#and I know something is going around my workplace bc at least two or three of my coworkers have been out lately with it

[snookienthusi4st]

HCS for Kyoya x female reader? ✨╰(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)╯

absolutely hope you enjoy!! i love him he’s so mommy

kyoya x fem! reader hcs

warnings: smut, cockwarming, oral, tamaki slander

nsfw under the cut

• you guys met through haruhi

• like you’re one of her closer friends and you tag along with her one day to hang out and see her workplace for the first time

• and you were immediately bombarded the second you both walk through the door

“this is such a nice place, haruhi!”

“thank you, but don’t say that too soo-” “HARUHI, YOU’RE HOME!! :3”

• and then yk tamaki interrogates you, compliments you, probably picks you up and spins you around at least once

• after that haruhi gives you a tour around the place and introduces you to everyone else

• and then you meet him

• he’s polite and does the whole ‘nice to meet you shake your hand’ thing, but incredibly focused and doesn’t pay much mind

• he’s busy budgeting and whenever he’s working his full attention’s right there

• and you didn’t seem like anyone to be heavily involved in, so he continued working and let you be as the other hosts were introduced to you

• until you came back

• and you actually helped him

“what’s this for?”

“it’s for the host club’s finances, what i’m constantly keeping track o-“

“because if you’re trying to save more you could cut down on those and use that money to pay for more on the trips you guys go on, then it’ll be equal.”

“that won’t work.. that will work. it does.”

• you’re smart

• that’s the first thing he knew he liked about you

• so naturally he thanks you and you leave with haruhi once the club hours are done

• and then he couldn’t get his mind off you

• after a week or so haruhi tells you that he needs help with another budget

• she leaves out the amusing conversation they’d had prior

“you want me.. to bring y/n again?”

“there’s something i’m missing on this. it’s my best choice, she’ll probably know what to do.”

“you sure that’s the only reason?”

“..i know what you’re implying, haruhi, but i can assure you this is strictly professional.”

• we’ll overlook that he said that in the most unconvincing tone haruhi’s ever heard out of him

• so you come with her and see him, politely greeting him and helping out again

• he actually looks at you and takes you in this time around; how you talk, your facial expressions, the sound of your voice

• this happens maybe two or three more times before you decide to join the host club and work the same job as him

• so you can spend more time with him and haruhi and he can have you always available to him instead of having to use haruhi as a messenger

• tamaki’s ecstatic ofc because you’re a pretty girl and you’re in the host club, an angel has gained its wings in his eyes

• you’re amazing for business too, even more so because you help with finances and regulating expenses

• you spend more time with kyoya since you share an office, your budget talks slowly bleeding into more heartfelt conversations

• takes maybe two months for him to ask you out, and the whole exchange is really sweet

• i don’t see him as the type to tell you upfront, bc even he gets nervous smtimes

• so he probably leaves a rose or your fav flower on your office desk before you come in

• he’s the only one that has the same key, since you both work the same jobs, so it’s obvious who gave it to you once you show up and see it

• that little smile on your face when you noticed made his whole day better

• and after work, when he’s about to leave, you gently tug him back and kiss his cheek

• so you’re dating now, mission accomplished

• pda isn’t very common for you guys, especially since you guys are working most of the time

• but every now and then, he holds your free hand while your other hand taps at your keyboard

• kisses your nose and your forehead

• his head is always tucked against your neck and shoulders when you’re cuddling

• he doesn’t blush

• like he physically can’t, he’s too cool for it

• but his eyes open a bit more when he’s flustered and after a while, you’re able to tell what gets him like that

• he’s the most flustered whenever you initiate any type of contact

• bonus points if you’re shy or reserved and it’s a rarer occurrence

• he’s canonically 5’11 so if you’re shorter like me, sometimes he’ll poke some fun at you

• would absolutely melt if you pulled him down a bit by his tie to hear him better

• he seems like the type that’d enjoy convos while you’re working

• even though he’s focused he likes getting to confide in you as well

• he talks to himself as he works fs

• sometimes you crack a flirty joke or a compliment just to see the look on his face when his words die out

“if we put more savings into this account, we can use the other funds to pay for that all expenses paid vacation that tamaki’s been rambling about-“

“did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

“…”

• i feel like he’s into novels

• if you’re into reading too, you guys have library dates

• even better if you’re into less serious books, the dynamic would actually be hilarious

• like you’re at the same table and he’s reading some beautifully written poetry and you’re reading dork diaries LMAO

• you guys never rlly did announce your relationship, but if anyone ever asked, you told them

• he’s incredibly proud of himself for being able to be your boyfriend so even though he doesn’t blurt it out, he’ll bring it up when he gets the chance

• when tamaki finds out he’s the best at candid photos of you guys

• and kyoya probs keeps one that he took of you two in his wallet or in his phone case

• calls you darling

• whenever the host club has those little balls, you guys always sneak a dance or two

• you guys play logic games like chess and checkers

• he normally wins, but sometimes he lets you

• doesn’t speak with you much about his family for obvious reasons

• if there’s an occasion where you have to meet them, you’ll happily accept

• if it’s like a dinner or sm and you’re nervous, he’ll hold your hand under the table

• he could honestly care less about what they think of you whether it’s good or bad

• even though it’s probably good because you’re smart and respectful etc etc

• he loves you and his absolute dickhead of a dad can’t say anything to change that

• compliments are fleeting but not uncommon

• like sometimes you’re both working and one just slips out

“honey has a cavity, so if we act on it, there’s a chance we could save up a lot since we’re not spending money on sweets-“

“you look nice today, darling.”

• if you get flustered by compliments like that, there’s probably gonna be a slight smirk on his face at your reaction

• incredulously heavy sleeper

• you’re probably the only person he’ll ever let wake him up without a fight

• you have to be soft with it though, playing with his hair or running a hand over his shoulder

• if you shake him awake, he will definitely contemplate killing you until he’s more aware

• whenever tamaki needs him for anything he’ll send you to go wake him instead bc he’s a scared little twink

• drinks coffee religiously

• this is random but i don’t think he’d like any sodas

• sex

• top every single time

• if you wanna top he won’t be against it, but somehow he’ll still find a way to be in control

• both of you work a lot so whenever you get a chance, he’s always gonna take his time

• everything in his life feels so fast paced, so best believe he will take it incredibly slow given the option

• aftercare god

• tamaki doesn’t let couples stay in the same rooms even though he sneaks into haruhi’s every night like the creep he is

• so sometimes you sneak, and other times you come in and wake him up in the mornings

• lazy morning sex and comfort sex are probs the best for both of you

• waking him up in the mornings and getting carefully but abruptly pulled into his arms

• and feeling him kiss your neck and coax you into staying

“kyoya, you’re gonna get us in trouble. what if he comes in and sees us?”

“his fault for coming in then.. relax, let me take care of you.”

• or when work is stressful he’s always there to make you feel better wink wink

• with his fingers gently but firmly working against your core while he seals your sounds with a kiss

• such a sweet talker

• like sometimes it doesn’t even sound like him

“that’s my pretty girl.. just a little longer for me, can you do that?”

“taking me so well, darling.. i can feel how close you are, you can let yourself go.”

• lowkey think he’d be a talker even when you’re giving him head

• constantly making sure you know how much he loves you

“god, you’re perfect. just like that, you’re doing so good..”

• since you guys are always so caught up with work, he’s def into cockwarming

• like having you sat on his lap while he works, his hand gently running through your hair and down your back like a silent promise that he’ll give you what you need when he’s finished

• i’m such a whore for him it’s actually crazy

[fortes-fortuna-iogurtum]

area retail worker called in to tell her boss that she’s feeling terribly and probably won’t be able to come in to work today, 41 dead 113 injured

[nugnthopkns]

i wish i could disappear

word count: 3.6k

warnings: explicit!fem reader, cursing, feelings of anxiety due to social media harassment, invasion of privacy that border on stalking

recommended listening: brutal | olivia rodrigo

series masterpost: here

a/n: and we're off to the races!! i love this album and olivia so much. there's a shoutout to goon by tobias jesso jr. in here bc it's my favourite album to cry to lmao (highly recommend giving it a listen!). i'm on the fence about this one but am posting it anyways because i don't think i can make it any better

How the fuck do people find your social media?

All of your accounts are private and Kevin makes sure to never tag you on the rare occasion he posts a picture of the two of you together. The wives and girlfriends who have public accounts make sure to never post about you, and you’re careful not to comment on posts often. You’re a private person and though you understand that due to the nature of your relationship with Kevin you intrigue some fans, you don’t want to give them more than you have to.

Despite making no attempt to open up to the public or media, every day you wake up with hundreds of follow requests from complete strangers. At first it was a little exciting knowing that people were curious about your life but after years of the same routine it’s become draining. It takes you nearly twenty minutes each day to weed through them and accept only the people you know personally. Kevin doesn’t actually know how many people want to catch a glimpse of your daily life because you do your best to keep it from him. Knowing would only bring him stress, and you want him to be able to focus on winning games and loving you with his entire heart.

☼☼☼☼

The phone on your desk rings loudly, pulling your attention away from the computer screen that has way too many numbers on it for your liking. The finance department needed someone to proof their audit before sending it away and since you’re the only one in human relations that has a business degree the job landed on your shoulders. Eager to take a break, you pick it up and press the receiver against your ear.

“Hello?”

The voice on the other side laughs gently, but you immediately know it’s Kevin. “Hi sweetheart,” he says warmly, “How’s work?”

“Fine I guess. It’s work, Kev. Nothing terribly exciting happens here,” you explain but continue to fill him in on all the coffee pot gossip you got this morning. Kevin listens as you complain about forgetting your lunch on the counter and chuckles at how upset the situation makes you.

“What if I told you I’m outside your window with a burrito bowl?”

Excited at the possibility of seeing your boyfriend before dinnertime, you whip towards the window and spot Kevin on the sidewalk, waving like an idiot despite knowing your office is on the fifth floor. You hang up quickly after telling him you’ll be down in two minutes and let the receptionist know you’re stepping out for lunch. There’s a line for the elevator so you head to the stairwell, taking them two at a time in your haste. You’re crossing the street to the small park where Kevin has set up a picnic before your co-workers are even out the door.

You plop down on the blanket beside Kevin and lean into him. He presses a sweet kiss to your forehead before passing you the food he brought. You take a bite, sighing at the taste. Kevin knows you better than you know yourself and knew exactly what to get that would satisfy your mounting hunger.

“Thanks babe,” you smile, holding up your fork and offering him a bite. He takes it graciously but makes a face. “What’s the matter?” you laugh as you take the utensil back.

“I fucking hate avocado.”

The two of you eat in relative silence, speaking only when you remember a detail from your morning. Kevin tells you about the drills he’s going to lead at practice in the afternoon and what he plans on cooking for dinner since he’ll be home before you. You insist you can whip something up when you get home but Kevin shakes his head. He reminds you that relationships are give and take, and that you’ve made dinner the past three nights because he had a string of games. You manage to reach a compromise that has you doing the dishes before you have to return to work.

Kevin insists on walking you back to your office even though you protest vehemently. Your relationship is far from secret, and has been the topic of workplace gossip more times than you can count, but after five years you’ve learned to ignore most of it. However, you don’t want your co-workers to think you flaunt your NHL player boyfriend to prove you’re better than them. They all love Kevin, and a couple of them congratulate him on last night’s goal as he follows you down the hall. A few of the newer hires stare in awe and shake his hand, completely blown away that one of Philadelphia’s biggest stars is asking how they like their jobs.

“Pretty soon they’re going to approach you to do PR for us,” you chuckle as you flip the light on and close the door of your office.

His laughter echoes off the walls as a pair of strong arms find a home around your waist. “It would be kind of fun to hear myself crush those radio commercials.”

“Since when do you listen to the radio?”

“Checkmate,” Kevin sighs, pulling you closer. He kisses you quickly, not wanting to give a show to anyone who could be walking past, but it still sends you reeling. You don’t want him to pull away and kiss him again.

You get your way for a few more moments and then Kevin’s leaving with a promise to not burn the house down and wishes for a good rest of the day. Focussed on giving the audit its final once-over you don’t bother pulling your phone from the drawer you had placed it in when you got to work that morning. You turn up the small radio at the corner of your desk and get to work scanning the document for errors. There’s a mistake halfway through that skews the rest of the data and fixing it takes a bit of time, but it isn’t a huge deal. You have nothing else to do except answer a few emails and organize meetings for after the weekend.

An hour or so later you’ve completed all your tasks and debate what to do. It’s too early to leave for the day, so you decide to kill time by checking your phone. You’re expecting a few notifications, perhaps two or three memes in the group chat you share with your friends, but not the hundreds that greet you.

The majority of them are instagram notifications, and assuming they’re just more fans requesting a follow you ignore them, instead heading to your text messages. There’s a picture from Kevin of a dog he found walking home and another from your mom asking why you haven’t called home in a few weeks. However the one from Claude’s wife is the one that piques your curiosity.

Just a heads up that someone posted a pic of you and Kev to one of those stupid wag pages. I filed a request for Instagram to take it down but it’s gotten a lot of traction. Sorry :((

Your heartbeat increases rapidly and a million thoughts fly through your head at a rapid speed. Fingers shaking, you respond with a thanks and open up the dreaded app. You don’t see it immediately, your feed being full of photos belonging to friends and family, but it’s in your messages almost two hundred times. Many of them have text attached and you know there will be a comment about your relationship regardless of which one you open.

Tapping on the most recent message you brace yourself for the worst. The new window opens a photo someone took of you and Kevin while eating lunch in the park across from your office not even three hours prior. It’s grainy and the camera angle is strange, but you’re eating and Kevin is looking somewhere out of frame. The accompanying caption reads Kev and his girlfriend out for lunch today! Follow @philllywagupdates for more :).

You let out a sigh of relief – it could have been a lot worse. Personal pictures of yourself have made it onto pages like that before and most of them they’re paired with mean-spirited captions about your appearance or other trivial matters. Assuming you’re in the clear, you head back to the page of the original message to thank the person for bringing the post to your attention. However, the message accompanying the post is anything but positive.

He can’t even fucking look at you. It’s only a matter of time before he leaves you

The blood in your veins runs cold. You know it’s not true – Kevin’s made it clear you’re the one and truthfully you’re just waiting for a ring – but it doesn’t stop the sting you feel. What could possess someone to say such horrible things? You decide not to respond despite, possibly opening another can of worms with the seen function, and close the app. Leaning back in your office chair you focus on anything but your phone, looking out the window at passersby while regaining your breath. It works for a while, but eventually not knowing what others said eats away at you. You go through every single message to see hundreds of similar comments to the first, with only a few saying they’re glad you’re happy or how posting the picture is a violation of your privacy.

By the time you’re finished your spirit has been crushed. However, it’s also an acceptable time to start the weekend – at least no one in the office will have to see you cry. Things are hastily packed into your bag and you wave a few quick goodbyes before once again taking the stairs. You curse yourself for deciding to walk to work that morning and set off in the direction of home wiping away tears. The last thing you need right now is for someone to recognize you, but you have to get home. Tobias Jesso Jr plays at much too loud a volume through your headphones and Kevin will most certainly remind you it’s bad for your hearing, but the melancholy piano riffs of Goon overpower the thoughts swirling around your head.

Do people really feel that way about me?

Are my friends just too nice to stop inviting me places?

Does Kevin really feel trapped?

Hundreds of similar sentiments and situations cross your mind as you stumble through the streets of downtown Philadelphia, but you force them as far back as possible before opening the door to the apartment you share with Kevin. Hoping to slip inside undetected, you take your shoes off slowly and throw your jacket on the end table instead of hanging it in the closet. Your plan fails somehow and Kevin hears you, greeting you in a goofy apron covered in flour.

“Hey sweetheart,” he smiles, but it drops once your eyes meet and he sees the hurt on your face. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing,” you insist, trying to step around him in pursuit of the bathroom.

Kevin doesn’t buy it and sees right through your feeble words. “It’s not nothing if you’re this upset. If you don’t want to talk now that’s fine, but I think you should get it off your chest.”

You know he’s right, but you also know you can’t tell him the true cause of your despair. “Just some work stuff,” you sigh. “The audit got all fucked up and I had to fix it even though it’s not my job.”

It’s not technically a lie, which makes you feel better, and Kevin buys it. He presses a sweet kiss to your lips in sympathy. “Go take a shower and the gnocchi should be ready by the time you’re done. We can spend the night cuddling on the couch.”

“And watching Selling Sunset?”

“We can watch whatever you want sweetheart,” he chuckles. You part from him with a final kiss and head to the bathroom. Hopefully the steam from the water will carry away the negativity brought on by that damn post.

☼☼☼☼

Time passes but the hateful comments on social media don’t stop. In fact, you’re pretty sure they get worse. It’s so bad that you’ve deleted every app except facebook because you need it for work. Kevin doesn’t notice your abstinence from social media, but he picks up on how you spend more time criticizing yourself or staring off into space. When he pushes you either brush him off or feed some bullshit excuse about how work is getting you down. You know he doesn’t believe you but trusts you enough to come to him when you’re ready to talk.

You aren’t sure if you’ll ever be able to tell Kevin what’s been going on. There’s been scrutiny from social media before, when you first started dating, but it quieted down after the initial media frenzy. He helped you through that but it’s different this time around. Never before have you had strangers tell you your life is worthless or that your boyfriend should end your relationship. Some of the other wags notice your absence on instagram but chalk it up to you just taking a break. They reach out via the group chat and send wishes to see you at the next home game. It’s nice to know they care, but the voice in your head that has grown much larger in recent weeks tells you they don’t truly mean it. This leads you to decline the invite as politely as possible, citing extended work hours for your absence. In reality you’re too anxious to be anywhere that isn’t home or work, petrified someone is going to post something that will add fuel to the flames of those who interrogate you.

It’s another Friday afternoon, and you’re leaving the office early once again. There’s a small craft exhibition taking place around the corner from work and today is the last day it’s open. You had been meaning to go all week, hoping to find something small to add to Kevin’s birthday gift. As you step out of the building there’s a small group of young women, who don’t look old enough to have graduated college, standing off to the side. It fills you with dread, worried that somehow someone found out where you work and the insults are going to start occurring verbally, but you force yourself to be rational. You work fairly close to one of the artsier districts in the city and it’s more than likely they just want to find a cute mural to take pictures in front of.

You pass by and swear you hear them snicker, but you remind yourself you’ve just been jumpy lately. When they peel from their place on the wall and follow behind at a distance you think the coincidences are running out. It seems a little too strange how their movements line up with yours, and you go down a few winding side streets in an attempt to lose them. Part of you feels ridiculous because what group of barely legal girls would track a full-blown adult around a city of nearly two million people, but your life is currently strange enough you can’t be sure. They don’t follow you, and by the time you reach the market your heart rate has returned to normal.

The first few stalls have little to catch your eye, but a few rows in you find a leatherworker who makes adorable wallets. Kevin’s is ridiculously old and falling apart at the seams – his mom bought it for him before the two of you got together. You think a new one will make a perfect addition to the concert tickets you already bought and browse the table for something simple and elegant. A deep brown one with tan braiding around the edges catches your eye and you know it’s the one for Kevin. Checking the price to make sure you have enough cash in your wallet, you approach the shop owner to purchase. The older man has a kind smile that reaches his eyes as he thanks you for purchasing from him.

