#lydia snoops

[isleofdarkness]

Warnings; selling of souls, swearing, mentioned child prostitution, mentioned child death, mentioned starvation, tell me if I need to add more

In a way, Jay had always expected Mara's blood to be red. But it barely surprised him to find out that it was black.

With how draining the day had been, Jay could barely find it in himself to be concerned by how her every step left behind a bloody footprint, how the backs of her jeans were clinging to her legs as blood soaked them. There was so much blood, too much considering she hadn't been shot, but she led them all the way back to the lobby without so much as a wince.

Gods, she really was Riah's sister.

Maverick somehow had the energy to be concerned. She led Mara to sit on one of the chairs, expression worried but eyes soft in a way he'd never seen them. "Where are you bleeding?" Mara didn't speak but Maverick didn't need her to. "Okay. Do you mind if I fix you up?" Mara nodded down to her legs, clearly giving permission, and Maverick's eyes changed, darkening to Mordred's sapphire blue as her hands hovered. As she moved down Mara's legs, the tension in Mara's brow lessened. "There we go. I'll have Mordred check you over later." Mara gave her a small smile and Maverick turned her attention to Molly, who was still sniffling. "Alright, my Salamander, more hurt or more scared?"

He didn't understand how Maverick had the strength to spend five minutes comforting the terrified child until cos tears stopped. Maverick Mim was truly something else.

"Now-" she got to her feet, picking Molly up and balancing the kid on her hip as though Molly were a baby. "A lot has changed while you've been gone." She glanced at Ben and frowned, then looked at Aurora and softened slightly. "We're being hit from all sides. No territory, at least nothing above ground, is safe because Maddy's being Maddy. The other eleven are dodging assassination attempt after assassination attempt from Madre- er, Madam Mim. Maleficent is sending her men to target kids in broad daylight and Frollo 'somehow' got the resources to reduce my Mile to rubble. Our Mirabel is working hard to keep me updated so there haven't been mass casualties and no massive loss of whatever, but she can't be everywhere at once and she's gonna miss something eventually."

Mirabel. Those who knew of Maverick's activities knew about her mysterious Mirabel, someone hidden on the inside and providing invaluable information to save lives, or at least reduce damages. No one knew who Mirabel really was- most of them were sure only Maverick herself knew- but they owed her so much.

"At this point, a full-scale evacuation is guaranteed. We've got everything set up, but the losses will be a massive blow and really, even my absolute nuclear option won't last forever. We've got a Jane helping out, but progress is slow-going." Jane? Now that was one he hadn't heard before. He'd heard of the Rapunzel, the Camilo, the Tiana, and dozens of cryptonyms protecting Maverick's secret network of informants, but he'd never heard of a Jane. "And..." Maverick broke eye contact, biting her lips together. "I've got some... some news about your kiddo."

Jay nearly passed out.

No, not their Ash. Not their adopted kid. Gods, if anything had happened to her he would never be able to live with himself. If she had died because they'd left her behind while they went to Auradon- they might have been able to protect her, or to catch a medical complication before it was too late. Gods, please, it couldn't be too late. Ash had to be okay. Not their baby, not their baby-

"What about her," Evie asked, voice blank. When Maverick's silence and the implications sank in, her voice started to become hysterical. "Maverick, what happened to Ash?!"

Not our baby not our baby please Allah not our baby-

"Auradons fuck off," Maverick ordered, still not answering them. "This is Isle business." Jay barely even registered the dark barrier that wrapped around them, obscuring them from Ben's view. "She's safe. She's okay. But she's not on the Isle."

Jay was going to pass out.

"Not on the Isle?!" Evie was in tears. "What the hell do you mean our baby isn't on the Isle?!"

"Sultana Jasmine has been evacuating kids," Maverick said. "I sent your girl with the second group. I promise you, I didn't send her until I knew Jasmine was legit. Your baby is safe, I promise. She's okay. She's just being safe and okay in Agrabah."

If it had come from anyone else, Jay wouldn't have believed her. But, while Maverick Mim was many things, a liar wasn't one of them. Maverick Mim never lied, especially not to her Mutant network. If she said Jasmine was evacuating kids, if she said Ash was in Agrabah, Jay believed her. She was safe. She would be able to get the surgeries she needed, they might have even been able to fix her clubfoot, she would get plenty to eat and she wouldn't need to be kept a secret-

"Who else?" Mal was starting to get angry, probably because they hadn't been told. Jay couldn't find it in himself to be angry. He was too drained. "And why the shit didn't you keep us updated?!"

"Narcissa and Jonas plus their little girls," Maverick was calm. No matter how angry Mal and Evie were getting with her, she was calm. "Belle. Anna. Rick. Five of Tremaine's wards. Fifteen little kids. Freddie and Celia. Arika. Yzla and her mother. A couple of my cousins-slash-siblings-slash-I don't know what to consider them." Oh gods. How could so many people have been evacuated without them knowing? "And I couldn't write it in the book because if that book gets into the wrong hands, everything comes crashing down. If I ever needed you guys to keep anything to yourselves, this would be it. No one, and I mean no one, can know this is happening or know you know it's happening. Our allies will reveal themselves to you when the time is right. Aside from Jasmine so you can see your girl, don't seek them out."

"Do you not have your mind link shit?!" Anyone else would have been terrified with Maleficent's daughter so angry at them, but Maverick wasn't. Any sane person would have tried to make Mal calm down.

Of course, while there were hundreds of words that could be used to describe Maverick Mim, sane wasn't one of them.

"You told me never to go into your minds unless it was an absolute emergency. You wrote a contract. I signed it. You have it framed in one of your safehouses. You bedazzled the frame." Right, the contract they had never expected Maverick to ever agree to but that Maverick had been all too happy to sign. They didn't like the idea of Maverick going into their minds and Maverick didn't like the idea of it, either. The contract had been a massive relief for all of them. Mal opened her mouth to argue that their baby getting taken off of the Isle was definitely an emergency, but Maverick cut her off. "I didn't know Xavier was on your side. He's pretty much the most powerful telepath on the planet even without his Cerebro shit. My mind links on the Isle are invisible, not even Xavier using Cerebro would be aware of them. But, to get a signal through the barrier, I would have to strengthen the signal and strengthening the signal would sacrifice that invisibility. There would be a twenty-five to seventy-five percent chance Xavier wouldn't notice and that twenty-five percent chance banked entirely on him being asleep. So he might rat you out and it all goes to shit. Or he might follow the signal back to me, try to read my mind, and his brain would explode inside of his skull and now Xavier's dead. There are very few beings in existence capable of doing that to Charles Xavier. Seven of them are the actual Endless and he's got no reason to read their minds. Grandma Gert and Grandfather Time, he might get curious. But they have a warning system that tells telepaths 'if you go further your brain will explode,' so why would Charles try to go into their minds? That brings them to me and it all goes to absolute shit. Charles Xavier complicated things in ways you can't understand. Or Fairy Godmother would overhear and think 'hey, why are the Isle kids getting random signals from something that has the same magic type as Destiny of the actual motherfucking Endless,' and she goes to Merlin, who knows that there are two beings that signal could come from. And he'll probably figure out that it was coming from me and boom, you guys are revealed to have a mind link with Maverick Mim, currently public enemy number one with an entire CIA and FBI department dedicated to keeping track of what I'm doing and trying to assassinate me, so now you guys are in deep shit. Or-"

"Okay, okay, we get it! You're the big picture guy." Mal frowned. "Xavier's on our side, that's not a problem... Can you do the same thing Riah does, where he uses the type of magic Fairy Godmother won't notice?"

Maverick blew out a long breath. "Before I answer that, how much had Riah told you about our ancestry?"

"We know he's the son of the Horned King and, as of today, we know he's descended from Madam Mim."

"Oh boy." Maverick rubbed her eyes. "So he hasn't told you jack shit. Got it. The thing about Riah and his magick is that he has an extremely diverse magical background. The Horned King is half shedu and half elder demon. Madam Mim is half Greek god, Hecate, and half Endless. And then Riah has a blessing from Hades, which basically makes him blood of Hades. And then he has occult schooling. So Riah's got six different things going for him and only one of those things, the Endless, is invisible because it changes, it works through the gaps. If I were younger, I'd have that same magick and there wouldn't be an issue. But I'm not. I..." She grimaced. "Can't say that. Physically can't. Take my word for it, it ain't possible for me to do that."

"Wait, Riah's part Endless?" Why had he never mentioned that? "Which one?"

"Now that I won't tell you." Maverick narrowed her eyes at them. "That part of our ancestry makes us seem hard to trust and he probably hid it because he thinks you guys are going to shut him out or even hate him for it. I'm not gonna out him, this is something he needs to tell you of his own free will. Also, and I speak from personal experience on this one, that kid is probably worried he's a danger to you, especially to Jay, Evie, and Ben. He's trying to keep all of you at arm's length because he's afraid he's unintentionally hurting you. But he isn't capable of it. I swear he isn't."

"Why Evie, Jay, and Ben?" Why the three of them in particular? He knew Riah was a bit awkward with them, but he'd never thought Riah was afraid of hurting them.

Maverick gave Mal an exhausted, unimpressed, judgemental look. "Really? You haven't figured it out? Really?"

Molly giggled. "I'm blind and even I can see it!" When co got no response, co grinned and did possibly the most seven-year-old thing Jay had ever seen anyone do. "Riah an' Evie sittin' in a tree-"

Oh.

Oh.

And here Jay had been worried Riah just didn't like them that much.

"Hold the actual fuck up-" Mal interrupted cos before co could start spelling. "Are you saying that Riah- seriously?"

"Dude." Maverick shook her head in pure disappointment. "Molly and Mara are blind. I can't read emotions to save my life. Mordred has only been interacting with people for two years and is autistic. Malcolm is also autistic. Mavis is on fucking Exile. And we all saw Riah's dumb crushes from a mile away. What are you idiots on?"

"But how does that have anything to do with his..." Evie's eyes went huge as she seemed to understand something the rest of them didn't. "Oh. You're descended from that one."

"Yep. That one." The two clearly didn't think it necessary to make it clear which one was "that one." If Jay had the energy, he would've been annoyed. "Riah's a good kid, he wouldn't use it unless it was to keep someone from getting hurt. Like I used to use it to calm people down because they were having a panic attack because I couldn't get them to calm down. And it's always easy to tell when we're doing it, because our eyes change." Her brow wrinkled and she sighed. "I can't do it anymore. Molly, show them the eyes thing."

Molly hummed and turned to face them. After a moment, cos eyes turned a bright yellow-green. Something about those eyes made Jay dizzy, like he was floating away from his body. The world seemed to spin around him, but all he could focus on was those eyes. It lasted only a moment before co blinked and cos eyes went back to red, but gods, that one second-

Evie frowned at them and Jay noticed that he wasn't the only one who had been reeling. All of them looked like they had just experienced the same sensation. All of them except for Evie.

Seeing Evie's confusion, Maverick smiled. "I figured you might be immune."

"Why?" What had happened, why had Evie been immune to it, and why had Maverick already figured she would be immune to it?

"Evie's a natural mental shield." A natural what? "A powerful one, too. She can keep people out of her head- a telepath can't read her mind, a pathokinetic can't influence her emotions, none of us can charmspeak her, et cetera. As she is, I'd say she's probably a decent match for Xavier. He could get through with a lot of effort, but she'd notice and it would leave him with a brutal migraine for a week. If she were to train, she'd probably even be able to do what I can."

"Exploding Xavier's brain," Evie guessed. When Maverick nodded, Evie's eyes lit up with an idea. "If I'm a natural shield, that protects me from telepaths. If I were to sell my soul to you, would your mind link be more invisible?"

Woah woah woah- Jay stepped towards her, ready to stop her, but Maverick shook her head and made a cut-off gesture. "Evie, I'm not gonna ask you to do that."

"You wouldn't be asking me to do it, I'd be offering." Oh gods, she was really serious- "Answer the question. If I were to sell my soul to you, would the mind link be more invisible?"

Maverick nodded reluctantly. "It would be completely invisible. A piece of your soul would stay on the Isle with me and I'd be able to implant thoughts into that piece, thoughts that the rest of you would hear."

