#ensure that mike and I are in a BAD place

[gayofthefae]

Thinking about how El knew that the Will, Jonathan, and Mike would be debriefed on the fact that she was going to get her powers back. So the only function of her letter personally to Mike was to reference their talk (superhero) and sign it “From” 

[chaniceroses]

Bad Boys Ride or Die (ARMANDO X READER) PART TEN

The ride back was extremely awkward, Kelly and Dorn never said a word since Armando was with us and Marcus and Mike debated about old things. You eventually made it to Kelly’s home, got out of the car and started walking towards it, when you noticed Kelly pointing her finger back while side-eyeing Armando. So you turned to look at him, to see him not paying attention.

“All of you can come in, except him.”, Kelly said walking into her place. You looked back at him and watched as he shrugged.

“Armando, just wait here and let us talk to her.”, you added, following Marcus, Mike and Dorn and shutting the door. 

You watched as Kelly was now pacing around, you could tell she was uncomfortable with the idea of Armando being in her home. So you scanned around, trying to allow your eyes to catch something so that you could change the subject. That’s when you noticed boxers and underwear near the couch. You thought she lived alone.

“You stay here by yourself?”you asked, pointing over to the underwear that was on the ground

Kelly and Dorn gave each other a slight look….you got them.

“We’re just friends..I mean, we’re seeing each other, you know…”, Kelly responded, trying to come up with an answer.

“We didn’t want our relationship to interfere with work, that’s why we’ve been keeping it a secret.”, Dorn explained, looking at Kelly and then at you.

Mike and Marcus looked at them with a shocked expression and then threw their hands up.

“Armando has to be with us everywhere we go, he’ll be the one to help us. Him and y/n”, Mike continued walking up to Kelly. You watched as Kelly argued back, and continued to be against it. This was going to be harder than you thought.

ARMANDO POV

I stood outside on the porch and watched the waves hit the sand. They had me waiting outside, just because people were in their feelings about me. I could hear Mike and y/n trying to convince them to let me in. I don’t need permission from anybody to do anything. So I went inside and shut her door.

They all were so busy, debating with each other that they didn’t even notice that I had walked in. Until Kelly shifted her eyes over to me. That’s when she walked up on me, pulling out her gun. I looked at her and then at the weapon that was now pointing at me.

“Well this isn’t necessary.”, I whispered, looking over at Mike and y/n.

“Chill Kelly.”, Marcus sighed.

“Kelly, I know you’re upset but he’s not going to do anything, right Armando?”Mike asked, looking over at me. He had his lips pursed out, telling me that I had no choice.

I examined Kelly and what she was wearing. A t-shirt that looked way too big for her, however, she did look fine in it. I shifted my eyes to everyone that was now staring at me, waiting for a response. Even y/n.

“Sure”, I sarcastically smiled, walking away. I kept my distance from the group to ensure that another gun wouldn’t be pulled out on me, when I noticed underwear laying on the floor. I looked up to see how close Kelly and Dorn were, they’re with each other. I watched as Kelly talked about not wanting me in her home and what I did to Howard…Same ol’, Same ol’. Until the perfect opportunity for me to create an argument between y/n and I popped up and I wasn’t going to allow myself to miss out on it.

Y/N POV

You watched as Dorn tried to calm Kelly's nerves down about Armando being in her home. She was against it but after what felt like forever of convincing, she finally agreed.

“I’ll let him stay but I’m watching you.”, she sighed, looking over at Armando.

“I want you too.”Armando responded, sitting down on a stool against the wall.

 You, Kelly, Marcus, Dorn and Mike were flabbergasted. You couldn’t help but to turn your head and look at him. What the hell did he mean he “wanted her” to?

“Look..guys he’s just kidding.”, you laughed, trying to ignore what was just said

“Armando…”, Marcus scoffed, walking towards him. You watched as he threw his hands up as a sign of “surrender” and looked at you. You turned your head to avoid eye-contact.

“Kelly, are you okay…we need you guys help. We’re a team.”, Mike continued, looking at Kelly and Dorn.

“Yeah, I am. I’m fine, okay.”, Kelly sighed, leaning into Dorn’s chest.

“Yes you are.”, Armando flirted, getting up and walking towards the group.

“Yo, what the fuck is your problem?”, Dorn questioned, turning around to face him

“Armando….”

“Seriously.” you scoffed. You were jealous at this point, you and Armando just kissed not even thirty minutes ago and he’s flirting with Kelly now. You were livid.

“Look, can we focus!”Mike yelled, while looking at everyone in the room.

“We need to figure out where McGrath is, so everyone go to the van.”Mike instructed, pointing towards the door.

You looked at Armando disgustingly and then walked outside, you could hear Marcus talking about how mad you were but you didn’t care. Who the fuck did Armando think he was? You went to sit on the porch, allowing the others to walk to the van and figure shit out themselves.

“Y/n you’re not coming?”, Armando asked, sarcastically. You remained silent, and stared as he allowed Mike, Marcus and Dorn to get on the van. 

“You can go…”, Kelly demanded, pointing inside.

“Ladies first, i’m a gentleman…”, Armando smirked, intensely staring at Kelly.

You watched as Kelly stepped onto the small stairs and went inside, when Armando gave her a fake air butt slap. Now you could feel your blood boiling, while you were shaking your legs. Until you allowed yourself to think….Breathe

“In and out,  In…out.”, you whispered, looking out into the ocean. That’s when you realized he was trying to make you jealous. To be upset and to drool over him. You knew a man with an ego like Armando, they love women over them so you quickly thought of something.

“Well, he’s always looking at me, especially when I’m talking to Mike or other men in general.”, You whispered. You looked down to see that you were still wearing the flannel from earlier. However your legs were covered. So you found yourself looking at the ocean, your top and then your jeans, repeatedly.  That’s when it hit you, you knew exactly how to beat Armando at his own game.

ARMANDO’S POV

I was inside the van, sitting against the chair that was up against the wall. Marcus, and Mike were talking to Dorn and Kelly, to help them search through Howard’s files to see if we could get anything that would lead us to McGrath. Y/n and McGrath. Y/n and McGrath. I couldn’t help but to repeat that in my head, how did he pull someone like y/n. Have to be a pervert because she’s young, around my age, so imagine back when…..nevermind.

I was so caught up into thinking about what McGrath and y/n relationship may have been like, that I didn’t even notice the van door being opened. It was y/n and she was wet. Why the hell was she wet? “Happy to see you…joining us.”, Mike whispered, looking at y/n and then down at her legs and then back at the computer.

When the hell did she take off her jeans and why were they dripping water.

“Yeah, I figured you guys would need my help?”, she smiled, walking over to Mike.

“What the hell were you doing y/n? Going for a swim?”Marcus laughed, looking down at her. I watched as Dorn slightly shifted his head down to her legs and then at me.

“No, I felt my body overheating a little bit so I decided to go to the water and wet myself a little bit, since that’s the only thing that knows how to get the job done.”, she smiled, keeping her focus on Marcus.

I watched as Marcus looked at me, then at y/n and laughed. He knew exactly what was going on.

“Armando, baby…you wouldn’t mind me sitting across from you. Just until we find what we’re looking for.”, she continued walking over. Baby, when the hell did she start calling me baby? I remained silent but couldn’t help but to observe her legs, the way the water glided down it slowly, while her skin was smooth and as silky as brown silk. She was turning me on and she knew it.

I looked up at Mike to see him slightly laughing, I didn’t find it funny at all. I could feel hot tension slowly crawling up my back while I tried to avoid y/n presence. This was going to be hard.

Y/N POV

You knew you had him, you made sure to walk over to the chair that was across from him a certain way and to throw enough water on you so that it would keep you soaked. You sat down and watched as he kept his head turnt from you. You began to act oblivious, just to stir up a conversation.

“So..Armando, how was your day?”, you asked, messing with your hair. You made sure it stayed wet, that way if you wanted to take it down and coil it, you could. You watched as he adjusted himself on the stool and turned to look at you.

“What do you mean?”, he answered, giving you a slight look and then turning back towards Mike and the rest of the group. You could see him tapping his foot, probably hoping that something will be brought up.

“You don’t mind, do you? I’m still sweating and it’s hot in this van.”. You flirted, unbuttoning the top part of your flannel that will be revealing a little bit of your cleavage. You could feel water running down it, and you know that it would be perfect to catch Armando’s attention.  And you were right, he was watching you like a hawk. So you scooted up in the chair that you were sitting in, leaned your head against the wall and slightly departed your legs open, not enough for him to see anything but just enough for him to imagine.

ARMANDO’S POV

I hate her. I hate her for the way she’s teasing and I hate her for the fact that she was beating me at my own games. I watched as she took a deep sigh and adjusted her hips forward. Her thighs were showing and her legs were slightly separating. I was turned on, and I could feel my bestfriend knocking to be exposed. However, this wasn’t the place. I needed to get y/n alone, to have her all to myself.

“Armando, you never answered my—”, before she could finish her sentence, Mike yelled at us to come see whatever was happening on the screens. 

I got up to walk over to y/n as soon as I saw her stand but she ignored me and ran towards the group. Clever move. Walking over, I could see an extreme and intense look on everyone’s faces. What the hell is going on?

“ BEHIND YOU REGGIE!!”, Marcus yelled, pointing at the screen. I turned to see a tall, black guy with barely hair and a mustache fighting off guys that were in a kitchen.

“What’s going on?”I asked, looking at each screen that was in front of me.

“McGrath’s people.”, y/n replied, folding her arms. I looked down to see her breasts pushed up together. Could it be a push-up bra? Or maybe it's the way she has her arms folded? I must’ve been staring too long because she noticed and started buttoning up the shirt that she was wearing. Damn.

We all watched intently as Reggie fought each person. One moment it was him and one person and then the next minute, it was five. By the time he was finished, the house was smoking and two women were running out the door, while Reggie soluted the camera and then followed. Had to be Marcus’s family.

“Wait, how did he know that camera was there?”Marcus asked, looking around.

I watched as Mike stood there for a second, as if he was in deep thought and hurriedly ran out the van. The rest of us looked at each other and then followed after him. 

“Mike what is?”, Dorn asked, shutting the van door.

He didn’t respond, he just pulled out a phone, punched something in and threw it up to his ear. We all just stood there confusingly and watched Mike as he kept trying to call the same number, over and over again.

“Damn it, she’s not answering.”, he sighed, looking up at y/n. I turned to look at her and watched as she looked at me back, she was worried.

“Who is he trying to call?”I was curious about why he was panicking.

“His wife, Christine.”, y/n answered looking at me and then back at Mike. We watched as he took a couple steps away from us, and called again. This time he was successful.

“Christine…baby, you need to leave…No, don’t worry about…who’s there? Shit.”, he stuttered looking over at us.

“Judy’s daughter, Callie is there.”, he sighed looking at Marcus.

“Take her and leave, some bad people may be heading your way, Christine…hello?”Mike continued. I watched as he tried to talk to his wife, he must’ve not been getting through to her. Maybe a bad connection? 

“The phone line was disconnected.”

  That’s when he quickly received a notification, it was a video. We couldn’t see what was going on but we could hear everything. McGrath and his men had Judy’s daughter, Callie and Christine. And he wanted us to transfer all of the smuggled money from Howard’s files to his, and give ourselves up for Callie and Christine.

“He didn’t give us a location…how can we find them??”, y/n asked, looking at Kelly and Dorn.

“I don’t know, we will need to use that phone so we can see if we can track him down that way.”, Kelly replied, reaching her hand towards Mike. I watched as Mike passed the phone to her.

“We can try to find them tonight, He’ll kill them if we don’t.”, Mike continued looking at all of us.

“I’m sorry Mike but you won’t find him. He’ll probably take them to a whole new location. Give Kelly and I time to go through the phone and the files to find something that will help us.”, Dorn explained.

“How long will that be?”

“Could be all night…”, Dorn replied.

“They’ll be dead by then!”Mike yelled, walking towards the shore. We watched as Marcus went after him, while y/n, Dorn, Kelly and I stayed back. He was hurt and I would be too if the woman I was married to was taken from me.

“Can you guys give us a second?”, y/n asked, turning towards Dorn and Kelly. They responded with a nod and then headed back inside.

“Armando, McGrath isn’t going to kill them.”, y/n said looking at me.

“And how do you know that?”

I was lost on how she could be so sure about him. Yeah she knew him but when it comes to holding people hostages, you treat them like rags. You never keep them for a long time and at some point you trash them.

“Because…if McGrath wanted to kill them, he would’ve done it. He never waits.”, she explained looking at me. I knew that she had a point, so I just shook my head in agreement.

“I believe the best thing for us to do right now, is to go to a hotel and rest just a little bit. Just so we can have some kind of energy for when the time comes to meet up with him. Because I’m sure it won’t be pretty.”, she explained, putting her hands on her hips.

“I agree, we should go tell him…well you should.”, I replied, turning my attention towards Marcus and Mike. They were hugging. Mike's shoulders were slumped, showing a sign of defeat.

“Well c’mon then.”, she smiled walking towards Marcus and Mike.

We weren’t too far away from Marcus and Mike, so by the time we started walking up to Mike. He was already heading back towards us.

“Mike…you don’t have anything to worry about. McGrath won’t kill them, he’s just using them until we come to him and bring Howard’s files. I promise you that…Armando and I won’t allow anything to happen to them.”, y/n promised, looking at Mike and then at me.

“Yeah.”, I responded. I allowed y/n to lead this time, trusting that she knew what she was talking about.

And if I’m being honest, this probably won’t be the last time she’ll lead. I love when she becomes dominant and takes control.

