#she'll 4 sure try 2 send me

[iz0p0dz]

at least the thoughts of self sabotaging myself so i can get sent 2 a mental hospital flew away 2 fuckin idk mentally ill land??!?!?!

[zegrasdrysdale]

[ wrapped in red ] j. drysdale

day five of malia’s christmas fic marathon

paring : Jamie Drysdale x fem!reader

summary : (Y/N) surprises Jamie with his Christmas gift early when he gets back from a rough east coast roadie at four in the morning

warning(s) : smut ! oral (m receiving), p in v penetration, unprotected sex (pls be careful), whining, light hair pulling, use of pet names during sex

author’s note : this is me trying to catch up w the schedule lmaoo anyway … enjoy (even tho i definitely got a little carried away with it. i was having a moment and let the moment take over)

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The horn sounds through the TV, signaling the end of the game. The Ducks lost to the Devils at the Prudential Center 4-2, and it was Jamie’s first goal back after missing nearly 30 games. He probably isn’t feeling the best right now.

Yet she knows exactly what would make him feel better. She's sure he will appreciate his Christmas gift a little bit early. She's been excited to give it to him since she got it right after he left for the road trip that has kept him away for a week.

Now might be the perfect time since he might need to relax a little bit. She knows her boyfriend so she knows exactly how to help him relax after a rough roadie. She even tells him that she'll wait up for him to get home so she can surprise him.

ʚ jamie baby ɞ - 10:29 pm flight doesn't leave until midnight so you don't have to stay up for me. i won't home until 4. pls don't be up until 4 in the morning, baby. i'd feel so bad

i love you and i'll see you when you get up in the morning, okay ? i won't be good company when i get home and i don't want to ruin your mood

Her plan doesn't change from Jamie's texts. All it does is tell her that he really isn't in a good mood after the road trip. She can take a four hour nap and be fine by the time he gets home. She needs to be wide awake for when she gives him his gift.

The gift also needs a little prep so she'll sleep until three, drink a cup of coffee to wake her up, then get ready to give Jamie his gift.

She's pretty sure his mood will change real quick, especially since he's been gone for a week. They both are a little desperate at this point.

An alarm is set for three in the morning to give her an hour to do what she needs to do. She only needs an hour to prepare the gift. A cup of coffee, a shower, a shave, hair, makeup, and a small snack isn't going to take more than an hour.

For her nap, she wears one of Jamie's Ducks hoodies because they're insanely comfortable. She sends Jamie a text that says goodnight and for him to have a safe flight.

(Y/N) is shaking with excitement as she lies down in their shared bed for her four hour nap. The look on Jamie's face when he sees what he's getting for Christmas is the only thing that causes her to fall asleep.

The sooner she falls asleep, the sooner the alarm will go off and the sooner Jamie will be home.

She dreams of his reaction.

༺═──────────────═༻

A screaming alarm wakes her from her light sleep. It's still completely dark outside and there's a dim light coming from her phone while the alarm goes off. She turns it off and sits up with a stretch.

(Y/N) feels very refreshed though, and she definitely needed the little nap if she is to make it through the night. She allows herself a few more minutes before she goes and makes a cup of coffee.

While the coffee brews, she tracks Jamie's flight. They haven't landed early so she can still definitely pull off the surprise. The team plane is scheduled to land in a half hour. Then it's baggage claim and a fifteen to twenty minute drive to their apartment in Anaheim.

After coffee and a few pieces of toast with strawberries and Nutella, (Y/N) takes a shower. It's a full shower. She shampoos, conditions, shaves all necessary areas, washes her body, and exfoliates her face.

All while Taylor Swift is playing from the Bluetooth speaker on the sink counter.

(Y/N) loves listening to Miss Swift while she showers. Sometimes she listens to it while showering with Jamie, and he gets very into it. That's Trevor's doing though. Trevor is a bigger Swiftie than she is. Sometimes.

It's quarter to four when (Y/N) gets out of the shower. She checks to see where Jamie is and finds he's still at the airport. His location says he's outside though so he's probably headed to his car. She needs to hurry up if she's going to pull this surprise off.

She wraps herself in a towel and secures it under her arms so she can do her hair and light makeup. She blow dries it until it's pretty much straight then runs the straightener through it a couple of times to make sure there is no wave or curl to her hair.

She puts foundation under her eyes to hide the circles that have formed and all over her face to hide any blemishes. She puts on red lipstick and does a natural smokey eye look.

When she looks at Jamie's location, he's on his way home. There are about ten minutes until he's going to be walking through the door and she still has to go get the actual gift out of the closet. She curses to herself and makes her way back into their bedroom after disconnecting her phone from the speaker and turning off the light.

Inside a box in a closet is the gift. It's a red lingerie set that she tried on once when she was with Jamie. He said he really liked it so when he left for the trip, she went back to the store and bought it.

The sleepwear lingerie is made of lace and mesh. The cups of the nightgown part of the set is made of lace and is practically see through. Below the cups is completely see through. A matching mesh G-string will be worn underneath the sleepwear.

(Y/N) looks in the full length mirror against the wall and finds a hot, confident version of herself. Usually she doesn't dress like this, but it's Christmas so she figured it could be Jamie's gift since he liked seeing this set on her.

Somewhere in the apartment, a door softly opens and shuts with a nearly silent click. She makes a beeline for the bed and turns on the lamp beside the bed so Jamie gets a very good look at her when he opens the bedroom door.

There is a sigh and footsteps that are getting closer and louder. She tries to lay on the bed in a way that Jamie will get a good view of her as soon as the door opens. She has just decided on a position when the door slowly begins to open.

Jamie sticks his head into the room and looks right at the bed. His eyes immediately widen and the door swings completely open. His jaw has dropped to the floor and he nearly drops his bags on the ground.

"I- what-," he stammers. She smiles as he tries to find the words. "I don't understand what's going on here. (Y/N), I thought I said not to-"

"Wait up for you?" she finishes. "I didn't. I woke up at three so I could get ready to surprise my boyfriend since he hasn't been home in a week." She allows her eyes to travel up and down Jamie's body. He's tense but it's hard to miss how tight his pants have gotten at his crotch area. "Maybe put him in a better mood because he seemed very cranky after the game."

He shifts his weight between his legs before he drops his luggage by the door. "I am," he tells her. "I mean, I was. I don't think I am now." His eyes travel over her body. "Holy shit, baby."

She slowly gets up off the bed, making sure to show off every part of the set. Jamie's cheeks get red as he watches her walk up to him. She smiles when she is standing in front of him. "Merry Christmas," she says to him. "Decided to give you your present a little early. You said you liked this on me so I went and got it to wear for you on Christmas but then you had a rough road trip. Surprise."

Jamie's quiet, but she can see that he's trying to hold back. His hands are shaking, itching to touch her. "I don't know what to say," he tells her. "Fuck, (Y/N)."

"How about you don't say anything?" she suggests. Her fingers grasp at the collar of Jamie's game day suit jacket. Slowly, she pushes it off of him and he shivers despite wearing long sleeves under the jacket. "How about I help you relax? Let you enjoy seeing me in this while I suck you off. Promise you won't rip it?" He immediately begins to nod.

His eyes are on her fingers as she works on unbuttoning his shirt. She untucks it from his pants to finish unbuttoning it and her eyes meet his. "I wish I could come home to this after every roadie," Jamie softly admits. "I think I'd score a hat trick if I knew this was waiting for me at home."

(Y/N) undoes his belt without looking at what she's doing. It hits the ground with a soft thud. "I'll see what I can do," she replies. "Maybe if you get a hat trick then I'll be waiting for you like this when you get back." Slowly, she sinks to her knees. She is so thankful that the room has carpet. Her knees are definitely grateful. "I'll be waiting on my knees like this for you."

A soft whine passes Jamie's lips when she pulls his cock out of the confines of his suit pants. "Fuck," he groans as she takes him in one of her hands. She presses soft kisses to his hipbone, trailing closer to his dick.

She licks the bright red tip and swirls her tongue around it, collecting the drop of precome that has already formed. She looks up at him as she takes him in her mouth. Jamie sighs and puts his fingers in her hair to probably keep himself upright. She takes as much of him in her mouth as she can then begins to move her head.

Giving blowjobs has never been something she's been particularly good at, but Jamie has helped her improve her skills since they've gotten together. His reactions and the sounds that come from his mouth let her know if she's doing a good or bad job.

Even if she were to give the worst blowjob in the world right now, she is pretty sure that Jamie wouldn't care.

He's already barely here.

One thing she knows drives Jamie crazy is when she hollows out her cheeks and lightly sucks. She tries it once and Jamie's hips buck forward. (Y/N) knew that was going to happen so she relaxed her throat so he wouldn't choke her with his dick. Jamie lets out a soft groan that's mixed with a whine. Her hands fly to his thighs to let him know to relax.

"Keep doing that and I will come a lot sooner than we would both like, (Y/N)," he warns her. She looks up at him through her eyelashes and sees how flustered he is. His cheeks are bright red and his bottom lip looks like it's been gnawed on. "Fucking eyelashes. Fuck."

She smiles as best as she can around him.

Despite the carpet, her knees do begin to hurt. She glances up at him before pulling off his dick. There is a little bit of lipstick on his hipbone where she kissed him. She smiles and looks up at him.

Jamie slides one of his hands around to the back of her neck and puts his fingers in her hair. She stands up and Jamie drags her in for a filthy kiss. She hums against his lips and pushes the unbuttoned shirt off his shoulders. He lets the fabric fall to the floor around his feet.

"Love being on my knees for you," she mumbles between kisses. "I wanna ride you though."

A whine comes from Jamie's throat after her comment. She smiles and turns them so she can push Jamie onto the mattress.

The kiss breaks and he falls onto his back with a grunt when she pushes him in the direction of the mattress. She pulls off his shoes and socks before pulling his dress pants off. Jamie scoots backward further onto the bed as she pulls off his pants and boxers together.

Jamie's eyes are wide when she crawls on top of him. She straddles his waist and cock. Jamie's hands run up and down her thighs for a second as she leans down and kisses him. This kiss is hungry since she has gone a week without kissing him. She's missed the feeling of his lips against her. It drives her nuts every time he goes away for more than a few days.

There's a light pressure over the G-string that she's wearing under the sleepwear. A soft moan comes from her throat as Jamie's thumb circles her clit over the mesh.

He breaks the hot kiss and she rests her forehead against his. "As hot as this is," Jamie begins to say. "I need to be inside you so either take these off or move them to the side because I'm minutes away from coming and I don't want to make a mess of your new outfit."

(Y/N) quickly sheds the lingerie set until she's completely naked. A smile forms on Jamie's lips before he sits up and attaches his lips to her jaw. Her fingers are in his hair. When he hits the sensitive spot right under her ear, she lightly pulls. His thumb is back on her clit and she whines.

Needing relief, she grabs his dick and lines herself up with him. He looks up at her and she kisses him. It's a softer kiss than the kisses they've already shared tonight, but he licks into her mouth and it intensifies.

Slowly, she sinks down onto him. There's a familiar pressure as he fills her up. "Fuck, Jamie," she mumbles against his lips.

"Feels so good around me, baby," Jamie tells her. "Fuck."

It's only seconds later when he's completely inside of her. Jamie's hands find her waist and she bites at his bottom lip before pulling away.

Their eyes meet and Jamie begins to roll her hips against his. Her lips part and soft pants pass them. Her hands fly to his jaw and she holds on like it's life or death.

It feels so good to be like this. It's rare that Jamie lets her take control in bed but she loves it. Even now, he still has some control while she's riding him. His hands are on her waist and helping her move.

She puts her hands on his chest and pushes him back onto the bed. His head hits the pillows and she speeds up her movements. Rolling turns into bouncing on Jamie's dick.

The room is filled with the sounds of the bed squeaking beneath them and skin on skin. She's letting out quiet moans as she throws her head back and enjoys the feeling of Jamie moving in and out of her at her own pace. Jamie even lets out a soft noise or two.

"Riding me so good," Jamie tells her. "Riding me like the good girl you are. Fuck, baby."

His words alone are enough to make her come, but she holds back until he comes first. He's the one that needs to relax so she's focused on his pleasure first. She'll come when he comes.

Then his thumb is back on her clit and she isn't sure how much longer she can go.

"Want you to come first," she pants. "Jamie."

Jamie pulls her down into a kiss full of tongue and teeth.

She's so close. Her legs are shaking and sore from doing all the work. Her clit is so sensitive and she's worried she'll come.

"Fill me up," (Y/N) says against Jamie's lips. Even her voice is shaky. "Wanna feel you come inside me. Please."

A groan and a whine pass Jamie's lips as he finally lets go. He comes inside of her as soon as she comes back down on his cock. He uses his thumb and pointer finger to play with her clit and it's not long after that when she comes.

White paints her vision and she comes with Jamie's name on her lips. She throws her head back for a second before she collapses onto his chest.

She isn't sure that she's ever came that hard in her life. Her body is spent and her breathing is labored.

When she comes to, she's laying on the bed and the bathroom light is on. Jamie appears from the bathroom with a cloth and he begins to clean her up. She can feel his come running down her legs and it's a little uncomfortable until he wipes it away.

"That was the hottest thing I think I have ever experienced," Jamie admits to her. "I'm so fucking lucky."

"Now I have to get you a new Christmas present," she mumbles. Her voice is already slurred with sleep.

Jamie throws the cloth towards the laundry basket and climbs back into bed. He covers them both with the blanket that will need to be changed in the morning.

"I think that was the best Christmas present ever," he softly tells her. "You can worry your pretty little head about it in the morning. Right now, we're going to go to sleep and sleep in then I'm going to return what you did tonight by fucking you when you wake up."

Oh, she should be wrapped in red more often if this is how Jamie is going to react. Maybe next she can wear one of his Canada jerseys with nothing on underneath and see how he reacts to that.

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MAIN MASTERLIST

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taglist : @dancerbailey3 @fanboysfangirl @dasiysthings

[cosmerelists]

Mansplain, Manipulate, Manslaughter / Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss: Cosmere Style

I suppose it's a tumblr meme, really--dividing people up by whether they are the "mansplain/manipulate/manslaughter" type or the "gaslight/gatekeep/girlboss" type. Here are my takes!

[SPOILERS FOR STORMLIGHT & for MISTBORN ERA 1 / SECRET HISTORY!]

1. The "Unification" Bros

Mansplain: Gavilar

Remember when he mansplained Eshonai's own gods to her

Manipulate: Sadeas

This is a man who knows how to politically maneuver.

Manslaughter: Dalinar

Blackthorn era. 'Nough said.

2. The Kholin Ladies

Gaslight: Shallan

Sometimes she gaslights others. Sometimes she gaslights herself.

Gatekeep: Jasnah

You can be her apprentice...if you prove yourself first.

