#you could even get a usb drive and run it off that for some movies

[beddhead-red]

One thing I notice frequently is that people who don't pirate like to pretend that piracy is hard or takes a lot of time and effort.

Sometimes the initial putting together of a VPN/torrent setup takes a while, but once you do it, actually pirating anything is pretty trivially easy with even a basic amount of tech know-how. Those greentexts which act like "oh it's like 30 different steps to watch one movie that takes like 2 hours" have never actually pirated, or they tried to do a complex process for something they don't understand and are mad that they couldn't get it to immediately work.

Even if you use some FOSS media player alternative it still only takes like 5 minutes to set up and play if you actually understand it, maybe 10 if you have to look for a working .srt for subtitles. The only actual timesink is the amount of time it takes to download, which A: torrents are usually faster B: downloading does actually mean you don't have to deal with buffering if your internet sucks & C: you can actually do most of the setup for other things WHILE waiting for the download.

[americas1suiteheart]

Just a teeny tiny little oneshot/headcannon type thing about how I think the Twins would act if you asked them if they liked Harry Potter the first time you met them jokingly. Its the funniest thing to me.

The Twins Reacting To You Asking If They Like Harry Potter

[Notes; I based Lemon more so off of his character in the novel (which I highly recommend by the way,) and sorta did the same with Tangerine, but Tan is just a little more based off of his personality in the movie more than anything.]

[Warnings; Swearing, violence, killing other people, small mention of the Cartel.]

-Tangerine-

He'd be LIVID!

"What the fuck do you mean by that?"

Considers not talking to you EVER again because he's so upset with you.

Even if you were genuinely curious and just wondering, he'd take it as offensive or think your mocking him in some sort of way.

Say you met him on a mission, your fighting him, Lemon is knocked out cold in a corner;

You were on a mission to steal a USB drive, it was a snatch and grab, easy as that. You didn't expect it to be difficult at all except for taking out a couple of guys along the way, and it was going smoothly until after you'd gotten the USB.

You were just about to make it out of the door, just a couple feet away from it when two people, known widely around the board as The Twins, barged right through the door.

You could've passed it off as you just being some innocent civilian, but you unfortunately were surrounded by a bunch of dead security guards and cartel members, not to mention you had splatters of blood and a couple of nasty cuts all over you.

"This isn't what it looks like.." You say, trying your best to make it seem like you had nothing to do with the scene.

"You sure about that love?" Tangerine says, an eyebrow raised in unamusement.

You tried to make a run for it, but failed as Lemon had quickly punched you in your gut.

You stumble to the floor but quickly get up and block another one of Lemon's punches and hit him hard in the side of his head with your gun.

Tangerine lunges at you, taking you down and pinning you to the ground as he kicks your gun away.

"Now, being with this scene right here, I'm gonna assume your also here to retrieve that bloody USB. So, that being; it would be great if you would just hand it over so we could get this over with," Tangerine says, holding your arms to your side and sitting on your legs so you couldn't move.

"You like Harry Potter? You've got that accent, real nice by the way," You smirk.

"What the fuck did you just say to me?" Tangerine scowls.

"Y'know, Harry Potter! The books and movies about the British wizards. You've got that nice British accent, figure you'd know about it," You knew it was pissing him off, its what you'd planned. If he gets angry enough it'll throw him off and give you an advantage to get out from under him and run off.

"I'm gonna give you 10 seconds to take back what you just said before I blow your fuckin' brains out," Tangerine says angrily.

Great, he was starting to loose it. When he goes to take his gun out you could use your free hand to knock him out cold and leave.

"Nah, I stand by what I said and taking it back will mean you win. There's no way I'm letting that happen, I like being right." You give a sly smirk.

He takes one of his hands off of your arm to reach for his gun in his holster when you give him a good punch to his face and quickly switch positions so that you were on top of him, holding both of his hands above his head as you sat on top of him in a straddling position.

"Your easier to piss off than I would've thought, you should take some anger management classes y'know," You say.

You grab his gun from its holster, "Sorry to do this to ya, but you'll be knocked out fairly quick, so you won't be so terribly in pain right away, though waking up will be a bitch. I'll make sure to move you two so when the other guys come they don't kill ya. Consider this a blessing! Night, night." You say to him before knocking him out with the gun, same as his brother.

"Easy peasy," You say to yourself as you drag Lemon and Tangerine into a hidden area, then flee the scene.

You two will run into each other during other missions sometimes and you'll tease him about the harry potter thing every time just to piss him off even more.

It pisses him off even more when you get away again, but as much as he hates losing, he would rather it be to you than anyone else.

Lemon never knows what happened right after because your always quick to knock him out first, so whenever Tangerine rambles on angrily about how they'd lost to you again and the teasing, Lemon would just kinda be like "What?".

-Lemon-

Thinks your genuinely curious to know if he likes Harry Potter or not.

"I mean, it's cool and all but I don't really like it all that much y'know?"

Your confused because you meant to upset him.

Tangerine is pointing his gun at you and he's just kind of looking at Lemon like he's said something stupid.

Then he just continues on saying how he likes Thomas and Friends more, completely forgetting what he was even doing in the first place and Tangerine is just yelling at him💀

You were hired to protect and hide a certain person that wasn't exactly the best. You didn't enjoy it, though you can't say yourself that you weren't a bad person either.

It wasn't the easiest job, you had to deal with loads of different people coming to either kidnap or kill the damn prick, but luckily you weren't by yourself as some of the man's guards were still working. It was a fairly short job, only about 5 days at most, and you were getting paid *a lot* for it too.

Things had actually been going pretty smoothly except for enemies of the person that came occasionally, but they were easy to take out. It wasn't until your last day there that shit really started to hit the fan.

Two men had broke in and taken out all of the guards by themselves, they were skilled and no doubt trained well.

You hid in an area where you couldn't be seen so when they came you could take them out easily. Now, at the time you hadn't known there was two of them, so when you took out your gun to point it at one of them thinking they were the only one, another came from behind you and held you into a chokehold.

"Alright, drop the gun and tell us where your hiding that nasty son of a bitch and we might just let you go alive," The man holding you spoke into your ear.

You dropped your gun as it would do you no use i this situation as the man was pointing your hand which held it to your head.

After doing so the man's hold on you loosened just enough so that way you could breathe well enough but still be held tightly.

"Fuckin' hell man.." You muttered, gripping onto the man's arms tightly in attempt to pry them off but you were left to no avail.

"You know, you've got a real nice accent, you like Harry Potter?" You choke out.

"Eh, nah not really. It mean, its cool and all, you know wizards and shit, but I'm not all for it. I'd much rather watch Thomas and Friends," The man replies.

You were confused now nonetheless, wondering if he had just not been bothered by your comment or if he just genuinely thought you were asking. But you decided to continue along with the Thomas and Friends talk, to try and buy yourself more time before more guards could arrive.

"You like Thomas and Friends too? Whats your favourite engine? I think mine might be Gordon," You say, still holding your grip on his arms.

The other man standing in front of you holding his gun pointed at you has an annoyed and dumbfounded look on his face as he looks at the man currently holding you.

"Really? That's cool. I'd say my favourite is Edward probably. Why's Gordon your favourite?" He replies, clearly getting distracted.

"Well, Gordon is the big engine, he's not afraid to tell out of line engines off, he's also one of the most reliable engines and is actually quite kind once you see past his though exterior. Why's Edward your favourite?" You ask.

"Oh my fuckin' god, you can't really be doing this right now Lemon, we have stuff to do! Get a fuckin' move on with it!" The other man says angrily.

"You're bein' a right fuckin' dickhead Tan- Oh shit, I forgot, my bad!" Lemon says, still holding you, his grip tightening causing you to groan in pain.

"Got a little carried away there, now, do you suppose you could tell us where that prick is? It'll make things much easier for all of us here," Lemon asks once again.

"I'm getting paid a lot for this shit, I'd much rather die then tell you where he is and not get my damn money," You strain, grip becoming tighter on his arm.

"Well, I tried Tan, no use maybe we shou-" Suddenly a loud boom sounds, shaking the whole building causing rubble to fall from the ceilings.

You'd hoped it would be more guards or possibly more people trying to kill the person. Anything to get you out of this uncomfortable position.

Soon shots are fired at Tangerine as he was in sight from the hallway, guys running towards him getting a few good punches in.

They weren't the guards, which meant that they would probably try to kill you too if lemon kept his hold on you.

"Lemon! Some backup right fuckin' now would be great!" Tangerine grunts, shooting his gun at a couple guys, killing them.

Lemon doesn't hesitate to let go of you and grab your gun before you could, using it to shoot at the men attacking Tangerine.

You fall to the ground giving yourself a few seconds to catch your breath before getting back up to help the two fight the other men.

"Edward's my favourite because he's kind but doesn't let anyone take advantage of that kindness and doesn't take anyones shit, he's an older engine too but really reliable and useful." Lemon says between pants as he snaps a guy's neck.

"We're in the middle of a fuckin' fight and you're still talking about Thomas and fucking Friends, Lemon!?" Tangerine shouts, annoyed.

"I get that, Edward has to be my second favourite. You remind me a lot of Edward actually. I just kinda get that feel from you, y'know?" You respond, taking a punch to your ribs in the process.

"Oh fuckin' christ there's two of them now..." Tangerine groans.

"Really? I always thought I was a bit of a James myself. You remind me of a James or Percy though," Lemon responds, glancing over at you for a second before using your gun to shoot a guy coming up from behind you.

"Thanks," You say, looking over at the guy he just shot before continuing to snap a guys neck.

"No problem, sweetheart," Lemon says, sending you a cheeky wink.

"Can you two stop fuckin' flirting with eachother and finish killing these fuckers!" Tangerine says, gritting his teeth.

Another minute or two passes and you finally finish killing all of the men, leaving the three of you panting and holding your injuries in pain.

Soon after the man you were meant to be protecting came out, presumably thinking the everyone had possibly killed eachother.

Tangerine was quick to act and swiftly pulled out his gun and shot the man in the head.

"Dude! I was almost there! You couldn't have waited to kill him until I'd gotten my money? Fuck!" You look at tangerine in disbelief, all that hard work for nothing in return other than bruised ribs and a good couple of cuts.

Tangerine didn't say anything, he just walked to the man's body and searched his pockets, finding some keys and throwing them to you.

"There, don't fuckin' complain you've got more money than you were originally gonna get paid now," Tangerine said to you, still panting.

You sat down on the floor, sitting up against two of the people that were killed, groaning in pain as you held your ribs with your right hand. Keys in your left.

Lemon goes to sit next to you, moving over the arm of one of the corpses.

"That guy you were protecting was a right fuckin' desiel you know," Lemon looks down at you.

"Yeah I know, I can't say I enjoyed protecting someone that's caused a lot of harm and pain for innocent people, but this job was paying a lot of money, I can't resist that," You shrug.

"So you protected a guy as bad as him just so you could get a shit ton of money? Your starting to sound like a Henry now, bit selfish 'innit?" Lemon chuckles.

"Oh no, I like a quiet life so I don't use the money to buy big houses, electronics, or all that fancy shit. I keep 1/4th of the money and donate the rest to homeless shelters, Cancer research, all that jazz y'know," You reply, looking up at Lemon.

Lemon lets out a content hum, silence fills the room for a couple moments before its interrupted by Tangerine clearing his throat.

"Right, we're gonna go now being that we've just finished what we came here for, and I hope we never meet again because this shit was fuckin' miserable. Let's go Lemon," Tangerine says getting up and walking ahead, gesturing for Lemon to follow him.

"Well, it was nice meeting someone else that has one of the same interests as me, mind if I get your name?" Lemon asks, getting up and holding his hand out to you.

You get up and shake his hand firmly, "A good assassin never lets anyone else know their real name, Brian.." You say before letting go of his hand and running off out through a broken window.

"What the fuck? How did they know my fuckin' name?" Lemon said to himself, standing frozen in disbelief.

"I hope you two never fuckin' meet again, I never want to deal with a double of you ever again," Tangerine grunts, walking out of the building with Lemon behind him.

"I dunno, they seemed fun, I liked them," Lemon says, adding on to what Tangerine had just said.

"I could fuckin' tell,"

You two definitely run into eachother more than many times, sometimes even getting assigned to the same missions to work together, Tangerine hates it EVERY TIME.

But Tangerine is genuinely happy that his brother found someone to talk to about the same thing he likes, he'll never tell you two that though.

You'll occasionally call eachother the engine characters you gave to eachother, sometimes you'll even call Tangerine Gordon just to piss him off more, (it works).

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

As you can tell, I got very carried away with the lemon part, I love writing for him so much guys you have no clue🤭🤭🤭

[lautakwah]

hey ling, hope ur doing well and was wondering if i could ask some advice - totally ok if no but. im currently trying to screen record a cdrama right now so i can rewatch it later w/o paying, but i only recorded one episode and it's taken up all my icould and google drive storage 😭 i was wondering if u knew anything i could do, since i feel like r educated in the ways of 🏴‍☠️ 😭

screenrecording is the least efficient way of doing it i think :( ive never tried to do it for more than maybe a few minutes-long clips (most are around 30-40 seconds!), and doing it bloats your memory while also being worse quality. now the last thing may not be a huge deal (i personally dont mind if sth is 4k or 480/720p, esp since older films and dramas simply are harder to find in full hd), but storage efficiency is what you're here for so!!

delete things (files, programs, games, etc) you don't use (anymore), as that probably already opens up a ton of space. there are programs that can help you with looking up which files and shit you use/open the least.

when pirating, ofc use a trusted site and client but also check which files are the smallest and just get that one (unless youre a gifmaker or a real stickler for hd, 720p will suffice imo). tv series in my experience run about 20-30gb if theyre 1080, so even smaller if it's not as hd! google drive only gives 15gb but i think if you compress it into a zip file it miiiiiight fit? if not you can just split it between gdrive and your icloud :)!

an alternatuve option would be to find a streaming wrbsite that had the series but not paywalled, it's less work but the downside is that you can't access this offline (the main reason i like owning (digital) copies)

last but not least, and unfortunately this is the best way to have enough storage: invest in an external hard disk. if you're planning on having more tv series (and perhaps movies) on ur pc/laptop, the best and easiest way to make sure you (almost) never run out of storage is to just... buy more! i splurged on a 5tb external hard disk with bday-christmas money but obviously even having a 256gb/512gb one will be enough if you're not obsessed with putting entire filmographies on there like me djfngmv even getting a bunch of 32/64/128gb usb sticks will prob help out, and while it absolutely is an investment, if you're already paying for a subscription this is a surefire way to make sure you get your money's worth in case they take it off the platform or whatever (looking at how guardian got the boot from literally every streaming platform including yt 😭😭😭)

anyway i hope this helps!! :3

[monsta-x-jagi]

Legal Affairs - Chapter 8

Synopsis: You watch footage, including some footage you didn’t want to see. Wonho likes your legs

Word count: 2.2k

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

You seemed agitated by Yoona, and hadn’t said much the whole drive to the dorms. “I still can’t believe you told her to get home safe after threatening to sue her,” Hoseok said.

“I was being serious. I can’t have someone disparage my client like that,” you replied as you parked the car. 

“Y/n, you’re off work, you know you can relax, right?” Hoseok said. 

You glanced at the clock in your car. “You say that, but I’m absolutely just going to continue watching footage the rest of the night.” 

“But weren’t we going to watch the footage together? It’s not even 8pm yet.” 

You raised an eyebrow at Hoseok. “Are you saying you want to watch footage with me after whatever exhausting day you had?"

“It wasn’t that exhausting. Plus I promised you extra sets of eyes, so how about,” Hoseok paused, taking a shaky breath, “you come inside, I’ll call in some of the members, and we share the work?"

“Sounds good to me,” you said with no hesitation, surprising Hoseok. He led you up to the dorms, pretending he didn’t feel giddy about the possibilities for the rest of the night. 

You entered Hoseok’s dorm to find all of the members waiting. Kihyun was preparing tea in the kitchen; Changkyun and Hyungwon were watching TV while seated on the floor; Jooheon and Hyunwoo were lounging on the couch; Minhyuk came out of the bathroom with a facemask.

“Hello everyone,” you said politely. 

“Did you enjoy dinner tonight? Where did Hoseok take you?” Kihyun asked. 

“We just had some pizza.” You replied as Kihyun walked over to you from the kitchen and handed you a cup of tea. You smiled and thanked him before the returned to the kitchen. 

“Hoseok said you wanted to use our TV for something?” Changkyun said to you.

“Uh yeah, the footage. You’ll be able to identify far more people than me,” you explained. 

“Alright, turn the movie off, help y/n connect her devices to the TV,” Hyunwoo instructed, nudging Changkyun and Hyungwon who dutifully helped you. You inserted the first USB of footage and the CCTV watch party had begun.

You sat in the middle of the couch, holding a little notebook. The members filled the spaces around you and the floor, with Hoseok sitting beside you. The footage played, and you occasionally scribbled notes down. The members occasionally made comments.

“Oh hyung that’s you!”

“Did my outfit really look like that?”

“Oh who’s Karina’s date?”

 So far, you hadn’t seen the mystery woman.

At some point, your back began to hurt from the way you were sitting. You shifted in your seat trying to find a better position, but you were wedged between Hoseok and Jooheon.

“Are you okay?” Hoseok asked when he saw you fidgeting. His face was so close to you that it filled your whole view, and his voice was quiet so that only you would hear.

“Yeah, just trying to sit better,” you muttered as you continued wriggling in your seat.

“Put your legs up,” Hoseok said as if reading your mind. “We don’t mind.” He gestured toward the members.

You nodded but said, “Don’t worry, there’s no space.”

“You can stretch them out over my lap,” Hoseok said in such an unbothered voice that you wondered if you heard him right. You stared at him for a few moments and decided why the hell not? If you’d already slept (and just slept) with the man, swinging your legs over his lap was nothing. 

Once you swung your legs over, Hoseok’s hands rested over your thigh and knees. You silently thanked yourself for choosing to wear long pants today. 

Hoseok had to remind himself to breathe and keep his hands still. He wanted nothing more than to massage your calves and run his fingers along your thigh, toying with you. It didn’t help that any time he did move, he could feel your legs tensing under his hands.

Minhyuk’s voice crashed through Hoseok’s thoughts. “Y/n, who are you talking to?”

When you turned to face Minhyuk, your knees bent and your legs almost clutched Hoseok’s body. Hoseok gritted his jaw to not make any sounds. 

“That was Kihyun,” you answered Minhyuk. 

“No but afterwards, the man with the hat. He looks like one of our members,” Minhyuk said. 

“No, it can’t be. He would’ve recognised me otherwise. He’s just someone random that approached me,” you replied.

Hoseok looked up at the footage playing, giving it the most attention he had since your legs landed in his lap. The man you were talking to was him, in his rabbit onesie. But the stupid hat. Hoseok had borrowed it off Minhyuk one day, and decided to wear it because he was cold. The hat had a neck warmer attached and covered all of his hair too. In the dark of the party, he hadn’t recognised you in your mask, and you hadn’t recognised him in his face concealing hat.