“ He’s after all of us but now we have two innocent people involved, so we all need to be focused and have a clear mind. I suggest we go to a hotel, we don’t have to stay there the whole time but just until Dorn and Kelly send us info about McGrath and where he may be located. This will allow us to clean up and get some type of rest before we go after him.”, she explained.

I watched as Mike had a face of disapproval until Marcus softly touched him on the shoulder and told him that it was for the best. Which it was, I am going to use this time to absolutely fuck the shit out of y/n and she doesn’t even know it.

Y/N POV

You could tell that Mike didn’t want to follow through with what you suggested, however thankfully Marcus was there to back you up. So the four of you headed back to Kelly’s house and explained the plans that you had for the rest of the night. It was late and you were tired so as soon as Kelly and Dorn offered to give you guys a bag filled with materials that you’ll need for tomorrow and to drop you off. You made sure that you and Armando were the first ones out of her home, that way Mike wouldn’t change his mind last minute.

The group decided to not pick a hotel that was too far, that way Dorn and Kelly would be able to automatically pick you guys up. Walking in you were met by the aroma of the smell of roses, it had to be the kind of air-freshener that was used. You allowed the boys to walk up to the counter and deal with the pay of the rooms, while you sat on the lounging chairs and listened.

“Oh shit, Mike Lowry and Marcus Burnett do you guys remember me, Jojo!!!!?”, the guy at the counter excitedly yelled. You watched as Mike and Marcus threw their heads around and scanned the area, probably making sure no one heard him say their names. Armando looked back at you and  pointed at the guy. You shrugged your shoulders in response.

“Hey Jojo, I know that it’s been forever and we would love to talk but we’re busy and tired so can you get us a room”, Mike sighed, smiling at him and then pointing at the group. 

“You four are together?”

“Yeah.”, Marcus replied, leaning his body against the counter.

“You…four..together..For real?”, he repeated, shockingly. At first you were confused on why he was acting that way but then the longer you stared at Marcus, Mike and Armando…the more you realized what it looked like. Hell the only thing you were wearing was the oversized flannel t-shirt that Mike gave you earlier.

So you decided to get up and tease Armando some more, the way you did earlier. Unbuttoning the top of your buttoned shirt, you walked over to the counter and softly pushed Armando, Mike and Marcus out the way. Allowing them to form a circle around you, while you stayed in the middle.

“You’re cute…what’s your name?”, you smirked, tilting your head slowly to the side.

“My….My…My name? Uh damn..what’s my name?”, he stuttered, slapping his head.

“Jojo…can you get our rooms or not?”, Marcus interrupted.

“Hey, don’t do that  baby, he can probably come and have fun with us.”, you flirted, turning around to Armando, Marcus and Mike. You could help but to laugh on the inside. The way they were trying to read you and figure out what the hell you were doing.

“Watch and pay attention.”, you whispered looking at Armando and then walking past him. He was livid, he tried grabbing your arm to stop you but you gently rejected him.

“Jojo is your name, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Well..Jojo, are you free tonight?”, you smirked, walking around the corner to where he was.

“Because I am…and they are too. Maybe you can join us and..I don’t know…make it..five…”, you continued, now standing in front of him. You could see his heart drop as excitement poured over his face. You grabbed the tie that he was wearing and pulled him close to you. He was now sweating.

“Um…One room…you said?”, he stuttered, examining your chest that was now exposed.

“Actually..papi, make it two, I want my own room…”

“Three....I’m not sharing a room with them, they act like children.”Armando interrupted, leaning against the counter. He was watching intensely and you knew what you were doing was bothering him.

“Can you make it three then, please Jojo.”, you begged, seductively staring into his eyes.

“At this point, give us the damn rooms for free Jojo and fix yourself.”, Marcus sighed, frustratedly.

“Yeah Jojo, you should and you should also stop by my room later, when you’re free.”, you flirted, letting go and leaving from behind the counter. You walked back towards the boys to be met by Marcus and Mike staring at you with a “girl-are-you-crazy-” look, while Armando ignored you.

“Yeah, I can most definitely give it to you guys for free tonight….Of course not because…you know..but.. You know…I know you Mike, that’s why.”, he stuttered, frantically pacing around to find the keys.

You pointed towards the row of keys that were hanging on the wall and watched as he grabbed three of them and passed them out to Mike, Armando and then you.

The four of you grabbed the keys and then walked over to the elevator and watched as Jojo followed. Mike was the first to get on, then soon the rest of you followed.

“Were you being serious?”, Jojo asked, as the elevator began to shut.

“So serious..”, you smiled, waving at him. You kept your smile as the elevator doors were slowly shutting and watched as Jojo walked back to the counter.

As soon as the doors closed, you stopped smiling and walked over towards the walls of the elevator. You threw your head back against it and started buttoning up your shirt. You felt that the room was too silent so you looked up to see Marcus, Mike and Armando looking at you.

“What?”, you asked confusingly. You knew exactly why they were looking at you but you decided to act oblivious.

“Shit nothing, that was crazy.”, Marcus laughed, walking up to you to give you dap. You returned the favor and couldn’t help but to laugh about it.

“Very much so, never thought that you would do something like that..ever.”, Mike giggled, caressing his mustache.

You turned your attention towards Armando to see him leaning against the wall while trying not to look at you. He was clenching and unclenching his jaw, causing his temples to show. While the tip of his foot was tapping against the floor.

“I mean…Armando that shit was crazy, like seriously. The way Jojo freezed when she walked up to him. He was stuttering, BAD…i’ve never seen that happen before. You did that y/n.”, Marcus smiled, while clapping his hands.

“It was bullshit!!! That was bullshit, what the fuck were you doing y/n!?”, Armando yelled, now looking at you. His eyes looked as if they were black and the veins in his throat were slowly making an appearance. 

“Ah shit.”, Mike whispered, scooting closer towards Marcus. Leaving room between you and Armando.

You looked at him and turned your focus towards the numbers that were lighting up. Your hall was coming up.

“I was just helping Marcus and Mike out, Armando…so they wouldn’t have to pay anything. And it worked.”, you explained, keeping your attention on the doors.

“She’s not lying, Armando…it worked.”Marcus supported. Mike shrugged his shoulders in agreement and then threw his hands up as a peace offering once he noticed how mad Armando was.

After what felt like forever, the doors finally opened. Allowing you, Marcus, Mike and Armando to leave. Your rooms were at the end of the hallway, next to each other. You walked up to your room and put your key through the knob, after a couple twists and turns the door finally opened and you were greeted by the  crisp, freezing temperatures of the room.

You turned around to shut it, when you noticed Armando walking into his room and then slamming the door. You won and you knew you did. It felt good to shatter his pride and to beat him at his own games. He started it and you finally finished it. Shutting the door, you ran over to your nice, fluffed out bed and threw yourself on top of it and laid there. It felt like you were being hugged by one big cloud, while you were in Antartica. You were so focused on laying down that you didn’t realize the open balcony, so you got up and walked over to it and glanced at the night sky. You were in love with the view that you had. The bright lights lit up Miami, while the ocean shore danced around freely with each other. 

You stood there for a couple minutes, then decided to go and hop in the shower since it was late. About twenty minutes passed by and you were finally out of the shower. Grabbing a towel and wrapping it around your body, you walked over to the blow-dryer that was in your bathroom and started drying your hair. When you heard a knock on your door. 

“HOLD ON!!”, you yelled, setting the dryer down while looking at yourself in the mirror. Your hair had shrunk from it being wet and you didn’t want to open the door with your hair looking the way it did, so you decided to grab another towel and wrap it.

Turning off the lights and walking over to the door, you took a quick glance at the clock that was on the nightstand and looked at the time.

“It’s one in the morning, who the hell is it?!”, you asked, walking up to the door and looking through the peephole. It was Armando. He was wearing nothing but pants with his boxers slightly showing. You could see water slightly dripping down his neck from his hair. He had just gotten out of the shower.

“Fuck.”, you whispered, running back towards your bed and then slowly walking back towards the door. 

“Jojo, baby..I’m coming. Just hold on.”, you continued, softening your tone. You stood there and waited a couple seconds and then opened the door, making sure that you had your head turned towards the balcony to act shocked to see Armando.

“Jojo, I have the balcony curtains open, so that everyone can see us..”, you flirted, opening the door and then turning to see Armando leaning against the door frame with one arm up to support his weight.

“Oh…you’re not Jojo.”, you sighed, disappointedly, walking back towards your bed. You were playing with Armando and he knew that you were. You could hear the door shutting and then steps creeping up behind you. Before you knew it, Armando aggressively turned you around and pulled you closer to him.

He was towering over you. His eyes were filled with fire, passion, and lust. You didn’t know where he was, but you knew that he wasn’t in the room with you at the moment. You watched as he leaned his head down and gave you a slight peck on the lips. A peck of permission, trying to see if you would allow him to continue on with what he wanted to do to you. So you answered, grabbing his face and kissing him as passionately as you could. You wrapped your arms around his neck as he wrapped his arms around your waist. You could feel his tongue exploring the inside of your mouth, so you explored his. Allowing  the both of you to fight for dominance, to see who would lead.

He won… you could feel his hands start to rub on your ass, when he patted it. Signaling you to jump, so you did.

 ARMANDO POV

I wanted to be inside of her, to hear her moan, cry and to be all over me. I needed her. Bad. So while we made out, I gently patted her round, firm big ass that she carries and signaled for her to jump. And when she jumped, we never allowed our kiss to break contact. Keeping it close and allowing it to get as juicy as it could. I held her butt underneath my hands and carried her to her bed. Throwing her onto the clean bed that was now about to become dirty. I watched as she kept her towel wrapped around her body and scooted towards the end of the bed.

She turned her focus towards the door and looked back at me.

“What if someone walks in?”, she asked, leaning back, allowing her forearms to support her body weight.

“Then we put on a show.”, I smirked, slowly unzipping my pants, wanting to see her become impatient.

Once I finished unzipping and unbuttoning my pants, I pulled them down along with my boxers, allowing my member to be exposed. I watched as her face went from being extremely passionate to now being slightly worried.

“Damn…Armando.”, she whispered, looking up at me.

“Big shoes..”, I smirked, climbing on top of her.

“I don’t know..I don’t think I can—”

“I’ll be gentle, I promise. We can start off slow and build up to it. You’re in control.”, I reassured, now hovering over her as she laid down. She shook her head, yes, and then allowed me to start kissing her again. I was ready.

Y/N POV

You were terrified. Never having someone that big inside of you before. He had everything, the length and the width. You felt blessed knowing that it was now yours however scared because it had been a minute since you’ve last had sex. Although, you knew that you were ready. You wanted him inside of you, to hear him beg, moan and whimper. To see him damn near cry. You wanted it all, so you started kissing him and biting him on his neck.

You could feel your towel that was once covering your body now exposing it so you grabbed it, trying to wrap it over you again.

“You’re beautiful, I don’t care about your scars, stretch marks or rolls y/n. They’re normal.”, he whispered, looking you in the eyes. 

 You were hesitant, it has been a minute since you’ve been fully naked in front of a man so you weren’t sure how he would react. However, you trusted that Armando meant what he said, so you removed your towel. You could feel his hands opening up your legs while massaging the inside of your thighs. You were getting hot and could slowly feel your clit start to throb.

You closed your eyes and allowed Armando to explore your body, you were now experiencing your thoughts about Armando coming to life but you also wanted to savor the feeling. You could feel his fingers run across your womanhood, making your hips twitch forward towards him. You wanted more of it and he caught on. So he started gently and slowly rubbing your clit in a circular emotion while leaving kisses across your chest.

“Fuck Armando…”, you moaned, your eyes were now open and you were looking up at him.

“That feels good..doesn’t it.”, he smirked, shifting his body closer towards you. He was now pressing down on it and was  picking up in speed. You could feel your heart racing and ringing in your ears, you felt yourself about to cum when he suddenly stopped.

“Not yet….”, he whispered, stopping and getting on top of you. You took a deep breath and allowed yourself to exhale, it felt good and you knew there were more to come.

ARMANDO POV

I used one of my hands to allow her head to sit up on it. I wanted her head to have as much support as it needed so she wouldn’t get hurt.

“Open…your legs.”, I demanded, kissing her in between. I felt as she separated her legs and kept her feet on the bed. I made my way down to her breast, nibbling on them while leaving hickey’s across them. She was moaning and pushing her body towards me. She wanted more. I hovered back over her and stared into her eyes, I was worried myself. I want to leave her sore but I don’t want to cause her any pain either. I must’ve gotten so lost   into my thoughts because that’s when I felt one of her hands gently caressing my cheek.

“I want you inside of me.”

GREENLIGHT ARMANDO, GREENLIGHT!!!

We kept eye-contact the whole time, as I grabbed my dick and rubbed it against her clit. Up…down…up…down, I dragged it, allowing her to get as wet as she could before putting it inside her. Once I felt it was time, I softly guided my member inside the entrance of y/n pussy and started coming in and out of her slowly.

“Ugh..fuck y/n, you feel so good.”, I moaned, putting my head in the crook of her neck. I kept going, pumping in and out….in and out. Slowing down and then slightly picking up speed. Allowing her body to adjust to me being inside of her.

“Shit Armando, faster…”, she whimpered, grabbing my back. So I listened, picking up in speed, while allowing our moans and grunts to create music in the room. I was several pumps in when we heard a knock on the door. I looked up to see y/n with her eyes rolled to the back of her head, she didn’t hear it, so I kept going and started kissing her neck. Allowing my dick to get as deep as possible inside of her. That’s when I heard another knock, this time she heard it.

“Who..who is….fuck.”, she whispered, now scratching my back. Her nails were sharp and slightly dug into my skin, however I was enjoying the pain.

I started slowing down, so that I could lift my body up to pull her underneath me some more. I grabbed her legs and hinted for her to wrap her legs around me and then started kissing the side of her neck.  I was ready to go deeper.

