#i’ve cracked the code fr

[seraphdreams]

for every pussy pounder younger brother, there’s always a daddy dom older brother.

[gregmarriage]

x files 1x08 ‘ice’ was so fucking funny for having mulder make a joke about the size of his dick in front of two other men, and scully touch a woman’s chest as part of a medical exam, then immediately share a lesbian look with her, that has nothing to do with said medical exam

[ghosts-bandwagon]

yay its open again! so i really love snacking and i hoard and hide them all around the house. we all know military live and rely on mre’s and probably go hungry until they are free from their missions/tasks so pls pls pls, i would love to see a reader with the habit of just producing snacks like magic and just feeding them. they can also be a good cook once they have the chance to do it and just surprise and awe the boys but only if you want to add this. thank you for this!! you’re awesome and i worship you. 💋

Just like me fr fr I’ve always got some kind of snack or treat stashed away somewhere lmao

They love you so god damn much for that reason, you always manage to sneak in some snacks and it’s witchcraft

They kind of make a joke out of it, Soap and Gaz will act like it’s a drug deal, going so far as to come up with code words or phrases or secret hand signals or facial cues

They’re so fucking giddy when you pull out their favorite snacks, like little kids on Christmas

Eventually Ghost catches on and you think he might put a stop to it but he loves it, “throw in some crisps and I’ll keep it between us”

But then Price found out and he was more offended that you didn’t offer him anything, but he’s cracking up when you produce a pack of maltesers from thin air

You’ve just been promoted to the mom friend of the group

And then you offer to cook for them back at your place after your mission was over and they’re booking it, it’s finished in record time, fuck going to the pub afterwards, they’ll buy drinks on the way to your place

Your apartment has never felt more homely and more alive than when your boys are all there, Price and Gaz are sitting on the stools at the counter chatting over a beer and some whiskey, Soap is being nosy and looking at all your pictures, Ghost is lingering by you and watching you cook

You’re tuning in and out of the various conversations, focused on the task in front of you

Bonus points if you’re making something from your culture/childhood, they love that shit

And when you’re putting their plates down in front of them, they’re thrilled, compliments a plenty, you thought you were warm from being in the kitchen? Nah love, it’s all the compliments, they won’t shut up lol

“Alright I get it, it’ll get cold if you leave it there, idiots.” You tease, taking a forkful, relieved that you didn’t over salt anything

You thought they wouldn’t shut up before, you ain’t seen nothin yet. Especially Johnny, he’s begging you to show him how to make it next time, Simon is nodding in agreement, sighing blissfully at every bite, Price is begging you for the recipe, Kyle is begging you to move in with him and make it forever

[iheartthebyroniclead]

DISASTEROLOGY ☆ Can we create something beautiful and destroy it? Nobody knows I dream about it, this is my imagination🎧 Ethan Landry is in love with his best friend and has no idea what to do about it.

TAGS: [16+, Ethan Landry x fem!reader, suggestive themes, maybe hinting to some darker themes, friends to lovers, slowburn, bro jerks it, No ghostface (yet at least), Ethan is shy, but also super horny, minimal use of y/n, submissive and breedable ethan, one sided pining (or is it), reader is punk coded, two stupid shawties in love, i want him so bad bro]

A/N: I’ve been slacking on writing so here’s…something. You are now reading a partially ai generated scream fanfic #womeninstem fr.

The background noise of some campy horror movie droned on as the makeshift ambience of Ethan’s cramped dorm room where he and y/n studied, surrounded by textbooks and empty soda cans. They had been studying for hours, going over their notes for their upcoming exams. Ethan found himself becoming more and more distracted by her presence… something that was more than counterintuitive for a study session.

"So, you wanna to take a break?" She asked, snapping Ethan out of his thoughts. "We've been studying for hours."

Ethan nodded, grateful for the excuse to take his mind off of his growing attraction to her. He rummaged through his mini-fridge and pulled out a couple of cold sodas, handing one to his friend.

“Nah ,I’m good man, can you pass me my coffee?” Her rolled his eyes, leaning back over to hand her the can of espresso.

“You drink like ten of those a day, how are you not dead?”

“No I don’t”

“ I watched you chug an iced mocha before Econ.” He eyed her skeptically as she cracked open her drink.

“It’s literally the same thing dude.” She pointed at the coke in his hand and she plopped onto his bed, Sprawling out dramatically and making herself comfortable. She had taken off her jacket and the neon green misfits logo printed on her shirt did little to help Ethan’s eyes being perpetually drawn to how it hugged her abdomen.

"So, what do you want to do?" She asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

Ethan shrugged, not sure what he wanted to do. His eyes kept wandering back to her, and he was having trouble focusing on anything else. He shifted uncomfortably and cleared his throat, trying to gauge how obvious his growing problem was.

She noticed his discomfort and raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ethan replied stiffly, hoping she wouldn't notice.

She looked at him, her expression temporarily unreadable before she lapsed back into discussing their academic schedule. Ethan tried to focus on what she was saying, he really did, but all he could think about was how badly he wanted to touch her. He knew he shouldn’t be thinking this…she was his friend, one of his closest friends, if he was honest. Despite his thoughts being private he couldn’t help but feel he was violating some covenant of friendship or personal privacy. The thoughts he’d found him occupied with regarding her late at night were certainly not exactly…friendly.

Suddenly, she let out a yawn, stretching her arms above her head. As she did, her t-shirt lifted up, revealing a strip of soft, smooth skin. Ethan's eyes widened, and he quickly averted his gaze before his mind ventured too far into what exactly it would feel like were he too take her hips in his hands and-

"Sorry," She scoffed amusedly, noticing Ethan's reaction. "Didn't mean to gross you out with my yawn."

"No, no, it's fine," Ethan stammered. "I'm just a little tired."

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, I know the feeling. Maybe we should call it a night."

Ethan nodded, relieved to have an excuse to end the evening. He stood up, trying to hide his growing erection from her view. "Yeah, that sounds good."

As he walked her to the door, he was acutely aware of her proximity. He could smell her perfume, some kind of soap that lingered with a musky scent that made his head spin. He couldn’t believe he was basically huffing her pheromones at this point.

He tried to hide his attraction, but his body had other ideas. His hard-on was pressing painfully against his jeans, and he knew he had to do something before she noticed.

"Thanks for coming over," he said, his voice strained. "It was good to see you."

She smiled at him, a warm, genuine smile that made Ethan's heart skip a beat. "Yeah, we should do this again sometime."

Ethan nodded, watching as she walked down the hallway and out of sight, shifting the weight of her backpack on her shoulder, not missing how her ass looked in her cargo pants.

He waited until he heard the sound of her footsteps fade away before he retreated back into his room. He quickly locked the door and stripped off his pants, revealing his hard-on in all its distracting, demanding glory.

With a sigh of relief, he took himself into his hand. He was already more than half hard, something he might have found embarrassing had he the presence of mind to lucidly consider that she had gotten him so worked up from just fucking yawning and sitting in his room.

“Fuck” he gritted out, remembering how she’d stretched, how she’d looked splayed out on his bed even though she had done so rather goofily, dropping like a fainting victorian hysteric. She was so funny, too, he couldn’t stand it. His abs tightened and his hand sped up as he imagined the scene he’d previously spectated, except now he was joining her on the bed like he’d wanted to but was too afraid to, crawling atop her, pinning her by the hips against the mattress with her in that stupid fucking tee shirt, his thumbs pressing against her hipbones. His hand travelled to the spot on the bed where she’d been laying as if searching for any of her warmth the comforter may have retained.

“God, Yes” he seethed, shaking as he came in his hand. It was quick, not even near enough, but he would’ve cried had he not been relieved of the tension that had built up throughout the night. With this relief came a price; he felt a profound sense of shame that just moments prior to her departure he touched himself to the thought of her. More than the shame, he felt a certain coldness, like a chasm had opened in his chest because she wasn’t here to hold him and he was alone in his bed.

As his breathing slowed he laid there, hoping that he could keep his attraction to her under control the next time they hung out.

Ethan nervously fidgeted with his pen as he tried to focus on his textbook. Due to the house party occurring that night, Chad was mandatorily out of the dorm leaving it free for Ethan and y/n to reconvene and study.

“Man, you are fuckin whipped” Chad had laughed when Ethan had explained why he wasn’t going to be in attendance. With a flushed face Ethan denied the accusation instead insisting he just needed to study for Econ.

However, his mind kept wandering to his friend, who was sitting across from him, flipping through a fangoria magazine.

She looked up and caught Ethan's gaze. "What's up, dude? You seem distracted," she inquired with an amused grin, peeking over the edge of the magazine cover.

Ethan quickly looked away, feeling his face flush. "Uh, nothing. Just trying to study," he mumbled.

She chuckled. "Yeah, good luck with that. You've been staring at the same page for the past ten minutes."

Ethan felt his heart race at the sound of her laugh. He couldn't help but find her charming and captivating. But he knew he had to keep his feelings in check. She was just a friend, he reminded himself, and he didn't want to risk ruining their friendship.

“here's the thing, man. You can't just tell her you like her out of nowhere. You have to set the stage first." Chad leveled, hauling a six pack out of his trunk.

"What do you mean?" Ethan took the beers handed to him as they made their way back to the dorm.

"Well, you need to start by showing her that you're interested in her as more than a friend. Start by flirting with her a little bit. See how she responds. If she seems receptive, then you can start to, uh…ramp things up."

Ethan looks skeptical.

"But what if she doesn't feel the same way? I don't want to make things awkward between us."

Chad grunted, tossing his keys on his bed.

"Look, man, I'm not going to lie to you. There's always a chance that things could get awkward. But you're never going to know if you don't try. And trust me, it's better to know where you stand than to spend all your time wondering 'what if?’”

"Okay, I see your point. But what if I mess it up? What if I say the wrong thing or do something stupid?"

Chad laughs.

“Then you pretend you meant to do it, confidence is key man.” He picks up the Stab 4 DVD case discarded on Ethan’s desk.

“Besides, I know y/n. She likes weird.” He tucks his bottom lip between his teeth to stifle a laugh, tossing Ethan the disk.

“Ask her to watch a movie with you, set the scene. Once you’re all nice and cozy…that’s when you lay the moves.”

“Hey uh, you wanna watch a movie?”

Y/n set down the magazine, rolling over to allow Ethan some space on the bed, flashing him a shit eating grin.

“I thought you’d never ask”

Ethan shut his textbook shakily, joining her on the bed. They had done this countless times before, he didn’t understand what was suddenly so different. He’d always thought of her as cute, but only recently did he find himself acutely aware of the heat emanating from her when they sat together, his newfound spacial awareness leaving him dizzy in her presence.

Surrounded by an array of horror movies and snacks, The flickering light of the TV illuminated their faces as they watched a particularly gruesome scene play out on the screen.

She chuckled at the sight of a decapitated head rolling across the floor, "Damn, that's one way to lose your head," she quipped. His chest rose and fell in silent amusement at the irony of her quip. If he had been a bolder man, someone like Chad, he might have mentioned to her that he’d found another way.

As the movie continued, Ethan's eyes kept darting towards her, admiring the way the light from the screen softened her features. Much to his alarm, she caught his gaze and smiled at him,

"What's up, Ethan? Why are you staring at me like that?" His Adam’s apple bobbed at the way she said his name and he quickly averted his gaze, "Oh, nothing. Just...you know, watching the movie."

She raised an eyebrow, "Uh-huh, sure you are. That’s why you’re staring at me like I just lost-boys morphed in front of you.”

Ethan blushed again as he recalled Chad’s words. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so obvious. It's just...you're really pretty. And I don't mean that in a weird way or anything, it's just that...well, you're you, you know?"

She stopped laughing and averted her gaze, smiling.

“Thanks, Ethan. You are too” Her voice was softer than usual, Ethan scolded himself before he read too far into it.

She was just complimenting him back, that was all.

He felt his body tense up as he tried to ignore the growing arousal between his legs. He shifted uncomfortably, hoping she wouldn't notice.

Luckily for him, she seemed oblivious to his internal struggle and playfully poked him in the side. "Hey, are you ticklish?" she asked.

Ethan laughed nervously, trying to hide his discomfort. "N-no, not really," he stuttered.

She smirked mischievously. "Well, we'll just have to test that theory," she said, tickling him.

Ethan couldn't help but let out a small moan as her fingers danced deftly along his sides. His body betrayed him, and he felt himself growing harder by the second.

She finally stopped tickling him and looked up at him. "You okay, Ethan? You seem a little...tense," she said, concern etched on her face.

Ethan swallowed hard, trying to compose himself. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired," he lied.

She didn't seem convinced but didn't push the issue. Instead, she snuggled closer to him, resting her head on his chest. Ethan felt his heart race as he realized how close they were. There was no way she couldn’t hear how fast his heart was beating, he was sure of it. He could feel the heat emanating from her body, and it only made his arousal worse. She was so warm, and so soft from what he could feel of her. He could feel the weight of her against him, the smell of her skin; if she happened to look away at the screen, if she looked down even once…

he couldn't take it anymore. He excused himself and quickly made his way to the bathroom, hoping she wouldn't notice the bulge in his pants.

Once he was alone, he locked the door and leaned against the counter, trying to catch his breath. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He had gotten an erection while sitting next to his best friend, and he was mortified.

He looked at himself in the mirror, trying to compose himself. His face was flushed, and he could feel his heart racing. He knew he couldn't go back out there like this. He had to take care of the problem.

With shaking hands, Ethan unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them down to his ankles. He was rock hard, and he couldn't believe how turned on he was by such an innocuous touch. He closed his eyes and began stroking himself, trying to be as quiet as possible. His chest rose and fell as he leaned against the counter, eyes squeezed shut as he tried not to whimper, resolving the bite the collar of his flannel as he imagined her hand was his. Would she handle him softly or as fast and needy as he handled himself?