You truly didn’t know that the man you had sex with was your client. 

 “I didn’t know you were the type of person to leave with a man you’d just met,” Changkyun said, and Hoseok’s jaw clenched. 

Still, you seemed unbothered. “You’d be surprised how little options law school gives you. Dating is hard, you take what you can.”

“But you’re a lawyer, at a good company. Surely you’ll meet someone soon?” Hyunwoo said.

“I meet more clients than dates, guys,” you said laughing. 

Everybody was quiet for a minute. Then Hoseok spoke. “Would you ever date a client?”

He and the members watched as you considered your response. “I don’t know,” you finally said. “When we handle contracts, the client is usually a business represented by their lawyers. There haven’t been many meetings where I’ve seen someone and thought I’d like to date them.”

“So then, what happened when you did meet someone you wanted to date?” Jooheon asked.

“The last time, I got tired of working with him. Like if we can’t collaborate professionally, then a relationship seems even less likely,” you replied. The CCTV footage had finished by the time you finished speaking.

You began to lift your legs to get the next USB, but Hoseok stopped you. He slid your legs off him to get up from the couch and grabbed the USBs from your bag. He held them out in front of you, and when you picked one, he gave it to Hyungwon to plug into your computer. Then to your surprise, when Hoseok sat down, he reached down to grab you ankles and place your legs back over his lap.

“Oh you don’t have to…” you began but Hoseok cut you off.

“No, I want to. I like it,” he said and squeezed your thigh slightly. Then said quietly, “if you’re okay with it.”

You were more than okay with it. You were clutching your notebook and hyper focused on the footage so that you wouldn’t tell your client to squeeze your thigh harder. 

But that was about to become even harder when you realised the USB you chose had the footage from the hallway outside the green rooms. And the footage had reached the point where it showed you and your mystery man. You sat up stick straight, and scrambled off the couch (and Hoseok’s lap).  

“Oh my god skip this!” You cried out, and Jooheon flinched in surprise. 

“Wait what… oh… OH!” Hyungwon realised what he was seeing and went to your computer. Despite your body being mostly covered by your dress and the man holding you up, but it was still unmistakably you in the footage.

“He must be really strong, whoever he is,” Changkyun said under his breath. 

“Well there’s only a few idols who are that muscular…” Hyunwoo replied deep in thought. 

“And two of them are in this group,” Minhyuk added, a little louder than Hyunwoo.

“Quiet!” Kihyun said sharply, looking around the room. “We saw nothing, okay everyone? Hyungwon, hurry up and fix it.”

Hyungwon pulled out the USB and handed it to you. “I’ll watch that one alone,” you announced to no one in particular. You sat back down on the couch, but kept your legs away from Hoseok’s lap. He’d just seen you being carried and undressed by another man, so it was probably going to be awkward. 

The next pieces of footage were of different sections in the stairwell, and proved very useful.

“Hey, pause it!” Hoseok cried out beside you. 

Hyungwon dutifully paused the frame and everyone looked at the screen which showed a clear shot of Ms Flashlight’s face: small pointy nose, round face, long brown hair. You noted the timestamp and Hyungwon continued the footage. 

The person Ms Flashlight met with stood in the doorway exiting the stairwell to whatever floor was the last in the building. The other member of the mystery meeting had a blue cap pulled down low over their face. When the person turned around, you saw a long ponytail of blonde hair, so possibly this was a woman.

A blond woman who wanted news… you tried not to jump to conclusions, but knew it was your duty to ask. 

“Hey so uh, do any of you know blonde women?”

Kihyun answered. “There are a couple members in girl groups that went blonde for their comebacks this month.”

“But what are the chances they’re meeting Ms Flashlight and talking about some under the table deal?” You pressed. 

Everyone was quiet for a minute until Changkyun spoke. “It’s possible, but we don’t want to cloud your judgement.” 

“Why don’t you get some printouts of your second suspect too and study them?” Hoseok suggested. You agreed, and noted down the timestamps. Hyungwon let the footage run, though there wasn’t much else to watch, so you stopped paying attention and finished up your notes.

The footage moved on to show you running up and down the stairs. Hoseok could sense the fear and desperation you must have felt being stuck alone inside the stairwell. He watched as you pulled out your phone and called multiple numbers. He knew one of them was his, and he knew you tried it multiple times. The fact he never picked up made guilt rise in his chest. He momentarily felt better when someone did pick up your call, but then you crumpled on to the stairs sobbing. 

Hoseok turned to you. You weren’t paying attention to the screen. Despite the concentration etched on your features, Hoseok’s thoughts kept returning to how frightened you must have been all alone in the stairwell. 

You looked up at him and smiled. “What?” You asked when he kept staring. 

“I’m sorry I left you alone,” Hoseok said quietly, not meeting your gaze. 

You put your notebook down and turned to fully face him. “But you eventually found me. You even took me home afterwards.”

“You’re too good of a lawyer for me. I don’t help you enough.” Hoseok still wouldn’t meet your gaze.

You scooted a little closer, enough that your thigh firmly pressed against his. “Hoseok, look at me.”

He briefly looked up at you through his lashes, but his face remained facing down.

You placed a hand under his chin to get him to look at you. “Hoseok, it’s my job to take care of my clients, to the best of my ability. You and the members helping me today was more than what I deserve.”

Hoseok’s eyes looked glassy. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I’m sorry I made you cry like that.” 

You gave him a tender smile. “It’s not your fault.” A tear fell from Hoseok’s eye and you swiped a finger over it. “I’ll get some tissues, yeah?”

You found a tissue box on the dining table. You came back and leaned over Hoseok to wipe some of his tears. You braced an arm beside his head, and his gaze bored into your eyes the whole time. By now the footage had finished, and the members had all left the living room.

“Miss y/n?” 

“Hm?” You asked as you scrunched up the tissue. You pushed yourself off the couch and stood upright again.

“Are you going home tonight?” Hoseok asked. 

“I guess so? Why do you ask? Was there something you needed?“ you asked back.

Hoseok reached over to grab the tissue ball in your hands and used the opportunity to take your much smaller hand in his. “No, just wondering.”

When Hoseok didn’t elaborate, you spoke to fill the silence. “I need to prepare some things for a lunch meeting tomorrow, so I’ll still be awake if you need to ask me something.” 

“But can’t you do that here?” Hoseok asked, gently tugging on your hand. The pull made you take a step closer so you were standing almost between his legs.

“Don’t you want to sleep? I’d probably end up being in everyone’s way,” you replied. 

“I could always ask them to leave,” Hoseok said with a small smirk.

You shook your head amused. “No… what if they hate me?”

Hoseok took the tissue ball from your hand and tossed it behind the couch somewhere. “Trust me y/n, that’s impossible.”

You couldn’t hide the smile forming on your face. “Do you really want me to stay at your dorm that badly?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

[megid0nt]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you. 💗 :3 <><>

ohohoh! yes yes. I will do this.

you do ! hiii <>

my new pet cat QB I got her on thursday and today she meowed through the door at me a lot when I was getting ready for work and I've never felt more compelled to stay home and not done so <- misses her

removable media! USB drives are fine USB is nice but man I miss having a device disproportionately larger than the data stored on it like I know a microsd card makes like a terabyte tiny now but what if I want some like fist sized cartridge to put in my computer to load up a program and feel cool?

no we're not done with removable media bc Microsoft did it right (*does the fuckin sign of the cross and pushes it away from my body to drive off demons*) with the series X? they have a CFExpress port for their storage expansion, which is neat! but like, we need to go back to shipping media on cartridges soon bc I need a physical ka-chunk or click when I put data in my computer!

still not done with point 3 lol remember that one scene in the movie adaptation of i, Robot with Will Smith where Dr. Calvin shouts "INJECT THE NANITES" and Will Smith does so and like Puts a Computer Virus (okay they're nanomachines) into the Giant Computer Brain and it's very dramatic? I want every thing I put into my computer to have that level of gravity, I wanna feel like I'm injecting my system with data when I plug something in! and like. okay new bullet point for this one even tho continuing this point but like:

microsoft GOT it for a little bit, used to be you'd put a lil autorun.inf on the root directory of a removable drive and you could make PLUGGING A DEVICE IN control your computer run a program in some way but of Course haters used it to abandon usb drives places and pwn your computer if you just find it and it's a travesty I wish we could just have nice things but THAT'S the dream. autorun was swag and I feel like if we really tried, if we let ourselves hope, we could go back and do it right this time. but alas

number 4 is my epson TM-U675 Multifunctional POS printer - today should bring an epson DM-D805 customer display pole kit for it so I can do programming to show things on a cute lil vacuum-fluorescent display! I guess POS hardware in general is just fun for me lollll

5. Audio equipment! I was looking today and sometime within the next year I wanna invest in a preamp and an analog mixer so that I can start mixing my stream audio for my twitch streams physically instead of digitally

[lovelybarnes]

verglas- b. barnes

pairings: bucky barnes x reader

warnings: hydra, coldness, so many synonyms for cold. seriously so many

about: prompt- bucky letting y/n warm her hands under his shirt

a/n: verglas is basically cold lol

greenland was cold.

sure, new york got to low temperatures in the winter, but you would always be safely hidden in your room inside the compound, snuggled in a mountain of blankets and watching a movie with bucky by your side, wrapping you in him so as to not let any cool air in; or, you would be wrapped in various jackets as you trudged outside, leaning against your personal walking heater while he kept your hands warm and pressed kisses to your nose, making lovely hot sparks glimmer from head to toe and melt the chill off of your body like citronella wax dripping off of the long candles thor likes to place in candelabras.

however, your personal furnace is off doing avenger things just a short distance away from you, as you should be. you’re trying, though, you really are, but it’s just so cold and your fingers feel like they’re about to fall off, so you don’t bother actually using your fists, rather wrapping each person that runs at you in a vibrant purple that freezes them still. you scowl with each burst of energy, angry at everything- the way your boyfriend was literal feet from you, yet you couldn’t even hug him, even if you really needed it, that, and how damn piercing the icy air was, pricking at your skin even under all the layers, especially angry at the thought that you could be in bed right now, swaddled in fluffy blankets and swathed in bucky’s secure arms.

the image, so close you can feel the ghost of bucky’s skin pressing heat into yours, yet unbearably far, makes you huff, your breath visible in white puffs that drive you to subconsciously tighten the violet hold you have on the people you’re supposed to fight. you can already picture steve sighing, reminding you to use all of your abilities and not just the ones forced into you by the organization you’re fighting. you would snit with an annoyed exhale and remind him of how the frost of the frigid air stuck to you like fingerprints to a piece of tape, riddled in you like you couldn’t ever get rid of it.

until bucky came and thawed it away, of course.

there’s another agent coming at you, and you briefly forget about the other people you’re holding hostage, furrowing your brows and extending your arms towards the man, pushing him back with a blast of energy as the others drop to the floor. seeing some of them stand after a few silent seconds, you sigh, rubbing your hands together roughly, attempting to spark heat into your palms and stomping your foot in frustration, trapping all the the agents in a huge expelled plum swirl.

when you notice bucky dusting his hands off after socking a guy in the jaw and making him drop to the floor, you hum, small smile growing at the prospect of your very toasty boyfriend wrapping you in his embrace. the idea alone is enough to get you to render all the people in your hold unconscious. you walk over to one of them, a hasty look into his mind confirming the usb is kept in one of his pockets. you shake your head at how idiotic the whole organization is to believe a few weak guards with a drive “protected” by the pocket of their best- yet lousy- guard is enough to keep two of the best avengers away from what they are so desperately trying to keep from their hold.

you twirl it in your fingers, watching as it disappears into a billow of lilac. now stored safely within the confines of your magic, you turn to your boyfriend, already walking towards you with a demeanor that tells you he knows exactly what you want. “hey doll,” he murmurs, hands wrapping around your waist to pull you closer, “you okay?” his cerulean eyes scan your figure nonchalantly, almost like he’s checking you out, although you know it’s to confirm there isn’t a part of you that is even scratched.

bucky chuckles at your honest words, either getting accustomed to the glacial temperature of your hands or the heat of his body dissolving the frost of yours- like it always has. you drum your finger pads against the taut skin of his belly, sighing softly. “see? already working.”

you let yourself shiver when he’s finally close to you, catching his frown as he runs his hands up and down your arm.

“c’mon, we still have to wait for cleanup,” he reminds. you sigh, putting your hands inside his pockets before you follow him close to the quinjet, away from the bodies that shield will be by to pick up later.

“i’m cold,” you whine when bucky leans against the jet. he tilts his head at you slightly, encasing your hands in his and blowing through the little spaces between his fingers. you smile at him, biting your bottom lip. you press a kiss to the outside of his hands in thanks, but remove yours from his and tug at his shirt. “still cold,” you pout, and he sees right through you, identifying what it is you want immediately and thinning his eyes.

“please?” you implore, jutting out your lip and tugging on his fingers. bucky is normally unable to say no to you, but the way your eyes stare up at him, the mere thought of it seems impossible; he nods gently as a sign of consent that you squeal at. "thank you, bucky, i love you,” you say, peppering kisses on his cheeks and nose. you tug at his gear, pushing it away enough to let your frozen hands crawl up his stomach.

he flinches when your ice fingertips splay across his abdomen. “jeez, doll, you’re freezing,” he shivers.

you nod. “i know. that’s why you’re so good for me, you melt away all my verglas.”

the sweet sound of bucky’s laughter twinkles in your ears again, feeling his lips on your forehead and their movement as they whisper, “anytime you need it.”

and, yes, he thinks, he’ll warm you and your iced fingers up forever and always.

[extremelyblackandwhite]

innocence - 37

PAIRING: bodyguard!bucky barnes x innocent actress!reader

WARNINGS: angst 

A/N: aaaa we’re reaching the end in a few chapters and everything is starting to go downhill. hope you enjoy it xx

NEXT CHAPTER

Bucky barely knew Eliza. He knew she was Mr. Powell’s assistant and would mostly keep to herself, being as invisible as she could and only really speaking whenever someone spoke to her. Bucky had said hello to her once or twice, but nothing which he thought would led to her wanting to speak to him in private. It crossed her mind it could be regarding Mr. Powell but Bucky had been fired from being her bodyguard a long time ago and essentially did not pose a threat to him anymore. 

Eliza led him to a sheltered corner of the hall, looking around for anyone she deemed recognisable enough but there was no one. Media had been strictly forbidden to attend the trial and everyone else had pretty much left except for a small handful of people which were much further down, so they were pretty much alone. The young woman fished through her purse before taking off a small USB drive which she handed to him. Bucky furrowed her brows, not taking the USB from her.

     - Mr. Powell is set to testify against you for punching him on a Halloween party tomorrow. It’s a surprise witness but ... I feel bad letting him testify. He doesn’t have her best interest at heart and this USB proves it. 

     - What’s in it?

     - I ... don’t feel comfortable explaining what’s in it but it’s a video and if presented to the jury, it would make him an unreliable witness. - Bucky took the drive from her, putting it inside his jacket’s pocket. - You cannot tell Y/N, I gave you that ... or show it to her. I am really sorry I couldn’t stop it.

     - Stop what?

     - You’ll see. - she walked away leaving him to pounder on her words. Surely, it wasn’t anything bad, he told himself. 

He shook his head out of his worries, thinking about how much he just wanted to return to his wife. To hold her and tell her how much he loved her and try and make her forget what she had just seen. However, he wanted to see what was on that drive. He wanted to see it. He walked down the court hall and spotted one of the consultation rooms was open.

    - Hey Buck, we’re waiting for you. - he turned his head to see Steve walking towards him. - We got some pizzas. 

    - Close the door behind you. - Bucky told him as he walking into the consultation room, finding one of the computers was on. Steve merely did as he said, closing the door and turning on the light before taking a seat on one of the spinning chair. 

    - What are we doing? Are you okay? I know that video was rough. 

    - One of Y/N’s director’s assistants gave me a USB with a video. She asked me not to show Y/N. Sounded weird. 

He connected the drive to the computer. For all he knew, this could be some weird way to get his data if he connected it to his laptop besides with Y/N in the house it would be much harder to hide it from her, not that he exactly knew why he had to hide it from her. As the computer read the drive, a folder opened up with a video file titled with a date. Bucky cocked his head to the side, as he opened the video. It was an almost CCTV quality video of what looked like one the trailers at the trailer park where Y/N had been shooting her last movie. Both Y/N and the director were sat on the couch, a rather large distance between them. The sound quality was poor and muffled but he could hear his wife’s voice as he called the man by her side pathetic. Out of the sudden, Powell wrapped his hand around her neck and pinned her to the couch. He saw red. He could see it, he could see her squirming trying to get free from his hold. Bucky wanted to break through the screen, he wanted to help her, he wanted to stop him, he wanted to stop him but he couldn’t. 

    - Buck ... - Steve said in a warning tone, recognising the look on his face.

Bucky took the driver of the computer and shoved it back in his jacket before leaving the room in a fast pace. Steve tripped over his feet to follow him, watching as the super soldier closed his fist, the plates in his arm moving and whirring and his steps heavy enough they echoed in the hall. Steve ran up to him, standing in front of him and putting a hand on his chest to stop him. 

    - Get out of my way, Steve.

    - You need to calm down, Buck. 

    - Get away from me, Steve. 

    - You cannot get in trouble with anyone even somewhat related to Y/N. I know what you just saw is making you mad and we will deal with it once the time is right. You cannot do anything for your wife if you’re in jail. - Steve’s calm demeanor only made him angrier. - This is one less witness you’ll have to worry about. Y/N is fine but you’re under trial. 

    - Didn’t you fucking see what I saw? He attacked Y/N, he choked her, he could’ve killed her and no one fucking helped her. GET AWAY FROM ME, STEVE. 

Bucky twisted Steve’s hand away and continued his strut down the hall until he saw her. Steve continued to run behind him which warned Sharon who put herself in front of Y/N. Did she think he was going to hurt her? The mere thought of it slowed him down. 

    - How was it with Eliza? - Y/N walked from behind Sharon up to him, placing her hands on his shoulders. - Are you okay, Bucky? 

    - Yeah ... I’m just great, princess. - he swiped the hair away from her neck, his fingers grazing the skin there. He was supposed to protect her, he promised her nothing had happened. How could he’d let this happen? How could Eliza let this happen? Why did no one help her? He leaned his forehead against hers, his finger tracing the end of her jawline before he kissed her. - I love you so much, princess.

    - Are you sure everything is ok? - she held her hand against his face, moving her head slightly to the side wondering why Steve had just ran after him. 

    - Yeah, I’m just tired ... wanna go home. 

    - That’s fine, we can go home. I just need to pay Steve for the pizza.

    - It’s fine, Y/N. - Steve beckoned. - It’s been an harsh day. We’ll see you guys tomorrow. Call us if you need anything, okay?

