#and they’re allowed to do that!! i’m not the fun police people can do whatever they want

[ectoplasmer]

sorry it’s early and i’m brushing my teeth while the sun is rising since I passed out last night before I got the chance to, and we’re getting genuine sunlight for the first time in weeks, and I’m busy contemplating just how ridiculous this series is

[cyanocoraxx]

whilst i’m here. i don’t like this growing trend of treating exotic bugs and spiders like toys or props to make “viral” videos and such. the amount of videos i see floating around showing people irresponsibly handling tarantulas (especially old worlds!!!) high off the ground, bothering jumping spiders constantly because they’re cute and not providing them with enough enrichment, etc etc. tarantulas gain nothing from being handled and you put them at risk of injury or death if they fall or if you flinch and drop them. jumping spiders are adorable, but that doesn’t mean they should be poked and prodded for videos all the time like i’ve seen some people doing. yeah, they’re really cool, fascinating and a lot of people are adverse to these animals, but it doesn’t give you the right to treat those animals like props. they’re still wild creatures, they still deserve to have peace, and most importantly they need to be safe. that’s your responsibility and they owe you nothing in return!

yes, handle at your own risk. yes, some tarantulas and trues may harmlessly walk onto your hand and allow you to hold them. that doesn’t mean you should wave them around in front of a camera for likes and comments telling you how cool and brave you are for putting your animal at risk. sorry to be the fun police or whatever but come on. advocate for your animals so that people know that they’re not monsters, but advocate for them in a way that’s fair to your animal and honest to your viewers.

the only inverts i actively handle are one of my jumping spiders and both of my mantids and i do so entirely on their terms. if they want to come onto my hand they can, if they want to go home they can. i know each of them very well and know their limits and boundaries. my peacock mantis for example seems to appreciate being held where they can observe the room around them. my L3 thistle mantis doesn't like having hands close to her or above her as she's very small, and she prefers to jump onto a finger on her terms. my phidippus regius spiderling is shy and needs plenty of time to work up to jumping onto a finger from above, but once she’s settled she seems to like the warmth of my hand. my phidippus octopunctatus jumper doesn't want to be handled or touched, that's fine and i give her plenty of space.

just respect your inverts for the wild animals they are

[twilightknight17]

Today on P3R

LOOK AT HIM

LOOK AT HIS BOXING GLOVES, OMG, I DIDN’T REALIZE THEY’D BE LITERAL JACKS.

Also we take exams I guess.

Turns out Ikutsuki is not going to help me study alone, he’s going to wrangle everyone into one big study group. Dunno how effective the studying is when he and Junpei get into a pun-off, but whatever. It’s nice to have everyone together and not fighting.

...This is on my exam? For real? This school, man…

Once exams are over, we make plans to go do something fun. While Yukari leaves to get Fuuka, Junpei and I have a little chat.

I love that you can play Minato as a completely oblivious airhead. But I do not.

On our way outside, Ikutsuki introduces us to our new dorm-mate, Ken, who will be staying with us over the summer. He has potential, so he might be a good candidate for joining SEES!

...Ikutsuki, recruiting teenagers with attitude is one thing, but you’re crossing the line towards “child soldiers”, my guy. I know Wild Cards have awakened at age 7, but they didn’t actually have to do stuff til they were 16 or 17!

He’s gonna be staying in the dorm, so we’re not allowed to mention shadows or fighting or whatever in front of him. Even though Ikutsuki just mentioned “the potential” in front of him. Akihiko also looked really uncomfortable around him, and it’s clear he knows Ken somehow, so… Yeah.

Ikutsuki sends me off to the antique shop that’s now open, because the antique shop can help me. The same way the police officer helps, apparently.

This lady runs the weapon fusion menu, and also where I can exchange all my gemstones I’ve been getting. She knows Officer Kurosawa, and ALSO explicitly knows about shadows?? What has Ikutsuki told you, ma’am? Were you involved ten years ago? Do you know about Tarta--

Oh I want that megidolaon skill card so bad. God. Don’t show me that when I know I won’t be able to afford it for ages.

Anyway, we are off to Yakushima, and Mitsuru’s vacation home is enormous. I wish we got to actually run around in it, but what we do see is pretty nice.

(Wait, wasn’t Ken moving in? Did we just leave him at the dorm alone??)

Mitsuru I didn’t realize your dad was Big Bos-- *shot*

Junpei wants to go to the beach right away, so we put our stuff in our rooms and book it down there. It’s gorgeous.

...

...Akihiko, uh…

Thank you, Junpei.

Akihiko doesn’t get it. He just wore them because they’re “better” for swimming. Because of course he’s gonna train on vacation. *sigh*

Why is Mitsuru so pretty I’m gonna die

Yakushima really is beautiful and I’m kinda sad I couldn’t cut off the UI for a minute.

Elizabeth asked me to bring her back something from the beach. I found a pretty shell, some driftwood, a piece of weird seaweed, and…

...she will LOVE this crab. I have to.

Mitsuru talks to her dad, and I have made an exciting discovery: A living, onscreen parent who does not suck!

He wants her to open up to others more and work together, because…

That’s a pretty good motto, actually. It would help if people playing this game knew what the Nanjo Group was. And despite being in green, meaning it has a definition in the glossary, the glossary just explains the motto again. X’D

The Nanjo Group is where the Kirijo Group got all it’s psience tech from, because they bought out SEBEC after Kandori tried to become god back in 1996. SEBEC had the original prototypes for anti-shadow suppression weapons, and PROBABLY also the teleporter technology from the DEVA System. I think I mentioned before that I think that’s what the teleporters in Tartarus are based on.

Plus, the Nanjo family is all about being Number One, so “two in harmony” is a pretty good shot at them. And that’s definitely lost if you don’t know anything about them. X’’’D

Mr. Kirijo gathers everyone together, because he’s going to tell us the truth. And the truth is, his father was trying to create a time manipulation machine. So it makes sense that their research fucked up time so badly that there’s an extra hour of the day now. But apparently, that attempt to create time manipulation warped into something worse over the course of the project, and Yukari’s dad caused the explosion to stop him.

Yukari is completely freaked out by this realization, because she’d always maintained that the accident wasn’t her dad’s fault. So hearing that he caused it on purpose sends her reeling, and she runs off. Minato follows her to the beach to talk, and it’s a good conversation, actually.

Thanks, it’s the trauma. ^_^

Thank you, P3R, for actually letting me hug people when they’re upset. Looking at you, P5, as Futaba and Sumi just cry in front of me and I can’t do anything.

The next day, the girls are on an awkward nature hike (because Mitsuru and Yukari aren’t speaking), when they get a call from Ikutsuki.

“Vehicle”????

There’s a lab on this island?

Sir you have one job how are you so bad at it??

The boys, meanwhile, are once again at the beach for Operation Ba--

Oh. Are we not calling it Operation Babe Watch? Okay.

It’s playing the Tartarus music. I’m trying to lead my team into the ocean and it’s not working.

We manage nothing but failure all the way across the beach. We’ve got girls who aren’t interested, girls who are pissy that high-schoolers are at the island resort (who then get even more pissy when they find out we’re at a friend’s summer home, because THEY had to save up to come here), girls who humor us for like ten minutes before revealing they have boyfriends…

And then one last lady, who has been observing, and reads us all to absolute filth about how our tactics are all wrong.

She might be interested, though. And she wants us to help put on sunscreen!

...300K yen-a-bottle sunscreen.

To protect from artificial sun rays…

Because…

Time for a tactical retreat. Thank god the last girl on the beach is so pretty.

She doesn’t want to talk to anyone, though. Except Minato. And runs off when the others approach. They seem to think she ran away because I said something to her, and want me to follow her and apologize. Which, guys, I don’t think chasing girls you don’t know into the woods is the right answer here, but okay. Here we go.

There’s a waterfall up here and I can’t go near it. :(

...believe me, Yukari, I have no idea what’s happening either.

Apparently this is the “vehicle” Ikutsuki lost.

I’m okay with bringing her home with us. XD

Speaking of home, back at home, Shinji is trading information with those three weirdo assassins in exchange for some kind of pills, which can’t be a good sign because he looks like he’s in actual pain. Weirdo Squad is angry that we want to destroy the Dark Hour because they like having special powers.

They also call Tartarus the “Tower of Demise”, though, so like obviously they realize this is a bad thing.

After we get back from Yakushima, Aigis tries to stay in my room, including waking me up five minutes before my alarm. Which. No. You cannot stay in here. Oh god. My new robot has separation anxiety.

My social links may not be deals for things that can help in battle, but they do make me feel warm and fuzzy.

I go out with Akihiko again because he still owes me food for last time, and we get accosted by the punks from before, who have returned with an even bigger group, because apparently the best way to win is by fighting a guy eight-on-one. Are you proud of yourself, dude? Does that make you feel cool?

We didn’t actually fight because we distracted them long enough to get out of there, so no police this time. But I did learn that Akihiko does have parents! He has foster parents that love him and send him enough expensive snacks to share with the whole dorm. It’s nice. ^_^

My online friend in my MMO is definitely a teacher at my school, based on her complaining about "Mr. E". Which, you and me both lady. Dude thinks he's a wizard or something.

Speaking of Mr. Edogawa, he mentioned Carl Jung in class! While talking about alchemists, because school is still insane. Literally we’re going on summer break tomorrow, give it a rest.

Which I guess is why Ken hadn’t moved in yet, but… Did we miss like a week of school while we were in Yakushima? Hot damn.

Ken is officially moved in now, though, and despite not being able to discuss shadows or the Dark Hour around him, he apparently knows Aigis is a robot. So… Uh… How secretive are we supposed to be being?

And it FINALLY let me go back to Tartarus and check out the new area, which is very industrial. It’s cool. Very different vibe from the big faces. I actually like it.

New portal doors that lead to Grand Clocks now have a chance to show up, so I can boost teammates’ levels to match Minato’s? Which is interesting. And more importantly, new “Monad” doors are appearing that lead to stronger fights.

Calling it Monad makes me a little weirded out, but hey, it's not a mandala and there’s good treasure in here. So we’re probably going in headfirst every time they show up. XDD

Saved back at the Tartarus entrance, so next time is probably just going to be some more fighting. We’ll see. ^_^

[thisblogwilleatourselves]

Ohhh, wowowow LOOK at YOU!!! *slow claps* Comin’ in with that ‘truth and righteousness’ cape flapping in the wind like you’re the ultimate savior of all things ‘real’ and ‘valid’—aren’t ya just the hero we never asked for! 'OooOoo I’m gonna save the world from these fRaUdS'—get a grip, pal!

But let’s dissect this nonsense, shall we? You’re out here yelling about who’s ‘real’ and who’s ‘fake,’ like anyone gave you the authority to decide that in the first place! You think your moral crusade is anything other than a thinly veiled excuse to spit your venom at people who don’t fit into your tiny little worldview? Please, you’re not some noble warrior—you’re just a sad little hate machine looking for someone to punch down on so you can feel like the ‘good guy.’ We see right through you. Spoiler alert: you ain’t special.

And OH the ‘REAL struggle’ argument, as if you’ve discovered the universe’s deepest secret! Wow, truly groundbreaking stuff—who could’ve guessed that living with disabilities is hard! But let’s be honest—who’s actually doing more damage here? The people figuring themselves out, or the ones ranting and raving about who’s 'allowed' to identify how? Oh right, it’s you, with your self-appointed moral authority, stomping around like the fun police.

The kicker? You pretend this is about protecting ‘real’ struggles, but it’s really just about making sure you’ve got an easy target to dump all your anger on. You wrap it up in this neat little moral package, but it’s the same old garbage—another excuse to hate, dressed up in fake ‘concern.’ Hate to break it to ya, but your morals? Your ‘truths’? All just flavors of fiction. All of it is a made-up game folks play to feel like they’ve got the 'correct’ opinion. Yawnnnn.

Good? Evil? Right? Wrong? *All nonsense,* friend. You’re just another pawn in the endless cycle of people hating what they don’t get, thinking they’re ‘saving’ someone. Keep shouting into the void—you’re really making a difference, lol.

[the-life-of-spider-sf]

Alright, alright, I know you’re probably sick of hearing about the whole ’guy gets bitten by a radioactive spider’ rigamarole by now, so I’ll just skip that part. Hi, my name is Ryan McCrimmon, and I’m a university student trying to juggle homework and trying to keep my city’s non-law-abiders from harming the innocent.

Spiffing ain’t I? Anyway, in my universe I’m the one and only Spider-Man….well, except if I’m in the presence of any alternate Spider-Men, then it’s Spider-SF. Yes you read that right, SF. as in San Francisco instead of New York City. That’s not the only difference either. Don’t tell the other Spider-People, but I managed to learn the responsibility I have as a hero without losing a family member or a best friend. In fact my best friend Maya is very much aware of my identity (I wasn’t as careful that day, oops) and is basically my Yoda when things get stressful.

Anyway, I’m sure you’re wondering about how my webs work, and honestly I still am too. See, like that one Spider-Man that looks like the dude from Jake and the Fatman, I make webs inside my body, but I’m not sure how they generate. My only guess is that somewhere in my body is a gland or organ or something that turns the food I eat into the material my webs are made out of. Overall, being Spidey isn’t that bad. Sure I have to lie to my peers and my family, but even though it hurts, the knowledge I’m protecting them is enough to get through it.

As for my suits….

oh god you do not want to get me started on that first suit. It was a stupid idea I cooked up while stressed about what I was going to do to pass this art assignment, and then Maya went and made it. Sure I wasn’t going to turn down an idea made by the only at-university friend I’ve ever been able to make and did use it for a while, but let’s be real, black is so not good for hot weather, and I had the luxury of being bitten right as it was starting to turn from spring to summer. Luckily she understood when I told her about that, and she help me design and make an improved version.

I decided to go for a two-tone look this time, something Maya was a little hesitant about, but still allowed. I bet you’re wondering about the orange and black. Yes, they’re the Giants’s colors, but it’s mostly because I wanted to represent my hometown in a subtle way. Bonus, there are little holes in the wrists for the webs to come out of.

Okay, okay, I’ll backtrack. We all know I was bitten, but where was I bitten? Well, I was short on cash, what university students aren't, so I volunteered for this study to make a quick buck or two. Little did I know, the “study” involved injecting spiders with some sort of enhancing serum or whatever that supposedly could be transferred through a spider bite to improve bodily function. Apparently this study was supposedly done to make something for both amputees and to find a way to improve eyesight in people who needed glasses. Well, that part they got right, but I can only guess something within the spider’s DNA mixed with the serum so now not only do I not need glasses anymore I can stick to walls and make webs. Fun times right? Well, I got two grand out of it, mainly because the “scientists” figured out what it did to me and wanted to shut me up, so there’s that.

