#and it worked before. apparently he got another guy a job in this company and now he's doing really well there

[daz4i]

remember how i mentioned that my dad's friend suggested he'll teach me this program so i might work in his high-tech company bc he "remembers that [i'm] a smart person". anyway i went to his house yesterday to discuss the whole thing and he asked me what, like, education i have and if i've studied anything after high school to which i very slowly said "i- uh- mostly, um, arts" and when i tell you i could see this man's eyes instantly fill with regret,

[fuck-customers]

Kind of a fuck customers but also a satisfying story at the same time.

My role in the call center I work in involves taking specifically corporate calls, which means I spend all day talking to “business professionals” (and I use that term loosely) including CEOs. As you can imagine, over 90% of these CEOs are the scum of the earth and the most entitled assfaces on the planet.

A week or so ago, I took a call and went through my usual routine of greeting the cardholder and then began going over verification questions. Since we’re A.) a bank and B.) a bank that handles corporate and government credit cards, we take security seriously and require a caller to be able to verify 3 pieces of information based on what the person responsible for their credit cards put on the account. If they don’t pass, we refer them to their company to get the right details.

So as I’m doing this, the guy on the phone is getting increasingly irritated as he keeps getting the security questions wrong. I’m calm and professional the entire time but firm. Eventually I run out of things to verify with him and tell him that we won’t be able to assist and that he needs to contact his administrator. This is apparently where I went wrong.

“LADY I AM THE ADMINISTRATOR!!” He screeches. Ok, great. I look him up and that’s true but there’s a second admin listed, so I ask him to check in with him. He then yells “THERE IS NO OTHER ADMIN! I’M THE CEO OF THIS COMPANY FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!!”

I apologize and tell him while that may be true, he still got his security questions wrong and needs to reach out to his account coordinator then. This man then proceeds to scream at me for the next minute or so saying how we’re an awful bank, how he’s had problems with us for years, blah blah and how we have the worst customer service ever. Keep in mind, I’ve been nice and empathetic this entire time but also I’m not gonna lose my fucking job just because a guy in a suit doesn’t know his shit. I give him the email to his account coordinator and stress again that he needs to talk to them. Then this exchange happens:

Him: “So let me get this straight. You are saying you are REFUSING and UNWILLING to help me, right?

Me: “No, actually I’d love to help you, however we have these security procedures in place for yours and your company’s protection and cannot make exceptions for anyone.”

Him: “This is fucking UNBELIEVABLE! I’ve HAD IT with this bank!!”

Me: “Ok, I’m sorry to hear that. Anything else I can do for you before we disconnect?”

Him: “WHAT IS YOUR NAME? I NEED YOUR NAME. NOW.”

Me: *gives my first name and spells it for him even though it’s a very basic 4 letter name because I’m a bitch*

Him: YOUR LAST NAME.

Me: “We don’t give out anything but our first name for the safety of our employees.”

Him: *insert that condescending, pissed off chuckle middle aged men do when they’re mad here* “Well I’ll tell you what (My Name), when I close this account and pull my MILLIONS OF DOLLARS out of (bank name) and they ask me why, I’ll make sure to tell them that it’s (My Name)’s fault. And I will see to it that you won’t be able to get another job outside of the minimum wage fast food job or whatever you had before this. How does that sound?”

Me: “Sounds great. Now seeing as how this conversation is no longer productive or professional and threats are being made, I’ll be terminating the call, have a nice day.”

Him: “DO NOT HANG UP O-“

Me: *click*

And that’s how making rich, powerful men rage-cry became my new favorite hobby. Thankfully, I haven’t gotten any feedback on that call; not that I would, seeing as how I did my job exactly how I was supposed to. Anyways I hope I’m his 13th reason. ❤️

Posted by admin Rodney.

[scribble-dribble-writes]

Plastic hearts - (9)

<<<Prev Next>>>

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But what would you do if I went to touch you now?What would you do if they never found us out? What would you do if we never made a sound?

🤭👀🦋

---

You appointed your sous chef to run the restaurant while you wanted to work the first few months to get the school lunch system in order. The kitchen facility was much less advanced to what you had access to before and the menu needed a revamp. None of the kids were getting any nutritious meals in and upon further research it was easier to understand why not many students were willing to have their meals here. For the price they were paying, they did not receive food they liked.

The benefit of being from an established restaurant meant you got your own office within the school and it felt empowering. To have your own corner. It felt like as the days passed, your sleeplessness was getting worse and all you could think of was how hard it was to try and be anything else other than what this world expected women to be. You wanted to quit your job or resort to being comfortable with just being in the background.

It was like a new wave of bitterness and futility that had taken every woman by a storm. A few of them were like zombies, not lively as they had once been before. The hallway chatter had died down, a lot of companies began to struggle, all over the world it was becoming more apparent. That if women were taken out of the system, it began to fail on itself.

But through this you were facing another unique challenge on your own. You had asked for time with Ken, to contemplate on that friendship and process his return. You had at minimum expected him to have popped up into your life again to remind you he needed an answer, or buy his way in with treats and flamboyant gestures to convince you he was trying but none of that happened over the past week. He was firstly busy with his schedule but then he never went out of his way to find you. But even if he had done so you would know because you were avoiding him, only out of the need to observe him from afar.

Once the meals for the day and week were sorted all that you needed to do was oversee the execution and make sure the pantry was stocked with the required ingredients while managing the budget. Which gave you a little extra time to snoop around.

You opened up your phone to start the first step, to check if he had any social media presence and your search came up with nothing. He wasn’t anywhere online. He would turn up to school 10 mins early just to be there to welcome the kids who needed to come to library to study and some days would surprise them with a box of donuts.

When you walked down the corridors you would always here the sound of children laughing and him making jokes. The more you observed him to try to find a characteristic that could label him or show you that deep down he was just as bad as any other guy, you couldn’t. There was no flaw.

Come lunch time, he would sit alone to have his meal, his eyes occasionally catching yours when you stood behind the counter and before he could initiate a conversation you would leave, to hide inside the service area.

It was just that when you’ve wanted to be right so badly, admitting defeat to being proven wrong made you feel a lot more humiliated.

You were walking back to your office post the lunch rush when you could hear him down the hallway. His voice animated as he narrated a story and it drew you towards the library door. From the glass window in it, you could seen him, wearing a paper crown while all the other children were gathered around him wearing some form of character related clothing, all taking part in the story telling.

The smile on these toddler’s faces caused you to smile too. But there was one issue that you couldn’t resolve. How was it that he had brought forth a change in himself while you were struggling for it? even after having visited the real world before you did.

“God, he’s so good with kids. It’s unbelievable.”, someone slid up next to you. Turning to see who it was, you found yourself standing next to the school principal.

“He just turned up at my doorstep one day. I was skeptical cause he had no work experience but look at that face.”, she smirked.

You weren’t interested in listening to her take, it astonished you that most failed to value him for his character and only chose to exploit him for his physical beauty.

“Who can stay no to all of that?”, she gossiped but your eyes could only focus on him.

His sandy blonde hair turning golden as it caught the afternoon light, the pastel pink shirt he wore reminded you of where you had come from. It made you feel special, that wherever you were, you and him had that special connection to exist in a world of your own.

“He’s more than that.”, you said confidently to which she hummed half heartedly.

“But just between us girls though. I believe he already has a girlfriend. I tried to kiss him once and he let it slip.”, she shrugged her shoulders as if her comment was well intentioned but it was rather a way of letting you know that you didn’t have any more chance than she did.

“But hey, until I see a ring on that girl’s finger nothing is set in stone.”, she laughed as she patted your arm but you couldn’t find the humor in her statement.

Every day you learnt something new about this city and this place. But to take a step back from your own problems, you only found more. To understand that just as vulnerable as you were, he was too.

As you looked into the class again, his eyes were on you as he settled the kids into their nap time. He stood up, beginning to walk towards you. The hair on your arms stood up with the shameful feeling of having been caught. You weren’t brave enough to stay, to face him. So you bolted the other direction annoyed with yourself that you were behaving like a teenager.

The day was almost over and you were at ease knowing that since today was friday evening, if you snuck out without him knowing, then you had the whole weekend to yourself without this constant gnawing crush feasting on your mind. You couldn’t put yourself through it again, to have him infiltrate your mind. You knew how it went last time, so why try again. You just wanted to snuff before it consumed you whole.

You put away your folders and stepped out after making sure there was no one around. You locked your door and quickly began to walk towards the school entrance, throwing glances over your shoulder keeping a vigilant watch for Ken.

But suddenly you felt a warm hold around your wrist and then a firm tug, which altered your course of direction from the school's entrance to the Janitor’s closet. You were going to scream, absolutely convinced this was an abduction when a hand wrapped around your mouth. Your back rested on his chest as he shushed you, just by the softness of his touch you could tell it was the one man you were trying to hide from.

He watched the crack beneath to door, only to watch a passing shadow and the sound of clicking heels against the floor tiles. But all you could focus on was how his muscles were taut beneath his shirt, his warm breath slipping down the back of your neck and the rhythm of his rapid heart that beat in sync with yours. It was sureal, hearing his heart beat for the first time, it reminded you that he was real.

As the sound faded, he relaxed and let go of you. But you were grateful for the dark, he couldn’t see how deep your cheeks were flushed.

“What were you thinking?”, you whispered quickly.

“I wanted to talk to you.”, he responded.

“You don’t kidnap people for that.”, you gestured around you.

“No, I’ve made sure you don’t take off running again.”, he narrowed his eyes at you.

“Yeah, I see you and your little schemes.”, he continued knowing you remained silent.

“Schemes? What schemes?”, you mumbled as he drew closer, there was no where else to run now, because he had his arms on either side and a mischievous rumble in his voice.

“You’ve been avoiding me, Briella.”, he tilted his head so he could maintain eye contact.

Your palms were sweating, your heart was beating faster than it should, your knees felt weak and some part of you wanted to pull him in closer.

You wanted to deny it so as you thought of an excuse, you opened your mouth to say it but he placed his hand over your lips again. Hearing the sound of the Principal’s heels coming closer again. This felt like a secret mission, that for the first time since setting foot here, you felt the rush of adrenaline. The space was getting a little stuffy as you breathed in sync with him. His eyes finding yours again as you both waited, afraid she was going to open the door and discover you two here, huddled together in a rather compromising exchange.

But the fear turned into a thrill as he grinned and you knew, that there was no use fighting this. He was going to take residence in your mind once again.

---

Tags:

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[krizariel]

Stripper jason dating CEO Timmy :X

Big thank you to @galkyrie for indulging my midnight jaytim brainworms, helping me make sense of them and adding more to it. This is basically me putting together our convo, so not much of a fic.

FYI, for those who care about this: This AU ended up being switch because we can't help ourselves hence why I tagged both jaytim and timjay. Generally my AUs are more vague on that regard but on this one there's mention of both dynamics so figured, fair warning on this one.

They met at a small party thrown by Dickie and Kory (dating or married idk, whatever fits your fancy) for Dickie’s birthday. Tim is like a little brother to Dick and by extension, to Kory. Jay is close friends with Roy and Kory.

Somehow Tim and Jay had never crossed paths before; with Tim taking over higher responsibilities at the company because his father is ready to retire and leave it all up to him - he is proud of his son and despite whatever Tim says, Jack knows his son is more than ready - Tim has been busy and barely had time to socialize and well, have a life out of work.

They start talking, they hit it off pretty well. Somehow what they do for a living didn’t come up in their conversation because they were too busy talking about their hobbies, Star Trek, AngBang (Sauron has a ship and Jason couldn’t stop talking about it) and  whether or not smore’s count as dinner.

They exchanged numbers but Tim never got to call him again until one night he saw him performing at the club. It was Tim’s birthday and as a surprise, his friend dragged him to a popular stripclub. Roy worked as a bartender there so he’d slip them free drinks every now and then.

When the show started, the room went crazy. Apparently, Jason was very popular and indeed, he was amazing. At some point Jason actually noticed him and even waved at him while he was spinning on the pole.

Steph: I’m sorry… did Mr. Beefcake actually waved at you!? 

Tim: Looks like it

Steph: YOU KNOW HIM?

Tim: Well, remember that guy I told you about that I kinda liked, mayyyybe had a little crush on?...

Steph: YOUR CRUSH IS A STRIPPER?

Tim: I DIDN’T KNOW THAT PART!

Tim was a bit embarrassed and figured it was probably for the best that he never called him to ask him out, as he saw Jay work and all his audience ogling over him… he didn't know how he felt about dating a stripper. Plus, who knows if he’d even be interested… he must have many people behind him and flirting and looking like a sin incarnate is part of his job.

They met again out of work but Jay didn't even want to talk to him again because he figured Tim was just another uptight asshole who just judged Jay for his job so he didn't call him again and avoided him. Tim felt like a real asshole and figured it didn't harm to be friends... Jay was really cool and Tim enjoyed his time with him. Tim apologized for how he came through at the beginning.

Since then, they became friends, sometimes they would text or meet for coffee. It’s not dating - he tells himself-  and every time he’d make a stop by the stripclub to grab a drink, hang out with Roy and Kory at the bar, ~~maybe catch a glimpse of Jay as he danced, flirted and got flirted back~~ he was always reminded of it.

Sometimes he’d get a lapdance himself. What’s the harm…nothing is gonna happen anyway. But oddly enough they’d mostly talk about their day. Tim would be the kind of guy that would sit on his hands to not touch and Jason found it really cute. He enjoyed teasing the little guy.

Other times, Tim pays for a private room/dance to give Jay an hour break from being on the floor, because he notices he is tired. Jason was surprised at first because he thought Tim was finally pulling moves on him but nope, instead he wants nothing but to give him a break and spend time with him, pulling his laptop to watch Star Trek since Jason hadn’t watched it and was interested. Jason just kept falling and falling for Tim’s little gestures. He knew Tim found him attractive, it was obvious, but he was always the proper guy, never making any advances, just making Jason feel cared… which WAS WORSE! because he was starting to imagine it was Tim instead of those men or women who’d he’d dance for. Jay just wanted Tim to fucking snap and fuck him senseless in that stupid couch from the private room. Meanwhile, Tim was starting to finally stop being in denial and was working out the courage to ask Jay on a date because he knows he caught feelings hard.

The next time Tim paid for a private dance, Jay was having none of it. He was going to put on a show and was determined to make Tim snap. 

Jason, rolling his hips so his abs are almost brushing Tim's face: who'd think a CEO would be so timid … (Art here )

All the while Tim’s hands are hovering over his skin and not yet touching. Jason's kind of expecting him to get aggressive, or super eager, once he does touch him, but Tim's almost reverent when his fingertips brush along his outer thighs. Tim really -really- wanted to ask Jason out first but he is just about to lose it. And he does, eventually, snap and fuck Jason senseless on the couch. While they are cuddling Tim finally tells him he has been meaning to work up the courage to ask him out... Tim just tells him he wants to date him for real, he deserves to be dined and wined and maybe they are doing all this out of order… and Jason doesn't know how to respond because how is this man so damn cute and yet so savage. Jason asks him if he is sure… he doesn’t want this to be a on-time thing but he’d understand. Most of his previous lovers have ended quickly because they tried to pull the “savior” card, couldn’t get past what he does for a living and he doesn’t have plans to change this for anyone. But Tim is sure, he thought about what this means and he really wants to try if Jay will have him. Tim brings Jason flowers when he picks him up for the date and opens his car door for him. Just total romantic shit that Jason should be too jaded to fall for, but...it's Tim.

So it works on him, because he's already gone on Tim.

By the fourth course Jason's already daydreaming about peeling Tim out of his fancy suit and having his way with him on whatever stupid fancy couch he has at his penthouse. When they get back to Tim's place and Jason eases himself onto the couch and pats his lap like: I think it's your turn to be the one in my lap Tim: hope I don't need to dance because let me tell you already, I suck. But Jay walks him through it, gives him directions and suddenly Tim is taking orders. He finds he likes giving away control if its Jay.

