#that's why we didn't go the last time either or the time before that.

[vespaer77]

Aside from the fact that I think I might be the only person on the planet who could genuinely be interested in the Executors (I say "could" because my faith in good storytelling from BW is on shaky ground), I fully agree with this post.

And I say this as someone who wasn't sure that the Veil coming down was the right move. But whether someone thinks the Veil should come down or stay up is immaterial. The whole point is that no arguments for the validity of either claim were really ever truly examined. The only reasoning in the game that we get for the Veil remaining intact is that its collapse would "drown the world in demons." Which is... almost a fallacy on its own. Aside from naturally occurring malign spirits (that we learn about from the Mournwatch), demons exist as a direct result of the Veil simply existing.

Perhaps the danger is in not knowing what would happen to all of the mundane, unmagical folk when confronted with the full power of all the raw, unfiltered, chaotic magic of the Fade. But that's still thinking of magic within the confines of the Fade itself. We have no perspective, outside of Solas, on what magic really looks like when the Fade and the mundane world combine. Does it change? Is it still dangerous? Who does it endanger? Are we wrong? Are we right? Who knows? The whole point is that there's never an opportunity to ask those questions. And we have at least three characters fully immersed and available in the story who could provide concrete, first-person, lived and experienced answers.

But we never ask.

We have a spirit of Wisdom who loves answering questions.

And we never ask.

Hell, in addition, we have two dwarves that are connected, isatunolly, with the Titans, who were also there before the Veil.

And we don't get to really ask anything of great value. Even our characters are canonically frustrated with how little we get to ask.

I just think it's very interesting that this game was called Dreadwolf for so long, and then it wasn't. The game we got has very little to do with, and makes very little use of, the Dread Wolf at all. So the game is called The Veilguard. But at no point does the Veilguard really ever.... guard... the Veil. Or make any mention of guarding the Veil. Or have any discussion on why guarding the Veil is so super important or what it even means, especially considering that, in the first 20min of the game, the only real element threatening the Veil is neutralized until the last 10min.

The game, called The Veilguard, isn't about the Veil at all.

In my humble opinion? This game should have been given a title that had more to do with the Blight or the gods or something. Or, given how many times it gets said in game, it could've just been called, "Dragon Age: It's Just So Hard." Even on a meta level, that's a title I could've believed, lol.

All this without even mentioning that one mural memory. We all know the one. The one that falls somewhere between a shameful, textbook retcon and a blatant attempt at gaslighting.

Whoops. I mentioned it, didn't I? Maybe I'll make a longer post about that someday. That's the part of this game that really grinds my gears, the status of the Veil notwithstanding.

In short, I firmly believe that the vilification of Solas is purely based on a retcon (and one that makes no logical sense when properly examined) and it's a hill I'm prepared to die on.

Anyhoops, if someone told me that, even though this game had been in development for 10yrs, the final version of this game was produced from start to finish in 16mos or less, I'd honestly believe it. I also feel like they were 100% shooting for a game that would have DLC afterwards and were told late in their development cycle that there wouldn't be so they tried to gift wrap everything with the ribbons and bows that they had. Like... go to the Halls of Valor and tell me that this is a fully finished game that was intended to be complete from the very beginning.

Castles in the Fade, or What Was the Point of the Veil Anyway

Something that will now haunt me until the end of time is why was the concept of the Veil ever introduced into this series.

We’ve been hearing about it since the very first game. There’s a codex entry about tears in the Veil in Origins. Tamlen mentions a thin spot in the Veil if you play a Dalish elf. Sandal has a prophecy in Dragon Age 2: “One day the magic will come back—all of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part and the skies will open wide. When he rises, everyone will see.” Admittedly, this is just one line said by a character who often says odd things, but it hinted to the fact they were planning to do something with the Veil from the very beginning. The state of the Veil is repeatedly brought up. It all had to mean something! Or so I thought. 

When I saw “The Dread Wolf Rises” quest in Veilguard, I said, “Oh, here we go!” The Veil is coming down, magic is coming back, and it’s going to set up such an interesting story for the next game. 

Alas, no. 

I hadn’t really enjoyed my time playing Veilguard up until this point. It felt like the game was ducking and dodging every bit of world building and lore that could possibly bring nuance or complexity to the story. Every returning character or faction was a cardboard cutout of themself. They shoved Solas is a time-out box and gave him nothing to do. They refused to let him have any impact or influence on the story when he had been set up to be our main antagonist back in Trespasser. This game used to be called Dreadwolf! And while we learn about his past… we never talk to him about it. In the present, he’s in stasis.

Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain are our villains. And they are your typical evil for evil’s sake villains. They are mad, bad, and only as dangerous as the narrative will allow as to not give Rook and co too much trouble. They are surprisingly patient while Rook fixes all their companions’ problems… until Elgar’nan moves the moon to cause an eclipse. A vital component in making his own lyrium dagger. For some reason. This guy can move a satellite!? And he just let Rook walk away in previous encounters… twice. Ok. Sure.

The Evil Duo need their own dagger ostensibly to tear down the Veil, because they want to unleash the full force of the Blight onto the world. Because they are evil. And they were thwarted last time they tried to Blight the entire world. Why do they think Blighting the world is a good idea? What’s the point of ruling a world if everyone is dead? I guess they haven’t thought that through, because of the madness and the evilness.

Ok, I thought. Perhaps the gods will be the one to tear down the Veil. Or maybe we’ll have a choice to let Solas do it his way before they can, which will be less chaotic and less full of Blight. Because the Veil has to be coming down one way or another? Why introduce the concept of the Veil, especially a Veil that has been thinning and failing since the series began, if it’s just going to… stay.

There is a principle in storytelling called Chekov’s gun. If something is mentioned in a story, it must have a purpose. If you keeping mentioning that gun hanging on the wall over the fireplace, it’s because at some point in the story, someone is going to take it down and use it. The Veil felt like Chekov’s gun to me. Chekov’s Veil, if you will. It’s been here from the beginning of our tale, the spectre hanging over our protagonists’ heads for multiple games.

The Veil has been a character unto itself. It was the central focus of the third game, and its dissolution was set up to be the core conflict of the fourth game. We learn everything we thought we knew about the Veil was a lie. It was not created by the Maker to separate the Fade from this world because of jealous spirits, it was created by a guy named Solas to trap the elven gods and the Blight from destroying the world. Also, the elven gods were never gods, and they are also evil.

This reveal will surely throw the Andrastian religion into chaos! This puts the very existence of the Maker into question! The Evanuris are a lie; it’s only fair Catholicism—oh, I mean—the Chantry is a lie too. We briefly touch on that in Veilguard… then it is quietly discarded. Religious crisis averted.

But I digress.

When the title of the fourth game was changed from Dreadwolf to Veilguard, I started to see the writing on the wall. Still, I held out hope the Veil would have some greater purpose in the story. That its introduction as a concept was for a reason. That something in this world would change.

Instead, from the get-go, the question of the Veil is no question at all. We only get Solas and Varric making oblique or catastrophizing statements about it. Solas says little beyond he has a plan. If I ever wanted to hear a villain monologue about their plan, it was now! Varric, on the other hand, decries Solas’s plan. He warns that should the Veil fall, it will destroy the world and drown it in demons. And that’s that.

We never really learn why Solas wants to tear the Veil down, or why he thinks it will help anyone. “The Veil is a wound inflicted upon this world. It must be healed,” he says. And that’s basically all he says about it in Veilguard. In Inquisition and Trespasser, we learn it took the immortality from the elves. It cut most of magic off from the world. Spirits are trapped and are being corrupted into demons, and most of what we know about spirits and demons is wrong. There are ancient elves possibly asleep? That part is left vague, but ancient elves are still about. We meet some in Mythal’s temple. There seems to have been some merit in bringing it down, because elves were flocking to Solas’s cause at the end of Trespasser. He had agents working for him already. What do they know that we don’t know?

Apparently nothing, because by the time Veilguard rolls around, there are no mention of agents. He is working alone. His only motivation now seems to be he’s too deep in his sunk-cost fallacy. The Veil is unnatural, so it must be removed—consequences be damned. We are never given any reason to think Solas has a leg to stand on in his pursuit of tearing down the Veil. We never hear any kind of counter argument from anyone, not even Solas, as to why the Veil should come down. We are only told it will destroy the world. It will drown the world in demons. This is all Solas’s fault.

There is no nuance. No complexity. No moral quandary to mull over. The game gives us vague warnings with no explanation as to what exactly is so world-annihilating about the Veil coming down. We must take Varric’s word at face value. We’re the heroes; Solas is the villain. Stop him.

It makes me wonder why Solas was ever a companion in Inquisition, let alone a romance option. Solas was presented to us as a complicated character in Inquisition. We had the potential throughout the game to make him see the value of this world, to help him realize he was wrong about it. “We aren’t even people to you,” the Inquisitor says in Trespasser. Solas replies, “Not at first. You showed me that I was wrong...again.” He began the third game viewing the world as tranquil, seeing the people in it as nothing more than figments in a nightmare, just as we saw our companions in the In Hushed Whispers quest. He ends the game having made friends, having recognized he was mistaken. He might have even fallen in love. (Or he may still seen no merit in this world if the Inquisitor antagonized him the entirety of their time together.) But something makes him continue with his plan to tear down the Veil, despite recognizing this world is real. He must know something we don’t. Something we’ll learn about in the next game.

We’ve been hearing about the Veil for three games now. We’ve set up our complex antivillain for the next installment, and he’s going to tear the Veil down. We swear to stop him or save him. But it has to be more complex than that. It can’t be so straightforward. Uncomplicated. Simple. Boring. Right? Right?

Nope. He really is just the villain, mustache-twirling and all. He apparently had no greater motivation, no as of yet unrevealed knowledge that would put this whole Veil thing into a new context. It was really as simple as the Veil falling will destroy the world, so Solas must be stopped. There is no new information that is revealed which makes us question what we are doing. Solas is never given any nuance or complexity to his actions. Nuance and complexity have actively been taken away. Both him and the Veil are looking like they are the worst things to be in a story: pointless. Why introduce the Veil if it’s just going to remain unchanged? Why introduce a character like Solas, bother humanizing him (for lack of a better term), giving us his backstory, setting him up as a cunning antagonist, only to make him look stupid, then put him on a shelf until the last ten minutes of your game?

Solas was the trickster archetype of this tale. He was our version of Loki from Norse mythology. What is the role of the trickster archetype? To challenge the status quo. To bring about events of extreme change, like say, the tearing down of a Veil that holds back all of magic. Loki is a huge contributing factor in Ragnarök. Through his manipulation, he causes the death of the beloved god, Baldr. This ushers in a long winter, which signifies the beginning of the end. Loki is imprisoned for this crime. When the final battle between gods and giants begins, the sun and moon are swallowed, plunging the earth into darkness. The earth shakes and Loki is freed to fight on the side of the giants. The world burns in raw chaos, falls beneath the sea, and is reborn. The world is remade, and a new realm of the gods and a new, better earth is formed.

It really felt like this was the setup they were going for. Solas causes the death of Mythal, and this is his catalyst for creating the Veil, which ushers in a world without magic. This could be seen as equivalent to the long winter. Solas falls asleep, trapped in dreams. He wakes and sets in motion bringing about the apocalypse. It’s not a perfect one to one, but it’s there if you squint. We have a war against the gods in Veilguard. I was expecting a few remaining Titans to wake and join the fight. But we don’t get any of that. There is a final battle, but it does not end in the end of the world. Or a better world. It just ends, and everything is the same.

It seems our trickster god caused his apocalypse thousands of years before our story started, when he created the Veil. His role in this tale was over before ours began, and he really is just some relic from a long-past age. He has no role, no purpose in this story. He is here to be thwarted. He is no Loki at all.

If you can’t tell, I wanted the Veil to come down. Did I think the Veil coming down would be painless? Have no negative consequences? No. Of course not. But keeping it up has negative consequences too. And it made for an interesting story. Or at least it could have. But we never explore that. The game presents no counter argument to having the Veil stay up, which, again, begs the question: what was the point of introducing the concept of the Veil at all?

Did I think the Veil coming down was actually the best solution to help Thedas become a better place? I don’t know, and I never will, because the game never argues for it one way or another. It just tells you to want it in place and to stop asking questions. In real life, a catastrophic event is not the best way to solve any of the world’s problems. But this is the realm of fiction. We have gods and monsters, magic and myth. We have introduced the status quo of Thedas, recognized it needs to change, then our trickster god appears ready to fulfill his role in the narrative. 

Instead, it all comes to nothing.

I got to the end of Veilguard… and everything was more or less the same as it was at the start of Origins. Veilguard actually tries its hardest to pretend any previously mentioned problems don’t exist, so of course the Veil coming down has no merit. There are no problems to solve in this world, apparently. Solas is just stuck in the past and can’t get with the times. Silly Solas.

The Veil isn’t even a permanent solution. It wasn’t to begin with. It was some duct tape wrapped around a broken pipe, and we’ve just slapped an extra piece of tape on it. It’s still leaking. It is still unnatural, and will fall eventually one way or another. Large amounts of bloodshed weaken it, so I guess Thedas better achieve world peace real quick to avoid any battles. There were seven super-powered mages holding it together… now there is just one. Ironically, the Veil was going to fall after two more Blights anyway. The Wardens were doing Solas’s work for him! It would also have released the full force of the Blight at that time… which Solas was trying to avoid, I presume.

It feels like keeping the Veil up just pushed a big problem onto Thedas’ future generations. We’ll keep slapping bandaids on it until it all falls apart. Someone else can deal with the fallout, but we’ll be dead by then, so who cares.

Primarily, I wanted the Veil to come down from a storytelling perspective. The Veil was an interesting concept and I wanted the story to do something interesting with it. Conflict is what makes stories stories and the Veil coming down could create so much compelling and complex conflict. And the Fade is weird, and I like weird. Stories are also about change, and I wanted to see Thedas change. Yet, Veilguard is over, and barely anything has changed. Instead of magic coming back being a conflict for the next game, they went with Fantasy Illuminati. Oh.

The Veil turned out to be a nothing-burger, and no problems in this world are even close to being solved. Slavery is still rampant in Tevinter. The elven people are still oppressed everywhere. Mages have no more rights in the South than they did in Origins. Spirits are still trapped and being corrupted. The Calling still exists, though might be different somehow now? They don’t really get into that. The Chantry’s validity is still not allowed to be questioned. The Blight still exists in some form, but again it’s vague. Oh, and we learn the dwarves have been gravely wronged, and the Titans are still tranquil. At least if you redeem Solas and a romanced Lavellan joins him, they can work together on healing the Blight and helping the Titans. Oh, good. One problem is being acknowledged and some action will be taken. Offscreen. Hurray? Solas doesn’t have a really great track record of fixing problems, so Lavellan is definitely going to need to be there to make sure he doesn’t fuck it up.

For some reason, this game seemed terrified of letting us think about anything for more than two seconds. It shied away from complexity or nuance at every turn. The game is called The Veilguard—ironically, that word is never uttered in the game—but we are given no real motive for guarding the Veil. We’re unquestionably the hero. The villains are uncomplicatedly evil. Save the world… never wonder what you are doing or why.