    - Thank you, Steve. - she left Bucky for a brief second to hug Steve, Sam and Sharon. 

Bucky watched that with a sad look. She was so sweet, so kind and no one had done anything. That sadness quickly turned to anger. He was no longer angry at the trial, he was angry that the agency which was supposed to keep her best interests at heart had left her with a director who had treated her that way. She didn’t deserve that, nobody deserved that. Y/N waved everyone goodbye before going back to her husband, her hand immediately wrapping around his metal hand, the warmth of her skin almost giving him feel in that arm. She almost playfully swung their intertwined hands, leaning her head against his shoulder. He always felt safe to her, he always felt like home to her yet Bucky seemed lost in the middle of his mind, ever so often appearing to have no life behind his eyes. 

The drive was equally silent with his hand looming on her thigh throughout all of the way yet not in his playful or even lustful way, he kept his hand there as if someone was to snatch her at any moment. She doubted it, she was never really attention’s sweet centre, specially in her business. In all honesty, she was the one who should be possessive of him, not the other way around. Nevertheless, he held a possessive grip on her as if she wanted to escape yet it wasn’t jealousy. At least it didn’t appear as jealousy to her and she couldn’t read exactly what it was. The walk up to the flat was the same as the car and the exit from the court with him holding her hand and ensuring the climbed the stairs in front of him, keeping a firm eye on each and every movement. 

Once Bucky closed the door, the possessive and protective aura continued. She held her hands up to his face, cupping it and feeling the slight stubble against her palms before she leaned in to kiss him. It was soft, very soft, the sort of kisses he’d get in the morning from her whenever she had to leave early for interviews. So soft, so warm and filled with love. She was so kind and the world ... the would just ate way at her. 

    - Y/N ... - he broke the kiss, stepping back. - I need to go shower.

She stood there, perplex at his actions and almost frozen in the spot. She threw her bag onto the coach, forgetting about what she had discovered to go into the bathroom. She took her shoes off at the edge of the door stepping into the bathroom which was already filled with hot steam, the glass of the shower steamed with beads of water running down, yet she could see him. Y/N stripped off her dress and underwear, throwing it onto the laundry basket which laid just below the sink. She opened the door of the shower, seeing Bucky with his back turned to her, head looking down as the shower head dropped water like rain onto his hair. She wrapped her arms around his torso, leaning her head against his back. 

     - Tell me what’s wrong. - she peppered skins against his upper back and the scars which connected the metal to his skin. - Please, James. 

     - Nothing’s wrong. - he turned around to hold her, letting the warm water fall upon them both. 

     - Liar. - it sounded so innocent, sprinkled with that little naughty smirk of hers, still decorated in pink lipstick. - You’re my husband. I know you, Bucky Barnes. I know if something wasn’t wrong I would be pinned against the shower wall tiles but I am standing here. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.

     - I promised someone I wouldn’t tell you about something I’ve seen. 

     - Well, I won’t tell anyone. - her chest and hands were flushed against his, streams of water running down both their skins, leaving wet trails in their path. Bucky looked up, letting out a jailed sigh before looking back at her, his hand pushing her now wet hair away from her shoulders to look at her neck, fingers going slightly up and down the skin. - What are you doing?

     - I know what Powell did to you. - he mumbled, almost afraid someone else would hear it. A cold shiver ran down her body and she looked the other way, hand coming up to push her hair in front of her collarbones and cover her neck as if those bruises still laid there. - There’s a video. 

     - What?

     - Eliza gave me the video to use to stop Powell from testifying. It’s not the best quality but it is clear who’s on the tape.

     - Oh ... - she didn’t exactly know what to reply to that. 

Various things crossed her mind on that moment from if anyone had seen the video, if Powell himself had the video to why Eliza had the video. She wondered why Eliza would’ve given him the video, she wondered how the video had even gotten into her hands but most of it she wondered what he felt like. Her stomach churned and she felt guilty for not telling him. After all, a relationship is all about trust and here she was, having something she had hidden come up. It wasn’t she trusted Bucky, she  did, she loved him so much but for whatever reason, one she couldn’t pin point the reason why she did not tell him. Maybe she didn’t want to be a disappointment, maybe she didn’t want him to worry, she didn’t know. She tried to cup his face but Bucky avoided her touch, instead exiting the shower and leaving her there. Her bottom lip dropped as she held in a sharp breathe, turning the shower head pressure up so the noise muffled the few tears that rolled down her face. 

She must’ve been there for a long while as once she finally stepped off the shower her skin felt raw to the touch. She put on her bathrobe, swiping the fog of the mirror to see herself. Taking a few deep breathes in, she slide her palms along her jaw before looking to the marble of the bathroom sink. 

Bucky was sat on the couch, nursing a cold beer and staring at the TV but Y/N could tell he wasn’t paying any attention. He was in Buckyland as she called it, a place where he’d go, inside his mind, and no one but him was allowed in. Not even her. She went up behind him, resting her chin on the top of his head.

    - Talk to me, Bucky. - she kissed the top of his head. - Please, don’t shut me out. 

    - What do you want me to say, princess? - Bucky sighed, hand creeping up to hold hers. - I can’t do anything fucking right. 

    - What is this about? - she walked around the couch to sit on his lap, leaning her head against his shoulder and cuddling him. Bucky leaned his head on top of hers. - I’m so sorry, Bucky. I wanted to tell you, I really did but I didn’t want you to worry after that stupid mission. It was just ... insignificant.

    - I should’ve been there to protect you. 

    - You don’t always need to be there to protect me. As I said it is insignificant but ... it’s good for our case, right?

    - You are the most significant person in my life. You are my wife, you are all that matters, all the time. I don’t want any man touching you or even breathing on top of you if you don’t allow it much less that man. 

    - So ... we’re okay, right?  

    - I didn’t want you to see what they showed in court. I am already a disappointment for the world, I don’t want to be a disappointment to you and after seeing that ...  thing ... I just ... - Bucky seemed to return back to Buckyland for a while. - I don’t have anything to offer you. I don’t know if I can have kids, I don’t know if I can give you more  than a crappy flat in Brooklyn but I knew one thing, I thought I could protect you. I’m a super soldier, for heaven’s sake.  

    - Being a super soldier does not give you the ability to be in two places at the same time. - she caressed his chin. - You do know I love you, not what you can offer me. I like you, I like being your wife and I like you being my husband. 

    - So that’s what you want? Mr. and Mrs. Barnes?

    - You say that as if it is a bad thing. I am not married to the Winter Soldier, I am not married to Sergeant Barnes and I am not married to my bodyguard. I am married to James Buchanan Barnes. I am married to you. I am not expecting anything from you other than waking up and falling asleep with you every single day. You’re the love of my life because you are you not because you protect me. 

    - I should be the one comforting you, princess. - he held her close to him as if someone was to take her away at any point. - God, that just happened to you and I’m here ... whining. 

    - Just happened? It was weeks ago, Bucky. Besides if I give it the attention it  needs, it’ll become a much bigger thing than it needs to be.  

    - It is a big thing, Y/N.

    - I’m an actress, Bucky. It happens ... more than it should but it’s ... fine. Who’d take my word on it even? They won’t even believe me when I tell them my own husband is not harassing me. Imagine them believing a whole industry is. 

    -  You need a better agent. 

    - Are you offering, Barnes? - she teased, giggling against his chest.

    - I’ve been a soldier, a brainwashed assassin, avenger, bodyguard ... I guess I could give it a shot. -  he kissed her forehead. - Are you alright, princess? 

    - Don’t worry. - she looked up to kiss him. - I’ll be fine, Bucky. However, you, Mister, cannot and will not do anything about it while you’re on trial and even when you’re not on trial.

    - I promise you that I will do everything I can to make you happy and safe. I can only do that if I’m out of prison so I promise not to go Winter Soldier on Powell. - he kissed her cheek and then her nose, cuddling her closer to him, no matter how closer she already was. - I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want you to wake up one day and realise you’re ashamed of me. 

His eyes softened, brows furrowed creating that little crease just in the middle  of his eyebrows and his nose seemed to twitch as if he was telling himself constantly not to cry or look any weaker than he already felt. She leaned her hand against his cheek, finger softly brushing his skin. It was warm, she was always so warm.

    - You need to stop thinking those things about yourself. You can’t change what they made you do, you can’t get that past back but you can live the rest of your life just like you want it. 

    - It’s not that simple.

    - It is, Bucky. And if anyone tries to hurt you, I’ll hurt them back.

    - You will hurt them back?

    - Yes. Sharon taught me how to punch and she said I have a very good aim. I almost managed to punch her. 

    - Why did you ask Sharon to teach you how to punch and not me?

    - Would you have taught me to punch? 

    - No. You don’t need to know how to punch, you could get hurt, someone could hurt you or worse you could break your hand. I’ll do the punching for you.

    - I’ll still do some punching.

    - Alright, princess.

The trial was a circus and not only was the whole ordeal a whole unnecessary mess but the press was having a field day covering both of them. Sam had even offered for the two of them to stay with him, Sarah and his nephews until the dust settled down but the last thing any of the two wanted was to destroy their peaceful life by having paparazzi all over their lawn. Instead, the two of them would only come out of the flat for court dates. While Powell had mostly cowered away once their lawyer threatned to expose the video if he didn’t back down as a witness, Hawthorne hadn’t been very happy with it. He’d mostly sent a very heavy worded e-mail to Y/N but she was much too busy trying to find any cohesive way to prove it was him. She knew he did it, she just couldn’t prove it. All she had was photos from the written mirror in her flat and his signature yet no one would take that in. They would just say it was similar handwriting or that she was imagining things to protect her “abuser” husband. Bucky, Sam, Steve and Sharon were all in the dark about it as she had chosen not to tell any of them what was happening. It was just a theory, just a silly theory and if it wasn’t true, she knew Hawthorne would go after all of them and she didn’t want anyone to get hurt. She was already the reason Bucky was in court, being called things that no victim and no person should be called. She was the reason the prosecution was revisiting his choice less past and pinning it on him as a reason to not have a regular life. If she didn’t know better, they  were upset about his pardon. 

Things seemed to progress fast with court days going on and on until they woke up in the morning of the last one. She knew he was nervous, she’d heard him in the phone with Steve and Sam before yet he put on this strong facade as if things would be ok but she herself had started to doubt it. The jury was biased, that much she knew and after all, the decision was theirs. The court room was silent as the prosecution finished their closing statement but she could read the environment. Everyone’s eyes bore at her husband as if he was a criminal and those who spoke didn’t speak in kind words. 

   - Does the defence have any closing statements? - the jury asked their lawyer who stood up and faced him. 

   - No, your honour but the defendant would like to address the jury.

   - I’ll allow it. - the jury beckoned and Bucky got up to face the jury. She wanted so much to jump from that bench and hold his hand but all she could do was remain there, watching him and giving him an encouraging smile whenever he looked her way.

   - Listen, uhm ... - Bucky scratched his neck, searching for the right words to say. - I know you don’t like me, trust me I don’t like myself either but I love my wife. I would never, ever hurt her and if she hadn’t wanted me then I would’ve been fine with that because ... look at her she’s the most intelligent, kind and warm woman I’ve ever met and I know she deserves better than me. I tried telling her a million times that she deserves the perfect movie man who has a stable job and isn’t over a hundred but for whatever reason she still decided to marry me and I am gonna spend the rest of my life trying to even be half the man she deserves. I would never hurt her even if someone forced me too. 

He sat down again and Y/N shimmied to the front of her bench to hold his hand through the wood bars that separated her from him. The judge excused everyone while the jury went to make their decision. Y/N excused herself to go speak to the lawyer while Sam and Steve kept Bucky occupied. 

   - You know, you do look a lot like your father. - he said as she approached him. - Never thought about going into the family business?

   - And deal with my siblings every day? I wouldn’t wish it. 

   - Is there anything you need?

   - I have a question to ask you but you can’t tell Bucky I asked you about it. 

   - I always have confidentiality with any of my clients so I wouldn’t tell him anything you’d ask me. What is it?

   - Do you think we’re gonna win? - she picked at the hem of her dress, stress filling her veins.

   - I don’t know. The jury is biased and without any evidence they’ll make their decision based on their opinions. We can always contest it but right now I think you’d do best spending some time with your husband now.

Everything needed to slow down as she walked away from the lawyer and she could hear her heels echoing on the wooden floors.  She saw Bucky laugh at something Sam had said yet she couldn’t hear him laugh, she could only see and as she saw it, she looked at the ring around her finger, the same ring he had on his finger too before turning her head harshly to where Hawthorne was standing. Suddenly sound came back and her steps quickened as she approached the head of her agency. 

   - We need to talk. - she said interrupting his conversation with Miss Olson. 

   - What about? - he spoke in his collected tone which only further angered her. 

    - Alone.

She followed him into one of the reunion rooms, hands fumbling with her phone just before closing the door behind her. She realised she didn’t really know what to say, she hadn’t prepared herself for it and she certainly wasn’t a natural. All she knew was to try, try and right now she was gonna try, she was gonna try for Bucky. 

   - I know you did it. - she tried speaking with an unwavering voice but it came out almost like a wave.

   - Excuse me? - he leaned against the wall, mocking her. - Did what?

   - Bucky couldn’t have done it, that night in my flat. He was in Brooklyn and then he was stuck in traffic that morning, there’s footage of it. He could’ve never gone to my flat when he dropped me off at 4 AM and then be stuck in traffic. I know it’s your handwriting, it’s like the one on the contract. Besides, no one knew my flat address other than Bucky and Miss Olson and not even Bucky or Miss Olson knew my family address. You did it. You know you did it. 

    - You’re clearly mental unstable but it’s okay because me and Miss Olson will get you the help we need after we get the marriage annulled. 

   - Stop. - she said. - You know no one else will believe me so at least tell me truth. Tell me how you screw up my husband’s life. 

    - Don’t be dramatic, Y/N. It wasn’t to mess up your husband’s life. Do you know how much money we invested on you? For you to destroy your image by going out with an American traitor? You think you could’ve gotten this role without me? You think you could be anything out of your little shows without me? You’re a good actress but take a look at yourself, you’re hardly what men want. You wanna break it into the business? Be hot or have connections and it turns out you can’t do both. That audition you did in London you tried to hide? Who did you think they called to give the news? Oh and if you’re wondering, it was a no. 

   - Did you do it? - she tried to maintain her cool but she knew she looked meek and she looked pathetic.

   - I thought with your Nancy Drew speech you knew the answer.

   - Did you or did you not? 

   - I did but who’s gonna believe you?

   - I don’t know. -  she opened the door, holding the knob in her hand as she pressed play on her phone, his voice saying he did it playing and echoing in the empty room. - They won’t believe me but they will believe you. 

   - Don’t toy with me, Y/N. I’ll make sure you never get a single job here or anywhere else. I’ll bring you down.

   - Maybe but if I’m going down, you are going down with me.

taglist: @disasterbi​​ @lookiamtrying​​ @buckysteveloki-me​​​ @americasass81​​​ @jamesbarnesappreciationclub​​​ @lostinthebeans​​​ @mariahthelioness29​​​ @oh-nohoney​​​ @peaches-roses-sins​​​ @theadorasabditory​​​ @sipsteacasually​​​ @saiyanprincessswanie​​​ @booktease21​​​ @noiralei​​​ @learisa​​​ @everythingisoverratedbutgreat​​​ @uglipotata72829​​​ @naturalthrone22​​​ @husherstan​​​ @mandiiblanche​​​ @vicmc624​​​ @newyorkgoddess​​​ @itsallyscorner​​​ @chipilerendi​​​ @emzd34 @writerwrites​​​ @bluevxnus​​​ @that-girl-named-alex​​​ @captnrogers​​​ @nsfwsebbie​​​ @sarge-barnes-sir​​​ @niki-is-a-thing​​​ @cynic-spirit​​​ @tenaciousperfectionunknown​​​

[kylos]

Finding high quality film/tv rips, saving the large files, and screencapping them are half the battle for gifmakers when setting out to make a gifset. Here’s a little guide on this process, including my advice on

Where to download stuff

Where to store your movies/shows

Screencapping programs

Making gifs as HQ as possible, including tips for picking out what to download when you have multiple options (not all 1080p rips of the same movie or tv episode are the same quality and I explain why)

Why screencaps of 4k movies can look weird and washed out and how to fix that

and more

✨ You can find my gifmaking 101 tutorial here and the rest of my tutorials here.

Where can I download movies and shows?

First off, I prefer direct downloading rather than torrenting stuff because it’s faster and with torrenting, there’s more of a risk. Other people downloading the same torrent can see your IP address. This means movie studios can find out you’re downloading their content and can send you a warning letter. The download speed also varies depending on how many other people are seeding it. I would only do it if it’s your only option and you have a VPN or something.

This is THE best guide for pirating I’ve ever seen. I use it for finding sites for books, music, you name it. The part of the guide you’d want to look at is where it says Direct Downloads Link (DDL) sites. My favorite place is Snahp. These ddl sites will have links to their movie/tv rips that are typically hosted on one of these two sites: google drive or mega.nz. You can download stuff from both of those sites for free, but with mega, they have a 5GB file download limit unless you have a premium account. I personally pay the $5 a month membership for mega because it’s worth it imo. You can buy a subscription through the mega app found on the iphone app store (so you’re billed through apple and it’s less scary than giving a random site your credit card info lmao) and as for androids I think mega has an app on there too.

So basically, if you go to http://snahp.it, they’ll have rips for different movies and shows.

You click on the movie title and it’ll take you to a page where they have links for the video which they have uploaded on a variety of sites (including mega).

How do I make my gifs as HQ as possible?

It’s best to gif things that are 1080p. And usually the higher the file size, the better. A really important thing to note is that not all 1080p bluray rips are the same. The piracy groups that rip these files take uncompressed .mkv rips from discs that are anywhere from 10gb to like 50gb, and then run that through video converters to compress the file down so that they’re 2-8gb. Sometimes when that happens, the video quality goes down a LOT. The same goes for TV episodes. One rip could be 800mb, the other could be 3gb and both could claim to be “1080p” but the quality would be NOTICEABLY different. Your best bet is to always pick the rip with the highest file size.

I’ll show you an example with this scene from You’ve Got Mail.

I downloaded 2 different 1080p rip versions of the film. Both claim to be 1080p, but one is 2.41 GB and the other is 9.75 GB. After taking screencaps, it’s obvious that there’s a BIG difference in quality.

(these pictures are best viewed on desktop tumblr)

When it comes to Blu-ray rips, download remux versions of films and shows if possible. Remux means .mkv files that are uncompressed and straight from a Blu-Ray disc. Giffing remux rips cuts down on the possibility of seeing pixel-y effects a LOT in my experience. It’ll take a bit longer to download than typical 1080p rips but it’s worth it imo.