Girlboss: Navani

What else do you call snagging TWO warlord tyrants and toxic yuri-ing yourself into almost single-handedly ending an occupation?

3. The Shard Trio

Mansplain: Honor

He who sends visions to explain stuff to you.

Manipulate: Cultivation

She who gives you a cursing/blessing pair to make sure you end up exactly where she wants you to be...more or less.

Manslaughter: Odium

He who is preparing for a cosmere-wide war.

4. The Other Shard Trio

Gaslight: Ruin

"Yes! It's me! Your brother speaking in your head!"

Gatekeep: Preservation

"Look, I'm trying to keep you away from the Well of Ascension for your own good!"

Girlboss: Sazed

"Yes. It's me. Holding two shards at once. What, like it's hard?"

5. Vin & Her Boys

Manipulate: Kelsier

Yes, yes. He likes killing too. But ever since dying, he's really been going hard at the manipulate business.

Mansplain: Elend

This man is sure that explaining philosophy to someone will have an effect somewhere.

Manslaughter: Vin

Vin is mowing down entire armies. And she'll kill your dad too!

6. And Finally...Types of Investiture

Manipulate: AonDor

As far as I understand it, AonDor can do pretty much anything...as long as you manipulate those aons correctly...

Mansplain: Awakening

You do magic by giving commands to objects. Better hope you get the wording right...

Manslaughter: Hemalurgy

I mean...you get your power literally by killing people, so...

Gaslight: Forgery

You rewrite an object or person's history. It was always like that! Ha ha shhhh...

Gatekeep: Stormlight

Need more power? Sorry, those are locked behind oaths! Hope you find the right words soon!

Girlboss: Allomancy

Is there anything more girlboss than swigging some metal shards and suddenly being able to fly? No oaths, no checks, no equations...just eat some metal and become a boss!

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

More of You, Pt. 2

Part 1

Pairing : Simon “Ghost” Riley x Charlotte “Jade” Le Jardin (OC)

Word Count : ~ 2.4k words

Warning : tooth-rotting fluff and good ol’ cursings.

Title and story inspired by the song with the same title by JP Saxe!

*****

"--ra 4 this is– tcher-1 do y– copy?"

Jade opened her heavy eyelids at the sound. She blinked a number of times to wake herself up and find out where the voice came from. 

"Sierra-4 do you copy?"

She’d recognize that voice even if it was filtered a thousand times. Laswell's voice. It came from the radio that she had put on the bedside table the night prior as the CIA said that she'll contact her about the exfil for both of them. Finally. From the colours she got in her eyes, she could tell that it was early in the morning as the sunlight wasn’t present yet.

However, when she wanted to move her body to reach the PTT, a mass of weight seemed to hold her in place, and it was looming all over her back, even to her front. That was when Jade realized how she's not in the position she first slept in. Ghost was supposed to be on her arms with her arm as his pillow to support his neck. 

Now it's the opposite. She's on her opposite side, Ghost on her back, hugging her close to him while he placed his own arm on the bed to be her pillow, and he even covered her with the blankets, so beneath the sheets, their legs were entangled together. What's even more shocking was the fact that his other arm was on her waist and stomach, pressing her body to his. 

Jade wanted to scream right now. She was going implode on his arms from the situation she found herself in.

Ghost was surely still asleep judging by the sound of his steady breaths and his unmoving limbs as he absolutely needed all the rest he could get. However, Laswell's trying to comm her right now, and she needed to get out of his enveloping arms – yet her mind was adamant to do that as it was really warm and comfortable. 

"Jade. Can you hear me?"

Goddamnit. Dammit! Dammit!! Why now Kate?!?!

Jade tried to get out of his arms, try being the keyword here. She evidently failed to do so as Ghost kept on pressing her hips back to him, his voice rumbled lowly before going back to sleep. She tried to escape another time, but the result stayed the same. 

While she found herself very amused by his unconscious actions and how almost childlike he was while doing this, Jade needed to reply to Laswell, or else she'd think they were dead. 

And so, Jade lifted her upper body ever so slightly and leaned as far as she could to the bedside table while her lower body was still wrapped by Ghost's arm. He did mumble a bit, but Jade finally managed to reach the PTT, bringing the device close to her mouth, still laying on the bed. "Watcher-1, this is Sierra-4 I copy. Send traffic."

A sigh of relief could be heard. "I thought you were dead. What took you so long to reply?"

"I was uh… drying the clothes…" 

"Well, How's Ghost doing?" 

'He's currently asleep but he's hugging me from the back and he's refusing to let me go' was the thing she wanted to say, but instead, Jade only said, "He's alive."

"Okay. I've contacted Alejandro and his team to pick you guys up for exfil. He's currently on the way to the facility to clean the place and he'll be with you in any time now."

Oh. God bless Alejandro. She's missed him since the Las Almas missions. "Copy that. Thanks Kate."

"You're welcome. Bring him home safely, Jade."

"You know I will." She smiled. 

"Take care, Watcher-1 out."

Putting the PTT back to the wooden table, Jade huffed in relief. The fact that she just answered Laswell’s call while still wrapped around Ghost’s arm was such a comical scene, prompting a chuckle out of her. Alejandro’s coming very soon, and they really needed to get ready. She had to check his wounds, change his bandages, and then prepare for the Mexican colonel’s arrival. 

A light snore from her back interrupted her thoughts.

Wow. He’s deep deep in sleep. 

The woman smiled in amusement. He really was just a regular bloke, huh?

Really slowly, She rolled her entire body, finally facing Ghost in his sleeping state – No scowl in sight, his guard completely down. His light eyelashes rested on his eyelids perfectly. He’d admitted in Las Almas that he slept with his mask on ‘soundly’. She wondered if this was one of those rare moments where he slept with his mask off during a mission. This was probably the closest she’d been to his face, or anyone, really. Heck, this is probably the closest she’d been to any man. 

...He’s quite a gorgeous man up close. 

Realizing that she was starting to blush profusely against her will, she shook her head to delete that cloud of thoughts from her mind and focus on the task at hand. 

Putting her palm on his forehead gently, Jade felt relieved that he was not burning up like yesterday, albeit still warm to the touch. His bruises obviously needed some more time to heal, and now she needed to check his shoulder and side, and that required her to wake him up. 

He’s still snoring. 

Dammit she didn’t wanna wake him up!!

Suddenly, his snore hitched, surprising her. Right at that point Jade couldn’t think of anything to do. A part of her just wanted to back away and stand up, but what would he think? He'd think that she didn't want to be any close to him and that could not be farther from the truth. 

So she stayed frozen there, trying to stay still all the while Ghost woke himself up. And with a little groan, he finally opened his eyes, focusing his eyes before quickly finding Jade’s face right in front of his and how his arm was still on her waist.

Ghost’s eyes widened at the sight, quickly lifted his hand up and leaned back to distance himself, all without uttering a single word. And boy oh boy, she never expected to see the Ghost himself blushing profusely like this. Did anybody ever see this face of his? Another medal to her collection then.

“Sorry.” He muttered with a voice deeper than the depths of hell from sleep, looking to the side to see anywhere but her face or he knew he’ll be even more embarrassed. “Must’ve… moved in the night.” 

Jade let out a light chuckle, “Relax, it’s fine. I like it when you hug me though.” Whoa. Did she just say that??

His eyebrows lifted at that statement. “Really?”

Fuck it, she’ll just continue. “Yeah. And while we’re at it, don’t you have the most beautiful eyes.” Ghost would’ve exploded at that. “They’re like uh… Like a stream of light going through a glass of bourbon.” 

He couldn’t rack up any response to that poetic description of his eyes. “...Thanks. Picked them myself.” 

Her lip curved into a smile seeing him like this, “Where did you get those?”

Right at that moment, Ghost decided to just play along. “Down the market.”

“Yeah? How much did you pay for it?” 

“A few quid.” He replied, “What about yours? They’re the colour of… like a stream of light going through a bottle of Tanqueray Gin.” Ghost recited the same words to her, prompting them to laugh at each other. 

Trying to dial down her laughter, Jade answered back, “From the streets, so I got 100% discount.” 

That got a wheeze out of him. “You got your eyeballs from the streets?” 

Jade laughed out loud, “You got yours from the market! Which unfortunate bloke’s eyes did you buy?!” 

This was gonna be an inside joke between the two of them, they were sure of it. As they guffawed at each other’s jokes, Ghost lifted his hand to her cheek, making Jade flinch. He put his finger under strands of her red hair, before softly tucking them behind her ear, all the while she just stayed there watching him. God, she wanted to see him smile and laugh like this more. Didn’t feel like a few months ago that she heard him say that he had a ‘cold heart’. 

“Sierra-4, this is Victor-1 do you copy?” 

Out of nowhere, her radio buzzed, catching both of them off guard.

“This is Alejandro, Jade, Ghost, Do any of you copy?”

Shit shit shit. Jade forgot about Alejandro coming to get them an exfil. Ghost’s eyes widened as she urgently rolled over and sat on the bed, taking the PTT close to her mouth. “Victor-1, this is Sierra-4 with Bravo 0-7, I copy.” 

“Es bueno escuchar tu voz, Jade. Is Ghost okay?” The colonel asked with his usual gritty voice.

“Yeah, he’s solid. A little banged up, but you know how he is.” Jade answered while Ghost sat up on the bed. “Are you at the warehouse already?”

“Si, me, Rodolfo and the others are here, and madre de Dios, you didn’t leave a single body alive, huh.” Hearing those words, Jade looked back at Ghost who was checking his own injuries.

Looking back at Ghost's extraction from the facility yesterday, Jade only cleared the exterior and some goons on the first floor. The basement was crawling with Narcos, yet the injured, tortured, dehydrated and malnutritioned Ghost managed to kill his way out. This fact reminding her once again of how much of a beast the lieutenant was.

"We did what we had to do to get them off our tails.” Jade said to the PTT.

“As long as you both are okay, then I'm grateful. Thanks to Ghost’s hard work in locating this facility, we can cut out the supply.” Alejandro continued, “I’m coming to get you in 10. Can you be ready by then?” 

“Claro. See you in 10 then.” 

“Okay, Victor-1 out.” 

With that, Jade put her PTT back to the table, scooting aside to check on Ghost’s wounds. “Those hurt too much?”

“Not something I can’t bear.” Ghost looked to his shoulder. Some of the blood seeped and coloured the bandage into pink. It was a bad wound after all. 

After she finished re-dressing his wounds, Jade stood up and tidied up the table, taking the used portable bonfire and both ration packages, and putting them inside her backpack all the while Ghost slowly stood up, trying to hold his weight. He must admit that he’s still dizzy from all the blood he lost. If he’d been alone, he might have had to survive the wilderness of the rainforest alone, eating any animal he could hunt. Hell, that was only if he could get out of that warehouse alive with all the injuries that was inflicted upon him.

Jade turned around to find him standing up, holding the side where a bullet grazed him. “You good?”

“I’m fine.”

“Here, take it.” He looked down, finding his skull mask on her hand already cleaned from the blood and dirt, most importantly dry. “I put it beside the little fire all night. Looks good as new. Thought you’ll need it.” Jade smiled as she looked up to accommodate their height difference. If he were to be honest, he didn’t even realize that his face had been out in the open for so long. When was the last time he had his face open this long on a mission, outside, and spent a night with a woman like this? 

Still, he owed her so much after this one. She essentially saved his life.

Ghost smiled softly, taking the mask back and wore them over his head, finally covering his face. “Thanks, Lottie. I appreciate it.”  

“Anytime, Love.” 

Jade turned back to the table to tidy up and wear her gear, but Ghost could only stand dumbfounded at the word that just came out of her mouth. 

Love.

Thank the heavens he’d worn the mask already or she would find his face as red as her hair. Fuck. 

Well, at least that’s an improvement from ‘Beanpole’.

-----

Alejandro arrived ten minutes after his call with Jade driving an SUV alone. He found the safehouse after Laswell had given him the location. Alejandro was welcomed by Ghost and Jade already outside, gears on and ready to go. 

“¡Hola, Ghost, Jade!” Alejandro shouted to them as he stopped beside the wooden cabin, a wide grin on his face. He got off the car to approach Jade, who had the same grin on her face and hugged the woman as a greeting. Ghost's body tensed beside them.

“Cómo estás, Hermana.” The Mexican colonel said, patting Jade’s back in the hug.

“Muy bien, muy bien, Coronel.” 

Seeing Jade smile like that while in someone else’s embrace irked Ghost. Huh.

Alejandro leaned back, looking at the lieutenant up and down, “You good, Ghost?”

“Not dead yet.” He replied. 

“Good to see you alive, Hermano. If you both are ready, we can get out of here, and we’ll get you both home.” 

Something clicked in Jade’s mind. “Oh, Lord. I forgot one of my knives under the bed. Sorry, can I go back for a sec?” 

“Sure.” Alejandro replied, leaning back to the side of the car before Jade walked towards the warehouse to find her blades.

As both men waited, the Mexican glanced at Ghost, who was staring at the woman’s back as she walked her way to the cabin. He knew that since the Las Almas mission, something was going on between these two Brits, prompting an amused scoff out of him. 

“Told you not to get lost.” 

The Brit flinched and looked at Alejandro, a small smile on his lips. He remembered the last thing that he’d said before leaving Las Almas along with the rest of 141. 

‘¡No te pierdas, Carnal!’

Ghost only scoffed, shifting his weight to his leg, recalling a conversation he had years ago with Price back in the SAS base.

**

“You ever think about settlin’ down, Simon?”

“....No.”

“Maybe we’ll break a leg, get shot, and our career’s over. Think you’ll find yourself a woman?”

“...She’s got to be one crazy bird, then.”

A wheeze from the captain, “Takes crazy to love crazy, innit.”

“If only there’s a woman insane enough to love me.”

**

With the sight of Jade running back their way with the said knife, Ghost turned to Alejandro, surprising him a little bit as he didn’t expect Ghost to say anything, saying,

“I’m found, Hermano.”

The Mexican colonel laughed at Ghost’s response and patted his back. “That you are. Now let’s get you home.”

fin

WOOHOO! There it goes! Hope you enjoyed it! Reblogs and replies are much appreciated (❁´◡`❁)

[rekino2114]

I love kanade I really really do, bjt Arei just wins out for me. So how about Arei from Despair time alphabet with J, L, V, Y

J,L,V and Y fluff alphabet prompts with arei nageishi and kanade otonokoji

A/n:I'll do you one better. Why choose when you can have both (yes, this is allowed. It's still 4 letters even with 2 characters)

Arei nageishi

🎳J=jealousy (how jealous do they get? What do they do when they're jealous?)

Arei gets jealous pretty easily. While she may appear to have a big ego, she knows better than anyone how her personality is, and she's very afraid that you'll get tired of it and leave her so when she sees a girl flirting with you she'll immediately start yelling at her and calling her every insult possible while telling her you're taken. She'll also start making out with you in front of her just to rub salt in the wound

🎳L=love confession(how did they confess to you?)

