#people who try to make it look easy get their ass sorted out by competitors all the fucking time

[jade-curtiss]

No one solves ethics here, he's just exposing shit and bouncing people out the only way I can.

[katesadventureworld]

    The Grinder Experience

** DISCLAIMER this blog features topics words and language that may not be suitable for under 18s adult supervision advised.**

Hey boos…  so, this was meant to be a sort of lighthearted look into the world of using Grinder and other dating apps. but recently I’ve been hit with a reminder to why so many people like myself find it hard to find dates, or struggle with there mental health…

Before we get into that let me explain Grinder! I’ve been on grinder on and off for quite a number of years now in that time I’ve made 2 friends and had to block at least 200 people…. so why is this? Well in general My experience with grinder had been full of fake profiles creepy old guys and people who want to blind date apparently. ( There profile has NO photos and they then send a dick pic as an opening… ew.) It’s an extremely frustrating app trying to find someone close by and who is genuine. (I’m also very fussy. so that doesn’t help me personally) Though on occasion there are some lovely people who pop up who just want to chat or leave a really nice complement even though they know they aren’t what I’m looking for.  But for the most half I’m bombarded with messages such as ( And these are genuine messages) “ Fuck me ur hot I’d deffo smash ur tight little pussy” “come sit on daddys lap baby ill show you a good time” or my personal dis-favorite “Wow your hot Ide deffo bend you over with my hand on your throat and fill you up with my cum then eat your ass out you want that baby “ Safe to say anyone who sends me those as opening lines get blocked instantly like WHY would you send messages like that sometimes accompanied with the worst dick pics I’ve ever seen as an opening WHO IS THIS WORKING ON! Its so distasteful and disrespectful and makes the App a vile place to be.

Before I move on to the competitors (Tinder POF Hinge and Badoo ) lets address my biggest issue with dating apps, Mainly Grinder and why this isn’t the light hearted look I wanted it to be.

You see, I identify as a “Trans woman” as this is easier to explain my situation (Please read my previous Blog “Me and Him” for more..) This can give some people easy ammo to use if I ignore them or simply don’t reply and delete there messages, it seems if you don’t reply they take it as I must try again and again and each time get a little bit more ruder, in the past I’ve been called all sorts and perhaps there is another blog in there somewhere about that, But just today as I write this post I was on grinder checking my messages and I received a message from a guy I simply didn’t reply too from 2 days ago, - I’ve been busy!  So his simple way of getting my attention and ending our chat was this. again, this Is a genuine message “ You are an arrogant man” now, Those who know me know I simply do not and will not accept any slander like this aimed at me or to anyone I know that said this hit me hard I’m already struggling with my MH at the moment although I don’t talk about it, so this comment has sent me into a spiral.  I AM NOT A MAN. IM NOT MANLY IM NOT A CROSSDRESER I AM NOT A TRANSVESTITE I AM A WOMAN.  I do constantly worry that I don’t look beautiful or feminine enough something that’s led me to hide away at home rather than go out shopping this week or do something I wanted to do which was write up some blogs in a coffee shop for a change of scene. I’ve been unable to be free due to my own thoughts getting to me so when I received this message I just wanted to try and scream at them Ironically I did reply with “WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME” and before I had a chance to get a reply or block them they had blocked me, so I guess I won without trying but this isn’t the first comment of this type I’ve got on this app, And although its slowed down a lot it still happens and it’s really not right in this day an age..

It’s only fair I now delve into the other apps I use So how do the other apps compare with grinder?

-Tinder … YAWN… same type of “Fuck boys” over and over I’m tired of swiping left! But those who I have matched with seem genuine with only one “Bott” now and again but they are so easy to figure out and block it doesn’t affect the overall experience of swiping left.. 3/10

-Badoo …. Notification central… and my god it’s a bit weird it had the same features as tinder with more options to see people and chat or send likes on their photos, but it just seems a little confusing like do people see the likes or what?? You also can’t message unless you match so what’s the point of being able to see them off the swipe feature?  So far seem like lots of genuine people on there and although I don’t think I’ll find Mr/Mrs/Them/There Right I think it’s a great place to make friends. BUT MY GOD ARE THE NOTIFICATIONS ANNOYING!  1/10

-  POF… Perhaps the most legendary app who hasn’t been on it right! Well, it seems to have died off almost completely, The old features I once enjoyed are gone, and the profiles seem to be people who forgot to delete them! shame as it could be good but they ruined it ,  1/10

- Hinge … well they say in there marketing it’s the app designed to be deleted.  YES it sure is get it in the bin its awful. You get like 5 likes a day.  There is so many tabs at the bottom that seem to do nothing to help you find someone it really is crap. 0/10 would not recommend.

And as for grinder….. Well, what can I say, its got me some attention and I’ve met up with one bad person. (currently writing that blog but its very hard to write.)  but also met up with a handful of respectable people I’ve had fun with. It’s not an app I want to use. But at the same time where would I be without it, I check it daily and nothing ever changes, 5/10 for me…  

With all of this said I am still trying to find genuine people to date but I’m so exhausted with it all. And must add that if I get ANY messages from people on grinder that do not match what I’m looking for to save the hassle of potential spam/ Hate messages I do block them straight away… maybe one day ill find an app that works or who knows meet someone who makes me want to never use them again!

Thanks for reading boos be great to know what you think of my blogs and what you experiences on apps have been I’ve been Katie-Mae Ellis and this has been a Kates adventures blog.

[shanastoryteller]

Do you think madame Yu would have treated Wei Wuxian better if he was a she?

if wei wuxian had been a girl, she would have been engaged to jiang cheng

she’s the daughter of cangse sanren. she’s skilled enough to be the first disciple as a teenager, which means she already had to have been impressive as a dirty street orphan. it’s obvious. it’s easy. what else would they do with her? have her marry someone else, and have children with some random, lesser cultivator? of course not. she will be married to the heir to lotus pier and her children will be heir to lotus pier and she will take madame yu’s place as the wife to the sect leader

(i don’t think that endears her to madame yu in the slightest. i think wei wuxian looks a little too much like her mother. but it makes it impossible for her to insist that wei wuxian is just another cultivator, that she’s an usurper or competitor. who does she have to compete against? she’s to be the wife of the sect leader of lotus pier. besides, with her engagement to jiang cheng announced almost as soon as she arrives, it makes it impossible for people to gossip about wei wuxian being jiang fengmian’s child. because if that was the case, then of course he wouldn’t have arranged for her and jiang cheng to marry. so it tempers madame yu’s actions, but not her distaste)

she shares a room with jiang yanli when she arrives and jiang yanli loves her instantly, easily, and it’s not complicated for her. wei wuxian is to be her future sister in law, after all. she’s also to inherit the home that jiang yanli is going to be forced to leave, but she can’t hold a grudge about that, not when wei wuxian is so scared and uncertain and loves her so easily

jiang cheng sort of understands that this new girl is going to be his wife one day. but. if it looks like a sister and acts like a sister and pushes him into the pond like a sister and kicks his ass in training then gloats about it like a sister – well, that’s a sister. they argue and fight and are best friends and everyone coos about what a perfect match they are but they just. don’t. they kiss when they’re fourteen and it’s terrible. “maybe we’ll like it better when we’re older,” wei wuxian says, scrubbing at her mouth.

“maybe,” jiang cheng says dubiously, resisting the urge to copy wei wuxian’s motions even though he’s not a child.

but it doesn’t really matter. because they’re great partners, they fight well together and lead well together and all of lotus pier has no problem accepting that jiang cheng and wei wuxian will one day get married and lead them. it makes so much sense. jiang cheng with his terrible temper and wei wuxian with her infinite patience, the way she can endure and diffuse the worst of jiang cheng’s tantrums with a grin. of course, that’s only when she feels like it, and most of the time she and jiang cheng are doing their best to drive the other insane until jiang yanli breaks it up with some freshly made soup and a stern glance promising something a lot less nice than soup if they don’t knock it off.

and jiang cheng and wei wuxian know it too. the whole marriage part isn’t something they’re particularly excited about, but they talk, sometimes, about what it’ll be like when they’re running the clan together. it also gives wei wuxian a sense of ownership and security in the clan. she’s not there on sufferance. she’s not charity. she’s the future wife to their next clan head. this is as much her clan as jiang cheng’s and no one ever thinks otherwise.

then they go to cloud recesses. jiang cheng and wei wuxian don’t at all act like respectable betrothed except when they’re busy being snooty in front of jin zixuan – like, see, this is how good fiances treat each other, you jerk. jiang yanli has given up trying to get them to stop and the rest of the clan thinks it’s hilarious how wei wuxian will go from having jiang cheng in a headlock while he curses her out and tries to stomp on her feet to them walking arm in arm, noses in the air, as jiang cheng opens doors for her and pulls out her seat and they defer to each other is warm, polite tones that they only use when trying to convey to jin zixuan how much of an asshole he is.

then they actually get to cloud recesses which contains two very important, devastating things

wen qing and lan wangji

neither of them have ever had this problem before. unfortunately, the person they would normally go to with these new, weird feelings would be each other, and that doesn’t seem right. jiang yanli is the next option, but like, that’s not fair, especially when jin zixuan is being such a huge jerk.

so they eventually confess to each other and are mutually relieved that the other isn’t mad at them, but also. that doesn’t solve their problems over wen qing and lan wangji being beautiful and also assholes.

“do we have a type?” wei wuxian asks. “wen qing is pretty cute.”

jiang cheng pulls a face. “lan wangji looks like he wants to kill me all the time, so no, i don’t really see the appeal there.”

of course it takes these two lovable idiots a while to figure out the reason that lan wangji hates jiang cheng is because of his stupid, massive crush on wei wuxian. they can’t decide if that’s a win or not. wei wuxian eventually pries out of wen ning that wen qing does think jiang cheng is kind of cute, which is definitely a win.

“it’s, like, not cheating if we’re not married yet, right?” wei wuxian asks, her head in jiang cheng’s lap as he braids her hair into something that isn’t an embarrassment. which, whatever, she can still wipe the floor with him when her hair’s in a ponytail.

“right,” he says decisively.

now they just have to convince wen qing and lan wangji of that.

[braindead-virtually-tv]

You've been making jokes, but I genuinely want to know what you think of the whole Punk situation

Oh yeesh, this is gonna be a whole thing.

I'd like to pre-face this by saying, no one is going to know what went on backstage this weekend for 100% other than the people involved, reports from 'sources' and second hand accounts are never going to accurate and can be easily twisted.

I should probably also explain that I have no attachment to Punk, nostalgic or otherwise. He was around when I did watch wrestling years ago, I liked him but he was far from any sort of favourite. By the time of the Pipebomb & Summer of Punk I had completely tuned out of wrestling. The next time I had actually heard CM Punk's name was during his, less than stellar, UFC run.

If this is not a work, which to other people's annoyence is the stance I believe, then I don't think it really surprises me. Punk's always been like this in one way or another. Now, don't get me wrong, I am confident that some of his grievances he has aired about his time in WWE were true. You'll never catch me flanking for a company, no matter the company. However I take issue with the fact that he wasn't 'pushed enough'. Man held that top title for ages, was insanely over and the top guy for while. The whole thing over other stars, namely Cena & The Rock main eventing WM is moot to me. We the wrestling community, are a niche group. We were never, and never will be, WWEs target audience. WWEs income doesn't come from the likes of us, so why try and make a, notably very fickle community, happy? No matter who was in that supposed top spot at that time was always going to have to play second fiddle to two Legends who has more mainstream appeal than literally anyone else. To pile on comments that Punk had made through the years, his claims that he was mistreated by WWEs doctors were proven in court to be at best, exaggerated and at worst, false.

Punk has made his bed appealing to the niche community of those who think their smarter than the business. Fans who read Dirtsheets, know the history and in some small cases think they know the industry better than industry professionals. Maybe to Punk's detriment, it's went to his head and drank the Koolaid of the IWC. It lead to an entitled attitude that for a small part isn't unwarranted, he's always been talented, but has made him quite the egomaniac.

I actually tuned in to that first Rampage where Punk returned. And for a good five minutes I was in awe. It seemed like an amazing moment.

Until he opened his mouth.

Instead of having an amazing return, he chose again to appeal to the people who've been feeding his ego and it was clearly evident that this man hadn't changed. And instead of wanting to be in AEW because he loved wrestling so much, as he claimed, he was there for spite and spite alone. It was clear to me that the people around him wouldn't benefit from having this long-awaited star in this company and Punk would stop at nothing to 'stick it to the man'.

There are people in AEW who have been negatively affected by Punk, both previous to his start with the company and during it.

So to be honest, I'm not surprised something like this hasn't happened earlier. This is my own opinion and baseless speculation, but I think Cody Rhodes saw the writing on the wall.

I think AEW's lack of structure doesn't help this either. In hopes of setting themselves apart from their competitors, they've stuck too many cooks in the kitchen so to speak. And that, only three years in, is coming to bite them in the ass.

The second option, the one that is a little less likely to me, is that this is all a work. Which tbh, I think is a lot worse for AEWs standing.

It would be very easy to put the blame on one man if this was all not a work. But for this to be a work AEW are putting themselves in the position to look like absolute fools. AEW have had a success in way by making some stories feel all that more real by blending kayfabe and reality. Which can be an amazing thing if done right. However making your company look like the inmates run the asylum is driving even their more devoted part of their fan base away. It gets to a point where you think, 'Is this all worth it for a cheap pop?'. And even if it was a work, it goes to show that Punk will continue to want to overshadow everyone else to the apparent detriment of others. Ironically becoming something he had previously denounced.

So yeah that's all I've got on the Punk situation. I'm probably gonna get some flack but I don't think I've ever really shied away from my own opinion for the sake of others. This was nearly an fucking essay though, so other than making light-hearted joke, this is probably the last time I'm going to speak on this (but don't quote me on that).

[nanoland]

new chapter (supernatural fic)

(earlier parts are here; whole thing is here) 

Clean Hands, part 3 

Crowley/Castiel/Dean Winchester, warning for violence and spn demons being spn demons   

0   

Another day, another assassination attempt.

“Congratulations, sir,” said Paula, bustling in with his coffee and daily planner. “That brings it to eight, yes? I recall your making some remark about throwing a small office party if we hit ten before the end of the month.”

Lifting the corpse off the row of retractable spikes he’d installed in his desk, Crowley grunted, “It was a joke. On the other hand, maybe it would be good for morale. Make the blighters less determined to snuff me.”

“I’ll add it to the calendar. Sir, your ten ‘o clock is waiting in the lobby. Should I send him in?”

Technically, ‘ten ‘o clock’ didn’t exist in Hell. Time didn’t exist in Hell.

But by God, it did for Paula.

Infamous among Crowley’s minions, she ruled his appointment diary with an iron fist (well – iron talons, more accurately) and kept a horseman’s pick tucked neatly under her workstation for anyone who was more than five minutes late.

She’d been the most competent corporate PA in the business when Crowley had purchased her soul in exchange for a medical breakthrough that had beaten down her cancer and allowed her those ten precious years. It would, in fact, have allowed her a normal human lifespan, if not for Crowley’s hounds.

(Her wish was among his favourites and her contract had pride of place in his trophy cabinet. She could have just said ‘cure me’; she’d dreamed bigger. Ambition! Now that was what Crowley liked to see. Very few people who sold their souls managed to leave the world a better place than they’d found it.

Truthfully, arranging the breakthrough had taken an amount of power on his part that, ordinarily, he’d have objected to. Ever since the Zuckerberg Incident of 2004, Crowley had maintained a policy against granting wishes that fundamentally altered the pace and trajectory of human scientific development. But he’d wanted her. Reliable PAs were like gold dust and they almost always went to bloody Heaven. “And for what, I ask you?” he’d said to Dean once. “How much admin is really involved in keeping people locked in a lotus-eater machine?”)  

“The ten… oh, piss. It’s Alan, isn’t it? Yes, yes. Let’s get this over with. Send him in.”  

Another day, another fucking workplace harassment mess to sort out. How many more sodding seminars was he going to have to host before they all got it through their heads that biting off a co-worker’s arm was not a viable long-term conflict resolution strategy?

Sigh.

It was only after four meetings and sixteen calls that Crowley remembered he’d not yet disposed of the assassin.

“I suppose I should make an example of you,” he huffed, already imagining it.

The hassle.

The bother.

Getting an apron on.

Finding the hammer.

Lugging the stupid bastard up a ladder and nailing him to the office noticeboard by his scrote.

He could always ask Paula to do it. But, bless her heart, she’d only been a demon for six years and arranging a corpse for maximum intimidation was just as much a matter of practice as talent.

As Crowley was fetching the ladder, Gwen from Legal arrived whey-faced and dogged by two dozen assistants and interns.

“Sir, it’s a catastrophe,” she wailed.

Five minutes later, Crowley was back at his desk, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Avoidable. Utterly, pathetically avoidable. All you had to do was amend the contract to state that the phrase ‘ten years’ refers solely and specifically to Earth’s orbital period, not the orbital period of the contractee.”

Gwen hung her head. “I don’t know what to tell you, sir. Finding qualified staff to manage this sort of deal is tricky. When people with, you know, science degrees and stuff die and are damned, the assholes over at the Experimental Punishments Department always snatch ‘em up first. It’s a real problem.”

“I’ll have a word with them. Ugh – alright, alright, let’s try and sort this out. How long is a Martian year?”

“The internet says six hundred and eighty-seven days.”

“Damn. Almost twice as long,” Crowley grumbled, pouring himself a drink. “What did he even want from us? He’s a billionaire. The list of things they can’t get without our help grows shorter by the day.”

“He wanted to guarantee that he’d be the first man on Mars, sir; that none of his competitors would get there before he did.”

“Wait. Hold on. The thing he wished for and the mechanism by which he’s attempting to fuck us over are one and the same? Oh, no, no, no. I’m not going to take that cheeky bollocks lying down. Get the head of Research and Development in here, now. We’re going to find out how to crash a spaceship.”

Gwen’s gaze flickered to the assassin’s corpse. “Um.”

“Fuck,” Crowley muttered.

At which point Paula tapped on the door to ask if he wanted to reschedule his next five meetings, because unless he could deal with them all in a grand total of twelve minutes, he’d be late for his call with the NRA’s chairman.

When Castiel arrived – without an appointment, as per usual, but Paula had standing instructions to let him through – he found Crowley resting his head on his desk, fantasising about being a paperweight.

“I’ve come for more sex,” he explained.

Dragging himself from despair’s depths, Crowley slurred, “T’riffic.”

He instructed his meat suit to sit up and turn on the winning smile. Unlike more reliable vehicles, possessed bodies didn’t have dashboard lights to indicate an exhausted battery; instead, it announced its displeasure by growing three new tumours.

