#people have to come to them or inform them of where to go

[sadboyeddie]

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐨𝐛

Summary: Bob has been acting different. You intend to find out why.

Warnings: (MDNI 18+) Fem!Reader, No Use Of Y/N, Blow Job, Sex Club, Smut, Dirty Talk

A/N: It’s been a hot minute since I have written smut so I hope it’s passable. Let me know tho.

WC: 5.8k

Something was off with Bob. 

He was acting strange somehow.

More secretive

You've gotten used to his many moods and behaviours since living together at the Watchtower. In fact with how many of the members of the team were trained to basically not feel shame you knew far too much about some of them. 

Walker on the other hand is just a dude who doesn't care. He's given up on shame.

But with Bob his day to day has become routine, a schedule he keeps to. He says it helps him manage the darker parts of his life, at first you thought he meant the Void; but he was also talking about his older habits. 

Bob had been clean for a long while now and there has never been an indication of a relapse, and honestly you're a little mad and disappointed with yourself for even implying there might be. 

It's just Bob doesn't sneak out; he always tells at least someone, usually Yelena, where he's going. He doesn't clam up and start spluttering half baked excuses when asked what he did the previous night. He never blows off movie night, usually the first there in the common room with his blanket, waiting for you to arrive with the popcorn.

But he has been. He has been sneaking out, has been clamming up, he has been skipping out on movie night.

You try to casually ask around but for a bunch of spies who usually have no boundaries they seem very nonplussed about your queries.

Yelena assures you it's fine and to just leave it alone, Ava hasn't even really noticed and John says he's probably got a secret girlfriend.

You trust Yelena, you know how close her and Bob are. It once drove you made with jealousy but after realising there was no romantic feelings between them the fogged cleared and you realised how good it was for Bob to have a best friend like Yelena.

Also you didn't want to be one of those people that got jealous every time a member of the opposite sex talked to someone you liked.

You do sometimes wish it was you though.

Anyway, since everyone was of so little help you decided to figure it out yourself. You were a pretty decent spy yourself. 

--

Like Bob's normal routine of laundry on Sunday, grocery shopping on Wednesday and changing the bed linens on Saturday; his mysterious night time activity was also on a schedule. 

Twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday; leaving the tower at 7:30pm on the dot. 

You watch as he passes Yelena, offering her a small smile and a nod in greeting before getting on the elevator. 

She doesn't even ask where he's going. She must know something.

You decide against cornering her and asking again, you know there's no point. Not even Hydra would be able to torture the information out of her. Where's Bucky when you need him?

Okay, that was a little rude. Thank god there's no telepaths in the building.

You wait until you hear the door to Yelena's room close before heading towards the elevator, you watch as the numbers gradually countdown until reaching the first floor. You smack the button and wait for it to come back up, contemplating taking the stairs but there's no way you'd make it to the bottom in time. 

You should have planned for this. 

Before deciding to just base jump from a window the doors ding and you step inside, as you go to close the door you hear Walker calling for you to hold it. Feigning deafness you hit the 'close' button a few extra times and thankfully they shut before he makes it.

That last thing you see before the doors shut is John's annoyed yet confused gaze.

You impatiently tap your foot against the cool metal of the floor, why is this taking so long? Has the elevator always been this slow? What if there was an emergency?

When the doors open with a ding you let out a huff and speed walk over to the buildings exit, nodding to the security guard behind the desk. 

When you're on the street you frantically look around for the familiar flop of brown curls, the street is fairly empty this time of night but even with the street lights it's still dark.

"What way did Bob go?" you call back to the guard. 

With a slightly startled jump, he puts down he word jumble and points to the left, you give him a quick thank you before making your way down the sidewalk.

Thankfully you don't have to break out into a jog because a few meters up the road is Bob. 

You take a second to fall back a bit, getting too close in your eagerness to find him. 

He has his airpods in and is bopping his head a bit to whatever song he is listening to. 

Usually you'd find that cute and endearing but you're in work mode right now. No time for fun.

You're feeling immense guilt with each step you take. He's done nothing to truly make you doubt his trust and yet here you are stalking him. The man just brings this out in you. You swear before moving to the tower you used to have boundaries.

Bob is your friend, one of your closest. You spend the most time with him then anyone, hell, most nights he ends up in bed with you. 

When it started he'd make up poor excuses; glare from the street lights (50 floors up?), cold in his room, (he usually slept with the A/C on cause he runs hot), Alexei snores, that one you believed. 

But you could never find yourself to care because you quickly realised that you slept better next to Bob. Your nightmares weren't as frequent and you ran cold so you enjoyed having a personal heater in your bed. He's like a barnacle that attaches itself to you as soon as he hits the mattress and you find that his touch grounds you. 

He's told you that it helps him too, you did notice that after the first few times the dark bags under his eyes started to recede, and maintenance wasn't having to come up and change as many light bulbs anymore, when Bob would wake from his nightmares he'd let out a pulse of energy that was like an EMP. 

Much to your disappointment nothing sexual ever came of it, Bob being far too polite and shy. The closest you have ever gotten is feeling his hard on in the morning before he stutters out and apology and rushes from your room. You always felt a tad guilty wishing more did come from it, he saw you as a means of comfort and you wanted to climb him like a tree. 

You often got the feeling he reciprocated your feelings, that was until you saw him interact with anyone else. All smiles and crimson cheeks, biting his lips and meaningful stares. Stupid Bob making everyone he interacts with feel special.

You thought you had made a new breakthrough with your relationship when it became more playful and sassy but you noticed once again he became like that with others when he had warmed up to them enough. 

Still you had your own things that you did together, apart from sleeping in the same bed, you had tv shows that just the two of you would watch, you'd wear his clothes and he'd put his hair up in one of your scrunchies when it would get into his eyes when reading. Sometimes when he was out shopping he'd buy you some clothes, stuff he thought you'd like. 

You were even wearing one of the shirts now; a grey shirt with a small butterfly decal on the chest.

You're pulled out of your thoughts when Bob crosses the road, you wait for a car to pass before following, making sure to maintain a distance. 

You end up following him for a good twenty minutes before he makes a sharp right turn down an alleyway, you're grateful he walked, you would have never been able to catch up to him if he took a taxi or uber. 

But you know Bob likes to walk, he says it helps regulate his moods. Every morning he goes for a walk around the local park, sometimes you join but he does like to go alone, listening to music and getting his steps in is almost as beneficial as therapy according to him.  

You peak out from behind the brick wall of the apartment building and watch as Bob takes a quick glance around before knocking a pattern onto a metal door. 

Your heart sinks into your ass as you watch him enter the sketchy building, your fears being all but confirmed. 

You spend what feels like an eternity fighting with yourself, deciding whether or not to go home or go drag his ass out of whatever crack den he's found himself in. 

You know you don't technically have a right to do that, you're not his girlfriend or parole officer, but you promised him the last time he almost Voided out that no matter what you'll be there to pull him from the fire, no matter what. 

You know that the only thing that's holding you back is the obvious rage Bob will feel towards you when he realises you violated his trust but it's something you're willing to deal with. 

You march with purpose to the end of the alleyway and think back for a second, remembering the door knock. 

Shuffling awkwardly you wait with baited breath until the small socket slides open, a pair of eyes give you a once over before the door creaks open. 

You're instantly met with a wall of sound, loud music and a deep bass coming from behind the broad shouldered bouncer.

"You comin' or what?" he asks, clearly annoyed. 

You duck your head and slide past him, confusion hitting you like a truck. 

Walking through a dark hallway, you make your way towards the source of music, the closer you get the more your eyes start to adjust, there's small dim lights on the walls but they do nothing. 

When you reach the end the door is covered by a heavy black curtain and another attendant is standing by. 

They barely pay you any mind as they lift it back for you to walk past. 

In all your years of espionage nothing could have trained you for this. 

You stand there, eyes wide as you take in your surroundings. 

This room is better lit but still dark; mood lighting. All across the room is people in various forms of nudity and undress. Masses of skin and writhing bodies. The room is a red and almost all surfaces are velvet, various toys and lewd art decorating the walls.

You're no stranger to sex and intimacy but you are way out of your depth here. 

For a brief moment as you watch what is happening around you and forget why you came. 

You take note of a bar at the back of the room, male and female waitstaff walking around naked with only black and white collars to their necks, if not for the trays of alcohol in their hands you'd think they were part of the activities.

Although judging by the waitress to the right of you being taken against a table perhaps they do join in the fun.

The wanton moaning and sounds of completion start to get to you, your mouth going dry as your body heats up. You go to leave, this is all too much and you can't focus, but as you turn to go your eyes catch on a figure, a very familiar figure.

This time when you see Bob he's only wearing his jeans, top half completely bare, but that's not what stopped you in your tracks; the woman holding his hand and pulling him along looks like you!

You choke on the saliva that's filled your mouth as your mind short circuits. This woman features are far too similar to yours to be a coincidence. 

Same hair; length and colour, same build; height and weight, and if you had to guess you'd say she may even have the same eye colour.

You watch as he follows along obediently, a small plastic bag swinging by his side and a smile on his face as he's being lead from the room, through more curtained doors. 

The burning inside you is no longer from arousal and embarrassment, you now feel very jealous. 

Anger and hurt also bubble under the surface. Why would he go out to a club and find someone who looks like you when you look like you?

Okay, that's not a smart argument but he already has you, so he doesn't need her.

"You're overdressed," a deep voice says from beside you. Snapping you from your intelligent thoughts.

You turn towards the man but quickly avert your gaze when you realise how very naked and very turned on he his.

He lets out a chuckle at your innocence before talking again, "first time?" his voice is a little louder to cut through the sea of groaning.

"That obvious?" your laugh is strained and forced but polite none the less. 

"Very," he chuckles, if not for his bare body and this entire situation you wouldn't mind talking to him, he kind of looks like Prince Caspian. "You want a drink?"

"Desperately," you reply without thinking, your eyes now landing on his face, strictly on his face, "but I'm curious as to what goes on behind those curtains," you point to the door Bob went through. 

"Private rooms," he points to he left, "glory hole booths," he grabs two glasses of brown liquid off a passing waiters tray and hands you one, "whiskey," he nods.

Your heart plummets at the information but your grateful for the drink, though whiskey has never been your favourite it will do in a crisis. 

"Want a closer look?" his voice is deep and sultry and honestly if you weren't bat shit crazy about the ex addict that lived three rooms down from you, you'd probably take him up on his offer. 

"I'll have to take a rain check," you shrug apologetically but the tall handsome man with seemingly black eyes seems to take no offense with your rejection. 

"Another time," he smiles as he leaves you to it, his attention already quickly being taken away buy a dark haired woman. 

You make your way around the crowd, nervous that if you walk through and get too close someone might grab you and pull you in. 

When you reach the curtain there's no attendant there to usher you through, which you're relieved about. The less people to witness whatever you're doing or about to do the better. 

This hallway is much better lit, there are sconces by each door which is adorned with a metal plate that labels the room. 

On each side of the hallway there are five doors, you're probably about to see a lot of stuff you don't want to but you're desperate. 

You place your ear against the cold wood of the first door on the left, hoping to hear voices or at the very least you might be able to pick out Bobs moans? He's got a pretty deep voice so you've always assumed his sounds of pleasure would be just as deep. 

Unfortunately the door is very thick and any sound or voices you hear are muffled and faint. 

You take a breath before slowly turning the knob, cracking open only enough to see if the occupants are either Bob or the doppelganger - doppelbanger. 

You let out a small miserable chuckle at your stupid word play and a small relieved sigh when you see they aren't in here, that is until you hear the whip come down on the mans ass and thighs, you wince at the crack but the man makes a sound that you once heard in a nature documentary about tigers so you guess he's having a hell of a time. 

Good for him, at least someone is. 

You continue on with your pervy task of violation as you switch to the other door opposite to this one. 

- 

You're not sure much time has passed but you're down to the last two doors.

You admittedly took a little longer as one of the rooms really intrigued you, a woman on her back with her head handing off the bed as a man quite literally fucked her throat. 

Maybe you were a bit of a voyeur.

Maybe you needed therapy.

But first you needed to find Bob. 

What would you do when you find him? Burst into the room like some perverted knight in shinning armour? It's not like Bob was here against his will. Would you confess that you like him? Is this really the time and place?

The rational thoughts leave your head when you hear a loud broken moan coming from your left, you let out a pitiful noise (and squeeze your legs together, what is wrong with you?) as part of you already know that this is Bob's room. 

With practiced ease you crack the door open and hurt your own feelings when you confirm your suspicions. There lies Bob on the bed, red and covered in sweat as the copy of you slides off him and collapses on the side. You notice she's not even naked but your focus is not on her.

You're screaming in your own head to turn away, go home and cry into some ice cream - or better yet nachos, but you've already crossed so many boundaries tonight why not a few more?

Bobs eyes are closed, a very fucked and blissed out expression covers his face as he fights to catch his breath, thanks to the large angled mirror at the head of the bed you can see everything. His length, thickness, the veins how it curves slightly to the left - and to your utter surprise; a stick-and-poke tattoo high on his upper thigh, is that Kermit (?), close to his dick.

Which now is starting to get hard again.

You remember having a rather detailed conversation with Alexei about the refractory periods of Super Soldiers, the conversation was funny until it wasn't. Yelena's obvious discomfort of the topic her father chose was humourous until he started to make it personal and then everyone was uncomfortable.

"You goin' to the booths after this, Robby?" Not You asks as she traces a perfectly manicured finger over his chest, making him tremble slightly.

"Yeah," his breathing is back to normal but his voice is soft and slow, "will you be in there tonight?" he seems so hopeful and that causes your heart to crack open just a little bit more.

"Not tonight," she sounds almost sad, "but there's some good one's in there."

By now Bob is almost completely hard again and he goes to sit up on the side of the bed, Not You follows suit. That's when you notice it. Notice the clothes the copy is wearing.

She's dressed just like you.

And not just in clothes you own and wear sometimes, no she's wearing almost the exact same thing you're wearing now. 

Same grey shirt with black sleeves and a small butterfly decal, the black jean jacket that has fallen down her arms is the same as yours, hell, even the white velvet scrunchy in her hair is the same. 

What in the Twilight Zone, Invasion of the Body Snatchers is going on here?

A brief glance lower and you realise even her underwear is the same, red lace! How did he know what you're wearing?

Whatever guilt you previously felt over violating Bob is gone because this perv is just as bad. 

And the thing that should probably be stressful is that you don't care. You don't care even a little bit. Bob is so desperate for you he basically replicated you. 

Even though you were right there!

Okay, so the anger is back. 

In your moment of realisation you didn't notice Bob getting to his feet and getting dressed, even the Replicant has changed back to her other outfit, which was easy - nipple pasties and black lacy panties. 

You close the door quietly and start to panic when Bob starts moving to leave. He can't catch you here now!

You hot foot it to the end of the hallway and out through the curtain, if you bravely risk your hygiene and safety by going through the Naked Sea you could probably make it out before Bob exits the hallway. 

But the sight of Yelena standing in front of the exits causes you to stop still and let out a far too loud "what the fuck!"

Thankfully the man jackrabbiting into the woman near you and her sounds of tortured bliss drown out your frustrated cry. 

The Jackrabbit man makes awkward eye contact with you - awkward for you, he seems to rather enjoy it. 

Before you can stop yourself you give him a thumbs up and a "nice form!" before turning to the glory hole hallway, not even waiting to see the reply from the man.

This hallway is almost identical to the last, except there are double the amount of doors and each pair of doors are closer together. There's two signs above the entrance to the hallway; one with a large hole and a lewd drawing of a lower half; legs spread, the other more simple, a smaller hole with a penis coming through it.

You head down to the end of hallway and open the door to the right, the penis hole side.

Weird thing to say. 

Thankfully it's empty, you lock the door behind you and take a seat on the admittedly comfy cushion and wait for this to all blow over. 

You have to admit, the sound proofing in this place is pretty spectacular, the small speakers in the corner playing soft music also adds to the ambiance. This place is kinda nice. Maybe that's why Yelena was here.

Wait! Why the hell was she here? Who else comes here? Is this a hangout place for the Thunderbolts to decompress? How come you weren't invited?

Unfortunately you weren't meant to find peace because your quiet moment is interrupted by someone entering the stall connected to yours. 

If you hadn't have been in such as rush you might have noticed the small lights next to the door that signified occupancy and that when you locked the door the light went from red to yellow, which meant the person inside was waiting for another. 

But your earlier gloating about being a good spy was now invalid because you are a terrible spy. 

You hear someone clear their throat on the other end followed by the shuffling of clothes. You go to rush out protests, putting your face dangerously close to the hole but that's when your eyes catch on something.

Hi-ho, Kermit the fucking frog. 

What was he thinking, honestly. 

"Is this o-okay?" his deep voice cuts through the silent tension, Bob completely unaware of the conundrum you're currently facing. 

Whelp, when in Rome. 

You try to drop your voice an octave lower before answering in a whisper, you'd rather be strapped to a car battery again then face the humiliation of Bob finding you here. 

