#there's a casino guy? who's also a talking screen?

[thegreatyin]

all i know about fallout is like. i watched rtgame's fnv playthrough and i thought the amazon show was actually pretty bangin. that's about it

[danieyells]

Thank you for sharing the tdb affinity lines! I know I won't be naturally getting any of these for ten years (if the games even still around by then) lol.

I was wondering if you could share any interesting lines of Taiga's? No pressure tho! It's just after seeing some of his lines from other people, he seems to have a bigger role in the story and I'm curious if any of his lines give any more clues to the situation on hand. Also would be interesting to see if he genuinely starts caring for mc besides wanting to like. Eat her for lunch lol.

It's no problem! And yeah that's part of why I wanna share them--getting the units to high enough affinity is a pain and to even see any of the home screen dialogues you need an SR or SSR, which means good luck with the gacha buckaroo.

YES TAIGA MY BELOVED. he's my favorite behind maybe Towa. Chances are if you've seen the one line you've seen the only one referring to that, although there is one more that may be related? But it might be general. As for caring for the PC, this is a joseimuke so. The characters will always love you more and more with time. And Taiga most certainly does haha doesn't prevent the hunger from rising up though. friendly reminder to feed your Taiga!

Hello: (the first time the game is opened after that character is set as home screen NPC. Only happens once per day, unless the character is switched out and back.)

"...Who're you? Don't pop up out of nowhere like that.  Wouldn't want me to shoot you by mistake, would you?"

You've Got Mail: (whenever there's something in the inbox, usually Arena rewards)

"Huh? You got a letter. If it's for me just reply for me, yeah?"

Default: (requires no affinity, has no time constraints)

"What are you again? A middle school student? A transfer student? Got it, an honor student! Gyahaha! I'm never gonna remember that!"

"Heads or tails, even or odd, on or off... It's all so fucking tedious!"

"Playing with these morons is exhausting... Lulu gets all mad if I win too much..."

"Don't talk to me. I feel like shit."

"That smells amazing... Shit, where's it coming from?"

please feed your taiga.

Affinity 1: (between 5am and 11am)

"It's too early for your bleating. Shut your trap unless you wanna get abducted."

once again, welcome to sinostra's house of human trafficking--

Affinity 2: (between 11am and 4pm)

"That dealer sucks. He's been here the longest? Why should I give a shit? Fire him."

what the fuck is tenure?

Affinity 3: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"You wanna know what kinda meat this is? Anomaly meat. What else would it be? ...Who the fuck're you again?"

he recognizes you enough to ask 'again'! progress! also I guess he almost exclusively eats anomaly meat.

Affinity 4: (between 8pm and 5am)

"Oops. I lost all the money Lulu gave me. Better make a run for it before he notices."

Affinity 5: (between 8pm and 5am)

"I'm bored... Hey, you over there. Come play five finger filet with me. Gimme your left hand."

five finger fillet, also called the knife game, is when you put your hand on a table and stab the gaps between your fingers with a knife in a sequence! Of course, you can also play it with someone else's hand, as Taiga is suggesting. Obviously stabbing the hand being played with means you lose. Taiga's chibi plays it when he's idle!

Affinity 6: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"They nabbed one of ours? You guys aren't toddlers. Deal with it yourselves."

it's fascinating that there's such a faction divide within Sinostra that members of Taiga's side get abducted by Romeo's, and probably vice versa. And I bet Taiga doesn't care about any of this. Or at the very least it's not that serious to him.

Affinity 7: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Gambling and shoot-outs are pretty much the same thing. Morons who panic mess up and get dead. Gyahaha!"

Affinity 8: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"None of you morons have any flair for the table. Lulu needs to raise the minimum bet already."

isn't it your casino too. . .or even specifically it's in your name. . .can't you raise the minimum bet too. . . .

Affinity 9: (between 8pm and 5am)

"You're a real smooth talker, huh? Don't remember anything you said though. Ciao!"

your seduction attempt didn't fail because of a bad roll, it failed because taiga failed a perception check lmao. . . .

Affinity 10: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Can't sleep? Sit over there. I'll deal the cards."

He'll play with you until you fall asleep. . .or maybe he'll sit around making ASMR card shuffling noises until you doze off.

Affinity 11: (between 5am and 11am)

"...I'm not gonna play today. I'm sleeping. I don't care if the place is burning down— don't wake me up."

fun fact, he's making this face when he says this lol

Affinity 12: (between 11am and 4pm)

"What's that guy's name again? You know, the one who's gonna become a judge or a cop or something. ...Whatever, I'll just forget it again."

at least he was interested in knowing for a second! maybe he'll give him a nickname.

Affinity 13: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"I spy, with my little eye, a tasty-looking kitty-cat.... Come over here so I can pat you. ...Nah, changed my mind. Scram."

maybe it's just my interpretation but I like to think he's hungry and he saw you and he mindlessly tried to lure you closer because he wanted to eat you, then came to his senses and told you to go away so he wouldn't do something stupid like trying to eat a human. . . .

Affinity 14: (between 5am and 11am)

"I'm starving... You, get my usual. It's breakfast time."

i wonder what his usual is. what's a good breakfast anomaly? Dagravnen? Latte? Pompillar to keep the doctor away?

Affinity 15: (between 5am and 11am)

"How does Lulu always have so much energy this early in the morning? It it 'cause of all that expensive water he drinks?"

Affinity 16: (between 11am and 4pm)

"Stop talking. I don't care."

Affinity 17: (between 10pm and midnight)

"You going to bed already? Aren't you a good little kitty-cat. Whatever, do what you want."

he'd rather you stay up with him but he's not attached enough to try and make you stay up. . .yet.

Affinity 18: (between 8pm and 5am)

"You want a surefire way to win at the table? Doesn't exist. You just gotta keep playing."

Affinity 19: (between 10pm and midnight)

"Hey, go warm up my bed for me. What do you mean how? Get in there, dumbass."

either you're gonna get fucked or you're gonna get disappointed when he really just wanted a warm spot that smells nice to lie in and he makes you leave after he gets in bed. Or maybe he'll let you sleep in the bed with him and use you as a little body pillow!

I'd also like to add that he's using the "adult" expression so uh. leaning more towards you're gonna get fucked here.

Affinity 20: (between 5am and 11am)

"Where you going, kitty-cat? Class? You don't need to go there. I got something more fun in mind for us."

the expression used here is once again simply labelled "adult" so. . . . No going to class and no going to sleep.

Affinity 21: (between 11am and 4pm)

"That's it, kitty-cat. I feel like my luck'll change if you're around."

Affinity 22: (between 4pm and 8pm)

"I'm starving... This isn't enough... I want more... More..."

they've gotta stop letting him go so long without eating because he clearly loses his mind if he doesn't eat enough meat.

Affinity 23: (between 8pm and 5am)

"I'm the only one who sees how fucked we are. But he won't believe me. So just let it all burn down—I don't give a shit anymore."

if Taiga sees the future or knows the future because of timeline/loop shit, then that Taiga doesn't seem to actively care much about being Captain or doing his job makes sense. He knows that if nothing changes everything's going to fall apart anyway so there's no point in trying. We don't really know what his stigma does either--in fact, his "good luck" could be that he can see and react to future events, so he knows things like what cards will be drawn and such. But he's getting tired of everything always going so bad no mater what he does in response to what he sees. And Romeo(? it doesn't say who he's telling about how bad things are getting) isn't helping to make changes. . .so he's just giving up. But now you're here, maybe you're different somehow. Maybe somehow you're an outlier in this timeline. Maybe injuring you was on purpose to change something in the future he saw. Maybe that's why he's telling you about the spy. . . .of course this is all speculation. Until we learn what his stigma does or what he means by 'ditch this future' then. . .all speculation. But there is a wickhive post that someone can see the future. And the more I think about it the more I wonder if it's Taiga. (also because i'm sure someone will point this out, the wording 'let it all burn down' is specific to the English dialogue, so it's not a callback to the pre-prequel sequence where the school is on fire.)

Affinity 24: (between 10pm and midnight)

"If you don't like pain then quit flailing around. I'm getting a taste of you, so close your eyes and shut up."

welcome back to the torture chair! You're probably getting cut like a piece of good meat before he just sinks his teeth into you! Your hands and legs are bound and he's not going to let you get away without eating at least a little of your flesh, so suck it up. That or scream and hope somebody comes to rescue you. . .but the desire to eat the pc never goes away. Most likely because he just wants to eat fresh meat in general and the more he likes someone and the more they hang around him the more he wants to eat them. . .although I assume he unlearned it and now you're here and he just can't help himself. . .if they did consume demons to become ghouls, I bet you're the only thing short of maybe Romeo that'll taste anywhere near as good as that demon did.

Affinity 25(max): (no time constraints)

"You're not getting away from me, kitten. You're here till death do us part, whether you like it or not."

oh and also you're married. y'know in case you wanted to do that. or even if you didn't. you don't have a choice in the matter.

Spring: (March-May) (between 5am and 11am)

"(Yawn) Man, why am I so tired today... Someone spike my food?"

'hey did someone drug the anomaly they brought me to eat so that i would get sleepy if i ate it' baby the weather's just getting warm you're sleepy because spring is cozy

(between 11am and 4pm)

"What? Cherry blossoms? Is it that time of year already? Man, that snuck up on me."

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Fuck it, I'm taking a nap. Come over here and be my pillow."

(between 8pm and 5am)

"What's with that vacant look on your face? You need more excitement in your life? Come over here, I'll play with you."

Summer: (June-August) (between 5am and 11am)

"Too hot... Hey, I want my breakfast on ice. They got tons of it over on Jin's turf, go nab some."

hey uh why do you remember Jin by name. like i know Jin's short enough of a name to not need a nickname but also you remember not only Jin but where he lives and how cold it is? Then again you started in the same year, maybe Taiga remembers all the third years since he's known them for two years?

(between 11am and 4pm)

"Why don't we make a giant pool in Sinostra? It's so hot here. I'll put up the cash... Wait no, I used it all yesterday."

YOU COULD HAVE A NICE POOL IF YOU WERE MORE RESPONSIBLE WITH YOUR MONEY.

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Quiz time—where's Lulu going all dolled up on a stinking hot day like this? Answer— he's cheating on me! Gyahaha!"

THEY ARE FEEDING MY SHIP WHAT DO YOU MEAN TAIGA JOKES THAT THEY'RE DATING. they have such awful married couple who hate each other but also love each other energy.

(between 8pm and 5am)

"Shower? I don't wanna... Shut up and strip me already then."

man he has no fucks to give that you'd be taking his clothes off and seeing him naked huh. . . .

Autumn: (September-November) (between 5am and 11am)

"Good weather for sports? You get a lot more exercise fighting to the death. Gyahaha!"

how frequently do you think he fights to the death. . .probably a lot less than he used to. poor baby needs his deadly enrichment. Also the fact that he finds the idea of fighting to the death fun explains why he smiles when he takes damage in combat lol

(between 11am and 4pm)

"That looks tasty. Gimme a bite."

so given one of the most common autumn foods in japan is like sweet potatoes(and also the pc probably doesn't eat raw anomaly meat) I assume this means he does eat normal food, just prefers to eat raw meat especially from anomalies? Either way, i am once again remind you to feed your Taiga.

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"We're going out. I've been eating more lately and these guys are too slow. Gonna go stock up."

you've been eating more lately? because it's autumn? what are you, a bear about to go into hibernation?? also he's taking you grocery shopping i guess. or anomaly hunting. . . .

(between 8pm and 5am)

"Watch your back. Way easier to jump people when it gets dark so early. Gyahaha!"

i'd like to think he stuck his gun under your chin and snuck up behind you from in the dark here lol

Winter: (December-February) (between 5am and 11am)

"You trying to pull my covers off? Wanna die?"

my boy does NOT like being cold. Or getting up in the morning. So winter mornings? just leave him in bed.

(between 11am and 4pm)

"I wanna go nab some food from Harry's place, but it's too cold for that shit..."

(between 4pm and 8pm)

"Oh, I got an idea. I just gotta use someone as a punching bag to warm up. Hey you guys, stand over there."

Taiga beating the shit out of his own men because the exercise will keep him warm. . .why do people side with you again?

(between 8pm and 5am)

"I don't like the cold... Come on, come be my hot water bottle! Let me cuddle up to you!"

Getting all tangled up with Taiga under his blankets while he shivers because Sinostra is in a desert and deserts in the winter can be FUCKING COLD especially at night. It gets cold and he's just the whiniest little meow-meow. Until he gets hungry.

His birthday: (October 16th)

"Huh? Whose birthday? Mine? Gyahaha! Totally forgot about it! Grazie!"

it's okay Taiga, I forget my birthday too most of the time.

Your birthday:

"Is it your birthday today? That little twerp told me. Okay, you can take one thing from my room."

Ritsu fuckin doxed you? is that legal? Doesn't Taiga's room have like a pile of coins in it. . .is one coin 'one thing' or is 'the pile of coins' one thing. . .then again the background is AI generated so. not really sensible and doesn't say much about him sadly. considering taiga's described as spending his money wastefully I assume he buys a lot of random things he doesn't need or use--then again he probably spends most of it on gambling. But considering he's offering you anything out of his room, I assume there's a lot of nice stuff in there.

New Years: (January 1st)

"You gonna go skipping off to a shrine together just to get your fortune told? That's dumb. Here, let me guess what it'll say—you'll have an okay year."

the fact that he guesses your fortune is a tiny piece on the 'taiga can see the future' evidence pile but it's a piece nonetheless

Valentine's Day: (February 14th)

"Is that for me? Sure I'll take it, but it better be edible."

i was gonna say 'has he never gotten valentine's day chocolates before?' but i remembered that he probably doesn't really remember if he has so. this is probably his general reaction to gifts lol 'is it money and if not can i eat it'

White Day: (March 14th)

"What's that expectant look on your face? Lulu was harping on about mimosas or something before. That what you want?"

of course he doesn't know what white day is lol but he does remember that Romeo had something tasty!

April Fool's Day: (April 1st)

"I'm gonna die soon, you know? And I'm taking Lulu with me. ...Gotcha! Gyahaha!"

wait you didn't remember white day but you remembered april fool's day? maybe someone tried to prank him first lol remember guys, suicide is not an appropriate april fool's prank!

Halloween: (October 31st)

"Trick or treat. Where you gonna put your chips, kitty-cat?"

I think if you're trick or treating then they're supposed to decide if you get the trick or the treat. . .but it seems more like Taiga to give you something that could be a trick or a treat lolol russian roulette is a totally acceptable halloween party game right? of course!

Christmas: (December 25th)

"Come on Santa kitty, tie a ribbon 'round yourself and get over here. Gyahaha!"

at least he knows what gift he wants! unfortunately you don't know what for but based on his expression you may not get eaten. . .depending on your definition--

Idle: (about 20 seconds without interacting with the game) (below 13 affinity)

"...This is boring. I'm outta here."