For a while they were dating secretly but it was just because Tim didn't want the inevitable attention on their relationship and wanted to have privacy for them to develop their relationship first. He respected Jay’s job, he did it because he liked it and he was certainly amazing at it - but then Tim realized Jay might not be ok with Tim always introducing him as a friend even among their close friends because he thinks Tim is ashamed so he took Jay as his date to a Wayne gala. And of course people around Tim take it as a license to badmouth Jay and mock Tim by insinuating they had seen all there is to Jay (since some of them apparently went to the strip club Jay worked at). Jay was actually very charmed with Tim because unlike other boyfriends he’s had, Tim didn’t try to make him quit his job. Truly it took a lot from Tim at the beginning to get used to Jay dancing and everyone ogling over him… sometimes some men or women would recognize him while they were on a date and talk so amicably with him essentially ignoring Tim’s presence…but Tim focused on the fact that only Tim got to see how Jay sang while he cooked; how he genuinely laughed like a dork; how he screamed Tim’s name when he reached climax, how he slept like a starfish, etc, and slowly found he loved that more than any jealousy or insecurity he could feel.

and if you missed it, timjay art here

[atlabeth]

unacceptable - anthony lockwood

summary: you and lockwood don't shy away from your relationship, even in your line of work. apparently, it hasn't gone unnoticed by your colleagues.

a/n: i guess i have a thing for british guys named anthony because uhhhh okay anyways enjoy this short little thing i wrote in one sitting to get used to mr lockwood

wc: 1k. feels weird writing something so short after my past exploits lol

warning(s): nothing all fluff

“Oh, thank you,” you said with a sigh of relief as Anthony brought two cups of tea over. You picked yours up and sipped it, your shoulders relaxing a bit as the liquid warmed you from the inside out. “We seriously need to fix the heating in this place. I feel like I’m constantly freezing to death.” 

Lockwood chuckled and wrapped an arm around you, pressing a kiss to your cheek. “Is that better?” 

“It always helps,” you said with a smile. “More than your tea, I think.” 

“You’ll be happy to know I’ve already put in a call.” He rubbed your shoulder as he talked, his proximity alone helping with your chills. “It should be fixed by the time we’re done with this job at the end of the week.”

“Thank god,” you muttered as you took another sip of tea, and you leaned your head against Lockwood’s shoulder. “You’re the best.” 

He hummed. “I try.” 

“Alright,” a voice suddenly said, and your gaze moved to see George. “That’s enough.” 

Anthony raised his eyebrows. “What?” 

George said your and Lockwood’s names, his arms crossed as he stared at the two of you, “we need to talk.” 

Your brows creased for a moment as you pulled away from Lockwood, though still keeping your hands intertwined as you leaned against the counter. “What about?” 

“Your relationship is ruining this agency,” George said simply. “It’s unacceptable.” 

Lockwood went as far as to laugh, his amusement barely concealed. “How do you think?” 

“There is obvious favoritism going on here!” he exclaimed. 

“Favoritism?” you repeated, this time laughing yourself. “That’s ridiculous.” 

“No,” George said, shaking his head, “the only ridiculous thing is how unbalanced everything’s become since you two finally got together.” 

“I hope you have examples,” Anthony said. 

“Oh,” he laughed, “oh, I have examples. Starting with right now.” He gestured with his hands in the open air. “I’ve been complaining about the broken heating for almost two weeks to no avail. Your girlfriend suggests it, and suddenly it’s on its way to being fixed.” 

Lockwood shrugged. “It’s just good timing. No biases.” 

Lucy just happened to walk in at that point, her water bottle in her hand, and George’s eyes lit up. 

“Lucy!” he exclaimed, turning his attention to her; she looked back with a faint smile as she stopped. “You’re on my side, right?” 

“Your side for what?” she asked. 

“That we’re ruining the agency with our love,” you said dryly. Anthony laughed and pulled you closer, to which George gestured blatantly with his hand. 

“Right in front of us.” He shook his head dramatically. “It’s like you don’t even care about a professional environment.” 

Lucy laughed, her eyes alight with amusement as she looked over at you two. “You do take an awful lot of time getting ready in the morning because you’re too busy fawning over each other.” 

You felt the heat rush to your cheeks. “We do not.” 

“I actually timed you this morning after you were particularly lovey-dovey yesterday,” George said. “You made us ten minutes late—I’m surprised we didn’t get a ticket trying to get over there in time.” 

“Which we did, by the way,” you said. “We actually got there early. Our client praised us for our work.”

“Like you haven’t caused us to be late plenty of times,” Lockwood added. “We’re just enjoying each other’s company.” He gave George a look. “Which you encouraged us to do before we got together, if you remember.” 

He frowned. “I did not.” 

“You did,” Lucy piped in. “You told them that being around friends while you have them is especially important in this line of work.” 

“Exactly!” George exclaimed. “They’re not exactly friends anymore, are they?” 

“I’d say we’re friends,” you frowned. “Just because he’s my boyfriend doesn’t mean I don’t like him anymore.” 

“And I certainly like her beyond a girlfriend,” Lockwood contributed. 

“Alright, we are getting off-topic,” George huffed. “My second point of your obvious favoritism—” he leveled a look at Lockwood— “you always let her sit in the front seat.” 

He shrugged. “Seniority. She’s been here the longest.” 

“Oh, that is cheap,” George complained. “Just because she founded it with you means we all have to rough it in the backseat?” 

“Yes,” Lockwood said with a smile. 

“Lucy,” he said, “we need to go on more jobs with just the two of us.” 

She chuckled. “I like the sound of that. Sitting in the back with all our equipment isn’t the most fun.” 

“We all have to make sacrifices,” you said defensively.

Lucy shrugged as she looked at Anthony. “And you do always throw yourself into danger for her, Lockwood.” 

He frowned. “I throw myself into danger for all of you. It’s in the job description.” 

“Yeah, but you always do it for your girlfriend,” George said, exaggerating your title. “You’ll push Lucy out of the way or draw your rapier for me, but you go full on action-movie hero for her. It’s honestly embarrassing, Lockwood.” 

Lockwood looked down at you with visible mirth in his eyes. “Do you think I should let you die to prove I don’t hold favorites?” 

You shrugged. “It’s only fair.” 

“You even broke our biggest rule!” George snatched the container of biscuits from the kitchen counter and held it up. “You let her have two all the time.” 

Lucy raised her finger, pointing it at the two of you with a nod. “That’s true. It’s the most unfair thing you’ve done since you two started dating.” 

“So what can we do to cure this grave injustice?” you asked with mock austerity. 

“I’m not going to stop kissing my girlfriend just because you think I’m showing favoritism,” Lockwood added dryly, “so don’t push.” 

“The biscuits,” George said immediately. “She can only have one biscuit like the rest of us.” 

You chuckled. “That’s what you’re most worried about?” 

“Yes,” he said, and he glanced at Lucy. 

She nodded. “Absolutely. Back to the single biscuit rule, no matter relationship status.” 

Lockwood looked at you with a sly smile. “What do you think, love? Willing to give it up?” 

“I think I can manage,” you said, and you gave him a chaste kiss on the lips, feeling Anthony smile into it. 

“And already, I feel order being restored to Lockwood and Co,” George said with a sigh. 

“I’m glad that’s all it took,” you laughed as you looked back at him, “because I’m keeping the front seat.” 

-

perm tags: @dv0412 @siriuslyslyslytherin @maruchan77 @simonsbluee @kwyloz @masteroperator @louderfortheback

[senseless-writing]

Unprecedented Distractions

Pairing: Austin Butler x reader

Summary: Austin thought having Y/n with him would make the press interviews more bearable. It hadn’t occurred to him that having her there might lead to some new challenges. 

Warnings: Jealousy, a little bit of insecurity

A/N: So this didn’t turn out to be anything like the original request...I got a bit carried away. Sorry about that! If this isn’t what you wanted, feel free to let me know, and I can maybe try again, or you can bring it to another writer! I won’t take it personally at all :)

If you would like to be added to any of my tag lists (I’ve got a general tag list, along with specific ones for each fandom I’ve written for thus far), plz leave a comment or ask and let me know which one!

Masterlist

----------

Inviting Y/n to a day full of press was one of the most impulsive things Austin has ever done.

Honestly, even he was shocked when the words came tumbling from his lips. They were making dinner together the night before and talking about what their following day looked like. Y/n was so excited for her first day off in who knows how long, though she was bummed to be spending it alone. Austin couldn’t help but wish she wouldn’t have to.

Before he knew it, he was asking her to join him. After a pause, she agreed with a hesitant smile.

And a part of Austin felt bad. Felt bad that his girlfriend would spend her one day off standing on the sidelines, watching him be fawned over by stylists and asked questions about his “genius”. God, it was always so awkward to talk about himself in that way. But the embarrassment almost doubled when doing it in front of the person he loved.

Though he had to admit, waking up that morning and getting ready for work together was somewhat of a dream. And Austin had never felt better about an outfit his stylist picked out for him, not when he saw Y/n’s reaction to it.

While driving to his first interview, she’d pulled him down to her level and whispered something about taking it off him when they got home, and Austin was overwhelmed by the feeling that he’d made the right decision. Even if it meant his white button down had suddenly become unbearably tight over his flushed skin.

That led them to where they were now. With him speaking to someone about the movie he loved, pretending there wasn’t a camera recording them, and trying more than anything to act like his attention wasn’t pulled to the woman standing behind it.

“Did you have any special ways of getting into character on set? Rituals, or something like that?”

“I think a part of me was always in character during that time, especially when it came to his voice,” Austin began, his head turning slightly as he thought over the rest of his answer. Without meaning to, his eyes raced towards Y/n. He wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for. Reassurance, maybe. Or perhaps someone to laugh with, as she was the only someone who personally knew the experiences he was now describing. It’s possible that he just wanted to look at her. Either way, the reason didn’t matter.

Because she wasn’t looking at him.

She was happy, though. Smiling, laughing even. But not at him. At some guy. Austin had to remind himself that he still had an interview to get through, and his pause in between answers was becoming uncomfortable.

He coughed, pretended there was a bubble in his throat, and continued. “It was more method than I’ve ever gone before. But other than that, you know…”

The situation drew his attention against his will. He didn’t want to look; he wanted to focus on the question at hand. But all he could think about was the quiet conversation going on across the room.

The little space they were in was small, but full of people. All there for a reason, all doing a job. They were sure to stay quiet, though, if talking at all.

Apparently, this guy's only job is keeping my girlfriend company.

Austin couldn't even tell what they were saying. That was the worst part. What could he possibly be saying that made her look at him like that?

“...it was just listening to his music and reminding myself of the research I’d done to really get into that mindset. No different from any other character, really…”

Y/n was blushing now, with that smile that he knew to be the one where she’d received a compliment she thought she didn’t deserve. What the hell was going on?

“...but at a much more intense level. The hair and makeup chair was a great place for me to do that, so I could sort of mentally and physically prepare at the same time.”

If the interviewer noticed his distracted and distressed state, she didn’t comment on it. Instead, she gave Austin a small smile and said “All that research must have taken a lot of time. Did it feel like you had to put your life on hold to accomplish such a role?”

That caught him off guard. It wasn’t an overly original question, but suddenly Austin understood why seeing Y/n laughing with another man made him so upset. Not because he was a jealous person, but because he was perceptive.

He knew what made a good boyfriend, and he knew what made a bad one. Y/n’s support never wavered throughout the chaos that his job brought them, but he wasn’t naive. It couldn’t have been easy for her to carry their relationship on her back whenever he was too busy to help with the load.

So maybe he was jealous after all. But it was his own doing, and that’s what made him angrier than anything else.

He hadn’t realized he was staring until the room was blanketed in an awkward quiet. Y/n’s eyes met his, somewhat confused, and he couldn’t find the strength to look away. Not even with a camera recording him.

“Austin?” the sound-man called out behind the camera. “We’re actually having some problems with the audio right now that might take a couple minutes to reset. If it doesn’t mess with your schedule too much, would you mind if we take a break?”

Austin wasn’t sure if that was the truth, or if this guy was just throwing him a bone. It didn’t matter too much to him, though, he agreed all the same. As the woman in charge of his schedule scurried off to figure out how much this would throw their day, he was already motioning for Y/n to come over.

He watched her say goodbye and tried to control his glare. Y/n bounded over to him without a care in the world. Right before she crossed the threshold to his chair, however, he motioned for her to stop.

“You’re not rolling, right?” He addressed the interviewer. Louise something, though he couldn’t presently be certain. She was already up and out of her chair, probably to talk to their producer. “I don’t want her on camera.”

Louise gave him a gentle smile. Everyone on set knew of Austin's not-so-secret girlfriend. “Don’t worry, we won’t roll again until everyone’s ready.”

Y/n didn’t wait for another invitation. In five seconds flat, she was settled comfortably on her boyfriend's lap. The folding chair creaked under their weight, and Austin held her tight to him with one hand across her lap and another around her waist.

“What happened?” she questioned with a hand gripping his arm. She pulled his grasp to be tighter around her, and Austin would’ve laughed if he wasn’t still stuck in his head. “It was going fine one minute, and then not the next.”

Austin tucked his nose in her neck and sighed. “Something with the sound, I guess. They’re fixing it now.”

“No, I meant with you. You looked confused or something.”

“You noticed?”

She laughed, moved her hand to run it through his curls, and paused. His stylist would surely have a thing or two to say about her ruined work. Instead, she settled on fiddling with the hair at the base of his neck.

“Austin, you’re the movie star. Everyone in this room is here to look at you. I think you’re the only one who doesn’t have to worry about not having all the attention.”

“I didn’t have yours.”

Austin felt stupid after he said it. Like a petulant child. But it was too late to take it back.

“What?” she laughed again, though this time it was more of a confused chuckle than anything else. Her eyes cast back to the man from before, and she could feel Austin’s fingers dig into her hip as she did. She looked back at her boyfriend in shock. “Are you jealous?”

“No,” he scoffed, refusing to meet her confused expression. His grip on her begged to differ.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe you. Do you know how many girls are thirsting over you on the internet right now? Or the ones waiting outside this building, hoping to catch a glimpse of you on your way out?”

“They aren’t-”

“They aren’t anything more than fans to you, I know, but that isn’t the point. How is it that I can handle all of that, but you can’t handle me talking to another man for five minutes?”

“You weren’t talking,” he said very matter of factly. “You were laughing.”

“Yeah, well, I���m laughing now too. At you!”

“It’s not funny,” Austin bit his lip to stop from whining.

“It is! It’s funny that you think this guy, who’s here to help you promote your new role as Elvis Presley in the Elvis Presley biopic, would try and steal your girlfriend out from under you. Can you admit how funny that sounds?”

He looked at her, then. Brushed the hair from her eyes, which were glittering with amusement. She still didn’t get it. “Baby, who I am or what I do doesn’t matter if I’m never around to be here with you.”

“So this is about work again?”

Austin was always apologizing when things didn’t go as planned. “I’m sorry baby, Baz called, but I’ll make it up to you,” “This is the last time, I promise.” And it never was, but Y/n didn’t mind. There was a difference between carelessly canceling a date and rescheduling it due to responsibility. She knew that. But apparently, Austin didn’t.

“I just,” Austin struggled to explain. “I just wish things would go back to how they used to be, when everything was calm. It was easier then, even if it wasn’t exactly normal. It was our normal.”

“Aus, your career is taking off. Everyone is finally recognizing how talented you are, it’s your dream come true. That’s not something to wish away. I want you to enjoy it and not feel guilty. I was here before, and I’ll be here afterwards. You never have to worry about that.”

It suddenly felt stupid to have ever doubted her in the first place. Not that Austin ever questioned her loyalty, but rather his ability to give her a reason to be loyal. Although her speech hadn’t completely eased the part of his mind that always wandered back to her, it was a relief to hear the words.

He’d have to try to believe them more often.

“Do you wanna know what we were talking about?” she asked him when he didn’t respond.

Austin’s eyebrow raised. “Would that ease my mind?”

“I think so.”

So he nodded, and a mischievous glint took over her expression.

“Well, if you must know, Brian over there seems to think I’d make one hell of a model.”

Her boyfriend immediately scowled. “That doesn’t make me feel any better, Y/n. Not in the slightest.”

“No, not in a flirtatious way! He’s a photographer.”

“Oh,” he paused for a moment. “Is that something you’d be interested in?”

Y/n rested her head against his own. “I don’t know, maybe. You take pictures of me all the time, this wouldn’t be much different from that.”

That part was true. Austin loved his new camera. Developing film took time, and he enjoyed that, but it made him more aware of what he took pictures of. His most favorite subject was her.

But he was still tentative. “People would see them, baby…you’d be in the public eye.”

