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#maybe this is the elitism coming through but i seriously think if you’ve done at least 2 years of higher education you should be allowed
p-nd18 · 3 months
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Writing Prompts
I’ve read a lot of prompts that have helped inspire me to continue writing or create a Drabble, so I wanted to create some of my own that might hit that mark for somebody out there.
“Don’t fucking touch me.” “I’m sorry, I’m so…so sorry, please just-“ “STOP, leave me alone (or go away)”
Person A is sick, but person B, while loves them wholeheartedly, does not want to get sick and comes up with crafty impersonal ways to try to help them
“So what happened to you?” “What do you mean?” “something happened to you, to make you think that this is okay when it’s not, what was it?” Or “well everyone has some kind of trauma, what’s yours?” “Dude, I grew up in a happy family and have done nothing with my life.” “oh wow. So you’re really just that fucking weird, huh?”
Person A experiencing a panic attack and Person B not knowing wtf to do AT ALL and probably making it worse accidentally or Person B overcompensating and trying to coach them through it when Person A just really needs them to shut the fuck up for one second so they can breath
“I just want to help.” “You’ve done enough.” But like with anger
Camping, but neither of them actually like camping or know what the fuck they’re doing
Political or moral debate where they find out they believe in completely different things, maybe it doesn’t change anything or maybe it’s a deal breaker, but they’ve been together for awhile as friends or more and they had absolutely no idea.
Zombie AU, but the only one that’s successfully handling it has no idea what’s going on, they either have no idea it’s an apocalypse or they have no survival skills and luck is just REALLY on their side
Military AU (or some other organization) where one person takes it way too seriously and the other is just there for the benefits
Write about someone having a really niche obsession that doesn’t fit their personality or aesthetic at all
Romance where they can’t understand each other, but fall in love and make it work (I love this sht sm 😭, like watch Swept by the Sea, but give me a happy ending PLEASE) lmao or someone tries learning the other language and the other is fine with pretending Google Translate is elite
Person A is absolutely, unfathomably average and person B is fantasy/sci fi or something, but they stick with the normal life because person A would not survive elsewhere.
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fingertipsmp3 · 2 years
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The other problem of course is that I don’t understand APA referencing and at this point I’m too afraid to ask
#man i am at my wit’s end at this point. i have been broken down to my bare essentials. i am befuddled. bamboozled.#throughout my master’s and my undergrad we only used chicago and like.. seriously. switching it up like this is just evil#maybe this is the elitism coming through but i seriously think if you’ve done at least 2 years of higher education you should be allowed#to pick whichever referencing system you vibe with the most and ignore all the rest regardless of what your institution recommends#as long as you’re referencing correctly and accurately according to Your System; it shouldn’t be a problem#and for god’s sake i have a master’s degree. i am in perpetual debt to the uk government. LET ME USE CHICAGO OR SO HELP ME#i don’t have any particular love for chicago; you understand. i think harvard makes more sense. but chicago’s the only one i reliably know#how to do#and i have consulted so many referencing guides about apa and i still can’t get my head around it and at this point i am simply bamboozled#why can’t it be chicago but slightly to the left like mhra. i had to use that one at [redacted] and it was fine#even mla or harvard would be fine#and i think apa is just harvard but slightly to the left but i still just can’t understand it. i can’t#i got feedback on my last paper that was something about my bibliography being wrong (i didn’t know the bibliography was formatted#differently from the footnotes in apa????) and that i shouldn’t be doing footnotes if i paraphrase (????????!)#footnotes are only for direct quotes??? you need in-text citations for paraphrasing?????! so i’ve been trying to do that#but i’m so confused#and my tutor all but said we’ll fail if the mistakes we made on previous assignments recur#so yeah. i’m stressed#if i fail the pgce one month before the end i will actually lose my shit. i am NOT retaking this year#guess i’m going to be consulting more referencing guides. nearly typed ‘confronting’. that fits better#personal
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fridayfirefly · 4 years
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The Power of Luck [Chapter One]
Read The Power of Luck on AO3
Masterlist [All Works]
Masterlist [The Power of Luck Series]
Written for Maribat March Day 6 - Miraculous Side Effects
The Ladybug Miraculous had quite a few side effects. Marinette was able to think quick on her feet, she was a skilled tactician in battle, and her reaction time was half that of a normal human. Most notably, the Ladybug Miraculous granted its user the force known as Miraculous Luck, which, depending on the situation, was sometimes more of a curse than a blessing. Marinette didn't get to choose how that good luck manifested. For instance, when she needed an extra day to finish a history project, her school closed down due to a gas leak. Or when she wished for a fresh start after the defeat of Hawkmoth, her parents were offered a deal to grow their bakery business in America.
Marinette assured her parents that she didn't mind moving. After all, most of her class had already moved on. Lila had been deported to Italy, narrowly avoiding jail time. Chloé (much to her dismay) was sent by her father to an all-girls boarding school in England. Adrien was taken in by his Aunt Amelie (as Gabriel was in jail and Emilie was declared brain-dead) and moved to England as well.
No one else from Marinette's class left the country, but many of them moved out of Paris. Nathanial was accepted to an elite art school in Marseille. Max was accepted to a gifted program at an elite school in Bordeaux. Officer Raincomprix was transferred to Toulouse and took Sabrina with him. Juleka and Luka both started homeschooling after their mother sailed the houseboat down the Seine to the city of Rouen.
Worst of all was the loss of Alya. Her parents were horrified that the son of Hawkmoth was in the same class as their daughter, and promptly pulled Alya out of class and decided to move out of the city. Alya begged them for weeks but nothing came of her protests. In the end, Alya left too.
The Miraculous Luck could do a lot of things, but it couldn't keep her friends together. Those who remained at François Dupont filled holes in other classes. Marinette tried to make the best of her new class, but she felt no real connection to them. When her parents proposed the move, Marinette jumped on the opportunity. In Gotham, she wouldn't be haunted by the ghost of her old life.
Marinette cut her hair, leaving it choppy and just above the shoulders. She donated all of her brightly colored clothes to the thrift store down the street and created a new wardrobe for herself. It was toned down and mature, much more fitting for Gotham.
Marinette left Paris a much different girl than the naive fourteen-year-old who thought she could save the world. She was ready for a city like Gotham, a city that didn't make any promises, a city where Marinette could set down some new roots.
-----
At first, it was easy to fly under the radar at Gotham Academy. It was a school filled with the self-absorbed children of millionaires and billionaires, after all. Marinette was there on scholarship - her good grades, leadership experience, and working-class parents combined to cut her tuition down by 75%. Marinette quickly learned that scholarship students were at best ignored, and at worst mercilessly bullied. So Marinette kept her head down and vowed that she would get through the year unscathed.
There was one variable, however, that the Miraculous Luck wasn't able to account for. Marinette's entire plan fell apart thanks to one boy: Damian Wayne.
Marinette became acquainted with Damian Wayne through the school's rumor mill. She learned that he was one of the most wealthy and most attractive people in the school, but he was thought himself too good to spend time with any of his fellow classmates (Marinette couldn't fault him on the last bit; she also found the students at Gotham Academy to be difficult, to say the least). Marinette also learned through the school's rumor mill that Damian spent quite a lot of time staring at her. Given that Damian had never paid the slightest amount of attention to a Gotham Academy girl before, this was a big deal. Suddenly Marinette was the farthest thing from under the radar. Everyone who used to look down on her wanted to be her friend. It was exhausting.
Marinette resolved to ignore Damian Wayne - an easy task, given that she still didn't even know what he looked like. Now that everyone was staring at her, it was hard to
"Why?" grumbled Marinette. "Why couldn't my so-called Miraculous Luck help me get through one normal year of school?"
Tikki shrugged from her spot inside of Marinette's backpack. "Maybe all of this attention will turn out to be a good thing?"
"I doubt that." Marinette glanced around, checking that no one had spotted her talking to her backpack. There was one spot in the cafeteria that was hidden from view, a window-sill nestled behind a pillar, bordered by a wall on one side and an out of order vending machine on the other. Marinette sat on the window-sill every day to eat lunch, with Tikki as her companion for the meal.
"I think your problem is that you're overthinking this. Miraculous Luck always works out in the end, even if there are some obstacles in the middle."
"I just want this horrible school year to be over," sighed Marinette, setting her head down in her arms.
"Don't give up yet, Marinette. I have high hopes for this school year," said Tikki.
Marinette had some serious doubts but picked her head up anyway. Maybe this year wouldn't turn out the way she expected. Marinette defeated Hawkmoth, the greatest villain Paris ever faced. She could survive a year of high school.
-----
Marinette was going to survive her senior year of high school. Damian Wayne on the other hand... Marinette still wasn't sure if she was going to let him survive the year, after everything he put her through.
"Excuse me?" a sickeningly sweet voice piped up from behind Marinette.
Marinette put on her best disinterested-face, took out one headphone, and turned around. "Yes?"
There were three girls standing behind her: a blonde, flanked on both sides by a brunette and a red-head. The blonde girl had a smile on her face but a devious look in her eyes. Marinette had long ago learned to spot manipulators, and this girl had it written all over her. "Are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"
"Yes."
"My name is Julie Cooper. I was just wondering... Are you dating Damian Wayne?"
Marinette huffed in exasperation. "What do you think?"
Julie's eyes narrowed. "I just wanted to warn you. I mean, did you really think that Damian Wayne would seriously date a girl here on scholarship? You should break up with him before you get hurt."
"It was a rhetorical question. I'm not dating Damian Wayne. It's just a rumor."
Julie instantly perked up. "Oh, good! I was beginning to think that Damian had lost his mind. I mean, I'm sure you would be a nine or a ten at a public school, but at Gotham Academy, you're like a seven, maybe an eight on a good day. Most of the girls who go here are actually hot, not just," the girl waved her hand towards Marinette. "Above average."
Marinette wasn't sure if Julie meant for her to feel flattered or offended, but her words had the strange effect of making Marinette feel both all at once. "Um, thanks? I'm going to go now."
Julie's brunette friend suddenly paled as the girl started to tug on Julie's sleeve. "Um, Julie?" she whispered.
"What, Nora?" Julie's eyes widened as they fixed on something behind Marinette.
Marinette turned around to see what the cause of their concern was. Or rather, to see who the cause of their concern was. It was a boy, tall and scowling. "Are you done here, Cooper?"
Julia nodded, a nervous edge to her voice, "Bye, Marinette." She and her two friends hurried off, exchanging frantic whispers.
"What do you want?" asked Marinette with a sigh. She was tired of dealing with boys who were only interested in her because Damian Wayne was interested in her.
"I wished to apologize."
"For Julie? Did you put her up to this?"
The boy looked confused. "No, of course not. I meant that I wanted to apologize for everything, not just Julie Cooper."
"For everything?" The truth suddenly dawned on Marinette. "You're Damian Wayne! I didn't think that you would be so tall."
"You didn't know what I looked like?" There was real shock in his voice.
"Well, by the time I learned that you had been staring at me everyone was staring at me, so that wasn't much help in figuring out who you were."
"You could have googled me."
Marinette shrugged. "I could have, but it felt weird to google one of my classmates. I pretty much just resigned myself to never figuring out who you were."
"I should have approached you sooner. I've wanted to apologize for a while, but every time I've caught you alone you've looked like you wanted to be left that way."
"I'm not a fan of most of the students here."
"The students here can be..." Damian searched for the appropriate word. "Tiresome. I resigned myself to a dull four years of high school in their company. That is, until I saw you."
Marinette cocked her head. "Why me, though? I'm nothing special."
"You're different than everyone else here."
Marinette stiffened. "I know. I've been told. I'm here on a scholarship which means I don't belong," she snapped
Damian shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. You move through life differently than all of the other students here. You don't care about the gossip or drama - at least, not until you were right at the center of it all. You've seen the real world, so you float above the high school drama. You're just so... so..."
"So what?" Marinette's tone softened.
Damian ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it. The addition of the messy hair added a certain charm to his otherwise polished exterior. "I've been brainstorming for the right word for weeks. The best I can come up with is pure. You don't let yourself become affected by anything in this school."
It was a very flattering description of her. It was also very on the nose. "I'll forgive you, Damian Wayne, but only on one condition."
"What?"
"I want to get to know you, and I have a feeling that you feel the same way."
Damian nodded. "It's a deal."
Maybe her Miraculous Luck wasn't so useless after all. Marinette had expected to go the whole year without making a single friend. Now, it seemed that she might make one after all.
@maribatmarch-2k21
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luimagines · 3 years
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Subject 10-Mulan Link
You have now gained the accesses file page of the chain links case number #19835 Corrupted heroes for Subject #10
Current state: Safe
legal name: Link,last name unknown
Nicknamed: Mulan 
Biological age: unknown
Chronical age: unknown
Hieght: Unknown
Weight: unknown
Visiting accesse time for subject Zero: Must be planned ahead of schedule time in order to have private meetings and clerance from head chief researcher Queen zelda and level 5 personal clerance
Physical description: Subject 10 is a short haired Hylian woman who wears a green tunic and knight gear armor.They have a well built muscular body and a ferret that rests around thier neck as well as scars and cuts around thier body.The most noticeable scare they have are three little cuts under thier chin and a long vertical cut across thier right cheek.
Information: Subject 10 first arrived at the castle carrying subject zero and subject 11 bloodied and badly injured with a broken arm and serveral fractured bones as well as stab/slash wounds.They came in as duplicates of four identical versions of subject 10 dressed variouse colors such as brown,cyan,yellow and green.Only one of the 4 sets had arrived at the castle with subject Zero and Subject 11 while the others fought off to keep back the “chain” while back up knights and town gaurds were deployed to apreheand them.Subject 10 is not placed under any containment but is required to come to the SCRPP research site to have check ups and testing as well as recorded interviews with research personales.Subject 10 refuses to have to go anywhere without her ferret campaion so all interviews and meetings are held with subject 10′s ferret either on the site with them or curled around subject 10′s neck.Subject 10 is in current possesion of the master sword and four sword as well as veriouse other items from the group(but not all for research purposes and other classified resons).They are to be informed of any drastic procedures that are to be done to any of the known subjects and participats of case file #19835.Subject 10 is one of the only subjects out of all the links who dose not show a red essence seeping out or show any signs of agression or possesive behvaiors for subject Zero. Research is still going underway to find out a way as to why it is and if blood or dna samples can be exracted from subject 10 in order to find a cure.
[interview recoding of subject 10 #1]
Dr.Jean: Now beining case file number #1983 dash 1 subject 10 interview of the anomalie the Curropted Heros. Time started at 10:89. Interview researcher personale Dr.Jean, tag number 893 of site 13 room A14.
Dr.Jean: Ok,lets start.Rember at anytime you start to feel uncomfortable we can stop the interview,alright?
Link: ok..
Dr.Jean: ok,lets start off with something simple.Subject 10 can you please state your name?
Link: Mulan.
Dr.Jean: I am sorry,let me clarify I meant your real name.
Link: oh,right..its uh,its Link.
Dr.Jean: Good,can you state your last name as well?
Link: I dont have one.
Dr.Jean: Are you sure? No documnets? Family? Anyway to file for one?
Link: Yes,I am sure.I dont have one.Thats it.
Dr.Jean: Right,right, *ahem* can you tell us how long you’ve know the links?
Link: We had all know each other for about a year and a half, and today would have been our second year together if…you know,had things still been normal with everyone.
Dr.Jean: how did you meet these people to begin with?
Link: I was out exploring the outskits of the forests behind my house one day and saw a bright light,so i got curiouse and followed it.I found a portal and went through it.I was transported to the guredo desert and wondered a around for a bit before I found the chain.it turns out the portal took me to a diffrent time period and there was some time,dimentional stuff going on and we were all gathered to fix it or something.
Dr.Jean: How did you meet subject Zero?
Link: Subject Zero? oh,do you mean [redacted]?
Dr.Jean: Link,please reframe from saying subject Zero’s real name during this interview.
Link: Fine.
Dr.Jean:thank you,pleas contiue.
Link: We first met them a few months after lucky came when [ audio connection has been temperarly lost]
Dr.Jean: Intresting and how did you feel about Subject zero?
Link: I didn’t think much of them, I thought that they were ok.they were kind of nice and everyone liked them,so I did too.But there was something just…off about them.
Dr.Jean:Off like what? Did you distrust them?
Link: no,no,no not distrsut or anything like that…just that something was not right…there was  just something…..something WRONG with them,I dont know how to describe it, they were just not normal in a very bad way.But I ignored it and didn’t think much on it. I think they were just…diffrent.
Dr.Jean: Why did you help them escape?
Link: Because it was the right thing to do.I wanted to get them out of a situation where they were held captive and also keep the others from killing each other on who got to keep them.Its not that complicated. besides it my fault for not stopping this sooner.
Dr.Jean: How?
Link: What?
Dr.Jean: How do you think it was your fault?
LInk:[sighs] its…it was all right there I didn’t want to see it,I knew everyone was starting to act a little wierd but I didn’t want to take it that seriously,I didn’t want to think badly about my fami-friends..my friends…Until one day when they had gone completly overboard and uh…..I had found some of them beating down on a man after they were flirting with..with subject Zero…and to say that they looked like they were thugs when they were doing it would be too much of a understatement…They looked like they were having a good time doing it too.I swear when I saw them that day at the allyway they were not the heros I knew and travled with and as faw as i was concerned they were strangers-no,not even that,they were monsters…And the look on thier faces when I yelled out to them and they turned to me…it was like they were going to kill me right there and then……[Inhales heavily before exhailing shakingly] they weren’t normal….thier eyes….I don’t think I can really ever forget those empty vacant looks..it was like someone els was there…Since then things had started to get worse.
[suject 10 begins to pet her ferret at this time seeming to find comfort in it from thier stress]
Dr.Jean: Who were the ones that were there at the time of the incident?
Link: it was…I think Twilight,Four,Sky and Wild were all there.
Dr.Jean: Even Sky?
LInk: Yeah, him too.I rembered the second I started yelling and taring a new in asshole for them he just came up from behind the group and started to try to “calm me down” and explain how the shit I just saw wasn’t what it seemed like and yadda yadda yadda,typical gaslighting you know? But I wasn’t going to fall for some shit like that so I got the man out of there and to a medic, payed for all his expenses and reported them to Time and Warriors. Honestly I was so pissed off and in shock about it all that I had finally started notice and realize more and more things that were wrong about the group that I use to just keep ignoring.I still didn’t try to do anything serious about it though until the end of our journey.
Dr.Jean:What did you mean by noticeing things?
Link: …….just things….and looking back at it now should have been obviouse red flags but I never pressed for them.I think the first time I did it was with Wsrriors but he kept brushing me off saying things like “everyone is just protective of [redacted]” or “that you are looking way too into this” and when he did listen to me he would tell me that he’d keep a closer eye on the group.I suppose you can take a guess that, he did not, in fact, keep up the promis that he made.
Dr.Jean: did at any point in your adventures feel,were attempted to or successfully attacked or harmed by any members of this group during you adventures before the escape?
Link:No-well I mean yes but…[  exasperated sigh]…yeah….yeah there were a few…ok maybe a lot…But I guess the one that really stuck with me was when,uh,when Time held me up against a wall and tryed to cut my throat during a heated argument about…..them.
[Subject 10 reaches over to rub on a faint cut across thier neck]
[the ferret circles closer to her neck nuzzling it head into hers in an attempt to comfort Link]
Link: Aww,its ok little guy,I am fine right now.Don’t worry fluffy.
Dr.Jean: i am sorry if its too much but what was the argument about?
Link:…….
[subject 10 stays silent for a few minutes before speaking again]
Link: It was about if we should kill subject zero.
Dr.Jean: Then do you think we should kill subject zero?
[subject 10 stops petting fluffy and stares at the doctore without giving an answer for several more minutes]
Link:[a shallow exhale leaves thier mouth] …….I……..I….
[the sounds of sirens and alarms going off]
Annocemnet :There is a containment breach in the D -12 containment building floor,please all personels and staff go to the evacuation exits and safety rooms while special elit force knights handle the situation.Subject 4 case 19835- 1,2,3 and 4 cololrs have all escaped.If you see him or any of the colors they are to be neutralized and brought back to thier containment cells.All other staff do not ingage unless -
Dr.Jean: oh Hylia,looks like we’ll have to cut this short and we have to hurry and-wait where are you going! The safety room is this way! Link!
Link: [distant and muffled]I know,I just need to go out and kick a few stobbern little butts back in thier cells first-!
Dr.Jean: Link the elit knights can handle it you don’t have to-Link!! Link! Sir Link! Lin-!!
[audio ends here]
I am doing wind next
This is long, so I'll react as I read.
oh SHOOT THEY RAN!!!
MULAN USES THE FOUR SWORD!!
[REDACTED]?!?!!?
LUCKY!!!
AUDIO CONECTION TEMPORTARILY LOST!?!?!?!?!?
THEY GONNA KILL A GUY-KIL MULAN!!? SKY IS GASLIGHTING!?!?
TIME CUT THEM?!?!?
MULAN GONNA KILL SUBJECT ZERO!?!?!?
THEY ESCAPE!?!?!? THE COLORS ESCAPE!!!!
MULAN GOES TO FIGHT?!?!?
MY GIRL!!!!
OH MY GOD
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regrettablewritings · 3 years
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DJ X READER HEADCANON you pick 😉😉
I blink at the request that stares back at me from my inbox, brow furrowing with every flutter of my lashes. "Sis . . ." I murmur, "you good?" As though my ass had not also been search for content relating to this forgotten POS just the other day. But if you insist . . .
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4. What they do on date night:
To be brutally honest, DJ will look you dead in the eye and tell you that going for a night out on the town pick-pocketing is a date. Or, at least, he will try to. It's surprisingly hard to maintain eye contact with someone whose glare could probably cut beskar.
In his defense (if he even deserves any), DJ does try to make it a little more fun than he already finds it -- granted, it's done in a very DJ way. You get your little evening promenade through the streets, he tricks you to a quick bite to eat, you hold hands and run through the lantern-speckled streets before turning down a narrow alleyway that's just perfect for sharing an intense liplock . . .
Of course, this all translates into your evening together including: Walking through a marketplace, your asshole boyfriend slipping peoples' credits out of their pockets and purses under the guise of bumping into them; him using those sticky fingers of his to nick some street food off of a cart before its proprietor called the authorities on his theft; said sticky fingers lacing with yours as he guides you down the crowded streets (grinning like the little shit he was for enjoying the chase); all before making a sudden jerk down an alleyway.
You're breathless, irritated, and . . . maybe -- only just maybe -- a little excited by the thrill of it all. But you can't let him know that, otherwise, he'd never let you live it down and he'd be the cock of the goddamn walk for who knows how long. Worse: He'd consider this a win for his insistence that this sort of thing counted as a date! And there was no way in hell you were about to let that happen!
You only got as far as opening your mouth to hiss own some choice words at him when you instead got cut off by your thieving significant other pressing you against the grubby alley wall. Even if you hadn't been distracted by the action to remember to cuss him out, the words were instantly killed. They were inhaled by his own lips, his kiss encompassing your words, your thoughts, your . . . everything. They were speared by his tongue, as though it were his weapon against the beast that brewed within you.
And they were quelled by the feel of his callused fingers brushing against your cheeks before moving onward to the beck of your head, pressing you only further into his hold. DJ's fingers were deft, but that didn't necessarily mean that their carefulness was always directed at you. It's . . . something to savor . . .
Of course, it was meant to fool the chumps following the both of you but you don't mind. Not in that moment anyway. When you get back to wherever you're staying for the night, it's another story, but one DJ is more than happy to bring to a happy ending.
It's a bit nicer when he gets his hands one someone's credits, though: It means he can take you out to an actual establishment. However, be warned: It's only a bit nicer because you also need to be on the lookout for the authorities (or the poor bastard you stole from), or be prepared to make a run for it.
11. What their first impression was of each other:
Dirty. Old. Bastard. A dirty old bastard. And to your credit, you weren't wrong, but of course, the first impression is always the shallowest. And considering the shithead had just tried to put the moves on you when you were already having a rough day . . . Yeah, he honestly deserved presumptions with the depth of one's own navel -- an outie, preferably.