For TV episodes, if you can’t find a Blu-Ray rip, uploads with the word AMZN in it are usually the highest quality and your best bet (unless you see another upload that’s higher in file size - again: always try to pick the highest file size). 'AMZN’ means they’re from a person that ripped the episode from Amazon Prime Video.

Also, even better than 1080p is 4k (2160p). I only really recommend this though if you know you’re going to gif something up close and crop it a lot - like if it’s a big 540x540px close-up gif of a person. You’ll REALLY see the difference if it’s a 1080p vs 4k rip in that situation. I usually don’t bother with giffing 4k files unless it’s the case above because my laptop lags when taking 4k screencaps and it takes longer to load them into photoshop (4k screencaps are usually about 60mb each!)

⭐️ Another thing that’s important is making sure that when you actually make your gifs, you set them to the correct speed (.05 for movies and most shows, and .04 sometimes for reality tv and live broadcasts). Here’s my gif speed guide. Having the right gif speed is really important for making a gifset HQ. You don’t want it to look too slow or too fast.

What’s your favorite video player to take screenshots with?

MPV player, hands down. And I’ve tried a TON of programs over the years. I’ve tried KMPlayer and found that it added duplicate frames (and even missing frames) which is horrible, and I’ve tried GomPlayer which is.....I’m just gonna say it, I’m not the biggest fan of it. It’s a little overly complicated in my opinion and it has ads. If you like these programs, more power to you! Use whatever you’re comfortable using. I just like MPV the most because it doesn’t have ads, it’s simple, you can take sequential screencaps with a keyboard shortcut, and it can play 4k movies.

Screencaps I take of 4k 2160p movies look so dull and washed out, like the colors aren’t right. Why is that?

That’s because your computer can’t handle HDR 4k video files. It probably can handle SDR 4k video files, but unfortunately, 99% of 4k rips out there are HDR.

[picture source]

Now, HDR displays just fine on computers that have 4k-HDR capabilities, but most older computers don’t have this ability. Having said that, MPV - the video player I mentioned above can take a 4K-HDR video and fix the colors/lighting in real time so it displays correctly AND take screenshots of it with the fixed colors. If you have an older version of MPV, make sure you download the newest update for this. In my general gifmaking tutorial, there’s a portion on how to install this program on macs. I also just made a video tutorial on how to install it on pcs here!

High quality TV and Movie rips can take up a LOT of space on my computer. Where do you store your files?

I store them on external hard drives. External hard drives are like flash drives but they have a MUCH higher storage capacity. You just plug them into your computer via a usb cord when you need access to the files and it’s that easy. I have two of these Seagate 4TB hard drives in different colors so I can easily pick out whichever one I need. I have silver for my movies (because it makes me think of “silver screen” lmao and it’s easier for me to remember) and then I just have a blue for shows. Now, external hard drives of this size can be $$$$ but it’s worth it imo. Look out for when they’re on sale.

What’s the size limit for gifs now?

It’s 10mb! It used to be 3mb and then last year Tumblr upped it to 5mb. Some gifs initially had distortion because of Tumblr’s switch from the .gif to .gifv format, but they’ve fixed the problem AND increased the upload limit to 10mb.  Just make sure not to add any lossy to a gif.

Lossy is basically a grain you can add to a gif to lower the file size down. Gifmakers (including myself) used to use this as a trick to get the file size down under 3mb. However, since the .gifv update on Tumblr, any gifs with Lossy added will look distorted like it’s a gif made on a phone app or something.

_________________________________

That’s it for this guide! Again, feel free to check out my other tutorials on photoshop, how to center subtitles, download hq movie trailers, and more ✌️

UPDATE 6/23/20 ⚠️

I’ve gotten an ask about this problem 3 times since I’ve uploaded this tutorial, so I thought I’d add this in. If you are experiencing duplicate and/or missing frames in mpv, it is a glitch with the latest version of mpv. download an older version like 0.29.0. this happened to me on my mac and downloading an older version fixed the problem.

[hopelesshawks]

Love and Admiration Part 19- Goodnight Princess

18+ Bakugo x fem!pro hero reader

Summary: (Y/n) has known Bakugo since middle school, admired him since high school, and had a crush on him since the first time they met. Even now, a top pro hero in her own right, she can’t shake her school girl crush. Too bad Bakugo literally has no idea she exists. Well that’s not entirely true… He does know pro hero Mercury exists, but (y/l/n) (y/n)? Never heard of her.

Warnings for brief depiction of sexual harassment (not from Bakugo), unprotected sex, fingering, oral (female receiving), degradation, praise kink, dacryphilia (crying kink), overstimulation, and dirty talk

Masterlist Help Lulu <3

As you walk up to the AHA building you spot Aizawa talking to a man with his back to you in a black bomber jacket, a white hood pulled over the back, with a black baseball cap on. Curiosity drives your feet forward a little faster until you get close enough that recognition finally hits and causes you to slow down again. Even with his back to you you’d recognize Bakugo Katsuki anywhere. Part of you wants to turn around and run home, message Aizawa some half hearted excuse about getting tied up in a villain attack and no longer being able to help out. Before you can though Aizawa notices your arrival and waves you over. “Here’s who you’ll be working with,” you hear your former teacher tell Bakugo and just as it sinks in that Bakugo was also clueless as to who he’d been working with, he turns around to see and your heart skips a beat. Yes he looks unfairly attractive the way he always does but what really caught your attention is his outfit. Right there in the center of his white hoodie is a black Mercury symbol, the same symbol stamped somewhere on almost all your merch and the same one you’ve been using as your profile picture on social media since your debut. Bakugo follows your gaze down to the incriminating symbol, his cheeks going bright red. He mutters out an excuse about tossing bags in the car so he can turn away although you’re a little surprised when he extends his hand out to you expectantly. You consider the man in front of you who still won’t meet your gaze. Hurt still burns unpleasantly in your chest but you hand over your duffel bag and with little more than a sheepish glance and nod as acknowledgment, Bakugo moves to the trunk of the car to load it up. “You and Bakugo can handle this right? I saw the news call you a dynamic duo so,” Aizawa asks and you nod immediately. “Yea, we’ve got this. You got nothing to worry about,” you assure the older man. “Good. Get into town, get some rest, one of the local heroes will fill you in on the situation in the morning,” he explains. You nod your understanding and then go to join Bakugo in the car. Once you’re settled in, Bakugo starts up the engine and pulls off into the night.

The silence is awkward. You stare out the window as the cityscape slowly starts to thin out. Once Bakugo pulls the car out onto the highway it doesn’t take long before you’re leaving the city lights behind entirely. When the silence becomes too oppressive you pop open the glove box and root around until you find a USB port. You use your phone charger to plug in your phone, scroll through to one of your chiller playlists, and press play. Music floats through the speakers and you feel yourself relaxing although a quick glance at Bakugo reveals he doesn’t feel the same. He’d discarded his jacket in the backseat once he’d gotten in the car and, as usual, had pushed the long sleeves of the hoodie up to his elbows. As a result it’s easy to see the tense line of his shoulders and the popping veins in his forearms. His grip on the steering wheel is so tight his knuckles are almost white. You’ll be genuinely surprised if there aren’t permanent indentations of his fingers in the steering wheel by the time you two reach your destination. You’re tempted to just let him stew in whatever emotions he’s feeling at seeing you again for the first time since you’d hooked up, but then your eyes fall on where your hero name is written on the sleeve of his hoodie and you decide you’re feeling just generous enough to break the silence.

“You’re wearing the hoodie I got you.”

“Yea.”

“Why?”

Bakugo’s hands somehow tighten even more on the steering wheel before he bites out “Because I like it,” defensively. You roll your eyes and return your gaze to the window. No one can say you didn’t try. You’re about to give up and lament your fate to the groupchat when you hear Bakugo sigh next to you. “That’s not it. I mean I do like it but I didn’t think your dumb ass was gonna be here and it’s not the only reason,” Bakugo confesses. “Insulting me is not a strong start but what’s the other reason?” you ask. The pause is long before Bakugo speaks up again to admit, “I’ve missed you.” The incredulous look you give him almost makes him wince. “You’re the one who stopped messaging me you asshole!” “I know that!” “Then you don’t get to miss me!” “Well I don’t know what the fuck to tell you cause I do!” “Then why’d you ghost me?” “I panicked!”

Both of you go silent after that particular admission. This time it’s Bakugo who speaks up to break it. “Look I don’t date,” he sighs. “Who the fuck said I wanted to date you?” you ask defensively, your cheeks heating up the slightest bit. “Will you shut the fuck up? I’m trying to apologize.” “Apologize better.” “If you shut the fuck up I will.” “I don’t think apologies are supposed to include telling the other person to shut the fuck up.” “I’m trying here (y/l/n),” Bakugo growls and the almost desperate edge to his voice is enough to make you swallow your next retort, instead motioning for him to continue. “I don’t date and I don’t usually fuck people I enjoy having around. I already fucked up with you enough so I didn’t want to do it again. I panicked and that only made shit worse until I didn’t know how to fix it, ok? People care about me and I’m shit to them, that’s just how it goes. I’m sorry you got caught up in it,” he finally admits.

You weren’t expecting that level of honesty from him, nor were you expecting his answer to be so vulnerable. You turn to face him as much as you can within the confines of the seat of the car and take in his body language. Had he always been this insecure about his relationships with the people around him? Maybe if you hadn’t spent years cataloging his every move and expression from afar you would’ve missed it, but looking at him now he looks cracked open. You get the distinct impression that as small as his list of people he likes is, the list of people he’s allowed to see him like this is even smaller. “That’s not true,” you offer but that only makes Bakugo scoff. “It’s not!” you insist. “I don’t need your fucking pity,” he grumbles. “Jesus Christ you really are an idiot. Midoriya, Kirishima, and Denki all have plenty of other friends asshole. If what you said were true they would’ve dumped you a long time ago so cut the pity party bullshit and give me a real fucking apology so I can forgive you already,” you insist, and it reminds you a little of how he’d encouraged you during the reunion. The glance he shoots you is calculating, as if trying to assess how much you mean those words. “You’re going to forgive me?” he asks skeptically. “With an actual apology? Yea. I swear to god you’re the only one who still sees you as the same person you were when we first got to UA,” you reply with a roll of your eyes. “I’m sorry for ghosting you,” he grumbles out, cheeks slightly flushed as he does so. “Good. You’re forgiven. Now what songs should I play the rest of the drive?”

The ride gets a lot easier after that. You’ve missed Bakugo and it’s nice slipping back into the groove the two of you seem to have with each other. He talks shit about your song choices but you still catch him humming along or tapping the steering wheel to the beat a few times. He reveals he got around to finishing your favorite movie and so you guys spend a long time talking about that and your recommendations for other movies going forward. It’s comfortable and before you know it Bakugo is driving past the welcome sign for the tiny town the two of you will be working in. There’s only one hotel. It’s small and could probably use some updating but it’ll do just fine for the short duration of your trip. As the two of you grab your bags and start to head inside Bakugo asks “What are the odds the old man sprung for us to get our own rooms?” “Doubtful, you know the association is cheap as fuck. It has to be. You’re stuck with me,” you tease. “Guess that ain’t so bad,” Bakugo shrugs, which causes your heart to pound a little harder in your chest. “I’ll check us in if you wanna grab some shit from the vending machine,” Bakugo offers and you easily agree, the two of you heading in opposite directions to complete your tasks.

As you make your way over to the vending machine you catch the attention of a middle aged man, likely another guest, who follows you over that direction. “Well hello beautiful, what’s a pretty little thing like you doing around here?” he calls as he makes his way over. You roll your eyes but otherwise ignore him as you instead focus on selecting something from the machine in front of you. “C’mon hot stuff, don’t ignore me. I can tell you’re a big city chick, probably been around the block right? What’s one more?” he insists, sliding his body in front of you. “Do you mind? I’m trying to grab something,” you reply as levelly as possible. It’s moments like this where you hate the spotlight of heroism. You would love nothing more than to make the man blocking your way move but that would be unbecoming of a role model for future generations. “Aww don’t be like that doll, lighten up,” the man grins before having the audacity to move away from the vending machine just enough to smack your ass. You are livid, your hand immediately grasping hold of his wrist to stop him from touching you again. You whirl on him to tell him off but before you can he’s being wrenched out of your grip and violently tossed to the floor. Before you can even fully process what’s happened Bakugo stands like a wall between you, all fury and fire and brimstone. You haven’t seen him this angry in a very long time and even if the man who’d been hitting on you doesn’t know who Bakugo is, the glare and overall body language is still enough to have him cowering at Bakugo’s feet. “If you ever fucking touch her again, if you so much as fucking look at her, I will make you wish you were never fucking born,” Bakugo growls out and god maybe you do have a murder boner like Nejire said because you should not find any of this hot but you definitely do. The older man scrambles to his feet with a nod and runs off with barely a glimpse behind him and certainly not one in your direction, allowing you and Bakugo to heave a sigh of relief. “I know you had that handled but dude pissed me off,” Bakugo explains. His voice is still rough and anger-laden and you try to ignore the way it sends shivers down your spine. “Thanks Bakugo,” you reply, grateful both for his defense of you and his acknowledgment that you don’t need defending. “Katsuki,” he corrects you immediately. “What?” “You’re not mad at me anymore right?” “No?” “Then call me Katsuki,” he insists gruffly. You can only nod in response, afraid that if you open your mouth something embarrassing will come out of it like how incredibly fucking hot it was watching him defend you or how saying his first name right now is bringing back a few too many memories of when he’d first demanded you use his first name in the alley.

Bakugo leads you to your room as you try in vain to rein in your rampant thoughts. Even as you finally arrive all you can think about is the feeling of his lips on yours, the feeling of him filling you up, and what it was like to, for a moment, be the sole owner of his attention. He tosses his stuff on his bed and sits down as you move towards your own but your mind insists on picturing him fucking you relentlessly into it. “What’s up with your face dumbass?” Bakugo suddenly asks and the question makes you jump about a foot in the air, warmth filling your cheeks as you realize you’ve been caught mid-fantasy. “Nothing is up with my face!” you defend and you hope it’s the truth because you can feel how much wetness has pooled in your panties already. Bakugo rises up and stalks towards you and you can’t help but feel like prey, stepping backwards away from him until he’s got you crowded up against the wall. The similarity to that day in the alley is not lost on you and it only makes things worse. “What’s running through that head of yours princess?” he asks and the nickname is too much, a breathless curse slipping past your lips unbidden. You don’t have much time to be embarrassed by how obviously flustered you’re getting because one of Katsuki’s hands finds your waistband as if on instinct at the sound of you breathless. “If you don’t stop I won’t be able to hold back,” he admits and you can tell by the flush in his cheeks that he means it. “I thought you don’t sleep with people you like,” you reply with bated breath. “You’re the exception,” he growls out, pressing closer before seeming to think better of it and closing his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose as if trying desperately to control himself, before adding “if you want to be.” “God yes,” you reply and no sooner have the words left your mouth is he pressing a bruising kiss to your lips as if he’s been quietly suffocating and you’re the last bit of oxygen left.

Katsuki tugs you away from the wall and you go easily, allowing him to push you towards your mattress until you’re lying down on it and he can comfortably hover over you, his lips barely leaving yours the entire time. It doesn’t take long to get you both down to your underwear, the entire process a blur. “You’re such a fucking mess for me princess,” Bakugo practically purrs as he runs his fingers along the damp fabric of your panties. Your hips buck up into the attention eagerly as you nod your agreement at the statement. “Yea, it’s only for you,” you tell him breathlessly and it might’ve been embarrassing if not for the way it draws a deep, satisfied growl from Katsuki’s chest his mouth dropping to your neck and then your chest and working further and further down. “Think you deserve a better apology then I gave you in the car,” he says suddenly looking up the length of your body to find your eyes. “What do you mean?” you ask with what little breath you have in your lungs. “I’ve always been better at doing shit than talking. You thought that apology before was good just wait,” he grins up at you cockily and it already has your stomach doing somersaults even before his teeth find the waistband of your panties and start tugging them down your legs. The moan you release at the sight is completely unfettered as your already dripping wet pussy clenches desperately around nothing. Katsuki is nothing if not a tease so even once he’s done with your panties he doesn’t immediately head to the main course. He lavishes attention on your inner thighs, leaving countless hickeys in his wake but no matter how much you whine and squirm he shows no signs of moving his mouth to where you really want it. “Katsuki,” you finally whine desperately. “What is it princess?” he asks and you can feel him smirking against you, the bastard. “I don’t think apologies are supposed to be teasing like this,” you pant. “Oh really now? You got something to say about my apology princess?” Bakugo asks, the smirk sliding away. “I think you’re not much better at this kind of apology than spoken ones.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

“I didn’t realize my princess was such a whore. You want my mouth that bad? You want to cum that bad?” Katsuki asks and there’s an edge to his voice you’re pretty sure means trouble for you but you nod anyway. “Please Katsuki.” “Well if my princess wants to be a greedy fucking slut then so be it,” he agrees in that same lethal tone before diving in to devour you with an intense voracity you’re unprepared for. You moan loudly, hands grasping hard onto the blankets as he licks a hard swipe all the way from your twitching hole to your sensitive clit before pulling the nub into his mouth and sucking hard. He continues to lave attention on your sensitive clit even as he shoves two fingers into your dripping cunt and starts setting a brutal pace. Eventually he brings his free hand to take over for his mouth and stimulate your clit while he moves his tongue to join his fingers, stuffing you absolutely full. The attention is almost overwhelming and it isn’t long until you’re seeing stars, crying out Katsuki’s name. As you come down from your high you realize Katsuki is still pumping his fingers slowly in and out of you. “Katsu- ah!” you cut yourself off with a shout as he resumes massaging your swollen clit. “S-slow down,” you moan but if anything it only makes him move his fingers more aggressively. You grit your teeth, grasping the blankets even more tightly. “What’s wrong? Thought you wanted this,” he taunts as he pushes you into your second orgasm of the night.

Your entire body is tingling now, thoughts filled only with Katsuki, but he still hasn’t stopped and you’ve never been so overstimulated in your life. “Kas’ki ‘s too much,” you moan, eyes watering as he continues to relentlessly massage your almost painfully sensitive clit. “Don’t tell me my greedy little slut is done already. I still haven’t filled you up yet,” he teases you as he finally removes his finger only to line his dick up with your entrance instead. “Come on baby, I think you’ve got one more in you. Don’t you want to be good for me?” he asks and every inch of your body is saying that you should tap out but instead you find yourself nodding. “Use your words baby.” “Wanna be good for you,” you pant and the devilish grin you get in response has your heart practically in your throat. Slowly but surely Bakugo starts pushing into you. It’s so much, too much, stimulation but even as tears start to run down your cheeks you can’t bring yourself to tell him to stop. He curses under his breath as he finally bottoms out inside you, taking a moment to collect himself so it won’t be over too soon. As he starts moving he lavishes you with praise while all you can do is whine and whimper, alternating between barely intelligible expressions of how fucking good it all feels and broken cries of his name. “God you look so fucking beautiful like this. You know that? Fucking gorgeous,” he groans as his hips move faster and faster. You can tell when he’s close, his rhythm starting to get sloppier. “You ready to give me that third one baby? Can you do that for me?” he asks and you nod frantically, coasting along that razor thin edge between pleasure and pain. He leans down to kiss you then, swallowing each broken sound you make, as he rocks into you harder and harder until you’re both too strung out to do much more than pant and breathe into each other’s mouths. You topple over the ledge first but Katsuki isn’t far behind, your walls fluttering and clenching around him. You sob out his name one final time as praises pour from his lips about how perfect you were for him. “Knew you could do it for me princess. So good for me,” he sighs as he continues to paint your insides white.