"F'course, sweetheart," you inwardly curse as the pet name you normally call Bob comes out automatically. 

The desperate whimper Bob lets out proves that he didn't mind one bit.

"Like it, like it when you call me that," his voice is already wrecked but that could be chalked up to his previous activities.

A sour taste fills your mouth and you silently scold yourself.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you will not ruin this for yourself!

In your brief trance Bob has slipped his cock through the hole, and you let out an audible gasp; not intending for it to be that loud you bite your lip.

"Like that, honey?" he asks, letting his pet name for you easily slip through his lips. 

Or maybe he just calls everyone that, you think bitterly before scolding yourself again.

Stop it!

"It's thick," you hum, "I like that," you move a little closer and Bob lets out a small shutter at your warm breath against his member. You could really have some fun with this. 

"Put it in your mouth, honey," he sounds desperate, pathetic, just like you feel, "suck on it, please."

His cock bobs in front of you, a small bead of pre cum gathers at the tip and you find yourself utterly entranced. 

You lean forward and lick over the head, making sure to clean off all the salty liquid before wrapping your hand around the base.

His hips move closer to the wall giving you more to work with, suddenly you hear a slight thud above you followed by a muffled whine, if you had to guess Bob probably dropped his head against the wall in front of him.

A small breathy chuckle falls from your lips onto the underside of his cock, which in turn twitches in your hand. He's so sensitive. 

You slowly lick the vein at the base all the way up to the tip, repeating the action a few more times just to spread some saliva around. 

"Pl-please," you like when he begs, "I want more," he whines again. 

"Be a good boy for me," you whisper, you think he didn't hear you but judging by the small curse you know he did. You remember Bucky saying how the Serum enhances the senses. 

"I'll be good," he swears, "I'll be so good, I p-promise, honey."

You clench your thighs together, the deep vibration mixed with the desperation in his voice getting to you. 

You lean forward and take the head of his cock in your mouth, hollowing your cheeks and adding a tight suction before taking more of him in. 

"Fuck!" he slams a fist down on the wall as you continue to suck him down, only stopping when he hits the back of your throat.

You hold him there for a minute, savouring the feeling of him, taking joy in the fact you're finally living out one of your fantasies. 

Unfortunately you never mastered the whole gag reflex thing and the burning in your eyes and throat is becoming too much, you pull off of Bob with a loud gag followed by a whine before going to apologise, Bob doesn't let you.

"Fuck, honey, do that again," his voice comes out rushed, "please choke on my cock again."

This isn't your first blow job but a quick suck and fuck with a few men who weren't even close to the size of Bob really makes a difference.

You gracelessly wipe your eyes and nose before spitting on your hand and giving him a few strokes, base to tip, he slightly stutters forward with a groan. 

You get higher on your knees and kiss the head of his cock twice before swallowing it down, making sure to cover your teeth the deeper you take him. 

Before you can make it all the way down Bob lets out a broken whimper as he thrusts forward, his cock hitting the back of your throat hard making you gag, you pull back to collect yourself as you hear Bob rush out apologies. 

You don't really hear him as you watch a thick string of saliva that's connected from your mouth to his cock, you watch mesmerised as it starts to sag down, before it breaks you lean forward and wrap your mouth around him again.

The words die on his lips and is replaced by a drawn out moan, deep and warm, one that you could find yourself getting used to hearing.

You don't shy away from the uncomfortable feeling of him at the back of your throat, instead you lean into the burn, with each and every gag Bob lets out a small sound of pleasure or a curse, every time you swallow around him; savouring every drop of pre cum that dribbles out of his cock he hits the wall with his hand. 

He has his thrusting pretty much under control but each time one sneaks through, thankfully it's not hard enough to bring you to a stop. 

You're suddenly reminded of the woman on the bed getting her face fucked, how she barely choked.

You try to remember hushed conversations whispered between friends in the middle of the night at high school sleepovers; if you relax the throat and breath through your nose it's much easier. 

You tighten your fist that's still wrapped around the base of Bobs cock, too long to fit entirely in your mouth, and you rub your thumb on the underside, gently over his vein. A move you'd normally do when holding his hand while watching a move. 

"Oh, fuck," his voice is raw and full of pleasure, "I'm c-close," you think you can hear scratching against the wall, "honey, I'm so close."

You relax your throat as much as you can while trying to breath through your nose, allowing yourself to feel pleasure, you reach down and unbutton your jeans. 

"Yes, touch yourself," Bob whimpers, his sensitive hearing picking up on an almost soundless action, "cum with me, honey."

You push past the waistline of your underwear and groan at how wet you are, the vibration sends a thrill through Bobs cock and he lets out a debauched moan at the feeling. 

Wasting no time you use two fingers to gather your slick before rubbing it over your sensitive clit, your whole body is wracked with a shiver at the feeling. 

You get to work catching up on your orgasm, honestly you're not that far behind, you truly believe that you'd would have been able to cum from the feeling of Bobs cocks and rubbing your thighs together alone. 

You match your fingers with the pace of your mouth, flicking your bundle of nerves when ever you flick your tongue over his tip.

"Switch, fuck, switch hands, honey," bob pleads and you slow down just a fraction making him whine, "want your slick on my cock," he begs.

A noise falls from your mouth that you never thought you could make, a moan mixed with a whimper, muffled by Bobs cock, you quickly follow his instructions and switch hands, but before you do you scoop up some of your wetness between your fingers. 

As you make the switch your eyes widen at the sticky mess coating your digits, you are far more gone then you thought. 

Bob cries out when he feels the warm wet heat of your other hand, he ruts against the hole uncaring of the protesting whines you let out. 

He babbles out apologies but makes no move of stopping, "sorry, honey, can't stop," he's breathless and wrecked, "s'your fault, you did this," he blames, he sounds too far gone like he doesn't even know he's talking, "drive me wild, love your sweet mouth, wanna feel your pussy."

You pull back with a moan, unable to keep up with his new punishing pace. You can already feel the the back of your throat bruising.

"Wanted this for so long, imagine it all the time," your breath catches at his confession although you're not sure what he's confessing to exactly, "get so hard in bed next t'you, honey, wanna come on your sleeping body, fuck."

The hand that was rubbing your clit stills as you listen to Bob, now terrified, but still very much aroused, that he's figured out it's you. 

"Yeah, sweetheart?" you pull back and spit the saliva that's pooled in your mouth onto his cock, "desperate for me?" you ask before taking him back into your mouth, you resume the movement on your clit, feeling yourself getting closer to the edge.

"Yes, fuck, yes, honey," he slams in deeper again, hips stuttering as he's reaching his end, "wanna wake you with my cock buried inside you, wanna live inside you," he lets a choked moan slip out, "please, wanna cum."

The depraved confession followed by the desperate plea send you careening over the edge, your broken cry is muffled on Bobs cock and the vibration of your wrecked sobs paired with the grazing of your teeth on his sensitive skin is sending him right behind you. 

Loud groans fall from his lips, followed by a name that is unmistakably yours, as he paints your throat with his cum, "swallow it all," he begs breathlessly, "keep me inside of you, always."

You hollow out your cheeks as you milk him dry, making sure not to waste even a single drop, your fingers are still lazily stroking over your sensitive bud as you slowly come down from the high. 

Bob lets out another whine as you pull of his softening cock, the air still thick with tension, but this time it's a different sort of tension.

He pulls himself through the hole and you wait, like a coward, for him to talk first. Like a never ending torture he drags this out, zipping himself up and making himself more presentable. 

Finally, finally, he says something, "I'm sorry."

You're so caught off guard you make a small noise of confusion.

"I didn't mean to say those things," he says, his voice sounds a little guilty, "or call you by that name," he takes a heavy breath, "it's just someone I have a crush on." His small humourless chuckle makes you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding.

He doesn't know it's you!

Are you happy or disappointed? 

A bit of both, really.

"S'okay," you whisper, deciding to keep up the lie, at least for now, "I liked it."

His laugh now is breathy and a bit lighter, "good," there's a bit of movement on his side before you hear the opening of his door, "thank you."

Before you can answer he's gone. You sit back on your legs and take a second to wait for him to leave and to wrap your head around what just happened. 

You sucked Bob's dick.

You sucked Bob's dick and he has no idea. 

Bob has a Kermit the frog tattoo. 

You're going to have so much fun with this.

As all these very important thoughts run through your head you're suddenly snapped back to reality when the door opens and closes again, part of you is excited, hoping it's Bob but when a heavy, gruff and familiar Russian accent fills the room you let out an undignified yelp and scramble to leave.

Does everyone come to this fucking club?!

- 

On the walk back to the tower Bob lets out a small smirk, his senses filled with your scent, a smell that's undeniably you. He couldn't believe his luck when he saw you peaking on him in the private room at the club.

He's going to have so much fun with this.

[reignpage]

“Nanami Kento had another encounter with the nameless mermaid. Many such, in fact. Some of these encounters are details in letters he sent letters to Professor Yaga. They detailed his recent discoveries and confirmation of months of his research building up to his posting in Gibraltar.

Excited, he told him everything, barring the budding romantic feelings he knew he should not have encouraged for fear that the respected professor would question his priorities and admonish him. While waiting for a reply, the student dedicated the remaining day since he recorded his first late-night meeting with the specimen to overcoming the issue to do with his incapability to swim.

In his rush, one can only assume, he made no record of what spell or device he had discovered and used, though there are many theories to be had. This remains a great tragedy.

Later in the day, he took to the sea in a rush and agreed with the mermaid to go somewhere secluded, where they would not be seen by another in broad daylight, and decided upon a nearby cave accessible only by boat or strong swimmers.

Part of the meeting was recorded by the student via Pluma Memoria and the transcripts were recovered some time later alongside contextual notes made by him.

As we all know, the Inter-dimensional Research Committee and St. Eden's Board of Administration's issued formal requests for the exiled student to relinquish all of his possessions related to his research, including information on how to enter the underwater kingdom, their weaponry, their political system, and just as importantly, the specimen.

These requests were denied.

It is unclear why.

In today's class, we still study the excerpt, focusing especially on the historical and cultural significance of Nanami Kento's rebellion and asking ourselves the question:

Did he regret it?”

Nameless Specimen: I've been watching you.

Kento: I thought you might have. Somehow, I felt you, I think. Something was encouraging me, urging me forward. It was odd but...comforting.

Nameless Specimen: I understand…I was not supposed to want you to find me. My pod have tasked me with ensuring people like you never find our home. And indeed, I worked tirelessly to lead others astray, leaving what they thought were clues so they would search in circles and grow frustrated. But just an afternoon spent following you revealed a truth I cannot verify: you are different. You are not like the others who have come before you.

Kento: I'm not?

Nameless Specimen: No…they were fuelled by greed, by a desire to reap all the wealth off our land. They trample over the wildlife, made no effort to connect with the villagers, choosing arrogance over community, and relied solely on their spells and potions. It was the kind of laziness and irreverence that confirmed the decision our ancestors made a long time ago — keep the gates to Atlantis closed.

Kento: And no one has ever been successful?

She held my hands and swam us around the jagged floor of the sea, tickling the bellies of fish as she went. I was growing more and more accustomed to her anatomy, to the point that the agility of her scaled tail did not surprise me anymore, though the captivating colour of them never waned in my eyes.

Nameless Specimen: Only once. Two men. Students just like you. One was closed off but polite, the other friendly but deceitful. My ancestors welcomed them in, nursed them back to health after their ship hit the rocks and capsized, and even shared our air so that they may tour our home. Back then, my people had not known the cruelty and gluttony of others. They were simply excited to learn about the outside world and to exchange wisdom.

I kept quiet. She was sharing knowledge I would have killed to hear just weeks ago. Now, I was grimacing, much too aware of man's potential for destruction. History lessons were not without constant warnings for the new generations to do better. To be better.

Nameless Specimen: The polite one, records say, was truly interested to learn, to be a part of our community. He was energetic and enthusiastic. It did not take very long for him to be seen as one of us…And the other…had his eyes on our gold, our pearls, and our scales. During their stay, people went missing. Even our young. It was a slow, eventual development. At least, that is how it is explained to us. I believe our Elders simply do not wish to confront the fact that our people were just naive. They knew the truth of that visitor from another land and chose to trust in the kindness of one another than aggrieve their guests with accusations...until it was too late.

Kento: ...what happened?

Nameless Specimen: He must have developed some sort of contraption. It is hard to say exactly what happened...the devastation was far and wide. To this day, we mourn our loss and feel the echoes of the tragedy. Whatever he had found or received caused death on a scale unfathomable to our young… The Elders do not like to talk about this part but whispers among my peers claim that one morning, our people awoke and could not see through the thick cloud of blood thickening the water.

I gasped. A deep pit formed in my stomach and it has not left since. I do not think it will ever. There was a sad smile on her lips, like she pitied her ancestors and resented the innocence of her people at the same time, though, ultimately, she could not blame them.

Nameless Specimen: That day…they released more bodies into the field of lights than they ever had prior. Generations lost. Bloodlines ended. Dignity stolen. The dead were stripped of their scales, fins, hearts and eyes. Sold, I can only imagine, to the highest bidder. The hardest part of it all was identifying who was who. There remains to this day a large section of the field housing the bodies of those who were never claimed.

I was speechless. No words could ever be uttered to begin to apologise for the crimes that were committed, for the injustice, for the murder of so many. I know them not, but I hold them in my heart. The sins of the past will be brought to life. I will be sure of it.

Kento: I am so sorry. That should never have happened. W-we have laws, regulations, a-an honour code to abide by. I'll tell my school, my professor. Everyone. We will advocate for reparations, a galaxy-wide apology—

Nameless Specimen: That is not necessary. We grieve in our own way. And in any case, we know not everyone is bad. That's why I'm here. Why the two of us can be together like this…We do not want to stay closed off forever. There is a whole world out there that my people deserve to see. We do not want to live in fear for eternity. There might even come a time where we must rely on the help of others for the future of our pod. It is therefore up to my generation to prepare for that. To change and innovate. We will soon welcome others like you…Never again will we be exploited like that. We have learnt. Adapted. Survived. That is the way of my people.

She swam around me, grazing her tail against my legs. Her lips brushed my cheek.

Nameless Specimen: In the meantime, I hope this is enough for you.

Kento: It is. You are.

She laughed, bubbles escaping.

Nameless Specimen: Thank you for listening. I have never shared this before. We don’t get visitors at all. There are not even others like us…as far as we know.

Kento: No, thank you for sharing. I learnt so much. For this, I will forever be indebted to you.

Nameless Specimen: I learnt much from you too. While I watched you fumble about on the surface, you spoke on and on about interesting facts about your world. Spells you were frustrated by. Potions you wanted to perfect. Professors you disliked and classes you missed. It was all so entertaining. You are an interesting man.

I was awestruck by her beauty and the tender warmth with which she spoke to me. The sound of her voice, the melodic bliss it elicits, the comfort…I feel as though I am still in the cave with her — weightless and free.

Kento: You're the first person to have ever said that to me…Most people find me annoying. Even my best friend. Though I rather think that is because I remind him of a lecturer, which he has naturally learnt to tune out automatically.

Nameless Specimen: That is unfortunate. A smart man like you must be heard, no? That is how we function in my pod; everything worth saying must be heard in an assembly. Every voice is equal to begin with, but the brighter minds deserve a special respect. You are one such.

Her revelation made me blush. It was embarrassing but she only smiled patiently. Of course, I have heard my fair share of compliments — winning as many awards as I have would warrant that. But, when those flatteries leave her lips, I felt inclined to shy away from such niceties.

Kento: You barely know me…

Shaking her head, she pulled herself closer to me until we were flushed together. To that, I did not shy away from. Not when it felt right.

Nameless Specimen: I feel as though I have lived a lifetime with you.

Kento: I do too...I feel as if I...loved you in a past life. And in the next.

She smiled again and placed a hand on my cheek. I was surprised to find the flexibility in her joints, webbed as they are. Her thumb adjusted my glasses which were threatening to float away from me.

Nameless Specimen: It is odd, is it not? For two souls to have just collided and feel this way...it seems as if we have been veering off course, heading straight for each other.

I don't know what expression I held. But something about it made her eyes soften, not in pity but something akin to sadness. For herself and for me. Like she thought it a universe's worth of regret to have met so late. Like she knew, since having met her, I've realised that all my life I have only ever known loneliness. Like she felt the same way.

Then, she reached out and met my lips.

I feel no shame in admitting much of the time we spent together is dedicated to talking about things which held no special importance, and to kissing. There was much more to be learned from her lips and her body than words, I believe. It is because of her that I became privy to the secrets of the universe and beyond all while tethered to the only home I felt bound to.

Her kisses spoke of promises. They breathed life into me. Urged me to desire for more than shallow trophies and meaningless discoveries.

We joined together like we've done it many times before.

These moments filled me with a new sense of purpose.

They were moments to protect, to cultivate, to watch grow.

They were moments I would cherish till my last breath...