He stood out against the Canto Bight elite with his grubbiness, looking like a leathery garbage pouch at best and like a guy who'd try to sell you a faulty droid at moderate. A dirty, bastardly part of you couldn't help but muse that perhaps the worst he could do was be a nasty lay -- and not nasty in the way one might want, either.
Granted, it wasn't hard to imagine that: The fact he was hitting on you while you were trying your best to just survive your shift at the casino that evening did little to convince you he was any good.
And as for DJ, it was a one-two-punch type of introduction. Literally: First he eyed you, then he got a little too suggestive, and then you punched him. What a sleazeball, right? It was his own damn fault for assuming the least of you, though. You were cute like all the other servers, no doubt, with that shy smile of yours that made it abundantly clear to him that this sort of place wasn't your scene if you didn't have to work there. Unlike the other servers, however, he was feeling pretty brazen about you.
DJ has no interest in the concept of “fate” or “destined meetings”, but even months out from that point he wouldn’t be able to place precisely what compelled him to break his usual protocol of being discreet. Nor why he was so insistent. All he knows was that he called you over to him and, rather than requesting a drink, he “chatted you up”. And might’ve suggested that you two blow off this place and maybe “blow off somewhere else”.
He also knows that the moment you struck his cheek, cheeks burning and eyes widened with the realization of what you’d done, he was wrong and right about you.
You were frankly lucky he turned out to be a blight on the Canto Bight scene, otherwise your boss would’ve fired you the moment he had learned of what you had done. What you were unlucky for, however, was that from then on, the thief started showing up more often. Not enough to get caught (at least, not for long), but enough for him to determine that maybe the both of you really should blow this joint -- in the nonsexual way.
And in the end, you became unlucky once more: For someone so grubby and bastardly, he was also quite the charmer. Y’know, once you’ve smacked him around a bit.
14. What nicknames they call each other:
You honestly struggle to nickname DJ, predominately because, well, DJ is already a nickname. You think. After all, you sincerely doubt anyone would actually name their kid Don’t Join even as a political statement. Really, the fact you don’t know his actual name sort of calls for consideration of how healthy your obviously unhealthy relationship is. But any pleas to learn this asshole’s real name just winds up being like having a namana cream pie shoved in your face, because DJ just turns it all into a joke.
There have been many occasions where DJ would tell you different names he would swear were his own -- often times in the same week! Other times, his claim would be that he’s told you it while you were asleep, or that he once told you but you got conked on the head and forgot it.
Interestingly enough, it’s through these juvenile exploits that he’s earned a bit of a nickname from you: “Bastard”. Just rolls off the tongue, don’t it? To be fair, though, you’re with him for a reason: Even if he may not seem like it, he does have a soft sport for you. Even if it comes out about as smoothly as his features.
In a way, he reminds you of a mutt. A stray mutt. Especially when he shoves his head into your lap after a long day of fucking about and being a menace to whatever society you two decided to hop a ship to.
“You’re like a puppy sometimes, you know that?” you murmur. You scritch into his mess of hair, earning a low growl of contentment from your datemate. He never had to admit it out loud, but your touch clearly did wonders to him. This was evidence by how his already large body began to further sprawl along the couch the ship he’d stolen came with. Yup; just like a puppy. A big, raggedy puppy. Who needs a trip to the refresher as soon as this scritching session was over.
For DJ, on the other hand, nicknames come easily. Honestly, it’s mainly due to how he barely takes anyone or anything seriously: When you don’t concern yourself with all the muddled nonsense of society or wide circles of people, it becomes a whole lot easier to see everyone’s buttons. And considering he was a master slicer, button-pressing was definitely his thing.
Despite the fact that you were a one-in-a-million instance of being someone whom the thief actually trusted and treated with even a modicum of respect, even you weren’t immune to his acts of mockery.
“Mornin’, P-p-pipsqueak,” he’d smirk over a cup of caff, knowing damn well that his advantage of height bothered you sometimes.
“Ea-asy there, k-kitten,” he’d purr whenever your frustration would come boiling to the brim. Things like that.
“Lookie here, dollface,” when he wants to butter you up without losing his stance.
But that doesn’t mean he’s unable to be more affectionate. It’s in there, it’s just . . . in there. The best examples, however, tend to be when the both of you are having downtime and are actually safe somewhere. Or whatever safe could mean when you’re with DJ.
Generally, a jail cell wouldn’t be considered safe. Maybe not unsafe if the only occupants were your boyfriend of ill repute and yourself, but it certainly wasn’t enjoyable. And yet, the way DJ just seemed to laze about in them made you feel unnaturally calm. Well, calmer. It would’ve been nicer if your more-than-capable boyfriend would put those slicing skills of his to use and just busted the both of you out of there, but to DJ, a night in the clink meant at least a few hours of shut eye on a bed.
“B-bes-s-sides: We can alw-w-ways just grab on-e of those f-f-f-floating citadels they g-g-g-got docked out there,” he would reason, making himself comfy on the thin mattress. He had a point, you supposed. And it wasn’t as though you hadn’t been expecting this as a part of your life once you got together with him. Still, you weren’t entirely comfortable joining him on said mattress . . . Maker knows when it had last been washed!
You would be far from the first to consider DJ to be the most observant person, dating or not, but your concern must’ve been rich enough for him to practically sense it: Without hesitating, he sat up just enough to offer you his hand.
“C-come on,” he said. “I need to c-c-c-catch some shut e-e-eye, and it ain’t hap-p-p-penin’ if you’re standing d-d-down there the entire t-time.”
A feeling of mild dread seeped into you, followed by a wet blanket of acceptance. You were going to just spend an hour in the refresher of whatever ship you swept off with. Sighing, you accepted the hand, only for the hold to pull you up not onto the mattress, but directly on top of him!
There was plenty to react to -- the sudden movement, the feeling of being on top of DJ -- but the man himself didn’t seem at all fazed. Instead, he focused primarily on tucking in whatever lagging limbs you had and making sure he was cozy enough to continue serving as your mattress for however many hours he needed to recuperate. Which he apparently was: Not once did he protest to your weight pressing down on him, nor did he grunt with displeasure whenever you turned the direction of your head against his chest.
At the most, he only ever offered your back a brief circle of rubbing with his free hand, the other serving as his pillow, before uttering a drowsy, “You good there, kid?”
And, to your surprise . . . yeah. In spite of everything, yeah, you were pretty good . . .
And yet, interestingly enough, no matter what he calls you, none of that ever measures up to when he calls you by your name. Not pipsqueak, not kitten, not dollface or kid or whatever, but your actual name. Because DJ hardly ever refers to anyone by their actual title, let alone cares to remember it. By not only remembering it, but applying it, it shows you that he does care. It’s deep down -- like, real in there -- but it’s there. And you’re the only non-slicing being in the entire galaxy to have ever cracked that sort of safe.
Wear that badge with pride, Hotshot.
Thanks for your patience on this one! Clearly I had a lot of fun writing it! 💖 💖 . . . May gotta actually start writing for DJ. Maybe.
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fandomsonrequests · 4 years
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𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓..? [𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙 11]
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fandom: ATEEZ
characters: prince! park seonghwa
reader: fem! knight
word count: 3.6k+
summary:  It was time for another Selection. No- not a Selection for a bride but rather a well-trained knight to keep Prince Seonghwa safe after a failed assassination attempt. You, a blacksmith’s daughter, manage to make it to the elite group of knights worthy and skilled enough to protect the crown prince after months and months of training. This alone catches Seonghwa’s eyes- in more ways than one
a/n: part 11!! whew- i think its almost halfway? im sorry if the series is taking too long ;^; but thank you to those as well to whoever enjoys this so far! i really appreciate it! <3 
taglist: @iwanttohitmyself​ @minihongjoong @i-purrple-u @taetae123094 @jeonartemis @barcelona-sergei  @theoinkypiglet @sparklychangbin @krystal-cole @mangotexts @tooweirdforyou 
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The skies today were as blue as the crystal seas as fluffy white clouds filled the heavenly bodies. The sun peeks over The Capitol, basking the townsfolk in its bright but warm rays. The city village teemed with life as people went about their business. 
Today was actually a good day. But not for the delegates- today was the day of elimination.
The small dining hall the young delegates ate in was quiet. No one said a word, if they did it was done in tones no louder than a whisper. Only the ear-piercing sound of utensils scraping against the ceramic plate was heard along with the occasional clinking of mugs against the wooden table. 
The atmosphere was thick with tension. Each one of these young people felt as if they were Atlas, bearing the weight of the world on their shoulders. No one and nothing could ease them of the uncertainty on whether who gets to stay or not. Even the cockiest person among you was quiet.
You on the other hand felt as if the weight was doubled. You didn’t know how you would be questioned regarding the chapter you had painstakingly read. You had wasted so many nights and lost so much sleep over that you could only hope you didn’t fail whatever task Hae-seong had in mind. 
Breakfast passed by quickly and you soon found yourself lined up by the courtyard. Haeseong stood in front of you as Byron, and a few other knights, stood by the duke’s left. A rack of training swords was soon rolled in, the inanimate object seemingly taunting you. You knew the final exam was about to take place. 
“Delegates,” Haeseong called out in his annoyingly nasal voice. “Today is the day of elimination. We’ve reviewed your grades from training and academics and unfortunately, half of you are going home.”
A few gasps erupt from around you. You could feel your palms sweat with anxiousness and the fabric of the uniform seemed to itch more. You tighten your hands into a fist, silently praying that you’d pass this first set of eliminations.
“This just proves how incompetent you people are.” Haesong continued to earn a disappointed sigh from the large man beside him. 
“Nevertheless, it didn’t mean you didn’t try your best,” Byron interjected and sent a tiny glare to the duke who brushed it off nonchalantly. “Anyway, as your final exam- you’d be partnered off randomly to duel with the training swords.
“And for safety precautions, we shall be putting each of you in light armor.” 
You tense at that. Though you weren’t helpless when it came to swordsmanship- you weren’t sure if you were good enough either. Nevertheless, you just hoped you’d make it far. You glance to your right to see Siyeon’s lip quivering with nervousness. Your fingers discreetly tangled with hers, receiving a grateful squeeze of your hand in return. You send her a small smile to encourage her. Although she was still tense, she had relaxed a bit and had steadier breathing.
As you were all being suited up for the exam, a few of the royal court had come to watch. Among them were two of Hae-seong’s sons- the eldest who was a couple of years older than you and his youngest son who was only eighteen. You’ve seen them around the castle a few times. The younger, Minjae, was a bit spoiled but respectful nonetheless. He could be a little boisterous but you chalked that off to his teenage hormones. 
The eldest, on the other hand, Beom-seok, was just as nasty as his father or not worse. Not only was he prideful or an elitist, oh no- he had no respect in general. He would eye some of the female delegates like they were pieces of meat and pick on the castle servants when he walked around. What was worse is that whenever no higher-ups in the court were around, he’d strut along the palace as if he owned the place. He was disgusting but not many seemed to care because of his charming looks and stature in life. He had a strong jaw, a sharp nose, and fierce eyes. But his aura was just so repulsive not many really stayed friends with him. 
You saw him whisper to his brother as he glanced over at all of you. The pair snickered but the younger seemed to do so just to get his brother to shut up. Beom-seok must have been spewing some hateful stuff again so you chose to ignore him. Instead, you glance up the large window of the palace in the middle of the courtyard, hoping to see the prince. 
Seonghwa managed to plague your thoughts often ever since he had met you. He was just so different than you imagined- you didn’t think you’d grow fond of him in the way you do with your friends. You hoped that you do succeed in becoming his bodyguard because that way, you could still maintain your friendship with him.
As your gaze lands on the window, you see the prince looking down at all of you with interest. But beside him was Lady Ayeong, looking as ethereal as ever. A gentle yet curious smile was settled on her delicate lips as she surveyed over all of you. You found it hard to believe that an angel like her was the daughter of the devil. 
Seonghwa’s eyes meet yours and he sends you a subtle wink. You roll your eyes in amusement but nodded your head at him before focusing your attention on the knight in front of you to start donning the armor for the final exams. 
“Is it really this serious that light armor is needed?” Ayeong asks Seonghwa, looking up at him with a concerned glint in her eye. 
The prince merely nodded but gave her a reassuring smile in return. “Don’t worry. No one gets seriously injured during these. It may hurt but nothing that could kill.” 
Once you were all settled with the armor and the weapons, you were all ushered to the side as Byron called out two people’s names to duel. One was Julian- a city dweller with a flamboyant personality. His bouncy auburn hair glinted under the afternoon sun as he strolled up to the middle. His confidence was outstanding, it was his biggest asset. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be his biggest downfall either. 
The other was Gahyeon. You and Siyeon, as well as other folks from Trelark, sent her silent cheers. You all watched as both delegates took their positions across each other, arms raised and weapons held firmly in their hands. 
This was it.
Everyone watched earnestly as Gahyeon struck first, clashing her sword against Julian’s. The sound of wood on wood was heard throughout the courtyard. Several cries rang out and the nasty sound of splinters cracking soon joined in. 
By the end of the first duel, Gahyeon ended up with her back flat against the cobble and the wooden sword pressed to her chin. Julian was panting heavily and looked like he could collapse at any moment. Gahyeon proved that if she was going down, she was going to do so with a fight. 
Hae-seong says nothing, just dismissing the two and making them return to their spots in the line. “Julian wills the duel!” Byron announces before calling up the next two. 
Several more pairs came up. Some of the cockiest delegates had karma coming and lost the duel. Others surprised you like the quiet girl, Ursula, from the farming village in the South. She generally kept out of everyone’s business and was shorter than the average woman your age but she was quick on her feet and managed to take down her much bigger opponent pretty quickly. 
You were still marveling over Ursula’s assassin-like skill when Byron called your name. You snap out of your thoughts and head over to the middle where your opponent was already waiting. It was one of the bigger boys from the mining villages. You gulp nervously as you take your training sword from Byron and face your partner. 
You could feel your palms clam up and your heartbeat rapidly against your chest. The two of you assumed duel stances, swords in hand, waiting patiently for the signal to start. By this time, more of the royal court had come out to watch. You saw two young men that often accompanied Seonghwa stand off to the side. Maybe they were his friends but their presence just added some pressure to you. 
You inhale deeply and let out a shaky sigh right before Byron gives the signal. You make the first move, dispelling all your nerves with a short yell and bringing down your sword against your opponent’s. You managed to catch him off guard as he stumbled with his weapon, clearly not anticipating your strength. 
And for a short moment, you felt a bout of victory— that was until he pulled back his sword and swung at you. You stepped off to the side and blocked his blow, the force of the impact shot up your arms and to your shoulders. It was a rather harsh one, leaving you to grit your teeth to keep them from chattering. 
You step back when he swings at you again and you retaliate by blocking it off and swiftly following up with a slash near his middle. He narrowly avoids your move, hopping backward to do so. Your movements came right after the other, adrenaline pumping through your veins. You could practically hear your heartbeat thrum in your ears. Dust kicks up around you as you advance towards him, giving him blow after blow. Your opponent was left to defend rather than attack, his bigger stature causing himself to slow down at your faster movements. 
You felt confident that you’d win this duel. That is until Hae-seong calls out your name and distracts you. Your foot hooks against your ankle as you mean to step forward, causing you to trip. Your opponent takes this moment to swing his sword at your foot, making you fall onto your front. Several gasps were heard around you along with a ferocious cry. You look up to see your opponent actually bring down his sword against you. 
Luckily, you manage to roll away in time and the training sword lands against the spot you were on. “Are you crazy??” You exclaim. That blow could’ve killed you. You stumble back onto your feet, now weaponless as your sword had fallen out of your grip when you tripped. Your opponent takes a moment to kick away your sword and advance towards you.
You dodge another swing from him, shifting your feet to help you avoid him. “Aren’t you going to stop him?” You ask Byron and Hae-seong. The former remains silent but there’s a glint of sympathy in his eyes. The nobleman on the other hand simply grinned and shrugged.
“This is part of your test, _____. Remember the book I made you memorize? Well, I decided to quiz you— right now. I want to see how focused you really are.” He sneers. His eldest son laughs at his father’s words, making your blood boil. 
You eye your sword that was only a few steps away. Your opponent wasn’t an idiot— he knew what you were trying to do; he was doing everything to keep you from getting it back. But you were determined and stubborn as a mule. 
“First question, ______,” Hae-seong calls out as you step to the side and dodge another hit. “Name all seven kingdoms and what each are known for,” 
“The Nessa Empire: the kingdom near the sea,” You start out, trying your best to focus on the man in front of you while answering correctly. “Our kingdom of Sarem: the kingdom of the earth; the Kingdom of Velaris..” You continue on with the list and successfully manage to answer his questions.
This goes on— Hae-seong throwing question after question at you while you respond correctly- much to the duke’s annoyance. Of course, you would stumble every now and then, fatigue slowly creeping up on you, but you push through it. And finally, you see an opening. 
Your sword lay a couple of steps away and your opponent was far enough for you to reach over and grab it. You briefly glance over to the weapon and keep your gaze trained ahead of you. You patiently wait for Hae-seong to ask you another question, slowly inching towards your sword.
“Final question,” The nobleman huffed, trying to get you to mess up. “Sarem takes pride in our trade in grains and precious stones; true or false?” 
You almost answered “true” but you remembered what the prince had said the first night you met. 
“Don’t believe everything that book says— especially the part about how our kingdom trade works. It says something about grain or stones but that section is terribly inaccurate.”
You thought it was nasty on Hae-seong’s part to pull that trick out on you but you didn’t pay any attention to that. 
“False!” You answered just as your opponent was about to bring his sword down on you.  You rushed to pick up your own and swing it up to block his strike. This caught him off guard, allowing you to kick your foot out under him and make him lose balance. He falls flat against his back and you scramble to kick his own weapon away, pointing your sword against his throat. 
Byron takes this as a chance to end the duel seeing as both of you were tired. Your turn went longer than anticipated. “_____ wins this duel.” He announces, earning a few applause from the bystanders. 
You almost collapse to the ground in relief as victory floods your system. Thank the heavens. You helped your opponent up and gave him a bow of your head to which he responded in kind. You were still pretty banged and up and bruised since he got more hits in but it was all worth it to be able to make it past this final exam and to see the annoyance on Hae-seong’s face. 
It was obvious he hoped you would mess up but at least he knew to give credit when it’s due, even if it hurt his pride. He turned his pointy nose up and waved the two of you away to return to your spots and allow other delegates to go. “Moving on—“
You plop down onto your original spot, Siyeon shaking your shoulder excitedly. “You killed it!” She cheers quietly, grinning from ear to ear. “I’m so proud of you, Yellow.” 
“Thanks, Wolfie.” You reply, giving her hand a squeeze. 
You tear your gaze away from your friend and up to the window to where Seonghwa and Ayeong were watching. From your spot on the ground, it was clear that he had the brightest smile on his face.
“Her fighting spirit is commendable,” Ayeong praises, referring to you. She turns to her husband to be with a curious tilt of her head. “Don’t you think so?”
The prince felt his chest swell his pride, a warm feeling running through his veins. Though you two had met recently, he felt as if he was your friend for his whole life. He couldn’t help but feel proud of what you had achieved today. He nods in response to his companion. “I couldn’t agree more.”
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The final dueling exams ended late into the afternoon. It felt exhausting to watch and go through- after all there were 20 pairs that had to go through this. Despite that- tensions were still high as everyone anxiously waited for their results. 
Some looked hopeful while others remained dejected. It was clear to some that they were convinced that they would be eliminated; regrets of not trying hard enough during the first few days due to their reluctance flooded their thoughts. Only hushed whispers and silent sobs were heard through the courtyard as everyone let their frustrations out.
Amihan scoots over to you as she clutches her splinted hand to her chest; she had fallen down during her duel causing her wrist to be sprained. Her face had dejection written all over it; it was far from her usually laid back look. Raviv follows behind her like a concerned mother hen, brows furrowed. 
“I think I’m going to be sent home,” She admits quietly to your group, eyes glazed over with tears that were threatening to fall. Both you and Siyeon immediately move to comfort her, taking her hands in yours. “I should’ve tried harder,” 
“Ami, you did your best. That’s what’s important,” Siyeon says as she comforts the older girl. “You’re such a fierce fighter Amihan. Maybe you’d pass.”
You nod in response as you offer your friend a comforting smile. “Just shout it out to the world and think of it, it's sure to happen.” 
Amihan only shrugged in response but thanked both of you nonetheless. She sat back on her heels and sighed, looking down to her palms. “Thank you for comforting me… but think it’s useless either way. I’m injured so I can’t go on with training.”
“Maybe they’ll excuse you,” Raviv interjects and settles a hand over her shoulder. “Please don’t be so down on yourself, Ami..”
Before any of you can say anything more, the duke clears his throat and catches all of your attention. He had a roll of parchment in his hand, most likely containing the list of all delegates who made it past the first half of elimination. Right now, there were fifty of you, twenty females and thirty males. All that could change after tonight. 
“I shall now be announcing the delegates who passed.”
Tension rises and a pregnant silence fills the atmosphere. It was absolutely suffocating. You could feel your heart beat erratically against your chest as you laced your fingers with both Siyeon’s and Amihan’s hands. You didn’t want to go home— not when you were this far. The weight of the pendant your father gave you seemed heavy against your chest, a constant reminder of why you were here in the first place. 
“Abel,” Hae-seong started listing out. One by one, a name was called followed by a deep sigh of relief. Stifled tears and quiet sobs were soon heard when the duke failed to call their name. 
One of those unfortunate ones was Amihan. When Duke Hae-seong continued on with the list, the names now starting with B, your heart fell. You look over to your friend who had a resigned yet accepting look in her eyes. You couldn’t believe it. Your friend was no longer going to be with you. 
“Ami..” You mutter quietly, chest heavy with grief. She only smiles at you, cupping your cheek and brushing away a hair that stuck to your face.
I’ll be okay. She whispers to you before doing the same for both Raviv and Siyeon. You felt numb. It was such a short time since you’ve known her but you’ve created a deep bond with her since your stay— it would be hard to see her go. 
The names went on and luckily, you, Siyeon, and Raviv was still safe. For a moment your solemn thoughts turned into relief. At least you were safe, you were still in the game. You still had the chance to win this thing. 
“That’s all, you are now dismissed. You may return to your rooms. To those who were eliminated, we thank you for trying your best,” Hae-seong drawls out, oddly chipper. Maybe he was just glad that he didn’t have to deal with any more “brats.” “A carriage awaits you tomorrow morning so I suggest you start packing up.”
Usually, the walk to the rooms would be lively and full of playful banter. Now it was just glum and filled with frustrated cries. Whispers of comfort floated through the air as the group parted ways to head to their respective rooms. But before Raviv could part with the rest of you, he walks over to Amihan and gives her a tight embrace. They exchange a few words, only whispered between the two of them, before separating ways. 
You and Siyeon were on either side of Amihan’s side as you walked down the hall, trying to make the most of your last moments with her. Your friend had long stopped crying, her tears turning down to sniffles. She was quick to accept her fate. 
“Well, at least I got to live in a palace for 2 and a half months.” She jokes in hopes to lighten the mood. “Even though it was a short period of time, I’m glad I was able to make friends with you two…”
She turns to both of you, pulling you to the side to allow others to enter the room without blocking the way. “I’ll miss you both.. better write to me or else I’m coming back here to hunt your asses down.” 
She managed to pull some laughs out of you and Siyeon before bringing you into a group hug. It was a bittersweet moment and none of you could stop the tears from falling. It was kind of cathartic to be able to cry after a long while, even if they were grieving their separation from each other. It was Amihan once again who pulled herself together and straightened up. 
“I hope one of you wins. And I know one of you will.” She says with such conviction in her voice it was hard to not believe her. 
As you help her keep her things for her leave tomorrow, you couldn’t help but allow this moment to fuel something within you. You had another person to fight for, and that’s exactly what you needed. If things were hard now, they were surely going to get harder. 
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andrewmoocow · 3 years
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Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 16: Enemy of my Enemy (originally published on May 3, 2021)
AN: At long last, Black Rutile strikes! I have been anticipating writing this inevitable confrontation between her and the Crystal Gems for ages, and now finally everything I've building up to these past two parts will come together in a neat little package! We got a big battle, a villain song, fusions, who could ask for more?! But I'm getting ahead of myself, let us finally begin.
Synopsis: Jasper is unofficially sworn into the Crystal Gems when some old foes come together.
