#man that saying really does sum it up huh

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Sum of All 10

Warnings: non/dubcon, mentions of crime, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Character: mob!Steve Rogers

Part of the mob drabbles au

Summary: you are given an unexpected assignment.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging ❤️

You touch the seam of the skirt as you fidget in the passengers’ seat. The scene is starting to become all too familiar. You feel like some cursed sidekick to this man. Destined to count numbers you’re supposed to forget. 

“You don’t like it?” Rogers asks as he grips the steering wheel tighter. He hasn’t offered much detail about your destination but whatever this is has him on edge. Is he ever not? 

“Huh, no,” you smooth your hands over the dusted rose fabric. “It’s nice.” 

“The lady at the store picked it. I don’t know,” he grumbles. 

You almost want to laugh. Is he that worried about a dress? You admit, you prefer your separates, but it’s really nice. Sleek, elegant, refined. As long as it does the job... 

That thought makes you squirm as you recall your unfortunate shower debacle. It isn’t the greatest start to your day and the night hardly set you up for success but all you can do is get through it. Wherever he’s taking you, whatever he wants you to do. 

He draws up to a large golden gate with pointed orbs at the top of the steep poles. You lean forward to marvel at the mansion. It’s immaculate. Like a modern palace. You let out a ‘woah’. 

“He does like to show off,” Rogers remarks. 

“I mean, it’s pretty but a bit much,” you sit back, trying to play it cool. 

The gate slides to one side at his approach. He’s expected. That jars you. It’s all so mysterious. And scary.  You’re silent as he pulls through. 

“You good? How are you feeling?” He checks as he comes to a stop before a finely curated row of hedges. 

“Hm, oh, good, I’m feeling alright,” you assure him. 

“Mm, let me know if you feel foggy.” He looks at you with concern. You’re starting to feel like a burden. 

“I’m fine, promise. You don’t need to worry.” 

“I can’t have you falling on your face with this one,” he girds. 

“Oh, right, obviously not,” you agree. 

He gives you a long look and gets out. You blink and undo your seat belt. You open the door and give a start as he appears behind it. He grips the top as you get out. He shuts it and gestures you toward the front steps of the house. 

As you come to the curved stone, a figure emerges from the double doors at the top. Sleek, moving like a snake, sharp eyes narrowed at the man at your side as he smooths back his black tresses. 

“Rogers,” he greets your escort. “He’s waiting.” 

“I know,” Rogers replies. “Laufeyson.” 

The snakish man turns without another word and passes through the doors. Rogers nudges your arm and you follow, keeping pace with him. You clutch your briefcase handle, your only comfort in that moment. 

You continue across the large foyer and around the right side of the stairs. The man leads you to a door hidden behind it that blends right into the wall. The handle is camouflaged. He pulls the door open and waves you on. 

Rogers points you ahead of him. You enter and he’s close behind, brushing close as you come into the study-like room. A blonde man, larger than even the one at your back, sits behind a big white desk. He toys with a little golden hammer, some sort of paper weight as his blue eyes flick up. 

“Ah, there he is,” He drops the ornament with an unexpectedly heavy thunk. “Rogers, finally here!” 

“Odinson,” Rogers greets, a glimmer of warmth in his voice. 

“It has been too long,” the large man stands and strides around the desk. “And you have brought a beautiful woman!” He approaches you and grabs your hand, kissing it with gusto. “Ah, wonderful! I did hate to think of you coming all alone.” 

“She’s here to do the numbers,” Rogers assures. “That’s all.” 

“Of course, of course,” the other man, Odinson, nods as he turns to Rogers. “I was sorry to hear about Margaret.” 

Rogers shifts, “Peggy made a decision.” 

Peggy. That's the second mention of her. Whoever she is. You think you might have a good guess for it.

“Right, right, sour grapes,” he offers a hollow smile and turns his attention back to you. “Ah, but I do lose myself. Thor, my lady, and you?” 

You look between him and Rogers. Your companion shrugs. You introduce yourself. 

“You have come far. You must be tired,” he says to both of you as he extends his arm wide. “We might hold off on business and first break bread. I have missed you, old friend.” 

Thor claps Rogers’ shoulder. He’s the only person who’s ever made the mafioso look small. You watch quietly. You feel like an intruder. 

“Sure, sounds good,” Rogers agrees. 

“Oh, but first, I do forget myself. I will show you to your room. I was unaware of your company,” Thor says. “My woman was preparing just for you.” 

He gestures you back into the hallway. You go first as Rogers waits. He follows and your host comes third. You glance back for direction. 

“Just up the stairs,” Thor explains. 

You obediently proceed along that path, climbing cautiously. You come to the top and admire the golden sconces along the wall. The whole place is ornate and extravagant. 

Thor comes up past you and guides you along to a door. He taps it with his knuckles, “Rogers. I can have another set aside for the... accountant?” 

“I have my CPA,” you say. “Uh, yeah.” 

Thor chuckles and Steve breathes heavily through his nose, “if it’s too much trouble.” 

“No trouble is too much for you,” Thor assures. “I hope we can come to happy agreement. I would hate you to come so far for anything other than that.” 

“Well, it has been a long trip,” Rogers agrees. 

“Let me give her the tour and you can settle in,” Thor insists. “I should show her the pool before my woman sinks her claws in.” 

“You married?” Rogers asks. 

“Working on it,” Thor answers and gently touches your arm. The movement catches Rogers’ eye. “They might amuse each other in your time here.” 

“Hm, maybe,” Rogers crosses his arms. “I’ll get my bag.” 

“You might request some brandy from the maid as well,” Thor snickers. “Take off the edge, Rogers. I’ve never seen you wound so tight.” He slides his arm under yours, “oh, and I didn’t mention, the beard... looks good on you.” Thor turns and points you in the other direction, “come, you will want to see the balcony.” 

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

hes so silly and tortured. i hope he gets violent

[bunbunlovestowrite]

How the Hashira men react to your neighbor asking you to be quiet

Characters: Tengen, Sanemi, Rengoku, Obanai, Gyomei, Giyuu,

Additional shit: Swearing, Sanemi fighting said neighbor, Rengoku being blunt, mentions of sex, ooc mot likely :p

Tengen

He couldn't care less

His whole thing is being flashy and loud so he wants you to be loud

Like it's not his fault that dick is magical

After he shoos your neighbor away he makes sure to be as loud as possible that night

He's pounding into your cunt and you swear your gonna break when he whispers "okay now scream exactly how big my dick is. Don't forget the tip color-"

He gets cut off by you hitting him with the pillow

Way to ruin the mood

But that doesn't stop him and instead he goes harder, making sure the bed creaks loud ASF for your neighbor

"Not my fault he doesn't know how to please a woman." Is his main reason for doing so

He really wants you to scream his name so it's imbedded in your neighbors head

"Morning N/N!" Him to your neighbor from the balcony while your trying to get out of bed and failing

"Actually die." Both you and your neighbor to Tengen

Sanemi

Cares alot

Why the fuck is that limp dick biscuit talking to you and him? Who does he think he is?

You were the one who broke the news to him thankfully cause if Sanemi was the one who opened the door then you'd have to see your husband through glass in a prison

Just kidding. The Slayer corp would get him out of trouble if he didn't do it himself.

Anyways

Sanemi made it his goal to piss your neighbor off as much as possible

Your under him, practically creaming on his cock, and he's slamming the wall yelling "This loud enough yet?! Huh!?"

Not kidding I can see him doing that

He quite literally had you against a window where your neighbors could see him destroying you just to make them mad or uncomfortable, hopefully both.

But then he'd get pissed someone else would see you all naked and fucked out so he settled for the wall next to the window

One day your neighbor, finally having enough, bangs on your door yelling and guess who opens it...Sanemi!!

Good Lord was he waiting for this

It took one punch and the guy was out

Kinda what happens when you put a normal dude against a guy who kills demons for a living

Rengoku

He's a good neutral between caring and not caring

Like he doesn't wanna make your neighbors mad but he also loves hearing your screams

So he tries to keep you quiet during sex but fails since he gets to into it to give a fuck

The next days his loud ass voice wakes you up

"IM SORRY FOR MAKING INCREDIBLE LOVE TO MY WIFE!" He's not being sarcastic thats his genuine apology

Your facepalming and you want to die when you see your neighbor and she can't look at you

"PERHAPS SHES MAD BECAUSE HER HUSBAND CANNOT PLEASE HER!" Rengoku says casually and you know she can hear you from outside in her garden

"Inside voices!" You place your hands over his mouth to try and shut him up.

It works for a bit before he's yelling again

You love your husband but holy shit you wish he would speak normally sometimes

He's actually quiet in bed though

So your the problem (real)

Obanai

I'm not an Obanai fan so forgive me for how bad his section will be

Obanai is a quiet mf, and you're not even that loud

It's your neighbor who was the problem

A little old man whose hearing aids apparently had the power of 67 suns

You and Obanai found this out when he was outside training and your neighbor came over

He was so sweet and polite and even chuckled at Obanai's redness

Obanai cared at first but got over it

You? You make sure to not make a PEEP in bed

Okay that pisses Obanai off but he understands your reasons

At least make a gasp or sum cause he's over here like "Wait does this feel good? Can she feel it? Did I forget where the clit is?"

Brother is STRESSING

Then you cum and he's like "ah"

Then he's like "Did you take it?"

You have to keep yourself from murdering him cause how tf would you fake squirting

Gyomei

Babe I'm not gonna lie, you're a screamer

Gyomei is built like a house and your telling me your just gonna whine and whimper?

NO

Your over here crying and screaming into his chest, neck, the pillow, anything.

And Gyomei loves it!

He can't see your reactions so hearing and feeling them let's him know he's doing good

Gyomei isn't loud but he's not quiet

He'll grunt and moan and praise you, but he's not gonna cry out.

Well he'll cry but you can never tell from what

When the pussy so good you start crying 😭🙏

When your neighbor politely asked you to be a tad bit quieter Gyomei actually laughed

Not in a 'nah we'll keep being loud' way but more of a 'sorry we'll be quiet' way. He also found it hilarious how you actually died of embarrassment.

Don't worry he thinks its endearing

Yet it was kinda hard for him since he enjoyed hearing you

But your touches and now quieter moans made that better

And then there's also you literally drawing blood from his back you were scratching so hard

Giyuu

Holy shit you have never seen him so embarrassed

Like you could shade match his Haori to him and get the exact same color

He was the one your neighbor told and he stopped working when 'loud' and 'moaning' left their lips

If a demon doesn't kill him then his own actions will

Giyuu isn't loud, and he loves that he can make you feel so good that your loud for him.

But he didn't want your neighbor back over at your house so he tried to keep you quiet

You were super confused when he held his hand over your mouth in bed and he just pointed to your neighbors house. Then you got it.

So you nod and try to keep quiet.

You know in school when the teacher tells you and a friend to shut up but they look at you funny and you break?

Yeah that was you

You were riding Giyuu one night and you were loud so he was like "holy shit I love you but please- I can't look our neighbor in the eyes anymore."

And you couldn't help but laugh

Like howling

You calmed down obviously but sex was very giggle filled after that

You've never seen Giyuu so panicked

But give him a week and he'll stop caring

[nthspecialll]

The fandom glorifies Arthur Morgan

Now I am not talking about about low honor, I play high honor and got it as the top at the end of every damn playthrough but my Arthur, as it is the cannon Arthur, is not a good guy. I am not going to talk about all of the murder, robbing and stuff he does, because we are majorly aware of it, I am talking his sexism, casual ignorance and disrespecfulness.

I quite often see people say that Arthur Morgan is a woman lover, and he definitely is, he is better than a lot of men from that time (which isn't hard), but he would not hold up in modern times, because he is not from modern times.

Generally speaking, Arthur Morgan is a man who believes in gender roles, he believes in the idea of "a man being a man" and "a woman being a woman." He has opinions about what a woman should do and what a man should do.

