#hes on my team always i just have to log in 2 see him. in fact i did log in today to see him. i played for ~6 hours and he was there

[kaeyapilled]

i miss kaeya

[fangirl-dot-com]

Chapter 20 - Backstreet's Back - All Right!

Why this sat in the drafts for so long, I do not know so I apologize to everyone! I've been super busy with college and haven't had time to write much...but here we are

Today was an ABSOLUTE fever dream and we all need a little somethin somethin. So I present to you - the backstreet boys (formula 1 edition)

RACES SKIPPED ARE CANADA AND SPAIN (side note - Arthur hasn't been able to be at a race since Monaco)

Haven't been able to say this in a while but I hope you enjoy! Remember that comments, questions, concerns, reblogs, and likes are always appreciated!! Love you all :D

TAG LIST IS CLOSED

You had gotten to the paddock super early once again. But that was only because Lando and Oscar has asked you to hang out, and you’d never skip out on some good times with your papaya friends. Andrea loved you and often let you sit in his office if you were bored. Actually, all of the team principals seemed to do that. 

Even Toto, which was weird considering you stole on of his driver’s car with his other driver. 

Like always, you found yourself killing some time by playing Subway Surfers. You were about to get a new high score when two shadows covered your screen, making your character get arrested. 

“Hey, you made me lose my score!” 

You were about to tear them a new one, but your face had a shocked look once you finally pointed your head up. 

“What the f-!” 

“Has anyone seen the kid?” was a question that Max did not imagine that he’d hear first thing in the morning when he arrived on Sunday. 

His eyes glanced to the corner that you were almost always in, listening to music. But, the corner was void of any rookie teammate. He looked toward Christian, who asked the initial question. 

“Have you checked her driver’s room?” 

The Brit sighed, “We checked her room, your room, hospitality, and even the Ferrari garage, Williams garage, and McLaren garage. No one has seen her, yet the log says that she’s already here because she tapped in at the entrance.” 

Well, Max was stumped. And he knew why Christian was wanting to see you. They were finally in the Red Bull Ring, the home race for the entire team. It was a big deal, and Christian didn’t want you to get overwhelmed. There was a lot on their shoulders. Charles had pole, but Max was right behind him. Charles was always strong in the Red Bull Ring, almost winning in 2019 and then winning in 2022. The Ferraris had done well the last two races, and you two needed to hold them off. Thankfully, you were right behind Max in P3, but Carlos was behind you in P4. A Ferrari sandwich if you will. 

Everyone was kind of counting on the both of you for a Red Bull 1-2. 

“Have you seen Vito or Mitch?” 

“We’re right here.”

The Dutchman turned around to see your race engineer and manager, but you were nowhere to be found. He opened his mouth to say something but Vito held out a hand. 

“Yes, we’ve already tried to call her and Arthur. Both phones went to voicemail.” 

“Oh god.” Max shivered. If you weren’t picking up, and your boyfriend wasn’t picking up. Well, he didn’t want to imagine what you were up to. Just as he was about to suggest looking in the garages again, Lando popped his head in. 

“Have any of you seen Bug? She was supposed to meet up with me and Oscar earlier and she never showed up!” the curly-haired Brit whined. 

Now, that had Max even more worried. You never skipped hanging out with your favorite Brit (after Christian) or Aussie. Before he was about to start getting a search party together, Mitch suddenly made a weird face. 

“Do any of you hear that?” 

The five went silent to try to hear whatever Mitch had heard. 

Lando’s face scrunched. “Sounds like the Backstreet Boys?” 

The group quickly walked over to the opening and didn’t know whether to be relived or just upright confused. 

Because there you were, holding a giant boombox (God only knows where you got that) with sunglasses on, with Arthur to your right and one Ollie Bearman to your left. The soundtrack was indeed Backstreet Boys, namely the 1997 hit song “Everybody.” 

As Max learned at Vegas, you definitely knew how to make an entrance. By now, most of the drivers had walked out of their garages to see the commotion. 

And much to Max’s surprise, Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber, and Jensen Button walked up to the three of you, giant smiles on their faces. The song had ended a bit ago, and you handed the now silent boombox back to the German. The Australian of the group gave both Ollie and Arthur pretty big hugs. 

“Well, Oscar lost his grid dad,” Lando said, earning a hit from said Aussie. 

“Hey! He was never my grid dad in the first place.” 

The now group of six made their way to the giant group of drivers, including but not limited to: Max, Lando, Charles, Carlos, Logan, Lewis, George, and Oscar (in no particular order). Arthur’s hand was behind your back as you enthusiastically talked to the very tall British brunet dressed in Ferrari red. 

“I cannot believe that you come here, apparently to see me, and say that you need to be in the Ferrari garage! Arthur’s even going to be in the Red Bull one!” they heard you whine as the group got closer. 

Ollie rolled his eyes. “That’s only because he’s your boy-oof. You did NOT have to hit me.” He glared down at you as he rubbed his side. 

“Yes I did.” Your arms crossed as you finally stopped in front of the giant group, who were all staring at you. “Hey guys, what’s up?” 

Lando mirrored your stance, even popping his hip out. “What’s up?” he jokingly mocking. “We were supposed to go to breakfast?” He pointed between him and Oscar. 

A look of realization glossed over your face as you looked at the papaya drivers. 

“Oooohhhh, yeah. Sorry. Uh, their fault?” You pointed at Ollie and Arthur, who both looked betrayed. 

“Our fault?” Ollie squawked. “You were the one who dragged us to breakfast!” 

“You had breakfast?” 

“Yes Lando, I had breakfast.” 

The younger Monegasque silenced you. “The big boys are talking. And then you dragged us to find Nico because you thought  he had a boombox.” 

“The big boys? Seriously Thur? I can take you any day.” You glared up at him. 

“Oh yeah?” He cocked an eyebrow and smirked down at you, getting in your face to really show the height difference. 

That’s it.

You suddenly jumped on him, bring him to the floor. The Max and Charles jumped into action, trying to get you separated. Ollie just watched with a giant grin on his face, laughing at the two of you. 

“Ollie, kindly shut up?” 

“Yes mom.”

The two of you were separated quickly, because you really didn’t have much malice toward your boyfriend. 

“I totally won.” 

“Kid, you lost horribly.” 

“Max, has anyone ever told you that you don’t have to say everything that comes to your mind?” 

Charles, Lewis, Lando, Oscar, Logan, and George all nodded in agreement while Max stared at them with wide eyes. 

“You all agree?!” 

“Can I have my drivers back please?!” Christian suddenly yelled, making everyone look at him. 

“Please take her. She’s rabid.” Arthur pushed you forward, making you take a swing at him (that he was ready for and dodged rather easily). 

You stuck your tongue out at him, before giving Ollie a hug and gently guiding him to Charles. 

Your finger pointed at the red-clad driver. “Take care of my son please, even if you are the enemy. He likes his sandwiches without the crust and needs a nap with his blanket in 5 hours.” 

“Gosse?”

“Aw you brought my blanket?” 

Ollie’s face flushed red as he realized everyone’s eyes were on him. Charles just looked worried as though someone just handed him an actual child and told him “good luck.” 

You turned to follow your team principal, who was muttering something about you giving him even more gray hairs every weekend. “By Ollie! Have fun!” 

The parade went by smoothly. You laughed a lot when Nico brought the boombox to the interviews. He had a lot of questions for you and Max, since it was the team race today, which made your anxiety skyrocket just a bit.

You and Arthur were able to have just a few minutes of alone time back in your driver’s room. 

Because this was a surprise race, Arthur didn’t have to work or be with his brother. So, he was all yours for the entirety of Sunday. However, your excitement didn’t last long as he told you that he had to go back to Switzerland for more testing right after. 

You sighed as you pressed your head against his chest, his arms around you. “If I had known that you’d be gone so much, I wouldn’t have called Seb and just have kept you as my WAG.” 

Arthur sadly smiled down at you. “I know chéri, but I like testing. It gives me a purpose.” 

Another sigh escaped your lips as you finally met his gaze. He cooed as he saw tears forming in your eyes. 

“What is wrong mon fille jolie?” 

You let a few tears escape, but they didn’t get very far as Arthur wiped them off as quickly as they fell. 

“I just miss you and I miss home,” you confessed, hiding your face in his neck as you stepped closer. Arthur gently brought you over to the couch and readjusted you so that you were just lying on his front. 

His hands gently ran through your hair. He knew you needed to be in the car soon, but he wouldn’t let you go without trying to console you. 

You continued, “And I know that we just had summer break not too long ago, but it wasn’t enough.” 

Arthur just listened, know you needed to spill to feel better. 

“Everyone is counting on me to bring in a 1-2 since it’s the home race. But the last two races weren’t the best. I barely got any points.” You muttered the last part, “I’m never going to win a race by now.” 

“Hey, none of that.” Arthur lifted your face so that you could look in his eyes. His were filled with determination. “Do you know how amazing you are? You podiumed at your first race and are fourth in the championship. As a rookie! You are incredible. Parfois j’aimerais que tu te voies comme je te vois.” (translation: Sometimes I wish you saw yourself as I see you.)

You huffed. “I still can’t understand you, but I’m hoping that was a compliment.” 

“It was.” 

He moved his head down to place a gentle kiss on your lips. At the contact, a sigh expelled from your nose. 

It felt so good to be so loved. 

If someone was to write a poem, about how Arthur looked at you and how you looked at Arthur, their pens would be void of ink and the stars would be shadowed by their words. 

The two of you were so lost in each other that a knock at the door scared you both and ended up with you on the floor. 

Mitch poked her head in before shaking it slightly. 

“I don’t even want to know what you were up to, but Y/n needs to get in the car.” 

You quickly stood, with Arthur’s help, and grabbed your helmet, making your way back into the garage. Like clockwork, the Monegasque took your headpiece and gently made sure that it was safely secure. And, with a kiss on the “forehead,” he sent you off. He could tell that you didn’t really want to get in the car. Which was understandable. It wasn’t very often that Arthur saw you not want to drive. But he knew that you were going to be amazing today. 

Starting Grid: 

Charles Leclerc 

Max Verstappen 

Y/n L/n 

Carlos Sainz 

Oscar Piastri 

Pierre Gasly 

Daniel Ricciardo 

Lewis Hamilton 

Yuki Tsunoda 

Alex Albon 

Lando Norris 

Logan Sargeant 

Valtteri Bottas 

Fernando Alonso 

George Russell 

Lance Stroll 

Zhou Guanyu 

Kevin Magnussen 

Esteban Ocon 

Nico Hulkenberg 

You rolled your tires as you waited for the lights to go out. They were tense, but that helped you be ready to press the accelerator. If you weren’t tense, you knew there’d be something wrong. If you felt high-strung outside of the car, inside was 10 times worse. 

All the pressure, all the doubts, all the hopes and dreams – were on your shoulders. 

And you weren’t going to let them down. 

“And it’s lights out and away we go for the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix! Charles Leclerc has a strong start in the initial few seconds, but Max Verstappen seems to be on a mission to turn this into a win. Verstappen gets down the inside and pushes Leclerc a bit wide to gain a position on the pole sitter. We both know that he will probably start to bolt in just a few corners. 

“His rookie teammate Y/n L/n seems to also have the upper hand against the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz as she seems to do what she does best – go around the outside on that initial turn 1 and somehow make it out in front. 

“Now the track is a bit rainy, and we saw what happened the last time that happened, so we’ll keep an eye on our Red Bull number 2.” 

You felt water droplets fall into your visor as you were picking up speed on the Ferrari in front of you. You knew that this “dirty air” would be much worse than regular, since it was contaminated with water as well. 

You pressed your radio button when it seemed almost impossible to catch up to the red car. The rain had also stopped so your intermediates were getting dangerous to drive with. 

“Mitch what is the plan because I cannot catch up to Leclerc in these conditions.” 

“Do you think you can go the rest of the way in mediums?” 

You thought for a moment. You couldn’t go the rest of the way on softs, as they would degrade too quickly. And hards took forever to warm up. 

“Yeah. I can do that.” 

“Then box ahead of Max. You’ll come out right behind him. So, he’ll give you a tow and then when he boxes, you’ll do the same. Max has priority.” 

“Copy.” 

You quickly pitted the next lap. The Red Bull team seemed to be on fire as you were in and out in a few seconds. You didn’t know, but they somehow set the record for a new pit stop – 1.789 seconds. 

The crowd got excited as you suddenly appeared behind Max and in front of the number sixteen car. 

With Max in front of you, the tow was very helpful as you started to build bigger gap. You guessed that Ferrari must have messed up Charles’s pit stop as Lando’s papaya car was now behind you, instead of Charles. 

You felt bad, but that’s on his team. 

However, Lando was on much fresher tyres that you were, and he was gaining in the last ten laps of the race. You really tried to not let him overtake, but he did…with five laps to go.

Mitch suddenly came over the radio. “Don’t push it like last time. We don’t need another Suzuka. Third place will be just fine.” 

But you weren’t having any of that. You never responded and just kept at the pace you were going, trying to get the maximum out of the car. 

You hadn’t noticed, but everyone else in the garages could see that you were surprisingly gaining on Lando. Ollie watched as you were making qualifying times per lap. The crew was holding on to each other, cheering you on. With each tenth gained, the noise grew louder. 

You saw the last lap flag, and you knew you had to keep your elbows out. 

“And we are coming up on the last lap and L/n has somehow made it back into Norris’s DRS. She tried to get around the outside on the first turn, but is not successful. Yet, she’s keeping herself well in the DRS and doesn’t make try to make a move on the straights. 

“Here comes the last real corner of the circuit and only a small straight for an overtake. 

“SHE’S GOING FOR IT!

“IT’S A PHOTO FINISH…DO WE HAVE RESULTS?” 

You slowed down your car as you drove around for the cool down lap. Your finger was jamming the radio button. 

“Do we have it!?” 

Arthur was biting his fingernails as everyone in the garage was waiting for the results. The mechanics were happy with another P1 finish from Max, but they were on baited breath to see if you had almost done the impossible and finished in a 1-2 sequence. A steward walked over to the pit wall and gave Christian the paper with the results.

A giant smile crossed his face as he was the one to give you the news. 

“Congrats kid. It’s a 1-2 finish.” 

Race Results 

Max Verstappen – 25 points 

Y/n L/n – 18 points 

Lando Norris – 15 points 

Charles Leclerc – 12 points 

Carlos Sainz – 11 points 

Pierre Gasly + fastest lap – 9 points  

Oscar Piastri – 6 points 

Lewis Hamilton – 4 points 

Yuki Tsunoda – 2 points  

Alex Albon – 1 point 

Logan Sargeant 

George Russell 

Lance Stroll 

Fernando Alonso 

Nico Hulkenberg 

Valtteri Bottas 

Esteban Ocon 

Kevin Magnussen 

Zhou Guanyu 

Daniel Ricciardo 

Champions Standings

Max Verstappen – 244 points 

Charles Leclerc – 201 points 

Y/n L/n – 124 points 

Lando Norris – 115 points 

Carlos Sainz – 91 points 

Lewis Hamilton – 70 points 

Oscar Piastri – 68 points 

Alex Albon – 39 points 

George Russell – 36 points

Fernando Alonso – 35 points 

Logan Sargeant – 29 points  

Daniel Ricciardo – 23 points

Lance Stroll – 15 points 

Pierre Gasly – 12 points 

Yuki Tsunoda – 8 points 

Nico Hulkenberg 

Kevin Magnussen 

Zhou Guanyu 

Valtteri Bottas 

Esteban Ocon 

Constructors Standings 

Red Bull – 383 points 

Ferrari – 292 points 

McLaren – 194 points 

Mercedes – 106 points 

Aston Martin – 50 points 

Williams – 41 points 

Alpha Tauri – 31 points 

Alpine – 12 points 

Alpha Romeo 

Haas 

“OH YEAH BABY. LET’S GO!” you yelled over your radio. The crew in the garage stood up from their seats and began to hug each other. 

“Oh man, that was, wow! Can’t believe that. Great job everyone. Is this what winning feels like?” you asked as you took the cooldown lap, yet there was no answer. Everyone was too busy watching that final overtake and celebrating about it. 

Arthur just watched your car take a lap on the screen. He softly whispered, “I knew you could do it.” The love in his eyes could have poured out if love was a physical thing. 

Mitch came over the radio as you were beginning to pull in. “And congrats kid. You have surpassed Lewis Hamilton’s rookie point record.” 

“LET’S GO! THAT'S THE SHIT!” 

“You really need to stop hanging out with Max all the time. He’s teaching you bad words.” 

You smirked under your helmet. “I’m a girl whose friends are dominantly male. Mitch you even curse over the radio.” 

Max almost didn’t want to look at whatever car was in the second place spot. He knew you’d be devastated if you weren’t there. Last he knew, Lando was behind him with you on his tail. It was your helmet that caught his attention. His body turned to see you standing on your car in the P2 spot. 

His heart dropped, but in a good way. He watched you jump off and jump into the arms of the crew. Head pats were definitely deserved as you tried to touch as much of the team as possible. He laughed when you purposefully hung off the banner, just to get closer to the crew who were a bit further back. 