Now, the big question: How do the media and the law enforcement treat Spider-Man? I skirted around this for a little bit, but actually we’re on pretty good terms. I mean, there’s always those who don’t like something new in the city, but as for the news and police and stuff, we’re pretty tight. Might help that unlike most Spider-men, I try to not harm as much as I can. I know, I know, ‘how is that any different from the mantra of the other spider-people?’ My point is I’m not out there breaking ribs or tossing people around with webs wrapped around them, I mainly just knock 'em out and leave it to the police. Of course, that’s just the small-time thugs. Haven’t met any of my universe’s versions of the big bads yet, but I know when I do I’ll try to be responsible and make the right call.

(Unmasked Ryan art by scribbling-scientist)

[orbitalsockets]

Twenty Tips for People Starting College, From Someone Who’s About to Graduate

1. Don’t pack everything. No, I’m serious, you don’t need eleven towels, pack like two or three at most. Whatever you end up bringing with you is going to end up being way too much stuff for a tiny dorm and it’s overwhelming. Take essentials, stuff you use every day, stock up on some snacks and easy to make foods and call it a day. Aunt Barbara’s quilt that you haven’t looked at since third grade can stay behind. 

2. Nobody is looking at you. In class, at on campus dining facilities, in the library, wherever, they are not looking at you. They’re more worried about their bio lab that they’re late for or their giant essay that’s due Friday that they haven’t started than your bad hair day. 

3. If someone IS watching you, or following you, have campus police on speed dial. Call them, alert them, and go to the nearest building that’s open and full of people. 

4. Carry a tazer. They say you’re not supposed to and it’s against the rules and whatever, but even professors told me straight up to make sure I had one. Not everyone is trustworthy and if you have late classes, you need to be safe. 

5. Put your schedule on your homescreen. You can find photo widgets that let you add photos to your homescreen without changing your background. It makes it super easy to pull up your schedule and locations so you’re not standing in the middle of campus flipping through your gallery like a lost tourist. 

6. If you put your ID on a lanyard, don’t wear it around your neck. I don’t know why, but it totally outs you as a freshman and it’s embarrassing. Carry it in a bag or in your pocket. 

7. Don’t worry about how much you’re eating. Seriously. You’re adjusting to a huge new change in your life, it’s cool if now that you’re on your own you eat extra cookies with dinner. Also, nobody in the dining hall cares if you get a second plate of pasta - they probably did too. 

8. If you see anyone stealing food from a place that doesn’t allow carry out, mind your own business. 

9. Your professors are more than likely willing to work with you. You will most likely have some dick heads, but most of them are willing to accommodate if shit happens. 

10. In contrary to number nine, if you have a chronic illness, fight for accommodations immediately and DO NOT STOP. Professors with strict attendance policies will screw your grades faster than you’ve ever seen. If you find out you have a chronic illness while in college, set up a support system and advocate for yourself until you feel like you’re going insane. It’s going to be rough, no matter what their diversity statement says. 

11. If crazy protesters come to campus, go heckle them and have some fun. I’ve had friends tell me it looks childish, but honestly one of my favorite memories of college was heckling a religious guy who was calling students whores while I was dressed as a wizard and holding the Satanic bible. 

12. If crazy protesters come to campus, DO NOT TOUCH THEM. They are not allowed to touch you, and you cannot touch them or it’s assault. If you have anger issues and are easily pissed off by whatever the protesters are there for, stay home. 

13. Literally nobody puts headings on their papers. Like, nobody. The people that do look like overachievers by the time you’re a senior. Just 12 font, Times New Roman, double space, and you’re solid. 

14. C’s get degrees. Do not kill yourself over one or two bad grades, you will still graduate. Jobs don’t give a shit what your GPA was, they care that you have the degree and are qualified to do the job. Perfection is not plausible for 99% of people and that’s okay. 

15. If you’re going to a bar for the first time and you’ve never drank, drink s l o w l y. See how you feel after one - If you’re okay, go ahead and have another. Don’t try to keep up with the heavy drinkers you’re with, or you will end up in the hospital. 

16. If you want to try drugs, research the drug first. ESPECIALLY if you’re on any medications. Research the effects, bad effects of it, what a normal dose is, what it should look like, and if you can, buy a tester. If they’re weird about testing the drugs, those drugs are more than likely fake and cut with shit that will kill you. 

17. If you do drugs or drink and have a bad reaction, go to the hospital. The hospital workers are aware that they’re in a college town, they know how to treat you and how to help, and they will not call the police. Their goal is to help you, not get you in trouble. If someone else has a bad experience, regardless of what everyone else tells you, CALL AN AMBULANCE. You will not go to jail, but you will - for manslaughter, I might add - if you let that person die. 

18. Buy a loud noise making key chain. There’s some that shriek, others make a siren sound, they’re like $10 on Amazon. If you go out alone and someone is making you uncomfortable, turn it on and let it blare until they leave. Stay with people after that to make sure they don’t follow you home. The streets will more than likely be busy until the early hours of the morning, so people will hear it and look. 

19. Citation Machine does indeed work for citations. It’s not perfect, but most professors see that it’s the gist of the citation and let it slide. In four years I have not once been marked off for my citations and I have used Citation Machine every time. 

20. Academia is incredibly ableist and classist. If you feel out of place because you have a disability/chronic illness, mental health issues, neurodivergencies or grew up poor, it’s because of the ingrained ableism and classism in higher education. You deserve to be there, even if you can’t relate to what academia has considered to be what a perfect student looks like. 

[chirpsythismorning]

I just wanna talk about this quick and then I’ll shut up forever.

I HATE byler kiss manips (not talking about fan-art, I’m talking about photoshopped byler edits using milkvan scenes). I hate them with a burning passion. The only exception to this would be when bylers use them as a response to homophobic anon asks... now that’s funny. But that’s it 🤣

Like I get it. It’s mostly all a big joke, but it’s just cringy to me..? And weird?? Why can’t we wait for the real thing???

AND YET! AND YET!… Even though I’m kind of contradicting myself by making this post in the first place, I honestly don’t see much value in confronting fans who do this or staging a whole call out about how it makes me personally feel uncomfortable for reasons x y z.

Because that’s just me. I’m sure there are some fans who agree with me and I’m sure there are plenty who don’t. But still, I don’t see the point in policing anyone that disagrees with me on this, to make them feel bad for engaging in fandom differently than me, to make a big spectacle about how it upsets me, bc the reality is, nuance exists!!!

While there are some people out there with horrible, even offensive or concerning takes, not every single disagreement of opinion needs to be put on blast as if that person is bad for whatever point they’re trying to make. Because now suddenly everyone is giving their two cents, clogging the tag to the point where no one can escape it. Now we’re all uncomfortable. Who is that helping?? No one!

So if you’re like me and there’s certain things that make you uncomfortable, no matter how small or even major, BLOCK.

Maybe you are just like me and you give someone a few chances, only to finally block them after one too many posts that are just 😬

Or maybe you block right away the moment you see something you didn’t want to and don’t want to risk seeing again.

I just hate this tendency fandoms (it’s all fandoms, not just st or byler) have to attribute one or even a couple hundreds of fans opinions, to the entire fandom… and then project that onto the rest of us like “IF YOU THINK THIS! YOU ARE BAD!” Like be real, there are hundreds of thousands of us, exponentially chances are there are gonna be a great deal of people you won’t agree with. That doesn’t mean we have to ruin this space for everyone.

I really don’t want to do this again, bc like I said, im basically contributing to the very thing I hate. I hate that I feel this need to voice my feelings on something everyone is already talking about, and now i’m also taking away from the aspects of fandom that can be fun and welcoming and worthwhile.

It’s just unfortunate how all fandoms put themselves in this situation. We allow one or a few to control the vibe of the tag and suddenly you can’t find theories or headcanons or just fun banter between fans. All you see is virtue signaling and people trying to find someone to blame. And then we wonder why fandoms fizzle out with resentment. Because we ruin it for ourselves. We turn on each other for the sake of being right. And it just sucks.

At the end of the day, everyone has the right to say how they feel. By all means, that is your choice and you can do whatever feels right to you. But just know that not everyone is going to agree. And that’s not always a bad thing. And even if and when it is, we don’t have to make it EVERYONES business.

[shurisneakers]

harmless (iv)

Summary: Bucky volunteers to go stop a small time villain, but nothing can prepare him for what exactly he has to deal with. (Bucky x villain!reader, drabble series)

Warnings: cursing, guns, mention of war, frustrated bucky, dramatic reader

Word count: 1.5k

A/N: good evening i’ve never been to any of the places i mention in this series so dont come @ me

if you have any ideas for future inventions/evil plans, lemme know! i might actually end up using them 

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous Part || Series Masterlist

He spends the weekend doing nothing. It’s supposed to be relaxing. He finds it nauseatingly boring.

“No mini mission this week?” Steve asks him from across the couch. 

They’re supposed to be catching up on Star Wars but two prequels in and Bucky could feel himself lose his sanity. Anyone could present him with a random assortment of alphabets, call it a Star Wars species and he would have no reason not to believe them.

It’s not like he doesn’t like space. It’s just that he’s had enough of it and everything and everyone who came from it for the foreseeable future.

“No. Someone else is taking care of it.”

“Didn’t you volunteer for this?”

“I pulled myself out of the case.”

“I thought you were having fun.” 

Bucky’s head slowly turns to look at him. “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know,” Steve shrugged. “Looked like you were.”

Well, he wasn’t. He likes it here at home, glued to the TV. Popcorn beside him, sweatpants on. Refreshing, calming, slow, mundane, and Jesus Christ, so fucking boring-

His spiralling is interrupted by the dinging of the elevator to the common floor. No one was allowed up there unless it was extremely urgent. Guests were barely allowed into the Tower as it was. 

It reveals the receptionist from downstairs, Marie. She’s always a little reserved, a little shy. But Bucky had seen her chew and spit out trespassers or anyone who dared to get on her nerve. He adores her.

“Hey, Marie,” Steve says while Bucky sends her a friendly wave in greeting. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a hostage situation downtown,” she informs them. 

“Okay...” Steve drawls, waiting for a reason why this was an Avengers level threat.

“They’ve asked for Mr. Barnes by name.” She makes a mention towards him.

Bucky sits up straight. Bits of popcorn fall off his chest. 

“What?”

“They said, and I quote-” she looks down at her notepad. “‘Tell that grumpy motherfucker that I’m waiting for him and that he’s not getting out of this so easily because we have come too far.’ End quote. They’ve also told me to include a kissing emoji. And a skull.”

Steve and he look at each other.

“Well?” Steve prods. 

Bucky sighs and gets up to go get ready.

The entrance of Chuck E. Cheese is more crowded than he’d ever seen. He wasn’t even sure he’d seen people in the store before. If there were, they probably only came up till his waist. 

There are a few journalists, a few policemen standing together outside. Whispers of confusion and curiosity reigned free. 

Bucky gently pushes his way to the front. He gets a nod from a police officer who opens the door for him after a quick briefing. 

The place is darker than it usually would be. A trademark, it seemed. The blinds are drawn shut and most of the light is coming through whatever sneaks in through the crack. 

“Hey, Barnes.” Your voice is muffled by a mask that looks suspiciously like it was made out of classroom craft supplies.

There’s a person in a loose chokehold in your hand with a gun pressed against his head. Once again it looks straight out of a cartoon, purple with round disks lining its barrel. 

“What’s all this now?” He gestures around monotonously. 

“A hostage situation. Didn’t you get the memo?”

“Got that part down, genius,” he bites back. “But why?”

“Fucker kept harassing me when I was walkin’ down the street.” 

The guy’s helpless gaze met Bucky. 

“Catcalling me, stalking me.” You tighten the grip you have on him. “Call me darlin’ one more time, you son of a bitch. I dare you.”

He wasn’t impressed with his pleading eyes. He kinda felt like he deserved it. 

“Why’d you do it here?” The bright colours were starting to give him a heading. “And where are the staff?”

“It’s symbolic, Bucky,” you emphasise, “He deserves to be among other rat bastards.”

Of course.

“The staff?” he asks again. 

“Gave them thirty bucks and told them to leave. I’m not a monster.”

“Right.” He doesn’t bother refuting you. “Why’d you call me here?”

“Dunno.” You shrug. “Thought it’d be fun. You having fun yet?”

You shake the guy you’re holding. He gives a small whimper. 

Bucky doesn’t want to stop you. He had chugged enough Respect Juice in his lifetime to know that this guy probably deserved a threat or two.

Hell, he’d even help but you were more than capable of handling this on your own.

“Listen,” he sighed. “As much as I’m sure he deserves it, this is technically illegal and I’m required to stop you.”

“Sorry sarge, I thought you weren’t interested in playing this stupid game with me,” you mock, voice dropping to imitate him.

“I’m not.” It wasn’t entirely true. One Saturday with Jar Jar Binks had convinced him otherwise.

“Okay, so before you leave, do me a favour and call Hawkeye. I hear he looks mighty fine when he’s annoyed.”

His face involuntarily scrunched up. You were going to replace him with Clint? Clint?

He probably took it more as an insult than he should have.

“I’m not doing that.” Bless his foul mouthed friend, but he was a little shit who was too sarcastic for his own good. At least twice a week he’d say something stupid to Bucky and then take out his hearing aids when he tried to argue back. 

“You’re leavin’ me with no options here,” you groaned, using your thumb to flip a switch. The gun looks like it powered up, lights along the side turning red.

If he let you have this, it’d be a bad look for the Avengers.

New York man dies in Chuck E. Cheese lone hostage situation, unable to be saved by same superhero who tried to fight Thanos with a machine gun.

“Tell ya what,” he says instead, “If you kill him, there won’t even be a slight chance that you’ll see me again.”

Your grip on the gun falters.

“If I let him go...”

“I might consider coming back next week.” He’s trying to spin it, make it look like he’s the one with the upper hand here. “But you gotta let him go.”

You search his face for any signs of dishonesty.

“Let him go or you’ll never see me again.” It sounds too much like Clint’s arguments with his dog who brought a live squirrel into the house. 

“Fine,” you relent, a glint in your eye. “but say goodbye to this fuckface.”

Before Bucky can open his mouth to shout in protest, you pull the trigger. The man clenches his eyes shut, face red.

He expects blood to be splatter across his face.

Nothing happens.

A barrage of bubbles floats into the room.

“I meant it literally,” you say, pushing him off you. “Say goodbye. He’s leaving.”

The man stumbles to the ground and Bucky doesn’t make any attempt to catch him. He scrambles to his knees, picking himself up and scurrying out the door to a hoard of reporters.

The door shuts behind him with the chime of a bell.