I think the biggest hint at this is his relationship with Sadie, because while he accepts her running with the boys he doesn't seem entirely happy about it. "You got a pair of pants and all of a sudden you think you're Landon Ricketts?" "You want to ruuuunnnn with the men?" and also "can Ms Grimshaw spare you?" when the girls asks if they can come to Valentine with him.

Talking of that quest, when he runs off to get Jimmy Brooks he puts Uncle, a lazy old bastard, in charge of getting the girls home even though they are more than capable of doing it themselves as they are healthy young women who knows how to handle horses.

In several antagonize lines against women performers (which are just as cannon as his greet lines) he shouts things like "That isn't very ladylike!" or "Go back to the kitchen" and "go make someone supper."

People keep saying Arthur would "treat them right" and he would, to an extent, he would care for you, he would be nice to you, but he would force those gender roles. He does have a belief women are somehow "softer" and that he as a person with a provider gene should do more of the harsh work.

So now we covered that, lets talk about the racism, or as I probably should rather call it, ignorance, because it is very commonly know Arthur does not judge by the color of skin.

The first one is that Arthur uses the whites-only saloon in Rhodes. Tilly mentions it to Arthur that they don't allow people of color into it, and yet he still supports it, it isn't a big thing but it is something of notice.

Secondly, when he talks to Eagle Flies where he "sets him in his place" Arthur, honey, you are so wrong here. Eagle Flies is being chased by the government for the mere fact that he exists with a different culture, you are being chased because you murdered so many folks, you can run across the sea and live a good life, they are fucked regardless.

When we first arrive in Lemoyne, Lenny and Arthur talks about the Lemoyne Raiders about racism and Arthur says "These boys got a manner about them but I haven't particularly noticed," Arthur of course you wouldn't, you are a tall, muscular, white man with sun kissed hair and blue eyes, you are the poster boy for eugenics.

Lastly, which will also bring me to the third point, the casual disrespect:

Arthur causally calling Javier a slur on the boat for no reason, did you really need that one-liner so badly? That goes for a lot of times in the game such as: "are you secretly normal" "what a lunatic" "we should find a better story for that scar" "But you continue to irritate me, I will kill you and make my appologies to the lady" "stick around and you might die for her as well" "oh I didn't know I was talking to a lady." All those were a slight bit disrespectful, enough to be able to annoy the majority of us if he said it to us, and they were also unnecessary.

He is also canonically chronically late, most notably we can hear Sean saying "that man will be late to his own funeral," and when you go around antagonizing characters in camp they are not surprised at all, rather they go "back at it again huh?"

All of this is just to sum up, Arthur is a pretty bad man (also counting in all the illegal stuff) and we tend to glorify him and forget some of these things, partly is also because Rockstar are amazing at hiding them, at making them seem natural, and they are because this is a historically accurate game! It is set in 1899 and this is a man from 1899 he is going to be casually sexist and disrespectful, and again, considering that he is from 1899 he is a decent guy because the majority of folk would be like Micah, not Arthur.

I definitely love Arthur, and I love Arthur exactly because the point of his character is him not being a saint but a human. His redemption is choosing to do good where he can, but even so, this is a man in 1899 and he is going to have a 1899 mindset. If you want to play a game that is set in the past but don't have that type of accuracy it is not Red Dead you want to play.

Also here is an Arthur pic as a thank you for reading all of that. I love him.

[lazyneonrabbitt]

Hunters Ink

Tattoo artist!Daryl Dixon x Reader

One tattoo leads to many more when you fall head over heels with the artist.

You made your way into the shop, quickly engulfed in old rock music and the buzz of machines. The place was packed.

An older bald man welcomed you, a bright smile on his face after he had notified his client. "What can I help ya with, sweetheart?"

You stumbled over your words, unsure how to go about things. "I'd like to get a tattoo."

The man gave you a soft laugh. "Well tha's a given, why else walk into our shop, huh? Now, you got a picture withya, or do ya need sum time to look around fer inspiration?" He motioned around and pointed at the walls adorned with designs.

"I brought something" You fished in your bag for the piece of paper that held the print of a dog's paw.

The man took in the print and called someone else over.

"Daryl! C'mere, this one's yer business." When he turned back to you his voice went softer. "Mah brother does what ya want, my style ain't good fer the lil' details. He'll take over, yeah?"

He handed your paper over to his brother, who looked it over. "Where d'ya wan' it?" You went over all the basic details, where, how big and if you had any other tattoos already. You shared the reasons behind the pawprint and got a couple of placement suggestions before deciding you wanted the piece on your lower arm.

The appointment was quickly made and you left with Daryl's artist card and a warm feeling inside.

The day of the appointment came up quick and you made sure to follow the advice you were given. You had a good meal beforehand and brought some sugary sweets and drinks with you.

"C'mon over, cutie. Got yer paw ready for ya." Daryl came to collect you after you hadn't moved when he called you.

"I got the whole day for ya, so we'll go at your pace, yeah?" His gravely voice was so calming, it really helped with the first tattoo nerves.

"Thanks, really appriciate it." You gave him a sweet smile as you watched him cut different sizes of your tattoo and asked for your hand. "Let's see which size looks best."

Daryl held the guessed sizes to the chosen spot on your arm. "I think the second one?" He took it and held it to your arm once again at your decision and after taking it in you decided it was good.

"Aight, go sit and I'll get it ready for ya." You followed his every move as he talked through the whole stencil making process and came back to you.

With minimal peach fuzz removal and proper cleaning the stencil was on your arm and you were admiring the idea of what it would look like when it was done.

You were ready to go.

Daryl's touches were featherlight, so precise and focused you were almost scared to speak from the moment he held tour wrist to place your arm on the stand beside the chair.

"M'gonna start, do a lil' line ta see how ya handle it." He rubbed something on the stenciled skin and moved the buzzing, inked up machine to your skin, keeping and eye on you as well but you barely gave a kick when he drew the first line.

Daryl gave you a proud smile and went to work. "Ya can ask ta tap out anytime, need ta keep ya as comforable as possible."

You watched his hands work your skin. The way the muscles in his arms tensed at every precise movement and the way his hair was tied back for the work was hypnotising to see. The outline was done before you knew it with how distracted you were by his own large collection of ink.

"How'r ya holdin' up? S'not so bad ain't it?" He came back with a glass of soda for you to give you both a little break.

You admired your arm, the skin all red from the scraping but it didn't hurt that bad. "I'm good." You started, giving yourself a moment to form a sentence. "You're so.. so much softer than you look?" God what were you saying? That was nowhere near a compliment.

"Ya thought we're all as loud as Merle? Loud music, loud angry mouth?" You shyly nodded as his correct assumption. He was being so sweet to you, making sure you were still good every few moments and it warmed your heart to know such kind people were still around. You just didn't think they looked like that.

With the way his heavy boots stomped through the room and the chains on his pants jingled with each step you'd expected short, snappy answers and the all black attire didn't feel welcoming at all before.

But now as you stared at him while he was answering a phone call you couldn't help but let your mind wander off.

You were mesmerised with the ink covering his throat, the wings that followed the natural lines of his body almost perfectly, and every other piece that disappeared into the neckline of his shirt. Even the nude lady laying over the top end of a knife on his lower arm was pretty to you, and you never though the silouhette of roadkill would hold your attention like it did.

"Didn't your mama ever teach ya it's rude ta stare?" You were so deep in thought you hadn't heard the door bell jingle when Merle came waltzing in. His voice pulled you from your daydreaming so fast you got embarrassed. With your head ducked down you glanced over at Daryl who was still on the phone, but he did look back at you with a smile and winked at you. He flipped off his brother with his free hand and went back to writing on a scrap piece of paper and ending the call.

"Ya see me on the phone from outside the window and ya still come in like tha'?"

Merle only laughed and went over to his station to set up for the day. Their back and forth bickering kept up for a bit but it didn't bother you with Daryl smiling through all of his comebacks.

"Darlene, when will ya learn it's still mah own shop, so I can do whatever the hell I want." Merle was at the printer, reading his client's designs while Daryl wiped the excess ink off your skin. "Your shop? Aight how 'bout ya start doin' all the supply orders too, then. Watch ya run outta paper towels halfway into a client's piece."

Merle only yammered some insult in return and went back to working in silence.

Now that his brother was finally quiet again Daryl could continue working without interuptions, having constatly removed the machine from your skin as he replied to the conversation.

A couple of times you thought he was done when he went to move away, but eaxh time it was small top ups and detailing, making sure all the small lines of fur were copied over from the stamped pawprint of your dearest friend were copied over onto your body.

"Ya still like me after today?" He was cleaning up his station while you were admiring his work in the mirror and saw him smile at you in a way that had your stomach do a flip in the best way, already thinking up a next piece so you could come back.

"Ofcourse I still like you! You got me exactly what I wanted, thankyou." You were back at his station, letting him clean your arm for the last time with his gentle touches, but not without a soft "Sorry." before wiping away the excess fluids and wrapping it up for you.

"I'll give ya this, tells ya how ta care fer new ink. And this, on the house." You accepted the paper and aftercare creme and made your payment before you shared goodbyes and you went on your way.

As planned you came back to the shop four weeks later to show the healed piece, not needing any touch ups and getting compliments on taking good care of it.

Instead of heading out immedately you stuck around, looking at the walls until Daryl's voice caught your attention. "Ya wanna ask somethin'?"

You looked at him before averting your gaze again, somehow feeling it was wrong to already ask for a new tattoo. You heard Daryl chuckle. "Ya want somethin' new, dontcha? Tell me whatya got in mind."

He had stopped to lean over the front counter and gave you a knowing smile. "Ya were starin' at the animals, want one o'them?" He looked over and pointed at the frame that held a part of his flash designs and you carefully mentioned liking the rabbit, but not the overall dark theme of the collection.

"Lemme draw ya a pretty bunny and i'll send ya the picture, 'kay?" You immediately loved the idea. The way Daryl's animal desings held so much emotion had you excited he was designing one just for you. "Yeah, that would be amazing. A softer, maybe less dead bunny." You smiled whe he slid over a piece of paper that held your info he copied from your previous appointment, but the phone number section still open. "Fill tha' in for me? Fer the books."

Maybe it wasn't the smoothest way to ask for your number, but he had it now along with a reason to text you.

Not long after you got your bunny, then came some flowers added around it and eventually you were getting custom pieces drawn by Daryl every time you had some money to spend.

Ofcourse it wasn't all you. Daryl had figured out where you worked and made sure to leave you very generous tips to add to your tattoo funds, just so Merle wouldn't figure out you weren't paying full price anymore now that you were getting so close.

"No way he just left you that much--" your work bestie squinted at you as your gaze followed Daryl out the door after he had paid way too much and headed out. "Is he your boyfriend?" You looked at her with a frown and swatted her arm. "Shut up, oh my god we're just friends.."

The truth was, you were both too scared to ask the other out, so seeing each other at the shop and the lunch place was what kept you both close for now.

A/N: This took so much longer than I planned, I hope the hype for this one hasn't left yet!!

[indigoflorals]

distraction - j.m & j.r 18+

jj maybank x reader x john b routledge

sum: jj offers his girl to his best friend after his rough breakup

warnings: oral (m), con/non-con, roughness, cum swallowing

𖥸

“You are the best fucking distraction, love.”

When Sarah had broken up with John B, everyone had felt the shift in him. He was noticeably absent from bonfires and keggers, and even JJ had gone days without seeing him. Generally, everyone knew something had to be done.

-

“You know you’re always the best at cheering me up baby. Why don’t you show John B some love, just for tonight, huh?” Your boyfriend’s fingers massaged your scalp lightly from his position on the couch where you knelt in front of him.

“JJ, she really doesn’t have to—“

Your boyfriend waved a hand at his best friends protest, using the other to stroke your face tenderly. “She wants to, doesn’t she baby?”