I wanted the game to make me question if the Veil staying up or coming down was the right choice. I needed to be given a real counter argument. Convince me the alternative would actually be better or worse, because as I mentioned… things suck quite a bit in Thedas already for a lot of people right now. Let the Veil’s fate be a difficult choice to make. If the conflict cannot be what to do about the Veil, it should be am I doing the right thing about the Veil. If the heart of your game is so thin on motive, everything else falls apart around it.

I hoped they were setting up a complex, Thedas-sized existential conflict for this game in Trespasser, but no. I wanted something to happen, but nothing did. 

I want to feel challenged and changed by a story, not left feeling empty. I’m tired of superficial entertainment. I want to sink my teeth into a narrative that doesn’t paint the world in broad strokes of black and white, good and evil, heroes and villains.

Ultimately, I think my issue is why even introduce a concept like The Veil if you’re not going to do anything interesting with it. Or anything at all. What I thought was Chekov’s Veil turned out to just be a MacGuffin. And that’s disappointing.

[whoops-all-jennas]

The Ghost of Lovell Hill - c.s.

Cairo Sweet x fem!reader

"You live in Lovell Hill?"

"You know it?"

"I just didn't think it was occupied by anything except ghosts."

Summary: Winnie brings a ouija board to Cairo's place, Cairo sees someone she didn't expect to see ever again.

Warnings: Descriptions of injury, death, and aging

Cairo is sitting by the window of the by the stairs with a book. It's a dark day today, thunderstorms expected to last till tomorrow. She sees Winnie approaching the house under an umbrella.

Cairo heads down the stairs to get to the front door before Winnie can knock, her house, or more so her parents house, is gorgeous. It's old but has been well kept.

"Winnie, what is that?" Cairo opens the door, looking at what she is holding with a look of skepticism.

"It's an ouija board, duh." Winnie says with a dumb smile plastered on her face.

"I mean why'd you bring it here?"

"You said somethin' about Mr. Miller assuming nothing but ghosts lived in your house so." Winnie extends the o when saying so while bringing the ouija board closer to her face. "We find out."

"Whatever." Cairo moves out of the way of the door so Winnie can come in.

"What? you're tellin' me you're not curious?" Winnie asks with a look of curiosity.

"No, ghosts aren't real Winnie." Cairo starts the ascend the staircase with Winnie following behind her. "Besides that was exaggeration, I don't think Mr. Miller believes in ghosts either."

Winnie sets down the ouija board on Cairos bed, sitting in front of it. Getting ready to use it.

"I said no Winnie." Cairo says with a hint of annoyance in her voice while grabbing her laptop before finding her spot on the bed.

"What, afraid you're gonna be possessed or somethin'?" Winnie says teasingly.

"No, like I said ghosts aren't real." Cairo says will grabbing a cigarette. "We have school work that we need to work on."

"I'll only be a minute" Winnie says while putting her hands on the planchette.

"Are there any spirits in this house?" Cairo rolls her eyes while she starts typing on her laptop.

The planchette glides over to the text saying 'Yes'

Winnie's eyes go wide in bewilderment. "Holy shit."

"What? did you hand move whatever that is to the yes?" Cairo says with a smirk. "You're not gonna fool me."

Winnie looks towards Cairo with a serious look, an unusual look for her, before she goes to ask another question.

"What's your name?" The planchette starts to glide over the letters to spell out Y/n.

"What's the supposed ghost's supposed name?" Cairo asks, not lifting her eyes from her laptop.

"Why should I tell you? I thought you didn't believe in this stuff." Cairo shrugs her shoulders at Winnie's response, she didn't care enough to argue.

"How old are you?" The planchette glides back down to the lower section of the ouija board with numbers, hovering over 1, then 8.

"They're 18, maybe they're single." Winnie sayings jokingly to Cairo.

"Oh haha." Cairo says with a straight face, reaching to put her cigarette in the ash tray before the ash tray suddenly flies off the table.

"What the fuck was that?" Cairo exclaims before putting her laptop aside to pick up the ash tray.

"What do you think? I'm over here talking to spirits and junk and you think science and reason pushed your ash tray off your night stand?" Winnie looks at Cairo, raising an eyebrow.

"What you were being serious about what the board was sayin'?" Cairo stands, quickly walking to leave the room. "I ain't fuckin' with no ghost."

Right as Cairo was about the leave her bedroom door slams shut. Cairo jumps back, tripping over her own feet, and falling onto the floor.

Winnie gets up to look at Cairo. "Are you alright?" Winnie looks back to see the planchette moving on its own this time.

Winnie quickly heads back to the Ouija board to read what you're spelling.

"Come to the garden?"

Cairo quickly stands up and looks out the window to the garden in the backyard. There is a silhouette of a girl in a black dress holding a lace umbrella that shouldn't last two seconds in that storm.

A flash of light fills the garden for a moment, highlighting the silhouette, followed by the crackle of thunder. She was beautiful, contrasting the intimidation of the storm.

Winnie gets next to Cairo and looks out the window. "Did you see anything?"

Cairo glances at Winnie and than back out the window.

The lady was gone.

The door to Cairo's bedroom creaks open slowly, a lamp on the other side blinking.

Cairo slowly approaches it, when she's close enough the light turns off. Cairo quickly looks down the stairs when she sees another light flashing.

The stairs felt longer than usual as Cairo descended the staircase. Each step feeling louder than the last.

Winnie soon catches up, carrying the ouija board in hand.

When Cairo finally catches up to the light, the door to the garden slams open. The sound of rain filling the house as the wind carries it. Another flash of light seen out the door, soon caught up with the loud snap of thunder.

Cairo sprints towards the door, hands blocking the rain from hitting her face. When she finally gets close enough to close the door Cairo is meet with a sudden push.

"Cairo!" is the last thing she hears before falling on to the ground.

Cairo is now on the patio near the garden, it is deafening quiet besides the sound of faint waltz music and the smell of rain is gone. She looks up to the sunlight blinding her.

After her eyes adjust for a minute, she stands up and sees the garden decorated for a party. The flowers in full bloom, showing their off their beautiful white and pastels.

Cairo turns around to open the door, only rattling the door knob. She inspects her wrist to find shes not wearing the clothes she was wearing before. She was wearing a beautiful green lace dress.

"I was waiting for you!" It was the girl from the silhouette Cairo saw from the window. She picked up the bottom of her beautiful black lace dress while ascending the few steps between the patio and the garden.

"Come dance with me!"

Cairo finds herself being dragged by her hand to the center of the garden. Cairo looks at her face and faintly recognizes it.

Its you.

It has been years since she's seen you last, but as she's dancing with you, looking at your face again. The memories come rushing back.

-

Cairo was 14, her parents were finally back home from whatever country they were staying at for work. They were throwing a party for the little they would be home for. Cairo invited you as her date to the party.

You arrived to Cairo's house in a black lace dress, it was beautiful and you adored it.

You also hoped Cairo would adore seeing you in it.

Your knocks on the door were soon answered by Cairo's father.

"You must be Y/n! Cairo told us all about you." Cairo's dad makes room so you can get into the house.

"Thank you."

You enter the house and look around, there's a lot of noise and it's all the more overwhelming without Cairo by you side.

"Y/n!, you made it!" Cairo makes her way to the door where you were stood awkwardly.

Cairo is wearing a beautiful green lace dress and it's ten times more beautiful now because Cairo is wearing it.

You felt Cairo's eyes on you as well, admiring you.

"Cairo!" you grab Cairo into an embrace, too embarrassed to give her a kiss in front of her parents. You see her all the time but every hug means so much to you.

"I know you don't like these kinds of things, and I don't either, so it means a lot for you to at least suffer with me." Cairo let's go of the embrace and looks you in the eyes.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." You give her a patient smile.

You and Cairo head out to the garden, hand in hand.

The garden is filled with people in beautiful dresses and handsome suits. The flowers in full bloom, mostly white and pastel colors, as it's spring. There are string lights above the center where everyone is dancing to the waltz music.

Cairo let's go of your hand to offer her other hand in a dance.

You find a smile creeping up onto your face as you take her hand.

You both enjoy your dance for a few minutes, getting lost into her eyes and the music. It felt as if you two were the only people in the world, until someone knocks into Cairo with a red drink, most likely wine, spilling it all over her dress.

You let go of Cairo while she moves her arms by her shoulders with her mouth open, gasping at the sudden wetness on her dress.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry." The man says while running his hands over where he spilt the wine, making it ten times worse.

"It's fine it was an accident." Cairo hiding her annoyance as she faces towards you.

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna. you know." Cairo motioning over her dress.

"It's cool, I'll just be waiting here." You gave Cairo another patient smile as she walks past you into the house.

A little bit of the wine splashed onto your shoulder earlier, but you didn't realize.

Suddenly the music felt so loud, like you could feel the music gently touching your skin. You started getting goosebumps as everything felt so much more sensitive.

Someone bumps into you, suddenly you feel the wetness of your dress on your shoulder. The murmur of the people drilling into your ears.

The tapping of shoes, the smell of flowers, the uncomfortable high heels, feeling like a sore thumb in a pool of strangers. Every thing together was just too much for you, you were overwhelmed.

Your eyes start getting glossy at the over stimulation as you soon grab the base of your dress and start running to the gate of the backyard to go to the only spot you could think of to calm down.

There was an abandoned treehouse by a river in the woods behind Cairo's house. You and Cairo would go there to hangout when it was a beautiful day outside.

It became a safe space for you over time and it was the only place you wanted to be right now. Not even Cairo's touch would make you feel better. You just needed to be alone for a minute.

You climb the ladder into the tree house, sitting under the window with your legs to your chest as you start crying.

You couldn't hear it over the sound of your tears but the aged and weathered wooden floor underneath you started to creak.

The floor underneath you caves in as you fall through, first landing on your tail bone, instantly starting to swell, before falling backwards towards the river, hitting your head on a root by the river before falling in.

You're surrounded by the water you use to find comfort in, no idea what was up and what was down. Your dress tangling your legs together.

The aching of your injuries soon faded as you gave in and the let the light beyond your eyelids fade.

Cairo goes back to where she left you, to end up confused on where you were. She searched through out the garden unable to find you, and then the whole house.

By this point she is starting to panic, where could you have gone? She rushes to the telephone to call your house.

"Hello, y/l/n residence."

"Is y/n there?" Cairo says with fear in her voice.

"No, she said she was going to a dance, why who is this?" The voice behind the phone asks, their tone now laced with concern.

"It's Cairo, she was just at the dance and now I can't find her. I assumed she couldn't handle it here anymore and went home." Cairo's voice now carrying panic instead of fear.

The phone line goes dead, the other side hanging up.

Cairo runs through the house, back to the garden. There was one place she didn't check, the abandoned treehouse, their safe space.

Cairo has never ran so fast in her life, her feet aching due to the heels she was wearing but she didn't care.

You were the only thing on her mind.

She climbed the ladder as fast as she could.

"Y/n!" Cairo shouted as she got high enough to look inside the empty tree house. She sees the hole but assumes it's just natural weathering.

She climbs down the ladder and looks back at the house to see red and blue lights alternating. There was a police car in front of the house.

When Cairo gets back to the house a police officer approaches her.

"Were there any places you know she would go to feel safe?"

"The only place I know of is the abandoned treehouse behind the house, but I just checked to see if she was there and she wasn't."

The police officer is writing into a notepad.

"Stay at the house until further notice, got it?" The cop gives Cairo a stern look until she nods. The police officer heads towards the treehouse while Cairo waits in the garden.

A few minutes pass and she hears the sirens of an ambulance approaching.

The ambulance goes through the grass and Cairo stands up to watch as the police officer from before is approaching back with a face he's trying to keep serious and stern, but there is a layer of sadness behind the mask.

Everything doesn't feel real, the silence is deafening as she watches the officer talking to her parents before the officer glances at her than walking away.

Her parents slowly approach her with sadness written in their faces.

"Cairo, we have some bad news about your friend." Her dad starts while putting a hand on Cairo's shoulder.

Cairo looking back and forth between her parents eyes, her eyes getting glossy feeling like she already knows what they're going to say.

As much as she didn't want to hear it.

Her dad sighs, looking at her mother for a second before meeting his eyes back to Cairo's.

"They found y/n's body a little down stream past the treehouse."

Body, y/n's body.

This was all Cairo needed to hear before the tears instantly starting to break through her eyes.

You were dead, you died because someone spilled wine on Cairo.

"No! it can't be." Cairo wraps her arms around herself before falling onto her knees, sobbing into her forearms. Her arms covered in her tears.

She needed a hug, but she didn't want one from her parents who are never home, not even for her birthday.

She desperately needed comfort, but now that you're gone there was no one to comfort her.

There would forever be a hole in her heart from the loss of you. She felt more alone now than before she had you.

-

Cairo felt a hand go to her cheek, as a thumb was wiping away a tear.

"It's okay, I'm here now" You give her a gentle smile as you sway her to the music.

"I-" Cairo was interrupted by her own tears avoiding eye contact.

"I missed you so much." Cairo says with all the emotions in her body, reconnecting the contact to your soft gentle eyes.

"I missed you too." You gave her a patient smile before continuing. "I waited so long for you, and I would've waited an eternity if it meant I can see your eyes once again, to feel your touch."

"I don't want to lose you again! I can't lose you again!" Cairo screams, her hands moving to lightly pound onto your chest.

"You won't ever truly lose me, I won't be able to be here forever while you're alive, but there will be a time that we'll see each other once again."

"Before I go I want you to promise me something."

"Anything." Cairo looked longingly into your eyes past her tears.

"Live your life to the fullest, the way you want to live. I don't want to be a burden to you." You started and paused before saying your next words.

"Live a life I couldn't." You grab Cairo's face with your both your hands, raw emotion in your eyes. "Could you do that for me?"

Cairo stared into your eyes for a moment. "Yes, of course I'll do that." The tears somehow stronger than before. "I love you."

"I love you too." You say, tears streaming down your face as you pull Cairo into your last kiss for a long time, the world fading around you.

-

Cairo wakes up in her bed, Winnie looming over her quietly.

Cairo instantly burst into tears hugging Winnie, Winnie looking around confused before hugging her back.

"I'm gonna miss her so much!" Cairo sobs into Winnie's shoulder, Winnie still confused as to what happened.

"It's gonna be okay, I got you." Winnie is running her hand through Cairo's hair comfortingly.

She didn't need to know what was going on, she just knew Cairo needed her in this moment.

Pretty soon, all of Cairo's tears went dry. She was exhausted.

Winnie laid down with Cairo as she fell asleep, speaking words of good affirmations in hopes of guiding her to good dreams.

-

Some time passes, Cairo gets accepted into Yale University through describing her story with you and focuses on an English Major.

After graduating college she publishes her first book, "The Ghost of Lovell Hill." Which tells the story of a girl who is haunted by her past lover.