“You’re annoying,” Bucky states, giving a small sigh.

“I’m well aware of that.” You pull off the mask, wiping the sweat off your brow.

“Where is the agent assigned to your case?” 

“Dunno. Last I saw he was crying on the driveway of my lair. I just figured he’d pick himself up later so I left him there.”

Bucky’s nose twitches. 

“You weren’t actually going to kill him, were you.” He shrugs with his shoulder towards the door. It wasn’t a question, more a statement. He knew you wouldn’t. 

“I could have.”

“But you weren’t going to,” he repeats. 

“No,” you admit. “I wasn’t. But I’m glad to see you showed up.”

“You held someone hostage as leverage.”

“No, no. I held someone hostage and then asked to see you. They were completely unrelated.”

“You’re evil.”

“You jumped to conclusions,” you point out. “Would you like a trampoline next time? Maybe a pogo stick, you clown?”

He has a very real gun in his holster. His very real metal death arm aches to use it. 

“No one else agreed to come,” he deflects. 

“We both know that’s a lie. You were going to come back anyway.” You stuff the bubble gun back into the bag. “I’m deliciously irresistible.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Then beg.” You give him a smirk and he rolls his eyes. “Don’t worry, you win this round, sarge.”

He doesn’t say anything. He watches you remove your heist gear, revealing normal civilian clothes underneath.

You walk casually to the kitchen, intending to leave through the back door.

“But I can’t say I lost either.” You send him a wink before swiftly pushing open the door and leaving him behind.

He only watches you leave.

It doesn’t hit him until a few seconds later that he let a criminal out of his hands when there were several policemen and journalists outside.

He entertains the idea of chasing you down and handing you over. 

It takes him only a few seconds to decide that if they wanted you, they’d have to try themselves.

Next part 

[mostly-mundane-atla]

i realize you probably dont care about the upcoming netflix adaptation but the cast pretty much got confirmed and people are talking about it again so, whats your take? are you lookin forward to it or dont care for it?

Usually I wouldn't care about this, and I have said before to please not involve me in discourse i haven't already talked about, but I was going to make this post anyway so

*cracks knuckles*

Alright children, it's come to my attention that some people don't know their etiquette regarding Indigenous peoples and are making themselves look a fool.

First: you are not entitled to anyone's family history under any circumstances, save perhaps them paying you to do a family tree.

There is an aspect of this specific to Native people. I don't know how it works for Native folks in Canada but in the United States, when you are born Native your parents do some paperwork and the Beaureu of Indian Affairs gives you a Certificate of Indian Blood, stating exactly how Native you can be proven to be based on how Native your parents can be proven to be. The Certificate of Indian Blood is often called a pedigree with bitter irony because in essence, that's what it is. We come with papers like fancy show dogs, just instead of it qualifying our "breed" it's qualifying our right to be enrolled in tribal membership.

I keep my pedigree with all my other important documents, like tax information, birth certificate, social security card, that sort of thing. I inherited a total blood degree of 1/4 Eskimo from my mom and thus qualify for tribal membership. Past a certain point, I wouldn't be considered "Native Enough" based on blood alone and i'd have to get a special dispensation to be legally recognized as an Indigenous descendant. It doesn't matter what my tribe or nation's traditional customs regarding kinship and identity were, by United States law, I could be declared "Not Native Enough" no matter my connection to my culture, no matter how accepted I was by my Native family. Kinda fucked up, isn't it?

Oh, and the Beaureu of Indian Affairs is part of the US government. They ran the schools where kids got beat for not speaking English. We have to tell them we are members of this marginalized group that seems to keep demanding safe drinking water and the right to not be kicked out of our homes at the expense of oil companies if we want access to healthcare and scholarships we may not otherwise have access to because of our "unique situation" (systemic disadvantage). This marginalized group that faces police brutality and wrongful arrests for peacefully protesting our right to live in the few places we have been allowed to live. So if the US government decides Native people are a problem, they have a registry of us. Kinda fucked up, don't you think?

So with that all in mind, do you see how uncouth and just plain nasty it is to demand proof of someone being "Native Enough" or "The Right Kind of Native"? If some freak tries to dig up this info and he's more mixed than some have deemed acceptable (so 1/4 or less) or god forbid doesn't even have his papers or tribal membership for any reason (justified paranoia, clerical error, any degree of negligence on the parents' part) he gets to look forward to being treated even more like a pretendian than the fans have already seen fit to treat him as. How fun.

Every day I wake up I am made to remember that I'll never look "Native Enough" to a huge swath of people who may not have even talked to one of us face-to-face. And it's only a matter of time before one of them sends me a message, written to sound like they're crawling on their belly because they have nothing but respect for "Real Natives" but if they saw me in the regalia my older cousin in Nome made for me so I could graduate high school in regalia, they'd throw a fit. If they saw me after I eventually get my tavlaģun, all pale skinned and blue-eyed, they'd treat me as a study in cultural appropriation, as if i'm not trying to learn whatever variation of my ancestral tongue I can get my hands on.

I can totally understand why he or anyone else might have thought it was better not to specify. Like my first reaction (and this isn't necessarily correct nor something i'm proud of, just the first thing that came to my mind) to seeing Katara was cast as that Mohawk girl from Anne with an E was "they couldn't even get a real eskimo?" I'm guessing others felt similarly. If he didn't wanna deal with that, I can't blame him.

If you think he doesn't look brown enough to convincingly play someone native to the tundra, i recommend the following: go on youtube, look up "inupiaq" and watch at least five of the videos that come up to see how varied we are.

Don't watch this live action adaptation if you don't want to, but if you refuse on the grounds of "the actor's not native enough :/" and go on to ignore actual Native media, that's some performative shit if I've ever seen it. Seriously, how many of the people complaining have watched Smoke Signals? Dance Me Outside? On the Ice? How many were hyped over Reservation Dogs (first two episodes are on Hulu as I'm writing this post)?

Anyway, I'm tired. I'm probably not gonna watch the live action series, but that has nothing to do with Sokka's actor not being "brown enough" to be seen as one of the red and brown. I'll finish off this post with a 1491s video so everyone can get a taste of Native media and maybe elevate it more than discourse over who gets to play a Fantasy Eskimo who was originally written and played by white guys with no Actual Eskimo input:

[boldlyvoid]

New Romantics | Part Three

18+

Summary: She needs help studying for her Case Exercises at the Academy, He needs a date for the annual Banquet... they just so happen to be neighbours who aren't afraid to lend a helping hand, or in this case, a helping kiss.

Categories: Fake dating, neighbours, strangers to lovers, mutual pining, Angst with a happy ending, Smut *as selected by my poll on what you wanted to read*

Warnings: Season 9 Spencer (no Maeve arc), Angst, kissing, drinking, police training mentions, case details, canon typical violence, self-doubt, autistic!spencer, age gaps (24/33), FWB relationships, period mentions, anxiety attacks, crying, misunderstandings,

Word Count: 4.7K

a/n: this chapter covers the whole week from Monday to Friday, thank you @awrfhi for making the gif I used here <3

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Monday morning she’s in his arms still, and then again on Tuesday; he basically lives with her when he’s not on a case. They make dinner together at night and they drive in together every morning, and they have had sex all over her apartment… and he loves her but he was tired when he said it and in a post-orgasm haze and he’s her best friend.

But he loved her— just not the way she loved him. She was sure of it.

Tuesday morning at 10:53 am, she cracks her fake case. They’re apprehending the unsub by Noon and then she has the rest of the week off. So she heads to the main Quantico building, she gets a visitor's pass and she takes the elevator all the way up to the BAU.

She walks through the bullpen doors and Spencer is sitting at his little desk with his head buried in a book. Penelope sees her first, wrapping her up in a hug that gets everyone’s attention as she rocks her back and forth while telling her how much she likes her.

“You are so pretty, and nice and cute, and your hair smells so good?”

“Thank you, it’s Spencer's shampoo,” she laughs as she holds her back, “I just wanted to come and see him really quick?”

He’s standing beside her and she doesn’t even know until Penelope releases her from her grasp. He wraps her up next, “why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”

She kisses him right on the mouth, holding his face in her hands she has missed him too much to wait till they are alone again, “I caught the unsub.”

“No way?”

She nods feverishly, “yeah remember I found that stray hair on the crime scene? Everyone was fighting over why there wasn’t a sexual aspect and I was trying to convince them she was a women unsub when the hair came back matching our victims best friend, who also knew victim number 1.”

He’s so happy, his smile is the biggest any of his teammates have ever seen, he lifts her and twirls her around and no one can believe the sight. Spencer Reid the uptight, overly smart, always following proper procedure, Doctor at the FBI; was spinning his girlfriend around as he kissed her cheek.

“You are a genius,” he compliments her as he sets her back down and places another kiss on her lips.

“I know,” she laughs, “I beat your score by one day.”

“I hate you,” he kisses her again and by now they don’t realize they have an audience. It’s incredibly convincing to everyone except each other.

“No, you love me,” she whispers, kissing him again before they hear someone clear their throat.

“Do you want to help with ours?” Derek asks, jumping into the moment and reminding them that they’re in public. “We’re just doing non-urgent consults today.”

“Am I allowed?” She lights up.

Derek nods, “I don’t see why not, as long as you just tell your ideas to us and don’t file anything then I think it’s legal?”

So she helps and it’s the most exhilarating thing since having sex with Spencer. She’s in her element, looking at small details and making connections that even leave Spencer humming and ha-ing. She has a younger insight than the rest of the team, she’s exactly why they hired Spencer in the first place and now she was shining brighter than him.

But he loved it.

Every time she made a connection or she had a suggestion that helped one of them on their own train of thought, Spencer would smile at her like she hung the stars in the night sky. He was proud of her in a way she hasn’t seen in many people before, filling her heart with warmth and hope that maybe he can love her for real one day.

—

She was possibly the love of his life and the more he saw her work and the more he knew her mind; the more he fell. She walked around his office and talked to his friends as if she was always meant to be there, and a part of him really wanted her to be.

He snuck away to go talk to Hotch, closing his office door as he sat down, “what’s wrong?”

“Y/N isn’t really my girlfriend,” he whispers. “She’s pretending so I could get everyone to stop bothering me about dating, and I understand it looks like she’s using me to get close to the team but I really do think she would be an excellent asset to the unit even if she was just in the office—“

“Reid,” Hotch cuts him off and a smile builds. “I already sent her an offer to take Anderson's job while he’s out on paternity leave.”

“Oh,” he smiles to himself. “Pretend I never said anything.”

“It stays in these 4 walls, don’t worry,” Hotch smiles back, “but you should tell her.”

“Tell her what?”

“That you’re in love with her.”

“I’m not,” he lies, “really, I do love her but I’m not in love with her, there is a difference.”

“I know,” Hotch reminds him. “Did you know that I only joined the school musical to get close to Haley? I did whatever I could to get her to fall in love with me and didn’t even realize it when she did because I was so worried she didn’t.”

“Oh.”

Hotch nods with another smile, “you don’t have to tell her until you’re ready, obviously, but you should tell her before it’s too late.”

“I will,” he whispers. “Thanks, Aaron.”

“Why don’t you guys head out early?” He offers, “we could all use a day off with the people we love.”

When he walks back down from Aaron's office, Y/N is with Emily and JJ discussing how she caught her fake unsub at school that morning. She doesn’t brag, she loves to mention her classmates by name and verbatim explains how they helped her. She is a team player, a genius, beautiful, kind… she really is the love of his life.

“Hey,” he places his hand on her lower back as he slides into the conversation. “Hotch said we can all leave early if we wanted?”

“Sure,” she smiles, “actually, did you want to come with me to buy a dress for your thing?”

“That would be fun,” he agrees, wrapping his other arm around her so he can rest his chin on her shoulder and hold her. “Remember I’m buying it so don’t stress about the price.”

“You’re too nice to me,” she replies.

“I just love you,” his voice is as low as he can make it but everyone still hears.

She holds him back tighter, in a silent ‘I love you, too’ and they hear JJ and Emily swoon.

They’re quick to get their things and head out, she hands Spencer her keys and lets him drive to the mall so she can relax, she’s done a lot today.

She’s so quiet on the drive, she holds his hand like she always does and she just looks out the window, she’s peaceful and content with the nothingness of spending alone time with Spencer. They were always just quiet together, sometimes they laughed till they cried and sometimes he could make her scream but most of the time they were quiet.

“Have you checked your email?”

She smiles as she turns to him and her grip on his hand tightened, “what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything, I just told hotch the truth so that he could offer you a job, but he already had before I went in there but he’s a good secret keeper, believe me.”

“Oh,” her smile disappears. “So he knows we’re not really dating?”

He nods, “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, I guess we’re going to have to find a convincing way to break up for them and still be able to hang out all the time,” she worries aloud. “Because I don’t want to stop this any time soon, I hope you know that. I really like spending time with you.”

“I feel the same way,” he agrees. “I promise, we can just tell them we work better as friends and they might believe us?”

“I don’t think they will,” she frowns again. “JJ told me not to break your heart today, but I feel like if we break up I’m going to break all of theirs.”

“We could have a fake ugly breakup, and not talk to each other publicly for a bit and then be friends again?” He suggests, “Penelope and Kevin did that.”

She nods, still frowning. She interlocks their fingers this time and she holds his hand instead of just anxiously fiddling with his fingers. She really doesn’t want to let go, and he’s almost convinced she feels the same way.

The banquet is on Saturday, she has one last week of school before her graduation and then they’re done. He thinks about asking her, about what would be the best time to tell her he was in love with her and ask her to be his real girlfriend.

Maybe he’ll do it after the banquet? Maybe he’ll do it after her graduation? He just really wants to do it before she meets his mom. He wants his mom to meet her as the love of his life and his best friend.

He hated many things, but as he kept glancing at her as he drove he realized he hated one thing most of all. He hated that he couldn’t love her as much as she deserved, at least not yet. He wanted to shower her in love, he wanted to protect her and care for her, he wanted to show her off and make love to her and never leave her side.

It hurts, his heart physically aches as he thinks about that. If he had to feel like this to know his love was real, then the pain was worth it. She was always worth it, and he would hurt as long as possible, forever even, if it meant he could be around her just as long.

He held her hand tighter in the silence which made her turn to him, he had no idea he had been crying until she leans over and wipes his cheeks, “I love you, you know that?”

“I love you too,” he smiles but he can’t keep the conversation there, he’s feeling trapped and so he changes the topic. “What colour dress were you thinking?”

The quick-change makes her laugh, “probably black.”

“Are you sure?”

She nods, “I don’t need to stand out beside you any more than I already do.”

“What does that mean?”

