#like how he got everyone to record themselves counting down for his final episode in limited life yknow? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thoughts-on-bangtan · 3 years ago

Text

JK Day 2021

...and what a day it was. I know we’re a bit late with this when looking at KST but in our time zone it’s still September 1st so it counts, right? Besides I wanted to wait until the day was over for them so I could have everything the members would post for JK so I could put it in this post as memory for us to look back on in the future.

Furthermore, as extension for the celebrations, I want to finally sit down, write and post our post about JK and his bonds with the hyung line since it’s been so long since two anons asked us about that so what better time than the weekend after JK day, right?

Anyway, let’s get into it, shall we?

The day before JKs birthday he came onto Weverse and posted three different things, including a cute selca:

Everyone of course turned up their creativity to post something for JK and also wondered among themselves what he planned on using those lyric comments for, and if he would use them for anything at all.

Sometime later before the new RUN episode aired, Seokjin appeared on Weverse and, for whatever reason, commented birthday wishes for JK under the Weverse post about the upcoming RUN episode. Because of course he did.

More than an hour before midnight KST everyone got a notification from vlive that JK had gone live:

And truly, considering it was about to be his birthday, I love how it felt more like it was ours with the gift that kept on giving that this vlive turned out to be.

Lots more below the cut:

Remember those posts that JK made in the morning on Weverse? As many, including myself, had guessed, JK gathered some of the lyric comments he liked most, or thought would work best, and proceeded to turn them into an actual song right before our eyes. The instrumental was gorgeous with a acoustic guitar and ballad like melody and it was truly fascinating watching him figuring out how to sing the lines, record them, redo them whenever he felt he could do it better, add adlibs in some places, and slowly but surely a song was created with lyrics in both English and Korean.

This really was the content I’ve always craved and I’m so, so happy we got to watch JK do this instead of him just showing us the final thing. You could see him having fun, even when he got a little frustrated at times or he wasn’t quite sure how he wanted to continue or how he wanted the words to sound like, and that he really knows what he’s doing. So many claim that Bangtan have no idea about producing and recording songs, which truly is such a stupid argument to make considering Yoongi is literally Producer SUGA and we know that, if the members want to make mixtapes they have to do them themselves, which we know Namjoon, Yoongi and Hobi have done. So JK doing all of that in the vlive? Checkmate against those idiots. Especially since it also isn’t the first time we’ve seen members work on tracks, like the behind the scenes of rap line working on DDAENG or Hobi working on songs, or even JK with Stay, even if we didn’t know it’s Stay at the time.

Once the song was finished JK went on to show us several more instrumentals he could’ve worked with, each one with a different vibe, before switching to singing a song by Justin Bieber saying he really loves his songs a lot. And then it was nearing midnight so he unpacked the cake he got, white icing/fondant with purple lettering spelling out STILL WITH YOU JK, very cute.

Right as midnight hit someone started to bang on the door so JK got up to see who’d come and, surprise, it was a very excited Hobi wishing him a happy birthday including singing the birthday song for him upon JKs request while JK lit up his golden heart shaped candle.

Hobi again returned two minutes after he’d left (between when at 1:18h JK mentioned that, for the first time that night, he’d do one more song to finish off the vlive, ha) to give him an ice cream cake he’d prepared, but also to get his phone which he’d accidentally forgotten in the room JK was in.

Once Hobi really left and JK got a taste of his ice cream cake, as well as the white cake which turned out to be chocolate flavored, the vlive concert began and, at the time, none of us knew what we were in for since we all thought he’d really do one or two more songs and that would be it. And yet that very much is not what happened, at all, and I’m so grateful for it.

This might just be the funniest screenshot in existence (please take note of the time stamps):

No wonder that, eventually, Seokjin decided to come onto Weverse to post wishes for JK a second time while also saying this (the picture is from their unit photoshoot for Winter Package):

The imagine of Seokjin just sitting in bed or whatever watching JKs vlive and hearing him say last song every like ten minutes and every time he just kept going...and going...and going while Seokjin is just waiting...and waiting...and waiting? Hilarious. But it’s also really cute how he’d wanted to wait until JK was done to not interrupt him or pull ARMYs attention away from the vlive. Truly I adore their bond, it’s adorable and chaotic and so wonderfully them.

Yoongi also posted his wishes for JK while the vlive was still going.

The one who waited until it was over was actually Namjoon who, with what he said in his tweet, actually revealed that he’d watched JKs vlive as well. In his vlive JK said that at the end of their concerts Namjoon used to always give his speech like a (school) principal, as in his long ending ment speeches, and that’s why Namjoon ‘signed’ his tweet with principal as well.

Truly I love how JK was just having fun singing their songs, taking requests from ARMY, rediscovering songs, like him wondering if they really have a song called Paradise (since the Korean title is different) and finally fulfilling ARMYs wish of hearing BTS sing it live, as well as being surprised and confused by requests for Heartbeat asking himself if them really have a song like that. But since ARMY kept asking for it, he finally looked it up and his reaction to realizing that, yes, it is a real song of theirs and also that that’s the song we were talking about which he’d completely forgotten about? Hilarious but also kind of heartbreaking for all the Heartbeat enthusiasts.

Here is the full list of all the songs he sang, some for longer, some shorter:

One thing that this vlive showed really well was just how amazing of a singer JK really is. It’s easy for people to dismiss his talent during concerts or performances, since they could always argue that him and the others get help due to the backing track etc., but here we had his raw voice singing along to their songs much the way any of us do. And he sounded stunning beginning to end. He’s such a talented singer and he’s worked so hard on his technique and voice and it’s really showing. Thinking back to what he said in his BE comeback Weverse interview about how he’d like to one day he brave enough to do a three hour concert on his own, I’d say this vlive shows that really shouldn’t be any kind of problem at all. If ARMY can listen to him essentially do karaoke for one and a half hours, then attending and enjoying a full on JK concert would be no issue whatsoever. It’d actually be amazing, I’m certain, and I’d totally be down to seeing that potentially become a reality one day in the future.

After two and a half hours, the vlive ultimately came to a close and JK said his goodbyes.

Hours later Hobi appeared on Weverse wondering what pictures of JK he could/should post for his traditional picture “spam” and everyone was immediately super excited. Hobi’s gallery holds some wonderful treasures so we all looked forward to what he would end up posting, though it would take a few hours until it would happen.

The funny thing is that he posted the first twt twice since the picture with Namjoon in it had Hobi’s iPhone in it which, as good Samsung representative, was a no, no, so he deleted the twt and posted it again with some stickers covering the phone. So cute. And his picture choices are wonderful. I particularly love that picture of JK in the white room dressed in black from back in 2019 when they performed Boy with Luv. And also their picture from a dinner the two of them went on together back in 2018.

In the meantime before Hobi posted his pictures, as requested in the picture that BH had posted for JKs birthday on the staff BTS account at midnight, one of the members posted his meal though it’s unclear which one of them it might’ve been. Looks super yummy though, wow.

And eventually the final member to come and wish JK a happy birthday was Jimin (and yes, I know Jimin’s twt came before Hobi’s but considering Hobi already wished him a happy birthday at midnight, that makes Jimin the last one):

Trans (cr. haruharu_w_bts):

our maknae happy birthday i wish <you a happy birthday> a lot and a lot #KkookieHappyBirthday #JIMIN #HAPPYJKDAY

Taehyung didn’t post anything but considering his track record of doing something for the members off social media for their birthday, like giving Namjoon a forehead kiss, sending birthday wish videos to Seokjin (including roping others into doing it as well), or wishing Jimin a happy birthday as part of the MOTS ON:E exhibition, I wasn’t all that surprised by this.

And with that JK day 2021 came to a close. It started with a surprise (as in both the song based on ARMY comments and also the concert afterward) and ended with one as well, as in the In The SOOP Season Two announcement.

I hope JK had a wonderful day, celebrated happily with his members, friends and family however much that’s possible in these times, as well as with their busy schedule, and that this new year will be a happy one for him full of success, personal but also career wise. I’m curious and excited to see what will happen.

#Jungkook #jungkook birthday #Jungkook vlive #BTS #Namjoon #Seokjin #Jimin #Hoseok #Yoongi

42 notes · View notes

joontier · 4 years ago

Text

Subliminal in Scrubs | V1; report ix

pairings: dr. jeon jungkook x female reader

chapter rating: NC-17 | genre: doctors! au; humor, romance

warnings: swearing

word count: 1.8k

g/n: ((unedited skfslkdf)) also,,, i will be releasing Parallel Palpitations very soon [which features this Jimin hehehehe stay tuned for that] PLUS, im very excited to release the report x AHHHHHH send me your thoughts pleaseee

[taglist]: @nottodayjjk @ditttiii @zeharilisharaban @btsbunny07 @turquoiseandplaidinautumn @aamxxrii @codeinebelle @btsmakesmehappy

Subliminal in Scrubs (the records) | navi. | m.list

You open your new group chat first thing in the morning, wanting to check on Soomin and Jimin. Just yesterday, the two had informed you of their concerns separately, both worried over the same thing. Soomin’s mother wanted to hold a small congratulatory celebration for her daughter’s KMLE results, and her subsequent acceptance at Woocheon, so there was going to be a party exclusively for all tenants of the building at the restaurant just next to the cafe.��

The two hadn’t worked out their budding acquaintance, as you had practically forced them to greet each other the last time you were at the cafe, so you thought this might be a great way to have them start over their tricky relationship.

As you’ve expected, both of them had even tried to convince you to come, in the hopes that a mutual friend could help diminish the awkward air around them. You’ve declined each of them politely, not wanting to intrude on their little get-together. Besides, (just like you hadn’t forgotten to mention to them), this was the perfect opportunity to get rid of this wall hindering their friendship (to which, both of them had also quite strongly disagreed upon).

A mere three hours after their outpour of sentiments, as you’re rewatching episodes of Dr. Romantic with Chohee, the pair drunkenly call you, requesting a video chat. You’re pretty sure not one of them is aware of what’s happening, especially with Jimin refilling his shot glass every thirty seconds; Soomin speaking gibberish, and Chohee literally teasing them through the screen of your laptop and yet none of them seem to mind a damn thing about it.

So, with hopes that each of them arrived home safely last night, you type in your text message.

‘What is this place, really?’ you mutter to yourself, slightly regretting your decision to take the subway instead of a cab. You only ride taxis for places you’re not familiar with (such is the case with today) but you didn’t want to spend twice as much solely for transportation so you took the train to the building.

Now you feel lost. You’ve just gone to the main entrance of the building, but there was scaffolding barring the entrance, and now you’re struggling to look for Entrance B with the singular tarpaulin saying “Please use Entrance B” and a faded arrow below pointing to the left. After a grueling ten minutes of asking people for directions and walking all over the place, you finally find Entrance B and hurry on your way inside.

There’s already a small crowd forming where the directions for the processing of your license is posted, and you can’t seemingly read the directions all the way down with people clearly taller than you blocking the way.

“What’s the matter? Can’t see the directions, smally?”

Your instant recognition of his voice makes you hang your head low. You figure there’s no way you can get rid of this guy anytime soon.

“Hello, Jungkook.”

Why is it that he’s always there wherever you are? He couldn’t be stalking me, could he?

Jungkook almost spits his water on the girl in front of him. Oh, so he heard your thoughts then. “Yeah, you wish, woman. I wouldn’t do that even if you had one million strapped to your neck.” You roll your eyes at him.

“Wasn’t asking for any conditions for you to do that, but thanks for letting me know your thoughts.”

“Awh, you mad, babe?” Shaking your head at him, you try to continue peering over everyone’s shoulder to check the post. “If it makes you feel any better, I would for two million though.”

You were just about to retaliate with a smart comment, but you see a girl walking towards Jungkook while twirling her hair with her newly manicured fingers. “Jungkook-oppa, you’re here!” she says, hooking her arm on his elbow.

Ah yes, it’s the same brat that kept defending Jungkook’s ass during the KMLE exam. “Why don’t you come with us? My mom works here,” her voice gets down to a whisper, but loud enough for you to hear. “If you come with us, you wouldn’t have to fall in line, then maybe we could have lunch together.

Jungkook removes her hand from his, “No thank you, I’ll just wait here.”

“With her?”

The audacity of this bitch.

“Yes, with her.” Jungkook says, not skipping a beat. “She’s...better company.” Oof, that’s gotta hurt.

You try not to show much of your currently soaring pride on your face, but you can’t help but clear your throat as a terrible disguise for a snort. The girl becomes silent after that, with most of her friends trying to control their facial expressions after Jungkook’s reply.

“Fine then, your loss,” she says with a flip of her hair, then makes her exit.

You're unsure what to do now as the girl has already left, and you’re also not sure if you’re entirely happy about being left with Jungkook now. “Why didn’t you go with her? Could’ve saved you a lot of time considering the people here.”

Jungkook clenches his jaw, as if in thought. “I don’t like cheating. I believe that there’s a different value in the reward that comes with something you worked hard for.”

You’re surprised. You really hadn’t expected this kind of quote, coming out of Jungkook out of all people, but you find yourself nodding as he speaks, quite impressed that you share the same principles.

As the crowd starts to disperse, you and Jungkook finally get your turns to take a look at the poster. “Is it often?”

“What is?”

You point a thumb backwards towards where the girl had gone to, “Having girls throw themselves at you all the time?”

“Oh that,” Jungkook chuckles, then gives you a lopsided smirk, “Yeah, that. Hadn’t realized being this hot was so tiring.” Squinting your eyes at him, it then again dawns on you that you shouldn’t even have asked him that sort of question at all.

“You know,” he says, nudging your shoulder with his, “I’m quite jealous of you really,” your brows crease together. This can’t be good. “At least you don’t experience all of that, cause you know…” he says, gesticulating his hands over his face.

He did not just insinuate that you were not...attractive at all. Huh. This bastard can wait for his license alone then.

“Goodbye, Jungkook.”

“Hang on! ________, wait! I was just messing with you,” Jungkook laughs, running after you.

The cashier is already scanning the last items on your grocery list by the time Jimin and Soomin had texted you that they were done with their licenses, and you three had agreed on meeting up by the mall’s concierge. It doesn’t take long before you all decide on having Italian for dinner, after seeing the restaurant nearest to where the concierge was.

“Wait, it took you guys only half an hour?” you exclaim, recalling how you had to endure at least more than an hour with Jungkook as you waited for your licenses to finish. Thankfully though, the latter had other errands to run so you two parted ways as soon as you got your IDs.

Jimin, always the gentleman, offers to get your group the utensils as well as a few condiments and spices you might need with your meals. “Soomin-ssi, do you know anybody else who’s going to Woocheon too?” he says, setting the silverware atop the napkins.

Soomin thanks Jimin for the thoughtful gesture, sending a small smile his way. You squeal inwardly, wanting to know what happened last night for them to interact like this. “Um, also, I’m not so sure about the others who will be attending Woocheon too...I only got a glimpse of the list, sorry.”

“Ah, no worries about that. So, how was the dinner party last night?”

The two glance at each other, seemingly communicating with their eyes. Oookay, what’s going on between these two? What exactly happened last night? If they wanted to be alone, they could’ve just said so…

“It was fun,” Jimin initiates, plastering what seems to be a painfully wide grin on his face. Soomin nods along with him as she adds more, “Honestly, I don’t remember much about last night, but I do recall Jimin calling me ‘sajangnim’ the whole night. And I told him to not call me that, but Jimin here is a stubborn man.”

“Yeah, you complained about that too last night,” you laugh, cutting your garlic bread into pieces. “Wait, what?” Jimin squints his eyes at you, “Were you there last night? How did you....”

“I’m guessing you both don’t remember calling me last night too, didn’t you?”

“We did?!” they say in unison, making your eyes go wide. “Did I do something stupid?” “Please tell me I didn’t say something I shouldn’t have?”

“Hmm, well, it was quite the conversation last night,” you tease them, wanting to see how far this can go, “plus Chohee was there too so I have another key witness.”

“What?” Jimin squeaks, lips pressing into a thin line, “what’s the key witness for?”

“That, my friend, is up to you to remember and figure out.” You give each of them a wink, before turning your attention back to your pasta.

Transferring all your groceries to one hand, you fish your keys from your purse, shaking it lightly to hear its jingle as you blindly course your fingers through your bag. As the elevator doors open, you see your neighbor down the end of the hall, trailing after a man.

Ayoung hears the elevator bell ding and turns to your direction. She excitedly points her thumb to her back, mouthing ‘new tenant’ to you. She keys in her code and lets the guy in first. The moment he’s inside, she leans by the doorframe and whispers how hot the guy actually was and how much of a lucky neighbor you were going to be.

You shake your head at her, leaving Ayoung to entertain her guest. Of course, not forgetting to pray that she manages to score you a hot man next door.

#jungkook x reader #btswritingcafe #bangtanarmynet #btsghostie #jeon jungkook #bts aus #bts fic #jeon jungkook x reader #jungkook fluff

69 notes · View notes

blueskiesandstarrynights · 4 years ago

Text

Whatever Happens I'ma Stand Tall- Jatp time loop au, Chapter 1: Loop 1

And here we go! This is an idea I've had brewing for a while and I'm finally starting it! Part of this chapter does come from the episode Stand Tall as set up for the story. Some chapters will have multiple loops and some will have one. Also, just a quick warning the guys do get jolted out of existence/die but it's temporary and the premise of the story. Since this will be multi chaptered, anyone who wants to be a part of a tag list can just send me an ask and I'll add you for next chapter.

Word Count: 1511

Masterpost of chapters (x)

Looks like today is gonna be another sunny day, with temperatures in the low to mid eighties.

Julie goes to shut off her radio alarm and takes a deep breath. Today was the day. If everything went well, they were going to play the Orpheum, her phantoms would cross over, and they wouldn’t be destroyed by those horrible jolts.

It was fine.

She was fine.

She got dressed, took a deep breath, and went out to face the day.

The rest of the day passed in what felt like a blur, one thing quickly happening after another; the guys securing their performance, the exciting phone call she got when they got back, rushing to her dad to tell him about the gig they she secured, the band hug in the studio, the nervous car ride to the Orpheum, the anxious waiting, the breakdown in the alley realizing they weren’t coming, the exhilarating performance when they did, it’s a wonder she didn’t fall asleep on the car ride home.

After making an excuse to her father and brother, she made her way to the studio. She needed to say one final good-bye.

She opened the doors and stared into the dark room that had held so much life these past couple weeks. A room that once held the smiles and songs of her mother, but now held the smiles and songs of her new family. In the darkened room she could still see Luke's beanie thrown on the couch, Alex’s drums shining in the moonlight, and the floating chairs her mom had hung up with Julie one afternoon that Reggie had pointed out on his first day here.

She took a deep breath before saying, “I-I know I already said this, but, uh, thank you guys.”

“You’re welcome.”

There was a collective sigh followed by, “Dude”

Julie dashed over to the light, hoping the voices she just heard weren’t hallucinations made out of hope, but there they were. Collapsed on the floor coughing, looking exhausted and in pain, and very much not crossed over.

She stared at them for a few seconds in shock before stammering out, “W-why are you guys here? I-I thought-” She didn’t even get a chance to finish her sentence before another jolt rocked the collapsed figures followed by another round of coughing and groaning. “I thought you crossed over, why didn’t you cross over?”

“I guess playing the Orpheum wasn’t our unfinished business.” Alex groans as he and Luke and Reggie try hauling themselves up from their collapsed ghost pile.

“Point Caleb,” Reggie added sadly, leaning against a chair for support.

“We wanted you to think we crossed over so we came here,” Luke contributed. “We just-” he paused. “We had nowhere else to go.”

“We thought you’d just go straight to bed,” Reggie explained.

“Yeah, well, I knew she was gonna come out here, but nobody ever listens to-” Alex is cut off by yet another jolt that rocks all three ghosts.

This seems to break whatever trance that had been holding Julie to stand there and stare at her collapsing bandmates, and she tearfully cried out, “You have to save yourselves right now! Go join Caleb’s club, please, it’s better than not existing at all! Go, poof out, just go, do something, do it for me please!”

Reggie simply shook his head, “We’re not going back there”

Luke staggered towards her and looked Julie in the eyes before saying, “No music is worth making, Julie, if we’re not making it with you. No regrets.”

They both give a sniffle before Julie launches herself forward towards Luke to give him a hug and-

She stumbles from the momentum and passes through him. She’s not sure why she did that, she wasn’t exactly expecting anything different, he is a ghost after all.

The guys are jolted once more and are forced to the floor again, but this time they have less strength to get back up. They had just started sitting back up when they were forced back down once more by another painful jolt. They seemed to be getting more frequent and more painful with each one that came. Everyone in the studio knew this was the end, and each second that passed brought them closer to their inevitable doom.

