#and it isn't what it could/should have been either

[mickyschumacher]

hey could u give us something with the reader wearing body glitter and max and reader kinda are lowkey or uk fwb just fucking in secret and he is kinda in love but doesn't wanna ruin it

but then they go to a party and like she is wearing body glitter uk those glitter sprays and he finds her so irresistible and has to uk get a quickie and then when they come back he is covered in glitter and thats how ppl find out

u could also make it Charles's sister or something

[YOU'RE SO GOLDEN!]

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: max should stay away from you if he knows what's best for him. but he can't help it. you just... sparkle. or in which you forget to rub off the evidence of max's love.

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍��𝐒: 18+ (minors dni), fluff, fwb/forbidden love themes, max is down bad for the reader, light praise kink, oral sex/eating out, p in v, unprotected sex (protect yourselves pls), cumming inside, mutual orgasms, orgasm denial kinda, poor humour imo, happy ending! // poorly proof-read ♡︎

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: max verstappen x leclerc!fem!reader

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 2.8k+

𝐀/𝐍: the ideas you lot have.... chef's kiss truly 💋 hope you like this one as much as i enjoyed writing it. also my first max fic... can you believe it? there's more coming dw! - ngl i kept thinking about edward cullen - "this is the skin of a killer, bella" 🫣

🏎️ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | ⚽️ 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

Max knew it was a mistake coming here. He should've said no. His partying days had been over for a while now. He spent more time in his room streaming than he did outside. He especially knew it was a mistake because he knew you'd be there.

Charles never went anywhere without you. Wherever he was, you were.

Maybe that's why Max had gone to Lando's party. Because he knew Charles had said yes. Which meant you had said yes.

It was never supposed to happen. It was a one time thing. You were drunk. He was drunk. You didn't remember much of the night. Max had just won his fourth championship in Vegas. And that definitely warranted some partying in Monaco.

There were strobe lights. Martin Garrix was DJing. It was hot and humid. Somehow you had found your lips on Max's. The rest of the night was self-explanatory.

You had woke up the next morning, slightly distraught because Charles would only be first in the line of brothers that would kill you. And while Max peacefully slept in the morning, you took the walk of shame back to your apartment.

The problem was that neither of you could forget the time you spent together. Even though you had drunk one too many that night, you could remember every moment in his bed vividly. Max could still hear your laughs in the emptiness of his apartment. And when he closed his eyes every night before bed, he could see you on top of him.

Max was the one who had suggested the whole thing. Friends with benefits. He said it'd be good for some pleasure for the both of you. Because sex definitely isn't intimate or anything.

But Max was struggling to draw the line. He was feeling things he shouldn't. Concerned when you were sick. Excited for your texts. Small moments reminded him of you when he walked around. You were the first thing he thought about he got in the car and the last when he got out.

More. He craved more than the moments after where you talked for hours before you left. He wanted to wake up to you. He wanted you to pick outfits in front of him and let him pretend which one he liked until you were both back in bed, laughing and moaning.

Fuck. If he knew anything, he was falling in love with you with every passing day.

That's why he should've said no to this party. But, either to his greatest pleasure or his greatest misery, he could never say no to you

That's why Max had made some rules coming here:

No looking at you for more than thirty seconds (because Charles would know instantly).

No touching you. At all. This was non-negotiable.

One conversation. That's all he would allow himself. Because if he talked to you any longer, he wouldn't be able to stop himself.

But those rules seem to fly out the window the instant you had walked in next to Charles. Max could've sworn he was watching it in slow motion.

It was still light out, sun only beginning to set. By the way you and your entourage was dressed, you had clearly been swimming. Your sheer black dress did the bare minimum to cover up your bikini underneath. Even worse was the cut out near your chest, holding the two sides of the dress together with a small metal circle, teasing him.

But that wasn't the worse thing. Nor was it the way your hair fanned across your body, set up as if God had done it himself. Nor was it your signature perfume wafting in the air already.

It was the glitter.

That stupid fucking body glitter.

It sparkled and shimmered on your skin. Your bare legs could make the light dance around you. Your arms held all the command, moving the shine and twinkles with each stride as you walked. And your collarbone – God, your collarbone. Glittering in such a way that he was sure he just wanted to lick you clean.

You were positively glowing in the sunset

You had him hooked. Fixated. And almost on his knees.

Max had already broken rule number one. Fuck the rest.

He tried to wait patiently. Watching you converse with a few people for the first ten minutes. But as you glimmered more from afar, his patience wore thin and his restraint was beginning to break.

Max sent you a text. Plain and Simple. Bathroom. Now.

He didn't wait for you to read it and look at him. Max knew you'd come. Because a bit like him, you also had trouble saying no.

Five minutes. That's how long it took for you to come to the bathroom. He would've argued that was five minutes too long.

You raised a brow, folding your arms, keeping your amusement at bay as Max neared you with a few strides, locking the bathroom door.

"Took you long enough," Max mumbled, leaning back to get a better view of you. His eyes glazed over the specks of glitter rubbed into your skin as he spoke. "What were you doing? Talking their ears off?"

You tilted your head to the side, eyes narrowed playfully. "I was enjoying it. Too bad someone was giving 'fuck me' eyes from across the room. You're basically begging for Charles to find out," you huffed quietly.

"Begging?" Max queried, brows raised in slight surprise. He smirked slowly, hands reaching out to brush over your collarbone, fingers grazing your neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps across your shimmering skin. "The only person who's going to be begging is you when I'm done with you. Driving me crazy looking like this," he sighed out.

You shivered at his touch, breath caught at his words. You blinked, cheeks flushing. "It's just body glitter," you murmured quietly, teeth sinking into your lips as you watched him bend down, on his knees while he looked up at you.

"Maybe," Max shrugged, hands creeping up your legs, preventing you from clenching your thighs like you had been the moment you walked in here. "But you look so pretty," he confessed.

Your lips parted. His words sounded far from the Max you knew a couple months ago. This was... soft. Like he couldn't control his brain.

He peered at you, lips and cheek grazing the side of your thigh, edging closer and closer to the heat – fabric of your dress brushing his skin. "Let me taste you," he pleaded. "I need you so bad."

He wasn't lying. The bulge in his jeans was so strained, you almost could've sworn it was painful. You wondered what he had been doing for past five minutes. What he had been thinking about to get this hard.

"Everyone's outside," you reminded quietly, not directly saying no. And by 'everyone' you mainly meant Charles.

"They won't know. The music is too loud. I promise," Max reassured, patiently waiting for your answer, small kisses pressed on the inside of your thigh. His touch was tantalising.

You swallowed thickly, nodding. You only just trust your voice. "Okay," you agreed. "But we have to be quick. Ten minutes tops."

You were in the bathroom for Christ's sake. But any minute longer, Charles might have a search party going. God forbid his little sister was getting a good dicking down. (Max's words, not yours.)

You could feel his grin on the side of your thigh and it made you shudder. Max hummed with satisfaction. "Let's prepare you then."

You held your breath as his hands moved, riding your dress up past your thighs, bunching up at your waist while your black bikini bottoms stared at Max at eye level. He sighed, "Fuck me." The fabric was stuck to your folds, darker where damp.

"So wet," he laughed softly, the sound teasing as he pulled down the fabric, letting it pool your legs. He breathed in, the smell of your arousal only fuelling his hunger. His hands grasped your thighs tighter, spreading them further to watch your slick shine the same way your skin did.

Max gave you no warning like he usually did. He was already so far gone with his desires. He leaned his head in, tongue darting out to take one long stripe of your wet folds, grinning when your body jerked to his touch. "Taste so sweet, schatz," he praised before delving into your pussy.

You could only whimper, your hand clamped over your mouth. His fingers clamped deeper into your thighs, pulling you closer while his tongue darted into every crevice and fold. Your other hand fell to his shoulder, bracing your self and grasping at the way his defined nose knocked at your clit.

Your head fell back to the bathroom door, hips grinding up into his tongue as if it was second nature. Your eyes fluttered shut, breathing stuttering while your chest rose and fell. Fuck, it felt so good

Max could see it faintly through his peripheral. Your arousal covering the sides of your thigh, mixing with your body glitter to create a whole new unique shine that solely comprised of you. He could only grunt against your cunt, the sound reverberating through your body.

The clench of your pussy told Max everything he needed to know.

He parted from your folds, silencing your quiet whines with his wet lips, shining with glitter and arousal as he kissed you. Your hand found the buckle of his pants, quickly prodding to take them off.

Max's body lurched upon the feel of your hand on his cock. "Fucking hell," he cussed into your neck, eyes rolling slightly.

"Five minutes," you rasped in his ear, fingers grazing his tip for leaving his cock hanging from his pants, aching and twitching for more of your touch.

Max swallowed, nodding furiously. His one hand travelled to your thigh, hooking it closer to his body while the other laid flat on the bathroom door, steadying himself. His hips aligned with yours, his pulsing cock teasing your entrance, covered in your arousal.

A reverent guttural moan spilled from his lips as he pushed his hips up into you, cock welcoming the warmth of your pussy, balls flushed against you once he fully bottomed out. "Holy fuck," you barely whispered, his hips beginning to rut against you.

Your glimmering skin stuck against one another while Max brought his lips to yours, consuming all the loud moans threatening to scape with his sloppy kisses. He pushed his cock further into you, feeling his balls slap against you, making the most obscene sounds known to man echo in the bathroom.

He looked down at you, feeling his cock pulse at the fucked out expression that teetered on your face. You could barely breathe with all the air escaping your lungs as the familiar white light edged near you. Max grinned against your lips. "You going to come for me? With all those people outside? You keep warning me about Charles but I think you secretly enjoy this, schatz. You just can't get enough of me."

Your fingers on his shoulder tightened, stomach churning while your jaw fell open. "Fuck!" you gasped, any sounds from your mouth turning silent as stars covered your vision, body convulsing as the waves of your orgasm rolled over you one after another.

"That's it," Max coaxed, hips snapping faster into you. "Did so well for me. Clenching so tightly," he grunted, eyes falling to the cream ring around his cock. Christ.

"Come for me, Max," you encouraged, holding his jaw so he looked back at you. "Fill me up," you breathed, body tightening when you felt his fingers rub your clit. The pleasure was beginning to build up fast.

Max swallowed, unable to look away as he felt your orgasm vibrate around his cock as you clenched around him. A high-pitched stuttered groan fell from his lips, hips stuttering against you.

The both of you moaned as his hot white cum spilled into your walls. Your folds clamped around him, milking every last drop. Your head fell against the bathroom door with an exhausted sigh, chest heaving as he pulled out gently after a few minutes had passed.

"Thank you." You breathed out slowly, giving a small smile as Max pulled your bikini bottoms back up, not missing the way his blown pupils were stuck on the way his cum spilled out of your and onto the wet fabric.

Max cleared his throat, nodding in acknowledgement.

You shuffled down your dress, patting down the material so you looked somewhat presentable. You looked over at the mirror before turning to Max. "I'll leave first," you murmured, barely giving him a glance over as you often did so you didn't overthink. You turned to unlock the door.

Max blinked, failing to ignore the clench of his heart. You were reminding him what you were. Friends with benefits. That's all you were.

The air felt cold on your heated skin. The thrum of chatter and music filled your ears as you weaved through the small crowds of people, finding Charles and Alexandra talking to Lando.

"What I'd miss?" You queried, looping your arm through Alexandra's.

Lando kindly grinned at you. "A trip to Ibiza. If you're down," he shrugged.

Charles nodded. "Lando hired a yacht. Although we should probably ask Max to deal with it since he owns so many," he huffed, head twisting to spot the Dutch driver. "Max!" He flagged down.

Max pressed his lips, avoiding your gaze as he greeted your brother and Lando.

"Where have you been? We were just talking about some– what's that?" Charles paused, brows furrowing as he peered at Max oddly.

"What's what?" Max retorted.

Charles dipped his head, blue eyes examining the last bits of sun on Max's skin. "Is that glitter?" He asked out of sheer curiosity.

Your face fell, growing instantly hot at your brother's words. You could feel Max's body still while Charles followed the way Alexandra and Lando's eyes travelled to you and your glittering skin.

Fuck.

Charles snapped his eyes to Max, brows raised in disbelief. "Max... for the love of God, tell me you're not having..." he breathed in slowly like he was afraid to say it. "...sex with my sister."

Max took a step closer to you, covering you with his body like he was going to protect you. Why on earth would he do that?

You gave Charles a pointed look. "W-We're adults, Charles," you reminded, seemingly confirming it yourself with a shaky breath.

"Merde," Charles cursed, shaking his head. You could see Alexandra squeeze his hand gently, trying to calm and comfort him. You gave her a grateful smile, still a bit terrified of your brother.

Charles kept looking at Max, keeping his position as older brother up before being his friend. "So you're dating then?" He queried as if it was the only obvious answer.

The question felt loud. The silence even louder.

Charles would kill the both of you if he found out were just friends with benefits. But the truth was... it wasn't really like that anymore. There was something more. But neither of you had been brave enough to admit it.

That is... yet.

Max turned to you, blue eyes softening slightly. He grabbed your hand with his. His voice was low and quiet, leaving only you to hear him. "I don't really want to just be 'friends,'" he admitted with a tight scared smile.

You blinked at his admission, taking time to register his words. Finally a soft smile graced your face. You felt impossibly warm and complete. You squeezed his hand. "Neither," you whispered back.

Max tried to tone down his grin as much as he could as he turned to Charles and sucked in a sharp breath. "We're dating," he confirmed.

Lando raised a brow. "You mean as of now. You're dating as of now. How long have you been fucking?"

"Lando!" You hissed, glaring at him, unable to even look at Charles or Max.

Charles breathed in slowly, a barely sane smile on his face. He rubbed his temples gently. "I'm going to ignore that," he mumbled, gesturing to Lando before turning to your now boyfriend. "Well, welcome to the family," he sighed out, grabbing Max's shoulder. He leaned in further, the threat quiet in his ear but visible for all of you to see. "Hurt her and I swear to God you'll crash on track."

Max swallowed thickly. He gave a firm nod. "Duly noted."

"Great!" Charles chirped, leaning back with a feigned smile that only told you that you were in for it when you got home.

Oh Jesus.

You tugged Max closer to you. "I think we should enjoy what freedom we both have left for the day."

Max nodded idly. "Sounds like a good idea."

© 𝐌𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐘𝐒𝐂𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑

[buckybarnes82]

Ice cream and ambushed feelings.

Summary: Yelena (your best friend) knew both you and Bucky had feelings for one another that you’d never be brave enough to share, at least not without a little push. 😉

Bucky Barnes X Reader— FLUFF.

Bucky wasn’t really the dating type, hell he didn’t know how to date and hadn’t done it in a long time. So when you came to the watch tower all covered in distress and warm tears he wasn’t entirely sure what to do.