[nogutsnogloria]

summary: robby hasn’t had a proper conversation with you since you started on his shift. a small encounter makes him want to change that.

michael robinavich x reader

warning: medical inaccuracies, reader is shy, smoking and drinking mentioned

a/n: medical case may or may not be based on a true story of my life.

robby didn’t know much about the new nurse, all he knew was anything he learned from dana and even then the information was “sweet girl, good nurse, keeps to herself otherwise.” boy did you ever keep to yourself. robby thinks he’s maybe heard you say ten words to him total since he met you months ago, nine of them clinical.

you had just finished up a triggering case for you and dana knew it so she stops you right before you’re about to hop into something else and tells you to go get some air. you nod and head out through the ambulance bay. not expecting anyone else but when you turn the corner you see robby there lighting up a cigarette.

“do you want a cigarette?” he asks looking at you. “oh, um no thank you. i don’t smoke.” he huffs out a bit of a chuckle at that. “good. never start.” you smile at him “you got it boss.”

he looks you over and he can see that you’re a bit shaken by something. “you okay?” you look at him like a deer being caught in the headlights. “yeah, yeah um that cva we just had hit kind of close to home.” you end it there because you don’t want your first real conversation with your hot senior attending to be a trauma dump of sorts. you exhale out a breath “well i have patients i need to check on. better get back in there.” you turn on your heel and walk back in.

robby finishes his cigarette and heads in immediately going to find dana. she can sense something is up just by the look on his face. “what’s up cap, you look like you need to ask me something.” he’s watching you. “she told me the cva hit close to home, but shes as collected as can be running his follow-up vitals right now” he says to dana pointing his chin in her direction. “yeah robby she’s a real nurse, she can keep it professional. i don’t think i could pull her off that case if i tried. especially with that guys daughters right there worried about him.” he looks at dana with a quizzical look. “look robby i already said too much, i am sure she’d tell you if you asked her.” she leaves him at the desk with that.

robby is trying to look casual after shift waiting outside the woman’s locker room. your busy finding your headphones in your bag you don’t see him sneaking up on you. “i know you said you don’t smoke, but i was wondering if i could buy you a beer.” you clearly weren’t expecting him and jump at his words. hand over your heart you turn to him. “jesus dr. robby! you can’t sneak up on a girl like that. i spook easily.” you smile at him to let him know that you weren’t really afraid of him, just startled. you think about his offer. “i could go for a beer.” and you follow him out of the hospital to the pub down the street.

the two of you find a place to sit and the waitress comes to take your order. robby can’t help to notice how polite you are to the waitress, even outside of work you are making sure people feel comfortable in your presence. “you know i think you and i have doubled our word count to each other today.” he says with an amused smile on his face. “yeah, well my motto has been speak when spoken to, the last hospital i worked in we were basically only allowed to talk to the doctors if it was involving a patients care. it’s a hard thing to unlearn.” robby nods and makes a note to figure out where you came from before working at the pitt.

the waitress comes back with your drinks and placed them on the table. you take a sip out of yours and put it down on the table in front of you, pulling at the label of the bottle. robby can’t not ask it’s really the whole reason he’s sitting in the bar with you, at least that’s what he’s telling himself. “so you said that cva today hit close to home. i just wanted to make sure you were okay after that. i didn’t really have a chance to check in on you, that’s a part of my job.” you continue to peal at the label on your beer. chancing a look up at his face you decide to tell him the truth.

“my dad had a stroke about three weeks ago. my mom was out of town visiting her sisters so i went over and we had dinner. i was just about to leave and when he was saying goodbye to me he wasn’t making sense, mumbling and slurring his words. i didn’t even run an assessment like i maybe should have i just called 9-1-1. and when i told him an ambulance was coming he yelled at me. the words came out clear as day and i thought i maybe made a mistake.” you smile at robby and he just blinks at you. “having seen this situation so many times before i couldn’t believe how i just froze, not that there was much i could do from home but…” you trail off. robby rests a hand on top of your arm of the hand that has now basically peeled the whole label off your bottle. “hey there’s a reason we aren’t supposed to be a part of a loved ones care when they’re in the hospital. worrying is a completely normal response you saw something wasn’t right and called an ambulance, i would say that he had pretty good care right off the bat.” you nod at that. “is your dad alright now? any thing long term?”

you shake your head with a smile. “we got really lucky. his doctor suspects that the time between first symptoms and clot buster administered was about forty-five minutes, he had full speech back by 11:30 that night and was discharged two days later. now he’s just grumpy because he can’t drive for a couple more weeks. my poor mom needs a vacation when he gets the okay to be behind a wheel again.” robby nods at that with a smile. “and you? anything long term with you?” you take another drink from your bottle. “i think im doing fine and then a case like today comes in. that guy was definitely in worse shape than my dad was, but then my mind starts racing and asking questions like what if i didn’t go there for dinner, what if i picked up a shift that night. sorry i shouldn’t dump this all on you. i have a therapist for that.” you look up apologetic with a forced exhale. “don’t worry about it please, im enjoying learning about what makes you, you” you meet his eyes with a small smile. “i am enjoying this too.” you meet his eyes.

“this hospital isn’t like your old one. the doctors here appreciate the nurses input, we welcome it. or if you just want to ask how our weekend was is good too. we like to make sure everyone feels apart of the team, no weird power dynamics if i can help it. i for one would enjoy hearing your voice a lot more.” you blush at that. “i will try. but like i said im usually a speak when spoken to type of girl.” robby leans in resting his head on his palm. “then i guess you’re going to be sick of me asking how you are”

[gabbytvclarke]

Even Better in Person // WillNE

• Summary: Will and reader collaborate on a video together after James began touring, play dress up, and feelings blossom. • Pairing: Youtuber!Reader x friend!Will Lenney • Fluff • Warnings: Swearing • Word count: 4,425 words

♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥

“Right! Hello my friends, today we’re gonna go through even more lost Amazon parcels!” Will bellows to the main camera. “You might be wondering where James is today and, well, he’s botherin’ other people while on his tour. So we have the much less annoying, very lovely y/n joining me, to see if we’ve made profit!” Y/n sits smiling and waving at the camera, feeling slightly shy at being called lovely by Will. Deep down she can’t believe she’s there, next to the WillNE, considering she’s not a large creator herself.

It came about after one of her videos, a brutally honest Temu haul, gained traction and ended up being on a lot of people’s recommended. This wound up on Will’s radar and he figured he should have her come by his studio to film some form of haul together. They messaged back and forth through instagram, then they had a Discord video call to discuss the Amazon idea, where they realised they shared great banter and just clicked. Things just blossomed from there. This brings y/n to today; meeting Will face to face for the first time, to judge other people’s parcels.

After some delays with travel, she’d turned up slightly later than expected. The crew were polite, but had to usher her and Will to share only quick hugs and hellos before getting in position to start filming. This worked out in y/n’s favour however, as she’d developed quite a ‘YouTuber crush’ on Will since he’d reached out to her, and the hurry made for a good distraction. Will promised to spend time with her properly after filming, to make up for the rush.

With the video introduction out the way, the pair dive straight in the with parcels. Will has a larger more padded package which he assumes is clothing, whereas y/n has a smaller box and guesses it to be a headset. Will’s was a pair of hot and cold taps for a bathroom sink wrapped in a ton of bubble wrap, whereas y/n’s was a knock-off PS5 controller - so not too far off. While Will fiddles with the taps, twisting the nozzles, y/n double checks the price: £12.99.

“This is over £10 so it goes in the good bin, right Will?” She asks with enthusiasm.

“Yeah, uh-” he stops himself mid sentence and grins. “Yeah! You’re already better than James at this, I had to explain this to him like a million times.” He chirps, leading to y/n and the crew laughing. She shyly looks at the controller information on the box, trying to hide the heat on her cheeks from the way he looked into her eyes and beamed so genuinely.

The next two parcels look similar in size and shape. Will opens his to find a pack of solar powered fairy lights, which he naturally drapes over his shoulders like a scarf, while he leans over and watches y/n gently open hers. “You can just tear it.” He whispers gently over her shoulder, his breath tickling her ear.

“I don’t want to damage it,” she chuckles awkwardly. Will takes the box off her, his long fingers grazing over hers and they exchange a brief glance. Will’s seemingly unbothered, unlike y/n, who plasters a calm smile on her face to cover the electricity she felt.

“Oh don’t mind that.” He then grins before tearing the box open, a cascade of false press-on nail packs spew across the table. After regathering them together in a pile, the pair study each packet. They all contain different lengths and patterns of fake nails. Will holds up a pack of pink leopard print ones, first to the camera and then to y/n. “Please put these on me y/n.” He states, more of a command than a request, his intense stare into her eyes causing her throat to dry up.

“Right now? They might break if you keep ravaging the boxes.” She quips.

Will frowns for a moment. “Hm, maybe you’re right, put them on us when we’re finished.” He holds the pack in front of y/n, as she reaches to take it, he claps it in her hand with both of his. As her gaze darts to his eyes, he keeps his hands there. “Make me fabulous.” He adds on, almost as if he only said that to keep the contact for a couple of seconds longer. He chuckles before turning forward again. “The rest can go in the bad bin, they’re all cheap as fuck.” He shoves the other packets of nails to his left into the red bin, most missing completely, then yanks off his fairy lights and whips them in too.

They dig through a few more parcels, finding only mundane things like hose pipes, extension cords, gloves, all of which go in the bad bin. Y/n gets passed a large but soft package, whereas Will’s only given something small. He rips through his first only to find a dog collar. He lets out a small laugh before pulling a fake offended face. “Oi, did you lot know this was a collar?” He glances from crew member to crew member as a smirk creeps on his face, y/n presses her hands to her mouth in shock.

“Oh no!” She muffles, her eyes wide as they dart from the collar to Will’s face.

“I’m only jokin’ it’s all good, I’m over all that!” He shrugs with a low chuckle as he fiddles with the collar, glancing over at y/n’s package before meeting her gaze. “I’m well over it.” He repeats quietly before his attention returns to the parcel. The reassurance, for only her to hear, and his gentle tone makes her heart skip a beat. And the way he looked at her in those mere seconds, like he wanted her to know he’s single and open. But she doesn’t want to jump to conclusions, maybe he just didn’t want her to feel bad for him.

Y/n’s package reveals a beach towel with built in sleeves, a front pocket and a hood. “This is really cute!” She beams as she holds it outwards toward the camera. Will grins as he places his hand on her shoulder.

“Try it on, try it on!” He chants, slapping the table. She chuckles as she pulls it on over her head, poking her arms through. It’s huge on her. “Don’t forget the hood-” He giggles as he yanks it over her head, the sheer size enveloping her entire face, causing him to burst out in his high pitched laughter. She sits still for a moment in silence for comedic effect before turning to face him slightly, still not uttering a word. It spurs him on even more, his laughs now emitting no sound at all. She just shakes her head at him, the crew also sharing a laugh. As he calms down, he gently moves the hood back to reveal her face. “Sorry love.” He utters cheekily, his hand moving down her back and out of view of the cameras. He gives her a gentle pat before placing his hands on his lap. She’s lucky she’s wearing a bad attempt at a pout, with a smirk sneaking in, otherwise her face would’ve given away her reaction to his gentle touches.

Will throws the collar to his left without looking. “My shitty collar can go in the bad bin, but this,” he grabs the sleeve of the towel hoodie, his knuckles lighting a small fire against y/n’s arm. “Can go in the good bin at £18.” He continues.

A couple of more expensive parcels get opened, including a Nerf gun, which Will uses to terrorise the camera men, and some fairly decent AirPod copycats. They also find more funny cheap items for the bad bin; socks with weird phrases on and a book on how to get lucky with women. Will holds the book up with a smirk. “I don’t need shite like this, I got y/n here on my natural charm alone.” He gestures towards her as she exaggerates a swoon. She wonders if he knows she means it deep down, watching his eyes and nose crinkle as he laughs with her.

The next two packages are definitely fun. Y/n opens to find a policeman costume, opting to put just the hat on while still wearing the towel-top, and tapping the plastic baton into her palm. Will salutes her and calls her ‘Officer Towelson’ before ripping his parcel open, to find a lacy black bra. “Ooh la la,” he murmurs as he holds it up to his chest.

“It’s your size!” Y/n jokingly gasps, Will giggles before getting an idea.

“Right.” He chucks the bra on the desk before whipping his black jumper off, the swift motion taking y/n by surprise, but she thinks fast.

“I can arrest you for indecent exposure ma���am.” She jabs in an authoritative tone. Will shakes his head with a big grin as he loops his arms through the bra, pressing the cups to his chest.

“Can ya help us with the back?” He asks, looking into her eyes with a slight hesitance, as if he didn’t think the question through. She obliges however, leaving the chair and standing behind him.

“Black’s really your colour.” She jokes to lighten the more… intimate mood, as Will frowns to the camera with confusion. Feeling the heat from Will’s skin, she struggles with the intricate hook design on the clasp. “What’s with this?” She mumbles out loud as she leans closer, still fumbling. Her breath caresses his shoulder blades, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand, and she notices. Will dips his head down, maybe thinking it’ll help her in some way, or maybe to hide any redness on his face from view.

“There.” She sighs with a relieved smile as she sits back down next Will. He looks down at his new lingerie and feels his chest again.

“I look like a cheap hooker.” Will states, “But the bra was 25 quid so it should go in the good bin.” There’s a long pause while y/n and the crew wait for Will to remove it, or try to.

Noticing the silence, Will looks around and realises. “Oh, I still want to wear it.” He grins, before leaning over to y/n. “It’s my colour after all.” He whispers with a wink. Thinking fast again, she gently taps him with her baton.

“Calm down missy, prostitution is a crime.” She sniggers.

Will pauses for a moment. “What has this video become?” He asks the camera, feigning disappointment while suppressing a smile.

After a few more parcels, Will declares it’s ‘fucking freezing’ and puts his jumper back on, over the bra. Y/n is still dressed as Officer Towelson, but with the new box Will opens, they both now occupy a fake moustache each from a party pack. Will’s is bushy, whereas y/n has a small handlebar moustache. The crew giggle at their looks as the pair turn to face each other. “Oh wow!” Y/n bellows and they both burst out laughing. As they calm down and shove the torn cardboard pieces onto the floor, Will shakes his head and sighs.

“You still look fit, mind.” He murmurs and her eyes widen. Still? She wonders. She shyly spins her baton in place on the table as they wait for their final parcels.

Hers is a small package, whereas Will’s is only slightly larger. They tear into them at the same time, y/n having lost her gentle touch from the before. They open a pack of fake piercings and a collection of multicoloured clip-in hair extensions. “Oh my god y/n, put ‘em all on me please.” He begs excitedly and almost aggressively. She giggles as she adjusts her moustache and gets behind Will again, attaching different strands to his mullet and draping them over his shoulders so they’re all in view. She hears him audibly sigh a shaken breath as her hands brush against the sides of his neck.

When she sits back beside him, she notices his bushy moustache is gone and he’s wearing a fake septum ring in its place, alongside two fake lip rings. “Can you put these on my ears?” He asks with a cheeky grin, handing over some clip-on dangly earrings and another fake hoop ring. She lets out a small laugh and shakes her head.

“Yes, Will.”

He turns more to face her directly as she easily clips the first earring to his lobe while he sits still with his eyes closed. He then turns his head so his other ear is more in reach, coincidentally shielding his face from the camera. She clips the other dangly earring with ease before looking from ear to ear. “Where do you want the last ring?” She asks.

“On the side here.” He replies softly, tapping the edge of his ear, just above where the lobe meets cartilage, with his head still turned away from the crew. As she leans closer to ensure she doesn’t nip him or pinch him, she notices his gaze flicker down to her lips and back up to her eyes. She’s sure of it. They feel their breaths mix just as y/n’s certain the ring’s on comfortably and leans back slowly.

“Perfect.” She smirks, “You’re the prettiest hooker I’ve ever arrested.” Will laughs in response before gasping.

“Oh!” He exclaims before carefully removing his jumper again. The crew sniggering at the pair. Y/n, wearing a beach towel/hoodie, a police hat and a handlebar moustache; beside her is Will in a lacy bra, with fake piercings and kids’ rainbow extensions in his hair. “D’ya still have the nails?” He then asks.

“Oh yeah…” She reaches into her towel pocket and pulls them out, smirking at the camera. “This may take a while as we need to find which ones fit each nail.” She advises the camera and by extension, the crew. Will decides to dismiss them for a short break, even though they’re so close to finishing the recording. Everyone leaves the room except for the producer Olga who sips her iced coffee and scrolls through her phone. Still, the moment feels intimate.

“How’ve you found it so far.” Will asks quietly as he glances up at y/n’s face, double taking at the moustache and chuckling through his nose.

“So fun,” she beams in response as she empties the fake nails onto the desk, preparing to check each size.

“Yeah?” Will whispers, looking deeply at how her eyes wrinkle as she smiles.

