#(although he lets us have agency over any changes)

[brown-little-robin]

.

[lady-dulcinea]

Something the October 11th entry really highlights is how much Mina and Jonathan are sure about each other. How much they know each other to the point they can read each other without any perceived difficulty, and how their devotion, their partnership, although treasured and seamlessly reciprocated by both, is never even questioned by them.

When Mina receives news that Jonathan is alive, she goes, an unmarried and unaccompanied woman, all the way to find him and marry him, even tho he’s still traumatised, half mad from his stay at Castle Dracula, and in the eyes of society could very much be considered an “invalid”. But she marries him anyway, and although Jonathan does gently reaffirm the delicate state of his body and specially his mind, he never really seems overly surprised that she chose him despite it all. And in the same entry we see a similar reaction from Mina when Sister Agatha feels the need to inform her that she shouldn’t worry that Jonathan’s malady might be because of some other woman; she all but scoffs at the idea, because it hadn’t even crossed her mind. Of course there isn’t another woman. Similarly, as she eventually makes acquaintance with several men, all of them rich bachelors who grow a quick and openly affectionate bond with her, Jonathan has not a single moment of insecurity about it. Of course they all love Mina, why wouldn’t they? Jealousy requires a certain lack of confidence in your partner that neither of them has. Their worries concerning each other are always ALWAYS directed at external influences: That something will hurt them, or that something will keep them from each other.

Which brings us to October 11th, when that sureness is brought to it’s highest, most tragic peak. Jonathan knew what Mina intended calling them all to meet her before their trip. He was so sure of it he spoke with Jack beforehand to make sure it would all be documented correctly, as he himself would never be able to write down such a thing as a symbolic funeral for his beloved. And he also knew what she would make them promise to do.

Because Mina, beyond just wishing to have the littlest bit of agency over her own death, is being strategic here. She knows Jonathan will “be with her to the very end”. She does not need to know of the promise he made to her in the solitude of his diary. Their devotion to each other is a given, one they do not take for granted, but that they expect nonetheless because they know each other and the strength of their love. Had she read the promise, she would undoubtedly be shocked by it, specifically by the utter heresy of it, devout as she is to her faith. But she would not be surprised, and this entry shows her anticipating what the Worst Case Scenario could potentially do to her husband, and trying to avoid it at all cost.

No, I don’t think she gone as far as assuming that Jonathan would deliberately choose vampirism for her. He has been as much of a devout christian as her for most of their lives, and tho she is not blind to the changes the last few months (and specially the last few days) have caused on him, she would not there suggest the Holiest Love conclusion is anywhere close to his mind. For after all, she has explicitly stated that she wants to be received by the grace of God, wants the same freedom granted by the boys to the soul of dear Lucy, and Jonathan simply wouldn’t deny her that.

Right?

And guys, as much as I love Jonathan’s vow and how he absolutely refuses to let her “walk into that unknown and terrible land alone”… it is a selfish vow. Romantic to the core, but selfish. Jonathan knows that’s not what Mina wants. He phrases it in a way that makes it seem like he is doing it purely out of love for her, so she’ll not be alone, but really, the selfless thing would be to do what she asked of him today. Her soul would be free, there would be no more Dracula to torment the world and kill innocents, and when Jonathan’s time came, he would join her in heaven.

But as I said before, the only thing that ever worries them about their relationship is whether or not they are hurt and when there is something keeping them apart. Jonathan goes to Transylvania and Dracula tries to keep him there: they both suffer from the distance. The first time Jonathan went to meet a client was the first time he and Mina were away from each other since the wedding, and she expresses anxiety about that. The men want to keep Mina away from vampire business to “protect her”: both her and Jonathan are unhappy with suddenly keeping secrets from each other. “A door is locked between them” because there is a part of Dracula inside Mina’s mind and she cannot be trusted to know all their planning, and Jonathan is crestfallen about it. Their deepest source of misery is always not being with each other, not being able to communicate properly, not just be together. And they both know that. Mina is just severely underestimating how far Jonathan would go so they’re not separated. As it is, she knows her death would bring him terrible grief, and by asking the help of their friends today and making him read the burial service, she’s trying to both a) Guarantee that should Jonathan’s hand falter, more steady ones would fulfil her wish; b) Unite them once more in the care they all have for her and show Jonathan that, should the worst happen, he won’t be alone. The other will be there. He shall not be so lonely if/when he becomes a widower; c) Perhaps by reading the burial service he can become more used to the possibility of her death and ease his heart to the matter.

However, Jonathan promises nothing to anyone. He asked for Jack to make an accurate description of what happened so that no detail would be left out, and yet we hear no word of confirmation from him.

And I’m sure she noticed it, too.

[hitoshiyoshi]

brat | shinsou hitoshi

synopsis ↬ shinso gets a bit jealous when you get close with one of his friends

warnings ↬ pseudocest, dub-con, swearing, manipulation, shinso is aizawa's son, you live with them but shinso sees you as his sister although you are NOT related, kaminari denki slander, your parents were heroes who passed, shinso and the reader play the doctor game, shinso and the reader are both about 20 but shinso is older, she/her pronouns for the reader, virgin kink, slight humiliation kink, use of 'girl' and 'doll' when addressing the reader, unprotected s*x, fingering, cr3ampie, slight overstimulation, 0ral (receiving), slut shaming, if you notice some things that don’t make sense it’s poor editing, I changed the story last minute and i’m sorry, let me know if i missed something

pairing ↬ shinsou hitoshi x fem!reader

word count ↬ 6.4k

kinktober week one

Shinso’s eyes glanced over your frame, watching you twiddle the pads of your fingers. Standing by the kitchen counter with your mobile loosely hanging from your hands, a laugh echoed throughout the home every couple of minutes. The ticking of the analog clock furthered his frustration; he’d been counting every second. Time seemed to pass at a dreadfully slow pace and, for eons, he waited for you to finish.

He knew who was the keeper of your time, fucking Denki, his coworker at a hero agency they both worked for. It only took one encounter at the entrance of the agency's building for him to capture your attention. Shinso could not fathom why you had any interest in him with the blonde’s undying persistence to establish a friendship with you.

Sitting on the worn-out sofa of his father’s home, he waited as patiently as he could. The show on the large flat-screen TV had no longer sparked his interest. He couldn’t peel his eyes away from your back as his chest tightened and his heart swelled with jealousy. Resisting his urge to grip the phone from your hands, he waited. Questioning whether it was worth it to tell father about your latest interaction with Denki, knowing very well that he wouldn’t be happy. Shinsou could still remember the day his father, Aizawa Shouta, introduced you to him.

It was a long afternoon filled with Aizawa trying to convince you to live with him and his son. The sudden death of your parents only a few hours prior left the man feeling sympathetic for you. They were pro-heroes and two of his dearest friends; another loss he would have to cope with. Making a promise to himself that you wouldn’t have the same unfortunate outcome, he asked if you would move in with him. Although you were old enough to survive on your own, his persistence left you with few options. He never left your side until you agreed. 

The rest of the night was spent preparing his house for your comfort. Aizawa helped you move all your essentials from your previous home into the one he shared with Shinsou and even allowed you to sleep in his bedroom until he finished designing your own. He always doted on you in a loving manner, giving you extra attention while never being afraid to act as a parental figure when you needed him. You didn’t mind Shinsou’s overly affectionate demeanor, thinking he was excited about having a new little ‘sibling’ to fawn over. Soon, referring to each other as ‘brotherly’ or ‘sisterly’ names. This continued for months, concerning Aizawa who thought this would hinder your grieving. He was certain this was Shinsou’s doing.

Lost in his thoughts, Shinso failed to hear the endearing “goodbye” you said while ending the phone call. Clutching it to your chest and hiding the screen from Shinso’s view, you sauntered to a seat beside him on the couch, hardly noticing his gaze on your figure as you strode over. You placed your phone on the coffee table in front of him and focused your attention on the boring show, softly humming to the tune of your favorite song. Shinso briefly cleared his throat before engaging in a conversation with you.

“Who was that?” He asked as his ears peaked in your direction as he waited for a response. The attention given to him was lackluster compared to what he truly wanted.

“Just a friend.” A sigh escaped your pouty lips, and you prepared for another pestering. 

“I didn’t know you were friends with Denki.” Shinso scoffed before folding his arms and resting his back against the cushion.

“I can be friends with whoever I want to… besides, he’s a nice guy.” You played with the fabric of your skirt that rode more than halfway up your thighs. Secretly, you wanted him to continue; he could never know this, but each time his voice raised, a sharp chill traveled through your spine and tingled your pearl. Your head tilted backward on the couch, mirroring his position, you seemed too agitated to continue the conversation. 

He glanced at your body, thoughts of Denki’s devilish hands grasping onto the last bit of your innocence made his blood boil. You had to be a virgin, he was sure. Shinso always followed any male that managed to befriend you and basked in your depressive state when you revealed your new male friend had disappeared. Always giving them a strict warning, even using his quirk when necessary, just to preserve your purity. How could he live knowing that Denki was the lucky bastard to take his your virginity? Today was the day. He needed to do something.

“I know that… but you need to stop talking to him,” Shinso replied, eyeing you up and furrowing his eyebrows.

“And why should I do that?” You returned his gaze, trying to seem pitiful to lure the male’s attention away from you. However, Shinso was smart enough to see through your tricks.

“Because I said so…” He replied back to you, and before you had any more time to protest, he tried to end the conversation before another argument followed. “If I see you talking to him again, you won’t like it.” The weak threat flew over your ditzy head and you smirked up at him in an unfazed manner.

“Are you serious?” You scoffed. Shinso was not amused by your antics. 

“I wasn’t asking, I’m telling you.” You seemed to shrink as he continued to speak. His body loomed over yours, commanding your attention and seizing authority over you. His voice, deep and domineering, causes you to freeze on the couch for a few seconds as you feel blood rush to your core. Unfortunately, just as his aching heart consumed his entire spirit, your ego had grown in abundance, and you were no longer scared of the man sitting adjacent to you.

“You know,” You started as your index finger pressed into your jaw to tease the elder, your eyelashes innocently batting at the male. “I forgot to tell Denki something. Do you mind if I call him again?” Your hand reached for the shiny mobile, gripping the plastic case and unlocking the phone. Once opened, Shinso’s hand found its way to your wrists, grasping you tightly as a warning. You mewled at the sudden pressure on your weak bones as his fingernails left indents on your skin. “W- What are you doing?”

His hands, much larger than yours, pried the phone out of your hands as you watched on, too dazed to process his actions. Shinso held the phone away from you, watching as you continued protesting and grabbing at his hands. The screen, still open, showed Denki’s contact and phone number. He couldn’t help but grimace and felt a sudden churn in his stomach. The blonde’s annoying presence and dopey demeanor were not much of a prize. You clawed at his body until he gripped your shoulder and pushed your body away. 

“Delete his number or I’m telling Dad.” His voice was stern. You were no match to him. If you fought, you knew who the winner would be; so you succumbed to his wish. You weren't sure if he would do this, but he always threatened to use his quirk if you acted up – perhaps you should take his proposals more seriously.

“Fine. Give it back,” You extended your forearm towards him, patiently waiting for the elder to return it. Before the casing touched your hand, he remembered. Perhaps this was his last chance, otherwise, he would have to wait for an eternity. This was his chance to do something. When his hands didn’t faze and his eyes seemed lost in thought, you spoke. Shinso glanced between the phone and the impatient woman in front of him.

“Actually, I think I’ll hold onto this.” He slipped the phone inside his pocket before facing your visibly confused face. 

“But you just said you would give it back,” You tried reaching for the phone once more, but you failed. You relaxed on the couch and scowled at your his antics.

“I will, but you need to earn it back,” Shinso responded sternly, only worsening your anger. He wished he could feel any sense of remorse, but none would arise. For a few moments, his mind would linger on moral thoughts which were quickly diminished by his devilish desires. Shinso weakly gulped, trying to clear his head and the demons that convinced him to sin. Alas, it was too late as his weak mind succumbed to you. “Let’s play a game.”

“A game? Which game?” You almost couldn’t believe your ears. Of course, you weren't deterred by the idea.

“Don't worry, it's fun.” You fluttered your doll eyes towards your brother. You're so innocent. “Don’t tell Dad, though,” He couldn’t imagine the scrutiny Aizawa would give if he found out about his son’s perversion. 

“Fine, I’ll play. What is it?”

“Do you know that doctor game?” Shinso watched as you nodded to his question. He hesitated to continue. “Why don’t we play that game?” Once again, you agreed. You weren't familiar with it, but it was only a light-hearted game, right?

“Y- Yeah, we can play.” Your cheeks felt intense warmth, an act your body would do upon feeling nervousness. “Um, how should we start?”

“Well…” Shinso’s hands guided themselves to the hem of your shirt as he spoke. “Let’s start here first.” He lifted the material upwards and past your arms and head. He could feel himself twitching at your beige brassiere that cradled your ample breasts. As he discarded the shirt elsewhere in the room and inched his body closer to yours, you could feel his stare on your body and instinctively covered your chest. 

“Shinsou, don’t stare.” Your fragile voice caused Shinso to spur with uncontrollable desire. He adored it. 

“Don’t get shy in front of me. I won’t bite.” He pulled down at your arms and embraced your body briefly, unclasping your bra before tossing it in a pile with your shirt.

You quivered at the sudden sharp coldness of the air, desperately wanting to cover yourself. He tugged at your arms, pulling them to your side. You weren’t sure why he was doing this, wanting to stop and retreat to your bedroom. Lowering your head, you wrapped your arms around your waist, cowering in front of him with tears of humiliation threatening to spill from your eyes. The air of innocence was replaced by a noticeable lust. You watched his eyes examine the upper half of your body. 

His cold hands reached for your chest before massaging your mounds delicately. Shinso’s hands now engulfed your chest as his thumbs rubbed into the skin on your nipples. You let out a muffled yet loud moan at the foreign sensation unable to deny that your body loved his pleasant touches.

You sank your teeth into your bottom lip until a metallic taste touched your tongue. Watching you shiver on the couch, Shinso chucked to himself quietly — you submitted to him easier than he expected. At least put up a fight next time. One thing he didn’t enjoy, however, was your quiet demeanor; you made sure to stay silent during the whole ordeal. 

Lowering his head until his mouth hovered over your exposed chest, kissing the skin, biting and suckling to leave his mark. Your hands moved away from your waist to push against his chest, yet, he wouldn’t budge. Once satisfied, he wrapped his mouth around your hardening buds, making you shudder in his hold. Another whine escaped your lips, you tried to hold back, but as you felt his teeth sink into your perky nipples, a loud wince echoed through the room again.

“Mm~ Sh- Shinsou— what are you doing?” You could barely form the sentences from your mouth as moans managed to slip through your words. Grazing his teeth on your buds as they hardened under his warm tongue. Flicking the skin before sinking his mouth deeper, leaving marks his father would surely ask about. God, his mouth hungrily lapped the nub as wet sounds and high-pitched moans drowned out the noise of the television. 

Shinso ignored your question, too drunk on the feeling of your plush skin against his tongue. Alternating between each of your breasts until he was satisfied with the bites and marks on your skin, the squeals from your mouth only coaxed him to continue. His arms firmly wrapped around your waist and back, pulling you closer to his mouth. Your legs clenched firmly together with each pulse and wave of pleasure rocking your core repeatedly. Hands moving from your body to his shoulders pulled him closer, needing to feel his body — his warm and soft skin — against your own. Feeling his own orgasm approach embarrassingly fast as he gently rocked his hardened cock into your thigh, he pulled away. 

Panting, you had no time to calm your body as his lips collided with yours. Shinso’s tongue moved in the same way against your buds. Licking your lips and asking, no, pleading for your to allow him entrance, you eagerly complied. The feeling of his body against yours, pulling you deeper to him, almost as if he was too scared to have you run away.

This is wrong, and you knew it, but your arms refused to push him away — only accepting his embrace into yours. His kisses electrified a part of you that had been hidden for years. You did not want it, yet your body began enjoying it. Moaning into his mouth, you could feel his body tense up at the slight movements your body made. 

Pulling away briefly from the kiss as a string of your mixed saliva disconnected, his attacks moved to your neck and collar. This time his kisses were gentle; he didn’t want you to have to face his father and explain where the marks originated. Although he adored you, Aizawa sensed something was in the air between you two. It left an uneasy feeling as he watched his son’s behavior change around your presence. Shinsou dreaded the thought of you two separating. What would happen then? 

Inhaling and caressing your soft and supple skin, he realized that he needed more.  Firm hands digging at his shoulders broke him from the spell as you were also free from your drunken state. 