On the bottom of the book cover near to where it says "New York Times Best Seller." it says "Based on True Events." Along with a note in the back of the book saying "Dedicated to Y/n Y/l/n, may we meet again soon."

Some years go by, Cairo has now published multiple books, being a successful author. Her friends are always curious about why she never goes on dates, and she always tells them something like "My standards are high." or "I'm not just interested in dating at the moment."

Truth is, she only wants you. And she's willing to wait an entire life time for that to happen.

Her friends start having families and children of their own. Cairo remains single and determined. No one could compare to you in her eyes.

The years continue to fly by, Cairo's hair is starting to get thinner and paler, her skin not as young as before. Her friend's kids are now starting to have children of their own. She has lost contact with a lot of her friends, but she doesn't mind being alone.

The room is silent, filled only by the sound of the heartbeat monitor. Cairo is hooked up to multiple machines, her hair grey and skin aged. She is dying alone in this hospital bed, but that doesn't matter to her.

Pretty soon, she'll never be alone again.

She closes her eyes, accepting the embrace of death. She lived the life she wanted, just like you asked. You were never a burden to her, you never could be a burden to her.

She is satisfied with life.

The sound of the heartbeat monitor stops.

Cairo opens her eyes slowly, she's back at her old house she lived in in high school, Lovell Hill.

She gets out of bed, realizing her body doesn't ache the way it use to. Before approaching the window in her room.

She looks like how she did when she was younger. Her hair healthy and thick, her skin young and smooth. She looks past the reflection to find you, sitting patiently in the garden.

Cairo practically leaps down the stairs, running to the garden door, and opening it with all her strength. You stand up and stare at each for a moment, until Cairo runs into your arms.

"I did what you asked!" Cairo sobs into your shoulder, gripping the back of your shirt.

"I lived my life the way I wanted to." Cairo raises her head from your shoulder and grabs your face, longingly staring into your eyes.

"I missed you so much. I'm so happy I have you again after all these years."

"I missed you too, but you were worth missing." You say, tears streaming down your face, taking in every feature of her face before holding her tightly again.

"We have each other forever now, that's what matters." You say, comfortingly running your hand through her hair.

Cairo let's go from the embrace, holding your hand for the first time in awhile. "Let's go inside, I can tell you everything that happened." Cairo sniffs with a smile, her eyes puffy from crying.

Cairo guides you into the house, admiring you one last time before opening the door.

a/n: guys idk how this story happened, I was watching Millers Girl and heard Mr. Miller say something about how he thought only ghosts lived in Cairo's house and thought it was a good idea for a fic. then it turned into this somehow I'm so sorry. either way, my brain is so fried, hope you guys enjoyed :)

[norizzsainz]

🌶️ NFY : GRAND PRIX WINS AND EXPOSÉS

[ carlos sainz x singer!fem!reader ]

[ summary ] carlos' and y/n's breakup comes as a surprise to many of their friends. no one ever thought the couple would ever break up, but alas, y/n was always ready to do whatever was best for the love of her life — even if it meant breaking up with him.

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━━━━━━━ MARCH 24, 2024 : MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

“i’d just like to point out and say that i didn't have a say in attending this party tonight.”

you grumbled under your breath as everyone took their seats in the private lounge of the club.

“i didn't either.” oscar muttered from behind you, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. “can't even make a damn decision in my hometown, jeez.”

“osc, baby, hush.” lando was buzzing with excitement already, giggling as he looked at his teammate. “for you, i shall play the best house music there is.”

oscar blinked softly, looking over at his girlfriend, lily, who gave him a sheepish smile of encouragement. “yeah, that's what i was fearing.” he quipped, his voice barely audible.

the entire group turned towards the entrance when the other partygoers hooted and cheered, joining along as the ferrari boys made their entrance.

your gaze landed on carlos, hating how he still never failed to take your breath away even when he wore a simple shirt and jeans. gods, he was a beautiful man.

“earth to y/n.” you snapped out of your daze when max called out to you, a knowing smirk on his face. “you there?”

“oh, shut up.” you muttered in embarrassment, trying to direct your attention to something else.

but alas, the universe had different plans.

even when everyone was crowding to congratulate carlos on his win, he seemed to forget everything as soon as his eyes landed on you.

he quickly excused himself, his entire surroundings fading into black as he quickly made his way towards you.

“hey.” carlos greeted you softly as he stood in front of you, barely sparing a glance to anyone else. “you came.”

“you didn't really give me a choice.” you shrugged nonchalantly, though you were feeling very chalant. “congratulations on the win, by the way, smooth operator.”

carlos' smile brightened as he heard the teasing nickname, relieved to see you were feeling somewhat comfortable in his presence unlike the other times.

he hoped things would work in his favor tonight.

as the party was teeming in full blast, carlos did his best to give you your space, but he couldn't help but be drawn towards you throughout the night.

it was always him scooting closer to you, looking like he was going to talk to you before he moved away, chickening out at the last second.

even max and yuki, who were drunk off their asses, noticed carlos' pattern, wondering what he was up to.

unable to watch the pathetic scene any longer, charles shoved carlos in your direction, giving him a look that clearly said, ‘get on with it already, you coward.’

“uh, hi again.”

carlos wasn't sure why he was a nervous mess. he was usually very confident and charming, but now as he stood before you, he was nothing but a muddle of nerves.

“carlos.” you greeted him, raising your voice slightly so he could hear you over the club music. “hi again.”

“y/n.” he spoke up, reaching out to hold your arm as if he were afraid you’d walk away from him. for the second time. “look, about what you said the last time we spoke...”

you immediately shook your head, not wanting to go down that lane. “carlos, we don’t have to talk about it. i just want to forget about it all and—”

carlos’ grip on your arm tightened, stopping you from speaking. “amor. you are doing that conflict resolution thing again. don’t do that. all i wanted to say was that i’m gonna keep my promise and i will—”

before carlos could continue any further, everyone’s attention darted to lando as he let out an unidentifiable sound, some hybrid mix between a laugh and a scream.

“oh, my fucking goodness!” lando laughed in disbelief as he stared at his phone, his eyes widening in shock as the realization settled in. “carlitos! what the fuck?!”

kika and kelly stood behind him, reading the contents of his phone over his shoulders. their eyes widened in sync, lips parting in surprise.

“guys. sky sports gossip posted.” kika stated, causing everyone to reach for their phones. “you have to check it out.”

you looked from lando to carlos, wondering what your ex-boyfriend had done to land up on the sky sports gossip page and get such a reaction from the others.

your jaw was pretty much on the floor as soon as you finished reading the article and the comments it had received, your eyes widening in surprise. you skimmed through the apology post, your heart skipping several beats as you realized that carlos was the one who was behind everything.

everyone was just as shocked by the revelations, even the drunken pair, max and yuki, sobering up after seeing the articles and the aftermath of it all.

“carlos…” you couldn’t even find the words as carlos just smiled at you softly, tilting his head as if to say, ‘i told you so’. “you are absolutely insane, you know that?”

“insane is a bit too harsh, no?” he chuckled in amusement, his eyes crinkling as his smile widened.

“i promised, didn't i, carina? that i’d make it right. and i hope i did.”

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[6rookie-writer0110]

The ocean at our feet

Male Reader X Lena Luthor

Request - Can you do a MR! X lena Luthor fluff. R is Kara’s brother who came to earth with her when Krypton exploded, he also followed Kara to CatCo but became a Photographer instead of Assistant and when he met Lena became head over heels with her. Lena and R have a Lois and Clark style relationship until one day he saves her and reveals his identity to her

“I can't believe Cat left,” You said.

“I can't believe it, either. But you will like working there, just trust me. Lena will be a great boss” Kara said.

You knew that Kara was friends with Lena but you never met her. You and Kara used to live in Krypton, then went to Earth when Krypton exploded. You do wear glasses just like Kara and she is happy that you will work with her at Catco. You used to live with your sister but you moved out and she won't admit it but she does miss living with you.

You arrive at the company and she takes you to Lena’s office. Lena saw you and Kara walk into the office then she stood up, and walked toward you and Kara. She is smiling at you and you forgot how to say hi, you stare into her green eyes. Your body is feeling hot your heart is beating faster and faster. Lena said hi and she waiting for you to say hi back and tell her your name. You can't stop staring at her and you still don't say anything to her, then Kara taps your arm with her elbow.

“She asked your name,” Kara said.

“Oh-… My name is Y/N, I’m her brother” You said.

“Nice to meet you, Y/N. I know she is your sister because of her last name. Can I see your portfolio?” Lena said.

“Portfolio?” You asked.

“The big book, Y/N” Kara laughed.

“Oh!” You said.

You hand over your portfolio and Lena starts to look at the pictures carefully. You are feeling nervous that she is looking at your pictures and she doesn't say a word just yet. Lena doesn't look up just yet, but she can feel your eyes on her. Then she looks up and she looks at the camera around your neck. She thinks you are cute and she stares into your eyes for a few seconds.

“Y/n, you are very talented. I like how you capture the light and the moment in each picture. You got the job, as the new photographer” Lena smiled.

“Wow, thanks Ms Luthor,” You said.

You like how she says your name.

“Just call me Lena,” Lena said.

You nod then Kara gives you a hug and you can't stop smiling.

“Kara, I want you to work on an article with William Dey. It's about the new library opening in a neighborhood and they are giving away food for the families. And Y/N, you will come with me” Lena said.

“I will get on it” Kara smiled.

Kara left and you are feeling nervous again.

“Why me?” You asked.

“It's for work obviously, Y/N. Get your camera ready and let's go” Lena said.

You and Lena leave together and you sit next to her in the car. You smell her perfume and you like the scent. You never felt nervous around women before.

“We are going to a hospital for sick children. I need you to take pictures of them and everyone else and the hospital. We will need donations and posting pictures online will benefit the hospital” Lena said.

“I can do that. It's nice that you are helping them” You said.

“People deserve healthcare no matter what their financial status is,” Lena said.

“I understand,” You said.

You and Lena arrive at the hospital and you get the camera ready. You start to take pictures of the press conference and the guests. Lena gets on stage and you start to take pictures of her. Later, Lena starts to spend time with the sick kids and you start to take pictures of her with them. You start to like her even more because of how she likes to help people in need.

“Y/N, show me the pictures,” Lena said.

“Sure,” You said.

You start to show her the pictures and you watch her.

“Wow, Y/N each picture came out great and you didn't even edit the pictures yet,” Lena said.

“You are beautiful,” You said.

“Thank you, but you shouldn't say that to your boss,” Lena said.

“I’m sorry. I just blur out…”

“Y/N, calm down I’m not firing you,” Lena said.

“Sorry,” You said shyly.

“It’s alright. Get back to work” Lena said

“Yeah,” You said.

You continue to work and Lena starts to talk to the press again. Much later, you and Lena went back to the office. You start to edit the pictures then you stare at the screen and you stare at Lena’s eyes.

———

Lena would sometimes stare at you when you were not looking. She thinks you are cute but she doesn't want to cross the line between boss and employee. On the TV, everyone sees there is an explosion at a building and the fire is out of control. You and Kara stare at each other and then nod, you two sneak away and head to the elevator.

“Where are you two going?” Lena asked.

“Oh, umm we are going to cover the story,” You said quickly

You and your sister rushed to the elevator and you closed the door. You and Kara ran towards the alley and quickly changed. You and Kars fly toward the building on fire. Clark arrived and you two are happy to see him.

“Still no cape, Y/N?” Clark asked.

“Still trying to find my own style,” You said.

“I keep telling him, capes are cool but he is just being stubborn” Kara teased.

You start to work together with them saving people and putting out the fire. You saved a firefighter’s life, she almost fell inside the building when the ceiling fell and blocked the exit. Everyone started to cheer for you, Kara, and Clark.

Much later, you returned to the office and Lena asked questions about where you went. You lied about asking people about the fire and she did believe you. Now, she wants the article before morning then you texted Kara and told her what happened. She did help you, she wrote the article then you went back to take pictures of the building.

✫ ✯ ✬ ✫

You are working late and you just finished. Before going home, you see Lena in her office and you go into her office.

“Is everything okay?” You asked.

“I thought you went home,” Lena said.

“I thought the same for you. But i was editing some pictures. You seem sad, do you want to talk about it?” You said.

“I don't want to bother you and I’m sure your girlfriend is waiting for you at home,” Lena said.

“I don't have a girlfriend. But you can talk to me, I’m a good listener. Is it about your brother Lex?” You said.

You sit down next to her on the couch. You start to listen to her talk about her family drama and she likes that you are listening to her. She is surprised that you are single. You did change the conversation to make her laugh and she did laugh at your funny stories.

There would be times that you would stay late at work, to edit pictures. Lena would also stay late and work long hours and she would skip lunch.

“You didn't have to buy lunch for me, I’m your boss,” Lena said.

“I don't forget you are my boss. It’s passed eleven and it's nighttime and you skipped lunch. You are my boss from morning until eight at night, so right now just think of it as two friends having a late dinner together” You said.

Lena couldn't help to smile because of your response.

“What kind of pizza is it?” Lena asked.

“I didn't know what you liked so I picked pepperoni” You smiled.

“I do like pepperoni on my pizza. Okay, I will join you for dinner” Lena smiled.

You smiled and put the food on the table. She sits next to you, then you and Lena start to ask questions about each other. She is starting to have feelings for you but won't tell you tonight. After a while of eating and talking, you take her home.

“Thank you for taking me home,” Lena said.

“Anytime. I couldn't let you go home alone at this time, Lena” You said.

She briefly held your hand.

“Thank you and get home safe,” Lena said.

You are in shock that she is holding your hand.

“Bye,” You smiled.

You watched Lena go inside her building then you went home.

————

Before heading to work, you noticed Lena following Morgan Edge. You start to follow Lena but she doesn't notice you just yet. You take pictures of Morgan Edge talking to Benjamin Lockwood. You have super hearing and you hear them talking Supergirl and your alter ego. Lena starts to walk away then she bumps into you, and you almost drop your camera.

“Y/N what are you doing here?” Lena asked.

“I can ask the same for you. I saw you following him then i started to take pictures. Why are you following him?” You said.

“We can't talk here, let's go,” Lena said.

You went to the office with Lena. She starts to tell you why she is following him.

“He is poisoning the water in the poor neighborhoods and lying about me. I wanted to catch him in the act so people can see it's him, not me” Lena said.

“Oh. We will figure out how to catch him, don't worry about it you can trust me” You said.

“I do trust you that you won't tell anyone,” Lena said.

“I won’t tell anyone,” You said.

“Okay. Get to work” Lena said.

You leave her office then you sit at your desk. You are thinking hard about how to get him to confess or catch him in the act. But you don't tell your sister about it and she has been very busy.

The next night, you started to follow Benjamin and Morgan. You caught them spilling toxic waste into the pipes and you started to take pictures of them. Then someone brings out Lena tied up and you take a picture. Now, you change clothes and they are about to hurt her. But you used speed to stop Benjamin from hurting her.

“You won't hurt anyone else,” You said.

“Where did you come from?” Benjamin asked.