He watched you and Mitch hold out your arms (kind of like Lando and Carlos at the Singapore Grand Prix), mirror each other, and then hug it out. He swears he saw the older lady wipe away a few tears. 

Next was Christian, who gave you a big hug as Max finally made his way to the wall of crew. It was his turn for hugs, high-fives, and helmet pats. 

You had just gotten to Arthur, who held onto you a bit longer than everyone else. 

Just for the two of you, he whispered, “If you didn’t have you helmet on, I’d kiss you right here in front of all these people.” 

Your cheeks were bright red under the helmet.

Ollie, who had been able to escape from the prancing horse, had also come to congratulate you. His hug was a tag shorter than Arthur’s, but you knew he did it to make your previous hug not look as suspicious. 

You had been on the podium time and time before, but this felt different. You don’t know if it was the adrenaline, the sun, or the happiness that ran through you veins that made the trophy a bit lighter or the bubbly a bit sweeter: maybe it was all three. 

You were still hungry for a win, starving, but this was just the snack to tide you over.

Down below, Arthur and Ollie had somehow gotten a hand on the boombox once again. You could barely hear it on the podium, but you had a guess. Suddenly, the music screeched to a halt, making everyone confused. You watched as your two boys had a knowing smirk on their faces. The same smirk slowly crept on your face as well. 

You turned to Max and Lando, who looked equally confused. You held your trophy to your lips, as though it were a microphone. You pointed at the two men, and lip-synced the words. 

“BACKSTREET’S BACK -  ALL RIGHT!” 

redbullracing has posted

redbullracing 1-2 in the house! The Red Bull Ring was shining as our drivers carried home two new trophies! Congrats to y/n.89 for her first record as she surpasses Lewis Hamilton's rookie points with 124 points total!

liked by y/n.89, maxverstappen, lewishamilton, and 4,203,893 others

y/n.nation THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT

y/n_on_top that fight for the win will go in the history books mark my words

landonorris please tell your drivers to slow down so the rest of us can have a chance

charles_leclerc I second this y/n.89 idk, you all just sound like misogynists here... maxverstappen1 what she said

lewishamilton I knew someone would have to beat it. congrats kid

y/n.89 thank you Lew! (someone should take notes ahem landonorris) landonorris sure bug, sure

redbullfan 1-2! 1-2! 1-2!

y/n.lover she is legit currently in p3 for the constructor's championship...what do they feed her?

y/n.89 the tears of my enemies (Charles cries a lot) charles_leclerc HEY redbullracing lots of energy drinks and protein!

arthurxy/n Arthur back in the rb garage - too bad ollie couldn't join them

y/n.89 has posted

y/n.89 my boys are BACK

liked by y/n.nation, boxbox_express, change_ur_f-car, and 85,395 others

y/n&co God I've seen what you've done for others

rookiefan I kinda feel bad for her boyfriend...but at the same time Arthur is more than happy to show her off (her bf needs to take notes!!)

olliebearman MOM ON PODIUM

y/n.89 did you have a nice nap? olliebearman yes until charles_leclerc forgot my blanket y/n.89 when I find you charles_leclerc arthur_leclerc Charles you better run charles_leclerc HE'S 18?? WHY DOES HE STILL NEED A BLANKET AND NAP y/n.89 you're 26???? why do you still need to call my teammate goodnight? lestappenlove and I OOP

prema_y/n anywayyyyy the second pic is hilarious

Arthur.nation thur is glowing, wonder if he has a gf??

arthurgirly4life I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE

boxbox_express the trio no one knew we needed, but the trio that we deserve

arthur_leclerc has posted

arthur_leclerc a driver, a reserve driver, and an endurance driver walk into a bar...

liked by thurthur, ferrari_fanfest, porsche, and 102,284 others

arthur4porsche this makes no sense but it's hysterical??

y/n.89 ollie actually smacked his head on the bar

olliebearman YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T TELL - DAD, MOM IS MAKING FUN OF ME AGAIN arthur_leclerc it was funny? olliebearman grandpa? charles_leclerc yes? olliebearman not you, you forgot my blanket. the better one maxverstappen1 take that Charles

arthur&crew if max and Charles are grandpa...does that make Christian great-grandpa??

christianhorner sadly yes y/n.89 SADLY?? YOU MADE HIM CRYYYY charles_leclerc w o w , could never at Ferrari y/n.89 Charlie, you cried yesterday

redbullracing maybe the driver should become our photographer?

olliebearman has posted

olliebearman why is it that when we're together, we're always eating??

liked by ferrari, y/n.89, logansargeant, and 83,294 others

olliebear WHAT ARE THESE PICTURES I'M DYING

arthur_leclerc blocked and reported for that last picture

olliebearman why? trying to look good for someone?? arthur_leclerc say goodbye to the blanket olliebearman too late, your brother lost it :( arthur.nation HELLO??

y/n.89 I look sexy

olliebearman your boyfriend sure thinks so :D y/n.89 what Arthur said, blocked and reported

prematrio what are these comments??

y/n&co shhhhh just let them

oscarpiastri guess the invites got lost in the mail??

landonorris same here... y/n.89 you weren't in prema? kimi.antonelli thanks for the food mom! olliebearman brother? maxverstappen1 here we go again

change_ur_f-car what a time to be alive

TAG LIST: @fionaschicken @glitterquadricorn @laura-naruto-fan1998 @treehouse-mouse @sam-is-lost @kagatinkita @fangirl125reader @megatrilss1885 @myxticmoon @angsthology @cmleitora @agent-curt-mega @graciewrote @ashy-kit @slutofmultifandom @aexitizen-ln4 @sugarvibez @vellicora @thatgirlthatreadswattpad @cashtons-wife @hoetel-manager @xcharlottemikaelsonx @jayda12 @ilove-tswizzle @justme2042 @itsjustkhaos @nikfigueiredo @stopeatread @cha-hot @sadg3 @iloveyou3000morgan @s4turnsl0ver @alessioayla @torchbearerkyle @leptitlu @awekbachira @shreks-sugar-daddy @v1naco @stan-josie @mellowarcadefun @badassturtle13 @beskardroids @callisposts @poppyalice2001 @juniper-july19

[joeybsversion]

Trouble

Joe Burrow x Reader

Your friends and family aren’t fond of Joe

“Seriously, he’s trouble. I can’t believe you’re going out with him.” Your friend scoffed, turning off the end of the Bengals game.

“He’s not trouble!” You defend him. “Really, he’s a nice guy!”

“Oh really? Is that why you’ve refused to tell your parents you’re dating him?”

“They’re just not big Bengal fans. It has nothing to do with Joe.” You lied as your friend rolled her eyes.

You had been secretly dating Joe Burrow, the Cincinnati Bengals Quarterback for 7 months now. It’s true, most people weren’t fond of Joe. He comes across as cocky, rude, and privileged. Plus his current bad boy edit doesn’t help much. Joe had recently gotten himself into trouble. He’s found a love for partying, blowing his money, and being reckless. All causing excess fame and a negative spotlight, something you wanted to avoid.

“Are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he got suspended from games for legal trouble? Or has shown up to practice violently hungover?”

“How’d you hear about that?” You questioned.

She laughed, “It’s all over the news. He’s gonna get himself into some real trouble and not have a career here soon.”

“He’s working on turning things around. Really. I swear.” You do your best to defend him again. You seem to be doing that a lot lately. “Plus we’ve only been seeing each other for a few months. I’m just having fun.”

“I know, and I’m happy for you. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” She reaches out and takes your hand. “But I know none of that is going to change your mind, so go have fun tonight.”

“I love you. If my mom asks, I’m here!” You remind her and head out the door, “Your pizza should be here soon and I logged into my Netflix account!” You figured if your friend has to spend the night posted up in her room to cover for you, you might as well take care of her.

You hopped into your car and headed over to Joes house, he was throwing a party after the game. Joe’s parties were always fun, usually a little wild, and typically ended with the police kicking people out and shutting things down. As much as Joe was trying to work past his bad boy edit, he couldn’t help it. He’s young and having fun.

The loud music from Joe’s house is rattling your car as you pull into his driveway. He’s outside on the porch with some teammates smoking a cigar.

As you walk through his thick cloud of smoke and clear the air in front of your face with your hand, Joe pulls you into a hug.

“There’s my baby.” His words slurred, you’re unsure if it’s from alcohol or the thick cigar pressed between his lips.

“Hi, Joey.” You wrap your arms around his waste and snuggle into his chest. “Good game, congrats on the win.”

He pulls the cigar from his mouth, “I want you to come to the next one.” He smiles.

“Me? At the game? Isn’t it in a different state?” You question, suddenly nervous. You and Joe had been casually dating, nothing was public yet.

“The next home game.” He laughs, blowing a thick cloud of smoke over your head. “2 weeks.”

“I’ll think about it.” You try and reassure him.

“Think about it?” He asks offended.

“Well, yeah..I don’t… I’m not sure…” you feel his arms drop from around you. “I’m not sure I’m ready to go public yet.” You nervously tell him.

“It’s a football game. Not a red carpet.” He says annoyed.

“I know but…”

He cuts you off “It’s fine. Don’t come.”

“Joe I want to!” You reassure him.

“Seems like it.” He scoffs before heading inside, you following close behind.

“Joe I do! Really, there’s nothing I’d love more! I just still haven’t told many people about us, and you know, you haven’t had the best press lately and I don’t want to mess that up anymore for you and I just worry that-“

He presses the cigar to your mouth “take this.” He laughs cutting you off. “I’m sorry about the press. I’m working on it. Tomorrow I have a fun event at the elementary school. Next week, the high school. And the whole team is volunteering at the blood drive. Nothing but positive press up until the game.”

“Wow, what’s next? Taking a shift at the old folks home? Serving in the soup kitchen?” You tease.

He rolls his eyes, “So are you coming to the game or not?”

“I guess you better find me a Burrow jersey, because I’ll be there.” You smile.

The rest of the night is a blur. Lots of drinks, lots of dancing, too many sweaty bodies, and even louder music. You wake up the next morning tangled up in bed with Joe. His heavy arm around your waste and soft breathing on the backside of your neck. You slowly loosen his grip and start to make your way out of bed.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He grumbles, barely audible.

“Home.” You slip your shoes on. “And you need to get up too. Your elementary school meet and greet starts in 45 minutes.” You sit down on the side of the bed again. “I don’t think the elementary school principal appreciates his guest of honor showing up smelling like a mini bar.”

“You’re probably right.” He slowly starts to sit up. “I’ll reserve some spots for you for the game.” He says. “Any request on where you want to sit?”

All the nerves come back. “Doesn’t matter.” You smile at him, wishing you could avoid the game all together. It’s not that you were ashamed to be with him, you were just anxious about what people, especially your parents will say. “I’m gonna get out of here.” You quickly excuse yourself, not sure if the sudden butterflies in your stomach are from drinking too much, or the next home game.

You call your best friend on your way and tell her all about the game.

“You’re gonna have to tell your parents.”

“I can’t! They will freak if they find out I’ve been dating him!”

“So are you going to keep your relationship a secret forever?”

“I don’t know I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

“Well scratch that thought, it’s not a secret anymore.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Check your phone.”

As you pull in your parents drive way, you pull out your phone to see a news article your friend sent you, a picture of you and Joe is on the front page. “Where did you find this?” You panicked.

“I was just checking E! News. It looks like every major magazine is covering it now!”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” You sigh, “I have to tell them now. I’ve got to go, but I’ll call you later. I’ll probably need some support.”

“Good luck!” She says and ends the call.

“You’re WHAT?” You dad hollers, slamming down the news paper he was reading.

“Dad, he’s a nice guy. Really I -“

“No. The little romance you guys having going on is over. I can’t believe this. You’re such a good girl, why would you want to be with someone like him?”

“He’s nothing like what the press makes him out to be. He’s actually really kind, and supportive, and is volunteering a lot for the community.”

“I don’t care if he’s the president. You are not being seen with someone like him.”

“About that..”

“What?”

“Well the news got pictures of me at his house last night and leaked a story.” You hide your face in your hands.

“At his house?” Your mom questions. “So you’ve been lying to us? Clearly he’s a bad influence to be hanging around.”

“I lied because I knew you would react like this. You’re not even giving him a chance.”

“I’ve never seen you defend someone like this. What is going on?”

“I’m…”

Your dad crosses his arms across his chest “I’m in love with him. And I’m going to be with him and support him no matter how you feel. You don’t know him like I do.”

“I’ve never seen you fight for someone like this.”

“Because, I love him.”

Your dad sighs, “I don’t know if I like the sound of that. But I’m willing to give him a chance. Why don’t you invite him over.”

“Really?!”

“Like I said,” he pauses, “I’m not crazy about him, but I can tell that you, and for that reason, I want to get to know him.”

A few hours later, Joe shows up on your front porch and confidently knocks on the front door.

“Hi Joey.” You greet him with a smile and hug. “You look great… did you iron your shirt?” You tease him, brushing a hand across his perfectly pressed shirt.

“Steamed it actually.” He smiles, “I wanted to make a good impression.” He nervously takes your hand and follows you into the house.

“Mom, Dad, this is Joe.” You awkwardly present him to your parents.

He politely shakes their hands and takes a seat at the table next to you.

You feel his hand find its way to your thigh, his palms are sweaty, and his fingers are nervously tapping across your leg. You reassuringly take his hand into yours and lightly rub across the top and share a confident smile.

At the end of dinner, you and Joe excuse yourselves and you walk him to the porch.

“They loved you.” You kiss him.

“I’m so relieved.”

“My dad even wants to go to the game with me!”

He laughs, “I’ll get extra tickets.”

Relieved that your parents were pleased with Joe, you walked him out, he kissed you goodnight, and you sent him on his way home.

It’s official and the world knows, you’re in love with Joe Burrow.

[auspicioustidings]

Ae Fond Kiss - Part 1

Winsome Wee Thing

Summary: This is the start of a story from this concept. You fall in love and you learn loss more ways than one. Words: 3.9k TWs: major character death (temporary), miscarriage

Parts: 1 2 3

You and your boyfriend's Lieutenant disliked one another immensely and immediately. 

For you it wasn’t so much that the hulking idiot was in a balaclava, although you found the skull pattern so teenage boy edgy that it caused a cringe deep enough to feel right through your molars, it was the obvious dismissal he had for you. For Simon it wasn’t so much that Johnny’s newest pretty little bit was a smart arse, although he could practically feel the ‘not like other girls’ radiating off of you in waves, it was the obvious disdain you had for him. The first impression set the tone for what became a horrid relationship.

–

“This is my Lieutenant, they call him Ghost but I believe he prefers to be called-”

“That’ll do.”

There was something about the way he cut the puppy dog that was your boyfriend off that riled you a little. 

“Nice to meet you, Ghost. Is that your gamer tag or something?”

“Never been one for games. You a gamer girl?”

“Not enough to have such a cool nickname.”

“Oh I���m sure we could come up with a nickname that would suit you princess.”

Gaz, who you did like, spent the rest of the night meditating while Johnny remained clueless to the simmering hostility between the two of you. Price didn’t really seem to know what to make of it all, but you found you had a natural respect for the Captain and as time went on, he was the one that could always tell you and Ghost to knock it off if he could see a fight brewing.

–

Johnny had been so excited to introduce you to his team and his team to you and the only thing you and bonehead could seem to agree on was that you would pretend to be civil when Johnny was around. So the jokes were underhanded but could be brushed off as humour, the vitriol was kept for when his back was turned, the eventual birthday presents were tactfully meant to appear innocent but actually be biting insults and the all out war that was had around a pool table was played off as healthy competition. 

If it has been anyone but John MacTavish you’d have dumped him purely so you would never have to see Simon Riley again, but fuck you fell hard and fast for Johnny. You didn’t even fully remember your first meeting. It had been a blind date and you thought you had been stood up so got well past merrily drunk at the bar of a nice restaurant. You had not been stood up, your date had broken down in the snow and in the hours you had been drinking the flurries had become a full blizzard. But that wasn’t going to stop Johnny. In the middle of a backroad with a blizzard beating down and no signal to call he had hiked his ass all the way to you, getting there just in time to catch you wobbling out the door. 

He had been a gentleman, hadn’t taken advantage. You woke up the next day with a handsome man bringing you breakfast in bed and apologising profusely for the whole thing. He had slept on your couch and admitted sheepishly that he had walked you home. From what little you did remember, you had made it difficult by starting a snowball fight and wanting to make snow angels every 5 minutes. You remembered the scent of pine and a roaring fire that enveloped you when he had bundled you in his jacket, breathing in and being transported to a log cabin in the Scottish highlands in winter, safe and drinking something warm with a hint of whiskey. 

If you hadn’t already been falling for him after his bashful teasing that morning, you were flung head first into it when you spent the next week looking after him when his gallantry earned him the worst cold known to man. He was a big baby when he was sick and that combined with the terrible sense of humour that he had made you desperate to learn more about him. 

–

“Ye cannae be mean tae me, I’m naw long for this world!”

For such a large man, he really was like a little kid bundled up in blankets and whining.

“Uh huh, that’s very valid and very sad but you still need to take your medicine.”