“S- Shinso… stop… this isn’t right,” His arms tightened around your body as he heard you speak. What do you mean this isn’t right? Always self-centered, you could not please him for once in your life. “Not like this…”

“Not like this, huh?” He said, inhaling your intoxicating scent as his face nestled in the crook of your shoulder. “Then what shall we do..?” Shinso finally removed himself from your body, although still holding on. “Look at these pretty marks I made. It would be a shame if they were wasted.” He traced the bruises and bites on your skin as your body trembled in fear. “Father wouldn’t be too pleased to see these. It would be unfortunate if he learned about your adventures with Denki.” Your eyes widened in fear. Although he was the one marking you, he would be the one to snitch on you.

“B- But you’re lying! I haven’t done anything with him…” Honestly, you weren’t sure about his reaction, or whether he would even care. You only knew that he was extremely overprotective and critical of any lover you brought home.

“Shall we call him and find out?” Shinso taunted as a sadistic smirk etched across his lips when he noticed you cowering underneath him.

“No…”

“Then listen to your big brother. I can make you feel good.” He gently pulled you up and off the couch, guiding you to his bedroom. Your legs felt heavy as if they were too scared to move to your forbidden destination. His fingers soothed your trembling arms causing goosebumps to erupt on your skin. Again, he let out a sickening chuckle.

His room, small yet tidy, seemed to feel like a prison. Shinso guides you to his bed as you inhale the faint scent of lavender coming from his clean bedsheets. You failed to notice your shirt and brassier in one of his hands as he chucks the materials away in a pile of clothes in his room — you won’t see that bra again. The cold air causes your nipples to harden almost instantly as he urges you to sit on his bed.

“W- Why do you want to do this, Shinso?” If only you knew about the twitch in his tight pants each time you said his name. Thank god you were too innocent to notice the bulge in his sweatpants.

“This is your fault. I wouldn’t do this if you behaved… you need to remember your place.” Your place? There was not enough time to think as you felt his hands tug down your denim skirt until it reached the ground and pooled around your ankles. His hands caressed your exposed thighs as he watched you shiver on his duvet. “Lay down on the bed. I’ll help you warm up.”

You listened, unconsciously spreading your legs as you lay on his comfy mattress. The aroma of his room seemed to cast away your anxiety, but only for a brief moment. Shinso’s eyes greedily examined the damp spot in your lace underwear, reminding you that your body was still on full display for him to see. His fingers reached down and danced around the lace whilst his body eased closer to your frame. Both of his knees caged your body as he lifted your thighs upwards. Finally, as he thumbed over your sensitive clit, a gasp escaped your mouth feeling him rub circles into your sex. Perhaps he was too eager, after a few seconds of teasing, he quickly tore off the clothing before placing it elsewhere in his room. 

“Look at you… look at how wet you are.” His fingers traced around your labia, collecting the clear essence from your slick and bringing it up to your eyes. Your face heated up fast. He was taunting you. “Hmm… What do we do about this, (Y/N)? My sister is a slut for her own brother’s cock. What a pity…”

“B- But… we aren’t related— and I’m not a s- slut…” Covering your face in the palm of your hands, you tried to cling to the last bit of denial you had. You two weren't even related by blood. Each time you reminded him, he would dismiss you.

“Oh? Then what’s this?” He brought the nectar from your slick up close and played with it along his fingers. Soon, he retracted his hands and suckled on his fingers as he savored the taste. Spreading your legs further apart, he examined the liquid that oozed out of your core, begging to be fucked. “Only sluts get excited when their brother does this.”

Soon, he presses his thumb onto the hood of your clit and gives the bud a few rubs. His index and middle finger graze against your folds, earning a suppressed gasp from your lips. Dancing around your opening, his fingers prodded around your tight hole. Eagerly quickening the pace of his fingers, he felt your wet opening ooze clear liquid and cover his thick fingers.

Your moans and his dampening skin urged him to breach your virgin walls; Shinso wanted to be patient, he really did, but it was wearing thin. Dipping into your core, you convulsed in pain as you felt one of his fingers explore. Watching you tremble, he caressed the smooth skin on your thighs to help you relax; see, he wasn’t heartless. 

A burning sensation in the pit of your stomach replaced the pleasure given to your clit. You couldn’t bite your tongue to stop the noises from echoing in his bedroom, loud moans and shaky breaths bounced off the thin walls. Secretly, he always dreamed of the day this room would be occupied with it. Another gasp escaped your mouth as you clenched tightly around a second digit entering you, stretching your walls, and prepping you. The sickening squelching sounds harmoniously played with your moans, music to Shinso’s ears. 

Pleasure finally began to cloud your foggy mind as you clenched harder around his two fingers and your pained mewls began to dissipate. He leaned down and kissed your thighs to coax your body into a release. Dancing around a spot that made you shudder, his fingers molded perfectly into your opening. A wave of intense bliss covered your lower half. You could feel him smirking against your skin; you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?

“It’s alright, babygirl… let it all out for me…” Shinso whispered into your skin. Your hands claw at his sheets, searching for something to grab, anything. Arching your back against the sheets while your eyelids clench shut, you can finally feel a sweet rush of pleasure.

“Mmph!~ Oh… No… S- Shinso…!” Your walls spasmed and convulsed around his fingers as somewhat pleasant-sounding moans erupted from your vocal cords. The warm feeling at the pit of your tummy finally releases as you feel his fingers coat in a hot sticky substance. Essence covering his digits, he could feel himself aching in his sweatpants.

“That’s it… such a good girl,” Pulling away from your thighs, he slowly removed his fingers. Leaving you empty for a few seconds, his head disappeared between your legs. Shinso’s warm tongue greedily licked your nectar as it trickled down your crevice and seeped into his bedsheets. 

“Mmmh~ Ah…! W- Wait..!” As your fingers pulled and ran through his thick locks of hair, he pinned your body tightly to the mattress. Shinso released a hum as his nails dug into your hips. It was too much, his tongue would graze over your sensitive bud as your moans became noisier. 

Once satisfied, he pulled his head away from your panting body. His lips were covered in the same essence that filled your slick. He licked them once more as he smirked down at you. Tugging at the hem of his shirt, he tore the fabric off his body before briefly moving off the bed to discard his sweatpants. You couldn't help but peer down at him and glance at his stiffened member.

Trimmed violet hair covered the base. What he lacked in girth was generously replaced by his length. The red tip oozed with clear pre-cum. He couldn't wait anymore. Another deep yet warm chuckle caused a tingle in your fragile core. Shinso watched as your hands covered your hot face. How cute!

"Just relax," He purred softly while wrapping his fingers around your wrists and gently moving your hands away. Shinso didn't know the sight of you being so vulnerable and untouched would excite him this much. He knew that by the end of this session, you would finally learn to obey. "Is Kitten scared? I told you I wouldn't bite." He leaned down until your faces were only inches apart and left a chaste but loving kiss on your lips. Remnants of your nectar managed to seep onto your tongue.

"'m not scared..." What a fucking liar. You aren't scared, but as his arm rests next to your head, you're trembling. You aren't scared, but as his other hand pumps his length and his sticky pre-cum leaks between your legs and mixes with yours, you're intoxicated. The lavender aroma of his room fills your lungs once more and makes your mind hazy.

He teasingly laughs at your demeanor as he pulls away from your body. Shinso didn't want you to be scared of him. He was already used to that feeling from his old classmates and civilians. It would've pained him if he frightened you. That wasn't the point of this. He could humiliate you endlessly for doing this, but he was worse than you. Wrapping your legs around his waist, you watch as he positions himself at your entrance. 

"Don't worry, doll. This won't hurt too bad... as long as you obey..." Of course, he knew you had no choice but to obey. Rubbing the tip along your folds, he watched as he started to glisten in a clear mixture of your mess.

As you peered up at him, you were greeted with his indigo eyes staring down at you. They set your body in a trance, a warm and inviting gaze cast down upon you. Did it still feel wrong? Mesmerized by his beauty, you were too distracted to notice him gently pushing his length inside.

Filling you up inch by inch, sudden pressure and a burning sensation much worse than his fingers broke you. You sharply inhaled while your brother released a low grunt and muttered some curses under his breath. As his eyes fluttered and tightly closed with the sudden feeling of pleasure, you instinctively cupped his face while feeling tears swell up in your eyes.

"Shinso..." Gasping tightly as he finally sheathed deep inside your walls, you cradled his head in your hands. Your hold on his face tightened as you felt a sudden rush of foreign sensations. The lower half of your body became riddled with unbearable pain as you enveloped him. He must've noticed the furrowing of your eyebrows and the tears that threatened to spill because soon, he broke free from your hold and slipped into the crook of your shoulder.

Gently rocking his hips slowly, he tried to allow you to adjust and keep his composure. Shinso briefly wondered if he could succumb to his own satisfaction and release his frustrations on you. Bucking into you at a brutal pace until he finally reached the release he was desperately searching for. If it wasn't for your hushed whines, his patience would've run thin. God, he wished he would've done this sooner. If he knew it would be this easy to claim you for his own, he would've tamed you a long time ago.

As time passed and you eased into his touches, his thrusts became more energetic. Nuzzling his face into your shoulder, it was a shame to admit that his low grunts and heavy breaths against your face began to excite you. The once painful thrusts inside your wet cavern had become a warm smoldering feeling as his length massaged your gummy walls. Whispering sweet nothings and nipping at the skin on your shoulder, Shinso didn't care if you two were caught; he'd gone too far. There was no returning to the way things were.

Lifting himself up the mattress, one of his hands grasped your inner thigh and spread your legs further until you felt his cock brush against a sensitive region. He could feel you throbbing around him and relished in your sounds of pure ecstasy.

"Denki could never fuck you like this, right?" Shinso said as his eyes darkened, saying his name made him sick. Once he felt your pussy flutter against his shaft, he knew he couldn't say the same for you.

"I- I don't-" He wouldn't let you finish before you felt his thick fingers wrap around your throat and forced your eyes open as oxygen escaped your lungs.

"God, I bet you wish it was him fucking you... hmm?" His thrusts began to slowly come to a halt. He rolled his hips agonizingly slow as his tip grazed your spot continuously.

"Sh- Shinso... it hurts... I can't-" Immediately, his grip loosened as you huffed deep breaths. Still holding onto your neck, he tilted your head and locked your jaw in place to prevent you from moving. Your hands went to his wrist as you tried to scratch at him and pull him away, but he wouldn't budge.

"I've been waiting for so long, but I won't let that fucker touch you." He bit his tongue and held his hips back from pounding you into the mattress. Shinso just wanted to cum, and flood your walls with his seed — the most ungodly thing he could do. He edged against your spot more, coaxing you further into another orgasm. He watched as your back slightly arched into the mattress while you tugged at his duvet. With each roll of his hips, yours would press down against him, chasing a climax. "You're so pathetic, really."

"No... hnng~ I- I'm not..." You barely managed to choke those words out.

"Oh..? But you couldn't take your eyes off of him when you two met last week..." Shinso recalled your meeting with Denki in front of their agency only a few weeks ago. Like you, the words and his memory seemed stuck in his throat.

"Shinso-nii, I- I don't like him..." He tilted your face until you two were at eye level.

"Don't fucking call me that right now." He sighed and paused before continuing, "I saw it last night." His hips finally stilled as his nails left a stinging pain in your thigh and indents on your skin.

"W- What?" He watched you nervously gulp and stare fearfully at him. Don't act innocently when your face gives you away.

"You..." A headache erupted as he recalled the previous night. "You gave him a great show last night. Topless. Tell me, was it fun? I heard him, loud as a fucking dog." Fuck. He heard everything? Your mind was blank. You could remember video-calling Denki. He said he just wanted to see you, one thing led to another... and...

"Toshi... I'm so sorry..! I- I didn't mean to... he just said he wanted to see me... please don't tell him..!" Toshi, you only called him that whenever you apologized. Tears cascaded from your eyes. You were truly sorry. He succeeded in breaking you. You pulled him closer to you, almost making him tumble. The sudden friction reminded him of his aching cock nearly spilling inside you. He needed to hurry.

"Don't apologize to me. Father heard it too. You're a shame to our family." His words stung like daggers, piercing your fragile heart, but he was right. More water leaked from your reddening eyes, and he reached down and coddled you. "What if he shows those pictures to his friends? People already avoid me. Now they'll laugh at me for having a slutty sister. You want that to happen to your big brother?"

"No... I don't want that to happen to you, Hitoshi... I'm so sorry..." Your arms still wrapped around his shoulders tightly, too scared to let him go. He caressed your arm and cooed his words into your ear.

"I know you're sorry... but you need to prove it to me." Your ears perked up as you stared at him, excited yet confused. "I can protect you. Just submit to me, obey me." He kissed the underside of your jaw, expecting you to deny him again. "Only look at me, nobody else... Please, don't leave me. Let me take care of you. Let me love you... I can do it. Just give me a chance." The tone of his voice raised as he finished his sentence. He was pleading with you.

"O- Okay, Toshi... I'll listen, I promise..." He smiled into your skin, not a teasing smirk but genuine happiness. Overjoyed, he couldn't stop his hips from rutting into your pussy again, catching you off-guard.

His thrusts were much sloppier. He'd been drawing near this whole time but suppressed it. Shinso pulled your body closer as your legs wrapped around his waist. Nearly lifting you off his bed, you could feel him enter you with each thrust, quicker than before, and graze against your tender spot again.

The sounds of your mixed juices, smacking flesh, and the smell of sweaty bodies bounced off the walls in his room. The walls were so thin that anybody could hear; your loud and high-pitched moans were surely heard by passersby and neighbors. He guides one of his hands down to your clit, rubbing vigorous circles on your sex and coating his fingers.

"Hmmf~, oh my-... I- I'm so... close..." Your fingers intertwined with his thick indigo hair as your nails scratched his back. "k- keep going... gosh, you're so good... Toshi-nii..." Murmuring endless praises and words of affection into his ear, he could feel himself becoming undone with every twitch and throb of your soft walls. "I... f- fuck... I think... ah~!"

Convulsing in his arms as you clenched tightly around him, Shinso felt your warm liquid creaming around his shaft as he pounded into your dripping cunt. Your spasming walls drew him closer and closer to his own release. Patting his head and repeating countless affirmations of your love for him, you felt him twitch inside you a few times as his breathing heavied. "you feel so good in me, toshi-nii" "please cum inside me, my pussy wants it inside..."

What kind of brother would he be if he didn't oblige your wishes? Harshly gripping your hips and sinking his teeth into your neck, you felt him release another pained yet loud groan as he inhaled your scent. Sinking your hips down to bury deep inside your walls, you felt his body quiver above you. His essence painted your insides white, milking him of all his cum until he was empty. Huffing and puffing, his body fell forward on your chest while you continued to hold him tight.

"Fuck... you're so amazing, kitten..." Once he regained some strength, he caressed your warm cheeks before leaning down and capturing your lips in a deep kiss. Raising himself up, he slid out of your filled hole and watched as some of his cum oozed out. Shinso's tip still leaked thick drops of his creamy cum. "I love you so much, doll..."

"I love you too, Toshi..." You replied back to him. After catching your breath for a few seconds, you spoke again. "Won't I need to take medicine now?"

"Oh... you mean Plan B? I'll pick some up in the morning for you." This night was fun, but Shinso didn't want to imagine you pregnant. Aizawa wouldn’t let him live.

A sudden tap at the door broke Shinso from his long thoughts. Your eyes peered behind his frame in shock, catching a glimpse of his soul leaving his body as he soon followed suit and turned around.

"(Y/N)? Shinso...?" There he was, the very same man you owed a sincere apology to. Still in his hero attire, just returning from work and patrolling. His voice was quiet yet agitated, the same tone Shinso heard after your rendezvous with Denki.

You crawled towards Shinso's chest and hid your bare body away from Aizawa. It was too late. He saw everything he needed to see. Your naked body only confirmed his suspicions. This has to be a dream. It must be a dream. Aizawa blinked his eyes in an obnoxious pattern as if it would change any of the events in front of him. Father, I'm sorry, but this is real. He must've finally understood, his hand ran through his thick black hair as he sighed deeply and tried to repress the rage building up inside of him.

"Oh... you're home early." Shinso finally broke the silent tension in the air. He chuckles to himself before standing up from the mattress, not caring about his bare lower half. You scurried to cover yourself. It was already humiliating enough. "Can you pick up some Plan B tomorrow, Dad? We'll need a few."

He put on his sweatpants before reaching down to help you off the bed. Placing one of his old shirts on your body, he strode confidently to your father, who stood in disbelief.

"Shinso…" Aizawa began, but... what would he say? As the seconds passed at a dreadfully slow pace, he spoke. “You two fucked, didn’t you? Shit, I don’t even need to ask.”

“Yeah, we did…” He held onto you tightly, expecting his father to intervene and take you away, but his feet were still firm. He couldn't let that happen after he worked hard to claim you.

“Didn’t I tell you to wait for me first?” 

“You know I hate sharing,” Shinsou helped you up off his bed. A damp stain of his cum sullied his clean sheets, the image only irritating his father more. “Besides, you always get to fuck who you want before me.”