You don't say anything and you start to fight Morgan and Benjamin. You used a metal pipe to tie them up but they are passed out. You easily punched them and they passed out.

“Lena, are you okay?” You asked.

The cops arrived and you ripped the zip tie around her wrists. You tell them what happened and they believe you and Lena. You pick up Lena and fly her to the office.

“Thank you, Y/N,” Lena said.

“What?” You asked.

“I know it's you. Because of your camera and the last letters on your camera,” Lena said.

You look at your camera, you forgot to take it off. You didn't think about it because you didn't want her to get hurt even if you were two seconds late.

“I was following them to get proof then I saw you. I didn't want them to hurt you and I forgot to take off my camera” You said.

“I thought you would deny it,” Lena said.

“I didn't want to lie to you, Lena,” You said.

“Thank you for not lying to me,” Lena said.

Lena slowly leans in and you feel her lips on your lips. She starts to kiss you and you start to kiss her back and her lipstick gets on your lips.

———-

You and Lena started dating in secret. But you two keep it professional at work and she doesn't give you special treatment. Tonight, you went to Lena’s condo to spend time with her. You and Lena are making tacos and she is having fun making tacos with you.

“I never made tacos before” Lena smiled.

She drinks her wine.

“Do you like making it?” You asked.

“With you, Yes I like making it” Lena smiled.

She gives you a peck on the lips. After dinner, you and Lena cuddle on the couch to watch a scary movie. She hides her face on your chest and you have your arm around her. Again, she hid her face in your chest, and she held on to your shirt.

“We don't have to finish the movie, I will watch it on my own I want to see how it ends,” You said.

You stopped the movie and she slightly moved away.

“I didn't expect the movie to be scary,” Lena said.

“You didn't have to yes to watch a scary movie. We could have watched a chick-flick movie” You said.

“I do like other genres of movies not just chick flicks, Y/N” Lena said.

“I know, i was just teasing. We could play a game? Have any board games or cards?” You said.

“I have a game called Jenga, it belongs to your sister and she forgot to take it home. We could play that game” Lena smiled.

“Let’s play” You smiled.

She takes out the game and you start to set it up. You and Lena became competitive and she doesn't stop smiling at you. Lena is happy that doesn't have to change who she is with you and you accept everything about her. Lena won the first round then you and Lena started to play again.

A bit later, she asked you to stay the night. You cuddle with her in bed while talking, and you and Lena start to kiss each other. She has her leg on top of you and you two are smiling at each other. Your hand is under her shirt and she has her hand on your cheek and she kisses you again.

✫ ✯ ✬ ✫

It’s starting to get cold in National City because it's December. You and Lena are in a serious relationship and taking it slow. You are happy that you are able to tell her stories about when you used to live on Krypton, she does enjoy the stories.

“You didn't celebrate Christmas on Krypton?” Lena asked.

“No. We didn't have Earth holidays on my planet. When I got to Earth, Eliza introduced us to Earth holidays and I liked Halloween, Christmas, and summer because I got to play with fireworks. Do you have Christmas traditions?” You said.

“No. Mother and Lex are not the types to celebrate holidays to spend time with family. Mother was busy with work and Lex well… he just didn't have much time with me besides playing chess. I was shipped to boarding school and spent the holidays alone” Lena said.

“Oh, well that wasn't fun to spend the holidays alone,” You said.

“I got used to it,” Lena said.

You used your strength to move the tree where she wanted it. Then you and Lena start to decorate the tree together and she is happy that she is with you on the holidays. After decorating the tree, you start to put Christmas decorations on the wall while she puts decorations on the shelves of the fireplace. Then you and Lena started to bake Christmas cookies together.

You are spending more nights at Lena’s condo. She did make space for your clothes and items in the closet and bathroom. She takes a shower and then puts on your hoodie to be warm. She is lying on her side and you are on your side behind her, and you have your arm around her and her fingers go between your fingers.

The next day, you and Lena leave the city for the weekend. She booked a hotel in a small town just to be alone. It started to snow, you decided to convince your girlfriend to build a snowman. You tried to roll a big snowball, but you missed-placed your foot, and you fell on top of the snowball.

“Not funny, Lena,” You said.

“It is funny, that's why I'm laughing” Lena giggled.

She does help you stand up. Then she started to wipe the snow off you then she kissed you on the lips.

“Better?” Lena smiled.

“No” You smiled.

“Let me try again,” Lena said.

She grabbed your scarf and she started to kiss you.

A bit later, after playing in the snow, you and Lena went to a skating rink, she held your hand while skating with you.

“I haven't done this in many years,” Lena said.

“Last time I did it, I was a teenager,” You said.

You stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Lena asked.

“Someone is in trouble, they are yelling for help,” You said.

“Go, I will wait,” Lena said.

“Grab dinner and wait for me at the hotel,” You said.

You kiss her on the lips before she says something, and you quickly leave. You changed into your suit and you went to save a family from almost driving off the cliff. Then someone needed help, their car got stuck on the train tracks and you stayed out for a while saving people. Lena did buy dinner and she headed back to the hotel.

————

Lena planned a toy charity event, people are donating toys and other items to the kids in the hospital. You are taking pictures and you have a Santa hat on your head and a Christmas vest that Lena bought for you. Kara is at the event and sees you sneak away but at first, she doesn't you are following Lena. Kara got curious and started to follow you toward the hallway which was isolated, then she gasped.

“You kissed Lena!” Kara said too loud.

Some of Lena’s lipstick is on your lips.

“Were you following me?” You asked.

“Don’t change the subject. Wait, are you two dating?” Kara said.

“Yes, I’m dating your brother and no one else knows about us,” Lena said.

“This is great. I’m in shock but I’m so happy for you two. Why you didn't tell me?” Kara said.

“I was going to tell you,” You said.

“You can't tell anyone, we have to be professional,” Lena said.

“I won't tell anyone. But they need you to make a speech, go now”’ Kara said.

Lena left to make a speech and you wiped your lips.

“We should head back,” You said.

“You are in love with Lena” Kara teased

“What-… no I’m not in love” You lied.

“Yes, you are. So cute you try to deny it but I know you are in love” Kara giggled.

“I haven't told her yet that I’m in love with her. And she is about my powers but I didn't tell her that you have powers also, but I think she knows about it” You said.

“She is smart, but I think I should tell her. But I’m happy for you, I thought after what happened with your last ex you stopped looking for love” Kara said.

“Lena is different and she isn't just anyone. I told her not to give me special treatment at work but she did buy this watch for me as an early Christmas gift” You said.

You show your sister the watch and she gasped.

“I saw this watch online it cost over ten thousand dollars” Kara gasped.

“I didn't ask for it, she just surprised me with it,” You said.

“You should invite her to meet Eliza for Christmas” Kara smiled.

“Good idea. Mom will like her” You said.

You call Eliza ‘mom’ and Kara just calls her by her first name. You and Kara head back and you start to take pictures of everyone and the gifts for the kids and their families. Much later, you go to Lena’s condo and you invite her to meet Eliza for Christmas and she agrees to go.

“Do you think she will accept our relationship?” Lena asked.

You wrap your arms around her waist and she puts her arms around your shoulders.

“Of course, she will accept you and our relationship. You are beautiful, smart, funny, and caring. I can go on about why she will like you” You smiled.

She kissed you on the lips.

“And you are handsome, funny, a bit nerdy, and smart” Lena smiled.

You kiss her and she doesn't stop smiling.

[rei-ismyname]

Logan shouldn't be allowed near children

I know that's a loaded title but I stand by it. There's obviously an element of Flanderisation going on but considering his stated reason for opening the Jean Grey school he is far too eager to murder children.

Why TF is he leaping at children, snarling with his claws out? Check out the frothing drool.

For example, in All-New X-Men, the O5 have just been bought to the future by Hank McCoy. He stops teaching his violence through yelling class and heads out the front, leaping at the 16 year olds with his claws out. Not Hank, who brought them there but clearly traumatised children - while screaming like a lunatic of course. Even if he's not trying to kill them, what purpose does terrifying them serve? He clearly IS trying to kill them, though. I'm sure his students would love to see their headmaster butcher confused children in front of them.

Unsurprisingly, he scares the fuck out of them. In part influenced by constant threats of his violence, the O5 steal the X-Jet and flee, explicitly doubting this guy is an X-Man. His thoughts about the 16 year old Jean Grey... No dude, this isn't the Jean you know. She's a child you've tried to kill. Fucking creep.

This one is great. Young Scott has enough going on without this frothing beast advocating for his immediate execution as punishment for his future self's actions. Out front of the school with literally everyone watching. He's using his authority to advocate for slaughtering a child. Thankfully nobody agrees with him, but this is traumatic, terrifying, and affects Scott especially so badly he runs away.

No wonder he freaks out and leaves. Obviously the headmaster of a school should drop what he's doing, not for his wellbeing but to get his bike back. How is he in charge of anyone's wellbeing or moral instruction? He demands absolute obedience while doing nothing to deserve it. It's all about how Logan feels.

Here he is trying to gut a 15 year old Wiccan for having Scarlet Witch vibes, not for the or last time. I'm a little surprised he remained an Avenger after this. When you have knives for hands everyone looks like a pincushion. Except that's not it, because everyone else is a living weapon too and they mostly manage to be somewhat rational.

Why are his claws out here? Is he trying to kill him? What did he expect after threatening and traumatizing him? Snarling and shouting like an animal - isn't he trying to emulate Chuck here?

I can't remember why he's doing this but it's not the first time he's tried to kill Hope. Didn't work then either.

A 16 year old Jean uses a telepathic projection of the Phoenix to aid Wolverine in a fight. He stupidly thinks it's real and straight up tries to kill her. The bad guys get away. Not sure how many times he has to attempt to kill the Phoenix before he understands it's not an appropriate thing to do, nor is it about him. He's more like Sabertooth than he thinks, except he thinks he's in the right and somehow never gets called out. Logan has advanced senses - how is his instinct to straight up kill her instead of investigating further?

We can do better

I think that once Logan reached a certain point of saturation he became static. The lone wolf that's the best there is at what he does, and what he does is behave so unpleasantly it's hard to believe anyone would want to be near him, let alone allow him to run a school. He says 'bub' a lot and he snikts at the drop of a hat while repeating the same interpersonal drama over and over. I see him as a frequent self insert for the worst kind of toxic masculinity yet he's more popular than ever. No judgement if you like him at all, but I think the character deserves better. Somehow he's still a misunderstood loner despite a lot of people knowing him very well - with the amount of teams and books he's in he has the most active social life in 616. It'll never happen but I'd like to see him retire, as there are several Wolverines better than he..

[amberjazmyn]

f1 drivers as christmas songs🫶

pairing : m.verstappen, l.norris, c.sainz, o.piastri, c.leclerc, d.ricciardo

summary : mostly innaccurate but, a christmas song that i think matches these above formula drivers.

warnings : absolutely none lol

a/n : don't @ me but i'm really wanting to release a decent-ish amount of fic-mas fics before christmas ends let alone begins so forgive me if these are crap lol

max verstappen

silent night

i have no idea why silent night came to mind for max but, it just did.

i just feel like max loves christmases that are just relaxed, not too much effort

and i feel like he doesn't like it when he has to go to multiple different christmas get togethers

all because he just wants to be at home with his cats and with his immediate family

he loves a calm but bright christmas

whilst he may not be religious, christmas can feel holy at the same time for him

does he sleep in heavenly peace like the song suggests?

i definitely think he does because he doesn't have to worry about the race season until the new year

which means i think he also doesn't care what he eats or how much he eats

and it's because he knows he won't have to really worry about not losing it because he'll still make sure to occasionally train at the gym every once in a while

the main thing about christmas he enjoyed wasn't all the presents he got but the love he got to be surrounded by

lando norris

last christmas

the only real reason why last christmas came to mind was because of lando's ex-girlfriend luisa

i truly think lando really loved luisa more than he loved any other of his ex girlfriend's

hence why i think the lyrics 'i gave you my heart but the very next day, you gave it away' really screams lando to me as a christmas song

do i think lando has tried to save himself from tears and giving his heart to someone special?

no, i truly think lando's someone special was luisa

but, lando has definitely given away his heart to people that don't deserve it

and i'm not just talking female relationships either for lando

i'm also taking about people in lando's life that have been shown his heart and then taken it for granted

i may also be referring to lando himself

lando is someone who loves to self-sabotage and think awfully of himself

so when someone tells him that he's amazing and that they don't understand why he's so hard on himself, he'll just blindly accept it

and he'll wrongly stay close to them thinking that all they want for him is happiness

when really they don't want him to succeed

they just want him because of his name and his popularity

however, at some point lando realises and he becomes more guarded

but, he also becomes more confident in who he is and becomes more trusting of himself

carlos sainz jr

feliz navidad

and no, i didn't just do this because carlos is spanish

i did it because i fully believe that carlos absolutely loves christmas cause he gets to spend the entire time with his family and loved ones

and it really seems as though carlos is a real family man and loves to be able to have the freedom to spend all the time in the world with them

no more races for the year taking him away from seeing anyone he loves

no more stress about whether or not the race strategy would either work in his favour or absolutely betray him

the only thing he had to stress about was whether or not he'd be able to hug and speak to as many people as possible

and this was because there were always so many people at the sainz christmas dinner that carlos couldn't really remember who he had spoken to and those he hadn't

i also think that when this song starts playing, carlos is singing it from the tops of his lungs

he loves being spanish so i really think he'd absolutely yell the lyrics of this song with absolutely no shame at all

i think he'd also make his famous fluffy pancake recipe the morning of christmas day for sure

i also think that carlos would be the best and most thoughtful gift-giver

like, whilst we all know that physical touch is definitely one of carlos' love languages, i also think gift-giving is another one of his love languages

especially with so many in his extended family, i do really think carlos gives the best gifts to his parents and his sisters as well as the children of his sisters

like, i bet everyone loves uncle carlos during christmas time more than they already love him

oscar piastri

where are you christmas?

