 2:05), a scene showing a new area added by one of the political vision quests (1:57), and a particularly funny voiced line from Kim (3:22)

‘Disco Elysium: The Final Cut’ comes out March 30. Here’s what’s new.  Article from The Washington Post’s Elise Favis. Includes more details about the political vision quests. According to developer Kaspar Tamsalu, these quests may be started after one in-game day, and are mutually exclusive so that only one may be completed in each playthrough. Jim Ashilevi talks more about the challenge of recording all of the game’s dialogue--more than one million words in total--without outsourcing the work to other studios. Ashilevi also says that he sees ZA/UM as an “art collective”, and “compares his team to the Wu-Tang Clan, in that each person has other creative endeavors, both personal and professional, outside of creating video games.”

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut even gives your horrific necktie a voice. Very brief article from PCGamer’s Fraser Brown. Not much new information in this article, but there is one interesting tidbit: apparently the Horrific Necktie’s voice will be provided by Mikee Goodman, who is one of the game’s voice over directors. Goodman also provides the voices of the Ancient Reptilian Brain, the Limbic System, and several other characters.

Disco Elysium is getting even more political, a long article from PC Gamer’s Fraser Brown. Lead writer Helen Hindpere talks more about the political vision quests, which she says ZA/UM was inspired to add based on fans’ enthusiastic reception of the game’s existing political themes. Hindpere says that the new quests can change the game’s map itself, allowing the protagonist to leave his own mark on the district of Martinaise. The quests will also allow for deeper and more serious exploration of the protagonist’s political views, which were often taken to humorous extremes in the original game. Each quest is different, with some being more wordy and some more visual. The Ultraliberal quest will allow the player to “build a personal brand”, while the communist quest “inspires you to begin a movement”. One quest also adds a new urban location to the game, which Hindpere says reminds her of Berlin. The quests don’t just revolve around a single topic, though; according to Hindpere, "You'll be talking about love, sexuality, hope, ambition, and even about certain geological features specific to our worldbuilding. There's an opportunity to get close and intimate with characters who have thus far seemed unapproachable. Let's say that once you share the same ideology many barriers disappear, allowing you see a different side of many important characters." There will also be a significant amount of new dialogue with Kim Kitsuragi related to these quests.

Disco Elysium PS5 Gameplay - 5 Things You Need To Know, fairly long video from PlayStation Access’ Ash Millman. This video provides some basic information about the game’s premise for new players and shows what the game will look like on PlayStation 5, with a user interface redesigned for the console. The video also includes clips throughout that show some new content, presumably from the political vision quests. Three of these clips seems to be connected: in the first of them, wires are shown that run from the battery of the protagonist’s crashed car to radio equipment set up on and around the statue in the center of Martinaise; in the second, Soona, the radiocomputer programmer from the church questline, can been seen climbing the statue itself to set up some more equipment; and in the third, Soona, Harry, and Kim stand near the modified statue, talking about attempting to contact the flying warship Archer via radio. There are also two other clips: in one, the statue has been splashed with multicolored paints, while in the other the protagonist is seen talking to Idiot Doom Spiral, a local drunk, about hiring him for an unspecified job. Millman also talks about the three different settings that will be available for the game’s voice over: “Classic Mode” will play the same as the original game, with only a few lines voiced, while “Psychological Mode” will provide voice acting for all characters except the protagonist’s internal monologue and skills. The last option, “Fully Voiced Mode” is, well, exactly what it sounds like. There’s also a brief clip that provides a sample of the Horrific Necktie’s new voice (1:26).

DISCO ELYSIUM - The Final Cut (Cuno Voice Example), YouTube video shared by developer Mikk Metsniit. Video is age-restricted. This video includes new voice samples for Cuno, a few of the skills, and Kim. Due to COVID-19, Cuno’s original voice actor, Dot Major, was unable to return, so Cuno is now voiced by Oli Dabiri. Lenval Brown, the narrator of the English language trailers, acts as the game’s general narrator and voice of all 24 skills. Jullian Champenois remains as Kim.

[marueonmain]

WINDFLOWER

part six ~ to be more normal ~

(part one) (part two) (part three) (part four) (part five) (part six)

A/N: I want to thank each of you who have continued reading and supporting me through all these parts (that’s almost 12k words total!) and I hope you keep wanting to stick around until the end. Stay safe. Stay healthy. 

Summary: Alex visits with James & Fraser in a bid to distract himself from thinking about his feelings toward Y/N. George is concerned.

Pairing: imallexx x reader

Warning: Implications of Disordered Eating Habits. References to a Real/Imagined Domestic. An Absurd Amount of Pining.  

Word Count: 2.4k

Subdued shades of orange with the occasional single brushstrokes of pink projected through his bedroom window and painted him in light. A bird chirped, and another chirped back in a cycle of communication lost on other animals. Alex did not realize the change outside his window until the light gradient settled on a loud yellow and created glare on his monitor.

It was sunrise, and he had just finished editing for his most recent video. Where the hours of work went was unclear as it played back with the same level of effects as other videos on his channel. But the hours showed in his fringe, darkened with grease, and in his hands that shook from low blood sugar.

Sleep was for the strong – for those who executed enough psychological control to shush their thoughts. To untie their mental boat and let it drift into the oblivion sea. Alex was not one of those people. Quieting his internal monologue required medication that put him in a state not unlike how he imaged it felt to be roofied.

Or else he did not sleep.

And Alex did not sleep that night. Not because he needed to edit or because he was so busy he did not realize he was tired. No, none of that. He knew he was tired: exhausted even: his limbs felt heavier as, throughout the evening, his blood was spliced and diluted with concrete mix.

Why did he not take his medication? Why not sleep? He did not want to be trapped in ~the dream~ again.

Despite his fundamental understanding of the uncontrollable manner in which the unconscious forms dreams, Alex was consumed with guilt for dreaming about kissing his friend's girlfriend. So, he punished himself: not allowing his mind rest nor his stomach food as he threw himself into his editing.

He would not allow himself think about it long enough to come to the obvious conclusion – that the real issue was not the dream itself. Despite what imallexx edits might guide someone to believe (with their cutesy music over compilations of smiling pictures or clips of him laughing), Alex was a young man in his twenties. And young men (who enjoy kissing) think and fantasize and dream about kissing.

And far more than kissing but regardless... He had dreamed about kissing his friends' girlfriends before: or at least Mia that one time. Ok, two times. He had dreamed about kissing cute men he saw on the train. He had even once dreamed about kissing Princess Leia.

It was natural. But Alex's thoughts about Y/N felt damning, felt wrong. Perhaps because it was the first instance in which he thought he had a chance to get the girl. Not that he would do; he refused.

It hit him. If he were always doing something else, then he would simply not have time to think about it – about her. Alex grabbed a pencil off his desk and his JoJo Siwa notebook and wrote a schedule for the coming week.

His hand cramped from furiously trying to keep up with dictating the information as it spilled from his head. He finished writing, but there were still stretches of time to fill-up including that entire morning. Was he desperate enough to disconnect from himself that he would risk the Budweiser Bug to visit his other friends outside his apartment building? Yes.

While rummaging around his bedroom for fresh(er) clothing to wear, Alex swiped a hat off his desk and concealed his unwashed hair with it. Not his tiktok bucket hat nor his iconic pink one, it was a lilac snapback with an image of lavender embroidered on the side. He rang Fraser.

“Hello?” Fraser answered with a voice bogged down with exhaustion. 

“How’re you doing?” Alex greeted.

“Um.” (a pause – a processing delay) “Fine. Good. Yeah, what about you?” 

“Trying to keep busy.” He tucked his wallet and keys into the pocket of a pair of joggers he found hanging, oddly enough, over the towel rail in his bathroom. Changing into them required a series of short jumping motions as he used just one hand. “You have any videos to film that I could jump in on?”

“Well I’ve been brainstorming ideas for a new series called…”

At the bathroom sink: Alex did not wait for the water to warm before splashing it over his face. He did a quick once-over and washed his cheeks and forehead with hand soap. Picking up his toothbrush from its holder stirred an uneasiness in him, he could not explain; he brushed his teeth and spit without rinsing.

Returning into the conversation he caught the middle of what would sound like a rant or passionate tangent if he did not know that was just how Fraser talked, “…and I’ve been working on a script for something on social repose—”

“Another needs to be stopped?" asked Alex.

Fraser laughed, letting it linger before continuing, "You got me. It's not done, but I could definitely use you for some reaction bits."

"Great! I'll be setting off within the hour." Ambling around – as is the norm during phone calls – Alex found himself in the kitchen. Half-full liters of lemonade, grocers bags, and dirty dishes cluttered the counters. He worked around the rubbish to make himself scrambled eggs with ham.

Fraser asked, "And you're sure about leaving the apartment? With the Bug? We could do a discord-call."

"Might as well get in some time on the train before things shut down."

"Alright, mate," there was a smile behind Fraser's voice, "just don't get arrested."

With their call ended, Alex finished cooking. He ate his entire breakfast in the same amount of time it took him to pull on his shoes.

During the train ride, he turned his phone's volume to eighty percent and blasted his music through his earbuds. His playlist was a mixture of two to three alt-rock or indie pop bands with a sprinkling of mainstream hits: a calm and comfortable backbeat throughout. No outlier tracks that burst into hard-hitting or exceptionally fast beats – nothing that might pump-up his adrenaline or be useful to scream along with in a fit of anger. That was not the connection he made with music in his formative years. Music to him was something to drown out that pesky internal monologue when lying in bed for too long – doing nothing – but perhaps pondering on some heartbreaking or otherwise emotional line in a song.

He arrived at Fraser and James' apartment when it was still technically morning. Knocking on the door, he was greeted with frantic barking and his tired ~obviously hungover~ friend.

After fussing over Kenji, Alex spotted the camera set-up in the kitchen and took his seat. Fraser and him watched several of social repose's music videos: covers of emo electronic, synth-pop songs, and a lot more original EMD songs than either man guessed – and all were dreadful. Neither could sit through a single video for more than forty-five seconds, and most of the footage they shot was just of their mouths hanging open in a disturbed shock.

Nonetheless, it was a great distraction. Alex liked feeling like he was helping out smaller channels – even if it was just those who were his friends.

Only as Fraser was cleaning up his equipment and Alex was sitting on the couch playing with Kenji, did James clamber out of bed and stroll out of his bedroom.

"Ow. What was that?" Alex asked in an exaggerated voice when the shiba nipped at yet another one of his fingers. Turning his attention to James, he asked, "Has he been biting a lot recently?"