As he neared the edge, he let out a muffled groan, trying to stifle his orgasm. But it was no use. He erupted in a sticky mess, mouthing a silent “oh fuck” his cum splattering onto the counter and floor.

Ethan leaned against the wall, panting heavily. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He quickly cleaned up the mess with a towel and washed his hands, looking up at his reflection. He looked disheveled, his eyes wild and bright, pupils blown wide, cheeks and lips cherubically flushed, his curls framing the debauched portrait of his face. As he unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out, he felt like a different person. He was no longer the shy, awkward Ethan Landry. He was a fraud, pretending to be something he wasn't.

She was still on his bed, engrossed in the movie. The scene would have driven him crazier had he not just received some of his pent up tension. She looked up at him and smiled. "Feel better?" she asked.

Ethan forced a smile, feeling like a liar. Like he was wearing a mask. "Yeah, much better," he said, trying to hide his shame.

As the night wore on, Ethan found himself growing increasingly distant from her . He couldn't bear the thought of her discovering his secret, and he knew he had to keep his feelings in check. But as he watched her laugh and playfully joke with him, he realized how much he wanted to be more than just friends.

[taechnological]

You know how we question what Namjoon is training for with all the workout posts, and how Jungkook has been continuously working out and bulking up lately, and then that live they did before where Jimin said Seokjin sends random pics of his body parts post workout, and then with the recent news of Seokjin being promoted as corporal ahead of schedule from achieving that special rank. I’ve cracked the code. Seokjin is the trigger and I am screaming, crying, pulling at my hair, losing my mind and begging him to post an update of that shirtless tattoo pose when he comes back next year 😩😩🫠🫠

I'VE BEEN RAISING THIS ALARM SINCE BEFORE HE LEFT 😩 we are NOT considering the sheer chaos this man can singlehandedly cause just by flashing us even a HINT of his physical progress 200 days into his military training okay 😩 WE SHALL PERISH FR I'M TELLING YOU

[wisteria-lodge]

lion primary + burnt secondary (bird secondary model) (badger secondary performance)

(note to OP - this is an ask that I substantially restructured in order to answer it properly. Everything's still here, just in a different order than how it was submitted.)

hope i’m not bothering you too much, but I was curious on your input from what i could be. i’ve been pretty torn these days on my sorting, but i think i’ve finally cracked the code somewhat w the help of your acc (ESPECIALLY the sort me asks. don’t even get me started…)

i think i’m a snake (maybe even burnt??) primary and burnt-ish??? lion secondary. i’m not sure what my models are—but i do get a badger feeling.

~ SECONDARY ~

i’m not a good decision maker. i usually ask “well what do you want” when going out w someone for food, or if i’m pressured to suggest smth, i’ll say smth generic i’m feeling for. 

if the people i love, or at least the people closest to me, don’t agree w smth i chose, then i’ll be like?? okay i guess i’ll just choose what you think… like the last time i went out w my best friend, i was getting dippin dots and chose banana split, but then my friend and our other friend (who works there) were baffled and said that was the worst flavor. i was like wait fr? huh… then… what do you guys recommend… they said chocolate. i got chocolate. i don’t rlly regret it bc it ended up tasting good, and i also got their approval in a way, i suppose.

Okay. Coming out of the gate with an "I hope I'm not bothering you" and then going into "I'm not a good decision maker," and THEN describing just being extremely passive... I'm thinking burnt Secondary. It's like you're not trusting yourself to problem-solve at all. It's possible that some of this inertia and tendency to gauge what the people around you are doing is coming from a burnt Primary... but it's just all so specific, small scale and practical that I'm leaning secondary for now.

(and thank you for the really specific, low-stakes examples, they will make things easier.)

i never rlly ask for anyone’s opinion tho. it feels bothersome to them, vulnerable to me, so rarely do i confide in someone’s thoughts. if i do, it’s at first subtle, and if that doesn’t work, fine, i’ll just awkwardly straight up say it. but that’s the last resort. usually i just try to rely on myself.

This rules out being a Burnt primary. Feeling like it's wrong to ask for help, bother people, take up space... that's a Burnt Secondary. I'm not sure what's underneath the burning now. You don't like asking for help (the Badger thing), you don't like asking subtly (the Snake thing) and you don't like just straight-up saying it (the Lion thing.) And that's really what a Burnt secondary means. Problem-solving methods don't bring you joy.

this comes a lot from my mom criticizing me when i try to ask for smth. i can hardly say anything to her without it being some comment. it’s so tiring. in the end, when i do have to, i’ll ask for help—but i try not to. and yet, i feel the right to ask for help sometimes, rlly only when it’s a matter of “you didn’t teach me how to do this, how should ik?! but you think i should somehow!” which is stupid. idk how you can expect someone to just instantly know how to do smth as if coded into them as a baby.

Yeah. This is how you burn a secondary. I'm sorry. From just this description, it sounds like you might be a Prep-work Secondary (Bird or Badger) and your mom might be an In-the-Moment Secondary (Lion or Snake.)

i feel bad when don’t do something my mom is asking me to do, like chores. i don’t particularly like washing dishes, but i do it in the end bc i think “mom would want me to, i have to help her,

I think this might just be a human thing. It could easily be coming from any primary.

ik she would hate it deep inside even if she represses any sort of emotion, blah blah."

That's an interesting thing to say about your mom, that almost certainly has bearing on her sorting. I'll keep that in mind.

i think another big example is continuing my college education on behalf of my mom bc i would just feel bad to let her down. i want peace. studying and having things shoved at you to do is not peace

Okay, college is a much *bigger* thing than just dishes, and tells me a little more about you. But what it tells me is just more burnt secondary stuff. If you don't know what flavor of Dippin Dots you want, you probably don't have any strong opinions about what you want to study, and you sadly seemed to be trapped in a cycle where everything is... kind of a chore, and a grind.

whenever i’m in public, i put on a cold exterior. better that people stay away from me and don’t bother me. the less for me to deal w the better. so, i’m generally p stoic, unless i absolutely have to plaster on a fake persona. it’s so hard to do tho, definitely rarely wanna ever keep up. very few people know my warmer side.

You're sounding very Actor Bird secondary here (or at least Bird secondary model.) You've got your armor, Stoic!You who is... safe. And Fake!You, which is a (presumably more cheerful, Badgery) performance that you hate.

when it comes to family, i just don’t wanna disappoint them mostly. there are moments where i will sacrifice myself, like when my cousin comes over sometimes to watch stuff w me, even if i’m tired, or don’t feel like it, i feel the need to follow through w it so i don’t let her down. i’d end up feeling guilty if i did.

Not wanting to disappoint your family is a feeling that can come from a lot of places. But in this case, it's not even lack of boundaries, it's more just 'not worth the fight.'

it always baffles me when my badger best friend is able to constantly put on a mask when she’s forced to socialize. and she’s forced to socialize a lot bc of her family. it would drive me insane.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that you have a Badger performance that you absolutely hate.

i suppose i’m also scared of forming new attachments in general. i’m scared if i’m saying anything inappropriate, if i’m not fun, if i’ll possibly lose that person ig, and yet, i can cut off relationships quick, in a non direct way.

And here it is. There's a lot of fear, in both Burnt primaries and Burnt secondaries. And what you've got going on here... seems to be a version of 'if I do not try, then I cannot fail.' If you've got a persona designed to keep people away, then you don't have to worry about not being fun enough, not saying the right thing, not having to cut off the relationship (before they cut off you?) That sounds like it really, really hurts. I'm sorry.

~ PRIMARY ~

idrk what i want myself. it’s not like i don’t want to continue getting an education—i just don’t know what to do, so it feels pointless for the time being. but if not for college, i would feel more aimless, and i’d have to deal w any unwanted consequences from not going, whether it comes from my mom or the external world.

You feel very Internal to me. The only place the external world is making an appearance is as something that you occasionally have to *deal* with. The wanting connection, but feeling like it's too unsafe to go out and get it could point to Burnt Snake primary... or this sort of "pointless" but not necessarily unpleasant could point to a Lion primary who hasn't been *inspired* by anything yet.

in general i can be influenced by my people’s agenda and follow through w it. i would feel bad if i didn’t. like selfish. at the same time, i can be a selfish person. the person i care for most besides anyone else is me. i care about me, me, me. self-preservation is the biggest part of me, i think. i think another trait of snake primary is not caring for the general public. i don’t. my biggest priorities are myself, my care, and whoever i choose to care for at the moment.i’m just not someone who can serve [people] constantly, especially random people.

Fair enough. I would argue that everyone's first priority ought to be themselves, because if you're not doing that, how can you be doing much good anywhere else? If you're not taking care of yourself, that just means someone else is going to have to show up down the line to take care of you, probably after things have gotten much worse.

That said... I'm seeing the Snake. Feeling selfish that you're not adopting your loved one's "agenda" but very much not being a Badger.

i’m used to being alone and i like being alone… i’m someone who drifts from relationships easy. i don’t think much about it. sometimes i do feel a little guilty for not talking to some of my friends much but not rlly. it’s just something that… happens.

And then you say something like THIS which honestly sounds... so Lion. Of the four primaries, Lions are easily the most comfortable being loners. And when they're in a bad place (like if they've got a very burned secondary, for example) their instinct will be to get by themselves, and spend as much time alone as possible, in order to reconnect with themselves and heal.

but i’m getting sidetracked—i can be direct if something that tickles my morals seems off. even to the people i love. if my parents do smth i don’t agree w, i legit can’t help it, i burst out.

Um. That's Lion.

it’s a bit of a bad habit and gets me into trouble. i did this a lot as a kid too. i was actually a bit nasty as a kid, i think….

this happens more often than not w my family doe. i’m not nearly as explosive w anyone else. if someone does smth that messes w my morals, i act more calm about it, although most of the time, i just don’t bother to bring my thoughts.

Yeah, because you've got a pretty burnt secondary, so you'll be boiling over inside and still not DO anything... presumably until it gets really desperate, at which point you'll lash out with anything you think will work. Which at the moment mostly seems to be Lion secondary?

i think what confuses me the most is my rebellious nature. there are times where i will listen to my parents, and then those times where i will go against their beliefs. it’s an internal fight sometimes.

It is literally a fight between your primary and your secondary. You can hear your Lion primary say "DO THIS!" But your secondary says "we can't." And then if you feel the situation is important enough, the Lion primary finds a way to whip the burnt secondary into doing something. But it hurts.

i have a bit of a “don’t care” attitude. if there’s something i want that they don’t agree w, oh well.

"Sounds like a them problem, not a me problem." Very Lion.

this tends to come from my aesthetic. i like the darker side of things, which seems weird to my mom, and she always says “people won’t think you’re normal, you shouldn’t dress this way, it’s not right” but… i don’t care about what other people think… so why should i take that into consideration? some of our arguments come from this. what people think of me is not my problem. and what she thinks… sometimes… is also not my problem. this trips me up bc it’s rlly dependent. sometimes i care about what people close to me think and sometimes i don’t. sometimes i’m assured in myself, and a LOT of the times, i’m not. 

This also sounds like a Lion primary thing to me. Lions don't care about everything equally, they'd go crazy if they did. And it can be sometimes be unpredictable and surprising just WHAT will give you that "I guess we're doing to die on this hill" Lion primary PING. But without it pushing you along... it doesn't seem like you have much to fall back on.

earlier, [Mom and I] argued on how a wife should know how to do basic chores, and well, everyone should, but my mom said it to be exclusively to a woman, and how her husband will not want her if she can’t even do smth so simple. like washing dishes. my first thought is—why does it have to be the wife? and can’t the husband clean the stupid dishes himself if he cares so much? he should know too. basic chores are important to know, but setting it exclusively to one gender is so stupid. she ended up using me as an example bc of my distaste for washing dishes, saying that my future husband would say i’m not a real woman and would leave me. and my thoughts are that, well, he can leave, if i’m ever caught w someone like that! in fact, i wouldn’t ever be searching out for someone like that ever. gross. my mom is a badger primary confirmed??? maybe that’s why a lot of her beliefs are so off putting to me…

I mean, could be. That focus on tradition and the way things "should be" can be very Badger primary. Although if she's bottling up her emotions, could be a pretty extreme model.

(and yes, obviously everyone should know how to do basic chores like washing the dishes.)

 i follow through w my skincare routine even on a time crunch and my mom wants me to hurry up. it’s just too important to me—i might try to rush a little, but it’s gonna take an apocalypse to make me give up on any part of it.

You know, it's funny. But I've figured out who you remind me of. You're Stede Bonnet, from Our Flag Means Death. Trapped in a very traditional this-is-how-things-are-done environment, and with a secondary so burned that he just goes along with everything... but his primary still does assert itself in his love of dark things (pirates) and his love of clothes.

i also do what i want when i  want. like rn, technically i COULD be doing college work, but… meh. i don’t want to. but then eventually i’ll feel pressure to do it anyways. i’m usually on time w assignments even if i start them somewhat late, bc i hate to think of the consequences i’d be dealing w if i didn’t do anything.

I mean, that's how it can be with a Burnt secondary. You don't *want* to do the thing. But eh, I'll do it I guess.

i think, if i had one argument to be made against lion primary (if it counts as one), it would be that, while i don’t mind praise, it’s not smth i’m actively thinking of or searching for. i’m just not used to it. if i get it, i’m like, oh, thanks! it’s nice, but… idk… i don’t think it’s a huge part of me if a part at all.

Lion primaries are not out here searching for praise, unless they're very exploded. At the end of the day, I don't think anyone can run entirely on approval coming in from outside yourself. Not for long, anyway.

am i interesting? it’d be cool if i was. or just a classic?

You are interesting, actually. It's unusual to have such a strong, loud primary and such a burnt secondary. It makes me think that you're going to be just fine, especially when you finish school and get out on your own. The fiery Lion primary seems pretty clear to me, and I *suspect* you might have a Prep-work secondary... but unfortunately, at the moment. Too burned to tell.