Julie’s eyes were so blurred with tears that she almost didn’t notice that the guys were now fading. She could now sort of see through them and see the furniture behind them, and for the first time since she met them, they actually looked like how she expected ghosts to look.

Luke seemed to notice too and he turned to Julie and said, “Hey, Julie I want you to promise us something, ok? Don’t stop playing music. You just got it back in your life, your mom wouldn’t want you to drop it, and neither do we. Keep smiling, keep making music, and keep showing the world the human wrecking ball that is Julie Molina.”

Julie nodded to him, too choked up to say anything before turning to Reggie who had tried to sit up but only succeeded in hurting himself more. He repositioned himself to lean against a chair before saying, “Take care of Ray and Carlos for me ok? And-and if Carlos ever figures us out, tell him I miss him, ok?”

Julie sniffled, “I will, I promise, I’ll tell him all about you guys.”

Alex looks like he’s about to say something when a jolt once again hits them, and Julie worries this could be it when they briefly flicker out of existence entirely, but they do come back to her, albeit still faded. Alex must’ve realized how little time they had left, and he started to speak faster to get his last request out.

“Julie, promise me if you ever run into Willie, tell you’ll him that I miss him, and to not blame himself for this happening, ‘cuz he’s gonna do that, and-” he pauses, as if he’s scared to say this next part. “And tell him that I love him.”

Julie agreed, “I’ll find him and tell him, he’ll know how much you cared for him.”

Julie looked down at her boys and tried to memorize every detail about them. Alex’s hair that always seemed to fall in his face, Reggie’s smile that wasn’t here right now, but always seemed to light up a room, and Luke’s voice that always seemed to fill a room, whether he was singing or shouting words of encouragement her way. She had to memorize them, since there were no pictures of them to hold whenever she’d get sad, unlike her mom.

Sure, there was the Edge of Great video, but it was a performance. Something rehearsed. She wished she had more time with them for so many reasons, but she wanted more time to create memories, more time to just do normal things and find a way to record them.

Luke looked up at his defeated bandmates and got their attention by announcing, “Hey guys, band circle.”

The guys couldn’t really move all that well through the pain, but they all stuck their fists together in a circle.”We may not have made it into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, but we still played the Orpheum and that’s pretty rad.” Luke then turned to Julie and said, “And, when you win your first Grammy and make it big-hey, we know you will, don’t try to deny it-remember us, ok? And, a little shout out wouldn’t hurt either.” Luke tried to give her a wink at that statement, but it just came out as more of a grimace, but Julie tried to give him a smile regardless.

“Alright legends on three ok?” The band nodded.

“One,” Reggie started.

“Two,” Alex added.

But before Julie could finish, there was one final jolt that coursed through the ghosts’ non-existent bodies, and they disappeared for good before they even hit the floor.

There was absolute silence in the studio as Julie whispered out a quiet, “Three,” her fist still reached out in a non existent circle. She dropped her hand to her side before her whole body dropped to the floor, her whole body wracked with sobs as she sat in the dimly lit, empty studio.

She sat there in the studio and just mourned for a while. Or at least, she thinks it’s a while. She doesn’t know how long she sits there, whether it’s been minutes or hours, she doesn’t know, all she knows is she doesn’t know how she’s going to face her family like this. She’s not sure how she could explain this to her father without looking crazy, and she really didn’t know if she could pretend like everything’s ok, when it’s not, it’s not even close to ok.

So consumed in her grief and tears, she almost doesn’t notice the bright white light enveloping her, growing brighter by the second until-

Silence.

Then-

Looks like today is gonna be another sunny day, with temperatures in the low to mid eighties.

#mine #my writing #jatp time loop au #julie and the phantoms #jatp #alex mercer #julie molina #luke patterson #reggie peters

24 notes · View notes

bi-bard · 4 years ago

Text

An Extra Dose of Chaos- Malcolm Bright Imagine (Prodigal Son/Criminal Minds Crossover)

Title: An Extra Dose of Chaos

Pairing: Malcolm Bright X Reader

Requested: Nope

Word Count: 1,861 words

Warning(s): Violence in canon of both shows

Summary: (Starts on season 13, episode 7 of Criminal Minds) The BAU found themselves in a time of need after their final confrontation with Scratch. Though absolutely devastated by the loss of Stephen Walker, (Y/n) was somewhat excited to not be seen as the new kid anymore when Malcolm Bright was brought on to the team. Now, if he could just stop making such a mess of things...

Author’s Note: THERE MAY BE A PART 2 OF THIS BUT I’M NOTE SURE YET! It took a long time but... I found a way to connect them! I am so excited! Also, I doubt Malcolm would’ve lasted this long in the B.A.U but this is the best way to put him in the story without using two seasons that were airing at the same time (Season 1 of Prodigal Son and season 15 of Criminal Minds)

Please consider supporting my Ko-fi account. It would mean a lot to me. If I know there are people interested in it, I’ll get the monthly donation part set up.

Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/khoward0

----------------------------------------------------

I let out a sigh as I walked to the round table. Another day without Stephen. We had both joined the team around the same time, but I was still declared a new kid because he beat me here by about a month. Garcia had given Luke the official title but I still felt it whenever we were debriefed on a case. Stephen gave me someone to relate to.

I looked over to the door as J.J walked in. She grinned at me.

“Emily hired a new agent,” she said. I nodded. “How are you?”

“Shaky but desperate to get some work done,” I replied, forcing a smile. I knew she was going to say more but luckily the team walked in before she could.

Emily stayed standing as everyone got settled in their seats.

“Everyone, this Malcolm Bright, he’s our new agent,” she said, pointing at the man standing next to her. He waved. Emily and him made their way to their seats. “Take it away, Garcia.”

Malcolm had sat in the spot right next to me. I glanced over at him while he read the case file. He seemed... giddy? That wasn’t the right word but I don’t think there was a better one. Something that should’ve disturbed him just... didn’t.

It was a strange case. Victims were kidnapped, had symbols carved into their faces, and then were found in their cars but miles away from where they were last seen. All without any memory of what had happened to them.

“Alright, wheels up in 30,” Emily said before standing. Everyone followed close behind her.

“Hey, Malcolm,” I said, stopping the new guy before he left. “How are you feeling? I know some of this stuff can feel overwhelming on the first day.”

“I’m alright,” he replied. “Believe me, I’ve seen worse.”

“When,” I asked, my eyebrows furrowing together for a moment.

“Oh, y’know, research for school and such,” he shrugged the question off. “I’ve gotta get my go bag.”

“Okay, see you on the jet.”

“We have our own jet?”

--Time Skip--

“Spencer,” I said, looking at the photos of one of the victim’s injuries. “These can’t be taser or stun gun marks.”

“Why,” the doctor in front of us asked.

“They usually burn the skin around the radius of the mark,” I replied. “There’s no burn mark.”

“Did the victim report a metallic taste in her mouth,” Spencer asked as Malcolm looked over my shoulder at the photos.

“They’re probably snake bites,” Malcolm noted, cutting the doctor off a little bit. “Blood tests would show if there was any venom present.”

Spencer turned around and listed off a few blood tests that I could never remember. I closed the file.

“A snake as a way to subdue a victim, that’s risky,” I said, looking at Malcolm.

“Hot day, lock the snake in the car, and wait,” he mumbled. “It leaves a lot to chance. This is the element that matters. There’s no way a snake is a weapon of opportunity.”

“If it’s a dangerous reptile, there’d be records of licenses,” I said as we followed Spencer out of the hospital. “Once we have the kind of snake, we could ask Garcia to cross-reference.”

“Except if it was bought on the black market,” Malcolm added.

“You do not know Garcia,” I smirked, picking up my pace to keep up with Spencer. Damn this boy and his gazelle legs.

“She seems delightful,” Malcolm shrugged. None of us spoke again until we were in the car. “So... why does this guy choose body modification? Why specifically the scarring? Surely tattoos would have a similar effect to the women’s self-worth.”

“I don’t know yet,” Spencer replied. “I say we relay what we know to the team and see what they say.”

We both nodded, waiting for him to start the car.

--Time Skip--

I wondered why my heart could beat so fast yet I could look so calm when we got to crime scenes. It was like my fear responses stopped halfway. I’m sure there was a reason for it but there are some things you think about but don’t really want the answers to.

I took a deep breath as the car stopped. I unbuckled quickly. We had split up. Matt, J.J, Malcolm, and me in one car; Rossi, Spencer, and Luke in the other. Emily stayed back at the police station to help us out as much as possible.

Matt and J.J went around the back to keep watch. Malcolm and I got to the front door. I was just about to lay my hand on the doorknob so we could be smart about this...

and then Malcolm sprinted in. No count, no warning, he just ran in without any warning.

“Malcolm,” I hissed, following him quickly. What the hell was wrong with him.

I barely got there at the same time as him when he busted the door down.

“F.B.I,” I shouted, actually doing my job. I followed him inside.

He didn’t have his gun aimed. Did he have it out when he first ran in? I kept my gun fixed on Desi- the unsub- who was just staring at us. Her mom tied to a chair and her sister trapped on one of the seats you’d see in a tattoo parlor.

“Desi, drop the knife,” Malcolm said, holding his gun up.

“You- You don’t know what she did to me,” she replied.

“We do,” he nodded. “We know about the neglect and... and the abuse.”

“I was so scared,” she was whispering.

“Who wouldn’t be,” I asked. “You were just a kid-”

“I tried so hard to erase any sign of her,” she continued. “And there she is on the front page. They think she’s perfect.”

My eyes drifted towards the snakes in the room.

“The perfect woman! The perfect mother! They don’t know what she’s capable of... what I’m capable of.”

“We know,” Malcolm nodded, grinning at her. “I also know that if you surrender and we walk out of here, everyone else will know too. She’ll have to live with that. Isn’t that what you wanted? For your mom to live with the shame of all of this?”

Desi went to move forward, towards the snakes.

“Desi,” I said firmly. She stopped... for a moment. She then ran at the container, shoving it towards the ground before sprinting out the other door.

“Help her mom,” I shouted, walking over to her sister. “Hey, stay with me, yeah? We’re gonna get you help.”

I went to call for an ambulance, only stopping for a second when I heard gunshots. I shook it off, calling the ambulance before helping her sister up and out of the room. Malcolm had already left with her mom.

--Time Skip--

We were all on the jet later that night. Some of the team was playing poker, others just relaxing. I was lounging on the small jet couch, cradling a mug of tea.

“Hey,” Malcolm said softly, sitting next to me. I nodded as a way to acknowledge him. “I’ve only known you for a few days but I can already tell that silence is not a good sign.”

“You ran into the house with any regard for safety,” I replied. “Your gun wasn’t drawn, you didn’t wait for back-up and was just lucky I was there, and you ran into an active crime scene without announcing that you were the F.B.I.”

“I did almost everything wrong.”

“Pretty much,” I sighed. “But you did a good job reasoning with Desi. As good of a job as any of us probably could.”

“Well, I’m sorry about what happened... but can I ask something?”

“Yeah.”

“Why are you so worried,” he asked. “I’d say you were angry but you aren’t displaying all of the signs of anger and you can’t just be nervous about the unsub because the event is over with.”

“I was the new kid before you,” I explained, already questioning whether or not I was ready to talk about this. “Around the same time I joined, Stephen Walker did. The team was looking for this serial killer that called himself Mr. Scratch. We thought we had found him and we knew the house was safe... we thought we were gonna catch him. Then, I think he laid spike in the road. Our cars crashed into each other. It was bad. Emily was kidnapped, the rest of us unconscious... except for Stephen. He died in that accident before they’d even found the cars. I had to tell his wife. I couldn’t even look to my right on my way home because her tears had stained my shirt. I lost the person I was closest to on the team.”

“Now you see another new kid running into snake dens like it’s no big deal,” Malcolm concluded. I nodded.

“It makes me really nervous,” I looked down.

“I’m sorry,” he replied quietly. I shook my head.

“It’s alright,” I looked back up at him. “Just... please don’t do something like that again.”

“... I’ll do my best.”

I chuckled at his hesitation. If all went well, Malcolm would fit in just fine.

--Time Skip (In Between Seasons 14 & 15)--

“Hey,” I said as Malcolm walked over to his desk. He had yet another meeting with Emily and Cruz. This time it went a step further. “How’d it go?”

“I had a meeting to explain my actions,” he explained, grabbing his go-bag. It was pretty much the only thing he had at his desk. “And they fired me.”

“What,” I asked. I bit the inside of my cheek.

“Are you surprised that it happened or are you surprised that it happened?”

“You did punch a sheriff,” I trailed off.

Malcolm nodded and started walking toward the elevator. I stood up and followed him quickly.

“Where are you gonna go,” I asked.

“Probably back to New York,” he shrugged. “My mom wants me back there anyway.”

“Oh,” I nodded. I wanted him to stay closer. I wanted to see him. I looked down nervously as we waited for the elevator. “It’s gonna be boring without you here.”

“Always kept you on your toes,” he chuckled. The elevator dinged. “You should come visit. Just give me a call.”

“Okay,” I replied. I was going to just wave but then jumped when Malcolm quickly kissed my cheek and stepped into the elevator. I could only watch in shock as the elevator doors closed.

“Did that just happen,” Garcia asked, walking over to me.

“Oh my god,” I whispered, looking at her. “Oh my god!”

“Go talk to him,” she shouted as the other elevator opened. I ran in, waving at her and telling her to let Emily know where I went.

What I didn’t see was J.J walk up to Garcia after the elevator doors closed.

“What’s (Y/n) doing,” she asked. Garcia just grinned.

“Proving that you owe me twenty bucks,” she replied.

“No he didn’t,” J.J said. Garcia nodded. “I’m waiting for (Y/n) to confirm that before I give you money.”

“(Y/n) might still be in shock when they get up here.”

...and maybe I was.

----------------------------------------------------

Masterlist

What I Write For

Request Guidelines

Musical Prompts

Small Moments With…

When Worlds Collide (Doctor Who Crossover Series) Masterlist

Some Original Characters

folklore/evermore Writing Challenge (and Masterlist)

#prodigal son imagine #prodigal son fanfiction #imagine #fanfiction #malcolm bright imagine #malcolm bright fanfiction #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds fanfiction #prodigal son crossover #criminal minds crossover

58 notes · View notes

magicalgirlsandcerulean · 4 years ago

Text

Episode 9's blog post (Spoilers under the cut!)

This post by Balletta is dated 8th June 2021. It apparently took him 8 hours to write...which is why I took so long putting this post out. (I had to skip a lot of the descriptive stuff and it still took me over 4 hours to do this post...)

There are also some tweets from Hishida below, including one regarding ep. 10. If you don't want any info about ep. 10 until you get to it, skip reading tweet 2.

Due to the nature of the ep., there is a mention of suicide below.

Hishida's tweet 1:

そういえばF蘭９話でゲスな男の久ニさん役で鳥海浩輔さんが出演してくれました。僕にとっては初監督作の陰陽大戦記でタイザン役を演じてくれたとても恩のある方です。ありがとうございました。そして明日放送の１０話でも非常にお世話になった方が登場します。これも逃れられない縁なのでしょうか！？

Now that you mention it, F-Ran episode 9's male sleazebag Kyuji was voiced by Kosuke Toriumi. For me, he had the role of Daizan in my first directorial work, Onmyou Taisenki, so I have a big obligation towards him. Thanks a lot. Also, episode 10, which is airing tomorrow, has a person who's taken extreme care of me. Is this an inescapable fate?!

(Who is this he's talking about? Read on.)

Hishida's tweet 2:

まさか福山潤くんに会えるとはね。りっくん、生まれ変わってギャンブラーになってました…w #フィクションです

Unexpectedly, I was able to meet Jun Fukuyama, huh? Rikkun was reborn as a gambler...LOL #ThisIsFiction

"Rikkun" = Riku Tachibana, protagonist of Onmyou Taisenki.

Hishida's tweet 3:

美梨香ちゃん、プリチャンのルルナ…。僕はキャスティングには関わっていません。

Birika-chan is Pri-chan's Luluna...My casting has not changed.

Pri-chan = Kiratto Pri-chan. Luluna and Birika share the VA Hibiku Yamamura.

On to the post (note Balletta goes backwards and forwards in time a lot in this post, so with that on top of my omissions, it's a bit hard to keep track of):

Post's name: "The Perverted and Slightly Sad Episode 9". (You know why it's perverted, but the "slightly sad" will be revealed later on. Balletta specifically uses a word for "slightly sad" used by teenage girls, ぱおん.)

Balletta starts by giving various greetings (this matches last time's), asks if everyone enjoyed Fairy Ranmaru ep. 9. It's Uruu's second turn, so he's going to give real-time thoughts and comments on the ep.

The ep starts with Uruu painting "blue roses" (according to Balletta). "収録の時に、第3話の時みたいにうるうくんの英語から始まったらどうしよう…と台本貰うまでドキドキしてたのはここだけの秘密です…" - "It's a secret between us that when we were recording, I was nervous until I got the script, wondering what would happen if we started with Uruu-kun's English like in episode 3..."

Balletta goes on to discuss how people call Uruu "Blue Rose" (from Tiger and Bunny). People have been making this connection ever since the key visual (the one with the fairy forms) dropped. Even now, when watching the anime on Nico Nico Douga, he'll think: "Hi, Blue Rose's older brother!").

He skips to Uruu's mother's suicide scene. Her wings are broken like glass and Balletta thinks this is when Uruu's heart was broken too. This is also where he thinks Uruu's ideal of "always be proper" was born.

The blushing Homura, being healed by Bakkun and reading an article on Shiina's manga, is "transcendently cute".

It's at this point where Balletta starts introducing quotes from the discussion with "ワン！トゥー！！スリー！！！" ("One! Two!! Three!!!") (<- For the curious, there are 6 of these in the post, but they're not entirely the same.)

Balletta wonders in small text if there was tongue or not during the CPR scene...

"この時のうるうくんの表情が完全に悪役の悪い顔になってて、正直自分もアニメ見てて「うるうくん！顔わるいなぁー！！」ってなりましたね！" - "That time Uruu's face looked like a villain's, and straight up I also saw in the anime, 'Uruu-kun! You're making a bad face-!!'"

Balletta is relieved Homura has been revived.

The sloth's lump is moving...

Balletta introduces Birika and the plot of the week. "不倫！ダメ！！ゼッタイ！！！" - "Adultery! Don't do it!! Absolutely don't!!!" (he repeats this through the post and counts the times he says it - the editing Chesarka from the future says he ends up with 3 instances of this)

Balletta recaps that Uruu is good at painting, as we know from ep. 1. It seems to be the same painting, but then he puts red paint on top. This made Balle-san think of Homura so much, he couldn't concentrate on the painting. In short, FIRE (insert flame emoji, obviously referencing Homura's shirt).

5 to Heaven synced up on how they thought during recording. When Uruu is talking to Birika and she says "心が清廉だからだよ" ("Because you have an honest heart."), they all thought, "心が清廉、どうも清怜うるうです。" ("You have an honest heart - thank you, Uruu Seiren.") Balletta thinks they increased their bonds as a result. (Note "honest" in this case is "seiren".)

Some descriptive bits later, we get to this sentence: "第1話から今回の第9話までに、うるうくんの心情や見えている世界が大きく変わったことを意味しているのではないかと自分は思いました！" I thought from ep. 1 until ep. 9, the world he is seeing has changed greatly!" A bit further down: "先程も話した、第1話から第9話にかけて、うるくんの心情や見えている世界が大きく変わってきていると言ったもう一つの理由がこの言葉なんです！第1話では世界に対しても常に正しくあるべきと考えていたうるうくんが、第9話に至るまでに色んなことがありました。

過去のトラウマ、火焔族への憎しみ、焔くんに対しての嫉妬。" - "That's another reason why I said earlier the world Uruu-kun sees has changed greatly from ep. 1 to ep. 9! Ep. 1, where Uruu-kun thinks everything should be correct about the world, to the Uruu-kun in ep. 9 who has had various things happen. Past trauma, the hatred of the Ignis clan, the jealousy which he feels towards Homura."

Balletta can't believe how Birika's mother came back and had a kiss mark on her neck. He gets so angered he starts making puns on his own name (bareru means to leak a secret, while barebare means a transparent lie) and ends with "あ、どうもバレッタです。" - more along the lines of "Ah, sorry, I'm Balletta" than the previous "thank you"s - before returning to the previous discussion.

Some more description later, Balletta mentions the appearance of Sirius. "素晴らC！いや！すばらシリウス！！！" - "SubaraC (shii)! No! SubaraSirius!!!" (subarashii = wonderful) He then discusses Sirius's musings.