When Bakugo is finally spent, he rolls over and practically collapses next to you. You both have to take a minute to recover, chests heaving as you try to catch your breath. Unsurprisingly, Bakugo recovers first so he carefully pulls back the covers before bringing them back up to drape over the two of you. “You good?” he asks, eyes scanning over your body as if trying to catalogue any damage he might’ve done. “More than good,” you sigh contentedly. “Good. C’mere,” he commands and you’re more than happy to oblige, allowing him to pull you against his chest. He carefully wipes the tears away from your cheeks before wrapping you more fully into his arms. “I take back what I said,” you mumble into his chest, exhaustion creeping in as the steady beat of his heart starts to lull you to sleep. “What are you on about now?” he asks, but the fondness in his tone belies the harshness of his words. “You’re fucking amazing at apologies,” you mumble. “Shut up and go to sleep dumbass,” he replies but you can practically hear the pleased smirk in his voice.

“Goodnight Katsuki.”

“Goodnight Princess.”

A/N: Apologies are difficult for Bakugo. He’s a very actions speak louder than words kinda guy. Also as funny a trope as the whole “forced to share one bed at a hotel/motel cause there are no other rooms” trope is, it’s more meaningful to me if there are two beds and they still choose to share.

Taglist: @pixelwisp @oliviasslut @larkspyrr @heroacadema @kozukatsuki @captaincyberqueen @undead-nyx @ineedtofocusfr @i-heart-fictional-boys

[illeee-girl]

La La(chimolala) Land Chapter Two: Over My Iced Vanilla Latte

jimin x reader genre: fluff, fluff, and more fluff word count: 1.5k warnings: none

[Inspired by La La Land]

Read on Wattpad

Read on Ao3

“I still don’t understand,” Jessenia says, stopping in between generous applications of mascara to shoot you a doubtful look. “You met some Korean tourist dude on the top of City Hall, just gave him a copy of Red Writer, and now you’re meeting him at a Starbucks to hear his feedback?”

You attempt to square your shoulders, though it doesn’t quite work. Your roommate—sweet as she is—can be a little intimidating. “That’s about the size of it.”

“That’s about the size of it,” she mocks. “Listen to yourself! You sound just like Sybil from Downton Abbey.”

“Life goal achieved, then.”

Jessenia lets out a heavy sigh. “I just can’t believe you literally handed a complete stranger a copy of your work. He could totally just steal it! Sell it to a film studio, or make a movie out of it himself—”

“That seems a little unlikely, seeing as how I’m unable to sell it to anyone.” She walks over to where you sit on your bed, completely interrupting her makeup routine. Now you know it’s serious. “Y/N. I’m only telling you this because I love you. Be careful. You don’t know squat about this guy.” “I do indeed! I’ve watched him walk away. He definitely does squats.” If you’d delivered that line in any other situation, Jessenia would have been doubled over in laughter. You always made her laugh. But this time, it didn’t have that effect. She sashayed over to her closet, digging through halter dresses and high heels. She had an audition that afternoon. “Don’t let some cute butt distract you from the reason you came to LA.” You suppress a laugh—but not a smile. “Jess,” you start, forcing yourself to be serious. “You’ve known me since college. You know I’ve never let anything—let alone anyone—distract me. This is just . . . I don’t know, Jess, it feels like a breakthrough. An outsider’s perspective will be helpful. Maybe he’ll give me an idea for something—something good—that’ll finally sell Red Writer.” “Maybe,” she responds, “though he sounds like just a himbo to me.” “We don’t know squat about him, remember?” She rolls her eyes, but smiles. “Even himbos can do squats, Y/N. Boy ever can they do them.” _________________________ The Metro ride downtown is longer than you remember—probably because you don’t have a manuscript to pour over to pass the time. Jimin has the only print copy of Red Writer. That fact—and Jessenia’s words—make you more than a little anxious. Sure, you’ve got soft copies backed up on your hard drive and files placed on approximately 5 USB drives—you’re not stupid—but him having the paper manuscript feels a little . . . strange. Out of place. Intimate, almost. No pantsuit this time. There’s no need for it. This isn’t a business meeting—at least, not technically. You opted for a pair of loose-fitting jeans, a pastel purple t-shirt, and a whitewashed denim jacket. It’s not a bad look on you. But when you walk down the Grand Park stairs and spot him through the fountain, you realize you’ve greatly underestimated the level of fashion called for in the situation. He’s in ripped, black jeans; a thin, white shirt that somehow looks both loose and form-fitting; and a silvery-gray leather jacket. And he’s wearing jewelry—a Harry Styles amount of jewelry. Stud earrings. A black Chanel necklace. Rings on almost every finger. Like before, you think: Who is this guy? He sees you across the way and waves. Too late to turn back and try to throw together a better outfit. You’re suddenly mindful of how bulky your denim jacket is, but why should it matter? You fit in with the crowd of Californians much better, while he sticks out like a sore thumb in that getup. A surprisingly sexy sore thumb. Never mind that. You’re the writer in this situation. You’re the one who’s created something amazing. He’s just the reader. Assert your dominance, Y/N.

“Hey,” he says as you approach. “Love the jacket.” “Thanks. Nice . . .” you trail off, gesturing at him awkwardly, not sure where to look. “Nice outfit.” “You don’t think it’s too much?” “You look like you should be riding horses down Rodeo Drive with Usher.” He puts a hand over his heart. “You have no idea how much of a compliment that is for me.” Enough chitchat. The sun is starting to get lower in the sky, and you don’t particularly want to have to ride the Metro home in the dark. Besides, you’re starting to look at him—like, really look at him. And you think—though you figure you’re probably mistaken—that he’s starting to look at you. “Want a drink?” He asks. “I’m buying.” “Too late in the day for caffeine,” you respond. You need to make this as fast as possible. “Then get a decaf, or a tea.” He opens the door to the Starbucks, leaving you no choice. Once you get your drinks, you pick a table back outside; the weather’s too nice to pass up the opportunity. Besides, whoever’s running that Starbucks chose to play mood music over the loudspeaker. Quite the departure from the ambient, helps-you-focus stuff they usually go for, you think. The current playlist, in the current situation, with the current company, will surely not foster productivity. “So, what comments do you have about Red Writer? Is Marianne too headstrong? Are the bandmates too stereotypical? Is it too early 2000s to appeal to a modern audience?” He holds up a hand. “Whoa, slow down. I have yet to touch my Americano.” You decide to be straight with him. “I don’t have time to prioritize coffee over work. Every second that passes, someone else gets closer to becoming a successful screenwriter, and I lag behind while they take my place at the writer’s table—” “Whoa there. Take a sip of that iced vanilla latte, and breathe.” You do as he says, but not without rolling your eyes. After a swig, you look down at your cup. You have to look somewhere. The setting sun’s starting to backlight his blonde hair. It’s as if nature’s purposefully trying to complement his beauty. “I loved it,” he says softly. You look up. He’s smiling, and it’s real. It’s genuine. He isn’t teasing. “You do?” “Are you kidding?” His dark eyes light up as he begins to recount the plot of your screenplay. “Nerdy college girl is a journalist by day, songwriter by night. Her best friend’s in a small band from the Valley, and she basically begs this friend to let her write their lyrics, so she can get experience points. The band absolutely takes off, and the girl gets tons of gigs as a lyricist for struggling performers who’ve recently signed with big labels—only to find out that her real dream is to sit in coffee shops and play the simple, acoustic music she writes herself, just to uplift and relax people.” It takes you a minute to register that he’s praising your work. You’d forgotten what that felt like. It’d been years since someone had given you positive feedback—outside of your close inner circle of family members and roommates, that is. Panel after panel of producers had taken one glance, said “no,” and put your manuscripts through the shredder. But no more. Someone not only liked what you’d written. He loved it. “I devoured it in one night. Couldn’t go to bed until I finished it.” “That’s how I felt when I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time!” “Nerd.” You choose to disregard that last little comment. Someone felt the same way about your work as you’d felt about Jane Austen’s. I’ve made it! “I just have one little criticism.” Uh oh. Here it came. “What’s that?” “Your description of the bandmates . . .  it’s not accurate at all.” _________________________ “So let me get this straight,” the manager of the Starbucks in Grand Park stared Park Jimin in the eye. “You’ll pay me how much to play this CD?” “You heard what I said,” responded the fashionable, blonde Korean man standing on the other side of the counter. “And I’ve got cash.” The manager shook his head, but acquiesced. “Okay, man. I’d be a fool not to do it, I guess. You know how much cannabis that kind of money can get me?” Jimin chose to ignore that last little bit. “One question, though. Why? What you’ve got written on here seems pretty standard. Chris Brown, Boyz II Men. . .” “It’s . . . none of your concern.” Jimin ran a hand through his hair, looking a little nervous. “But since you’re being so kind, I’ll tell you this much: it’s undoubtedly worth it.”

[weclassygirl]

𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥

Word count: +5.1k (clownery at its finest)

Pairing: coa!step x oc!ava

Summary: Step actually had help in finding V when she got taken in Tokyo...

Warnings: softness, mention of nightmares

Author’s note: hello, the lovely kat from @the-darklings​ let me write for her hacker disaster boy Step from her fic “children of ares”, alongside my own oc. as always English is not my first language so beware. take care everyone <3

Pinterest board (includes Ava's apartment)

Gif credits (x)

The knock on her door comes just after midnight. She's not expecting anyone at this time, only in the morning hours, but maybe her client changed his mind. 

She goes to the door and looks through the peephole to see a familiar slender figure standing behind it. The woman steps back and sighs. She was worried sick.

She opens her dark door to the man that she haven't heard from in a few weeks. He’s wearing his signature round sunglasses and it still makes her wonder how can he see through them. He sports a striped yellow shirt with suspenders underneath a light wool coat. He holds a laptop in his hands. 

A worried and confused expression makes its way onto her face as she opens the door more widely. “Step?” she questions.”What are you doing here? Where have you been?” the woman wonders out loud. 

“Buonasera Ava, I am in dire need of your helping hands and brain.” he tells her quickly with a grin growing on his face. He doesn’t respond to her last question. 

Ava raises her eyebrows at him. “Dire need, you say?” she acknowledges slowly, waiting for his response. She haven’t seen him in weeks and even tried to contact him but to no use. 

“I’ll pay for your services in a form of some hugs and Skittles?” he offers with a playful smile playing on his lips. 

She looks up at him, barely seeing his blue eyes through the dark glasses. “Hmm… tempting.” she hums thoughtfully. Ava closes her eyes for a moment and sighs opening the door wider. “Alright, get in.” she invites him to her apartment. 

As he walks through the door he says “Have I told you how much I adore you?” and she chuckles, her back turned away from him as she closes and locks the door. Step is patiently standing in the small hallway. 

“Don't say it too fast, you still haven't told me why you need my help and where you've been.” she responds as he hangs his coat on one of the hangers on the wall. 

“Of course, where are my manners.” he reaches up to his face, takes off the round glasses and puts them in the lapel of his shirt. “I need your help in finding someone.” 

Ava draws her eyebrows together in confusion. “Finding someone? That's the easiest thing in the book, you don't need my help for that.” she says a matter-of-factly. Tracking is truly one of the easiest thing a hacker can learn. Why would he come to her in the middle of a night with a request that he could have handled on his own? 

“I'm afraid that I do… help me Ava, you're my only hope.” he clasps his hands together in a silent plead. Ava turns her head to the side and scoffs. “Bold move using that reference against me.” she warns him with a smirk on her face. 

He steps a bit closer. “You love it.” Ava looks up at his towering frame and rolls her eyes and breaths in. “Okay, turn on your laptop.” 

“Right away.” he salutes you and moves to the small kitchen island connected to the rest of the countertop. He pulls out his laptop while Ava begins to make coffee for both of them, she can already feel that it’s gonna be a long night, but that has never stopped them. 

As Step taps away on his laptop she pulls out two mugs and pours the dark liquid. She places the mug next to him as he steps out of the seat and points to it invitingly. Ava sits in the dark chair and stares at the screen in front of her.

“So what am I looking at exactly?” she asks as she sips on the hot coffee. He leans over her shoulder and looks at the screen.

“This is as far as I could go into the server. I thought that you could use one of your fancy programs and boost this up a little.” her gaze is focused on the screen but the woman bends her neck and narrows her eyes at the man. 

“You could have written one by yourself.” Ava tells him and he pulls back to lean against the counter. “Yes, but you know me, I am too lazy for that.” he admits with a tilt of his head. 

She turns to the bright screen and begins to tap in various commands that could help her speed up the process. “But not too lazy to come way over here asking me to do that apparently.” she comments with slightly more opened eyes. A small smile is etched onto her face and Step hangs his head down and laughs.

“Touché, carina, touché.” he admits and moves to sit next to Ava. 

“And who am I looking for?” the woman questions, not removing her eyesight from the screen filled with various of commands. 

“A woman that goes by V or The Vipress.” he informs her. She stops her typing and looks at him. He’s sitting close to her, their arms almost touching. 

“That’s why you’ve been gone? Cause of some girl?” she asks him, a hint of irritation lacing her voice. Step only smiles faintly. “Well, not exactly. My boss wants me to find her, if I do that I get to live the rest of my days.” the tattooed man says it as if it’s the most obvious thing. 

Ava ponders at his answer. “So he will kill you if you don’t find her?” she says slowly, but Step doesn’t respond her right away. The golden haired woman turns to him fully, worry evident on her face. “What did you got yourself into?”

Step only draws in a breath and squints. “You see I rather not answer that now.” 

“Step…” she warns him, the laptop next to her momentarily forgotten.

“You’ll get mad.” he points out. “Of course I'll get mad. You're gone for a few weeks with no contact whatsoever, I thought that Slifer killed you.” 

Slifer. The cyber terrorist group both of them have been apart of at some point. Step has run with them longer then Ava. The woman only worked with them on a specific projects. Never lingered around, but always stayed a bit longer to catch up with Step. Both of them became very fast friends, impressed by both of their skills and fond of each others personality. He was always the one to light up the mood as he walked into the room, while she was also the same but more reserved, preferring to work in peace. The only person that turned out to be able to break that peace without really interrupting was Step. 

After Ava stopped working for Slifer, she exchanged contacts with Step, should the one of them need help. He never did and neither did she but he always visited her to talk, watch movies, share some work or even go out sometimes. But now, this time is an exception as he sits next to her, asking for help.

“Oh, I am not with them anymore.” he says bluntly. “What?” Ava asks confused. 

“I am not with them, I am with some other group now.” he informs her. The confusion on her face only grows. She knows that Step is highly secretive, she is too, but they trust each other… sort of. “What group?” she questions further.

The tattooed man looks at her and presses his lips into a thin line. “Promise you won’t get mad.”

“Step.” she warns.

“Please.” 

She sighs. “Fine.”

Step watches her carefully before answering. “I am working with Camorra now.” he squints at Ava, expecting her reaction. 

The woman blinks. That was not the answer she was prepared for. Step looks into her green eyes and notices a gleam of the lamp reflecting in them. He can even see his tiny silhouette in them. 

“You… you work with Camorra?” she asks doubt founded. He nods and she steps out of the chair and walks back and forth for a moment. She stops and heads towards Step, hitting him in the arms repeatedly. “Are you completely out of your mind?” she raises her voice slightly.

“Most of the time yes and- ow! you promised.” she stops her actions and glares at him, fire dancing in her eyes. “It’s not like I joined them. The boss himself recruited me.”

“Giovanni D’Antonio hand picked you?” she questions with a slight suspicion. “There’s gotta be a catch.” Ava says this as she sits down on the seat at the counter. 

“There is none. If I find that girl he’ll let me stay with them and even help take Slifer down.” he tells her quickly. If he says that there is no catch then it has to be right. Step is… paranoid, to say the least. He would check any little information just to confirm his speculations. 

She can’t argue with him, he’s right. Camorra is known for its brutality and power. There is a reason for why they rule in Italy and it came with tons of shed blood. Ava just looks at Step and gives up. “I hope you know what you’re doing.” she whispers loud enough for him to hear. “Alright, back to your girl.” Ava switches her attention from his piercing gaze to the bright screen of the laptop. “When did she went missing?” 

Step scoots in closer. "About nine days ago, in Tokyo." He informs Ava as she begins to work and enter the necessary codes and commands.

"One of the most crowded cities in the world." she tilts her head in affirmation. "That definitely doesn't complicate this whole thing." she adds sarcastically and grins faintly. 

"Now you see my problem." Step comments and leans back in his seat sipping on his coffee. The pleasant smell has already traveled through the whole apartment and it gives Ava a sense of comfort.

As the woman taps away on the laptop she notices that the whole tracking may take more time than she thought. Step had a good reason to come to her, this whole process begins to look like a maze. "Damn, that's gonna take a while." 

Over half an hour passes as Ava plugs in one of her USB drives with a program that could help with the tracking. As the laptop complies with it, Ava and Step try to catch up. He tells her that he run away from Slifer cause they used and betrayed him. He says that Giovanni made him an offer that he couldn't refuse if he valued his life. Ava listens intently to his story and wonders if that could circle back to her. Both of them were close at their on and off time at Slifer, they knew that Step was the only person able and allowed to reach her. She wants to help him take them down, but she prefers to work from her hideouts. 

This apartment is her own and only Step knows about it. His paranoid tendencies rubbed of on her. She's grateful for that but finds it annoying sometimes. Always having to watch her back. 

Ava moves her attention back to the laptop and taps in some of the last codes that only she has access to. The laptop screen stops as she exclaims. "I think I may have something." Both of them look at the screen… all of it in Japanese. 

"Now that's another problem." he points out with a gesture of his tattooed hand. "Sadly, I don't know Japanese that good." he pouts and looks to Ava. 

She smirks in his direction. "Aren't you glad to have me on hand then? I still remember some stuff unlike you." she responds in a slightly judgy tone. Step notices it but doesn't comment, instead a smirk of his own forms on his face. 

Ava's gaze hardens on the screen. "It's some sort of report." she mutters, her voice low. "The girl has been captured and moved to a secure location at the edge of the city." she roughly translates, her Japanese a bit rusty. 

"At least that narrows it down. What about that?" he points to the symbol on the edge of the screen. Ava immediately scans it and both of them are faced with one word. 