“No, thank you for making something so beautiful!” you gush. “My boyfriend is going to love it.”

It’s then you hear it – snickering accompanied by the click of a camera. You look over your shoulder to see the same group of girls from before laughing as they huddle over a cell phone, no doubt already starting to broadcast the photo across the internet. Tears prick at the corners of your eyes but you refuse to let them fall. Those girls don’t deserve to see their mission accomplished, but the longer they laugh at you the harder it is to swallow your feelings.

Head held high, you thank the owner one more time before holding your head high and walking past the group. The only way out is past them so you hold your breath and pray they don’t notice you. Unfortunately you aren’t that lucky, and one of them looks up just as you come into earshot.

“If Kevin doesn’t leave you after that sorry excuse for a gift I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” she sneers.

Another one chimes in, “You’re honestly so pathetic.” They all cackle in amusement, and you speed up. The tears flow freely now, and you call an uber even though it will be a ridiculous amount of money. You just want to get home.

The uber driver doesn’t say anything when you get in, though you know it’s strange to be bawling your eyes out at four in the afternoon. You can’t help it – weeks of keeping all the hate to yourself finally got to you and being followed with the sole intent of ridicule is the final straw. At one red light he silently passes you a box of tissues, which you accept gratefully.

Luckily the lobby of your apartment complex is empty and you manage to get to your floor without encountering a familiar face. There’s a few hours until Kevin gets home from his final roadtrip of the season, and if you play your cards right you can get all the tears out and be as normal as possible before he comes through the door. You don’t even bother to put anything away, just head straight to the bathroom to slump against the tub. Sobs rack your body and you lose all sense of time. All you can feel is the hurt you’ve been holding in releasing itself and soaking the material of your blouse.

Kevin finds you laying in the position hours later. He tripped over your shoes coming in the door and immediately knew something was wrong – you always place them neatly on the rack in the closet upon arriving home. Peering through the quiet house for a hint at where you are, he sees the bathroom light on and makes a beeline for the room. It breaks his heart to see you like this, and even more so because he doesn’t know what spurred it on.

“Sweetheart, hey,” he coos, maneuvering his body to sit beside you and pull you into his lap. “What’s the matter?”

You bury your head in his shoulder and clutch the material of his dress shirt as you cry harder at the sound of his voice. Kevin takes your reaction in stride, rubbing circles on your back and working on evening out your breath. He doesn’t pressure you to speak and provides the stability you desperately crave as the world around you spins. An unknown amount of time passes before your tears run out, but spend it all on the bathroom floor curled into Kevin.

“I guess I should have told you sooner,” you mumble, “But I didn’t want to bother you.”

Concern laces Kevin’s features and his eyebrows knit together. “Tell me what?”

“I, uh, have been the subject of some internet hate for the past little bit,” you say sheepishly. It feels stupid to not have told him now, but you can’t change that. “But you were really busy with the season and I wanted to make sure your head was completely focused on the game so I just dealt with it myself. I deleted the apps and tried my best to go about my life. And then today after work I was followed by some people and they said some really hurtful stuff and shit became a little too real.”

“I’m so fucking sorry.”

It’s your turn to be confused. “Why are you sorry Kev? You're Not the one sending me death threats.”

He tucks a loose strand of hair back into your ponytail. “Maybe not, but I still made you feel like you couldn’t talk to me about what was going on. What kind of partner am I?”

“The best one,” you say confidently. “It’s okay, I’m okay. I just want to forget about it right now. Can we just disappear for a little bit?”

Kevin wraps his arms around you tighter, as if he can engulf you to protect from the cruel outside world. “We can do whatever you want. If you want to get out of the city for a bit if you want, or just spend the next few days here away from prying eyes.”

“I love you.”

You say it because you mean it, and if you could scream it from the rooftops you would. Kevin is incredibly easy to love, even when you make it difficult for him to love you back. You know another much longer conversation is coming about everything that has happened recently because communication is the only way to solve problems and Kevin deserves that, but you’re thankful he’s willing to put it to rest for a few more moments.

He cracks a smile for the first time since he’s been home and kisses the crown of your head. “I love you too sweetheart,” he whispers, “Always and forever.”

Things are far from over and though you still never want to show your face in public ever again, you know that Kevin is going to do whatever he can to make things better and that’s enough for you.

☼☼☼☼

taglist: @ricohenrique @tortito @boqvistsbabe @iwantahockeyhimbo @himbos-on-ice @2manytabsopen if you want to be added just shoot me an ask :)

[officialscaramouche]

Can I request an Angst to fluff for Scara? With a hint of jealousy pls.

I’m sorry, Mona for always making u the other woman 😭 I love her I promise but I also love to hate her

pairing: gn!reader x scaramouche (I hope ur not tall bc he isn’t yikes)

word count: 1,382

tw: jealousy, angst, themes of infedelity

You woke up once again to a cold, empty bed. Rolling over to stare at Scaramouche’s side of the bed, you wondered why you still sleep on one side. It’s not like he’d come home to sleep with you anyway, so what would it matter?

Getting up to brush your teeth, his side of the counter looked untouched as usual. This shared bathroom, shared house, was starting to feel more like you lived here by yourself.

No notes as usual, not a reminder that he’d be coming home today or any update on how much longer he’d be working on this project. You understood that Scaramouche’s job was important, and you knew that there would be times when you wouldn’t see him for weeks or months. But whenever the two of you were apart, he was usually in another country. Mondstadt, Liyue, Fontaine, somewhere else. Not like now, when he was here in the same city.

He had warned you that he’d get busier. He told you one night over dinner that the Tsaritsa had given him a big project— planning the capture of the traveler. He complained, saying that he also had to negotiate terms with an outside party about assistance, and how the Tsaritsa double booked him with work. He always hated getting important roles, but he never half-assed his job. His title as the Balladeer came before anyone and anything. He was a hard worker, if nothing else. But you knew this, and you told him that you would make it work but knowing he’s maybe thirty minutes away from you in the same city made it more painful that he didn’t come home.

Was he avoiding you? Did you do something wrong? Did he meet someone else, and simply not bother to break up with you? Maybe he was hoping you’d break up with him and he wouldn’t have to deal with confronting you. Whatever the case, you wished you knew the truth and if he was going to break your heart, you at least want to know the full story.

You packed him a lunch, hoping that he’d have time to step away and share a meal with you. If he hadn’t been coming home, he also wasn’t eating well. He would rather skip a meal or two than fall behind on work, but hopefully he’d make an exception.

When you got there, the agents already knew who you were. Hardly anyone stopped to say hello out of respect, knowing who you were dating. When you got to his office, the agent guarding the room stepped in front of the door— something he didn’t do before.

“Hello, Javert. I’m dropping off Scara’s lunch. Is there a problem?”

“I’m sorry, [Y/N], he’s not taking guests right now. Please see him at another time.”

You stepped forward, reaching for the door. “No, I’d like to see him now.”

Javert put a firm hand on your shoulder and pushed you back. “Please, this is an order from him directly, I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“I don’t care!” You spat, shoving him aside and quickly throwing open the door. “Scara, we need to talk—”

Your eyes met his, along with someone else’s. He sat on the outside edge of his desk, his hand on a woman’s chin— someone you had never seen before. His nose was not even an inch away from hers, a smile on both of their faces. “[Y/N],” he said in surprise, letting go of her chin and gently pushing her aside. “What are you…”

You drop the lunchbox onto the floor. “So this is what you’ve been so busy with, huh?” You bit your lip as it began to quiver, your fists shaking with rage. “This is why you couldn’t be bothered to come home?” Your heart pounded against your chest, the stinging pain too much to bear.

“[Y/N], wait. She’s—”

“No, fuck you! I’ve been waiting for you like a puppy, and you’re fucking around on me? We’re done!”

Kicking the lunchbox across the room, you turn and slam the door closed, Javert looking away to avoid making eye contact with you. You stomp down the halls, agents stopping to look at you. With the way you shouted, you didn’t doubt that everyone here heard you. Some people looked at you then quickly looked away behind you. Others tried to stop you from leaving, as if to beg you to stop and calm down.

It wasn’t until your fingers wrapped around the doorknob did you realize they weren’t looking at you or trying to stop you because not far behind, Scaramouche was stalking down the halls with an ugly scowl on his face. He grabbed your shoulder and spun you around, pressing you into the door. “Do you not hear me calling you, [Y/N]?” He hissed, holding your stare. “This is my workplace, you can’t just come in here and make a scene! Mikhail,” he snapped at one of the passing-by agents. “Open a conference room and escort the astrologist out of my office, please.” You pushed at his wrist holding you still against the door. “Please behave and come with me to my office.”

Back in his office he relieved Javert of duty to try and give the two of you some privacy. You stand by the door, refusing to move closer to his desk where they probably fucked every night, her sweat and come coating the surface. It made you angrier to think about it.

Scaramouche crouched down by one of the shelves as he picked up the contents of the lunchbox. “Thank you for making me lunch,” he said with a chuckle. “Even though I won’t be eating it now.” You didn’t say anything. You just stood there with your arms crossed, tapping your foot angrily. “Baby, please stop being mad. I already told you about her.”

“No you didn’t?! You didn’t tell me shit about some skank!”

He tossed the lunchbox on his desk, pulling his hat off and hanging it on the back of his chair. “Yes, I did. The assistance? She’s an astrologist, she can read the future.”

“So?! Why did you have to put your hands on her then?!”

Scaramouche made his way toward you slowly and deliberately. He extended his arms out to gesture for a hug. “Scare tactics, honey. She knows not to pick a fight in one of our bases. Look, she’s friends with the traveler. I have to make sure she won’t betray us.”

He stood in front of you, arms open and waiting for you to reach out to him. “I don’t like you touching her,” you spit, eyeing him up and down.

“Okay, baby. I won’t touch her again.”

“And I don’t want her alone with you in your office anymore.”

“Fine, you wanna start coming with me to work?”

“Are you actually going to come home?”

Scaramouche raised a brow at you. “What do you mean? I’ve been coming home.”

“No you haven’t! Your side of the bed is always untouched! And your sink, too!”

Scaramouche rolls his eyes and leans into you anyway, wrapping his arms around you and squeezing you tight. “You do know I only get, like, three hours of sleep right? Because I get home so late and I leave so early.” He cups your cheek, eyes darting from your eyes to your lips. “I can’t sleep without you, [Y/N]. Don’t be silly, you think I like being in this office? I’d much rather be at home, napping all day and getting lectured about the trash.”

You finally relax into the hug and hang your arms over his shoulders, letting him pepper your face and neck with kisses. “You’re not lying to me, are you?”

“Lying is a waste of time. You’d only find out the truth eventually.”

“I guess,” you pout, knowing he’s never been one for lying. “If I ever found out you’ve been having sex in this office behind my back, I’ll—”

“You’ll kill me, I know. Trust me, the papers on my desk are more important than pussy.” He pulled back to look at you, your blush heavy from embarrassment and pout prevalent on your lips. “But if you want to—”

“No!!”

“Okay! Geez, just saying!”

[kerie-prince]

We're Worlds Apart (7)

Draco Malfoy x American No-Maj!reader

series m.list | general m.list | previous chp

warnings: none (other than blaise being jealous)

summary: Draco Malfoy is a pureblood wizard. Magic runs through his veins and has been since his birth. You're a Wiccan No-Maj; a non-magical being with ordinary blood through your veins, but practices what you call magick. And this very practice upsets your neighbor.

a/n: my workplace is under construction and i'm stressed bc i have to work around all the rubbish and it makes me stay longer when i wanna come home and write 😭 anyways, this is unedited so i'll come back to it after i clock off tonight

(gif cred)

Being friends with you was kind of weird. Draco couldn't really tell you about his day because it consisted of magic nearly the entire time. He’s also at work for almost the entire week, so he wasn't really at home much.

Except for now. Draco finally had twelve days off to spend with his best mates. He had been so caught up with the chaos that surrounded him at work that he wasn't able to plan any sightseeing activities to do with them, so he just let them pick whatever it was they wanted to do.

“I could always ask Y/N what to do,” Blaise suggested. Yes, Draco hadn't forgotten the small fling between you and his best mate. Blaise would go over to your house at least three nights a week while Draco stayed overnight at Santa Marie's. Theo didn't mind being by himself and was grateful that the guest bedroom was farthest from your bedroom window. Draco was also grateful that he chose to go on nights he wasn't home; he didn't need to hear you two throughout the night.

Now that a hatchet was somewhat buried, Draco thought that asking you was a good idea. He nodded his head and headed for the door. Blaise also got up, but the both of them stopped when their hands nearly collided on the door knob. “Oh, did you want to ask her?” Blaise questioned.

“Uh… no you go. She's your…” Draco paused, “You go ahead.” Blaise gave him a weird look before walking out the door and headed to your house. Theo watched the whole thing and waited to start laughing at Draco. He glared at Nott and spat out, “What are you laughing at?”

“What was that?” Theo held his stomach as he caught his breath. “Did you want to talk to her?” Draco didn't appreciate whatever his friend was trying to say. It's just a bloody question. He sat down on the couch and picked up the Daily Prophet from Theo’s hands. He wasn't surprised to find Harry Potter in it, a column about his recent marriage with Weasley’s sister. He was surprised that they hadn't gotten married sooner.

“Do you think it's weird that Blaise is dating a muggle?” Theo asked. His face was neutral, but his tone was suggestive. Draco internalized the question. On one hand, it didn't really disturb him all that much. He was confused as to whether or not you were his girlfriend, but Blaise doesn't really talk about you too much. On another hand, he knew Blaise and even though you annoyed him – or did you? – he always took pity on any girl that mixed with Blaise. Draco didn't know what Blaise would do, but it was enough to get anyone on their knees for him in more ways than one.

“I don’t care who or what he dates,” Draco stated. Theo went to minding his business, until something caught his attention from outside. “Oh Salazar, what is he doing?” Theo’s voice was filled with amusement. Draco turned from his sitting position and saw what was happening.

Blaise was fully making out with you right on your porch. Out where anyone could watch. One of his hands were tangled in your hair while the other one was resting gently on your waist. Your hands rested shyly on his shoulders and it looked as if you were on your toes just to reach up to his height. The kiss was slow and sensual.

It was exactly what Draco needed to see. Because from that, he felt nothing at all. Just a gross feeling that he was potentially invading someone's privacy. Sure, they were outside but it still felt weird. Draco wasn't one to enjoy public displays of affection.

“Wow, he’s really milking it out. You reckon he asked her about sight-seeing?” Theo kept observing them from the window. Draco hit his head with the newspaper rolled up. Theo laughed and turned to look at the blond man next to him. “How come you’re not with anyone?”

“With where I work, do you honestly think I have time to find someone?” Draco sassed as he continued reading. Dating was the last thing on his mind. He was too focused on work to even flirt with another woman. Pansy was the last person Draco had ever dated. He was meant to be betrothed to Astoria Greengrass, but Draco declined and started his path to becoming a healer. He also didn't want to be in a marriage knowing he couldn't genuinely love her.

Moving to America, he never found anyone interesting. Ashley was nice but not only was she already married, she was married to a woman. Other women in the department, or hospital as a whole, took an initial liking to Draco, but he figured it was solely due to the fact that he’s a foreign British man with an accent. After a month of women flirting with him, it died down almost completely and everyone treated him as normal which pretty much confirmed it to him. Would Draco like to date someone? Absolutely. But right now, he was perfectly happy being by himself.

Theo knew Draco enough to know when he was fibbing and this wasn't one of those times. He was glad to see Draco be okay with himself after all this time. He remembers the constant need of validation during their days at Hogwarts. And it was because of a certain wizard who Draco was always competing with. Now as for Theo, he had been out of the dating scene for a while and he was nearly desperate to get laid.

He dropped the topic and got up to take a short nap in the guest room. A few moments later, Blaise was knocking on the door. Draco got up to open it and was caught by surprise to see you standing behind Blaise. You looked like you weren't really sure what you were doing there either. “Mate,” Blaise started off, “what if we brought her along with us?”

You blinked at the tall man standing in front of you and then looked at Draco who had the same facial expression. “Who else better to show us around than someone who actually lives here?” Blaise suggested. It made sense; you would know your way around and Draco could save himself the trouble of not only Blaise and Theo being lost, but also Draco also getting lost. He still had a hard time with some of the streets. One-way streets, round-a-bouts, and bike lanes were still new to him. And you once mentioned how Manhattan was worse than the streets here in Buffalo, so how would he deal with that?

You stood unusually quiet. Blaise had only just asked you to tag along with them and before you could even process the question, you were being dragged to Draco’s house. “I don’t know, I don't want to intrude on–”

“Nonsense, you’d be our guide. I highly doubt Draco knows where he’s going,” Blaise assured. He got a stern ‘Hey’ from the blond but ignored it. “What do you say? Come with us?” You looked back and forth from the both of them and settled on Draco, your eyes asking him if he would even want you there. He shrugged his shoulders, leaving it up to you.

“Uh, sure. I’d just have to fix my schedule and–” you started before Blaise cut you off, “Great! We leave tomorrow at seven in the morning.” He kissed your forehead and walked inside. Draco stood at the door and was still confused as to what just happened. You started to walk away before Draco asked you, “Should we take my car?” You turned around and thought about it. “If you want.”

Draco preferred it, so he just agreed to it. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” You smiled sheepishly and raised your hand to say 'bye’. Tomorrow was surely going to be… something.

—

You were hoping to be able to rest your head on Blaise’s shoulder for the ride to the airport. But here you were, in Draco’s car with the largest cup of coffee that was barely keeping you awake as you drove there. You were glad that Draco had common sense to book two flight tickets for everyone to go there because there was so way in hell you were going to drive six hours to Manhattan and another six back.

Theo, however, was resting his head on Blaise’s shoulder as he snored away during the short ride. Blaise tried to shove him off, but it turned out that the sleepy friend was heavier than he looked. It was funny, really. Draco sat in the passenger seat next to you on his phone trying to read out directions. You insisted you didn't need them, but he said they were more for himself when they come back home.

Once on the plane, you finally got some shut eye. You stayed up all night thinking about what to do for the day. Where to go, what to eat, what to see. And other things kept you up, but that's besides the point. During the security check, you had to hold your laughter. It was hilarious to watch the three men be so confused as to what was going on. They acted like it was their first time in an airport.

The seats you had were nice and surely expensive. Draco insisted that you didn't have to pay him back. Must be nice being rich you thought. Blaise looked at you and poked your nose, “Is someone sleepy?” You glared at him before laying back into your seat, “Maybe if you didn't keep me up all night, I wouldn't be tired.” You didn't know how the man could have this much energy in the morning.

The hour went by quick and you were in Manhattan by ten in the morning. You suggested a local diner that was near the airport which they all agreed to since they didn't know their way around. At the diner, Blaise and Theo had made a dash for the restroom. You laughed at the view of Theo pushing Blaise behind him and Blaise glaring at him as he smacked the back of his head.

“I swear, they’re still childish gits,” Draco groaned. “26 years old and they still don't grow up.” You nudged his arm from across the table. “Leave them be. They’re still young, and so are you. Let loose, we’re in New York City after all. Can’t be brooding the whole time.” Draco rolled his eyes and looked at the menu that was under the glass on the table.