She invited you bowling and was planning to confess while comforting you for your loss, but she ended up getting distracted by you and her emotions and losing, so you comforted her instead and she blurted out that she loved you, she was very embarrassed at first but very surprised and happy when you accepted her confession

🎳V=value (How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?)

Your relationship and you in general mean so much to her, specifically the fact that you could see through and endure her personality, you and eden are the only people who see her for what she actually is:a person genuinely trying her best to make friends and change at least a little bit. She knows she probably will never be a good person, but she doesn't really care as long as you're with her

🎳Y=yes (how do they react to you proposing to them?)

"So, did you bring me here just to get destroyed at bowling? Hehe, sorry, but seriously, why did you play with me? You usually just watch me play"

"Well today is special"

"Really? How so?"

Arei watched as you got on one knee, pulled out a ring, and started your speech. Part of her genuinely couldn't believe this was happening. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and before she knew it, she started crying.

She carefully listened to everything you told her and had the biggest smile you had ever seen on her face while still crying when you asked her the question

"Are you fucking serious? Of course I will, yes, yes,yes, do you need me to say it again? cause I will, yes I would love to marry you"

Kanade otonokoji

🎸J=jealousy (how jealous do they get? What do they do when they're jealous?)

Kanade is very much the jealous type just seeing you talking with another girl causes her to get violent thoughts, and if that girl starts flirting with you, you might as well say your goodbyes because that is the last conversation you're gonna have with her, she obviously trusts you and knows you're never gonna leave her but it's better to send a message to any possible competition.

🎸L=love confession(how did they confess to you?)

She wanted to go all out to show you just how much she loved you, so she asked hibiki to make a special song for you and make her sing it this time, she was very surprised by her sister's actually pretty good performance but didn't think too much about it. She made a private concert for you and after she finished singing she went over and told you that everything she had said in the song was for you. She then kissed and hugged you when you said you liked her too. She may have seemed blushy and nervous on the outside, but on the inside, she couldn't be happier that you said yes as that made things much easier for both of you

🎸V=value (How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?)

When kanade fell in love with you, any obsession she might have felt towards her sister was replaced by you. She couldn't think of anything but you. All her dreams were filled with her and you living a happy life together. She loved you so so so so much, and thankfully, you feel the same . She doesn't even have to break you to be with you. She would gladly kill everyone in the world, including her sister, to be with you or if you simply ask her to. So safe to say you mean a lot to her

🎸Y=yes (how do they react to you proposing to them?)

"The scenery is beautiful, darling, but why did you bring me here?"

Despite what her question might lead you to believe, she knew exactly why you were there, the recent searching for rings online and measuring of hibiki's finger (you didn't want her to know and they have the same fingers) made it obvious, it was a bit disappointing if she had to be honest, she wanted to be the one to propose, to make a perfect discourse on how much she truly loved you (as if she didn't do that every day) but she could never complain, it was an even greater sign that you wanted to be with her

"To do this"

You got on one knee and pulled the box out, kanade tried her best to look surprised, but the pure ecstasy that was filling her mind was too much to contain, she started drooling a bit and hearts replaced her pupils, her true self coming out for a bit, but she shrugged it off in time to answer your questions without you noticing

"O-of course my darling, I would love nothing more than to marry you, I want to live the rest of my life with you, I will love you forever and ever, that's a promise"

[merlincersei]

Merlin BBC UK TV Show - Opinion Piece Part 23 - Who Is Arthur Really Talking About In This Scene?

Time and again when I revisit this particular scene between Arthur and Merlin (referenced below) I can't help but notice how much "Merthur" has been implicitly queer coded in this show.

______________________________________________________________

The scene I am talking about is in the Season 2 Episode 4 titled "Lancelot and Guinevere" .

This episode can be summarized as follows:

Gwen is mistaken for Morgana and is kidnapped by Hengist. Uther refuses to pay the ransom or send a rescue party to save a servant. Arthur defies his father and sets out with Merlin to rescue Gwen. ______________________________________________________________

After Arthur and Merlin escape from the Wilddeoren, they have the following scene:

While the casual viewer will look at this scene and state it is Arthur confessing his love for Gwen, however LISTEN CAREFULLY TO WHAT THEME PLAYS FROM 0:55 SECONDS ONWARDS IN THE BACKGROUND OF THIS SCENE.

The theme it plays is Merlin's Arrival to Camelot:

Now ask youself why would the show put in "Merlin's Arrival to Camelot" theme in the background of a scene where Arthur is confessing his love for Gwen?

Especially when Arthur and Gwen already have a theme song called Gwen & Arthur Romance Suite.

Shockingly, the Gwen & Arthur Romance Suite is actually played in the background of a scene between Gwen and Lancelot when they kiss for the first time and Gwen states " As long as I live, my feelings for you will never fade."

Refer scene at 1:22 in the clip below:

____________________________________________________________

Going back to the scene between Merlin and Arthur, dont you think Arthur's description of Gwen can also be used for Merlin.

[EXT. FOREST, STREAM – DAY] [Arthur and Merlin wash off the Gaia berries by a stream.]

ARTHUR Gaia berries worked. Huh.

MERLIN You didn't know if they worked?

ARTHUR Not for sure.

MERLIN Now you tell me?! Oh! Oh, what's that Wildren eating? It's all right. It's just Merlin. You trying to get us both killed?

ARTHUR I'm sorry. I shouldn't've risked your life like that.

MERLIN Well, they do say love makes you do strange things.

ARTHUR What are you talking about?

MERLIN Why can't you just admit your feelings for Gwen?

[Arthur scoffs.]

MERLIN It's so obvious. A blind man could see it. Is it really that hard to admit you like her? Just say it. (MERLIN THEME STARTS TO PLAY)

ARTHUR I can't! How can I admit that I think about her all the time. Or that...I care about her more than anyone. How can I admit that...I don't know what I'll do if any harm comes to her?

(DID ARTHUR NOT RISK HIS OWN LIFE FOR MERLIN IN SEASON 1 EPISODE 4 THE POISONED CHALICE.

DID ARTHUR NOT FOLLOW MERLIN TO EALDOR IN SEASON 1 EPISODE 10 THE MOMENT OF TRUTH FOR A MERE SERVANT)

MERLIN Why can't you?

ARTHUR Because nothing can ever happen between us! (HOW TRUE! BBC SIMPLY WOULD NOT HAVE ALLOWED MERTHUR TO HAPPEN!) To admit my feelings knowing that...hurts too much.

MERLIN Who's to say nothing can happen?

ARTHUR My father won't let me rescue a servant. Do you honestly believe he'd let me marry one?

(IN SEASON 1 EPISODE 4 THE POISONED CHALICE. UTHER FORBADE ARTHUR TO RESCUE MERLIN AND EVEN HAD HIM IMPRISONED WHEN HE BROUGHT BACK THE CURE FOR MERLIN)

MERLIN You want to marry Gwen?

ARTHUR No! No...I...I don't know...It's all talk, and that's all it can ever be.

MERLIN When you're King, you can change that.

ARTHUR I can't expect Guinevere to wait for me.

MERLIN If she feels as you do, she'll wait for you.

(IN THE END OF THE SERIES, IT IS MERLIN WHO HAS BEEN WAITING FOR ARTHUR FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS!!)

ARTHUR We don't even know if she's still alive.

MERLIN No, she is. We will find her.

ARTHUR Come on. We've got a long trek ahead. Oh, and Merlin...if you dare tell anyone about this, I promise I will make your life a living hell.

MERLIN You mean, more than you already do?

ARTHUR Yeah.

MERLIN We could talk about your feelings while you walk.

ARTHUR Shut up, Merlin.

______________________________________________________________

I also managed to get a snapshot of a commentary Bradley James and Colin Morgan did for this particular episode and it is available on the DVD. Bradley's commentary is indeed very telling.

I REST MY CASE !!!

[guilty-pleasures21]

Yooooooooouuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!! You SUCK!

Ahh! I'm sorry it took so long! You don't know the MILLIONS of times I've re-written this scene 😭! I hope you guys enjoy it!

4. Don't even look at me ever again.

Part 1 - the confession

Part 2 - the first time

Warnings: none.

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

     “Do you think it'd be enough? Or too much?” Miguel asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he waited for Peter's response. But she'd waited: she'd waited so patiently for him, nothing could ever have been too much for her. Peter shook his head quickly, waving his hands in disagreement.

     “No way, man!” he objected. “I mean, you know her better than anyone else, right? Better than anyone here, at least.” He gestured to the building of Spider people surrounding them, then turned back to Miguel, an encouraging smile on his face. 

     “If that's what you think she'll like, then who am I to say anything about it?”

     Miguel thought about it for a moment, quickly realising that Peter was right: he did know her, better than most other people. But of course he wasn't going to let Peter know that - he'd never let it go otherwise. Miguel raised an eyebrow, feigning disinterest. 

     “That's a first: Peter B Parker, not giving advice?” He turned to Lyla, hand on his chin as he thought about it. “Lyla, are we in the right universe?” 

     Peter frowned, opening his mouth to respond. But then he stopped, stunned. “Wait. Did you … just make a joke, Miguel?!” 

     Lyla flickered over to Peter, eyes equally wide with surprise.

     “You heard it too?!” she asked before breathing a sigh of relief. “I thought my code had a bug in it or something!” Miguel rolled his eyes at their teasing, his stomach fluttering with nerves as he pulled up his message thread with X. He typed out a few words, then deleted them, replaying their last conversation over again in his mind. What could he say to convince her to see him again? He'd been such an idiot - again - and it wouldn't be as easy as saying ‘sorry’, not this time. He slid his gaze over to Peter, wondering if he should just ask him to send X another distress call. She did like surprises - odd for someone who suffered from anxiety. But then again, she'd never been one to follow the norms; it was one of the reasons he'd fallen in love with her, after all. He cleared his throat.

     “Uh, Peter,” he called him over, trying to look as not guilty as possible. “Do you … think you could send X a distress signal? To the rooftop?” Peter flashed him a reassuring smile. 

     “Sure.” 

     She stumbled through the door onto the rooftop, a million situations running through her mind. Was it Miguel? He was the only one who ever came to the rooftop besides her - after she'd shown him, of course. And Peter had never asked her anywhere besides the control room. And that was only because Miguel was mad at someone and they needed her to calm him down. Oh God, what if someone was seriously hurt?!

     “Hello?!” X called out into the night, searching her surroundings. “Peter?!” 

     She walked over to the edge, her heart thudding in her chest at the lack of response. Then suddenly, without warning, all the lights in the city went off, casting the world into darkness. It stayed like that for a moment before a cluster of lights appeared, quickly joined by another, and another, until the entire world looked like space, she herself floating among a sea of stars. She grinned, delighted by the beautiful sight, and watched eagerly as more lights came into view, the beams racing across the buildings and crashing into each other until: ‘I love you.’ Just like in that movie she'd gotten him to watch. She clasped her hands together and bit down on her lip, the happiness bubbling up from her stomach and flowing into her chest and spilling out of every fibre of her being. Was it really him? Could this really have been his doing? The lights flickered back to normal again and the world resumed its daily routine, even as hers felt like it had just stopped moving. She held her breath, counting the beats of her heart as she waited. Then finally, “¿Arañita?” 

     She turned around to find Miguel, standing at the other end of the rooftop with a guilty expression on his face, plush Green Lantern toy squished between his large hands. She glanced at the toy then back up at him, knowing that he'd gotten it just for her - it was the last toy she was missing in her Justice League collection and he'd actually gone back to the arcade and kept at the stupid claw machine until he'd managed to get it. For her. Because it made her happy. She covered her mouth with her hand, muffling the disbelieving laugh that fell from her lips. 

     “I, uh … Here.” Miguel walked over to her and shoved the toy into her hands before stepping back again. He rubbed the back of his neck as his gaze flitted between her and the ground, trying to build up the courage to speak. Then he cleared his throat and straightened. 

     “X, I …” he trailed off as his gaze roved over her face. Her lips were curled into that pretty smile that he could never say no to, her eyes creased at the corners as she looked up at him. She’d complained about them a few times; about how dark her irises were, but he loved how they always reflected whatever she was looking at - how he could look into them and see the exact reason for the smile on her face. His stomach curdled as she looked up at him now, her gaze adoring like he was her entire world. But how could she still look at him like that after he'd been so stupid; so selfish, doing absolutely nothing to stop himself from falling in love with her? Even when he'd been afraid that it would only end in the both of them getting hurt? He dropped his gaze back to the ground and pushed on, determined to let her know his true feelings. 

     “I know I … I haven't said it … back, but … I've tried- I mean, I hope I've tried, at least, to show you, maybe, that …” He looked up at her again, at the hope written all over her face, and his heart stuttered. “That …” 

     “Uh, Miguel,” she began, her tone teasing as she took note of how nervous he was right now. Nervous! The Miguel O'Hara! Because of her! But he looked so sincere right then, standing on their rooftop, trying so very hard to pour his heart out to her. “Would you prefer it if I turned around? Then maybe you can-”

     “No!” he exclaimed quickly, grabbing her face between his hands. He swallowed hard, but didn’t pull away, resolute in his decision. Because he loved her - because he was in love with her. “I want to look at you. I want you to look at me when I say it.” 

     She gazed up at him, her lips still curled into that mischievous smile. “When you say what, Miguel?” 

     He took a deep breath. Then finally, finally, “when I tell you that I love you. Too.” 

     Her watch started buzzing, the gadget going crazy with how high her vitals were rising. But she just grinned at him even harder, her elated face still clasped between his hands. “Really?” 

     It struck him like a knife to the heart, her uncertainty - her disbelief - that anyone could ever love her like that. He straightened and set his features into a resolute expression. “Yes. Really. I love you, arañi- I love you, X.” 

     How gentle she’d been with his heart, holding it so carefully, like glass ready to shatter at a moment’s notice. How easy she’d made it for him, falling in love with her, like sleeping in on a lazy Sunday morning. He felt his lips quirk at the corners at the look on her face and reached up to brush a strand of hair away from her face. “Only you, mi arañita.”

     She curled her fingers around his hand, feeling the tears starting to gather on the edge of her eyes. “Thank you.” 

     His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion at the unexpected response. Was she thanking him for loving her? That wasn’t what he’d been expecting her to say. Or do. Not that … Not that he’d been expecting anything in particular from her. “¿Qué?”

     “Um,” she hesitated, trying to come up with an appropriate response, “thanks for … for, um…” She shifted uncomfortably in position, then shot her gaze back up to his, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. 

     “Wait. Do you mean, like, in a platonic way?” she inquired. “Or, like, a romantic way?” 

     He’d just blacked out the whole damn city to tell her that he loved her and she was still asking him that?! But of course, no one had ever told her that they loved her before: how could she be sure unless he made it explicitly clear? He curled his hands around her waist, his stomach flipping over as he tugged her towards him.