“Yeah, that’s the turn off. I don’t think that’s something I want. It was a nice conversation, though.”

She was fiddling with the rings on his hand that rested on her stomach. He rubbed up and down in soothing circles. “I’d support you no matter what, though, you know that right? If you wanted to model, we’d make it work. Change doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”

“I haven’t really decided yet,” she smiled down at him. “But I know.”

“Austin?” the producer called out, breaking them from the bubble they’d created. He had a sheepish smile on his face. “We’re ready to get back to shooting whenever you are.”

“That’s my cue,” she laughed, shimming off his lap despite his protesting groan. “Break a leg.”

Before she could get more than a step away, a demanding grip on her arm yanked her back. At once, Austin spun her around and pulled her down to a bruising kiss. Tongue and all, his lips were hot against her own. She was too consumed by the passion of it all to think about why he was doing it in the first place. 

PDA wasn’t something they were into, especially when Austin’s new movie made it difficult to be in a public relationship at all. A small kiss, gentle hugs and hand-holds, sure. But not this.

They only broke away when Y/n was absolutely certain she had no oxygen left. With a gasp, she blushed and narrowed her eyes at him. “Seriously? You just had to put on a show?”

Austin didn’t say anything, but his smirk spoke volumes. With nothing but a wink, he sent her on her way, feeling surer of himself than he had just moments before. Sure, there were guys out there who could give Y/n the quality time she deserved. But there was nobody on this Earth who could have her flustered like that from nothing but a single kiss.

That was all for him.

[veryberryjelly]

visa

pairing ; chef luca x fem!reader

wc ; o.6k

request ; @nolita-fairytale : ☕️ : playing with your hair with chef luca

cafe event ✧ navigation

Trying to get a visa was a very tedious process.

After getting a high level job at your company in copenhagen, you had made the decision to move there. 

That wasn't the only factor, there was also the luca of it all. 

The guy you had been seeing for the last 8 months. 

It had definitely been difficult with you flying between new york and copenhagen for work, but those times when you were together made the times you were apart well worth it. 

When you told him the news you would be moving he had been beyond excited that he would get to see you almost every day and had very quickly asked if you would want to move into his flat with him. 

That had been another quick yes. 

You loved luca, and you were beyond excited to live with him. 

But apparently the world didn't want to grant you this excitement. 

5 months you had been trying to get a visa but every time you sent in the application it got sent back saying you had filled it out wrong. 

You were hoping that today was the day the envelope sent to your flat in new york contained your visa. 

You eagerly opened the envelope, disappointed to find it just filled with paper. 

‘ dear mx [y/l/n], unfortunately you did not enter a valid danish address so your visa application has been rejected ‘ 

“ fuck “ was the first thing that came out of your mouth as you headed into your kitchen.

“ everything okay, babe ? “ 

Your mood lifted momentarily when you spotted luca stood at your stove.

“ visa got rejected again “ you muttered, moving to perch on the counter beside him. 

“ what was the excuse this time ?” he questioned, not taking his eyes off of the pan in front of him. 

“ not a valid address “ you replied, defeat evident in your voice. 

You saw his blue eyes roll momentarily into the back of his head. 

“ how many times is this now ? “

“ four. “

“ christ.. Okay, after im finished here we’ll fill out your form again, i’ve done all of this before so maybe i can see where you’re going wrong, okay ?”

“ okay “ you replied. 

“ okay, i’ll be done here in a minute, why don’t you go and change and then we can sort out your paperwork ?”

“ m’kay. “ 

You slid off of the counter, pressing a short kiss onto his shoulder before heading into your bedroom to change out of your clothes and into some pyjamas consisting of a pair of cotton shorts and one of luca’s t-shirts that you had brought home with you after your last trip to visit him. 

When you emerged from the bedroom luca was sat on your couch reading over the rejection letter. 

You collapsed down next to him, pulling your laptop onto your lap, resting your head down on his broad shoulder. 

His arm wrapped around you and you forgot what you were even trying to do when you sat down once his hands started carding through your hair. 

“ we’ll get this done, okay? I’m not going any longer without you living in my flat “ 

A soft laugh left both of your lips before you turned your body even further into his.

“ thank you for helping me with this “ you muttered sleepily, your eyes growing heavier with every passing moment that his fingers teased the soft strands of your hair. 

After he pressed a kiss to the top of your head you were done for, your body relaxing into his completely. 

You could feel his chest vibrating under your ear but you were much too tired to comprehend what he was saying.

You fell asleep to the feeling of his hand gently tucking hair behind your ear and over your shoulder, his hand following it to the ends every time. 

[felassan]

Article: 'If Anthem is the "anti-BioWare game", then James Ohlen is correcting the balance'

Text [quote]:

"The hugely influential design director talks Baldur’s Gate, his next RPG, and the abandonment of the BioWare model.

“Baldur’s Gate II set the model, and I obviously loved that model,” says James Ohlen. “But there were a ton of people at BioWare who didn’t like it.” During leadership meetings over the course of the Canadian designer’s 22 years at the RPG studio, he’d sometimes feel totally outnumbered when talking about the importance of story. “Game developers don’t get into the industry to create stories, they get into the industry to create games,” he says. “And so there’s this conflict between game developers and story - my entire career it's been a constant fight.”

Ohlen picked his side early. He was telling BioWare stories even before he joined the company. The meeting of Minsc and Boo, one of the most enduring partnerships in PC gaming, came about in a tabletop Dungeons & Dragons game he ran as a teenager. Then a comic book store manager, he took advantage of his premises to guide no fewer than three concurrent D&D groups through their campaigns. “I didn’t really have much of a life outside of Dungeons & Dragons,” he says.

BioWare programmer Cam Tofer played Minsc in one of those campaigns, “as a guy who’s basically been knocked on the head too many times in fights”. A merchant NPC of Ohlen’s invention sold him Boo, the miniature giant space hamster, in an apparent scam. Tofer ran with it, declaring that Boo would be Minsc’s animal companion, and holding one-sided conversations with the confidant that lived in his pocket. “In my campaign he was just a hamster,” Ohlen says. “I always thought of him as just a hamster.”

Back then, in the early 90s, there were no game design degrees, but Ohlen had dedicated himself to the next best thing. DMing proved to be an intensive training course in giving players agency and immersing them in another world - and his local reputation as a story wrangler landed him a job working on Baldur’s Gate. It’s a similar origin story to that of David Gaider, another D&D head who was plucked from the hotel industry to tell tales about vampires and druid groves.

“Have you ever read Malcolm Gladwell on the 10,000 hour rule? I think by the time I got hired by BioWare, I had done 20,000 hours of dungeon mastering,” Ohlen says. “It was ridiculous. I owe a lot to D&D. My friendships, my career, my mental stability.”

BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka encouraged Ohlen to dig into the huge binders that contained the details of all the player characters and NPCs in his campaigns, and to let them spill out into the world of Baldur’s Gate. “I hadn’t intended to do that,” Ohlen says. “It seemed narcissistic. But he was right. Once I started using them, I started getting things done real fast. All the characters had personalities that I already knew.”

Those tabletop campaigns turned out to be accidental writers’ rooms - producing distinct personalities that reflected the voices of their individual players. From the binders came some of Baldur’s Gate’s most beloved companions, like Minsc and the egotistical conjurer Edwin, as well as its villains - leading all the way up to the sequel’s Hannibal Lector-esque antagonist, Jon Irenicus.

That said, inspiration for Baldur’s Gate II’s much deeper companion stories came from an unlikely source. During a freezing winter smoke break in Edmonton, an Interplay producer named Dermot Clarke mentioned that Baldur’s Gate’s characters weren’t nearly as developed as those in Final Fantasy VII.

“I’m very competitive,” Ohlen says. “I went and played Final Fantasy VII and was like, ‘Oh my good god, these characters make ours look like a bunch of cardboard cutouts. This is terrible.’” The disparity convinced BioWare to up their game, leading to the complex journeys of companions like Jaheira - the grieving wife and activist, whose sense of duty has been shaken by so much loss. Despite Ohlen’s distaste for the way SquareSoft’s RPGs played, he continued to be influenced by their character work - all the way up to Knights Of The Old Republic, which was partly inspired by the twist-laden Chrono Cross. That and Star Wars, of course.

“I actually totally, entirely ripped off The Empire Strikes Back in such blatant fashion,” Ohlen says. “You basically go to face the dark lord by yourself, and then you get into a lightsaber fight with him, and he kicks your ass. And then, after kicking your ass, he does the big twist. Then you don’t die because you’re rescued by your friends on the Millennium Falcon - I mean, the Ebon Hawk. It’s beat by beat the same thing.”

Of course, KOTOR’s plot twist didn’t feel familiar to players because it impacted not Luke Skywalker but them personally. For those who don’t know - and spoiler warning, if so - it revealed that your character was in fact a former Sith Lord, their memory wiped by the Jedi Council. In an RPG genre rooted by knowing your avatar down to their last stat, having your identity ripped out from under you felt genuinely radical. BioWare had succeeded in making its biggest setpiece not a battle, but a revelation. And in the process, it proved that BioWare storytelling was packed with the kind of explosive potential a publisher could bank on.

After the sale of the company to EA in 2007, Ohlen was put in charge of creative development on a Star Wars MMO, The Old Republic. It was BioWare’s next great hope, and an enormous undertaking - involving the founding of a brand new studio in Austin, Texas. At launch, it featured eight story campaigns which unfolded across 19 planets. In 2011, executive producer Rich Vogel told Fast Company that The Old Republic hosted “the most content in a video game ever”. Looking back, Ohlen views that as a fundamental problem.

“If open-world is the enemy of storytelling, multiplayer is the arch-villain,” Ohlen says. “If I was to go back in time to give my 2006 self some advice it would be, ‘Don’t try to make the game so long that you can fill up 200 hours. Instead, keep it shorter.’” With less ground to cover, the Austin team could have committed more resources to its Flashpoints - story-heavy missions which forefronted the difficult decision-making and tight encounter design that had elevated previous BioWare games. “Everyone wanted Knights of the Old Republic Online, and it felt more like World Of Warcraft with Star Wars spray-painted on it and some BioWare juice thrown in,” Ohlen says. “Even though the Metacritic was pretty good, it wasn’t new enough to really take off.”

At this point, a Knights Of The Old Republic 3 directed by Ohlen would be “not great”, he says. “Because I’m all Star Wars’d out. I have nothing else to say about Star Wars. But if a whole new studio does KOTOR 3 that loved KOTOR, that could be an amazing game. So hopefully Disney makes that happen. But probably not, because executives around there are all probably going, ‘It’s too hardcore.’” Ohlen still remembers the efforts he made to convince EA boss John Riccitiello that fantasy was a genre that could sell. “I had this whole PowerPoint presentation,” he says. “We have Lord Of The Rings! We have World Of Warcraft! We have Diablo!”

The year after The Old Republic’s launch, with the arch-villain of multiplayer still undefeated, development of Anthem began - and BioWare fought that increasingly costly battle for the better part of a decade. Those at the studio tired of the Baldur’s Gate model had the backing of EA, since a live service looter-shooter in the mode of Destiny could unlock years of long-term revenue beyond the reach of a single-player RPG. Or so the theory went. “It was always chasing the gigantic successes instead of leaning into what BioWare was good at,” Ohlen says. “It wasn’t just EA leaning on BioWare - there were lots of people in BioWare who wanted to do something different.”

Ohlen understood why others at the company would want to get away from a formula that empowered old hands like him and Gaider, and embrace one that empowered them instead. And he knew first-hand that freedom to experiment was what had set BioWare on the path to success decades before. Yet this new direction felt like an abandonment of the studio’s strengths. “Anthem was the ultimate expression of that,” Ohlen says. “It got away from everything. It’s kind of like the anti-BioWare game.”

Ohlen left in 2018, intending to retire from videogames altogether. “The big games have a formula and they don’t adjust it too much,” he says. “It’s very production driven, and I was like, ‘I’m not gonna get to make a game that I want to make at EA.’” He returned to the tabletop, putting together a new Baldur’s Gate adventure book featuring Minsc and the gang. But then Wizards Of The Coast called and flew him up to Seattle to discuss starting a new studio. Ohlen didn’t need or necessarily want a videogame development team under his wing - and that proved to be a perfect negotiating position.

“My demands were, ‘I only do this if I get to start my own studio in Austin, I get to choose who I hire, I get to choose exactly the kind of IP I want to make, no one’s gonna tell me anything about how to make the game.” At this point, Ohlen adopts a megalomaniacal tone, as if he were Baldur’s Gate baddy Sarevok, ascending to the throne of the dead god Bhaal. “I want control over absolutely everything! I want all the power!”

To his surprise, Wizards said yes, and Ohlen has been happily presiding over Archetype Entertainment ever since, building a new sci-fi RPG world without interference. “If you’ve seen the games I like to build, it’s that style of game,” he says. “But then it leans into the people and technology that I have available.” Ohlen won’t elaborate on what’s in his toybox, for fear of spilling secrets - but it’s worth noting that Mass Effect legend Drew Karpyshyn joined Archetype in 2020 as lead writer. “The feel in the studio reminds me of my early days at BioWare,” wrote Karpyshyn on his blog at the time. “I can feel the magic in the air.”

Magic and Wizards and science fiction - it’s the kind of atmosphere in which you could believe a hamster isn’t just a hamster, but something altogether sillier and more exciting. An act of collective imagination is happening, the binders are filled to bursting, and all we have to do is wait."

[source]

[ukulelevillainwrites]

who follows the rules anyway?

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

complete

pairing : anthony lockwood x she/her reader

word count : 4.5k

content : in this part you get angst, reader and lockwood’s backstory and some plot with a side of ‘i didn’t know where else to go’ in subtext :)))

They ate dinner in silence. It was clear that the two guys she had in front of her weren’t used to having people over. They were sitting around the kitchen table, notes and drawings covering the cloth beneath their plates. She read the messages closest to her. Many were about cases they probably worked over the past couple of weeks. But here and there she noticed some insults directed at Lockwood and she was glad to see she wasn’t the only one who thought those things. A drawing of a visitor caught her attention. It wasn’t very detailed but its expression seemed sad and lonely nonetheless.

“Who’s that?” she asked.

“That’s the ghost we have to take care of tomorrow. It’s probably a Type One so we should be done quickly.” George answered.

“Where is the house you have to take care of?”

“Hopkins Street in Soho.”

“I’ve been on a case near there! Though it was more dangerous, the Type Two we had to contain was more threatening than we had anticipated. And the house was big too, are you gonna be okay just the two of you?”

“I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Lockwood cut in.

“We could always add a third person, worst case scenario they just stand by…”

“I’d be happy to be there in reinforcement… And that way I could pay you back for letting me stay here.”

Lockwood was far from enthusiastic about the arrangement. y/n saw his jaw tighten as George accepted her offer to tag along.

“I’ll go to Satchell’s to restock.” He got up and aimed for the door. “You and y/n can prep the bags so we can leave when I come back.” He left the table without looking back. There was no room for discussion. It’s like he couldn’t get out fast enough. I guess the feeling is mutual then. But who cared if he couldn’t stand to be in her company either? At least she could repay George by helping him out back. And that way she didn’t have to figure out what her next move should be for another day. She could pretend to be a proper agent one more time and forget about her disgrace.

George immediately filled her in on all the research he had done on the case. Apparently even for a Type One explaining every little detail couldn’t wait until tomorrow. She listened to him ramble on about the history of the house on Hopkins Street and felt at peace for the first time that day. It reminded her of their walks back from a job early in the morning. She paid attention as much as she could until her eyes decided to close on their own.

----

It was getting unbearably cold and the fact that she was restrained to a small iron circle didn’t help her condition. The night had been a disaster so far. It made her regret Fittes, her old teammates, her decision to stay here and help. She wanted to be a true professional and apply her impeccable methods. What could be better than to follow Marissa Fittes’ instructions to the letter? What could possibly be worth denying everything her supervisors had taught her her entire career? Anthony Lockwood’s sheer will apparently justified changing everything.

It had started as soon as they had set foot inside the house. She wanted to be thorough and efficient. She offered that the group went through the house together to look at each room and possibly locate the source before facing any type of ghost. But their leader had decided otherwise and didn’t even bother to listen. He sidelined her immediately.

