#nice to hear that the boss/everyone else thinks i'm doing well! i don't

[jeonginsleftcheek]

A relaxing evening

pairing: lee felix x afab!reader

genre: smut, fluff, roommates to lovers

word count: 3.2k

warnings: soft dom lix, big dick lix, sensual massage, clit play, fingering, squirting, unprotected sex, one light spank, not proofread (lmk if i missed something)

a/n: after spending a month writing a literal 70k+ book for hyunjin i hit a bit of a writer's block and who better to get me out of it than my very own muse, lee felix😏

~ Masterlist

To say you've had a horrible day was an understatement.

You've had the worst day that actually stretched and turned into the worst week.

Your boss was on your neck constantly, there was so much work to do which made you stay at the company working overtime and coming home late.

To make matters worse, everyone was angry and annoyed, so the conflict at work grew into a displeasing feeling that had you desperate for any kind of relief, even just a free afternoon to nap.

Felix, your roommate and friend, noticed how you came home later than usually and more drained day after day, the dark circles under your eyes getting progressively darker as the week came to an end.

Finally, Friday came around and you were barely standing on your feet when you walked into the apartment.

Felix is sitting on the couch, probably playing some games before sleep as you shuck off your shoes.

"Hi, sugar plum."- he snickers when he hears you groaning behind him, his head falling backwards to catch a glimpse of you.

"Please, don't start. I'm not in the mood."- you say tiredly.

Usually you throw disgustingly cute nicknames back and forth at each other but your brain was short-circuiting so bad that even thinking of a nickname for your friend was hard.

Felix exhales, pouting as he gets up and makes his way to you, helping you take off your blazer.

"I'll heat up some dinner."- he says and you nod, not even bothering to answer because the last ounce of strength you have is focused on standing upright.

You follow him to the kitchen to drink some water, and Felix looks at your tired frame, feeling sad that you're so down, instead of being your usual self, the one that jokes around and yaps away with him until the early morning.

"Why don't you sit down?"- he guides you to the chair and you sit wordlessly.

"My whole body hurts."- is what you say after a few moments of silence, as Felix waits for the dinner to warm up, his eyes trained outside the window.

"And my mind too."- you add as he looks at you and you notice the sympathetic smile he gives you.

"Well..."- Felix starts as he takes the food out on a plate. "I could prepare you a nice warm bath."

"You would do that?"- you ask, in your tired state you feel emotional and tears prick at your eyes.

"Of course I would."- he smiles, the sweet expression on his face as he brings you dinner makes you feel a little bit healed already.

"You're an angel, Lixie."- you smile as he squeezes your shoulder.

"I don't know about that."- he chuckles shyly, his freckled cheeks becoming rosy instantly.

You shake your head with a fond smile as he makes his way to the bathroom while you finally have a normal warm meal after the lunch you ate at work.

Hunger takes you over and you finish eating quickly, just in time for Felix to come back.

"Oh, you're done already?"- he asks.

"Don't judge me."- you say and he chuckles.

"No, I'm not judging, just wondering if you're still hungry. I could make you something else?"

"No, no don't worry, Lix. I'm ready for that relaxing bath."- you smile and he nods, biting on his lip.

"Um, can I suggest something?"- he asks as you stand up and you tilt your head at him.

"What is it?"- you ask curiously.

"You know I have some knowledge about massaging. I could help you relieve your stress with a full body massage." - Felix says and your eyes widen. "I mean if you're comfortable with it. You don't have to... ugh forget it."- he seems embarassed suddenly and you chuckle.

"A free full body massage? Sign me up."- you smirk.

"Who said it was free?"- he smirks back at you.

"Oh, so you're gonna charge me for your services, hm?"- you joke and he laughs.

"No, of course not. I'm just joking."- he says. "Go enjoy the bath I prepared, before it gets cold."- he adds and you make your way to the bathroom.

As soon as you walk in, you gasp, Felix has really made an effort.

He put your favorite bath bomb with bubbles into the water, lit your favorite scented candle and even adjusted the lighting to be less attacking on your tired eyes.

You strip in no time, throwing all your clothes inside the hamper and getting into the bath as quickly as you could.

The water is still warm and it feels wonderful to submerge your weary body into the relaxing feeling.

You close your eyes, leaning your head back on a towel as you feel the relaxation slowly taking you over, traveling through your limbs and making you feel weightless.

The warm and cozy atmosphere that Felix created have you almost falling asleep in the bath as your body slips a little and you sit up with a start, your eyes snapping open.

"Y/n? You okay?"- you hear Felix on the other side of the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'll be out soon."

"Okay, I prepared everything for the massage."- he says and you giggle to yourself.

You don't feel too nervous being practically naked in front of Felix as you have known him for a long time and since you've been roommates you have seen each other naked on accident a few times.

He even gave you a few shoulder and back massages when you were in pain from sitting at your desk for too long but he never suggested a full body one.

Curious about it and ready to relax completely, you shower and dry off quickly, putting a bathrobe on and leaving to your room.

"Lix?"- you peek inside and see that he has fluffed up your bed, lit another scented candle and a few normal ones just to add to the atmosphere, and prepared some massage oils.

"Damn, you went all out."- you chuckle.

"I wanna make you feel better."- he smiles sweetly, making your heart flutter a little as you make your way towards the bed.

The two of you stand awkwardly for a few moments before both of you chuckle.

"I should undress, right?"- you smile and Felix nods quickly before turning his back to you and covering his eyes for a good measure.

"Tell me when you're ready to start."- his voice is muffled behind his palms and you giggle as you take the robe off.

You lay down on your stomach, pulling a towel that Felix prepared over your backside and private parts, getting comfy on the soft bed.

"I'm ready."- you say when you find a nice position, your forehead pressed against the end of the pillow so you can breathe, your arms on either sides of you, aligning with your body.

Felix bites on his lip as his eyes roam on your body shamelessly.

"Lix?"- you say and he snaps out of his thoughts.

"Yes, let me grab some lavender oil. It's good for relaxing."- he announces and you mutter, ready to just enjoy having his skilful hands on you.

Felix kneels next to you, as you feel the bed dip and hear him opening the little bottle of oil.

Some light music is playing in the background and you exhale a hundred worries as soon as his fingers press on your shoulders.

"Mm Lixie."- you moan instantly, making his gut stir but he shakes it off, wanting to focus only on your well-being.

His thumbs circle your flesh slowly, going up to the sides of your neck and down the top of your shoulders before pressing back to the original spot, circling it and taking off the stiffness you feel from spending long hours at your desk.

Little moans of relaxation keep coming out of your mouth and Felix's sweatpants get tighter, as your body visibly relaxes.

Working his way down your back, he keeps adding oil and finding the most painful spots skilfully and relieving you of your pain, as if it was his actual career.

"God, Lixie, you're so good."- you whimper, smushing your face into the pillow for a moment.

"I know."- Felix smirks, making you chuckle.

And he does know. He knows exactly which pressure points are located where so when his fingers press into your lower back, just a bit above your ass, you feel a wave wash over you.

"Oh."- you exclaim a little but Felix never acknowledges it, smirking behind you as he gently massages your lower back.

You start feeling a bit hot, aroused even as he continues his ministrations, fingertips barely dipping to the swell of your ass.

Your breathing is slow and deep, your body completely relaxed as you left yourself in Felix's precious hands.

Felix shuffles a little, you hear more oil being opened before you feel his hands on your foot.

"Good?"- he checks in on you and you whimper as he presses and continues bringing you relaxing touches.

"Perfect."- you half-whisper, your mind floaty, all the stress from the week forgotten, no thoughts, just Felix.

Felix, with his soft hands and deep voice, his pretty smile and adorable freckles.

Wait.

Why are you thinking of him like that?

You don't know why, and you don't care as his hands slide above your ankle, he presses four fingers on your skin as if he's measuring something on the inner side before he finds a pressure point and starts working on it.

As soon as his finger finds that spot, you shiver, feeling yourself getting aroused the more he keeps circling that spot.

You would feel embarassed but you're so relaxed that you couldn't care less, your body melting even further into the bed, your arms coming up on either sides of your head as you gently fist the sheets beneath you.

Felix smirks, massaging the point harder, making your arousal drip between your folds, your cunt clenching around nothing.

He notices your slight squirming and that lets him know he's got you right where he wanted you.

He lets go for now, hands sliding up to massage your tired muscles.

At this point, you're aroused, wishing he would touch you where you need him the most and you want to press your legs together but you don't want him to notice that.

Felix already knows, after all, his touches were purposeful and he has wanted you for so long, wanted to be the one to make you feel good.

"Lix."- his nickname almost sounds like a whimper as he runs his hands on the back of your thighs.

"You okay?"- he asks, his fingertips dipping between your legs, touching your inner thighs as he gently starts massaging the flesh.

This is the last straw, your slick is now gushing out and you start feeling embarassed, wondering if he can see it or smell it.

"I-I'm fine."- you whimper as he keeps massaging your thighs.

"You sure?"- he asks, hands sliding up, close to your core and you lean into his touch as you grip the sheets.

"N-no."- you whimper.

"What's wrong?"- Felix smirks, fingertips brushing your asscheeks.

"I- um... I'm horny."- you turn your head sideways to look at him and he hovers over you.

"I know. You're kinda obvious."- he says and you whine.

"You did this on purpose."- you say as he runs his hands on your lower back and waist, making you shiver constantly as you feel ten times more sensitive than usually.

"Would you hate me if I did?"- he bites on his lip, his eyes big and pleading.

"No."- you whisper.

"You want me to continue?"- he asks and you nod.

"Please."

"How about a special massage?"- his voice is low as he slowly removes the towel. "Do I have your permission, angel?"

"Yeah."- you say, legs spreading slightly as you lift up your middle just a bit so he can touch you properly.

Felix groans at you presenting your wetness to him, your forehead buried in the pillow again as you anticipate his touches.

His hands are on your ass, as he gropes and massages them before his fingertips dip between your legs, sliding through your wet folds.

"L-Lixie."- you whimper as he touches you teasingly, fingers gently rubbing around your pussy and towards your other hole, down to your inner thighs again.

You push back into him and he gently grabs your hip.

"Don't move, my honey bee."- he says and you snort.

"Alright, pumpkin pie."- you retort.

"Let me do all the work, you just relax."- he says, fingers sliding through your dripping folds repeatedly, making you clench around nothing constantly, before he finally presses into your clit.

"Mm."- you moan when he starts sliding the pads of his fingers up and down your clit, swollen with arousal and coated in your slick.

You moan quietly as Felix keeps massaging your sensitive clit slowly, up and down, left and right and then circling it and gently pinching it, occasionally dipping his fingertips into your cunt to gather more of your arousal.

You've never had anyone touch you this gently, it was usually a guy just flicking your clit fast when you're about to cum and while that does feel nice, this was a different kind of nice.

You felt tortured in a good way, like Felix was constantly dangling your orgasm in front of your eyes but never letting you get to it.