Your eyes met John B’s warm brown ones, and you nodded hesitantly.

“Don’t be all shy now, baby.” JJ’s soft hand on your cheek slid quickly to a hold underneath your chin. He harshly tilted your face up to make eye contact. “JB, you should see the shit she can do.”

“Only if she wants to,” John B mumbled almost inaudibly. You could see now that he was half hard through his cargo shorts. “If she’s really sure.”

“Oh she is,” Your boyfriend spoke for you, “Now be a good girl and show our friend everything you do for me.”

Your eyes flickered to your boyfriends blue ones, and a softness rose to his face. He was silently checking you for any reluctance.

Scooting from your position in front of the blond, you knelt in front of John B, your hands working fastidiously on his zipper.

A hand grasped your hair roughly, and you felt your boyfriends hot breath on your neck and ear. “Not so fucking fast.”

You whimpered in response, feeling a growing wetness between your own legs. Letting go of his zipper, you moved to palm his now fully erect dick through his shorts.

“Good girl.” JJ smiled at you from his position beside John B, “Keep doing what I say and you’ll be rewarded later.”

Placing kisses along his clothed erection, you could feel your friend take in a shaky breath. He was nervous, and rightfully so.

Your hands migrated now to his zipper for the real thing this time, and he sucked in a breath to hold.

“Relax JB, she’ll take great care of you.” A reassuring familiar hand rubbed your back as you pulled John B’s dick out of his shorts.

You felt him relax, sinking into the couch while taking a fistful of your hair.

It was easy to imagine then, that this was your boyfriend as your took his cock into your mouth, swirling your tongue around the tip. You rubbed your thighs together for friction desperately at the thought.

A groan reverberated through the brunets body. You took more of him into your mouth, moaning at his length.

“Don’t enjoy it too much,” A strong hand came down to smack your ass, “You’re still mine.”

Eager to please your boyfriend, you took all of his best friends cock into your throat in one go. Your eyes watered, and you held back a gag.

“Holy fuck,” John B whined at your throat contracting around him, “How the fuck does she do that?”

“Mm I told you man, s’magic.”

You bobbed your head furiously now, eliciting several moans from the man in front of you. Your hand snaked underneath to palm at his balls, and you felt him pulse in your mouth.

“Fuck,” JJ’s hand came roughly into your hair, and you were suddenly forced down to the base of John B’s cock. “Oh my fucking god.”

You gagged hard, but you boyfriends hand didn’t let up, continuing to face fuck you onto his best friends dick. “Good girl, baby. You’re doing a good job.”

With what strength you had left, you brought a hand to palm your boyfriend through his shorts, feeling how painfully hard he was at the sight of you sucking off his best friend.

“Fuck pretty girl. I’m cumming.” You swallowed against John B’s cock, making eye contact as you felt hot spurts of cum rush into your mouth.

In an instant you were pulled back by your hair, and a hand placed underneath your jaw, holding your mouth closed.

“Swallow his cum, now.”

You obeyed your boyfriends command, feeling the metallic and salty liquid slide down your throat.

Tears ran down your face, and you finally opened your mouth to take in a deep breath.

You watched as John B’s pulled himself back into his shorts, before kneeling down to place a loving kiss to your lips. Your boyfriend didn’t protest.

“Thank you guys, both of you. Really needed it.” He turned to JJ, flashing the smile you were happy to see again.

“Anytime JB,” You boyfriend pulled you to your feet. “Now, you wanna watch me fuck her?”

[mineonmain]

as @lurkingshan said earlier today, "Get bent, Maya"

I haven't been this pressed about a fictional character (antagonist???? she is one to me now!!) in a hot minute. Before I get into her in this ep, I wanna preface by saying that I do have the actual manga, but I wanted to finish watching the show before I went and read the manga for comparison, so that i'm going into this with basically an open mind. So I have no idea how this compares to the manga version of her.

Also if it wasn't clear, Spoilers for I Hear The Sunspot ep 7. Okay.

So it's the start of a new academic year, and we're introduced to freshman Maya, who is a Science major, is also Deaf/Hard of Hearing, and is Kohei's new tutee in the university as a result of having a mutual friend. That is the extent of what we know about her. Other than Kohei being her tutor and maybe a pseudo mentor/companion who can understand and appreciate her disability, they have absolutely no connection. They are not childhood friends or family.

Which begs the question, why on gods green earth is she so invested in what Kohei does or doesn't do, and who he is or isn't with???

Lady, he doesn't know you. He doesn't owe you anything, because you objectively mean nothing to him. So you've grown up with a really severe and isolating disability, I get it. But that's not a good enough reason to become so bitter that you decide to become judge jury executioner on every (visibly) abled person's morals. (Which is so incredibly telling, judging people on how visibly disabled they look or act, when you have a disability that is fairly invisible, unless you can see hearing aids or a cochlear implant or something like that. Interesting how that works, huh.) (Having a disability doesn't give you a free pass to be an asshole.)

Maybe, just maybe, you're allowed to act like that based on how people act towards you. But what gives you the right to walk up to the friend of a friend (??) that you absolutely know nothing about, and mete out judgement? To decide how that person is allowed to interact with someone else, a someone else that you have no claim or authority over?

Oh, but god forbid that Kohei have a friend who doesn't treat him like a social leper, who doesn't have every interaction of theirs revolve around Kohei's deafness, who for once makes him feel included and normal.

Kohei is a grown ass man, who can make his own decisions, including his own mistakes. Who are you to suddenly come into his life and make decisions for him without his involvement, consent, or approval? And who says that any person who is friends with someone with a disability has to be physically and morally perfect?

How dare you?

If I were to sum up my biggest issues with Maya, it is in the way she talks. It's entirely indicative and reflective of how she views and interacts with society. One of the first things that Kohei tells Taichi is that he is able to understand what someone else is saying if they speak slowly, partially by listening and partially by lip reading. it's a small accommodation that we even see Taichi's friends making for Kohei. That means that when anyone talks they should talk clearly, and slowly, and try to enunciate their words properly. If we look at the way Maya talks, she barely opens her mouth at all. If I didn't know any better i'd have thought it was ADR. Given she is someone who has lived with the same sort of disability that Kohei has, she would require similar accessibility needs. And yet, while she expects the world around her to accommodate her needs, she doesn't accommodate for the world. She expects people to speak in a way that she can understand, but she won't do the same.

I'm assuming that the narrative point of Maya criticising Taichi right now is so that we get to see him go on a growth journey, where he'll become more passionate and dedicated about learning note-taking and even maybe signing (and advocating for the deaf community as an ally), and not just be a passive friend who seemingly 'takes advantage' of Kohei, and in the process become the person that Kohei truly needs, and not the person Taichi thinks is good enough.

But here's the thing. I don't care if Taichi has any growth or not. I don't care if he changes or doesn't change to maintain his friendship and relationship with Kohei. I don't care if he tries to become someone that Maya (and Kohei) can approve of.

Because Kohei already likes him the way he is.

And it's none of Maya's goddamn business. Get bent

[autisticlancemcclain]

parts one two three

———

The first emotion Keith feels, immediately upon waking, is intense dread.

And if that doesn’t sum up the day he’s about to have. Fuck’s sake.

He already feels pretty guilty about yesterday. Besides the fact that Lance is his right hand man — they’re supposed to have each other’s backs, and Keith definitely didn’t have Lance’s, because even though Lance wasn’t in the right he wasn’t in the wrong either — and they’re supposed to be leading this as a team, Keith knows part of the reason things fell apart so quickly is because he didn’t talk to Lance last night. He probably couldn’t’ve convinced Lance to kill the beast, obviously, but they could have definitely explored some different angles together. By letting things fester, Keith pretty much ensured that Lance was going to come up with some elaborate, dangerous scheme that was going to cost them an alliance, and worse, possibly get Lance hurt or killed. (Lance had a good track record with dangerous animals, sure, but this is a beast. The thing sounded like a mix between a polar bear and a dragon. There’s only so much Lance can do, uncanny abilities or not.)

But what’s done is done. Keith can’t very well redo yesterday and make Lance un-mad at him and everyone else, so he’ll have to make do with what he’s got.

And what he’s got is first shift on make-sure-Lance-doesn’t-mutiny-duty.

Fuck, Keith thinks as he makes his way out of his room, this is going to be the Actual Worst.

As usual, Keith is one of the first people on the bridge. Unusually, Lance is next. (Usually he is last, and also late).

“Hey, Lance,” Keith says, trying to muster up a smile.

Surprisingly, Lance beams right back. “Hello, Numb — uh,” his smile falters. “I mean, hi there, Mullet.”

Keith slumps. “I’m still Mullet, huh.”

Lance nods.

“You reckon I’ll work my way back up to Keith, soon? I’ll do anything, you know I will. I’ll even try your horrible face mask with you.”

To his further surprise — Lance must have actually slept well, or something — Lance smiles again, and this time it’s soft even to Keith’s eyes.

“Really? You would do that?”

“I’d do anything for you,” Keith says, and it’s more than he means to.

Lance frowns, and Keith’s heart sinks for the millionth time in just a few hours.

“Except help me save an innocent animal’s life,” he says, and there’s nothing Keith can say to that.

They sit in tense silence until the rest of the paladins arrive.

Shiro counts them once they do, like they’re kindergarteners and he’s a very tired EA, and furrows his brow when he finishes.

“Six. Including me. Who are we — where’s Coran?”

“He said he’ll be here in a few dobashes,” Lance says. “A calibrator broke down in the control room somewhere — nothing urgent, but he wants to get it fixed to get it out of the way. He’ll be back before we’re gone long.”

“That’s fine. Thank you, Lance,” Allura says, transparently trying to ease the tense line of his shoulders, a little.

It does not work. Lance sets his jaw and looks away.

Allura sighs. “I’m sorry, Lance,” she tries. “I know this is hard for you. If it were possible, and we had more time, we’d find another way.”

“Whatever.”

Keith decides that enough is probably enough. Allura and Shiro look genuinely dejected and apologetic, and both Pidge and Hunk look upset.

“Look, Lance, this situation sucks for everyone, okay? It sucks. We’re going to do what we can. If we get to the situation in question and we can actually manage to fix things without killing the beast, then that’s what we’ll do, okay? We’ll do our best.”

Lance exhales, shoulders slumping. He looks… guilty, and his guilt certainly does nothing to appease Keith’s.

“Sorry,” Lance mutters. “I know this is hard for everyone.”

Keith swallows the lump in his throat. He genuinely can’t remember the last time a non-major battle mission sucked so unequivocally for everyone involved, but Jesus Christ.

“Let’s just go,” he says, and everyone nods before following him off the castle and to the wet, humid heat of the planet.

———

part four

[thechillsquid]

Writing for Blind Eyes, Stan and McGucket edition:

McGucket admittedly got distracted by how the inside of Ford’s cabin was looking these days, much more disorganized and messy, that’s for sure. What had it been, a month perhaps since he’d last been in here?

He almost forgot about Ford’s twin all together until the fellar cleared his throat.

“…so,” the other man started drily, “…little triangle guy show up to you, too, huh?”

Fiddleford snorted softly, leaning back in his chair to run a hand through his hair, “Ya could say that, bout sums it up… Cipher try the whole ‘I can give yer anyt’ing ya want’ speel?”

“Hah, didn’t even let the fucker get half way through til I told’m to can it.”

He nodded approvingly, a weak smile managing to stay on his face longer than a few seconds. It crumbled just a moment later though, “N’yet… here we is, tryin’ to figure out the darn portal…”

“Yer… yer gonna help with it?”

“Ford ain’t gonna get out by himself,” he ignored the guilty wince, he didn’t blame the guy, accidents happened too often around here, “Though I still ain’t so sure what’ll happen when we do manage it.”

“That Bill guy wants it opened… I doubt for Ford’s sake, ya know what the weirdo would gain from it?”