“You’re here in reinforcement, right? So we’ll come get you if we need a hand.” He had told her before leaving her behind surrounded by an iron chain. It made her furious. Sure, she hadn’t exactly been warm yesterday, or even polite, but still. He could really use her training and her talent. His stubbornness was really stupidity at this point. And what kind of agency didn’t have supervisors?

She was going on and on in her head about everything that was wrong with this situation when George interrupted her train of thoughts as he entered the room.

“We still haven’t found anything, we’re taking a break in the kitchen. Care to join us?”

Of course, Lockwood wouldn’t have bothered to tell her that. Instead, he greeted her with

“That tea is really awful. Who made it?” he said with a wince.

“I did, and at least I was nice enough to bring tea for everyone.” She went to pour herself a cup from a thermos she had packed.

“Well, it was your job.”

“My job was to prep the bags with George, not play housekeeper.” She said coolly without looking up. She turned her back to him so he couldn’t see the look on her face. That tea really was terrible.

“The tea isn’t the only thing that’s bitter tonight.” He said with a smirk.

She turned around to face him.

“Tea isn’t part of a regulation kit.”

“In our agency it kind of is.” He cut in.

“What I’m trying to say is that you could appreciate the intention instead of making your snide comments. Earlier you literally walked through the door shouting orders without helping us even a little and now you keep criticizing me. You can’t spend the evening reprimanding everything I do.”

“I’m in charge and I can when the work isn’t done properly.”

The room fell silent. She wanted to scream at him, hit something, anything. But this was still a haunted house. She needed to keep her emotions under control. No matter how much she wanted to put him in danger specifically, George didn’t deserve this. Ignoring the satisfied look that Lockwood gave her, she turned to George.

“Is he always so difficult to work with? I’m surprised you haven’t lost your sanity.”

“He’s actually tolerable most of the time.”

Lockwood smiled at her with a “I told you so” grin.

“But you obviously have quite an effect on him.” He told her with a wink.

His smile disappeared instantly and it was George’s turn to laugh.

“Instead of having you two brooding in separate corners of the room, maybe we could try and do the job we were hired to do?”

They went for another tour of the house, using all their senses to try to detect any activity. The only result they got was a drop in temperatures which was a start. They settled into the coldest room, figuring the source was probably nearby. They set up a circle in the center and the boys started to search anything that could be the cause of the haunting. As y/n went to pick up a figurine carved in ivory on a shelf an annoying voice interrupted her.

“I need you to stay in the circle while we look for the source.”

“But my Touch is better than yours and George’s combined! Stop being a jerk and let me do my job for the first time this evening.”

“We’ll tell you if we need reinforcement.”

As George was about to protest she raised her voice.

“I’m getting really sick of your behavior. Stop treating me like I’m a beginner. I can handle myself. I worked for the most prestigious team in the most prestigious agency for God’s sake!”

“Well, you’re not anymore. Your behavior hasn’t been much better and until I know that I can trust you I’m not letting you touch anything in this house.”

“Fine. If that’s how it’s gonna be I’ll be better off anywhere else.”

She left the room in a rush. She was putting both of her teammates in danger anyway with how angry she was getting. It was better for everyone if she left.

She went down the stairs in a hurry and slammed the door on her way out. The fresh air outside helped a little. But she would need a two-hour walk at least to calm down. She started to walk down the street as she heard footsteps running behind her.

Lockwood caught up with her and grabbed her arm to make her turn around.

“Where do you think you’re going? You don’t have anywhere to go and we organized the night with you as backup. If we don’t have you standing by you’re putting both of us at risk if something goes wrong.”

“I’m putting you two at risk anyway with how angry I am at you. I thought getting to know you would change the opinion I had of you but I was right from the start you’re just an arrogant jerk.”

“And I was right to think you were just pretentious and helpless that night we met. If it weren’t for me you’d be dead but instead you disrespect me in my own house and act surprised when I don’t trust you on a case.”

So he did remember that night. She tried to hide her surprise.

“Oh right so I’m supposed to be grateful for you ruining a perfect opportunity for my career.”

“You didn’t need me to ruin your career you handled it very well yourself.”

That stung. She turned around before he could see the tears that prickled her eyes and stormed off into the night.

“Nice one Lockwood! And I’m the one with zero social skill.” George said from the doorstep before going back inside, leaving Lockwood alone in the deserted street.

---

“y/n I need you to keep the visitor under control while we look for the source!” Kipps shouted as he ran up the stairs, followed closely by Bobby.

“But wouldn’t it be better if-” She tried to point out that her talent would be most useful if she went to look for the source herself but the boys were already gone. Reluctantly she went back to the living room, using her senses to see if the visitor had come back yet.

She was alone for now. Just her and her frustration to keep her company. After a week of strenuous efforts and late nights, her leader still didn’t seem to warm up to her. Obviously if he kept her aside and gave her tasks that didn’t let her show her full potential he could never be impressed with what she could do. But she kept her head down, it was only the first week, she needed to follow his directions to remain on his good side, or at least his neutral side. And if the visitor showed up she would do her best to fight it, maybe that would show him. She tried listening to reason the best she could, but the truth was that Kipps’s behavior vexed her. She couldn’t help feeling underestimated and a kind of sorrow rose in her. What more could she do to make him notice her? His approval was the only thing she sought at the moment. It consumed her so much that she didn’t realize the visitor had resurfaced. It started creeping up behind her when suddenly she felt a presence as the temperature dropped several degrees.

She ducked at the last minute and narrowly avoided the ghost that flew above her reaching for her neck. The phantasm was now hovering between her and the iron chain, she had no refuge. She drew her rapier unaffected and ready to fight. The ghost tried to attack again, it was aggressive and used her frustration to its advantage. She formed complicated patterns with her sword to keep it away from her. They stayed face to face like this for several minutes with no sign from Bobby nor Kipps. Her arm grew tired of this face to face. It was getting harder and harder to draw the ghost off but her mind stayed focused. Fortunately, it was hard to break her spirit. That was until a cramp painfully twisted the arm that held her rapier. The pain was so sudden that she grabbed her arm and dropped her weapon as a reflex. Probably the worst reflex to have in this situation. As her iron defense touched the floor the visitor attacked. She ducked again, getting closer to the iron chain. As she went to step inside, she tripped and broke the circle. Her rapier was out of reach. She grabbed the chain and tried to fend off the ghost with the chain, not using the flares at her belt that certainly would have caught fire inside. Where were Bobby and Kipps? She could really use a hand right now. As the phantasm got very close to touching her the door flew open.

Finally. In the darkness she only saw a silhouette in a long coat drawing the visitor’s attention away from her. She was thankful but she didn’t recognize who it was. Bobby or Kipps would have been coming from upstairs so she wondered how this stranger could have known when to barge in. Nevertheless, the diversion was enough for her to grab her rapier, ready to fight once more. The living room was lit by the ghost lamp outside. She turned around to see her rescuer fending off the phantasm. He was quick on his feet, the movements of his sword clear and precise. His posture looked elegant even in a fight. He seemed completely at ease and it didn’t look like he needed her help. Once more she felt rather useless. She remained alert but couldn’t do more than watch the scene unfold. It was like the visitor had forgotten she was in the room standing right behind it. As the fight went on the guy in front of her tried tempting it more and more each time he dodged a sudden move from the ghost. She slowly walked around to join him on the other side of the room as the ghost was getting closer each time it tried to reach him. What was he doing? The point wasn’t to tempt the ghosts but to keep them away. It’s like he found it amusing somehow. She felt a burst of energy and a shiver ran down her spine. It was getting particularly angry. She hurried to reach his side telling him to get out of the way. She held her sword high, ready to fight off the new blow she was expecting when instead she was pushed behind. She lost her balance as she was shoved against a sofa sitting in the corner of the room and tripped the reckless idiot in the same movement. He held on to the armrest to quickly stand up and stood between her and the visitor. It was getting close, too close. At the last moment it disappeared. The air warmed up and the tension that filled the room was replaced with relief. Only for a moment though.

“Are you crazy? You could’ve gotten us both killed if my team hadn’t just located the source!” She pushed him away as she stood up from the sit he had pushed her into.

“A good evening to you too. What a lovely night isn’t it?”

She looked at him in disbelief.

“You’re not even gonna acknowledge the fact you almost got killed three seconds ago?”

A voice came from the hallway.

“Tony! To what do we owe the pleasure?”

The boy rolled his eyes at her before turning around.

“Shouldn’t you be alone in your big house at this time of night?”

She had never seen Kipps like this before. Sure, he was proud most of the time, but never to that extent.

“You should thank me for saving your teammate from a certain death. I did your reputation a favor here.” He talked about her like she wasn’t standing right next to him. How could someone she met 5 minutes ago irritate her so much?

“I’m sure she could handle herself just fine.”

“I could but he didn’t really give me a chance.” She said, glaring at him. “I didn’t need your help, I had the situation under control.”

“A simple thank you would have sufficed. Next time I’ll just enjoy the show from outside then.” He gave her one last look before exiting the room.

He left the same way he had come without looking back. Or at least she thought. Outside he had glanced one more time through the window where he had first seen her battling the phantasm, his lips curving slightly as he made his way back home. 

---

The memories of that night kept coming back to her, fueling her rage as she made her way down Wardour Street. He didn’t let her do her job then and he didn’t let her do her job now. And he was acting like an arrogant prick with a smug look on his face while he was doing it. Her head was heavy with the events of the past two days and she felt overwhelmed. She was angry at the universe for turning her life upside down. She had a plan and she was following it. Why did things have to change so suddenly? She was mad at her instincts for misguiding her and she hated the way she kept overreacting. The further she walked the more anger she realized she had to unpack. She had weeks of frustration from all the efforts she made to gain Kipps’s trust and approval and the ironic twist of fate that undid all that in just one day. She also had the hurt from El’s betrayal that still twisted her stomach. The uneasy feeling that something wasn’t right with Mrs Dufour. The shame of being fired. The unbearable weight of figuring out her future now that she threw away the one that she had designed for herself. She wasn’t ready to deal with that just yet and decided to focus on tonight instead. Who cared if she didn’t have a future, at least she still had a friend in the city that very kindly accepted to take her in. Well, until she left him and his colleague alone in a haunted house that is.

She regretted taking her anger out on Lockwood, though some of it was well deserved. She actually didn’t know how to feel about him. Somehow she was convinced he could have been very nice to work with if she had given him a chance from the start. On the other hand, she still wasn’t over how he literally kept her from doing her job all those weeks back. And the fact he behaved the exact same way tonight certainly didn’t help. Still, she hoped they were safe even with her gone.

The stroll did help a lot. She had been gone for half an hour but the fog in her mind already started to lift. She still needed some alone time but she really should apologize for her behavior later. The guys wouldn’t be home for a couple more hours anyway. No need to rush. She could always apologize tomorrow. And she would owe them one less night at their place.

She made her way to the border of the Thames, passing Scotland Yard on her way. It was one of the only buildings with light coming from the windows. She followed the river south, taking deep breaths to try and ease her mind. A gentle breeze rustled her hair and she finally allowed herself to relax for the first time today. The water made her feel safer and the quiet streets made her appreciate the city even more. It was a shame she couldn’t do this more often without taking risks. She could have stayed there for hours but as she leaned on a banister she noticed a boat getting weirdly close to her. It kept coming her way until a girl with a straw hat on came into view. She pointed to somewhere behind her mouthing something. Was it directed at her? She frowned mouthing “what?” back to the girl. She insisted. ‘Watch out.’, she finally understood. She turned around to see men gather and she ducked on instinct. The only people out at this time of night couldn’t be good news.

Curled up behind a brick wall, she slowly craned her neck to try and see what this was all about. There were three men standing a few feet away from her. They were partially hidden by a tree. She moved slightly to her right to have a better view. Relic men. It was very clear that this meant trouble and she needed to get out of there. She turned around, hidden behind the wall to thank the girl on the boat but she was already out of sight.

The easiest way for her to get out of there unseen was to go back the same way she came, practically on her knees the whole time to remain covered. She made slow progress but she would soon be able to reach Scotland yard and from there she could keep walking the other way. She didn’t really care where she was going as long as she was out of danger. She was reaching the last few feet when she heard a familiar voice that made her blood run cold.

“Good evening gentlemen.”

George was right. She was right. Mrs. Dufour was standing there, casually chatting with relic men. Her dismissal seemed even more unfair now. She wasn’t in such a hurry now. She could finally get her answers and get to the bottom of this.

“Did you bring it?” one of the men asked though it sounded more like an order.

“Of course I did. Here, I’m sure you’ll get a good price for it but I want 25%, no less.”

The man closest to her laughed as he dismissed her with a hand.

“Yeah, right.”

“It’s an original from Mrs. Overton’s ancestors. A piece from a prominent family like hers has got to be worth a lot more than the other pieces I brought you. And I’m putting my job on the line for this. 25 or I’ll find someone else.”

Did she really say Mrs. Overton? She was selling the clock she was supposed to bring back in a few days? y/n couldn’t believe it. How was she going to justify the missing piece to their client?

The shock made it hard to breath. She had flashbacks from the day before when she heard voices outside Mrs. Dufour’s office. She tried to step away slowly and discreetly but the friction of her feet on the ground made a sudden noise that made the group look in her direction. She stayed ducked but she heard one of the men get closer to investigate. She only had one option if she wanted to get out of here unharmed. She stood up and immediately started running. She could hear one of the men yelling to go after her from afar but she didn’t turn back to check. She hoped the supervisor didn’t recognize her but now was not the time to worry about this detail. She had more chance losing them if she got lost in the streets instead of following the river. She made a turn on her left, hoping they would lose sight of her. Instead she felt a sharp pain in her left arm. How could she get a cramp in this part of her body while running? Without slowing down she passed a hand up and down her arm to ease the pain. Instead of finding the soft fabric of her jacket her fingers met something wet. She looked down at her bloodied fingers trying to keep up her pace. Not only were these men chasing her but they were throwing knives at her. Letting them catch her wasn’t an option from the start but even less so now. She tried to ignore the sharp ache and kept running until she found a hiding spot in a deserted alleyway. She used the trashcans and piles of cardboard boxes to avoid her pursuers. They ran past her without looking back. She waited a few minutes trying to calm her breathing down.

The street was silent again, she couldn’t hear any voices or steps coming her way. She peered out from her hiding spot and only saw the ghost lamp at the end of the street. She came out and sighed in relief. Her mind had gone completely numb but as she stepped out of the alley she became painfully aware of the situation. Panic started to rise inside her. She wanted to curl up in the middle of the street as her breathing accelerated. Somehow she still wasn’t getting enough air. Her lungs hurt, the world started spinning around her. The wound in her arm was burning, she felt blood running down her arm. All her senses were blinded by the pain and the stress, she couldn’t think straight. Behind her she heard something crack. A leaf, a branch maybe or just a rat passing by. But that was enough to send her running as fast as she could. Her instinct was the only thing guiding her at this point. She needed to get help, to find people she could trust. She needed to go somewhere safe.

---

All the lights were out inside the house. They probably hadn’t gone home yet. The case could have turned more complicated than anticipated. But she didn’t feel like waiting for them in the street with blood trickling down her arm. She felt dizzy and lightheaded, her throat was sore from the cold autumn breeze and her wound wasn’t getting any better. She climbed the few steps in front of the door, her right hand in front of her in case she tripped. As she got to  the door, she kneeled and retrieved her hooks from the sock where she always kept them. Her dad had always told her this skill would come in handy. At the time she didn’t believe him but still let her teach her. It was a fun father-daughter activity after all. But right now, with the pain she was in, she truly blessed him for having weird hobbies.

In three clicks she unlocked the door and stepped inside without worrying about the noise she made. Her head was heavy and relief flooded her as soon as she closed the door behind her. It didn’t matter that her day had ended up worse than the day before. It didn’t matter that this seemed unconceivable yesterday. The fight, Dufour, the chase, all of it was behind her now. She was safe. As she stepped deeper into the house the walls started spinning. The masks on the wall looked like they were mocking her. She felt the urge to dismiss them with the back of her hand. A sharp pain shot through her arm as she lifted it. She cried out and didn’t notice Lockwood coming down the stairs.

“y/n? What are you doing?”

She hadn’t heard him coming and jumped in surprise, prompting another sharp pain in her left arm.

“y/n? What’s wrong? Wait how did you get in?”

