#Licorice is complicated

[blobbycentral]

I read fic where Affogato had short hair and couldn’t resist drawing it soooo—

[rockybloo]

If they had an entire planet for them to be alone together, without danger of hurting others and property damage, what would happen if Lovestruck!Sweetheart and Kaiju!Bitterbat met?

Would they “battle” it out, or just give each other lots of love that’s so powerful, it puts Goku’s spirit Bomb to shame?

I'm not into Dragon Ball like that tbh (haven't sincerely seen an ep since preschool) so everyone always loses me when they drop power scale refs to it BUT Lovestruck Sweetheart and Kaiju Bitterbat were sent to their own special space to sort each other out, they would probably be a force you don't want to interrupt.

I actually do not think there'd be that much property damage though as their whole thing with the other comes from those being forms they sometimes slip into because they want the other's presence a LOT.

Most of the damage on Earth comes from offensive attacks and those are often aimed at other people. But with a planet with just them, they don't necessarily have the risk they usually have in Decking City of being discovered or having to get rid of obstacles to reach each other.

It'd honestly just be a lot of kisses and cuddling because Kaiju Bitterbat is so huge.

Of course, there's also the fact that in the case of wanting affection from Sweetheart, Bitterbat wants to be his default size or at least not something so "BIG" because he wants to hold his Queen in his arms, not just his hand. And in times where he becomes Kaiju Bitterbat because of his emotions for her, he does eventually revert back in the process of her giving him some attention.

But on a separate planet with just his Queen, who is in her most powered up state, he'd def take the chance to remove his limiters and put a test to the theory that you can't hear anything in space.

[reggiestein]

seeing art or like fanfic of him where they try to like make him normal or overly hot/cute makes me SICK. KEEP HIS GREY SKIN. KEEP HIS AWKWARDNESS. KEEP HIS VOICE CRACKS. KEEP THE FACT THAT HES KINDA CRINGY ITS OKAY. KEEP THAT HES GOOFY PLEASE its literally what makes him so great stop being scared of his flaws

[nyssasorbit]

Oh man. I'd be surprised if he DID forgive it if anything. imagine the betrayal and confusion. Plus, Licorice's actions would definitely hurt the relationship even if Ivlis wanted to preserve it. Oh man.

Well, I figured eventually he'd at least say he forgave him, even if he didn't fully. That point would be...a while away though still

[bindeds]

So I'm not seeing this particular kink and I am appalled! imagine group sex with Lucifer and only Lucifer because it's shown he can make multiple versions of himself and to top it all off with his shape shifting abilities?! *fans self*

i  am  so  sorry  it  took  me  so  long  to  get  to  this  but  i  love  this  request  sm!!!  i  decided  to  use  candy  as  adjectives  bc  the  vibes  felt  right,  hehe.  hope  you  don't  mind!  if  this  does  well  i  may  or  may  not  write  more,  but  we'll  see!

( edit : it just occurred to me that i forgot the shapeshifting AAAAAAA I WILL WRITE IT SOMETIME I’M SO SORRY AGHHH )

— m.list     requests

₊˚     ʚ     MARSHMALLOW. ( + 18. ) LUCIFER  X  GENDER  NEUTRAL  READER

There is candy on his lips in the way he kisses you, needy hands finding your own on the bed before your fingers intertwine like lace. He pinned your hand to the wall behind you, two more hands tracing down your sternum and sliding down your waist like water while a sharp nip at your neck causes you to jolt.

You opened your eyes and there’s one, two, three, four … a fifth Lucifer leaning back against a couch in his room, drink in his hand with his elbows propped up on the headrest. 

“Lu, you’re not … coming?” You found yourself asking, but you bit your lip from the other Lucifers’ administrations on your neck, one spreading your thighs apart, another cupping your cheek.

“Is four not enough for you, darling?” Lucifer chuckles and it might have been the cruelest thing you ever heard—now that was ridiculous. 

You’ve heard worse but your heart kicked and writhed like the tongue Lucifer had in your mouth wasn’t licorice-sweet enough already. 

It was night time and seeing as you were Lucifer’s … well, it was complicated up until now. You didn’t know what you were to him but you knew about the sweet tooth he had for these things—the sweet tooth you both shared for this aspect in life. You only wore an oversized shirt and underwear to bed, so it didn’t take much for one of the Lucifers to get between you, your back arched as your lips rolled open. 

But Lucifer still sat unmoving on the couch.

You looked at him, of course you did—tears framed your cheeks from the pleasure as the Lucifer between you struck that familiar bundle of marshmallow nerves over and over. 

“Luci …” you moaned his name softly, voice peaking in time with his thrusts. 

He finally placed the drink down with a clink before making his way towards you, his lookalike never relenting as he only sped up inside you. 

“There there, honey. I’m coming.” 

( taglist : @sunnie21 @saints-wrapped-in-plastic @rineptune ) lmk if you wanna be added to the taglist!

[nevermorgue]

Okay but what about modern Amnabel's group food preferences?

cracks knuckles. Alright, let’s get into it.

Annabel Lee - complicated. Annabel likes to have the upper hand in every situation, even in casual afternoon lunch outings. She will adapt to almost anything put in front of her. For example, if she goes to someone’s house and they serve tea and scones, she will claim that they are her favorite. Are they? Who knows. She will play it as if whatever is given is something she enjoys immensely, creating the illusion that the world seems to cater to her- that she got lucky that it was her favorite meal. She does this ALL. THE. TIME. “Oh, they are serving pie. That is one of my favorites.” No it is not. She is just making it seem like it is to create the look that “Wow, how lucky for her. The world seems to love her- they’re serving her favorite food!” You get it? She says it’s her favorite for convenience sake. This is why Prospero brings her so many varied pastries when he can. He’s trying to figure out what she actually likes.

As for what she actually likes: She has a pretty varied palette. She does prefer food that is considered more “common” as it tends to have more flavor, and she absolutely loves American food far more than what she had at home. Is the type of person to eat popcorn one piece at a time, but then resorts to shoving 4-5 pieces in her mouth when she’s invested in whatever she’s doing.

Keeps up appearances by ordering what is expected of her. Teas, light foods with small portions.

- packs snacks throughout her school day like grapes or small cheese cubes. Dainty, barely filling little things.

- She loves spicy foods. Hot curries, salsas, she loooves the burn.

Ada - Also keeps up appearances, but obviously not the same way Annabel does. She will pretend to only like more expensive things, but she honestly thinks such things are too bland. She’s a southern girl used to flavor and savory dishes.

- LOVES cheap frozen dinners. She would rather die than admit this of course. Like think those frozen mac and cheeses you put in the microwave.

- She can and will force herself to eat something she doesn’t like, especially if Annabel/Prospero is eating it.

- Hates squid. Calamari? Yuck.

- She likes to comment on things she eats like she’s doing a shitty food review on Youtube. The only person that listens is Will, but you can’t really tell that he’s even paying attention.

- Loves celery

Prospero - This man has a sweet tooth, but he knows how to keep it tamed. He has a very balanced diet and makes sure to make every lunch or breakfast filling enough to last him through morning classes.

- Salad man. He will put so much shit into a salad. He’ll make days worth of salad and sometimes he and Annabel will just eat the whole thing in between classes.

- His favorite dressing is balsamic vinaigrette.

- Very rarely eats fried foods. Corn dogs are cool and he’s more likely to eat one of those rather than something else fried

- For snacking he always gets the things that are called “thins” or “light”, and he is very strict when it comes to the “no eating three hours before sleeping” rule.

- This man hates cashews

- I HC prospero as a mama’s boy idk i get the vibe. He grew up having homemade pasta and refuses to eat it if the restaurant isn’t like locally Italian.

Montresor - Big on steak. Big on potatoes. Big on veggies when they’re roasted or oven baked or anything where they’re mixed up and peppered and cooked. Dude will eat a raw carrot for fun though

- crunches loudly on chips. he does it on purpose.

- has a surprisingly shitty spice tolerance. It’s not BAD, but his face will get red and he tries to play it off.

- Likes messy finger foods like ribs

- Licorice kind of guy. specifically red.

- Prefers green apples over red ones

- really likes blue cheese, especially for his wings

- cannot STAND marzipan anything

Will - Peaches peaches peaches peaches pea-

- Prefers simpler foods. Basic ham and cheese sandwiches, a bag of chips…normal and boring.

- gets overwhelmed when served anything more complicated than what you’d get at an Applebees. He doesn’t really think he nor his body are suited to eat such things. They’re TOO delicious and he isn’t worth it.

- He loves cheesecake brownies. He’s literally only had them twice in his life but he would go insane if he ever saw any for sale anywhere

- The drinks he gets at coffee shops are considered “girly” to Montresor, so he only buys them when he’s alone. Like fruity refreshers and stuff.

- He would like a lot more food if he actively attempted to try new things, he just has no desire to treat himself.

- eats wheat thins for fun

- Only eats 1 singular fruit for breakfast or just skips it all together.

- would probably start crying if he ate a soup. it’s warm and filling and it makes him feel like a waste of space. the warmth settling in his stomach reminds him that he’s real and he hates it.

[cuppajj]

i have been thinking a lot about how the beast ancients would handle love, as i have been seeing a lot of awesome fanfics of like oc kids of the beast ancients, and i think i even saw one dragonberry had a crush on the person (i think). with that being said, would there be anyone the neo beasts love enough to be merciful towards? if not what would they be like towards a cookie if they did have one dear to them like that? you know how saint vanilla loves white lily enough to "purify her last", and i think you said dark choco might be the only one who can reach out to frigid and get him to come to his senses? would he still freeze his own son for getting too close or touching him?

Canonically it varies wildly but I can give some examples!

Dragonberry does genuinely love her family. The thing is that her beastly pride and ambition make it really hard to tell, especially when she’s walking on Royal and Jungleberry’s positions, ordering Wildberry like a lapdog, and ofc being lax on what kind of danger Princess gets into if it’ll make her come home faster. You’d have to look for the subtle things like her personality not changing much around them, or in the last example, giving certain people (Saint) the express order to not touch them.

Saint can and does, but his definition is wildly different from ours. Mercy to him is purification, and his immense compassion for everyone on earthbread means everyone is deserving of it. However, going off our definition… not really? Though those in is cult and Lily are spared, he still wishes to save them, in Lily’s case especially. Him loving someone more means him wanting to save them sooner; he didn’t leave Lily for last because he loves her, but it’s because he loves her that Lily could bargain for her life. However, with their deal he can certainly express his love as he waits, and he’d even help her with certain things. He would be pretty protective of her because of their deal.

Oh boy cacao. It’s hard for him to hear his own thoughts about Choco, but hearing his name makes him react so intensely with emotion that there has to be something there, right? Are the permafrost and licorice sea expanding because they can or is it because they’re acting on Cacao’s immense need to find his son? Does he think his corruption is Choco’s fault or does he think Choco could have the answer for what he wants?? Is Choco really the be all and end all for how he’s defeated/saved or is he just another element in whatever twisted plan he has underneath the silence and isolation…

Cheese… ish? She doesn’t feel any kind of love love towards anyone. Rich Cheese isn’t her daughter in this au so there’s nothing there either. I’d say if she did though shed be similar to Dragonberry, though more protective.