He had an inkling, one terrible inkling. He swallowed, “The portal, well with how’s it work and all, it essentially tears through the very fabric of reality, ain’t exactly too far conceived that that is somethin’ Bill would want.”

Stan moved to rub a hand down his face, looking about as tired as Fiddleford felt, “So what then, huh? We get the brainiac back and end the damn world while we’re at it?”

“I… I don’t know.”

They fell into a tense silence, Fiddleford moving to tug at his fingers tensely. It really was a whole mess, wasn’t it? He looked up, opened his mouth to say something when Stan beat him to it.

“Ya drink liquor at all?”

He raised an eyebrow before snorting, “You ain’t a light weight like yer brother are ya?”

“Ha! Nope, been working on a beer gut and everything,” Stan rolled his eyes and got up to rummage through a nearby cabinet, “Whiskey good with you? Its cheap shit, but eh.”

“Whatever does the job, I ain’t picky bout it.”

Stan nodded approvingly, “Cheers to that, ice?”

“Just pour me my shots and I don’t care.”

The bottle was set down and a shot slid his way, Stan raised his glass and Fiddleford didn’t even hesitate before clinking it.

[valscodblog]

"ℙ𝕀𝕊𝕋𝕆𝕃𝔸" an Alejandro Vargas x OC; Pt 1

Warnings: Non really-just some. Not for this part at least. Just some vulgar language and a very very very very slight mention of past attempted murder. Oh, and refusal to move on. (not like-romanticly, like rant wise.)

OC: Maria "Pistola" Sanchez

Credits to OC: Myself C:

Tags: @writing-with-moss @thebunnednun @seconds-over-first @needa-sum-luvn and @skauni oh and wth why not!? @spicy-seaweed

"I love how she does this!" "I love how she does that!" "Ohh, she performs so well, how is she only a corp?"

Like she needed reminding of why she never tired to move up. Of Why she tried to make herself seem stupid and weak...but every single time she went into battle-she was reminded.

"Maria's one of the best-i recommend-" but she wasn't listening anymore. This is why she and Alejandro never saw eye to eye-he tired to convince her to let him write to the General to move her up-she always said no. She didn't want to be seen-seeing as she was forced into this life. "Ay, Cállate, Alejandro! I'm not the best of the best and you know this," she said, cutting him off in the middle of this stupid meeting. Alejandro put one eyebrow up-so high it arched in the middle and made him look ever so dangerous. "Delscupme?"

She bit her lower lip and said, "Nada...Nada." "Yo creio que...y, Si has terminado, María..." Maria nodded, and tuned out his voice again. Rudy was going to use her as a toll during this mission and she already knew that-he always did. Rudy was nice, sure, but he had a levrage on Maria no one else did. Her past. She looked at Rudy-and he looked back, smiling. El Pendejo. She forced a smile back at him before looking down at her lap-"Maria! Are you even listening to me, amor?" "Si, si, claro que si." Alejandro hummed before saying, "What did I just say then?" "You said i was to work with Rudy-otra ves-and-" "No. I did not. I said you are to work with el nuevo teniente."

"There's a new one?" Maria asked, quirking a brow up, and crossing her arms over her chest-oh if only she knew the affect she had on him. Alejandro took a deep breath before saying, "Si, there's a new one. Ghost, they call him. You've never met him-but we're changing that...you'll also be working with another sergeant-Soap." Maria held back on hell of a barking laugh. "SOAP? ¿Jabón? they call him that? Why?" "no se, now. If your done talking back, we'll leave to meet your new partners." "Fine, fine..."

Alejandro picked up a file and said, "This is for the-" "I dont want to know, Alejandro. Nor do i want to, Pendejo." Alejandro sighed, "You still mad at me for that?" "Yes i am." "I told you-you succeed that mission, you were moving up whether you liked it or not!" "Yo se! Pero-I told you why i don't want to!" "And I don't care! The forms are sent-long over due-and el general-" "I don't care! No me importa!"

And they walked off in silence. Maria's anger known to all those who saw her-Alejandro's too. "Why are you like this, chica?" "Be-" "Don't give me no sassy response, quagliò." "...im going to kill you, Vargas." "Try it, muchacha. I dare you." "...Vete a la mierda, Alejandro."

"Ghost...is the one with the skull mask, si? ...How do we know he ain't part of el sin nombre's ranks?" Maria asked, eyeing the new Lt. Alejandro sighed. "Laswell recommended him. Same with Price." Maria was still skeptical but she nodded. "Okay..." "Just-go meet him, huh?" "Fine." She walked over to him and said, "Ghost, i take it?" the tall man nodded. "You must be Pistola." "that I am."

"Why do they call you that, eh?" ghost asked, Maria smiled, "Should I show you, Pendejo?" "Ay! That's enough, Mari-Pistola." Maria glared at Rudy and he fixed her name halfway through. "Mari, her name's Mari?" the other one asked, the one with a mohawk. She shook her head. "Dumb nickname they call me," she lied smoothly. "Short for my real name-which you idiotos will not be receiving whatsoever-so don't ask." Alejandro frowned at Maria before raising his eyebrows.

'Play nice.' That's what the look meant. She frowned back before sighing. If that CIA lady said that they could trust these two...No. Should she trust again it would be the end of her world. No, she won't play nice. She'll play cold. She'll play harsh. And she'll play Dirty. She nodded at Alejandro, who was now walking over before looking at the one with a mohawk. "You-Mohawk. You a punk rocker or somethin'?" And he blinked. "Scottish. That's wha' aye am." She hummed. "Scotland, huh? What part?" "That's private." "My bad-just tryna...i dunno, be nice or whatever," she said, shrugging. Soap nodded, "I get it, i doo, just doon't ask my home yeah?" "Yeah-sure."

"Oye, Pistola, ven." "Si, senor."

"Que?" "Maria, por favor, I know your scared of-" "Shut up." "Exscuse-" "Shut. Up, Alejandro. I'm scared yes, But do I want Rudy or the rest of LOs Vaqueros knowing that? No!" "Why are you scared, Amor? Soy aqui-" "Yo se! Yo se, okay, Alejandro? Pero-Yo-" she took a deep breath, "They could work for my uncle and we wouldn't never know." Alejandro sighed, "Your never goinf to let that go are you?" "You think Imma just-forgive mi tio for trying to kill the both of us?" "...No. Not when you put it like that...but he's the genaral of Mexico! What are we going to do? Plus-their flags say-" "Undercovers! They could be undercovers!"

Alejandro looked at Maria-really looked at her for the first time since recruiting her eleven years ago and his eyes went wide.

"...You don't trust me, do you?"

And she shook her head. Eleven years-and she never trusted him. Not once. Not during the nights they spent alone-not during the missions they took, not during any of it. She never had trusted him.

"Is this why they call you Pistola? Because your like a bullet to the heart, Corazon?"

[moonbyulsstuff]

Hi! If it's okay may I please request the Hobin Yu squad (Viral Hit) with a Spider-Man reader? Like, reader is a member of their channel, they run into Spider-Man one day, they get all excited then they recognize the reader's voice.

You're Spid- SHH!!

Male Reader.

Requested.

Request Rules.

Masterlist.

[Name] swung from building to building, recently having save a group of hostages from a robbing. He took out his phone and saw the text from Taehun.

'Oi, dork. Where the hell are you? We've been waiting for you almost an hour.'

He landed safely on the ground and began to text back to Taehun, basically apologizing and that he'll be there quickly. He can't just outright say that he was off fighting as Spider-Man.

[Name] sent the text and sighed to himself in the mask, he was about to go to the bathroom to change out of his suit. But stopped in his tracks when he heard a group of voice call out to him.

"Spider-Man?" He slowly turned around and saw his group of friends, standing there with mouth agape and eyes widened. 'Shit..' He thought as he waved awkwardly at them. "Hi...?" They went into frenzies as Rumi and Hobin went up to him, asking him questions right in his face with a huge excited smile on their faces.

"Oh my god!! I'm a huge fan!" "What are you doing here?!" "I'm Hobin Yu! The one behind the Viral Hit channel!" [Name] sweatdropped as he took a step back from the two. "I-I know.. I have seen your channel before..." [Name] said as Hobin fanboyed while Taehun tilted his head when he heard Spider-Man's voice.

"Where did you just came from?" Snapper asked. "O-Oh... just came back from fighting some robbers..." [Name] said as Snapper ooh'ed as Gyeoul then began to throw punches. "Did you give them a good beating? Like this.. and that...?" Gyeoul said before Wangguk held her fists as [Name] chuckled. "Yeah.. sorta like that.." He said as he put his hand on his hips.

While the group excitedly conversely with [Name] who was behind the Spider-Man mask, Taehun continued to observe Spider-Man. Just by hearing his voice, he could be reminded of [Name].

He took out his phone and saw the last text from [Name], which basically can be summed up to him apologizing and he'll be here soon as he got caught up by something. Maybe Taehun was overthinking but once he observed [Name] voice.

There was a telling in his gut that Spider-Man was [Name], but now that he thinks about it... yeah... he could be.. he observed minor things from [Name] but never really thought it further until now.

"Can I get autograph?" Hobin asked as he took out a paper and pen from his pocket which made [Name] sweatdropped. "Do you always carry that with you...?" He asked as Hobin chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, hoping someday I could meet you.." "Hey.." They looked at Taehun who walked up to [Name] and stood in front of him. "Don't go and try to beat him up Taehun..." Rumi said as Taehun ignored her words. "Is something wrong..?" [Name] asked tilting his head, sweating nervously at what Taehun was going to do. "You... how come you two sound so familiar?" He asked as [Name] froze as the group looked at Taehun in confusion, [Name] gulped. "Huh? What are you even saying Taehun?" Gaeul asked as [Name] was nervously shaking, Taehun chuckled and rolled his eyes. "I'm surprised, we know the guy for months now... and both of them sound eerily similar.." Taehun said looking down at [Name].

The group looked at Taehun and then at [Name], back to Taehun and then to Taehun. Sorta confused at whatever the hell Taehun was implying.

"What do you mean Taehun? Can you just outright say us?" Hobin asked as the others nodded, Taehun chuckled. "What I'm saying is that this Spider-guy and [Name] sound eerily similar.." [Name] bit his lip.

"Huh? You've gotta be joking Taehun." "There's no way.."

They said, denying it but the more they thought it about it. The more Taehun made sense, [Name] and Spider-Man does sound familiar. Hobin looked at [Name].

"[Name]... is that you...?" The said male was nervously sweating behind his mask, if he deny it know, they'll only press on to it further and they're not idiots. Once someone mentions it up, it'll be the topic.

They looked at [Name] who was sweating behind mask before he sighed and eventually took off the mask. They let out gasp when they saw [Name] face behind the mask, he smiled nervously at them.

"Hey guys..." "[Name]?!" Taehun chuckled, seeing that he was right watching as the group bombarded [Name] with questions.

"Seems I was right.."

[wmnwntmefshfrme]

"..H-huh..? Who...?"

pov: you're Robin and you walked in a random orphan's room bc you heard someone crying

OK, SO, i really wanted to draw this one part from Yaira's backstory where Robin and Yaira first meet. it's mentioned in her revamped backstory post but the text above pretty much sums it up

i was laughing at myself and saying "DOES SHE LOOK OK TO YOU ROBIN???" while writing the dialogue. i love Robin, man

fun fact: the dress Yaira's wearing is one that her mother gave her. it was one of her favorite dresses and is coincidentally the one she wore the day her mom disappeared. she still has it to this day and keeps it neatly folded up in a pretty little box under her bed. she almost cries everytime she sees it and would be devastated if it went missing

ANOTHER fun fact: the cross Yaira wears is her mother's. Estrella gave Yaira the cross a few days before she went missing because she felt something bad was gonna happen to her and she wanted Yaira to have one last thing to remember her by

[arcadiabaytornado]

Live Playing Double Exposure Chapter 1 Part 2 (Except I’m not live playing because I forgot to post this when I was live playing. 😅)

A: Theory: It’s an alternative universe version of Max leaving the polaroids around.