[hazardsoflove]

breakdown of my st + dnd gifset so y’all can get into my head. i’ve been playing dnd for 6 years now i Know what i’m fucking talking about my choices are 100% correct and here’s why! fair warning this is not well worded at all

eddie - college of eloquence bard:

why bard? well i think it was pretty obvious. he plays an instrument (the guitar) and bards are often the “comic relief” class even though that’s not how you have to play a bard at all. their main skill is charisma which eddie practically exudes—as shown in his interactions with other characters and in his mannerisms. i just think it suits him very very well

why college of eloquence? i’ll be honest picking his subclass was pretty difficult but i think college of eloquence suits him the best because the focus of that college is words and skills like deception and persuasion. i felt that his skills as a dm imply that he has a natural ability to formulate imagery and scenarios for his players. i liked the college features for this subclass and i thought they suited him the best

max - mastermind rogue:

why rogue? she just screams rogue she 100% would play a sneaky little deceptive shit and i love her for it

why mastermind? okay hers was the HARDEST subclass to pick bc none of the other rogue archetypes rly fit her and i didn’t think any of the other classes did either so i went with mastermind because i liked the archetype and felt the bonuses fit her character

will - peace domain cleric:

why cleric? bc he’s will the wise and he’s a cleric!! but fr the show already picked classes for the party and they all fit them extremely well they knew what they were doing when they assigned them classes

why peace domain? i LOVEDDDD the domain features this one granted and i felt they fit will so well they focus a lot of aiding other people which i thought just fit him rly well

dustin - college of lore bard:

why bard? as i said before they knew what they were doing when they assigned the party a dnd class. he screams bard

why college of lore? because its literally about collecting knowledge from every single thing you can get your hands on and if that isn’t dustin idk what is

lucas - monster slayer ranger:

why ranger? i don’t need to keep saying it i think

why monster slayer? bc he’s literally a monster slayer. he’s hunting creatures of the night!!

robin - inquisitive rogue:

why rogue? i think this is funny bc rogue is my favorite class and we share a name BUT i gave her this class bc rogues are sharp and cunning and smart all of which she is

why inquisitive? well because of her knack for finding things and solving puzzles and mysteries because this subclass is very like. detective-esq and she showed in s3 that she’s good at that sort of thing considering she cracked the russian code

steve - champion fighter:

why fighter? DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO ASK COME ONNNNN of course he’s a fighter

why champion? bc i thought this was a fun lil subclass and i liked the features it gave especially the improved criticals bc even if steves never won a fight he knows how to hit fuckin hard. he’s literally a survivor

mike - oath of devotion paladin

why paladin? well its in the show. and it fits

why oath of devotion? bc oh my god mike will do anything for his friends he was about to jump off a cliff and DIE so dustin wouldn’t get hurt if that isn’t devotion idk what is!! one of the tenets is compassion and that sums up mike perfectly

nancy - hunter ranger

why ranger? bc she’s a badass

why hunter? bc she’s a badass. no but fr i like this class a lot and i think it really suits her and her skillset and the hunter subclass is literally abt learning superior techniques to defeat threats which she does

eleven - aberrant mind sorcerer

why sorcerer? bc they’re the magic class where the player is innately born with magical abilities and i thought that fit el the best!

why aberrant mind? BECAUSE ITS LITERALLY THE MOST PERFECT FIT it focuses a LOT of telekinesis and psychic abilities and telepathy and it’s like. it’s fucking perfect

other characters that i didn’t include!

hopper - barbarian probably like. berserker? maybe?

murray - before s4 i would’ve said like. rogue or smthn like inquisitive bc of the conspiracy theories but after s4. monk JSJSJSJ way of the drunken master feels like the best fit

joyce - hmm. she’s giving wizard

jonathan - i truly have no fucking idea. sorry jonathan

in conclusion

if you want the complete run down of each class and subclass i chose, this website is a rly good resource!

[waglifeornolife]

https://www.tumblr.com/waglifeornolife/735949019656978432/ugh-im-so-fucking-pissed-rn-highschool

Sorry that it is long <33

Okay so I thought I’d further justify my reasoning for trying to like get her back even further because I’ve done all my school work and I’m bored now. A bit of backstory(her and her boo are childhood friends and like they first went out for like a day in year seven and she has used this as the reason for most of the things she did with him and for him?

Okay let’s start off with the first crack in the glass all the way back in 2020.

I told her I had a crush on one of our guy friends and we would always discuss that and stuff. Long story short they went out until like nov/dec 2021. But I let it slide because I kinda just wanted to get through life at that point in time and also both him and her were my good friends back then.

Okay then let’s fast forward to like September 2021(IK timeline is a bit weird but they broke up quite a bit) and people were coming up to her asking if she liked this other boy who was like one of the “popular girls” boyfriend and she went no. SHE COULD HAVE LEFT IT AT “NO” but noooo she had to say liked someone else🙄🙄 who was also a “popular person” like wow well done. Also she’s like always been an attention whore. For example during all of this, she would always lock herself in the school toilet and fake cry and say she was cutting herself(the reason why I knew she was faking everything is because we all shared a pe changing room and like I’d like look over the bathroom stall to make sure she was okay and she would be fake sniffling). Like shes such an attention seeker ugh.

Anyways so let’s talk a bit about her boo.

They’ve known each other forever but like everyone and their mother would tell you that he is the worst creature to ever successfully sneak their way onto planet earth. And he is/was/is an awful person like he always slut shames people (including her) and like he’s been a bully like he bullied me but like I have too much on him now so he has to keep his mouth shut. And he made like a snap private story where he would always put a story after he’d masturbated and the private story only had girls on it. Um Yh hes like an awful person to other people as well but I could be here all day discussing him.

So back to her.

Let’s fast forward to middle/end of of 2022 she gets a crush on this girl in our school and they start chatting as friends. Turns out every secret she told that girl, she would tell the guy(okay I’m gonna give people code names now,the girl that I want to exposes code name is Benny,the girl she had a crush on is snake and lets call Benny’s boo boat) So Benny would tex snake but boat was tryna go out with snake and Benny at the same time so sane would tell boat what Benny said but boat and Benny were kinda texting flirting anyway.

So we all found out about what boat was doing so him and Benny didn’t text for a bit until like January this year (omg this is where it just started getting worse I still don’t know why she got with him or why so much fucking happened). So they started texting a lot more and we were all advising against it but she would always say “don’t you want me to be happy🥺” 🙄. So we just let it be(because they were a situationship and to be fair I kind of didn’t want to be friends with her at this point either because she’d already done soooooooo much in the past 3years I just couldn’t handle anymore). So in like July they met up at the park a few times and she gave him a handjob once or whatever and um idk what happened after that but her whole persona changed (you see ONE sock and you think you’re the fucking shit🙄) and she started acting exactly like him. She was taking cheap shots at everyone and she would tell us not to judge her for doing things and saying things but she would judge me and the rest of our friend group forgetting excited over things we were happy about (like Taylor swift or like getting grades or going out in a friend group) (OMG I FORGOT TO MENTION ON VALENTINES DAY WE WERE ALL SUPPOSED TO GO OUT TO DINNER TOGETHER AND WE BOOKED IT MONTHS IN ADVANCE AT THIS FANCY ASS PLACE AND SHE CANCELLED TO GO OUT WITH BOAT TO THE PAR FOR THIRTY MINUTES LIKE WHAT??). Anyways, like I was saying she completely changed and she didn’t really care about school and stuff anymore. And like her and boat when to the park again and she sucked him off this time (thing is she has this like whole thing where she makes it a big deal where she doesn’t want to do anything before marriage and she basically slutshamed people for doing things like that until she started doing them) but like after she sucked him off he was acting really weird like he was either acting super desperate over text or like constantly reminding her they weren’t actually together(he even said if she went to speak with him in school he’d laugh in her face) so I told her to stop seeing(for the billionth time) and to just swear off boys until exams are over but she just super angry at me and started yelling at me saying how I would never understand what they have and how it’s like (like I can’t understand a toxic situationship). And like she did end up “breaking up with him” but I new she was lying and she was because she told me they’d been texting that whole day and that she can’t let him go and that she loves him (I seriously wanted to laugh). But like I was vomiting and stuff one day so I couldn’t come in and I see a text in the gc telling Benny to “be safe later” and I was asking why she had to “be safe” and she said she was meeting boat at the park. And I had had enough at that point so I didn’t say anything until her boo was like sending rude things in the gc directed towards me and was saying Offenes or shit. So I confronted her about and she said “he didn’t know it would hurt you” and bullshit like that. She even confessed to writing some of the things. So I stopped being friends with her at that point but still had to hang out with her because my friends are(were now) her friends(they opened their eyes).

So she broke up with him (fr this time but I still call him her boo because she was just soo persistent on keeping him). But I found out like a few weeks ago that boat was actually texting another girl at the time that Benny and him were together but when I told her she already and was telling POPULAR GIRLS IN OUR YEAR EVERYTHING SHE WENT THROUGH BUT WITH LEAVING OUT DETAILS ABOUT HOW MUCJ HER EX FRIENDS WARNED HER TO NOT GO. Omg she had the never to come up to me to tell me that they told her the exact same things I told her and she listened to them. So like my friends (the ones that were neutral through this whole thing) were like discussing it too and we’re also like “Yh this is a bit rude” because they warned her too and she’s acting like they didn’t.

Extra reasons:

1)she’s a privileged little bitch who is super rude to her mother

2)she talks shit about everyone and has parasocial relationships with them and acts like she knows them

3) she literally said billions of times that she’s not straight but now she all of a sudden she is (because boys don’t really find it desirable if a girl is anymore) she also says that the girl she like is an exception and she only has wet dreams and fantasies about her and other girls but god forbid she ever got near one

3) whenever I’d try and bring up a serious matter that’s like happening in the world she would tell me that not everything is about race/politics

4)she gets “boycott fatigue” (I think that explains itself)

5)she always gossips like there will be no consequences

6)she’s a manipulative bitch

7)she’s super condescending

8)when she first gave head,she tried to pressure everyone else in our group to but nine of did. She knew I had this crush in some guy so when she got the chance she got someone to start spreading rumours around about that

9)she hates when people have friends that are outside the friend group that she doesn’t know

10) she’s made me lose loads of friends by playing victim in every scenario

11) she printed out a fake marriage certificate and tried to get our friend who’s a boy to sign it and she got pissed when he didn’t

12) she hyper sexualises boys in our year group and says all crazy things

13) she rats out people’s secrets for a little bit of popularity and attention

14)she openly makes fun of people for what they eat and wear

15)she’s just not the type of person people should have to deal with

babe, she sounds to toxic!! the ex too, i kinda feel bad for her when it comes to that but my god, i’m so glad you aren’t friends with her any more! it sounds to me that whatever you say to people, she’s gonna twist it and play the victim, so maybe confront her about everything you’ve told me first, make sure your friends are aware of what you’re doing and make sure they’re there, so that they can back you up, but make sure that the girl is on her own when you talk to her so that she doesn’t have an alibi to back up whatever she’d twist it into.

the girl sounds like a right bully, i had a girl similar at my school growing up, she was so nasty to everyone until a few of us eventually stuck up for ourselves and she realised that the person she’s trying to be isn’t a person that people like. bitchiness like that has no age limit so stamping it out now will be the best thing you can do 🫶🏼

[9tzuyu]

i know who you pretend i am

mama!nat x teen reader

note: i’m projecting SOOOOO HARDDDDD rn. so sorry i have mommy issues

blame mitski and a scarlett edit with her “why not me” lyrics. im in Pain. also if ur adopted this ones for you fr.

prompt: reader’s always getting in trouble and hoping to push away nat, but nat reassures them she’s never leaving. idk im awful at summaries.

🏷: @c-is-writing ‹3

masterlist

. . .

it was never big news when you’d gotten in trouble. from vandalism, skipping class, to fighting, your mother didn’t exactly know what to do with you.

natasha had already taken away your phone, given you an early curfew, grounded you from extracurricular activities. she even thought forcing you to get a job would help teach you a few responsibilities, but that only proved natasha wrong.

almost every week there was something new, whether it be a detention or saturday school. you just couldn’t help but do something wrong.

“i don’t understand why you can’t just stay out of trouble. i don’t have enough fingers on my hands to count what number detention this is.” natasha exasperated, sending you a glare.

“yeah well next time my teacher shouldn’t have such a stick up his ass.” you grumbled.

“you can’t just throw a fit every time something doesn’t go your way!” she fussed once more. you only rolled your eyes knowing she didn’t know the full story.

“it wasn’t even a–”

“don’t start with me, i’ve had enough of you right now. when we get home just do me a favor and go to your room. i don’t want to deal with you.”

ouch.

you didn’t bother telling her you had work in an hour. you’d just walk and if she happened to check on you she might get the hint. right now you didn’t care.

. .

several hours later and you were almost through your shift at the ice cream shop. the atmosphere at work was completely different from the one at home, and you’d almost forgotten the trouble from earlier in the day. between the jokes you cracked with your coworkers and all the customers that came in, you didn’t have time to even think about it. well, that was until your mom showed up.

“here you go, little one. don’t tell anyone, but i put extra sprinkles on top just for you.” you gave a playful wink to the kid before handing over the cone in your hand.

“you guys enjoy!”

before you could do anything else the voice of your coworker caught your attention.

“dude, is that your mom?”

“um yeah, i’ll be right back.”

natasha’s face showed no direct emotion. she’d only ever showed up once at your job before, so you weren’t really sure why she was here. it wasn’t like days like today hadn’t happened in the past.

“mom? what are you doing here?”

she glanced at her watch, “you’re off the clock in 45 minutes?”

“yeah-”

“you can leave early if you want, it’s dead anyway.” you shot your coworker a glare, not wanting to deal with your mother at the moment.

“let me just go clock out real quick,” you mumbled.