Yelena was your best friend, which funny enough was the least likely companion for a girl like you, at least in Buckys unasked-for opinion. Yelena was the black cat, and you were less of a golden retriever and more of a cute and tiny lap dog but nevertheless, the two of you couldn’t be more opposite.

“Yelena isn't here” Buckys' shocked expression almost made you snap out of the depressed state you were in. He was clutching a pint of Cherry Garcia ice cream like it owed him money and was wearing half of it on his salt and pepper-littered beard.

“I know, she said I could stay here while I waited for her” you sniffled and he stepped aside to let you into the tower. It was then that you noticed he was the only person home.

“Why aren’t you on the mission?” You wiped your face with your forearm as Bucky walked to the kitchen, you followed him silently waiting for a response.

“I had to get an EKG done today, and haven’t been cleared yet.” He opened the freezer, opened a fresh pint of ice cream, and handed it to you with a clean spoon.

“You look like you could use this” he softly smiled before walking back over to the couch to continue watching the movie he had on.

“Hey, Bucky?” Your voice came out small and raspy. Bucky lifted the remote to pause the television again turning to you with his full attention.

“Thank you” you lifted the pint of ice cream at him with a smile.

“No problem” he scooted over on the couch, making room for you. “Do you want to watch TV with me? It’s just some romcom that Yelena suggested I watch.”

You had met Bucky a few times over the last couple of months, and when Yelena told you her new living situation it took some time to get used to. She knew you had a hopeless crush on Bucky but would never do anything about it, and it’s not like Bucky was known for having game either.

You also knew Bucky didn’t typically like company, and you jumped at the chance to get to know him even a little bit. Nodding as you babied the pint of ice cream in your hand and walked over to him.

“Wait, is your heart okay? Why did you need an EKG?” You worried you were already getting too personal with him but you couldn’t help but wear your heart on your sleeve. No pun intended.

Bucky smiled, covering your legs with the same blanket that was currently covering his lap. “I’m fine, just a precautionary thing they make me do now and then.”

You nodded, reading between the lines.

“Why were you crying?” Buckys eyes didn’t miss the way your facial expression slightly changed, as you looked at the floor.

“We don’t have to talk about it” Bucky quickly hoped he recovered from asking in the first place.

“No, you’re fine. I just…” You sighed, shifting to face him. “Do you ever feel like dating is hopeless? I feel like everyone these days is so immature and weird” You ran a shaky hand through your messy hair.

“Honestly? I don’t even bother” he nervously chuckled. “I feel like I’m probably too much to handle for most.”

“You’ll never be too much for the right person, and I think you’re just being too hard on yourself.” You smiled sweetly at him, making sure he knew you meant it.

“Maybe” he shrugged, unsure if he should read into what you said.

“I know it, you’re the total package Bucky. You just don’t see it” You wouldn’t usually be this forward but you knew an opportunity when you saw one.

“That’s really nice of you to say” he smiled, a noticeable twinkle in his eye catching you off guard before he turned the movie back on. It didn’t take you long to realize what was playing.

“I’m sorry, you said Yelena suggested this movie?” You turned toward him with a suppressed giggle almost escaping your lips as you set your ice cream down on the coffee table in front of you.

Bucky nodded, “Yeah she told me I needed to watch it and it was a crime I had never seen it.” He rolled his eyes and you couldn’t help but let out a small giggle, which eventually erupted into full-blown giggle fits.

“What? What’s so funny?” Bucky leaned forward placing his empty ice cream pint beside yours. He couldn’t help but smile, the sound of your laughter made his own cheeks hurt from smiling.

“Yelena hates this movie! It’s MY favorite romcom” you snorted, and Bucky started to laugh too.

“Do you think she did this on purpose?” You giggled, wondering how Yelena knew you would end up at the watchtower tonight.

“Probably, she knows I like you,” Bucky said nonchalantly as he looked over at you.

“You like me?” You practically melted into the couch when you noticed his beautiful blue eyes on you.

“I gave you a pint of ice cream, I’m sharing a blanket with you and our feet are nearly touching, we are practically already married” Bucky teased as you took a look at the man next to you.

“But you just said you don’t date” You crossed your arms against your chest playfully pouting.

“And I believe it was you who said I wouldn’t be too much for the right person” he reminded you with a giant smile.

“You’re right, I did say that, didn’t I?” You smiled as you leaned in for a kiss, Bucky quickly cradled your face in his hand deepening it as the front door swung open.

‘Well, that happened a lot faster than I expected” Yelena chuckled to herself as she and the rest of the team walked right past you both and into their respective rooms.

[w0rm3y]

MILKING POPPIES - S. GOJO - BOUNDARIES

TAGS: College AU, Best Friend!Gojo x Fem!Reader, but also CEO!Gojo (but it's different), friends to lovers, fwb, smut, angst/comfort, fluff, Gojo is a simp for reader, like a hardcore simp, I am not joking

WARNINGS: MDNI, suicide, drug addiction, drug overdose, drug-induced psychosis, alcohol consumption, obsession, SA, violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, toxicity, depression, manipulation, explicit sexual content, explicit language, cheating, reader is OBLIVIOUS, everyone is making bad decisions, but it's fun

SUMMARY: You meet a new friend, Satoru, who helps you navigate your screwed up, toxic relationship with your boyfriend. According to him, friends always do it better, even if you're too oblivious to notice that. Little do you know, your friend isn't the perfect guy you think he is, which leads you to being a pawn in his family's fucked up game.

WORD COUNT: 10k

Series Masterlist

BOUNDARIES >EMOTIONS>

The five building blocks of a healthy relationship are as follows: trust, communication, problem-solving, confidence, and enactment. Each block needs the one beneath it to be strong and reliable in order to hold the next one up. Without the ability to confide in one another, there was no chance of enacting or executing anything. It would fail every single time.

However, some relationships are lucky–healthy, too. In those cases, should one building block crack under the pressure, at least there was another block underneath to pick up the slack until someone could repair the broken one. And at the end of the day, even if blocks two through five crumble, at least there’s trust. 

Everything in a relationship truly does boil down to trusting one another. It’s the first thing that needs to be laid out as two people begin building their relationship. Lack of communication skills? That’s okay because trust will be there to catch you when you collectively fall. 

Trust is everything. Without trust, there is no structure.

The basic foundation on which your relationship was built was starting to crumble. Some days, you begin to wonder if trust was even there to begin with. Then you remember how you did trust him in the beginning; you trusted him to keep you safe, to love you as a partner should. At the bare minimum, you trusted him not to hurt you. 

Since when were you okay accepting less than the bare minimum?

You tugged on the sleeve of your uniform, hoping to shield the darkening bruise from the customers. Your smile was painfully forced on your lips as you took order after order, mindlessly going through the motions of the morning shift with a raging headache pulling behind your eyes. It only intensified as you clipped your hair away from your face, triggering the ache on your scalp. The constant movement from taking care of the morning rush was starting to make you dizzy, and the sun brightening up the sky was making it worse.

You were hungry and exhausted. Probably dehydrated, too. Had there been another employee who agreed to take your shift, you’d be at home right now, but alas, no one wants to work on their day off. Usually, you would take note of how beautiful it was outside and not blame them for declining. 

But today was different. You were glad no one accepted to cover your shift. That meant you were forced out of your apartment, the one that was absolutely wrecked and in dire need of cleaning. Had someone accepted to cover for you, you’d only be cleaning, even with the migraine and kicking yourself for calling out of work. Either way it falls, you’d be working, no matter how much your body was begging for a break. 

At least being at work meant you wouldn’t have to look at the ugly reminders of what took place just last night. Maki stayed for as long as she could, but her break only lasted the weekend, and unfortunately, that meant she had to leave yesterday morning. Of course, she would have stayed if you had asked her to, but instead, you implored her to leave, promising that you’d be okay.

In reality, you just wanted to get the bad part over with. 

When you cleared out the morning rush, you finally had time to restock the display case, something you had been meaning to do for the last hour. While you were bent over, meticulously placing pastries on their respective shelves, the front door chimed, signaling another customer. 

“Just a second,” you called out to them, tossing the meticulousness of the pastry placement out the window to hurry yourself along.

“Take your time.” 

And there was that voice, the one you had been secretly wishing to hear for the rest of the weekend since you left Vault Borealis Friday night. 

You raised your head to see him standing in front of the register, looking over the drink menu. The corners of his mouth twitched when he caught you staring. 

“Can you get me a large coffee with as much sugar as you put in it last time, and a piece of honey cake, please?”

“Wow, didn’t think you’d step foot in here again since you haven’t been back since last week,” you simpered, placing the last pastry in the case, grabbing a slice of the honey bread before pushing the doors shut and standing to your feet. 

“Well, the staff here is quite rude, so I’ve been sending my assistant. The one woman who works here forced me to take her out to lunch last week, can you believe that?”

You feigned a gasp as you moved to pour his coffee. “How dare she?”

“And then, she wouldn’t accept my personal phone number last Friday night, which is odd because I thought I sensed a blossoming friendship.”

Your smile faded while apprehension churned in your stomach. “Look, Satoru, I’m really sorry about that-”

“And now she’s using that pitiful tone with me. How rude.”

Your mouth pressed into a flat line. “Sorry.”

He collected his order from the counter, tossing down a twenty to pay for it. “Don’t be sorry, just come to lunch with me again.”

“Oh, that’s not neces-”

“Wasn’t asking. I’ll see you at noon.”

And then he was gone, leaving you with more to contemplate and an intense, gnawing headache. 

To counteract the pain, you needed to decide which ailment to take care of first: coffee for your exhaustion or food for your hunger? While you weren't busy, you paid for your snack and scarfed it down along with a large coffee, followed by the maximum amount of painkillers that were recommended for human consumption. And once it kicked in, you felt moderately better.

Mai came in a bit early for her shift since she knew you had requested someone to cover for today. As soon as she stepped behind the counter, she started profusely apologizing for not being able to cover you this morning. You waved her off, telling her it was okay and that you were just overreacting. 

Fifteen minutes until the end of your shift, your phone started ringing from your apron pocket. At first, you sent them to voicemail, but by the third call, Mai turned to you after taking an order from a customer. “You can go answer that if you need to. Matter of fact, you can get out of here. I know you don’t feel well.”

“Are you sure? I can stay, I don’t mind.” 

She shook her head and began working on the next order. “Really, it’s fine. I got this.”

You didn’t need to be told again; your hands were already flying to your apron strings to untie them. “Thank you, Mai. You’re the best.”

You balled your apron up and shoved it into your backpack before hightailing it out of the cafe. Of course, your phone started ringing yet again, another call from Charlie, who no doubt just woke up and realized that he’d fucked up last night. 

Thoughts started running through your head as you gazed down at his name on your phone screen. It could be so easy, just a simple click of a button, and you’d never have to get another call from him. It could be over if you’d just grow a set and end things with him. 

That confidence was soon crushed by an overwhelming sense of guilt and separation anxiety, which gave you the push to hit the ‘accept’ button. You brought the phone to your ear, growing even more tired by the millisecond. 

“Hello?”

“Hey,” he croaked, confirming your suspicions that he’d just woken up. Your jaw clicked as tears started stabbing at the back of your eyes. You couldn’t even bring yourself to say anything, something that you knew would upset him. 

Silence ensued for what felt like minutes, save for the whirring sound of his fan running in the background. This was the part of these phone calls that you hated the most. Your brain had been on autopilot since last night, and forcing yourself to come up with something that would lighten the mood he’d ripped apart last night was painful. Yet, it always seemed like he felt as though it was your responsibility to move you both past the shit he started. 

“Well?” 

“Well, what?” You held back from snapping at him to the best of your ability. 

“Aren’t you gonna say anything?”

“What do you want me to say?”

He was quiet for a beat before uttering the same words that had been on repeat since you both had gotten back together. “I just feel like you don’t love me.”

Your jaw clenched. 

You wanted nothing more than to just throw your phone into the rushing cars on the road, destroy the one thing that kept you two tethered together in this moment. However, you knew better than to do things like that– knew better than to be destructive. Something he clearly lacked.

“What have I done to make you feel that way?”

“You know. It’s the whole thing that happened over the breakup-”

“How many times do I have to tell you that nothing happened?”

“I just feel like you’re hiding stuff.”

You swallowed thickly and leaned against the brick exterior of the cafe. “I’m not, and if I were, it’s none of your concern. We were broken up, I wasn’t yours-”

“And you’re not making yourself sound any better. How can you even think that I don’t have the right to be upset? This is what I’m talking about, you just don’t care about my feelings!”

“That’s bullshit, Charlie. Complete bullshit and you know it-”

“And then you go to a fucking club with your friend?”

“Oh, no. Heaven forbid I have a little fun with my friend while she’s in town for the weekend,” you grumbled before biting your tongue with a grimace. “I’m sick of you painting me out to be some kind of whore-”

He scoffed, cutting you off. “Well, there’s that whole situation with that guy!”

“You mean the guy I was friends with in high school, and we started hanging out together when you and I broke up? That guy?”

“Are you saying there were more?”

“No!”

“Well, it’s not like you’d tell me even if there were others. You’re always keeping secrets; who knows what really happened while we were broken up.”

You groaned and squeezed your eyes shut, feeling the effects of the painkillers starting to wear off. “Nothing happened, Charlie. Nothing.”

“I won’t even be mad–just tell me-”

“Nothing happened!” Your resolve was crumbling quickly. “If there was a way to prove it, I would, but at this point, you’re just going to have to trust me.”

“You’re fucking funny. I don’t trust you, I don’t trust anyone. And it’s your fault. How would you feel if I went out and fucked some girl while we were broken up?”

“Honestly? I wouldn’t give two shits because we were broken up. And if that’s what it’ll take for you to move past all this delusional bullshit, go ahead. Fuck someone else to make yourself feel better.”

“I just wish you’d admit that you don’t care about me.”

“I do, I swear I do. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here right now. I wouldn’t forget all the shit you’ve done to me in an attempt to move past whatever bullshit this is.”

“Yeah, but if you did, you wouldn’t have hung out with some random guy! And you’d understand where I’m coming from when I get upset about it now. I have every right!”

“Okay, Charlie,” you mumbled, mental exhaustion settling in. “Alright.”

“You know what, I think I will go fuck someone else. Maybe then you’ll know how it feels.”

“Okay, Charlie.”

“God,” he seethed, growing louder. “You’re such a dumb bitch. So, fucking stupid-”

That’s all it took for you to end the call. Tears slipped down your cheeks as you quickly shut down your phone before he could start spam calling you back to curse you out for hanging up on him. 

It was the same fucking cycle, every fucking time. 

By ending the call before he was ready, you were only adding more shit to your plate, but that’s something you’d deal with later. Right now, you just didn’t have the energy. 