James answered in his softer and calmer 'tired' voice, "He only bites sometimes. His brain is probably just locked on the idea of food right now; this is around the time Fraser usually feeds him."

"I just wanted a picture for instagram." Alex tried to find a good angle to hold his phone. He pushed Kenji to sit on his lap for a nice picture (which was sure to get hundreds of comments and love heart emojis), but the shiba was far too hyper to sit still. The few useable photos he got were of Kenji biting at and tugging the strings of his hoodie. "Come on, Kenj."

"Reckon he knows what you're doing with your phone, just mugging you off on purpose."

Alex hung around the apartment for the rest of the afternoon: enjoying an ubereats lunch and having James crush him at mario kart...multiple times in a row. The three talked youtube and the continuing aftershocks and effects of the ad crisis, and Fraser asked for feedback on a few video ideas.

An hour or two from sunset, Alex said his goodbyes and caught the train home to his apartment. Upon unlocking the front door, he was met with an interrogation.

"And where have you been all day?" asked George standing with his feet planted shoulder-width apart, and his arms crossed over his chest – the spitting image of a disapproving parent to a reckless teenager.

Smiling his fang-displaying side smile, Alex challenged, "Why do you need to know?"

"Sammy came over to film the opening pokemon cards video, and you weren't here. Neither of us could get a hold of you. Do you even care about my upload schedule?" It was a half-humorous rant with an eerie sense of latent seriousness.

"Phone died." He shrugged, not looking his flatmate in the eye and certainly not wanting to admit the truth – he put his phone on do not disturb earlier that morning, muting most everyone, including George and Sammy.

There was not an ounce of belief in George's expression, "Fine. Where were you, though, for real? You never leave the flat, let alone disappear; almost called Will and got a search team going."

"I was just filming with Fraser." Alex bent over to take off his trainers. There was a click from his shoulder when he did – alarming for such young bones. "We should host something soon."

And he meant soon. As talk of a complete social shutdown, rather than just more public health advisements, dominated news outlets; the thought of non-essential businesses being made to close their doors was frightening. And what was worse than the eking paranoia seeping into every day, was the horrifying realization that the pubs were considered non-essential.

Uncrossing his arms, George's posture shifted to be more normal. His brow furrowed as he seemed to examine his flatmate heavily; even so, he nodded in agreement. "Sure, we could do that."

"Great," Alex chirped and started toward his bedroom.

George grabbed his arm as he tried to walk past him. His hand clasped tight enough that his fingers touched his thumb, and nails would have dug into the pale skin – if he had nails that is. Both men were silent amongst the awkwardness of the interaction.

Sidestepping out of the armlock, Alex waited for George to speak.

"You're doing ok. Right, Al?"

"Yeah. I'm ok."

"But, you'd tell me if you weren't."

"Of course." Alex left to his bedroom. It was in a bad state, but he did not bother himself with picking clothes off the floor or taking food wrappers from his side table to the kitchen bin. He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked for messages: sure enough, there were eleven messages from George: ranging from asking where he was to blaming his laziness for ruining their chance to film.

Alex flopped himself onto his bed and started to scroll through his photos with Kenji. There was not much choice, so he took the least blurry one and posted it to instagram – with a bright filter and a sarcastic caption that took him longer to come up with than he would have liked.

Fifty minutes he spent scrolling through instagram, occasionally checking back to watch the likes on his photo go up and to reply to some of the first commenters. It was mind-numbing in the good and proper sense.

Until he saw it – and it was not his fault, he just happened upon it – and it sent his thoughts into hyperdrive.

A post. A photo. Y/N sitting on her sofa in the dark with the one light source (presumably her television) from behind the camera casting a blue light across her face. One hand clutching the blanket in her lap as the other hand was held up. Jewel-like eyes peering through her fingers and connecting with the camera. A smile playing purposefully on her lips.

If Alex's thoughts at that moment were put into a blender, they might still have come out making more sense than they did in his head. Eyes. Lips. Blue. Watching? Angelic. Eyes. Fingers. Dancing. Blue. Lips. Taste. Lips. Soft. Photographer. Photographer.

Before he might ask for the app to load more photos, Alex's burst of energy and hectic but classic over-thinking was interrupted. From above him came the sound of muffled shouting. He held his breath, stilled as if a prey animal not wanting to be spotted, and focused an ear to the noise.

There were no words he could pick out, but from what he could tell – or from the details he filled in – it was not a light argument of few words but something that might supersede a genuine scrap. And it was coming from Sammy and Y/N's apartment.

As he listened, his imagination wandered. Alex visualized himself, rushing to Y/N's aid and wrapping his thin arms around her in more emotional comfort than physical protection. He saw her turn to him with wet eyes and a red nose before burying her face into his shirt. It would be uncomfortable – as it is to be around distressed people. Yet it would be comfortable – as she would fit against him so well.

Again, his imagination wandered. Alex visualized himself as the one shouting at Y/N and growing angrier as she refused his hard-hitting gaze. He saw her turn to him with wet eyes and a red nose before hiccupping out a sob and dashing from the room. No. That was not right. It was wrong. He would not— could not do that.

[variousqueerthings]

reaaaaaaaaaally into your read on ghost!bob there, taking that onboard!

me and @gjdraws having some fun little discussions about messed up gerrard ideas... idk if they would make it into a fic, but i have a little smthin about fraser potentially being kidnapped by gerrard (a role-reversal of the episode essentially) and ray and meg have to team up in order to save him, with dief leading the team and being very done with their bickering because he knows that fraser is in serious danger and they're making everything more complicated by having their Drama (i feel like ray and meg are in a fun, strange place of not Getting one another, but having fraser as the connective glue between them, but still having to find other common ground). ANYWAY! how fucked up can gerrard be? well, according to this fic idea... quite a lot............

subby fraser is so Ingrained in my psyche now, but i'm sure one very good fic could push me in another direction. in my heart and soul though, that man needs someone to gently take care of him (in a general way? kinky way? sexual way? idk, you decide) and also maybe some ideas around "earning comfort through pain, but make it a kink-scene...." (the other fic im writing with meg and ray finding commonality in fraser) (which reminds me you sent some interesting Stuff to go through, will do! enjoyed the elf and shoemaker fic immensely!)

ohooooo i like what you're saying about "gauging fraser" in this episode. @gjdraws was saying something similarish about basically gauging if fraser would be ok with ray killing him, which... either way ray is that simpson's meme (as gj also said)

THE TAPE RECORDER! THE NOTES! THE ARREST ME RAY BIT! AND THEN RAY IMMEDIATELY BAILING HIM OUT! "SHOOT ME IN THE OTHER LEG" I AM DYING HERE!!! (married)

WHAT! WAS! THE! LOVE! THING!!!! I mean obvs it was this beautiful and sad acknowledgement of how bob let his son down (in many ways), which I remember back in my s1 musings being like "oh i bet they'll never go there" and they DID, so HAHA! (but also ouch). but then panning to ray????? what?????? am i supposed to infer??????? also this leads neatly into another bit I wanted to add which is the monologue when he's trying to get his knife from where gerrard's dropped it:

THE WHOLE MONOLOGUE IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I need to read it properly in the transcriptions again, because 1. obvs it serves as a distraction, 2. SO INTO how fraser points out that men are unnerved by talking about feelings, when that was how he was raised, but he's very good at holding space for others (himself is ofc another matter, but it's not for macho reasons, like he's basically saying about these other men), and also he and ray are incredibly emotionally vulnerable with one another, which is part of what makes this show so enjoyable, but it also makes me think about fraser and gender again, i should make a whole post on fraser and gender (some like it red rewired my whole fraser-and-gender brain) 3. the way it ties back to what he was talking with his father about earlier!!!! the layers of this monologue/distraction/confession/comedic-yet-maybe-quite-serious speech moment really brings the episode together (and also, once again, fuck you gerrard)

anyway, ray and fraser:

things in that episode

obviously angry fraser is. ohhhh boy. i kept saying hot and it's not not per se, but it's also... not that. it's unsettling. a man wearing the wrong skin, and who seems to know this too and feel unsettled in himself as well. it wasn't so much an "i hope this doesn't awaken something in me" moment as it was... simply wrong. but youknow. glad we got to see a little more of those boots. a million people in-universe sighing in disappointment that this man isn't a top. or a dom. or even that interested most of the time

goes interestingly back to vault of course, the acknowledgement of fraser's "selfish" emotions (that everyone has, that he shoves down down down) coming to the surface, and any person would go "hey buddy it's not unreasonable to feel hatred toward the man who was your dad's best friend, who betrayed him and got him killed, who then tried to get you killed as well, who had no respect for the ideals that you have dedicated everything to..." some anger is to be expected

speaking of wrong, what was ray hoping to achieve by giving fraser carte blanche to murder a man! ray, bby, you know fraser would hate himself if he did that. you know he'd immediately give himself up and plead guilty and throw the book (all the books) at himself forever and ever. i know you mean well, but don't try to entice the man to commit The Crime Of Murder. he almost had a panic attack fake-stealing milk duds in the previous episode!

i do wonder about the way gerrard has shifted a bit in this episode from "guy we know who committed a specific crime (over a number of years) who at the very least tried to get fraser's dad in on it (whether or not he succeeded at least a little bit hovering as an eternal lack of catharsis - one of many in fraser's life), whose crime is geared more towards that casual cruel governmental corruption and lack of care and environmental racism, and who was somewhat cowardly about the death of fraser's dad to the extent that he paid someone else to do it (and where there's so much government scandal involved in the catching that fraser had to be exiled to chicago)" to "guy who has committed many crimes from the sounds of it and was actively working with crime bosses to do smuggling and who is very very callous/real career criminal about it" it's not that they can't mesh, but that i do think pilot!gerrard has more grounding to him/the realism of that story than the gerrard we meet here. a nitpick, but one i may continue to pick at just to make it fit for me

but yeah ofc fraser throwing the knife was hot. too bad neither ray nor meg saw it, they would've 👀👀👀👀👀👀

(also they really gave the both of them some good beatdowns this episode huh. i was gonna say "poor ray" until i remember fraser has now been stabbed and shot twice in the same leg)

(also ofc fraser's ghost!dad is real, but he's really real in this episode huh. but also he appears when fraser is distraught, as he tends to do, which makes you think he's also fraser allowing that little "selfish" part of himself to have a voice, but also that part that beats himself up about not being good enough, but also if that's really fraser's dad.... your old man's kind of sub-par, I've got to be honest. you're better than he ever was bby)

[three-drink-amy]

All the Shine of a Thousand Spotlights

I’m so excited about this fic and very excited to be sharing it! It’s brought out my inner theater nerd and has just been fun to write! I hope you’ll enjoy it! New chapters will post on Mondays.

master list - AO3

Chapter Two - You Look Back at Me and Suddenly I’m Helpless

I stared up at him in horror. This couldn’t be happening. I knew I was tired, but had I fallen asleep and this was the nightmare befolding me? The biggest problem was that he was good. Like, really good. I watched him, my eyes wide, my mouth ajar, wondering how the hell he was completely nailing the role. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see John as transfixed as I’d been. Glancing to the other side, Marilyn seemed riveted as well. Normally, the three of us were better at keeping a poker face. His talent caught all of us off guard. The men before him had been lackluster at best. But he...he was incredible. 