Cast:
Zach Callison as Steven
Estelle as Garnet
Michaela Dietz as Amethyst
Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl
Noël Wells as Black Rutile
Lauren Ash as White Topaz
Grace Rolek as Connie
Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Zuli, Mean Lapis
Shelby Rabara as Peridot, Squaridot
Uzo Aduba as Bismuth
Matthew Moy as Lars, Dante
Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite
Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite
Ashly Burch as Rutile Twins
Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha Sapphire
Christine Baranski as Hessonite
Della Saba as Aquamarine
Charlyne Yi as Eyeball
Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite
Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald
Melissa Fahn as Demantoid
Kari Wahlgren as Pyrope
Kimberly Brooks as Jasper, Biggs Jasper
Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite
Michelle Maryk as Larimar
Ian Jones-Quartey as Snowflake Obsidian
Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon
Martha Higerada as Topaz
Dee Bradley Baker as Lion, George, Elaine, Cosma
AJ Michalka as Stevonnie
Nancy Linari as Martha
Featuring Catherine Tate as Lepidolite
Alan Oppenheimer as Professor Poindexter
And Burt Ward as Mangolin
--
It has been a hectic past few hours for Steven. He was having another nice day when suddenly, Hessonite, Squaridot, and the Off-Colors all came flying out of Lion's mane, telling him that Lars needs to see him just as the Destiny Destroyer crash-landed on the beach.
Not too long after, Lars was rushed to the hospital and Steven decided to follow him in the ambulance. Steven had never been to a hospital before, so it was a little frightening for him to be somewhere on Earth that he had never been before, especially since many humans go there regularly.
"Hello, did you admit any patients into this place recently?" Steven hurriedly asked the receptionist.
"Name please." the college-aged receptionist answered, barely glancing up from her phone to meet Steven's panicking eyes.
"Steven Universe!" Steven gave his name.
"You're going to have to be more specific Mr. Universe." the receptionist stated.
"He's got pink skin, a scar over one eye and his hair is a portal to a pocket dimension where there's like a couple of trees inside." Steven explained. The woman just stared at Steven in confusion for a bit before going back to her phone. "Anything the matter, miss?"
"I'm happy you said all of that with a straight face." the receptionist said, putting down her phone to go on the computer. "One sec Universe." She looked up the most recent patients on the monitor and turned it to show Steven his desired patient. "Are you looking for Mr. Laramie Barriga?"
"Yes, that's him!" Steven exclaimed. "I was there when he got taken away in that ambulance! Where is he now?"
"Room 723." the receptionist answered. "Take the elevator, make a left and then a right. Got that?"
Before the woman could turn back, Steven had already vanished to find Lars. "Kids." she grumbled.
As Steven raced through the hospital in search of his undead friend, numerous unfamiliar sights greeted him. A doctor's office contained a child receiving a flu shot, a man in a wheelchair let Steven pass him by, a woman was on her way to an operating room, and a doctor solemnly fixed an empty hospital bed while a family was mourning.
Finally, Steven reached Room 723 just as a nurse was passing by the room. "Hello, I'm a friend of the patient occupying this room, and the Off-Colors told me what happened. Can I please come in and visit him?"
"You may." The nurse replied and opened the door for Steven. "Doctor Laurie, our patient has one more visitor." She said to the doctor standing by a bedridden Lars along with his parents, Sadie and Shep. "He said a bunch of "Off-Colors" told him everything."
"I'm here Lars!" Steven exclaimed as he rushed into the hospital room to be by Lars's side. "Hessonite and the Off-Colors told me what happened after they came flying out of Lion's mane!"
"Steven, finally!" Lars cried happily as he grabbed Steven's shoulders. "Listen, I need to warn you! You and the entire planet are doomed!"
--
A little while later, Lars was given a clean bill of health and was allowed to go home by ambulance. He sat on one side of the ambulance with his parents while Steven sat on the other end, and Lars continued to reveal what happened on Homeworld.
"What I'm trying to say Steven is that there's this Gem who's been inspiring others to rebel against you and Era 3!" Lars explained. "She's gathered up tons of your old enemies so they can get revenge too, and they're coming for Earth!"
"Lars, I understand your concern," Steven calmly stated. "but you're getting a little wound up over nothing. Almost everyone loves what I've done to the Gem race. There's nothing bigger going on, outside of Aquamarine being annoying."
"Seriously, you don't believe me?" Lars flatly asked in disbelief. "Well, do you at least believe what Hessonite said?"
"I believe that you teamed up for a fun space adventure!" Steven answered before his phone started ringing. "Whoops, got a call from Garnet." he said before answering the call. "Hello?"
"Steven, you need to come to Little Homeworld quick!" Garnet urged Steven from the other end. "Rogue Gems are on the attack, and they want us dead! Me, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth have already helped evacuate everyone, but we still need you to save the day again!"
"I'll be right there!" Steven bravely declared before hanging up and turning to the driver. "Sir, I need you to take us to Little Homeworld!"
"It's an emergency!" Lars added while showing him a picture of the Gem village.
"I don't see why not." the driver replied as he made a detour to Little Homeworld.
"You sure about this Lars?" Dante asked his son. "I mean, you just survived falling from space, I don't think we can handle you risking your life again so soon!"
"I promise you guys, I'll be back home when this is all over and I'm back in space." Lars assured his parents and hugged them.
"Be safe Laramie." Nancy said. "But then again, you got Steven to help out."
"Yeah, he's got me alright." Steven assured Mr. and Mrs. Barriga.
"Okay kid, we're here." the ambulance driver declared as the vehicle came close to Little Homeworld. "This is probably the first time I've escorted someone to stop an alien invasion."
"Here's good, thanks, sir." Steven said before the two boys bust the ambulance doors open and raced off to Little Homeworld.
--
What the pair discovered when they finally reached Little Homeworld was utter chaos. Almost everything was in ruins, smoke billowed everywhere, Light Warriors, Cluster Gems & Cactus Stevens were pillaging & demolishing, and at the center of it all was Aquamarine and Eyeball.
"Steven Universe, what a most pleasant surprise." Aquamarine purred as she turned to face Steven and Lars, batting her wand in her hand. "And look you've even brought Lars as well."
"Aquamarine, Eyeball." Steven laughed nervously while looking at the chaos behind the pair. "Did you, uh, maybe come to reconsider?"
"Reconsider, my facet!" Eyeball yelled before her fusion partner stopped her.
"But we did come with a few new friends." Aquamarine answered smugly.
"Well, that's certainly a start." Steven grinned before a massive hand made of water grabbed him and its creator brought him up to face her. "Hey, you're one of those Lapises! What brings you to Earth?"
"Sorry kid, I'm one of those new friends." Lapis 1J9G announced before dropping Steven to the ground and folding her arms as she landed right next to Aquamarine. "And we're afraid not even half-listening to you will work this time."
"See Steven, this is what I was trying to talk to you about!" Lars exclaimed, gesturing wildly to the three Gems. "A bunch of Gems want to get back at you! Though I thought there'd be more."
"I believe he's referring to me." Emerald bragged as she stepped forward with a panicking George in her hand.
"George!" Steven shouted. "And you, I know you! You're uh," He began getting off track as he only ever saw Emerald through a video screen. "Sorry, I've only met you that one time and now I've kinda forgotten-"
"IT'S EMERALD!" Emerald shrieked furiously. "How could you forget about me after Era 3 made the Diamonds let Lars off with a slap on the wrist for stealing my Sun Incinerator?!"
"Oh, calm yourself Emerald." Pyrope calmed the elite Gem down as she held aloft one of George's sisters, who was in full panic mode and pulling on her pigtails.
"Indeed," Demantoid added, also holding one of George's sisters in her enhanced arm. "You wouldn't want to make yourself less presentable for our victims."
Just then, the six Gems moved aside and kneeled to their leader, whose very appearance completely rocked Steven's world. Black Rutile walked towards Steven with a bowie knife to a rose while White Topaz followed her. When she cut the rose's head, Black Rutile finally faced Steven with an evil smile.
"I know you, you're that reporter!" Steven exclaimed. "Why are you hanging with these guys?!"
"I'm hanging with them?" Black Rutile scoffed at Steven. "I believe you're mistaken; THEY'RE hanging with ME!" She then threw away the rose's stem and steepled her fingers together. "Anyways, do you have any last words?"
"This is not good at all certainly fits." Steven declared nervously before the eight Gems slowly began marching towards the boy, eager to finally get their revenge.
However, their plans were quickly cut off before they could be put into action as Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl swooped into saved Steven and Lars from the rogue Gems.
"We trusted you, you psycho!" Pearl roared while her spear clashed with Black Rutile's knife.
"And everyone was dumb enough to trust you." Black Rutile replied snarkily. "So as you humans say, hello pot, meet kettle."
"Seriously, what makes you think we're worse than you are?" Amethyst asked.
"Something about how your ways will make the Gem race a bunch of puny hippies or whatever." White Topaz answered. "No hard feelings when we destroy you and everything you worked so hard for?"
"What did I tell you about getting friendly with the enemy?" Black Rutile hissed at her Topaz bodyguard before turning back to the Crystal Gems. "Now, let me repeat myself. Any last words?"
"My future vision tells me you will fail." Garnet declared defiantly. "And we will find a way to make that future happen."
"Such noble sentiments from a couple of Gems who are gonna die!" Black Rutile replied as her knife turned into a sword that she prepared to slash the Gems with until a loud rumbling sound was heard. "What was that?"
"Need a hand?" Peridot asked as she, Lapis, and Bismuth appeared on a makeshift flying machine made out of scrap metal that she controlled with her ferrokinesis.
"So that's where you ran off to!" Pearl exclaimed while Bismuth picked her up by the hand to toss onto the metal pad.
"No time to talk, we have to move!" Lapis exclaimed, picking everyone else up with her water powers. When everyone was on board, the pad zoomed off.
"Uh, why aren't we stopping them?!" Lapis 1J9G exclaimed before preparing to fly off when Black Rutile stopped her.
"Let them run." Black Rutile smiled deviously. "I want to see how they can lie their ways out of this situation. But in the meantime, I have another idea."
--
Before the Crystal Gems knew it, they finally returned to the beach house where Hessonite, Squaridot, and the Off-Colors awaited their return.
"I still can't believe it!" Steven gasped in denial of their current situation. "I get that not everyone would like what I've done with Homeworld, but I don't think I'd make them angry enough to want to kill me!"
"I tried to warn you, Steven." Lars declared sassily. "But you just didn't listen! Probably because you're so in denial of wanting to accept that not everything will go your way."
"Lars, this is no time for backtalk, Earth could be in danger!" Pearl scolded the pink-skinned human as the group walked into the house to think of a plan. "That Rutile seems to have thought of everything! I mean, she's a Rutile for crying out loud, they barely held any power in Homeworld!" However, Pearl then turned to the Rutile twins standing right next to her. "Uh, no offense you two."
"None taken." The twins replied.
"Still, she's got quite an army at her side." Lapis said. "She's got one of those Lapises I fought on Aozul 2, she's got Aquamarine, Eyeball, Pyrope & Demantoid, an Emerald, and that's not even accounting for the minions they got!"
"But what does Black Rutile want with us?" Peridot and Squaridot asked in unknowing unison.
"According to her Topaz, it must be something to do with that Steven did to the Gem race." Bismuth analyzed. "But who knows what she'll do next?"
"I know." Garnet declared. "I've looked through dozens of possible timelines trying to uncover Black Rutile's true plans. This is what I feel could be the worst possible one."
"What does it look like?" Steven asked before Garnet kissed him on the head, temporarily bestowing Steven with her future vision and a glimpse at what could be to come.
--
It took centuries of careful planning but at long last, Black Rutile had finally won. Once the Crystal Gems were finally destroyed and she indoctrinated the Gems they had enslaved to her noble cause, she then reawakened the Cluster that was slumbering within the Earth's crust, ultimately finishing what the Diamonds were too cowardly to do and destroying that annoying little planet once and for all.
Within mere weeks, the Diamonds met their demise, and Black Rutile installed herself as the new ruler of all Gemkind. And with the beginnings of her dictatorship came the Gems reverting to their old ways during Era 4. The caste system was reinstated but also reinvented at the same time. Now, it was Black Rutile above everyone else.
As countless Gems were tormented into building a grand statue to their magnanimous leader, a lone Pearl solemnly marched through the throngs of enslaved Gems under the orders of Emerald, until she was brought before Black Rutile, who was sitting on a throne as black as her body & her heart while the shattered remains of all who opposed her hanged above her in one big bubble.
"My Rutile, I come with the most glorious of tidings." Emerald decreed as she shoved Volleyball forward. "We have succeeded in terminating the resistance, but I feel you'd find particular interest in shattering their leader yourself."
"Ah yes, Pink Diamond's little Pearl." Black Rutile snickered as she descended from her throne to meet Volleyball. "Who would've guessed a submissive little slave would try to start a revolution? Well, anything to say?"
Volleyball, however, was too terrified to speak, having just witnessed her fellow rebels being shattered before her eye and now faced with the thought of being destroyed herself.
"What's that? No grand speech about how hope will live on or that there will be others like you that will rise against me?" Black Rutile asked rhetorically. "Oh please, I've destroyed every last threat to my power on both this planet and the Asteroid Field Formerly Known as Earth." She declared, gesturing towards the shard-filled bubble floating over her throne. "What's another pile of shards to add to the collection?"
With that, Black Rutile extracted her bowie knife from her gem and used it to jab Volleyball in hers, ending her life within mere seconds.
"So ends the legacy of Pink Diamond." Black Rutile purred as she collected the Pearl's shards in a bubble. "A real shame. She had so much potential and wasted it on being a total brat and threatening her own kind."
She then returned to her throne, where she lifted the bubble towards the bigger bubble, and the two merged. Now Volleyball's remains joined the tons of Gems that Black Rutile had heartlessly shattered. Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, Hessonite, Citrine, Spinel, the Diamonds, all nothing more than shards. But her proudest achievement was the small gathering of pink dust that was once Steven Universe.
--
Returning to the present day, Steven was left utterly aghast at this possible future, but it made his resolve to stop Black Rutile even stronger. "We have to keep this future from happening!" he declared. "All we need to do is gather up an army of our own!"
"I'll call Connie and see if she's free to save the world again today." Pearl stated as she picked up her phone and started dialing.
"Which Gems do you want me to recruit out of everyone we evacuated?" Garnet asked.
"I don't know, just pick anyone!" Steven exclaimed.
"That's the Steven we know and love!" Amethyst replied, cheerfully giving Steven a noogie when she came to a realization. "Hey wait, if Black Rutile is gathering up Gems that have a beef with us, then what would you think if she tried recruiting Jasper?"
"Y'know, Jasper did say she was eager to fight again." Steven agreed with the little Quartz. "Maybe we should try and get to her first."
"I'm not sure Steven." Pearl said as she got off the phone with Connie. "Besides, I don't think Jasper would ever want to side with us."
"Black Rutile has gathered as much information as possible on all of us, and Jasper has likely been given the same treatment." Squaridot stated. "So it's just as likely that she'll try and ensnare Jasper to her side."
"We have to get to Jasper before Black Rutile does!" Steven hurriedly declared before turning to the Warp Pad behind him. "Gotta go, I'll be back soon!"
As Steven left for the forest via Warp Pad, the other Gems just gazed at the pad where he once stood.
"Good luck Steven." Pearl muttered before turning to Lion. "Go fetch Connie, okay?"
Lion nodded obediently and let out a roar, creating a portal that he leaped through to get to Connie.
--
Meanwhile, deep within the woods of Beach City, Jasper had been watching all that was going on in Little Homeworld from on top of her cave. As she watched smoke billow from afar, she couldn't help but feel that Steven brought this upon himself for enforcing peace for all Gems.
"He could've just ended colonization and leave it at that, but no!" Jasper muttered to herself while leaping down to the entrance of her cave. "He had to make them all into peace-loving weaklings!"
"Couldn't agree more." Jasper heard a familiar voice concur with her opinion. When the orange Gem turned around, she discovered Black Rutile leaning on a nearby tree with Aquamarine standing on a branch above her. "Jasper, correct? I don't think we got properly introduced to each other."
"If you're here for another interview, then forget it!" Jasper bellowed at Black Rutile before bringing her attention to Aquamarine. "And I see you got that little brat with you too."
"You are indeed correct Jasper." Aquamarine declared. "In fact, I'm not the only one who she recruited because of how dissatisfied I am with Era 3. Many Gems have been rallied by my master here to rebel against Steven's oppression and create a utopia."
"Are you sure about that?" Jasper asked with an eyebrow raised. "Sounds to me like you're starting some kind of cult?"
"A cult?! Stuff and nonsense!" Black Rutile assured the quartz. "We are simply fighting for our rights! Would you like to join us?"
"Jasper, don't!" Steven exclaimed as he rushed to the cave, where he saw Jasper standing with Black Rutile. "Please, you have to listen, Black Rutile is not to be trusted!"
"Don't you dare listen to him!" Black Rutile insisted. "He's the son of Pink Diamond, and it's both their faults you went from mighty Gem warrior to a lonely shell of your former self! Don't you see, you could finally get your revenge on Pink!"
"Revenge on my Diamond?" Jasper growled. "Fat chance! Why would I ally with some low-ranking Rutile just because she hates Pink like almost every Gem on this planet?! I'd rather be a peace-loving weakling than one of your lackeys!"
"Low-ranking?!" Black Rutile argued. "I'll have you know Jasper, I was one of a kind among Gems of my type because I worked my hardest to receive White Diamond's highest honors and join the upper-class of her court! You're just a mere Jasper who probably didn't even know Pink in person for the selfish, bratty sociopath she w-"
Before the Rutile could finish, Jasper summoned her crash helmet and sent her flying out of the forest with a single headbutt. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, YOU ROTTEN QUARTZ!" Black Rutile cursed Jasper. "YOU JANKING CLOD!"
As Aquamarine chased after the flying Rutile, Jasper turned to Steven with a grumpy look in her eyes. In contrast, the starry-eyed Steven squealed excitedly while staring at Jasper. "Quit looking at me like that." Jasper snarled. "Let me guess, you want to recruit me too?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Steven declared eagerly.
--
"Yes indeed, my Ministry of Maliciousness shall soon destroy the United Defenders of the World and conquer the world at last!" a weirdly animated mad scientist with three circles arranged in a triangle decorating his bald head declared as he gestured to his fellow supervillains. Amethyst was watching this happen on television with some of the other Gems in Steven's room.
"Apex Predator!" A muscular man decorated in animal skins fired his highly advanced hunting rifle at nothing in particular.
"Electric Ellen!" A young woman in a black suit with lightning bolt patterns demonstrated her powers for the other villains.
"Automato!" A bronze robot with green optics simply stood by his seat at the table of criminals, his soulless eyes unblinking.
"Scare Master!" A large man in a monster costume that continuously leaked hallucinogenic gas and wearing a yellow ring let out a ghoulish laugh.
"The Unidentified Felonious Extraterrestial!" A cybernetic insectoid alien made a shrieking noise, exposing the smaller head in its mouth.
"And of course, your illustrious leader!" the scientist introduced himself. "The world's greatest criminal mind, Professor Poindexter, Ph.D.!"
"Uh, why are we watching this show?" Zuli asked Amethyst while she sat next to Lapis.
"This is what our current sitch reminds me of!" Amethyst explained. "Mangolin's archenemy Professor Poindexter gathers up each of the United Defenders of the Globe's enemies to form, like, a team of supervillains!"
"Why is the animation so lazy?" Peridot wondered as she leaned on Biggs Jasper.
"It was the 70s, limited budget." Amethyst said. "Ooh wait, here comes Mangolin!"
The cartoon then changed scenes from the Ministry of Maliciousness to the United Defenders of the World, which included Mangolin, Uber-Chap, Battle Goddess, Pyro-Nado, Shamrock Cavalier, Gizmo-Chick, and Vincent the Visitor.
"Termite terrors, Defenders!" the pangolin-themed hero Mangolin exclaimed. "Our foe Professor Poindexter has assembled our enemies to destroy us once and for all! We must do something!"
"They just explained that to us!" Nephrite said. "What, do they think the viewers are stupid or something?"
Just then, the group of Gems heard the Warp Pad go off, signaling that Steven has finally returned.
"Hey, Steven's back!" Teal Zircon exclaimed before racing down the stairs to see her half-human friend again, and this time she was in for a surprise. "Hey Jasper, remember me? Your new best friend?"
"I regret this decision already." Jasper cringed at having to ally with Teal as the other Gems came back downstairs. "Oh look, a whole menagerie of useless clods! Why even bring them all together when I can just take Black Rutile's forces on myself?"
"Jasper, no need to brag about your strength." Lapis said to the more muscular Gem. "This is serious, the whole planet is at stake here!"
"And I should care because?" Jasper snarled in disagreement.
"Um, this is your Diamond's planet?" an exasperated Pearl replied. "Surely you wouldn't want anyone to touch what Pink owned, right?"
"I suggest you don't talk that way to a Gem like her." Rhodonite said to Pearl. "She looks like she could go wild on us at any moment."
"Just calm down everyone." Fluorite advised calmly. "I know we're all stressed because of our current situation, but let's not start arguing."
"And who are all of these?" Jasper asked as she gestured to the Off-Colors, Hessonite & Squaridot, Zuli, Snowflake Obsidian, Little Larimar, Nephrite, Topaz, and Biggs Jasper. "I suppose they're all from that stupid school of yours?"
"Well, most of them are." Steven pointed out. "And maybe when this is all over, you could finally give Little Homeschool a chan-"
"Pass." Jasper coldly declared. "Shouldn't we be getting ready to fight right now?"
"Jasper's right." Bismuth agreed. "We're all in this together, for Earth."
And right on cue, Lion finally returned with Connie on his back, her sword at the ready. "How convenient that I finished most of my work in time for another chance at saving the world!" Connie stated as she dismounted from Lion and hugged Steven. "So, who are we fighting?"
"Come with us to Little Homeworld, I'll show you." Steven answered before he began to walk towards the Warp Pad. "Gems, let's get a move on."
And so, the Crystal Gems and all their assorted allies marched towards the Warp Pad, ready to take back Little Homeworld from Black Rutile's rebels and defend the planet once more. When Steven spread out his arms, off they all went in a beam of light.
--
"Ugh, I'm so bored!" Eyeball complained, pacing around while the rest of the alliance mindlessly caused more damage to Little Homeworld out of complete boredom. "I suppose they finally realized they were stupid to stop us and skipped Earth without telling?"
"Patience Ruby." Aquamarine advised her fusion partner. "They should be coming soon."
"What makes you so sure?" White Topaz asked Aquamarine as she revealed her weapon, a pair of brass knuckles.
"Steven came running for Jasper thinking she can join his side." The little blue Gem answered. "What an idiot, am I right?!"
Suddenly, Aquamarine was in for a scare as Little Homeworld's Warp Pad activated from right behind her, and on it were the Crystal Gems.
"Okay Black Rutile, we're here." Steven declared with Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie, Lion, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, Jasper, Hessonite, Squaridot, Lars, the Off-Colors, TZ, Zuli, Topaz, Snowflake, Larimar, Biggs, and Nephrite behind him. "All of us!"
"Oh, you finally showed up! Good timing." Black Rutile sarcastically applauded her foes. "And I see you got a little rag-tag bunch of over-eager losers by your side too."
"Hey 2F8D, so this is what you've been up to." 1J9G cattily greeted her ex-partner. "Being a pacifist baby and letting yourself be Steven's slave."
"I'm not a slave, neither to him or you!" Zuli yelled at 1J9G. "I came to Little Homeworld not just to learn how to appreciate Earth, but to learn how to make actual friends! Not be submissive to overly-controlling jerks!"
"I thought I could trust you Aquamarine!" Topaz went next. "I thought you changed by meeting that Ruby and fusing with her, but now I see you'll always be the same little monster you always are!"
"Oh stop Topaz, you're too kind!" Aquamarine said to her former Topaz.
"Crystal Gems, assemble!" Garnet bravely pointed forward to prepare for one last attack, but Steven stopped her.
"Wait!" Steven exclaimed. "Before we all get into one big fight, I want to know. Why do you hate me in particular? Outside of Era 3, I mean."