"And if I'm immortal like Mara," Evie's eyes were hard, determined. "Would Riah be able to take my life force without killing me? I would have infinite life force, right? So he would be able to take as much as he needs without killing me, or at least enough to keep him alive. Right?"

"That's true, too." The way Maverick was looking at Evie- he could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen her give someone that look. It was a look of complete respect, nearly of admiration. "But kid-"

"No, Maverick," Evie stepped closer, jaw set. "I'm selling my soul to you. We need to be kept updated and it's an easy way to keep Riah alive. You can't stop me. If you won't buy my soul, I'll find someone who will. Mordred, Mara, hell, even Molly. One of them will do it and I'll find that person."

There was a long, agonizing pause, a silence in which it seemed no one even breathed as Maverick studied Evie, the only sign of what she was thinking being her arched eyebrow. After a long minute, she grinned. "Well shit, girl. That might be the ballsiest thing I've ever seen anyone do and that's coming from me. I'll do it, but your condition needs to be that you're freed from the contract if I try to order you to do something you don't wanna do, and you're getting your soul back the second you no longer need the benefits." Evie's eyes widened ever so slightly in surprised. In all honesty, they'd all doubted that Maverick allowed that condition. But here she was insisting on it. She smiled wryly. "I'm not interested in being a slave driver or a parasite. People sell their souls to me because they need something. I don't think it's fair if I can use their desperation to turn them into mindless drones."

"I'll do it," Evie squeezed Jay's hand.

"Damn, kid. I'm impressed." Maverick tensed slightly, grin melting. She set Molly down. "I'll buy your soul, but it's gonna need to wait a few minutes because I'm getting paged and I've got a feeling the news is gonna piss me all the way off. I'm gonna lower this barrier. Act like I was telling you that Ash is dead, Auradon needs to think she is."

Evie nodded and, as Maverick's shadow barrier vanished, fell to her knees with the most heartbreaking, agonized scream Jay had ever heard. Mal rushed to comfort her as Evie wailed, real tears streaming down her face. Even as exhausted as he was, Jay found tears burning in his eyes. Even the mere thought of Ash dying was enough to make his chest heave and shoulders shake with poorly-concealed sobs. He staggered back, not even needing to act, and collapsed into a chair as Evie's cries rang in his ears. "No no no not our baby please gods not our baby no please-"

The look on Maverick's face snapped Jay back to attention faster than a bucket of ice water.

"I beg your pardon?" Her face was perfectly blank, but the way her eyes were changing meant trouble of the highest degree. As Maverick listened to whatever was being said, her pupils started to expand, covering her iris and then enveloping the whites of her eyes. The black kept going, leaking into her blood, making the veins around her eyes turn black like Riah's would. Worse than that, her clothes were changing. Her black armour melted into a sleeveless, hooded grey tunic, black pants, and black boots, revealing the tattoos on her arms. A black metal manacle with a ghostly purple glow appeared on her left wrist, over the thick burn scar on which she'd tattooed "Get Fucked," chains slowly forming, then a massive black book appearing in her large hand, like the Book chained to Destiny of the Endless-

He'd seen Maverick get angry enough for her eyes to change- it was rare, but he'd seen it happen. But he'd never seen her get pissed enough for an outfit change.

"She. Fucking. What?" She must not have liked the answer she got, because her free hand curled into a fist so tight that black blood started to drip down her fingers.

Was it just him, or was she starting to glow?

As the ghostly blue glow got brighter, he realized that he wasn't imagining it. Maverick Mim was glowing, glowing as if lit from the inside. The longer he watched, the more intense the glow got. His eyes were aching, burning. His skin felt like he was getting too close to an open flame.

"Maverick!" Persephone shouted. Maverick seemed to snap out of her rage, glow slowly dimming. "You were about to go into your true form."

A muscle worked in Maverick's jaw. "I'll be right back, ma'am."

With that, she spun on her heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door of what Jay was pretty sure was a closet behind her so hard the frame splintered.

After a moment, Maverick started to scream.

It was a horrible, animal sound of rage, a sound that made Jay shrink back in his seat. The tiles outside of the closet broke free from their caulk and started to float. Even from across the room Jay could feel the magic- ancient, deep, powerful in a way that couldn't be described with words, a power he'd only felt once before- she was putting off, as though she were so angry she couldn't control it. Her wordless screaming went on and on, the magic she was putting off getting stronger and stronger, too long to be human, too powerful to be anything less that godly.

They had all joked that Maverick Mim, once of the calmest people on the Isle, was going to snap one day. Jay wished they hadn't jinxed it. He wasn't prepared for the hypothetical day Maverick would lose her cool to be that day.

Finally, after nearly three minutes (without a single pause or breath,) the screaming stopped. The tiles dropped back into the slots. For a few minutes, Jay couldn't hear anything coming from that closet.

When the door finally opened, Maverick stepped out looking perfectly calm, as if she hadn't just spent two minutes screaming in a closet. Her black eyes focused on him. He wasn't ashamed to admit that he shrank further into his seat. "Jay, do you have your lamp with you?"

His lamp? Oh- right, his lamp. Jay nodded, reaching for his messenger bag on reflex. "I couldn't leave it in Auradon."

"I need you to give me your lamp for a second." What? "Mad Maddy has ordered Lydia Snoops to steal your lamp for your father. I can protect it better than you can. I'll give it back the second Lydia is gone, and I won't do any wishing shit. I don't want the other five to come back in one month maximum because you're dying due to your father having your lamp on this side of the barrier."

While the threat of his father getting his lamp felt like a bucket of ice water, Jay shook his head. He wasn't letting anyone take his lamp out of his sight, not even Maverick. "I'll keep an eye on it."

"Kid, you're good, but Lydia is far better. If you have it, there's nothing you can do to keep her from grabbing it. I get that you don't want to, but you know Lydia has to obey and you know how smart she is." That was true. Lydia was on the same level as him when it came to pickpocketing, but she was a prodigy at larger marks that he struggled with. If Lydia had been ordered to steal something, Jay didn't doubt she could steal it. Still... "Jay." Maverick took a deep breath, bracing herself. "I swear on the River Styx that, if you give me your lamp, I will keep it safe and give it back to you the second it's safe, and I swear on the River Styx that I will not let anyone else touch it, and that I will not use it. I swear all of this to you, Jay, with Styx as my witness."

Maverick Mim was many things, but a liar wasn't one of them.

He didn't want to trust anyone with his lamp, but he forced himself to pull it out of his bag and hand it to Maverick. She turned it, taking care to not accidentally rub it, and then pressed it against her right forearm. Jay watched, eyes wide, as her arm melted around the lamp, enveloping it.

She had literally hidden his lamp in her arm.

"She'll have to cut off my arm to get it," Maverick promised. "And here-" she waved a hand and another lamp appeared. If not for the most minor details- the emeralds and sapphires having been replaced by green goldstone and blue topaz, the diamond on the lid being pure instead of having the multicoloured rutilation- he would think it was his lamp. He grabbed it. He didn't feel the same connection to it that he did with his real lamp, which was comforting. This lamp held no power over him. He nodded a thanks and put it in his bag.

"Are we not going to talk about what just happened?" The sound of Ben's voice nearly made Jay jump out of his skin. He'd almost forgotten Ben was there.

It was hard to tell with how her eyes were still black, but Jay was pretty sure Maverick rolled her eyes. "Ain't nothing to talk about. I lost control because who the actual fuck thinks to force someone to steal a djinn lamp. Shit happens. No one died."

"Two people died!" Ben insisted. Oh, that. "You killed two people without hesitating!"

"Just like they woulda killed Molly without hesitating," Maverick replied evenly. "Kid, if you wanna date my brother or any of the other five, you need to get off that high horse. Killing can be necessary-"

"Killing is never necessary!"

Jay felt his stomach drop. Please, Allah, I like Ben, please don't do this to me-

"Oh, isn't it?" Maverick sighed, cracking her knuckles, then her neck. "Riah's alive only because I killed eight people. If I hadn't killed those eight people, he would be dead and the world would be over. There is no way he could have gotten out of those situations alive without me killing people." Seeing their morbid curiosity, she went on. "When he was two, his father sent two soldiers to murder him. I was ten years old. Woke up after the first stab to the thought that Riah was going to die. I couldn't let that happen. So I took over. I projected my consciousness into Riah's body, basically possessed him, and used this power I learned from one of the Endless. Energy manipulation." Huh? What did electricity have to do with anything? "Souls are a type of energy, Ben. So is life force. So I took over him and used that power to take their life force and save his life. And then, just in case it wasn't enough, I went and rended their souls." But Claudine had said it had been the one to do that. Had she just not known that Maverick had been in control? "The second time was when he was ten, five years ago today. I'm around nineteen, and I'm sitting down to eat a late dinner- as in a one-in-the-morning dinner- and I feel my brother being fucking tortured. But Riah's rune had an unintended consequence, it kept me out. I'm forbidden from getting involved directly so I wake Harriet and Ginny screaming at them about how my brother is gonna die, and then I took a risk and got Hades out of his own torture session with this one bitch halfway across the island. I tell them that whichever one gets there first needs to break his rune. Hades gets there first, axes six men who are immortal under the barrier, and breaks Riah's rune. I take over Riah and drain the life and rend the souls of those six monsters. It was barely enough. He spent seven months in a coma and he'll be disabled for the rest of his life. But, because I killed those six people, he has a rest of his life to live." She glared at Ben. "I don't take the moral high ground here or anywhere else. I rate the value of lives. And the life of my little brother, whose survival is integral to the stability of the universe and the preservation of natural order, was worth more to me than six men who decided to torture a ten-year-old boy for two hours for the hell of it. I ain't saying it was right, I'm saying it was necessary.

"In fact, golden boy, I have far less blood on my hands than your dad. I have directly or by direct proxy killed exactly three hundred and seventy-three people, tortured a mere two hundred and twelve people, none of them innocent, enslaved zero people, done zero genocides, obeyed most of the Geneva Convention, ordered zero massacres, killed zero children, allowed the rape and sexual slavery of zero people, covered up exactly zero cases of my people brutalizing children in broad daylight- which is zero, zeo of my people have done that because I actually bother to investigate people before I bring them into my gang and I have standards, and I keep a very close eye on my members, allowed exactly zero inhumane conditions in a prison colony full of innocent people because I don't have a prison colony full of innocent people, I could go the fuck on. You wanna judge me for killing people to protect Molly and Riah? What's your daddy's justification?" Damn. "You don't get to judge me or my actions. You don't get to judge anyone on this damn island or any of their damn actions.

"Can you name every child who's died here? Can you list every crime against the children of this island? Do you know people's motivations? Of course you don't. You've never had to choose between selling yourself at the age of three or watching your sisters starve to death, you've never had to toss a baby into the ocean because it's that or let the baby starve to death, you've never had to eat food you know is going to make you sick because it's either that or starve to death, you've never been forced to take the boots and jacket off the frozen corpse of your brother because he doesn't need them anymore, you do- Don't you fucking dare. Don't you fucking dare judge any of us for what we've had to do to survive with your daddy waging genocide against us for literally twenty years. How many people have you saved, Benny boy? How many lives have you saved? How many children have you freed from slavery? How many times have you gone to bed starving because you gave all your food so that some random kid you don't know can live another day? Let me guess- zero, zero, two, zero. You don't know shit about shit, stop tryna act like you do. Take several seats." Maverick turned on her heel to face Evie, voice calming the second Ben was out of view. "You absolutely sure you wanna do this?"

If it had been Jay, he would've hesitated to sell his soul to Maverick Mim when she was so clearly pissed. But Evie didn't. Evie, always so incredible, didn't hesitate. "I am. And I'm ready when you are."

Maverick held out a hand as though for a handshake and Evie took it without any fear, despite what she was about to do. Maverick took a deep breath. "Can I have your name?"

Ben snapped out of his shock as Evie opened her mouth. Jay watched his mouth open, no doubt to try and stop Evie, but he didn't speak. He looked between everyone, taking in how at ease they were. And he stayed silent. "Genevieve Isabella Char. Evie."