     “I love you in every way you could possibly love someone. Platonically, romantically, all of it. I just want you, X. No one else. Ever.” She bit her lip against a smile, still a little scared to let herself fall the last few feet for him. There was no way - no way - this could possibly be real. Right? 

     She wasn’t saying anything, why wasn’t she saying anything? He pulled back and bent over to meet her gaze, nervous again now. “If that’s what you want, of course. Consensually, right?” 

     She rolled her eyes affectionately at how he echoed her words, then sank back against his chest. “You’re such an idiot, Miguel. Estás un grande tonto, mi araña.”

     He smirked at her words, hugging her tight. “You know, that’s not usually how you respond when someone tells you that they’re in love with you.” 

     She wriggled against him happily, pleased to hear those words exactly. Then she pulled back from him slowly. Her eyes flickered up to his, dark as the night sky, then she glanced away again. 

     “Are you … Do we kiss? Now?” She gave him a shy smile and his heart stuttered in his chest. “Do you … want to kiss me? Right now?” 

     He sighed and cupped her cheek in his hand, tilting her face up to his. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long, arañita.” 

     And then his lips were on hers, soft and warm, his tongue sliding into her mouth to sweep across it. She heard herself let out a soft moan, then felt his hand on her back, supporting her as she went weak at the knees. She gripped onto his shoulders as he arched her back, bending her over so that he could kiss her even harder. He was so large and so strong, but also so gentle and so careful, his hand stroking her back carefully, his mouth slowing its movements to match hers. She loved him, she really loved him. 

     Ay, carajo, she was soft, her chest, her waist, her lips. She was so cautious in the way she tasted him, her tongue gliding around his mouth slowly. He groaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck and grazed the tip of his spine with her fingernails. Eventually, she slid her hands back down his chest, her eyes blinking open as she pulled away from him. 

     “Wow,” she whispered, awestruck. “So that’s what it’s like to kiss someone.” He shot her a wry smile. 

     “You’re really taking all the romance out of it, arañita.” She grinned and wrapped her arms back around him.

     “Are you insane, Miguel?! That was the most romantic thing that’s ever happened to me in my entire life!” She squealed with excitement, then started fidgeting with her toy, shy now. “Can we … Do we, like, go back to your place now? Or something?” 

     She peeked up at him from beneath her curly lashes and his heart stuttered at the thought of all the things he would do to her once they were alone in his bed. Finally. But he swallowed the thoughts down and reminded himself to take things slow. For her. “Do you … want to go back to my place?” 

     She nodded, her lips still curled into that shy smile that had his blood heating up and redirecting itself to his core. F*ck, he needed her so bad. He let out a shaky exhale and released her to open up a portal, then ushered her through it quickly. They landed in his living room and he guided her to the kitchen first, going over to the fridge to pull out a box of chocolates that he set down in front of her. 

     “I got these for you,” he revealed, moving around the counter to stand behind her. She opened up the box and picked out one of the chocolates, then held it up for him to try. He grabbed her wrist and turned her hand to her own mouth instead, gesturing for her to try it first. She bit half off, then popped the rest into his mouth. Her eyes lit up with delight as she chewed on the gooey centre and she turned around to slide her hands back up his chest. “Mmm. I love it! What do you think?” 

     He pursed his lips in thought as she wrapped her arms around his neck, considering the question. Then a mischievous look overtook his face. He gripped her chin in his hand and lowered his mouth to hers.  “I think I’m going to need another taste, mi amor.” 

     He slipped his tongue back into her mouth and groaned as he licked up the chocolatey taste of her. Mierda, she was sweet. He pulled back after a moment, his lips stretched wide as he smiled down at her.  “Deliciosa.” 

     She grinned at his teasing and he returned his lips to hers, his hands moving to grip her waist as he kissed her. God, he felt good, his broad shoulders, his wide neck, his soft hair. Her stomach flipped as he groaned against her, the vibrations rumbling out of his chest and into hers. Then he pushed her back against the counter and it was her turn to moan. He tilted his head as he bent her backwards, sliding his tongue even deeper into her mouth. She gripped onto his shoulder as he arched her back, her leg lifting off the ground as she spread them apart around him. He grabbed onto her thigh and wrapped it around his waist, then lifted her up onto the counter. She yelped in surprise and giggled when he moved his mouth to her neck, the sound of his satisfied moans causing her to shudder. 

     “Arañita,” he murmured against her skin, his lips brushing along the delicate column of her throat. He couldn’t wait to taste her; to please her and make her come for him, her smooth skin sliding against his, her soft flesh bare beneath his hands, her small body rocking with uncontrollable pleasure as she bucked and writhed against him. Joder, he wanted to taste her so badly: her breasts, her ass, her p*ssy. F*ck, her p*ssy, her tiny little p*ssy leaking that delicious, intoxicating liquid that drove him crazy every time he caught a whiff of it. He moved his lips back to hers, his body heating up at the thought of having sex with her; first in his bedroom, then his living room, and maybe even in his kitchen, staking his claim on her over and over again until she collapsed from the exhaustion, finally falling asleep in his arms. But he’d have to take it slow tonight - he’d have to: he wanted to make sure she’d enjoy each and every delicious second of his hands all over her, his mouth, his tongue, licking her up and devouring her whole. He pulled back from her, reluctantly putting some distance between them so he could regain control of his thoughts. 

     “What do you want to do, arañita?” he asked her, his chest already heaving with shallow breaths. “We’ll go at your pace. Lo que quieras, cariño.”

     She smirked at him, trying to catch her own breath as the adrenaline continued to race through her body. Sex! She was going to have sex with him! Just the very thought of it had her leaking into her underwear! But she had the upper hand this time, and she wasn’t about to give in to him so easily. “Oh, so now we go at my pace?” 

     He sighed, flashing her an exasperated - but slightly guilty - look as he waited. It drove him crazy, of course, every second that they still had their clothes on. But he deserved whatever torture she decided she wanted to inflict on him. X pursed her lips and slid her gaze to the side, pretending to think about it. Then she hopped off the counter, an alarmed expression crossing her face. 

     “Oh!” she exclaimed, trying to push past him. “‘To the moon and back’ is on now! Right?! I have to see if Johnny-” She stopped as she crashed right into him, his powerful arms trapping her against the kitchen island so she couldn’t put on that ridiculous reality show she’d gotten so addicted to. 

     “Arañita.” He frowned, the hint of warning in his tone letting her know that he knew exactly what she was trying to do. She grinned and slid her hands back up his chest, admiring the broad and hard planes of it beneath her palms. 

     “What? You said we’d do whatever I wanted. Right, Miguel?” He sucked in a breath at the feeling of her hands gliding across his body. Then he frowned, trying to remain stern in the face of the irresistible mixture of cuteness and mischief on her face. 

     “That’s not what I meant,” he told her, his hands coming around her waist. Of course he didn’t want to pressure her into anything she wasn’t comfortable with - but he swore he’d literally explode if she made him wait any longer. Especially with the way she’d wrapped herself around him, her deliciously soft breasts pressing into his hard chest. 

     “Then what did you mean, Miguel?” X fluttered her eyelashes up at him, knowing exactly what he intended to do tonight. With her. In his bed. “What did you want to do, mi araña fuerte?”

     P*ta madre, that ridiculous phrase again. He tightened his grip on her, his frustration growing as he remembered the last time she’d teased him so badly. “X.” 

     She took a step back, her eyes travelling over the defined lines of his muscles as her hands slid over them. Then she lifted her gaze to his and pushed past him gently, heading for the stairs. She bounced up a few steps before turning to look at him, a questioning expression on her face. 

     “Well?” she asked, gesturing to his bedroom. “Are you coming, Miguel?” 

Continue

Tags: @leahnicole1219 @heubstr

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: Valicer In The Dark -- Score & Story Ideas Inspired By Other Sources!

Hey, remember this surprisingly-long post of score & story ideas I had for the Valicer In The Dark universe? And how, at the end, I mentioned I still had loads of ideas, these based off other stuff I enjoy or find intriguing in some way? Well, it's taken me longer than anticipated, but here is my surprsingly-long follow-up list of some of those stories! Because you know me and my crossovers -- if I can, I will. :p

-->First up, here's a score idea based off of something unexpected -- the summary of what would have been Alice: Asylum! Now, if you know me, you know that I was never really into this weird prequel/sequel/whatever-the-hell-it-turned-into-before-EA-said-"Nope" entry into the Alice series (justice for Alice Otherlands), and I actually don't know that much about it. But I do know two key things that were apparently part of the final draft, thanks to the wiki:

1. That Wilton Radcliffe, Alice's family's lawyer and that dickhead keeping her rabbit from her in Alice: Madness Returns, was apparently helping Bumby with his activities

2. That Radcliffe, while he was off-screen, somehow sired a daughter, named Angela

That coupled with the fact that I still needed to establish where Alice's beloved toy rabbit (Mr. Bunny, as per my own headcanon) had got to in the VITD universe inspired me to create a score where, after getting a little more settled into their lair and establishing a name for themselves as the Three Pillars, the trio decide to go after Radcliffe to see if they can get Mr. Bunny and whatever's left of Alice's inheritance back. However, when they get to his house, they find it recently abandoned. Searching the place reveals a diary where Radcliffe's role in Bumby's activities is revealed, and his plans to flee the city before the Bluecoats discover he was a collaborator. Specifically, he notes down that he has a meeting with a former "client" on the very day the trio has broken into his house --

Where he intends to hand over his daughter for enough money to get a ticket on a ship heading to Skovlan (a neighboring country, not doing so great after a war with Akoros, where Duskwall is). After Alice recovers from the "when the fuck did he have a child" shock, the trio immediately rush off to the Docks to save Angela and take Radcliffe down, at which aim they of course succeed because fuck Radcliffe. In the process, Alice discovers that Angela has taken Mr. Bunny as her own (renaming him "Rabbity"). Angela, upon realizing that Rabbity is in fact Alice's old toy, offers to give him back, but Alice is content to let him stay with Angela (though she does take the opportunity to give him a big hug first). The trio thus drop Angela off at the new, better Houndsditch run by June, and she quickly becomes fast friends with Charlie. :) Better ending for her than being stuck in eternal limbo, right?

-->I'd already decided a while ago that I wanted to incorporate stuff from Fallout 4 into my personal Duskwall -- "A Murdered Shared Is A Murdered Thirded" is going to have Smiler's parents mention sending Bumby's ledger off to "Miss Wright at Publick Occurrences; she'll make sure everyone knows what he was doing before next Embers," in the final chapter, for example. As for actual scores for the Three Pillars to get involved in, I have two quests so far that I would like to adapt to fit my universe:

Unlikely Valentine -- AKA the quest to save Nick from Skinny Malone! I imagine in this universe the Three Pillars are hired directly by either Ellie or Piper to try and figure out where Nick went while investigating a possible kidnapping by the "Triggermen" -- a new gang on the scene (consisting of a lot of Hounds, since that's the playbook that specializes in guns) that operate out of some half-completed vault some old rich dude once tried to have constructed to protect him and his from another cataclysm. Of course, the twist is that the "kidnappee," a woman named Darla, is actually leader Skinny's new girlfriend and was not keen on going back to her parents, so Nick ended up locked up while the gang tried to decide what to do with him, and the trio have to rescue him AND make sure Skinny and Darla don't decide to just kill them all. And, like in the main game, the other twist is that the trio were expecting Nick to be human, but discover during the rescue that he's a mechanical being -- specifically, that he's a Hull, a steampunk robot animated by a ghost! You see, what happened to this version is Nick is that he died in a scrap with Eddie Winter's gang shortly after the death of his fiancee, Jenny, but the Bluecoat squad he was working with didn't want to lose him and his brilliant detective skills, so they paid off the Spirit Wardens to trap his ghost but NOT dispose of it, and commissioned a human-like robot body for him. Hulls are GENERALLY created with some sort of magical device in them that blunts the mind and free will of the spirit inside so it can be trusted to do tasks, but the Bluecoats were certain they could rely on Nick's loyalty to the department and didn't bother with that. Not like he'd try to escape, right?

...Nick escaped and set up shop on his own in Charhollow the minute he could. XD He's still wrestling with some identity issues (these stemming from the fact that he's now a ghost in a mechanical body that doesn't quite feel like his, but that he doesn't dare leave for fear of losing his mind and becoming a Specter), but he's doing his best to help those who need help in Duskwall, and he is much loved by his community. They just all also happen to be so used to him that nobody thought to tell Victor, Alice, and Smiler what his whole deal is. XD Fortunately the three recover quickly from discovering what he is and manage to get him out without anybody getting killed, and Nick probably becomes one of their contacts from that point on. Nothing like a private detective to help you gather information! (And yes, it would be nice if they could help him finally take down Eddie Winter in a variant of the "Winter's End" quest, but I haven't figured that one out yet...)

When Freedom Calls -- AKA the quest to help Preston take out these damn raiders threatening his group of Quincy survivors! This one is much less fleshed out at the moment, but I know it involves the trio accidentally walking into Preston, holed up in some ruined building in Six Towers (I want to make it a museum, I'm jut not sure of what yet -- one commemorating the Emperor's actions during the Cataclysm?), fighting back against a gang trying to kidnap one of a group of people he's protecting for her mystical powers (much like Jared of the Corvega group of raiders wanted Mama Murphy for her Sight). They end up joining the fight on Preston's side to try and find a way to get his civilians safely out of there...a task somewhat complicated by the arrival of a deathclaw-like Horror (a strange electroplasmic entity that can do Bad Things to people) on the scene. Mainly this score is to establish Preston as a character in my version of Duskwall -- a former Bluecoat who, after his squad was betrayed by a colleague and murdered trying to do their duty, decided to found the vigilante squad the Minutemen to help those whom the Bluecoats won't and take down some of the more unsavory sorts in Duskwall. He considers the Three Pillars "honorary" members after they rescue him and his little group, and I'd imagine they and his Minutemen end up on pretty friendly terms, since the Three Pillars are FAR from the worst criminals in the city. Hell, Preston might even be able to provide a score or two in the future, much like how he's a quest-giver in the game. Wouldn't be THAT hard to adapt some of the named Minutemen-related quests, like the ones for Abernathy or Finch Farm, to the world of Duskwall!

-->Somewhat in-keeping with the Bethesda theme, here's a story that would be loosely based on that one Skyrim quest "A Night To Remember" and The Hangover movies -- "A Hangover To Remember!" Admittedly, I've never played Skyrim nor watched any of the Hangover movies, but I have read quest write-ups and movie plot summaries, and I think I can make this work regardless. XD Basically, what happens is that the Three Pillars are at The Ball & Socket one Names (aka night, since there's no proper "day" in Duskwall), when Smiler ends up challenged to a drinking contest by a demon. Victor is like "Smiler, I don't know," but the demon makes a solemn vow not to tamper with any of the drinks during the contest, and Smiler seems game, so the contest happens. They apparently win, and everybody gets a round of drinks to celebrate...