At that she smiled faintly. But her head was spinning too much. Her knees buckled. She saw movement in front of her as the floor got closer before she collapsed in the hall.

[saltygilmores]

THOUGHTS WHILE WATCHING GILMORE GIRLS: S3/EP6: TAKE THE DEVILED EGGS (Pt 2) (This One's Gonna Be a Real Rage Inducer) (Lots Of Interesting Development Though) (So many things happening) (Salty Rambles about Jess Mariano's Birthday)

There is something to be said about Luke (on multiple occasions) readily admitting he pays Jess in ketchup packets to toil in the Coffee Mines more or less against his will. I get that it's just a part time job after school...before school..while he's cutting school..always working...never stopping...never reicieving any tips from Lorelai and Rory... Rory needs a job... Rory and Lorelai need to pay for their food... Anyway these comments shed a light on the shaky economies of small businesses in small towns which is interesting to me. Gilmore Girls is really, at it's core, a show about class. One day he could wake up to find his diner has been turned into a Dunkin Donuts (this is Not-Quite-But-Almost-New England after all, where DD is king).

Hahahahaha!! Jess stole money to buy a car and he committs attempted murder! Hahahahaaha! You're SO FUNNY LORELAI GILMORE. Your daughter stole a boat.

Yeah. And maybe back home, he did had to steal to survive sometimes. How about them apples, Lorelai Gilmore. God, do I loathe her.

Don't say that around Lorelai, I think she'd believe you were being serious.

A couple of the moots and I recently decided that in the recent past, Liz managed to land and then lose a halfway decent boyfriend/ father figure to Jess who had a car and taught Jess to drive and do repairs and some other light adulting. I honestly feel like this is the only thing that makes sense.

HE LOOKS SO GOOD IN THIS SCENE!!! Fuck meeee. Look at that li'l curl...

LOOK AT IT!!!! You know what, I'm calling it. I'm putting my foot down. This is the hottest Milo had ever looked in the entirety of seasons 2 and 3. It's that perfectly gelled hair, the jean jacket, the cool tshirt. Very James Dean. Woof. Let's see, what would I choose for second place? I have to go with the party scene in KegMax, another episode with impeccably jelled hair and a jean jacket (and even while he was apparently sick shooting that episode too). He just progresses in hotness the further season 3 marches on.

These four words "I'm still a minor" are a point of contention for me in the ongoing debate about his birth month. My beliefs: Jess is a Virgo. He was born in August or early September. This would make him just older than Rory by just a smidge. Since well over a year has passed in the show since the episode he arrived in Stars Hollow as a 17 year old (when he arrived, it was early September as Rory had just started school in that episode), he had just celebrated his birthday before arriving and so he has to have already turned 18 by this episode. However, I will consider the theory that Luke was clueless or misinformed about his age at the time he arrived (because it's not like LIz is in any way reliable with information) and he was actually 16 going on 17 when he hopped off the bus last year, and maybe he has an October or November birthday making him slightly younger than Rory. It would make sense that both missed the kindergarten cut off dates in 1989 at their respective schools (which is rock solid canon already for Rory, as she was born in October 84 but graduated in 03 instead of 02), putting them in the same grade.

Salty has put a pathetic amount of thought into this. So, how can I accept this statemen? I attribute it to the same brand of biting sarcasm that gave us "I mugged an old lady" moments ago and also because this scene doesn't make a whole lot of sense to begin with. He's still a minor, but he got his own insurance all by himself under his own name, which is not really a thing, but not his own car registration? Committing insurance fraud perhaps? Sketchy insurance company that didn't ask too many questions? He knows a guy who knows a guy who can print up some fake documents? At that point why not go all the way with the white collar crimes and forge Luke's signature on the registration too? See, Lorelai thinks Jess is a thief and murderer when he's really a white collar criminal like Taylor Doose.

My memory was certain that he produced a cigarrette and not a pen in this scene. I had to edit this post to remove a line about him smoking. I guess I confused it with the Then She Appears/ Cmurrh kissing scene, where he's also wearing a jean jacket with a popped collar. Damn. I can't wait for that scene...

Just some light fraud. If the car belonged to someone in Stars Hollow, whoever's registration he stole probably deserved it anyway. This is how I approach all "Crimes" Jess commits in Stars Hollow. There are only a few people who don't deserve it. Your honor, my client is innocent.

Oh no, the couch of doom. No good conversations ever happens between Rory and Lorelai on the couch, especially after one of them comes home at night and finds the other one on the couch. The Gilmores recieve an invitation to Sherry's baby shower. The moots and I have determined that Doula and Gigi will eventually band together to form the most powerful duo of neglected half sisters the world has ever seen. For the record, today Doula would be 17 and Gigi would be 21. Since Jess eventually comes to adopt and raises Doula she has a somewhat decent chance of coming out a well adjusted adult. At the very least, if she was stuck with TJ and Liz, Jess would still be a positive influence on her life, visit her and look out for her and make sure she didn't get sucked into any cults. The odds are a lot more grim for Gigi with Crusty and Sherry as her forever "parents" and let's face it, very likely her relationship with big sister Rory or any of the other Gilmores is non existent.

And things were so peaceful. Especially since Dean hasn't reared his ugly head in the last two episodes, either.

You flip flop with Crusty so much how can anyone possibly keep track of whether you're on the outs with him or banging him at any given time?

And by saying that out loud you're gonna tip the balance of the universe and he's going to show up. I looked ahead and although this is sadly still a Crusty-Focused episode, he doesn't actually make an appearance. Small blessings. To Lorelai's surprise, Rory admits that she's been in contact with Crusty and Lorelai is okay with it but upset that Rory was hiding it from her. God, he's such a parasite.

Emails. How quaint.

Highly debatable.

[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

Oh i have a modern sihtric idea! Animal carer Sihtric where he's not the biggest fan of animals but all animals enjoy his company. He can handle grumpy cats and bratty birds while Finan only gets along with happy cheerful excited dogs. Uhtred gets hissed at all the time😂

Warnings: mention of an evil parrot.

pairing: Modern!Sihtric x you (f)

Summary: see request and: You work in an animal shelter and, against your will, you're suddenly working with three new men.

Word count: 3,1k

Note: the ending is rather open. I felt this story would either have a rushed ending if I tried to wrap it up or it would become waaaay too long. And I guess I also left the option open to possibly return to this if anyone seems to enjoy it. This was just a little fun thing to write!

taglist: @clairacassidy @finanmoghra @uunotheangel @hb8301 @bathedinheat @neonhairspray @anaeve @bubblyabs @travelingmypassion @sylas-the-grim @heimtathurs @bubbles-for-all-of-us

'The parrot is right.'

********************

'You want me to deal with that bunch?' you grimaced at the sight of two strange men on the other side of the room, 'why me?'

'You've been here the longest, apart from me, but I don't have the time to teach them. Nor the patience,' your boss, Thyra, admitted.

'Oh, and I have?'

'I hope so.'

'Who are they and why are they even here?'

You watched Thyra flip some papers on her clipboard.

'That guy on the left, his name is Uhtred. What a strange name. Anyway, the Irish man is called Finan and… there should be another guy named Sihtric, but he hasn't shown up yet. Big surprise,' she sighed, 'but they'll be here only a few days… for community service.'

'What?!' 

'I know, I know! I didn't want them at first either, but it's nothing bad. I mean, nothing to be scared of.'

'What on earth did they do?'

'Apparently,' Thyra giggled, 'they stole a holy relic from a church and they got caught.'

'You're kidding?' you started to laugh.

'I knew you'd be amused at that,' she grinned.

'But how did they end up here? This is an animal shelter, shouldn't they volunteer at that church?'

'That was the plan, but the church doesn't want them. And since we need the help, I accepted the request. So,' Thyra patted you on the back, 'good luck!'

'Well, thanks,' you scoffed.

'Oh,' Thyra stopped at the door, 'they always show you a picture of the people who come to work, so they can't send someone else in their place, and,' she paused to give you a smile, 'I hope that other guy shows up. I think he's your type,' she winked, 'he has tattoos.'

'What? What is that supposed to mean?!' you called after her, but she only gave you another wink and left.

********************

'Okay, so, now that you know who I am and what we do here, are you two ready?' you smiled.

Finan nodded and Uhtred gave you a hesitant smile.

'Okay, let's go. Uhtred, you can clean the enclosures. Finan, I think you'll do good helping my colleague, feeding the animals.'

You sent both men on their way and quickly noticed that Finan was good with overly excited dogs, and you chuckled when you figured that Finan actually had the same energy. As for Uhtred… well, let's just say Uhtred tried. Uhtred did his job well, it was just that the animals didn't seem to like him. You told Uhtred that animals can sense fear, to which Uhtred quickly said he wasn't scared. But you saw the terror in his eyes when he faced that one vile parrot that had been in the shelter for years already, and you expected Uhtred to gain a few more scars the next couple of days.

You let them do their job and went back to your own duty, walking a few dogs. But before you could leave, you were stopped as a handsome man entered the shelter, looking sleepy and a little lost. You saw his face had a couple of scars and soon your eyes spotted a tattoo in his neck, and you figured this was probably the guy Thyra told you about.

'H-hi,' you stammered when he looked at you, 'can I… can I help you?'

'Eh,' the man smiled and a rosy colour appeared on his cheeks, 'I- I'm here for my community service.'

'Oh!' you blushed too, 'yeah, I was told we, eh, were missing one guy.'

You held out your hand and introduced yourself, albeit with a lot of tripping over your words, and the blushing man seemed to have the same issue.

'Nice to - to meet y-you. I- I'm Sihtric, lady.'

'Sihtric,' you smiled, still holding his hand, which he didn't seem to realise either, and your eyes darted over his toned arms, 'you're like an animal, I mean, I mean… you, d-do you like animals?'

'I actually do not, lady, not really,' he chuckled lightly, still holding your hand, 'I apologise.'

'Well… maybe, maybe you'll learn to l-like them… or something,' you felt yourself get lost in his eyes once you noticed they were two different colours. You only snapped out of your trance when you heard Finan mimic the bark of a very happy golden retriever, and you finally let go of Sihtric's hand. You both looked away and cleared your throat while looking red in the face.

'S-so I was about to walk the dogs. M-maybe you could help with that? We have a-a great Dane, a lovely dog, but huge and doesn't really listen. He dragged me over the street once already, so maybe you,' you looked at Sihtric's muscular arms again and sighed when you thought about how he would have to flex those while walking the dog, 'y-you could…maybe, flex- I mean help! H-help with that dog.'

'I, eh, I suppose,' Sihtric chuckled.

********************

When you just started your walk with the dogs, the great Dane was overly excited and Sihtric really had to showcase his strength to not let the dog escape, but he did it with grace. And it made you weak to your knees. Luckily, soon all dogs seemed to calm down, especially the great Dane, and the dog didn't seem to stray far from Sihtric, and if he did, Sihtric would whistle and the dog obeyed immediately. You didn't even know the dog could do that.

'I can't believe he's actually calm,' you smiled in disbelief, 'who are you, the dog whisperer? He really seems to like you.'

Sihtric chuckled and patted the great Dane on his head, 'I don't know,' he smiled, 'maybe it's because we're both Danes,' he joked.

'You're a Dane?'

'I am, lady. Maybe the dog knows,' he winked, 'and… I guess I might be a little fond of him as well.'

'Really?' you raised an eyebrow, 'and a few hours ago you told me you didn't like animals.'

Sihtric shrugged with a sly smile and continued to pet the dog. You looked at them and thought how Sihtric would be the perfect person to adopt this dog. They say dogs tend to resemble their owners, and that's exactly what you saw. The dog's fur was smooth and dark, he was well built, friendly but clumsy, shy at first but curious and simply won over your heart in no time. And Sihtric, with his dark, long hair tied together, his muscular body and his dazzling smile gave you the same energy.

'What's his name?' Sihtric asked, crouched down next to the dog.

'Oh, sorry, I never told you. It's Thor.'

'It is?' Sihtric's eyes grew big and looked up at you. Then he looked back at the dog and reached into his shirt. He pulled out his necklace and clutched it in his hand. You weren't sure why, it was only moments later when Sihtric got back up that you saw his pendant. Thor's hammer. And you couldn't help but smile.

*******************

When you and Sihtric got back to the shelter it was almost time for the men to leave already. You placed the dogs back in their enclosures and took out one of the recently brought in kittens. You had grown fond of the little thing and simply couldn't leave her alone. You held the cat in your arms while you thanked the men for doing their jobs today and looked forward to seeing them tomorrow, and unless they wished to stay longer today, they could go home now. Finan, with his thick accent, told you how he had loved the dogs and was excited to come back again. Uhtred, who was hissed and scratched at, gave you a polite but fake smile and mumbled that he'd see you again tomorrow. The two men left while Sihtric seemed to linger around a little longer before he awkwardly walked over to you.

'I, eh, I- I was wondering if, if maybe I could, eh,' he stammered, 'I- I just wonder how it would work if I were to, you know, want to look into … adopting a pet.'

'Really?' you smiled widely, 'eh, it requires some paperwork and rules, but, I-I can tell you some stuff about it tomorrow, if you like?

'Yeah, yeah,' Sihtric blushed, 'I-I'd like that.'

'Me too,' you felt your own cheeks reddened too, and you both quickly focused your attention on the kitten in your arms, 'would you like to hold her?' you blurted out.

'I-I don't think I'm good with animals,' Sihtric said.

'Are you sure?' you chuckled, 'you seemed great today. Here,' you said and handed him the young cat, 'try.'

Sihtric tensed up and awkwardly took the cat in his arms. The cat, however, seemed completely at ease rather fast and nestled against his chest as he held her. You almost squealed at the sight of Sihtric, the muscular "thief", with Freya, the white fluffy kitten, all cuddled up in his arms. And you saw Sihtric slowly relax and his face softened into a shy smile when he chuckled.

'I think animals just love you,' you said as you stepped closer to pet Freya.

'It seems,' Sihtric smiled, watching Freya while you petted her. As you petted the kitten, you accidentally brushed your fingers against Sihtric's arm.

'Oh, sorry,' you blushed and looked up at him, to find he was already looking at you, and you both stopped breathing for a moment when you locked eyes. You could just kiss him right there, and you felt he thought the same when you saw his eyes trail down to your lips. But then Thyra walked in and you both took a step back quickly.

'H-hey,' you greeted her and cleared your throat, pretending to look for something that wasn't there while you tried to hide your red cheeks. But you were lucky that Freya drew all the attention to her right away, so you didn't have to feel awkward much longer. 

Eventually Sihtric brought Freya to her enclosure, and you saw how he stopped by Thor, the great Dane, to pet him before walking back over to you.

'I was actually thinking,' Sihtric mumbled slightly, 'maybe… maybe you could, if-if you want, m-maybe explain the adopting procedure to me, eh, while y-you maybe get a-a, a drink with me?'

Sihtric quickly looked down at his feet and sighed, feeling he completely fucked that up.

'Oh,' you said softly and felt flustered again, 'I-I would actually… like that, but… I-I have to work here until later tonight.'

'Oh,' Sihtric said and shook his head, 'no, it's okay. I-I understand.'

'But,' you quickly said, 'maybe… I mean, if the offer is still standing tomorrow, then I-I'd like to, to get a drink with… you, yes.'

******************

The next morning you were anxious to see Sihtric again. You had agreed to get a drink together after work, but you still felt he might cancel it. There was no way he could be interested in you, you thought. And as you arrived at the shelter, usually being the first to do so, you found Sihtric, smoking a cigarette, while waiting for you near the entrance.

'My type,' you muttered in your car as you studied his side profile, 'you're not wrong, Thyra, I just wish he didn't smoke,' you chuckled to yourself before you got out.

'Sihtric?' you smiled, 'you're early. And also you can't smoke here,' you grinned.

'Oh,' he chuckled, 'sorry, lady.' And he threw the cigarette away before he turned to face you.

'Oh, god!' you said when you saw his hair, 'what happened to you?' you snorted, 'I mean, oh, sorry, I don't mean it badly! I-I just… I didn't… expect this to…,' you coughed slightly.

'It's fine,' Sihtric chuckled and rolled his eyes, 'I actually only wanted to shave the sides, but I messed up. I either had to go completely bald or,' he shrugged, 'make the most of this.'

