#it reminds me of when i used to follow certain artists

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Who sent in that last ask? That was pretty insensitive. Anyhow, don’t let that get you down, alright? People have to learn that art is something that takes time, and it can take YEARS for someone to finally make art that they’re happy with. I genuinely hope you have a great day/night!

no yeah that wasn't a great ask to receive! Thank You, i hope you have a kind timezone as well <3

[navybrat817]

And Everything Nice

Pairing: Tattoo Artist!Bucky Barnes x Baker!Female Reader Summary: You visit the tattoo parlor when an uninvited guest shows up at the bakery. Word Count: Over 2.8k Warnings: Bad ex, mild (h)arassment, protectiveness, brief moments of insecurity, slight feels (it's me), Bucky Barnes (he's a warning, okay?). Graphics talent and thanks: Banner by @sgt-seabass. Divider by @firefly-graphics . Bucky edit by Nix. Moodboard by yours truly. A/N: More Hottie and Sugar from our Sin on Skin AU. ❤️ Thank you to @rookthorne for listening to me ramble about this part! Beta read by the lovely @whisperlullaby (thank you for spitballing), but any and all mistakes are my own. Please follow @navybrat817-sideblog for new fics and notifications. Comments, reblogs, feedback are loved and appreciated!

I am going to ask Bucky Barnes out.

After going through the closing checklist, Tess gave you another quick pep talk and said the only thing that would hurt if he turned you down was your pride. Deep down you knew it would hurt more than your pride if he said no, but you didn't say it out loud. She must have sensed it since she added she was certain he'd jump at the chance to date you.

"You got this," she said, giving you a quick hug. "Sorry to run, but-"

"Like I said, I got this," you said, waving her on. Normally you walked out together when you both closed the bakery, but she had somewhere to be. "Have fun!" you added as she rushed out.

Once you finished up a few minutes later, you strode to the door with your keys in hand and a smile on your face. Tomorrow was going to be a good day. You could feel it. And you would look Bucky in the eye with a smile as you asked him-

"Closing all by yourself?"

You weren't sure how you managed to not drop your keys, or not throw a punch, when you spun around and saw your ex in your personal space. You wanted to wipe the smirk off his face when you took a deep breath. "Thanks for sneaking up on me, Richard. Mind backing up a little?"

"Aww, did I scare you?" he asked as you quickly locked the door. "Not even a 'hello'?"

"We haven't talked since we broke up," you reminded him. "But hi and bye."

Richard charmed you in the beginning when you met him, like he did with so many others. Beyond his good looks, he was a confident man. It didn't take long to see that beneath the surface was a spoiled man child who was used to getting what he wanted, or thought he could buy everything. You included.

Breaking up with him was one of the best decisions you made, even if your mom disagreed.

"Where are you going in such a hurry? You should get a drink with me."

"I have plans," you lied, wondering what the hell he was even doing there.

"So? Break them. I want to talk."

The suggestion sounded more like an order and you weren't in the mood.

"I said I have plans. I'm sorry."

"Then why are you still in your work clothes?" he asked, gesturing to your outfit. "And who do you have plans with? Some new guy?"

"Because I'm changing later," you said, staring across the street as a smile spread on your face. "And not that it's any of your business, but yes. He's a tattoo artist."

You weren't sure why you said that. Maybe because you hoped Bucky really would be your guy. And because the thought of him also made you feel safe.

You half expected Richard to laugh as you walked around him, but he put his hand on your arm instead as his face twisted into a scowl. "You're not hanging out with him. You're getting a drink with me."

You wrenched your arm away before he could tighten his grip. "We aren't together anymore. So you don't get to show up out of nowhere and order me around," you said as you went to the curb.

"Don't act like a fucking brat when I'm trying to give you another chance."

I'm the brat?

"Not interested. Have a good night!" you said before you looked both ways and dashed across the street to Bucky's shop.

The entrance was cozier and more open than you expected, the sound of the needles bringing you a strange sense of comfort as you adjusted your bag on your arm. Pictures of various tattoos in different styles lined the red walls above the front desk and leather couches. You wished you had the time to pick out which works belonged to Bucky.

Another day.

"Hi! Welcome to Sin on Skin!" the man behind the desk cheerfully greeted you as he typed on the keyboard. Even sitting down, you could tell the man was built, his muscular arms covered in a variety of tattoos. He may have been intimidating if not for the glasses and warm smile. "Do you have an appointment?"

You glanced over your shoulder and saw your ex making his way across the street. "Sorry, I don't. Is Bucky here? I really need to talk to him."

"Oh, yeah. Just over there. If you want to take a seat, I can-"

"Thank you. I'll be quick," you smiled, hoping Bucky wasn't in the middle of an appointment.

You glanced around at some of the other artists as you walked over to the chairs and noted how exceedingly gorgeous they were. There was one with short dark hair and a beard that looked like he could kill someone with his tattoo gun if they stared for too long. The girl sitting at his station and the man behind him with shocking pink hair and bright smile both brought a ray of warmth to his almost dark aura.

Is it a prerequisite to work in the shop that you have to be good looking? And either look intimidating as hell or incredibly alluring?

You gripped your bag to keep your hand from shaking as you saw Bucky engaged in a quiet conversation with Steve, recognizing him from earlier. You were almost afraid to interrupt. "Hi?"

Both men turned toward you with smiles on their faces as Bucky pushed himself up from his stool. “Hey, Sugar. Couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see me?”

"Something like that," you said.

"Wait. That's Sugar?" the man with the pink hair asked. "No wonder you keep going to the bakery."

"Don't hit on her, Hal," Bucky warned, earning a chuckle from the other man. "Go bother Andy."

"He already is," a deep voice replied.

You would ask later just how much he spoke about you to the other artists. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting. My ex was waiting for me outside of my shop and I kind of panicked and said I was meeting you and I rushed over here."

"Your ex?" Bucky asked, immediately moving forward to rub your arms in a soothing gesture. "Are you okay?"

"Hi! Welcome to Sin on Skin!" you heard the guy at the desk call out before you could answer.

Instead, you burrowed yourself against Bucky when you heard Richard shout your name. Rock solid and sturdy, his hold kept your nerves from bubbling to the surface. You had nothing to be afraid of.

So why am I shaking?

“You’re kidding me, right? This fucking asshole?” Richard scoffed as you looked over your shoulder at him. He didn't walk any closer, but his voice carried throughout the entire shop. "Like putting a bumper sticker on a piece of shit car, isn't it?"

“Richard, just leave.”

"Does your mom know you're spreading your legs for some tatted up lowlife? Still a disappointment, aren’t you?”

The jab cut deep as much as you wanted to ignore it. He knew that your mom judged every part of you. No matter what you did, it was never good enough.

You wouldn’t focus on that for the time being. "

You do not come into his shop and insult him. Bucky, I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize for this asshole, Sugar. His opinion of me means less than nothing, trust me," he assured you before he faced your ex. "You, however, are banned from my shop. You can get out now or Jake will call the cops for trespassing. After you apologize to my girl for upsetting her. Your choice, Dick."

Your heart fluttered as you leaned into Bucky more.

His girl. It sounds right.

"Please. I can buy the shop tomorrow just to bulldoze it to the ground," he sneered before he jabbed a finger at you. "And you know what? Keep her. I tried to give her another chance, but she's not worth it. She's a lousy lay anyway."

The insult washed away the momentary good feeling and was the tipping point that brought tears to your eyes. It was humiliating enough that you were the root cause of a scene in Bucky's shop, but the jab in front of his employees and customers brought it to another level. Why did you think hiding in there was a good idea?

Does Bucky think I'm a total loser now?

It was only when you sniffled did you notice the entire shop had gone silent, a dangerous tension in the air when Bucky tightened his arms around you as Steve and Andy slowly got to their feet.

"Hey, why don't you and I go in the back?" the friendly girl at Andy's station suggested. "I think there's some snacks back there, right?"

Andy nodded and gave her the go ahead.

"Bucky," you whispered as you dared to look at him. A tear slid from your eye when you saw the murderous gaze on his handsome face. "I'm-"

Before you could register what was happening, he pulled your face toward his and kissed you. Fierce, yet gentle as he brushed the tear away with his thumb, you let him take the lead. A slow simmer of warmth crept into your cheeks as he parted your lips with his tongue and coaxed yours into his mouth. Your fingers twisted in his shirt as he deepened the kiss and shifted so you were pressed almost completely against him.

If this is how he kisses, he might actually kill me if we ever go further than that.

He breathed into your mouth as he stole the very oxygen from your lungs when he pulled away.

"Go in the back," he told you, his gaze dropping to your lips. Did he want to kiss you again or was it wishful thinking on your part? "I just need to take out the trash, finish up here, and I'll take you home, okay? I won't be long."

It was a feat that you didn't shed more years with how gently he spoke to you.

"Thank you," you whispered, unable to say much more.

"Let's check out that snack collection back there," you heard before you were pulled from Bucky's grasp.

You didn't look back at Richard when the girl tugged you away, but you heard a slight waver in his voice as yelled after you.

That's right. You should be afraid.

"Thank you," you said, wiping your eyes with your hand.

"No need to thank me. One of my good friends just got out of a bad relationship and I'm still a bit in my protective streak," she explained. "Are you okay?"

"I think so."

You tried to remember how Richard acted around other guys when the two of you dated. Had he been the jealous type and you just ignored it? Or did he only cause a scene because you showed him you wanted to move on?

Tess is going to flip when she hears about this.

"Well, whether they just throw him out on his ass or worse, he deserves it for what he said to you," she added before she told you her name. "Everyone calls me Sunny."

"He does," you agreed, introducing yourself as she handed you some water. "Bucky calls me Sugar."

"And you work in the bakery across the street?" she guessed.

"Co-owner," you said, the small talk calming you. "Do you work here or are you a client?" you asked, noticing that she didn't have any tattoos.

"New client. I work in an animal shelter," she smiled. "Grumpy out there is going to give me a sun tattoo."

"That's nice," you smiled back. It seemed fitting with her warm and bright presence. "I really do appreciate you bringing me back here."

It was somehow just as warm and inviting as the entrance, the couch worn and comfortable. You wondered how often Bucky came back here to relax and hang out in-between his appointments. Would he ever bring you back here if you stopped in to see him?

"I figured the amount of testosterone out there could be a bit overwhelming, but are you sure you're okay?"

"Other than being incredibly embarrassed, yeah."

Even though Richard was no longer your boyfriend, he just had to barrel back into your life and leave a mess in his wake.

"He's the one who should be embarrassed," Sunny said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Especially after seeing that kiss."

Your face warmed as you replayed it in your mind. The silver lining for showing up tonight was receiving such a passionate kiss from Bucky. It was difficult not to get swept up in the moment though and you told yourself it was likely just for show. A way for him to stick it to a guy who upset you.

Right?

"It was a really good kiss," you smiled.

"Oh, we all felt the heat. Trust me."

Both of you giggled until there was a soft knock on the door frame.

"Hey, Sugar. Trash is out on the curb," Bucky winked. "You ready to go home?"

Your heart fluttered as you smiled back. "Yeah, I'm ready."

You didn't live far away, but Bucky still insisted on taking you home. He even took you out the back way so you didn't have to see anyone. While he didn't specify exactly what happened with Richard, he assured you he wouldn't poke around either of your shops again. It made the drive home more pleasant knowing he looked out for you.

So much that you almost took his hand when he stopped outside of your place.

Almost.

"Thank you for everything," you said. "I'm really sorry about tonight."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Not the first time we've dealt with assholes in the shop. Steve and I don't like bullies."

"I still feel bad," you said, wishing the feeling would go away.

"Please, don't," he whispered.

Your fingers twisted in your lap before you took a deep breath. "When you came into the bakery earlier today, I was going to ask you out," you told him, but refused to look at him. "But after that, it's probably a dumb idea. You shouldn't have to deal with that kind of trouble."

Maybe there's a better girl out there for you.

"You think one asshole ex is trouble?" he asked, leaning over to grasp your chin so you'd face him, goosebumps rising on your arms from his touch. "I can handle that."

"But what he said in your shop-"

"He did that to bring you down because he's an asshole. Guys like that don't want to see girls thrive without them."

You scoffed and mumbled, "I wonder what you'd think of my mom.

"I'm not afraid to stand up to anyone who tries to hurt you," he said, keeping a hold of your chin with a tender grip as your chest tightened. "You said you were gonna me ask out. Don't change your mind because of them."

"So, you really want to go on a date with me?" you asked.

"If I say 'yes', do I get to kiss you again?" he replied, running his thumb along your lower lip.

You were torn between sucking his thumb into your mouth or sinking into your seat. "Maybe we should get an actual date under our belts first. You only kissed me to prove a point or something."

Even if it felt like heaven.

"Or maybe I've been wanting to kiss you since I walked into your bakery and I want to kiss you again," he said, sliding his hand around to the back of your neck with ease. "Proving a point was an added bonus."

You looked at him wide eyed and subconsciously touched your lips. "Wait, you want to kiss me just because I asked you on a date?"

"I can give you a whole list of reasons," he said, his gaze flickering between your lips and your eyes. "And I'd love to go out with you. Friday night, Sugar?"

"It's a date, Hottie," you smiled when he leaned in.

But he didn't kiss your lips.

He brushed a kiss to your forehead, which somehow seemed more intimate.

"You had a rough evening. The next time I kiss you, I want it to because it's the right moment, just for the two of us," he explained when you furrowed your brows. "My girl deserves that."

A soft smile played at your lips as something warm welled up in your chest. He could have easily taken advantage of how vulnerable you felt by stealing another kiss, but he didn't. Even though you were into each other.

Going to see Bucky tonight was the right choice.

And you couldn't wait for your date.

Love them. Love the whole gang. Except Richard. Fuck that guy. And where are they going on that date? Check out What Dreams Are Made Of to see how Bucky is feeling. Love and thanks for reading! 💙

Masterlist ⚓ Bucky Barnes Masterlist ⚓ Ko-Fi

[sweet-as-an-angel]

MW2 waking up next to their S/O

Warnings: 18+, Just so much fluff, implied smut, suggestive content, mention of somnophilia, sub and dom König, implied oral sex, petnames, no pronouns used for Reader except for ‘You’, etc.

Ghost

He's lowkey excited to wake up before you when he knows he has to be up early.

He'll set his alarm - on vibrate so that it doesn't wake you, only him - 30 minutes earlier than he needs to be up just so he can look at you.

And boy, does he look at you.

He looks upon you as an artist would their masterpiece, marveling at your beauty, your skin, your face, your expression.

You look so peaceful, so unlike anything Simon had had the pleasure of seeing before; your form radiated a tranquility he could only hope to achieve one day.

But with you at his side, he gets closer to nirvana every day, finding the beauty in everything you show him.

He'd have to physically pull himself out of bed when he could not prolong his departure any longer.

If you were still asleep by the time he left, he'd plant a soft kiss on your forehead, leaving you undisturbed.

However, if you were awake, he'd press deep, warm kisses to your lips, trailing down to your jaw, your neck, your collarbones - you'd have to stop him, telling him to go before you made him stay.

"Make me stay, hmm?" he'd say, sighing another kiss against your throat.

"And what makes you think I won't take you up on that offer?"

What happens next is entirely up to you and how much Simon wants to get to the gym before it's packed full 😉.

König

Ngl, König looks straight-up terrifying when you catch him looking at you.

He'll just be lay next to you, staring at you like 👁 👄👁.

The only way to get him to stop is either by asking him, or, the more preferable option, distracting him.

How you distract him is up to you, but you both have your...preferences.

When König has to be somewhere but is feeling a certain kind of way, he'll literally paw at you like a cat, his eyes round and pleading.

Or, if he's more dominant, he'll just pounce on you, pinning him beneath him and making sure you're not going anywhere, unable to walk for the rest of the day.

Granted, he's not a fan of quickies, so he'll either chase his release by taking you in your sleep, or risk being late to whatever it is he's engaged with.

Whenever he looks over at you in the morning, he can't help but reflect on how lucky he is, how fortunate he must be to have you at his side each day to show him what love - true love - feels like.

He can get a bit emotional when he looks at you during mornings like these, but it's only because he loves you so much.

He wonders what you'll do all day when he's out the house, if you'll think of him as he thinks of you now.

If he's feeling a little insecure about that, you may have to qwell his worries and remind him just how much you love and miss him when he's away.

Rodolfo

Babey 🥺!1!!

Like König, he'll just full-on stare at you like👁👄👁.

He just can't believe how beautiful you are, especially when the light catches you and makes you look like you're glowing.

He genuinely believes you must be an angel or something of the like.

He'll bring you presents and hide them under your pillow while you sleep so you have something to look forward to when you wake up.

He'll do this especially when he knows he'll be gone by the time you wake.

These gifts are usually deeply personal and thoughtful, like a locket bracelet with a picture of you on one side and a picture of him in the other.

Other times it'll be a post-it note, giving you the first of a list of instructions to follow like a treasure map in order to find your prize - usually something too big that he couldn't fit it beneath your pillow - somewhere in the apartment.

Whenever you wake up and find him looking at you, you'll have to kiss him on the nose or the forehead to snap him out of his trance.

After which point, he'll take you up in his arms and just hold you, often times making you squeal when he buries his face into your neck, leaving warm, wet kisses there.

Offer this man and kind of release first thing in the morning and he'll literally be set for the day.

He considers that your gift to him, your ability to instantly and consistently lift his mood for the day just by being there (amongst other things).

Literally nothing can bring him down after that, and everyone else in the force can tell when you've been at it because of the absolute swagger in his walk and the smile plastered to his face.

Alejandro

God, he makes me feral

Passionate man, let me just remind y'all of that.

He's the type to absolutely smother you with kisses the second he wakes up.

Any area of skin that's not covered will fall victim to his unrelenting desire to drown you in his love.