Why did he have to be the man I’d slept with the night before? I sighed as he finished up his monologue. He nodded in thanks from the stage. I looked over at John and encouraged him to say something. 

“Thanks so much, Mr. Fraser,” John said, trying to keep an even tone.  He turned to me. “Claire, do you have anything to add?” I glanced up at Jamie, noting his expressionless face. I shook my head to John. “We’ll be in touch.” 

I saw the corner of his mouth quirk up slightly before he schooled his expression again. I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew just how much he’d blown us all away. 

John turned to me and Marilyn. “Okay, so he was incredible, right?” I nodded, staring up at the stage where’d he’d just been. “I mean, knocked it out of the park. On just an audition. That was two pages of script and he just killed it.” 

“I’d say he’s the best we’ve seen so far,” Marilyn agreed. “Claire?” 

I finally had to look at them. “Yes, I would agree. Maybe we should take a short break?” John shrugged, letting me get up and run from the theater before either of them could stop me. Out in the fresh air, I tried taking a deep breath. My mind was reeling at an unprecedented pace. Glancing to my left, I realized I wasn’t alone. 

There he stood, his hands covering his face. I straightened myself a bit, trying to ignore the look of him, the body I’d spent the night before exploring. It was hard to believe that I'd seen him only a couple of hours ago. Everything had changed in such a short amount of time. “Hi,” I said hesitantly. 

His hands came down and he stared at me, confusion and anger mixing on his face. “Hello, Claire.” 

I closed my eyes, nodding. There was so much to be said, but at that moment, I wanted to run. Leave the theater and the auditions behind. Escape the awkward situation with the man who had blown my mind multiple times for different reasons in the last twenty-four hours. I just wanted to go. But I couldn’t. 

“Yeah,” I admitted. “That’s me.” I looked up at him. “Except, let’s be clear here. You used a fake name as well.” 

He sighed, stepping closer to me. “Yes, I did. But the difference is that ye wouldn’t have known who I was if I used my real name.” 

I opened my mouth and shut it again, not quite sure how to reply. “I suppose that’s true. But then why use a fake name at all?” 

“Because ye did.” 

My brows raised nearly to my hairline. “Are you saying you knew who I was?” 

“No,” he told me, his hands raised, trying desperately to make me believe him. “I promise ye I didna. Hell, if I’d have known ye were the director I’d be auditioning for in the morning, I’d have bolted from the bar before ye’d even looked at me.” My stomach sank a bit at his comment. “I could just tell ye used one.” 

“How? What, are you a human lie detector?” 

He chuckled, despite the current air between us. “No. But no one has to pause to think of their name.” 

I scoffed. “I didn’t do that.” 

“Aye, ye did.” 

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Fine. But you know what, if you’d have said you’re an actor, I’d have split equally as fast.” 

“Ye didna talk about yer job either. I mean, we both did a bit, but all of it was vague,” he reminded me. 

I crossed my arms. “Look, I think we can both agree that this was just very shocking.” 

“Shocking is no’ the word I’d use,” he disagreed. I gestured for him to continue. “I’m sorry, but there’s no way ye can understand this from my perspective. I really prepared for this and was genuinely hopeful for the first time in a long time.” He shook his head, his eyes glancing upward. “And clearly that was all shot to hell.” 

I started to counter him, but he’d turned and walked away. Ignoring my responsibilities inside, I stood there, almost daring him to come back. I tried to forget the foolish hurt I was feeling. But the plain matter was, I’d inadvertently shown him who I really was and he’d run away. It had been one night between us, but my stupid, rarely seen, romantic self had read into things this morning before I left. When I couldn’t put it off any longer, I walked back inside, hoping to plaster on the best poker face I could. 

“Claire!” John called, waving me forward. “We haven’t been able to stop talking about Fraser. He was incredible, right?” 

I nodded, walking back toward my seat. “Yep.” 

“I mean, he just nailed that,” Marilyn agreed. My body twitched at the innuendo that could be taken from her comment. And yet, my traitorous brain supplied images from the night before. 

“Do you think he’s actually Scottish or do you think he was doing an accent?” John asked as he took a drink of his coffee. 

“He’s actually Scottish,” I said before I could stop myself. 

Both of them turned to look at me. “How do you know that?” Marilyn asked. 

My mind was scrambling. “He was talking in an accent before he started the monologue,” I reasoned. “Besides, it sounded too natural for it to be fake.” 

“That’s fair,” John agreed. He looked to both of us. “I mean, we can all agree that he’s our top choice right?” 

“How many more auditions do we have for the male lead today?” I asked. 

John checked his list. “Today, there are five more. Then we move onto the female lead. But there are other days this week with male lead auditions.” 

I took a deep breath. “Here’s what we should do. See the other five today. If by the end of the day, we still feel confident in our top choice, then we can cancel the next days’ male lead auditions. Sound good?” 

Marilyn and John both nodded. “Works for me,” John said. “Have either of you heard that name before?” 

I shook my head confidently. “No, I’d never heard of Jamie Fraser.” It was the closest I could get to the truth. 

“Me either,” Marilyn concurred. 

“Seems surprising that someone with that amount of talent hasn’t broken through yet,” John commented. 

“Everyone’s waiting for the right role,” I remarked, sitting back down in my seat. 

“Maybe he was modeling for a while first,” Marilyn suggested. John and I both whipped our heads to look at her. “What? Did you see that man? He was gorgeous.” 

“Keep it in your pants, Marilyn!” I scoffed. I was hardly one to talk, but they didn’t know that. Marilyn would die if I told her in explicit detail just how beautifully made he was. If I thought about it hard enough, I could still feel his touch. I shook my head, trying to refocus. That man needed to get out of my head for the rest of the day. 

That night I went home to my apartment and poured myself an especially large glass of wine. Whisky was what I usually turned to, but after sharing a glass with Jamie the night before, I decided wine was better. The last thing I needed to do was dwell on what came after the whisky. 

I took a long drink, setting the glass down next to me. How the hell did this happen? Hours later, I still couldn’t believe that our top choice for the role was the man I’d slept with the night before. But what I really couldn’t shake was the look on his face when he saw me — really saw me. He almost looked disappointed, like he wanted me to be someone different. At that moment, I didn’t hate the idea. 

I was deep into glass number two when my phone rang. “Hello?” I answered, already wishing I’d just let it ring. 

“Claire, it’s John.” 

“Hi.” 

“Okay, so I wanted to double check choices with you tonight before I make my calls in the morning. We finished up female leads today and all agreed upon Louise de la Tour, correct?” 

“That’s right,” I told him, taking another drink. 

“And for the lawyer, we wanted to commit to Abernathy,” he continued. 

“Of course.” 

“Perfect. And you know it’s your final call on all of these, right? Because you’re the director,” he reminded me unnecessarily. 

I chuckled. “Yes, I know John.” 

“Good. So, then are you still good with Jamie Fraser for Peter?” 

I thought it over in my mind. What would it be like to have him there every day? To have to hide what happened between us. To work closely with someone I knew I had an unbelievable physical connection with. What would be said about us if someone found out? 

But then on the other hand, I remembered his audition. He’d been amazing. I’d never seen another one like it. And certainly not today. There was no question in my mind that he was the best for the role. 

I shook my head to myself. “Yes, I’m still good with that.” 

“Perfect,” John replied, not acknowledging my pause. “Then, I’ll make the calls in the morning.” 

“Thank you for checking, John,” I said before he hung up. 

“Not a problem. Have a great night, Claire. Maybe try to come in a bit less rough tomorrow,” he teased. 

“Ha!” I fake laughed back. Tonight would be worlds different from the night before. But as I laid awake that night, I wondered if I’d get roughly the same amount of sleep. 

* * *

I walked into the theater looking significantly more put together than I had the day before. John greeted me with a smile as we sat down, getting ready to start today’s round of auditions. Marilyn walked in and sat next to me, trapping me as always in the middle. 

We sat through a number of auditions before lunch time, some of them good, some of them not very good. The roles were starting to narrow and we were getting close to moving from pre-production to production. This part was always very exciting to me. When the last roles were being cast and things were starting to take shape. I always loved it. 

It felt different this time, though. And I knew Jamie Fraser was to blame. I’d purposefully kept from asking John about his calls that morning. I knew if we had to recast any of them, he’d have mentioned it. The three of us sat eating lunch together as we took a break from auditions. 

“So how did the calls go, John?” Marilyn asked, sparing me the need. 

John finished chewing, nodding mostly to himself. “Mostly good.” 

“Mostly?” I asked. 

He grimaced a bit. “Well, Fraser told me he needs to think about it.” 

“Why?” Marilyn pressed, beating me to the punch yet again. 

“I don’t know. He didn’t say. I wonder if he has a different role he’s up for,” John mused. I coughed to myself. I knew what was likely holding him up. Me.

“You’ve made these calls hundreds of times,” I reminded him. “You know when someone is trying to make us want them more or when they’re going to turn down the role. Listen to your gut. What do you think it is?” 

John took a deep breath, a concerned look crossing his face. He glanced at me. “I think he’s going to turn it down.” 

I sighed, shaking my head. This was my mess. And now, I had to fix it.

Next chapter

[sammaggs]

1x03 Manhunt | Soliloquy

The first instance of something in due South I like to call

Let 👏🏼 Fraser 👏🏼 Monologue 👏🏼

[greenglasslov3]

What’s Under The Kilt - 1x01

Hi, hello - Witchie here. Writing of the fanfic-genre seems to be giving me some trouble as of late, so I thought I’d join in some Droughtlander fun prompted by the one and only @sassenachwaffles. This week’s questions, a lovely Friday night spent with a darling friend, and my love of music have brought some focus as to how I intend to participate (not Bernielander - someone’s a diva and won’t cooperate). I’m bringing my love of music and the beautiful soundtrack of Outlander as my inspiration for this year’s journey through Droughtlander.