"You really want to know?" Black Rutile replied. "Well, allow me to put this in the only way you'll probably understand." She turned to White Topaz while fetching some kind of device from her gem. "Music please."
White Topaz turned the device on and music began to play, cuing Black Rutile to start a song. "When one era ends, another begins. It's such a big change for all us Gems." She sang. "But some aren't new fans of the old ways, and prefer to look back on the old days. But I on the other hand got a chance, to make this the Crystal Gems' last dance. And now I pray through endless days, to finally get rid of you."
"Is she singing?" Lars gasped at the musical number that just began as drum music kicked in. "Did she have a machine made for that purpose?"
"When I first emerged for my Diamond, White the master tactician!" Black Rutile began telling her origins through holograms on her visor, showing a just-emerged Rutile in a Kindergarten standing before White Diamond. "She revealed to me in secret signs, the markings of a great Gem! And she was indeed no clod, could reduce entire armies to sod! And all the fools that dared cross her, she'd just shrug and then shatter!"
"I studied well, got my tools of the trade, always got nothing but an A-grade!" After Black Rutile did away with the hologram showing her emergence, she started revealing the hard work she did to gain her high status among White Diamond's subjects. "But then he walked in and called himself Pinky, soon everyone got down to one knee." A stylized version of Steven's first arrival on Homeworld came next, and the stylized Black Rutile wasn't very pleased. "What never died was my ambition, and my keen intuition. Both of them gave me a complex, and made me want to rule the universe."
As the song went on, Steven began learning more about the consequences of his actions and how much Black Rutile truly despised him. "Every glimmer from your smile makes me want to puke!" his new foe complained. "Who to slay, who's the one, who's to doom? You know the only one would be my new archenemy, Steven U!"
With that, the chorus soon began with Black Rutile's minions joining in, sans White Topaz. "Wither the rose! Growing shadows! Sow a world of chaos!" the seven Gems sang in harmony. "Wither the rose! Only highs, no lows! In a world of chaos!"
"Is this the time for a song?" Connie asked. "Why don't we just attack them while they're singing?"
"Black Rutile is going to put on an admittedly wonderful song!" Padparadscha exclaimed.
"Ha!" Black Rutile laughed as the musical break reaches its end before turning to her Cluster Gems, cyborg Cactus Stevens and Light Warriors. "Come on minions, hurry along, this little school will soon be gone!" she commanded them before hugging herself in excitement. "I could squeeze myself with glee! Next the Diamonds and then this galaxy! I would really stop at nothing, shattering, treachery and lies! Whatever it takes to reign supreme, you really can't blame me for trying."
The tune soon began to reach its climax. "Wither the rose! Growing shadows! Sow a world of chaos! Wither the rose! Don't you doze!"
"We shall restore Homeworld's true order!" Aquamarine soon joined in.
"Vengeance will soon finally be ours!" Eyeball added sadistically.
"Saying sorry just won't cut it!" Emerald chorused.
"Dismantling the new superpowers!" Lapis 1J9G stated.
"Armies rampaging across the stars!" Demantoid declared.
"Covered in so many scars!" Pyrope boomed.
"Nothing but eternal war," Black Rutile concluded. "Join us as we make our own colony!"
"Genocide, slaughtering, jingoism, in enemy blood we shall wade!” The seven Gems announced. "Homeworld Gems come celebrate, as we make this bratty starlight fade!"
The song finally ended and the alliance of hatred took a bow before Black Rutile changed her knife into a broadsword with a massive blade and a tiny handle. "Now that we explained everything," she stated before pointing her sword forward. "CHARGE!"
The two sides finally clashed at Little Homeworld for the fate of Earth. Lapis & Zuli took to the skies against 1J9G, Pyrope & Demantoid led an unwilling Light Army, Emerald sped forth to personally confront Lars, and Black Rutile, White Topaz, Aquamarine & Eyeball personally confronted Steven, Garnet, Amethyst & Pearl.
"Fire!" Demantoid commanded some Light Warriors bearing laser cannons to shoot at Teal Zircon & Nephrite, but Jasper and Topaz were there to shield her from the blasts. "You!"
"You saved me!" TZ exclaimed. "Guess you really do think of me as your best friend, dontcha Jasp?"
"No, I still find you one of the most annoying beings I've ever met." Jasper replied. "But still, better to side with someone as irritating as you."
"I thought we were all friends!" 1J9G exclaimed as she clashed her water with Lapis and Zuli's. "I only joined these guys just so I could get you back!"
"Why would we ever take you back?!" Lapis stated.
"When we ran into 3E8C after years, she showed me that she and Steven were the best of friends!" Zuli added. "Not an overly controlling jerk who refuses to let me have fun!"
"See what she means?!" 1J9G said. "He's brainwashed all of you!" The only response she got was a punch to the face from Zuli.
Down below, Lars and Connie sparred against Emerald. "Don't think Steven will be there to save you today!" Emerald taunted, snapping her fingers and revealing electric powers to fight with. "He'll just throw you away, just like how Pink always threw everything away!"
"Sheesh, sins of the mother much?" Lars dryly commented.
"Steven is nothing like that!" Connie argued. "If you knew him, you'd know he's the sweetest, most caring guy you could ever meet!"
"Oh blah blah blah, I get it, he's too pure for this universe and he must be protected at all costs!" Emerald said. "Black Rutile has shown me what he truly is like."
Finally, the Crystal Gems battled with Black Rutile and her three most loyal followers. Garnet went up against White Topaz, Amethyst vs Eyeball, Pearl vs Aquamarine, and finally Steven vs Black Rutile.
"Why are you doing this?!" Steven asked Black Rutile while in utter denial. "I brought peace to the galaxy, I ended the Diamonds' oppression!"
"And stripped all Gems of their livelihoods in the process." Black Rutile coldly replied as her sword clashed with Steven's shield. "Look around you kid, these Gems came to my side because they have no status, no allies, no power over others! And now, they come to Earth for retribution against you!"
"But this still isn't right!" Steven claimed. "I understand that some may not be comfortable with what I've done, but that doesn't excuse you for all this."
"Kinda like how you excused the Diamonds for all they did just because they were sad, or something stupid like that." Black Rutile insulted.
"That's because they were!" Steven exclaimed. "They were in mourning!"
"Mourning the so-called death of an annoying brat I had the displeasure of sharing a planet with!" Black Rutile yelled as she began fighting in a way that resembled capoeira and gymnastics. "This all could've been avoided if you just put your enemies out of their misery, or at least punished them, rather than just excusing them with a stupid song and acting like everything was just water under the bridge!"
"You're thinking of retributive justice, where the offender did something wrong and the punishment is just as severe in exchange." Steven replied. "We Crystal Gems practice restorative justice, where we actually talk to the offenders and try to see how we can help them without using lethal force."
"Well, whatever you're talking about, you can call me a proud supporter of retributive justice." Black Rutile declared herself. "As in, me and my pals are seeking retribution against you and your posse for what you did to our society, and will do so by any means necessary. Because you think everything can just bend to your will if you just make everyone around you cry?! You really are no better than Pink!"
"Well, I'm trying to be better than my mom, both Pink Diamond, and Rose Quartz." Steven responded, blocking another attack from Black Rutile. "But I'm pretty sure they'd both find a sociopath like you beyond saving."
"Me, a sociopath?! You barely even know me!" Black Rutile yelled before bunting Steven's shield away when he tried to throw it. "Well, you're certainly right on me being a bit selfish, but look at you. I mean, you've made excuses for murderers, bigots, and toxic friends, yet anyone who's just doing what they're made to do is instantly made a pariah just because they don't like you and your dumb little sidekicks!"
Behind Black Rutile's back, however, her alliance was slowly beginning to fall apart, yet she didn't seem to care. Hessonite, Peridot, Biggs, and Squaridot hid behind a wall to avoid the Light Warriors' attacks.
"Got a plan, you guys?" Biggs asked the other three Gems.
"I have." Hessonite replied. "The Peridots shall distract them by taking control of Demantoid's limb enhancers while I swoop in and steal back the Light Prisms! Then perhaps we can turn the Light Army on them."
"I'll see what I can do." Peridot stated, but then Squaridot put a green hand on her shoulder.
"No, allow me." Squaridot stated before using her ferrokinetic powers to meddle with Demantoid's limb enhancers.
"No no, not again!" Demantoid yelled as she was dumped out of her mech, and the Light Prism she was holding hostage fell out with her only to be caught by Hessonite at rapid speed. "My Prism!"
"Demantoid you child, you could've just fought back instead of letting yourself get defeated!" Pyrope said, unaware that her Prism was stolen as well. "Wait, what?"
As Hessonite returned to Peridot and Squaridot with the Light Prisms in hand, the Light Warriors dropped their current activities and began to surround the three Gems peacefully. "Now that you know who's really in charge here," Hessonite bragged before she pointed at her fellow Garnets. "FIRE!"
"No, it can't be!" Pyrope squealed in utter defeat as the Light Warriors pointed their weapons at her and Demantoid.
"Hold me close Pyrope!" Demantoid added while hugging Pyrope in fear before the Light Warriors charged, attacking the pair and poofing them once and for all.
As for Emerald, she was now getting ganged up on by Lars, Connie, and the Off-Colors, who all took turns using Connie's sword against her. "You're all just humans and Off-Color Gems!" Emerald screamed as she desperately tried to fight back. "What makes you think you all can stop me?!"
"'Cause we're all more walk than talk!" Lars declared, once again using his musti-yuddha skills to knock Emerald to the ground. "Connie, care to do the honors?"
"With pleasure!" Connie replied, hopping up on Fluorite's head and jumping high into the air before zooming down with her sword pointed directly at Emerald.
"I hate you all." Emerald snarled bitterly before Connie poofed her, ending the threat she possessed to Lars and the Off-Colors.
High up in the air, the battle of the Lapides raged on with 1J9G using vapor from the clouds as makeshift weapons against her former friends.
"We could've stayed together if 3E8C hadn't been dropped on Earth like an idiot!" 1J9G yelled. "I just wanted us to stay friends!"
"Well, if you want to keep your friends," 3E8C stated, forming a massive water hand from a nearby cloud. "then you should act like a friend." The hand grabbed 1J9G and tossed her to the ground, creating a massive crater that caused a building to start falling over, and one piece of sharp rubble was aimed straight at 1J9G's gem.
"So this is it, huh?" 1J9G monologued to herself as death was mere moments away. "I feel like this is karma for being a horrible friend like they keep calling me. In that case, I'm sorry. Maybe somewhere else, we could've stayed together."
As 1J9G accepted her demise, the rubble was punched out of the way by a massive silhouette in the dust, and it settled to reveal Jasper as her savior.
"Get up you!" Jasper roared at the Lapis.
"But, we're on different sides!" 1J9G exclaimed. "Why did you save me?"
"It's what a certain someone would've done, but he's too busy at the moment." Jasper replied. "Plus, I know what it's like to be alone too."
"Oh look, that Jasper is becoming just like you!" Black Rutile yelled as she watched her alliance break up. "But then again, they set themselves up for this the moment I recruited them all, so what are you gonna do?"
"But still, we're fighting a losing battle!" White Topaz advised her Rutile. "What do we do now?"
"I think I know." Black Rutile smirked before snapping her fingers at one of her surviving allies. "Aquamarine, grab the boy and take him to the nearest mountain!"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Aquamarine purred before she grabbed Steven with her wand and began flying off, with Eyeball also in tow, and Black Rutile & White Topaz on a mini-hovercraft. "Oh, where will you be without your precious little abomination?!"
"Steven!" the Crystal Gems all yelled.
"Topaz, subdue the Lapises!" Black Rutile then commanded White Topaz, who gave a shaky nod before leaping up and grabbing Lapis & Zuli, followed by pinning them to the ground.
"Don't worry guys, I got this!" Connie said before mounting on Lion and riding off after Aquamarine.
"The only one who should defeat him is me." Jasper said as Connie fled, right before following the human. "Wait up girl!"
--
At the mountain, Steven was dropped by Aquamarine at the highest cliff, where Black Rutile stood by with a boulder next to her and White Topaz.
"What do you want now Black Rutile?" Steven asked as he got up to face the evil Rutile.
"Simple, toss you over the edge and throw a boulder to crush you to death, since you can fly apparently." Black Rutile declared. "I've been waiting for ages to destroy Pink Diamond, and you, my little friend, are just the thing to satisfy my vendetta."
"But why do you hate Pink so much?" Steven exclaimed. "Let me guess, she treated you like trash just like almost every other Gem I've faced?"
"No, she didn't treat me like trash!" Black Rutile answered. "She treated everyone around her like trash, yet the Diamonds almost always let her get away with everything! And here you are forcing Gems against their will to change their very way of living! Hey, at least you didn't fake your death to recklessly endanger the lives of others, because I'm going to endanger yours!"
Black Rutile then picked up Steven by his shirt collar and walked to the edge of the cliff, where she dangled him over such dangerously high heights. "You know what's ironic?" she smiled cheerfully before it turned to a hateful scowl. "You're able to get humans and Gems to get along, yet you're neither of them yourself."
With that, Black Rutile released her grip on Steven's shirt and he began falling from the cliff, followed shortly by White Topaz tossing a boulder that fell right above him. "NO HARD FEELINGS!" she yelled.
"So this is how I'll die, falling to my death off a cliff while a boulder is going to crush me." Steven realized as he fell to his doom. "Maybe Black Rutile's right. Maybe this is punishment for only thinking of myself all the time, and never taking others' feelings into account. Punishment for letting all these enemies run free instead of punishing them. Punishment for being an awful person in general."
However, just as Steven shut his eyes, accepted his demise, and did not even use any of his powers to escape, a voice cried out to him. "STEVEN!"
"Connie?" Steven exclaimed as she warped in via Lion's portal and reach out to him. "Don't worry, I'm with you till the end of the line! Just grab my hand!"
Steven gave a big smile, realizing that even with all his faults there were still people looking out for him, and took Connie's hand, causing the two to merge into a mass of light.
--
"Well, that should take care of him." Black Rutile declared, dusting off her hands and beginning to walk away. "Come along you three, let's go reawaken the Cluster and wipe this planet off the face of this universe for good."
"Uh, my Rutile?" White Topaz said while she, Aquamarine, and Eyeball gazed over the edge of the cliff to discover a pink light rapidly approaching them. "I think Steven is….not dead."
"Wait, seriously?!" Black Rutile yelled before Stevonnie leaped up the mountain and onto the cliff where the four enemy Gems stood. "You fused with a human?!"
"Bet you didn't see that coming!" Stevonnie declared as they swung their sword to try and poof Aquamarine, but she swiftly dodged and fused with Eyeball to form Bluebird Azurite.
"Of course I knew you can fuse with humans kid, it was in my data!" Black Rutile exclaimed before turning to White Topaz staring in amazement at the fusion. "Topaz, fuse with me!"
"Wait, we get to fuse too?!" White Topaz giddily exclaimed. "Eee, I can't wait, we've been practicing for so long!"
"Just shut up already." Black Rutile snarled before extending her hand. "Now, may I have this dance?"
"Gladly." White Topaz responded, taking her superior's hand before they began dancing the tango, their gems glowing as they danced until they formed into a giant light that resulted in a new, much larger fusion with four eyes & arms, spiky hair that went down to her back, a black-and-grey uniform and Black Rutile's white cape.
"BEHOLD FOOLISH LESSER BEINGS!" the new fusion bombastically declared. "THE GODLIKE SUPERIORITY OF THE MIGHTY LEPIDOLITE!"
"One fusion against two fusions." Stevonnie muttered. "Have to admit, those aren't very good odds."
"You bet." Jasper declared, zooming up the mountain to stand by Stevonnie's side and pounding her fists together. "For them!"
"You followed us?" Stevonnie asked Jasper.
"I don't like the Crystal Gems, but I hate them just as much." Jasper explained roughly. "Now come on, let's finish this!"
"Oh, a fair game, I see!" Lepidolite asked as she summoned two pairs of claws on each pair of her hands that extended from her knuckles while Bluebird summoned her ice cutlass. "Well, game on!"
Lepidolite clashed her claws with Stevonnie's sword while Jasper grabbed Bluebird in her massive hand and smashed her face into the rock face. However, despite Lepidolite being surprisingly evenly matched with Stevonnie, there was one thing they had that she lacked. Control over the fusion itself.
"So you can fuse with humans?!" White Topaz exclaimed cheerfully while Lepidolite slashed at Stevonnie before she switched to Black Rutile. "Did you even listen to Aquamarine's report, why are you acting like this is so new to you?!" Black Rutile yelled. "Why do you always have to be so dense?!"
"This is almost like Malachite." Stevonnie compared the abusive control Black Rutile had over White Topaz to the strained but peaceful relationship between Lapis and Jasper. "Listen, why can't you just work together?!"
"Because she's a completely moronic clod!" Black Rutile yelled through Lepidolite.
"Even if she treats me like trash, she's still my boss!" White Topaz added. "After all, isn't that what master/servant relationships are kinda like?"
"Master, don't!" Bluebird yelled as Jasper kept beating her up. "You're going to make them do some speech about the stupid power of friendship or something!"
"Well, you want us to work together?!" Lepidolite said, now no longer personified through Black Rutile and White Topaz's arguing. "Then work together we shall!"
Lepidolite then grabbed Stevonnie by their arms and once again threw them over the edge of the cliff before walking off to assist Bluebird. But just like when Steven was tossed over the cliff, things went horribly wrong for them.
Stevonnie reappeared in a massive gust of wind, now bathed in a pink glow and with a furious snarl replacing their confident grin. "Why won't you listen?!" they yelled, lunging at Lepidolite and striking their sword straight into her chest. "I'm not the real monster, YOU ARE!"
"No no no no no no!" Lepidolite screamed as Stevonnie's sword cut into her body and striking her straight in Black Rutile's gem, causing the two to ultimately defuse. As the pair of Gems were dropped to the ground, White Topaz laid on her back, utterly stupefied. Black Rutile on the other hand was terrified beyond all recognition, a far cry from the confident mastermind she normally is.
"W-w-who are you!?" Black Rutile shivered in fear of the pink Stevonnie, who now had a psychotic smile on their face. "WHAT ARE YOU?!"
"I'm-" Stevonnie began when they suddenly stopped and gazed at their hands. "I don't know." With that, Stevonnie finally un-fused back into Steven and Connie, just in time for the other Gems to arrive.
"Steven, Connie!" Garnet cried as she, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Bismuth, Hessonite, Lars, Squaridot, and the Light Prisms were carried up the mountain by a massive water elevator created by the trio of Lapides. When they reached the cliff, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all rushed to give the two kids a big hug. "What happened?"
"I don't know." Connie replied shakily. "First we fused into Stevonnie to fight Black Rutile, who fused with White Topaz to create this big fusion called Lepidolite, then after we were tossed over a cliff, Stevonnie turned pink and-"
"Wait, pink?" Pearl wondered. "It's just like all those other times Steven lost control! What could it be?"
"That's exactly what I'd like to know too!" the utterly defeated Black Rutile yelled. "What is that, a human thing?"
"Uh, no everyone! Everything's fine!" Steven began lying. "It's just a human thing, but I'm the only one who can do it!"
"Alright, keep your secrets brat." Black Rutile declared before she snapped her fingers again. Getting up from Jasper's beatdown, Bluebird picked up Black Rutile & White Topaz and carried them away. "Your little power fantasy will soon come to an end!" she declared. "And Gems, I'd keep an eye out on that monster if I were you! He could become a bigger threat to Earth than I am!"
As the three Gems got farther away, everybody turned to Steven with nervous looks on their faces.
"Steven, is there anything you need to tell us?" Connie asked her best friend.
"Uh, anyone wanna go out for pizzas?" Steven tried to change the subject, and everyone went silent in response.
"What is this pizza you speak of?" Hessonite piped up.
--
Later that day, reconstruction of Little Homeworld had quickly begun. With Peridot and Squaridot's help, the Cactus Stevens were now fully organic once more and helped in the repairs, alongside the Light creatures created by George and his sisters.
"Wow George, you, Elaine, and Cosma are one great team!" Steven said to George as they looked upon the Light Army's hard work. George turned to Steven with a confused look on his face. "Oh, I came up with those names for your sisters based on this TV show with a character also named George."
"Hey Steven, the pizzas are here!" Lapis called for Steven.
"Ooh, gotta go you guys!" Steven said before leaving George and his newly named sisters to work. "See you again soon!"
Steven returned to the Little Homeworld Warp Pad, where the Crystal Gems and the Off-Colors were setting up a little picnic with pizza boxes all around. "You see, this is what we need more of." Steven said. "Just us hanging out, no Gem monsters or evil Gems threatening and scarring our lives."
"Are you sure you're okay kid?" 1J9G asked Steven.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Steven replied. "Wait, what are you doing here? Weren't you on Black Rutile's side?"
"That Jasper saved my life because she knew what it was like to be alone, so I'm coming here as gratitude." 1J9G stated. "I came with Black Rutile as 1J9G, and I'll learn to become a better friend as Laz. You like the new name I got?"
"I love it!" Zuli exclaimed happily. "It's so wet!"
"Well, if you say so." Steven said awkwardly before he found Lars and Hessonite collecting the inactive gemstones of Emerald, Pyrope, Demantoid and all the Cluster Gems. "And what are you going to do with those?"
"We'll take the Cluster Gems back to Homeworld." Lars answered before pointing to Emerald and the Garnets. "As for these three, I'm not sure yet."
"They'll be safe with us." Garnet said, taking the three Gems out of the bubble. "And who knows? Maybe they'll become students of Little Homeschool."
"Speaking of which, Squaridot." Hessonite said to her Peridot sidekick. "You said that you were given the chance to come to Little Homeschool before you joined me? You think the offer still stands?"
"You know what?" Squaridot said. "I think I'm gonna stay here. Thank you Hessonite for everything." She then hugged the orange Garnet. "And tell Citrine I said hi if you find her."
As the group all sat down to their victory picnic, many eyes were still on Steven, who paid more attention to his slice of pie.
"Seriously, that boy just ain't right!" Jasper said as she prepared to leave.
"Yo Jasper, have a little more tact!" Amethyst scolded her fellow quartz while turning to Steven. "But what if Black Rutile is right? What if Steven becomes a threat to Earth?"
Steven still didn't pay any attention and kept on eating, but the Gems guessed that he might've been deliberately distracting himself. But why?
--
Elsewhere, Black Rutile had now touched down deeper in the forest, letting Bluebird Azurite drop her off in front of a cave. "Ah, this should make a good hideout."
"Why can't we just flee on your dropship?" White Topaz asked.
"I'm pretty sure it's been seized by now." Black Rutile said as she sat down on a rock formation, slouching and pressing her fingers together. "Tell me, my friends, what do you think is Steven's greatest weakness?"
"He can't fend for himself!" Aquamarine stated as she and Eyeball un-fused.
"He always has to get his nose in everyone's business." Eyeball remarked, rolling her eye with arms crossed.
"Uh, he's got boatloads of trauma that no one bothers to bring up?" White Topaz asked meekly.
"Correct Topaz, very good for once." Black Rutile congratulated her Topaz. "Now, as you see, he can't deal with his whole worldview changing, since learning there were so many Gems against him shattered everything he almost knew about his actions." She declared. "But what if we did the same, but we turn the humans against him?"
END OF PART 2: GRADUATION
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3: FRAGMENTED MIND
--
And that was Enemy of my Enemy and Part 2 in general! This was a really long one, filled with ideas that I've had in my head for ages! The whole group of past enemy Gems was inspired primarily by the Evil League of Mutants from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I imagined the bad future to be similar to Deliver Us from Prince of Egypt, and the justice debate was basically the Ship of Theseus scene from WandaVision. And that's not even getting into what I have planned for Part 3, but that's another time for another day. And if the subtitle is any indication, you all know what's coming.
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hekateanwitchcraft · 4 years
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Oh you don't have a boyfriend to celebrate with? Big surprise, no one wants to settle down with an attention whore. I know your type. Maybe worry about how no one will ever love you because of your bullshit and less about being a martyr for sympathy. You only shared that to get more people to feel sorry for you, real manipulative shit. If you actually wanted to "grow" you would have thought about it more than pasting it on the internet.