(13 affinity and above)

"Are you done yet? I'm hungry over here."

Absent: (logging in for the first time in 2 or more days?)

"Long time no see! You decide to ditch this future too? Sorry I'm not dead yet."

AND HERE"S THE LINE THAT'S CAUSING SO MUCH SPECULATION. . .what does that even mean Taiga. . .what do you know, what have you seen. . .and can we fix this future instead of leaving it to rot--

UH. YEAH. I THINK I'VE SAID ENOUGH HAHA. . .everything Taiga says is so. . . ./gestures weakly) IT REALLY DOES SEEM LIKE MORE IS HAPPENING THAN YOU REALIZE RIGHT??? The game's still so early on we probably won't learn for a very long time lol. . . . But, yeah. Taiga definitely loves you--and lusts after you. As his affinity goes up, he asks "who are you" a lot less, did you notice? He starts to remember and just say "kitty cat" and "kitten", because that's who you are and he can remember that. So far the only people he remembers are Romeo, Hyde, and Jin it seems. And you.

[pickledpascal]

Be My James Bond?

Pairing: Patch!Logan x Native American OC!Maya Imik

Warnings: sexual tension, violence, claws are OUT, smoking.

A/N: i love you patch logan and your .5 seconds of screen time in d&w. for context, maya is a mutant who can manipulate water/liquids.

Word Count: 1.8k

Hugh Jackman Masterlist

It was another one of those missions, the kind where Maya and Logan had to go undercover in some fancy casino that seemed way too good to be true. Which it was. These kinds of missions were somewhat trivial, at least in Maya’s eyes, but they always impacted mutant lives somehow. So of course she went on them.

Seeing Logan dressed up didn’t hurt either. And she knew Logan didn’t mind seeing her in a dress.

This time, she wore a strapless dress in a deep blue color that pooled onto the floor, a slit that went all the way to her mid-thigh. Her light sepia skin was on display for everyone to see. The scars never threw anyone off, they seemed to draw them in. She found it was a conversation starter which is what she needed on a mission like this. It also helped that she was usually the only Native in any room she walked into and people could tell.

She walked around the casino, keeping an eye on Logan as he played at a poker table. He wore a white blazer with a nicely fitting waistcoat and black bowtie. Classy. In all the right ways. And his eyepatch, which he wore no matter what seemed to tie the whole look together.

She went up to the bar to order a drink and get some information. This part of the casino was exclusive, meant for the high-rollers only.

Her presence had men flocking to the bar so she plastered a smile on her red-painted lips, sipping at a martini as she chatted with the men, pulling out bits and pieces of information from them as she lightly and expertly flirted with them.

Soon, Maya could feel a familiar presence make his way to the bar. She excused herself from the man she was talking with and moved further down the bar.

“Having any luck, River?” Logan asked, a hand around a crystal glass filled with whiskey. The color was similar to her left eye. He had also lit up a cigar which he had currently hanging from his lips.

Maya smirked, their shoulders brushing up against each other. She breathed in the smoke of his cigar as it swirled around them. “The best. How ‘bout you, Patch?”

Logan huffed under his breath, plucking the cigar from his lips between two fingers. “I’m working on that.” Maya was about to say something else when a man she previously talked to went up to her.

He was a little shorter, younger, and handsome man who was certainly way in over his head. “Hey, pretty girl.” He crooned as he stood between her and Logan. He slid a hand up her arm. “You wanna get out of here? This old guy must be bothering you.”

Mistake number one when talking to Maya in front of Logan: Never assume she is yours. She’s not. And Logan will make you not so nicely understand.

A light laugh escaped her lips while Logan seethed as he looked at the man. He was resisting the urge to slam his face into the bar top. It would be a shame to stain it with his blood.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” She tried to let him down gently, as a mercy. She hoped he would be smart and turn the other way. “I’m not the kind of girl who goes back to a hotel room with someone after a few drinks. I’m sure you understand.” She smiled politely.

The man huffed and turned around. “Bitch.” He mumbled under his breath.

Mistake number two: Never insult Maya.

Logan pulled the other man by his hair and slammed his head against the bar top, hard enough for his nose to break and bleed. His other hand extended his claws slowly. “Wanna try that again, bub? That’s my wife you’re talking to.” He ground out, eyes narrowed like he wanted to kill him.

All the activity around them seemed to stop, but no one made any move to try and help the man who was unfortunately at the mercy of an angry Wolverine.

The man tried to shake his head but it was hard to since he was held against the counter. Logan roughly let him go, pushing him away. “Get the fuck outta here.” His claws retracted back into his knuckles.

Maya couldn’t contain the sly smile on her face as she watched the young man fall into a heap on the floor before he got up and scrambled away.

“Was that really needed, Patch?” She asked, tilting her head as the smile on her lips widened.

Logan went back to smoking his cigar, the tension in his shoulders dissipating. “Wasn’t it, River?” His lips quirked up into a lop-sided smirk. “Can’t have someone thinking they can have you, can I?”

Maya was glad they got the information they needed so they didn’t have to stay in the casino any longer. With the way Logan’s eyes roamed over her body and how he broke someone’s face, it was best they got out of there.

She pushed their hotel room open, toeing off her heels so she sat at her normal height. With them on, she was taller than Logan rather than being almost exactly his height. Logan pushed the door closed behind him and locked it before he wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed soft kisses to her neck.

“Always so goddamn tempting when you dress like this.” He murmured against her skin. “Almost like you want to torture me.”

Maya turned in his arms and cupped his face, kissing him softly. It wasn’t her fault the revealing dresses made more men want to talk to her. And it wasn’t her fault she could be easy to talk to when she wanted to be.

Logan’s shoulders slumped as she kissed him. She relaxed him like no other person could, rendering him limp at times from just a simple touch.

She pushed Logan onto the couch and let out a soft breath as she looked down at him. And he looked up at her, pulling her close by her hand so she stood between his legs. He pressed the back of her hand to his lips, thumb rubbing against the wedding rings that sat on her fingers.

Her other hand lifted to push his eyepatch off his face, revealing the milky white eye underneath. He wasn’t completely blind in that eye but he was self-conscious about how it looked. Maya didn’t mind. She liked seeing his face in its full glory. Her thumb traced underneath his left eye, causing him to let out a breath of contentment.

The deformed eye was a result of getting shot, but it never quite healed right. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with his healing factor, it was fine with everything else. Just that one eye. However, he counted himself lucky that it didn’t look worse.

Logan huffed softly and leaned forward, burying his face in her solid but still plush stomach. He wrapped his arms around her hips as he nuzzled his face against her. He could feel her body rumble underneath him as she laughed. Her hands cradled the back of his head as he kept rubbing his face against her torso. A low purr escaped his chest.

He tugged her onto his lap, hands on her hips as he pushed his face into her neck to breathe in her scent properly. Now, it was mixed with a perfume which he had complained about many times before. It made it harder for him to pick up her smell.

Maya pressed a kiss to the side of his head, a light and easy smile on her face. One that she only had when she was with Logan and he was being affectionate like this.

“I love you.” Logan pulled away from her neck to look her in the eye when he said it. He was loyal to a fault for Maya. He’d kill for her, easily. If he could die, he would give up his life in an instant.

Maya’s eyes roamed over his face, her smile widening. “I love you too.” She pressed a kiss to his left eyebrow. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment.

They sat in silence for a while, drinking in each other's presence like they did most nights they were together. It was routine Logan wasn’t used to but he found that he loved it, even during missions like these.

He grabbed a cigar from his blazer and lit it. The light cast a harsh shadow over his face and illuminated him with a warm light, if only for a few seconds. Maybe less. Maya always thought he looked pretty when smoking a cigar and, sometimes, Logan would use that to his advantage.

He took a puff from the cigar and smirked as he blew the smoke in her face. She stared at him with an amused look in her eyes, largely unphased. She sat up a little straighter on his lap and raised an eyebrow with interest.

“Logan—” Maya breathed.

He cupped her chin with his free hand, thumb tracing her bottom lip. “C’mon, pretty girl,” He called her the one thing he knew would make her melt. “Open up.”

Maya’s eyes darkened, pupils blown wide that the color was only a thin ring. Her jaw clenched before she finally did comply, her lips parting.

Logan grinned as he took another drag from his cigar, sharp canines barely made an appearance between his lips. Maya noticed. He blew the smoke into her mouth like he had done it a hundred times before. He has. It never got old. She sucked in the smoke and blew it right back at him.

He pulled her chin close so he could kiss her, to taste the cigar on her lips. He would light up a cigar just to taste it on her lips a lot. He found it was more addicting than the tobacco they were made of.

“Can never get enough, can you?” A sly smile appeared on Maya’s lips as Logan pulled away, putting the cigar between his lips.

“Of you? Never.” He tilted his head, an eyebrow raised as he looked at her. His hands dropped to cradle her hips. “I married you, isn’t that proof?”

Her heart beat louder, harder in her chest when he mentioned they were married. She could never get used to it—his ring on her finger and her ring on his finger. How he stared at her with such love and adoration that she felt like her chest was an overflowing waterfall.

“If I recall, I proposed first.”

“True, but you beat me only by a week.”

“Mm, sure.”

Logan might have claws but he also had the ability to bend that waterfall to his will, subconsciously or not.

[skyeslittlecorner]

Promised Land - Andrealphus

You know what, I'm sorry. It was supposed to be three times shorter. I swear. My hand slipped. I have no idea how it got so big. No proofreading, plus I'm sure there will be some awkwardness because English is not my native language. SFW.

I wish everyone who is brave enough to read it to have a nice time!

Words: ~5365

Part one summary: You, the reader, managed to talk to Andrea through the game. He realized that apart from the MC, there was someone behind the screen.

Other parts: On the other side | Promised Land | Point to point | Love is blind (18+)

꧁:･ ✡ ･:꧂

First, you were fired from a job. Then you tripped on a walker, cracked the head, and ended up in the hospital. But the worst of it all was that you destroyed your phone. Everything was gone. With barely enough savings to pay your rent, you couldn't afford a new one. Drunk with desperation, you even asked a friend to install the game on her phone just to see if the account was saved. Account - yes. But what you valued most is gone.

Andrealphus didn't hear you.

You couldn't even tell anyone about it. Crazy, that's what they'd say. They thought work was your biggest worry, but it was only almost biggest. For two weeks, the longing had been so overwhelming that you could do nothing but cry into your pillow. Stupid? Maybe. Stupid was that you lost him through your own fault and in such a simple way. You would love to get rid of these feelings. The problem was that you couldn't.

The Promised Land was a three-hour drive from the city and at first glance looked like a combination of Disneyland and a shamanic capital. All you could see were the outlines of high roller coasters, a barrel, and other strange death apparatuses that you had only agreed to visit to ease your’s friend remorse. She suddenly realized that she had been ignoring you because of her new boyfriend and wanted to make it up to you. At first, you were excited. Then it turned out that all three of you were going. Apparently, her car broke down. What a sad coincidence, her boyfriend’s car remains.

Watching the amusement park from the backseat of the SUV, Liminal Land came to your mind. You have always been interested in AR. Parallel worlds, virtual reality, interconnections, such nonsense. Nonsense… That's probably why you had the impression for a few weeks that the guy from the game talked with you. Maybe it was all a dream? You must have imagined it out while you were having a bad time, drinking coffee with energy drinks, trying to keep up with work that you got fired anyway. A defensive reaction of the brain or something.

And yet you still felt like you had lost somebody close.

꧁:･ ✡ ･:꧂

It was exactly as you thought. The couple in love disappeared from sight about half an hour after buying tickets and walking through the gate. They probably followed the cashier's advice and visited Stargrazer, a large building that reminded you of the Avisos casino. Apparently you got tokens there. They could be exchanged for prizes, rides, and more. You preferred to go to the other attractions first so as not to run into the lovebirds. Tall garden clocks that resembled lamps showed ten o'clock. Armed with a VIP pass, you promised yourself to have fun, at least for today. Despite this, you involuntarily returned your hand to your purse to touch the damaged phone. Somehow it felt warm. That hit on the head must have been really hard to still have effects.

After all, throwing yourself into the attractions and completing half of them, ending with three rounds of a sick water rollercoaster in a row… was not the best idea. It was almost lunchtime. Or at least it should be, because you were getting hungry even though the time on the watches had barely moved. That was weird. You could clearly see the hands moving, but when you looked away and returned, it showed ten o'clock again.

To calm your stomach, you sat on a bench and looked at the people around you. They also were weird, but positively weird. Freaks of all designs and colors, cosplayers, but also amateurs. Somewhere you saw One Piece and Dragon Ball, and now crossdressed Elsa in a fur cape was talking to a biblically accurate angel. They moved away towards the administration, probably belonged to the staff. Extraordinary craftsmanship.

The park was mostly for adults, but a lot of them were with children. Too bad, they could have left them in the mini-park that was apparently set aside somewhere at the other end of the place. Their running only made you more dizzy. The smell of pizza from the stand next door didn't help either.

Evacuating yourself from all the stimuli, you stood in front of a large block, which was apparently the biggest attraction. Stargrazer was a gigantic, purple and blue structure that looked like a club from the outside. Through the arch with neon lights in the shapes of comets and planets, dozens of people entered the huge hall. The whole place was enormous. There seemed to be no walls or even a ceiling. People on other levels walked on balconies, and at the top - on a dark glass surface that lit up with every step, making the "ceiling" look like a sky with shining stars. Dozens of stands were scattered on the left and right. People occupied lanes that looked like some kind of bowling pins, glass mini-mazes, and slot machines. Walking through the middle, you moved further and further away from the sunlight, guided by the dim light of LED lights and games that you had never really seen in your life. Everyone seemed to know the rules.

Something crashed into you with full force.

"I'm sorry, ma'am!"

"It’s okay…"

A short teenager gave you an apologetic smile and ran away, holding a white thistle in his hands. It looked like a many-pointed star or a sharp spike. Many people won the same objects. When unfolded, they resembled stars and gave off light, but they could be twisted, folded into a cube the size of a thumb, and placed in a pocket. They appeared to be tokens that could be redeemed for prizes. When you looked behind the boy, you saw him lining up at the checkout at the entrance.

"Are you sure everything is fine?"

This time, the little girl stood in front of you, watching intently. She had fair skin and golden hair, and with blue eyes she looked like an angel. There was a badge on her chest. It resembled employee ID badges, but was clearly written in a child's handwriting: "Hi! My name is Mia and I work here with dad!"

It seemed that her parent took her to work here often enough that she felt the need to help customers herself, because she started explaining the rules of the games. She was nicer company than you thought, as you slowly walked deeper and deeper into the building. You weren't having much luck with games and didn't care about tokens, just wanted to try out the games. When the star finally rolled out of the slot, you turned to Mia.

"It's for you." You gave her a star.