Castiel stepped back, confused. Displeased. “You’re usually more enthusiastic than this. Why is your desk covered in diagrams of rockets? Is this a ‘new hobby’?”

Exaggerated finger quotes. Damn him to the pit, he was precious.

“Kitten, rest assured I have only two hobbies and they both dress badly.”

He expected retaliation for that. Castiel hated being reminded that Crowley regularly dallied with his favourite human. It came as a surprise, then, when the angel simply reached out and firmly gripped his shoulder, declaring, “You need to rest.”

Wings flapped. Suddenly, Crowley was standing in front of a wide, glassy lake, surrounded by dense forest, and in the distance…

“Is that Mount Fuji?”

“Indeed,” said Castiel, smiling briefly. “She’s a childhood friend. I first visited when she was little more than an unusually picturesque bump in the ground.”  

There was no one around. There was nothing around. No boats on the lake, no fishermen, no families on holiday, not even the distant roar of traffic. Just them, the view, the water, and a – huh – a bright orange tent pitched nearby.

“This is where I come to relax,” Castiel informed him, opening up the zipper.

“Whose is it?”

“Mine.”

“Huh. I wasn’t aware that you…”

“That I what?”

“Owned things. Or even grasped the concept of owning things. Don’t give me that look; you’re the one who’s worn the same socks ever since you slipped into that God-bothering flesh puppet.”

Castiel sniffed. “Materialism is a disease. But I’m not a child, Crowley. For your information, in my time on Earth I have owned many things.”

Always fun to ruffle the pretty bird’s feathers. “Yeah? How many of them were hand-me-downs from the Hardy Boys?”

“Most of them,” he said, levelly. “With the exception of this tent and your ass, demon.”

A pin drop pause.

Castiel maintained unblinking eye contact for exactly twelve seconds, then turned and crawled into his neon den.

Practically vibrating with adoration, Crowley followed.

It was evident that Castiel, despite his laudable efforts to create a space for himself in a world that had no space for him, didn’t entirely grok camping.

There were no sleeping bags. Instead, the tent’s bottom was covered in duvets, dozens of them, soft and fresh as if they’d come directly from the shop – or, more accurately, Crowley suspected, someone’s washing line.

“I cured her dog’s foot infection,” Castiel said, somewhat defensively, settling into his cotton and fleece nest.

“Ah. And she was so grateful she said you could make off with all her laundry, hm?”

“She… did not say those words, precisely. But it was heavily implied.”

Thank sin this was only a meat suit. Thank sin, thank everything that Castiel couldn’t see the expression of hopeless, pitiable fondness that would have adorned Crowley’s true face at that moment.

It was a relief when Castiel, without further ado, started undressing. Crowley, copying him, took the opportunity to talk sense into himself.

Come on. Grow up. Get it together. You know what you are. More importantly, you know what he is. Ageless. Unfathomable. Demons, at the end of the day, are just distilled human nastiness, but him? He existed before humans. Before microbes. He’s nice to babies and bees and pot plants and Dean and that makes it easy to forget that… that…

Oh, yes. Remember when he came to Hell? The first time he saw Dean; the start of their epic, eternal, infuriating romance? And where were you? That’s right. You were with the others, standing there slack-jawed and helpless, like dinosaurs watching the comet hit. Like children gazing up at a mushroom cloud.

Twelve thousand. That’s how many demons he burned out of existence, without even trying. Twelve thousand.

Do you think he ever thinks about them? Do you think he even noticed?

Twelve thousand.

Do you think he knows how close you were to being one of them?

Do you think he cares?

He’s nice to babies. Bees. Pot plants. Dean. You, even, sometimes. He’s sweet. He’s got big, soft blue eyes and hair that aches to be tussled. He’s a top-tier, world-class fuck. And at any moment, for any reason, he could end you, easy as blowing away dust, and you can’t say for certain he would even remember your name in a month’s time.

“What? No,” Castiel protested when Crowley kissed him. “We’re here to rest, Crowley.”

Drawing back, Crowley leered. “That’s what you want to do, is it? Rest?”

Perpetually thirsty tart that he was, Castiel bit his lip and looked torn. “I… yes.”

Crowley pouted.

Firmer now, Castiel said, “We will rest for a while first. Then we will have sex. Is that satisfactory?”

No sooner had Crowley resignedly nodded than Castiel seized him and finished undressing him, tossing his undershirt and socks out the tent. When they were both naked, the cold air coming off the lake making Crowley shiver, Castiel burrowed into his pilfered pile and dragged the demon down with him.

“Rest first,” he ordered him. “Sex afterwards. No, no – stop that. Afterwards, I said.”

Crowley groaned and whined and fussed, but obeyed.  

And bugger him gently if it wasn’t actually pleasant, very pleasant, to lie there with Castiel’s strong arms locked around his torso, toasty warm under layers of wool while, outside, the lake lapped at its bank and wind rustled through the trees. No assassins. No paperwork. No blood. Everything nice and quiet. Everything calm and clean.

Then Castiel sighed, a hot puff against the back of Crowley’s neck, and said, “You know, the thing that vexes me most about Dean is the way he…”

[what-a-messsss]

2x3 rewatch

I keep forgetting that Brach is still in S2.  Oops.  Also, I apparently went to check something in S6 last time I watched something, so it started at 6x2 instead of 2x3 and I yelled.  But anyway, on with this mess.  “Death Came in Like Thunder” apparently.  It sure did.

Ah yes, let us not forget that Branch is MANLEH.  This shall be proven to us by him murdering his cousin, Trunk, with big ax.  Chop chop, Branch, kill Trunk.  But oh no, must also show that he is People Smart, so must also lose because this makes him likable.  And many white people clap.  Yaaaay.  But be sure to say, “I let him win, Ferg,” while your competitor is right next to you, so he almost surely heard you.  Good good.

Oh Ferg.  Could you look more gormless if you tried?  (I mean, probably not, since presumably that was the goal of the actor, so he would have been trying.  But still.)  Bb.

Heh, nice thematic cut to Walt also chopping wood.  And YAY, Henry’s gorgeous truck (and gorgeous self).  I’m just going to take a moment to appreciate the fact that Henry rolls up and just helps himself to some of Walt’s thermos of coffee.  Because of course he does.  But I do so love these touches that they put in that do underline the fact that they are married have been besties for going on 40 years.  Also, I love this jacket of Henry’s.  The woven top, jean jacket sort of one?  Yeah, top 5 costume pieces of his for me.  (Also on that list, all basically tied with each other, basically any pants he wears.  I am reminded, when they cut back out to a full body shot.  Because I am very shallow, and he is very pretty.)

Haaaaaa.  And of course Cady talked to Henry before she talked to Walt.  Walt is a butthead.  And, yeah yeah, she just found out that he’d been lying to her for over a year, but that just proves my point that Walt is a butthead.  And we’re back to this whole idea that she left her phone, which just... ugh.  No.  But Henry’s face when he says that she said that she is safe, and he’s so worried, but still willing to respect her boundaries.

“She is an adult, Walt.”  “She’s my daughter.”  For fuck’s sake, you jackass, your ADULT daughter; that’s the whole flipping point!  Also, that little emphasis on my daughter, pfft.  If you didn’t want to feel like she preferred her cool dad to you, maybe try being less of an AAAAAAASSHOLE.  And, like, respecting her.  Even a weensy little bit.

“Etta Place”  I don’t remember if we find out why that’s the ‘assumed name’ that Cady chose, but I’m intrigued.  Wait, I just googled.  Looooool.  She spent years with Butch and Sundance.  Nice.

Walt is such a soft touch with teens.  *snack crackle pop* that kneecap back into place.  Vic starts this scene saying, “The 911 operator,” though, which is interesting, because I was kind of under the impression that Ruby was the main dispatcher, so it would be kind of heartening if she actually had back up with that.  ...Or maybe they’re just far enough out that a cell call made would be picked up by a tower farther out and have to be routed back in to the station/them.  I have no idea how that actually works.  Another rabbit hole for me to totally not go down.  Hopefully.  Shit.  They’ve apparently upped the fine for trespass since the show, though, because it’s $750 (or 6 months in jail) now and Walt says it’s $500.

And once again, we see Vic actually wearing gloves while investigating a suspicious death, and Walt just squinting into the distance helpfully.  I suppose “things got bad” in Basque country around WWII, but there has been friction there that dates back before the Spanish Civil War, or even the Carlist Wars the previous century.  It did get gnarly with the dictatorship of Franco, and the formation of the ETA in retaliation, though, so yeah.  (Francisco Franco is also on the list of people who anybody with a time machine should go back and beat the shit out of.)

Shit, I forgot about the animal death.

Knock knock, no answer.  Better just wander in without a warrant.  I know that the guy who they know lives there is dead, but still, no fricking warrant; I suppose the worry of a poisoning could count as probably cause?  

Gods, but there are moments when I do absolutely adore Vic, and they are usually when she’s taking the piss out of Walt.  “Reclusive bachelor chic; you and Marco have the same decorator.”  Looool.  But also, sad, because Martha has only been gone for a little over a year, and Walt is not the kind of person who would, like, change stuff and get rid of her things, so that’s kind of odd.  Maybe Henry and/or Cady went though and put away some of her things to try to help Walt move on?  But damn, the ‘excuse you’ look on Walt’s face when she does say it, pffft.

AND AGAIN, Vic wearing gloves, Walt with his bare ass hands picking up the picture of Picasso’s Guernica; can you at least *pretend* you’re a cop, *some* of the time, buddy?

Lol at the barrabilak; they are pretty well by the Rocky Mountains, so it’s probably not all that surprising that Walt’s had some “Rocky Mountain oysters” before.

I had forgotten that Vic had four brothers.  But her comment about Sal going off to look after the sheep and how if someone had told her that one of her brothers were dead she “wouldn’t care about any damn sheep,” I don’t know.  It kind of annoys me.  It’s totally in character for her, which is good, but I think it’s part of what can annoy me about her character.  Different people grieve differently, but also, I know she’s only been in Wyoming for a year or two, tops, but how is it so hard to fathom that someone one would be concerned about their livelihood, even in the face of personal tragedy?  Just, seeing beyond her own very narrow experience doesn’t seem like something she’s very good at.  It would be one thing if she’d framed it as “this is suspicious, and here’s why I think so as a cop,” but it was, “I wouldn’t react that way personally, so it’s sus.”  

Sure, be suspicious because there’s a suspicious death and family members are always suspects until ruled out, but approach it like a cop.  Or at least think about it from more angles than just your own, not terribly similar experience.  You’re a white city cop who can’t (or won’t) adjust to being in BF rural-ville, but these are immigrant shepherds whose family come from a homeland where the cops were just as likely to kill you as answer questions, and you’re side-eying a guy for going to make sure that their meal ticket doesn’t get obliterated?

I need to keep reminding myself that I really did want to like Vic.  I really did.  She just... they don’t make it easy for me.  Maybe she’s serving as an avatar for audience who don’t know about some of the culture stuff, and the audience get answers from her ignorance?  But honestly, I wish they’d picked a different way to handle that, if that’s what they were trying to do.  Her response to Henry being salty about Thanksgiving still really pisses me off.  Because it was shitty and racist, and... do we really need a character basically rolling their eyes and saying, “It was so long ago, why don’t you just get over it,” about something that is intrinsically tied to the genocide of so many people?  Why are Indigenous people just supposed to “get over it” but “Remember the Alamo” and “Southern Pride,” and shit?  Fuck’s sake.  Honestly, that might have been the moment when they lost me on her character.  She has moments where she’s awesome, but they never really address her being fucking racist or give her a chance to grow into a better person.  Which sucks a lot.  Fuck.  Ok, that was a lot.  Sorry.  Back to the actual ep.

AH, nice of you to beam in from the campaign trail, Brancheroo!

Uh, so I paused it to look at pic in the newspaper, and then being me, started to look at the articles surrounding the pic.  And the one with the headline “Fans Injured At Local Game” is actually about the Stewart case?  From 1x3?  I’m guessing that somebody went to the trouble of writing up an article for that for some S1 ep after it and they just plugged it in because when not paused, you might catch “Sheriff Longmire” there and that’s all they need.  Especially since the text starts to repeat after the first paragraph.  (I am the worst pedantic little shit.)  Ooooor, maybe even though it’s S2, it’s hardly been any time since 1x3?  The date on the newspaper is March 31, 2012, so there’s a timeline hint. 

Awwwwww, once Walt points out the bird, Ferg knows exactly what it is.  Occasional twitcher, are we, my lad?  “A red-tip meadowlark,” indeed.  Oh bb; Ferg’s face when he sees Walt looking at the pic of him with Branch in the paper.

“You go too fast, you miss the little things.”  Every once in a while, he actually sort of mentors Ferg.  I wish he did more of that, especially since we see later how capable Ferg can be.

Go suck an egg, Branch.  Why does she get all the “good” assignments?  Maybe because she was actually on the job when they found the body, not campaigning.

OPE.  Lizzie’s gift.  Yeah, I’d probably choke on that coffee if I were you, too, girl.  Better hope that there wasn’t perishable food stuffs in that gift, because that has been in there for a whiiiiiile, hasn’t it.  Wait, was Ferg in the office when Lizzie dropped off the gift?  Because his face said more than just “Did somebody give Vic a present?”  Suuuuper subtle with that whole pushing the drawer closed with your foot there, Vic.  Pfffft.

“Cyrano Caballero”  How daaaare that skeeve take Cyrano’s name in vain?!?!  (I have a thing about Cyrano de Bergerac.  It’s quite possibly my favourite play, and I adore the character, and have exactly 0 chill about it at all.  I find Brian Hooker’s translation of “The Ballade of the duel at the Hotel Bourgogne Between de Bergerac and a Boeotian” with “Then, as I end the refrian, thrust home,” vastly superior to any other translation that I’ve heard or read, though for the rest of it, I will grant that there are others to be preferred.  But that version of his Ballade is exquisite, and I will not be swayed.  Holy shit, FOCUS.  That is so very much not the point.)  It’s not even a throw away line in this ep, it’s just a random, very well chosen, if utterly appallingly insulting, company name.  It’s actually incredibly clever for what the business is, and if it didn’t make me so stomping mad, I would applaud whoever came up with it heartily.

Vic’s face listening to this jackass’ spiel is a thing of beauty.  “A good woman goes a long way of easing the obvious stresses of your daily life,” the jackass says, cutting his eyes at Vic when he says “obvious stresses,” and I caaaackle.

What is it about this guys’ horrible glasses that just makes him so much more hate-able?  I’m not entirely sure, but kudos to whatever costumer put those on him, because they are perfect.  In the ‘I want to punch him’ way of perfection.

And after all of that about Walt’s “lady friend,” Vic brings Lizzie’s present.  Womp womp.  That went super well.  Yuuuup, run while you can.

Poor Ferg.  Branch manipulates him, Vic ignores him, Walt shuts him down...  Poor guy just can’t get a break.

I actually kind of like this motel manager--the one who “doesn’t judge people” and is a stickler for warrants?  At least somebody in this county cares about warrants.  Also, those doors are actually really pretty.  Nice colour, and the carved scrollwork designs are nice.

What an odd shot: the one when they’re coming out of Walt’s office after talking to Skeevy McGrossFace and Rosa.  It’s a weird sort of shaky-cam stepping back, just preceding Branch walking, and then turns to follow him when he sit’s on his desk.  But it’s a really different style of shot than I can remember, so much so that it’s a bit jarring, especially after the series of nearly stationary close ups that we just had.  Weird. [18:42-18-50]

Cady!  I haven’t made much note of her costuming before this, but it seems notable that’s she’s only in monocromatics.  Especially next to Fales in muted tones, but still some colour, and surrounded by the colourful grafitti of the alley where her mother was stabbed.  Nice way of setting her apart from everything.

SHEEPIES!  Ooooo, that wagon is so cool.  Ah dang, the way that Sal corrects Walt’s pronunciation of his brother’s name is so gloriously passive aggressive.  Good for you, my dude.  Names are important, and people should have the respect to make the effort to get them right.

Aaaaaand Walt, the definition of Do, Don’t Tell, just shoves the guy to keep him from drinking the possibly dangerous water, rather than, like, using his words.  Walt’s gonna Walt.

Iiiiiiiii am a mess, truly.  It cuts to an architectural model and I start giggling like a 6th grader, because I know it’s going to be a Jacob scene.  He’s not even on screen yet, ffs.  HANDS.  I’m fine.  Totally fine.  (That’s totally a lie.  I just rewound to the beginning of the scene because I kept giggling too much to pay attention.  What the hell.)  First time we’ve seen one of the chips, which at this point must be a marketing mock-up, since nothing is built yet.  And he actually types, not just doing the hunt-and-peck thing that is sometimes easier on a tablet.

Looking at the weaving that is up on his wall (maybe a rug?) I’m hoping that the prop people actually did buy from Northern Cheyenne artisans.  They apparently did most of their filming in New Mexico, so I hope they made the effort to get the patterns right, and buy from the actual tribe they’re supposed to be portraying, I guess?  And now I’m distracted by the fact that the random hanging light behind Jacob is at a weird angle?  

Look, ever since I realized that the “Hey,” that Jacob does is apparently just A (thanks to it also happening in That Damned Xmas Movie) I am endlessly amused (and charmed) whenever Jacob does it.  I don’t know why it makes me so happy, but it does.  (This is legitimately embarrassing.  How much trouble I am having focusing.  Beyond my normal focus issues, which, as shown above, are already impressive.  Because thiiiiirst.)

“My boys at the lumber yard did just throw you a campaign rally.”  I love how Jacob is basically apparently not just his secret angel-investor, but also a sneaky campaign manager.  Did Branch just think shit like the rally just happened?  He’s not fricking Ferris Bueller; somebody organizes those.  And apparently it’s either Jacob himself, or someone who Jacob appointed to do so.

“I thought you were just a casino developer.”  You have noooo clue, Brancheroo.  “I prefer to remain a silent partner.  White people get nervous when Indians start taking back their land.”  Oooooope.  Especially interesting because there are previsions for the Tribal Council to purchase land to be Tribal land (Section 6 of Article IX of the Tribal Constitution), but this seems more along the lines of personal acquisition.  Though maybe not, because “on the board” doesn’t necessarily equate to being the owner.

The set up of Jacob’s office is so interesting.  Functionally for the show, it’s probably for better shooting angles, so that we can see more of Jacob behind the desk while Branch is sitting in front of it, but from an in-the-verse decorating standpoint, bit’s fascinating.  He has this focal wall with the gorgeous wall hanging, flanked by floor to ceiling window, but instead of having his desk centered on that wall and directly facing the bulk of the room, it’s at an almost 45 degree angle on a huge rug, and it’s so unexpected.  I kind of love it, and want to analyze it for days.  Also worth noting is that pride of place is given to the  Hotamétaneo’o headdress which is on a stand centered in front of the wall hanging.