His shoulder barged into his father, nearly knocking him off balance as he tried to reach for you. You peered back at him, his hand was still extended, but you kept walking. Shinso dragged you to the bathroom to clean up. He whispers something about the walls being echoey and tells you to scream loud until his father and the neighbors could hear. Aizawa watches as you nod eagerly and fade down the hallway into the bathroom.

[vanrouchu]

stained colours

ace model au i fear

Being an ambassador for a makeup brand was something new for Ace. Despite being a highly sought-after talent in the industry, there was no denying that his refreshing vibe came from the fact that he was still fairly new when it came to modelling. Perhaps his vibe fit the brand’s image, or at least the new makeup line they were about to release in a few weeks. They asked Ace to create his interpretation of the slogan—Find your colour.

As the current ace of his agency, he was determined to create a look that would make the even camera’s shutters pause in awe. However, it was a little difficult to determine which way would be the best to go about it.

Find your colour.

That was a little subjective—Ace assumed that it would be the colour that suited him the most. In that case, it’s always been red. Although if it was the colour he liked the most, it would also be red. There’s not much of a variety when it comes to his preferences in colours. He needed to get a little bit more creative if he wanted to catch eyes.

He threw his head back and groaned, tired from all the thinking. He had a little less than 15 minutes to think of another concept he could go with than the same dull poses almost every model defaulted to whenever they modelled lipsticks. As his manager, he was relying on you to throw ideas at him—hoping that he could catch one of them and be able to use it.

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t rub your face, you’ll smudge your makeup.” You sighed, running your hand over the plethora of lipstick tubes the brand gave for Ace to use. A lot of them were unopened; Ace already told you to put them aside after looking at the swatches alone. You grabbed the lipstick Ace was planning to use and stepped in front of him, finger hooking under his chin to tilt his head.

“Isn’t this supposed to be smudge-proof?” He grumbled, parting his mouth slightly to let you apply the lipstick on him. He did a good job not letting it show but there were more than a few thoughts running inside his head with every swipe and with every touch your finger left on his jaw.

“No. Maybe you’re thinking of another brand.” You let out a hum, letting go of his chin before taking a step away and putting the lipstick tube aside. You stared at his face, trying to tell if he looked his best or if there were some changes to be made—sometimes he made this step difficult by staring right back at you and it slowly became a staring contest.

You tilted your head, your hands coming back to the stash of lipsticks thrown to the side. “Are you sure you don’t want to make use of the other colours? There’s too much red… I think. Isn’t the slogan about finding your colour? It would make more sense if you used different ones.”

“What, like, making a gradient lip colour?” He grimaced. Clearly, he wasn’t even trying to comprehend your idea despite his desire to create a unique look. He crossed his arms and thought about it carefully, trying to think of ways he could see your suggestion working.

“No, silly. Not like that.” A chuckle escaped from your lips as you picked up a random shade, uncapping the tube before applying a stroke of colour to your lips. Ace stared at you curiously, trying to figure out what you were trying to do. Were you showcasing the colours for him? If that was the case, then there was really no need to do that—

“Do you mind if I kiss you?”

That single question made him pause. Cutting off any sort of action or thought he was doing at the moment.

“Excuse me?”

You threw your hands up immediately, trying to clarify your words. “Not on your lips! I just had an idea about the sort of look you could do, so I might use the rest of your face.”

That made him nervous. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have faith in his reliable manager, it was just the fact that you had to be in close contact to pull that off—your lips on the skin of his face? He had to calm himself down, urging him to keep his act together. He can’t make it obvious that he was more than a little flustered.

“Go ahead.” He muttered, following up with a louder-than-he-liked “It better look good though!”

With his approval, you stepped closer and wrapped your fingers around his jaw, whispering a small “close your eyes” before pressing your coloured lips against his skin—leaving lipstick marks. Pulling away, you took a step back to take a look at your work before smiling.

“This colour suits you. Let's try other colours too, shall we?”

Before he realized, he was stained with different colours. One on his forehead, one on his cheek, one on his jaw, one his neck, and one on the corner of his lips—barely a kiss. Each one was a different shade, but Ace found himself liking the one near his lips the most. Perhaps that was the color the slogan was talking about. Maybe he found it.

Walking out like that raised some questions from the staff, mostly wondering who did the lipstick marks on him but Ace just brushed them aside. He was far too embarrassed to give a proper answer; he hoped that the flustered look on his face wasn't too visible on the photos but the final results said otherwise.

But in the end, he got what he wanted. A unique look with a little bonus—he wanted to make it a habit to ask for your help if it meant he'll get little treats in between.

[lemonlover1110]

𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐓𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟑

𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐆𝐄

Pairing: Shouta Aizawa x f!Reader

Warnings: Smut, Bondage, Oral Sex (m. receiving), Facial

Kinktober Masterlist

“I told you to stay away, take care of the others, and look at what you fucking do.” Aizawa says through gritted teeth, taking every ounce of self-control in him not to yell at you. You roll your eyes and cross your arms. You’re seated across from him, the man stands, looking down at you in disappointment. “So many people were in danger and could’ve been harmed because of you.”

“Oh c’mon Eraserhead, everyone is fine.” You remind him, hoping that this lecture won’t be a long one. The man scoffs as he looks at you. You shut your eyes for a moment as a sigh leaves your lips, and before you know it, you’re confined by his scarf.

It’s tight around your torso, it barely lets you breathe. You can’t get your arms out, and because of his quirk, you can’t use your own to get out. Your eyebrows are furrowed as you look at him. “Let me go.”

“No, you have to listen first.” He responds. He knows that if he lets you go then you’ll just kick him out of your office. One way or another, you’ll get him out. But now that you’re confined, his quirk erasing yours, you can’t kick him out. “You’re such a respected hero. You have such an amazing quirk… It’s really disappointing how you don’t care enough to protect others.”

“You said it, I have an amazing quirk. I protect by fighting.” You tell him and he clicks his tongue. 

“I told you to take care of them because me and the other heroes already had a handle on things. Sure, you’re respected but remember you’re still an amateur.” He says, and to you he’s making no sense. How can you be respected and still be considered an amateur? “When an experienced hero tells you to do something, you follow those orders.”

“You’re so overdramatic, Shouta.” You can’t help but roll your eyes, as you squirm under his scarf, wanting to break free. Everything is fine, you have been working as a hero for ages (two years to be exact). You even have your own agency, so you don’t understand what the big deal is. You know how to fight and win, although you can be a bit reckless.

“Aizawa or Eraserhead.” He corrects you. You raise your eyebrow as the man walks over to you.

“Aizawa?” You question, as if you hadn’t just heard him. “You weren’t saying that last week. On the contrary, you were practically begging me to scream Shouta.”

“I’m reprimanding you for your reckless behavior. Don’t try to change the topic.” Aizawa furrows his eyebrow, finally blinking. You look up at him with a smirk, the cloth becomes loose and easy to get out of, but you choose not to move, you can breathe properly, and now that he’s no longer using his quirk, you can fight in any way if needed. “We’re talking about how you could’ve let hundreds of people die.”

“But nothing happened, what’s your point?” You respond. The man grabs a fistful of your hair and tilts your head back so you look up straight at him.

“Your mouth is so irking at times.” He bites his bottom lip, figuring out what to do with you, and your mouth. He gets an idea. One that’ll keep your mouth busy, and happy. He unzips his pants and gets his cock out. “You can do it with no hands, right? Or were you lying last week?”

“Right, I can.” You lick your lips, your eyes glued to his dick. You bring your lips to lick his length before fully wrapping your mouth around it, taking as much as you can get.

You bob your head slowly, starting off slow. He knows this is how you do it, at least it’s how you’ve done it the past two or three times that you’ve been together. You know he likes it, or at least at this very moment you know he does because he’s attempting to lecture you but is failing as he stutters over his words and restarts his sentences.

This wasn’t his smartest idea– You’re not focusing on what he’s trying to and failing to say. You focus on doing a good job– Even without the hands that usually help you out. Your bobs begin to pick up a bit of speed, and the man stops talking for a second to enjoy the feeling of your mouth wrapped around his cock. 

He stares at you, watching as you suck him off with no problem, looking so submissive considering you couldn’t run away if you wanted to. Granted, you don’t want to run away. He sighs, relieved. He bites his bottom lip, holding back moans. 

You look up at him, and at that moment he remembers that he’s supposed to be lecturing you. But he got a bit too caught up, enjoying the feeling of your mouth and your tongue. He stutters, beginning to speak again, trying to lecture you once again. You’re just so rash– But he can’t focus on that when your mouth feels this good.

He grabs the back of your head and pushes your head so you gag on his cock. This is your punishment for being such a careless hero. For putting so many people in danger. The sound of your gagging makes him happy for no reason.

“Fuck– Fuck-” He moans, watching as a couple of tears leave your eyes. He begins to move his hips, which he finds more fun than just pushing your head on his cock. He hears the sound of his balls smacking against your chin, which he finds delightful yet entertaining. “I like- Fuck- Your mouth better like this.”

He’s completely forgotten about scolding you at this point. Your mouth feels so great, and your face, he can’t even describe it. The tears that fall from your eyes just captivate him. He’s glad he thought of this because now he gets to admire this beauty.

He begins to moan loudly, hinting that his release is near. He begins to thrust his hips faster. He shuts his eyes before taking his cock out of your mouth. His cum lands all over your face. You’re lucky you shut your eyes as you saw him pull his cock out, or otherwise you would’ve gotten his cum in your eyes.

You shut your mouth, and just as you’re about to get your arms out, he activates his quirk again. The restraint becomes as tight as it can be.

“And do keep in mind that I’m only saying this because I care about you.” He begins, as he fixes himself up.

“Can I wipe the cum off my face?”

🏷 @s-witch-bitch @dont-ask-me-pls @todoroki-slut @jhsuhx @witchblades666 @eatingasswithsomeclass @Kamikat @tojigirlfriend @miemielovesjjk @ushigushy3000 @im-a-killer-queen @monstaxs-bitchh @lightofmylifeisbts @iam-mia9 @Flamesforrengoku @S0ur.cr34m @i2ilakkuma @mysticchaosangel @onidomi @geltears @hottieluvr @lovemarvel16 @windexwanda @captainweirdo42 @weasleypottersblog @sweetiepiezz @valentinedays @nothisispatrick300 @heartsatoru @flamealchemiste @redrum-and-diamonds @hannadesimp @m0ch1nut @coffee-on-a-rainyautumn @nobody289x @deccahh @siriusoswaldsupremacy @watyousayin @poetrylovingwerewolf-blog @mimizsworld @milaaakebosss @icryduringgsexx

[animentality]

Oh my GOD, the drama that's going on at my work...

So as some of you know, I've been getting bullied by my boss, let's call her Margaret because she's like Margaret Thatcher.

A Grade A bitch.

So Margaret will give me instructions that are wildly unclear, contradictory, or vague.

I'll give you an example.

We have a project that's basically comparing policy guidance from across different federal agencies with our own, so that we can incorporate their best language into our department's policy documents.

I wrote up a word document with policy analyses for all of our chosen examples.

Margaret said, I don't like this. I can't use it. I can't read it. Change it to Microsoft excel and make it like a checklist.

So I'm like alright, makes sense, my bad.

I do that.

She then complains that it's too much like a checklist and what she wanted was a detailed analysis that she could use.

Also that she can't read excel spreadsheets because there are..."too many words."

...

So. Yeah. Too many words, huh?

So I'm like...ok...but I already did that.

And she says, no you didn't, also I asked you to focus on finishing your analyses of all the departments, not to worry about the format. The format doesn't matter.

But here's the thing right.

The FORMAT MATTERS.

SHE LITERALLY TOLD ME TO CHANGE IT BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH THE FORMAT MATTERS.

And she's starting to go off and she's beginning to yell at me here...in front of any entire team of people...and I just had to cut her off, because if I don't, she's just gonna rant at me for an hour and then hang up and neither of us will have what we want, ie, she won't have the product she's imagining (which doesn't exist apparently bc she contradicted her own wishes), and I won't have the guidance I need to make the product.

So I interrupt her and say I already did that. The analysis is done. Now it's just the format that matters.

Now, she's very angry about the interruption, because she CONTINUES to just bulldoze right over me and keep talking...

And my supervisor, let's call her Sarah, then explodes and says, "Let him talk! He's trying to explain to you what he did and you're not letting him defend himself!"

And audience.

Fellow countrymen...

I would kill for Sarah, I really would.

I was so happy to have someone speak up for me.

But anyway.

So we finish the meeting, although it's very icy and very angry.

And then Sarah calls me immediately.

And she says oh my god I'm so sorry about that, what was that BS?

And I'm like...I'm like so happy to have someone on my side that I just say thank you for standing up for me there.

And she goes into this wild ass, amazing rant and she DISHED, BOYS AND GALS AND NONBINARY PALS.

APPARENTLY, Margaret has bullied every single contractor she's EVER had.

The guy she keeps telling me to defer to?

She tried to FIRE HIS ASS like a month ago.

The guy she keeps saying is like a godsend because he's sooo helpful?

She tried to fire him in his first month.

She was also apparently so hated at her last office that she had to leave because she wasn't getting any respect. She's been shunted all over the department because no one can stand working with her.

She has such poor interpersonal skills and fails so hard at communicating that she literally has clashed with every single member of her team.

And she hates me because I'm harder to bully.

Because I know what the fuck I'm talking about and I don't let her beat me down with her backwards ass contradictory logic.

And here's the spicy drama...

Apparently when Sarah interrupted her earlier...she literally texted HER BOSS, let's call her Laura...to complain that Sarah and I are "working together" and "conspiring" against her.

because "Kai was contradicting himself and when I tried to call him out on it, he INTERRUPTED me and then Christine ENCOURAGED him to and I just thought you should know."

And I find that really fucking funny.

Because she complained to her boss...who immediately sent THAT SCREENSHOT TO THE SAME PERSON SHE WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT.

So YEAH Margaret. We ARE conspiring against you.

But you don't have any allies, as evidenced by the fact that complaining to your boss literally made her roll her eyes and say ah Margaret is at it again...to the same person that Margaret is bitching about.

Anyway.

Totally insane.

Sarah told me, you're very professional and reasonable and sweet, and honestly, I feel protective of you because you're the youngest member of the team and I know that working with Margaret might make you feel like you never want to work again...but you're honestly very good at your job and I won't let Margaret fire you...

And I was really floored by the show of loyalty...

I also laughed because she said, I don't mind taking the heat from Margaret. What's she gonna do, fire me? (She doesn't work for Margaret and is sort of lateral to her position anyway).

I'd like to see her try.

And anyway.

Anyway that was the beginning of my crazy day.

Honestly I'm just smiling.

I've never had a supervisor stick up for me as much as Sarah and I'd love to keep working for her...it's just a shame if she can't keep me from being fired by the madwoman that leads our team.

I hope she'll let me know if Margaret decides to fire me because I dared using Microsoft excel in her presence again...

I'm so sorry that when you work for the government, you sometimes have to read things...

So sorry. But what do you want me to do about it?

Why hire a writer if you're scared of reading?

[ddostoyevskyy]

❝𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐖 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍❞

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐕𝐈𝐈: Law of Irrationality, 𝐈!

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒... a bit emotional, ig

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄... hi. I've been inactive for a while, lmao. I miss being a writer sooo much, and things have been not really going too well for me as a writer, but I hope I get back to the track again. Short but quite emotional since I feel emotional these past few days:) Also, thank you for 800 followers! 🤍

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐒... 1.6k words.

SERIES MASTERLIST

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒: 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄, 𝐈, 𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐕, 𝐕, 𝐕𝐈, 𝐕𝐈𝐈

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams; no mortal ever dared to dream before.

Ranpo stared at the newspaper in his hands with a subtle pout as he reads; carefully, every detail, words and sentences, those punctuation marks and even the firmness and refine remarks and humor — it was all familiar. He could hear your firm voice, mixed with a quite intimidating tone yet smooth pace; not too hurried and not too slow. He could even imagine the way your eyes blinks and how your lips moves; the way you can't quite handle an eye contact too long so you would roam your eyes around the room as you speaks.

He knew you all too well; he's a witness of your struggles, a victim of your ability and reason of your beliefs.

So, why do you feel so different right now?

His stare is definitely making you feel anxious as though he's reading every bit of you even how your shoulders rise and relaxes as you breathe. He knew you despise being stared at, but he can't help it. You feel different as though the seasons changes. The sparks in your eyes were definitely on another level now too. The youth were no longer in your face, even the fear that often flashes your eyes — although the fidget of your fingers were still there, a habit that definitely stays, you feel so difficult to read.

Ranpo knew you. After all these years, it was still you. Your presence is enough to irk him in a way and your silence felt heavy on his shoulder — just like before.

This feels suffocating.

"You seem irritated," You voiced out, catching his drifting attention to reality as his eyes flickers into yours. "What's on your mind?"

"You're a mind reader, why ask?" His voice were laced with a hint of annoyance and you swear you heard a 'hmph' when he raised the newspaper on his hands on his face that's out of your vision so you wouldn't see the pout forming on his lips.