Sometimes you'll wake up with love bites all over you like bee stings and you'll just see Alejandro looking at you like 😊.

And you just can't stay mad at him.

You can, however, get your own back.

It usually takes you both an hour to get out of bed in the morning, and this is exactly the reason why.

Like Rodolfo, it's rare for Alejandro to come to work without his signature smile on his face and authority in his walk.

Little does anyone know that beneath the collar of his shirt lies a collage of bite marks and bruises, courtesy of the love of his life.

Won't leave the bed until you're satisfied, making sure you're stuffed full of his cum so that you have something to remember him by.

You don't know this, but before bed he'll practically drink a bottle of breath spray so that his breath smells good for you in the morning.

When you eventually caught on, you had to tell him to stop because you didn't want him staining his teeth.

"Would you no longer love me if I didn't have teeth?" he said, to which you vehemently denied his claim and had to reassure him that you would love him even if he were a three-foot tall slug with no teeth and a monocle.

That, amongst other means of reassurance 🥴.

Price

You'd feel his beard, either between your thighs or on your face, before you saw him.

He makes sure you're satisfied every morning before your day even starts, his own form of reward for you making his life brighter.

He'll pull you flush against his chest first thing after he wakes up, if you're not already in that position.

He always says "Good morning, Sunshine," first, then presses a love-filled kiss to your head.

If you've had a particularly intense night, he'll bring you breakfast (or dinner, depending on the time of day) in bed.

Will ask you to just lay beside him so he can look into your eyes before you both have to get up.

And it's usually you who has to remind him that the day isn't getting any longer and you both have to get up soon.

He won't complain, but you can tell when he wants nothing more than to just curl up with you and stay there, dead to the world.

Speaking of, this man's morning hugs are so warm.

Good luck getting out of bed in winter, because you're both way too comfy to leave your lovely warm bed just to go to work or make breakfast.

Sometimes you'll find Price already staring at you when you wake up, and you just look at each other like two ferrets in love, unmoving and wholesome.

Gaz

The most likely to be a tease out of everyone here.

While he won't wake you from a deep slumber, he'll sure as hell try and annoy you in the minutes after you wake up, knowing your cognition and sight are both impaired at this particular time.

One time, near Halloween, he put on a Grim Reaper mask and waited on your side of the bed until you woke up.

He made no noise, he didn't jump on you; he simply waited.

And when you saw his skeletal outline, you initially thought it was Ghost. That alone made you near enough shit yourself and scream as if you were being murdered.

Aside from that, though, he can be very tender. When his judgement is clouded with sleep and the world doesn't yet feel real, that's when he's at his most vulnerable, and his most sincere.

He loves to pull you into his bare chest and just rest there, feeling your breath against his skin; a reminder that you're still here, still alive.

Despite being so young, it's during times like these that Gaz knows where he wants to be for the rest of his life, what he wants to do with it.

And it all comes down to you.

During his morning reflections on your relationship, he'll think of your future together, just you, him and your conjoined families bound through your marriage, living.

You keep him sane, help him realise there is so much more to life than his military duties, and beer, and watching TV.

He never truly felt as if he was living - alive - until he met you.

And now as he lays here, watching your chest rise and fall, he can't help but shed a tear for the alternate version of himself who’d never met you, never found you, instead living as a drone with no greater understanding of happiness as he did now.

Valeria

You are waking up to absolutely abominable head from this woman every morning whether you like it or not.

If she feels you starting to shift and wake up, she'll use her strength to push you back down and continue.

She will not let you go a single day dissatisfied even if it kills her.

On the other hand, she can be very wholesome.

She'll watch you sleep, either in the dead of night or in the wavering light of the morning simply because she thinks you're so unbelievably breathtaking.

She'll brush stray strands of your hair from your face while you sleep, feeling her heart stutter when you twitch and make a little noise.

She often calls you "Bunny," or "Kitty," because of your mannerisms when you sleep.

Quick note: if you wake her up with head in the morning, you are done for.

You're stuck in bed for the rest of the day.

I don't make the rules, Valeria does.

During these mornings she'll relate to you about how much she wants "To break you," calling you her "little doll,"

Don't get her wrong; she's not punishing you!

Far from it.

But she just wants you to know that she has the power in this relationship, and she sees your pleasure as something only she is allowed to give and take.

So, in a nutshell, don't go doing any favours for Valeria without her asking, because she will assume you're doing it to get something out of her.

And she doesn't like owing people.

On the contrary, she enjoys the power she has over others by making them indebted to her.

And this includes you (lovingly).

Soap

NEWSFLASH: MAN W/ BIG TIDDIES GIVES BEST CUDDLES

Seriously though, Soap's cuddles are one of the main reasons you can't (don't want to) get out of bed in the mornings.

He'll wake up, see you soundly sleeping next to him, and just pull you on top of him.

He's not letting you go for at least two hours.

He just adores the way you feel against him, your chests pressed together as he plants feather-light kisses to your face, waking you.

His morning voice is just uuuUUUUUUUGH.

And he will use it against you.

"Mornin' love," he'd say, burying his face in your hair. "D'you sleep well? Or d'you need me to put you to sleep again..."

His morning kisses are always sloppy, laced with exhaustion yet laden with joy.

He enjoys the sleepy whines you make when he rubs his stubble across your sensitive areas; your neck, your stomach, between your thighs, etc.

He absolutely cages you beneath him whenever he rolls over onto you.

Sometimes he's aware of it, sometimes he isn't.

But when he is, he'll just lay there, making sure you have no way of escape, while you mewl against him that you "Have stuff to do today!" Meanwhile, he's plotting and planning ways to keep you bed-bound for the next 24 hours.

Graves

Will 100% wake you up with sex near enough every morning.

He's so smug about it, too; he'll just give you a grin and, when you realise what he’s doing, his expression will shift into a more 'innocent' one.

He'll just look at you like huh? What??? Did I do something????

Is a bit of a brat when it comes to letting you out of bed.

He'll literally snake his arms around your waist and pull you back in, then treat you as if he'd just saved you from the floor of lava around the bed.

"Don't I get a reward for bein' your hero?"

"Yeah, my fingers in your eye sockets if you make me late for work again."

He has his tender moments, though.

He's a body worshipper, so you can expect him to be pressing deep, wet kisses to every patch of skin within his reach.

No remorse. Just straight-up will cover you in his saliva.

He also has a guilty habit of covering you in his love when you sleep.

And he'll just leave it to dry on your body. Then, when you wake up and find it crusted , you call back his name and make him retreat under the covers, stifling a chuckle.

Morning talks. Big fan of them.

Loves to debate either the biggest questions or the simplest of hypotheses with you.

"Who would win in a fight between me and Ghost?"

"Ghost."

"Alright, why?"

"Because he's a walking wall of death, babe. And you're my precious lil Philly :-)))."

"...Yeah, I am,"

Reblog for more content like this! It helps creators like myself tremendously :-)

Masterlist Masterlist [Continued] Masterpost Modern Warfare AI Masterlist

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Taglist: @multi-fandomlovers-world

[nyx-lyris]

my encanto analysis/headcanon that no one asked for

so, i was just looking through some encanto fanart and headcanons and came across this piece (artist: https://mobile.twitter.com/ye_enc): 

abuela had triplets - julieta, pepa, and bruno. both julieta and pepa had three kids - isabella, luisa, and mirabel for julieta, and dolores, camilo, and antonio for pepa. 

what i noticed is that for each batch of three, each individual falls under a certain category, and it seems to follow by age. 

julieta was, as this lovely fanart shows, likely depended on quite frequently for her ability to heal via her cooking. her gift would have been the most useful and therefore she likely would have been praised the most as “the perfect one”. 

this, of course, next falls to isabella, who we see this with the most frequently. abuela very clearly is living the life she wished she could have lived through isabella, and is viewed as the perfect golden child by everyone around her. 

dolores is a little different, but i believe she still fits the trope. she is basically the physical embodiment of “seen but not heard.” she keeps quiet on the things she knows would upset her family and doesn’t make herself heard, even when she is in pain, whether physical or emotional. she doesn’t tell anyone that she knows bruno has been living in the walls for the ten years he’s been missing; she doesn’t tell anyone about her feelings for mariano, because she knows that will upset abuela and her cousin’s “perfect for the encanto” arrangement; and one can only imagine how loud certain things are to her, that are endurable for us (fireworks, for example). 

next are the middle children: pepa, luisa, and camilo. all of them have some kind of pressure on their shoulders. (and - just a fun thing i noticed - while luisa’s literal pressure is the many things she carries, pepa’s pressure is atmospheric pressure, because she controls the weather. but anyway, lol). 

all three of these characters are told in one way or another to bottle up their emotions and keep them buried inside. with pepa, we see this very directly as she is constantly told by the other characters (especially abuela) to, as the fanart above shows, calm down and essentially turn off her emotions because of the damage she can cause with her weather powers. this kind of reminds me of the “conceal, don’t feel” thing that elsa had with her gloves. both pepa and elsa demonstrate the same growth throughout their movies, too - learning to accept themselves and their abilities and thus being able to control them instead of being controlled by them - but, i digress. 

luisa, by contrast, is indirectly told to keep her emotions at bay. she is treated as something of a useful tool, both by the town and by abuela, and seen in a very masculine light despite her relatively feminine personality. because of this treatment and the expectation that she will always be strong that comes with it, she falls into the same category as pepa. 

camilo, like dolores, is a little different, but still fits. we don’t see much of him in the movie, but i imagine he is depended on as being the funny one. if anyone reading this is into k-pop or bts, think of camilo as like the j-hope or the jin of the group. he’s always expected to be funny and smiling, lifting everyone else’s spirits - but who lifts his spirits? 

and lastly, we have the youngest siblings - bruno, mirabel, and antonio. they fit into the roll, of course, of the scapegoat, of family disappointments. 

bruno was rejected by the town and by his family, seen as a harbinger of chaos and horror, a bad omen - all because he can see the future, something that he obviously cannot control. but, of course, it’s easier to simply blame someone else than accept the truth or take responsibility for your own actions. 

mirabel, of course, is treated in much the same way. she is seen as a bad omen, as well, and is quite literally feared to be the one who will destroy the family and the encanto, because of bruno’s vision. 

antonio does not quite fit into this category, but i think if he had not gotten a gift, he would have been shunned in much the same way as bruno or mirabel. it can also be argued that his gift isn’t really very useful, and we can see abuela struggle for a moment to think of how they could put his gift to use at the breakfast at the beginning of the movie (”i told them to warm up your seat”). 

anyway - this is all to say that each of the siblings in each of the batches of three appears to fill (or almost fill) the same rolls. i’m sure someone else has already noticed this and i’m just late to the party - but i thought it was cool. 

[starsworldd]

➴ astro observations pt 4 ➶

reminder to go listen to domino 1 by iamsagsssssss out on all platforms now <3 (i know the artist very well i promise it’s good ⭐️

remember to please take the following with a grain of salt ⭐️

⥺ mars conjunct mc people are very hard workers but are often met with conflicts with people at work also. could be business entrepreneurs

⥺ people who have moon sextile venus are very kind and endearing <3

⥺ scorpio mercuries often hide weird stuff (doesn’t have to be innapropiate but it’s just weird and odd) on their phones and more than other people don’t show people their photos, social media, texts, etc…

⥺ mercury conjunct uranus people are some smart people let me tell you. i find that they’re often pretty witty and good with defending themselves in arguments too!

⥺ sun in 6th house people get burnt out really easily but moon in 6th house people seem to be working 24/7 and seem unbothered by it?? maybe they just hide it better. moon in 6th house people are also really smart. i want to look more into that though, because moon and sun are both luminaries so you’d think they’d both get pretty burnt out being in the 6th house of daily work and service…

⥺ the 8th-9th-10th houses i think explain how one finds their purpose in life and their calling. of course all the houses are involved in this because a chart works as a whole story, but i want to focus specifically on these 3 houses: we start at the 8th house of trauma and transformation. 8th house transits usually signify a new beginning (though it usually doesn’t come without trouble and hardship) and it is in the 9th house that we find what we can do to help ourselves out of hardship. what do we believe in? what do i learn out of this difficult time? what experiences can i engage with that help me be a better me? pluto (ruling the 8th house) is the ruler of the underworld and from there we literally go to the king of the heavens (jupiter, ruler of 9th house) to one’s calling in life, signified by the 10th house. it is through one’s hardships and main battles (8th house) that can show us how we can put our best selves out into the world (10th house). sorry to rant, i just think this is so cool to point out! if you guys want i can make a post for the rising signs on this topic ⭐️

⥺ pisces venus people are obsessive over their crushes

⥺ venus conjunct saturn natives may not be that interested or rushed into getting into serious partnerships, in fact they seem to not prefer it, usually due to a past experience unfortunately :(

⥺ does anyone else get their period when the moon crosses their ascendant? just me? okay☺️

⥺ aries sun people are so attractive

⥺ people usually say that musicians with the same moon sign as you resonate with you more, but, this is kind of an iffy observation BUT, artists with their moon in your fourth house may also seem to make music you really like as well or you may just like them in general

⥺ cancer risings having an aries midheaven meaning that their life’s ambition is about defining themselves and being themselves unapologetically <3

⥺ people with venus in a detriment sign are often really attractive (aries, scorpio)

⥺ cancer and leo risings have a natural almost child-like glow to them. also really attractive placement in my opinion

⥺ scorpio risings and mars are often perceived as mean and intimidating. same for moons (unless if there’s aspects to venus i’ve noticed)

⥺ mars in gemini 🤝 over-competitive in games (especially games to do with the hands like spit, word hunt, certain sports, etc..)

⥺ moon conjunct jupiter people are so wholesome. they have very good morals and care deeply for the well-being of others. such a lovely placement <3

⥺ bucket-shaped chart is giving “you have all this pizazz and potential but…(insert planet here) is giving you some obstacles”

⥺ moon square neptune could be an indicator of a parent who struggles with alcoholic or drug addiction

⥺ chart ruler square neptune can give poor perception as to how you’re perceived by others or anxieties about it

thank you for reading! hope you’re well ! ⭐️

[bethanysmiled]

uughghg I feel so disconnected from this username but I'll put it under a cut. CW: suicide/death mention

As an artist, I'm always changing in some way. I always accept the changes wholeheartedly, bc that's what growth is. I feel this username is associated with a part of me who is gone now and I worry sometimes people except a certain sort of content, which I obviously wouldn't force myself to produce. I heavily associate this username with a horrific time in my life bc things began to get really rough around the time I began to use this username and then ofc I went on long hiatuses during the use of this username. My sister's death was not an overnight event. Her physical and mental health deteriorated over the course of years. During those years, it consumed me entirely. Mind, body and soul. That's when I became less and less active. That chapter of my life was horrific, but it has passed. When I say 'passed', I mean to say that my sister is gone and will never come back to me. I am existing in a way I never have before, I'm learning to cope and carry on without someone who made up half of my fucking soul and shaped me in too many ways to count. I'm now in a new place mentally and physically, and using this old username really just reminds me of the difficult times and the art I had created back then. I also draw Fortune much less bc my sister and I heavily bonded over her. She became a comfort character for my sister, and she drew her almost daily for me and made me various other gifts. I often see Fortune now as someone who harbors sadness and loss. It's not entirely the case, but in a lot of ways its hard to draw her now. She was my happiness, and I am blessed she was happiness for my sister too. Now, it's hard to find that comfort in her. Anyway, those reasons are why I want to change my username but have no ideas! ALL of my usernames have been inspired by BMSR/Tobacco in the past but I haven't really connected to any songs lately. WOW rant but it's been on my mind for years. If I go with a new username, I won't abandon this account or anything. At least I'm super happy to say I've finally connected to a new nickname! I have been going by Pony for a long time now, I wish it were my real name lol But it's really really nice to have found a connection with a nickname. Anyway thank you for reading and for following me through all my ups and downs and hiatuses and changes.

edit also:

I still heavily associate with the word ‘hole’, so it would be cool to find username with that word. I love the idea of holes and not knowing what is in them. I also have a connection to sunflowers in more recent years, but the word is so long. Idk! Usernames tend to just come to me, so that’s partially why I haven’t officially moved on from this username even tho I have tried 💀 I always revert back bc others didn’t feel right. Anyway.

[teecupangel]

Altaïr: Wait, When did I get a cult?

Malik: Better question- where’d you get the kittens?!

Desmond: More important question- Why are we in Renaissance Italy!!

Ezio: ???

When Desmond accepted his death, he expected to die.

Did he believe in the afterlife?

Not really.

The Farm had never been religious and all those lessons about how the Templars used religion only served to make Desmond ignore it altogether.

Not because he was appalled by the Templars’ ways or because he didn’t believe in a higher being or something deep like that.

No.

He avoided religion because it was boring.

To be more exact, after hearing the same lessons about the connection of the Templars to religion, it became boring.

Just another reminder of his life on the Farm.

So no.

Desmond never thought about the afterlife.

He always assumed he would die and that would be it.

Kaput.

End of story.

Whatever disappointing story he had, anyway.

It might have been disappointing for someone like William Miles but it was a nice one for Desmond. His life in New York felt like a dream. It wasn’t always a happy dream but it was…

Nice.

It felt real.

He felt real.

So when he woke up in one of the Assassin Tombs in Italy, Desmond knew he was alive.

He felt real.

He had to alive.

Then he heard two more people slowly get up and Desmond wondered if this was the afterlife.

Why else would Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Malik Al-Sayf be waking up in the same place as him.

When he learned that they were in Renaissance Italy, his first thoughts had been about Ezio. He wanted to find him. He wanted to see him. To make sure he was okay.

He had woken up too late though. The same day as the execution of his father and brothers… in Venice of all places.