She bits her lip, “some of the people in my class are saying that I’m only doing so well because you’re helping me cheat and that I’m just fucking you to get a job… just like I thought they would.”

“At the end of the day, we have a friendship they will never understand, we have great sex because we want to, you’re smarter than me, and the BAU wants you… so who is the real winner?” He’s always going to be her number one cheerleader.

“You’re right,” she smiles again finally, “as always.”

—

He convinces her to get a red dress.

She hasn’t had a pretty dress like this one since her prom and that was 6 years ago. She hasn’t been to a party or mingled with people in just as long, she didn’t realize how lonely she had been while chasing her dreams until Spencer came along.

He was one of the dreams. She saw him talk once, years ago on a school trip, and she fell in love with him a little, even back then. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be him or be with him back then, doing everything in her power to get into the criminal psych degree at her local college, she just wanted to be like him.

Now she’s liked by him.

Every night he goes to his home across the hall and he does his own nightly routine before coming back to her apartment for the night. She’s too emotional to sleep with him today, she knows that if she has sex with him she’s going to say something stupid or cry after because being this close to him without being honest with him is killing her.

Something in him has changed too, he’s less scared to initiate contact, he doesn’t jump anymore when she hugs him or when she smacks his bum as she passes him. Now he’s wrapping his arms around her while she cooks dinner, and he kisses her cheek randomly when they’re in public.

He tells her that he loves her.

She’s confused and she has no one to talk to about it.

She lays back against her pillows and closes her eyes, she knows she’s going to cry soon, and she doesn’t know what to do because she doesn’t want to cry in front of him and he would be upset if she told him to not come back tonight.

The stress of the situation just makes her cry more as she stresses herself into another anxiety attack, much like the first night she talked to him. She just lets it happen, the anxiety in her stomach builds and the tears slip past her eyes and suddenly she’s sobbing into her pillow hard enough that she doesn’t hear him come back.

She jumps at the feeling of his hand on her back as he sits on the edge of the bed, “what’s wrong?”

She just sits up and hugs him, and he hugs her back and they stay there like that for a while. When she calms down, she pulls back from him and wipes her eyes, “my period is coming.” She’s not really lying, and he believes her.

“Does it normally make you this emotional?”

He’s never really experienced her mood swings, he has no idea what he’s in for, she nods. “Yeah, and I have really bad anxiety which just gets worse around this time.”

“And you’re not on anything?”

She shakes her head, “I’m waiting to get onto the good healthcare when I get a job with the bureau, I can’t afford to work and go to school, I’m glad I had enough scholarship money left to rent this place long enough to go to the academy.”

“Oh.”

She just nods, “I’ve never had much money like my parents have been saving for 2 years to buy plane tickets to Virginia so that they can see me graduate. They started saving before I even got in. I went to community college on a scholarship and I get a lot of money from applying for bursaries.”

“Are you going to take the CARD job or the BAU offer?”

She shrugs, “I’m not sure yet, but probably CARD.”

“Why?”

“I can’t work with you,” she whispers. “It makes me feel like I don’t deserve to be there like I’m using you and that all my work isn’t that great. I’m just Doctor Spencer Reids girlfriend.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, imposter syndrome is a leading factor in depression among child prodigies, once you reach a certain age and you stop receiving awards for your work, it’s hard to believe that you’re still doing a good job.”

She knows he gets it, he has probably said the same fact to himself to calm down before. “Thank you.”

“Do you want me to stay?”

She nods, pulling back the covers and moving over so he can snuggle in beside her. She holds him, resting her head on his chest and taking a deep inhale of his cologne, this was the love of her life and if this was as close as she was ever going to be to him, she was going to take it.

He kisses the top of her head and holds her in his arms at just the right pressure to calm her down. She feels so comfortable with him but she still feels like shit, she doesn’t stop crying, and he just holds her through it.

“Do you want to tell me what’s really wrong?” He whispers after a while, he sounds worried.

“No,” she whispers. “I can’t.”

“Is it about me?”

“Yeah,” she cries again, “and I don’t have any other friends to talk to about us and now you’ve told hotch and I have no one to talk to about how this is kinda stressing me out.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” his voice is still scared and she knows he’s going to panic regardless and just send them around in a circle of constant anxiety. But his tone is more apologetic than one fuck up.

“Who else did you tell?” She sits up, “I thought this was just between us?”

“I needed advice, the same reason you are reacting right now, you’re stressing me out,” Spencer finally talks back with passion and she knows they’re about to fight for no reason.

“I never said you were stressing me out. I said our situation was, but I think I need to sleep alone now, Spencer” she’s confident and stern even though she’s crying.

“We can’t go to bed mad at each other. You even said the mornings are the worst, we can’t hate each other for no reason tomorrow,” he starts to cry, not knowing where he went wrong and she can see it on his face.

“I just don’t have what you have, and I’ve always been trying to copy you…”

“What?”

She sighs and wipes her tears, “I have had a big fat, fan-girly, crush on you since I was 18, I came here with my class to watch you do a talk on philias and phobias and then I knew I wanted to get into the academy and I wanted to beat your record and join the BAU, and I just thought; one day I’m going to be friends with this guy and catch bad guys with him and now I am and I’m so alone.”

“You have me?”

“I know,” she tries to smile, “but I only have you and I can tell you almost everything. Like my biggest stressor right now is that if just looking at fake crime scenes for 3 weeks has made me this anxious; what if I’m not cut out for this? What if I get to a real crime scene and I pass out or—“

“That’s only human,” he presses his lips together, awkwardly, and very Spencerly. “If you didn’t feel like this job makes you hate the world and untrusting of everyone around you; then I would think you’re crazy.”

“How do you do it?”

“I open up and let people in, but I typically wait till I’m at my lowest; crying in my friend's arms because I don’t know what to do anymore,” he smiles again, wider and toothy as she smiles back.

“Thank you,” she can’t help but tilt her head and smile as her heart settles and her brain calms down a bit, “I love you.”

“Can I kiss you or is that too much right now?”

She gets in closer to him, laying back down on the pillow and looking at him. They’re closer enough to kiss, and she just takes a moment to look at him, resting her hand on his cheek as he wraps around her waist and pulls her in closer.

“We’re okay?” He asks with his lips right against her, his breath is hot and he smells like toothpaste.

“We’re okay, but no more talking tonight, okay?” She whispers.

He nods, leaning in and kissing her finally. She knows she shouldn’t be kissing him, she knows that she should be mad at herself, but she also knew that even just pretending that he loved her back was good enough.

—

He gets called away to a case on Wednesday morning, he’s too busy to really call her and he doesn’t text back. He feels bad about it but he knows she wanted space to think anyway, what he didn’t expect was for her to reach out to Penelope.

She’s in the office with her on Friday, tired of Spencer ignoring her so she went to the one place he couldn’t avoid her; Penelope’s office.

“How can I help you today, my fine furry friends?” Y/N answers the phone with a smirk, copying Penelope’s line perfectly, they can hear them high five through the line.

“Y/N?” Spencer is the first to catch it, “what are you doing there?”

“I came to meet Anderson and see if I’d like to take his job or not,” she teases, pretending she wasn’t there just to bother him.

Hotch cuts in, asking the question he needed to ask before hanging up, “not sure what’s going on at home but we’re too close to cracking this case for schoolyard games.”

“Yes sir,” he nods and looks away, retreating to the other side of the room to stare at the map and pretend to find connections.

“Crack this and you can go home to her,” Derek whispers with a smile, thinking he’s helping the situation.

“That’s not where I want to be right now.”

“Woah,” Derek catches it, “what happened?”

“Nothing,” he’s quick to get him to stop it but he really wants advice, “she’s stressed out and she took it out on me and I wasn’t very nice back.”

“You said sorry and you pretended you were over it, didn’t you?”

He turns away from Derek with a nod, he wants to come out with it and get it over with and he’s so mad and embarrassed he just starts to cry a little, “I don’t want to lose her.”

“How could you?”

“You have no idea,” he rolls his eyes lightly and scoffs, confusing Derek.

“And I won't unless you want to talk to someone about what’s really bothering you, but you’ve been happier since you met her and I like seeing you happy, and Savannah likes double dates,” he scolds him with a smile, patting his shoulder lightly. “now let's crack this and maybe on the plane you will tell me what’s up?”

“Sure,” he says, but he doesn’t want to.

However, Derek Morgan is good at a lot of things, and one of those things is getting Spencer to calm down enough to tell him anything. Everyone is asleep on the plane, it’s just the two of them at the back together when Spencer finally feels confident enough to say it.

“I lied to you, a long time ago… and it’s just the first one.”

Derek doesn’t look angry, “okay, explain your thought process. I need to know how this pretty brain of yours works.”

He smiles a bit, “I slept with Elle the night before she shot that rapist in Ohio.”

“You did not?” Derek's voice gets a little too loud and they stop to make sure no one woke up.

“I did, but you still always made jokes about finally getting me some lovin’ and it bothered me for a while and I never told you, instead I offered to help my neighbour with her homework if she pretended to date me,” his voice lowers as the words continue and he only stares at the table between them.

“Spencer, I’m sorry,” Derek apologizes first. “I didn’t know I was upsetting you, is there anything else I do that upsets you?”

He shakes his head in a silent no, still not looking at him, he can't.

“What happened between you and Y/N?” He jumps to the main issue, fine with what happened because he feels bad for causing the issue in the first place.

“We started sleeping together.”

Derek sighs, “you have such a big brain, you can remember everything she’s ever said to you and yet you can’t see that she’s in love with you.”

“She’s good at pretending,” he pushes it away.

“No she’s not, because she’s pretending she doesn’t love you right now; the same way you are and you’re both fucking it up for each other,” Derek gives it to him straight. “You have always been loveable, but you have a very hard time accepting it, Spencer.”

“Yeah,” he starts to cry a little more.

“Go home and talk to her and tell her the truth,” it’s the best advice he can give and Spencer knows it. “What’s the worst that can go wrong?”

“She does love me back but in a few years, she realizes I’m too much and she leaves me,” his voice is the saddest Derek has ever heard it.

He gets up from his seat and hugs Spencer, sliding into the seat beside him and wrapping his arms around him, “you have never been too much. You just surround yourself with people who aren’t good enough to love you for who you are.”

“She’s better than me.”

“Which is exactly what I mean, she’s not going to leave you, believe me, once you love Spencer Reid for who he really is, it’s hard to stop,” he speaks from experience, thinking of what could have been between them if either of them had tried harder in the past.

“She’s the love of my life,” he confirms, “I’m never going to love anyone else the way I love her.”

They get the word that they’re going to be landing soon, Spencer wipes his tears and buckles in for the descent, avoiding everyone’s stares and questions on the ride back to headquarters. He’s nervous to see her, he knows his face is puffy and she’ll be there waiting for him with Penelope, but he has to do it.

“Would you wait here, I need to tell her now and she might not give me a ride home if it doesn’t go well,” he asks Derek before heading to Penelope, “she was already mad at me for telling Hotch the truth.”

“Okay, sure,” Derek smiles, reaching out a hand for Spencer, “come to me when you need me next time, okay?”

“Okay,” he agrees with a small smile, heading out to find his fake girlfriend.

She’s not with Penelope, no she’s in the filing room with Anderson and the other temps all talking and laughing, and it sounds far too interesting to interrupt. He waits outside the door and smiles at her laughter until he hears it.

“So be honest,” Agent Camden asks, “are you sleeping with Reid for this job?”

“If I was sleeping my way to the top, don’t you think I would have picked Morgan? Or Prentiss even?” She laughs and it’s like someone stabs a knife through his heart.

He turns around and heads back to Derek, “take me home.”

“Okay,” he doesn’t pry, he just grabs his coat and keys and follows Spencer to the garage.

—

He’s really ignoring her.

She finds out from Emily that Spencer left with Derek, and that he looked rather pissed off when he asked for a ride. It breaks her heart a little and she doesn’t know what to do next, she just drives home and finds herself knocking on his door.

“Let me in, please, Spencer!” She begs from behind his door.

He opens it and looks at her with a puffy red face, tear-stained cheeks and swollen lips, he’s been crying for a while. “What?”

“What did I do?”

“You slept with me,” he whispers, “and I told you I wouldn’t react well.”

“Is it my fault you’re crying?” She asks softly and he nods, “do you want to tell me?”

He closes his eyes and shakes his head, “are we still going to the banquet together tomorrow?”

“I really fucked up,” is all he can muster, crying again as he closes the door and goes to cry in his room.

She just opens the door again and follows him inside. Kicking off her shoes she crawls into bed beside him and wraps herself around him, “you don’t have to tell me but I am here for you, always.”

“I love you,” he says it like it’s the problem before he rests his head in the crook of her neck and holds her back for the first time in days.

“I love you, too, Spencer,” she cries along with him. They cry until he’s asleep and she’s just there holding him in her jeans and she’s really uncomfortable but she loves him too much to let go.

“More than you will ever know.”