"For me…"

She looked shocked, turned the item over in her hands like a treasure. You didn't know she would be so happy; with VIP pass you didn't need tokens anyway, just came to calm down a bit. Despite the multitude of people, the place seemed calmer and the voices were muffled. Maybe it was some space special effects.

As you were walking to the next stand, the explosion blew you off your feet.

Everything happened at once. Thrown against the wall like a rag doll, you felt every part of the body being torn apart by pain. You've gone deaf. Breathless. Shards of glass fell from the sky like rain, beautifully shining, deadly raindrops. Conscious enough to cover your eyes, you raised hands. The skin was cut by sharp edges.

The ringing in the ears turned into a wailing alarm. You felt torn apart, but all your limbs were in place. Not everyone was so lucky. Dozens of people, scattered on the floor and against the walls, lay motionless. Some bloody. Not everything was visible through the thick layer of dust. Also, images reached your eyes, but not mind. What happened?

You don't know if it was a second or an hour before you regained some sort of consciousness. To your left, a pair of men weren't getting up, but to your right, a girl who stood next to you earlier was clinging and shaking. Her eyes were as big as cup saucers, and blood and tears were mixing on a dainty face.

"Hey, your head. This looks bad." You heard your own voice, although you still felt unreal, as if everything around you didn't exist. Ultra-real VR. Especially the pain.

She flinched as you took the torn piece of her shirt and tied it around her temple.

"Th-these…are they terrorists?" She uttered, sobbing.

You looked around. The explosion threw you behind the games, away from the center of the hall. She had a better view, as two gaming machines fell in front of you, effectively blocking the view. When you looked out from behind them, sure enough, there were some people walking around… with guns. White uniforms and fur coats. They seemed to be combing the gigantic place starting from the other end. Not many of them, but would there be many terrorists? They chased away the rest of the people, took the conscious ones inside the destroyed building, and the unconscious ones…

You didn't want to see this. You didn't want to end up like that, either. Until they haven't found you, you had a chance. Whoever it was had bad intentions.

"Let's go." As you sat up, dizziness hit you, but luckily the legs worked. It's worse with the hands. The left one you covered yourself with was bleeding so profusely that all your clothes on your chest and stomach were red. Luckily, the blood was only leaking lazily now, not as heavily, but you still felt sick watching it.

The girl wasn't lucky either. Her leg was bent at an odd angle, at best it was broken. She whimpered as you helped her up. Someone turned off the alarm. Now the only sounds were the shifting of rubble. The soldiers were unnaturally quiet, as if they did not need words to communicate. It scared you. Despite everything, Mia had more courage, she bit her lip to keep quiet.

There were many alcoves with doors along the wall, and every other one had an "exit" sign above it. Fire exits. In some, you could hear the sound of sprinklers firing through the thick smoke following the explosion. The air was hard to breathe. You glided slowly, leaning against the wall, helping the girl bounce forward. Every step took forever. Only the adrenaline in the veins kept you running.

Strange soldiers were getting closer. As you trudged through the alley, you could hear machines moving nearby. Cleaned rubble. Whistle of the blade that will stay with you forever. You had two final turns to get out of the trap when someone ran right into you.

"R-run!" A distressed woman in bloody clothes squealed. She grabbed your hand. You screamed in pain and jumped back. "There's their boss over there! He kills! He’ll kill you!"

She ran further down the corridor. Your hand, torn by the glass and moved by her, burst out with a fresh dose of blood. Pain was awful. Black spots danced before the eyes, if only you could take a breath… The little girl leaning on your shoulder began to sob. It brought you back to life. The strange woman run again, and must have bumped into the soldiers because you heard her scream.

Boss. Angelic boss. The best options you could think of were immediate death from Gabriel's scythe. As for the others, maybe Michael would take pity and cut your head off quickly. Raphael… Well… Fortunately, there was no time to think about it.

In front of you was a bend in the hall and on your left was the door to the bathroom. You pressed the doorknob, they gave way. The intact, white room smelling of lavender, that would have been completely normal half an hour ago, looked like science fiction when you were surrounded by chaos and destruction. Behind a series of sinks and mirrors, the only ones that were cracked, there was a second door leading to an outside corridor. You hid in one of the cabins.

"Listen." You crawled together and helped her lean against the wall. "I'll check if it's still safe and come get you, okay? This "boss" doesn’t sound good."

You had no other choice, and you both knew it.

"But promise you'll come back." The little one tried to hold on, but it didn't work out well. "Promise…"

"I swear."

You felt sorry for her. Alone. Little. She didn't even have a way to escape with her crushed leg. But if there really was another danger ahead of you, you wouldn't stand a chance anyway. You didn't even have a place to hide and wait, because the storage compartment in the cabin where you left Mia was too small for the two of you.

But why were the Seraphim here? Didn't they have better things to do? You already guessed why the clocks weren't working. It is a space like the "New Heaven" in Gehenna created by the Cherubim. Here, a lot of innocent people were caught in angelic inner games.

Carefully, you poked your head out. The last corridor left to exit was long and wide. Debris was falling from the stairwells at regular intervals, but it was possible to walk through them. Two people ran down and towards the exit, or at least they tried to, before someone got in their way.

Now you knew the woman wasn't lying, and realized what the strange fur coats were. It's not fur. They're feathers. A chill ran down your spine because what you saw before the eyes was unreal. A tall man stood with his back to you, with the wing and a halo. With a shining scythe, he blocked the path of two terrified people.

You knew this man. Angel’s boss, she said? You felt a stupid urge to laugh out loud, along with a stone that suddenly weighed heavily on your heart.

"Wait!"

The scream left your mouth before any thought even reached the brain. The hand that was preparing to strike froze in the air, and you had the impression that you felt a gust of air that was supposed to accompany the slash. Regret hit you faster than a train. Legs felt like running away. It was a mistake. Now this scythe will be aimed at you. But he just turned around and stared blankly at you.

Now that he turned around, you had a clear view of all the details. A black suit, perfectly fitted to a muscular body. A long braid decorated with bloody feathers and powerful horns, curled like a ram's and made of black segments like dragon scales. A handsome, long face and muddy eyes, decorated with scars. Black leather gloves on his hands that held the huge weapon as easily as a child's toy. And a luminous scythe. Which was now aiming for your throat.

"Who are you?"

"I…" Is it possible? Does he remember? Were your conversations even yours, or was it really AI? You almost stopped breathing, squinting.

"Uh… I'm… I'm human. You wouldn't hurt a human. Right?"

If your conversations weren't real, your name would do him no good. But if it was the real Andrealphus, the one you knew, the one you love, he wouldn't have hurt an innocent man. But… why was he targeting those people, then?

He flinched when he heard your voice.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came with friends…"

"No. What are you doing here? My…" He trailed off. "It's not safe. You have to get out of here."

Oh, that was all you wanted right now. But the chaos in your head didn't allow you to think clearly. After all, about three minutes ago you were the victim of a terrorist attack, and now you were standing in front of a fictional guy you were in love with. Even separately this is too much!

"A strange woman ran… into me and said, well… That you are the boss of the angels. And you murder people."

"Humans? You're the first human I've ever met. As for the other part…" The grip on the scythe style tightened.

"Those two you were aiming at also were."

He frowned and tilted his head as if to look over his shoulder. Of course, they were no longer there, but you were sure you didn't see any wings on them, unlike the soldiers in the main hall.

"They had an angelic aura about them."

Any further discussion had to wait because you heard footsteps in the hall. He was redy to fight, but you were not. You dragged him into the bathroom.

"They were humans. There's something wrong with this place. Maybe he's irradiating us or something."

"If so, I should also see you."

Your voices turned to whispers as footsteps passed down the hall. You knew he could ‘see’ the glow of the outlines of angels, but not ordinary humans or devils. He was relying on other senses and sensations you didn't understand. It didn't fully replace sight, but it helped, especially in hunting.

"I'll show you another human. We'll see then, okay?"

You got back to Mia faster than you thought. She was happy to see you, but when she saw Andrealphus she screamed and pushed herself deeper into the corner. He didn't look happy either.

"Hello, little one."

Andrea knelt down next to the girl. Even if he looked confused, his voice was firm and gentle. He was really talking to the child. The girl moved away and covered her eyes with her hand as if to defend herself.

"Your friend says you have no wings. Is it true?"

"Ye…yes."

"I’m blind. Let me feel it."

He warned before extending his hand. His hand wandered over her shoulder, but all he found was air and a cold wall. He frowned.

"I told you, she’s not an… what are you doing!" You shouted, seeing how he takes out small pistol from under his jacked. You froze, but he just placed the gun on the girl's lap. His past came to your mind; you wondered if he thought about what would happen if he had a gun when he met Rafael as a little boy. In his own way, it seemd that he was trying to protect another child from this fate. Save from helplessness.

You felt a twist of pain in your stomach. He trusted you. He must have remembered you. Why else would he believe you enough to give the creature he thought was an angel a weapon?

"You have to have something to defend yourself with." He stood up and turned towards you. "Let's go."

"We?" You glanced towards the door. "I will be a burden. Let me sneak out the back door."

"The building is fully guarded, you are safest with me. Besides, you got your eyes intact. Since the aura is crazy here, I don't want to hurt anyone innocent."

Andrea placed the scythe on his shoulder. A hand extended towards you, a serious look on a scarred face.

"Please, be my sight. Guide me."

Your heart skipped a beat. Even your vision went dark, although maybe it was the result of blood loss. Never mind. You accepted his hand. It was rough and strong, you could feel the tiny scars under your fingers; exactly how you imagined a soldier's hand. He smiled so softly that your legs went weak beneath you. He caught you in half before you fell.

Okay, maybe it was the blood loss after all.

You slowly straightened up and leaned against your broad chest, taking a few deep breaths. Wounds didn't hurt as much anymore, but slowly you slowly lose feeling in your hand. It just went limp. You didn't even have time to admire his warmth, his scent, because your stupid body refused to obey.

"You're bleeding."

"Don't worry… I'll be fine. It's already better." You tried to sound like everything was alright. Maybe not well enough for him to move away, but enough for him not to worry. Judging by his face, it didn't work. His grip on your waist tightened.

"I would take you to Nilfheim, but those damn portals stopped working…" He muttered to himself.

You didn't expect to hear such a note in his voice. Care? Anxiety? This was unlike the stoic devil you knew. And if the portals weren't working…

"How did you get here then?"

"We have other ways. Your phone."

"But it's ruined."

"It didn't matter. It previously acted as an interdimensional mirror, so I could have used it as a reference."

That was enough revelation for you. Whatever happened, you just wanted to rest. With Andrea, of course.

"Please. Let's just get out of here."

You decided it would be better to go through the main hall. If you don't manage to sneak by sideways, it will be easier for Andrealphus, with his huge scythe, to fight in a larger area. That's why you left Mia too. He felt her just like the angels. Only recognizing their aura, he couldn't distinguish most of them; he would have killed her by pure accident, aiming at someone else. You preferred to avoid it.

Leaning on the devil, letting him hold you by your waist, you limped into the main hall. Most of the angels had already dispersed, the dust had settled, only human bodies and dirty blood stains were lying here and there. Seeing this, your nausea only increased. A few surviving soldiers were wandering among the machines, picking something up from among the rubble. You saw sparkles in their hands. Were they star tokens?

Before you could think twice, you felt a tug on your waist. Andrea stopped. The scythe was aimed at the man in front of you.

"I can?"

He asked politely, as if he wanted to pull out a chair in front of you rather than waiting for permission to murder. A lump stuck in your throat. The man did indeed have white wings and a halo, but instead of a soldier’s uniform he wore a blue one. You recognized that long blond hair; you've seen him before.

"It's… someone from the staff, I guess."

"Do not kill me!" He begged. "I can't do anything to you, I was just… looking…"

He tried to move away, but Andrea wrapped his scythe around the man like an arm. The weapon touched the wings. Demon felt it and growled throatily.

There was a screech behind you.

"Leave him!"

Another problem. You glanced behind; Mia, propped up on a broom, had to limp quietly tracing you. She aimed the small gun at Andrea's back. Would the bullet hurt him? You did not know. But his face hardened. The angels that had been roaming around the building heard you and began to gather around. In a wide semicircle, with their weapons drawn, they observed the horned intruder.

Andrealphus was silent. Waited. He could have killed them. He would do it easily, without breaking a sweat; but still, something held him back. You guessed what it was about. When he gave the girl the gun earlier, he didn't expect it to be pointed at him.

In a scene he couldn't get out of his mind, he became the one he hated the most.

"You're not like him." You whispered and placed your hand on his hand where he held the scythe.

He slowly moved her away from the man. Mia walked past you and threw herself into her father's arms. This didn't solve the problem; if he didn't want to kill them, he couldn't fight. Having to take care of you on top of that, his hands were tied.

The number of angels only increased. More and more of them came, crawling through the rubble, appearing on balconies as if waiting for the first move. They surrounded you, but it could just as easily have been the flies surrounding the dragon. Lowest angels and a devilish noble. He would have chopped them to pieces if it weren't for his only weakness - and that weakness was you.

You felt worse and worse, but a crazy idea came to your head.

"Trust me." You asked so quietly that even you didn't hear your words, but you hoped he did, and pushed him away. "Finally! I brought him as Raphael ordered. Do with him whatever you want now! Dad, let’s come out."

Everyone was moved by this name. Just as you thought. You couldn't read anything on Andrea's face, and you didn't want to because you felt like a traitor. The angels took your shout as an order. They attacked straight ahead. If this was a trap for the noble set by the Seraphin, they must have managed to kill him, right?

Mia's father, whom you bumped into, helped you walk. He supported both you and his daughter as you walked to the exit. Did you feel safe? No. But the angels evaded you. They must have assumed that, like Mia, you were half-angel. They parted as you walked on soft legs… and a moment later wet sounds of blood splashing and flesh being torn apart filled the entire hall. Andrea was chopping up angels. Yes, that's him. It must be him. Not the other way around.

You have no idea how you got out of the building, but when you felt the fresh air, you fell to your knees. You were overwhelmed by helplessness and pain. The earth was swirling, full of black spots. It's happened before, you could walk. You just needed a moment to gather your strength. And probably you would have made it if you hadn't seen movement out of the corner of your eye. Hand and stone. Your head erupted in pain before you passed out.

꧁:･ ✡ ･:꧂

When you opened your eyes again, the light blinded you. White ceiling, walls a sickly blue shade that looked as if someone had smeared soap on them instead of paint. The smell of cleaning products and medicines. Your stomach lurched. You knew this place so well, but it was two weeks ago. After all, so much has happened since the accident. After all… Andrea.

You felt nauseous, looking around the room with your heart in your throat; drip, bedside table with glass full of water, large window letting in the evening light. Behind the mirror in the corridor stood a couple of people, whose voices could be heard through the door ajar. They had an argument. You groaned, rubbing your aching head. Collecting thoughts was so hard.

