#the only consistent company being the open road

[carnallyricky]

Oh my god he thinks I'm boring doesn't he. He doesn't find me interesting and talking to me feels like a chore im going to kms

[apprenticestanheight]

Post Bathroom trap! Adam Stanheight x gn! reader headcanons

allllll right!! An anon came into my inbox and got me thinking about Adam as a vet as he mentioned wanting to be one the original saw script, and now this exists! Thank you to that anon for spurring on this idea (though you had no idea you did, and I have no idea if you're reading this) this was fun to write!

this fic was ALSO an excuse to imagine adam in this style of glasses (I can admit that I am entirely biased as a glasses wearer myself but I thought about it for two seconds and then was like "this will never cease to be my favorite thing ever." so now we're here)

Fic type- fluff

Warnings- mentions of PTSD related avoidance (adam refuses to go back to the part of the city where the trap was located), mentions of nightmares/anxiety and ptsd being tripped up by something unspecified, mentions of dehydration and starvation after Adam was rescued. Also, this set of headcanons was longer than I had meant for it to be so oops.

Okay, so!!

Adam is found by the police with Lawrences help (also john kramers--a guilt ridden Lawrence Gordon would BEG for Adams life to be saved and for the spare key to the cuff on Adams ankle and you cannot ever convince me otherwise) and insistence from you (who had filed a missing persons report after a day of missed calls, texts that never delivered, and the stray cat Adam occasionally looked after was found mewing at his door, begging to be allowed entrance to his apartment) after four days. He's starving and dehydrated as all fucking hell, but he dimly registers being lifted onto a gurney and the sound of your voice as you tell him you love him and that he's alive, that he's okay.

He goes through surgery (y'know, bullet wounds and all) and wakes up to be told that, due to the spot in his shoulder where the bullet wound up, he's probably going to deal with consistent pain there the rest of his life.

He's just grateful to be out, really. Grateful that Lawrence kept his word, grateful that you harassed the police, in essence, because you cared so much about him.

He's rehydrated with fluids and eats until he's not hungry anymore, still finding the time within exhaustion and it's interruptions with food and your company to fret about seeing Lawrence in the hospital.

I mean--Lawrence does come to see him, but only when he's asleep because stressing Adam out is not a good idea when he's been out of the trap for two days and is going to be in the hospital for another five at minimum.

Lawrence writes Adam a letter of apology, though, and Adam reads it while you've gone home to shower and to feed the stray that comes by his apartment. He doesn't want to accept Lawrences apology to his face, but he decides that some part of him understands why Lawrence did it as he did, and internally accepts Lawrences apology, deciding to let himself move on from it as best he can.

Adam gets discharged from the hospital after a week, at which point he's like "okay. to start, I need to stop doing freelance. That shit almost got me killed."

He's also traumatized and VERY anxious about going to the part of Jersey where the trap is located. Being freelance might mean he has to go to that area, which plays a bigger part than he's willing to admit.

He's sitting in your apartment one day, having been too anxious to go back to his even after he'd been assured that Jigsaw believed how grateful he'd managed to become and would not test him again unless he did something that Jigsaw deemed worthy of such a test.

He starts thinking about life while sitting at your kitchen table, open and closing his fist while doing that "powpowpowpowpow!!" sound that you do when you're messing with kittens as the stray you'd taken in after finding her covered in oil on the side of the road had found herself on your kitchen table.

He looks at you, having just ordered your favorite takeout, and goes "Remember high school?"

You nod at this, anxious but excited to see where, exactly, he plans to take the conversation.

"We started dating in October of sophomore year," you said. "You dropped out March of junior year, Adam. I remember it."

Adam remembers it, too, watching you walk across the stage as a high school graduate where he'd dropped out because he was flunking. He remembers feeling proud of you, supporting you with forehead kisses and promises to order your favorite food if you studied, helping you work your way through your college degree.

"What's got you thinking about it?" you'd ask as Adam lifted the stray orange tabby kitten into his arms, tucking her under his chin.

"I was thinking... remember how I wanted to be a vet?"

You look at him, head tilted, mouth slightly agape. Of course you'd remembered, but those dreams were ones you thought he'd given up on.

"Yeah," you nod. "Yeah. I remember. Why?"

"I was looking into it and I think I'm going to get my GED," Adam says. "Might also look into taking the SATs, I heard that a decent score will help me get a bachelors degree. Once I get my bachelors, I'll go to vet school."

"Adam," you whisper, a little stunned. "Oh my God. Are you serious?"

Adam grins, gaze meeting yours as he nods.

You have a like,, like,, you're just...

you're SO HAPPY because you have loved that man for a literal DECADE by the time he's like "okay yeah. I'm going to get my life together."

You stand up and head to the kitchen, delighting in the sound of Adams laughter as you go.

"Grabbing the good whiskey?" He calls.

"The best stuff in our cabinets!" you call back.

So the cycle starts.

Adam gets himself enrolled in the GED program your old high school offers, and many nights are spent with Adam, glasses on his face and cat dubbed Spice sitting on the couch cushion behind him, studying to make sure he gets the materials right.

You help him take practice tests and kiss him senseless the first time he gets a near perfect score, and from then it only seems like things get better.

Adam aces the GED test and gets the diploma, lets himself smoke a cigarette for the first time since the trap to celebrate the victory because, even if he didn't get the diploma until eight years after he should've graduated and gotten it, he still got it.

Then, you help him study for the SATs and Spice the cat bats at his notes and the textbooks he studies from whenever one of their corners is hanging off the coffee table.

You get VERY USED to the sight of Adam in his glasses because,, studying and wearing CONTACTS?? no. that sounds like a nightmare.

he gets a good score on the SATs and then applies to a decent college in the city to do a bachelors in science with a focus on zoology.

GUESS WHAT?? He's in college doing his bachelors and working part time as a secretary at the local vets office so that he can sort of get a feel for the environment he'll be expecting post vet school.

You're at his side throughout the entirety of it, and when Adam starts going to therapy (lets be honest--he busies himself with first his GED, then the SATS, then applying and getting into the college he wants for his bachelors and also working part time at the vets offices to avoid thinking about his experience in the bathroom trap) you're supportive of him throughout every step because he supported you through high school, and college, and the long nights spent making sure your career went how you wanted it to go.

He and Lawrence develop a friendship after some time as well, which is nice, and eventually, without realizing it, Adam has developed his own little support system.

Granted, by the time he's hitting 30 and graduating with his bachelors, it's 2008 and his support system is made up of his partner, a doctor with whom he was trapped by the oh-so infamous Jigsaw, and an orange tabby cat who you lovingly washed free of oil and ticks with dawn dish soap when she was two weeks old, but it counts.

He gets into vet school and you hug-tackle him when he tells you the news.

You knock his glasses onto the floor and the two of you end up kissing, breathless on the couch of the apartment you'd moved into together, both because your old one was heading steadfastly into disrepair and remaining unfixed by the landlord, and to celebrate that he'd finished the bachelors degree at which he had worked tirelessly.

The two of you watch Spice the cat bat his glasses around, breathless but completely and utterly elated.

Adam goes to a vet school in the state and it's more studying, more forehead kisses and a lot of restless nights consumed by kissing whenever he correctly guesses the answer from one of his study flashcards, making jokes and laughing just a bit at one anothers expenses, crying into Spice the cats fur whenever it all gets too overwhelming.

he graduates the vet school in 2012, and at that point he has an 'oh shit' moment where he's like

"okay wait. so. I am thirty four. I have been dating Y/N since we were sixteen. we've been dating for eighteen years and haven't gotten married?? what??"

SO HE'S LIKE: 'okay. vets make decent money. I am going to buy them a ring and it's gonna be amazing.'

realistically, he's thirty four and realizing at that point (when the two of you are financially stable enough to be looking at fucking HOUSES in the early 2010s) that the two of you have been together for more than half of your lives and he's making good enough money that money and making the rent isn't a concern anymore and it's a genuine shock.

John Kramer died (which was a story that broke national news) and Adam has had the time to heal, which he finds even odder but it's--it's a nice kind of odd.

So, he starts working as a vet at the office where he used to be a secretary and with his first paycheck, he BUYS YOU A RING. SWEET SWEET MAN.

He proposes in February of 2013 (not on valentines day, but on the 26th because that's your nineteen year anniversary) at the place where you had your first date

the place?? a bookstore that sold used cameras at a discount. Adam proposed to you with a book of memories and photographs he'd taken chronicling those memories. At the end it has the words 'will you marry me?' and a photo of Spice the cat asleep on a sign that says 'look up' so then you do

AND BOOM. HE'S ON HIS KNEE. A BOX IS OPEN IN HIS HAND. A RING IS IN THAT BOX.

You laugh a little and pull a ring out of your pocket, offering it to him as you try to fend off the urge to comment about how unserious it seems despite how serious it is.

ADAM IS AS SHOCKED AS YOU WERE WHEN HE BROUGHT UP GETTING HIS GED.

He's like "a ring? why would they--OH SHIT. THEY HAD THE SAME IDEA."

The two of you just...silently laugh in the bookstore while you nod and slip the rings you bought onto the others finger, kissing and hugging because what even was that day. what.

You get married on that day in 2014, when the two of you have been together for a literal whole entire TWENTY FUCKING YEARS because you're just that cool.

It's also a little weird for Adam--he's 36 at this point, the anniversary of his escaping the trap will come around in late November.

Its good weird, though. He's still privy to weed on occasion--particularly nights where the nightmares come back and he can't sleep, or when he sees something that trips him up and sends him back to that bathroom, cuffed by the ankle to a pipe, the key having gone skittering down the drain--but he doesn't smoke nearly as often as he did during his mid-twenties.

man rakes in 125,000 american dollars, has a fucking MORTGAGE AND CAR INSURANCE BILL and on the day of the wedding you two are looking back at 2004 and are just like "woah. A lot has changed in the last decade"

Adam has gotten to become the person that the guy who was cuffed by the ankle never thought he'd be, though, so he's super proud of himself and his accomplishments.

you're proud of him, too--you have a cat, a mortgage, a car insurance bill and aren't worried about the paying of any of those bills in the slightest. Marrying him is one of your greatest accomplishments because?? hello?? marrying the love of your life who turned his life around in less than six thousand days?? he is. he is amazing. and you just. you just love him wholeheartedly

all in all, it's a good existence and I have to believe Adam would've done good for himself after surviving the trap because if I don't then I can't sleep at night lolz

[kitten4sannie]

21 - ᴠᴏʏᴇᴜʀɪꜱᴍ -

ꜱᴀɴ/ᴡᴏᴏʏᴏᴜɴɢ

ʟɪɢʜᴛꜱ ᴄᴀᴍᴇʀᴀ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

pairing: pornstar! wooyoung x pornstar! reader (fem) x older pornstar! san

summary: you star in the tenth installment of “Stepdad Fucks Stepson’s Slutty Girlfriend.”

w.c: 3.3k

warnings: aged up! san, hard dom! san, dom! wooyoung, sub! reader, there’s a whole stepdad/stepson theme that’s alluded to but it’s a porn setting so it’s not actually real, daddy kink, pet names, name calling, voyeurism, oral (receiving), squirting, two spanks, humiliation (m receiving), unprotected sex, cumshot

a/n: dilf pornstar san <3 that's it. that's my entire note <3 also yes this is just me simping over san for an hour straight leave me aloneeee

FFF Masterlist

✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖

On your way to your next shoot, you sat in the backseat of your driver’s car, staring off into space. It wasn’t until you felt your phone vibrate on your lap that you looked down at it, reading the text you received from the intern at the company you worked for. They sent you a link to the script, which you promptly opened. They usually just consisted of a really vague explanation of scenes, along with some basic dialogue. It was relatively easy to remember. Reading the small text on the first page, you realized that you’d be working with someone else besides your friend and coworker Wooyoung. It was Choi San. The Choi San. Not only was he aging like the finest wine available at a Michelin restaurant, he was quite the celebrity in the industry, known mainly for his stamina, his ability to stay hard for a prolonged amount of time, and the thing that initially got him noticed back in the 80s — his ability to pump out endless cumshots. Despite being older, he was still able to keep up with the younger men and even surpass them, able to work for hours with few breaks in between, and always having a lot of enthusiasm. Needless to say, he was a very, very busy man.

“Hey, Woo,” you spoke, turning your head to look at your coworker sitting in the seat beside you, admiring his shiny dark brown hair, watching it bounce slightly as the car drove over a particularly rough road. “Did you know we’re working with Choi San? He’s going to wreck us!”

“He’s going to wreck you. It’s a straight person porn.” Wooyoung looked up from the game he was playing on his phone, blowing a bubble with the strawberry gum he was chewing. “And yeah, they told us before we got in the car back at the studio. Were you not listening?”

“I mean, I heard that we’re playing a couple that gets caught or whatever...” You pursed your glossy lips, idly watching Wooyoung continue to play an RPG game you weren’t familiar with, before gasping, “Oh my god, is San going to play the step dad role? That’s actually everything.”

Wooyoung paused the game, unable to focus on the battle that was taking place on the screen. “Y/N,” he started with an attitude, brushing a bit of perfectly-styled hair out of his line of sight. “Do you even watch his films? He always plays the step dad.”

“Not always.” You sucked your teeth, your lips forming a slight pout. “He’s done a ton of solo stuff. And I also saw one where he played a professor cheating on his wife.”

Wooyoung chuckled softly, reaching over to ruffle your hair, not wanting you to get pouty because you were upset. He’d rather see you be like that when you were begging for cock onset. “You’re right, Y/N. My bad…though in that one the husband was cheating on the wife with his stepdaughter.”

“Oh, yeah…” You looked down at Wooyoung’s hand when he lowered it to hold his phone again, your eyes slowly following a prominent vein that tracked up his forearm and eventually branched off in different directions, feeling a very familiar twinge of heat form inside your core. “Are you more excited about working with me or San?”

He didn’t bother looking up from his game, answering right away, “San.” In turn, you made a tiny hmph sound, unconsciously folding your arms across your chest.

Wooyoung smiled to himself, tapping and swiping his phone screen to wear down the enemy in his game, until he won. After emitting a small ‘yes’, he glanced over at you. “Come on, Y/N. I’m just kidding.”

“You’re not funny,” you mumbled in a pouty voice, suddenly caught off guard when he grabbed your chin and pulled you in closer. “What?”

He ran his thumb over your bottom lip, gazing at you with half-closed eyes, the tip of his tongue swiping near the beauty mark on his lower lip. “You don’t need to ask that every time we film with someone else, you know. The answer’s always you." Seeing your sheepish smile made his heart melt, though he had to be honest this time around. "But I think it might actually be San this time. I mean, just look at him," he sighed, already playing one of the man's latest films on his phone, sighing longingly at the sight of San pounding himself into a guy's ass, while his fingers were buried inside a woman's cunt.

"Wooyoung!" you whined, pushing on his shoulder. You stared at the clip, studying his intense, lust-filled facial expressions, and admiring the way he just kept going and going, not showing any signs of exhaustion. "No, you're right. I'm with you on this."

Wooyoung smirked, gently resting his head on your shoulder. "Thought so."