So much arousal kept gushing out of your pussy that for a moment you thought you were cumming as he kept pressing his fingers into your clit, playing your body expertly, like he's done this many times before.

"Lix- I wanna cum."- you whimper.

"I know love, but be patient. Just a bit more, I promise it's gonna feel amazing."- he coos at you, fingers working your nub faster and with more pressure.

You push back into him again and he grabs your hip as he starts flicking your swollen clit fast.

"Lixie, ah!"- you whine loudly, your slick coating his hand.

"I need you inside me!"- you add, holding onto the sheets.

"Mhm, later. I know you can cum just from this."- he says, as you keep jolting and whining.

You can't believe it's happening but your orgasm hits you like a wave, as you spill onto his hand, moaning loudly as he keeps massaging your sensitive nub.

"Oh fuck!"- you whimper when he slides his fingers to your folds.

"Interested in a deeper massage?"- his voice is low and dark as he leans down to your ear, making goosebumps rise on your skin.

"Mm, please Lixie."- you moan.

He slowly pushes two of his fingers into your sopping cunt, taking him in greedily as you were so relaxed and ready to receive.

Felix adjusts his position between your legs and it doesn't take him long to find your gummy spot.

"Lix!"- you groan when he starts gently fucking into it.

"Feels good?"- he asks, his lips brushing your ear as he scissors you open.

"Heavenly."- you moan out as he fucks you slowly, effectively massaging your walls, making your pussy clench on his fingers constantly, begging for more.

"Just relax."- he says as you keep pushing back on his hand, slowly fucking yourself on his fingers.

"I said relax."- he chuckles, lightly smacking your ass.

You gasp, calming down immediately, surprised by his commanding tone and actions.

You never thought your shy Felix would be handling you like this as you present yourself to him, to use you freely as he wants.

But all he actually wants is to bring you pleasure like you've never felt before, making sure to ruin every man for you so you only belong to him.

Eventually he speeds up, his fingers perfectly hitting your sweet spot and driving you insane, as you drip around him, the wet sounds are so loud that it makes you feel even more aroused.

Felix leans down and unexpectedly starts kissing and gently biting the flesh on your ass as he holds your hip and ruts his fingers fast into you.

"Ah, ah, Lix- Lixie, ah! Felix!"- you moan desperately as you tremble, squirting a fountain as he keeps on fucking into you, prolonging your orgasm as much as he can, teeth sinking into your flesh as you squirm under him.

"Oh..."- you're speechles when he pulls out, you can't feel your legs and your ears are ringing.

"You with me, angel?"- Felix hovers above you as he caresses your head gently.

"That was the best orgasm ever."- you exhale.

"Told you I wanna make you feel better."- he smirks, hearing you praise him boosts his ego and makes his cock twitch and throb painfully inside his tight boxers.

"Is there more?"- you chuckle making him laugh and he gently turns you to lay on your back.

"If you want, I can offer more special massages."- he smirks as his eyes roam all over your body, his hands squeezing your thighs and massaging them gently.

You look down to see his dick straining in his pants.

He follows your eyes and looks down too, just as you hook your fingers in his pants.

"I want your cock, Lixie."- you say as you slowly slide his pants down.

"You do?"- he looks a bit surprised and you giggle.

"Mhm."- you say as you finally free him.

"Oh."- you gasp. "You're a grower."- you add with a smirk.

"Oh shut up."- he looks embarassed suddenly and you start giggling again.

"Come here and kiss me first."- you say and his eyes soften as he leans down to kiss you sloppily, your tongues crashing against each other, his heavy cock pressed against you.

"So pretty."- you bit on his lip as your hands wrap around his length.

"What, my cock?"- he chuckles.

"Mhm. Want it so bad."- you whimper, and Felix groans lowly.

"You can have it, angel. Anything you need."- he says as he slowly pushes inside you.

"Mm. More."- your legs wrap around him, making him hit deeper as he keeps pushing his length inside you until he fills you up to the brim.

"Feeling relaxed?"- he asks, his hand coming up to brush your hair behind your ear and gently touch your face.

"Mhm, I have no thoughts at all."- you give him a smile and he chuckles quietly.

"Then, let's keep it that way."- he says as he slowly starts sliding his cock against your walls.

Felix keeps working hard to make you satisified and relaxed, to get you into a state of pure bliss, even if it means putting his own pleasure at the back shelf as he makes you cum on his cock over and over again.

He fucks you until you're shaking and crying, gripping at his biceps and clawing at his back, whimpering how sensitive you are, your pussy sloppy and shaped to fit his cock, which is when he finally lets go, cumming inside you hard, filling you up with his hot cum.

And when you fall asleep in his arms, a small blissful smile on your face, Felix knows he has accomplished his mission.

And he will do it again in a heartbeat, anything to make you feel better.

✨Taglist: @moonchild9350 @janepg @velvetmoonlght @hwanghyunjinismybae @jehhskz @laylasbunbunny @porangporangmeong @jeonginslefthand @sapphirewaves @simpforleeknaur @laughatdanger

[vroomvroomwee]

Reasons I think platonic Radiostatic will reconcile in season 2:

1. Wayy to many hints to their past friendship. Eg. the torn photo, Alastor’s distaste towards modern tech, Vox asking Alastor to join his team, Aalstor posing for Vox's cameras even though he hates having his visage recorded, Vox knowing Alastor will try to make a deal with Charlie - he knows him well, etc etc. As well as all of the parallels between them: sceatching the table, "what did you say?", the nun/proest and chef/waiter combos, the fake smiling, their similar looks, etc. And they wouldn't have put all those arbitrarily. Animation is difficult and every single shot is intended for a purpose.

2. The Lucifer/ Stolas parallels.

I know this is a weird one, but hear me out. Both Lucifer and Stolas started off as cruel, emotionless, rich royal bastards who didn't particularly care about sinners or hellborn. Then they turned into depressive dads who have problems with their wives and are estranged from their daughters. All of a sudden, the evil tyrants became "nice" characters who've never done anything wrong and who we should sympathise with.

I'm bringing up the Lucifer/Stolas parallels because another thing that happens in Helluva Boss is Biltz and Fizz's reconciliation. They drifted apart due to a horrible accident that was neither of their fault, then they detested each other for years. When they reunite, they do it under exigent circumstances where they realise their falling out was tampered with by outside parties. One of them (Blitz) would absolutely sleep with the other, while Fizz is not at all interested (sounds familiar)

Viv clearly has a pattern in her shows, so I'm hoping it extends to Radiostatic too.

3. Based on Viv's latest posts on blue-sky, she's really hyping Vox up. I don't think she would focus on him so much if he turned out to be plain malicious instead of the evil but pathetic capitalist we all know and love. If he really does hate Alastor and does something horrible to him, I don't think Viv would be cheering Vox up this much (especially not with all the rabid allegations that she supports or endorses SA). If Vox really is in every episode of s2, then the possibility of an emotional scene between him and another character is more likely to happen.

4. When asked "who is the person Alastor cares about most?" Amir opted not to answer and instead only said we should wait until season 2. I don't see a reason he would withold something like that unless it's a crucial piece of information that might spoil something. The only people that this could apply to would be Alastor’s mom, or Vox.

5. "Sad and complicated" I think this alone corroborates the existence of a past Alastor/Vox friendship that turned sour

Anyways, here's to me praying Vox doesn't do anything awful to Alastor in season 2, and instead, the evil men become friends again and cause mayhem for everyone else 🕯

[dreamwritesimagines]

For some reason i do imagine Birdie being a complete avoidant and telling Bucky, in the middle of a gala after he wins, as they're dancing, "You'll win them over. I mean, you won me so the rest of the world should be pretty easy."

"Well, just hiring you is listed as one the first campaign accomplishments on a file Paul typed somewhere, but I wasn't supposed to tell you that- he thinks it'll go to your head."

"Oh too late, I'm floating right now. But that wasn't how I meant it- I was so obvious for a while there, wasn't I? I was almost surprised HR didn't get on my ass about it but then again, if everyone is crushing on the boss then it isn't really an HR issue, just a state of mind. Anyways, don't worry-"

"Wait, stop. What are you talking about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Crushing on the boss?"

"Okay so nice try but I'm sure your super soldier senses could pick up the pheromones that spread around the office as soon as you walked in- Kelsey says you're the reason so many periods synced up, kickstarting ovulation like some force of-"

"Birdie, stop joking. I'm talking about you."

"Ah. Well- I was crazy about you. Not just looks wise but everything else- it was like holding a live wire everytime I talked to you. Drove me insane, I think it was half the reason I broke up with Max until..."

"Until what?"

"It wasn't ever going to happen, wasn't it? Its not like that between us and honestly I think I just used you as an excuse to get out of a relationship i should've ended years ago. Shit, Bucky I didn't- I'm not telling you to make you uncomfortable, I really am over the whole thing."

"You're... over it. Over me."

"That's not a bad thing, right?"

"No it's uh... I'm glad you told me. Can you give me a minute, I think I need to breathe-"

Cue Bucky crashing out, leaving the gala and the next thing he knows he's chasing down assasins and being turned into an Avenger against his will because omfg that conversation was the last straw.

Omg omg darliiiing!? I AM SCREAMING THIS IS SO GOOD AND YOU'RE SO TALENTED AND AAAAAAAA-

I'm literally fangirling over you rn 🥰🥰🥰

"Well, just hiring you is listed as one the first campaign accomplishments on a file Paul typed somewhere, but I wasn't supposed to tell you that- he thinks it'll go to your head." Asdgjkll when Bucky first saw it...😂

if everyone is crushing on the boss then it isn't really an HR issue, just a state of mind I CAN'T STOP GIGGLING😂

You can legit hear the record scratch noise in Bucky's brain😂

"Kelsey says you're the reason so many periods synced up, kickstarting ovulation like some force of-" 🗣LET KELSEY SPEAK🗣

it was like holding a live wire everytime I talked to you. Darling wait-

Can I use this line in the fic?! Because this is a genius line! 😱

"You're... over it. Over me." He is in shock, someone give him some water 😌

Cue Bucky crashing out, leaving the gala and the next thing he knows he's chasing down assasins and being turned into an Avenger against his will because omfg that conversation was the last straw. ASFHJKL BUT THIS IS SO BUCKY!

Like, he needed to channel it somewhere because what do you mean Birdie, who he's been thinking about and dreaming about had a crush and got over the said crush without so much as a heads up!?

This is just so so good, thank you so much love! 🩷

Can you imagine the next time they see each other!? 😂 Birdie would be like;

"I'm trying really hard not to take it personally, however it is quite interesting you decided to have a change of career after I told you that I used to have a crush on you."

"Birdie—"

"Listen, I didn't say it to make things weird between us! It was just like—just like a funny anecdote to make you feel more relaxed about the whole thing!"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because apparently my senses told me you'd have a career change if I did."

"I'm serious. You didn't think I should know about that?"