Without further ado, let’s go Under The Kilt (err cut)

Jamie & Claire’s theme is one of the most beautiful scores I’ve ever heard. The sweeping melody echos the romantic that could only belong to the greatest Russian composers while the solitary echo of a flute perfectly mirrors the hollow ache of twenty long years our beloved couple spent apart. We don’t need sixteen bars to know that this is one iconic piece of music. Haunting. Mysterious. Captivating.

As such an important piece of the score, we all know when the first time occurs... right? It’s the first time Jamie and Claire see each other in the cabin, after Jamie’s dislocated his shoulder and Claire’s journeyed through the Stones...

Nope... okay is it when we first encounter Ghost!Jamie in the 1940s as he gazes upon his one, true love, his Sorcha?

Wrong Again.

Would you believe the first time we hear Jamie and Claire’s theme is before we even have a chance to meet Frank? Would you believe me that we hear this theme within the first three minutes of the first episode?

I was having a Wedding/Reunion rewatch marathon with my dear friend @ecampbellsoup (the queen of analysis - I’m so out of my element here), when she asked me the question:

Do you know when we hear Jamie & Claire’s theme for the first time?

Would you believe that I didn’t know? (Because I didn’t.)

As the lovely @ecampbellsoup pointed out, t’s within the first three minutes of the first episode... when Claire is chugging champagne on VE Day in France.

Now let’s think about this coupled with Claire’s opening monologue. She’s discussing her random disappearance in the middle of her second honeymoon with her first husband... she’s weighing the consequences of her choice against the simple life she might have had... while she’s remembering her time in France...

France... who else spent time in France...

Jamie...

I’ve spent a lot of time pouring over the timelines of this pair (don’t ever try to write a canon divergent fic and play with the time travel element - you will go insane). There are plenty of unique and interesting coincidences that happen to line up perfectly. For example, Claire travels through the Stones on Beltane or May 1st in the books, which just so happens to be Jamie’s birthday. Crazy right? When I looked at the timeline to see when Claire was in France, guess who just happened to be in France at that very same moment in time but ~200 years in the past?

James. Alexander. Malcolm. Mackenzie. Fraser.

That’s right... the first time we hear Jamie & Claire’s theme is when they’re together in France, but separated by the space of two centuries. From the very beginning, Bear McCreary pulls a genius level move in setting up the major theme of our beloved couple - a love that transcends time.

That’s what I noticed on this rewatch... see ya’ll next week when we dive deep into the Scottish Highlands and clan life at Castle Leoch!

[keepingupwiththecullensblog]

🌞✨ Just tuned in to another wild episode of “Keeping Up with the Cullens,” and let me tell you, the drama and sparkles have hit a new high! 🧛‍♂️✨

So, Edward finally takes Bella to a secluded meadow to reveal his true nature. He steps into the sunlight, and BAM—he’s sparkling like a diamond-studded disco ball. Bella’s reaction? Amazement mixed with a bit of “WTF is happening?” 🤩💎

And guess what? They finally freaking hold hands! 🎉👏 Seriously, Edward, it took you long enough. Now they spend 90% of their time holding hands or cuddling. Why was that so hard to do? 👐❤️ It’s like they’re starring in their own rom-com, but with more sparkles and less common sense.

Edward’s perspective is a rollercoaster of internal monologue. He’s all, “I love her, but I also want to snack on her,” comparing his attraction to Bella’s scent to a heroin addict’s temptation. 🍷💉 He’s tearing apart tree branches and running at super-speed, trying to show Bella just how dangerous he can be. It’s like watching a superhero movie where the hero is also the potential villain. “Hey, Bella, check out my super strength—and, by the way, I might accidentally kill you.” 😬🌲 It’s like if the Hulk and Iron Man were the same person—talk about a complex character!

Meanwhile, Bella is completely mesmerized. She’s like, “Ooh, sparkles!” and despite Edward’s warnings, she’s more worried about their separation than the fact he could snap her like a twig. 💔 She touches his cold, marble-like skin and is like, “I’m not afraid of you,” while we’re all screaming, “Girl, you crazy?” 😅 She’s got more guts than the average horror movie protagonist.

They get into some deep confessions, with Edward explaining how every person’s scent is different, and Bella’s is like his own personal brand of heroin. Edward’s thinking, “Stay back, monster!” while Bella’s all, “But I love you!” Talk about a complicated relationship. 🥀 It’s like Beauty and the Beast, but with more glitter and less furniture singing.

And let’s not forget Edward doing mathematics in the meadow to calm down. Who does math to chill out while hanging with their girlfriend? Edward, that’s who. “Hey Bella, you’re so irresistible, but let me just calculate the trajectory of the meadow real quick.” 😂📐 He’s like Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory but with fangs.

After spending the day in the meadow, Edward gives Bella a piggyback ride back to the truck, moving at a speed that makes her dizzy. 🏃‍♂️💨 They share a passionate kiss, which Edward is thrilled he can control without, you know, accidentally devouring her. Kissing didn’t take nearly as long as hand-holding. WTF, Edward? 🥴 Bella lets Edward drive her truck because his kiss made her feel “drunk.” This guy is now her alcohol. Ok then. 🍷❤️ She’s practically singing “Drunk on You” by Luke Bryan at this point.

But seriously, why was I so into this guy 15 years ago? Yup, Jamie Fraser is so much better. 🗡️🏴 Outlander wins this round.

Stay tuned for more supernatural shenanigans and melodrama as I navigate through this glittery, tumultuous mess. Wish me luck! 😅✨

[imagineclaireandjamie]

Are u done writing Chain in Command?

anonymous asked: Hi lovely’s, I’d love to read another chapter of chain in command. Is there one in the pipeline?

This chapter is dedicated to @pissedoffsoka13

She’d been waiting on the stoop for days, watching the road in the hopes that Jamie and Brian would ride over the horizon at any moment. With Fergus wrapped tightly against her chest, Claire had even taken to eating her meals where she could see the winding drive - worried that she’d miss the moment he came home.

“Yer going to give yerself an illness wi’ all that worrying.” Jenny said, placing a hot cup of tea by her side as she perched on the step above her.

“They should be back now, though, surely?” She replied, adjusting the waddling around her sons face. “It’s been two weeks and still there’s no sign of them. Don’t you think that’s strange?”

“Nothing is strange where Dougal MacKenzie is concerned, lassie.” Jenny snorted. “They might be there for an entire month. He’s no’ the kind to let them leave if he thinks he still has use for them.”

Something about the way she spoke made the blood run cold in her veins. She’d heard the rumours that had circulated about Jamie’s uncles but had never had the opportunity to meet them in person - thank goodness. And with Jenny’s words fresh in her mind, she worried that maybe there was an ulterior motive to him inviting the Frasers over to Leoch.

Seeing panic arise on Claire’s face, Jenny took hold of her hand, rubbing some warmth back into her fingers as she glanced at Fergus sleeping soundly against his mother. “Dinna fash yersel’ just yet, aye? I ken yer worrit for them, but until we hear more we just have to remain upbeat. I’m sure he’ll come riding around the corner any day now.”

The unwelcome news came only a few days later and dread welled heavily in Claire’s stomach as the door to Lallybroch opened with only Brian Fraser standing in the entrance.

“Yer brother is a canty one.” He said, the anger clear in his voice. “He kent what he was doing the moment he invited us over there, aye?”

“Where’s Jamie?” Claire asked from the doorway, her mind half concentrating on listening out for Fergus who was in the living room asleep and half focused on hearing Brian’s answer. Her heart was beating so loud, the blood thrumming in her ears, that she could barely make out the reply but she gritted her teeth and tried to remain calm.

“Redcoats. They passed by Leoch -we were out wi’ Dougal. I rode behind them to Fort William but their garrison commander wasn’t to be reasoned with and by the time I spoke with him he was adamant Jamie was to be kept there.”

“H-how, why?” She spluttered, interrupting Brian but unable to muster the words needed to make a clear, coherent sentence.

“Obstruction they called it. I wasna wi’ the lad when they took him - we’d split into two groups and I’d gone wi’ the other party to herd cattle. I didna ken it wasna their cattle. Raiding,” he spat, his bloodshot eyes darting around the kitchen as he tried to ground himself, “an all new low for the MacKenzies. Colum was seething -but he wouldna gi’ me his support.”

“I have to go.” Claire whispered, hiking her skirts and rushing to collect Fergus. With the Fraser’s gathered in the kitchen, none of them noticed she was missing until she was outside hauling the saddle onto the nearest pony.

Rushing out of the front door, Ellen screamed across the courtyard as she tried to stop her daughter-in-law. “Claire,” she gasped, catching her breath as she held onto the wooden beam supporting the entrance to the barn, “if Brian canna talk him out of there, I doubt ye can, lass. Wait until morning - we’ll think of something together, aye?”

“I can’t wait, Ellen. Don’t make me stay here whilst he’s being held in a cold cell, alone. I have to go.”

Swaddling Fergus so that he was strapped securely to her chest, she stuck her feet in the stirrups, pulled herself into the saddle and directed the horse out of the door, leaving Ellen awestruck and silent in her wake.

She didn’t stop, riding through the night with the knitted scarf Mama Crook had made her pulled tightly around her ears. It wasn’t until Fergus squalled, his hungry cries echoing through the empty forest that she pulled the pony to the side of the road, dismounted and sat to feed her infant son.

There was a chill in the air that had nothing to do with the time of the year, and she held Fergus closer as the wind rattled through the trees. Though she wanted to cry, tears welling in her eyes at the thought of Jamie being taken against his will for something that altogether wasn’t his fault, she managed to keep them at bay. The thought of Dougal made her desperately angry and when Fergus was finished, she wrapped them both up again and continued on her journey eager to gain ground on Fort William as fast as possible.

It felt perilous, the large brown bricked building standing ominously over her as she passed the horse off to a nearby stable hand and climbed the small hill towards the entrance of the fort but she took it all in her stride, determined to bring Jamie home with her and Fergus no matter what.

“Name.” The large burly man grunted as she stepped up to the large wooden door.

“Claire Fraser.” She said quietly, her hands clinging to Fergus as she swayed him to and fro.