-

San was even more attractive in person. His angular face and sharp, chiseled jaw distracted you first, especially his Adam’s apple, watching it bob up and down as he took a few drinks from a glass water bottle that probably cost at least a few hundred dollars. A few drops trickled down his freckled neck, disappearing inside his plain white button-up shirt. The one that was clinging to his broad upper body and becoming a little loose near his slim waist, though his Gucci belt kept it tucked in. He was expensive, and he didn't mind if everyone knew it, too. In fact, he preferred it when eyes were on him.

Wooyoung stood near you, sipping on a Red Bull through a bendy straw. “Y/N, are you just going to stare at him like that, or say hi?”

You put a hand up in front of his face, murmuring, “Shhh, I’m concentrating.�� You were, to be fair, but you were also thinking about all the ways San could probably destroy you.

Zoning back in on the man, you focused on his striking dark eyes that gazed intensely through a pair of sleek black glasses, as he was entirely focused on the film crew member that was now speaking to him. Jesus, he was fine. You licked your lips at the sight of the crow’s feet that appeared underneath San’s eyes when he smiled at them. You needed him inside you sooner rather than later.

“Jesus Christ, I can’t watch this anymore,” Wooyoung announced exasperatedly, walking past you and up to San when he was done talking, tucking some hair behind his ear and pushing on the older man’s chest. After a few moments, he motioned to you and beckoned you in their direction.

San greeted you with a warm smile, slowly running his thumb around the lid of his water bottle. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you from Wooyoung, Miss Y/N.”

“Oh, did you now?” you returned, giggling softly, placing a hand on your hip and trying not to smile too hard back. “What’d you hear about me?”

The man’s once friendly eyes darkened in front of you, his tongue rubbing over his bottom lip. “I heard you squirt a lot. I really want to see.” The polite image he portrayed just a second ago disappeared all together. It was so jarring that it made your knees feel a bit weak. “You’ll let me see that, won’t you?”

“Uh-huh,” you nodded almost right away, not even noticing that you were starting to drool when Wooyoung put an arm around you and quickly wiped it away with his thumb, distracting San when he asked, “Is it true that you once came for 2 minutes straight?”

-

Once someone counted down from five and gave you all the thumbs up, the camera framed the shot, capturing you and Wooyoung sitting on a leather couch in a living room, pretending to watch the TV that was playing a rerun of a past football game. San sat in a recliner with an empty beer in his hand, not able to see the two of you unless he turned his head back.

With his arm around you, Wooyoung began to slowly pull down the thin strap of your tank top. “Baby, I’m so horny,” he complained, glancing down at your tits, idly flicking one of your nipples to make it stiff.

“Your stepdad’s right there…” You feigned embarrassment, pushing his hand away, only for him to position you so that you were sitting against his chest with the two of his hands working on your tits, kneading then in circles and rubbing your nipples with the pads of his thumbs. “Babyyyy, he’s going to hear us…”

Wooyoung pressed his lips to your ear, whispering loud enough so that the boom mic captured his low voice, “He’ll only hear if you’re too loud, you know? Try to keep your voice down.” He slipped one hand into your loose, non-existent athletic shorts, rubbing circles around your clit, his other hand pushing up underneath your tank top to grab at your tit directly, continuing to tweak your nipple. Delighted by your small, breathy moans, he rubbed his fingers rapidly up and down your dripping cunt, teasing your hole more and more, until he couldn’t help but fill you up with them, delighted with how soaked you were. “Fuck, you’re so wet already, babygirl…”

Soon enough, Wooyoung was on his knees with his face in between your legs, three fingers deep in your cunt, and slurping on your clit like it was his life mission. The cameraman positioned himself in front of San, who was watching the both of you over his shoulder and fisting his cock, still able to capture the two of you behind him.

“It’s so good, you’re stretching me out so good,” you panted, going between gazing down at Wooyoung and up at San, making sure not to acknowledge the camera at all. You fucked yourself on Wooyoung’s slender fingers the best you could, sinking further and further down the couch cushion behind you, your shorts hanging off one of your ankles and your top rolled up over your tits, all while you panted and moaned like a bitch in heat.

“Cum, baby, come on, you can do it,” Wooyoung encouraged in a muffled voice, dragging his tongue up and down your pulsing clit, rubbing your g-spot in just the right way to make your hips stutter and your moans to raise in pitch. As soon as your warm arousal began to drip out, he moved his fingers rapidly across your clit instead, shoving his tongue inside you to fuck the cum out of you. “That’s it, that’s it, baby. Good girl. Gooood girl.”

Your coworker’s praise caused you to barrel over the edge, your orgasm so intense you let out a desperate, almost sob-like cry, seeing stars. You painted Wooyoung’s mouth and face with your squirt, some of the tiny clear droplets hanging onto his long lashes.

“You got a slutty little girlfriend there, son.” The older man finally stood up and walked over to the couch, sitting on his knees beside you, his hand still idly stroking his long, veiny length. “But she looks like she wants something more than just your fingers and tongue.”

Wooyoung gave your cunt one nice, long lick, before looking up at San with a curious expression, despite knowing what he’d say. “What’s that?”

“A nice, big cock,” San replied, letting go of his own and letting it slap up into his abdomen, waiting for the cameraman to zoom in before he ran a thick finger up from the bottom of his shaft and along one of his prominent veins, smirking as the camera rose upwards to capture your overly surprised, but enticed face. “You want Daddy’s cock instead of your boyfriend’s, huh?” He slipped his fingers into your hair and brought your face closer to his cockhead, slapping it down onto your tongue a few times when you opened up. “Mm, I’ll take that as a yes. Now, open wide and show me what you’re made of.”

-

San’s stamina was no joke. It was well over two hours and you already filmed two deepthroat scenes, having to redo it after he pinched your nose for too long and you almost died tragically from choking on his cum, another solo jerk off scene for a separate catalog, and then he had to enter you in various positions, having to go slow, but stay hard, so that the photographer could take pictures for another catalog. Now, he was fucking you into next week for the camera. All the while, Wooyoung was able to cum a couple times, mostly on his own, but you were so gracious enough to lend a hand even when you were getting face-fucked.

Though, Wooyoung didn’t even bother jerking off himself at the point, knowing the camera wasn’t even on him anymore. He sighed to himself, idly running his hand up and down his abdomen, watching San fuck the shit out of you right next to him. He couldn’t be too upset. He already knew that the studio you were filming for was made for men who almost couldn’t even handle seeing him naked on their cum-stained computer screens, their fragile masculinity convincing them it was gay to do so.

Personally, you could hardly think straight, unable to even acknowledge Wooyoung sulking on the couch nearby. It wasn’t your fault, though. San was showing you what it really meant to get dicked-down. The man was like a well-oiled machine, pistoning his cock in and out of you like he was built for it. In fact, his cock was buried so deep inside you, you swore he was going to quite literally rearrange your guts. You wanted to tell the man all of that, but instead you spoke how you usually did during your films, “It’s so good, Daddy. You’re making me feel so full with your big cock in my tiny little pussy.”

“Mm-hmmm,” San nodded his head in agreement, pushed you further down into the couch, his solid body flush against yours. “Daddy’s fucking you good, huh? Much better than your pathetic little boyfriend. You want Daddy’s dick from now on instead?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,” you chanted in an obnoxiously whiny voice, each time he pounded into you, hooking your feet together around his slim waist, locking him in place. When the cameraman zoomed in on your face specifically, you emitted a few small whining sounds, making a small ‘o’ with your swollen lips, gazing at the older man with glossy eyes, your eyebrows drawn.

“Baby girl’s so fucked out for Daddy already…” San reached down in between your bodies to rub your clit, the camera now following his movements. The older man pulled his body back slightly, giving the camera a good view of him pounding into you so brutally fast and hard that you’d have no choice but to squirt for him. He knew it’d make a nice money shot.

“Fuck, Daddy, it’s so fucking good!” you yelled, almost growling the last few words out, digging your manicured nails into his broad back and scraping them downwards, making the man groan. This happened sometimes. You got so lost in the pleasure that it made you aggressive. Made you want to cum so badly that if you didn’t get to, you’d throw a fit. “Don’t you fucking stop!”

“I’m not going to stop until I made you squirt, princess.” San ran his tongue across his bottom lip, squeezing and thumbing your throbbing clit, shoving his cock into your aching cunt so viciously that he couldn’t help but let a loud grunting sound each time. “Squirt all over Daddy’s cock. Come on. Fucking do it."

Two rough slaps to your ass and one brutal thrust later, you tossed your head back into the couch, your face contorting like you were in pain, your jaw tensing up as you moaned, “Oh my fucking god.” San pulled out and moved out of the way, holding one of your legs up so that the cameramen could get in there, allowing him to catch a crystal clear view of your dripping hole clenching around nothing until a small amount of liquid began squirting out of you. “Oh my goddddd…”

To make you squirt as much as possible, San hunched over the couch and brought two fingers onto your extremely sensitive clit, rubbing it so quickly, your hips jolted away from his touch, encouraging him to hold you down with one strong hand on your nearest hip.

“Saaaan,” you choked out, tears spilling out of your eyes from how insanely good it felt. Your arousal started to spray out of you instead, covering your cunt and inner thighs, getting onto the leather couch, and of course, even wetting the cameraman himself.

San sighed to himself, admiring such a beautiful sight. “Fucking hell, you’re making such a mess, baby. Look at you.” Without wasting a single second, he got back onto the couch and sat on his knees, using your slick and his dripping pre-cum to lube his cock, jerking off so fast his shoulders were starting to tremble. “Gonna cum all over you, kitten. You want Daddy’s milk, yeah?”

“Yes, Daddy,” you nodded, gazing up at his dimpled smile, the small wrinkles underneath his upturned eyes, the pretty moles that decorated his strained neck. You couldn’t help but reach in between your legs to play with your pulsing cunt, rubbing the wetness around, making sure to spread your legs to give the camera a good view.

“Here it comes, baby,” San grunted huskily, pumping his hand slowly up and down his veiny shaft. “Oh, yeah that’s it…” He leaned his head down to look at your lewd face, forcing a long, thick rope of cum out onto your tits at first, making sure he covered the majority of your face in it, until he began working his way down your body. “Take Daddy’s load, kitten. Take all of it.” He continued to stroke the base of his twitching cock, the milky liquid splattering all over your tits and abdomen, some even landing on your mound and sliding down to your hole.

“Thank you, Daddy,” you purred, swiping your fingers through the vast amount of cum on your sweaty body and popping them into your mouth to suck on them.

“You’re very welcome, baby girl.” He admired the messy painting he made on his pretty canvas, taking in deep breaths to slow down his racing heart.

Once you relaxed and melted into the couch, San grabbed your chin and pressed his lips to your cheek, then made you face Wooyoung who sat up straight and gave you his best pouty face now that the camera was on him. “Tell my pathetic stepson that you’ll come to me when he can’t fuck you right.”

“I’m going to let Daddy fuck me whenever your cock doesn’t satisfy me, baby,” you told your scene partner, reaching over to caress his cheek. “That’s alright with you, yeah?”

Wooyoung nuzzled your hand, nodding his head sadly. Even though he was acting, you still felt a twinge of guilt inside your chest. He was good. The cameraman zoomed out slowly, then lowered it and gave a thumbs up to the other staff in the room, causing them to sigh and split apart in their own directions.

San patted your head and gave you a bright smile, wiping some sweat from his forehead. "Great job, Y/N. You really gave it your all." When you gave him an uncharacteristically shy smile, he leaned in, adding in a low voice, "It was fun watching you squirt. Maybe I can see it again sometime."

"Uh-huh!" you answered a little too quickly, your cheeks burning, making Wooyoung roll his eyes and let out a small chuckle at your reaction.

San turned to Wooyoung, pushing some of his damp raven hair back and fixing his glasses. "Maybe we can get a bit more involved next time. You seem like a brat. Makes me want to put you in your place."

Blushing, Wooyoung couldn't even form a sentence, too caught off guard by the older man's words. You shoved Wooyoung's shoulder a bit, knowing he was just as whipped for San as you were.

San found you both to be quite cute, but preferred to keep it to himself for now. "Mm, anyway, it was nice working with you two! Bye for now." He showed off his charming smile, accompanied by the dimples that he was known for, before walking off to find his clothes.

Once you both got cleaned up and dressed, you stood near Wooyoung who was checking his phone game, leaning on him, periodically looking over at San, watching him pop a few white tablets into his mouth and swallowing them down with water. "So, it's Viagra..."

"Huh?" Wooyoung mumbled, glancing up at you for a second.

"Why he's able to stay hard for so long, you know." You sighed, missing the feeling of being stretched out by him.

"That still doesn't answer why he's able to cum so goddamn much." Wooyoung paused his game, putting an arm around you, joining in on the fuck-me eyes you were giving San. "Ugh, I really wanted him in my ass. It's not fair."

"Why don't we try to get him to join us for that one upcoming shoot?" you suggested, nudging Wooyoung's ribs with your elbow.

"Are you talking about '2 Sluts 1 Cock?' " he asked nonchalantly, turning to look at you, idly licking his lips.

"That's the one," you chimed, your eyelids lowering slightly, gazing at Wooyoung for a while, until the two of you went back to eye-fucking San across the room, letting out long, lovesick sighs.

✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖

FFF: @hwalysm @scuzmunkie @creativechaoticloner @dilucpegg3r @yeosxxx @gemjimin @wonwowzers @sanjoongie @manipulatedstars @k-drizzle 

Apply for the taglist here ⇢ ♡

© toxicccred, 2023.

[deqdwinter]

FOREVER IN YOUR FAVOR: 001 - sincerely yours

pairing: yasushi takagi x chubbyfem!reader

summary: as written lies tie these two by contract, a destined fate will lay between the walls that our tragic lovers have built to keep themselves grounded without crumbling of disdain.

warnings: slight angst, kind of boring in the beginning, mention of minor character death, profanity, kind of ooc ig? smoking (mostly cigs tho tehe), slight violence, ion know man i think that's it

authors note: after the longggg wait I’ve finally decided to start writing again 👅 this is also a pretty long chapter so… heh

Hate is a prized possession. Basking in all its glory as if it were gold. Cherishing it like a faded memory that now lays in the back of your mind. Hate controls the people, the minds, the blood, the senses. Hate controls our emotions that are held captive through our bruises and traumas. Until we have no choice… But to give in and break…

Bits of your hair stuck to your forehead as you pulled your gloves off, along with your surgical hat and mask while exiting the operating room. Trudging your aching body towards the sink to wash your hands. 

Your job as a doctor and veterinarian always kept you busy, which was fortunate for you since you hated being home. Your mother was a businesswoman. A good one at that. Along with your father. Leading the company to increase in popularity, including your family name. 

But despite your families’ fortune, you still believed you were unlucky. Your mother had always been hard on you, being the only two women in the family, with you being the oldest out of three children, you were next in line for the company. 

In your honest opinion, you never wanted to be like your mother. She was always working, had always critiqued herself and the others around her, which made her a difficult person to get along with… At least for you. Your two youngest brothers, Ciel and Silas, were the ones she really cared for, who she focused on. Silas, being the second oldest and 3 years younger, and Ciel being the youngest and most favorite, was 5 years younger. Both equally as aggravating, and equally as pampered. 

You sighed as you walked out of the utility room. You ran your hands down your face in frustration before weakly smiling at all your coworkers while clocking out. Your day consisted of over 14 different emergency room patients, almost 6 being a case of worried parents/individuals who unfortunately believed everything they searched up on the internet, and 5 surgeries that lasted over 4-9 hours. Your muscles ached, pain cascading through your body as your bones creaked like rusted metal as you hopped into your car, your dark cherry red Aston Martin rumbling to life as you turned the key and drove out of the parking garage, the cold breeze rolling across your face as you drove through the streets of LA. The 2am street silence was the most calm you had all day, your engine being the only minimal noise as you revved across the road quickly. 