"Uh, funny you should ask, the answer is no. I did not, in fact, think you should know about my crush when I knew you didn't feel the same—"

"No you didn't."

"...What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I deserved to know. You didn't even give me a chance, and now you're over it—"

"What do you mean, give you a chance?"

"You know exactly what it means."

"You had a crush on me!?"

"Had? Have."

"You have a crush on me."

"Crush is such a weird word for it..."

"Going—going steady."

"What?"

"Was that not the word for it? Back in the 1940s?"

"It was not actually, but I appreciate the effort."

"Oh my God. You have a crush on me—I think I need to sit down."

[beatrixst0nehill]

"Owww, they ache so bad, Chat. OMG, why did you make me do this?I never wanted to be a titty streamer, I can't believe ya'll talked me into this, it's so fucking humiliating. I got fired from my job, you know? Cause my coworkers found my videos. They started getting sent to everyone at the office in a chain email. It was hard enough trying to explain why the mousy girl who did coding suddenly went from flat chested to having a giant set of cow udders jiggling all over the place. Because remember, Chat, my boobs are growing too fast for me to keep up buying bras. So I was walking around with these fat milk bags bouncing in my blouse or sweater. Dripping milk. People started joking that I should offer them milk in their coffee. I tried to pretend my breast growth was serious, like sudden macromastia that runs in my family. But nope, they found me.....

My boss eventually took me aside and ripped off my top, he smacked my breasts, squeezed them, spun me around, ripped off my skirt, and ass fucked me so loud everyone on the floor could hear it, then he spanked me and sent me packing, walking home with no clothes, only my purse and heels. My coworkers laughed and took pictures, my boss's cum dripping from my ass. Needless to say on the train ride home a few other men left their deposits inside me, and my tits were left nice and bruised. Now I'm here, still taking these pills like an idiot. I swear they lower your IQ--I specifically bought the ones that said they didn't affect intelligence but I seriously doubt that's the case. I know I'm getting dumber and I don't really care.... I don't need to be smart being a titty streamer with an OF, now do I?

Yes, I'm doing an OF. I know I said I wouldn't but how else will I make any money? I liked getting raped and used so much in the train and at work I think I'm going to just film myself in skimpy outfits getting ganged up and and force fucked. Does that sound like fun? From brilliant, flat-chested coder girl to a worthless, braindead slab of rape meat with a dumb-looking set of oversized udders. That's all I am now. All I'll ever be. I bet I'm already pregnant. Don't these pills have a warning that says not to get pregnant because they're a really potent fertility drug? Oops. Well, if I'm pregnant with ten kids my udders will just grow faster, and it'll make me such an easier target for men to force themselves on. Not like I'll be able to run away or fight back with a belly that big, it's almost perfect for a girl like me. Sorry, a braindead hucow. If I was still a girl and not a braindead hucow I'd get these ridiculous looking things chopped off, get an abortion, flush these pills, and beg for my job back. Instead, I kinda wanna wear a tiny sundress barefoot onto the subway, set up a camera, and see how many men take the bait and rape my dumb hucow brains out. I'll be sure to plead and beg and tell them I'm pregnant, as pedestrians just watch or film me getting force fucked over and over by whole groups of men..... Quite the career change, but I think this suits me more, don't you all agree? ❤️"

[star-lights-up]

okay okay okay but hear me out: cherik modern au no powers, mob boss dark!charles.

But we don't know that yet.

This starts with Erik.

He had a rough past, I'm thinking probably something related to Shaw, something with his parents dying, probably some time in jail, failed relationships, and some internalized homophobia mixed in there.

Anyways. He's doing okay, now. He keeps to himself. He does NOT go to therapy even though he probably should. He works a very basic nine to five. He's probably got depression. Possibly a bit of an eating disorder, because for some reason i love doing that to him. No friends, no family, just kind of numb and drifting.

Then he meets Charles.

I don't know how exactly it would happen, but it would be the most typical meet cute to end all meet cutes. Pure, fluffy fluff, straight from a hallmark movie type shit -- someone spills coffee, someone reaches for the same carton of milk at the same time as the other, SOMETHING. But Erik meets Charles, this cute little british guy with big blue eyes and freckles and an eighties haircut. He's obviously flirting with him, and Erik finds himself flirting right back, and so it goes. Charles asks for his number.

He goes out to dinner with Charles the next day, ends up spending the night at his apartment -- a big penthouse suite in one of the nicest areas of the city. And Charles is funny and charming and very, very good at making innuendos when Erik least expects him to, and with Charles's lips on his Erik begins to wonder if this could be his happily ever after, the thing that all the songs on the radio talk about, the big finale at the end of every movie.

Quickly, he learns that Charles is rich -- very, very rich. How a genetics professor is that rich, he doesn't know, but Charles buys him expensive gifts and takes him traveling and Erik refuses at first, of course, because he doesn't need Charles's charity, but Charles insists that it's just his love language, and it could make no difference to him and, well, Erik doesn't mind it so much when they're sequestered in a nice hotel room in Paris.

Soon enough, he's living with Charles. Marrying Charles.

It's wonderful. Erik feels so at home with him, feels adored and special in his eyes, feels like this is payment for everything he's ever suffered through.

And then he stumbles upon some things. Some things he shouldn't have seen.

And that's how he learns that Charles -- sweet, Charles, the guy who comes off as so innocent (though Erik knows he's anything but, but he didn't expect THIS) -- is the most feared crime lord in the whole of the city.

It becomes increasingly clear that everything charles does, everything he says, even to Erik, is calculated. His entire life is a game of manipulation, and Erik's found himself on one of the strings.

Charles has crafted the image he portrays, the perfectly sweet and wide-eyed, bumbling professor. Erik sees it fall away, sees him with his underlings, the way he's feared. The way everyone's spines straighten when he walks into a room.

Part of Erik feels special. Here's this terrifying man, of great means and with great looks and charm, who could have anyone and anything he wants -- who's chosen Erik. He says that that hasn't changed. He tells him that he does love him. That he is special. That he doesn't want anyone else.

The other part of Erik is terrified. The logical part. He tries to file for divorce, tries to run. It works for a little while -- even though his existence seems entirely desolate without Charles's easy smile and witty conversation to fill it.

Of course, Charles comes after him. Asks him to please, reconsider. He's still committed, if Erik is. That Erik can have anything he wants in the world, out of life, with him by his side. Reminds him that Erik loves him. He said so.

Erik tells him that whatever they had clearly wasn't love. It was lies. But somehow he ends up in Charles's arms and Charles's bed again, and he knows that it was his choice, and... well...

That's how Erik Lehnsherr ended up the most feared mob boss of New York city's husband. Till death do them part.

[withahappyrefrain]

For the ship ask game!

48. …out of habit + a bob of your choice!

This prompt screams secret relationship, and what better Bob to do that with than Cobalt Eyes & Sweet Smiles Bob?

Bob knew he shouldn't be jealous. You weren't paying Jake any attention as he bragged about the latest air maneuver he mastered. Your eyes were focused on putting together a burger.

Soon enough, one of your fathers' old Top Gun classmates would whisk you away, no doubt to marvel at how much you had grown up, reminiscing on how you used to toddle around at this yearly cookout.

The worst part was Bob couldn't even be mad at Jake. Because he told Jake that all that happened after you two met was that he walked you to your car.

Which was partly true. Bob did walk you to your car. And then exchanged numbers after making out in said car. Which led to going on a date, which led to Bob secretly dating you.

Turns out, dating the daughter of your bosses is complicated.

Once the current mission was over, it would be easier to come forward. And decidedly less weird to think about.

Though Bob was still worried that once the secret was out in the open, he'd wake up the next day to find he's been deployed to Australia.

So all Bob could do was sip on his diet Coke as he tried not watch Jake fail at hitting on his girlfriend.

"I'm going to go...." Your eyes lingered on Bob. God, he looked so good in that blue shirt, it was unfair. But wouldn't that be too obvious?

"Somewhere that isn't here," you finished, walking away before Jake could even speak. The temptation to tell the blonde pilot you were dating Bob grew stronger everyday.

But Jake also had a big mouth and seemed like the kind of dick to mention something to one of your dads, if not both.

Technically, you weren't breaking their rule. They said no pilots and Bob wasn't a pilot. He was a WSO.

But it certainly made things awkward as Bob was working with Dad. And Pa was his boss.

Well, wanting to get away from Jake Seresin wouldn't raise anyone's suspicions.

Bob tried to hide his excitement when you stood next to him. He tried to act casual, but nothing could hide that smile of his.

Not that you mind. In fact, his sweet expression sent warmth throughout your body.

"Got tired of hearing how much better he is than everyone else?" Bob joked, causing you to nearly choke on your burger.

"The best don't brag, they let their work speak for themselves," you explained, a sly smile on your face. It was so hard not to make eye contact with him. Truly unfair how he had eyes bluer than the ocean, deeper than the sky-

"Is it too much if I asked you to accompany me to the Hot Dog station? Figured it would be nice to have someone who understands all the toppings." With that lopsided smile, how could you say no?

"It is an intimidating amount of choices," you chuckled as you led him over to the station.

"Alright, so I know it sounds weird, but the Olivier-Russian potato salad- that Pa makes is actually pretty good. The chili Slider makes is good, but unless you have a stomach of steel only take a little. Oh, and Hollywood says the candied jalapeños are mostly sweet but that's a lie. It's mostly spicy."

Bob couldn't help but be memorized as you rattled off facts about the various condiments. Whether it was about work, a personal belief, or yes, even hot dog toppings, you always spoke with such passion.

He loved it. He loved you, but that conversation is still a few steps away.

For now, Bob was happy to settle for counting down the days until he could hold your hand in a gathering like today's. Even if it terrified him.

Yes, technically, he wasn't a pilot. But considering who your dads were, a technicality didn't bring Bob much hope.

According to Bradley, the idea of you dating someone in the military, much less a naval pilot, had been vocally met with disdain.

But today Bob wouldn't focus on that. Instead, he focused on your bright smile and how cute you looked in that sundress.

"What's your go-to?" He asked, ready to take the valuable information to heart.

"Chili with some of the candied jalapenos and a dash of ketchup."

"No mustard?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

You had to stifle a laugh, "No mustard."

"Alright, I trust ya." His words, laced with a slight twang sent warmth throughout your body.

Without saying a word, you took the ladle from the chili bowl, serving it onto his hot dog. You gave him a sweet smile as an explanation, one that Bob took happily.

"Thanks darlin'," He leaned in to peck your lips, neither of you thinking about it.

It wasn't until he broke away to grab the ketchup that you both froze, realization washing over you.

Fuck.

"I'm gonna, um, go." You said quickly, grabbing your plate.

"Uh yeah, good idea," Bob quickly put down the ketchup, turning around to walk away from you. His face was bright red as he practically ran back to Mickey and Natasha who were currently chatting up with some of Pete and Tom's old classmates.

You looked around, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. No one standing in shock.

Alright, good. That was a good sign.