B: I hate the owl imagery given the last time we got owl imagery it was during the barn in the first game.

C: The sound design on this game is great. I don’t know how I feel about the actual songs, but the sound design is great.

D: Safi just…sitting slumped over like that after getting shot was super fucking eerie holy shit.

E: Man. They’re really rubbing Chloe and Max’s “forever” in our noses huh.

F: It’s so sad to know that Chloe and Max were never the same after the storm. I mean, you know they wouldn’t be, but it seemed like they were doing okay in LIS 2. :(

G: “If I could undo your death I would do it without a second thought” I’m going to analyze the hell out of this line later because holy shit it’s crazy for Max to say that.

H: Max’s avoidant tendencies are stressing me out. Don't get wrong they make perfect sense for her characters, but I'm still stressed all the same. Like, PLEASE let people share in your grief. PLEASE talk to Safi's Mother.

I: Max having a dark room made my stomach drop. I know it’s perfectly normal for a photographer to have a room like that, but to see the words “dark room” in a LIS game made my stomach flip. It sure is a character note that it's not a "dark room" "dark room" though, it's more of a laundry room.

J: What??? So Max just saw her friend get murdered and now she's getting dressed up cute for her crush??? I'm glad we get to see Max's house...but that was a...weird scene transition.

K: I have so much to say about the journal, but I'm going to have to make a full post on it because I just can't quickly sum up my feelings here.

L: Okay. So Chloe broke up with Max due to storm trauma basically. Because that’s what I’m taking from this.

M: YEARS. Max and Chloe have been broken up for YEARS?? I can’t think clearly about the timelines right now but does that mean they broke up not to long after LIS 2?

N: “You need to eat Max” I’m won over.

O: “Friend?” The way Max says that is devastating.

P: There’s celestial stuff all over the box! That seems relevant.

Q: I feel Reggie on a spiritual level.

R: I love that you can decide if Max is a tea or coffee drinker. I choose tea!

S: “You’re the real storm.” Max flashbacking to her nightmare. :((((((

T: It feels so cool to see Max’s work around campus. But seeing that Max’s first photo outside of Arcadia was one of a ruined dinner kills me considering she was likely thinking of Joyce and Warren.

U: Did Max just say “chucklefucks” LMAO

V: I feel like this game is going to age poorly given the amount of meme references.

W: Does Max have some chemistry with Vinh or am I insane??

X: Already love Gwen. In fact I’m so in love with her that I found her book in the library immediately, but decided to pick the lock to impress her.

Y: I’m also down to romance Vinh, and I think he’s a love interest? If he is then I’m going with Amanda in this save, but Vinh will get a flirty Max in the other one!

Z: It makes me laugh so hard that you can choose whether Max is ACAB or not.

[ineffablydelighted]

[How exploring the Ineffable Husbands' dynamic in Good Omens can help us figure out what the show/book is all about, Part 3.1/?]

Also called: This human has, apparently, too much time on her hands and will be trying to Effable the Ineffable for [...] hours.

Hiya, Angels! 👋

Hope you're all doing well!

First of all, if you randomly came across this analysis, I guess you would expect me to entice you to read the first two parts beforehand... And you would be absolutely right.

"Obviosleh."

And since I'm nice [and because I fully understand the importance of saving people as much effort as possible to catch a larger audience - Duh 😇], here are the links for Part 1 and Part 2 🥰 so that everyone is on the same page as we dive into Part 3.

As I previously announced, we'll dissect our favorite pair's next two encounters today which are S1 3004 BC (Noa's Arch, The Flood) and S2 2500 BC (Job's ca-

[future me rereading this before dropping - Yep, nope, not happening just yet]

By doing that, I will try my best to prove to you the main point of my analysis I've revealed at the end of Part 2.

Repeat after me: Good Omens is a philosophical essay disguised as comedic/satyric/romantic fiction.

[Yeah... here she is, already giving orders strong recommendations... I'm so Metatroning you right now.]

[And, since I'm at my best when I'm Metatroning people, this is the moment I'm gonna take to strongly recommend you to ingest the human matter of your choosing - Num num num.]

*In Crowley's voice* OOookaay, let's start!

3004 BC (Mesopotamia - Noa's Arch, The Flood)

In S1, Right before this encounter happens, the scene starts by making us, the audience, witness Aziraphale very badly lying to God about the flaming sword, an event that I already mentioned in part 2 because of the contrast it was considering he did tell the truth to a newly Demonized Crawley in comparison.

BUT [Yay, first "but" of Part 3! Are you having fun?], I really want to talk about this bit some more because that remains one of the scenes that, to this day, bugs me THE MOST in Good Omens as a whole.

To sum things up, you're telling me that GOD:

BOTHERED to pop in to ask one of their Angels a question.

That the said Angel seemed suuuuper anxious about from the start: looking everywhere aimlessly, almost asking them WHAT A DAMN SWORD EVEN WAS... basically giving away EVERY TELLTALE SIGN, both in their voice, mannerisms, and the simple fact that they were literally back to the wall, that they were about to LIE, proceeded to give God the UNanswerest answer EVER:

"Oh, must have, uh, must have put it down here somewhere."

And God just... just... LEFT THAT LYING ANGEL ALONE?! Just as quickly as they arrived?! No arguments, no further questions, no reckoning, just... NOTHING. HAPPENED?!

HUH?

WOT?!

WHO?!

WHO THE F DOES THAT?!

WHO DOES THAT?! That is a real question! WHO?!

IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY. SENSE!

THE F-

I mea-

I'll never recover from it.

Oof. Okay, I'm fini-

I NEED an answer in Season 3! This is all I ask! I don't need the world to be saved, I don't need Alpha Centauri, man, I don't even need Aziracrow to reuni- [okay, no, can't say that, even if I like being dramatic, I take that back, this is all I want and all I've ever wanted, please, I just need to see Aziraphale in a white dress and Crowley demanding him to remove his 200 yo jacket on top of it because it "absolutely ruins it", please!] I. NEED. ANSWERS.

*clears her throat* Yeah. So. I'm perfectly fine with this scene. Moving on!

Aziraphale and Crawley meet in Mesopotamia during the year 3004 BC.

Crawley is the first to notice and to greet Aziraphale VERY enthusiastically. Which is, first of all, cute, but also an indicator that they haven't seen each other in a very long time, more precisely, since Eden (a thousand years prior to be exact). We know that because the first thing Crawley says after his "Hello, Aziraphale!" is the direct continuation of their conversation back in Eden:

"So, giving the mortals a flaming sword. How did that work out for you?"

Aziraphale answers what will never cease to bug me:

"The Almighty has never actually mentioned it again."

Which still peaks my interest because it could mean two things, and pretty different things at that:

One, God and Aziraphale never directly interacted again and nobody from the Main Office ever asked him about the flaming sword at all, which made Aziraphale believe that God never asked them anything about it.

OR

Two, God and Aziraphale DID directly interact again but the flaming sword subject has never been brought up once more.

Given the way this sentence is constructed and the emphasis on "actually mentioned it again," I'm more inclined to believe in the second option, which would be a very interesting thing to pounder:

Aziraphale might have a "privileged" relationship with God considering they probably interacted somewhat directly and more than once.

I'll go back to it later because we need to keep that in mind for the Job's case encounter.

Crawley says that it is "probably a good thing" until his attention is drawn to what is happening around them.

Then, they will debate the subject of the day, which is pretty much the same thing as before but formulated differently and condensed:

What is the point of Good and Bad? Do these concepts even have a meaning or not?

The main difference between the two previous encounters compared to this one is that this time, Aziraphale and Crawley are both active in the debate and do find common grounds here and there. It is shown cinematographically: they share the screen.

Aziraphale explains to Crawley that God got "a bit tetchy" and wants to drown the human race (well, at least the Middle Eastern humans) and Crawley takes that announcement astonishingly, which still aligns with his creator-at-heart persona.

"All of them?"

Insists Crawley.

Aziraphale first tries to mitigate what appears to Crawley as an extreme reaction by stating that Noah, his family, and their spouses will be spared but you can see that he, himself, doesn't really believe in what he tries to say.

"But they're drowning everybody else?"

Crawley really, really cannot comprehend what is happening.

"Not the kids. You can't kill kids."

This reminds us of their very first meeting because Crawley, here, judges God and tries to put himself in their place. Again.

Aziraphale answers with a worried nod: both because he is scared (his Fear of God cannot be anything but present at that moment) and because... he agrees.

And THEN, Crawley says that:

"Well, that's more the kind of thing you'd expect my lot to do."

Now that Aziraphale is more inclined to be part of the debate, Crawley tends to be more forthright about his opinion:

If God can do what Satan and his demons do, what is the point of separating the two? Are they, really, that different?

And, more so:

Is God a Good being anyway?

If Good or Bad exists, of course. [Oh, yes, I know I'm annoying. 100% aware. 😁]

To Aziraphale, it is clearly the case, and that is why he tries, again, to mitigate God's actions:

"The Almighty's going to put up a new thing, called a rainbow. As a promise not to drown everyone again."

A rainbow, huh? How interesting...

A rainbow is basically a demonstration of the union between Water and Fire. God and Satan. Good and Bad. Blah blah blah.

Almost as if...

Nahhh...

Almost as if they both needed to exist at all times!

Also, Aziraphale almost sounds like he is interpreting the rainbow as God's excuse for having a tantrum.

Which Crawley responds with a very sarcastic:

"How kind."

That's when Aziraphale cannot bring himself to follow Crawley's opinion any further (even if it is clearly shown he DOES agree, he is just SCARED to be).

After telling Crawley that he cannot judge God, that's when the "Ineffable" word is brought up again. This time, by Crawley. Because he already knows what Ineffable means to Aziraphale:

I am not important, or mighty enough to judge God and I am not supposed to. I am supposed to do what I am told, no questions asked.

Does it sound repetitive? Yeah, because it is 😅 That is Good Omen's main theme, after all.

This story is, as I mentioned before, a satire. Of religion, but also, of the concept of hierarchy, and the danger of ideologies as a whole. "Ineffable" is an ideology. "Ineffable" literally means "so emotionally overwhelming and powerful that you cannot translate into words"...

But Good Omens wants to bring you to ask yourself: cannot or don't want to?

Aziraphale is a character who doesn't want to think by himself because he is scared of a higher power (hierarchy). But he cannot just... stop thinking. Oppositely to Crowley, who kind of always, naturally had that ability.

Therefore, that makes it difficult for the both of them to understand each other [Oh yes, we'll talk about that further when we finally talk about that S2 finale that left us traumatized. According to my rhythm and how my Muse is an erratic bench, I'd say this conversation will occur in about a year or two.] Just as it is difficult for any of us to understand the people who think dramatically differently than us. Good Omens is an invitation to debate with people who do not share our views. That is how we stay open-minded and prompt to change.

Basically, folks: don't blindly stay in the boxes you're in.

Hierarchy is heavily criticized too, because it is a big cause - if not the main one - of people staying put in their respective boxes. Religion is a box among many others, hence the fact I prefer to say that GO mocks ideologies as a whole.

But hierarchy can be different things, and, more so, can use many different tones towards its subordinates: hierarchy can be nice, and affectionate (family, for instance - or not, definitely not always). Hierarchy can also be threatening, physically or mentally, or both (dictatorship, for instance).

Basically: hierarchy can either come from love or fear.

Or... well, both. That's how you get... propaganda? That is the most blatant example that came to my mind. We tend to associate love with good. We also tend to forget how often love has been used as a weapon.

Good and bad are...

[You know the end of the sentence, now, do you? If not, it means I haven't harassed you enough, so let me remind you]

Good and Bad are always mixed up. If they exist.

Anyway, I feel like I'm starting to digress.

.... Actually? I'm not done with that segment just yet.

[You right now.]