“No, woman,” he barked, his patience wearing thin very quickly, “the name of the person you wish to see.”

“I don’t know the person who took him, but I’m here to free my husband. James Fraser.” Irritation laced her tone, his brusque attitude having rubbed her up the wrong way as she gritted her teeth to stop herself from saying anything more.

“Then you need Captain Randall. Wait here.”

As he disappeared she let out a long breath and wiped her sweaty hands along the length of her bodice. Having no idea of what she was going to say once she talked her way inside, she was beginning to think Ellen had been right. Had she have stayed a little longer she might have garnered some more information from Brian and been able to come up with a much better plan of action. As it was, she was here armed with little information only that Dougal MacKenzie was a swine who had gotten Jamie into more than a small amount of trouble.

“This way.” The gruff guard beckoned, holding out a gloved hand as he opened the door and coaxed Claire inside.

Doing as she was bid, she followed him, keeping her shawl wrapped around her shoulders as she steered well clear of the British soldiers that marched around the walls of the fort. It was desolate inside, the feeling of morose death hovering in the place like a bad smell and Claire kept Fergus bound tightly to her as if to protect him from the toxic atmosphere.

A long spiral staircase led to the garrison command chambers, the echo of her feet against the damp tiles sending chills down her spine as droplets of water fell around her. The room itself, however, was decorated well and gave off the aura of wealth - the tapestries pinned to the walls depicting moments of great importance and grandeur.

“Wait here mistress.” Speaking more kindly now, the guard had a look of sympathy in his eye which made Claire’s heart stop in her chest. He looked almost sad that she was stood here under these circumstances and part of her wanted to ask what terrible set of events had landed him here too. But she refrained as he backed out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Keeping her hands to herself, Claire waited patiently - her nerves growing with each second that passed by as the clock on the mantle ticked time away. She’d almost lost hope of anyone arriving as the door opened, creaking on its hinges as a tall, menacing looking redcoat stepped foot inside, knocking his boots loudly against the base of the door, allowing the residual dust to waft around him as he eyed her up and down.

“So you’re the thief’s wife, then.” He scoffed, making her cling tightly to Fergus as his wee eyelashes swished against her bare skin. “Are you going to be as pitiful as his father, girl?”

“I suspect, had you known Brian Fraser as long as I have, sir,” injecting the word with poison, she gritted her teeth in order to stop herself from cursing the vile man, “I doubt you’d say such things about his character.”

“Do you want me to relay to you the same thing I did to him, Mistress Fraser?” He addressed her properly now, seeing that his insults didn’t affect her, but only out of a sense of duty - she could see that in his eyes as he spoke. “Because my monologue on the matter hasn’t changed much since I spoke with Mr Fraser.”

“So you’d take a father away from his child,” she spat, twisting to the side so that he could see the wee bairn snuggled against his mother, “and then refuse to see reason when presented with the salient facts from both his father and his wife? That isn’t the way of the army, is it, captain?”

Cocking his head, Randall smirked, wafting his hand in between them as if to beg her continue. However, the sarcastic nature of the gesture made her heart race.

“It was his uncle.” She began, the sweat springing up over her flesh as she rocked Fergus, his small cry alerting her to his imminent distress. “Dougal MacKenzie. He’s the one whose dishonesty caused Jamie to be in that position in the first place and it’s only the protection of his brother at castle Leoch that is stopping you from holding him to account, isn’t it?” Quirking a brow, she held her chin up and her head steady as she levelled the accusation at him - unsure as to whether she was even correct in her assumption but unwilling to back down. No matter the cost.

It only took a second for the mask to drop and Claire saw the truth of it. She smiled, standing her ground as she bore a long, hard stare in his direction. “Release my husband, Captain, or else everyone from here to London will hear of your indiscretion. Arresting an innocent man in the name of the crown, holding him prisoner for your own means whilst the true criminal roams free. You’d better believe I’ll do it.”

A calm silence befell the room as the pair stood, none of them willing to step away from the other as Fergus’ soft wails became louder cries as he wriggled and writhed in Claire’s arms.

“It seems,” Randall began after a while, his gaze impenetrable as he paced from side to side, “as if we have an impasse, mistress Fraser.”

“No.” She declared stubbornly. “We do not. You simply have to make the right decision, captain Randall.”

[eddieeatsass]

Stripped Bare - Chapter 2

Summary: Eddie gets an offer from his company to work in Barbados over the summer. Beautiful weather, all expenses paid trip, and a stay in a suite at one of the most highly rated resorts in the world. How could he say no? Unfortunately, Eddie soon realizes there were a lot of reasons to say no. His skin doesn’t take kindly to the harsh sun, his suite ends up being the size of a shoe box, and, oh yeah, it’s also a nudist resort. Pairing: Reddie (side Benverly and Stanlonbrough) Rating: E Warnings: Eventual smut, explicit language

Read on AO3

“So yeah, she’s probably one of the most bad-ass people I’ve ever met.” Bill finished off his story with a thoughtful nod, as if he was lost in his own memories while recalling them. “I would not want to be on the wrong side of Beverly’s fury.” He explained as an after thought.

Eddie had been listening to Bill talk about his best friends for 10 minutes. Technically, they were on the job, but no one had flagged down Eddie yet and he welcomed the distraction from the naked bodies he still hadn’t gotten used to. Plus, it was cute the way Bill’s eyes lit up as he talked about his friends. Eddie secretly hoped he could be on that list one day.

“And then there’s Richie.” Bill started back up, a fond smile accompanying his words.

Eddie leaned against the lifeguard chair that they were both standing under and focused on the way Bill’s lips moved as he talked.

“He’s a huge fucking dork. I love him, but I mean that guy has a bigger comic book collection than anyone I’ve ever met. He also never shuts up, we call him Trashmouth because-”

As Bill continued describing his friend in great detail, Eddie found himself thinking about Stan. He felt kind of guilty that he’d tricked Stan into coming. He’d be arriving later that day and he had no idea what to expect. Eddie had been there for a few days now and, granted, it did get a little easier once you got into the habit of keeping direct eye-contact with everyone you meet, but it still wasn’t comfortable. Stan was going to hate it, was going to hate him.

“Anyway, they should be here soon, you’re gonna love them.”

“W-what?” Eddie stared at Bill dumbfounded. Clearly, he’d missed something important when he zoned out.

Bill just laughed, not taking any offense to Eddie’s spaciness.

“Richie and Bev, I mentioned earlier that they come here every year. I get an employee discount that extends to friends and family, so they usually spend the majority of the summer bothering me while I work.”

“Oh, that actually sounds kind of fun, having your best friends around.”

“It’s fun until the 3rd time Richie pretends to drown just to get me riled up.”

Eddie laughs at that visual, picturing a big dramatic scene ending with Bill stone-faced as he returns to his lifeguard post, now unnecessarily wet. The image is enough to make Eddie completely miss the new presence suddenly behind him.

“I hate you.”

Eddie recognized the monotone drawl immediately. He doesn’t turn around though, is too afraid to face Stan right away. Instead he keeps his gaze trailed on Bill who is flicking his eyes back and forth between Eddie and the face behind him, silently questioning the situation.

“You’re not gonna turn around?” Stan asks.

“Mmm, nope. I like it here.” Eddie responds matter-of-factly, planting his feet a little more firmly in place.

Bill’s confusion finally gets the best of him. He peeks around Eddie’s body slightly, addressing Stan directly as he introduces himself.

“Oh yeah, sorry, Bill this is Stan. Stan, Bill.” Eddie supplies without moving.

“Nice to meet you, I think?” Bill says hesitantly, checking Eddie’s face for confirmation.

“Don’t mind him. He’s just worried I’m gonna be mad that he tricked me into working at an all-you-can-ogle buffet for the summer.” Stan says.

“Are you?” Eddie asks.

Stan sighs, but Eddie could hear the smile when he spoke. “No, I’m not mad. Confused, maybe.”

The second Eddie had confirmation that he could let go of his anxiety, he was whirling around to face Stan and talking at the speed of light.

“Oh thank god because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to survive this summer without you here! I mean this is so weird, right? Like ‘excuse me sir can I have a towel’ oh yeah sure let me just wade through this sea of naked bodies to bring you a towel that you won’t actually use to cover anything up. And this can’t possibly be sanitary, right? How often do these patio chairs get cleaned? And the water, I mean how many people do you think have free-peed in there today alone? AND WHAT ABOUT BONERS!?”

Stan has his hands on Eddie’s arms before he could spiral any further. Stan chances a glance over at Bill and is surprised he’s still standing alongside them. He gives Bill a mental check-mark for being able to deal with Eddie’s neurosis and then turns his attention back to the task at hand.

“We’ll deal with it.” Stan says, his tone surprisingly convincing.

Eddie nods in agreement. “Okay, yeah, we’ll deal with it.” He repeats.

Having gotten that out of his system, and with the new presence of his best friend, Eddie actually sported a real smile for the first time since he’d arrived at the resort.

“Why are you here so early, by the way?” Eddie asks, once he realizes what time it is.

Stan shrugs. “They got me a direct flight.”

Eddie’s jealousy shows in the way his nose crinkles up. He didn’t get a direct flight.

Stan just smiles and opts to change the subject.

“So, our supervisor is hot.”

Bill and Eddie both agree embarrassingly fast, looking at each other afterwards and sharing a laugh.

Stan got a grasp on things considerably faster than Eddie did. A week and a half in and Eddie was still struggling with the environment, years of sexual repression making it hard to normalize it in his mind. Stan, on the other hand, had adopted a rather naturalistic approach.

“Bodies are not inherently sexual, Eddie.”

Eddie huffed out a groan in Stan’s direction. They were in the supply room grabbing towels for guests, Eddie taking a purposefully long time just to avoid going back out there.

“I know that, Stan.” Eddie bit back with no real bite.

“We’re born naked, it’s normal. None of these people are here for sex, just to enjoy their time in the freedom of their body.”

“It’s not normal to see your neighbor, doctor, and teacher’s dick.”

“None of these people are your neighbors, doctors, or teachers. You don’t live here.” Stan challenged.

“You know what I mean!” Eddie rushed in response.

“Try and think of it this way, you’re never going to see these people again. So what if you know what Mr. Fraser’s dick looks like? In a few months it’s just going to be irrelevant information your brain stores away to be forgotten.”

Stan had a point. It’s not like Eddie was going to form any type of meaningful relationships with any of the guests. This was strictly professional, and the same way that you don’t remember every customer’s face, you also won’t remember every customer’s genitals.