"Evie," Maverick repeated. "You do understand what selling your soul implies?"

"I do, yes."

Maverick nodded. "What do you want in exchange for your soul?"

"Grant me the ability to astral project in the same way you can. Through the barrier, even when asleep, but never accidentally." That was smart. She wasn't revealing the mind link to Ben and the other Auradons, but she was setting up an explanation for how she would know things that happened on the Isle.

"You are allowed to set one condition that, if broken, will void your contract and return ownership of your soul to you. What do you want your condition to be?"

"You can never use your ownership to order me or force me to do anything against my will."

Maverick sighed in relief, the tension in her shoulders loosening slightly. She was relieved she couldn't override Evie’s free will. Gods, Maverick Mim was really something else. "I accept this condition."

"And I accept this deal." When Maverick drew her hand back, she was holding a glowing red ruby, a ruby she pressed into the manacle, which enveloped and hid the ruby just as her other arm had hidden Jay’s lamp. He'd never seen a soul exchange that was visible. Maybe Mal being fae made her soul exchanges invisible? Riah would probably know. "Maverick, meet me on the astral plane. I want you to tell me everything."

[nctsplug02]

hiii could i request a jaehyun fic? the reader doesn’t know as much sexual things like he does, but her friends kinda talk to her about blowjobs and she asks jaehyun if she could try to… give him one??? if that makes sense heh

the blowjob || jeong.j

genre: fluff and smut

warnings: oral sex (m), praising, sexual talking, hair pulling, sexual touching, kissing, inexperienced reader, sex toy mentioned, sex store mentioned and hand job!

a/n: honestly, i wrote this for and based on jock!jae and nerd!reader. so, those are the pairings; jock!jae and nerd!reader.

you follow your friend around as she snoops around the sex store and lightly grazes her fingers on the toys. “hm,” she turns unexpectedly making you crash right into her. “oops— sorry.” you take a step back from her.

“it’s okay, but.. i.. need a new paddle.” she clicks her tongue and makes her way to where the paddles were. “ooouu,” she grabs one that is pink and has spikes. “won’t that.. hurt your bum?” she giggles as you stare intensely at it.

“oh, silly. who said it was for me?” she winks and then laughs afterwards at your wide eyes. “i.. for michael?” she laughs again. “for me and him, both.” you don’t react and she continues to look around.

“alright, let me get this and we’ll go find lydia for lunch.” she holds up her basket of items and you nod slowly.

“—i gave him a blowjob last night and this bitch face-fucked me, best thing ever.” you bite lightly on your spoon as you listen to your friends bicker over their sexual experiences.

“face fuck?” you ask and they look at you.

“yeah, it’s where your partner fucks your face— your mouth.” you look down at your food with confusion wandering in your eyes.

they gasp making you look up. “have you never given jaehyun a blowjob?!” they whisper to you and you look away with flushed cheeks. “i.. didn’t even know what that was until— never mind.” you tuck your hair behind your ear.

“oh, em, gee!” they squeal and scoot more towards you. “we have to teach you on how to.” you bite your bottom lip. “i mean, i know how to do. i just.. don’t know how to initiate it?” they look at you weirdly.

“what do you do when you give head then.” you open your mouth but nothing comes out. “i.. um,” you blink repeatedly. “right— soo,” lydia drags and drums her hands around.

she reaches in her bag and slams something on the table making you gasp in horror. “lydia?!” you take your hands and food off the table. “what?! it’s useful.” she winks.

a long pink, clear dildo stuck up proudly in the middle of the table. it had glitter and sparkles in it.

“i.. lydia, no.” you shake your head and she groans. “i swear it’s helpful— look, i’ll teach you the basics.” she yanks the dildo off the table and brings it near you, but you inch away from it.

“you’ll take it like this,” she grabs it in the middle. “and you’ll want to rub, like this.” she twists her fist and moves it down the pink dildo.

“i.. don’t think i want to touch it.” your face was pure horror.

she continues on until the “session” is over.

you felt like you were intruding your own home when slowly entering it.

“hey, baby.” your boyfriend was wearing a sleeveless tank top and some sweats, his gamer headphones were in.

“hi,” you locked the door and walked past him into the living room.

he sits next to you on the couch and stares up at you through his lashes. “so,” he pushes his headsets down. “what’d you get when shopping?”

you had several bags.

“i.. got a few.. clothes?” he giggles a bit. “what type of clothes? can i see?” you grab the bag and you hand it to him.

he looks through the bag and grins in a goofy way. “oh,” is all he says. “i love this color on you— did lucie and lydia help pick these out for you?” your cheeks become hot. “mm, yeah. they did. they said they knew you’d like this set and the color.”

he neatly folds the two sets and places them in the bag before handing it to you. “well, they’re correct. i love it and can’t wait to see it on you later.” your eyes bulge. “l—later?” he tilts his head with a frown. “i mean, whenever.” you chew on your bottom lip.

“jaehyun?” he hums and plays with your hair. “i.. uh,” you tuck your hair behind your ear before standing up. “need to use the bathroom?” he asks and you shake your head.

“i want to give you a.. a blowjob?” you say confusedly and the corners of his lips twitch. “a blowjob.” he states and you nod, “yes.” he goes to sit up but you push him back.

he stares at your eyes and then your lips. “i want to do this. can i?” his atoms apple bobs before he nods.

you gulp when undoing his sweats and his briefs. “wow,” you say, shocked and frozen. your reaction makes jaehyun laugh a little. “you’re so.. hard.” you pick the thing up in your hand and he flexes.

“what’s.. whats this?” you smear the wetness on his tip and he gasps lightly. “i’m sorry, i’ll be gentle.” you pull your thumb away from his tip. “that’s called precum.” you look up at him. “precum? what’s that?” innocence flash on your eyes. “it’s cum.. that comes out of a guys tip when they’re aroused.”

“oh, so you’re aroused?” he grins. “of course, i am. i have someone so innocent and sexy on their knees in front of me, right now. so, how could i possibly not be turned on?” his thumb brushes against your cheek and you press against it, his soft touch.

“do you know what to do?” he asks when you look hesitant. “yeah.. yeah, i do. lucie and lydia taught me.. everything.” you sigh at the last word.

“step on; wrap your hand around his cock.” lydia’s voice mimics in the back of your head.

your hand was already around his cock— more like around his tip.

“step two; lick and tease his tip and cock.” lucie says this time.

you lean forward and you wrap your mouth around his tip. you look up when he groans and scrunches his face.

it’s working?

you pull off with a slight ‘pop’ and you hold his cock in your hand. you tilt it to the side before lubing his dick with your saliva.

“fuck, baby.” he moans and it leaves you stunned.

you do it again and then another moan is heard from him.

“step three; jerk him slowly.” a imagine of lydia winking pops up as she smirks and gives the tip.

you slowly back yourself away before using your fist to jerk him. his skin peels back before it covers his tip again. “oh, yeah baby,” he hisses. his red angry cock staring at you with such passion.

“and don’t forget, his little one always deserves a little kiss.” lydia says and lucie, next to her, puckers her lips.

you pull yourself back until his cock is sat up in your hand. you look up at the man who’s face is written with pleasure and his ears are violently red.

you tilt his cock to the side before leaning down and pressing a kiss on his length before moving it up towards his tip.

“ah,” he hissed and flexes, making his dick twitch in your hand.

you grin a little.

“step four; being able to take him down your throat.” lucie rubs her throat which makes you rub your throat.

you gulp and he tilts your chin up. “you don’t have to do this—?” you shake your head, pushing his hand away and inhaling. “i want to. this is.. practice?”

you lean down with your mouth still closed— once your lips are aligned to his tip, you open your mouth. you pause, looking up at him and licking your lips. “can you hold my hand?” he grins and interlocks his fingers with yours.

wrapping your lips around his tip, again. slowly, you bob your head and make your way down his thick length.

once his tip touches the back of your throat, you gag. your eyes begin to water and your nose begins to run. your hand squeezes his and your nails dig into his knuckles.

you pull off, gasping for air, tear streaks running down your cheeks and off your jaw. “i.. wow, i can’t.” you shake your head and he brushes your hair down with his other hand. “it’s okay, baby. you don’t have to.” you frown.

“i’m sorry, i can’t do this properly.” your lips quiver and he wipes your tears. “that’s okay, baby. we can always practice more.” you sigh, blowing a slight raspberry. “i didn’t even get to make you cum— that’s embarrassing.” you huff and he takes his dick from you.

“no, that’s not. did lucie and lydia tell you what you could if you couldn’t.. suck me off?” you shake your head. “you could jerk me off until i cum? here— i’ll show you.” as he attempts to fist himself, you stop him.

“no,” you hold his wrist and he looks at you. “i wanna do it, please.” the corners of his lips twitch as he swaps hand placement with yours.

with a giddy grin, you begin to fist him with full concentration. when he groans at your touch, you fix your sitting posture.

with doey eyes, you move closer, wrapping your pouty lips around the crown of his tip. he jolts in surprise. “oh, baby.” he half-chuckles and places his hand on your head making you squeak.

your tongue swirls around his tip and teases his tip. your hands gentle massage his balls that hang freely and untouched. he jolts, again and lets out an air of relief.

you lick under his tip and he groans. “oh, fuck.” he hisses with his bottom lip caught under his teeth. “mm,” he moans and slightly bucks his hips before catching himself and holding his hips still.

“mm!” you gasp around his cock before quickly pulling off. “oh, shit! fuck, im sorry, baby.” he quickly apologizes and holds out his hand under your chin. you spit the white substance into his hand and he rubs your cheek.

“no,” you shake your head, letting his cock drop onto his abdomen. “that is not, for me.” you point at his hand and he softly chuckles. “that’s okay. it’s not for everyone who is still learning.” you curl your lip at him.

he comes back from the kitchen to see you sitting on the couch, criss crossed.

“so,” he plops himself on the couch and you instantly climb into his lap. “did i do good?” he inhales and tilts his head, side to side. “as a beginner, yes. but, we can keep practicing.”

your face drops into a frown. “well, there’s other times where we can practice. but, uh.. lydia gave me— or, she bought us, a little something to try out.” you reach for the bag on the mini table next to you both.

“open it.” you hand it to him and he grabs it with a suspicious look on his face. “is it what i think it is?” he questions and you shrug. “i don’t know what you’re thinking so, open it to find out.” you jump in his lap, excitedly.

he pulls out a box. “it’s a..” he flips it and reads the cover. his eyes widen as they shoot to yours— a little vicious grin grows upon his lips. “a vibrator.” you see him gulp.

“lucie and lydia said it’s good for beginners—?” he crashes your lips onto his. “oh, this is gonna be so much fun.” torturing you, yes.

[buckybarnesss]

on fire: a teen wolf novel chapters 10-13 chapters 7-9 here chapters 4-6 here chapters 1-3 here

after a little break i am back with a new installment i'm doing 4 chapters today because this book only has 19 chapters.

once again: kate argent is her own warning.. there's an entire flashback chapter of her and derek when he was a teenager. she explicitly grooms him.

Our intrepid heroes are still in the goddamn woods. We shall never leave. Allison is cold and so Scott snuggles with her to share body heat. Classic trope but I have read many missing persons cases. Hypothermia can happen even when you don’t think it can. 

And we have yet another example of Derek being characterized as kind of a dick. He and Stiles find a campfire as Derek tries to track the scent of the Alpha and/or locate Scott. Stiles is just having a bad time as he’s winded from trying to keep up with Derek. Derek leaves him there. I reject this. No. Derek never left Stiles anywhere like this. Especially not with danger afoot. It very much stands in contrast to Wolf’s Bane when Derek crawls over broken glass and fights Peter, distracting him from Stiles.

The Queen has finally arrived. We finally get some Lydia narration. She also comes with Danny and some random dude Damon. 

It had been kind of annoying Danny hasn’t been involved that much considering he is Jackson’s best friend.

Have I mentioned that I don’t particularly care for how Danny is handled in this book? First you have Stiles assuming they should send Danny to the pay-by-the-hour motel because he’s gay and now Lydia’s narration is stereotyping the poor guy. “Dark-haired, with that cool Hawaiian vibe he had.” Danny was right to leave y'all.