'Oh, god,' you snorted again and took a step closer, inspecting his half shaved head. You saw he had a small braid with beads in it, and on the other side of that braid he still had his longer curls, 'Actually,' you smiled with a blush, 'it's kinda cool.'

'You don't have to lie, lady,' Sihtric laughed.

'I would never,' you said and couldn't help but look away and bite down on your lip. Goddamnit, you thought, he looks really good.

********************

After Finan and Uhtred arrived later, and had finally stopped laughing at Sihtric's haircut, you put them all to work again. Today Finan was to walk the dogs with a colleague, and because Uhtred had taunted Sihtric the most, you told Uhtred he was to feed the evil parrot again, much to his disgrace. 

You nudged Sihtric and told him to watch. You both stood at safe distance while Uhtred closed in on the parrot's cage.

'You're a good bird,' Uhtred kept saying, to which you and Sihtric already giggled. You watched Uhtred cautiously open the enclosure, and just as you expected, the parrot started screaming curse words to Uhtred.

'Did he just call me arseling?' Uhtred yelled back to you.

'The parrot is right,' Sihtric whispered to you, and you both couldn't stop laughing while Uhtred kept being cursed at by the hostile bird. After a few minutes you thought it was enough and told Sihtric you'd help Uhtred, but Sihtric was quick to offer his help too.

'Are you sure? The bird is pure evil,' you laughed, 'I'm serious.'

'I'm sure,' Sihtric smiled, and you beckoned him to follow you.

'Okay, try to get him out then. We need to clean the cage,' you told Sihtric.

Uhtred quickly stepped away and you told him he should go and feed the rest of the animals, you'd take care of the bird.

And to your surprise, and Sihtric's, the parrot grew rather quiet when he approached. Sihtric held his hand out, a little nervously, but you gave him an encouraging smile, and before you knew it the parrot calmly stepped onto Sihtric's hand.

'There is just no way,' you whispered, seeing the event unfold in front of you, 'that bird hates everyone. No one can get him out.'

Sihtric looked at you with a smirk and shrugged lightly.

'You're like… like Ace Ventura or something,' you laughed, and Sihtric definitely appreciated the joke and chuckled.

The rest of the day went by fast. Finan, once again, was completely in love with all the overly excited dogs, while Uhtred needed a few plasters after a cat named Brida had scratched him. Sihtric was given the task to clean the enclosures and every time you checked on him, you found him petting a different animal. And just like every animal at the shelter, you were also absolutely smitten by that man.

You wished the men a good evening again and like the day before, Uhtred and Finan left while Sihtric waited around, but this time he was waiting to take you out for a drink. You quickly got changed in some comfortable clothes and met up with him outside the shelter.

He took you to a quiet, local bar where you came to realise that Sihtric was just all kinds of interesting. And attractive. You explained him how the adoption process goes, and if he was really serious about it, you could help him get approved. Sihtric said he'd love that, and soon after that you both chatted about all kinds of other things.

'So,' you said after a while, 'I have to ask this.'

'Ask what?' Sihtric raised his eyebrow with a half smile.

'Your community service,' you tried to hide your smile as Sihtric looked at you while he took a sip of his drink, 'a holy relic? Why?'

'Yeah,' Sihtric sighed and chuckled, 'in my defence, it wasn't my idea. It was Uhtred's. But,' Sihtric sighed and clicked his tongue, 'look,' he said curtly and locked eyes with you, 'I am not a real thief or anything, I am not a criminal. We were drunk, we passed the church as we walked home and we just thought it was a good idea,' he shrugged.

'But what did you steal? Or, well, try to steal?'

'A comb.'

'What?'

'An ivory comb.'

'Sihtric,' you snorted, 'you got arrested for stealing a comb?'

'St Cuthbert's ivory comb, yes.'

'Still a comb.'

'Uhtred said it's worth a lot of money.'

'Is it?'

'I don't know, lady,' Sihtric hissed playfully, 'we never got to sell it.'

'Oh my god!' you laughed, 'this is the most outrageous thing I have ever heard. I love it. But what were you going to do with the money? I mean, if it really was worth a lot?'

'I don't even know, I was drunk, okay,' Sihtric laughed.

'Who even is St Cuthbert?' you frowned.

'I have no idea, lady,' Sihtric snickered, 'I am a pagan.'

'You don't even know who you stole from? Jesus. Well, I hope it was worth it,' you smiled and shook your head.

'Yeah,' Sihtric smiled and looked at you, 'it was worth it.' 

You blushed and looked away when you understood he was flirting, and you didn't know what to do.

'Hey,' you finally said, 'I know you keep saying you don't like animals. But they clearly like you. Have you considered continuing working at the shelter after the community service? I mean, we could really use your help.'

'You know,' he sighed, 'I wouldn't mind. But, I need a paid job to live.'

'We have those too,' you said quickly, 'I get paid for example. It just depends on how many hours you can work. If you can work full time, you'll get a contract and a payment. But a lot of people only come in for one day a week, and those are the ones who volunteer.'

'Really?' 

'Yeah.'

'Hm, I might consider that,' he nodded, 'but would you want me to work there?'

'Maybe,' you blushed, 'you're the only one who has been accepted by the evil parrot.'

'Oh,' Sihtric laughed, 'is that all I'm good for?'

'Well, that and… y-you're good on the eye,' you blurted out, 'I mean good on the…the,' you sighed and buried your face in your hands, 'I can't talk myself out of that one, can I?'

'Nope,' Sihtric smiled and sat back, watching you in amusement as you tried to regain your confidence.

'But if it helps,' Sihtric smiled as he leaned in, 'I think you're good on the eye too.'

[onelungmcclung]

MotA pt eight:

combat pilots are the glamour boys of piloting tbh (I like/am critical of this show's sprawling ambition but I'd take a BoB style miniseries just following the 332nd / 477th)

feeling a little bit back to square one in that suddenly there's a whole new bunch of guys in uniforms and masks and I'm supposed to be able to tell them apart and it took me about 4 episodes to keep track of the 100th (about 7 to keep track of easy company, but I was new to the genre back then)

(my co-watchers and I have a whatsapp group called "i moustache you a question" which is purely for helping one another tell MotA characters apart)

I don't want to be mean but I do not give a skerrick of a fuck about bucky's emotional problems, especially when that problem is boredom

"well I could cope with being DEAD" is mildly endearing

just think how much of this narration you could cut out and everything would be fine, better even

it's good to see a little bit more of capt westgate's working relationships

croz that is what happens when you disobey kidd's direct order, your brain deactivates

did u know christopher lakewood (col jeffrey) is also an accent coach

I thought maybe buck and bucky's fight might be some piece of misdirection theatre in aid of an escape plan but no, bucky is just that annoying. punch him again.

luv the tuskegee airmen already because nobody's narrating over their scenes. see how well this works

"I helped plan d-day and then slept through it" is a great story for the grandkids. I'm being flippant but also: it kind of is

croz/rosie/kidd ot3. I'm right. think it over. thank me later. (platonically, but ydy. maybe I'll decide I'm flexible)

if I were more heterosexual I would fall for macon reeling off a list of precise statistics that he worked out earlier when he had a free five minutes

"we perhaps might not blend into nazi germany?" is seditious talk apparently

I'm always a bit lost when the 100th point to one another through their plane windows and say things like "look! there's blakely!" because I simply cannot make out any distinguishing features. the tuskegee planes are great though, much more distinctive

Second Smug Nazi is a slightly more charismatic actor imo

the writers have got themselves into that "this time period was racist but Our Heroes cannot be racist" dilemma so, as per the classic dodge, some relatively minor character gets to be the Only Racist. sorry hambone. you are very blond, after all. (sometimes it's "this time period was homophobic" or "this time period was misogynistic" but the solution remains the same)

I quite like alex and buck's interactions, despite not having been terribly invested in buck so far. good chemistry? just the novelty of a new character relationship? anyway it helps when butler and turner get scenes with other people for a change. one of the best tools for character development is giving them multiple relationships; the different commonalities/tensions/chemistry are v revealing

I am not immune to a Secret Plot Montage

tell me more about macon and demarco, is this a budding friendship (don't want to overegg a "standing next to each other" moment but I'm starved for supporting character development and I'm finally giving up on that significantly changing)

I think westgate is probably right to call things off with crosby sooner rather than later (I always support hbo war ladies when they dump guys #feminism)

yeah I do quite like rosie, he's a good person/leader/pilot. very obviously not (as winters described guarnere and speirs) a natural killer, but that's not his job and he is a natural pilot and therefore cannot bring himself to leave the other guys before the war is over

I think I have done a relatively good job of keeping track of the influx of new characters. don't remember everyone's names yet (alex! macon! daniels!) but I'm doing better on faces

hope demarco and meatball get to reunite next ep

[maybelinefox]

2003 Lighthouse AU Chapter 5: Monsters

Chapter under cut!

"There she is!" April jumps off the boat before it's even stopped moving, landing on the pier and instantly jetting off towards me.

"Hi April," I try to wave, but I'm grabbed up into a bone-crushing hug before I can protest.

Over her shoulder I see Casey stepping off the boat and taking a box from the supply guy, helping him unload his boat filled with my next month’s necessities.

April pulls away from the hug and holds me at arm’s length, her concerned eyes searching deep into my tired ones.

"What's going on?" she asks, worry lacing her tone. "You said it's something personal. Did something bad happen?"

"Uh..." I glance over towards Casey and the supply guy, not sure if they can hear. "More or less. It's kind of a lot to explain."

"Well, come on, then," she grabs my hand and begins pulling me towards the pier. "The sooner we get everything unloaded, the sooner we can get to that explanation.”

As expected, the process is a lot quicker with four people carting boxes instead of just two. Namely because I don't have that many boxes being delivered, so it's roughly two to three trips from the pier to the lighthouse for everyone depending on who grabbed the first box. Once that's all done, I give a thank you, good-bye, see ya next time to the supply guy before he speeds away from the island.

I take a deep breath as I watch him leave me alone with the terrifying task at hand.

Here we go.

"So, what's up, Ayla?" Casey asks, coming up to stand beside me. "You doin ok?"

I slowly turn towards him, then send both of them a smile.

"Come on inside," I offer, moving past them to lead the way towards the lighthouse. "There's a lot to explain."

They glance at each other, but follow me without another word.

"So, firstly," I start as we enter the front door. "The guy that was here before me seemed nice at first, but he's got a lot more going on than he ever alluded to. Thing number one being that he illegally called an exotic animal trading company to the island on multiple occasions to hunt for rare animals."

"Holy crap, that's quite a conversation starter," Casey exclaims, closing the door behind April.

"That's only the first thing he did wrong?" April wonders as she hangs her coat by the door.

"Woah, neat gun, Ay," Casey has begun unzipping the gun bag to see what's inside, and is in the process of pulling it out of the bag.

"It might be loaded," I quickly warn him before explaining where it came from. "It's not mine. Or, well, I guess it is now, but I didn't buy it. The last guy left that for me to protect myself."

"Against what?" Casey checks the loaded/unloaded status of the rifle.

I shrug. "He was convinced there were monsters on this island."

"Oh snap," Casey laughs as he begins sliding the weapon back into the bag. "Guy was a wack job, huh? It's unloaded, by the way."

I nod. "Good to know."

"You didn't know?" April cocks her head out of curiosity towards my lack of gun safety.

I shake my head, slightly embarrassed. "I've had quite a bit on my mind lately. I assumed he left it unloaded and didn't think much more of it until just now. Haven't even touched the thing the entire time I've been here."

"Well, now ya know," Casey walks up beside April, having left his jacket by the door.

"So, what's thing number two?" April turns the conversation back to where it needs to be.

"Oh, yeah."

I turn to head towards the stairs.

"Thing number two is that company was actually a monster hunting company in disguise."

There's Casey's laugh. I knew it was coming, just didn't know when.

"Monster hunters?" he asks incredulously between laughing breaths. "There's an actual company for that?"

"And they make money?" April asks, a grin spreading on her face as well.

"They sure do. A lot of it, apparently. As shown by thing number three."

I reach towards the top panel of the second to last step of the stairs, and, after a bit of wiggling it back and forth, I manage to pop it off, revealing a small hidden storage area underneath.

"Holy crap," Casey repeats, this time in a disbelieving whisper. He steps towards the stairs to see better.

"Is that..." April points towards the stairs, not sure herself.

"Money," I answer. "Lots of it. Phil got it from those monster hunters when they managed to catch one of those creatures he'd been seeing. They bought him from Phil and then sold him for nearly twice that amount."

And suddenly, the air surrounding us feels more serious. More stifling. April and Casey glance between me and the money and each other, then back to me. My usage of pronouns to refer to a creature that shouldn't exist as well as my knowledge or belief the very real money in front of them is tied to that creature has most likely caused them to either understand there is truly something happening here, or to believe that I've begun losing my mind.

Or perhaps they think I've brought them all the way out here purely for a prank and they're not quite sure how to respond.

"May?" April's hands go to her hips. "What's happening here?"

I sigh, replacing the board.

"What's happening, is thing number four."

I pull out my phone to show them the picture of the rat (whom I've discovered the boys affectionately refer to as "Splinter") that I took when I found the company's website.

"Thing number four is: I wanna get him back to this island. But I don't know who bought him, and I need your help finding him and getting him from them."

"Ayla...." April looks up at me, and I nearly wilt to see the sympathetic look in her eyes and hear the careful tone to her voice. "I know you're not used to being alone this long, but you have to know this is-"

"Really, April?" I stare at her in disbelief, and with probably a bit of betrayal on my face as well. "I haven't lost my mind after only four months of being alone."

"Well, technically it only takes less than a week to-"

"With no stimulation or tasks to stave off boredom and no contact with anyone else, yes. I've had both. I'm fine."

"Ayla," Casey tries. "I don't know where this money came from, but this picture can't be-"

"I know what it looks like," I interrupt. "But this is not fake, I promise."

I groan, bringing my hands up to my face.

"Look, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes. He's not the only one on this island. They'd rather not be seen right now, because obviously letting anyone know of their existence is risky, but you have to trust me when I say this is all very real. There is an old rat out there who thinks and feels like any other human being, and he's being bought and sold and exploited simply because he's different and I want to help him. I wouldn't lie about this."

They watch me as I speak, obviously unsure of the words coming out of my mouth. After I'm done talking, they look at each other, not quite sure how to proceed.

April sighs.

"What is it you want me to do, exactly?"

"Track a phone number."

I hand her the paper I wrote the number down on.

"That's the number of whoever bought him. The website gives that information out in case anyone wants to bargain with a buyer for a creature they've bought, which means it can't be a traceable number. But it's the only thing I have, unless you can find out something else through their website."

April stares at the number for a moment before sighing again. This time in exasperation.

"Can I see the website?"

*****

"Wait so, this is a whole thing?" Casey asks as he stares at all the hard-to-believe-could-ever-exist creatures on the website.

"Yep," I confirm. "There's different categories of types of impossible animals they sell off, most of which just being animals who had some kind of weird birth defect or genetic mutation that caused them to look insanely different. At least, that’s what I’ve seen."

"This is...fascinating," April says, obviously still not believing what she's seeing. "Some of these don't make sense at all. Oh, there he is."

She clicks on the image of Splinter, looking through his page for any and all information. After a few moments, she leans back.

"Yep. That's all they have. Guess we're tracing an untraceable number."

"If anyone can do it, it's you, babe."

"Thanks, Casey, but I'm feeling like this will probably end up being a dead end. Maybe there's some way I can access their records, but I wouldn't be able to do that without-"

Suddenly, she turns to me, gears obviously turning wildly in her head.

"You used the company information to get into their own site!"

She turns back and starts clicking around the screen.

"Maybe I'll have access to things a normal consumer wouldn't since what was input was probably an employee ID number."

"Oop," Casey leans back against the wall, arms crossed. Making himself comfortable. "She's goin now. We might be here a while."

"Oh, quit it," April chastises with a smile on her face, and I laugh.

Whether or not they believe me, I'm happy they're helping.

And not trying to call me crazy anymore.

Just wait till they see the boys. They either won't think I'm crazy anymore or they'll think they're the ones losing it.

"I'ma go get us some refreshments for this little adventure of ours," Casey exclaims as he turns to head down the stairs.

I watch April for a few minutes, the calculated swiftness of her fingers gliding across the keys coupled with quick movements and clicks from the mouse mesmerizing me, as always.