Your back hit the brick wall. With your hands on your knees and eyes squeezed closed, you took in a deep breath, suddenly feeling light now that you were no longer able to be reached by him. At least for the time being, that offered you a bit of comfort.

“You okay?” 

Your eyes snapped open to see two polished black shoes standing right in front of you. You straightened and forced a smile that was not bought by the concerned businessman in front of you. 

“I’m great. How are you?”

“I was doing well.”

You tilted your head to the side. “Was?”

“Mhm, I was until I noticed that on your arm.” He raised his hand and gently grabbed onto your elbow, raising it to see your bruised bicep peeking out from under your uniform sleeve. Forcefully, you ripped your arm away from his grasp and tugged your clothing down to cover it. “Thought you said he didn’t hit you.”

You bristled under Satoru’s tone. “And he doesn’t.”

He eyed you for a moment, gaze raking across your entire form before settling back on your face. “Four years, right?”

“Hm?”

“That’s how long you’ve been together. Four years?” You nodded. “Then I can assume you know the whole ‘I’m here for you if you want to talk about it’ spiel and you probably don’t want to hear it from me, right?” 

How could all the blood feel like it’s been drained from your body, but at the same time, it all gathered on your face, warming it into an embarrassing shade of dark red?

“R-Right.”

He cleared his throat and thrust his hands into his pockets, a new lighthearted tone shifting into his voice. “I found this new restaurant that I want to try. Do you like Thai food?”

“I haven’t tried it.”

“Well, today’s the day.” 

Like before, his hand found the small of your back as he led you across the street to Limitless Enterprises to retrieve his car. As soon as his hand pressed against your skin, all thoughts of Charlie were then tossed out the metaphorical window without a second thought.

 As you traversed the halls, making your way toward the exit, Haibara appeared from one of the lecture halls– the microbiology lecture hall, to be exact. His hand curled around your wrist and quickly yanked you back inside, shutting the door behind him with a huff of air. "What the fuck, Yu!"

"I have something to show you!" he excitedly said, nearly bouncing up and down with excitement as he motioned for you to follow him into the back room. "You remember how the professor said the school didn't have the funding for practice specimens or cadavers?"

"Uh huh," you mumbled, eyeing your lab partner with confusion.

"Well, check it out!" He pulled open the door to the giant refrigerator, peeking inside with you to gauge your reaction. You pulled back the cardboard flap of a box and batted around some of the plastic bags before you saw it.

You gasped, turning back around to Yu. "Are those what I think they are?"

"Fetal. Pigs! And, that's not all!" He grabbed onto your wrist again and hauled you out of the refrigerator and over toward the professor's desk, where his laptop was perched in the middle. Yu wasted no time picking it up and presenting it to you.

"Should I even ask why you have access to the professor's laptop? And email?"

"He left his door unlocked and his password unprotected laptop sitting on his desk. Besides, the professor loves me."

"Yu, the professor hates you."

"Whatever! Doesn't matter, look!" He moved the cursor over the email he opened up, showing an order receipt.

Your eyes widened. "Thirty whole cadavers?! But the funding– professor said the school was broke-"

He nodded and typed away on the laptop, pulling up another email from the dean. "Well, thanks to a charitable donor, we have the funds now."

___ from: Arthur Mueller- Donation to Science Dept to: me, s-gojo, treasury-dept  4:31 pm (18 hours ago) Professor Elund, Due to a tremendously charitable donation from Mr. Gojo at Limitless Enterprises, we now have the funds to move forward with ordering the items you've been requesting, specifically, the cadavers. I'll be in touch with our treasurer this evening. Please forward any receipts to him. Please also refrain from mentioning this to students until everything has been financially documented. -Arthur Mueller, Dean of Sciences ___

"I looked into all the pies this Gojo dude has his thumb in-"

"Don't fucking say that," you mumbled with a grimace.

"-no science-related industries at all. He's in real estate, investing, hotels and resorts, casinos– but no hospitals, no morgues. So, why did he specifically donate to the science department for cadavers? Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

You pursed your lips and read through the email again. "Nope," you uttered, lips making a popping sound over the 'p'. "He donated because I told him the university didn't have the funding for specimens. But I just don't know why he did that for me. Hmm... bye, Yu."

"Hey, wait!" he called after you, but you were already out of the room and making your way toward Poppy's Pastries to start your shift, the whole time, going over how you would bring this up to him. You did this on autopilot, as it seems that's the only mode your brain defaults to anymore.

That is, until something knocked you out of your reverie of contemplation.

"A slice of honey cake– oh, I mean bread. And a large coffee with lots of sugar. Please?" You raised your eyes from the register and saw a nervous-looking man standing there, sweat gathering on his temples as a warmth overtook the apples of his cheeks.

"Sure thing. Is this for Satoru?" you asked, tapping in the order.

"It is. How'd you know?"

"He's the only one who orders the honey bread and says honey cake. Are you new? Usually, his other assistant comes down in the morning."

He forced a ragged laugh, pulling at the collar of his suit. "Uhm, yes. Miwa was fired, and so I was promoted from secretary assistant to his personal assistant."

"The secretary is so busy that she needs an assistant?" you asked as you poured the coffee.

"No, she just needs help with reading sometimes." With one glance at the nervous man, you knew he was telling the truth.

"You wouldn't mind if I delivered this order to Satoru myself, would you? I kinda owe him for something."

"Oh, sure, sure. Here's the money-"

"Don't worry about it. The least I can do is pay five dollars for his breakfast. Hold on, let me grab my jacket and lock up. I'll walk over with you."

The ride to the top floor with the new assistant was a bit awkward, but you brushed it off, pretending as if it didn't exist. "Uhm, just a little piece of advice... well, more like a warning– he's in a really grumpy mood this morning."

Floor 34...

Floor 35...

"Why's that?" you asked, watching the number increase on the digital plaque above the door.

Floor 36...

Floor 37...

"Long night at the new club, I think. But don't tell him I said that, okay? He'd kill me, especially today."

Floor 38...

Floor 39...

Now, he was starting to make you nervous.

Floor 40.

"It'll stay between us." The door slid open to the sleek office space, filled with the sound of shuffling papers and quiet chattering phone calls. "What was your name again?"

"Ijichi. It was lovely to meet you-"

"Ijichi! There you are!" A familiar shrill voice cut through the air. "Read this to me," Kaori demanded from behind her desk, not caring how embarrassing that request might have sounded. Like last time, she had that annoying bubble gum smacking inside her mouth.

"I'll see you later, Ijichi. Good luck." You nudged him gently with your shoulder.

"Good luck to you."

You retraced your steps back toward his wide office doors, letting the odd looks that were thrown your way roll down your back. While balancing the wrapped-up honey bread on the lid of the coffee cup, you raised your hand and knocked.

"Come in," his voice rang out from inside, gruff and... tired. You gently shut the door behind you and turned around to see him sitting at his desk, hunched over while scribbling something down on paper. "If that's the food, set it down and leave,” he commanded without looking up from his desk.

Your lips twitched into a small smile as you stepped forward and placed the food down as he'd said. Rather than leaving, you rounded his desk to stand behind him, and still, he didn't notice, even as you bent over to look down his shoulder at what he was working on. All the words scrawled on the paper made no sense to you. 

"This is what you do all day to make so much money?" you asked, startling him from his focused bubble with a small jolt. "To be able to afford tremendously charitable donations to the science departments of colleges?"

When he turned around to face you in his chair, there was already a playful smirk plastered on his face. "How'd you know? They weren't supposed to tell students about it until they had everything in order at the financial office."

"I know, I read the email."

His chair creaked as he leaned back with his hands behind his head. "And how'd you manage that?"

You shrugged. "My lab partner got a hold of the professor's laptop. But I did not come here to snitch; I came here to thank you. And to deliver your breakfast that I so generously paid for. I know your pockets are hurting after that donation."

He snorted and grabbed the breakfast from the edge of his desk. "That was barely a pittance."

"So, why did you?"

He looked over the rim of the coffee cup at you while he drank. With a shrug, he placed it down and moved on to the cake. "You said your school lacked funding."

"Yes, but why did you do it? You didn't have to. That's not to say I'm not very grateful for it– I am, I just... why?"

"We're friends, are we not?"

"We are." Still, you weren't positive as to why that was either. You were so far out of his class that it should be comical.

"And friends do things for one another. I was helping you out." He then offered a piece of the cake to you.

You huffed and took it, plopping it in your mouth. "But I can never help you out to the same degree," you said after swallowing the mouthful.

"It's not a competition."

You sighed and pushed yourself away from his desk to look around the decor he had hanging on his wall. "Did you decorate your office yourself?"

"No, that would be my sister."

"She's an interior designer or something? This space is very put together."

He breathed out a laugh. "Uh, no. She's just overbearing. She actually is an elementary school music teacher for the local school district." 

You hummed over his answer, running your hands over the soft fur of the couch. "Missed her calling then.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Yes?" Satoru called out to the person on the other side of the door. Seconds later, Kaori peeked her head in, sending Satoru a wide smile.

"Good morning. I was wondering if you could show me how to use the fax machine."

"The fax machine? You're a secretary and you don't know how to use a fax machine?"

The secretary shrugged, picking at her long red nails. "They're a dated device."

"Kaori, I'm younger than you, and I know how to use a fax machine. Have Ijichi show you, I don't have time for it."

"Can't find him."

"Then you ask someone else out there, not me. You're here to make my life easier, not harder– actually, you know what, you can go ahead and collect your things from your desk. I really don't have time to deal with you. Tell Ijichi the job is his."

Kaori gasped as if he had slapped her across the face. "Seriously?"

"I don't say things I don't mean. Please leave." As Satoru turned back to you, Kaori let out a strangled cry before slamming the door to his office shut, her heels clicking against the marble flooring angrily. "Know how to work a fax machine?"

"Why, you offering me a job as your secretary? I thought you just gave it to Ijichi."

"I meant my assistant, and it's yours if you want it."

You giggled as you perched yourself on the ledge of his desk again. "I don't think I could with school. And your other employees think you're kind of an asshole."

"What if I said part-time with pay and a half, and I'd promise to be nice to you?"

Pay and a half?

"How much?"

"How much do you make now? Minimum wage?" When you nodded, he added, "Then triple it."

Your eyes widened. "Really? That's a lot-" You cut yourself off when you saw the look he was giving you. "A pittance?"

"A pittance," he agreed with a smile. "Interested?"

"I-I um-" Your teeth sank into your bottom lip. "I guess I'd be stupid to turn that down.

"I agree."

Just to be nice and act as a truce for the arguments Charlie and you had been in for the past couple of days, you decided to offer an olive branch. The chances of it being received poorly were almost inevitable, but at least you were trying.

Me I start my first day at Limitless today Kinda nervous

You slid your phone back into your pocket and continued up the stairs to the entrance of the office building. When you stepped into the bustling office lobby, you were immediately overwhelmed.

When you said bustling, you truly meant it was bustling.

There were people jogging in every direction, loud and constant chatter mixed with the sound of shuffling papers and ringing cell phones.

Who would have thought an office building would have a morning rush like Poppy's Pastries– only this was worse. There were no more friendly smiles or warm greetings; it was all snappy and cold.

"Did you park on the street?" Satoru asked, appearing behind you to steer you toward the elevators. This time, it seemed everyone noticed you coming through, and it definitely had everything to do with the towering man at your side.

"They wouldn't let me park in the garage without a badge."

"I'll call security and have them make one for you. How were classes?"

"They were fine. Sort of didn't pay attention because I was too nervous about this."

He playfully scoffed, "So I wasted all that money on specimens for you to carve into and you weren't even paying attention."

"The morning class is biochem, there's no carving of anything in there except for my brain carving at my skull, begging me to let it out." He glanced down at you with amusement. "I hate biochem."

"Well, lucky for you, there is no biochem required while being my assistant. Also, I'm going to apologize in advance."

Your heart dropped as soon as those words left his lips, just in time for the elevator doors to slide open, revealing the 40th-floor office space.

"You know, as my friend, you should have warned me about anything you feel the need to apologize for before I accepted the position."

"Don't worry, it's nothing you can't handle." He brushed you off and led you out into the hall, muttering a quick, 'I hope', under his breath. "First, I have a couple of things I need you to sign. Employee contract, direct deposit, personal and corporate nondisclosure agreements, you know."

He held the door to his office open for you and shut it swiftly once you both had entered. "Personal and corporate NDA's?" you questioned as you took a seat across from his desk.

"Just a precaution I make all employees partake in. You're a bit different since you're my assistant, but everyone here has signed at least one NDA during the onboarding process. You're just special and get to sign two." 

Two NDA's were slid across his desk with a pen in between.

You felt like you were signing your life away, but in the end, you guess you could have been, and it'd still be worth it for the pay you'd be receiving. You did the math last night, and you'd be making at least two grand a month, which is significantly more than you were making now. Maybe you wouldn't be living paycheck to paycheck with microwave ramen as the only source to placate your stress eating.

"So, you never really told me what I'll be doing." You placed the pen down after you finished signing the other documents, sliding them back across the desk to him.

"Pretty simple. You'll need to schedule things like appointments and meetings, and make sure to communicate with the secretary so there's no overlap. Bring me the documents I ask for, create travel arrangements, help with event planning, and keep me notified of everything. Also, keep Ijichi away from me. The less I have to spend with him, the better-"

"Aw, he's a nice guy."

"I'm going to forget you said that. Pick up my mail from Ijichi at the secretary's desk and sort through it. The same thing applies to emails and phone calls; they'll be sent to you first, decide what's important enough to be sent to me. Lastly, don't ever schedule something on Friday afternoon or Saturday without consulting with me first. Nothing at all– I don't care if it's a meeting with the president– ask me."

You nodded. "I got it. I think."

"If you need help, Suguru’s assistant is in the office right next to yours. Her name is Shoko. She should still have the scheduling books that Miwa left. You can pick up where she left off. Now, do you have classes this evening?"

"No, but I have to go over to Charlie's today. Whenever I'm finished here, of course. Triage, you know."

His smile was tight-lipped. "Does he know you started working here?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"And I don't know. Things have been on edge since the big fight."

You suddenly felt like there was a bright light shining in your face with a detective sitting across from you, beginning his interrogation.

"The fight that happened after you left Vault Borealis?" You opened your mouth to answer, only to shut it and offer up a nod instead. "Can I ask what happened?"

"Well, Maki was with me, so nothing much happened."

"What about when Maki left?"

"Nothing much." You shrugged, reiterating sharply, "I don't really want to talk about it."

Finally, the metaphorical interrogation lamp was clicked off, giving your strained eyes a break. Like before, he managed to pull a lighthearted feeling back into the atmosphere.

"My mother's birthday is coming up. Can you arrange for flowers to be delivered by Friday?" You stiffly nodded, shifting in your seat with the fleeing anxiety. "Shoko has the address book. Oh, and make sure they're tulips, okay?"