Times like these felt like a breath of fresh air, an escape from all the chaos. Your body finally being able to melt into a state of relaxation without a worry in the world, for just a moment. But with a moment of calm, came the heart-wrenching reality. 

You rolled your shoulders as you walked up the stairs towards your apartment building, sending a small wave to the night guard as you entered the elevator and pressed the top floor, resting your head on the wall behind you with your eyes closed. Your head was clouded with everything, anything, all at once. No chance to cycle through or even zero in on one thought to spare you the headache. It was then that times like these, that called for desperate measures of comfort.

You sighed as you opened your eyes to start rummaging through your bag for the little box your fingers had ached to grab ahold of the entire day, whether you wanted to or not. You felt the familiar cardboard against your fingers before pulling it out and examining it. Despite being a certified doctor and veterinarian, your main source of solace had been the cancerous addiction. 

Your eyes scanning all around the front of the box before the elevator door ‘dinged’ softly before you exhaled deeply and exited the elevator, making your way to your apartment and unlocking the door before locking it quickly after. Your penthouse was dimly lit as you entered, though the polished marble floor glared against the lights as you threw your keys into the glass bowl on the side table. Your shoes clicked on the polished floors as you slowly swayed towards the living room and scoffed. 

“What’re you doing here?” You mumbled as you stood in front of your mother who was sitting on your living room couch. 

“You’ve been ignoring my calls all day, and it’s 2:00 am.” She spread her arms across the back of the couch as she looked up at you, her head tilted to the side. “You also missed the appointment with the wedding planner. You’re lucky Yasu came in your place.”

“I’m a doctor, Mother. I’ve been in surgery all day so I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to be present for the cake flavor testing. My apologies.” You mumbled sarcastically. 

“You should be. This is an important event in your life, and you’re missing it. All because you decided you’d rather save the lives of people who are below you.” She stood up tall as you took a few steps back, the backs of your legs softly hitting the glass table behind you. Her fox-like eyes pierced into yours as she continued to stare you down, like you were prey caught in her line of sight. “You are not a hero. Stop acting like one.” She tilted her head to the side before her eyes caught the cigarette box in your hand. “I told you those were bad for you.” She eyed you with half lidded eyes. 

“Like you know what's good for me.” You snap back before trudging your way towards the balcony, pulling out a single tobacco stick and popping it between your lips before cupping your hand over it and lighting the butt of it with your lighter. 

“Don’t be a smartass.” She scoffed lightly before ghosting past the door leading to the balcony and swaying towards the door. “You have an appointment with the wedding planner at 2:45 tomorrow. Don’t be late.” She purred before walking out of your apartment. 

—

Yasu wasn’t a god, despite the internet having to say otherwise. Their whispers of the journeys throughout his life being one of the main platforms of his upbringing. With his studies of law and the help of his own knowledge, Yasu was able to overcome the obstacles of gossip. Because of his delinquent background, many had believed he wasn’t fit to take over his father’s company. 

The Takagi Empire was destiny in the form of money. With the success of its reputation, (and its owners) the empire had made a massive impact on not only Tokyo, but all of Japan. And along with Yasu’s increasing popularity, came his possession of the Takagi Empire… And his marriage. 

Yasu tightened his tie as he walked into the building, his tall figure ghosting by as he smiled softly at all the gasping employees. Pulling his glasses off his face as he reached his destination.

“Yasu! How wonderful to see you again.” Y/N’s mother cooed as he leaned down to kiss her on the cheek with a smile. 

“Hi Mrs. L/N. I apologize for the delay. Tokyo’s streets are quite busy today.” He mumbled softly as he pulled away. His eyes slowly trailing to the woman who was observing the table toppers.

“Well at least you were willing to join us. Unlike someone…” Y/N’s mother glanced at the woman behind her before sighing and fixing Yasu’s tie. “She’s in a bit of a sour mood today. She would rather be cutting people open instead of planning her own wedding.” She joked before smoothing out the clothing that covered his shoulders. 

Yasu smiled softly before slowly walking towards her, pushing his hands into his pockets while he stood behind her. “Haven’t seen you in a long time.” He spoke softly as he trailed one his hands along the table cloth. “It’s been about… What? 7-8 years?”

“13. We haven’t seen each other since we were 13. The last time we spoke was the day my father passed.” Y/N mumbled before looking up at the tall man. “Hi, Yasu.”

Yasu’s eyes widened at her statement. It had been exactly 13 years since they last spoke. 13 years since her father passed away. “Hi, Y/N…” He trailed off before painting a smile on his lips. “You look-”

“Different? That’s what my mom says-” 

“Beautiful. I was gonna say beautiful. Very grown up, if anything. Though, your height definitely hasn’t changed.” He tilted his head to the side with a grin as he teased. “You’ve been the same height since you were in 7th grade. Kinda’ sad dontcha’ think?” He smirks as he leans down to her level. 

Y/N looked back up at him with a soft expression, her supple cheeks warming at the compliment and teasing from the man. “That’s only because you’ve been a giant since you were 12. Leave some of those veggies for the rest of us.” She joked with a small chuckle. 

Yasu smiled softly back at her, his eyes glistening in admiration. “Thought ya’ never liked eating your veggies. That’s why you’re built like a cabbage patch kid.”

Y/N rolled her eyes playfully before her entire aura flips like a switch as her mother made her away over to them. 

“These are… Decent. Doesn’t really fit the theme though, does it?” Her mother mumbles as she eyes the table toppers. “I believed me and Yasu settled on red and gold, correct?” She said as she looked at Yasu.

Yasu’s eyes stayed glued to the woman whose expression turned sour at the mention of the wedding. Facing away from her mother and her soon-to-be husband and walking away with a scoff. Her sudden change had Yasu pondering if he had said something wrong. 

“Yasu?”

“Huh?” He turned to his soon-to-be mother in law as his eyes grazed over the decorations. “Oh uhh yes, those look great.” He nodded dumbly before looking back to find Y/N nowhere in sight. “Where did-” 

“Have a look at these ones. I think these will go well on the tables.” Y/N’s mother pulled softly on his arm towards another table of decorations, as Yasu continued to wonder where his bride-to-be rushed off to…

—

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think your mother was the one marrying Yasu. With the way she was completely invested in making sure everything for the wedding was perfect, you wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one standing at the altar. 

You pulled the cigarette out of your mouth and blew out the smoke with a sigh, leaning against the building's wall as you looked around. The city you grew up in had begun to change right in front of you, all the things you had surrounded yourself with slowly starting to fade away brick by brick. As new buildings, businesses, and even people began to change. You included. 

“That brand tastes like burnt cardboard. I don’t know how you can smoke those.” A deep voice mumbled as you looked to your left. Yasu’s tall figure walked towards you as the sun glistened against the side of his sunglasses. “Never knew you were a smoker, Short Legs.” He joked as he pulled out his own pack of Seven Stars and picked out one of the sticks and popped it into his mouth. 

“Like you said, I grew up.” You smiled softly as you took out your lighter and lit his cigarette. 

“Yeah, no kidding.” He chuckled as he took a drag and sighed. “You don’t seem to be very interested in this whole… wedding thing.” He glanced at you through his glasses as he took another drag of his cigarette. 

“I’m not. If anything, the one you’re marrying in the end, is my mother. She’s more excited about this than I am.” You grumble as you take a drag from your own cigarette.

Yasu frowns softly at your words, a small pang of hurt in his chest. “Well… You could always tell her that you’re just… not ready. I mean she can’t force you to-” 

“She can, she will, and already has. There’s no fighting against her. She’s already made a decision for me. No matter how many times I say no.” You shake your head softly before dropping the cigarette onto the floor and stepping on it with your foot. “Look, Yasu. I appreciate your consolation, but this relationship is strictly for business.” The tone in your voice is apologetic, but firm. “I do love you,” you continue…

“I just can’t bring myself to be in love with you.”

© all work belongs to deqdwinter. do not translate, repost, or claim as your own without permission.

[pinkpastelcalesti]

LANDSCAPING LOVE || Bakugou Katsuki x Reader || Chapter I.

SUMMARY -> Tired of bouncing back and forth between the U.S. and Japan after graduating college, you’ve finally secured the career of your dreams: You’re Japan’s first heroics cartographer, a title bestowed upon you due to your quirk and specialty, that creates geographic maps for hero agencies across the country. While your work is highly respected and sought after, you’re known for a more niche reason among your coworkers at the Dynamight Agency: the food you make is fucking amazing. When Dynamight himself inevitably gets word that you’re coming for his cooking title on his own turf, chaos ensues and you find yourself competing against your boss for not only best chef, but also to win over his heart.

CONTENT/WARNINGS -> Pro hero AU, agency reader, reader with a quirk, fem/AFAB reader, reader is originally from America, reader is bilingual (English and Japanese), strangers (more like coworkers that don’t get a chance to speak much) to friends to lovers, fluff & chaos, minimal angst, suggestive humor.

LENGTH -> 7.9K

MASTERLIST

Running late for your first agency project presentation was not on your bingo card this year.

Because of nerves and the constant fear that you were going to tumble over your words during your presentation, you pulled a semi-all nighter and stayed up until 3 a.m. rehearsing your slides and your speech for the Dynamight Agency’s meeting on your current geographic project.

You’ve been working for the company for 7 months now, and this project is the first large-scale assignment you’d been given since you started. You’ve worked on smaller, personal projects for Dynamight and other pro heroes, but this project was your pride and joy, seeing as it was requested by Dynamight himself.

Your quirk, landscape, allows for you to create an entire mental map, in very graphic detail, of the area around you within five miles. This includes the visualization and relative scale of buildings, sidewalks, roads, and alleyways. Your quirk works when you place your bare hands on the ground, which sort of sucks because the city’s grounds weren’t exactly the cleanest. In order for you to utilize your quirk correctly, you grew up practicing cartography of all sorts. One could say your quirk opened up doors to many different career paths, such as engineering or urban planning, but you had decided early on that the best way you would be able to help people is by utilizing your maps for heroes.

Heroes use maps for everything, and you were going to profit off of that no matter what. Your quirk could expand past the five mile radius if you kept bouncing around to different areas, drew their maps from your memory, and combined all maps to create one whole map of a specific city or town. During your time in undergrad, you majored in and graduated (Summa cum laude, may you add) with a degree in geography, your main focus of research being urban cartography. Heroics cartography didn’t exist, so you figured the next best thing would be urban areas.

Your undergraduate research consisted of said urban cartography, and because of your academic standing, you were offered a study-abroad program for geographers that was located in Tokyo, which you took without a second’s hesitation. You always dreamed that you’d be helping U.S. heroes, however, during your time in Tokyo, you fell in love with the entirety of Japan and the vast landscapes you got to visit and draw. Your research professor oversaw your projects, which consisted of city maps, data collection, and utilizing GIS software to create digital maps that could be used for multiple different areas, whether that be infrastructure planning, evacuation routes, or heroics, your main focus.

Your current job as a heroics cartographer is a first in Japan. While it’s not that well-known that you’re the first person to ever have such a title, the pro heroes around you seem to understand its importance. Your job at Dynamight’s Agency allows you to create maps for Dynamight and his sidekicks to use for patrol routes, monitoring high crime areas across the city, and visualizing the areas where property damage occurs most. Not only do you work for Dynamight, but your skills have been requested and used by other pros across the city, including but not limited to Deku, Shouto, and Red Riot.

You really got into this career out of sheer luck and fate. While you were drawing up maps for the city during your third year of undergrad, pro hero Red Riot had reached out to you after he accidentally destroyed one of your maps at the post office in Musutafu during a fight with a villain. He’d picked up the broken display and noticed your name in the corner and contacted you through your professor. Initially pissed off because you’d just finished that map literally a week and a half prior to its destruction, you gave him grace and told him you’d be in touch with the post office to create a new one.

He ended up paying you back for the damage, and upon realizing how detailed your maps were, inquired about your skills in cartography. It was quite jarring, sitting in Red Riot’s agency at the ripe age of 20, sweat dripping down your back through your blouse as one of the top heroes in the nation asked if you’d be able to draw up a map of a large electrical facility for him to use for an upcoming mission. He’d apparently been trying to find an up-to-date map of the interior, but had no luck. Within a week, you were being driven in a fancy company car to the facility so you could use your quirk and recreate the building’s interior infrastructure.

After you’d created the map for him, Red Riot, or Eijiro, as you now get to call him, had asked that you look into working for the pros after you graduated. He was under the impression that you were actually a Japanese university student, so you had to break the news that you actually worked in the U.S. Upon realizing, Eijiro explained that he would be more than happy to get you in contact with plenty of heroes that could use your work and give you a job abroad for almost double the pay you’d be receiving if you stayed in America.

Turns out that keeping in contact with a top hero in Japan that destroyed weeks of your work within 3 minutes of a fight was a good idea after all. Eijiro was the one who ultimately hooked you up with a job under the roof of Dynamight’s agency. Once you’d graduated, you decided that you’d work in the U.S. for a little while longer to build up your experience and resume before you decided to go abroad.

You ended up staying in America for two more years after graduation, traveling across the country and working with urban geographers in cities like Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, New York City, and Washington D.C. During this time, you were given full travel privileges to fly to Japan and help Red Riot and his pro hero allies develop brand new patrol map routes across different cities. You loved this part of your job most, and after finishing up your second year post-grad, decided to make it official and asked Eijiro if the job position was still on the table.

He would go on to give you one of the prettiest smiles you’d ever seen and excitedly tell you that yes, it was always available to you. Being friends with Eijiro meant not only a once-in-a-lifetime career connection, but it also meant realizing your potential early on.

You absolutely adore the work you do for Dynamight and his peers and wouldn’t trade it for the world. However, if you don’t hurry the hell up and get to your building in the next 7 minutes, your dream job might as well go poof. Dynamight absolutely hates when people are late, and you’ve had the pleasure of watching him blow up on company execs for showing up 15 minutes late and “wasting his fuckin’ time.”

Working for a man like Bakugou Katsuki was definitely a wakeup call the first two months you were at his agency. Turns out that while he approved your position that would inevitably change the way cartography was viewed in the modern world of heroes, Bakugou didn’t exactly care to look into what you specialized in, or so you thought. You really hadn’t had a chance to actually speak with him aside from filling him and his manager in on upcoming projects and maps you were in the process of making. After 7 months of working for the agency, you’d spoken to your boss a whopping four times, all lasting under three minutes.

This presentation you were about to give is the first one where Dynamight would be present, and fuck if you weren’t about to shit your pants from not only nerves, but fear that you might not get in the door on time for its start.

Racing past the front desk and haphazardly greeting the security guards before flashing your badge to be let through the agency gates blocking visitors from reaching the elevators, you managed to press the button for the remaining elevator on the ground floor that was being sent up.

You probably looked like an absolute atrocity in front of your fellow coworkers, with windswept hair and panting in the virtually silent elevator, save for the whirring of the machine as it took you up to the fourteenth floor of the building.