Danny says he doesn’t have Lydia’s phone number which I sincerely doubt. 

I want to throw hands with this line “He gave her a completely non-sexual once over.” It’s giving gay-best friend trope vibes which to be fair was at its height in the 2010s and let’s face it this is how Lydia was often written pre-character development (and even after). Especially in the Sterek fandom. Don’t y’all try to tell me otherwise. I was there, Gandalf. 

There is this little section of Lydia’s I think deserves some commentary. The way this book has a subplot for Allison and Scott revolving around how they want to sleep together and the way Jackson and Lydia think of their relationship, especially their sexual relationship is interesting. Now, I’m no pearl clutching Puritan on this subject but the way that sex is handled in this narrative strikes me as too adult for their age. But this passage makes me change my perspective a little. These are kids acting too adult because they feel pressured in other areas of their lives to be adults without the experience and emotional capacity to do so. That fits in with Teen Wolf’s narrative. 

“Are you going through his stuff?” Danny queried, and she have him her best patronizing look, “Please,” She said, “You must know that I have a drawer here.” Damon looked even more impressed. Very few teenagers could claim the very adult perk of having a drawer containing their belongings at their boy -- or girlfriend’s house. Not that many teenagers had the need. It spoke of changing clothes, spending the night. Adult stuff.  Sex.”

Jackson’s computer wallpaper is Lydia which is sweet but then she says she picked it out herself which is less sweet. 

Jackson’s computer password is fucking Captain. You deserve to be hacked, Jackson.

Now Lydia brought Danny and his hanger on Damon from her house to Jackson’s because they’re looking for a CD Jackson apparently burned for Damon to use to DJ for a party. The 2010s of it all came out and kneed me in the solar plexus. Even Lydia was wondering why Jackson didn’t just make a shared playlist. But she searches through Jackson’s stuff stalling a little so she can snoop. This is all important because we finally get to the actual plot of why Jackson was lured away and missing in the first place. People want to rob the Whittermore’s while they’re out of town. Jackson at this point is still being held at gunpoint over in the preserve. 

The would be robbers -- henceforth referred to as Thing One and Thing Two -- assault Lydia and threaten her demanding to know if there are other people in the house. Lydia truly gets a raw deal no matter what.

Meanwhile, Derek’s left Stiles and is trying to follow the scene of the Alpha. He uses the word “shedding” to refer to how he left Stiles. I cannot impress enough how he would not fucking say that.

Derek’s out of luck though because the scent he comes across is old. He is at the place he found Laura’s body where he has a Moment of Anger before he moves on he picks up on Jackson’s scent. He recalls how he dug his claws into Jackson back in Magic Bullet and feels a tiny bit bad. He finds a half burned article about Jackson and does what I deem a Derek thing to do and that’s pocket it because he’s “keeping tabs on Jackson”. It’s stalking, Derek.

Narration switches back to Stiles and of course he gets weird quickly and Stiles what the fuck? Stiles doing something like this during the later seasons wouldn’t be out of the norm. He’s paranoid, hyper vigilant and suspicious at that point but here? Season 1? Stalker.

“He had tried calling Scott a couple more times, then Allison, then Lydia. He’d had her phone in his possession when he deleted the picture she’d accidentally taken of the Alpha. Of course he’d also inputted her number into his own phone; how stalkerish was that?”

Derek reappears and scares Stiles. Stiles observes “He was kind of sweaty, and he looked glummer than usual.” Stiles refuses to be normal about Derek. 

They have a little tiff except it’s them being worried about the same thing but in opposite directions. 

“Stiles crossed his arms and hunched over, shivering and trying to make himself inconspicuous, in cast the Alpha spotted Derek and decided to attack him. But Derek was a Beta werewolf too, like Scott. Why wasn’t he part of the Alpha’s pack? Maybe he is. Maybe he just hasn’t told us, he thought. “Or maybe it’s some kind of trap,” Derek said, “Something the Argents cooked up.” “You mean that Allison’s in on it?” Stiles asked, sounding incredulous.  Derek slid a glance at him. “Why do you sound so surprised? You know what the Argents are. What they do.``

And so we have arrived. The part of this book I remember the most. The Derek Hale Flashbacks. We go six years into the past. 

This is definitely where the idea of Kate Argent working at Beacon Hills High comes from and it makes a lot of sense. It even works even better given the context of season 2 where the Argents actually infiltrate the school as a tactic. 

Holder puts Derek on the swim team which is funny in retrospect because of how the swim team is important to the story of season 2 but Derek is established in season 3 as having been on the basketball team like Peter.

Holder also does a little world building on werewolf customs and pack dynamics here which the show lacks in detail. The way Holder does it is far more patriarchal than what the Hales actually are in the show. There’s a focus on Derek’s father (unnamed even here), the contest/rivalry between him and his cousin Josh, entrance into manhood and Uncle Peter. 

I am still deeply amused by Holder making the Beast of Gevaudan an ancestor of the Hales when the show took the route of making it far more deeply connected to the Argents.

The deepest of sighs at this : “Unlike Laura, who was popular, he didn’t have any human friends, and he didn’t want any.” I just have the hardest time with isolationist, anti-human Derek. Season 3 Derek called and told Book Derek to fuck himself. Derek had a posse of generic human friends.

Kate preys on Derek while she fills in for the main coach as he’s on paternity leave. Also Kate’s up here just brassily using her actual name.

Like Derek’s about 16 here so I can easily buy him noticing a pretty young woman in close proximity to him but Holder does a good job in making it clear that while Derek’s attracted to Kate superficially her interest in him makes him uncomfortable. Derek’s narration says things like “Flustered, even a little frightened.” and “He practically ran out of the school, looking over his shoulder.”

Holder then parallels Scott and Allison once more which is a, um, choice by describing Kate’s hair in the moonlight and Derek almost wolfing out. 

Apparently Laura and Derek shared a Subaru Forester. Which Hale lesbian bought this?

Now up until this point I’ve mostly avoided talking about Laura and her presence in this book because I was saving it for this scene. Laura Hale is a ghost in the narrative in the show. She’s seen maybe three different times outside of being a corpse. She’s never actually named in any of those short appearances and no one talks about her. Here she’s mentioned several times by Scott, Stiles and Derek. Plus now she’s shown in Derek’s flashbacks. I don’t like her all that much here and I think this might be where some of Laura’s fanon characterization comes from. 

Anyway, Derek and Laura are at a diner together eating hamburgers. Derek drinks Diet Coke. Look, I don’t see him as a Diet Coke drinker but that’s not the point here. Derek mentions Kate and how he thinks she’s so beautiful. Laura has this moment where she seems concerned:

“Is this...woman a student?” Laura asked. “No. She’s the new lifeguard. Ms. Argent.” Mr. Braswell’s replacement.” “School lifeguard?” she said, looking mildly shocked. “A teacher?”

After this though Laura’s characterization takes a nosedive. She refers to Kate as a slut when at this point in time Kate hasn’t really done anything necessarily wrong. Derek only really tells Laura of thinking she’s pretty. Laura’s never even met her.

She goes on to tease Derek about his crush -- the word mateable is used 🤮 -- and Derek shuts down. “Suddenly, he didn’t feel like talking to her about it anymore.”

I hate it here.

The next scene is another flashback I recall vividly. Melissa and baby Scott being abused by Mr. McCall. This fuckface trying to convince Scott that his asthma attack isn’t real and it’s all in his head. I want this man to die. Interesting that later when Rafael McCall is introduced he’s still The Worst.

Catch these hands. “Scott didn’t want him to yell at his mom because Scott had asthma. It wasn’t her fault. It was his, Scott’s.” 

If Melissa McCall had killed him no would have charged her. 

Back in the present we return to Scott and Allison. They’re still cuddling but realize they’re supposed to be looking for Allison’s keys. Her phone rings and they have a mishap which sends Allison down the incline. She takes him with her.

They recover but Allison has now lost her keys and phone. Bad day all around for Ally A.

Scott finds Allison’s phone using his wolf powers but he can’t let her know that so they use his phone to call hers. 

Her ringtone for him is apparently a band called Kids of 88. I had never heard of them so after a quick search their biggest hit was in 2009 My House. Which again -- sex.

Scott went to get her phone but he’s prevented by an invisible barrier. Wolfsbane. He makes up a lie about his leg being hurt because like how else do you explain not being able to touch a bush?

They sit down and Scott’s having thoughts like “Oh I wish Derek were here” so you know it’s not great. Allison talks a little about how she’s close to her parents.

They are fucking kissing again. Stop it. It’s not the time. 

Scott decides to text Stiles and says Stiles knows his username and password. We all know. It’s the ever iconic Allison. Jackson and Scott truly deserve each other.

I forgot Jackson was still being held at gunpoint while all this has been going on.

Jackson makes an attempt to escape but yet another guy is waiting at the Porsche. How many people are there? Two here, Cassie probably and then the two at the house. So 5 people in total it appears. Geez. 

His escape fails and he’s taken hostage. Jackson never has a good time. 

All of Chapter 13 is Kate and Derek. Shall we brace ourselves?

“One by one the other swimmers left, and he’d remained behind, torn between disappointment that she hadn’t done it again, and complete and utter relief that she was staying away from him.” Holder writes young Derek having the instinct to know Kate’s attention isn’t good.

Now Holder does do some interesting bits of worldbuilding but like I said earlier it seems so patriarchal. Surrounding challenges and fighting. His view of humans in the book is one of paternalism. 

Kate is going in for the kill now and I’m crawling up my own spine. She makes herself come across as demure. She’s playing meek and turning the whole thing back on Derek giving him the illusion of choice as she grooms him. She purposefully is coming across as more of a peer than an adult figure with authority. 

“She swirled her fingers in the water. “And this isn’t really my style, you know?” I don’t come onto men like this.” Men. She thought of him as a man. He licked his lips, completely tongue-tied. “I wish you’d say something,” she murmured. “I’m kind of dying about it now. I’m sorry if I misread your intentions. I won’t bother you again.” “I know we’d have to be careful. Outsiders might not understand.”

Excuse me. Earlier Derek mentioned his rival -- his cousin Josh -- apparently Peter’s sister-in-law’s kid. Here he mentions Laura had made out with Josh the previous Wolf Moon. Did Laura make out with their cousin?!?!?!?!?!? There’s no other Josh in this book. Like I get they’re not blood related if Josh is Peter’s sister-in-law’s kid (which lol okay bro) but what is happening here on this day?

Kate wants Derek to come home with her for privacy -- ew. So Derek calls Laura to negotiate. Hence the whole conversation about Laura making out with cousin Josh. Laura says “This is so you can do something slutty.” I deeply dislike this characterization of Laura.

And now we’re in Kate’s narration for the flashbacks. I need a shower after reading her thoughts. God, I hate Kate.

Holder goes into detail about her ideas on werewolves. It’s interesting. There’s competition for rank within the pack, challenges and rituals. I want to do a post specifically about it maybe, but I am offended on Talia Hale’s behalf here. It’s very focused on males. The automatic assumption that the Alpha is Derek’s father.

 I cannot say fuck Kate enough. “Some kids in high school are babies and others are all grown up, ready for the real world. Like you.” The classic manipulation tactic of oh but you’re so mature for your age or oh they’re such an old soul. 

Wishing Kate Argent a go ahead and die.

[yennefer-x-tissaia]

Yennaia bits in ep 3.05 (Part 2)

So, after her conversation with Philippa, Yen bumps into Istredd. Istredd tells Yen about some ancient magic book that conveniently allows time travel. Don’t start thinking about how Yen might misuse that after certain ~events later in the season @thegirl20​, just stoppit now

Anyway, Istredd and Triss tell Yen that the book is in Stregobor’s office and somebody needs to get it. Yen agrees.

Meanwhile, Vilgefortz and Geralt are talking and Geralt is seeing several clues that will come into play later. They see Istredd and Yen talking and Vilgefortz ~casually mentions that Tissaia told him that Yen and Istredd used to get up to naughty stuff in Tor Lara as youngsters.

 (Why on earth would he and Tissaia be talking about Yennefer’s teenage love life??)