"Okay." You hoisted yourself out of the chair before pausing. "So, do I have to call you Mr. Gojo now, or can I still call you Satoru?"

The corners of his mouth twitched into a smile. "Just because you're my assistant now doesn't mean we stopped being friends. Call me whatever you want."

Before you knew it, three and a half weeks flew by, undoubtedly better than the prior two weeks had been. Even with the crushing weight of working as Satoru’s assistant and attending all of your classes, it was still better than it had been. 

For the first time in a while, you felt yourself having moments of genuine happiness that weren't just fleeting thoughts. Life was good, and you had come to the conclusion on the determining factor for said happiness.

And it was the man who barked orders off to you five days a week for four hours a day.

"Fax this..."

"Order this..."

"Arrange this..."

And if it wasn't something you were doing per his command, it was something to help him with his workday. The calls were almost nonstop– as were the emails. There was a bit of a learning curve at first, figuring out which ones to forward to him and which ones could be tossed out. 

You knew it had to be annoying to have an assistant that wasn't properly trained to do assistant things, especially when the assistant is assigned to the acting CEO and COO of a multibillion-dollar conglomerate.

At times, you felt bad. However, that only served as motivation to try harder. You could see how hard he was working every single day. 

Constant meetings and paperwork– how he managed to get through all of it in one day and return with a semblance of a smile was beyond you. You knew it had to be getting to him. 

When you noticed the way he'd sometimes sweat or shake or just seem overwhelmed yet calm at the same time, that's what solidified that the man was overworking himself.

You were trying your best to make his life easier, but you were still new, and clerical duties weren’t something they taught in biochem or micro. 

Even through all of your mistakes he's had to correct you on, he corrected you gently and rolled his eyes when you promised to never do it again. 

At first, you began to think your coworkers were crazy for suggesting that Satoru was harsh and cruel to work for. 

However, today was the day you realized that they weren't lying.

Finally, he snapped, and unfortunately, it was from a mistake you had made.

The door to your office slammed closed, startling you from the stacks of spreadsheets you were going through. Your head snapped up, eyes widening when you saw his seething form standing in front of your door. 

His long strides ate up the space between you as he came to the front of your desk. You flinched when he slammed down a thick book on top of all your papers.

"Do you know what that is?" he asked, tone laced with lividity.

"N-No-"

"It’s the secretary's logbook. How many times have I told you to check with the secretary before scheduling my meetings?"

A deep crease formed between your brows. "I-I swear I did, I-"

"Obviously, you didn't!" You recoiled from his voice and gasped when he brought his hand down to rip the book open, pointing with a stiff finger at today's meeting schedule. "You didn't just overlap one meeting, you overlapped two! Do you know how long I had to keep them waiting?!"

Your mouth had dried considerably, and your limbs started to shake from the rising tension. "Satoru, I swear to you I checked with Ijichi-"

The way his palm crashed down on your desk in a spurt of anger had you wheeling back in your chair to create distance. Tears formed in your eyes immediately as you bit back a sob. "Two clients! Two, and they're fucking gone!"

"I-I'm really sorry-" Your gaze fell to the floor as you stood to your feet, suddenly feeling trapped behind your desk.

"You should be– where are you going?!" 

As you tried to slip around the other side of your desk to make it to the exit, his hand slid around your wrist and pulled you to a halt.

That motion, that all too familiar motion, made unease stir in your stomach. A ragged whimper escaped you as you gave a gentle tug against his hold. 

"P-Please let me go."

"Wait, no– I'm sorry." His tone shifted instantly, but it did nothing to quell the incoming panic attack that was festering just below the surface.

"Please, let go," you whispered, vision becoming too blurry. His grip loosened enough for you to slip away.

"Please just wait, I'm sorry– please-"

But you were already out the door and dashing toward the elevators. You managed to hold it all in until you made it to your car. That's when the sobs fell out of your mouth freely, harsh breaths to follow. Arms, legs, lips– all trembling as hot tears rolled down your cheeks. Driving under these conditions wasn’t ideal, but you couldn't bear to sit in the garage for a second longer.

The panicky feeling didn't let up even in your apartment. Not even your cats could cheer you up–you were too caught up in my own emotions, and the state of your apartment wasn’t helping. 

If anything, the giant mess it had become was making it worse. After the big fight a couple of weeks ago, Charlie left your apartment in disarray, and having no free time to clean it up, it had gotten out of control.

Now, it was just an overwhelming disaster.

But, there was always someone who knew how to occupy your mind to its fullest ability. 

Be it good or bad, Charlie just knew how to slither in and make you forget the rest of your problems. So, when he texted, asking if he could come over, how could you decline?

As you washed your hands in the bathroom sink, you caught a glimpse of yourself in the mirror and cringed. Hours had gone by now since you’d had your panic attack, and your eyes were still just as puffy. 

Your mind swayed to the memory of Satoru in your office, and how scary he seemed when he was angry with you. It was such a stark contrast to the man you’d come to know over the past month, and you weren’t sure if you wanted to face him again after that.

Your thoughts led you to question your position and whether you were really cut out to be an assistant to someone so busy. Perhaps you should quit and save both of you the trouble. 

But then again, where would that leave your friendship? As of right now, Satoru was the only friend you had contact with more than a couple of times a week. And that's no fault of Maki; she was busy, and you understood that.

You could consider Haibara a friend, too, but then again, he was someone you got to have a conversation with a few times a week in microbiology and the occasional wave if you passed one another in the hallway. 

Mai was also out of the picture now since you quit Poppy's Pastries. She messaged you a few times to see how you were getting along across the street, but that was it.

Your family was so far away now that even the weekly calls with them only seemed to add more space between you. Sometimes you cursed yourself for moving to a college that was halfway across the country from your hometown. There were times like these when you wish you had just stayed at home.

There really had only been one constant, good friend in your life recently, and even that's been ruined after today.

You sighed and splashed some cold water on your face, hoping it would quell the puffiness. When you stepped back out into the living room, offering the trailing kitties a scratch under the chin, you noticed Charlie was sitting up on the couch, scrolling through your phone. 

You rolled your eyes and tried to grab it from his hand, knowing he was probably digging for something to get mad at you over. His palm found your hip and harshly pushed you away, keeping his hand up while he scrolled.

"Find anything?" you taunted with a sigh.

"Who's Satoru?" he asked, fuming eyes flicking to yours.

"My boss. I already told you this."

"Why the fuck are you texting your boss like you're friends?" He continued to angrily scroll through your messages.

"Because we are friends?" You plopped down next to him, leaning on his shoulder to see what exactly he was looking at. He was reading through the messages where Satoru and you were discussing where to go for lunch sometime last week.

"You go out to lunch with him?"

You shrugged. "Yeah. Is that so big of a deal?" 

You made another grab for your phone, which he easily dodged, and in the midst of the struggle, scrolled all the way to the very first messages in the thread. Your heart dropped as his eyes raked over those particular messages.

"What's this?"

You swallowed thickly. "What?"

He didn't answer and instead clicked on the address Satoru had sent you, the address to Vault Borealis. As soon as the internet showed him the pictures of the front of the club, his anger morphed into something scarier. 

"What the fuck is this?"

In an attempt to divert his temper, you feigned nonchalance. "It was the club that Maki and I went to."

"You went with him?"

"No." You gasped when he pushed you off of him, shoulder bashing right into your cheekbone. "He just invited us, but Maki and I were hanging out together. Not with him."

"I don't fucking believe you– and look at that, it was before you started working for him, so you shouldn’t have been friends in the first place." 

In a flash, your phone ended up across the room, shattering against the far wall.

"Charlie, what the fuck!" You gaped at him, scrambling to your feet to retrieve your phone. Your thumb pressed the power button, hopeful that it would turn back on, but no dice; it was broken. "You fucking broke it! How am I-"

He was standing behind you when you turned around. Your back hit the wall hard, sending a vibration through the drywall, hard enough to make the picture of you and him hanging on the wall slip from its nail. 

In an attempt to save it, your hand jutted out, halting its descent to the floor. The frame was ripped from your grasp and flung to the other side of the room, shattering the glass against the door. 

"Charlie!"

His hands found your shoulders as he pushed you into the wall again, face mere inches from yours as he began shouting at you. 

And for what? You weren’t sure– once again, your brain had been put on autopilot. The only thing you truly understood was that the situation you were in wasn't a good one. 

Beads of spit landed on your face as he berated you. When his hands moved to secure your arms against the wall, your legs began to shake, but rather than letting you fall to the ground completely, his hand grabbed your hair at the base of your neck, pulling you away from the wall.

The burning pain on your scalp, much like the pain from the last time he dragged you by your hair, returned. Only this time, worse– he was twice as angry as before. 

"Charlie, please! Please, let go-!"

"Are you fucking kidding me! The fuck is wrong with you!" The carpet burned against your knees as he dragged you across the floor. You tried your best to keep up with his pace, but it was too fast. Your hands wrapped around his wrist as you pleaded with him to let go, but he only shouted over you. "I am so fucking done with you! I'm done with everything!"

Screaming sobs left your throat raw as the searing pain intensified with each jerk of his grasp. "You're such a bitch! Get up and get out!"

You were trying to get to your feet, but the hold he had on your hair and the constant movement he was making to get you toward the door were knocking you off balance. 

"Please! Just let go, Charlie!"

"I'll let go when you get up! I want you gone!" The entire situation was so erratic and fast that you barely had enough time to process everything–not enough time to realize the shattered glass he was about to pull you through.

"Charlie, wait! Wait, the glass!" By the time he realized, a blade had already sliced open your calf. 

You screamed and fought against his hold harder. "Please– it fucking cut me! The glass-!" 

He loosened his grip then, seeing the blood start to seep from your skin. Then, he dropped you completely, leaving you to collapse on the shards. You cried when you felt a couple embed themselves into your forearms and bit back a sob. You tried to move away from the glass, but your body was racing with adrenaline, making you so shaky. 

"It's just a little cut, get the fuck up!" He grabbed onto your hair again by the time you made it to your knees, and before you knew it, the door to your apartment was pulled open and you were flung out of it, the door slamming shut behind you.

You scrambled to your feet, unstable whimpers leaving your chest as you pounded on the door, doing your best to keep your voice level so the neighbors wouldn't hear.

Who the fuck were you kidding? 

The entire complex definitely heard the ruckus. You prayed to whatever god was listening that no one would come out to see you like this. 

It was so fucking humiliating.

"Charlie, please let me in. It's my apartment, you can't just throw me out. You can't, you son of a bitch, you fucking can't." You knocked again and received no reply. A startling thought occurred to you then. "If you hurt those cats, Charlie, I swear to god-!"

"Keep it down out there!" Someone called from down the hall, cutting you off.

"Fuck," you cursed to yourself, panic setting back in big time as you raked your hands through your knotted hair. Your feet started moving toward the exit quickly, mentally flipping through all of your options as of right now.

Can't bang on the door, you’ll wake the neighbors.

Can't call anyone, no phone.

Can't get a phone, it's nearing one in the morning.

Can't use a payphone, no money.

Can't go to campus security, it runs the risk of them finding out about your cats, which would be a direct violation of your lease, so your housing would also be taken away.

Can't go to the police, their station was all the way across town.

So after all of that, where does it leave you?

Shivering, sobbing, and stranded in front of Limitless Enterprises.

All the lights were off in the lobby, and no janitor or security guard was in sight. Your bare feet ached as you stepped around the building, down the sloped driveway to the entrance of the parking garage.

Thoughts strayed back to Satoru as you stood in front of the rusty metal door.

'If you ever forget your badge, don't even bother with security. There are only a couple of staff members who have access to the code. It's...'

"43...513...5?"

Your shaking thumb pressed into the ice-cold metal buttons of the keypad, sheer hope rushing through you that you had gotten it correct. Lucky for you, the light flashed green, followed by the sound of beeping and a shifting lock. You pushed all of your weight into the rusty door and stepped into the darkened parking garage. Mindlessly, you made your way to the elevator and rode to the top.

You dialed Charlie's number as soon as you got into your office, only for it to end up going to voicemail. You tried again and again, each time ending up with no answer. Finally, the last time, it didn't even ring, just went straight to voicemail. Either he blocked your number or he turned his phone off.

"Dammit!” You slammed the phone back on the receiver and leaned over your desk, willing yourself not to collapse in utter frustration. 

If only your parents were close, if only Maki went to the same college as you, if only you could remember Yu’s phone number–

The police. 

That’s right. You could call the police, and it'll all be over.

However, the next number you dialed wasn't the police. No matter how badly your brain was chastising you while you searched your office for his business card, you still didn’t call the police.

He answered on the third ring.

"Hello?"

You forced a sniffly laugh. "Hey, um..."

-Satoru-

He fucked up. 

Satoru fucked up so badly.

When you fled from your office, he wanted nothing more than to chase after you; the look on your face as you held back your tears was eating him up inside.

He wanted to bring you back and beg for forgiveness. To tell you over and over that he didn’t mean it, he didn’t mean to scare you, he didn’t mean to dredge up what are probably horrifying memories of your boyfriend. He still can see the way your eyes glazed over as you asked him to let go of your arm; it was like you weren’t seeing him.

And if you weren’t seeing Satoru, that could only mean that you were seeing Charlie, and that’s the last person Satoru wants you to think about in his presence. 

As soon as his finger wrapped around your wrist to stop you from leaving, he knew it wasn’t his hand you were feeling anymore–it was Charlie’s. You had clammed up right in front of Satoru, and it was entirely his fault.

He didn’t want you to fear him; he wanted you to find comfort in him because that’s all he’s able to do while he watches your relationship with Charlie burn from afar. 

And even with the small task of ensuring your comfort, he fucked it up. His role was simple, the job was easy, and he still fucking failed. 

He thought about texting you to apologize, but that seemed like a slap in the face. A measly text wasn’t good enough, but a call wouldn’t be any better. 

How many times has that happened with your boyfriend? Was Satoru really going to play into a cycle that you already know so well?

The only other option he had was to chase you down, but he knew better than to do that. For he had been running from people his entire life, and the last thing you do to someone who wants to get away is chase them–unless you want to grab onto someone like him when you finally catch up.

Satoru was a fuck up.

You trusted him, and he ruined it.

Because that’s all that he does, it’s all he’s ever done.

‘A bit pathetic, don’t you think?’

‘Surely, you can do better than this?’

‘Is this what you promised him you’d do?’

‘Hurt the ones you care about? He’d be so disappointed.’

‘Instead of fixing it, you choose to stuff your nose.’

‘Go on, son. Another line, that’ll fix the problem.’

‘That’ll make him proud-’

With another hit of cocaine entering Satoru’s bloodstream, that internal voice tapered off into a steady, euphoric hum.