“I was never any good at swallowing, maybe ye can give it tae me as a suppository.”

Ridiculous man.

“Aww come on, swallow like a good boy and maybe we can talk about that suppository when you’re better.”

“Fuck, where have ye been all my life?”

His loopy grin nearly made you plant a kiss on his lips regardless of how ill he was, but instead you just ruffled his hair when he knocked back the pills and wondered how you were ever going to keep from loving this man.

–

The second date he had left you with a fond kiss at the doorstep after a wild night of earning enough tickets at the arcade to win him a little plush skull toy. He had been obsessed with it when he had first seen it, had told you he needed to win it for his Lieutenant. You thought that was adorable and had put your frankly suspiciously good reflexes to work absolutely rinsing the whack a mole for every ticket you could get from it. Of course had you known then that Simon Riley was the biggest ass on the planet you’d have hoarded your tickets and gotten 300 packets of Haribo instead (or so you’d like to think, but you knew deep down you could never have denied Johnny knowing how bright he smiled when he had traded the tickets for that stupid plush).

By the third date you wanted him so badly that you felt like a bitch in heat. You started to think that maybe you were making a fool of yourself with how calm he seemed whenever you sneaked a touch or whispered a filthy promise. God you liked him so much, it was killing you that maybe he didn’t feel the same. You needn’t have worried as it turned out, date number 3 was when John MacTavish had completely ruined you in a way you had not expected.

–

“This was really nice” you said, a bit embarrassed if you were honest and avoiding his eyes after he walked you to your front door.

You had been a menace the whole evening. You had never been some sex kitten but fuck he just brought it out in you without even trying. He probably thought you were ridiculous now with how you had tried to be all sultry the whole way through dinner. Fuck, your hands had wandered something awful during the movie as well and you felt the humiliation from it burn from your ears to your toes. He didn’t want you the way you wanted him and you had pathetically thrown yourself at him. He probably couldn’t wait to lose your number. 

“Open the door.”

Shit. He sounded almost angry. The first guy you had really liked in a long time, maybe ever, and you had totally blown it by being over eager. You shakily unlocked your door and blew out a breath, prepared to go inside and cry over a glass of wine. Instead you were grabbed by the waist and slammed against the door to close it behind you so fast it made your head spin. 

John MacTavish’s tongue was down your throat and he had your wrists pinned above your head in a bruising vice grip. You had only just found the sense to kiss back when his lips were gone and instead his teeth were sinking into the delicate skin of your throat. The whine you made at that was all animal, as was his answering growl. 

“Next time ye misbehave like that I’m going tae bend ye over the dinner table and fuck ye hard and proper in front of all those nice, fancy people.”

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. You had never gotten so wet so fast in your life. The nice lace panties you had on under this dress were soaked right through. He bit off a curse and your legs nearly gave out when he suddenly let you go and backed right off, dragging a hand roughly through his hair. 

“Fuck, sorry. Dinnae hate me, I wanted tae… our first time I mean, I had it all planned oot. Which makes me sound like a creepy, presumptuous bawbag. And now I’m being a fucking reprobate and pinning you tae the door without even asking first.”

Oh my God. You could not just fall in love with a man after 3 dates. And yet looking at his blown out eyes, how his body thrummed with barely contained lust for you and how he nearly vibrated with the effort of holding himself back because he wanted to treat you right… you had fallen in love with a man after 3 dates. 

“I thought…” you said, your hand coming to rest on your flushed chest as you tried to find the words. “I mean at dinner and then at the movie, I um… well I wanted you to, you know. I thought maybe you didn’t want to? Which is fine obviously. I mean if you didn’t want to.”

The whiplash from going from lust to humiliation to lust and back to embarrassment was not something you were enjoying. You looked at him, he looked at you and after a few long moment the two of you burst into laughter. What a bloody pair you made. He came over and wrapped you in his arms, that wonderful scent that just gave you a feeling of contentment deep in your bones sinking into you.

“I want to. Was hard for the whole film, couldnae move that popcorn bucket or someone was getting an eye oot. Wanted tae spank ye red raw for all that teasing” he confessed into your hair, so sincere and blunt about it that you weren’t sure your pussy was likely to forgive you if you didn’t go out of your way to tease him next time. 

“Wanted?”

He laughed, probably because you sounded somewhat like a petulant child, and leaned back, hands going to gently cup your face. Looking into his eyes felt like a gentle falling. Falling into a warm bed on a cold morning after a hot coffee, falling into the first fresh powdery snow of the year, falling in love with a man you hardly knew but felt so much like coming home. 

“Was planning on asking ye tae come with me up North. Got a nice cabin in the Highlands that I usually rent oot since my Captain is always going on about having a backup plan. Want it tae be perfect.”

“You don’t have to go to all that trouble.”

Nobody ever had before. In your somewhat limited experience men wanted to get to fucking as soon as they could and while a few had made sure you came first, none had ever put much thought into getting you into bed in the first place. It just sort of happened. You would never have said you were insecure, but at that moment you felt the crushing weight of feeling that you didn’t deserve this man making such a grand gesture just to get inside you. You already wanted him. And there was no way he wasn’t experienced, how would you ever be good enough to warrant all the effort he was going to?

“Hey, look at me beautiful” he said quietly, thumbs rubbing soothingly across your cheekbones and coaxing your eyes back to his. “I really like you.”

Those four words ruined you entirely. John MacTavish put his heart out there with such simplicity that it stunned you. He could have thrown you on the bed and fucked you rough and savage and you’d have enjoyed it, but instead here he was butting his forehead lightly on yours in affection despite his evident arousal because he wanted more than that. 

“I really like you too.”

Instead of fucking, he held you while you cried like a baby, overwhelmed by the care he took with you. He only made it worse when he whispered to you how you deserved to be treated with adoration. He called you beautiful, bonnie thing, mo leannan, winsome wee thing (that one made you laugh). He refused gently when you wanted to take care of him that night, instead laying you down softly on the pillows and lapping between your legs to bring you to slow orgasm after slow orgasm until you were boneless and sated, slurring your speech as he bundled you in his arms and you spoke about everything from your childhood pets to your great hopes and dreams until you drifted off into the best sleep of your life.

–

Your first time with him inside you was in that cabin like he had wanted and it had been the most perfect few days of your life. He had made sure you felt safe and comfortable, insisting you gave the location to your friends and going over maps of the area with you, pointing out where you’d need to go to get signal to check in with them. He bought ingredients for all of your favourite meals and stopped for a snack run on the way to boot. He showed you his test results but stressed that he was putting no pressure on you either way and if you did want to have sex he would have condoms if you preferred. And after all that he made it clear that you did not have to have sex with him if you didn’t feel like it. Johnny would be happy to just hold you for a weekend. As soon as you arrived he taught you how to use the sat phone if there was an emergency. The voice on the other end was gruff but soothing somehow, safe sounding (that at least was something that never changed about Simon, despite not liking the man, you always felt safe with him).

You were ready to explode by the time he finally laid you in bed. He stroked deep and slow inside of you, steady and solid and torturous. You understood then the difference between fucking and making love. It was the first time anyone had ever shown you the latter. 

He then proceeded to show you the former in great detail on every surface inside the cabin and on quite a few outside. Your pussy was battered and your clit bruised in the most delicious ways. Your throat was raw from screaming and from being fucked. After a lifetime of swearing up and down it was never something you were interested in, you wound up practically begging for his cock in your ass because there was not one part of you that you did not want dripping with him. And of course he was only too happy to make sure you understood everything he would do to prep you by letting you do it to him first. You couldn’t fucking sit down for a full day after he had indeed spanked you red raw for the teasing you had done on that 3rd date.

A week later you met his family, the week after that his brothers in arms. And then he was gone and you were so worried about him that you constantly felt nauseous. It took years for you to be able to settle when he was deployed, to not spend the whole time imagining him not coming home to you. Because by that time that was what you had built together, a home.

You and Kyle became friends throughout the years. You really did like him, he was easy going and would laugh and let you bitch about Simon whenever you wanted. Captain Price came to feel like an older brother. He was there whenever you needed him, whether it be a car breakdown or because you were in a panic about a handsy coworker (poor guy had broken both hands in an accident the next weekend). And Simon? Well not too much changed there, you dealt with each other when you had to and were it not for your shared love of Johnny you suspected you’d have killed one another. 

At least until Las Almas.

–

You didn’t know how you were going to tell Johnny. In fact, you probably wouldn’t. What good would it do? It had sorted itself out. That was how you tried to think about it. Food poisoning had made the pill ineffective for a day, you had gotten pregnant unplanned and unwanted and had lost the baby before you’d even started showing. It didn’t matter that while Johnny was somewhere being a hero you had heard a tiny heartbeat at the doctors. You told yourself over and over again that you didn’t want it anyway. You tried to think about how awful everything felt all the time. The morning sickness, the fatigue, the mood swings. 

It was probably just the shock of it, waking up wet from the blood and thinking you were dying. If your first thought had been that you’d rather you die and the baby lived then you tried not to dwell on that. She would have had Johnny’s eyes. He would have wanted a mohawk so he could match his daddy. You forced an image of you telling Johnny and him being upset and not wanting a baby. It was useless. You knew that man. You loved that man. And that man would have gently made sure you wanted to keep it before bursting into happy tears and kissing you senseless.

You couldn’t tell him. You couldn’t break his heart the way the last few months had broken yours. Maybe it was selfish, to want to keep this pain for yourself when you knew beyond a doubt that he’d be desperate to share it, to take as much as he could from you and turn it to gentle comfort the way he always did when you were hurting. But you wanted to be selfish over this.

It was a whole new pain when you answered the door and Ghost was standing there. Your knees went from under you and you collapsed with the weight of why he would be at your door. Why would he be here without your Johnny? It was the first time Simon Riley caught you. 

You never spoke about the way he held you gently and told you that Johnny was ok, he was alive but injured. He made you laugh through your tears and snot by telling you what a bad patient Johnny was being, how he was about ready to beat up every medic on base to get back to you because “I dinnae need fucking morphine I need tae eat my bird’s pussy”. His Scottish accent on that impersonation was truly dreadful. 

Simon never thought he would find himself comforting you. He didn’t like you, he never had. Johnny had never been so serious about anyone and it drove him nuts that you made him so happy. Happiness like that was an easy thing to ruin and you could ruin it if you wanted, that scared the shit out of him. It was even scarier when Johnny had shown him the ring he was planning to offer you. 

He never told Johnny how you had broke in his arms that night. How you had told him about the miscarriage in the dark, bled your pain all over him and let it sink into his skin. He had taken it gladly. In the light of the morning you went back to your dislike of one another, but something had changed in the dark.

–

You never did tell Johnny. You and Simon settled then on some sort of begrudging respect for one another. You still argued and bit at each other, but with the knowledge that now you would be part of one another's lives forever through Johnny given that only a few days after he came home he had slid a ring onto your finger.

Frankly you were fucking terrified when you came off of the pill. The only thing that got you through it was, unbelievably, Simon mumbling to you in the pub over a game of pool that you were going to be good parents. Of course Johnny had told him you were trying, but you found you didn’t really mind as you grumbled back an awkward thank you. 

You could have strangled Johnny for having such strong fucking swimmers. You hadn't expected to get pregnant almost as soon as you were off birth control and it meant your wedding dress had to be altered to account for the small bump there. The bump he could not keep his hands off. Honestly the man was already insatiable, but fuck he loved you pregnant. He was already talking about more kids and you hadn’t even had the first one, he fucked you and groaned about wanting you pregnant all the time. 

Your husband, something you thought you’d never get sick of saying, drove you mad once again in the late stages. You were hornier than ever and he was determined to treat you like you were made of glass all of a sudden. He certainly still gave you as many orgasms as you demanded, but gone was any rough and feral fucking. You loved making love with Johnny, but fuck if you didn’t miss the fucking. 

You’d never tell Simon it had been your suggestion, not under pain of death. Neither of you had been attached to any name in particular, but you knew how much Johnny loved his Lieutenant. He was his best friend and they owed one another their lives several times over. There was a good chance that you owed him your life. Your husband had kissed you with so much love when you had asked if he’d like to call your son Joseph and after talking about it late into the night you had agreed that the little human inside you was your wee Joey. 

A wee fucking bruiser is what he was, coming into the world kicking and screaming. Ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes. You joked that he must have screamed so loud he had damaged his own ears when he was referred to the audiology clinic after a second newborn hearing test. They stressed that you shouldn’t worry over it, but you hadn’t been anyway. Joseph was the strongest most wonderful thing you had ever seen, whatever came of it he had two parents who were going to make sure it never made his life anything less than a grand happy adventure.

Johnny had hated leaving him. Price had hated to ask it, had sent you enough flowers to start your own florist in apology. You understood though, your husband was off saving the world after all. Your heart was in your throat when he kissed Joey’s head and then kissed you soundly. Something felt off with him. The kiss felt different somehow, mournful. Maybe it was just a trick of your memory, hindsight tainting what you hadn’t known was the last time you would see your husband.

–

Simon Riley caught you a second time. John MacTavish was dead.

[absolutebl]

47 BLs Announced for 2024

Here are the BLs I have logged on the Spreadsheet of Doom (TM) as announced for 2024 (with supporting evidence, so not just options or acquisitions) as of the beginning of the year. Bold are the ones I'm most intrigued by .

JAPAN

Although I Love You and You AKA Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka

From YTV releasing 1/11 about Soga, who, after a divorce and relocation to Osaka, seeks solace in dining at 26-year-old Sakae's restaurant. Unbeknownst to Soga, Sakae sees him as more than just a regular customer.

Ossan's Love Season 2

Five years later, will anything have changed? This is Japan, so probubly not. More here.

Perfect Propose

Fuji TV (the Pornographer series) adapting Mayo Tsurakame’s manga, production team includes Tadaaki Horai (My Love Mix-Up!) and Takeshi Miyamoto (scriptwriter for “Old Fashion Cupcake”). Hiro’s so stressed at work he barely has time to eat so he passes out on the sidewalk. An unfamiliar face saves him and insists that they once promised to marry each other.

KOREA

Love For Love's Sake

Based on the Manhwa Love Supremacy Zone by Hwacha, this will star actors Lee Tae Vin, Cha Jun Wan, Oh Min Su and Cha Woon Ki. The plot of the drama is based on Tae Myung Ha, a young man who is dropped into a game based off of a novel that he knows. His mission is to make another player, Cha Yeo Woon happy. Cha Yeo Woon is Myung-Has favourite character in the novel. But then the game starts going completely different from the novel.

Love in the Big City

Movie adaptation of Booker nominated famous coming of age novel ‘Love in The Big City’ by Park Sang-Young. A cynical yet fun loving student writer name Young pinballs from home, to class, to Tinder matches. He and Jaehee, his female best friend and roommate, frequent nearby bars where they push away their worries about life, love, and money with soju and Marlboros. But as time passes Jaehee settles down and leaves Young to face his problems on his own, finding comfort in the arms of the series of men, including one whose handsomeness is matched by his coldness and another who might be the great love of his life. Not really BL. To star Kim Go-eun (The King: Eternal Monarch), Noh Sang-hyun (aka Steve Sanghyun as Young) and Nam Yoon Su (The King’s Affection). More here.

TAIWAN

Anti Reset AKA Anti-Reset AKA Antireset

From Vidol to air on 2/2/2024 about a human and robot find love.

THAILAND

1000 Years Old

From Feel Good Bangkok this is one of many gay vampire BLs coming in 2024. Stars Shane (My Engineer) and fresh face Opal, directed by Champ (2gether). More here.

A Secretly Love

Khonprot, a third-year head hazer of the engineering faculty, has a secret crush on Pluem, a tsundere fourth-year head hazer. Over the years, he's seen Pluem cycle through many girlfriends. Recently, after a public breakup, however, Khonprot thinks things may be different.

Addicted Heroin (Thai version)

From the producers of Love Stage!!

Bad Guy My Boss

Assistant to a player boss who is in love with his boss decides to quit to save himself. The boos then makes a move. (A gay "What's up with Secretary Kim"?)

Born to be Y

announced 9/23

City of Stars AKA Fueangnakorn

Star Hunter started filming this 12/23 about an actor falls in love with a programmer and the narrative intends to “explore the ramifications of being public figure in the social network era who must endure critics, bullying, and defamation.” Looks like another Lovely Writer, Call It What You Want sort of thing.

Four Ever You Project AKA Fourever You Project

Sampler pack BL series from Wabi Sabi stars Bas (Gen Y), Earth (UWMA, 12%). Four stories, four couples, all adapted under the Fourever You Project.

I Saw You in My Dream

DeeHupHouse for WeTV based on the novel of the same name by Afterday. The story portrays Aya, a young man who has prophetic dreams. Everything he dreams always comes true. He doesn’t have a problem with it until he starts to dream of dating the guy next door. But the guy next door is in a serious relationship with a girl he’s known since high school.

Iridescent Love

Got nothing.

Harikarn Solution (the Chains of Heart people - boo) stars Gun (Khom in Unforgotten Night) opposite fresh face but cast includes familiar faces from other pulps. Ordinary office worker kinda recluse dork but who at night however, has an only fans account. Then he meets the guy next door.