“Absolutely, honestly I thought you’d be a grump with me like you are with James, so I was surprised.” She giggles. She holds a nail up to Will’s hand as he edges it closer to her.

“Well, we’ve been mates for a while, more like brothers.” He shrugs, watching her hands as they gently continue measuring. “It’s ya first time on the channel so I thought I’d better not be too mean to you.”

She raises her eyebrows, pausing to meet his gaze. “So you went easy on me, huh?” She smirks. His eyes dart down to her lips, licking his own instinctively as she continues comparing sizes.

“You could say that, yeah.” His pitch and volume low, noticing Olga leave the room out the corner of his eye, leaving the two alone.

“I don’t think you’re mean Will, I think you’re sweet.” She states bravely, also noticing it’s just the two of them. “I just need to apply these glue strips…” Will feels his face heat up at her compliment, pressing his hands firm to the table nervously as she applies the clear strips to each nail.

“And you’re just as entertaining and comforting as you come across online.” Will says, taking a small breath as she takes his hand, holding it in her own as she begins pressing on the nails. They’re soft and warm, contrasting the cooler air and rough lace against his chest.

“Comforting?” She questions, still holding his hand.

“Yeah. You’re like really comfortable to be around, I felt like I could be meself around you from the call alone.” He explains. She shoots him a sweet smile.

“Same to you actually.” She replies, with the final nail pressed on. She holds the plastic against his pinky fingernail as a silence falls over them. After looking at how nice Will’s hands are, her eyes flick up at his only to see he’s already looking at her. His gaze trails down to her lips as she watches his Adam’s apple bounce in his throat. She’s certain she can see him slowly lean forward but before she can confirm,

“How’s it getting on?” Olga asks as she reenters the room. Luckily she was looking down at her phone, so she didn’t notice the two’s faces being only inches apart. The pair sit back straight in their chairs as if nothing happened.

“Just got the last nail on now.” Y/n chuckles awkwardly as Will holds his hands out, admiring her work. The crew join them to film the outro.

“Thanks for watchin’ friends!” Will starts, gesturing his hands to ensure his new manicure will be noticeable to the viewers. “A massive thank you to y/n for making this fun and even more so for my new look!” He gestures towards his towel clad police friend.

“You look beautiful Will.” She grins, Will swishes a couple of the coloured extensions over his shoulder.

“Hey I like her!” He chirps to Olga, gesturing towards y/n with his thumb. “She’s far better than James. Let’s bar ‘im from the channel!”

———

“Nice work again guys, I’ll let you close up Will.” Olga calls to Will and y/n as she leaves the studio room with the other crew members, “See you later!”

“Bye, nice to meet you all!” Y/n calls out as she waves.

“Bye you lot!” Will chimes in. Now it’s just the two of them again, he turns to look at his fellow creator, shyness creeping over him. “So, that was definitely fun.”

“It really was, definitely the best first collab I’ve ever done!” She giggles, Will’s eyes widen as they both tidy up some more.

“What?! This is ya first collab?” He asks, his voice up an octave. She nods with an embarrassed smile.

“You’re a natural darlin’!” He squeaks, eliciting a laugh from her as she avoids his gaze. They put the last of the cardboard away. “Hey, you still wanna do something while the sun’s still out?” He asks sweetly.

“Of course, it’s so beautiful outside.” She replies, grabbing her bag.

———

The London breeze strokes their cheeks as they step onto the pavement side by side. The one good thing about rushing to record? There’s plenty of the day left to spend time together. Real time, in person, not hours of texting or chatting rubbish or planning meet ups over Discord. “You’re even better in person.” Will blurts out, realising how weird he sounds almost immediately, “I mean like, your personality and all that.” He clears his throat while she lets out a shy giggle. “Fuck, I just mean… I mean it’s nice to know it’s not all put on for YouTube. You’re genuine y/n.”

She chuckles some more, staring at the ground to avoid any eye contact. “Thanks Will, the same goes to you honestly.”

“Oh god, be honest now, what did ya really think I’d be like?” He dreads to ask.

“A miserable sod.” She quips back, a little too fast, eliciting a quiet but high pitched laugh from him.

“You cheeky bitch.” He shakes his head, keeping his hand in his pocket as he elbows her playfully. “I’m glad you feel comfortable enough with me to say stuff like that.”

They reach a small indie cafe, the smell of coffee beckoning them in. “Might as well,” Will shrugs, “didn’t get a chance to get a drink before recordin’.”

The pair order their typical go-to drinks and opt for a table by the window, it’s a little more secluded, and they get to people-watch passers by. Will begins telling her a funny anecdote about one of his earliest collabs with James, while y/n tries her best to focus 100% of herself on his words. It’s difficult though, her eyes keep wondering to his lips and chiselled jaw while he smirks, or the way his eyes squint shut when he laughs unapologetically, or his big hands when he gestures. “Have I lost ya?” He asks with a snigger.

She blinks and lightly shakes her head, realising she’d been staring. “No-no, you said he was being all smug. Carry on.” She’s right. Luckily she was still listening slightly, just a little captivated at the same time. It doesn’t stop her cheeks from burning up though.

“Right… ‘Cause for a minute there, I thought you were eyein’ me up.” He smirks, folding his elbows on the table and shooting her a confident yet almost challenging look. She’s so taken aback she nearly crushes the coffee cup in her grip.

“W-what?” She squeaks. Taking a sip to try and get away with saying nothing more.

“Yeah you were like, proper staring at me.” He mirrors her, also taking a drink. She pinches her lips between her teeth, watching his hand to avoid eye contact. “It’s alright if you were love.” He licks his lips as his eyes scan her up and down, his grin growing wider.

“I, um…” Her gaze meets his and she feels her hands clam up. “I guess… I’m sorry.” Is all she can let out.

“Don’t apologise, I’m flattered. It’s nice to know it’s not just me.” His eyes stay on hers as he reassures her, leaning more forward in his chair as he waves his hand nonchalantly.

“Not just you?” She questions, wiping her sweaty hands on her thighs.

“Exactly that, I’ve been checkin’ you out all day.” He chuckles shyly, looking down at his cup and saucer. “No point in hidin’ it, I’m only human. Look at ya.” He looks back up at her and gestures towards her beautiful flushed face. “Anyway where was I? Oh yeah James, the smug bastard…”

———

By the time the pair finished their drinks, an orange hue began cascading over the streets. Will can sure tell a story, but it kept y/n interested, even with the awkward intermission in the middle. Will waits for the barista to look their way before mouthing a polite request for their bill. She comes over and naturally places it in front of Will, alongside a couple of complimentary chocolate mints. He pays by card pretty quick and the barista takes away their cups, along with plates from the pastries the pair ended up having.

Y/n takes out her phone. “How much was my stuff again?” She asks, opening her banking app. Will reaches over the table, placing his hand over her phone, his fingers enveloping hers.

“Don’t be daft, it’s on me.” He smiles. His hand lingers on hers, and she wonders if the barista can sense the tension from across the cafe. After a little back and forth, y/n allows him to cover the whole cost and they leave.

“I can’t believe it’s still warm, the sun’ll be completely set soon.” Y/n chirps as they take a leisurely stroll.

“Maybe you’re just warm from sizin’ me up earlier.” Will shrugs, his head tilting slightly as he watches her reaction out the side of his eye.

“Stop it, you.” She laughs, her hand covering her shy smile.

“Ah just admit it y/n, you fancy me a bit.” He chirps as he wraps his arm over her shoulder, pulling her into him and causing her to stumble as they walk. She steadies herself as she giggles, her hand instinctively resting against his belly. They stop walking and share a gaze. One that’s a little more unreadable. His face becomes more serious as he looks down at her. The near daily texts and voice notes, the silly selfies and memes shared, the Discord call that lasted seemingly forever - it all led up to now.

“Since our first call, I’ve not stopped thinking about meeting you properly.” He confesses, his voice low and soft. He notices the way the sunset reflects in her eyes, making them glow, as if the universe is telling him that she’s the one.

“I felt a connection just from text, but the video call was on another level.” He continues, his eyes wide as he gestures his hands even wider, almost in disbelief at his own words. “I knew I was in trouble already, and now...” He peers down at her again, a smile daring to tug at his lips, as he almost forgets how to speak.

Her eyes shimmer pinks and oranges as she hangs on to every word. Facing him fully and stood out the way of other pedestrians so their moment remains uninterrupted. “And now?” She repeats, her gaze glued to his lips.

Testing the waters, his fingers brush against her upper arm. She doesn’t step away or grimace, in fact she leans into his touch. “And now… like I said, even better in person.” He answers, his voice barely above a whisper. They stand in a peaceful silence as their eyes lock, a connection stronger than friends now established in an unspoken agreement. Will smirks. “So, do you fancy us?”

It’s brave but it feels like the right thing, she tugs at his jumper and pulls him down, connecting their lips as Will exhales a small squeak. The kiss lasts no longer than two seconds, a gentle peck as to not rock the boat. Will stands straight again, his lips still forming a slight pout as he registers what just happened.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He then quips, beaming as he watches y/n laugh. He reaches a hand out to cup her cheek, whispering a “C’mere you” as he leans down to plant a softer kiss to her lips. It’s gentle and affectionate, until things kick up a gear.

Her arms hug around his waist as his other arm wraps over her shoulder, pulling her flush against him as he tilts his head to deepen their kiss. He exhales a low hum against her lips as his thumb rubs gentle circles on her cheek. A passer by wolf whistles them, snapping them out of their makeout session. They pull apart and each catch their breaths as they start giggling.

Will’s smile only grows as he tugs her towards him once more, leaning down and pressing his forehead to hers. His hands slide down her arms and he weaves his fingers between hers. He sighs contently before asking: “D’you want to come back to mine tonight?”

♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥•♥

Part 2?

A/n: Idk why I never noticed how yummy he is before... - Gabby xo

[mistress-riddle]

tom riddle x ravenclaw head girl!reader

✧ ˚ 　· . cw + req. some she/her pronouns used. i stand behind tom being a bitch. i was kind of yapping, it's 1.1k words... 'I was wondering if you could please write some headcanons for Tom with a Ravenclaw s/o who is extremely intelligent but absolutely sucks at Potions. They are both Head Boy and Head Girl. Ik it doesn’t really make sense if she’s Head Girl and bad at Potions but let’s just say she’s passing because she does homework and puts lots of effort yk 😭 — anon?'

✧˖*°࿐ i think it’s quite plausible for her to be a little challenged with potions and still receive ‘passing’ grades btw. we know that a pass in general is an ‘acceptable’ and that slughorn requires an ‘exceeds expectations’ to enter his advanced potions classroom (newt level). with that being said, she could be great at theory work (such as explaining the effects of a potion, the suitable uses for ingredients and where to find them…), it’s just that when it comes to actually mixing together the proper ingredients, she can’t seem to get the desired end result (so lets say her potion ends up becoming, i don’t know, turquoise instead of green or something like that). the potion may work, but it’s probably not as potent as it should be or it’s considered ‘toxic’ in the typical suggested doses.

✧˖*°࿐ personally, i don’t think tom allowed himself to be anything less than brilliant, and considering how he was one of slughorn’s faves (got away with asking a ‘hypothetical’ question about one of the most obscure dark magic practices, like come on now, that’s peak “english teacher and the athletic popular boys” level of favouritism), i feel like it is safe to say he probably received very high grades in potions, probably an outstanding every time. and if we take into account the cave, where we find the emerald potion (a.k.a. drink of despair) which must be drunk in order for it to disappear (iirc it’s his own creation? or it’s heavily implied that it is) and considering the fact that the potion was most likely not checked on for a while — i feel like it’s valid to assume since the last time he checked on it using kreacher, and did not expire, it could have been the case that the potion was/mimicked an everlasting elixir which means that the potion either never ran out or never became ineffective. and while we don’t have much information about how complex it is to actually create an everlasting potion, it can be assumed that it requires advanced potion-making skills and successful brewing which is hard for people unskilled/average at potion-making. and so, that whole meta was really just my way of trying to say tom is a nerd and probably got really high grades and therefore means he’d be condescending about being smarty mcsmarty pants to our poor head girl 😭

✧˖*°࿐ i imagine he’d make a few underhanded comments here and there like suggesting she should brew something and then following it with a “oh… nevermind!” and then quietly laughing to himself. like stfu mf. no one thinks you’re funny.

✧˖*°࿐ he gives me major ‘i won’t help unless you outright asked (read: begged) for my assistance and if i feel like it, only then will i help you’. i don’t think he’d feel threatened enough by anyone to consider being overtaken, which would have been a reason for him to avoid helping out, because hello? no one could beat him, he probably took every subject available like the nerd he is (narcissistic and a nerd? pick a struggle, you insufferable boy). so yes, if she asked him really really really nicely (i.e. offered him something nice in return which could range from sweets to a whole new wardrobe, his pick) then he would totally, condescendingly tell her to “add the stupid, blasted liver after the brew begins to boil like it said in the book, for fuc— oh, professor slughorn! i was just going over the instructions with…” fake. ass. he’s actually an ethnic dad teaching his kid maths btw, you’re crying and he’s trying to restrain himself from calling you an imbecile and finding 20 synonyms to follow it with. this is why dumbledore rejected you for the dada position, you prick!!

✧˖*°࿐ i think if you were his deskmate/station-mate or whatever, he’d keep his eyes on your potion whenever he’s finished with the necessary steps for his own, purely because he’s bored and is a nosey bitch who likes being an overachiever. “it’s anti-clockwise…” “you know you’re using a quarter instead of a half right now?…” “oh please, you forgot to add the feathers…” like just do it yourself atp. you’re being a menace, even though you might? maybe? possibly? infinitesimally? mean well and don’t want to see the potion blowing up in the poor head girls face or have slughorn walk past her cauldron with a click of his tongue and a disappointed glance of his eyes which in turn causes our ravenclaw’s lips to purse and eyebrows to fall. tom when he sighs and rolls his eyes but charms the ladle to stir in the right direction, adding the necessary proportion of ingredients all whilst looking like he wants to be anywhere but in the classroom he spends so much time in. (tom riddle softie era???? if only he actually wasn’t a dick smh)

✧˖*°࿐ but other than your little potions “floundering”, power couple i hear?? i think when it comes to head boy and head girl relationships it’s either pure love and/or respect or “i genuinely don’t know how you got this title when you’re so incompetent and losery, i think you should kys” which creates for hilarious dynamics ! i think, contrary to popular fanfic belief, tom needs someone who could challenge him a little (not so much that he wants to (and can successfully) destroy them but enough to make him suck his teeth and for his eye to twitch) and i think the most harmless way would be ‘academically’ because god forbid it’s actually magically, then he’s conspiring on how to bring about your downfall because how dare you be better than the most brilliant wizard alive who pushes the boundaries of magic and blah, blah, blah… anywho ! he would definitely appreciate an academic and curious mind who’s imaginative and willing to experiment with him. he thinks the pinnacle of romance is trading books and hanging out in the library so you’d definitely need to be someone who is willing to engage in magical (and sometimes non-magical??) debate with him.

✧˖*°࿐ i also absolutely do think he uses you as an excuse to check out the ravenclaw library because it’s all good and well that he can easily walk into the common room (i mean a riddle for riddle… come on now, it’s too easy) but he would definitely get multiple side eyes for walking in all willy nilly unless he had a reason, i.e. visiting his pretty, intelligent, and amazing head girl of a partner ! tom is not tom if he’s not scheming and plotting to use people to his advantage (even if he likes them romantically, it’s the poor orphan boy unable to make healthy connections in him)

✧ ˚ 　· . return to main masterlist?

[jennelikejennay]

How to Make Up Vulcan Words

Using the Vulcan language is like trying to follow a recipe written by a grandma who already knew how to make the thing and only jotted down a couple measurements. That is, it does have information, but it rarely has all you need. Even words I would consider obvious and necessary simply aren’t in there. However, if you know how to put Vulcan words together, you can create a lot more words than the VLD will give you.

Vulcan is a language that relies very heavily on a small number of roots and affixes. English does the same sometimes, especially in scientific language, where we use Greek and Latin roots to hide the fact that we’re doing it. This makes it easy to make up new words whenever you want, in exactly the way the creators made them: by jamming together bits until a word is built up with all the parts you want.

There are only two basic rules: first, you have a limit of two hyphens, so when parts are connected with hyphens (which is the case with some affixes and all roots) you are limited to three. There’s no limit on apostrophes or jammed-together affixes, though, so keep that in mind.

Second, you want the final version to be the part of speech you are looking for, which may require a change in ending. Verbs usually (but not always) end in -au or -tor. Making a noun out of a verb is a little complicated, but in the end, a noun can have any ending. Adjectives end in -k, often -ik. Adverbs end in -ng.

The basic process I use for finding a word is this.

First, I look up the word I want in the VLD. Instead of searching by word, I go to that letter of the alphabet and scroll to it, in case there are related words in the same area. It’s probably not there, so I try a couple of synonyms. Then words that aren’t synonyms, but are related.