Yen and Geralt meet and then there’s a dance that Geralt has never heard of, but knows the moves to. During the dance, they hatch a plot to retrieve the important book, by causing a distraction.

Tissaia watches them dance, smiling. 

After the dance, Yennefer goes to speak to Artaud and gets him in on the plan.

Geralt challenges Istredd to a pretend fight to serve as a distraction. Tissaia watches, but does not intervene.

She does appear to shield her girls from it though. Even though she is tiny.

(Either that or she’s getting ready to blast them both into oblivion for spoiling her girl’s party.)

Yen goes to Stregobor’s office, and finds evidence of the missing girls there. Meanwhile Geralt calls for a truce, which is a signal for Artaud to fall into a pile of glasses, delighting Sabrina.

Tissaia and Triss go to comfort Istredd, which I only wanted to show because of how little Tissaia is.

Stregobor comes in and finds Yen snooping and they argue, but everyone else comes in at that point and we have a Scooby Doo-esque unmasking scene where Yen, Triss and Istredd tell everyone that Stregobor is behind everything.

Yen says he tried to kill her.

And Tissaia looks like she wants to incinerate him on the spot.

They get out the time travel book and tell everybody that Stregobor stole it so he can rid the world of elves. He tries to plead his case but Tissaia cuts him off.

This is very gracious of her, considering the last time she wanted him to be punished she basically had to come back to Yen and say ‘Ummm, they’re not going to do anything to him, also they think you’re a traitor and you’re going to have to kill Cahir to prove you’re not’.

He’s taken away to wizard jail protesting his innocence and Tissaia says ominous, fate-tempting things.

She thanks Yen (and Geralt as an afterthought) for saving the evening.

We don’t see what she does with the book, but we can assume that it will definitely fall into the wrong hands at some point. 

Yen notices Chekov’s Tissaia’s bracelet on the floor and picks it up.

Everybody goes back to the party and Tissaia makes a toast to peace, and to Yen and Geralt, but mostly Yen.

Geralt tells Yen he loves her, she doesn’t say it back. (Like Tissaia didn’t say it back to Vilgefortz in ep 2.) And they kiss. Tissaia smiles.

The party ends and Geralt and Yen go back to their room and reminisce about all of the events while in the bath and then while having sex.

In the morning(?) they’re getting dressed and they start to discuss Philippa’s weird warnings, leading them to discuss Lydia, which makes Geralt ask about Tissaia’s bracelet.

Now, I don’t mean to be sexist here, but I have never known a man to glance at a set of earrings and take note of what they were made of. But apparently Geralt did.

They know what it is made of and where it is mined. Conveniently.

Then they discuss a painting Vilgefortz showed Geralt, and Yen says that’s where her dodgy portal took her. Vilgefortz is not subtle. And neither is the writing of this scene.

Suddenly, Phillippa’s warning makes sense.

They spring into action, Geralt picking up his sword and Yennefer chanting over Tissaia’s bracelet.

Yen is doing a location spell to find Tissaia, to make sure she’s safe.

Yen does not take kindly to being told she doesn’t have time to care about Tissaia’s safety. She vehemently tells Geralt that she’s not abandoning Tissaia.

And goes back to trying to find her.

Geralt heads out into the hallway where we hear that something bad is happening.

And that’s the cliffhanger!!

(Apologies if I missed a whole strand of storyline - it was difficult trying to do this in a linear fashion!!)

[musical-shit-show]

isn't it delicate?

Pairing: Musical!Beetlejuice x Reader

Inspiration: Prompts #1 (“did…did you just kiss me?”) and #2 (“i didn’t mean to say that but yeah, i love you.”) from Prompt List 2, requested by @animetattoochick

Warnings: cursing, sexual innuendo, fluff

Word Count: 2,701

Author’s Note: Thank you for your patience on this one! I really haven’t been feeling very inspired lately, but I’m so glad I was able to finish this request. I have one more in my inbox currently but after that I think I may be able to get a couple other one shots out before the end of the year. I always love this time of year and I tend to feel more inspired around the holidays, so hopefully I’ll have the time to write more! As always check out my Masterlist, About Me page, or Prompt Lists if you’d like to submit an ask! Happy reading :)

“So…any men in your life I should know about while you’re up there?”

“Mom! That’s…no. Not…really, no.”

“Well, alright. That wasn’t very convincing, but I’ll take it,” your mother mused over the phone, only slightly teasing, “Just, tell me: are those people being good hosts? What were their names again—?”

You pinched the bridge of your nose. Your mom was always the forgetful type, “Charles and Delia. And their daughter, Lydia. She’s about sixteen, I think? Cute kid.”

You didn’t feel like you should mention the fact that your new teenage counterpart only wore black and was incredibly morbid, or that two ghosts occupied the attic, or that you were frequently plagued by a literal demon.

If you told your mom any of that, odds were that she’d drop dead from shock.

Ever since you started renting out the Deetz’ third bedroom in their Connecticut home, you tried to keep the details to a minimum when talking to your family. All they knew was that you had moved hundreds of miles away for your dream job, which was true; what they didn’t need to know what that you practically lived in a haunted house.

For the first few weeks you lived there, everything was relatively normal. Delia and Charles were in the city most days, and when you got home from work, Lydia was usually at the kitchen table doing her homework or in the attic. One day, you were headed to your room when you heard concerned whispers coming from the other side of the attic door.

“I just don’t know if now is the right time to tell her, you know?” you heard an older male’s voice say, his tone clearly distressed. You couldn’t help but wonder who Lydia was talking to given that Charles had been gone for a few days.

“Adam, it’s been weeks!” Lydia shot back, “Besides, I’m worried if we wait too long, you know who might show up and scare her away. You know how he gets.”

“She does have a point, hon,” this time, a sweeter woman’s voice spoke, “Besides, I think she’ll take it well. She gets along with Lydia just fine, doesn’t she?”

“Of course! If I just explain—”

“Okay, okay,” the voice now identified as Adam cut in, “I was getting a little sick of hiding up in the attic again.”

You heard the old door creaking open and bolted to your room, shutting your own door as quietly as you could. You stood at the foot of your bed, utterly confused.

Who were those people?

When did they manage to sneak into the attic?

And why the fuck was Lydia keeping some huge secret from you?

You thought you had a good rapport with her, given that you were several years her senior and were getting along with her alright. You maybe even could see yourself taking on an older sibling role, especially since she didn’t have any of her own and few friends at school.

Plus, you could tell she had a hard time opening up. As your mind slowed, you realized she would only come to you when she was ready. Whatever weird shit was going on would become your business when she finally told you.

It didn’t take long after your adventure in snooping.

A few days later, you heard a soft knock on your door and Lydia’s small frame peaked through the door. “Come on in,” you smiled, closing your laptop, “I was just checking out dinner options, how does pizza sound?”

“Oh, um, yeah,” she replied, uncharacteristically timid, “Pizza sounds great.” An awkward silence filled the air as she sat down on the edge of the bed, the buckles on her black chunky boots jangling slightly, “So…I have to tell you something.”

“I figured.”

“It’s just…I don’t want to freak you out or anything,” she began gingerly, “I haven’t told anyone about this, but since I like you and you’re living here, I thought it’s only fair—”

She was very sweet for beating around the bush, but you couldn’t keep it in anymore, “Is this about your two friends you’ve been sneaking in? Because honestly, Lydia, it’s completely fine if you have people over, you’re not bothering me—”

“What, no, I—” Lydia stared at your incredulously, “How did you—?”

“I heard you all talking the other day,” you confessed, finding her teenage antics a little endearing, “You aren’t exactly the quietest bunch, but like I said, I don’t mind.”

Lydia shook her head, not wanting anything about her situation to be misconstrued, “No, you don’t understand. Adam and Barbara, they aren’t friends from school or anything like that. They live here.”

You blink stupidly.

“Or, I guess lived here.”

You grew even more confused.

“I’m not sure I understand,” you said, a small laugh escaping your lips.

“They’re dead,” Lydia finally stated, unsure how to make herself any clearer, “Ghosts. They died here before me, my dad and Delia moved in. And…since you’ve been here, they’ve been staying in the attic.”

You laughed involuntarily. You couldn’t help it.

Surely this teenager was fucking with you.

But as silence once again permeated the room, Lydia stared at you earnestly, not breaking into a mischievous smile or shouting a good “gotcha!”.

“Oh,” you muttered, “Oh, you’re serious.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Cool. Ghosts are real. I can handle that.”

“Yeah, you seem really calm right now. It’s kinda freaking me out.”

“I’m good,” you reassured her. Or maybe you were just reassuring yourself? “I am. Just…processing.”

The existence of ghosts didn’t surprise you that much, but you were obviously way off when it came to Lydia’s secret. In your defense, you were busy with the move and your job and everything else, how could you notice anything strange going on?

“There’s something else too,” Lydia said quietly, swinging her chunky black boots off the bed and landing on the floor with a thud, “Or, I guess, someone. His name is, well, I usually call him Beej. He’s like a super chaotic ghost or demon, I’m not really sure. It’s a long story…”

She shifted on the bed again. “Anyways, I met him pretty quickly after we moved here, and, well, he’s kind of…a lot. And he left for a bit, but he and I are actually friends. Real friends, not like before. Like I said, long story, but I just wanted to tell you in case he shows up here and—”

Before Lydia could finish, a flash of green light illuminated the room, and the figure that appeared before you was the strangest man you had ever seen.

He donned a hideous black and white striped suit that appeared to be falling apart at the seams, and his hair was a violent shade of green that actually made you wince. His skin was sickly pale, and the tattered overcoat he wore to round out the ensemble shed dust and dirt particles with every movement.

“Lyds!” he shouted, his voice grating and coarse, “My ears were burning; were you talking about me, oh best friend of mine?” He tousled the teen’s hair, much to her dismay. Before Lydia could answer, he turned his attention to you.

Eyeing you up and down, the man cocked his head to this side. You felt a light tingle on the back of your neck; why did you suddenly feel like you were being hunted?

“And who do we have here?” he purred, a Cheshire cat smile spreading across his face, “Babysitter?”

“I’m sixteen, asshole. I don’t need a babysitter,” Lydia chimed.

You told him your name, and considered extending your hand in formality. That idea quickly disintegrated when you saw how grimy his hands looked, fingers black at their tips in a clear indication of decay.

“I, uh, live in the guest bedroom,” you choked out, “And your name is…?”

“Wish I could tell, ya, babe,” he said with a chuckle, running his tongue across his slightly jagged teeth, “I like to say I’m the ghost with the most, but you can call me whatever you like—”

Lydia was quick to cut him off from the incessant attempts at flirting, and you learned his real name was Beetlejuice. He winced at the sound, and the more he and the younger girl told you about their escapades, the more enthralled you became.

Before you could fully process all the insane information the duo was throwing at you, Beetlejuice left, citing a bio-exorcism that needed attending to. You made a mental note to have Lydia explain that in greater detail later. With a *pop* and a puff of green smoke, he was gone.

But not for long.

Over the next few months, Beetlejuice’s visits became more and more frequent, much to the dismay of everyone else in the house, living and dead.

Except for you.

You found him utterly fascinating, despite his shocking outward appearance and often lascivious gaze. Yes, he was a dead guy, but he always made an effort to ask you about your life, even if it was followed up by a crude joke or bad pick-up line. When he wasn’t tormenting the other inhabitants of the Deetz residence, he was almost…sweet to you.

Of course, his sweetness was usually undercut with his sleazy tendencies; Though you knew he liked getting a rise out of you and you would often bicker with him on purpose. Even as you performed mundane tasks, you could tell he was leering at you, studying your every move.

You thought you were alone while on the phone with your mother, but Beetlejuice had become sneakier; this time he was listening outside your room, floating inches above the floor so his shadow couldn’t be seen under the doorframe.

“Anyways, no, there’s, uh, no guy,” you said sheepishly, your tone coming out more bitter than you intended. “You know I’d tell you, Ma.”

“I know, honey,” she said, her voice comforting you, “Just, try to make some friends, okay? We miss you and I don’t want you to be lonely.”