Jack & Joker (YinWar)

DeHup brings us be gay, do crimes. Yin, War, Mark and a few other familiar faces doing Leverage but gayer. Yes, thank you, I will have that.

Kidnap

GMMTV Ohm Pawat is back but there is some question over whether this is BL or not.

Knock-Knock Boys

Kongthup for WeTV airing 4/2024 Four college friends who conspire to help their friend lose his virginity. stars Seng Wichai, Best Vittswin, Nokia Chinnawat and Jaonine Jiraphat.

Lost On The River

Another Sammon story

Love Sea (FortPeat)

MAME warning, stars same couple as LITA2, but new characters to the Mameverse. While travelling a writer has a one night stand with a very irritating man.

Love Sick AKA Lovesick remake

Remake of the original. No thank you.

Love Upon a Time (NetJames)

Domundi announced for 6/7/2023 then delayed to 2024. NetJames in a historical BL! Also feat Tonnam(Dr Sing from Triage).

Lovely Addict

9NAA brings us a hotel set, high heat, features same pair as Venus In Sky.

Lover Merman

Fantasy BL about a man who falls in love with a merman.

Me and Who

Domundi for WeTV brings this adaptation of Wickedwish’s novel of the same name. it depicts a young man who dies and is reborn into the body of a billionaire heir. The heir happens to be engaged to a handsome man.

Monster Next Door

WeTV Adapted from the novel Godzilla Next Door by Jiwinil. It portrays an introvert who lives mostly in his room, until an extrovert moves in next door. He is loud, frantic and annoying. Do opposites really attract? Will they find a way to get along?

My Golden Blood

GMMTV. Okay, I do find Joss very watchable but this looks very bad and also very like Kissable Lips. But at least land is finally giving us the trashy gay vampires we richly deserve?

My Love Mix-Up Thai Remake (GemniForth)

GMMTV. Hum, well I do love this pair and I did like the original and maybe this time these characters will actually kiss? I'm actually fine with this pick-up. I kind of enjoy seeing different countries remake the same IP. Especially if it's IP I'm mostly unfazed by.

My Stand-In AKA My Stand In

Chinese IP ALERT! Adapted from the novel Professional Body Double (职业替身) by Shui Qiang Cheng (水千丞) stars Up (Lovely Writer) and Poom (Bake Me Please).

OMG Vampire AKA OMG! Vampire (LeeFrank)

Frank and Lee Long Shi are back only vampires now. So many vampires.

Only Boo!

New main pair in an idol romance about a boy who dances good and a food stand vendor. Other side of the tracks, grumpy/sunshine pair who fall deeply in love but, of course, to become an idol baby boy can't date. Boyband but from GMMTV? Control your singing and I'm game.

Ossan‘s Love Thai Remake (EarthMix

Ugh, why?!?!

Red Peafowl

More Thai mafia stuffs.

Spare Me Your Mercy

Increased rates of deaths in terminal patients has a police captain investigating the palliative care doctor with whom he's fallen in love. Their relationship deepens but the mystery persists, driven by mistrust. Adapted from the novel Euthanasia by Sammon (Triage, Manner of Death) stars some old guard BL actors: Tor Thanapob from Hormones as the doctor and (fuck me YES) Jaylerr from Great Men Academy and goddamn Grean Fictions as the captain!

Spirit Reborn AKA Kemjira Will Survive

Star Hunter (of all studios) adapting supposedly the scariest BL. Khem is born cursed. A daughter would be safe but a son dies at 20 so Khem’s mother cleverly gives him a girl’s name, Khemjira “forever safe.” But Knem is baout to turn 20 and he doesn't think it's working so he seeks the help of a cursebreaker, turns out to be his great love from a prvious life.

Star Scope

Wabi Sabi trailer here. Looks sad, one of them is terminally ill, abandons his bf in high school them meet again in uni.

The Boy Next World (BossNoeul)

Same couple as LITA, this is the backstory of Cirrus & Phugun from TharnType 2 played by different actors.

The Hell Guards AKA Hey Don't Mess With My Heart

Boy wakes up from a coma and becomes a messenger between grim reapers and the underworld. Oh will it be... bureaucratic? I think it WILL.

The Hidden Moon

Casting happened 9/23. This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) ‘เดือนพราง’ by Violet Rain. A Bangkok writer is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai which is being converted into a café. He gets into an accident and nearly dies on his way there. After that, he sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, one boy catches his attention. Stars Benjamin Brasier (2 Moons 2) and Folk Touch Inthirat from Brothers. Trailer here.

The Next Prince (ZeeNew)

Domundi brings us more ZeeNew in a fantasy/historical set in a palace where Zee plays a knight and Nu a prince - FUCK YES PLEASE. I did not expect this pair to stick so I really hope this happens. Trailer here.

The Rebound (MeenPing)

VIU Basketball based romance staring Meen (a national basketball player, so yay for that).

The Trainee (OffGun)

GMMTV Office set, may not be BL. Trailer here.

Time the series

MFlow Entertainment for Gaga, WeTV, Channel 3 trailer here. Airs 1/9 After witnessing the death of his beloved Chris from a gunshot wound, the heartbroken actor Foam is given a pocket watch that allows him to go back in time and discover the truth… Can Foam take the chance to set things right and bring Chris back from the brink of death? Only time will tell…

To Be Continued

High school sweethearts who had a bad break up reunite when both of them have full times jobs but coming out is still a problem. Trailer here.

Vampire Project (BounPrem)

Wabi Sabi's My Broccoli only now... vampires.

Wandee Godday

GMMTV and AllThis Entertainment producing a very pulp offering for GMMTV with new pair GreatInn doing high heat Boxer meets surgeon. It features a one night stand, fake relationship, and all the cheesiest of tropes. Also features Drake, Podd, and Thor+ pretty boy (be still my heart). This is totally my kind of BL even if it actually isn't GMMTV's style of BL, so I'm intrigued. Trailer here.

We Are (PondPhuwin)

GMMTV's university friendship Bl featuring PondPhuwin, WinnySatang, AouBoom, MarcPawin - basically ALL in the good kind of messy friendship group (so more My Engineer and less Only Friends). Looks a bit like the Kiss series but everyone is gay. I'm IN! Trailer here.

A reminder we had c. 136 BLs release in 2023 but c. 55 that did not get made.

That seems about right.

Of those announced we seem to get about 2/3 actually released for the year we are told they'll release in.

(source)

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

when I took a month off work I was lowkey worried I'd come back and find everyone had been fine without me and I wasn't needed at all (because being terrible at every previous job I've had did some ✨damage✨ to my self confidence)

but that is not what happened

I have never encountered someone so fucking happy to see me as my boss' wife was on my first day back, her face lit up like it was christmas, she was practically jumping for joy because now that I'm back she doesn't have to do the ops team's fucking timesheets anymore

I have been told by one of the ops guys that my leave of absence had caused a genuine rift in the boss' marriage because his wife hated doing my job so much they were actively fighting about it

to be clear, his wife is lovely, she doesn't usually throw a shit fit about just anything, it was just that my job is just so fucking annoying that she hated every second of it, and that was the most validating shit I have ever experienced in my LIFE

and the reason she was pissed off at my boss/her husband about it is because he's too soft on his crew and doesn't make them all report their hours for the week

which, as you can imagine, makes building their timesheets extremely fucking difficult

it basically turns the whole process into a puzzle that I have to solve using roughly three different sources of information, one of which is the boss himself who isn't always easy to get ahold of when he's on a site

this puzzle is made even more difficult by the fact that a glitch in our form system keeps messing up the dates on the timecards, so I have to cross reference the time cards from the two (2) ops team members, who actually DO fill out their forms, with the roster, but my boss often changes the roster at the last minute without telling me or noting it down, so then I have to cross reference with the reports they have to submit for certain ongoing jobs because they'll have correct dates and also a list of who was present (if they were doing one off smalltime jobs that week I'll have no physical records and will rely entirely on the boss' memory to confirm dates and staff numbers, unless I can get ahold of one of the ops team members themselves and there's only one who will reliably communicate with me but only when he's not currently on a site)

I tried to explain this process to boss' wife before I left and, looking horrified, she asked me 'is there no way to streamline this?' I replied 'this is streamlined'

as far as I'm aware, as long as I've worked there, there has only been a handful of times people were paid incorrectly, and it was because I was not given correct information by the boss, in the time I was gone, his wife told me that she had incorrectly logged several pays because of this broken ass system

so, as you could imagine, my ego is through the fucking roof right now, I am GOOD at this bullshit job, I took an impossible system and made it work, I am playing on hard mode and killing it, in a field I had zero experience in before taking this job other than a natural inclination for organising and scheduling

and to be clear, I love this job, the boss is too soft on his staff but he's a good guy, he makes us all feel valued and appreciated, he paid me above my award rate, he's absurdly accommodating, and I have an insane amount of freedom to do what I want with company files

I may be working with a bullshit system but I can take naps in the office whenever I want and tell my boss off when he's being too soft (one time his wife literally started clapping when I told him off for sending clients their reports before they'd paid for them) and I get to control when I work, and whether I work from home or the office (which is GREAT when my back flares up)

I might not get many hours (only 16 hours per week) because the company is so small and I run out of things to do because I've streamlined everything (boss literally called me TOO EFFICIENT), but he'll give me those 16 even if I spend half of it playing solitaire and watching youtube

so just, yeah, it feels so good to be confident in my work, to feel valued and appreciated and like I'm actually successful at something after being handed dud jobs for years that I wasn't cut out for, and now knowing that what I'm doing is actually genuinely hard but I've been doing it anyway without fail, makes me feel good!

so tldr; taking a month off work taught me I have phenomenal job security because if my boss ever fires me his wife might actually fucking kill him

[breakavleheaven]

Revival

Authors note:

Surprise!! part 3 is here🤍 as always feedback is welcome and I hope you enjoy 😊

Warnings:

Angst, slow burn, Bad/inappropriate language, Asshole!Carlos. Mentions of cheating. Sexual themes.

Part 1, Part 2

Part 3: The Archer

Three Months Later

Taking a deep breath, Celine logged into her social media accounts for the first time in over 3 months. Opening Instagram and avoiding looking at any posts or notifications, she went straight into making a post - she was on a mission. It was time to announce her revival.

Celinejlex

Liked by landonorris and others

Celinejlex: Don’t worry, guys. I’m alive. See you in Bahrain 💌🏎️

Comments

Freyalex: Baby sis is a bad bitch ❤️‍🔥

User1: Didn’t Carlos and she break up? Why is she going to Bahrain? 💀👀

User2: Girl bffr, she works in F1 events & marketing.

User3: Carlos fumbled so hard. Imagine cheating on Celine.

Lilymhe: I think we’re almost due for another girls’ night.

Lissiemackintosh: I second that 💜

Alexandrasaintmleux: See u soon! ❤️

User4: Lando 👀

The past few months have been such a whirlwind for Celine. She spent so much time and effort trying to be her old self again after getting her whole heart shattered. Moving into her sister’s flat in London was the best possible thing she could have done.

Freya, her best friend, probably knew her better than she knew herself, and being able to rely on her made things so much easier. Not only that, but moving to London also brought new friendships. Celine found solace and friendship in Lilly, the girlfriend of the British Thai driver Alex Albon. She also became connected with Lissie Mackintosh, a brilliant F1 reporter and overall social media icon. Despite seeing both girls around the paddock often, she had only ever had very few interactions with them. She was truly thankful to the three girls for bringing her back to life - and of course, Alex, despite her being based in Monaco, she was just a call away.

Not only did Celine have all the emotional turmoil she had to work through, but she had also been overly stressed about her job. Once she left Vegas, she knew she wouldn’t be able to go to Abu Dhabi for the final race. She couldn’t face Carlos, and she knew she’d be too distracted to be helpful. She talked it out with her team who agreed she shouldn’t be there, and they assured her they had it covered. While her team was fine with it, she felt guilty. She knew it wasn’t professional and wondered how many others felt the same. However, after many more meetings with HR and other higher-ups, they came to a conclusion that she would keep her job.

——

Feb 27, 2024

Celine had just landed in Bahrain. She quickly pulled out her phone to text Freya that she made it safely. She made her way to the baggage claim and found her luggage. Checking her phone for the email to find out where the car service would be picking her up to bring her to her hotel, she went to search for her car. She found a driver standing outside an SUV with a sign that had her name on it.

She greeted the driver, and he grabbed her luggage to put it in the trunk of the SUV. While he was doing that, she pulled open the back door about to climb in when she noticed someone was in the back seat. She let out a startled yelp, only to realize it was Lando.

He instantly started laughing. Celine swatted him on the arm.

“You dickhead, you gave me a heart attack!” She laughed.

“What? Didn’t even recognize your pal Lando, huh?” He smirked.

“Yeah, actually, now that you mention it, you do look uglier than the last time I saw you,” she joked.

Lando jokingly acted hurt and placed a hand over his heart.

As Celine got into the back seat of the SUV with Lando, she felt a small rush.

She playfully raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Well, well, well, look who decided to crash my party in the back seat.”

Lando chuckled and leaned back, crossing his arms with a mischievous grin. “I couldn’t resist the chance to surprise you. Besides, it’s your grand return to this circus.”

Celine rolled her eyes playfully, her heart fluttering at his teasing. “Oh, so you’re just here for a wellness check, huh? That’s sweet of you, Lando.”

He grinned, his eyes sparkling with humor. “Of course, I take my role as a friend very seriously. I had to make sure you didn’t overthink yourself to death.”

Celine decided to play along with his teasing and leaned in closer to him, her voice lowering to a conspiratorial tone. “Well, you know, I really appreciate having such a good friend.” Her eyes quickly flickered to his lips. Shit, she hoped he didn’t notice.

Lando raised an eyebrow, a playful glint in his eyes. “A friend, huh? Are you sure you don’t need a bodyguard/guy-who-runs interference if anything comes up?”

Celine laughed softly, her heart warming at the easy banter between them. “Bodyguard? Psh, you can’t hurt a fly, Lan. Interference, though, I might take you up on. Who knows when ‘anything’ will be a problem?”

Both of them knew ‘anything’ was referring to Carlos.

———

Lando

Over the past few months, Celine and he had grown closer with her living in London. Lots of nights out with their friends and occasional flirty banter.

Lando wanted to be respectful of Celine and Carlos; he still had to see the man regularly, but goddamn was it ever getting increasingly difficult. She was one of the most exciting and interesting people he knew, not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. He’d just have to settle for the flirting for now.

———

The next morning Celine was battling jet lag and anxiety on her first day back at work in the paddock. She prepared for her day normally and got ready to head to the track. Overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation, she knew she was ready to kill it.

She strolled up to the paddock and was greeted by many familiar faces she often saw around. As she entered the hospitality building for her meeting, everything seemed fine. But walking out of the meeting room, it seemed like everyone in the room turned to look at her. That’s odd, she thought. Everything was fine this morning. Maybe she was just imagining it? Must be the jet lag.

Then suddenly, Lando appeared seemingly out of nowhere and out of breath.

Eyes wide, he looked at Celine.

“Hey, have you checked your phone at all? I’ve been trying to get a hold of you, probably others too.”

“No, it’s been in my bag, and I just got out of a meeting.”

She pulled it out to see over 50 missed calls and quadruple the amount of texts. She felt the blood drain from her face, and her heart dropped.

“What’s going on? Why do you look like that?”

“Let’s sit down. So, uh, I don’t even know how to say this; guess it’s off like a bandaid. Carlos… he uh has proposed to his girlfriend,” he said while rubbing his forehead.

Her mind went blank. She felt like ice water had just been dumped over her. What? How long had she and Carlos been broken up for? How long had he been with this girl? Was it the same one he had cheated on her with?

“Ce, are you still there?”

Blinking and pulling herself together, she replied, “I think my brain malfunctioned, uhh, yeah, okay. So he’s engaged. Is it the same girl from Vegas?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Hey Ce, it’s going to be okay.”

Silent tears were streaming down her face, and Lando got the urge to get up and give the girl a hug, so for once, he acted on that impulse and let her cry into his chest.

As Lando wrapped his arms around Celine in a comforting embrace, he felt the weight of her pain and heartache. He wished he could take away her hurt, but all he could do was be there for her in this moment.

Celine let herself cry, allowing the emotions she had been holding back to flow freely. She was devastated, not just by the news of Carlos’ engagement but also by the realization that she had been replaced so quickly.

“I don’t understand how he could move on so fast,” Celine choked out between sobs. “Was I that easy to replace?”

Lando held her tighter, trying to find the right words to comfort her. “Celine, this isn’t about you. It’s about him and his decisions. It has nothing to do with your worth or how easily replaceable you are. You’re an incredible person, and anyone would be lucky to have you in their life.”

She sniffled, wiping away her tears. “But why does it hurt so much?”

Lando gently brushed a tear from her cheek. “Because it’s natural to feel hurt when someone you loved moves on. But you’re strong, and you’ll get through this. You have a whole group of people who care about you, including me. We’ve got your back, Ce.”