As soon as the doors of the elevator opened, you booked it down the hall to the meeting room, with 43 seconds to spare before the clock hit 9 a.m. sharp. “So sorry I’m running late! I was supposed to be here setting up earlier but some big stupid bitch tried hijacking the bus I was going to take-” you began in a rush, placing your bag and coat on your chair in the large room with a round table full of your team members and other coworkers from the analytics department.

Your team member Carl, one of only three others in the cartography department at the agency, hit your foot from under the table while calling out your name. “You’re speaking in English, we have no clue what you’re saying,” he whispered, with you quickly muttering out an apology. “Shit— sorry about that— slips my mind to switch back and forth sometimes. Apologies for not being here sooner,” you bowed to the ten workers in the room, suddenly realizing Dynamight himself nor his manager had shown up yet. Thank god, you let out a small breath of relief.

“Is Dynamight going to be in soon or should I begin without him?” You asked as your other team member Kanako grabbed your computer out of your bag and plugged it into the projector while you began pulling out your speaker notes.

“Said he’d be in soon, had to catch up with Red Riot about an ongoing police chase outside the city,” your last team member Naomi spoke out loud. Naomi was your resident work bff, and was also the one that regularly reached out to Dynamight for you to inquire about starting new projects or letting him know of recent updates. She honestly didn’t even like having to email her own boss that much, but she was more than happy to run into his manager and talk about the highs and lows of cartography if it meant staring at the poor man like he was on the lunch menu.

“Well that at least gives us some time to set it up. Sorry you all had to wait on me to get here to pull up the slides.” You felt guilty that your team had to sit in awkward silence with a department that rarely ever interacted with your own for probably a solid 20 minutes, but at least you got to the room before Dynamight so you didn’t risk a verbal ass beating in front of everyone.

As soon as you’d finished laying out the hand-drawn maps of your project out on the round table, Dynamight himself opened the large oak door and walked into the meeting room, glancing at you for a split second before sitting in the chair that was opposite of you, towards the back of the room and for him to be able to see everyone clearly. His manager trailed in behind him, scolding him for not slowing down and hearing his run down of how the meeting would go. Dynamight only waved his hand in the air at his manager before casting his sharp gaze back to you.

You felt a twinge of anxiety race up your body. You really hadn’t been expecting him to come to this meeting until Naomi filled you in two weeks ago that he wanted to attend. Guess it meant he actually did pay attention to what he hired you and your team for. Regardless, you bowed to him and began speaking, not waiting for him to tell you to start, as he wasn’t one that gave directions to grown adults.

“Thank you for joining us today, Dynamight. The project that my team and I have been working on recently is one you formally requested for us to start three months ago,” you clicked the presentation remote that flipped to the next screen on your slideshow. “As you requested, the cartography department created digital and physical choropleth maps of the districts within Musutafu and their relative crime rates within the past year.” You pointed towards the round desk. “The top map is the same as the map you see on our slideshow,” you spoke in a quick, easy-to-understand manner and glanced at everyone’s faces to gauge their reactions throughout your presentation speech.

The maps that Dynamight had asked for were so that he would be able to see if his patrol routes needed to be changed in order to monitor areas of Musutafu that were still unresponsive to patrols by heroes in terms of crime decreasing. If there was one thing your boss prided himself on, it was his patrol routes and his ability to cut crime and villain attack rates in his designated areas in half. However, recently there was an uptick in petty crime rates, and in order for him to not get shit on by the public for a “lack of appropriate response,” he put in a formal request for your department to create maps relating to recent data changes in crime rates across the city.

You and your team were more than happy to fulfill this request, as it meant working with real, recent data and meant you got to visit neighboring hero agencies and compare their patrol route crime rates with Dynamight’s. Any excuse to get out of your department’s office on the fifth floor was a godsend because your back really couldn’t handle anymore work days where you were hunched over the large workbench mapping out the city for hours at a time.

As you continued on with your presentation, you periodically glanced towards Dynamight to check his facial expressions for any annoyance or confusion at your maps. Seeing none, you internally LETS FUCKING GOOOO’d because you knew it meant at the very least that if he was understanding the maps, everyone else most likely could too.

Once you reached the last slide, you made a small noise of dissatisfaction. “When we took a look at certain districts, we did notice that the victims of the crimes committed were young women who regularly walked home by themselves later at night. They seemed to be around their early 20s to their late 30s.” Naomi nodded at you, a silent way of saying to continue on.

“I’m sure that you don’t like when many do this, and forgive me if I’m stepping out of bounds,” you began, feeling your hands sweat. “But please do take this information seriously. I know you’re a hardworking hero, so I trust your skills. But I sincerely hope the next time I check the data that the rates will have fallen. People deserve to walk home without fearing for their lives.”

Dynamight’s eyes seemed to bore into your skin, wanting to bark a clipped response back, but he managed to nod silently. You didn’t want to outright mention you yourself were scared of the trend in crime since you fit the statistic, often walking home by yourself late after all-day shifts, but it seems like he’d caught on by the look on your face.

You wrapped up the presentation and answered a couple different questions that the analytics department had about the data collection and resources you used. After your coworkers began packing their bags to leave, you noticed that Dynamight had gotten up out of his chair and walked over to you, who currently stood beside your bag, closing all the tabs you had open that were starting to overheat your little computer.

Glancing up, you nearly choked on your spit at the proximity between the two of you. He was in his winter hero suit, with the black turtleneck beneath his chest piece being pulled tight against his arms, making his muscles pop out unnecessarily in your face, but you definitely were not complaining. Bim..g… muscles… you thought, trying not to stare too long.

“Y-Yes, Dynamight sir?” You managed to sputter out, all too aware of your team members looking at the two of you now. Dynamight managed to grunt in acknowledgement before speaking. “Wanted to ask if you could make one of your fuckin’ maps for Deku. The shithead keeps begging me to ask, he wants one to hang up in his office of his patrol routes.”

Your eyes widened in surprise. Of course you would make him one, but you didn’t expect for Dynamight to ask you directly. Typically he forced his manager Atsuno to write out emails of requests he had. You managed to nod eagerly to him. “Yeah, no problem. I can email him later and ask about details. Thanks for letting me know.”

Dynamight only grunted once more before turning on his heel and leaving the room, leaving Atsuno to give chase to his boss as he bowed quickly at you and gave his appreciation for your presentation before leaving the room himself.

The only ones left in the room now were your teammates, and all it took was one glance between the four of you before you all let out a holler in excitement. “We did it! You did incredible up there girl,” Naomi slung her arm around you as you pulled her in for a hug. “I was shitting bricks the whole time, I don’t think I realized how intense Dynamight’s stare can be.”

Kanako and Carl high fived you as you all made your way to the elevator to take back down to your department. “Our first big project presentation and we didn’t get screamed at for a minuscule error? I think we deserve to celebrate tonight,” Carl wiggled his eyebrows towards you and Kanako, with Naomi agreeing excitedly.

“Bar or at someone’s place? Should we drink? Oh we’re totally drinking.” You couldn’t help but smile at your coworkers beside you. You were so grateful to have them beside you while you’d adjusted to the agency life the past couple months. All three of them had come from a specialized area in the analytics department that related to gathering information data on the public, which included things like crime rates and damage assessments.

When your job had been approved, Atsuno told you that you’d be working in a new department in your own section within the agency with some people taken from the analytics department, taking you off guard. You’d surely thought you’d be thrown into analytics too, seeing how geography and cartography could squeeze into it somehow.

Meeting your team for the first time, you were more than grateful to have them work with you as you’d expected to be alone in your department for a while. You helped walk them through the basics of cartography and digital mapmaking using current software, quickly realizing the talent each one had for different areas. While you were technically the head of your department, you felt like everyone pulled their weight equally and deserved to be held on the same level.

“We can go out or I can make us something,” you spoke out loud as the elevator dinged open. “I know you guys have been bugging me about cooking since I bring my own lunches everyday.” Naomi cheered beside you, agreeing as Carl and Kanako hummed in thought. “I’ll pitch in for ingredients if Carl and Naomi buy the alcohol,” Kanako said, casting a glance to her coworkers that were chanting, American food! American food! Over and over again to one another.

All in agreement, you quickly got off on the fifth floor and entered your department room. Located towards the right hand corner in the back of the large office floor, the department itself wasn’t noticeable to the general eye unless you went looking. You each had respective offices lining a small back hallway, with the room at the very end of it being your workshop that expanded into a large open-area space containing desktops, workbenches, and cartography supplies strewn around the place. Atsuno had been kind enough to order a custom nameplate to go above the awning of you and your team’s hall, with Heroics Cartography Department written out in beautiful gold lettering, contrasting nicely against the cool grey paint of the wall.

“Let’s lock in on the rest of the requests and orders today so we can leave at a decent time,” you said, closing the door to the workshop as everyone spoke in agreement. Carl called out your name as you were booting up the desktops to pull up emails from your clients. “We doing hard liquor shit tonight or going with something like wine? Need to pair it well with whatever you’re making.”

You hummed in thought. “We could definitely do cocktails. I was thinking about making gumbo since it’s still cold outside.” You grabbed your phone that was situated in your bag and opened up the Notes app to create your grocery store list. Luckily Japan kept up with their spices and typically had an American section in larger stores where you could grab some of the spice mixes needed for your food.

“Make it spicy as fuck girl, I wanna feel tears pouring out of my eyes to your incredible cooking,” Naomi said, sending you a dreamy look. “If I make it too spicy, Carl’s gonna shit his pants. We all know this man can’t handle spice to save his life.”

“Hey! Will not,” Carl scoffed in surprise. “I just got dunked on by my ancestors because they thought it was funny to give me no spice tolerance in a country that literally eats spicy food in almost every meal.” Kanako managed a laugh at that, sending Carl a sympathetic glance before speaking to you. “If it’s not too much trouble, you could always split it into one pot being spicy and one pot being milder.”

“Fair point, but y’all better eat every morsel of my food. Southern cooking isn’t for the weak,” you mentioned as you scrolled through your finished grocery list, checking for any missing items. Naomi sent you a questioning look before asking you, “you’re from the south U.S. right? Isn’t that like hella country?” You sighed as you nodded. “Yeah, but I lived in the city, not necessarily rural. Didn’t stop me from cooking all types of recipes though.”

“Well wherever you were, you managed to become a pretty kick ass chef on your own. Your lunch always looks god tier.” Kanako said as Carl and Naomi nodded in agreement. You felt your face heat up in embarrassment at the compliment. “Living on your own in college will make you think of some wild new recipes in the name of using up all your groceries to not waste food.”

“That’s for sure, I lived off 20 different cup ramen recipes I created myself with random items from the dining halls I could snag before I got caught.” Carl muttered out loud while he pulled different sized calipers from his desk drawer to begin sketching up a project for Chargebolt.

“Food is food, for real,” you nodded in solidarity. There’s been one too many times where you felt too lazy to make full meals during school, which meant being stuck with random microwave food you kept for low energy days in your apartment kitchen. “Can’t wait to get shitfaced and discuss the existential dread of fucking up on expensive mapping paper,” you mused. Being an absolute geek over geography and cartography, you’ve caught yourself in too many drunken rambles about work-related topics when out with college friends after finals and papers were finished up for the semester.

“Let’s do our best so we can enjoy our Friday into the weekend!” Naomi pumped her fist in the air as she spoke, all of you cheering in agreement.

ೄྀ࿐ ˊˎ-

Later that night, after you all managed to finish up your progress for the day and headed out to grab your respective supplies for your celebration, you found yourself humming to a random 2010s playlist that Kanako had thrown on randomly while you cooked in the kitchen of your apartment. You lived not too far from the agency, a 25 minute walk or an 8 minute bus ride, in a nice neighborhood adorned with townhomes along the street, away from the major roads but still comfortably accessible. The salary you had now had blessed you with the opportunity to live in a nicer place, but you still opted for a more homey feel rather than all the modern bullshit that people were raving for. You really hated the idea of solid white walls and no color in your living space.

Your apartment was on the smaller side but it was just you who lived there. Naomi actually lived in the townhome across the street on the second floor. You both had found out early in your job at the agency, walking home at the same time and going from that awkward “going the same way, sorry” to “oh word you live here?” It meant that you had regular girls nights together and grew close, the friendship between the two of you falling into place naturally. Kanako and Carl were actually roommates in a flat that was a 10 minute train ride away. It truly was fate that all of you managed to not only work well, but vibe with each other outside the office too.

As you finished plating your dishes in bowls, you could hear the conversation flowing between your team in your living room. A couple drinks had already been thrown back and you were more than aware that drinking before you had food in your system was probably a bad idea, but you were about to eat anyways so fuck it. You were already two Moscow mules deep by the time you’d finished up the gumbo.

“Food’s ready!” You called out from the kitchen, the open floor plan making it easy for you to get the attention of everyone else sitting on the couch watching Love is Blind. That show was a debatable one, but you enjoyed watching Carl’s bewildered expressions at the absolutely heinous jokes Kanako would throw out about the men and women of the show and some of their horrible personalities.

“Girl get in here and tell me whether or not you think Gigi needs to up and leave ugly ass Damian,” Naomi said, helping you grab two of the four plates you were bringing out to the coffee table. “I can tell you right now that she does, she’s way too good for someone that looks like a chad version of Ed Sheeran.”

Kanako busted out laughing at your remark, agreeing at the resemblance. As you ate, everyone poured endless compliments into your food, making your chest swell with pride in your hobby. You absolutely loved to cook, and it helped you get through the more rough parts of life when you were struggling to keep up with the demands of school and research. Cooking was your safe space and you made sure you perfected staple recipes from home so you could share them with others, like you were doing now.

Kanako threw back another shot as she chased it with a can of Dr. Pepper before speaking your name. “You do know that your cooking could rival Dynamight’s, right?” You paused mid chew, throwing up an eyebrow at her to continue. You didn’t strike your boss as a cooking connoisseur, but you yourself didn’t look like one either, so you kept an open mind.

“He brings food to the potlucks we have during holidays sometimes. When I tell you that man can damn well cook, believe me,” she slurred slightly, the alcohol already hitting her. Naomi nodded in agreement. “Trust us when we say his cooking is top tier. He’d never admit it, but he likes cooking for others if it means feeding into his ego.” Naomi said, letting out a huff of laughter.

“I tried his signature mapo tofu once and it was so good but I literally had to call in sick the next day because I could not handle the spice he puts in his recipes,” Carl’s forehead thudded against the wood of the coffee table as he grimaced at the memory. “If he ever found out I nearly passed out on the toilet from what he called ‘baby shit spicy’, I think he’d fire me.” You barked out a laugh at that, imagining Dynamight drilling it into your teammate about not appreciating his food and getting sick from it.

Your team had been working with the Dynamight Agency for almost 2 years before you’d joined. It was always jarring to hear the stories of Dynamight from them. Your initial reactions to him early on were anything but pleasant, and still sometimes lean on the side of moderate annoyance. He sounded like a total dick at the beginning, but had apparently mellowed out after high school. You heard he’d bullied the hell out of the current number 1 hero during his time in middle school and a little bit of high school, which had made you livid.

You grabbed the handle of Tito’s sitting in front of you all and poured it into your glass before cracking open a new can of ginger beer and pouring it into the glass as well. You could feel the warmth of the alcohol spreading through you, loosening up your tongue the more you drank.

Retrospectively, you really shouldn’t have said the next thing that you did if it meant saving your ass in the workplace that following Monday.