“i’ll be outside.”

a groan left your mouth. “why would you let me leave early?”

“you know most people want to leave early.”

sighing, you typed in your employee code at the pos stand. “yeah well not me.”

“see you later, y/n.” you playfully flipped him off on your way out.

natasha wasn’t surprised when you said nothing to her. she said something awful and it would be awhile before it left your mind.

“i didn’t mean what i said. you know that, right?”

you shrugged, making your way towards her car. “it’s fine, you were just angry with me. i get it.”

i wouldn’t want to deal with me either, is what natasha knew you were thinking.

“it’s not fine, not at all. i shouldn’t have said it just because i was angry. you’re my kid and i don’t ‘deal’ with you, i love you.” you let her words sink in as you got into the car. so many insecurities were starting to rise all at once, you were beginning to feel overwhelmed.

“i just want to know why.”

“why what?”

natasha looked at you, head down, fumbling with the sleeves of your shirt. she’d never seen you so small, so vulnerable before.

“why you act out, why you do the things you do, why you’re so afraid of being loved by me.” natasha answered simply, waiting for a reply, but when you didn’t speak she took it as a sign to push a little more.

“i took you in four years ago and i told you i’d never give up on you, or let you go, or think you’re too much to handle. you’re doing everything you can to test my limits, to see when i’ll snap, but it’s not working, sweetheart. it never will because i’m not leaving you. so why are you trying to push me away?”

by now you were trying to wipe the tears off your face before natasha could notice.

“i’ve never had anyone stay in my life as long as you have. i’ve never had anyone care for me in the way that you do. it just seems too good to be true. it can’t be true.”

natasha pushed your hair away from your face. “nothing you do will ever change the fact that i love you. there will never be a second where i think i don’t want you. a good mother’s love will never break, just as it will never end.”

“i’m sorry,” you croaked, desperate to keep yourself together. “i know i’m bad, but i’ll do better. i promise.”

“you aren’t bad just because you’ve made a few mistakes in your life. you’re good at heart, i know you are.” she murmured.

“how are you so sure?” natasha couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face.

“i saw the way you handled that child in the shop. and i’ve seen the way you help other people without even realizing it. all those times you’ve held the door? or the times you’d give something up for someone else, even though you’d tell me you didn’t want whatever it was anyway? cooking dinner for me when i was too caught up with work?”

you sniffled, “but that’s just what other people would do too.”

“no, sweetheart. you’d be surprised by how many people don’t care in all the little ways you do.” she kissed the top of your head, “i’m so proud of you.”

you shook your head, finding it hard to accept something you’ve always wanted to hear, but never felt deserving of being told.

“don’t say that.”

natasha frowned. “why not? it’s true. in fact i’ve never been more proud of something in my life – calling you my kid.”

“i love you mom,” you whispered, just barely enough for natasha to hear.

“i love you more. lets go home, yeah?”

“yeah.”

[lokislastlove]

Best Laid Plans (Fluffy Bucky x Reader) p3

Summary: Bucky is determined to woo you properly, no matter how rusty he is at dating these days.

Warnings: Some smut at the end, oral (fr), Bucky has bad luck, but we love him anyway. 18+ only please.

This is my first attempt at Fluff, it is not my strength, to say the least, so by all means ignore this. @saiyanprincessswanie I wrote this for you, I hope you like it and with any luck maybe it brings a tiny smile to your face when you need it. 💕 Also remember this is fiction, I know Bucky’s arm is fancy as hell and has no flaws.

Chapter 3 -

🌹 The Third Date 🌹

The office is abuzz with rumors of your new romance. For obvious reasons Pepper never shuns coworkers dating, but does caution that she expects everyone to remain professional regardless of the outcome. Bucky is one of the most sought after bachelors in the building so naturally people notice when he fixes his attention on you. For the two days following your fruit-filled frolic in the hills Bucky is constantly around. He brings you coffee, flowers by the dozen every day, saves you a seat during the meetings, cooks you lunch and even brings Kal in to see you.

“Okay, I can’t wait any longer. You willing to give me that second chance, tomorrow?” Bucky bursts into your office an hour before you leave Friday evening.

You gasp as the door slams against the wall and he cringes, “uh, sure. I’m free tomorrow. Should I just go ahead and wear my yoga pants?”

“Ha ha. Very funny. And no. I let Steve pick the date idea this time. Just don’t wear anything that you don’t want getting a little dirty,” he winks.

You let out a sigh, “wouldn’t it be easier to just tell me what we’re doing?”

“That’s no fun, Angel.”

——

The next morning you wake up to a text from Bucky, just like you have every morning since your first date.

Good Morning, Beautiful! Can’t wait to see you today. I’ll pick you up at 11am. 😀

Bucky has managed to make waking up a highlight of your day, something you never thought possible. Plus you got him to start using emojis, which Steve claims he will never forgive you for.

You choose some dark wash jeans and a V-neck t-shirt with a jacket and boots. Stylish but casual, you feel good, excited to find out what adventure Bucky will be dragging you into this time.

Your phone dings as you race out the front door and gulp when you see the bike again. God he looks good with it though, his light brown leather jacket highlights his olive skin and his dimpled smile has you swooning as you reach him. Determined to get a hang of this motorcycle thing you jump on back and cling to Bucky with a bit more confidence today.

Bucky reigns in his speed this time, and you find yourself enjoying the rush of the wind on your face and the warmth of him in your arms. To your shock Bucky leads you to a ceramic shop not far from Avengers tower, specifically for couples pottery class.

“Steve assures me that this is supposed to be fun and romantic,” Bucky says as you find yourself sitting next to him on a dirty stool with a spinning round table in front of you.

“Steve hasn’t been watching old romance movies again, has he?”

Bucky squints at you, “Actually, yeah but he said it had ghosts in it, and I got enough of those.”

You grab his hand and give it a squeeze before taking a deep breath, “Ok, let’s do this!”

It takes about a minute to realize what a terrible idea this is as Bucky curses under his breath and his arm starts making strange whirling noises.

“Oh shit, uh is clay good for your arm?” You ask, nodding at the way the plates of his metal arm seems to twitch and groan as the wet clay slide and congeal between them as they shift.

“Fuck,” Bucky curses as he shakes out his metal arm and you grimace at the worrisome noise it makes before it stops moving all together.

“Do you want to take it off?” you offer.

Bucky looks frustrated with a hint of panic as he sits there contemplating the best move. He still isn’t very comfortable going without his arm in public.

“Or we could just decide not to take Steve’s dating advice anymore and go back to the tower and get cleaned up?” You laugh and bump him with your elbow.

He scoffs out a laugh, “yeah. You know I used to be the one that was good at this stuff, I was the charming one who helped get Steve a date.”

“Oh is that so? Well I think you’re doing better than you think you are,” you smirk.

“Yeah?” He asks hopefully.

“Yeah, now come on Casanova,” you stand and wipe your hands on the towel nearby.

You can’t help but laugh as you follow him out the door, looking at the light gleam off the metal that isn’t covered in clay.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, it’s just… gonna be hard to convince me you’re not a complete mess after this one.”

——

You could tell Bucky’s confidence had taken a major hit, well three major hits to be honest. And while he constantly berated himself for everything that went wrong, you couldn’t help but love him even more with each blunder. And when he doesn’t insist you give him another shot after that disastrous pottery date, you seek out Steve’s advice.

“Do you think I should try to make a move? Ask him on a date maybe? Or is that insulting to … men from your era,” you finish awkwardly.

Steve laughs softly, “I think Bucky could use a sign that you aren’t willing to give up yet. You should give it a shot, as long as it’s what you want and not just out of pity.”

“Of course it’s not out of pity, you really think I’d do that?” you ask, trying not to get too offended.

“No, doll, of course I don’t. But that’s likely what he’s going to think.” He placates and gives you a knowing look before walking out of your office.

You push back your shoulders and pull out your phone to text Bucky.

Hey if you’re free tonight you should come over to my place. Maybe around 8pm? No dress code. 😘

🌹 The Fourth Date 🌹

Bucky arrives at 7:50pm that evening and you push the buzzer to let him in. You leave the door cracked for him and finish the final touches.

“Angel?” He calls as he knocks and you hear the door creak open. “Uh, hello?” His voice falters as he closes the door behind him and takes in the candles neatly arranged along a path of rose petals.

You hear him remove his heavy boots and call your name as he follows the path further into your apartment and closer to where you’re waiting for him. You shift nervously on your feet as you wait with baited breath for him to appear around the corner.

“Angel, what’s going..” His voice gets caught in his throat as he stands in your doorway and sees you waiting for him.

You’re wearing a simple nightgown, a silky robe and stockings. The thin straps and sleek material drape softly over your curves, enticing enough to make him pause but not overly revealing to be considered scandalous. You didn’t want to be too bold and scare him off too fast, or make yourself appear too desperate.

“Hi, Bucky,” you smile as you watch his pupils dilate and his chest strain against his shirt as his breathing gets heavier.

He clears his throat and his cheeks glow pink as his eyes flick up to meet yours, “uh hey, Angel. Am I dreaming?”

You laugh as you take a few steps toward him and he mirrors you, “I just thought that maybe I’d surprise you with a date, this time. If you’re up for it.”

“Well, I will admit that my interest is quite peaked already.” He jokes, his eyes roving down your body once more as he gently takes your hands and holds them out to get a better look at you.

You giggle and rolls your eyes, “Nothing crazy, just a simple movie date, and I have the perfect set up. Follow me.”

You pull him over to your bedroom window and climb out onto the fire escape, he follows closely, his curiosity climbing with each creaky step.

“You sure this is safe?” He asks as the stairs rattle under his weight.

“No,” you say simply as you reach the top, “but it’s worth it.”

Bucky’s eyes widen as he takes in the rooftop space that you’ve meticulously decorated for him. Strings of lights hang on the low rooftop walls. A large air mattress is tucked between the pipes and vents, facing a large projector screen. You made sure to add mountains of fluffy pillows and soft blankets to keep you cozy under the stars.

“This is amazing,” he mutters as he eyes the plate of snacks and bottle of wine waiting on the bed.

“I know, isn’t the view amazing? I’ve always loved it up here, but I didn’t know it had this much potential until now,” you remark as you look out onto the glimmering view of the city skyline.

Bucky’s fingers slip between yours and curl sweetly as he guides you over to the soft bed. He flops down and settles in before opening his arm for you to join him. You grab the remote and the wine and curl up next to him. Drawing up your legs and letting them rest against his muscular thigh.

“I don’t deserve all this,” he utters sadly as he watches you pour the wine.

“Steve said you’d say something stupid like that,” you laugh as he looks stunned for a moment. “So let me just settle this right now.” You take deep breath and let it out with a quiet huff.

“I have been the happiest I’ve ever been since you asked me out on that first date. I look forward to waking up every morning knowing I’ll get to see you and possibly, maybe, do more than just ogle you from afar. Oh don’t look at me like that!” You laugh and smack Bucky’s shoulder when he smirks at you and wiggles his brow.

“I know you think you blew it after our first three dates but all I remember is seeing a passionate man willing to chase down a dog through the mud, even if it meant embarrassing himself. I remember you saving me from a potentially fatal injury, and I remember a man so desperate to impress me that he took advice from Steve Rogers,” you bite your lip as you watch Bucky choke out a laugh at your jab at his best friend.

“You may think all of these moments are flaws, but honestly I wouldn’t want to change a single thing. So let’s just –” Your speech is cut off when Bucky’s hands are suddenly on the side of your face and pull you in for a blazing kiss.

It’s as though you’ve unlocked something in him as he devours you, his tongue trailing across your lip and delving into your mouth when you open for him. You moan as his hands slip down to your neck, his thumbs pressing ever so slightly on your pressure points before he pulls away just enough to kiss and nibble along your jaw. The pleasure and passion is dizzying and you feel your body bend to his will. Your hands grasp at his shirt as he nuzzles and sucks along your neck now, making his way to your clavicle.

The feather pillow braces your head as Bucky lays you down and hovers above you, his body heat warming you as the cool night breeze tickles over each spot he kisses.

“God, Angel, you have no idea how badly I want you right now. How badly I’ve wanted you for so long.” He groans against your chest, dragging his nose over the thin material between your breasts.

“Me too,” you breathe.

You push at the lapel of his jacket, trying to urge him to take it off. He sits up, fixing his eyes on you as he slowly strips off his coat and tosses it away, followed by his shirt immediately after. Your breath hitches as you let your fingers lightly glide down his stomach, feeling every ripple of firm muscle under his heated skin.

“Wow, the girls at work would be so jealous right now,” you kid.

“I’m almost offended that you think this is my best feature,” he scoffs gesturing to his stomach, his eyes glinting mischievously.

“By all means, show me more. I did come up here for a show after all,” you tease, tilting your head and biting your lip as you eye the growing bulge in his pants.

“Oh, I think I know how to keep you entertained,” he smirks and lowers himself over you, his hot breath leaving goosebumps on your skin as he dips lower down your body.

You look down as he pauses over your quivering center and lifts the hem of your dress up to reveal your lace panties. He growls lowly and hooks his finger under them, pulling them quickly to the side. You twitch as he blows lightly over your lips, the cool air hitting the slick arousal already pooling between your thighs. He chuckles as you grip the blankets tightly and he pushes his long thick tongue between your folds, circling your bud at the top. You let out a long moan as his fervor increases, the feeling of his rough tongue dipping into your dripping hole and then back up to flick over your clit is driving you closer and closer to the edge.

After the past two weeks of the most intense sexual tension you’ve ever experienced it doesn’t take much for him to have you squirming under his touch. Your toes curl and a broken scream echoes over the rooftops as you come on his hungry lips.

“You’re so beautiful,” he coos as your eyes flutter open and see him hovering over your face once more.