Celine nodded, grateful for his support. She knew she had friends who cared for her, but in this moment, Lando’s presence was exactly what she needed. She looked up at him with a small smile. “Thank you, Lando. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

He smiled back, his eyes warm and full of compassion. “Anytime, Ce. You know I’m always here for you.”

——-

As the day went on, Celine leaned on her friends for support. Lissie and Lilly were there to lend an ear and offer their encouragement. Freya, too, had been there for her throughout the day, providing a comforting presence over the phone.

Later on in the evening, Celine was settled into her hotel room with no intention to leave for the entire night. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. She opened it to be surprised by a group of familiar faces; Lando, Lissie, Lily & Alex, and even Daniel. They had a stack of pizza boxes too.

She let them in with a happy smile, grateful to have such supportive people around her.

“Thank you guys for this. You really didn’t need to do this.”

“Well, of course, we did, love,” Lissie spoke with her comforting voice.

The pizzas were placed on the table, and the group sat down to eat. Celine found herself sitting next to Lando. Their legs brushed against each other under the table, and she felt a warm and tingly feeling. She turned to Lando with a shy smile. Everyone else was so preoccupied they didn’t notice the shared moment between the two. Lando placed a hand on her thigh, and butterflies erupted in her stomach. She placed her hand on top of his and basked in the comfort it provided.

The group chatted and laughed, and while Celine was still hurting, being surrounded by her friends made the pain a little more bearable. Lando was attentive, knowing when to crack a joke to lighten the mood and when to give her a reassuring smile.

As the night drew to a close, they all said their goodbyes and started to head back to their respective accommodations.

Lando lingered back with the intent to talk to Celine alone. Daniel gave Lando a wink and a pat on the back when he walked to the door. Lando rolled his eyes at the typical Daniel action. Once everyone had left the room, and it was just Celine and Lando left, Celine smiled at Lando.

“Thank you again, Lan,” Celine said softly. “You’ve been so kind to me, and I appreciate it more than I can express.”

He smiled warmly at her. “You don’t have to thank me, Ce. Friends look out for each other, and I care about you.”

Celine nodded, her heart fluttering at his sincerity. “Well, I’m lucky to have a friend like you.”

Lando stopped, turning to face her. “You know, Celine, you’re an amazing person, and anyone would be lucky to have you. Don’t forget that, okay?”

She met his gaze, something buzzed inside her. “Thank you, Lando,” she whispered. “I won’t forget.”

She pulled Lando in for a hug and said goodbye. Once he left, she sighed; she was finally alone. It had been an exhausting day. She was battling so many emotions at once. She was incredibly grateful to have amazing friends. She was still incredibly hurt by Carlos’ news and especially him choosing today to announce it felt like a slap in the face. And there was something else; what was happening with Lando? Her emotions were so scattered, and the feelings Lando was bringing up didn’t seem right. She wanted to get over Carlos, but she didn’t have enough time to heal, and she knew whatever this situation with Lando was was probably because of her feelings about the whole Carlos situation. For now, she would just have to ignore it and focus on her own well-being.

—

Authors note:

Welllll who saw that coming? How are feeling about that one?

Tagged❣️:

@aundercover @formula1mount

[redrydersrequiem]

Reunited chapter 1

Ok ive been reading ALOT of avatar fanfiction lately and i like many other am obsessed with miles Quartich. So heres a fic for him. Again this is just for my own sanity i think of stuff and i have to write them down or they’ll never leave my head. Love all yall who actually read this again everyone be kind none of this is prof’d. Also just warning for language and I am constantly adding stuff to these because I am always re-reading them and finding issues so again just hang in there with me I like to use gifs/videos and pics to make the story more theatrical in my mind

Updated this 5/2/23

Next chapter

Ok video log 230 My name is y/n y/l/n I was a Corporal for the RDA. I went to Pandora for one reason.

I needed the money

My only living relative, my aunt, was sick. Terminally sick and the regular military benefits were not working. That’s when the RDA swooped in and found me. A young former soldier with experience who needed financial backing, yeah, I see now I was an easy target for them. Anyway getting to Pandora I was placed on the one and only Colonel Miles Quaritchs team. Luckily or maybe not now that I look back I was strictly security for hell's gate. While the others did more field work I was dealing with perimeter checks,Hot headed soldiers fighting, Fixing up my team whenever they didn’t want to deal with the science quacks, and a shit ton of unnecessary paperwork. You know Basic duties, until I was assigned to start helping the scientists out more.

They wanted to start going back out into the forest more often and after watching the beauty of it from the window all the time, I was all for joining them. Even though I was a soldier it didn’t mean I was one of the inhumane jug heads like some. I had passions and loved nature and music, culture, literally devouring anything I could. Grace actually kind of liked me which is why I started spending a lot of time with them despite my unit's protests.

Now don’t get me wrong I loved my unit. After getting past some of their personal walls, all of them were amazing. Loyal to one another. Funny, goofy and everything in between. They were my family, the Lovable brothers and sisters I had never had albeit VERY rough around the edges. It's actually funny now how close i am to everyone and how protective they are over me cause when I first showed up they all almost laughed me out the door. All thinking i was just a young gun that wouldn’t amount to anything just their cute little doctor but after they saw me take down a drunk guy twice my size from another team with vicious savagery,during a night off for all of us, in heels might i add, they all started looking at me in a new light.

(Think something like this clip)

Once comfortable everyone really showed me their true colors.Lyle, as annoying as he was, was also very funny. Just straight up class clown behind closed doors. They are the kind of brother that just comes up to you randomly to mess with you for like a second and then runs away.( his intrusive thoughts when a lot) but he was always my go to to hang out with just cause he would make you forget about the stress of the job.

Zdinarsk was the annoying older sister, beautiful but playful, a piece of candy in every pocket she had, but always willing to share. She also likes to playfully pick on me all the time, but if someone else says something. God help them.

Mansks was more the silent but deadly brother. Always watching out for me, especially when I am out in the field. His eyes trained everywhere you just can’t see it from behind all those sunglasses he owns. He would back up z whenever they heard someone say shit about me, those people never came within my vicinity again. But he also had a softer side, like being an incredible cook. We all call him the grill master, and live for the days he decides he wants to cook. We eat well those days. Ja, brown and prager were like the three stooges together. Sometimes I honestly wondered if they all shared a brain cell. Lopez was cool. He would teach me a bunch of Spanish, mostly curse words but still would teach me. And anytime some music would come on he would be the one to dance with me.

Sorry I'm rambling. All in all I was very close to everyone in our squad of thirteen rowdy marines but it was my home. Now while the others were family Miles was much more.

As soon as I met the colonel I was enamored. It was hard to even describe why or how it happened. At first you think of him as just some hard ass old geezer who would never look twice at you and then you catch him helping his fellow members in tasks. Checking up on them like a dad almost. Learning how I liked my coffee so he can bring it to me in early meetings. While everyone simply thought of him as some hard ass to the book soldier, I thought of him as a trusted leader that has and will continue to bend over backwards to help the people he's loyal to.

Simply put I I fell in love

Despite his rough figure and reputation. I fell in love with him. With the warm smile he only showed when we were alone. With how he knew I loved the plants and things of pandora and would occasionally bring me non threatening flowers when he found them while in the field. How he actually would listen to me ramble to everyone about the stuff I had learned from grace without complaining or zoning out of the confirmation like the others.Stuff like that all garnered points in my heart towards my colonel It wasn’t until almost two years later when I confessed to Miles and to my absolute surprise he reciprocated. Even though he thought he was way too old for me I didn’t care. I had been surrounded by death my whole life so I quickly learned to seize any moment I could never know if that person would be there the next day. It wasn't until a year later that he proposed. That was the same year that Jake Sully arrived.

Jake Sully was granted access I would have killed for. To be an avatar.

Jake was cool, another fellow marine who even though he tried not to show it, was fascinated with the world of Pandora and everything he was learning. A strong and independent person that despite his personal and physical trauma was such a goof. Miles liked him, I could tell. He respected jake for not letting his physical issues take him out. He liked people who persevered through issues. So it was no surprise that Jake was working with grace and i but he was still under the command of Miles.

When Grace decided to take her norm, Max, Jake and others out to the old shack to work instead of hell's gate I was given the option to go with them. Unfortunately I couldn't stay all the time. I wanted to be with my family and closer to better medical help for the life that was now growing inside me.Grace understood that but I for sure could feel the divide that was happening between the two groups of people I found myself Entangled in especially as Jake got to know more and more about the omaticaya clan.

You see, I saw something on both sides. The RDA was all about money and with the way the economy and everything was back on earth money was a necessary evil. While I don't agree with what they were doing, I understood why. With grace, norm, and Jake I saw the beauty of pandora. How much different she was from our own planet that is now no more than dust and metal it feels but here in the plush forests of color it was amazing. I could understand why the natives were so protective over it, myself slowly joining them. A little while into Jake's expedition I even got to meet Neytiri.

She had shown up to the little shack at Jake's persistence to meet me,and norm and to reconnect with grace since she had known her from before. Jake was trying to show her that not all humans were bad, which I can’t say he fully succeeded on but she respected all of us. I mean she was definitely standoffish at first with me, but once she saw my pregnant belly I could see something in her shift. She asked me about human babies and if they were very different from Navi ones. And she asked me about our family’s and about nature and we even bonded over teasing Jake which I found great, much to his detriment. Neytiri was great honestly. She was beautiful and strong and when it all came down to it we found we had more in common than not. I truly started considering her a friend and her doing the same with me.

Unfortunately when I got later in my pregnancy I could no longer fly out to the old shack anymore Miles being a worry wart. Actually all of the team were worriers but I just took it in stride. I knew how much they all loved me and I was happy to stay put to give them peace of mind. The only thing I wish I could do was get them to all stop taking Parker’s orders. It was like we weren’t even soldiers anymore, more like Parker and the RDAs hunting dogs. Even though I tried every day to tell them that the RDA was wrong. I know they were all loyal to a fault but I thought that loyalty was to each other over the RDA. Some would listen to me and agree with some of the things i said but some would just shake their heads at me and tell me we have to do the best we can for our own before trying to change the subject. Hard headed soldiers every last one of them but none more so than miles. No matter how much i speak and i know he listens hes loyal to the rda almost to a fault.

But I didn’t have a lot of more time to try and convince him that the shit Parker was whispering in his ear was all bullshit. It was late evening right before the eclipse that my water broke. God was that fun. 13 hours of labor and my son is finally welcomed into the world. He was so small. Beautiful light blond hair on his head, and his fathers eyes. It was unfair how I carried him for 9 months and he came out looking just like his dad. Everyone was so excited about him though our little Miles Lyle l/n quartich

*(couldn't find if spider had a middle name so just went with they made Lyle his god dad and named him that)

I had just taken the baby to the nurses unit to get his one month evaluation. It’s nice to get out again after being on bed rest for the last month. Everyone’s been very hush hush about any missions and stuff that have happened recently and it's not until I saw Miles and the others in a lab with Parker, that my interest was peaked, since they all would rather die than come over to this section. Walking through the doors everyone went a little quiet. Like teeenagers trying not to be caught in a lie. That was red flag number two.

I see miles talking into a camera and ask what he’s doing. He sates my curiosity by telling me Parker is making the team catch up on their logs so that the RDA has a good view of what's been happening. I know he is lying to me and he’s lucky I'm tired from staying up with our son or I would call him on his bullshit but that will be a conversation for later. He pushed me off to go get some sleep while baby miles was at his check up and that daddy would pick him up and they would join us later and i agreed. Placing a kiss on his lips i make my way out of the lab and towards our shared courtiers

Unbeknownst to him I learned what they were really doing video logs for. After leaving the lab I heard other soldiers talking about how sick it was seeing that big tree go up in flames. And I froze in my spot. No, I couldn't have heard that right. After pulling rank on them they told me what happened and to say I was pissed was an understatement, then being told that the others were now going to attack the omaticaya clan. I was seething. I immediately called Jake and the others knowing grace would tell me what's been happening without sugar coating anything,but found that they were no longer there. That's not good at all. I quickly made my way to the research sector and try to find max or really anyone. Bursting in the labs side room i see max running around like a chicken without a head

“Max where are they whats going on”

“y/n. You shouldn’t be here”

“Max what’s happening the others aren't answering and i just learned Parker wants to declare all out war basically”

“I'm sorry y/n. You’ve missed a lot since you’ve been out with the baby.”

“Well quickly fill me the fuck in.”

Max quiets me and takes me over to a side office shutting the door securely behind us. That’s when he tells me what happened. Tells me how the RDA had attacked Hometree and were now trying to take over the Forest. How Jake and the others tried to help the Navi and were caught and labeled traitors. How he and Trudy helped them escape. Each piece of info was like a knife to my heart. Everything pierced through me, when I asked about what had happened to them All he could tell me is that Jake was trying to get all the clans together to stop the RDA and that the board had somehow been set with jake neytiri and the natives on one side and my love and family on the other being pawns for the rda.

There’s no way. There was no way the people who would come see me and my baby and gush every time they saw him would lie to me. There’s no way the man I loved would lie to me and tell me everything was fine. No I, it couldn't be. I couldn't be stopped as I ran from the room. Once back in my own quarters I empty my stomach in the toilet almost shaking from rage and disappointment when I hear miles come in.

“Mamas your boys are home” Miles comes into the bedroom seeing me sitting on the bed looking pissed.

“What’s wrong darlin.”

“Don’t call me that right now miles.”

“Darlin?”

“DONT.! I got to know miles where do you and the others get off lying to my face.”

“Whatcha talking about”

“I know miles I know about the attack on hometree. I know about Jake and the others I KNOW.” I say screaming. Little miles now crying as I storm over and take him from his father, lulling him back to sleep and putting him in his little room while his predecessor tries to figure out what to say to me.

“Darlin now.”

“No miles this is wrong. I thought we understood each other I thought we agreed that we”

“Well you thought wrong. Darlin. We are not here to make friends with the natives, we are here for the rock in the ground.”

“Fuck that rock miles fuck the RDA the Navi are people they have emotions they have families just like us what makes us so much better to them to do this. They did nothing to us beside try and protect their home the same we would if the roles are reversed”

“Darlin, I think you forget who you're talking to.”

“No, I know exactly who I'm talking to. I'm talking to the man I thought was the love of my life but with every word is slowly proving to me he’s just as bad as everyone originally said.

Miles just grits his teeth as I get in his face. Just because I had a baby did not mean I wasn’t still a soldier. And he was about to relearn that real quick.

“y/n this is the mission i knew i should have pulled you from hanging out with those scientists sooner i knew you were getting too mushy for that natives.”

“Mushy miles what the fuck.”

“ENOUGH! He yells silencing my rant. “At the end of the day i am Colonel Quartich, at the end of the day i'm doing my duty to the human race, and i will not compromise that for anyone.”

“I'm not anyone, I'm your fiancé, the mother of your child. Im”

“You're still a soldier. A soldier under the RDA. Now I think it's time you take a little bit to remember whose side you’re actually on. Our or the savages outside.”

“The only savage I see right now is all of you.” I say as I throw my ring at him before snatching up baby miles things and locking ourselves in the spare bedroom.

I don't see that Miles breathes heavily, clutching his head as he tries not to punch a hole in the wall. I don't see how he reaches down and picks up my ring and pockets it or how he leaves and locks me and the baby in our quarters with strict orders to make sure we are taken good care of. Making sure i stay there while the next mission is about to commence, cause he knows deep down he'll lose me if i go out there.

But like miles said i am a soldier and even though i just had a baby i was not about to let my lover fuck everything up.

It took me most of the next day to get out of the room. But once i finally wired the room door to open I was met with no one there thank god most being called to the front lines. I run to the lab to find Max and others still there trying to figure out what to do. I run over and grab max

“y/n what are you doing”

“Max i dont have time. I have to stop this.”

“y/n there’s nothing you can do now”

“No stop there is always time ok. I need you to help me though i need y’all to look after my baby”

“What y/n no”

“Max, I swear to eywa right now help me.!”

He just puts his hands up and relents one of the female scientists Abby comes over in all her goth glory and takes little miles from Mac promising she would help look after him. I trusted her, she had a good head on her soldiers and was constantly coming to see the baby. She called him her ray of sunshine in the lab. I kiss Miles' little head breathing him in as he smiles up at me, his beautiful little blue eyes the picture of his father.

“I love you my baby. And I pray we are reunited. But I have to go knock some sense into your papa first. Please take care of him.”

“We will y/n. We promise, go give them hell.”

All I can do is nod as I rush away. Leaving half my heart behind in hells gate as the other is lost in the forest. Take one of the new roving speeders and hustle to try and get to the shack its a god ways way but the pilot having my gun to his head helped speed thing along. That is until an arrow comes flying in disabling the copter hurtling us down. The landing was definitely rough and my pilot was dead but i was close enough I could make it on foot. I start rushing through the forest making my way when out of nowhere Dickson comes into my view

He was a fellow soldier. Was on the same transport as me when we first arrived on Pandora but like his last name implied he was a massive dick.Misogynistic, self absorbed, everything wrong with a guy he had wrapped up in a package.

“Well ill be damned the rumors where true”

“And what rumors would that be.”