"Hey, did you see that?" You asked Bradley, who had been roped into grill duty.

"See what?" Your pseudo-brother shrugged, his eyes remaining on the grill, unaware that you were on the verge of having a panic attack.

"Bob and I kissed. It was an accident, like neither of us thought about it! It just felt natural and we forgot where we were!" You hissed.

Bradley was the only one who knew. The first time Bob spent the night at your place, the universe decided that Bradley should be the one to pick you up for family brunch. In hindsight, better he than one of your dads. Thankfully, you had enough dirt on Bradley to buy his silence.

"Oh," Bradley shrugged, as if it was nothing. Truthfully, he didn't know why you two insisted on keeping it a secret. It wasn't like you were dating Hangman (thank fucking God for that).

"I didn't notice anything," He said, which accurately reassured you.

"Although...." His words made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

"Although?" You gritted through your teeth.

"I mean, that would explain why Slider was running into the house. I thought he just had to piss."

God. Dammit.

"You good Bob?" Mickey asked upon seeing his fellow WSO, beet-faced and nervous.

"Huh? Oh! Me? Yeah, I'm great. Swell actually!" Bob said, unconvincingly.

Natasha knew Bob was dating you. It was obvious when you showed up to one of the beach football games. How anyone else failed to notice was beyond Nat.

But she knew not to say anything. Instead, she gave Bob a raised eyebrow. Whatever it was (concerning you), she knew it was better to ask in private.

"Lieutenant Floyd? May I speak with you in private?"

Bob's blood ran cold as he turned to face Captain Mitchell, who had his arms crossed.

"Um, I..." He could pretend to pass out. There was no current or former medic here. So he would just need to play dead as if his life depended on it, because it did. Claim it was from the heat. Yeah. Blame the sun, he was pale enough to do so.

But his knees were locked. Bob couldn't run, couldn't pretend to pass out. Fuck, it was too early to fake food poisoning.

So instead, all he could muster up was a weak nod as his legs carried him inside the Mitchell-Kazansky house.

He was fucked. Utterly fucked. He should just leave now so he can go pack up for Australia. Would he even get that far? He had been sneaking around with their daughter, death was probably the only option.

Even if your dads didn't kill him, your honorary uncles will. Fuck, was his will updated? Would you even get anything? Well, Bob did tell Bradley to give you the ring in his drawer should anything happen to him. It was his grandma's, given to him so he had a ring to propose and-

Why was the Admiral whose callsign was literally "Iceman" hugging him?

"Thank God it's you. We thought she was seeing Seresin."

Oh.

That explains a lot.

"Um, no offense sir, but you raised your daughter to have better standards than Seresin," Bob barely got out, now receiving a hug from the much shorter Captain.

"We knew she was seeing someone. We're all glad it's you."

When you ran into your childhood home, you were expecting many things. Mainly Bob's head on the floor.

Receiving hugs from your dads was not on the list, but man was it a welcoming sight.

Bradley shrugged, "I don't know why you were so worried about them knowing."

You rolled your eyes, "The same reason why you haven't told them you have a fiancé."

Wait shit, that was not supposed to be said out loud.

"You have a what?"

[hervygervy]

I just replayed chapter 20, which is my favorite level in the game, even if the section right before the boss is an absolute pain on 9.0. The combination of centurion strongarms and juggernaut is brutal. That aside, this level holds one of the most fascinating differences between the two versions of the game: Palutena is characterized VERY differently while possessed by the Chaos Kin between versions.

Okay, well, it's not just in this level. Let's actually rewind a little bit to chapter 18, as that's when we first interact with Palutena under the influence of the Chaos Kin. Her behavior and speech are drastically different from before, so it's pretty obvious that, as Pit puts it, "someone else is pulling the strings."

For the sake of highlighting this contrast, I've selected a couple other audio files from previous levels so you can really hear the kind of difference I'm talking about. As a result, this post is going to be really stinking long, which is saying something because my other posts on this topic have already been quite lengthy. So please proceed below if you're up for all of this.

This one's from the chapter 4 ground section. It occurs shortly after the encounter with that initial reaper. I picked it since Palutena's role as mankind's protector is sorta discussed here, which is brought up again in chapter 18. There's also this one bit from the flight section of chapter 11:

Underrated interaction. Anyway, here Palutena clearly and concisely states her stance on humanity, which means we can now compare it to what she says in chapter 18:

So as you can hear, her tone of voice and overall manner of speech is in stark contrast to what it was previously. Now let's take a listen to that chapter 20 convo:

Whew, that's a long one. But you get the idea. She's all hostile and weird and yada yada. So let's get to the main point of this. In the Japanese version, Palutena actually retains most of her typical mannerisms. She talks the same way as she always does, although under the Chaos Kin's influence, she says a few unhinged things and uses a slightly harsher tone.

First let's go through the Japanese equivalents of those other voice files I shared so you can listen to how she talks in order to compare them to the moments in chapter 18 and 20. As always, I'll provide my translations so you can actually understand the words. First up is the chapter 4 convo:

Pit: Even though the wasteland was full of reapers, this fortress seems short on them. Do you think they're all out?

Palutena: Perhaps they're doing their business of transporting a large number of souls.

Pit: Ah, I see.

Palutena: Reapers are carriers that snatch souls with the scythes they carry and transport them to the Underworld, after all. The humans might have brought about another war or something, huh?

Pit: That's sad. Those humans, they're always fighting their own kind, huh?

Palutena: But it's me who's at fault.

Pit: W-why's that?!

Palutena: It would be nice if I could promise a good harvest so that strife would not occur around the world. I feel inadequate...

Pit: Don't say that! The goddess of light is loved by everyone! It's true!!

Palutena: Thank you, Pit. I do my best. Now, let's hurry ahead.

Just a few notes before we proceed to the chapter 11 scene. The reapers are called 死神 (shinigami) or "death gods" in the Japanese version. From what I understand, this used to be a broad term that could be applied to any dark or evil spirit that had influence over death, but nowadays the definition of this word is more in line with the western idea of the grim reaper so I kept it as such in my translation.

Another thing I find interesting is Pit uses the word なげかわしい (nagekawashii), which means "sad" in like the deplorable sense rather than like the pitiable kind of sad.

Lastly, I triple checked this one, Palutena uses the word 豊穣 (houjou) which literally means like abundant crops or good harvest, so I don't think I made any mistakes there.

So that's one example of her typical speech. What makes her speech distinct from other characters in the game is she's pretty much always using standard formal speech. She VERY rarely deviates from this norm. Onto the chapter 11 scene:

Palutena: Enter inside, Pit.

Pit: The power of life is running wild...

Viridi: Humans arbitrarily hunt other creatures, cut down trees, erode mountains, and they alone elude the food chain. That's also going against divine providence, is it not? Answer me, goddess Palutena! How can you say only humans are special?!

Palutena: Because humans are the creatures that are closest to gods. Gods must not interfere with mankind. We have no such right.

Viridi: But they are violating all other living things! Are you saying we should watch and twiddle our thumbs as they consume nature like locusts? Before they destroy everything and it's too late, I shall purge the humans!

Palutena: This conversation is going nowhere...

Pit: It's not like I don't understand what Nachure's saying. But! Nevertheless, that does not excuse indiscriminate attacking!

Palutena: That's exactly right. Queen of nature, Nachure. It's meager, but we will challenge you.

Viridi: You've got guts. My Forces of Nature are different, you know.

Once again, Viridi's called "Nachure" in the Japanese version, after "nature." Her title is also 自然王 (shizen ou) or "queen of nature" in that version.

I know there's a lot of Viridi yapping but again, I chose this scene just because Palutena gives her thoughts on humanity here, which is brought up again in chapters 18 and 20. Hopefully you still got a good sense of how Palutena talks with these clips. So now let's take a listen to the scene in chapter 18:

She's not quite as cold as in English. To translate:

Palutena: It's been a while, Pit.

Pit: Ah, Lady Palutena! How did this happen?

Palutena: It's a sad thing but those days are drifting away. After going through so many wars, my fondness for humans completely exhausted. Pit, if your consciousness returned, please die right here!

Pit: Wha--?

Viridi: You hear that, Pit? This is reality.

Pit: Lady Palutena is being manipulated by someone!

Palutena: Is that what you think?

Pit: I won't accept this! Nachure! Thrust me in!!

Viridi: You sure that's alright?

Pit: Of course! Quickly!!

Viridi: You don't know what'll happen!

Well, okay, she did tell Pit to drop dead. At least she said it politely, lol. She says 死になさい (shininasai) and the なさい part indicates a polite command issued by a figure of authority. Point is, in Japanese she's still sorta maintaining that calm tone of voice and polite speech. The English performance has a lot of bitterness and resentment. Let's continue with the chapter 20 conversations, as you'll probably be able to hear the differences between versions a lot more clearly there, especially since the dialogue is somewhat different:

As you can hear, Palutena sounds rather normal. Very different from the English version! And now I must translate:

Phosphora: I secured the Chariot of Light.

Pit: You're... Lightning Flash Eleka?!

Phosphora: I'm not helping you, just so you know. Please stop Palutena's rampage.

Pit: You don't even have to say it!

Palutena: Pit...

Pit: Lady Palutena!

Palutena: I thought there was no way you'd break through that barrier. Pit, you've really grown. It makes me happy.

Pit: In that case, please stop your attacks on the humans!

Palutena: I cannot do that. This is my atonement for my own sin. I am responsible for letting the people become arrogant, causing disorder in the three realms, and not building up the heavens as I should have.

Viridi: That confession, I just feel like it's been a long time coming.

Pit: Quit it! Lady Palutena would never say something like that!

Palutena: ...

Pit: Lady Palutena was always pushing me to do nothing but unreasonable things. Frankly, I nearly died for her countless times!

Viridi: Hey now.

Pit: But! I could always understand Lady Palutena's actions! Even if not, I love Lady Palutena!

Viridi: Whoa, say what?

Pit: I-I don't mean in the romantic way!

Viridi: Of course...

Phosphora: That was exceedingly rude. Don't you know they're gods?

Pit: Ugh, geez, never mind that!! Not while Lady Palutena is like this! Not while my beloved Angel Land is like this! Return Lady Palutena to how she was! Please!

Palutena: Pit... how naive.

Pit: Ah, Lady Palutena...

Palutena: This naivety of yours, to what extent has it helped? In any case, please resign yourself to the fact that I can't return to the past.

Pit: Yes, Lady Palutena. If that's what you say, then there's no other way. I am Pit, commanding officer of Palutena's imperial guard! I will fight you! I'll fight you, and save you from harm!

Phew, that was a whole lot. Time to rattle off a few notes before I break this conversation down a little.

Phosphora's called "Eleka" in the Japanese version. You know, like "electric." Maybe I should have used a "c" in the romanization? Anyway, her title 電光 (denkou) can be interpreted to mean "lightning flash" just like her English title, so I kept it the same. And like I've mentioned before, the Lightning Chariot is called the Chariot of Light.