The palms of his hands pushed into his eyes, massaging away the prickling headache behind them as he lifted his head from the bathroom sink. He was met with his own reflection in the mirror, a horrifying sight to see every single time. It doesn’t help that he has to feel the self-hatred, but he has to see it, too? He hoped the gods would take away his eyesight; it would make this a whole lot easier.

The dingy bar bathroom light flickered as the coke drip ran down the back of his throat, leaving behind that chemical taste on his tongue. If Satoru was being truthful, he enjoyed it–he felt as though he deserved to taste something so bitter after ruining his body the way that he had. 

The bitter taste always served as a reminder that he was still here, he was still real, even as the high took over. He needed anything he could get that would ground him in reality because the man standing behind him in the mirror always seemed to push him past his limit.

“You’re not real,” Satoru mumbled, glancing at his father’s reflection. He stood in the back corner of the dim, disgusting bathroom, doing what he has always done. Watch. Criticize. Remind. “I know you’re not real.”

His father’s hallucination didn’t reply. He never does.

“You’re lying in some hospital bed, you know? They’ve got you in fucking diapers because you’re so brain dead.”

Satoru’s taunting only served to make the hallucination’s smirk grow wider. 

“Satomi and I want to pull the plug on you. Even Hiyori wants you gone. You’re lucky mom can still stand to stomach you after everything you’ve done to us.” His father’s mouth parts in a silent bout of laughter, making Satoru’s stomach churn with disgust. “She’s being weaned off your praise, though, so don’t expect her to keep this up. When she’s done mourning your corpse, I’ll be the one to pull the plug. I’ll make sure of it.”

A harsh banging on the bathroom door drew Satoru out of his argument–his very one-sided argument. 

“Satoru, hurry up! Ijichi just asked Shoko to do shots with her. This is gonna be fucking hilarious,” Suguru shouted behind the bathroom door before shuffling away. “Ijichi, you are so not surviving...”

Satoru gathered up his things, sliding his silver tin into the inner pocket of his suit jacket, making sure to rub his finger over the initial engraved on the lid before casting one more glance over his shoulder to the corner. He found it was empty, but his father’s hallucination still lingered.

It always lingered, always in the back of his mind, waiting to snap at Satoru the minute the drugs started to wear off.

The small group of staff was already so rowdy, they had been since Satoru showed up, but after his little break in the bathroom, it seemed they had only gotten more drunk.

Originally, he had wanted to just go home after work since he didn’t have any plans to go to Vault Borealis with Suguru. However, his friend had cornered him after lunch, practically begging him to come to this shitty little bar with him and Shoko, pleading that he needed Satoru there because Suguru’s father’s assistant would be joining them. 

He claimed he needed the support. For what? Satoru wasn’t sure because his friend had been fucking this assistant for a couple of weeks already. But still, he went and was content to swipe through his phone for the remainder of the evening, ignoring everyone until Suguru allowed him to go home.

That is, until he received a call from the office.

He checked the time, seeing that it was late, and wondered why he was getting a call from Limitless at a time like this. He pushed away from the table and stood to take the call somewhere quieter.

Suguru was quick to stop him. “What are you doing?”

“I need to take this call. It’s from the office.”

“Right now?” His friend frowned, eyes flicking to the sloshed Ijichi, who was making a fool out of himself in front of Shoko. “You’re gonna miss it.”

“I think I’ll survive.” Satoru shrugged him off and moved away from the table, accepting the call within two strides toward the back of the bar. “Hello?”

He heard faint sniffling on the other end. “Hey, um…” You gave him your name, though it wasn’t necessary; Satoru knew it was you the second you started speaking. The sound of your tears made his stomach drop.

“Are you okay?”

You forced a sobbing laugh, one that Satoru definitely didn’t buy. “Um, no. I don’t think so.”

He tried to keep his voice as calm as possible, but on the inside, he was panicking. “You’re at the office–why?” he asked, moving toward the exit, not even bothering to pay for the drink Suguru forced him to order. 

“I just need a ride.”

The way you sounded so small and broken was ruining him. 

“Of course. I’m on my way.”

Series Masterlist >EMOTIONS>

[ahllohehn]

can we know more about sk!au gempearl? i feel like everyone always asks about the boys and leaves them out

---------- Trust

"Time of death should be over past a day or more already..."

"Ah, yuuup, look at the flexibility on those things- stiffness gone, you see? But still dead, obviously."

"Look- Yuck.. Rotting already! Must've been found in such a nasty pla-"

Gem slams her gloved hand down on the leftover space on the table, head snapping to squint her eyes at Pearl hovering beside her, "Pearl."

Pearl batted her eyelashes, "Doc." She nods politely.

"Are you the forensic worker here or am I?" The forensic worker asks. The journalist backs off with her hands raised in surrender, though her smile says that she didn't feel too sorry about her disruption.

Perhaps she probably even thinks she's not being disruptive, "Just trying to speed up the process!" She excused. Gem sighs out a tired groan in response, "This isn't something you can just speed up!"

Pearl giggled, "But speeding up means you get to spend the rest of your free time with me~"

The shorter girl is briefly caught off guard by the admittance, cheeks behind her mask and goggles flushing scarlet. The color remained even as her eyebrows furrow from realization and she starts raising her hand like she's threatening to smack her shoulder. Pearl lets out a squeak and tries to back away to save herself.

"Hey! No spreading of rotting juices of the dead!"

Gem almost gags at the the way that idea was worded and immediately puts her hand down, "Who even let you in here?!"

The journalist nods her head to the glass windows where Cub was stationed just outside, focused on writing something down in his clipboard before he looks up to realize that the two girls were looking at him.

Gem snappily points her thumb towards Pearl like she was silently asking; "Why is she here?"

The man looks between the two of them before shrugging like he was silently saying... Actually, he could be saying anything! What does that shrug even answer!

She turns to glare at Pearl for an answer instead, to which Pearl replied, "I'm wearing the proper equipment?" She makes jazz hands with her gloved hands.

Yeah, no. No one is understanding her silent question. This is why they've been blessed with the ability to speak, yet Gem doesn't use it to reiterate anymore as she's honestly decided that no one is worthy of giving a proper answer either way.

"I'm gonna need to re-brief everyone on lab safety again after this, maybe even have an additional discussion about letting desperate journalists in," Gem grumbled as she's turning back to the dead body on the table.

"Not a desperate journalist, just a desperate Pearl." Pearl corrects her slyly, yet Gem doesn't even want to ask what the difference is.

Pearl watches silently for a while as Gem starts stitching up the incision she made on the body. Even with the other's disruption, it seems she's learned what she needs to learn.

"You know, you could leave it to Cub. This shouldn't even be mainly your job," the journalist finally speaks up again when she deemed the silence way too comfortable for Gem.

Gem's goggles fog up briefly as she sighs in response, "No, I.. I need to do this."

"Why?"

"Impulse advised me to."

The room was silent for a while. Pearl glances over to where Cub is supposed to be, but had already left when he noticed that Gem was wrapping up already.

"Advised you not to trust Cub?"

Gem doesn't respond. Pearl watches her unmoving figure for a while until she decides to drop the topic for now. "But hey, instead of doing it alone then, you can trust me to assist!" The taller returned to cheerily hovering behind her again.

Gem relaxes a bit despite herself at the slight topic change., "You're not even supposed to be part of this. You're just nosy." She jabbed playfully even with the honest comment.

"Hey, you trust Etho. Him and I are barely different from the places we came from!" Pearl mentioned casually.

Gem stiffens, then turns to her with a stern tone, "What do you mean?"

It was hard to get a look at Pearl's face under the mask and the goggles, but Gem, ever the most observant, can see the slight twitch in her eye. A tell for something. Gem doesn't know enough to be sure what is that something.

Pearl responds casually after hesitating for a mere milisecond, "I mean, I report murder cases and Etho used to do them. Same place, different roles! Surely we both know enou-"

"Stop-" Both of them pause. Gem clenches and unclenches her hand beside her, "Stop mentioning how Etho was... that-"

Pearl's takes on a deeper much stern tone, though she tries to make it seem like a casual comment, it felt accusing, "Just because he's helping you now doesn't remove his sins."

Gem snaps, "Yes, but he doesn't have to <i> continously </i> live with it!"

They stare each other down. Gem's defiant stance contrasting Pearl's slowly sagging one.

"You'd forgive him so easily?"

"He's-" Gem hesitates, almost as if she needs to take a bit of time to wonder her own judgement. She sucks in a breath and commits, "He's changed. I mean, he's been trying his best to show that he has."

"It's... unfair. To his efforts," she ends.

Pearl goes eerily still and silent. Was fully admitting that she believed in Etho despite their rocky start a real shock? Then again, she couldn't have imagined herself to say these things either.

Just when she was about to turn around and skip over what they just talked about, Pearl suddenly reaches out to her hands, making her breath hitch in surprise and confusion.

"Doc..." She squeezes their gloved hands together, "You truly have my heart."

They couldn't see each other's face, but Pearl's tone suggests that she was smiling, maybe even holding back giggles. Gem could even see that her hands were trembling a bit from where they held hers.

Somehow, she finds her face heating up again, fogging up her glasses slightly, "Y-you.. Weren't you scared of spreading the rotting juices of the dead?" She jabs playfully.

Pearl then releases her hands with a yelp, "Oh- Ew, ew, ew-!" She dramatically stretches her arms out to get her hands away from herself, "Geeemmmm!"

The girl with the same name could only laugh and shoo the journalist off to the cleaning station, "Go clean up, you idiot! This is what you get for bribing your way in!"

Pearl groans disgustedly, "I demand a compensation for my efforts here..."

Gem rolls her eyes, "Go and wait outside. I'm finishing up anyway."

The journalist straightens up at the offer, "You promise?"

"Pearl, go."

"Going!"

[avaero]

fuck it, @infamous-if dash simulator

🗣️ seven-lawless-tattoo-watch

Day 136 of Seven Lawless still keeping the tattoo post-BreakupGate.

#seven's ex still hasn't removed it either btw #which could mean nothing

💥 hard-violence Follow

misfit alley? disaster street? where to next, sadness boulevard in misfortune neighborhood?

💎 jennaandthejuuls Follow

how dare you leak seven lawless's address like that

🌞 julietjuliet Follow

it's kind of sad that Victoria Valentine and Gina Reign's ship name is based entirely on their fake surnames tbh :/ can't we coin something more romantic based on, i don't know, their ACTUAL names?

🔥 reignssupreme Follow

#ViGina

🌞 julietjuliet Follow

i see my mistake now

🐼 savinaslovechild Follow

🦄 rowansfuturehusband Follow

i can't believe this is how i find out Rowan has a girlfriend i'm actually going to kms

🦎 slowlcrawl Follow

girl betty is literally a guitar ??? 😭

🎸 rowanhartsyou

would

🦎 slowlcrawl Follow

PARDON.

🗣️ seven-lawless-tattoo-watch

Day 759 of Seven Lawless still keeping the tattoo post-BreakupGate.

#they BOTH still have them!!! #they're getting back together any day now i can feel it 🙏

🧺 wasted--underground Follow

underground wastebasket are talented and deserve a spot on the show, while certain others had to collude with people behind the scenes to make the cut. uw has been saying as much since the beginning, and now we have hard picture proof to back it up too. really goes to show who you should and shouldn't trust in this production.

🎤 theechosenone

"talented and deserve their spot" LMAOOOOO like name 1 uw track that isn't just a corny one note sex song. i'll wait

🧺 wasted--underground Follow

name 1 parent who loves you. i'll wait

🎤 theechosenone

your mom

🧺 wasted--underground Follow

next time i'm kicking them out of the fucking car

🗣️ seven-lawless-tattoo-watch

Day 1189 of Seven Lawless still keeping the tattoo post-BreakupGate.

#any #any day now

🌹 victorias-valentine Follow

omg hold ooooon cheating rumors?? victoria valentine affair arc???? finally?????

🌹 victorias-valentine Follow

so apparently the cheating in question may have been "for BOTB" or whatever and not "on ****** Reign" god i fuckign hate it here

#been waiting years for her to get out of that wack ass marriage and THIS is what i get?? #im the one being cheated here. cant have shit in detroit

🌹 victorias-valentine Follow

OH WE ARE SO BACK

#LEAVE THEIR ASS MISS WENNER #I HOPE YOU GET MC IN THE DIVORCE

🥭 divadionne Follow

Wait what's this I'm hearing about ValenReign divorcing? What?

🪩 franticallyattheclub Follow

Victoria got caught having an affair with some BotB singer lol. not that anyone's surprised, that marriage was on the rocks already

#the singer even posted a meme about it #yikes

👟 oqafterhours

While an image is floating around of Victoria Valentine sitting with one of the contestants at a café, that's also all. No official statements have been made, so let's be careful of validating hearsay and unsubstantiated rumors as fact.

🍰 iris-is-a-delucacy Follow

mc is tearing our beloved #ViGina apart

👟 oqafterhours

Please don't say it like that

🌟 tripleyeehaaaw Follow

so how do you guys think the tattoo watch guy is handling the affair reveal

🗣️ seven-lawless-tattoo-watch

SYGFRUW2392WEDGUQH2QU3EJHWAUGHH????0?

🌟 tripleyeehaaaw Follow

about as well as seven then. good to know

🌨️ intheblakestmidwinter Follow

trust that i'm the biggest baskethead around but i have to say it: someone's gonna have to break blake's heart so we can finally get a song about something other than a laundry list of sex euphemisms. someone please please please take one for the team here there's only so many hot wonderlands left i can take

🌨️ intheblakestmidwinter Follow

guys you will not believe who just liked this post

[crownmemes]

Psychopath Sentences, Vol. 3

(Sentences for conversations with psychopaths. Adjust phrasing where needed)

"Why don't you kill him? You could always say that it was me."

"You are a very young sociopath-in-training."

"You know, what's funny is the experts say that torture doesn't really work."

"What are you worried about? If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already."

"Psychopaths are not crazy. They are fully aware of what they do and the consequences of those actions."

"Death excites you, doesn't it?"

"I can't believe you actually shot me!"

"When you speak, I feel like it's the Devil talking."

"Generally, if I have a misgiving or a doubt, I kill the guy I have a misgiving or a doubt about."

"I've never felt as alive as I did when I was killing him."

"Don't worry, I won't tell. I want you to kill her."

"There is something seriously wrong with you!"

"Despite all evidence to the contrary, I am a gentleman."

"Isn't ordinary death exciting enough for you?"

"Murder's not what it used to be."

"There's a bloodstain on your floor."

"I am, as you know, no stranger to killing."

"How do you do it? So easily cope with all the people we've killed?"

"Are you beginning to appreciate my lack of sympathy?"

"I think we should kill someone tonight."

"A rational society would either kill me or put me to some use."

"I am not the intelligent psychopath you are looking for."

"What makes you think you wouldn't pass a psych evaluation?"