“That you turned your back on the colonel and the others from some blue dick.” I just grimace at his stupid face waiting to see what move he would make

“I know quartich said not to harm you but if your turning ass and hanging with the tree fuckers then you deserve to die here and now.”

“Then do it you punk ass bitch.” I say before coming at the soldier with gusto. My life is on the line, my son's life. The life of my friends. I have everything to lose and I won't let some gung ho jackass soldier take it all away from me. I need to get to Jake and the others I got to get somewhere to stop miles. Gun shots ring out as I ditch my gun to rush Dickerson. My knife meeting his chest multiple times effectively ending his existence. So long to bad rubbish

I don’t even look back, It wasn’t until I was finally speeding to the old shack that I felt the burning in my side. Shit. I yell out. I have nothing to stop the large hole in my side but I can’t let that stop me now. I'm almost there. I almost have everything I need in the palm of my hands. I know seeing me will stop miles I know I could get him to stand down.

Finally getting to the old shack I see Miles and Jake are going at it, both not backing down from the situation at hand. All I can do is clutch my side trying to stop the bleeding caused from that bitchs gun. I finally get into the clearing yelling out to the both of them.

“MILES, JAKE PLEASE STOP”

They both look over toward me seeing me stumble into the clearing. Jake is all done up in his warrior garb war paint on his face. He has a couple of cuts and nicks all over him. Miles wasn’t any better i dont know what happened to his amp suit but it now had no glass protection. Just miles with a exo mask over his face. The face that briefly looked upon me with worry and anxiety before his colonel mask came back up.

“Y/n get out of here it is not save”

“You don't speak to her sully”. Miles turns slightly to me still keeping jake in his peripheral vision

“Darlin what are you doing here you should be hooded up somewhere with the baby

“This needs to stop, Miles, this is wrong. You know that

“Darlin, I don't have the time to argue with you right now. I have to make sure this deserter piece off trash gets what’s coming to him

“Miles please, he just ignores me turning back to jake fully

“Jake i don't know how you and those scientists took here away from me but ill make sure you regret it

“Miles, listen to me please Jake has nothing to do with this. This is me please, I say trying to stumble further in front of jake. Him trying to reach out to me being shot back by the amp suit taking a giant step.

“Miles don't do this, let's just walk away please. We have little miles we have each other, everyone else that is left from our squad we can all stand down and go be real people, we can all be at peace with the Navi and have our own family. We don't need to fight.

“Darlin i know you aren’t telling me to turn my back on humanity

“No im telling you to choose your family and the people that matter over orders fro people who give two fucks if you lived or died today. Im begging you miles

I see his eyes cloud over with indecision. But I also saw Neytiri. I hadn’t noticed her before, preoccupied with my own wound and trying to save my family.

“Darlin you're right I.” “Neytiri NO.”

But everything is too late. Her arrows pierce through the air just as her battle cry does. All finding their target in my fiancés chest, as he and his suit go crashing into the pandorian forest floor

“NO!!!!!” I scream fumbling over to Miles exo suit.

“NO NO NO no come on miles please please please.”

He is still awake choking on the blood now filling his lungs. His eyes come over to me and he tries to lift his hand to cradle my face

“Miles please no”

“I'm sorry darlin”

“No don't be sorry I'm sorry please don't leave me. I love you so much. Please”

‘Darlin i love you tell miles I love him to”

“No you have to live to tell him yourself please.”

All i can do is clutch his hand against my face praying to whoever i can to save him. But it does nothing as the light leaves his eyes

“y/n”. I hear jake say behind me Gently coming up to me

“y/n”?

“No, leave us alone.”

“y/n come on it's not safe out here”

“It’s too late Jake please.”

Jake doesn’t listen to me and comes up kneeling next to me. Placing his giant blue hand on my shoulder I finally turned into him, letting him envelope me in the hug I oh so needed. Momentarily forgetting I was bleeding out and my love just died in my arms

“y/n I'm so sorry” he says but as he comes up to pull me away and look at me does he notice the blood now staining his hand “Shit y/n are you hit?.” he starts looking over me seeing the gaping wound in my stomach. He gently sits me to lie back on the ground trying to find something around us he can stop the bleeding with.

“Yeah one of those bitchs shot me.”

“It’s ok y/n will get you cleaned up ok Neytiri.” He yells but I just put my hand on his face to bring his attention back to me.

“Jake, I need you to do something for me ok.

“What y/n no you’ll be fine.”

Jake please i'm a soldier i know when a wound is bad. Neytiri please just stop. Neytiri now joins her mate next to me. She looks over me with a sad look in her eyes her ears pinned down almost guiltily but I didn’t blame her

I'm sorry, tiri i'm sorry for everything that has happened to you because of humans but I must ask you. Ask you both a few more favors.

I want you to take care of miles. He's just a baby. He's not his father, he's not me, he's the perfect mix of both. He will be a wonderful human, I know it in my heart. Please don't let him suffer. Please

“We will y/n i swear.” neytiri says next to me, taking my other hand in hers, placing it against her cheek.

I have something else to ask jake. Please give these to miles too.” I hand Jake my dog tags with my ring on them as well as quartichs tags with his.

Please tell him his father wasn’t a monster. He was just lost, and I failed to lead him out. Please

“We will y/n I promise”,

“Tell him I'm sorry I couldn't stay with him but I know he will be better off on Pandora instead of earth.”

They both just nod to me, tears filling their eyes. My body has long since gone cold and I know my time is near.

“My final request for you is to bury us both somewhere nice.

What? Jake asks solumely

“Yeah somewhere beautiful, somewhere in the sun together, maybe then we will be together in the next life.” They both promise me and watch as the rain begins to drop slowly the light finally leaves me and they both just look down in shame and saddens neytiri hugging my small body to her saying prayers to eywa for mine and miles soul. How could she refuse her friend's wishes? She may have not agreed with who her friend's love was but love was sacred. Her and jake would follow the women’s wishes

After the fighting was over Jake, Neytiri and the other avatars and people that had known followed my wishes. Neytiri draped me in a beautiful fabric covered with flowers. Miles was given the same treatment given a warriors garb. Both of us positioned next to each other for the rest of eternity. The omaticaya tell stories of the butcher of the hometree and how he wasn’t evil, just misguided and how it takes those around you to help each other find the right way. The story is really becoming an essential teaching lesson for all children. Miles or spider as he likes to go by now grows alongside the other sully children. Jake and Neytiri really stepped up to be parents to him along with the others who were allowed to stay alongside the Navi after the humans' mass exit. He was definitely wild but very much loved. He knew who his birth parents were and he learned how much they had loved him. Every year he and the others all go out to the grave site to pay their respects.

Everything is perfect for 16 years until one night more stars than usual fill the pandorian night sky.

[77gigabytes]

Things I might turn into full fics later Pt. 1

Secret Agent! Kuroo x Dispatcher! Reader

So, this, uh, somehow, uh, like, quintupled in length from my original note, I don’t know how, but I guess my fingers slipped? Oops?

|| Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 ||

Kuroo, Bokuto and Iwaizumi are Team 1

You, Akaashi and Oikawa are their dispatchers, respectively

The six of you share a communication channel, but you have a separate one with Kuroo similar to how Akaashi and Bokuto have one, and Oikawa and Iwaizumi have one

Kuroo always teases you through your comms even when the others are listening. You never fail to say something snarky back to him or completely ignore him altogether—

“If I return successfully on this mission, will you give me a welcome back kiss as a reward, Y/N-chan?”

“Tch, as if.”

“Argh, get a room, you two lovebirds, you have a separate channel you know.” Cue Oikawa fake gagging.

– but he always somehow gets sweeter and more sensual when talking on your private channel:

It's super late into the night. Akaashi and Oikawa have gone to sleep and you're borderline dozing off. Your chair is fully reclined and your feet are propped up on the desk.

“Y/N? You still there, sweet?”

You jerk up, your chair almost folding you in half with how fast you tried to straighten it.

Hands flying to the keyboard, looking at each screen you have of their info, vitals, location, supplies, etc., “Yeah? Yeah, what do you need? Are you guys okay?” you make sure everything is still green

“Yeah, we’re good, I just wanted to hear your voice, Kitten.”

Kuroo was always a little more straightforward when it was late at night.

You hum and the heat travels to your cheeks as you recline

You can see him through the CCTV cameras Akaashi got into.

“Talk to me, Y/N-chan… So I don’t fall asleep on these snoring fools.” He chuckles and you see him crossing his hand across his chest.

His voice was much softer than his usual strong and commanding one, but it was nice in your ears, so you closed your eyes and took a breath

“Hmm,” You lean back into your chair, “Did I ever tell you how much I hated you—”

“—I think you say that every day. In fact, sweetheart, at this point, I think you mean I love you.”

You sputter out a disbelieving laugh, “I was going to say how much I hated you for always somehow being higher in rank than me!” You try to defend, “Always beating me by a few points even though I gave my 110 per cent!” your voice slowly rose as you finished the sentence.

Akaashi turns in his temporary futon on the floor between yours and Oikawa’s

Your hand whips to your mouth, but luckily, he’s still fast asleep and Oikawa’s sleeping like a log, sheets ruffled and tangled all sorts of ways around his legs.

“Well, it’s what I like about you.”

You frown, “What? That I can never surpass you?”

You hear his deep but soft rumble of a laugh, “No, sweetheart, the fact that you always give it your all. It’s why I put my full trust in you as my partner behind the scenes. Speaking of which, why did you apply as a dispatcher, anyway? You definitely had the points and the commendations to be out here with me, Kitten.”

“Please, we’d be at each other’s throats if I was out there with you.” You reply without thought, but then mumble into your hand, “Who else was going to watch your back.”

“What was—” static cuts him off

Then a sharp ring in your ear has you whipping the earpieces out of your ears and bouncing on the desk where they eventually roll off to the floor

Even though he teases you so much, you can’t help but worry when you suddenly lose contact with him

“Kuroo? Hey! Do you read me?” All the text on your screen starts turning orange, red and flashing, “Kuroo!”

You shake Akaashi awake and throw a stress ball at Oikawa’s head but eventually have to kick him awake, “Hey, hey, wake up, we’ve lost them, get Ki-chan, Kenma and Kunimi-kun.”

Oikawa’s up and almost sliding the door off of its hinges to get them

Kiyoko-chan, Kenma and Kunimi-kun are assigned to the Intelligence team

they start working on why you’ve lost contact with them, hair all messy from just waking up and eyes half-lidded with sleep

It’s been a full five days since you lost contact. They weren’t even meant to be out there for longer than two days.

Before they left, you optimised their supplies so they wouldn’t be slowed down by the weight.

You know for sure that they’ve probably burned through it by now.

You were just about ready to barge up to the big bosses’ room, pretty much ready to gear up and go out there yourself. More than qualified to do so, too.

Akaashi was holding you back mumbling all sorts of arguments trying to convince you to stay put.

“Y/N! Where’s Y/N?!” Kenma’s voice echoes through the hallways, “Comms are back on! We’ve got contact!”

You’re rushing to your dispatcher’s room in no time and stuffing the earpiece in, “Kuroo!”

It’s not Kuroo’s voice that goes through, it’s Iwaizumi's.

“L/N-chan, we’re still looking for him, we got separated.”

“What? What do you mean ‘You’re still looking’? You mean he’s been gone for… how long?”

“A couple of hours after we lost contact, we got split up. We have his earpiece, it’s how I’m talking to you, mine was smashed to pieces.”

“Find him, find him, you need to find him!” you plead.

You jump when you feel a hand on your shoulder and meet Oikawa’s eyes, “L/N-chi, they’re doing the best their can, let’s do our best here too, okay? Breathe, Chibi-chan.”

You suck a deep breath, close your eyes, and then exhale, “Yeah, yeah.” You say and press the button to speak with Iwaizumi, “Sorry, Iwa-kun… Oikawa and I can check all the cameras and check the data in all of your black boxes. In the meantime, update Akaashi on your supplies, find water, and…stay safe… Find him...please.” Your voice breaks as you plead to him.

“Bokuto-san and I will do everything we can, L/N-chan.”

For the next couple of hours, you’re all cooped up in the dispatch room, tracing their movement, hypothesising where Kuroo might have gone, you map out the area knowing that he’d have gone to find water at some point.

It was a few hours later that you hear Bokuto yelling into the microphone, “We found him! Kuroo! Over here.”

You couldn’t even let out a breath before he’s saying something that makes your stomach drop to the floor

“Oh my God, Kuroo! Iwa-chan, we need your med kit! Quick! Kuroo, hey, stay with me.”

“Bo, Iwa-kun, what’s going on?” you plead.

“L/N-chan, I’m giving the headset to Kuroo, keep talking to him, keep him awake.”

You hear some shuffling and then a spluttering cough, “Keep the pressure, Bokuto! Here…gauze, bandage!”

You blink, stuttering out your breaths, he’s bleeding somewhere, you deduce, if he’s coughing up blood, chest wound? Internal bleeding?

“Ki—urgh—Kitten?” He heaves.

“Yeah, yeah,” You fix the small devices in your ear, “I’m here, I’m here. You need to stay awake, Kuroo.”

He only hums in response.

“Kuroo, you—you idiot! What were you thinking, what happened? I… I hate you, you know..”

He lets out a chuckle but then winces

“Y/N-chan, I’ve got visual!” Oikawa shouts and pushes the screen to you. You can hear Akaashi dispatching Team 2 (Daichi, Ushijima and Atsumu – weirdest combo you’ve seen, but somehow, they work well)

You see Bokuto and Iwaizumi hunched over Kuroo, they’ve got gauze, bandages and even Bokuto’s shirt pressed onto his right side and chest.

It’s soaked red.

Keep talking to him, keep him awake. Iwaizumi’s words bounce around in your head.

What do I talk about? What do I say? Usually, he’s the one talking, I… I only ever give instructions, Kuroo, Kuroo, what do I do to keep you awake?

“I…Kuroo, I… What’s, uh, your favourite colour?”

You hear him breathing heavily into the headset and faintly hear Bokuto and Iwaizumi working in the background. Your eyes are set on his figure on the screen, his chest is barely moving, and his eyes are half-lidded.

“Pink. Red. Or something.”

Your brows furrow, “Pink?”

“Yeah,” he coughs again, and you see blood splutter from his lips.

Red. Bright red. Even on his black uniform.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever colour you blush –urk—is my favourite colour.”

You collapse on your knees to the floor. “I…I really do hate you.” You shake your head. Even as he’s in a situation like this, he’s teasing you. Even in a situation like this, he’s thinking about you.

“I love you, too, Kitten.” You see him close his eyes and smile.

You don’t even recognise what he said, too on edge, especially when you see he’s paling quickly.

“Oi! Kuroo!” You stand up, pulling the screen closer to you, “Open your eyes! Please!”

“I’m not going anywhere, Kitten. Not until I get that welcome back kiss from you.” He breathes out a chuckle

Team 2’s entering the camera’s view and Daichi pulls out another med kit, water bottle and IV bag. Expertly, he’s fixing the bandages and inserting a cannula into the crook of Kuroo’s elbow. He attaches the tubing to the bag and hands it to Bokuto who holds it up.

Ushijima and Iwaizumi have unfolded a stretcher turning Kuroo one way and then the other to slide it under him without having to lift him

Soon after, they’re making their way out and your fingers are flying on the keyboard trying to follow their movement through the CCTV cameras.

“L/N-chan…L/N? Hey…”

You don’t stop even though you hear Oikawa calling for you.

Not until Oikawa swivels your chair to face him, “Hey…L/N-chan, it’s okay. I can take over from here.”

“No, no, He—”

“—He’s safe, Chibi-chan.” Oikawa reassures.

Akaashi comes up to you and places a tentative hand on your head, “You need to rest; you’ve been awake all day and all night.”

Oikawa nods, “Mmm, we can take over from here.”

“But I—"

“You trust us, don’t you? I promise you; I’ll make sure he comes back home to you, L/N-san.”

You nod and Akaashi leads you to your futon on the floor and tucks you in.

Before he stands up to get back to his chair, you take hold of his wrist, “Promise me, you’ll wake me when he gets here.”

When you wake up, there’s no one else in the room. Your head is heavy and pounding, but you sit up, with a hand at your temples

As you do, the door slides open.

You look up and see Akaashi with a food tray, “Oh, perfect, you’re awake, L/N-san.”

You blink up at him. Akaashi… 

Kuroo!

“Kuroo-san’s recovering if you’re wondering.” He sets the tray down on the floor next to you, “He’s in the infirmary. Stable, but still sleeping.”

You flick the covers from your body and move to get up, but you’re stopped by Akaashi.

“L/N-san, it’s okay. Eat first.”

“I need to go see him.”

“Eat first, he’s not going anywhere, he’s safe. You need to take care of yourself, too, L/N-san. For Kuroo’s sake, as well.”

You clench your hands and as if seeing your inner turmoil, he sighs and picks up the tray and walks to the door.

Your brows are pinched as he stops in the threshold to look at you, “You coming? You can eat in Kuroo-san’s room in the infirmary.”

When you get to his room, you see him you see him in a seated position on the hospital bed

If you hadn’t known what happened, you would’ve thought he was simply asleep.