“Baby..somebody is at the door for you.”, I teased kissing her on the side of her cheek, while picking up my pace. I wanted to hear her struggle to talk. So I started making my strokes longer and allowed my dick to drag out slow and then back in fast.

“Who…fuck, who is it?”, she moaned, squeezing her eyes shut.

“It’s me..JoJo, I brought you flowers.”, Jojo yelled from behind the door.

Perfect, I had a perfect time for her to let everyone know who she belonged to. That she was mine, I wanted to hear her say it. Loud and Proud.

“Are we together?”, I whispered into her ear, now going crazy inside of her. I could feel myself start to twitch while my heart jumped out of my chest. However, I wasn’t going to stop, not until she said it. Instead she kept whimpering and moaning, louder and louder each time I went inside her. So I turned her around and made her get on all fours. 

“You’ll say it, before we leave here…”, I laughed, pushing her back down and lining my dick towards her entrance. I pushed myself inside of her and listened as our moans conjoined together. I loved this shit, everything about it. So I pulled away and then pushed back in, while holding on to her hips. Allowing me to be in control.

Y/N POV

You were seeing stars. You could feel him inside of you and it made you feel good. Everytime you thought he would slow down from hitting it from the back, he would pick up speed.

“Say it.”, he moaned, now slamming into your body. You were stubborn. You wanted to see how long you could go with hearing him beg about you being his. So you allowed your whimpers to be your response. 

So he kept going, faster and faster but this time, you could feel his hand rubbing your clit. He was finding his rhythm and once he did, he mastered it. In and out, in and out while he rubbed on you.

“Y/n… are you mine?”he asked again, pulling your body up against his chest and now, slightly choking you. 

“FUCK ARMANDO!!!”, you yelled, putting his head between the crook of your neck and allowing him to kiss your shoulders.

“You feel so good y/n..”, he whined, still massaging your clit while pumping inside of you. 

You were slowly building up inside, you could feel it. The next stroke he does would be over for you, but you didn’t stop him. 

“Shit…say it.”, he grunted, roughly grabbing your body and hugging you closer to him. You could feel him twitching inside of you. He was about to cum.

“I’m yours Armando, baby, I’m yours.”, you moaned, you could feel your body begin to shake but he didn’t stop. 

“Good girl.”, he replied, still going until he released, which was soon after.

“Fuck y/n…te sientes tan bien, te sientes tan jodidamente bien….”, he repeated, massinging your breasts while leaving soft kisses across your back. You turned around to look at him, his eyes were closed and you looked down to see his dick still twitching. 

“Come here…”, you whispered, getting up off the bed. You watched as Armando stared at you confusingly until you pointed towards the balcony.

“Seriously?”, he smiled, wiping the sweat off his forehead while getting out of the bed. You observed Armando’s body as he walked over to you. His broad shoulders stuck out to you the most, and the way his muscles would always make an appearance over the smallest thing…it turned you on. 

“Sit down.”, you demanded pulling out the chair that was near the table. He sat down and opened his legs, watching you kneel down in front of him. His eyes were dark and he was watching your every move.

You grabbed his dick and allowed your tongue to meet it for the first time. Licking up the fluids from both his and yours body while slowly stroking it, up and down. You could feel him shift his hips so that he could be more comfortable in the chair. He was slowly moaning and had his head leaned backwards. He was relaxed so you licked the tip of it some more and started gradually sucking it. Allowing it to touch the different barriers of your mouth.

You could feel him slowly growing again back inside of you so you started sucking harder and then used your hands to gently twist. His moans were gradually getting louder and louder as you picked up speed. Bobbing your head up and down to allow him to get inside of your mouth some more. You took your focus off of his member and looked up to see him clenching the arms of his chairs, while tears streamed down his face. His eyes were closed, which means that he was deep in the moment, so you stopped. Which led to him opening his eyes and begging you to finish but you ignored him.

You climbed onto Armando while he helped you put your legs through the chair. Wrapping one of your arms around his neck while grabbing his dick to aim it under you. It took you a couple tries to find the entrance but once you did, you quickly slid down onto it  which led to you and Armando moaning in unison.

“FUCK Y/N.”, he grunted, grabbing your ass to try to take control.

“Not this time.”, you smirked, slapping his hands, and putting them back on the arms of the chair. You put your hands on top of his so that you could be dominant this time. You wanted to see him beg and cry for you to stop.

So you started bouncing up and down slowly, while moving your hips forward and backwards so that the both of you can feel it. To feel the both of you inside of each other, for the both of you to become one.

You were teasing him and he knew it, so you started to ride him faster each time he whimpered. The way you held his hands down so that he couldn’t grab you felt like a power move on your end. However, for him, not so much. Though it felt good to him, he felt like he was being sexually tortured. Not being able to grab you felt like a crime to him but all he could do was moan.

“You look so good while whimpering Armando…”, you teased, picking up speed. You could feel him try to snatch his hands away but you continued to hold it down while you rode him.

“Ugh..i’m sorry..please..”, he whimpered, trying to throw his hips upward towards you.

“No baby, it’s my turn…you’ve been bad, baby…..”

“Ha,,,fuck…”, he tried to laughbut could only throw his head back.

You took that as an opportunity and started kissing his exposed neck, leaving hickey’s across it. You could hear him mumbling in Spanish which encouraged you to go faster. So you did.

“Fuck Armando!! You feel so good, cum for me.”, you yelled, now bouncing up and down uncontrollably. You watched as tears were streaming down his cheeks again, as he continued to moan.

You decided to let go of his hands and allowed him to wrap them around your waist. You were both now chest to chest while he had his head buried into you, allowing you to ride even faster and to cover his head with your hands. When you both finally released, allowing the both of you to be covered with each other juices. You stopped riding and Armando started pumping the rest of his energy out into you. His accent sounded heavier and he was speaking in his native language. You couldn’t help but to admire the way he looked while he held onto you and mumbled to himself.

There was silence between the two of you afterwards, allowing the sound of nighttime Miami to surround the both of you guys. You leaned your head down to kiss him on his forehead then tried to get up, when he pulled you back down.

“What Armando?”, you laughed, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“Nothing..I just want you to sit here with me, that’s all.”, he smiled, looking at you and then leaning in for a kiss. You responded back and softly gave him a kiss on his lips. 

“I am yours now, Armando, and I mean it. I hope you feel the same way too.”, you whispered, looking at him. You could feel yourself start to blush; you were done with games. You knew that you wanted to be with Armando, and you were hoping that he still felt the same.

“I do y/n…I do… I belong to you."

[isa-ghost]

AU where Cucurucho can see through all the Fed workers'........ well they don't have eyes, but don't worry about it.

Do I even have to mention the angst potential between Tubbo and Fred? Or Walter Bob? Or any of the other workers we or the islanders actually got kinda emotionally invested in?

Something something eventually he can see through the islanders that work for/with the Federation's eyes too. Cellbit, Fit, Foolish.

Maybe also the ones that have pasts with or get too close to the Feds or Cucurucho himself. Bagi, Baghera, Jaiden.

And maybe also the ones the Feds have kidnapped and done things to. Phil, Felps, Pac, Mike, Roier.

Maybe the latter two groups aren't compromised yet, but Cucurucho certainly has aspirations to get to that point.

Once the islanders who aren't compromised are told about what's happening, paranoia explodes among the islanders. They start suspecting each other despite trying their best to keep trust strong. They start wondering if the eggs are being used too. Even SecurityCraft cameras start getting suspected.

This is the shit the Codes were trying to warn them about. They Know. They're the previous iteration of islanders.

It's Etoiles's time to shine. Granted, several candidates that were being considered eligible to join The Resistance are now compromised or Could Be compromised, but they can figure that out as they go.

He builds an underground meeting place in the spirit of Order Theoritas. He'd use The Order itself if it weren't for Cellbit being compromised and having full access to the hideout he built. This is the place he'll use to sort out what to do to stop Cucurucho, or at least to find a way to disconnect his eyes from the islanders. He calls it La Résistance Aveugle, which translates (perhaps incorrectly because Google Moment) to "The Blind Resistance."

He definitely finds a way to disconnect the eyes at some point, bringing the saved people under The Resistance's wing, letting them recover from it before recruiting them to help save the others.

At first The Resistance is made up of the other people who have been Touched by the Code. Charlie, Maxo. Luzu (or more accurately, Arin) is also vaguely involved, more like another informant that's not physically in the picture.

The Codes do their best to get Etoiles intel from within the Federation ASAP in an effort to try and stay one step ahead of Cucurucho, or at least so they have some ability to anticipate what the Federation's next move(s) will be.

Etoiles decides it's most important to seek out the vulnerable islanders and recruit them first, before Cucurucho can get to them. Bagi, Baghera, Jaiden, Phil, Felps, Pac, Mike, Roier.

But he's not going to just welcome them in so easily. They're essentially quarantined in a secret location meant to look like where The Resistance is based, but in reality it's a decoy. In this place, they're screened and monitored for a period of time to ensure The Feds didn't beat The Resistance to them.

Once they pass all the tests to ensure they're not compromised yet, they're brought into The Resistance officially and brought to the REAL hideout. And there's a diabolical plot twist I'm planning for this part. :)

Phil and Roier pass the tests for sure. Roier is particularly feisty throughout the process, he wants to save Cellbit ASAP. Phil's hatred of The Federation is potent. Etoiles trusts them wholeheartedly by the end of their testing. Codebreakers and Bloodhounds >>>>>>.

While the processes with The Vulnerable are ongoing, The Resistance also try and reach out to people they're confident haven't been compromised yet. Tubbo, Bad, Tina, Pierre.

It's a long shot to contact them, but they try to go to the people who are rarely around too, since they're also unlikely to be compromised. Missa, Mariana, Niki, Mouse.

Etoiles has mixed feelings about it, but out of necessity he forms a blacklist of members he absolutely refuses to recruit, for the sake of keeping things secure. Quackity, Antoine, Vegetta. He has valid reasons for all of them.

Tubbo's on board immediately, he's been grilling Cucurucho and challenging him since his first days on the server. With his intelligence and ability to plan combined with Etoiles's skills, The Resistance surely stands a better chance.

They successfully assemble Bad, Tina, Pierre, Missa, Niki, and Mariana (after an Average Slimariana argument and subsequent hatefucking). Mouse's correspondence is pending (she's a very busy demon!) but Tina and Niki are able to vouch that she'd be likely to help them too.

By the end of all their recruiting, The Resistance consists of Etoiles, Tubbo, Bad, Tina, Pierre, Missa, Niki, Phil, and Roier. Hopefully Bagi, Baghera, Jaiden, Pac, and Mike will join them soon, they're still going through their screenings. (Pac especially is working hard to earn their trust, he wants to save Fit as much as Roier wants to save Cellbit).

I'm gonna place this fic pre-Purgatory, which means the eggs are actually missing at the moment. It makes things easier plot-wise, LMAO.

But that isn't stopping Niki. She proposes The Resistance devotes a portion of themselves to figuring out what to do about finding the eggs. They can't just abandon the kids! Suffice to say it's a controversial idea to The Codes, but she has a point. Much spicy debating to be had about it.

As THE babysitter ever, Bad volunteers to assist her, though he also intends to be in the thick of everything, not just lingering on the side worrying about the thing they were all trying to resolve prior to this whole crisis.

Phil basically joins Bad, because 90% of his reason for living on the island are Chayanne and Lullah. But make no mistake, he too wants to be a smidge more involved. Anything for a reason to beat The Federation's ass. He also has experience with these kinds of things thanks to The Syndicate, he has wisdom to offer.

Ideally, over time and through so much DELICIOUS suspense and tension and angst, they'd find a way to stop Cucurucho. But I don't know if I'd end the story 100% happy so maybe not Everyone can be saved. I dunno. It wouldn't be a completely unhappy ending though. :)

EDIT: I GOT MORE.

This fic will be called Eye Spy With My Evil Eye! :D

Every chapter's title will complete the phrase, Chapter 1 being "Something... Wrong."

It'll start off with Cellbit, and he's the first to have a moment where a weird encounter with Cucurucho sets off alarm bells that something is more off than usual. Cue Investigator Mode.

Fit and Foolish will have similar moments in the chapter where something is Just not right enough for them to get wary there's some new fuckery afoot, but unlike Cellbit they kinda brush it off.

I'm incredibly proud of how I characterize Foolish already and in classic me fashion, my notes on the chapter are fucking hilarious. Behold:

After they each have their "Well that's even more weird than usual" moment, the chapter will return to Cellbit as he contacts Fit and Foolish because he suspects that their association with The Federation is doing something to them in a similar vein to how the Codes have affected Etoiles, Charlie, and Maxo.

The Horrors(tm) will unfold from there, I already have 4 chapters plotted and it'll definitely be more than that. No idea how long the fic will be in total though.

[dynamicccsworld]

Why Little Shop of Horrors may parallel some things in Wills life, and some events in ST.

Spoilers for Little Shop Of Horrors, duh. (And I'm Making this literally only because of Will's poster, lol)

First of all, the ending. In the original Little Shop of Horrors, Audrey II takes over the world, killing off all of humanity.

However, In the other ending featured in the theatrical release, instead features a good ending where Audrey ll is defeated and Seymour and Audrey get to live together happily.

Now, after thinking about this for a while I came to the conclusion this is something that could happen in Stranger Things. For example, swap Audrey II with Vecna.

Imagine the "bad ending" is what Vecna is going to make people see, instead of what actually happens. This also would go along with Nancy's season 4 vision.

And the the good ending could be what really happens at the end of ST. (And instead of it being Audrey and Seymour living happily together, it's Will and Mike.)