How fucking tired must Jacob be.  He’s used to Walt... Walting, but then Branch comes in, who he is literally spending his own money to support in his bid for sheriff, and he pulls the same shit of assuming that he’s behind Bad Shit.  And then Branch frames it as “bad P.R,” so he’s there to “discuss it with [him] privately.”  And then basically threatens him with Walt.  I swear.  ...there is something a little amusing about Walt being used as the stick in the carrot and a stick method of negotiating.  He certainly is enough of a blunt object most of the time.

Oh fuck you so much, Branch.  Playing the “can’t give you details about an ongoing investigation” card as though you have some professional or moral leg to stand on after basically blackmailing Jacob with Walt’s vendetta is just such shit.  You don’t get to look down your nose at Jacob’s quid pro quo pragmatism when you were the one who came to him for financial backing.  You sanctimonious little shitheel.  If you didn’t want to deal with Jacob, you shouldn’t have taken his $100k.  He’s a business man, and you’re an investment, and not a quixotic one.

“He’s probably the only person to have died from [hemlock] since Socrates.”  And then Walt’s incredulous look and her, “Alright, I googled it,” were subtle comedic gold.

Ooooooo, that was a nice little shot.  Not quite foreshadowing, but showing Branch’s suspicions and sort of inviting the audience to share them.  Walt says his bit about the Army poisoning “Indian wells” to kill them off and get their land, and then we see Branch fiddling with the Four Arrows chip and narrow his eyes considering and slip the chip into his pocket, looking suspicious.  It’s a really neat little moment of visual storytelling, no lines, literally three seconds long, just sort of snuck in there, but super effective.  Really nicely done.

And again, Cady is in monochromatics.  And, shit, just gave Fales Henry’s name.  Aaaaaand right after, she realizes that the junkie was killed and realizes that it had to have been one of her dads (or so she thinks).

Sal’s monologue in the cell is a good emotional payoff that plays off of Vic’s comments towards the beginning of the episode.  I see the narrative worth of her making them, and how the structure of the episode benefits from it; but seeing those writing elements from the outside of the show doesn’t make me able to like her as a character who said them in-universe.  And then the threat Sal makes of vengeance on someone who killed one he loves also underscores the stuff with Cady’s investigation into her mother’s death very well.  As much as I gripe about the writing *cough S6 cough finale cough* there really is some damn good writing in this show, and I don’t show enough appreciation for it.

Huh, and now there’s a sort of inverse of that weird shot preceding Branch from earlier, but this one is much more effective and less off-putting.  This one [33:00] precedes Walt as he walks back into his office, still a medium close up, but it’s much steadier, and the way it is framed, it does quite a bit to convey his mindset, and he walks out of the shot and we see the three deputies following him in like baffled ducklings, making the shot serve another purpose, too.  Which honestly makes that earlier shaky follow shot of Branch even weirder, because this one was so much better.

And then Walt has his creepy little speech about how someone would want to watch the light go out of their eyes and not caring if you get caught.  I do appreciate that when he’s talking about the psychology of killing with poison he doesn’t just call it a “woman’s method” which media so often does.  It might have been the writers keeping who the killer was abstruse, but it was still more gender neutral.  Especially since according to The U. S. Department of Justice's report on Homicide Trends in the United States (1980 to 2008) of all poison killers in that time period, 60.5 percent were male and 39.5 percent female.  (Table 5 on page 10.)  So that long held idea that even Sherlock Holmes was written to have that poison is “of course” a woman’s weapon is pretty crap.

Awwww, the good old days when Walt paid attention to animals.  ...I am still bizarrely salty about the fact that he never named his horse.  What a good pupper!  

And then we have a classic example of Sneaky!Walt, which always takes people quite by surprise, because he’s usually as subtle as Miley Cyrus.

Also because when he does this, it tends to be pretty fucked up, in a Make Someone Think They’re About To Die way.  And then he does His Thing, where he just lays out all of his suppositions, with no proof, only the terror of her thinking that she’s been poisoned and you’re withholding medical intervention to get her to confess.  And is, irritatingly, correct about his theories.  But I’m pretty sure this qualifies as coercing a confession?  She thinks she’s fucking dying.  Even Vic looks at him like it’s fucked up, and her moral compass where he’s concerned is... skewed.

They way this reveal was played out, (”How’d they find her so fast?”  “Hard to say...”) is somewhat ambiguous as to whether it’s supposed to be that Branch went there to tell Jacob or not, but I kind of doubt it?  I kind of figure that the meeting that Jacob was having when Branch rambled in was already with Rosa signing the paperwork.  Jacob is smart.  So, HAH.  Little good your “can’t comment on an ongoing investigation” schtick did.

And then the news that someone in law enforcement has been asking after Henry.

“Lizzie was waiting for you here tonight.  You should talk to her, Walt.  She seems to think she is in a relationship with you.”  ....omgs.  The tone.  I mean, yes, the blisteringly glorious SASS, but how does one not read that as incredibly shippy?  Howwwww?

“You are an honest man, Walt.  I would like you to stay that way.”  Oh Henry.  When did you decide that you weren’t?  Was it when you hired Hector?  Or was there something before?  ...I feel like there were things before that.  Hello darkness my old friend.

“It is not your job to protect me.”  “It is my job...”  THOSE WERE THE DAYS.  Those were the fucking daaaaaays.  And the emotions on Henry’s face after Walt says, “That was my right,” as though Henry cheated him of something.  I am so deep in OT3 feels I cannot even see daylight here.  The feels of them having been an OT3 and then Walt pulling this shit, and Henry having to defend his own “right” to avenge Martha?  It wrecks me.  “A good woman was murdered.  A bad man is dead.  End of story.”  

[d8rkmessngr]

Happy birthday @lorrainejhane

It’s always a happy joy to hear my stories are still read even today. I hope they stand the test of time. It’s @lorrainejhane’s birthday today and while I didn’t have a floating snippet around, I did find intro to book 3 in my phone.

One day....

-------------------------------------------------

Warning: language and unedited

"Just stick it in."

"W-what? No!"

"Aw, come on! I know you know how this works. Just aim and shove it in there!"

"You and I both know it takes more finesse than that, Alec!"

"You and I both know it takes less time than that, too!"

"It's—no, you know what? Forget it. Let's just forget it. This was a crazy idea…"

"Come on. Weren't you ever curious?"

"…Well…"

"It’s easy. We've done this a thousand times—"

"You have."

"And here I am sharing with you my expertise. And my experience is telling you to just shove it in there!"

"But—"

"You can't leave us hanging! Ready, aim, and boom! Give it the little twist I showed you and you're in!"

"No, this is insane. Alec, I told you, it was just a thought, I was only wondering, I didn't really want to—"

"I can't believe you're backing out now!"

"But this doesn't make sense—"

"This makes perfect sense!"

"No, it doesn't! Alec—"

"Look, it's your first time, I get it, babe. I do."

"But—"

"And I told you no points will be taken off if you miss your mark. I won't laugh. Much. Well, not in your face at leas—Okay, I promise only with Cindy. Pinky swear."

"No, I don't want to do this."

"Aw come on! Why the hell not?"

"Because I live here!"

It was admirable (and sort of hot) how Logan managed to look freaked out, embarrassed and pissed off all at the same time. He clutched white-knuckled around the harness wrapped around his thighs and torso. The lockpick trembled in the other hand.

Alec swayed in his harness to swing closer to Logan. He plucked the pick out of Logan's shaky fingers before it could drop twenty seven floors below. They were hard to come by.

The Seattle breeze held the promise of a chill, warning fall was finally edging summer off. Alec briefly enjoyed how the wind ruffled through Logan's bangs, flopping them over wide, panicked hazel eyes.

"You know," Alec remarked as he settled into his bow line with an ease Logan hasn't managed the ten minutes they hung over the side of his building.

"When you said you have a trouble with heights, I was thinking like more of a 'don't look down' kind of thing."

Alec stretched both arms above his head. Logan curled both hands around his own harness tighter as he tracked Alec's movements.

"Seriously?" Alec waved his arms wildly to his sides. "Whoa! Look out!"

"Alec!" Logan yelped.

Chuckling, Alec shifted his weight towards Logan. Using his feet planted firmly on the building, Alec steered towards Logan. He gave Logan's feet a quick check to make sure they were securely pressed against the narrow sill strip.

"Hey," Alec murmured. He leaned in and brushed the tip of his nose across a stubbled cheek.

"Hey," Logan said unsteadily. His head leaned into Alec's space. He exhaled shakily.

"You're doing great, babe," Alec said. He slid a steadying palm over Logan's lower back. Even though thick buckles and straps shielded him from the warmth and skin, Alec knew Logan felt it. When Logan fidgeted—although it might be more due to the whole squishy-human-might-go-splat thing—Alec felt a shiver go down his spine.

"You needed to graduate to something more after a month." Alec noted the tightness pinching at the corners of Logan's eyes. He pressed his lips together. "We agreed we needed to push."

"I was hoping for something more…grounding," Logan huffed. He sucked in a deep breath. When he looked over, his mouth was twisted in a half-grimace.

"You said you used to climb when you were in college." Alec wondered if Heather wore climbing shorts then, ballistic nylon wrapped around tanned limbs, thick black straps ribboned around his firm as—fuck.

Now it was Alec's turn to grimace because, wow, yet another thing about Logan Cale that could turn him on. Crap, it was getting harder to walk normally these days.

"That was before I was thrown off a roof," Logan muttered under his breath.

Cold crashed over Alec, deflating some parts and inflating others. His chest expanded, his eyes rounded and his mouth dropped open.

"What?"

Logan blinked, realizing Alec heard him. He winced.

"I'll tell you about it some time," Logan said. "It's a long story."

Alec ground his teeth.

"Give me the short version for now," Alec grated out, "At least tell me whoever did that are dead and if not, where can I find them?"

Logan smiled tightly. "They're dead."

"Good." Alec forced himself to face forward. When he caught the twisted look on his reflection on Logan's reflection, it startled him. It reminded him too much of 494 even if a part of him wished 494 was the one who eliminated the bastards, whoever they were.

Logan pried one hand away from his rigging and touched Alec's arm; only briefly before it hastily returned to its death grip around the strap.

Alec snickered. He brushed a bump over the bone bleached clutch.

"All right," Alec murmured. "Let's go over the steps aga—" He blinked. He looked up.

"What is it?" Logan glanced around. His throat worked when his eyes happened to skim below them. "Hoverdones? But even the new modified ones from Cale’s competitors shouldn't be able to get this high. They're not supposed to be released until after—"

"I'll be right back." Alec reached over and planted a wet smack on Logan's cheek. "Don't go anywhere."

Alec reached up and grabbed the line above his head. He wished he thought to hook up his ascender rigging instead. Jumaring was a bitch, but it would have been faster. It would have looked impressive, too. Not that he was trying to impress Heather or anything.

"Where are you goi—Alec!"

Logan's whispered words started with a hiss and ended a half octave higher in panic as Alec walked up the building, pulling his lines, higher and higher until he reached his goal. He may or may not have clenched his ass at the same time. In case Logan was looking, if Alec cared that he was, that is.

Far away, Logan was calling Alec's name. It wasn't clear if it was because Alec came here or that he was left dangling by his own window. Not that Alec would have let him fall; Logan was firmly anchored to Alec's line in two places. Heather wasn't going anywhere without him.

Alec blew a kiss down to Logan. The wide eyes and agape mouth that greeted Alec was cute, but also reminded Alec he shouldn't dally.

With a broad grin, Alec rapped on the window.

"Alec!" Logan's yelp floated away in Seattle's breeze.

After a moment, Alec heard the tiny beep of the security alarm—good girl—and the window slid open.

Merry blue eyes and a crown of snow white hair poked out and dipped down towards Alec.

"Why, hello," Mrs. Moreno chirped. She squinted past Alec's ear. "Hello, Logan."

"H-hello, Mrs. Moreno," Logan stammered.

Mrs. Moreno winked at Alec. "I see Alec finally convinced you to try climbing. How nice."

Logan choked. He fumbled an explanation or thanks or whatever he could think of twenty seven stories high.

Alec stamped down the urge to loosen his lines to drop down and kiss Logan. He cast hopeful eyes on Mrs. Moreno.

"I smell cookies."

Mrs. Moreno's tinkling chuckle swirled around Alec as she wagged a finger at him. He drew up his line shorter so he was eye level with her so she wouldn't have to stoop.

"I knew you would drop by if I made my lemon drop cookies again." Mrs. Moreno's eyes twinkled. "I had no idea it would be literally."

“Technically, I climbed up, you know.”

Mrs. Moreno patted Alec's hand curled on the sill. "They'll be ready in an hour." She peered out her window at Logan. Alec leaned in. His shoulder butted gently again hers.

"That should give you boys enough time?"

"What?" Logan squeaked down below. Seriously, Heather was totally begging to be kissed here.

"Shirley," Alec said in mock-outrage. "I'm appalled. For that, I demand a cookie now. I know I smelled some already powdered with sugar."

Mrs. Moreno winked. She reached behind her and held up a clear bag of a dozen cookies.

Alec reached in, kissed her forehead before grabbing the treats to shove into his jacket.

"Better make it two hours," Alec quipped. He knocked at the window. "Don't forget to reset that alarm."

"I know, I know," Mrs. Moreno sighed.

“Seriously, that aide Carlos keeps forgetting and last time--”

“Don’t be rude to your date.” Mrs. Moreno gave Alec a wave as he descended back down to Logan. "Have fun, boys!" she bade before retreating back inside.

Logan gaped at Alec when he reached their window.

Alec shrugged. "She makes the best cookies." He grinned wolfishly. "And she thought we look hot together."

Logan's mouth snapped shut. He stared at Alec a beat longer, blinked back up towards Mrs. Moreno's window. He shook his head as he muttered under his breath. He lifted his head and shot Alec a look.

Alec's breath caught. It wasn't the first time such a look was directed at him. Well, not the first time Logan directed it towards him. It was a mix of fond exasperation and something warm and unidentifiable. Unfamiliar, but not unwelcomed.

"So." Alec cleared his throat. He was never sure how to respond to the look; it appeared more and more often.

"How long you're gonna leave us hanging here, babe?"

The reminder erased the look on Logan quickly. Now, he glared at Alec. His knuckles bleached further white around the harness.

With a hand square on Logan's lower back, Alec nudged Logan closer towards the window. He caught the sharp intake of breath that rattled Logan's back. Absently, Alec wondered if Matt would know anything about assholes tossing certain people over rooftops.

Logan's right knee trembled as it fought to stay in the slightly bent position, its foot planted flat on the building. It was a huge improvement from a month ago. Even with Alec's and then along with Matt's support, Logan stayed upright only until he got to the ground floor of the damn warehouse the Reds held him in.

The breeze swirled around their bodies as Logan struggled to position the pick correctly like Alec showed him. Alec caught strains of Logan reciting the steps under his breath. He smiled at Logan's bent head. He suspected he wore the same look Logan just gave him before. The same warm infusion filled his gut.

The bowline curved under and around the firm buttocks. The harness creaked as Logan shifted weight to stay close to his target. Wide rough straps ran up, parallel to the strong line of Logan's back. They brushed against Logan's pullover, dragging fabric over sleek muscles and smooth skin.

Logan squared back his shoulders as he leaned in carefully, lockpick in position. The move had a ripple effect; muscles shortened and lengthened in response. Shoulders flexed; biceps swelled.

Heat pooled in Alec's groin. His mouth ran dry.

Another breeze skimmed over Logan's hair. Unruly shades of brown and golden parted to reveal an unblemished nape.

The lines around Alec's thighs seem to constrict. Everything felt too small, snapped tight around him.

Alec pressed in behind Logan, his legs spread to frame Logan for additional support. He was half-surprised Logan couldn't feel Alec's erection branding hot into his lower back.

"Almost there," Logan murmured. His voice was unintentionally throaty, a whisper brushing over Alec's skin.

"Same here," Alec groaned.

Logan didn't appear to have heard him. His brow drawn in concentration, Logan squinted at the spacing. He tentatively poked at the opening. The tool withdrew immediately after contact.

Alec pressed his nose to the soft spot under Logan's left ear. He breathed deep.

"Is that supposed to be motivating me or distracting me?" Logan grumbled.

Alec rolled his pelvis forward, enough to ground, but not enough to ease the ache between his legs. He squeezed his legs into Logan.

"Thanks," Logan said distractedly, mistaking the move as a 'let's not make the squishy human fall' rather than a desperate move to get off.

Alec placed his hands on either side of Logan's hips. It was probably the wrong move. This close, Alec felt Logan's ass brushing over his groin, his obliques flexing to hold Logan up, hot to the touch even through his shirt.

"Alec," Logan grumbled when Alec pressed in. "Pushing me isn't a effective way to rush me."

Alec swallowed hard. He leaned into the warmth of Logan's body.

"I want you," Alec whispered into Logan's ear. Somehow, saying he wanted to fuck Logan felt like he belittled what they do.

Logan exhaled. He was squinting at his window sill.

"Logan," Alec whined. He gripped Logan's hips tighter.

"Almost there," Logan promised. He tentatively poked at the opening and the exposed sensor again.

“Can’t we just do it here?” Alec groaned.

The pick screeched as it scraped into the sensor the wrong angle. The alarms wailed.

Oops.

[thelastspeecher]

I'm honestly loving your posts about your experience doing debate! Do you have any other stories or cool things you learned while doing debate and speech?

oh I sure do have some stories about Speech and Debate!

now, the best stories come from Policy Debate rounds.  and it’s bc there is a v cutthroat Policy Debate culture.  it’s rooted in just, generally, what Policy is.  Policy is strictly regimented and notoriously difficult and the rounds last for much longer than they should.  you had to be talking at light speed, writing as quickly as possible in a sort of code called “flow” (essentially, a shorthand to allow you to take notes fast - my team’s flow involved removing vowels from words), paying attention to another teenager’s argument, and dressed like a goddamn lawyer for hours.

in the very first debate round I ever did, the topic was food stamps, and my partner and I were in the affirmative.  at one point, the opposing team said “what about food stamp fraud?”  I, v rightly, pointed out that fraud is rare.  and someone on the opposing team said “well my uncle does it.”  and I just stared at her for a moment before saying “then your uncle is committing a crime.”  she tried to say that I don’t have the right to talk about her family, and I (again, v rightly) said “you brought it up.”  we won that round.