Hierarchy can also come from... habits. History. Some hierarchies that we are under today are still there because of how long they have been installed, but not really because they are that relevant anymore. I am not going to bring examples here because I do not want to offend anybody and because you are more than capable of interpreting this statement in a way that speaks to you.

We'll talk about this more when we'll reach the... Jim/Gabriel subject. [In about a year and a half.]

ANYWAY. Moving on to a lighter reflection:

Romantically speaking, Aziraphale remembers that encounter because Crawley displayed strong empathy and concern during that whole meeting.

He asked Aziraphale how he was after the flaming sword incident,

He could not comprehend how killing kids was okay,

He bothered to alert Noah about the escaping unicorn.

[Also, maybe, because damn - Also, it might come as a surprise to you who have seen me fangirling over Crowley for the last 3 parts but my favorite is actually Aziraphale 🤣]

After this conversation, The Flood starts and neither of them is protecting the other from it. Because of habits (after a thousand years spent on earth, they know this will not hurt any of them), but also as a way to tell us, the audience: they have started to realize they were in this together.

[Insert the "We're all in this together" Disney's High School Musical song right here... Yeah! I'm a Millennial, how could you possibly have guessed?!]

They are Equals.

Another really important topic in Good Omens, by the way, but it is time to dive into one of my favorite encounters between Aziraphale and Crowley and-

Huhhhh. I feel like analyzing two meetings including a whole episode in only one part might feel too heavy (to me, at least). So... I guess see you next time? 😅

Bye, Angels!

[No, no, I'm not saying you are "sssuckersss" okay? Just wanted a Crowley gif.]

Need help to find the rest of this analysis? I've got you covered! Follow me, Angel 😇

Previous - Beginning - Next

[atombonniebaby]

Hey...I'm still here...FO4 just has my undivided attention right now...🙌🏻🙌🏻

Mac goes and does this today...

Macready: What was this place for… storytime or something?

MacCready: Hi, I'm MacCready... Been drinking since I was six. Never looked back

I'm playing through chapter 3 of Sim Settlements 2, and Mac keeps finding the idle animation markers!

Here...have some "Mac does randoms stuff and I love him for it." snaps that I've wrangled up some words for!(I've also been trying to find a use for that one pic where Mac is getting scolded by his dads...)

Nate: Right ye sticky fingered wee bam...I'm down 3 bottles eh Whiskey, and Jacob here's been tellin' me a third eh the budget seems to have mistakenly been spent on cigarettes...now I know geein' ye a talkin' tae won't do didly squat... MacCready: Get to the point, boss...I got stuff to do! Nate:Okay...nae need to get crabbit...especially when there's a bunch eh caps at stake here... MacCready: Bunch of caps, huh? Okay, hotshot. Spill it... Nate: Aye...I thought that might tickle your fancy...so, how's about a wee wager? One week without a dram or a smoke passin through that smart mouth eh yours and there'll be a tidy sum at the end for ye? MacCready: A'right old man... name your price? Nate: 500 caps... and Jake's gonna lay aff the coffee...he'll pocket another 50 for every day he cannae hack it... Jake: Woah...woah...Now... hold on a dang minute, Slick! I never... Nate: Ye no remember? I said I'd move Aiden to another floor? As far away from ye as possible? Jake: Oh...oh, yeah! Now I remember...One week...whaddya say, son? MacCready: Oh man, I love the sound a pile of caps makes.

MacCready finds a few ways to keep busy...

The time flies ...

MacCready: The only thing better than getting a bunch of caps is spending a bunch of caps.

Nate gets another week before it's back to the 'phantom cigarette pose' and daily repetitions of...

"Man, I could really use a cigarette."

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Imaginary Friend

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Twenty-Eight

A JSE Fanfic

This one's a bit of a hodgepodge of scenes. First, the group gets together to talk about what happened on Christmas and what they learned. Then, they take a day trip to Ireland to finally track down this Jack guy that Jackie mentioned. And then, Chase wants to talk with JJ. And yeah, this is a pretty low-stakes chapter when compared to the last two. The kids are just learning more about the Circle and Anti and wondering what to do. Alright, hope you enjoy! :D

Previous Episode | More of this AU | From the Start | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

++++++++++++++++++++

“Alright.” Jackie sat down at the table, setting down a few sweets bags. “We have snacks. Full of sugar for your brains. Now... let’s talk about the Christmas incident.”

The kids were sitting around Chase’s dining room table. Mom was at work, but she would probably be back soon, so they didn’t have much time to discuss things. “What did you two learn when you were in the car?” Schneep asked, looking at Chase and JJ.

“Uh, well, uh...” Chase thought about it. Christmas was a few days ago, but he still very clearly remembered that brief moment in the car before JJ got them out of there. “Well, they were going to take us to city hall. So that probably means that there are Circle people there, right?”

“I guess that’d make sense,” Marvin says, idly tearing open one of the bags of candy. “If there are Circle people all over the city in important places, of course they’d be in, like, the most important place.”

And if people working for the city are part of the Circle, that means they can make sure the Circle stays hidden, JJ added.

“Did you figure out what the Circle really wants?” Stacy asked. “I know that we found those papers that mean they’re doing stuff with the Fissures, but why?”

“Well, uh... They said that they wanted to take away Marvin’s powers,” Chase said.

Marvin stopped messing with the candy bag and looked up in alarm. “H-huh?!”

“They didn’t say that exactly,” Chase quickly added. “I mean, they didn’t mention you. Because they thought JJ was doing it, so they said they were gonna make it so he couldn’t do any greenlight stuff. But that means that if the Circle finds out that you can do greenlight stuff, then they’ll want to stop you from doing it. Get it?”

Marvin nodded slowly, though his eyes were still wide-open in shock. “But... I like my magic.”

“I don’t think the Circle cares if you ‘like’ your magic,” Jackie muttered.

“Why would they get rid of Marvin’s greenlight powers?” Schneep asked. 

“They, uh... they said something about how it shouldn’t be in your body,” Chase said. “Because it can mutate animals and stuff. Which is kinda true, I guess. Remember the monster dog?”

“Well it is not exactly in Marvin’s body, we think,” Schneep said. “It is in the tiny crystal dust in his scars.”

“Yeah! And that’s a lot more badass than just having it mutate me!” Marvin said determinedly. 

They also said that they don’t want anyone to know about greenlight because “chaos would break out” if anyone knew, JJ said. And that they could handle it because they’ve been studying it for “almost ten years.”

“Almost ten years! Now we have a timeline!” Jackie nodded. “That’s good, that’s good. Now we know how long the Circle’s been doing stuff. Man... I was six years old when they started this.”

“I guess I get why they want to keep the greenlight secret,” Stacy said. “Bad guys might want to use it, if they knew about it.” She shook her head. “But how does the Circle know that they aren’t the bad guys?”

“Well they don’t, because they fucking suck,” Marvin said. “They’re the fucking bad guys.” He rubbed his hands together self-consciously.

“So... the Circle does not like the greenlight,” Schneep summed up. “And so they think they are doing something good by... doing all the things they do?” He paused. “They wanted to put some of Marvin’s blood into the Fissure. Marvin and anyone else they could find, ja?”

JJ glanced at Marvin. He nodded slowly and gestured for Schneep to talk faster.

“They must think, for some reason, that doing that would have stopped the greenlight. Because we know that the greenlight comes from the Fissures, ja? Anti told us that.”

“Oh yeah!” Chase gasped. “He told us that a long time ago. Okay okay. So... the Fissures lead to something Anti called the dark place, and the dark place is where the greenlight comes from.”

JJ frowned. But the blood makes the greenlight stronger. Anti said that, too. So... you would think that putting blood in the Fissure would be the opposite of what the Circle wants, if they don’t want the greenlight.

“Maybe we’re missing something?” Stacy asked.

“The Circle guys also said that greenlight can be, uh, used, I think...” Chase said slowly. “But that it shouldn’t be in your body. So... uh... maybe they want to use the greenlight but... make sure it doesn’t... affect anyone’s bodies?”

“Well that’s very hypocritical,” Jackie muttered.

“I think the most helpful thing we got from that car ride is that there’s probably a Circle thing in city hall,” Marvin said.

There was also that iris flower, JJ added.

“Oh yeah, that weird flower dangly thing,” Chase recalled. “Do you think that’s important?”

JJ nodded. There were iris flowers beneath the school, by the Fissure. We know that there are Circle people in the school. And those three were also Circle people. So maybe the iris flowers mean something?

“Hm... maybe the flowers have special properties or something,” Marvin said. “Maybe they’re magic flowers.”

“I guess the least we can do is look out for iris flowers now,” Jackie said. “Maybe they’ll mark locations where the Circle—”

The front door opened. “I’m home!” Mom’s voice called.

“Hi, Mom!” Chase said. “We’re in the dining room!”

Mom poked her head into the room. “Hey, kids. How are things going?” The kids respond with a chorus of various “good”s. “Great. I’ll let you all use the living room, I’ll just be upstairs.” Then she left. The kids all stayed quiet for a bit as they listened to her climb the stairs.

“Alright. Well. To change the subject.” Jackei popped a candy in his mouth, eating it really fast before continuing. “Do you guys remember Jack? Do you still want to go visit him?”

“In Ireland? Yeah, that’ll be fun!” Marvin said.

“I have never been there,” Schneep mused. “Will it be very different?”

Depends on where you go in the country, JJ said.

“Yeah, I think there are a lot of farms, like a lot,” Marvin piped up. “But there are some really nice, like coasts and beaches and shit, too! Oh, and forests!”

“Do you think Jack lives on a farm now?” Stacy wondered.

“Honestly from what I know about Ireland, it’s more likely than not,” Jackie said. “We’ll be in for a long trip. It might take... a couple days? God, we’ll need to rent a hotel for the night. This’ll be like... a full trip.” He frowned. “I hope everyone can convince their parents to let them come... I know I could get Dad to take me but... I’m worried about you guys.”

“Well... we could probably just say we’re sleeping over with one of you,” Marvin said slowly. “Mam and Dad don’t really care about what we do during holiday. They’ll call or text to check on us but we can get around that.”

Stacy looked concerned. “I dunno how I’ll convince my parents to let me hang out with a bunch of boys.”

“Are you, like, not allowed to or something?” Chase asked.

“Well... not exactly? But... I dunno, I get the feeling they think it’s weird.”

Chase hummed, thinking about it. “What if you say it’s because we want to take you somewhere cool for your birthday? It’s coming up, right?”

Stacy blinked. “You remember my birthday?”

“Yeah, of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

“I... I don’t know. Heather never really remembered my birthday.”

“I think we have learned that Heather is a big Arsloch,” Schneep said sweetly.

Stacy let out a laugh. “I don’t know what that means, but I think I get the meaning. And... yeah. I-I guess you’re right.”

Schneep then looked at Chase. “Do you... do you really think Aunt Jess would let us go to another country? Do you think she will want to come?”

“...maybe,” Chase said. “Do you want her to come?”

“I... I like Aunt Jess, and I like Mr. Mann, but...”

Chase nodded. “We can convince her, I’m sure.” He stood up. “This’ll probably be a good time to try, actually.”

“Chase?!” Schneep gasped.

But Chase was already leaving, heading out of the dining room and upstairs.

Mom was in her room, lying in bed reading a book, as she usually did. She glanced up as Chase entered the room. “What is it, sweets?”

“Hey, can Henrik and I go to Ireland with Jackie and his dad?” Chase asked.

Mom sat up straight. “To... to Ireland? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’s uh—Stacy’s birthday is coming up and she wanted to do something special, so Jackie invited us all along on this trip with his dad.” Chase paused. Mom looked... unsure. “Pleeeease, Mom? You let us go on a camping trip in the summer!”

“It wasn’t too far a drive to the camping site, I can’t come get you quickly if you’re across the Irish Sea,” Mom said.

“Jackie’s dad will take good care of us!”