Second of all, the theme of ST. Now, one of Stranger Things's themes is about outcasts/ being different.

Although the themes for both media are different; Seymour is shown to be a outcast at the very beginning of LSoH.

Seymour is a outcast until he becomes popular after getting Audrey ll.

If something were to be taken from it and put into ST; it would likely show a character going from a outcast to a hero.

Third of all, let's go back to the first release.

Audrey sacrifices herself by asking Seymour to feed her to Audrey II, because she believes it is the only way to ensure Seymour's success and well, happiness.

And since this whole rant is about parallels, this could parallel Eddie in Season 4.

Or.. imagine if this means a certain someone will sacrifice themselves to Vecna to protect one of the members of the party. I could definitely see Will sacrificing himself, but somebody stopping him. This would be in character considering that Will has been shown to be self sacrificial before, and I wouldn't doubt the show would showcase this aspect of his character again.

And lastly, the songs.

Skid Row:

• Seymour talks about Mushnik's mistreatment of himself, which may parallel Lonnie.

"Poor! All my life I've always been poor."

The Byers are constantly stated to have money problems

"He took me in, gave me shelter, a bed, Crust of bread and a job. Treats me like dirt, calls me a slob."

Seymour dreams about leaving Skid Row, claiming if he doesn't he'll rot there.

"Someone gimme my shot or I'll rot here."

The general outlook of Skid Row by its residents is negative; which is the same outlook some of the characters have of Hawkins.

This could foreshadow members of the party moving out of Hawkins in the show. (Which would also be similar to IT; which Stranger things is inspired by.)

(No lyrics for this, quite literally because the whole song is about people disliking living in Skid Row.)

Da-Doo:

•Not much I could see that would parallel in this song, other than Audrey ll being described as something from another world the first time Seymour sees it.

"And there was this strange humming sound, Like something from another world"

This could parallel Will's first time seeing the Demogorgan, I guess.

Suppertime:

•I originally thought Suppertime wouldn't have anything that could be shown in stranger things, but alas I was pretty wrong.

"He knows just what you've done."

Perhaps Mike knowing about what Will was going through in Season 2. Mike knew Will was a Spy, Mike knew what Will had did.

"You've got no place to hide. You've got nowhere to run. " Parallels Season one, quite obviously.

Audrey II taunting Seymour about his feelings for Audrey may mean Vecna will taunt Will for his feelings for Mike in a similar way in S5.

Also, Suppertime is a song which happens when Mr. Mushnik tries to find Seymour guilty of killing Orin. It ends when Seymour causes the death of Mr Musinik by leading him to Audrey II.

This has faint parallels to Season 2; when Will was being possessed by the mind flayer, which caused Bobs death.

Mean Green Mother:

•Nothing at the moment sticks out to me, but I feel it definitely could parallel how Vecna treats Will in the future?

Also another green reference.

Prologue:

•Do I even have to say it? Id say a lot of the words in the prologue song match up with Wills life.

"Tellin' you, you better, Tell your mama, Something's gonna get her. "

Directly parallels Will telling Joyce to run with the Christmas lights.

And as Noah stated, Will will be protecting Joyce more in S5.

"Call a Cop"

Cough cough, Hopper.

"Ooh, hit the dirt, baby."

When Will first sees the Demogorgan, he bikes into the dirt.

"Something's comin' down, down the street for you!" When Will first sees the Demogorgan, it's on the street.

Somewhere That's Green:

•I don't think most of the lyrics here mean anything, but..

"And I dream of a place, Where we could be together at last"

Will probably dreams of a world where he can be supported for being queer, a world where him and Mike could be together.

"As the sun sets in the west"

Yellow and Blue meet in the west.

"Far from Skid Row, I dream we'll go, Somewhere that's green."

Once again, I don't think anyone in the party wants to stay in Hawkins forever. That's just my perspective though.

Also, Blue + Yellow = Green

Suddenly, Seymour:

•Self explanatory.

"Suddenly, Seymour is here to provide you."

"Sweet understanding, Seymour's your friend"

The song is about how Seymour treats Audrey, which could parallel how Mike treats Will, or vise versa.

"Nobody else treated me kindly. Daddy left early, Mama was poor"

Well, this is obviously a parallel. The Byers are definitely far from wealthy, and Lonnie did leave. And Will has stated before that Mike is the only one that doesn't coddle him.

"Please understand that it's still strange and frightening"

Having queer feelings in the 80s/90s along with the whole UD thing is pretty frightening.

Feed Me Seymour:

•Could possibly foreshadow Vecna trying to manipulate Will into joining him, but that's a big stretch.

But the most likely parallel is it could be representative of the Mind Flayer in Will's mind in Season Two.

In LSoH, Audrey II quite literally manipulates Seymour in a way. The only reason Seymour killed Mushnik and Orin was because of Audrey II.

Which lines up with Will saying "He made me do it" in Season Two; and the death of Bob which was directly the fault of The Mindflayers influence.

(Also, the whole Feed Me narrative can be viewed as how Will fed the Mind Flayer information.)

The Meek Shall Inherit:

•As I stated before, this song could parallel a member of the party becoming famous. Other than that, not much else can be said.

"And you're a meek little guy"

Meek; an attitude or quality of heart whereby a person is willing to accept and submit without resistance to the will and desire of someone else.

Sound familiar?

Grow For Me:

•Doesn't seem to have any parallels to Will, but it's similar to the whole Dustin & Dart arc.

Some Fun Now:

•Alot of explosive talk, and there's been a lot of fire/explosives in ST.

"Then he lit a fuse and give him room."

"He started an explosion, holy cow!"

"That thing went bang, kaboom"

However, I would say the most likely thing this could parallel in Will's life would be the fireworks used in Season Three to defeat the Mind Flayer.

Conclusion..

I feel like LSoH has many similarities to Will's life, and there could be even more in S5.

But, who knows! These could all just be coincidences and I'm just looking too far into it.

Most of these are probably not on purpose, and a lot of these are probably stretches.. but I had fun making this and that's all that matters.

[violetmuses]

Lifesaver - A. Aretas ❤️‍🩹 🫂

Title: Lifesaver - A. Aretas ❤️‍🩹 🫂

Fandom: “Bad Boys” Film Universe

Character: Armando Aretas

Pairing: Armando Aretas + Female Reader

Main Storyline: When the federal transport is hijacked, Armando needs your help. 🏷 @nobodygetsza @deja-r

=====

2024

After facing various secrets and questions, well-known Detective Mike Lowrey stood as the biological father of criminal Armando Aretas.

Though time scheduled that prison release for Armando, unexpected goons from the dark hijacked this main aircraft out of nowhere.

Large ripples helped that transport ground its landing when Armando escaped his confinement and navigated the plane.

Lowrey, Aretas, and Detective Marcus Burnett all survived.

“Somebody used my gun. How the hell did strangers reach a federal transport?” Mike struggled to breathe while drenched from water.

“We need to split up.” Armando clipped accented English without making eye contact near his father. His orange uniform muddled in gunk.

“No, we'll stay together.” Mike then corrected Armando.

“Says who?” Armando took his own charge despite everything.

“Don't start bullshit!” Mike nearly grit his teeth. “I'm telling you that we'll stay together.”

“Fuck out my way.” Ignoring Mike and Marcus, Armando revealed his blunt denial and walked off, heading elsewhere in the stranded woods.

“Hey!” Mike yelled, almost jogging to reach Aretas no matter what. Even Marcus tried to keep up and there was no other choice.

____

Passing right along that emerald landscape, Armando continued stomping dirt with each step forward and this cabin waited in the distance.

Yes! He realized.

This home looked fairly modern now, but Armando knocked up front regardless.

When that door finally opened, realization hit Armando seconds later.

You still joined the house.

“Arman?” Cutting his name, you don't even know what's going on.

“It's a long story.” Aretas wanted to concentrate here. “Just let me in and I'll explain everything.”

“Okay.” You whispered through panic and Armando entered, but more footsteps trailed behind him.

Detective Mike Lowrey and his longtime partner Marcus Burnett arrived.

“Thank you.” Lowrey and Burnett repeat gratitude while facing your direction.

Silencing confusion, you allowed both famous men to join this home as well. At least Marcus stood kind enough to close the door behind him.

“All right. What happened?” You revealed one of the most important questions.

“The police department wanted to help me leave prison, but some random asshole hijacked our plane.” Armando I landed this aircraft through water, but we crashed anyway.

“Captain Howard was framed earlier.” Mike Lowrey told you. “My son Armando can identify whoever is responsible for what happened.”

Son?! In that moment, you freeze, quietly pointing between Lowrey and Aretas.

“Armando is your son?” You questioned Mike to ensure the truth.

“It's complicated, but yes.” Mike nodded toward you.

Damn. You thought.

______

“What the hell is this place? You're not struggling at all.” Marcus left this much-needed shower.

Once everyone settled here, you cooked meals to help all three men at this point.

“Previous owners gave up the house, so I moved in.” You sat down at this kitchen table and even Armando stayed nearby.

“Wait…” Marcus then squinted near you and Aretas. “Do ya'll know each other already?”

“Marcus!” Mike clenched the warning toward his partner and “brother.”

“I'm just asking for clarity because there's pictures around the house.” Burnett laughed. Even Mike almost choked from drinking his water

“Yes.” You no longer avoid that personal choice once Aretas nods.

“What happened?” Marcus reversed the question on you.

“It's my safe house.” You explained. “I always told Armando that if something goes wrong, try to find the cabin.”

“Somebody caught feelings, Mike.” Marcus chuckled once more. “This place looks too fancy and comfortable.”

Marcus helps clean up that kitchen table and leads Mike toward pictures found on the living room walls.

“Oh, shit! Is Armando smiling?” Mike laughed out loud and Armando casted both eyes toward the ceiling.

No matter what happens in the future, at least you've reunited with your best friend.

[virorbmaster]

A Late Look Into "Bait Theory"

So, with deltarune coming out in less than a day, I decided to finally share with others my special theory as to Spamton's true purpose. I've been working on this for a while, but only now have I decided to share this with others before chapter 3 and 4's release.

Be warned, massive wall of text/images under cut.

How IRL Spam emails work.

Spam emails IRL are often characterised by poor grammar, obvious spelling mistakes, completely outlandish claims, and other rather obvious tells. It's no stretch to say this likely inspired Spamton's speech patterns and appearance, that of a sleazy, untrustworthy salesman.

(from deltarune.wiki)

People often attribute this to a lack of proficiency in english, low effort put into the scam, general stupidity, etc.

However, these myriad errors aren't there out of stupidity. They're part of the scam. These errors are a test.

You see, studies in cybersecurity have shown that spam emails are filled with these errors as a sort of in built screening process: a person who likely wasn't going to fall for the scam anyway would instantly clock the myriad errors and simply not bother. Scammers are looking for people who are willing, for one reason or another, to ignore such suspicious activity, to ensure they're left with only the most trusting marks.

My theory, in short, is: what if Spamton's not just inspired by scam emails in the obvious ways? What if his weird dialogue, his sleazy persona, are all a test as well? For the player?

2. Spamton's many red flags.

Spamton is a very, very ominous character, and no better place is this exemplified than in his shop. As soon as you enter, you're greeted with a very ominous place.

(from shay's deltarune chapter 2 stream)

Every thing about this screams "wrong" in some way. The brick wall painted with a cartoon sun, reminiscent of something a prison or other equally nasty place would implement in an attempt to keep people happy. The glitches, revealing an ominous phone that rings in time with the depressing music. Even the shop is telling you to escape in the menu.

And if you decide to ignore that, you get treated to a secret, extra spooky part of queen's mansion and an extra hard teacup minigame.

Every part of Spamton's shop and quest is sending you a very loud message of "if you help this guy, nothing good is going to come of it". So, why would you? Why exactly would you help him?

Easy. To figure out what's going on with him. Spamton alludes to a lot of interesting things, from his own backstory to a mysterious "Mike" character, to hints at involvement with the mystery man himself, Gaster. It's easy to want to find out, especially if you're lore focused.

Which, might be exactly what's being exploited with Spamton.

3. The meat of the theory, and parallels to the previous game.

My theory is that whatever corrupted Spamton into what he is today, did it on purpose. Their goal was to create a sort of "litmus test", a character that is so offputting and ominous, yet stuffed with interesting lore and mysteries, that only people who are willing to specifically ignore "something bad will happen" signs will help him.

Jevil, the secret boss of the first chapter, is quite out of the way. You may be likely to skip over him entirely if you don't talk with Sean or visit the bottom of the castle. As a contrast, Spamton is a mandatory story encounter. I feel this is on purpose, as a way to force people into taking his test. An average player may fight him once and forget about him, perhaps visit his shop once and be put off. But a secret hunter or a lore fanatic is liable to do his quest. Like how a spam email is looking for specifically people who are willing to ignore errors, Spamton is made to sort out people who are willing to do whatever it takes for a good mystery. People willing to push the game's world to the limit to figure out the lore.

Remember what the theme of the previous game's "Genocide/No Mercy" route was? That you, the player, did all this just because you wanted to see what would happen.

(from undertale.wiki)

That you weren't satisfied with just playing the game and making everyone happy. You just had to see what would happen when you tore the world apart.

(from undertale.wiki)

I feel this mysterious entity is counting on players like that. Players that are willing to walk headfirst into it's trap, or do it's dirty work, just for answers. It may not be necessarily a total murder route, it may be simply collecting all the shadow crystals for it, or making a specific choice later.

But speaking of No Mercy parallels, guess who makes the "Snowgrave" route possible in Chapter 2? Who sells you the special item you need to make it all happen?

(from merg's playthrough on youtube. note the very specific tree commonly associated with a very specific, mysterious character.)

That's right, Spamton.