I once went up against a team that was the epitome of the cutthroat Policy Debate culture, which made sense, bc they were from a high school infamous in our area for the intensity of their Speech and Debate team.  I got frustrated with one of them for saying that Germany was “evil” bc of WWI and WWII, but that’s irrelevant.  bc the person who said Germany was evil was later disqualified for trying to strangle his debate partner after they lost a round.

one time someone on our team ran up against an argument about disposing radioactive waste in Yucca Mountain.  I’m pretty sure the topic was food stamps.  but we didn’t have evidence for it, so that night when we got back to the hotel (it was a two-day tournament), we looked up evidence about disposing radioactive waste in Yucca Mountain.

speaking of off-topic arguments: Policy had a very strict structure and format.  and it was also notorious for rounds going off the rails.  I once sat in on a round and watched a teammate talk very passionately about how difficult it would be to reproduce in space.  I can’t remember what the actual topic was, but I guarantee it had absolutely jack shit to do with space or reproduction.

there was one team that walked into a round, presented their argument, and then said “we don’t believe in arguing or aggression so we are now going to sit in lotus position for the rest of the round.”  they didn’t do any rebuttals.  but bc their opposing team didn’t address the whole thing about not arguing and sitting in lotus position, the lotus position team won.  I’m not 100% positive this actually happened, bc I heard it from someone who heard it from someone else.  it might just be a Policy Debate urban legend.  but with how weird Policy was, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was true.

there are a lot of different types of Debate and Speech formats.  one type of Debate format is called Public Forum (PF).  my team called people who did PF “puffers” and in general mocked it for being objectively easier than Policy.  I say objectively easier bc I did PF at one tournament after I had switched to Speech (a certain number of people needed to sign up for specific types of rounds in order to have those rounds happen, so we sometimes had to do stuff like that).  and I won fourth place.  I won like two rounds the entire year I did Policy.  but I got fourth place in Public Forum on my first try, without prepping whatsoever.  PF is easy as fuck.

you needed to be practicing even while you were at a tournament.  the team would take over lunch tables in the cafeteria (bc tournaments were at schools and the main area where everyone gathered was always the cafeteria).  debators stayed at the tables to go over evidence and arguments, and speakers would intermittently wander off to go talk to lockers.  ideally, you practiced your Speech piece for someone on your team, but bc everyone was busy working on their own thing, you frequently had to make do with practicing your piece in front of a wall or lockers.  this was a legit meme in Speech.  I had a T-shirt that said “I talk to walls” on it.  people unfamiliar with Speech and Debate were v confused when they walked down a hallway and saw professionally-dressed teenagers talking to walls and lockers.

you weren’t allowed to enter a room (9 times out of 10, rounds were in a random classroom in the school) before the judge did, so you just sort of waited in the hall.  if you were in Debate, you prepped.  if you were in Speech, you chatted with your opponents.  once you found a Speech event you were good at, you stuck with it - mine was Original Oratory, or OO.  so you regularly ran up against the same people, and got to know them.

in Speech, you got to know your opponents, but rarely knew them by their name.  you knew them by their piece.  after all, you heard their piece over and over and over.  often, you accidentally memorized portions of your opponents’ pieces, bc you weren’t allowed to zone out during rounds.  you had to pay attention to your competitors even if you’d heard their piece before.  if you didn’t, or if you were fidgeting in a way that could be distracting, the judge would dock you.  I tend to fidget, so I ran into that issue a lot.  my coach eventually told me to sit behind the judge, and I stopped being docked for fidgeting.

there was only one excuse to leave a Speech round before the last person had presented, or to arrive at a Speech round late, and it was if you were entered in multiple events and needed to go to your other round in a different room.  I was in rounds where there were few competitors and they were all in multiple events, so I presented to just the judge.  eye contact is a big part of Speech, so to get out of staring intently at the judge the whole time, I utilized something a teammate had come up with.  I asked the judge if I could make up people in the room to make eye contact with.  never got told I couldn’t do that, bc the judge didn’t want to be stared at any less than I didn’t want to stare at them.

there was one girl who I ran up against all the time.  absolute sweetheart, so kind, I really liked her.  I never knew her name, and she never knew mine.  I just knew her as the girl who talked about music and living with Turner Syndrome.  she probably knew me as the person who talked about female representation in the media and living with Asperger’s Syndrome.  my senior year, I went to Nationals and won a special award.  this regular opponent of mine?  she came up and congratulated me afterwards.  I’m ending this long-ass ask on this story bc it’s legitimately one of my favorite moments from Speech and Debate.  a competitor congratulated me, told me I deserved the recognition, that she was happy for me.  bc she had heard my speeches over and over again about how much I had struggled to get to where I was.

and I’d heard her speeches about her struggles over and over.  and I guarantee you, if she had won instead of me, I would have done the same thing.  I would have told her I was happy for her and that she deserved the win.  bc Speech and Debate could be cutthroat at times (esp the Debate part), but in the end, it was about communication and making connections with people.

I don’t know what that girl is up to now.  but I hope she’s doing well.

[neverwatchedonepiece]

645-647: "Destruction Cannon Blasts! Lucy in Trouble!", "The Legendary Pirate! Don Chinjao!" and "Light and Darkness! The Shadow Behind Dressrosa!"

There is something rotten in the state of Dressrosa right now. Doflamingo has some seriously shady shenanigans on the go. Turning humans into toys? Letting them live alongside relatives who - it appears - have their memories wiped? Tossing them for scrap if they show any signs of rebellion? Yeah, this whole situation is totally messed up. Now I get why a Resistance is mounting against the Donquixote Family. 

I watched three episodes because I thought I might see the end of the Block C battles. No such luck, but Luffy vs Don Chinjao has been fun so far. 

Still, that freaky Toy Human transformation reveal was totally worth it. 

(Will catch up on replies this week too! It’s been a weirdly busy couple of weeks but next week won’t be as rammed. :D)

Electric Fist Bump

I am still not certain that Brutal Bull is, in fact, going to recover. Let’s just pretend he will. At least Luffy gently carried him to safety and thanked him for fighting with him. ;_;

A random called Ideo (way too much eyeliner, Shoulders McGee) finished the job by punching Hajrudin out the ring. After Ideo’s brag-fest, I thought Luffy would be the one to kick his ass too, but it was funnier than that.

A random competitor called Jean the Bounty Hunter (no relation to Dog) had seen through Luffy’s disguise. He knocked off Luffy’s helmet and slashed his beard. Instead of giving up his disguise, Luffy chased him (lmao) to get his helmet back. 

Once exposing Luffy, didn’t work, Jean picked up all the weapons dropped by competitors who fell to Don Chinjao’s conqueror’s haki. Jean seriously thought he could defeat Luffy by carrying around a giant blade ball. Okay, mate.

Jean, at least, was allowed a quick shit-talk. He’d made so much money recapturing all the criminals Luffy set free from Impel Down. Now, Jean was aiming to snare Buggy (I guess he doesn’t read the papers), Crocodile, Jimbei, Ivankov and Shiryu (good luck with those names, mate).

Meanwhile, Luffy was standing there, reminiscing over all the old names like it was old times. “I wonder how Jimbei and Iva are doing?”

Jean got mad, threw his dumb sword ball and... it did not go to plan.

Luffy dodged.

Instead, a rather large and intimidating man absorbed all the swords.

Staring down Don Chinjao was too much for poor Jean. He was so scared, he made moe eyes before Don Chinjao took him out. (Good luck chasing after Crocodile from your new job on Doflamingo’s Factory Assembly Line!)

The fight between Luffy and Don Chinjao was actually fun to watch. The moment when they both punched out Sai and Ideo “Get outta the way!” was funny. And the Conqueror’s Haki clash was stylish (still love that blue filter), powerful (that Whitebeard soundtrack) and also pretty interesting.

Diamante watched the whole thing from his private booth. He used it as a teaching moment for Bellamy. “See, that is what it takes to be a king.” Don Chinjao sort of backed this up later when he said to Luffy that loads of people in the New World could use Conqueror’s Haki. “Only battling it out amongst themselves will reveal who the Pirate King will be. A battle of conquerors. That’s what’ll decide.”

I thought Conqueror’s Haki was a much rarer type. Maybe it still is, but that all the big shots are now concentrated in a smaller area, so there’s more chance you’ll meet someone with it. I know Shanks has it, I know Whitebeard had it, but I’m wondering if Big Mom and Kaidou also have it? (The jury’s out on Teach. Is he too much of a coward, or will he awaken it too? Who knows?)

Don Chinjao also kept veering between wailing with rage and attacking with rage at what Garp had taken from him (treasure and strength, apparently).  He also kept demanding Luffy tell him what Garp had done. Luffy was like, “No, you walnut. I have no idea. How many times must I repeat myself?”

Luffy didn’t know whether Don Chinjao wanted to be sad or mad. Maybe Luffy should set himself up as a therapist because I think it’s a bit of both.

At the moment, Don Chinjao has transformed into an Upside Down Tornado of Large Man, so we’ll see how that pans out in the coming episodes.

Oh, and by the way, Bobby Funk wore his brother like a jacket during the fight. Don’t ask. It was deeply, hilariously weird and I’m glad they got their asses kicked because I felt wrong watching that.

He’s Not an Idiot. He’s Directionally Disadvantaged

On the way to Flower Field, Wicka was astonished to discover Zoro is the opposite of a homing pigeon. They yelled at each other the entire time. Wicka because Zoro veered away from Flower Field yet again, and Zoro because Wicka “sucked at leading the way.” Meanwhile, the concerned residents of Dressrosa wondered why the strange man was yelling at himself.

Wicka kept punching Zoro for not going the right way. Because the Tontatta people make up for their lack of stature with super strength, I actually cheered when Zoro had enough of Wicka smacking him. He set her down in a plant pot, was like, “I have friends I care about too. Stop complaining or ask some damned cat to carry you,” then walked off.

Damn straight, Zoro. Don’t put up with that crap.

Luckily for Wicka, Zoro has no sense of direction. He circled straight round, which gave her the opportunity to apologise.

I guess it’s for the best. Otherwise Zoro would end up stuck on Dressrosa forever. Or at least until Sanji turned up.

And speaking of Sanji, he has teamed up with Kinemon again. They are currently lurking outside the Colosseum. They have spotted something ominous. Lots of Marines gathered outside, including new Vice-Admiral Bastille, waiting to swoop and arrest any unsuspecting Block A and Block B fighters leaving the arena.

I laughed at Kinemon’s weird cognitive dissonance. “Yeah, well criminals should be caught!”

Sanji would not have it. He smacked Kinemon and was like, “You are working with pirates.” Lmao, Kinemon. Old habits die hard, I guess.

At least Sanji has returned to the Sanji I like best: sneaking about, trying to solve problems. He knows Luffy needs to know about the Marines lurking outside, but how to tell him?

Plus, what’s happened to all the Block A and Block B competitors who lost their fight? Vice-Admiral Bastille is on to something. None of them have left the Colosseum. Not a single one. That is strange. Something weird, and possibly sinister, is going on here. (I wonder if they’re being turned into toys?)

This is Why I Like Nami

This was only a short scene but I loved it.

In the last couple of episodes, I assumed Nami, Brook, Chopper and Momo were retreating to regroup with a master plan to win back Sunny.

Nope. As if they would ever leave Sunny in the hands of an enemy. What was I thinking?

Even though Nami sees herself as weak compared to the DF eaters and haki users of the crew, she is not helpless. One, she is smart, and two, Nami has freaking weather controlling powers! Nami used both of those qualities to her advantage. Chopper and Brook were a distraction. While Giolla’s attention was on them, Nami readied some thunder balls.

BOOM! Direct hit on Giolla’s submarine. Now, as a DF user, she has no means to return to Dressrosa and all her goons were smoked by thunderbolt.

Your move, Giolla! :D

How About Hide-and-Seek?

Like, with a four day head start? 

No?

I guess Law must be content with running like hell from the two Absolute Monsters chasing him. Fujitora was not making it easy. Every time he sheathes that sword, a jet of purple (no idea what it is. Let’s call it pure purple) rocketed into the clouds and, hello meteor shower!

Luckily, Law can Room those and slice them like bread rolls, but Doflamingo’s bullet strings were another matter. Law scarpered, dodged, hid and tried to call Nami. To no avail. Why wasn’t she picking up?

“I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to buy time,” Doflamingo said. “And I’m not gonna let you have it your way.”

No Burger King for you, Law.

Poor, beleaguered Law screeched to a halt when he realised that, somehow, Fujitora had overtaken him. My new favourite Admiral was sitting on a rock, as if he’d been politely waiting for Law to show for ages. Then it was meteor time.

Even Doflamingo was like, “Wow, you have no mercy.”

Fujitora just said, “I’m all thumbs.”

Lmao, mate. Yeah, those extreme overkill meteors? I’m just clumsy. Nah, no one believes you, Fujitora. You love smashing felons. Admit it.

Meanwhile, deep underground, Usopp was beginning to regret feigning descent from Noland. The ominous, earth-shattering rumbles from Fujitora’s onslaught were passed off as “just Usopp’s amazing haki!”

When he realised the Tontatta people kept going on about the Donquixote Family, he consulted Robin. “Um, what kind of relationship do they have with Doflamingo exactly?” he asked.

“Well, they’re serious about fighting him,” Robin replied.

Usopp had an uh-oh moment. He drew Leo (the battle hype man) aside and asked why they wanted to fight Doflaming. That’s my Usopp! Asking all the right plot questions.

Apparently, the Tontatta want to rescue five hundred friends forced to work at the “shady factory”. Moreover, Doflamingo also holds their “obnoxious, selfish, mean, moody and short-tempered Princess Mancherie” there too.

Good sell, Leo. Good sell.

“Um, she sounds horrible,” Usopp said (lmao).

“Yup!” Leo cheerfully agreed. But then he added, rather sweetly, “But she’s one of us too. Noland would save everyone who’s in trouble, right?”

Usopp looked a bit ill at that point. He did not have to answer that question, as Flapper, another Tontatta kid, hoofed it into frame. Apparently, the Donquixote Family at the palace were on the move. Rumour had it they were probably moving to the Colosseum basement. And why were they moving there?

Under the Colosseum is only where the Shady Factory is hidden! :D

I thought the Factory would be in Green Bit. This is even better! Now I’m very suspicious about all the defeated fighters. They are prime for processing. At least I got one thing right about people being forced to work at the Factory (though it wasn’t related to stealing stuff). 

This Really Makes You Re-Think Toy Story

I knew it! I knew there was something weird with the toys. At first I just went with it because, well, One Piece, right? There are giants, sentient fruit-eating swords, dudes stuck in barrels. Anything goes, right? I mean, who can explain the wonder of Gekko Moria?

Turns out this does not extend to talking toys. Talking toys are not normal. Unless they’ve been invented by Vegapunk, as Franky rightly thought.

Nope. These toys are not the work of Vegapunk.

They are the product of a twisted Devil Fruit user under the employ of Doflamingo, who transforms humans into toys.

Why? I have no idea.

But the reason has got to be some dodgy kind of punishment for something. 

There was a creepy scene when a toy desperately tried to convince the woman who was once his girlfriend that he was a human, that they once lived together, were once happy together. The trouble was, his girlfriend could not remember him! She looked at him in disgust, said, “This toy has human syndrome!” and he was dragged off to a ominous looking building with the word SCRAP emblazoned above a forbidding door.

It seems a lot of the toys remember being human. Sol spoke to a guy called Milo, who is currently masquerading as Onepoko-chan the dog. Turns out the boy who plays with him is actually his son, and the boy’s mother is his wife.

What. The. Actual?

Sol asked the boy if he had a dad. Nope, was the answer. What about the wife? Had she ever been married? Don’t be silly.

Something really, really weird is going on here. And I never even mentioned the midnight curfew. Anyone who is caught outside after then is arrested (and probably turned into a toy). Toys and humans are allowed to hang about during the day, but at night? They are segregated. Toys live in toy homes. Humans remain in their homes.

This is totally weird and cool and I cannot wait to see where this goes.

Every time questions are answered in Dressrosa, another ten rise to take their place. :D

[synnefo-nefeli]

For the dribbles, klapollo, "I'm too sober for this"

So sorry I am late for this!!!  I didn’t forget! RL has been busy!

***

Apollo knew that eventually, he would have to deal with “that side of” Klavier.  It came with the territory of living in LA and dating a celebrity.  Apollo would have been okay with it, if Klavier’s celebrity remained solely on the side of the Law- kinda like Mr. Edgeworth.  At least Apollo had some common ground there and Apollo was making a name for himself too.

But no, Klavier was very much a celebrity in the “Razzle Dazzle LaLaLand” vein and Klavier remained in contact with his A-Lister friends and the Movers and Shakers of the Music and Entertainment Industry.  And while going to mansions out in the Hills, and rubbing elbows with the most beautiful people in the world, would be a dream for many, Apollo dreaded the idea despite him knowing that him being there for Klavier at these events was important/ things that came with the territory of being a good boyfriend.

“It’s going to be fine, Spatzi,” Klavier offered as he drove them past the security checkpoint at the mansion’s gatehouse, “It’s just a party.”

Apollo nervously chewed at his lip watching the scenery drive-by, “At one of the biggest director’s homes in the city.”

“He’s a normal person, Spatz-”

Apollo turned to shoot Klavier a look, “We’ve been on this driveway for like minutes, and the house is nowhere in sight, normal person, my ass Klav.”

To his credit Klavier only offered a gentle laugh and an “ah, ja, this is a little much” and kept driving.

Apollo sighed wishing he didn’t feel an impending sense of dread and social anxiety.  It wasn’t fair- Klavier went to all the things Apollo asked him to attend happily, but then again Klavier was a natural crowd-pleaser and an extrovert extraordinaire.  He made friends wherever he went.

“You never told me what the party was about,” Apollo offered as the house finally came into view, “or how you know this guy? I know the scenes intersect a lot, but you really don’t have a lot of dealings with Movie Bigwigs…”

“Ah, we know each other from a club.”

That was new. Apollo cycled through his information about Klavier before they started dating.  Was he talking about a Country Club?  Klavier never mentioned that he belonged or if the Label Record ever gave them access to one- was Klavier holding out on him? A country club would be nice…Apollo’s apartment complex’s gym was rather mediocre… 

But Klavier had that intense look on his face; the only he usually got whenever the man was ready to give as good as got in court; as much as Klavier didn’t participate in sports, the prosecutor was incredibly competitive. 

He was about to ask about what club Klavier was referring to, but they were pulling up to the valet and Apollo’s door swung open to reveal the attendant waiting for Apollo to exit the Mercedes.

There were a lot of people milling about, and Apollo picked up on the tense feeling that seemed to resonate within the crowd.  He wanted to mention it to his date, but Klavier was wearing his steel and cooled expression, not the usual easy-going one as Klavier took Apollo by the hand and lead them to the entrance.

“We’ll stay as long as I need to defend meine crown…we can leave as soon after if you’re not enjoying yourself-”

“Crown?” he asked bewildered, “what is this? What sort of thing are we-” but then they were being swept into the gargantuan house, and Apollo was being introduced to many people he was certain that he wasn’t going to remember their names in the morning.