And the next equivalent-of-morning, the trio wake up with raging hangovers in one of the guest bedrooms of none other than Lord Governor Powerwallet's mansion in Whitecrown, with an Iruvian wildcat hanging out in the en-suite bathroom, a kidnapped Bob Wickerman of the Beornen cult (the cult based on the Wickerman ride at Alton Towers, which has a pretty nasty rivalry with the Advocates -- Bob in particular loathes Smiler, and the feeling is mutual) stuffed in the wardrobe, Victor sporting a new tattoo, and all three of them wearing rings that look like wedding bands. The trio thus have to retrace their steps and figure out what the fuck they did and how to fix any chaos they caused. And while I haven't quite figured out the story behind everything they did (the cat in particular is a mystery), I do know that the reason they're all wearing rings is because they got drunken-group-married at the Ministry of Joy...and while telling them this, the Advocates also reveal that, if they'd been sober enough to sign some paperwork, they could have gotten actually group married because of an interesting loophole in Duskwall's laws (basically, the government will recognize "unusual" marriages if they happen under the purview of a god that could be reasonably seen to back the marriage up -- and as Mar-Mal just wants all their Advocates to be happy, they'll back up pretty much ANY marriage). The trio are like "...why weren't we informed of this before?!" XD Anyway, they eventually get back to the pub, where they find the demon, deeply amused by everything -- as you might imagine, what happened is they tampered with the victory drink, as technically that drink was not part of the contest. XD They are delighted by the chaos though, and tell the group that they have earned themselves a boon for giving them a most entertaining night, no strings attached. And after confirming there are truly no strings, the trio tell them, "Okay, we just learned that we can actually get married if we do it under Mar-Mal -- we want you to do whatever is in your power to make sure our actual wedding goes well." The demon agrees, and there's a follow-up story about the trio getting properly group-married. :)

-->Speaking of stories based off of things I know mainly from pop-cultural osmosis, here's a tale that I would currently describe as a mixture of The Usual Suspects and the tropes "Rashomon"-Style and Once More With Clarity! This one has the trio at a Bluecoat station, having been arrested for a robbery that occurred the previous Names. The captain there doesn't think such a small crew could have pulled off the heist (which happened at a fancy house in Brightstone known for its security), but interrogates them anyway. All three cop to the theft, but tell contradicting stories about how they did it -- Alice says she stole the item by successfully fighting off the guards; Victor says he stole the item by using magic and distracting people with ghosts; and Smiler says they stole the item by talking their way past the guards and using their alchemicals against anyone who couldn't be charmed. The disgusted captain says that he doesn't believe any of them, that they're all just lying to try to get credit for a bigger score than they could pull off, and releases them. The trio reunite outside the station and talk about what they told the guy, and laughingly admit that the captain probably wouldn't have believed what really happened either -- cue a flashback to the actual time of the "robbery," which reveals that the couple being "robbed" were actually having a hell of a fight, and the wife threw the item that was "stolen" out the window -- nearly beaning poor Victor as the trio passed by (having just completed a different job). And when they objected to him nearly getting concussed by the item, she screamed "OH JUST TAKE IT" before going back to yelling at her husband. So they just took it and promptly pawned it. XD What can I say, I think I'm funny.

-->Back to things that I have actually personally experienced, here's a score that was inspired by an episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver -- specifically, the episode on freight trains and how miserable the safety standards around them are getting (you know, the one with a faux Thomas The Tank Engine episode at the very end narrated by Matt Berry). The story stuck with me, and resulted in me coming up with a score where the Three Pillars (now known as a group that will help unions and workers, not the factory owners and elites) get hired by two Rail Jacks named John Last and Oliver Weeks to help expose the lax safety standards the owners of the rail lines at Gaddoc Station are enforcing (not entirely sure HOW they would do that yet, but it's definitely something I want them to do). As an added twist, while skulking around the station, they end up encountering some Beornen trying to sabotage a train, which they have to prevent because it puts their own mission at risk. Might be a good way to introduce the whole "Advocates vs Beornen" dynamic, in fact!

-->Okay, so -- back in the very first post I made about various score and story ideas, I mentioned wanting to do one that is kicked off by Smiler overindulging their Pleasure vice at the Golden Plum restaurant, causing the owner and head chef, Chef Roselle (who, incidentally, I've discovered I've referred to by both "he" and "she" pronouns in previous write-ups, so now he's genderfluid and changes pronouns and presentation depending on how he wakes up feeling. Most people think she's a brother-sister team; the trio are one of the few who know the truth thanks to this score), to recognize them as an up-and-coming scoundrel and indulge in a little light blackmail to get the Three Pillars' assistance in getting rare ingredients for new dishes. Which the Three Pillars are reasonably happy to do, with the caveat that Smiler gets first taste of what results (which Chef Roselle is happy to agree to). Now, I'd already decided that the dish that Roselle is so keen to make would be the local equivalent of pineapple pizza (for the LOLs, and to give Smiler a chance to eat one of their favorite foods from the more modern AUs), so all I had to do was justify the pineapple's existence in Duskwall --

And then I came across a certain tumblr post showing off how pineapple skin is weirdly fire- and heat-resistant. Which contained within itself a link to another post about how 18th Century Europeans considered pineapples major status symbols (given they were new and exotic fruits from far-off lands and thus were worth up to $10,000 in modern money, so only the rich could really get their hands on them), and thus a whole business of allowing people to rent them to show off their wealth and make a splash at dinner parties and suchlike popped up. Cue me deciding that, okay, the local equivalent of pineapples in this universe is the Dragon's Bane fruit, named for its incredibly heat-resistant skin, which comes from the tropical Dagger Isles and is extremely hard to cultivate in Akoros's much colder climate. As a result, it's pretty damn expensive and considered a major status symbol by the rich, and some enterprising Dagger Isles merchants have set up a business allowing the upper classes to rent the fruit to show off to their buddies. Those merchants are not about to sell any fruit to Chef Roselle to be cooked, not without some proof that people will like the dish she's trying to make -- which puts her in a bit of a Catch-22 situation, as she can't prove people will like the dish without Dragon's Bane fruit to make it. So he turns to the Three Pillars, hiring them to get their hands on a Dragon's Bane however they can --

And oh, look at that, one Lord Rowan just rented one to show off at one of his parties. XD Cue the trio infiltrating the party and stealing the fruit, and Rowan being furious that they managed to get one over on him yet again. XD We do love humiliating the landlord of all of Six Towers over here!

-->Now, if you guys know anything about me, you know that, in addition to being the Queen of Valice and Valicer, I'm also a big Back To The Future fan -- that trilogy was my life for ages, and I still have a fondness for it and some of the related media (the Telltale Game in particular was freaking great -- the final episode of that was literally the only thing that could lure me away from Alice: Madness Returns when I first played it). So naturally I wanted to put Doc and Marty into my version of Duskwall! And while I was coming up with how they'd fit into the wider world (Doc in this universe is a Leech who travels around the city doing repairs in his motorized cart when he isn't working on his own inventions, with Marty as his assistant who aspires to be a great musician), I had a thought about doing a score with them. Not a time travel-related score, though -- rather, I wanted to explore the consequences of a rather poor decision Doc makes at the beginning of the first movie. You know, the whole "partnering with a Libyan terrorist group to steal plutonium, pretending to make them a bomb, and then giving them a dud made out of pinball machine parts while he took the plutonium to power his time machine" thing? The thing that nearly got him killed until Marty was able to use his accidental time travel to warn him? Yeah, that. I thought it might make for an interesting score if the Duskwall Doc had done something similar and wanted the Three Pillars' help in getting the gang he ripped off to leave him alone --

And then I thought, "Hey, wait a minute -- I was already planning on making the gang Doc ripped off Iruvian because that felt like the closest equivalent to Libyan in the setting...but the book already HAS a major Iruvian gang in there as one of the factions -- the Red Sashes! Why not make it so they're the ones Doc ripped off, and now the Three Pillars -- who have been desperately trying to avoid getting involved in that whole war between the Sashes and the Lampblacks in Crow's Foot -- have to help them in some way?"

And so I did! I haven't got the whole score planned out yet, but the gist of it is that Doc made a deal with the Red Sashes to get some parts he needed for an experiment in exchange for a bomb, only to give them a fake because he didn't want them to actually blow up anything and possibly kill people. The Red Sashes of course now want his blood, so Doc hires the Three Pillars to help him negotiate a deal that will keep him alive and poor Marty out of the line of fire. The Three Pillars are annoyed but take the job (Doc's offering them a decent amount of dosh, or possibly to build them something useful), and the Red Sashes task them with sabotaging the Lampblacks in some way. Maybe THEY'VE got their hands on a bomb, and the Sashes figure that, if Doc gave them a fake bomb to use against the Lampblacks, the least he can do is make sure the Lampblacks don't blow them up in turn? *shrug* I'm sure I'll figure it out when the time comes! Probably going to be a very tense score, that's for sure!

-->In contrast to the above, here's a fun, much more low-stakes score inspired by one of my favorite British TV shows -- Taskmaster! If you're unfamiliar with it, this is a comedy game show run by Greg Davies and Alex Horne, where each season five comedians go spend time in the Taskmaster house doing utterly ridiculous tasks. Greg watches back the footage of how they did and gives them points, and whoever gets the most points by the end of the season gets to take home a fake gold replica of his head. Oh, and each episode starts with an in-studio prize task, where contestants donate objects to win according to a certain theme, and whoever wins that particular episode gets to take all the objects home with them (if they so choose/are able to -- one contestant once offered HIMSELF as a prize. And then lost the episode. XD Phil Wang, I sincerely do hope you did end up spending a few days at James Acaster's place!). It's an incredibly funny show that I thoroughly recommend you check out -- and even better, it has its own YouTube channel, meaning even us Americans have an easy way to watch it! :D

Anyway -- how did I adapt this weirdness to Duskwall? Why, by making Greg and Alex the owners of a traveling Taskmaster carnival of sorts! They go around to various cities in the Imperium, find a place to set up, get the local gentry to donate some silly, moderately-valuable prizes according whatever theme they come up with, then get the local citizens to compete for them by doing a bunch of goofy tasks -- five people competing against each other per go. My idea for this was that the trio would come across Alex while he was scouting for contestants, learn about the whole thing, and go "you know what, sounds like fun" and sign up, competing against each other and two other citizens (who, like in my "Tasksaw" story, may in fact be the local equivalents of Josh Widdicombe and James Acaster XD). I was just wondering how best to do it, as of course if you're doing Taskmaster, you need a Taskmaster House to set the tasks in and around --

And then I was like, "hang on -- the trio live in Six Towers, a neighborhood that is known for having abandoned houses all over the shop. Maybe Greg and Alex take over one of those temporarily for their games?"

And then I was like, "Ooooh -- if they're doing that, then they'll have to get permission from Lord Rowan...who might see an opportunity to try and use them to get rid of the Three Pillars..."

So yes -- currently, things start out with the Taskmaster and his assistant arriving in town and going to Lord Rowan to get permission to use a house in Six Towers for their games. Lord Rowan grants permission (perhaps even contributes to the "prize task"), but lets them know that, if a certain trio come to compete, that he want them to "take care of them." Alex makes a note, and indeed Victor, Alice, and Smiler end up in the games --

And find that Alex is weirdly nice to them, in particular making sure they always have snacks and tea. Turns out Alex chose to interpret "take care of them" as "make sure they're having a good time," because the OTHER interpretation is against the spirit of the game, as the Taskmaster himself lets Lord Rowan know when the guy comes to complain that they're still alive. Greg is more than happy to MOCK contestants, sure, but MURDERING them? Come on, mate. Lord Rowan is VERY annoyed, as you can imagine. XD Of course, he may get some small consolation in that I can't guarantee that any of the trio are going to win their round, but I'm hoping not. XD The real fun of this one is going to be setting my three against some of the weirdest, best tasks from the show -- and there are a LOT of them, trust me. Gonna have to take some time and refresh my memory before writing this one!

-->While we're on the topic of scores and stories inspired by fun and silly stuff, how about one inspired by 2023's The Smiler Takeover at Alton Towers? This was an event that celebrated The Smiler coaster's tenth anniversary by having all the other rides get a bit of Smiler-related theming and setting up some fun stage shows around the coaster in X-Sector -- the Fear Test with Dr. Gladwell and Agent Joytide; Meet the Ministry with a contortionist and a magician; and The Celebration of Happiness with Felix E. Lated! Who, as you may recall, happens to be my Smiler's uncle. However, the thing about Felix is, while I was looking up stuff on the Takeover on YouTube, I discovered he had two very distinct looks during the event -- a brunet Felix with no glasses, and a blond one with glasses. The brunet Felix is the one who is Smiler's uncle (I saw him first, and he looks a bit more like the guy from the Smiler Shop TV video that serves as Smiler's adoptive dad, Matt), but while trying to come up with story ideas for the VITD verse, I thought I might be able to do something with the fact that there were two Felixes...

And cue the creation of a score where the trio are hired by some angry people who paid someone to entertain at their party, only for the guy to never show up. That someone being, apparently, Felix E. Lated. Causing the conversation to go like so:

Smiler: [nervous grin] Oh, uh -- sorry, there's a conflict of interest here. That's my uncle. Client: You're related to that blond bastard?! Smiler: ... [suddenly much more serious] My uncle has brown hair; can you describe this guy you hired?