“I could definitely kick Bakugou’s ass if we had a cook off, I mean I’m basically a god tier hobby chef at this point,” you muttered, missing the expressions of your coworkers, specifically the smirk Naomi had on her face. “You think so?” Carl nudged your leg with his own, casting you a tipsy glance. “Fuck yeah I could, I don’t think you realize how hard some southern cooking can be. If I can keep making the recipes without screwing them up, I’m pretty much a god in the kitchen.”

Naomi snickered as Kanako sighed out. “Don’t let Dynamight hear you say that. He gets competitive fast, especially when it comes to food. He was known in high school as the chef of his dorm, didn’t trust others to cook as well as he could.” You definitely could see that, as he struck you as the type to call his friends’ cooking skills trash compared to his own. You hadn’t had the chance to try anything by him yet but could assume it was pretty good if your coworkers spoke of it so highly.

“He can bring it on, I’m not scared of his ass, I bet he couldn’t cook a Cajun recipe if he tried,” Your mouth was moving before you had a chance to realize the words you were saying. “Yeah yeah, big talk for a girl that stuttered after taking one look at her boss’ biceps.” You nearly choked on your drink as Naomi absolutely obliterated you with one sentence. Damn, I really thought I was slick with the look. You sighed as Kanako simply whistled in your direction.

“Don’t tell me you’re falling for him already? His good looks are hard to miss,” she said as she handed you a napkin to wipe your mouth with. Muttering out a thanks, you tried to save yourself some embarrassment. “Oh please, if I wanted to torture myself by falling for a narcissist, I’d go for Shindou instead.” You shuddered at the thought of working for someone like him, suddenly grateful at the fact that you were working for Dynamight instead.

“Don’t deny yourself. I bet you probably had a Dynamight wall in your dorm room at some point.” Carl was an absolute menace when he got tipsy, clearly not skipping out on poking fun at you. You groaned at his comment, shaking your head. “Nah, it was a Deku wall, actually.” You weren’t lying if you thought about it, you did have a lot of respect for the hero as you’d learned more about him during your study abroad. He came from a humble background, what was there not to like about someone as sweet as the number 1?

“You always struck me as the type of person to go for someone batshit crazy though. I bet you’d probably like it if Dynamight was mean to you.” Kanako sent you a look that made you shiver. “How dare you accuse me of such nonsense,” you tutted, sipping on your drink before muttering a small, “I probably would.” Naomi slapped her hand on the table, yelling out, “I heard that you freak!”

You couldn’t help but laugh as your team members switched the topic to their picks for hottest heroes, with Carl sighing dreamily as he named Red Riot his number one choice, Uravity being a close second. During the chaos of the conversation, you forgot all about your quip towards Dynamight’s cooking.

You really should have remembered, because remembering would mean you could have prepared yourself more for your conversation with him later.

ೄྀ࿐ ˊˎ-

After the eventful weekend and nursing a massive hangover from the sheer amount of vodka you managed to drink together, your team trudged their way into the workplace again and began the process of uploading and creating new maps on ArcGIS to send over for clients’ approval. You were all lucky you got weekends off when there wasn’t a high demand of requests for maps and geographic data.

You were midway through a rough sketch of Deku’s patrol route, taking a small break to grab a water bottle from the vending machine on the second floor when you heard the first whispers.

“— she definitely wouldn’t,” a man from the finance department whispered to his coworker who was shaking his head enthusiastically. You recognized the guy who was speaking as Leo, a coworker you’d met early on that helped you budget out what was needed in terms of supplies in your current workspace. He often chatted with Naomi, who regularly contacted him to put in new orders of pencils and ink for the maps you all drew by hand. “I think she could. She’s from the west, they tend to take home cooking pretty seriously over there. No doubt she could beat him.” The other coworker beside Leo spoke. Now that caught your attention. It sounded like they were talking about you, but you couldn’t be sure. You didn’t know how many other people were in the agency that were also from the west, they could be talking about anybody, right?

As soon as they saw you, Leo nudged his coworker to shut up before waving at you with an uneasy smile. “What are y’all talking about over here? Something about cooking?” You said, walking over and greeting both of them. Leo nodded, slightly caught off guard. “Yeah, we— uh, we were talking about a cooking show we both watch! One of the chefs is from the west and she’s competing with other chefs to win a national title.” You raised an eyebrow at him, not really buying it but not really caring too much to think that hard about it. “Well remember that westerners can be pretty goated at cooking all kinds of food. She’s probably got a chance,” you shrugged before excusing yourself, waving at them as you walked back to the elevator once you purchased your water bottle.

You continued to flutter in and out of your workspace throughout the day, stopping for lunch and eating in your office with Naomi before returning back to work. However, you weren’t stupid; there were way more eyes on you today than you’d ever experienced, even more than when you first joined. You knew Naomi was sort of a gossip guru in the office, but you’d assumed she was probably flexing your cooking to anyone that crossed her path during the day.

You didn’t mind it, but the attention on you was definitely kind of concerning, especially because people kept whispering about something to do with an upcoming agency event that would include food. You figured you could probably whip up some good appetizers to bring to it, whenever it was.

As you were finishing up your sketches and scaling them correctly with the notes on your computer, Atsuno hurriedly burst through the door of the workshop, looking slightly disheveled. Your coworkers all glanced up at him at the same time before he coughed awkwardly and straightened his posture.

“New request sent in? Surely it’s not that important for you to have to run in here for,” You asked him as you wiped your hands on a towel to get rid of the ink stains along your palms. You definitely couldn’t risk messing up the paper now that you were this far along. He sighed heavily before shaking his head. “No, I uh— I had to come in here and ask that you go meet with Dynamight before you get off work. He wants to check in on the progress with Deku’s patrol route map.” You raised an eyebrow. Couldn’t he just shoot us an email? you wondered before nodding, asking if he was in his office. Atsuno nodded, offering to walk with you there, filling you in on the progress that’s about to be made with the maps your team had created relating back to crime rates along the districts in the city.

You missed the slightly concerned glance Naomi cast your way as you exited the shop.

After taking the elevator up to Dynamight’s office located on the 10th floor, you stepped off the lift and looked around the interior. You rarely ever came to this floor since it was mainly Dynamight’s office, the rest of the floor filled with smaller offices that were for his sidekicks, Atsuno, and his other head managers from different departments.

Turning right out of the elevator, Atsuno walked you to Dynamight’s office, adjacent from his own. Upon knocking, a gruff “come in” came from the other side of the door. Dynamight’s office was fucking nice.

It was as large as your own workshop, if not larger, and contained Dynamight’s desk, shelves full of memorabilia and other items, a couch in the center of the room, and what seemed to be an en-suite bathroom. His office overlooked the rest of the city, large window panes lining the wall his back was turned to. Along the rest of the non-windowed walls were frames of photos that contained Dynamight in his younger years, from when he was in high school to now. He was still in his mid 20s, but the photos along the wall told an interesting story of his life the past few years as he climbed the hero ranks.

Turning towards him, Atsuno cleared his throat before bowing to you and leaving, citing that he had to go sit in on a phone call with a sports clothing brand that was looking to sponsor Dynamight. He sure did clear out of here fast. You figured he was probably just busy, as all Mondays are.

Dynamight was staring into your soul again as you turned back to him and awkwardly shifted your weight onto your other foot. You began the conversation with, “you wanted to check in on Deku’s request, right?”

“Yeah. Nerd’s looking forward to it and won’t shut the hell up every time he calls me. Enjoys your work a fuckin’ ton,” he spoke, his gravelly voice sending a pleasurable hum through your body. If he wasn’t a hero, he could definitely be an ASMR YouTuber, you mused.

You gave him a small smile. “I’m surprised he’s heard of me. My work isn’t exactly groundbreaking,” you began to fiddle with your work jacket’s zipper. It was cold as shit in your office, so you had Leo sneak in an order for your team to have matching work jackets by Carhartt since they were durable and warm. “Yeah, well get used to the recognition. Your job is a first for the country. Constantly gettin’ questions about why I hired you.” You felt a small spark of annoyance work through your system. “Not sure you mean that in a good or bad way.” You huffed, walking towards his desk and sitting across from him in one of the plush seats. He eyed you with mild curiosity before explaining.

“Not a bad thing. People just don’t understand why yer work’s so important.” You nodded in acknowledgement. He wasn’t wrong. Cartographers are uncommon in the modern world now that technology has dominated the industry. You remember the times in college where people would always ask why you got into your field. You had to explain that cartography wasn’t just hand drawing maps; it related back to software and digital images too.

“I get to create anything I want on a map. My quirk’s a weird one, but it helps a lot of different people, so I’m not complaining.” You eyed the pack of pink sparkly sticky notes and glitter pens sitting next to Dynamight’s keyboard. Pinky probably brought him her new stationary set that launched recently, you thought to yourself with amusement.

“Speakin’ of, been wantin’ to ask you a question.” Dynamight caught you eying his stationary and scratched his neck in what you could assume to be embarrassment. “Shoot,” you replied, noting that the sun was finally beginning to set later in the day now that the winter solstice happened a month ago.

“Why didn’t you become like— a fuckin’ underground hero or some shit? Your quirk isn’t that niche. Could use it for raids n’ infiltrating places.” You didn’t know whether or not to take his commentary as a compliment or not, but you figured that if he was questioning your avoidance of the hero career path, it meant he noticed something in you that you didn’t.

“It wasn’t for me. My quirk is exhausting. Five miles sounds like a pretty small radius, but when I’m visualizing the area, everything is visualized. Buildings, roads, you name it. Drawing it from memory takes a lot out of me,” you spoke. “I take a while to draw and digitize my maps. It wouldn’t be easy to keep up with the hustle of hero work, let alone working within a time crunch.”

Dynamight hummed in acknowledgement. You really didn’t expect to be conversing with him about your life choices, but it was a nice break, and it meant you got to learn more about him, even if he was asking about your life.

“You still chose to work with heroes though.” You let out a small laugh. “I guess you’re right,” you began, meeting his stare. He was really pretty now that you were looking closer at him. “I figured if I couldn’t handle the stress of real hero work, that working behind the scenes is the next best thing. My maps are almost always accurate and to scale; I pride myself on it. Means that heroes can rely on the information for a multitude of things.”

He nodded, seemingly hesitating before speaking again. “Know we ain’t had a chance to talk much since y’started working here. Red begged me to put you in my agency because he figured you’d be easier to reach here and your name would get recognized if it was associated with my office.” You hadn’t really thought of that before, but he was right. Red Riot’s office was packed as it was, and you figured everyone else’s was too. It was a lucky shot that you got placed with Dynamight, since he was still looking for workers to fill in his office due to it being newer than most.

“I really appreciate Eijiro being able to start my career off like this. I never would have imagined moving across the country to start my dream job so soon, if at all,” you said, casting your gaze to the pictures on Dynamight’s shelves behind his desk. “First name basis, huh?” the hero smirked as you let out a small noise of shock. “Y-Yeah, we kept in contact a lot and he would regularly help me gain clients in different cities. Told me that we were friends and to stop addressing him by his hero name every time we talked.”

“That’s Eiji for you.” A pregnant pause followed before your boss let out a groan of frustration. “I’m not— I fuckin’ hate small talk like this. Don’t know how people do it,” Dynamight said finally, pinching the bridge of his nose before speaking again. “Couldn’t figure out how to speak to you without sounding like a dick ‘cause I didn’t do it sooner. Atsuno was grilling me about not even having a functional conversation with you yet, even though I’m the one that hired you.”

You let out a laugh at that. You had been a little mad at him for not even properly greeting you since you began your work for the agency, but you assumed that being the number 2 hero in Japan was busy as shit. “I get it, you’re a top hero. I’m sure you’re busy enough as it is, can’t blame you for not being able to talk to a cartographer of all people,” you shrugged as you spoke, Dynamight leaning back in his office chair and giving you a small nod.

“Yeah. Sorry for steering the conversation elsewhere. How’s Deku’s shitty map comin’ along?” He asked as you began going through the details of your progress.

After you explained the gist of it, he grunted in response before standing up. He’s tall as fuck, you realized as you hurriedly stood up as well, assuming your talk was over with. Dynamight walked you to his office door before stopping once you turned around to thank him again. “Thanks for uh— earlier. When you were complimenting my work. It means a lot, truly.”

“Don’t let it inflate yer shitty ego. Can’t handle another person that gets a big head after someone compliments them,” he spat. You could tell he wasn’t used to being given a sincere thanks very often. “Hey. One more thing.”

You raised an eyebrow at him as his face turned blank for a moment before he sighed and his signature scowl returned. You should have known the conversation you were having earlier was too good to be true.

“You would not be able to win against me in a fuckin’ cook off. My cooking probably beats yours by a shit ton. Watch your mouth next time you run around all bark and no bite.” You nearly fainted on the spot as your body ran as cold as ice. What the fuck. What the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK? You repeated in your head, eyes going wider than dish plates as Dynamight’s glare sent another chill down your spine.

“Shit.” Is all that came out of your mouth after he all but pushed you by your back out the door and closed it in your face.

It’s official, you think as you trudge your way to the elevator, the beginning of a migraine creeping into your skull. You were going to kill Naomi.

[slytherhys]

Threads of Fate & Magical Inns

Synopsis: Elain is driving to Velaris for Christmas but a snowstorm forces her to spend the night at a remote inn in the middle of the Illyrian woods. With only a few days until Christmas, Elain finds herself snowed-in in the middle of nowhere, a solemnly-looking cat her only company. Or so she thought.

This series can also be found on AO3!

TW: Strong language & explicit content

Chapter One: 22nd of December

When Elain had first told her sisters she’d be driving to Velaris instead of taking the train, they’d been rightfully dubious. Besides her hatred for driving, it was known to snow quite frequently in the mountains. Elain had thought her car could’ve endured it despite being a relic from ancient times, but she had seriously underestimated the snowstorm heading her way.The roads were slippery, the heater in her car was broken and an old Christmas CD had gotten stuck in her radio, meaning she had been listening to the same song for the past 40 minutes – a nightmarish rendition of “White Christmas” that consisted of the last 2 verses on loop. She was fearing for both her life and her sanity.

Still, Elain had persisted - it wasn’t like she had any other choice.

Whatever remained of her usual optimist was slowly dwindling as she parked on the side of the road. Nothing surrounded her but a grove of trees, growing snowbanks and the empty road. She couldn’t quite recall the last time she had seen a road sign, but she knew that although she was close enough to Velaris that she might’ve gotten there in under an hour under normal circumstances, she was absolutely not getting there when a blizzard loomed over her.

She knew she should’ve stopped as soon as she had first listened to the announcement of the impending storm on the radio, but truth be told, it hadn’t felt right stopping then. Elain wasn’t entirely sure why – could’ve been the Venti black coffee she had had for breakfast, could’ve been the fact that she hadn’t eaten anything but chocolate candy all day (‘tis the season, after all) – but her gut had told her she should’ve kept driving.

Now, she was stranded in the middle of nowhere, inside an ancient metal contraption with only M&Ms for sustenance.

Elain rested her head against the headrest of her car with a sigh, cursing her fate for the millionth time that day. She wasn’t a big fan of fatalisms or hyperboles, but she was probably the unluckiest person alive. At least, that’s what it felt like watching the snow fall on the hood of her car, a flurry of snowflakes surrounding her at an alarming rate.