"Did you tell them about the man you killed? The way you did it?"

"Do you think that one more corpse means anything to me?"

"In this world - my world - only the biggest monster survives."

"There's no such thing as right or wrong. There's no such thing as fair, or moral. Those are words men invented to scare and shame other men."

"I would just like to point out that the word 'sociopath' has not been used by any respected psychiatrist since 1968."

"Once you take a life, there's nothing like it."

"Tell me, did your heart race when you murdered her?"

"You have a very disconcerting gaze."

"Keep lying and I'll murder you in that chair."

"You've got a dark turn of mind."

"God, you really care about them, don't you?"

"Don't you understand? You caught me because we're very much alike."

"You just can't go around killing people!"

[pearl-444]

Hi I have a req for Jinu too! I've been seeing a lot of people hate on him recently (Saying his death wasn't enough, that he's a horrible person or that he didnt deserve Rumi and that people only excuse his actions cause hes hot and all) so can we just have us comforting Jinu dealing with that? Or maybe just hate comments in general/in-universe, Its like he suddenly became hated in the fandom out of nowehere and it hurts, I think he deserves better, he's my f/o and comfort charas I love him so much :((

yes, of course!! i agree, he doesn't deserve all that hate ♡ i got you, lovie!!

based on your req, i did try to add some more dialogue than i usually do!! gn pronouns!!

comforting jinu

the days have been blurring together, whirling with schedules, timings, and necessary production. all so that the band would have a more sucessful album.

you see, the saja boys only released one song, their debut 'soda pop', we know this. but now that they're free, they wanted to release an album. to enjoy what it is that they bring to the table.

all the work and unnecessary stress of it has made the anxiety, pressure to do well, and pressure to perform overwhelming. for one member specifically..

jinu.

he'd been cranking songs out of his brain constantly, as fast as he could, just to reach what would satisfy both the band and the people. but it was taking a toll.

he was tired. sleepless and somehow still hauling himself up and around every day. not only that, but jinu had been very focused on pleasing the fans lately. you weren't quite sure why, either.

so one afternoon you were dedicated to trying to understand, you took a look for yourself. you started to scroll through some feed of fans videos, comments, or recent responses to the band's content.

most of it was positive, but there were so many that were full of negativity. you decided to read some comments, a frown divoting your face as you did so.

'all of their recent dances have been so amazing! they're all so in depth and full of life. well, except for jinu. his parts are always so boring.'

'jinu isn't even that great of a lead, i'd much rather have romance or abby be the leads!'

'unpopular opinion: jinu doesn't have that great of vocals..'

'is it just me who thinks that jinu is a terrible person?'

you stopped there, shutting off your phone and tossing it on your nightstand. it baffles you, that with who the saja boys are to the public, that there's so much hate toward one person.

also, jinu didn't even do anything? jinu is releasing more content, they should be happy about it! he's been trying to make all of them so happy..

padding out of the bedroom, you approach the couch. jinu had been eating dinner out there, watching something on his computer.

but as you approach you see that he's scrolling through the comments of their most recent music video.

shaking your head, you stand behind the couch, placing your hands on his shoulders. jinu doesn't react much, just closes his laptop with a sigh. slumping forward with his head in his hands.

rounding the couch, you slide up next to him. leaning into the almond scent of his pajama hoodie.

for a while, the two of you only sit in comfortable silence. you won't break it unless he does. and then, he does.

"i.. i just don't understand. i've been giving them music, dances, stickers, keychains, but it's like they see none of it." jinu pauses, running his hands down his face.

when he continues, he leans back, as if trying to get the couch to swallow him. "i just don't know what i'm doing wrong."

you scoot closer, wrapping your arms around his torso loosely. voice slightly muffled by his shoulder. "it isn't your job to make them happy."

jinu turns his head, looking to where you've buried yourself into his side. his dark eyes sleepy and sparkly.

you continue when he doesn't respond. "it isn't. they choose to find the negative, but you don't have to. maybe you're just on the wrong side, because you are loved. by fans, by the boys. by me."

then, it's as if a lightbulb flickers to life behind your eyes. you perk up, taking his hands and bouncing a bit in your place.

"what do you say we take an electronic free day tomorrow? no phones, no computer, no tv. we could go get ice cream, go to the park, or if you wanted to we could go to an arcade!"

jinu's lips quirk slightly at that, and he nods, pulling you back closer again. "yeah, yeah.. that sounds really nice."

comfortable silence follows once again. jinu strokes your elbows through the fabric of your sleep shirt. mumbling against your head and kissing your hair. "thank you. for noticing, i mean."

pulling back a bit, you smile with all your teeth, wrinkles by your eyes. "i love you, how could i not notice?"

jinu just smiles, pulling you into a pajama-clad embrace.

tomorrow you'll both be up to so many shenanigans.

i really hope you enjoyed, lovies!! eat good food and drink water!!

༝༚༝༚

𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘦

[mephistopheleswasrobbed]

I'm so tired of people making this into a Gmmtv issue. Back last November at the Creator Talk in Berlin, producer Yuan (NOT a gmmtv producer. She produced, among other things, I Feel You Linger In The Air and My Stand-In) talked about social media engagement being the standard measurement for success in the industry, among other reasons because viewership isn't comparable between platforms (as they don't get exact numbers from most platforms for example). Now, personally, I also don't think social media engagement is a much better measurement, there are plenty of factors that make some shows/actors have bigger engagement than others which don't necessarily translate into viewership/merch sales/product sales/etc. (not to even mention the fact that some fandoms have clearly started botting Twitter trends and IG engagement). But this is NOT a Gmmtv issue, nor were they the ones that started it. As @maybe-boys-do-love said, this is in large parts due to the sponsors using these numbers as measurements. And TV, in this case especially, is an industry that is kind of dependent on sponsors. So unless the sponsors realise this isn't working/find a better measurement, what is Gmmtv supposed to do about it?

I don't like it either. Trending is stressful and joy-less and honestly makes the experience of having a series come out so much worse. It has started for many (me included) to feel like a job more than a hobby. If I could do away with trending tomorrow, I wouldn't hesitate for a second. But can we just stop pretending like Gmmtv is somehow some unique evil in the Thai BL space? I have plenty of criticisms for them but seriously, most of the things they get hated for, other companies do it even more. In terms of trending, some companies are now artificially inflating their numbers by just adding different keyword trends together (which is not how it works). Gmmtv has actually historically given second chances to couples whose first show didn't hit so much. For the amount of actors they have, most of them are actually getting a lot of acting or variety work compared to other companies. As for brand events etc., I'm not an expert but I honestly don't think the company has that much of an influence over who the brands want or don't want. Is there probably a lot of nepotism and general bias at play? Sure. But that's also not Gmmtv-exclusive nor is it really their fault. This has never been an industry that functions on raw talent alone. Bad scripts? Look at that, that's not a Gmmtv exclusive either. And honestly, some companies manage to have worse scripts on average while having a way smaller output than them. Not that it should be a competition, anyway.

And I'm saying all of this as someone whose faves actually seem to be locked in the Gmmtv basement. That have had basically no events at all this year aside from the book fair fan signs everyone goes to. Not even while their show was airing. Whose Japan fanmeet for their show based on a Japanese IP co-produced by a Japanese TV channel, Gmmtv couldn't even be bothered to promote on their Japan exclusive website. Who, in the rare case that they get a magazine photoshoot, are photographed in their own clothes in the Gmmtv stairwell. Who have their official social media posts on the Gmmtv socials constantly misspelled or are just randomly left out when there are bigger groups. Who have had two of their songs misspelled on Spotify for weeks. And I could go on. So I really have absolutely no reason to simp for Gmmtv. But this constant "Gmmtv bad" sentiment is so pointless and trite and honestly counterproductive to actually discussing these problems.

Edit: Oh, and because I see people in the tags talking about merch. Because I am (mostly lurking) in some group-order groups, I'm regularly seeing what other companies put out in terms of merch BEFORE THE SHOW HAS EVEN AIRED. What Gmmtv does is nothing in comparison. And at least Gmmtv gives a cut of the merch sales to the people involved (tho it's probably not much, I don't know the details, but P'Aof talked about getting a cut from merch sales, probably for his shows, for example). Of course they're trying to make money. They're a capitalist company in a capitalist country on an atp mostly capitalist planet. And so are all of the other production companies. And I'm always in favour of getting rid of capitalism entirely, but why are we singling out Gmmtv for trying to make money?

this is ridiculous. but its gmmtv. so why am i not surprised:

my biggest gripe with this is now that fans are the ones completely responsible for "trending" and "social media engagement" in order for these actors to have work, basically, and for their shows to air. that ...... is not the responsibility of a fan. how about you lot working on your awful script writing and story telling?? better managing your artists?? so, what? if Actor X doesn't get roles or jobs, then its on their fans? what kind of culture is this???

[ethicaltreatmentofcowplants]

prev | next

ARAMINTA: You can do this. I know you can.

LILAC: Can I? Well I guess it doesn't matter. I have to.

LILAC: Hi. So, uh, thank you all for being here.

LILAC: I wish there were two other lives where I could grant you all happiness - not for my sake, but for yours. Because I am sure of my decision. Absolutely sure. I don't say this to be unfeeling or cruel but to give you closure, and to help you move on with the next stage of your life. I am so sorry, so terribly sorry, but not for my choice - never for my choice - only for the hurt that it may cause.

PAULINE: Should one of us... go after her?

CADEN: Araminta's there. She's in good hands.

SPENCER: Just give her a minute. This isn't easy for her either, you know?

CADEN: Yeah I know. I'm glad it's not me making a call like that.

LILAC: Pauline. If you could come up here, please.

LILAC: It isn't you. I am so sorry.

PAULINE: I know. It's okay.

PAULINE: I said it before and I’ll say it again. More than anything, I want to see you happy. I prepared myself for if it wasn’t with me. It’s okay…Well, it’s not right now, but it will be. I will be. I know now that I can love. What a precious gift you’ve given me.

And now I have a revolution to lead. I am ready. Truly ready.

LILAC: And I'll help you however I can.

PAULINE: Thank you. All of you. If nothing else, I leave here in triumph knowing that I am a better Sim now than I was at my most powerful. I cannot thank Lilac enough for giving me the space to flourish as an individual, and I cannot thank the Watcher enough for giving me the chance in the first place. 

And to the Hollow, who waits for my return, in fear or hope…I am coming for you.

ARAMINTA: Hang in there.

LILAC: Why - you got a noose or something?

ARAMINTA: It's for the best not to draw it out.

LILAC: You're right. I'm doing this.

LILAC: Caden. Spencer. You are both... wonderful men with so much to offer anyone lucky enough to have you. And who am I, to be in the position where you both want me? But this person - I try to imagine my life without them, and I draw a blank. There's just an empty, lifeless void when they're not in it. And I can't do it any longer.

LILAC: Spencer. It's you. It has only ever been you.

SPENCER: Oh my watcher!

LILAC: Just give me a moment to say goodbye to Caden, okay?

SPENCER: Oh right sorry I love you bye!!!

LILAC: I love you too. We'll talk later.

LILAC: Caden. I am so grateful to you for allowing me into your life, and so full of admiration for how far you've come. You are truly among the best men I have ever known.

CADEN: When coming to this challenge, I didn’t know much about love - not further than movies go. You showed me how it should feel like. But here we are - and I’m not your choice. Guess life has different plans for us. I am grateful for sharing so many special moments with you. I hope we can make even more as friends.

LILAC: I hope for that too. Take care. And treat yourself kindly for the next while, okay?

ARAMINTA: I think she may need a hug.

SPENCER: Already on it.

tbc

the biggest of thank you's to @mdshh, @invisiblequeen and @akitasimblr for providing me with dialogue for this - and not least of all your amazing pixels! more to come later, but there are truly no words 💗

[smallarry]

Okay, yeah, NO SPOILERS FROM THIS but, when you do watch the distance, I want to hear your thoughts on it

I had some critiques when I first watched the episode myself & without seeing other people's commentary on it. but I've now watched the episode a couple of times to really figure out my thoughts on it since it's been a big topic of discussion throughout the fandom.

[LONG episode discussion & spoilers below]

TL;DR: I agree with the general fandom consensus that the gumwin stuff (namely the phone-sex joke) was weird, but I think Leonard Daniels is weird too and shouldn't go ignored. I wasn't personally entertained by this episode due to those two factors, and I think the inclusion of them led to some mischaracterization. otherwise, the concept of the episode wasn't bad, it just should've been written so much differently. I re-wrote the episode based on my own opinions of how the characters would have reacted in this situation. and Darwin should have gotten to keep the room in the end.

-

before I delve into my negative critiques of the episode, I will say that I enjoyed that the animation was more consistent than in the previous episodes. the lighting and overall visuals felt more reminiscent of TAWOG, whereas "The Burger" and "The Assistant" looked as if the new series was still finding its footing. (which isn't a bad thing. I wasn't going into this series expecting everything to look exactly the same, especially considering that the animation industry has changed a lot in the past ~7 years. "The Burger" likely also looked the most inconsistent due to the fact that it was revealed earlier at cons, so it probably had sooner deadlines than the rest of the episodes.)

but I think I had higher hopes for "The Distance" when only the one screencap of it was revealed. the description wasn't quite what I expected the plot of the episode to be either. in the end, it was a fun idea for an episode, but I think the entire concept should have been executed differently.

-

OVERALL PLOT ISSUES / HOW I'D REWRITE THE EPISODE: I wish the episode ended with Darwin continuing to have his own room ?? Darwin already struggles with not feeling like his own person separate from Gumball, as seen in episodes like "The Sidekick" and "The Decisions". Nicole and Richard making the boys have separate rooms could have been a good stepping stone in the process of letting Darwin learn to flourish more on his own.

while they were both upset about being separated, Gumball was clearly more negatively affected by it than Darwin. I've seen quite a few people say that this was OOC, but I don't think I fully agree with that; Gumball has been separated from Darwin NUMEROUS times, and he's always been heartbroken about it.

it also wasn't completely unlike Gumball to not go downstairs, BUT the situation would have had to warrant that to be his mindset. what happened in canon didn't make sense with his behavior. it's not as if anyone was guarding the basement door, nor was he being threatened by Nicole to stay in his own room. he was the only one making a huge deal out of the situation. it IS in-character for him to blow things out of proportion and act unreasonably! but Gumball is also all about taking action and being annoying until he gets what he wants! he is not one to go down without a fight. I think Gumball would've been overly persistent about wanting to spend time in Darwin's new room, and their parents (or just Nicole) would continuously try to stop him.