End A part. Balletta stops for a bit to note "You only noticed all this incredible impressions and comments are [for] the A part? Didn't you see the previous post?" He also comments Hori's post was short and that was fine. "ま、イケメンだからいっか！！！（うるうくん達が）" - "Well, they're handsome, so what?!!! (Uruu-kun and co. are)"

Now to the B part. Balletta notes there's a piece of art that is a pot in the art gallery. Pot quota: check.

Some description (and more yelling about how adultery is bad and unforgivable) later: we get to the kiss scene. This transformation is voiced differently to the one in ep. 3 in terms of the pan upwards part and the sound effect of boots scratching you can hear during the "Taboo rescinded! Love! In abundance!" callout. "自分もリアルタイムで第9話見てて、「あれ！？ボイス変わってるし、音が追加されてる！凄い！！」ってテレビの前でなってました！ありがたい限りです！" - "Even when watching ep. 9 in real-time, I was in front of the TV, going, 'Huh?! The voice changed and a sound was added! Amazing!!' I'm nothing but grateful!"

Hotel Tsubo returns. "なんかもう毎回このアニメをリアルタイムで見るたびに「今回はどこに壺が隠れてるかなぁ〜♪」ってなってる自分がいてビックリしますよ笑" - "Basically every time I watch this anime in real-time, I'll be like, 'Where will they hide the pot this time~?♪', so I'm surprised. LOL"

"そしてそんな「HOTEL壺」では、美梨香さんの母親と久二さんがS○Xしてるシーンが出ましたね。申し訳ないけどもう一回だけ言わせてくださいね…

ふざけんにょ！！！" - "Also, at that Hotel Tsubo, Birika-chan's mother and Kyuji have a scene where they're having s_x. I'm sorry for saying this, but please let me say this once...stop screwing around!!!" (The "screw" pun is intentional on my part.)

Enka scene. Balletta calls Uruu "sexy & beautiful" because of his black lace wings and strong gaze.

Head back to Bar F. "バックンはこのアニメの癒し…

いつもありがとうバックン！" - "Bakkun [being] in this anime is healing...thanks as always, Bakkun!"

Some description later, around the part where Uruu's mother says Uruu is just like his dad...you can see germ-like objects that look like water fleas and Uruu gains some damage from them sticking themselves down his throat. There are various versions of this scene and after all the yelling from recording them, he felt considerably more passionate.

Some more description later, Balletta doubles back to the scene slightly beforehand. where Ranmaru and Chilka are in the same place.

Balletta then continues for a bit about the plot and is at the scene where Kyuji is relieved he's free of the old hag when he goes, "ワン！トゥー！！スリー！！！「��ヘッ、ぱおーん！」こんの野郎ーーーー！！！ぱおーんじゃねぇんだよぉー！！！！！ガオーってライオンだらけの檻の中にぶち込むぞぉーーーー！！！となったのはこのブログだけにそっと記しておきますね。" ("One! Two!! Three!!! 'Ehe, that's kinda sad!' These bastards---!!! This isn't 'kinda sad'!!!!! I'll throw you into a cage full of roaring lions----!!!...This blog became a place where I can quietly write this precisely [because I can], huh?")

Balletta discusses the final scene and then draws attention to Takara's scene by going, "「あっちゃー、もう一山残っちまったかぁー」えっ！？何が残ったの！？" - "'The worst is yet to come.' What's coming?!" (<- Translation using the CR line)

He then tells everyone to look forward to next time's Fairy Ranmaru ep., says he's finished, that was ep. 9's comments and impressions, apologises for his long post again and puts some promotional stuff I've already covered on magicalgirlsandcerulean (in order: character song CD, the live show in Sept., Sweets Paradise, Vivid Army, Otasuke Heaven, BD/DVD 1, the curry plate, Bakkun plush, key necklaces, Fairy Ranmaru's official Twitter + YouTube). He then ends by saying he's done (again) and he's Yutaka Balletta, who voices Uruu.

Takara's comment: "原稿用紙40枚やで～気合い入れて読んでや～" - "You took 40 sheets of genkou youshi~. We read it with effort." (referencing the line where he apologises for his long post: "今回また2回目の当番回だったというのもあって気合い入れまくった結果やっぱり長文になってしまいました！ご容赦くださいまし！！" - "This time was the 2nd time I was in charge [of the post], so the result was, of course, me putting in effort! Please forgive me [for my long post]!")

Update: Minor fixes for accuracy and clarity.

#Fairy Ranmaru #Fairy Ranmaru spoilers #Yutaka Balletta #Uruu Seiren #Masakazu Hishida

17 notes · View notes

ericsonclan · 4 years ago

Text

Evening ASMR

Summary: James records a video for his ASMR channel and settles in for the evening.

Word Count: 1702

Read on AO3:

“Evening, everyone,” James’ soft voice whispered, his mouth hovering over the mic. “Groggy and I hope you all had a good day,” His fingers lightly drummed against his rubber frog nightlight, the pleasant rhythm creating the exact sort of calming bliss that was James’ signature when recording for his channel. “My day wasn’t very eventful, but it was calm, pleasant. I’ve been drinking a new blend of tea today from Sarita’s Teashop - Evening Breeze,” James took a sip of hot tea then placed the mug on the table between both of his mics, his painted black fingernails continuing their steady, soothing rhythm, this time along the outside of the mug. “The offer from my last video still stands by the way: use the code Tranquilitime15 at checkout online for a 15 percent discount on your order from Sarita’s Teashop. Now let’s get to the main part of our video. It’s Tuesday so you know what that means. It’s time for Weekly Walk,”

Leaning back in his chair, James reached behind himself to pick something from his bag of finds. “Jesse and I went for a walk along the lake. Along the way I picked a few strands of grass since the texture intrigued me. Jesse told me it’s common reed grass. It makes quite a lovely sound. Let’s listen,” Lifting up the grass, James softly ran it along his mic, letting the equipment pick up the faint rustling sounds the grass made as it ran along the mic’s surface. James continued this motion for about five minutes, letting the moment last as he too became entranced by the sound the reed grass made. Finally he pulled his hand back, ready to share his next find.

“I also spotted another rock to add to our collection. The lines of white quartz running through it are really lovely,” James held the stone up close to the camera so his viewers could see the details themselves. “Into the rock bucket it goes,” With his free hand, James lifted up a small pale blue pail full of rocks and dropped his latest one in, running his fingers through the collection of stones in silence. There was no sound round him, only the soft rumble of the stones tumbling against once another. James was grateful there were no parties going on in the dorms tonight. Sometimes, even with the padding and soundproofing he’d done to his room, it was still difficult to find recording times where his surroundings were quiet enough to properly do ASMR.

Several minutes passed before James set aside his rock bucket and picked up his next find: a curved piece of driftwood from the lake. Holding the piece up to the camera, James turned it slowly so his audience could have time to admire it properly. “This was right along the shore near the end of our walk. I love the depth of color in it. Such a rich brown,” James’ fingers trailed along the branch, inadvertently tapping against it. It had become second nature for James to tap any object of interest he came across, always on the search for new sounds that he could bring to the channel that might give his audience the tingles.

As he tapped along the wood, James hummed softly, transitioning to another segment his viewers were especially fond of. The tune he chose this time was one Jesse had taught him, a Cherokee lullaby. Though James hadn’t been able to learn the words yet the tune was still fresh in his mind. Switching back to the reed grass, James softly hummed the lullaby, closing his eyes and getting lost in the moment. He could almost imagine that Jesse was here with him, sitting upon the floor and letting James brush his hair. The sound of Jesse’s hair would make great ASMR. James didn’t want to push him into anything he was uncomfortable though. He knew how much Jesse hated feeling as though he was performing for others. Perhaps that was a sound that was reserved for James then, one only he got to hear.

Finishing the tune, James picked up Groggy once more. Turning on the nightlight, James drummed his fingers along the little frog’s back, enjoying the bounce of the rubber under his fingertips. His ASMR wasn’t only for his audience. It calmed him as well. He looked toward the camera. “I went on a hike a few days ago with a couple friends of mine. My friend Clem brought her little brother. He was really curious to learn about what ASMR was exactly. He picked out some items on our walk for me to share as well. He wanted to be here himself, but it’s past his bedtime. Hi, AJ,” James waved at the camera, knowing Clementine would show the video to AJ as soon as it was posted.

Picking up the pinecones AJ had given him, James began to run his fingernails along them. The light scratching sound that produced sent a tingle up his spine. James smiled softly to himself as he continued, rolling the pinecones slowly in his hands then against one another. He then picked up a few of the countless leaves AJ had scavenged from him. These were drier and produced a hollow sound as James tapped upon them. He alternated between tapping and running his fingerpads along the leaves’ surface.

As he did, the memories of that day reached the surface of his mind. AJ had been so excited that day, running ahead of them on the trail despite Clementine’s warnings to stay nearby. He’d simply been too excited to remember to keep his word though whenever his promise did reach his mind AJ would freeze and look back guiltily. On the times when he didn’t remember, Clementine would have to barrel ahead to catch up with him, leaving James and Brody alone to chat. Brody would sometimes pause to grab a flower or other plant to press when she got home. She and James also kept their eyes open for interesting leaves that Clementine could use for leaf rubbing though AJ by far gave her the most finds.

Finally, James drew back. Setting aside the pinecones and leaves, he brought out Groggy once more. As his fingers tattooed a calming rhythm upon the little frog, James smiled warmly at his audience. “Thank you for staying with me tonight and hearing my stories. I hope you all sleep well and have a beautiful day tomorrow. Till next time, like, share and subscribe and I’ll see you next time for Tranquilitime,” With that James ended the recording. Cleaning up his workspace first, James then settled in to get the video uploaded. It was a bit of a process but one he was familiar with.

While the video uploaded, James poured another cup of Evening Breeze for himself and took a thoughtful sip. The tea had a clarity to it, a freshness that reminded him of being by the lake. He’d have to pick up some more next time he dropped by the teashop. He hoped the promotion was going well for Sarita. He’d only recently gotten his channel big enough to merit sponsorship and he’d wanted to start with a brand he trusted. Perhaps if this went well he could reach out to Tripp as well and promote his sweet shop.

His phone lit up and James glanced over to check the notification. It was a text from Louis. Hey hey! Just checking if we’re still on for this Saturday.

James set down his tea and texted back. Wouldn’t miss it. A few weeks ago on a visit to Ericson’s Diner when Louis had dropped by the table to strike up a conversation with James and Jesse, he and James had somehow gotten onto a tangent about Tokyo Ghoul. Louis had been wanting to watch it but was a self-professed wimp when it came to anything horror so he’d asked if James could be his watching buddy. Since then they’d VCed on Discord each Saturday afternoon to watch another episode. Louis had been loving the series so far though there had been several moments that had made him scream and James had enjoyed revisiting the series. Maybe if Louis had the patience for it James could suggest they buddy read some of the manga together next.

With some time left to kill while he waited for the upload to finish, James opened up a new tab to peruse Picrew. Maybe he’d make another chibi version of Jesse. His boyfriend was easy to make in most Picrews with his dark eyes and long, black hair. Finding a picrew he liked, James settled in to look through the different options. He hoped Jesse never stumbled across the Picrew folder on his computer. Though he’d sent Jesse a few that he’d made, the sheer amount of picrews of his boyfriend James had saved to his computer was downright embarrassing.

Finally the upload was complete. Powering down his computer for the night, James set it aside and headed over to his bed. He immediately faceplanted upon it before rolling up in the covers and letting out a content sigh. His phone lit up again – another message. James checked it and found it was a notification from Prisha this time. She’d finished her turn in Scrabble Go and now it was his. Opening the app, James pondered his options. He didn’t have a great selection of letters but he could make something of them if he found the right opportunity. After a few minutes he’d made his selection.

Sending it off, James closed the app then opened his music library. His selection was habitual by now. Nature sounds filled the room: the gentle rush of wind, the subtle flow of water and the faint call of birds as the grass rustled gently. James set his phone upon its charging pad and reached up to turn off the light. As he closed his eyes, he could almost picture that he was there on the walk with Jesse once more. Everything was calm, peaceful. Serene. A faint smile stayed on James’ lips as he started to drift off to sleep, walking once more in his dreams.

#twdg #twdg james #twdg jesse #twdg clementine #twdg aj #twdg brody #twdg prisha #clem james brotp #james brody brotp #james prisha brotp #twdg messe #fanfic #ericson's diner au

10 notes · View notes

stayarmytinyzenmoa-l · 4 years ago

Text

Limitless Podcast Transcript [S2E0]

TW: None

Notes: Oh my god I’m hooked

Word Count: 1.6K

[Next]

[Main Masterlist] | [Without a Trace Masterlist]

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves.

Hi everyone! I’m Crys and I’m transcribing Johnny Suh’s and Mark Lee’s podcast Limitless so that it can be accessible to everyone! I hope you all enjoy and that we can enjoy their podcast together.

Release Date: July X 2021 Episode Title: Pilot Run Time: 9 Minutes

Intro Song: Calming Drizzle - Andrew Jeremy

Johnny: Hey everyone! Welcome to the Limitless podcast! Sound the airhorns!

Mark: We are finally back after a whole year!

Johnny: Yup. I’m your co-host Johnny Suh.

Mark: And I’m your other co-host Mark Lee.

Johnny: If you’re new here, welcome, and if you’re returning from season one, nice to see you again! Long time no see, right? It’s crazy, I didn’t think I’d be sitting in Mark’s closet again.

Mark: Dude, haha, no, we’re not in my closet I don’t know what he’s talking about. We got an actual studio a long time ago.

Johnny: Yeah, yeah, same thing. Either way, we’re happy to announce the return of the Limitless podcast! We originally shut down after that Vigilante Ban came out but as it would turn out some Vigilantes don’t give a shit.

Mark: I feel like that should’ve been obvious, but I guess not. I’m surprised that a lot of them retired though, but I guess, the government’s scary. But I feel like now’s as good a time as any to have vigilantes, right?

Johnny: Yeah, but we’re kind of biased. We’ve been following these “vigilantes” since forever, since they first showed up, wow, oh my god. We really don’t have a life, do we?

Mark: Well, at least we have this podcast. It feels great to be recording again, I genuinely thought that that was the end, you know?

Johnny: Definitely, but it feels good. We’ll be getting back in full swing, everyone! But since our last podcast was removed from, well, everywhere, we’re going to have to get everyone back up to speed with these vigilantes so for the next week we’ll be uploading some episodes on them.

Mark: Yup! A lot has changed, we’ll be covering them from pre and post Vigilante ban and we’ll be talking about what they’ve been up to, or at least, what we know.

Johnny: Anyway, since I forgot to say it, let me talk about what Limitless is. This is a podcast where me and my friend Mark talk about, you guessed it, Vigilantes. Limitless goes over what they do, how they operate, etc. etc. and we’ll try to keep everyone updated on things that involve them. At the start of this show there were nine of them active here, can you believe it?

Mark: How many are active now? I know a bunch of them retired.

Johnny: Right, right, I know Spades and Aegis are still active.

Mark: Aegis, huh? He’s not called that anymore according to everyone.

Johnny: I know, scary stuff, but everyone is retired, right?

Mark: Maybe? I heard that Broker still sells to people, but who knows? We’re just going to talk about what we know from local news and social media. But still, I can’t believe it took us this long to get enough content to talk on it.

Johnny: To be fair, many vigilantes are taking things easy now, or at the very least they’re laying low. Especially with those reward checks hanging over their heads? Shit, if I were a vigilante I’d not work at all, I dunno, get a job at a Starbucks or something.

Mark: Right! Like, they live such a scary life. And for what? They don’t even get paid.

Johnny: For the gratification of saving people, of course!

Mark: I don’t even know which vigilantes that applies to anymore, dude. A lot of them changes up their modus operandis post-ban.

Johnny: Yeah, the Vigilante Ban. Let’s talk about it, it’s probably important for this, right? Mark, do you want to handle this?

Mark: Sure, I’ve got it. Basically as of October 28 of 2019 and and all Vigilante Operations were instructed to cease entirely. Any vigilante who remained inactive after that point would be let off the hook and sponged from records, while those who stayed active were immediately added to the Most Wanted list. Any vigilante caught after that would be immediately imprisoned. Some vigilantes have crazy rewards for their capture and it’s so weird to think about how badly the government wants them.

Johnny: Oh yeah, it’s like an obsession. I’m surprised they didn’t go on a witch hunt for the ones that did retire, you’d think they would based off of how crazy they’re going after the ones that still fuck shit up.

Mark: Exactly my point! I was telling this to Hyuck the other day and he told me that it didn’t make sense either way, like if the feds were so hellbent on catching these vigilantes and ending their “reign of terror,” wouldn’t they also get the ones that were in retirement? They have the sources, I know.

Johnny: For real, it’s so weird. But, to be fair, the vigilantes who are still active now are active, it’s hard to trace them and when they are found they fight like their rent’s due-

Mark: It probably is, to be honest.

Johnny: Exactly, they don’t even get paid. What’s the point, one would ask, why do these people put on costumes and “save the day?” I can’t help but think that a lot of good will goes into it.

Mark: Probably, but I feel like a lot of it is necessity too. Which one of them said it again? Was it Mastermind? He said that the court systems were packed, jails are overflowing with both the innocent and guilty.

Johnny: Yeah, they did it because they had to, allegedly. But I guess a lot of people didn’t like that if they supported the vigilante ban.

Mark: Yeah, and now there’s a psycho going around killing important people and vigilantes and stuff, and we don’t even know why. We don’t know what the connection is.

Johnny: And that makes it much scarier, huh? Honestly, you and I spent hours trying to find the connecting point to talk about but nothing, nada, zilch. First it was a politician, which makes sense, then it was that one person who won the knock off American Idol

Mark: Excuse you, it’s called Born Idol, thank you very much.

Johnny: Yeah, yeah, anyways, after a bunch of other random but somewhat important murders, now they’re targeting Spades? I don’t think they’d get even close, Spades handles things easily.

Mark: True, I don’t know what this person’s thinking, Spades was well known to be a fucking badass pre-ban, remember the bank incident?

Johnny: How could I forget! Spades was cornered six to one and still won, it was crazy and caught on CCTV! Not just any person can do that, fucking hell, my arms were sore just watching.

Mark: That was a legendary video, goodness gracious, and still people voted on the vigilante ban. Which, I guess I can see why, if the vigilantes kept everyone in check who’s going to keep them in check, right? If they’re an external force, who’s going to keep them in line?

Johnny: Yeah, and that’s when politics get involved and everything gets all muddled because when have vigilantes actually adhered to the law? Never. I can’t think of any time. The whole reason why they’re active is because the government can’t do their job right.

Mark: I know, like, it’s kind of a catch-22 almost. So, it’s a good thing you all have this podcast so Johnny and I can do the hard critical thinking and you guys can just listen! We’re uploading episodes every Monday and Friday so be sure to check in on wherever you listen to podcasts.

Johnny: Dude you ended that so flawlessly, we’ll come back to this discussion in episode one, which will be much longer, I promise you. Make sure to follow or re-follow our Twitter, it’s still the same name as the podcast, don’t worry! We’ll post updates and if there are any changes to schedule.

Mark: Oh, and this is new, we got a friend of ours to do our transcripts to make things more accessible to everyone! Hi, Crys! [TN: Hi!] We’ll include links to her transcripts after we upload the episode and, you’ll have to be patient with her, it could take her up to a day or two for her to decipher Johnny and I’s voices, but we really appreciate it [TN: Thank you!].

Johnny: Seriously, we do! One of our biggest complaints is that we didn’t provide transcripts to our episodes and since our last season was literally sponged off of the Internet it’s really making me wish we transcribed things sooner.

Mark: Definitely, dude, but hey, it’s getting transcribed now! All of the transcriptions will be on her Tumblr blog and Twitter and we will, of course, provide links to both. You can follow her on @stayarmytinyzenmoa-l which is for both platforms. I’m sure she’d appreciate the follow [TN: I would, but no pressure].

Johnny: Oh, and buy us a Kofi! If you want, of course, or you can support us on Patreon, we’d appreciate that too.

Mark: Patreon, right! We have no content on it at the moment, so send some things into our curiouscat and we’ll answer them or compile them into a doc and look it over. Honestly we prefer Kofi.

Johnny: We do, yeah.

Mark: It’s just easier.

Johnny: Mmhmm, we’ll try to see if we can get season 1′s episodes back but, honestly, I don’t think it’s gonna happen. But you’ll never know, we’ll see what we can do.

Mark: Yeah, we’ll keep you guys updated, for sure. With that said, that’s all I’ve got for this intro pilot episode, do you have anything, Johnny?

Johnny: Nah, I’ll see you all on Friday and stay safe out there!