Hopefully in all that searching, I’ll come up with a couple of roots. For instance, I can find that sadakh means “to eject.” Dakh means to cast out, get rid of. Sa- can mean a bunch of things, including “male” and “automatic” but I see it in a lot of words like extend, exhale, expand, etc. So I think in this case sa- means outward.

Then I can add on other roots and affixes that I want. Say I want a substance that has been ejected, I can use -tukh, stuff, substance, and get sadakh-tukh. Or if I want a machine that ejects, I can use sadakh-vel. A thing that ejects? Sadakhek. A person whose job is ejecting things? Sadakhsu.

Here are a bunch of Vulcan affixes, some of which are in the VLD, some of which you have to figure out after seeing them in a bunch of related words.

su: person. This can mean a person from a given place or a person who does a certain thing. It attaches without any punctuation. ashausu: one who loves. besu: a companion, one who is beside or with you. kugalsu: a person who is betrothed. sasu: a man. kosu: a woman.

-vel: thing, object, machine. tor: do; tor-vel: mechanism. tum-tor: to count, tum-vel: computer.

-tukh: stuff. alem: salt; alem-tukh: sodium. dau: affect; dau-tukh: hormone.

ek: -er, something that does a specific thing. Not used with people. feshel-tor: to disrupt; feshelek: disruptor. spitau: to drill, spitayek: a drill, something that drills. (Note: -ek is going on the noun form of the verb, generally, spitaya being the act of drilling.)

sa-: male, masculine. sa-mekh: father. sa-fu: son.

ko-: female, feminine. ko-mekh: mother. ko-fu: daughter.

‘es: -ness, basically turning another word into an abstract noun. abru’: over; abru’es: dominance. marom-: excellent; marom’es: excellence.

shi’: place. masu: water; shi’masu: oasis. 

-bosh: full of. kau: wisdom; kau-bosh: wise

-fam: without. kau-fam: unwise.

-tal: study, the study of. gen-lis: language, gen-lis-tal: linguistics. (And -talsu is a person who studies the topic! We’re all being amateur gen-lis-talsular right now.)

tra: this is an odd collective plural, which I think is really cool. It’s a big mass of the thing you’re talking about. So sular is people, but sutra is a nation. masu: water; masutra: ocean.

rik, ri: not or without. kwon: forever; rikwonik: temporary. tsuri: normal, usual; ritsuri: abnormality, divergence, eccentricity. kup: can, able; rikup’es: disability. Vulcan loves to use this one to make opposites; if ever you need a word and only have its opposite, use this.

pi’: small. laptra: forest; pi’laptra: copse. sahan: wind; pi’sahan: breeze. You can make diminutives of any kind like this.

weh-: more. abru: above; weh-abru: upper.

dan-: most. irak: far; dan-irak: farthest.

From a few roots and these affixes, you too can craft words like shi’sasnem, bathroom, or qlar’hy’es, curiosity. The VLD alone barely gets you through a few sentences of whatever you wanted to say, but if you know how to construct your own words, you really can say almost anything.

[specialagentartemis]

from a discussion in the comments of this post:

Learning about things is always valuable; learning how to assess what things are reliable is always valuable; not everything needs academic rigor to be valuable! That's part of what's getting lost here.

It's always good to read critically and ask questions, to think about the logical arguments being made and assess whether they are actually answering the question they set out to answer, or if they provide strong enough evidence for their claim. You certainly don't have to be an expert to do that. And it's a great way to learn.

The idea of academic rigor primarily comes into play if you want to 1) do original research, 2) challenge a scientist or expert and say they're wrong, or 3) give advice in a formal capacity or practice the topic in a formal capacity.

Learning a lot of facts about, say, Ancient Rome, is great for writing a fictional story set in Ancient Rome; academic rigor is necessary if you want to write a nonfiction history of Ancient Rome. Collecting lots of information about local ecosystems is awesome for starting your own native pollinator garden or giving plant cuttings to your neighbors; academic rigor is necessary if you want to start a consulting business giving recommendations to local institutions about rewilding their properties.

I, personally, really love learning about dinosaurs and I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about them, but I'm nowhere near an expert, and that's fine: it mostly means I won't be writing any science books or leading any paleontology research projects or being a Jurassic World science consultant. I can still enjoy it, and get a lot of value in learning about it and understanding it, and know enough to go "hmmm there's probably more to the story" when news articles report that some biotech firm has de-enxtinct-ified some prehistoric animal. Those are all valuable things, even if they don't make me an expert!

And then there are topics like woodworking or sewing or rock climbing where "academic rigor" is not a useful framework for expertise at all, because it operates in a completely different space in which expertise comes in a very different way.

Anti-vaxxers are very enthusiastic about "doing their own research" and still very wrong. This is a huge problem because they are also saying the medical experts are liars and making decisions about other people's health because of it. Graham Hancock is very enthusiastic about archaeology, and very wrong. This leads to him getting a Netflix deal to make a popular tv show where he tells you that the academic archaeologists are lying to you to cover up the fact that Atlantis is real.

Conversely, here's a story about an amateur archaeologist who spent a lot of time studying Ice Age cave paintings... and then brought his observations and theories to academic archaeologists, who worked together with him to test those theories!

Getting an academic degree is not the only path to truth and knowledge. But one of the big values of academia is that it teaches you how to research, how to design experiments, how to read critically and assess information, and how to robustly test your ideas. It also has peer review by other experts who are there to assess your work from an outside perspective and give critiques of it, and it teaches you how to accept critique with an open mind. Those are absolutely skills you CAN learn outside academia! For sure! But you have to honestly assess: are you? before you can make a claim to the same standards of original research, challenging other experts, or giving advice from a place of expertise.

If that's not what you're interested in doing with your knowledge, then learning facts is awesome. Learning about the world to broaden your worldview and understand more about the world around you is always good. And I don't know an academic who will ever claim otherwise.

[windvexer]

where do you recommend everyone start with magic, or do you think its up to the individual? do you think there's anything everyone Should know to help their magic or is it so variable it's whatever you want?

A few months ago someone asked me why I didn't just go ahead and make a beginners series on witchcraft that explained the best way for beginners to start. And the normal part of me said no, I think that's more or less impossible to do well.

Then the regular part of me said, well, why not.

So I took a genuine stab at it in the format I thought best possible to get it done - audio series.

I recorded 17 hours of audio in episodic format, each about an hour long, in an attempt to describe the basic information people should know to practice witchcraft similar to the way I practice it. I estimate I'm maybe 2/3 or 3/4 of the way done (I started without an outline).

Obviously I have a problem with brevity... this is well known to my friends, who josh me about it.

But on the other hand I think I have a point, which is:

I think there is an actual answer to your question and I think that answer is either a 450 page book or a 20 hour audio series. I do not necessarily think this is my issue of saying everything in a paragraph instead of a sentence. I think that it's just one of those things that takes a long answer.

Anyway my only soundbite answer is that the very best place for people to start is to decide what they want from magic. It's perfectly fine to want to get into magic out of curiosity, or just to see if it works! But you need to figure out your immediate needs. I think that's best. Follow what leads you to fulfilling your needs. My second bit of advice is simply a personal philosophy and my stance on learning magic. It's that initial/immediate focus should be learning how to install controls on your magic and shut it down. Channeling power is a gasoline engine. Power steering, emergency brakes, transmission gears, and rear view mirrors do not come standard. You have to install them yourself.

So for the serious sorcerer, I highly recommend making safety features a choice and a priority. Learn how to cut and send away energy cords, close and lock portals, build if/then statement spells, how to build walls and set door conditions, and rebalance energies (aka cleansing).

IMO a majority of serious safety features people usually never need for themselves once they know what they're doing. But if you want to be the Village Witch™ these are probably things you do need to know to help others. And the best time to learn them is when you don't know what you're doing, aka, when you're a beginner.

[letsgobarbs]

Heyyyy. Heard a lot of murmurs about how my “clique” started the AI witch hunt. And I stand by what I did. Something tells me that if a white woman had done what we did, they would be hailed the fandom hero. But I digress.

Since many of you seem uninformed, it was this post that introduced us to an AI scanner. There are many like it, there’s this one too. AI scanners utilise AI Technology— analytical AI to be specific. However, it is still considered to be a new and unreliable technology. Why wouldn’t it be? Gen AI itself is a new and unreliable technology. How would any scanner be able to track something that is unreliable and unpredictable itself. There were two blogs who were pointed at for blatantly only posting AI fics— one of them posted 148+ fics in a month, and another that posted over 20 in a week. This was pretty telling, since it is humanly impossible to do. Moreover, they were checked through both scanners linked above.

Now, anybody with rudimentary knowledge of AI would know that AI models need to be trained. Hence, to put out a fic it needs to be fed works written by other authors. THIS IS STEALING. And it is also why many AI-written fics are getting harder to spot, because far too many fics have been fed into models to train them that AI is generating work anybody else could have written at first glance. Many authors, most notably auteurdelabre, have left since their work has been fed into AI and essentially stolen from them.

There were mutiple people who’s fics came out to be over 60%, 70% and even 80% but we had the good sense to not be the fucking fic police— the AI cops, if you will. Because there was always a possibility that the author had their work stolen from them. This could not have been true for the 2 blogs we pointed out because it was a) an open secret that they were using AI and b) too new to the fandom to gain any traction and have their work stolen from them.

Now… my question is— why call it a “witch hunt”?

Which other witches have we hunted? We are here to have fun in a fandom just like everybody else and have no reason to dedicate our time and energy into policing other people. Just a few weeks ago people were moaning about how the surge in AI fics was making the fandom more hostile and ruining it for everybody. So why are we the villains for calling it like we see it??

Even if it was a witch hunt, you shouldn’t be afraid if you’re not using AI??? Isn’t this the same cop logic y’all use? The easiest way to prove that you did not use AI was to say ‘I didn’t use it’— maybe even show the document history of you building your fics brick by brick, word by word, over the course of weeks and months. You know what I think? I think the people using AI are now scared that their work will be checked and called out. Hence, the strong sentiments on the “witch hunt”.

As for @/gothcsz, Kat’s fics were always going to show a high percentage of AI because anybody who has followed her for a hot second would know that she too had her work stolen, scrapped and used to train AI. The people accusing her of using AI lacked that fundamental, basic knowledge of this technology. Please read up on it.

But several people ran with it— gleefully, and so very excited to see the downfall of a talented BIPOC author. And they ran to both @toxicanonimity and @ihateconfessionalblogs. They titled this turn of events as “What Goes Around, Comes Around” when really this was a case of “We Will Accuse You Of Stealing What Was Stolen From You Because We Lack Basic Tech And Media Literacy.”

Nowhere in our initial posts about AI did we hail AI scanners as foolproof— it’s common knowledge and information they are not. Moreover, none of those 2 girls would have been called out if they hadn’t performed the tried and true method of shedding white woman tears. Here’s my original post, where you can see the AI user wail about how she is most definitely not using AI and people should come off of anon to converse with her— which I did. Mind you, I previously tried to DM her, which wasn’t possible because she had restricted her messages to only those she follows. And I had also tried to comment on her post but comments and replies were restricted at the time. I thought this was very funny, and would do it again.

I have many thoughts on @toxicanonimity’s engagement with the confessions blog and the shit-stirring blog @ihateconfessionalblogs. But I will hold my peace, because I do believe that the moment you start arguing with ignorant fools, you have lost. I hope this post serves as an accurate account of what has happened as well as being informative.

[twisted-affections-for-u]

Curiosity Killed the Cat

A/N: Finally finished the Valeria fic! Had sat on it due to having one idea and then scrapping it. But anyway, HAPPY PRIDE MONTH EVERYONE!!! I would let this woman step on me

Warnings: yandere, stalking, obsession, terrified reader, unhealthy relationship, chronically ill reader, Fem!reader, stealing medical records, MDNI

Summary: Chronically ill!Reader goes through her girlfriend Valeria's phone and regrets what she finds.

You didn’t mean to snoop, but the curiosity was killing you. Valeria’s phone kept going off every minute like someone was desperate to get ahold of her. You looked to the en suite that connected to her bedroom, still hearing the water running as Valeria took her shower. You glanced back down at her phone as you bit at your lip. One look wouldn’t hurt, right? 

You quickly grabbed Valeria’s phone but immediately deflated when it asked for her password. You mulled over potential passwords, before giving your best guess. Your birthday? Really? You would’ve thought it would be something more complicated than that. Then again, Valeria was a confident woman. She would feel secure knowing that no one would try to take her phone from her or be dumb enough to try and look through it. 

You quickly looked through the messages that were still coming through. Confusion taking over as the person, Diego, kept talking about cowboys and that they were getting closer to figuring things out. You gave up on that chat, looking through her phone for anything of interest, while keeping your ear out for when Valeria would be done with her shower. 

Then you found it, a file in her phone titled ‘Y/N’. You expression shifted to one of fondness at the thought of her keeping a file full of you. You figure it’s just pictures of you, maybe notes about your favorite things, but you couldn’t have been more wrong. Opening the file revealed photos of you, yes, but they weren’t ones you took. These were far away shots or even blurry shots of you out and about in Las Almas. Times where you weren’t with Valeria and even some pictures of you from long ago, ones you have never shown her. How the hell did she have any of this?! 

You didn’t want to continuing looking, but you knew you couldn’t leave it at just the pictures. You took a deep breath, attempting to soothe your nerves as you opened one of the many documents in the file. Your brows scrunched together as you skim through it, before covering your mouth in horror. HOW THE HELL DID SHE HAVE YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS?! You didn’t live together so there would have been no way for her to have a copy of them. Quickly looking through some more documents revealed exactly what you feared, your medical records going back before you had even met your girlfriend.  

You had believed it couldn’t get worse, but oh how incorrect you were. There was a file for a list of notes and what they consisted of horrified you. It started out sweet, stuff you thought you would find when first opening the Y/N file but quickly took a dark turn. Things Valeria would, or should’ve, never known about you without you telling her. Things such as a list of doctors and medications you have tried, times you went out with friends, places you have been, even people you dated! The worst was the one talking about your shitty ex before you met Valeria. A list of times she made you cry in public, turned people against you, belittled you because of your illness, made comments saying you were faking it, pushing you to do things outside of what your ill body allowed you to do and so much more. Then talking about your ex’s death. It was ruled as an accident, had crashed due to faulty breaks. That’s when you learned the horrible truth that it was never an accident. Valeria sent someone named Emiliano to mess with her breaks before the night of the accident, the same day you had your worse fight with your ex that finally caused you to leave her. 

You didn’t have time to let the information sink in as you heard the shower shut off. You scrambled to get out of the file and place Valeria’s phone back exactly where it was before scurrying across the bed to pretend to be on your phone. 

Valeria’s hand trailed over your arm as she came over to kiss you sweetly. You played dumb to the new revelations you made, smiling at her once the two of you pulled away from one another. You wanted to question her about what you had saw but honestly feared the answer more. 

Once more, Valeria’s phone started vibrating like crazy. 

“¡Dios mio! Has that been going off this whole time?” Valeria questions as she reaches for the device. You can only nod as any words get stuck in your throat. 

Valeria looks at you with concern etched into her face at your lack of words. “Mi amour, ¿estás bien?” 

You nervously smile, unsure what to say to get yourself out of this. Thankfully, Deigo calls your girlfriend’s phone. She curses as she walks into a different room to take the call. 

You decide that now is the perfect time for you to leave. 

It was cowardly to avoid Valeria like the plague after what you found, not that you knew how to confront her about it. If she was willing to have someone tamper with your ex’s car, what would she be willing to do to you?  

Valeria had been asking what was going on, confused if she had done something to upset you. You assured her that you just weren’t feeling well and wanted some alone time because of it.  

It wasn’t like you were completely lying. You hadn’t had anyone over to your place and were too scared to leave your house, not knowing who was taking pictures of you when you were alone in public was causing you severe paranoia. You kept your windows locked and curtains drawn closed to avoid anyone from getting anymore pictures of you. You were half tempted to flee the country at this point, but you didn’t have the funds for that. 

You nearly jumped out of your skin at the sound of a knock on your door. You could feel your heart pounding in your ribcage as you looked around for anything you could use as a weapon. You took your chances with a kitchen knife as you slowly crept up near the door to listen for who was on the other side. 

“¿Amour?” Valeria called out when you didn’t immediately open the door. Fuck! You weren’t expecting to deal with her now! You barely even had a vague idea of a plan to deal with the situation. 

You decided to ignore her, even though it hurt to do so, and turned to go back to sitting on your couch. Maybe you could ask a friend to let you stay at their place?  

The thought was short lived as the click of your lock startled you from your thoughts. HOW DID SHE HAVE A KEY?! YOU NEVER GAVE HER ONE! 

You ran to your bedroom, locking that door as you contemplated what to do next. Make a run for it? Hide? You really didn’t like the idea of stabbing your girlfriend. Could you even do it? Even to save yourself? 

The knocks on your bedroom door cause you to freeze up and the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end. You try to not let out any noise as you hear Valeria call for you through the door. You can hear her sigh when you refuse to answer, causing you to grip your knife tighter. 