It couldn't all have been a dream. His voice. His touch. You remembered it too clearly. Panic was rising in your chest, especially when you heard a sleepy voice from the hall. Words like 'coma', 'memory impairment' and 'you have to be understanding' brought tears to your eyes. Whole body hurt. The greatest pain spread slowly through the chest, stabbing and burning, as if someone had inserted a hot blade and was circling in a open wound.

People are dying. Their brain, in an act of self-defense, can invent their entire life in a split second. Some woke up in the hospital thinking they had a wife and children, only to find out they hadn't finished school yet. Was this the case? Did you make this all up? You were on the verge of life anyway, so your stupid brain decided to trick you and give you hope? Hot tears filled your eyes. How could you be so stupid? Why did you believe?

Before you burst into tears, a few more words came through.

"She keeps waking up and falling asleep… Is there any point in going in there?"

"Leave it. I doubt she heard anything."

Your friend and her boyfriend. Someone responded with a snort, the voices fading. Or maybe it was the throbbing pain that swirled your head like a blender. You cried silently. One of the silhouettes outside the window straightened up as if paralyzed and shot towards the door.

You didn't know if your brain was playing tricks on you or if you were completely crazy, when he appeared in the doorway.

This scarred, yet handsome face and long red braid, you’d recognize them even at the end of the world. He looked uncertain. As if he himself was suffering. In casual clothes, simple jeans and blue checkered shirt, he looked so normal you nearly believed that it’s just a human resembling him. But despite the lack of a halo and wings, his head was decorated with majestic, dark horns.

"You liar…"

Even his voice matched perfectly. Shock drew back the tears. Is it…?

You didn't have time to think. In the current state, thinking wasn't your strongest trait anyway. He sat down next to you, slender fingers first landing on your shoulder and then moved to your face.

"You awful, dishonest, intelligent woman. If I knew…"

You could barely feel the gentle touches of fingertips. Despite terrible words, he was so careful, as if he were examining a work of art and not your broken skin. Although, his smile made you feel like a masterpiece. Before you could utter a greeting, he found your mouth, and not with fingers. The touch of hot lips was even more tender and ticklish than his palms. Shaky breath leave his lips, before you could hear a faint whisper.

"I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I didn’t want, if… If I had known…"

No. This was not something you expected to hear. Sealing those sweet lips with yours, you purred.

"Are you sorry for kissing me or for saving my life?"

"For risking it in the first place!"

"You’re a devil. I’d be disappointed if you wouldn’t."

You chuckled, seeing him frowning, as if he wanted to scold you but couldn’t. It was a mistake. A new dull pain erupted in your wounded head. Did it matter? The pain in a chest suddenly subsided. Life started to make more sense. Even the color on the walls stopped being soapy and became a beautiful blue.

"How did I get here?"

"This… angel." He spat the word like it was the worst insult. "He hit you, patched you up, and left you in a back alley. He said he couldn't take you with him, and you'd be safer unconscious. I found you not much later. Human services arrived, and I convinced them to deal with you first. And they better do it right."

"What happened to him? With Mia?"

"She’s safe. And him… He didn’t have to hit you, but he did. I didn’t have to let him live…" He felt your tense expression and tilted his head. "But I did."

You sighed with relief. It was a step in a good direction.

"Although without a hand that hit you."

…well, quite a small step. You didn't want to dwell on it, you can do the next steps together. In less intense circumstances. Since the portals weren't working…

"I now know why I felt angels everywhere."

"Why?"

"They really weren't disguised. Unable to get rid of their aura around people, they used tokens, those stars, to make all the humans resemble their aura. Without the tokens, I couldn’t see you. It's even better. I don't want to see you if it means you'll look like an enemy. You are wonderful in the way you laugh, move, think. I'm glad I know you deeper than just your outer shell." He kept playing and stroking gently your face. "Although I'm sure you would shine not deadly, but beautifully."

You held his hand, you heard his voice. Time passed, and you didn't have the strength to speak, but he still kept you company. You could listen and listen. With your eyes closed, you hugged the hand cupping your face and felt like you could stay like that forever. It was worth being neatly torn apart to finally be able to meet him. For the first time, you didn't feel longing. Only warmth.

[gvfgal]

7. Who Do You Belong To?

Barbarian. Biker!Jake

18+ minors get lost.

A/n: This was out a lot later than I wanted it to be, but nonetheless, it’s here!! My life has been a whirlwind lately and I had to take the time to slow down and get this up! I also have something else coming up that I’m excited to share with you guys so be on the lookout for that. Let me know if you’d like to be added to the taglist, thanks for reading, and enjoy the ride!

Content Warnings: Explicit language, fighting/ arguing, Jake & reader being a *lil* toxic, explicit sexual content, rough/ angry sex, fingering (f!rec), unprotected sex, dirty talk, mentions of criminal activity, violence, blood, mentions of death…

Word Count: 4.5k

A few nights later, Jake was showering in anticipation of a celebratory night out with the club to mark the finalization of their plan. The following day, the gang would ride up to Washoe, the location of Bobby's casino, to at last set their plan into motion. He’d invited you to join, but you declined. Despite your fondness for the guys, you preferred not to spend too much time at the tavern unless you were working, for personal reasons, of course.

Opting for a quiet night at home, you settled in, most likely going to curl up watching Golden Girls while awaiting Jake's return, likely a little too drunk and eager to burn a hole in the floor with you. Currently, you sat on the bed, occupied by nothing in particular while the tunes of Guns n' Roses played softly through Riley's old CD station—Jake's favorite music for getting ready for a night out.

The tranquility was interrupted by the chime of Jake's phone, a familiar prelude to many a turbulent evening. His phone lay on the nightstand beside the bed, and you initially ignored the first notification. However, as the phone continued to buzz, you grew curious and glanced at the screen. Expecting to see a message from one of the other Barbarians with details about the night's events, you were taken aback to see a girl's name prominently displayed on the screen.

Compounding your surprise, Jake’s lack of a phone password allowed you unrestricted access to the message contents, a privilege you soon regretted.

Sitting at the edge of the bed, you couldn’t resist the temptation to read through the messages.

Layla:

Hey Jakey…

Missing U…

The final message was not a text but rather a provocative picture of Layla, her upper half barely covered by a sheer blue fabric

Sheer fury began to take over, a side of you few had witnessed. While most knew you as the reserved girl with a multitude of secrets, very few were privy to the short-tempered, fiery aspect that emerged when you were truly angered. You had always tried to keep this side hidden, wary of appearing vulnerable again.

Yet, whether it was passion or another emotion, the sight of those messages on Jake's phone, especially after everything you two had been through in such a short amount of time, propelled you into the bathroom, shower be damned, to confront him.

With phone in hand, you flung back the plastic shower curtain with a force that made Jake start.

"Jesus, Cherry," he exclaimed, "you scared the piss out of me."

Ignoring his protest, you thrust his phone toward him, “who the fuck is Layla?"

Jake felt his heart plummet, and he struggled to hold back a curse. Truthfully, he hadn't thought about Layla since his time in New Mexico, let alone communicated with her. Those texts were an anomaly, yet they were undeniable evidence on his phone, leaving Jake with little room to deny it.

He shifted uncomfortably under the shower's stream, running a hand through his wet hair. "She's uh... she's a dancer I met in New Mexico."

"Did you fuck her?" Your question cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"What?" His tone carried a genuine sense of insult, as if you were foolish for even posing the question, despite the glaring evidence before you.

"Did you fuck her, Jakey?" You tossed the endearing nickname back at him mockingly, fueling his rising anger.

He knew the question was justified, especially with the evidence you held in front of you. Yet, a part of him had hoped you saw him differently, like you’d expressed a few weeks prior in your bathroom. He believed you saw him in a better light.

“I didn’t fuck her, Cherry, okay?” Jake turned off the water and reached for his towel from the wall rack, “the guys went to the strip club after our meeting. I got a little wasted, she came back to my room for a private dance and some drugs, and I crashed out. She just gave me her number to keep in touch, but I never used it.”

If that were true, you couldn’t remain too angry with him. It sounded like something you might do on a wild night out. In fact, it eerily echoed a night from spring break years ago. Yet, the wounded part of you resisted believing him.

“Bullshit,” you spat, pivoting on your heels to exit the bedroom once more.

Jake stepped out behind you, towel draped loosely around his waist, his hand holding it in place.

You were tossing his belongings around, on the brink of hurling them out onto the lawn. Whether he returned to Rex's or crashed at Ace's, you didn't care; you just wanted him gone.

"Un-fucking-believable. You live in my house, lay in my fucking bed every night, and still have the audacity to go fuck some stripper? You're disgusting," you yelled, your voice echoing loudly, disregarding the paper-thin walls that made it likely the neighbors could hear the commotion.

"Would you chill the fuck out?" Jake shouted back, his own anger escalating at your accusations.

"You're a liar!"

"I didn't fuck her!" Jake's voice resonated, silencing you instantly. However, your rapid breathing persisted as you locked eyes across the room.

In the heat of the moment, Jake let slip words he instantly regretted. Locking eyes with you, he said, “and so what if I did? We’re just two comfortable strangers fucking. You’re acting like we’re together or something. You’re not mine, and I’m damn sure not yours.”

He saw the hurt flicker across your face before it morphed into an angrier, more spiteful expression.

“Well, that means I can go fuck Nicky, right? Since we don’t belong to each other?”

Having sex with Nicky was the furthest thing from your mind; you were merely trying to wound Jake as deeply as he’d hurt you. You didn’t care how low you had to stoop, you’d do anything to shield your fragile emotions.

And Jake understood this, he knew you didn’t mean what you said since he was aware of your brief history with Nicky before his return to Genoa. He also knew that you knew about Jake’s strong dislike for him, though you didn’t realize the depth of that animosity. Despite understanding your intent, Jake’s upset remained undiminished.

Jake advanced toward you with a furious intensity, his anger so palpable that, under different circumstances, you might have been afraid. He didn’t pause as he closed the distance between you, continuing until he had you backed against the wall, looming over you.

“You better watch your fucking mouth, Cherry,” he warned, and you couldn’t deny that his venomous tone sent heat coursing through your body and stopping right at you center. You glared at him, taking a deep breath before a cocky smirk appeared on your face, “you seem mad, Jakey,” you hissed the nickname again.

You tried not to pry your eyes away from his to watch the droplets of water roll across his skin and down into his towel, so you stuck your chin up in defiance, not willing to back down.

Jake chuckled, “you haven’t seen angry.”

In all honesty, Jake was enjoying seeing you seething like this, it was definitely a turn on he was pleasantly surprised and excited to see.

In an instant, his lips crashed onto yours, a sudden and forceful advance that had your back slamming against the wall. The kiss was anything but gentle— rough and charged with anger as Jake held you pinned. Initially, you responded to his familiar allure despite the circumstances. However, reality quickly set in.

Pushing him away, you watched as he staggered back a few steps. You stared at him, a mix of disbelief and lingering exasperation in your eyes, while his gaze held a complex intensity, one that seemed to be torn between wanting to rip your head off and wanting to plow into you.

Breathing heavily, you locked eyes in a standoff that seemed to stretch on for a bit too long. Finally, unable to resist any longer, your bodies collided once again, this time with equal force from both sides.

Everything was quick, Jake’s loose towel falling from his waist, him hoisting you up against the wall, all the while your mouths never parting. Your nails clawed at his back as you devoured one another, his teeth biting at your bottom lip every time you dug them in.

He pulled away for a moment as he brought the fingers of his right hand up to your mouth, pushing against your lips in silent demand. Your lips parted slowly, and Jake wasted no time dragging two of his fingers across your tongue. A shudder coursed through your body, and a cocky grin began to spread across Jake’s face.

“You’re disgusting,” he mocked as he tilted his head up at you. You wanted so badly to be angry with him, but you couldn’t deny the throbbing between your legs from his smug words and his hard cock pressed against your thigh.

All you could do was dig your nails into him again, which caused a breathy laugh to float out of him. The fingers that were once resting on your tongue began finding their way beneath your lounge shorts and cotton underwear. You were admittedly ashamed for Jake to have found you already wet with need.

He swiftly pushed your underwear to the side before sinking his fingers inside of you, causing your hands to go slack and your mouth to fall open.

“Not so mean now are you, Cherry?”

You moaned in response, deciding to no longer fight the way your body was begging for him. His movements were calculated as he watched your face contort, capturing a particularly high pitched moan of yours in another clumsy kiss.

He continued his movements, using his other arm to keep you held firm against the wall, but before your body could completely settle in the feeling of his fingers stretching you out, he was removing them. You let out a weak moan at the loss of sensation, but couldn’t pout for long before Jake was yanking your shorts away from your body. It was awkward, as he refused to let you down, and you were forced to maneuver this way and that to get them down with his help, but he was oh so determined.

“You couldn’t give this sweet little pussy away even if you wanted to,” he grunted into your ear as your shorts and panties finally fell from around your ankle and to the floor. Jake used his free hand to stroke himself, his tip rubbing against the inside of your thigh as he did so, “you know she belongs to me.”

As much as you wanted to argue against his words, you knew you couldn’t. Instead, you stared into his eyes as he slid himself inside of you to the hilt, staking his claim over your body.

“Tell me,” he goaded as he reveled in the feeling of your nails digging into his shoulders again and the sound of bliss escaping your body. “Tell me who this pussy belongs to.”

Rather than thrusting into you, Jake grabbed you by the base of your ass and began bouncing you onto himself, displaying his strength in a way that was sure to send you to your end quickly.

“You,” you cried out shamelessly, letting your head fall against the wall, “it belongs to you Jake.”

He smiled in satisfaction, but clearly wasn’t finished.

He let you go once more to grip your face, forcing you to look even deeper into his eyes, “who do you belong to, Cherry?”

“I belong to you, Jake.”

In that moment, for however long it lasted, you meant what you said. You liked the idea of being his, only his. You enjoyed the way he was staking his claim on you. Although he knew your threats were empty, he seemingly felt the need to show you where you stood with one another.

Satisfied with your heeding, Jake let his instincts take over and began rocking into you steadily, allowing you to chase the high of your climax.

“Oh my god,” you rasped, holding onto him for dear life. You could still feel a bit of residual anger in his thrusts, and it only made it feel that much better.

“That’s right baby, take your dick.”

You knew that his words were intentional. It was his way of solidifying his loyalty to you without having to say so much. It was such a Jake thing to do, but damn if you didn’t love it.

It was then you realized that you’d more than likely been hasty in your accusations. Sure he might have gotten a little crazy one night in New Mexico, but you didn’t think he slept with someone else.

There was an understanding between the two of you far deeper than either of you would ever be able to express out loud. But in a way that was true to your relationship, the sex always held the truth.

With a few more pointed thrusts, you were calling out his name repeatedly as you crescendoed over the edge.

“God you look so fucking good when you do that,” he shook his head before tightening his grip on you as his end began to take him.

He slid out of you just as he began to spill, catching it in his hands with a deep groan that cause one last ripple of electricity to race through your body.