And for more undertale parallels, I may bring up the player/character relationship which is explored again, only this time as a more central theme through the more rebellious teenage Kris.

What if Deltarune aims to deconstruct this relationship in it's usual very 4th wall fuckery action via having a character know this, and exploit it? Kris wouldn't be so easily manipulated, but they're not in control, are they? The player is. So if this being can manipulate the player...

And as a few asides:

Who knows Kris's name at his shop, without even being told?

Who has massive puppet theming?

And who is implied to be surveying us, the players? Through a very special "survey_program"?

In conclusion, my theory is that much like his inspiration, Spamton is a secret test for a mysterious being (possibly gaster?) to find players willing to do it's dirty work (shadow crystals/a possible later choice) for it with the promise of lore/mystery solving, being aware that the player is actively controlling Kris so it decides to manipulate them instead.

[beardedmrbean]

New York City officials are reacting to a bombshell new report by The Post that shows an alarming 58,626 migrants with felony records or facing criminal charges are freely roaming the Big Apple, with some 670,000 in total across the country.

Out of the 759,218 illegal border-crossers who now call the five boroughs home, 7.7% were either previously convicted of crimes or had criminal charges pending, according to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data.

But instead of rounding up and deporting tens of thousands of known criminals, critics say the city has rolled out the red carpet with its asylum policies, providing free lodgings, money for food and even one-way plane tickets anywhere in the world.

Meanwhile, politicians told The Post they’re reaching their breaking point with the generous giveaways and lax enforcement taking place under NYC’s sanctuary city policies, and laying blame at the feet of state and federal officials.

“Kathy Hochul said she’d be the first one to call ICE if a migrant broke the law — she has over 58,000 phone calls to make,” Rep. Mike Lawler — who’s weighing a run for governor — told The Post.

“Kathy Hochul must immediately end New York’s sanctuary state status and fully cooperate with ICE to ensure the safety and well being of all New Yorkers.”

Hochul, for her part, stood by existing policies in the Empire State.

“Governor Hochul will continue enforcing State policy, which protects law-abiding immigrants while ensuring violent criminals are held accountable,” spokesperson Avi Small said.

Mayor Eric Adams has frequently called for sanctuary city rules to be loosened so migrants “suspected” of serious crimes could be turned over to ICE.

However, Hizzoner has thrown his hands up claiming he lacks the political support of the City Council that would be needed to change the controversial laws that prohibit NYC law enforcement from cooperating with immigration officials’ investigations.

“The number of migrant criminals is astronomical and frightening,” said New York Conservative Party chairman Gerard Kassar, a Dyker Heights, Brooklyn resident.

He said “enough of this crap” about New York’s sanctuary rules that coddle criminals and refuse to cooperate with the feds.

“Sanctuary policies are counterproductive and make New York and America unsafe. We need to end this insanity of the Biden years. New York City and New York State have propped up these failed policies,” he told The Post.

This sentiment wasn’t limited to those on the right politically.

Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat whose district encompasses parts of Nassau County and Queens, was forthright about the problem and seemed amenable to working with Trump and incoming border czar Tom Homan to solve it.

“I support the deportation of criminals and will work with the incoming administration to accomplish that goal. We must also secure the border, fix the broken asylum system and modernize the legal immigration system,” he told The Post.

The burden of the status quo is being unevenly borne by members of the NYPD, who have grappled with the sudden influx of unknown migrants — some with violent criminal histories — flooding city streets.

“The majority of the people we arrest. It’s even more frustrating because a lot of them are repeat offenders and they just get let out of jail to commit more crimes and victimize the hard-working people who live in the area,” a Queens cop told The Post.

But migrants themselves shared a different story.

A migrant man who sells food outside The Roosevelt Hotel — which has been turned into a shelter for asylum-seekers costing the city hundreds of millions of dollars — declined to give his name, but said from his perspective the new arrivals get a bad rap.

“There are thousands of people in this city and thousands of them commit crimes. There are many migrants who commit crimes too, but anything bad that happens here they blame it on the migrants,” he said, claiming he and his cohorts are often turned into “scapegoats.”

[roanofarcc]

PROJECT SUNSHINE CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE → THE GRISWOLD FAMILY CRISIS

summary: steve harrington x oc | on Ao3

when another product of Hawkins National Laboratory escaped a long-survived nightmare alongside her sister, she crashed into one unsuspecting teenage boy and dragged him deeper into the dark mysteries that made up their hometown.

word count. 3.5k || masterlist || ocs moodboard

warnings: cannon typical violence, child abuse, horror, gore, and depictions of mental illness. parts of this story were written pre-season 4 release. cannon divergence.

previous chapter ← → next chapter

A mounting tension filled the air of Starcourt as the remaining members readied to split up. Sunshine along with Nancy, Jonathan, and the remaining kids gathered supplies to take to the P.I.’s safe house. Joyce had briefly explained to Sunshine that Murray was the only person they knew who spoke Russian, which was why he tagged along with her and Hopper. He had a house a state over that they could crash at until the Mind Flayer was no longer a threat and, hopefully, Hopper’s backup in the form of Dr. Owens and his team would show up eventually and solve their Russian problem. 

“My battery’s low,” El said to Hopper. She wore her usual tired determination while Hopper wore a certain look of softness that he reserved only for his kids and Joyce. “But it will recharge.”

“I know it will, kid.” 

El added, “I can fight.” 

“Better than any of us, but right now, I need you safe.” Hopper looked up at Sunshine and Luke, who stood around the two who were seated on a bench. “I need all of you safe. This thing isn’t after me.” 

Sunshine swallowed down the lump in her throat and looked down at her hands. Red marks circled her wrists from where they tied down in the base. She shuttered, thinking of Hopper and Joyce sneaking into that place. The adults brought a sense of comfort to all of them, taking some of the weight off of the older teens' shoulders. But she knew their plan was the best course of action. She still worried, though, that something would go wrong and put Hopper and or Joyce in danger. She wasn’t the only one worried. 

“Just be careful, please,” Luke said to Hopper. He looked pale and uneasy. 

“I will be.” Luke didn’t seem convinced. “We’ll be all right.” There was a glint behind Hopper’s eyes, a careful and caring one as he spoke to the son he never believed he’d have but found. By the look on Luke’s face, it was clear to see how much he wanted to believe Hopper. Luke was trying his best to understand what it meant to be taken care of and loved by an adult who didn’t want to hurt him, but who genuinely loved him and his sister.

“Hey.” Mike’s voice rang out as he approached the Hopper clan along with Max. “We should go.” 

El wrapped Hopper up in a quick hug before he was passed off into the arms of Mike and Max, who helped her limp along on her bad leg.

“Mike?” Hopper sighed. “Be careful.” The kid nodded, a truce built between a father and boyfriend. They both wanted El safe; that was all that mattered at the end of the day. 

Luke trailed behind them along with the rest of the kids. Sunshine moved to follow them, but she was stopped by Hopper. “Listen,” he began. “I know that all of that, all of this, is a lot. But I promise you, as soon as I get that Gate closed and end this for good, we will figure out exactly who has that file. I already called in Owens for a favor. If he shows up, I’ll get another one out of him, all right?” He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. “I will take care of it.” If there was anyone in the world she trusted to ensure that she was safe and that her secret was safe from her mother and father, it was Hopper. He and Joyce were the first adults she met outside of the Lab who saw her as a kid, as a person. She trusted them with her life. 

“Okay,” she replied, letting some of her stress roll off of her shoulders as she plastered on a brave face. 

“Now,” he said. “Get out of here.” 

Exiting the mall, Sunshine took a moment to breathe in the fresh air. The air smelled like incoming rain, and the humanity clung to her bare arms and legs welcomingly. As she walked towards Nancy’s car, she glanced upwards and caught a few stars not yet overtaken by clouds, twinkling in the darkness. 

They all packed into the vehicle, squeezing to make enough room for everyone. Sunshine joined El, Max, and Mike in the very back, carefully making enough room for El to outstretch her leg to avoid irritating it any further. El curled into Sunshine’s side, muffling a pained groan. 

After they all were inside, Nancy jammed her keys into the ignition. The car sputtered but didn’t turn on. “You can’t be serious,” Nancy grumbled. She tried again, earning an awful groan from the vehicle, but it failed again. 

“Didn’t your mom just buy this car?” Will asked, squished in the middle seat between Lucas and Jonathan, who had given up the front seat for Luke in hopes of avoiding sending the kid into a fit visions. 

“Yes.” Nancy let out a sigh. “I’m sure it’s fine.” She tried again, and the car refused to come to life. 

“Did you leave the lights on?” asked Lucas. 

“No.” Nancy angrily jammed the keys in, turning them back and forth each time the sputtering died down. 

“Do we have gas?” Will questioned. 

“Yes!” Nancy slammed her hands against the wheel in frustration. “Gah! Come on!” 

Jonathan threw open the car door as he said, “Just stop, Nance. Pop the hood.” 

They both stepped out of the car to try to figure out what the issue was. Sunshine absentmindedly brushed her fingers through El’s knotted hair in a lame attempt to soothe the pain El was clearly in but tried to hide. 

The bright glare of distant headlights shot through the car windows. Sunshine peered out into the empty parking lot and found one singular car that she didn’t recall seeing a moment ago. As she stared into the lights, she was struck with the familiarity of the car. 

A hand beat against the window, startling everyone inside. Nancy knocked with ferocity as she yelled, “Out of the car! Now!” They all listened without question, scrambling out of the vehicle. Sunshine and Mike grabbed El and followed the group back inside Starcourt. She couldn’t escape that goddamn mall. 

Billy had found them, a possessed and puppeted Billy, which, according to the party, meant the Mind Flayer wouldn’t be far behind. Nancy’s car was out of commission, suspiciously so, which left them stuck like sitting ducks inside the mall. 

“You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?” Max asked in the tense silence as Nancy loaded her gun. 

From what Sunshine had gathered, Billy was much farther gone than Will had been last fall. He was the Mind Flayer’s pawn, a piece it was using to build its physical form in Hawkins. 

“This is precautionary,” Nancy replied, but she wasn’t a very good liar. Max dipped her head and occupied herself by joining Lucas at one of the food court tables. 

Mike used his walkie-talkie to try to get ahold of Steve for an emergency rescue, grumbling into his radio and pacing back and forth with increasing speed. Everyone else could only wait. 

Sunshine found Luke seated farther away from the group, his eyes closed in concentration and fingers pressed against his forehead. “Luke?” He peeled his eyes open with a huff and slumped back into the bench he occupied. 

“I can’t reach Leia. Her mind’s too busy. She must be using her abilities on the radio.” He shook his head, eyes watery as he stared at the tiled floor. “I think something’s wrong with me.” 

“What’d you mean?” Sunshine asked, her voice laced with gentle concern. 

He hesitated for a moment. “The other night, I saw Will’s future. He was worried about all of this happening, about the Mind Flayer coming back. But I didn’t see anything that has happened or that I know will happen tonight in his future. I saw something else…something I don’t understand.” He paused, looking over at the group who surrounded the overturned car, talking about something that Sunshine was too far away to hear. Luke continued. “I didn’t just see his future. I think I saw his past too.” 

Sunshine couldn’t hide her surprise. “How is that possible?” She knew little about the inner workings of Luke’s abilities, but by the look on his face, he didn’t have an answer. 

“It’s not,” he said. “Or it shouldn’t be. It’s never happened before. But seeing it screwed something up inside my head. Now, in my dreams, I can’t tell who they belong to. They’re all jumbled together and I’m seeing scenes that don’t fit; things that don’t make sense keep appearing with no explanation.” 

Luke dug around in his jeans pocket and pulled out a crumbled piece of paper before handing it to Sunshine. She smoothed it out with the pad of her thumb, trying to work out the creases just enough to make sense of the picture on it. It was a scribbled drawing of a clock, one of those tall ones that older people kept in the corners of their living rooms, made of wood and chimed at the end of each hour. 

“Have you seen this before?” he asked, to which she shook her head in reply. 

Luke sighed. “I don’t know whose future it’s from or if it’s even from a future at all. There’s too much inside my head now.” He closed his eyes once more, screwing them together so tight it formed creases in the skin around his eyes. “What if I’ve seen things from the past but I’ve mistaken them for the future? What if my visions are scrambled up and I can’t tell the difference?” 

Sunshine wished, more than anything, that she had the answers for him. She wished she could pull all of the worries from his head and soothe his worry, but she couldn’t; she didn’t know how to. 

“Maybe what we can do, our abilities, can alter or change over time?” she said, unsure. There was no telling what the long-term side effects of their abilities would be years down the line, whether or not they would change and shift. The more she used her abilities, the stronger she grew and the longer she could use them. She learned, over time, how to preserve her energy, when she wasn’t using them in a panic. But she didn’t know how that would translate to Luke’s abilities; he was different from her, El, and Leia. 

“But why now?” 

“I don’t know-” 

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud crash that startled the both of them. Sunshine whipped her head over her shoulder to see the group standing on top of one of the food court counters, having just flipped the car El used to knock out the Russian soldiers back to its upright position. 

They joined the rest of them, pausing their conversation until they couldn’t figure a way out of Starcourt. Once their night was over, she’d try to think of some explanation for Luke or at least help him work through his new-found abilities to see into people’s pasts. 

She stood beside Max, who anxiously picked at her polished fingernails with her brows pulled in concentration. “Are you okay?” she asked the redhead, bumping her shoulder against Max’s.

“I guess.” Max shrugged. “I just want this night to be over.” 

Sunshine cracked a small smile. “You and me both.” 

Max reached into her pocket and pulled out a slightly smushed granola bar. “I snagged two of these from Nancy’s purse in the car. You look like you need it.” Sunshine took it gratefully, not caring that the chocolate chips were slightly melted, and it smelled a little bit like the perfume Nancy always wore, which she kept in her purse. 