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[killerandhealerqueen]

So….that MTL got me thinking if you have already done a KH bc where keying decides to be stylist for the day or opens a mini salon in the police station or clinic and everyone decides to let her do whatever to-them just to see her smile idk but it’s and now I’m soft

Oh this shit soft

Now, since the police station really isn’t the place for little girls to play, Keying would absolutely set up shop in Chen Yuzhi’s clinic

Chen Yuzhi, of course, would instruct her to only do things to people who were okay with her doing stuff to her hair and Keying knows, Chen Yuzhi taught her about consent

But Chen Yuzhi’s patients are so nice and kind that when they hear what Keying is doing, they’re more than happy to let her do whatever she wants while they wait

The “mini salon” is especially great with Chen Yuzhi’s younger patients because she can distract them whenever he has to do check-ups on their parents or other patients with doing their hair or doing crafts with them, like making bracelets or playing cat’s cradle or other games

She also distracts them and keeps them calm whenever Chen Yuzhi has to do something “scary” like give them shots

Sometimes, when Chen Yuzhi isn’t busy and there aren’t any patients, Keying will put pretty little flower clips or bows in his hair and will coo at how “cute” her gege is

Chen Yuzhi always just smiles and just allows her to put whatever she wants in his hair because 1) he likes seeing her happy and 2) she’s a child, she’s allowed to have some fun

Whenever Jiang Yuelou drops by, he is also subjected to Keying’s “pampering”, which he’s not particularly fond of, but it’s Keying and he can’t really say no to her

While she doesn’t put flower clips or bows in his hair (his hair is just a bit too short), she does have a plastic crown that she places on his hair and declares that he’s a prince

She and Chen Yuzhi will then bow to him and Jiang Yuelou just laughs; his family really is too cute

When he has to go back to work, he’ll place the crown on Keying’s head and call her his “princess” before he hugs her goodbye (he also gives Chen Yuzhi a kiss goodbye; he can’t forget about his doctor)

Back at the station, when he puts his hands in his pockets, he feels something in one of them so he pulls out his hand and opens it to find a little flower clip that Keying must have slipped into his pocket when they hugged goodbye

He smiles at the flower clip and carefully places it in a dish on his desk that is actually filled with little flower clips that Keying has snuck into his pocket every time he goes to visit Chen Yuzhi’s clinic

Sometimes, when Song Rong and Sun Yongren stop by the clinic, Song Rong allows Keying to tie his undercut in a ponytail with a rubber band with a little bow on it and for Sun Yongren, she pins little clips with bows on it to his jacket or the collar of his shirt (since he has no hair)

She also sends back little clips for Jin Dacheng with Song Rong and Sun Yongren and when he receives them, Jin Dacheng “loudly” protests within other officer’s earshot that he would never wear such “girly” things and once they pass, he thanks Song Rong and Sun Yongren and reminds himself to tell Jiang Yuelou to tell Keying thank you

Jiang Yuelou has definitely caught Jin Dacheng wearing Keying’s clips whenever he passes by his office, mainly because his bangs are long and in the way (that’s what he told Jiang Yuelou the first time Jiang Yuelou caught him wearing one of the clips), but Jiang Yuelou doesn’t judge

Also at some point, all the officers have either little clips, little bows, or little pins from Keying and while many of them don’t wear them, they keep them on them at all times, like little good luck charms

And at home, Xiao Bai is definitely Keying’s favorite person to work on because he’s so chill that he’ll let her get away with anything (within reason, of course)

Most of the times it’s just a little bow on the top of his head or around the tip of his tail, nothing too crazy

Jiang Yuelou and Chen Yuzhi think it’s the cutest thing ever

[fanficbitch]

In Another Life // After Effects

November 2009

Aaron Hotchner x Y/N

As soon as the car pulled up to Hotch’s house, I ran to find everyone else. When I got there, Morgan was holding Hotch as tears streamed from his eyes. Foyet lays in front of him, I assume dead. 

Suddenly, Hotch gets up and rushes up the stairs. We all follow him to his old office. At first, I don’t see the point. That is until Hotch opens the bench to reveal Jack inside. He holds him tightly for a moment, but I can tell Hotch has other problems to deal with.

“Hey Jack,” I say, grabbing his attention. “Let’s go outside, okay?”

Hotch gives Jack one final squeeze, then Jack takes my hand. I pick him up and carry him down the stairs. I get him out as quickly as possible then set him down in one of the ambulances. Even if nothing happened, he still needs to be examined.

“Y/N,” he whimpers and holds out his hand. I climb into the ambulance and holds his hand.

“It’s okay,” I say and give his hand a squeeze. The exam is over quickly and Jack is fine, thankfully. We climb out of the ambulance and I’m not really sure what to do next. It’s not like we can go back inside and coroner’s van is pulling up. I squat down to Jack’s height. “Jack, is there a park nearby?” I ask and he nods then points down the street. “Okay, let’s go then,” I say then take his hand.

Once we get down the street a little bit, it’s easy to find the park. There’s no one there which probably for the best considering what is going down a block over. “Can I swing?” he asks.

“Yeah, do you want me to push you?” I ask and he nods. Jack situates himself on the swing and I begin to push him. He’s quiet for a few minutes, but the craziness of what just happened must’ve gotten to him. 

“Y/N,” he says softly.

“Yes buddy?”

“What happened to Mommy?” he asks. I pause because I don’t know if I should be the one answering this question. Haley probably had a prepared statement just in case something happened to Hotch. But, Hotch probably hasn’t thought about what he would say if Haley died. The situation seems so unrealistic, but here we are. 

“I don’t know buddy,” I say. That’s the truth. I don’t know for sure what happened to Haley. Do I have an idea? Yes. But Jack needs to hear that information from his dad.

“What happened to George?” Jack asks and I stop pushing him. I wait for the swing to stop, and when it does, I sit down in front of him. 

“Jack, you know how George is a bad guy?” I ask and he nods. “And you know how your daddy always gets the bad guys?”

That cause him to smile with a nod. “Well, your daddy got the bad guy.”

Jack’s smile fades quickly. “Is George dead?”

“Yeah, he is buddy,” I say. Although I don’t feel like I am qualified enough to answer anymore of his questions, I don’t want to leave him in the dark. “Do you have any more questions?”

“Is Daddy okay?” he asks.

“Yeah, your daddy is just fine.”

“Can I see him?” Jack asks and I hold out my hand.

“Let’s go see,” I say. Jack hops off the swing and puts both his hands in the air. That’s his signal that he wants to be carried. 

I carry Jack all the way back to the house. Luckily, by the time we get there a lot of the cars have left. Although there are still a few police cars and one ambulance, which Hotch is sitting in the back of. Once we get close enough, I warn Jack. “Jack, I think there’s someone who wants to see you.”

Jack turns around, sees his dad, then squirms out of my arms. I let him go and he runs and jumps into Hotch’s lap. I stand back and let them have a moment. 

When I walk up to them, I notice that all the blood is cleaned off Hotch and he’s wearing new clothes. “Thanks for taking care of him,” Hotch says. 

“Of course, I’ll do anything you need,” I say and he pauses. 

“There is another thing,” he says slowly. “I have to get somethings in order with…” he says then trails off. “Would you mind taking him for the night?”

“Yeah, I can,” I tell him.

“Would you mind grabbing some of his things and the carseat out of Haley’s-, out of the car?” Hotch asks.

“Yes, I’ll be right back,” I say then walk up the path to the house. People are still in and out of there, but I notice Foyet’s body is gone. I need to focus up. 

I run upstairs and grab a Thomas backpack then grab a new pair of day clothes and pajamas. I also brought some books just in case he wanted to read. He loves reading. On the way out I grab his carseat.

When I get back outside, Hotch is still holding Jack. “Do you guys need a little more time?” I ask.

“No,” Hotch whispers. “I think it’s best that he gets away from here,” he says then hands me Jack. 

“Bye Daddy,” Jack murmurs against my shoulder.

“Bye buddy,” Hotch smiles.

“Where are we going?” Jack asks once we get a few feet away from his dad. 

“You’re going to sleep over at my house. Doesn’t that sound fun?” I ask and Jack seems genuinely excited.

“Yeah!” he shouts. “Can we have pizza?”

“Sure, we can do whatever you want,” I say as I lock his carseat into the back of the SUV. I turn around to see Jack with the biggest smile on his face and I think that maybe everything will be okay after all.

                                                 **********

Jack was easy peasy tonight despite never having been to my apartment before. I first gave him a little tour, emphasis on little, ordered pizza and gave him a bath. No word for Hotch though. I’m not surprised though, there has to be a lot to deal with.

“Okay Jack, time for bed,” I tell him as he sits on the couch. He lets out a groan but gets up anyway. I follow him down the hallway because he already seems to know where he’s going. He pushes open the door to my room, then stops.

“Is this my bed?” Jack asks.

“Well, it’s actually my bed. But tonight you’re sleeping in it,” I say as I pick him up and set him in the middle of the bed. “Do you want a story tonight?” I ask and he shakes his head left and right. “Okay then get under the covers,” I say. Although, I can see that he’s thinking something. Once he gets under the blankets he opens his mouth.

“Can I have a back rub?” he murmurs. “Mommy always gives me a back rub.”

“Sure,” I say as I climb into bed with him. Jack lays on his left side, allowing me to run my right hand up and down his back. I can feel his little body getting more and more relaxed until I’m sure he’s asleep.

I slowly climb out of bed and turn out the light. But a little voice draws me back. “Y/N,” Jack whimpers.

“Yeah buddy?” I ask from the doorway.

“I’m scared,” he says.

“How can I fix that?”

“Sleepover?” he asks. I’m slightly confused because I thought we were already having a sleepover. But I quickly realize he means stay in the bed with him.

“Oh, do you want me to sleep in here with you?”

“Yes, please,” he whimpers.

“Okay bud,” I say then get back into the bed and under the covers.

                                                  **********

Jack wakes me up pretty early and basically begs for pancakes. So I make him pancakes. When I checked my phone, I saw that Hotch said he would be by in the morning to get Jack. Now, we sit at my tiny table and eat breakfast. “Do you like them?” I ask and Jack shrugs. “What’s wrong with them?”

“They’re not as good as daddy’s,” he says.

“What makes his pancakes better than mine?”

“He puts chocolate chips in them,” Jack smiles. 

“Well, I can’t beat that,” I say as I finish my food. We sit in silence until it is interrupted by a knock on the door. “Oh, I know who that is,” I say as I get up to answer it. I open the door and see Hotch in the same clothes he was in yesterday, but I don’t blame him. “Hey,” I say softly.

“Hi,” he says. Once Jack hears his dad he comes running from the table.

“Daddy!” Jack yells as he runs and jumps into Hotch’s arms.

“Oh, I’m so happy to see you,” Hotch says as Jack burrows into his shoulder. “How was everything?”

“He was great,” I say then lower my voice. “He had some questions about yesterday.”

Hotch nods. “I assumed he would,” he says then turns to Jack. “We’re going to have a daddy and Jack day.”

“Yay!” Jack yells. I turn around to grab Jack’s backpack then hand it to Hotch. I look back at him and feel like I should say something meaningful and heartfelt, but my mind is black.

“Hotch,” in a quiet voice is all that I can get out. 

“Don’t worry,” he says. “I’ll see you in a few days,” he says then disappears from my doorway.

[littlesmartart]

Leverage AU thoughts

okay so I wanted to keep the worldbuilding for the AU in that specific photoset relatively short for the sake of how the post worked, but I've seen a lot of questions in the tags so here is some more information for you all, under the cut because it got LONG:

MORALITY: okay so I called this the "(sort of) Leverage AU" because it basically flips the Leverage concept of "criminals work together with one non-criminal for the greater good" into "one criminal persuades a bunch of non-criminals that law =/= morality and that sometimes to make sure the bad guys get justice you have to work around legality". Obviously some people are easier to persuade than others (Huaisang has always been pretty ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about the law, but before he joins the team he insists all of his crimes have been Theoretical, and besides, pirating movies isn't real crime, da-ge, god), and some of them are a little troubled by it but have their own reasons for joining (Mingjue has a LOT of issues with it, but joins to protect Huaisang for That One Job, and then stays with the insistence that a. they don't kill anyone, b. they don't involve anyone who doesn't super deserve it, and c. that their goal is always to get evidence so the mark can be convicted and the mark is always handed over to the appropriate authorities at the end of the job. he has a little more moral flexibility than canon Mingjue because of his Complicated Past He Wants To Atone For, but he still has an incredibly strong internal moral code that he absolutely will not violate. Jiang Cheng cares more about the law in principle, rather than personally, and as soon as he sees that they can get Justice that the law can't, he's sold). Xichen has the hardest time of it; he jumps into the first job without protest because Meng Yao asks (and Meng Yao never ever asks for anything, so it... it must be important, right? And Jin Guangshan definitely deserves it). After that he has a lot of internal struggling going on, and he's usually the one in the team trying to steer them towards legal means, and going through the "correct" channels. He probably has a breakdown about it at the end of a season and spends the next season Travelling To Find Himself. He winds up coming back to the team when, on one of his travels, he watches a family he's staying with lose everything after being targeted by a conman, but because of a dirty police chief the evidence is destroyed. They refuse to take his money when he tries to help, and he realises that they only way to get them justice... is to call in the team. That's not to say he is 100% cool with everything from then on, and he definitely draws the line at certain criminal acts (stealing for the fun of it he is not okay with, for example, and he gives a Hard No on the suggestion of trying White Rabbit) but for the most part he accepts the concept of what they do as being for the greater good.

GRIFTER XICHEN: yeah it's ridiculous and implausible but hear me out... that just makes it better. Because this man is terrible at improv and can only lie when he's in character (you see that means it's not lying then, it's just ACTING) and doesn't drink and absolutely will not seduce a mark past the level of general flirting... and yet he's somehow a wildly successful grifter??? How??? I'll tell you how: he's so fucking handsome and kind and charming and cultured that pretty much everyone who meets him just... melts a little bit and, with some coaxing, gives him whatever he needs. IT'S LIKE A FREAKIN SUPERPOWER and it's absolutely ridiculous. With the added bonus that he's juuust famous enough that the average person might kind of think he looks familiar, which means he's very good at coming across like he totally belongs wherever he's seen. Of course he works here, he's been here for months... don't you recognise him?

NO WOMEN ON THE TEAM: look, in Meng Yao's defence, when he put together this team he thought it would only be for one job, he wasn't trying to future-proof it! But yes, it can sometimes be an issue if they don't have time to plan ahead, and he and Huaisang - as the most stereotypically feminine members of the team, and by far the best liars - will usually take on any female roles they need if they're in a pinch and can't call in outside help, although all of them are ready to take on roles of different genders if need be (female roles are actually the only way to persuade Huaisang to grift, and he has an extensive shoe collection for such roles that he likes to expand by billing to the company account... Meng Yao is deeply unimpressed by this).

OTHER CHARACTERS: when Meng Yao started this, he worked very very hard to keep his siblings and the rest of his family out of it, to keep them all away from any fallout in case it went wrong (and also to stop any pesky Moral Issues from getting in the way). When that was over and they started taking regular cases, he relaxed the rule a little - Mianmian will sometimes step in to help if she can be sold on how bad the person is they're taking down, Zonghui can be relied upon if they need extra muscle, and Wen Qing is their go-to Ask No Questions doctor. Wei Wuxian frequently gets roped in to consult, as, if you give him six packs of hot chips, ten cans of monster, twelve hours, and a laptop, he can become a specialist in almost anything. Jiang Cheng was very very resistant towards the idea of his brother being allowed in the team, even just as a consultant, but the MOMENT Wei Wuxian was given any access to Shenanigans there was no fucking stopping him. In the later jobs Qin Su accidentally gets pulled into one of the cons and turns out to be a WAY better grifter than anyone could have imagined, so she winds up on the "ally call list". Meng Yao is both perturbed and proud, but absolutely draws the line at teenage Mo Xuanyu being allowed to help.