Outro Song: Thru the Night - B-Side and OG Nuage

General Tag List: @vickylamore @yeongwvnhi @mizzdivagirl7-blog @sehunnies-hunnie96 @yangsrose @bat-shark-repellant @cloudreads @raeincitizen @here-aeth @lofied @lune1897

Without a Trace Tag List: @thatnelsy

If you want to be added to either tag list just send me a reply to this post, and ask, or a DM and I’ll add you as soon as possible!

#without a trace #limitless podcast #my writings

12 notes · View notes

camelely · 4 years ago

Text

TFATWS Spoilers under the cut

Literally the following is my thoughts and opinions, and there are probably some unpopular opinions lol. It's kinda really long lol.

Starting with some positives.

I loved how the two leads had storylines that mirrored each other. Sam needed to become Captain America and gain a title and Bucky needed to move on from The Winter Solider and loose a title.

Sam. Just Sam I loved him before but now I love him more.

Sam becoming Cap.

I loved Isaiah and his story.

I loved Sam's family, how they welcomed Bucky and the struggles Sarah had.

I really liked how they spent time with both Sam and Bucky and didn't forget the show was supposed to be about both of them. Often times shows tend to lean into the more popular or fan favorite lead and this show didn't do that. When Sam took center it felt natural and when Bucky took center it felt natural.

The Wakandans were great. I love Ayo and her friendship with Bucky.

Zemo was fine and fun enough.

John Walker was incredibly done. Wyatt Russell did an amazing job and the scene with the blood on the shield will forever be in my memory. Hands down one of the most impactful MCU moments.

I like the genderbend on Karl/Karli and the direction they took her character. People that go from sympathetic ideas to unforgivable means, make good villains. I think her more boring elements come from the lack of development she got.

Now on to the negatives.

This show could have been like two hours shorter and still told the same story with the same impact. Also earlier episodes, (maybe later episodes too I might have just gotten used to it and stopped noticing lol), had some weird ADR moments. IDK what happened behind the scenes but it was noticeable.

I would have loved it if one of the episodes was a flashback episode. The Sharon twist was obvious from the first episode she appeared in but like they thought it was good enough to save confirmation for the mid/end of the finale? Both her and Karli would have been benefited from a flashback episode.

Karli should have fought Bucky while Sam was focused on Walker. Sam could have had a moment where he tells him he will never be forgiven and Walker would responded with something similar to "I do what is right. I don't need forgiveness." Then when he becomes USAgent it lands more like the next progression in an arc rather than the redemption arc this could be interpreted as. I personally think this is a stepping stone and not a redemption but the MCU (and Disney) doesnt have a great track record when it comes to handling anything with nuance and the fans have an even worse track record when handling things that arent black and white. I guess my point is they could have handled the John Walker set up better.

Speaking of set up, this entire show was set up. This is my main and only real problem with this show. Nothing felt like it was resolved at the end. Karli even says she was part of a bigger movement. Killing her didn't change the fact a lot of people felt the un blip ruined their lives. People always shit on Tony for wanting to bring people back five years later instead of going back in time but like it had been five years, while some like Steve and Natasha hadn't moved on, others had. Some had better lives. Assuming everyone wanted to back to the way things used to be would also be a mistake. This has consequences too, as we see in these shows. But ruining the lives of the people who had bettered themselves would have been shitty too. And yea some people who had been bettered were worsened once again when the un blip happened but my point is going back and erasing the five years would have been shitty too. There is not really a right answer here as the right answer would have been to either stop the snap before it happened or to come to terms with the fact that the snap can never be undone. Leaving everyone as dead might have hurt, but it was the best thing for a community that had five years of mourning and moving on and counseling ETC. Ooof that was a tangent lol and I could probably write an essay so going back to my original point about set up. The flag smashers, or at least people who think the way they did still exist, Sharon Carter is the powerbroker but Sam and Bucky dont know and now shes back as agent 13, John Walker went from war hero to committing war crimes and his journey as USAgent is just starting, Sam has taken the Cap mantle and is ready to begin acting as Cap, and Bucky is both coming to terms with and moving on from his past. Nothing is actually resolved in this mini series. I know it's supposed to make you excited for the next movie/show/season whatever but have six episodes of little to no payoff IMO made for a flat show.

Building off the set up problem. This show had too much going on. Sam and Bucky each had their own personal journey (The A and B plot depending on the episode), Sam and Bucky being friends and their shared journey (C), John Walker and the Flag Smashers (the D and E plot depending on the episode), Zemo and the Wakandans (F), The PowerBroker/Sharon (G), The boat and Sarah which could be considered part of Sam's plot but since if you cut it out the only thing that actually effected Sam's journey would be the bank in the first episode and yet it still went on till basically the end I'm calling it it's own plot (H), Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, which might be part of John Walker's story but since it's all set up for her to take a bigger role in the future and his set up could be completed without her I'm counts her separately (I), then you have the big meeting at the end, the senators and policy makers making choices the vote that they keep mentioning and once again more set up... (J). 10 ideas by my count, all needed their own set up, follow through, and payoff. And yes some stuff like Valentina the pay off will come later but still... It's all too many plots! And thats not mentioning side characters that were new to the show that they wanted to spend time with but couldn't.

Even though I think the shows aren't comparable/two different genres WandaVision had two more episodes (and yes some were shorter but I already mentioned I think FATWS could have benefited from that), completed all the main plots and had Wanda's journey (A), Vision's journey (B), Agatha, Pietro/Ralph, and the citizens of the hex (C), Outside the hex Monica (D), Outside the hex everyone else and sure you can separate Darcy, Jimmy and Heyward but none of them were setting up future stories or had their own distinctive plot outside the hex thing like Monica so she is the only one I am separating (E), the kids who could be counted as an extension of the Wanda and Vision plots since they didnt really have their own arc or story (F). 6 total. And some of those could be combined. Like I think we should separate Wanda Vision and the kids but technically they are just an extension of Wanda. And same with Monica, her story was mostly intertwined with Darcy, Jimmy and the outside the hex stuff. I separated her since I think she had enough moments to herself and she set up secret invasion or whatever, but like Valentina being a part of John's story it is arguable. Of these plots only the missing witness Jimmy thing, Wanda's post credits moment a moment seperate from everything else, Monica's mid credits i think? moment another one separate from everything else, and white vision were unresolved. They gave Agatha an opening ending but it was still an ending. And yes Darcy Heyward etc will probably come back but the plot they had here was finished. So arguably they had 2/6 unfinished plots. And if you don't count Jimmy's witness as a plot and just count it as an unanswered question then 1/6. And technically white vision is just half a vision and the other vision got a complete plot so really it's 0.5/6 At best they completed 92(ish)% of the plots and left 8 (ish) % for future stuff.

In contrast FATWS only finished Sam's journey into becoming Cap, Zemo and the Wakandans, and arguably Sam and Bucky's friendship. You might be able to argue that Bucky had a full circle moment with the guy whose son he killed, but that is one guy and Bucky has been carrying around a list of people like that guy. It's not the end of a story it is the start of a journey. And maybe it is possible to say the boat thing had an ending kinda. 2/10 completed. maybe 3/10 if you wanna push it 5/10. IMO at best they completed 50% of plot set up.

Clearly FATWS is meant to be this way and thats why it bothered me. They want you to watch Cap 4 or whatever they decide to call the theatrical movie that will come after this. I guess I was just expecting it to stand on it's own, and other than Sam's journey into becoming Captain America, which was amazing and deserved in every way, nothing this show did felt like it could have stood on its own. I know it's arguable that was the main story and only story that deserved to end. But I've already pointed out all the other running plots this show had, and I think at least two or three of them should have had follow through in the show.

Someone who plans to never seen an MCU movie after these shows could have watched WandaVision and enjoyed it. That is not the case for FATWS. If you don't plan on watching any MCU stuff in the future you won't know how over half the plots of this show will end. THis isn't even how the movies work. They each tell their own story while also setting up other things, so it is clear they know how to do this.

I can see why Disney decided to submit it as a series and not a mini series. Not only do they not want to compete with themselves (nominating WV as a miniseries) but also this isn't a miniseries.

I guess to conclude I'll say I did really enjoy watching this show. It was fun and there were some great moments. It featured amazing character and amazing actors, but I wish it had bothered to finish more of what it started.

Thank you so much for reading till the end of a post that has surely become unintelligible gloop by now. If you disagree I'd love to hear why!

7 notes · View notes

ad1thi · 5 years ago

Text

no place like home | AU-gust Day 7: Childhood Friends AU

AU-gust masterlist

“We were childhood friends but since you moved, we haven’t been in contact in years. And my family keeps bugging me about dating, so I lied and said I was in a relationship with you. But all of a sudden you come back to visit and I don’t know how to tell you, that everyone thinks we’re dating.” AU (x)

for @iam93percentstardust, this is compliant to s2.12 Profiler, Profiled. so please watch out for the content of this episode.

Derek Morgan would like it to be noted, penned down in ink, carved into stone, that he loves his family. It's important that there's a record of a point of his life when he adored his sisters, because right now, all he feels is annoyance and rage, and is weirdly sympathising with the UnSub they're investigating, a man who kills younger sisters.

"Desiree," he says for what feels like the tenth time, "I'm fine. I'm happy. I don't need to meet your friend Savannah. Matter of fact, I don't need to meet anyone, because I'm not on the market for anyone. Why can't you trust me when I'm telling you I'm happy?"

"Derek," Desiree's voice seems significantly more whiney over the phone, "You forget that I know you. That job of yours is killing you, and I just want you to be happy. Why are you against meeting her? I'm not asking you to knock her up, just meet her for dinner."

Her voice takes a suspicious tone, "Are you seeing someone Derek Morgan? Is that why you're so against this?"

Derek opens his mouth to explain that no, he isn't seeing anyone, he's just content with his life as it is right now, but a commotion in the bullpen distracts him. He looks over to see Hotch opening the door to someone, must be the new recruits. He squints, trying to get a feel for the flesh blood, and what comes out is, "Spencer?"

In his ear, Desiree squeals, and he remembers with rapidly growing horror that his sister is still on the phone. "You're getting Spencer?" her voice gets progressively higher pitched, "I had no idea you guys reconnected! When did that happen?"

Derek means to explain, but he's so tired of trying to convince his sisters that he's better off single - which is how he ends up coming up with his half-cocked story about how he met Spence in D.C a couple months and they'd been seeing each other. He keeps the details purposely vague because his mind is wrapping itself around the fact that tiny Spencer Reid is in his office at Quantico.

(and that he's no longer tiny anymore)

"I always thought you guys would end up together," Desiree says speculatively, "but then Spence moved to Nevada. Did you know that Ma and Mrs Reid had bets about when you guys were going to get your heads out of your asses. Oh, she's going to be so happy that you guys reconnected."

"No!" Derek says loudly, causing Elle and Gideon and look up, "Desiree, listen to me very carefully - you cannot tell Ma." Lying to his sister was one thing, Derek was not about to lie to his Ma.

"Why not?" Desiree asks plaintively, "she'll be so happy about this Derek you know it. Plus, she already knows Spencer, so it's not going to be a huge shock for her."

"I just," Derek fumbles for words, "I want to be the one to tell her okay? And I want to do it proper, bring him back to Chicago, the whole nine yards. This isn't something that I want to do over the phone. Can you respect that?"

"Okay," Desiree huffs, "but you owe me."

The knot inside his stomach loosens. In the bullpen, Hotch is waving him over, "Desiree I have to go, I think there's been an update in our case. I'll talk to you later okay?"

"Okay, but I expect details!" she says, but he's already stepping outside Gideon's office and climbing down the stairs.

"Hey," he says when he gets closer, tapping Gideon's shoulder, "Thanks for letting me use your office. My sister does not like to be ignored. I appreciate it man."

"Not a problem," Gideon gestures for Spencer to come over, and Derek notices the minute Spencer recognises him, "Derek Morgan this is -"

" - Spencer Reid," Derek finishes, unsure of whether he could open his arms for a hug or settle for a single handshake, "As I live and breathe."

"Actually," Spencer ducks his head, "It's Doctor Spencer Reid now. I got my PhDs a couple years back. Derek Morgan? As in..?" he trails off, and its soothing that Spencer is just as unsure of how to approach this as he feels.

Gideon gestures between them, "Do you guys know each other?"

Derek decides to take the first step, and throws his hand around Spencer's shoulder, the way he used to when they were kids, "We grew up together. I've known Spencer since he was a kid in diapers."

"I thought you were from Nevada," Elle pipes up from next to them, and Spencer answers, "We moved when I was 15. But I was from Chicago before that."

He looks up at Derek with warm fondness, "Derek was there when I graduated from highschool. He was there for most of it."

"Hell, yeah I was. So, PhDs huh? Plural? Wanna tell me about that?" Derek asks, but before the conversation can go anywhere, Hotch interrupts them. "I hate to break this up, but we've got an update on the case."

The shift in the group is remarkable, even amongst the newest members. Derek shifts everything out of his mind, including his conversation with Desiree.

Looking back, that was probably where the trouble started.

Holding cells are not unfamiliar territory for Derek. He's been inside more than he can count, all over the country. They're all the same, four drab walls and a window or two shackled with bars, and a one-way mirror so that you can look at yourself. Ostensibly, it's so that interrogations can be witnessed by other officers, but Derek thinks they have a more important purpose - they force the perp to face themselves, to look themselves in the eyes with the knowledge of what they've done.

He's seen hundreds of holding cells. He's just never been the person they're trying to keep in a holding cell.

(Actually, that’s a lie, but Derek lies to forget that part of his life. There's nothing about that period of his life worth remembering)

"Derek Morgan," the doors open to reveal Gordinski, and Derek fights the urge to introduce Gordinski's face to his fist. What was the man thinking, arresting him outside his Ma's place? How was he going to explain this to her?

"Did you get any sleep?" he asks, carrying a beefy file with him. "Slept like a baby, myself. Didn't even want to get out of bed."

"Really?" Derek cocks an eyebrow, "So that wasn't your donut-eating ass on the other side of the glass all night?"

Gordinski ignores him, which is expected, because he's a shit cop, and barrels on with the witch-hunt that he's concocted in his head.

"Whose grave is this?" he asks, shoving a photo in front of Derek's face.

"Have you been following me?"

Gordinski presses like he hasn't heard Derek, "Whose?"

"I don't know his name," it was the truth. Nobody had known the kid's name. But Derek had looked down at his still body and seen his own face staring back - and it never sat right with him.

"But you led the collection," Gordinski switches out the photo for more of him at the grave, "And you visit him a lot."

"Everytime I come home," Derek isn't ashamed of that, but he has no idea where Gordinski's going with this, "What, you got a crush on me all of a sudden?"

Gordinski's face twitches, and mentally Derek tallies it. Derek:1, Gordinski: 0, he thinks to himself, but is careful to keep his face blank. There's no need to give Gordinski more ammo than he already has.

There's a new photo in front of him, and Derek's brow furrows, "Okay that's me at the youth centre, tossing a ball around with a couple of kids."

"You did a little more than that," Gordinski's alluding to something, but for the life of him, Derek can't figure out what, "This is about you giving one of them a ride home, one of the boys."

Terror creeps into Derek, surely? - "Yeah I did. This kid named, um, Damien. His place was on the way to my mother's."

Gordinski puts down a final photo in front of him, and when Derek sees what it is, he thinks that there should be some sort of law against Gordinski being this smug about a crime scene photo. "Damien Walters," he jabs at the photo, "D O A."

Oh fuck.

"Fuck," Derek says out-loud, "someone killed him."

"Not somebody Derek," and with sudden clarity, Derek understands what Gordinski's getting at. "You think I did this?"

Gordinski opens his mouth to reply, probably to read him his rights, but there's a knock on the door - and he excuses himself, radiating smugness.

"Fuck," Derek says again, out into the empty cell, listening to it echo against the walls.

The door swings open again, and Derek stands up, fully expecting it to be Hotch. When Spencer steps in however, he loses all of his steam, sagging back down against the desk.

"Spence," he says in a long huff, "What're you doing here? I thought they weren't letting anyone see me?"

"They weren't," Spencer confirms, "but Hotch and Gideon are busy, and I can be convincing. Occasionally. I think I might've talked so much that Gordinski let me in just so that I would stop talking, but it worked right?"

"Yeah it did," he says with relief, and moves to hug Spencer before the metal around his wrists dig into his skin, "It's good to see you man. How's everything going on out there?"

Spencer's face turns solemn, "It's not great. You were right, Gordinski is convinced that you did this, and he won't listen to any of us when we say you didn't. I really missed out on some crazy years huh?"

"Yeah you did," he chuckles despite the situation he's in, and reaches out to grasp at Spencer's fingers, "Gordinski's had it in for me for ages. It's a good thing you left before that shitstorm hit me."

"Yeah Desiree filled me in when I went to see your family earlier," Spencer's face turns sly, "Speaking of, when were you going to tell me that we were dating?"

Derek's eyes widen. Fuck, that conversation felt like it was an age away. "I'm not saying I'm against it," Spencer continues, "but I do like to be consulted about this stuff."

"Oh you do Pretty boy?" Derek says, just to watch his cheeks heat, "I'm sorry man. It completely slipped my mind, what with the murder charge I'm facing and all."

"I know what you're doing," Spencer hums, "but I'm not letting you off that easy. Desiree thinks that we've been dating for close to a year. Says you talk about me all the time. Somehow, I feel like I would've noticed if I was sleeping with the Derek Morgan for a year, but it never came up."

Derek ignores the twitch in his pants at the thought of sleeping with Spencer, and instead says, "Your observational skills clearly need work pretty boy," he jangles the cuffs, "I'll help you out once I'm out of these."

Spencer huffs, but lets the subject be, "Are you sure you don't know who's got it out for you Derek? I'm not saying that Gordinski is right, but you have to admit - it's a hell of a coincidence that bodies drop every single time you're in town. It's almost a statistical impossibility. The only logical explanation is that someone's setting you up."

Carl Buford, Derek thinks instantly, almost unbidden. He dismisses the thought almost instantly though, even though it ruminates in his mind. "Rodney Harris, he's a local gangbanger in town. He's had it out for me ever since we were kids. It’s gotta be him Spence."

"I think Hotch is running down some leads now," Spencer says with a nod, "I'll tell the team though. Get all of us on it. Are you sure there's nobody else Derek?"

Carl Buford, he thinks again, but he shakes his head. He's not ready for the team to know that about him yet. He's not ready for anybody to know that about him yet, least of all Spencer.

He knows that Spencer has sense he's lying, but thankfully, he drops it. He's almost at the door when Spencer turns back to him and says, "I didn't hate it. Being your boyfriend. Wished you'd actually asked me, but - I didn't hate it."

He's out of the holding cell before Derek can formulate a response.

Despite his loud, emphatic protests otherwise, all roads lead back to Carl Buford. Derek is still smarting about the fact that Hotch dug into his past, when he specifically told him to leave it the fuck alone, but he takes small comfort in the fact that the rest of the team seems any the wiser.

He can't escape his Ma and sisters though, and there's a lot of tears and hugs in the Morgan household that night.

"I never knew," his Ma says desperately, cheeks wet, "you have to believe me Derek. I never knew what he was capable of. I wouldn't have pushed you to reconnect with him if I'd known."

"I know Ma," he soothes, and brings the her palm to his lips to press a dry kiss to the back of it, " 'Course I know that."

"Were there others?" Desiree asks bravely, even though Ma turns to her with a sharp look, "Did he have, others?"

"I don't know," Derek says honestly. "I'm sure he did. Abusers," his voice cracks over the word abuser, but he pushes ahead, "generally have multiple victims. It's why I made it a point to keep up with kids like James, just in case he ever did something - I wanted them to think they had someone to tell."

"Shit load of good it did, since Buford still fucked him up anyway. But at least now," he takes a steading breath, "At least now he's behind bars. James has still got time. Time to get over it, to make a new life for himself. I just hope it's enough." His Ma starts crying again then, collapsing in his arms, and Derek just holds up. He feels Desiree wraps her arms around his neck and lean against his back.

He's loath to leave them the next day, but his leave is up, and JJ got wind of a new case that demands their attention. Still, it's not easy walking out of his Ma's house and onto the plane, especially not with everything that's ever come out.

There are a few advantages of being back with the BAU though.

"You didn't hate it huh?" he knocks at Spencer's shoulder, grinning when he blushes, "I believe those were your exact words?"

"I'm the one with the eidetic memory," Spencer replied wryly, "your shtick is muscles. Stop taking my stuff."

"Oh is that how it is?" Derek raises an eyebrow, "I'm not gonna let you skirt past this pretty boy, we're having this conversation. There's nowhere to run anymore."

Spencer looks around the plane like he's looking for an exit anyway, and Derek softens, "Hey. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But there's a reason I never came clean with Desiree." He moves to get out of his seat, give Spencer some space, but a hand on his bicep stops him.