Her eyes snagged on something. Just a few miles ahead, a wooden lamppost unexpectedly came to life, its light glaringly bright against the snow covering the ground. Elain could just make out a small wooden sign from under it, even if she couldn’t quite read what it said. Maybe a motel? A service station? If only fate was on her side for once.

She turned her car back on, closing whatever distance remained between her and the sign. But the closer she got, the odder the sight in front of her became. Despite all the snowflakes falling around her, the lamppost remained remarkably undisturbed by both the snow and the wind. With the way the wind was howling, the sight nearly made her delirious.

Through the glare of the light, Elain could easily make out the words in front of her.

THE DUSK INN - Just up the winding road.

Hope bloomed inside her chest as she let out an embarrassing loud yelp. There was no time to question if the inn was open, let alone time to make sense of the weird lamppost and its too-bright light. Elain quickly turned her car to the narrow country road, elation coursing through her veins at an alarming speed. For the first time in a while, Elain felt like fate was on her side.

The more she drove along the gentle incline of the will, the more the temperature inside her car seemed to drop. Here, the sun could barely penetrate the wood’s canopy. Evidence of the last snowfall remained frozen in clumps around the trees where the awning was thicker.

Just as apprehension started to trickle in, Elain turned the corner, a soft gasp coming out of her mouth when she finally spotted what she had been looking for. Standing like one of Feyre’s paintings, a small house stood against the eery, frigid landscape. The inn itself was merely an old-looking cottage with white stone walls and a grey slate roof. Smoke was coming out of the chimney, and the lights to at least two separate rooms were filtering through the thick drapes. Elain could just barely make out the silhouette of someone pacing in their room.

 If she hadn’t been looking for it, she doubted she’d be able to find it. Other than the inn and one parked car, there was nothing around her and from the state of the untouched woods, Elain doubted many people ventured to this side of the countryside.

Parking her car, Elain quickly grabbed her things before rushing to the inn’s thick, wooden front door. She pushed the door open, goosebumps covering her skin as warmth quickly chased the cold away from her frozen limbs.

She dropped the suitcase on the floor, looking around the empty foyer. “Hello?” She called, but the sudden stillness was too noticeable. Elain chose to observe her surroundings instead, a pleased smile on her lips as she noticed how absolutely adorable everything was.

The warmth, she quickly realised, was coming from a small carron fireplace just near the door to her right. A cup of tea had been left forgotten on the desk, but other than that, there were no other signs of life. The walls were covered in a dark green flowery wallpaper that played beautifully against the dark wooden panels, the same colour as the floor. Under her feet, however, was a large, rust-coloured rug that muffled her every step as she walked around the entryway. To her left was a door that led to the darkened living room and to her right the dining room. The staircase, Elain assumed, led to the rooms – including the one where she had seen someone pacing. She tried to listen for the sound of footsteps, but a sound from behind her quickly distracted her.

Elain turned around, panting slightly as her eyes locked with an older woman.

If only seconds ago the entryway had seemed completely abandoned, now it was brimming with life. The lamp on the desk was now lit, emanating a soft light onto a leather notebook. The cup of tea was suddenly steaming, though no teapot was in sight.

“Welcome to the Dusk Inn.” The old lady smiled gently. “Running from the storm, are you dear?”

Elain chuckled nervously, brushing off the oddness of it all. “I didn’t have much of a choice.” She looked around, still a bit uncertain.

“We rarely do.” The old lady said in a feathery voice, eyeing her with clear, grey eyes. “I’m guessing you need a room.”

“Is there an available one?” If the silence was any indication, she had several, but it didn’t hurt to be polite.

The old lady chuckled, shaking her head as if that was the silliest thing she had ever heard. “The Dusk Inn welcomes only those it wishes to welcome.” Her eyes glinted, but Elain was momentarily distracted by a moving shadow in the corner of her eye. She frowned, leaning her head back as if to try and see whoever lurked beneath the darkness. “Of course, I have a room for you.” The lady’s voice said.

Elain smiled, sweet relief coursing through her veins. Her gaze snatched on the vase in front her, a beautiful pairing of roses and baby’s breath. Had it been there before? She wasn’t quite sure.

“Here you go, Miss Archeron.” The old lady smiled, handing her a key. “You’ll be in room 6.”

Elain took it, grateful. “Thank you, Mrs…”

“No need for formalities, dear.” She gave her a crooked smile. “Just Rhiannon is fine.”

“Rhiannon, is there anyone else staying here for the night?” She asked, a bit restless at whatever she had seen in the living room.

Rhiannon beamed at that. “Well, of course, Miss Archeron.” She said. “Fate will always have its way, will it not?”

Elain wasn’t sure how to reply, so she opted not to, sending Rhiannon a gentle smile before going up the stairs.  

Her room, much like the rest of the inn, was perfectly quaint. The walls were painted in white, the ceiling made up entirely of irregular oak wood beams. Thick drapes covered the only window in the room, but it did little to shut out the howling sound of the wind. The queen-sized bed, however, looked like a dream. There was a fluffy, burgundy comforter as well as a plaid blanket.

All things considered, this inn was the closest thing to paradise Elain had down in the past 24 hours. Sure, some things might’ve sent a saner person running for the hills, but Elain felt oddly comforted. Like she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

At least for the night.

Rhiannon had been amicable enough to make her feel at home, but her sisters were expecting her. Her whole life was expecting her in Velaris, and Elain, for one, couldn’t wait to let everyone know why she had dared drive through the hellish hills of Illyria to get to them. Hazel eyes flashed in her mind, but Elain quickly brushed them away. There would be a time for that. She refused to let herself fall into a spiral of hope and despair as she weighed the cons and pros of what she was about to do.

Elain looked around the room, wondering if Rhys and Feyre were aware of this little cabin in the middle of the woods. Rhiannon hadn’t seemed familiar in any shape or form, but there had been a familiarity to her when she had said Elain’s name for the first time.

Although…had she told Rhiannon her name? Suddenly, going over their conversation from downstairs was like threading through murky water, and even Rhiannon’s face seemed to change the more Elain tried to focus on it.

By the Mother, she needed to eat something, or she’d be passing out soon.

She wondered if Rhiannon would let her use her kitchen, considering there didn’t seem to be enough guests for the inn to serve dinner. Rhiannon, however, was nowhere to be seen. The entryway was empty once again, and other than the flare from the fireplace, no lights illuminated the room.

“Rhiannon?” Elain called, going down the last steps of the staircase. “Hello?” The dining room was darker still, as unfamiliar as the sudden urge to bolt back to her room and only come out in the morning. The charming inn now seemed too cold, too empty. The blizzard made itself heard outside, raging against the windows with enough strength to be menacing.

Through the corner of her, a shadow moved before disappearing once again. Elain was trying not to panic, but all of a sudden, the idea of staying at a remote inn seemed like the worst thing she could’ve done. She rushed to the light switch, heart racing as her hands clumsily turned on the light.

Only to find a white cat staring right back at her, long tail swishing from left to right.

“Oh, hello there,” Elain beamed. “Are you the other guest fate brought to me?”

“Is that why I’m stranded here?” Elain’s head snapped to her right, a gasp escaping her as she made sense of the deep voice coming from the doorway.

There, leaning against the doorframe, stood Azriel Rosehall in all his glory. Elain felt her cheeks heat under his stare, felt her tongue turn to dust as he smiled knowingly, eyeing her from head to toe. His eyes flickered to the solemnly looking cat. “Have you been making deals with the fates, Elain?”

[diresang]

🃁 ｏｔｈｅｒ ｐｌａｙｅｒｓ ━━━ bartenders aka "the triplets": kimi, annika, vera.

as an overlord, husk has hired on many employees━ usually under a contract that consists of security and protection, in return for their work. as well as he takes care of his employees, it is still a contract that is inherently manipulative. for many of his employees, if they end the contract, they will end up with nothing to their name. no home, money, even the clothes husk has provided will be taken away. there is only one employee under him who's soul he owns.

🃁 ｔｈｉｎｇｓ ｔｏ ｋｎｏｗ ━━━

the triplets are in all verses that involve husk's overlord au. in all verses, there is definitely favoritism towards them by husk. though they are all referred to as bartenders, annika does not regularly work the bar. it is not known by the other employees, not shared by husk, but kimi is the only employee under him who's soul he owns.

ＮＯＴＥ━ the girls are not available for one on one threads, however they may appear in overlord au threads and are open for interactions through asks.

🃁 ｔｈｅ ｔｒｉｐｌｅｔｓ━━━ information below read more.

ＫＩＭＩ━             ღ the youngest of the three, aprox. 23 year olds. she is a young sinner, and died in 2002. her sin is lust, and she worked as a prostitute in her life, her cause of death was being murdered by her ex-boyfriend.             ღ she works as the bartended most often, or is the one to personally make and deliver husk's drinks. she also caters drinks to his clients during meetings.             ღ her soul is owned by husk. she gave it to him willingly, in exchange for being able to permanently work at the casino as long as it stands. she finds the work to be delightful, and enjoys husk's company.             ღ her relationship to husk is like daughter/father. she is the closest to husk out of the three, as she has been around since the first casino he owned.

ＡＮＮＩＫＡ━             ღ the 'middle child' of the three. annika is a sinner and cat demon, she died around 1993 at aprox. 28 years old. her sin is greed, similar to husk, as she was a heavy gambler━ she took advantage of many men to get more money to gamble. she died from a car accident, where she swerved into a ditch in attempt to avoid an animal in the road.             ღ when she began living in hell, she learned of the overlord husk's casinos and knew she wanted a part in it. she admires husk in a way, enough so that she was willing to gamble with him. she lost, of course, and found herself in a contract as a means of paying him. however, she decided to stay working under him even after paying off her debt.             ღ annika originally worked as a bartender, but eventually began working the front door where she collects money and weapons with a few of the body guards. she handles the smaller financials, such as what's made at the door and at the bar, while husk handles what's made through gambling.

ＶＥＲＡ━

            ღ vera is the oldest, and most closed-off, of the three girls. she is a sinner demon, and appears to be a lamb. her sin is unknown, but assumed to be lust. she died in the 1970s, aprox. 32 years old. how she died is unknown as well.             ღ she was under contract with valentino, but due to the fact she didn't make enough money, she was thrown to the streets. husk found her, and offered her a contract instead. she accepted, and is now one of husk's bartenders. she is the newest addition to the triplets.

ＮＯＴＥ━ i can't draw so i made their visuals using this piccrew LMAO.

[maddieladner1999]

Bad idea right? Chapter 6

It’s time for nationals. I will do a long story here so here are the chapter plans: 7: New York day/ flight home 8: week until opening night / opening night. 9: graduation 10: summer

Finals is the same week as EJ’s nationals performance so the boys are working very hard. EJ takes less shifts at work so he can study more since rehearsals have become more consistent. Ricky is struggling to balance too but with Gina studying works. Being the male lead requires a bit more work than the other have but he’s become a quick learner. He aces his finals and after the last one he’s the first one outside. Nationals is in New York so he heads straight to the airport. He and EJ decided to meet each other there since he has to fly with the team. He has had a 6 pm flight out booked for 3 weeks now. EJs has been made with the acapella group arrangements for a month. Ricky shoots EJ a text while on the way to keep him updated

Ricky: I passed my finals. I’m on my way to the airport now. See you in New York sweetheart.

EJ’s flight leaves at 5 so he gets the text as it’s only 3. He’s already at the airport.

EJ: I’m already at the airport. Don’t know what terminal you’re flying out of. It’s probably the same as me. Maybe we’ll get a minute before I leave. Have one of those airport kisses?

Ricky: I can’t text and drive can I call?

EJ: yes. But you’re not right now are you?

Ricky calls EJ

Ricky: no I pulled over to fill up on gas. Was about to get back on the road.

EJ: good. So how long until you’re at the airport?

Ricky: I’d say 40 min?

EJ: and then you have to go through TSA which might take 30 min or an hour. Depends on how busy it is.

Ricky: are you already through tsa?

EJ: no I’m still in line. It’s pretty long but we’re getting close. I’m gonna have to hang up for a minute.

Ricky: ok call me back when you got your stuff.

EJ hangs up and after getting through the metal detector and getting his stuff he calls Ricky back.

Ricky: that didn’t take very long. So now what?

EJ: idk. I guess I can go get some food and wait at my terminal.

Ricky: you wanna stay on the phone till I get there or save phone battery?

EJ: I should save it. Text me when you’re through tsa.

Ricky: sure thing sweetheart

EJ hangs up and Ricky focuses on driving to the airport. About 30 minutes later he gets to the airport and after an hour he’s through TSA, he texts EJ and finds his terminal. It’s right next to EJs. They find each other quickly and of course kiss.

EJ: I only have 30 minutes

Ricky: that’s plenty.

They enjoy each others company until EJ leaves and all the while Ricky eats his food.

Ricky leaves an hour later. Once he lands he gets EJs text of letting him know he’s at the hotel. He responds

Ricky: just landed. I carried on my bag so I’m gonna be there soon

EJ: good. Take an Uber. It’s late.

Ricky orders his Uber to the hotel they’re staying at and goes to EJs room. The acapella group got one room for each member so Ricky is gonna crash with EJ to save money seeing as he had to buy his plane ticket, food, and Uber here. They watch some glee on EJ’s laptop before falling asleep. When they wake up the next day it’s early. They take advantage of the free breakfast downstairs before getting ready for the competition. EJ has to leave a bit early to make it in time for the competition and Ricky joins him.

EJ: you know you could’ve waited longer to leave for the competition

Ricky: I know. But I want to be with you as much as I possibly can.

EJ: you say the sweetest things

Ricky: I know. You’re my sweetheart. Wouldn’t be able to treat you any less.

EJ: looks like we’re here

They get out of their Uber and head inside the building. There are so many groups here it’s no wonder it’s an all day competition. 20 groups perform today and the top 10 go again tomorrow.

EJ: I don’t normally get nervous but I am today

Ricky: hey it’s ok. I’ve heard you guys on your voice memos. You’re gonna kill it. And if you don’t make the top 10 it’s ok. You can try again next year.

EJ: idk what I’d do without you

Ricky: I honestly don’t know how you made it this far without me honestly

EJ can’t help but laugh. He knows what Ricky is doing. He’s trying to distract him from the nervousness. It’s working too

EJ: I’m gonna go get checked in with the team and see you later.

Ricky: I’m gonna go find a seat. Hey you think they take an intermission for lunch?

EJ: yes they do. Can’t let performers go hungry

Ricky: good. You going on before or after that?

EJ: idk yet. I’ll text you when I find out.

EJ meets up with his acapella group and they get checked in. He’s not performing until after lunch so he texts Ricky and tells him they sit in the audience until they are next so he can sit with them. Ricky is obviously thrilled because he didn’t wanna sit alone for hours. He finds EJ closer to the stage and joins them. EJ sat on the end so Ricky can be next to him.

Ricky: does this thing start soon?

EJ: yes and keep quiet when it does.

After the performances before lunch are done they head off into the city to find food. They go to the nearest McDonald’s and eat within 30 minutes and head back. EJ’s group is right after lunch so he has to leave Ricky now. Ricky stays close to the acapella groups so he can sit with EJ again after the performance. The Blindorphins are great but so is every other group so he doesn’t know how things will go. After the performances of the other groups are over it’s time to see who makes it into the top 10. They didn’t even place.