You scream and drop the knife as a shot goes off from behind your bedroom door. You stumble away from the door and land on your bed, staring in shock and horror as your bedroom doorknob falls off and the door is slowly pushed open. Every thought in your head dies as you spot the gun in Valeria’s hand as she approaches you. You hold your breath as you stare up at her with tears in your eyes while she cups your face. 

“Shhh, Amour. No need for those pretty tears,” Valeria’s voice is sickeningly sweet as she brushes away your tears. “I would never hurt you, you know this.” 

You forced to take a deep breath when your lungs start to burn with the need for oxygen. You want to run away screaming, but the fear leaves you frozen in place. You can’t even work up the courage to say anything to Valeria. 

Valeria takes pity on you, knowing that she is causing you some amount of fear on purpose. She lets out a small sad sigh as she begins to explain things to you. “I wanted to keep you in the dark just a little longer, hermosa. If only you hadn’t let your curiosity take over. You almost got away with looking through my phone, if only you stayed out of my conversation with Diego. He got very pissy with me for looking at his messages and not responding. I was confused what he was talking about, till I realized that I left my phone in the room with you. I thought I could trust you to mind your business, but it seems that was too much to ask of you.” 

A whine tears from your throat at the feeling of your impending doom. Only to be shushed once more by Valeria as she smiles at you and brushes your, never ending, tears away.  

“I would never hurt you, mi tesoro. I did all this for you after all. And please don’t beg for me to let you go, I can't do that. You are too precious to let slip out of my grasp. I plan to take good care of you as your girlfriend.” Valeria practically coos at you, leaning down and kissing your forehead. You were screwed.

[doodler16]

I was being serious last time about how masochistic yall are about loona, Val and stolas! Stolas isn't perfect but we all know he hasbeen trying! Stolas has been there for vi from the start of the first episode we see them in. Thy bond in the first episode we see too and we can sense their love. We see them at loo loo land hanging out while vias still mad at Stella for being a pos. The real reason why she was upset was not because of stolas bur because of Stella and we see that play put in the second ep. We see her frustration towards her mother. But deep down hides it for the most part and pretends to be mad at stolas. In the series we see them struggle because of Stella who created a broken home for via and ruined stolass life. We know that via is hurting and she eventually snaps at stolas even though he was the only good thing to come out of her life. He was there when she was a chick. He was there in her teen years and as an egg, he was there as an older teen nearing adulthood around the corner. We know via loves stolas but it's Stella's fault for blinding her into mistakenly hating her father stolas. I liked when loona gave via advice. Loona was never abusive? Exactly when and where? and how? Huh? What? Where is that proof you crirics seem to have? She struggles sure but she doesn't mean it or its just jokes oure and simple. I dont know why sooo many people say that it was a terrible god awful message about stolas trying. Is that not the truth? Loona is the voice of reason and the one who knows about stolas and vias life. 8 dont think she got sidelined personally i think Viv is just cooking up an arc behind the scenes in the series. But anyway she knows stolas, Based on the fact she knows WHO? BLITZ !!! Youd know this if you went back and watched the show. She knows stolas and everything about him through her dad. She is good to her dad and i liked to see her written the way she was because we see her feel for via and stolas. You should know this??? Loona is the brian griffin of the show I don't give af what anyone says and blitzo is the stewie of the show. Honestly go ahead and prove me wrong on that particular part of family guy. Bet you dont have much of an argument. It makes sense in their dynamic to be written like the griffins and strongly bonded relationship arcs. I like that Vivziepop wrote these arcs because of the fact she wanted to tell a complicated and complex story and we all love that about her. She is a creative genius who took inspiration from south park, family guy and bojack horsemen and all of this powerful artist writing and talent went into the show with its beautiful directing. She is my idol and had been from the start. It broke my heart to see that moment and heartwrenching scene where she let go and went straight to her abusers Andre and Stella. And she walks away while stolas breaks down and cries for her in the most meaningful way possible. You'd know all this information if you juat gave Vivziepop a chance and watched both seasons all over again. But I guess thats too much for you and that laziness ain't going to get you anywhere on life. Honestly you should watch it again. Skip hazbin hotel until I get to Val but man is that a Lot of information you just either forgot or just probably missed out on. Valentino is a pimp and he's meant to be a lovable adorable kind of pimp that's funny asf. His voice direction is fantastic. He knows how to deliver lines like a true villain of the darkness. He's masculine but more feminine like a gay man of the night. While he does hit Valentino ita angel who went to Val. Or Val found him. I can't say for certain you'd just have to watch the show God Damnit! We see in the addict video that he is sinister and should be taken seriously as a threat in hell as an overlord. He's supposed to be ruthless in who he is. But he gets cut slack because he can be sympathetic or nice to people around him. I mean look at his relationship with the vees. He gets along with them just fine and is one of the main vessels to the vees entire existence.

Rage-bait Anon, is that you? 😫 You actually made a response. Jokes aside, I’m glad you said more stuff because this I can work with. I’m going to divide your arguments into character sections to make things easier.

Stolas:

- Octavia wasn’t mad at Stella, she was mad at Stolas. In “Loo loo Land” Stolas is the one consistently getting called out by Octavia for ruining their home life. They had an entire conversation about it near the end of the episode.

- “I dont know why sooo many people say that it was a terrible god awful message about Stolas trying.” Because he doesn’t actually put in the effort to be there for Octavia or change. He practically forgets her. In “Seeing Stars” Stolas was more busy with his side adventure with Blitzø and flirting with him. It’s also funny because Stolas could’ve called Octavia or used said tracker on his phone to look for Octavia.

- If he was actually trying to be a better father figure, Stolas would actually acknowledge that he is the problem and make sweeping changes to avoid the same problem from happening.

- “Loo Loo Land” and “Seeing Stars” are practically the same episodes regarding Stolas/Octavia’s conflict with a different code of paint. How many times will Stolas learn not to repeat his mistakes and actually be there for his daughter? How many chances do we the audience and Octavia have to give Stolas for him to learn anything.

- Octavia was right for cutting him off. Actions have consequences and Stolas needs to realize that. Along with making sweeping changes regarding his behavior in general. Stella and Andrealphus in their own ways suck as guardians because of how neglectful they are. And, I hope she ditches them both and moves out.

Loona

- Loona was abusive in “Seeing Stars.” In 2:35, Loona throws knifes and daggers at Blitzø. Blitzø is consistently running away from Loona as she is chasing him with inanimate objects like the water cooler and successfully threw it at his face (which obviously hurts him as he tears up).

- In 2:44, Loona tackles Blitzø, hitting him repeatedly with a painting. He successfully escapes and hides behind the couch where Millie and Moxxie are sitting, this is abuse. At the end of the episode, she kicks Blitzø in the balls for no reason even after she makes a speech about how much dads are trying their best.

- Imagine if Blitzø was doing this to his own daughter. Would you still think this is a joke? “Loona is the voice of reason and the one who knows about stolas and vias life.” Loona doesn’t know the full story about Stolas and Octavia’s life otherwise she would’ve said more. Loona doesn’t know that Stolas was in an arranged marriage, she doesn’t know that Stella is physically abusive towards Stolas, etc.

- All Loona knows is that Stolas and his grimoire was their only source to the human world in season 1. In season 2, Loona literally referred to Stolas as a “meal ticket.” 🤣 You would think if Loona knew more about Stolas she wouldn’t refer to him as a “meal ticket.”

- “I think Viv is cooking up an arc behind the scenes.” I hope so, we are going to be on season 3 and we haven’t gotten much Loona content. Once season 3 and 4 of Helluva Boss is done I’ll gladly rewatch the show and take notes.

Valentino:

- If Valentino was a normal, average goofy run of the mill villain where the audience is not supposed to take seriously then I would get it. But the problem is that Valentino is a rapist personified. Him being charming and charismatic is one thing but being goofy and quirky is very tone deaf on Vivziepop and the writers’ side.

- Just because Angel Dust allegedly went to him doesn’t give Valentino the right to physically abuse or rape him. At the moment we don’t know how Valentino and Angel Dust even met in the first place, we only know that Angel Dust is a slave to Valentino. Either way, when their origin story comes out we can argue about that another day.

- I do get the appeal with Valentino’s voice. Joel Perez is a talented actor and singer, he does the best work he can with the goofy lines given to him. Luckily, I’m not picky so I immediately got used to his voice. I personally prefer Paranoid DJ as Valentino but at the end of the day it’s a personal preference/opinion.

- “But he gets cut slack because he can be sympathetic or nice to people around him.” 😭 There is so much wrong with this sentence. A rapist should never be portrayed as sympathetic or misunderstood. Also Valentino 99% of the time isn’t nice. He throws a tantrum mostly everywhere he goes including to Vox in episode 2.

Vivziepop:

“She is a creative genius who took inspiration from south park, family guy and bojack horsemen and all of this powerful artist writing and talent went into the show with its beautiful directing. She is my idol and had been from the start.” Vivziepop is absolutely a creative person. Oh, she’s your idol. Neat!

Bonus:

I assume this is you? I could be mistaken, if not I apologize in advance. Otherwise, here’s my response do whatever you want with it Anon.

[todayisdeadinside]

The Music Industry is FUCKED UP: Groucho Club & Child Sex Trafficking

Groucho Members Club was and arguably still is a very prolific private club in London, one that while less popular now, was frequented by many artists and media industry names in previous decades.

Originally, this post discussed in-depth the recent 2024 rape allegation to have come out of the club, causing it's temporary closing and recent re-opening, but I ended up down a rabbit hole of old blog posts and information that had led me to firmly believe Groucho club was and likely still is a front for a massive child sex trafficking organization.

Table of Contents:

Preface

Petition + Tyrone D. Murphey

Kathy/Cathy Fox's Wordpress post + her sources

Recent rape allegation + club closing/reopening

Full Sources List

Preface

Something I want to note is that this club, back in ~2013, was frequented by our Harry quite often. Usually with Nick Grimshaw, or other older industry associates. While this post is purely about the information on Groucho club I came across, I do want to voice my continued worry for what Harry and our boys may have experienced in the band days. If you've read my analysis of another person's analysis of the Just Like You MV, you already know where my worries lay and one reason why I have them.

Petition + Tyrone D. Muphey

This is where the rabbit hole started. I came across this petition, which linked to a wordpress post, which linked to multiple additional sources. So for ease, we'll go in order of what I found first. Starting with a Change petition that was created on June 19th, 2013 by Tyrone D. Murphey, calling for investigation into Groucho club for child sexual abuse.

Here are the highlights from the petition:

One of the most significant and organised child abuse networks in UK history was exposed operating on the famous media haunt; the Groucho Clubs own private members forum. There were thousands of members on the forum, and all sorts of child abuse material was available to the clubs private forum's members. When the network was discovered, the evidence was quickly destroyed, and cached pages from Google were removed in a massive clean-up operation. This was done without informing the Police. To date, no one has been questioned or charged, and no explanation or statement has ever been issued.

The Groucho Club has approximately 6000 members. However, the private member's forum had 42,000 members, 900,000 posts. Children were available for sex as young as five years old. There was also a number of Rapes at the Groucho club, where no one was prosecuted. One rape that went unreported and was alleged to have been carried out by industry agent Addison Cresswell. The Journalist reported this to the Police immediately after it was brought to his attention. Many of the celebrities now facing allegations, arrested or convicted in the past few years for sexual depravity such as the infant rapist, Ian Watkins, Weinstein, Spacey, Glitter, Saville, Harris, Hall, Max Clifford and others have frequented the Groucho Club.  Harvey Weinstein is a lifetime member and was invited to write a chapter in a book about the Groucho Club where he talks about his membership. Later attempts were made by the journalist to inform a number of MP's. British members of parliament. When some of these MP's inquired about the child abuse network, a high ranking Police Officer issued a false report to fend off any criticism of his department. By doing so, the officer concerned corrupted and perverted his own investigation into the child abuse ring. The officer's report contained no semblance of truth whasoever and absolved the Police and the Groucho Club management of any wrongdoing, This false report undermined and trivialised the allegations.

Okay, let's make sense of this all. 42k people were in the Groucho private forums— forums you can only access if you are a member of the club. But, see the club only had 6k recorded members. This was my first inclination that the club might be a front for something much darker; the massive gap between public members and forum members. This means that, somehow, people were joining the forums without joining the club itself. That suggests dark connections to other trafficking organizations/groups that were feeding 42k people into these forums.

The cached pages from google being removed also shows to me that this club has connections. The level and speed with which this coverup occurred, as well as the lack of proper police investigation, and the political side ignoring it entirely, shows me that this club has friends in high places protecting the trafficking that goes on. As well as the multiple rape coverups coming directly out of the club location itself, further insinuating powerful connections.

Tyrone D. Murphey, to my understanding, is an investigative journalist who pioneered getting this info in the public eye back in 2013-14. More on him will come up throughout this post.

Kathy/Cathy Fox's Wordpress post + her sources

This post was linked at the end of the Change petition, and she links a few sources of her own, which I will be going over. Here's the highlights of her wordpress post:

Links have been made between Charles Napier of the Paedophile Information Exchange and the Groucho Club; Jeremy Hunt Health Secretary and sugar daddy JHJ Lewis of  Groucho Club; church premises nearby being used by men associated with the Groucho club to make child porn films ; and surveillance cameras being used in the club for improper purposes. There is the suggestion that various members used to snort cocaine and that there were extra surveillance cameras, initially vehemently denied by the Groucho Club, but proved to be present after a failed libel case by the Groucho Club. If this was the case, the cctv could also be used to collect evidence other indiscretions. This evidence, in the wrong hands, could be used for blackmail purposes. The Groucho Club was recently the object of a static protest from Child Protection campaigners who were asking the Groucho Club to come clean on the Child Abuse allegations. The Police failed to investigate and despite it being reported over 20 times did nothing for months while the evidence was destroyed. After a number of Politicians were informed by the Investigative Journalist Tyrone D Murphy about the failure of the Police, a report was then issued to any politicians who queried the Polices failure to act. Calls have been made for Matt Hobbs, MD of the Groucho Club and John Henry James Lewis OBE, Chairman of the Groucho Club to come clean about the Child Pornography on the Groucho Club members forum or the evidence is to be released into the public domain soon. 

When I saw "Paedophile Information Exchange" I first assumed that was some sort of British anti-pedophilia organization keeping tabs on sex offenders or something. I was VERY wrong. The Paedophile Information Exchange is (or was) a PRO-pedophilia "activist group." It officially disbanded in the 80s, but I believe that was only on paper. Charles Napier was PIE's treasurer, and he was convicted and imprisoned for, shocker here, 30 counts of child sexual assault, all of which he admitted to. He was also a fucking teacher, to really top off this shit cake.

Francis Wheen, a victim of Napier who has waived his right to anonymity, told the BBC how the teacher would win boys' trust by offering them sweets, fizzy drinks and cigarettes. He was arrested in 2013 as part of Operation Cayacos, one strand of Scotland Yard's wider investigation into historical child abuse called Operation Fairbank.

I couldn't find anything else elaborating on Charles Napier's connection to Groucho specifically, but I think it's obvious what that connection related to.

Jeremy Hunt seems to be a British politician who was 'Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from 2012 to 2018' according to Wikipedia. In relation to this case, it seems there was a controversy regarding Jeremy Hunt and his "sugar daddy" John Henry James Lewis (JHJ Lewis). JHJ Lewis was the Groucho chairman.

I don't fully understand their controversy, I think JHJ Lewis paid for a trip Jeremy Hunt took that was polticially significant to Britain, but I concede on simply not knowing enough about early 2010s British politics. The article details Tyrone Murphey's investigation into Groucho's sex abuse forums, adding an interesting note that the Catholic Church may have been involved. Again, shocker.

The failed libel case is referring to the libel case Groucho posited against Tyrone Murphey for a book he wrote called The Grouchogate Affair. I can't yet figure out if the book ever got completed or published, but if I can get my hands on it, I will be reading it.

The static protests refer to silent protests conducted outside the club in 2014.

The event was to protest against Child Abuse, forced adoption, institutional abuse, and missing children and many other worthy issues. According to the events Facebook Page “Come Clean On Child Abuse” It was not a protest march, but is a silent “static protest” against Child Abuse and the series of Child Abuse scandals that have been covered up in the UK. The static demo moved on to Dean Street and to the famous media haunt, the Groucho Club to protest the Child Abuse network that was exposed on the Groucho Clubs own Private members Forum. The Groucho Club private members forum had 42,000 members, 900,000 posts and was operating for almost a year with children’s on sale for sex. The forum also had thousands of posts, photographs and videos of young children. However, the Child Abuse Network operating on the Groucho Clubs forum was covered up and the evidence.

Matthew "Matt" Hobbs was the managing director of Groucho club.