His forehead dropped on the wall next to you, and you let the sound of his deep breaths bring your pulse back neutral.

“Fuck that bonfire,” he muttered before looking up at you, “we’re gonna smoke a joint, and we’re gonna do that again.”

You went at it for three more animalistic rounds before eventually drifting off to sleep, entwined beneath the covers, the music still playing softly in the background long after you both succumbed to slumber. The following morning, you shared your now customary breakfast together as if the events of the previous night had never occurred, before Jake departed to attend to gang matters.

He arrived at the tavern just after noon, finding the front bar area deserted. However, as he made his way to the back meeting room, he was met with a buzz of activity and excitement as the club prepared to ride out to Washoe Lake where Bobby's casino was located.

Ace spotted him almost immediately, as if he had been expecting his arrival. Pushing through the crowd of leather-clad figures, Ace approached Jake, offering his customary pat on the shoulder.

"There you are," he greeted, his tone casual, “missed you last night. Where were you?"

Jake resisted the urge to smirk, opting for a nonchalant shrug instead, “got caught up with the old lady," he replied, nodding in your direction, eliciting a chuckle from Ace. "You know how it is."

Shaking his head in amusement, Ace mused to himself, "Puppy love."

“Well look,” he insisted, “we just got the all clear from the spotters. Scene is neutral and Bobby is a sitting duck.” Jake nodded in confirmation as Ace continued, “lets go ahead and head out so we can fill before we hit the road.“

Ace called out to gather the attention of the men in the room before signaling for them to roll out. The men began filing out the back door to the dirt parking lot, starting their bikes and filing out one by one.

It was tradition for the guys to fuel up before a ride, even if Washoe was only a half hour drive north of Genoa. And even if their bikes didn’t really need it, every member at least put a gallon in for “good luck” of sorts.

Not only that, but on their way out, they would fill up at the same exact gas station every single time, and had been doing so for the last 30 years.

The Barbarians had been good friends of the family that owned it, and of course, they never complained about the amount of business these meetings brought to them.

Their arrival was always signaled by the monstrous roar of fifty plus bikes pulling up around the pumps, anyone who was filling up before quickly vacated to allow the gang to convene in their seemingly sacred spot.

This time was no different, Jake leaned against the pillar by one of the gas pumps as his bike filled. He watched as the men talked amongst one another, waiting their turns to fill and then wait for departure. It was funny the way he felt so at home but yet still so out of touch with the men.

He caught a glimpse of Nicky amongst the crowd, talking to Frogman and another newer member named Stryker, noticing how he seemed very into whatever it was he was talking about.

After almost half an hour the gang set off, Ace, Jake, Steeljaw, Madcap, and Ski Ball held up the front line, but Nicky wasn’t too far behind, this irked Jake. He knew Nicky had been a member just as long as he had, but he still felt like he didn’t deserve to be so near the head of operations in the way he was. ‘Brother’ or not, he didn’t trust him.

Luckily, before he could really let his thoughts consume him, taken away by the ride on an open road, the group was veering off the main road off onto the route that led them directly to Bobby’s casino.

The casino wasn’t fancy by any means, it main appeal being that it sat just off of Lake Washoe and had quite the view from the main game room. Other than that, it was pretty standard as far as casino’s went.

As far as the crowd, it was always a mix bag. During holidays there was always an influx of well-off people looking for an alternative to the glitz and glam of the Vegas strip. In addition to that were it’s year round middle to old age tourists, also with enough money to waste at a casino. Most of its regulars though were older, washed up men and women in debt up to their shoulders and hardly anything to live for.

Thanks to good intel and proper preparation, the Barbarians were able to breach Bobby’s casino with little to no disturbances. The gang glided through the modestly packed game room, the few people in attendance watching silently, too intimidated to utter a word. Instead, they continued to play their hands and wore out the machines, funneling their money into Bobby’s pockets, and soon, into the Barbarians’.

Bobby was caught completely off guard by their arrival. Before he had a chance to flee, Ace, Jake, and several other long-standing Barbarians stormed his office, while the rest of the gang waited outside the doors for any of Bobby’s men who might try to resist.

It was evident that Bobby was rattled by their presence. Nevertheless, ever the slimeball, he had an ugly, sly smirk plastered on his face as he addressed the group.

“To what do I owe the pleasure, boys?” he greeted, kicking his feet up on his desk. His eyes scanned the group, and before anyone could answer, his gaze fell on Jake with surprise.

“Ho-ly shit,” he scoffed in disbelief, “Jake? Man I haven’t seen you since-”

Jake held up his hand to cut him off. “We can save the pleasantries, Bobby. This isn’t a family reunion,” he said in a clipped tone. “We’re here on business.”

Still wearing his smirk, Bobby cast his gaze over to Ace. “What kind of business?”

Jake rarely saw Ace lose his cool and always admired his composure. However, it was evident that Ace’s patience with Bobby was thin. The club was under a lot of pressure, and they had no time for games.

“Don’t sit there acting clueless like you don’t know you owe us a fuck ton of money. You’ve been cheating us for years, and it may have slid under the radar when Rex was around,” Ace said, taking a step toward Bobby’s desk. Bobby quickly sat up in defense, “but now, we’re here to collect what we’re owed.”

Bobby’s face turned a shade redder, anger boiling beneath the surface. He knew he’d been cheating the Barbarians out of serious money, but he had thought he was clever enough to avoid any repercussions.

The realization that his scheme was unraveling made his clean-shaven head almost steam.

“What are you trying to say?” he seethed, leaning forward with a mock innocence.

Jake, his patience wearing thin, stepped closer. “What we’re saying is we’re setting up shop here,” he said, his voice hard. “We’re taking over operations and financials until we get our all of our money back and then some.”

A tense silence settled over the room as they awaited Bobby’s response. He glared at them for a long moment before a mirthless laugh escaped his lips.

“The fuck you are.”

Apparently, Jake and Ace weren’t the only ones fed up with Bobby’s arrogance.

Steeljaw, never one to hold back, came barreling forward, his large fist connecting solidly with the side of Bobby’s face. Madcap, as if waiting for a cue, lunged forward and landed another blow.

A brief scuffle ensued but ended quickly as Jake stepped in, snatching Bobby up by the collar of his shirt.

“I guarantee, Bobby, we can show you a whole lot better than we can tell you,” Jake spat. “Besides, we aren’t the only ones you owe.”

Bobby’s bleeding face turned toward Ace, confusion and fear mixing in his eyes. “What the fuck is he talking about?”

“The EDS,” Ace said casually, knowing the name would strike a different kind of fear in him. “The Barbarians are in the hole with them. And if we’re in the hole, so are you.”

For the first time, Bobby looked genuinely terrified. He knew the Barbarians could do damage, but the EDS was a different story entirely.

“Don’t get me involved with those guys. They’re fucking crazy. High-profile killers.”

Jake nodded, his grip tightening on Bobby’s shirt as he leaned in. “Exactly, so let me make myself clear. You, your casino, you belong to us now. Completely. Every dollar that passes through this place gets filtered through us before you even get to touch it. All your loyal men who have been helping you pull this off? We’re replacing them.”

Blood dripped from several spots on Bobby’s face, but he still had the nerve to object, “you can’t do that.”

“Hey man,” Ace chimed in, his tone a warning, “this is only meant to be temporary, but we can make it a permanent gig if you want.” He shrugged, “can’t be no Bobby Thompson’s Casino without Bobby Thompson.”

Jake stared at him, his eyes cold, “are we clear here?”

Bobby smirked, despite his injuries, “you’re so much like your daddy, you know? Just like him.”

The comment enraged Jake. Still gripping Bobby’s shirt tightly, he punched him once, then twice. Bobby crumpled onto his desk, coughing and clutching his face.

Jake glared down at him before Ace ushered him out of the room, “come on, kid, we’ve got business to handle.”

Bobby’s men rushed in as they exited, but they knew better than to retaliate. After all, they belonged to the Barbarians now. Once in the hallway, the men began dispersing to handle their different jobs, while others lingered, waiting for orders.

“We’ll probably need to stick around for a while, make sure everything is in order so we can get the ball rolling. You cool with that?” Ace asked.

Jake, still fuming from Bobby’s words, nodded and tried to regain his composure. “Yeah, I’ll hang back. I’ll just call Cherry and let her know.”

Amid the muffled conversations in the hallway, Jake heard Nicky scoffing behind him. Jake knew Nicky had been listening in, and he still had steam to blow off.

He turned to face Nicky, quickly closing the distance between them, “something to say, Nicky?”

Nicky, hot-headed as ever, met Jake with equal aggression, as if it had been brewing all day.

Before the two could escalate, Ace stepped between them, and Ski Ball moved forward, ready to intervene if needed. “Not right now, fellas,” Ace said calmly, “we’ve got too much important business to handle.” He turned to Nicky, “go ride with Fleet and the guys to secure the warehouse location.”

Nicky looked like he wanted to object, but Ace’s stern look made him turn and obey. Not without one last sneer at Jake, though.

Ace waited until Nicky was out of sight before removing his hand from Jake’s shoulder. “Let’s head up to meet Alejandro’s people. They should be here now.”

He turned to leave without waiting for confirmation, instead muttering, “why do we even keep Nicky around? He’s nothing but dead weight, a loose cannon waiting to go off. He’s the main reason Jaxon got killed.”

Ace followed closely behind, his voice low to keep the conversation between them. “You know you can’t keep putting that on him.”

Jake scoffed, “right, I should just blame my dad for putting him in that position in the first place.”

“Hey,” Ace’s voice was firm, stopping Jake in his tracks. Both of their faces were serious as they stood in the empty, quiet hallway, Ace ready to speak his mind on a conversation he so often avoided having with Jake.

“That night haunts us all, Jake. Jaxon’s death haunts us all.”

A sigh escaped Jake’s lips as he finally let his true emotions show, something only Ace ever really saw.

“He was my best friend, Ace,” his voice cracked.

Ace looked genuinely sympathetic. He’d been there through both of the boy’s upbringing since the very beginning, so he was aware of the type of bond that they shared. He also knew how much it devastated Jake when Jaxon was killed.

There was a certain type of comfort that Ace had to reserve for another time, so instead, he offered Jake something else. Something a lot less comforting and a lot more real.

“Jaxon isn’t the first person to die in our line of occupation, and he won’t be the last. You’ve seen that wall at the tavern, it’s full of fallen men. Yes, it’s unfortunate, but it’s a part of the life. You knew it when you joined the club,” he paused and stared directly into Jake’s eyes, “and Jaxon knew it too.”

As much as Jake wanted to argue, he knew Ace was right. But still, it didn’t make the situation any better. And more still, Jaxon’s death could have been avoided had it not been for Nicky’s recklessness and his father’s indifference.

Without another word spoken between them, the men made their way back to the main game room where Alejandro’s men sat at one of the bars, waiting just as they expected the to be.

8. Truth and the Human Condition

Taglist: @edgingthedarkness @earthgrlsreasy @wetkleenex-gvf @hollyco @dannys-dream @slut4lando @josh-iamyour-mama

[henarikat]

Can you tell us more about your farmer? What is she like how does she meet mr qi how do they fall in love? Tell us everything!!!!

Omg the girl of all time?? You want to hear about my silly little guy?? And her blue man aaaaaa??? I have suddenly forgotten all of the lore I've ever conceived for them oh my goodness but um uh.... i will put it under a spoiler bc it'll probably be dumb and ramblyyyyy and I will absolutely regret posting in 5 seconds if I don't lmao

I guess, her dad is like the CEO of Joja or whatever, some really intense and high-up position. Idk anything about corporations. And he gets her a job after she graduates from college, she has some "dumb" (by his standards) artsy degree that he deems relevant enough to give her a very easy but very high-paying receptionist job. She doesn't have to do anything except for field calls and usually customers don't make it that far calling, so it's usually like... business deals or something. She also has to get donuts and lunch and coffee for the office, which, whatever. And anyway, she meets this guy and he seems cool. He works for her dad and he gets,,, close to her. And she gets,,, close to him. And anyway, it turns out he was using her for like, access to her dad/insider information about the company and then the night he dramatically breaks up with her, she feels like a FOOL and she cannot go back to work the next day. She remembers her dead grandfather's farm and the deed he sent her, so she spends the night packing up her things and leaves for the train station first thing in the morning, no word to anyone!!!! Obviously her dad is SO MAD and he just like... pulls her inheritance? Is that a thing that happens? Idk. And anyway, he doesn't talk to her ever again. She is very depressed when she gets to the valley and she's used to drinking every weekend in zuzu so she... kind of... drinks a lot?? every day?? she gets really close with shane, and they hook up once just before his heart event on the cliffs and after that, they both decide they're better off as friends, at least until they can both get clean. joja ends up firing him because he's so sick after he stops drinking and she hires him to work for her and pays him what he made a joja in a week for just a day's worth of work, so it's beneficial for him! She makes friends with Leah also because they both love art and Leah also majored in the same silly thing that Nora did and funny enough, that guy that Nora "dated" was Leah's ex. Crazy world we live in. Uhhhh and no one really has any romantic interest in Nora, they all sort of pair themselves up with each other?? Harvey has a silly crush on her (bc I hc Maru to be sort of an acespec lesbian in Nora's world), but she is not interested and doesn't want to break harveys strict doctor/patient rule anyway, even if she were. Uh and then 5 years into her stay in the valley, she gets a package with a note attached. I am a hopeless romantic, personallyyyyyy, so like, in my HC Mr Qi never sent her on any quests. He saw her on his screens when she arrived in the valley and he was like oh....ok um wow ok she's going to ruin my life cool cool cooooool. he was so infatuated with her aaaaaa. he never sent her on the quest for the battery or the rainbow shell for his club card, he didn't wait for her on floor 100 in the skull caverns. he coooouldn't. he tried to distract himself with flings, but even still, he could not stop thinking of her. so finally, he invited her to the casino to meet him. he sent her a gorgeous fitted gown and shoes and flowers and!!! and she came!! to meet him! and she was not scared of him or intimidated by him (she didn't even know who he was to be fair) and she thought he was cuuuuute aaaa. and I made up some heart events for him and them and I just!! they're my silly guys they mean everything to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And anyway here is a really cheesy dumb art I drew also because I’m stupid and I love them 😩

[raya-rhaenyra-ahsoka]

My Thoughts on Ep.06 - We Take a Zebra to Vegas, A rant (SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Actual Iris-messaging on screen! Good way to start the episode.

Yes, toss the drachma, SEAWEED BRAIN!

If you want the gods’ attention, you have to pay for it. Eh, not surprised since it’s kinda how children have to do to get their parents’ attention these days.

Wtf is Luke Castellan doing in Chiron’s office?

We know who stole the bolt. (Book-readers, we know who stole the bolt!)

*Calm expression* How do you know? and not *gasp* Really? Who is it? Very sus. 🤔

I do have a love-hate relationship with Clarisse La Rue as a character, but accusing her as the lightning thief? OH, HELL NO!