For some reason this made tears well up in your eyes. “I miss you too,” you choked, masking your sob with a cough, “And uh, I’ll try, don’t worry. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” There was a pause on the other end. Your mom knew you were crying, which made you want to cry even more.

“Okay,” she said, not wanting to upset you further. She knew you too well, “I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Your phone beeped and then returned to your home screen, and you let out a heavy sigh. A few tears dropped onto your jeans, the salt stinging your eyes.

“Who made you cry?”

You nearly jumped out of your skin as Beetlejuice materialized next to you, a few strands of his hair sprouting red at the roots. You shook your head in dispute.

“No, it was just my mom—”

“Oh, typical mothers. They really are the worst sometimes. Y’know, did I ever tell you how my mom—”

“Beej!” you cut him off before he went on another one of his rants, “I know. I’m sure you’ve told me. But no, she didn’t make me cry.” You wiped a stray tear away from your face and sniffled, feeling pathetic. “I guess I’m just a bit homesick.”

His hair instantly reverted back to its original state of vibrant green as he sat down on the bed next to you. “Oh…right,” he said, twiddling his thumbs, “You breathers can get so…sensitive sometimes, huh?”

You laughed dryly. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” It didn’t take long at all for you to see that Beetlejuice was a big softy, even though he liked to tease and scare you on an almost daily basis.

You didn’t mind, not even a little bit. Because against your better judgement, you found yourself developing feelings for him. Weirdly strong feelings. And you weren’t sure what that meant with him, well, being dead and all.

That fact didn’t seem to matter when he took your hand in his, your warm palm contrasting with his almost frigid skin. You felt yourself shiver, and you weren’t sure if it was from the sudden temperature change or the physical contact.

“I’m uh, not really good with this shit,” he said indelicately, “But I like having you around. Usually, I spend all my time either in the Netherworld or scaring the life outta breathers but…I didn’t want to come back to this house that much until you showed up. So…thanks for that.”   

He ran his thumb across the back of your hand, the gesture making your insides churn.

“Plus, if you were gone, I’d lose my eye candy,” he added, making you instantly blush and let out a laugh, “Adam’s hot and all, but you might just have him beat—"

You couldn’t help it. You kissed him. Your eyes were still red from residual tears, and he was a demon, and you tasted the faintest earthy flavor on your lips, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care about any of those facts.

It was a fairly chaste kiss, only lasting a few moments before you pulled away. Instantly Beetlejuice’s hair started sprouting a light pink color.

“Did…did you just kiss me?” he asked in disbelief. He was usually the one doing the kissing, or groping, or endless propositioning.

A sheepish laugh escaped your throat, your palms instantly moistening with nervous sweat. “Uh, yeah?” you croaked, “Is that alright?” Beetlejuice looked utterly dumbfounded.

“Alright?” he laughed. If he were still alive, his heart would’ve fluttered. “Babe, more than alright, I loved it! Shit, I’ve loved every second you’ve been in this boring ass house…because I love you.”

The realization came to the demon as soon as the words left his lips. He didn’t even register what he had said until you muttered, “you love me?”

Fuck.

‘Well,’ the demon thought, ‘no going back now’. He couldn’t detect whether you were pleased or creeped out by the sudden escalation, but decided to trudge forward through the emotionally honest deep end he had unwittingly dove into.

“Erm…” now it was his turn to be sheepish, “I didn’t mean to say that but yeah, I love you. Sorry to one up you, babe, but if you wanna go back to making out, you won’t get any complaints outta me.”

Even as he cracked jokes, he could feel his anxiety rising to his hair, which was slowly turning a sickly shade of yellow that mixed with the pink strands. He held his nonexistent breath as a wide grin spread across your face.

“Oh Beej, I love you too,” you said, finally able to put words to the ache you’ve felt for him for weeks, “Even though you’re a complete perv who shouldn’t have been spying on me in the first place.”

He scoffed at the accusation. “Look babe, let’s not forget who kissed who first,” he reminded, tracing his fingers along your arm. His hair was now a vibrant pink. “Though I wouldn’t mind going in for round two—”

“Round two of what, exactly?!” Lydia burst through the door, causing the two of you to jump away from each other on the bed. “Or do I even want to know.” The young girl looked disgusted at the thought.

“Jesus Christ, Lyds, ever heard of knockin’?!” Beetlejuice admonished. It was so big brother of him it almost made you burst out laughing.

“Yeah, I wonder where she got the spying from,” you deadpanned, your gaze flickered between the both of them before landing on Lydia, “We’ll meet you downstairs in a minute to talk, alright?”

She crossed her arms across her chest before stomping down the steps, yelling out a “No funny business!” for good measure, utterly embarrassing you and tickling Beetlejuice all at once.

You made a mental note to banish him the next time you talk to your mom; the fact that you were now dating a literal dead guy would not be a topic of discussion on the next phone call, and you didn’t need Beetlejuice butting in to introduce himself as her future son-in-law.

----

thanks for reading! please like/comment/reblog if you enjoyed! :)

[obsessive-ego]

Body lotion

Nsft

Musical Beetlejuice x reader

Reader has a vagina, non specific gender stuff other then that

Beej uses your body lotion to masterbate

Ever since you met the ghost with the most he has been very pushy about wanting to be apart of your life, even from the day the two of you met, it all happened so fast, Lydia, the step daughter of a family friend, locked you in the basement where beej was waiting to 'greet' you, he screamed in you face and you slugged the guy and he's been glued to you side ever since, eagerly barging into your home and dubbing himself your roommate, a roommate who doesn't pay rent, though beetlejuice prefers to call himself a trophy husband, whatever, it didn't matter, despite his awful faults the demon was great company, he made you laugh, he shared an intrest in movies, and, though you'd never admit it, he was quite handsome, in his own awful way.

Beetlejuice had spent the night prior, crashing on your couch, watching your movies, he appeared in your little home saying how Chucky and D-train wanted a date night and how he's a bad influence, so the maitlands were babysitting Lydia, and now he's your problem wink wink, though you didn't mind, it was nice to have someone around.

...

"i’m heading to work, you want me to text lyida to summon you back? or?" you trailed off slipping on your sneakers

"Nah, i think i'm cool here, you got way better movies and video games, plus lyd's is at school dummy" he chuckles “no matter how hard i push she wont take me with her”

"I wonder why" you roll your eyes, as much as a trouble maker Lydia was, I guess even she had limits. "Well okay, i guess i'll see you later then, bye"

"See ya toots" Beetlejuice gives a half hearted wave as he lays on your couch, not really looking up from his position, you don't think much of his lazy behavior and scoop up your bag and head out.

The clunk and click on the other side of the door was all the signal the demon needed that you locked up and were off "finally, it's been a while since i was alone here" he stretched "lets have some REAL fun" the ghoul cracks his knuckles and floats to your bedroom

The room you were very vocal about not wanting him in there without you, oh how It broke the poor demon's heart you didn't trust him enough to be alone with your bedroom secrets, but you were a way, and he was here, and well, what you don't know wont hurt ya. Your room was a fine mix between messy and tidy, bed unmade and a few clothes on the floor. Beetlejuice wasn't sure what he was looking for, just snooping, you didn't seem like the type to have a diary, but a vibrator, maybe. and that thought was enough to inspire a search party, the idea of finding something so naughty and personal made the demon drool, patches of magenta begin shining through his hair

Beetlejuice started with your desk drawers, then checking under the bed, in the bed sheets, maybe you used it last night and couldn't be asked to put it away, but nothing was found. "come on babes, i know ya got something good in here" he groaned, you were an adult, you HAD to have something naughty to relieve stress with.

he tried his luck at the dresser, nothing much of interest aside from some cute pairs of panties he pocketed for later use, they all looked the same, you wouldn't notice, he was starting to get upset, red streaks started to replace the magenta in his hair,

Frustrated with the results of this search, beetlejuice slammed the dresser drawer shut, a bottle of body lotion topples off and hits the floor with a thud, squirting out some white goo in the process, the demon can't help but chuckle at the obvious joke.

picking up said bottle he is immediately greeted by the strong smell of oatmeal and shea butter, the scent was so familiar and pleasant to the ghoul, it was exactly the way you smelled, he would be lying if he said he never took the opportunity to smell you when you weren't paying attention, because unbeknownst to you the demon had a crush on you, hell the day you clocked him in the jaw for scaring you was the day he knew that breather was for him, and that cute rump didn't hurt either.

his mind wandered, imagining you applying the lotion to every nook and cranny of your soft skin, fresh out of the shower, your skin soft and warm to the touch, he groaned, feeling the tightness in his pants, you wouldn't be home for hours, there was in no harm in having some fun right? and with that thought he was on your bed, bottle in hand, his pants kicked off and rocking a semi.

"doll you have no idea what you do to me" he groans squritng a nice amount of lotion into his palm, inhaling the sent he groans "you've made me wait too long for this babes~" he shudders when the cold goop meets his cock, beetlejuice couldn't help but imagine it was your soft hands running up and down his shaft instead of his own, you'd be so good for him, jerking him off, stopping mid way and hopping on his cock, God slash Satan did he want you to ride his brains out.

"you like that babes? you're soaked for me huh? always knew you were the dirty type" he babbled his hair now a brilliant magenta buzzing with excitement, he wanted that cute little body so bad, you smelled so good, you always laughed at his jokes, treated him like a person, whats a demon supposed to do? the amount of times he had to duck out and deal with the tents you made him pitch, you were so damn stupid. every sexual pass he made was taken as a joke, fuck "come on doll, give it to daddy" he groaned, his hands picking up the pace around his throbbing cock, he could see you now, on the verge of coming undone shouting out how much you loved him and how good he makes you feel, as you bounce up and down on him while he slammed his hips up to greet you.

beetlejuice was close and he knew it, bucking harder into his hand, the image of you begging him to cum inside your 'cute little pussy' was more then enough to get him to finish, the ghoul blows his load shouting your name squirting his cum all over his thighs and hand, a pleasant sigh escapes his lips, it's been awhile since it felt that good, without a second thought he wipes his cum and lotion covered hand on your bed sheets, you wouldn't notice, something fun for him to think about later, he couldn't help but drool at the idea of his little breather sleeping in his mess, but he'll hold up on round two, at least till you're asleep, you can't blame the man from wanting a front row seat to that show.

he stretches up, retrieves his pants, and with a snap of his fingers you room was back the way you left it, aside from the little mess beej left in your sheets, before leaving the scene if the crime, the demon gives his hand a smell, then releasing a ghastly moan, the delightful aroma of you and him made his toes curl

Beetlejuice pulls a tape recording from his coat "note to self, don't yank it without y/ns lotion"  he chuckles before vanishing from your apartment.

Bonus

"Well I'm heading to bed, night BJ" you yawn getting up from your spot on the couch and heading to your room

The ghouls hair buzzes magenta with excitement, round two was on its way

Beetlejuice quickly gets up and follows after you, the ghoul presses his ear against the wall of your bedroom, excited to hear you shuffle into bed

"What is this?!" You shriek

Beetlejuice sinks, magenta fading to purple, he's done for

"Fuck!" You shout again

Beetlejuice faces his head through the wall "what's with the potty mouth babes?" He asks through gritted teeth

"My lotion bottle exploded in my bed" you whine, balling up the blanks, presumably to wash them

Beetlejuice can't believe his luck, his jaw practically drops to the floor, he left the bottle on the bed, thank God slash Satan for this luck break

The ghoul watches you switch the sheets in your bed, although a tad disappointed you won't be sleeping in his mess, but you did touch it, and that's a win he'll take♡

[maria021015]

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR CHAPTER 38!

“I just had a huge braingasm!” Stiles ran after Zaida in the school hallway as soon as the bell for the end of English rang.

“A what?” The girl wrinkled her nose at the term.

“A braingasm - you know like a brain orgasm. It’s a portmanteau.” He explained.

“Yeah, no, I gathered that much. Just never say that word again.” She shook her head at him and continued walking to her locker, putting in the combination and opening the door to deposit her books inside. It was moments like these that reminded her that despite her crush on him, he was still just Stiles. It was a refreshing experience. “What is it you want?”

“You said after lunch. It’s now after lunch, so you’re coming with me to see Deaton.” The boy demanded, leaving no room for any other option.