okay, i know this sounds depressing but, it does make sense and gets better

because i mean in the way of the fact that if oscar wants to be home for christmas, he can't just drive five,ten, fifteen, twenty etc. minutes away to his parents house for christmas

he has to take a whole ass 20+ hour flight all the way back to melbourne

meaning he has to pack up a whole suitcase and possibly carry-on bag and plan flights to melbourne as well as return flights to england

and he also has to bring with him all of the christmas presents that he has bought for his family with him which adds so much more weight to his probably already heavy suitcase and carry-on

and then on top of all of that, he'll most likely either pick the earliest flight possible or the latest flight possible but he'll still be exhausted from the long flight and the jetlag

that when he finally arrives home in melbourne, he doesn't feel as christmassy as he used to when he didn't have to do this huge round-the-world trip just to be home with his loved ones for christmas

because he's exhausted from that long haul flight that seeing all of or lack thereof christmas decorations, christmas feels like a regular day except presents are shared with one another and there is a shit ton of food

as well as the fact that it's most likely going to be a total fire ban day and that it's going to be the literal hottest day of the entire year

meaning the day is going to be horrible because the heat is going to overwhelm everyone

oscar especially since he had gotten so used to the extreme chill of england that returning home for christmas, he forgot just how bloody hot australia gets in comparison to the heat that england experiences on the rare occasion it isn't doom and gloom over there

however, it's not all negative because i'm sure when oscar finally settles back into the rhythm of being back home in melbourne, he feels like he can finally relax

and that he can finally enjoy not having to always be on the go every single day

and that he doesn't have to really monitor how much or how little he has to eat to make sure he stays in prime shape to fit in the f1 car

he can just relax, be with his family and loved ones and eat as much food as he wants

by the end of his time in australia, christmas does manage to find oscar and he is relieved that he found it as well because he really does love the magic and simplicity of spending christmas with his family

charles leclerc

it's the most wonderful time of the year

charles leclerc is a christmas lover

he loves the magic of it

he loves the gift-giving to those he loves

especially his little niece, chiara

he loves being together with his mum pascale and his two brothers lorenzo and arthur

he just loves christmas

he really thinks that it's the most wonderful time of the year

hearing the carolers sing carols throughout monaco's main street

he just finds it absolutely beautiful at how magical christmas in monaco gets

he also loves the christmas music that gets played throughout the shops as he and everyone else frantically try to buy everything they need for christmas

he loves the christmas rush

whilst he dislikes at how late he shops for christmas presents, he turns it into a game

a game to see how much quicker than the person next to him can he find what he needs to get his two brothers for christmas

charles already getting all the presents for his mum, niece chiara and girlfriend but leaving arthur and lorenzo's present until the last possible moment because he just got so busy buying everyone else's christmas presents

however, charles does manage to get presents for his two brothers and in record time to with less than days before christmas day arrives

when it comes to the day of christmas and spending it with his family and his loved ones, the little children are immediately drawn to him

not because uncle and cousin charles is an f1 driver but because he tells the best ghost and christmas stories of the past

he tells them stories in french, italian and english of different stories of how christmas used to be celebrated in the earlier centuries

the kids listening in excitement and on the edge of their seats as charles really gets into the fantasy side of it all

he loves seeing the little kids in his family also love the magic and joy of christmas

hence why he loved to spread that same magic and joy that he had for christmas

even though he was way beyond the years of really believing in santa, who said christmas wasn't magical for the adults as well as the kids?

daniel ricciardo

aussie jingle bells

alright, i may look like i'm totally taking the piss here but, this is genuinely the song i think of when i think of daniel ricciardo + christmas

i did think about giving this song to oscar but it didn't feel right and daniel was the only other aussie f1 driver that i could totally see actually screaming out this song from the top of his lungs

daniel is a lot more hardcore aussie than oscar and jack doohan are to the point i could literally imagine him being in charge of the aux for christmas and just playing this one song by colin buchanan and greg champion on repeat

until someone tells him to cut it out or put on another christmas song

in all seriousness though, every single aussie knows this aussie twist on the classic jingle bells and it is genuinely the most honest representation of an australian christmas

it is always (majority of the time - except for that one christmas last year it was fucking freezing and raining!) a scorching hot summer's day the week leading up to and on the day of christmas

to the point that, like the song literally states, you end up in your singlet shorts and thongs (flip-flops)

but, the most false thing that is in this aussie jingle bells is the majority of us australians do not live in the bush/outback

the majority of us actually live on the coastline but, that doesn't change the fact that it's still hot as balls in australia during christmas time because in the southern hemispehre for the months of january, febuary and march, it is summertime which in the northern hemispehre it's wintertime

going back to daniel, i genuinely think that he's the one cooking up all the food on the barbecue as well as the one who hands out the drinks from the esky

i also think daniel will also be a great and thoughful gift-giver

whilst he'd definitely put a few joke gifts in there like a cheeky box of cards against humanity or a game of beer pong, i think he'd also be very thoughtful

especially in regards to his parents, i think he'd be really thoughtful and get them presents that would be very meaningful

but, going back to the beer pong game, he'd also definitely be the one that starts that game

i also feel like daniel would pull out a cheeky christmas shoey just because it was his time off from racing and he is a man of tradition

and i say doing a christmas shoey is pretty australian of him

fin

ok, this definitely came out more as a crack-fic than what it was originally meant to but i'm just glad i have another christmas fic up and done! daniel's was most definitely the one that made it into a crack fic but, i don't hate it. i think daniel represents the majority of the true blue aussies whilst oscar is the complete opposite of true blue aussie. and honestly, it's relatable because not many australians have the stereotypical bogan accent that a lot of foreigners think that we do. well, speaking for myself, i only become aware of my australian accent when i say very particular words like 'australia' and 'water' as the two that come to mind. but, anyway, i hope guys enjoyed whatever the fuck this was and merry christmas & happy holidays my lovelies <3

©⠀amberjazmyn's original work. do not translate or steal any of my fics. 2024

[epickiya722]

I already made my predictions here on the epilogue, but I want to focus on the Yuko Ozawa part since I know some shippers are in panic about it.

Everything I'm about to say is from the POV of someone who did read MHA and been though 431 and someone who does ship ItaFushi. Do I think anyone should agree with me? No. But what I hope what I'm about to say at least ease your panic for the time being.

With that out the way!

Now, I'll reiterate from my other post.

If I were to guess what Yuko's part will be about, I think she may meet Yuji again. It makes sense. However, Gege being unpredictable, I feel like he may not go about making it something "romantic".

If anything, I think he may go the route as to what happened with Hana and Megumi. It's not going anywhere.

A piece of me feels like with this epilogue Yuji and Yuko will have a heart to heart, but Yuko comes out having a new revelation about herself which is to love herself.

If there's one thing about some of the female cast of JJK is that they're unapologetic themselves.

Nobara and Maki are the biggest examples of this. Other examples are Yuki and Uro. Yorozu even is an example as she didn't care what people thought of her.

Miwa may have a little ship tease with Muta, but even that doesn't stop her of being herself. When we do get a bit of her "hiding" herself, it wasn't for a boy. It was because her mother told her to dye her hair black (as it is naturally blue).

Maybe Yuko could get that treatment here and that's why she was chosen. To give closure to her character that allows her to move on.

Again, Gege is unpredictable. I have a feeling that the reveals of the epilogue was to give fans a heads-up and... what is the word I want to use... I can't exactly explain it, but maybe make fans feel like they're getting this possible romance as a "red herring" as to hide that "Actually, no, none of that here".

Think about what happened to Hana (who is no different than Yuko) and Megumi. Most of the story, she was spent crushing on Megumi but that went nowhere.

Thinking about it, when it comes to F/M relationships here, it really doesn't go anywhere romantically.

Miwa and Muta? Muta is dead.

Got a bit of ship tease with Yuki and Choso and guess what? They're both dead.

Nobara deadass states she would never date Yuji (and I'm sure this extends to Megumi, too).

Shoko says Hell would freeze over before she fell in love with either Gojo or Geto. And those two are dead and happy together in the afterlife. 👀

As I mentioned Hana's crush on Megumi? Girl, might as well move on.

Utahime straight up doesn't like Gojo and he's dead now.

Yuta had that childhood romance with Rika and she died and whatever he has with Maki isn't really canon. They're just friends.

Yorozu had a thing for Sukuna, but he was not feeling her at all. And they're both dead now, so...??

See the pattern here? Wouldn't it be odd for Gege to give Yuko and Yuji something explicitly romantic when they haven't done much before?

Out of the four characters, Yuko is one of the most background of background characters (I say that will love before someone comes for me). Nobara, Uraume and Panda all have some involvement with the more active parts of the story. Much like Fumi and Saori was to Nobara and Tsumiki is to Megumi, she was a character part of Yuji's story.

However, what did those other characters have that she didn't?

A close relationship. You know who else was like this to Yuji?

Rin Amai. "But Kiya, he didn't--" Ah! Rin was also someone from Yuji's past that also was affected by Yuji's presence in some way. And he managed to get some bit of closure to his character. He gets this in 270. Rin apologizes to the kid he didn't stand up for and allowed bullies to harass. Despite not getting forgiveness, he still was able to apologize, accept what is done and move on.

Yuko may get this. Last time, she didn't tell Yuji her feelings because she didn't want him to like her for her looks. That's a regret and one time about JJK characters is they don't want to live with regrets. With Yuko, she may need to tell Yuji her feelings so that she can move on from that regret and focus on being her most unapologetic self.

I don't know Gege personally, but I do feel that this could be the case and honestly, I do hope that it is. It would be good for her and yeah, I don't really feel threatened by her presence. I'm going to still ship ItaFushi so...

[igglemouse]

The symptoms are hitting hard this morning as you can see and it is very difficult to make it to the restroom when you have to walk as slowly as possible. I worry for a moment that I might not make it but don't worry I get there just in time.

But my morning is the usual, changing diapers and keeping her squeaky clean. Which isn't easy since it sometimes feels like she does whatever she can to avoid being clean. At least this morning she waited until six a.m. to cry for attention!

Pascal's morning is also the usual, for him at least. Beating up that poor treadmill again. This man is really dedicated to his fitness and it's so admirable that I'm happy to let him be in the mornings.

So I feel like the sooner I bring it up, the better. It makes little sense holding it back from him since he'll figure it out eventually. I expect he'll be happy just based on the last time we talked about children, so there isn't any pressure about it this time. I think I'll just bring it up over breakfast actually. Yeah, that is the plan!

So that's exactly what happens. We finish an apple salad and before Pascal can get up and likely go train or work out again I keep him at the table with a simple sentence. "Looks like Flora will be having a little brother or sister."

It takes him a few seconds to either parse what I mean OR come to grips with it. "You're pregnant?" I give my head a little nod and watch as a smile spreads across his face. "Wow!"

"Would it be biased if I hope it is a boy?" He says and I quickly shake my head.

"Nope! I'd be happy with a boy too, keep things even, I guess," and maybe would get him more involved? Although, I will say, he has stepped up a little. Not a lot but...a little is better than nothing.

While I'll soon be a mother of two I am also still very much a Simtube content creator and I must make sure that to keep the momentum going for my channel and so it's time to record a new video.

This one will teach anyone how to make quick and chewy blueberry bagels. A nice desert to go along with a main dish to be sure and I think easy enough for anyone to bake! I will admit that my baking skills are not the best buuuuuuuuuut I think I am proud of the end result!

Thankfully Flora slept right through the recording of my video but you know right after it I had to go and check on her and play with her and give her a little tummy time. I think she does pretty well although she definitely throws a tantrum in the middle of it.

But if you recall I had planned on inviting both Sara and Marjorie over to meet Flora and well...because of previous events I'd like to move past it is only Sara who comes.

She does arrive with a bit of a frown on her face and I'm sure I'll find out why she's in such a sour mood but first to invite her inside and more importantly, introduce her to Flora!

And so I have to go and pull Flora from her crib and bring her to Sara who lights up at the sight of her. Whatever frown she had on her face instantly melts away and she can't wait to hold her.

"Florencia is her full name," I say to Sara as she coos and snuggles Flora who is being very well behaved right now! "She seems to only be fussy with me!"

"Well of course because she knows you'll listen to every little demand she has!"

"Having the strong urge to have your own yet?" I joke but I can tell saying that hit the wrong nerve. "Sara, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's fine, I want to but...can we talk about it a little later?"

"Of course!"

It was then that Flora decided she had enough of introductions and started to cry.

"Ok ok Flora, we get it, we get it!," I say taking her back and letting Sara know she's free to hang around but I have to get her to sleep.

Sara was exploring the house a bit since its actually her first time here and in the end I find her seated right before my tempting blueberry bagels. I'm guessing she would have taken one but she looks like she has a lot on her mind right now. "This place is...really nice," she says, at least in a much better mood than when she arrived.

"Isn't it? Still very empty but we'll fill it day by day, I hope."

"It's a lot of space to fill but it's also not too much, if that makes sense?" She is right. It's not exactly a mansion but it's big enough to be impressive.

"So..." I start, curious about what has Sara all sour right now. "Is everything okay?"

"It's the guy, you know the one I'm dating?" she reveals but all I can do is nod my head because I actually do not know the guy she's dating. She has kept his identity as vague as possible, not on purpose, I think, but he remains a mystery to me all the same. "He's umm, well, let's just say his occupation isn't clean."

"Clean?" I urge, needing a bit more.

"He works for the cartel...I think."

"Oh," well, that's no good. You all know i have an extensive relationship with the cartel but Sara does not know that. All she knows is that I'm an immigrant. "Sara, who exactly are you-"

"Well, that's not the problem," she says, as if there could be something bigger than that. "He apparently has a bit of a promotion on the table and thinks he should take it."

"A promotion in that world usually means more simoleons and more of a chance of also getting killed," I tell her honestly. "Sara, who is this guy?"

"My boyfriend?" she says, which is obvious. I know that but how do I get more information out of her about him?

"Sara, I've known a few cartel guys from...well, they basically ran the town I came from. Maybe I know about him and can better prepare you for-?"

"Simón," she says and at that moment my heart drops.

There is only one Simón that I know and I do not think there could be another especially tied to the cartel. Maybe there is, it's not that uncommon of a name after all, but before I can ask for his last name she's moved on, perhaps sensing that I wasn't into the conversation so somehow she's talking about Flora again.

"She really is adorable isn't she? You know it was dangerous coming over here I might get the fever myself!"

"O-oh uh yeah, yeah," I say, regaining my balance. She's very possibly dating Simón, my Simón. "Oh umm, by the way, I'm pregnant again," I announce for whatever reason. Perhaps because I was not sure what else to say or do in the moment.

Well, that will certainly be awkward if she introduces me to him. I would tell her that I know him but I'm only 90% sure that she's talking about the same guy...maybe, hopefully, she is not.

Frida Varela - Next Episode 10.4

[disgoreged]

How I look basically telling my boss Im going to have a breakdown today no matter what and I'd rather do it at home than at work and that I can feel the signs already coming on and it's going to last all day to the point where I'll make an attempt at my life bc this is not the first time this has happened to me in my life by a long shot (and I most certainly don't have the money to pay to go to the hospital and whatever subsequent things they want to do to/for me)

[lususnatura]

🎤 🎤 🎤

a song that i associate with my muse meme!