This convo:

Luke: Guys, what is this?

Percy and Annabeth: What?

Luke: When did you turn into an old married couple?

Percy and Annabeth:

Everyone in the fandom:

Luke channeling his big brother energy by teasing Annabeth, his little sister, to a boy her age. Annabeth’s going through that older-sibling-embarrassing-you-in-front-of-your-crush stage. It’s just typical sibling stuff.

Annabeth, externally: *pokerface*; Annabeth, internally: STOP EMBARRASSING ME!

Confirmed: Luke ships Percabeth. 🥰

Percy changing the subject because he’s also embarrassed.

Annabeth cuts off the connection before Percy can mention Hermes and tells him Luke and his dad aren’t on good terms.

Grover just figured out that the truck is driven by animal traffickers and insists that they free the animals is absolute peak characterization.

They’re like artists. Proceeds to release the animals in the middle of traffic.

How that convo basically went:

Percy: Idk about this, man.

Grover: Oh, they’ll be fine. I gave them the satyr’s blessing so they’ll be able to reach the wilderness safely.

Percy: Dude, I meant for these people.

Grover: Oh, uh, it’s fine. These people destroyed nature so idgaf about them. But the animals are fine, so let’s go!

Percy: So, which hotel is the Lotus Casino? It could be any building-

Annabeth: Duh! Obviously, it’s the one with the giant lotus blossom on it.

Percy: Seriously?

3 minors walking into a Casino hotel. Totally normal and not suspicious at all.

Dua Lipa’s Levitating instead of Lady Gaga’s Pokerface. I ain’t even mad.

WISE GIRL! WISE GIRL! WISE GIRL! HE CALLED HER WISE GIRL! 😍🥰

Of course, Annabeth insists Percy goes with her. Percabeth! 😍

Annabeth tells Percy about May Castellan, Luke’s Mom. It’s kinda early to know about this, but I’m not complaining. It just justifies Luke’s resentment of Hermes in the show.

Grover: *finds Augustus, a fellow Satyr* *Forgets everything*

Please tell me someone else heard some kid calling out BIANCA in the background. It's not just me, right? Please tell me it's the di Angelo siblings in the Lotus Casino. UNCLE RICK, WE NEED ANSWERS!

Percy explaining his nightmares and asks if they are real.

How that convo went:

Annabeth: Hmm, idk

Percy: How do you not know?

Annabeth: I may be smart but there are things I don’t know.

Percy: Wtf does that make me then?

Hermes/Alexander Hamilton not throwing away his shot. How does a bastard, son of a god and a Pleiad. Grow up to be a master trickster, according to Homer’s Illiad…

In Vegas you can be a new man...apparently, not.

Hermes: I’m not doing this again. You’re on your own, kids. Bye!

Annabeth: We’re friends of Luke’s.

Hermes: *surprise pikachu face* Damn it, let’s talk.

Hermes being an epitome of another crappy absent godly parent. Not surprised.

Annabeth doing what probably Luke taught her to do:

Annabeth: So I stole Hermes’ keys.

Percy: You what?

Annabeth: I turned invisible and picked his pocket.

Percy: You stole from the god of thieves?

Annabeth: Yes, I’m multi-talented. Lol

Percy: *lowkey falls in love*

The lotus fruit being pumped into the air is something new.

Percy: Grover got really old. 🤣

Percy and Annabeth chases Augustus around while Grover’s playing VR games.

Grover forgetting things because he was alone, while Percy and Annabeth remember because they have each other. PERCABETH!

Grover acting all carefree like a dentist just sedated him with nitrous oxide, while Percy and Annabeth are frantically looking for Hermes’ car will never be not funny.

TO THE DUMB KIDS. Yep, that note is for you.

Percy: So, who’s driving?

Percy and Annabeth turning to Grover because he’s the adult.

Grover: *still high* Idk man. Idk what we're even doing here.

Percy: Ok, I’ll do it. How hard can it be. If I killed the Minotaur, I can drive a cab.

Percy: How hard could this be? Proceeds to hit the car on several columns.

Percy getting angry because another car didn’t slow down and nearly hit them, then slamming the horn. Bruh, you’re inner New Yorker is showing and I’m here for it.

This scene: 😍😍😍

Me, watching this scene:

Percy and Annabeth smiling at each other then realizing the car’s scraping the wall. This shit cracked me up.

The truck nearly hitting them gave me a mini-heart attack. Good thing they’re in Hermes’ cab.

Percy half-nervous and half-excited to finally meet his Dad only to find a Nereid instead, giving him 4 teleportation pearls as a gift.

The title implying they took a Zebra to Vegas but we see no zebra? Come on! Anyway, that was a good episode. Can't wait for the Percy vs Ares showdown next week.

[scarareg]

Percy Jackson and The Olympians Season 1 Review (2/3)

Part 1 • Part 3

What I dislike:

The action scenes are lacking. An example is Percy fighting Mrs Dodds: 1rst-Why did it happen in front of everyone? That makes not sense. Yes, the Mist hides stuff but if a woman attacks a teenager everyone will see it! 2nd- It was weirdly paced. Like one second Mrs Dodds was standing and the next she was dead. It took me a second to realize what happened. It was anticlimactic and Percy basically did nothing,he was just lucky Riptide opened up just in time to stop her. Another scene like that was the fight against Ares. To me it was "just fine" yet not epic. I feel it should be a little longer and I wish to see more of Ares using his battle tactics and powers, he is the God of War after all. Again, it is ok for what it is but it definitely could and should have been a bigger moment as a season finale, as Percy's moment to be a hero and prove himself, and as a demonstration of power level and difference between a mortal and a God! Also, it feels kinda insane that a guy with almost no training can defeat Ares so easy. That is a problem that stems from the lack of screen time at Camp in the first episodes,seeing Percy learning how to fight; sadly it backfired in the season finale. And you may say "well,these scenes include kids so is harder to make a bigger,more explosive,more incredible action scene than if they were adults" but it's possible. In House Of The Dragon a scene with five children fighting with only sand,a rock (that is not even used) and a dagger has way more tension than the God of War fighting our hero. The Minotaur scene was fine too. There are some changes like in the book Sally tried her best to distract it but because she is a normal human she could not do much, the whole taunting the Minotaur was Percy's stuff showing his bravery (I like the idea of Sally doing that to protect her baby tho,is cute) and Percy discovered in the process that he has inhuman agility and strength; so what they changed it's fine, my only complaint would be that the scene was super dark (all night scenes are) and it was hard to see what was going on,but I feel that at this point that is a Hollywood problem, so wathever

In the book,at the battle of Percy vs Ares,Kronos himself stops Ares from killing Perseus, but here it did not happen. That moment foreshadows Kronos interest in Percy because he wants to use him as a basel

Percy intelligence is heavily underused. In the books Percy constantly connects the dots and clues to figure out who people/monsters/Gods are; in addition to getting out of situations in creative and fun ways. Here there is none of that . An excellent example is the Lotus Casino. Book Percy figured out people there get trapped while he was talking with two boys who were not from this century. In the show Hermes just told him (which by the way,making Hermes own the place makes him an asshole who traps people for some reason, and as a Hermes fan it makes me angry).

While fighting Echidna, she do not have telekinesis powers or something, Percy is being chased by her chihuahua/Chimaera and he, of his own free will, decides to jump to the water showing his bravery and how willing he is to believe his dad has his back, and he is damn right! His father helped him and he learned that he can breathe underwater. All of these if missing

Percy did not speak even once with horses,that was the whole purpose of the Zebra,which also didn't appear in an episode titled "We Take A Zebra To Vegas"

The school acting like Percy is the son of Satan himself and that the best is for Sally to teach him from home. All of this because Percy drawing something so horrible,so despicable,so wicked ...a Pegasus(?) Like WTF! that the stupidest stuff I have ever seen. A kid drawing a Pegasus is not a sign of alarm,is a sign of being a kid, you fucking morons! Its imagination and creativity,and that's it,you are supposed to work with children,how can you be scared of that?! And if a kid is wondering around in the school's rooftop,that's on the school not the child. You supposed to be taking care of him,what is a kid doing there? That's your fault for being irresponsible!

They leaving Crusty free and happy,knowing he is a serial killer,wtf! All that scene was really weird in general. Percy just walked into the store without explaining how and when they found that place, how they know the Underworld is there, and they already knew everything about the store and Crusty,it felt unnatural and unearn. And in the book Crusty doesn't guard the doors to the Underworld,because why the Gods would leave that job to a guy like that? That's Charon's job

Lotus Casino (refering to the inside, the outside is really cool) was kinda boring, and they were trapped there and not go intentionally. It is tempting for children, that is why there are games for them to play. There is a waterslide, an indoor bungee jumping bridge, hundred of videogames. Here almost everything is just gambling and I know it is a casino but in the book is cooler. And there is VR games too, and that's it.

Charon, in both the books and any myth ever,would let you pass if you give him coins,so why did they change that and make him have control over Cerberus? Is a strange decision

The Underworld is supposed to have this kinda silly elements that subvert your expectations of it,like Charon loving suits, there are lines of new people(souls) arriving, and this fun banner that reads "Judgement For Elysium And Eternal Damnation. Welcome, Newly Deceased!" , Percy mentioned he could see Sisyphus at the distance. In the show we don't see the freaking River Styx! No Elysium and seeing Percy deciding that there is where he wants to be once he dies, I think that shows his character. No Persephone's Garden with her pomegranate trees. And the Fields of Asphodel (also known as Asphodel Meadows) are not a forest,are....well,meadows; I know,shocking, kinda hard to figure that out. By the way,that is another strange change because Rick knows what Asphodel looks like,that is why he represented them as an never ending field with the "largest concert crowd" with no electricity and no noise. Ah,also, missed opportunity for a Hazel easter egg

Hades is so TERRIBLE that I almost cried! Disney, we are talking about the King of the Underworld! Do you have idea what kind of creatures live there and they'll respect and fear him? In the books is important that he resents (hardcore) his family. His children inherit that as a fatal flaw. The reason is he had two children with momma di Angelo and he loved them dearly but Zeus wanted to kill them, and finally killed her, Hades only could save the children. Add insult to injury when his 2 brothers had children and received no repercussions for it. It is the reason he did not join the war against his father until the last second (thanks Nico!) . He also feel he got the worst job and he neither lives nor is allowed freely visit the cool, bright Olympus. All of it made him a cold person. Show Hades does not feel like he went through all of that, and if he did, it is like he did not care much. The writers are taking away his complexity and now he is a joke, a boring one.

Zeus was bad too but in a different way. He is just meh, did not make me feel anything in particular. I think it may be because when I imagine Zeus I picture him as a guy with beard, kinda like Santa Claus lmao and Lance Reddick (may he rest in peace,love him) looks nothing like him, so it was hard for me to believe he was Zeus. Maybe is just a me problem to be honest. Also, they made him kinda dumb because when Percy told him his dad is planing a war, he is just like "yeah I know, but right now is more important to fight your dad Poseidon" and that is extremely stupid,to be honest

[molinaskies]

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog is the stupidest game I've ever played and I fucking loved it.

Spoiler highlight reel below the cut ✨

awh love her forever

Okay... to be fucking fair... I, too, wouldn't have invited Charmy to my birthday party

This... This makes a lot of sense for her

AWH TAILS BABY. I've enjoyed how games and comics lately have been leaning more into Tails' age, especially with his character acting, without dumbing his character down even a little bit. He's a genius, but he's still a kid, and I love that. I think this fleshes out his character a lot

I audibly cackled when my Sega GameGear came on screen lmfao

(Referring to Amy's hammer, which breaks in the opening act of the game)

Although this conflicts with my personal headcanons for how Amy's hammer works, the prospect of her owning multiple massive fuck-you hammers that she rotates between is hilarious to me.

fucking Family Guy death pose LMAO

send this screen shot to your non-sonic friends without context

Great to know. On the streets of Eggmanland is my personal favourite

How do we pressure the sonic social media team to write and publish this book like we pressured them to crowdfund the sonic toaster?

They really said ALLY🏳️‍🌈✨ and I agree and approve. #inclusive language 💕

HELLO????? AHAHAHAHA

Oh look it's that one King Ice collab

I know why this is here... but I personally think it's funnier to think that Eggman sells casino equipment and other daily wears in order to fund his schemes

NOT THE TOURIST ADVERTISEMENTS I--

This is the cutest fucking thing I've ever seen. Headcanons confirmed thank you

Shadow buying Amy concert tickets is adorable. Good characterization for him.

Also, a (perhaps unintentionally cruel) headcanon I have is that Shadow has unrequited romantic feelings (or, at least, a significant soft-spot) for Amy. Sonamy is endgame, but Shadow and Amy share an endearing friendship that both are extremely grateful for

Why would he care about this??? lmfao, if he was the murder, this would have been his dead giveaway tbh

Damn, girl

What are they?!?!???

Look at me and my best friend, Tails, everyone!

This is so dramatic--and for what? 😂😭

Loving the continuity 😭 #sonic frontiers !!

We stan a powerful girl...

...and a powerful boy who has her back!

He's so proud of himself 😭 but he did so wellll 💕

AAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH

*wheeze*

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA

Love them and all of you! Thanks for coming to my hedge-talk. This game is a silly little gem.

[lavend-ler]

Moxxi? 👀💕

LETS GOOOOO MOXXI NATION!!!!!!!!!

How I feel about this character

oh my god, I LOVE Moxxi so much. having a character who is so confident, so involved in the plot and just has the greatest vibe, I adore her. I love how Moxxi is a person who knows what she wants and will get it. I love how the story does give her a backstory but she doesn't dwell on it that much rn bc Moxxi KNOWS she's better now and fuck others who abused and underestimated her. she's hypnotizing on screen, she's so great and also may I add her voice is great. also I'm a bi person myself so lemme just say, she's so so gorgeous

All the people I ship romantically with this character

legit atp who do I NOT ship with Moxxi lmaO but lemme think

Amara - did u see the comic? I won SO HARD, thank u Moxxara nation. I love successful women in love and Amara canonically is super impressed by her. they would match each other so well

Zane - the fact that he becomes such a sad wet sock of a man when she doesn't remember him, I love it. they would match each other's freak

Lilith - my dear AU in which Lilith won the Underdome and started dating Moxxi. again, I think Moxxi would want someone powerful and confident by her side

Ember - great possibility of them getting together and running the casino together <3

Tim - the fandom has soured my feelings regarding them but I still think it's charming and regard them as exes who broke up on good terms

Rhys - can't convince me they didn't have a one night stand

Fiona - Moxxi was her lesbian awakening

Sasha - fuck blands fandom and I think it's so so entertaining. they both deserve this cmon

Zer0 - it's so fcukin funny how Moxxi would try so hard to seduce them but they don't care. but secretly they find her so hot

My non-romantic OTP for this character

aahhh I think she would love to chat and catch up with Hammerlock! he definitely has free drinks at her place but always insists on paying. they love to talk long hours after her shift. honestly that's how I see her relationship with Tim after the breakup too, they like to meet up and just talk. also I like the potential friendship between Moxxi and Athena. I love how in TPS they're so casual but friendly to each other

My unpopular opinion about this character

Her BL3 designs is the best one, it CLEARS

I don't think she's a manipulative mastermind or whatever shit fandom paints her to be. she's a skilled and intelligent woman, not a manipulator. Jack would end up the way he is no matter what guys

the innuendo shtick is pretty boring, I wish they'd focus on other aspects of her character

I hate when fandom insists her last name is "Hodunk". u rly think she after so many marriages would keep a last name of a clan which abused her?