A waitress came up to your table with a small clipboard and notepad. “Are you two ready to order?” she asked sweetly. “Not yet, we’re waiting on two people to come back,” you answered. “Oh that’s cute, is this a double date?”

Without hesitation, you and Draco stated at the same time, “We’re not together.” The waitress looked between the two of you and just nodded. “I’ll be back, then.” The both of you hadn’t said a word when she left and patiently waited for his friends to come back. Shortly after, they did. Blaise took the spot in the booth next to you and Theo next to Draco.

“Alright, what do you suggest I get?” Blaise asked you. He had his body slightly facing yours and an arm over the top of the seat around you. He hadn't bothered to look on the menu and just focused on your features. “Depends, what do you like?”

“Anything,” he lowered his voice and was close to your ear. The breath tickled your ear which made you giggle. “Okay, we get it. You two are cute. Now keep it down, I’d like to be able to digest this food,” Theo’s nose crinkled as he complained. You still didn't know Theo all that much. This morning, he walked like a zombie and he probably just became fully awake, so to see his best friend making kissy faces at you before his first meal wasn't an ideal way to start the day. Draco chuckled in his seat as he was still figuring out what to order.

“I have to make a quick call,” you announced before pulling out your phone and called one of your employees, “Were you able to open fine on your own? Okay, call me if anything happens. Okay, bye.” The waitress came back and took down the order after she set a pot of coffee for the four of you.

Theo was the first to say something, “So, Y/N is it?” You nodded in response as you took a sip from your mug. “What is it that you do in your free time? Other than Blaise, of course.” He had a smug smile watching as you blushed. Two seconds later, the table shook and Theo groaned in pain. Unbeknownst to you, both Blaise and Draco had kicked Theo in his shins.

“Stupid git,” Draco said under his breath. Theo glared at his friends as he rubbed his legs. You cleared your throat and started to speak before Blaise stopped you, “You don’t have to answer that.”

“It’s okay, he was just joking,” you defended. “No he wasn't,” Draco added. You ignored him and looked at Theo, “What do you want to know?”

He had your full attention and ignored the looks from his friends, “What do you do for a living? What’s your work like?”

“Well, I uhh,” you started, “I own a store downtown. I’m there almost everyday.”

“What kind of store is it?” Theo asked as he leaned over the table closer to you. “What do you sell?”

“Candles,” for the second time that day, you and Draco synchronized. “Yeah, I sell candles and little… knick knacks,” you still hadn't opened up to Draco or Blaise for that matter about your Wiccan activities. So to say that you sold sage bundles, specially made oils and healing crystals would raise questions you weren't ready to answer now.

“Draco, have you ever been to the place? What is it called, by the way?” Theo kept on. Blaise was certainly not kidding when he said that Theo loved to talk. “No, I haven't,” Draco answered. “It’s called Soul Beads, wasn't it?”

“Yeah, that’s the name.” The food was brought on a large tray. Blaise handed your plate to you and you grabbed your fork to dig in. He was eating slowly, looking as if he was thinking about something. “Hey, you okay?” you whispered to him, Draco and Theo having their own conversation. “Oh, uh, yeah. I’m fine, love,” Blaise continued eating at a faster pace now. You looked around the men that surrounded you and smiled. Today’s gonna be fun.

—

The day went… weird. Blaise tried to have as much fun as possible but something was bothering him. Was it Theo talking his head off the entire time? No, I’m used to that. Was it his legs tired after walking almost all day? No, not that. Was it how even though you held his hands the whole time and gave him occasional kisses on his cheek or lips, you had gone the entire day talking to Draco and shared a couple laughs with him? Absolutely.

Jealousy was always an ugly emotion to Blaise. It annoyed him during his time at Hogwarts, and it annoys him now. The way girls would ask him if he was messing around with other girls and he’d always say the same thing. “How could I when you’re the most beautiful girl in these halls?” They’d all swoon over it. And by the looks of it, you swooned over his every word as well. But the looks you gave him were different from the ones you gave Draco.

From all the letters he had gotten from Draco, Blaise knew how much he hated you. No, loathed. But after the two of you decided to make nice, it was like you had been friends since day one. Draco may have even looked comfortable talking to you. And it bothered Blaise. His time with you may have been short, but today made him realize something.

Blaise is nowhere near being in love, he knew that much. But he knew that he didn't want to be messing around anymore. He wants to have an actual relationship, and right now, he wanted it with you. Blaise was confused by it all. He should be happy that his best friend and a girl he likes gets along. It would make it all that much easier.

But something about the two of you was odd today.

Maybe there was a look that lasted too long. Or a tone that came out differently. Or maybe… no. Blaise knew what it was. He just wants to have that same friendship with you. Blaise still didn't know that much about you. He didn't even know you had your own store until that morning. And to hear that his friend who supposedly hates you even knows not only the name of the store, but what you sell, hit something in him.

So, he was going to change that. Because for the most part, you were pretty interesting. He knew you were a Wiccan and as much as he doesn't really care to know what it was all about – considering he can just do any magic with a flick of a wand – he’d at least know you a little better.

Momentarily, as he was deep in thought, Theo’s annoying voice popped in his head. Hey, at least you know her in a way Malfoy won’t. He mentally cringed at it for a second before he thought Wait. I do. It was a start, not one that someone usually prefers, but it was better than nothing.

You sat beside him on the ride back home and had a smile on your lips while you rested on him. Draco was driving and Theo wanted to raise the volume of the music but his hand was slapped away. “She’s sleeping, idiot.” Draco scolded.

“Merlin, look at this,” Theo looked at Blaise as he pointed to Draco’s face. “Malfoy caring for a muggle? I’ve seen everything now.”

“M-muggle?” You rubbed your eyes and yawned. The three Slytherin’s had wide eyes, Blaise cursing Theo with his eyes. “I've heard,” you let out another yawn, “Draco say that before.”

Merlin, how many times have these actually talked? Blaise thought. “I-it’s just slang from London,” he tried to cover up. You nodded your head and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before going back to sleep.

Once everyone was home, Blaise walked you to your door. “I had fun today, did you?” Blaise gave his most convincing smile, “Yeah, I did.”

You said ‘Good night’ and almost closed the door when he stopped you. “Is it alright that I stay with you tonight?”

“I'm kind of tired, maybe tomorrow–”

“No, not for that,” Blaise chuckled at your insinuation. You looked slightly surprised. And it made sense considering that's almost all he came over for. Nonetheless, you let him into your home. Blaise stayed true to his words and just laid beside you in bed until the two went to sleep.

In his own bedroom, Draco smiled as he thought about the fun day he had. Maybe being friends with you wasn't so bad. He went to his kitchen to grab a drink when he noticed there was one person missing. “Where's Blaise?”

“I think he's staying at Y/N’s,” Theo stated. Inside, Draco felt an unusual pang in his chest. He let it go and went to bed. Hopelessly trying to get out of his head whatever you two were up to.

—

next chp

(っ◔◡◔)っ taglist: @beiahadid @malfoy-styles-wife @fivenightslaughter @juneballoon999 @leydileyla @fangirlanotherjust @originalsoulcollector @opiomancy @lipstickandloveletters @ninacotte @daedric-sorceress @frecklesandfirecrackers @hahee154hq @disartrous @oh-those-barricade-boys @lunalovecroft @bornforfangirling @c4th3r1ne

[soviet-whale]

Renee Walker :)

Lol so I relocated my blog and then immediately abandoned it which I did not mean to do but here I am and I want to share my Renee hcs bc she’s great and I love her 

So we all talk about Renee’s iconic pastel hair, but i personally hc that she changes it in January every year

When she was young she neglected her appearance and personal hygiene in general, and now that she’s older she likes changing her hair into fresh styles that she likes and she thinks looks good

She’s gone full pink, full blue, full silver, full blonde, done a lot of those half side is one color half is the other, usually with wacky colors like green and blue or pink and purple, and every time she changes her hair she just gets more beautiful

She loves those dum-dum lollipops

Like the tiny suckers you can finish in five minutes

She always seems to have them on her person, in Allison’s car, and stashed around the dorm but nobody else can find them

She’ll just pull one out from god knows where and pop it in her mouth just to have something to do

She likes anime!! She convinces Kevin to watch Haikyuu with her and he pretends to hate every second of it on principle but he secretly really likes it and they make references to it constantly

After midterms and finals they stay up all night and binge-watch random anime they’ve never seen before, and even when they both graduate they decide to do a sort of “anime club” where they decide on a new anime to watch and then talk about it

She’s Vietnamese!!! 

and a complete and total lesbian

but she struggled to come to terms with her sexuality, even in her supportive household

In fact, she didn’t really fully embrace it until she met Nicky

She was talking to him when she first said the words “i’m gay,” and he had tearfully told her all about his parents and conversion therapy

She’s always quietly supportive of Nicky (and herself) by putting gay flag pins on every bag she owns, painting rainbows on her nails when Nicky gets ugly press for being the only out and proud person on the team, by always taking press duty with him so she can gracefully redirect the reporters when they ask unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally) offensive questions, and by being a person to unload on when Nicky can’t be the happy-go-lucky guy everybody expects him to be

(ofc she also supports Andrew but since he’s not really out to anybody aside from the team it’s a more private affair)

She makes sure to look every single team member in the eye and tell them she’s proud of them at least once a week

Once, when Aaron did well on his biochem test, Renee baked cookies that said “good job! :)” and Aaron almost teared up

I 100% believe in Renison, but I think they would get together a few years after the girls graduate because Allison needs time to properly grieve Seth

It happens totally by accident, when the two learn that they will both be living in NYC and Allison asks Renee out for coffee and then coffee turns into dinner and then dinner turns into romantic walks around Central Park and romantic walks turn into seeing Broadway shows together 

Allison asked Renee out, but Renee kissed Allison first

Also Renee is very headstrong

A lot of people, when they meet her, think that because she’s quiet she’s a pushover but she can turn into one intimidating lady if you treat her unfairly

When the head lawyer of the social services company she runs makes sexist comments toward a few of the other lawyers, she takes him off case work and makes him read feminist novels for a month, and then for the rest of the year only gives him discrimination in the workplace cases 

She threatens to fire him if he does less than his best in any single one of those cases

Idk I just forget sometimes that Renee can be quite the badass

She’s great, and I could probably write a three page essay about her so I’m sure a pt. 2 is on its way

[spencerspecifics]

Okay yes hi hello this is me gracing y’all with my writing Bc I’ve had this idea forever!! This is going to be multiple chapters, here is chapter two. Enjoy :)

~

Technical Analyst (ch.1)

~

Short description: Spencer works as a technical analyst alongside Garcia and Kevin, though he hasn’t ever really worked directly with the BAU team, he works more in filing and researching. But when Garcia goes on vacation leave, and Kevin is busy with his own work, Spencer steps up to help- and that’s when he meets Derek Morgan.

———————————————————————

Spencer hated technology. He hated computers, tablets, cell phones, he hated it all. He hated everything and anything that isn’t on printed onto paper. So how the fuck did he end up as a technical analyst- whose entire job was based around proficient use of technology? In very short, budget cuts.

He originally worked in domestic terrorism, though he never fit in well there. He was a good worker, fast and able to do a lot. But his coworkers never let him feel included. He would hear them make plans without him, ignore him in conversations, only reaching out to him for his great memory to help solve a case. It was dehumanizing. He was just a brain for them, nothing more.

Then, the budget cuts came. And he got removed from the team, as he had the least amount of hours in the field- which wasn’t his fault. The rest of his team always forced him into the research position, so while they were off chasing the bad guys, he was stuck researching with a computer he doesn’t trust.

So yeah, he wasn’t an asset to them. But the bureau knew a mind like his in general was an asset, a fountain they’d like to keep a tap on. So they made work for him. It was mostly menial. He would assist with intense cases when necessary, but even then it was just research. No one knew what he would be like in the field, because they never gave him the chance.

Spencer tried not to think about how unfair this was, how stupid and purely tedious it was. He would rather be working as a T.A. at this point- which wouldn’t even be that bad. At least he gets heard and seen then.

~

Spencer’s normal day consists of going from his apartment to the bureau building, to directly into his cramped little office that was about the size of a jumbo walk in closet. A nice size to store clothes, but not so nice when you have to have a person, a desk, a chair, three computer monitors, two filing cabinents, a trash can, a fax machine, and a printer all crammed in there.

Yeah, his workplace was entirely too small. Thankfully it didn’t impact his ability to work, though, most the time Spencer finished his work quickly; and would end up reading. Spencer didn’t venture out from his office that much at all, (he always brought his own coffee so he didn’t have to worry about bugging the field agents.) the exception to leaving his office was to go across the hall to Penelope Garcia, his only sort of friend that he had at work. She was always so bubbly, it was a breath of relief for him to go see her- she reminded him of all the positive things, he definitely couldn’t do the job without her.

Not to mention, she had to train him from starting point zero. Spencer hated technology, after all. So he never made an effort to learn coding, hacking, how to re-route and track things. He knew nothing like that, hell, he struggles with his cellphone turning on sometimes.

Thankfully, she was able to get some sense into him, and he was pretty good at what he could do. Though he was still working out python coding, he was enjoying the learning process of using technology.

That being said- he still despises technology, and he hopes that once he leaves the job, he can throw away his very unnecessary but work mandated laptop.

~

Spencer made his way into the bureau building, messenger bag slung over his shoulder awkwardly as a thermos of coffee was held tightly in his right hand, while the left one reached for the door handle to enter. He got in no problem, security didn’t stop him anymore, thankfully. Though in the beginning, they did check him constantly, verifying that he belonged there. After all, he looked young, and he definitely didn’t belong in the bureau building. But then again, Garcia didn’t look like she belonged there either.

Security just made presumptions about people, he shrugged that thought off as he made his way to the elevator. Thankfully no one else was in there, he pressed the button for floor six, and the elevator doors shut.

The elevator whirred to life, taking him up to the sixth floor slowly. Thankfully today was a slow day, there wasn’t really any important case he had to work on. (Not like he ever really got given cases to work on, anyways.) So Spencer was hoping he would be able to finish his work quickly, as he had some books he brought with him that he wanted to read and re-read before the day was finished.

The elevator dinged, a signal it had reached its necessary location, before the doors finally slid back. He stepped out, taking his usual left down the hallway immediately. Forward through the glass doors was the bullpen with the agents who worked in the BAU. And god, what he wouldn’t give to be a field agent, working as a profiler. That’s why he wanted to join the bureau, and yet he was so close- his office only down the hall. But he was simultaneously so far, not being trusted by all the bureaucratic bosses, who didn’t know if he would be a good agent to warrant being put out into the field.

He hated it, but he tried not to think about it as he reached his office, Garcia’s door was shut, she was on vacation, or so he had heard. Spencer pulled on his office door, entering with ease as he moved into the cramped workspace.

Spencer sat his messenger bag down onto his desk, sitting himself down in his office chair and taking a minute to breathe in and out before continuing. Spencer hated this job. It was mind numbingly boring, he was so close to quitting. He knew the bureau would fight tooth and nail to keep him, however, but if that was the case, why not give him a better job- he didn’t want a nicer office, he wanted to help people.

He sighed, today was just one of those days where he was extra mad about not being treated right, he tried to ignore this thought process as he got ready to work; setting his coffee down by his computer mouse to his right, setting his messenger bag onto the floor next to him, pulling off the scarf that was wrapped loosely around his neck and hanging it over the back of his chair. Now he was ready for the day.

~

Penelope didn’t mean to forget to tell the team that she was going to be gone- she assumed they knew. At least Hotch did, all the rest of them knew was that she was going to take a week off to relax, they just didn’t know when (she had too many vacation days saved up, so she had to use them or lose them. She chose the former.) It was just a total brain fart moment on her part, so while she decided to hit up her favorite stores, spas, and websites; the team had no idea, they assumed she was holed up in her office, hacking away at whatever she normally does.

This would only show itself when Derek needed her, calling her office number and it going to voicemail “Hi, this is Penelope Garcia with the FBI and I’m too awesome to come to the phone right now, if it’s an urgent matter please call Aaron Hotchner-“ yeah, Derek hung up his phone by then, deciding to call her personal cell.

“Hi, hot chocolate!” She answered cheerfully, the sounds of people talking and laughing could be heard in the background, which Derek took note of. “Babygirl- your work phone sent me to voicemail, where are you?” Garcia was quiet for a second, before practically blowing Morgan’s eardrums out; “Oh- damnit! I knew I was forgetting something!” “Care to fill me in?” He asked her curiously, “Yes-“ Garcia sighed before continuing on, “Sorry. I’m taking those vacation days Hotch told me I had to use or else I’d lose.”

“So you’re not at the office.” He stated, “That I am not, I’m sorry I forgot to tell you! But my pal Spencer Reid should be covering for me.” “Spencer Reid?” Derek asked, unfamiliar with that person, “Why not kevin?” “Ugh, I don’t know- he’s doing that thing where he’s actually busy with other work for once. But Spencer is good, I taught him everything he knows- and I’m pretty sure he’s got three PhDs, so yeah, you replaced one genius with another- so don’t worry!” “Okay, well...” Derek took a second, “You sure I can ask Spencer about everything I’d ask you?” He meant work related, within being able to hack and get everything that Garcia would be able to get. Because Morgan knew that her talents were very special, and having someone else replicate them seemed near impossible, so he was a bit hesitant to trust someone new.

“Oh yeah- he’ll find everything easy peasy lemon squeezy. Don’t worry yourself, sugar.” “Okay, thank you mama. Have a good week of rest.” “I will! I have an appointment for a spa, and oh my god Derek- they do a seaweed wrap thing, isn’t that crazy?” “So you’re gonna get rolled up like sushi?” “No! Ew! Don’t compare me to raw fish!”

The phone call continued for a bit after that, as Derek wasn’t in an urgent matter. It was just a filing day at the office, before he hung up he asked where Spencer was, though; “Oh, he’s in the office next to mine, across the hall!” Garcia told him happily. Derek had thought that was a storage closet, but he didn’t tell her- instead thanking her and hanging up.

Now to pay this mystery computer whiz a visit.

~

Spencer was in the middle of re-routing a bunch of information that Garcia needed to send to her boss, Aaron Hotchner. Spencer didn’t share the same boss, since he was technically working in a more basic division of the bureau, he instead answered to Strauss- which was a royal pain in the ass, but he always turned his work in on time, came in when needed, he had never had to face her wrath yet, thankfully.

Spencer typed away, trying to get all the data to get to Hotchner as quickly as possible so he didn’t have to wait, though it wasn’t crucial the work did get completed right now. Spencer just liked to get things done.

A knock sounded Spencer out of his methodical typing, it wasn’t Garcia, obviously. And he knew Kevin was in a meeting right now with some IT people over his keyboard acting funky (Kevin could fix it by himself, but office administration forced him into talking to IT.)