He could, theoretically, go to Monteriggioni and meet with Ezio there but… Altaïr and Malik weren’t fit to travel. Something was ‘strange’ about their body, like they weren’t use to it. And it wasn’t just because they had their left ring finger. Malik admitted he could feel the pain of losing his arm over and over again. Altaïr’s body would give up after a few minutes and he seemed to be moving through sheer willpower (or stubbornness… both, it was always both with him) so their priority was to find a secure hideout that wasn’t a tomb.

It took an entire day for Desmond to get enough funds to buy them a small house in Venice and a change of clothes (pretending to be a foreigner who wishes to learn from the great artists worked enough to make the tailor less suspicious… a bit). Desmond didn’t bother to hire any servants and focused on helping Altaïr and Malik get used to their new bodies.

They both remembered up to their deaths and that left countless scars inside them. Altaïr theorized that they need to get use to their new bodies because they had been used to their weakening old bodies. Their new bodies seemed to have been created with the idea of them in their prime.

Before the failure in the temple underneath Jerusalem…

By the time Ezio entered Venice, he had already heard about them. The strange three men who kept to themselves, assisting the thieves of Venice for a price.

Most of the time the price they ask for was information.

Sometimes, they would ask for an IOU, their way of saying the thieves owe them a favor. They mostly used those favors to get the thieves to distract certain guards or to be bait.

Ezio heard from Mario that he should make their acquaintances and greet them before doing any missions in Venice.

It was their turf after all.

He did not expect their home to be a warm one.

… with lots of cats.

Too many cats.

“Altaïr! Who is this?!”

Ezio stepped inside the open doorway that led to the inner courtyard where he heard the shouting. A man wearing simple white robes held a black cat by the armpits in his arms, glaring at another man who was sitting underneath the great tree in the middle of the courtyard. Four cats were sleeping around him and he was petting another cat that was curled on his lap absentmindedly.

“That one followed me yesterday. Ask Desmond what to name that one.” The man named Altaïr-

Wait.

Altaïr?

“Stop bringing more cats! We spend more for their food than we do for ours!”

“Hello?”

Ezio turned around to the sound of the voice behind him. He didn’t even notice him approaching Ezio from behind.

The man standing in front of him holding a small stack of books smiled at him as he said, “It’s nice to finally see you, Ezio.”

“My name Desmond Ibn-La'Ahad. Welcome to our bureau.”

[literaryvein-reblogs]

can i request any words/ phrases/ themes linking to the word ‘relic’?

Writing Notes: Relic

Relic - an object esteemed and venerated because of association with a saint or martyr; souvenir, memento

Relics - remains, corpse; a survivor or remnant left after decay, disintegration, or disappearance; a trace of some past or outmoded practice, custom, or belief

Reliquaries - the containers that store and display relics

Where the bones of martyrs are buried, devils flee as from fire and unbearable torture. —St John Chrysostom

Etymology

Middle English relik, from Anglo-French relike, from Medieval Latin reliquia, from Late Latin reliquiae, plural, "remains of a martyr", from Latin, "remains", from relinquere "to leave behind"

Related Words

Afterimage - a lasting memory or mental image of something

Artifact - an object remaining from a particular period

Corpus - the body of a human or animal especially when dead

Decedent - a person who is no longer living; a deceased person

Memento - souvenir

Oddment - something left over; remnant

Oeuvre - a substantial body of work constituting the lifework of a writer, an artist, or a composer

Remnant - a usually small part, member, or trace remaining

Souvenir - something kept as a reminder (as of a place one has visited)

Vestige - a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something (such as an ancient city or a condition or practice) vanished or lost

Martin Luther complained about the profusion of relics and the absurd claims being made for them: "What lies there are about relics! One claims to have a feather from the wing of the angel Gabriel, and the bishop of Mainz has a flame from Moses’ burning bush. And how does it happen that eighteen apostles are buried in Germany when Christ had only twelve?"

Examples

ANCIENT GREEK RELICS. At Athens the supposed remains of Oedipus and Theseus enjoyed an honor that is very difficult to distinguish from a religious cult.

BUDDHIST RELICS. Relics of the Buddha and various saints were (and still are) venerated. Following the Buddha's death, his bones and teeth were divided for the purpose of being used as relics in order to illustrate his teaching of impermanence (anitya). These relics were so valued that they caused armed conflict between factions for possession of them. Afterward, these relics were taken throughout Asia with the gradual spread of Buddhism.

CHRISTIAN RELICS. Since the dawn of Christianity, relics have been an important part of Christian devotionalism. During the Middle Ages, the selling of relics became a lucrative business. The concept of physical proximity to the “holy” was considered extremely important. A pilgrim's possession and veneration of a relic was seen as a means to become closer to God. Instead of having to travel hundreds of miles to become near to a venerated saint, a Christian could enjoy closeness with him/her through their relic at home.

MUSLIM RELICS. Although certain sects of Islam strongly discourage (or outwardly prohibit) the veneration of relics, a very large collection of Muslim relics is preserved in the Sacred Trusts, located in Istanbul, which contains more than 600 treasured pieces in the Topkapi Palace Museum.

The Roman Catholic Church makes a distinction between veneration and worship of relics and icons.

3 Categories of Relics According to the Vatican

First-Class Relics: Items directly associated with the events of Christ's life (manger, cross, etc.), or the physical remains of a saint (a bone, a hair, a limb, etc.).

Second-Class Relics: An item that the saint wore (e.g., sock, shirt, glove). Also included are items that the saint owned or frequently used (e.g., a crucifix, book). An item more important in the saint's life is considered a more important relic.

Third-Class Relics: Anything that has touched a first- or second-class relic of a saint.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Hope this helps! Do tag me or send me a link to your writing if it does. I'd love to read your work.

[ateez-himari]

FORMER LEADER MEETS MAKNAE

At the request of former B.A.P leader, Bang Yongguk, a conversation sparks with one of the industry's most artistic idols.

May 21, 2024 (1:28PM)

Third generation rapper Bang Yongguk uploaded an unexpected video to his YouTube channel, around a month following his new album, in which he documented a meeting with ATEEZ's youngest member and songwriter, Himari. In contrast to what many believed when seeing the title it was in fact not their first time interacting with one another as they had filmed a dance challenge in the summer of last year. On that day however it was arranged by the senior artist due to his curiosity regarding the vocalist's impressive credits as well as her unique artistic expression, claiming that he viewed her as one of the industry's rare aces.

Despite B.A.P's unfortunate disbandment in 2019 following a lawsuit against their company, it was expressed multiple times throughout the years that she held a great respect for him and found great inspiration in the way that he pursued his own creativity. It was through one of those passionate ramblings that the rapper caught wind of the maknae's name, the young woman immediately catching his attention with her often emotional additions in b-sides.

'There was something about the way you wrote certain feelings, the strict work ethic that you showed in videos and the realness in your personality that made me curious. You're also producing quite a lot for someone this young so I wanted to meet you, to see who was the girl everyone started talking about, good or bad comments alike.'

In the beginning of their conversation he mentioned that listening to the single 'Pray', made in collaboration with Agust D, was especially painful due to the vulnerability being expressed through such raw lyrics that seemed poured directly from their hearts. However it was her solo track 'Shadow' in the group's most recent album that made the heaviest impression not only for the heartbreaking side of the story but also the interesting production techniques she had used, each being carefully crafted to fit a specific narration.

Throughout the two hour long video netizens were able to witness a connection slowly form between these two artists, with the eldest having prepared some activities such as a short painting session as well as cooking dinner to break the ice. Despite the maknae's initial nervousness towards being alone with one of her favorite rappers , conversation seemed to flow rather easily due to her senior's attentive listening and their time together ended with a warm hug along with a promise to meet again in the near future.

The conversation topics ranged from lighthearted ones such as small anecdotes from their respective lives or the senior's endless curiosity regarding his junior's creative mind to much darker themes such as mental health, but in the end both seemed so at ease with one another's presence that there was never a dull moment.

'You seem like you make friends very easily' Yongguk had remarked. 'Your personality is very warm, even though when you first arrive at my home you seemed very nervous...I think I saw your hands shaking a little bit.'

The last few minutes revealed that he had requested she leave the painting done during their short activity, proceeding to frame it in his living room, claiming that it added life into the house and would ensure he is always reminded of this encounter. The vocalist on the other hand excitedly showed off a polaroid already placed in her phone case to the camera, the image simply being the two posing cutely yet meaning much more to her as the rapper had been an idol of hers for a very long time.

Other artists from older generations have expressed a desire to meet the rapidly rising songwriter, with legendary rapper G-Dragon sharing songs produced by her through Instagram stories with encouraging phrases in which he often conveyed support.

'The songs she created for Taemin had something that seperated them from other albums coming out at the time, so I really want to work with her one day.' Taeyang (BIGBANG)

'We've talked briefly a few times and it always seemed like she had so many things to share, so I'd like to hear them. She's also one of the few people who truly excels in every aspect of the industry.' Moonbyul (MAMAMOO)

'Your sister [to Yoongi] takes after you for a lot of things it seems, both with the outspoken lyrics and never ending creativity. How old was she when she started working with Taemin...18? She's still young but already so influential. You should bring her with you next time so we can meet.' IU

'She's worked with us...twice I think, on 'Reason' and 'NO LIMIT'. I didn't see her a lot because of schedules but when I listened to the drafts she made I was really impressed by what she created alone. She's improved a lot since then so I'd like to meet up for an album again.' Joohoney (MONSTA X)

While the maknae is sparking quite the conversations amongst the industry's most notable names, ATEEZ as a whole have been rapidly climbing their way to the top lately, with media outlets granting them the title of 'Powerhouse of K-Pop'. Netizens are already bracing themselves for the upcoming comeback on May 31st, which promises to shake the charts once more as they challenge themselves to work even harder.

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[thesstandsforslut]

Untitled Anon Request

Leon Kennedy/fem!reader

Anon requested: If you're taking requests can you do a story where leon finds out that fem reader is in love with him? He finds out by over hearing Ashley, Luis and fem reader having a conversation. Of course Luis and Ashley are teasing fem reader about it the entire time. Can it end with fem reader and leon kissing and possibly making love?

You and Leon were sent on the mission to find Ashley together. I changed the horde fight in the house with Luis to just, not happen :) artistic liscence So the teasing happens then, everything else happens after the mission has ended.

(RE4r)Leon Kennedy/fem!Reader

Contains: NSFW, cunnilingus, idk this is pretty vanilla compared to what I normally write

Word Count: 2.5k+

Minors DNI

Leon S Kennedy had been tasked with finding the president's daughter, and you were assigned to go with him. The two of you hadn't worked together before but you already knew of him. Everyone knew he was one of the best, and you had been a little starstruck to find out he was who you'd be working with.

At first, you thought your embarrassment around him was simply admiration. He was really good at this job, pulling moves like breaking a guy's neck with a chain. Your throat had gone dry when watching that. When you heard Leon shouting at the man he had been chained with, you decided to chalk it up to the fascination of watching someone so impressive up close. But the man had clearly noticed something, shooting you a smirk as he tossed you the key and ran off.

You had continued to... admire Leon throughout the mission. You flushed every time he caught you looking but he always smiled so kindly at you. He was just being encouraging as your superior, you dismissed.

When the two of you finally found Ashley in the church, you had been hopeful that the mission would be over soon. All you had to do was get to where the helicopter would land which was, obviously, the opposite side of the village.

You had run through every area you'd already been through, trying to get to the site. After a brief stop at the merchant's shop, you could hear the ganados chasing behind you as the three of you crossed a bridge. There was a house up ahead, and the door flew open to Luis. As Leon pushed Ashley towards Luis, you turned to the bridge. It was only held up by ropes, and the infected people were still at the other side; You could probably cut it down before they reached you.

"Leon! The ropes!" You shouted to him, pulling out your knife to cut the left side. Leon followed suit, cutting the ropes on the right. One guy managed to launch himself towards you, knocking you down, but the rest fell with the bridge. With a quick stab to the throat, you pushed both your feet against his chest, and pushed him off the edge.

So now, here you are in this raggedy old house, with your mission partner, the president's daughter, and a suave stranger. Leon walks to the man with purpose. He pins him to the wall with a fist on his chest. You ignore the weird flutter in your chest. The man turns the focus to the 'missing señorita' who bristles and tells him her name. He then introduces himself as Luis. After another moment of Leon trying to intimidate Luis, you sigh.

"Leon, we have somewhere better to be than this dingy little house," you unsubtly remind him. He looks at you, releasing Luis with a slight push. Moving to the stairs, he tells you to keep an eye on him while he looks around for anything useful. With another sigh, and a roll of your neck, you start looking around downstairs too.

"Sooo, you and Leon..." Luis started. You looked over at him as you opened a drawer.

"What about me and Leon?" Confused at his meaning, you close the empty drawer and turn to another.

"You had a certain look in your eyes earlier," he clarifies.

"A look?" You ask with a humoured scoff. As you take some pesetas from the drawer, Ashley joins in.

"Like when he was storming to Luis before." Shutting the door a little harder than intended, you turn to look at her with indignation. With a giggle, she continued, "Your face was as red as it is now!"

You roll your eyes and turn your back, refusing to acknowledge the pair. They keep talking about you though, clearly finding amusement in your annoyance.

"You should've seen her when we were chained up earlier. He did some impressive moves. You could practically see the hearts in her eyes." Luis chuckles, and when you finally look at them again, Ashley draws a heart shape with her pointer fingers as she mouths 'hearts' at you. You narrow your eyes, opening your mouth to protest but then you stop short.

Leon was sitting on the stairs. The top few steps are sideways, and the ceiling hides most of his body from view, but you can see his boots through the gaps in the bannister. You snap your mouth shut, glare at Ashley and Luis, and move to the other side of the room.

A minute goes by in silence. Though Luis still has a shit-eating smile on his face, Ashley looks a little flustered herself. Leon finally comes back down the stairs. For a split second, he looks at you, bashful. It's quickly replaced with his usual stern look as he tells you all that you should get moving. Ashley grumbles a little, clearly hoping for more time to rest, but you were glad to move on and pretend this whole ordeal hadn't happened.

Everything would be fine once you got out of this god-forsaken village.

Everything was not fine after you got out of the god-forsaken village. If all you had been through wasn't bad enough, being infected, Luis and Krauser... Leon had been mostly silent the entire way home, until right at the end. He had turned to you as he left, saying,

"We need to talk."

So obviously, you were... worried. You know he'd heard Ashley and Luis' teasing, so you assume he wants to talk about the feelings you had only admitted were actually feelings on the ride back to America. He hadn't specified a time or place either, so you're just sitting here, curled up on your sofa, TV playing some random channel that you weren't paying any attention to, and you're just stewing in all your feelings. It was overwhelming.

You're not sure how long you sat staring blankly at whatever was in front of you, thoughts whirring wildly in your head, until you're bought back to the present by a knock on your door.

You open it to see a tired looking Leon, his hair hanging in front of his face and you just wanted to brush it back. The two of you hold eye contact for a moment before you take a deep breath and a step back, allowing him in.

"Is it..." Leon tries after you've both sat down on your sofa. "What they were saying, is- do you really... feel that way?" Your face warms up as you clear your throat.

"Well, I... Yeah," you respond, embarrassment and nervousness making your heart pound. He puts a hand on your face, turning you to look at him directly and, looking you dead in the eye, he says,

"Good."

Then swiftly, he kisses you timidly. It's short, only a few seconds but your eyebrows had already lifted in surprise by the time he starts to lean back. In a moment of bravery, you chase his lips with yours, smashing your mouths together. He lets out a soft sigh through his nose.

You both channel all the built up emotions from throughout the mission. All the frustration and sadness and desperation. You pant into each other's mouths, tongues swirling. His hand on your face moves into your hair. Both of yours are grasping at the sides of his shirt as his left hand is placed on your thigh, thumb brushing back and forth.

Eventually, he pulls back, latching his mouth onto your neck while you breathe heavily into his hair. His hand slides up your leg, pushing under the hem of the big sweater you're wearing. You close your eyes, wrapping one hand around his back as the other moves down, hooking your fingers behind his belt. He hums, kissing your jaw just below your ear.

"Bed?" He suggests, voice low and breathless. Not trusting your own voice, you just gently push him back, taking his hand to lead him to your bedroom.

Kicking the door shut behind him, Leon pulls you to him by your waist, kissing you deeply. Without breaking, you walk backwards to your bed. Leon pushes you carefully to sit on the edge and he kneels down in front of you. His hands hold your thighs, stopping you from moving as you went to shuffle back.

When he's sure you've stopped, he puts his right hand under your knee, pulling your leg up to hook it over his shoulder. He tips his head to the side, kissing your thigh as he leans down to push your sweater up, then presses his mouth to your lower belly.

You let out a soft sigh, and you can feel him smile against your skin. His fingers pull your panties down over your hips, his mouth following, kissing each new area of skin that's revealed. He ignores where you want his mouth the most in favour of moving down your thighs. When your panties reach your knees, he leaves them there, ducking his head under them to reach you again.

You gasp quietly as Leon kisses your mound, let out a shakey breath as he licks your folds. He keeps one hand on your thigh, holding your leg to the side. The other hand slides to your hip, grasps at the top of your thigh, and pulls your closer towards his face.

His tongue flicks your clit making you moan and wiggle against him. Finally, he closes his mouth around your little bundle of nerves and sucks. Your hips lift, trying to push yourself even closer to him. Small moans and panting breaths bubble out of your mouth endlessly and your hands clench your sheets.

His hand moves to join his mouth, a finger slowly pushing into you. You'd be embarrassed by the noise you made if you were thinking straight, but the only thing on your mind is the feeling of him eating you out as he gently preps you for more.

"Leon..." You breathe out. "Hmm... So close- please..." He chuckles quietly, and it vibrates through you. You look down only to see that he was already looking at you, and when your eyes lock, he hums and sucks even harder.