“I’ll set your food here, L/N-san.”

You turn to Akaashi as he exits, “Thank you, Akaashi-kun. Really.”

He offers the smallest of smiles and nods before closing the door behind him.

You turn back to Kuroo, taking a few steps forwards to take one of his hands in both of yours.

There are small cuts on his hand that you run your thumbs over.

“Kuroo.” You whimper and your vision is blurring over with tears, “Kuroo, Kuroo, Kuroo.”

As if hearing you call, Kuroo’s eyes flutter open

You don’t see through the tears, but you feel him squeeze your fingers.

“Hey there, sweet.” He rasps.

Your head whips up to his face, “Kuroo! Kuroo…” you pull his hand up so that his fingers are touching your forehead.

He says something that you can’t hear

“Huh?”

“Come here.” He says a little louder. You shuffle closer to him, and he releases his hand to cup your cheek

“What do you need?” you ask him.

“Can I…”

“Hmm?”

“Can I have my welcome home kiss, now?”

You pull away and you see him with a small smile, “Idiot! How can you joke in a time like this?” You slap his shoulder, and he winces.

“Ah, sorry, sorry,” You cover the area with your hand, “I…” then you grab his hand again, holding back your tears, “I almost lost you, Kuroo. Hahhhh,” You look up at the ceiling to stop the tears from flowing, “I hate you. I hate how much you affect me.”

When you look at him again, he’s already looking at you with the softest of smiles. You quirk your lips and then lean in to press your lips to his.

“Welcome home, baka. Don’t do that again.”

As you go to pull away, you feel his hand at the back of your neck, pulling you back to him, “I’m home.” He says and then pecks your lips once more.

I had a lot of fun writing this. I really didn't intend for it to be this long hahaha, but I hope you liked it :3.

As the title says, If you guys want and if I'm feeling it, I might turn it into a full one-shot (Or even a mini-series with how long it ended up)

Anyways, have a good day!

This is Seven, signing off :)

|| Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 ||

[rosainta]

Day 3 of Rosain Quivan’s Daily Logs

Started December 9th, 2023 at 8:28PM, Home

Finished December 9th, 2023 at 11:33PM, Home

Log #3

Author’s Notes: Thank you for your support on the last log! I'm happy you enjoyed it, as unrefined as it was, but hopefully you'll enjoy this next one too. I want to keep these A/N's short as to have more time to write, and also to practice being more concise since that has been one of the challenges I've had with writing for a while now, so I'll just head straight on with it. This next one is an attempt at writing a chapter of an atmospheric story revolving around Medic and Heavy, of their blossoming friendship and maybe something more... up to you to decide! ;-) (The next log will be a Part Two to this, as the idea I have in mind is quite long, but feel free to leave your predictions down below!)

Title: King of Hearts (Part One) Fandom: Team Fortress 2 New Mexico, Badlands, Teufort City, The Cap Point 6:30PM, sometime during the Gravel War

"Ah, and here we are!"

The ambulance backs up into an empty lot, sealing its usual spot in the sea of other vehicles. Though the unusual choice of transport was initially an oddity, its frequent visits to this particular establishment had become so normal that no one bothered to question its presence anymore. The engine sputters to a stop, and its two unorthodox passengers hop out; the stalwart Heavy and the eccentric Medic, the iconic, unconventional yet unstoppable duo of the Badlands.

"Is good to be back, " the burly Russian exclaims, giving his comrade a hearty pat on the back as he slams the door of the ambulance. The latter grins, returning the gesture and slamming his own equally as loud.

"Yes, and it is good to have you back, mein friend! I don't doubt that the others will think ze same."

Heavy leads the way, the duo making their way towards the side of the building. Its dim neon lights glimmer in the darkening sky, creating a mixed atmosphere of class and risky fun. With the nighttime wind chills slowly falling upon them, the two quicken their pace and turn the corner. In front of them in big, shining yellow letters is a sign that reads: "The Cap Point - Teufort City's Best Bar & Tabletop Game Experience"

Heavy stops in place for a moment, looking up at the glowing signage above them. "Do you think little lady will be there?", he asks quietly.

"Pauling? Oh, I highly doubt it. Poor woman, always so busy with her work all ze time", the doctor replies, shaking his head.

"Is shame. Would have liked to challenge woman at poker; she always knows when I am bluffing", the big man chuckles to himself.

"Hah! Maybe it's because you can barely keep a straight face when you lie; your eyebrows always seem to lift up like springs, a bit like zis;"

Medic's eyes furrow, then arch into an exaggerated expression of surprise, mouth slightly agape for emphasis. Heavy scoffs, a smirk playing at his lips as he playfully crosses his arms.

"Now is doktor's turn to bluff; Heavy does not do that when lying. Heavy has excellent poker face, see?"

Heavy's face deadpans, his amused face suddenly turning cold. Medic's face, however, only grins with mischief, like that of a Cheshire cat.

"Is zat so? Well then, can you tell me where the whereabouts of my strudel from last night might be?", he asks teasingly.

Heavy's deadpan expression falters and, well, don't you know, so do his eyebrows, lifting themselves high enough they could touch the stars. Abashed, Heavy looks away to the doorways of the building, speedily turning to walk away from the sly practitioner.

"Heavy knows nothing of that, apologies", he says finally, quickly walking through the doorway. Medic laughs, satisfied with himself, and trails behind him.

As soon as they enter the establishment, they are greeted with the familiar, loud, cozy atmosphere of the bar. Various customers fill the many tables placed around the room, the bartop buzzing with animated chatter and cheery banter. Tom Jones's infamous "Sexbomb" booms on the radios, and a game of billiards is being played with such vigour at the back that you could hear the yells of the players resonate throughout the entire building. As usual, it emanates from its typical suspects.

"You've gotta be freakin' kiddin' me! What the hell is wrong with you?", a high, brash voice cries out.

"Scout, it isn't my fault that your embarassing lack of competence at breaking has made it difficult for either of us to score a point", a lower voice replies with a nasty sneer.

"Oh yeah? Well, how do you explain that the drunkest person on Earth and a wannabe American hero have scored more than you have the entire night?"

"Maybe because they had some sense to not stay on a team with a man in his twenties who can barely read!"

"Crikey, would the both of you just stop bloody bickerin'? Some of us here are actually tryin' to enjoy the game," a third gruff individual reacts.

"Shut up, this doesn't concern you!", the first two voices yell back.

Heavy laughs softly. "Looks like little men are having fun."

"Ja, why don't we go join in on ze experience?"

The two make stride across the bar, the shorter of the two men happily waving to the bartender on their way there. When they get there, the argument dies down and is instead replaced with curious excitement.

"Ey, long time no see, fat man!", Scout, the supposed incompetent breaker, exclaims.

"Ah, Heavy, it is a pleasure to see you again", Spy, the snarky Frenchman, says. "How was your trip to Siberia?"

"Was good, thank you. Is always good to see family."

Heavy takes a seat at the table next to Sniper, the attempted argument breaker, and signals for a waitress. Medic strikes up a conversation with Soldier and Demoman in the corner, excitedly babbling on about human heads, to which both of them join in without hesitation.

"One vodka", he orders, "and one sparkling water for doktor, please. Don't worry, I pay."

The lady smiles and nods, walking away to retrieve their drinks. Sniper smirks, surprised.

"Just got back and you're already feeling charitable, mate? Didn't your trip cost you enough?", Sniper laughs.

"Heavy does not mind. Doktor was there to meet Heavy at airport and buy him favourite food, so Heavy pay doktor back", he replies, matter-of-factly.

Sniper shifts in his seat, his smirk converting to a genuine smile of admiration. "Wow, it must be pretty nice havin' a good chum like the doc, huh?"

"Yes, is nice. Medic and I always nice together", Heavy says, returning the smile and turn to his friend.

From the corner of his view, he sees the Medic return his gaze and nod, a slight smile on his face and a grateful expression, before he returns to his own discussion.

The Australian takes a gulp of his martini and leans backwards in his chair, allowing himself to ease up in the comfort of the seat. He notices Heavy still looking at his friend in the corner, his expression content like that of one in a warm blanket. He scratches at the slight stubble on his chin, still observing him with intrigue.

"Say, why don't you tell me more about your friendship with our happy healer here? Seems like you two get along better than the rest of us mercs," Sniper says, adjusting his hat to better glimpse at the gentle giant before him.

Heavy looks back at the Australian and chortles, sliding his hand over the back of his head. "Ah, is very long story. Dok and I go way back, even before we became mercenary. You sure you want to hear all of it?"

"Sure, let's have a go at it. Probably be a lot more entertainin' than watching these two buggers argue the entire night", he sighs, loosely gesturing at the father-son duo as the tension begins to spark the flame of another petty anger-fest.

Heavy nods, understanding. He puts his bulky arms on the table and fully faces the marksman, inadvertedly causing the table and the fragile martini glass on it to shake a little, but neither seem to notice.

"Well", he begins, "it all starts when I first begin to live in Siberian Mountains with family, after escaping shoot-out in Gulag..."

To be continued in RQDL 4...

Credits: Team Fortress 2 by Valve Image source: Team Fortress 2 Written by Rosain Quivan Cross posted on Amino ( Rosain Quivan )

[year2000electronics]

i'm pressing u, please elaborate if u haven't already. like i'm 90% sure i know what u mean and agree w u but i wanna hear ur thoughts

OK so like i was talking w my friends about this but like. i used sonic 2 as an example. there are a lot of deleted scenes in sonic 2 where adding them to the movie does not change the canon of the movie. ie there's a character (wade) who gets his car stolen and we hard-cut to him in his garage with a bike. it's always going to be implied that wade is using his bike for the weekend, but there's a deleted scene that actually tells us he is fixing his broken bike, he lives with his mom, and likes ants on a log. so accepting that deleted scene as canon doesnt actually change the game. its dubiously canon because its not in the final product but still exists in the same universe and doesnt contradict canon.

look at like, kingdom of the sun vs emperor's new groove though. none of the deleted songs in kingdom of the sun were able to get into emperors new groove because that would destroy the tone and lore of the movie. snuff out the light is about yzma wanting to bring about an eternal night, but it can't be added to the movie because in emperor's new groove, yzma doesn't WANT to do that

so like. two types of deleted scenes. ones that you can add to canon without meddling with them, and ones where they cant be canon or else things would be worse or itd meddle with canon

and thats why i take the full streams as having a deleted scenes esque canonicity, because there is information in them thats just like. basic gags. bubby has an ipod. tommy says they fucked up the billboards. gordon's suit j- uh- nevermind.

but then you see in stuff like the commentaries that, like, some stuff was consciously LEFT OUT because it made canon worse or make less sense. like wayne cutting out his actual response to dr coomers 'what if it was fake' question, and wayne having to cut moments where he talks directly to chat and the science team responds to the chat dialogue (ie. cutting out the context of 'gordon, i need spices')

tldr i dont automatically accept the full streams as canon specifically because there's a 'final product' that exists in the edited videos, so im more inclined to not pay attention to full streams information because a lot of them had a very good reason for not being included. but also a lot of them were cut for scene so id be willing to slot them into my belief system

[hils79]

Hils Watches The King's Avatar - Ep 16

I love that all the pros logged in to fight Ye Xiu and see what his new weapon can do and he's just 'well, nice to see you all, bye'

Oh no I thought everyone knew but my sweet son Baozi doesn't know! I mean he does now but before he did not!

LOL there is an English book on Assassin's Creed on the table

Uh, he doesn't even work for her, does he?

Aww is he going to ask Chen Guo to be his manager?

I'm not sure what he actually ordered but I'm fairly sure it wasn't this

Ooh the official forming of the team is beginning. Love that he went to ask permission to poach Yifan. Also, lol, no I won't join your team because green doesn't match my complexion

I love that we're over a third of the way through this drama now and we're only just getting into what I thought the plot was going to be. Excellent amount of setup

LOL she saw Ye Xiu and Wang Jiexi together for like 2 mins and has decided she ships it. I mean fair.

LOL! Wang Jiexi is in on his plan to get Chen Guo to be his manager. That's also my 300th screenshot and I'm still not even at the halfway point

He's so good at manipulating people into doing what he wants. And, you know, she's been trying to think of a way to help him so everyone wins. She just needed a bit of a nudge in the right direction.

This is a trope that always annoys me. Like I get characters need to learn and grow but Chen Guo was so determined to do a good job but then just took a bunch of naps and hasn't even learned the rules of the game. You don't have to make people lazy and stupid just to show them getting better later. It just makes it look like she's not taking her new job seriously.

But, also, what kind of stupid rule is it that if your guild fails to kill a boss within a certain amount of time then you have to disband. It makes no sense.

YOU CAN'T KILL A UNICORN

OH YOU FUCKING SABOTAGING BASTARDS!

Oh no even her girlfriend is upset with her. But, also, she runs an internet cafe which seems to be pretty much just for playing this game and she's been following Ye Xiu's career for ages. Surely she must have learned at least a bit about the rules during all that.

Like I know very little about WoW, but if I ran a place where everyone plays WoW all the time and my idol was the best WoW player in the country I like to think I'd learn a thing or two about WoW.

I am very fond of him. I'd love to know if those are actual calculations or just fiction maths

Incredible! The spies attacked the wall so much they accidentally flattened the boss

Ahhh! Of course he knew what they were doing. That's what all the maths was for! I love this!

He's touching his boyfriend again. This makes me very happy.

Okay what I actually need is Baozi/Yifang/Luo Ji OT3. You've got the brawn, the brains and the heart in a nice little package

Uh, it wasn't just him that upset her

No liveblogging tomorrow as I'm on babysitting duty after work. Back on Saturday

[mothxart]

Can you tell more about your OCs in LC? I mean Lethal company.

Ohohoh!! I got a bunch of ocs! This might be a long post of facts and infos about them XD

I got 2 full teams of Employees (each of my ocs will meet one another throughout their missions and on 71-Gordion)

The first team consist of (by youngest to oldest) : Teyori, Peapaw, Meaj and Val

They have a hard time finding scraps efficiently and rapidly. It is uncommon to see them struggle with tasks distribution. Each of them wants to be independent and it creates this awful disharmony within their group.

Teyori is the most rational member of their group, always trying to calm the tension between Meaj and Peapaw. She manages scraps quantities as well as their economy.

Peapaw is a kind hearted nurse. She has a big heart, but an emotional one. She cares a lot for Teyori's safety. She is responsible of the well being of her crew. Meaj and her do not get along so well...

Val is the big brother of Meaj. He is responsible of the ship's equipment. He helps Meaj to write their log. Val is quite stubborn when it comes to do his tasks. He's a headstrong as Peapaw would say. Therefore, he gets himself in trouble.

Meaj claims to be their leader, yet nobody really listens to her orders. She is the sister of Val. She's responsible of writing logs. She is also a technician and will use her skills if their computer jam or break down. She usually choose the moon with the best adequate climate and the best loot.

The second team consist of (from youngest to oldest): Willow, Kadian, Bryan and Shefford.

Contrary to the first team, they work hard to be the best group of employees in the field. They cooperate and help each others in a conflict-free way. They have made up some rules to follow properly, such as to stick together to avoid minor complications and to never be all by yourself for too long.

Willow joined this team recently. Bryan took the responsibility of taking this newcomer under his wing. He still have a lot to learn about his job and this new environment. He’s quite timid but his presence is gladly appreciated.

Kadian enjoys working for the company. He loves to capture the most precious moments throughout his missions with his camera. He mostly logs his adventures. After a long day of work, he usually goes back to watch what he was able to record. With the help of Shefford, they create a plan/map of their surroundings. Thus his team will have an easier time finding their way to the multiple entrances to the facility.

Bryan is quite a special guy. Shefford thinks he’s been working in the field since forever. His expertise and his capability of handling the most thorny situations makes him a great asset for the company. He seems to be unflinching and determined to make the company happy. He is Willow’s mentor.

Shefford spend most of his time repairing their ship and resorting scraps. He’s a joyful mechanic who’s always ready to give a hand to other crews having small issues with their ship. Shefford might be bursting with joy outside their missions, however he has to deal with his crippling anxiety when it comes to explore new moons and gather loots.

—————————

As for my other ocs (Sugarcoat, Yume and Florian, and some others I won’t tell yet)

Sugarcoat lives on Dine, (it’s probably going to be a subject to change.. with the newer moons coming he might live on an other moon)

He’s an average nutcracker of noble rank. He’s rather scared and anxious about everything yet this doesn’t mean he cannot defend himself. He will swing his lollipop mallet with fierceness, often aiming for the head. (I still haven’t developed his lore.. I kinda made/created him for the fun of making a candycore oc.)

For Yume and Florian.. I did not decided yet. They live in a manor that’s for sure, so I’ll just have to play the new Lethal company version to see the news moons, (I did not thought of their lore yet.)