“Thanks,” Sunshine said with her mouth full. “It’s been a long day.” She couldn’t recall the last time she had eaten anything. The granola bar tasted like the greatest thing she had ever eaten at that moment. She wanted to savor it, but she didn’t know how long they had until either someone came to their rescue or Billy came stomping into Starcourt. 

“A long day with Russians and random co-workers of Steve’s?” Mike said, joining the two girls. 

“They weren’t exactly part of the plan.” Neither was getting stuck in the elevator or her nightmarish connection to Calum Miller’s father. 

Something off to the side caught Max’s eye. “What is she doing.” Sunshine followed her gaze to where El dug in one of the mall trash cans. She grabbed something from the trash but then moved behind one of the pillars, out of sight. Sunshine moved to see what her sister was up to, but she was stopped by Max’s hand grabbing a hold of her wrist. 

“Guys,” Max said, her gaze fixed upwards toward the ceiling. It took a moment, but the Sunshine heard it. The glass panels that made up the ceiling started to shake, rattling softly until it grew louder and louder. 

“Nancy!” Mike screamed, calling the attention of the others still gathered around the car. The footsteps on the roof were right over them, and a large shadow came into view just as the glass started to fracture under the shadow’s weight.

Sunshine grabbed a hold of Mike while Max kept her grip on Sunshine’s wrist. She pulled the kids towards El and together, all four of them sprinted as far as they could across the mall before the glass ceiling shattered, raining shards down in dangerous droplets that accompanied the arrival of the Mind Flayer. They dove behind a food court counter, their knees pulled to their chests and breathing erratically.

Sunshine’s heart lodged in her throat as an ear-splitting roar shook the entire building. 

☀☀☀

Steve didn’t consider himself the most patient person in the world, but after a year of becoming one of the go-to babysitters for a group of Hawkins's most sarcastic teenagers, he liked to think he had grown more patient. That being said, with one good eye, his collections of other injuries, an ever-increasing cloud of doom hanging over their heads, having to part ways with Sunshine, and no more Russian drugs in his system to mellow him out, Steve was nearly at his breaking point.

“We are in the middle of something right now, in case you haven’t noticed!” Dustin snapped at Calum Miller as they stood atop a tall, grassy hill where Dustin’s super-radio was located. 

Calum had his fingers threaded through his hair and was breaking down in a way Steve had no time to deal with and no sympathy for. He knew better than anyone that no one was destined to become their father, but the second he saw the hurt in Sunshine’s eyes when she looked at the photo of Calum’s father, Steve also abandoned that belief. And when Calum had the nerve to call Sunshine a liar, he nearly found himself in another fight he’d probably lose. That didn’t matter to him, though. He’d lose a hundred more fights if that meant Sunshine wouldn’t have to keep fighting tooth and nail for a life she more than deserved. 

“I don’t understand!” Calum shouted, not at anyone in particular, as he paced back and forth in the overgrown grass. 

Tamera tried to calm him down, but she looked equally freaked out. “Clearly your mom was right all along. Your dad was mixed up in bad business.” 

“That doesn’t make him a bad person!” His voice was desperate, almost broken. But Steve felt his fingers curl into fists at his sides as he tried to shove down the anger that steadily rose in his chest. 

“Did you not see the look on her face?” Tamera asked, sounding on the verge of tears. He felt worse for her than Calum. Maybe it was because she wasn’t trying to justify what Calum’s dad had done to Sunshine and every other kid inside the Lab. And maybe a small part of it was Robin’s crush on Tamera. “Something obviously really terrible happened to her.” 

Calum stopped pacing. “Why are you taking their side?” 

“There are no sides!” Tamera yelled. “We got your answers. We got too many answers! God, I feel like my brain is melting!” Tears started to leak from her eyes, and she didn’t bother to wipe them away and she continued yelling at Calum. “I take back everything I said. I shouldn’t have told you we should look into that stupid file. I should have listened to my gut, and we should have stayed out of this.” 

A bitter cold laugh sounded from Calum. “Well, it’s a little too fucking late for that. You told me to open that file in the first place. You wanted to play detective with me. This is just as much your fault as it is mine! And now look where we are!” He waved his hands around wildly. “We still have no idea where my dad is and apparently everything we know about our world is utter bullshit! Monsters are real. Does anything fucking matter anymore?” 

Steve rubbed his forehead, trying to pull his headache out of his skull by sheer will. “Please, for the love of God, have your breakdown after we finish this,” he said. Maybe it was a little insensitive, but Steve didn’t give a shit. 

With a scoff, Calum turned his attention onto Steve, trying to look taller than he was. “You are your freaky group of children just told us everything we understood about our reality is wrong. We were chased by Russians through the fucking mall. It’s totally normal for people to have superpowers. And I was right from the very start of this whole thing when I said Danielle had something to do with my dad. So, I’m sorry for freaking out, but that’s a whole lot of fucking information to take in, asshole!”

“Seriously?” Steve shook his head. He tried to think back to that night at Jonathan’s when he discovered that monsters were real. He freaked out too. It wasn’t an easy thing to comprehend, but they had a job to do; they could freak out tomorrow. “Look, I get it. All of this is fucked. We’ve all been there. But you freaking out right now isn’t helping any-” 

“Steve!” Leia’s scream rang through the air like a gunshot. Everyone stopped talking and looked at the girl kneeling beside Dustin at the radio. A streak of blood fell from her nose. Steve rushed to her side immediately, abandoning his scolding of Calum. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, kneeling beside her. 

“It found them!” she cried, her voice strained and tears gathering in her wide eyes. “T-They’re still at the mall. It found them!” 

An icy fear crawled up Steve’s spine. He sprung up from the ground and rushed to the edge of the hillside that just barely overlooked the mall. 

“What are you talking about?” Robin asked from somewhere behind Steve. 

“Luke,” Leia hiccupped. “He’s scared. They’re all so scared.” 

They all gathered, aside from Dustin, beside Steve, peering over at the mall. The lights of the building blinked wildly, much like how they did that night at Jonathan’s, only on a much larger scale. It was no longer a single, slightly larger than the average human side monster and Christmas lights inside a home. It had become a thirty-foot melted flesh monster and the lights of the entire Starcourt Mall.

Cold fingers gripped Steve’s arm frantically, demanding his attention. Leia looked at him, shaking. “Steve, we have to do something. W-We have to…It’s going to kill them.” 

He was silent for a moment, stuck in his own fear as his brain moved too fast. It was going to kill them. The Mind Flayer was going to kill them, and they were stuck at that mall. 

“Griswold family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over.” Dustin called the group that was supposed to be on their way to Illinois. The only response was static. Steve’s chest tightened uncomfortably as he waited, silently praying for a response. Dustin tried again. “Griswold family, I repeat, this is Scoops Troop. Do you copy? Over.” A pause, then a response. No familiar voice cut through to tell them everyone was okay. Instead, a bone-chilling roar tore through the walkie’s speaker, echoing into the night.

“Shit,” Steve cursed under his breath. He snapped into action, harshly grabbing Calum by the shoulders. “Give me your keys.” 

“W-What?” Calum’s face had gone white, no doubt from the further confirmation that monsters existed. 

“Key!” Steve demanded and Calum put up no fight. He tossed his keys to Steve, too flustered and confused to say much of anything at all. 

Steve then started to dart toward Calum’s minivan that they abandoned halfway up the hill. 

Robin followed him. “Where are you going?” 

“To get them the hell out of there! Stay here and contact the others!” 

Robin chased after him, leaving behind the three kids in the care of Tamera. Together, they jumped into the minivan and hightailed it back to the mall. 

Tagged. @sattlersquarry , @leptitlu , @two-sides-samecoin

[blametheeditor]

Day 28 | Distortion

Gt July Prompt List

First | Previous | Next

When stranded on an uncharted underwater planet, alone and surrounded by hostile lifeforms, there are only two possible outcomes: adapt and survive, or die trying.

Spoilers: For the game Subnautica

Content Warnings: Cursing. Mentions of death and violence. Mentions of drowning and suffocation. Mentions of dehumanization, experimenting on people. Being held against someone's will. Mentions of diseases and infections. Darker themes.

________________________

Scott stares up at the towering structure as it blocks out the sun from where he stands. Shivers as a chill runs up his spine at the thought of what waits inside. 

Realizes Fritz and Jeremy still haven’t joined him on the beach. 

He turns to Vincent playing the delicate balance of keeping his head above water to talk while ensuring his gills stay submerged. “What happened to the others?”

“David’s refusing to let Fritz go,” the ghost replies, failing to hide just how nervous he is, unable to keep a frown off his face. “Jeremy’s asking Mike questions to make sure there’s no possible way he’ll accidentally become an experiment.” 

Scott sends a look toward the leviathan. “William isn’t here, is he?” 

“No, he was long gone before the tanks opened,” Vincent reassures. “There shouldn’t be any of his equipment left, just everything the original creators made. I get his hesitance, though.” 

And he doesn’t blame Jeremy for his terror either. The kid has been exceptionally brave and handled the revelation just what exactly Mike is incredibly well. So has Fritz even after they found out he’s the most infected out of all of them. But maybe that’s because everything hasn’t fully processed yet. Hasn’t for most of them. 

Scott’s not going to lie, he’s afraid of what he might find. Knows there could be something not only disturbing in principle but physical evidence of everything Vincent’s told him about as well. There’s also the possibility there might be security measures in place meant to protect what’s inside. Measures that were made to trap any intrudors somewhere impossible to escape from, or be killed. 

And here he is, more than willing to take two teenagers into such a dangerous situation. 

“I think I should go alone.” 

“No,” Vincent borderline growls, making Scott hesitate at the unexpected the hostility. He quickly meets the ghost’s gaze, surprised when instead of anger and distrust for letting him go without supervision, the massive form watches him protectively. ”William might not be there, but anything can still happen. You’ll keep them safe and they’ll drag you back to us if needed.” 

It’s a bit of a twisted sentiment. There’s no denying the fact the leviathan cares for them, though. 

“I don’t want any of this ‘claiming’ business that David pulls.” 

Vincent gives a smile. “No promises.” 

“Help!” announces Fritz trying to swim as fast as possible toward the beach. It doesn’t take too much thought to realize what exactly the kid’s needing help with. “Get me up before he grabs me again! Hurry!” 

A giant hand lifts Fritz up and out of the water, Scott quickly catching the teenager as he’s gently slid onto the sand beside him. Not even a second later, David appears, looking livid. “Fritz!” 

“You said, that I, could go!” the kid exclaims between breaths. 

“’I changed my mind!’” 

“You can’t ‘do that’, that’s not ‘fair’!” 

“David,” Scott cuts in, well aware this is going to go in circles. Which he doesn’t know if it’s a good or bad thing he knows the reaper well despite them never having a one to one conversation before. “I will keep him safe and won’t let him out of my sight.” 

Pure black eyes bore into him. He can perfectly imagine what fate waits for him if he so much as allows Fritz to earn so much as a bruise from tripping over his own two feet. “’Swear it.’” 

“He wants a promise,” Vincent translates. 

Scott nods. “I swear.” 

David doesn’t look any happier, but there’s no attempt to snatch Fritz away. Another hand does reach out for them only for Jeremy to be carefully deposited as Mike sends them a smirk. “I told Jer there’s nothing you can fuck up in there. We’ll even meet your asses inside.” 

“There’s a g-g-giant moonpool,” Jeremy explains as he brushes sand off of him. Takes a moment to bat away fingers doing more harm than good as they attempt to help. “He said once we take down the barrier, the underwater entrance will unlock too.” 

“Hear that, David?” 

The reaper’s already disappeared under the waves once everything connected. That tells Scott they have about five minutes to get it opened until they’re in trouble for being too slow. Meaning he slowly begins to walk toward the foreboding structure. 

Fritz and Jeremy quickly follow behind. He hears the sound of the other two leviathans diving down once they’re a fair distance away. 

That’s when Jeremy stops. “I-It’s unlocked.” 

Scott’s blood runs cold. “What do you mean?” 

“Th-the barrier,” the taller begins as he moves forward, gesturing to the open archway. “It’s gone. I remember there being one, and that’s why I never went inside. But it’s gone.” 

“Could it be timing?” Fritz asks. “Like it’s up during certain times in the day? Or maybe it comes down when there’s a leviathan nearby?” 

Scott takes a moment to calm his racing heart. Because Fritz is right, there are numerous ways for something to get unlocked. It doesn’t mean someone did it knowing they were coming. Vincent said William isn’t here. 

“Stay close to me,” the man instructs. Waits until they both nod before slowly walking to the entrance into the unknown structure. 

The sound of metal being walked over echos through the glowing hallways. No voice calls out to them, no robotic system declaring they’re trespassing and must leave immediately. It’s completely silent. 

Scott carefully makes his way under tall ceilings, constantly looking over his shoulder to make sure Fritz and Jeremy are right behind them. If he wasn’t so tense, he’d smile at the opposite reactions the two have for being able to investigate such a place. The awed curiosity and fearful watching are certainly mirror exactly what he’s feeling himself. 

“Scott,” Fritz whispers, pointing at something to their right. “Something’s glowing.” 

He turns. Stares at a cube of all things. Walks toward it before slowly reaching his hand toward it. 

Nothing happens. No discharge of energy, no sirens as a barrier rises up around it, no rock falling from the ceiling meant to crush  them. 

“May I have the scanner, Fritz?” 

It’s silently handed over. He quickly scans it, pulling up the information on his PDA. Nothing says it’s dangerous, and there’s no warnings about the structure they’re inside not being safe to explore. 

Taking a deep breath, he carefully collects the cube. Waits for a breathless moment. 