“Yes?” Spencer asked curiously, turning around in his office chair, because he had no clue who it was that could be interrupting his work. The door pushed open, revealing a tall, classically handsome, muscular man carrying some files in his hands. Fuck, that would be Spencer’s luck. An attractive guy swooping in and making his IQ of one hundred and eighty seven go down to sixty in two second flat

“Hi- you Spencer?” The man asked, stepping forward into the cramped office. Spencer stood up instinctively, “Yes, I am. How can I help you?” The man handed the files over awkwardly, “I’m sorry, I usually ask Penelope Garcia for this but she’s on vacation and she referred me to you- I just need these put through VICAP, I’m not too familiar with the system as a whole, ‘cause Garcia usually handles it.”

Spencer nodded, taking the files and looking through them briefly, there were nine of them. “I’m sorry, I know that’s a lot of work to do... I’m sure I can figure it out myself-“ Derek started, doing his best to apologize. Little did he know Spencer could get this done within an hour or so.

“Oh no- not a problem at all, this should only take me about an hour, two at most, but that’s a generous estimate.” Derek raised his eyebrows, “An hour or two? Garcia usually finishes up this many files within three or four. How are you able to get this done faster than her?”

“I have an eidetic memory, which helps me recall anything that I read. I can read these files once and put all the information into VICAP knowing it’s accuracy is one hundred percent without having to double check, that cuts down my speed by half per case file.”

Derek looked confused and shocked. Yeah, Spencer could understand why. “Sorry, um. That’s a weird explanation, but it shouldn’t take me as long. I’m assuming you’re out in the bullpen?” Spencer asked him, putting the files down atop his keyboard.

“Yeah, I’m Derek Morgan with the BAU.” Derek finally introduced himself, reaching his hand out. Shit, this was Derek Morgan? Garcia has mentioned him a few times to Spencer, saying he’d love him “oh he’s so handsome, but so sweet and loving, like the hottest man on earth- I’d marry him in a heartbeat, but we don’t roll like that, Y’know?” That’s how she described him once, and of course Spencer remembered that word for word. Spencer felt like it was just his luck, that his only work colleague was best friends with a man so attractive that his mind isn’t working fully.

Not to mention he was in the BAU, Spencer guessed he was, since Garcia was their technical analyst. But still, it would be just his luck to know this insanely attractive man was part of the team he wanted to belong to so bad. Spencer wasn’t sure how to respond as he kept his composure. After all, yeah, Derek was attractive. But they probably wouldn’t speak again after this exchange. It wasn’t worth Spencer thinking about him, or how Garcia described him.

“I’m sorry, I don’t shake. But it’s nice to meet you, I’ll find you once I’m done. If you need anymore help, feel free to let me know.” Spencer told him, looking back at the files on his desk as a distraction away from this hot guy that was just standing so calmly in his office, as if Spencer ever had any visitors into the cramped space besides Garcia and Kevin.

By the time spencer looked back up, Derek’s arm was back down by his side. “Okay, thank you.”

~

Derek was surprised by their exchange, to say the least. How did he not know about this genius before? How was he not more well known, a memory thing, three PhD’s- that would be a useful asset? How come he was hidden away in a closet sized office? He had to know more. Even if it was nosy and stupid.

Normally, he’d call Garcia and ask her if it was about an employee. But in this case, he couldn’t. And he couldn’t go to Spencer, that would be weird.

So, he did the next best thing. He asked Hotch.

~

He knocked slowly on Hotchner’s door, hoping he wasn’t going to tell him to mind his business and not ask about employee facts when they definitely were irrelevant.

Derek was smart though, he figured out a foolproof way to play this. So when Hotch said, “Yes?” He came in, starting his plan into motion.

“Hotch, where’s Garcia?” He asked him, as if Derek hadn’t immediately checked up on his babygirl when he couldn’t find her. “Oh,” Hotch started, setting a file down that he had been looking over, “She took some vacation time.”

“So, who am I supposed to go to for computer help?” Derek asked, “Well,” Hotchner started, matter of factly, while he reached for a thin, unopened file on his desk. “We have a new guy helping us. Kevin’s busy with helping the child abduction unit reset their computers, as well as he’s in an IT meeting right now, so we have..” Hotch stopped, looking down to read the name off the file; “Doctor Spencer Reid. I’m sure he’ll be just as good.”

“Hotch. No ones as good as Garcia.” Derek pointed out, Hotch shrugged. “Maybe not. But this guy has a glowing personal history- and Garcia told me she taught him everything he knows.”

“What’s his personal history?” Derek asked curiously, stepping a bit closer but still trying to play nonchalance. “You know I’m not able to disclose that. You can go ask him for yourself.” Derek sighed. Of course Hotch wasn’t gonna tell him shit. He should’ve expected this. But sue him, call him hopeful. He was hoping he could’ve gotten some information on this mysterious doctor.

~

Derek made his defeated way back to his desk in the bullpen. And Emily, whose desk was directly across from his, immediately noticed his slight annoyance at Hotch. So she asked in a hushed voice as soon as he sat down;

“Did you get yelled at by Hotch?” Because in her mind, that was the most logical explanation that made the most sense. Derek just shook his head as a response, “No,” he clarified, “I was asking about our Garcia fill-in, and Hotch wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“Garcia fill-in? She’s gone?” Emily asked confusedly looking back to the hallway that led to Penelope’s office, as if she’d magically appear. “Yeah, but just for the week.” Derek explained, “She’s using those vacation days she had saved up. And Kevin isn’t our standby, ‘cause he’s busy. Instead it’s some new guy.”

“Who?” Prentiss asked, this time she was curious. And as if on cue, Dr. Spencer Reid came through the glass doors, and into the bullpen, carrying Morgan’s stack of files.

“Him.” Morgan pointed back simply as a response as he waved Spencer over.

~

To say Spencer felt out of his element by being in the BAU bullpen was an understatement, he felt like a fish out of water. Like he was suffocating and everything around him was too much.

He purposely avoided the bullpen, first reason being because he didn’t have any work with the BAU. But the second reason was he knew if he stepped in, he’d be more upset that he couldn’t be on the team. And the last thing he wanted to do was make his job worse for himself.

But, this experience was an outlier. And though Spencer can remember almost anything and everything, he planned on doing his best to purposely forget all of this. Every last detail.

He wasn’t going to let himself remember how there were field agents with real life guns holstered at their sides, how they were all sitting casually, looking over cases and drinking coffee, how they had the title of SSA (he only had SA, which he still was bitter about.), and then how at a moments notice they could fly away in a jet. How astonishing their work is, how jealous he is.

But Spencer entered through the glass doors nonetheless, looking around quickly before seeing Derek wave him over. Derek was sat at his desk, talking to a woman whose head was turned away from Spencer, all he could see was that she was his desk mate, and that she had black hair.

Spencer made his way over at a brisk pace, he just needed to get in and out. If he stayed for too long, he’d let himself remember to much.

“Hey, I- I got these into VICAP no problem,“ Spencer started as he handed Derek the case files, “But I noticed some errors on the date stamping on when you found the unsub so I corrected it myself, I hope you don’t mind.”

Derek shook his head casually, “Not a problem at all, I have a habit of messing that up. Thanks doc.” Fuck, ‘doc’? Spencer hadn’t been called ‘doctor’ in months, let alone ‘doc’. This was turning into a tailspin moment for him as he smiled awkwardly, feeling a blush rising to his face, he wasn’t sure what else to do. But he wanted to get out of there.

Thankfully, the woman with black hair introduced herself, as once he had rounded the corner to see Derek, he also saw her face. She was pretty, and had bangs. “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Emily Prentiss.” She reached her hand over to shake Reid’s expectantly, “Oh I-“ Reid started, hands down at his sides, he wasn’t going to move them.

“He doesn’t shake, Prentiss.” Derek explained casually, “Oh,” Emily said, dropping her hand down, “Sorry! It’s still good to meet you, though. So I hear you’re covering for Garcia?” She asked Spencer, who nodded as he pushed a piece of hair back behind his ear.

“Yeah she’s taking vacation time, and Kevin is currently busy with helping the child abduction unit. So I’ll be you technical analyst for the next week or so.”

“I’m sorry, but how long have you been with the bureau? You look really young. I don’t mean to be rude I’m just-“ “You’re really asking him the rudest possible question, though, huh?” Derek joked to her, and she just smacked him on the arm lightly before turning her attention back to Spencer.

“No you’re fine to ask I- um, I’ve been with the bureau a year and a half, but originally I was on the domestic terrorism field unit.” He explained shortly, he didn’t wanna go into how he got on the bureau to begin with, or how he left the domestic terrorism unit. All he wanted to do was have this conversation end, or else it would just be that much harder to forget.

“Domestic terrorism? So how do you end up doing technical analyst work?” Derek butted in curiously, up until now it has been Prentiss asking all the questions.

Spencer stayed quiet for a moment, before finally responding, “If you need anything else, my office is next to Garcia’s. It’s been nice meeting you, Emily.” All he gave to Derek was a curt nod before walking out at the brisk pace he had entered with.

~

“Wow, well you fucked that up.” Prentiss spoke to Derek once she saw Spencer exiting through the glass doors, and turning down the hallway.

He sighed and rolled his eyes at her, “I’m just curious about him, can you blame me?” Emily just chuckled softly in return, shaking her head as she turned her chair around to face him more head on.

“Are you curious about him because he’s cute, or because he’s replacing Garcia for the week?” Derek blinked at her in surprise; “I never said he was cute.” He protested, more confused than anything else.

“You didn’t say it, but your body language did. You think he’s cute. You called him ‘doc’ and he almost blushed, and I have a feeling you’re gonna try and call him ‘doc’ again to see that same result- and you watched him the entire time, even if I was talking.”

“You think random bureau agents are cute all the time, what’s it matter?” Derek rebutted, trying to deflect and ignore, because Prentiss wasn’t making sense. Derek wasn’t attracted to Spencer, he didn’t think he was cute. Spencer’s level of attractiveness had nothing to do with his curiosity.

Derek did have a right to be curious for other reasons, anyways. This guy was replacing Garcia for a bit. It made sense Derek would wanna know more about the guy, even if he was or wasn’t attractive.

“Yeah, I find agents cute. But I don’t go asking Hotch about them.” Prentiss said with a smirk, Derek just shot her a glare. “I asked Hotch because he’s replacing Garcia. And I’ve not heard of the guy before.”

“Whatever you say, man.” Was all Emily replied with as she turned back to her work, Derek just rolled his eyes at her again before turning to his own computer.

Okay, so he knew Spencer was in domestic terrorism. It couldn’t hurt to just search it up, right? It wasn’t anything classified, he’d be able to see it, Derek hoped. He wasn’t meaning to be nosy, but he was just so curious and confused. He just had to know more.

———————————————————————

[phoebehalliwell]

I’m a world where say, Prue and Cole were together and Paige and Leo were together, who would you pair with Phoebe and Piper?

I liked Mark but like would they have been able to save him? And Phoebe didn’t really have a lot of memorable love interests…maybe this would be an excuse to make Coop come in earlier?

I love your blog and your fics! They’re some of my favorites to re-read 💖

‼️‼️‼️‼️ ily 💞💕💞💕💞💕

but okay i think in a world where we go prue/cole paige/leo there’s not so much a need to save mark as he wouldn’t be used as a plot point so much as like just a straight love interest so we wouldn’t go dead man dating we could instead have someone who’s a mom of two young girls or something (because three is too on the nose) and kind of have the sisters have to work through their grief/trauma on that end while also having to save the day and then we could bring mark in on a seperate episode (or have him come in on that episode as like. the girl’s uncle or whatever kind of piper’s point of contact when guiding who i guess would be his sisters spirit like the human person piper talks to who kind of quickly realizes something afoot bc well he’s a smart guy and he and his sister were raised on these stories. so maybe something like that. and then you think it’s a one and done with a brief, fleeting connection but then all of a sudden him comes back in some type of professional capacity Do Not Ask Me How and now it’s like. dude who you don’t like work with but like kind of you do. but he knows you’re a witch. so piper has to devote some time to that because that’s just the woman she is. and then a couple episodes later mark himself is the innocent and it’s like just as he and piper might start getting close you know boom monster demon warlock attack something now his life’s in jeopardy and you know piper saves the day but mark almost died and mark’s like wow this is just kinda like how your life works huh? with demons and monsters and ghosts? and piper’s like haha yep it’s enough to scare about anyone away i think and mark says i’m not scared and they hold eye contact and then it seems like they’re about to kiss but then one of them chickens out because they’re endgame so we’ve got time to kill we have the luxury of making them wait. blah blah blah they’re together by the end of season 1.

OR since this au is a bit of an li swap what with prue/cole and paige/leo i think you know where i’m going with this one piper/kyle. But of course piper and kyle only work like. off a divorce or something something that really gets piper and Peak Cynic and a bit more stone cold because i can’t just drag kyle in in s1 a) he’s a bitch and b) he’s a dick and c) very much Not compatible with early seasons piper who is very trusting and forgiving and believes in second chances. meaning. what do i do? ladies n gentlemen,,,, piper/dan. and we start that season one by just having dan move in next door season one blah blah blah they’re cute they’re sweet they’re married by season 3 they have a daughter and a son (no wyatt and no chris tho bc dan is Not a whitelighter also their daughter would not be the twice blessed as again dan is Not a whitelighter so there’s no dark future thing going) but then in season 5 dan sacrifices himself (oh no 😓!) but then he comes back as a whitelighter (😃) but then like. he can’t be with piper anymore because he’s a whitelighter (😔) (paige and leo still haven’t gone full canon yet because of the rules they keep dancing around their emotions) but at least he’s not dead (🤗) psych he gets killed in season six by a darklighter (😯). teeing us up for piper/kyle s7 onward slowburn here’s the manifesto.

in regards to phoebe i feel like her and coop aren’t really ready yet to be endgame til at least s5 because before that i don’t think phoebe is like ready for undying eternal love like she’s just here for a good time so to keep her busy i think i’d probably flip it and reverse it go dex first in s1 a handsome charming artist a bit dull but who cares whoops pregnancy scare! yikes! kind of separate and don’t really see each other much after that because we’re still working with phoebe’s fear of commitment next up to bat in season two phoebe’s college arc is leslie instead of the kind of rivals to lovers thing they had going on in the workplace instead it is in academia where they are both studying psych and they are in constant competition with one another in fact we can even say this is where we start planting the seeds for advice columnist phoebe where the two of them actually host like a call in advice show on the local college radio and slowly fall in love there. but this all ends when they both graduate and leslie moves away and phoebe’s kind of hurt because that was the first guy she ever could have felt like potentially committing to. next up on the docket would be who jason? i feel we’re not ready for that. who does that leave me? note i am skipping drake in this reverse play because like prue/cole would still be too fresh we can’t do a casual demon romance yet because we’re still leaning in on the drama and fire and danger of a witch/demon romance to pull some shit like phoebe/drake. hmm. we could make up a guy land a pretty solid heartbreak on phoebe just to tee her up all that. because dex she wasn’t that into leslie she was but it was just fate that pulled them apart we need a third one to kinda solidify the fear that love is doomed. and then like in between we will be having one off dates. oh ooh bonus since paige is with leo we can give phoebe married norman reedus. that’s just a fun one. that’s just a fun lil kick in the shins. final guy pre coop to carry us into season for is ummm hmmmmm. miles and he dies. but this time we actually make miles fun and interesting and sexy and really just everything he wasn’t noah fence to the guy. hmm. miles jason dean fusion. shan’t elaborate. but something like that. and then s5 after being burned by love so many times here comes coop. add a couple more love interests as set ups by coop just to drag it out, and then phoop endgame.

[maysbanks]

hold out. (jj maybank)

here it is, the second part to hypersonic missiles ! the response to the first part was absolutely amazing, the support & love in this fandom is incredible & i just wanna say a huge thank you to all of you that take the time to like, reblog & comment, every single one means so much !! gotta admit im not loving this as in it's not my best work and kinda all over the place & half way through writing this i almost scrapped the whole thing to rewrite the full series with an oc bc writing as the reader was starting to get to me lol. but alas here it is & as always i hope u enjoy x

warning: swearing, drug use, underage drinking, violence etc 

summary: after accidentally inserting herself into a treasure hunt with four teenagers, one of which could be considered her 'friend with benefits', y/n grubbs is left to deal with the complications and misfortunes that come along with it - including her ever-growing feelings for said 'friend with benefits'. 

( gif isn't mine! please let me know if it's yours so i can credit you. )

If someone had told you a week before that you would lose your father, get your house raided by two men you had never seen before in your life, make friends with a group of teenagers, embark on a two hundred year old treasure hunt with said teenagers, and be hanging out with JJ Maybank every day and willingly, all in the space of one week; you'd have laughed in their face, asked them what drugs they were on and could you have some, and then laugh in their face again.

But alas, there you were. You still couldn't quite believe it, especially the JJ part. You'd had worries at first, like would the gang really want you involved, did they secretly hate having you around, were they just being nice and letting you in on this because your dad had died? All the doubts swirled in your mind, running around like clock-work, just ticking away constantly in the back of your head. Surprisingly, JJ had been the one you'd gone to about them.

"I just feel guilty," you'd said. It was after a day of riding around in John B's boat and using fancy hotels' WiFi, and 'borrowing' a drone from JJ's dads old workplace. His eyebrows furrowed when he looked at you, confused. "I mean, you guys have been friends for like, forever. And then I just show up and you conveniently find out about John B's dad and the treasure hunt on the same day when I'm there, and it's just like - I don't belong with you guys, it's your thing and I'm just kinda, here." 

"You're part of this just as much as we all are," he'd told you, matter of fact. His body was angled to face you as you sat outside John B's self-proclaimed Chateau, a freshly rolled blunt being passed back and forth between the pair of you. "You need to stop doubting yourself, man. You're apart of us now." 

The words had warmed your heart, an instant smile being spread on your lips as you looked at him through red-rimmed eyes. Underneath the setting sun, he looked almost angelic; his golden hair blowing in the slight breeze, tanned skin exposed due to the heat. You had pretended not to notice the tense of the muscles in his arms whenever your fingers brushed when you passed the juul between yourselves. 

"You're too kind to me, Maybank," you'd grinned, boot-clad foot nudging his knee gently. "If I didn't know you so well I'd have thought you'd have ulterior motives."

"Who says I haven't?" He'd smirked back. You'd just smiled, teeth biting down on the plump skin of your bottom lip before you'd looked away from his burning gaze and focused your attention on anything, anywhere but JJ fucking Maybank.

You got along with the gang amazingly, you couldn't doubt that. Pope was the smartest guy you'd met, sweet and funny and passionate and so certain of what he wanted to do in life. Kiara, or Kie, as you'd come to call her, was very environmentally involved, almost too cool for the guys, you thought. She cared so much about so many things, and she had a great taste in music too. John B was a bit like you, you supposed. Fatherless, on the hunt for answers, things like that - but other than that he was a great guy, the makeshift leader of the little group, a little lost in life, but that was to be understood.

And then there was JJ. You felt most comfortable around the blonde, but that was kinda a given too, due to the fact you'd seen each other in your most vulnerable states that came with having sex rather regularly, something the other members of the gang didn't share. He was a spit-fire, always ready to throw a punch and fire threats at those who deserved it, head-strong and stubborn. But he was more so caring, God he cared so much for his friends, you'd discovered. He would do just about anything for them, whatever position that put him in. JJ put the gang before himself, always. You'd noticed all different types of things about JJ especially, little things you had never taken the time to notice before.