For the most part it was a typical LA house party.  Many beautiful people, alcohol flowing freely and music playing a little too loudly.  Totally Klavier’s scene…so why was he acting so intensely…and passing up the alcohol?  

“Uhh, Babe?” Apollo offered trying to offer Klavier some of his cocktail, “are you okay?”  Was Klavier acting this way for Apollo’s sake? If so Apollo felt badly that Klavier would sacrifice his good time just because Apollo was being socially awkward.

But Klavier waved him off, his typical smile returning, “Later baby, I need meine wits and coordination about me…Ah there is our host. It’s about to begin!”

“What’s about to begin?!”

A large middle-aged man, one of Hollywood’s elite producers and directors wandered onto the stage that was set up between the large speakers,

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the 25th annual South California Alpha Delta Chapter, AIR GUITAR COMPETITION!  We have a roster tonight that is sure to thrill-”

The words drowned out as he looked over at Klavier, who was looking at their host with a look of excited anticipation.

“An Air Guitar Competition?  You’re a part of an Air Guitar Club?”

“Ja,” Klavier smiled, “And I’m the reigning champion four years running…und I want to make it five,” he was practically purring.

Apollo frowned, “Wait…this is a thing….how have we been dating and I don’t know this about you?!”

Klavier feigned wounded, “Ach, baby…how do you think I got so gut at it?”

Apollo groaned, “I don’t know…I figure you were good at it because you know, you play the ACTUAL guitar and you’re an ACTUAL rockstar?”

“Ah baby, you’re such a gut and supportive boyfriend. This is why I love you…you always think the best of me-”

“That’s not it, fop, and you know it-”

“Competitors please come to the back to receive your performance number and submit your set lists.”

“That’s mine cue, baby,” Klavier leaned over to kiss Apollo, “be meine lucky charm?”,

A thrill went up withing him, how could he say no to someone like Klavier, despite this most ridiculous scenario. Apollo blushed, “Uh, yeah, sure. I mean of course?”

Klavier gave him another kiss,”You’re the best, mein liebling,” then he disappeared into the crowd of the queuing competitors.

And then he was alone.

“There are seats over there, sir,” an attendant who was in charge of crowd control said and pointed  Apollo to sit at a table with people who were more than likely the unfortunate spouses and significant others who had been dragged to support the competitors.  

Apollo stood before the table looking bewildered looking between the stage and the new group of “friends for the evening”.

“First time?” a woman with several empty glasses in front of her. 

Apollo nodded.

“Let me guess,” another man, Apollo vaguely recognized from a celebrity rag sheet slurred, “he didn’t tell you until you were inside what this is?”

“Pretty much.”

The woman patted the spot beside her, “Come here and drink with us dear, you’re in for a long night. Your boyfriend is favored to win.”

So Apollo sat and found two more drinks set in front of him, “So how much do I have to drink to not have second-hand embarrassment.”

“A lot…just smile and maybe you’ll be cheerfully supportive by the time the costume round starts.”

“C-costume Round?!?”

“Yup, that’s house they get performance points on top of their technical points… so we don’t end up with ties…and stay here longer than needed.”

“There are points?!”

The lights dimmed and a hush went over the crowd as the first competitors took the stage.  Strains of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” struck up as the competitors began to guitar “duel”.

It was interesting he had to admit and the competitors seemed to be into their imaginary guitar battle…some of them definitely had the flare to make Apollo forget that they didn’t have actual instruments in their hands.  

But then his mind kept circling back to the point that at some point, Klavier was going to be on stage and he was going to have to be his Klavier’s supportive and loving boyfriend throughout this silly thing.

“Another sir?” A waiter asked offering a tray filled with several sugary cocktails, 

Apollo took one, “Yes, please.  I am still too sober for this-”

The waiter smiled and Apollo almost missed the, “you’re not the first to say that, sir” as the man walked away.

And so Apollo settled back to witness his very glimmerous boyfriend wow a crowd of Hollywood elites, with nothing but attitude, stage presence, and a guitar made of air.

When Klavier eventually took the stage in a dazzling purple sequined number, he was greeted with the cheers and applause as per usual whenever he was on a stage. However, the drunkenly enthusiastic shout of

“KNOCK THEM DEAD! GO ROCKSTAR BOYFRIEND!” 

was enough to spur Klavier to a certain and decisive victory.

[jaywrites101]

JayReviews: Shazam!

What makes a person pure of heart? Today at JayWrites101 we're looking into the recent "controversy" surrounding Captain Marvel and her DC competitor Shazam!. Some are saying this movie is everything Captian Marvel should have been, others are saying this movie is the hack. Which is true? Let's find out together.

The purpose of this review is to break down The Good, The Bad, and The Strange to find out what makes these stories so unique.

Spoilers ahead.

Medium: Movie. Genre: Superhero, Comedy Premise: A young boy is given the ultimate power of Shazam, and must use this power to recapture the Seven Deadly Sins. Plot: A young boy named Thaddeus is teleported to a magic temple and given a test to see if his heart is pure enough to wield the power of Shazam. He fails the test and spends the rest of his life devoted to finding his way back to that temple.

Enter Billy Batson, a young delinquent living in Philadelphia who lost his mother when he was a very young child. Billy regularly runs away from his foster homes and pulls pranks on cops so he can track down every Batson in Philadelphia. Finally, at the last woman on the list, Billy is crushed to discover that she wasn't his mother either, and he's left without any option but to return to foster care.

Thaddeus, now an older man, finally cracks the code to magic and breaks into the temple. Shazam, being near the end of his power and life tries to stop him, but Thaddeus steals the Eye of Sin, which does exactly what it says on the tin and becomes his eye.

Also, it frees the Seven Deadly Sins from their captivity. Thaddeus can sort of control them, but in reality, they're just using him, and since he's already doing what they want... it works.

Anywho, Shazam, now left dying is forced to give his powers to Billy and pray that the kid won't abuse them as previous heroes did in the past. Smaaaaaaart.

The rest of the story is Billy trying to figure out the limits of his powers with his best friend and foster brother Freddy. Being Shazam makes him grow into an adult. Wacky hijinks ensue!

Billy eventually attracts the attention of Thaddeus who forces Billy to fight by kidnapping his family, and Billy discovers a way to allow them to become superheroes like himself. Together they beat Thaddeus, return the Eye of Sin to its cage, and bind the Sins back into their original prisons.

The Good: This movie is hilarious! This is one of the best modern examples of physical comedy I've seen in years! Between Shazam! and Into the Spiderverse, I'm hopeful that this style of comedy will make a full recovery. 

Aside from the laughs -- which were plentiful -- I have to say the acting was on point for everyone involved. The kids were excellent, the adults were excellent, line readings, facial expressions, all of it was top notch here.

But we're going to give this Good with an asterisk. You see, this film is a comedy, it's fun and light-hearted. This lends itself well to more expressive emotions and any slip-ups made only serve to add to its charm. It's still a really big Good. But it a bar that's a lot easier to clear in a comedy with serious moments than in a serious movie with comedic moments.

The next Good I want to point out is the cinematography. The camera guy had fun with this. And by fun I probably mean hell. The long takes, the swivels, the crane shots! There was action with this camera, and you could feel that each take was shot with dedication and care. It's refreshing to see in a movie like this especially when so many films of late show flat, static shots with the occasional shot-reverse shot thrown in.

The last point I want to bring up is the dramatic stakes.

People died in this movie.

Yeah, okay. I can hear you already tying away like "no duh," but usually in these superheroic, high-action flicks people are getting offed by stray bullets or "Raaar! Monster smashes building!" And you never really see the death toll. Like, you're sure someone died, but you're not really sure who, why, or how. Unless they're a mentor character. But those folks come with an expiration date to begin with, soooooo...

It's usually easy to ignore the damage done in films like this.

Thaddeus locks about twenty people in a skyscraper room, throws his older brother out the window, and proceeds to murder the remainder of the people saving his father for last.

That's frekin hard to ignore!!

Likewise, the scene where Bily reunites with his birth mother just to find out she left him there with the police intentionally... I... I just can't... I can't even...

The Bad: I don't believe in perfection. I believe everything can be improved. The prime example here would be how exaggerated everything it.

Don't get me wrong. In comedy, exaggeration is played off for laughs and it's beautiful, buuuuut. When you use exaggeration in your drama... It comes off as forced.

To the film's credit, the exaggeration mostly comes from the fact that they're all kids. But it's still grating to older audiences at times.

I was left in eternal confusion about how old Billy was before he gained an adult super-form. This is one area where even the internet failed me. Canonically, Billy is 12... Considering he has a crush on his foster sister who is about to leave for college... <.< I'm going to say he's supposed to be older in this film. 

I mean... They try to imply he's still in grade school, but he looks like he's already in high school. He also acts like he's already in high school.

Aside from that, most of everything else I have to go here are nitpicks. Things like "how do no one notice the lightning bolts being blasted into the rooftops?" You know. Nitpicks. They're there in every film, series or story. Nitpicks can add up and snowball fast, but in this film, they're barely noticeable.

The Strange: This section of the review is devoted to the things that probably wasn't thought out as well as you might have expected.

The other foster kids.

Out of the six kids we have: Billy the protagonist, Freddy the cripple, a little black girl, the college girl/ love interest, the fat kid, and the Asian stereotype.

There is nothing done in the movie to address these characters except that in the end, they all do actually get superpowers.

To be clear: I'm not complaining about the diversity. I'm complaining that these characters are little more than their stereotypes, and the film indirectly implies that these kids are living half a life unless they're flawless, swole, and sexy.

I know, I'm a white boy who's never lived in a foster home before. I don't think I have any kind of right to be offended... But I think there's someone out there who should be.

There are plans for a sequel in the pipelines. I hope they address this. Because half-assed inclusion can be more damaging than outright bad inclusion.

I still think this was a good step in the right direction. But they still need to take a few more.

Strongest Scene: The villain in the office scene. To me, that was the most gut-punching part of the movie. They said, "Hey, I'm going to have this bad guy do bad things in what would otherwise be a kids movie," and somehow the studio was like, "eh, whatever we don't care."

And we received gold. 

The suspension was locked on high, the terror was real, and I actually believed Thaddeus was a wicked monster. Not to mention this was our first glimpse of the Sins outside of the statues. There was so much intensity packed into one small scene that I'm absolutely sure better reviewers than I will continue to pick over it for years to come. So it absolutely receives my subjective vote.

Weakest Scene: This one always pains me to write. I'm going to have to give it to Billy meeting his birth mother. Now, this scene did have some powerful moments in it, like Billy giving back the compass and the mother just looking at it blankly like she couldn't see the implications of it. Powerful stuff.

But the execution of it was... off. For one thing, this was a tight scene and it didn't have a lot of time to build up to the big moments. So some things felt rushed.

For another, Billy's mother seemed almost irritated that Billy had found her after all these years. Like, she glossed right over surprised, ignored curiosity altogether, and went straight on into "yeah, kid what do you want?" and that was... maybe intentional? I don't know.

It's hard to express exactly what I disliked about this, but this woman didn't feel like a mom and... I think that was supposed to be the point, but it really undercuts the emotion this scene should've had. And the only thing that connects to the rest of the movie is that Billy has to accept that his foster family is his real family now.

This is still an excellent scene, in any other movie it would've been fine. But Shazam! hit a high bar and this is easily the one scene that doesn't hold up.

Conclusion: This film was genuinely amazing! If you haven't watched it, you probably should. There's a lot to take out of it, and it stands alone on its own two feet so you don't have to worry if you've literally never watched any other DC movie.

How does Captain Marvel and Shazam! compare to each other?

Check back here tomorrow for my detailed thoughts on this and a few other "controversies" floating around on the internet.

[thelifetimechannel]

[kokofighterbb]

T H E    E V E 

Genre: Smut/Angst/Fluff

EXO Mafia! AU

SehunxReader

A/N: So hello dear reader, this is my first ever kpop related fanfic. Hopefully I won’t dissapoint. English isn’t my first language so bare with me if you see any mistakes. I also didn’t proof read this much so yeah. Expect A LOT of smut because that’s the reason for this au being born, some fluff and a lot of angst as well. Enjoy ^^

 Chapter 1

Sehun

I hated celebrating my birthday. To me it was just another business night out in the streets, wiping off a target, negotiating a dealing contract, sabotaging lame ass competitors. It was nothing special. Yet the gang cherished birthdays dearly and were always looking forward to partying, thinking another year of life for us, given all the types of twisted shit we do for a living, was something to celebrate. The night was starting to cool off when they dragged me over back to our dorm, popped champagne bottles left and right and filled the place with gorgeous, expensive whores.

Laying back on the couch I thought I might as well try to enjoy myself and in the blink of an eye, I had a beautiful ebony girl dancing for me, grinding on my lap with a pill between her lips. Her body was elegant, strong and gracious, like art, warm, cinnamon skin glowing under the dim lights and bare for everyone to see. I bet she’d be a pleasure to fuck but I’ve never fucked a prostitute. It’s too easy, too superficial. I thoroughly enjoy the process of chasing a woman, making her so mad with want she willingly ends up being a slave in my bed, surrendering her whole self to me knowing she’ll be pleased by whatever I want to do to her. The fact that’s been over six months since I did that has me burning up. My job can be very tense and there’s nothing that can relax me more than coming back home to a woman looking at me like I’m her whole world and a good, hard fuck. Sighing I realize, I could never get that from a whore.

“What’s with the long face, boss?” a familiarly annoying voice asks.

“I’m not your boss.” I retort.

“Yet. Not the boss yet. But you will be soon. We all know that. Boss.”

“Quit it, Hyunbin. Not in the mood.” I grunt. Hyunbin is a doubtful member of the gang whose permanence in it I question a lot recently. I have a bad feeling about him and my bad feelings usually end up being right, sadly sometimes later rather than sooner. He’s been trying to lick my ass insistently since rumors arose suggesting I might take on the Boss’ spot sometime soon, once he retires. I sigh heavily. I can’t believe I have to put up with this asshole even when I’m trying to have a good time.

“Oh, come on, boss. Don’t be so touchy. Follow me. I’ll show you a little something I got you for your birthday.”

I reject his request telling him he could show me later but he insists so I give up to it thinking I’ll get him off my back sooner if I do. Shoving the beautiful ebony girl off, I follow Hyunbin to the garage feeling uneasy somehow. I glare at his back suspiciously. I don’t trust him all that much. I don’t know what sort of present we’re heading to but it better not end up with a bullet inside someone’s forehead.

Once in the garage, Hyunbin turns the lights on showing a really large box in the center of the room, covered in a large piece of black velvet. He smiles at me expectantly, most likely waiting to see some emotion on my face only to find an annoyed expression on my features I presume.

“Listen, Sehun,” he started, his face lighting up. “I have a great feeling about this present. I think you’ll like it. No, actually I think you will absolutely love it.”

“Just show me already.”

Eagerly, he unveiled the box and it turned out to be a cage. Inside there was what it looked like a corpse. The dead body of a woman. Only after a few seconds I realized she wasn’t dead, she was breathing, shaking mildly, coiled up like snake, protecting herself. Her hair was a deep chestnut color, silky soft looking that fell on her back. Her right ankle was chained to the cage. Hyunbin’s voice took me back to the moment.

“See, you’re speechless. I knew you would like it boss.”

To be quite honest I wasn’t only speechless but also petrified. Shocked. Then I was enraged and considering the fact that I had a gun right here with me, wasn’t good news for Hyunbin. The bastard knelt down right next to the cage and knocked on it twice with his knuckles.

“Hey, sweetie. Remember the conversation we had earlier? Say hi, doll.” He slowly spoke to her like she was an animal and then unlocked the cage with a small key.

The woman rose her head and looked at me. Not one sound leaving her lips. She appeared to be quite young. Very young. Not older than 21 years old. She looked pale, cold and afraid. It was evident she had been given some sort of drug as her gaze seemed somehow lethargic. She was completely naked, her body shivering, looking so fragile and weak. Poor little girl just stared at me pleading for something. Freedom, most likely, or mercy. God only knows what she has gone through. I sure as hell don’t want to hear the gory details.  

“Boss, I know you don’t like to fuck whores and also you don’t have so much time off to chase after women, so I thought I would give you one as a present. And listen the best part is that her cherry here is completely intact. She’s still a virgin. Just for you.”

I grunted. A virgin girl. Maybe she was even younger than I initially thought. A virgin. Poor angel. How did she end up here in a cage? Sold to the highest bidder no doubt. Adult virgins are extremely rare and expensive in the black market. She most have costed a fortune.

“Come on boss, say something. Do you like your present? Only the best of the best for y-“

“You have one second to shut the fuck up before I degut you with a fucking spoon.”

For the first time since he unveiled the cage my gaze turned his way. I had the feeling that Hyunbin was unreliable but I never thought his thirst for power would hand him to me like this, completely in fraganti.

“You know we don’t do this shit, Hyunbin.” I growled.  

“Listen, boss. Let’s keep it a secret. It’s not a business after all, it’s a present and no one has to find out where she came from.”

Poor fool, he really has no idea. We have never traded with people, it is forbidden within our organization and personally, there are very few things in the world I despise more than trafficking with human beings. Women, men, children, whatever they are. If Hyunbin would’ve known a couple more things about me he wouldn’t now be playing with death at such narrow distance. Anyone else in the gang might have just taken him to the boss and let him decide what reprimand suited him best for breaking the rules. Too bad I wasn’t anyone else. I had no desire to take him to the boss but to do something a lot worse. I laughed at the thought realizing I knew all along this birthday was going to be just like any other shitty day, ending up with blood dripping from my hands.

“I think you don’t understand, Hyunbin. I specifically don’t mess around with this shit. You should’ve known better.”

He looked at me with surprise in his eyes, laughing incredulously.

“Oh, man. Come on. What are you jabbering about? I brought you top quality virgin pussy. A whole woman just for you, Sehun. You should be thankful. Now listen if you don’t want it, I could sell it myself. You know Dragna loves purchasing young cunts.”

I launched myself at him. Over my dead body, I thought. Dragna was a competitor; boss of a relatively small but rich gang, everyone knew they had no problem negotiating with human lives just as they would with drugs or weapons. Dragna himself was famous for buying or kidnapping young pretty women and slaving them for long periods of time. It was obvious he would sell or kill them once he considered them to be replaceable for a new one, being suspected for the death of quite a few girls. May God send me to the most painful and slow death if I allow this poor creature to end in the hands of someone like Dragna.

Hyunbin tried to defend himself, fight me off. He couldn’t. I was bigger, stronger and smarter. I wanted an excuse to get rid of Hyunbin and he handed it to me on a silver plate.

******

Reader

The tall man standing right in front of you snarled at the one who had held you captive.