Okay what the fuck is your problem? You think I didn’t think about it? What gives that idea? Seriously? What is your evidence for the idea that I didn’t think about it? That I’m not thinking about it? I shared that as a promise that I’m going to attempt to be more cognizant of my actions, not for attention. If I was so desperate for attention I would’ve made up some sob story about how much that hurt me and shit, but I’m not a manipulative asshole. I’m trying to open the door to people feeling more comfortable giving me criticsm by showing I’m a reasonable and understanding person. Posting it on TikTok as well is me trying to tell people, as I said, that you “don’t have to do this” to criticise me. I’m literally trying to create a culture of accountability on my page by making clear that people can express their issues with me without being afraid of my reaction. And how, pray tell, have I not followed through with that? Have I done something in the one day since posting that to illustrate that I don’t care about it? Have I done something offensive or condescending? No. On TikTok I posted one original video, other than boosting a video about Marilyn Manson being an abuser, and it was literally me doing what you asked of me, minding my business and trying to make productive content. You must have some kind of severe inferiority complex if you feel that the video I posted was a problem. I was literally explaining what Theogamia was. There was no other content I made. The only other thing I posted was the Theogamia ritual on here? Which also, just a ritual. No condescension or elitism present. Your issue with me is clearly due to some personal thing which has nothing to actually do with my behavior or wanting to see me present myself in a different manner. I think it’s funny that you’re the one who accused me of needing help, when I haven’t even done anything and you’ve flipped out on me. Literally telling me no one will ever love me???? What is wrong with you?
Have I maybe been unintentionally condescending before? Sure I can believe that. Has my tone come off as aggressive in previous content? I have trouble controlling my tone so I can absolutely understand that that happened. But never have I been mean or denigrating to someone, calling them names or saying shit like the things you’re saying to me. So your reaction is incredibly inappropriate and uncalled for. You need to get a hold of yourself. Messages like these are the kinds that can literally inspire people to take their own lives. That’s not me or where I’m at right now, but you need to think about that before you do this to someone who will take it that way. I can take criticsm, but this isn’t criticsm, this is hateful and you clearly need to work on yourself and how you deal with your emotions.
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Pretty Boy || Lab Rats ||
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Requested: Hey! I'm a huge fan of Lab Rats &I always LOOOVE Chase but curious about hero front of it (i haven't gotten to see the new Elite Force yet!) I'm kinda curious how he would do with a gf when they were in high school that was kept a secret and he finds out by fluke she's a super? If it is too much to ask for you can ignore this, I just need fluffy Chase with superGF and secret relationship because why not? Everything else is a secret?? (Cookie)
Pairing: Chase Davenport x Reader
Warnings: A lil bit of swearing
Words: 2.5K
A/N: Hi! This is done! A little shitty but I feel proud of it. To the anon who requested this, I hope it came out to your liking. The ending was a little cheesy but that’s because I don’t know how to write... :D
It was the end of the day and you were standing in front of your locker, putting away what you didn’t need and grabbing what you did. You had a knee up, pressed against the lockers to keep your bag steady as you tried to neatly stuff it with material. You felt arms snake around your waist, almost making you lose your balance from the slight surprise. But you knew who it was, a smile appeared on your face as you zipped up your bag so you could give your attention to your boyfriend.
“And to what do I owe this display of affection,” You mused, leaning into his embrace.
“For being so cute,” He answered, planting a kiss on top of your head.
“Well not that I’m complaining but someone might see us. And if I remember correctly, you wanted to keep our relationship a secret, for whatever reason,” You said, hearing him sigh, making your smile stretch wider.
You loved teasing him, especially since he’s such a touchy-feely kind of guy and couldn’t show it out in public. Why? Well, he wanted to keep your relationship between the two of you, something about wanting to enjoy it before others found out. But it’s not like you minded, it just meant you got him all to yourself without having to worry about anyone interrupting.
You felt him unwrap his arms around you and you turned to look at him, a frown on his face. He saw the teasing glint in your eyes and rolled his own at you. He knew that you didn’t actually want an answer and just wanted to get a rise out of him. You understood his reasoning for keeping your relationship a secret and you were more than okay with it.
“I’m joking. Do you have any training today? We can go back to mine, do our homework and then watch some movies,” You suggested.
“Nope, I’m all yours this afternoon,” He replied, grinning widely.
“Great, let’s go,” You said, matching his smile.
The two of you were heading out the doors when you heard a phone go off. Chase dug around in his pocket and pulled out his phone, a familiar look crossing his face. You knew that look, it meant that he just got a mission alert and your plans were being thrown out the window. He looked over at you, a guilty look on his face that further confirmed your suspicions.
“Mission alert?” You questioned.
You looked up at him, he had a hard look on his face that said it was a bad one. “Yeah, it looks like there was a bridge collapse. There are still tons of civilians trapped.”
“Oh my god! Go! Go be a hero please,” You said, practically pushing out the school doors.
Chase smiled at you, glad to have such an understanding and accepting girlfriend. He looked around the area, making sure no one was looking your way. When he was sure the two of you were in the clear, he gave you a quick peck on the cheek. You wanted to return the kiss but he was gone before you could, but just in time too. You felt your own phone vibrate, looks like duty called for you too.
By the time you got there, the bionic trio were already there, doing what they could. Bree was speeding citizens off the bridge while Chase and Adam worked at keeping the bridge up. You noticed a cable wire snap off, heading straight for Chase. You flew over to it, reaching it just a couple inches before it hit Chase. He heard the noise of the falling cable, looking over to it and barely reacting to it. Just when he thought it was going to crush him, it stopped inches away.
You threw it to the side, revealing your superhero form to Chase. “It’s you!” He exclaimed.
“Hey, pretty boy, missed me?” You asked, a flirty tone in your voice.
He huffed and rolled his eyes at your flirty nature and the nickname you dubbed him with. “No... but thanks for the save, I owe you one.”
“Anytime, pretty boy. Now fill me in on the situation,” You replied.
“The bridge is on the verge of collapsing. Adam and I are doing our best to keep the bridge up while Bree super speeds everyone off. But we’re running out of time and there’s still civilians trapped on the bridge,” Chase explained.
“Got it. I’ll help in what ever way I can,” You said.
You flew off to help civilians and making sure the bridge didn’t collapse any further. You were helping a couple of trapped people, not noticing the cable wire that was about to snap off. You got them out of there safely, just in time for the cable to come flying off. It hit and sent you flying downwards, shock rippled through you at the sudden hit. The shock rendered you unable to think straight, the only thing going through your head was how you were going to pummel into the ground.
You closed your eyes and braced yourself for painful impact but it never came. Instead you found yourself in strong steady arms. You opened your eyes and saw Chase staring down at you, a worried look on his face. For a second you forgot you were in your hero attire and not civilian clothing. You had to get out of his embrace before he recognized it was you behind the mask. He didn’t quite know about your alter-ego yet and this isn’t exactly how you wanted him to find out.
“Ah, um, I have a boyfriend!” You exclaimed, leaping out of his embracing and crashing onto the ground.
Seriously, that was the first thing you decided to say, how freaking embarrassing. You didn’t want to get off the ground, not after shouting something like that out.
“Um, sure. I wasn’t trying to imply anything,” He said, confused by your sudden outburst.
“Right sorry, I'm just not used to be saved. Thanks, pretty boy,” You replied.
“Yeah no problem. Bree got everyone safely of the bridge, we have to get off before the whole bridge collapses on us,” Chase told you.
He stretched his hand out for you to take, helping you up once you did. You raced off the bridge once you were up, just in time as the rest of it collapsed. You left the civilians in the hands of the paramedics and the police.
“So, are you finally gonna tell us who you are?” Chase asked once you were all far away enough.
“Sorry, pretty boy, but that’s one secret I can’t reveal,” You told him.
He rolled his eyes, expecting that answer. “Right, sure. You get to know who we are but we don’t.”
“Hey, just because you revealed your identity to the world doesn’t mean I have to. Some things are sacred,” You replied. “Anyway, look at the time, I have to get going. See you around, pretty boy.”
You left before Chase had the chance to say anything, making him sigh heavily. You had a tendency to do that, leave with the last word. It really irked him, more so since he knew nothing about you. You just showed up out of the blue, helping them on a mission that was going badly. They appreciated the help, and all the help after that but they were still a little weary about you. They didn’t know you so they didn’t know if they could completely trust you. More so since they weren’t sure what you were, some of your abilities weren’t bionic.
You got home and changed into something more comfortable before flopping onto your bed. You sighed and let yourself relax, today was a little more stressful than expected. You had gotten a little too close to Chase today, you were lucky he didn’t recognize you. If he had, that would have been such an awkward conversation that you weren’t ready to have. Or rather one you were scared to have.
How do you tell your boyfriend that you’re a superhero? You didn’t want him to freak out, especially since the world of superheroes was a well-kept secret. Specifically, because of how the public might react. You didn’t want to scare him away, you had to handle this delicately and well thought out.
Your phone started ringing, snapping you out of your thoughts; speak of the devil. “Hey babe! How was the bridge mission?”
“We managed to save everyone but the bridge still collapsed. She showed up again though,” He told you.
“Ah yes, this mystery hero. How was it this time? Was she still helpful?” You asked, pretending as if you knew nothing.
“Yeah, she helped us get everyone off faster. Although, something weird did happen. She got hit by a cable wire and almost fell to the ground but I managed to catch her. She freaked out though, I don’t know why,” He explained.
“Ha, what a weirdo. Maybe she was mesmerized by how hot you are,” You joked.
“Right, I’m sure that’s what it was. Seriously though, it was weird how she reacted like that.”
“Alright, calm down pretty boy. I’m sure she just didn’t expect the save.”
“Wait...What did you just say?”
“I said calm down pr—Shit. Uh, I gotta go.”
You quickly hung up the phone before he could say anything, tossing it to the side. You groaned loudly and threw both hands over your face. How could you be so stupid? You never called him pretty boy, at least not in your civilian form. That’s how you separated yourself from girlfriend and superhero. As his girlfriend, you didn’t need to try so hard because you were already together. And not to mention the whole let’s keep our relationship a secret thing. But as a superhero, you had more range of motion and could flirt and tease him because it didn’t mean anything.
But now, you’ve crossed that line and there was no going back. You felt your phone vibrate next to you, you didn’t have to check to see that it was Chase calling. You ignored it, waiting until it stopped ringing before you turned it off completely. You’d no doubt that he had figured it out by now, he knew that you were this mysterious supergirl. You had no choice but to tell him the truth now, but you didn’t know if you could actually face him. What if he leaves you because you lied to him, because you kept such a huge secret from him? The thought scared you more than anything, you couldn’t risk Chase leaving you. You loved him, like really loved; he was the first guy that really ever understood you.
You sighed heavily, feeling defeated and stupid, there really was no getting out of this one. Out of all the stupid things you could’ve done, this was the one you had to pick. Lucky for you though, tomorrow was the start of the weekend so you could just avoid Chase until Monday. You sighed again, no point in exhausting yourself with this right now. It wouldn’t change anything; Chase would still know about your secret identity. You should just get some sleep and figure this out in the morning.
You were stirred out of your slumber by loud pounding coming all the way from your front door. Who the hell was knocking this early in the morning? You reluctantly crawled out of bed and headed downstairs, grumpy that someone disrupted your sleep.
You opened the door, barely registering who was behind it. “Can I hel—Chase?”
“Finally! Do you know how worried I’ve been? I thought something happened to you,” He exclaimed.
“I can explain, wait, you were worried?” You questioned.
“Yes! I mean, I’m still really confused about all of this. But my first priority is making sure you’re okay,” He said, face softening in worry.
Your heart did a jump against your chest, he was more worried about you than your big secret. God, how could you ever think he’d leave you. “I’m sorry. I just panicked, this was never supposed to happen. But, now that it has, I owe you an explanation.”
You invited him in and walked over to the couch where the two of you sat down. Silence engulfed the two of you while you tried to find the right words to say. Where do you start?
“So, why didn’t you tell me?” He asked, breaking the silence.
You took a deep breath before starting your explanation. “I was going to tell you, eventually, I just didn’t know how. I’m mean I can’t exactly just say that I’m secretly a superhero, especially since we’re supposed to stay secret.”
“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you couldn’t tell me. I mean, I’m your boyfriend, I thought you’d at least have a little more trust in me,” He said.
“No, you’re right, you’re absolutely right. I didn’t tell you because I was scared of how you’d you react. I didn’t want you to leave because of this, because you found out your girlfriend was a superhero with superpowers. Superpowers and bionics are completely different, my abilities can’t be explained with science. I didn’t want that to freak you out. And I know, I should have trusted you with this. I’m sorry, but now that you know, I hope you still decide to be my boyfriend.”
“Are you kidding, of course I still want to be your boyfriend. I mean, I still don’t understand all of this, superpowers just sound ridiculous. But if its you, I’m willing to learn more and understand all this superhero stuff.”
“Really, you mean it? I mean, I totally understand if this is too weird for you.”
“Yes really. I love you and I want to know everything about you, even the weird superhero thing.”
You smiled widely and jumped him, wrapping your arms around him and hugging him tight. You couldn’t be happier, Chase accepted both sides of you and now you no longer had anything to hide. You heard him laugh, feeling it vibrate off his chest as he wrapped his arms around.
“So, you’re really a superhero?” He asked, still a little shocked and confused by the sudden news.
Now it was your turn to laugh at him, you were in for a long road of explanation.
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It Was All Good...Then in Comes Kenny
For previous parts, click HERE
Pairings - Adam Page x OFC, Matt Jackson x OFC x Kenny Omega, Chuck Taylor x OC
Categories - Fluff, Angst, Almost Smut
Warnings/Promises - Cussing (like always), sexual jokes, and well uh, almost smut
Summary/Desc - Adam and Gabby get into an arguement, Brianna has a rough day, Parker and Chuck finally talk, and Adriana gets into a, well, entanglement.
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Back in Gabby’s life, her and Adam had bought a house in Ann Arbor Michigan where they planned to raise their baby. A baby boy named Ashen Page. 8 months into her pregnancy she was on lock down not knowing when the baby would come, other on Adam’s hand he still had to wrestle.
“He’s not home yet?” Parker said, “Nope.” Gabby sighed. Gabby and Parker were facetiming while she sat on their couch, waiting for Adam to arrive home. Minutes later she heard the sound of the door being unlocked, “Ok he’s here I’ll call you back.” She hung up the phone. Adam entered the house, hair in ponytail, luggage draped over his shoulder. “Hi baby!” Adam dropped his bags and ran to where Gabby was, “Hi!” 
They kissed, when Gabby noticed something...off, “Have you been drinking again?” “Of course not, babe.” Adam placed his hand on a frustrated Gabby's stomach. While she was pregnant, her and Adam promised he’d sober up, unless it was drinking for work. She immediately moved his hand off her, “I’m not fucking dumb Adam, I can taste the whisky in your breath.” she rolled her eyes. They sat down on the couch, “I was stressed about work and you and Ashen, I just had to.”
“You sound fucking dumb, if I can’t drink for 9 months, you can’t either.” Gabby shook her head in disappointment. “When are you gonna become more understanding Gabrielle, like fuck!”
“More understanding?! I’ve been nothing but understanding bro.” A tear ran down her face. “It’s like you want me to be this person that can wrestle, and be a great dad, and pleasure you, plus be your emotional support system? I can’t do it all.” “So what? Am I asking for too much? Because if I went to Joey and asked him to be my emotional support system, or fuck it. Go to him for sex them what would you do Adam?” Gabby wiped her tears, crossing her arms. “Really? Maybe I wasn’t wrong about you and Kenny then!” he shouted. 
“What is it Adam? You think we fucked? Kissed? Want each other? I’ve told you it's not like that at all. You're the only man I want.” Gabby teared up again. Adam couldn’t bear to see Gabby cry anymore, so he pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry about the drinking babe.” “It’s ok, I love you”. Adam used the tips of his thumbs to wipe the tears off her face, lifting Gabby’s shirt rubbing her baby bump. “Love you so much more.”
All the way over in Jacksonville, Brianna was getting ready to film a BTE bit. She had agreed to film with Brandon and Frankie Kazarian, and was a bit excited. “Alright, Brianna you ready?” Brandon asked, Bri nodded enthusiastically. “Kaz you ready?” She looked over at Frankie and he was glaring at her. “Yeah, I’m ready.” He said in a sharp tone.
She went back and got into place and Brandon started filming.
Bri was hunched over looking through Twitter on her phone, not watching where she was going. “OW- What the shit!?” Frankie Kazarian yelped. Bri quickly looked away from her phone to see that her foot was on top of Frankie’s heel. “Oh my god. I am so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going-” she rambled. Frankie was steamed. He was already angry, as usual, and this made it a MILLION times worse.
“You know what I am sorry for BRI-ANNA?” He asked quite loudly which made everyone turn to look at him. “I'm sorry that someone as talented as Joey Janela wasted his hard earned money on someone like you.” Bri opened her mouth to apologize again but was cut off. “HOW are you even back here? I don’t know if you have read the fucking signs EVERYWHERE, but this is for talent only! What talent do you have Bri? Besides getting on your knees for people other than the Lord himself?” Kazarian was extremely dramatic with everything he said during BTE- but this seemed a little too real.
“Like honestly, as soon as you get here you have Marq Quen following you around like you’re important; and then the very next day I SEE you talking to Cash Wheeler- who has only been here for a couple WEEKS?! I’m surprised you didn’t all go in a room together and fuck yourselves, or maybe you did.”
Bri was actually concerned. “How the hell does he know who I’ve been with… this wasn’t in the script?” She began to notice everyone around listening into her conversation whispering to each other. “This is so embarrassing.” she thought. “What else have you done here? You’re by far the LEAST relevant outta of your little friend group, and you crave attention so much - so now you got it! Should I go off and check everyone you’ve batted your eyelashes at since you’ve been here?” 
Bri shook her head no, but it was too late. “There was Marq of course, then when you got bored with him you crawled over to the new hottest thing; Cash Wheeler. But do they know who you’ve had between them?” Bri’s eyes slightly widened.  “You had made heart eyes, with not one but ALL members of Team Taz. What is wrong with you?! Two of them have families of their own, You damn homewrecker!” She saw some of the people backstage shake their heads. 
“Kaz… stop.” she mumbled under her breath. 
“Nah nah, don’t be quiet now you fucking cheater! Everyone has heard you, like when you thought since you were in a janitor closet with Austin Gunn no one would notice the strange moans coming out of them?” Shit. Bri was tired of hearing this man exposing her, “I told you - that wasn’t me. This arena is old, could have been a ghost Frankie.” she lied of course, but she would do anything to get out of this situation.  
“Last time I checked we were at a wrestling arena not a damn haunted mansion. Everyone is smart enough to know the difference between a moan full of fucking pleasure from a cry from a ‘ghost’.” 
Brandon Cutler began to lower his camera but Kazarian yelled at him. “Don’t you fucking dare cut this! We’re all about being real, well THIS right here,” as he points as Brianna, “Is as real as we’re gonna get. Because some people are stupid enough to let bitches like this come in here and suck off the whole roster.” Bri was shocked. 
“Who are you calling a bitch? I know the least important member of SCU isn’t talking. Let me talk to Scorpio.” she rolled her eyes, there was no way in hell this was getting posted online. “Sorry, he’s trying to stay away from women that seduces half of the indie wrestlers on Dark.” 
Bri slapped Frankie with tears starting to form into her eyes, “You ain’t shit.” and she meant every word. She didn’t care that Cutler was calling her name, or even some of the wrestlers trying to stop her- she had to get out of not only this situation, but the arena as fast as possible.
The Elite
The The Elite
The Elite
The The Elite
The Elite
The The Elite
Superkick PAAARRRR-
Tan Legs
“Why are there so many rooms in this damn arena?” Adriana questioned as she was acting like she was looking for Tony Khan’s office. She had been searching everywhere as Brandon Cutler followed her with his camera. The camera cut to her in front of the Elite locker room, raising her hand to knock at the door. A relieved Kenny popped in the doorway. “Oh Adriana, am I glad to see you!” He moved over and invited Adriana into the room, closing the door behind him. 
“Well, I would love to sit here with you Kenny, but could you show me where Khan’s office is-?” Kenny pushed his finger onto her lips making her shush. “Shhh, I can show you where his office is. But I need something from you since Matt is busy handling phone calls.” 
Her face lit up to the mention of Matt’s name, but she had to stay in character, so she immediately nodded and mouthed an okay. She sat down in the chair, across from the couch Kenny was sitting on. “You’re a little far, wouldn't you say?” he said as he began to shift to the edge. “Uhm, that depends what exactly am I doing?” As she looked at him with confusion. 
“Just move a little closer.” Kenny demanded. “We gotta get this over with.” Adriana’s mouth slightly fell open, in shock of the words coming out of his mouth. “I- I’m sorry. What do you mean get this over with-” Kenny chuckled, “No one was out there right- you came alone?” She nodded quickly, unable to speak; she could feel the room closing in on her, making her move her chair slightly to where he was on the couch. He looked at her weird, “Haha a little closer than that Adri.” 
He said as he leaned over folding his hands. “Well, how close do I have to be?” she tilted her head up giving him her full attention. “I mean…you’re still a little far for what we have to do.” She began to pull her chair forward, but Kenny pushed her back down lightly and stood up. “What WE have to do?” She asked, not understanding the signals he was giving to her. At this point she was losing it on the inside, he’s never been so forward with her. His hands began to adjust the band of his gray shorts. 
“Yea, hey you mind getting on your knees?” he asked with all seriousness in his voice making Adriana almost fall out of her chair. From the corner of her eye she could see Brandon’s eyes widened a bit. She looked up and saw a slight smirk from Kenny, which made her roll her eyes. “He knows what he’s doing.” she thought in the inside of her head. Kenny stood there , looking stupid as Adriana came back to reality. 
“O-on my knees? Are you sure?” As she began to crawl out the chair. “Uh yea- I know this isn't your first time, but I thought you would be more prepared.” he joked. She had almost let out a laugh. “Oh, and take that ponytail holder on your wrist and tie your hair up- this could get a little messy.” as he pushed his shorts down his legs- making her face to face with his package. She felt Brandon move closer to get a better shot of her face, and she wished he hadn’t. She shot her head back, letting out a sigh. “Damn, he is bigger than I thought.” She closed her eyes, and tried to gain control overself. She did a slight prayer as she closed her eyes and opened her mouth slightly, waiting for Kenny. When he placed it in her mouth she was shocked, it was thick… but cold. 
She opened her eyes when she heard Kenny freaking out. “ADRIANA! STOP BEING RIDICULOUS! DID YOU SEE HOW WHITE MY LEGS ARE?” Adriana also started freaking out as she spat out a bottle of tanning spray. “STOP LOOKING AT MY RIDICULOUS QUAD DEVELOPMENT AND GET THIS GOD DAMN QUICK TAN ON MY LEGS STAT!” Kenny yelled.
 “YES- TAN! RIGHT, NOTHING ELSE.” as she scurried to pick up the bottle.  Adriana had struggled unloosing the cap not only because of the commotion, but because of the fact she thought she was about to get filmed for a porno with Kenny Omega. “ADRIANA! HURRY UP. THE COLOR OF MY ARMS, AND THE COLOR OF MY FACE DO NOT MATCH THE COLOR OF MY LEGS!” He pouted as she finally shook the can getting ready to spray but then it accidentally slipped out of her hands. “SPRAY MY LEGS!” 
She shot the cap throwing it somewhere in the room. “God, I’m an idiot.” she said to herself. “Sorry Kenny, I didn’t know they were this pale-” “MAKE THEM ORANGE!” He ordered, making Adriana spray faster. “Eh it’s looking… pretty good!” he said while examining his now newly tanned legs. “I knew I could count on you. Thanks.” he said. 
“You’re so welcome, sorry I don’t know why that was so hard for me to do.” She said as she got up from her odd position to sit on the end of the couch. “Why were you so freaked out-” He asked as he spotted the spray can top in the corner of the room. “I’m not sure honestly, it’s just something I do nowadays.” She lied, but he didn’t think anything of it. 
He took the can out of her hand and popped the cap back on as he sat next to her, “Anyways, since Matt isn’t in here. You should get over here and suck me o-”
Stolen Bit Partner
“Did you see how big his biceps were?” John Silver said, walking down the hallway with Alex and Parker, arms hooked. “You were right John, his milkshake sure does bring all the boys to the yard.” Parker said, chuckling slightly. Alex was about to protest what Parker was saying, but agreed. No one could deny that Wardlow was a beautiful human. The trio kept walking, talking about the man who’s locker room they had just left, when they bumped into another trio, one that Parker was very familiar with.