Now you might be wondering what the heck an "Angel Land" is. Believe it or not, that's the setting of the game. Have you ever played the original Kid Icarus? Well, playing it won't really tell you anything. Have you read the manual at least? It explains that the game's world is called "Angel Land" and it's split into three parts, which are the very same "three realms" Palutena was talking about: the Underworld, the Overworld, and Skyworld.

Any instance of Angel Land being referenced in the Japanese version is replaced with "Skyworld" in the English version. To be fair, the English version is technically more correct, as Angel Land encompasses all three realms, and if we're just referring to the heavenly realm, it'd be Skyworld.

The manual for Of Myths and Monsters (the Game Boy sequel that nobody in their right mind actually acknowledges) also gives us a convenient illustration of how Angel Land is split up.

I haven't actually played Of Myths and Monsters (maybe I will someday) but this is pretty much how it's split up in the first game too.

One last note, Phosphora butts in eventually, right? She tells Pit off for being rude. So in Japanese, once Viridi starts speaking in this scene, Pit loses his cool and switches to more informal speech. This is important to note because, when speaking to Palutena, even in her current state, he's always using polite speech. To me it sounds like he's targeting his big speech towards Viridi as a result, especially since he switches back to formal speech to respond to Palutena's "there's no returning to the past" comment. Additionally, he consistently uses more casual speech around Viridi anyway. Phosphora's gotta get with the memo.

Moving onto dialogue differences, in the English version, Palutena is very dismissive and mocking. In the Japanese version, she's not haughty at all and still seems to try and answer in a calm, logical fashion. Even her "how naive" comment seems gentle in comparison with how it's delivered in the English version. Also, in Japanese, she pretty much tells Pit she's proud of him, which English Palutena just uses as another opportunity to weigh him down.

Then the conversation progresses a wee bit differently between versions. When Viridi starts to speak, in English, Pit keeps talking to Palutena, and she continues to respond, whereas in the Japanese version, he actually immediately tells Viridi to knock it off and to me it sounds like the rest of his lines are directed towards her, since he switches to more informal speech and that's how he spoke to her in previous levels. Oh, and instead of "I trusted you," he says "I love her."

Alright so he's using 好き (suki) here which you're probably very familiar with if you've watched a lot of anime. It can mean "like" or "love," and honestly I'd say it's pretty close to how we'd think of it. We can say we like/love pizza or we like/love a person and we're using the same word, but they obviously carry different implications. 好き works the same way. Since the joke here seems to be that what he's saying sounds like a love confession, I opted to use "love," since "like" doesn't seem to carry enough weight to warrant the other characters reacting the way they did, at least to me. Translating 好き caused a whole drama for the Netflix dub of Evangelion, so I felt it was worth bringing up to explain my reasoning.

According to an interview with the English script's cowriter, apparently one of the things they focused on changing when it came to Pit's dialogue were "things that were inappropriate for a little boy to say." Certainly some weird things happen, but I can't really recall Pit himself saying anything too problematic in the Japanese version. Maybe I just can't remember right now. Anyway, I'm just gonna presume the English staff was uncomfortable with this kind of exchange and thus altered it, even though I think it's just meant to be a cliché misunderstanding type of joke. It's fair, Pit's meant to be the equivalent of a 13 year old boy and Palutena a 22 year old woman. It could easily be taken the wrong way.

There's actually one last thing I want to talk about, just because I personally find it interesting.

Yeah, it's the boss intro. Just leaving the English version here so you can compare it with the Japanese.

Palutena says "so you've come, Pit," and Pit says something along the lines of "Lady Palutena... I, Pit, will come to you!"

This is just interesting because here he's using 参ります (mairimasu) which is the polite form of 参る (mairu). Now, 参る is the humble form of 来る (kuru) or "to come." Maybe you've heard of this, but Japanese has this whole set of unique vocabulary and conjugations for honorific and humble speak, or like talking about things your boss does or things you do respectively, generally called 敬語 (keigo). And the purpose of humble speak is to talk about your actions in a way that honors the authority figure you're speaking to. That's the gist of it. It's a whole headache, even for native speakers.

After that opening exchange from chapter 20 that I shared with you, any other instances of Palutena speaking are responded to with more informal speak from Pit. But right before the boss fight begins, he uses humble speak. It carries a lot of hope within, I feel.

And there you have it. I did a whole lotta yapping but I hope you found this characterization change very interesting. I will continue to post about characterization differences in the future so please stay tuned for those!

[restinslices]

If it's alright with you, can you write the lin kuei trio with a s/o, who is a detective tracking down a serial killer who is going to target s/o and the lin kuei trio's reaction to it.

I can confidently say I have never gotten a request like this

Handle it or he's handling it 

It's as simple as that 

Did Bi-Han let his own father die? Yes. But for whatever reason he didn't fuck with him 

I'm assuming he fucks with you though, so the thought of someone hunting you down is not something he's very fond of 

I don't think he'd have any strong feelings about you being a detective. Not everyone can be out and about fighting people from other realms. Some people gotta do some protective work for the smaller people 

So you being a detective is whatever to him

When you say you're hunting down a serial killer, I don't think he'd have any strong emotions either. He just assumes you'll catch them soon. His faith is pretty high 

When it's revealed the serial killer is hunting you, that obviously becomes a big problem 

A problem he has to solve 

If you're like “No Bi-Han! I got it! Let me find them and end this!” he'll consider giving you a set amount of time before he handles it 

Doesn't know how he's gonna track this unknown person down but his faith in himself is stupidly high 

If you find them and lock whoever up then great for you 

If the agreed time passes and they're still on the loose, he becomes Batman. Get out the way. He got it 

No point in protesting either. Just sit at home and let him figure it out 

He becomes the annoying boss in police movies. Y'all know what I mean 

Definitely finds the person eventually and finishes the job for you 

Hooray?

Honestly I think all the brothers are a “handle it or I'll handle it” case 

Thoughts on you being a detective are positive. I think he can see how difficult that certain job would be 

He's fighting with his fists. You're using your brain. You're both helping people. 

He admires it lowkey 

You're hunting down a serial killer now? Ok. Be safe-

What do you mean you're a target now?

He kinda saw it coming but it's still unfortunate 

He'd understand still wanting to lead this case and he applauds standing your ground, but he's also worried because ya know, you could be killed 

He'd try to assist but at some point he would really want you to let someone else handle it 

By someone else, he means him 

He's a trained assassin. He can probably hunt this guy faster than you can 

Has more patience than Bi-Han but if a lot of time passes and they're not handled, then he'll step in 

He probably would've warned you beforehand that this was something that would happen but as we can see, you either didn't listen or still slipped up 

It's not that he thinks you can't handle it… kinda. 

You're just not moving quick enough 

I think he’d be nice enough to remind you he has faith in you but would vocalize his concerns when it comes to you still working on this case 

Whether or not you decide to drop it is up to you, but he’s definitely not 

Thoughts on you being a detective I think are also positive

He thinks you're doing a good thing

The Lin Kuei can't help everyone. They do more bigger things 

So you helping civilians is great to him. It's a good cause 

I think he'd also enjoy hearing about your cases and chiming in whenever 

Hunting down a serial killer? Well, he guesses someone has to do it 

He'd be confident enough in your abilities to catch this person 

But then you're the next target

I think honestly all the brothers would have a similar reaction. So much so, I don't think there'd be much of a change. I probably could've written this in one paragraph 

He could possibility be the most cooperative when it comes to letting you handle it

Gives you the most time to figure it out and tries to help out as a partner 

Doesn’t wanna step on your toes but if you’re taking too long, he’s gonna do his own investigating 

Probably asks Kuai Liang for assistance 

I’m not saying any of them would find this person in days time, but they certainly believe they will 

Worried about your safety as you could imagine, so he wants you to sit this one out 

He’s probably conflicted, like what I said with Kuai Liang. One part is like “yeah, you gotta find this person!” And the other is like “you need to sit down so you’ll be safe”

Probably prefers for you to do all your investigating at home. Any leads you have you’ll either follow together, he’ll follow it, or someone else will 

I think all the brothers will want to help as much as they could and would wanna handle this serial killer. And by handle, I don’t mean letting them go to prison. You can get out of that if you play your cards right 

The only real difference is how much they let you help after they find out you’re a target 

Bi-Han is like “I gave you time. You’re done. I got it”. Kuai Liang is “I knew this would happen and I know you wanna stand your ground, but maybe take a step down” and Tomas is “I get it so let me help”

This is kinda boo boo. Also I hate their little moodboards I made. It’s sickening

[srslyscary]

body swap?! pt. 1 // bonten

;; alternative title: swapping bodies with bonten sanzu.. clearly a nightmare.

| Contents: SFW , reader is written as she/her but can be considered gn, mentions of drugs, reader lives with bonten

- uhhh.. idk man get ready for ts.. if there are any grammatical mistakes or words that don't seem to make sense just lmk bc sometimes I don't proofread these and my fingers mess up my writing at times.

This was supposed to be a normal morning.

Supposed to be are the key words.

"No fucking way." The woman, or rather... man... looked into the mirror.

"This has got to be some type of dream." She said, doing a full 360. She was no longer the beautiful woman she expected to wake up to be... no no... she was her fucking druggie boyfriend, Sanzu.

She slapped herself a couple of times, hoping it was a dream. Realizing it wasn't as the pain of being slapped so hard came to her. "Oh god no, please god no."

She ran to her boyfriends bathroom, turning on the sink and running water down her face.

Alright bud I don't think this is gonna change anything.

Realizing she couldn't really change this outcome, she became to sob dramatically. "WHY?!"

She didn't have her nice vagina or perfect boobs, but very muscular pecs and a shlong that felt quite heavy. She felt tired standing to be honest.

"How the fuck do men handle all this weight?!"

She sighed, falling to the floor with her hands covering her face. "I'm my drug addicted boyfriend— am I being punished for my sins or something?!"

Yeah you are.. nah I'm just fucking wit ya.

After a few hours, it was around the time breakfast would be made. She decided to make her way down by the elevator, and hopefully finding her boyfriend, who was in her body.

"Morning." She spoke out. Everyone seemed to jump, not being startled by who it was, probably by the fact that they were hearing Sanzu greet the group, which he never does.

"Good morning to you as well.. Sanzu?" Kakucho tilted his head in confusion, everyone was sat eating breakfast. The only people who hadn't come were Mikey, and Sanzu... well... Sanzu in YN's Body.

The elevator was heard opening once again, and everyone looked to see who it was.

"Good morning Boss." Kokonoi spoke, leaving the girl in Sanzu's body fuming. 'WHERE THE HELL IS THAT IDIOT HARUCHIYO.'

"Hey Sanzu... where's YN? She's usually one of the first people down here." Kakucho seemed to question the girl of where her boyfriend currently was.

"Uh... I- Well—"

The elevator dings once again.

...