The coil that you'd felt twisting and tightening as his tongue worked magic, suddenly released. Your head drops back, mouth wide as loud moans and gasps escape you. Your legs try to shut, squeezing Leon against you as your hips twitch. You can feel him grinning as his tongue gently guides you through it until you're left panting and shaking, legs dropping off his shoulders when you relax.

Leon peppers kisses up your stomach, pushing your sweater higher and higher up your body. He reaches your chest, mouthing at the skin between your breasts, then travelling over to your nipple, twirling his tongue around it. You whine, burying a hand in his soft hair, and wiggle your legs so your panties fall from your ankles to the floor.

He pulls back a little to look at you, hands holding your sides, thumbs rubbing your breasts. Your face flushes seeing your wetness had dripped down his lower face and his neck. Fuck, he looked so good.

He bent down to kiss you, letting you taste yourself on his tongue. Your legs wrap around his waist, pushing his crotch against you. He's hard, cock pressing the rough fabric of his pants into your cunt and you gasp, so sensitive it hurts.

"Ready?" Leon asks, hissing when his clothed cock bumps into you again. You nod with a hum, hands reaching to grab his belt but your shakey hands fumble the buckle. He chuckles, standing up straight between your spread legs.

"Move up, " he instructs, pulling his shirt up and over his head. You all but drool at the sight of him, shuffling further up your bed until your head touches your pillows. You can't tell if Leon's teasing you or if you're just very impatient, but it takes him entirely too long to be rid of his pants.

You lean up slightly, resting on one elbow as you softly fondle your breast with the other hand, watching him. When he finally pushes his thumbs under his boxers to remove them, you bite your lip, eyes unwavering from the tent in the fabric. Smirking at you tormentingly, he pulls them down so slowly.

You huff, tipping you're head to one side while you pout. When they're finally low enough, his prick springs up, bouncing from momentum. You rub your thighs together, playing with your nipple as you watch him take hold of his cock, squeezing the head.

"Like what you see?" He teases and you just nod mindlessly. Placing a hand on your leg, Leon moves to kneel between your legs. He puts his arms under your back, pulling you up into a sitting position. "Want you to ride me, baby," he mutters into your neck, pressing little kisses to your throat and collarbone. His hands pull your legs to either side of his so you're sitting on his lap, squashing his length against your folds.

You grind your hips down on him, causing both of you to moan. Taking him tenderly in your hand, you guide his cock to your entrance. Slowly, you sink down on him. His hands hold onto your hips, fingers trembling. When he's as deep in you as possible, your head falls forward, resting on his shoulder. Both of you stay still for a moment, catching your breath.

"C'mon darlin'," he says, tapping your ass lightly. You lift yourself with unstable legs, and when you've pulled off his full length, Leon grabs your hips and pulls you back down. You moan into his shoulder, pressing your open mouth to his skin.

His strong hands help lift you up and down. Your legs tremble more and more with every raise and you struggle to keep yourself upright. So you wrap your arms tightly around his back, nails digging in like anchors.

Leon starts thrusting up to meet you and your legs give out. You're moaning and babbling against his shoulder as you bounce on his cock from the force of his thrusting. He moves one hand from your hip to your back, holding you close to him, and he's panting in your ear, whispering sweet praises.

"Feels so good," he says breathily. "So soft and warm and-" he cuts himself off with a moan. You squeeze around him, clawing your nails on his back. You need him closer. You wrap your legs around his waist and press your teeth into his shoulder, now wet with your saliva, as you rock your hips.

When your climax finally hits, it's explosive. You throw your head back as your back arches, pressing against him ever closer. You can't even hear the scream that tears from your throat over the ringing in your ears. Your whole body quivers.

Leon kisses your neck, his thrusting staggering as he nears his own completion. As you slowly come down from the high, your body thrumming and tingling, you tangle a hand weakly in his hair. His hands grab at your body with the same desperation as yours had his. You whine with overstimulation, slumping your body against his, trying to coax him to completion by rolling your hips.

With a garbled moan, Leon finishes, hands push you down on him as deep as he can go. His warm cum floods you in bursts. You keep rocking until he's emptied himself in you, until he's grumbling from stimulation and his hands hold you still, forcing you to stop.

He pulls you both down, flopping on your sides, still wrapped around each other. You whine sadly when his softened cock slips out of you, making his eyes crinkle as he laughs quietly. He stretched over you to grab a blanket and lay it over your naked bodies. You were both curled up, legs tangled, arms clinging to each other tightly.

Leon stroked his hand up and down your back. You tucked your head under him, sighing contently as the pair of you drifted off to sleep.

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

“And the relative simplicity of her music works with people who just want something mindlessly play in the background. It's also really easy for average people- who have no musical background- to sing along with. The lines are simple rhymes, and she never really uses any specialized vocal techniques like Vibrato. Basically, it's music for bland people who think salt is a spice.”

Some of your takes are valid and it’s healthy to critique anything that amasses such a large following in pop culture. However I would argue there is a way to do this without coming across as a pretentious undergraduate who read a few required and recommended readings from the syllabus and now sips their tea with a pinkie protruding. Let’s remember that tumblr is not inherently full of academics and defining anyone who hasn’t got a certain level of education as average or bland is such an Americanised, my way or the highway way of thinking.

It is possible to have differing opinions to others without insulting their intelligence or falsely presenting them in a certain way. Average people as a term in general, is quite elitist and classist. For example, I have a PHD in literature and am a classical musician. I work in publishing and academia.

That said, I still enjoy pop music, sometimes something can just be enjoyable and it’s not that deep.

Criticising Taylor Swift is low hanging fruit for a lit major who claims to be allied with as many causes as yourself. Or, if you do decide to continue with it, I hope you do it in a more articulated manner that focuses more on the quality of your arguments, and not just an assumption that those who oppose you are stupid or “bland” when I suspect the truth is much more complex than that, as it always is.

Best of luck with further studies. I hope to see more diverse content from you in the future, maybe some literary analysis of contemporary texts, or other artists who you deem intellectual enough to enjoy, or some recommendations.

Honestly- I do not know with which tone I should address this anon. I cannot tell if you are being hostile- but I certainly feel that you are being condescending.  

Thanks for at least direct quoting my words with which you draw issue. I appreciate it- some people send me critiques but fail to outline which of my posts is the problem.  

I can capitulate to exactly one of your points- and admit it is a good point- that I am overly sassy on occasion. The post you are angry about is just me chitchatting with someone about Swift’s live shows- it wasn’t a literary analysis. I cannot do an academic analysis of her live shows- but that does not mean I don’t have an opinion of them.  

Again- it was opinion not argument or analysis. Not a serious post. This is not a blog where I am going to speak like an academic all of the time. I’m here to have a little fun- and try to remind myself why I actually do love what I do for a living.

Generally speaking- I will try to make a more obvious, clear difference between what is just an opinion and what is a researched, literary argument on Taylor Swift in my future posting. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.  

There are some other things about your ask that I want to address, because it struck me as a bit unnecessary.  

You say that I’m “coming across as a pretentious undergraduate who read a few required and recommended readings from the syllabus and now sips their tea with a pinkie protruding” (para. 1). This is condescending. No, I did not simply “read a few required and recommended readings” to complete my education. You say you’ve got a PHd in the same discipline- and yet you want to tell me all I did for my degree was read a couple of books? You should know the kind of intellectual work that goes into real literary study. I am trying to show people with this blog, at least in some small way, that while literary study is not so straightforwardly quantifiably valuable like, for instance, physics- it is still a real discipline. With real requirements on argumentation and logic. It takes intellectual skill to wrestle with concepts in literary theory – but more so to apply them in synthesis and interpretation of textual evidence.   

SO, why are you essentially patting my head and saying “aw-cute she read some books and now thinks she’s smart?”   

To be clear- I am not in undergrad. I have finished two different degrees and am currently working on my third.

Why would you accuse me of classism and elitism predicated solely on a bad joke in a post wherein I am not even doing any real literary analysis? What prompted that? I made no effort to even pretend the post in question was little more than opinion- my real posts however, about literary analysis, I take great pains to research and edit those together with care.  

Also, “Americanized” what? Are you American? Because people ‘round here don’t care about what level of education you’ve got? The access to education varies remarkably state to state- and down into Latin American too- and we all know it. So, there is very much a culture of “help each other out when struggling” and not a culture of thinking that everyone of Earth needs to go through American University in order to matter. What are you talking about? Do you think American’s hold the monopoly on having Dogmatic views or “my way or the highway” thinking? That’s obviously not true- so what are you trying to say here?  

Did you miss the part of my Bio where I talk about being a teacher? I am a teacher in one of the poorest- most unfunded places in the country. My friend- I am repulsed by the idea of classism- I take my position in my community very seriously. Knowledge is not a stick with which I attempt to beat others down- Please understand that.  

Next, you say it is possible to critique without insulting people’s intelligence (para. 2). um, I did not insult anyone’s intelligence? I said their taste in music was bland, which does not correlate to an assumption on their intelligence. Um- I have also said many times that I like simple pop- music. Am I calling myself stupid because I’ve been listening to “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter on repeat? NOpe. It’s just a silly little song- and dancing to it makes me feel cute, young and free- but it’s still a bland song with no literary or moral value. What exactly is the problem here?  

Okay, within this same point you draw issue with my use of the word average, saying that “average people, as a term...is quite elitist and classist” (para.3). Okay, you misinterpreted my use of the word “average” here- as I was not referring to people as “average” because they have no education, or a different education compared to my own. I was only using the term in the most colloquial sense- meaning “in general” or “on average” as in the median percentage of people have no musical background- therefore they find simplistic pop music the easiest to digest and the simplest thing to play in the background or sing to on car trips. It’s pleasing to the ear because we don’t have too much “work” into understanding it- that's what I mean when I say it’s bland. 

If oatmeal was a type of music- it would be pop music. bland filler- but you know it can still be good.   

Okay, let’s talk about your final point “Taylor Swift is Low Hanging Fruit” (para. Whatever I can’t be bothered to count). Ummm? A billionaire musician who has massive worldwide acclaim and social impact is “low-hanging” to you? I mean yeah- she's clearly not worth study through the lens of poetical semiotics, or God forbid- Linguistic Morphology; however, there are several different ways a good analysis of her work could function- through feminist, Marxists, Post-colonialist, or anything under the umbrella of cultural studies. I also intend to do a rhetorical analysis on her use of “lower class” aesthetics and how that attracts the audience she wants. And, I’ve done a couple of syntactical analyses. However, I had to prop those up with a dichotomization of her work to someone with more impressive literary value, like Kendrick Lamar, because her work alone is not strong enough for that type of analysis.  

Apologies if I have written a return, you did not expect or want- perhaps, I should be less sensitive on the internet. I do often brush off people's condescension, especially when I notice that they are extremely young or just do not know anything at all about my field of study. Because why worry about uninformed opinions? I wanted to speak with you, however, because you do care. It is obvious, and I am glad that people do care. I admire you for caring about the integrity of the discipline- but I really wasn’t doing what you thought I was doing.  

 I admire anyone who also studies Literature, and you say you’re a classical musician, I think that’s so impressive! I love classical music! Rachmaninoff makes me feel insane! I love it! You know that one O’Hara poem? The one that is an ode to Rachmaninoff’s birthday that ends “you’ll never be mentally sober” because I feel that line in my bones. And don’t even get me started on Tchaikovsky- Truly, you might never hear the end of it. (CAnnoNS!!!!??? what a guy)

 I just wanted to clear up anything that you found offensive- but I also defended myself because you do know what I’m talking about when it comes to literary study- and so the conversation took priority over the other meaningless “hate” messages I get. And- boy howdy- I've been getting hate messages pretty much daily. 

Promise to no longer be condescending to me and I think we ought to be friends and not fight- let me start- what did you concentrate on for your PHd? 

 I, myself, focus on post-colonialism, feminist theory, and post-modernist thought in American Literature. I work mainly within US Multi-ethnic literature, though, outside of school, I have an intense fascination with medieval or ancient Literature- primarily, these days, classical Sanskrit poetry. Last year it was an obsession with old Norse literature- lol I like to switch things up. Have you ever read the Heliand? It’s about Viking Jesus- so cool and written in old Saxon! But, anyway, I think the unique prosody of Sanskrit is so neat-o. My other obsession is this one old french poem called "le roman de silence" what a crazy little gender-bending 13th century thing that is (haha). And this doesn't even get into my philosophical preoccupations- though I believe I will discuss those on my blog, too, at some point.

Anyway- perhaps I will talk about my more niche interests on this blog- all good things in time. I have no interest in solely focusing on Taylor Swift forever- but I do want to finish saying all the things I’ve been holding back for years. I think it’s important- because Swift holds such a massive influence over people. It’s healthy, as you said, to critique people like that.  

Okay- Sorry I talked soo long. Peace Out :)

[d1ana-m0nd]

╭─► ❝The Servant: Umbrella Academy's Servant❞

Five Hargreeves × Female! Reader || Written by Diana (d1ana-m0nd)

➢ Description : It's a well known fact that Sir. Reginald Hargreeves adopted 7 children to save the world from it's impending doom. Though, the number of children will change from 7 to 8 once a close friend of his, Rita Rossweisse was on her death bed and requested him to take in her child, who fortunately was born on October 1st 1989.

➢ Word Count : 9,537

➢ Links : Masterlist && Character Profile

➢ Note : I just wanted to give a heads up for people who like Luther, he's going to be a bit antagonistic towards the reader because she's an accomplice. Also, in S1 of TUA, the writers' focused on his mission driven trait which led to a snowball effect on his decisions and how he treated others (ex: Vanya), though that does not mean I will be writing him off as an antagonist throughout the whole series, just this season since he is still learning and growing. I mean no harm Luther simps / stans / fans. 🏳️

Also, it's been three years since I have done Wushu (Chinese martial arts) so the fighting scene might be crappy. It will be inaccurate as well since I never reached orange belt lol, I just watched YouTube videos of Agatha Wong and other Wushu martial artists. ;-;

Chapter 3: Extra Ordinary

Blue light streamed through the window as Allison sat on the windowsill, a cigarette in hand; she took in the scenery from the place she once considered home. The sound of car horns beeping accompanied the lively city atmosphere, whilst the lights of the streetlamps came off harshly. Oddly enough, this loud environment felt homely to her. The rumor inhaled the cigarette then exhaled it, letting the flares of the smoke blow out the window. She let herself be more immersed to the atmosphere, which led her unaware of someone else's presence in the room.

"Ah, Miss Allison." The advanced chimpanzee announced his arrival. Allison hurriedly put out the cigarette, leading it to fizzle out. She faced Pogo with a sheepish smile, as though she was not caught red-handed.

"I was looking for you." Pogo returned her smile, then took a small step towards her.

"How did you, uh… did you know I was up here?" The rumor scratched her nape. She really wasn't expecting anyone to walk in on her smoking and emoting to herself.

"Oh, it wasn't hard. This is always where you used to come when you were upset."

"Who told you I was…" The girl in curls paused, then sighed as a certain someone came to mind.

"Luther." She said fiddling with the aged locket that was given to her by the same person.

"Actually, it was Miss Vanya."

Allison was taken aback by his words. Vanya… cared about her? For a moment, she felt regret come over her because her sibling went out of her way to check on her… then she recalled the book. The rumor would have openly showed her grimace at the thought of her sister but, Pogo’s next words took her by surprise.

"She called to make sure you were okay and if it weren't for Y/N reminding me, I would have forgotten to check in on you." Pogo said with a small smile, as though he was silently thanking the girls for caring about Allison's well being.

The girl in curls stood up from the windowsill as she inhaled deeply, stuffing her hands into her pocket. "Yeah, I, um… said some pretty unkind things to her." Though it sounded like she said it out of defeat.

The well dressed chimpanzee frowned at her words, but tried to be optimistic. "She's your sister. She knows you didn't mean it."

Allison scoffed as she looked away. "Doubt it. She doesn't know anything about me, which is fine, cause I don't know shit about her either."

"Language." Pogo said which brought a small smile to the rumor's face followed by a soft chuckle. "Sorry."

"It's just…" The woman breathed through her nose. "It's been a while since we've all lived under the same roof."

"Almost 13 years." He added, which added onto the emotional baggage that Allison was carrying at the moment.

"How did you do it? Alone in this huge house for so long?"

"Well, one grows used to things, even if, sometimes… one shouldn't." The chimpanzee looked away, not wanting to give away the sadness in his eyes.

Wanting to divert the young lass’ attention to something else, Pogo decided it would be a great time to bring her over the CCTV room and to follow through with Master Hargreeves’ plan till the truth is finally revealed.

"Come with me. I want to show you something. It might just cheer you up." The advanced chimpanzee was about to head out the room but he suddenly turned to where Allison stamped out the cigarette earlier. "And make sure you fully extinguished that cigarette. Wouldn't want to start a fire."

The girl in curls chuckles to herself as she now recalled Pogo never lets his guard down, it’s almost like nothing goes under his radar, he acted more father-like than their own father. She then quickly extinguishes the fire and hurriedly catches up with Pogo. The two walked side by side towards the CCTV room, and entered the room together.

The chimpanzee approached the monitors and turned them on to show the familiar memories the academy created back in their youth. "Your father stopped recording years ago. But, I still come here from time to time. When I'm missing you kids."

"Pogo, this is…" The woman was too stunned to speak but she managed to choke out a few words. "Most families have home movies to look back on. We have surveillance footage."

"I hoped it might cheer you up."

"It does…" Allison laughed, letting her guard down and allowed her inner child to be lured in by the memories being replayed by the monitors.

Suddenly, Allison's gaze turns to a monitor of Vanya playing the violin as a smaller Y/N sat beside the violinist cheering her on, though it looked like Vanya wore a fake smile accepting every compliment you gave her.

"And Vanya…" Her smile fell. Vanya was telling the truth.