The Best Friends and Orange Cassidy.
They all stopped in their tracks. That’s when Alex detached from Parker, him and Chuckie going around in a slow circle, sizing each other up. Trent and John just looked at each other. And in the middle of all of this, Cassidy took off his glasses, and started looking Parker up and down.
The rotating finally stopped when Chuck spoke up, “You stole my bit partner, Reynolds.” “Oh, YOUR bit partner?”
And so the argument began, Trent bending down to get in Silver’s face, and Chuck and Reynolds pushing each other back and forth. Behind it all, Parker looked over to Orange and waved, but when he didn’t even give a sup motion, she turned away, a defeated look on her face.
“At least I’m not in a cult with a bunch of spooky perverts!” “Well these spooky perverts have a better hug than you guys!”
“What even is a ‘Johnny Hungie’?!” Trent yelled, “Well what the fuck is an ‘olive tit’ TRENT?!” “Boys, Boys! Please!” Parker yelled, standing between all of them. “Did they experiment on your brain!?” Chuck questioned, looking down at Parker. “What- Okay. No they did not experiment on my brain!”
“Did they TRAIN you to say that?” Trent said jumping at Silver. Parker pushed Trent back lightly. “Train Trent? What do you think we are? Some kind of cult?!” John argued. “Yes! That’s exactly what we’re saying.” Chuck answered.
“Y’know what?!” Alex grabbed Parker by the arm, “We’re leaving!”
Parker swatted Alex’s hand, that look on her face. “I think I’m going to...be on Sammy’s vlog instead.” She gave a nervous smile before walking behind the camera, “See ya Brandon.” “Uh, bye.”
Alex pointed his finger in Chuck’s face, Kool-Aid container still in his hand, “This isn’t over.” Reynolds and Silver walked away when Chuck mumbled, “We’re in the middle of a pandemic, keep your hand out my face.” Trent and Cassidy looked at each other while Chuck walked away. Trent shrugged one more time before following.
Orange just sighed, minding his own business.
Hungry Hungry Hippos
The room had conversation and laughter, when Trent spoke up, “Uh, BTE Championship match, triple threat.” The camera panned over to the left, “Marq Quen checking in.” Marq said with a smile, Isiah waving from behind him. The camera panned past Trent to the right, “Parker here, with uh, Chuck Taylor.” Chuck and Parker looked awkwardly at each other before Parker looked back at the camera, “My other friends decided to be dicks and not show up.”
Brandon pointed back towards Trent, who explained the game, “So uh, we’re playing the game Hungry Hungry Hippos, first one to get to two victories wins my BTE championship.”
The next scene showed all of them surrounding a table. “I am a GOAT at this game.” Marq said, rubbing his hands together. Parker pointed at him, “Oh yeah? Well prepare to lose Quen.” 
The game had started, and the game had almost fallen off the table. “Y’all are so aggressive!” Matt Jackson laughed, pointing out how seriously they were taking the game.
Marq had quickly gotten the first victory. Trent and Parker groaning at their defeat.
“Already halfway THERE.” “Shut up!” Trent and Parker said in unison.
And the games went on, until all of them were tied with one victory each.
The three looked at each other, before talking to their “coaches” for a moment. 
They had all returned to the table, and the tiebreaker had started. This round was definitely the most aggressive, with Trent actually trying, Marq jumping up and down making noises, and Parker trying to be as quick as possible.
When all the marbles were gone, they had each counted them up.
Trent had gone first, only having 5. Then Parker counted theirs, having 8. Marq counted the last of the marbles.
“Five, Six,” He pulled out the last marble, “Seven.” Marq had dropped to the ground, while Parker jumped up, knees almost to her chest in victory. “New BTE champ!” Nick said, grabbing the championship and handing it to Parker.
Parker held up the championship, before looking at it, “I have to go rub this in Adriana’s face so she gets mad at me.” She was about to leave the room, when she stepped back, “Oh yeah, I promised Marko I would fight him for this if I won. So next week, we balance KitKats on our heads.” “You’re gonna WHAT?!”
The screen showed Parker vs Marko for next week, for the Being The Elite Championship.
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And thanks so much for Being The Elite.
The Elite The The Elite
What Nick you’re not gonna sing it all with me this time?
Brianna was so embarrassed. How did Frankie even know all that? She kept thinking to herself, “Did Marq tell everyone?” He wouldn’t...right? This was just all too much for her, cause of some stupid mistake.
She stayed outside the arena the whole show, not wanting to show her face in there. Then wrestlers and producers started walking out, some mumbling when they looked over at Bri. She looked over at the people walking out, and saw Marq and Isiah. Marq and Brianna stared at each other, before Marq looked away, almost like he didn’t want to look at her. She watched them pack up and drive off, and she heard a familiar voice call out from behind her, “Hey Brianna!”
She looked over her shoulder and saw Cash walking over to her, and they both started smiling. That smile quickly turned back into a frown, when Dax grabbed Cash by the arm, dragging him away.
Great. 
She went back to staring at the ground, upset. She almost jumped back when someone sat next to her. “They said we can delete it.” Brandon Cutler said, trying to sound sympathetic. “Thank you.” Brianna mumbled. “Look, we got Kaz to calm down, and he’s gonna talk to you about it,” Brandon put his hand on her shoulder before getting up, “Hang in there, alright?”
“Could this day get any worse?” Brianna thought to herself.
When of course, with Brianna’s luck, it could. She felt something drop on her head, then her arm, then ankle. It’s like the rain started on command. “This is so fucking cliche.” Brianna said, standing up and walking to her car, not without one of her heels breaking. 
She waited until she got in the car, and then she screamed, at the top at her lungs. She just wanted to go to sleep, and find a fucking way to prove Kaz wrong.
Back at the Hotel
It had been months. Months since Parker and Chuck broke up. She wanted to talk to him outside of BTE for months. But she didn’t have the guts to do it.
She was watching tv in her hotel room, thinking about him, like always.
She pulled out her phone and facetimed Gabby, the only person she could really talk to about this stuff. There were a few rings before Gabby picked up, clearly irritated, “Girl it is half past midnight. Why are you calling me?” “I need to talk to him.” “Talk to who?” “Chuck! I can’t keep putting it off anymore.”
“Well then just talk to him?” “I can’t just discuss that over the phone.”
“Well, ask if you can talk in person.” Parker nodded, and went to her contacts, and clicked on the one she hadn’t touched in months. She read through the last of his messages to her, she didn’t answer.
It made her feel horrible.
She finally worked up the courage to type it out, “Can we talk? Like in person?”
“Okay, I did it.” “Great, now you just have to wait and see what he says.”
“Gabby, I’m sure he’s sleeping right now. And I can’t blame him if he doesn’t respo-” Parker paused, and looked like she had just seen a ghost. “Parker? Everything okay?” “....He texted back.”
“Well what did he say?!”
“He said of course, and then his room number…” “Well then go!” Parker got up quickly, tripping over her own feet walking to the door. “Wait wait Parker!” “What?”
“Put shoes on, don’t be a hobo.”
Parker laughed, quickly putting on some shoes, before hanging up on Gabby and making her way towards the elevator.
She waited when it opened, Trent coming out the elevator. “Oh, hey.” Parker said, looking at her feet. “He sent me to James’ room so you guys could talk.” Trent said, slightly laughing. Parker didn’t say anything, “Hey, it doesn’t have to be awkward y’know. We’re still cool.”
Parker smiled, and hugged Trent, before getting into the elevator. 
She walked out the elevator, for once walking with some pep in her step. It stayed that way until she reached the front of his door. She reached her hand up, and was about to knock when she put her hand down.
Well, not without hitting the door.
When she realized, she started freaking out. In silence of course. The door creaked open, Chuck and Parker looked at each other. “Do you wanna come in?”
Parker nodded, walking through the doorway. She sat on the couch, rubbing her hands awkwardly, looking at the floor. “So, what did you need to talk about?” He asked, sitting on the opposite side.
She could feel it coming, word vomit, “I made a mistake, and I know I did when I broke up with you, but I couldn’t work up the courage to talk to you cause I know you want nothing to do with me and-” “Wait wait, you still…” “Yes I do, and I know things will never be the same and just...I know this was a mistake.”
“Parker, I have been waiting to talk to you. Just at least when you’re ready. I miss you.”
Parker continued to look at the floor, slightly smiling. Chuck lightly gripped her chin, lifting her head up. “I love you, Parker.” Parker smiled, “I love you too, Chuck.” 
For the first time in months, they shared a kiss. “I missed having my whatever.” Chuck said, foreheads pressed together.
“Now can we please go back to being bit partners John keeps saying my name over and over.” The couple laughed, “Of course, I’ll tell James to stop giving you dirty looks.” “And I’ll tell the spooky perverts to not argue with you anymore.” The couple jumped when they heard the door open.
“I forgot my bag of chips.” Trent said, walking into the room. “God Trent you could’ve texted.” Chuck said, slapping his forehead. “I did. Did I interrupt something important?” Parker and Chuck looked at each other and smiled.
Trent started to “ooo” like he was in middle school. Parker stood up, cheeks red, “Okay on that note I’m leaving.” She started towards the door, “I love you Parker!” Chuck yelled out. “I love you too.” She was out the door when she heard Trent, “OH MY GO-” The door closed, and Parker laughed listening to Chuck yelling at Trent to shut up.
Parker walked towards the elevator, glad to have that situation of her shoulders and to have Chuck back.
“So, what's next for you two?” Trent asked, sitting back on his bed. Chuck looked out the window, “I don’t know yet exactly, I just know that I can’t lose her again.”
Back at Daily’s Place
“Did you see the look on Brandon’s face, it was priceless!” Kenny and Adriana had just finished their BTE bit and were now laughing at themselves for how clever they were. “Dude, I think we’re geniuses. Only we could come up with stuff like this.” Kenny said while holding his stomach from laughing. 
“You know, for a second I thought you were serious.” Adriana said after wiping her tears. Kenny tilted his head to the side. “What are you talking about… my legs were actually white as paper.” She shook her head, “That’s not what I’m talking about and you know that.” Kenny seemed to understand her a bit clearer now as he scooted closer next to her. “Do you really think that I would let you give me head at our job?” He asked with interest in his eyes. She began to start breathing heavily noticing their knees were touching. 
“You’re right - what was I thinking. You’re all business.” She sighed and put her hand on her face covering it up. Kenny thought it was cute how she was trying to hide from this conversation instead of talking about it. “That’s not true. I do childish shit all the time. And if we really wanted to, it would be way more than just head.” 
Adriana felt like she was powerbombed on the apron. “Plus I don’t see you as a person to give head in weird places like this EVP room, in a public bathroom, or even inside of a car.” He added. Her head whipped up so fast she thought it would fall off. “Right, why would I do that? That’s gross and disgusting-” she lied. If only he knew… “What’s gross, having sex with me or giving head in weird places?” She opened her mouth to speak but decided against it. 
He noticed as he rested his hand on her thigh. “I saw the look in your eyes Adriana. The way you looked at me when we did that bit for Being the Elite, is something I won’t be able to get my mind off for a long time. So - I am not saying it has to be today, but soon I want to hangout with you out of work. I want to know the real you.” She was left speechless, once again by Kenny Omega. “I got to go, but I’ll think about it.” 
She got up from the couch and wiped her now sweaty hands on her jeans. Kenny also stood , studying her. The way she avoided eye contact, the way her feet shuffled trying to gain her stuff immediately. His heart started to get louder as she finally looked at him and reached for a hug, making him open his arms. It wasn’t anything like he wanted. It was short and meaningless but he did get the chance to smell the perfume she was wearing and that alone made him swoon. Kenny gave her a wave as he sat back on the couch, “Shit.” he mumbled. “What have I gotten myself into.”
 On the other side of the door, Adriana was trying to come back to reality. “That really just happened.” she thought. “Did you have fun with ‘Spray Tan’ in there?” a voice asked sarcastically. She jumped up and when she turned around she was met with a frustrated Matt Jackson.  “Oh! Jeez you scared the hell out of me. I didn’t know you were here today.” She mentally slapped herself, “I really need to learn how to lie.” 
Matt leaned on the wall looking her over. “Really, last time I checked - I was an EVP. You on the other hand - are not - so what were you doing in this room for that long?” He asked. Adriana bit her lip, they hadn’t seen each other since their session in the car and both of them were aching for more ever since. “I had to record something with Kenny for BTE. It’s not that serious.” Matt ran his hand through his hair shooting his head back. “I saw the segment, Adri.” He plainly said. “Is this what we’re going to do? We’re going to act like what we did was nothing?” He walked closer to her sliding his hands to her waist. He lifted his hand to move some of her hair out of her face and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “Meet me at the Jacksonville Jaguars Stadium at 10 O’clock. And wear a bathing suit.” He hovered his lips over her neck before patting her ass and then walking away. 
Adriana stood there dumbfounded. She had waited a whole week to be able to get to see Matt, since they last met in the car and all she got was teasing. She looked toward the EVP room and sighed. She was so confused with emotions, she needed to get this stuff with Matt out of her system before it was too late. Adriana began her walk to her car, so she could get ready for a night with Matt Jackson.
“I SWEAR NONE OF THESE HOES ANSWER THE PHONE WHEN I NEED THEM!” Adriana threw her phone onto the bed after attempting to call Gabby, Parker, and Bri and of course they declined. Every. Single. Time. “Guess I have to go at this alone.” She sighed. She really missed talking to her friends, no matter how annoying they got. She would never feel complete without them. 
She pushed her friends to the back of her mind as she threw clothes out of her suitcase. After 15 minutes deciding which bathing suit to wear she chose a normal two piece with some shorts and a normal tee to go over them. After she changed in the bathroom she grabbed everything she needed and headed out the door. 
She pulled up to the stadium and parked confused on where to enter until her phone buzzed. Matt Jackson : I see your car, we’re the only ones here. So I’ll let you in.” Adriana chuckled. She got out the car fluffing her hair so she appealed somewhat decently. She saw Matt waiting for her at the entrance. 
He picked his head up from his phone and let out a low whistle. “Well damn, I was not expecting this.” He fumbled with his keys as she rolled her eyes. When they finally got in he took her hand and led her to the pool. She removed her shorts and shirt as he did the same. Adriana dipped her toe in removing it as she felt how cold it was. 
Before she could react she was pushed into the pool and when she got to the top for air she saw Matt jumping and doing a cannonball, making water go everywhere. Matt swam around a little before looking over to a shivering Adriana. “Yo-you’re an i-idiot.” Her teeth chattered making Matt laugh. “Ah, stop being a big baby and swim with me.” He slapped water onto her making her gasp. “I think I should wait till it gets w-warmer.” She smudged, making Matt swim over to her. 
“I have a couple ways we could speed up the process.” She smirked. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he backed her up to the edge. He lightly pressed against her, making her let out a small whine. “If you’re going to do something just do it.” She said, clearly impatient. He pressed his lips onto hers, as she kissed back. He began to lower his hands trying to find the part to disconnect her bottom. She smirked into the kiss making him hungry for more as he pushed his tongue onto her bottom lip. She opened her mouth a little, only to hear a “IS ANYONE IN HERE?” Adriana tried to disconnect, but Matt pulled her back. “Whoever it is, will either go away soon or get a free show- I couldn’t care less.” Adriana pushed Matt off making him groan. She heard the door open and was shocked when Kenny Omega came out in swim trunks. 
“Oh, it’s just you guys. What are you doing here?” he asked, confused. “Nothing much, just going for a late night swim.” Adriana lifted her finger to her mouth as she could feel her lip swollen at how hard Matt had bit it. Kenny nodded, “Right… mind if I join you?” He asked. Matt mumbled something too low to understand. “Of course, come on.” She smiled. “There it is again, that damn smile.” He felt weird seeing her in a bathing suit and it was even more weird seeing one of his best friends next to him. 
Matt turnt around and faced Adriana , so Kenny couldn’t hear what he had to say, “He totally just cockblocked me. It had to be on purpose.” He whined. Adriana rolled his eyes, “He didn’t know. Leave him alone, let's just save our first time somewhere other than a public pool.” He scoffed, but he couldn’t stay mad at HER. 
It was Kenny who was the problem, and he would make sure that he stayed out of the way.
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WE’RE BACK FAM!!!! Thanks again to my co-writers @westanaew​ and @adriii-omega​ , it feels great to get back into the series! <3
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n1ghtcrwler · 4 years
Text
So there is a post that I recently saw that I just don’t want to add notes to for a number of reasons, not least of which being that I’m about to go on a significant tangent, so I’ll just say what I needed to say about it here.
The post is screenshots of a tweet thread about how bad “Cuties” actually is, from someone who claims to have watched it, and that’s fine. I haven’t seen the movie, I have no input to give on that matter. My concern arises in a reply offered by one user, who goes into more detail about how disturbing it is to consider that someone had to, at minimum, be comfortable putting the underage actresses in the situations depicted for the sake of filming them for the movie, and again, that is probably a valid point. But they ended their tirade with this:
“If you didn’t believe it before, the fact that this movie was even released and is being defended by the elite is proof that there is a deliberate plan to normalize and eventually legalize pedophilia and child porn.”
And that, my friends, is some QAnon bullshit.
See, this is a great example of how conspiracy theories work. We tend to only think of them in terms of their major propositions and the implications of those propositions--that the Earth is hollow, your average garden-variety antisemitic caricature of a shadowy society controlling you, that sort of thing--instead of talking much about how people fall into that hole in the first place. And, in our day-to-day lives, it’s really where the theories start that we need to be vigilant about more than where they end. Where they end is important, obviously, but no one buys the end product immediately. They get there through a process. And the user who posted the above quote is playing into that process.
Here’s the process that I want you to see in that paragraph, and to look out for elsewhere:
0: ‘Facts’ that are viable, and possibly even true
Step Zero is not to lie or even to introduce new information. I call it Step Zero because it isn’t automatically part of a conspiracy theory; obviously, if we’re going to talk about the impact of anything on the world, we have to talk about what is actually happening. But I point it out because conspiracy theories always start with a premise that you can accept. Always. Every time. You cannot assume that you will recognize a nonsense theory based on immediate nonsense. No one starts there. They start in the real world. As above, where they are describing very real or at least realistic consideration for the ways filming such a movie can groom young actresses and audiences.
1: Framing facts through key concepts
A good conspiracy theory begins not in the facts provided, but in the way they are provided.
Consider the bit of the paragraph I copied where it said, “the fact that this movie was even released and is being defended by the elite.” Who are the ‘elite?’ See, the use of that wording is intentional. What the user has done is frame the delivery of the fact or near-fact (that the movie and its mode of production are abhorrent) in a way that an elusive enemy is embedded in the fact or near-fact itself (that the elite are defending the abhorrent thing, making ‘them,’ whoever they are, also abhorrent) such that it is difficult to separate that idea from the rest of the fact or near-fact. In fact, I expect that if anyone wishes to argue with me about this post, they will do so by framing my dismissal of a mythical elite with being part of their work; that is, the primary means of arguing against this post, based on the way people have argued with me about similar things in the past, will be to hold that if I doubt that part of the sentence I must doubt the whole sentence and doubting the whole sentence means not finding pedophilia abhorrent and that, by extension, must make me either a pedophile myself or a man comfortable with pedophiles.
I’m sure you’ve seen that play out before in some context or another. This is why it plays out that way: the fact or near-fact has been married, unsuitably, to a claim that sets up Step Two.
2: Using the altered fact or near-fact to demand a pre-determined conclusion
Here’s the thing. If there is an elite who are actively trying to make and promote and defend “Cuties” (which is a highly suspect claim already), then the logical question is why they are doing so. Well, by golly, our friendly neighborhood conspiracy theorist has an answer! See, it’s “proof that there is a deliberate plan to normalize and eventually legalize pedophilia and child porn.”
That conclusion is not demanded by the agreed-upon facts. That is, if I agree with the theorist that the movie is, indeed, a work that grooms actresses and audiences, there are actually a variety of conclusions we can draw about why the movie was made. Maybe it was filmed with entirely different intentions and the end result is because of editing, or license taken by questionable cameramen. Maybe the version shown at Sundance or whatever was not actually the version currently on Netflix, so the people defending it were defending something other than what the twitter thread author saw. Maybe the producer really did have terrible motives but managed to convince someone at Netflix that that was not what was happening. Some or all of these may be false. I have no idea. But here’s the thing: neither does the person who posted the paragraph in question. The facts given in the post are actually pretty sparse as far as coming to a certain conclusion about intent are concerned. You need more information to know what is really going on here.
But see, that’s why they added information in Step One. By making it a behavior of that conspiracy’s boogeyman, they can easily come to a conclusion. The facts or fact-adjacent statements made in the body of the post, paired with a conspiracy-based understanding of who the elite are and what they want, is enough information to come to a conclusion. And it’s a conclusion that is only reasonable if the elite are real and are who the conspiracy says they are. See, the goal of getting you to believe the bigger conspiracy isn’t by telling you who the elite are, but by getting you to accept something that requires them. Which is why
3. Frame the delivery in a way that hides the conspiracy
The post leading up to the quoted paragraph is actually fairly long (admittedly, not as long as this post), and every part of it fits the conversation that has been had about the movie and is presented in a way that makes sense. So while the average tumblr user is scrolling along, if they read through, they’re being hit with a lot of sensible discourse about a movie they probably haven’t seen but have seen more discourse about, and then that bit of QAnon is just kinda slipped in without any major change to wording and presentation. It’s bolded for effect, but the content itself seems to flow naturally from the rest of the post. It’s only in stopping and thinking seriously about what has been said that the diversion away from a discussion of facts gets noticed.
The point is to be distinct enough to set up the conspiracy theory, but subtle enough that you accept it as part of the rest of the post’s claims. See, because, what happens there is that if the rest of the post makes sense to you, and you aren’t thinking about the fact that the post has taken a left turn, you accept the conclusion being given as a natural part of the post. And accepting the conclusion requires that you have, maybe without realizing it, accepted the claims about the ‘elite.’ And that sets you up.
4. Go Deeper
Because once you have accepted the conspiracy’s claims about the elite, preferably without recognizing that there was a claim about the elite, you are ready to accept other things that connect to that. Someone comes along and says something that also sounds plausible, and also ties into the conclusion that the elite are trying to legalize pedophilia. Well, because you’ve already accepted that this was a reasonable conclusion elsewhere, and it seems reasonable enough here, you accept it here as well. And this is solidifying in your mind the idea that it is known that there is an elite working toward that goal. But the questions remains of who the elite are. So, when someone finally comes along and ties the ‘elite’ to a specific person or group of people that you do recognize (usually Jewish people or some caricature thereof), and offers some evidence that is pretty flimsy but plays very nicely with claims you’ve already accepted, you buy it. Or you don’t, but you’re so deep now that you have to provide an alternative if you want to reject the answer you’ve been given, and so you start to spin your own theory.
Either way, the end result is the same: you are convinced of a claim that would have sounded crazy to you a year ago, and your family is trying to tell you how crazy it sounds to them now, but they just don’t know! They haven’t seen all the facts! You should probably show them the facts. Ideally, by starting with something they already know to be true. And the cycle continues.
Please. Be careful out there, folks. Don’t be that guy.
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elisaphoenix13 · 4 years
Text
Mama Bear Drabble 22
Drabble prompt: “Honey, please stop telling people you’re my first wife”
By: @funkylittlebidiot (posted with permission).
The gala was fun, Stephen guessed.
People seemed to be enjoying themselves at least, holding on delicately to their flutes of champagne as they smiled and laughed, chattering away and sharing the gossip of the elite.
Others had gathered in the middle of the room, dancing along with the music. Stephen had never been to a fancy event where people actually danced, but he guessed that was his husband's doing, organising it so only the best music would be played and the most fun people would attend.
Nevertheless, Stephen wished he wasn’t here.
He missed his baby, whom he’d had to leave behind without even getting to tuck her into bed.
He trusted the teens to take care of her - at least William and Cassie - but that didn’t take away from the fact that he’d rather be home than standing around a group of people who didn’t matter at all.