Lily is complicated. She never expresses if she loves Saint, but her actions and other words imply that she does. Love is something she acknowledges she has, and she would genuinely be protective and caring for someone she loves, but the problem is that she doesn’t have anyone else besides another Beast. She is kinda maternal in behavior for her faerie subjects, but Sovereignty means it’s also easy to think that letting them do whatever they want damn the consequences means she doesn’t care. Despite all of this she is still the most normal one in the room

[cookierunauprompts]

Maybe another siren shadow milk post? On reader cookie and siren S.Ms relationship and what shenanigans they get up to?

Like, Reader Cookie would be sailing and out of nowhere shadow milk jumps in like "Whats up bbg?" And they talk?

Not doing a prompt for this one but this gives me an excuse to ramble about the lore of the Beast Hunters AU!! Starting off with Shadow Milk and Reader's relationship.

Their relationship is rather... hm, I'd say complicated? For one, they're bound together by their contract. But on the other hand... well, Shadow Milk has kept Reader safe from more than just the Licorice Sea, hell, maybe he's even fallen in love with his little Songbird. As for Reader's feelings? Well, they consider him to be their closest companion in some kind of way.

Now, onto World building! ahem...

Long ago, monsters roamed and ruled over the Dessert world, terrorizing Cookies and the like... That was, until five Cookies with great power were baked into existence by the witches. These Heroes wielded a great power baked into the Soul Jam that they wielded, but as always... Great Power begets corruption.

One by one, the heroes succumbed to and fused with the darkness within the Soul Jam. No longer were they cookies, but beasts. The lights that remained from the remnants of the Soul Jam quickly split off back to the Witches, who then commanded them to find new heroes to defend against the beasts.

And so, the Lights did. They found new Heroes, and thus the Great Beast War began... And by the end of it, the Legendary Beasts were sealed away. But, something happened to the Heroes as well. In order to gain the upper hand during the war, they had fused with their lights.

Now more like spiritual protectors, they guided their newly formed kingdoms and territories as if they were kings and queens. Some of them were more present in the lives of their cookies, while others took a more observant and guiding role.

But just a few decades later or so, the seal upon the Legendary Beasts weakened... Allowing them to escape back into the Dessert World to reek havoc once more. Seeing this, the heroes set out to find a new set of saviors for cookie kind... Most of them, anyways.

So far, only two of the five have selected heroes...

At least they have friends to help them with their journey, right?

( In case you're wondering, the selected are Gingerbrave(White Lily)(and he's bringing his bestie's Strawberry and Wizard) and Princess Cookie(Hollyberry)(Knight Cookie of course, is tagging along with her), Pure Vanilla, Dark Cacao and Golden Cheese haven't selected their selected yet... Though rumor has it that Dark Cacao had selected someone but revoked his selection.)

And now, onto what the Beasts are!

As we already know, Shadow Milk is a Siren, but what about the others?

Well, so far I have Eternal Sugar as a harpy, Burning Spice as some kind of insect-cookie fusion thingy and Silent Salt as a spirit of sorts. I haven't figured out what kind of Monster Mystic Flour would have become yet... Maybe a Dragon? Who knows.

And that's pretty much all for this post.-

Ah wait, Gingerbrave lore.

So, in this AU Gingerbrave is White Lily's son! She created him mainly to see if she could but also to eventually wield the light of Freedom in her place as a successor. The main reason I did this was because Gingerbrave is very freedom coded to me, and he's silly.

Also he might be part faerie??? I dunno, he's been Fourteen mentally and physically for quite a while though.

I'll probably expand on the Gingerlore later though.

and now that's all! also, drop who you think the other heroes are gonna select because I think it'd be interesting to see who you all pick.

[thedawningofthehour]

I just remembered your post about Draxum wanting girls and just thought of this.

What Draxum wanted

What he got

If Draxum had raised the turtles he definitely would have thanked the titan for April when she inevitably arrived at his house.

BAHAHA.

It was actually Splinter who was hoping the turtles were girls! Not all four of them, he would have preferred a 2/2 or 3/1 split. (he probably would have preferred all girls over all boys though) The only male role model he had growing up was Grandpa Sho, and his feelings there were...complicated, to say the least. And he just thought little girls would be easier to raise. They're less rambunctious, right? They like to cuddle and play with dolls and tea parties? They'll be much easily on his elderly heart right?! (Splinter didn't know many little girls)

He was so relieved when they started bringing April home. Which was short-lived when he realized that she was just as weird and crazy as his sons were, but at least April didn't possess superhuman strength and endurance and wasn't as committed to dying horribly as his sons seemed to. You can even see it with Cass, he went "is this anyone's daughter" and didn't wait for an answer.

I'm trying to think, did I say Draxum wanted them to be girls? Sex didn't really factor into his selection process, he didn't intend for them to reproduce and the sexual dimorphism in the turtle species he picked was pretty small, and with the ooze twisting their DNA like a licorice whip it probably would have been inconsequential. Plus he was combining them with a male human, so a female turtle would likely be some level of intersex anyway.

Thinking of the turtles as his children, he probably would have had a slight preference for girls. He was closer to his mother than his father, spent a lot of time with badass warrior women, and had a twin sister. He had two nieces, until Pax decided he was a boy but that wasn't until he was a teenager. He feels more comfortable around women and has always related better to girls than boys.

But it really wouldn't matter that much to him. Yokai society doesn't give too many shits about gender, just because his sons were biologically male didn't necessarily mean he wouldn't be able to cry over his kid in a wedding dress someday. It was whatever to him.

[ukulelevillainwrites]

who follows the rules anyway?

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9

complete

pairing : anthony lockwood x reader

word count : 6.5k

warnings : panic attack, anxiety, spoilers for lockwood's backstory

content : enjoy this part that has more plot, there's also angst but reconciliation too

taglist : @cassiopeiia24 @archiveoftara

note : time keeps passing faster it's getting out of hand, anyway i hope you like it !! and thank you everyone for reading and still being there as this fic keeps getting longer and longer

[from Lockwood’s POV]

He slammed the front door on his way out. It was probably loud enough to wake up the entire neighborhood. She had crossed a line and it was enough to make the anger he had felt the night before resurface. It wasn’t the fact that she had made everything to annoy him so early in the day, though it had played a part in it. What had set him off was her devising a plan right in front of him as if he was too stupid to notice. She hadn’t been explicit in what she wrote on the Thinking Cloth, but it was obvious that she intended to act on her theories today. And she was going behind his back. She was putting his company at risk and she didn’t even have the decency to be upfront. He thought he had earned her respect. Her disregard for his authority was a slap in the face.

He had gotten used to their fights by now. Even though they had gotten along pretty well for the past few weeks, their relationship had gotten off to a rocky start. But this was different. They had had disagreements in the past where he had been frustrated with her. She was always the one who got truly angry. It had made him laugh on occasions, like the night they met. She had the habit of taking things to heart. But she was passionate, a quality the three of them shared and it was probably what brought them closer. However last night the tension hadn’t been one-sided.

No matter how much he believed he was right, how he didn’t want her nor George to get into any more trouble, he kept wondering if maybe he’d been wrong. What if because of this he had ruined the relationship they had? Maybe he was being selfish indeed. Maybe he should consider their point of view more closely. George had never been the type to hold a grudge. He’d bring some doughnuts on the way home and they’d go back to normal. But y/n… it was complicated. It had taken them much effort to get along, and maybe now all that was gone. He’d need to do more. Get involved. Help her in her plan to stop this Dufour woman.

He stopped walking as the idea crossed his mind. What was he thinking? That was the whole point. It would put a target on their back. They would get noticed by every relic-man related to this case. It would alert the authorities, maybe DEPRAC would get involved. It was the last thing they needed. The publicity he was hoping for would shed light on the great work they did, not getting involved with a less than desirable crowd. And it applied for y/n and George too. Since Fittes didn’t work out for them, they should be doing their best to make Lockwood and Co noteworthy. To put the company on the map and guarantee them the future they were supposed to have. Why was he the only one to see that? It seemed obvious enough.

He went back and forth in his head as he followed the Thames for the next half hour. His thoughts were cut short when he noticed a familiar boat secured near a spot where the river was shallower. Instead of following the sidewalk, he jumped over a fence guarding a flight of stairs and climbed down to the banks. He had to walk a few minutes longer to finally spot a familiar figure. She was crouched down, digging into the mud, like he was used to finding her. He barely had time to walk closer to her that she was already greeting him, like she had sensed him coming from a mile away.

“Morning, Locky. Been a while.”

“It’s been far too long, Flo. I brought you some licorice to apologize.”

It was only when he mentioned the treat that she stood up and faced him. She took them nonchalantly. A wide bright smile lightened up her face after she took a bite.

“So, what brings you here?” She asked, chewing loudly.

“I just wanted to check up on you, see how you were doing.”

“There’s not much to tell. Business as usual. Except maybe for this new rich old man all relic-men wanna work for.”

“What’s that about?” Lockwood asked, frowning.

“You haven’t heard of the new traffic taking over the city? That’s surprising of you.”

“Oh please, not you too!” He was exasperated.

“What’s with you?” Flo teased him.

“Nothing.”

“I really thought you’d be more invested in all this.”

“A lot of people seem to assume that… What does this particular traffic have that’s so special?” His irritation was starting to show.

“It’s just such a mess that it’s killing people left and right. Relic-men who aren’t cautious…”

“They sort of had it coming.” He cut in.

“…innocent bystanders too. Some people get ghost-touched just by living nearby.” She had gone back to work, digging near the water as she explained the situation in a neutral voice. She didn’t seem particularly affected.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that they start moving dozens of sources at a time! They break into homes, antique shops, cemeteries or whatever potential place with relics they can find and just… don’t secure them at all. They’re being really dumb about it. A bunch of them just broke stuff and ended up with a new visitor.” Her tone had changed when she mumbled those last words. She tried being cautious when she explained further. But Lockwood wasn’t really focused anymore. The world stood still for a moment.

“Just because the guy who’s buying is paying more than the usual market price.” Flo concluded.

He had gone silent. It’s like he was reliving the scene all over again. This couldn’t be happening. Not again.

“That guy. Who is it?” he suddenly asked with a new determination.

“I don’t know… some posh old man looking to impress his friends I guess.”

“Tell me if you have any more information. Stop by whenever you hear more, alright?”

“Locky, don’t do anything stupid. You don’t have anything to do with this. It wasn’t your fault-”

“Keep me posted, will you?”

With that he started to walk back, more briskly than he had come. This wouldn’t happen in other homes. Not if he could help it.

He tried to ignore the sorry tone he had heard in her voice as he reached the steps that led back to the street. The news hadn’t been what he expected at all. He thought he was simply going to have a chat with an old friend. Instead, the past he had tried so hard to bury was back to haunt him. It had taken him by surprise, but it wasn’t anything to worry about. He had much to do, he didn’t have time to be distracted. He ignored the twist in his stomach as the sound of the source breaking followed by a scream echoed through his mind. He directed his attention to the next step of the plan they would have to follow. George would have to explain everything all over again, but he was sure he wouldn’t mind. And now that he was on her side, y/n would no longer be mad. Everything would be fine. He had everything under control. He mumbled to himself on the street as he thought about what they needed to do next. Obviously Flo was essential to the operation. Without her intel there was no way they could stop the dealings. Especially if every relic-man in the city wanted a piece of the business. They couldn’t target relic-men specifically. They needed to aim higher. George had already offered to follow her. He was probably right. But most importantly they needed to uncover who was this mystery man buying all those sources. They also had to find out why anyone would want to buy so many sources that they singlehandedly affected the entire relic market.