Your jaw slackens, pupils blown as you take in his debauched state, his tousled hair, lips and beard glistening with your come. You reach up and pull him down to you, tasting yourself on his tongue. You feel his metal arm fumble with his jeans between you as he pulls out his aching cock. Your eyes flick down in curiosity and you can’t help but gasp as you gaze at his veiny, thick length.

“You see how hard you make me?” He moans, fisting the base of his leaking cock.

You bite your lip, feeling an overwhelming desire to let him use you in any way he wants. Your body arching into him and your hips rolling desperately. Your submissive side blooming under his dominant tone.

You whimper and meet his eye, “fuck me, Bucky. Please.”

Your voice is soft and timid, nothing like the typical commanding confidence you have in your daily life, and it sends a thrill through Bucky. He latches onto your thighs and pushes them up toward your chest, exposing your cunt to him and he guides himself inside, moaning freely as your walls stretch to fit him.

“I’m never letting you go. My perfect, Angel.”

[muse-oleum]

The Flower Shop, part 3

Kingsman - Harry Hart x Fem!OC

Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; 

Hey folks! Here’s the third installment of my series. I hope you enjoy it! We’re getting into it, finally. Also, I’ve just added another prompt list that you can find here, go give me some inspiration!

Word count: 1.7k 

Warnings: none 

The camelias shivered in the evening wind. By their place on the windowsill, they overlooked the entire room, with its large bed, desk and the man sitting there. 

Harry’s books and notebooks had all been lost when his house was bombed to the ground, so he’d had to start again. Over the course of the past few weeks, he had purchased several anthologies and was still looking for new publications on the subject of entomology. 

He missed his old notebooks, relying entirely on the scribbled pages of the battered pad he’d used during his time away. 

Harry rarely referred to his time as an amnesiac entomologist as anything else except his “time away.” He was still grappling with the strange sensation of having recovered his life but he wasn’t so sure now, after so many months wishing for freedom to go find his butterflies, which life he wanted to lead. 

Kingsman had been his home for decades, ever since he’d left the army to become a secret agent. But before that? He’d been so invested in becoming an entomologist that it almost surrounded him in a shroud of wing dust for the rest of his career. His home was full of them; his head was full of them; and his heart was full of them. 

None of his friends had ever understood his passion for the small insects. To be honest, Harry himself did not understand it fully.

His father had been very fond of gardening, and his mother never allowed him to squash any insects he found in his room. Even if it was the biggest spider in the world - at least to the eyes of a little boy - she would just pick it up in a tissue and let it free outside. He had always supposed his interest came from them. But now, looking back on how he had cleaved to his ephemeral friends, he wondered if the root for his interest did not run deeper. 

Perhaps he was fascinated by their transience? The manner in which their sense of purpose carried them to their death? He envied that. The whole of the animal kingdom, except humans, seemed to have a purpose. Harry had lost his and didn’t know how to regain it. 

Sighing, he turned off the nightstand lamp, plunging the room into darkness. Before falling asleep, he remembered his promise to Rebecca to come fix her garden shed. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. At least, he had that to look forward to tomorrow. 

Monday ----, 9 a.m

The chime of the doorbell accompanied Harry’s entrance into the flower shop. At the end of a cold February month, the sight of so many blooms was a welcome start to his day. 

“You’re an early riser!” 

Rebecca stood at her cluttered counter, snipping twigs off small branches. Harry watched, strangely fascinated, as she arranged them in an elegant bouquet. She seemed to know just where to place them. 

“It’s for a wedding,” she said, matter of factly. “Apparently, the bride is fond of forest weddings and decided to go for a woodland theme.”

“A forest wedding in February? Good luck to them.”

Her singsong laugh echoed through the shop. 

“Yes, the groom seemed rather resigned, poor chap. Let me just finish with this one and then we can go look at the shed.” 

Harry followed, calling after her, “I didn’t bring any tools, I hope you’ve got something I can work with?”

Rebecca popped her head out of the shed. “Come and have a look for yourself. It’s in quite a state, but it still stands. My dad was strangely proud of that.” 

Harry fit his broad-shouldered frame inside the small shed as best he could without towering above her. Rebecca caught his eye as he attempted to squeeze himself in, chuckling slightly.

The shed was small, built out of wood that had begun rotting many years ago. Daylight filtered through cracks along the walls and dust shimmered in the air. In the corner, a box of tools, its bright red colour contrasting strangely with its surroundings, was waiting patiently for its next use. Rebecca had arranged a large pile of fresh wood and wooden panels next to it, probably to restore the cracked walls. 

“It’s dismal, I know, but the roof is still in a really good state so i’d hate it to collapse entirely.” 

Harry gently pushed against the walls. The wood cracked and moaned but it held. The problem was the rot, which had weakened the overall structure. 

“I’m afraid if you want it to stand for any number of years, we have to tear it down completely first. The wood is rotting. Best to rebuild entirely.” 

Rebecca nodded, biting her lips nervously. 

“I don’t want to ask you to do that, I thought it just needed a few repairs. But tearing it down and rebuilding it is a job for my brother; he loves to demolish things to rebuild them.” 

A small part of Harry’s heart - which he refused to acknowledge - rebelled at the idea. 

“Nonsense, I said I’d help and I will. We will just need a lot more wood than that.”

Wednesday, some weeks later ----, 6 pm

Dropping by Rebecca’s shop had become part of Harry’s routine. Nearly everyday after work, he’d go in, buy a few flowers and go. Every weekend, he’d drop by and work on the shed. He was grateful for the distraction it provided and, slowly, began to acknowledge that Rebecca had wormed her way into his heart. 

Harry Hart had never dared to think too much about love. The Kingsman code was explicit: no attachments, no weaknesses. Eggsy and, on occasion, Merlin, had expressed how incredibly stupid and bigoted the Gentleman Guide was but the former Arthur had been uncompromising. 

Kingsman was slowly adapting and changing, especially after Poppy’s missile catastrophe. A new Arthur had yet to be found but under the capable supervision of the older agents, amongst which Harry and Merlin, the newer recruits were coming into their own. Kingsman was still not operating at full capacity, what with the HQ and the London shop in ruins, but it was getting there. 

Exhausted, Harry shook out his umbrella outside the shop before coming in, tucking it neatly in a corner. It had been a long day: recruits to assess, Merlin to check on (he was adjusting to his wheelchair but threw a few dignified Scottish tantrums along the way) and paperwork to work through. 

The smell of freshly cut flowers greeted him and, immediately, he felt better. March had brought an early spring and the blooms were peeking shyly from under their green little sprouts. 

Harry heard a commotion in the back room and, nerves on alert, made his way slowly towards the garden. Carefully popping his head in, he saw Rebecca, on the ground, looking under the sofa and murmuring soft words of encouragement. Eventually, a small kitten emerged, sniffing her fingers curiously. He meowed a few times, noticing Harry by the door, and meowed even louder, asking for food. 

“I believe this little lad is hungry.” 

Rebecca gasped, nearly bumping her head on the sofa. 

“Harry! You scared the living daylights out of me!” 

He held his hands up, taking one step in, chuckling slightly. 

“My apologies. You looked terribly busy.” 

The shabby little cat, meanwhile, completely disinterested in the antics of those two humans, had made his way towards the kitchen, no doubt drawn to the smell of soup hanging in the air. One or two loud meows later, a large bowl full of ham and leftover meat had been placed for him by the table and he happily forgot all about everything else. 

“I found him in the street this afternoon. It was cold and he was shivering and crying, so I brought him in. He wasn’t a fan of being carried somewhere new and he hid under that couch for a solid hour before you came in.” 

“Well, he’s one lucky cat.” 

Rebecca laughed softly and shook her head, her long curls bouncing around her forehead. Harry resisted the urge to tuck one behind her ear. Tying an apron around her waist, she made her way towards the stove to check on the soup. 

Harry observed her, sleeves rolled up to reveal creamy skin, feet tapping lightly to no rhythm in particular, curls pinned up by a clip, out of the way. He felt his heart give a little tug and, unable to stop himself, took a few steps towards her. 

She didn’t seem to notice, absorbed in diagnosing what exactly was missing from the soup. The warm smell of tomatoes made Harry’s mouth water. He could tell what was missing from that distance. 

“Have you added basil?”

She looked up at him, noticing his closeness, and a pretty blush spread over her cheeks. She tasted one more spoonful before smiling broadly, dashing out of the door and back again. She came back with a shriek, shaking the droplets out of her hair. Harry couldn’t contain his smile. 

Suddenly, as she was taking off her boots, a sparkling flash of blue caught Harry’s eye. Looking more closely, he froze. There were two blue butterflies, Adonis blues, flying around her head. One settled into the mass of pinned curls, the other kept looking for a perch. 

Harry’s heart soared. how he had missed his butterflies! Their gentle movements mesmerized him and, unconsciously, he took a step forward. He didn’t notice the curious look Rebecca shot him when he reached up to touch one of the butterflies. She didn’t stop him, didn’t move, as if she knew something was happening that she couldn’t see. 

Harry felt the flutter of the butterfly’s wings on his fingers and smiled. Rebecca had never seen him smile like that before. He had never smiled happily, always offered small, sad, smiles. She wondered what it was that made him so happy tonight. 

The moment ended when their eyes met, Harry blushing furiously and taking a step back; Rebecca reaching up to touch her hair, her blush deeper than before. 

“I’m sorry, I-”

“I’ve never seen you smile like that.” 

Her tone was curious, not displeased. Harry couldn’t help but answer honestly: 

“There were butterflies around your head. Blue ones. I’ve always loved blue butterflies.” 

Rebecca frowned slightly. Butterflies? In this season? Surely that was impossible, and she would have seen them. Harry lowered his eyes to the ground, realizing how utterly mad that must have sounded. He was ready to take his leave when she said: 

“I love blue butterflies too.” 

Taglist: @justawriterinprogress; @tonystrksslut; @emilyyblackkk; the-sea-belt; @flybi91

Comment below if you want to be added to my HH taglist!

[xiaophobic]

WAIT JSKDCBHN I DIDN'T SIGN MY LAST ASK HSHSHSHSH I FORGOT IM SORRY,,, but you are right my love, the one that asked for domestic genshin teams was none other than i, sunflower anon ;) ngl that wouldn't have made much sense without context so i'm glad you were able to figure it out also yes i agree with beth slander, anemo cube go brr

DON'T BE SORRY FOR GOING TOO LONG ! READING YOUR ANSWER WAS SO FUN AND YOUR TEAM IS SO CUTE HELP,,, ESP THE ONE WHERE ZHONGLI & SUCROSE WEAVE FLOWERS INTO EACH OTHERS HAIR THAT WAS ADORABLE 😭 now *rubs my grubby little hands together* brain rot sharing time

For context my main team consists of albedo, venti, xingqiu, and keqing and I’ve grown too attached to every single one of them that I have zero clue on who to switch out when wishing for eula

Venti <- this bitch is my platonic soulmate and we’d most likely beg to share rooms

I get the feeling that albedo and xingqiu would share one, bigggg room that they evenly halved. Dont ask why it just felt right, and albedo is more often in some spare room that he turned into a lab so xingqiu can invite whoever and let them crash in his room

Keqings the only one with a single room and i dont think shes mad about that because her room is,,, so full of paperworks,,, neat and orderly yes but pAPERWORKS-

Alr ive assigned rooms now so onto whatever happens inside *stretches fingers*

I’d say we’re pretty even in terms of whos responsible and whos not, so unless albedo becomes in charge of watching klee there shall be no fire to be committed

Its funny how we have a god and a nonbeliever under one roof, so i think keqing would be skeptical around venti. But of course, ventis playful nature and fun demeanor would likely win her over, so now she treats him like family as well

Though that said, she’d also find herself scolding both me and venti on our uhhhhh tendencies to be lazy HSHSHSH she fr tells me to stop procrastinating in game every five seconds, so imagine if she was put with mr wine aunt barsibado?

Cute friendship between albedo and xingqiu because theyve made a book together and two educational boys,,, the amount of braincells in one room is ridiculous

Remember when I said keqing was happy she had a single room? Its because of her rex lapis dolls. Neither venti nor xingqiu ever let her live that down.

In terms of cooking, venti and i are never allowed for our own good. Venti isnt a bad cook but hes definitely a chaotic one and i physically cant make pancakes if my life depended on it. Albedo is on cooking duty most of the time but if hes busy, xingqiu will do it (though he will throw out the carrots) because keqings often too busy

HAVE YOU SEEN THE DESCRIPTION OF ALBEDOS SPECIAL DISH?? ITS A WHOLE FANFICTION OMG

Venti making everyone flower crowns mmmmmmmmmm and specific types of flowers for each person... aw

Whenever xingqiu reads a new history book, sometimes venti will just go “LIES. THATS NOT WHAT WENT DOWN. PUT THAT BOOK AWAY AND ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU WHAT REALLY HAPPENED-”

Albedo and Keqing both staying up really late because of work and venti having to sing them songs so theyll sleep i am SOFT

A recurring theme I find in this team is that we all look like responsible upkept high society people but behind the locked doors youll find keqing trying to get venti to get tf up, xingqiu and i raving about some fanfic, and albedo making something explode in his lab on accident

Bonus because ive run out of ideas:

(keqing THIS IS A CANON VOICELINE) Sleep well... me? Uh... I still have a handful of things on my to-do list, but I'll call it a night once they are done.

(xingqiu) lady keqing… please, it's too late in the evening. Mr Kreideprinz, the new concoction, if you would.

(venti, putting down a frying pan) oh… so we’re using the potion tonight?