Well, Tony’s arm around his waist was nice, he supposed, and the engineer didn’t look anything short of amazing.
“You okay, honey?” Tony leaned over to ask him, words brushing lightly over his ears.
“Of course, why?”
“Well, I don’t know why that champagne deserves you scowling at it.”
Stephen sighed, schooling his features as he lowered the glass. He hadn’t even been aware he’d been doing it, but he forced his shoulders to relax as he smiled back at his husband. “Sorry.”
“We’ll get home as quickly as we can, I promise.” Tony leaned in to kiss him, pulling back with a devilish smirk on his face. It immediately made Stephen feel better, appealing to his own mischievous side as he relaxed.
He could always speed up the process.
Stepping back from his husband, he glanced around the room, spotting a group of people they hadn’t yet introduced themselves to.
“You’re right,” he told Tony. By the suspicious narrowing of his eyes, Stephen knew Tony had recognised the challenge in his tone, hidden under layers of sweet syrup. “I should participate more.”
Turning around, he walked towards the first group that had caught his eye. He’d recognised one of them as some New York politician, the others wearing different pins and watches speaking of status’ just as high. Stephen could feel Tony’s eyes on him, the engineer having stepped up behind him, clearly curious as to what he was up to.
“Nice to meet you,” Stephen spoke, the men immediately at his full attention as they clearly recognised him, happy to speak to not only one of the most important Avengers but also Tony Stark himself, standing right behind Stephen's right shoulder. “I’m Stephen Strange, Tony’s first wife.”
As expected, Tony didn’t react, just rolled his eyes with a hint of relief, clearly expecting this to be the full extend of Stephen’s plan.
Stephen knew it was only the start however, as they made their way across the room, Stephen introducing himself as often as possible. The more he did, the more he could see Tony’s exasperation growing.
Eventually Tony caved, grabbing Stephen’s arm to stop him. He was halfway towards a new group when he did, and Stephen raised an expectant yet innocent eyebrow at his husband.
“Honey, can you please stop introducing yourself as my first wife?”
“Why?” Stephen frowned with mock confusion.
“Because you’re not my ‘first wife’! You’re just my wife!”
“Well,” Stephen shrugged, “You’re my first husband, maybe that’s why I was confused…”
The intended effect was immediate, Tony’s eyes darkening as he glared at Stephen, hand tightening around his arm.
Tony’s possessive side didn’t come out often, but Stephen loved every second of it, maybe because it eased his own jealous tendencies. Or just because it was a boost to his ego, having the hottest man in the universe want him this badly.
“Maybe if you did a better job claiming me…,” Stephen trailed off. He knew he was pushing it, but Tony’s expression was just too wonderful, too easily played with.
A growl escaped Tony’s throat, and it hadn’t been Stephen’s intention to get aroused himself, but man if that wasn’t doing it for him. He composed himself, trying to keep his eyes from drooping closed at the sound. Tony pulled him aside, stepping closer to growl into his ear; “Portal. Now.”
Stephen didn’t need to be told twice, trying to hide his smile as Tony pushed the both of them through, capturing Stephen’s lips in a searing kiss.
Stephen let himself get lost in it, could feel Tony softening underneath him, earlier thought forgotten as the were locked together.
As soon as Tony’s hands started moving down to cup his ass, however, he leaned back, pushing Tony away as he tried to chase his lips.
“Well that was a fun party,” he spoke casually, stepping away even as Tony’s eyes were on him, wide and incredulous. “I’m going to check on the baby.”
“Seriously, Strange!” Tony groaned as he realised what Stephen had done. “You played me?!”
Stephen hummed, teasing smile still around his lips as he headed into the hallway, calling back; “You sit there and think about what you’ve done!”
“What I’ve done?!” Tony’s indignant yell followed him all the way to Valerie’s room.
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johannstutt413 · 4 years
Text
(requested by anonymous)
The light was on in the living room when Kal’tsit woke up. She groaned - it was happening again. “Oh, darling!” She called through the open door in a somewhat sharp sing-songy voice. “I thought we talked about getting up at 3 am to write on your board!”
“But I had a dream and I had to get it down before I forgot it!” The response came as Kal’tsit stepped out into their living room to find the Doctor with her nightgown on, notepad and pencil in hand.
“So this isn’t a shipping thing, then?” Her wife asked, genuinely interested in what could be a new development. “Or is this a matchmaking plan you had?”
The Doctor looked up from her work to give her a quizzical stare. “What are you talking about? I’d never actually try to get these couples together...I mean, seriously, Provence and Scavenger? Come oooon.”
“Right, yeah, totally unreasonable.” Kal’tsit smiled to herself, remembering the lovely invitation she’d received for their upcoming wedding not two days prior.
“It’s not about if they would actually work together, anyway.” She beamed a smile in Kal’s direction. “It’s about imagining the arc they would have to take to get them there.”
Her logic was met with a blank stare. “Uh-huh.”
“Come on, babe, play with me in this space for a little bit. I know, I know, it’s early, but-”
“Doctor dearest, you know what I’m like.” After watching the change in the Doctor’s face, however, she sighed. “But I can make an exception this once.”
She cheered, which involved a wild flailing of limbs one might call a dance if it weren’t horizontal and much less coordinated. “Yes! Alright, alright, calm down, let’s not blow this...Okay. Okay. So, where do we start...”
“I’d imagine we start with a couple?” Kal’tsit offered, taking a seat on the couch on the opposite end.
“True...Alright, you pick a person, and I pick a person, and that’ll be our match.” The Doctor turned to a fresh page in her notepad. “Ready?”
Her wife chuckled - Kal had to admit, she was damn cute when she got like this. “Alright, I’m ready.”
“One, two, three!” “Ethan.” “Astesia.” “...Huh.”
“Alright, we have our happy couple,” Kal’tsit observed. “Now what?”
The Doctor steepled her fingers, notepad at her side. “Well, we should start with what we know. What do we know they have in common?”
“They’re both Infected, they both have ties to outside factions, they both...um...that’s what I’ve got.”
“Both of them keep secrets while trying to be as open as they can.” That earned her a look. “Astesia doesn’t talk about her society, but she’s an open book when it comes to astrology and divinations, and Ethan won’t tell us everything about his past but loves dishing dirt about Reunion and some of the things he’s done.”
She sighed. “You’re right, I just never would have seen that.”
“It’s okay, darling; that’s why I’m here!” The Doctor hopped on the couch to get within ear-scratching range and proceeded to do just that.
“Prrrr...” Kal leaned into it, entirely forgetting the early hour. “H-hey, don’t rile me up too much, or we’re never going to finish this.”
She smirked. “Alright, if you insist. They both have rather refined tastes - Astesia because of her background, and Ethan for the exact opposite reason. Actually, that’s pretty important; Astesia lived the life of a rich man’s daughter, pursuing her fancies and becoming involved in a hyper-sophisticated elite occult society of some sort, while Ethan has lived on the ground his entire life, fighting for the Infected’s right to be acknowledged with nothing more than cans of spray paint. Despite that, they’ve both had crises of faith, sort of; Ethan has been a pacifist resistance fighter for so long, he’d lost hope that there’d ever be a future for the Infected, and when Astesia became Infected, she was suddenly confronted with the limitations of her chosen field. I think Ethan’s morale is higher, since his fears are pretty firmly assuaged now that he’s with us while Astesia’s battle is really one only she can fight, but...hmm.”
“I took for granted that you’re in charge of HR. That was a really deep analysis for something like a shipping diagram, darling.”
“How do you think I got this good?” The Doctor kissed Kal’tsit’s forehead. “You have to be good at this sort of thing if you want to argue about pairings on the forums.”
Kal’s ear twitched. “The...forums?”
“There’s a group of us here in RI who talk to each other anonymously on this one site. They’re actually the ones who told me about our history together, so my little hobby is what got us together~”
“I will never disparage your fake matchmaking hobby again,” Kal’tsit swore. “When does any of this turn into something meaningful, though?”
Her wife nodded sagely. “That would be the meet-cute.”
“The meet who?”
“The meet-cute.” The Doctor giggled at Kal’s blank stare. “You really are new to this, I love it. It’s when a couple have their first encounter; like, they aren’t romantically involved, but this first meeting foreshadows it, and usually it’s kind of out-there. For us, that’d be when you gave me my first briefing.”
Kal’tsit, head now resting in the Doctor’s lap, shook her head. “There wasn’t anything weird about that, was there?”
“I kept having to grab my pockets with my hands to stop myself from rubbing behind your ears.”
“Oh, that’s what you were doing.” She chuckled. “I thought you were cold, and I was this close to grabbing your hands myself just so you’d focus on what I was saying.”
The Doctor gave her another ear-scratch. “That’s exactly what made it a meet-cute; we were both so awkward, it made a normal meeting basically impossible. So, what’s their moment like that?”
“It couldn’t be one of Astesia’s readings,” Kal’tsit noted, twirling some of the Doctor’s hair around her finger.
“It wouldn’t be a bad one, but it’s better as an ah-ha moment, I agree.” She thought for a moment. “You know, I can’t think of a time I sent them on a mission together.”
Kal nodded. “They go on a mission, and they’re sitting next to each other on the transport back. Ethan tries to make small talk, which Astesia responds to, and then they’re ambushed.”
“Oh, I like that - Reunion grunts, definitely a couple of Wraiths in there, they fight them off and resume heading home...but now they’ve not just gone on a mission, they’ve fought together, like back-to-back almost. Talk about bringing people together.”
“Speaking of which,” she rubbed her hands together, “the next thing is Ethan asking for a reading and finding out something moving in his love sector, right?”
The Doctor shrugged. “That’s a little too straightforward.”
“Too straightforward? For who?”
“Well...how do I explain this,” she mused for a moment. “Life isn’t that simple, so for a ship to sail right, going for the obvious connections is kind of like taking the easy way out.”
Kal’tsit sighed. “Alright, then, what happens next?”
“Well, let’s see...”
-
A few days later, Ethan walked into Dr. Kal’tsit’s office with his usual, almost accidental stealth. “Yo, Dr. Kal’tsit, you got a minute? I need to ask you about something.”
“One second.” She growled something into her phone before hanging up. “Alright, go ahead. What is it?”
“Normally I’d talk to the Doctor, but...anyway, I was wondering if you could talk to her about her most recent shipfic.”
Kal’tsit’s eyes flew to the door. “Come in and close the door behind you.”
“Sure.” He complied. “Anyway, I wanted to ask - is she psychic or something?”
“I’m starting to wonder that - she did call Provence and Scavenger, after all...You and Astesia, right?”
He scratched behind his head. “I don’t wanna say she gave me the idea, but I write myself, and after reading her post, I got to thinking, and...our convoy got ambushed earlier today.”
“My God.”
“Now, I don’t think I should try to force anything, but, well, we did kind of hit it off, so...” Ethan sighed. “Any advice?”
She smiled. “Life is never as straightforward as we want it to be, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make it simpler. Ask her to give you a reading; if she says good things about your love sector, maybe see if she can clarify things a little more.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Well, that’s all I needed to ask, so I’ll let you get back to it.”
“One thing before you go, Ethan?” Kal’tsit gestured to her cell phone. “Give me a call after you’ve gotten an answer.”
He gave her a curious look. “Why’s that?”
“So I can rub it in the Doctor’s face if I’m right, and prepare a good response if I’m not.”
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itsthestutterforme · 4 years
Text
Broken (Alec)
Y/N had a huge crush on Alec and he broke her heart when he said he was marrying Lydia.
I am and will probably always be in love with Alec Lightwood. We've been best friends since training and while he fell in love with Jace. I fell in love with him. Things have been hard, especially whenever I need help, I'm not taken seriously enough.
And my life just got a lot harder because the Clave sent Lydia to supervise us at the Institute, which is essentially babysitting us. I was looking for Izzy when I notice her talking to Alec. "Me and Lydia are going to get married. Bringing our families together is the smartest move against Valentine."
"What?" I say, making them both look at me. "Y/N," Izzy says. "I have had enough of this. Are you really that blind and ignorant not to notice that I am helplessly in love with you?" "You completely looked passed me and flirted with Magnus and now, you're marrying someone you just met."
"It's for the sake of our family, Y/N. Don't take it personal." "I take things personal. I can't supress my emotions like you. So let me make it very clear to you when I say that I hate you." "And do me a kind favor; delete my entire contact from your phone. I won't be answering either of you." With that, I left the Institute and took a cab to a bar across town.
Third Person POV
"And now you've just lost the most loyal friend you will ever find. Good luck with that." Isabella says before leaving the room. Alec huffs before leaving to start training.
It's passed 12 o'clock in the morning and Y/N was nowhere in sight. She didn't want to go back to the Institute so she went to the only place she knew: Magnus. She knocked on his door and he opened it reluctantly. He was shocked to see her, considered that they weren't exactly close friends.
"I'll let tomorrow morning, I just don't want to go back to the Institute. I don't want to see his face." Magnus knew exactly who she was talking about and said, "Honey, me neither. Come on in." She took a few wobbly steps before collapsing in his arms. "Jesus, how drunk are you?"
"Quite." He carries her inside and tucks her in his guest bedroom. He was about to leave before she asked, "How do you do it?" "Hm?" "Goblins live for centuries. How did you get over getting your heartbroken several times by the same person?"
"It took time and patience," "Everyone knows that Alec, Izzy, Jace and me are the elite team. If one leaves, the team is incomplete." "Well maybe, you need a break from this elite team. It's clearly not helping with your emotional and mental health. Those are important too."
"Honestly, I'm done with the pain. I can already feel myself getting numb. It's probably better if I just start fresh." "The numbness is probably from the alcohol. Go to sleep darling. You need it." Magnus says before he left.
Isabella started to worry and searched the most likely places Y/N would have gone. And she wasn't anywhere in sight. She used her tracking rune and found her at Magnus' but she left her be. She just had to know where she was.
The next morning, Y/N woke up with a very life changing idea. The best way to start fresh the way she wanted, is to completely leave the Shadowhunter world. To leave everything she ever worked for behind, and become a mundane by having her runes stripped.
Normally people stripping their runes as a punishment, but she saw it as her passage to freedom. No more men trying to play with her heart because now she knows better.
With her memories erases, she won't have that hole in her heart anymore. She truly believes that this is what she wants. She gets up from the bed and nearly falls over. "Jeez, how much did I drink?" She shuffles into the kitchen where Magnus was cooking breakfast.
"Good morning sunshine," "Morning," "Here's some coffee and Advil for the hangover," "Thank you," "There's something completely crazy that I wanted you to do and I will give you everything to do it."
"Alright, what do you want me to do?" "I want you to strip me of my runes and memories." Magnus stares at her with wide eyes. "Are you sure that's not the alcohol talking." "No, this is sober Y/N talking and I'm serious. The Shadow World has only caused me pain. And I don't want to be apart of it anymore." "But what about Isabelle and Jace?"
"If they love me, they will let me go." "This is ridiculous. When I said you needed a break, I didn't mean this." "Please, I'll give you all of my weapons and stones for you to sell. Just please do this for me." "Alright, all of the ingredients will take a day to collect. So we will do the spell tomorrow night. That will give you some time to think this through."
They ate breakfast before Y/N went back to the Institute. "Y/N, I know that you're pissed at Alec, but he needs your support now mor--" "No, he has a sister for that. I'm just the second option. Always have been." "Whoa, where is this coming from?" "Just leave me alone, Izzy."
Y/N left tomorrow night again and Alec decided to follow her. He was confused when he followed her to Magnus'. He used his hearing rune to listen in on their conversation. "Are you sure you want to do this, Y/N? Because once you do, it's irreversible." "I'm ready." Alec then started to hear Y/N scream and he barged into the apartment.
"What are you doing to her!" Alec defends. "This is what she wanted," "To strip her of her runes. That's ridiculous." "It's true, Alec. Leave me be." "Leave you-- you're stripping yourself of your runes.How are you supposed to be a shadow hunter?" "That's the point, Alec. I don't want to live in this world anymore. I want to be a mundane."
"A mundane?" "Continue, Magnus." "Don't you touch her." Alec states. "Stop it! Stop acting like you care about me!" "I'm not acting, I.. you're like a sister to me, Y/N." "That's a part of the problem. I'm done being hurt by you over and over again. I deserve better than this." "Then tell me what I can do better. Don't just give up."
"I have been in this all my life and there's nothing else it can offer me." "What about Jace and Isabelle? You're just going to leave them-- leave me?" "If you loved me, you'll let me go." "It's because I love you that I won't." Y/N looks to Magnus and he nods before sending both of them in another warehouse Magnus owns. Alec runs out of Magnus' house to find them, but he won't get there in time.
He told Jace and Isabelle what Y/N was doing and they all tried to find her as fast as they could. But by the time they found her, she already had her memories wiped. She was just about to leave to go to her new apartment when they barged in. "Y/N, please tell me that you didn't go through with it?" Isabelle asks. "Go through with what? And how do you know my name?"
"No, I refuse to believe that you would want to forget us. After everything we've been through!" Alec snaps. "Don't yell at her! It's done. The best thing we can do is leave her to start her new life." Jace says. He approached Y/N and kissed her forehead warmly. "I wish you good luck," "Thank you, uh, do I know you from somewhere?" "No, but I've been told I have one of those faces."
"Well alright, it was nice meeting you." Y/N said before leaving. Their hearts shattered and now it was them who had a hole in their hearts, but it was what Y/N wanted. "So this is what she felt?" Alec said.
**
It was a month after Y/N had her memory wiped and her runes stripped. Not having her in the Institute made things stale and quiet. But out of all of them, Alec suffered the most pain. One day, Alec went for a walk to clear his mind when he saw Y/N walking and talking with some of her friends. He couldn't help himself but to follow her. He followed her back to her apartment and looked around.
He waited until she fell asleep to talk to her. He made himself unhidden and sat on the edge of her bed. He touched her hair gently, careful not to wake her up. "I didn't marry Lydia after all. Half way through the ceremony I realized who my heart belonged to.. but it was too late to tell her." "I'm so sorry,"
A few tears left his eyes. All he wanted to do was hug her and tell her how much he loved her. But he missed his chance, and now he will live with that for the rest of his life.
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heartslogos · 4 years
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the declassified texts of the inquisition’s elite [160]
(336):  Did you get good sleep? (832):  I dreamt that I was a lipstick lesbian in the 1950s, working at Walgreens and solving mysteries. (832):  So yes. -
“I take it you know Kallian, or is that being racist?” Herah asks.
“When it gets to the point where you're a person of elven descent in a position of high power, high visibility, or any kind of notoriety then you start to figure out who all the other elves in the same position as you are. At that point it’s no longer about the stereotype of all elves knowing or being related to each other and it’s more about a minority grouping together to hold hands and mutually suffer through the fact that they’re a minority,” Kallian says before Mahanon can answer. She narrows her eyes at the man. "That said, I am nearly entirely certain that I’ve represented you in court before."
“Lyna's my distant cousin on my mother’s side,” Mahaon replies. “Which is why I might seem familiar to you.”
Kallian wrinkles her nose. “Mahariel? Lyna Mahariel? The hippie?”
“Yes.”
“The one related to the Gray Warden? The dumb one with the kid?”
“The very same.”
Kallian narrows her eyes further. “Is your sister the lunatic?”
“Possibly, depending on who you think I am. Are you thinking about Neria or Ellana? They’re both slightly off kilter in separate ways.”
“Violent one.”
“That’s Neria Surana. The Lavellans are so distantly related we might as well not be. My sister is the one who’s off kilter in ways that make you realize how broken of a society we have because she gets away with it due to the copious amount of loopholes that seemingly exist just for her. Some would call her a manic pixie girl. Those same people would probably be attempting to charge her for assault except she gets away with it every time because of aforementioned reasons.”
“Fair enough.” Kalilan nods. “Have I represented you in court before?”
“I’ve never had any of my cases, prior to joining the Inquisition, get taken to court. You’re thinking of someone else.”
“This is absolutely riveting. Now that you’ve established that you two do not, in fact, know each other but know the same people, can we get down to business?”
Kallian flips her notebook open, clicking her pen and starts jotting some things down. “If you were related to the Surana I would’ve charged triple.”
“You probably should anyway,” Herah mutters.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.” Herah waves a hand. “Anyway, thank you for coming. For some reason you’re the only lawyer of note we could find in the entire district.”
Kallian smiles and it’s eerily reminiscent of a very, very satisfied wild cat. “All the other ones were weak. They quit as soon as I got my firm established in the area. Couldn’t handle the competition. They also couldn’t handle a woman who doesn’t need to wear a pant suit and a string of pearls to be taken seriously.”
“I think I’m starting to be fond of you,” Mahanon says, “You might be the first lawyer I’ve considered respecting enough to work with.”
Herah glares at Mahanon, “Don’t fuck this up. I meant it. Every other lawyer in this district is absolute shit garbage and if we have to work with them because you pissed off this one I will personally make sure that this trial ends badly out of spite. Fuck the consequences.”
“I’m starting to like you as a person,” Kallian says to Herah, “I would say do go on with this but I’ve gotten about four hours of sleep in the past day and a half and if I’m representing the Inquisition I don’t foresee getting myself much more than that any time soon. I want to get my associates working this case as fast as possible so I can try and head off whatever stupid tricks the opposing side wants to use.” Kallian’s eyes grow distant for a moment. “And when it’s over I’m going to do my best to lucid dream a continuation of my lipstick lesbian episode last night.”
“What?”
“Not important. Let’s start at the beginning.”
“How far back is the beginning for you?” Herah asks, “Because we’ve been working this case for a while. And let me tell you, it’s been one fuckin’ wild ride to get here. The only reason it’s being tried in this district court and not the original one is because the little weasel of a shit heel we’re trying to get charged has too many people in inconvenient places.”
“I can work around that. I don’t lose cases. If I’m on a case it’s mine.” Kallian flips open one of the files Herah had prepared for her.
“Has anyone ever told you that maybe you should’ve been a PI?” Herah asks. “Or a bounty hunter?’
Kallian grunts, “I tell myself that daily. I dream about it, sometimes. Maybe I was in a past life. But if there’s something harder than being a respected and feared lawyer of elven descent in this country it’s establishing your own private eye business, or getting respect as an independent contractor. I’m working my way up in my own way.”
“If you ever get tired of the whole lawyer thing I think you’d have a place in the Inquisition.”
“Recruitment?” Mahanon asks Herah, “Now? Really, Adaar?”
“I’ve got an eye for talent, Lavellan, and you’ve got an eye for trouble. Stick to what you know. I’d regret it forever if I let this chance slip.”
Kallian’s lips twitch upwards. “I’ll think about it. Maybe after I’ve done enough time in court that I feel like the law school fees were worth it. In the mean time, I’ve got to justify the thousands I’ve dropped on my fancy degree. So. Let’s do that now. Should we start with going over the specific reason why the defense wants to say that this is a set up and that the entire thing was rigged due to — “ Kallian pauses, eyebrows raising, “Racial prejudice against humans. Oh. I’m going to enjoy this case like a fuckin’ rare steak. Let’s get cracking.”
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minstrophywife · 5 years
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DeMasqued
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⇢Pairing: Art thief!Taehyung x Museum curator!Reader ⇢Genre: Thief!AU ↳[PWP] [Smuuuuut] ⇢Word Count: 5,383 ⇢Warnings: PWP - fingering, bondage, Oral, male receiving: face fucking, deep-throating, cum play, cum marking, videotaping, objectification kink, sensory deprivation (blindfold), breathplay, hair pulling  !!! Seriously if those warnings trigger anything, please don’t continue. This is just a smutty fic and is not worth your anxiety. !!!   ⇢Part Two of the Masqued Universe. [Part One] ⇢Masterlist
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⇢Summary: It seems as if the memory of you isn’t enough, and so Vante decides he needs something more concrete to remember you by.
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⇢A/N: I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming support that I received with Masque, and so I made sure that I got this done as soon as I could. I hope this lives up to everyone’s expectations! It’s a bit shorter than the other one, but it’s full of smut. 
Okay but for real, don’t treat national art like this Vante. It was preserved in a temperature and humidity controlled room for a reason. 
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DEMASQUED.
- Live with Action 7 News - 
It’s time to have an open discussion about the missing jade set which was reported stolen by the Seoul National Museum of Fine Art and Craft.