"GUYS GUYS GUYS I HAVE BOOBS, HUGE BOOBS! LOOK—" The female stopped speaking, grabbing her... chest..and squeezing them.

...

"Oh-"

It was Sanzu. Of course in YN's Body. The female in Sanzu's body became to fume, it looked like smoke was... coming out of her head...? Yeah Sanzu brace yourself buddy.

"You...YOU GROPED ME?!" YN screamed, grabbing a knife from the kitchen. "WAIT WAIT WAIT- BABE HOLD ON-"

You basically just chased him around and grabbed the nearest thing you saw (which unfortunately was a knife) and were about to kill him with it.

“What… is happening.” The boss spoke looking unamused as he watched his #1 chasing his gf with a knife.. while everyone else just looked flabbergasted as they didnt even have a clue what was going on.

safe to say this was a rough experience and you’re currently trying to explain to them all what the situation is.

[howlingday]

Superstitious Schnee

Setting - Weiss and her siblings grew up very close to her Nana, who was a very superstitious woman. Of course, these superstitions would carry over to her children, and yes, even her children's children.

Weiss: Ruby, have you seen Blake?

Ruby: Yeah (Points), she's over there. Why?

Weiss: Don't point at people! It's very rude!

Ruby: ...It is?

1 - Pointing at someone is considered rude. Instead, gesture with fingers extended from your palm... Or just don't point at all.

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

Qrow: Yeah, well, I'm not exactly sure this plan will really work ou... Ah... ACHOO!

Winter: Gesundheit.

Qrow: (Sniffles) Ugh...

Winter: You must be very lucky to be having someone think about you at this time of day.

Qrow: Uh... Thanks?

2 - If you have the hiccups or suddenly sneeze, it means someone is thinking about you.

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

Whitley: Oh, Klein! Did mother break another vase?

Klein: (Sighs) Yes, I'm afraid so.

Whitley: Well, shards do bring luck, don't they?

Klein: A sentiment you and your mother share, but not your father and I, young master...

3 - To bring good luck, porcelain can be smashed.

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

Weiss: WAIT!

Blake: Huh?

Weiss: (Glyphs to the other side of Blake) Proceed.

Blake: ...What just happened?

4 - If a black cat crosses your path right to left, it is considered good luck. However, if they pass left to right, well...

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

Winter: Come on, Weiss....

Winter: (Shaking thumb-tucked fists) Come on...

5 - To wish someone good luck, press your thumbs against your palms in a closed fist.

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

Whitley: (On his scroll) Yes, I'll be staying close with Ruby.

Whitley: ...Yes, I understand six weeks is an unusually long time for paternity leave, but I insist on this issue.

Whitley: ...No, actually, it's not an issue. It's settled. Good-bye.

Ruby: (Holding her baby, Thinking) Huh... Whitley is really taking charge on this. He's so cute when he's serious~.

6 - After a baby is born, the husband stays at his wife's side for six weeks.

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

Weiss: Hello, everyone. I hope you enjoy my housewarming gift for you.

Nora: Wow... Bread and salt... Um, thank you?

Weiss: Would you prefer I give you knives?

Nora: ...I mean, I could always just tear this bread apart with my bare hands. Ooh! Bear hands!

Ren: Thank you for the housewarming gift, Weiss.

7 - A good housewarming gift is bread and salt, but knives are bad housewarming gifts.

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

Qrow: Oh, hey, before I forget; Happy birthday, Ice Queen.

Winter: My birthday is this weekend, Qrow.

Qrow: Is it?

Winter: Normally, I would forgive your semblance, but this time... (Shuts the door)

Qrow: ...Why do I hear boss music?

8 - It is bad luck to wish someone a happy birthday days before their birthday. For the best luck, wish it at the stroke of midnight on the date of their birthday.

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

Jaune: Cheers to the new dad!

Whitley: (Holds eye contact with Jaune, Clinks glass) Prost.

Jaune: (Thinking) Man, he's really staring me down...

9 - When performing cheers, or prost, look the other person directly in the eye.

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

Weiss: Oh, candles. How very nice.

Yang: Yeah, pretty easy to light when I'm already a walking matchbox.

Weiss: ...

Yang: Y'know, 'cause i'm so hot-

Weiss: Yeah, yeah, I get it, I just need to figure out whether or not this is okay...

Yang: Uh, alright?

10 - Don't light a candle with a cigarette, or else a sailor dies.

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

Qrow: Oh, you drink here too, huh?

Winter: Only when the need suits me, and it indeed suits me. (Knocks three times, Enters) Don't forget to knock.

Qrow: ...What does that mean?

11 - When entering a pub, especially when you're a regular with your own favorite table, knock three times before entering.

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

Jacques: Klein, did you get that chimney clean yet?!

Klein: A-Almost, sir. A-Ah... ACHOO!

Jacques: Ugh, honestly! There better not be snot mixed with that soot!

Willow: Leave him alone, Jacques. Is everything okay, Klein?

Klein: That depends, are you responsible for my sneezing?

Willow: Perhaps, but I believe it is Whitley here who is moreso responsible for this one.

Whitley: Is he finished yet, mother?

12 - It is good luck to be touched by a chimney sweep.

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

Ruby: Wow, Weiss! You were really eager for this mission!

Weiss: Let's just say I have a preference for killing Beowolves.

Ruby: Oh, uh, okay?

13 - Wolves are deemed bad luck. However, this superstition is outdated as it has led to the extermination of real wolves to near extinction.

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

Qrow: What do you think? Think it's some kind of Grimm?

Winter: I would rather not say. Instead, let's focus on killing it instead.

Qrow: Always a woman of few words.

14 - To avoid something terrible from happening in your home, it's better to not speak of it. "If you don't want trolls, don't speak of trolls."

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

Ruby: What's with the wet spot over there?

Whitley: Hm... I'd say there was a famous actor here.

Ruby: Really?

Whitley: (Nods) I thought I heard "toi, toi, toi" earlier.

Ruby: ...I swear, you and Weiss are so weird. And that's ME saying that!

15 - When an actor is about to perform in theater, it is considered good luck to spit over their left should and say "toi, toi, toi".

[edenprime]

if u haven't read it a lot of liara's more action-oriented shift was told in the comics. the shadow broker DLC didn't quite capture how much effort she went thru to secure shep's body and how big feron's role. i personally welcome the change and while i like archeologist liara i think her ME1 characterization is so superficial. she's mostly just a fan girl. the shift is abrupt but it's nice that in ME2 she has her own thing going on outside shepard cos i believe the writers wrote her as the canon love interest in mind so her character often suffers from the fangirl disease. i think a lot of people in the fandom dislike how the game shove her to us so much. which is funny since another famous shepard ship is garrus, who's equally as pushed as liara and is just as much of a shep fan. it's just that he's a guy so he doesn't suffer sexist hate.

I haven't read/seen anything outside the games, no! I've been thinking of getting into that, but first I'd like to sort out all of my feelings wrt the main event - the games. I feel like if I got into the "peripheric" media, it could maybe influence how I view the games and i want to analyze those by themselves (i'm thinking i'll finish this playthrough + another one in which i might or might not play as mshep) and then see about everything else. Thank you for the rec, though! I knew there was extra stuff about tali and garrus but this is the first i'm hearing about liara <3

And well... let's be real, most of the squad is part of the Shepard fan club, even those that can't be romanced, like Grunt and Wrex. The fact that Shepard gets a breeding request in Tuchanka after completing grunt's loyalty mission is like the most Mary Sue thing ever (and I don't necessarily mean this in a bad way). The asari, sex symbols of the galaxy, are throwing themselves at them left and right (Liara, Shiala, arguably Sha'ira, Morinth...). Shepard is the main character, everyone wants a piece of them. It's one of the entertaining parts of the games (or at least I have a lot of fun with it, if maybe a little bit ironically).

I suppose people might single out Liara because she's the one whose actions are the most extreme, and thus it crosses the line from "cute" to "creepy", but she's not the only one. Legion literally wears the armor off their dead body. As I said in my post, maybe her actions and/or attitude aren't 100% justifiable, but they are understandable.

I'm not sure about the game pushing Garrus as a love interest (I think the game itself is skeptical of the player making this choice, like when Shepard says she "can't believe she finds comfort in the arms of a turian" or something like that), but I do think he's definitely meant to be one of the characters that's most influenced by Shepard, regardless of gender.

Personally, I think him being so popular a choice (at least on Tumblr, which has a mostly female userbase compared to other social media) is due to him being a man, yes, but not necessarily because of sexism (or not always), but because het ships are farrrr more popular than femslash. Also, it's very clear how much he respects Shepard in basically every aspect, and it's incredibly fucking rare to see a het relationship in such equal ground, especially with a """bad guy""" lmao. (though ME in general does quite good in that regard I think, the romances in general are not toxic™️ or unequal) (mostly... ignoring that Shepard is basically everyone's boss... lol).

I completely agree that there's a double standard in how female characters are expected to behave vs male ones, and from what i've seen Liara is 100% a victim of this (I had the very bad idea of reading some threads on reddit...yikes). I don't know the fandom enough to know how it compares in relation to Garrus in particular, though, or if there's a correlation between Shakarian fans and Liara haters.

[jaylleoo14]

Its not the spooky season anymore 😔 But I dont need it as an excuse to write it!

TW// Dark/gory/horror themes up ahead so tread carefully

I've been thinking, imagine what the characters would be like as serial killers. Who would be a best fit for one? And honestly, I feel like I'm able to write all of them as possible ones, well except for Ortho. Okay and maybe for Silver too but everyone else I think I can make do with it. I think.... I feel like characters that are obvious to fit the role is already generic such as Jade or Leona or Malleus! So i wanted to get more creative and try to expand more on the other characters. It would be fun to write about them though but I want someone who I think would fit the role just as nicely. Riddle and Trey was also a close one but I just really thought there could be someone more fitting. And what better character than to do the secretive man himself, Cater! I love Cater! And the potential he has a killer! Huihuihuihiuhihi Its making me shiver just thinking about it (with excitement) Perhaps I'll make the narrative as if you are looking through his eyes. That would be a fun read, no? Well I'll definitely switch the narrative to you and him but its a fun thought!

One day your boring, depressing, and mundane life gets interjected by Cater, the fun loving and bright barista! Some days you would always find yourself dreading as to why you should even continue. You live in a shitty area and your living situation is a mess, your neighbors are always partying, your boss is always picking on you, you're family situation is complicated, and all your friends seem to have moved on doing their own things in life. Life sucks, why do you have to go through this? You just want to go home already. Recently whenever you come by this super cute cafe this barista is always happily greeting you. "Another rough day?" He asked one day, and ever since that question you both have been making small talk whenever you would come by. He was easy to talk to, very friendly and bright. He was something you looked forward too during your days before and after work. One day when you go by the cafe you don't seem to see Cater around. Instead another worker rings you up instead. Out of curiosity you ask them where Cater was, and to none of their surprise that it was you who asked they simply answer with a "he called in sick." They recognize you as well considering you are a regular patron, one of the many other people who seem to enjoy Caters livelihood. Well you needed it in your life anyways. When you take a drive to your workplace you hear on the radio that two missing reports have been filed just last week, and to add on, just today they found a dead body belonging to one of the missing persons. They've been found brutally handled, the skin of their face peeled off and missing. What a grotesque and horrific way to go out.