“You know we don’t do this shit, Hyunbin.” He said. You had finally heard the name of your latest captor.  

Then everything was even more confusing or maybe just happened very fast. They were fighting. Really fighting each other. You couldn’t help but stare trying to get a clear, sharp view of anything you could, but everything was so hazy. Filthy drugs in your body, rushing through your veins made you feel so weak to the point that only speaking was a huge effort. The cage was cold and so was your skin. Your body felt so strange you could barely exert any control over it.

Then you heard his rough voice again.

“Don’t look, honey.” He said, locking your eyes with his for an instant. His raw, growling voice scared you so you obeyed and shut your eyes closed. He seemed so frightening, the other man was also terrifying. Everything was. Cancelling out your vision in fear, now you could only rely on your hearing. Pants, punches, kicks, even what sounded like bones snapping all mixed in a big haze of noise and then it rang clearly. A gunshot. Then another gunshot. The sound of a body dropping heavy on the ground. Then silence.

[thatparkinsongirl]

WORLDS.

Friends. No one ever told you life was gonna be this way. The apartment complex has seen better days but it’s a roof over your head and that’s more than enough to be grateful about. There’s a pitch-perfect coffee shop on the corner and the people on your hall are actually fantastic.

Disaster. It’s the end of the world. Everything in ruins. You’re running, running, just trying to survive these last days. You sleep fitfully, even then still alert, one hand tangled with theirs and the other gripped around a gun/wand. Or alternately, you’re the crackpot science team that first discovered something was wrong. You’ve all been locked up behind miles of reinforced steel in the CDC? NSA? Area 51? trying to solve this disaster. You were pulled away from your families, not able to save them, not able to take anything. Coffee, coffee, MRE meals. Microscopes, slides, formulas scribbled across white boards trying not to give in to the impending doom.

Inversion. This is not the world you know. Here, Headmaster Riddle pats a young boy on the shoulder and gives some much needed advice. Here, Grindewald and Dumbledore strike fear in the hearts of all the muggleborns. Here, everything and everyone is just a little off center. Your choices define you. (Borrowed from here)

Darkest. Dark magic thrums through your veins, slick and oily. You crave it, live for it. The forbidden section has been your second home ever since the first time you snuck in second year. You are something to be feared. The magic you play with is going to change the world. It’s not about hurting people (sometimes an unfortunate side effect) or taking over the world necessarily (though that is a goal), it’s about this sickly curiosity in magic. How far can you can go? How many lines can you cross? LOOsely off this in which the golden trio go somewhat dark, https://archiveofourown.org/works/6334630/chapters/14514247. Particularly there’s a whole thing in which they bond themselves to each other in a fit of codependency which just yessssss.

Rich as fuck. Money, money, money. Money is the anthem of success. Fast life, shiny diamonds, the best clothes. Speeding too, too fast down the highway, hand out the window. Cops won’t pull you over; they know better. Your lives are a never-ending party. Super Rich kids by Frank Ocean.

Roadtrip bitches. It’s the summer before university. The last hurrah before you all go your separate ways. Long, too deep conversations around a fire while you all smoke. Roadtrip mix blaring through the speakers. Seeing every weird roadside attraction you can. Talking about growing up, childhood, fears, change. About how you could go a year without speaking to someone but they’re still, always gonna be your best friend.

Political. Is it the west wing or house of cards?? Are they corrupt as fuck, bribing and killing and manipulating their way or they earnest and honest as possible, hearts brimming with desire to make the world something worth living in.

PUnk. idk. Hip hop. DJs. Raves. Tattoo artists. Lighters. Smoke rising up into the sky. Motorcycles and a shit ton of leather. Graffiti in the alleyway behind the bar you own.

Therapy. Post-war, and it’s rough. The physical scars are easy enough to ignore. It’s several months before you break down and join the therapy group at St. Mungos. You all swear you’re only there for the free coffee and doughnuts. Phobias, triggers, panic attacks. Recovery. Late night phone calls cause you had the nightmare again.

Olympics. Fencing? Swimming? Hockey? Gymnastics? Ice skating? Or, I mean, alternately, they could be in the Quidditch world cup. Competitors who like mock each other but also hardcore root for each other. It’s a small community and you all have known each other your entire life. It’s been a fight but here you are on the olympic team, favorites for the gold. 

Doctors. Late night hours. 12 hr shifts. Narcissism. The ultimate god complex. Shitty coffee. Stress. Lost a patient today, saved a patient tomorrow. Fighting over who gets to be second on the awesome heart surgery. A quickie in the on call room because damn your ass looks fine in those scrubs. Quizzing each other over a quick lunch. Complaining about your attending at the bar on your first night off in ages.

Unspeakables. They died, struck down during the war and none of you could bear to survive without them. The plan is put together in the early hours of the morning, feverish. It’s stupid, selfish; all this to save one life. You all join the Unspeakables because the rumor is they’ve been working on creating new time turners. None of you care who suffers for this as long as you can get them back.

How to Get Away With Murder/I Know What You Did Last Summer. You’re tied together by an awful, terrible secret. None of you can risk turning on each other. You’ve made sure of that. Toxic people. Guilt. There’s a body in the morgue with your names on it. It was an accident truly but the covering it up that was deliberate. Maybe some unknown person knows and is blackmailing you all or maybe, maybe they’re just trying to get away with it.

Spaceeeee. Inspired by the Wolf 359 and the Strange Case of Starship Iris. Science. Space. Discovery. Futuristic. Bonding because you’re trapped together in a tiny space ship. Conspiracy. Suicide missions. Technology betraying you. The fate of the entire human race resting on your shoulders. 

Parks&Rec/Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Any job-lawyers, firefighters, coffee-shop. It doesn’t matter because they’ve become a tight-knit family. Work hijinks, skinny love probably, I broke your email after I sent you 20 cat memes in a row. office parties. a hint of danger and risk (ok i admit it i like the firefighter one best). My very first day I was driving around trying to find the staff parking and a car honked, whizzed past me, yelling something crude out the window. It turned out to be my new boss.

Dark Post War. With Voldemort dead, Death Eaters being rounded up left, and peace returned to Wizarding London for the first time in more than a decade, it’s easy to believe that all is well. (The problem is that there is no length that people won’t go to protect their peace once they get it back.) Conscription into the Aurors for eligible wizards is enacted to ensure a strong standing against any lingering Voldemort supporters. A man in a black robe is murdered in the street one night because a young, nervous Auror thought he was a Death Eater. Incredibly harsh sentences handed down for any war crime. When Hogwarts finally reopens its doors over a year after the Battle of Hogwarts, it’s to the complete eradication of the Slytherin house (there are rumors about what happens to the children that the Sorting Hat would’ve sorted into Slytherin) and the addition of core classes. It is not a school but a training ground. Certain shops in both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are shut down for “sedition” and “miscreant behavior”, most notably Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. Known war hero, Hermione Granger, is tossed in a Ministry cell for two months for sedition, after she attempts to prevent the arrest of a werewolf. Released war prisoners, people like the Zabini family who did not bear the Dark Mark but who were afflicted with Dark families, and “potential dark wixen” are branded by the Ministry as a warning to the public. All the while, the Ministry reports capturing dangerous Death Eaters, spotting war criminals in Hogsmeade, about danger lurking everywhere. The official statement is that they are trying to right mistakes made after the defeat of Grindewald, if they’d taken a stronger offense then Voldemort never would have happened. What it boils down to though is fear and vengeance and the shifting tide of power. 

Darkest Minds. So I’m finally reading this series since the movie’s coming out soon. I’m only 6 chapters in thus far but yes! this plot! would! definitely! want!

Dark Academia. The Secret History!!! Probably, definitely a secret society!! Mystery! The most pretentious assholes you will ever meet. Arguments over classic literature. Speaking latin to each other so no one else knows what they’re saying. Tweed jackets. Fall in New England. Tea. No i don’t own a tv I believe they’re corrupting the youths’ minds. Insomnia. A 40 page treatise on the Odyssey. 

Alternate Fifth Year. In a world where the young slytherin fifth years spend the summer of between fourth and fifth year, watching their parents with disgust and trepidation. They are ambitious, devoted to self-preservation and they are smart enough to see that following the Dark Lord is a road to ruin. Lucius Malfoy comes back from Death Eater meetings, shaken, Mr. Nott Senior with a long cut down his face. No, the slytherins have no interest in a life like that. It’s too bad then that they’re not even being taught Defense in school. It’s luck that they hear about the group of students that have started practical magic in secret. Canon divergent fifth year where the slytherins join Dumbledore’s Army. Can start after fifth year too but like that’s where it diverges. 

Back Home*. When they say you can’t ever go home again, they mean it, because home isn’t a static location, it’s a word full of extra connotation. It’s tied to a specific time and emotion and feeling. A group of friends return to their small hometown for the first time in eight years for the funeral of a mutual friend. Some of them have vaguely kept in touch but for the most part despite how close they were growing up they’ve all drifted apart. A story about loss, growing up, nostalgia, fear, and friendship. You won’t ever the same kind of friends you had when you were young. 

Shadow Children (Margaret Peterson Haddix). Futuristic, dystopian. Every family is allowed ONLY 2 children yet secret 3rd children do exist, living in the shadows and scraps. Some are lucky enough to get a fake identity and freedom. So I read this series when I was like 11 or something and they’ve kind of haunted me ever since. I’d probably wind up disappointed if I ever tried to reread them but whatever.  Anyway, I’ve been thinking about the first book lately, in regards to all the school kids protesting gun violence and the people in power just looking away as more children die, and just viscerely reminds of the horror I had reading the end of the first book in which (SPOILER) one of the main characters goes to a protest on the front lawn of the white house esque government building, convinced that if enough them protest, if they demand justice, they can get it. Each and every person at the protest is gunned down. For   young me who had largely only read books where everything wound up happy as long as you were brave and honest and full of spirit, this was an enormous shock. Idk how this would work but yes!

CONNECTIONS. 

Bodyguard. Mighty, mighty need for this. You’re the ambassador or president or queen or minister’s kid and your parents hire a bodyguard. You resent their protection. Ruining your semblance of a normal life. Judging you. You can’t help slipping their protection. Heart to hearts. Shared truths. Grudging respect and whatever. Ugh and the sexual tension, more alive than a power line. The attack comes out of left field and it’s a mess. (This. So down to play this out as whatever characters in any world)

Death. Straight up angst here. Final battle death scene. One second they’re right there and the next there’s a flash. You hold your hands over the gaping wound, screaming for a healer but you both know it’s over. Tears mixing with blood. Maybe they become a Hogwarts ghost. (Any character, any sort of relationship-married, dating, siblings, best friends, we shouldve dated but now your dying my arms)

Toxic. Do I feel guilty about having a thing for fictional toxic relationships? Yes, yes I do. But does that change anything? no. “Oh, we broke ages ago.” But everyone rolls their eyes when you say it. Because neither of you can stop and everyone knows. A couple of drinks in and you can’t keep your hands off each other. There’s still jealousy and toxicness and protectiveness and posssesiveness. There’s a dent in the wall from the time you threw a lamp at them. And god, if you could just make it work but love just isn’t enough sometimes. I’d tattoo your name on my arm but i wouldn’t marry you(Any characters)

Married in Vegas. You two hate each other’s guts. You’re constantly trying to one up each other in front of the boss. And you both always have a different way of approaching a problem. You steal candy bars out of their desk and they keep getting you locked out of your computer somehow. But your both the best so of course your selected for the Vegas conference work is holding. What happens next?? well?? a lot of alcohol, you know that. Neither of you quite remember but those rings on your fingers might mean something.

Romeo and juliet. Mob vs. cops or Death eaters vs. Order.  Forbidden romance. Secret meetings. My uncle killed your father. You have a body count that would make them blush. Maybe you’ll turn states evidence for them. Maybe they’re just using you. (any)

Softsoftsoftsoft. Bakery and coffee shop across from each other. Skinny love. A lot of Troye Sivan and Hayley Kiyoko playing. Longing stares, blushing, awkwardness. All your friends say they are definitely into you but??? Or alternately, you co-own the bakery coffee shop and you’ve been dating since third year and your friends all want to kill you. Because ughhh noone should still be that in love. Some serious codependency and domesticity here. Like if anyone’s seen How I Met Your Mother-Lily and Marshall. (any)

Misunderstandings. Classic trope. Of course, you thought they were dating. They live together, steal food from each others plates, share sweaters, tease each other relentlessly, constantly physically affectionate. Really what were you supposed to think. Cue the miscommunication and needless pining and hilarity. (any)

Bonnie and Clyde. Gringotts robbers? Who knows but you’re criminals and you’re good at it. Three steps ahead of the aurors. Careless laughter, drunk on adrenaline. Drive it like you stole it by the Glitch Mob!! and End Credits by Eden!! (any)

Siblings. I’m sorry that all the others are relationship plots because I really do high key love a good best friends/siblings plot. Real siblings or we grew up together and i would murder someone for you siblings. They know each other better than the backs of their hands. Secrets are for other people. Soft plot-just them taking care of each other after a tragedy. Tough love-you fucked off to Paris because you couldn’t deal with your life and they dragged your ass back because when you were kids they promised not to let you make any irreversible mistakes. protective-just. they keep doing dangerous shit and risking their life and you have to knock some sense into their thick skull. Ridiculous-they are everyone’s worst nightmare, stuck together like glue, always causing trouble. Spitting gum down at people from the astronomy tower. Finding ways to beat the anti-cheating quills. Actually helping your sibling get rid of a body. (any)

Best friends/Squad. You all meet at the bar religiously after work. Got each other’s back still, always, forever. Growing up doesn’t mean you have to lose them. (all; I watched the whole first season of golden girls last night so I’ve got a lotta squad feelings. )

Parent and child. Honestly just this song. Heirloom by Sleeping at last!!!! You’re both trying your best but there’s always going to be this tension, these mistakes on both sides. Regrets, nostalgia, angst, softness, forgiveness. (any, but this song always gives me Draco-Scorpius and Harry-Albus vibes)

Eighth Year Partners. PostWar. After a review of Hogwarts’ records, it’s decided that the school year of 97-98 will have to be repeated for all students. In an effort to bring the students of all houses together to promote healing and unity, a random buddy system is set up. A Ravenclaw sixth year paired with a Gryffindor fifth year. A Hufflepuff and Slytherin second year paired. So on and so forth. Though Headmaster McGonagall believed it was a good opportunity, she was loathe to force any student into something they didn’t want, certainly not after the past few years. Thus her only fast rule for the partnerships was sitting together for two meals a week. Some took full advantage of the system, studying together, attending each other’s quidditch games. Others sat in stony silence during the required time only.

@ginevraxweasleyy @marcusflvnt @occlumensism

[daddyxxstyles]

The CEO

Hello, everyone. It’s been a while since I last posted anything. I’ve been working on the story for several weeks, but I wouldn’t finish it without my dear petal, @little-black-dress-24. It all happened thanks to your idea, your patience with me constantly tormenting you to read this stuff. So, huge thank you, E. And E, I’m really sorry for my dramatic, aesthetic, perfectionist ass. Luv yeh. xx

I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to comment, share or at least like, if you fancy my work. 

Harry is a lawyer and he is faced with the challenge of cooperating with his new boss. The boss turns out to be a beautiful woman.  Word count: 9,500-ish

You were sitting in a comfortable armchair with a cappuccino in a white coffee cup, right in front of you on a coffee table. You took a deeper breath from time to time to relax your tense body. You weren’t scared but you were nervous, in a good way. Finally, you achieved one of your career goals. You applied for your dream job in one of the best prospering law companies in the UK. You were determined to achieve your goal and so it happened. You were the first and the youngest woman to become a CEO in the company.

It was your first day and you were waiting for one of the Board Members to officially introduce you to the team. Your head was full of ideas on how to expand and develop the company. You were very excited about the job to a point where you couldn’t sleep at night because you were so full of energy and excitement for the new things to come.

You looked at a golden chain watch on your wrist and realised you should have been called inside about 10 minutes ago. You were tapping your fingers on your knees in excitement when you heard a man shouting in the office you were about to enter in the next couple of minutes.

‘You promised me this job and you lied to me, John! You know very well that it’s me who should have been given this job, I worked my ass off and I deserve it!’ you heard.

Hearing this, you felt an uncomfortable cramp in your stomach and a wide smile disappeared from your face immediately. Is someone getting fired because you got this job? That certainly wasn’t a good start, you thought. Several seconds later, the door to the office opened with force and a man stormed out from the inside. He was tall, very lean, dressed in a tailor-made navy-blue suit, white shirt and a black tie. His face was furious; eyebrows frowned, lips pursed in anger. When he noticed you sitting next to the door, his eyes lingered on you for several seconds as he was walking by, like he was examining you, wondering who you might be. Then he laughed sarcastically, spitting a silent ‘Obviously…’ under his nose. He disappeared behind the door and you were called in by Mr. Stevens as it was your turn to meet in his office.

You were gathered together with the rest of the employees in a conference room, giving sort of a welcome presentation on your prospects for the next years on the development of the company. Your confidence was rebuilt after the morning incident, when you realised that everyone was actually listening to you, even after the twenty-minute attention span. You started going into great detail, when the door to the conference room opened and the man from earlier entered the room. Mr Stevens, the Chairman of the Board, introduced him earlier as Harry Styles, your competitor for the CEO seat, whom you won over. He wasn’t wearing his jacket anymore; instead he rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and it turned out that it covered a bunch of tattoos on his arms. You observed him as he slowly walked towards the last empty chair.

‘... and being late to the internal meetings is also strictly frowned upon.’ you interrupted your own speech, keeping your eyes on him all the time. You heard some people laugh at what you said.

He sat down in the back of the room, in a very relaxed and laid-back manner, as if he was after hours drinking a beer in a bar, completely ignoring your cutting remark. He supported his elbow on an armrest and supported his chin on his clenched fist. When you continued your presentation, he stood up and approached a coffee machine and started preparing a coffee for himself. The machine started to make loud noises of crunching the coffee beans, warming up the water or pouring the hot drink into the cup. He took his time to make hustle, not rushing himself at all and it clearly disturbed you. He’s doing it on purpose, you thought. A girl named Carol whispered angrily to him to sit down and be quiet, but he only shrugged his shoulders. Now, you felt pissed. You tried to ignore him and not let him throw you off balance, especially not on your first day, but it wasn’t easy. He was deliberately using his iPhone with sounds on, he was probably texting someone as he was laughing to the screen from time to time.

‘Okay everyone, thank you very much for listening. I want you all to know that I am very excited to be able to work here and I hope for successful cooperation with all of you.’ you said at the very end of your speech and smiled. Everyone greeted you with applause, except for Harry. You weren’t impressed by that at all, you started gathering your stuff from the table as people left the conference room, some of them congratulated you on getting the job. Harry was still sitting in the chair, staring at you. When you turned off the laptop, you looked at him. His eyes were turned at you but he seemed to float in his thoughts.