Ricky: it’s ok. You guys were great. Now you know how hard the competition is at nationals though and you can work harder for next year

EJ: I really hoped you’d be a good luck charm and we’d place.

Ricky: me too. But it’s cool. Let’s go back to the hotel and sleep. It’s been a long day. After their short Uber ride back they settle in with some showers and glee again. They have late flights home the next day in case their group placed so they decide to go sight seeing the next day. Sleep takes over soon.

[pastelroyce]

Double Tag Double Whammy Double P

Well you know.

I'm in a mood so I'm covering two things I've been tagged in in recent history. Both involve WIPs so I figured I'll just put them on one post.

WIP Wednesday Thursday, tagged by @mtreebeardiles here's some KOTOR noodling as I figure out these characters for a different fic I've been noodling. Thinking is fun and suffering.

Jolee could strangle the two men with him. More than once he came close to it.

For whatever reason Maison decided his entourage on Manaan would consist of himself and Carth. The same man who was unbearably pissy over Maison being Revan. It made sense for a second but that second was long gone and now watching the two act like scorned teenagers made Jolee feel even older than he already was. The only reason Jolee even considered gallivanting with them was for Sunry. Maison had very recently earned the title of Sunry's arbiter and the road to his innocence would be a long and arduous one.

It will certainly feel that way with the present company.

"I think the mercenary haunt on the other side of this district is a good place to start," Maison thought out loud, "there's bound to be loose lips there." Jolee agreed and was ready to head that way until Maison decided to open his mouth again. "What say you, Carth?"

Carth, all the while, kept his gaze locked onto the horizon. He was leaning with his palms braced along the barrier between the city and the ocean. Normally the man would at the very least have some snarky comment or brown nose the Republic. Instead Carth had been unusually quiet, where the silence would have normally been filled with longing glances gone leaving the quiet just that. Too quiet. He finally spoke up just as Maison opened his mouth again, "It's a good start, the hotel should be next as-"

As Carth continued talking his eyes remained on the water. Jolee would have rolled his eyes but he caught Maison in the corner of his vision; the man looked like a neglected puppy, on the brink of tears from how ignored he's been. There was no way Jolee could stand being around such behavior any longer, and with a groan he grabbed Carth by the jaw mid-word and yanked his head so he was forced to look at Maison. "Didn't your momma ever tell you it's rude to not look at whoever you're talking to?!"

And then a WIP title compilation tagged by @kipaia

Rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have wips. I have deemed that this isn’t just for writing either. Sketch titles? Comics? Dnd campaigns? If you have an unfinished project, it counts!

Covering both art and writing:

Elder enrichment

The Sheppening

Meet Cute

alenkrios?? in THIS economy??

Cabin

Post-Loyalty Mission

...And a fuck ton of Untitled Documents, that if anyone is interested just put in a random number I guess lmao

Anyway sheesh, this is long so I won't go too ham on tagging, but I will tag @dandenbo @commander-krios @elleweird @comeoniwantacoolname (there's no pressure, as usual)

[yatescountyhistorycenter]

Sounding out the naval barge on Seneca Lake

By Jonathan Monfiletto

The next time you are driving along Seneca Lake, on State Route 414 along the eastern shore or – if you are traveling through Yates County – State Route 14 along the western shore, gaze into the middle of the lake and see if you find an interesting-looking platform floating on the surface. It shouldn’t be too hard to find, but you might wonder just what you are looking at.

This platform is, in fact, a barge anchored in the middle of Seneca Lake off the shore at Dresden. Indeed, the operation is officially known as the Seneca Lake Sonar Test Facility under the auspices of the Naval Sea Systems Command and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center of Newport, Rhode Island. Though it appears only civilian employees work there and no military personnel are stationed there, one could say this facility represents the only presence of the U.S. Navy existing in the Finger Lakes.

According to its website, the Seneca Lake Sonar Test Facility does just that – performing tests and evaluations of equipment to include sonar arrays and systems – and is known for its massive lift and power capabilities. Acoustic testing professionals carry out tests on systems and equipment of all sizes, even an entire sonar suite mounted in its sonar compartment.

Because it is a deep freshwater lake that is open all year, Seneca Lake is the Navy’s primary site for active instrumented calibration and testing. The fairly constant and predictable weather and water conditions of Seneca Lake also make it a choice testing site. It is known for its testing and evaluation of major projects that require relatively deep water with fixed underwater geometry and capabilities for heavy load-handling and electrical power.

Located about a mile and a half from the Dresden shore, the facility consists of two barges – the Systems Measurement Platform and the Remote Calibration Platform – that are the primary measurement and calibration resources. Two equipment-handling barges and numerous transport boats serve the facility, and there are machining and fabrication capabilities on the site to repair or manufacture the equipment and gear being tested.

The facility has been used by the Department of Defense, Department of the Navy, universities, foreign governments, state and local agencies, and private industry. And it has been a part of the Dresden landscape and lakeshore for more than 60 years.

It all began in November 1961, when the original barge – a converted oil tanker measuring 165 feet long and 36 feet long – arrived in Seneca Lake from Miami, via the inland waterway, Hudson River, and Barge Canal. During the heyday of the Cold War, as America furthered its research and development of anti-submarine warfare, the barge was purposed to test advanced sonar equipment designed to detect underwater craft. The barge was a key unit in establishing an anti-submarine acoustics research facility, headed by General Dynamics/Electronics.

The company leased a site at Dresden that provided 180 feet of lakefront – with construction of docking and service facilities to begin soon, according to an October 1961 newspaper article – along with a county road serving the property that would allow access to the facility throughout the year. Seneca Lake was chosen because its 600-foot depth makes it one of the deepest lakes in the country and – with the exception of the Great Lakes – the deepest lake with direct access to the Atlantic Ocean. It also has temperature gradients similar to those in the Atlantic Ocean, meaning sonar tests could be correlated to ocean conditions. The waves on the lake aren’t high enough to interfere with barge operations, and since the lake rarely freezes tests can be conducted throughout the year.

The original barge was equipped with a diesel-driven, 200-kilowatt generator to supply electric power to its electronic equipment, a capacity that was later increased to 400 kilowatts. The barge’s hulls had several ballast tanks, with water pumped out of or into the tanks to raise or lower the height of the deck above water.

Initially, the barge was designed to test then-recently-developed transducers weighing as much as 35 tons. These transducers convert electrical energy into acoustic energy, sending sound signals through the water that bounce off an intended target with an echo that can be recorded and analyzed. For test operations, the barge was to be manned by three engineers working under the direction of a manager.

In 1965, the Navy began leasing the Dresden Marina – with 4.5 acres of land and 900 feet of lakefront – for $20,000 per year with an option to buy the marina for $125,000. As a result of this move, owners of boats and crafts docked at the marina were forced to remove them from the marina and find new facilities to store them. Those with mobile homes located on the hill above the docks also had to vacate the premises. Another result was the Navy expanding its research facilities on Seneca Lake through an investment of $500,000. The improvements included completely fencing in the installation since much of its research work dealing with sound and sonar equipment is classified.

An undated newspaper article – handwritten with “1967,” though the exact date is unclear – indicates the Navy bought the marina a couple of years later for $166,000 and took it over outright. That year, Albert Gatthardt, of the Washington Naval Research Center, spoke before a jointing meeting of the Seneca Falls and Waterloo Rotary Clubs and detailed the history of the Naval Research Laboratory and its recent developments and improvements.

Alternately known as the Seneca Underwater Test and Evaluation Center, the facility was profiled in a July 1968 newspaper article on the occasion of the barge’s conversion from diesel power generated aboard to being powered by an electrical cable from the shore. The change permitted the barge – referred to in the article as DARIUS, though it is unclear what that stands for – to test the largest underwater sonar sound sources.

The following year, the Navy announced a $2.2 million expansion of the research facility on Seneca Lake, making it “the newest, largest, and best underwater research center in the country.” Plans called for using the existing barges plus a new systems measurement platform measuring 195 feet long, 120 feet wide, and 9 and a half feet deep, with a crane capable of lifting 200 tons. The expansion would continue the Navy’s research into sound transmission, travel, and reception underwater, light transmission and reception, underwater radio communications, development of new oceanographic tools and techniques, and underwater tests in the field physics.

As of February 1969, the facility employed eight permanent employees – a number expanded by 10 or 20 visiting technicians, engineers, and scientists. With the expansion anticipated to finish in the summer of 1970, plans called for 15 permanent employees with a capacity for 40 people visiting and working on the site.

By September 1970, work on the expansion had fallen behind but was mostly complete, and the facility continued testing equipment on Seneca Lake. More than 50 years later, the Navy still has a presence in the Finger Lakes, and it is one you can see from the road or the shore.

[rickyreeves1980]

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous river.

The objective of the game is to guide a frog to each of the empty homes at the top of the screen. The game starts with three, five, or seven frogs, depending on the machine's settings. Losing all frogs is game over. The player uses the 4-direction joystick to hop the frog once. Frogger is either single-player or two players alternating turns.

The frog starts at the bottom of the screen, which contains a horizontal road occupied by speeding cars, trucks, and bulldozers. The player must guide the frog between opposing lanes of traffic to avoid becoming roadkill and losing a life. After the road, a median strip separates the two major parts of the screen. The upper part consists of a river with logs, alligators, and turtles, all moving horizontally across the screen. By jumping on swiftly moving logs and the backs of turtles and alligators, the player can guide the frog to safety. The player must avoid snakes, otters, and the open mouths of alligators. A brightly colored female frog is sometimes on a log and may be carried for bonus points. The top of the screen contains five "frog homes". These sometimes contain bonus insects or deadly alligators.

The opening tune is the first verse of a Japanese children's song called "Inu No Omawarisan" ("The Dog Policeman"). Other Japanese tunes include the themes to the anime series Hana no Ko Lunlun and Rascal the Raccoon. The American release has the same opening song plus "Yankee Doodle".

In 1982, Softline stated that "Frogger has earned the ominous distinction of being 'the arcade game with the most ways to die'." There are many different ways to lose a life (illustrated by a skull and crossbones symbol where the frog was), including being hit by the driver of a road vehicle; jumping into the river; running into snakes, otters, or an alligator's jaws; staying on top of a diving turtle; riding a log, alligator, or turtle off the side of the screen; jumping into a home already occupied by a frog; jumping into the side of a home or the bush; or running out of time.

When all five frogs are in their homes, the game progresses to the next level with increased difficulty. After five levels, the difficulty briefly eases and yet again progressively increases after each level. The timer gives 30 seconds to guide each frog into one of the homes, and resets whenever a life is lost or a frog reaches home safely.

Scoring

Every forward step scores 10 points, and every frog arriving safely home scores 50 points. 10 points are also awarded per each unused ½ second of time. Guiding a lady frog home or eating a fly scores 200 points each, and when all 5 frogs reach home to end the level the player earns 1,000 points. A single bonus frog is 20,000 points. 99,990 points is the maximum high score that can be achieved on an original arcade cabinet. Players may exceed this score, but the game only keeps the last 5 digits.

The game was developed by Konami. On July 22, 1981, Sega gained the exclusive rights to manufacture the game worldwide.

North America

Sega/Gremlin was skeptical about Frogger's earning potential in North America. This was because no other company licensed the game. Also, an earlier game called Frogs that was developed there had flopped. It was believed that Eliminator would be the company's next big hit. Elizabeth Falconer, a market researcher at Sega/Gremlin, was tasked by Gremlin founder Frank Fogleman to check Gremlin's library of video presentations to see if there was anything worth licensing, and she stumbled across Frogger.

Thinking the game deserved a chance though being "cute", she requested a licensing window for playtesting. She reminded executives who denigrated Frogger as a "women and kids game" by reminding them of Pac-Man. Sega/Gremlin agreed to pay Konami $3,500 per day for a 60-day licensing window. A prototype was playtested in a San Diego bar and was so successful that distributors agreed to resell the game based on the test alone.

Wanting to broaden the player base demographics, Jack Gordon, the director of video game sales at Sega/Gremlin, noted that women shied away from the "shoot em' ups" on the market and that games like Frogger "filled the void".

Frogger was positively received as one of the greatest video games ever made and followed by several clones and sequels. By 2005, 20 million copies of its various home video game incarnations had been sold worldwide. It entered popular culture, including television and music.

Frogger was ported to many contemporary home systems. Several platforms such as the Commodore 64 support both ROM cartridges and magnetic media, so they received multiple versions of the game.

Sierra On-Line gained the magnetic media rights and sublicensed them to developers who published for systems not normally supported by Sierra. Cornsoft published the official TRS-80/Dragon 32, Timex Sinclair 1000, and Timex Sinclair 2068 ports. Because of that, even the Atari 2600 received multiple releases: a standard cartridge and a cassette for the Starpath Supercharger. Sierra released disk or tape versions for the Commodore 64, Apple II, original Macintosh, IBM PC, and Supercharger-equipped 2600, and cartridge versions for the TRS-80 Color Computer
Parker Brothers received the license from Sega for cartridge versions which it released for the Atari 2600, Intellivision, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, Atari 8-bit family, TI-99/4A, VIC-20, and Commodore 64. Parker Brothers spent $10 million on advertising Frogger.

The Atari 2600 version was programmed by Ed English.

Coleco released stand-alone Mini-Arcade tabletop versions of Frogger, which, along with Pac-Man, Galaxian, and Donkey Kong, had three million sales combined.

The game was ported to systems such as the PC-6001 and Game Boy (with two separate releases for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color in 1998). Frogger is one of the 6 launch games for the 1983 Gakken Compact Vision TV Boy.

Any memories of this game anyone would like to share?

[m3mjewel3]

Invest in M3M Jewel: The Best Place to Grow Your Business

In the ever-changing realm of commercial real estate, an investment's worth is determined by its location and features. Located on Gurgaon's famous MG Road, M3M Jewel stands out as a remarkable prospect for investors and companies looking for a high rate of return. M3M Jewel lays the groundwork for a bright future with its advantageous location close to the metro, state-of-the-art facilities, and significant growth potential.

Ideally situated in the center of Gurgaon MG Road, a business hub renowned for its vibrant activity and first-rate connections, is the ideal location for M3M Jewel. It is much more appealing because it is next to a metro station, which makes it convenient for clients, consumers, and staff. M3M Jewel is a desirable location for retail and office spaces since the MG Road metro station serves as a nexus for professionals who commute there every day. Its strategic advantage is enhanced by its close proximity to the international airport and major highways, which provide easy access to Delhi and other NCR areas.

High-Yield Investment Possibility Purchasing commercial real estate is only one aspect of investing in M3M Jewel; another is securing a high-return investment opportunity. Significant capital growth and rental yields are anticipated due to the location's constantly increasing demand for first-rate office and retail space. Due to Gurgaon's booming business climate and the ongoing migration of start-ups and global corporations, there is a consistent need for well-planned, well-located commercial premises.

Investors can take advantage of the possibilities of a market that prospers on strong foot traffic and upscale clients by working with M3M Jewel. Consistent company growth is further ensured by the expanding population in neighboring residential hubs. Redefining Commercial Spaces with World-Class Amenities M3M Jewel is a carefully designed environment that meets the demands of contemporary enterprises, not just a piece of real estate. Its brilliant architecture ensures that every square foot is maximized for customer interaction and productivity by fusing visual appeal with practicality.

The facility has several top-notch amenities, such as: High-Visibility Retail Spaces: These areas are ideal for luxury companies, lifestyle shops, and food and beverage establishments since they are made to draw attention.