Okay so the quality of whatever this is isnt guaranteed and its 100% crack barely any soft HELP HSHSH but im typing this in the middle of science class so pls forgive me. I wonder how you feel when you get a super long ask in your inbox…? I hope you still dont mind ( ��^｀) have a nice day dearest!! I’ll sign off twice now so I wont forget next time KESHEJ -🌻 anon

BAE I LIKE DIDNT SEE THIS???? WAH IM SORRY FOR MY LATE RESPONSE,,

HELP YOU MFS ARE SO CHAOTIC??? THE BONUS LITERALLY HAS ME DYING WHY IS VENTI FULLY PREPARED TO KNOCK HER OUT WAGSH(<\%[^{*}

your team definitely has “burnt out gifted kid” vibes ABSHAHSHA BUT IN A GOOD WAY OF COURSE they’re just all doing their best to be their best (with the possible exception of venti, though i’d argue that around such composed characters he’d experience his own slight code switch)

i’ll give you one of my own personal headcanons and apply it to your team a bit since i feel like it fits!!

venti knows everyone he comes across, or at least can connect their face to someone he’s seen in the milleniums he’s lived — a relative or something. he’s the god of wind and freedom, so naturally he’s traveled to all nations in order to be free and see the world as he pleases.

given this, he knows everyone on your team. he can connect their faces to at least one of their distant relatives that he’s known before. that is, except for albedo, who was born of chalk. the first person in a while who he sees and knows nothing of, so he FREAKS THE FUCK OUT. he spends half of his time stressing over who he could possibly be the offspring of but ends up coming up short every time.

he falls under the impression that albedo just must be klee’s older brother who was just never mentioned, until klee confesses that they’re not related biologically. it remains the subject he loses his mind over at the bottom of each bottle.

ABAHSHAHSH I JUST LIKE THE IDEA OF VENTI BEING SECRETLY WATCHING OVER THEM ALL YKNOW? HE CARES MAN 💔

anyway, i’m sorry this was so late and i’m happy you shared with me, this was rlly a pleasure to read <33 i hope you’re doing well, and please remember to take care of yourself, sweetpea ⸜(*ˊᗜˋ*)⸝

[prince-of-elsinore]

On Gunslingers, the "March of Progress," and Leaving a Legacy

An analysis of themes in Supernatural Season 12

In a previous post rambling about season 12, I stumbled onto the idea of American Hunters vs. the British Men of Letters as a classic Western set-up: the lone gunslinger who lives by his wits, skill, grit, and personal moral code, vs. the advance of "civilization" colonizing and "taming" the West, effectively pushing out the gunslinger and making him obsolete. The land becomes a more inhabitable place (for white settlers), but with the comforts and safety of civil society come society's norms and mores, which leave no space for the shades of gray in which the vigilante gunslinger operates. If we take the BMOL mission at face value, they are attempting the same sort of colonization of "wild" (monster-infested) America. Britain is "civilized" (monster-free) thanks to the BMOL, whereas in the US, lone operator hunters (gunslingers) rove the country, sometimes saving people, but not all the people, and always operating according to their personal judgment, faulty as it may be (see Gordon, Roy and Walt, Martin, to name a few). Leaving aside the question of whether the BMOL's goal of ridding the country of monsters is realistic (the US in not an island like Britain), their aim, if achieved, would undoubtedly make the US a safer country for its human residents.

(I'm aware that this analogy is problematic for equating monsters with native inhabitants who must be wiped out or assimilated, and humans with white colonizers. This is an implication that the show itself makes. This post isn't about the problematic and ethically inconsistent portrayal of monsters in Supernatural, though, which is a huge topic in and of itself, so I acknowledge that it is an issue, but one I don't aim to address here.)

What the US would lose if the BMOL succeeded is the "rugged individualism" of the hunter ethos, and the nuances that their personal codes allow--a second chance for the psychic Magdas and werewolf Claire Novaks of the world. The show, of course, wants us to side with the hunters, the good ol' fashioned gunslingers. It makes it easy (too easy) for us to do by presenting the BMOL as caricaturish villains with a cruelly rigid code. This has the effect of aligning the audience against the "march of progress" (just as many Westerns implicitly do--therein lies the genre's subversive potential).

Let's take a closer look at 12x14 "The Raid" in this light. The Alpha vampire has been drawn out of retirement by the BMOL's meddling:

Alpha: I'm old. I like living quietly. You've been making my life awfully noisy lately. You've killed so many of my children. I've seen your work. In England, I didn't get involved because, well, it's England. But America, yes. America is my home. And it's time that you get off my lawn.

Clearly, America holds a privileged position in monsters' minds, or at least in this particular very, very old monster's mind. It is still the "Wild West," and it is "home" for monsters. No reason is given for this; it's safe to say it's a purely ideological impulse on the part of the show.

This exchange between Sam and the Alpha follows:

Sam: My family and I, we kill vamps when they get out of line. And you've let us. Alpha: I have many children, Sam. What's one, two, here or there? Sam: Exactly. So? Let my mom and me go. We'll walk away, go back to the way things were, to the way things are supposed to be. Hunters and vampires, cops and robbers, a fair fight.

"Cowboys and Indians" could just as easily fill in for "cops and robbers" there--in fact, the obvious absence of that analogy is a ringing silence. The show is skirting dangerously close around the edges of its uncomfortable premise.

What I want to draw attention to, though, is Sam's assertion that this is a "fair fight." What he's proposing is a return to the status quo, where some people, by default, will die. Of course, Sam is bluffing--he does plan to kill the Alpha here and now, hardly "fighting fair" (hm, just as European settlers made so many underhanded deals with Native Americans)--and at the end of the episode he does team up with the BMOL. By the end of the season, though, with the hunters uniting to drive out the British invaders, this is precisely the status quo the Americans are fighting for: one where many people who don't deserve will die at the hands of monsters, but perhaps a few others will live whom the BMOL would have killed. The protracted struggle between humans and monsters is thereby positioned as a sort of natural symbiosis, part of the circle of life. This allows for the perpetuation of the mythic "Wild West," which is necessary for the very existence of the show, and especially for the hunters to be seen as the "good guys." The show convinces us to reject "civilization" and embrace vigilantism as better than the alternative. It's impossible to pinpoint this ideology as exclusively conservative or progressive; it has implications in either direction. The world of hunters and monsters was never a perfect metaphor, after all, but one thing is clear in season 12: hunters are the heroes.

This brings me to another central theme of the season: legacy. After season 11, it seems that the show wanted to "correct course." Season 11 is entirely about Sam and Dean cleaning up a mess (the Darkness) they directly caused, after all, and after that narrowly-averted apocalypse, it's fair to ask the question, "do Sam and Dean really do more good than harm"? Season 12 gives us a resounding "yes," over and over again. The message is that hunting, for all its hardships and messiness, is worth it.

In 12x06 "Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox" (which I've written about previously) we get a taste of the sort of legacy Sam and Dean are making for themselves. It might come as a surprise, after seeing hunters hunt down Sam and Dean in previous seasons (Gordon and Kubrick in season 2, Roy and Walt in season 5), that other hunters now welcome Sam and Dean in their midsts and even revere them. One might rightfully ask, what would they do if they knew Sam and Dean and their codependency nearly caused another apocalypse not too long ago? Inconsistencies aside, it's apparent that Sam and Dean are appreciated as something like heroes in their own world. In the episode, they share this exchange:

Sam: Did you know people tell stories about us? Dean: Yeah. Apparently we’re a little bit legendary. Sam: Yeah, but, I mean, so was Asa. Then a hunt went bad, and he ended up hanging from a tree, alone in the woods.

Sam still wonders, characteristically, if the heroism is worth it. But in 12x09 "First Blood," he's the one with this iconic line:

SAM: We’re the guys that save the world.

This is a statement of identity, in response to the question "who are you?" Sam might as well say, "we're the heroes."

In 12x11 "Regarding Dean," Dean has his moment to affirm that their line of work is worth its toll. Talking about the curse that made Dean lose his memory, Sam makes this comment:

Sam: Some of the things we've done, we've had this weight for... forever. And seeing it gone, uh, you looked happy. Dean: Huh. Well, look, was it nice to drop our baggage? Yeah, maybe. Hell, probably. But it wasn't just the crap that got lost. I mean, it was everything. It was us, it was what we do, you know? All of it. So... that's what being happy looks like? I think I'll pass.

Again, Dean is making a statement of identity. The Winchesters are what they do, and what they do is the right thing, and that is worth giving up happiness for.

One common complaint about season 12 is that it heroizes Sam and Dean too much. They were never meant to be the Big Damn Heroes, the "guys who save the world," as if it's a day job--they're meant to be the underdogs, the messy humans doing their best, sometimes failing, but rising to the occasion when it counts most, despite the terrible costs. Perhaps this is true, and perhaps this season does go overboard in trying to smooth over the messy cracks in the heroic facade. The show could have done better than to make the heroes and villains so black and white, certainly. Perhaps the show does lose some of its identity in erasing the moral ambiguities that always made it so intriguing.

There are moments, however, that are still thematically resonant with the show as a whole--more understated moments that remember the bigger picture. One such moment is when legacy is explicitly addressed in 12x18 "The Memory Remains":

Dean: What do you think our legacy's gonna be? When we're gone, I mean, after all the stuff we've done, you think folks will remember us? You know, like, a hundred years from now? Sam: No. Dean: Oh, that's nice. Sam: Well, I mean... Guys like us, we're not exactly the type of people they write about in history books, you know? Dean: Mm. Sam: But the people we saved, they're our legacy. And they'll remember us and then I guess... We'll eventually fade away, too. That's fine, because we left the world better than we found it, you know.

This exchange presents Sam and Dean's heroism on a human scale. They're not the guys that save the whole world--even if they did do that, a few times. They're the guys that save individual human lives, time and again. That's who they are, and it's what matters most. Sam's right: in the world of Supernatural, few people 100 years on will know the names of Sam and Dean Winchester. Perhaps a few hunter stories will still be passed around, and maybe a new resident of the bunker will piece together some old information. But everyone that the Winchesters saved will remember them for the rest of their lives, and those very lives they get to live are the Winchesters' legacy. Once those people pass away, Sam and Dean will fade from memory, but for them, it was never about being remembered; it was always about doing good--a common aim to which they are equally committed, at this point. Sam and Dean's greatest redemption has never been in saving the world (often from problems they themselves caused), but in saving people, and this holds true to the very end of the show.

[s5byler]

i just found out that recently a group of people who studies codes and ciphers them solved the one cipher that hadn’t been cracked from the “Zodiac Killer”. It’s now been solved! I know most of you probably don’t care about this, but in my years I’ve grown a fascination of the psychology of serial killers and stuff, that’s why I want to be a criminal profiler. So this is actually huge! For those of you who don’t know about the Zodiac Killer. he terrorized the San Francisco bay and multiple cities surrounding in the late 1960′s and 1970′s. Five of his killings were confirmed, while he does claim he killed more. While this was going on he sent letters to taunt the newspapers and police stations. He also sent ciphers. One of the ciphers being the one they just cracked, known as the ‘340 Cipher’. 

Again, I know most of you may not care, but I just thought I’d share some of my interests, because I really haven’t shared any... besides Supernatural obviously. Anyone else who is interested about this, please comment I’d love to hear what you think about this! 

fr though, who had “they solve the zodiac killer’s only unsolved cipher” on their 2020 bingo card, i know it wasn’t me. today has been a shit show, all the stuff with taylor swift being a heller with her new album, destiel becoming canon for the third time, people solving the zodiac killer’s cipher, adam williams being one of the worst human beings on this planet... 

[souvercine]

hey y’all ! i’m jia and i’m super excited for opening; i have two super clingy cats in case any of you ever need a visual pick-me-up, i’m a uni student in canada and a big skincare and dark chocolate junkie, more than likely gonna be typing replies while indulging in either jsyk !

tried to keep it short since i’m a rambly bitch, but xan’s basic stats and a proper wc page will be up soon as i just got home from grocery shopping and we open in an hour as of typing this, the theme as a whole will get a refresh eventually and i’ll be posting a little tracklist for her playlist later ! and if tumblr ims are as much of a nuisance for you as they can be for me, you can add me on d*scord at genuinely sick of this shit#2030 if you’d like to plot ! anyways, without further ado:

( samantha logan , cis female , she/her, twenty-four ) omg ! i was walking yonge street downtown , and you’ll never guess who i saw . xanthe lowe ! i just saw a post about them on sixsecrets ! i think it said something like “ when they go high, she goes lowe ! xan spotted leaving a gala with her former friend’s ex, after last week’s reportedly tense exchange between the girls ” . isn’t that wild ? i guess it makes sense through , since they’re apparently merciless and imperious . but i’ve heard they’re also conspicuous and astute ! i’ll just stick to giving them the benefit of the doubt . i mean , it’s not like i know them personally — they’re a famous socialite ! you know , i’ve actually heard rumors that redacted , but they’re just rumors … i think . i dunno . if you happen to run into them , tell them i’m their biggest fan !

tw: drug mention

when i tell you that i have so many muse posts i’m holding back on for this bitch —

which, btw, will all slowly see the light of day soon enough bc god knows i can’t articulate my muses’ personalities as well as i’d like so that shit makes up for it fdgslk

her parents’ eldest child together, xanthe’s also the oldest out of her and her siblings

also, never call her xanthe. friend or otherwise, don’t take the risk dklgsjdlk

grew up with a silver spoon, her dad being a wall street giant and her mother being an entrepreneur with a love for art ( so much so that her two partners after separating from xan’s dad were artists themselves sdlkgj )

thus she split her time between toronto and manhattan even before her parents’ divorce, she merely spent more time jetting back and forth for special occasions and vacations compared to when her parents were still together

mind you, she was probably still in the single digits when that became a new normal for the brat

basically could’ve been a main character on gossip girl with her reckless antics and partying as a teenager…. and now, even sgdlkf

drk how to elaborate on that, aside from stressing that from her teen years onward she’s presented her own take of a rich bitch, and is a socialite/fashion week regular type if i were to describe where she stands rn

i think a good mix of references would be nicky hilton meets the delevingne sisters meets blair waldorf and sabrina pemberton’s lovechild

she attended an ivy league at the behest of her father so he had at least one child who could take a senior position in his company simply to keep it in the family