“Can I see it?” Fritz asks when nothing happens. 

Scott is happy to hand it over to the teenager, watching as green eyes almost identical to the cube’s color widen. Jeremy then gets closer to see once it becomes clear it won’t hurt them. “W-What is it?” 

“An ion cube. It’s a mineral, but there’s nothing in the database for it. Just guesses from the PDA.” 

Fritz straightens up. “Maybe we can use it for energy!” 

“We’ll try and fabricate with it if there’s a guarantee nothing bad will happen,” Scott smiles. Tries to hide his amusement at Fritz looking slightly disappointed at the same time Jeremy sighs in relief. “Let’s keep going.” 

With his confidence boosted at the fact there wasn’t a trap waiting for picking up the cube, his fear slowly subsides. Only hesitates for a moment before tapping his PDA against what looks like a futuristic terminal. Frowns when he’s given a message of the information needing to be translated. One step forward and two steps backward. 

They don’t linger in one spot for too long. Every time they pass a terminal he downloads the information without stopping to look at it. Hands every ion cube they find over to Fritz. 

Then they reach something that can only be described as a hole. Carefully moving forward, he sees there’s a platform at the very bottom. He feels what he can only describe to be air rushing up, the word ‘elevator’ coming to mind as he steps back to survey the entire thing. 

Scott glance behind him. Sees Fritz’s pale face and Jeremy’s shaking. 

The man raises his hands. “Here me out.” 

That earns a snort from Fritz. “I-I’m up for it.” 

“Do we know where it goes?” Jeremy asks. “W-Will we drop or is it s-s-safe?” 

“I have no reason to believe it isn’t safe,” Scott begins, trying his hardest to not let his voice betray his nervous. He does believe it’s safe, but he’s not infallible. “It can be argued those ion cubes are priceless, and nothing happened when he took them. And this entire place has yet to seem like it’s running out of power.” 

There’s no response, but Jeremy doesn’t run back the way they came. Instead he gives a single nod. 

Scott offers a hand to Fritz, the teenager immediately taking it and squeezing it tightly. “R-Ready when you are.” 

They step into open air as something keeps them there. Float for a frightening second above a stomach dropping height. And then Scott’s breath is stolen as something yanks them down, unable to even yell at the feeling of weightlessness. 

It’s over within seconds as they’re dropped unceremoniously onto the floor. Scott feels everything lurch as he tries to reorient himself. Has to hold his head against his knees for a moment to let the nausea pass. 

Curses when he hears stuttering breaths, forcing himself from his ball to comfort the trembling form beside him. 

“Breathe, Fritz, it’s okay,” he murmurs. Gently rubs the teenager’s back as he checks on Jeremy, glad at least one of them doesn’t seem to be badly effected by the sickening drop, the taller already on his feet. “You’re okay, it’s over.” 

“What’s w-w-wrong?” Jeremy whispers. “Is he okay? Did something h-happen?” 

“He has a thing for heights,” Scott responds. “And truth be told, that made my stomach flip. You feel nauseous at all?” 

Jeremy shakes his head. Watches Fritz hopefully as the tight ball painfully uncurls. “Sorry.” 

The man helps the poor kid sit up. “No, you did fantastic. That was one hell of a drop, I’m proud off you.” 

Fritz’s lips tremble until they manage to form a smile. “Thanks-s-s.” 

“You assholes okay?” 

Scott looks up to finally see where they are. Slumps in relief at the sight of Mike only an arm’s length away. Able to reach them where they are from the next room. 

“W-We’re okay,” Jeremy says. “There was an e-e-elevator.” 

The leviathan’s eyes widen. “Shit, I forgot to mention that.” 

“Had you even remembered until now?” Vincent’s voice echos. 

“’What’s an’ elvater?” David chimes in. 

At the sound of the reaper, Fritz weakly pushes himself up as Scott helps him onto his shaking legs. Continues to slowly breathe as they make their way to where the leviathans wait. He realizes much too late how it’ll look to David, everyone freezing as a threatening growl turns into some distorted horrific noise due to the way everything echos. 

Before Scott can try and explain himself, Vincent gives David a solid whack on the back of the reaper’s head. “He’s fine. He looks like you when you eat a bad fish.”  David sputters. Stares at the ghost for a few moments. Wordlessly opens and closes his mouth a few times. 

Suddenly, Vincent’s lunged at as the reaper roars. Water rises up in a wave before falling onto the floor as the two vanish from sight. Instead of seeing the scuffle, they feel it as massive beings wrestle, the floors and walls shaking until it finally calms. 

They all look at Mike, who only shrugs. “He deserved it.” 

“Wh-Which one?” Jeremy pries. 

“Both.” 

With Fritz no longer shaking and more amused than anything, Scott cautiously walks closer to the moonpool they had been told about. Looks across the water to see a fairly large pool. But with Mike taking up a good portion, it’s clearly not big enough for three full grown leviathans to be in at once. No wonder the entire place shook. He’s surprised they even lasted as long as they did without a fight breaking out sooner. 

“Why was I expecting anything else?” Scott asks no one in particular. 

“You should definitely lower your expectations,” Mike smirks. “Have you fuckers seen the portal yet?” 

“Portal?” Fritz inquires. 

“Portal?” Jeremy squeaks. 

“Through there,” the leviathan points toward the other side of the room. “It’s in the back, ignore the stairs and you can’t miss it.” 

Despite Fritz’s excitement and Jeremy’s dread, they obediently follow Scott. He eyes the apparent stairs Mike was referencing, though they’re more like ramps. One’s without any sort of handrail. They are more than happy to ignore them to approach the last room. 

Scott jerks to a halt when he sees an arch standing before them. A familiar arch. One that looks exactly like the one on the other island. His island. 

This one isn’t dark, though. It’s glowing with a large distorted green swirl in the center. It’s been activated. 

“Are you okay, Scott?” 

He doesn’t answer. Can only numbly walk forward until he’s standing before the portal. A phasegate to be exact. Not like the ones Alterra builds, but there’s no denying it. 

Who turned it on?

“Scott,” Jeremy pleads. Stops the man from stepping into the archway. “What are you d-d-doing?” 

“It’s a phasegate,” he explains. It takes a great effort to turn away and address the two watching him with worry. Plasters a smile on his face. “It’s safe to travel through. I think I know where it goes, actually.” 

They don’t connect the dots. Realize it shouldn’t be possible for it to be one. Not if they’re the only humans on this planet. And maybe it’s better they don’t know someone’s been here. Has walked through these halls. Could be waiting for them just on the other side. 

But right now, Scott doesn’t have any proof. There’s a possibility this is the only phasegate that stayed on over however many centuries it’s been. A slim one but it’s possible. He needs to go through it to know. 

“I’m going to see what’s on the other side.” 

Jeremy stares at him for a moment, unsure what to say. Fritz hesitates, looking like he wants to protest before he nods. “You promise to be safe?” 

“I swear,” Scott agrees. “Wait here. If I don’t return in five minutes, tell Mike to bring you to the other island.” 

They nod, and he steps through. Stumbles out the other side as he catches himself on the arch, catching his breath as his insides writhe. The feeling of vertigo slowly but surely passes until he’s able to look up. Sees the familiar pillers and rock stretching high above his head. 

His assumption was right, this went to the island he found after his lifepod landed. Something that feels like it was lifetime ago. 

The only problem is the phasegate on his island hadn’t been active when he was last here. It was off, with no way to power it. Meaning the side where Fritz and Jeremy wait was off as well. But now it’s on, before they ever had the chance of flipping the switch themselves. 

So who turned on the phasegate?

[gayofthefae]

Proof by narrative structure rules and established but scattered canon facts:

Mike's queerness was canonized in season 4 episode 2 by four simple, canon facts, + and deductive reasoning proves only one remaining motive behind his defensiveness

Will self-sabotaging and Mike being lied-to ensured Byler endgame (link to longer version included) + @willelworld's post and the themes of lying being bad not aligning with Will's lie creating a happy ending

If season 5 ends the same as season 4, then there's no point to a season 5 (Byler proof)

El and Mike's separation in season 2's only purpose was to change Mike's feelings for El

The only purpose Will having feelings for Mike in the first place serves is a love story. His queerness could have been told without it. + As could Mleven's love story and every other plot. His feelings would have 0 impact on any character including himself.

Season 1 is a prologue. It's why vital to future lore characters like Will and Max can be completely absent without much effect...and why Mike and El's love story is completely contained within it.

For Mike and El to love themselves, Mike has to not love El - an analysis of themes

Mike's 4x02 behavior can't be just "filler", the season was so OVERfull that including it forced a high priority plotline to be stalled by *two episodes*

Mike and El's breakup was sealed the moment he promised her in season 1

Breakdowns:

Elmike's transition from needing each other (to wanting each other)

El, Mike, and Will's individual arcs by season

Mike is scared he won't be able to tell El he loves her in the van and the proof is in the fact that Will's words comfort him at all

Eleven has never needed anyone but Brenner, she just spent the series projecting that desperation onto other men - primarily Mike - until she could process it and let it go: a beat for beat (LONG) analysis on her character as a whole and how it's impacted every action she's taken in her relationships with both men and women (and herself)

Validation:

You're not crazy. I shipped Byler BECAUSE it's endgame, not the other way around

The Duffers aren't queerbaiting. They purposefully chose to lose money for years over Byler

This is how stupid their argument sounds if it ever starts getting to you, don't worry (me "successfully" arguing that Lumax and Jopper are just friends in season 4)

Buddie

Buddie as described by lines in the show about "true love"

Buddie timeline s2-6 (what the writers attempted to do, then their evident workarounds when they were denied)

[tomorrowusa]

Surprisingly, Speaker "MAGA Mike" Johnson is going out of his way to help Democrats. While some in the MAGA mob have been concentrating on hate speech and disparagement of Puerto Ricans, Johnson has been reminding voters of the MAGA intention to kill Obamacare.

Team Trump is already having a difficult week in the Keystone State thanks to a crude racist joke about Puerto Rico that one of Trump’s comedian buddies told at his wild Madison Square Garden rally, which is not going over well among the pivotal bloc of Puerto Rican voters in northeastern Pennsylvania. Now, Harris has gotten a helping hand in the same vicinity from none other than House Speaker Mike Johnson, as NBC News reports: «« House Speaker Mike Johnson took a dig at Obamacare during an event in Pennsylvania on Monday, telling a crowd there will be “massive” health care changes in America if Donald Trump wins the election. “Health care reform’s going to be a big part of the agenda. When I say we’re going to have a very aggressive first 100 days agenda, we got a lot of things still on the table,” Johnson, R-La., said in Bethlehem while campaigning for GOP House candidate Ryan Mackenzie, according to video footage obtained by NBC News. “No Obamacare?” one attendee asked Johnson, referring to the law Democrats passed in 2010, also known as the Affordable Care Act. “No Obamacare,” Johnson responded, rolling his eyes. “The ACA is so deeply ingrained, we need massive reform to make this work and we got a lot of ideas on how to do that.” »»

Yep, "no Obamacare" is part of the Donald Trump–Mike Johnson–Elon Musk agenda in keeping with Project 2025.

This is what killing Obamacare entails.

Taking a “blowtorch” to health-care regulations that ensure coverage for preexisting conditions and limit price discrimination probably isn’t what swing voters hope for in a Trump administration billing itself as offering a return to American greatness. And the Harris campaign is surely grateful that Trump’s loyal congressional ally is making it known. Could that be the “little secret” Trump cryptically said he and Johnson would reveal after the election? If so, the Speaker spilled the beans at the wrong place and the wrong time.

People casting so called "protest votes" against Democrats put themselves on the same side as reactionaries like Speaker Johnson who would turn the healthcare clock back to the 1950s.

Even worse, Trump would give anti-vaxxer conspiracy nut RFK Jr. a major role in a major role in shaping healthcare policy.

Trump’s plan to radically remake government with RFK Jr. and Elon Musk is coming into view

As bad as you think a second Trump administration would be, the reality will be far worse.

[pixiecaps]

okay so in the scenario that cucuruchos real reason for arresting pac and mike was because of the illegal items they acquired. SAYING THIS BECAUSE THEY DID SEEM INNOCENT AND I DON’T THINK THEY’D KIDNAP MR MUSTARD. then it would make sense for this all to be a massive setup by the federation. follow me here.

they first plant the seed of mr mustard being missing by placing the posters. this didn’t start because of the residents we know that. walter bob was the one placing the posters who later informed bad, foolish, and baghera about the capybaras being missing. along the way we get some vague hints that don’t lead to anything. (i can’t remember if tazercraft getting these illegal items was before or after the capybara supposedly went missing)

then comes the election dinner. where we see the chef nor confirm nor deny if the beef wellington is mr mustard. it just emoted when asked the question.

during this whole event there is a group hug which includes pac, mike, foolish, quackity, etc. and during this hug foolish gets teleported to the area of the white room specifically that hallway area. logically for the federation foolish is the most viable person to ask to do this. he cares about mr mustard so it fits their cover up plan. they tell him to arrest pac and mike because they were the ones who supposedly took mr mustard. obviously knowing how much mr mustard means to foolish. if their plan was to get somebody else to arrest tazercraft to make the entire arrest look less suspicious then they achieved it. everybody for a certain moment were all focused and distracted on the fact foolish was the one to do it. they got foolish to do the dirty work which in turn got the heat off of them for a moment. they probably also knew he’d agree considering his status with cucurucho was always.. interesting.

what really got me thinking was pac and mikes reaction to the arrest i think it points in the direction that they may in fact be innocent and most likely been set up by the federation. a fake arrest to distract the others from the real reason of the arrest perhaps? this to me raises the question of why they would want foolish to do this instead of themselves. why did cucurucho simply not go and arrest them itself especially since they had committed an illegal act. sure they may want to avoid the heat or being questioned by the islanders but their reputation is already down the drain with almost everybody. it would make more sense for cucurucho itself to be establishing order through arrests then sending foolish. especially considering everybody on the island can correctly assume who told foolish to perform the arrest. it’s not like the federation successfully avoided tarnishing their reputation through this whole process. the behavior is odd.

so all of this leads me to believe the federation most likely took mr mustard themselves, perhaps slaughtering him and serving him as beef wellington as a way to ensure he’d never be able to tell the others, and then used his disappearance as a ploy to later use foolish as a pawn. the federation knowing about the breakup with cucurucho they knew the target had to be mr mustard. so through foolish’s friendship with mr mustard they got him to side with the federation once more despite the breakup. he is the king of the capybaras after all. they knew he had to go along with it. and with all that set in motion cucurucho is able to capture tazercraft without lifting a finger. but yet again it only leaves me with one question: Why?

anyways this is just a silly analysis post of the federation behavior again!! all theories!! 😼

[starry-eyed-steve]

I wish S4 explored Nancy and her tendency to isolate. It feels weird to keep yourself apart from the only other people who know about the Upside Down, yet we know that she never hangs out with the others (excluding Jonathan) outside of world ending scenarios. I wish we saw that reflected in her interactions with the group; have her fumble interactions with the kids and have no idea how to approach Robin and Steve. Have her know how to plan but not where she stands with anyone anymore.