"I don't use my ability that much anymore, it's giving me too much medications," You reply with a sigh. Ranpo lowered the newspaper away from his face as his eyes peak through and it bores in your figure. "Besides, aren't I called here for a consultation? My time is precious at these time of the day."

Ranpo frowned, rolling his eyes and dropping the newspaper on his table. He leaned on his seat before stretching his arms over his head with a satisfied hum and you watched him in silence.

"Fine! Let's now move on, then." He finally agrees and you sigh in relief. Being seated with nothing to do at all is not for you, atleast not anymore. You were used to strolled around the city or stuck in your office chair with your coffee for the nth time.

"Kenjiiiiiii, did you find another case on the streets?" Ranpo called out for the yellow haired boy and you glance over with a raised eyebrow. On the streets? Why is he making it sounds like a child play? Although, their occupation and purpose in the city had a huge difference to yours — this is not your playground to play despite fighting over the same rights. You knew how things works at the Agency, and your ability is definitely not applicable in any way if shit happens.

You don't wanna hold the gun, simply when you can't pull the trigger.

"Yes, Ranpo-san. I'll give you the details." Kenji answers with a bright smile. The boy definitely looks like the youngest member of the Agency and he has this really positive aura and outgoing personality.

"Come on, now, Atsushi. You go there with Ranpo-san. It would be your first intel too!"

Hearing their endless conversation, you stood up to ease the tension wavering in your heart. You were not a fan of interacting when your mind’s somewhere along the lines. Both heart and mind should connect — and you’ve been like that not until recently. Meeting Fukuzawa Yukichu — the one who raised and protected you and on your side no matter what, and Ranpo Edogawa — that man — the boy you grew up with; both of them made a huge complicated waves in your system that only them can waver and fix.

You already tortured yourself enough to forget everything from the past. But as you stumble upon the president’s office; the Agency members seems to be unbothered by the fact that you’re roaming around the office and they’ve only met you until today — your heart tightens in your chest.

Parenting 101, 2006 edition.

The book were neatly placed on the right side of the table, as if it was supposed to be there.

You can’t do this.

Your eyes roamed over the office, the shades of colors were all so familiar to you, the pleasing aesthetic made your heart calm, but there’s a clog on your throat.

You can’t do this —

“(Name).” A hand came down to your shoulder, warm and comforting and you finally snapped back to reality, eyes wavering and mouth gaping as you let out a breath you never knew you’re holding. His deep voice were surprisingly familiar to your ears.

I‘m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so, so, sorry — I didn’t mean it, I didn’t mean everything I did —

“I apologize if I stepped inside without permission.” You muttered, turning around, completely brushing off the warm hand as you face the President with formalities in your stoic face despite having your mind in turmoil. His grey eyes seems to be reading you like an open book and you hate how you let yourself be read — you let yourself be vulnerable again under the gaze of this man.

The man you called dad once.

“You don’t need to apologize.” (you were just a child). The lump in your throat tightens and your eyes watered as you stared at him and his lips softly parted when he stared at you.

You look exactly like that; back then, a few years ago, when you were lost in the world with blindfold over your eyes — and his arms loosens on his side as he gently raised them up, inviting you in his embrace and your tears finally welled up; you remembered exactly how you cry on his embrace back then, like a child you are, asking and seeking for a comfort of a man you called dad in the midsts of your tears.

And, right now, a few years after, you were back on his arms as he welcomes you again with the same warmth; he’s always been warm, you were just not too used to it. Your lips quiver in a quiet sob as he gently pats your back, basking you in silence you wanted — just like before — just like you always thought of home.

Amidst between; between the warmth — the cold come peering in between as though the storm never ended in your mind. It was a comforting silence of home until it became a quiet storm yet you opted to stay on his embrace; even though you saw what the future beholds — atleast right now, you could hold him a little longer.

This ability is a curse. Despite its right to find itself in the comfort of truth and prevails things downhill, you never use your ability right, after all.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved 2024 © ddostoyevskyy. Do not repost without permission or plagiarized.

[imagineanime2022]

Family?

Fyodor Dostoevsky X Daughter!Reader

Word Count: 911

Requested: Anon

Request: Hey hey! I love your writing and i thought of a neat scenario or oneshot (whatever you prefer!) Let's say Fyodor from bsd has a daughter (don't know about age maybe 16-18?) That assisted with his crimes, like super loyal to him. But right before season 4, she betrays him for the agency? How would he react? Feel free to ignore if your aren't interested!

(👍 ͡�� ᴗ ͡❛)👍

Warning: Canon typical violence

Your father had sent you out with a mission, he wanted you to stab the Mafia boss, he had already set the bomb in the car that they planned to use, the police had been called and you were the one who was to receive them at the scene. You were someone he could trust with the mission but none of the opposing forces had seen you yet, if you were caught there would be no way to trace you back to him. “It’s your time to shine, little one.” He said as he ruffled your hair, you smiled at him. “What’s the mission?” You asked, you had done many missions before however the ones that you undertook meant that no one came out alive and usually didn’t see you coming, you never wanted to kill anyone but your father had raised you since you were young , he needed you to be useful and a killer is always needed, you never got a choice but it gave you somewhere to call home. “I need you to stab the boss of the Port Mafia.” He explained and you looked at him and nodded. “I assume that there is a plan for this?” You asked. “Always.” He winked before running you through the plan. “Do you want him dead?” You asked. “As it stands it does not matter whether he dies or not, however you should know that if you identity is revealed then you have no place here, you are here because no one knows how you are, keep it that way.” He ordered as you looked at him and nodded. “Of course father.” You nodded before leaving the room.

You walked over to Mori as he stood with Elise “What happened here?” You asked as you pulled out a notebook doing your best to convince them that they were talking to the real police. “We were just on the way out when it seems someone put a bomb in the car, lucky it went off before we got in.” Mori answered. “Have you seen anyone around? Do you have any enemies that would do this?” You asked. “I didn’t see anyone around here as for my enemies, it’s difficult to say, I’m a doctor and there are a lot of people who aren’t happy with the things I do and don’t do.” He explained. “And are either of you hurt?” You asked as you looked at them both, he shook his head. “No it seems that we are both fine.” He answered and you took that moment to stab him, you moved so quickly that none of them even knew what happened, you stabbed him and then disappeared into the crowd of people, you headed into an alleyway to change and head back to your father.

“I thought he would have done this himself.” The voice made you jump as you kept your back to the man behind you. “You're a bit young for a recruit.” You grit your teeth as you looked for somewhere to escape to but there was nowhere to go, you were trapped, if anything it looked like you needed to kill someone. “You don’t talk much, your father is quite the talker.” “How do you know who my father is?” You asked. “I know a lot of things, you see your father thinks that he’s kept a lot of secrets but he’s not as good as he thinks.” He explained “my name is Osamu Dazai. Has he ever told you about me?” “No.” You answered, Dazai looked at you. “Why don’t you turn around?” He asked. “I know what your face looks like, in fact-” Your phone ringing cut him off. “Hello?” You asked. “Why have you stopped?” Your father asked. “I’m dealing with something.” You answered. “What?” He asked. “Someone called Osamu Dazai.” You answered. “Kill him.” Your father said as you finally turned to look at him, the line went dead and you pulled the gun from your concealed holster although you were sure that he knew that it was there. “He told you to kill me?” He asked. “Yes.” You answered. “Why would he want that?” Dazai asked as he stepped forward. “Do you really think that you should?” “It doesn’t matter if I should, we serve our parents.” You answered, lifting the gun to point at Dazai. “Does he appreciate it? What about what you want?” Dazai asked. “It doesn’t matter.” You answered. “But it does, what about doing something that you want to do? Do you want to shoot me?” He asked. “Of course I don’t, but that’s my job.” You answered. “How about you work with me and by the end of it you have your freedom and I win this fight.” Dazai said. You looked at him, tears welling in your eyes. “There are others like you at the Armed Detective Agency, you won’t be alone and you can find your own friends and family.” “You don’t find family.” You argued and he shrugged. “Friends are a chosen family.” He said. “Take a chance for yourself.” “What do you want me to do?” You asked. “I want you to shoot me.” He smiled “you’ll feed me information, help me shut down his plan and then you're free to do whatever you want.” While no one would know of the deal made between the two of you for a long time but everyone heard the gunshot that finalised the agreement.

Request Here!!

[magicandmaybe]

gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies.

for @bowserbabe from your secret santa! hi, it's been wonderful getting to know you through the occasional asks i sent. i haven't written fanfiction before, although i do write original content soo you're going to be the first person to read this! any and all criticism is welcome, i'm just looking to start writing more from now on! i'm also super grateful for @tmsource for organizing this so i could stop putting off writing and start again! happy new year everyone:)

Teresa Lisbon was not in a good mood. This was made evident by the fact that she was pressing her thumb and index finger on her temple in a desperate attempt to soothe the headache plaguing her. With a defeated sigh, she opened her eyes and made herself look at the notes sprawled over her desk. This was going to take a while. 

~~~

The Texan humidity wasn’t doing Cho any favors. He silently cursed the faulty air conditioning in his office as he made his way to his old friend’s desk. 

“Any luck with those files?” He asked, hoping Lisbon had struck gold after they had all started reviewing the case files a few hours ago. She looked up, brows furrowed, as if there was a storm brewing right at the bridge of her nose. 

“Not yet. It looks like we’ve exhausted all our leads and the case still doesn’t make any sense,” she replied, her exasperation getting the better of her. 

The team’s morale had been at an all time low for the past few days; their latest case had left them grasping at straws for new leads. 

Cho attempted to change the subject, wondering how Abbott managed to handle days like this and still close cases while he was boss. 

“How’s the new recruit?” He asked her. 

Lisbon groaned. “Hopeless. I don’t know what he was taught at Quantico but it definitely wasn’t how to canvass an area. I had more lack sending Wylie out into the field to do his job.”

The agency has brought in someone to replace Vega a little after the incident at the diner. Both Cho and Lisbon exchanged a silent look of shared understanding. The loss of Vega had hit the team hard; in terms of both their efficiency and morale. 

Her unmatched enthusiasm was a tough act to follow, and the new recruit was far from capable. Lisbon knew that Cho had taken the loss personally, he was more hesitant now, more cautious. Vega had looked up to him and he knew it; and so he let the memory of her serve as a reminder of his duty towards the safety of his team and occasionally, the fact that she used to make him laugh. 

She had been irreplaceable but Cho still took to reassuring Lisbon. “He will learn. They all do.” He also made a mental note to have a chat with their new addition later on. 

“I know, I know,” Lisbon said impatiently; “But I still can’t get over this case. How can two seemingly unrelated people end up dead in three same place, at the same time and with the same toxins used to poison them runnjng through their blood?”

“Did forensic get back to you in the evidence found at the crime scene?” Cho asked. 

Lisbon shook her head. “A dead end. No DNA or prints at the scene. Everything was wiped clean. Toxicology is working on identify in the poison used but they say it looks like nothing they’ve ever seen before.”

Lisbon crossed her arms in annoyance. “We need fresh eyes. A new perspective. We need…” she trailed off not wanting to finish her sentence. 

“Jane.” Cho said. And there was the white elephant in the room; the unmissable Jane-sized hole at the agency. 

Lisbon had woken up one day to find her husband missing, with a note beside her saying that he had gone for a run and will catch up with her at work. He never showed up. 

She went home sick with worry only to find him by the lake with a canvas. He had been trying to paint one of the trees by the lake. 

He told her that he wanted to take a break from solving cases. So she had accepted it and they moved on. 

Except, the couch by the big, open windows remained empty and forlorn, as Lisbon and Cho looked over at it. 

“Go home.” Cho said. “Get some rest. We can start again tomorrow.” Lisbon tried protesting but was met with silence. 

~~~

The walk from the doors of the building she worked at to the nearest coffee shop was a short one, but Lisbon could feel her feet dragging behind her in defiance. Yet, it was the sight of a tuft of blond hair that led her to quicken her pace. 

“Jane?” She said in disbelief. Her husband turned, a coy smile dancing on his lips. 

“Teresa! Fancy seeing you here,” he said. 

“Oh please. You knew I was coming. Did Cho call you?”

“Well I happened to be in the neighborhood. And yes, Cho did call me. He said he was concerned.”

“Did he beg you to come back?”

“I could tell he was contemplating it.”

“And so you’ve been standing outside my favourite coffee shop for what, ten minutes?”

“Fifteen actually. Look, I bought you coffee.”