‘I think we haven’t been properly introduced.’ you said looking at him. He woke up from his daydream and stood up.

‘Yeah…  But I am fully aware of who you are.’ he said slowly walking towards you with hands in his trousers. ‘Harry Styles.’ he said, sticking out his right hand and you shook hands. His handshake was firm and strong.

‘Must say I’m very intrigued with your presentation. It’s a completely new approach… In my opinion, there is no way any of this is gonna work out.’ he said leaning back on the wall and sticking his hands back to his trousers.

‘Thank you for your opinion, Harry. But maybe that’s why I was chosen to be the CEO, not you.’ you replied with a satisfied look on your face.

‘Ouch. Was tha’ supposed t’hurt me?’ he said raising his eyebrows. ‘Good luck with implementing yeh cute little plan, will be very happy to see yeh fail, boss.’ he looked at you proud of himself, leaving you in utter confusion.

The first couple of weeks were even harder than you thought they would be. During every important meeting, Harry as your deputy, was genuinely blocking your every move, he undermined your authority as his boss, he argued about every little thing that didn’t go the way HE planned it. You tried to stay professional and not make scenes, you tried to make your arguments more constructive but he seemed not to care less about what you really said or did.

‘I do not agree t’this! Don’t yeh see she wants t’ruin years of our hard work?!’ Harry shouted during your monthly meeting with the board.

‘This is called moving forward, Styles, development, expansion, have you ever heard such words?!’ you shouted back.

He ignored what you’ve just said and turned his head to the board.

‘If you didn’t want me… Why couldn’t yeh hire someone… more qualified?’ he said throwing a pen on the papers in front of him. Hearing this, blood in your veins boiled.

‘Why? Because I’m a woman? A woman who has better ideas than you and who actually knows how to make them work?! Really?!’ you yelled angrily and you felt your body tremble.

‘Well, the fact that you’re a woman must have helped getting you this job a lot’ he said with a smirk on his face, glancing at his male colleagues looking for approval of his fantastic joke.

‘Harry, it’s enough…’ Mr Stevens spoke but you interrupted him immediately.

‘Thank you John, but I can take care for myself.’ you said politely into Mr. Stevens’ direction and then turned to Harry. ‘Okay, listen Styles,’ You stood up from your chair, supported yourself with your arms on the desk and leaned forward into his direction. You were furious. You were enraged. You were the only woman in the room and you felt belittled because of your sex. Instead of fulfilling your aims and stay focused on doing your job, you had to prove you’re capable of doing it, again. ‘I’m not sure if you noticed but I am your boss, you’ve been pain in the ass since day one, you undermine my authority during every little occasion, so I’m giving you two options, either you’re gonna stop being a little, whiny bitch and get your shit together, get your swelled ego out of the room and cooperate with me like an adult or you can pack your stuff and get the fuck out of here!’ you yelled, louder than you expected to. Everyone went speechless. Harry just pierced you with his eyes, touching his lower lip with his fingers, completely unimpressed with your burst of anger.

‘Are yeh finished? Can we continue?’ he said with an annoyed look on his face and leaned forward from the chair.

You froze in disbelief. How can he be such a jerk, you thought. That was really far beyond your patience and strength. You were done dealing with his behaviour. Something broke in you, you pierced him with your gaze, trying to steady your shaking hands but he seemed not to realise the power of the words he said.

‘Finish without me.’ You grabbed your files from the table and headed to the exit, slamming the door behind you.

Harry’s Point of View:

I was on my way to her office as I wanted to discuss the e-mail she’s just sent me. What the hell was she thinking? That she’s gonna take a week off now? With all the upcoming meetings? And that I’m gonna do all the work for her? No way in hell this is happening.

I was approaching her office, her assistant was long gone home. She was alone, probably not expecting any visitors at this time. The door to her office was ajar; I could already hear her soft, exhausted voice but I couldn’t see her. She was sitting in her chair, with her back turned at the door. I hesitated to enter, hearing quiet sobs.

‘I can’t do this anymore… It doesn’t matter what I say or do, he hates me. He hates me and he’s not afraid to shout it into my face. In front of everyone… Today he did it in front of the board, can you imagine? It was awful… How can someone be so nasty... What have I done to him, I’m nice, helpful and caring, I’ve never wanted to steal anyone’s job... ‘ saying this she started to tear up. She paused and aching silence pierced the air. ‘I know but he does everything to make me feel worse, unprofessional and stupid, Anne. I just don’t think I can take that any longer. I was tough and I didn’t bother my mind with guys like him but this time it’s different. He broke me… He can be proud of himself, really... Maybe accepting this job wasn’t a good idea after all… ‘ another long pause. ‘Okay… And how are the kids? I miss you guys so much… ‘ another part of sobs hit my ears. ‘Okay, squeeze them tight from auntie, I will see you soon… Love you, byee.’

She ended the call with a deep sigh. I felt weird and stupid. I silently headed back to my office, thinking of what I’ve just heard. I admit, I didn’t like her because she came out of nowhere, taking over my job I worked for for years. Everyone would be mad. But maybe I've crossed the line? Maybe I've pushed her to the limits she can't resist? Am I really that kind of person?

I sat in front of my computer and re-read her e-mail:

Dear all,

Due to personal matters, I will be out of office until the end of the week. With all the issues, please refer to Harry Styles. In case of urgency, please contact me via my mobile.

Regards.

I wiped my face sighing deeply. That must have been my fault, I realised. That wasn’t right. I was being too mean to her.  I felt guilt overpowering my mind, it was hard to bear but I deserved it.

Your Point of View:

You still had two days off but today was the day of finalising a big contract with an important client. You had to be there, you couldn’t let Harry control all of it. You gathered all the necessary documents you had at home and headed to the client’s headquarters for the meeting.

Harry was quite surprised with your attendance but gladly, he left it without a comment. The meeting was long and exhausting, as the client was still negotiating some terms of the deal.

‘Mr. Styles, I’ve sent you an e-mail two days ago that I want to have the draft of the annex ready for today. Do you have it?’ the client said with a demanding tone, looking at Harry over his glasses. You glanced at Harry. His face went pale white, his forehead covered in sweat. He didn’t have it.

‘Uhm... ‘ he grunted, trying to kill the silence. He was in panic.

That was the moment of triumph for you. You observed him trying to desperately come up with a lame excuse. Every second of the silence felt like a lifetime. He nervously browsed through his briefcase, trying to buy himself more time. Seeing him losing control at least for once was beautiful, you thought.

‘Of course we have it, sir.’ you said to end this pathetic scene. You saw the e-mail the day before and prepared it just in case, as you couldn’t lose this deal. You took out the documents out of your briefcase and handed over the copies to all of the participants. ‘You forgot it from my desk, Harry.’ you looked at him meaningfully, with a satisfied smirk on your face. His face looked relieved.

Four hours later, when the meeting ended, you were the last ones to stay in the conference room. You were packing your stuff to your briefcase, when you heard his voice.

‘Listen… Thank you for saving my ass... ‘ he looked at you with a nervous smile.

‘Oh, I didn’t save YOUR ass. In fact it was quite enjoyable to watch you trying to fix it. I saved the company’s ass. You know very well what would happen if we didn’t have the annex. He wouldn’t sign the contract eventually.’ you said putting on your coat. ‘See you on Monday, Harry.’ taking your handbag and a briefcase you left the conference room feeling victorious; not only have you signed a huge contract for the company but also, for the first time, you won a battle with Harry.

Harry’s Point of View:

Still bearing in mind her crying in the office and my fuckup from the last meeting, I wanted to apologise to her in person. I bought a box of donuts and two lattes on my way to work. It was still quite early but I hoped to find her in her office already.

I stepped into the elevator just before the doors were shutting close, I heard someone’s quick footsteps. I pressed the ‘open the door’ button and two seconds later I saw her.

She was standing there with her iPhone in her palms and headphones in her ears, wearing active wear. She was wearing no makeup, her long hair was tied in a high ponytail. Colorful leggings adhesed to her legs perfectly, showing the outline of her slim legs and hips. When she turned around, I involuntarily glanced at her ass - it was of perfect shape, shouting at me to squeeze it. There was no evidence of underwear underneath the leggings - was she wearing thongs? Was she wearing nothing underneath? Naughty girl…

‘Hello’ she said and stood right next to me. She paid no attention to me, giving all her focus to her iPhone.  

‘Hi…’ I replied clearing my throat. ‘What’s up? Did you have a nice weekend?’ I asked to make some small talk. It must have been odd, since she looked at me surprised.

‘Yes, I did. I visited my sister Anne and her kids and we’ve had wonderful family time.’ she answered.

I felt my heart drop to my stomach. Her sister, Anne. Probably the one she was crying to on the phone. Because of me. I looked down at my hands and reminded myself the reason I bought the coffee and sweets.

‘Uhm listen… Wanted t’talk t’you. First of all, I wanted t’apologise fo’ my behaviour. I realised I was being a dick t’yeh, I had no right t’do tha’. And yet… You still provided me with help and saved my ass on tha’ meeting. Which leads me t’say… Thank you. You saved the day.’ I said, smiling awkwardly.

Your point of view:

When you heard his apology and then a thank-you, you were taken aback. He appeared to be a completely different person. Nice, thoughtful, caring. You would never even think that he would be able to say “I’m sorry” or “you were right”.

‘Maybe to sweeten our relation a bit, here’s yeh favourite double espresso latte on soy milk ‘n some donuts.’ He said handing you a little box full of donuts and one of the coffee cups he was holding.

‘Thank you, but that wasn’t necessary, really…’ you replied. How the hell he knew I liked my coffee like this?, you thought.

‘So.... Apology accepted?’ he asked. His head was a bit lowered but he looked straight into your eyes with his green gaze. You were still angry at him and hurt with what he had said so many times, but you couldn’t resist these eyes. His stare was hypnotising, just as he was staring into your soul. His hair was drenched with water, as it was a rainy morning in London. Usually, his hair short on the sides and longer at the top, was combed and neatly styled with some hair products, now his hair was wet and his baby locks stick to his forehead. He bit his rosy lip, his eyes still lingering at your face, waiting for your answer.

‘Yes, apology accepted.’ you said and smiled softly, feeling overwhelming warmth spreading through your body.

Harry’s Point of View:

Few weeks later.

It was a Sunday morning. I woke up at 7 am, had a black coffee without sugar and went for a morning run around Kensington Park. I was jogging through the park alleys with headphones in my ears, when suddenly the music was interrupted with a call signal. I rolled my eyes thinking who the hell it was at this bloody hour. I stopped by a bench to do some leg stretching in the meantime, and took out the phone out of my jumper. When I saw her name on the screen, an involuntary smile appeared on my face.

‘Yes, boss?’ I asked.

‘It’s 7.30 in the morning and it’s Sunday, why aren’t you asleep or something?’ She asked.

‘Then why are yeh calling me?’ I laughed.

‘I need you here with the documents we worked on on Friday, what time can you be here?’ she said.

‘Here means where?’ I questioned.

‘At my apartment. I don’t wanna go to the office even on Sunday.’ she sighed deeply. She sounded exhausted.

‘ ‘Kay, be there at 9 am. Text me your address.’ I hung up and took one more lap around the park and headed home.

I took a quick hot shower and put on fresh clothes. I chose black jeans, ripped on the knees, a Rolling Stones t-shirt and a grey hoodie.  I sprayed my neck with a Tom Ford perfume, picked up my car keys and went to the car.

An hour later I was riding an elevator to her apartment, carrying a pile of documents in one hand and a bag of takeout breakfast in another. I knocked on her door and a few seconds later, she opened them and let me inside. Seeing her took my breath away. It was a strange feeling, totally unexpected. She looked so different than in the office environment. She was wearing jeans and a light blue, fluffy sweater. Usually she put her hair into a ponytail or a bun but today she let her hair down, they curled in soft waves. She was wearing no makeup or it was some kind of a girly trick, I didn’t know. All I knew was she looked beautiful.

‘Hey… uhm,’ I cleared my throat ‘here are the documents yeh asked fo’ ‘n I brought some food since I didn’t have any breakfast yet so I thought maybe you’d like t’eat with me.’ I said looking into the bag.

‘Thanks, feel yourself at home.’ she welcomed me warmly and took the bag with food into the kitchen.

‘Nice apartment.’ I admired her surroundings.

‘Thanks. I put a lot of effort into decorating. It’s kind of my hobby.’ I heard her voice from the kitchen.

‘Really? It looks great, yeh really have a thing for it.’ I said making myself comfortable on her sofa. A few moments later she came in with a tray and the food I brought on it.

‘Thanks’ she replied and put the tray on a coffee table. When she leaned over the coffee table, her loose sweater revealed her black lace bra. I caught a glimpse of her body and immediately imagined her hovering over me. She sat down in a comfortable position on the other sofa, put some documents on her lap and took a cup of coffee.

‘Okay, so what do we have here…’ she said and we buried ourselves in work.

I observed her taking notes on a sheet of paper. She was sitting comfortably, with her legs stretched out. Her head rested on the back of the sofa, her hair fell behind her, exposing her bare neck and shoulder. No bra strap on her shoulder, provoked my thoughts. She caught me staring at her so I quickly turned my gaze away and I noticed two invitations sticking out of an envelope.

‘Wha’s tha’?’ I asked quickly.

‘These are two double invitations for an Annual Legal Convention in LA. I got them on Friday and I forgot to give you one. You can bring someone. There are gonna be some parties apart from the business part. It should be fun.’ she answered looking at her papers.

‘Nice, thanks.’ I took one invitation and read through it. It was a double invitation. One more question floated on my mind. ‘Are yeh bringing someone?’ I asked hesitantly.

‘No, I’m not.’ she put her slim legs down on the floor and took a sweet strawberry between her rosy lips.

Your point of view:

To your surprise he boarded the plane on his own. Subconsciously, you expected him to appear with a long-legged blonde with an admirable bosom. He took off his sunglasses, your eyes met his and grunted a “hello”. He walked in next to you in Business Class with a half unbuttoned black shirt. Your attention was caught by a silver cross on a silver chain on his neck and two tattoos sticking out from his black shirt, right under his collarbones. Was it birds? Your eyes went down to his hand holding a phone. Only now you noticed he has a small cross tattooed between his thumb and index finger. Speaking of the fingers, he had two rings on the hand, two silver rings on index and middle finger. You weren’t a fan of men wearing rings (except for wedding rings, of course) but it suited him. Just above his black leather watch, there was a beautiful anchor. You admired his tattoos before he took his hands away from your sight to put his bag into the overhead compartment. When he raised his arms, his shirt automatically went up, revealing his lower abdomen with more tattoos on it and his black and white Calvin Kleins. Just now you noticed his hips and thighs to be very attractive. They looked so slim, yet so manly. You craved to touch it, to kiss it, to lick it…

Before the plane took off he made a quick phone call to someone called Gemma.

‘Hey Gems, jus’ wanned t’let yeh know I’ve just boarded the plane, gonna call yeh when I land in LA…’ a large smile appeared on his face. ‘Yeah, okay… I love you too, Gem. Talk to yeh soon. Bye.’ he hung up and you felt a pinch of jealousy after hearing the conversation. So apparently,  he has a girlfriend, you thought. You didn’t like surprises, especially not like this one.

‘My sister says hi.’ he said looking at you, with a smirk on his face.

‘Your sister?’ you asked shocked.

‘Yeah, jus’ to clear that up, in case yeh think it was my girlfriend… Which I don’t have, by the way.’ he said, still smirking at you.

When the plane took off, you put on your headphones and curled up on the seat, pressing your head to a white pillow to fall asleep as it was supposed to be a long flight.

But you couldn’t sleep. You kept your eyes shut and you started thinking about the last couple of weeks. Since the day you screamed at Harry in front of the Board, he seemed to be a lot nicer to you. Most of the time, he didn’t pick on you whenever he found an opportunity, he kept his mouth shut when you introduced new ideas, he seemed to stay out of your way and let you do your job. Sometimes he even invited you to lunch, saying ‘there’s a lot to catch up on’.

But there were moments where he kept staring at you, again and again. His eyes put on a darker shade of green, his brows were slightly frowned and he was always touching his lips. He gave you so many contradicting emotions - it still happened that sometimes you were at each other's throats and the next minute you could feel his eyes undress you. The tension between the two of you was raising day by day and it appeared to be unbearable. You caught yourself thinking too often, about what it would be like to rip that white, expensive-looking shirt off of him.

You fancied his lean body and the way he looked but one, you were his boss, two, you could still remember how he hindered your every action on purpose from the very beginning. You didn’t know his true intentions, you couldn’t trust him.

You woke up mid-flight completely confused. Your head was comfortably resting on Harry’s shoulder and he was leaning towards your direction. You felt his scent, a mixture of his perfumes and freshly washed cotton, it was so relaxing you didn’t want to move away. You noticed you were covered with a blanket that wasn’t there before you fell asleep.

‘Excuse me, where did it come from?’ you asked a stewardess who was walking by, pointing at the blanket.

‘Your husband asked for it, madam.’ she answered with a smile on her face.

‘Uhm, we are not married…’ you chuckled nervously.

‘Oh, I am so sorry, madam, it’s just that he spoke about you so endearingly that I assumed you are… Please accept my apologies, madam.’ she said smiling awkwardly and walked away.

You looked at Harry; he was fast asleep. His face was calm and angelic. His half unbuttoned black shirt, showed his collarbone and a silver chain with a cross on it. You gently touched his face, moving a single hair strand from his forehead. His perfect, rosy lips were so mouthwatering, you felt the immediate urge to kiss them.

No, stop it, you thought. You can’t do that. You are his boss…  You sighed deeply, being scared of your own thoughts and turned yourself to the window.

The first two days in LA were very busy. You had lots of meetings with your clients scheduled during the day and in the evenings, you and Harry went to do some sightseeing and shopping. To your surprise you had a lot of fun with him and you would never imagine, he was such a fashionista. The office wear was quite monotonous and official, but the clothes he picked at the Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent boutiques really impressed you. Finally, the last day of the convention came and it ended with a very glamorous banquet at the hotel’s ballroom.

Specially for the occasion, you prepared a beautiful black dress. It was floor-long, and the upper part was made of lace material. You’ve made your makeup dark but elegant. You hair was pinned in a loose bun.

He was waiting for you at the entrance to the ballroom. When you were approaching him, you could notice him zone out for a moment. He smiled lightly with a flicker in his eyes and let you into the Ballroom before him, saying ‘you look wonderful’.