Min Yoongi: As we all know by now, the famous jade from the ‘Rare Treasures of the Dynasty Royalty’ has been reported stolen, as of this morning.
Kim Seokjin: While the museum hasn’t officially declared the set was stolen by the world infamous art thief Vante…
Min Yoongi: There is no other person who could have stolen it.
Kim Seokjin: Especially when he left his calling card of intent behind the day before.
Min Yoongi: Action 7 News has tried to come in contact with Park Se Hoon for another interview- however the museum staff and owner have declined any further media requests until further notice. 
Kim Seokjin: It must be damage control- I suppose the response is more tense this time because the government was involved with this exhibit this time around.
Min Yoongi: It could be seen as an embarrassment for the government officials, as I believe they were the ones to provide ample security to the museum.
Kim Seokjin: What I am more interested in is the fact that- even after managing to evade security, and not leave any evidence behind to indicate who Vante is, the master thief only decided to take one item.
Min Yoongi: *eyebrows knit together in thought* Yes, it seems like when he leaves his calling card, he only has one piece in mind to steal. This correlates with the other, previous instances of theft.
Kim Seokjin: Either way, notorious art thief Vante has been successful yet again- and I believe that he is gaining more confidence every time he sets his target. 
Min Yoongi: *nodding his head* It seems like it, He only let the hair pin set be viewed by the public for one day, before stealing the whole set. He must have especially wanted this specific piece.
Kim Seokjin: I wonder why? I mean, I went to the exhibit on opening day, with Action 7 News, and yes, the piece is visually striking and beautiful, but it seems like an interesting thing to choose to steal.
Min Yoongi: What do you mean exactly?
Kim Seokjin: I guess what I am trying to say is that, in terms of displaying purposes, don’t you think one of the many beautiful celadon pieces would be apt to steal? 
Min Yoongi: I think you are assuming exactly -how- Vante chooses to display his victories. 
Kim Seokjin: We all know that Vante doesn’t resell the items that are stolen- which means he must display them or keep them somewhere, probably in his own home. Maybe like trophies?
Min Yoongi: I’m re-emphasizing my point here… how do we know how Vante wants to display his collection?
Kim Seokjin: … I suppose you are right. We won’t know either. Because I have a feeling Vante is going to continue to be successful in stealing his next target. 
Min Yoongi: I agree. We are running out of time, so we’ll discuss this further after we are able to have an interview with Park Se Hoon once again.
Kim Seokjin: To commercials.
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What were you going to do with your day off?
You decided to turn off your phone, throwing it on your bedside table, face down. You decided to avoid your TV as well- with the TV came the possibilities of seeing the news.
Anything to avoid the inevitable chaos that you knew was occurring this very minute. Was it a bit irresponsible? Perhaps. 
So you pace around your apartment, grabbing whatever random food in your fridge, and that book that you’ve been meaning to read since your birthday- a gift from your mother. You curl up on your couch, cocooning yourself in blankets as your own shelter. 
When you are reading you try not to pay any attention to the band of mottled purple and blue hues that lay across your wrists, hiding under the oversized sleeves of your hoodie. When your thumb brushes against it, you shudder. 
My perfect masterpiece.
Your book drops to the floor with a thud.
After that you fumble to put on some music- anything really- just to prevent the haunting of lips by your ear, and the low baritone of a chuckle the settles deep under your skin.
You are mine to ruin.
But nothing can quiet the amount of anxiety and guilt that slowly builds throughout the day, and soon enough your phone ends up in your lap- your face staring back at you blankly at the dark screen.
Your thumb hesitates over the power button of your phone.
You are mine to create.
Your thumb presses down harshly on the power button.
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99+ Missed calls
25 Voice mails
120+ Text messages 
Voicemail 1 of 25: Y/N - this is Se Hoon. This is an emergency. I know that it is your day off however this is urgent.
Voicemail 5 of 25: You probably are sleeping in huh? Well when you wake up, you need to come straight to work.
Voicemail 19 of 25: *frantic* He stole the Jade set!
Voicemail 25 of 25: Hey, so Se Hoon flew me immediately from my consulting job in Japan. Text me before you head in.
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Your eyes warily travel up to the clock on the wall of your office, and you groan outwardly when you see the time. It looks like another late night tonight. The first night you braved the museum and the shouts of Se Hoon, you accidentally fell asleep on the couch in your office to rest your eyes, and the resulting cold and aching muscles prompted you to bring a blanket and a pillow the next day, and honestly, you do not regret your decision one bit. It has been a trend the last couple of days, and the hour or two of rest in between more work helps immensely.
The chaos that ensued at the museum over the preceding few days was surreal. The exhibit seems to have drawn in a far more larger crowd that even on opening day- you suspect everyone wants to see for themselves if, in fact, Vante did take the jade set.
Art displayed upon art.
In fact- a nap sounds really good.
But, if you can push through, tonight should be the last night you need to stay late at the museum- after numerous (long, drawn out and almost unnecessary) meetings with the board of trustees, the conclusion that was reached  that some sort of replacement for the exhibit needed to be selected. It would be the quickest way to divert the public’s attention from the missing jade set (no it won’t), the officials concluded.
Which, of course, that responsibility landed on you. So after more meetings, and more discussions and countless hours of pouring through the museum and the government’s own personal collection, a decision was finally reached- one of the beautiful hanbok’s worn by Joseon dynasty elite.  Tonight you needed to select which one, before handing it off to be displayed properly the tomorrow.
Which means you have to search the large warehouse basement of the museum. 
You really don’t want to get up from your desk, but the promise of sleep in your own bed rather than the office sofa is what finally motivates you to rise, and you grab the catalogue before you head downstairs to the basement.
As you are in the elevator, you shiver- perhaps its the pull of sleep or your body weary from long nights- either way you wish you wore something a bit warmer to work today, instead of your silken dress shirt. It was the comfiest thing you had while still looking formal. 
Curse the meetings with the officials. You should have brought pajamas to change into you think bitterly.
The elevator door opens with a soft -ding- and you walk out in a daze. It’s eerily quiet in the basement- you hear the slight hum from the fluorescents above your head, your shoes clack almost too loudly down the hallway.
You arrive at the door soon enough.
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Waving your ID card in front of the door, as well as using the consistently rotating key code that Se Hoon provided to you for this evening, you walk into the room. The basement storage is cool and dark when you step into it- you blink your eyes as you attempt to adjust to the darkness. The museum storage room is temperature and humidity controlled- as invaluable pieces of art need to be handled with the most care. 
Where is that light switch? You fumble along the wall, and another shiver passes through you- this time starting at the base of your spine, but it doesn’t fade- it lingers, almost like a sneeze that wants to escape but fails to in agitation- and this feeling is putting you on edge- your shoulders tense.
Just as you touch the edge of the switch casing, a trace of fingers encage your eyes, and a long arm encages you around your waist. You feel the heat of his palm through your blouse, against your ribcage. Your surprised gasp is caught in your throat. 
It can only be him.
Your heart quickens, body blooming in heat with anticipation.
“Hello my dear, did you miss me?” His low whispers are teasing the shell of your ear, his lips hovering but not touching just yet. Your eyelashes tickle his fingers as you close your eyes, your breath quickens as you struggle to respond- his deep baritone effecting you much more than the haunting of it. 
He must think you are shy.
“Because I most certainly missed you.” 
A soft cry leaves your lips. “Vante.” It’s all the confidence you can gather at the moment, your body too overwhelmed by the memory of his hands, lips, tongue and the very real presence of him behind you- and your trembles in anticipation.
Your reply stirs him, and you feel his hand leaving your eyes. There is a quiet ruffle of clothes, coat brushing against your arms. 
The way he presses you against the wall, along with his arm that still encircles your waist does not suggest escape, and you vaguely wonder what it means that you don’t want to move from him at all. Instead you lean further back into his space. 
You think smell a subtle floral scent- lavender maybe? Tease your nose, but you don’t get a chance to ponder the scent- silken fabric brushes over your eyes- and soon enough you feel the ends being tied together behind your head, the warmth of Vante’s arm leaving your stomach. 
You suddenly are hyper-aware of the heat from his fingers as they grasp lightly around the base of your neck. And then- 
Then, he’s pushing you softly from behind, but honestly you feel as if you are floating in space, Vante as your tether, your lifeline. 
You then vaguely realize he’s removing the clipboard of the catalogue from your fingers, and he’s twisting away slightly and your fingers clumsily try to grasp his hands- afraid that he’s going to leave you alone. But the presence amongst your throat never leaves, and he returns to settle behind you once again and you realize how foolish you are. 
Your cheeks burn in embarrassment. He must feel your flush on his fingertips, see the red blossom- because you feel the hand that had removed the clipboard return to your collarbone, dipping lower and lower to tease the edge of your bra. He lazily traces the lace trimming there, in no rush, his cheek rests against your hair.
“My beautiful masterpiece…” His voice sounds strained, a whisper as if he’s afraid you are an apparition. He slowly begins to unbutton your blouse, each syllable that rolls off his tongue is punctuated by each button freed. The blouse flutters down to the floor. 
He them teases the hemline of your skirt, fingernails scratch lightly on your thighs as your skirt begins to bunch around your waist as he brings the fabric upwards. And upwards still, along the curve of your ass, until he finds your zipper, and the skirt falls, the loud sound of your zipper a jarring sound against your heavy breaths. And then the skirt slips down your legs to join the blouse.
“The fleeting memory of my beautiful creation behind my eyelids whenever I closed my eyes was not nearly enough…” And upwards again, a finger runs itself against your spine, and you find yourself arching forward, your head resting back against his chest. You bring your lower lip between your teeth, not trusting yourself to let a moan escape your lips just yet.
Your bra quickly joins your discarded clothes, and you can already feel your nipples swell- from the cold, from seeking attention- you aren’t sure. He continues even further to the final article of clothing, your panties a cover that masks the most beautiful part of you in all. He hooks his fingers at the waist band, and drags the fabric down, ever so slowly. You feel a string of your anticipation follow, your panties already sopping wet, it breaks when it dangles uselessly by your knees until you assist- you shimmy it down, stepping out when you feel it by your ankles. Vante traces the inside of your thighs, too far away and yet close enough to drag a finger through the mess you’ve made. 
 “…not when I had finally created perfection and I just let it slip away.” There is bitterness in his voice, and his arms encircle you once again, pulling you closer still. 
You feel enveloped by him, ensnared by his long arms that keep you flush against his body. And then his lips are on your shoulder, you can feel new daubs of purple and red being added to the canvas of your skin. 
“Purple suits you the most.” 
You feel your body go limp, his mouth your weakness- you feel your weight held up by his arms. But then he’s lowering you, letting you fall to your knees your hands rest in your lap, a sudden act of modesty. The floor feels cold and you immediately feel the loss of heat from behind you. Another rustle of fabric, this time it brushes between your shoulder blades. But his hands never leave you, reassuring fingers thread through your hair to softly massage your scalp. Soon enough he’s spreading your legs outwards, and he grabs one of your wrists from your lap, long fingers enclose around it fully to slowly guide your wrist backwards, so that it meets the corresponding ankle. He guides your fingers to wrap around your ankle. You hold your breath when you realize what he is doing.
The sculptor is placing you where he wants. 
And you are his pliable clay, molded to whatever he wants you to become. 
Because you are his masterpiece. 
A shaky exhale.
And then he is binding the two together, slipping the fabric between the natural space that he has created, deftly tying them to keep you in the perfect position, And when he deems one wrist complete, he follows with the other. 
The ties- you imagine they are black, perhaps maybe the same silk ribbon from the first night. You grip your ankles experimentally, and the ties feel perfect and right and you feel complete-  you want to paint over the fading stripe of purple that has turned into yellow over the past couple of days. You don’t want the memory of Vante to fade away.
“I thought I would be satisfied with creating art, but it was not enough. I want more.” He’s standing above you now, in front of you. 
“Something is missing though,” he sounds contemplative, looking at you to try and determine what would look best, “this arrangement would look far more if we just had… I’ll be right back my dear.” 
And he steps away, this time no hand to remind you of his presence. Your breath quickens the longer he is gone- time stretches until you feel uncomfortable- what if he leaves you here? You begin to shake, your confidence wavers.
You jump when you feel fabric hit your shoulders. You hadn’t notice him return.
“Waiting so patiently for me.” He coos, soothing your tension. You aren’t sure what he has draped over your shoulder, but it seems to be jacket of some sorts, but it doesn’t matter because he caressing your cheek, and then a hand at your chin pointing it upward. 
And then you feel something nudge against the seam of your lips. He’s waiting for you its hot, and when you peek your tongue out to swipe at the wetness of your lip you taste bitterness. 
“Its time to paint you in the most beautiful luster.”
You realize its the head of his cock that playfully prods your lips. His hand grips the sides of your jaw, tempting it open. Your lips open wider to receive. Your tongue stretches outward, and you feel the underside of his cock land on your tongue. It’s warm, all too warm. You feel the thick vein that runs underneath, and saliva begins to pool in your mouth. He’s pushing forward now, and his other hand tangles back into your hair. Before it was soft and comforting, but now he grips at the strands harshly- easing you forward. He’s sliding in just a bit too quickly, your mouth has little time to adjust. You try to push back a little bit, but the grip in your hair tightens, your scalp begins to sting. 
You knew he was large, you remember when he pounded into you relentlessly. But now, as your face is pulled closer to the bed of his pubic hair, your throat protests at the invasion, and your gag reflex begins to flare. He must feel the constriction of your throat, because he pauses, and he’s wiping away the tears that have fallen down your cheeks. 
“Breathe.” 
You want to shake your head, but instead all that is said is a muffled and strained groan from your lips. You take a few deep breaths through your nose, the tension of your throat easing around his cock, and one final push. He’s buried to the hilt in you- and you feel his hands full of tension. He’s still holding back to the best of his ability. When he pulls back, his speed is slow but steady, and when just the head of his cock is caught between the cushion of your lips, you feel the saliva flow over, dribbling down your chin, down your neck. You barely have a second to grip you ankles in preparation. Even though you have a blindfold on, you screw your eyes shut.
He’s pushing forward again, his hands in your hair keep you at the pace he wants, as if you had control to begin with. The slip of his cock into the wet cavern of your mouth is easier this time, and when he’s fully in once again, you moan, deep from the pit of your belly that aches with want. It seems to spur him on- because his controlled pace becomes faster each time he pulls back and pushes forward again.
And then he’s fucking into your face, and you are trying to take breaths through your nose every time he pulls back. But he’s brutal, the lewd slick sounds of his cock that slides in and out of your mouth not slowing, and the amount of spit that has spilled out of your mouth is surely a mess. But you are encouraging him still, with moans as he’s using you, prepping you, molding you into the perfect masterpiece. Because you cannot see him, you realize you want to hear Vante coming undone. 
Behind your blindfold, you want to imagine his face, twisted in desire from your undoing. You feel frustrated- You want to see Vante’s skin, shiny with sweat, you want to see him fall apart. 
He’s becoming loader, his groans fall towards you, panting with need and want.
 Your jaw is on fire, an ache that blooms.
After a particularly rough pull, like an answer to your frustrations- you feel something loosen, something slip off your nose. Blinking away the tears that have settled on your eyelashes, you realize your blindfold has fallen off.  His hands grip tighter on your hair, the sting of your scalp makes you realize he’s close. You wonder if he notices that your blindfold fell off, it’s still bunched in his hands, tangled amongst the tresses of your hair. 
The strangled moan that tumbles forth, down, down, down from his lips to your ears makes you feel brave. 
As you look up, blinking as your eyesight adjusts to the light- and you see your own masterpiece. 
Because he blindfolded you, you do not see a mask this time. Instead you see a sculpture- perfection chiseled from marble to create a face crafted from Bernini himself. High cheekbones and a sharp jawline frame the handsome high nose, and perfectly shaped eyebrows, knit together in ecstasy. While you saw his lips from your previous encounter, you were not privileged to see his face in full. You are still not sure if you should be privy to his mistake- and yet you stare at him- awestruck.
You are shocked. Your hands slip from around your ankles, you barely register the bindings tighten when your hands press against he floor.  
You let him continue his brutal pace as he fucks into your face- momentarily distracted from his cock in your mouth because you are attempting to commit every detail of him into memory.
His head is thrown back, his mouth open. You see his jaw clenched, his neck bulging with tension. You moan once more around his cock, and he fucks into your throat harder, shallow but deep. And then-
His eyes are opened once again, and he stares back down at you- eyes widen slightly in acknowledgement that the silken blindfold is off your tear-ridden eyes, your own eyes not leaving his. 
So suddenly, you get whiplash-
He yanks away, and you find your lips almost searching for his cock in a trained fashion with how fast he pulls out-
The first string of warmth hits the bridge of your nose and arcs upwards towards your eyebrow, preceding spurts hits your cheek, and you then taste the bitter saltiness of him when it lands on your lips, and in your mouth. 
He does not let anything be spoiled- the cum that was not strong enough to reach your face he wipes on your collarbone, pooling in the small divot. 
You realize he’s placing his cum exactly where he wants it. Painting you with a sheen of milky white. 
His cum begins to drip down your face, joining your saliva in a mess and you feel like you want to brush it out of the way, especially when some threatens to fall into your eyes. And then you remember the other silken ties that bind your wrists and your ankles together. You whine softly in inconvenience. 
You see Vante grip the silk that had been your blindfold in his hand, a small contemplation of what he should do next. 
Instead he tilts head to the side, and while still looking down at you from his seated position, he grins. 
“Well it seems like the masterpiece can finally see its creator.” He has a slight hesitance in his voice, hesitant and unsure. It’s the first time you’ve heard his voice sound like that, and you take a moment to understand. He uses his hand to trail down your neck, fingers pressing until he finds your pulse. He rests it there, as if your steady heartbeat is an answer in on of its self. 
“A masterpiece huh?” You croak, your throat dry and itchy from his relentless pounding. “Art can only be so great when it reflects its artist.” 
His lips begin to quirk upwards.
“You’re handsome, Art thief Vante.” You continue to mumble, words now tumbling out in a garbled mess- you are beginning to feel unsure if he understood. 
His chuckle is raspy, and you feel accomplishment. Your feel yourself clamp around nothing. Your needs feel heavy inside your stomach. You suddenly acknowledge the sticky mess of your own juices, coating your thighs and the floor.
“You should be a model, not a thief.” You still do not dare remove your eyes from his, even if you can begin to feel an ache in your abused knees. It’s almost like you are afraid he’s going to leave- now that you know his face.
“Always for sharing- aren’t you, my dear.” And you shiver, as he conjures up memories of your first encounter. His hand leaves your cheek to trail down your neck, dragging through his cum that is beginning to fall down your chin. 
“Don’t you want to be selfish - just this once? You’re one of the select few who has been privileged enough to see my face.” 
His fingers press lightly on your forehead and he’s kneeling down to your eye level, and you feel lost in his eyes because he’s still not looking away, and so are you. You have to twist your arms around a bit, the bindings on your ankles and wrist bite into your skin further. But you are soon on your back, legs spread wide for him to see the mess you’ve made. 
Because of him, only for him.
You vaguely feel the fabric that he had put on your shoulders underneath your back, as there is no shock of the fold floor on your skin. He’s leaning over you now, resting between your thighs, his knees drag through the slick on the floor. A hand lays by your ear, another grips your thigh.  
“Now that you’ve seen my face my dear, I’m afraid I really can’t let you go.”
His voice is everywhere, deep and low, teasing your ear, reverberating against your body. It almost sounds sad, twinged with longing. His fingers take no time tease, your cunt swallows three fingers greedily. There is no protest, and he pumps with fervor. The loud squelching sounds that your pussy makes echos in the room.  You cry out, but its strained against your abused throat.
“Vante!” 
And then three fingers are replaced by his cock, already hard and throbbing with desire for you once again. The squelching noise is replaced by the wet sound of his skin against yours, his balls slap against you each time he pistons into you.
You both are a mess, a flurry of broken words between guttural moans. But you repeat Vante, inside your head and out loud, you aren’t sure anymore- a broken chant because that’s all you are thinking about, that’s what you are filled by. Him.
Vante
As he chases his second orgasm of the night, he kisses you, he tastes himself on his tongue as he sucks on your lip- and all you hear is the sound of your bodies connecting in a brutal pace. And the coil in the pit of your stomach is starting to unfurl, ready to snap. He detaches from you quickly, a hand grabbing your throat.
At the restriction of your throat, your world turns blank, your senses too overwhelmed too acknowledge anything else but the intensity of your orgasm.
 A needy moan keens from you, distantly you imagine belonging to him forever. 
And its not much longer then, because you feel him pull away to paint you once more.
The last thing you remember is the deep growl of-
Mine.
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This time when you reawaken, you are surprised to see yourself curled up on the couch of your office, your coat turned into a makeshift pillow, and the blanket from your many overtime nights from this week tucked all around you. 
You curse when you see the time. It’s already 8 am in the morning, and you jolt out of the couch. You attempt to stand, but your knees buckle under you, and you blindly have to grab at the couch to break your fall. 
You see the rumpled state of your blouse, your skirt in no better shape. You wearily scramble to the bathroom, wondering what sorry state you are in.
When you reach the bathroom and turn to the mirror, you are greeted by tear stained cheeks and red eyes. Your throat is saturated with purple and blue swatches, deep bite marks littered here and there. 
But what causes you to cry out in alarm Is his dried cum still on your face, which he had clearly left for you to find when you came to. 
Mine.
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You spent a good thirty minutes washing away the evidence of your late night tryst to the best of your abilities, but nothing can hide the sorry state of your neck, your wrists, your ankles. 
You sit in your office, until you hear a light knock.
“Y/N. Pulled another all nighter? You look a mess.” Its Se Hoon, and honestly his voice is grating to your ears. 
“I saw the Hanbok you decided to choose- thank you for placing it safely in my office. Interesting choice- you chose the rare purple silk.” 
“What?” You blanch, eyes blinking back in confusion to Se Hoon. 
That’s right. That’s why you needed to go to the museum basement to begin with last night. To choose a Hanbok for the exhibit. You never remembered choosing one last night unless… 
“Follow me to my office- we’ll need to receive approval from the committee and then you can go home.” You follow him mindlessly to his office, barely registering what he’s saying.
“You need to take a couple days off- we all do.” You nod woodenly.
And then you see the purple Hanbok, surrounded by white tissue, presented gently. 
Purple suits you the most.
The silk of the jeogori is slightly rumpled.
He wouldn’t dare.
But he would.
There is a brief knock on the door, two clear raps that echo into the office. In comes your fellow curator, Namjoon. 
He nods towards you, flashing a quick smile, dimples appearing and disappearing quickly, with an eyebrow raised. He’s probably deciphering your current state. You hide your wrists behind your back. The pink that dusts his cheeks means Namjoon has an inkling of what happened to you last night.
 “All pieces in storage are accounted for.” He says, addressing Se Hoon. “The audit took a couple of days. However nothing has been stolen.”
You raise an eyebrow at him, and now it’s Se Hoon’s turn to Blanche in response. 
He doesn’t have much time to react further, his mouth opens to speak, but before he a syllable can escape, he is interrupted by another knock at the door, this time the knock is a lot more frantic and loud against the wood. 
Se Hoon grumbles in response, annoyed at the interruption. 
The knocking continues, impatient. You can feel the worry through the door. 
“Yes?” Se Hoon huffs, a mumbled “this better be important” does not escape your ears. 
In pops in head of security. Eyes wide and feeling unsure. He has another museum guard cowering behind him. 
“Show him.” He says, stepping aside and nudging the guard forward. 
Your eyes zero in on the black card between his fingers immediately. 
In your peripheral view, you register Se Hoon’s eyes bulging out of his sockets. He’s really had a shitty two weeks, you think. 
“T-this was on my desk sir, when I went to relieve the night Officer from duty this morning.” 
Se Hoon is quiet. 
The head of security then begins to speak. “I reviewed the last night’s video footage, as per policy and routine.” 
Namjoon speaks up in place of Se Hoon. 
“I’m guessing the footage was missing?”
The head of security startles a bit, not so much that is obvious, but obvious to you. 
“That is correct.” He nods in the direction of Namjoon. His eyebrows are knitted together in confusion, an eyebrow raised in a silent question. 
Namjoon just smiles softly. 
“Now why would he want to steal security footage I wonder?”
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