AHH, hey, ramone!! thank you for sending in this prompt :D since you sent in three of the mic's, i shall now be treating you to three songs that make me think of blamore when i hear them / that i associate with it. an explanation of why i chose them will be in the tags <3

hozier - who we are.

icehouse - crazy.

depeche mode - personal jesus.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

also it's something (better) like, the exercise of deliberately [art imitates life imitates art] holding up Billions to My IRL Things Perspective and going like whaaat would i want for winston. first answer is you want any character to not have been within the scope of the show in the first place, and to exit it since they are. and you kind of get that in the accidental reward in banishing winston, since like in the end it's just that the show doesn't care about him existing at that point But like it's winston sitting there quietly as everyone leaves & turns out the lights & Then he can leave too; others have peaced out & nobody remembers he exists so Now he can go off & do whatever.

but like in true form i think they definitely accidentally baked in another divine reward for winston in that, like, the way he's kept around as fodder for these fun little [pov: enjoy abusing this guy] asides with him, where it Just So Happens that he's autistic as something they're unaware of but is completely relevant to the expectation we understand him to be inferior(tm), it Just So Happens that he's also ""bad"" at not ""causing"" abuse to be turned on him. he's ""bad"" at staying in line. like well yes Yes that's what i want for him. just like In Real Life it's like yeah Ideally i'd want people to be able to extricate themselves from where they're trapped in power structures & i'd want them to have the perspective about it of understanding they're not Inferior / i.e. they are as much a person as anyone else and they're not corrupting everything good / i.e. it wasn't them Bringing It Upon Themselves and it's not them being Destructive by toppling a jenga tower of a hierarchy that happened to be pressing down on them. and winston is the kind of [the ruinerrrrrr] who is Turned On exactly because he keeps acting like someone who's on the verge of breaking out of the [being in line] someone demands of him as autist, employee, whatever other supposed manifestations of [inferior]

like in the 5 second stretches in which winston's allowed to speak before retaliation, it's because he's like "matter of factly" delivering whatever Information that's useful for another plotline. then he Brings It Upon Himself by making people aware that he's Also existing in his own right as a person rather than what they think serves their own deal / what they want from him at all times, perhaps by expressing his personality (didn't appeal to them! so it was Wrong) or not b/c of anything in particular said or done at present, just b/c people have a constant / accumulating contempt for him so their being in the same room as him & able to see & hear him is already dangerous. the [we're just seeing Any Abusive Dynamic in action] continuing apace.

and it's like, well, right there. he's written as acting like someone who doesn't blame himself for how he's treated, which billions frames as being Rude & Mean, and so too does everyone's abusers lmfao like and that these are his moments that are written to be Bringing It Upon Himself. and it's like hell yeah he doesn't blame himself. hell yeah that his self-esteem can manifest as anger at all. hell yeah that he keeps expressing himself with personality & confidence & doesn't even disguise his having been hurt, & it's this [his ass is Not grey rocking] that billions frames as both him "causing" his abuse & making that abuse "successful" lol, wrow just like real life!! and when like speaking of real life yeah it's not "bad" that people Do engage in strategies to mitigate & survive, including things like blaming themselves or being too "boring" to be anything but a non dialogued background character b/c that's all that goes unpunished, it's bad b/c it's done to them at all, not [ohh they're doing it to themselvesss] and like i'm asking myself like Ideally. what do i want Ideally. and i'd want winston to know that it's being Done To Him & i'd want him to find as much room for his personhood & autonomy as possible. and that's basically how he's written anyways, and billions hates that like You See this is why he deserves it this is why he's doing it to himself. and i'm like my god if that's not Inspiration for like "so what if people don't find you Personally Likable" and not preemptively holding back all personality or anything that'd draw attention as if you exist as a person in your own right & not something that only either gets in the way of or serves their wants of a Real person (someone with more power) like hell yeah you have him out here doing it =']

another fun addendum is like, billions isn't getting into it much b/c it doesn't seem to care much about "what if some people were peers & seem to have a genuine, recipcrocal relationship?" but that it just so happened to be like "oh tuk as the next closest loser who deserves it might be nice to winston" while it's framing winston as the "worse" Loser as being....unconditionally supportive of tuk. while the one downside of billions Also giving bentuk as much as it is is that it also inevitably has that shadow of "but ben is Superior to tuk" and like that it's correct that everyone encourages tuk to Stop Bringing It Upon Himself and start being less of a loser; it's wrong for winston to be like hey let's go have a foursome. like yeah probably don't make a list of the women you work with you'd be dtf but it's not like i'm convinced "ah billions and it's strong anti misogyny stance like" roflmao and billions is Not reflecting on "the downsides of unconditional support?" there when winston was beaten up for criticising taylor earlier like we WILL take his ideas while looting his [beaten unconscious] body there but he WAS wrong to express them as though he's BETTER than taylor!!! mafee's beautiful show of loyalty in kicking his ass even when he might agree with the argument and then benefit when it's adopted by taylor anyways! so it's as usual actually purely based on hierarchy & who gets to be in charge of people. it's correct for ben to be in charge of tuk, unless he has to step aside for that bizarre dead-end subplot about how it's tuk's fault if he's treated badly, b/c it's really his own Failure to have Confidence to know he has good ideas [raising our voice to deliver this message over the sound of breaking desks and chairs and computer monitors over winston because he had the confidence to act like he deserved to talk to someone and because he knows his ideas efforts & results are good & valuable around there] like. and isn't it sooo fucked up to talk about who you're dtf in the episode that has it be neutral if your boss is dtf & lets you know but is nice about it (and you're already Correctly tending to their ego, which you're responsible for!) like hey no possible problem! it's not even so much of a problem for a boss man to have the sex they're entitled to & be rude about their leveraging their power in that acquisition that it Stays a problem into the next season. ew, winston is Known (Inferred) Dtf??? we'll use it to exploit His vulnerability, exacerbate it, & punish him further for good measure in another episode that just revels in abuse & violation with a sexual aspect once again, but like, hey tuk don't do that, winston's such a Bad Influence for being like, shrug, kneejerk intervening with the Good Friendship where the One In Charge leaps in & Tells tuk the Correct thing to do. obviously there's also the tragedy that billions will Never let winston push back against Real Winners like rian or taylor in A Way That Matters (actually gets in their way at all) lol like. one thing that would have really been fun, winston should've literal kneejerk started physically fighting wags in either pertinent scene in 7x03 for real 110%. i wouldn't be like Gasp Violence Is Never The Answer if he just hit someone to hit them b/c fuck you. or broke anything on his way out etc etc. billions would Never let him. which is the other side of the same coin of [why he should get to]

tl;dr how great that winston's being "out of line" means he's basically always noticeably flouting & rebelling against the [He Deserves Abuse] agenda lol. that IS what i want. his being "beyond hope" like ohhh he's sooo stupid he doesn't realize how much he has the bad tastes & wrong interests & annoying personality He Will Always Be This Way like hell yeah!!! billions like oh no winston's personhood will never stay tamped down & locked away such that some godawful person tolerates keeping him in their inventory :( ohhh the ABA will never work :( that's right!!!!!!!!!! although they're not sad about it because it's about relishing the promise there will always be True Inferiors you can enjoy abusing with your righteous power over, but like well you wrote him escaping anyways even while dragging other "better" characters into standing around to serve axe's need for more than 1.8 employees and [crickets, reverberating cough, sneaker scuff] like. another ""wrong"" thing for winston to do, another thing for him to not "deserve," which is itself godawful actually lol like lord what it "rewards" its Good, Deserving characters with, no thanks. meanwhile winston's punishment is that he's autistic and """bad""" at being abused like lmfao good for him, fantastic for him, just what i want

[lolli-popples]

Okay I thought more about this, this reblog will be my Double Life thoughts since they're generally the most composed ATM.

So, the intrigue of Double Life comes ENTIRELY from when you swap them in. For many series, you'd swap them in once they get into their main alliance, maybe at the start of the second episode, or partway through the first.

However, the alliances in Double Life are kind of decided... at the start? Fundamentally, you need to pick whether you give them control before or after the Nether debacle.

Because the question is "would Cleo or Scott choose to go the nether with Martyn?"

See, I think the answer is no. I think their gut reaction is "I'm not making that mistake" and then they don't go.

Let's explore maybe what would happen with both options.

Cleo: In this timeline, Cleo's soulmate is *actually* Scott. And I don't think Pearl would actually care if Martyn went to the nether, I think it'd probably end up with both pairs in their "correct" alliances. But, a big reason WHY Pearl won was because she WASN'T allied with her soulmate. So, I don't actually know if Cleo would be ABLE to win in this way. In that story, you get to explore everything going "correct" but then Cleo doesn't win, and has to redo the whole series again, but this time intentionally breaking the relationship with Scott. And that's an interesting narrative IMO.

Scott: Now this timeline is odd, because the soulmates stay the same. Except obviously, you don't have Scott going to the nether. And so, he and Pearl are able to team up. But Martyn WOULD still go to the nether. And I kind of wonder if Cleo would decide to stay teamed with Scott and Pearl, and this would be a 3g's team-up. But it would absolutely change the dynamic, because ultimately, Cleo is kind of a 3rd wheel, although I'm sure Scott and Pearl would go out of their way to make sure she doesn't feel that way. Anyway, Scott and Pearl together are quite good at surviving, so idk if the whole "soulmates together" thing would effect them as much. But at the end of the day, Scott needs to win. Which means he has to kill Cleo and Martyn, and he has to kill Pearl at the end of it. And who knows if he'd be able to go through with that.

Okay now let's talk about if they DIDN'T have a choice-

Cleo: I *would* say "this is just what we discussed without the interest of the first part" but I actually don't think so. I don't believe Cleo would strike out on her own. I feel like she might actually join up with another team for part of the series, (until she inevitably needs to rejoin Scott). I think the most interesting choices here are either Scar and Grian or Ren and BigB. Ren and BigB would be kind of funny because that is sort of just reverse Last Life. Now I might also say "Cleo would burn their bridge and houses" however, Cleo HAS the benefit of hindsight. Another important question is; what does PEARL think of all this? And would her and Scott be more or less lenient to Cleo? Unsure.

Scott: This would kind of just be reverse Double Life. And all the angst that comes with that.

The MAIN question with these two options is ABSOLUTELY: Would Pearl go along with shutting out her original soulmate? Is that something she would do because of them going to the nether with Martyn? It would effect a lot of the story.

Okay now for the last question:

What happens if Martyn swaps in?

We don't need to ask the same question. Because Martyn would absolutely still take Pearl to the Nether. That would still happen. The benefit of hindsight does nothing, in Martyn's eyes, he almost won last time anyway, no reason to not do that.

And NGL, it's kind of the same story! Except this time, Scott is Martyn's soulmate, and Pearl is Cleo's. I think the only change is that Martyn actually does his math correctly and DOESN'T punch Scott off a cliff XD

But: Would he win? I'd need to analyze the deaths for that. But NGL it'd be PRETTY funny if Pearl still killed him. And he has to do the whole thing over again but this time be friends with Pearl. I'm down for a "Martyn faces the consequences of his actions" arc.

Anyway I'm not discussing swapping, Scar, Grian, or Joel in, because I think for this particular season, it functionally needs to be either Scott, Cleo, or Martyn, for the narrative intrigue that entails.

Life Series AU concept:

Swapping the victors. They wake up in a previous series, but at the base/ in the alliance of another victor, with the victor they're taking the place of in their alliance and base.

They have to win the series in the position and with the ruleset the other victor won in to escape.

[tardis--dreams]

My gynecologist confusing me completely by not using raw violence this time, being overall quite nice, and first and foremost asking me to undressed from my waist Up?? Wtf?

[river-taxbird]

The most common mistake people make when thinking about prehistory and how to avoid it.

In "The Dawn of Everything, A New History for Humanity" David Graeber gives what I think might be the best piece of advice I've ever heard for understanding deep human history, and that is to get your mind out of the Garden of Eden.

People speculating about prehistory before modern archeology were quick to frame early humanity as existing in a "state of nature", either with pure innocent tribal communism, or being brutish barbarous cavemen, then something happened to bring us from the state of nature into "society". Did we make a Faustian bargain by domesticating plants and animals? Why is evidence of intergroup violence in prehistory so rare? How did we fall from the innocent state of nature? This, of course, smacks of the biblical creation story, so even if people don't believe it literally, they seem to have a hard time letting go of it spiritually even in a secular context.

This is pretty much nonsense, of course. Humans have existed for over 2 million years. Anatomically modern humans have existed for at least 300 thousand years. Behaviourally modern humans (with symbolism, art, long distance trade, political awareness) have existed for at least 50 thousand years, from our best evidence, but possibly a lot longer. The time between the Sumerians inventing writing and urban living 5,000 years ago and now is only a narrow slice of human history.

If we want to understand human history properly, we shouldn't understand people of the past as fundamentally different from us. They were intelligent, politically aware people doing their best in the world they found themselves in, just like we are today. We didn't fall from innocence with the development of behavioral modernity, religion, farming, war, money, capitalism, computers, or anything else. The world has changed a lot, but people have been experimenting with different ways to live for as long as there have been people, like this example I've posted before about disabled people's role in late pleistocene Eurasian society.

People have been the same as we are now for at least the last 50 thousand years. We have lived in countless different ways and will continue to experiment. There was no fall, and we don't live at the end of history.

[ckret2]

So a while ago some friends were talking about fans who claim the Same Coin theory is canon. And I made the mistake of saying:

Do you know who also has tons in common with Bill? Mabel. Yet nobody claims Bill reincarnated as Mabel. …wait now I want a "same coin but it's Mabel" AU. Funniest Bill reincarnation option. The all-seeing arsonist is making macaroni glitter art. The omnipotent tyrant is crying because a unicorn called her a bad person.

And then I overthought it for two months.

So—AU where after death, Bill's soul shoots 13 years into the past and reincarnates as Mabel. I'll call it ✨ Sparkly Coin AU ✨

Don't leave yet. Lemme show you why it works. Behold the eerie amount of parallels in their personalities, dialogue, behavior, mannerisms, tastes...

I could have kept going but my attention span ran out. All right, we all on board now? Convinced we could segue from one personality into the other? Great. Now here's why you should be interested: the juicy post-Weirdmageddon angst potential.

As long as a small fringe of the fandom still thinks Weirdmageddon is Mabel's fault, why not amp that up x100 and have some fun with it?

Is everyone sold now? Great. Let's get into the details. I've got 8 more pieces of art under the read more.

So the AU starts the instant Bill dies. Thanks to invoking his deal with the Axolotl—one way to absolve his crime, a different form, a different time—the Axolotl gives him a new shape and shoots him thirteen years into the past. Apparently, the Axolotl thought it would be very funny to stick Bill in the family that defeated him.

Which probably made for a jarring transition.

(It's fine, she's like 10 minutes old, she probably can't even tell who she's looking at. Not being able to tell who she was looking at is what got her into this situation ayyyy)

When Dipper & Mabel come back from Gravity Falls complaining about this triangular jerk Bill, their parents mention that Dipper's name was nearly Bill. See, after they knew they were going to have a boy, one night their mom dreamed about a visitor—some kind of magic pink salamander??—calling her child "BILL." Then at the next sonogram they found out they were having twins, the girl must've been hidden at a weird angle the first time, and they wanted matching names, so they thought, Bill and Bell. But they didn't really like Bell; but eventually they stumbled on Mabel, so to keep the names matching they switched from Bill to Mason. Isn't that the darnedest thing?

(Of course, Mabel and Dipper assume Bill harassed their parents to try to trick them into naming a kid after him. To be a jerk.)

When Bill meets Mabel, he's unaware that she's his future self—Bill's notably bad at doing things like, say, double-checking to see whether he's going to die anytime soon—but like... he can tell something's up.