A killer has been out on the loose in your city for who knows how long now. Though one thing is for certain, they've been going on for quite sometime now, all the victims going out in the same vindicative way. With their faces taken from them. This killer has been going on for quite some time now, but its just recently that they are starting to make another strike. For how long exactly? Who's to say. One thing for sure though is that you plan to save enough to finally move out of this godforsaken city, your awful apartment, and quit your damn job once you make enough. Despite all these killings going around, a lot of people seem to still go by their normal days just only hoping that they wont be the next unfortunate victim. "I hope Cater's alright" You say to yourself as you turn off the radio. The weather has been getting a lot colder lately, and it has been frequently raining. It would make sense that he'd get sick. Hearing about the reoccurring news causes you to let out a sigh, taking a mental note to be a bit more wary now.

You both don't really delve into each others personal life like that, so you can only hope for the best that he has someone to take care of. However on the way to work your light makes you stop and next to you is a deep alleyway. The day still being freshly new, the weather being a dewy light blueish grey after a slight rain, you dont care to look anywhere around you until a little glare hits your eyes on the side. Without much thought you turn around to see what the cause could be. Perhaps a shiny or passing car? Or perhaps it was just the reflection of someone's skateboard on the nearby sidewalk next to your car, or maybe it was- Oh.

. . . Oh

Your heart drops. You suddenly feel cold and goosebumps arise in you as you slowly flare up and your eyes widen with hyperactivity.

Someone is over there

In the alley way, next to you. Just slightly, are you able to make out a figure hidden under the shadows casted by the surrounding and clustered buildings.

Someone with a dark hoodie to blend in with the shadows, their back slightly angled towards you in the dark.

HONK

A car honks from behind you and you're woken from your trance. Just then though, the person in the alleyway slightly shoots their head towards where the sound of the honking originally came from quickly and for a split second your eyes meet. You hit the gas pedal, quickly speeding off with your heart racing as you pass the streetlight. Your cold clammy hands grips onto the steering wheel as you slightly speed off in a hurry and you bury yourself into your seat as the sound of your engine revs away down the dampened street.

They saw me...... I saw them...... they saw me

Was that? Did I see, the killer?

As he watches you speed off in your car he turns back to his finished business. The bloodied and lifeless corpse in front of him lying in a dirty puddle mixed with gravel and rain water from the earlier light rain. With his bloodied gloved hands, a dark shining glint glossing over it, he brings it to drag his mask down to inhale the dewy freshness of the air and out with a heavy breath.

"Ah, Cay-Cay should've been more careful huh?"

With no response he only laughs to himself a bit, nudging the lifeless corpse with his foot as if it were a ball.

"Oops. Forgot you've kicked the bucket now. Oh well, they didn't see me anyways. I shouldn't worry too much anyways."

"heh, who would've thought It would be (y/n) to see me down here... I guess I'll keep a close eye on them from now justttt in case."

Definitely will expand on this when I have the time and finish my other work, but oh how I cant wait to share! >< This is just a base and loose little draft for me to go off of but I was thinking of something like Cater placing pictures around the victims, pictures of perhaps locations to where he could have put their faces. But regardless, I think it'd be fun to write a really slow burn between you and Cater, a psychological horror experience :3

[guts-8156]

To the stunters: What the heck happened to make you guys get near the shadow clan in the first place? You know those creatures don’t like people right? And who was the one screaming the most?

The camera was on the Old Stunters, first zooming in on Minotaur. Minotaur sneered at the second question.

"You think I don't know the Shadow clan aren't dangerous?..."He hissed with a scoff and eyeroll after he finished.

"If you are that desperate to know; I would've never gone near them... It was only because a certain someone decided it would be such a wonderful idea to fire a Grenuker right when we were at a Canyon..."He answered, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"Hey! How'd I know that guy would doge that fast!"Wilder yelled in 'defence' as Minotaur rolled his eyes.

"Basic knowledge."End bluntly replied.

Drag then switched the camera to look at him.

"Eh, quit your winning..."He then paused as he heard Minotaur growl."Uh-Wilder."

He looked back at the camera.

"But, yeah. Wilder caused the canyon to crumble and while we survived, we of course ended up in the Shadow clanners territory. Barely made it out."

He looked at the last question and snickered.

"Oh, and if your wondering who screamed the most..."He quickly switched the camera.

"Here. But I'm sure you could've figured this out."He snickered as the person in question became surprised and embarrassed.

"Hey!-Well-I-It was scary!-O-Okay!?- I mean Minotaur said we Barely escaped!-You guys were scared as well!- Except End..."Brandon quickly snapped (though a very pathetic one).

"Yeah~Suuuure~"Wilder snickered.

"Well, he's doing better because his 'widdle boyfriend Kwindle conforted him'~"Drag mocked.

"Hey!... H-He's not my boyfriend! I mean we're boy-friends but not boyfriends..."

Wilder snickered and Drag smirked and rolled his eyes, the two clearly not convinced.

"Yeah, yeah..."He looked back at the camera."Well then, see yah." And with that the recording was finished.

"Why'd you have to embarrass me like that?..."Brandon whined as Drag rolled his eyes again.

"Calm down, calm down. Everyone knows you were the most scared."

"Yeah, but... But..."

Drag scoffed as he looked at his camera.

"What I care more about is this 'Kindle comforting you' situation..."

Minotaur suddenly said, scaring Brandon.

"Uh-Well-I-I can explain- Boss!"

Drag rolled his eyes. He was going to edit the footage rather than witness a boring scolding. And with that; the camera switched off.

Thanks for the question. I can't wait to hear what else you ask in the future. Whether from my posts of the @a-sad-mage ones. Have a nice day :)

[coffee-writesthings]

Fuck it, engiespy but it's the Cinderella plotline with my own twist on it.

Spy in place of Cinderella (I'm gonna give him the name of Jean Laurent, and Engineer in place of Prince charming (so he's Prince Conagher/Dell Conagher cus that's his canon name that we know of)

The wicked stepsisters and the wicked mother are Miss Pauling, Maggie (Saxton Hale's ex-wife in the comics) and the Administrator. I hope I characterized them in a way that is nice to read :)

Also this is gonna have more than one part. I think like 7? They'll all be reblogged from this one though so less of an issue on my end

Jean didn't truly know what he was doing when he had heard of the ball being thrown by the Conagher Family. He must've been outside when it happened, if the commotion meant anything to him. All he wanted to do was get the shopping done for his bosses.

A few words could be picked out from the cacophony of voices, "The Conaghers are throwing a ball". It was repeated so many times. Along with "What am I going to wear?"

He just groaned, instead opting to sneak his way back home with what he had. If nothing else, everyone would be happy to hear about an opportunity to throw themselves at the most influential people in the land.

The Conaghers are known, far and wide, for their incredible abilities with machinery. They'd mostly focused on defensive turrets, and many sorts of dispensers for anything from fresh water and some food to magical healing substances. And don't get anyone started on the teleporters. At all the hot spots of every town there are three high-level teleporters at least. Someone could get from town square to the castle and back multiple times before any official guards would be able to get there.

It was a problem which necessitated itself, in Jean's opinion. So when he saw one of these teleporters, he didn't mind a bit of sabotage. With a trusty wrench he got to work, under the shadows cast by mid-morning, the sentries wouldn't work nearly as well. He wouldn't die for his crimes here.

All it took was loosening a few bolts here, taking out a screw or two there... et voila! One teleporter that wouldn't work for several hours.

A smug grin crossed his face as he put the tool back into his pocket and took the food bags from off the ground.

"Well howdy there," came a southern drawl which nearly scared him out of his skin, "what's your business with these here teleporters?"

Quick, find a convincing lie for this guard. "Oh, don't you know? I'm new to the engineering field. I wanted to see how all the experienced people do it."

He gave a tilt of his head and lifted one eyebrow, clearly not convinced. "Alrighty. Tell me about this thing as if I'm... oh, five years old."

"I'm sorry?"

"I can repeat myself, if you want."

"No, I heard you. It's just... isn't this the sort of thing a teacher tells me first?"

"Nah, I don't believe in that crap. Tell me how you think it works, I'm curious." He leaned against a wall, and gestured towards him.

"Well..." he wracked his brain for the English words to describe teleporters, "it takes people from one place to another, much faster than anything else. You would only have to stand on an entrance for a moment to travel to its exit."

He nodded, a small smirk on his otherwise-neutral face.

"And I've seen upgrades take place on exits that will have the same effect on an entrance. I don't know how that happens though, and I don't think you do either."

"Yeah, that's accurate. Those blueprints I dug through never did explain that either."

"Blueprints?" Then the realization dawned on him. This wasn't just some guard patrolling for miscreants and the like, this was Dell Conagher. He was the man who took his grandfather's nonsense ramblings and built things from them. The man could definitely be allowed to do harm without consequences, being first in line for the crown. His eyes widened, just a little.

"Yeah, my granddad passed 'em down to me, one way or another." His expression darkened momentarily, "But that's all history anyway! What's your name?"

"I'm... I don't have a name." That was a stupid, stupid lie. If he so desired, the man in front of him could use one of those teleporters right now, and start listing names of his relatives from a registry.

"Alright, I won't push. Now, do you wanna know my least favorite feature on these things?"

What in the-? What is he doing?? It wouldn't be a bad idea to listen, but why would he even tell him in the first place? He figured it would be best to humor him, lest he decide cruelty is his nature for the day. "What is it?"

"They're all the same damn color. I can never tell which one is which, and I don't know how to make them differentiated. Sure, signs could help but there's not much that'll do if somebody can't read or if it's dark out. And nobody's listened to me or suggested anything that we could do, it's frustratin' as all hell."

He cocked his head to the side, "I never thought about that. I've only been annoyed by how many there are. It's ridiculous."

"Right? I've been meaning to figure out how to make them bigger or something but nothing's worked. It's technically better this way for other reasons, but god it's gotta be annoying to use every day."

He hummed in agreement. The crowding was the main reason he never used them in the first place, after all.

"And I mean that's probably part of why this ball is being thrown for me. Lord knows I'm not planning on getting married to some lady any time soon, long as I have more work to do. It's what I tell them at least."

He squinted, just a little bit. Was he saying what he thought he was saying?

"Ah, sorry, I'm rambling. You don't need to know about any of that." he rubbed the back of his neck, while asking nonchalantly, "Will I see you there? I bet if you had something nice to wear you could have your pick of the crowd, easy."

"Are you encouraging competition at your own ball?"

"That's part of the fun, isn't it?"

"For the record, you won't be seeing me there. As much as it would be nice, I have a laundry list of work to do today."