Teresa couldn’t help but smile as she plucked the he coffee cup out of his hands; and with that it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off her shoulders. 

~~~

As she sipped her coffee, Teresa stared at his bright blue eyes. She wondered if she will ever get used to seeing them, first thing in the morning. Would she still feel time slow down every time he smiled at her or made her laugh?

Jane looked up from his cup of tea with a questioning look. 

“What?”

It took everything in Teresa to stop herself from blushing as she replied, 

“Nothing.”

All he did was smile and pull out a book from the small bag he was carrying. 

“What’s that?” She asked. 

“A book I found at the library today,” he said. He looked at the cover before declaring that it was Pride and Prejudice. 

“Austen huh. I never took you for the reading type,” Teresa said, “Let alone a romantic.”

“Why, I’m incredibly romantic,” Jane said, pretending to be deeply offended. Yet, she noted, the smile never left his eyes. 

“I saw this on your bookshelf when we visited your old house a few years ago. The spine was cracked and the pages dog eared. You must have loved it,” he said. 

She remembered spending her nights rereading her mother’s old and battered copy, hoping she would be transported to Elizabeth Bennett’s world. She had never told him that. Yet he still knew. 

“For years I’ve let Red John dictate my every move. Chasing him was my purpose,” he continues, “Until it wasn’t.” 

Jane let out a small sigh and continued looking ahead, deep in thought. 

“So, what will you do?” Teresa asked him. She would follow him to the ends of the earth if she could, fate be damned. 

Jane didn’t hesitate when he replied. He’s as sure of this as he is as sure of her. 

“Whatever I feel like doing. I’ve got time.”

He paused and looked at her with a small smile. A smile which could win the hearts of many, which he only reserves for her. 

“We’ve got time.”

[sickficideas]

SO I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THAT KUNIKIDA HAS IBS?? 😭

I mean, this man is always so stressed and nervous, I imagine him coming back home after a long work day and curling up in bed and clutching his stomach because it feels so sore and nauseous... I WANT TO COMFORT HIM SO BAD.

ANON...ANON...!!!! I know this wasn't technically a request but you are such a genius I wrote a fic about this so fast LMAO I hope you like it <3

cast a spell || kunizai sickfic

ao3! emeto fic, mild nsfw themes at the end - please refer to this link for additional tags!

Kunikida really should have gone home early today. His stomach is not cutting him any slack.

He doesn't have the energy to change. All he can really manage is taking off his shoes and belt before he crawls into his bed. It's unlike him. He has a routine when he gets home. Light cleaning, checking the stock in his fridge, and various other things that his schedule details, but his body won't allow him to tonight. Any more time on his feet will have him hunched over the toilet again in no time.

His stomach has been sick since lunch. He isn't sure exactly what set it off today. He didn't try anything new. He was hoping it was a usual stress ache. He gets those so often that he's able to brush them off easily and keep working, but only about an hour before he left the agency, he found himself curled up beside the toilet in the bathroom and bringing up his still-digesting lunch, miserable and cradling his bloated and twisting tummy.

He's still sore and achy. He was in there for about a half over gagging and retching, long enough to get looks and questions when he walked back out into the office. He had to brush it off and pretend he felt better, but he didn't.

He groans quietly and he curls tighter on himself, arms wrapped around his middle. He thinks he should be used to this by now, but he isn't. It hurts, he's sore, he feels nauseous, he's almost certain he's going to throw up again tonight, and all he can do is be miserable about it until it happens.

Just as he's starting to let his exhaustion take over enough to relax, he hears his front door open, and footsteps start in the direction of his bedroom.

"Ugh…Dazai…?" he groans. He doesn't need to see or hear him. He knows those footsteps.

"The one and only," he sings, albeit more quietly than usual. Almost like he's being considerate. His footsteps stop, and although Kunikida has his back turned to his bedroom door, he imagines Dazai leaning against the frame. "Not feeling good, huh, Kunikida?"

"I'll be fine. Just need to lie down for a while," Kunikida mumbles. He feels his stomach churn uncomfortably and he has to shift to take some of the pressure off of it. He has some hope that he'll be able to finish his house chores later after some rest, but he almost never gets that lucky. Especially not with how sick his stomach has been today.

"Take any medicine?" Dazai asks.

"No," Kunikida huffs.

"Where is it?"

"I'm not telling you where my medication is, Dazai," Kunikida grumbles, forcing himself to sit up. Dazai makes a good point, though, he should probably take something to help with the nausea and pain before he rests.

"Aww, come on. I was just trying to help," Dazai whines. He's pouting in the doorway.

"I don't trust you," Kunikida mumbles as he stands up, taking a few deep breaths in the hope that it'll calm down his stomach enough for him to get up.

He walks by Dazai with a pained groan into the kitchen. The nausea is suddenly much worse, but he should have expected it to be. He's hoping he can just take some medicine and go rest, but by the time he makes it to the kitchen, he has to rethink his strategy. He burps into a closed fist, and then again, wet and acidic, bringing up a few chunks of his lunch to coat his tongue, just like last time.

"Uhhgh…uhrrp - "

He feels whatever is left in his stomach make a reappearance at the back of his throat, and he thanks whatever coincidence that forced him to stand up that he's next to the sink, because he bends over it with an arm around his middle to bring up his stomach contents with a sick splatter into it. His stomach twists and he groans from the pain, only to burp up another mouthful of bile, burning the back of his throat.

"You still have something left in there?" Dazai says, suddenly appearing behind him. He feels Dazai take his ponytail and lay something on the back of his neck that makes him shiver - a damp washcloth. It feels good. "Just get it up, you'll feel better soon."

It helps him focus his breathing a little bit. His breaths are interrupted by nauseous burps here and there, attempts to get something up, but he thinks he might be done. He spits out a wad of saliva into the sink with a pained moan before he straightens up, but as soon as he does, his glasses fall off of the top of his head and join his stomach contents in the sink, splashing up some at the sides of the sink.

He forgot he put those there. Of course this would happen to him. He almost reaches in to pick them up, but the thought of having to clean vomit off of his glasses just brings the nausea back in full swing, and he chokes up a wave of digested food and bile that he didn't know he had left in him, splashing on top of his glasses.

"Hhurk…ahh…"

He spits again with an opened-mouth moan, letting the last of the saliva-vomit mixture leave his mouth. He feels his stomach calm down, just enough for him to feel safe enough to step back from the sink.

"Where'd you learn that washcloth trick," Kunikida murmurs, rubbing at his temple. "Ugh…"

"I've never seen it actually help nausea before. But it's good for calming people down," Dazai says. 

A classic evasion of Kunikida's question, but he decides not to pry. He opens the fridge in search of his nausea medication - he spots it, using the door to hide it from Dazai's view, takes a swig out of the cap, and closes the door again.

"You don't wanna go see Yosano?" Dazai asks once the door is shut and they're face to face.

"There's not much she can do," Kunikida says with an exhausted sigh. She's tried, for sure. "It's just the same shit as usual."

Dazai pouts. "You think they'd have some sort of treatment for it by now."

"You'd think," Kunikida agrees. For now, he just has to deal with it. He has to conceal another burp and swallow back a bit of the liquid medicine that bubbles up with it. He just has to hope it stays down long enough to help his stomach feel a little better. "Have you eaten?"

"Nope. Just got here," Dazai says.

"There's leftovers in the fridge. Eat them," Kunikida says.

"You don't want them?" Dazai asks.

"I don't think I'll be able to stomach anything else tonight," Kunikida sighs. "Eat it, you didn't have lunch. And please don't touch any of the medication in there. I don't feel like gagging you to prevent an overdose."

"Okay, okay. Only 'cause you don't feel good," Dazai says, opening the fridge.

While he's up, he decides to change into something he can comfortably rest in. He's worried if he lays down the medicine will come right back up while he's lying on his side. He tries to remember to take deep breaths, it's the only thing that really keeps those sharp, uncomfortable twists of his stomach at bay. He hates throwing up, but he's hoping it stays just that, and doesn't continue with both ends tonight. He can only handle so much.

He crawls back into bed with a drawn-out moan, pressing against his bloated tummy. He takes one of his pillows and wraps his arms tight around it. It's comforting, for some reason.

Just as he's starting to shut his eyes again, he feels Dazai crawl into bed behind him and press a kiss against his temple.

"You sap," Kunikida groans.

"You sap. Look how red your ears got," Dazai teases, lightly tugging at the tip before he settles in next to him, ducking his head into the nape of his neck. "I'll be here, so tell me if you need anything. Also, I cleaned your glasses."

Kunikida thinks Dazai sounds just as tired as he is. He's not sure how useful he'll be, but he appreciates his presence. His warmth is comforting. It always has been. Dazai sneaks a hand under Kunikida's sleep shirt, just over his hip, and starts to rub circles.

"I'm surprised you're not bursting a blood vessel over not finishing your schedule today," Dazai teases.

"You have no idea how stressed I am about it," Kunikida mumbles, his stomach rolling at the thought that he'll just have more to do tomorrow. He groans and sucks in air through his teeth when Dazai's fingers press a bit too hard on a tender spot.

"Sorry, did that hurt?" he asks.

"Just - just a bit," he says as Dazai settles into a gentler rhythm. "It feels good, though."

"Good," Dazai says, "and don't stress yourself out. I'll help you catch up."

Kunikida has his doubts about that, but Dazai sounds sincere in the moment. He almost sounds sweet. Kunikida starts to have a miniature mental crisis about his situationship with Dazai. The way Dazai is pressed up against him, his forehead tucked into the back of his neck like it fits perfectly there, gently rubbing soothing circles into his aching, nauseous tummy. Sure, they've fooled around before, a bit more than they should, but Dazai doesn't seem to be looking for any of that right now. He's really just sticking around because Kunikida isn't feeling good.

Dazai makes him more stressed than he realizes. His cheeks heat up and his stomach lurches again, but he manages to keep it down swallowing the acid back. He's sure Dazai noticed, but he doesn't comment.

"Surprised you're not grossed out by all this," Kunikida murmurs, letting his eyes fall shut. He takes a hand to lay over Dazai's, silently guiding him a bit closer to his navel, and Dazai obliges. Kunikida doesn't bother holding back a moan.

"It's whatever. I feel like we see way grosser stuff at work," Dazai says casually.

"Fair enough," Kunikida says.

"You really like this," Dazai says through something that almost resembles a giggle. "I can hear your little moans in your throat here. It's cute."

"It feels good," Kunikida defends again. It feels like Dazai is rubbing out all of the sore spots in his tummy. "You're good at it."

"I'm glad it feels good," Dazai says, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. Kunikida feels his face flush. "Your poor tummy. I can really feel it bubbling in there…"

Dazai moves up from where he's been lying down, and Kunikida didn't realize he's taken his shirt off, although, he's still covered in bandages. He lays an ear up to Kunikida's stomach, which sends a shiver up his spine.

"Ohh…my poor Kunikida," he says in a pouty voice before he presses a gentle kiss up against it and lays back up against Kunikida's back.

"Your Kunikida?" Kunikida scoffs.

"Mhm…do you belong to anyone else?" Dazai against, nuzzling up into his neck. Kunikida has to admit, he's not sure if Dazai's doing this on purpose, but his stress and stomachache isn't what's at the front of his mind anymore. "I think we need to get some of these bubbles up…"

Dazai's gentle rubs start to get a little more rough, deeper, and Kunikida moans. He thinks he's asking him to burp, which he's not entirely sure he can do without bringing up bile into his mouth, but he'll try. He manages a few little ones, none sounding particularly wet, but after a few comes one that lasts a few seconds.

"Ugmhhuurp…" he swallows back another tiny splash of vomit that came back up and he lays his hand over Dazai's, "hurrk…ah - ahh, ugh, Dazai, not so rough…"

"Sorry, babe," Dazai says gently. "That was good, I think you needed that…"

He does feel a little bit better.

"Maybe," Kunikida groans, although, he can't deny he likes the way Dazai is acting with him right now. He can't admit it out loud, but it's obvious he already knows.

"Love you," Dazai murmurs quietly. His rubs start to slow down, but Kunikida doesn't mind. He's starting to fall asleep himself, and Dazai's really helped his nausea so far, somehow.

"Love you too," Kunikida murmurs quietly, surprised that his half-asleep brain is agreeing to something so quickly. As he starts to slip into a dream, he wonders if Dazai is casting a spell on him. "Thank you."

"Mmm…"

[saltymongoose]

Alright, the second part's finally here! As with the previous part, just lmk if there's anything here that needs to be changed and I'll get right on it. Other than that, I hope you enjoy it! :) <3

[Part 2] They Comfort Their Disabled!Transmasc!Partner During a Jobsearch ft. The Main 3 + 2BDamned

(TW: Mentions of Violence, Brief mentions of disability-based discrimination, extreme fluff.) [Part 1]

- [DEIMOS] -

“They fucking what-”

If you weren’t so disappointed, you’d almost consider Deimos’ level of outrage at your firing comical. He seemed like he was minutes away from going to your previous workplace himself to start something. He was so agitated, pacing around the room and even shifting in your embrace as he comforted you, his hands flexing against you and his knee bouncing restlessly.

He still has an angry pout on his face even as he cuddles you, muttering compliments to you and scathing insults to the people you used to work for. He’ll dial it down if you want, but his irritation at this still remains palpable. In fact, even after the initial day when you told him what happened he wouldn't drop the issue, going as far as bringing it up a few times to see if you changed your mind about him doing anything to retaliate for you.

(The first time it happened was just a day afterward when you'd decided to take a break from researching jobs with him. Deimos stole your attention from the show you'd just started by grasping both of your hands in his, to which you looked at him with slight confusion. He gave you a slightly crooked smile.

“I know we've been over it, but baby...are you sure you don’t want me to go take care of those pricks? It won't take that long, and I won't even do anything that bad, I swear." You scoffed. Yeah, like you'd trust the word of your boyfriend, a wanted murderer and notorious menace to society, not to do anything drastic after that show he put on yesterday. Although, that's not to say it wasn’t tempting. Especially with how Deimos was looking at you like he was about to beg you to let him do it. Unfortunately, though, you knew that it was more trouble than it was worth.

"Um.. no, hon...as much as I'd like that, I think that's going too far like we said before. But thank you, I appreciate that you'd do that. I love you." You cooed the last words out sweetly and accompanied them with a swift peck to the cheek, leaving Deimos grinning with pink-stained cheeks.)

In terms of actual comfort though, Deimos' MO tends to be a mixture of two things: distraction and physical touch, all blanketed with the same warm affection he's given you throughout your relationship. He knows you're busy with finding a job, but he's the one who convinces you to stop and take a breather from it to do something with him instead. Sometimes he'll even volunteer to read off the listings to you himself just so you can rest your eyes for a bit.

(He also makes fun of the listings that are more outlandish. A retail job for half of what he'd make at the Agency, and detailed with a complaint about how "ungrateful" the previous employee was for the opportunity? Excellent; prime material to use to make you laugh.)

While Deimos has always been very touchy around you, in this case it's heightened by a hundred; he always seems to be contacting you in some way, whether it be pressing your thighs together when you sit with him or covering your face with kisses in an effort to make you giggle. He just loves being close to you, and basking in the light of your grin and the love you have for him.

You won't notice it, but he also uses this closeness as an opportunity to look you over for any signs of exhaustion or pain. No matter how much you might try to "suck it up" or hide it, you won't be able to. Not around him. He's far too observant to miss it; those subtle signs of tiredness in your eyes and the sudden shifts in your posture whenever a wave of pain echoes through you are just a few of the tells he's attuned to catch.

He'll do all he can to get you what you need to manage your symptoms (including some medicine that Skinner recommended since he spoke to him about this before). He's surprisingly strong too, so if you want him to carry you anywhere because you're fatigued, all you need to do is ask. (Sometimes he'll also do it without any prompting too since he seems to have a sixth sense for when you'd like it. Luckily he has enough foresight to ensure you aren't holding anything fragile when he suddenly picks you up.)

Deimos' pyrokinesis makes him incredibly warm, and all the better to cuddle with whenever you're in pain. It's cozy, with his purrs and raspy whispers filling your ears as he rambles on about this and that, and his hands rub small circles over your skin when you press your face further into the curve of his neck.

(You smile against him when he presses a quick peck to your forehead, and you can practically feel his purring grow louder as a result. The soothing vibrations pick up and you can feel sleep beginning to tug at your eyelids. Your pain isn't completely gone, but having him so close and holding you tightly to him is so soothing that it becomes easier to get through.)

As for your job search itself, Deimos will volunteer to write up a program or two for you to "filter" out the less desirable offers you find, and to look for those you'd prefer. He has more than enough time to do so (thanks to Doc's generous offer of PTO), and he figures that the knowledge he has regarding tech would be best used to help you.

He's also asked if you want him to request (beg) 2BDamned to find a place for you in the SQ. It's an organization of mercenaries, but surely they could have a need for your skillset somewhere, right?

(You know that part of it is because Deimos wants to spend more time with you, since his job keeps you both apart most of the time. It's a topic that he brings up a lot, and although he makes his complaints humorous and words them as jokes, you can tell that it really bothers him. Then again, why wouldn't it? He absolutely adores you, and wanting to spend more time with his boyfriend is normal - especially in a place as dangerous as Nevada. It's just a shame that such domestic moments are very uncommon.)

Despite the unfortunate circumstances that brought Deimos home to you, he'd consider this break he takes to be well worth it. He's always loved spending time with you, and it's especially important that he does so when you need comfort. While he can't enact any ideas of revenge against your previous employers (as much as he'd love to), he'll use all of his energy to help you feel better instead.

You'll always know of Deimos' love for you through his actions and the words he speaks to you, although he can only hope that you understand the true depth of it. There's only so much he can convey through that alone, but he thinks that it's at least a small way to prove just how much he loves you. He's made it clear time and time again that he'll be there to support you, no matter what that entails. In a way, it sort of reminds him of a few of those famous words he's made a plan to say to you in the future - something with "for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer” and “in sickness and in health." Perhaps he’d have to do some research on jewelry stores after this is through.

- [SANFORD] -

Sanford’s initial reaction to your firing is burning anger, but also one that’s tempered by his need to comfort you in the wake of such an awful situation. He isn’t as impulsive as some others, and he recognizes that helping you is the main thing he should be focusing on at the moment.

He doesn’t say very much, other than the short praises and sweet nothings he might whisper while you bury yourself in his arms, pressing your face against his neck to muffle your cries. He listens to you when you vent about what happened, the frown on his face deepening with every word of how cruel your employer was and why they had the audacity to fire you.