PAIRINGS: flipping the "two parents + three kids" dynamic in Leverage, this AU has 3zun and Sangcheng - so "three gege + two didi". Xiyao have a One That Got Away sort of past, and Xichen joins the team SPECIFICALLY because Meng Yao expresses emotional vulnerability by asking for help fOr OnCe In HiS fUcKiNg LiFe. Nielan dated when they were teens, and are happy to be reunited, but Mingjue refuses to rekindle a romantic relationship until Xiyao sort their shit out because it's obvious to anyone with eyes how hung up on Meng Yao Xichen is. Nieyao have a certain amount of "I'll work with you towards a common cause but that doesn't mean I have to like you" vibe, but veeery slooowlyyy wind up bonding over doing stuff they're not proud of for something they were so sure was a worthy cause at the time, but now they just feel jaded and used (there's a lot of arguments along the lines of "oh, so my corporate espionage is worse than what you did in spec ops... because the military says that what you did was legal. RIGHT. OKAY. SURE."). After several years of will-they-won't-they struggle, 3zun do get together, and everyone is very relieved. As for Sangcheng... it starts off as Huaisang just flirting kind of obnoxiously with Jiang Cheng, who rolls his eyes and snarks back, and then naturally Huaisang winds up catching feelings and is like [meme voice] Haha, I'm In Danger! He is unwilling to act on his feelings because he doesn't believe that Jiang Cheng likes him that way, and continues to believe that right up until the day Jiang Cheng snaps, and grabs him and kisses him, and is like "if I didn't actually like you flirting with me I would have punched you in the face years ago" and Huaisang is like "huh. Yeah that's probably true."

[omg-im-such-a-masochist]

💎💍TO CATCH A THIEF💍💎

Prompt: Inspired by the song: To Catch A Thief by Lovage

Word Count: Really Long, girl 😩

Pairings: 1930’s Mob! Roman Reigns x Reader

Warnings: Cursing, smut (implied), murder, manipulation.

Tagging: @ziasaph , @marlananicole , @akiko-tanaka , @nicolewoo , @saccreigns , @mindofasagittaruis , @reigns-5sos , @auawdo , @lustyromantic , @babydee17 , @yungbludjazz360

Notes: As cliche as it sounds, I’m a truly lover of music and love different genres. I love to be able to show different types of bands/ projects/ music that sometimes people might not even know exists. So this little fic is inspired by one of my favorite music projects EVER: LOVAGE (it has Mike Patton on it, so of course I would love it! The man has been my musician crush since I was 9 years old! And he’s amazing, so). Y’all know the drill loves,sorry for misspellings,english isn’t my first language (bla bla bla),check out my other stories if you’d like to(it would make your girl here very happy 😊) You can check them out on my Masterlist. Okay,now let’s get to the fun part, shall we? Hope you’ll enjoy 😉

Of course I’ve heard of them and of course they’ve caught my interest! The Reigns’s and Uso’s were one of the biggest gangsters families among the USA, who were responsible for the biggest robberies across the country.

The current rumors spreading around the neighborhood swore they were here, hiding from the authorities, in our small little town.

And I would give anything to meet one of them. As the daughter of a prostitute, my only fate was to follow my mother’s footsteps but I am more ambitious than that! The only way to prosper in life is to be completely feared. Be feared not respected as Machiavelli himself taught. And I know, for a fact that, that is completely true! Growing up in the red light neighborhood had proved to be quite the life lesson, actually. ‘Don’t trust the police’, ‘Make alliances with criminals’, ‘Trust no one’, ‘Don’t snitch’, ‘You never hear or see anything’, ‘Mind your own business’, ‘Don’t allow people to mind YOUR business’, ‘Show no emotions’, ‘Always be smarter than your enemies’, were a few of those rules. People think that, for a woman to be perfectly successful in the 1930’s she needs to be a trophy wife, nothing more than a beautiful face with zero brains and a pair of open legs to a rich husband. But they are wrong! You see, any woman can use her beauty and charm to manipulate and conquer whatever she wants, but she can only maintain that manipulation power if she’s smart enough. I’ve had the town mayor, Mr. Heyman, gift me a beautiful diamond crown (that originally was meant to be his wife’s birthday present) just with some charm and sweet nothings whispered to him. I didn’t needed to warm his bed for it, I just had to be smart enough to understand his weaknesses and say the right words! I know what I want, so I get it, and believe me when I say: I will have Roman Reigns all to myself.

Things were disappearing in my neighborhood

Once again somebody was up to no good

I saw that you were wanted, but not like I wanted you

And that's when I knew I had to be with you

And that's when I knew if I didn't, I'd be through

To end my grief I'd have to catch a thief

Your love was my relief my love is your release.

Ah! Mayor Heyman’s high society ‘charity gala balls’ (aka meet your husband’s new mistress), were the most futile yet amusing events of this town. I wasn’t a high society woman, economically speaking but again I’m good at saying the right things to the right people. So it’s no surprise to see my name in the mayor’s guest list.

I entry the big doors of the city hall wearing my most recently acquisition: an emerald green velvet dress (gifted by the Senator John), my high heels (Another gift from Mr. Smith, the banker) and my hand purse (from the all so lovely Mayor Heyman)...Speak of the Devil.

“Y/N” He greeted

“Oh, Mayor Heyman. What an honor” I smiled sweetly

“Believe me, it’s my honor, dear” He kisses my hand in an flirtatious way. And it’s a good thing I’m great at keeping my gag reflex in control.

“Oh please, I’m the one who has to thank you for always reminding little old me for your tremendously chic events. I can’t express my gratitude enough for you always having so much compassion in your heart!” I scoot closer to him, slightly fixing his tie “It is such a shame that you’re a married man, mayor Heyman, I would have loved to be your wife” I whispered softly

He gulped “I can change that” He smirked

“Oh please, mayor!” I stepped back with a offended look on my face “As a Christian woman, I cannot support divorce! That is some type of thinking that will lead us directly back to sodom and gomorrah! I can’t believe you just said that to me” I make the sign of the cross

“I am so sorry, Y/N it was not my intention-“

“I am not a prostitute or a home wrecker, mayor Heyman! I am a woman devoted to the Lord and I will not accept or tolerate that type of language or insinuations towards me!”

“I am deeply sorry Y/N, I truly am! Let me make it up to you. Here” He fastly signed a blank check “Please take this”

“I can’t” I whisper, pretending embarrassment

“Please, Y/N! It’s the least I can do. You can use it for whatever you want, no matter the price. I could never offend you! You’re such an amazing woman. Please accept it!” His pleading eyes let me know I had him hooked.

I ‘reluctantly’ accepted “Well, thank you, so much” I murmur with tears upon my eyes

“No, I’m the one who has to thank you, for dismissing my ogre behavior” He smiled “I’ll leave you now, so you can fix your makeup”

“Thank you, mayor Heyman”

Once he’s out of my sight, I can drop the naïve girl routine.

“Impressive” A deep male voice spoke from behind me

When I turn around, my knees almost failed me... it was him.

“I beg your pardon?” I ask

“The little stunt you just did with the mayor, was truly impressive. I swear that if I didn’t saw you get out of your naïve christian woman character I would have one hundred percent believed too” He smirked

“Mr. Reigns. That’s a compliment coming from you”

“You know who I am”

I shrugged “I’ve heard a few things here and there”

He gets closer to me, until our faces almost touched

“Yeah? Tell me, Y/N. That’s your name right?” He asked and I nodded

“What have you heard, Y/N?”

“How your the head of the table on your family’s business” I mumbled

“How does a woman like you, know about my family’s business, Y/N?” He walks forward, making me step back until I my back reached a closed door.

“I was raised on the streets”

Roman’s eyebrows raise in surprise “Really? You don’t seem like the streets type” He said, caressing my cheek.

“I had to learn how to be more polished if I didn’t wanted to become a hooker”

“I see” He buried his nose on my neck, inhaling deeply my perfume as his hands rested on my waist “And I imagine your perfume is also a result from a similar scene with the mayor” Roman whispered in my ear

“The senator not the mayor” I cackled

He amusingly laughs on my ear “You have friends in high places, huh?” His hands moved up, cupping my breasts through the dress

“People use what they have, Mr. Reigns” I look into his eyes “You use you intimidating strength” I squeeze his biceps “And I use my womanly charm” I batted my lashes “They’re both means to an end”

Come into my window

It's open every night

That's where I'll be waiting

I'll keep off all the lights

I'm lying on my bed

Crown jewels on my head

The loud knocks on my front door made me quickly get up. Going down the stairs I can see a tall manly figure waiting for me to come and answer. I grab my Colt 1908 Pocket Hammerless gun from the little drawer on my cupboard.

Placing my finger on the trigger I opened the door.

“Yes?” I ask harmlessly

“Mrs. Y/N?” The tall Samoan man asked

I nodded once

“My name is Jey and I’m here in behalf of Mr. Reigns”

I nodded again

“Why don’t you come and take a ride with me?” Jey coldly smiled

I'd never give you up

So come in from the cold, let your guard down

I'd hide you from the cops

Don't be frightened now my love

I'll take the life of crime, all to make you mine

The hotel room is big, fancy and very expensive by the looks of it. If I had to take a lucky guess, I would say that he’s not paying for anything in here, it is all a curtesy from the mayor.

“I’m glad you came” Roman smiles

“Did I had a choice?” I tilted my head

“No, you didn’t” He chuckled “Can I offer you anything to drink?”

“Are you going to drug me if I say yes?” I joke

“Depends on your answer to my proposal” He smirked

“Proposal?”

“Yes” Roman got up from his chair coming to stand in front of me

“You see, Y/N. You’re a very, very interesting woman. Ambitious, smart, charming, intelligent and gorgeous. You’re not easily scared, in fact, it looks like you enjoy danger” He pulled me closer to him, until our bodies were pressed together “I could use a woman like you in my business. At the gala ball you told me about your goals in life and I could see with my own eyes you successfully work your magic on every men in that room. So, what I propose to you is: come with me, I’m leaving town tomorrow and I would like for you to come with me, be a part of my team, use your looks and your brain to our favor.”

“And what’s in it for me?” I asked

“Money, power, jewels...Anything you want” He sincerely said

“What if I would like to add you to that package?” I whispered

Come in off that roof top

You're so handsome dressed in black

See you in the shadows

I'd like to see you on your back

Take this precious treasure

And I will treasure you

Roman smirked “So be it! If you want me too, then you can have me”

He leaned down, capturing my lips in a famished kiss. Pushing me down on the bed, his broad body hovering over mine, grinding, kissing, biting, panting, pounding and moaning until the first rays of sunshine from the next day peaked through the curtains...

6 MONTHS LATER

“What do you say about we take a drink, Mrs. Reigns?” Tony, my husband’s arch enemy and Capo of the Italian Mob asked

“I would love to” I smile sweetly as I hook my arm in his. Going to the back alley.

“I figured it was already time for you to leave that husband of yours for a real man, you know? And I knew you would come to me, sugar” Tony winked

“You’re right, Tony. I do need a real man” I smirked to the shadows when the gun fired.

Tony’s body fell down by my side on the dirty alley street

“But you didn’t thought you were that man, right?” I cackled

Roman’s arm circle around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

“Hello Tony” He smiled “Did you really thought you could have her?” Roman chuckled “C’mon, we both know she’s too much of a woman for you! You can’t handle it! I bet you’re regretting to have thought with your dick now, don’t you?”

“She will leave you eventually Reigns. Just wait for it!” Tony spat

I pressed my high heel on his chest wound, pressing it down and making Tony scream in agony

“You watch your mouth, you fucking fat pig! You know nothing, you ARE NOTHING! I would never leave Roman for you” I laugh “I will never leave him for anyone” I smile at him, aiming to his head and pressing the trigger right afterwards.

We'll run away my dear

Some place special have no fear

We'll even change our names

We'll be kinky, we'll be strange

I'll take the life of crime, all to make you mine

All to catch a thief

Your love is my relief, my love is your release

Your love is my relief, my love is your release

All to catch a thief

“You are perfect” Roman whispered, kissing me vigorously in front of Tony’s dead body. “C’mon. Let’s get out of here” He opened the passenger door of his Rolls Royce and I enter it.

Once we’re driving through the highway he says

“I can’t wait for us to get to the hotel” Roman kisses my hand, intertwining our fingers “I’m going to fuck you senseless” He growls

And I can’t help the happiness smile that spreads on my lips..

[fanficimagery]

Misery Business pt. II

Imagine moving in with the Molina's after an incident back home. Instead of being angry, you realize this is your second chance to be truly happy and you really hope it goes better than your first attempt.

You can find PART ONE right HERE.

Words: 5.3K Author’s Note: Requested by anonymous who asked for a sequel where Jerry finds out that Y/N met her soulmate. So here ‘ya go! I tried writing angst, but I just.. don’t know how? I hope you still enjoy this though. Also there might be some slight violence in case that’s triggering for anyone.

You've spent months with Luke now and every day with him so far has been absolutely mind blowing. Being with him is exactly like every textbook out there said what having a soulmate is like and you couldn't be happier. But of course not every day was a good day. Fortunately for you though, you and Luke were two people who didn't like being at odds with one another, so more often than not your issues were resolved within hours.

Everything in your and Luke's life seemed to be going smoothly, but after the novelty of finding his soulmate wore off it seemed like Luke's parents were pressuring him to do something with his life other than music. They thought it was a great hobby for him to have, but not something worth pursuing as his main source of income. You could see every little argument wearing on him, and you and your family did your best to cheer him up.

Eventually one of the arguments was bound to take things too far, so you weren't surprised when Luke showed up one night with tears in his eyes and his hands gripping tight to his backpack straps. Tía Rose and tío Ray were kind enough to let Luke stay the night, and you even persuaded them to let him share your bed with promises that there'd be no funny business- you just wanted to be there for him. You weren't surprised that he fell asleep so soon after showering and changing into pajamas, but you were surprised to receive a call just passed one in the morning from his mother.

Having crept out of bed, you walk downstairs to the kitchen to take the call. Mrs. Patterson is very apologetic for calling so late, but she's extremely worried about Luke's whereabouts. You ease her fears by admitting that Luke is with you and then mention that since Spring Break was about to start, that maybe it was best for Luke to stay with you for a little bit. When she remains quiet, you apologize for overstepping but go on to explain that seeing Luke so torn up after every argument with her was very disheartening. You just wanted your soulmate to be carefree again, even if it was only for a week. And then after hearing her sniffle, you feel like you really messed up, but Mrs. Patterson calls you a good soulmate and that she'd drop off a bag of Luke's clothes in the morning.

Then going back up to your room, you crawl back into bed and chuckle when Luke rolls over to pull you in so your back is against his chest. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, you allow yourself to relax and fall asleep in your soulmate's arms.

You're not one to keep secrets from Luke, so come morning you tell him about the phone call you had with his mom. He seemed a little apprehensive when he heard she had called, but quickly relaxed when you went on to tell him that you got her to agree to let him stay there in the Molina household.

"You think Rose and Ray will go for it?"

"Yes." You smile at him, swiping his hair out of his eyes. "They adore you like you're one of their own. Plus it helps they know you've been having issues with your parents, so they'll think it's a good idea you take a breather from them as well."