As he neared Portland Row he wondered how he could phrase his apology. He stopped at Arif’s before climbing the few steps leading to the front door. The house was silent. At first he thought he would find them in the kitchen, still thinking of potential links between the information they had like George was used to doing. But when he got down there the room was empty. He looked through the library, their bedrooms, down the basement. No one. He went back in the kitchen, put the box of doughnuts on the table and started reading the plan they had started to write on the Thinking Cloth. He smiled at the poorly disguised acronyms and anagrams y/n had used to hide what she was planning on doing. Though it faded quickly when he read the next line, something about going back to the south of London out of town. He assumed it was where her family lived. She wasn’t just planning on investigating Dufour behind his back then. She was leaving town. She was leaving him.

It was only a matter of time anyway. He should have known it was a mistake when he offered to hire her. It was always destined to end this way or another. Letting her in seemed like a good idea at the time. She needed a job and a place to stay, he needed another member in his team. That’s what he’d told himself. But he might as well have lied to himself all along. He’d been manipulative from the start. He always was, he did everything he could to get his way. And now it was time to pay for it. It wouldn’t surprise him if George went with her. After all, he had been selfish with him too. George had helped him set up his company and supported him when he didn’t have anyone else. And when he asked him for help he turned his back on him. Being left alone was all that he deserved.

He loosened his tie. It was getting hard to breathe. Guilt strengthened its grip on his lungs, contracted them until he choked. No matter how deep he inhaled, he was running out of air. He was falling deeper down a spiral. Memories he thought buried resurfaced, their long thin fingers clinging to him, pulling him deeper. They sunk their claws into his skin, he felt like he was being torn apart. Blurry faces floated in front of his eyes and remained when he closed them. He wanted them to go away, but the thought of never seeing them again broke his heart all the same.

He held on to the nearest chair, trying to steady himself, but failed. Everything was painful. Sitting down, breathing, thinking, just existing was too much to bear. He felt like his body was shutting down, giving up on him too. He knew it had to end eventually. He didn’t think it would end like this, but it was better that way. To leave this world behind.

He sat down on the kitchen floor, his vision blurry. He was staring off into space, his lungs hurting, his breathing hoarse and shallow. All he could see was the ectoplasm burn from the room upstairs. Jessica was glowing in the middle of it, her arms open, welcoming him into the darkness. The ache spread from his lungs to his heart but he also felt relieved. He would join them and everything would be better. She had a warm smile on her face, the one she always wore when she tucked him into bed every night. But she wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes were focused on something right next to him. He turned to look. y/n’s bag was settled against the next chair, packed with what could be qualified as an amateur surveillance kit at best. He frowned. Why would she leave her stuff here if she had planned on leaving? She wasn’t the kind to travel lightly. She always had a bag full of useless stuff “just in case”. He never understood her logic but he had always seen her with a heavy bag. Maybe she wasn’t gone after all. A glimmer of hope sparked. But then where were they? The ache clenching his heart turned to anxiety. What if something bad had happened to them? The whole Dufour case could have taken a dark turn. Relic-men could have gotten to them. He needed to find them. He wouldn’t leave this world without knowing they were safe.

His thoughts were racing. Adrenaline had replaced apathy. He didn’t know where to start to look for them and with every passing second they could be further into trouble. He frantically read the notes on the Thinking Cloth, searching for any indication of where they might be. His eyes couldn’t focus. He wouldn’t be of any help if he felt this way. He tried to remember the exercise George had made him do that one time he found him in the same state. He closed his eyes and focused on the air coming out of his nose. He breathed in deep, keeping his attention on his stomach rising. Breathe in. Breathe out. He looked down at the table. There was a map with different places circled. He wrote them down and walked out of the kitchen. He intended to check them all, even if it meant walking through every single street of London.

He headed for the door with a new determination. He put one foot outside and was immediately stopped in his tracks. He stood in the doorframe and watched as a car parked in front of the house. A tall gentleman got out and went to open the first backdoor. George got out the best he could with his hands in handcuffs. Lockwood felt instantly relieved. Though it was bittersweet. Seeing his best friend arrested wasn’t what he enjoyed the most. That was until he heard him give the man a piece of his mind before comparing him to an elderly turtle with all the grace George was known to be capable of. Lockwood couldn’t help but smile. They were alright. They were safe. y/n got out of the car shortly after. Though her handcuffs were already off. She slammed them against the man’s chest before heading towards the house. Lockwood realized he should have known better than to worry himself sick over her safety. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and she had already proven that a thousand times. Before George or y/n could cross the iron gate, the man called them back in a voice that seemed unnecessarily loud.

“This isn’t over. Consider yourself under constant surveillance. If I catch any of you out of line I’ll have you thrown in jail. Am I understood?”

Neither of them reacted. y/n climbed the few steps, glaring at Lockwood. If looks could kill, he would have been dead in an instant. She bumped hard into his shoulder as she entered the house and headed immediately for her room. George reached the door. He didn’t look bothered at all. He frowned at him, indirectly asking what was going on.

“We have a lot to tell you.”

---

[back to reader’s pov]

It had been an hour since Barnes had dropped them off. She hadn’t moved from the foot of her bed where she was sitting still. She kept replaying the day in her head, trying to make sense of what they had been told.

The ride to DEPRAC had been a silent one. George didn’t look particularly worried, but y/n had a hard time keeping it together. She bounced her leg fast the whole way there. She was worried they took the accusation from the papers literally. Or maybe they were in trouble because they both tried to break into a supervisor’s office. George would be fine since he didn’t succeed. But she was a criminal. What if she was arrested for good? Was this really how it was going to end?

As soon as they arrived, they were separated. Inspector Wade led George in a different room than her and she was left alone with Inspector Barnes. He sat across from her while putting down a manila folder in front of him. He didn’t open it right away.

“Why were you fired from Fittes, miss y/n?” he asked her instead.

She didn’t know how much he knew about her already. She wasn't sure if the real reason had been written down in her personnel file.

“I broke into a supervisor’s office.” She reluctantly admitted after a few minutes.

“Why?”

“I thought she had something to hide.”

“And what would that be?”

She had the feeling he already knew what she was going to say. He wanted to see if she would say the thing he expected. But she couldn’t tell if he believed her.

“I thought she might be stealing sources.”

“You got that theory from your good friend Karim, didn’t you?”

She nodded, but he hadn’t waited for her answer to continue.

“You see, when I read the paper yesterday I thought that giving the front page to an article that seemed mainly exaggeration was a little excessive. But then later in the day a woman working at Fittes came by to report two ex-agents.”

She actually did it she thought. She couldn’t think of a word rude enough to describe her. She was already picturing herself back in that same interrogation room in a couple of days with a murder charge. Barnes must have seen right through her.

“I need you to remain calm for the moment, miss y/n. I had no choice but to bring you here to interrogate the both of you separately. Though I’ve been through your record and I found it very surprising that someone like you could be accused of such things. You rose through the ranks quickly, got to be part of several leading teams, including Mr. Kipps’, and even won several distinctions. Not one step out of line in your whole career.”

She remained silent. It didn’t mean much that she had been exemplary now, she ended up in handcuffs anyway.

“Something didn’t sit right with me. I could be wrong though. Maybe you’re just talented in more than one way.” She shot him another angry stare. He looked unaffected. “I need to hear your version of what’s going on. So I’m asking you to tell me everything you know.”

“How can I be sure you’ll believe me?”

“You won't know until you try.”

She hesitated. A part of her thought that it might not even be worth it. But on the other hand, she didn’t have much to lose.

She told him everything starting with her growing suspicions. The insistent tone Dufour had when she offered to bring back the source. The meet-up she had witnessed. The chase. The rumors Kipps had told her about. She tried to go into great detail. A voice in her head kept whispering that no one would believe her. But the whisper quieted down when she noticed Barnes listening intently, taking notes and rummaging through the folder he had brought. He took out three pictures.

“Do you recognize any of these men?”

“No… I’m sorry I was far away and I was hiding. I didn't get a good look at them.”

“And where did you say the meet-up took place?”

She took a second to answer. She had a hard time acknowledging he actually believed her.

“Um… It was near the Thames, around Scotland Yard I think.”

“Did you hear anything worth mentioning?”

“Well I did see Mrs. Dufour selling the clock we had taken from Mrs. Overton’s house. I heard her negotiate the share she would take on its price but-”

The other inspector entered the room before she could finish her sentence.

“Sir, I think you should hear this.”

“Excuse me.”

Barnes left the room with Wade, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She was deeply confused and didn’t know how to feel about her situation. There was an official report against her, that part was not good. But the inspector in charge didn’t seem to believe she had anything to do with it. She wanted to think there were some positive aspects, but she doubted she could actually trust the man who had arrested her. She remained alone for quite some time, impatiently waiting. She felt like she had been there for several hours already. Though without a clock or natural light it was hard to tell. Eventually, the inspector came back. He didn’t ask her to finish what she had started to say before getting interrupted.

“Do you have any contact with relic-men on a regular basis?”

“Aside from the time one of them chased me down to slit my throat, I prefer to keep a safe distance.”

He got up.

“Are we done?”

“Not quite.” He didn’t explain further and simply asked her to come with him. 

She followed him down a corridor lined with a dozen doors. None of them were numbered. It must not be easy to locate anything in this gigantic building if rooms didn’t even have numbers on them. Barnes selected one of them seemingly at random and opened it. It looked like the same dark interrogation room she was just in. Sitting at the table was George, who didn’t seem to notice them coming in, too busy telling inspector Wade about something that required a lot of gesturing, probably one of the many theories they had been working on since their research. There was an extra chair next to him. Barnes told her to sit down. Only then did George look up and smiled at her. 

“y/n! We were just talking about what we learned at the furnaces.” He exclaimed before going back to what he was saying.

The inspectors shared an exasperated look before interrupting.

“Mr. Karim, we appreciate your input but we have more pressing matters to discuss.” Barnes said in a serious tone. “There are strong accusations against you and they are not to be taken lightly.”

“But you believe us?” y/n asked tentatively.

“I believe that you make the perfect suspects.”

She gaped at him while George was outraged, telling them to learn how to do their job. Barnes raised one hand to silence them.

“However… I think there’s more to this case than meets the eye.”

“I’m glad to finally hear you admit it!” George said, leaning back into his chair.

“Thanks to your testimonies we can safely assume that your case is linked directly to the recent surge in relic dealings. Whether you have anything to do with it or not remains to be proven, but so is your innocence. For now I want you to lay low and not do anything stupid.” He turned to George, then to her. “Am I understood?”

Her frustration came rushing back. Yet another person telling her she shouldn’t do anything.

“So someone I saw commit a felony with my own eyes is putting the blame on us and you expect me to let it slide?”

“I trust that you’re smart enough to realize that the stakes are higher than you think. There are powerful people ready to sink you to protect themselves. It isn’t to be taken lightly. One more mistake would only make their case against you stronger. Believe me if you want to get out of this unharmed you’d better take my advice.”

She looked over at George. His expression was inscrutable.

“I also need to drive you home in handcuffs to keep up appearances.”

At first, she thought it was the inspector’s poor attempt at a joke. Her smile faded when he actually handcuffed them.

“Why would you need to do this? We’re not under arrest.”

“I need certain people to think you’re in more trouble than you really are.”

“Does that have to do with my Scotland Yard theory?” George asked.

“Maybe.” Barnes admitted at a volume barely above a whisper.