“Are you about done folding those towels or do you need another minute?” Stan teased, nodding towards the small stack of towels he’d been folding and refolding to procrastinate for as long as possible.

“Yeah, I guess.” Eddie conceded, tucking the towels under his arm and following Stan out of the room.

They made their way back out to the deck and distributed towels to the guests who had requested them. Just as Eddie had handed the last two towels over to an older couple, he heard a voice calling him over.

A few seats over from where Eddie stood, a hand was waving at him. Being caught off guard, Eddie didn’t have time to concentrate on keeping his head eye level, and boy was that the biggest mistake of his life.

The man in question was unmistakably naked, that much wasn’t surprising given where they were, but what was surprising was that he was hot. So far, Eddie had counted himself lucky that he hadn’t seen any guests that he found particularly appealing, but this guy changed that real fast. He was tall, Eddie could tell even though he was sitting down. He had long limbs that stretched out from his body in an almost lanky way, but it worked for him somehow. He was well defined but not obnoxiously so, and atop his head was an unruly mop of black hair that mimicked the dark happy trail that lead down to…

The biggest cock Eddie had ever seen in his young life.

Well, fuck. If he hadn’t been staring before, he definitely was now. How could someone be so big while flaccid? Eddie almost bypassed being turned on just to admire how impressive that length was.

“Excuse me?” The voice rang through the space again, bringing Eddie’s eyes up to meet the pair gazing towards him. He didn’t look like he’d noticed Eddie staring, but then again, maybe he was just being polite? Oh god, or what if he had noticed and now he was calling Eddie over to tell him off. No, this guy didn’t look like the type to chew Eddie’s head off.

Eddie kind of wanted him to chew his head off... But, in a sexy way.

“Sorry to interrupt your inner monologue, I was just wondering if you could get me something from the bar?”

Eddie’s throat was dry. Something from the bar sounds great right now. He could chug a gallon of water right on the spot and still be dehydrated. He realizes with a start that he still hasn’t said anything since being waved over and the guy was probably starting to wonder if Eddie was mute.

“Yes.”

Okay, great job Eddie. That’s a start. Now just continue with what you say every day.

“What can you get me.”

Nope, that’s not it.

The stranger’s eyebrows shot up, a smirk that had no business being so charming taking over his features.

“I don’t know, what do you want?”

Okay, so the stranger was smoother than Eddie could ever dream to be, but he was also teasing Eddie, and in any other circumstance he’d be peeved. But this wasn’t any other circumstance, and Eddie had to admit it was kind of endearing.

“What can I get you.” Eddie corrected himself, choosing to ignore the man’s last comment.

He chuckles. It’s deep and throaty and Eddie wants to swallow it whole.

“Just a virgin sex on the beach, please.”

“You’re a virgin!?” Eddie blurted out, before his brain could catch up with his mouth.

The stranger seemed to stall for a moment, before his grin grew even wider than before.

“Well, I haven’t had sex on the beach, if that’s what you’re asking. Too much sand getting in too many places.” He played along.

Eddie didn’t want to think about this man’s ‘places’. Eddie wanted to die.

He decided quickly that the only way he would get out of this interaction with at least some of his dignity left intact was if he left as soon as possible. Clearly his mouth couldn’t be trusted, and neither could his eyes, apparently, since they were already wandering back down the man’s body on their own accord.

Eddie forced his eyes to the ground and mumbled a quick “I’ll be right back with your drink.” Which he’s surprised to get out without some sort of slip up. His feet were carrying him away before he even got an answer. He was headed in the wrong direction, not even relatively close to the bar, but he couldn’t get himself to turn back around. Now that he’d put distance between him and the hot stranger, his heart had started beating irregularly fast, and it wasn’t because of a panic attack this time.

Eddie flung the door to the storage room open, startling one of his co-workers who was exiting the room. Eddie gave him a meek smile, a “sorry for almost beheading you with the door” apology. The co-worker, who Eddie wouldn’t be able to name even if he cared to try, just returned the smile and passed by Eddie.

He only waited a few seconds before slamming the door shut behind him and slumping against the surface, face pressed into the hard wood. He groaned audibly as he let the embarrassment finally swallow him whole.

“Poor Jack is going to be traumatized now.”

Eddie just about jumped out of his skin at the sound of another voice near him. He turned around to see Stan leaning against the wall with an amused smirk.

“Who?” Eddie asked.

Stan nodded towards the door. “You threw that door open so violently I thought the poor boy was going to shit his pants.”

Eddie felt bad now, knowing he may have given his co-worker PTDS, post-traumatic door stress. Jack may never be the same.

“So, are you done being dramatic or do you need another minute?” Stan asked.

Eddie walked over to the stack of clean towels neatly folded on the counter, calmly placed his elbows on either side, and proceeded to smother his face in the fresh cotton. He let out the loudest, longest groan he could, letting the sound muffle through the layers beneath him. He kept going until there was no air left in his lungs, and then, taking a deep breath, he lifted his head back up to face Stan.

Stan’s eyebrows were raised as he waited for an answer beyond a groan.

“I saw a cute guy.” Eddie offered.

“Okay.”

“I made an idiot of myself.” He added.

“Mhm.”

“I need you to bring him a virgin sex on the beach, so I can spend the rest of the day wallowing in my misery.”

“Eddie,” Stan sighed. “You can���t just avoid him.”

“I can and I will.” Eddie declared stubbornly.

They had a stare down for a few moments, until Stan finally took pity on his best friend.

“Fine, what does he look like?”

Eddie proceeded to describe the stranger, leaving out the part about his big dick and stunning physique. Once Stan was pretty sure he couldn’t miss him, he left, leaving Eddie alone with the towels and his shame.

  Eddie managed to go three days without seeing hot stranger again. He didn’t see much of anyone, actually. Bill had switched his shifts around with another staff member for a couple of days while his friends got adjusted to being in town. Eddie had yet to meet them, the infamous Richie and Beverly, but he was sure it was only a matter of time. The resort wasn’t that big, after all.

Stan had gotten heat stroke within his first few days of working, so he was on mandatory bed-rest, per Mike’s instructions, until he felt well enough to work again.

This left Eddie working his shift one man down, and alongside employees he hadn’t gotten to know yet. He supposes he could try and be more social, chat up the lifeguard who’d taken Bill’s shifts, but the woman who now sat up on Bill’s lifeguard chair had a look of judgement in her eyes that reminded Eddie too much of his mother. It made his solitude much more enticing.

The day dragged on. Since Eddie was the only pool boy working that day he was constantly running back and forth to fetch things for the guests. He thought he’d finally caught himself a minute of downtime when someone new was waving him over. With a discreet sigh he steeled himself, plastering a customer service smile on his face before he made his way over.

The hand belonged to a girl, probably around Eddie’s age if he had to guess, who was easily stunning enough to be a model. Eddie was as gay as they come but that didn’t mean he didn���t have his few exceptions, and this girl could definitely be one. He didn’t want to fuck her, that would be a bit too much whiplash for his dick, but he did want to spend hours running his fingers through her hair and telling her just how pretty she was.

Speaking of, her hair was the most striking color of crimson he’d ever seen in real life. It was long, falling down her freckled back and ending at the dip in her waist. Despite being completely nude, she had a delicate gold chain around her neck that settled just between her breasts, adorned with a small key. It looked old, worn in, and Eddie found himself starring at it before he realized it probably looked like he was staring at something else in that area. He flushed pink before his eyes flickered back up to meet hers, a daring blue that rivaled the red of her hair but held the same fire.

“Hi! Sorry, I know you’re busy. I was just hoping to get a glass of lemonade when you have a chance?” Her request was accompanied by a warm smile. It made Eddie feel safe. It was an odd feeling, but not unwelcomed.

“Pink or regular?” Eddie asked, only a bit shaken by her politeness in contrast to the other guests he’d served that day.

“Just regular. But no rush!”

She sounded so genuine that Eddie couldn’t help but smile back. Just then, as if to drive home his point, he was being called over by another guest as she rudely snapped her fingers in his direction.

It took about ten minutes before he found the downtime to pick up the lemonade from the bar. He made sure to get the bartender to garnish the glass with a little wedge of lemon and an umbrella. It was silly, and probably too extra for something as simple as a lemonade, but he liked this particular guest and wanted to do something special, even if it came in the form of miniature plastic umbrellas.

He made his way over to the area where he’d last seen the redhead but instead of sitting in the spot she’d been in previously, she’d moved a few chairs over and was now talking to another guest. From their body language, Eddie guessed they didn’t know each other, but they were definitely trying to. The redhead was sitting on the edge of the chair, leaning in to listen intently to whatever the guy was saying.

He was extremely animated as he talked, his face lit up in an endearingly cute manner. He seemed to be a tall guy, but while hot stranger had been tall and lanky, this man was tall and broad, filling out his frame with strong arms and a round belly. He was quite hairy, but not in an off-putting way. Blonde locks eased into neatly trimmed facial hair, a round beard that framed his equally round cheeks perfectly. Eddie knew from a quick glance that he was hairy in other places too, but he didn’t want to be caught staring again, so he forced himself to behave.

Eddie wasn’t sure how to approach the situation, to be honest. He didn’t want to interrupt their conversation, which they were both too engrossed in to notice him awkwardly standing nearby, but the lemonade in his hand was keeping him from getting back to work. Not that he wanted to get back to work, standing around and people watching (see: eavesdropping) was definitely favorable, but he didn’t want to get behind on an already busy day. Just as he was preparing himself to step in, a presence from behind spoke up.

“You better jump in now before she jumps him.”

The voice was right in his ear, it startled Eddie so much he lost his footing as he tried to swivel around to see who was behind the comment. He saw a flash of black hair and dark eyes receding quickly from his vision, and he realized too late that he was falling. He tried to put his hands out behind him to catch himself but was enveloped by water instead. The water quickly filling his lungs burned, his wet clothes weighed him down, the chlorine stung his eyes. He knows how to swim, knows he should be trying to, but he’s too overwhelmed by the suddenness of the situation to think clearly.

Then there were arms circling around him, a strong pressure against his back, and in seconds he’s breaking the surface of the water. The body behind him doesn’t let go, which Eddie is grateful for considering he’s too busy coughing to focus on anything else. He can tell they’re moving but his orientation is all off, he can’t differentiate up from down yet.

He’s being pressed up against the edge of the pool within seconds. His head is still cloudy with water and panic, but the feeling of steady ground against the palms of his hands helps to ground him. He vaguely starts to register that his feet don’t touch the ground of the pool, and the only thing keeping him up is being pinned between the ledge and the stranger behind him.