When you trail off after ranting, he'll use the moment to praise and reassure you of how excellent of a person he knows you are and just how much you mean to him, gently wiping the tears from your cheek with his thumb as he looks you in the eye. His voice is low and thick with emotion, and he knows that if he dwells on his thoughts for too long he might get too emotional - but you just mean so much to him, and you need to know it now more than ever. That you're worth far more than your previous employer could ever know, and that they took you for granted for foolish reasons. He wants you to know just how foolish they were, and how wonderful you are in reality. 

("You...you really mean that?" You asked, and Sanford felt a sharp stab of pain in his chest once he saw the way your eyes glistened.

He nodded resolutely. "Every word." He knows you might not completely believe him, but that was alright. He'd repeat it to you as many times as he needed, if only so you could get a glimpse of how he viewed you; how you deserved to be seen. You’re the love of his life; the person he adores above all else, and he could spend near infinite hours pointing out every single little detail that he loves about you, from the way your nose crinkles up when you laugh to the way light reflects in your eyes. He only wishes he had all the time in the world to tell them to you.)

These little talks are frequent in this period, when you spend your time looking for a job while he takes care of more menial things on the other side. Though most of the time you eventually end up cuddled close together, with him keeping one of his arms around your shoulders while his other hand clasps your hip. You rest your head on his shoulder as you converse, with him keeping a watchful eye on you for any discomfort and pain while you try to find the words to express your thoughts.

It's never hard for you two to speak to each other like this, as you're completely open with each other, and being so close like this just makes it easier to spill talk. It's probably because cuddling with your boyfriend means that all of your senses are filled with everything distinctly him, from his scent to the sound of his voice and the warmth of his body; it's the most comfortable you think you've ever been. You feel safe with Sanford, and you know that nothing you could possibly do would push him away. It makes his comforting gestures all the more impactful for you, and it's easy to accept any help from him.

(However, his focus on comforting you doesn’t mean he’ll just let what happened go, mind you. He doesn’t care about your ex-employer enough to go through the effort of destroying them himself; they don’t deserve the time necessary to do that. Although, if a swarm of Zeds was seen frequenting their area, or the bandits get further into the city in that sector, then he’ll find an excuse not to help them if asked. Sanford is usually nicer than most other mercs, but he still isn’t a “good” man. Sympathy from him ends where any mistreatment of his partner begins, no matter how dire the consequences to other people are. Besides, dire is what they deserve here.)

Sanford has always been an attentive boyfriend; even before you got fired, he’d made it clear that he would always be there to help you out with anything you need. Now that you’re busy looking for a job, this simply means that instead of cooking for you every once in a while (in other words, when he was finally back from his missions), he’d do so every day. It means going out to fulfill minor errands and cleaning, doing laundry, etc. He essentially plays house husband so that you can handle your own business, and he does so without even letting you know he’s made it part of his routine.

(Every so often, you’ll look up from the paperwork and resumes you’ll be working on with the realization that there’s something else you should be doing; dishes to be washed, trash to take out, laundry to put in, only to take a few steps to find nothing there and the task already completed. The small, knowing grin that Sanford tries to hide is enough of an answer as to what happened.)

You shouldn’t feel guilty about this either, he’s doing this just because he wants to assist you this way. This is the same regarding your disabilities as well; if you need anything, no matter how trivial you might consider it, he’d do it for you. Any amount of effort is worth it as long as it keeps you comfortable and happy.

He’ll get you your medication without any fuss or complaint (no matter how far he has to go to retrieve it), and he’ll also schedule any appointments with your doctor if you need him to. He’s also spoken to both 2BDamned and Skinner to get any medical advice that could help you, more so the latter because of his knowledge of such things. However, if you need someone more specialized, he’ll ask Doc to do some networking and find someone to help if necessary.

(Speaking of 2BDamned, Sanford also asked him for some more time off so he could be around to assist you for longer, which the man was quick to give. Sanford might not be the most open about his personal life, but being around him has allowed Doc to glean quite a lot about his love for you. 2B is not very sentimental, but he knows that you both deserve to be together at this time. That and the fact that Doc can see how Sanford brightens up whenever you’re a topic in conversation shows him that the grunt’s affection for you far surpasses whatever drive he has for job at the time anyway. He has no reason to keep your boyfriend from you, so he won't, and he even asks Sanford to give you his good wishes before he departs.)

If you take a look at one of the small notebooks Sanford keeps, you’d find a general list of reminders for himself that includes the aforementioned medical information, in addition to the new “chores” he does for you. Even if he can’t remember the specifics off of the top of his head (as is the case with some of the more complex details like the exact milligrams of medications you take and where to get them in an emergency), it’s still important to him, so he writes it down just in case. You might think of it as incredibly thoughtful if you ever found out, but he’d just consider it part of the basic responsibilities of being a boyfriend.

(Although he’d split things up again if you ask, he hopes you know that he can do whatever you need him to so you can focus on your career. (Which you definitely do by now, no question about it.) You need some time to find another place to work, so he’ll carve it out for you in whatever way possible.)

As for helping you find a job, he’ll ask around the SQ for any news of good places to work, and he does find out quite a lot from 2BDamned's other field agents who frequent other places. While some of it can’t be that applicable to you, depending on your chosen profession, you accept all the news with a smile and a few words of gratitude (perhaps even a kiss to Sanford’s cheek, if you really want to fluster him with your thanks).

He's even asked you if you wanted him to find you a place within the SQ, though he'd ensure it's an administrative/clerical job first since he can't stomach the thought of you being in danger. Additionally, if you want him to look for something more specific, all you need to do is ask, and he'd be more than happy to go along with it.

(You'd also notice that all of the offers he brings up to you pay far more than you were making previously, and are in far safer places than those he's acquainted with. Sanford might long to be close to you so you can be together more often, but he isn't stupid; being near his division in the SQ means being closer to potential conflict with the AAHW and his organization’s other enemies, and he refuses to put you in that situation. You already have enough on your plate with this, and he'd rather take the worry of distance than almost-definite danger.)

Sanford seeks to provide you with whatever you need, no matter what it is. He wants to prove his reliability to you, so you know that you always have him in your corner, ready to support you at all costs. You're his boyfriend (and perhaps you'll even be more than that someday); you deserve someone that can give you the world. While Sanford knows that the state of Nevada is uncertain, one of the only things that he knows will always stay the same is the overwhelming amount of love he holds for you.

He'll always be yours, just as you're his. Regardless of what you both go through in the future, he'll make sure that he's always there to help you because that's what love means to him. It's security and comfort, and the knowledge that the other person is always going to be a safe haven for you. It's something he's never really spoken about with you, but you've always understood it deep down. It's shown in how he takes care of you, and how there's always an intrinsic feeling of trust with him. In situations like this one, where you need help while getting back on your feet, so to speak, it only becomes more evident. Sanford’s always felt like you represent home to him, and with how he insists on showing his love for you in any way he can, and how you share the deep feelings of love he holds for you, you’d say the same about him.

[blluespirit]

EPISODE 7 LETS GOOO

Prev episode thoughts: Episodes 1-3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6

Good Stuff:

Okay but Jee and Zuko finally bonding only for their new friendship to be immediately used against him when Zhao tricks Jee into telling Zuko about his plans to take him to court for treason... it's so good and by good I mean tragic and heart-wrenching. Zuko and Jee besties so true

I love you, Yue. My baby girl.

Absolutely great that they let Yue break off the arranged marriage with Hahn. I'm so happy they let Yue have some agency in her own life - although it would have been nice to have that be on-screen? Give Yue a mini arc? Or maybe I'm wishful thinking. It's not like they have three episodes to cover this like they did in the original.

Okay, Yue being able to visit the spirit world in her dreams is quite cool, and Sokka and Yue’s talk in Kuruk’s shrine was very sweet

love seeing Sokka defend his sister against Pakku and his misogyny 😌😌 that's a really nice change to see the siblings rallying together.

I'm happy they changed Pakku changing his mind from seeing Kanna's betrothal necklace to him changing his mind because all the other waterbenders marvel at Katara's skill. Feels less like a cop out.

Cool to see more Kuruk as well!!!

Katara and Pakku fight was fine - not as good as the og. I rewatched both fights like three times before writing this lol.

things that could be better:

Aang: I had a vision! you're in danger. arnook: yea i know :) very pointless thing to have them just know. What was the point then. why can't character Not Know Things

I... am not sure if I'm convinced if having Azula be introduced this early is a good move. I feel like most of her personality from the original series is not here at all. I don't see that ruthless, and calculating edge to her. She is far more on edge and angry, and way more emotional. I miss og Azula who's intro was: Maybe you should worry less about the tides, who've already made up their mind about killing you, and more about me, who's still mulling it over. Where is she?!

What is the point of Ty Lee and Azula being here at all in this point in the story.

Katara does not have anywhere NEAR the passion that she has in the original. The Katara I know is the one who refuses to apologise to Pakku after he talks down to her and challenges him to fight right then and there, knowing she'll lose, but not caring because fuck that guy. She knows she's a warrior, and she's not going to let some crusty old man get in her way. She goads him into fighting her by playing on his own misogyny - I'll be outside if you're man enough to fight me! We just didn't get to see any of that so far. They cut out so many iconic Katara moments - which I understand with the limited time - but they've failed to make up for it. Where's the Katara who single-handedly rallies together all the Earthbenders on the ship/prison to unite against the Fire Nation?? Where is the girl who refuses to let anyone walk over her? Who is reckless and compassionate???

Overall, I enjoyed this episode despite my bitching lol. Most of the things I didn't like are issues that spread across every episode that I was hoping would make sense but now I cannot unsee. But this episode itself is enjoyable!

[imagitory]

Review: The Little Mermaid (2023) [SPOILERS]

Hey, everyone! So I’ve finally seen the much-anticipated live action remake of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, featuring Halle Bailey as our finned leading lady! (For my review of the original Little Mermaid I wrote a while back, you can click here!)

For those of you who wish to avoid spoilers, I will admit -- for someone who has never been a huge fan of these Disney LA remakes, this film is definitely one of the strongest I’ve seen thus far. There’s a lot I could see someone enjoying in this, and there were honestly changes made to the original film’s storyline and characters that I really, really liked. Even with those changes, though, there are a lot of things I don’t like about the finished product, which prevent me from calling this a great movie, most of which involve the characters surrounding our two romantic leads. I would definitely encourage you all to see this movie, because there obviously was a lot of hard work put into it and the two leads in particular deserve your support -- but if you are fans of the original Little Mermaid, it’s very possible that you will have very strong opinions about certain choices made, not all of them positive.

Without further ado...let’s dive right in!

The Good!

+Halle Bailey as Ariel. Although I would’ve preferred if she’d had a hotter temper the way Ariel in the original is depicted, she still has all of the curiosity, wonder, recklessness, courage, and conviction that our favorite little mermaid is supposed to have. You truly feel how much Ariel loves the human world and wants to be part of it, just like in the original. Any of those racists who crowed about Halle Bailey only being picked as part of some “woke” corporate decision are truly eating their words -- unlike Emma Watson, who was clearly cast as Belle for very surface-related reasons rather than for any vocal talent, Halle shines every time she’s on screen, and ESPECIALLY when she sings. Good friggin’ JESUS, does this girl have some amazing pipes!!

+ERIC!! OH MY GOD, ERIC!! As sad as I am to admit it, I’ve always found Eric to be rather bland, as Disney heroes go. Sure, he’s a nice enough guy who isn’t full of himself and likes dogs, but he’s still rather “genEric,” if you’ll excuse the pun. But here? Here, the story truly accents that he and Ariel are kindred spirits -- soulmates, in the truest sense! Eric feels just as trapped by his mother’s narrow world view as Ariel does by Triton’s -- he longs to explore new worlds and get to know new cultures just as much as she does -- he loves learning and discovering and breaking rules just as much as she does...he even has his own “grotto” where he keeps his treasures!! (I actually gasped out loud in delight when I saw that panning shot of Eric’s study! It’s just like the one of Ariel’s grotto, right down to the skylight!!) 

+Partially because of the heightened focus on Eric’s character, Eric and Ariel’s relationship was infinitely more interesting to me! I loved them connecting over learning new things in Eric’s study, even before going into town together -- it really highlights one of the best things about Ariel and Eric’s relationship in the original film, which is that even without her voice, Ariel is strong, passionate, charming, and likable enough that Eric can see her heart clearly and falls in love with her regardless. Even without her voice, Ariel’s agency shines through, and so do her feelings for Eric and the human world overall. Halle and Jonah’s interactions were overflowing with chemistry, and you got to really see Eric and Ariel falling in love in a convincing way, even despite the limited time frame. 

+Ariel clutching statue!Eric’s broken hand! Oh gosh, the symbolism of that, how I love it!! Like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, all Ariel really wants is “someone to understand” -- that, excuse me, human connection is a longing she can hardly put into words, and it’s just heart-wrenching. 

+Ariel and Eric stargazing and Ariel using the constellation Aries to tell Eric her name was such clever writing, as well as absolutely precious. It’s choices like this that really prove to me how much Eric and Ariel’s relationship really meant to the screenwriters and how sincere they wanted it to feel. 

+The colors were great! I was really worried from what I saw in the trailers that this film was going to be bland and unsaturated in its visuals, but I’m so glad they fixed them in time for the premiere, because they look so much better. The mermaids’ coloring in particular was really very pretty. 

+The costumes by Colleen Atwood were pretty good too, even though far more understated than a lot of her other work. I even enjoyed the cool “fishy” cape that King Triton wore in his first appearance, though he never used it again, which was kind of disappointing. 

+I’m honestly glad the film cut Les Poissons. The whole scene from the original was kind of uncomfortable and unnecessary, and its exclusion was a welcome change, even if it did result in Sebastian sounding much brattier when he complained to Ariel that she should appreciate “all that he’s done” for her. 

+Every time Halle sang was amazing, period, full stop. Even Jonah, Daveed, and Melissa did pretty well with their songs, though I’ll talk about issues I had with them later. 

+The effects for the merpeople and environments overall were quite well done! The storm scene was super suspenseful, even with prior knowledge of what was going to happen, and I really enjoyed the camera work that created this feeling of floating and weightlessness in the merpeople when they were underwater. 

+I thought the ending where Triton and the other merpeople came up in a show of solidarity for Ariel before her and Eric’s sea voyage was sweet. I liked it in the original when they came for Ariel and Eric’s wedding too, but I kind of liked Triton expressing vocal support for his youngest daughter and the rest of mer-kind appearing too, so that both worlds -- on land and under the sea -- came together as one to support their two royals as they embarked on this new adventure together to hopefully improve the lives of all of their subjects. 

+Max is a good dog. But hey, he’s always been a good dog. I especially love how he and Ariel are kind of buddies from the get-go. 

The Not-So-Good...

+Scuttle. Oh my GOD, was she insufferable. I was worried when I first heard Scuttle was going to be played by Awkwafina, who -- I’ll just be honest -- I don’t really care for as an actor and don’t find very funny or likable...but I had no idea they were actually going to make her SING, maybe aside from that one little bit Scuttle had in Kiss the Girl. But not only did Scuttle make a really uncomfortable pop culture reference when trying to serenade Eric and at one point obnoxiously go off-key in Kiss the Girl when I was actually somewhat enjoying the harmonies, but she then goes on to get her OWN number. Yeah, a WHOLE SONG where she can be completely obnoxious. I never thought I would detest a song the great Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote, but Awkwafina sure managed to make The Scuttlebutt impossible to sit through. Not even Daveed Diggs could make it better for me when he jumped in halfway through. Couple this with a “realistic” design that can’t emote anything except “singing bass mounted on your wall” and it’s little wonder I feel nothing but revulsion toward this character. 

+Flounder! Not only did his “realistic” design make him much less colorful and cute, but his lack of expression completely counteracted Jacob Tremblay’s sadly only mediocre acting performance, making the entire character dull and lacking in pathos. This is supposed to be Ariel’s BEST FRIEND -- the one character who she trusts enough to confide in, even if he doesn’t understand her obsession with human things and is a total scaredy-cat, all because he loves her just the way she is -- and yet you feel nothing for either Flounder or his relationship with Ariel in this movie. Yes, perhaps it makes more sense for Ariel to find Eric’s statue and bring it back to her grotto herself than Flounder somehow smuggling into her grotto for her with no explanation...but the action showcased how much Flounder supports Ariel, even when he’s scared of humans himself and wishes Ariel wouldn’t break the rules all the time. Here, Flounder doesn’t show even half that amount of caring for Ariel’s feelings -- partly because his animation won’t let him, and partly because the screenwriters never let him express it.

+Sebastian. Now I’ll be fair -- Daveed Diggs does have a few good moments in this movie as Sebastian, mostly in the singing sphere, but he still has none of the dynamic personality the original Sebastian does. Part of this is because -- like Flounder and Scuttle -- his design doesn’t let him emote enough, but it’s also because the writers almost never let him express anything besides cynicism or dry humor. They even take away Sebastian’s love and passion for music by just making him Triton’s Major Domo, rather than the lead conductor of the royal orchestra! So yeah, Sebastian in this movie is pretty much just “under-the-sea Zazu.” The few times Sebastian tries to express sincere emotion in this movie, it falls flat, because of the poor direction Daveed’s been given. There’s a lovely exchange from the original that they try to recreate in this movie where Sebastian finally stops doing what Triton would want and agrees to help Ariel, but Daveed’s delivery is so stilted that it doesn’t have any of the impact it should. Another time, when Ariel is on the rocks despairing about Eric choosing Vanessa, Sebastian starts to show some sympathy, saying that he’s seen Ariel and Eric together and he’s convinced they’re supposed to be together...only for the monologue to get crashed into by Scuttle trying to move the plot along before we can let any emotion in the scene congeal! Sebastian is one of the characters that goes through the biggest evolution in this movie, and that arc falls completely flat in this film, thanks to a bad combination of unemotive CGI animation and poor writing and acting choices. 