This morning, George had suggested the idea that the meeting y/n had witnessed happened so close to Scotland Yard, a risky and quite frankly stupid place for dealing stolen relics, because an officer working there was part of the deal. That would explain how Dufour could have filed an official complaint against them without any tangible proof of their link to relic-men. He had a satisfied look on his face and put out his hands graciously to be handcuffed. He undeniably loved to be right. She wasn’t as forthcoming. The idea of being paraded through the building as someone officially under arrest didn’t sit right with her.

The walk back to the inspector’s car had been humiliating. A few people stared at them as they walked by like they were putting on a show for their entertainment. Not only was she asked to lay low, she also had to pretend like she was guilty. It was infuriating. On the way back to Portland Row, Barnes felt the need to remind them yet again to keep a low profile.

“I’ll keep you updated if anything new comes up, but in the meantime-”

“Yeah yeah ‘don’t be stupid’, you’ve gone over that part already.” George interrupted.

y/n remained silent, picking at her handcuffs to distract herself.

Once they reached their destination, Barnes yelled something to maintain the illusion. His acting skills were terrible. Lockwood was standing in the doorframe, smiling. She couldn’t believe him. He was the one to tell her that this whole thing would blow over and that it wasn’t a big deal. Now he saw them getting out of a police car in handcuffs and he was smiling? She bumped hard into his shoulder as she entered and went straight to her room.

The sun was starting to set. She felt numb. This whole situation was getting too much to bear. Maybe she should just go back to her parents’. The thought had briefly crossed her mind this morning. It had been quickly chased by George’s enthusiasm but now that she was alone she considered it more seriously. She’d be away from trouble and rumors there. She would do what she was asked, laying low and fleeing, leaving DEPRAC to handle Dufour. Lockwood would keep his precious reputation intact. He’d have one less thing to worry about. She wouldn’t drag George into her mess. Everyone would be better off with her gone.

She jumped at the rapid knocks on the door to the attic. After a few seconds, the door opened and hesitant footsteps started to climb the stairs. Lockwood appeared. He tried to smile at her. She didn’t smile back. They remained in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. She hadn’t moved from her bed. He was standing awkwardly near the stairs.

“I wanted to see if you were okay…”

“You said to do nothing because it would blow over and the next day I got dragged in handcuffs for an interrogation. How do you think I’m doing?”

“You got out of those pretty quickly…” He joked quietly. “You’ll have to teach me that, it’d be useful.”

She simply stared back.

“I’m sorry. For unsuccessfully lightening the mood and for the way I acted.”

She didn’t say anything. He would have to do a lot more than that to earn her forgiveness.

“George told me everything that went down at the station. I want to say that the positive thing is that this Barnes inspector seems to be on your side. But it might be early to talk about silver linings.”

She raised her eyebrows. No kidding. He shifted slightly closer to her.

“I was wrong. I should have been on your side from the start. I don’t think you should listen to Barnes. Or leave town…”

She hated how he apparently had the ability to read her mind. He took one more step closer.

“George and I need you if we want to stop this. Please help us.”

She remained silent. She didn’t know what to think anymore.

“Or rather… please forgive me.” He concluded with a thin smile.

She looked up at him and was surprised to see him look so honest. His eyes were softer than they had been the night before. His smile was almost shy. It wasn’t far from his usual grin and yet it felt like it was a world away from what she was used to. She wanted to believe him. She nodded slightly. He relaxed instantly, letting out a long sigh. A satisfied look took place once more upon his face.

“Wait, no.” y/n said, renewing the tension that had left the room for a second.

“No?”

“You can’t just walk in here and perform your usual charming act hoping it’ll work again.”

“What do you mean?” Lockwood asked, confused.

“You know exactly what I mean. You act all sweet and flash your signature smile to get everyone to agree with you. You do this with every client we have. Hell, you even did it to me to get me to work here!”

“What? That’s not true!”

“Yes, it is. You acted all nice and sweet-”

“I was comforting you! I was offering my help. I didn’t lie to you or trick you to get you to work here!”

“In hindsight it’s what it feels like.” She finally admitted, dropping what had been on her mind for the past few weeks. There was a long pause. He stared at her in stunned silence.

“I’m sorry you think I’m capable of such a thing.”

He went back downstairs and didn’t bother to close the door.

The relief she felt was bittersweet. The truth was out, and she hoped it would help clear things up between them. Once the tension eased, she would maybe understand Lockwood’s intentions. Though that was a stretch, and she felt terrible, like she had crossed a line.

It was only because she was starving that she eventually came downstairs to help with dinner. George had her chopping onions, Lockwood was nowhere to be seen.

When he eventually made an appearance, they ate in silence. The few times they spoke, they barely said three words or they gestured vaguely. George poured himself a glass of water and Lockwood held out his hand to grab the bottle. She put out her glass but he deliberately put down the water away from her without serving her. She glared at him.

“I wouldn’t want you to think I have ulterior motives.” He shrugged.

He could be so infuriating.

“I learned a little bit more about this whole relic-dealing.” He said to change the subject. “Apparently this whole thing is happening because of one man who is singlehandedly raising the demand for haunted objects. He’s paying handsomely and it’s enough to make everyone go crazy.”

“Then following Dufour would definitely help us learn more about this man.” George answered.

“Maybe… I think we might have to think bigger. To aim for the leaders directly and not just for the leg men. We should probably start by collecting more information about what’s going on in town, in higher society, maybe some events or gatherings that could help us identify this man.”

“Sure I could go back to the Archives tomorrow.” George agreed.

“Yesterday you didn’t even want to hear about this and now we should just follow your every order?” y/n interrupted.

“What do you want from me? I tell you to let it go, you yell at me. I tell you we should get involved and you yell at me again.”

“Because we should always do what you decide!”

“Fine, what do you suggest we do then?”

“I have to think about it…”

“How surprising!”

“Oh shut-”

“Enough!” George slammed his fist on the table. “I’m sick of having to listen to you fight. Apologize to each other and let’s get this over with.”

y/n and Lockwood stared at each other in silence. Neither of them went first.

“Fine.” George said, standing up. “I won’t do any more research then. Until you both apologize, I’m on strike.”

He ignored their protests and went up to his room.

“See what you did?” Lockwood blamed her. “I don’t understand you y/n. I thought you’d be glad I joined you on your revenge mission.”

“You’re so used to getting your way that you can’t imagine things might be more complicated than that.”

“Then tell me what I’m doing wrong! You didn’t accept my apology… I mean, what more do you want?”

“I want you to realize that my career was my life and it was taken away from me. I’ve never felt more powerless than when I got fired and now I can’t even make my own decisions because you decided that you know better than everyone else. And the fact that you don’t even let me decide what to do about something that only concerns me and George…”

She broke off, not sure how to finish her sentence. He didn’t seem sure of what to say either.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t more attentive to this.” He sat in the chair next to her. “I guess I always saw Fittes like a prison and couldn’t see how getting fired from there was a bad thing. I’ll make sure to listen to your opinion… if it’s worth listening to.” He winked at her. She felt acknowledged for the first time since her troubles had begun. It wasn’t perfect, but it was an improvement. She smiled back at him. Though, she felt like there was more that he wanted to say. He hesitated, not sure how to phrase what he had in mind.

“Don’t take this the wrong way but the relic-dealing case isn’t just about you and George anymore.” He said cautiously. She frowned.

“People are dying over it.” He continued. “Dozens of sources are being stolen from any place that might have something of value and aren’t secured properly. Because of that some of them broke and let out a visitor that killed people nearby.” He looked into her eyes. “We need to stop this, y/n. Some relic-men managed to get their hands on relics that contained spirits that broke free when they mishandled the sources. This type of ghost will kill the first thing it sees as soon as it breaks free.” He grew more passionate as he explained what he knew. He was staring at something in the distance, his gaze focused, like he was looking through a window to the past. There was turmoil in his voice. It was unsettling, he was usually either indifferent or very professional when talking about visitors.

She listened intently, hanging on to every word. She realized she was staring at him when he suddenly stopped talking and looked down at the table. He looked haunted. She had never seen him so vulnerable before.

“How do you want to proceed?” She asked, trying to make him think of something else.

He looked back at her and blinked in surprise.

“I thought you didn’t want to take orders from me anymore?”

“Vulnerability’s a good look on you.”

The faintest blush appeared on his cheeks. He almost looked shy. She didn’t think it was possible for Lockwood to look anything other than proud and annoyingly attractive.

“I hope this isn’t another one of your acts to get me to forgive you.” She teased him. Though a part of it was true. She still didn’t know if she could trust his puppy eyes. She was about to get up when he took both of her hands in his to make her look at him.

“y/n, I need you to know that I never had the intention to trick you or charm or whatever you want to call it. I was always honest and I meant everything I told you.”

She could get used to seeing him like this. She actually felt like she got to see him for who he really was. And she loved this version of him. The real him. She took back her hands at the thought.

“Even when you said I was pretentious and helpless?” She said to ease the tension she was feeling.

“I meant the nice things.” He corrected. He laughed lightly and looked deep into her eyes with the same warmth from a few weeks ago, when he comforted her in the library. She had no idea how he could maintain eye contact with so much intensity in his gaze. She wondered if the oven was still on with how hot the room was getting.

“Though I wasn’t completely wrong when I said you were pretentious.” He winked.

“You’re the worst!” She laughed as she pushed him away and got up to go back to her room.

“I’ll tell George to get back to work on my way up.” She gave him one last smile before opening the door to the kitchen.

“Goodnight, y/n.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Screaming filled her ears and she was paralyzed with fear. It was coming from everywhere, surrounding her and nulling her senses. At first, she couldn’t see anything. The place was pitch black and horribly cold. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark. She had no idea where she was. It looked like some sort of warehouse, with industrial equipment resting under a thick layer of dust. Spiderwebs covered every inch of them and climbed up to the ceiling. That wasn’t a good sign. The screaming intensified. It sounded like a group of teenagers. Her psychic senses, usually sharp even under pressure, were blurry and didn’t give her any indication on what was going on. She noticed a door in the corner of her eye and tried to run to it but her legs refused to work. It was like she was fused in place, unable to move. She panicked as the screaming got closer. But the threat passed right through her. She felt a freezing bolt of energy crashing into her before opening two tall doors wide. A group of agents tried to close them back, they were losing control of the situation. y/n was forced to watch the scene, unable to help. One of them, she assumed the leader of the group, shouted orders that were barely audible above the wind that had risen up. The group went back through the doors, struggling to keep them close. At the last minute, two girls appeared right before they shut. One of them was injured, but she was too far for y/n to see her face. The second girl took off her jacket to tend to her wound. She looked like she was screaming at someone outside but y/n couldn’t see anything from where she was. She desperately wanted to help but her feet did not move. Suddenly the girl looked right at her. It was her. The one who had been haunting her dreams for weeks. She had accusing eyes and said something to her that she couldn’t make out. Then she started screaming. Louder than the wind, louder than the screams of her teammates, louder than y/n’s own screaming.

She bolted up in bed, her throat sore and drenched in sweat.

[sattlersquarry]

the video store frame-up of '86 (steve harrington x gn!reader)

Summary: (Post Season 3, lightly inspired by Romeo & Juliet) You and Steve fall in love, despite working at rival video stores. Things get complicated when the two of you are prime suspects in a Blockbuster video vandalism.

Word Count: ~5.5k

Warnings: Language, implied sex, 18+ for references to sex and "adult films" (i.e., mention an adult video store in town), physical fight where Steve doesn't know his own strength, reader is/was a swimmer, sort of a cliffhanger ending (but not really if you've seen ST4). There should be no descriptors of the reader’s physicality but lmk if I missed something!