.. before he realized what a Mistake™ it would be to put that responsibility on xan and now has her slightly older cousin as a backup instead GDSLFJKS but nonetheless !

isn’t the most studious person, but she somehow wound up graduating with a major in communications and a marketing minor

she reasoned that, with her reputation in the gta and nyc, she’d need the bit of knowledge in how to clean up her messes. even if she wasn’t the one who had that responsibility

though.. the entire time has been spent sleeping with some of her rich friends, drinking and smoking pot, with the occasional hit of whatever clean enough drug that one of her friends had on them

as of now, she’s pissing off her neighbours with her house parties wherever she might be at a given time, staying in the good graces of the media as a budding, fun yet classy heiress — despite doing dumb shit the second she’s inside of a gala or club

uhhh ik i had something else to add but a quick break for dinner messed that up, rip LKGFSJD

personality and shit

her little blurb on my indie is: refined party girl still set in her ways with her future left uncompromised; detached and pretentious, she soaks up the attention that continues to roll in

which. we’ve basically been over already lkdfsg but still

if i were to use a label to describe her, she’d be the sovereign

she’s messy as hell, but puts on the façade of a poised woman who has some fun because she knows it bodes well

she’s not a complete dick per se, but she can be snide and boastful

big superiority complex, independent and lives lavishly with reckless abandon

probably jets back and forth between nyc and the gta as it’s her version of normal, so ig she hates the environment if it means not having things go her way !

non-committal as all hell and will abandon girl code if she drops you fgkljfs

.. fr, she’ll fuck an ex-friend’s ex if she technically saw them first, so being spiteful and resolving some past attraction ?? right up her alley !

hence the choice of headline gdfslkj

keeps her true inner circle small, but gets off on attention and likes to stay cordial with some people, so she’s got quite a few friends all the same

she’ll fight tooth and nail to protect her image and won’t hesitate to throw anyone under the bus to do so/in retaliation if they screw her over

which happens to mean that her family is to be protected as well. fuck with any of her sisters ?? you’re done ! try to call out one of her brothers on twitter ? she’ll quote it with a single clown emoji as a warning

there really isn’t much to expand on tbh, though i will say that her emboldened nature and need for a good time however she can get it comes out more than her uglier side ( except her vanity. that’ll never go away ksfdg )

some quick plot ideas

a childhood friend or two that she made in either of her main hubs or through events she attended when she was young, whether they’re still friends or not for x reasons can be discussed of course

could carry over into a trio type of thing depending on where she stands with either of them, or they’re a different couple of pals she’s made in the last few years

enemies are always fun ! probably rooted in a competitive streak more than anything else but i’m all ears for a more complex reason

ex-hookup(s), current hookup(s), throw it all at me klgfjd

a hateship/ewb would be fun with her too, oh my god sfdgklj

it should go without saying that they are all relatively wealthy or well-connected kids here, but that doesn’t mean that someone who’s using her for their fifteen seconds of fame, or just to get some perks out of their friendship, is necessarily a write-off — not that she cares too much about fake friends, face value hype and knowing they need her more than she needs them gives her too much satisfaction fkskgls

an ex-something, open to anyone. either someone her parents forced on her to straighten her out that she wound up liking…. after a good period of her telling them to fuck off sdglk or someone she’d been seeing for a while at her own accord. would’ve ended the same way: with her calling it off because she didn’t want to settle down, not even for a relationship ( and perhaps bc she’s scared of commitment with her cracked family dynamic that’s been a thing since age two, but that’s another story jsdfkg )

[splattershotsundae]

Ink is Thicker Than Water --- Chapter 9: Are you Skwidding me?

Bato had been browsing his computer when he’d gotten his next text from Stacey. His last mission had been a few days ago, and he hadn’t told her he’d been discovered by Oana, and honestly he didn’t think she needed to know. Everything had gone well, perhaps better than planned, and now he didn’t have to worry about the secret getting out, at least in his own house.

What really concerned him was the contents of Stacey’s texts.

3: 4, I need you. 3: Suit up, then sit down. This is a lot to take in.

He quickly got to his feet and pulled his agent gear out of the back of his closet, texting her back when he sat down to put on his shoes.

B: Suited and sitting. What happened?

3: Someone broke into prison and freed a prisoner. From the sounds of it... It must have been Orvokki behind it. 3: Don't have the details of how, but that's not the concerning part. 3: I've narrowed down where she might have gone, but she won't be there for long, and we have three places to check. My old man's home, so he can watch -her- while I'm in the field.

B: Alright B: ... what's the concerning part?

3: You sure you can take it?

B: I asked to join you, didn't I?

3: She's taken Yuri.

He let out a strangled sounding gasp as he read these words, glad that she’d told him to sit.

B: What!? B: Why?

3: Don't know, can't be good. 3: One of the possible places she may have gone is our old warehouse. 3: apparently 1&2 got all the sensitive information out after the last raid, but then we abandoned it. She's high enough ranking she could have known about it, and it's out of the way.

B: Okay

3: Exercise extreme caution. 3: Switch to the official communicator when you're on scene.

B: Understood.

3: Good luck.

He took a deep breath and grabbed his brush and inktank before hurrying out of the house with only a rushed call to his mothers before he left. What could Orvokki be planning? Obviously she wanted to do more… water… ‘shenanigans’, but to what end? Revenge? Probably. He felt his throat dry, and wished he’d had the forethought to grab some water. He didn’t have time to go back now, and so he rushed to the train station.

---

The ride to walleye warehouse was full of many stares, and shushed whispers, but he did his best to pay them no mind as he sprinted for the agent’s warehouse. As he ran, he spied an old shipping crate, laying dejected off to the side. Was that the one he’d hid from the rain in? Dear Judd, it seemed like an eternity and a half ago that he’d been here after they’d met Hachi, but he supposed it had only been two, three weeks? Oh how much the world had changed. From there he was able to quickly find the warehouse, blending right in with all the others, except for the fact that it was borderline run down. He ran for the keypad, reaching for it… only to find that it had been broken off. This was less than ideal. He pulled out his sleek, new, agent communicator and fumbled for a moment while he tried to remember how to use it. “Agent 3? Agent 3 this is 4, I’ve reached the target location, but the keypad has been broken off.”

He was almost about to try sending his message again when Stacey’s voice crackled through the speaker. “That’s new, and probably a sign that you’re on the right track. Circle around the building, there’s a wooden crate counterclockwise from the main entrance which had a trapdoor under it, it’ll be quieter.”

"Got it." He said, jogging around the corner and up to the wooden crate, freezing when he saw that the crate was next to a trapdoor, and not on top of it. He knelt down to take a better look, bushing his hand over a metal pull ring which was embedded into the surface, next to another keypad. “What’s the code to get in?” He asked.

"The code on that keypad is 1376." She replied.

He nodded and entered the code, then grabbed the handle as it popped out, hauling up the heavy metal door with a slight grunt. Inside was a ladder leading down about eight feet, then at the bottom there was a sort of tunnel, so small that he’d probably only be able to fit if he squidded. He gave a quiet sigh, then carefully climbed down the ladder, allowing the trapdoor to close behind him, plunging him into darkness. He felt around carefully for the tunnel, then squidded and slipped through as fast as he dared.

Even has he felt like he was rushing, it was still agonizingly slow, with no way to gauge how fast, or how long, he’d been going. Eventually he heard a muffled sound above, like someone’s voice. A moment after he emerged into a small chamber like the one he’d come in from, and he found the ladder before climbing up and feeling for the exit. As he found the handle for the trapdoor and opened it a crack, he was finally able to make out the voices he’d heard.

"-ous about why? About how? You were a breakthrough!!" Shouted Orvokki. “You changed the world!”

"S-Stay away from me!!!" Yuri yelped. It was surprising how a voice he barely knew was so terrifying to him, and yet so full of terror itself.

"There's nowhere to run, all the doors are locked and broken. You're stuck with me." Ovokki continued.

"NO! I'M- YOU'RE-... I won't cooperate!! So.. Meghh!"

Bato carefully pulled himself out of the tunnel, lowering the trapdoor as quietly as he could, praying it would be quiet enough that Orvokki wouldn’t hear.

"I don't understand why you're being so modest about it." Orvokki said. "I can return your ultimate power to you!"

"I'm. Not. Why won't you just LISTEN to me??" Yuri said, on the brink of screaming.

He let out a quiet sigh of relief as the two kept talking, then carefully sidled along the crates toward where the two were talking.

"Think about how many people you could dominate!" Orvokki said. “You can overpower everyone who stands in your way if you would just HELP ME!”

“NO!” Yuri shrieked.

He peered around the corner, looking into the central area of the warehouse, where planning of many sorts used to take place. Instead a lantern was on on the central table, now otherwise barren, and Orvokki had cornered Yuri, advancing at him slowly. It was then that he realized he had no part 2 to this plan, he hadn’t asked Stacey what to do if he actually found them. Contacting her now might give himself away.

He looked up quickly as Yuri lunged at Ovokki, only for her to wrap her arm around his neck and flip him onto the ground. "That's not very nice of you. And after I offered you such generosity!" She exclaimed, giving him a small kick on his side. “You don't have a choice. You're going to help me. Do you understand?”

Okay, that was it, he had to act. Bato drew his brush and stepped forward, yelping as Orvokki immediately turned and pulled out a pistol. She fired, the shot arcing wide and hitting the crate wall behind him. “You.” She grimaced. “You’re the one who broke into my room...”

He pulled his brush close and ducked behind the wall of crates as she fired another shot, trying to keep his composure. “You’re the one who tortured my friends!” He called back, surprised at how firm he sounded, despite his legs beginning to shake as Ovokki’s tentacles began to come around the corner.

“So you are that one...” She murmured. “The one with the odd ink.”

He felt his ink run cold, swinging his brush instinctively as she came around the corner, but all he succeeded was in painting a line between them. In everything that had been happening, he’d forgotten about that.

“Well then… you’re a siren.” She commented as she leisurely aimed the pistol at him. “So tell me, where’s Ophelia?”

He kept his eyes fixed on her, slowly edging his foot into the ink he’d left, taking some solace in the idea of a quick escape. "She's safe, and that's all you need to know."

"Safe?" Orvokki gave a short chuckle, though there wasn't any amusement in it. "She's not safe, not as only as my sister’s on the loose."

He felt that chill again. “Onella, where is she? She’s still water, and out there!”

“You think I don’t know!?” Orvokki demanded. “You think I don’t know the trouble she’s causing out there with my tech!?”

“I mean… you might not.” He said, then yelped as she raised the gun to fie again, transforming and slipping into his puddle of ink while the bullet zipped overhead. That felt close. He changed back, slapping his bush down. "Dear Judd, you are a miserable shot, aren't you?" Now face-to-face with Ovokki, he found the barrel of the gun pressed against his forehead.

"Well, I'm not going to miss this time am I?” She asked. “Now… would you care to be more respectful?”

He took a shaky breath, thinking through his words carefully. “What are you planning? Why do you need… Yuri?”

“Hm.” Orvokki murmured. “How about I ask you this; Where is Ophelia?”

His breath caught, mind racing. "... Orvokki, they took her to protect her, from people who actually do want to hurt her.  If you really care about her safety, you need to stop looking." He watched her even as he spoke, ready to squid if she so much as twitched.

"And I said, she's not safe. So you TELL ME WHERE OPHELIA IS." Orvokki shouted, tentacles changing... texture. Small bumps began to rise on the surface of her tentacles, like small ridges…

He didn’t have time to understand that now; he met her gaze, the gray steel circle eyes of the mask she was wearing. "... You're not the only one who wants someone to be safe." He growled, then squidded and swam quickly through the ink, cringing as another shot went off. He popped up behind her, grabbing the gun and pulling it from her grasp. Immediately after however, Orvokki’s tentacles lifted up and then grabbed his face, pulling him into relative darkness. Her font two tentacles wrapped around his neck, beginning to cut off his air.

"You underestimate my sister, squidling!" She exclaimed. “She knows exactly what’s going on, and she--” Bato took her opening to slam the butt of the gun down onto Orvokki’s head, causing her tentacles to pull away. He began to run, only for her to grab his arm and twist it backward so hard that the pistol slipped from his hand. He screamed, then felt her foot drive into his gut, and he crumpled to the floor, attempting to catch his breath through the pain. “YURI! WE’RE LEAVING!” She called, turning and running back into the clearing. “YURI!?”

Bato clutched his arm for a moment, then grabbed his brush and made himself stand and run after her, quickly catching up and swiping a puddle of ink at her feet. “You’re not going anywhere!” He grunted, then shoved the handle of his inkbrush at her, knocking her of balance and sending her sprawling into the puddle, getting rather stuck. Satisfied that he had a bit of time to get his barrings, he looked around for Yuri, frowning when he was nowhere in sight. Since he hadn’t run past them while they were fighting, there were only two places he could have gone; over the walls, or into the other half of the maze.

“You better be here when I get back!” He said, then touched his brush to the ground and ran into the maze, stopping in his tracks as he reached a fork in the crates. Here had to be some way to tell which way he’d--

“EEP!” He heard Yuri squeak, and saw him dart off around the corner down the right fork. He touched his brush down again and ran after him, he couldn’t waste any time, no matter how much his leg complained around his now mostly-healed stab wound.

As he turned the corner, he saw Yuri slip on a few loose pieces of newspaper, sending him sprawling to the ground in a heap. He flipped over as he drew close, beginning to crawl backward in a desperate manner, not breaking eye contact. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, It’s… it’s you! No no no!”

"Yeah, the feeling's mutual, kid." He said flatly, trying to keep as much of a ‘power posture’ as he could. "Come on, get up, we don't have time for this."

"I won't go back, s-she's crazy!!" He protested, eyes wide with fright.

"I know. Believe me, I know," He replied, casting a quick glance back over his shoulder. "My current plan isn't to take you back to her; hell, if it means she can't go ahead with whatever she's doing, I'd rather keep the two of you separated for as long as I can... And hopefully get a chance to talk to you before she finds us again."