Mom chewed on her lip, thinking. “And Henrik wants to go? He’s excited to?”

“Uh-huh.” Chase nodded. “He’s shy about it, but I can tell he really wants to.”

“Um... maybe,” Mom said slowly. “What days were you going to go?”

“Uhhhh we haven’t come up with that yet,” Chase said.

“Talk more about it and ask me again tomorrow, okay?”

Chase brightened. “Thanks Mom! Love you!” Then he spun around and headed back to the others.

Schneep had his head on the table, looking like he was going to die from anticipation. But he looked up when Chase walked back in the room. “Hah?”

“She said maybe!” Chase said cheerfully. “That’s basically yes!”

Stacy raised an eyebrow. “In my experience, a ‘maybe’ is basically no.”

“Well for Mom it’s basically yes.” Chase sat down at his chair again. “She wants to know what days we’re going, though.”

“Hm...” Jackie thought about it. “What about the 29th and 30th? Because people might have New Year’s Eve plans on the 31st.”

Stacy, Marvin, and JJ all nodded silently. That’s pretty soon but we’ll see what we can do, JJ said.

“It’s totally fine if not all of you can come,” Jackie said. “I can talk to Jack on my own if needed.”

But as it turned out, Jackie wouldn’ be going alone at all. With some convincing, all the parents agreed to let the kids go on a short overnight trip to Ireland. So, they all made arrangements, buying ferry tickets and having Mr. Mann rent a car and a hotel room. They would leave on the morning of the 29th.

++++++++++++++++++++

The others were complaining that it was a long drive, but Chase thought it was fine. And he even had the worst seat! Jackie’s dad had rented a minivan once they arrived on the Irish coast. Chase was sitting on the middle seat in the very back, sandwiched between Schneep and Stacy. Marvin and JJ were in the two seats in the middle row, while Jackie had the passenger seat and his dad drove. They’d been listening to a CD Jackie brought specifically for this drive, a mix of some of his favorite songs along with some requests from the kids.

“Ugh, are we there yet?” Marvin complained.

“We’re almost there,” Mr. Mann said.

“You’ve been saying that forever, though!”

“Well, we’re really almost there now.”

Schneep looked out the window. “It does not look like there is much out there. Just grass and trees. And that stone wall that’s been next to us for ages.” They’d been driving along countryside roads, surrounded by farmlands, but now they were passing into a more wild area, with more and more trees popping up.

“You’re all really committed to finding this friend of Jackie’s,” Mr. Mann commented. “You were really insistent on coming.”

“Well, uh, it would’ve been boring to just hang out in the hotel room,” Chase said.

“Not that the drive is much more exciting,” Stacy muttered.

“Hey, at least it will be interesting once we get there!”

They only had to wait for a few more minutes after this exchange before Mr. Mann said, “That must be the driveway,” and turned onto a small dirt road. They drove through a small stint of trees, then emerged into a clearing. The dirt road led up a small hill to a cabin. It was a cloudy day, fairly dim despite it being around two in the afternoon, and the kids could see orange-yellow light coming from an open window. A figure moved around inside. Were they watching them approach?

“Hm... doesn’t look like anyone’s home,” Mr. Mann said.

JJ shook his head. No, I saw someone in the window.

“JJ saw someone in the window,” Marvin repeated, since Mr. Mann wasn’t looking in JJ’s direction.

“Yeah, I saw that too,” Chase added.

“Well, alright.” Mr. Mann parked next to the cabin. “You all can go up and talk. I’ll wait in the car for now. Jackie, text message me if you want me to stay or leave.”

“I will, Dad, don’t worry,” Jackie said. He opened up the passenger side door, then looked back at the kids. “Alright, I’ll lead the way. The rest of you stay back at first, Jack and his family might think it’s weird to be approached by a whole group of kids.”

“Got it!” Marvin said, immediately pulling open the door and hopping out. JJ wasn’t far behind him.

“Hey wait for us, you two!” Chase shouted. He undid his seatbelt and scrambled out after them.

The group walked up to the front door. Chase leaned to the side, trying to look through the front windows, but at some point while they were waiting in the car, someone had closed the curtains. Jackie rang the doorbell.

Nothing happened.

“...awkward,” Stacy muttered.

Jackie frowned and rang the doorbell again. Chase saw the curtains shift slightly, and then the door opened, just wide enough for the group to get a look at who’s on the other side. A teenage boy, with brown hair hidden beneath a flatcap, bright blue eyes looking at him curiously. He was wearing an oversized gray hoodie, which seemed to swallow him up. “Uh... hi?”

The kids all stared silently. This guy looked almost exactly like Anti. Obviously he didn’t have the glowing eyes or the shadowy body. And Anti’s hair was wild, a bit of a beard starting to grow on his face, which was a bit narrower than this guys. But other than that, this guy was a dead ringer for Anti.

“Hi, uh... Jack McLoughlin?” Jackie asked. “You might not remember me, but we... we went to school together last year. You were in the year above me. I’m Jackie Mann?”

“Um...” Jack squinted at Jackie. Then he glanced at the kids, confused.

“You, uh... might better remember me as some other name?” Jackie said reluctantly. “Jul—”

“Oh! Oh, you’re that one. Oh, yeah.” Jack nodded. “It’s uh... good to see you again. What’re you doing all the way out here? With a bunch of kids?”

“Well... this is going to sound strange, but we came here looking for you,” Jackie said.

“Me?” Jack blinked. “Uh... do I... have something of yours? Did I not realize I took something from you during class?”

“No, it’s not that, it’s uh... well it’s hard to explain—”

Do you know Anti? JJ asked.

Jack stared at him, clearly not understanding BSL. “Um... sorry, I don’t know sign language.”

Chase nudged JJ. “Hey, shush, you can’t just ask that.”

“He asked if you know Anti,” Marvin blurted out.

“Marvin! JJ!” Jackie gasped.

Jack started in surprise, opening the door a little more. “H-huh? How do you guys know about Anti?”

“You do know him?!” Schneep’s eyes went wide behind his glasses.

“Well, yeah, o-of course... How do you know about him? Who are you guys?”

“I’m Stacy,” Stacy offered, raising her hand.

“And I’m Chase,” Chase added.

“Uh, well, Anti’s been sort of... messing with all of us,” Jackie explained. “He’s been popping up all over Hollewych—you know, your old home. And we were wondering if you would have any information on him?”

Jack stared at them, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape. “Wait... are you telling me Anti is real?”

“Huh?” Chase looked up at him. “What do you mean? You just said you know him!”

“Yeah, but... uh...” Jack opened the door some more. “Why don’t you all, uh... come inside? It’s pretty cold out here.”

“...Thanks,” Jackie said, and he led the way into the room.

The interior of the cabin wasn’t much warmer. Maybe there wasn’t much heating. Chase looked around the living room, taking in the wooden walls and the blankets draped all over the cushy sofa and the reclining armchair. “Oh you have a GameCube too!” Chase said excitedly. “And a whole lot of other consoles, too! That’s cool!”

“Hah, thanks.” Jack closed the door behind the group. “So, uh... I’m Jack. You all clearly know me. Who are all of you?”

“Like I said, I’m Jackie Mann,” Jackie said. “This is Chase Brody, his cousin Henrik, Jameson Jackson and his brother Marvin, and Stacy Siegel. S-sorry for dropping in so suddenly. We, uh... couldn’t find your phone number. Only your address. I guess we could’ve sent a letter, but... this felt too important for that. And it might get lost and stuff, you know...” Jackie trailed off, realizing he was rambling.

“It is nice to meet you,” Schneep said politely.

“Yeah, your cabin is cool,” Marvin added. “And not just literally, though it is kinda cold here. I guess you don’t really have much heating, which must suck cause you’re all the way out in the wilderness—” JJ elbowed him lightly. “Sorry, we’re getting distracted. The point is. Anti.”

“Uh, nice to meet you all, too,” Jack said. “My parents are out right now. Do you all want... I don’t know, a snack or something?”

Chase was tempted, but he shook his head, as did all the others. “We should get to the point,” Stacy said. “What’s up with you and Anti? You look just like him.”

“I know.” Jack nodded.

“You know?” Jackie repeated. “So—so you’ve seen him. But... you didn’t think he was real?”

“Well, no.” Jack sat down on the sofa. Jackie sat down on the recliner, feeling awkward to stay standing, while Marvin and JJ casually sat on the sofa as well, leaving the other three standing. “You see, Anti... Anti was my imaginary friend when I was a kid.”

“An imaginary friend?” Schneep repeated. “No wonder you were so surprised to hear us speak about him like he was real. Which, ah... he is. He has really been bothering us.”

Jack laughed. “That’s fucking insane to hear.”

“How old were you when Anti was your imaginary friend?” Marvin asked.

“Uh... honestly, I remember him being around in some way since, like... my earliest memories. But I stopped imagining him when I was around, uh, eight or nine, I think? Or that’s what I thought. Clearly, he still exists... and is real, fucking hell.” Jack took off his hat, staring off into the distance.

“Can you tell us what you remember about him?” Jackie asked.

“Uh... sure, but first, tell me about how he’s been bothering you.”

JJ immediately started signing. He first showed up when we were doing a ghost hunt in the library, but Marvin and I didn’t see him that time—

“JJ, he wasn’t ordering you,” Marvin said gently. 

Jack blinked. “Uh, yeah, s-sorry, that wasn’t me, like... o-ordering you? I was just... asking you.” He seemed confused about the whole thing.

Jameson let out a relieved breath. I’ve been trying to talk this whole time, but the doll was listening to the shush command.

“The shush command?” Chase asked, confused. JJ glared at him. “Wh-what?! What did I do?”

“You did say ‘shush’ to him,” Jackie muttered.

“Oh, I... I-I’m sorry,” Chase said awkwardly.

It’s fine, JJ said, looking away but still glaring. It’s more important that we explain things to Jack right now.

“JJ...” Marvin said softly.

Not right now. Later. I’m fine, I promise.

Jack, only getting half this conversation, looked very bewildered at all of this.

“Um...” Jackie cleared his throat. “Anyway, I didn’t see Anti at first. I think Chase did. Chase, why don’t you start this?”

Chase nodded. He still felt a little unsettled by JJ’s glaring at him, but... well, if JJ didn’t want to talk about it, he should probably bring it up later. Mom would want him to bring it up, and starting a talk had helped with Schneep and Marvin before. So... he’d definitely talk to JJ about it the next chance he had. This wasn’t the time, though. “Well, uh, I think the first time I saw him was when I was skateboarding...”

The group took turns explaining everything they knew about Anti, including how they’d noticed Jack in the picture for Band in school last year and realized he looked like him. That seemed to make Jack think, as he tilted his head to the side. When it was all over, Jack said, “The shadowy bits and the green eyes are new... and so is the, uh, bleeding throat. Eugh.” He shuddered.

“What did he look like when you knew him?” Jackie asked.

“Well, uh... he just looked like me,” Jack recalled. “But he acted like the opposite of me. I didn’t like peas, but he loved them. I liked going outside, but he hated it. Stuff like that. So I called him the anti-me. And from there, it just became Anti.”

Did your parents know about your imaginary friend? JJ asked, and Marvin translated for Jack.

“Yeah, of course they did. I never shut up about him. Talked to him a lot, too, sometimes right in front of them.”

“What do they think about Anti?” Schneep asked, looking a bit worried.

Jack shrugged. “They’re just kind of like... ‘oh yeah your little friend, that was cute’.” He paused. “I... I think.”

“You think?” Stacy repeated.

“Well, uh... I’ve been having a bunch of thoughts while you guys were telling me all this,” Jack said slowly. “And I... I wonder if they’ve actually been kind of... dismissive about Anti? I-I don’t know. Like, they didn’t want to talk about him, so they dismissed me when I brought him up. Changed the subject and stuff. At least, that’s what it’s been like in recent memory. Whenever I bring him up like ‘haha remember my imaginary friend?’ you know. I can’t really remember if... if they did that when I was a kid...” He hunched, shrinking into himself. “Sorry, that’d probably not very helpful.”