+Triton. If Sebastian’s arc fell flat, Triton’s really didn’t work for me. Half of what makes Triton’s storyline and by extension Ariel’s so meaningful is that Triton starts off as an objectively pretty poor father to his youngest daughter, but he ends up learning the error of his ways and becomes a better man and a better father by accepting his daughter was right and learning to let her go. At the beginning of the story, Triton is furious because his youngest daughter misses a concert where all of his children were set to sing a song heralding him (“Oh, we are the daughters of Triton, great father who loves us and named us well”). Later he consistently shouts Ariel down when she tries to explain that humans aren’t all bad. He interrupts her more than once, actively refusing to listen, and his temper is violent enough that Ariel finally just has to swim off choking back tears, running to her treasures for some semblance of comfort. In this version, though? Triton never gets violent or aggressive in the beginning -- he acts a bit pompous, perhaps, when greeting his daughters, and he’s cross when Ariel’s not there...but when she arrives, he never yells at her. He never rages at her. He never even interrupts her! And yet he still acts all guilty when she leaves (”was I too hard on her?”) and Ariel acts like he’s being so unfair to her. And then, at the drop of a hat and while expressing nothing but raw hurt rather than volatile rage, Triton destroys Ariel’s treasures “for her own good.” Worse, unlike Triton in the original, he doesn’t even spare the slightest look back at Ariel or look the least bit sorry about seeing how much he’s hurt his daughter. That’s somehow even MORE cruel than the original version, even though earlier he’s depicted as so much more reasonable! Ariel expresses disappointment that Triton just “won’t listen,” a sentiment echoed later by Eric about his own mother -- but honestly, in both Triton’s and the Queen’s cases, they weren’t aggressive enough for the parallel to work or for Triton’s arc in accepting his daughter’s choices to have much of an impact. 

+Ursula. It wasn’t really that Melissa McCarthy was bad, persay -- she’s certainly better than most of the other LA remakes’ villains in overall presence and performance...but I’m sorry, she’s still just way less fun to hate than the original! For one, her constantly talking about her plan to herself and making it super obvious what she’s doing the entire time got old really fast -- Ursula in the original was perfectly willing to keep some of it under wraps until the end where it was necessary to make everything clear, and I think it made her come across as much more intelligent and crafty. There’s also a part toward the end where she just goes completely nuts looking for a potion ingredient for about thirty seconds that was utterly pointless. But the thing that saddens me most is what they cut out of Ursula’s character. The part of Poor Unfortunate Souls when Ursula tries to gaslight Ariel into thinking appearances are all that matter and “it’s she who holds her tongue who gets her man” may have been deleted in a misguided attempt to not promote that message (seriously, was anyone actually taking romantic advice from Ursula the Sea Witch??), but in truth, it showcased so much about Ursula’s character -- how, truthfully, she’s all about appearances, more than anything internal like one’s heart, morals, soul, or intelligence...and so she can’t fathom Ariel and Eric connecting over anything that isn’t superficial. Ursula being Triton’s sister is also, quite frankly, an idea I wish that was left discarded on the development floor. I don’t like the idea either here or in the musical, and here I dislike it even more, because at first it seemed like the filmmakers were going to reveal that the reason Ursula got exiled was related to what happened to Ariel’s mother or maybe even why Eric was found washed up on the shore by the King and Queen (since it’s said Ursula liked causing “trouble” between humans and merpeople), only to not deliver on it at all. Ariel also claims Ursula’s “nothing like how Triton described her” -- girl, HOW did he describe her, then, because she’s shady AF??

+Ariel using the sunken ship’s bow to kill Ursula instead of Eric. Look, Disney, I’m all for a strong female lead, but you already HAVE one, in Ariel. There’s nothing wrong with Ariel needing to be rescued too, now and again. In the original, Ariel and Eric trade saving each other’s lives, and it’s honestly kind of adorable -- in this film where they’re even more like peers, it would’ve been a great choice. And honestly, Eric saving Ariel would’ve meant so much more even in this film, and it all comes back to Triton’s arc again. After Triton is resurrected (I’m sorry, the film really did NOT make clear that that was even possible, so that felt like a major deus ex machina), Ariel tells her father than she “had help” in saving his life. How much more would that have been true if ERIC had been the one who stabbed Ursula, or that Eric and Ariel steered the ship together? Hell, how much more would it have proven that Triton’s world view was wrong? The whole reason he supposedly hates humans -- to the point that he’s made the seas so turbulent that Eric’s kingdom is pretty much isolated from the rest of the world -- is because a human killed his wife. Imagine how much the Sea King’s narrow world view would open, if a human killed his wife, and yet a different human saved his daughter as well as him. It would prove what Ariel told Triton earlier on -- merpeople aren’t all the same, so why would humans be? It would also foster good feelings between Eric and Ariel’s father, the way Eric’s mother accepted Ariel at the end! in the original, we see Eric bow to Triton and Triton inclining his head respectfully in return, but in the new version, Eric looks nervous when Triton appears. 

+The new music...and you know, it breaks my heart to say this. I love Lin-Manuel Miranda’s work, but none of the new songs he wrote for this movie were that memorable, to me. Even Eric’s new song, which is pretty much Evermore fused with Her Voice from the Little Mermaid musical, left me kind of cold, even with how happy I was to hear a Disney prince sing in a LA remake WITHOUT autotune for a change! Goddamn it, Mena Massoud and Dan Stevens!!. Even if you do end up liking them, though, I feel that -- like Speechless in the Aladdin remake -- these new songs don’t blend well with the rest of the songs from the original movie, nor does the score do a good job blending the two disparate styles together. Even though I like the opening scene for what it is, something was really lost in not using the score to communicate time period and location the way the original Little Mermaid score does. Fathoms Below does a better job introducing the sailing ship Eric is on and the culture of the humans on it than the opening scene does on its own -- even though the song is used later when Ariel goes up to the surface, the impact of it being used to set the stage is lost. It’s like having Vuelie first pop up in Frozen during Elsa’s coronation, or like having The Circle of Life first play in The Lion King when Mufasa is teaching Simba about kingship -- the song might be good wherever you first hear it, but its placement setting the stage for the story we’re about to hear is important in both leaving an emotional impact on your audience and in helping tell the story. And considering how much Lin-Manuel obviously loves The Little Mermaid, I’m a little surprised he or Alan Menken didn’t emphasize to the other filmmakers just how much power a strong opening number can have. 

+For all of the songs added, there were quite a few places I wish there’d be more! Even if you didn’t want to use Daughters of Triton, couldn’t we at least have some new song where Ariel’s sisters could shine? What about Triton himself? If Only is a beautiful quartet from the musical featuring Sebastian, Triton, Eric, and Ariel -- why not use that, or write something new in that vein? Why couldn’t we have that fun little reprise Vanessa sings in the original about Ursula’s plans, or maybe a variation, since she already crowed out her plan to the audience so early on? Why not have a reprise of that mediocre song of Eric’s when he decides to stop seeking out his mystery girl and tell Ariel how he feels? Where’s our grand musical finale where Ariel and Eric finally get their happily-ever-after?! The very last song in this movie, excluding Under the Sea being reprised in the credits, is Ariel’s second sad reprise after Eric chooses Vanessa!!

+There was also a shocking lack of ensemble singing, in this. Under the Sea and Kiss the Girl are supposed to be dynamic group numbers, largely because Sebastian’s showmanship bleeds out of his every pore and makes other sea creatures flock around him with little effort -- but in this, only Ariel sings along with Sebastian in the first one, while only Flounder and Scuttle sing along with Sebastian in the second. It makes both songs way less exciting than they should be. Add to this that in Under the Sea, the filmmakers almost never bother to show any of the fish discussed in the song on screen, and you’re left with a much smaller and less dynamic performance. 

+I wish Ariel’s sisters could’ve played more of a role! It seemed at several points the filmmakers wanted them to be more involved in the family dynamic, such as when they remind Ariel she was too young to remember their mother’s death, but they honestly don’t do very much or leave much of an impact personality-wise. 

+The Hans Christian Andersen quote at the beginning sadly ended up completely meaningless in the film, since Triton cries upon saying goodbye to Ariel at the end. You can’t even act like the film was trying to “prove the quote wrong” either, because Triton’s character arc was given so little focus in the story and was so lacking in power compared to the original. 

+Ursula’s little secret proviso about Ariel not remembering that she has to kiss Eric...honestly, I don’t think it added a damn thing! Ariel already knows just kissing Eric isn’t enough -- it has to be a Kiss of True Love. The filmmakers went out of their way with the changes to the lyrics of Kiss the Girl to make it clear that Eric should only kiss Ariel when it’d be consensual -- why can’t it be the same way here? Ariel doesn’t want to kiss Eric when he wouldn’t want it either! Even better, why not have Ariel overhear Eric talking about his mystery girl to Grimsley, to the point that Ariel is left wondering if Ursula was right, that the only reason he’s even obsessed with her is her voice, and he didn’t even get the core of what she was singing to him? Not her wanting to connect with him, not her longing to be part of his world? It would give her all the more reason to worry when Vanessa shows up that Eric never truly cared at all and NOT suspect that something’s amiss!

+On the note of Ariel’s voice, there’s special focus put on Ariel supposedly “saving Eric with her song,” but...how?? She saved him by helping him choke up that water and then sang to him as he was waking up! If her voice is supposed to be magical, good, but the filmmakers really should’ve explained that better, because it would definitely give further justification for why Ursula wanted Ariel’s voice and for why she thought Ariel couldn’t charm Eric without it. Perhaps Triton could’ve blown up at Ariel about it, if Sebastian told him everything -- maybe he’d rage that humans never forget a siren’s song, that they’re too simple-minded to fight against them -- that Eric would hunt her down like an animal obsessively or some nonsense? Maybe we could even then have Eric resisting Vanessa’s influence the entire time too, so as to prove this idea wrong -- however strong and magical Ariel’s voice is, Eric’s heart is pure, and his connection with Ariel is strong enough that learning she’s disappeared wakes him up enough to try to fight back against Vanessa’s spell. Maybe even Scuttle could’ve realized that Eric was under a spell by seeing it first-hand -- seeing Eric resist Vanessa’s stolen voice, only to get overpowered temporarily with enough singing! All Vanessa needs is a few hours, after all -- if she can stay right by Eric until the sun sets, she wins. 

Overall, the film was kind of a rollercoaster for me. There were parts I was cheering and smiling at, and others I was cringing and frowning at. There were some real high notes, especially regarding our two main leads -- but there were also quite a few sour ones as well. Ariel’s relationship with Eric was developed beautifully, to the point I ship them even more than in the original film...but as a consequence, all of Ariel’s other relationships seemed to suffer. Her friendships with Flounder and Scuttle -- her relationship with Sebastian -- her strained relationship with her father -- even her hero-villain dynamic with Ursula -- all of them are considerably weaker and less engaging and emotional than in the original film, both from a writing and performance standpoint. And yeah, I’m not going to lie, that really hurts the finished product for me. I understand wanting to make likable heroes and romantic couples, but without just as likable of a supporting cast framing them, a movie, show, or even story is just not going to be as likable. I definitely think this live-action adaptation is better than a lot of other ones I’ve seen, and as I said, I strongly recommend seeing this and making your own conclusions...but personally, I can only really celebrate certain aspects of this film, and the original Little Mermaid will always remain my personal preference. I wish Halle Bailey and Jonah Hauer-King the best in everything they do and I can’t wait to see how their careers progress...but sorry, I don’t think the seaweed is greener in this movie’s lake. However fun some of this film’s twists were, I’m happier swimming in more animated waters. 

Overall Grade: C+

[feitansballsack]

part one of a fanfic I haven't had the energy to finish yet... #genshitcringe

Al Haitham sat at his desk in the precinct. His legs were propped on it, and he lounged in his chair. Anyone that didn't know the young detective would spout nonsense that he was showing disrespect to this area of law, however those who sat near him knew better. If anyone was dedicated to the work they did here, Haitham was more so. He became a detective at a very young age in comparison to his colleagues, he still was only about 23 or so. Despite his young age, Haitham actually appeared to be in his late 20's, with is sharp jaw and tall figure. Even if this man was their inferior experience wise, Haitham makes up for it in his raw and unfiltered curiosity and case cracking skills.

The whole reason Haitham was able to get into such a detective agency in the first place was his feat of solving unsolved cold cases, in minutes. Whispers surrounded the detective no matter where he went, just changing based on the locations.

Al Haitham must think he's better than the rest of us because he solved a few old cases.. Al Haitham isn't as good as everyone thinks he is… Al Haitham might be a good detective but he's a real piece of work.. AL Haitham looks so strong. Who knows what he's hiding under that cloak… He's heard just about everything there is with this line of work, despite his short time working in it. Haitham knows he's a good detective, that's something he's always been confident in. Even as a child he's been able to solve mundane cases for others, where their cat went to, who stole the envelopes from their mailbox, why their husbands were coming home later and later just to be found with another woman in the end. Sure, Haitham doesn't have the amount of experience as the others, but he's been analyzing his entire life. You can ask his mother how he looked when he was birthed, and you would be told that Haitham looked her up and down and gagged. (His mother did eventually show her true colors that Haitham had detected from such a young age, leaving Haitham to grow up only under his father's parenting at 5 years old.)

None of this matters now, Haitham tries to reassure to anyone who knows and is concerned, he claims that if anything it's made his resolve stronger. The one case that Haitham struggles to understand is why she left them, but it's not one he has an interest to solve. Another thing that the other detectives at the agency have come to learn is Al Haitham will not take any cases that don't cause a peak of interest in him. He's visited sites before and just walked off, leaving the boring and easy cases to the other detectives, letting them struggle with it for a bit. Every detective has had to come to Haitham at least once on these cases, and he'll only ever offer a hint. This hint may help or may not, it always depends on if they can decipher the clue.

Now, thinking back to a especially boring case that his colleagues still struggled in, he chuckled to himself. The leading detective on that case, Mitch, couldn't solve the case or decipher Al Haitham's clue. Mitch has never liked Haitham, often gossiping about him in the small coffee corner they have set up in the agency, spreading rumors of how Haitham has climbed the ranks so fast, and points out his personality. Haitham is not exactly the 'nicest' of people to work with, that anyone knows. He's blunt and harsh, and if you're putting him behind in his work he won't hesitate to throw you away. That's just how he's always been.

"Al Haitham!" He was startled out of his thoughts, although he would never show it. Looking up from his position, he sees his commanding officer, Agent Carper, with a case file. Haitham tilted his head, already curious. It's not often he will get a case file sent directly to him like this. "New case for ya, I bet it'll peak your interest considering it was sent over here from our main office just for you." Now this truly was curious indeed. Sent from headquarters, just for the Al Haitham? A smile teased at his mouth, a case that not even they could solve it seems.

"Tell me, Carper, what do you know about this case before I accept this invitation from HQ?" As interested as Haitham was, it's only natural for him to be suspicious that they're only doing all of this to get him to solve a boring and annoying case, tricking him into accepting before knowing what he's getting into.

"Nothing."

Haitham's eyebrows raised, and some in the office would say it's the first time they've seen the young detective show surprise. This was quickly smothered, and Haitham took the file from Carper's hand, thus accepting the case. Flipping open the file, the red letters spread across the page in ink shone in his iris'. CLASSIFIED.

Haitham smirked, this truly was interesting already.

~~SOMEWHERE ELSE Sat in the window seat of a large home was a lovely young blonde. He looked to be only about 19, however he was more so 25. His young boyish appearance appealed to the rich men, and his misfortune that he faced made him seem even more innocent. This man now stared through the window watching the rain fall, occasionally choosing two droplets to watch as they race down until they eventually merged together and fell down the pane. The blonde used many names, but his real one was Kaveh. With his line of work, it's only expected that he'll have a various amount of alias', and a new story that attracts his current victim.

His line of work was a particularly messy one, especially with how tight knit he becomes with the estate of each husband, and the unsticking that comes after. Kaveh was well off, for generations. If anyone knew the state of his finances, they'd wonder how he has acquired the amount he has. A fair question considering the means aren't legal in the slightest. Kaveh since a young age decided he doesn't want to work a day in his life. He will just marry rich. And thus, he did… several times, or his alias's have at least. Kaveh will create a personality to enrich the older men he swoops to marry him, rewrite their will, and then something mysterious always happens to the men shortly after the honeymoon.

This line of work has required a brilliant actor, which Kaveh has always been. Lying is easy for him, and pretending to be in love is even easier than sniping a piece of bread in the market. Kaveh's inability to feel this love allows him to be able to carry out these deceits perfectly. He thanks his late father for this skill, for his love, or lack there of, showed Kaveh that even those you're bonded to by blood can find you repulsive. He sees no need to find love, and finds more amusement in draining it from others.

Some would say he's twisted, that there's something that askew in his head, that the trauma he faced when he was younger only explains a portion of his insanity. However, those who know the truth of his feats are no longer able to tell them. No explanation really needed as to why…

Here, Kaveh sits in the house of his latest fiancé. This man wasn't extremely rich, more so on the upper middle class side. However, Kaveh decided to lay low, the last man was messier than he expected. He tasted the poison in his food much faster than anyone had before, therefore not eating enough of it to pass away swiftly. Kaveh had to resort to a messier method of assassination in the heat of the moment. Something like that is harder to clean up, but not impossible for the blonde. Murder is something he has become adjusted to, something that excites him like nothing else. It's the closest to love that he believes he will ever feel. Despite Kaveh's cold nature, he's quite the romantic. His charms have been able to lure in whoever he pleases, and go under the radar for quite some time. His current victim is named Geradin. Kaveh think it's quite a stupid name, but says it with such sweetness that even the best would be fooled. Not that the best would be able to track him here anyways, he's covered all of his tracks meticulously, sending his money from the will's to an offshore account. Kaveh is blindly confident in his skills of an assassin, he doesn't even notice the unfamiliar car pulling through the long driveway until it's headlights shine directly on him. This takes him by surprise for multiple reasons, the first being that Geradin is currently on a short business trip, not scheduled to come back until tomorrow. Two, he is wearing nothing but a silk slip, and with how he is sitting at the window, he is sure he's not fully covered as he'd like for an unexpected and unwanted guest. Kaveh slips off of the seat, moving quick but silently to grab his fluffy robe. Swiftly shoving his feet into his slippers, and tussling his hair to appear that he's been sleeping in, like a wife would while the husband is away, or soon to be husband. Three short knocks are heard from the front door, and after peeking through the eyehole, Kaveh notices the tall man, dressed like a college student. He's curious, the man looking to be in his late twenties, his posture straight enough to be envied by an imperial guard. Just who is this man? And what is he doing here, at Geradin's house 20 good minutes from town.