Now, I'd like to more depthfully go over this particular source, an article from Signs Of The Times (yeah, that's not ominous at all), about the Groucho forums. A lot of this has been said already by this point in the post, but I think it's useful to put it all together, in my own simplified bullet points that are (hopefully) easy to process:

November 10th 2010 Tyrone Murphey discovered that the Groucho club private forums were being used to share child sexual abuse material (CSAM— often referred to as "child pornography.") as well as posting children "for sale" as young as 5 years old.

The forum was used by 42 thousand people, despite Groucho club itself only having 6 thousand members.

Tyrone discovered this while researching the sale of alcohol at Groucho for his book, and he immediately reported the forums discovery to the Metropolitan Police Service and to CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre).

Tyrone discovered (December 3rd) that, after reporting the forums to CEOP, the evidence was quickly being deleted. Groucho put out a request to Google to delete thousands of pages of cached info aswell, and no effort was made to preserve any of what was deleted.

December 16th the CEOP sent Tyrone a letter saying they'd forwarded the case to the police, who chose not to investigate. Tyrone sent 24 emails, 4 letters, and numerous calls to the police and CEOP, but nothing came of it.

January 4th 2010 Tyrone reached out to Matt Hobbs (Managing Director of Groucho) for comment. Matt stated, "I have no idea about any domain other than the www.thegrouchoclub.com which was the property of the club and have no knowledge of the domain www.thegrouchoclub.co.uk or the forum and the explicit content."

While Matt Hobbs denied knowledge nor involvement in the forums Tyrone found, evidence from checking who owned the domain proved he must have known. That, and as the article asks, who made the Google requests if not Groucho? Only the domain owner could do such a thing, and Groucho owned the domain.

"The forum has posts made by child pornographers as late as September 2010. The forum has 42,348 members, 663,709 topics and 900,987 posts."

Tyrone supposedly compiled a list of the forum members' ages and birthdays. I have no idea where this list would be or if he still has it after the evidence was deleted on Groucho's end.

Another source I'd like to quote briefly goes into the details of Groucho having people bug Tyrone illegally. I think it's a notable part of this case, but I don't have much commentary beyond bringing it up;

The story so far: we know that the Groucho Club run by JHJ Lewis indulged in unregulated surveillance. We know that a website using the same domain and name as The Groucho was an active paedophile linking forum for at least a year. We know that Mr Lewis has donated a probable six-figure sum over time to the new Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. We know that Lewis gave Hunt £4000 to visit New York, where he hob-knobbed with the Murdoch media elite. On 21st September 2009, a man described as having a London accent was disturbed attaching an electronic phone tap onto the telephone line at the filmmaker Tyrone Murphy’s Newport home. Mr Murphy’s curiosity had been aroused over time by the seemingly generous appointment of surveillance cameras in The Groucho Club. As a result, he wrote about it in a book due for publication in 2009. On hearing of the book’s content, the Groucho Club took out an injunction against its publication, and sued Tyrone Murphy for libel. But at the very last minute, Lewis’s Club managers issued a discontinuance notice on the 3rd November 2009. The Groucho Club has always maintained that it had only two surveillance cameras there, purely for the protection of its clients: but investigator Tyrone Murphy disputes this…and his victory in Court would tend to support his version of events. Seems a bit odd to me to rip them out if they were solely for client protection. Also seems even odder to tell the Judge in Murphy’s Newport Court Case that they complied with Data Protection Act regulations, when they very clearly didn’t.

Recent rape allegation + club closing/reopening

Ah, the part I originally was going to focus this post on, before I fell down the rabbit hole to the seventh circle of hell itself.

In November of 2024, Groucho's license was suspended preceding a criminal investigation. The details are hard to find, but essentially a man was arrested on suspicion of rape. To quote, "Staff have reportedly been told that if they speak to anyone about the club's current license suspension, or any other allegations, they will be instantly dismissed."

From what little I could find of this recent allegation, the man alleged of rape was 34 years old and the event (of course) took place at Groucho club. He was released on bail, and to my knowledge is still publicly unidentified. The whole ordeal resulted in the club changing CEOs and reopening on January 10th 2025, with new, stricter rules.

Through my research into that incident, I also found rumours of extensive cocaine use at Groucho in previous decades, as well as allegations that the club was distributing it's own cocaine. Where there's smoke there's fire; where there's a sex trafficking ring, there's usually also a drug trade.

To quote, "In its heyday, an upstairs room was apparently nicknamed the Peruvian Procurement Department, such was its reputation for the alleged availability of cocaine."

Conclusion

Alright, I think that's the highlight reel of this hot mess. There's a lot of political associations I chose not to deep dive for my own sanity, since I don't understand a lick of British politics, but I got into the parts I did understand, and I hope I've made the evidence clear. Many of my sources I got from the wordpress article's source list, but I also sought out many sources on my own, especially as a few of the wordpress article's sources have since been deleted or are defunct.

From all of this, I firmly believe Groucho club must be a front. It appears to be a powerful, large-scale operation with connections to the police, politicians, and even Google. There's so much evidence, most of which Tyrone Murphey found and provided to the proper channels immediately, and yet nothing was done. Investigations mysteriously concluded or not conducted at all, no reasons given, evidence disappearing, and even the failed libel suit to scare Tyrone out of finishing his book.

It's all so intentionally obfuscated, and now we're a decade and a half on from it and there's still nothing being done about recent allegations. I highly recommend digging into some of the sources yourself if this interests you, this post is long but I promise it is just a condensed highlight reel of all the information I found.

Full Sources List

These are all sources I read/watched while making this post, but I didn't go over every one individually in the post. I also plan to archive these on my @1d-hq sideblog, so keep an eye out for that if you care to avoid giving news sites clicks.

Change petition - Call for an inquiry into the cover-up of child abuse on the Groucho club's members forum

Cathy/Kathy Fox's wordpress post - Groucho Club and Child Sexual Abuse

BBC News - Charles Napier jailed for 13 years for child sex abuse

blogspot - The Grouchogate Affair

pressreleasepoint - Libel case against Tyrone Murphey

pressreleasepoint - Groucho forums

Before It's News - The Paedofile: Abuse is rarely black and white

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[oliviatom]

There's two emerging conversation points, I think, about this franchise, especially since you've been involved. One is, I think a lot of people now are like, oh, this is actually the best franchise. It's the most fun one to partake in because it doesn't come as larded with all of this mythology in a way. And then the other one is Tom's breakneck commitment, literal breakneck commitment to doing the physical. And it seems like there's something connected there, but that also seems kind of perilous, especially long term. I mean, do you see a connection between those two things?

Well, it's funny, Tom does not come without his share of controversy. And that's an element of these movies. And what I've watched happen over the course of three of these movies is there's a segment of the audience that prefers to look at the controversy rather than the movie. And I have felt that segment of the audience just eventually look at it and go: alright, fine, just alright, I come to the damn movie, you know, and they've reconciled. I feel that, I feel that in this movie. This is the first time of the nine movies in twelve years where I really feel the wind in our back.

We, Tom and I, are always a little bit, we're a little bit the underdog. There's a segment of the audience that's rooting to see the movie take a hit when, you know, the guy's been that successful for that long. It doesn't feel that way anymore to me, honestly. No, I feel like, look, I feel like if The Mummy had happened two years earlier, they'd have crucified him. They'd have been like, this is the one we wanted. This is the one we've been waiting for. And I think at this point you look at him and go, yep, there's some that work, some that don't. But overall, you know, the guy's really delivering quality.

I also believe there was a perception for a long time that Tom doing what he was doing was for his ego. It was hard to separate the motive for why he is as dedicated as he is. And I saw a segment of the audience looking at that as this is all just a guy stroking his own ego and showing off. No, he's really killing himself for your entertainment. He really loves making movies. He loves nothing more than the process of sitting in the audience and watching the movie with them, he goes to every test screening and he reads all the cards. You know, everything you're saying about Tom Cruise. He's read it and it's water off his back.

How does he process that information? That must be bizarre.

Look, he's very confident in terms of his, for lack of a better word, his character and his intentions. And he's really got it in perspective that you can think what you want about me. I know what I'm here to do. I know the person I am. I know the way I treat the people around me and I've seen him do it. So, you know, and I have people ask me all the time. They have their preconceived notions about Tom, and they come up, and you know. I've been confronted about stuff, and I'm just like: I don't know the man you're judging and I don't judge the man I know. I am very comfortable in terms of my understanding of this man's character. And if I had doubts about this man's character, I wouldn't have made nine movies with him. I wouldn't have made two.

And so that what's interesting now is watching as that seems to have reached an equilibrium.

It's evolving.

Yeah. There's a certain point at which you see two people arguing on the Internet and one of them is going, whatever, man, the movie's going to be good. I just know the movie's going to be good if you've been doing it for thirty years. I don't care how big your ego is. I just don't care. You don't dedicate your mental and physical energies to something with that much discipline if it's really all just about your ego. It's his art. It's really the thing he loves doing. And I don't apply that term. I don't consider myself an artist. I consider what he does really to be an art, his inherent understanding of how an audience is responding to the material.

When a test audience says the end of Rogue Nation feels like it ends five times. The studio solution is cut out one of the five scenes at the end of the movie. And Tom's solution is no, no, no, no, no. He turns to the composer and he says score the whole thing like it's one sequence. Just change the music. Movie goes up twenty points. Yeah. And it's because what he wants to do, he wants to deliver for you. He's really working his ass off.

They always praise and show affection for each other, but hearing McQ speak this sincerely about Tom when he’s not around really shows just how deep their bond is. Tom is so lucky to have a friend and soulmate like him. And McQ, you’re a true artist yourself.

[hikariyaps]

coffee dates

word count ☆ 1.3k pairing ☆ megumi x fem!reader [college au] content ☆ pure fluff a/n ☆ i'm baaaaaaaackk

megumi fushiguro needed coffee right now. it was a cold, foggy morning in the middle of november. it was six and he was awake, thanks to his stupid alarm that he forgot to disable the night before. since he was already awake, he figured why go back to sleep? after all, a little extra studying wouldn't hurt.

currently, he's fighting to keep his eyes open, all bundled up in a warm sweater and scarf, walking to the on campus café. apparently, yuji managed to blow up the coffee machine in the boy's dorm common rooms. only god knows how it is always that imbecile that manages to do things like this.

so here he was trekking throught the biting wind, bag on his shoulder, hands in his pockets because his best friend blew up his source of sustenance.

the café is warm and smells strongly of coffee and butter, it's comforting. he sighs stepping inside. he just hopes that the barista knows how to make coffee properly. ever since the machine blew up, he's been here a few times in the morning. every single time the barista has been sleep deprived. and every single time the barista has messed up his coffee.

he takes his usual place near the window and sets all his study material up. the place is quiet, save for the mellow music playing softly from the speakers. he walks over to the counter, expecting to see the usual barista's face.

but there you were. all soft and glowy and awake. he needs a moment to process this. 'hi, what can i get for you today?' you ask, voice like honey, a polite but genuine smile on you face, booting up the computer to punch in his order. it takes a few seconds for his brain cells to recover before he answers.

'i'll have a large black coffee and a croissant, please.' 'okay, that'll be 700 yen.' you say, typing the order into the ancient looking computer.

megumi pays and takes a seat, he was supposed to be studying but his eyes were on you. you looked like an angel, or maybe that was just his foggy brain. but something about you didn't let him take his eyes off of you. he watches as you make his coffee and warm up his croissant. and instead of calling him to the counter, you bring his order over to where he was sitting.

he mumbles out an awkward thanks and his eyes flit back to his laptop screen. as soon as you were gone though, he immeadiately went back to observing you. the coffee was immaculate, just the way he liked it. most people assume its very easy to make a black coffee, but he was very specific and this might be one of the best coffees he's ever had.

pretty soon, he became a regular at the cafe, started dropping in more than once a day, hoping to catch you, so he could have the coffee you make again, of course. funny thing is, you were always there. he doesn't know your name, you don't wear a nametag. but he told you his and he loves the way it sounds when you say it. you talk to him more than the other customers since he's been coming here a month.

most people don't usually come here so often, so you were pretty excited about him. he was very polite, really pretty and honestly, very cute. he might seem quiet, but he had the prettiest smile on his face whenever you talked to him.

yuji and nobara know about you. they found out through stalking him when he started leaving immeadiately after class to visit the café before closing time. it was pretty obvious that he found you pretty, his gaze said it all. he did not hear the end of it once he came back to the dorms.

they became regulars at the café too. mostly for the purpose of gathering information for megumi. his love life was more than just dry, it was like the afternoon in the sahara. they were more than happy to stalk- get to know a girl he finally liked.

it wasn't through them he heard your name though. it was a sunday, early january. the café was not really empty, but not really full either. he hears someone call out a name, and then you respond and disappear into the back. he repeats your name multiple times softly under his breath, committing it to memory. not like he could ever forget it.

it isn't until february, that something happens between you both. you were sick of just looking at him work and making small talk. for once, you actually wanted more.

so when megumi's waiting for his coffee to go, you decide to woman up and ask him.

'so, do you have a valentine?' you ask, tone totally conversational, nonchalant if you would, while making his coffee. which was a stark comparision to how fast your heart was beating.

he hums. 'nah, i have my eye on someone but they haven't asked' he replies, thankful that your back was turned.

'who?' you ask, and he swears he can hear disappointment in your voice.

'you.' he says, the word slipping out before he could decide whether it should be said or not.

you on the other hand have just gone though the five stages of grief and then were quite pleasently surprised, celebrating inside your head while crying invisible tears.

you hide it quite well as you hand him his coffee and say 'my number's on the recepit. text me later?'

and he nods, small smile splaying on his lips. he texts you as soon as he steps out the café and you reply immeadiately.

you guys text each other very frequently and he's way easier to tak to on text. you get to know a lot more about him and you know this isn't just some silly little crush. you wanted him to be yours. and megumi feels the same way.

he takes you out on valentine's. it isn't anything too fancy but you know its genuine. its a small picnic, with your favourite foods. you're surprised that he remembers.

he remembers a lot of things, especially when it comes to you. he remembers your prefrences, your favourite brands, your schedule. he starts showing up to pick you after classes to drop you off to the café. at this point, both of you knew you had pretty strong feelings for each other, but there was no label for you guys.

not until you came over to his dorm for the first time. it'd been a year since you guys first met. you bring over hot chocolate and pastries that you made. there, lying on his bed, comfortably warm and feeling particularly fuzzy, he says it.

'i love you,' he whispers, soft and careful. he was acting as though it was a fragile, tangible thing that would shatter if not treated right. he was hoping you wouldn't break it, those three words symbolized his heart.

you didn't break it, instead you leaned over and presses your lips to his in a chaste kiss.

'i love you too,' you whisper back, forehead resting against his forehead.

you lay in the silence holding each other for a minute. until yuji and nobara start howling from the other room. 'I THINK FUSHIGURO FINALLY SCORED A GIRLFRIEND!' 'YEAH NO SHIT SHERLOCK, THEY SAID THE L WORD!' you wondered if his room was bugged.

and here you both were now six years later, on a coffee date, to the same café, reminiscing and reminding each other how much you loved each other, when he pulls out a ring and asks you to be his forever.

you say yes, of course.

and that's how megumi fushiguro got the love of his life, also known as his personal coffee maker.

©hikariyaps2025

[brbievivi]

THEORIES .ᐟ Pt. 2

Monsters, Magic & Twisted similarities — Twst x Monster High

Synopsis : NRC and Monster High enroll a unique bunch of students, each with different personalties and backgrounds. Let’s exchange some theories on Twisted Wonderland characters who relate/are similar to certain Monster High characters.

A/N : This post will include Malleus ! Riddle and Azul will be separate posts ❤︎︎

PT. 1 / MASTERLIST

Malleus Draconia .ᐟ

Rochelle goyle, Draculaura , Lagoona Blue , Robecca Steam , Clawdeen wolf

Rochelle Goyle

Rochelle is a gargoyle who we meet in Scaris: City of Frights. She left Scaris to broaden her knowledge of the rest of the world, feeling the need to meet new people since she had spent the majority of her childhood talking to other Gargoyles. Similarly, to how Malleus agreed to attend NRC to experience life outside the isolated walls of the palace. 

Both characters are fiercely protective over those they love, but that same intense emotion is not always the best, since the two can get aggressive and controlling over their loved ones, wanting to protect them from harm even if they may not realize they are not making it better. 

Rochelle values information that is veracious. She strongly loathes inaccurate info and is confident in correcting other monster's mistakes. Likewise, Malleus is very passionate about his hobbies and has corrected characters like Vil and Silver about gargoyles, wanting to denounce any inaccurate information about them. 

Rochelle and Malleus sometimes take what others say as face values, which can lead to misunderstandings, since both come from different backgrounds, they are still working out the nuances of social interactions. In parallel, the two also have a habit of unintentionally breaking things. In Rochelle's case, it’s because she’s made of stone and, for Malleus, it’s because he’s extremely powerful. 

A/N : (Malleus breaking his phone is just expected as this point.)

Draculaura

As said with Lilia in part 1, Draculaura has lived a long life, and Malleus has as well; the two understand the feeling of having a different life span than others and seeing the world changing around you.