Darwin could then be oblivious to whatever arguments are going on upstairs because he's learning to enjoy having some time to himself. but he still misses having Gumball around, so he still has the idea to give him his own corner in the basement. maybe he even called Carrie to discuss this dilemma and she helped him with the idea.

some misunderstandings can ensue once the family rejoins together during dinner. Darwin wants the Gumball-corner to be a surprise, so he awkwardly states that he, too, doesn't want Gumball to go downstairs without giving any reason why. Gumball then gets even more irritatedly heartbroken, says some resentful remark, ditches the dinner table early, and devises a plan ON HIS OWN!!! to sneak into the basement to destroy the place because he can't stand the idea of people having lives without him.

Darwin also misunderstands the situation, overthinks things, and figures Gumball hates him now for some reason. ("He made no effort to even hang out with me!! 😭" *flashbacks to all the fighting upstairs [that he didn't witness] about Gumball wanting to hang out with him*). Darwin, now miserable, decides he's going to destroy the Gumball-corner because Gumball seemingly never wants to hang out again (although, maybe he can't fully bring himself to do it because he wants it to serve as a reminder of his ex-best friend).

they both stay up late to enact their plans. Gumball is full of saddened rage and Darwin is exaggeratedly grieving. they both start destroying things before soon noticing each other's existence, then realizing that they're both basically doing the same thing. they now get a chance to explain their intentions/feelings about the whole ordeal. Gumball gets embarrassed because he was being more selfish about things than Darwin was.

"OH, BUDDY, I THOUGHT YOU HATED ME!" "I THOUGHT YOU HATED ME TOO!!!" they hug it out.

the Gumball-corner surprise is sort of ruined, but they can rebuild it together. Darwin continues to have his own room, but they still hang out all the time.

-

THE OTHER ISSUE: Gumwin. everyone has commented on Gumball and Darwin's relationship being written strangely in this episode. I, too, think the episode was leaning into gumwin territory, and it did make me uncomfortable at some points. I know the series has a history of making gumwin jokes, but I personally find no humor in them. I do not like the ship. it has gotten to the point that I can't quite tell what the crew's intention is whenever gumwin moments are included in the show.

in general, I think their brotherly love for each other is beautiful, and it's really sweet how close they are. they have always been one of my favorite sibling duos. I haven't seen many sibling relationships in media be depicted as something so genuine and physically affectionate, so it's cute to see. I love how their bond is portrayed in episodes like "The One" and "The Silence"!

but the addition of all the gumwin jokes in other episodes makes a mockery of their sibling bond. sometimes it IS just the crew poking fun at the fandom for being weird and shipping them despite the fact that they're brothers. but when it comes to episodes like "The Dress" or "The Bros" (and now "The Distance"), it becomes iffy. :/ the jealousy plots just don't entertain me because the dialogue is intentionally written like they are dating in some of these episodes (i.e., being genuinely upset that the other is "cheating" or "breaking up" with them).

anyway, the breakfast scene in the beginning was just gross to watch lol. I'm not a fan of gross-out/food humor. I didn't view that scene (nor the overall idea of their relationship being codependent) as very gumwin-coded. but it was once the two got separated that I found the writing to be uncomfortable.

the main thing I didn't like was that a phone-sex joke was made between them ??? they're kids AND brothers. if the joke was made between literally any of the adults, I would not have cared. Ben Bocquelet has stated that he wants the series to have jokes that cater to all age ranges (x), but I don't think it was executed properly by making the joke between two kids who are also brothers.

however, I've also seen some complaints about Darwin calling Gumball's plan at the end "romantic". I understand the problem with it, but I personally think romance is subjective, and it doesn't pertain exclusively to dating. to me, calling the plan "romantic" was just saying that Gumball was really passionate about saving their friendship, and it was coming from a place of deep love for Darwin. the meaning of "romantic" likely just got convoluted by the way their relationship was being portrayed leading up to that point. I don't think there'd be such a problem with the wording if the rest of the episode was different lol.

-

THE OTHER OTHER ISSUE: Leonard Daniels. the thing I HAVEN'T seen people comment on is Leonard Daniels' role in the episode. I really hate Leonard Daniels lol. his character is just creepy and disgusting to me. he has stalked the kids on multiple occasions throughout TAWOG. and he hacked into Darwin and Carrie's personal DMs in Darwin's Yearbook. he wasn't the only one to do it, but he was the only adult. everyone else who did it was at least their classmate. this man has NOTHING to do with Elmore Junior High, so what the hell was he doing.

his role in "The Distance" isn't any better. he's a moderator on an abandoned MMO that's targeted toward children, and he was waiting around for 3 years for his own best friend to come back online. it's terrible that the website has access to BOTH your microphone and your webcam. it did not make sense to me why Gumball felt helpless and didn't know how to "win Darwin back" himself. Gumball is terribly impulsive and would have come up with a plan on his own, I don't think he would take the advice of some strange adult man online.

I also don't like that Leonard said, "No witnesses!" after Anais tried to intervene and tell Gumball NOT to take Leonard's advice? why is no one allowed to witness your interaction? and why did he stay online after Anais was tied up. why was he just watching her sitting there, bound and gagged. he only logged off once Darwin barged into the room because he would have been able to see him on the computer. he's a creep.

[sintember]

Sintember 2025 - Official Prompts

Due to the change in hands and time constraints, 8 of the 30 prompts have been chosen from the lists of previous years to be Legacy prompts, similar to Throwback Thursdays from last year. Next year, we will likely do only original prompts, but we do hope you enjoy our selection! Plain text and flavor text for all prompts is below the cut!

Lights, camera, action! - The spotlight can be its own prison, harder to escape than any other. But who doesn't want to be remembered forever? Chin up, baby! Let's make you a star!

Hunger - A fact of nature. Sometimes predatory, sometimes pleading. Leave it unfulfilled for too long, and you won't survive...

Mistake - Will the wrong choice be your last?

"Is that supposed to happen?" - The curiosity of a naïve victim, or the herald of a professional's bone-chilling error? Either way, I have a feeling I know the answer to their question.

Up close and personal - Nice and intimate. Too intimate, perhaps. Ever heard of personal space?

Not again - Legacy Saturday: You thought it was done, it was over. You survived, you moved on. And yet the horror continues.

"Why won't you stay dead?" - Legacy Sunday: It keeps coming back to this, again and again and again.

Prayer - Sometimes, it's the only thing a person can do. Especially if they'll be on their knees either way.

Masquerade - It could be the name of a fancy ball, but masks are useful for so much more. What lies behind them?

"Leave me alone." - Everybody needs their space.

Blood is thicker than water - And yet, it tastes much worse on your tongue.

Outcast - It's freeing to live outside society's rules, but loneliness is a poison. Careful to walk the tightrope.

The other side - Legacy Saturday: What lies in the mirror, another dimension, even after death?

"I love you" - Legacy Sunday: I do, I do, I do, I do, I do.

Amnesia - Those blank spaces where memories should be leave plenty of room for imagination to run wild.

Guilty pleasures - We all have to indulge ourselves from time to time.

Keep an eye out - Be watchful, be weary, use your sight to avoid the sight of others. Or perhaps you prefer a far more literal meaning.

Heart - It beats and it beats and it beats at its cage.

"Three's a crowd." - One person too many. Will they interrupt the moment, or embrace it?

The more, the merrier - Legacy Saturday: Group work can be fun, I swear.

Taboo - Legacy Sunday: Polite, civilised people don’t do these sorts of things. But some choose not to care.

No place like home - The longing for a time and place, strong enough to make you sick.

Nobody - My god, I'm so lonely, so I open the window to hear sounds of people— ahem. I mean: if you fall in a forest, do you make a sound?

"Till death do us part." - Only one thing can separate us. Between my presence and everything's absence, what will you choose?

Collared and leashed - Heel. Sit. Beg. Roll over. Good pet.

Immaturity - Is it true innocence, or just the illusion of it?

Philia - Legacy Saturday: Got a kink or a paraphilia? Is there never enough content for it? You know what to do.

Disgust - Legacy Sunday: Things that slither and ooze, the constant decay of the earth beneath your feet. The things that make us sick, so we turn our heads and do our best to forget.

False hope - What a unique form of torture, to always be reaching towards something that isn't there, chasing the shadows on the cave walls.

True Freedom - Exactly what it says on the box. Careful how you use it.

[herearedragons]

WAIT THIS IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA FOR AN ASK MEME slides over either/both of my ocs for drakona's writing, if they want 👀

Capn. Twitchery + Lt. Grace:

Slowly, my surroundings faded back into my awareness. I found them quite askance, the floor rough against my cheek and tilted at an odd angle and the walls unusually curved; a faint swaying motion pervaded my senses. In my bleary state, I thought it the effect of the poison finishing its fiendish work.

I then took note of two shadowed figures standing over me; from my current position I could not tell much more than one of them being taller than the other, and having, as it seemed to me at the time, strangely gleaming eyes.

A repeating series of short taps was reverberating through the floorboard, and, unfortunately, through my very skull and eyes. Then, abruptly, it stopped.

"Aha!" exclaimed the taller one. "Lieutenant, I do believe our guest isn't dead anymore."

Their voice, light with a slight erratic edge to it, was as painful to my ears as the previous noise.

I made an attempt to express that I was never dead in the first place — even envenomed, I hardly would have forgotten playing a match with the Boatman — but found it challenging to produce more than an incoherent rasp.

"I believe they can hear us, Captain," said the shorter shadow in a softer, more measured voice that turned one's mind to comforting things like the routine lighting and dimming of lamps and newspaper crosswords. It too was laced with anxiety, restrained but all the more apparent for it.

Captain. This single word made all scattered puzzle pieces fall into place at once: I was in the dimly lit hold of a ship. At zee.

"I should hope so!" the captain replied energetically to their lieutenant, and approached me. The sound of their footsteps explained to me the noise that startled me to alertness: it was the tapping of their foot.

Once close to me, they crouched, inspecting my ragged form. A long, thin finger poked unceremoniously at my shoulder.

"Hullo? Are you with us, Detective?"

The distance that still remained between us despite their bending down was impressive; they struck a tall figure. From my vantage point on the floor, my view of them consisted of polished boots, cascading hair, and what I now understood to be a pair of large, diamond-shaped green spectacles. The mere sight of them instantly adjusted my understanding of the situation.

I wasn't in the hold of just any ship. I'd been abducted by the Pirate-Queen themself.

[bluemooncove]

The sudden slumber that overtook the customers was a startling display of power yet Akari still felt a hint of joy. Good! Getting out of here would be a lot harder with so many witnesses. The smile faded as she watched the shards of ice strike into the thrall's body. It had not been as severe as she expected but it was still sickening. It was her attack that had done this to her. Cynical though she may be, she found nothing but discomfort in harming another human.

That throbbing pain in her side beats against her mind. It's hard to contemplate the weight of her actions with Flavia's knife twisting in her body. It's hard to contemplate much of anything beyond the agony that she feels. Thinking was hard. Which meant she was starting to make stupid decisions. Which may well have come to a head when Flavia told her to leave.

"Oh no you don't! You think I'm letting you get away with that talk? I don't care what I should do! I just finished getting stabbed to protect you! Now you want to go and make that a waste of pain?" Her hands bat Flavia's aside. It's not particularly hard with the gal fighting against herself. Even if she had been stronger than she expected. "So don't you go trying to be the only hero now! We're in this one together! So start making for the exit!"

She gives Flavia a push. It's not anything rough. Just enough to put another foot between them. Until that spell breaks she doesn't want her getting too close.

"And you!"

The statement is punctuated by her whirling on her feet to face the attacking thrall. The red stain upon her white costume grew larger in size. The sudden movement making her wound worse. She pointed towards the other and another blast of ice was launched. This was not an attack, no, she'd aimed it to missed the woman by a great distance. Just an attempt to emphasize she could keep attacking.

"I don't know how much of you is you and how much of you is whatever this mistress did to you! I'm selfish though and I don't want you on my conscious! When that ice melts it'll open up cavities all over you! Even if you make it, you're just as likely to get carved up and studied for being from out of this world as she is! So please let me save you too!"

She's not thinking about what she's saying. She's not considering how dangerous that woman's ability to control minds is. She's only seeing the hurt woman before her and thinking about how sad it is to be owned by another. For anyone with a master is nothing but a servant. Annoying though she may be ~ she was someone wasn't she? Tears were starting to well in Akari's eyes.

"So both of you shut up! Stop talking about being left behind and stop raving about a mistress who isn't even here! I don't care what's rational! I don't want to leave you and I don't want to hurt you! If you go back to her you lose! And if you keep fighting I will beat you! You don't even know how to get back! You were pulled her with Flavia, right? Nobody gets what they want! Can't we all win!?"

When she glances back over her shoulder at Flavia the tears have already started leaking.

"Oh and ... stop acting like you're worth less than me. You both have got as much value as I do. That's what it means to be a person. So if you tell me to run again I'm sending you flying."

Desperate and pained as she may be there's some small hint of strategy in her act. Her attention continues to shift between Flavia and the thrall. She's not letting either get the jump on her now. Not while the spell is still on Flavia.

The thrall slips back, the blades of ice surround her as she leans inhumanely to the side. "Quiet~ Sleep!"

Her voice is soft, it's in the moment yet it's effect is clear. Akari feels it, Flavia feels it, but their minds are resolute, they're not weak people without a hint of power. Though Flavia is merely a human, her mind is opened far wider, and Akari seems powerful.

Yet all the other patrons in this cafe drop to the floor, her eyes wide, their minds quiet. They've all fallen asleep with their eyes open, the same sort of words that often turn all of Flavia's dear friends away..

Or lure those normal girls into something worse.

She has to do it, less the strangers come to tackle her as she fails to dodge the numerous blades. Striking her and cutting through, her body is forced back, stumbling to the floor filled with ice as she pulls a blade out.

"Ah~" Pulling one out of her head, blooded eyes look back towards Akari as Flavia continues to weigh down on her.

"I love you I love you I love you.." Her hands twist the knife, her body holds and continues to try to push Akari down, but her feeble strength holds little compared to them.

They tumble down, Flavia's knife is left in Akari's waist as she gasps, her hand on her heart, "I... I.."

Flavia approaches, reaching out as if she's about to say ''I love you' again. Yet the effect seems to be waning, behind Akari she can see the thrall dragging her blade riddled body up, barely standing but alive.

"You...should run Akari-san..." Her hands drift towards Akari's neck, clearly her body is being controlled still. Still bend on making Akari drop down, even if it means choking her. But her movements are sluggish, restrained.

Her eyes rest on Akari, but they seem ready to sacrifice not escape.

"R-run...she won't hurt me... not harshly.... I'll go back with her.. you'll be safe.."

Flavia shows her real self, even as she struggles to resist trying to attack Akari, this girl is a silly hero. A powerless hero who would shoulder the world with her life, even if she loses every time.

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

Mmmm Jinx AU where after being taken in by Silco, thinking she's been abandoned by Vi leads to her not latching on to Silco as the most important thing in her life who she must be loyal to above all else, but full on swinging into the direct opposite direction and becoming like Sevika.