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

actually uno reverse card - what I don't want to happen to Moxxi is that I don't want her to get a permanent relationship. I like the fact that she's a free lady who just does what she wants. she doesn't need another marriage, she deserves to be herself

I wish we could go to Jackpot under her management! I wish we could see how she runs it and what flare does this place have rn

I wish she could apologize to Ellie for her comments regarding her weight. it was so unnecessary and seriously Burch, why the fuck did u put this in the game

[midnightfire830]

I’m bored, it’s late, and I’m not feeling great (like usual), but I don’t have the energy draw anything for asks so imma just hammer ya’ll with headcanons and ideas from cyberpunk because I feel bad I haven’t been talking about it as much. I have so many cussing ideas for this AU but I’m running out of ways to express those idea. Yay. ✌️

Anyway! Here’s some thoughts and little tidbits about Cyberpunk!

- Dr. Flug is a genius cybernetics designer and helped create all the tech that the cupbros use. And he’s behind all the programming. As instructed by the Devil. Hat of course helps Flug a lot with the tech. (The demon race is especially well known for their advancements in cyberware technology. The other races also specialize in certain things of course, but demons are known for cyberware.)

- Black hat also does own a casino. Although the tables are usually operated by androids plus a lot of gambling machines and coin slots. And an antigravity dance floor that Bendy really, REALLY wants to try.

- Mugs has a literal teleportation device that works with his dash charm. It gives him a larger range and more control on direction. It’s powered by his magic and his charm and it only requires him to throw down a specific piece of tech where he wants to go and he’ll teleport there. He can only carry one person.

- Mugs also has a support item. I drew it a few times in some drawings. You’ll notice in his character designs he wears two scarves wrapped around his forearms. Hat imbued his favorite scarf with some cyberware tech (and some magic) to turn his scarf into a capture weapon that works a lot like Aizawa’s capture scarf in My Hero Academia. He uses it as a non-lethal way of fighting. And for better range.

- Holly is the guy in ther chair. Whenever anyone goes on patrols she’s on commas tapping away on her screens. She hacks cameras remotely so that the boys don’t get caught, listens in to police radio and tell them where any crime might be happening.

- The Devil had decided to cut off majority of the Quester’s money access. He put pressure on the Quester’s usual buyers to not purchaser their products, so money is currently tight.

- Tho they get by by mostly selling to smaller companies and oftentimes regular people anyway so it doesn’t really matter.

- Food in their world is kinda crap. Oftentimes they have to buy prepackaged food to reheat. Everything is always processed food bc they can’t afford much more than that. (That is to say fresh produce is RIDICULOUSLY expensive). Only the rich can really afford it. I wonder who’s fault THAT is…

That’s a few little tidbits for now. Enjoy!

[iciousill]

AFA 2023 Day 3: Day Stage

I was expecting to be slightly late again as it was seriously crowded at about this time for the previous days of AFA. Surprisingly there was barely any queue and I got through the bag check really quick.

The first event of the day stage was Rurouni Kenshin, with Saito Soma and Niwa Masami as featured guests. Before the event started, when the introduction slide with the guest portraits was flashed on the screen, there were a few squealing Saito fangirls in the audience (one of whom was somewhere behind me and was particularly loud, shouting short comments/opinions after Saito spoke throughout the event). I also noticed that most of the audience for this segment were female.

These bits were paraphrased from memory as no photo/video/audio recording was allowed.

The emcees were Yoppi and Reiko. Yoppi came in with a hoarse voice. It seemed like he almost lost his voice and was struggling to speak, but still gave it his all to emcee, saying his body condition was perfect but his throat was 'broken'.

Saito had chilli crab the previous evening and took a stroll in the city.

Saito said that at first it was difficult getting into Kenshin's speaking manner, with Kenshin's habitual 'oro?' and ending his utterances with 'gozaru', an obsolete speaking manner nobody would encounter in modern spoken Japanese. He got used to it eventually.

In some recording sessions, he said 'oro?' many times (I forgot if it was 15 or 50 lol), and he actually added more 'oro' on his own than was scripted. He also said that even though it was the same word, each 'oro' was uttered with slight variances in tone so no two 'oro' were the same.

Saito was asked about the temperature in the recording studio, and he proceeded to bend with his hand really low, nearly touching the ground.

Saito: By the way, what Niwa's wearing is actually my manager's. MC: All of the clothes??? Saito/Niwa: No, no, the jacket/blazer. Niwa: I arrived last evening. Japan's cold right now, but I basically came to Singapore wearing like this (just t-shirt and trousers). MC: That sounds like you'd have stood out at the airport. Niwa: Actually yeah, when I was going through customs in Japan the counter staff looked at me weird.

After Rurouni Kenshin, a majority of the female audience left the hall, and more people came in for the Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) stage event. Kind of interesting to observe the change, as Demon Slayer had a clearly more diverse audience.

Next, the guests for Demon Slayer were Kawanishi Kengo (Tokito Muichiro) and one of the producers (I forgot who...)

Yoppi: This isn't your first time in Singapore, right? Kawanishi: I've been here before for a different title, and I think you guys were also the translators.

Both MCs had no recollection of it. (Someone in the Seiyuu Stage Discord server where I shared this with first figured the event he was referring to was probably Gunpla Expo Singapore 2016.)

Kawanishi arrived in Singapore the evening before, had chilli crab and went to the casino with his manager. His manager went in the casino with 10k yen and came out with 6x the amount, but he wasn't as lucky. He said his manager sat on his right at the casino while a random stranger was on his left. Both won money while he was the only one who kept losing.

The emcees then jokingly asked whether his character, Tokito Muichiro would win or lose at the casino. He said that as a hashira, Tokito would probably win, but in reality he as the seiyuu lost.

MC: So where are you planning to go later? Kawanishi: The casino, maybe.

He talked about voicing Tokito Muichiro, about how he recorded without seeing the full animation of the video snippet shown so he had to rely on his imagination when expressing the character's lines.

Kawanishi: As seiyuu, though we were hired to voice major roles, at times we also had to voice other minor roles too. But we actually only get paid for that one major role. Audience: (Aw) (Pay them more) Kawanishi: Even so, I'm happy to get paid just for that one role for the viewers

Kawanishi also mentioned other bits about recording sessions, for example:

During breaks the atmosphere was friendly, but as soon as recording started everyone became serious.

There was a sofa in the studio on which the hashira seiyuus sat in a row, except for him because they were his seniors. He just lurked in a corner nodding along with whatever they said.

Seki would look like he's sleeping, though he wasn't sure if he's really asleep. But as soon as it was Seki's turn to go up to the mic, he'd instantly open his eyes and be immediately ready to deliver his lines, which seemed impressive to Kawanishi.

When it was time for them to take a stage photo with the audience, the emcees joked that since the HQ in Japan was going to see this, that we should show our support and wishes for the seiyuus to get paid more in the photo.

After that was MAPPA's talk featuring 4 series: Jujutsu Kaisen Shibuya Arc, Bucchigiri?!, Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) The Final Season, Alice to Therese no Maboroshi Koujou (Maboroshi)

The emcees for this segment were Yoppi and Ash. Before it started, the emcees reminded us that recording was not allowed, and also joked (as they had the previous days) that since the talk hadn't started, we could take photos of them instead if we wanted. Yoppi then posed with a V sign while counting down from 5 seconds.

The CEO of MAPPA was supposed to be one of the three featured guests but couldn't attend, so another director stood in for him.

They started with Jujutsu Kaisen, where they showed a seconds-long preview and a few keyframes. They then gave away a Jujutsu Kaisen T-shirt to a random cosplayer from the audience, who kept flexing his biceps when the cameras were on him.

For Bucchigiri?!, they showed the same trailer as the one in the main hall, and talked a bit about the concept of the anime and its 'yankee' characters. As the Japanese word 'yankee' has a different meaning from 'yankee' in English, that became a topic. Ash crouched to demonstrate the image of a Japanese yankee, but then they figured they could just mention Tokyo Revengers, and they ended up talking about Tokyo Revengers for a bit.

For Attack on Titan, other than discussing the series in its 10-year span, they showed a few frames of character closeups.

For Maboroshi, they showed the same trailer as the one in the main hall, and discussed the general themes of the plot. Yoppi then mentioned that he had a role in the film too, as the announcer voice at the start of the trailer. He said that the audience might not have recognised him as he sounded different due to his throat condition then.

They gave away 2 more merch. Posters of Attack on Titan and Maboroshi I think. Many were raising their hands or standing hoping to get picked. A cosplayer in front yelled SASAGEYO! and got one poster, while the other went to another unassuming girl.

I skipped the Cardfight!! Vanguard will+Dress S3 talk to meet my friend instead so unfortunately I don't have anything from here 囧rz

[msclaritea]

Mads Mikkelsen Shares Theory On Why He’s Cast As Bad Guy In U.S. Films – Deadline

"...The actor was quizzed in a Marrakech Film Festival masterclass on Saturday about the fact that he tends to be cast as a flawed hero in Europe and the bad guy in Hollywood, such as Marvel supervillain Kaecilius or Le Chiffre in Casino Royal.

“It’s quite simple. It’s the funny accent. It’s as simple as that. It used to be Germans, then it was Brits; then the Russians, and then for some reason they fell in love with the Danish accent. That’s definitely part of it,” he said.

Then if the Americans see something they like, they have a tendency to try and copy it, right. But I’ve been lucky enough to do different villains in different universes. There’s a big difference between Marvel and James Bond… but I never think about it too much. In Denmark, we don’t divide it into bad guys and good guys, we tend look at more complex characters.”

Mikkelsen is a recipient of the honorary Etoile d’Or career prize of the Marrakech Film Festival this year, which is also holding a gala screening of his new film and Denmark’s Oscar entry The Promised Land.

The masterclass saw him talking to a packed cinema filled with a young, lively crowd of predominantly aspiring actors and filmmakers.

One young actress asked Mikkelsen for advice on acting in a non-mother tongue film.

“I’ve done quite a few films in different languages, none of them I speak or at least not fluently,” he said. “The trick the first time I did anything in English was to rehearse it and rehearse it and then, once you shoot the scene that’s it, it’s over. Don’t think about it anymore. If there are mistakes, if people out there are going, ‘Oh my God, what an accent’. So be it. That’s all I could do.

“Forget it once you get in there, focus on the scene. You cannot be on stage or in front of the camera, focusing on the language. The worst-case scenario is you can fix it later in the ADR sessions later on.”

The actor said that it was important that the director was on the same page and willing to accept an accented performance.

“If they anticipate a perfect language with no accent whatsoever, you should tell them to find someone else.”

1. Who fell in love with Danish accents? I thought Le Chiffre was French!

2. Americans copy things. Why are foreign actors attacking Americans, so much lately?

3. Studio host doesn't matter. James Bond is a British franchise, through and through, from beginning to end. Americans have nothing to do with the making of Bond films.

4. Isn't Mads Mikkelson so lucky? It's very easy to tell people to shrug off criticisms of using a foreign accent, when he nor any of his characters have been attacked over an accent. He's never once been called out for an imperfect accent, when imperfect, some of them have been, as he admits. Very lucky.

[fueledbysano]

KINKTOBER DAY 2: “DILF; Toji”

summary: The one night stand you swore to forget turned into a regular fling... Until one morning at his house, you meet someone from his life.

✧ pairing: toji x fem reader

✧ includes: NSFW, detailed smut, daddy kink, degradation kink, unprotected sex, alcohol, slightly ooc toji

✧ a/n: One of my fave writers and some really cool ones just reblogged yesterday's chapter and I'm levitating 😤 Thank you for all the positive feedbacks! Also, this gave me baby fever wtf.

You still weren't used to the luxurious interiors and service of the hotel you were staying in, despite weeks and weeks of your stay.

It seems that you have tried every facility; pools, spa, gym, theater rooms, the casino, karaoke, hell, even the coffee making lessons they had.

But one thing you also liked about this place were the men that hung out in it. We're not talking the attractive guys your age, the rich middle-aged ones particularly; and this place seemed to be a hotspot for them.

So here you were, drink in hand at a bar counter in attempts to get to talk to one. You've put on your cute champagne-colored dress with an open back, and perfectly hugging your curves. Simple, yet, very timely and elegant. You effortlessly carried the whole look, turning out very beautiful.

The exquisite bar was lit dimly, accentuating the skilled musicians on stage who were performing classic jazz tunes and you could easily tell they wore elegant designer pieces. The guests in the crowded space resembled the music being played— sophisticated and lavish.

Although it's already nine in the evening, the place remained lively and active. Night life here definitely is something you could get used to.

"Another daiquiri." You ask to the bartender passing by as you paid attention to the music video playing on the flat screen tv, at this point, not even paying attention to your surroundings anymore. The song was catchy and the video's cinematography was eye catching, in your defense.

“and... whatever she's having.” You could hear the faint talking a few feet on your right but still decided to finish the video. It had a nice story.

“Excuse me, ma'am?” The bartender spoke, sliding over a coaster in front of her before placing another glass of drink. “This is from the gentleman over there.” Your eyes followed at the direction in which he pointed at, and the lighting was much better, allowing you to get the best look of a very attractive man with long black fringes and ripped extremity.

You pause for a bit, appreciating his physique. His white shirt is stretched out by the man's broad shoulders, displaying substantial muscles beneath the thin fabric. With every basic flex, he leans back on both arms, bulging his biceps which had pooled pushed up sleeves, revealing his forearms.

You internally panicked at the realization of how long you had been looking when he got up from his seat to approach you. You immediately sip on your current shot glass, trying to act casually as if you weren't just drooling over him five seconds ago.

“So... this a good place to hang out at?” He asks. “Wouldn't know... my first time here.” You lied. “Ah, I'm new in town too.” He spoke, making himself comfortable on the seat beside you as you quietly nod, enjoying the last few ounces of your drink.

“Hm, ignoring me?” He teases. “I'm not.” You chuckle. “Good, because you shouldn't.” He says. “Why not?”

“Because I just bought you a drink, and I'm very attractive.” He spoke with ease, earning a laugh from you. “Well, I'm wasn't planning to ignore you, and you are indeed, attractive.” You admit. “Double scotch?” The bartender gets in between you for a brief moment before your eyes meet again.

“Toji.” “[Name].”