These little discoveries probably came from watching him too much, you'd thought one night. It was a bit of a problem, though you never mentioned it. The unspoken rule amongst the group was No Pogue on Pogue Macking, which basically meant everyone was off limits to each other. You understood the rule, Kie having been the only girl before you'd arrived on the scene amongst three guys, and after becoming apart of the gang you had no choice but to respect it - which also meant that JJ was off limits. But was he technically off limits when you'd already been there, so far past the line on macking with each other?

There was some sort of agreement between the two of you, that in order to make this work; your friendship with the Pogues, the hunt for the Merchant's treasure, that nothing could happen. You'd spoken briefly about it that first day, outside the lighthouse beside the Twinkie (John B's van, you'd learned had a nickname), we're cool, right? Pretend we haven't seen each other naked, conversation. It had been cut short, but it still happened. And the pair of you never mentioned it after that, a few off-handed comments here and there from JJ, but nothing specific. So you assumed yours and JJ's hook ups were off the table, and you had no idea why that had come to bother you so damn much.

On the day following your talk with JJ on John B's porch, he'd invited you to come along with him and Pope as they delivered groceries for Pope's dad, Heyward. You had almost said no, because really, you could probably do with a break from the Maybank boy, all the time spent with him was doing no favours for your little situation of Fighting Attraction While Hunting For Gold. That's what you were putting it down to in your mind anyway, too much time spent with the person you're sleeping with can begin to mess with anyone's head, and hey, maybe it was the fact that you were grieving and JJ was familiar - but you couldn't be doing with all these thoughts anymore.

Despite the angel on your shoulder urging you to turn his offer down, you'd said yes. But that was little to do with JJ and more to do with your mom and your current home situation, which was unbearable, to say the least. Your mother was barely speaking to you, as if she was scared of letting something slip if she did. In return, you shut her out, too. Told her lame excuses and empty lies when you were heading out with the gang, lying through your teeth when she'd asked where you were or where you were going.

Lana Grubbs wasn't a stupid woman, though, and you knew she knew you were up to something. But she hadn't mentioned anything outright yet, and so you hadn't said anything either. The hole your father had left was huge and gaping, evident in both your lives. You hadn't spoken about it yet, and you weren't intending to until she could be completely honest with you. You didn't want to hear anymore lies, and you were already on the path to discovering the full truth. On your own.

Her words echoed in your mind every time you left the house, voice small and gentle as she never failed to say the same thing. "Just be careful." You'd always look over your shoulder, and she'd never look back at you. She hadn't looked at you much at all since your dad had died.

It was after a certain drop-off of groceries, you'd joined JJ in his delivery whilst Pope had docked the boat and gone off to deliver his own, yours and JJ's strides matching as you walked the seemingly never-ending drive of the abnormally large house that loomed over you. The Kook part of the island never ceased to intimidate you, no matter how much you didn't want it to. There was something about it, the people that lived amongst it, that unsettled you whenever you entered it. Figure Eight wasn't somewhere you usually visited other than an odd job you'd picked up, and you were reminded why of that fact as you walked alongside JJ.

"Just think," he breathed, all starry eyed and parted lips as he gazed around the pair of you. "This could all be ours soon."

You snorted, bumping his side with your own. "Don't be melodramatic, JJ,"

"I'm serious!" JJ protested. His sea blue eyes caught yours when he turned his head to look at you head-on. The intensity of his stare almost made you stop in your spot, but you managed to carry on, gulping when his eyes continued to hold yours. "I'm sticking to my earlier statement, right, we're going to move here, and out-rich all these fuckin' Kooks."

"Out-rich?" You raised an eyebrow, lips quirking. "Your grammar is so adequate, Maybank."

"It's a word," JJ insisted, nudging your side with the point of his elbow. "Who the fuck uses words like adequate these days, anyway? I don't even think Mrs. Humphrey knows what that word means."

You laughed at the mention of your shared English teacher, the grey-haired, short, spectacle wearing woman immediately entering your mind. JJ grinned when he heard your laugh, dimples winking in his cheeks.

"Mrs. Humphrey can't even spell Wednesday," you giggled, JJ chuckling along with you as he nodded. "It's a wonder how that woman has been working there for like, eighteen years or something."

Your steps faltered as you neared the door to the house, pace slowing as you both basked in the time spent with each other, though neither of you would admit it. "She was probably a good teacher at first," JJ said thoughtfully, shuffling the groceries in his hands. (You tried not to notice the way his arms looked when he did that, muscles clenching and on full show with his cut-off tank.) "I bet each year another brain cell of hers just like, dies."

"Wouldn't surprise me," you nodded. "Mine would attempting to teach classes full of teenagers," rather dramatically, you shuddered. "Especially if one of those teenagers was JJ Maybank."

"Hey!" JJ shouted, though his grin proved that he found your jab amusing. You laughed along with him, bumping his side once more as you finally landed at the door, watching as he turned to you, expression trying to be serious and failing, rather horribly. "You better watch yourself, Grubbs. I'm serious here, I can be a pretty scary guy if need be, y'know."

You didn't doubt that, of course. You'd seen JJ in action with your own two eyes, you knew what he was capable of. But somehow, stood with you there, on the doorstep of some filthy rich Kook's mansion, groceries in hand, blonde hair shining golden in the sun, sun-kissed skin exposed to your wandering eyes, grin on pink lips; you couldn't imagine JJ Maybank hurting a fly.

"Trust me, I know." You'd said just as he knocked on the door, shooting you one last toothy grin before the door was opened and he was pulled into a conversation with the woman who'd answered it, talking about all things from the weather to the next semester at school. You watched him all the while, smile growing on your lips without your knowledge as you took him in, seemingly in his element as he sweet-talked the middle-aged woman inside the house. When he turned to you suddenly, you startled, broken from your thoughts and caught red-handed staring at him like some freak. He grinned, tongue wetting his pink lips at the same time you internally groaned.

"I was just saying, the groceries," he trailed off as he pointed to the bags in your hands in which you'd forgotten were even there. You let out an 'oh' as you quickly passed the groceries over to the waiting woman, shooting her an apologetic smile as she looked at you knowingly. JJ nodded his head in your direction, speaking once more to the woman, "New guys, huh?"

You glared at him as the woman laughed, perfectly manicured hand reaching beside her and grabbing hold of her purse, pulling a note out with her slender fingers. She held the note out to JJ, who immediately tried to turn it down, insisting there was no need, but the woman was unrelenting - sending a pointed look your way as she told him, "For your troubles, sweetie."

JJ picked the note from her hands, a gracious smile being sent to her as he nodded. "It's been a long day," he sighed heavily and your jaw almost dropped as you resisted the urge to reach out and slap his arm. What a fucker. "Thank you very much, Mrs. Ramirez. I really appreciate it."

The woman, Mrs. Ramirez, as you learned, nodded and waved a hand. "No bother, sweetie," she told him before turning her eyes back to you. You forced a smile as she simply eyed you up and down, before sending an obviously forced one of her own. "And thank you." She said curtly, and you were ready to give her a piece of your mind before JJ was grabbing your arm and dragging you in the direction of where you'd come from, shouting one last thank you over his shoulder as he walked you back towards the boat.

It was when you were a safe distance away that you shook your arm from his hold only to slap him gently on his own as you glowered, glare smouldering as he laughed, throwing his head back as he stumbled beside you.

"You're such an ass," you huffed as you tried to ignore his chuckling, speeding your steps. "I mean, she literally just tipped you a hundred dollars for showing up and smiling, I'm sure if I had a third leg down there I would have got the same treatment too."

"Are you jealous?" JJ asked, having to jog slightly to keep up your hurried pace. His smile was huge and infectious, and you made a point not to meet his stare when he landed next to you in fear of breaking your fake annoyed stance. "Maybe if you weren't too busy checking me out then you could have talked to her, and y'know, make a small fortune yourself."

You scoffed, whirling around and halting him in place. He almost stumbled into you, and you stepped back when his hands landed on your arms to steady himself, shaking his grip off almost immediately. "I wasn't checking you out," you told him, matter of fact.

JJ grinned and ran a hand through his hair as he replied, "Sure you were," he shrugged. You crossed your arms over your chest and glared, biting down on your tongue as you resisted your own smile as he motioned to his body from head to toe. "Not that I can blame you, I mean look at me."

"I've looked, JJ," your voice was low when you said it, a knowing tone to your words. "I've looked, and I've seen it all, in case you forgot."

A low chuckle slipped past his lips. "How could I ever forget?" He asked rhetorically, tongue darting out to wet his chapped lips as you tried not to follow the action with your eyes, and failed, miserably. "Trust me, that image is forever dented in my brain. I think of it, sometimes. Just randomly."

You rolled your eyes. And he's back, _you thought. _He never left, a voice at the back of your head piped up. You ignored them both. "C'mon," you said, already turning on your heel and starting off in the direction of where Pope had docked the boat. "Let's go get these deliveries finished."

The pair of you said nothing more for the rest of the duration of the short walk back, and when the boat was in your sights JJ was off running, more than likely eager to show off his one hundred dollar tip to Pope, as you idled, watching his back as he ran. When you finally landed in the boat, it was silent. You immediately picked up on the tension, heavy in the small space, and shot JJ a confused glance when he looked back at you.

Slowly, you made your way towards where the two boys were up at the front of the boat, Pope situated at the wheel. The dark skinned boy was staring straight ahead, refusing to meet either yours or JJ's eyes. When you looked to the latter, he subtly shrugged a shoulder, letting you know that he had no clue himself what was going on with his best friend.

"Pope?" You questioned softly. "What's wrong?" When there was no answer, you shared another glance with JJ, his concern shining in his blue eyes. You tilted your head as you went to ask him again, but when you did, your eyes caught on to the colour crimson that was slowly streaming down the side of his face. You gasped and JJ startled, chest bumping your shoulder as he tugged the cap from Pope's head, revealing the injury near the top of his head.

"Jesus!" JJ exclaimed when he caught sight of the wound, Pope swatting at his hands that held his hat, pulling it back down once JJ had let go. "What happened?"

"Rafe and Topper jumped me," Pope's voice was slightly wobbly as he informed you both, a tear sliding down his cheek as he recounted, "They said no Pogues on their side of the island."

Your blood began to boil just as JJ demanded, "What are you gonna do?" His own jaw clenched in anger as he looked at his best friend, beaten and bruised in front of him from the hands of some entitled selfish pricks that thought they were better than everyone because they had more money in their pockets. Rafe Cameron was a name that never failed to make you queasy at just the mention of it, and his little gang of followers including Topper Thorton were just as unbearable.

"I have something in mind." Pope spoke, voice and stance determined. And something he did, as he drove to Topper's new boat - and promptly swam over and removed the plug from it, causing the new model to sink into the water as you and JJ watched from Heyward's boat, keeping an eye out for anyone that may have spotted your trio.

And though it was bad, and you knew you probably shouldn't have taken part in such an activity, nor prompted Pope to either; you couldn't deny the rush it gave you as you watched Topper Thorton's boat begin to sink, and maybe it was the fact that you knew that Topper was a Grade A Asshole and deserved it, or maybe it was Pope's own unsure but excitable adrenaline that mixed with your own, or maybe it was just the fact that JJ wrapped his arm around your shoulder without a care in the world as he shouted his support to his friend, squeezing you to his side almost unknowingly, like it was some kind of instinct.

You thought, yeah, it probably was, as you immediately felt the loss of it when he moved to grab Pope in a hug. And then you thought, well shit.

There was a mutual share of disappointment when the gang had found just about absolutely nothing when you'd taken Pope's fathers boat out the next morning, drone ready and in hand to go hunt for the gold, where John B Routledge had marked down on the map it having been.

Granted, the Royal Merchant was there. It was just missing the one thing they were after - the gold was nowhere in sight, and the journey had been a complete waste of time. You thought it to be too good to be true, of course it had to be. Four hundred million in gold and you were expected to find it? There was no way, you thought bitterly as JJ steered the gang back to land, not one of you daring to speak as the disappointment crashed over you all in huge waves.

You'd departed with the guys not long after that, after promising Kie that you would accompany her to the annual summer movie night, making your way towards home. The bitter frustration ate away at your insides, you were mad, angry - fucking infuriated, each step the gang got closer to finding the gold, it was as if someone was stood in your path and shoving you all back another ten.

Had your dad really died for this? This seemingly never-ending hunt for promised gold that, for all you knew, could be complete and utter bullshit. You didn't understand it at first, when the pieces began to slot together, but it was like every time the chase got harder it made you want it even more; and then you understood your fathers fascination and Big John Routledge's obsession. This gold meant everything to you and the gang, and you knew, John B especially, would never give up on this chase.

"Hey, sweetheart," your mother called when you entered the house. The front door was still broken, only the screen in place, and was leaning against the wall as you maneuvered past it. Lana was sat at the couch, and when you walked in she'd shoved a box away from her, the lid laying haphazardly over the top. "I wasn't expecting you home so early."

You shot her a small and forced smile, shuffling your bag from your shoulder and onto the floor, landing with a soft thud. "Hey mom," you greeted back, noting her teary eyes and flushed cheeks. "What're you doing?"

When you arrived at the back of the couch, looking over her shoulder, you immediately recognised the box - Family Photos! _written atop _the cardboard.

"I was just looking through some old pictures," she told you, sniffling as she attempted to smile at you. "Just wanted to see his face again."

You nodded, your throat tightening at the mention of your dad. Reaching a hand up and wiping away her tears, she looked at you questioning, "Where have you been?"

"Just out," you said, bluntly and unconvincing. "Doing a few jobs here and there, y'know. Nothing exciting."

Lana hummed, quirking an eyebrow at you. "Mr. Phelps told me that he seen you with that Maybank kid the other day," she informed, your face falling for a millisecond as her words sunk in. She looked at you, tear-stained face and serious gaze, lips pulled to a thin line. "I told you to stay from those guys, Y/N."

"I was helping him deliver groceries, mom," you deadpanned - which wasn't exactly a lie, if that's when Mr. Phelps had spotted you. Most of your time spent with the gang was mainly off the land and away from prying eyes, whether that be on a boat or the Chateau, so you knew that was the safest bet of when you'd been spotted. "For Heyward's. It's not like I'm hanging out with him on purpose."

Lie, lie, lie. It was becoming alarmingly easy to lie straight through your teeth, and to your mother nonetheless, but you couldn't dare tell her anything, and why should you, when she hadn't told you anything? It took two to Tango, you thought.

"I just don't want you getting hurt," your mother reminded, and you let out a sigh as you nodded, faked closed-mouth smile on your lips. "I'm serious, Y/N, please just be careful out there."

"Always am," you promised (bull-fucking-shit). You turned on your heel, heading towards your room as you called over your shoulder, "I got invited out tonight, by the way. To the movie thing on the North Side. Is it alright if I go, please?"

You waited at your door, hearing your mother sigh from the couch. "Yes, you can go." You smiled, this one more real than all the rest, and thanked her gently. She didn't look back at you though, and the familiar unspoken tension was back with vengeance. You couldn't wait to get out of it.

The movie night was a welcome distraction from your frustrations with the treasure hunt, the haunting memories of your dad, and the tension with your mom. It was only you, Kie, Pope and JJ that attended - John B having seemingly disappeared for the day, none of the gang having heard from him. You'd managed to leave the house with relatively no questioning from your mom, and met JJ a little way down the block.

("Woah, keep two feet away from me please," you'd joked, halting in your tracks as you spotted him standing there. He'd furrowed his brows at you, frown etched on his face. "My cover's been blown, everyone knows about us!

He just looked even more confused, eyes squinting down at you as you raised a hand and layed it across your forehead dramatically. "What'd you mean?" He questioned, eyes darting around, seemingly searching for answers in the air around you both. "What, do people know we sleep together or something?"

You'd rolled your eyes, shoving him gently when you were close enough, beginning to walk away. "No, you doof," you chuckled. "Mr. Phelps ratted me out to my mom, told her that he saw us together the other day. I had to tell her that we were just delivering groceries for Pope's dad."

"Ah," JJ nodded, shooting you a mischievous grin. "We better go into hiding then, I'm thinking... log cabin in the mountains, all fur sheets and deer heads on the walls, ooh a hot tub too."

You laughed, "Trying to whisk me away there, Maybank?"

You were joking, but his eyes were surprisingly serious as he looked at you. "Always, Grubbs.")

The field was already packed full of people by the time the four of you arrived, groups of people scattered around, idle chatter filling the air. It was being held on the Kook side of the island, and your eyes swooped over the people, most of them being Kook's themselves, expensive clothing and an aura that just screamed, I'm better than you. It made you feel uneasy, but you tried not to think about it as Kiara led you through the crowds.

"I'm so glad they're still doing this," she tells you all, sighing happily. The faces of the guys revealed they were not nearly as happy to be there as she was, while you were simply just glad to be out of your house once again. "Keep calm, carry on. Back to normal, OBX life, y'know?" She stopped once she found a decent spot, turning to the three of you. "Aren't you guys glad I made you come?"

"Ecstatic." Pope deadpanned, sarcastic lull to his tone.

"My couch was pretty comfy." JJ piped up.

"I'm just happy to be out the house, I guess." You said.

You were aware why the guys were so uncertain about being there; it wasn't so long ago that Pope was sinking Topper Thorton's boat, you and JJ accompanying, and now you were all on his side of the island. Not only that, but you knew that if Topper was to discover that it was Pope who'd done his boat in, it wouldn't just be Topper that confronted him - it would be the full Happy Days Gang. Nothing was ever a fair game when it came to Kooks.

Kiara excused herself to go buy soda's from the conession stand, and you shifted as you seated yourself on the blanket you'd bought, having opted out of bringing a chair. You sat in front of JJ, his legs touching your back.

"What's wrong with you guys?" You turned your head when Pope and JJ began to whisper, the former's panicked eyes landing on you as you frowned at the pair.

"Topper and Rafe are on my ass," Pope revealed. "They know I sunk Topper's boat."

You sighed heavily, muttering a shit as JJ grabbed his friend by the arm, focusing his attention towards him. "They can't prove it, okay. Just deny, deny, deny."

Pope nodded along, muttering along with him as you watched the pair, before your eyes moved to Kie that arrived back, her eyes narrowing as she seated herself beside Pope. "Just saw Rafe," she informed, your blood running cold. You could practically feel JJ tense from behind you. "He said, and I quote, 'Tell your boy we know what he did'. What is that?"

"Um, where is he?" JJ questioned, his tone of voice revealing his hidden anxiety.

"Right there." Kiara nodded her head, right in the direction of where Rafe Cameron and his goons sat, as you, Pope and JJ whipped around, Pope practically turning his full body in their direction. You groaned as JJ desperately urged him to turn back round, and away from their taunting eyes.

"The whole death squad!" Pope exclaimed, anxiety riding off of him in waves.

"Don't stare, bro," JJ urged, hand wrapping around Pope's shoulders. You tuned out the rest of the blonde's words as he informed you all that he'd be coming out swinging if they were to corner him, and you felt dread build as you heard his last words. "If that doesn't work, I got this right here." He patted his bag.

"JJ, please tell me you did not bring a gun here," Kie practically begged. "JJ, there are kids!"