Draculaura and Malleus are also similar in being targeted by others for their heritage, with Draculaura having to flee her home from human hunters and Malleus constantly being feared and under scrutiny because of his dragon nature/form. The two also relate to being isolated from others who feared them; regardless, they both still aim to make connections with others in their own little ways.

(e.g., when he fixed the stadium in book 5, so Vil and the other boys could perform)

A/N : They also both have great fashion sense ❤︎︎

Lagoona Blue and Robecca Steam

Lagoona and Robecca are both monsters who have been ridiculed because of their identity. Lagoona constantly has to deal with Gil’s parents disapproval because she is a freshwater monster. Then we have Robecca, who has been sabotaged by others because she broke the norm of being the first female to become a world champion in Skulltimate Roller Maze.

Malleus also gets treated differently because of his power and dragon abilities; everyone fears him and says that even looking at him the wrong way will have you set on fire.

Malleus, similar to Robecca, can also relate to being sabotaged and misled, as we see in Glorious Masquerade, where Rollo invited Malleus with the intention of defeating him and other mage users.

Nonetheless, this trio is proud of who they are and embraces their unique differences while also trying to interact with others who come from different backgrounds.

Clawdeen Wolf

Clawdeen, our fang-tastic ghoul, shares a similarity with Malleus, similar to Rochelle.

Malleus and Clawdeen are both fiercely loyal to those they love and are quick to go into protective mode when they feel their loved ones are being threatened.

The two are also similar in how others may perceive them. Many may think Clawdeen is just an opinionated ghoul who adores fashion, but she is much more than that.

Not only is she a designer, but she’s incredibly crafty, even to the point of having her own DIY show called “When There's a Wolf, There's a Way.” She’s also very talented in sports, showcasing her skill in soccer, track and field, and baseball.

Likewise, Malleus is more than a fae prince with imposing magic. We see how he has a talent for playing instruments, making gargoyle sculptures, and exploring ancient ruins.

Another similarity Malleus and Clawdeen have is losing their mother. Clawdeen’s mother, Selena Wolf, went missing after going to venture on a task required of her by the Monster Council. In contrast, Malleus’s mother passed away from defending her castle from Prince Henrick.

This duo relates to the emptiness of having a missing family member, especially in Malleus’s case, where he doesn’t even remember much of his mother.

Riddle and Azul will be in separate posts , so it’s not too many words at once !

[stillxnunpxidintern]

Unfortunate Sailing - Shanks x Reader

(Updated version)

Being a member of the Red Hair Pirates was great, you got to travel the world, see new places and met new people. You also got to drink and get drunk with the crew whenever, though you only did it sometimes as you liked not waking up with hangover or trying to kill your liver in like some of the crew seemed be. Plus in the mornings you could enjoy the quiet with Beck and sometimes Hongo, before everyone else starts to wake up and groaning with a hangover.

If you're feeling petty and/or annoyed because of the crew, you would grab a pot and ladle out of the kitchen and banging them together, watching the crew moan, clenching their heads as they begged you stop, simply for your pleasure.

One particular morning while sitting on deck soaking up the sun you got a call on your personal transponder snail.

"Hello" you answered, hearing the voice of your childhood friend come through.

"Thank the seas it's you, there's a situation happening here and we need help as the marines won't do anything, so I called you" They said, telling you about what was happening.

After listening to them and asking a few questions, you figured that the rest of crew of wasn't needed for this, as you knew a few people in your hometown would be more than happy to help.

"Okay you nosy bastards, you are not coming with me" you told them, knowing that had been listening and they began to complain, "If I bring you lot it's going to be little overkill and I rather you didn't run the town dry of rum," you informed them, knowing how much they all drunk and stocked up on, "but I promise if I need help you lot will get a call" you finished.

After that you head to the cabin and began packing what you needed, with Shanks just watching you not saying anything until you had finished packing.

"You sure you want to go alone" He asked, coming to stand in front of you.

"Yes, It's just bandits I'll be fine" you told him.

"Okay, so when you're finished, we should be here" Shanks informed you, pointing to a map that was open before pulling you in closed and pressed his lips against your.

"You had better come back safe and whole, Captain orders" he ordered.

"Aye Aye Captain" you grinned at him, giving him a two finger salute before grabbing your bag.

Stepping on to deck for the last time for at least a couple of weeks, you told the crew to behave till you got back and hopefully you would be back as soon as possible then left the ship as you began your journey home.

Making it to your home island went quicker and smoother than you were expecting. Your childhood friend immediately pulled you into a hug when you arrived before taking you to the tavern where the planning on how to deal with the bandits would be done.

"I was expecting the rest of the Red Hair pirates to come with you" you friend expressed.

"Oh they wanted to but I told them no, that would of been over kill for dealing with bandits and the town would probably be drunk dry of rum by them" you explained, leaning back in your seat.

That had your friend chuckling, with the drinks arriving the two of you caught up with each other, as people you knew and grew up showed up to help with the planning.

Having dealt with varying crews of pirates and marines over the years, the bandits were easily taken care of with minimal injuries thankfully, though you were fairly sure that they could of taken care of the bandits without you.

The whole town held a celebration after the bandits were defeated, knowing that they didn't have to worry about them anymore. Nearly everyone went home as the sun was rising, with varying degree of drunkenness.

Having spent a week catching up with your friends, you knew it was time to leave and head back to your Red Hair idiot and save Beck from murdering the crew.

Surprisingly by some luck you were able to get on a ship that was sailing near to where Shanks and the crew should be, making your life easier or it would of, had the ship not been attacked in the middle of the night half way through it's journey.

You were sleeping soundly when suddenly and violently you were thrown from the bed you had been in, into a table with such force you were certain that you had heard something cracking. You pulled yourself up wheezing trying to get your breath back, while working out what had happen.

Hearing the shouting and screaming, you had an idea of what was happening now, so quickly grabbing your weapons and raced out of the room to find who it was that was attacking the ship and help defend it.

More cannonballs were being fired and you were doing the best to dodge people, who were screaming and panicking, along with the splinting wood that was flying around.

Reaching the deck, you could see some people fighting while other was trying fire cannonballs at the attacking ship. Just as you were about to join the fighting something hit the deck with such an impact, that the sheer force of it had you crashing into the railing of the ship, your left collarbone taking the brunt of it all, causing you give a small whimper of pain.

Standing up you did your best to fight but with half of the lights out on the deck now and being in pain, you were having a hard fighting the pirates along with cannonballs that were still being fired.

By the end of the fight you were left clinging to a piece broken wood that was keeping your a float and slipping into unconscious. When you woke to light hitting your face, you took in that you were in a white room, meaning you hasn't died drifting unconscious at sea, something you were sure would happen.

"I see that you're awake" a man said entering the room

"How did I get here" you asked him

"A fishing boat, the fishermen had gone out earlier then normal and found you floating, any longer and you might not still be here" he explained, "They then brought you to me where I've been treating you since then" he finished.

"Thank you, honestly I'm surprised I'm here, I thought I was dead just before falling unconscious" you replied

"You might not of died but you do have broken collarbone on the left side in two places, that should remain a sling until it was healed. You also got a couple of ribs that were fractured and the others are bruised, so best to be less active and put ice on them to help with the healing and then there the gush to your head that was healing fine" he listed off the injuries that you had gained.

You could see that there were more cuts and bruises all over your body, most were covered with bandages, with there nothing else to do for the moment you just rested knowing it was best thing for you.

After a couple of day as you began to feel better with your strength returning, you knew it was time to contact Shanks and the crew, let them know where you were for picking up. Borrowing the Doctor transponder snail you called the ship and waited for someone to answer

"Hello" a mild annoyed voice came through

"What have they done now Beck" you asked, amusement in your voice

"Making me want to throw them off the ship and leave them to the sea kings" he said with a sigh

"If you do that you'll have to find or train new crew members" you told him,

"Or I could retire" he countered

"You could do that" you said with chuckle before wincing cause of your ribs

"You coming back any time soon" Beck asked

"What's why I'm calling, I'm in need of a pick up" You said, telling him what island you were on, leaving out what happened as that was a conversation for later.

It was few days later after the call and you were waiting at docks, had been since the ship was spotted, so when the Red Force finally docked you were relieved to finally be going home, sleeping in your own bed and being able take a long bath but was a little apprehensive giving your current state.

You knew that your lover was not going to be happy, as well knowing that Hongo was most likely to restrict what you could even more than the Doctor here had, after speaking to him about of your injuries.

Being mindful for your ribs, you took a deep breath and watched as the gangplank was lowered and waited for the commotion of the crew seeing you, when a little voice in the back of your mind made you wonder if you could escape before they saw you but when you heard your name being called knew you couldn't escape now.

"Shut up, it far too early to be dealing with you lot and your shenanigans" You quickly told them,

"It's already past midday," Beck called from the deck, looking down at you as he took in your current state.

"You're meant to be on my side, as the other responsible person on the ship" You shot back giving him a look of betrayal.

You were doing what you could to avoid the glaring issue in front of everyone and certain red head. While happy that they were here you just really wanted your bed and then deal everything later on.

The crew began asking what happen while Hongo was lightly inspecting your injuries, distracting you enough that you didn't notice the shadow that was looming over till your head was moved, making you looking up into the face of your captain and lover.

As expected you could see concern in his eyes but also there was a hint of anger, mostly at the pirate crew that caused these injuries and maybe a little at himself for not insisting more on coming with you.

Seeing that he was about to speak you stopped him by putting your finger against his lips and shook your head. His shoulders fell as he grabbed your hand pressed a kiss onto your fingers.

"Later then" Shanks said to you, leaning down and pressed another kiss into your hair.

You just gave him a nod as he rested hand on the small of your back, a small comfort that a you had missed, as Shanks lead you back on aboard the ship.

"I'll be back in a while, try not to get anymore injuries" he teased, giving another kiss before leaving.

Once inside the cabin, you looked at the bed and wanted to just flop down on it but with how you were currently that would just add to what you already had and knew Shanks would tease you if flopping on the bed did somehow give you another injury.

You thought about having a quick wash but decided to wait till later and have a bath, getting Shanks to help as with one good arm each you had a working set. Plus Hongo will no doubt would request(demand) you to appear in the infirmary later to properly inspect your injuries and record them, so he can also redo your bandages.

After changing in to some loose clothes with some difficulty and pain, you finally settled on the bed, grabbing the pillows and put them behind you so there was more elevation for when you were napping as the island Doctor said that was the best way to sleep when you have a broken collarbone.

While napping Shanks quietly came in to the cabin and stood in front of you, taking in your injuries as he regretted not being more insistent on coming with you but there was nothing he could do now about it but would help look after you, so he brushed away some stray hairs from you face as he settled behind you, gently pulling you between his legs with you resting against his chest as he placed his chin on top of your head, happy to have you back in bed with him.

When you woke later it took a few moments for you to realise that you weren't in the same position as when you went to sleep but it definitely felt more comfortable than when you had fallen asleep.

Feeling a hand stroke your hair, you lifted your head to see Shanks, you didn't think it would be anyone else but you never know its happened before, and gave him a little smile.

Once feeling a little more awake, you shuffled around so that your right side was leaning against his chest, making it easier for you to look up at him. With the silence between you two, Shanks brought his hand up and ran his fingers over the healing gush on your head.

"That's gonna leave a scar but your hair gonna cover it mostly" Shanks spoke softly.

His hand travelling down your face, stroking your cheek with his thumb, then moved down your neck and across your left collarbone with the lightest of touches, then continued down over your ribs before resting his hand on your waist, the stillness between the two of you only last a few moment, before Shanks is resting his cheek on top of your head.

"What happened for you to get these injuries" Shanks asked

"It all happened when coming back to you, the ship I was on got attacked during the night, though I couldn't tell what pirate crew it was from all the cannon fire and wreckage" you explained to him.

When you were telling him everything, there were a couple of moments, when his fingers dug in to your waist, what had you wincing as you were still covered bruises and cuts.

You knew that now he was furious, maybe murderous, at the crew that had done this and still maybe a little angry at himself, almost still wishing that he had been more insistent that the Red Force went with you, then you getting hurt would have been avoid altogether.

To distract Shanks from his musing, you lifted your head and pressed kisses into his jawline and his neck, what had him looking down at you, giving that a cheeky smile you loved so much, as he then peppered your face with kisses.

"You couldn't be that hurt then but I won't fall victim to your alluring smile and addictive little kisses till you have recovered" he teased, giving you more kisses

You just laughed at him and went to kiss him again, but he just turned his head away each time.

"Nope, not falling for it again" he said, turning his headed

After a few more moments of trying to kiss him, you pouted at him while crossing your arms over you chest.

"I'm telling Beck that your was being mean to me" you said, attempting to get up but Shanks just tighten his hold to keep you against him, as he gave you a couple of more kisses and rub his face against your.

"Noo, Beck gonna make me do work" he whined

"You're the Captain, your meant to do work" you told him, shaking your head at his antics as you pitched him, making him yelp.

"But it's so boring and Beck is so much better that it then me" Shanks said, with a whine again.

"Well then, you can help me bath, given it's a little hard currently" you told him, settling into a comfortable position into his lap and closed your eyes.

"That I can help with" he said grinning

"But first I gonna nap some more, so wake me in a little while" you spoke quietly drifting off and felt a kiss pressed into the side your head and whispers of sweet words.

When Shanks woke you a little while later as asked, you were feeling more awoke and looking forward to a hot bath as you felt so grimy, especially with your hair.

While you were pulling your clothes off, Shanks made sure that the bath would be hot before coming back and helped with taking off your bandages. As he began to unwrap the bandages he gave a quiet growl as he saw the state of your body, covered in bruises and cuts.

"You are not allowed anywhere by yourself" he said, running his fingers over your body.

"You're acting like these are worst injuries I've had, when it's not" you countered, rolling your eyes, "And you were there for those ones, so I'm better off getting injured without you around" you teased him

Shanks pursed his lips as he looked you but didn't say anything but you were sure there a few grumble under his breath as he unbutton his shirt and throwing it on to the bed, as it was now your turn to ogle him.

"Are you loosing the trousers as well and joining me in the bath or just showing off" you questioned, fingers dancing over his chest.

"How can you still such a temptress while injured" Shanks asked, cupping your face, "Gods I love you" he said, crashing his lips on yours and kissed you as if he was staved man and you were his first meal.

Sure it was only been a couple weeks you were apart from each other but it was long enough that you missed the feeling of your lovers lips against your own and sighed happily into the kiss.

When Shanks pulled back from the kiss he grinned at you as he then pulled you into the bathroom, then pointed to the tub.

"Get in while it's hot you tempting menace" he said

"Spoilsport" you said pouting, as you took off the last pieces of clothing off and stepped in the hot water.

While you focused on cleaning yourself, Shanks worked on your hair and already you felt so much better from it. After finishing in the bathroom, you were sitting on the bed drying yourself and dressed in loose clothes again.

When ready you headed to the infirmary, bracing yourself for the examining and prodding Hongo was going to do as he write done every little injury you had.

After Hongo was finished with his examination, he put some ointment on your cuts and then began rebandaging your injuries and put your left arm back in a sling.

"No strenuous activity" he said pointing his pen at you, "I will be telling the chief the same thing and ice your ribs if they start hurting" he finished, turning back his notes before shooing you of the infirmary with a wave of the hand.

It had been over a week since you returned to the Red Force and the ship was currently docked at some little island, as the crew was setting up for a party on the beach.

You were happily sitting in-between Shanks legs, using his thigh as a pillow with his fingers in your hair as you watched the fire while Lucky was cooking on it, wiggling your toes in the warm sand. That when an unexpected visitor turned up making some of the newer crew mates reach for their weapons and starting to make a commotion.

Lifting your head up to see who it was causing the crew to make the commotion, you saw that it was the sword wielding Warlord, that would do it.

"Stand down" Shanks told the men to as he welcomed the Warlord "Hawky come drink with us" he said, holding a bottle up for him

"Hello Mihawk" you said softly

Mihawk narrowed his eyes as they locked on you, noticing the bandages and the sling that your arm was still resting in but you gave the Warlord a smile and laid your head back down.

Shanks was carding his fingers through your hair as Mihawk came closer and crouched down in front of you, taking your face gently in his hand,

"Darling" he called, he looking over you again.

Upon hearing Mihawk call you darling, Shanks pouted at the swordsman.

"You never call me darling Hawky" Shanks complained, which had Mihawk looking at the Red Hair man.

Noticing the unimpressed look Mihawk was giving Shanks, you let a chuckle out which drew his attention back to you.

"What happened" the warlord inquired as he stroked your cheek.

"Attacked, Blown up, take your pick" You murmured

When Mihawk let go of your face, you gave a little grumble at the loss of heat, so put your head back down using Shanks thigh again as pillow, as your lover gave a better explanation of what happened to you to the Warlord.

While both men spoke (sounded more like bickering to you though) with each other, you decided to have a quick nap as you slowly drifted off to the sound of their voices.