Kaveh shakes his head, grasping the cold knob of the door and pulling it open. He stands slightly behind it, appearing cautious and reserved. The blonde smiles, and questions the man. "Hello sir, are you lost? I could give you directions to the nearest town if it is needed." Kaveh lays a thick accent on his voice, one that he poured emotion into, without being recognized as the man he was before this all.

The man stays silent for a second too long, putting Kaveh at greater edge. Looking Kaveh up and down, as if he's analyzing and seeing right through him. Kaveh has never felt so exposed before, like he was still at the pane of glass, looking out into the yard.

"Hello, sorry to disturb you on this dreary day. To answer your question shortly, I am not lost if this is the Geradin's residence?" He smiled, not needing an answer to confirm this, but curious to what answer he would receive.

Of course Kaveh would have noticed this, finding it fruitless to lie about this fact now. Was Geradin in some sort of trouble with the law? Kaveh is usually good at finding men that are under the radar of the government. It makes them easier to kill this way. However, this man whom is now soaked from the light drizzle of the rain, came here specifically because of who lives in the house. Kaveh tries to calm himself, and answers quick enough that he believes there will be no suspicions raised. "Yes, it is. May I ask who is inquiring, and what for?" Kaveh speaks softly now, his accent making some works drag longer than they should. The man has been staring Kaveh in his eye since he began to talk again, but there's a look in his eyes that Kaveh can't quite decipher.

"My apologies, my name is Detective Al Haitham, but feel inclined to just call me Haitham. I'm here to speak with Mr. Geradin, is he in the house with you?" Kaveh felt a wave of relief pass over him, this must just be regarding a business' trade he made, possibly there was an angry trader that took things to extreme? Al Haitham noticed the change in Kaveh's face, even if he tried to hide it. Kaveh was indeed right, Haitham could interoperate his feelings quite well, his intentions however are puzzling him.

Haitham studied the shorter blonde in front of him, who appeared quite young at first glance. Haitham however knew from his file that he was his superior in age, and any fool wouldn't notice the dark gleam behind his eyes when he first opened the door. Al Haitham was no fool.

"Ah you're here on inquiry for my fiancé then! Unfortunately detective, he is on a business' trip, he won't be back until late tomorrow as well. I apologize for your time spent to come out here for nothing." Kaveh smiled sweetly, not quite reaching his eyes but doing a hell of a job imitating it. Kaveh felt an irk at the back of his mind, the detective off put him, and he didn't want him here any longer. Kaveh struggled to quiet his mind and stay calm.

"I suppose I'll just have to speak with you then, you are his fiancé correct? Mind if I come in to chat with you for a short while?" Haitham spoke calmly, but assertively. Kaveh knew that if he rejected he would be suspicious, but if he accepted he would have to talk further with this detective that set him on edge.

"Of course, I'll prepare some tea."

The short time it took to make the tea, Kaveh devised a plan. He would plead innocent to any accusations made against his fiancé, and play the innocent and stupid blonde act. His appearance added to the whole ordeal, as he answered the door in only his robe and silk slip. He would try to charm the detective like he has for all the other ones that have made it thus far, and if worse comes to worse he'll get rid of this intruder and flee.

Meanwhile, as Kaveh thought of this plan, Al Haitham took note of his surroundings. He was currently on a large sofa, in a Victorian style living space. The man might think that he has left no tracks, but Haitham can see through it quite well. Each man who was murdered over the last 7 years shared one thing in common, their tastes in housing. Each house held some remembrance to the Victorian era. This small detail could be said to be coincidental, as Victorian style housing is quite popular among the high class society, but not one of the deaths have deterred from this fact.

Kaveh placed the tea tray on the small wooden coffee table, pulling Haitham from his observations. Kaveh noted that Haitham was already investigating without touching a thing. Taking his seat and crossing his legs, he poured them both a cup of tea. Then, to show that the tea was safe, he took a sip. Haitham followed to take a sip of his shortly after.

"So, I haven't been able to catch your name quite yet. We should start there." Haitham knew the answer already. The real one at least, and was curious to see what the man would call himself.

"As you know, I am Geradin's fiancé, my name is Stuart. Geradin calls me Stewy, it's so cute!" Kaveh, or now Stuart, spoke quite airily, the accent he decided to use under this alias still present in his speech. Haitham's eyebrow raised slightly, and he smiled at "Stuart".

"Pleasure to meet you Stuart, do you mind if I ask you a few questions about your husband?" Haitham had devised a plan to see how Kaveh would react, one that would skew his entire marriage plan.

"Of course officer, I don't mind at all. Afterall it's best to respect our authorities, don't you agree?" Kaveh leaned forward slightly, exposing his collar bones to the detective, his legs crossed seductively. What Kaveh lacks being male is made up for with his pretty face, and the slightly curly hair that framed his face innocently.

Haitham knew what Kaveh was doing, and wasn't taking it for a second. He chuckled dryly, panicking Kaveh for a moment. A man that's resistant to his charm? That's a first. Even the straightest of men have fallen for Kaveh's innocent and boyish appearance, and were swayed even more with his seductive nature.

"Geradin would be disappointed to see his fiancé try to seduce a detective, wouldn't he 'Stewy'?" Haitham spoke curtly, a flush crossing Kaveh's face. He's never been rejected before, and it's honestly quite embarrassing to be put in the open like this. Kaveh stammered, unable to come up with a reply and sat straight up, his hands in his lap. "You're right, detective." Kaveh flushes, feeling embarrassment for the first time. "Geradin, would be quite disappointed in me wouldn't he?"

Kaveh however, was not broken so easily from embarrassment, and as he faced it he devised a new plan. Haitham was trying to get under his skin, he wasn't here for Geradin, he was here for HIM.

"But can you blame me detective?" Kaveh starts, a sob in his voice. "Geradin himself has mistress', and leaves on these "Business trips" while his colleges stay here in town. What is a man supposed to do, how else can a man like me satisfy myself Haitham?"

Kaveh has perfected the fake cry act, and tears accompany his words. Haitham, always unsure of what to do dealing with emotions, quickly pulls out his handkerchief and hands it to the crying man. He's conflicted on if this is a lie or maybe even a partial truth? The tears are certainly fake but the words he speaks are not.

"I apologize for making you cry, however please do be wary of the best interest for your fiancé, and leave me out of your love struggles I have no desire to fall for it." Haitham says sternly when Kaveh accepts his handkerchief.

Kaveh nods, and blows his nose. His plan didn't quite work how he expected, but there was a hint of confusion in Haitham's mannerism. Kaveh just needs to figure out how to manipulate it.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Christopher Weyant, The Boston Globe

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

Members of the House of Representatives returned to work today after their summer break. They came back to a fierce fight over funding the government before the September 30 deadline, with only 12 days of legislative work on the calendar. That fight is also tangled up with Republican extremists’ demands to impeach President Joe Biden—although even members of their own caucus admit there are no grounds for such an impeachment—and threats to the continued position of Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) as speaker of the House.

It’s an omnishambles, a word coined in 2009 by the writers of the BBC political satire The Thick of It, meaning “a situation, especially in politics, in which poor judgment results in disorder or chaos with potentially disastrous consequences.” 

It fits. 

In August, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed 12 spending bills covering discretionary funding—about 27% of the budget—by bipartisan votes, within limits set as part of the deal Speaker McCarthy made with President Biden to prevent the U.S. defaulting for the first time in history. 

But the House left for summer break without being able to pass more than one of the 12 necessary bills. The extremists in the House Freedom Caucus oppose the spending levels Biden and McCarthy negotiated, insisting they amount to “socialism,” although with the exception of the Covid-19 blip, discretionary federal spending has stayed level at about 20% of the nation’s gross domestic product since 1954. 

The Republican-dominated House Appropriations Committee has reneged on the deal McCarthy struck, producing bills that impose cuts far beyond those McCarthy agreed to. In particular, it cut Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding for programs to address climate change and the Internal Revenue Service, which has been badly underfunded since at least 2010, leaving wealthy tax cheats unaudited. The cuts are ideological: the bills have cut funding for food assistance programs for pregnant mothers and children, grants to school districts serving impoverished communities, the Environmental Protection Agency, agencies that protect workers’ rights, federal agencies’ civil rights offices, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the IRS (on top of clawing back funding in the IRA), and so on.

Although appropriations bills are generally kept clean, the extremists have loaded the must-pass bills with demands unrelated to the bill itself. They have put measures restricting abortion and gender-affirming care in at least 8 of the 12 bills. Even if such measures could make it through the Democrat-dominated Senate—and they can’t—President Biden has vowed to veto them. 

Even fellow Republicans are balking at the attempt of the extremists to get their ideological wish list by holding the government hostage. Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters she doesn’t see how the Republicans are going to get the bills out of the committee, let alone pass them. “Overall, I think it's going to be very, very hard to get these bills forward,” she said.

Far from negotiating with McCarthy over the break, Freedom Caucus members appear to be increasing their demands as a shutdown looms. In August, the caucus announced it would not support even a short-term funding bill unless it also included their own demands for border policy, an end to what they call “woke” policies in the Department of Defense, and what they call the “unprecedented weaponization” of the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They also oppose funding for Ukraine to enable it to fight off Russia’s invasion.

They have hinted they will use procedural votes to prevent any large spending bill from getting to the floor at all. One of the tools at their disposal is a challenge to McCarthy’s leadership, which thanks to the deal he struck to get the speakership in the first place, a single member can bring. Today, Florida representative Matt Gaetz threatened to “lead the resistance” if McCarthy worked with Democrats to fund the government. 

They have offered McCarthy a way to avoid that showdown: impeach President Joe Biden, although there is no evidence the president has committed any “high crimes and misdemeanors” required for an impeachment. 

Today, McCarthy availed himself of that escape clause. On the first day back from a 45-day August break, rather than tackling the budget crises, he endorsed an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. 

This is a fascinating moment, as the Republicans have opened an impeachment inquiry into Biden with no evidence of wrongdoing. For all their breathless statements before the TV cameras, they have not managed to produce any evidence. Trump's own Department of Justice opened an investigation into Biden four years ago and found nothing to charge. As Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo notes, Biden’s taxes are public, and a U.S. attorney has been scrutinizing Biden’s son Hunter for years; red flags should have been apparent long ago, if there were any.

Just yesterday, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) tore apart the talking points far-right Republicans have been using to smear the president. He noted that none of the bank records Representative James Comer (R-KY) has referenced show any payments to President Biden, none of the suspicious activity reports the Oversight Committee has reviewed suggest any potential misconduct by Biden, none of the witness accounts to the Oversight Committee show any wrongdoing by Biden, Hunter Biden’s former business associates explicitly stated they had no reason to think President Biden was involved in his son’s business ventures, and so on. 

This inquiry is not actually about wrongdoing; it is a reiteration of the same plan Trump tried to execute in 2019 when he asked Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky to smear Biden before the 2020 presidential election. By launching an inquiry, Republicans can count on their false accusations spreading through the media, tainting their opponents even without evidence of wrongdoing. See, for example, Clinton, Hillary: emails. 

McCarthy insisted to reporters that an impeachment inquiry would simply give House committees leverage to subpoena officials from the White House, but during the Trump administration, the Department of Justice issued an opinion that the House must take a formal vote to validate an impeachment inquiry. It did so in reaction to then–House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s launch of an impeachment inquiry without such a vote, and the decision invalidated subpoenas issued as part of that inquiry. Pelosi went on to hold a vote and to launch an official inquiry.

It will not be so easy for McCarthy. He has not wanted to hold a vote because outside of the Freedom Caucus, even Republicans don’t want to launch an impeachment inquiry when there is no evidence for one. Senate Republicans today were quick to tell reporters they were skeptical that McCarthy could get enough votes in the House for an article of impeachment, and they were clear that a Senate trial was not an option. Representative Ken Buck (R-CO), himself a member of the Freedom Caucus, said: “The time for impeachment is the time when there’s evidence linking President Biden—if there’s evidence linking President Biden to a high crime or misdemeanor. That doesn’t exist right now.” 

The attack on Biden is a transparent attempt to defend former president Trump from his own legal troubles by suggesting that Biden is just as bad. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin today also defended Trump, saying that his prosecutions show that the United States is fundamentally corrupt. His comment made former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) seem to wash her hands of the modern incarnation of her political party. “Putin has now officially endorsed the Putin-wing of the Republican Party,” she wrote. “Putin Republicans & their enablers will end up on the ash heap of history. Patriotic Americans in both parties who believe in the values of liberal democracy will make sure of it.”

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) summed up the day: “So let me get this straight: Republicans are threatening to remove their own Speaker, impeach the President, and shut down the government on September 30th—disrupting everyday people’s paychecks and general public operations. For what? I don’t think even they know.”

The center-right think tank American Action Forum’s vice president for economic policy, Gordon Gray, had an answer. Ever since the debt ceiling fight was resolved, he told Joan E. Greve of The Guardian, “there’s a big chunk of House Republicans who just want to break something. That’s just how some of these folks define governing. It’s how their constituents define success.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[wonderingmishap]

BEHIND THE SCENES \ AL-HAITHAM

gender neutral reader

warning(s)! suggestive, mild spice

(keep in mind this was not proof read)

A powerful actress that was able to play a role of any is certainly someone you’d think is outstanding and astonishing. Wrong, honestly you’d like to think of yourself as a normal human being. Whatever you think normal is that is, the way you saw normal was someone you just lived their lives accordingly. But what does accordingly mean? Well not even I know.

But here you were standing outside your agency as you recently scored a new role, yay. Just kidding not “yay”, you didn’t even want to be here today. You wanted to stay in an maybe try getting some actual sleep for once, I guess fate was being a bitch once again.

You then let your heels lead you to the door that lead to the theater, you’ve never been much of a theater person. But you needed experience with actual live acting, which was important with acting in front of a screen as well. You were told that this play your manager signed you up for was rated R, which meant tha something intense was probably going to happen. No matter what is was though you’d be able to get pass it, right?

You then opened the doors to reveal a huge theater with many seats which made you shiver at the thought of preforming live in front of this much people, but if you were able to get this far into the building surely you wouldn’t turn back already. But when you came in you saw your co-worker Al- Haitham changing all so suddenly. Which of course by reflexes you covered your eyes.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you, you can continue just tell me when I can come back.” You ramble on trying to not to sound so flustered but I don’t really think you were doing a good job. “(Y/N) I didn’t know you were so ever easily flustered, don’t worry I’ll allow you to stay. Just be quiet it’s just us here and I wouldn’t want us to chase a distraction.” You hear Al-Haitham say which made you slowly put down your hands where so that you can now see him completely.

You and Al-Haitham have been working at the same agency for a while so you’ve learned to get to know each other over these past years, he was pretty interesting to say the least though. Nevertheless it was to no surprise to you that he had such a fine physique, I mean he was a actor alongside you so it was quite expected.

“Um do you mind passing me a copy of the script, it would be nice if we practiced before hand.” You say pointing towards the small pile of paper that appeared to have your name on it. “Yes of course, please take your time to read through it.”

And you indeed took your sweet time reading through it, your mouth literally wanted to drop. You didn’t know that this play you’d be acting in would be detailed and explicit.

“By your look it appears you didn’t know about this, don’t worry we can take things slow of course.” You finally look up from your paper to see Al-Haitham with everything needed in order to practice your guy’s scenes. You swallowed thinking how awkward this would be, but you can’t leave when you’ve already dug to far. Plus it was already tempting you.

“For starters I think we can start by you getting down here, don’t worry I’ll be gentle.” Al-Haitham says hinting towards the handcuffs placed in his pockets. “Ah, yes of course.” You say a bit hesitate but you followed and got down on all fours like a lost little puppy. Al-Haitham then got his handcuffs out his pockets and placed it on your hands making it impossible to get out. You didn’t have the confidence to face him so this whole time you were facing down, although you wished you saw the look on his face when he was in the process of cuffing you. “Well this is the part where I finally arrest you, we’ll then I’m certain you remember this part clearly?” Al-Haitham says not taking his eyes off you, it was almost as if he was cuffed to you. “Yeah of course I do.” You state bluntly trying not to stutter over your words, in short you were nervous.

Then the show began.

“Well then it appears that I’ve caught you red handed you wicked temptress.” Al-Haitham expresses with a fierce look on his face making it hard to focus. “I see so you have actually managed to catch me good job officer!” You say laughing on the floor on your knees with your hands behind you. “This isn’t a time to be playing around Ms. (L/N) now get down on the floor you can’t just be left here looking like a slut.”

“I am no slut officer, but if you see me as one I am in no position to stop you.” Both of you guys began going off script unintentionally that both of you guys didn’t even notice.

“Say officer, what if I told you this,” You the hear a hum from Al-Haitham indicating that he was listening. “What if I told you I wanted you to catch me?” Now you were really going off the script, but that didn’t matter anymore. Not when your desires were right in front of you, just what else can you want?

“I see, I guess I’ll have to do more than just punish you, all fours. Now.

wattpad: wonderingmishap