[This AU is in part inspired by the idea of Jinx becoming more idealogically like Sevika, but also from OG Jinx's personality.

OG Jinx is a character who's primary drive is her own personal enjoyment and happiness. Which comes from building weapons, causing explosions of all kinds, and pranking Piltoveans.

Jinx doesn't go out looking to kill people, she goes out to to have a good time, and if people happen to die while she's having her good time, then that doesn't really concern her.

Like there's this one quote about OG Jinx that basically boils down to: "If Jinx found a box of firecrackers that had a person sitting on top of it. She'd light the fireworks without even thinking about the person on the box because she was so focused on her excitement about fireworks, that she didn't even notice the person."

OG Jinx has prioritized her own personal enjoyment over everything else, that people potentially dying as a result of whatever she's doing is so completely irrelevant, to the point of her being effectively unable to perceive the potential collateral damage.

It's not even that OG Jinx wants to kill people, or enjoys killing people, it's just that people dying while she's doing what she loves isn't even a linked phenomenon in her brain. Because people (who die) are going to die eventually with or without her actions, so why shouldn't she enjoy herself even if people happen to die while she's doing so.

Jinx's loyalty to Zaun is prioritized in the same way in this AU. People are going to die with or without the revolution happening, so they might as well have the revolution.]

Loyal to the dream of Zaun over any individual leader.

I mean, she still comes to love Silco as a father figure, and he still comes to love her as a daughter, but also much like with Sevika, they're both fully aware that if Jinx ever comes to the conclusion he isn't the person who's the best bet for securing Zaunite independence, she'll abandon his gang and possibly go elsewhere.

Or even more so, if she comes to the conclusion that he's worse for Zaun than he is good, possibly kill him herself.

Which I feel like wouldn't stop him from loving her more than anything else.

I think he'd just consider it another aspect of her that makes her the ideal Zaunite. The ability to put The Cause even before her personal feelings and attachments, something he's still not able to do.

Basically this Jinx thinks of her loyalty to Zaun and her personal love for individuals in her life as entirely disconnected to each other, with Loyalty to Zaun being her default.

Which adds a number of complications to her relationships. Specifically her being totally unafraid to fight to the death against her loved ones without an ounce of remorse, and then thinking of it as a complete non-issue in the aftermath if they both survive.

Like she fully still considers Ekko her friend by the time Vi gets out of jail in this AU. Full on "We try to kill each other on alternating Thursdays, but that's no reason to stop being friends" feelings.

Which also results in her not feeling an ounce of shame in helping him and the Firelights out when it comes to basically anything they do that isn't in direct opposition to SIlco.

I mean, the Firelights are also working towards bettering Zaun just like she (honestly believes) is, they just have different opinions and methods of how to do so from Silco's gang. While also serving different parts of the community.

[And yes, Ekko and the rest of the Firelights have complicated feelings about Jinx in this AU. None of them know where she stands with them.

She'll help them without expectations one day, and then turn around and kill some of them in a confrontation without an ounce of hesitation the next.

Some of them hate her, some have mixed feelings. Others just think she's completely mentally unstable, and shouldn't be trusted considering she seemingly flips between being ally and enemy with no warning.

Ekko's feelings are especially complicated, as you can imagine.]

None of this is to say Jinx doesn't feel just as deeply about the people she loves, as she does in canon. It's just that trauma has convinced her that unequivocal loyalty to an individual vs an idea is a very easy way to be hurt.

Detached logical decision making as a way to avoid being harmed by making emotional mistakes. Which is what she feels is why she failed so much as Powder.

The belief, that she was so obsessed with gaining approval from individuals in her life, she never had a real personal goal to strive towards that she could measure progress and growth to. Resulting in her always feeling like a failure, even when she was doing good, or at least improving.

She's still deeply hurt by Vi choosing Caitlyn over her (as far as she could tell), the Firelights taking Vi, and her accidental killing of Silco while spiraling in the wake of her Shimmer surgery. She's also extremely frustrated by her freak out on the airship where she shoots Eve (pink haired Firelight).

Because she feels like those are instances where she gave into the impulse to emotional over reaction to specific individuals that caused all of Powder's problems.

She was so focused on Vi, and her desire for Vi's approval, that she couldn't fight the Firelights as effectively as she normally would.

She was so focused on Vi seemingly leaving her to go off with Caitlyn that she couldn't focus on fighting Ekko on the Bridge, resulting in her getting far more injured than she normally would have, and nearly not succeeding in getting the crystal back.

She was so triggered by thinking she was seeing Vi on the airship, that she completely lost it and started shooting indiscriminately and caused the job to go south and injured people on her own side.

She was so caught up in her spiral and hallucinations at the tea party, that she shot Silco based entirely on instinctual protective instinct when hearing the hammer being drawn on a gun on her vulnerable loved one, rather than anything intentional on her part. Which she'd previously had always sworn would be the case should it ever come to her killing Silco.

That if Jinx ever killed another of her loved ones, it would be because she knew with certainty it would result in the betterment of Zaun, not because she made a mistake because she was being an over emotional idiot.

I think the only major change from this Jinx's actions in the Season 1 part of the story would be how she went about stealing the Hexgem, and why she did so.

In canon she does so because she failed a job, and felt like she needed to do something big to prove to Silco that she was capable, in order to gain validation from him that she was. Even though he never tells her he doesn't think she's capable, just that she needs to take some time off because she had an episode.

He said "take a mental health day, even if you don't think you need it," and she responded, "so you think I'm a fuck up?!"

In this story. it's more that Jinx is so focused on what she could potentially do with Hextech to help the revolution and Zaun as a whole. That she was already planning to steal some research notes and crystals to get experimenting with it on her own terms, before the job gone south, and the new advancements in Hextech being whispered about for progress day.

Getting her hands on the newest form of Hextech is just her getting lucky.

This also means she doesn't steal it the same way. She doesn't do anything to kill any Enforcers, but she does cause a distraction with what seems to be a box of fire works going off prematurely on "accident".

With her swooping in to steal the notes and hexgem while everyone's busy with trying to contain the panic the fireworks accident is causing to really pay attention to what she's doing.

Which the Enforcers do react to, but everyone but Caitlyn disregards as an accident. As once it's clear that nothing other than a few decorations got ruined and people getting startled came of the fireworks incident.

They're far more concerned with the stealing of hextech that's happened, and Viktor's testimony of a young woman with long blue hair sneaking out of their lab.

With the fireworks incident being dismissed as an accident that's completely unrelated to the burglary of the Hextech lab. Beyond the burglar potentially using it as a convenient opening.

Caitlyn's not convinced, and it's already happened so close to the airship shootout incident, so she still goes down and ends up freeing Vi from Stillwater with some of Jinx's drawings as evidence, from the airship shootout.

Which does mean that her trajectory in the Season 2 part of the story would be a bit different.

She still goes into a depression after Silco's death. Mostly because she feels that she's broken her most important self imposed rule: not killing because of personal feelings about someone, but for The Cause.

She killed Silco not because she felt killing him would make things better, but because she was scared and spiraling and in that vulnerable emotional state, she defaulted to the same way of thinking that had gotten her loved ones killed the last time.

She protected Vi who she loved, and couldn't defend herself, based on gut instinct. And it resulted in the death of another loved one, and the complete destabilization of Zaun.

Now because Jinx is more focused on Zaun than on her personal relation ships, I don't know if she fires on the Council immediately after Silco's death the way she does in canon. I don't really think she would.

I could see her doing it because she's still in the peak of the Shimmer high, which is heightening all her emotions. Driving her to seek revenge on Piltover in her grief. Even though if she could think more clearly, she wouldn't do it, and would instead wait to gather an actual following and doing an organized and planned strike to be the most effective.

But I could also see SIlco's death snapping her back to reality as she sees it. That she simply takes the gem, her guns, and Silco's body and Disappears, vanishing into the night with neither Vi or Caitlyn knowing of the weapon she's built or what she's going to do next.

Which could have interesting repercussions on the story. Considering Piltover's council would to have agreed to Zaunite independence on the conditions of handing over Jinx.

Except the man they made that deal with is now dead, no one (except Sevika) knows where Jinx is to hand her over, and the Undercity is and of itself divided on handing one of their own over to Piltover (to potentially be executed, because of how dangerous Hextech can be, and a lot of the counsel fully thinking Zaunites are inherently dangerous, not to mention thanks to Caitlyn, Jinx is a known weapons builder, so what else do they think she'll do with access to Hextech other than build weapons) in order to gain independence.

I'm sure the chem barons would have no issue handing JInx over, because then they'd be free to divide up territory and completely take over with no one like Silco holding their leash, or PIltover dictating what is and isn't legal on their side of the river in the first place.

Oh the Firelights would be around to oppose them, but they'd never really were able to gain any ground beyond causing problems for Shimmer production.

But I'm not sure how more ordinary people would react.

I mean, in this AU it's pretty well known that Jinx holds the idea of Zaun above anything else, and was willing to help people who weren't affiliated with any specific group, as long as doing so wouldn't harm the independence movement of Zaun.

She's not really shy about expressing that stance, it's just up to everyone else to believe it or not.

Jinx, who would use her high position in Silco's circle to help ordinary Zaunites. Be it from one of the gangs overstepping and trying to start rackets Silco had forbidden, from unjust arrest from Enforcers, or even pointing them in the direction of the Firelights if she thought that was for the best.

Declaring that so long as the help she gave random people didn't harm or slow the march towards independence, helping her fellow Zaunite was helping Zaun, was part of the fight toward an independent Zaun.

She's the Loose Canon, shooting for Zaun and no one else. Loyal to no kingpen or Chembaron, but to The People of Zaun as a whole.

She has a bit of a following even without firing on Piltover or turning the Grey back on them. She's a bit of a living folk hero to some people, especially those she personally helped out of a bad situation, for no reason other than "I could, and doing so doesn't hurt anyone else. So why wouldn't I?"

Not to mention I definitely feel like Jinx would be way more intentionally politically educated in this AU than she is in canon.

JInx as she is in Arcane, never really gave a shit about Zaun's independence beyond what it meant to Silco (and later Isha), and she very obviously never bothered to learn anything about politics. At least nothing Silco didn't force her to learn.

But with Jinx's primary drive being Zaun, I feel like she'd definitely be way more politically minded, and while I do think she would consider turning herself over to Piltover to secure Zaun's independence (in a direct parallel of Vi's willingness to hand herself over to get the Enforcers to leave the Undercity alone to keep her family safe).

I don't think Jinx would actually go through with handing herself over.

Not with the Undercity being actively torn apart by gang disputes in the wake of Silco's death, no way of ensuring Zaun's prosperity after handing herself over, and no way of securing actual tangible betterment of conditions in Zaun even with Zaunite independence.

I mean from what we're told, Piltover's offer of independence was essentially cutting the Undercity loose.

Stopping their dumping of industrial waste into Zaun's water supply, ceasing utilizing of Zaun's air duct and water system for the climate control of Piltover's Hexgate system, release of Zaunites from Stillwater (or at least transfer to Zaunite custody)), and the Kiraman family handing over control of the vents that suppress The Grey over to someone from the Undercity weren't anywhere in that deal from what we're told.

[I don't think everyone on the counsel would have agreed to it if it was, they're all complete capitalists, no matter if some of them value sapient life more than others (Mel, Cassandra) on a conceptual level.

I believe the ones who outright hate Zaunites (which some of them clearly did) would have staunchly opposed if it meant having to alter how they actually approached how they ran their businesses, vs just cutting Zaun loose.

Hell I think those councelors would have gotten even more lax with their business regulations. I mean, Zaun wouldn't have been part of Piltover, and their citizens not their legal responsibility any more.

So why should anyone from Piltover worry about them dying? The trenchers wanted independence and if they can't survive without Piltover's support, how's that anyone's problem but the trenchers?]

It was, if you hand over Jinx, we'll legally make you not our problem any more.

Which I don't think a politically educated Jinx would go for. It would just leave Zaun to the messy power struggle that appeared because of the power vacum caused by Silco's death. None of the Undercity's actual problems would be solved, besides Enforcers no longer being able to harass them.

So the Zaun Piltover conflict would stay more political and less outright invasion than it is in canon as a result.

[cacw]

super splashfrost times

[marshmallowgoop]

About Lip Flap...

So, Ending 72 of Detective Conan got me thinking about lip flap:

What do I mean by that? Well, in some circles of the AMV-making world, it's maybe viewed as a "sin" to leave lip flaps unedited when there are no audible words. You either cut out the movements entirely, or you sync up the movements to match the lyrics of the song. Lip flap is distracting and immersion breaking.

Yet... this Detective Conan ending—mixing anime and music just like an AMV!—has lots of lip flap. Characters are talking and living and spouting out conversations, and there's no effort at all to hide or remove that. In fact, this sequence was deliberately animated that way.

And it's far from the only Detective Conan example in this vein. Which brings me to my next thought: early episodes of Detective Conan include instances of montages or characters otherwise moving their mouths without sound, but the FUNimation English dub seemingly found this so uncomfortable that words were added in:

Sometimes, I really love this choice! Conan's voice fading into Shinichi's in Episode 39 is one of my all-time favorite moments in the dub. Similarly, Conan's added little "but"s in Episode 32 are adorable.

But I feel like the montage in Episode 37 is weakened by the added dialogue because we didn't need any words to understand the story, and while Episode 42 might be argued to be more compelling and "show don't tell" without Conan's narration, we do miss a fair amount of information from that narration.

Overall, though, I think the changes indicate a cultural difference. Lip flap without audible words is fine for Japanese audiences, but overseas, it's seen as awkward and jarring.

So, is it a "sin" to include unedited lip flap in your AMVs? Well, it probably depends on who you ask!

But personally, my mindset has changed to not at all. I think there are moments where the indication of words can be quite powerful, just like in Detective Conan Ending 72 or the montage in Episode 37. While I mostly try to remove or sync lip flap in my own AMVs, there are also definitely times where I leave it. What's wrong with showing that there was a conversation?

That said... I gotta come clean. One of my first reactions to Ending 72 was to almost cringe at all the lip flap! But then I thought about it some more. While I'm rather inexperienced with making MMVs (Manga Music Videos), ever since I started, I've been a fan of leaving the speech bubbles unedited, text and all—despite the fact that this, similarly, seems to be somewhat of a "sin." I liked providing context, I liked that there were creative things you could do with the dialogue... and hey, is that really so different from leaving in some lip flap from time to time?

In the end, AMV editing is very subjective. Everyone has their own preferences and styles that speak to them, and that's part of what makes the art form so beautiful to me. But Ending 72 made me step back and reconsider some of the "rules" that I'd drilled into my head. Maybe what I've become so used to seeing as a "flaw" can actually be quite powerful in its own right!