[richardsphere]

Leverage Redemption Log: The Too Many Rembrants Job

Ok so guy is running around, scenes are flashing everywhere. He's apparantly not too great a person ("whole life i have prided myself on never taking a side"... ) Im gonna say he looks like a little grey man type. Seems like he's feeling rather conflicted about whatever situation he's stuck in. Like this is not his lifestyle. --- Three days earlier, Sophie wakes up to an empty bed. (god... It hits me a little but i cant imagine how this must've hit people who watched it originally and sat through years before it un-cancelled)

The revival seems intend to do the "sherlock-graphics text conversation" thing that has become popular in the intervening years (i dont love that style, but i understand the economy of it. Only 1 shot can now show text and reaction rather then having to cut from a shot of a phone held in someone's hands to a shot of the face. I dont love it but i understand the utility of it.)

I Notice during the toast that Hardison's actor is credited as a "special guest star" (makes sense, i understand his career really took off between the original show and the revival so that makes sense) As far as excuses to write Hardison out of the story (outside of cameo's) are concerned, saying "Leverage International has over a dozen teams, all of whom need supervision and the research has always been his thing even in the OG run" is a pretty good and natural flowing explanation for it.

First heist of the new run: Distracting a grieving widow. Time to steal ourselves some therapy. --- I dont like the Big Text Transition Cut-in. BOSTON MUSEUM OF ART printed in such a big font you cant see the museum is a waste of an establishing shot.

I assume this "Harry" is the same guy that i have been told is the reboots mythical "lawyer" role. (a role that feels out of place in the line-up. Even if I remember the Cheerleading episode and the way that Nate's job was mostly knowing which crimes he could trick the bad guys into getting arrested for it still feels weird.)

Phoenix Wright points out that our prospective mark (opioid crisis billionaire) cant actually remove the painting halfway through but that they could cancel future donations.

But it seems Sophie has made her decision, she follows the lawyer till he admits which painting it is. Then all-but openly admits she's stolen it before. (guess we needed to tip our new castmember off somehow. Still feels clunky, but i'll respect it as a "Sophie's been out of the game for 8 years" thing)

In shock: Parker is getting therapy something i've been strongly opinionated on since the 12 step job. Sure its a child psychologist rather then an adult psychologist but its good. (different things work for different people, and the list of people to whom she could honestly admit to her life without risking arrest is slim. Take what you can get Sophie.) ---

"this is not what it looks like" "cause it looks like you're stealing a Rembrandt, and you've got a 2 minute window, tops... Hurry on" real "Uncle Iroh correcting his muggers knife-stance" energy here. Just the look on his face when he says "you want me to keep..." like i dont know what the Opiodbaron has on him to make him do this but he's so out of his depth. "is that my wallet?" "sure hope so, it has all your creditcards in it" this guy just knows his life is ruined now, the look on his face that all sensibility and reason has left the universe as these 3 people just casually chat with him mid-burglary.

Parker the cartwheel was entirely unneccesary. This is not an acrobatics job this is a "walk there and put the thing on the camera" job. No need to show off.

"where did you learn to do that" "youtube" absolute Timmy Turner"I inherited the internet" level of answer right there.

"So right now they're busting down the firedoors and an enterprising employee is coming in through your escaperoute" (i mean it was pretty well thought out for a complete amateur... that sounds more insulting then i meant it but i meant it as a compliment) --- Further flashback to him first starting to work for MarkyMcMarkface. "im not an anybodies side, im a lawyer" Ah i can see im gonna get really sick of the "evil lawyers are scum of the earth" jokes really quickly with this sequel series arent I? "not my medication, im the one who convinced him to pay out, you just need to put down the shovel... so to speak". Those are definitly the words of a man balancing his desire to do good, with his ability to be in position to do anything at all. (i like when characters have that dynamic. Its much more interesting then "cackling villain or heroig paragon"). Im giving this line a full on 9.8/10 for establishing this guy.

"my name will live on in these museums forever" well that is a line that definitly cant get twisted into "this is the famous art-thief who stole all this art" after Leverage Inc-ternational is done with framing him he'll realise the downside of herostratic fame. --- "are we taking him as a client or wiping his ID and dumping him in Venezuela" "I'd like to vote no on that"

"wait, i think i've deduced you are thieves. And you were there not to steal the Rembrandt? And now that you know the owner is vermin you want to help me ruin him?" yeah that is the premise, good deductive skills, absolutely love how fish-out-of-water he is. (the hell is going on?) That is the voice of a man speedrunning his way through the 5 phases to acceptance that his world will never make sense again. --- I like how Sophie mentions a theft and parker just reviews the heist. Good way to show the runners still understand her character, she doesnt care about the painting she cares about the swagger of the theft itself.

"well, he's already an inside man" "and we can bonk him on the head later, if we have to", " thank you... that did not sound right". --- "a month is a long time when you're the one not doing the stabbing". Ok i think we're overplaying the stabbing. That happened one time in season 1 of the original series, i think this is a bit of flanderisation. (still a great line, if i knew anyone who did throwpillows i'd get it done on one) --- I like the acknowledgement that art forgery is intense. With the need to duplicate materials as well as colours. And i like that Elliot still is Mr. Know A Guy, --- Ok so they realise they cant sell it (cause they didnt think to fake a Rodin) and use it to double down his reputational insecurities "cant sell it to you, owner wont sell to someone who might lose it due to future lawsuits".

Mark is calling a security check on sophie and it cuts to break (as if anything he could find isnt hidden by Hardison)

--- Lovely story, irish mob, father operated in the place they stole the painting, looking to offset it. Passes inspection (especially when the inspector is on your side) definitly written for Nate not Elliot but it'll work. --- "do i even want to ask who this actually belongs to?.. Thought so." at least he's quick on the uptake.

So it is at this point in the episode that i felt a need to I google wether the actor is dead. (he isnt, he got accused of SA but was cleared by the court in the end. Still public opinion being fickle and him never having been a Pirates of the Caribean level famous actor. I understand that is definitely a career killer.)

Bunch of eulogies for Nathan, "at least he burned" 8.8/10 --- Elliot taking the role as an excuse to rough the guy up a little bit before "losing" the negotiations. (note: they've clearly learned some lessons. Elliot made sure to check what the mark plans to do with the painting. No "oh shit the fiddle-purchaser thinks he's the fiddle here." Thats what 5 christmass specials and an 8 year interlude's worth of experience gets you) --- Lucille is a foodtruck now, (well, its more "air force 1" rules. Any plane with a US president is airforce one, any foodtruck with a Hardison is Lucille) --- Looks like Mark has decided to just kill elliot and take the painting. Also looks like this scary woman (RIZ security) is gonna be a recurring antagonist. (she has too much "presence" to be a one-off)

Ah the old "let me explain the fight choreography, then work my way through the choreography and look like a WarProphet-eer" stint. (Guy Ritchie Holmes did it better, but it gets a passing grade) I do like the little compliment RIZ woman gave. Elliot Spencer: "The Rembrandt of Violence". --- "smart thing to do would be to run" Smart thing yeah, but you guys dont do the smart thing, you guys do the Cunning Genious Bastard thing. Parker is notably absent in this scene, or anything that has been happenign in this part of the plot. (she's off doing the plan this is a distraction/back up for)

Elliot coming in like a rhinocerous. Lawyerman Flashback. "If i cant give them anything, and I cant be forgiven, I need to take something from him."

Back-to-present Lawyerman walks into the museum (sirens blaring), puts gasoline/kerosine/alcohol/other chemical accelerant on the painting and burns it. (the alarm is already blaring, which means something already set it off. The paintins already been swapped for a fake, as have all the others probably. We're framing our Mark for an Insurance scam again cause we cant beat the classics, especially if we're doing a Revival Series Pilot) --- Lawyer walks up to Mark and gets gutpunched. Mark is on the phone talking his secire and secret Maltese bank details (Sophie or Hardison? Place your bets. I think its Sophie, usually this would be a Hardison thing but it would show her as being "back" as an actress) --- "I said one job... The job's not done". Good line (7.6/10), and i like the subversion of the expectation that just 1 heist would be enough to get her "back in the game". making it a two parter helps divy up the load a little on selling both the grieving process and Harry's joining with the crew.

[sidhewrites]

posessed by a spirit of writing part 2: how did this happen i've written 6k words in the past 2 days

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tag list: @adaughterofathena @ambreeskyewriting @carnelianflames @halfbloodlycan @vigilantdesert @nadunacreates

The usual muffled weekend noise came through the thin walls of my apartment as I showered off, then decided that I didn't want to deal with the fact that Josie's things were still sitting in boxes on my kitchen table. A set of dowsing rods, cat treats, a few shirts and necklaces, and at least a few crystals. 

I have no clue why she believes in spiritualism like that, considering she's the one who taught me the origins of the west's understanding of eastern mysticism like chakras, third eyes and whatever. Make no mistake, I like shiny rocks as much as the next guy, but the idea that different colors of quartz could make you happier or more sexually active or ward off evil was as stupid as avoiding walking under ladders to avoid bad luck instead of just following basic common sense when it came to physical safety.

I know I sound like an asshole. Josie had told me hundreds of times.

It was still stupid.

Instead of dealing with her things, I carried my sorry ass down to the corner store for a pint of ice cream, bleach, and hair dye. My side-shave was due for a touch-up anyway, so it wasn't purely out of the spirit of emotional devastation and existential crisis that made me go from my typical black to hot pink. Admittedly, it was mostly because of an emotional crisis, but it wasn't the only reason, so I'm counting that as a win.

As the dye set, I put some music on and settled in on the bench by the window. By now, the rain was starting to recede, which meant people were no longer rushing to get from place. My apartment was just across the street from the graveyard, so I had a good view of the college campus, and I could spy on Mr. Ngo when he tried to do something a man his age shouldn't, like kneeling to weed the plants when his arthritis was acting up.

There wasn't much going on today. A few people walking across the grounds, either from the apartments to campus or vice versa, a few of the usual picnickers determined to enjoy an afternoon with their late loved ones despite the mud, or just get some time outside as the sun slowly started to emerge.

But there was someone else in the graveyard today. The small film crew had far better gear than the usual stuff Sutter College loaned out to its students. Even from a distance, their professionalism and organization was easy to see, and their mic operator looked very official -- not to mention a good twenty years older than students tended to be. I couldn't see their faces clearly, nor could I hear what they were saying, but it was all too easy to figure out exactly what they were doing, standing in the overgrown grass and pointing out significant historical graves.

Ghost hunters.

Like I said, the graveyard is old. Lots of people die in 150 years, and we have no shortage of local legends and folklore. The Barhop in [Old Towne Brewery.] Ms. Lark in the old public library. And the town's most famous, Lucille Bloom. According to history, she married the love of her life at nineteen, and lost him two years later in a freak logging accident. They weren't able to recover his body. She died of pneumonia and grief only six days after that, before the funeral had even been properly arranged.

According to legend, her spirit haunts the graveyard, waiting for her husband to be buried next to her as they'd always planned. She's allegedly -- allegedly -- an active spirit that can be spoken to, and often appears as a full-body apparition.

Look, just because I don't believe in Josie's ghost stories doesn't mean I didn't sit up watching documentaries and video essays with her as she went down rabbit hole after rabbit hole. I knew about the town's ghost stories, and I knew about the various teams of hunters and internet personalities who'd done videos on it. I'd even been contacted by them once, though they conveniently left out the fact that I'd never seen a single ghost in all my nights working in the graveyard when the video eventually came out.

If Josie knew they were here, she'd skip work entirely, watching them work and offering suggestions on how to do their jobs. Use this tool, don't put the camera there. She'd be having a blast.

The thing is, though, is that it's stupid. All of it is stupid. It would be to stand there with a radio, or even just a phone, and mess with their EMF readings, or whisper ominously behind the tree while their microphones picked up on sounds that could be anything from the wind to a bird flapping its wings. I could just go down there any time I wanted and mess with them.

I won't, though.

I'm not a child.

I have ice cream to eat, and misery to wallow in, and the hair dye has another ten minutes before I can wash it out. I’m not petty, and I won’t mess with innocent people just because I’m mad at Josie. I don’t even have to get groceries today, so there’s no reason for me to leave the apartment until tomorrow.

My phone buzzes, and my stomach drops. I'm still trying to unsubscribe to all the people Josie followed on my various social media accounts, but I'm still getting notifications one way or another.

New Announcement by the Haunted Archives Team -- [Town Name] Cemetery and the history of Lucille Bloom coming this week! Make sure to tune in next Saturday at 8pm EST for a live Q&A after the video drops.

The post featured a photo of the crew in a graveyard. My graveyard.

So that's who they were.I grit my teeth, and glare at the Haunted Archivists across the street. Josie loves these guys -- a pair of paranormal investigators that pride themselves on emphasizing fact over sensationalism, and using a variety of tools to find ghosts and blah blah blah.

For half a second, I feel bad for Josie. She’s got double shifts all week, so she won’t be able to get online in time. And then I think, Good. She deserves to miss it. I still have her dowsing rods and pendulum in my kitchen just waiting to be picked up, and reminding me of her every time I go to get a drink.

But that’s Josie. These people are just doing their jobs, minding their own business in a place that just so happens to be right across the street from me. I’m not going to go mess with people just because I’m angry and hurt and a skeptic who lives next to the graveyard.

I don’t need to leave my apartment.

I eat my ice cream, watching them putter around down there among the headstones.

I don’t need to go to the graveyard tonight.

[marashi96art]

Since I laughed at you for not having the anon asks on, I'll ask you a question. :P

Aside from Titanic, what other movies inspire you when drawing Cleon?

I love Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock so much that I want them to be my celebrity parents. But they are just best friends and always have been this way since they worked on the film Speed (1994), and The Lake House (2006) 12 years later.

When I first got into Cleon, they were the only "couple" in my mind and I have been preaching this ever since. I think they are my core of Cleon, and I rewatch Speed every month lmao.

I've also mentioned a few movies on my AO3 log, and here are MORE honorable mentions:

Action Movies:

Point Break (1991) Someone recommended me to watch Fast & Furious series for RE AU(and I have), but this movie is the OG of F&F series.

The Gray Man (2022) Kickass power couple saving a little girl, together. I use it for RE4 era ref, and I kinda have a reverse AU of Claire being trained to be an FBI agent to follow her brother's steps and Leon is just a random college boy.

Mission Impossible series I was talking with my friend about how Hollywood cliche Capcom can be.

RED (2010) & RED 2 (2013) If RE9 is about the OG team reunion like DI, they will be exactly like these movies, grandpas & grandmas still kicking ass.

Fantasy & Rom-com:

One Day (2011) Friends to lovers…The drama. In fact, my newest art has used this for ref, and you will see it in 2 days.

Now and Then (1995) Teenage Cleon. Childhood neighbors, enemies to friends to crushes lmao.

What Maisie Knew (2012) Spoiler alert I'm planning to draw a series of this. I'm not into Cleon having children but if they are, I'll do it my way ;)

Life as We Know It (2010) Enemies to friends to lovers again. And raising a baby together.

No Strings Attached (2011), Friends with Benefits (2011) Not really into FWB Cleon but you writers kinda like to write this? So I rewatch them recently, well, it could work.

The Mummy (1999) You cannot tell me Rick O'Connell didn't reference Leon's design. Again, gonna draw this soon.

The Huntsman: Winter's War(2016) Pretty average, I only use ref for outfit design but Jessica Chastain is so beautiful in this. (But my ideal live-action Claire is Rebecca Ferguson, just FYI)

Far and Away (1992) LMAO I've always thought of this movie as the prequel of Titanic.

Angst:

Drive (2011) My favorite movie of all time. And I saw someone already draw it, I reblog it to my main account a few days ago. I will draw another one soon, my fav scene is not the elevator scene so, no worries.

Marriage Story (2019) Literally just rewatched it last night. I love the arguing/fighting scene so much, and it kinda suits my idea of how Claire will leave Leon for his drinking problem.

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) I don't know why this movie got so much hate, but I think the part when Steve came back and later Diana has to let him go…Inspired me to draw Cleon.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) Directed by David Fincher. It's more for Claire honestly. But the Scandinavian scenery is something I long for.

Sci-fi:

Oblivion(2013), Edge of Tomorrow(2014) Both staring Tom Cruise. And I regret that I didn't go to the theater for both of them, at the time I thought the posters were boring, but they turned out to be really good, at least for my taste.

Not gonna put Romeo and Juliet (1996) on the list bc I don't use Leonardo DiCaprio for my Leon when drawing, I use Brad Pitt more, for he has a better fashion sense haha. Claire Danes is already perfect.

Some TV shows as well:

Full House (1987-1995) Uncle Jesse & Aunt Becky, just search them on Pinterest.

My So-Called Life (1994-1995) Angela Chase & Jordan Catalano. I Only use Jared Leto's appearance for ref; characteristically speaking, Leon is more like Brian in this show.

Peaky Blinders (2013-2022) For Noir outfit or Mob AU cuz why not?

Rougue One (2016 movie), Andor (2022) I love Star Wars and fuck…Cassian and Jyn are so Cleon-coded! I'm mostly into SW fashion, they have some dope jackets in Andor. Seriously go watch, Andor is as good as The Last of Us.

Ride with Norman Reedus (2016-) They got some cool bikes in the first season and Cleon bike date on PCH…My beach Cleon is inspired by this show actually.

I didn't even try hard to think about these and can still go on for days…Still, I think it's good enough for one ask for now hehe.