Naturally, before visiting Gravity Falls, there were echoes of who Mabel used to be—but nothing anyone would be able to identify without context. All her Bill-ish quirks either smoothed out with time (see: how between second grade and fourth grade Mabel went from being the "freak" to the popular girl in class), or else they were accepted by her family as Mabel-ish quirks.

After they meet (and kill) Bill, they have the context to understand some of Mabel's behaviors... and unfortunately, some of Mabel's latent Bill-ness starts surfacing after she's been directly exposed to her prior incarnation.

The part of the Pines family familiar with Bill thinks the worst case scenario is that maybe Bill's survived and is slowly possessing Mabel; but far more likely, they think this is just some weird way of trying to subconsciously process last summer. Mabel doesn't think she's being weird, you guys are being weird, stop giving her weird looks. They get attacked by one triangle and now she can't wear yellow or pick up macrame as a hobby??

(It's not all red flags and uncomfortable triangle imagery, though. When Stan asks her what she'd like as a gift for some important event, she shyly admits that she thinks she's starting to outgrow her plastic gem jewelry and maybe she's old enough to get her first piece of real gold jewelry, if that's not too expensive? And Stan's never been so proud of her. Thirteen years old and already thinking about buying gold!)

But of course, the real fun starts when Mabel finds out.

That's the face of a girl who's just discovered that she tortured her great uncle. Now imagine running into the brother she possessed.

But I've already spent a million words and thirteen images on this post. If enough folks are interested in the AU maybe I'll expand on it later. Let me know what y'all think.

[authorhjk1]

Public punishment

(Yujin X Wonyoung X Male Reader)

Your face remains expressionless as you pause the video.

"See, daddy? I told you she is such a slut."

You ignore Wonyoung as you stare at the woman on the screen.

Yujin really is a slut. Which you already knew from the first time you met her. Same as Wonyoung. The difference between those two is, that Wonyoung isn't as slutty as the older girl. Yujin shows off her body way more.

The three of you are all in a purely sexual relationship. But it seems like Yujin forgets that from time to time.

"You need to punish her."

You finally take a look at Wonyoung, who is sitting next to you. She's sitting straight, her hands resting on her thighs. You catch the small smile around her lips. She's loving this. She'd gladly throw Yujin under the bus, just so you can see her as the better of the two.

"I really should."

You think out loud, making Wonyoung scoot closer.

"She will be home in two hours."

"And?"

Wonyoung's eyes look up at you.

"Don't I get a reward?"

"For what?"

She pouts.

"Come on, daddy."

You sigh, knowing it'll be hard to resist her. But you try to keep your head clear. You need to find a fitting punishment for Yujin.

"At-At least let me suck it."

She looks up at you with those big eyes of hers, her lips still sporting that cute pout.

"Fine."

"Yes!"

Wonyoung exclaims. But before she can unbuckle your belt, you grap her wrists.

"But not like this."

You gesture at the oversized hoodie and sweatpants she is wearing.

"I'll go change. Just a minute."

Like an excited little bunny, Wonyoung runs towards her room in record speed.

You unpause the video of Yujin dancing in that little skimpy outfit of hers. She winks at the camera, plays with her pigtails...

All the fans seem to love her. Of course they do. Who wouldn't?

An idea slowly blossoms inside your mind. So many people. And all of them love her. Not just for her music, but her body and face as well.

You hear the door to Wonyoung's room open. You're not being paid badly, being one of Ive's managers and all. But you could certainly make a few extra bucks, if you play your cards right. A mischievous smirk plays around your lips as you finally plan out Yujin's proper punishment.

Wonyoung wordlessly kneels down in front of you, a satisfied smile on her face. She knows you like it when you can hold onto something. That's why she often wears pigtails or a ponytail.

While you keep watching Yujin's performance, Wonyoung finally gets her reward. You feel her lips close around your shaft. Her head begins to bob soon after, her lips gliding along your length.

While you watch the older woman dance on screen, you reach down and hold onto Wonyoung's pigtails with both hands. She gladly gives up control as you wrap her hair around your hands. You start to pull her back and forth, using her mouth like a fleshlight.

The young woman in front of you stays silent, expect for a couple of gags here and there. She tries to look up at you, although your eyes are glued to the screen. Wonyoung is wondering what you're thinking about. And even more importantly, why aren't you thinking about her?

She'd be completely satisfied with giving you head, if you were focused on her. But that's not the case right now. Wonyoung craves your attention. After all, that's why she told you about Yujin. You've been on vacation for the last two weeks, so you didn't even meet the two of them often during that time. And now that Wonyoung finally has you to herself, you can't stop thinking about Yujin.

But she can't complain either, because her mouth is completely stuffed with your cock. Unable to say a word, Wonyoung lets you use her mouth in what ever way you see fit. Even if you aren't even looking at her.

"What exactly are we doing here?"

Despite her annoying questions, Yujin still follows you into the mall.

"Wait and see."

You say, almost to yourself, as you look around.

"Are you just returning something? What's in there?"

For the nth time, Yujin is trying to sneak a peak inside the big bag you brought with you.

You take her hand and lead her towards a Chinese restaurant inside the mall. Right next to it is a sign that shows the way to a public restroom. The left one for women, the right one for men.

"Isn't it too early for lunch?"

Rolling your eyes at her questions, you drag her inside the men's room.

"Oppa, I shouldn't-"

Yujin finally stops talking when the two of you almost run into a guy who is just putting his pants back on.

"What the-"

"Relax, mate."

You pat his shoulder and lead Yujin towards the stall that is the furthest away from the door.

"What are you doing here?"

The guy, who seems to be a little older than you, is washing his hands while watching the two of you.

"Don't get any funny ideas. The two of you can go have fun at home."

He shakes his head as he dries off his hands.

"Young people theses days..."

You catch him taking a good look at Yujin.

"Although it's not like I can't blame you. If my wife was this pretty..."

Yujin feels a little uncomfortable as she feels him looking her up and down.

You told her to wear the same outfit, which she wore during her last performance. She thought you did so, because you liked it.

Small denim shorts, a white and black top with blue letters on it, a necklace, a choker and her hair in pigtails.

"You wanna have a go?"

Your question makes Yujin look at you, her mouth open. The guy raises an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Well, I didn't put the butt plug in yet, so her ass might be too tight right now. But her mouth and her pussy are amazing."

Yujin gasped when you first mentioned a butt plug. And now she stares at you in horror. How could you just offer her body, her holes, to someone the both of you don't even know?

"Oppa-"

"I do have a wife..."

She gets interrupted by the guy thinking aloud.

"But I guess a blowjob isn't cheating."

"Of course it's not."

You assure him, while Yujin just stands there, flabbergasted.

What the hell is going on? Why are you doing this? You were always a little possessive, wanting to make sure you're the only one Yujin and Wonyoung sleep with. So why are you offering her up to someone else? Especially without asking her first?

"Oppa, coud we maybe talk for a second?"

She's about to give you a death stare, but you ignore her, while pulling out something from your bag. A collar. With a chain on it.

"What is that?"

An unnecessary question. Yujin has worn this collar a lot of times before.

She leans away, but knows she won't be able to stop you from putting it on her. A moment later, the leather is secure around her neck.

"Would you at least tell me the reason?"

"Because of this."

You gesture at her clothes.

Yujin rolls her eyes.

"This is part of my job, you know? Being an idol?"

"Did you choose the outfit, or did the stylist choose it?"

Your question makes Yujin look down.

"I-I did."

"Thought so."

You pull at her chain, making Yujin stumble into the stall. Before she can react, you tie the chain around the hook that is attached to the wall. Usually people would hang their jackets there. Now it's a way for you to keep Yujin in place. She watches with big eyes as you take out a lock and secure the chain with it. She sees the key disappearing in your pocket.

"Stop this prank, you made your point."

Yujin tries to think positively. There's no way you'd actually do this, right? Letting another man use her mouth?

"We can go home and you can punish me there."

"This fic is called public punishment for a reason."

You walk out of the stall.

"Have fun."

The man looks at Yujin.

"Oppa?"

Yujin calls for you again, while her eyes are focused on the man's crotch. She watches how he pulls down his pants. The young woman can see the outlines of his cock underneath his boxers. She can't help but swallow hard.

He might be a stranger, but that doesn't mean she can't give him head just once, right? She might be an idol, but the guy doesn't seem to know her. And obviously there aren't any cameras here. So why not? You set this up, so Yujin might as well use this opportunity.

She closes her eyes when the man pulls his underwear off. Yujin licks her lips, wanting to get surprised. She smiles, before opening her mouth wide. How many people are you gonna send in here anyway? Three? Not much of a punishment, is it?

Her eyes shoot open when the man fills her whole mouth with one thrust. She didn't expect him to go all in from the beginning. Yujin quickly becomes a toy for this stranger as he uses her pigtails as handlebars. He's fucking her face, while also pulling her head onto his cock.

Yujin was prepared for a couple of lazy blowjobs. The butt plug stuff you mentioned seemed exaggerated to her at that time. Not anymore though. Are you really gonna let random guys have their way with her?

Yujin closes her eyes, letting the man use her mouth however he sees fit.

You feel a little weird as the first guy gives you 5000₩. You put the bill in your wallet and gesture towards the door next to you. He seems to be as old as you. When he opens the door, you hear Yujin gag inside the men's room.

You set up a chair, which people usually use for camping, next to the door. A cardboard sign is standing next to it.

"Mouth 5000₩"

"Pussy 10000₩"

"Ass 20000₩"

As you watch a guy, who barely looks like he is twenty, walk in your direction, you wonder how much money you might be able to make with Yujin today. If only 20 people pay for a blowjob, you'd make 100 000₩ in one day.

As he takes out his wallet to pay you, you hear the door open. The man, whom you met when you went inside with Yujin, is now stepping out of the restroom.

"That was amazing. She is perfect."

"Thanks."

You smile as you receive more money from the younger guy.

Yujin uses her finger to scoop up the rest of the man's cum. He shot his load all over her face and in her mouth without even asking. She was surprised, almost mad, at first. But for some reason Yujin is really starting to get off on this. The idea of more men walking in and just using her like a whore makes her feel warm and fuzzy. She could've sworn the door opened and closed a moment ago, while he was about to cum on her. Does that mean....?

Yujin can barely contain her excitement. Who comes next? When the next man steps into the stall, Yujin smiles up at him. She's aware that the first man probably messed up her face a little bit already. But the guy in front of her now is already taking off his belt. Seems like she doesn't look too bad yet. Yujin's mouth opens as she watches him undress. She doesn't close her eyes this time, wanting to have the full experience.

When he puts his cock in her mouth, Yujin immediately starts to suck him off. It didn't take her long to accept her new role fully. Her lips move along his shaft, making sure not to miss an inch.

"Damn, you're a whore."

Yujin's cheeks turn red as she hears him groan. Was that a compliment? Is she doing a good job?

She decides to do her best, not wanting to disappoint. Soon, the man's hands hold onto her pigtails too. Just like the first man, he begins to fuck her face as well. Yujin looks up at him, giving him her sexiest look, wanting to feel his load down her throat as soon as possible.

It still feels a little awkward to her. Twenty minutes ago, she never thought this would ever happen. Of course she has fantasies. And some of them include more than just one man, no doubt. But now being able to experience this is something different.

As the second man keeps fucking her face, Yujin hears the door open and close again. Her pussy gets even wetter at the thought of more men coming in to use her mouth. She does her best to use her tongue as much as possible, trying to meet the new guy quickly.

"Gosh, you're amazing."

The man, who's cock is in her mouth, groans once more. Yujin feels him throb and just two thrusts later, he buries himself as deep in her as possible. His cum shoots into her mouth and throat, almost leaving her gagging as he pulls out.

"Might come back later again."

"Yes,...."

Yujin coughs due to the cum in her throat.

"Please come again."

She waves after him as he leaves her stall, eager to see who's next. Her eyes widen in surprise when she sees you.

"Oppa?"

"Having fun?"

Your mischievous smile makes her carefully nod her head. Once more shame colours her cheeks red. She shouldn't be enjoying this, it's a punishment after all. But she can't help it.

"Now that more people seem to be interested, I'm afraid we'll have to raise the stakes."

You walk closer and help Yujin to her feet.

"What do you mean?"

"Turn around."

You ignore her question and make her lean face first against the wall of the stall. Yujin feels how you reach around her and unbutton her shorts.

"Wait, oppa. You're not going to let strangers fuck me, right? Right?"

When you don't answer, a shiver runs through Yujin's body. Giving blowjobs to strangers in a random restroom is one thing. But offering her pussy too? Should she really go this far?

Yujin hesitates, thinking about telling you to stop. The sound of someone stepping closer makes her turn her head. She sees another man, who's now looking into the stall. Is he the one who gets to fuck her? Yujin can't help but notice that he is definitely younger than the other two men. Around her age. And undeniably handsome. Maybe just this once is okay?

The man watches as you start to pull down Yujin's shorts. The way she looks at him at the same time, even slowly biting her lip, makes him reach for his crotch. He slowly cups it through his jeans as you let Yujin's shorts drop to the floor.

The young woman is wearing a light blue lace thong. She's naturally arching her back a little, showing off her plump ass. You reach into your pocket and take out the butt plug and a small bottle of lube. After pulling down her panties as well, you coat the metal with the transparent liquid.

"Oppa, what are you doing?"

Yujin expected you to leave again as soon as you took off her panties. Wasn't that what you're here for? Yujin is quickly proven wrong when she feels the slightly cold metal poke at her rear entrance. You free hand pushes one of her cheeks to the side, making it easier for you to slowly work the plug inside of her.

"Just relax."

You whisper into her ear, giving Yujin goosebumps.

This isn't the first time she's wearing a butt plug. You and her have already experimented a couple of times. But quickly it dawns on her, why you're doing this. So you're not just offering her mouth and pussy to strangers, but also her ass?

Yujin expects fear or anger to bubble up inside of her. Instead, she's surprised when she catches herself thinking about someone, who's not you, taking her ass. In the end, it doesn't matter who fucks her as long as she feels good.

Yujin gasps as you finally push the butt plug completely inside of her. You give her ass a playful slap.

"Have fun."

As you place the bottle of lube on the sink before leaving the restroom, you hear Yujin moan.

"Oh, god..."

Yujin sighs as she feels another man shoot his load deep inside her pussy. How many guys have already used her by now? Yujin tries to count. Two came in her mouth, one on her face and three inside her pussy. Makes six. A dumb smile plays around Yujin's lips at that realization. Six guys within what? An hour? Two hours? She doesn't know what time it is.

When she hears the next guy unzip his pants behind her, Yujin feels her pussy getting wet at the sound. The last three guys all fucked her, so she is still standing the way you left her. Body against the wall of the stall. Cheek pressed up against the surface. She is holding onto the wall and the chain that keeps her in place for support. Yujin's legs are growing weak with every pounding she is taking.

"Fuck, you're tight."

The man behind her groans as he slowly pushes into Yujin's cum filled pussy. She lets out a moan herself, not prepared for his size. He lets her get accustomed to it, once he is fully inside of her.