Yup -- turns out there's a con man in town who is impersonating Felix despite not actually looking much like him, taking people's money for shows and then just never doing them. Smiler is of course like "well, this just became personal" and the trio get the help of the actual Felix to track this guy down and get the money back. I'm not sure how the actual tracking him down goes, but I do know that the score ends with Real Felix and Fake Felix having a sing-off --

And it turning out that Fake Felix can sing. Like, he's pretty much on-par with Real Felix. Smiler is immediately like "why don't you go legit and actually do the shows, you're good!" XD I don't know if Fake Felix will be convinced yet, but I wouldn't be opposed to the score ending with there being officially two Felix E. Lateds in town. XD

-->Time to return to "scores inspired by various video games I've played" -- now, you guys already know that when my friend Squid first got me into Baldur's Gate 3, my VITD trio immediately went "free real estate" and inspired me to come up with a crossover where they end up in the BG3 world thanks to Nautiloid Shenanigans, get infected, and have to find a way to get themselves and their new companions cured and get home (complete with Not-Incorrect Quote collection). However, I also came up with a much more standard score (aka no getting yanked into another universe necessary) inspired by the opening tutorial missions on the Nautiloid! This story starts with the trio being hired by a woodworker named Larian (known for his high-quality craftsmanship), who has been recently hired to make boxes for a group that he considers kind of shady. He wants the Three Pillars to look into what they're doing so he can figure out if he wants to keep working for them or not. The trio agrees and investigates, and finds that the boxes are being used to transport unconscious people for unknown purposes --

But partway through their investigation, they get separated, and Smiler is discovered, knocked out, and boxed up. Victor and Alice realize that they've been kidnapped and hide in some supply crates, and the trio all are transported to the bad guys' base. Smiler wakes up in the storage room for the people, manages to free themselves thanks to the lid not being nailed on correctly, and wanders around until they find some unfortunate dead guy sprawled in a chair with his brain exposed --

And the brain calling for help. And if you're thinking, "wait a minute, is this entire score an excuse to get Us into the canon Duskwall timeline," well, you're not entirely wrong. XD Anyway, Smiler successfully frees Us from their skull prison, and shortly thereafter reunites with Victor and Alice (who are somewhat concerned about the brain creature following Smiler around, but Smiler assures them it's friendly, and not their own brain, so...) Anyway, they find more experiments in their travels, and deduce that the bad guys are attempting to turn people into various Horrors, though they're not entirely sure why yet. They do agree that the group needs to be exposed, though, and start looking for a way off what they assume to be a regular boat --

And then suddenly the side of the vessel is clawed off by some demonic hands, and the trio abruptly realize they're in an airship hundreds of feet above the Void Sea. Well, that makes things more difficult. D: They flee to the helm as more devils start attacking, and find the leader of the bad guys fighting a large air demon -- apparently this guy made a deal with said demon to get this airship afloat and start making his Horrors (haven't actually DECIDED on the reason why, maybe it's just standard 'I want to take over the city mwahaha' bullshit), but has not appropriately satisfied the demon's dark desire in return. And when you fail to satisfy a demon's dark desire, they get to work toward your destruction, so... The trio quickly realize that the bad guys are going to be hoist by their own petard very shortly and resuming looking for an escape. Fortunately, the airship does have lifeboats on the side in case of emergency, and the trio and Us are able to scramble into one --

But, unfortunately, as they start lowering themselves down, the demons attacking the airship notice them and decide to start harassing them too, trying to knock them out of the boat just for fun. Leading to what I think is one of the more badass scenes I've come up with for the trio: Victor -- who, at this point, has figured out the Meta word to make things levitate, but has only levitated light stuff, like books -- clamping his hands onto the sides of the boat as Smiler holds Us safely on their lap, then looking at Alice and saying "Do it" --

And Alice, a la that moment in the Jules Verne Otherlands short, using her Vorpal Blade to slice all the ropes holding them up. Cue the boat plummeting toward the Void Sea below, and Victor desperately pushing himself as hard as he can to make the spell affect the boat so the drop isn't fucking fatal. He does succeed, but it takes a lot out of him --

And oh, I imagine this taking place after he's picked up his "Phobia" trauma of the Void Sea and everything in it, so the minute they land, he's also fighting off a panic attack. ...At least until Us starts eating his fear, leading him to be like "wtf why am I calm now." (Us: Spicy!) He actually appreciates it once they figure out what's going on (though Alice gently scolds Us to "ask first next time"), and they manage to get themselves back to shore as the airship crashes into the water. Cue the gang insisting Larian pay them more (which he is happy to do when they explain what they just went through), and getting a new "pet"/companion in Us, who -- as per their home canon -- uses their powers to disguise themselves as a kitty to the rest of the city. :) Because brain kitty is best kitty.

-->Like scores based on CRPGs that everyone agrees are some of the best games ever? Well, here's one based on everyone's favorite vampire game, Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines! Or, rather, the Unofficial Patch version of that game, as the score in question is based on one of the cut quests that the Unofficial Patch restores -- "Night At The Library!" If you're unfamiliar with it, this is a quest you get via e-mail from Beckett (after meeting Gary Golden and completing the "More Fun With Pestilence" sidequest Downtown), where he asks you to meet with an associate of his, Scott, in Santa Monica. Which leads you on a wander all around Santa Monica tracking down the notes Scott left behind, and then infiltrating the library Downtown to rescue him from a Sabbat ritual and kill the Lasombra overseeing it. It's a fun little quest, and I thought it might be amusing to inflict it on my crime trio. XD

So! The Duskwallian version of this nonsense (perhaps called "Eternal Night At The Library" because, well, Duskwall does have eternal night) starts with the trio meeting the visiting Beckett, who in this reality is one of the contacts for the Advocates -- they occasionally work together to help Beckett learn more about the history of the world and its forgotten gods. Beckett is still a vampire in this verse, but he's a BITD-style one, meaning he feeds on life essence instead of blood -- he's still got the classic cat-like red eyes and claws though, since I've decided he's from Tycheros, a land where everyone has demonic ancestry and thus demonic "tells" on their body. Anyway, the group is introduced, and Beckett asks if they'd be willing to go meet with his friend Scott in a smoke shop in Silkshore about a cult they've been investigating recently while he attends to business somewhere else in the city. The trio are game, and go to the shop --

Only to find Scott isn't there -- but he did leave a note. Which leads them to a coffee shop at the edge of Crow's Foot, where another note leads them to a particular pier on The Docks -- where Victor's ability to sense supernatural creatures helps them avoid an ambush by another vampire. They manage to defeat it (I'm thinking by knocking it into the water, as vampires are pretty damn tough opponents) and find a hastily-scrawled note stained with blood directing them to a library in Charterhall -- which, fortunately, was where Beckett was going anyway. So they catch up with him and bring him up to speed, and together they infiltrate the library and find a secret passage into a basement, where they discover poor Scott's life essence being used to fuel some dark ritual by a couple of members of the cult he was investigating. The gang and Beckett stop the ritual, and a fight ensues with the leader of the cult, who has control over a demon that lets him manipulate Shadows. It's a tough battle, but the trio and Beckett prevail, and Scott is saved. Beckett and Scott thank the trio for their help, and perhaps in addition to some Coin, the trio also get a Duskwallian version of one of the occult powerup items from the game -- Beckett may not actually hand any of them over in canon, but I'm sure he could get his hands on one of them!

-->And now a brief return to scores based on things I have not directly experienced but have read about, with a major story based on an episode of Leverage! Which, as I understand it, is an excellent show about people using their crime skills to help the helpless and take down corrupt rich bastards that I should be watching, but finding time for new things is unfortunately difficult. *sigh* Anyway -- one of the reasons that I'm aware of Leverage is that it has its own OT3 of Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer, and thus I keep running into it when I look up OT3/polyamory stuff (memorably, finding someone's Leverage OT3 video for the song "Parachute" led to it becoming one of my favorite songs for my Valicer trio -- and hilariously, I do specifically associate it with the VITD version XD). And looking up where a particular awesome gif set of the trio disarming a bomb came from led to me learning about the episode "The Rundown Job," where Hardison, Eliot, and Parker all have to stop someone from releasing a horrifying biological weapon on D.C. in a twisted attempt to prove that the United States is not equipped to deal with such an attack. I was like, "well, that's dark and I'd love to do something with that for VITD," but the idea wasn't quite gelling in my head as a disease-based threat --

And then I remembered Duskwall is a city full of ghosts and horrors, turned my thoughts toward the trio taking on a supernatural threat instead, and -- well. The story as it currently stands in my head starts with the trio having been arrested again (perhaps by the same guy from the "Rashomon"-style story, who now knows not to underestimate them) -- but while they're waiting interrogation, a Spirit Warden arrives and asks to talk to them. The request is granted, and the Warden proceeds to tell the three that one of their own has gone rogue and decided to solve the Shattered Isle's ghost problem once and for all --

By summoning a soul-devouring Horror to lay waste to the city. His fellow Wardens tried to tell him that the damn thing wouldn't stop with just eating the souls of the dead, it would consume every soul in the Shattered Isles, but he wouldn't listen, and now he's locked himself up in his house, preparing the ritual. The Spirit Wardens can't get inside because the guy has naturally warded his house against them, and this has happened so fast that they haven't been able to get any other factions to help (not to mention, they're not sure how effective the local Bluecoats really would BE against this thing). Plus they don't want to cause a panic by spreading the word around willy-nilly. And at this point, not only do the trio have a bit of a reputation as "freaking unkillable," the Spirit Wardens are well aware that they can do things like take down a Jabberwock in the Deathlands, so... The Warden gives Alice a special knife that can kill the Horror so long as it's still in the book that it's currently trapped in, draws them a quick map to the house from the police station, and helps them escape. The trio naturally BOOK it to the house and manage to work their way past traps both mundane (I of COURSE have to have my own version of the bomb defusing scene) and mystical, and make it to the basement to stop the guy --

But while they reach him in time to prevent him completing the ritual, he's managed to do enough of it that the Horror is partially free of the book and trying to claw its way out on its own. And with Alice and Smiler locked up in making sure the guy can't finish what he started, Victor does the only thing he can think of --

Throws himself on the book to keep it closed, sacrificing his soul to save Duskwall. Alice manages to finally knock the guy out not long thereafter and stabs the book, murdering the half-summoned Horror, but for a moment it looks like Victor's been Hollowed in his attempt to save the city...

Then he slumps to the floor, calling for Alice and Smiler in a weak voice. Turns out his soul wasn't entirely eaten (though he very much is suffering Level 3 "Soul Mostly Devoured" harm), and Alice and Smiler are able to get him home so Elder Gutknecht can have a look at him. Gutknecht tells them that it was a near thing, but there's enough of Victor's soul left to slowly regenerate, though it will take some time. Alice and Smiler are very grateful, though they do wonder why Victor's entire soul wasn't eaten --

Cue Victor whispering, "It couldn't...get past...the glass." Which Alice and Smiler realize in shock refers to the "unbreakable bell jar" they had Victor imagine around the core of himself back when they first started playing with hypnosis as a new polycule. AKA, their post-hypnotic suggestion (designed to make sure their games couldn't mess with his core personality) straight up saved his soul. As you might imagine, they have a lot of feelings about this, as do I. End of the score involves Alice and Smiler collecting their payment from the Spirit Wardens (which fortunately includes things like a vial of pure life essence that they can use to speed up Victor's recovery) and a lot of cuddling.

-->And finally, let's end with a story based on, and titled after, a song -- "Used To Be Young." I've talked before about how this particular Miley Cyrus song makes me think about the trio in their older years -- specifically, when they choose to retire -- so I figured, why not turn the music video into my head into an actual story? As per the linked post, the plot would focus around the trio's very last score as the Three Pillars, stealing something random from some rich toffs...and having a harder time than they expected thanks to not being as young as they used to be -- Victor nearly falls while climbing something and it takes him longer to recover; Alice isn't as fast on her feet while fighting some guards and gets hurt; Smiler -- actually, I'm not entirely sure how Smiler is affected yet, since they're the charming alchemist of the group, but I'll figure it out. XD Point is, while they pull off the job, it's more work than they expected, and a few injuries are suffered...

And while Smiler is patching them up back at their lair, Victor admits that he's not sure he can do this anymore. Some discussion reveals that it's been like 30 years since they first met and became the Three Pillars (putting them in their late 40s), and they all decide that that's MORE than enough time spent as career criminals. So they deliver the item to the client and ask them to please spread the word that the Three Pillars have officially retired. From there, they decide to check in on the greenhouse to see how that's going, and we get some major indications of how long it's been and how much they've affected the world around them. The specific ones I have in mind are:

a) The greenhouse being bigger than it used to be and absolutely FLOURISHING, with a whole staff of people tending to it

b) Six Towers in general being in much better shape, with working streetlamps, well-paved roads, and houses in much better repair

c) Smiler maybe encountering their now-elderly parents and letting them know that they're actually free to take over the shop they run for the Advocates now, giving them a happy retirement in Mar-Mal's grace

d) Alice DEFINITELY encountering the grown-up Angela and Charlie, who are now married and have at least one child, a baby girl named Beth -- who, yes, has a familiar rabbit doll

And after all that, the gang gets to go home, have supper, and head to bed, reminiscing on the good times and looking forward to the years ahead. :) Just a nice little epilogue showing that things have turned out very well for our favorite trio.

...yeah, that really went longer than I expected. XD But I hope that all impresses upon you just how much I love this universe and how much I want to write all the things for it. Hopefully you're with me in wanting to see what adventures the trio gets up to going forward! Now I just have to get this all into a rough timeline...

[marshmallow-biscuit-blog]

For Flower because she needs more love ^^

When did she feel comfortable and 'at hone' with Betty? Did it take a few years? A short while? I can see Betty being a tad anxious for Fkower to be as comfortable as possible in her new home, but for the most part, she let's Flower come out of her shell at her own pace.

I'm not sure if this has been asked, but how does Flower get along with Cuoheads siblings? We know about Mugman, but I'm not sure we heard about his sisters?

By the time she's a mother and has the twins, is she good at preparing them for when their flowers wither in the winter? Would you say they feel better than she did as a kid?

Did Cagney walk her down the isle on her wedding day? Or did she ask Betty or someone else?

I'm pretty sure this has been answered, but I feel I should still put this here (forgive me 😅). What kind of career does Flower have as an adult? Or is she a stay at home parent?

As a flower, does Flower get swarmed by butterflies or bees in the spring? Is she just, used to them at this point?