"Did you know," Spencer says, apropos of nothing, "that our mothers had a bet going about whether we were going to get together. She told me during one of her more lucid moments. Said the thing she regretted most about leaving Chicago was separating us."

"I did," Derek says gamely, "Desiree told me about it when I first told her that we were dating."

"I had the biggest crush on you," Spencer says, admitting it like it's a secret, which - given how long it's been since they were kids in Chicago, Derek supposes it is, "Still do, if I'm being honest."

Derek's heart is pumping so loudly in his chest, he can hear his blood roaring. "As long we're being honest," he says with a lilt, but reaches down and intertwines their fingers.

Spencer looks down at where their fingers are joined, and back up at him, and Derek knows that he gets it from the way his face splits into a wide smile. Before either of them can say anything though, Derek's phone buzzes, and he fishes it out of his pocket with this free hand.

>> Hotch: I expect the paperwork on my desk by the end of the week. Congratulations.

Spencer and Derek look up at Hotch simultaneously, but he's looking down at his book. There's a smile playing on his lips though, and despite himself, Derek smiles too.

Fin

this ficlet exists as a spiritual sequel to this fic

#my writing #moreid #spencer reid/derek morgan #spencer x derek #spencer/derek #criminal minds #spencer reid #derek morgan #s2.12 #profiler profiled #adi does AU-gust #AU-gust #friends to lovers #fake/pretend relationship #referenced/implied child abuse #its been a minute since ive watched the show #so im sorry if Spencer is a bit OOC!!

66 notes · View notes

lefaystrent · 6 years ago

Text

Nursing Home au

Patton works at the nursing home as a registered nurse, because the man truly cares for people.

He oversees the activities of the rest of the nursing staff, and he’s always keeping them in high spirits.

There’s a vacancy for a nursing aide. Who could possibly fill that position?

It’s Virgil.

At first, Patton honestly doesn’t think Virgil should have been hired there.

Patton had seen Virgil during the hiring process, and his personality didn’t seem like a … good fit. Too closed-off and kinda gruff, and probably not a good bedside manner, right?

Plus there was that criminal record to consider …

But the nursing home administrator hires him anyway, and Virgil joins the staff.

Patton keeps a close eye on Virgil.

Yes he feels guilty, but even Patton isn’t free from prejudices.

Virgil goes about his work very meticulously.

He arrives five minutes early every day, without fail.

He never complains about the tasks he’s been given, just quietly accepts them in a way that makes Patton and the others wonder what he’s really thinking.

He doesn’t talk casually with the other staff much, giving short answers whenever prompted.

Patton worries about the staff’s morale as a team.

Surprisingly, he starts hearing a lot of praise about Virgil. Not from the other staff members, but from the patients themselves.

One of them, a man named Roman, sounds like he’s complaining about him.

“And then he started criticizing my favorite movies!”

“I’m so sorry sir, I’ll talk to him about that.”

“What are you talking about? Kid had some good points. I like him.”

Patton starts subtly bringing up Virgil in conversations while visiting with the patients. For some, he doesn’t even have to warm up to the subject. They stop him in the hallway.

“Patton hun, you know that new boy with the eye-makeup?”

“Yes ma’am, that would be Virgil.”

“He’s so sweet. He helped me with my phone, it’s one of those smart ones? It wasn’t working right, and he fixed it. He’s a smart boy.”

The biggest sign is when one patient—Logan Crofters, who’s a notorious nitpicker—actually voices his approval of Virgil.

“He’s not an idiot,” is all Logan says on the matter, which coming from him, it’s high praise.

Patton doesn’t really understand yet why the patients have taken such a liking to him, but he endeavors to try harder to see who Virgil really is. Mostly he’s glad that his first impression seems to be wrong.

Virgil, for his part, doesn’t understand why the patients like him either.

He just knows that they do.

One of them goes out of their way to call him over to ask for his opinion on what color scarf to knit for their granddaughter.

Another one makes a point to introduce him to their visiting family.

Lots of them seem to like to talk his ear off in general and give him life advice.

Virgil doesn’t really mind it. He’s not used to people wanting to talk to him so much, and to be honest he could use some of the advice.

And the stories they have to share are kinda wild.

He likes bantering with the one old dude, Roman.

“I’ll have you know I’ve killed many a dragon witch in my day.”

“Was this before or after you went senile?”

“Brat.”

“Old fart.”

And then there’s Logan, the elderly man in a wheelchair. He’s probably the smartest man Virgil has ever talked to.

“You’d be surprised how many people assume I’m stupid.”

“You’re in a wheelchair, not braindead dude.”

“Yes, but I am old and crippled, and many people cannot separate physical inadequacy from mentality.”

“Well most people are idiots.”

Logan shows off his dentures in a rare grin.

After those two, there’s Remus.

Even the other staff members warn Virgil in advance about him.

It takes Virgil a month into working there to realize that he’s Roman’s brother.

It really should have been obvious.

“Virgil, where would you bury a body?”

“Why bury it when you can just burn it? Or feed it to some pigs; they’ll eat anything.”

“… oh, I like you.”

Okay, not so obvious, because Remus is a crazy old coot. But he’s got a lot of ideas and grand stories like Roman, only darker themed.

Virgil is convinced Remus is fucking with him to get a reaction out of him.

“He only says all that to get a rise out of you,” Logan confirms.

Challenge accepted.

Virgil continues being a bomb ass nurse.

He’s always super self conscious around his superior, Patton.

He knows Patton is wary of him and Virgil is terrified of messing up in front of him.

Or messing up in general. Poor babe really is too hard on himself.

Even the patients worry about him from time to time.

“You getting enough sleep at night, son? Ya got bags under your eyes!”

“That’s makeup, sir. You know that’s my makeup.”

“Hahaha, but it was funny, right? But seriously, are you sleeping enough?”

And Virgil can’t count how many times they’ve thrown food at him.

“You’re too skinny. You need to eat more.”

“I already eat a lot. I’ve got a high metabolism.”

“Is that one of those social media sites?”

“Roman, if you don’t stop acting stupid—”

“Kidding! I have an Instagram after all. Which you should totally follow me, by the way.”

It’s like suddenly being adopted and Virgil is now the grandson to many old folk.

He’s not even surprised when someone tries to set him up with one of their grandchildren.

What does surprise him is that it’s Logan.

“You should meet my grandson, Remy. Judging from what I’ve observed of your personality, you two would be compatible.”

“Huh, that’s funny, Roman’s got a grandson named Remy too.”

“Yes, Remy is both our grandson.”

“Wait, what?”

“We used to be married, Roman and I. Didn’t you know he was my ex-husband?”

Somehow Virgil has missed that.

But he is so going to grill them for details, because Roman with Logan?

Roman jumps on board when Virgil brings it up.

“Yes! Remy! You would be perfect for him! I can’t believe I didn’t think of it first!”

Virgil laughs it off because they can’t be serious.

Of course, they’re very serious.

Virgil is doing his rounds when he walks into Roman’s room and a guy not too far off from his own age standing there in a leather jacket and shades.

“Oh, you are cute,” the guy says in a way that lets Virgil know that he’s clearly heard about Virgil before.

Roman is exceedingly proud.

Virgil officially meets Remy, the grandson.

It’s awkward.

By the end of it, Virgil apparently has a date after work that he swears he doesn’t remember agreeing to.

Remy’s waiting for him in the lobby.

“You ready for the night of your life, babe?”

“…”

“Wait, you’re walking the opposite direction. Come back.”

Virgil goes out to eat with Remy.

Remy actually apologizes for his grandfathers.

“They’re cool old gay dudes, but they can be really pushy. They’ve been complaining about me being single for like yeaaars. Um, maybe I like being single?”

“Do you?”

“Okay, a bitch is lonely, but gurl, I can find a man or whoever on my own, amirite?”

“Why’d you agree to this then?”

“’Cause you really are cute and seem cool. Plus can we just talk about your aesthetic for a sec? What products do you use on your hair? The purple dye is perf.”

It’s not really a date.

But Virgil might have made a friend out of it, at least.

Virgil finds himself talking about it the next day with Patton.

It just sort of happens.

“They set me up with their grandson.”

“Oh Remy? You’ve met him?”

“Yeah…”

“Well? How’d it go?”

“Uh … I’m not sure? Like, I’m pretty sure we established it wasn’t really a date. But I think we might …”

“Might what?”

“Be … friends?”

“That’s nice, Virgil,” Patton says in a way that Virgil can tell he means it.

Virgil shrugs. “Yeah, I don’t know what I’m gonna tell his granddads though. Their gonna jump on me as soon as they see me. God old people love to gossip more than teenagers.”

“Just try to let them down easy, okay? They really adore Remy and just want him to be happy.”

It’s the first conversation Virgil has with him that doesn’t make him nervous.

The days go by and Virgil is starting to feel like he’s really settling in.

He still doesn’t understand why the patients like him so much.

Not until Patton finally sheds some insight.

It’s a busy enough day, and then Remus has one of his episodes.

He’s screaming and the other staff members who are more experienced with dealing with him are trying to settle him down.

Virgil hears the commotion from down the hall and comes running into the day room where all the patients gather and visit or watch tv.

“He gets like this sometimes,” Logan tells him. Roman sits silently beside him holding his hand, lips pressed in a thin white line and eyes not looking away from the chaotic scene.

Remus is throwing things at the nurses, yelling something about how the lights are trying to eat him.

“It’s best to stay back, Virgil,” Logan tells him.

Virgil doesn’t listen.

He goes and turns off the lights.

There’s still enough sunlight filtering in through the windows, enough to see. But everyone looks around.

Virgil pushes through the other staff.

He nudges Patton aside who had been attempting to console him.

Patton wants to pull him back. Remus is in a vulnerable state of mind right now and it could be bad for either of them.

But Virgil leans in and starts talking in a low voice to Remus.

And … it’s working.

Remus’s screams taper off.

He doesn’t look any less confused or scared. Just subdued.

“I want to go,” he says, eyes looking through everyone there. “Want to go back to my room now. Want to go back.”

“Okay, we can go, Remus. Let’s go,” Virgil says and guides him out.

It’s a slow process, but they make it to his room, Patton hovering close the entire way.

They give Remus a mild sedative to help him relax.

When Virgil walks out of the room, Roman is standing there.

He doesn’t say anything to Virgil, but he claps a hand on his shoulder.

There’s gratitude glistening in his eyes.

Roman goes into the room.

Virgil leaves for the break room. He’s definitely earned a break.

Plus his hands are kind of shaking, but shhhhh, don’t tell anyone.

After a long time, Patton comes into the room.

He sits at the table with Virgil.

“He’ll be fine,” Patton assures him.

“I didn’t say I was worried for him.”

Patton smiles and shakes his head.

“They all love you, you know?” he surprises Virgil by saying. “The patients. You do a lot of good by them.”

Virgil shrugs. “I don’t see why. I’m just me. Just doing my job. Nothing special.”

“You treat them like people.”

Patton leans closer over the table. Virgil doesn’t look away.

“You listen to them. And you talk to them, like they’re people. And for them, these people who have lost a lot of their independence and are often left forgotten here by even their own families—that’s worth a lot.”

Virgil doesn’t know if he believes all that.

But it’s a nice thought.

#sanders sides #patton #patton sanders #virgil #virgil sanders #roman #roman sanders #logan #logan sanders #remus #remus sanders #remy #remy sanders #nursing home au

2K notes · View notes

tw-anchor · 4 years ago

Text

33. Olivia and Lydia vs. The Darach

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode: 3x09; The Girl Who Knew Too Much

Word Count: 7,103

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, attempted murder of main character, kidnapping, sacrifices

Author’s Note: Sorry for not updating in a while. My Gram is in hospice and I haven’t been into writing. I hope you enjoy the chapter! Please make sure to reblog, like, and let me know what you think!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

Olivia had only been to Peter's apartment downtown once before, and that was to bring over a polite welcome-home casserole that he probably didn't eat. Now, she had business to attend to. She had questions for Peter. Questions about herself and Lydia.

Only a half-hour before she made her way downtown to talk to Peter, she left Lydia in her bedroom after a couple of bad hours. Lydia and Olivia had been going out for ice cream with Allison before they went back to their house for a girls' night, when Lydia drove them to the school. Not only had Lydia been drawn to the area—just like she had the night she found the body at the pool—but Olivia, herself, had felt the same thing as Lydia.

She just didn't know if it was because she and Lydia shared abilities or because she was so connected to Lydia due to their shared DNA or relationship. Her only option for answers was to go to her father.

"All right, tell me again what happened," Peter blinked the sleep out of his eyes; it was around one in the morning when Olivia knocked on his door and woke him from a deep sleep.

"Lydia found another dead body," Olivia repeated herself. "What ever your bite did to her, it led her to the body and I felt it to. Now, I know you bit Lydia for a reason. That's why she was able to bring you back with that ritual. I want to know what she is and how it's affecting me."

Peter sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead, exhausted. "Okay."

"I want the truth," she said firmly before he could begin. "No changing the story this time."

"All right, fine," he agreed. "To start off, you have to know what your mother was. Grace was eighteen when she inherited her abilities. She was a banshee."

"A banshee," Olivia repeated in slight belief; she hadn't known that banshees were a real thing. They weren't even in the Argent bestiary.

"A wailing woman, harbinger of death, same thing. They're not really like the Irish myths. They don't attach themselves to a family line, and their echoes don't cause death, either" he informed her. "Only females can be banshees and their abilities are inherited from their bloodline."

Olivia knew what he was getting at. "So, Mom got her banshee abilities from Nana Lorraine and because Uncle Thomas is a male, he passed it down to Lydia."

Peter nodded. "Exactly. The only reason you're not a banshee is because the werewolf genes you got from me. Anchorams are rare, very rare, but there have been two recorded instances before."

"As results of a banshee and werewolf union," Olivia assumed.

"Yes. You're neither werewolf nor banshee, but instead you have some abilities of both," he crossed his arms over his chest. "Instead of predicting just anyone's death, you're connected to your pack—that's the werewolf part of you. That's why you knew Boyd was going to die."

Okay, that made sense. It also explained the screams that came out of her when her pack members were in deep trouble, like when Erica had her seizure from the kanima venom or when Mrs. Argent was trying to kill Scott. It was the banshee side of her.

"So, that's how I'm connected to Lydia."

"Banshees are drawn to each other. And you're related to Lydia, which gives you two a deeper connection. On your own, you wouldn't have felt the dead body tonight, but because you were with Lydia, you did."

"But I can hear her scream even if I'm far away," Olivia pointed out. "That night when Boyd and Cora were out of control, I could hear her scream from the public pool. I screamed with her."

"It might have been because it was the first time her powers really came through," Peter said thoughtfully. "I mean, other than the time when I got into her head."

Olivia narrowed her eyes at him, wishing he hadn't brought that up. It still infuriated her that he took advantage of Lydia when she was in such a delicate place.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Sorry," he apologized without meaning it. "Everyone is different, though, and since you're, what, the third Anchoram in history, some things we're gonna have to figure out as we go."

Olivia nodded. She realized that. It was just hard to comprehend. She hadn't even gotten to the bottom of her collection of abilities, and already she had a lot. It was a little daunting to know that she had more to learn to learn about her abilities, along with honing them.

"Okay," she said finally. "Can you tell me more about banshees?"

"Sure thing, sweet pea."

"So, I can find dead bodies," Lydia scoffed as Olivia pulled into the school's parking lot. "You know what, I can already tell that this banshee thing is gonna be a pain in the ass."

"You can do more than that, though," Olivia reminded her while parking next to Stiles' Jeep; it was empty, but she knew—thanks to his text message—that he was going to eavesdrop on his dad, who was supposed to be talking to the principal before school started. "You'll experience something like me, like the whispers or the warnings in your head."

"Yeah, and you handle those so well," Lydia grumbled.

"I know I don't, but they also help," Olivia stated firmly. "I know when my pack is in danger and it helps because most of the time, I have a warning and we can stop whatever is supposed to happen. You'll know if someone's dying, Lyds. What if you're able to stop it?"

They got out of the Olivia's new car—courtesy of the insurance company and Peter, who wanted to spoil her instead of being a good parent—and started making their way up to the school. Olivia was supposed to meet Stiles by the main office but she wanted to make sure Lydia was okay before she left her.

"I guess you have a point," Lydia conceded finally. "It's just a little..."

"Scary?" Olivia offered; Lydia nodded. "I know. But I'm gonna be there for you, Lydia, I swear. You don't have to go through any of this alone."

Lydia sighed and pulled Olivia into a tight hug. "I love you," she rubbed Olivia's back; Olivia awkwardly patted her back, making Lydia laugh. "I know, I know. No PDA."

"It's okay," Olivia assured her as they parted. "I love you too, by the way."

"I know you do," the corners of Lydia's eyes crinkled as she studied her cousin and the awkward face she was making. "You know, the fact that you can only be lovey-dovey with Stiles is really disappointing."

"That's not true," Olivia said adamantly. "I'm lovey-dovey with you, too. I just don't like showing my affection for people out in public."

"It's the Hale in you," Lydia shook her head with a smile. "All right, you're released. Go on and meet Stiles."

"Thanks," hurriedly, Olivia kissed Lydia's cheek and ran away from her, waving teasingly. "Love you!"

She knew that her show of her love would amuse Lydia. It was the only reason why she did that. She had to make an exception for her person.

Outside of the main office, Stiles hid behind a pillar. His eyes were sharp and his ears were perked as he spied on his father, one of his deputies, and the principal. Unfortunately, he couldn't hear much. In fact, the only thing he did hear was Noah excusing himself from the conversation when he locked eyes with Stiles.

"Hey!" Stiles frantically pulled his backpack up over his head as he rushed to get away from his dad; unfortunately, Noah was pretty quick for a man in his forties. "Hey, hey, hey, back it up," he sighed and turned to face his father. "I know what you're thinking. I know you've got all these ideas about patterns and people dying in threes—"

Stiles cut him off. "Dad, they were murdered," he then corrected himself. "Sacrificed, actually."

"I've got half the state, including the FBI coming in on this," Noah told him. "They're not getting away with killing one of our own."

Stiles almost deflated at his father's words. Up until then, he hadn't thought about just who was sacrificed. It was Deputy Tara. She had been Noah's right-hand woman ever since he was elected to be sheriff, and she was a big part of Stiles' life after his mom died. She used to bake him cookies and helped him with his homework when he was having trouble. She was a good woman.

"Dad, they killed Tara," his voice was shakier than he cared to admit. "You know, how many times did she help me with my math homework when I had to wait at the station for you?"

Noah inhaled deeply and Stiles could see the sadness in his eyes. "Just, uh, get to class, okay?" he nodded behind Stiles and greeted Olivia, who Stiles hadn't even noticed had walked over to them. "Hi, Olivia."

"Hi, Sheriff," Olivia waved at him politely.

Noah went back to his conversation with the deputy and the principal, leaving Stiles and Olivia to themselves.

Olivia gave him a sympathetic look. "How are you feeling?"

"Not the greatest, but I'll live," Stiles took her hand and locked their fingers together.

"Well, if you need to talk, I'm here," she promised him, letting go of his hand and ignoring the pout he sent her to wrap her arm around his waist.

"What happened to no public displays of affection?"

"I'll think I'll make an exception for just today."

"Just today?" Stiles stopped walking and when she tilted her head up to look at him, grinned down at her.

"Just today."

"Well, then I better make the most of it," he remarked before ducking his head and slamming his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. She easily returned his affection but when he attempted to slip his tongue into her mouth, she pulled back. "Sorry, too much."

"A little," Olivia laughed. "Come on, we have English and I don't want Ms. Blake to tell on me to Derek."

"Would she really do that?"

"God, I hope not."

"Idioms, analogies, metaphors, and similes; all tools the writer uses to tell their story," Ms. Blake stated as she walked around the classroom. She paused in between Olivia and Lydia's desks, glancing down at Lydia's drawing of a tree. "Lydia, I wasn't aware you had so many hidden talents."

"You and ever guy I've ever dated," Lydia smirked up at her, causing Olivia to snicker.

"Oh," Ms. Blake was surprised by her reply. "um, well, that was an idiom, by the way. Idioms are something of a secret to the people who know the language or the culture..."

Olivia did not like the meaningful look that Ms. Blake gave her, Stiles, Scott, and Lydia. They all knew that she knew about werewolves—she was there when Boyd died, after all—but they didn't need her to act like an amateur and blow the big secret by acting nervous.

"They're phrases that only make sense if you know key words," she continued. "Saying 'jump the gun' is meaningful only if you know about the starting gun in a race, or a phrase like 'seeing the whole board.'"

"Like chess," Stiles offered.

"That's right, Stiles," Ms. Blake smiled down at him. "Do you play?"