"Yakuza?" she wonders out loud but doesn't ponder about it for too long. It's Japan, they rule in it. "Probably the ones that took her." Step only hums in confirmation. "You know them?" the woman questions.

"My new boss is not a fan of theirs." he informs her. The space is filled with silence, the only sound that can be heard is the tapping on the keyboard. Ava suddenly hangs her head and huffs, Step looks her way as small strands of hair fall in front of her face. "Can't believe you're working for him." she exclaims. 

"Excuse me, I just got there over a week ago." he says with a playful undertone.

"And you should have left them right away." she tells him, worry beginning to lace with her voice. "It's Camorra, Step. You really want to get involved in their business?" she questions him and stops working on her laptop for a brief second. 

Step only sighs and his following words are quiet, which is unusual for him. "It's better than staying with Slifer and they could actually help us take them down. Another chess piece off their board I guess." 

The tranquility fills up the space between them. Serious conversations are not their thing, but sometimes they have to have one of those to voice their concerns. Their world is not safe for anyone, with him now being wanted it gets even more difficult. Ava's thoughts are interrupted with a soft ping coming from the laptop. Both of the hackers look its way and Ava starts to panic as she sees multiple stuff and windows popping up on the screen. 

She quickly crosses the small space of her apartment to her bag and pulls another USB from her collection and attaches it to the laptop. Step watches the whole situation like a movie, not moving from his seat since he knows it won't be good use. If Ava is set on something then it's in better mind not to interrupt her. 

The woman taps something on the keyboard and the whole commotion on the screen stops. She sighs relieved. "I am truly glad that I came to you." Step comments from her side and chuckles. She releases one of her own. "Yeah, you would have been dead without me." she bites back. 

"May I?" the man points to the laptop. Most of the work is done, the only last thing is for Step to finish the tracking. Ava stands up from her seat and switches places with Step. He begins to tap away as she takes both of their mugs with finished coffees and place them in the sink with a soft clink. She quickly cleans them and turns to the tattooed man. The ink reaching up his neck, cascades down his arms up to his finger tips. She used to trace them whenever she had a pretty rough nightmare and he was trying to calm her down.  

Step was kicked out of his house but Ava never had one. She grew up in shelters without even knowing her family. The only thing she remembers as she tried to find them was their reaction to her standing at their doorsteps with a small baby in her mother's arms. She saw that she doesn't fit in their little dream so she left, traveled from country to country until she found herself in Italy. 

She met Step at the Slifer, two competitive hackers trying to get by in life. Slifer took an interest in them when they found out about their hits, both of them targeted at some big corporations. They offered a place in their group, Step accepted right away but Ava agreed to work on some occasions. 

"You're gonna stay with them." it's not a question, more of an observation. Step looks up from the laptop and stares into her eyes. Her expression neutral. He turns his gaze to the screen and adds finishing touches to tracking the missing woman. 

"I have nothing better to do and this time, who knows, it might get me somewhere." 

"It could lead you to trouble. You have a tendency to bring them to you like a magnet." 

Step grins. "Everyone needs a bit of danger in their life, carina." 

"Not if it kills you." she warns with a playful tone and a hint of smile.

"You could join." he suddenly says and Ava raises her eyebrow. "I'm sure they would gladly accept your services." he finishes with a small curl of his lips. 

"Camorra doesn't just accept random people." 

The Italian mob picks their crew very carefully, if you have some resemblance of skill or talent they consider taking you in. Camorra has eyes and ears everywhere, they know about cyber groups working in the undergrounds, they have enemies in them. Some fear them and step back but there are some that think that they could overpower the mob. 

"The accepted me." Step proclaims, the bright light of the screen illuminates his pale face. 

"Yeah, cause you were staying with Slifer longer than I did. You being hunted by them made you draw attention to yourself." Ava sits down on the seat next to him and leans the side of her body on the counter. Step briefly side eyes the blonde haired woman.

"You need to live a little Ava. Those jobs that you take up on aren't worthy of your precious brain." he taps her head with his tattoed finger. She leans in closer to him. 

"At least I make some good money out of it." she keeps her gaze on him as if to challenge the man. He's not backing down and begins to smile. Both of them start to laugh and in the midst of the cheerful atmosphere the laptop stops it's movement and shows a map. Or more likely a location. They found V. 

They can see guards placed in various places outside of the secured underground facility and also some blueprints with the layout of the place. 

"Yes!" Step shouts and immediately picks Ava up in a hug. She yelps in surprise, both of them laugh with victory, Step gives a small peck to her head, cheeks and puts her down on the ground. "You" he points to her "are brilliant!" 

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You don't have to thank me." she says nonchalantly with a grin. 

"Oh, but I do." he reaches to his pocket and she hears a rustling of a paper. He pulls out a bag of Skittles and offers them with his hands, slightly bowing. "For your trouble, my lady." 

She scoffs and takes the red bag from him. "I am flattered." she opens the candy and takes out the yellow ones and gives them to the man in front of her. 

"Do you have a phone I could use?" he asks and she puts the candy bag on the counter. 

"Yeah, let me just get it real quick." she crosses the room to her wardrobe and pulls out a box filled with files, burner phones, CD's and USB drives. She takes one of the phones and tosses it to Step. He dials a number as she sits on the couch and turns on the TV, briefly watching the news. 

She hears Step talk with who she presumes is Giovanni, in Italian. He quickly tells him that he found the Vipress and sends him every information that both of them found. He doesn't mention anything about Ava and she has nothing against it. She rather work from the sidelines than risk being on the radar of Camorra. 

They probably think that Step is at his own apartment and tell him to come to the mansion at 9am. It's currently nearing 1:30am. 

As Step finishes the call, Ava places a blanket and a pillow on the couch for the man. He turns in her direction and sees what she's doing. 

"Oh, there's no need for that." he says, lifting his hands up in protest. She looks at him with one of the pillows in her hand. 

"Yes it is. It's an hour drive from here to your apartment and it's gonna be raining at night anyway. You can stay for the night, it won't kill you." she comments placing the pillow on the couch. "And I still owe you from the last time." 

The last time Ava stayed at Step's place while she was running away from one of her clients. Ava has a rule, she doesn't take up the same client twice, Step being the exception. That time the client needed her skills again but she refused which resulted in her being wanted by them. She had to leave the apartment she was occupying at that time and seeked out help with Step. He was reluctant at first but eventually agreed. 

Step hangs his head in defeat, he knows she won't take no for an answer. "Up for a movie night?" he proposes.

"Not a movie, but we can watch some TV show. Aren't you supposed to get up before nine or something?" she sits down on the light couch and Step sits next to her, their knees almost touching. 

"The definition of sleep is non existent in my mind." he takes the remote and starts flipping through the channels and stops at "The Office". 

"You'll regret that in the morning." she says, her gaze focused on the screen. Step briefly side glances her before his attention switches back to the show. 

They watch a couple of episodes before Step feels a weight being pressed on his shoulder. He looks down and sees asleep Ava leaning against him. She needs sleep more than Step, she can handle all nighters to a certain point but loves to sleep in late. 

Step turns off the TV, carefully moves to not wake up Ava and picks her up and places her in her bed. As he covers her with a blanket her phone pings with a message. He looks towards the sleeping woman and reaches to turn the phone off but his attention is caught with the content of the message. A threat. He reads it and guesses that it must be one of her clients wanting to work with her again. Step turns the phone off and decides that he will ask about it in the morning. 

He crosses the room to the couch and places his glasses on the table and covers himself with a blanket. It's dark in the apartment, he hears a faint tapping on the windows. Rain begins to hit it and the sound of it lulls Step to sleep.                               

Step wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of a soft whimper coming from Ava. The man notices that she is having a nightmare and quickly comes over to her side. He knows that waking her up will be no help, so he settles with something that he knows could be of use. 

He takes her hand in his tattoed one and traces soft patterns on it. Her whimpers calm down and she immediately relaxes in his hold. Nightmares are common for both of them and they found some ways to help the other throughout the years. The first time he tried to get her to calm down from a nightmare, she almost hit him in the face with a lamp. Now he knows that it’s safer to just calm her as she sleeps.

For him it’s just slowly waking up, without shouting at him, the shouting only worsens the nightmare. She used to just place her hand on his arm or cheek and whisper to him to wake up. Both of them are haunted by their own demons and still manage to smile and be happy despite all of the shit that they had to go through.

The clock next to her shows 6am. Step decides to start his day, he doesn't need that much sleep anyway. 

He turns on his laptop and goes through the network, looking at the news and continues writing a program that he started designing, occasionally looking to Ava to make sure he didn’t woke her up. He works quietly and soon enough it's 7:30am. 

Ava wakes up to the smell of a fresh coffee. She looks at the clock on her stand and turns on her phone to see one message. She decides to get out of the bed and head to the kitchen. In it she finds Step, turned with his back to her. He acknowledges her with giving her a cup of warm coffee. She takes a sip and immediately melts at the feeling of a sweet liquid warming up her body. 

Step watches her and smiles. "Buongiorno Ava." she looks into his blue eyes and responds with a soft "Hi."

Both of them move to the couch, listening to the gentle tapping of raindrops on the window sill. They sit in a comfortable silence before Ava decides to speak up. 

"So… you're Camorra now." she says softly. 

"I think so." he answers. "Kinda neat, I'll have another place to stay if something happens, they'll pay me some good money." he turns to the woman beside him, the mug warming his hands. He looks down to his cup. "I saw a message on your phone." 

"Oh?"

"Yeah… Is someone after you?" he says with a slight worry evident in his voice. 

She looks to him and shakes her head. "No." she exclaims but Step feels that this isn't the end. "Well, I'm not sure now. It's just some assholes that needed me for another job, even though I told them that I don't work with the same people twice." the blonde explains. 

Step puts his mug down on the table. "That message looked like a threat." he says warily. The glasses on his head reflecting the morning sunshine that started to peak out from the rainy clouds. 

"I have it covered." she puts her mug down as well and leans her side on the couch, facing the tattooed man. She leans in a bit closer. He looks at her, doubt filling his face, an eyebrow raised. He doesn't believe her. "I'm serious, you have nothing to worry about. I had a similar situation before and handled it, you know that." 

He fully knows that she's capable of surviving and successfully running away from people and problems. But still the thought of losing a person that actually tolerates him, that has been beside him through thick and thin… 

"If you need anything-" 

She cuts him off. "Yes, I know, I turn to you. Noted." 

The silence fills up the air as both if them sit on the couch. They just study each other, Step sports small, nearly invisible cuts on his face while her own shows tiredness from just waking up. 

"When Slifer is gone, text me. We have to celebrate somehow." she addresses him and places her head on her hand. "You could always help Camorra with that too." 

She looks at him like crazy. "And risk them making me a target? No thank you, I value my life… even though I helped you with that girl." he chuckles at her explanation and some sort of weight drops from her shoulders. 

Step looks at the clock beside her bed. 8:10am. The man sighs and begins to rise from the couch. 

"I have to go, don't wanna lose my hand or head on my first day." 

Ava raises up too and both of them move to the front door of her apartment. "You'll be fine. I'm pretty sure you're smarter than all of them combined." she admits as she follows him. He takes his coat from the hanger and puts it on. 

"You're pretty sure? Well call me hurt, I thought you had me for a genius." he comments with a hand placed on his chest, as to show that he's truly wounded. 

"I have you for pretty annoying genius most of the time." 

He beams and raises his eyebrows in amusement. "You think I'm pretty?" 

Ava smiles and places her own hand on his chest, pushing him towards the door. "Always a charmer. Just go, I'll call you later. I have a potential client in an hour anyway." 

"You still takes those? In your home?" he questions with slightly widened eyes. 

"Not in my home, are you mad?" she exclaims. "Some museum gallery, it's just info gathering. They'll send the rest through the network." 

Ava unlocks the door and reaches for the doorknob. "Careful with that. Everyone and everything can be hacked nowadays." he says it with a smile like a Cheshire Cat. 

She points between them. "But not us." 

"That's why we have people hunting us like witches… Alright, thank you once again for your help carina. If you need me, just ring the doorbell to Camorra, I'm sure they'll open without a trouble." he grins as you open the door. 

"Yeah." 

As he walks through the door he turns around one last time before leaving. "You shouldn't be hiding your talent Ava. It's no use." he tells her. She knows that he's right, but she can't risk it. 

"I call it being precautious. You should have understand it, with you being all paranoid." she wiggles her fingers at him and he chuckles. 

He haven't seen her this joyful in weeks, besides not seeing her in weeks. He’s been away, work has been keeping her up all nights and she is known to be a stubborn perfectionist. 

"And now I am even more safe and paranoid with the lovely Camorra." he smirks.

Ava tip toes to him, puts her hand on the side of his face and pecks his cheek as a goodbye. He softly holds her waist.

"I'll see you around Step." she pulls away and he puts on his glasses. 

"Likewise Ava." he bows slightly and leaves the woman's apartment. She watches as he walks away when she shouts after him.

"You owe me!" her voice echoes throughout the hallway and she sees his faint figure raise his hand up as if to say Of course. 

He disappears behind the corner and Ava closes her door, locks it and leans against them. She smiles and shakes her head. The woman moves further into the apartment beginning to prepare for her next client. 

[morgana-greenleaf]

Tower of Tomorrow - Chapter 1

Rating: Teen

Fandom: MCU

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, Tony Stark, Alpine, Lucky, Other Avengers & related characters

Summary: One year after TWS, Sam and Steve finally track Bucky down and bring him back to Avengers Tower.

Of course, there's still lots of HYDRA bases to be taken down, and Bucky finds himself actually enjoying the Avengers' company, and making friends.

They’d spent a year hunting Bucky down, with almost nothing to go on. They still didn’t have any proof that it was Bucky who was ruthlessly destroying HYDRA bases, leaving only a box of files or a USB drive of intel behind. But no one else would know the locations of the bases, and after what he’d seen, Sam was more than convinced that Bucky was capable of taking down a whole base on his own.

He’d read the files. Read about how it took them twenty years of torture to get Bucky to become the Winter Soldier, and how he’d still fought back. He’d read about the wipes, the missions (all 182 of them), the punishments for failing missions or disobeying, the training, the experimentation, and the arm.  It struck him as a bit odd, that Bucky was happy for them to read that in the files he left, but then he had spent seventy years being treated like a machine. It made Sam sick.

Sam didn’t think they’d ever find him. Bucky was far too skilled to be caught by accident, and he hadn’t shown any sign of wanting to be found. So they kept traipsing after him, following the trail of destroyed bases.

He was surprised, then, when they found Bucky at a base just outside Bucharest. Bucky looked the same as he had a year ago, right down to the Winter Soldier outfit and mask, but instead of trying to shoot them, he sat on a chair near the partially collapsed entrance to the base, watching them approach.

They stopped about ten paces away.

“Bucky?” Steve asked, tentatively.

Bucky stood up, took a step forwards, and dropped to his knees, placing his hands on his head. “It’s okay,” he said, “I won’t fight back.”

“What?”

“I won’t fight back when you take me in. Or shoot me, or whatever.”

“We’re not going to shoot you!” Steve protested, “And we’re not here to ‘take you in’. We’re here to help you, to take you home, if you’d like.”

Bucky nodded, “Okay,” and rose smoothly to his feet, pulling a black roll-up duffel bag from a pocket, and began piling his weapons inside, which Sam just noticed had been sitting in a heap behind the chair. “Let’s go.” He passed the bag to Sam.

Steve led the way back to the quinjet, and Bucky followed silently behind. He stayed silent for the whole ride back to Avengers Tower, sitting right at the back and glaring at them. Steve kept glancing back at him from where he was piloting, but seemed to think better of talking to him.

“What now?” Sam asked.

“Help him get better. Get his memory back. Get him some therapy,” Steve said.

“And you think Fury’ll just let us? The governments will just let us? He’s wanted in 140 countries.”

“I know. I’ll fight them all if I have to. They have to see he’s innocent.”

“They will,” Sam said, trying to convince himself. “I’m sure Tony’s lawyers will sort it out.”

“If Tony agrees to help.”

“You can’t blame him for not liking the guy who killed his parents. We’re just lucky he’s been taking it out on HYDRA.”

“I guess.”

Steve radioed into the tower, warning of their arrival, then settled back in his chair to watch Bucky.

Four hours later, they landed in the hangar of Avengers Tower. They were greeted by at least fifty agents Fury and Hill had scraped together, to work for Not-SHIELD. As Bucky stepped off the quinjet, they formed a circle, pointing their guns at his chest.

“Hands up!” one of them yelled. Then he turned to Sam and Steve, “Get behind me. We’ll handle this.”

Bucky raised his hands, and a pair of agents rushed forwards, shoving him to his knee, grabbing his arms and cuffing them behind his back, then hobbling his feet.

“Let him go!” Steve yelled, trying to push them away.

“It’s necessary, Captain,” Fury said, stepping into the hangar. “He needs a psych evaluation, to make sure he’s not still with HYDRA. He’s dangerous. And he will stay with us until we are sure that it’s safe.”

“It’s fine, Steve,” Bucky said, “I’m sure they’ll be better than HYDRA.”

Sam stifled a laugh. Steve looked like he wanted to drag Bucky back onto the jet and fly away, but instead he gave a short nod, and the agents marched Bucky away.

“He’ll be fine,” Sam said. Neither he nor Steve quite believed it.

Avengers Tower had 98 storeys, plus a ground floor and rooftop. Right near the top each of them (Thor, Sam, Steve, Clint, Natasha, Bruce, Tony and Rhodey), each had their own floor, and there were several empty ones below – “For when we recruit more people,” Tony had said – and then there were several levels of lounge rooms and common kitchens and gyms and a range, and several floors dedicated to what Tony had christened ‘Not-SHIELD’, since Fury and Hill hadn’t decided on a new name yet. Then there was a massive pool, with a diving board, and then Tony had several floors of labs and workshops and who knows what else. And then right at the bottom, there were 20 storeys dedicated to Stark Industries, 2 storeys dedicated to the Avengers and their press image (or something like that, none of them ever had anything to do with it), and a hospital level.

Sam and Steve went straight to the kitchen, where they knew everyone would be, except for Thor, who only seemed to come for movie nights, and spent the rest of his time on Asgard. And they were right – Clint was drinking straight from the coffee pot while Natasha was looking on in horror, Bruce was curled up on the lounge, reading a book, his breakfast sitting forgotten beside him, and Rhodey was trying to persuade Tony that coffee didn’t count as a meal.

Natasha looked up the moment the lift doors dinged open. “Did you find him?” Her eyes flickered over the lift behind them.

Steve nodded. “Yeah. He was waiting for us outside a base. Seemed to want to come back. Only Fury’s got hold of him now, wants to run some psych tests.”

“That’ll be fun for him,” Clint snorted, “He had me for two weeks after New York was over.”

“Two weeks!” Steve exclaimed. “He can’t have Bucky that long.”