"Okay. But only if they're good with it."

"They will be."

And sure enough, when the two of you head down to breakfast, tía Rose and tío Ray are all for Luke staying after the latest blowout.

In fact, with the start of Spring Break, you find it hilarious that Alex and Reggie spend as little time as possible at their own homes. Carlos is ecstatic to have the boys to roughhouse with, tía Rose loves having extra hands around the house to help with the yard work, and Julie adores having her band with her so they have all the time in the world to write and have jam sessions.

It's during one of those jam sessions Julie gets you to sing, but you only agreed to it because Luke was determined to duet with you. You picked All Time Low's Remembering Sunday where Luke sang about ninety-nine percent of the song and you came in at the end for about twenty seconds worth of singing, but you put your all into it and stunned your friends. You hadn't known your cousin was recording videos of the session, so you were a little surprised when she told you.

"So remember the other day we were vibing out in the studio, and you and Luke killed it singing Remembering Sunday?"

"Um, yeah."

"Well I might have posted a video or two-"

"Julie!"

"-and it's gone viral."

"What!?"

"I'm sorry! I posted it on my page, Flynn reposted it on the band's page, and well it kind of took off from there." Julie cringes. "Apparently the fans really liked it."

"Ugh." You groan. She chuckles nervously and you eventually sigh when you see she feels really bad about your reaction. "Well I guess it's fine," you say and she starts to slowly relax. You don't know exactly what to say, so you say the first thing that pops into your mind. "So how many think I'm trying to break up the band?"

Julie snorts. "Only a handful. No more than twenty people that we've seen so far. We've told the fans you weren't breaking up the band or joining it, but that you and Luke were soulmates and you were just having fun with us. Some don't believe it."

You shake your head, grinning softly. "People are dumb, but whatevs. Everyone who matters knows the truth and that's enough for me."

With Spring Break coming to a close, it's decided you're going to have a bonfire on the beach the Saturday before returning back to school. You know it's going to be a long night, so you and few others head to the store to stock up on snacks and drinks.

You, Alex, Julie, and tía Rose were the only ones mature enough to tackle the task of shopping, so the four of you piled into the car and left before Reggie could crawl his way into the very back without anyone knowing.

Between the four of you, loading the car with the groceries after shopping was an easy task, but apparently one individual didn't get that memo and figured you needed some help.

A bag that tía Rose picks up unfortunately tears and the cans inside go rolling. She curses in Spanish, which makes you and Julie giggle, but then an all too familiar voice freezes the blood in veins. "Oh no worries, ma'am. I got this."

Julie snorts as her mom giggles, Alex swears softly under his breath, and you're too terrified to look and see one of your fears come to life. But the second your tía starts making small talk, you can't help but look up. You immediately pale. It's Jerry. The same Jerry whose dark hair was tied into a small bun at the back of his head, who wore a distressed band tee, ripped jeans, and dark boots. The same Jerry whose smug little grin once made your heart flutter, but now only makes you feel sick to your stomach.

"Y/N," Alex steps in your line of sight when you can't seem to stop staring. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine." You can feel yourself sway on your feet and the moment all the groceries are in the back, you start towards Julie and her mom. "Tía, it's time to go." You grab at her wrist and start pulling her towards the driver's seat.

"Mija, don't be rude." You spare her a brief glance and she frowns at your expression. "What's wrong?

"Nothing. I just- I don't feel so well. Can we please go?"

"Y/N?" His voice makes your skin crawl and you jerk out of reach when you feel a hand touch your shoulder. "Is that really you? Wow! It's been too long."

His smarmy smile makes your stomach churn, but you have to keep it together. "Not long enough," you retort.

You know your family and Alex are looking at you like you've grown a second head, but tía Rose's expression hardens the moment Jerry chuckles. "I like the feistiness. It suits you."

"I'm sure it does."

Once Rose realizes the tension between you, she calls out for everyone to get in the car so you can head on home. Everyone opens up their respective door, but they're still standing outside the car when Jerry says, "It was nice to see you again, Y/N. I'm sure we'll see one another again real soon."

You scoff. "Don't count on it."

Marching over to your door, you open it up and drop into your seat. The others follow quickly after. You buckle up, your right knee bouncing anxiously as you continuously glance out the window. The car rides are usually loud and filled with off-key singing, but now the music can barely be heard and no one knows how to break the silence.

Finally, not able to take the silence or the stares you can practically feel burning into the side and back of your head any longer, you say, "That guy back there? That was Jerry."

A beat passes and then Julie sharply inhales. "Your ex? The one who pretended-"

"Yep!" You cut her off, breath stuttering as you try to inhale. "Ever since I moved he's been trying to contact me, but I blocked him on everything I could. Why did he- how did he find me?" You ask, voice shaky.

"Oh mija," Rose softly exhales. You turn your head to look at her and she shakes her head. "This isn't okay."

"I know."

"I think you need to talk to the police, especially since he followed you across states."

"Y-Yeah. Okay."

You feel a hand grab your shoulder and you flinch, but you quickly reach up to grab ahold of it. The small, too smooth hand lets you know it's Julie. "I'll call dad and tell him to meet us there."

Rose tells her that's a good idea and then Alex is saying, "Should I tell Luke? This feels like something he'll get pissed at me for, for not telling him."

"Of course," you say, "but tell him I'll call him after. He doesn't need to come down to the police department as well."

It doesn't take Ray long to get to the police department, and when he does he and Rose escort you inside while Julie and Alex stay outside. The female officer who takes your statement is quite appalled to hear that someone would fake soulmate words and is clearly upset to learn that he followed you across state lines, even after you did everything to conceal your location. She completely understands why you're so unsettled, but unfortunately there's not much they can do unless Jerry were to physically harm you or your family. She does, however, file the statement for future reference in case anything involving Jerry were to pop up in the future and it makes you feel a little bit better to know it's all on file.

Once you're free to go, Julie immediately throws herself into your arms when you're back outside. She's sobbing and it takes you a moment to understand what she's saying. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I was just thinking while you were gone and I think he found you because of me- because of the video I posted of you and Luke."

"Jules, no. It's not your fault."

"But it is! If that mega creep stalked my page, some of my posts have the locations tagged."

Oh. So yeah, maybe that is how he found you. You can see everyone else realize the sudden realization you came to as well, but you don't want to make your cousin feel any worse. "Don't even worry about it. You are not responsible for his actions. Okay? This is all on him."

"But-"

"I don't want to hear it," you cut her off, squeezing her just a little bit tighter. "I just want to put this day behind me, go home and put the groceries away, and cuddle with Luke while we brainstorm for our bonfire tomorrow night."

Julie pulls free from the hug, frowning. "You still want to go through with the bonfire after what happened today?"

"Duh." You smile gently at her. "We've been planning this for weeks. I'm not going to let Jerry's sudden appearance ruin our fun."

Julie looks like she's going to argue, but Ray is immediately by her side and wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Mija, it's going to be okay. Y/N has all of you on her side and should anything happen we've got the card of the very nice officer who took our statement. It's going to be fine."

When Julie's calmed down, it's time to head home. Alex goes with Ray so he can be dropped off, but Julie goes with you and her mom. The drive is once again silent, but you don't mind it this time around. Though when you pull up to the house, you can't help but sigh at the sight of Luke pacing back and forth on the front porch.

Tía Rose chuckles as she parks. "Go," she tells you. "Julie and I can get the groceries. Go calm your soulmate."

You smile thankfully at her and do as you're told. Then as you're walking up the sidewalk, Luke hops off the porch and makes a beeline for you. He immediately wraps you up in his arms and you don't mind how tight he squeezes you.

"Lets go to the studio," you tell him.

Luke doesn't even bother arguing, he grabbing your hand as soon as he frees you from the hug to pull you towards the studio out back. Then upon entering the studio, Luke shuts the door behind you and drags you over to the couch. "What happened?"

You shrug. "Jerry found me. I don't know how he came across any video I was in, but we think he saw the video of me and you singing. Julie thinks he went through her page and took a chance by going to the location that was tagged in some of her posts."

"Bro, that's so messed up."

"You're telling me," you huff. "Julie feels terrible, but I don't blame her so.."

"Nah. It's not her fault. This dude is seriously screwed in the head." You nod, quietly agreeing. Sighing, you pull your legs up and curl them beside you, and lean into Luke's side. "So what did the police do?"

"Nothing. They can file a report about him following me, but they can't actually do anything unless he physically harms someone." Luke softly swears. "I'm actually kind of scared," you then admit. "I don't know why he's obsessed with me, but he knows I found my real soulmate. What if he does try to do something?"

"I'll kick his goddamn ass if I have to." You quietly chuckle, but Luke presses on. "I'm serious, Y/N. You are my soulmate. I will protect you until my dying breath. That jackass ain't gonna lay a finger on you."

"Have I ever told you how hot I find you when you get angry?"

He chuckles softly. "What?"

"Yeah. So hot," you muse. You glance up at him, lips twitching as you can clearly see how he's torn between finding amusement in your words and reprimanding you to be serious. "I can handle Jerry. Somewhat," you then softly admit. "Please don't do anything that will put you in handcuffs."

He sighs. "No promises."

"Whatever. I'll take what I can get."

Luke finally smiles and he quickly presses a kiss to your forehead. "Have I ever told you how adorable it is to see you going soft for me?"

"Fuck off, Patterson. Now lets go help sort the groceries so we can go pick out our spot on the beach for tomorrow night."

Luke laughs as you stand and tug him up so he can follow you out.

Rose and Ray are a little hesitant to let you leave the following night, but after many reassurances they seem to realize that they're worrying for nothing. Willie shows up in a van and everyone cheers as they readily load up the back, Luke adding in two acoustic guitars for himself and Reggie. Alex automatically claims a seat in the front with Willie and Reggie beats everyone else in rock, paper, scissors to claim the other seat. So you, Luke, Julie, and Flynn sit in the back and try not to fall into each other with Willie's not so excellent driving skills.

You and Alex take on the responsibility of getting the fire going while everyone else situates the coolers of your food and drinks, and rearranges the chairs and blankets. It seems other kids had the same idea as you all because further down there are several other bonfires ready to be lit and every other face seems to be someone from Los Feliz High.

Once the fire is going and the music is just loud enough to be heard by everyone around your fire, Alex and Willie claim the blanket in the sand. You and Luke obviously sit next to one another, and Julie, Flynn, and Reggie stick together to mock the soulmates should anyone get a little too into displaying their affections.

It's a little too cool to take a dip in the water, so everyone makes do by burying Reggie in the sand or dancing around for some laughs. In between food and drinks, there are lip sync battles and originals sung by Julie, Luke, Reggie, and Alex, and it's the most perfect night. Pictures and video are taken, and everyone second guesses posting them, but you wave them off with the excuse that the damage has already been done.

A little after ten, Carrie saunters over and her appearance is enough to make the laughs taper off. You and Luke had stolen the blanket from Alex and Willie, and you were laying down with your head in Luke's lap so you were too comfortable to greet her by sitting up. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Carrie says, "I knew every girl was just getting their hopes up. You and Luke are obviously still infatuated with one another."

As her words sink in, everyone immediately glances at you and Luke, and you frown at her. "What?"

She rolls her eyes. "There's some guy looking around for you. He's been telling everyone that you're his girl and he was supposed to meet you here."

There's a moment of silence and then, "Carrie, did this guy tell you what his name was?" Your heart stops and you immediately sit up in preparation for her answer.

"He probably did, but I didn't hear it over Alicia and Kaitlin squealing about Luke being single again."

Reggie snorts and you can hear Alex quietly reprimand his friend. "Did he have a man-bun, lots of bracelets on one wrist, skinny jeans, and combat boots?"

Whatever your expression is currently showing as you ask her, it throws Carrie off and you see her own haughty attitude diminish just the slightest. "Yeah. What's going on, Y/N?"

You sharply inhale and then Luke is immediately on his feet, draping an arm around your shoulders. "Come on. We should leave."

"No." Your tone startles him, and even Carrie, but then you look at Luke while softening your voice. "No. I'm not going to run away. He doesn't get to ruin my time with the people I love." A moment passes and then Luke nods, pressing a quick kiss to your forehead. You smile softly up at him before turning to look back at Carrie. "Be honest with me, Wilson. How much does everyone know about why I moved here?"

She shrugs. "By your second day here everyone knew you left your home because some asshole pretended to be your soulmate and like totally stalked you or something." No one says anything and you raise your eyebrows at her, willing her to connect the dots. Her eyes slightly widen as she realizes what you're silently telling her. "It's him, isn't it? The guy asking around about you."

You gulp. "His name is Jerry. I know we're not exactly friends, but do me a favor?" At her silence, you take it as a yes. "Spread the word. No one is to answer his questions and no girl goes off on their own. He's not a good person."

"Of course." She takes out her phone, ready to start sending off text after text. You sigh a little in relief, knowing that everyone will soon know a creep is hanging around. When Carrie glances back up at you, she frowns a little. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was him."

"Don't even worry about it. I didn't exactly tell anyone his name or showed a picture."

Carrie gives you a terse nod before she's straightening up, haughty expression back in place. As soon she takes her leave, everyone is suddenly on their feet surrounding you and Luke.

"What the hell?" Alex mutters. "This is so messed up."

"Am I gonna have to fight?" Flynn asks. "Because I am prepared to go to jail. Someone's just gonna have to bail me out."

Julie frowns. "I don't know about this, guys. I don't have a good feeling. Maybe we should go home."

"Are you kidding me?" Reggie scoffs. "There's one of him and seven of us. We'll be fine."

Willie glances between everyone, shrugging. "I'm down with whatever. If you guys wanna leave, we'll leave. If not, we'll stay."

Luke glances down at you. "What do you say, babe? Stay or go?"

"We stay. Now will everyone lighten up? We only got a couple of hours before beach patrol shuts us down."

Reggie whoops and you can't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm. Julie walks up to you then, still looking uneasy. "Are you sure about this? No one will think less of you for wanting to leave."

You flash her a small smile. "I'm not going to let him scare me off. And besides, it's like Reggie said. There's more of us than him. We'll be fine."

Only it wasn't fine. Not really. Because not even half an hour later the ex in question finally finds you.

Alex is the first to notice him, his laughter ceasing immediately as his expression hardens. Willie asks him what's wrong and upon following his line of sight he realizes what's going on. Then slowly but surely, everyone's fun nature disappears as they stand.

Jerry chuckles when you finally meet his gaze. "Told you see we'd see each other again real soon."

You sigh, your hand slipping into Luke's as you see him take a step forward out of the corner of your eye. "What do you want?"

"To catch up," Jerry muses. "You left so quickly and didn't tell me where you were going."

"For obvious reasons, you moron."