"Ok," she says suddenly. "I think I've got-"

"What the-!"

Both of us turn in shock towards the stairs as we hear Casey yell from the kitchen.

Uh oh.

I bolt down the stairs, already guessing what probably happened.

"What?"

Casey turns to me as I reach the bottom of the stairs.

"There's a freaky green thing out the window!" He points to emphasize his statement, but there's currently nothing there. Which he notices when he turns back to look where he's pointing.

"Wait it was...it was just there!"

He pushes his face up against the window to try and see out from all angles, but not daring to open it.

"What are you talking about, Casey?"

April has joined us in the kitchen and is staring at her husband's antics like she's trying to come to terms with the fact that he's officially lost it.

"It was out there! I saw it! There was-"

Casey's eyes somehow managed to widen more than they already are, and he turns to me in realization. To which I respond with a lazy smile.

Guess one of the boys decided to reveal himself early.

It's either Mikey being too curious or Raph being overprotective and keeping a close eye on the situation.

"Wait, you said there were others on this island."

At Casey's revelation, April turns to me, understanding as well.

I shrug.

"They said they didn't wanna show themselves to you guys just yet, but I guess someone got a little too curious."

"What?"

They both look at me like I just opened a portal to another dimension.

I walk over to the door and open it, leaning out.

"Whoever's out there, he did in fact see you, so you might as well just come on in."

After a moment, I hear a groan from the bushes next to me, and I turn and lean against the doorframe so I can shoot a sarcastic smile towards whoever steps out.

Points to me for winning the guessing game. It's Raph.

"Thought he was going back upstairs when I peeked in."

"Well, turns out he was looking right at you. Gotta work on your stealth there, bud."

I pat his shoulder sympathetically, but he just swats my hand off him in annoyance, and I chuckle in response.

"What the hell-?"

I turn to see Casey standing protectively in front of April, staring at Raph in bewilderment.

I step in front of the turtle when I see Casey's eyes dart towards the gun by the door.

"Casey, April. This is Raph. He's one of Splinter's sons still on the island."

“Splinter?" April asks, having not heard the name before now.

"One of?" Of course Casey's more worried about how many there are that could be a threat.

"Splinter is the rat. Yes, there's four."

"Calm down there, hotshot," Raph holds his hand up to Casey over my shoulder. "Ain't here to hurt anybody."

"Then what are ya here for, green dome?"

Raph's face falls into an angry grimace, and I step towards Casey with my own hands out.

"He and his brothers have been here several times, Casey. They're friends. He's just checking up. They knew you guys were coming today."

"So this is all real..." April steps back, away from Casey, and falls onto the couch with a faraway look.

"This isn't...that picture isn't..."

I sigh, dropping my hands to my sides. That's how I thought she'd react.

"Yeah, the picture's real. Splinter is really being held somewhere against his will, and I really asked you guys here to help me with a real problem."

"Yeah, you got a real problem alright," Casey is still glaring at Raph, who growls in response.

I shove my hand against his chest to interrupt the growl, then move towards Casey, grabbing him by the arm and spinning him towards April.

"April, you sounded like you had something before Casey screamed."

"I didn't scream!"

Casey gets an elbow to the gut to shut him up, to which I hear Raph respond by stifling a laugh.

It takes April a minute, but she finally shakes herself out of whatever trance she's in and looks up at me.

"Yes...yes I-I found something."

"What is it?"

"A location. Roughly."

Raph is suddenly interested.

"A location? For what? Is Father there?"

He surges forward as he talks, towards April. She flinches, causing him to choose kneeling in front of her a couple feet from the couch instead of standing next to her.

I shove my arm against Casey to keep him from lunging towards the spot between April and Raph.

"I-I mean...it's not a precise location, and I'm not sure if he's there. It's just the last location that phone was in when it was used."

"It's something," I yank Casey's hair to pull him back when he manages to push past me, successfully dropping him to the ground thanks to how much shorter I am. "We can start there and try to figure something out."

"Ayla, what the-!"

"Has he been a threat at all since he's been here?"

Casey's mouth opens and closes as he tries to protest, but he ultimately ends up slumping in defeat.

"Exactly." I let go of his hair and turn towards the stairs.

"Come on. Let's get to figuring."

*****

After a couple hours of researching and planning, we've figured pretty well.

Raph and I will introduce Casey and April to the rest of the guys so that everybody can be comfortable with everybody, then Casey and I will make our way to the mainland to go after splinter while April and the guys will watch the lighthouse just in case that guy Parker comes back while we're gone. Where we believe Splinter is being held should be fairly easy to get into with April's person-in-the-chair help. It's the getting out that may be more difficult, but we should be able to manage that.

Now all that's left is to wait for the right time, and we're pretty sure we've got that down.

Less than a week from now, Casey has two days off from his job as a police officer. And April is currently working from home as she tries to build up her tech company, so she can do whenever. They'll rent a boat so they can head over here without the once-a-month supply guy's help, which we will then use, (after covering all external tells as to where the boat came from), to skirt around mainland eyes to get to a predetermined secluded beach that conveniently parallels a road that will lead us almost directly to the house of the collector that bought Splinter. We'll break in with April's help, get Splinter, rush him back to the boat, and get home before anyone's noticed us.

At least, that's what we hope will happen.

It would really suck if we got caught, which is far more likely.

The boys are excited and hopeful, at least. Or, that's the impression they give over the next few days leading up to their father's rescue. Leo and Raph seem to be realistically apprehensive, but try not to show it since Mikey and Donny are all smiles and optimism.

I've made it clear to them several times that none of them can come for fear of them being taken by the same people that took their dad. At the most, as humans, Casey and I will get jail time. They would undoubtedly get so much worse. They're not happy about it, but they understand.

Finally, the day arrives with Casey and April pulling up to the pier in their rented motorboat. The boys help cover up anything on the boat that could be traced back to the rental company or us. We do a few last-minute checks of our supplies, gear, (masks, gloves, etc.,), and information, say our farewells, and Casey and I are off.

"Do you really think this is gonna work?" Casey asks once we're a good distance from shore.

"You do, or else you wouldn't be risking your career for this."

"I'm here to make sure you don't get yourself caught."

"Right." I look back at him. "The only reason you agreed to be here is because you have enough confidence in yourself you don't think either of us will get caught with you here."

"There's a difference between not getting caught and actually being successful. If shit hits the fan, I'm getting you outta there before they see your face. Whether we have the rat or not."

I can't respond to that. I just look back to the water and continue forward.

I guess all I can do now is hope we're successful at both the mission and not getting caught.

*****

The house we pull up to is definitely that of a filthy rich show-off. It almost seems that if the place could realistically be made entirely of gold and jewels, it would be. Somehow, the bricks are all shiny and brightly colored, both on the actual house and the surrounding wall, and they even managed to accent everything in a gold-like metal. It's even night by the time we arrive, and yet the shine is still unbearable to look at.

"Ok, I keep an eye out and back you up while you get the rat," Casey repeats the plan for like the twentieth time.

"Yes, Casey, I got it. This isn't my first infiltration."

"Just..." He trails off whatever warning he was going to let loose as he checks over my gun and hands it to me. He sighs. "Just be careful. It's been a while-"

"It's been a couple months," I correct. "Years worth of training doesn't go down the drain like that-" I emphasize with a snap "-just because you take a couple months off. I'm probably better equipped for this than you are."

"Ok, don't get cocky now," he laughs as he preps his own weapon.

We both step out of the car and casually make our way to the building. We parked far enough away that hopefully nobody will notice our presence until it's too late.

We pull out our earpieces and connect them to our phones, and I start a group call with April. Unfortunately, there's not much she can do without revealing her location. But what she can do is better than nothing.

April manages to shut down all the cameras before talking us through the code on the back gate keypad. We hurry to the back door, getting past that keypad lock as well. The basement is where we believe he's being held, the door to which is not far from the back entrance. There is, however, a possibility this rich guy who's obviously paranoid enough to have such an extensive security system will have armed guards stationed somewhere between us and his collection.

Hence, the reason we brought guns.

As we turn the corner that will lead us straight to the basement door, we stop, hiding back behind the wall.

There is, in fact, a guard in front of the door.

"April," I whisper. "Do you know if there's any other guards in the building?"

"Sorry, no. I can only see the building layout."

"Is there a way to the other side of this hall where the guard won't see me?"

"...yes, actually..."

April walks me through how to get there, and I turn to Casey, gesturing to him what my plan is. He seems confused, but nods.

He'll figure it out once he sees it happening in front of him.

Quickly and quietly and constantly on the lookout for other guards, I make my way to the other end of the hall.

I then shove at a vase on a table in the hallway, just enough to have it spin around hard enough to make noise.

I hear the guard turn on his feet, then nothing for a moment, before I hear his footsteps ever so carefully making their way towards me. I hide behind one of the thick wall pillars. If Casey doesn't take him out, hopefully he doesn't see me before I can.

It only takes a few more seconds before I hear the sound of something heavy slamming into a helmeted head and then the thump of a body hitting the ground.

"Psst!"

I look around the corner to see Casey has successfully taken out the guard.

Well, I'll be damned. Stealth normally isn't Casey's forte. Good for him.

April gets us through the keypad on the basement door, and in I go, dragging the half-naked body of the guard with me to hide. Casey is going to stay by the door and impersonate him, both to keep watch for me as well as to prevent suspicion in case there is someone else in the house making rounds.

Now all that's left is to find Splinter and get out of here.

I drop the guard by the foot of the stairs before finally turning to see what's in the basement.

It looks like a sci-fi prison.

It's not a very big room, small enough you can see everything in it no matter where you stand. On the wall to the right of the stairs is a storage closet and a desk, on which I find a bunch of keycards. On the wall to the left of the stairs are small enclosures for smaller animals, stacked on top of each other. Glass cases displaying various different types of habitats to house whatever's inside it. On the wall opposite me are larger enclosures, running floor to ceiling. These are basically cells with glass doors locked with card readers, and there's a couple steps leading up to them. The beings within all of these habitats and enclosures are pretty much just strange and deformed animals, suffering some kind of genetic mutation that makes them look otherworldly but are otherwise normal.

Except for one, all the way at the end of the row of cells.

Finding what I was looking for, I rush up to the enclosure.

A large, humanoid rat is sitting in the center, back facing the door. He appears to be meditating, sitting cross-legged with his hands in his lap, his face pointed straight at the opposite wall.

“Splinter?"

The old rat slowly turns his head towards me, a look of surprise on his features, though his eyes are still closed.

"You know my name."

I almost wasn't expecting him to speak. The turtles speak, and they had shown me journals written by their father and books belonging to him. Donny said their father had been teaching them to speak and read before he was captured. So him having the capability of speaking should have been obvious.

But for some reason I'm still somewhat...surprised.

"I-" I stammer in slight shock before getting a hold of myself. "Uh, yes. I know your sons."

His eyes open, flicking towards me.

Pure black.

"How?"

"I'm the new lighthouse keeper. Been there for almost, uh, five months now."

I pull out the keycards I found on the desk and begin searching for the one for this cell. "I met Donny by accident on my second week."

He glances down at my hands, then looks back at me. The look on his face is not one of hope, but instead more of...confusion, curiosity.

"You intend to let me out?"

"Well yeah, you don't need to be here." I try a card, discovering rather quickly it's the wrong one.

"You are not afraid of us?"

I try another card only for that one to fail as well.

"No."

"Why?"

I look up at him, pausing in my actions. "Should I be?"

He pauses at that, and I continue searching the cards.

"I haven't been given a reason to fear you."

"There are many threatening things that can very easily be mistaken for innocent and harmless."

I try another card. Another dud. Well, at least there's only one more. It would be the last one I try, wouldn't it?

"And monster hunters don't tend to hunt the real monsters. Only the ones that look like a monster in their eyes. Basically, things they don't understand."

There's a quiet beep with this card, and a light on the panel turns green. I pull at the door, opening the cell.

"I usually try to understand things I've never seen before I throw them in cages."

I hold my hand out to him.

He stares at my hand, then looks up into my eyes, seeming to study them for a moment. I suddenly have a minor flashback to when Raph told me his father believed that "eyes are the windows to the soul".

Then, very gently, he reaches out and slides his hand into mine, and I notice he takes care not to touch me with his claws.

I help him step down onto the floor before wrapping the coat I brought around him.

"You intend to sneak me back onto the island?"

"Well," I explain as I close and re-lock the cell. "We have our own boat, so technically we're just sneaking you onto that."

"We?"

"Casey get down here and give this guy his clothes back."

The basement door opens, and we hear boots quickly descend the stairs. Splinter takes up a defensive position in front of me before I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Damn, this just keeps getting crazier, doesn't it?" Casey remarks as his eyes land on Splinter. He turns towards the guard on the floor and begins dropping the man's gear onto him. Luckily, his own pants had looked close enough that we didn't need to swap those out, so we're not leaving the guy totally naked.

I drop the keycards back on the desk before we all quickly sneak out the exit, Casey leading the way to clear us a path and me following behind Splinter in case someone comes up behind us.

"You are a very naive young woman." Splinter states once we're outside of the house.

"Or, perhaps I'm so overfilled with wisdom it creates a negative."

His black eyes turn to me, and he stares for a moment before smiling.

"Haven't heard that one before. Not sure if it is accidentally genius or the dumbest thing anyone has ever said."

I shrug. "Naivety can often be born out of a large capacity for compassion. Which is probably the reason I prefer understanding before deciding something is dangerous. Would you consider that a bad thing?"

"In some circumstances, yes." He states simply as I open the door to the rental car. He sits down and adjusts the coat around him.

"However, in our circumstances, I suppose I'm grateful."

I smile at him before closing the door and climbing into the driver's seat, Casey making his way around to the other side as I do so.

We make it back to the boat with no issue, having left the car where we picked it up and walked the rest of the way. At one point, Splinter makes a pained noise, and I remember suddenly that the boys mentioned he used to walk with a cane. Before I can make a move to help, however, Casey cuts in front of the rat and kneels down, offering up his back. Splinter hesitates, but accepts the offer, climbing onto Casey's back and allowing the man to carry him the rest of the way to the boat.

The trip back to the island is silent as well. Casey is in utter disbelief we managed to pull this off, and Splinter seems to still be unsure whether we are truly taking him home or not. Either way, he seems to be preparing himself for whatever awaits him when we reach our destination.

The sun is just starting to peek out above the water as we pull up alongside the pier, and I can hear feet slapping the rock leading down from the lighthouse. I cut the motor as Casey ties the mooring line.

"They must be excited," Casey chuckles as he hops out of the boat.

"That was fast," Leo observes, slowing down as he steps onto the pier. "Did you-"

He cuts himself off as he notices the third figure in the boat taking hold of Casey's hand.

His brothers gather up beside him, staring in awe and disbelief as their father steps out of the boat and turns to face them. A look akin to one of shock takes over Splinter's face as he lowers his hood to look at his sons, but there also seems to be an air of bewilderment about the way he takes them in.

"My sons...." He breathes out in a quiet voice. "You..."

He slumps, almost looking disappointed, if it weren't for the smile spreading across his face.

"You are bigger than me now."

"Dad!" Mikey shouts, rushing forward and falling to his knees to wrap his arms around the rat. Splinter chuckles fondly in response, not hesitating to return the embrace. It doesn't take long for the other three to follow, piling up around their father and hanging onto him as if he might disappear again.

"Wow, that didn't take as long as we thought," April claims as she makes her way down the path to the pier.

"Turns out, Ay is as tactically gifted as she claims to be," Casey laughs as he and I make our way around the reunited family to talk to April.

"Yeah, I'm worried this isn't over yet," I tell them. "Easy as that was, it might have been intentional to let us leave with him. Or the company will know soon that this happened. Either way, I figure Parker will probably know where to look."

"Maybe we should find somewhere to hide them," April suggests, glancing back over at the little family. "Then when this Parker guy comes here looking, he can search the whole island and find nothing."

"People like him won't stop there," I shake my head. "He knows that I know they're here. He'll know I had something to do with taking Splinter back. He'll know if they're not on the island, I've hidden them somewhere, and he's gonna do whatever it takes to find out where. These guys are nothing but giant dollar signs to him, and he's definitely been in this business too long to be fooled or stopped so easily."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Casey glances over at the turtles and their father as well, actually seeming worried about them.

I shrug.