"How do you expect me to trust you!?” He demanded. “Also; The squid sisters called and said they want their outfit back."

Bato’s eyes went wide in moderate horror; How had the Sisters-- oh. Wait. He was making fun of the uniform. He tried to cover up his moment of surprise, rolling his eyes. "Very funny, smartass… Look, it's either you behave, or I’ll tie the both of you up together, which I don’t think you really want.”

He cringed, raising his hands quickly. "Ok... Ok!" He slowly stood up, treating one of his arms a bit gingerly; perhaps Orvokki’d pulled a similar grab on him. "Doesn't mean I'm going to be happy...”

"Good, 'cause neither am I." He replied, then cast one more quick glance over his shoulder before pulling out his phone, he didn’t want Yuri to hear any plans they had for him. “Now sit tight for a moment, I have to talk to… an acquaintance of mine.”

“Whatever...” He mumbled, hunching over and breaking away his gaze.

Bato just huffed, typing as fast as he could without typos.

B: Found the targets, unsure how to proceed.

(NOT DELIVERED: RESEND?)

B: I currently have Yuri with me, however Orvokki is somewhere in the maze, I trapped her, but it’ll only last for so long.

He grimaced as he checked his signal; he’d forgotten how bad signal could be down by the coast. He waved his phone around in a vain attempt to get a stronger signal, then jumped and almost dropped it as a loud slamming sound echoed through the warehouse.

“EEP!” Yuri exclaimed, sticking both of his hands behind his back.

“What was that?” He asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

“What?” He demanded. “I didn’t make that sound!”

“But what are you hiding behind your back?” He pressured.

“It’s nothing!” Yuri said, taking a few steps backward.

{"Agent 4, do you read? Agent 4!"} Stacey’s voice rang out.

Bato blinked, then felt at his waist for his agent communicator, only to find that it was gone. "... What the hell, man?" He growled, holding out his hand. “Give it back!”

Yuri lifted up the blue and back communicator with a grin. "Oh, this?” He asked, then pushed down the talk button on the side. “'Agent 4' isn't here right now, can I take a message?" He snickered.

{"What? Who is this? What have you done with 4?"}

"Yuri, this is not the time!" Bato snapped, starting towards him quickly. "Do you want Ovokki to find us because you decided to screw around?"

"Is this your acquaintance? You didn't tell me she was a lady with a pretty voice." He teased, holding it as far away as he could. “I bet you wish you could talk to her!”

{"You're Yuri Sqwidd, aren't you?"}

As soon as Stacey said that, Yuri froze, and Bato successfully reached around him and snatched the communicator away from him. "I'm here, 3. I forgot how much someone likes to mess with things that aren't his.”

{"Can you flip him off for me? I was pretty worried there."}

"No problem." He said, doing so with his free hand.

{"Are you in a secure location?"}

"As secure as we can be for the moment." He replied. “I’m in the middle of the maze, with Yuri.”

{"So you found him. Has Orvokki been detained?"}

".. No, not yet."

{“That needs to be top priority. She's causing more than enough trouble and it has to stop."}

"Understood." He said, though he did cast a quick glance at Yuri; how was he going to keep an eye on him while he was taking care of Orvokki? ... Though, he didn’t know there was a trapdoor, and the maze otherwise was such a mess that it would be quite a feat if he got out of here.

{"I'm on my way to assist; Keep me updated, I’ll be there soon as I can."}

"Got it." He said, then put it back at his hip. “I suppose you heard all that?” He asked, looking back at Yuri.

“Maybe...” He huffed. "You are NOT going to use me as bait, I REFUSE!"

Bato hadn't really considered that... it was pretty tempting, if he was perfectly honest. "... If you were, though, I would be close enough to you that I'd be able to stop her before she got too... much more creepy." He pointed out. "If I left you here and went to find her on my own, I could be on the other side of the warehouse by the time she found you."

Yuri's eyes widened. "She gets more creepy!?" He asked, noticeably paling at the thought.

"Ooh yeah." Bato replied, then sighed. “We don't have time to just stand here. Are you going to help me find her or not?"

Yuri hunched his shoulders, kicking at a piece of newspaper on the floor."... Fine... But if she hurts me... You're.. you’re going to regret it!"

"I'll.. keep that in mind." He replied dryly, looking Yuri up and down for a moment before turning to the crate wall. "... First thing, we have to get to the center of the maze; then we can get an idea of which direction she went.”

“Fine...” He mumbled, hands still in his pockets.

He sighed, then began to follow his ink trail back, glancing over his shoulder multiple times to make sure Yuri was still following. Eventually he made it back to the center room, but Ovokki was nowhere in sight. He should have secured her better! “Stay here for a moment.” He told Yuri, walking toward the ink puddle to investigate… only to find that it was no longer one ink puddle, but several, spelling words out across the floor.

‘Marianas street X Puffer drive 00:00 Hide’

What? Was she telling them to... Damn it! He pulled out his communicator again. "3, she's gone."

There was a split second of silence. {"What?"}

"I'm where I stalled Orvokki and I don't see her anywhere; she left a message in the middle of the room and left." That bang they'd heard earlier... had it been a door closing? Shit, this was all his fault.

{"What's it say?"}

" 'Marianas street X Puffer drive, 00:00, hide'." He said. “She wants me to meet her it sounds like.”

{“She wants you to hide in a park at midnight, that doesn’t sound like a meetup, she didn’t even say to bring Yuri.”} Stacey said. {“Something’s not right about this.”}

“Yeah.” He agreed. “… I think I’m going to go.”

{“Are you sure? This is a risk we don’t have to take.”} Stacey said.

“This is going to give me a chance to capture Orvokki; I’m going to take it.” Bato said. “I let her get away, I’ll fix this. And even if I don’t catch he again, if it might give us an idea of what she's planning to do next, than I think it's worth the risk."

Stacey gave a long pause. {"Alright. Get prepared. Take a nap, scope out the area for good hiding places, get there -early.- We want to give her as little of an upper hand as possible. Keep the exact words of her message on a photo or written down, memory can be unreliable sometimes."}

"Understood." Bato said, then paused. "... What are we going to do about Yuri?"

{"We’ll take him back to jail."}

"You're going to WHAT?" Yuri yelped.

“Are you honestly surprised?” Bato asked. “Think about what you’ve done! Besides, Juvie’s not that bad, is it?”

”They won’t put me back in there!” He yelped. “I heard about what they did to Alison!”

“Who?” Bato asked, blinking a few times.

“She tried to get out and they put her in grown up jail!” He exclaimed. “Don’t take me back!”

He was surprised at the twinge of guilt he felt, he’d never expected to sympathize with… Yuri of all people. But for the sake of his friends, he decided that he needed to turn him in again. “Yuri, there are.. consequences for actions...”

“I was being good!” Yuri said. “She took me out! I didn’t do it!”

He took a deep breath. “… I’m just doing my job.”

Silence fell for what felt like several minutes before Stacey cleared her throat. {“Ahem, I’m still on my way to look for Orvokki, let’s start dealing with Yuri.”}

“… Yeah, on it.” Bato said, then clipped the communicator back onto his vest. “Come on, let’s go.” He said, pointing down toward the way he’d entered the warehouse, his other hand gripping his inkbrush threateningly. Yuri looked like he was going to protest, but then thought better of it and followed his directions, carefully edging around the ink puddles on the floor. Bato kept a constant eye on him, especially as they turned a corner. Up ahead the newspapers on the floor had been swept aside dramatically and seemingly in a frenzy, leaving the trapdoor clearly visible. Bato felt his hearts sink just a bit; this was certainly where Orvokki had left from. He gave a heavy sigh and bent down to open the door, urging Yuri to go ahead of him once it popped open. "There's a tunnel at the bottom, just big enough to squid through, and at the end of that there's another ladder and trapdoor that opens up on the outside.” He said. “Don’t try anything.”

“What can I try?” Yuri asked as he deliberately slowly began to climb down the ladder. “Oh no, He’s biting my face off! Help help!”

"Keep going, Skwidd." Bato sighed, then climbed down after him once he’d slipped into the tunnel, unable to keep from worrying that Yuri would in fact actually bite his face.

As he came out on the other end of the tunnel and changed back to humanoid form, his face slammed into the sole of Yuri’s shoe, and he had to stop himself from gagging. “Yuri, what are you doing?”

“Trying to open the door!” He exclaimed, perhaps a bit too loudly for this small of a space.

"There should be a lever you have to pull first." He said. "That unlocks it from this side."

"Yeah, I'm PULLING ON IT!" He snapped, voice strained from effort.

Bato almost suspected Yuri of trying to fake it, except that it... certainly sounded like he was really pushing on it. But why else would it--Oh... oh no. "She put the crate back over the door, didn't she?" He said quietly. “Get down before you hurt yourself, let me try.”

There was a jarring ‘clank’ sound, and Yuri yelped in pain. Looked like his warning had come a bit late. Regardless he climbed the ladder, pulling the lever, and then pushing his shoulder into the door as hard as he could, but it barely budged. He took a second to catch his breath, then pulled the communicator out again. "The outside door won't open, I think she might've put the crate back over it."

A sigh came through the communicator. {"I'll be right over. Hang tight."}

"Got it." He said, leaning back against the wall; he didn't trust himself to try and hook the communicator back on in the dark, so he just held it, faintly comforted by the dim blue light it gave off. "So, how much did Orvokki tell you about what she was planning to do? Why did she need you?" He asked, he might as well try to get info while he was here.

“Why should I tell you?” Yuri huffed. “I’m going to be stuck in jail forever anyway… But maybe if you let me go…”

"You seriously think I'm even going to consider that?" He demanded, carefully climbing back down the ladder. "A good part of everything that's happened is thanks to you, who knows what else could happen if I just let you go off into the world!”

“I won’t go back! You can’t make me!” Yuri said. His voice had some sort of edge to it which… he wasn’t quite sure what it was.

"You're not in any position to be making demands." Bato said, his voice rising a bit in volume. "Why did Orvokki need you?"

“I DON’T KNOW!” Yuri screamed, stomping his feet. “I don’t know who she is! I don’t know what she wants! I don’t know why she cares so much about what happened to me! I don’t know why she wants me to do that again, I don’t know ANYTHING!” He gasped for breath, and Bato frowned, lifting the communicator a bit, revealing long streams of tears flowing down his cheeks. “I don’t want to be around her…!”

He didn’t know what to say.  He felt bad. For Yuri. Orvokki was quite the frightening person, he had to admit… but he was also still angry with him for everything he’d done. He finally decided to just keep pressuring him for information. He’d cracked, maybe he’d spill something. “You got us targeted by octarian soldiers, if you think I’m going to go easy on you, you’re wrong.”

“… I got you what?” Yuri sniffled. "... I've been in jail. How could I have done anything to you from in there?"

Bato sighed. "You got into my friends' heads after the octarians turned you to water. After that, they tried to find us, and sometimes tried to kill us.”

"Get off my back! I found out they did this to me half an hour ago, I didn't know that was going to happen!" He said, more tears flowing down his face.

“Yeah, I get that now.” Bato said. “It’s still a point of bitterness.”

“You just want to blame me for everything!” He exclaimed. “You want to feel good about yourself for putting me away! You want to feel good about what’s going to happen to me, because you’re a sick asshole!!!”

He gritted his beak, these insults hitting hard. Was he right? He didn’t break out, he shouldn’t be punished for that… but at the same time he felt a wave of guilt for even considering being sympathetic to Yuri; like he was betraying his friends. His friends, who would feel so much safer if they knew Yuri was doing time.

… Time which he didn’t deserve.

He began to feel dizzy. There didn’t feel like there was a right answer. “We’ll talk to 3.” He said, voice croaky. “See what she thinks.” She was his commander, wasn’t she? It was her job to make the choice.

“I hope you die!” Yuri sobbed, slumping to the floor and putting his face into his knees.

Needless to say, that reaction did not make him feel any better.

A few minutes passed… and then there was an ear-grating sound above them, and finally the trapdoor popped open. "Need a hand?" Stacey asked.

Bato glanced up, then wiped a bit of the wateriness out of one of his eyes. "Yes please."

“Don’t take me back to jaaaaail!” Yuri sobbed, finally looking up, rows of tears still falling from his eyes.

“I… told him you’d decide if he went back to jail or if we let him go.” Bato said.

“We’re not letting him go.” Stacey said, extending her hand. “I’ll handle this.”

Yuri sobbed louder, covering his face with his hands. Bato had to haul him up to the ladder to get him to start climbing, and he tried to pull away from Stacey as she took his hand and helped him up. “4, go home, find that address, and nap; you’ll need plenty of rest for tonight.”

“Alright, I will.” He said as he climbed the ladder, and then watched as Stacey began to drag Yuri away, still feeling twisting guilt inside of him. Stacey had made the choice, there was nothing he could do now without making things worse, and very awkward. He sighed, and started for the train station once more. He had a lot of work ahead of him.

---

“Where have you taken me?” Yuri sniffled, rubbing his face as ‘agent 3’ stopped outside of an apartment door.

“Shh! Keep your voice down.” She hissed, squatting down to look him in the eye. “My colleague and his friends hate you, you have to listen to me if you want to stay out of trouble, okay?”

Yuri nodded, sniffling again.

“You’re going to be living here.” She said, opening the front door of the apartment. “But you can’t leave, or else people are going to catch you. I’ll do my best to keep you happy, but you have to remain a secret to everyone outside this house, understood?”

“Yeah, understood.” He nodded, wiping his face on his sleeve as he followed her inside. “… Who’s that on the couch?”

“That’s just the Octarian queen, don’t mind her.” Agent 3 said, and then closed the apartment door.

Bato is Knitter’s character.

Stacey, Orvokki and Yuri are Shuckle’s characters.

Splatoon belongs to Nintendo.

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