“Better keep him too long than let him out early and have him murder us when we look away.” Natasha pointed out.

“I’m going to go and see him,” Steve decided.

Sam looked longingly at the fried bacon and eggs sitting on the countertop. When was the last time he’d eaten? “I’ll come too.”

They headed back into the lift. “Hey JARVIS, can you take us to wherever Bucky is, please.”

“Of course, sir. Sergeant Barnes is on level 74, however Director Fury has asked me to make sure you check in with him before visiting.”

“Okay, thanks, JARVIS.”

They exited the lift and after a short conversation with Fury that was basically just Steve threatening him if he took longer than a day to clear Bucky, and Fury saying that it would take at least a month to do the full tests, but adding that they could do enough today so that Bucky could at least come out of the cell if he stayed in the tower, and then giving them strict guidelines for interaction.

When they entered the cell, Bucky was sitting docile on a metal bench, no longer in his Winter Soldier get-up, but in a thin black cotton shirt and matching tracksuit pants. He glanced up as they entered and locked the door behind them, shifting slightly. Sam noticed that the restraints hadn’t been removed.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” Steve asked, rushing over. He stopped short when Bucky flinched away.

“No. I’m fine.” Bucky stared at the floor, unable to meet their eyes.

“Do you need anything?”

“No. I’m fine, really.”

Steve hesitated, then, “D-do you remember me?”

“Yes. You’re Steve Rogers.”

“Is that all?”

Bucky finally looked up. “No. I remember before the war. And I remember during the war…with the Howling Commandos.”

“You remember the Commandos?”

Bucky nodded. “I remember Azzano. And after. With HYDRA.”

“No one blames you, Buck.”

“’Cept for me.”

“They can’t hold you responsible. Tony Stark’s got his best lawyers on it.”

“The man whose parents I murdered. I wouldn’t blame him if he killed me himself, instead of waiting for the government to do it.”

“No one’s gonna kill you, Buck. I won’t let them.”

“And Stark doesn’t blame you,” Sam added, “He may not have been brainwashed into killing people for seventy years, but he knows what it’s like to have to do things under duress.”

Bucky didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t keep arguing. Instead, he turned to Sam. “Sorry about your car. And pulling you out of the sky and kicking you off the helicarrier. And, Steve, sorry for almost killing you.”

Sam raised an eyebrow. “I expect a replacement for the car.”

Bucky’s mouth quirked to one side. “I’ll go pinch you one just as soon as they let me out of here.”

Speak of the devil, the door opened, and Fury stepped in. “Time for the scans.”

Bucky stood up immediately, and followed him out, moving easily despite the restraints.

“That went surprisingly well,” Sam said.

“How much do you think he remembers?” Steve asked.

“Enough to not murder us. And remember, even if he didn’t remember a single thing, he’d still deserve a second chance after all he’s been through.”

“He was still wearing what he wore as the Winter Soldier. What if never stops being…that?”

“Bucky spent seventy years as the Winter Soldier,” Sam reminded him. “And even if it wasn’t his choice, it was still him. He’s probably going to keep a lot of his behaviour, mannerisms, muscle memory. It’s part of him now.”

Steve sighed. “I hate it.”

“Me too. But it is what it is, and we need to help him cope with it. Now come on. Let’s stop hanging out in his cell, and go have a massive breakfast. And then I’m going to sleep all day.”

Steve laughed. “That’s one way to make the day go quickly.”

Tower of Tomorrow Masterlist

[takaraphoenix]

I love Once Upon a Time. I loved it since it first started airing and I first started watching it. For years, it was my absolute favorite TV show.

This post isn’t really about the show, in case you’re getting your hopes up. I rambled about it at length here, which resulted in a rewatch, which stirred up some old things that I want to talk about here.

I loved this show, I loved it a lot. Peak loving it started in about 2013. Because sharing something you love with someone you love just makes it all the better, right? And my best friend back then, she also loved it, she loved it so much.

We used to watch it together. Meet up regularly to watch a bunch of episodes together. We turned the half season about Fr0zen into an all-day drinking game binge, because we both disliked that movie greatly but love this show.

We just -- clicked on this. Her favorite fairy tale is Beauty and the Beast, a story I... don’t dig at all. But OUaT’s Beauty and Beast are just about the only valid BatB adaptation and the only time I ship those two.

We got to fangirl about it all together, ships, characters, plotlines, Disney movies handled badly/good. It was so much fun.

And then things started to slowly... fizz out. Occasions on which she took the time for us to watch together became rarer and rarer.

And I know she had a lot going on back then in her life, mentally, physically, just everything really. And I 100% understand not having the emotional capacity to hang out with people.

But it was... kind of... just me. We were facebook friends too and I’d see her post about that weekend she went on a con with those four friends, that Wednesday afternoon she spent gaming with this friend, that Saturday she drove hours to visit another friend. And when every time I asked, the answer would be she’d be too exhausted right now, or she had just spent last weekend socializing so she needed a “me weekend” this week?

There’s not always having the emotional capacity to socialize and then there is having the emotional capacity to socialize with those people but not with one person in particular, because on her own, she kind of just stopped suggesting that we could do anything. Even on the more social days, I saw her post about the people she sought out to hang out with while I kept getting told she had no capacity for it.

That’s telling. At one point, that starts becoming a pattern and it starts becoming telling all on its own. And when you live only half an hour apart but have only seen each other three times over the course of an entire calendar year - and those three occasions were her birthday, my birthday and the birthday of her other best friend with whom I was friends too, not a single day where we just hung out, but “obligatory” meet ups of birthdays? Heck, I see my extended family more often because we throw in Easter and Christmas into that mix.

For many, many months I keep thinking that I was asking too much, demanding too much attention, because she has her mental issues and everything going on. But the more time passed and the more often I saw her have the emotional availability to hang out and be with other non-me people, the more I felt like no, I wasn’t really asking too much, because a friendship should be a two way street. I shouldn’t have to be the one to carry the entire brunt force of emotional availability and support and understanding for her; she should, despite her own situation, also be able to make time for me. In at least some way, at at least some point.

I spent that whole year having a USB drive laying around with a half watched season of Once Upon a Time (we made it halfway into season 5B). And it’s stupid and it’s not even about the show really, the show and those episodes on that USB drive just symbolize how much time she used to be able to take for us, how much fun we used to have together, how eager we both were to spend time together, and how it was now just me, carrying it around, trying to run after her, begging for some time she may have to spare for me.

During that year, we had a fallout. A stupid argument that somehow evolved into a huge fallout in which many things were said that are now burned into the back of my mind because they just cut that deep. And when I thought we could rekindle, we needed to talk about this, it was too much work. That’s what I was told, in the end, point-blank, that working through our issues and talking about this thing that really hurt me a lot emotionally would be too much emotional work for her. 10 years of friendship weren’t worth that work to rekindle.

That was one and a half years ago now. We haven’t spoken since.

I haven’t touched Once Upon a Time in three years total. Since we stopped watching, in the middle of season 5B - I had finished the show already at that point; was one and a half seasons ahead of where the two of us were stuck, which only shows just how much she had been putting me off even before the total stop in watching, especially considering we used to watch four, five episodes in a sitting on a normal day, especially considering we watched a whole half season in that one day. But between the actual release of season 5 and the finale of season 6, we barely watched half a season.

And I deleted the other left over episodes from our rewatch in angry frustration and I really haven’t been able to go back to Once Upon a Time since then, because just looking at it makes me remember all the good times we had - and remembering the good times just makes it hurt all the more, because those are the parts you miss.

It’s been three years since I last watched Once Upon a Time. Even though it is my favorite show. Even though the craving for that beloved show and how much I loved it had been there. But it just... felt way too sad to consider watching it all alone, because it’ll make me miss the best friend I lost.

I started rewatching Once Upon a Time four days ago. Because a silly little ask about my opinion on this show that I used to love so, so much sparked the curiosity of my best friend. Because, against all odds, this absolute disaster who still hasn’t finished watching Shadowhunters and is just really, really bad at watching TV shows, decided to watch OUaT, of all shows. Of all the shows I’ve been recommending her and told her to watch over the past three years that we’ve been friends now, she ended up to pick this one, this one that I hadn’t actually even explicitely recommended to her.

Of all the shows to watch, she picked this one. And she seems to really love it. And I am enjoying her enthusiasm so much and hearing her fangirl about all those characters and ships that I used to love so very dearly made me miss it so much that I decided to start rewatching it too.

And now we’re both half a season into this show and I get to fall in love with all my favorite characters and ships all over again, I get to experience that immense joy of watching something I love with someone I love who also loves this thing so much. And I missed this so much.

I missed this show so much, but this isn’t even just about the show as a piece of media for consumption; I missed loving this show with someone else. I missed this feeling that it gives me and I don’t know if, or when, I’d have been able to rewatch that all on my own again because it still makes me sad at parts because it makes me remember a friendship I lost, but now it also makes me incredibly happy to be able to share it with this friend I cherish.

And I really don’t know how to put into words how much this means to me, on such a weird level, so instead of being a Normal Person and just telling her, I am writing sappy, stupid posts on tumblr because this has become my way of coping with big emotions that make me feel things.

[the-bus-lane]

Bus Hire in Sydney

Sydney... after more than 12 months of COVID-19, outbreaks, clusters, social distancing and lockdowns, private bus companies have done it tough. An almost forgotten sector of essential services has seen many family-run bus companies shut their doors for good.

As we are seeing zero cases in NSW, lockdowns easing and life very slowly becoming back to some normalcy, it is time to take advantage of low prices for charter buses and supporting local businesses by taking advantage of the local beauties Sydney has to offer.

Although precautions are still in place, it should not stop you for enjoying a day out with family and friends or utilising a charter bus service for any social upcoming event.

What are some of the benefits of hiring a charter bus?

Private Transport:

On planes, trains and public transport there will always be people you do not know and during the easing of restrictions, it's still everyone's responsibility of keeping each other safe. On a private Sydney Charter Bus service, you can be assured your vehicle is properly sanitised, you have access to hand sanitiser and can ask the driver to wear a face mask if it makes you feel more comfortable. On private transport, the cost of the bus can be shared with the group making it less expensive compared to taxi's and ride sharing.

Hiring a charter bus may seem discouraging but it's simpler that you'd imagine. Trying to coordinate schedules with taxi's and ride sharing can be more hassle than it's worth and it makes sense to charter a bus to take the group in one sitting and everyone arrives at the same time.

The booking process is simple and done in 5 easy steps.

The Comfort Level:

Like any automobile, there are different levels of comfort from leather or cloth seats to the type of seat, leg room and conveniences such personal A/C, reading lights and curtains. Some of the top level in luxury coaches have wi-fi, USB charging ports and video monitors to enjoy a movie or presentation during your trip. Minibuses can bring a secure, weatherproof luggage trailer for the stowing of luggage while the coaches have undercarriage storage and overhead parcel racks for hand luggage.

Efficiency:

When you charter a bus, it can do multiple pickup locations so all the passengers do not have to make an additional trip in their car or on a train or taxi to the pickup location and at the end of the service then do the same home. It saves on the environment and it also allows the passengers peace of mind knowing they have a designated driver.

Flexible:

On Sydney Charter Bus tours, you are not tied down to a schedule. All itineraries are flexible and tour locations and be added or subtracted without penalty. It could be a simple drive-by a historical site or a short "stretch of the legs" photo opportunity at any one of Sydney's breathtaking locations and lookouts. The day is about enjoyment and having fun with family and friends.

Long Distance Travel:

Booking a charter bus compared to a train or plane for those long-distance travels or bus tours makes perfect sense as you don't have to worry about flight delays, lost luggage and actually getting lost in the hustle and bustle of airports and train stations. You don't have to worry about booking seats so you can sit with your family and friends with the possibility that you may not get to sit together and making joint bookings for the group does not always work out the way you had planned. Booking a private touring coach eliminates all the potential mishaps and has added advantages of multiple stops for photos, meals, comfort stops and spontaneous stops at scenic locations to enjoy this vast land that NSW and Australia have to offer. See our Services page for more information.

What types of buses are there?

While there are many types of buses to choose from the most common types are:

Take a look ar our bus and coach fleet on our website.

Micro-coach: 9 seater (becoming phased out in 2021)

Minivans: 12 & 13 seaters

Minibus: 20 & 21 seaters

Mini Coach: 24 & 25 seaters

Standard Bus (School bus): 40+ seaters and allows standing passengers

Standard Coach: 34-65 seaters

Luxury Coach: 34-65 seaters

Bus Charter, Bus Hire and Bus Rental. What is the difference?

A charter bus is vehicle that is reserved for private use booked for a group travelling together with a common destination.

Bus hire is exactly the same a bus charter... booked for hire with driver for a private group with a common destination.

Bus rental is a person renting a bus or coach off the bus company so they can use their own driver and rent the bus on a per day rate just like renting a car.

Luxury Coaches and Standard Buses:

A standard bus (also referred to a school buses) do not usually have seatbelts and depending on the age of the bus may not have air-conditioning. They do allow for standing passengers but have no compartments for luggage. These standard buses are often referred to as "people movers" as they allow for 50+ seating and 20+ standing.

Luxury coaches are sleeker and more modern with a range of comfort and safety options that the standard bus doesn't have such as seatbelts, personal A/C, reading lights, relining coach seats, leather seats, video monitors, toilets, overhead racks for small bags and items and luggage bins for suitcases.

There are even star ratings in the luxury coach range with five-star luxury coaches offering a power supply, USB inputs, Wi-Fi, personal heat/cool outlets and fold-down table with cupholder.

You can always discuss your options with the bus company to suit the requirements of the group. Why not take a look at our fleet for bus and coach options.

What are the Seating Options in Buses?

Charter buses come in a range of different sizes and seating options from the small 12 seats up to 65 seats and everything in-between. Your group may only be 20 passengers which would comfortably fit in a 21 seater minibus but you may want each passenger to have a double seat for their comfort or social distancing in which case you may want to book a 42 seater coach with all the luxuries of a modern coach. Your group may need some privacy and work on their laptop's whist the bus in in service so upgrading to a luxury coach with power options may be a benefit for your company.

Eating and Drinking on a Charter Bus:

NSW law states there is no food or drinks allowed on a bus (unless for medical reasons) except water. Alcohol consumption is not allowed on a charter bus and during COVID-19; restrictions and social distancing for venues are enforceable and as soon as a passenger is allowed to consume alcohol on a charter bus the pus becomes a venue where social distancing rules apply. NSW has party bus services that allow alcohol but with restrictions in place they were limited to the capacity of the party bus and when the bus may have carried 30 or 40 party goers they were limited to 5 or 6 in the party bus which doesn't make much of a party. If you want to eat on a charter bus you will need to contact the service provider and request that you'd like to eat on the bus. Generally, snacks are permitted but hot meals are discouraged as the smell gets into the A/C and stays for days. Any hot food spilling onto cloth seats becomes stained and bus companies will have to charge a cleaning fee. For long distance travels the bus can make comfort stops for meals and toilet breaks.

Sleeping on a Charter Bus:

Most coaches will have reclining seats that allow for relaxation and sleeping but like an aeroplane it can be quite difficult to have a solid sleep. If your journey is a few hours or more and you feel you may want to sleep then it's best to prepare for comfort by bringing an inflatable neck pillow and a light blanket. Some minibuses have reclining seats also but the mid-range 20 seaters do not.

Stowing Luggage on a Charter Bus:

In the coach range of charter buses there will be undercarriage luggage bays for large suitcases and other large items that would not fit under the seat or in the overhead racks such as prams, golf clubs, surfboards, boxes and any other oversized item you may bring.

Minibuses can tow a luggage trailer that is weatherproof and secure. Luggage trailers come in different sizes depending on the passenger capacity of the bus. Allowing every passenger 1 x large suitcase and 1 or 2 small carry-ons means a 20 seater minibus will pull a luggage trailer large enough for 2 suitcases and a 12 seater pulls a smaller 12 suitcase capacity luggage trailer. In cases where a coach has too many suitcases and risks being over weight and over loaded then a second coach may be required or a luggage truck that takes just the suitcases only. This is usually applicable for transporting cruise passengers that need 2 or 3 suitcases each plus carry-ons.

Additional Stops / Additional Pickups and Drop-offs

All good charter bus companies will offer comfort stops enroute to any destination and for long distance travel these stops are planned in the itinerary. Additional or random stops may incur an additional fee depending on the length of time it takes. Usually, a good bus company will allow stops for toilet breaks and allow an additional non-scheduled drop-off proving it is enroute. When the bus is on a freeway there are not too many places to pull over with the safety of passengers as a top priority so it is unlikely to stop unless it is a designated rest stop or refuelling station. Having to pull off the freeway could mean 20 or 30 minutes before finding a route back on to the freeway which either becomes part of the overall days charter time or additional time which could be added to the cost.

Planning and Booking your Charter Service:

Planning a tour itinerary, a corporate event or just a social outing can be enjoyable and a team effort but it can also be frustrating as roads and traffic are constant shifting patterns of delays and closures. Booking restaurants, wineries, events and the general logistics of planning events can be difficult when not knowing the local area and its traffic patterns, peak hours and which roads are accessible for your bus. Most people rely on online maps to give estimates of the time it will take to get to the event and back but there are other factors to consider. All the passengers showing up on time is a rare event in the charter bus industry and it is typical for buses to be at least 15 minutes past the departure time because of late arrivals. With traffic snarls and even the alighting of passengers and gathering of personal items can be longer than you plan so it is always best to allow 30 minutes extra in travel time to have that buffer for delays and it is always best to arrive 10 minutes early than 30 minutes late.

Obtaining a Bus Quote:

The more information you provide the charter bus company about your event, the better understanding the bus company has to provide an accurate quote.

Take the time to consider all options and don't be afraid to ask questions no matter how trivial it may seem. It's best to get all the answers so there are no misunderstandings on the day of the service.

What the charter bus company requires for quoting:

Departure date/s

Departure time (or an ETA you wish to arrive by)

Pickup Location/s

Destination/s

Return departure time (or ETA you wish to be back by)

Return locations/s

Additional waypoints forward or return

Total passengers

Amount of luggage

Special requests or requirements

Bus type preference

Additional information

Logistics:

Once your bus quote has been received and you are happy to use the company, it's time to get the service booked and locked in. Once the bus company has received your booking it's time to work out the logistics of the service. You want to make sure your pickup location and destination have access for the bus size you require and the last thing you'd want happening is the bus not being able to go any further because of a narrow road and you and your passengers having to walk to the bus which could be a short 2 minutes' walk or a long 10 or 15 minutes' walk so best to sort out logistics so you potentially do not have any hiccups on the day.

Some of the potential hazards for buses and coaches are narrow streets, hairpin bends, dead-end roads with inadequate turning areas, tree lined streets with low overhanging branches, road weight limits and many more potential hazards but there are also other factors to consider like clearways coming into effect, no stopping zones etc. A simple solution to a lot of issues is to have the pickup at the rear of the location as with Sydney traffic and especially in Sydney CBD a request to pick up out the front of the premisses maybe a easy pickup but if blocked or a clearway or some other issue it could take up to 20 minutes for the bus to go around the block and during peak times could be longer so it is very important to sort out the logistics of pickups and drop-offs prior to the service.