"Uh, no," Stiles shook his head. "My father does."

Ms. Blake smiled at him again and faced the rest of the class. "Now, when does an idiom become a cliché?"

Olivia raised her hand to answer and Ms. Blake gave her the go-ahead.

"When you say the idiom too much," she reported. "It's like saying, 'it's raining cats and dogs,' Eventually it'll catch and more people will say it. It's an overused idiom."

"Great answer, Olivia," Ms. Blake grinned at her and then went on with her lesson.

Once Ms. Blake was far enough away that they could whisper to each other, Scott leaned over in his seat to speak to Stiles and Olivia. "I think I can get to Ethan. I'm pretty sure I can make him talk."

Olivia scowled at the mention of one-half of the alpha twins while Stiles asked, "What do you want to do that for?"

"The druids are emissaries, right?" Scott pointed out. "What if the Darach was an emissary to the alphas?"

Olivia pressed her lips together in agreement. "You've got a point."

"Thank you," Scott grinned at her and then turned to Stiles to wait for his response. "So?"

"So, I can't believe that we've gotten to the point where a sentence like 'what if the Darach was an emissary to the alphas?' actually makes sense to me," Stiles huffed. "Second of all, we're gonna have a huge problem getting to Ethan."

"What's that?"

"Going through Aiden," Stiles stated matter-of-factly. "Ever since he's been back at school, they're always together. How are we gonna separate them again?"

Eyebrows furrowing, Olivia tried to think of something that would distract Aiden. She didn't like the guy whatsoever, so the only thing she knew about him was that he liked to hook up with Lydia in Coach's office.

Wait.

"I have an idea," she spoke up. When the boys looked at her curiously, she nodded toward Lydia, who was still concentrating on her spooky drawing of the tree.

Feeling eyes on her, Lydia looked up at them and sighed, "What now?"

Just staring at Ethan's face made Olivia want to slap the shit out of him. Normally, she would think that she'd be somewhat friends with Ethan. But with the situation they were in now, she doubted that she would ever want to be. She didn't see what happened with Boyd, but Isaac had given her some details. She knew that Ethan and Aiden had picked up Boyd's electrocuted body and dropped him onto Derek's claws. She knew that they watched as Derek's claws ripped up his internal organs, and she knew that they walked away without a care that they had left a teenage boy dead behind them.

However, at least she wasn't joining Stiles and Scott in order to talk to Aiden. She didn't know if she could even look at his stupid smug face without attacking him. She didn't even care if he was ten times stronger than her. Ideally, she'd be able to calm his ass down and then Stiles or Allison could get the drop on him. Lord knows that Scott wouldn't.

"Why are you even talking to me?" Ethan asked, his eyes flitting between the three of them. "I helped kill your friend. How do you know I'm not gonna kill another one?"

Olivia gritted her teeth at his words and when he looked at her toward the end of his question, she stiffened. Stiles did, too. In fact, his temper flared at the way the alpha talked about Boyd and how he had the audacity to look at Olivia, like she hadn't been affected by Boyd's death.

"Are you look at her? Are you threatening her?" he snapped at him, standing up straight and stepping closer to Olivia. "You know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to break off an extra-large branch of mountain ash, wrap it in wolfsbane, roll it in mistletoe, and shove it up your fucking ass, you absolute dick—"

"Okay, Stiles," Scott cut him off nervously, while Olivia gently grabbed his arm and reached through their tether to calm him down. She loved that he was willing to stand up to an alpha to protect her, but she didn't want him to get hurt. "Woah, we get it."

Stiles gave Scott an irritated look and wrapped his arm around Olivia's shoulders, exhaling deeply as his anger started to concede.

"Look," Scott looked back at Ethan, who had been staring at Stiles blankly throughout his whole rant. "We're talking to you because I know that you didn't want to kill Boyd. And I think that if something like that happened now, you wouldn't do it again."

Ethan shook his head shortly. "You don't know what we owe them, especially Deucalion," he told the three of them. "We're weren't like Kali and Ennis when we met him. We weren't alphas."

"What were you?" Scott asked.

"Omegas," Olivia frowned at Ethan's answer; he and Aiden really didn't deserve any sympathy but she was going soft and couldn't help but feel a bud of it. Being the type of omega that had a pack—not ones who chose to be by themselves, like Derek had been—was said to be horrible. "In actual wolf packs, omegas are the scapegoat; the last to eat, the one who has to take the abuse from the rest of the pack."

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "So you and your brother were, like, the bitches of the pack?"

Olivia hid the smirk that threatened to spread her lips and nudged Stiles as Ethan gave him an annoyed look. "Something like that."

"What happened?" she spoke up instead, wanting to know how he and Aiden managed to make it into the alpha pack.

"They were killers," Ethan shook his head in disgust, which Olivia found to be ironic. "I mean, people talk about us as monsters. Well, they were the ones who gave us the reputation. And our alpha was the worst of them."

"Why didn't you guys just fight back?" Stiles brought up a good point. "Form Voltron-Wolf, you know, and kick everyone's asses?"

"We couldn't," Ethan stated flatly. "We didn't know how to control it back then."

"Deucalion taught you," Scott realized.

Ethan nodded. "And then, we fought. We took down the whole pack, one-by-one," his voice got a little vicious. "and by the time we got to our alpha, he was begging for his life. We tore him apart, literally."

"What about your emissary?" Ethan shook his head at Scott's question. "They're all dead? Kali and Ennis' too?"

"All of them except for Deucalion's," he confirmed.

"You mean Ms. Morrell?" Olivia gave him a pointed look and then paused as her mind seemed to leave her body and then zap right back into it. "Oh, my God."

Cora...Cora...Cora...

"Livvy, are you okay?" Stiles asked as Ethan grunted in pain.

"What's going on?" Scott asked both of them.

"My brother's hurt," Ethan answered at the same time as Olivia told Stiles, "Something's wrong with Cora."

It didn't take long for Stiles to put the pieces together; Cora and Aiden were obviously fighting somewhere nearby. "Where are they?" he asked as her eyes flashed back in forth between purple and blue. "Babe, you gotta focus."

"I...I," she stammered before she was able to pass through into Cora's tether and find out where she was. "They're in the boys' locker room."

The four of them took off into the empty hallways, trying to get to the boys' locker room before any more damage was done between Cora and Aiden. Luckily they weren't far from Coach's office and they made it to the locker room just in time to see Aiden whip Cora in the head with a fifty-pound weight.

"Stop, stop!" Olivia shouted as Scott and Ethan took a hold of Aiden on each of his arms. She didn't bother visualizing the anchor that she put on him, she was too angry about him hurting her cousin that it came easy to her.

Aiden's wolf features immediately melted away, calming down in his brother's hold.

"You can't do this," Ethan reminded Aiden as Olivia and Stiles knelt down by Lydia beside Cora's injured body.

"She came at me!" Aiden shouted. He would have growled, but Olivia's hold was still over him.

"It doesn't matter! Kali gave Derek until the next full moon. You can't touch him, Cora, or Olivia."

Stiles placed his hand on Olivia's back and glared up at the alpha twins. "Get the fuck out of here."

It looked like Aiden wanted to argue but Ethan wouldn't let him. Without a word, the twins left the locker room. Olivia hardly noticed, she was too focused on her cousin and the huge wound on her head that was pouring blood.

"She's really hurt," she said softly. She looked at Stiles and Scott and asked, "Can you help me get her up?"

Once Cora was up on her feet, Olivia escorted her over to the sinks. She got some paper towel and dampened it in order to wipe the blood off of her face. Cora was not pleased with her cousin's hovering and grunted a few times when Olivia cleaned the wound.

"Stay still," Olivia got some antibiotic cream from her bag and gently smeared it over the wound. "You're such a bad patient."

"Shuddup."

"Are you okay?" Scott asked Cora.

Lydia scoffed. "She doesn't look okay."'

Cora gave Lydia an irritated look and carefully pushed Olivia away from her. "I'll heal," Almost immediately after she took a step away from the sink, her legs weakened and she faltered. She would have fallen if Scott wasn't there to grab her and keep her steady. "I said I'm fine."

"Stop being so stubborn," Olivia sighed and wrapped an arm around her waist. At least Cora would let her help.

"Do you realize how suicidally crazy that was?" Stiles pointed out sternly. "What were you thinking going after them?"

"I did it for Boyd," Cora snapped back at him. "None of you were doing anything."

Olivia sighed. "You know that's not true, Cora."

"We're trying," Scott added.

"And you're failing," Cora addressed all her ire at Scott, Stiles, and Lydia. "You're just a bunch of stupid teenagers running around, thinking that you can stop people from getting killed, but all you do is show up late. All you really do is find the bodies."

"Cora, shut up," Olivia's voice had hardened as she turned and carefully dragged her cousin out of the locker room, not hearing Stiles' comment about the both of them definitely being part of the Hale family. "I know you're grieving and you're angry and hurt, but you can't say things like that to them."

"Why not? It's the truth."

"You shouldn't say it because we're trying our hardest to figure this out," Olivia stated, annoyed. "And I get it, I can feel Boyd's loss, too, but you can't take it out on people who are doing their best to help you and the whole town."

Cora let out a drawn-out sigh and winced when a flash of pain went through her head. "I'm not apologizing," she said stubbornly.

"That's fine. Just give them some slack."

"Hey!" they heard Stiles call from behind them; he was soon at their sides. "Do you need a ride?"

"Um, yeah," Olivia nodded. "I can leave my car here and pick it up later tonight."

"Sounds good."

Halfway to their journey to Derek's loft and after three attempts to make contact with Derek, Allison called them. She informed them that she and Isaac had been searching her dad's desk and found a Celtic knot that was labeled with each group of the sacrifices. She listed the groups of sacrifices that had already happened and then the two that had yet to come.

"Philosophers?" Olivia asked in surprised. What exactly did that mean? There were a lot of occupations or people that could easily fit into that category. It would be someone like Plato, or a teacher, or a scientist, or even a really smart person. But, at the same time, how did Deputy Tara fit in that category?

"And guardians," Allison added; that made more sense in Tara's case since she was a police officer. "which after last night, has to mean something like law enforcement. Stiles, you have to tell your dad. Tell him whatever you need but you have to get him to believe. Tell your dad, warn him."

"Okay, okay, okay," Stiles said quickly, his mind racing a mile a minute. "I know."

Olivia ended the call and looked at her boyfriend, seeing the anxious look on his face. "You're gonna tell him right?"

"I have to," Stiles nodded. "but I'm gonna need both of your guys' help."

Olivia nodded and took his hand from the steering wheel, squeezing it tightly. "Whatever you need."

Olivia watched from Stiles' bed as her boyfriend paced back and forth, trying to come up with something to tell his dad. Personally, she had never gone through telling a parent about the supernatural world and because she was pretty sure that Natalie had some sort of knowledge about it—and she was in deep, deep denial that Olivia and Lydia were a part of it—she wouldn't really need to. She couldn't put herself in Stiles' shoes properly and it annoyed the crap out of her because she wanted to be there for him like he was always there for her.

"Okay, okay, okay," Stiles murmured under his breath. "Yes, okay...No, no..."

"Stiles?" Noah cleared his throat.

Stiles quickly faced his dad. "Dad, I'm sorry. I'm just...I'm trying to...I'm just trying to figure out how to start here."

"Hey," Noah said sternly. 'I don't have this kind of time."

Stiles blew out a heavy breath, causing Olivia to speak up encouragingly, "Stiles, just start with the cases."

"Right, right, the cases," Stiles nodded jerkily and looked back at Noah. "Okay, um, for the last year, you've had all these cases that you couldn't figure out, right? I mean, all the murders involving Kate Argent, and then Matt killing all the people who drowned him, and all these murders right now. It's like...it's like you've been playing a losing game."

Noah stared at him, unimpressed. It was clear that he didn't know why Stiles was going through his "failed" cases. "Stiles, the last thing I need right now is a job performance review from my own son."

Stiles rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I know," he looked over at his dresser in order to pull his thoughts together and spotted the chess board he and his dad would play with from time to time. "Okay, see, but that's—that's just it, Dad."

He hurried to his dresser and grabbed the chess board, which folded into a case to keep all of the pieces together, and then set it on his desk. "The reason that you're losing the game is cause you've never been able to see the whole board," he opened the game and tossed out all the pieces. "I need to show you the whole board."

While Stiles carefully labeled each and every chess piece with sticky tabs, Olivia let Cora lean against her. She made sure that she didn't fall asleep, but soon she was swept up into an episode. She could hear Lydia screaming and it took all of her control—and biting down on the inside of her cheek—to make sure she didn't scream too (she didn't realize that it would have helped Stiles convince his dad that the supernatural life was real until afterward).

Noah did not look over at her—and therefore, did not see her purple eyes—because he was too concentrated on watching Stiles label and explain each supernatural creature and the names of his friends that matched up with them. By the time Olivia was pulled away from Lydia's tether and back in control of her mind, Noah was sufficiently caught up.

Well, kind of.

"Scott and Derek are werewolves," he said flatly, looking across the desk at Stiles.

"Yes."

"And Kate Argent was a werewolf?"

"Hunter," Stiles corrected him, pointing to the piece where he labeled Kate with a purple tab. "That's...Purple stands for hunter."

"Allison and her dad are hunters, too," Olivia told him, leaving out the part where they were supposed to be retired. If Mr. Argent and Allison were retired, then normal grandparents would be working overtime.

"Yeah," Noah gestured to Dr. Deaton's piece. "and my friend, Deaton, the veterinarian, is a kanima?"

"No, no, he's a druid, okay?" Stiles stated. "Well, we think."

Olivia and Cora exchanged a look. They didn't really think that Dr. Deaton was a druid, they were 99.9% positive that he was one. Then again, Olivia could see why Stiles said what he said, Noah could only handle so much.

"So, who's the kanima?"

"Jackson," Olivia responded, thinking of her friend; she missed him.

"No, Jackson's a werewolf."

"Jackson was the kanima first, and then Peter and Derek killed him and he came back to life as a werewolf," Stiles explained. "Now, he's in London."

Noah frowned. "Who's the da-rack?"

Stiles corrected his pronunciation. "It's da-rock."

"We don't know who the darach is," Olivia piped in.

Stiles pointed at her in agreement. "We don't know yet."

Noah blinked at them. "But he was killed by werewolves?"

"Slashed up and left for dead."

"We think."

Stiles pointed at Olivia again. "We think, yeah."

Noah sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. "Why was Jackson the kanima?"

"'Cause sometimes, the shape that you take reflects the person that you are."

"And what shape would an increasingly confused and angrier-by-the-second father take?"

"Uh, that would be more of an expression like the one you're currently wearing," Stiles replied nervously.

"Yeah," Noah heaved himself off the chair and started toward the door.

Stiles scrambled out of his, too. "Dad—Dad, would you wait?" he begged his father. "I can prove it, okay? Cora's a werewolf and Livvy's an anchor. You ready?" he asked Olivia and Cora; they nodded and Olivia helped Cora stand. "All right, Dad, just watch this, okay?"

Olivia didn't know if Noah managed to see any sign of their supernatural nature or not. Cora's name popped up in her head and she was dragged down to the floor when Cora collapsed.

"I wished you would have answered my calls," Olivia muttered to Derek as they sat side-by-side in the hospital waiting room while Cora was being examined and placed in a room.

"I know, Ollie," Derek replied softly. "I'm sorry."

"I don't understand why she's not healing. She should have healed by now."

"We'll find out why she's not," Derek assured her and squeezed her hand. "I already called Peter. Hopefully he knows something we don't."

"Hopefully," Olivia sighed; her phone started vibrating in her hand. When she was that it was Scott, she excused herself from Derek and walked over to Stiles, where he was talking to Melissa. "Hey."

"Hey, is Stiles with you?"

"Yeah, hold on," she waved to Melissa silently and grabbed Stiles' arm, pulling him into an empty hallway; she put him on speaker. "Okay, you're on speaker."

"All right, it's philosophers as in teachers," Scott told them hurriedly. "Allison and her father just found Mr. Westover."

"That makes sense," Stiles glanced at Olivia. "Tara, she wasn't always a cop. She used to teach middle school."

"Then the last one's gonna be another teacher."

"There's close to a hundred teachers employed at the high school," Olivia pointed out worriedly. "There's even more at the middle and elementary schools."

"And they're all headed home," Stiles added.

"No, no they're not," Scott said after a few seconds of silence. "They're all going to the recital."

"Fuck," Stiles cursed in annoyance. "All right, I'm gonna go talk to my dad."

"I'll borrow Derek's truck and head over there now, Scott," Olivia took the call off speaker as Stiles walked away to find his dad. "I'll only be a couple of minutes."

"Okay, but Liv..."

Her eyebrows furrowed at the worry in Scott's voice. "What's wrong?"

"I talked to Morrell. She told me that the alpha pack wanted me because I'm supposed to be a true alpha."

"A true alpha?" she repeated in disbelief. "Wow, Scott."

She was impressed; true alphas only came around once in a while and the fact that their own Scott was going to be one was special.

"Yeah, but that's not the only thing she told me," Scott sighed; Olivia braced herself for more news. "She told me that the alphas want you, too. She said that anchors are rare and you have powers you haven't even untapped. Deucalion thinks you be a good addition to the pack."

Shit, shit, shit, shit...Olivia cursed herself. Why did I have to be a rare species?

"Well, that is not good," she breathed nervously before collecting herself. "but we can deal with it later. We need to stop the darach before someone else dies."

"Yeah, we do," Scott agreed. "All right, I'll see you in ten."

"Okay, be careful."

"You too, bye."

The recital had already started by the time Olivia arrived at the school. A storm was brewing overhead and the faint music she could hear coming from the auditorium made the environment even more eerie. She ran through the parking, wishing that she hadn't worn heels that day, and rushed into the building.

She got to the lobby but stopped right in her tracks outside the main part of the auditorium, her gaze taking on a purple tint. An indescribable feeling flashed through her body and then she moved, letting whatever the feeling was take her where she needed to go. It was like the time that Derek had been shot with the wolfsbane bullet and she was led on autopilot throughout the school until she found him.

Lydia...Lydia...Lydia...Lydia, Lydia, Lydia...

She found herself in the English hallway, automatically making her way to Ms. Blake's classroom in a daze. She stopped just outside of the classroom when she heard Lydia and Ms. Blake talking.

She didn't take time to listen to what they were saying. She stormed into the classroom but was immediately airborne. Her back hit the wall painfully and she was risen until her feet were a couple feet off the ground. She was stuck and she was useless.

"Glad you joined the party," Ms. Blake—no, fuck that, I am not giving her any respect by calling her anything but her stupid first name! –smirked at her. "I was wondering when you would come for her."

"Let her go," Olivia snapped at her, her eyes darting to Lydia, who was terrified and staring at her with wet eyes. "What do you even want with her?"

"Nothing special," Jennifer shrugged. She flicked her hand toward a chair and Olivia flew to it, slamming against the hard, wooden back. "You, on the other hand..."

Olivia was unable to move as Jennifer used duct tape to secure her hands and legs to the chair. When she was finished, she picked up a small wooden dowel and started wrapping a length of strong cord around it. She was making a garrote.

"What are you doing?" Lydia whimpered, still fighting off unconscious from the hard hit she took from Jennifer when she first walked into the classroom.

"What's necessary," Jennifer stated. "I'm still surprised none of you seem to get that. You call them sacrifices but you're not understanding the word," Olivia rolled her eyes at her dramatic monologue. "It's derived from the Latin 'sacrificium', an offering to a deity, a sacred rite. A necessary evil."

"Oh, shut up," Olivia groaned, hoping to get her attention away from Lydia. "I'm pretty sure that killing fifteen innocent people isn't necessary."

"You know, on the outside, you appear so tough, emotionless," Jennifer stood from her crouched position in front of Lydia and sauntered over to Olivia. "but I know you're afraid right now. I know you're afraid all the time. This shell?" she poked Olivia in the cheek. "Well, it's all an act."

"Who cares if it is?" Olivia hissed right back at her.

"Oh, I don't care. I was just taunting you before I kill you and your precious cousins. The useless ones, I mean," Jennifer grinned maliciously. "I think I'll keep Derek around."

Olivia harshly snapped her jaw together, speaking through her clenched teeth, "Stay away from them."

"I would but I won't," Jennifer giggled. "See, you were my target. Deucalion wants you and you're powerful. If I kill you now, he won't be able to use you against me."

Olivia's heart started to race and her own name was starting to be repeated over and over in her head. Scott had to know that Lydia had disappeared and that she never made it to the auditorium. She had to stall so he could get there. "So, you're doing this to go up against the alpha pack?"

"Correct. Let's just say that you don't know the alphas like I do," Jennifer twisted the garrote in her hands and stepped behind Olivia. "And because they currently don't know my plan, I think Lydia is going to have to go, too. She knows too much. First, she can watch you die."