"I've got something waiting for him when he gets here. I think I've got this."

April and Casey look at me like I've grown a second head, but I just turn towards the lighthouse and start walking.

"I'll start making you guys something to eat," I call back to the family. "Come on up whenever you feel like it."

Lasagna seemed like a good fit for this occasion. Pizza-like enough for Mikey to be happy, but more filling, and more entertaining to watch the little island family try to eat without making a mess.

We spend the next few hours catching Splinter up on what's happened and learning about what happened to him while he was gone. He obviously waters some things down so his sons don't know how bad his time in that man's basement was, but that's understandable. I let him know in a moment where everyone else is distracted by Casey attempting some lame magic trick that he can come talk to me about it whenever he wants to, to which he replies with an appreciative nod.

By the time everyone decides to leave, it's just reaching noon. The boys want to take Splinter home so he can rest in a familiar, comfortable place, and Casey and April figure they should head back to the mainland since Casey has to head back to work in the morning.

I wave goodbye to everyone as the boys disappear into the trees with their father and April and Casey start up their boat.

I feel more and more anxious the more steps I take to get to my bed. I know something bad is going to come of this happy day. With people like Parker and his company, you can't just get away with something like what we did. And confident as I may have seemed about the whole thing, I'm not entirely sure I can go up against something like that. Maybe I should have asked Casey to take the next week off or something to he could stay here to help just in case.

Is protecting this little family from someone like Parker really something I can do?

Masterpost First | Prev | Next

[carrickbender]

Friday fi...ve(or whatever)

- had a job interview yesterday with a company that had the nicest warehouse I've ever seen. Not that I don't think we aren't going back, but I needed an interview to remind me how to do it. Plus, it wouldn't be a bad job...

- school is kicking my ass. Another trip to Cle Elum next week, and this time it will be full of tape measures, sketch pads, and stop watches. FIN 370's first exam wasn't easy, but I passed, and sometimes that's all you can say.

- today's chores include folding and finishing a load of laundry, going to the store, picking up the heads of a set of golf clubs that i dropped off right around fathers day(!!!!) To be reshafted(and nothing!!!!), and researching a therapist.

Speaking of which, here's the thing: I'm sure I overthink stuff, I get that. But like I've said before(sorry to be a repeater): I don't do self-talk well... like at all. So, for example, telling me to say the words I'm saying in my head to myself in a funny voice is ridiculous and not a helpful method of dealing with 'intrusive thoughts'. And suggesting, "well, would you say those things to your best friend" is just as ridiculous: my best friend is a conventionally attractive, intelligent guy who can pretty much do whatever he seems to want to do and effortlessly. I feel like I'm just being realistic, and I think I'm just trying to find the tools with which to deal with being who I am. The idea of mantras, rituals, and taking time for me is beyond unrealistic (I'm seriously glad for all yall who make it work, and you deserve all of the things and happiness it brings you- i judge not!). It's just not for me because theres no point in seeking some serenity for something thats not me, especially when all i want is a toolbox to deal with being a 'less than'- if that makes sense. So yeah... enough of my BS.

- So my mom and I had a great conversation on the way home from the airport a bit ago, and she made the offer that if we have to move due to me finding a job out of the area she would like to move into our house and pay the mortgage. To say that makes me happy is an understatement... Then yesterday, my dad and I were talking while Henry & I were headed to Oly, and he want to pay for our airfare and hotel to go to my brother Rick's wedding. To say it was unexpected was putting it mildly, but apparently my grandmother didn't give everything away to charity(a fact which made me proud that she would have, to be honest), and my dad and stepmom wanted to do 'stuff' for all of us boys... not to mention the fact that my stepmom is buying a headstone for her grandfather, something her dad never had the extra money to do. Honestly makes me tear up thinking about it...

- Anyhow, if you've made it this far, I applaud you. I just want to reiterate something I say often- I follow some pretty awesome and dynamic people, and watching y'all change the world is pretty awesome. Much love, and as a bonus: I got to speak cat today to this magnificent creature. I told him he was great, and un chat marveleuse et magnificent aussi! To which he seemed to reply, "B'eh oui, absolutament!!!"

Much love yall!!!

[aizenat]

Here’s the thing about Meg and the allegations. So like as her lawyer pointed out, this person didn’t ever file any harassment complaints either to Megan or anyone else. Now you can argue “who would he complain to” but Meg had been managed by Roc nation since 2019. Even before she blew up with Savage. So like he could have complained to their hr so there was at least a record of it.

But he didn’t. So, seriously, when did Megan get a chance to know she was making him uncomfortable?

Like I feel like ppl need to really realize that celebrities are NOT like us. They may put their pants on one leg at time like us but they don’t live like us. AT ALL. Wild and crazy parties with things we couldn’t even imagine, all types of drugs everywhere, orgies and kinky sex galore: the real lives of the rich and famous would have even the more liberal of us clutching our damn pearls.

Just like with the Lizzo case, everyone is down to party until the party stops. Especially when the party stops because of their own actions (those backup dancers were obviously bad employees who got mad they got fired for not working the way they were supposed to). Then when the party stops, they want to expose the craziness of these celebs lifestyles, KNOWING it’s supposed to be an industry secret. You want to know why a lot of celebs will go quiet or distance themselves from ppl who get these accusations? Because they don’t want the truth of what THEY get up to to also come out as a result of someone else getting outed. Ppl like “weird she told the cameraman not to say anything” like it’s not well known that anyone working with Beyonce on anything has to sign an ironclad nda and speak no evil they see. And the connection plus the money is more than enough to incentivize them to keep their mouths shut.

This guy and those background dancers got good, cushy gigs and fumbled the bag and now have to go this route after trying to extort these women didn’t work. And they both existed in a way where it’d be hard for them to get another similar gig without a good reference. And if they didn’t leave in the best terms, that’s similar to getting blacklisted. And honestly no one will want to work with them after these lawsuits so they have nothing to lose other than time by filing these lawsuits and almost everything to gain if they win or (more likely) settle out of court.

Megan herself is not a business or company, and likely didn’t hire this guy formally. And if she did, he likely knew beforehand (either was told or quickly learned) what all he’d see and be taking pictures of. And especially if he was partying with Megan, he knew what would be going on. He’s a fucking liar.

Also, America is an at-will employment country (outside Montana lol). Meaning an employer can, technically, fire you at any time and that’s their right. But it also means that as a worker, you’re allowed to quit at any time (meaning no employer can force you to stay on once you decide to quit). He wasn’t forced to do anything he didn’t want to do. If he was uncomfortable, he could have filed a complaint with Roc Nation or her old label (considering the legal issues they were having, they would have LOVED to have that to hold over her I’m sure).

He worked for her for like 4 years! When the Tory stans were dragging her, he could have came out with this to bury her. When Nicki was having a meltdown, he could have brought this up. There were so many times where Megan was getting so much hate or dealing with so much shit and he could have given her enemies ammunition then. Why not then? Why now? You spent four years watching her fuck ppl and whatever and you apparently had a huge problem all those years and never said anything?

Megan’s entire persona is she a freak. I’m supposed to believe this photographer, this MAN, got a job following her around taking pictures of her and he was surprised and shocked to see her fucking in front of him? Yeah ok. Like use your brains ppl. What makes more sense: a group of young people excited to travel the world and be as freaky as they want having fun and wild parties that sure get crazy but that’s the point, or this young woman on the come up with no real power or foot in the industry yet hiring a photographer to only professionally take pictures of her in professional settings but she’s so evil and crazy that she couldn’t help but fuck ppl in front of him and viciously harass them.

Just a note too: funny how similar these accusations are to the accusations against Lizzo. The body shaming accusations against both women is definitely a calculated choice to purposely denigrate and undermine these women as they are both known for being body positive.

Also the “hostile” work environment in very non-traditional situations; both cases use situations outside of the work setting to try to argue that the artists created a hostile environment. But like you didn’t have to go to a strip club if you were so against it. You can say “well they had to for work” but no you don’t. There was a kid at my last job who was aggressively against doing anything outside business hours with the company. He went to zero company outings, never went to the holiday party in all his 10+ years of working there, refused to have anyone from the company be a friend on fb or any social media, never went to the company picnic, etc. People didn’t even know if he had siblings or whatever because he was determined to keep work and private life separate. And that wasn’t even close to the reason he got fired lol (he was constantly late/called out all the time so it finally caught up to him lol).

My point is that if these ppl were so against the lifestyle, why do they seem so into it until they get fired/are no longer able to collect a paycheck from these celebs? You on tour, go to your hotel after a performance. No one is forcing you to the strip club. You don’t want to be around someone who drinks a lot and gets freaky when she does? Take another car to where you’re staying and leave her to her antics. There are so many pretty big names on entertainment who don’t party and aren’t on drugs and shit; if they can figure it out, I think these employees can too.

And this to me is the tell tale sign these accusations have no merit. The things they always list sound like things friends do when hanging out. Going to clubs, drinking and making out with people. I’ve been at parties with ppl making out in front of me. I’ve drunkenly made out with a girl while a friend was awkwardly standing off to the side; shit happens when you put a bunch of young people in hot rooms with alcohol.

Like the work environment (for Megan; there are a few claims from the Lizzo case—tho not the ones directed at her but at her company and choreographer—that I do think have merit) claim this guy is trying to make is weird because you first have to establish what was work and what wasn’t. I used to go on outings with my old coworkers outside of work, and I wouldn’t blame my company if one of them did something to offend me or whatever. As a photographer, I would assume you’re taking pictures in very specific circumstances. So if you’re partying outside of work or having lunch outside of work, anything Megan does you claim you don’t like isn’t a work related issue.

Similar to the stripper story from the Lizzo story (also, learning that story supposedly happened at Crazy Horse is WILD for a host of reasons that invalidates the claim even more imo), going out after work isn’t required. And they can say pressured well they want; they’re grown and if Lizzo tried to fire them for not going, THAT would be a major HR violation and terms for a lawsuit right there. It’s so obvious in both cases that these ppl were down to party and got mad when the party stopped. They got a taste of that celeb life and got drunk. They wanted more. They didn’t want to return to their regular lives. So maybe a lawsuit would get some money to keep the party going.

The music industry is particularly shady. More so than the tv/movie industry. And these ppl are barely hiding it these days. The little bit we see we can bet the reality is that to the ♾️ power. And anyone getting into music knows that and has to decide how they want to navigate it. The very nature of these lawsuits and their allegations seem less about someone seeking justice (like we see in cases like, let’s say, the Diddy lawsuits) and more like someone trying to tear down a woman’s reputation.

Because with Diddy and R Kelly and the sort who get called out on these, it’s rarely a shock. Few ppl in general are living entirely separate double lives; that shit would be exhausting. Ppl been knew about Kelly; people been knew about Diddy. The lawsuits and documentaries and shit just exposed what we already knew/suspected. And based on their personalities and personas, there’s no real reason to doubt it.

But with these, notice how the accusations are not just surprising giving the nature, but how they specifically contradict the image the celebrity is portraying. Lizzo doing fat positivity but she’s actually not fat positive to others (despite making a point to hire big dancers but sure). Megan is all positive but she fat shamed me and told me not to eat! She’s so mean! Funny that.

It seems to me that these ppl have a vested interest tearing down these women’s reputation and shaming them. Or, at least, are leveraging their reputations to get some payouts, assuming they’d rather do that then fight this in court.

Also, and idc who hates this, but Johnny Depp, a man with a known and long recorded history of violence and drug and alcohol abuse, was able to convince the world his mostly unknown wife was the one abusing HIM by twisting moments she was trying to defend herself against her. And the world fell for it. Many still believe it because they didn’t do any real research, nor looked at the unsealed records that mostly support what Amber claimed. And it worked because ppl love to hate women and will find any reason too. And people have beef with Megan for unhinged and loser reasons. Meaning they will jump on this to vilify her immediately. And that’s what this asshole was banking on. That’s what all these people are banking on: that our hatred of women will lead to us harassing these women the way the world did Amber and get them to yield.

Johnny Depp started a trend of men (and the gender traitors) filing lawsuits against women to attack their character and force them to do what they want. And the threat is obvious: give me what I want or end up blacklisted, hated, and ostracized like Amber. And because everyone hates women, you idiots will fall for it every time.

Believe women means you believe them even when they’re being accused. Y’all are really not ready for real female solidarity. We’re never making it out the patriarchy.

[themichaelvan]

why nearly every character in all of the fnaf musicals are insane in distinctly different but still very much insane ways: an essay

(this is like 80% from memory and its. checks time 2:15am as of writing this so excuse inaccuracies.)

mark: oh my god starting off with a bang, are we? okay okay. he was there for ONE NIGHT. one. one night. he spent like basically all of it crying in the corner because of puppets. theyre puppets. freddy is literally punted across the room on multiple occasions YOU ARE A FULL GROWN ADULT MARK. "in all my dreams i see / a maze of halls with bloody walls / and countless scrawls reminding me "it's me!"" YOU WERE THERE FOR ONE NIGHT. he IMMEDIATELY decides that the solution to this is not 1) taking it up with his manager 2) just fucking quitting bUT INSTEAD THAT ITS 3) BRING A DUFFEL BAG FULL OF WEAPONS, INCLUDING SEVERAL KNIVES AND GUNS TO HIS WORKPLACE INTENDING TO KILL THE ANIMATRONICS YOU WERE HIRED TO PROTECT. AND THEN THE ONLY THING HE DID TO CHANGE HIS IDENTITY AFTER NEARLY KILLING A MAN AND GETTING CAUGHT WAS TO DYE HIS HAIR. he didnt even change his ADDRESS. dipshit. he acts all tough and crap afterward too like he spent 40 years in prison. he was reduced to literal actual tears by puppets. god i love him so much.

nate: sassed the man holding a knife to one of the animatroniocs he, AGAIN, was HIRED to PROTECT. drove the animatronics to a man they KNOW is willing to use guns to protect himself in the FIRST PLACE. also he just ??? fuckign Had bb on hand like. did they give him bb when he quit the first time?? like. okay. say you have to distract an easily distracted but immensely murderous animatronic and your first thought is "hmm what if i use that rc car that looks like a child from my old workplace". bitch if its been 7 years since i worked there and witnessed a traumatizing event im gonna bury that fucker at the bottom of my closet not just have it with me. also his first concern when he was faced with a very much "i am going to die" situation is that he hasnt caught up on a tv show yet???? nate buddy please i appreciate you but get some self-worth and some therapy while youre at it

aj: he was nearly killed by an animatronic as big as he was, stopped only by like a foot or smth, and then IMMEDIATELY accepted the transfer to ANOTHER place with animatronics in it like. why would you actively choose to keep working with fazbear entertainment. im sure literally any other company ever would look at aj "nearly killed two men because he wanted to work more hours" purple guy and hire him in a millisecond. SPEAKING OF WHICH, HE NEARLY KILLED TWO MEN BECAUSE HE WANTED TO WORK MORE HOURS. DO YOU NEED THE MONEY THAT BADLY OR DO YOU JUST REALLY FUCKING. WANT TO WORK AT FAZBEARS THAT MUCH. i honeslty cant decide which is worse. he also mocked the guy with a chainsaw who burst through the wall not ten minutes before??? who was also like 2 feet away from him???? what were you EXPECTING him to do??????????????????? give you more hours????????????????????????

phone guy: yeah.

mike: looked at the absolute flaming dumpster fire that was the lawsuits, filthy animatronics, extremely low budget, and EXTREMELY sketchy boss that was the new fazbears and said "yeah i can work with this." also i think he got killed by pan stan which is such a sad way to go my god. i dont have quite as much to say about him but i DO love him very much and he REALLY SHOULD HAVE gotten a better job.

lizzy: other than the fact she hasnt quit fazent yet (which is excusable considering it looks like shes looking into the sketchy stuff and is probably mostly there for mikes death), actually not that bad. props to her tbh if i had to deal with a boss like phone guy id go considerably more feral.

those police officers who showed up for like 2 scenes in the og fnaf musical: just fucking, like. let an actual murder perp ESCAPE because they Forgot To Lock The Car And Went To Go Get Food and then just. DIDNT REPORT IT. because this, apparently, is NOT the first time theyve let someone escape, and because theyd LOSE THEIR JOBS IF THEY REPORTED IT. if the police is THAT bad in this town no fucking wonder phone guy's gotten away with everything so far.