"Why didn't we include her? I mean, if anybody ever treated Claire like that, I can't even imagine…"

"You were a child, Miss Allison." Pogo pointed out but Allison rebutted. "Yeah… but I'm not anymore and neither is she."

"If you're not in a hurry. The rest of the tapes are in that cabinet." The advanced chimpanzee gestured to the nearby cabinet, while his other hand took out the keys and left it on the table. "Make sure you lock up when you go."

"Things have been disappearing lately. These are too important to lose." He added as Allison softly chuckled at his words. She has a feeling, she knows who might be responsible for it.

Whilst she was busy reminiscing, Pogo stood beside her, double checking at the breadcrumbs he left. He needed the secrets to be unraveled as soon as possible, he can only pray it wouldn’t be too late. The chimpanzee took one last look at Allison then left the room.

Once he left, the woman in curls rummaged through the tapes and found a tape that stood out. It was oddly placed, it even seemed like that it was purposely placed there. She played the footage not expecting much. To her surprise, her expectations were surpassed by the content of the footage.

Her eyes widened, then she straightened herself. "Oh, God. Dad…"

Allison paused the tape, without hesitation, she began to frantically look for Luther in the academy. She checked from door to door only to be frustrated that Luther wasn’t home. She was about to give up until she heard the front door open then ran - more like fast walking - to where the footsteps came from.

The woman in curls grabbed onto Luther’s arm. "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you."

"What are you still doing here? I thought you were gone." He raised his brow in her presence.

"No, I was gonna go, and then Pogo showed me this -"

"Well, listen…" The larger male interrupted her with a defeated sigh. "I was wrong about Dad's death."

The woman was astonished by his words, it wasn’t like him. "What?"

"Yeah. I was wrong about Diego. You know, to accuse my own brother of that is just-"

"No, I, I know, I get it." The rumor tried to cut in but got interfered once again.

"- Seeing all of you and being back here… I should be the one who's trying to bring us back together, not tear us apart." Spaceboy said but it more or less it sounded like he was talking to himself in the mirror.

"Would you shut up?!" Allison shouted angrily.

"What?"

"You were right, about Dad." She stated, now it was the male’s turn to be confused by the sudden turn of events.

"Come on, I gotta show you something."

Even though the larger male was silent, she took his arm and guided him to the CCTV room. As they head to the CCTV room, they happen to passby Y/N and Five. Luther and Allison checked on you guys - since you guys looked kinda messed up - but Five had a sudden outburst and you had to make random excuses to bring him to his room, whilst juggling to not drop Delores. Once they were a bit far, Luther finally had the courage to speak up.

"Does Y/N having a mannequin have something to do with whatever you were going to show me?" He asked.

To which Allison threw a look at his direction. "No, and I have no idea where she got that. All I know is she's been glued to Five's side since he got back."

Once they had arrived, the rumor was quick to replay the footage. Luther couldn’t believe what he was watching. At first he was in denial but, as he replayed the clip again and again, he was able to digest the information but he still doesn’t understand… Why would their mother - er robot, rather, “Grace” kill their father? He kept replaying the scene trying to understand what occurred during the night of the murder but, got no answers in the end.

"Play it again." Number one ordered again…

Allison had to refrain herself from rolling her eyes because of how mind numbing it was to replay the same scene over and over again.

"We've watched it over and over, it's the same thing every time." She pointed out.

Luther sighs, she wasn’t wrong, they weren’t getting answers. Reluctantly, the rumor rewind the clip, the VCR whirred indicating it was being replayed.

"Er… what is she doing?" He asked, gesturing towards Grace on the monitor.

"The tea. Did she poison him?"

"Uh- I don't know." The woman in curly hair uncrossed her arms, unsure of what she was witnessing.

The larger male sighed exasperated then turned his gaze towards hers. "Where did you find this?" He gestured to the footage.

Allison stopped leaning against the cabinet then sat on the chair beside Luther's side, "I was looking at old footage of us as kids, and I just saw the footage sitting there."

"Yeah, Dad must have started using the security system again." There was a pregnant pause present in the room.

"He was getting more and more paranoid. He thought people were out to get him." He muttered, recalling the call he had with his dad a month prior.

Back then, He didn’t think much of it but it did worry him that Grace and Y/N weren’t taking care of him. However, after calling Y/N, he felt reassured by her words and assumed that their father was just becoming paranoid for nothing. Now, he regrets taking his words for granted.

"Well… I guess maybe he was right."

"But Mom?" Allison refused to accept this.

"I mean she's not capable of…" She gestured to the footage but as her eyes landed the footage she began to have second thoughts, she sighs. "Is she?"

Suddenly, a memory from the funeral played in Luther’s head.

"Then there's the issue of the missing monocle." The ape hybrid added to his conspiracy. Even though it was silent, you could hear the others internally groaning as more words came out of his mouth.

"Y/N, while you were cleaning up Dad's room, was the monocle still there?"

"Last night I wasn't assigned to give him medicine, it was Mrs. Grace's turn. So I can't be too sure if he wore the monocle. Though the crime scene cleaners and investigators did let me know that they made sure to keep everything in the same spot." You reported, as your thinking pose shifted into your default one.

"Make sure to check the cameras around the time they were cleaning." He commanded, you bowed in return to confirm you will do as he says.

Spaceboy’s eyes widened at the revelation… What if…

"Where was Y/N last night? Why didn't she inform me about the footage?" He bombarded.

"I already told you! Ever since Five came back she's been stuck to his side." The rumor answered not catching onto Luther’s wavelength.

"But, it doesn't make sense, she had the time to check the footage whilst they were preparing the funeral, and didn’t Pogo and her switch shifts in monitoring the CCTVs?”

Suddenly, Allison went silent, as she began to piece the puzzles and see where Luther was coming from, now that he pointed that out, Y/N could be a possible suspect and lately, she has been avoiding the academy for days, ever since Five came back, she could be using him as her alibi. Which makes her even more suspicious but she highly doubts she has something to do with it murdering their father.

After all, it is a well known fact that the servant has always been neutral, that’s why she is given a number that is neither a prime nor an odd number. It would be rare of her to step out of line. Plus, she only does what needs to be done, she wouldn’t do anything if it wasn’t under someone’s orders.

ㅤㅤㅤ❲ T H E ☕ S E R V A N T ❳

It was silent as the duo- trio rather, headed to Five’s room. Five’s head was flooded with ways on how he should retrieve the information to stop the apocalypse with Delores’ assistance. While Y/N’s head was filled with questions for Five, you wanted to ask him questions about the masked people and the people who tried to shoot them down at the doughnut shop but it didn’t feel like the right time to do so.

If only Five was open with you as he was to Vanya then you wouldn’t be reluctant to ask him questions… The only good thing that came out of this was that he trusted you enough to keep you around which made it easier to monitor him.

Once the three entered his room, you placed Delores on a nearby chair as Five stumbled his way to the bed. He fell face first onto the pillow; It sounded like a fart but you had to keep your lips pressed into a thin line or he’d bark at you. To distract yourself from laughing, you glanced at the mannequin, expecting it to do something. Alas, it did nothing but look into where it was painted to look at.

"It might be of use later…” You told yourself but you highly doubted it would be more useful than you.

The servant sighed then turned her gaze towards the boy. “Master Five, let me patch you up.”

“No, I can deal with this myself, I’ll just sleep it off.” He shrugged you off.

Unfortunately for him, you were determined, the look on your face supported that notion. “I’m afraid I won’t allow that. Your wound might get infected if you neglect it. Plus, seeing as you are hell bent on avoiding others, I am the only one who you can order around who wouldn’t try to look over your shoulder.”

Five’s thin lips were ready to bare the teeth that were hidden underneath his lips but his mind intervened before he could do so. You had a point, even though you were unexpectedly dragged into this, you could be of use to him -

"Hey, you know, I've just now realized why you're so uptight. You must be horny as hell!" He laughed then added, "All those years by yourself. It's gonna screw with your head being alone."

"If you want to let the stress out, why not ask Y/N for help?"

"Y/N seems like she'd be good in bed, if you're the type to have a corruption kink and all. I wouldn't be surprised if you have one because you seem the type-" Klaus snapped his finger, "And, andd~! She wouldn't get arrested for dating you."

Warmth creeped onto Five’s cheeks as he recalled Klaus’ words from earlier. He was lucky that his face fell first, you wouldn’t be able to see how much you - correction, how much Klaus’ words affected him. In case his ears were reddening as well, he decided to bury his face further into the pillow to hide it but it was a poor attempt on his part.

“Do whatever you want.” His words were muffled by the pillow.

“What?” You asked, unable to hear his words.

The brown haired boy sat up and glared at your direction, which made you regret your words. “Do whatever you want but don't even think of watching me sleep.”

You nodded then, left his room to go get the first aid kit from the infirmary. Which made the boy sigh in relief then returned to lying on the bed but, this time he made sure to avoid lying on his injured side. As he stared into space, he began to silently plan out how he would get more information only to be disturbed by his beloved, Delores.

“Others would take a rest the moment their body hits the mattress yet, here you are letting your thoughts consume you rather than exhaustion.” Delores mused as she laughed at Five's situation.

“I assumed you would be grateful that I took the time to take you out for a stroll. That was no easy task.” The boy retorted, he knew she was going to piss him off for fun, she’s always been like that since they got together.

“Yeah I am grateful but, I would rather get to know my in-laws than be stuck in this room all day.” The mannequin teased with a knowing smirk, she knew Five was easy to play with when he's needy for someone's attention.

“Getting tired of me already? I thought you loved me.” The brown haired boy joked with a grin on his face. It was a rare sight that only Delores got to witness more often than the others.

“I do love you but, I recall you numerous times telling me off that I shouldn’t disturb you when you’re at ‘work’.” She rebutted which made her beloved chuckle in response.

“Smartass.”

“Master Five is everything alright?” You tilted your head, confused by what you had just walked in. The brunette was talking to someone just earlier…

“Oh! Is she the one you mentioned that’s always stuck by Vanya’s side?” Delores was ecstatic to finally meet one of the people Five grew up with. Even though he wasn't fond of you, Delores grew to love you whenever you were brought up with Vanya. She thought you both had a cute dynamic.

The physically young man wordlessly nodded to Delores, which you mistook as him saying that everything was alright. Assuming that everything was alright, you were quick to settle down by his bed and prepared what you needed: bandages, a surgical needle, a synthetic suture, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a clean washcloth along with a small bowl of lukewarm water. Once prepared, you took care of his injured side. The room was silent as the boy let out small huffs and your breathing were the only thing audible but, Five was hearing other things besides your breathing.

"Sweetheart, why don't you introduce me to her? I'd love to get to know her. She seems like a nice girl." The mannequin requested.

The brunette could not tell if she was trying to press his buttons or not. They both knew perfectly well that Delores trying to interact with others would just cause confusion but, his beloved is quite a chatterbox. Five might as well play along, or she would make his ears bleed from constant pleading. The thought of doing so made him roll his eyes, which you caught.

Thinking you did something wrong, you raised a question. "Did I do something wrong, Master Five?"

"Nothing, Delores wants to get to know you." He reassured, as an imaginary grin on Delores’ face grew. If you were not so observant, he would have thrown a quick glare in the mannequin’s direction for her cheekiness.

The mannequin bursted out laughing which made the brown-haired male flustered. "AHAHAHA! We've been together for 31 years and I never knew you had this kink."

"Oh right!" The servant was weirded out by this. You knew that you had to play along if you didn’t want to be torn apart. "I didn't introduce myself. Hi Ms. Delores, I'm Y/N, also referred to as Number Zero."

"I won't lie, she is very adorable. I can see why you'd want to keep her around." Dolores added, a finger ghosting on her cheek that complimented that cheeky grin of hers.

"I'm not keeping her." He hissed at Dolores.

You didn't know what he meant by that so you ignored it, and decided to ask another question. "So uh, what did Ms. Delores say?"

"She said that you seem like someone she'd hang around." The boy lied through his teeth but the blush across his face said otherwise.

"That is a complete 180 from what I said Five~" The mannequin sang then giggled.

For a moment, the room went silent, you were busy with Five's wounds whilst the boy was busy keeping his eyes on the mannequin. Dolores watched from her chair, as though taunting the brunette. The silence was comfortable at first but then it began to grow awkward because it felt like you had to do something to fill in the silence.

Out of nowhere, you blurted out a stupid question. "So, Ms. Dolores, do you like cooking?"

The moment you were able to process what you just blurted out, you wanted to smash yourself into a bloody wall. How could you be so stupid? Who in their right mind would ask if a mannequin - a flammable object, mind you - if it loved to cook. Even if it did, how was it supposed to cook? It would make sense if you were asking a robot or an advanced mammal - actually, anything that is capable of mimicking human behavior - but, of all things you just had to ask, you asked a flammable object if it liked to cook!? You were on the verge of running away at this point and let Five deal with his injury.

"Is she serious?" Dolores asked, surprised by what she heard as well.

Five didn't know what to say to his beloved. Trying to look for confirmation of your sincerity, he turned to you and saw that you were covering your face out of embarrassment. It was kinda cute. Watching the usually blank-faced girl wear a different expression… it made you more human rather than a puppet that the other's usually claimed you to be.

To the other numbers (Five was no exception), the servant seemed inhumane, too perfect to be human, you were practically a doll. If we are talking about what kind of doll would describe you, then "barbie" would be a suitable description. A doll that every girl dreamed to be, a doll that was suitable for every job it came across.

However their assumption of you changed when they noticed the cracks you were trying to hide from them, like how you stiffened and forced yourself to smile despite the insults being hurled at you, how you did want to go against their father but decided against it because of hesitance, and how you try your best to not cry or scream whenever their father needed your blood or for experimentation.

You were just as messed up as them…

From that point on, they recognized that it didn't feel right to label you as a doll. Though it didn't diminish the fact that you acted like a puppet, how you wouldn't act unless someone pulled the strings, how you mimicked others to look natural, and how you spoke like it came out from a script instead of saying what you actually think or feel.

Though, Five supposes this is the reason why you were given the "Number 0", it is neither even or odd. A number that represents balance, you stood on neither side, you were just someone who’s responsible for neutralizing issues before things could escalate. Strangely enough, despite you trying to act normal, you were the one that stood out among the dysfunctional family, because of how mentally unaffected you were by the household. Even Vanya had difficulty expressing her anger for you in her memoir.

Whilst the two numbers were busy with their own thoughts, someone was watching the scenery before her, amused by the silence that settled within the room.

The mannequin internally laughed at what she was witnessing. She found it rather ironic that despite Five being blunt about his distaste for you, you kept chasing him and made sure if he was alright. It was even more hilarious that he was beginning to open up to you but his hostility is still present. He hated you, you disliked him yet, you both cared for each other in your own way.

Even though she didn't have a heart, she felt envious of you. To be able to hold Five, to be able to run after him, to be able to stop him from overworking. You had everything Dolores wanted. But, alas, those are merely musings of a soulless husk.

Although this was an unspoken truth, Five knew his beloved "Dolores" wasn't real, she was merely something that manifested out of thin air because he wanted to keep himself sane during the apocalypse. She even recalled that time when some people from the commission found out about Dolores' existence, and they judged Five's mental state for it, even though Five acted like it was nothing, She was worried for him. They both knew it was the truth but he refused to acknowledge the reality of her existence.

Putting aside her jealousy, the mannequin was glad that despite all the weirdness Five carried, he found someone who did try to understand him. The thought of your open-mindedness and kindness warmed Dolores' non-existent heart.

"Thanks." Five broke the silence, his gaze elsewhere.

"Huh?" You tilted your head, not expecting his words.

"I know you heard me, don't make me say it twice or I'll give you a reason to be deaf." The brunette threatened, usually his threats would make you flinch but, this time it made you smile, not a forced one.

Your genuine smile went unnoticed but the tone of your voice didn't fail to express your sincerity. "You're welcome, Five."

The boy froze up as he realized you were calling him by his name again. He didn't know whether to call you out on it or just let it go… In the end, he failed to notice you had already left his side.

"I didn't think you'd warm up to her considering you told me how much you disliked her." The mannequin teased a knowing look on her face.

The brunette merely rolled his eyes at her then laid down on the bed, avoiding to ruin the stitches you made. "She's one of the tolerable ones, I have no choice."

Dolores smiled to herself knowing that was a lie.

ㅤㅤㅤ❲ T H E ☕ S E R V A N T ❳

The next day, both the boy and the girl exited the house through the fire exit, with Dolores carefully placed into the duffle bag along with alcohol. The seance noticed you guys sneaking out and tried to join in but Five declined his offer. As Klaus was busy whining about how much he loved his 'little brother', you managed to hijack a nearby van and let Five drive to his desired location while you sat at the back with Dolores.

The brunette parked the van in front of the prosthetics building, watching people come and go while he fiddled with the glass eyeball in his hand. He mindlessly watched as a woman walked past the stolen van whilst a group of children played ball.

Seeing normalcy made Five sigh, he was envious of those people. People who lived a normal life had it better than him. He could not stop the feeling of envy creeping up on him. After all, they didn't have to worry about putting their lives on the line for others. Unlike them, the boy grew up in a dysfunctional household and got thrusted into the apocalypse at a young age. He was forced to grow up early and prioritize his life over others, which went against the old man's teachings.

As Five was busy with his own demons, he didn't notice you had let in uninvited guests.

You were bored out of your mind, and began to look out the window in hopes of finding something interesting, until you saw a familiar lanky figure heading towards the van. It was Klaus heading towards the van with Luther in tow, you opened the back door and waved at them to come in.

The lanky man skipped his way to the backdoor and began conversing with Dolores. As you tried your best to stop him from harassing it - because you had a feeling Five would rip him to pieces.

"I didn't think I would find a beauty like you in here." The seance whispered into Dolores' ear.