A/N: there's a very slim possibility that i'd write a part 2 to this...but i have so many other wips it's a very very very slim chance!

February, 1986

One bitter cold Saturday afternoon in February, Keith recruits Robin and Steve to commit an act of corporate espionage. 

“You want us to do what?” Robin says, nose scrunched in disgust.

Keith paces the Family Video, arms crossed behind his back, as if he’s an army general. His two “troops” slouch over the counter, looking confused and bored. 

“Corporate espionage,” Keith repeats, speaking slowly as if he’s talking to toddlers. “A Blockbuster opened across town and they’re stealing all our customers!” 

“C’mon, Keith,” Steve says. “You can’t seriously be worried. Family Video is a Hawkin staple!” 

“But Blockbuster is newer,” Keith says, “and the plebeians of this town love shiny and new. Look what happened with Starcourt.”

Steve and Robin share a tense look, heartbeats quickening at the mention of the now-defunct Russian base’s home. 

“It almost decimated our town’s economy,” Keith continued, “because no one wanted to shop small anymore. We can’t let a corporate chain ruin Family Video!”

“Family Video is a corporate chain too, you know,” Robin deadpanned.

“Whatever! We’re better than Blockbuster, and you two are going to go undercover and dig up dirt on that shithole.” 

Later that afternoon, with strict instructions to pose as “average video store consumers,” Steve and Robin head to the Hawkins Blockbuster Video.  

A giant blue sign, shaped like a torn ticket stub, boasts the store’s name and rests above glittering front windows, which are outfitted with bright posters of new releases. 

“Whoa,” Robin says as they exit Steve’s car. “Maybe Keith is right to be worried.” 

The parking lot is packed. Way busier than the Family Video has been in probably a decade.

“Don’t you start,” Steve grumbles. “This is such a waste of time.”

“At least we’re getting overtime pay,” Robin says, holding the door for Steve.

They enter and, in the crowd, immediately spot four traitors heading their way.

“Aw, shit,” Dustin says. “You two weren’t supposed to see this.” 

Dustin, Lucas, and Mike have their arms full of movie night snacks. Max holds a stack of horror movies. All of them look sheepish at getting caught. 

“No customer loyalty,” Steve tuts, hands on his hips. 

“We’ll rent from Family Video next week!” Lucas promises.

“Keep your voice down,” Robin murmurs. “Keith sent us on special assignment. Spy stuff.”

“He’s freaking out because Blockbuster is way cooler than Family Video, right?” Mike says. He takes a large bite of a licorice stick.

“I don’t get what the big deal is!” Steve says. He points out features of the store. “I mean, come on: movies. Cassettes. Weird cardboard cutouts. Overpriced movie snacks. It’s all the same shit we have!”

“But it’s newer,” Max says. 

“That doesn’t mean better.” 

“It doesn’t mean worse either,” Max counters. 

“We’ll get out of your hair,” Dustin says. “Good luck, Special Agents.”

He facetiously salutes the duo, and the other teens say goodbye before heading out. 

Steve and Robin continue prowling the store, stopping every few yards to inspect some tapes and pretend to be deeply invested in picking the perfect movie.

“What ‘dirt’ are we expected to find, exactly?” Robin whispers, eyes flicking to the front counter. 

Steve follows her gaze, and he stops breathing for a moment. You’re working the cash register, and you might possibly be the most beautiful person he’s ever seen. 

You’re smiling and ringing up an elderly woman, looking way more chipper than Steve ever does when he’s on cash register duty. Your megawatt smile might be fake, but it still sends an electric shock across Steve’s heart. You’re wearing a corporate-mandated navy polo with the ticket stub logo stitched on it, but somehow, you make it look good. 

“Steve? Hell-o, earth to Steve!”

Robin shoves him lightly and he snaps out of his reverie.

“Sorry,” Steve says. “What were you saying?” 

Robin snickers.

“Geez, you’re hopeless. You gawk like it’s an Olympic sport.”

Steve blushes. 

“Shut up.” He gestures to the shelves vaguely. “I wasn’t gawking. I was…horrified by how dusty these shelves are. There’s some literal dirt for Keith.” 

Robin snorts and snatches up a VHS of Weird Science. She slaps it into Steve’s hands. 

“Go talk to the cashier,” Robin says. “Maybe they’ll spill some company secrets to aid in our mission.”  

“What are you going to do?” 

“Inspect the foreign film display. No way it’s as finely curated as the one I made for Family Video.” 

Steve takes a few deep breaths before striding to the front counter. He hopes the smile on his face is suave and confident, and not the nervous grimace he fears it is. 

“Hey,” he says, eyes flicking to your nametag. “Y/N. How’s it going?” 

“Hey there,” you say. You smile at Steve, and his insides turn to mush at the sight. “Find everything okay?” 

“Yeah,” Steve says. He hands you the tape. “Just this, and some—uh—”

He scans the snack options in the glass cabinet below the counter. Wow, Blockbuster did have a lot more options than the Family Video…

“And Milk Duds,” he adds.

“Great choices,” you say, ringing up the movie and the candy. “But I prefer sour candies with comedies. Why not throw in a couple boxes of sour gummy worms too? It’s two for the price of one right now. Might as well treat yourself.”

Steve raises an eyebrow. You were attractive and knew how to upsell—Keith’s dream employee (or worst nightmare, since you were working for the competition). 

“I like the way you think,” he says. “I’ll take them.” 

You beam and ring up the candy worms.

“Do you have a membership card?” you ask. 

“Not yet.” 

“No worries, I’ll set you up with one. I just need some contact information. Name?”

Steve starts to respond, but his name dies on his tongue. He’s undercover—does he need to use a fake name, or something? Before he can stop himself, he blurts out the first name he can think of that’s not his own: “Hubert Glass.”

“Well,” you say as you enter it into the system, “it’s very nice to meet you, Hubert.” 

Steve kicks himself. Of all the sexy-sounding names in the world—Brock, Kyle, Ralph—he chose to call himself Hubert. Robin was right—he is hopeless.

He’s so preoccupied with his own stupidity, and how nice you smell, and how your hands brush when you hand him a pen to sign the back of his membership card, that he doesn’t notice Robin slink up next to him. 

“Jesus Christ,” Robin mutters, noticing the embarrassing fake name on the card.

For some reason, you deflated slightly at the appearance of Robin at Steve’s side. Steve wonders if you’re perhaps jealous…as laughable as it is, he and Robin get mistaken for a couple quite often. 

He ignores Robin and hands the card back to you. You swipe it with the computer and say, “All set!” You hand him the card back, along with a bag of the movie and snacks. “Our rental window is seven days.”

“Seven?” Robin asks, thinking of the Family Video return policy. “Not four?”

“Nope. You’ve got a week!”

“Cool,” Steve says. “I guess I’ll see you in a week, then, when I return this?” 

“Maybe,” you say with a wink. “Have a nice night, Hubert.” 

Steve wants to say something else—maybe tell you his real name, invite you to watch the movie and split the candy with him—but Robin’s dragging him away and you’re turning to the next customer. 

The second they step outside, Robin bursts out laughing.

“Shut up,” Steve grumbles. 

“Hubert Glass!” Robin says, clutching her chest. She laughs so much, she starts to hiccup. “Steve, I don’t get you. You’re so cool under pressure when it comes to literal, actual monsters. But a marginally attractive person smiles at you, and you can’t think.”

Steve ignores her once more, unlocking the car doors and hoping you can’t hear Robin’s laughter from in the store. 

If he had looked up, he’d have noticed you watching him through the windows, heart hammering away in your chest. Unbeknownst to Steve, you’d be counting down the seven days until you could see him again. 

📼📼📼

Steve returns to Blockbuster in 3 days. He tells Keith he’s looking for more “intel,” but really, he just wants to see you. 

It’s a weekday, so the store is much less crowded. A different employee is stationed at the counter. Steve scans the store, but you’re nowhere to be seen. He frowns. 

“Welcome to Blockbuster Video!” the man at the counter says. “Can I help you find anything, sir?” 

“Just returning this,” Steve says, holding up Weird Science. He starts to hand it to the cashier—Greg, according to his nametag—but he stops when you approach.

“I’ve got this one, Greg,” you say, appearing from the corridor. “Go on, take your break.” 

Greg frowns at the curious, slightly flirtatious way you’re looking at Steve. He disappears the way you came, shoulders slumped.

Steve hands you the tape and you flash him a cheeky smile. 

“So, ‘Hubert,’” you say. “When were you going to tell me your name is actually Steve?”

Steve chokes on air. You snicker at the deer-in-the-headlights look on his face.

“Wait, how did you know that?!” 

“I know all about you,” you say, an air of mysticism in your voice. You drop the act. “Kidding. But I know you’re Steve Harrington, because you were co-captain of the Hawkins High swim team. I was on the swim team at Eagleton Prep. Our schools competed, like, seven times.”

“Oh, right,” Steve says. He scans your face. “Sorry, I—I don’t—”

“It’s okay if you don’t remember me,” you say kindly. “I’m kind of forgettable.” 

Impossible, Steve thinks, because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since Saturday. 

“Plus,” you add as you finalize his return in the computer system, “you probably can’t recognize me in my work polo. At a swim meet, you would’ve seen me in way less clothes.” 

Oh, God. Steve hopes his cheeks aren’t as red and warm as they feel. He hopes you aren’t a mind reader, because the thought that lingers in his mind is a very, very inappropriate one. He feels like a horny teenager again.

“I almost called you out on Saturday,” you continue, “but I figured you had a good reason for pretending to be someone you’re not.”

“I’m so, so sorry,” Steve says. “It was dumb. I was supposed to be…undercover.” 

You turn back from the computer screen, an eyebrow raised.

“You a spy, or something?” 

“The worst one ever,” Steve says, “because I’m admitting it. But, yes. I work at Family Video.” He leans his arms on the counter. “My boss wanted me and my coworker Robin to scope out the ‘competition.’”

You add Weird Science to a stack of tapes to reshelve and lean on the counter as well. Your faces are so close, you can see the freckles dotting Steve’s nose and cheeks. He really is nice to look at…

“If you’re looking for dirt on us Blockbuster employees,” you say, “you aren’t going to find it. I’m phenomenal at my job.” 

“I believe it,” Steve says. “You upsold me sour gummy worms. And I don’t even like sour gummy worms.” 

You clutch your heart, feigning shock.

“Say it ain’t so! Sour gummy worms are the best.”

“They’re practically acid!” Steve protests. 

“They’re delicious,” you say, shaking your head. “You’re missing out.”

“Think about it this way,” Steve says, voice low. He leans in ever-so-slightly. Your breath hitches in your throat, and you can’t help but glance at his lips. “Since I hate them, that means more for you.” 

There’s something about Steve…something you can’t quite name. It’s something that makes you feel electric. 

“I like that perspective,” you murmur. 

You’re thinking of doing something stupid—like asking Steve to go on a date with you, or kissing him during work hours—but you spot your manager coming through the front doors and straighten up, replacing your coy smile with a customer service one. 

“Anything I can help you find?” you say, your voice up an octave. 

Steve balks at the sudden switch-up in your demeanor. He clears his throat and shakes his head.

“Uh, nope. I’m good. Just, uh, just going to look around a bit.” 

He slinks away to the aisles and you cringe.

“Y/N!” your manager, Cora Meadows, says as she beelines to the counter, returning from her lunch break. “Did you reorganize the stockroom?”