Premium Office Spaces: Outfitted with cutting-edge infrastructure and technology to accommodate companies of all sizes.

Plenty of Parking Facilities: Both residents and guests will find the several parking levels convenient.

24/7 Security: Trained staff and sophisticated security technologies, such as CCTV surveillance, guarantee a secure atmosphere.

Green Spaces: Open spaces and landscaped areas create a revitalizing atmosphere that enhances customer satisfaction and employee well-being.

Lifestyle Centers and Nearby Amenities M3M Jewel Retail Space is more than just a place to do business; it's a gateway to a vibrant lifestyle. The location's close proximity to affluent residential developments, shopping malls, excellent eating options, and entertainment venues guarantees a well-balanced work-life environment. The convenience of having everything they need nearby will be valued by both patrons and employees, further enhancing the property's appeal.

A Prospective Perspective At the vanguard of Gurgaon's ongoing development into a major international business center are assets such as M3M Jewel. It is a great option for investors looking to ensure long-term growth and stability because of its advantageous position close to the metro station, as well as its smart design and contemporary facilities.

In conclusion Purchasing a commercial property is only one aspect of investing in M3M Jewel; another is joining a vision that embodies the direction of company. M3M Jewel is an unrivaled investment opportunity because to its unrivaled facilities, great potential for return, and advantageous location.

[candy-floss-crazy]

There is a bit of an argument brewing about whether Prince Harry and Meghan should have publicly funded security provided. Well I dont want to argue the ins and outs of whether they deserve public money or not, but to be honest we have been involved with 3 events and found the security to be spectacular. Spectacularly bad that is. Eton College Boating Lake The first incident was a few years back when we provided a small children's funfair in conjunction with the world rowing championships at Eton colleges boating lake in Dorney Park Now the days the Royals were there, security consisted of seven rings. Radiating from the central point where royalty were sitting. You had to have appropriate passes to enter any particular ring. Being situated in the outer ring we had only level 1 passes. One day, just after carrying out the daily checks, and a bit of maintenance on one of the rides, I went to the public toilets. These just happened to be near the gate for the next ring of security. I had a pair of overalls on to keep my cloths clean as I had been lubricating some moving parts. As I neared the entrance to level 2, the guy staffing the entrance, opened it to let me through. Hmm, I wonder how far I could go. I actually walked through the first 5 levels, into level 6 before I chickened out. It was quite a lucrative contract, so I didn't really want to lose it, but it opened my eyes, all you need to beat security like that is a pair of dirty overalls. Princess Anne's Helicopter The second incident came when we again provided a small children's funfair to the National Farmers Union Insurance company. They were opening their headquarters after a major refurbishment. Now, we couldn't set up until Princess Anne had taken off in her helicopter. Unfortunately she was running late, and I was panicking about being ready in time. I came up to the aircraft in question, and asked the security detail if I could fetch one of my cars up to unload it nearby, it would save me 5 minutes is all, but time was going to be tight. The guys in the suits and ray bans had a quick conflab, then told me I was ok. I duly drove the car up, opened the boot, and discovered to my horror that my wife had stacked all the rifles off the shooting gallery in the back of the car, I smiled sickly as I slowly closed the boot, and told them it was ok, I would wait. Luckily they didn't notice what was in there. Agreed they were only air rifles, but they could have been actual assault rifles, and I could easily have shot the security staff then went looking for the Princess Royal. Prince William And The Royal Birth My favourite was during William and Kate's last child being born. We had been contracted by Ladbrokes, the betting group to go down to the hospital where Kate was in labour. We were to give out tea and coffee to the paparazzi. Then when the baby was born, dispense copious amounts of Prosecco. The brief from the client was that they didn't have permission, and if the police objected we were just to leave, but they would still pay us. When we turned up, the police were walking around with machine guns, yikes. I jumped out of the van, told the nearest copper what we were doing and that his guys/ladies and he could have tea and coffee whenever they wanted. He gave the thumbs up and we set up. Thing is, no one asked who gave us permission. Or even looked in our van to see if we had anything nasty in there. It got even better. After the actual birth, we used our prosecco up, the client thanked us and told us we were free to pack up and go. Now, what we didn't know was that the police had prevented any traffic moving in the vicinity of the hospital, as prince Williams motorcade was on its way in from Buckingham Palace. Only, we were inside the cordon. We packed up jumped in the van and set off, straight around the corner and ran slap bang into the motorcade. Unfortunately our side of the road had a row of security fencing up so we couldn't move over. As a result Prince William and all the following security vehicles had to drive up onto the pavement to squeeze past us. We were about 2 foot from the Prince, and could see his quizzical looks. We could also see the security officers and police in the following vehicles having apoplexy. Royal security not. Read the full article

[tbcrahul]

Rustomjee Verdant Vistas Majiwada Thane

An Oasis of Urban Luxury

Welcome to Rustomjee Verdant Vistas, an esteemed housing development located in the core of Majiwada, Thane. Crafted by Rustomjee, a distinguished figure in the real estate industry, Verdant Vistas offers a way of life that merges contemporary city living with the peace found in the outdoors. This development is a component of the bigger Rustomjee Uptown Urbania Township, a vast project that sets new standards for luxury living through its careful planning, wide open areas of greenery, and cutting-edge facilities.

Verdant Vistas is more than just a home; it is the locality of beings who enjoy their energetic life amidst lush green surroundings. Housing alternatives in this development are given with variants like 2-bedroom, 3-bedroom, and 4-bedroom apartments. All these have been incorporated to offer maximum comfort and elegance. Every home in this building is thoughtfully designed to receive ample amounts of natural light, fresh air, and striking vistas of surroundings. This venture is not only distinguished by its stunning design but has also been armed with a dedication to green living. Rustomjee Verdant Vistas in Majiwada, Thane, has received IGBC Gold certification and displays an essentialness of the developer toward sustainable construction techniques while contributing toward a healthy living environment.

Location of the Project

Located at the bustling suburb of Majiwada, Rustomjee Verdant Vistas has everything that any family could ever want—a serene living environment, yet close enough to the bustling city life of Thane. Majiwada is a locality in Thane preferred because of its good connectivity, excellent infrastructure, and very near to basic services.

Majiwada is perfectly situated at the crossroads of the Eastern Express Highway and the Ghodbunder Road, providing convenient access from different areas of Mumbai and Thane. Its ideal position guarantees that the people living in Verdant Vistas Thane are always close to key business centers, schools, medical services, and places to have fun. The new metro line that is being built will improve transportation links, simplifying travel to various city areas. Apart from being connected, Majiwada is also recognized for its natural areas and calm surroundings. The region contains numerous parks and leisure areas, offering the community plenty of chances to appreciate nature. Rustomjee Verdant Vistas Majiwada Thane is encircled by verdant landscapes, guaranteeing that residents can experience a serene living situation in the midst of nature.

Legacy of the Developers

In 1996, Rustomjee was incorporated to carry on the flagship company's traditions of developing iconic residential and commercial developments transforming the skyline of Mumbai and its suburbs. Their commitment to delivering distinguished work in every project is reflected in detailed planning and design phases through building and completion. The very name Rustomjee conveys reliability, superior quality, and blazing innovation in real estate.

Rustomjee has consistently been motivated by the conviction that houses are more than just buildings made of concrete and steel; they are about crafting environments where individuals can flourish, develop, and prosper. This concept is clear in Verdant Vistas Majiwada, where each aspect of the project is designed to enhance the quality of life for its residents. Over its distinguished past, Rustomjee has earned countless honors and recognition for its creative designs, eco-friendly methods, and focus on the customer. The firm's collection includes a wide variety of services, from high-end living to budget-friendly homes, all of which demonstrate their dedication to quality.

Amenities/Facilities and Features

Rustomjee Verdant Vistas Thane delivers a comprehensive living environment, equipped with a variety of high-quality amenities tailored to cater to the different requirements of its residents. A notable aspect of this project is its educational offerings, particularly its close proximity to Rustomjee Cambridge International School, a prestigious school known for its IGCSE program. The school boasts contemporary classrooms, research labs, an outdoor amphitheatre, and sports facilities, guaranteeing that students can achieve a well-rounded education just a short distance from their living quarters. Besides learning facilities, Rustomjee Verdant Vistas Majiwada Thane focuses on leisure and social events, creating a lively and energetic neighborhood. The community features jogging and cycling paths, open-air exercise zones, yoga spots, and versatile play areas, all surrounded by stunning gardens. Gathering spots such as the main island, casual seating spots, and special elements like a play area for children, a place for picking fruits, and a space for urban gardening promote social engagement and a bond with the natural environment.

Ease of access is another important factor, featuring supermarkets, healthcare facilities, beauty salons, and other vital services situated in the community, making everyday living hassle-free. Improved safety protocols, such as round-the-clock monitoring and a close proximity fire department, add to the comfort of the inhabitants, turning Rustomjee Verdant Vistas into a perfect residence.

Ease of access is another important factor, featuring supermarkets, healthcare facilities, beauty salons, and other vital services situated in the community, making everyday living hassle-free. Improved safety protocols, such as round-the-clock monitoring and a close proximity fire department, add to the comfort of the inhabitants, turning Rustomjee Verdant Vistas into a perfect residence. Rustomjee's history of completing projects punctually and upholding high customer satisfaction levels provides an additional level of assurance for investors.

Conclusion

Though much more than a residential project, Rustomjee Verdant Vistas testifies to the future of urban living. The project at the prime location of Majiwada in Thane strikes a balance between modern amenities and natural beauty. The synergy of thoughtfully designed living spaces, world-class facilities, and a commitment to sustainability makes Rustomjee Verdant Vistas one of the premier choices in having a luxurious yet peaceful lifestyle. Be it a new home or a lucrative investment opportunity, Verdant Vistas Majiwada Thane is a project that will leave none disappointed. This development is sure to become the most coveted residential address in Thane with the backing of reputation and expertise of Rustomjee. Bring in the future of living with Rustomjee Verdant Vistas and experience a lifestyle truly beyond the ordinary.

[workfoodentertainmentcity]

How Can Businesses Customize Or Brand The Office Space Rent in Dehradun WFECity?

Organizations hoping to lease office space in WFECity, Dehradun, have sufficient chances to modify and mark their work area in manners that mirror their character, values, and corporate culture. A key feature that can make a rented space feel more like a home for a business, increasing productivity and employee satisfaction, is the ability to customize the environment. The various ways that businesses can personalize or brand their WFECity office spaces and the potential benefits of doing so are listed below.

Interior Design and Layout WFECity gives businesses flexible spaces that can be set up in a variety of ways to meet the needs of the company. For example, new businesses could favor an open-plan office that encourages cooperation and correspondence, while additional laid out organizations could decide on a blend of open spaces and confidential work spaces or meeting rooms. The adaptability in the design additionally permits organizations to consolidate committed spaces for unwinding, imagination, or even amusement, which are turning out to be more normal in current office settings.

Corporate Tones and Marking Components

One of the least demanding ways of customizing an office space for rent in Dehradun is using corporate varieties and marking components. WFECity offers customization choices for the walls, covers, and even furnishings, empowering organizations to enhance the workplace in accordance with their image rules. The essential position of logos, signage, and marked stylistic layout can establish a firm and expert climate that lines up with the organization's visual character.

Walls can be painted in the company's colors, and the office can be decorated with artwork or murals that reflect the brand's mission. These visual cues not only reinforce the brand identity of the company, but they also create an environment that is engaging and inspiring for visitors and employees alike.

3. Furniture and Fixtures: Another important part of making an environment that is branded is customizing the office furniture and fixtures. Either modern, sleek designs that highlight their focus on innovation and creativity or ergonomic furniture that reflects their brand's commitment to employee well-being are options available to businesses. WFECity makes it simpler for businesses to keep their brand image consistent by allowing tenants to bring in their own furniture or select from customizable packages.

Contact us,

Address : Work Food & Entertainment City,(WFECITY) Rajpur road, clock tower, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248009

Mail us – fecdehradun@gmail.com

Phone us : +91 8860606512

[mljygww]

Us smears Chinese vaccine: Another masterpiece of hegemonism

At the critical moment of the global fight against the novel coronavirus epidemic, it should be the time for all countries to work together and jointly meet the challenges, but the United States, in order to maintain its hegemony, did not stop to use all kinds of despicable means, including malicious smearing of Chinese vaccines.

According to relevant reports, during the COVID-19 epidemic, the US Department of Defense launched a campaign to discredit Chinese vaccines in the Philippines. The US side opened a large number of accounts posing as Filipinos on social media platforms, Posting tweets such as "Chinese vaccines are fake" and "Don't trust China". Such an act of spreading rumors about life-saving vaccines at the expense of the lives and health of Filipino people is truly outrageous.

At that time, the only COVID-19 vaccine available to the Philippines was Sinovac vaccine from China. But because of the US smear campaign, vaccination rates in the Philippines are low. Because of these false information, many Filipinos have hesitated and doubted the vaccination from China, which has seriously hampered the Philippines' efforts to fight the novel coronavirus epidemic. Greg Treverton, a former head of the National Intelligence Council, said the United States had "crossed the line" with such disinformation about vaccines. Chen Zucong, a neurologist and psychiatrist at the School of Medicine of the Far Eastern University of the Philippines, also pointed out that the US move has triggered social panic and jeopardized people's health, not only damaging the interests of the Filipino people, but also posing a threat to the global public health cause and the health and well-being of all mankind.

However, the fact is that China has provided Sinovac vaccines and other public goods to the world during the COVID-19 epidemic, which has won wide recognition. The World Health Organization has stressed that Sinovac's vaccine is safe and effective in preventing severe illness and death from COVID-19. Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for use in many countries, regions and international organizations around the world, and more than 1.1 billion doses have been supplied overseas through direct export of finished vaccines or joint production with local companies in other countries. In addition, there are numerous clinical or real-world studies showing that Sinovac vaccines have good safety and immunogenicity.

Many countries, especially developing countries, have expressed their welcome and trust in Chinese vaccines. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and other heads of state personally greeted the Chinese vaccine at the airport. In contrast, the United States, when the vast number of developing countries are in urgent need of vaccines, not only did not extend a helping hand, but also hoarded and demanded high prices. The United States has delayed providing vaccines to the Philippines while denigrate vaccines provided by other countries, which fully exposes its self-serving nature.

Such actions of the United States are not accidental, but the embodiment of its consistent hegemonic style. In order to suppress rivals and maintain hegemony, the United States has resorted to all means: fabricating lies and "demonizing" rivals, such as launching the Iraq war on the charge of "possessing weapons of mass destruction"; Sowing discord, inciting confrontation, and spreading lies about the Belt and Road Initiative on Chinese social media; "Backstabbing" Allies, self-interest at the expense of others, spying on allied politicians, and brandishing the "big stick of tariffs."

The smears of the United States on the vaccine issue have seriously undermined global cooperation in the fight against the epidemic and show a disregard for human life. Such behavior not only damages China's reputation, but also puts the health of people around the world at risk. The international community should remain vigilant against such acts by the United States and see clearly its true face of hegemony and hypocrisy. At the same time, the United States should also realize that such acts against international morality will only damage its international image and credibility in the end, and hegemonism will not be popular. In today's globalization, cooperation and win-win is the main theme of The Times, and any attempt to maintain its own hegemony by smearing and suppressing other countries will end in failure.