“No, it is!” Schneep said. “Because it means your mama and papa probably do not want you to think about it. And since Anti is real... maybe they know that?”

“Maybe they know Anti is real?” Chase repeated. “But Jack thought he was imaginary. Why wouldn’t they tell him that he wasn’t?”

“Maybe they were trying to keep him happy?” Stacy asked. “Parents lie to their kids all the time to keep them happy.”

“Yeah, like Santa Claus,” Marvin agreed. “He’s like, the childhood lie.”

Chase blinked. “Santa Claus is what?”

“Anyway!” Jackie said quickly. “I definitely think your parents know something. I actually wanted to ask you about how you moved here. Everyone I talked to said your move was really sudden.”

“Oh yeah, it was.” Jack nodded. “Mom told me one day we’d be moving back to Ireland, and then like, a week later we were out of the country.”

“A week?!” Chase repeated. “There’s no way. Nooo way. I remember when me and Mom and Dad moved here—or, uh, to Hollewych, but you know. Anyway I remember moving. It took for-ev-er. Just packing everything took ages! I mean I guess maybe it was easier for you guys since you didn’t have to get plane tickets or anything, cause there’s the ferry to Ireland. But still!”

“I agree.” Schneep nodded. “There is no way you were able to take all your things.”

“We, uh... we didn’t,” Jack said. “I... thought that was normal.”

“I guess it depends on how attached people get to their stuff,” Stacy said. “But I agree. Moving in just a week isn’t normal.”

“What, did you leave your house under the cover of night, too?” Marvin added jokingly.

Jack’s eyes widened slightly. “We did... Mom said the ferry would be less crowded, but...”

“Oh that’s definitely not normal,” Jackie said.

“I...” Jack leaned back, staring blankly into the distance.

Are you alright? JJ asked.

“JJ wants to know if you’re alright,” Marvin reported.

“I... I’m thinking about some stuff,” Jack said slowly.

“...sorry about this,” Chase muttered. He felt so bad about this. They didn’t even know Jack—most of them, at least, and even Jackie barely knew him—but they’d come all this way. Only to break his brain. 

“No, no, it’s fine,” Jack assures Chase. “Uh... So do you guys think my parents made us move... because of Anti?”

“That, or because of the Circle,” Marvin added. “Those guys are bad news.” JJ nodded firmly next to him.

“...The what?” Jack asked faintly.

“Oh fuck we didn’t tell you about the Circle,” Marvin realized. “Okay so basically they’re a secret group...”

By the time the group got done explaining the Circle, Jack looked thoroughly mind freaked. “Holy shit,” he whispered. “And all that is happening in Hollewych?”

“Yep,” Jackie said, putting extra emphasis on the P.

“And you guys haven’t told anyone else about this? Why haven’t you told the police? Or—okay I know this is going to sound strange given what I’m thinking about my own parents, but—why haven’t you told your parents?”

“I tried to tell the police, but they didn’t listen to me!” Jackie said. “And I didn’t even mention any of the supernatural stuff, they’d think it was a prank if I started talking about all that. Not to mention our last encounter with the Circle on Christmas makes me think they have police people as part of their group.”

“As for why we don’t tell our parents... Our Mam and Dad suck,” Marvin said.

Well I wouldn’t say they ‘suck,’ exactly— JJ said.

“I say they suck. And you know they do too, otherwise we would’ve explained everything about the hospital to them!”

JJ slowly lowered his hands. Schneep sat down next to him, nodding slowly.

“And I think my parents wouldn’t believe me, either,” Stacy muttered. “Even if they did, all they’d do is keep me from seeing the boys and think that solves everything.”

“My dad would insist on going to the police, no matter what,” Jackie said. “Even if I told him that the local police wouldn’t help, I wouldn’t be surprised if he went to the government or something. And we—we don’t need this to get any bigger than it already is. Calling the government wouldn’t help anything.”

Chase nodded. “Mom would do the same thing. And she’d try to get us to stop! But Anti’s not gonna let us stop! He wants us to fight the Circle.”

“...Anti did like to play games,” Jack said quietly. “He was always coming up with ones. I did too, but I think he was better at it. Or, as good as a kid could be at making games.” He went silent for a moment. “Do you guys... want to look around the house?”

“Huh? For what?” Jackie asked.

“I don’t know. For... stuff about Anti. I think I used to make drawings of him. Or like... pretend he was in pictures. Maybe if I can find some of those old pictures I’ll find out that he was... th-that I wasn’t just pretending.” Jack shivered slightly.

“Are... are you okay?” Chase asked.

“I just... I remember Anti was a friend,” Jack said quietly. “An imaginary one, but still... I never thought he’d hurt people like this.”

“To be fair to Anti... I think he just acts really young all the time,” Stacy said slowly. “Even though he looks like a teenager, it’s like... his brain is a kid’s.”

“He still pushed me down the stairs,” Marvin grumbled.

“The last time you saw Anti was almost ten years ago, yes?” Schneep said. “A lot can change in that time.”

“I think it was... eight years or so. But, uh... yeah. You’re right.” Jack nodded. “Uh... anyway. Do you want to look around the house?”

“No, that’s fine.” Jackie shook his head. “That’ll feel weird.”

“Then... what if I looked around on my own time?” Jack asked. “I could give you my phone number and I’ll call you if I find anything?”

“That’d be great,” Jackie said. “Thanks, Jack.” He smiled slightly.

Jack smiled back. “Do you guys want to stick around? I don’t... don’t know what you could do. Play video games?”

Chase and Marvin perked up slightly, but the others didn’t look too enthusiastic. “It’s fine, Jack, thank you,” Jackie said. “We’ll just head back to the city and stay in our hotel room.”

“Okay...” Jack nodded. “I-it was nice to meet you guys. Even with... with you telling me all of this. I still need to, uh, think about all this.”

It was nice to meet you too, Jack, JJ said.

“Yeah, what JJ said! It’s nice to meet you too!” Marvin repeated.

“Thank you for telling us about Anti,” Schneep said. “About him being an imaginary friend.”

“And thanks for offering to, uh, text us and stuff,” Stacy added.

“I like your house,” Chase offered, since everyone else had already said what he was going to.

Jack laughed. “Thanks, uh, dude.”

“We’ll just head out now,” Jackie said. “Thanks for meeting with us.”

“No problem. I’ll, uh... call you... and stuff.”

The group left Jack’s house, waving goodbye to him as he closed the front door. The rented car was still there, with Mr. Mann sitting inside. As the group all got in, taking the same seats they’d been sitting in for the whole car ride there, Mr. Mann asked, “So, how’d it go?”

“Uh... good, I guess,” Jackie said. 

The others all agreed, but Chase stared out the window, looking at the cabin. He hadn’t felt like they’d learned much. Anti was Jack’s imaginary friend, but what did that mean? Was that going to help them at all?

Well... it was better than nothing, he supposed.

++++++++++++++++++++

The whole group was crowded into one hotel room. It was a big hotel room, but still. With six kids and a supervising adult, it was going to be crowded as they stayed the night here. Stacy cheerfully tried to frame it as a sleepover, but still. Crowded.

There were two double-size beds and a sofa that folded out into a bed, and Mr. Mann  had also brought a blow-up air mattress. Stacy got the mattress all to herself, since she was the only girl. Jackie and Mr. Mann shared the sofa, the twins got one of the beds, and Chase and Schneep shared the other.

They’d been traveling all day and they were exhausted. Schneep wanted to go to bed early, and it was decided that it’d be easier for everyone to go to sleep at the same time in such a small space. They took turns in the bathroom brushing their teeth and getting into pajamas and such, and then it was time to rest.

Except... Chase wanted to do something first.

“Hey, uh... JJ?” Chase tapped him on the shoulder. “Can I talk to you somewhere, uh... private?”

JJ had been adjusting his pillows for bed, but now he stood up straight. Not many options for that in this room. Do you want to go in the bathroom or something?

“Uh... yeah, I guess?” The only other option was to leave the room and stand in the hallway, and Chase didn’t want to do that. Any random person could overhear them. “Jackie’s dad is in there right now, let’s go in after him.”

JJ nodded. Marvin climbed into the other side of the bed and looked at them curiously. “What do you wanna talk about?”

“That’s uh... it’s supposed to be private for a reason...” Chase said slowly.

“Oh. Right.” Marvin winced. “Uh... go on, then.”

The two of them waited for a bit, then as soon as the bathroom was free they went inside, with Chase closing the door behind them. Hopefully no one else would need this... and hopefully no one would be able to overhear them. Chase wasn’t planning on being too loud, but if anyone stood outside the door, they might hear him—even if they couldn’t hear JJ.

JJ leaned against the closed bathroom door. The light in here was bright, bouncing off the white walls, the white floor, the white bathtub, the white... everything, really. Why were hotel bathrooms always so white? So... what do you want to talk about? JJ asked.

“Uh... well.��� Chase hadn’t actually thought much about how to phrase it once the time came. “I... I know that you’re mad at me. And, uh... I know why. I’m sorry about all the... the doll stuff I’ve been doing. Or, uh, the way I’ve been... I-I really don’t mean to keep making you do stuff. I’m sorry. I just... I don’t want you to be mad at me.”

JJ stared at him. You “know” I’m mad at you?

“Well, yeah, you’ve been glaring at me and stuff.”

Sorry.

“No, no, I’m sorry,” Chase insisted. “I’m trying to be better, but I keep slipping up.”

JJ pursed his lips. Thank you, Chase.

Chase stared at him. Was he upsetting him more? “Uh... is there something you want to talk to me about?”

No, it’s fine.

“Come on, man, I can tell something’s bothering you. I-if I’m doing something wrong I want to know.”

I know you’re trying your best, Chase, JJ said, not looking directly at him.

“Well, yeah, but—but—”  Chase shook his head. “Come on, JJ, tell me what’s wrong.”

JJ’s eyes suddenly snapped to him. What’s wrong is that I have this stupid doll forcing me to do things I don’t want to do, and even if they’re things that don’t hurt anyone every time it happens I get scared. I already deal with Mam and Dad on my back about being their perfect son all the time, I don’t want to deal with other people forcing me to obey them, too!

“You don’t have to do what your parents say—” Chase started to say.

No, you don’t get it, Chase. I don’t think you get anything about this whole situation I’m in. Because you keep telling me to do stuff even though you know what the doll does, even though everyone else keeps telling you to be careful, you just don’t listen and keep doing the same thing. Is this not serious to you?! Because it’s very serious to me!

“I’m trying to—”

I know you’re trying, but I don’t think you’re trying hard enough. Because here I am, standing in front of you, telling you everything that’s wrong because you told me to. Even though I don’t want to! Even though I want to pretend that everything’s fine! I just keep talking even as I’m trying to stop my hands from moving. And you clearly didn’t even know what you were doing! Would it kill you to pay more attention to what you say?! Would it kill you to try to understand what I’m dealing with?!

Chase stared at him, mouth dropped open. He... had to be misunderstanding some of JJ’s signing, right?

JJ stared right back, breathing heavily. He rubbed his wrists; he’d been signing so much and so furiously that they were hurting. Can you... not talk to me? For the rest of the night?

Chase couldn’t respond. He just kept staring.

...Thank you, JJ said. He turned around, opened the bathroom door, and left.

But Chase just kept standing there. He thought he’d been trying his best to help JJ out. Was he not trying hard enough? Was that why JJ was so mad at him? He had told him to tell him what was wrong just now, and he hadn’t even realized it.

He should... give JJ some space for the rest of their trip. Maybe they’d both feel better about everything once they were back home. Maybe then he could ask Mom or some of his friends if there was anything else he could do.

And so, with that in mind, Chase left the room and climbed into bed. He laid awake for a while, listening to everyone else fall asleep around him before he finally fell asleep too.