“Yes! All done.” 

“And order next month’s inventory?”

“Done and done.” 

“And throw out the expired candies?”

“Finito.” 

Cora gives a curt nod and disappears into the stockroom, and you relax once more.

Steve returns to rent some romantic comedy you’ve never heard of. 

“Any candy today?” you ask, handing him the movie after ringing it up.

“Yeah. Milk Duds and sour gummy worms.”

“Decided to give them another try, eh?”

“No, actually. They’re for you, if you want.” He shakes the tape. “I figured we could watch this one together?” 

His eyes are bright and hopeful and he gauges your reaction. The electricity from before returns in full force, and you beam. 

“I’d like that,” you say. You scrawl your number on a scrap of paper and hand it to him along with the candies. He promises he’ll call and schedule your movie date soon, and on his way out of the store, he glances back to smile at you five times.

📼📼📼

“TRAITOR!” 

Unsurprisingly, Keith isn’t too happy when he overhears Steve and Robin discussing the former’s upcoming date with Y/N, the Blockbuster cashier.

“I am not a traitor!” Steve says. “What I do in my free time—and who I do it with—has nothing to do with work.” 

“You’re actively engaging with the enemy!” Keith snaps. 

“Keith, you need to chill!” Robin says with a laugh. “No one else is taking this so-called rivalry seriously.”

Technically, one other person was taking it that seriously—your manager. 

“Trading company secrets is a fireable offense, you know!” Cora says. “If you go on this date, and suddenly Family Video starts using our sales techniques…”

“We’re not going to be talking about work!” you protest. 

“Isn’t it a movie date?” Greg points out. “That’s kind of work related.”

He shrinks under your glare and mumbles something about lunch before darting to the break room.

You and Steve ignore your annoying managers and have your movie date at Steve’s house. One movie night turns to another, and another, and another. Over the next month and a half, you and Steve fall into a steady rhythm, with twice-weekly movie nights. 

The film genres change constantly, but the snacks are always the same: Milk Duds and sour gummy worms. 

For the first handful of dates, you two watch the full movie. By the sixth meet-up, the movie quickly becomes background noise for making out. 

You can’t quite believe your luck. Truthfully, you were never the one people noticed back in school. Your friends were the attractive ones that got asked on dates. You were the mousy third wheel, until now. 

Now, Steve’s wandering hands light your senses on fire as the end credits roll from yet another forgotten movie. His kisses trail down your neck, and your skin buzzes from the touch.

“I can’t stay late,” you say, though you’d give anything to stay in this moment for a long, long time. “It’s a long drive home, and I have an early shift. But can I see you tomorrow? We could meet at the diner on our lunch breaks?” 

“I’ll do you one better,” Steve murmurs. He almost looks a little shy when he coyly asks, “Stay the night, and tomorrow, I’ll make you breakfast.”

Your heart thuds in your chest, and you nod with a grin, giddy as he leads you up to his room. 

When you arrive at work the next day, you’re floating on air after your night with Steve. Your good mood is dashed when you walk through the employee entrance. Greg and the other employees are whispering conspiratorially in the break room. They stop and stare when they notice you. 

“Uh, hey guys,” you say with an awkward wave. You punch your time card and try to ignore their gazes.

Cora storms into the room, eyes blazing with fury. 

“Y/N!” she says. “Good of you to join us. Come with me, now.” 

“Is everything okay?” you ask, brows furrowed. 

“Now!” Cora repeats, louder. Your coworkers whisper more, and embarrassment rises in you. You keep your head down and follow Cora to the front. 

Shattered glass decorates the carpet of the store. The front window is smashed, and a huge brick rests among the wreckage. 

Officer Callahan from the police department surveys the damage, scribbling in a notepad. 

“What happened here?!” you say, jaw dropped. 

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Cora demands. “Care to comment?”

“Whoa! Wait, wait,” you sputter, “you think I did this? Why?!”

“I think you’ve been spending an awful lot of quality time with the Family Video’s assistant manager,” Cora says. “He must’ve done this. This was obviously an act of retaliation because of our newfound success. But he knew how to keep his face from being filmed on our security cameras. Let me guess—you gave your boy toy the rundown in exchange for, what? Sexual favors?” 

You seethe with anger at Cora’s dehumanization of Steve, boiling him down to nothing but your “boy toy.” At her implication that you’re trading store secrets for sex, as if you’re insatiable and have no loyalty. 

“Whoa,” Callahan says, holding up a hand. “Ms. Meadows, you’re throwing around a lot of accusations. Accusations that come with a hell of a lot of more paperwork.”

“Officer, I swear,” you say, “I didn’t have anything to do with this! And neither did Steve! He thinks the store rivalry is dumb. We both do!”

“Relax, kid,” Callahan says. “You aren’t in trouble, yet. Do you have an alibi for last night?” 

“Steve and I were together all night,” you say, realizing that does nothing to dissuade Cora of your supposed guilt. 

“Convenient,” Cora scoffs. “Anyone else to corroborate your story?” 

“I’m asking the questions,” Callahan says firmly. He clears his throat and turns to you. “Anyone else to, uh, corroborate your—”

“We didn’t do this!” you yell. “What ‘evidence’ do you have, except for assumptions?!”

“Well…none.”

“Y/N,” Cora says, “until we get to the bottom of this, you’re banned from the store and suspended without pay.” 

You want to protest how unfair that is, how your rent won’t pay itself and you need this money, how Cora’s being absolutely insane, but you resist. It won’t do any good. She’s set in her belief, so you say nothing. You clean out your employee locker and ignore the snickers from your coworkers.

You’re angry as hell, but you’re also not giving up so easily. You won’t go down for this, so you decide to pay a visit to the only person in town who hates Blockbuster. 

Steve is surprised to see you march into Family Video only a couple minutes into his shift, but he beams at the sight of you. 

“Hey, you,” he says softly, hearts in his eyes. “Last night was really—”

“Where’s Keith?”

Steve’s face twists with disgust. 

“You came here to see Keith? And not me? Jesus, was the sex that bad?”

“It was fantastic,” you say, “but that’s not why I’m here. I’ll explain everything. I just need to talk to Keith before the cops arrive.”

“The cops?” 

You sidestep around him and burst into the back room, Steve on your heels. Keith sits at his desk eating Cheeze Puffs. At your entrance, Keith chokes on artificial cheese dust and dives to cover up some store paperwork. 

“Employees only!” Keith barks. “Out!”

“Did you vandalize Blockbuster?!” you demand. 

“Whoa,” Steve says. “Blockbuster was vandalized?” 

“Someone tossed a brick through the window and my psycho manager thinks you did it, with my help!”

“What?!” Steve says. He puts his head in his hands. “Oh, fuck.” 

“I don’t know anything about any vandalism,” Keith says. “Unlike you Blockbuster people, us Family Video employees have a little decorum. I don’t need to resort to violence to take your store down when my store has better products and better service.”

You dive forward and grab Keith by the vest. He squeaks in fright. 

“Tell. The. Truth! Did you do it?!”

“I didn’t!” Keith says. “I swear!” 

You scan his face for any indication that he’s lying. When you find nothing except fear, you let him go. He slinks past you into the front of the store, muttering about “crazy people” the whole way. 

You turn to Steve. He looks a bit flushed. 

“Am I totally depraved for wishing you’d grab my vest like that and boss me around?” he says, voice low. 

“I’ll keep that in mind for later. Right now, we need to get to the bottom of this.”

“Do we, though? Can’t we just let the cops handle it?”

“No! What if they take Cora’s side and think we really did vandalize the store?! We need to think of some suspects.”

Steve sighs and rubs his forehead.

“What are we, characters from some Agnes Christie story?”

“Agatha. And if I can clear our names, I’ll play detective any day. Now: besides Keith, who would want to do this?” 

Robin enters the back room.

“There you are!” she says. “Steve, I need you to help with inventory. You can flirt with Y/N later.” 

“We’re not flirting,” Steve says. “Y/N and I are trying to figure out who smashed the window at Blockbuster so we don’t get blamed for it.”

Robin’s eyes widen.

“Oh, shit! That’s heavy.” 

“You like solving puzzles, right?” you ask. Robin nods. “Great. Who do you think would do it?”

“Let’s think about this logically,” Robin says. “First, are there any other video stores in town, or in the next town over, that might be struggling because of Blockbuster?” 

“Well, technically, there is one other video store in town,” Steve says. Off your confused look, he clears his throat and crosses his arms. “…Are you seriously going to make me say it?”

“Are you talking about the place that rents pornos?” you say.

The Triple X Emporium was a small, windowless shack on the edge of town. You’d never gone inside, but while driving past had once caught a glimpse of Hawkins’ old mayor, Mayor Kline, leaving the store with a rather full bag of tapes. 

“Uh, I think the industry term is ‘adult films,’” Steve corrects, causing you to roll your eyes.

“That makes no sense,” Robin says. “Family Video and Blockbuster aren’t allowed to stock porn—”

“Adult films.”

“Whatever! Point is, our stores have a completely different demographic than Triple X. There’s no competition there. That’s not a solid lead. Maybe it’s just run-of-the-mill vandalism. Teens do shit like this all the time.”

“But whoever did it knew exactly how to avoid being recognized on our security cameras,” you say. “The only people who would know how to do that are people that work at Blockbuster.”

“There’s a whole batch of suspects right there!” Robin says. 

“But why would a Blockbuster employee vandalize Blockbuster?” 

“Maybe someone’s trying to frame you guys,” Robin says. “You two have any enemies?” 

“Haha,” Steve snorts. “Very funny.”

“No, she could be right,” you say. “Maybe Cora did it. She doesn’t seem to like me very much.”

“But she’s your boss,” Steve says. “If she really doesn’t like you, she can just fire you anytime.”

Keith stomps into the back room and shoots a sharp glare your way.

“Stop distracting my employees!” he snaps.

“But—”

“Get out! Now!” 

You thank Robin for her input and give Steve a kiss goodbye before leaving the Family Video. 

You spend your day at the local coffee shop, drowning your sorries in espresso and ruminating about the vandalism. 

You think about each and every one of your coworkers. Except Cora, they were all nice enough. Especially Greg. He was super nice to you, offering to buy your lunch or stay overtime to help with inventory.

Matter of fact, he was maybe a bit too nice. Greg would laugh too loud for too long at your jokes, even when they weren’t that funny. He stood too close to you during morning meetings. He asked you to meet him for drinks after work often, even though you always politely declined. You’d even catch him staring at you sometimes, which you always chalked up to him zoning out and not realizing what he was doing, but now…now you weren't so sure.

Plus, Greg was always cold to Steve when he came to visit you at work. You initially thought it was professionalism. Now, you wonder if Greg is jealous of Steve. And what better way to get revenge than pinning a vandalism on him? And if he says you’re in on it, he can retaliate for all the rejections you’ve given him over the past few months. Unfortunately, it makes a lot of sense. 

A theory is nothing without concrete evidence to back it up. Later that night, you call Steve to give him your hypothesis about Greg and pose an inane plan.

“You want to break into Blockbuster,” Steve says, “when we’re already number-one suspects?!”

“We have to prove our innocence! Maybe there’s something on the security footage that the cops don’t know to look for that will point to Greg.”

Steve isn’t happy about it, but when he can tell you won’t be swayed otherwise, he agrees to pick you up and take you to Blockbuster at midnight.

Under the cover of darkness, you punch in the security code and enter the employee entrance, Steve right behind.