I don't think it is weird for Nancy not to hang out with the majority of the people who know about the Upside Down.

If you look at the group, we have 3 people her age. One is her ex she had a very messy breakup with, next we have her ex's bff who seemingly comes as a package deal with Steve and then we have her current boyfriend who also has negative emotions towards her ex. If I were Nancy I would also only hang out with my boyfriend.

And then we have Mike and his friends, which are younger than her and she doesn't share the same interests with them. I doubt she sees her younger brother and the party as mature enough to hang out or discuss problems with. Which is fine btw, I have a younger brother and never in a million years would I want to hang out with his friends. It's no secret that the Wheeler siblings aren't close and I'm fine with that tbh it seems like a realistic depiction of a sibling relationship, or at least I can relate to it so it seems realistic to me personally.

So there are no other people that she could hang out with. After s1, she had both Steve and Jonathan because there was no weird history between them, but after her breakup with Steve, she only had Jonathan. Both Nancy and Steve are barely friends, like they weren't friends before they dated, and after the relationship, both were hurt by the other person, which made staying in contact difficult. And idk if Nancy would love to hang out with Robin if she would bring Steve back into her life, when she showed no interest to be friends with him before s4. Nancy never went out of her way to get to know Robin because idk it seems messy to befriend your ex's bff.

But in general, I don't think Nancy only had Jonathan. She seems to be the kinda girl who can keep school friendships. Like she was fairly popular in the school paper. She had two off-screen friends that were mentioned in s2 who she was close enough to have sleepovers with, without Karen being surprised by it. So, to me, she can make surface-level friendships, but as soon as school is done, she won't contact them anymore.

I also think after her split with Steve and her getting together with Jonathan, her reputation greatly suffered. Like dumping the popular guy to get together with the school creep just looks bad. On top of that, Tommy and Carol would spread the nastiest rumors about her and Jonathan, like it was already teased a bit in s2. I would have liked to see the aftermath of it. What do her friends say? How does she feel about that? Does she develop an even stronger us against them mindset with Jonathan and thus isolate herself further?

But again the reason why she doesn't hang out with the people in the UD group is the messy history she has with her ex and in extension with her ex' bff who are together 24/7.

I agree with you. I would have loved to see Nancy struggling with finding her place within the teen group at least. That would mean to acknowledge the complicated feelings she has towards Steve and Robin and vice versa. But we don't have time and there are bigger things to worry about. But if she were the driving force to befriend Robin, the pay-off would have definitely been better than what we got. It would have ensured that Robin didn't act out of character, and it would give Nancy more depth and room to grow as a person.

I don't think she would fumble her interactions with the kids, like they hung out when she was younger and the kids like having her around in s3. I think if they would question her authority because she sees herself in charge, then I think there would be problems, but the kids mostly listen to everything she has to say. They admire and respect her, so really, I don't think the kids are the problem. And because she sees herself as the older sibling, she doesn't expect them to check up on her between seasons. She doesn't see them as her equal because they are younger and she wants to protect them, but that doesn't mean she would love spending time with them outside world ending scenarios. Only if she truly has to. She has her own life and interests.

[deviousdevilx]

When you realize Terry came back 35 years later to hurt Daniel like

Breakup was so bad in 85 he came back to do it again like atlest buy Daniel a bonsai tree first and don’t walk in with kreese behind you 🤨

Like the breakup was so bad for terry he got therapy but it all went out the window when he heard Daniel name

Literally told him you know you liked it in a damn convenient store with cereal behind Daniel head

Dude is down bad its actually funny because it so real because I would be obsessed with Daniel to I actually am because he is adorable

But like the man be kicking his feet and twirling his ponytail and beating Daniel rivals up and burning down a furniture store just because Daniel didn’t forgive him for there toxic relationship in 85 that terry totally fucked up

I don’t think he knows how relationships work or he does but he does in his own style

Well he didn't come back to hurt Daniel though, as much as I enjoy watching season 4/5 with Silverusso goggles on, honestly I feel like his toying with Daniel was just a bonus in his grand goal of turning Cobra Kai into a national name or whatever. Making his own legacy, and that kinda does include Daniel, because I dunno if Terry ever really taught or was a sensei to someone before Daniel during the early days of Cobra Kai before he handed it off to Kreese?

His move into hurting Daniel only began with Daniel not accepting his shitty apology, genuine or not, the optics were BAD, I just don't see how someone as smart as Terry clearly is, thought that was the time and place to apologize. I do like the idea someone shared that maybe Kreese set him up to fail to ensure the apology was rejected (Daniel IS a hot head bless him) so, I do like that angle, but the show sometimes the writing choices confound me with how they write characters and their motivations.

Like something something, parallel between Kreese being Johnny's sensei, maybe Terry feels that connection with Daniel as his student, even as toxic and "fake" as it was, he clearly feels some way about Daniel that he doesn't for all the rest, and he gets rid of Kreese but Daniel, he likes to play with (and we gotta admit, Daniel did interfere, and had Chozen infiltrate Cobra Kai, and a lot of Terry's actions are REACTIONS to Daniel's moves. which is why when Daniel is like "i'm done" Terry is PISSED, like you bring in Chozen, have him come into my dojo pretending to be someone else, approach Mike, approach Stingray, and now suddenly it's too much you're gonna walk away? NOPE!) Not to say Daniel wasn't justified in his concerns and fears but I kinda side with Amanda that he should have left well alone.

I also think Terry likes that Daniel can't and won't stop coming after him, so another reason why he loses his shit during that fight is in a twisted way he doesn't like the idea of Daniel taking back some control over whatever the fuck that is happening between them. Daniel wants to disengage their game and Terry wants to keep playing. He wants that power and hold over Daniel's mind.

I dunno I'm tired but yeah whatever the show writers want us to think about their relationship feels muddy. Like villains being obsessed about their heroes is a common trope, and Terry does some off like a scorned lover/friend even though he was the one who ruined it in the first time.

[envihellbender]

Fic based on 11 from your Spotify Wrapped and any fitting TMA character/scenario

Oh no mine’s embarrassing. Teenagers by My Chemical Romance (I was feeling nostalgic. A lot.)

Characters: Gerard Keay and Mike Crew

Content: teenage AU

—

Gerard stepped outside of Mercury Caves, his preferred metal bar of choice, and picked up his cheap, disposable lighter he’d picked up from Tescos alongside his pack of 20 Lucky Strikes. He hated the taste but they fulfilled the habit he’d picked up at 16. He preferred being inside, the loud, heavy music dulling his thoughts as the guitar solos set off something pleasing in his brain. However, he knew if he didn’t have a cigarette break every hour it’d get far too overwhelming. He was almost enjoying the buzz of city sounds and cold air as he began daydreaming, letting his mind wander as he stared at his scruffy old Vans trainers. The sudden noise and awareness that someone was standing far too close to him shocked him like he’d shoved his fingers in a plug socket.

“So why’re you so special?” A well-spoken voice mumbled from beside Gerard, the accent caused his hackles to raise more than the surprise. He had grown to associate posher vernacular with certain powers in London. The tattoo just below his navel burned into his skin as he began to feel sick, confirming his suspicions. When he looked up he did a double take at who greeted him. Despite how sure of himself the young man sounded and the arrogant luck in his mismatched eyes of two different blues he wasn’t that intimidating. He was short, coming up to Gerard’s chest, and skeletal as if a gust of wind would cause him to topple over. He had lichenburg scars marring one half of his face and both of his arms. Gerard could only assume they also covered his chest beneath his striped t-shirt.

“Who said I was special, kid?” Gerard retorted. “Why are you out here? Isn’t it a school night?” He knew the comment was childish but the surprise had taken away the best that his snark could come up with.

“I’m 17 not 12,” the young man snapped. “What do you care how old I am?”

“Makes you underage mate,” Gerard pointed out. He took another drag of his cigarette. He stared at Mike as if daring him to ask for one. “And although this place ain’t that strict about it doesn’t mean I won’t tell ‘em to card you.”

“Why would they believe you?”

“What you mean the regular or the new kid who couldn’t ride the tall person rides at Alton Towers?” Gerard snorted. The young man let out a growl and went to kick Gerard’s shins, he caught it just in time and stumbled a little to the left.

“I don’t intend to go inside,” the lad mumbled, looking up and down the street. They were silent for a moment whilst Gerard sighed and began to feel sorry for the kid who’d been dragged into all of this.

“So. Take it your Fairchild’s new pet?” He eventually forced out, trying to be as respectful as his defences would allow.

“I’m not his pet,” the young man scowled.

“But you can now make people get vertigo so bad they shit out their kidneys and he makes you call him Papa or some shit?”

“Doesn’t make me do anything,” he mumbled. “You’re rude. I don’t care for it.”

“Whatever, I don’t care for Fairchild’s special little guy hounding me. So I guess we’re even.”

“Why don’t my powers work on you?”

“Ask Papa Fairchild.” The opening bass to Blood and Thunder by Mastadon hummed through the door and Gerard put out half his cigarette on the wall. “I’m going in. Fucking love this song.” He got to the door and turned his head. “If you come in though I will rat you out, alright dickhead?”

“You know, just because I can’t get at you now, doesn’t mean I won’t. Remember the name Mike Crew, because next time I come for you, you won’t be hiding behind mummy’s little shield,” Mike spat before leaving. The jibe certainly sounded better in his head, but it was enough to ensure Gerard’s shoulders stayed tense for quite some time.

[catwingsthespatula]

5, 19, 21 for the writing meta asks?

Thank you for the ask, friend! You sure do know how to pick these, huh 😂

5. What character you’re writing do you most identify with?

Thinking about the Jailbreak Squad, it’s funny, because Jon, Mike, and Karolina are the three I tend to relate to (and project on) the most, but like… in extremely different ways, because they’re very different people! And yet the things they do have in common are very much places I can relate: smart, stubborn, intense, autistic, nerdy, and incapable of doing anything with less than 110% commitment. There’s… I don’t know how to say it, a directness to them? Almost a purity, though not at all in the moral sense. What I mean is that they are what they are at all times and at full volume. You know they’re not being manipulative when they talk to you, not because they’d have any issue with it on principle, but because they’re just flat-out incapable. Sincere by lack of other options. Which is SUCH a me mood. It’s not that I wouldn’t lie to you, I’m just really bad at it…

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing?

Thistle, you know the answer to this question. You know all of the many answers to this question. However, as per your request, I will expose my faults to the world, because I love you and it will objectively be funny.

My characters breathe to express emotion way too often (this becomes especially annoying when I’m writing about characters who don’t need to breathe) (confession time: I established early on in A World of His Own that Jon still takes deep breaths to calm himself, even though he doesn’t need to, because I knew some would inevitably slip through even if I tried not to have him do that, so I decided to just give myself an excuse). In particular, people take deep breaths, or deep, shaky breaths, or deep, shuddering breaths… you get the picture. Like many writers, I overuse nods and head shakes. People also say or do things slowly a lot. (As you would imagine, people in my fics nod slowly far more often than they should.) I’m much too fond of the words “wry” and “rueful,” which probably says as much about the kinds of characters I gravitate towards as it does about my writing, but still. People “give” expressions or sounds (“she gave a shaky smile”) instead of just doing them. I do, in fact, overuse the phrase “in fact” in that particular construction. There’s more, but that’ll do for now.

As for tropes, plots, characters, et cetera… sorry, disclosing my word choice sins on this webbed site was quite enough oversharing for one night :)

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well in?

I’ve definitely imagined some Jailbreak Squad comics! You could do super fun things with perspective for the Vast people and Helen’s corridors, I bet, and Helen would have a great time interacting with panel boundaries/sound effects/etc. and ambiguously breaking the fourth wall. Jon is also an occasional fourth wall breaker, and you could do some really cool playing around with text boxes for him, I feel like? Incorporating speech into the images in various ways, having an entire panel background that’s just words, that sort of thing. I actually have some little scenes in my head as comics, including but not limited to “may the gods ensure your suffering,” “go to horny jail,” “SoL,” “squeaky,” the carnival not-date, and the Pacific Rim movie night idea we were talking about. I also think Do Not Ignore the Mermaids (for everyone who isn’t Thistle, Harriet and Oliver’s first meeting) could be FANTASTIC as a comic.

Once again, thank you for the asks, my dear! Hope my answers were satisfactory 🙂