You focused your attention straight ahead of you as the guys continued to argue; Pope simply telling Kie that it might go down to her line of questioning, her brown eyes darting back and forth between you all. You refused to meet her eyes, however, and were glad when the large screen ahead of you suddenly lit up. "Oh, look," you exclaimed, laughing nervously. "The movie's starting."

And it was left at that - JJ whispering deny, deny, deny to Pope once more before you all turned your attention to the screen, trying to block out the intruding thoughts of having the knowledge that the gang of Kooks were staring you down, awaiting your next move like a predator would its pray.

All was going fine - the movie was good, everyone's attention on the black and white screen. You tried not to think about Rafe and Topper, or the gold or your dad, and definitely not the feel of JJ's legs either side of you, trapping you into his hold. You let yourself believe that everything would be okay, and then Pope had revealed he needed a piss, and everything had gone to shit.

JJ had accompanied him, and the two had set off behind the screen, hidden away from Rafe's watchful eyes. They hadn't done a good enough job to be discreet though, and you immediately took notice of Rafe, Topper and Kelce making their way towards the opposite side of the screen. You swore, catching Kie's attention as she questioned, "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Looks like that piss break just got a lot more complicated," you said, and realisation dawned on her face. It didn't take the pair of you long to locate the guys, all in various forms of fighting, as you and Kie screamed at them to stop. You grabbed Rafe's arm mid-swing, his fist raised and ready to send a hit to JJ's face from where Kelce had hold of him. "Stop it, you dick!"

You let out a scream as you were sent flying back from his shove, Rafe's blue eyes wild and crazed as he glared down at you. "Stay out of this, Grubbs!" He barked, and without a moments hesitation sent a fist hurling towards JJ's cheek.

Kiara had jumped on Topper's back from the small distance away from you, and you took a moment to ready yourself before hurtling towards Rafe from your crouched position, tackling him to the ground from his knees, effectively stopping his blows. He seemed stunned for a second, staring dazed up at you before he promptly threw you off of him, shoving you to the ground without a care. "Don't fucking touch me," he growled down at you, and you groaned slightly as the wind was knocked from you.

You heard JJ from somewhere above you, shouting insults at Rafe and repeating your name over and over. You lifted yourself from the ground just as Topper puts Pope in a headlock, his tight grip causing the dark skinned boys breath to leave him in choked gasps. You shoved at Rafe's back once more, sending him stumbling forward before he whipped around, hand reaching out and grabbing you by the face, tugging you so you stood nose-to-nose with him.

"I said," he ground out darkly, eyes boring into yours. "Don't fucking touch me."

You were beginning to fear what would come next before a sudden glow caught your eye from the side, the movie screen lighting up in harsh flames. Rafe dropped you, your hands moving to rub over the imprint he'd left, as you looked towards where Kie stood, JJ lighter in hand. Screams of terror echoed from the other side, as people began to flee, and it didn't take long for the three Kooks on your side to follow, sprinting quickly from the scene. Fucking cowards, you thought.

JJ's hands were on you before you could even blink, eyes earnest and worried as they looked over you, your cheeks red from the earlier grip Rafe had on you. "You good?" He asked you, slightly out of breath. You nodded, repeating the question to him. He smiled lightly. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good."

The night had ended promptly there, Kie dropping you off at your respected houses. You'd bid them all a good night, and as quietly as possible made your way into your home, not wanting your mother to see the marks imprinted on your face from Rafe's fingers. Luckily, she'd already been in bed, and it didn't take long for you to crawl into yours, thoughts of the day and a certain blonde running through your mind.

The next morning you'd met the gang (save for John B, who was still seemingly missing) at the Heyward's store; your morning had been spent desperately trying to hide the red marks that Rafe's fingers had left from your mom before she could notice and ground you in your room for the rest of your life. It had a been a success for the most part, and she asked no questions as you left the house, though you took note of her uncertain expression as you bid your goodbyes.

"Have you heard from John B?" You asked Kiara who was working closest to you. You had realised the brunette boy was missing from the group upon your arrival, and you couldn't help the worries in your mind at where he could be or what could have happened to him.

"No, nothing. Have you?" She returned the question, brown eyes meeting yours as you shook your head no, a short sigh falling from her lips. "Neither have the guys. What're you thinking?" Kiara eyed you, gaze suddenly sullen. "Do you think something's happened?"

"I don't know, Kie," you told her because honestly, you didn't. John B had a target on his back, that much was for sure. Son of Big John, once owner of the proclaimed death compass. Your mind thought back to the two men that had raised your home, and chased the guys on more than one occasion, and you couldn't help but think the worst. "I'm sure he's fine, though."

Kiara nodded, though she looked anything but sure. "Yeah, you're probably right." The pair of you continued on with your respected work, JJ's and Pope's voice trailing from somewhere in the store as they talked. "You're working Midsummers, right?"

You groaned, nodding. Kiara laughed at your sour expression. "Oh yeah, second year running. To be honest, I'm surprised they let me work it after last year, my customer service must be better than my right hand hook," you joked, chuckle escaping your lips as you thought back to the Midsummer's party the year before. Your dad had gotten you the gig, because he was a weasel like that - always talking people into getting what he wanted, and what he wanted was the gas bill to be paid, and his face just didn't fit the portfolio to be serving Kook's their drinks at their fancy party, and so it had left left to you to do just that.

The night had ended with Dean Kipp on his ass after his hand had fallen on your ass, and you'd been let off with a warning as the guy clutched his bloody nose and called you everything ranging from psycho bitch to slutty pogue. Your surprise was immense when you were offered a job again this year, and a large amount of the reason you'd said yes was just so you could see the look on his face when he saw you.

"He totally deserved that," Kiara remarked, grinning. You smiled back, the pair of you sharing a laugh as you returned to your work.

For a second, you let your worries wash away as you were pulled into a conversation with the gang, your spirts high for the first time in a while. You were happy, you realised. What had started off as being the worst period of your life was slowly turning into the best, the gang and treasure hunt a blessing in disguise. The four of you shared laughs and joked back and forth as you worked, and you found yourself to be perfectly content.

All that came crashing down when Pope's father entered the shop, police officer trailing behind him. "Hey, Pope! There's someone here to see you."

You stopped dead-on, the rest of the gang halting in their movements as you all stared towards the officer you recognised as Shoupe. "Evening, officer." Pope greeted, gulping.

"I have an arrear warrant for felony destruction of property," Deputy Shoupe approached your group, handing the said warrant to Pope's dad. From beside you, JJ tensed, and when you turned to look at him, his blue eyes glanced down at you, freshly beaten face pulled into an anxious grimace as his jaw clenched. Shoupe had gotten remarkably closer, hands reaching for the handcuffs placed on his belt. "Hands where I can see 'em."

Pope glanced desperately towards JJ, who shook his head quickly, his words, though unspoken, clear as day. Deny, deny, deny. But denying wasn't going to get Pope out of handcuffs, you decided as you stepped forward, tone pleading as you demanded, "Stop, you can't just do this!"

"Out of my way please, Miss Grubbs," Shoupe dismissed you, sounding almost bored as he shoved past you, beginning to handcuff Pope who can do nothing but allow it to happen, his anxious eyes focusing on one spot as reality began to sink in.

"What did he do, Shoupe?" Mr. Heyward questioned in disbelief, watching as his son was getting arrested in front of his very eyes.

"Take a look at the warrant," the cop said simply as he begun to tug Pope out of the store.

It was chaos. Everyone was shouting, demanding answers and hurling insults. JJ is screaming something about somebody paying him, Kiara is in your ear asking what the hell was going on, Mr. Heyward is hurtling questions towards both his son and Shoupe. Passbyers stared at the scene, whispering to each other as they walked by or stopped to watch. Everything blurred together, and you could do nothing but watch the scene unfold in front of you.

Those fucking assholes, you thought. Topper Thorton came to mind, tan skin and bleached ends, million dollar smile and designer clothes. You remembered his wild gaze as he held Pope in a headlock the night before, close to almost killing him. And yet he was off somewhere doing god knows what, probably shopping for a new boat to replace the one he'd lost, not that he probably cared all that much about it in the first place. Rafe Cameron's eyes entered your mind next, and you felt a shudder run through you as you remembered them boring into yours as he held your face frighteningly tight and close to his own.

JJ's voice was suddenly breaking through your stream of thoughts - "It wasn't him!" He was calling out, eyes directed on Shoupe who paused and turned toward him, Pope's face disbelieving from behind him. "It was me."

It sunk in then what JJ was trying to do, and you whirled around from his left, quickly shaking your head as you muttered, "JJ." He ignored you however, and stepped forward towards where the officer was standing, Pope still in his arms.

"He tried to talk me out of it," JJ continued. "But I was mad because he had just been beaten up, I was sick of those assholes from Figure Eight that I lost my shit." He was stood directly in front of Shoupe, almost boot-to-boot. You couldn't see his face from where you were, and you were almost thankful for the fact as you heard him direct his words to Pope, "I can't let you take the fall for what I did. You've got too much to lose."

"JJ, what are you doing?" Pope demanded. His face was confused, just as much in shock as the rest of you. For a second, his eyes leave JJ's and land on yours, a shaky breath leaving your lips as his eyes were practically pleading.

"I'm telling the truth, for once in my goddamn life, I'm gonna tell the truth," JJ announced loudly. "I took his old man's boat, too."

"What the hell?" Mr. Heyward questioned, though nobody paid him any mind. Your gaze was too focused on the unfolding scene of JJ Maybank taking the fall for something he most definitely do, and you could do nothing but watch it happen.

Your heart finally shattered when JJ's last words entered your ears, "He's a good kid. You know where I'm from."

He only looked back once as he was put into the handcuffs that previously held Pope, and that wasn't until he was shoved in the back of the police car and the door was slammed behind him. You walked closer towards it, hand on Pope's back as he watched his best friend get arrested for something he'd done, and you both knew it. When JJ glanced up and out of the window, bruised face clear behind the glass, his sea blue eyes caught yours and then he smiled.

The fucker.

You could only watch helplessly as the police car was driven away and out of sight, Pope throwing his cap down in a fit of anger as he stormed off, his dad calling after him, Kie landing to your right. The dark haired girl wrapped an arm around your shoulders, tugging you to her side gently.

"JJ'll be alright," she told you, voice confident though her face read anything but as she glanced in the direction the car had been driven off. "He always is."

But what, a voice in the back in your head nagged at you, if this time he wasn't?

And then it dawned on you: you actually really, generally, sincerely and whole-heartedly cared about JJ Maybank.

(And the thought scared you more than you would ever like to admit.)

& to the lovely people that asked to be tagged in this, love you all x @ponyboys-sunsets @mysticsthinking @danicarosaline

[advernia]

i’m amazed that i’ve been active for at least a couple days straight??? is it the effect of lesser fe3h playtimes + the silly coworker writing challenge at the workplace??? oh well ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

since i remembered i was trying to make work commentary a thing here, more rambling / author’s notes under the cut!

jul 6th // ikerev

push your way through the cracks is the first edgar/mc i’ve written here and while i’ve mentioned there that edgar is my fav out of the cast, i fear that i’ll probably take me a very long time to write another one bc... he’s my favorite. i noticed i have the tendency not to write much (or have finished works) about ships i really, really like despite... you know, liking them. hopefully not - shipping aside, i like exploring the characterizations of enigmatic types like edgar.

about the fic, i pretty much like it save for the second part bc i think i could’ve done something more with it - not exactly change the setting, but expounded a little further on it. i don’t know, it feels lacking somehow in comparison to the first two.

there are a lot of flower-related descriptions tossed here and there, but i think i succeeded in not being so purple prose-y? hopefully! this was pretty descriptive, i guess.

with this edgar fic present, that means i have 2 more red army doods to write about, namely zero & jonah. i was really aiming to make edgar the last one tho haha.

jul 12th // ikerev

weave me into your web is canon based, specifically pt. 24 of sirius’ route where they say ‘goodbye’. note those quotation marks.

i think i wrote this after a discussion i had with a friend about sirius & his route - she read some posts commenting on the route and she wanted a nearby opinion. we got into an agreement: while we do find sirius to be indeed husbando material, his route would’ve risked nothing if they gave him more / emphasized his flaws. his flaws, not mc’s, gosh. 

no, seriously. in my opinion, mc fretting so much about being immature sort of blinds her from the little things that prove sirius is not so composed as he appears to be. it gets even worse when she realizes she’s fallen in love with him, and while i enjoy the black army going kira-kira rabu support team + seth being hopeless suitor, i’m going 50/50 on mc. she’s written to be indeed very single-minded come the war phase and while that’s not necessarily bad since she gets to broaden her perspective as she always does, i think i would’ve appreciated it if she came to most of the realizations on her own by reflecting on them based on how the events around her are progressing; and not simply by sirius / someone else pointing it out for her. no wonder she’d think she’s immature in comparison - it also irks me a bit that she keeps on fretting about her feelings for sirius. this is what i’d be sad to see again in other routes: the romance overthrowing the potential / present character development. 

side note: i understand that in relationships with a notable age gap, maturity / perceived maturity can be a problem - i just wished that the route downplayed on this bc honestly, there are other things more interesting to explore than that angle, like, say; isn’t she from another culture or world or something????????? will those differences affect our potential relationship??????????????

on sirius himself, i recall reading on reddit that one person didn’t pick up ikerev for the reason that the cast is too perfect. that’s a fair opinion. i think i can relate this to sirius himself: while throughout the route you do see some flaws in him, he’s still overall the dude you’d write home about + that dude you’d dream introducing to your parents complete with that suave voice (thank u junichi suwabe). no, i’m not saying that he has to have some unlikable or quirky trait / wangsty backstory, it’s just that in my opinion he’s desirable but not exactly relatable. let him struggle, let me see him rise up from it. show me his humanity. there’s the scene with him and lancelot, but i want more. tho him being afraid of being alone is what i find extremely relatable and endearing about him, very nice. otherwise... well, maybe i have to reread the route again or smth.

anyway. the fic emphasizes actually on his character trait of self-control / restraint. did u know too much is bad for u??? it can reflect that since you hold yourself back too much, it could mean that you’re masking your true feelings, for example. there are various psychological studies on that. *stares at sirius* hMMM.

i took care to be quite descriptive on that kiss scene and at the same time, not to be so emotional on it bc it’s still sirius lol - i believe he’s not one to lose himself completely to his emotions, but he’s not that afraid to succumb to some of it - especially if he actually wants to feel them.

... this turned out to be a rant portion rather than a fic commentary now didn’t it

aug 24 // ikerev (i’m seeing a pattern here)

a beginner’s guide to waltz was seriously just some formatting experiment, then it blew up to something larger. i actually like it tho, it’s cute.

writing oliver is actually fun, not bc of the reason that i can be rude. he is rude, but he’s not like that for just the sake of being so. as seen with blanc, it’s probably a result of habit. why exactly he chose to be verbally aggressive is something i’d like to know in his route.

i have no idea how the relationship shift is portrayed either, but i do hope it’s a mortifying revelation on mc’s part lol. like, lookie here, that little kid with his wee shorts and pretty hat that you hang out with all the time and don’t care about acting so ladylike around was that hot hunk who saved you before! oliver’s so amused and never letting her live it down.

for the line ‘i’m not interested in asking you about a decision you’ve made since you arrived here’: the decision mentioned is mc’s promise not to fall in love & to go home. i think oliver would be one of those routes where he falls for her but wants her to go home anyway, but the difference in his route is that he’s very adamant to make her leave. maybe thinking along the lines of ‘i don’t want you to end up like me’ or something. idk. idk what i’m trying to type at this point, lol.

just some random thought, but i do hope ikerev artist tcg someday draws mc in the game outfits / hairstyles bc she’s actually rly pretty. the description of mc’s outfits / fashion of part 4 of the fic was out of me just staring at the my closet portion of the game. don’t ask - i like the hc of oliver & mc having elegant wardrobes / fashion sense, and since i’m too lazy to check up 19th century london fashion trends...

sep 28 // collar x malice

haunted by something still alive was the result of me thinking about guns. don’t ask me either. maybe it’s also a result of me wanting to write something else that isn’t from my horrendous drafts folder lol.

these were actually nice drabble practices, and the first one i clearly had i mind was shiraishi’s. i honestly think it would be fitting, probably around the start of the route where they haven’t got to know each other so well.

from there on i tried to do the drabbles in the route order i did when i played the game, which was mineo - sasazuka - okazaki - shiraishi - yanagi. but tbh when i was writing it became shiraishi - mineo - yanagi - sasazuka - yanagi again - okazaki, lol. i rewrote yanagi’s and okazaki’s three times.

subtitles have their respective mathematical operations on it - i find it kind of cool and funny that those are their symbols (amnesia had the card suits), but when you do think of it properly, it does relate to their characters.

... never forget that hoshino ichika is canonically good with guns.

sep 28 // ikerev

in absence of glass slippers as stated was a part of one of my first ikerev drafts. still a draft until now, but the portion i posted is one of the ‘finished’ sections of the fic.

i don’t headcanon mc as a respectable lady from a equally respectable house or her being a well-off girl, but i like the concept of her being a self-taught lady of society aka she learned stuff like manners, dancing, and etc. out of curiosity or for more practical reasons like fitting in. 19th century london is still the victorian era, so social class and propriety was still a thing.

her taking off her shoes to practice dancing with ray is a sort of a challenge, actually... his measure of improvement will be based on the times that he steps on her feet / how many blisters her feet would gain by the end of the session, lolol - that’s why she says that stepping on a rock is the least of her problems. pretty hardcore, isn’t she?

thus the title actually - glass slippers (mary janes actually) are pretty delicate, but don’t you think a lady’s foot is much more delicate?

with ray’s fic up, i’ve officially written a piece for all of the black army men! nice.

sep 29 // ikerev

neither heaven or hell is holy shit, an mc-centered fic! hella rad - i was half thinking to classify it as a drabble, but since i decided that drabbles are pieces that i may get back on, i kept it as a full fic instead since i’m happy with how it turned out.

all of my screamings are in the tags, so i don’t have much to add besides that lol. however, the writing here is pretty different, and that’s because i was trying to do a three sentence fic challenge kind of thing. buuuuut it became three paragraphs with three lengthy sentences instead lol.

also, there’s some stuff highlighting mc’s london-er/english-ness. washing powder is the british term for laundry soap. 19th century roofs for royals were usually panels, and wooden beams for commoners. different as chalk and cheese is a british expression. i’m certainly not british but i just like emphasizing the fact that mc is of another culture/world, thus there should be differences in how she perceives things / her mannerisms & actions / her way of speech. i’ve been conscious of that in all of my fics involving her.

actually, i do make it a point to watch her way of speaking. i really like the polite way of speaking of 19th century britain (and also of today), so i try to integrate that despite the fact that i’m not british myself lol. it’s hard to fully convey it, but i try with hoping that it doesn’t seem too off. i should probably look for more references to practice it.

this was a very spontaneous piece with actually minor editing involved, and i’m pretty proud of how it turned out.