“Does being your boyfriend mean we’ll be doing a lot of breaking and entering?” Steve whispers as you creep toward Cora’s empty, darkened office.

You pause, looking at him with shining eyes.

“You’re my boyfriend?”

Even in the dim light, you can see him blush.

“I mean, um, I know we haven’t officially said that yet, but I think I am—I mean, I’d like to be.” 

You cup his face in your hands and kiss him. 

“I’d like you to be my boyfriend too,” you say sweetly. “C’mon, let’s go.” 

Steve’s the lookout while you pick the lock on Cora’s office door. Once inside, you pull up the security tape from the night of the vandalism and watch the grainy footage on a tiny TV.

Around 1 a.m., a hooded figure rides up to the storefront on their bike. Their face is covered in a ski mask, making it impossible to make out any physical features except height.

“I can’t believe the cops think that guy is me,” Steve grumbles. “He’s, like, 5’8”.” 

“Greg’s about that height,” you mumble. 

The hooded figure retrieves a brick from their bike’s basket and steps closer to the front window. You can't see them anymore due to the camera angle, except for their arm as they rear it back to toss the brick.

“Look! Look!” you say. You pause the tape and point to the assailant’s wrist. “Look at that!”

“A watch?” Steve says, squinting at the screen. 

“A calculator watch! You don’t own one of those, right?”

Steve holds up his wrist. He’s wearing an analog watch with a leather band. 

“This is the only watch I own,” he says. “It was my grandfather’s. I never take it off, if I can help it.” 

“You know who wears a calculator watch?” you say. You eject the security tape. “Greg! Let’s bring this to the police station and—”

Bang! The door to Cora’s office swings open and smacks against the wall loudly, startling the two of you.

Greg stands in the doorway, glowering. You stumble to your feet and away from the desk. Steve instantly takes a small step in front of you, as if he’s shielding you. If you weren’t worried about how pissed Greg looks, you’d be a bit flustered at the protectiveness. 

“What are you doing here?!” Greg says. “You two are banned from the store!” 

“Temporarily banned!” you fire back. “And now that we have this—” You hold up the tape. “—you’ll be the one that’s banned.” 

His eyes widen a fraction, and then immediately narrow back into slits. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You framed us!” you say. “You broke the window, and then you told Cora it was probably Steve who did it with my help, knowing she’d believe you because of the dumbass store rivalry!” 

“Even if that was true,” Greg says, “the cops said the security footage didn’t give them a clear picture of the suspect. So there’s nothing on that tape that would indict me.” 

He crosses his arms and smirks. You and Steve glance at the shiny calculator swatch on his wrist. 

“Sure about that?” Steve says, a cocky grin spreading across his features.

Greg frowns and looks down at his wrist. He curses and glares at you both once more.

“Well,” he says, “it’s my word against yours.”

“But we have the tape!” you say.

“Not for long.” 

Greg lunges for you. You squeal in fright, but before Greg can grab you or the tape, Steve tackles him like a linebacker.

A chaotic fight ensues. You watch, horrified, from the corner of the room, clutching the tape for dear life. Greg lands a few punches, but Steve fights like a professional. He takes every hit in stride and returns it with twice as much force. At some point in the scuffle, Steve whacks Greg’s head against the corner of Cora’s desk. Greg crumples to the ground unconscious, and you scream. 

Steve whirls around to you, eyes wild.

“Are you okay?” he asks urgently. 

You don’t say anything. You’re frozen, gawking at the bleeding gash on Greg’s forehead. 

“ARE YOU OKAY?” Steve repeats louder, shaking your shoulders this time. 

You nod frantically.

“W-we need to call for help,” you say, fidgeting with the tape in your hands. “G-greg’s hurt.”

Steve looks at Greg and back at you, guilt etched all over his face.

“Right, right,” Steve says. “I’ll call 911.”

Paramedics and police arrive in record time. You hand the tape over to Officer Callahan, but it ends up being unnecessary—once Greg comes to, he confesses almost instantly. He also asks you out for coffee so he can ‘apologize properly’ and you reject him, reminding him that you have a boyfriend, and also that people don’t like to date people that tried to frame them for crimes. 

Thankfully, when Cora arrives on the scene, she decides not press charges for your little breaking and entering excursion. She offers you your job back, but you decide not to take it—there are other jobs, right? Jobs with managers that won’t assume the worst of you all the time. 

Steve drives you home after you two have given the police your statements. You can’t stop thinking about the fight, and you blurt out: “Were you ever a boxer?” 

“Nope. I was a swimmer and I played basketball. That’s it.” 

“Really?” you say. “Because the way you beat up Greg makes me think that you’re some kind of Rocky Jr. Where did you learn to fight like that?”

Steve’s mind flashes to his fight with Jonathan, his fight with Billy, his fight with the Russian guard…he doesn’t want to lie to you, but it’s way too early in the relationship for him to tell the truth about Hawkins and what he’s been through. 

Instead, he tells a half-truth: “I was a scrawny kid. My uncle taught me a few moves to protect me from bullies.” 

You can tell he’s not being fully honest, but you don’t press. 

You know Steve was co-captain of his school’s swim team. You know his parents are rarely around and he struggles with loneliness. You know he prefers television shows over movies but watches movies so much because you love them. You know he inhales Milk Duds like oxygen. You know how he likes to kiss you, how he likes to be kissed, how he touches you when no one else is around. 

Despite all that, you start to wonder if you really know Steve Harrington at all. 

📼📼📼

When you go to the Family Video the following week and ask Keith about any job openings, he hires you on the spot. 

“What? No interview?”

“Harrington says you’re a master at the art of upselling,” Keith says with a shrug. “I need someone on my team that can convince the idiots of Hawkins to buy and rent stuff they don’t need.” 

Working with Steve is fun, and your relationship blossoms the more time you spend together. However, there’s still a nagging thought in the back of your mind—the thought that he’s keeping something from you. Something big. You ignore it as best you can, but you have a feeling that your curiosity is going to catch up to you. 

And it does the day you clock into your shift and see Steve, Robin, and two of their friends searching the Family Video database for an unfamiliar name.

“Uh, who’s Rick Lipton,” you say, “and why are you four stalking his rental history?” 

📼📼📼

tags: @starry-eyed-steve @deadgirlwalkingtaylorsversion (I know both expressed interest in this fic! I hope you enjoy!)

[dangermousie]

This drama is going HARD for dynamics I really really like.

To be fair, seeing that when she picked him up (literally), he was not only starving but clearly was horribly tortured for years, the only place people are waiting for him is likely the owners of BDSM with Extreme Prejudice Cage with saw in the flashback.

Love that he does not say. Love that she is not dumb to read that silence correctly.

Cdramas are really big on “rescue abused hot men, they are royals who will totally be your subs” agenda. This is giving me mad Colourful Bones vibes. I do love how quietly pleased he appears with his transparent little dodge.

I have no idea if they intended this whole sequence be as kinky as it comes across (especially with his halting hoarse voice) but well, there is a Russian saying that translated goes something like “everyone thinks to the measure of his perversion” and well...

I do love that she has enough common sense to know that whatever is going on with this dude is likely troublesome and complicated (the guy with her pointed out that if someone wants to kill a person they just slit their throat; whoever held him instead horribly tortured him for years) and likely he has people who are after him and would love him back and she still is super softie and caves in super quick.

Her naming skills OMG!

Love her flunkies going at least it’s not as bad as it could have been (her first choice was licorice ahahaha.)

Confession - I only checked out this drama because I check out pretty much every costume cdrama. To say I had no expectations would be too nice - I don’t like anyone in the cast (I don’t loathe them or anything, but it’s not an inducement that they are cast either), I disliked the last Yang Zi drama I watched (Immortal Samsara), I disliked the last two Deng Wei roles (Chong Zi and TTEOTM), I have never seen Zhang Wanyi in anything and last thing I watched Tan Jianci in was the awful Court Lady where he was as awful as the rest of them (loved him in Advisors Alliance and Secret of Three Kingdoms but that was ages ago and in heavy historicals), xianxia is a more miss than hit for me genre, no synopsis I’ve seen made sense etc etc.

And yet - I can’t believe I am about to say this - genuinely am loving this, probably more than any other summer cdrama so far. Ummm....

[beary-eyed]

Batfamily Autism Headcannons! (Aka: me projecting a lot)

Tim Edition

.Doesnt go nonverabl alot but will have partial non-speaking periods where he can talk but not in full sentences or complicated words.

.Not a large stimmer, he will stim quite a bit but theyre small enough to not be noticed however during meltdowns the stims are large and almost always self-destructive, kicking, biting, pulling hair you name it

.His parents were recommended to have his assessed at 4 when a babysitter pointed it out and they did however Tim was non-verbal the entire time so his parents spoke for him and left out a couple of important things and downplayed the severity. So Tim left being told he wasnt autistic and even more confused than before.

.He only has 1 constant safe food (raspberry licorice) bit typically he just has food hes mostly ok with but on bad days he cant stand, that list is still short because a lot of food textures are unbearable to him (tomatoes, fuck tomatoes).

.Expressions like "break a leg" have never been an issue but tone is almost indecipherable, he has no idea if a person is angry or joking or actually happy.

.Bruce was once pissed at Tim for disobeying an order and Tim who just thought he was not being serious made a joke back. He was grounded until Bruce realised Tim had no idea he wasnt joking.

.Can come off as blunt and rude, this can usually be brushed off by others as a spoiled rick kid or an insensitive asshole but he really doesnt want to hurt peoples feelings.

.Bruce was pretty distant when Tim became Robin so he never really noticed Tim had signs of autism (it may have also been bcs Bruce is autistic and happens to also be stupid) until Dick visited and said "Is the kid diagnosed?".

.Bruce was confused, "Diagnosed with what?", Dick was so confused "With autism, Tim's autistic". Bruce in all his dumbassery says "Tim's autistic?" at top volume. And Tim who was walking into the room and heard everyting said "Im autistic?". That was how he found out.

.Once he knew he had autism he researched every single thing about it, from the scientific articles to mummy blogs. And so he quickly became aquainted with terminology and a new soecial interest formed .

.Tims main special interest is Batman, Bruce absolutely adores this

.Verbal stims are his favourite, his person favourites is "Stimming: Self-stimulatory behaviour" and "Superman" said very quickly and directky after each other so it sounds like a blur of "Supermansupermansupermansuperman-".

Thank you for listening to my ramblings.

[askuemki]

ranting about WCUE

I have ALOT of (maybe) unnecessary grudges with so many things abt WCUE. I love reading rants, so I'll as might as well put out my own too. To the people (probably most of my followers) who don't know what the game is, basically it's a children's game on Roblox based off of the book series Warrior Cats, by Erin Hunter. I apologize in advance, there may be some lingo you may not understand.