"Master Klaus you shouldn't-"

"Shh shh, let her speak." He said as he caressed the mannequin's cheek, even though it didn't say a word, Klaus giggled and started cradling Dolores in his arms.

"Does everyone in the Hargreeves family like talking to non-living things or something?" You questioned yourself as you bit the inside of your cheek.

At the front of the truck, it seemed like Luther was planning to sit in the passenger seat but it was locked. You unlocked the door for him since Five was unresponsive. You silently watched as the larger male struggled to enter the van due to his frame.

Suddenly, the brunette in the driver's seat screamed.

“No!” Five's scream caught you and Spaceboy's attention, you hurriedly went to his side and rubbed the small of his back.

“Five.” You murmured not wanting to overwhelm him with loud sounds.

“Five!” Luther called out, the volume of his voice made you flinch and cover the ear he screamed at.

“Hey Five!” The male shouted once again yet, it wasn't effective.

“NO!” The younger male screamed as he grabbed onto his hair whilst his eyes widened in fear, his breathing becoming ragged.

“Five!” You shook Five awake as the larger male shouted his brother's name like a mantra, trying to bring back the boy into reality.

When the brunette finally calmed down, you continued rubbing his back, concern etched into your features. “Are you alright, Master Five?”

He disregarded your words as he began to process the uninvited guest that sat on the passenger seat, "You shouldn’t be… How did you find me?”

“Um…” Space boy gestured to Klaus, who sat at the back of the van, cradling Five's beloved in his arms.

The seance murmured, “Hey baby…”

Once the lanky man noticed everyone's eyes were on him, he shooed away their lingering gazes. “Hey, a little privacy, guys. We’re really hitting it off back here.”

Out of irritation, the boy throws the nearest object at Klaus. The lanky man screamed and used the mannequin as a shield, in an attempt to protect himself. Luckily, you caught the object before Klaus got injured and threw Five a side eye, which made him roll his eyes.

“Get out! You can’t be here! I’m in the middle of something." The physically younger male hissed at his barely sober brother.

The seance dismissed his threat and approached his brothers who sat at the front of the van. “Any luck finding out your one-eyed man?”

“No.” Five whispered, internally groaning at the fact he even trusted his idiot of a brother with the secret of the apocalypse.

“What’s he talking about?” Luther brought up with a raised brow.

“Does it matter? It’s Klaus.” The boy quickly shot down.

At first, Klaus looked hurt but, he redirected his gaze to the larger male as though silently asking Luther to defend him but, nothing came out of Spaceboy's mouth. Defeated, the seance breathed through his nose and acted as though he wasn't hurt. Out of pity, you rubbed his back.

The small brunette sighed, “What do you want, Luther?”

“So…” Dirty blond male cautiously glanced at you, “So, Grace may have something to do with Dad’s death.” He paused and glanced at you again trying to read if you have a reaction. “I need you to come back to the academy, all right? It’s important.”

"Is something on my face?" You asked yourself as you started to feel your face if there was a bloodstain you forgot to wipe away from Five's wounds.

“It’s important.” Five mocked his brother’s words then scoffed. “You have no concept of what’s important.”

“Hey!” Klaus interrupted, “Did I ever tell you guys about the time I waxed my ass with chocolate pudding?”

The lanky man laughed his stomach out, sadly, the others weren't laughing along with him. “It was so painful!”

Luther and Five grimaced at their brother's words, while you looked at the seance as though he had committed a sin. Despite everyone's obvious disgust, someone else - besides Klaus - managed to laugh because of his shenanigans, it was Five. You witnessed the boy turn his head then hid his giggle underneath his breath. It was oddly adorable.

“What are you still doing here?” The larger man scrunched up his brows, his gaze on Klaus.

“I- What? I need an excuse to hang out with my family?” Klaus placed a hand on his chest, offended by the other male's choice of words.

“We’re trying to have a serious conversation here.”

“What, and I’m incapable of being serious? Is that what you’re saying?”

At this point, you couldn't help but frown and feel bad for Klaus. No one in the family took him seriously just like how they treated Vanya. He acts as though he isn't bothered but, you know it hurts him, just as much as how the others treated Vanya differently.

“Luther’s got a point, you should get out.” Five added.

“What?!"

Reluctantly, the lanky man crawls out of the van murmuring how it was unfair. Once he got out of the van, he screamed “FINE!” then slammed the door closed.

"I- I should go after Master Klaus…" You said quietly then followed Klaus to the convenience store. You had a feeling he'd cause trouble and it would be best someone would be there to prevent it.

Once you and Klaus left, the atmosphere in the van became tense. The unspoken rivalry, rather, the one sided rivalry between Luther and Five was becoming more evident to the naked eye. Since you left, Luther felt like he could finally bring up his suspicion of you to Five.

“What the hell are you up to?” Luther questioned whilst he observed the seance and the servant head to the convenience store together.

“You wouldn’t understand.” The younger male stated, his eyes narrowing at the prosthetics building across them.

“Try me. Last I checked, I’m still the leader of this family.”

“Well, last I checked. I’m 18 years older than you.”

The larger man inhaled deeply then turned to his 'younger' brother. “You know what your problem is?”

“Really hoping you’ll tell me.” Five sarcastically remarked, his hazel eyes never leaving the building across the van.

“You think you’re better than us. You always have. Even when we were kids. But the truth is, you’re just as messed up as the rest of us. We’re all you have and you know it.”

The brunette lets out a dejected sigh. “I don’t think I’m better than you, Number One. I know I am.”

Spaceboy chuckled at his words, Five just proved his point.

“I’ve done unimaginable things, things you couldn’t even comprehend.” the boy pointed out as his grip on the steering wheel tightened but it came off as an exaggeration to Luther, “Right…”

“Just to get back here and save you all.” Five added.

Unexpectedly, the convenience store from across the street was experiencing a commotion, catching the passersby's attention along with Five and Luther's. Out came Klaus carrying a huge amount of food in his arms followed by the security guard screaming for him to halt.

“Whoa!” The seance runs with the food he shoplifted as the security ran after him.

One of the security guards screamed with a baton in hand. “Stop!”

“Hey! Stop right now!”

The lanky man waves at the van, some of the food he stole fell behind. Due to his carelessness, he almost gets run over by a taxi, luckily it stopped halfway, though he managed to narrowly dodge the vehicle.

As for you, you were held back at the convenience store as you paid for the food your master shoplifted. You internally grumbled about regretting ever feeling pity for him and how you should have known he would have pulled a stunt like this.

After that whole fiasco, Luther was about to leave the van until he remembered something he had been planning to tell Five once you weren't around.

"Since you don't plan on showing up to the family meeting, I'll give you a heads up, Y/N might have something to do with dad's death." Luther said, his back against the boy.

Five's eyes widened and his grip on the steering wheel tightened as the puzzles in his head began to fall into pieces. "You have nothing to worry about. I've dealt with people like her."

ㅤㅤㅤ❲ T H E ☕ S E R V A N T ❳

Luther and Allison gathered every family member in the living room, except Five since he was being stubborn. The monitor that he and Allison were playing with last night, currently sat on the bar, the video tape already in it. All he needed to do was play the footage…

The large male took in a deep breath then played it. The monitor replayed the night of the murder, Grace was taking care of the Monocle's needs, suddenly he started twitching and fell on his back, amidst him experiencing a heart attack, Ms. Grace did nothing but look down at him instead of doing what she was programmed to do.

The whole room went silent, Luther observed the other's reactions and noticed that only Vanya and Klaus were mortified. Number one expected that he and Allison were the only ones who wouldn't be surprised but you and Diego didn't seem surprised by the footage. Diego seemed a little too satisfied whilst you looked away from the monitor.

The dirty blond male narrowed his brows, "Suspicious."

“I mean, do you really think that mom would hurt Dad?”, Vanya broke the silence.

“You haven’t been home in a long time, Vanya. Maybe you don’t know Grace anymore.”

“If he was poisoned, it would have shown up in the coroner’s report.” Diego remarked with a matter of factly tone.

“Well, I don’t need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes.”

“Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your head.” The lad in black leather approached the monitor and replayed the footage. “Dad has his monocle. Grace stands up. Monocle’s gone.”

Klaus laughed, “Oh, yeah!”

The Latino turns his back, “She wasn’t poisoning him. She was… taking the monocle, to clean it.”

“Then where is it?”

Everyone went silent not having an answer to that question. You, even as an accomplice, didn't even know where it was. You were pretty sure disposing of the monocle was not part of the plan…

“No, I’ve searched the whole house, including her things. She doesn’t have it.”

The kraken looked down as he took out his knife and fidgeted with it, till his eyes met Luther's. “That’s because I took it from her. After the funeral.”

“You’ve had the monocle this whole time? What the hell, Diego!” Allison exclaimed.

“Give it to me.” Luther commanded, taking a few strides towards Diego, his hand out awaiting for the monocle to be returned.

“I threw it away.”

The rumor scoffed at her brother's admission.

“You what? ” Number one’s voice boomed.

“Look, I knew that if you found it on Mom, you’d lose your shit. Just like you are doing right now.” The latino menacingly pointed at Spaceboy's direction with the pointed edge of his dagger.

“Diego, you son of a bitch.” Luther walks over to Number two but Vanya interrupts him before another fight starts, you mirror her actions as well and walk in front of Diego to prevent him from doing anything reckless.

“Hey. no. calm down.” Vanya said, “Look, I know dad wasn’t exactly an open book. But, I do remember one thing. He said Mom was, well, designed to be a caretaker but also as a protector.”

“Well, if her hardware is degrading, then… We need to turn her off.”

"Oh no." You thought. This was definitely not part of Mr. Hargreeves' plan.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. She’s not just a vacuum you can throw into a closet. She feels things, I’ve seen it.” The kraken angrily said as his glare hardened, along with the finger pointing becoming more abundant.

“She stood there, and watched our father die.” The dirty blond male pointed out as he gestured to the footage.

“I’m with Luther.”

“Surprise, surprise.” Diego sarcastically retorted.

“Shut up.” The rumor barked back.

Suddenly, the whole room looked at Vanya, expecting an answer out of her. “I- I don't-”

"Yeah, she shouldn't get a vote." Diego interrupted her before she could decide but Vanya snapped back at him. "I was gonna say that I agree with you."

"Okay. She should get a vote."

The Latino turned to Klaus, "What about you, stoner boy? What are you thinking?"

"Oh, so, what? Do you need my help now? Oh 'Get out of the van, Klaus!', 'Well, welcome back to the van.' -

"What van?" The woman in curls interjected, not following through with this whole van thing. Fortunately for her, she wasn't alone as Vanya didn't know what the van metaphor was for.

The large male released a sigh and changed the topic, "What's it gonna be Klaus?"

“I’m with Diego because screw you Luther! And if Ben were here, he'd agree with me." The lanky man replied while looking Luther in the eye, as though to intimidate him.

"So, that's three to two."

"Vote's not final yet." The actress stated which caused the whole room to raise eyebrows.

"What?"

"Five's not here." She pointed out. You could hear everyone - except Luther who was silently thanking her - internally groan at her words. At this point, she was just stalling!

The lad in black leather scoffed and then argued, "You really think Five would show up to something as stupid as this?"

"Why don't we just let Y/N vote for him?" Klaus suggested as he pushed you forward like a sacrificial lamb.

"Master Klaus, I'm afraid I can't do that-"

"She doesn't have a say in this." You stiffened at Luther's words, "I don't like the sound of that."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? That she is not one of us? She is treated like an experiment and got traumatized because of that bastard! How is she any different from us?" Diego fought back on your steed, while you looked at him like he had grown another head.

"Because we-"

"Just you, Luther." Allison corrected, looking away from the scene before her.

"I think she might be an accomplice in Dad's death." The larger male finished her sentence which made the living room feel unwelcoming as dead silence followed.

The Latino scoffed then taunted the big man, "I'm surprised your mouth hasn't retired from carrying all that shit your ass couldn't handle."

"And here we go again." The rumor muttered under her breath.

Luther ignored his brother's taunts and began providing arguments, "During dad's funeral, Y/N was supposed to check on the footage and report to me if there was anything suspicious but she didn't inform me."

"That's because I was with Five, I'm supposed to be watching over him in case the effects of time traveling were kicking in." You hurriedly replied which unknowingly raised suspicion in Luther's eyes.

"Didn't you and Pogo switch shifts whilst monitoring the CCTVs?"

"Yes but, I didn't have time to check on the tapes-"

"You didn't have time yet the tape was conveniently placed on top of the cabinet." The dirty blond male pointed out, your eyes widened in fear because you didn't know how to defend yourself… You felt helpless.

You were well aware that you were not the one who placed the tape there, so it could have been Pogo. As much as you would love to defend yourself, you couldn't exactly speak out either since this would ruin the plan but you were itching to stand up for yourself. In the end, you sucked it up and didn't say a word.

"You even told me that I should 'broaden your scope, especially your list of suspects'. " Luther's eyes felt like lasers being burned through your skull.

You gulped, looking down at your feet as your tears were ready to cascade down your cheeks. You even regretted leaving those clues for him because you didn't think you would be put into this position, "I- I was… I was trying to cheer you up…"

"Is that the only excuse you can come up with?" Luther scoffed, he almost sounded like his father… It scares you.

"Vanya, please keep an eye on Y/N for now." The larger male ordered the petite woman.

Desperately, you walked up to him, "I know it looks bad but, Can I at least attempt to get Five back? His decision might help finalize what to do with Ms. Grace."

"His decision won't save you."

At this point, you were trembling. The ringing in your ears became louder, your mind zoning out until you felt a hand on your shoulder, you turned to see it was Klaus wearing a reassuring smile though it didn't do much.

"That's enough Luther, you're scaring her." Allison finally stepped in.

The violinist approached your side cautiously then gently whispered, "Y/N, I believe it's best you listen to Luther for now."

"For now, let's wait for Five to return. The whole family has to vote. We owe each other that." The rumor ended the discussion and everyone began to part their ways.

Once Vanya finished conversing with Diego about Ms. Grace, she - gently - took you by your wrist and headed to your room. You were so busy in your head that you didn't realize that Vanya was the one taking you to your room.

The violinist wore a concerned look on her face, "Hey, Y/N, you alright? You seem so out of it? It's very unusual for you… I'm assuming you are bothered by what Luther said? You looked like you were about to cry earlier."

"I'm not bothered, just worried about Five. I was supposed to be by his side but I ended up getting house arrest instead." You answered jokingly but you could not bring yourself to fake a smile.

Vanya laughed, not noticing that your energy didn't match your tone. "If it helps, I don't think you would kill dad."

"You wouldn't know that…" You wanted to say that but kept it to yourself.

"So don't beat yourself up over this, if you're innocent you have nothing to lose."

You briefly replied with a fake smile, "Yeah. Thanks."

The petite brunette noticed the brief reply but shrugged it off then changed topics. "So, I've heard from the others that you and Five have been hanging out, is that true?"

You nodded.

"I didn't think he'd open up to you… with how he openly hates you and all- Not saying that it's a bad thing that you guys are getting along now! It's just… unexpected is all."

You relaxed for a bit and chuckled. You knew for a fact neither of you guys were getting along. At most, you guys were just tolerating each other because you all saw how you guys benefited from each other.

"That's one way of putting it." You murmured.

You and Vanya arrived in your room and sat on your bed. In sync, you guys laid down on your backs and stared at the ceiling above you guys.

"So how's Five doing?" The brunette questioned, probably worried about his mental state considering what happened the day before… or was it earlier?

"Well, from what I can tell, he's getting used to people…" you answered, trying to evade the topic of the apocalypse when answering her question.

Vanya exhaled through her nostrils, "I really should have insisted for him to get help."

"I understand your concern Miss Vanya but, you can't help someone who doesn't recognize they need help. You would only be wasting your energy."

"I'm sorry," She murmured, a habit of hers that she never got over.

You smiled then added, "You have nothing to be sorry about, you're just doing what you think is right."

"Y/N can I ask you something?"

You nodded giving her the go signal.

"Why would you try to comfort Luther by advising him to look into other people as well?"

You froze up. You couldn't lie to Vanya, something was telling you that you couldn't go against someone's orders. "I can't-"

Unexpectedly, a myriad of gunshots were coming from the hallway.

"Hide!" You shouted, before Vanya could protest, you urgently hid her in your closet as you hid under the bed.

Once the sound of gunshots and blades clanking simmered down, you got out of your hiding spot and readied your retractable bo staff. Vanya got out of the closet as well once she heard you got out of your hiding spot.

"Miss Vanya, I will be heading out to assist the others," You grabbed a ballistic shield you have been hiding behind the closet, "I'll be giving you this ballistic shield for your protection. Please don't make any sound."

"Wait, Y/N you shouldn't-" Number seven grabbed your wrist in an attempt to stop you but the determined look on your face made her grip loosen.

"I have to Miss Vanya, I'm sorry. It's my responsibility to protect you- I mean, protect the academy. I can't just stand by and watch them throw away their lives like that."

Vanya was left speechless with your words. You did not outright say anything about her being ordinary or not having powers but, it felt like the term "responsibility" became synonymous with the word “power”. It made her think that she didn't have the power to protect others nor herself, that's why other people had to get themselves hurt to protect her.

"Remember, do not open the door for anyone even if you know it's someone you think you can trust; We don't know what the intruder is capable of, so trust no one. I will let you know if the coast is clear so keep a lookout for my messages." You told her then left your room, unknowingly leaving Vanya to her thoughts.

You cautiously surveyed the hallway, you held the bo staff's body with high alert including your other senses actively looking for the intruders that entered the academy. When you reached the stairs, you witnessed Diego and Allison simultaneously attacking a familiar pink masked person. You were about to jump into the action until you heard Vanya's voice from the living room.

ㅤㅤㅤ❲ T H E ☕ S E R V A N T ❳

"Hello?" Vanya went down the stairs, worry in her voice and facial features.

"Guys? Is everyone okay?"