At that realization, Eddie swiveled his head around, trying desperately to figure out who had been his savior. The face was too close, featured fixating into nothing more than a blurred cyclops from Eddie’s vantage point. He blinked a few times, trying to get the water out of his eyes as if that would make a difference. When he opened his eyes again, the stranger had leaned back as much as he could without letting go of Eddie, and that’s when he realized who had saved him.

Hot stranger. Hot stranger was holding him. Hot stranger was appraising him with a look of worry. Hot stranger was… Shit, he was saying something that Eddie couldn’t hear through the water in his ears.

“What!?” Eddie said, probably a bit too loudly.

Hot stranger chuckled, his smile even more charming up close. When he repeated himself this time, Eddie heard him clearly.

“You really fell for me, didn’t you?”

He was… making a joke? Right now? While Eddie was dripping wet and fighting back mortification and still struggling to get his breathing back under control? What kind of asshole makes a joke before apologizing?

Eddie knew his anger was unwarranted, a by-product of his ever-growing embarrassment, but just because he was self aware didn’t mean he was good at controlling it.

Choosing not to acknowledge the comment, Eddie sent him a glare over his shoulder. He tried wiggling in his spot, searching for leverage to pull himself out of the pool while still wedged between a rock and a hard place. He re-settled his palms on the granite surface beneath him, ready to hoist himself up and out of the pool, when he felt it. The hard place.

Hot stranger was still holding him up from behind, lithe arms circled around Eddie’s torso and chest pressed to his back, crotch rested against the curve of Eddie’s ass. The thing was, hot stranger was still naked. Meaning, Eddie had a cock pressing right up into the backside of his wet uniform, which clung to him much more now than when it was dry.

What happened next isn’t Eddie’s fault. It’s biology, a Pavlovian reaction. Eddie’s gay and right now there was a dick pressing against his ass. That does something to a guy.

“Get off me!” Eddie seethed, grabbing hot stranger hands and removing them from his body. He bobbed down in the water at the sudden loss of support but managed to keep a hand on the edge of the pool which aided him to hoist his body up and roll onto the deck, much less gracefully than he would have liked.

The redheaded lemonade girl from earlier, who had probably been watching the whole show unfold, was offering him her towel. It was a nice gesture, but Eddie couldn’t risk getting caught with a hard-on, especially not while working at a place like this, so without a word he pushed past her, running towards the doors to the storage room.

He didn’t worry about anyone else being in there, threw the doors open and let them shut behind him with a thud as he paced towards the back of the room. He removed his soaked clothing in the process, stripping down to his underwear and grabbing a clean towel when he reached the small hidden alcove.

He wasn’t proud of his next move, screwing his eyes shut before shoving his hand into his briefs unceremoniously. He brought the fresh towel to his face to soak up some of the water as his hand moved rapidly, spurred on by his anger and embarrassment and shame. It didn’t take long for him to release into his fist, his moan muffled by the towel. Once his breathing evened out again and his head was clear, he rid himself of his sullied underwear and wrapped the towel around his waist.

He gathered his discarded clothing, moving slower now, almost lethargic. He threw the garments into one of the empty washing machines, throwing in a few of the used towels that were piling up as well, so he could at least pretend he was still doing work. Then Eddie slid to the floor, hung his head between his knees, and began making a list of all the things he wanted to yell at that stupid, arrogant, unfairly hot stranger.

[movienation]

Movie Review: Fraser shines in capturing a life beached and foundering -- "The Whale"

Movie Review: Fraser shines in capturing a life beached and foundering — “The Whale”

“The Whale” is not a great film, and it goes to some pains to never let us forget that. It’s overtly theatrical, never remotely shedding its stage-play origins. It’s a one-set show, with just five characters with actors often acting in that “playing to the balcony” vehemence and volume, sometimes conversing but more often monologuing blocks of exposition, back-story, grievances and clues about…

[hausofmamadas]

OKAY OKAY OKAY EVERYONE SHUT TF UP BC I AM POSITIVELY MF BUZZING RIGHT WITH THIS NEW DAMN ARELLANO CONTENT.

Alright daily dose of full-force shrieking, lettuce commence!

᪥

᪥ But you assumed, rightfully so, that being a woman was the very reason they gave you a 'safe' job.

Already with the snarky, feminist inner monologue sksksksksksk I’ve said it a thousand times I’m sure, but we stan a sassy protagonist always.

᪥ … you said yes as a big fuck you to the men who snickered upon hearing you were taking the job. Not the pretty girl who organized their files, surely, you couldn't handle such a thing.

Because surely it is not possible for an attractive women to also be smart, no you gotta pick one thing and stick to it if you want the powers that be to recognize an ounce of your personhood sksksksksk when you have to laugh bc otherwise you’d cry

᪥ After going through each option for what felt like 100 times, you settled on Roxanne.

“You settled on Roxanne.” Wksksksksksk this reader gotta be playin with me, as tho it was an agonizing decision. Like they were seriously weighing Roxanne against getting a job in the warehouse working with FUCKING NESTOR, trying to figure out what to do with the stray pig, inexplicably chillin in one of the trucks for a day and a half. Tho had Reader gone that route, they maaaaybe would’ve smoked crack with Móncito instead of drinking 300 champagne. Look, you were all of us in that moment, had to go the glamorous route bc ofc. Can’t kid a kidder, kiddo.

᪥ Besides, you knew the brothers, except very loyal and very married Benjamin, had a thing for pretty faces.

BENJAMIN REMAINS IN ALMOST EVERY FIC THE MOST DEVOTED, LOVING, LOYAL, PERFECT ZAM ZADDY OF ALL TIME WITH A JAWLINE SO MF CHISELED IT ACTUALLY HELPED MICHELANGELO SCULPT THE DAVID.

᪥ You don’t know if it was good luck or bad, but during the end of your interview, as you left the office, Ramon and his crew rolled in early

I cannot impress upon you guys how loudly I snorted at “you didn’t know if it was good luck or bad...” like it was so loud and I almost choked because WE KNOW. WE ALL KNOW. GORL. OFC ITS NOT GONNA BE GOOD!??! But damn if Reader isn’t gonna have some .... real interesting experiences under their belt by the end of it if *fingers crossed* this shit doesn’t take angsty ass turn and they do manage to make it out alive sksksksks

᪥ Even with everything you know about him, his smile is almost childlike. Big, bright, beaming. It was hard to believe such a chaotic violent man had such a smile.

Oh I’m sorry, did you mean this smile?

Or this one?

What about this one

᪥ … no matter how devilishly attractive he is, you cannot, will not get distracted.

Devilishly attractive is right on the mf money. Like I was thinking about this the other day how Ramon lowkey has the cheeky but steamy energy of Elizabeth Hurley in that one movie, Bedazzled, where she played the Devil and taught Brendan Fraser how Not To Be An Assface By Putting Women Up On Pedestals That They’ll Inevitably Fall From Bc Who On Earth Could Live Up To That Kind Of Pressure When You’re Crumbling Under The Weight Of Unsolicited Emotional Surrogacy. Whoops sorry, got a bit carried away there, my b.

᪥ You could barely believe your luck, or, lack thereof…it was too soon to tell.

Again, killing me with the imminent doom of it all sksksksksks like I know it’s not gonna be good, it’s more how it’s all going to turn to shit, the journey of turning to shit, that’s the unexpected surprise.

᪥ Being under his gaze made your skin hot, your cheeks warm, it awakened parts of you that needed to remain silent to do your job properly.

Sksksksksskskskskskskskskk if this isn’t one of the most eloquent ways of describing reader getting lady-boner on the job, I don’t know what is

᪥ You were here to watch the family, and Ramon was watching you.

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN WHEN THE SHIT SLAPS

᪥ … but being this close to the Arellano Felix family was jarring. Even, exciting, if you let yourself admit it.

I love this so much, you can already see reader’s sense of morality being challenged just by the intoxication of being close to such dangerous people. Like it’s not exactly awestruck in the way it would be if you saw a celebrity but there is something about like, “I’m in a position that very few fucking people are in and that’s crazy.” Idk i just dig this little character note.

᪥ Going from shoveling papers around while men in the office ogle your figure and call you sweetheart to serving drinks to the most powerful drug cartel family in Mexico? Talk about extremes.

TALK ABOUT EXTREMES I am cryyyyyying rn, like gorl, you are mf doomed and we ain’t even halfway in this shit

᪥ You know from the sounds alone, it's Ramon and the Narcos Juniors.

Okay the full fucking hilarity of this is that in the part that I’m writing in my Dinarron fic, Barrón has almost the exact same thought, like diff words but wholly the same sentiment, just like if you heard the pack of hyenas from the lion king around the corner of an echoey alley sksksks

᪥ On one hand, it was flattering. On another, you knew enough about the man to know he was dangerous, like a walking hazard sign.

A walking hazard sign should be engraved on his tombstone with like twenty large, bold arrows pointing down at the little dirt-mound/grave plot.

᪥ Ramon wasn’t known for his patience. He was a make-it-happen yesterday kind of guy.

The way I SQUAWKED at “Ramon wasn’t known for his patience.” Like Morgan Freeman narrated that in my mind for some mystifying reason ??

᪥ The space provided is small, your thigh touches his as you sit.

Ugh nothing better than a quality thigh touch.

᪥ With you, his cockiness seems to be gone, like a shy boy with a crush.

I’m veeeeeery intrigued as to why Moncito seems to be playing coy with Reader when he’s so obviously a himbo with almost anyone else.

᪥ Oh fuck. You were in trouble.

Muahahahahhahahhahsksksksksns I am :pasevil: emoting at this so mf hard rn, cannot wait to see the dumpster fire de desmadre that comes next

᪥

Flirting with Danger

Chapter one: A family business

Words: 2,372

F reader x Ramon

A Narcos MX| A 4 chapter fic | Timeline: S3 events

* to the Anon who asked about this, here’s a taste!

GIF credit to owners 💕

AN: Y’all want a preview of what’s happening? I have three WIPs about undercover agents, all different stories and outcomes. I’m not rushing them, letting them form organically. As I sat to write one today, this one took over. So just rolling with it! I’m still undecided if I’ll only post a preview here and the full thing on A03 only. I’m on the fence. Anyway, this is looking like a 4 parter. 5 max. I’m working on it. 😁

⚠️ overall Warnings: canon show warnings, if you know those, you know what to expect. Adult 18+ mature content. Violence drugs, sexual themes, deaths, etc. Dont read what you dont like. Don’t read what upsets you. You have the free will to keep scrolling. Expect some angst, some conflict, some grey morality, some mutual pining, some angst. | Content disclaimer: You know my usual narcos disclaimer, this is fan fic, not an effort to glamarize the horrific acts of real persons. I do not support what these people have done. Thanks!