Mini Bus & Coach Choices:

With COVID still fresh in people's minds, many clients and businesses may choose to upgrade to a larger bus just to allow some social distancing and give the passengers some peace of mind. The bus hire company will be able to help choosing the right bus for your requirements.

Over long distances you may want to upgrade from a minibus to a coach for those comfortable coach reclining seats, personal A/C and personal reading lights.

Personal Belongings:

It is best (where possible) to take all bags and belongings with you in-between services as any good coach company will sanitise the bus in-between shifts and you don't want your personal belongings getting potentially spoiled. It is always good practice to allocate a team leader with any type of group and this person can be the last off the bus and take in visual inspections to see if anyone has left anything behind. The driver will also provide this check but more thoroughly once he/she gets back to the depot and hand in any lost property items which will be registered in our Lost Property Register and we will contact you to arrange a safe return.

Amenities:

Most 40+ seater luxury coaches with have a toilet for passenger convenience but there are a lot of coaches in Sydney that do not have toilets and some coach companies choose to use the toilet as storage and lock it (out of service) to passengers. For long distance journeys the coach company may utilise the restroom for passengers and some may offer regular comfort stops. Always check with the coach company before booking. The use of toilets on coaches brings OH&S policies up as any heavy vehicle having to perform an emergency brake during transit with the toilet occupied makes it a hard decision to close the toilet off to passengers whist bus is in motion.

The Last Step:

Once your charter bus is booked and confirmed, it's time to prepare for the journey. It is always best to print the booking itinerary to a PDF document and email to the other passengers so they have a better understanding of the service ahead and all the instructions regarding pickup location, waypoints, comfort stops and destinations. If it's a long-distance journey then remember to bring water. If any passengers have special needs or requirements then make sure the charter bus company is aware.

Sydney Charter Bus offers an honest and ethical charter bus hire service and we are reliable, punctual, friendly and clean. We focus on customer satisfaction and value customer feedback to improve our services. Sydney Charter Bus is a safe and convenient, private group ground transport service provider and one of the most sought-after names in the bus and coach industry for its reliable transport and customer service.

We offer a wide range of bus and coach services for all occasions: corporate bus hire and social coach charters Sydney wide.

Sydney Charter Bus Australia: Raising the standards in bus and coach tourism services and charter bus hire Sydney. Visit our site and read about us and why you should choose us for your next, tour, charter or transfer service in Sydney. Contact us.

[beccarooni]

Spark

(A.N: The final day of thorbruce week! It’s been so lovely reading all of the comments on the fics, and writing the fics even more so! Thanks so much to @cozyastronaut, @mutantbanner, @robinsword , and everyone else who helped set this up / run the blogs. Looking forward to next years! xx)

Tony's fingers flew across the keypad of the tablet in his arms, barely managing to finish typing one word before he was yelling out another command for JARVIS, hopping over wires and cables as he ran through the lab. 

He was really starting to regret not backing up his files sooner. 

But, if he was being honest, he hadn't thought this day would come as soon as it did. He’d thought about the day in question, sure. Discussed it, chatted about it, even helped plan some of it in late-night lab sessions - when the lights had dimmed low and the small hours of the morning were just starting to dawn. Bruce had talked at length about it, and Tony had encouraged him because that’s what they did. Tony wanted to see him happy. He wanted to see him reach out and claim something for himself. 

He wanted Bruce to have his own slice of happiness, so it definitely wasn’t out of  shock per say that he’d forgotten to prepare his lab. He'd spent the majority of the past few months prompting this, actually. Evening after evening hinting and hoping towards today, small glances and winks cast across Stark tower at parties and meetings whenever he caught Bruce alone with the demi-god in question. 

And somehow, somehow, it still caught him off guard. 

"Tony, you know I love and support you in almost everything you do," 

Pepper's familiar dealing-with-Tony voice rang out from the doorway, her eyes narrowing as they landed on him, smeared with grease, fingers pounding against keyboards like his life depended on it. 

"But what in the hell are you doing?"

"It's today, Pep." Tony ran up the few steps towards Pepper, planting a kiss on her cheek before whirling around to pull a USB-drive from a sparking wall. 

"I've gotta back up my files. There's about 100 projects going on and I can't lose a piece of them." 

"Right. You set a schedule for short-circuiting all the servers in the building. Very considerate."

"No, Pep, listen." He paused, breath coming heavy through his nose, turning to Pepper with wide eyes, sparking with something akin to glee. 

"Bruce is proposing today. And if my calculations are correct, Thor is gonna cry. And if he cries, my tech is fried."

Housing the resident thunder-god in his building did have its perks. No shelf was too high to reach, he had access to the ultimate door-stop (although it did feel a little strange using something that was forged in the heart of a star to keep his lab door open, but if it works, it works), and thanks to a neat little trick he and Thor had been working on all it took was the tap of a finger against his smartphone to charge the battery up. 

However, as with any flatting situation, there were some...unpredictable elements.

He’d expected a little static, of course. Anyone who hung around Thor long enough knew that the demi-god carried a permanent charge with him at all times - but what he didn’t account for was the way in which this could manifest. 

For instance, when Bruce kissed Thor for the first time at a post-battle party, immediately plunging them all into darkness when the lightbulbs promptly exploded. Or during a movie night, when Bruce’s fingers were wound into the blonde locks of Thor’s hair, braiding and touching and the demi-god was all but purring - Tony’s power banks could barely contain all of the excess energy.

They’d tried solutions. A miniature lightning rod, tucked into Thor’s pocket or pinned into his hair like an elaborate piece of jewellery. Candle-lit dinners around anniversary times, insulated table mats, power-cord bracelets. And for the smaller things, it worked. Sad movies no longer resulted in a miniature maelstrom, games of mario kart didn’t end up with half the block losing power.

But for the important things, such as today, there really was no material on earth or anywhere else that was going to prevent the massive power surge.

Because if their first kiss had been bad

Oh boy.  

Tony sighed in momentary relief as another project was saved, and another backup uploaded. 

“Look, Pep, you gotta help me out here. I don’t know how much time I have left. Bruce walked in here 15 minutes ago, downed a pot of coffee and then walked right back out.” 

He turned, batting his eyelids in what he hoped was an appealing gesture. 

“Please?”

“Fine, fine. But you owe me. No weird dancing at their wedding.” 

“I can’t make that promise.”

A crack of thunder resounded above them, and Tony froze in place - the lab silent aside from the faint beeping of machinery, still powering through commands. 

That had to mean something, right? Maybe Thor saw this coming - maybe he was proposing at the same time. His eyes swivelled to the fluorescent lights, still blaring, still humming. Still firmly un-exploded. 

He let out a slow breath of air, a small smile crossing his face. 

“I think we’re goo-”

Tony really didn’t know what he was expecting. 

Thor, of all people, was not going to be able to hold it together around Bruce Banner. The man wrote poetry about him, for pete’s sake. There hadn’t been a battle gone by where he hadn’t found Thor cuddled up by the Hulk’s side, or with Bruce tucked firmly between his arms - staring up at the giant or down at the scientist with the same expression of wonder on his face, as if he was seeing the stars themselves for the very first time. 

In short, when the lights exploded and his systems went dark, he really should’ve seen this coming. 

There was laughter coming from upstairs. Bruce was saying something, the aftermath of a smile still tinging his voice, and Tony felt his own throat getting that little bit tighter.  A few sparks, he decided, was entirely worth it to see those two happy. He could stand to lose a few calculations, a few nights of power, here and there. For the people upstairs, who were no doubt going to have the most insufferably loving wedding-vows written this side of the universe, he could sit through just about anything. 

[underneaththesurface]

The murder of Jason Blossom

Estelle: Good evening, Riverdale. I’m Estelle Ollier.

Omi: And I’m Omi Klyde.

Estelle: And this is Underneath The Surface, where we dive into the history of our town, Riverdale.

And today, we'll be talking about the murder of Jason Blossom.

Omi: The murder that sent this town in a downward spiral...Well, more than it already was.

Estelle: Well, let's just say that it sure gave a couple of families some unwanted attention.

Omi: Their meddlin' days were numbered!

Estelle: (chuckles) And this is how it happened:

Estelle: On the morning of the 4th of July 2017, the twins Cheryl and Jason Blossom drove out to Sweetwater River for an early morning boat ride.

Later that morning, the local scouts' group found Cheryl by the shore, crying.

She claimed she dropped her glove in the water, and when Jason reached for it, the boat tipped over. That was the last time she saw Jason.

Omi: This sounds like a much more abysmal version of Kim Kardashian losing her diamond earring.

Estelle: Maybe if Kim had lost it before people started dying.

Omi: Maybe the Blossoms and Kardashians could learn something from each other.

Estelle: (gasps)

Estelle: I'd rather not think about that.

Omi: Oh god, not like THAT!

Estelle: This is going to be a looooong night (chuckles)

Omi: Don't get me started on reality tv...I could talk for days.

Estelle: I'll just move on.

Omi: Yes, go on.

Estelle: About a month later, two teenage boys who wish to remain anonymous found Jason's body on the river shore, with a bullet wound in his forehead.

The coroner discovered that Jason had been a victim of animal scavenging. But he also found ligature marks, and signs that he was frozen.

And last but definitely not least, it turned out that Jason died on the 11th of July, instead of the 4th.

Omi: Yikes.

Estelle: Y-yeah, that changed the story.

Estelle: The results led the investigation to Cheryl, who voluntarily went with them as she claimed she expected them to find out she was guilty.

Omi: That girl’s been through Hell.

Estelle: Yeah, I guess being a Blossom is both a blessing and a curse.

Omi: I guess so. What happened next?

Estelle: In the principal's office, Cheryl admitted that Jason wanted to leave town and never come back and that she helped him come up with the plan, so their parents wouldn't go looking for him.

They made it to Greendale, and Jason left, saying he'd reach out in a month. But he never did.

She also mentioned hearing a gunshot the same day, and sheriff Keller let her go.

The next day, Archie Andrews admitted he too heard a gunshot that day. However, he claimed he didn't see who fired the gun.

When sheriff Keller asked why he was there and what he was doing, and if he was with someone who could've seen the shooter.

Archie answered that he was writing songs and that it was just him and his dog.

Omi: Was it really, though?

Estelle: Mmm, I heard things but I'm not sure it qualifies as evidence.

Omi: Same, that's fair.

Estelle: Fast-forward to several days later, on the last movie night at the Twilight Drive-In, someone broke into the Kellers' home, and stole all the evidence in the Jason Blossom murder case, including the documented files, background checks, and the video and audiotapes of police interviews. For sheriff Keller, this meant that Jason Blossom's murderer must be from Riverdale since the burglar must've known he wasn't home at the time.

Estelle: In September, sheriff Keller received a text from an unknown number, stating that Jason planned to run away with Polly Cooper as his parents disapproved of their relationship.

Polly never made it Greendale, however, as her parents sent her to Sisters of Quiet Mercy.

They had a getaway car parked on the side of the highway, along with Jason's belongings.

But by the time they reached the vehicle, it had been set on fire, destroying any potential evidence or clues.

Omi: What a coincidence...

Estelle: Mhmmm.

Omi: Alexa, play Things We Lost In The Fire... Wait, is that copyright? Do I have to sing again?

Estelle: Oh my God... Maybe play a snippet?

Omi: Lit... Like that car was. Ok, I’ll play it.

(things we lost in the fire starts to play)

Estelle: I'll try to chime in at a good moment.

Omi: (turns song off at the chorus)

Ok, I think that’s as far as my dad’s money can take us.

Estelle: (laughs)

Estelle: Ok, time to be serious again.

At the sheriff station, as he was about to start investigating the remains of the vehicle, the Blossoms let him know that Polly escaped the Sisters of Quiet Mercy on the same night that the car burned down, making this their new suspect.

Omi: Oh?

Estelle: Somehow, very short-lived, though.

Estelle: Meanwhile, during the investigation on the burned down vehicle, two fingerprints showed up, belonging to Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones.

Jughead's prints were on file from an incident that took place in 2011, where he attempted to burn down Riverdale Elementary School.

Omi: Queenie told me bout that, but I never thought it was true, damn. How did our lovely detective couple manage to involve themselves in this case?

Estelle: I guess, Betty got involved because of her sister.

Omi: True.

Estelle: Jughead, I don't know.

It didn't help him since they took him to the station.

During interrogation, Keller brought up Jughead's school records, stating that he was bullied a lot by the football team, whose captain was Jason, giving Jughead a motive to murder Jason.

Omi: Oh damn.

Estelle: Didn't look so good for him.

However, Keller later released Jughead after Fred Andrews claimed that Jughead was working for him the day Jason died.

Omi: Mr. Andrews always comin' in clutch.

Estelle: It felt a little too convenient if you ask me.

But that's also how I felt about the lie that Jason drowned since he used to be in our water polo team.

Omi: the Jones and Andrews have always been close. Wouldn’t surprise me if it was a coverup-LEGALLY I’m not saying it was though...

Omi: Wasn’t he one of the better swimmers, too?

Estelle: Yeah, so I don't understand why that was considered plausible before they found him.

Omi: It was an easy answer without taking the background into consideration.

Estelle: That applies to half the murder cases in this town.

Omi: Exactly...

Estelle: So, sheriff Keller returned his attention to Polly, who was pregnant and living at the Pembrooke at the time.

She confirmed that she and Jason intended to run away.

She then informed the sheriff that Jason was involved with the Southside Serpents, as he made a one time deal to deliver drugs for them in exchange for money.

Later that day, sheriff Keller received a phone call that two guys attacked an Andrews Construction employee.

The owner, Fred Andrews, mentioned that Clifford Blossom had his wishes to halt the project.

His son Archie, however, suggested that it may have been two members of the Southside Serpents, the location used to be part of their territory.

Omi: Is that so?

Estelle: It was one of the places the Serpents used to hang out, I heard.

Omi: Ahh, okay.

Estelle: I heard sheriff Keller let it slide, though. Which is weird to me.

Omi: Keller isn’t always the most...vigilant sheriff though.

Estelle: True, but his son also worked there. Makes me wonder if he'd let it slide then...

Anyway, let's move to the first real suspect of this case.

Estelle: On October 5, Keller received an anonymous tip, and he and his deputies obtained a warrant to search FP Jones' trailer.

In the trailer, they found the murder weapon in a lockbox, and they arrested FP Jones.

In the interrogation room, sheriff Keller informed Jones that the gun matched the bullet they found in Jason's body.

Omi: How did Jones react?

Estelle: According to FP, Jason approached him at the White Wyrm and explained his situation and that he needed money and a getaway vehicle.

FP made a deal that if he made a delivery for the Serpents, he'd give him money and a getaway car.

However, FP kidnapped him in Greendale, and he held him hostage in the basement of the White Wyrm.

Earlier, he learned that Jason was a Blossom, and he hoped to get a large amount of cash for his return.

But before he was able to make the call, Jason attempted to escape, and FP shot him, hid his body in the freezer, and later dumped his body in Sweetwater River.

Omi: Do we really believe that FP shot him?

Estelle: It is a little strange that he immediately chose to shoot him.

FP was a football player in high school, he'd know how to tackle him.

Omi: That seems like it would do more harm than good. One would think that, yeah.

Estelle: But sheriff Keller got a confession, and I guess that's all that mattered.

Omi: I wish this town would do better background checks.

Estelle: Sheriff Keller asked if FP also broke into his home, to which he admitted he was.

After the interrogation, FP's son and his friends approached sheriff Keller, claiming that someone planted the gun inside the Jones' trailer.

Omi: Oh?

Estelle: But like I said, sheriff Keller got a confession. And that was enough.

Omi: (sarcastically) Of course it was.

Estelle: The next day, the station received a 911 call that someone found a Serpent named Mustang dead in his hotel room.

In his hotel room, they found a duffel bag with a large sum of money, with the initials "H.L." on it.

At first, sheriff Keller assumed it was Hermione Lodge who gave him the bag until the daughter brought up that her father - who has the same initials - was in business with the Serpents.

Estelle: Well. Now we know why they gave up the Drive-In.

Omi: I was about to say... He’ll buy up this whole town when no one’s looking I swear.

Estelle: The world is just a Monopoly board for him. Even in prison. And, surprisingly, sheriff Keller let this slide.

But then, later that night, Alice Cooper handed Keller a USB flash drive.

The flash drive contained a surveillance video of Jason's murderer.

Despite his confession, it was Clifford Blossom and not FP Jones.

Omi: He’s got too many of those Get Out Of Jail Free cards, doesn’t he? Killing his own child? Disgraceful...

Estelle: Mhmm. And let me tell you why he did it.

Estelle: Jason wanted no part of the business, and Clifford feared that Jason running away could lead to his arrest, as his maple syrup business was a cover-up for transporting heroin. So, he had Mustang took Jason to the White Wyrm and later shot him.

Clifford then murdered Mustang and staged it as a suicide.

Arriving at Thornhill to arrest Clifford, they found Clifford in the barns where he hung himself.

Omi: Well, that was a rollercoaster.

Estelle: (laughs) I spent so much time trying to make sense of it for tonight. It's impossible.

Omi: I’m still not processing it. Like...what??? How the??? What??? That’s insane!

Estelle: It's like an episode of Dynasty.

Omi: I haven’t gotten to that show yet... Is it really?

Estelle: (sighs)

Estelle: Yes.

Omi: I'll put in on my list then.

Estelle: Back to the drama in our town:

Now that the real murderer was revealed, some people started to wonder what this meant for FP Jones.

Omi: Well, they obviously let him out, right? Or did he have a different but equally as essential role to play in this?

Estelle: Well, he was still guilty of tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, mishandling a body, perjury, etc.

So, he still remained in custody.

However, Sheriff Keller offered FP a deal that the DA and Mayor McCoy were willing to offer him leniency if he handed them the names of the drug dealers.

Estelle: Basically, throwing his own people under the bus.

Omi: isn’t that like, against serpent law?

Estelle: It's one of their most important ones, so I've heard.

Omi: same. Damn...and he’s still the leader?

Estelle: Which is why he declined the offer, and had to await trial, possibly facing twenty years.

Omi: well that’s good at least...the not breaking rules part.

Estelle: Yeah you might go to prison and won't be out until you're well into your sixties but-

hey, at least you didn't snitch on your buddies.

Omi: that just seems like a lose-lose situation

Estelle: I know he made the better choice given his environment, but-

yeah.

Estelle: Well, I guess we reached the end of this episode of Underneath The Surface. I'm Estelle.

Omi: And I'm Omi.

Estelle: Don’t forget to tune in next week, and join us for our next topic: the horror on Wabash Avenue.

Omi: See y'all then!