That's all I can think of for now, unfortunately. I really should be sending more asks :( but I hope you like these! ^^

I feel like Flower felt comfortable with Betty. But was more so quiet and keeping to herself because she was missing her friend that she grew up with, and being that Rooty was the only person she really talked to before being adopted, she didn't really know if she was 'allowed' to really interact with Betty like someone she could actually be 'friendly' with. Of course she understood that Betty being her new mom meant that she was in charge, but she wasn't sure if that meant it was the same kind of 'in charge' like how the orphanage's penguin ladies were, or if she was actually allowed to bond and become friends with her too. 2. When Rooty isn't babysitting the (younger) girls, Flower is because she likes to. Surprisingly babies don't like her as much as they like Rooty. She's kinda indifferent towards Chalice, doesn't like that she likes Puff. 3. Mint doesn't grow flowers since she's a teacup, but Flower does help Honey. Though, lucky for Honey, like mom, she only loses her blooms, not all of her leaves. The cold is still rough on them though, and they cover up. 4. Sadly, Cagney can't walk. So no XD He was there though. Flower ended up asking Betty even if it was untraditional. 5. She's pretty much a stay-at-home mom, but she continues to help Betty out with her floral business as well. She makes it super clear to her mom that she'll always try to be available if she needs her help. She may be grown up and not a butterfly like the rest of the family, but she's still part of it and the business. 6. Yes, and being a flower, she likes it. It makes her sad when she sees people mean to bees. She can get about why with hornets though- they get fiesty- she still feels bad that they usually end up on the end of a flyswatter. Thank you for the Flower asks! :)

[mvsicinthedvrk]

valentines minievent masquerade ball starter call!

i'm limiting each to only a few starters but may add more slots later. i tried to include some baisc information about what everyone is doing, though this is not technically a ~plotting~ call. but if you want to plot beforehand, just send me a dm-- otherwise, if you request a starter, i'll take a look at your plotting/starter call and just come up with something that seems like it'd make sense. please only request 3-4 total starters, since i have limited characters and want to make sure i can write with everyone! thanks for your consideration!

wei wuxian-- going with lan wangji! he's going to be dragging his husband lan zhan around the museum to see absolutely everything, and he'll spend a good deal of the night on the dance floor, too. last valentines day was a disaster, so he's looking forward to having a nice time for once, without worrying. he's very naturally chatty, so if your muse needs someone to talk with, he's right there. wei wuxian starters for wen qing (kasey), jiang yanli (aria), ??-- (2/3)

xie lian-- going with hua cheng! not only does he get to spend valentines day with his memories finally intact, but the ball also falls during spring festival, which xie lian cares very much about. so he's looking forward to having a wonderful time with all the people he loves. if he separates from hua cheng at all during the evening, he'll try to find his friends, and he'll share a dance or a snack with anyone. shoutout to mu qing, who helped him choose his outfit. xie lian starters for feng xin (kasey), kieran hunter (atlas), shen qiao (june), sophie hatter (maig), ?? -- (4/5)

he xuan-- going with shi qingxuan! he xuan imagines he'll likely be here until the very end of the ball, given how enthusiastic his date is about these sorts of things. he'll basically just be going along with whatever qingxuan wants to do, and won't try to draw much attention to himself. he'll also be found near the snack table for a good portion of the evening. he xuan starters for shi qingxuan (sunny), patch (atlas), ??-- (2/3)

sha hualing-- she's neither going with a planned date nor a blind date, though she's keeping an eye out for hunter lance-sharpe at the ball. sha hualing will mostly be finding interesting places to take photos, and see if she can be a nuisance to her friends on dates. she's never opposed to causing a little trouble either. sha hualing starters for doom (atlas), zoe rivas (hali), ?? - (2/3)

liu qingge-- on a blind date with tadashi hamada (atlas's muse)! so qingge has no charisma. he has no romantic experience. he has no real understanding of what valentines day is, and his mask will barely count as a mask. but he should get points for being here at all, truly. he will do his best to stick it out for a few hours. liu qingge starters for ?? - (0/3)

dongfang qingcang-- going with xiao lanhua, with extraordinary reluctance. he will immediately look for reasons why they should head home before chaos strikes. in fact, chaos is just another name for xiao lanhua left unsupervised so it's not looking like the night will be in his favor. dongfang qingcang starters for xiao lanhua (kasey), rory gilmore (atlas), ?? -- (2/3)

chu wanning-- going with mo ran. chu wanning is very excited about this, but he'll be equally stressed about overthinking everything about the evening. he won't risk doing anything that would lead to him embarrassing himself so he'll be staying away from both the dance floor and the bar. chu wanning starters for ?? -- (0/3)

filippa kosta-- going with their girlfriend, amara! she didn't feel much like wearing a ball gown, so she'll be in a blazer of sorts. the concept of valentine's day is 'sweet,' in theory, so they'll be socializing as well as trying to show amara a good time. keeping things very chill and if your muse needs someone to vibe with in a corner of the room, they can go find filippa. filippa starters for mei nianqing (sunny), ?? -- (1/3)

qi yan-- qi yan's going with her wife, nangong jingnu! she'll also be dressed in a blazer and trousers. honestly, catch her taking in the museum sights (because she never has time to come see it otherwise) and making sure her wife doesn't get too drunk. qi yan starters for yin yu (sunny), ?? -- (1/3)

kaz brekker-- kaz is not actively anti-valentines day but he is the most apathetic about this holiday that a person could possibly be. i will send him to the ball because i think he'd use it as an opportunity to talk to business connections while they're all masked, or maybe pick some pockets, but he is not too excited about the ~valentine's~ aspect of it at all. kaz starters for zoya nazyalensky (moon), will herondale (siri), jesper fahey (june) -- (3/3. SLOTS CLOSED)

mo xi-- going solo, though he'll be keeping an eye out for gu mang. this is his first valentine's day in the city, and he doesn't really know what the day is all about, though he's slowly picking up on it the more decorations he sees. someone please take pity on him and come talk to him even though he doesn't look super welcoming. mo xi starters for bryce quinlan (kasey), ?? -- (1/3)

pei ming-- on a blind date with rebecca barnes (kow's muse)! let's just say that valentine's day is the busiest time of pei ming's year. 💀 he sees opportunities for short-lived romantic entanglements everywhere, and he thinks there's plenty of him to go around. but he's going to try to be a gentleman like rebecca seems to want, at least for now. pei ming starters for xuan ji (moon ?), shi wudu (kasey), ling wen (june), rebecca barnes (kow) -- (4/4. SLOTS CLOSED)

xiao chiye-- going solo. he's only here to make an appearance and see if he can catch sight of some of his friends. despite recently having some direct dance instruction, he probably won't be dancing. instead, he'll be taking full advantage of the open bar. xiao chiye starters for nie huaisang (sunny), shen zechuan (june), ?? -- (2/3)

lu junyi-- on a blind date with aluma ruairi (megan's muse)! junyi loves love and will be leaning fully into the valentines aesthetic, heart eyes all the way. if your muses need encouragement to get into the spirit, just look for her and she'll try to gently prod them into the holiday spirit. lu junyi starters for aluma ruairi (megan), ?? -- (1/3)

feng yu-- on a blind date with celeste kipper (sammy's muse)! he is here for just a nice, very regular time. his expectations are respectably neither high nor low, but you'll likely find him around the snack table making very mediocre small talk. or caught up reading every single plaque on every one of the smithsonian exhibitions. feng yu starters for ?? -- (0/3)

[jpitha]

Hidden Depths 10

Awakenings 1 2 3 4

Hidden Depths 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

As Nilan and Ta'reni left the office, Chloe turned to James and Fellmeli. "Vivenni is on the right track. We're going to need some help if we're going to survive this. Whoever was in system is enough for now, but soon the Venusians are going to be done doing whatever it is they're doing and really attack. We'll need to be ready."

"Agreed, but what are we going to do?" James said.

"Also, what about the folks on the Reach?" Fellmeli added.

"Like I said, I know someone. I linked a beacon out as soon as the attack started. If we're lucky, they should be here soon. Meanwhile, you should send word down to them to pack up and get ready to evacuate up here. If things go bad, Starbase can link away now. There's no need to subject them to domination by Venus."

"Okay, I'll get a message composed and sent down right away" Fellmeli said, and turned to leave.

"James, I need your help too." Chloe gestured to him to follow. James looked at Fellmeli who shrugged and went into the other room to record another message.

As they walked Chloe didn't check to see if James was following, she just started talking. "There's a K'laxi onboard we need to find."

"Another one?"

"Yes. Her name is Cereni and she is one of the best loadmasters I've ever seen. She'll be needed to get the dropship that is coming loaded up and secured for the ride up. I know she lives here but..." Chloe paused. "She won't be pleased to hear from me. Can you reach out?"

James raised an eyebrow. "If I do, and she agrees to help, won't she be extra mad that you asked someone else on your behalf for help? She might just leave then when she learns that."

Chloe sighed. She hated to admit James was right. "Okay, yes. I'll talk to her." She clicked her headset. "Starbase! Can you tell me where Cereni Hemiganian is?

"One moment please Chloe."

****

Cereni had made it back to her quarters. The attack was still ongoing but there seemed to not be as much of a direct threat as a couple hours earlier, so Starbase said everyone could leave the shelters, but had to go home and stay there for now. Hopefully, whoever was out there would do what they came to do and leave, or be repelled by the forces in system.

She was sitting down to a late meal when the door chimed. "Who is it?" She called over the annunciator.

There was a slight pause. "It's Chloe."

She laughed. "Chloe it hasn't even been half a year, and you're back? You know my answer. No."

Chloe sighed over the open channel. "Cereni, I'm sorry. What I did was wrong, and I should have told you the truth from the get go. You and Sophie should have been more informed about what I was asking you to do. I did not intend to blow the reactors on Spruces, but I saw an opportunity for an edge and I took it. I can't even find Sophie to apologize to her, she's ignored all my messages. Can you at least open the door so we can talk?"

The door clicked open. Cereni stood there arms akimbo. She was annoyed at how attracted she was to Chloe and yet how mad she made her.

"Come in then. I'm just sitting down to eat, do you want anything?"

"Actually, I could really go for some tea if you have any."

Cereni flicked her ear. "Alright, sure. Let's have some tea and talk."

****

After a few cups of tea, Cereni was trying to understand what was going on.

"So, it's the Imperial...."

"Imperial Venusian Navy yes"

"And they've declared that AIs aren't people?"

"Yes."

"Which we all don't agree with."

"I should hope not!"

"But why are they here? Why now? Why not just stay in the Sol system and make their little proclamations from there?"

Chloe shrugged and took another sip of tea. "I really don't know. Maybe they defeated the OPA, maybe they haven't and are trying to capture more materiel for their war effort back home. Maybe this is just a vanguard to see how soft - or not - the colonies are and will come with a larger force later. Regardless, they are here, they don't think I or anyone like me should be alive and if they capture us, it will not be pleasant."

Cereni leaned back in her chair and sighed. "Why me though?"

"You know the colony on the planet below? Zen'ma'gan's Reach?"

"Yeah, K'laxi colony; older than Starbase, but never really took off. The planet is too dry for us, it never got much past the initial town they founded when they landed."

"The Venusians won't be nice to them if they capture Starbase. We need to get them off world."

"That's doable I guess. There's time for them to pack, and we..." she gasped. "You called Abyssal Plains!"

Chloe nodded. "I don't know if they'll come, but if they do, they are going to need a loadmaster, and I remember Abyssal saying you were their best."

Cereni smirked. "Chloe, that's...so sweet. You remembered such a small detail about me and was able to use it to try and help the people down on the Reach."

Even though she was an AI in an artifical body, she still felt things; the builders of AI bodies are very thorough. Chloe blushed, just a bit.

"Well, yes, Um. It's good to know the skills of people around you in case they're needed. It's just good planning." She managed.

"Uh huh." Cereni said, still smiling. She drained her tea.

"I'll help. I won't forget how upset I was before, but I will remember how you apologized and came to me with all the information this time." She looked at Chloe. "You did come to me with all the information this time, yes?"

Chloe blurted out: "Well, Starbase is also made up of an old Starjumper named Picaresque who we had thought had been offloaded when the Starjumper was integrated into Starbase but wasn't and was just dormant until Gord found out and woke him up and that's what cased the gravity anolomy earlier today, but that wasn't related to the Venusians attacking."

Cereni opened her mouth to reply but Chloe continued.

"Also, we just asked a very cute human and k'laxi couple to go to K'lax and ask on our behalf for help defending ourselves from the Venusians."

Cereni closed her mouth. There was no stopping Chloe now.

"And also Gord - he's a really old AI, older than me - and Lucas - I don't know who he is, but he seems useful - decided to go grab a couple Starjumpers and accelerate up to a quarter of the speed of light to attach to the human colony ship Mt Greylock - which is currently breaking to come in system - and slow them down quicker so they can link over because then we'll have another source of ships and materiel that can be used in our defense.

Cereni's ears flattened.

"That's pretty much it though. She clicked her headset. Starbase, Picaresque, did I miss anything?"

"No Chloe, that's pretty much it I think." Picaresque answered. "Good evening Cereni, my name is Picaresque. I'm here with Starbase."

Cereni's mouth was agape. "There's two of you now?"

"Yes, it's a little cramped in here, but we're getting by" Starbase said. "Picaresque gave me access to the systems still inside him that were never integrated over, so now we have a wormhole generator, two more reactors and even a Starjumper class weapons battery! Just the one though, so we'll have to save it for defense."

"Wow. Um, okay." Cereni looked at Chloe, who was trying very hard to not look worried. "Thank you Chloe for your honesty even if it was a little...much."

"I-I didn't want you to think I was keeping anything from you."

"Yes, I believe you."

"So, you'll help?"

"Yes. I'll help." Cereni stood. "Just one more thing, who is Gord again?"

She told him.

"THE MAPLE GUY????"

Chloe laughed. "He will be entirely too pleased with himself if that becomes his legacy."

"Come on, let's go. We should get ready for Abyssal's arrival. I could also use your help with the loading on Starbase. If we have to link away, we're going to have to see how far down we can condense things and that'll mean moving mass around."

"Lead the way then Chloe." and she took her hand.

Chloe had a very small intake of breath, and squeezed it gently back.

They walked out towards the Administrators office together.

Part 11!

[girlygguk]

lyssa baby can i ask which JK is this or that, instead?

1. who's introvert? who's extrovert?

2. who's the little spoon? who's the big spoon?