Everyone who worked closely with the Arellano Felix family was blood, grew up with them, or underwent a serious vetting process before being let in. It was like a special club that barely admitted new members.

Your job sounded simple on paper but was indeed very complex. Get close to the family and acquire as much intel as you could. You remember the day you got the assignment. They were desperate to get something on the family, in response, this job was created.

You can visualize that first meeting like it was yesterday. You sat in your boss's office and stared down at the file, then the blank look on his face. You were pushing for a challenge since being sent down here. Desk duty, answering phones, and listening to audio recordings weren't really what you signed up for. But you assumed, rightfully so, that being a woman was the very reason they gave you a 'safe' job.

The first day you heard about the undercover gig, they intended it to go to one of the guys. You made a comment about how much harder it would be for a guy to gain their trust, next thing you knew, you were sitting in that intimidating office.

Though the job sounded impossible and you weren't sure if you could do it, you said yes. You said yes to test yourself, to test your long list of skills developed over the years, and you said yes as a big fuck you to the men who snickered upon hearing you were taking the job. Not the pretty girl who organized their files, surly, you couldn't handle such a thing.

Feeling emboldened, you took the job while swallowing the massive lump in your throat and pushing your fears deep down inside. Back in the states, you’ve done plenty of undercover jobs, you could do this - just, none held as much danger and risk as this one.

…

In preparation, you made an extensive list of ways to get near the family. After going through each option for what felt like 100 times, you settled on Roxanne.

It wasn’t aggressive, like showing up out of nowhere in their lives, and plenty of people needed a job. Besides, you knew the brothers, except very loyal and very married Benjamin, had a thing for pretty faces. So getting a job as a bartender or cocktail waitress would be easy.

It helped that your 4 months in Mexico so far were extremely low-key. If you weren't at that godforsaken desk, you were at home, in the very bland apartment the embassy provided for you.

Your social life was pretty much non-existent, so you could be anyone, it gave you a blank slate to work with. They even provided another apartment in a different part of town for you to use, everything now under your new identity. Once the paper trail of this new you was created, you went in for an interview.

The interview went well, but inside you were nervous as hell. They had a hiring manager, but it seemed like a front anyway. You knew the final word had to go through the family.

Seeing how busy they were, they couldn't be on hand to handle things like this. But the hiring manager seemed to like you enough, and he wasn't exactly hiding his flirting. He was very impressed with the fact you spoke 3 languages fluidly.

You knew, the moment you walked out of here, you would be investigated through and through, and you hoped the team who created identities didn't make any errors.

You don’t know if it was good luck or bad, but during the end of your interview, as you left the office, Ramon and his crew rolled in early, just before the club would open for business. Catching each other eyes, you keep your composure as you stroll past him and flash a small smile.

Ramon smiles back. You break eye contact and head for the door. Time slows down. Feeling his eyes burning into you, you glance over your shoulder and see he’s still watching you.

Even with everything you know about him, his smile is almost childlike. Big, bright, beaming. It was hard to believe such a chaotic violent man had such a smile. You feel your heart thump in your chest as your body temperature rises.

Regaining your composure, you grab the handle of the door and walk out. The moment the door closes behind you, you realize you were holding your breath. Taking a deep exhale, you touch your stomach and try to ground yourself.

Holy shit.

You just saw Ramon, the Ramon up close and he was - gorgeous? No, no you can’t think such things. You had a job to do and no matter how devilishly attractive he is, you cannot, will not get distracted.

As you walk away from the club, past the forming line, you feel ashamed. You did notice how cute he was before. Yeah, you shouldn’t but you did. Still, the many photographs you’ve looked at over the months didn’t compare to seeing him in the flesh.

As you walked by him, taking in the tall drink of water he is, you also imagined yourself running your fingers through those luscious waves. He was cute before, but the longer hair - there was just something about it.

By the time you reach the end of the block, someone runs up behind you. You notice it’s the hiring manager and he’s out of breath. When you turned to fully face him, he asks how soon you can start working, and if tonight was an option.

I’m in. You could barely believe your luck, or, lack thereof…it was too soon to tell. You nod, smile, and reply, “I could start tonight.”

The manager escorts you back into the building and shows you the rooms where the staff put their things, he also shows you the uniforms. It was a simple outfit, black, short, and cute.

After you get changed, the manager pairs you with a more seasoned bottle girl on the main floor, someone to show you the ins and outs of working in Roxanne.

You had some experience in your younger years, serving was a side job as you got through college. This kind of thing was like a muscle, you never really forgot how to do it. So you weren't too worried about fucking up.

As expected, though the place is busier than any other place you've ever worked, you start to get the hang of it. You were aware getting intel wasn’t going to happen right away, but as one week turns to two, you observe the family when you can. Working the first floor meant you weren't close enough to hear any of their conversations, so you knew, you had to get the second-floor gig.

As the days pass by, you notice Ramon watching you from the balcony. He was always looking, always watching, but yet he didn’t approach or speak to you. Being under his gaze made your skin hot, your cheeks warm, it awakened parts of you that needed to remain silent to do your job properly. You were here to watch the family, and Ramon was watching you.

As you meet your one month mark, you work on your first report for headquarters, you saw a lot working that floor, even if it wasn't directly tied to the family with concrete evidence, yet. The people who came in, their associates, who they gave VIP treatment, all it was important, even if it couldn't be used yet.

You focused your report on these elements and then turn it in. One month down meant you had 5 months left to get the real dirt. 5 months could either be a long time, or a short time, it depends on many factors.

When you arrive for your shift, on the first Friday of a new month, you receive news that you’ve been promoted. You would solely work bottle service for VIPs. Upon hearing the news, you play it cool and chill, but inside you were freaking out.

If you could do this and succeed there would be no more shitty desk jobs. And finally, those assholes in the office would take you seriously. You could make a real name for yourself - if this goes right.

That first night your adrenaline pumps so intensily through your body that it feels like you’re vibrating. You’ve seen the woman they paired you with plenty of times, she was one of the main girls up here. You follow her lead, smile, and do your job.

For the first few hours of this shift, some of the family are seated at their VIP, just behind the Roxanne sign, but Ramon is nowhere in sight. When you finally do serve their table, it takes everything in you to stay cool.

It was so much easier with the others. Sure, they were important people but being this close to the Arellano Felix family was jarring. Even, exciting, if you let yourself admit it.

Going from shoveling papers around while men in the office ogle your figure and call you sweetheart to serving drinks to the most powerful drug cartel family in Mexico? Talk about extremes. Danger could be encountered anywhere, hell, just crossing the street or leaving your front door. But, this puts you on the doorstep of real danger.

As you drop off a bottle of champagne at a neighboring table, you can hear a rowdy group coming up the stairs. You know from the sounds alone, it's Ramon and the Narcos Juniors. Casually glancing over your shoulder, you watch as they walk by. There’s a girl on Ramon's arm, which is not surprising, but the moment he notices you, he loosens his grip around her waist, his eyes locking on your own.

Does the hot-heated and very dangerous Ramon have a thing for you? You were pretty convinced at this point. What confused you was his lack of contact. He seemed like an overly confident guy and watching the way he was with other women, it seemed more normal he would have hit on you on the spot, that first day. It was surprising, how could a guy like this be shy?

You were honestly torn about Ramon's interest in you. On one hand, it was flattering. On another, you knew enough about the man to know he was dangerous, like a walking hazard sign.

Your investigation could really hit a peak if you got close to him, but at the same time, it's like laying across train tracks, you’d willingly be putting yourself in a level of danger were not interesting in being in. Maybe, he should admire you from afar, you decide, it would be safer.

As the night goes on, you go about your business and focus on your job, while never really escaping the heat of his gaze. When you stopped at their table to bring a fresh batch of drinks, his brown eyes watch your every movement.

You’ve never felt as seen, as studied as you do under his gaze. When you look up at him from under your lashes, he flashes that heart-warming smile and you almost, almost make your first mistake of the night. You nearly drop the empty beer bottle in your hand, you add it to the tray of empty bottles.

The little slip-up gains a chuckle from him. You feel your face grow hot as embarrassment rushes you. Ramon digs in his pocket, pulls out a wad of cash, and drop two 100 bills on your tray.

“Thank you,” you smile at him and back away from the table, your eyes locked on his. Before you turn away, the sound of your name on his lips captures your attention. Balancing the tray, you turn back and meet his waiting gaze.

“Have a drink with us later.”

You can barely believe your hearing. Did he just invite you to his table?

“You know what,” Ramon stands up and motions for the other server to come over, “your shift ends now.” He points at the tray, the other girl makes eye contact with you, then takes it.

Ramon wasn’t known for his patience. He was a make-it-happen yesterday kind of guy.

“Oh, okay “ you grab your huge tip from the tray and shove it in your bra. Much to his pleasure, as Ramon watches with a grin. Not knowing what to do with your hands, you keep them at your sides.

Ramon tells the girl next to him to get up. She shoots you a death stare and leaves the spot next to him. Ramon sits back down and pats the cushion with his hand. "Come, sit with me.”

The handsome criminal continues to grin at you as you sit next to him. The space provided is small, your thigh touches his as you sit. You admired his outfit from afar, but this close, you can really see the details in the nice gold and white top, the first buttons open, teasing his chest and his fitted black pants leave little to the imagination. Everything about this outfit, including the shoes, screams rich. He even smells good, really good.

Ramon sits with his hands in his lap, a stark contrast to the relaxed arm he had around the other girl. Was Ramon still acting shy?

He motions to the table. "Anything you want, it’s yours.”

He’s cute, really cute like this. With you, his cockiness seems to be gone, like a shy boy with a crush. You smile at him and look over the drinks you just delivered to them.

In the middle of the table is a bottle of champagne with a price tag that makes you do a triple take. You weren't really a champagne person, but shit, you had to taste it. You had to know why it cost that much.

Almost as if he can read your mind, Ramon leans over and pours you a glass. As he hands it to you, your fingers touch. The brief contact earns another smile from him, and your heart skips a beat.

Oh fuck. You were in trouble.

More soon 💕

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