So WCUE has been my comfort game for many, many years. Partly, it's my childhood and it's just a game I can just go and chill. Make silly cats without working my ass off on drawing. But when I want to actually go and try and join a clan? Have fun roleplaying a little? (I'll admit, it's a fun thing from time to time.) Every. Single. Fucking. clan. Never manages to keep itself up. It takes SO LONG to set things up. To get the right people. It'll take hours for a clan to get running. And for what? For people to sit in the clearing? For your complicated "fun" plots to fall flat? I don't get being picky. Sure, you want your major roles to have experience, to know their shit. But if you keep yearning for that one miss perfect medicine cat who knows all of the out of game herbs? Bullshit. Major roles are here to have fun too, not to just manage. It's so frustrating whenever I want to be a leader, or a medic and to have 1000's of kids yapping at my toes. You're expected to babysit. To do their wishes. You only matter as a major because you're needed. Something else with these "experienced roleplays" is the cliques. People form friend groups, that's natural. But if it's a game where people are SUPPOSED to chat and cooperate, what's the point if you don't include them too? Those prophecy plots? It's only fun if you're the main character. People who join later are confused, or you get shoved into the back. And when the rules are established? NOBODY upholds them after 10 minutes. I'm tired of seeing people sitting in the clearing, or moping around alone. I'll admit I'm quite guilty sitting by myself, but at some point you'll need to get thing going with one or more people. You'll eventually get demotivated from loneliness. Another thing, "exp" people. (Or cats, per say.) It frustrates me to see people using these unnecessarily lengthy words to describe something. Incandescent, tarsal bones, premolars, dentations, all of that bullshit-you don't need those words when people can't even understand you. Recently, I got some real good advice from a mentor. Good writing doesn't involve using these long words. If they aren't in your everyday vocabulary? Just don't. Don't use them. You come off as arrogant and show offish. (Unless that's how you intend to display yourself.) Good writing involves clarity, making things CLEAR for other people. Instead of using words only Shakespear would use, why not describe your surroundings in your descriptions? Other cats? Going in depth with thoughts? If you want to go the route where you're using complicated vocabulary, at least research the words you want to use. Again, I'm guilty for this phase.

My partner was telling me about how she was auditioning for medic, and the person auditioning posted this question: "What herb tastes tangy and bitter?" (or something of the like.) It was yarrow. At least according to a quick search- it's supposed to taste like licorice. I'm convinced clan founders auditioning medics are making shit up. What herb is this? What herb is that? The more "experienced" players lean towards out of game herbs, and it gives an unfair advantage for players wanting that role. I don't have time in my day to study herbs like I'm studying for my exams. The "unexperienced" players (maybe this can also be for everyone) have problems too, I'm not going to just complain about the veteran members. HARASSMENT. There's those people who shoo spectators away like pests. It's a public server. It isn't YOUR clan, let them exist. It pisses me off when they're so abrupt and arrogant about it. If you ask? Maybe they'd be more willing to move away. It also sucks when there is a valid roleplay with specific lore, and (agreeable) rules to follow, and people insert themselves like they're the main character. No, SpeckledPelt you can't have the leader role just because you equipped the icon. No BloodBush (fuck you, specifically), you wanted to join the clan; don't boss the host around when they're trying to set things up for you. I miss the WCUE where we didn't have to be so choosey about the people we appoint for roles. I miss the WCUE where we can be silly and fun, without having to feel sophisticated. Sure maybe the name "MochaHeart" is a little wacky, but at least they're doing their best to roleplay. To have fun.

[quibbs126]

Alright, I finished this kid, her name is Licorice Cream Cookie

I recognize nobody actually asked for me to make her, but whatever, she’s been rotating in my mind and I just needed to get her drawn

So the name comes from these candies called (I believe) licorice cream rocks, or licorice rockies. I just stuck with Licorice Cream since I didn’t think fitting the whole name worked, or calling her Licorice Rocky. I suppose Cream Rock could have also worked, but it doesn’t really have the “licorice” bit to make her sound related to them. What am I saying? I don’t know at this point. Honestly thinking about it more Cream Rock might work better. If that’s the name you end up seeing in the description, know that I ended up changing it

Licorice cream rock:

I’ve mentioned elements of her design in past posts, but to reiterate. So the one thing I knew I wanted to have was for her to have red eyes (I give a lot of Dark Choco kids red eyes). Then I was trying to think of ways to make her without looking too much like Dark Choco, and I stuck with making her more licorice to have that differentiation. Then I thought to make her dough grey and hair black so that she’d have a combination of both, but also look distinct enough on her own, plus it makes her eyes stand out all the more. Then I just gave her a simple dress to go with, I guess just because. I’ll be honest, while I was fine with her design yesterday when I drew it, I’m not so sure it looks that great right now. Maybe it’s just the face, because nothing else looks particularly off. Or I just feel like this wasn’t worth it, I dunno

Also full disclosure, I made her a kid because I haven’t really fleshed out her herself. To be honest, my thoughts about her have been less about her as a character, and more about shenanigans that ensue with her parents and members of the CoD when she’s accidentally baked, so when she’s a baby

Anyways, so on to Licorice Cream. So as suggested by an anon yesterday, whose idea I really liked, basically she’s the product of a spell gone wrong by Licorice. I imagine Dark Choco’s genes got in there because Licorice needed some dark chocolate for the spell and Dark Choco was in the room, so he just decided it would be easier to get some from him and just threw in a lock of his hair. They were dating at the time, but not to the extent that they were considering parenthood yet, so basically they got sent into a panic at the fact that they kind of now have a kid. I imagine this taking place sometime between the Vanilla Kingdom story and the Hollyberry Kingdom one, so when that story rolls around, Licorice would be there taking care of Licorice Cream, since I imagine that story isn’t dangerous enough for Licorice that it’s okay to bring a freshly baked Cookie. Also it means the Gingerbrave squad can meet her, which I just think would be cute. Also this makes it so she was baked while Dark Choco was in the Cookies of Darkness, which would certainly complicate him leaving the group, as his daughter and partner are still part of that group. However I haven’t really figured out how that whole thing works out, so just assume that if he leaves, not too long after (like less than a year or so I mean) the CoD is defeated and the three going back to being together. I dunno. Before this idea came up, I didn’t have a set way as to how she came to be, but I had sort of come up with the idea that perhaps Dark Choco and Licorice (along with a few other members that work with Licorice, like Bat-Cat, Choco Werehound Brute and possibly Poison Mushroom) decide to leave the CoD with her at around that same time and decide to lay low, so that Dark Choco doesn’t actually end up confronting his father and leaving the group, at least not until Gingerbrave and friends find out where these guys are, and not knowing their intentions seeks them out, possibly including Dark Cacao as he’s been informed his son is a member, which leads to him learning he’s a grandfather now. But this wasn’t the version I went with for this current version, so I don’t know how it all goes down with Dark Choco. Also not sure they bring Licorice Cream to the Dark Cacao Kingdom in this new version, as this area is much more dangerous, but also it means Dark Cacao has the potential to meet his granddaughter and possibly this new knowledge of Dark Choco’s current life could change things about how he approaches their interactions. I dunno

Edit: oh, I just thought of a potential spell that could have caused this. Maybe after their defeat in the Vanilla Kingdom, Licorice thought to make more powerful servants, and knowing that Dark Choco was pretty strong, and just that in general dark chocolate in their world seems pretty physically strong, decided to incorporate some dark chocolate in his spell, using Dark Choco’s hair. Dark Choco might have thought it was a bit odd of a choice instead of just actual dark chocolate, but he doesn’t know magic, so he can’t really argue

I’ve been talking too much about the stuff surrounding Licorice Cream and not much about her herself. I should do that

So as I tried to show in her expression, Licorice Cream is a very friendly child and a bit outgoing. She’s also just generally an absolute sweetheart. Basically the idea is that Dark Choco and Licorice both looked at each other and were like, “okay we CANNOT mess her up like we might be” and tried to raise her as best as possible. She might have been an accident but they still wanted to raise her since she is kind of theirs, and they do genuinely love her. Granted she does also believe that if someone is making fun of her, she should beat them up and stand her ground, which wasn’t exactly the lesson Dark Choco wanted her to learn. She’s also taken an interest in magic like Licorice, though I’m not sure whether dessert magic or dark magic

Also another thing, so as you can see with the sketch, I had this idea that Pomegranate is just terrified of this child, like it’s the one thing that scares her. No one’s entirely sure what it is about her, it’s just that she genuinely scares Pomegranate, calling her some sort of “demon child”. Originally this was going to manifest in that when she sees Pomegranate, even as a baby (since this is where it started), she would go dead silent and just stare at her, her red eyes seeing through her, and it genuinely unsettled Pomegranate, like she was convinced this kid would kill her someday. I’ve more changed it so that Licorice Cream hasn’t actually done anything weird, and rather she acts friendly towards Pomegranate, but something about this kid just feels wrong to Pomegranate and she stays away from it as much as possible. I had another idea yesterday (likely because I was watching cartoons), that Pomegranate would secretly try to get rid of this kid so that she wouldn’t bother her anymore, only for her to keep turning back up one way or another, with her parents getting increasingly protective to prevent this, meaning Pomegranate has no escape from this kid. I mean, technically Pomegranate is half right, this kid is not normal, but she’s not intentionally malicious towards her or anything. She just thinks she’s a demon child, and this was made more for comedy than anything. Also fun fact, Pomegranate’s magic has no effect on Licorice Cream, meaning Pomegranate can’t force her to go away with it

Speaking of which, so I mentioned her having red eyes being an intentional choice. Basically, sort of like Mallomar, I wanted the Strawberry Jam Sword to have some influence on Licorice Cream, though more than Mallomar. Her eyes are red less because of Dark Choco (though that is his red), and more because of SJS influence. I haven’t necessarily worked out the details, but ideas of it are that she’s immune to magic, or at least dark magic, that it’s potentially part of the reason she has such a strong interest in dark magic, maybe that because of it, if you tick her off enough she goes from friendly to eerily aggressive within a split second (though that part’s a definite maybe), and that she sometimes hears a voice in her head, or at least in her dreams, and has felt some sort of calling to find this being, though she’s not sure what it is. Also, since Dark Choco would have had the SJS at some point while she’s alive, during that time, she had a bit of an obsession with the sword, which Dark Choco found concerning, but saw it as nothing more than her innocent curiosity about the big thing that sometimes glows, similar to how he had an obsession with his father’s sword. He was more concerned about the fact that her curiosity might lead her to touch it, which ended up cursing him when he did, and is adamant to make sure his mistakes don’t repeat with her. Though later on in life, he’s noted some of her odd traits, and while he’s not sure whether the sword actually has anything to do with it, he is a bit concerned. Though not in the way that he’s afraid of her, mostly in that he’s becoming increasingly concerned that his use of Strawberry Jam Sword may have unintentionally corrupted her and he feels horribly guilty at the thought that his mistakes might have ruined/corrupted his child right from the start. She doesn’t know about it, and Licorice might have some idea, but he only thinks that these are just thoughts in his head, since Dark Choco’s prone to making himself guilty for things that aren’t his fault

Oh yeah also side note, for her relation to Gancao, despite her being younger in this drawing, Licorice Cream would be older, considering she was baked while Dark Choco was still in the group

But yeah, I think that’s about it for Licorice Cream, I hope you enjoy her

[achrisiss]

DO U HAVE ANY POM HEADCANONS ,,,

EUEUEUEU I HAVE A FEW !!!

she and licorice are (adoptive) siblings !!. their relationship is kinda complicated, tho . she always notices slight changes in licorices attitude or appearance tho she rarely says anything about it other than to bully him . they would help each other do their hair but theyd also sell the other off for a big mac and would also kill each other all at the same time

autistic. like every other cookie of darkness (/silly)

she would never tell anyone no matter how close they were, but she has always felt uneasy by dark forests . it has been so long that she has forgotten the reason why .

chronically pulls all-nighters whether for work or because she literally cannot bring herself to sleep

she has bad nightmares regarding her past and the emotional manipulation shes gone through, but she dismisses it as her own weaknesses and refuses to tell others .

she also likes checking herself out in her mirror /J