"Hello? Guys?" She entered the living room unaware of the danger emanating from the lounge.

Once the violinist entered the room she tried to look for any signs of life but only saw the result of the fight, which was gun residue and bullet casings littering the area. As she was about to leave and investigate the other rooms, she heard chains rattling behind her.

The petite woman turned and was met with the intruder who wore a blue cartoony mask, who was wielding a morning star. He swung it towards Vanya but she ducked just in time. As he was about to hit her with his arm, a two-pronged spear stopped him midway, which created a distance between Vanya and the intruder.

The spear was a surprise to everyone in the living room except you, they turned their gaze and met your hues. Once the masked man's attention was set on you, Vanya quickly hid not wanting to be a liability.

"If you're looking for someone to fight, at least pick someone who can fight." You taunted the larger man.

With ease, you jumped from the second floor then dash towards the masked man, using the momentum you've picked up, you raised your foot and pushed kick his torso away. The impact made him stumble backwards and pause as he tried to gather his footing.

The spear that you threw at him earlier is now in your hands, you pressed the button that would retract the prongs and swung it towards the mask - his head was your main target - which made him stagger back again.

"This brat is too quick, I should've left her with Cha cha." Hazel grumbled to himself.

Despite the obvious large distance, you cautiously took a few steps backwards and used the staff as a boundary. An open hand supporting the head of the bo staff whilst a closed fist on the butt of the staff holding onto it with a strong grip.

Seeing as the double attack to his head was making him fall behind, you quickly withdrew from your defensive stance then, taunted the masked man by spinning your bo staff. Once he regained his footing, he swung the ball of spikes onto the body of the staff, so it would fall apart.

However, you decided to take a gamble and retract it. You dashed forward to tackle him but, due to the frame and weight differences, your attack didn't affect him. Unknown to him, this was all part of your plan, this was the distance you needed for your next move. You made the staff face upwards then unretracted it which propelled his chin thus leading him to fall backwards.

By now he was outside the living room, you were out of breath and so the masked man. Your main objective was achieved, Vanya wasn't within his reach but, you were not sure if you could hold him off any longer.

"Hey, asshole." Luther greeted. Despite what he did to you earlier, you were thankful for his presence.

"Y/N go look for Pogo and Grace!"

You nodded and headed off to where you usually see Pogo and Grace. Once you have met up with the advanced chimpanzee you guided him to the basement and reassured him that everything was under control. You were planning to go out and look for Grace this time but, curiosity got the better of you.

"Did you hire those people?" You questioned as your grip on the retractable bo staff tightening.

"Master Hargreeves never hired an outside party to get involved… It must be someone who knows what he is planning, or people after his fortune." He replied but you were not satisfied with his answer, it was evident on your face.

You scoffed then exclaimed, "What the hell is he planning?! Vanya almost got killed out there!"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. Master Hargreeves made me swear to not speak of it, unless the truth is finally revealed to the whole academy."

You were livid but walked away from him with a huff, to go look for Ms. Grace. At this point, you have given up on trying to find out the truth. Even though you were one of the Monocle's loyal servants, he treated you like the other numbers and kept you in the dark despite his hesitancy to trust you, he gave you little to no information, so you would be left to figure it out yourself.

Once you received Vanya's text, you went out of the basement and surveyed the house if there were lingering intruders. Suddenly, you ran to where you heard the crash come from and saw a fallen chandelier along with the other numbers who looked like they were still processing what they witnessed.

"What happened?" You broke the silence, it seemed like they were hesitant to answer but Allison managed to speak. "A chandelier fell on Luther, please check on him."

You bowed to the rumor, as you were ready to leave Vanya, Allison and Diego to their own devices.

Suddenly, the violinist's question made you freeze, "Who were those people?"

You were well aware that the question was not directed towards you but, the instinct - a rumor - told you to answer her but, then you saw Diego narrowing his eyes at you, as though silently questioning why you haven't left. You tightened your lips into a line then silently went to the clinic to prep for Luther's wounds.

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[missmonsters2]

—LIBEROSIS | SIX

Pairing: Wednesday Addams x OFC/Fem!Reader

Summary: Right. Now things are going well and Wednesday should be basking in the vindication of it all. But now there's other things that keep her up at night and it's maddening. Wednesday used to never care and now she wished she cared a little less.

Warnings: Pining & Angst. Dramatic!Wednesday. Enid, is focused on her boat. Thing, is the GOAT. Xavier, just expects no peace.

Series Masterlist | Library Blog | AO3

Reminder there’s no taglist but you can follow my library blog for notifications 💘

Note: Wednesday: things are nice right now. I should create more problems :|

Part Five

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

Liberosis: Noun. The desire to care less about things—to loosen your grip on your life, to stop glancing behind you every few steps, afraid that someone will snatch it from you before you reach the end zone—rather to hold your life loosely and playfully, like a volleyball, keeping it in the air, with only quick fleeting interventions, bouncing freely in the hands of trusted friends, always in play.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷⋆⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

There's a certain bliss when things go well. It's like a well-thought-out plan that came to fruition, bearing the fruits of desired results. 

It always brings Wednesday acute satisfaction. 

She should be basking in all the glory and victory that her actions have brought her—to know that her suffering wasn't for nothing.

Yet, as Wednesday sits out near the lake under the shade of a willow tree while reading a book, she feels—discontentment. 

Winter has long passed, and Wednesday misses the weather.

The day was warm and sunny, with a slight soothing breeze—terrible. On top of that, everyone seemed to have gathered around the willow tree, trying to relax under the shade. She had Enid and Yoko on her left, yapping like chihuahuas. Xavier, Ajax, and Eugene sat a few feet in front of her, playing some kind of game. 

On her right, you sat a foot away, chatting with Bianca and her fellow sirens next to you. The conversation she'd be listening to hadn't been anything of interest, but Wednesday supposes that Bianca wouldn't spill her plans for the Poe Cup race with everyone else around. 

Every so often, Enid would lean over her, trying to say something to you, and it would make Wednesday stiffen uncomfortably. 

"Wednesday," Enid frustratedly sighs as she tries to lean over Wednesday to say something to you. "It'd be so much easier if you switched seats with me. You're just reading anyway! You can do that at the edge."

Enid starts to move to get up, but Wednesday turns her head and glares at her roommate. "If you so much as try to force me out of my optimal seating, I will dump all your nail polish over the balcony."

Enid gasped, hand to her heart dramatically as if it was the worst thing she could ever hear. 

"Really, Addams?" Bianca asked with a sardonic expression. "You've lost your touch on the threats."

Wednesday raises her brow at her rival. "Enid is unique and stupidly no longer fears my homicidal threats. I have to get creative with her to instill fear."

"What's so optimal about that seating anyway?" Enid grumbles, but Wednesday see's the blonde looking at you with a smirk.

"The shade," Wednesday answers briskly. "This is the only spot without a speck of sunlight getting through."

You suddenly laugh, grabbing everyone's attention. You look over to Enid and smile. "Why don't you and Yoko come and sit in front of me?"

"But I want to lean my back against something," Enid whines with a frown.

"If the boys move in front of you to play their game, I'm sure Ajax would be happy to let you lean against his back," you smirk while Ajax looks at his girlfriend happily and nods.

"But we're going to be in the sun," Xavier complains.

"Count yourself lucky," Wednesday looks at the artist, her face deadpan. "As much as I adore the aesthetic of ghosts, the complexion doesn't suit you."

"Fuck you," Xavier gives her the middle finger. "I don't want to hear this from someone who looks half-dead all the time."

"I've spent my free time in cold lockers," Wednesday looks back at her book. "What's your excuse?"

Xavier grumbles in reply, but the three boys get up to readjust so Enid can sit peacefully in front of you and resume her conversation. 

Wednesday relaxes more comfortably now that her left side is free. Wednesday was side-sitting, her knees both on one side, facing away from you as she held open her book in front of her face with one hand. Her other hand rests against the grass between the two of you.

Soon enough, the chatter resumes and becomes static noise to Wednesday, and when it does, she stiffens. You've placed your left hand down against the grass, and the very tip of your middle finger brushed against Wednesday's. 

You're talking animatedly with Bianca and Enid, and no one else seems to notice Wednesday's inelegance. It seems no one is paying attention to her at all anymore. 

After a few moments, Wednesday swallows. She looks carefully at those around her, ensuring they're all lost in their own conversations. There's something that she particularly wants, and she should simply do it. 

After all, she's gone through enough emotional suffering because of you, and the last few months have shown her that she's evolved enough to hunt down the desires she didn't think she'd ever have. 

Yet, fully moving her hand to grasp yours seemed more difficult than solving murder mysteries. 

Wednesday shifts, hinting at you what she wants. 

Nothing changes as you're too lost in your conversation with Enid. 

Wednesday purses her lip in annoyance. Perhaps it was a mistake to have Enid move in front of you.

Wednesday shifts again, the tip of her middle finger brushing against yours more intentionally. The hint was very obstinately clear now. Or, it should've been.

You don't budge.

A thought drifts through Wednesday's mind. She has lamented over you, suffered because of you, chased after you. The least you could do is take her fucking hint. 

Just grab it, Wednesday tells herself. Grab it and crush it—

You shift, sitting straighter, and move your hand to fan yourself from the warm weather.

Wednesday doesn't know why you'd ever think she's enticed by the sun.

She detests the sun and its warmth.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

Wednesday sits at the pond's edge, staring out into its vast, clear reflection. Little fireflies hover near the surface, dancing their way back and forth. Her face is strained, her eyebrows furrowed in their natural way, and her lips pressed in a line. 

"Oh, you're here."

Wednesday turns around and sees you entering from behind a tree. She nods in acknowledgment. "Of course," she plainly replies and then demands, "why are you late?" 

You smile at her, and it both irritates Wednesday and delights her. 

"Henry wanted to show me his mindscape," you reveal. "He's been excited about it all week, so I thought I'd go see it now rather than during my free period. The verdict is that he might need some work because precisely nothing changed or happened."

You sit next to her, grinning at her blank face before you fall onto your back, staring at the moon. 

"Why not during your free period?" Wednesday asks as she kicks the side of your shoe, signaling to turn onto your back. You turn over with a puff of breath, focusing on your wings to come out and unfurl. 

Wednesday watches in interest as she always does. She anticipates when they'll fully heal, and she'll get them to see them fully stretch. She feels titillation at the thought of them spanning wide enough to block out the sun. 

It occurred to Wednesday then that one; she was looking forward to something that seemed so…frivolous and, frankly, embarrassing. Second, Wednesday believed that your presence in her life would be a more permanent fixture. 

The image of her mother pops up in her head, and she feels unwell. 

"Well," you drag her out of her thoughts. "You have fencing at that time, right? I thought I'd come watch your match against Xavier."

Wednesday is initially silent, feeling something stir in her stomach at your words. She applies the salve leisurely and thinks about how it doesn't matter how fast or slow she administers it because you won't be running off anywhere after. 

"It won't be anything special," Wednesday monotones. "Xavier will pathetically lose after seven and a half minutes."

You laugh. "Well, I'll enjoy the seven and half minutes of it then." You hum, your wings trill as Wednesday ruffles some of them to apply the salve. "Tickles," you mumble, and Wednesday feels the comfort of it. 

Soon enough, Wednesday finishes, and you turn around and sit back up.

"Anyway," you interject and smirk. "Since you'll only be fencing for about seven and a half minutes, why don't you play hooky with me?"

"And do what exactly?" Wednesday asks flatly with her brow raised.

"Hm," you hum, tilting your head. "I wanted to see the Jericho town but Larissa won't let me leave the school grounds for the next couple of weeks."

"Oh?" Wednesday raises her brow in intrigue but then follows up with, "You call Principal Weems by her first name?"

You nod. "I mean, yeah, in private only since she said it was okay. I guess it's weird to call your guardian Principal Weems after hours."

"On the contrary," Wednesday tilts her chin to the side. "I believe we should refer to our birthmakers by their name to establish distance."

You roll your eyes at Wednesday, trying to hide your smile. 

"Why is she trying to keep you locked in this penitentiary?" Wednesday asks.

"Jericho grows these flowers—draeconiums. They're usually harmless and have a short bloom lifecycle," you tell her. "But I believe this year they bloomed under an eclipse."

Wednesday recalled the eclipse last week. Enid had been so excited about it and made plans with everyone to watch it. 

It was boring.

"Anyway," you continue on. "If that happens, draeconiums produce a certain sap in its stem that's very, very poisonous to faeries. It's the only thing that can cut a faerie's wings off."

"Poisonous sap?" Wednesday's brows furrow.

You nod with a hum. "The sap hardens and it's harder than any metal to exist."

Wednesday processes the words. "Interesting."

You laugh. "Don't tell me you thought just anything could cut off my wings."

Wednesday's silent. 

"If wings that could grant wishes could be cut off that easily, I think my kind would've gone extinct long ago," you chuckle. 

Wednesday's not really thinking about that (although she was under that impression). She's thinking about how hard this sap would be to come by and probably how faeries would make it their business to find any draeconium saps to keep the outside world from having it. 

And she thinks of your mother and burns. 

"So, I don't think I'll be stepping out of the academy anytime soon until the draeconiums wilt and the sap isn't potent anymore."

Wednesday looks at you and nods. It would be prudent to keep you away from things that could end your existence. 

"I wonder what we could do," you muse and then shrug. "I guess we can just hang out."

It was something in the way you say it that formed a knot in Wednesday's stomach. "You sound bored," she keeps her tone flat. "Do you grow tired of my presence already?"

"If I was then I suppose I'm a masochist for inviting you to play hooky with me," you look amused. "We don't have to do anything special to enjoy our time. Why would you think that?"

"I told you I wasn't dating material."

You raise your brow at her. "We're not dating."

You continue speaking about different things, and Wednesday just sits there silently, letting you ramble on.

But later that night, she lies awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling with her arms folded over her chest, restless. 

Of course, there was no basking in the glory and her victory of chasing you. She had caught you, and now she didn't know what to do with you. 

Grow closer and become more like her mother, or distance herself and—

Wednesday couldn't even finish that thought.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

Your eyes narrowed on Wednesday's form. 

You should be angry, considering how Wednesday seemed to be distant lately. She still spent all her time with you, but it was like her mind was someplace else.

Even now, Wednesday was staring out the balcony with a larger frown than usual. 

But you're not angry, especially since you've had your fair share of avoidance with her. You suppose you're lucky Wednesday still lingered around even if her mind was elsewhere.

"Wednesday," you call softly. She looked at you, her face blank and unrevealing. 

"What's wrong?"

"There's nothing wrong," Wednesday answers, and it's terse, and it's biting you to warn you to stop asking questions.

You shuffle closer and watch as Wednesday tenses, leaning away from you. You'd thought it would hurt your feelings, but you see something past the discomfort in her eyes, and it makes you push forward.

"Wednesday," you repeat. "You can tell me what's wrong." The way you say it is soft and unassuming, and it offers security instead of pressure.

Wednesday reluctantly shares what's on her mind at your probing. It takes her a few minutes, but eventually, she opens her mouth.

"Despite achieving the results I wanted when it came to you, I worry about the fact that I become more and more like my mother every day. It's disgusting."

It was so unexpected that you bit your tongue to refrain from laughing. You're pretty sure that though Wednesday more than tolerates you, she would still kill you.

You try to come up with something to say, but you can't help but tease her.

"You worry a lot for someone who has yet to go on a date with me."

Wednesday glares, and you chuckle. You feel relaxed knowing what the issue is.

"What exactly do you worry about when it comes to being like your mother?"

"That I'll fall in love, be a housewife, or have a family."

"Well," you smile dryly. "I think we're okay on the biological family front unless some kind of a miracle happens with the reproductive system. Otherwise, I think you quite enjoy having a little bandwagon of misfits to call your chosen family."

Wednesday's jaw only locks tighter, but you continue on.

"Regarding being a housewife, do you really think the person you'll be with—me, in this hypothetical scenario—would expect you to be a housewife?" You raised your brow. "While I personally think there's nothing wrong with being one, I know that isn't you, and nor would I want you to be one if that's not what you want." 

You slowly reach out to grab her hand, smiling when Wednesday allows it. "I hope the person you choose to be with will work with you in building a home that you both take care of together. Although—once again—I, in this hypothetical scenario, can't cook and may burn everything to the ground, which I know you find arson thrilling, but I promise you it's not romantic in that situation."

Wednesday's lip twitches, and you smile wider knowingly. 

"As for falling in love," you sigh. "I'm not really sure what you want me to say, Wednesday."

The raven girl tenses up at your words, immediately frowning. You stroke her palm with your thumb, attempting to soothe her. 

"I struggle with it sometimes too," you admit. "I believe most psychologists would say every problem we have in our life can be led back to our childhood or our parents."

"But I think, at the bare minimum, we should get to choose how we love and what relationships we develop," you look into Wednesday's dark eyes. "Your parents seem like lovely people—" Wednesday scoffs—"but I don't quite think we'll ever behave like them."

You pull Wednesday to sit next to you on the ground, slumping and leaning your head against her shoulder. You link your arm through hers, and Wednesday finds it easy behind closed doors.

"You think too much, Wednesday. There's no rush, and we've made it this far, so we should take our time. I'm not going anywhere."

Wednesday relaxes, and you can feel it against your body. She feels a lull of peace settle over her as her mind settles. 

Still—

"And if after time passes, what shall you do if I decide to leave?"

You look at her seriously. "I will have no choice but to accept it, but not before pushing you down a flight of stairs of at least 20 steps and framing it on Bianca."

"Bianca?" Wednesday raises her brow at you.

"She'd be the most believable suspect," you tell her, smiling as you joke.

But it's probably the most romantic thing Wednesday has ever heard, and she looks at you with a soft gaze you've never witnessed before.

"Promise?"