“So... what brings you here?” You asked, turning on your seat towards him. “I needed to discuss business with my colleagues then try gambling.” He gestured at the other men busy on a poker table.

“Why'd you bail?”

“It's not my thing.” He downs an ounce of scotch. “Brings you here?” He now asks. You couldn't really come up with one, and you're all alone as well. “Just a girl in the bar.” You answer.

“I like that.” Toji nods, taking out his shot glass for you to toast, now with the glass of drink he'd bought for you.

You needed a confidence boost, so you down the drink quickly, slamming the empty glass on the table afterwards. “So, seems that we have no business being here anymore, want to take this somewhere else?” He was surprised at how forward and honest your words were. “Alright... What do you think of paying a visit to my penthouse?” Penthouse? Hell, this guy is mad rich. and hot. He had some cool composure and mysterious aura to him as well which made him even more attractive.

What the hell. “Come on.”

The one night stand you swore to forget turned into a regular fling.

You were out of the hotel and back at your regular home, making sure to keep it extra nice whenever Toji comes over.

Although tonight, you end up hanging out at his penthouse after a night out for dinner. So here you were, getting fucked into the cozy comforter on the floor by the warm fireplace, the crackling sounds mixing along with your licentious moans.

“Faster...” Your legs were hooked around his hips in attempt to fuck him into your hole, but he kept ignoring your cries of plead, knowing it drove you absolutely crazy. He was grinding his hips into your painfully slow, only to oull off entirely and thrust back halfway in.

“Easy, baby... easy.” He repeats the action, taking a glass of champagne from the table during the process abd drinking from it.

He slams his lips back onto yours before you can respond. His hands glide down your waist, squeezing and feeling you from top to bottom. With each sigh and whine that escapes your lips, his movements become more and more erratic.

"You're so fucking beautiful." Toji groans softly as he grinds his growing hard on against your thigh.

"So hard for me?" You tease as he lets out a particularly loud groan. "Shut up bitch." He mumbles and dipped his head down to your chest.

A high pitched whine leaves your mouth as Toji lightly bites on your hardened nipple. His snuck up with the free one as he sucks and teases your breast with his skilled tongue. And oh, how he loved marking you up and hearing your cries of pleasure.

"So sensitive, princess." He teases as he pinches your nipples, eliciting a pained pleasure from you. "I love those sounds." He sits up on his knees with a sharp glint in his eyes and admired the growing dark bruises along your chest.

“Make me feel good, sir.” You whined, cupping your breasts with your hands which his lustful eyes were glued on. His mouth falled open and licked his bottom lip slowly. His eyes squeezed shut as he lets out a low groan.

"What did you say?" He growls, wanting to hear those words from your pretty mouth again. His voice dropped a deep, low voice you were so hooked with.

"Please, daddy, make me feel good." Bringing his finger to your mouth, you softly nibble on it and look up at his fierce eyes. You bat your eyelashes at them, bringing your arms together to show off your cleavage. His grin only grew wider as he climbs off you.

"What a fucking desperate slut." His voice was dangerously low as he snuck one hand to your breast, squeezing it roughly while the other one travelled down to your soaking pussy.

"So wet." You ca easily picture the smirk on his face as he slips two fingers inside of you. You rest your forehead against the pillow as he ravished you with his skillful hands with a loud moan.

"You're such a whore for my fingers, aren't you?" You nod, not being able to use your words as he sped up his fingers. "Naughty girl." Before you could stutter out that you were close he rips his fingers away.

"Open." He growls deeply in your ear. Opening your mouth he shoves his fingers in your mouth once again to lick them clean.

Your tongue swirls around them in a way that's so familiar to him; the same way you did to his dick. Taking his fingers out of your mouth, he took your hands once and pins them above your head. Without another word, your chest now hit the sheets, ass in the air before he shoved his hard cock inside of you making you scream at the sudden penetration.

As you moan, your walls flutter around him. He has a devilish grin on his face, yet you can't help but feel your chest inflate from having taken him all.

“Hands on your back.” He commands breathlessly. You can't help but follow his command, and his large hand immediately takes your wrists in his fist once more.

"Please! I need you so fucking badly..." You cried out, moving your hips to try to gain a faster speed. "So filthy..." He scolds, not changing his slow pace. You faced the pillow and let out a frustrated scream.

"Please, fuck me so hard." You sob, now tears pooling your eyes at the way you were being teased.

"You love getting fucked like a whore, huh?" Toji was slowly losing control, the slow pace was getting harder and harder to keep as he just wanted to destroy your insides.

"But you've been such a good girl..." With a sharp movement of his hips, his pace finally picked up in a hard and fast manner.

He was relentless with the new pace. It's hard to believe the same man who just minutes earlier was embracing you by the fire and slowly teasing you was now pounding into your pussy mercilessly. Tears of pleasure were clouding your vision as he kept his rough pace. It just felt so damn good, like always.

"You look so pretty like this darling, ruined and crying as I fuck you so hard.” He remarked, now pushing your nape further into the sheets.

"I'm gonna cum." your words slurred together. "Go do it for me darling." His words finally sent you over the edge. Waves of pleasure come crashing down as your vision goes fuzzy.

You felt Toji buried deep inside of you, hissing at the feeling of your orgasm. With a few more thrusts he cums hard inside of you. Pulling out slowly, he admired your fucked out body.

Both of you were panting heavily and catching your breath in attempt to come down. Your eyes were clouded with pleasure and chest was rising and falling on you from the intense high.

“Stay the night.” Toji blurts, and your eyes open in an instant. He's never asked you that before, but you didn't mind it. and his bed felt super comfortable too.

“Uh, alright.” You nod, and he obliged, literally sweeping you off the ground in his strong arms as he took you into his room. to call it a day.

The next morning, you found yourself having breakfast in Toji's counter, enjoying a glass of juice and a granola bar you found in his pantry.

Until you see a small figure walk past the doorframe in front of you, catching your attention. Was that the hangover or did you just see a child walk?

“Huh...” You softly mumble, peeking to the hallway until you felt small hands tug on your (Toji's) shirt.

“Who are you?” The child asks, looking up at you with a clueless expression. And oh, did he looked so similar to Toji, having long, black fringes of his own.

“Uhh–”

“I'm hungry, will you make me cereal?” He asks. “Sure...” You spoke, almost as if a question. He quietly crawled up to the seat and watched as you poured him his breakfast, chin in his hands, patiently waiting.

“Here you go.” You slide the bowl over to him and got back on your phone. Who is this kid? and what's taking Toji so long in the bedroom?

“Why are you wearing my dad's clothes?” The kid blurts, causing you to spit out the juice on the sink. Dad?!

“Hey there– woahhh.” Toji exclaims, stopping on his tracks as he sees you and his kid at the same room.

“Oh, well...” He cursed under his breath. “Good morning, dad.” The child hopped off the seat to rush over his dad and hug his legs.

“Good morning, kiddo.” He greets back, now picking up the child in his arms, giving you the opportunity to have a good look on their faces. and the kid looked so much like him.

“Who is the lady?” The kid asks and you froze on the spot. What was he going to say? “She is [Name], ‘Gumi. Daddy's friend.” He explained as the child now gave you soft eyes, his feet hitting the ground once Toji puts him down.

“Hi [Name]. Thank you for making me breakfast.” He spoke, now taking the bowl into his hands and rushed off to the TV playing cartoons, leaving you and Toji alone in the kitchens.

“He's nice.” You smile. “Okay, I know you're real freaked out right now.” He says.

“I'm more of surprised, but, I understand if you didn't wanna tell me right away.” You shrugged, finishing off your glass of juice until a certain though crossed your mind, making your eyes widen and painfully gulp the last ounce of the drink.

“You're not married, are you?” You blurt. “Oh, no.” He denied.

“Well, that's good.” You sigh. You didn't mind dating a guy with a kid, after all. “Hey, thanks for understanding.” He snuck up from behind you, stealing a kiss. “Of course.” You smile, returning the kiss to him.

“So... you're a dilf.” You joked, instantly regretting it the moment his palm comes in contact with your ass. “Naughty girl...” His breath was hot on your neck. “Shower. Now.”

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[ineffably-human]

The Gang Watches The Pirate Show Part 2

(it's during season 4 for them probably)

Laszlo: - does a lot of very passionate shouting at the screen to the point that everyone tells him to knock it the fuck off - says the moral of this story is all the English are fucking pricks who should be drawn and quartered - and that one French guy from the one episode, with the wig and the stupid laugh, he still hates him too even if he doesn't know why - ('the complaining scribbling boy doesn't count, I could probably fuck the English out of him.') - he puts Ed's shitty lyrics to a piano melody, it does not improve them but he gets teary anyway

Nadja: - is entertained by the violence more than everyone else but is still whimpering and throat-singing by the end - lots of Very Meaningful Looks and hand-squeezes with Laszlo during the monologue about love - is sad the sexy pirate lady didn't come back, there aren't enough women in this and she liked her, at least there is also a sexy eyepatch lady - 'should we start a service going about and killing women's husbands, my sweet dark prince?' 'I think it's a little different these days, my darling, but we could scout for prospects' Colin: - is too young for this show but sneaks in to watch it anyway and glows really bright when the characters get hurt or are at their most pathetic, the others either pretend they don't see him or are genuinely too invested to notice Nandor: - agrees they really do have to swordfight, all his years campaigning and he did not know that trick about the stabbing. ('I'm not sure they've got the right information, Master.') - watches Guillermo watching what happens a lot. a LOT. (think The Casino, that's his default whenever he's too far up in his own feelings and needs a proxy except the proxy is also about his own feelings.) - 'why do they not fight back? I would simply set FIRE to this Navy and-' - on the reveal of Ed without his beard he murmurs 'oh, he became a human' and everyone just stares at him for 15 seconds wondering where the fuck that came from - once the thing happens at the docks it hits a nerve. yelling about how Stede might be captured or injured and why wouldn't he search for him, does he not believe in him? 'this is very sad D: why did you ask us to watch a sad thing, Guillermo!! that was very rude!!' and he storms off and has to ask Guillermo to play the last episode later when he's feeling calmer. - then it's just the two of them and they don't even hide how they're watching each other a lot.

Guillermo: - 'would I have wanted to be a pirate if I saw this when I was 10?...probably not, pirates still can't fly. and I think they're still around but they're doing some sort of political thing, in countries I don't know a lot about? I think I'd have realized some things sooner, though' - goes full camp and shouts 'oh you did NOT just bury a gay' when Lucius is thrown overboard - he gets why Stede went back. he has to take a second when ep 10 is over to call his mom. - I have talked about the kinning Izzie thing, like he sees himself there more than in Stede or Lucius and he Does Not Like It but also barely has the language to understand what he's feeling about all of it so he just gets that look like he's gonna be sick - he doesn't see the return of the Blackbeard persona coming and it gut punches him. Nandor absolutely did see it coming. they're dead silent for the final bits. - they do eventually have a very long conversation that is very ephemeral in my head but starts with Guillermo saying 'I'm sorry things never felt easy' and Nandor scoffing and saying 'you think you are why things weren't easy?' - it does not cover even half their issues but they agree to play chess together some night and not worry about who or what they are for a little while - they both think that sounds nice

[absentmoon]

🏁🏁2 of them please fresh off the press 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

ok fine you may have two.Only because you are a bee -_-

"Okay, okay, okay," I laugh; we'd moved on from the important things, and instead switched to swapping information and amusing ourselves with our differences. "Um, um— oh!" I clap my hands together. "Do you, I mean, do you like film, Benny?"

"Whaddyou think, baby?" He says with a wink. "Got your answer written all over me, hey?"

"It's just, I mean," I fumble a little, thinking of how to word this without seeming. Rude. "Um. You use a lot of. Slang?"

Benny raises an eyebrow, and I think I see a playful glint in the way he looks at me. "Whatcha talkin' about, pussycat?" He asks. "I can dig a little creativity sometimes, sure, but what player doesn't?"

A little dawning dread fills me, like cold water trickling down my back. He leans forward with a mean, winning smile. "But enough about me, kitten. You've been a real ring-a-ding winner of a cat, haven't ya? You got me on the lucky side', baby, out of the way of the big casino, and if that ain't the best feeling in the world— I'm grateful, crazy even, honest!"

He's very, very close. "Okay," I say. "Okay." There's a long pause. Then I remember myself again, and very subtly derail the conversation. "So- So you like movies, huh?"

Having mercy, Benny leans back again. "You bet! And I know exactly which kind of movie you're talking about here." Benny waggles his eyebrows. I feel very lost suddenly.

"You like... um, what kind?" I try, but it comes out wrong— too squeaky and uncertain for me to sound at all natural.

"Romance, pussycat, what else?" He swings an arm around to pull me against him with a flourish. This can't be happening, I think suddenly. This has to be a dream.

"Uh. Right." It feels more like a question than anything. "Yeah. Romance." My eyes flicker up to meet Benny's. "Are— so you're, um, interested in romance?"

Benny laughs softly, low and light. "'Course I am, sugarplum," he says, leaning in close again. "Just for that person, or people. The kind who make me so happy it hurts, dig?"

I nod. I'm looking at his eyes again; they're brown, dark brown, the kind that's almost black, the kind that's like staring into deep space.

Then I sneeze and contemplate taking a full step away from him and perhaps sinking into the floor. "Do-do you want to watch Sunset Boulevard?"

•

"Ah."

"Shut up."

"Baby, I didn't say a thing!"

I grumble a little from where I am next to him. Benny's hands are raised in a faux show of honesty, but I could guess what he'd meant. I pretend very much not to notice when one of his hands comes back down to rest against my side.

It's only a second before he opens his mouth again. "Just a little question, honey-kitten, that fink on screen wouldn't happen to be your type, would it?"

The "fink" in question would be the protagonist of the movie I wanted to show him, a down-on-his-luck kind of guy. He speaks with an accent and uses very, very silly slang. Also, he wears a suit.

I begrudgingly sink a little further into my seat, with the unfortunate consequence of being much more aware of how close he is next to me. "He's not— Okay, listen."

"All ears, pussycat."

"Listen– listen," I feel the corners of my mouth twitching upwards despite myself. "He's — he is my favorite here, okay? But-"

"Ah."

"Listen!"

His grin grows wider, and I notice offhandedly that he has light laugh lines on his face. "I'm listening! Go ahead!"

"-But I'm not— I wouldn't be interested! He acts like a total dick!"

Benny laughs, a bright chuckle that makes my stomach flip. "Oh, baby, you're so easy to read!" His fingers move from my side to trail up through my hair, and I shiver, closing my eyes briefly at the gentle touch. "You've got some good taste there, sugar."

"Whatever," I mumble distractedly. His hand has stilled in my hair, and apparently Benny was perfectly fine with that. "Can't we just watch the movie?"

"Aw, c'mon, don't tell me the cute fella isn't worth paying attention to?"

"We can pay fucking attention to him if you let us watch the movie, Benny."