“Lydia and I were supposed to leave early and have a girls' night.” She pouted in disappointment, overplaying it because she knew it would piss him off.

“And you think that’s more important than figuring out who the murdering, people-sacrificing psycho running around town is?” The boy’s eyes widened in frustration, looking as if he wanted to strangle her.

“God, I’m joking, Stilinski. Of course, I’m coming. You didn’t think I was going to let you go snooping without me, right?” She rolled her eyes at him, shutting her locker with a slam and slinging her backpack up over her shoulder.

“We’ve been over this like a hundred times, it's not snooping. It’s investigating!” He groaned loudly and followed after her towards the Jeep.

“Same thing,” She shrugged and brushed it off dismissively with a wave of her hand, knowing it would only infuriate him further. For some reason doing so always gave her a thrill of sorts.

“You're out of school early…” Deaton looked at Stiles and Zaida with a raised brow as they arrived at the animal clinic. She wiggled her fingers at him in a wave of greeting.

“Yeah, free period, actually.” Stiles explained. “Um, I was just headed home to see my dad. He's, uh...You know, I guess you probably heard people are kind of getting murdered again. It's his job to figure it out.”

“I gathered as much from the 'Sheriff' title.” Deaton gave them a small smile and opened the mountain ash gate to allow them both to walk through to the back room.

“Yeah, um...You know, it gets kind of hard for him to do his job when he doesn't have all the information. And we all know he's missing pretty much half the story here, right?” Stiles continued, his voice shot with nerves. Zaida frowned at hearing it, wondering why. “So then, I started thinking, and I remembered someone else who does have a lot of information. Someone who always seems to know more than anyone else around here.”

“You.” Zaida finished his sentence, starting to put the pieces together to figure out what Stiles already had. Peter had told them that the emissaries that gave wolf packs advice were usually Druids. She’d read about them from Celtic history and folklore, and they were particularly fond of sacrifices. Sacrifices just like the ones occurring around town. And what did Deaton do but provide them - a wolf pack - with advice?

“All these symbols and things - the triskeles, the bank logo, the mountain ash - all of it is from the Celtic Druids. And anyone who has ever looked up ‘human sacrifice’ before knows that the Druids had a pretty big hard-on when it came to giving one up to the gods.” The boy continued, and whilst Zaida wrinkled her nose at his choice of words, she was listening intently. “You ever hear of the Lindow man? Two-thousand-year-old body found in England? He was found strangled, head bashed in, throat cut - three-fold death. They also found pollen grains in his stomach. Guess what favourite Druid plant that was?”

“Mistletoe.” Deaton let out a heavy sigh. Zaida stood back, watching the interaction with keen eyes. This side of Stiles was incredibly attractive. She could watch him stand there and speak about information he’d put together and links he’d made until the cows came home and then some. But this feeling was new. She’d always thought Stiles was beautiful, but when he was like this? God, he was hot.

“I'm just telling you everything you already know, aren't I?” Stiles asked, though it seemed like it had been exactly what he’d expected from the man. Did he seriously suspect it was Deaton going around committing these murders? Deaton? The calm-spoken man who had helped them so much? “Then why aren't you telling us???”

“Maybe because when you've spent every moment of the last ten years trying to push something away - denying it, lying about it - it becomes a pretty powerful habit,” Deaton admitted that he was what they now both suspected him to be. A Druid. But was he the Druid they were looking for? Zaida truly didn’t think so. She trusted this man.

“All right, so this guy...is he a Druid?” Stiles questioned.

“We don’t know that it is a guy,” Zaida interjected, not wanting to cut off any demographic of suspects just yet.

“To answer your question, no. It's someone copying a centuries-old practice of a people who should have known better. Do you know what the word ‘Druid’ means in Gaelic?” Deaton leaned forward, looking at them closely. “‘Wise oak’. The Celtic Druids were close to nature. They believed they kept it in balance. They were philosophers and scholars - they weren't serial killers.”

“Yeah, well, this one is.” Stiles insisted, but their conversation was abruptly interrupted by the ringtone of Zaida’s phone. The opening lines to Keri Hilson’s ‘ Pretty Girl Rock ’ blared from the tiny phone speakers as she pulled the device out of her pocket and held it up to her ear, answering Lydia’s call.

“Hey, I can’t really talk right now. Can I call you back later?” She smiled apologetically at Deaton, then paused when she heard what the girl on the other end of the line was saying. “Wait, what ? Yeah, are you sure he's missing? Okay, we’ll meet you there.”

“What happened?” Stiles’ brows furrowed curiously.

“The music teacher’s been taken,” Zaida explained with worry in her hazel eyes.

“Oh, we gotta go.” Stiles nodded with an urgency in his tone.

“I’ll come with you. I’d like to see this for myself.” The doctor’s typically serene features even morphed into a concerned expression at this news, and Zaida knew it meant they were in deep shit.

[whumpacabra]

Confirmation

Held for ransom, fear of recapture, protectiveness, self sacrifice [failed], implied captivity, implied past torture, implied human trafficking, scar mention, military mention

[Directly follows Bad Trip]

“Well, do you want the good news, or the bad news?”

“Both, in whatever order makes me less likely to beat the shit out of you later.” Brian rubbed his eyes, glancing at the barn from his bedroom window. It was early still, a late frost withering the apple blossoms on the tree next to the house.

“Bad news is the O’Hares haven’t responded to the ransom. Which might not be all bad - ”

“Good news, Josh, before I kill you for calling me this early to tell me that.”

“Good news…is that we have someone who knows our resident, uh, ‘Bad Dog.’”

Brian swung his legs over the side of the bed, now wide awake. He had Lydia send Josh to do some snooping and asking around in his corner of the market. He didn’t actually expect the tech to find anything.

“And? What do they want with him… and what will they pay to get it?” Brian wasn’t a monster - but he was a businessman. As much as the terror in that man’s eyes chilled him to the core the night before, as much as his stomach turned at the stranger’s scarred back, imagining how much blood -

“Ah, well, they think they know him. They want additional confirmation.” Josh swallowed, uncharacteristically hesitant. “But they were very specific; we just gotta take a few more pictures and they agreed to pay 2 up-front and an additional 1.4 upon live delivery.”

“2 hundred thousand pounds? What are we, a thrift store - ”

“2 million pounds.” Josh’s voice trembled with excitement. “They just want him alive, if he’s their guy. No worries about damaged goods, no questions about behavior - this is better than anything we hoped the O’Hares would pay for their little black sheep.”

“Almost too good to be true. What do you have on the buyer?”

“American.” Brian scoffed, but Josh continued. “They were very particular about ensuring our business is…discrete. Can be on our side of the pond with a day’s notice. Asked around - some of my old buddies do business with them. They’re the real deal.”

“Buyer got a name?”

“Called themself Smith.”

“And they just want pictures?”

“Some…specific pictures.”

—

Alex had been expecting to be relieved of nightwatch. Not - this.

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Josh said - ”

“I don’t give a fuck about that wanker.” Alex swallowed his anger. He owed a lot to Brian. To their mutual debt collector. He couldn’t afford to drop this job, not now, but - this? “We don’t do red market. And that’s sounding pretty bloody red to me, Brian.”

“3.4 million pounds, Alex.” And, God, didn’t that have a nice ring to it? “We pay off Hummel and still have enough to scrape together something - something real.”

“If, if they’re legit and really going to pay up - ”

“They will. Josh has contacts who’ve worked with them before. They’re - they’re a reputable buyer.” Even Brian shuddered at the implications. Alex knew his friend didn’t have the stomach for this work, but if even Brian was willing to go along with this…

(Alex had done worse for less reward when he served. This didn’t have the excuse of Queen and country behind it. This was greed - hungry and desperate to be satiated.)

“I hate this.”

“Yeah. Hell, maybe we have the wrong fucker and this will all be a wash.”

“Not making me hate it less, boss.”

“Quit whining and grow a pair. I’ll get the camera, you - have Aaron take O’Hare for a walk. I don’t want to hear him bitch and whine the whole time.”

—

Just another job. Just another prisoner. Pull it together, Sergeant. Alex was psyching himself up, and failing miserably. He had done worse. (To people that deserved it - to terrorists and criminals and - people just like the person he was now.)

“What the fuck do - don’t fucking touch me - wait - ” O’Hare’s voice cracked, young and frightened as Aaron cut him from the feed trough and dragged him toward the barn’s back door. Alex unfortunately looked up and caught the kid’s eye, round freckled face draining white and pale with panic. “Don’t - hey, leave - don’t fucking touch him, don’t you dare - you fucking - fuck - ”

“Shut the hell up and walk.” Aaron wasn’t doing them any favors in keeping the O’Hare calm.

“No! East, East isn’t - don’t - please.”

For a split second, Alex actually considered the request. The kid was begging them, tears in his eyes, fighting Aaron of all people, because he was scared for this man. Terrified for him.

“What? You gonna pay us to leave him alone?” Brian held his ground well, motivated by revenge and spite to rub salt in the wound as Aaron yanked the O’Hare toward the door. Alex felt a flare of reluctant admiration for the way the kid kept struggling despite the bruises already forming under Aaron’s iron grip.

“No - I told you - fuck! Don’t touch him, don’t you dare just - aren’t you mad at me? Hurt me, just leave him the fuck alone - ” He whimpered as Aaron shifted to tangle a hand in the kid’s hair, a sob bubbling in his throat as Brian chuckled darkly.

“Oh, I think this is going to hurt you more than it hurts him.” The boss gave Aaron a nod. “Take him for a walk. I’ll call you when it’s done.”

Alex returned to his own thoughts, blocking out the O’Hare’s helpless pleas and thornless threats. He just needed to strip this guy, let Brian take whatever fucking pictures the buyer wanted to see, and that was it. Painless, provided the poor bastard knew what was good for him and didn’t fight back.

[Directly before Echo]

(Part of my Freelancers: Changing Tides series)

Taglist: @stargeode @sacredwrath @genuineformality

[morexfuntomiss]

{open to anyone}

“What the hell?” Lydia mumbled to herself as she sat up. She had had far too much to drink the night before, the whole evening a blur. She was used to travelling and meeting people she knew for a week before never seeing again, but this was certainly a first.

She had woken up in a room that wasn’t hers, a stranger a sleep beside her and a ring on her left finger. Leading her to sneak from the bed and begin snooping around the room, hoping to find some answers.

[descendantsworldbuilding]

VK Gangs

The Rotten 4                                                                                                            Leader: Melisandre Le Fae                                                                                      Second: Jadir Bin Jafer                                                                                          

The Lost Children                                                                                                    Leader: Anthony Tremaine                                                                                      Second: Maximus Mim                                                                                            

Diego’s Devils                                                                                                          Leader: Diego De Vil                                                                                                Second: Jada Balroulbadour                                                                                   

The Lost Revenge Pirate Crew/Uma’s Crew                                                          Captain: Uma Facilier                                                                                            First Mate: Harrison Hook                                                                                       

The Queen’s Fury Pirates/Harriet’s Crew                                                              Captain: Harriet Hook                                                                                              First Mate: Will Starkey                                                                                          

The Exiled                                                                                                              Leader: Megara Olympian                                                                                      Second: Charlie Hannon                                                                                          

Asylum Sisters                                                                                                        Leader: Tara D’Arques                                                                                            Second: Lydia Snoops                                                                                            

The Nightmares                                                                                                      Leader: Conner Creeper                                                                                          Second: Oscar Boogie                                                                                            

The Burbers                                                                                                            Leader: Jasmine Bin Jafer                                                                                      Second: Hugo Rourke                                                                                             

Silver Witches                                                                                                          Leader: Ginny Gothel                                                                                              Second Maddy Mim                                                                                                

The Hearts                                                                                                              Leader: Scarlett Hearts                                                                                            Second: Connie Cheshire                                                                                  

The Carnies                                                                                                            Leader: Hermione Bing                                                                                          Second: Harold Badun                                                                                            

The Claws                                                                                                                Leader: Malcolm Mor’du                                                                                          Second: Nancy Nanny                                                                                            

The Merchant Punks                                                                                                Leader: Leo Silver                                                                                                    Second: Violet Bogs                                                                                                

Freddy’s Angels                                                                                                      Leader: Freddy Frollo                                                                                              Second: Jonathan Facilier                                                                                      

The Gypsy Kids                                                                                                    Leader: Esme Ayres                                                                                                Second: Alia Green                                                                                                

The Brawlers                                                                                                        Leader: Dominic Salt                                                                                    Second: Killian Turner

These are the gangs that have been acknowledged by the other VKs and have spots in the GC, sometimes other groups will pop up, but they don’t tend to last long. The Leaders are the people who lead their gang, then the second is like the next in charge, sort of like a right-hand man. Some gangs also have stipulations for joining, (I’ll make separate posts about each of the gangs later.