"No, no, no," Olivia said frantically, locking her scared eyes on Lydia, who stared fearfully back at her.

"Stop!" Lydia whimpered. "Stop, stop!"

Jennifer didn't stop. Before she could fully press the garrote against Olivia's throat, she forcefully tore the duct tape around her right hand and slipped it between her flesh and the cord. She gasped as the cord dug into her fingers. "Lydia!"

As if they had rehearsed, Lydia let out the loudest scream that had ever passed through her lips. Olivia screamed only a second later, unable to fight the urge that came from Lydia's tether. It was kind of weird, warning people of your own death.

Olivia's scream died out first and then a couple seconds later, so did Lydia's. Jennifer dropped the garrote from her hands, letting it hang on Olivia's neck, and walked over to stand in front of Lydia.

"Unbelievable," she gasped, studying Lydia intently. "You're a banshee. A wailing woman, right before my eyes. You're just like me, Lydia. Look like the innocent flower but be the serpent under it."

"She's nothing like you," Olivia spoke up fiercely, her voice hoarse.

Jennifer shrugged, the comment not bothering her. "It's too bad, though, and too late," she walked back over to Olivia, taking her place behind her and picking up the garrote. The garrote pulled tightly around Olivia's neck, making her choke. "One last philosopher."

Olivia couldn't breathe. There was no room for her trachea to move, causing her to suffocate. It was almost as if she could feel her throat being crushed, causing her to panic and squirm around in the chair, kicking her feet to try to fight back.

Olivia...Olivia...OLIVIA, OLIVIA, OLIVIA!!!!

"Stop, stop!" Lydia shouted frantically, choking on her tears as she watched Jennifer pull out a knife from her person and hold it up to Olivia's throat; the second part of the three-fold death.

"Drop it!" a new voice joined Lydia's.

With Jennifer sufficiently distracted, the garrote dropped from Olivia's neck. She took in a deep breath, her throat sore inside and out. Something urged her to look over at who had interrupted Jennifer, but she recognized the voice. Noah had ran into the classroom, gun cocked and aimed right at the darach.

As soon as she laid eyes on her boyfriend's father, Jennifer whipped the knife that was going to be used on her at him. It lodged itself into his shoulder so forcefully that it splayed him flat on his back. Noah wasn't technically in her pack, but he was someone Olivia cared for very much; that meant that she knew he was in danger, but he wasn't going to die. She couldn't explain it, but there was a different between the whispers that warned her of a pack member in danger and then the ones that warned her of the pack member's death. Noah was okay, for now.

Jennifer turned back to Olivia, intending to finish what she started, but a roar filled the room. Scott had arrived, his werewolf features fully on display as he snarled at Jennifer. He lunged at her, but Jennifer easily dodged each of his blows. She was more powerful than him and the way she sent him flying across the room and into a pile of desks proved it.

Olivia didn't know exactly what Jennifer did to him, but it was obvious that she did something else to him. Scott was spitting up blood and hitting desks that didn't weigh much didn't seem like it would do something like that to him.

She whimpered through the pain in her throat, "Scott!"

Her attention was dragged away from Scott as Jennifer slid her desk across the room and right into the door, slamming it closed. Before she could even wonder why Jennifer had done that, she saw Stiles' head pop into view from the small window at the top of the door. He was slamming his whole body against it, but with the weight of the desk, it wouldn't budge. He couldn't get into the room.

With Stiles and Scott taken care of, Jennifer focused on Noah, who had grabbed his gun, got to his knees, and aimed it at her.

"There was a girl," he said tiredly as Jennifer took slow steps toward him. "years ago. We found her in the woods, her face and body slashed apart. That was you, wasn't it?"

Jennifer glared at him. "Maybe I should've started with philosophers with knowledge and strategy."

She closed in on Noah and he pulled the trigger, shooting in her in her right thigh; Jennifer simply shook it off and continued on to him. "Healers," she grabbed him by the knife in his shoulder and held him high in the air, the blade slicing through the fleshy part of his shoulder. "Warriors..." she ripped his badge off of his shirt and crushed it with her fingers. "Guardians...Virgins..."

"God, leave him alone!" Olivia shouted to the best of her ability as Jennifer placed a wet kiss against Noah's mouth. Jennifer's face warped into a horrifying figure and screeched while she grabbed Noah and flew toward the windows. "No!"

Jennifer had disappeared with Noah. Scott had woken up from whatever daze Jennifer had put him in and the force that was shoving the desk against the door had disappeared. While Scott had rushed toward Lydia—on Olivia's insistence; the redhead was unconscious from the blow Jennifer had landed on her—Stiles rushed into the classroom and to the windows.

"Dad?" there was no answer to Stiles' call and it hit them all like a punch to the gut. "Dad?!"

(Gif is not mine)

#teen wolf rewrite #stiles stilinski x oc #stiles stilinksi x reader #teen wolf #stiles stilinski #teen wolf fanfiction #stiles stilinski fanfiction #stiles stilinski x original character

29 notes · View notes

thequeerwitch · 5 years ago

Text

Dancing In The Starlight

Gordon Ramsay x OC

Word count: 1611

Rating: PG-13

A/N: Kinda posted this on impulse, I wrote this a while ago and reread it to see whatever edits it needed, but it honestly seemed pretty solid so I posted it. This fic does include an OC named Yvette, the profile preview isn’t up yet but it may be up when you’re reading this. Also, this kinda ends abruptly cuz I was planning on writing more and delving into adult content, but I didn’t think it really fit the vibe of the rest of the fic. I’ll work on the

When the party grew dull, I went out for fresh air. The marble balcony overlooked an elegant garden, perfectly pruned and cared for. I leaned against the railing, the chill arose goosebumps against my bare arms. I looked down at the garden—roses of all colors peppered the deep planes of green hedges, surrounding a marvelous three tiered fountain. I turned back to the party. Contestants were mingling in extravagant gowns and suits while a camera crew recorded it all. Some dancing together, others enjoying themselves at the bar, and a few glared across the room at each other to give the cameras something interesting to capture. The life of reality television. I turned my back to the window dividing the balcony and the ballroom. I was glad to be alone for once, away from the constant buzz and chatter of my colleagues. I wanted so badly to feel happy for the winner of the show as Chef Ramsay presented her at the ceremony, but I couldn’t help but linger on the subtle taste of victory that I had for a moment. For one moment as she and I stood side by side, Chef Ramsay eying us both, I knew I was going to win. My heart raced, and my palms were slippery from sweating. Gordon gave me one final, remorseful glance, and he chose the other contestant. Sure, first runner up wasn’t too bad, it would look great on a resume. But it wasn’t winning. It was soul crushing disappointment, and the knowledge that my dreams were over.

A pair of footsteps trailed outside and stopped right behind me. I couldn’t face them, whoever it was. In fact, I really didn’t care. But I knew the cameras were on me, so I plastered a smile to my face and turned. There she was, her wine colored gown hugging her curves a little too tightly, and a cocky smirk painted across her face in scarlet lipstick.

“Congratulations,” I said. “You really deserved this victory.”

“I know.”

“Is there something you wanted to say?” I asked.

“I just wanted to step away from the cameras and have a chat, y’know, contestant to contestant.”

“Alright.”

“I told you Gordon favored me.”

“And I told you I don’t really care.”

“Oh, I know you care. You said it yourself in the first episode, all you wanted was his approval.”

“That has nothing to do with it, everyone wants his approval. Just because you got his ultimate approval doesn’t mean you can be a prat about it now.”

“Now, now. Don’t be a sore loser.”

I swallowed back a retort and held my head high. “Sure, you’re right. I don’t want to ruin your night with my sour feelings. Let’s just call a truce here, yeah?” I extended my hand to her, trying to make my face seem as friendly as possible.

She quirked her lip up and approached, grasping my hand and bringing my close for a hug. Then she whispered, “As long as you know that you’ll always be number two. You’ll never be a master chef as long as you live.” She pulled away, offered a smile, and returned to the party.

My hands shook at my sides, tears threatening to ruin my makeup. I turned back and leaned against the railing, covering my mouth so I wouldn’t sob too loudly. I couldn’t go to the bathroom, that meant passing by a number of cameras and being caught by more contestants. I had to pull myself together and get out before someone found me like this.

“Yvette?” His voice was low and gentle, I knew who it was without needing to see him.

Shit.

I couldn’t bear to look at him, I couldn’t let him see me like this. Chef Ramsay came closer, and a warm hand closed around my shoulder. I instinctively pulled away tried to hide my face. “I’m fine, I just—I needed some air.”

“Yvette, look at me.” His fingers came to my chin and beckoned my face to him. I met his cool, blue gaze. His sandy hair was fashioned out of his face, and he wore a flattering black suit and a red tie to match the member of the team who won the season. “Talk to me, what’s bothering you.”

I pulled away. “I know what it looks like, I’m not upset about not winning.”

“Alright,” he said.

“I’m not sure it’s best to speak of it like this.”

“Why?”

I decided it was best to lie. “It’s…personal. Personal business.”

“I get it if you don’t want to talk. But may I do something to get your mind off of it?”

“I don’t know if there’s anything you can say that will help.”

“Dance with me?”

I turned to him. “What?”

Gordon presented his hand to me with a warm smile on his face. “Yvette, may I have this dance?”

I hesitated for a moment. How could I do this with the man who was—and for all intents and purposes, still is—my boss? Then again, this may be my last chance to rectify this. In some way, this may be the approval I needed from him, and maybe more. I took his hand and he lead me out into the middle of the balcony. His hand glided to my waist and while his other held onto my hand, and I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. We swayed for a moment, the slow music flowing with our steps. For a moment, our hearts were in sync as we spun slowly in place. I didn’t care about the cameras, or the contestants, or even the woman who won in my place. It was just Gordon and I together, and everything melted away. His hand tightened around my waist and brought me closer to his chest. I could smell his musky cologne now, feel his breath against my face as he exhaled. He brought his forehead down to mine, and I closed my eyes. He squeezed my fingers and brought my hand to his neck. My fingers shakily grazed the soft edges of his hairline. Our noses touched at the end more then once, and I felt his breath against my lips. And in that moment, all care and dignity went out the door. I brought our lips together, and he kissed me back. His hands rode up my waist and to my shoulders, one hand cupping my cheek as he turned his head to deepen our kiss. My pounding heart ushered gentle warmth through my body, toes curled in my shoes. I could taste the sweet cherry wine on his soft lips. His thumb grazed against my cheek, bringing me as close as he could to kiss me again. I rested my hand on his chest and he gripped it tightly. I could tell he didn’t want this to end anymore than I did, but any further and we would be undressing ourselves for the public…the party…the cameras.

I broke away for a brief moment, only for him to dive in for one more kiss before obeying and pulling back. My entire body felt hot, but for a different reason this time. I didn’t want to look away from him in fear of what I would see if I turned towards the party, and from the look in his eyes, he felt exactly the same way. I rested my chin against his shoulder and spun so I could get a glimpse of the party. Thankfully, it appeared that everything had gone on without notice. I whispered, “We’re clear,” and I pulled away, locking my hands behind his neck. I didn’t know what to say, so I watched over his shoulders to avoid looking him in the eye.

“Y’know,” he finally said. “This is why I couldn’t choose you.”

I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut. “You don’t have to explain, she really deserved—”

“You and I both know that’s a load of shit. She’s an excellent cook, yes. She has the skills to handle a restaurant of her own. But she doesn’t have the attitude, or the passion that you have.” He brushed his fingers across my cheek. “I let my feelings get the best of me, which is why I couldn’t let you win. It would be too obvious. The viewers, and even some of the chefs, are starting to take notice.”

“Notice to what?”

He chuckled. “Seriously? They keep saying I’m soft on you, they think I fancy you. They have no idea that they were right, which is why letting you win would have destroyed both of us. If you wanted any hope of a successful career, I had to make it clear my feelings weren’t biased, and I let the clearly inferior chef win over you.”

“You—you let her win…because you loved me?”

His grip loosened on my waist and he stopped swaying. “I’m…sorry. I know how you must feel.”

“No…no, it’s not that. Earlier, I thought my career crushed. I honestly thought I wouldn’t achieve my dreams…but being here with you, it makes me realize that my dream has only begun.”

He held my close and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “That’s what I wanted. This night is about you, not her.”

“We should probably go back,” I said. “What if the cameras see?”

He hesitated, then pulled away and released me, his warmth and muskiness left with him. “You’re right. But…I want to see you again.”

“I’d like that.”

“We can discuss the details in the morning. For now, go mingle and enjoy your night.”

“Yes chef.”

“Call me Gordon. I’ll see you in a few hours.” He kissed my cheek then returned to the party. I stole a few moments of victory to myself, smiling into my hands to avoid squealing, then I returned to the party with a new kind of confidence. I mingled with a few contestants who congratulated me on making it so far, apologized for my disqualification, and even went as far as to say I should have won. All through, I remained humble and praised the winner, probably more than she deserved. Her words whispered through my head a few times, “You’ll never be a master chef as long as you live,” but I kept thinking of Gordon, the breathtaking kisses he left against my lips and his earnest words screamed over the vile poison that tried to plague my thoughts. I didn’t let her words drag me down, tonight was my night and I was going to act like it.

#gordon ramsay #gordon ramsay imagine #master chef #hell's kitchen #gordon ramsay x reader #oc

234 notes · View notes

dragonrajafanfiction · 4 years ago

Text

The Mission

While the other students watched the presentation given by the professor and took notes, Ru’Yi rested her chin in her hand and stared out the window.

Her mind was far away on an island, holding sparklers with Tom. She’d run the dream over and over in her head. The feel of the fabric of his T-shirt seemed more like a memory than a dream. He was warm underneath, solid. It wasn’t just an image of him. He was really there. She’d never had such a vivid dream before.

It was a Soul Skill. That’s what she had concluded. But why was that strange boy making them have dreams together? And why did he say he could control them?

She turned her mind back to class. She had just gotten off her unexpected sick leave and was still doing well as a student after penning a make-up essay.

She’d come here to follow in her father and mother’s footsteps, to be around people like her. Now she was staring at images of a sword forged from a dragonclaw, used to kill dragonkin many centuries ago and her mind drifted back to Tom.

Did she really belong here? She didn’t come to Cassell to kill dragons or fight in a war. She just wanted to study. But every class seemed to include something about dragonslaying. What if she didn’t want to slay dragons? Was that okay? Could she just graduate with a degree?

That reminded her. She hadn’t yet picked her major. She’d strongly considered marine biology… until she found out that half of that class was just studying dragonmorphs, especially how to destroy them.

“Alright, that will end the lecture. If there are no further questions, then I would like you to be able to recite perfectly what we’ve discussed this afternoon,” shouted the professor over the sound of closing books and scraping chairs. “No questions, no mercy!”

Ru’Yi closed her books and put them into her backpack. She followed the rest of the students out of the lecture hall and into the chilly sunshine of late winter. She stopped at the top of the stairs.

There waiting for her was a familiar looking bike and the one riding it -- Brian. Despite the cold, he was still in his typical leather jacket and jeans, once again spurning the school’s official Executive department uniform.

Her back straightened slightly and her mouth turned down.

“Can we talk?” He asked.

A group of girls giggled at her, whispering among themselves. Despite them rarely being seen together, the rumormill had branded them a couple. She didn’t understand why her private life was anyone else’s business. Her self-imposed seclusion had made the school paper because it involved the attack of ‘the blind death servitor’ on campus. The paper had said that Brian had ‘rescued her.’ People were expecting something further out of it, like it was an episode on a TV show. Blushing in embarrassment, Ru’Yi was inclined to refuse. Saying yes would just make the rumors worse.

But at the same time, she didn’t want to refuse for such a petty reason. It would be like letting them win, letting other people dictate who she hung out with.

She didn’t say anything. She trotted down the stairs and got onto his motorcycle, wrapping her arms around his waist. The engine made its signature electronic whine and they were off before anyone could say anything that she could hear.

The wind turned her ears and nose ice cold within seconds and she tucked her face against his back to keep protect herself against it. The ride wasn’t long. He took her behind the library, riding over the grass to a secluded spot. He rested his foot on the ground and turned to look at her.

Ru’Yi put her hands over her ears to warm them. His eyes widened. “Sorry, you’re cold?”

“Yeah… aren’t you?”

“Let’s go inside then.” He kicked down the stand and got off. They both approached the library’s back door. He swiped his card and opened the door.

Ru’Yi walked in. It appeared to be a storage room filled with mostly books but some objects in boxes marked with different labels. It was musty and she sneezed. He offered her a tissue and she accepted, blowing her nose with a soft honk.

Brian grinned, briefly, but something about it seemed sad. “What’s wrong?” Ru’Yi asked.

“I’m going to be going off campus for a while. I wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings.”

“Off campus? You’re leaving?” She lowered the tissue.

“On assignment. I don’t know if I’ll get back.” He shook his head. “Are you still mad at me?”

“Wait… what do you mean if?”

“Uh… I meant to say when I’ll get back. Sorry…”

“Oh. Well… to answer the question, no, I’m not angry at you.” She gathered her tissue and put it in her pocket. “I just don’t understand why all this is happening. It looks like a regular campus but it sounds like a military base.”

“That would be our gear department.” Brian rubbed the back of his head.

“I don’t want to kill anybody. But everything I’m hearing says I have to. I don’t think I belong here.” She twined her hands.

“Not everyone does.” Brian said solemnly.

“But at the same time, I haven’t had to hide who I am. I can be as smart as I want. I’m actually challenged here.” Her eyes brightened. “There’s this other guy who actually gets math problems faster than me. We have a bit of a rivalry now. It’s nice. I don’t want to leave. I’ll be so miserable.”

“Then don’t leave. They can’t make you do anything.” He murmured, his eyes lowered. “You’re S-rank. No one can make you do anything.”

“What does that even mean? People say that but it doesn’t mean anything to me.”

He watched her. “Do you want to tell you the truth?”

“Yeah!” She nodded.

“It means you’re as close as a person will ever be to a goddess.”

Ru’Yi looked at him and then squinted one eye. “Don’t be silly.”

“Do I look like I’m being silly? We’re here to fight dragons. The most powerful creatures in existence. They can bend the laws of nature to their will. You saw what I did at Norton Hall. You’re stronger than that.” He leaned forward slightly. “Your mother was S-ranked too. Her files are completely classified.” He lowered his voice to a whisper, right next to her ear. “Her record includes the death of the Lord of Ocean and Water, a serpent longer than 20 empire state buildings stacked end to end. They recovered its body. It’s frozen in pieces all over the world.”

Ru’Yi stood, stunned and he leaned away, gauging her reaction. “S-rankers are always involved in Dragonslaying in one way or another. It’s just a matter of time.”

Ru’Yi kept silent so Brian continued. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re not upset with me.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a 20 dollar bill. “Please give this back to your dad.”

“He gave you 20 dollars? Why?”

“Well… He kinda knocked me in the head. Don’t worry, I deserved it. That’s why I can’t accept the money.”

“You’re all kinds of weird Brian, just be straight with me!”

“Okay… I thought he was an intruder on campus and attacked him. He kicked my butt five ways from Sunday.”

Ru’Yi snorted. “Oh. Was that when he left the letter?”

“Yeah.”

“Dad was… a dragonslayer too.” Ru’Yi said, quiet again.

Brian nodded, then his grey eyes narrowed slightly.

“What?”

“Your dad is different from other Dragonslayers. I mean, Von Frings is one of the most experienced people and he’s always boasting about his adventures. Mr. Baldwin gets pretty passionate talking about it too. But, Mr. Chu doesn’t. It’s like he didn’t want to talk about it at all.”

“Yeah, he never talks about it.” She shrugged. “Neither does mom.”

“Hm… I wonder why that is.”

She shrugged. “Dunno. Is that all you wanted to say to me?”

Brian suddenly looked nervous. “Huh?”

“You just wanted to ask if we were cool?”

“Um… uh…”

Was he blushing? That sudden color to his face was spreading. RuYi's heart started to race. No way. He wouldn’t. The rumors couldn’t be true.

“Yeah… that’s all. I can take you home if you want.” He said, much to her relief.

“Um… No, that’s fine. That’s fine I can go on my own. It's not far from here.” Ru’Yi looked around frantically.

“Door’s that way.” He pointed over her shoulder.

“Right! I’ll see you around.” Ru’Yi hurried to leave the room before he could even think about confessing.

By himself in the storage closet, Brian let the air out of his lungs in a single breath and told himself it was better this way. There was no point in telling her anything now, only for him to leave. He returned to his bike and got on, steering back onto the pavement and heading to the gym to let off some steam.