"That's a shame. Have a nice day now, sir."

He'd called him 'sir'. Why?? If anything, he should be the one referring to the other with respectful words. Once the man was out of his sight, Jean scurried back home on foot, with the bags in hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at home, the complaints began immediately.

"Jean," Pauling asked, "we need warm water for our baths!"

"Jean, I need you to mend my dress and shine my shoes for tonight!" Cried Maggie.

"Jean, I don't want you getting any ideas of possibly having tonight off, just because we are off at the Conagher ball. You're going to clean the whole manor tonight," Helen's voice dripped with venom, "s'il te plaît."

He hadn't even had a chance to set down any of the food he bought. Taking a breath, he noted the requests that he could take care of immediately. When the bags were on the counters, and then sorted into the fridge, cabinets, and bread box, he could then move onto something else.

"Miss Pauling, I am taking care of your water right now. Do you want bath salts, or florals?"

"Florals, please."

"Pauling, you don't need to give any respect to him. 'Pleases' are for people who don't make a living washing our floors."

"I- florals."

"And?" Helen pressed.

She didn't look into his eyes when she said, just loud enough to be heard, "I want florals, you good-for-nothing servant."

"Right away." He clenched his jaw a little. "And, Madame Maggie, I will start on your dress and shoes as soon as I am able."

She huffed in response, "Administrator, why do we only have one servant? Two or three would be much better."

"I've told you why many times, there are rules. For a family of three, there can only be one servant."

"I should be so lucky to get married into a large family like the Conaghers."

"Lucky indeed."

Spy took care of the bath fairly quickly, though still needing to boil some water for it, which Miss Pauling tried to help with. He barred her from it with a stern look.

He closed the bathroom's door quietly, leaving her to her bath. What next? Ah, yes, shining shoes for one of the least pleasant women he knew, then mending the holes she always managed to get into her dresses. He groaned, but moved onto the next task. If there was any hope of a night's rest, he'd have to get through all of it quickly, so he wouldn't scrub the floors until dawn.

"Madame Maggie," he knocked on the door to her chambers, "I need the shoes you want shined, please."

"Such manners!" She exclaimed as she opened the door with momentary glee. Even seeing his face displeased her. That was fine, the feeling was mutual.

He waited with two hands held out, waiting for some ridiculous contraption to be placed in them. For a ball being thrown by the Conagher family, it was hard to expect anything less than seduction by all means necessary and extremely painful.

The shoes plopped into his hands with an eye roll were actually fairly simplistic. Tall, chunky black shoes, made soft by many wears. He gave them a tentative bend in the middle, and found that they were sturdy as rocks where the majority of her foot would be. These were great shoes for her purposes, which seemed to be to dance forever-- maybe to impress the prince, maybe to attract any mate.

"Thank you." He grimaced. "They'll work."

[lunar-years]

i think i remember you mentioned how jamie’s love confession to keeley had nothing to do with how he felt about her romantically and i’d love to hear more of your thoughts on it. jamie’s so strange throughout the ep, and considering it’s right after the man city confrontation with his father, it’s probably not too far of a stretch to say he’s thinking about his own father’s death and having a bit of an existential crisis himself. i think jamiekeeley is cute btw and i’m all for ot3 roykeeleyjamie! just wanted to pick your brain about this. and apologies if you’ve never posted about this and i’m remembering the wrong user

Hi! I’m pretty sure this wasn’t me who said it (but never say never because I sure say a lot on here, lol). However you might have still seen it on my blog, because I think I responded to an ask recently with the same opinion!

Regardless, my personal view on it is that Jamie was definitely speaking romantically, BUT I’ve seen a bunch of people think otherwise and it’s fun to explore different viewpoints so I'm gonna talk about my opinions on the funeral episode anyway lmao :)

I think the funeral is soooo interesting because Jamie AND Roy AND Keeley are all acting kind of strangely. Even when we figure how why Roy is being so odd (Grandad Emotions), but there's still whatever is going on between Jamie and Keeley. Because like, yeah, Jamie definitely should’ve 1) realized his boss' father's funeral wasn’t the time nor place for love confessions and 2) probably not done it regardless because, yes, it is kind of out of pocket to tell your ex-girlfriend you’re still in love with her when she’s currently dating someone else (who just so happens to be your current football coach who just helped you during a very traumatic experience)…like ohhh Jamie. Messy!! But I love mess. So therefore I did love this. 🤷‍♀️ However…the topic is not necessarily as ~coming up out of nowhere~ as it first seems, I think. Importantly, Keeley is also acting weirdly!!

I was staring at this gifset recently and thinking many a Keeley thought, and to be honest I think feelings and big emotions were being stirred up again on BOTH sides at that event. It’s interesting (and I think rings true to other insights we've gotten into her character) that as soon as things get a little dicey with Roy, Keeley starts looking outside her relationship, either for people to confide in (as she does when she tells everyone but Roy about the problems she’s having with Roy in Headspace) or to reflect on what she no longer has but is suddenly wondering if she might miss and possibly still want (her contemplative looks at Jamie at the funeral, “you look nice Jamie” etc…. Maybe this is an unpopular take, but I think Keeley is also feeling some type of way that day, about Jamie in particular. And yeah I definitely think that has an impact on why Jamie chooses then to confess to her. He's sensing a different vibe between them suddenly and is reminded, I need to do this.

The other reasons in Jamie’s head imo are 1) Jamie is just generally very open about most of his feelings and I think he’s coming at it from, a 'you should tell the people you love that you love them!' place, right or wrong 2) as he later tells Roy, the funeral made him uncomfy!! and AS YOU SAY yeah i do think there's definitely an connection between that and his dad abusing him in front of the whole team, which has just happened very recently. PERHAPS he is already Not Doing Great, and watching his boss who he doesn't really know act Weird during the eulogy for her Dead Father has him extra off-kilter. 3) as we learn in s3... his dad disappeared after Wembley. No calls, no texts. Nothing. Now, we don't have categoric evidence that this is unusual, but to ME James Sr. doesn't seem like someone who typically leaves well enough alone. I can definitely see Jamie still being freaked out over this very big thing that happened that his dad has got to be incredibly angry about. Perhaps there is still a part of him very much waiting for the other shoe to drop! Which is to say, I do think you're right that there's an element of existential crisis going on here.

Also, while I do personally think Jamie's confession is romantic in nature, I do not think it is conditional in intent. Jamie isn't telling her with the expectation that she's going to dump Roy immediately and tell him that oh yeah, she loves him too. Like, Jamie isn't an idiot. I think he does at the heart of it just want to thank her and he's been meaning to thank her for a while because she means SO MUCH TO HIM that it all has to come spilling out as some point. And a part of that love is romantic, yes, but he also loves her in so many ways. I think Jamie is perfectly content to put it out there and let her set the terms of their future friendship/relationship. Most important to him is that she knows.

So anyway, sorry this got so long and that it isn't really what your original question was about (for anyone who thinks the confession wasn't about Jamie loving her romantically, please feel free to chime in/reblog and add your thoughts!) but in summation, I think: Roy being upset about other things (Grandad) causes him to stir a fight with Keeley -> The fight with Roy causes Keeley to re-evaluate some things and part of her focus undeniably lands on Jamie -> Jamie senses something has changed between him and Keeley and because of that, in addition to the lingering aftershocks of a recent very traumatic experience, confesses he's still in love with her at a funeral.

Which is to say, as I DO always say here at lunar-years, these three's stories have always been irrevocably intertwined since the beginning (regardless of the ot3 as a ship) and the funeral is another example of that. Also it is totally crazy that we never get an explicit follow-up to Man City until episode 11 of the NEXT SEASON and that is one of my biggest grievances on season 2.

[blazehedgehog]

Most obvious question in the world, maybe, but hey, I'm interested! What'd ya think of today's Sonic Central?

There was a part of me that really regretted watching it. They definitely had a lot to announce, but a LOT of it was like...

Mobile games I hate (because of f2p mechanics) or cannot play (because they are in Apple Arcade jail).

Merchandise I either can't afford (Lego), don't want (a motorcycle helmet) or don't have space for (statues and action figures).

After a while I started to get that melted brain feeling like when you watch too many late night infomercials in a row. I could feel my fight or flight mechanism trying to kick in. Framing one of them as an actual infomercial did not help.

The two ones of most interest were, one, the Sonic x DC crossover.

We're going to be getting two years (24 issues?) of some sort of alternate universe where The Justice League is made up of Sonic characters. I don't know what to make of it, but I'm willing to keep an open mind about it.

There's a part of me that wonders if this is Sega testing the waters just in case IDW folds -- my understanding is they aren't very stable right now, but then I suppose the same could be said of a lot of the North American comics industry. I don't read much outside of Sonic, but I absorb some degree of the culture through my friends, and I know Marvel and DC aren't doing super well in the comics space either right now, and that's been an ongoing, long term issue (long enough term that it's been cited as the driving reason Marvel pivoted to the MCU over a decade ago, since the comics biz has been suffering so much for so long).

I floated "maybe Sega is shopping around in case IDW folds" in a Discord earlier and was told pretty definitively that's unlikely, and I think that's fair. You never know, but DC also did that ridiculous Looney Tunes crossover series a few years ago.

They just do weird stuff like this. Which is nice, really. More power to them.

The other notable thing being more information about Sonic X Shadow Generations. A peek at Mephiles, a look at more levels and bosses, and the possibility that through the time distortion Shadow finds himself in, he may be able to see and interact with Maria and Gerald again. There's mention of "correcting the timeline," which could mean a lot of things. I'm used to hearing that in comic books, where it means "we get to clean up clutter we don't like."

Speaking as someone who does not like their involvement in the story, would be funny if Shadow Generations ends with Shadow somehow making it so Gerald never made a deal with the aliens. In theory it wouldn't change our Shadow; for the same reason that in Sonic 06, defeating Iblis in the past did not get rid of him in Silver's future (see also: "Classic Sonic is from another dimension.") But I think it would be cool to say "I didn't just kill him, I erased him from the timeline."

But yeah. It continues to look cool. Cool enough that I preemptively spent my Twitch earnings to pre-order the game after the show. I won't get paid those earnings for another three weeks, but it's fine. Hopefully.

I guess they also announced they're going to be putting up the Shadow Origin series for free on Youtube starting today, when it originally sounded like those would be exclusive to the Digital Deluxe on PS5. Now the Digital Deluxe is merely getting "extended and deleted scenes." At least they'll be included with the game this time, unlike most of the other animations Sega's put out to promo a new game.

But it's very telling that their "one more thing" was a Sonic movie 3 feature that was basically just one of the... producers? writers? director? standing on the backlot telling us "the movie is going to be so good you guys" while interspersed with clips from the one and only trailer we've seen. I can feel myself being carried away on everyone else's hype for that movie, but the realistic expectations in my heart is that, bare minimum, I personally won't like it.

Outside of that first movie I haven't felt like this series has been put together very well and I could see it all crashing and burning with this third movie.