PART 7

[sageistri]

I think a lot of the issues surrounding the MUSE vs Face, Who vs Like Crazy debate is that Armys/kpop stans like to use certain things to 'one up' other kpop artists and sometimes fans almost romanticise mental health issues in songs. (Yoongi's stans love to talk about the D-Day arc and how he freed himself from his mental health struggles.) They want Muse to have the same themes as Face. I mentioned to my sister once how that JK and Tae didn't write any of their own songs for their first albums. Being in the army echo chamber at the time, I thought this was some kind of trump card. My sister thought it was weird how that was something we idolised so much. She reminded me that so many successful and beloved artists don't always write their own songs. The magic is in how they make songs that have been given to them their own, making people think that only they could have sung that song. A key difference between Who and Seven is the way both pop songs were delivered. The difference in artistry is glaring. What's interesting is that both songs were written by the same person. In some reaction videos, professional musicians have recognised that only Jimin and a handful of artists could have done justice to Who because of the nature of the song. The Who MV has burning cars, flying cars and a tornado, but most reactors are so mesmerised by Jimin's dancing, vocal delivery and stage presence that those things are mentioned as a fleeting after thought. Noone is denying that the lyrics are simple, but this idea that songs can only be good if they have "depth". Just like it was revealed with SGMB, it's clear that PJMs become the most nasty when Jimin doesn't follow their script. Jimin may not have written the song but it's clear that he played a huge role in curating the sound and feel he wanted. The way some fans are acting like the song was pulled from the archives and just handed to Jimin at a discounted rate. I love when Jimin has credits but I can also appreciate how he has an ear for what sounds good. And what makes a great title track. That's a talent that shouldn't be underestimated.

I can't believe that people want you to justify why you like MUSE over FACE. You like it more because you just do. Music is subjective.

Funny how I just saw this ask. But honestly I don't think those asks were from pjms just like these people I replied to just now are not pjms, they sound like bitter armys to me or other members stans so I don't take them seriously (some words they use always gives it away). I'll humor you a couple times because we all know sage tries to be fair but after that it's a block. I blocked a lot of them in my asks after they got angry at my replies and showed that they are in fact not pjms so I was wasting my time from the jump.

But on the topic of credits, there's 7 songs on muse and jimin had credits on all but one. I don't think anyone's in any position to question him. Yes you don't have to be credited on every song and pjms never cared about this credit discourse before. Jk stans and kths were the ones who used this against jimin for years and pjms are just getting their lick back, I don't think it's that serious for them. Most people don't listen to a song and then go check the credits, not unless they're in the business of music in some way or a curious fan. Jk and tae claimed to be writing songs for years and their stans used that against jimin, so yes it's a given that pjms would want to do the same to them.

[clairedaring]

Okay, so the original post you wrote has been a while and I saw it by ghost-reading (this is when I read someone's blog without signing into Tumblr. I'm only signed in on a specific browser on my laptop to prevent mindless scrolling).

If I recall correctly, you mentioned being ready to protect a Thai actor because he's some BL actor but is married to a wife (or has a girlfriend). That reminded me of an incident my best friend told me while we were chatting.

She said there was this time when two pairs of BL actors (she coded them as Pair A + B, and Pai C +D since I don't know them and their names weren't the point) got massively flacked by fans because B kissed C on camera when the four friends were hanging out. Fans apparently saw it as a betrayal of the "BL pairing," even though all four of them were just vlogging their activities not as characters they play.

I wanna know more about this phenomenon out of curiosity!

Is it as common as my best friend put it? Or is she just unlucky enough to be caught in such a storm?

Why do fans think this way, when these are just actors and not the real characters? Is it similar to the issue of fans of Kpop, Jpop, or even Cpop artists who cannot accept their idols marrying or dating anyone?

What do the companies hiring or signing these actors do to mitigate such an issue/protect their actors?

Or... Do the companies cash in on this sort of fanatic fervor, such that they encourage fans to believe this illusion, or mandate their actors to uphold such an illusion even when they are being themselves outside of acting?

How does an incident like this usually get resolved?

What are the major stances of Thai BL fans on this issue? Not all of them support this sort of fervor, right?

Lastly: what do you think, personally, is central to this sort of incident?

Sorry if it sounds like some college assignment, but I really wanna know what you think! I'm so curious as an outsider to all of this...

Thanks!!!

Hiiiii Lyn \(￣︶￣*\))

You have no idea how happy I am to receive this ask because I've been wanting to talk about that couple incident that you're referring to since forever but I've never gotten the chance to properly collect my thoughts about it. Thank you for allowing this opportunity to ramble about this and for your very introspective questions.

So firstly to give some context to it, I think it's a bit more important to cover some background information of the two pairings that you're talking about.

OffGun and TayNew are some of the oldest pairings in GMMTV. They are known to all be good friends with each other (if not to say they're each other best friends). They've all done non-BL works with different actors but in terms of promotions, OffGun and TayNew have always been regarded to be the 'pillars' of GMMTV (their company) branded pairings.

Even though the four people are close with each other, Tay is particularly close with Gun (and this is public fact known by everyone who follows them), often teasingly calls each other pet/master and have some hangouts/vacations with just them two.

In the case of TayGun, I think their playful kiss being caught unexpectedly on livestream caused so much reactions was because it's a private moment between them. BL fans are too used with using private moments (re:clips of casual skinship between actors during work events and non-work livestream) to prove the existence of their closeness or togetherness -> so when New accidentally turned his camera to show Gun playfully kissing Tay during livestream, I think many (outraged) fans falsely equated that TayGun kissing in private like that means they're romantically involved to a certain degree.

Even though Tay has come out to explain that it isn't the case and that Gun was just playfully teasing him, there were still so much flacks thrown his way. Even with clarifications from both sides, you can basically see from the comments section of these Tiktoks (1, 2, 3, 4) that there is a considerable portion of OffGun and TayNew upset and disappointed (even though there is no reason to). I'll just translate some of the Vietnamese ones because those are the comments that show up first for me.

For those who follow [OffGun], you'll already know that Gun has been avoiding skinship from Off since 2022, fans used to think that he was shy but now we get it 🥲

10 years is just a number =)))))) (t/n: OP is insinuating that OffGun has been fooling their fans for 10 years)

What kind of 'friends' kiss each other on the lips?!

Now I can't watch OffGun series anymore 😇 Can they please give us a TayGun series 😌

Have I been blind all this time because how can everything has been so clear yet I still don't know it 🥲🥲🥲

Is it as common as my best friend put it? Or is she just unlucky enough to be caught in such a storm?

I think it's both common and not. So 'common' is in the sense that whenever one half of a branded pairing or 'koojin' is close and intimate with another person or displaying any possibilities of them being involved with said person in real life, it always trigger these reactions from shipper fans to immediately deny that possibilities or to attack the actors in the branded pairing as if they have 'deceived' their fans.

This has infinitely lessened in recent years with actors actively taking a stance against their fans harrassing their colleagues over ships but in general we still see it now and then with popular/rising/active ships or inactive ships but with astronomically huge fandoms (see: reactions of brightwin fans to bright's dating news).

I'm also saying it's uncommon for 'two halfs of two different popular BL pairings to get rumored to be together' but in 2024, it has already happened twice so who knows what's real really 😅 Aside from the case of TayNew/OffGun, there's also the case of actors Mew and Tul (who were both parts of ships with HUGE fandoms MaxTul and MewGulf) confirming their in real life relationship but their news was more well received internationally as neither of their old ships have been active in having series together for a while (i still see flacks for both of them here and there but that's because i'm vietnamese and vietnamese negative reactions are always the ones i see first to any dating news of one half of a BL pairing).

Why do fans think this way, when these are just actors and not the real characters? Is it similar to the issue of fans of Kpop, Jpop, or even Cpop artists who cannot accept their idols marrying or dating anyone?

I think there are several reasons like actors and companies contributing to the delusions of shipper fans and fans not being able to separate real life actors from the characters they play on screen, which have been extensively discussed in these Reddit threads (1, 2) so I won't delve into them. I'll just focus on a common reason i've seen from vietnamese fans being the combination of emotional and financial investment in these ships.

Similar to Kpop, Jpop or even Cpop idols as you've mentioned, there's a large degree of parasocial relationship involved between a CP/idol and their fans. Rather than the Kpop idol feeding fans the delusion of them being an attractive yet attainable, relatable, single person, these 'koojins' offer CP fans the image of a beautiful friendship/'will they/won't they'/'ambiguous more than friends, less than lovers' relationship -> so once there is a strong emotional attachment to the actors who are part of a pairing, fans will inevitably have strong feelings about their romantic life aka whether the CP is really together or not.

Even though branded pairings or 'love teams' have been an age old phenomenon since the dawn of television (not just in Southeast Asia but in Hollywood as well), I think this phenomenon has flourished particularly in Southeast Asia with many successful stories of actors having on-screen to off-screen real life romances (see: KathNiel in the Philippines, NadechYaya in Thailand...)

What do the companies hiring or signing these actors do to mitigate such an issue/protect their actors? and How does an incident like this usually get resolved?

I think one of the most interesting things about Thailand entertainment industry is that it's so easy for celebrities to sue people for online defamation. So rather than making any statements to 'save' their branded pairings or to resolve any confusion, the company doesn't do anything (which I understand because the artists are already clarifying themselves to the nosy press about any 'possible scandals that happened'). In the case that online commenters are getting too toxic, the artists can just screenshot the toxic tweets/posts, send them to the company's legal department and those defamation cases get resolved by the police.

But even then, that hasn't really stopped fandoms that are too large in size, too delusional in mind to do the crazy things they do even after a branded pairing has stopped working together, such as showing up at the fanmeeting of one actor, wearing masks of the other actor in that inactive ship. In this case, the company can't do anything since... well those people paid to attend the fanmeeting and get a photo with their idol. The most a company could do is probably to 'officially announce the ending of the ship' but... their comments section are still full of obsessed fans til this day so i doubt that announcement made any difference to the fully obsessed and delusional cp fans.

Or... Do the companies cash in on this sort of fanatic fervor, such that they encourage fans to believe this illusion, or mandate their actors to uphold such an illusion even when they are being themselves outside of acting?

Companies have always generated as much revenue from brand endorsement, brand promotions fanmeetings, concerts, selling merchs of these pairisings as they do from producing and airing these series if not more, so I've also felt a sense of these companies capitalizing upon their branded pairings and the volatileness of delusional fans.

If you're interested here and here are two interviews with P'Tha, the CEO of GMMTV company which TayNew and OffGun are under, I think his sharings in these interviews are very insightful into how the companies view these branded pairings (the main source of income for these companies basically).

I wouldn't say that the companies mandate or force their actors to act a certain to create an illusion of an ambiguous/are they aren't they ship for any branded pairings, but i DO think that being in an environment where two people (who are part of a branded pairing) are constantly being shipped or teased by co-workers and sometimes even the ceo himself... that does make shipper fans more delusional than they normally would. it's like as if you were in a class and everyone around you start shipping two people or pushing two people to be together, you'd be questioning what the others know about those two that you don't... it's 'sus' as the cp fans will say 😂

What are the major stances of Thai BL fans on this issue? Not all of them support this sort of fervor, right?

I think there's all sorts of opinions that pops up whenever there's news of someone dating surfaces, there are no consensus on it because the feelings of the fans rely largely on how emotionally invested they are in the actors/real people. There are fans who will take the news harder (feeling tricked, deceived, all that jazz) and there are also fans who will feel like 'oh that's normal' or they would rejoice in the happiness of their favorite actor having an in real life parner. Also it's probably important to note that the stance of Thai BL fans do not necessarily align with the stance of general Thai audience, for example when Thai actor Bright revealed his girlfriend Nene, basically the entire Thai netizen is supportive of him whereas his previous branded pairing fans are divided between supporting him and feeling 'betrayed' by this reveal.

Lastly: what do you think, personally, is central to this sort of incident?

Personally, I think it's fans' expectations. Similar to what Monk Dol told Dear about not holding on to things too tightly, I think fans often hold on to the romantic stories portrayed on screen more strongly than they do with non-romantic stories. Therefore, the reality of an actor having a real life partner often dispels this illusion of a 'screen-to-life' romance stories that fans may have concocted in their mind for any pairings not limited to whether they are in queer love or straight love stories.

I feel like it's just much easier for fans of straight pairings to move on since they don't get paired repeatedly as leads together every 1-2 years and they often don't have couples' work (like promoting brands togethers...) long after the ending of their series together, contrasting with branded pairings in BL/GL series who still get brands work together after the ending of their series -> allowing their "ship" fanbase to grow and the fans to have even larger expectations of the actors to have future works together.

Again it might be a lot of me to ask that these dedicated fans not to have expectations (which may eventually lead to their own suffering) because logically these fans do pour in not just emotional investment but also like HUGE financial investment so having expectations are really inevitable ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ perhaps they should watch สาธุ and learn to let go of having any expectations for a ship or an idol which will benefit all parties involved 😅

Anyhow before I end this, please let me ramble and promote my beloved actor, JJ Krissanapoom whom you've mentioned first in your ask.

JJ Krissanapoom is a prolific Thai actor whose works I've followed really early on in my journey of Thai media consumation. He's starred in works of different genres and he's had queer love-adjacent projects before like Diary of Tootsies (with Paopetch aka Monk Ekkachai in สาธุ) and Great Men Academy (with James Teeradon aka Win in สาธุ).

But JJ has been in a highly publicized long term relationship with his girlfriend Thanaerng for seven years now, so I have no fears/worries about the reception of Thai fans to his upcoming queer love work Spare Me Your Mercy.

That being said, I'm still very worried about any negative reactions from delusional shippers because even if the actors have nothing to insinuate that they're together or even if they're both actors with in real life partners, the delusional fans always have the following comment templates to bash the drama/actors

I can't see the chemistry between the actors, probably because they both have girlfriends.

Why is the actor posting pictures with his girlfriend instead of promoting his own series?!!?

Why does the actor have an event with his girlfriend rather than an event with his co-star??!?!?!?

things like these... i'm already expecting.... and praying they won't happen... also if they do... i wouldn't be very surprised... and i'm actually very parasocially attached to jj and thanaerng's irl relationship so i feel like i'm even extra protective of their relationship than i already do.

and i'm definitely going off track here... but yes i'm very much looking forward to having jj krissanapoom on my screen again, in this BL series about a cop solving a series of murders of dying patients, to which his doctor boyfriend is the no.1 suspect of.

and here's a cute recent clip of all three people jaylerr, gun and tay to end my lengthy incoherent ramble

[kanmom51]

This needs to stop

I really contemplated if to put these words down, but I am so angry and disappointed and sad at this point that I felt I had to vent.

Disappointed. I think that's the key word for what I am feeling right now.

I understand that people are upset/angry/enraged by the shit that followed JM's release of his first solo album Face. I understand because I am enraged as well.

I have no doubt in my mind that he was wronged.

He succeeded beyond anyone's dreams and probably kind of ruined certain dreams some of these people had of their own.

But to take that anger and to turn it on the one person that supported and supports JM beyond any of us is infuriating to me.

Turning on JK?

Because of what? A shithead called Scooter Braun, who has his own personal agenda and history shows us has zero real interest or care in the actual artists he is pushing?

Do people forget who JK is?

Do they need a reminder course here?

I guess I will have to give them one.

JK is JM's favourite person in the whole world.

And a full masterlist to show it:

JK is JM's number 1 fan and showing it to us whenever he just can, with or without the company's permission.

JK is one of the most artistic and creative people there are.

Suga about JK

And maybe read what one of the stylists working on the Seven concept had to say about JK and the concept.

JK's concept. He came ready to the table. He knew what he wanted to show, what message he wanted to send.

He was given option, other concepts, other ideas, and he chose what he chose.

JK didn't steal JM's ideas. He didn't utilize them for the lack of coming up with original ideas of his own. Don't believe me, believe JK's talent, his artistry.

JK CHOSE this. This is what he wanted us to see.

It's not about copying. It's about showing us who inspires him.

It's about showing us, not only telling us, who his catalyst is.

He CHOSE the EXACT same leather pants that JM wore.

Do you see the scribble at the bottom of the jeans?

JK CHOSE the jeans with the mud.

He CHOSE.

He did not copy or plagiarize.

He took artistic liberty to mirror JM's photoshoot to an extent.

Sending us all I'd say more than one message.

First one is what I mentioned above. JM is his inspiration.

Second is connecting himself to JM, to Face, to Like crazy.

Perhaps his way of showing us he's that person that stood by JM's side when he was struggling. The one that tread mud with him. The one that tried to wake him up, save him, but JM wasn't ready for that just yet at the time. The one that let JM embrace him while trying to escape reality.

And instead of seeing what JK is trying to tell us, his fans, Jikookers as well, are turning on him?

Making JK out to be someone that doesn't have an original idea and goes and steals JM's is disrespectful to both JK and JM, btw.

This coming from people that supposedly love and know JM and JK?

JM is a 27 strong willed young man. And evidently, JM has no issues with JK of late.

JK is a 25 yo creative artistic young man, who adores and admires and lives for JM, and would NEVER steal something from JM, never take something of JM's and pass it on as his own.

Do they not understand that JM is joking when he calls JK his copycat? Has been for years now.

Did they not see the joy and love in his eyes when JK said "I'm hyung's copycat"?

He knows that JK looks up to him.

He knows that JK is inspired by him.

He lives for that.

And to go and to make it into something ugly it's just so infuriating.

JM was wronged. We can agree on that. The COMPANY could have and should have done better.

THE COMPANY.

Not the other members.

Not JK.

I get the anger and frustration. But do we take it out on the one person that did right by JM? Do we take it out on the one person JM loves more than anything? The person that JM will stand by and support and root for to succeed? How is that loving JM?

Since when did two wrongs make a right?

Don't go around saying you won't support JK's single.

Support him all while continuing to support JM's songs.