They say that the S in Dragonslaying didn’t mean the highest rank. It stood for Suicide. The first S rank student in Cassell, killed himself, and S ranked missions would result in the likely death of all involved. The mission he’d received had three S’s attached.

He had the gym to himself. He tied the tape around his hands and slipped on the boxing gloves over them. He’d resigned himself to his fate. Now that he knew that Ru’Yi would remember him fondly and returned the 20 dollars, he could let go.

He drove his hands into the sandbag in a steady rhythm, focusing his mind there. Each swing came faster and faster, until it was a blur of motion. The sandbag twitched and spasmed under the flurry of blows, emitting a fog of dust. Finally, a powerful punch sent it swinging towards the ceiling.

Brians stepped to one side, panting. This was going to be his last act on this Earth. He had to make it count.

But just like the sandbag swaying back into position, his mind returned to Chu Zihang.

He felt a familiar emptiness. That ache and absence in his life that he’d felt ever since the first grade when the other children brought their fathers in for show and tell. He realized he didn’t have one. He asked his mother why he didn't have one.

She explained very simply that it didn’t matter. He didn’t need one. Fathers were just there to provide genetic material. After that, anyone could be a father. Even her. In his child’s brain, it sort of made sense and for the most part, he went along just fine. But as he grew older, the hole in his life seemed to grow.

He couldn’t relate to his mother as much over time. Instead he turned to television and popular media and the internet to answer his questions and satisfy his curiosity. And for a while, that was enough even as bullies made his life miserable in school.

It wasn’t until he met Ru’Yi that he felt that hole again. She sat down beside him and said. “Don’t worry. Daddy’s coming to take us home.”

She had a father. He did not. But for a moment, when she said that, he’d thought she had included him in that statement.

He had spent the entire car ride crying over more than just bullies.

Not only did the ride with Mr. Chu reopen old wounds, later that night, his Dragonblood decided to wake up. He didn’t realize it at the time, but even with the contact lenses covering his golden eyes, Brian was sensitive enough to pick up on the raging power beneath Chu Zihang’s quiet exterior.

He had enrolled in Cassell, only to find Mr. Chu haunting the pages of this place’s lore, only to find himself studying his methods, admiring him. Chu Zihang replaced the internet and the television figures as the man he wanted to aspire to.

They say, “Never meet your heroes.” for a reason. He finally got to meet Chu Zihang man-to-man, but he was completely different from what he expected him to be. Yes, he was strong and fast and intelligent, but his spirit seemed oddly weak. He had no enthusiasm. No fire.

He just seemed sad.

Brian shook himself. He couldn’t focus on this. Regardless of how soft he’d become, the Chu Zihang that he’d studied wouldn’t let himself get sidetracked by outside emotions.

All that mattered was the mission.

While Brian pummeled in worries into the sandbag, Finger Von Frings was on the phone, dialing the same number again and again. “Pick up. Pick up, you lazy bum, I know you’re getting this...”

“Hello?”

“Mingfei! Finally! Don’t dodge my calls!”

“What? I wasn’t dodging your calls, I was busy!” Said the whiny voice.

“Why all of a sudden are you sending me this mission? This is ... this is extremely dangerous. You of all people should know.” Finger flopped down into the chair that was used by Anjou for decades and reached out towards Adams who obediently had fetched him a beer. “You should know I don’t like it. Why don’t you run this mission yourself?” He took a long sip.

“I know... I know. But don’t worry, I have my own students getting ready to go to. It’s not like I’m sending yours out to fight alone.”

“Your students?” Finger inhaled and started choking.

“Yeah. They’re pretty green, one is still laid up, one is scared of her own shadow and another hates himself. But that never stopped me right?” He laughed.

Finger caught his breath. “This isn’t the time for jokes! I’m not going to be one of those people who sends others out to die!”

“Hey...” Mingfei’s voice softened. “Trust me. I made a promise to Carli that no one would get hurt. But this has to be done. Even though its dangerous.”

“Then why... don’t you do it.” Finger asked, speaking slowly.

“Just trust me. It’s better this way. If things get out of hand, I’ll step in. Okay?”

Finger was quiet for a while, fighting down the emotions rising in his heart. “If one of them dies, it’s on you. You understand that right? The others used to say they understood it... but it didn’t mean anything to them in the end. They just hung their poor student’s pictures in the Hall of Valor and lit candles and looked sad for a while. Only to throw more logs on the fire a few days later.” He snarled into the phone.

“I’ll never forgive them for it. And I’m not going to become them. I’m not, Lu Mingfei.”

Mingfei sighed on the other end. “When you see the results, you’ll understand. But you can hate me for now, if you can’t trust me.”

Finger put his can of beer down. “I’m glad you’re not a complete idiot. How’s the wifey?”

“She’s fine. I’ll tell her you asked.”

“Give her kiss for me?”

“How about no? Anyway, I gotta get back to work.”

“Work. Now there’s a good joke. Piss off.”

“Bye.”

Finger hung up, took a deep breath, and downed the rest of his beer in a single gulp.

#Dragon Raja #Fanfiction #Class of 2032

2 notes · View notes

springday-aus · 5 years ago

Text

Rich Kid!AU with Suho [Junmyeon]

moodboard link

Group: EXO

Member: Suho / Kim Junmyeon

Genre: romance + lowkey reality check

Type: Bulletpoint AU

Word Count: 3.2k

A/N: Suho has a black card and what else was I to do with this information?

yes, I am making Junmyeon into one of those rich ass fuckboys

you know the ones I'm talking about

the ones that have an endless amount of cars

(and prob names them)

the ones who you can literally tell has not worked a day in his life

despite having so much money, he's dressed like a hobo

but it's like the branded shit

like Supreme or Gucci or Chanel

(and whatever else is trendy)

so it’s “fancy”

unless he's gotta go to like a charity event that isn't really for charity

then he's like in a suit

hm.... when he gets dressed up

he gets dressed up

anyways

let's start from the beginning

he inherited his money from his parents, who inherited it from their parents, who inherited it from their parents.. and so on and so forth

so the Kims have like a shitload of money

LOADS

like "I can swim in my own money" loads

except he tried it once when he was a kid

lots of paper cuts

also the gold coin thing

wow did that hurt

it was not a fun day for rich kiddo Suho

and this is very stable money, i.e. old money

so you can only imagine the amount of people who are practically kissing their asses to get partnerships and whatever else rich people want

oh my god, when his mother was supposed to get married—it was chaos, literally every man was throwing themselves at her feet

tsk, tsk, tsk—it was just sad

don't get mixed up, their parents are happy together

or at least they seem like it

lowkey it was an arranged marriage and, like all rich people, his parents like to call it a "partnership" more than a “marriage”

anyways back to Suho

if he's being honest about this whole thing, he doesn't know if he really wants to (or is going to) inherit the family business

he’s not even an official heir

he has an older brother and Suho has watched enough dramas to know that the older ones are most likely to inherit the family business

so what is he supposed to do?

sure, they've been showing him what he's supposed to do

but does he actually know what he's doing?

or if he wants to do it?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

he's been living the same life he's been living since he was born

wake up, eat, shop, go home, sleep

yo, speaking of which

he legit cannot stop buying anything—he sees it, he wants it, he buys it

you know those ugly ass Gucci slippers

yeah, he got those

he bought two of them because they came in two colors

he wore them each like once and then it was never seen again

granted, he was shopping with Taehyung, one of his company managers who Suho had taken underneath his wing

Tae literally encourages people to buying stuff they don't really need

but like

he can afford lots of impulse buys

it's not like he's doing anything else

okay, that's a lie

he's also working at the office, but does it really feel like he's doing anything?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

anyways, let's get back to his horrible shopping habits

this is very important because this is how you come into the picture

he was out one day with Sehun, walking around one of the major shopping centers

just as they were leaving

there was a protest outside one of the department stores

the CEO had like 50+ charges of sexual assault and he was just let off

and wow

these people were angry

so where do you come in?

you….. you were in the front….

with a loudspeaker….

saying some things that…. no one should be saying with children present….

anyways

you were one of the people who’ve organized the event

because this asswipe was still working and got off with a warning from all of these assault charges????

you were not going to let this go

hence why you’re in the front, with your loudspeaker—spitting facts and roasting this man in front of his business

yeah, y’all were a bit of a smallish crowd

(a group of about thirty people)

but anyways

Suho saw you and

wow

his interest has been piqued

you were cute—yelling into your loudspeaker and your fist in the air

you have so much passion

Sehun has obviously noticed Suho had been staring at you for quite some time

it’s hard not to notice

just as Sehun was just going to push Suho in the order direction, that shitty CEO steps out

and……. in front of you……

you remained calm, letting his douche canoe spit as he rambles on about how these women were all over-reacting and that you were an idiot for spending your free time here and that you were nothing more than a liberal snowflake

at this point, people were all recording on their phones but this man clearly didn’t care and just went ham on you

and as he pauses to breath, you take your chance: “I’m the snowflake and yet you’re the one who needs to chill”

you see the anger just explode in his eyes and, as he continues to yell, he raises an arm

just as he was about to swing at you, Suho steps in

right between you and the CEO, blocking you and grabbing his arm

Suho: “and what is it that you think you’re doing?”

CEO: “let go of me”

Suho: “and let you hit this stranger? aren’t you just embarrassing yourself even more?”

for the first time, you can see him flush with embarrassment as he realizes the eyes and the cameras that are on him

but then he snarls at Suho: “who the hell do you think you are?”

Suho smiles, but it’s as fake as this man: “I’m heir to the Kim business, I could make you disappear in two phone calls, would you like me to show you?”

he freezes, before yanking his arm out of Suho’s hand and walking off

muttering something about millennials

he finally turns to you, as the crowd starts to disperse

Suho: “are you okay?”

You: “I could have handled myself, pretty boy”

Suho: “you think I’m pretty?”

**cue Sehun facepalming on the sidelines**

you sigh, tired from him already: “I can’t deal with this right now, that asshole is still out there and I’m not resting until he’s resigned”

you turn away, not even bothering to listen to his response and immediately head off

Sehun: “you really managed to blow that opportunity”

Suho: “shut up and drink your milk tea”

later that day, he may or not have used some of his family’s money for something other than meaningless shit

he was looking you up—you’ve done a lot of things and you have so many achievements

as well as enemies

yikes

he’s seen a lot of these people at the Kim’s charity auctions

and at business meetings

and the parties his family throws at their party mansion

oof—this is not looking good for him or these people

so what else does he do?

he does a bit more digging on you

is it creepy? yes

should he be doing this? probably not

so what does he find?

your fb, instagram, twitter—all the social media you’ve got

this is what happens when you have a lot of free time and you’re rich

he’s not really sure these accounts are your personal accounts though

there are pictures of you and the causes you’re involved with

but they’re not about you

he will admit that he’s very impressed with all of the things you’ve done

you’ve managed to make some major changes

environmentally, socially, and lawfully

(local laws ofc)

it wasn’t done without a lot of damages and enemies

but (from what he’s seen) you’re tough

next week, you’re leading another protest against a makeup company because of their false claims of being cruelty free

and their microplastic beads that’s polluting the ocean

and the high water demand due to the large amount being used in their products

jesus you have retweeted so many scholarly articles

and they’re like 40 pages long

Suho doesn’t think he’s read this much since college

(well his family paid their son’s way through, but you get what I mean)

he makes a note to shop there on the way sometime next week

just do he can see you again

the next week passes, more slowly than Suho had thought

as it comes, he goes ham on his shopping trips—he’s going to ALL the makeup department stores

never really buying anymore because he’s too busy on the lookout for you

he says it’s a “business trip”

(ignoring Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Jongdae + Sehun’s side eyes)

these people are really kissing up to his asses

literally getting up to his face and trying so many products on his faces

it’s like the spongebob episode when all those perfume people are spraying shit in his face

yeah... imagine that

his vision is getting blocked and his face is getting caked with every passing hour he spends

just as he was about to give up

the days roll around

and he finally spots you outside the shopping center with your loudspeaker and protest signs

you’re in a group circle, talking with some other people

who Suho is going to assume are other organizers

he manages to kind of sneak over as y’all are discussing

you were discussing the main points and what the game plan was

Suho was just…. there….

you didn’t even know until everyone was dispersed to their positions

Suho: “so what can I do?”

your eyes narrow at him: “pretty boy?”

he smiles, so stupidly bright: “yeah”

you eye him up and down: “are you lost? don’t you have a department store to get to?”

Suho: “this is a department store”

You: jesus christ

You: “okay, in case there was another misunderstanding on my abilities, I can handle this”

Suho: “I understand, I just want to help” :)

you nearly growl at him, what an idiot

you don’t realize you’ve been staring at him for a while, until a friend of yours steps up next to you and give you a little nudge

your friend whispers to you: “he’s a Kim, his involvement would mean more exposure”

you let out a deep sigh and shoo her away to deal with the stragglers who’ve just joined

You: “do you know why we’re here?”

Suho: “false claims of the makeup being cruelty free?” :)

You: “lucky guess”

You: “okay fine, we’re gonna be here for a couple of hours—he’s arriving soon and then he’ll leave, just as he always does and we’ll have to rally in case he gets aggressive”

Suho: “okay, got it”

he gives another smile and is so compliant, you figure he’ll be here for a bit and then leave

but, to your shock, he’s there the whole you’ve been there

which is like two hours longer than the others were supposed to be there

and even after the whole thing, he asks you what else is coming up

with another push from your friend, you reluctantly share the information with him from your organization’s website and facebook group and all this other stuff

but let’s be real, Suho already knew some of this stuff due to all of his internet stalking

it doesn’t mean he doesn’t appreciate you sharing the information tho

anyways

he comes to the next one—just as you told him from last time

and the other one

and another one

eventually, he just makes it part of his schedule to come and help out

at first, you didn’t really think he would show up

and when he does, you asked why

Suho: “I have a lot of free time”

somehow you don’t doubt that

the more he’s been coming, the more interested you were

not in the sense that “oh he’s so attractive for fighting for these causes alongside with me” interested

it’s more of the “what does this sneaky motherfucker want” interested

so you do some digging and it only confuses you more

shouldn’t be fighting his brother for that heir position for the Kim Incorporation?

why is he so interested in being part of this fight that involves… well, him?

isn’t he worried we’ll start attacking the Kims?

a lot of the other organization members notice it as well

because I mean, have you seen him?

(he is very attractive)

but also because this big name hot shot is at these small group protests, when he should be in a meeting or something

it doesn’t mean his efforts aren’t appreciated

he always gets the group things like food and supplies for strikes that last for longer than usual

for instance, you and your organization went to join teachers who were striking for a better contract with the school district

Suho came running with more posters, loudspeakers, shakers, coffee, sandwiches

the district teachers absolutely adored him—they even took pictures with him

but, you will admit that it’s nice to talk to him, despite the differences in social class

he likes talking to you too

(maybe more than he likes to admit)

it’s just

you have this fire in your eyes

the passion in your voice is clear

and you know what you want and you go for it, without any mercy for anyone who gets in your way

but you have that sensitivity and awareness and drive to help others that’s the whole point of you even being here

he wishes he had that

but, these last few weeks

he actually feels good to help you out

whether it’s running for supplies or providing donations for causes you’ve told him about

he feels purposeful

he feels good that he can help all these people and that his time is actually useful

and now, your organization is getting more exposure, which is nice

…. until the media gets involved and starts to paste Suho’s face on it

and that’s when you realize what he’s been doing

the Kim family had been using this whole thing as a reputation tactic

you feel stupid letting him into this

what you wanted to do was make a change for those who couldn’t advocate for themselves

and now all your hard work is being passed in the hands of some rich guy with way too much time on his hands

so, you did what you did best: dig some dirt on some filthy rich people

turns out there was a previous scandal with the family

they underpaid their staff

lots of people were getting low/little income and they were at a disadvantage because they were in a position where they couldn’t quit

when word got out, they said they would raise the wages

but some people say that these people didn’t

so you’re gonna find out—you snuck around their estate, talking to the staffers about the incident

most were unwilling to talk, but there were a couple of people who shared with you

they talked about they had medical bills, student debt, disabled family members, etc.

they had to work here and have to continue

apparently it was said that they would receive raises, but it isn’t livable—they only had 10 cent raises, but only after working for 5 years at a time

office workers obviously were higher up, but the servant staffers at the estate were taken advantage of

even after it was exposed, they didn’t really do anything about it

while you spent a couple of weeks snooping around

Suho had been at home

his parents were clearly upset because he’d been spending too much with the lower class

Mrs. Kim: “it’s good for our reputation, but you can’t keep spending your time with them”

Mr. Kim: “why can’t you be more like Dongkyu and spend more time in the office”

Suho: “I’m not even inheriting the company, why bother working?”

Mr. Kim: “of course you’ll inherit the company, alongside with your brother—it’ll be an even split”

Suho: “what if… what if I don’t want to inherit the company?”

Mrs. Kim: “what else are you going to do, if not a businessman?”

he doesn’t know why, but your face flashes in his head at that moment

in fact, you might get along with him better if he lost the inheritance

he wouldn’t be able to donate anymore

or get any supplies

maybe his support would be enough

the only question is to whether or not his family would cut him off

so, he speaks the truth

Suho: “I… I don’t know”

it’s been a couple of weeks since he’s seen you, so when he comes to the next meeting…

he was a bit excited

but when he comes

that fire is in your eyes once again… but it’s towards him

Suho: “hey” :)

You: “so when were you going to tell me that you’re an absolute douche-bag”

Suho: “what?”

You: “your face is all over our hard work and now you get all the credit?”

You: “not to mention, you don’t say shit about all these people who you work with”

You: “also your family is garbage—really? underpaying the staff and lying about it?”

he’s…... speechless

on one hand, you’re right

and on the other…. you’re right

what is he really doing here?

is he actually making a difference?

you, on the other hand, you’re….

you’re amazing

you have been able to draw attention to all these issues

and you’ve been able to make these changes

you might not be filthy rich, but it doesn’t mean you don’t have any influence

Suho can’t really say anything other than…

Suho: “I’m sorry”

You: “you think that’s enough?”

Suho: “no, it’s not enough, I just don’t know what else I can say”

to be fair, you should be really pissed—you are pissed

but he looks so dejected

you remembered talking to him about his family ties and their family history… is not pretty

so you soften up a bit

just a bit

but only because it’s him

the one who always comes with a smile on his face

the one who comes with more than enough supplies because he wants to make sure everyone is comfortable

the one who hangs around you because he knows how tired you are

the one who stays and listens to you rambling for hours about a million different social issues

you put a hand on his shoulder

You: “you don’t always have to say it, sometimes it’s a matter of doing”

thanks to you, he decided to do something

for another couple of weeks he doesn’t see you

but you?

you def saw him

on the news

he got busy

he went on his usual schedule (like his parents wanted)

but this time

he wasn’t quiet about it

I’m talking about pointing out the environmental drawbacks of these products

calling out the people during the “charity” events

cutting of trade with those who don’t give fair wages

he’s even actually been trying to actually raise those wages for the servants in the Kim house

(of course with the request of your help)

and wow

the news are just having a field day and eating it up

so that ultimately means his parents are seeing all of this

and what happens?

he gets cut off

he’s no longer inheriting the Kim fortune

Dongkyu is getting everything and he gets nothing

but with your help, he’s a successful business consultant

turns out that business degree did do some good

he helps develop local businesses and the money he makes

not only goes to good causes

but also to help promote your organization

with the rightful faces on it

as for you two?

let’s just say, you’re a lot closer than before

seeing his drive to help others

the effort he makes to recover from his blissful ignorance

you’ve grown a soft spot for him

as for Suho

he’s glad he has you

you’ve made him a better person

made him realize all the different things he can do

you two working together + practically dating?

the organization members are eating it up

(and you’re pretty sure they were betting but no one would say anything to your face)

anyways

dating a former rich kid! Suho is a lot more fun than you would have thought before

lots of dates are at your (or his) apartment

mainly yours because he’s got a studio and has a roommate

(he is broke)

anyways

you spend a lot of time working on building cases against companies

it’s mainly work bc humanity is evil

but when y’all aren’t working

it’s cuddle timeeeee

you would put shows on, but y’all aren’t watching

you spend a lot of time in his arms

or him in yours

(he likes being a little spoon and isn’t afraid to admit it)

and, as his official partner, you are always supported by him

Suho: “WOO-HOO YOU GOT THIS ANGEL”

You: “omg it’s flipping an egg, I’m not receiving a medal”

it’s cute tho

and ofc you got his back

when he was kicked out of the house, you straight up wreaked havoc

all those people were spreading rumors, you shut that shit down

when he kicked out with nothing more than a duffle of clothes, you became his safe haven

you helped him get back on his feet

found what he really wanted to do

and he was able to find someone really special

you ♡

50 notes · View notes