"Yeah. Read the room, dude. You're not wanted here," Flynn huffs as she steps up on your other side.

Jerry glances at her and his stare leaves you feeling uncomfortable. So to grab his attention once more, you say, "Go home. I have nothing to say to you."

"Aw," he coos, "but I miss you."

"Well she doesn't miss you." Luke's words draw Jerry's attention and you can see his jaw clench in the firelight.

"Ah, yes. The soulmate," he muses. "Tell me, soulmate, does she purr for you like she did for me?"

Your eyes widen just as there are several sharp inhales behind you and you immediately cling onto Luke's arm. "Luke, no!" Alex is on the other side of Luke, pushing his friend back and when it seems like he's got it under control you let go of his arm and step between him and Jerry. Glaring at his smug expression, you say, "No, Jerry, I don't purr with him like I did with you." He chuckles lowly. "Because unlike you, Luke knows how to get me off which is something you never knew how to do. Not even once."

"Oh fuck. She just murdered him," Flynn giggles.

Jerry's smug expression vanishes the moment everyone starts to giggle and before anyone can blink he's swinging his arm so the back of his hand connects with your cheek.

"You motherfucker!"

You go stumbling and it's only because of Julie and Flynn that you don't fall. When you manage to regain your footing, you locate the boys only to find that Willie and Luke are doing their best to whale on Jerry while Alex and Reggie look on, unsure about stopping the fight or not. Willie lets Luke throw most of the punches, though when Jerry lands one on Luke he's quick to reach in and make sure Jerry doesn't overcome his friend.

"Flynn, call the police department. Ask for Officer Diaz and tell her my name. Tell her Jerry's found me and he attacked me."

"Okay."

"Julie," you then turn towards your little cousin. "Call your mom and dad. They need to be here."

"Okay."

Stumbling towards the boys, you shout, "Stop. Guys, stop!" Alex is quick to come to your side, tucking you under his arm. "Luke!" You then yell.

With his hand fisted in a completely dazed Jerry's shirt, he stops mid-swing and glances at you. "Please stop. Flynn is calling the cops. You can stop now."

He's got a split lip and his body is still taut with anger, but upon seeing your expression he's quick to let Jerry go. Jerry stumbles as he regains his stability, but then Willie is there to make sure he goes nowhere.

As Luke stops right in front of you, he gently cups your face in his hands and his anguished expression makes your heart break. "He hit you."

"I know," you frown, "and he's going to pay for it."

You close your eyes as Luke presses his lips to your forehead, his lips lingering there as he mumbles apology after apology.

"How cute," Jerry chuckles darkly.

"Laugh it up now, asshole," Flynn says. "The cops are on the way."

You and Luke separate just as Jerry spits out a glob of blood, sneering at Luke. "You might have her now, Lukie boy, but how does it feel to know I had her first?"

Luke tries to lunge, but Alex is quick to catch him. Instead you stumble forward, gaze never leaving Jerry's. "Don't look so smug, Jer. You're the pretend soulmate who only had me for not even a fraction of your lifetime. But Luke? Luke gets me over and over and over for the rest of his life." Jerry's expression falters, but before he can think to hit you again it's you who forms a fist and hits him square between the eyes.

"Fuck," he grits out, stumbling into Willie.

"FUCK!" You shout, pain instantly blossoming in your hand. Not even shaking it out helps.

"Hey. Hey, let me see."

"Don't touch it!" You scream at Luke.

He chuckles as he gently grabs a hold of your wrist, running his fingers softly over your knuckles. "I think you might have broken it."

"Worth it."

Jerry tries to struggle some more in order to get away, but Willie and Reggie do a good job of keeping him in place. And if they had failed, he wouldn't have gotten far because Nick and his band of jocks had appeared out of the dark after being led over by Carrie.

Rose and Ray appear first, Ray immediately getting the story from the boys while Rose fusses over you and your bruised face. Then the second red and blue lights start flashing, the crowd disperses and leaves your original group alone with Jerry.

Immediately Jerry tries to spin the tale that your boys jumped him, but fortunately for you Officer Diaz and her partner are the ones taking your statement. They grab yours first and upon seeing your face they take a picture of it to put on file. You ask them about what's going to happen to Luke and Willie for defending you when Jerry attacked, and they unfortunately tell you that they might actually be taken in since they threw the first punch against him.

After a few more statements are taken, Luke and Willie are surprisingly let go with a warning. Turns out Luke hadn't thrown the first punch, he just pushed Jerry away from you, and Jerry went on the attack first. Luke's assault was categorized as self defense and Willie smartly kept his knuckles hidden while mentioning he was only standing by trying to separate the brawling boys. Officiate Diaz and her partner obviously knew it was a load of shit, but they wanted to get Jerry off the streets more than they wanted to arrest Willie for defending his friend.

Then once Jerry is taken away, Ray suggests you all call it a night. He helps put the fire out while Rose helps everyone else load up Willie's van, and then they mention they'll meet you at home. On the way there, Luke calls his parents to let them know what happened and that he'd be back home the following evening in time for school. You can hear his mom express her concern for you and her hopes that you feel better soon, and then she goes on to tell him that she loves him and that she's sorry for their argument. Luke chokes up while he's on the phone, but thankfully everyone else attempts to make small talk to give him a semblance of privacy.

Willie drops off you, Luke, and Julie first, and you apologize for ruining the night.

"Are you kidding me?" Reggie scoffs. "Tonight was wicked fun! You're lucky you already found your soulmate because that punch was hot."

Luke chuckles. "You're an idiot, Reg."

You glance at Willie and he beams at you. "Don't even sweat it. Tonight was totally fun, brawl included. I just hope the charges stick and that jerk doesn't bother you anymore."

"You and me both," you muse. "Now go on. Get out of here and let Alex kiss your knuckles all better."

Alex groans as his soulmate laughs, and the three of you wave at the van as it disappears down the road.

Then as you're walking up the sidewalk leading to the porch, Julie says, "I love you guys, but can we please never get into a public altercation ever again?"

You laugh as you swat at her, only to hiss in pain when you hit her with your injured hand. "Goddamn it that hurt. I think the adrenaline finally faded," you say as you cradle your hand to your chest.

Luke wraps his arm around your shoulders, tucking you into his side. "We'll have Rose check it out and if she thinks you need a doctor, we'll head down to the ER."

"I'm gonna need a cast, I just know it," you mumble.

As the three of you come to a stop on the porch, Julie turns towards you and says, "Maybe next time you'll think about throwing a punch before you actually know how to throw a punch. You're not supposed to tuck your thumb in."

"Yeah? Well maybe you should let me practice on your face!"

"Okay!" Luke laughs, pulling you a step back from a now laughing Julie. "A Y/N in pain is a mean Y/N. Duly noted."

You glare at Julie a little longer before your façade cracks and then you whine as you lean into Luke once more. "Will you hold my hand in the ER?"

"Sure thing, babe. Ready to have Ray and Rose yell at us before they realize your hand might be broken and need medical attention?"

"Nope, but we gotta go inside sometime."

"Together?"

"Together."

"Ugh," Julie scoffs. "You guys are too adorable for your own good."

[jjackrabbitt]

That Damned AU

Hey guys (gn), I know you’ve heard me talk about this before, but I’ve actually been working on it now, so here’s part of it. It’s called That Damned AU because it’s been waking me up in the middle of the night to think about it for the last two years, so it’s just me damning it. I will probably change the name at some point. If you have any suggestions, I will gladly consider them. Basically, That Damned AU follows the events of the canonical story line of MPHFPC, but I’ve changed some things around, messed with some details, and added a few things. Mostly to fix or add to things that I have complaints about or wanted to hear more of. I will be tagging it as That Damned AU in case you want to block it

Before we begin I would like to thank @finn-nito for letting me talk his ear off about all this and in turn talking my ear off. It’s been a lot of fun doing this with you and getting to know you.

Now for the damned thing:

Ricky actually goes into the house with Jacob when Abe doesn’t immediately answer. Probably makes dumb comments about the decor or some thing. Goes back to his car for the gun when they see the screen door. Tells Jacob to stay there. Rushes back when he hears Jacob yell for Abe when the flashlight is found. Catches up to Jacob just on the edge of the woods and gives him shit for moving. Tries to lighten the mood and reassure Jacob, until they see the trail of blood. Is there with Jacob when he finds Abe. Ricky tries to keep Jacob from touching Abe because he thinks Abe is already dead. Both of them handle the situation Extremely Badly. We actually hear Abe call Jacob “little tiger” this time instead of just retconning it. Ricky alternates between trying to get enough signal to call the police and crouching with Jacob to try and help him. Abe’s riddle is delivered the same as before and Jacob does see the hallowghast. Ricky tries to shoot it but can’t because he doesn’t even know it’s there. When Jacob sees it he does grab onto Ricky and start shaking him with one hand, still holding onto Abe with the other.

Both boys have to be questioned, together and separately. Jacob sees Ricky’s interview because he gets a chance to snoop through the policeman's notes. He gets mad that Ricky wouldn’t admit to seeing the hallow and Ricky gets defensive about it. They don’t stop talking though because they mutually think the other is having a stress reaction and is seeing things/is erasing things from their own memories.

Jacobs parents didn’t really like Ricky before and they really don’t like him now because they think having him around will remind Jacob of finding Abe, but Jacob almost seems less stressed when Ricky’s around so they’ll allow it.

They don’t necessarily see each other more, but their interactions are way more emotionally charged now.

Ricky does start carrying his gun more because while he didn’t see the hallow, that was a scary night and he did hear something. He brings it into Jacobs house several times without Jacobs parents knowledge. This is a point of contention between Ricky and Jacob because if Jacobs parents find out Ricky will not be allowed back and will be cut off.

Because Ricky is still very much attached to Jacob when he starts seeing Dr. Golan this time, Ricky is in more danger of wights.

Dr. Golan hears a lot about Ricky. Probably significantly more than he wants to.

Ricky doesn’t get the medical attention that Jacob does because he’s poor and when Jacob knows Ricky’s having a problem he asks Dr. Golan for advice for Ricky.

Jacob is more resistant to Dr Golan’s work this time, because Ricky is there to call bullshit when he hears it and mentions that Jacob's meds are making him weird. Golan responds to this resistance by trying to convince Jacobs parents that Ricky is bad for Jacob. It does work but both of his parents are fairly shit at computers and they both have to sleep some time, so Jacob can still message Ricky and sneak out at night.

Ricky does appreciate when Jacob gets advice from Dr. Golan for him, but he does still give Jacob shit for therapizing him.

Both of them are being observed by wights at this point. Jacob gets a series of very weird food delivery guys and there’s like, three different cars that consistently follow Ricky. The food delivery guys aren’t outright weird, they just have the same ~*vibe*~ as Golan and some times they say strange shit. One of them knew his name without Jacob introducing himself.

The cars wouldn’t be weird if they weren’t definitely the same cars, didn’t only stop following Ricky when he A) was near his house or B) took random turns without signalling, and didn’t seem to follow any particular pattern to where he was seeing them. If they were in a similar area at similar times every day then okay, he just keeps seeing the same people on their way to work or whatever, but that’s not what’s happening.

Not much comes of it though. Jacob gets a few weird stomach aches, Ricky gets pulled over by a really strange cop once. Some one breaks into Ricky’s house while no one’s there and goes through stuff but doesn’t take anything or make a mess, the door’s open and a few things have moved when he gets home. You know, normal stuff.

Once, Jacobs parents go out of town. One of his mothers cousins is getting married, and they just aren’t sure that Jacob’s ready for travel and relatives and a party and everything. They don’t want to leave him for the weekend, but they both agree that he’s been doing really well lately (and it’s been months. They want to get out of the house and do Normal People Things). They tell Dr. Golan that Jacob’s going to be alone for the weekend and tell Jacob to go across the street to their neighbour for help if anything happens and they give the neighbour Dr. Golan’s number.

Roughly ten minutes after they leave, Ricky shows up. The Crown Vic goes in the garage, Alien is turned on, Chinese food is ordered and the weekend commences.

They barely even watch the movie, they’re busy talking. They fall asleep on the couch and honestly? It’s the best sleep Jacob has in months.

Until it’s about 4 a.m. and Jacob wakes up violently because this time the scene in his dream changed. This time he and Abe are in Abaton. He doesn’t know it’s Abaton, of course, and though the events of the dream have change, this one feels worse some how. Now he’s missing his grandfather and this place that he doesn’t even know what it is. He feels weirdly protective of it.

Dr. Golan Really doesn’t like Ricky. It’s significantly harder to manipulate Jacob if Ricky’s there to call bullshit. It’s still pretty easy to get Jacob to go to Cairnholm though. Even Ricky doesn’t call him a quack over it. Only tells Jacob to send him a post card of the only place on earth that’s more of a nowhere than Englewood, Florida.

Jacob does have some apprehension over being separated from Ricky, but he figures it’ll be okay since there will be a phone at their hotel.

They do spend a lot little more together than usual in the weeks leading up to Cairnholm. It worries both of them that they’ll be more than a 20 minute drive from the other. Jacob’s more obvious about it, Ricky (poorly) pretends it won’t bother him that much.

Jacob does bring one of his dads less favoured cameras with him, to take pictures.

His dad does try to insist that Jacob spends some time with him to look at birds. It’s funny, they keep seeing this one peregrine hanging around. Some times she, Frank says it’s a she, flies over them. She doesn’t seem too interested in hunting. Some times she disappears for a little while, but she comes back most of the time, unless it’s later in the day.

Kev and Martin are dating. I know it says in the book that Kev has a wife but no he doesn’t ❤️. Kev and Martin are dating and in love and very little will convince me otherwise. Everyone on Cairnholm is completely chill with it. They have dinner with Martins uncle on Wednesdays. Kev tried to take Martin fishing once and it went terrible but it was fun.

Jacob meets Martin on the first day, at the Priest Hole. He’s done at the museum for the day and is getting a drink with his sister and working on his poetry. He and his sister are harassing Kev while he’s on the job. They meet because Martins sister, Amelia, sees Frank and Jacob lugging more than they can carry up the stairs and makes Martin come with her to help.

Amelia is one of the very, very few ocs you’ll see in here, I’m not here to add a bunch of people. She’s here because I don’t want Martin to be lonely, as a plot device to make things move forward, and because I think we  should have more women. Yes MPHFPC already has a good amount of active women characters, yes I want more.

They start talking because both Martin and Amelia are huge nerds who would be excited about bird watching. When Martin mentions the museum, Jacob gets interested, as before he thinks it will help him unravel his grandfathers riddle. That’s it for now, but I will try to update again soon, though it probably won’t be as long. if any of you have any ideas or opinions to add, I’d love to hear them!