[killapunk]

the weirdest, NO, evilest, person i have every worked for

no real names are used in this piece. i refer to other weirdos and freaks throughout, sorry its a long read (i didnt intend for this) but its one of those things ya gotta settle into and believe me its a wild ride. this saga covers over three years of drama btw.

tw: mental health mentioned (inc panic attacks), chronic illness mentioned and mild sex references 

i am going to single out jess. shes more evil than a weirdo but weirdo nonetheless. pete is a secondary weirdo in this saga.

i work in retail for a long time. a fashion store to be precise. i started out in one store but transferred when i started studying at uni and remained there for the majority of the retail career. during my time there i had three managers, the longest one, who is also a fucking weirdo was pete. now before i worked with pete, before he transferred to our store. i didnt like pete when i started working with him, he annoyed the fuck outta me. but my life circumstances changed and my mental health issues got very bad AND i was diagnosed with cfs so i had to disclose it w him. turns out… he was fucking mental too, very understanding, super chill. we liked the same shit. great boss. 11/10 every time.

he would be my reference for every job ever…

…but. he started gettin involved w jess. now to jess. the main character in this piece.

jess had started at the company around the same time as me and we were always on the same level until the last year or so. jess was a bit older than the average age of staff at the store (17-20) and was 23 when this drama started. she had a college diploma, went onto do something semi-successful but related to her HND. but blew all her money, moved back into her parents and started working at the store part time and then onto full time. she was like…the perfect retail girl? small, cute, slim, bubbly… always looked cool in her uniform. customers loved the fuck out of her. 

jess had a bf when i first started and pete had a longstanding gf. jess and her bf ended things abt 4 or 5 months before pete and his gf. but i remember they started gettin cushy around about this time. im not sure if its cos im v sympathetic towards pete (a true kind soul who i hold v dearly in my heart) but even tho youd be thinking ‘boss abuses his power’ …jess was and still is fuckin manipulative and he has longstanding mental health issues and i just think she sorta got the ball rollin’. pete and his gf didn’t seem on good terms, i dunno the full story but it seemed like they should have broken a long time before the did.

i think the fortnight before pete and his gf broke up they were spotted hanging out together near where she lived. it was this hush hush thing that everyone giggled abt cos there was at the time talk they were fuckin. when it got out, after his breakup jess said she was ‘just being a friend’ cos he was ‘going through a tough time’. 

jess got promoted to keyholder even though she didnt really (at the time) have the skills or confidence to be a keyholder. and then she started to try and fuckin control the work. back during this time, everyone who worked at the store, minus literally 3 people, had worked for the company for at least a year. the store ran very well, we were always in profit. nothing went wrong. but. she started changing processes because it 'made things easier when she was opening’. like. she made everyone tally the amount of people they served in the fitting room in one box and tally the amount of things people left behind so she could make a sales chart. idk if that’s normal in other stores but like? it was just nuts and impossible to do.we always put deliveries away out the package but not folded in a particular way. she made everyone tag and (where relevant) hang items bc she had to pick everything in the morning. 

she became friends w most of the girls, including one of the supervisors. they ruled the workplace. it was a total gossip mill. she gaslit the fuck outta people. one already less-popular girl at work ended up quitting cos she kept blaming her for fuck ups, she kept getting write ups and it was impating her mental health. she spun people against her. less popular girl spoke up and called her a bully and jess acted all defensive and said she wasn’t a bully bc shed been bullied before? jess continued to fuck up the workplace. next she turned on two people in her own clique. one tbh, i think she was jealous of bc jess had always wanted to be a teacher and this gal was training to be one. the other girl was v like jess, just not a bitch… strongwilled, liked control. anyway, drama got to the point where they had to quit. waay too much drama for this textpost. at this point others started to notice n work became hostile. jess moved her girlgang clique to one of the original clique girls, a different supervisor and the other two full time staff members.

pete obv didn’t listen to people coming to him, as store manager being like… hey… there’s this major clique problem and he’d be like ‘nah everyone is just friends, jess is a bit insecure but yno things are good, people quit, its just retail. fuck it.’ jess accused everyone who didn’t get on w her as being a terrible person. those legit words. like. if someone said it was a shame x, y or z left shed rebut, nah they were shit at their job, they were a shit person. honestly. EVERYONE. was a bad person. even the nicest people in the world were the worst person, the worst at the job. she was a good person, she liked the good people. she HAD BEEN BULLIED AND WOULD NEVER BULLY. she threw the anxiety word around a lot.

once we had a staff night out and i got left alone with jess and pete at the end of the night in this terrible lil bar as i waited for someone to pick me up. this is a good point to mention jess was always weirdly jealous cos i was close to pete. fucking ridic considering he was 14 years older than me and you know my fucking boss??? this night, i was sitting right next to pete, we were both drinking, jess wasn’t (cos she likes to be in control, she even said it), he had his arm around me and was whispering something into my ear that was such a non-thing i don’t even remember. she got her phone out, started texting. he excused himself and when he returned he sat beside her. it was fucking nuts. i couldn’t believe my eyes. we had to basically carry pete out of the bar. jess said to me she was gonna drive him home cos it was on the way to hers (spoiler! it was not!). myself and pete did the open the next day. he came in wearing the same clothes. i mean, he could have just passed out and had to rush to work when he woke up. but. this guy went out a lot. he never repeated an outfit. i think jess took advantage of a very drunk him. similarly, on another night out, jess promised to drive someone home. said person got too drunk and thew up. jess refused to take them home and called them embarrassing, she gave the space in her car to pete.

i had a major bad evening shift at work concerning another staff member, kaylee. a gal who just rubbed me up the wrong way, and who didn’t like me. ill never know why but it was just one of those things where anytime i was on shift w her she would nitpick and bitch about me and just… make me feel not v good. she was possibly the laziest and rudest person i had ever worked with but someone got away with it?

i used her as a way to talk to pete about the general problems in the store (jess). and…it was fuckin surreal. i told him abt kaylee. i told him i thought jess was controlling but kinda laid off a bit like ‘i get she thinks shes doing it for good’ etc. i padded it out w a few other rly petty issues abt the store. i was actually really upset, kinda numb from life to properly let out my emotions. and then. he started cry on me. like this full-on grown man having a panic attack in front of me when i was 19, fucked on diazepam i should have never been prescribed. to this day i visualise it. me and pete were v close at this point, and like, he didn’t mention jess too much – asked me about the other girl and other issues when i came to him. we spoke about personal shit, all but jess. i kinda wonder if he didn’t have the panic attack if i would have told him his under the radar relationship w her was not on?

and then. pete sold me out in the name of jess. idk the full ins and outta everything but he had to confront the drama once and for all cos our figures were so low so he decided to blame it all on kaylee. from my understanding of the situ from a lot of ‘he said she said’ bs, pete had this big meeting w kaylee. was like. 1. do ur job right and 2. stop being rude and unapproachable. the thing is, although kaylee is rude shes one of these ppl who most ppl really liked, not in a jess/regina george theyre scared of you way but…like they thought she was a tv character and she was funny and honest. so i think she confronted some obvious allies, and jess told her, according to another staff member, that i complained about her. after hearing this i obvious went to pete and tbh, acted pretty dramatic (cos if you haven’t fucking learned already THIS STORE WAS FULL OF DRAMA QUEENS). as soon as i heard, i started texting him angrily on his day off. i remember folding something in the fitting rooms and he came up to give me a hug and i was like ‘HOW FUCKING DARE YOU TELL OTHER PEOPLE MY BUSINESS’. i confronted jess, in a lighter tone, cos i obv told pete (half) what i felt about her. jess played the fucking innocent role. like, she said something along the lines of ‘we’re both close to pete n he was so worried that when me, you and kaylee did those shifts together that something would go wrong. so he told me to keep an eye on things and that’s all i told kaylee cos she wasn’t sure why she was being targeted when so many people in this store are treating people badly. i didn’t say you reported her or anything, honestly!!!!’ queue more bs.

after this, jess didn’t bother with me but was never explicit about hating me. if there was a convo going on and i tried to join in she scolded at me for being nosey. if i was unwell (i have cfs) shed moan ‘jokingly’ that i always had to be ill. i think she ripped on me once cos i said i was late for a hand-in at uni.

her next real victim, however, was jack, my best friend in store and our supervisor. jack was getting fucked over in his supervisor role bc pete would schedule jess for anything managerial. jess started a rumour that pete didn’t trust jack bc jack fucked it at a meeting w the other stores (semi true but fucking up a meeting isn’t the end of the world). like. anything jack would be, jess would be on him. by this point 50% of the staff that were around at the start of the story HAD LEFT. jess had driven people out and had the new ones all up her arse.

pete quit. it was sudden.

not long later, facebook popped up with a fuckin ‘pete is in a relationship with jess’ status and pete has never spoken to me again. i left shortly after that, although our new manager was lovely i felt like i was working for jess.

jack ended up GETTING DEMOTED, by petes replacement who had no idea what a shitstorm she was getting herself into. the new manager PROMOTED jess and demoted jack bc she was doing all the supervisor jobs whilst jack was only doing midshifts. he didnt get shafted to the lowest pay and was instead given the title ‘trainer and authorised opener/closer’ whilst still doing the same fucking job. he transferred out, cos that shit is fucking degrading and within, like two months he was put back up his rightful position. yay for my forever work bestie. I

feel like this has been going on for too long now. i think this doesn’t do her justice. like…i cant believe someone who is NOW 26 and who got what she wanted after manipulating a mentally ill man caused so much drama and pain and tension in a fucking clothes store.

fucking horrid. im reading this completely exhausted and so i cant say much but i just feel like these people are always the ones who come out on top, and its so fucked up. im really sorry you had to deal with so many unpleasant people, and your friend as well. 

i swear mediocrity and asskissing is what gets you anywhere in this world, and manipulative cunts like this jess woman take full advantage of that. it’s pretty scary, honestly. amazing how far drama can go, huh. this is why i have trust issues.

i still hope she gets her ass kicked by life, though. there has to be some sort of karmic justice somewhere

i also feel like i should say that there’s always going to be people who won’t like you for some reason. even if you don’t do anything wrong and even though everyone else thinks they’re great. no idea why this happens, but all i can say is there’s really nothing you can do. so FUCK EM (in the most metaphorical sense as they don’t deserve you giving them the time of day)

[delsinsrowes]

For you, what would Connor/Reader fluff look like?

entire like fuckin’ half fic under the cut bc i started listing things and then made those things into a giant linear thing instead of a list

ok so like just imagine this being written better and following the storyline of 1. Connor sees that him and the reader work well together 2. Omg connor is like…. .. . wanting to get close to the reader and hear their laugh and understand what makes them want to get out of bed in the morning???? Hmmm 3 the reader getting hurt, connor feeling terror for their life, and for once, not having any rational plan on how to fix it. 4 connor bringing this up with hank and hank just being like, “ur one of the smartest things on this godforsaken planet and you don’t understand how infatuation works????” 5. Connor bein like, :O omg I like the reader wtf howsmt in the world do I do this I am not programmed for courting 6. (this is my fave part and would be something I would really love to write if I did an actual fic) connor goes to a sex club and hires a lady just to teach him how to flatter women bc it is NOT in his program and since his deviation he has no idea about ANYTHING 7. He does it, the reader and him are in like with one another 8. The sex

After the revolution started (or ended, you still can’t tell which) police stations across the nation started hiring more and more officers and investigators to help carry the load of human on android crimes that were now legal to file. You got hired at the Detroit precinct – you were a shiny new member of the Android Crime Investigation team. This new team, while encompassing all crimes involving androids, focused on murders or assault with android involvement (whether that be a human killing an android or vice-versa).

          Your background in criminal investigation and forensics made you think you were almost overqualified for this job. However, all those thoughts leave your mind as you walk in on your first day you come face to face with the small team you’d be working with. You first saw an older man with grey hair pacing back and forth within the small room you’d been told was still “a work in progress,” by a human officer showing you around. You stand outside the room for a few beats too long and hear footsteps approaching behind you.

“Hello.” When you turn around to see who the voice belongs to you’re met with curious brown eyes peering down at you. “I’m Connor, the lead investigator for the Android Crime Investigation team, I assume you’re (y/n).” A small smile graces his otherwise expressionless face.

You give a nervous exhale that sounds almost like a laugh in return. “Yeah, that’d be me. I --uh, I didn’t know I’d be working with someone as significant as you when I got offered this job.” You realize that your phrasing was very casual for the first meeting with a superior and quickly try to backpedal.

“What I mean is, I’m aware of you and your work. I’m sure everyone is at this point. Your role in the revolution was… amazing.” You give him a shy but sure smile, which he returns. You notice the way his eyes change when he smiles. It’s nice, there’s a sense of comfort that lingers within your chest before he speaks again.

“Thank you. That’s very kind. I appreciate the effort you’ve put into the investigations assigned to you at your previous workplace. Your proficiency is why you’re the first person Lieutenant Anderson and I hired to assist us in this project.” Connor begins ushering you into the small room as he finishes his sentence, giving you no time to properly react to his praise. When the two of you enter, the man you’ve now learned is Lieutenant Anderson glances your way.

You notice three small desks placed in the room with papers strewn on top of them. The television spanning the eastern wall projects files on who you assume are those being investigated, you watch as it flickers between names and information.

“Hank, this is (y/n). As of today, she will be working with us.” The man gives you a weak smile. He looks exhausted and overwhelmed, you guessed that the desk littered with empty paper coffee cups belonged to him.

“Welcome to the dream team. As I’m sure you can tell we’re counting on you to make this,” he gestures faintly to the room around you, “a little less of a shit show.” Hank leans down on his desk turning his attention to the mountains of paper he’s been painfully trying to will away.

“Babysitting two grown men is not something I have experience with, but I’m not known for turning down a challenge.” Without making eye contact with either one of them you walk over to one of the desks – the one with the least clutter and sit, idly glancing at some loose paper before looking over to Hank.

He’s smiling a genuine smile when you meet his eyes. “Good to know you have somethin’ resembling humor. With him its all work and no play. Makin’ fun of him gets old after a while.” The two of you share a light chuckle as you hear Connor begin to shuffle files on his desk.

“He claims it gets old, yet he continues to berate me.” You don’t miss the smile in his voice when Connor speaks. You supported the revolution and never really saw the androids as just plastic imitating humans, yet it still takes you by surprise how warm androids were. Connor seems especially human due to the small mannerisms he possesses and the cadence that his voice holds.

Connor hands you a small stack of files, his voice taking on a different, more serious tone. “We currently have 12 open investigations. 9 of 12 cases are murders of androids by humans filed within the past 3 months. Due to the recent changes in the criminal law concerning androids, our authority over these cases is never guaranteed. We are operating in a grey area right now, so treat every case with caution, adhering to the law as closely as possible is crucial to our department.” You nod your head in agreement, your mind now focused on the task at hand.

“I say we begin with cases where evidence can be easily collected. The more abstract claims, like this one,” you flip the paper outwards on your desk showing the information inside, “an android tasked with taking care of a family – the Fletcher’s, was bought before the uprising and refused to work after. A death in the family is being blamed on the android, they’re claiming negligence. We can’t confidently arrest anyone in this situation due to the android laws concerning what is now ‘work’ or what was then slavery hasn’t been settled. Today our verdict of not guilty could just as easily change tomorrow. Murders based on hostility with clear motive need to be dealt with first, as it seems they’ll hold up even after laws are changed.” You brought your hand up to your mouth as you thought.

You didn’t notice the look Connor was giving you. It was filled with admiration and determination. He knew bringing you onto the team would help both men stay on task. You had a clear reputation for getting things done no matter the severity of the situation. Connor was good at analyzing, excelling in tasks that offered a clear objective, and Hank worked well on the fly. Together, they did well out in the field where there was little waiting around. In the office, however, they both got antsy, too focused on finding whatever would lead them towards ending the investigation.

Since his deviation from his programming Connor has been finding his job… irritating at times. He still enjoys fulfilling a task and succeeding in his field, however, he likes being outside, looking for clues and stimulating his mind. Writing reports and being tucked away was part of the job but he understands the definition of menial labor now. He also understands its one of the few things he’s come to dislike.

He speaks up, pulling you away from your thoughts on where the investigation should start. “This is the proficiency I was mentioning before. I agree with your assessment of the situation. I’ll go and make copies of these files, then we’ll begin sorting them by priority.” Before Connor can take the files you quickly scoop them up and stand from your desk.

“Actually, I can do that. I’ll start filing them while I make copies, you two can work on sorting assessment profiles. Everything should start feeling more organized once we do that.” Peering between the two men you begin to feel nervous when they both say nothing. “Oooor not?” You tilt your head to the side slightly as a way of questioning them.

Hank is the first to speak up, “Nah that’s fine with me. Anything to make this fuckin’ job easier.”

You nod, letting yourself out of the room and to the copier, stealing a glance at Connor before exiting.

As soon as you’re out of the room Hank glances over to Connor, still looking down at the papers (y/n) sprawled out on their desk. “So, what do you think of our newest recruit?” His voice gruff with exhaustion.

“I think she’s quite skilled in her area. They’re able to adapt to new situations and provide–"

“No, I mean, what do ya think of her?” Connor evaluates Hank’s question for a long while. His face distorted, flickering between concentration and confusion before finally answering.

“She’s nice. I haven’t known her for a long enough time to properly evaluate my feelings. However, I do look forward to having her presence here, both for the benefit of work and personally. They’re… intriguing. Most people here, even after my effort to get relations between humans and androids as peaceful and diplomatic as possible, are hostile towards me. However, (y/n) seems to care a great deal about the work they do. It’s a change of pace.” Connor stopped himself there. He wanted to say more. Wanted to talk about what he was feeling, the utter fascination that settled deep within his chest, but he was still trying to separate his programmed ‘emotions’ from his true feelings. In addition, he still had a job to do; he didn’t want to find himself too off track. He was, after all, still a professional being hired to complete a mission.

Hank smiles, noticing the small jab that Connor threw his way. “Well, I like her. No evaluatin’ needed. Don’t want to piss her off though, she seems like the type that would be sweet until things got serious. I want my name as far away from her shitlist as possible.” He put his hands behind his head looking over to Connor, wanting to probe just a little further on his feelings, but deciding against it after seeing his LED flash red.

Following his line of sight, Hank saw that Connor was glancing over in your direction through the large glass doors. He smiles knowingly.

“Hey, kid! Focus up.” Hank’s voice carried throughout the room, making Connor look in his direction. A neutral look on his face, as his LED slowly turns yellow, and then blue before answering.

“Of course Lieutenant, I apologize.” Shaking his thoughts away from you, Connor begins to sort through files on his desk, looking for any reason to make the warmth in his chest dissipate. He didn’t know these feelings -- the ones that he could only assume resembled an ache, but he did know that you were the source and that only confused him more.

[juuuuzou]

No One Cares But Me: A Master List of Why Enomoto Kei From Kagi no Kakatta Heya is Autistic

(aka this angel. lookit him. he has string on his glasses and wears knitted ties. thats bomb as.)

Appearance:

Enomoto wears the same basic outfit just with colour variations: button up shirt, knitted tie, cardigan (a cardigan!!!!!!! what an angel), slacks and some fancy shoes that make clip clop sounds when he walks on hard surfaces. 

its arguable that all of the characters wear the same outfits too (bc the two lawyers are wearing suits and im pre sure aoto doesnt... actually have any other suit than the cream one) 

but THE POINT REMAINS that enomoto has the same outfit in different colours. this is a choice consciously made. hes a fashionista.