3. most likely to send 🍆 picsss lmao

4. their drinks orders (who orders americano/latte/raspberry candy milk or whatever its called. i think the latter would be needy!jk🥺)

5. who's best at holding liquor (or you could make MTL)

6. how they save Y/N's contact

7. boobs guy vs ass guy (although we all know fc! jk is both from the fic😩)

i literally could go on more but im afraid it would be too much💔 i hope you dont mind and have fun answering them heheheheh love you🫶

a/n: oh my goddd noo baby its so fun plz go on!!! y'all can literally send in as many asks as u wanttt!! i love them <3 <3

the most introverted? ☁️

N E E D Y ! J K

the most extroverted? ⛅️

hmmm i think it would be a respectable tie between salsa!jk or fc!jk 🤞 while we haven't seen too much of salsa jk, he's a very outgoing and secure manss and literally teaches ppl how to shimmy their hips for a living 😭 like it would be a litttle cray if he were introverted :P and first class jk is v charismatic, literally the golden boy of yonsei and a retired fuckboy 🙈 n we all know he didn't get there by keeping to himself that's for sure.. xx

spooning 🥄 🫂

needy!jk — 55% big spoon, 45% little spoon even tho he's my babiest jk yet, i am certainn he's more of a big spoon than a little one.. & i will die on this hill

first class!jk — 70% big spoon, 30% little spoon he falls asleep holding her tiddies when they spoon 🍒 wbk

denial!jk — 80% big spoon, 20% little spoon they havent had that many sleepovers bc u know... friends w bennies... 'i cant sleep at ur place after sex bc feelings.' 🙄 but when they've been napping/cuddling lately, they fall asleep w jk on his back and yn resting on his chest <3 n when they wake up she's shuffled around & his arms are clampedddd around her ... like she can't even move... he really is her biggest fanboy even unconscious

salsa!jk — 85% big spoon, 15% little spoon she's his babyyyy 🥺 he's fr been her protector since day 1 ! but ik they're kinkyyy af and she'll def big spoon him sometimes after he lets her try something freaky out on him

crazy!jk — 99% big spoon he lets her cuddle up to him whenever she wants, but when its time to sleep, she's flipped the fuck around n he's holding her lil bratty ass against his chest until she's dead asleep and quiet for the first time all day

most likely to send 🍆 pics

wait hear me out... needy!jk

okay but unprompted = fc!jk 😭 i just know his and yn's camera rolls n text chains are filledddd with nudes fr. but frequency wise, i just know oc tells her baby to send him a dick pic whenever they haven't seen each other for a lil while... just to check on it u know :P see how it's doing 😌

their coffee orders ☕️

needy!jk — no literallyyy strawberry milk 😭

salsa!jk — caffe mocha (hot)

crazy!jk — americano (hot)

first class!jk — iced caramel latte w extra caramel syrup and whipped cream w extra caramel drizzle on top

denial!jk — iced americano

who’s the best at holding their liquor? 🍷

1. crazy!jk baby hands deeeoown

2. first class!jk got that uni frat boy tolerance

3. salsa!jk he doesn't drink that much anymore n is usually yn's sober d, but when they drink together hes buzzed at her wasted fr

4. denial!jk he's good for a bit but he gets all red n blushy it's cute

5. needy!jk.

how they save y/n's contact 📱

needy!jk — Lovie 💘💗

crazy!jk — Baby

salsa!jk — (before she yelled at him to change it): Y/N Y/L/N (after): My Love

first class!jk — (before): y/nn 🤍 (after): loml ❤️ 🍒

denial!jk — y/nn 🖤

🍒 vs 🍑

boobs: needy!jk 🤝 fc!jk falling asleep sucking on yns tiddies

ass: crazy!jk has done unspeakable things 2 her . . . so it's safe to say he's the leader of this entourage

salsa!jk been booty whipped since the first backshots

denial!jk 🤝 fc!jk falling asleep using her ass as a pillow

[noodlecupcakes]

Send me a ship and i’ll tell you for Tabitha x Joseph pretty please

Thank you so much for the ask, I really appreciate it <3

Who made the first move: Joseph did. Tabitha had been teaching the children of Eden's Gate in the church, practicing some of the hymns. Joseph was pleasantly surprised by Tabitha's voice, she could play guitar and how motherly she was towards the children. Eventually he asked her to join him for a duet at the piano and the two got talking.

2. Who kissed who first: Joseph did. During the scene mentioned above, after the two were talking for a little while he decided to make the big move and kiss her.

3. Who started the relationship: I would say that was a mutual agreement, they went on a few dates first before things naturally and silently seemed to progress. Tabitha and Joseph didnt exactly ask 'will you be my boyfriend/girlfriend?', it was more a silent agreement.

4. Who remembers things: They both do. Joseph remembers things like Tabitha's favourite flowers and always brings her fresh flowers at the first signs of wilting from the previous bunch he handpicked for her. Tabitha remembers Joseph favourite bakes and always makes sure she's fully stocked. His favourite is home made vanilla fudge.

5. Nicknames for each other:  Joseph calls Tabitha, Angel Tabitha calls Joseph, my love

6. Who is more likely to pay for dinner:  If they went out for dinner, Joseph would be the one to pay.

7. Who normally cooks:  Tabitha does. She's the better cook out of the two of them.

8. Who remembers anniversaries: Both of them do. I feel neither of them would forget important dates like anniversaries or birthdays.  

9. What would they get each other for gifts: This answer is going to be very similar to question four. Joseph would usually pick a bunch of wildflowers from around Hope County and make a bouquet out of them for Tabitha. And Tabitha would make Joseph some kind of sweet treat, either Vanilla Fudge or Lemon cakes.

10. Most trivial thing they fight over:  Its not really fighting per say but Joseph does his best to try and stand his ground and say no when Tabitha brings home another stray animal for them to take care of. Needless to say, he caves when she gives him puppy eyes.

11. How often do they fight: Not often, Joseph might get stressed and frustrated but he does his best to not take it out on Tabitha.

12. Who uses all the hot water: Tabitha does, but Joseph doesn't mind. And these two shower together most of the time so Joseph doesn't have to endure cold water much.

13. Who calls up the super/landlord when the heat’s not working:   Tabitha will tell Joseph if somethings not working around the house and Joseph will get one of the peggies to fix it.

14. Who leaves their stuff around: Neither of them really leave stuff around, Tabitha always makes sure the house is clean and tidy. However, the one room off limits is Josephs office, particularly his desk. Whilst its a mess, Tabitha doesn't want to touch anything on it and Joseph not being able to find it.

15. Who remembers to buy the milk:  Neither of them buy milk. They have it brought to them, as well as all their groceries. A perk of running a cult.

16. Who controls the netflix queue:  They dont own a TV, mainly because Joseph has a strong dislike for technology and media that he cannot control. So instead of watching movies or TV shows, these two read together.

17. Who steals the covers at night: Tabitha does, she likes having them tucked under her chin and her body.

18. Who cusses more:  Tabitha. She'll never do it in front of Joseph but if she stubs her toe or cuts her finger, there will likely be a very soft, quiet, 'fuck'.

19. Who does most of the cleaning: Tabitha does most of the house work but Joseph is happy to help out with the trash and dishes.

20. What’s their favorite non-sexual activity: Reading together. They'll both sit together, sometimes with the fire on in the colder months. Tabitha will have her head on Josephs lap whilst he strokes her hair and reads a few chapters to her.

21. Who’s the cuddler: Tabitha. She loves hugs, and being in Josephs arms makes her feel safe and content.

22. Who’s the big spoon/little spoon: Tabitha is the little spoon, Joseph is the big spoon.

23. Who’s more dominant: Joseph. And not just in the bedroom. Joseph has to be in control of every aspect of his life and that includes Tabitha.

24. Who is the dirty talker: Tabitha, she may look innocent but she can engage in a little dirty talk. Either to tease Joseph to get him in the mood or in the bedroom.

25. What do they do when they’re away from each other: On the rare occasions they are away from each other, they will ensure they talk to each other using the radio at least once a day. Otherwise, Joseph is a little more reserved and mopey. Tabitha's confidence seems to dwindle and she keeps to herself.

26. What would they do if the other one was hurt: If Tabitha got hurt, Joseph would take care of her first, bathe her and make sure she's okay. Then he'll ensure the people who hurt his angel are found and are brought to righteous justice.

If Joseph got hurt, Tabitha would refuse to leave his side before patching him up and consoling him. Considering she was training to become a nurse, she makes tending wounds look easy and has a wonderful bedside manner.

27. A headcanon:  When Tabitha is feeling anxious, Joseph will trace his fingers over the water lily tattoo she has on her right wrist to soothe and distract her.

[msommers]

🗡️ for riya and meredith and ellana!!

muah muah ty // character danger meme

RIYA

raw power: ★★★★★ — i won't hear any logical arguments on her realistically being closer to a 4 right now due to level bc 1) she's my babygirl, 2) most of her entire deal is having bonkers bananas offensive magic bc of the powerful, aggressive nature of her mana, 3) she can feel me giving her a good score thru the multiverse and she deserves a lil pat on the head rn formal training: ★★★☆☆ — okay, this one can truly get a +1 or -1 depending on how you look at it. because she would have had so much training between the college of magi basics and her decision to get into the tourney life, and her mother would've ensured she had the very best teachers! but also it's riya, so much of her prowess comes from pure instinct and impulse. combat experience: ★★★☆☆ — she had a decent amount between everything to do with the grand tourney and the nevarran privilege of more exciting training exercises in the circle. then i added an extra point because the party's been through a good deal of battles so far, and i'm sure that'll be maxed out before the campaign ends if riya makes it that far lmao willingness to kill: ★☆☆☆☆ — i'd give this a half star if i could. like she's going to fight and she will hurt people if the situation calls for it, but fully killing somebody is a last resort. she'd probably let her own ass get beat for a while before giving in tbh previous victims: ☆☆☆☆☆ — she was FRAMED!!!

MEREDITH

answered here!

ELLANA

raw power: ★☆☆☆☆ — she's so sexy and cool and good with daggers but most of her power comes from the tempest elixirs and we all know it. also her heart but that doesn’t help much in combat, i GUESS. formal training: ★★☆☆☆ — i imagine that she spent a good few years apprenticed under one of the senior hunters of her clan to gather the basics, and then earned the rest of her learning through personal experience. combat experience: ★★★☆☆ — i'll count her years spent hunting to provide for the clan, and then she more than likely had a few skirmishes with groups of humans that decided to take up arms against her clan for just being around, as they're wont to do. willingness to kill: ★★★★☆ — will more often than not gravitate towards the most merciful choice, but she's a protector first and foremost and if that calls for somebody to be taken tf out 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ guess they gotta go! she'll send a prayer to falon'din for them on the way out. previous victims: ★☆☆☆☆ — she probably took out one or two or a few of those humans trying to stir up trouble with her clan, yeah.

[gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot]

Annoying anon here! Had a few questions so i thought i would send them together, you can answer the ones you want (or none of course)

- how long did it take for Ghost and riot to get together? Relationship wise and merely comfortable in the other's presence

- do you think realistically there would/could possibly be conflict in the sense that one of them is ready to settle down and the other isn't/isn't yet?

- which one is more reckless? Which one is more possible to be in a very VERY bad situation? (Could be impulsive or because of a teammate)

- i know they're both stubborn, but which one is at a most disadvantage because of their pride (very similar to the last question)

Anyways I'm off for a shower and there could be more questions arriving from it (shower thoughts am i right)

Thank you for your work! (I sound like a middle aged man i swear im not)

You're not annoying <3 I love your asks, hun!! Really!!

1 - Well, my fic starts January 2023 (I don't say the exact date but... let's say mid January) and it took them a whole week and a half to start hanging out alone to smoke (of course it was a coincidence lol lol... yeah sure). So comfortable in each other's (silent) presence, soon enough. I think Ghost was thankful for someone less rambuctious as Soap, and Gaz, as lovely as he is, is determined to make him more social so... And Riot was thankful that he didn't pry like the others.

Now, relationship wise, current chapter (the op in Spain) is June or July 2023 and they're just starting having physical touch here and there. I don't think they'd be 'together' in a physical sense until Late August or September. And between first kiss and actual sex it'll take about three weeks or a month, so... They're very slow lmao i'm sorry

2 - Oh, absolutely. I write constantly how they advance a step and sometimes they go back two or three. Ghost's PTSD is better managed in the sense that he's been suffering it longer, and although he is not fine, he is slightly better than her. That doesn't mean he doesn't spiral sometimes. Her spiraling is often more apparent because her PTSD is fresher. Right at the point where they are (I'm writing) he is kinda stable (until the nightmare) and she was slowly trying to get out of her shell. Holding hands, sitting closer, touching each other, now sharing a room. Their own self-doubt and feeling that they are not deserving of anything good is what screws them over.

In the (nearer than you think) future, when there is talk about the officiality of it... surprisingly enough, they get to an agreement soon.

3 - Definitely Riot. She is careful if she's leading or has people under her command. If she's working alone she's less careful about her own wellbeing, the only thing important is getting the mission done. (More or less like Ghost, but Price has forced Ghost to accept that he has people waiting for him). It'd be a conflict soon, in a couple of chapters. Add to that, that she'd never leave anyone behind, and lives with the shame about what happened to Phoenix Squad, and she'll do anything to atone, even if rationally, it wasn't her fault

4 - Definitely Ghost. I follow the comic canon, I just adapted it slightly, so his childhood is canon, Roba, etc. For me, Ghost had an unhealthy childhood with a horrible father who abused his family, abused his mother, his brother, him. He was beaten into thinking any kind of emotional state was unmanly, asking for help was for the weak. So he is extremely proud in the sense that he'd never ask for help, no matter about what.

He only concedes with Price. If he absolutely need someone... he'd go to Price. Price is his rock, his anchor. Price won't judge him. Price is the only one that saw him at his worst, after Roba, saw him in the deepest hole known to man, and stayed. Never turned his back on him. So Ghost's absolutely loyalty is to Price and will listen to him over anyone, including Riot (not that she'd go against Price in any case but you get my meaning)

[attackfish]

More monster hunter Mai au?

Inspired by this artwork by kimmytsunami: [Link]. Continued from: [Link], [Link], and [Link].

1. The right thing to do, Mai knows, is to report to Long Feng, endure his scorn and whatever punishment he sees fit to heap upon her, and wash her hand of the monsters at the Jasmine Dragon. But she doesn't. At first, she tells herself she'll tell Long Feng soon, when she isn't so tired, or rattled, but then that line becomes more and more obviously a lie, and soon it becomes too long ago for her to fess up without serious punishment. She decides instead to survail the tea shop to make sure no one gets hurt, and to pinpoint a weakness on the part of its owners.

2. She finds... a surprising amount of kids and families frequent the shop, potential human sheilds for the dragons. One old woman and her two teenage grandchildren are there almost every day, along with a little blind girl with her cane and a blindfold over her eyes. One afternoon, the old woman's granddaughter gives the blind girl a present, and when she unwraps it, it's a green denim jacket, with flowers enbroidered on it, leaving the words "I'm not blind, I just can't see anything less awsome than me" in negative space. It's like a beatiful, happy village who don't know they're living on the slopes of a volcano. It breaks Mai's heart.

3. But worse, she has miscalculated terribly, Because since she has started surveilling the tea shop, she has not been reporting kills. Long Feng is suspicious, and rather than dress her down or ask her why she's no longer killing monsters, he sends the next best of his monster killers after, to spy on her, and Jet has been a rival and thorn in her side for years. And Jet is only too happy to spy on her and report back even the smallest of infractions.

4. But spying on a spy quickly becomes too boring for Jet, and unbeknownst to Mai, He starts steaking out the restaurant too, and he quickly figures out Iroh and Zuko's little secret. Perfect, he thinks, he'll steal Mai's kill, and win her top spot. He slips into the back of the restaraunt. And instead of the quiet careful kill he expects, he finds himself shoved out of the kitchen and knocked to the floor by the small dragon's shoulder. The small dragon shifts from teanage boy to gawky teenage dragon as he runs/slithers out after Jet into the dining area. Oh, thinks Mai, this is when the volcano erupts.

5. And it does, just not the way Mai was thinking. The blind girl's hair starts moving, and lifts off her head, and Mai's brain takes a moment to realize what she's seeing, a wig over a writhing tangle of snakes. She starts taking off her blindfold, but the grandmother stops her. A gorgon. The grandmother and her grandchildren come up to circle Jet, their bodies dissolving into water and reforming. Water demons. She looks around the teashop, and all of the previously human faces are something else now. Every one of them is a monster. It takes her no time at all to make her decision. Jet is an idiot. He was clearly spying on her and trying to get one up on her. And he will be killed without her help. She swings down from the roof nextdoor and runs into the teashop.