But soon he fucks Yujin hard against the wall, making her eyes roll to the back of her head. Her moans echo through the restroom with every one of his thrusts. She felt his hands on her waist at the beginning. But now he is holding onto and pulling at her pigtails.

Yujin's back arches further, separating her a little from the wall. Which only means the man behind her fucks her harder. Her ass looks way better when she's slightly bent over. Her cheeks clap loudly against his body. Her own moans grow louder.

"Your cheap pussy feels amazing."

He growls into Yujin's ear as he fucks her as hard as he can. The young woman feels a wave of shame and arousal rush through her. Are you charging theses guys money so they can fuck her? And how much is her pussy worth?

Her deepest fantasies come to light once more as Yujin thinks about that. This whole situation is slowly turning her into a pleasure craving whore. Yujin can feel what a slut she's become. Getting used by strangers again and again in the men's bathroom. And you even take money for it as if she is some cheap play thing.

"Please breed my cheap pussy."

Yujin moans when she finally accepts her place. It's the first time she's said something to one of these men.

The man behind her was about to climax anyway. Yujin cries out as she gets cream pied for the fourth thime today. The man behind her groans into her ear, pressing her against the wall as he leans against her.

When he finally recovers from his orgasm, he pulls out of Yujin and gets dressed. She can feel how his cum slowly starts to leak out of her freshly fucked pussy. He slaps one of her ass cheeks one last time and then leaves the stall. Yujin is left alone, cum now running down her legs.

"Just go inside. She's in the last stall."

You collect the money from the 13th man, who is now entering the restroom. You're surprised that it's going so well. It's been barely two hours and you already made more money than you thought you would. Although you did notice that no one has tried Yujin's ass yet. You wonder if most guys are just not into anal, or if you set the price too high.

"Hi, daddy."

Wonyoung's familiar voice makes you look up. She is standing in front of you in a cute white dress, holding a matching purse. Her left hand is holding onto something that looks like a stick, wrapped in a plastic bag.

"I have a present for Yujin unnie. You don't mind if I bring it to her, do you?"

You shake your head, not without noticing how good Wonyoung looks in that dress.

As the younger girl steps into the men's room, she hears Yujin's moans echo off the walls. She hesitates, thinking about waiting for the man to leave. She saw him go inside as she walked towards you. But to her surprise, she hears him groaning already.

"Oh yes, fill that slutty pussy up."

Wonyoung almost laughs at Yujin's words. She did the right thing by telling you what Yujin did during their last performance. She's a cheap slut after all. The complete opposite of Wonyoung. If she can finally make you see that, Wonyoung will have you all to herself. It's just a matter of time.

"That was amazing."

The man praises Yujin, still catching his breath as he pulls his pants back up. Yujin is slightly disappointed that he didn't last long, but she decides to take it as a compliment. It seems like there will be more than enough dicks for her today anyway.

But when the next person steps into the stall, Yujin's eyes become big.

"W-Wonyoung?"

"Hi, unnie."

"What are you doing here?"

Her shakey voice reveals how embarrassed she feels right now. She was completely fine with being used like a slut while she was alone. But now that Wonyoung can see her, she feels ashamed.

And Wonyoung examines Yujin closely. By now, Yujin doesn't look as put together as before. Her pigtails are a little loose and her clothes are lying in a pile in one of the corners of the stall. Her face is mostly clean. There's still some makeup on it, but most has been washed away by now.

"I have an early Christmas present for you."

Yujin narrows her eyes in suspicion at Wonyoung's cheeky smile. She bites her lip when she sees the younger girl holding something that looks like a rod in her hand.

"Is that what I think it is?"

Wonyoung nods.

"Just for you, unnie."

Yujin holds her breath as Wonyoung takes out the mysterious object. It's almost as long as Yujin's entire torso. One end has a hook on it, the other ends in the same shape as the plug inside her ass.

"I don't think this is a good idea, I-"

"But daddy is okay with it."

Wonyoung steps closer. Yujin feels shame rush through her system once more. She is still feeling a little uncomfortable thinking about strangers being inside her most intimate place. So she was glad to some degree that no one seemed to be massively interested in her ass yet. But the anal hook, might have some men change their mind.

"Why are you even doing this? Did I do something wrong?"

Wonyoung chuckles as she stands behind Yujin.

"You know daddy is a little possessive. And acting like that on stage was a little too desperate, if you ask me. He would've found out at some point anyway."

"Wait."

Yujin can feel anger bubbling up inside of her.

"Did you tell on me?"

A sharp hiss escapes her mouth, when she feels Wonyoung carefully pull at the butt plug. She feels the ring of her muscles stretch around the widest part of it, until she is finally left empty.

"Of course I did. I'm a good girl after all."

The younger girl's triumphant tone makes Yujin curse her silently. Of course she did.

Wonyoung looks down on Yujin's gaping hole. She places the anal hook at her leader's rear entrance and starts to push it inside of her.

The older girl's eyes roll to the back of her head as she gets filled once more. She could swear that this one feels bigger than the one before. She's almost left breathless. As she tries to get accustomed to her asshole being stretched out even further, Wonyoung is already using the other end to secure it on Yujin's collar.

"There you go, unnie. You look so beautiful."

"Oh, please. Stop mocking me and leave."

Wonyoung laughs.

"You think I'm done already?"

She shakes her head.

"I'm already here, so why don't I make this visit a special memory for the both of us?"

Her mischievous tone has Yujin sweating. What else is this brat up to?

Wonyoung takes out her phone.

"Smile, unnie."

"What?"

Wonyoung makes a peace sign with her fingers, smiles into the camera and a flash lights up the stall.

"What the hell, Wonyoung? Delete that."

"Oh, unnie. You still think you can order me around?"

The younger girl looks straight at her.

"Now I'm the one in control."

A smile plays around her lips.

"Why don't you kneel down? I'll get a better picture that way."

Yunin rolls her eyes. She could put up a fight if she wanted to. But would you punish her for that as well? Probably. Wonyoung is right. In this moment, Wonyoung is the good girl. But Yujin has still some fight left in her. She just doesn't move.

Wonyoung waits for a couple of moments, but then tugs at Yujin's collar. It's enough for the object inside her ass to move. Yujin gasps. Then bites her lip. The younger girl does it again, a smile still on her lips.

"Come on, unnie. Just one more picture, hmm?"

After hesitating, Yujin finally gives up. She is convinced it's better to let Wonyoung take a picture of her, instead of letting her watch Yujin getting used.

"There you go. You look amazing."

Wonyoung takes the picture and shows it to her.

"See?"

Yujin's cheeks burn red.

There she is. Kneeling on the floor of some restroom stall. A collar around her neck, a chain keeping her in place. The anal hook is visible as well, making the fact that she is naked even worse. Her face doesn't look as good as she has hoped. One can definitely tell that she took a couple of facials today.

"Oh, we got company."

Wonyoung remarks excitedly as the door to the restroom opens.

"Don't be shy, come over here."

She motions the man to walk over to her.

"Hello."

He gives her a quick bow and then his eyes meet Yujin's. She can tell he's hesitating, not having expected to see someone else here.

"Oh, don't mind me. Just enjoy yourself."

The man glances at Wonyoung, before looking back at Yujin. His eyes roam her body for a couple of seconds. Eventually, he undoes the button and the zipper of his jeans.

Yujin's eyes are fixated on his cock as he pulls it out. Definitely one of the biggest she's had so far today.

"Is it okay if I... If I put it in your mouth?"

His words are dirty, but he looks almost innocent. Yujin nods, a small smile playing around her lips. He's cute.

When the man steps closer, Yujin opens her mouth. She wraps her lips around his cock, sucking on his tip. The guy instinctively puts his hand on the back of her head and slowly pushes his length inside of her further.

"Yes, that's it. Make her take it all."

Yujin almost forgot Wonyoung was still there. But now her eyes stare right at Wonyoung's phone, which is obviously recording. Yujin closes her eyes. It's not like Wonyoung will stop if she asks nicely.

"Try to fuck her face. It feels amazing, trust me."

Yujin is cursing Wonyoung silently once more. The man hesitates, but eventually takes a hold of both her pigtails. His first thrust is shallow, almost weak. The next one barely makes her take half his shaft. Yujin opens her eyes to look up at him. She winks playfully and then forces herself further down his cock. If Wonyoung wants a show, so be it. It's not like Yujin will ever recover from this anyway. Might as well make the best out of it.

"Oh, there you go. My unnie is such a cock drunk slut."

Under Wonyoung's dirty commentary, Yujin continues the combination of blowjob and face fuck. The man in front of her has gained a little more confidence and has started thrusting into her mouth a little harder and faster. His grip on her pigtails has tightened. Committed to delivering Wonyoung the most dirtiest video possible, Yujin decides to become sloppy.

She leaves her mouth open a little wider, stops swallowing her own spit and just starts to let it naturally escape her mouth. Soon the man's whole cock is drenched in her saliva. Her knees and the already wet tiles underneath her get hit as well.

Wonyoung bites her lip when she sees Yujin look directly into the camera. She just looks so sexy while getting her face fucked. The younger girl can't help but rub her thighs together. How much she is now longing for your cock using her mouth just like that. She keeps recording as she continues to think about exactly that. How you used her mouth like a toy last night, barely even looking at her, while your eyes were glued to Yujin on screen.

"I-I think I'm gonna finish."

The man who's fucking Yujin's face clearly hesitates, his grip on her pigtails softening. But Yujin just shakes her head and lets her tongue roam his cock.

"Give her your cum, she wants it."

Wonyoung catches the man's red cheeks, but her focus is on making sure that the camera is capturing Yujin, who's doing her best to make him climax.

With a loud groan from the man, she finally achieves her goal. She quickly moves back, letting his cock pop out of her mouth. With closed eyes, Yujin takes his cum like a pro. He paints her face, coating her cheeks, nose and lips in his semen.

"You look amazing, unnie."

Wonyoung has to hold back a laugh after stopping the recording. She takes one last picture of her leader covered in cum for good measure, before deciding to head out.

"Have fun in here. Daddy promised to buy me lunch."

With a provocative wave of her hand, Wonyoung strides towards the exit.

Yujin lets out a weak groan as the man behind her closes his pants again. She's bent over the closed toilet, her ass at the perfect height for anyone who would come in.

The man who just came inside her ass is now putting the anal hook back into place. Yujin grimaces as she feels his cum getting pushed deeper into her guts and the cold metal stretches her out again.

Her assumption was right. After Wonyoung came by, a lot of people started to use her ass. By now, Yujin can't even count anymore how many men have used her throughout the day. Definitely more than twenty. Maybe fifty? Or more than that?

Her weak body has made her feel tired and exhausted. As she hears the door open again, just after the last man closed it, she just sighs in defeat. It's not like she didn't enjoy her punishment. In fact, she's still enjoying it. But a break once in a while would've been nice.

As you walk past the sink, you grab the almost empty bottle of lube. You hold your sign in the other hand, smiling as you check the back. You made a mark for every guy who paid you. You almost earned a month's salary within a day.

"Oppa?"

Yujin looks at you when you walk inside her stall.

"It's time to go home, the mall closes in half an hour."

"Is-Is my punishment over?"

Yujin has slid off the toilet seat and is now kneeling on the floor again.

"Almost."

"Are there still more people, who want to use me?"

She looks tired and worn out, but you catch the small glint in her eyes, when she think there are more men yet to come.

"Well, one to be exact."

Realization hits her immediately.

"You're going to use me too, oppa?"

A grateful smile makes its way onto her lips.

"Yeah."

You put down the sign and undo your belt.

"Why don't you get my cock wet first?"

"Yes, oppa."

Yujin quickly takes her place right in front of you. As soon as your pants hit the floor, her mouth closes around your length. Just like the dozens of times before today, Yujin's head bobs up and down on your cock. Her tongue pressed flat against your shaft, her lips forming an airtight seal.

"That's right."

You encourage her as you take a hold of her pigtails.

"This is all you're good for. Offering up your holes like a public slut."

Yujin moans with your cock in her mouth, sending vibrations through your body.

You soon take over, fucking her face like so many men before you today. The young woman's makeup is completely gone and there are still dried up drops of cum here and there.

Wanting to ruin her face even further, you eventually pull out. Yujin looks up at you, mouth still open. You use your cock to smear her own spit all over her face, making her close her eyes.

"Now you look perfect."

"Thank you, oppa."

Her voice sounds a little dry after getting her throat used so often today.

You reach for her collar and pull Yujin to her feet. She moans loudly, feeling the anal hook move inside her ass, stretching her out even more.

"You like it when people use your ass, don't you?"

Yujin weakly nods.

You finally unlock the lock that kept her in place. Pulling at her chain, you guide Yujin towards the sink.

"There we go. It's time for you to enjoy your reward."

Your calm voice had it's desired effect on Yujin. She looks at you through the mirror at the prospect of a reward.

"Which is my cock in your ass."

Yujin doesn't have time to protest. You start to pull the anal hook out of her hole, making her moan and groan once again.

She doesn't stay empty for long. It only takes you a moment to use up the rest of the remaining lube.

"Oh, god."

She sighs weakly as you fill her up completely with only one stroke. Burying yourself deep inside of her, you lean over her body, whispering in her ear.

"I hope you learned your lesson. If not, this will be the new way of spending your free weekends."

"Yes, oppa. I did."

Her reply is cut short as Yujin feels you moving inside of her.

You're amazed at how tight she still is. For how long was her ass totally filled? Probably longer than five hours or something. It still feels as good as if you just pushed into her for the very first time. The tight ring of her muscles grips onto your cock as you thrust into her again and again.

Yujin can't do anything but look at herself through the mirror as her ass takes one last pounding. She's relieved that the day is finally over, that she can rest soon. And yet, she can't help but beg you to fuck her harder.

"Please, oppa. Give it to me hard. One last time."

You hold onto her waist, increasing your pace as you start to properly ruin Yujin's asshole.

She can feel your cock drag along her walls. How your tip reaches the deepest of places, how your hands dig into her flesh.

"Oppa..."

A small, almost lazy, orgasm washes over her.

Yujin doesn't even have enough energy to support her upper body anymore. She's is just lying on top of the sink, enjoying how you use her body for your own pleasure.

"Fuck, Yujin. I'm gonna fill you up."

"Yes, oppa."

Yujin looks at you through the mirror.

"Cum in my ass."

Her weak voice almost tempts you to grab her pigtails and properly ruin her one last time. But you acknowledge that she must be completely dead inside.

You enjoy her tight warmth for a little longer, until you can't hold it back anymore. Leaning over her again, you rest your head on her shoulder. Being buried deep inside her ass, you finally cum, filling her completely.

"Damn, your body is amazing, Yujin."

You don't get answer. Looking through the mirror, you make sure she didn't just fall asleep.

"How many?"

Her voice is barely above a whisper, when she finally speaks up.

"What?"

"How many men used me today?"

You plant a kiss on the back of her head.

"63."

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Hi, everyone!

The first story of December is here. I hope you enjoyed the read, there are four more fics to come. The length and quality of the next stories will increase (I hope) so that we have one big final for the last story.

Stay healthy!