[isleofdarkness]

The Isle kids all get weird service dogs. Lydia gets a Caucasian shepherd. Ace gets a rottweiler. Riah has a Tibetan mastiff. Nikita gets an Irish wolfhound. Rose gets a doberman. Kira gets a chihuahua. Constantine gets a weimaraner. Mischa gets an Australian cattle dog.

Ben is ready to rip gis hair out. Would it kill the Isle kids to be normal for once in their lives?

[wizisbored]

Arrange I'm begging you pls oh pls elaborate on the severence au it sounds so so silly

Who else is severed, what Kickstarts the hey this is fucked up plot, who is our helly r

so im trying to keep this au/story simple (dear god i do not need another sprawling worldbuilding project) so its mostly going to focus on charles and lydia so idk how much i would use this idea BUT adam and barabra. they think they are regular severed workers. or, at least, they assume they are. in actual fact they are ghosts who dont remember being alive and are now in an eternal unbearably mushy office romance. alternatively, they are completely normal people who work in the employee childcare.

the focus here is less on the nightmare world that is being a severed worker and more on what theyre doing down there and lydia snooping around. so i guess the closest helly equivalent is lydia, but its in no way an actual equivalency. innie charles is actually relatively content. but anyway, plot.

so as it turns out, charles works for juno. he reviews sequences of patterns and symbols and flags the ones that have a particular Vibe, sort of like the scary numbers. meanwhile, as charles is leaving each day, the guy at the desk keeps pushing him to take advantage of the on-site childcare that his teenage daughter does not need. but when she finds out about it she leaps on this prime snooping oppurtunity and convinves him to take her. her first day there she notices that the board game cupboard is weirdly well stocked with ouijia boards and tarot decks, and starts pulling cards to look busy while she scopes out the place. and downstairs, charles starts getting symbols with vibes.

[thelastranger]

Hey ... you did say you were in a prompts mood ... could I get

- you went through my stuff and found the ring I was going to use to propose and how dare you go through my personal stuff that’s so rude and invasive but more importantly will you marry me?

Lydia/Ingvar marriage backstory ✨✨

It started out as most things did: with an innocent request.

Stefan had asked Lydia to grab a pair of gloves and the nearest house had been Ingvar's. While Ingvar's extra wide gloves definitely would not fit Stefan properly, all Stefan needed them for was "to keep my bloody fingers from freezing and cracking off like icicles," as he watched Hal and Jesper make ice sculptures.

Why Stefan would go to an ice sculpture contest without gloves was beyond Lydia's comprehension, but she didn't mind the excursion. Maybe Ingvar would be there; he'd been scarce the past few days and it would be nice to see him.

Lydia slipped into Ingvar's cabin and looked around the main room. Where would Ingvar store extra gloves? He didn't have a lot of chests or drawers in the entrance way. She slipped into the tucked away bedroom, heading for the side table by the bed where Ingvar kept his glasses in overnight.

There wasn't a pair of fur lined gloves in the long drawer, but towards the shadowy back, a piece of parchment tickled her fingers as she grazed a small wooden box.

Out of curiousity, Lydia plucked the paper out of the drawer, the quest for gloves temporarily forgotten. The parchment had her name on it and several lines that had been scribbled out. She peered closer at it, trying to read through the heavy lines. Something about her hand, maybe?

At the sound of the door bursting open, Lydia whirled around and nearly shut the drawer in surprise. Ingvar appeared, his steps uneven and frantic as he made his way into the bedroom. "Is everything all right?" Ingvar wasn't usually this ungainly.

He stood there for a moment, his eyes dropping to the piece of parchment in Lydia's hand. An indiscernible emotion flashed across his face and Ingvar was silent and still.

"Stefan told me you were searching through my house. What did you find?"

His back was turned away from Lydia as he rifled through the drawer, desparate to find something. Ingvar didn't give Lydia a chance to answer the question.

"I can't believe you went through my things."

"I'm sorry," apologized Lydia. She hadn't thought it would be a big deal with the drawer- they had always prided themsleves as being open and communicative as a couple- but if it meant that much to him, it wouldn't happen again. "I was just searching for some gloves and saw in the back-"

Ingvar stepped and pivoted back so he was facing Lydia. "I didn't plan for this to happen quite so quickly or in my bedroom, but I guess now is the time."

"What is happening?" The situation was changing so fast, Lydia could barely keep up with what was going on. First Ingvar was upset about the snooping and then this?

"Lydia Demarek, you're too nosy for your own good, oh so perceptive, and the love of my life. Will you marry me?"

Her hands flew to her mouth as she finally comprehended what Ingvar was doing. He opened a carved pine box and kneeled down.

It was a simple bronze ring, two bands elegantly twisted together with a dark emerald shining brightly in the middle. One band was engraved with a simple feather pattern and the other band had small trees encircling it.

"Why now?" was all Lydia could utter. He really was proposing to her.

"You found the ring box. I might as well not wait."

"No I didn't!"

"You mean you didn't see the box?"

"Not at all! All I saw was the paper!" "You're the best huntress in Hallasholm and you didn't see your wedding ring box!" Ingvar laughed and swept Lydia around in a hug, lifting her off the ground. When he put her down, Lydia pulled him close for a kiss.

After they broke apart, Ingvar shook his head. "I became an anxious wreck and ignored a month's worth of planning and I didn't even need to."

"I still haven't answered. You could try again in another month," suggested Lydia innocently. "Propose again and I'll give you my answer again."

"Does that mean that's a yes?"

Lydia grinned at her fiancé. "Yes."

[spurgie-cousin]

Do u have any info on the Platts? Whats going on with them right now? I don't have insta

I follow them but there doesn't seem to be a ton going on right now that I can think of (assuming you mean the Plaths but correct me if I'm wrong):

Ethan and Olivia moved to Minnesota I guess to be near some of her family. She seems to fucking hate it as far as the weather and general geography lol but she keeps insisting that it's worth it to be near the family that is supportive. At this moment they're on a vacation in the Caribbean I think, probably for that reason. She's still doing wedding photography and planning for the spring season.

Lydia seems to spend a lot of time with her local youth group. She is planning to release another religious-themed song or album or something soon and said she's currently working on that.

Micah is still modeling out west and it seems to be going pretty well, people spot his photos out in the wild pretty frequently and he's been spotted on TV attending some big name Hollywood events (incl a Snoop Dogg thing where he wore a weed-themed outfit). His social media posts usually consist of baiting his gay/female audience with workout posts or context-less pics and videos of him out on the town or traveling.

Moriah took a pretty significant social media break. The only things I remember seeing her post about in the last year or so are that she's gotten a puppy named Blackjack and finished bartending school. She also sometimes shares pics hanging out with her siblings or dad.

Whenever I see family pics, Barry is usually only the parent present. There are rumors Kim may have had to do a rehab stint but I haven't seen much on that tbh.

[thetowerr]

TIME&PLACE: 9:31a, Lydia’s flat. WHO: @lydiacaine

He only came to see her at night. If it was daytime, and the two were together, it was because their night had followed them into tomorrow. Like this morning. The sun was peeking through her window, yet, there he laid in her sheets. It was always her place. Never his. He could stop by when he wanted to be there, leave when he didn’t.   Boone didn’t text much. Never called. When he wanted something, he just showed up. When he wanted her, he was there.

And he was there a lot. 

Last night he came by late. She invited him stay. He didn’t always, but he did this time. They fucked. They talked. They fucked some more. She fell asleep. He snooped. What had he been looking for? Honestly anything. Did her Jolly Rancher ass brother come by and leave anything interesting behind? What about her best friend, you know, the traitor? Any evidence she had stopped by? Anything leftover by her other male visitors? Were there any other male visitors? Quite bold of Boone to even give a shit, they weren’t exclusive. They weren’t boyfriend / girlfriend. They weren’t friends. They weren’t anything. Lydia was someone Boone kept around because he’d know she’d be useful to him someday.  Hell, she already was. He was fucking her, remember?

While still sitting on her bed, Boone put his feet on the ground and leaned to grab his pants, to get out his pack of cigs. It was about that time. When he did so, he heard shuffling on the bed. Boone looked back at her. 

“Lyd?” he spoke, trying to whisper but his gritty voice came off hoarse. “You awake?”

[batcavescolony]

Teen Wolf Movie I've finally watched it, here's my thoughts:

Are we just keeping the triskelion box in a restaurant on a shelf? Like the thing that's holding the Nogitsune? A dark evil spirit of chaos. Just on a shelf like 20ft from the door?

Aww Scotts a vet, good for him. "We call him The Alpha" cute. He's such a good vet

Did everyone but Malia leave Beacon Hills....that was her s5 fear oof

Jackson paper sorting scene is giving me Stiles vibes

Eli's cute. I like him.

Tyler H, giving me Superman vibes, he plays 'Dad who loves their kid but also feels like they're completely messing up' so well

Oh we can swear now!

Since when could you expel the Nogitsune with riddles, that would have been nice to know before.

Eli sleep walks? Knows where the tree is? Snooping in the woods? 👀 a clue? (Spoiler it's not)

The Nogitsune is back to Rhys form.... Rhys doesn't deserve that. I think he's been through enough

Did Allison come back with red nail polish on, completely naked but painted nails?

AHHHHHHH ARGENTS FACE WHEN HE SAW ALLISON

So nice of Chris to keep clothes in Allison's size in the bunker

Peter lol dramatic as always

Malia seems off to me, like maybe shes just pissed at everyone for leaving her but still somethings off.

Did someone read Liam up on the Oni because he wasn't around for Nogitsune? He didn't come around till the next season

I'M SORRY Eli+Scott are SPRINTING and Allison is like 🚶‍♀️taking a stroll

Chris, Peter, Melissa 👀👀 hear me out

AHHHHH ELI AND DEREK ❤❤❤

Why does Liam have like no lines?

CAN DEREK STOP GETTING HURT FOR FIVE MINUTES also like 'remember who you are' ok Mufasa

I mean this as nicely as possible why is Jackson here?

Peter wtf? *SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF* "theirs blood here" no shit

Liam wolves out every scene but Jackson can't have his tail?

Victoria/Nogitsune is a jump scare

They really broke up Stiles and Lydia? I don't even really ship them and I'm upset.

I'm sorry I can't get over the swears like Malia can say fucker now

Hey so I get the sentimentality and shit but like respectfully it's been 15 years and how long did they know Allison? What 3 years? I don't want to be a ass but FIFTEEN YEARS

also is Allison still like 17? She remembers her life up to 17 when she died? Like yeah she looks older because the actress aged but she's 17 mentality right?

Hey what about The Shugendo scroll? "You can't be a fox and a wolf"

BULL SHIT B-U-L-L S-H-I-T I call BULL SHIT fuck that I'm sorry why the fuck? I knew he died but that is the STUPIDEST way wtf

Am I the only one that doesn't think Scott should adopt Eli? Like he hasn't seen him in 12 years and he's gonna be dealing with Allison. And does Scott live in Beacon Hills? Like tbh Noah should take him just because at least they know each other better?

Over all: I want to know what happened to everyone (Isaac, Theo, Alec, Kira, Monroe and her hunters, Kate, Cora, Stiles, Corey, etc). I feel like some of it was iffy. Idk like it's been over 10 years since the end of the show but Malia and Scott are still weird around each other? What happened? No mention of Kira? Liam and Scott didn't interact at all? A lot of unanswered questions. I'd watch it again for Eli and Derek but overall, it's fine.