Body Language:

or, lack thereof.

His posture and demeanor are very stiff and controlled, especially when he’s walking. he takes precise steps and instead of turning while he walks he stops, turns his body, and then continues. his shoulders and head slump slightly, which is mostly noticeable when he’s in the frame with other characters. when he sits he’s very still and again, his head and shoulders lean in.

He never initiates physical contact. he allows people to touch him but he never leans in or even generally react to the touch. one moment we see him react to a touch is when a little girl holds out her hand for him to take. he really hesitates and is very slow to take her hand, like it makes him nervous. another is when he shrugs off serizawa hand from his shoulder, although that could just probably be because he wanted to move.

Communication:

If this boy doesnt go by social scripts then im jesus. he is always polite, even if the person talking to him isnt. he says the same basic phrases, especially “thank you for waiting for me.” he doesnt say it as if hes genuinely thanking them though, but just as a sort of thing hes expected to say, but also he speaks in monotone. he could genuinely mean it. but we just dont know.

he doesnt understand other people’s thought processes during conversations:

aoto: enomoto-san, do you have a girlfriend?

enomoto: how is that relevant [to the case]?

aoto: i just want to know if you have a girlfriend.

enomoto: how is that relevant?

and then later he asks “why do women always talk about relationship stuff?” to which aoto replies “because its interesting”.

THEN AT THE END OF THE EPISODE enomoto randomly asks aoto if she has a boyfriend. aoto gets confused as to why he’s suddenly asking (theyre just having dinner in his work space, talking about nothing) and enomoto says “i thought we should talk about something interesting.”

he has remembered their earlier conversation and was trying to relate to her by talking about something she had previously told him was an interesting subject. when it immediately falls flat he tells her to forget about it (embarrassed that he failed the social script).

he info dumps. big time. the first time we meet him he just starts unlocking a bank safe (without permission) while wearing headphones (and ignoring everyone around him) until aoto asks him what he’s doing and how it works. and then he just blabs on and on about lock mechanisms and how to unlock certain locks. not only that, but a few times aoto interrupts him to get him to stop but he just blunders on. he asks her if she understands, and when he sees she doesnt, he goes back to explaining. and he says this all REALLY FAST (the subtitles we on and off before i could finish reading them). he continues to do this at least once per episode. his special interest is locks and keys, which is why he agrees to help solve these “locked room” cases in the first place. he just likes the puzzles.

to the point where, sometimes, he doesnt know who the murderer is because “it wasnt part of the locked room puzzle so i wasnt interested”. amazing. he literally stayed in his lane even though they didnt want him to.

he omits information because no one actually asks him for it. he answers if questioned, but beside that he doesnt just give out information, even if the people around him are speculating the answer that he knows. additionally, he doesnt give out information if he doesnt think its relevant to the locked room puzzle.

he also doesnt always elaborate on his answers, especially if the question isnt phrased differently.

enomoto: lets go.

aoto: eh? where?

enomoto: lets go.

aoto: eh? where?

enomoto: lets go.

aoto: eh? where?

enomoto: lets go.

[actual dialogue from an actual drama]

additionally:

serizawa: where did you get all that money to travel the world?

enomoto: my savings.

serizawa: and then where did you get the money to buy your own shop?

enomoto: my savings.

serizawa: how?

enomoto: i worked hard

[they repeated this exact conversation about three times]

he doesnt like answering personal questions. he asked for aoto and serizawa’s help for a friend, but never actually told them how they knew each other (even when directly asked). in fact, we barely know anything about enomoto other than he likes locks.

he also doesnt understand implications. both aoto and serizawa try asking him if a company hes installing security for are criminals, but he doesnt understand what they mean by “one of those”.

he rarely speaks unless prompted and only talks about what he wants to talk about. namely, locks. he doesnt immediately answer when hes called for (if anything i think he just straight up ignores when hes called for and appears when hes ready). he rarely replies when someone is talking casually with him, even as they say goodbye to leave. oft times hes wearing headphones (and can probably hear when someone is talking to him) but doesnt acknowledge them until they forcibly take his headphones out.

he doesnt make eye contact. when he speaks he usually stares off in the distance.

he’s blunt. aoto asks him to subtly ask if this guy is the killer, to be really evasive about it, and he agrees. as soon as he hangs up the phone he says to the guy “are you the killer?” when the guy says no enomoto accepts this. when people share their theories he’s quick to tell them no. at one point aoto asks him to teach her how to play shogi so they can play against each other and enomoto immediately says “no. i dont have to hesitate when i play against the computer [in shogi].” >> meaning at some point someone has told him that when playing against other people he has to pretend to think to spare the other person’s feelings.

Miscellaneous:

he stims. straight up stims. he rubs his index finger and thumb together near his ear (right side) when he’s thinking. the other characters notice and imitate him. the sound effects make it seem the movement it meant to mimic picking a lock, and when he finally figures out the puzzle he turns his hand and the sound effect for a lock opening is played. (then he says one of his catch phrases that could either be cheesy or a social script :) )

he works for a security company but due to an incident he works in the basement. at the end of the season he goes away for a holiday and comes back and opens his own security shop. the layout of the two places are identical. this could be a budget thing but its just so obviously mimicking each other that its immediately noticeable. #habits

often creeping up on people. people just dont notice him until he suddenly speaks.

he builds to scale models of all of the locked room scenarios so he can test his theories without actually being there.

he is very clearly, from the start, marked as different. when they look for him at his workplace, the boss is confused as to why they would want enomoto specifically. enomoto is kept in the basement, away from everybody else. after first meeting him serizawa calls him weird.

anyway enomoto kei is an autism. hes ours now.

[coreytravelogue]

Vancouver, BC Canada - August 29, 2019

I was meaning to post something sooner, something for after Kelowna, after Victoria, after Toronto (again) or at least something on the 5th anniversary of me going to Europe but time and circumstances got in the way. Can’t say any of the three trips would be worth their own blog but I guess since I got an hour before I board for next and biggest adventure of this year I should bring whomever actually still reads this back up to speed.

Kelowna was a bit of a let down for me, I had memories of Kelowna as a fun summer trip area to go to as a kid, instead it feels like a mere shadow of its former self, the only thing that was left from my childhood and the only thing that was relatively fun in Kelowna to do was Scandia and even that paled in comparison to how I remembered it as a kid but me and my girlfriend had fun. The purpose of the trip was to show my girlfriend more of British Columbia. The biggest highlight of the trip was to be able to play and finish Time Crisis 2 with her. Time Crisis was always one of those games I did alone and could never get anyone to play with and one I could never pass myself. Who knew that playing these shootem up games would end up being a date thing for us.

Beer I would give 1/3 C, food 1/4 C, vibe 1/2 C, transit 1/2 C and things to do a 1/3 C. So Kelowna gets C11/12 on the Corey Scale which seems like it is scathing but in the end outside of Scandia there wasn’t much to do, transit was ok, vibe was ok, food selection wasn’t that great and the beer which I was hoping to be the good thing wound up being lack lustre both in quality and selection.

Victoria I don’t think I need to review again, my view of that city hasn’t really changed it is still a favourite place to go to in BC. We went to help my friend Dani move for the forth time in 5 years. In return we got to stay at her brother’s for free. We didn’t really do that much outside of what we normally do; my girlfriend goes through the vintage shops for stuff, I go through the record and music shops and both basically enjoy walking around Victoria. Had breakfast again at John’s Place and had the best French’s Toast I have had in recent memory. I am definitely going back there for that.

Then there is Toronto, I went on a work related trip that I feel was less needed for me to go and more of a thank you from my workplace for the hard work I have been putting in over the last few months and I have put in a lot of work. I only stayed in Toronto for two nights, when I got there I barely had time to do anything but finish my mom’s Christmas shopping and buy myself a jersey. The next day was the work related training and after hanging out with fellow coworkers from other parts of the country I went to a bar that had the best selection of beer I could find and basically spin the wheel on Toronto beer.

I can’t say my opinion of Toronto has changed, I still hate the airport, I am not really a fan of their beer or lack their of, people there are nice enough and once you figure out their transit it is fairly straight forward it’s not my kind of place. With all that said I feel like I still need to visit Toronto one more time, I actually regret that I didn’t use what little leave time I have left to just take the Friday off and make a weekend out of it. I would have went to the Wonderland park, a museum maybe and see the hockey hall of fame again. Toronto is too big for me, too fast and I don’t like their beer. If I had a choice I would take Montreal over Toronto.

So here we are to now, it has been five years since I went to Europe and today I will return again though not for 2 and a half months but 2 and a half weeks. I have done enough talking about Europe, I feel like I need to talk about the adventure that has been the last 5 years since. As much as I have ranted about the glories of my trip to Europe it wasn’t what changed me, Europe was the catalyst but not the entire reason. I find myself looking back to five years and feeling like I am a completely different person than who I was back then at least from an emotional and life state.

5 years ago I was suffering from depression boardering on suicide, I had a dead end job I felt trapped, I was lonely and desperate for love in my life and I felt like things were hopeless to me. I made a promise to myself early in my 20s that before I turned 30 that I would do something with my life, it was either make a movie or go to Europe. My friend Tyler suggested Europe and I think he was right in the end. I went to Europe at 29 looking to find myself or at least a reason to keep living and after a few long nights or looking deep into myself in many places especially in Ireland I came out a better person but more or less as one friend would call me still a hot mess. I found the tools in Europe but I still didn’t know how to use them.

After Europe I was still lonely, depressed, lost and further more now unemployed even though I thought that my job would be waiting for me when I came back. On top of self induced heart break and betrayal I had my own version of a nervous breakdown not too long after I came back from my annual trip to Newfoundland. One that forced me to question whether continuing to mentally beat myself up was worth it anymore because it never worked, it only ever made things worse. I decided to try and fight my depression and try and make my life better. So I made a three year plan and got a job at Walmart which funny enough paid better than my last job. The plan was to go to school for the next two years either in Brewmastery or Library Tech and after graduation I would travel to Europe again before hunting for my career. Thankfully I chose library tech though I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if I chose brewmastery.

It came down to money and health, if I was to do brewmastery at the time I would have to move to a small town in Alberta. Completely up root my life and work in a business that was and probably is killing me slowly. Or choose library tech and try to find a way to get into doing something I like which is record keeping.

By the time the summer was over I was in the best shape of my life and finally have a handle on my mental health issues. While working at Walmart I got witness the negative effects of depression. My workplaces was littered with all sort of depressed people who were all in my position but many with their own ways of dealing with it. It was through seeing them that I realized that I made the right choice in fighting. Every night I would witness people who were so obviously miserable that their misery would spill on to others and I hated that, that was the turning point to me when I realized my depression was hurting others, to see it happening here was sobering. Then there would be some who did nothing complain about where they worked and their life, some who just looked utterly miserable all night long. Again it made decision to fight more justified. All I need to do is to think about the summer to remind myself why fighting is the way to go.

My first year of college was blitzkrieg of fun, drama and life changing events. I went from having a hard time getting a woman to even having a second date with me to having two or three women who I could have had a chance with. By the end of that first year I found a summer job that paid even better than anything before and it lead to consistent work for much of 2017 which enviably lead to a full time job.

I went from preparing for a possible Europe trip in the summer of 2017 when I graduated to having a contract to work till March 2018, I went from having no one in my life who loved me to a woman who was willing to cross the pacific multiple times just to see scruffy looking hairy dog like me. I was then prepared to go to Europe after March 2018 when my contract was over only to move to any other branch and work with them till September. Even by the end of September just coming back from Australia to see my girlfriend I was preparing myself for a Europe trip only finallly now have a career. So Europe was no longer something I could do at least at that point.

Here we are in 2019, my girlfriend from Australia has moved in with me, I have a full time job that pays well, a living wage if I didn’t live in Vancouver. I have my health, I have a love in my life whom I love and who I know loves me, I have a decent job and good workplace culture though they can burn me out with work on occasion so what is the problem?

I guess over the past few months I have been afraid, I have been feeling lost and displaced as well. Afraid mainly that I could easily slip back to who I was 5 years ago though everything is different now I feel lost again I feel like I need to find the next path to go but I don’t know what it is. I feel like I have also lost touch with myself again. I don’t think I know myself very well anymore. Above all else I have been experiencing burn out over these past few months working three jobs in one.

I don’t feel like I have much if any time to really enjoy anything. If I am not sleeping or working I am trying to recover while spending time with who I love and what few friends I have left who still live in Vancouver. Again I also feel like my interests are changing, I am not as passionate about movies or music anymore. I am not as passionate about beer anymore as I was not too long ago. I know a lot about those three things but I don’t really care as much for them anymore.

I would like to get back into video games and anime again, I would like to get to hang out with more people and play games, I would like to be apart of something however outside of wishing to join D&D I don’t know where the gateway is to the next phase of my life. I even feel like that with my clothes. I feel like I need a makeover I just don’t know what the change would be so I am just walking through the fog till I find the road I like more and I will take it.

I don’t expect Europe to fix me, it didn’t the first time and I don’t expect it to this time either but I do hope if will give me some perspective. I already feel like I am getting some by talking about this now.

In 5 minutes I board, four hours from Vancouver to Chicago then from Chicago a 9 hour flight to Amsterdam. I won’t be staying in Amsterdam but will be at the end. Tomorrow will be the most stressful day of the trip for me because of some uncertainties that I am not sure of but I know I have done what I can to mitigate but I won’t know till I get there whether it will work out. This is all part of the adventure, something I must accept as per usual and in a way I like it this way. I like to plan for every possible and once I have the plan then I am ready to throw it away and let the wind guide me.

I know I will have fun, I will try my best to, I deserve it. So here we go......shazbot nanu nanu

[otakunoculture]

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The variety of nerdy interests represented at Fan Expo Vancouver every year will differ. They have certainly become the crossroads of where all kinds of pop culture can converge, hence the X in their #FXV hashtag. While previous shows may feel more jam-packed than recent, this year’s event only affirms what I suspected from 2016 — this local event is getting connected with various television productions which film around the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. This event is settling into a groove most will approve and I can only imagine it will get better. Although years away, I’m sure the organizers will have something grand planned when year ten hits. But that’s four years away.

This festival moved from April to November two years ago, making the expense of staying at hotels a touch better during the offseason and offering to both exhibitors and fans a chance to rest before setting up for the next show. Epic Photo Ops deserves special mention for effectively managing the lineups for those seeking a memento with their favourite group of (or with a particular) performer.

Grant Gustin does not appear at many conventions so those hoping to meet him will have to do so at this show. As The Flash in The CW‘s flagship show, I can imagine he’s not easy to meet. To see both him and the entire STAR labs team (minus Jesse L. Martin) on stage is usually a San Diego Comic Con Hall H scale event, and fans of the show got it at Fan Expo in Vancouver, BC Canada! This panel was packed, and anyone there saw the sweet chemistry he has with Candice Patton in real life too. The star of this panel, however, was Zoe Patton, a cute canine which no doubt won many hearts. Viewers who saw this week’s episode, “When Harry met Harry,” got to understand what the Council of Wells was about, and Tom Cavanagh talked about how this segment was pieced together.

When considering the number of television and film productions going on in this corner of the world, folks hoping for a celebrity sighting will find attending this event better than to wait during a film/television shoot. A chance to interact with a star is never guaranteed when the set is a workplace. From the massive list of CW comic book based shows (Riverdale, Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and iZombie) to movies like Deadpool 2 — which ended production the month before — just who will attend are decided months before. Attendees will have to hope there are no sudden changes the week before due to work (or family, like Stephen Amell had) obligations coming up last-minute. I’m sure there were attendees hoping to spot Ryan Reynolds or Kevin Smith (who did appear in 2016).

But to have an opportunity to meet a huge celebrity is not what defines these shows. Other talents include the writers and artists behind that comic book or a voice over maestro. The organizers do a remarkable job at knowing who to bring back like Veronica Taylor, the original voice of Ash Ketchum of Pokemon, and which talents to spotlight. Mike Zeck is best known for Marvel Comic’s Secret Wars and be the first to put the black costume on Spider-Man. John Beatty, the inker for these issues was also in attendance. Zeck also worked on Kraven’s Last Hunt (Amazing Spider-Man). This year had three talents who worked on Archie Comics (Dan Parent, Gisèle Lagacé and Fernando Ruiz) since CW’s Riverdale is helping to bring this brand back to the fore.

New to this year is the Traveller’s Bazaar which offered Steampunk styled goods and panels to discuss what this subgenre is about. When considering their section was right next to the photo ops section, anyone who wanted to know more was able to ask what this is about instead of heading to the second floor where panel discussions were held. This type of strategic planning in where to place exhibitors is important, especially when considering not every nerd is aware of this subculture.

On the exhibitor side, the show floor requires at least half a day to truly explore. Regulars like Imperial Hobbies and Toy Traders are always welcome to see when considering it’s not easy to get to their warehouse operations. Others like Jigglypig and Metropolis Comics do not define this show as I see them at every convention I’ve been to. Although, I did notice Tower of Shirts and the LEGO group were not present this year.

Playstation (Sony) is a regular presence and Electronic Arts were recruiting beta testers as usual. I like to see this game company do more, but their resources must be limited. Perhaps do not want to play favourites with which console to spotlight. They missed an opportunity to not show off Battlefront II, due out November 17th, at this event. On the other side of this gaming spectrum, Synnex Corporation and Kingston’s HyperX brand was showing off the latest in computer technology peripherals.

Virtual reality gaming demos were available at more tables than usual, and playing Doom VR certainly had me testing my shooting skills and wishing this product was a room scale game than a sit down one. To offer this on the show floor can be problematical, but there was plenty of space on the second floor. Getting used to the look and click interface to move around will take time because it goes against how virtual reality should work. Maybe one year, some vendor will bring in those roll cages or introduce a tech like in Pacific Rim to let players truly navigate around.

This demo does show how personal a game can get, as it had me nervously looking around a few times since I was not fast with my trigger finger to find those monsters!

To shuffle between here and the main ballroom was relatively quick. When leaving the latter, especially after a popular panel, to get back to the exhibit space requires someone to manage traffic. I much prefer the west building and the exercise to get back inside than the east. During the wet months of Autumn, I can understand wanting to keep as much of this show indoors, but eventually, as this event grows, to section off the hallway so people can navigate better will have to be looked at.

As a regular to this exposition, I find this event is a great one to regularly attend. The event organizers are settling into a niche which I highly approve of and can not wait to see them expand upon. Next year will most likely see more talents from CW’s Supergirl and Riverdale swing by, even if it’s just for a day.

I was very happy to be able to walk around and converse with vendors and the many talents (when there’s no big lineup) who were present. This aspect has been consistent throughout the years I have been attending. When they are very accommodating to nerds like me who revisits more than thrice because I’m really drawn to their work (props to Gisèle Lagacé, Henry “The Fonz” Winkler and Jive Communications for their patience), all I have to say is thank you, Namaste and we shall dance again!

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Reflections on Fan Expo Vancouver 2017 #photogallery #virtualreality #yvr #editorial #thecw By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest) The variety of nerdy interests represented at Fan Expo Vancouver…