The event itself was a very glamorous one. During the official part, there were some speeches, some awards have been given. In the meantime top-notch dishes were served, and the waiters made sure you didn’t run out of wine. When the unofficial part started, a live band started playing and people began to mingle in the crowd. You also joined them as you wanted to meet some important figures from the legal world.

Few hours and several dances later, you noticed Harry sitting at a table by himself. He took off his jacket, his sleeves were rolled up and his bowtie was missing. His legs were stretched out and crossed on the ankles, his fingers by his lips and eyes fixated on you. When you noticed him do this again, you felt like electricity ran through your body. Your heart started beating faster, and you felt your legs out of control, they were leading yourself towards him. You felt a bit dizzy from the amount of alcohol you drank but once you reached the table, you grabbed your wine glass and finished it. He sit up, trying to act cool.

‘I think we haven’t shared a dance tonight, yet.’ he said looking up at you.

‘No, we haven’t…’ you replied. He stood up, grabbed your hand and dragged you to a half empty dancefloor.

He put one arm around your waist and with the other, he took your hand. You put your spare arm around his neck and you felt his arm pulling you even closer to him; you could feel your bodies touch. You’ve never been that close to him and quite frankly, you started shaking. But it was only a temporary feeling. You looked into his green eyes and you lost yourself in them completely. You could feel his hand sliding from your waist to your bum, but it stopped just above it. He was holding you close, you could feel the intoxicating scent of his perfumes as he moved his lips to your ear. He didn’t touch it, he didn’t kiss it though; he just moved them close enough for you to hear him breathe in and out.

‘Probably shouldn’t say tha’ but… Yeh look extremely hot in that dress…’ you heard in your left ear and chills went down your spine. ‘Actually, yeh look extremely hot in anything…’ now you felt his lips move across your neck. ‘Yeh are a beautiful woman’ he ended and put a soft but quite noisy kiss on your neck.

You felt completely frozen. His lips were so warm and soft. You felt goosebumps rise all over your skin, you wanted to throw yourself at him but you couldn’t. There were too many people, not to mention, people who might know your bosses.

‘I… I should go.’ you looked into his eyes and heard your own voice. ‘I’m tired and tomorrow’s gonna be a long flight.’ you said. This time it was you who gave him the piercing look.

‘Okay… I should probably go either. I will make sure you get to your room safe.’ You looked into each other’s eyes and both of you knew it wasn’t what he really meant.

You moved to the elevator and then stepped into a corridor leading to your executive suite with a view on the ocean. With every step, your legs felt heavier. You walked two steps in front of him, with a pounding heart in your chest. He slowly walked right behind you, with one hand in his pocket and the other holding his jacket over his arm. You could feel him staring at you, and you could swear, there was a satisfied smile on his face.

You stopped at the door to your suite and used a contactless card to enter. Hearing the lock open, you turned your head around and he was standing there, all smug and extremely hot. He was leaning on the wall, eating you with his eyes. No words were necessary to guess what was on his mind. You swallowed hard, pressing the door handle and with a shaking voice you said:

‘Good night Harry.’ you said and quickly entered the room, closing the door behind you.

You gulped for air and leaned on the door.  Your desire for him burned down the way between your legs but you knew this was the right choice. You were curious if he walked away, so you looked through the peephole and he was still there. He supported himself on stretched out arms, leaning into your door frame with his head lowered. After several seconds he stood straight up and gave up, directing himself to the elevator. You sighed with relief but at the same time you felt disappointed that you won’t be able to wrap your legs around his waist.

You took off your high heels and all the jewelry, when you heard a loud knock on the door. You knew who it was. You pulled the door handle and you saw Harry again. You felt your throat drop to your stomach as he stormed in inside. He pushed the door behind him, dropped the jacket he was carrying and pushed you to the wall gently.

‘I haven’t said good night yet.’ he looked into your eyes and you felt tingling in your belly. He pinned your wrists to the wall above your head with force and put his mouth to yours. You closed your eyes. You could feel his hot breath on your lips. Your whole body was shivering and you desperately tried to catch air, not to pass out. He softly caressed your lips, adding his tongue after a while. His hot breath smelled like alcohol but the stronger scent that caught your attention was the scent of his perfumes. Tom Ford. You recognised it immediately. The perfumes combined with the scent of his skin were intoxicating. His kiss evolved into a more passionate and greedy one. He slid his huge hands from your wrists to your small hands and entwining your fingers he squeezed your palms. He moved his mouth to your neck and you gulped for air.

‘Thank God you came back…’ you whispered into his ear, squeezing his hands back. You felt his lips curve into a smile on your neck.

He let go of your hands and reached for your dress. Touching your thighs, he pulled the dress up and lifted you, still pinning you on the wall. You automatically wrapped your legs around him, just as you wished a few minutes ago. You put your hands at the back of his head and reunited in the kiss again. With your legs wrapped around him, you could feel his bulge grow against your dampening center.

Everything was happening so fast; his hands touching your thighs, his mouth sucking on your neck. He wanted to move his lips further down but the dress was too much of an obstacle. He leaned back and carried you to the bed. You stood up on your feet and biting your lip, you quickly unbuttoned his shirt. His whole chest and arms were all covered with tattoos. It turned you on even more. You slid your palms over his chest; his skin was smooth and warmed-up. You took a better look over his chest. The tattoo you saw the other day on the plane it was two swallows, one under each collarbone. There was a 17BLACK tattoo right over the left swallow, a big butterfly on his stomach and two fern leaves on his left and right hip. You threw his shirt on the floor, you started kissing him - you began with his right ear, and then continued with his neck, collarbone, breastbone, muscled stomach, and you stopped between his belly button and trousers. You paid more attention to places covered with tattoos.

‘I’ve had no idea you were so heavily tattooed…’ you said sighing in arousal.

‘Do yeh like ‘em?’ he asked.

‘I love them…’ you answered.

You looked up at him with an innocent look, his eyes were dark with lust. You reached to undo his belt; when you pulled his clothes down, his penis sprung out of his boxers with force. A smirk appeared on your face. You noticed another tattoo on his left thigh, a tiger. You put your hands on his hips and put a kiss on the tiger tattoo. His thighs were even hotter naked than you assumed. You stood up, turned around and asked him to unzip your dress. He pulled the zip down, kissing your nape. You turned back to him, pushed him on the bed. He threw all the unnecessary pillows on the floor and looked at you, as you were slowly pulling your dress down. You uncovered your body in front of him, feeling arousal and warmth increase in your loins.

You dropped your dress to the floor and let your hair down. You kneeled between his legs and gently scratched his thighs with your nails. He picked himself up, to support himself on his stretched out arms behind him. He bit his lip, completely fixated on you.

‘C’mon, show meh what you can do with tha’ pretty mouth of yours…’ he said cheekily.

You hovered over him and moved your wet tongue over his shaft. A groan left his mouth and he bucked his hips up. His eyes were craving you. You were teasing him for a bit more, with your lips, with your tongue, with your touch, when he grabbed you and threw you on your back. He was desperate to touch you, to kiss you, to be all over you. He licked his fingers and started rubbing circles on your clit, staring into your eyes all the time.

‘You’re so wet for me… Good girl…’ he said pushing two fingers inside you and putting his lips to your clit. The feeling was sensational. His wet tongue was circling around your clit agonisingly slow, he put his tongue inside you, he scratched your thighs with his fingers. His warmed-up rings on his fingers gave extra sensation to his touch.  He was holding your hips to prevent you from squirming too much. When you were very close to reaching an orgasm, he stopped.

‘What the fuck are you doing?!’ you yelled, trembling under him.

‘M’gonna make yeh wait. As yeh made me wait for yeh... ‘ he said leaving noisy kisses down your neck. ‘Wanted to fuck yeh on yeh pretty desk since day one… It’s been torture....’ he put his mouth to your nipple and sucked on it. ‘All your tight dresses and skirts were making me crazy. And yeh used tha’ t’yer advantage, didn’t yeh?’ he said with a smirk on his face.

‘Maybe I have.’ you answered squirming under his touch.

He made you a bit angry with not giving you what you wanted, so you took over control and wrestled him on his back. He tried to resist you, touching your body and kissing you but you’ve managed to straddle him. You grabbed his dick and slowly sank on him as he was stretching you up. You closed your eyes at this feeling and supported yourself on your knees beside him. Getting accustomed to his size made you leave scratches on his chest. You leaned your arms on his stomach and slowly moved your hips. He observed your c-cup breasts jump to the rhythm of your hips; he was hypnotised.

Both of you struggled for power - it made it even more passionate and intense. He was harsh but delicate at the same time. His thrusts were deep and hard. But his kisses on your body were soft and full of affection.

The temperature in the room was high as you forgot to turn on air conditioning. After a while your and his skin was covered in sweat as your touch got steamy. He nibbled on your earlobe, he scratched your arching back, he squeezed your buttcheek when both of you reached your orgasms.

‘Oh Harry… Yes!’ you shouted, moaning loudly. He looked into your eyes and intensified his thrusts, trying to hold himself and wait for you. He hit the g spot, which made you go off. You totally lost control over your body. You arched your back, grabbed and pulled his hair with one hand and scratched his back with the other, screaming his name. Your muscles tightening around his cock made him grunt deeply and raspily as he came, and it made you come even harder.

He fell into your arms. You were tired, sweaty, craving his touch even more. He embraced you tight waiting for your breaths to calm down. He kissed your lips putting his strong hand into your dampened hair, promising himself it won’t the last time that night, when he made you scream his name in overwhelming pleasure.

The clock was striking 11 am. You were still asleep, tangled in the bed sheets, as Harry observed you breathing steadily. He was smoothing your delicate skin poking out of the sheets. He caressed your cheek with his thumb and kissed the tip of your nose. He smiled when you wrinkled your face at the sensation. He supported his head on his arm and just stared at you, catching every second of being so close next to you.

You opened your eyes. You looked around and the first thing you saw was Harry. The last bits of the alcohol you drank at the banquet and the champagne Harry ordered to your room, worn off in a second. Your head was pounding with pain because of the hangover but you remembered exactly what had happened.

‘Morning.’ he said with a low, raspy voice.

‘Why… What are you still doing here?’ you asked sitting up on the bed.

‘Woke up several minutes ago... ‘ he answered, putting on his boxer shorts. He approached the balcony and looked outside. ‘Wow, the view is amazing…’ he smiled scratching his tummy. The view was, in fact, amazing. The blue ocean, beach, it looked like a paradise. He turned back to you. You were pale white, ready to burst into tears.

‘Wha’s wrong?’ he sat down on the bed in front of you.

‘Are you that dumb? We happened! And it shouldn’t have happened! It was a huge mistake…’ you said, tightening the sheets around you.

‘Yeh mean four mistakes, then.’ he said, piercing you with his eyes again. You felt your heart drop to your stomach.

‘Oh God... ‘ he reminded you. Four times. Four amazing, passionate times. He was an amazing lover, taking care of all of your needs. ‘You should go.’ you said with a trembling voice.

‘Shhh... ‘ he moved himself towards you and his lips were mere inches from your mouth again. He kissed your lips softly, cupping your cheeks with his hands. You put your arm around his chest and gave in to the kiss completely. He lightly pulled you to fall on his chest and hover over him. You felt his hands push down the sheets from your body and then, his hands cupping your breasts. You felt his skin rub against your back, butt and thighs. You got under the sheets again, touching and caressing each other’s bodies. His kisses got greedy again, but you didn’t even try to resist it. You wanted to stay there forever and not move away from his lips. However, your common sense told you to push him away; but your skin craved his touch.

‘No.’ you said firmly and stood up. ‘I’m gonna go take a shower. When I come back, you won’t be here. And I will take the nearest flight back to London.’ you said, barely holding the tears back.

‘Please, wait’ he said catching your wrist. He looked at you, begging for you to stay. ‘I need you, don’t run away…’ he said, sticking his forehead to yours. He pulled you into his warmth-radiating body. His arms were so comfortable and calming. You hid your face in his shoulder, trying to process the whole new situation. He rearranged your hair to one side and put wet, noisy kisses from your ear to your shoulder.

‘We shouldn’t have done that…’ you whispered, not able to hold back the tears anymore. He put his hand to your cheek and wiped the tear on your cheek with this thumb.

‘I know. But I’d do tha’ again without hesitation.’ he said quietly, looking into your eyes. He caressed your cheek with his thumb and kissed you passionately.

‘Please go…’ you reluctantly pushed him away.

He wanted to say something more but you didn’t give him the chance. You ran away and locked yourself in the bathroom.

You stepped into the shower and you turned on hot water. The warm stream covered your body and let all your emotions give way.

You cried because you slept with him although you weren’t allowed to; because you knew he possessed information no one should be aware of; because you risked your whole career for this one night, one amazing night…

You also cried because he wasn’t there. Because he couldn’t put his strong arms around you anymore because you didn’t let him. You cried because you let yourself feel something for him. You cried because only a few moments ago, his lips kissed your most sensitive places and his hands caressed your body. You cried even harder when you realised this will never happen again.

*

Coming back to work after the trip to Los Angeles was harsh. You were completely terrified of what’s gonna happen. What if he’s gonna tell everyone? What if the Board is going to find out? You would definitely be fired. Even if not, you would resign yourself. Wasn’t that Harry’s goal?

You walked out of your office to ask Carol to scan some documents for you but you only noticed a post-it note on her screen, informing she is out for lunch. Not wanting to waste that much time, you headed to the copy room out at the end of corridor. You put a pile of papers into the copy machine and pressed a green button to execute scanning. You were standing there, waiting for the machine to process the paper and suddenly, you felt someone stand right behind you. And then you felt it. The scent. The Tom Ford. You closed your eyes, anticipating his next move.

‘Missed yeh, pet…’ he said, putting his hands on your hips. You felt his hips pressing against your ass.  You bit your lip, taking in a deep breath. ‘Was thinking ‘bout yeh all th’time…’ he grabbed your hair and cleared them to the right side. You felt his lips nibble on your left earlobe. A wave of heat hit you; you felt goosebumps rise all over your skin. He moved his tongue over the edge of your ear and started kissing your neck.

‘Harry stop that, someone will catch us…’ you said, not wanting him to stop, even for a second, you tried to push him away but he was stronger.

‘Half of the office is having lunch now, the other half doesn’t come here... ‘ he said touching your breasts through your bra and blue shirt. ‘I could even take you on that copy machine…’ he whispered.

He pulled up your skirt, sliding his hand over your thigh. He caressed the inner part of your leg and moved his hand on your lower abdomen. You sighed deeply, craving his hand between your legs. You were very impatient, you rushed him by directing his hand between your legs. You lolled your head back when slid his left hand into your panties. He slowly rubbed on your wet folds and a squeaky grunt left his mouth right into your left ear.

‘Shit, so fucking wet already, need t’lick yeh off properly…’ he whispered into your ear and you felt another cramp in the lower part of your stomach.

‘Harry…’ you were breathing heavily, wanting to moan his name loud and clear. You had to cover your mouth with your hand to make sure no sound escapes your lips. His hand started moving faster and you felt your orgasm coming close.

But when he noticed you felt too much pleasure, his hand stopped abruptly. Your breath was heavy and he made you irritated, by not giving you want you wanted, again.

He took out his hand from your panties and licked his fingers thoroughly.

‘Mmm… So fuckin’ delicious…’ he said to your ear. ‘If you want to finish, please come to my office, anytime.’ he said and put a noisy kiss on your cheek.

You left your office to have a coffee in the kitchen area and you noticed Harry standing with Steve and George. They were laughing about something when Harry noticed you. Turning your head away, you grabbed a coffee cup and started preparing a coffee.

‘By the way Harry, how was LA?’ asked Steve. Hearing that, your heart trembled.

‘How was LA? Hmm, it was amazing.’ Harry answered. You prayed it was the end of his commentary on your trip.

‘Have you met anyone there?’ George continued with the subject.

‘Well, yeah, there was this girl, she was smoking hot, and yeah, we hooked up… Four times that night.’ he said and you almost dropped your cup. His colleagues were impressed and started asking about more details.

‘Gentlemen, seems like you have nothing to do, hm?’ you asked to interrupt their conversation. ‘Harry, can I have a word with you in my office?’ you said with a stern look.

‘Sorry guys, the boss is calling. Catch yeh later.’ he said and followed you to the office closing the door behind him.

‘What the hell are you thinking!’ you said loudly, leaning on your desk. ‘Don’t you dare telling anyone about this… About us… Do you understand?!’ you said flustered. Harry only looked at you with a soft smirk on his face, slowly walking into your direction. He stopped right in front of you, putting his hands on your hips.

‘God, you’re so beautiful when yeh mad…’ he said and kissed you.

‘Stop this…’ you pushed him away, already missing his lips.

‘I want yeh… I need yeh…’ he whispered to your ear and helped you sit on the desk. You rolled up your skirt again today and wrapped your legs around his hips.

‘But we can’t do it here.’ you said unbuckling his belt.

‘We are doing it here, pet.’ he touched your thighs and several deep thrusts later you were inaudibly whimpering in his arms.

*

It was late in the evening, you weren’t even sure what time it was. You took off your black Louboutins, poured yourself a glass of whiskey and curled up in your big chair. You turned around to face the floor to ceiling windows and have a breathtaking view at the whole city. The whole city was illuminated, so was the Tower Bridge. The promenade along the bank of the river was your favourite place to take a walk in the evening.  

You were tired. Physically, because the clock was striking almost 9 pm. But even more tired was your mind. You felt defeated as nothing went right lately. Today, you lost a huge deal you’ve been working on for weeks. That was one of your worst nightmares coming true. And your personal life? You realised you might have some feelings for Harry when he appeared to only visit you for sex. Although it was the best sex in your life, you were scared to say no as he might talk.

Tears went down your cheeks and you took another sip of the burning alcohol. In that moment, you heard a knock on your door and you heard someone come in.

‘Yeh still here?’ you heard Harry’s voice. You quickly wiped your tears as you didn’t want him to see your weakness.

‘I am. Listen, I’m not in the mood for sex right now so... ‘ you said and he appeared next to you.

‘I didn’t come here for sex.’ he answered and poured himself a glass of whiskey too. He sat down on the floor next to you, leaning his back on the window. He bent his knees and loosened his tie.

‘Then what did you come here for?’ you asked a bit surprised.

‘To check on yeh… How yeh were holding up after this awful day.’ he said taking a sip.

‘As you can see I am terrific, are you satisfied?’ you said and rolled your eyes.

‘No, losing that deal was also my loss so I guess I am fantastic as well.’ he said looking at you.

‘Since when do you care?’ you questioned sarcastically.

‘Okay, I think it’s time I tell yeh something.’ he took a sip from his glass and cleared his throat. ‘Before yeh got this job, Stevens promised it to me. When he changed his plans, naturally, I got angry. I was pissed off. I was jealous tha’ yeh got it. I was even more jealous tha’ yeh won fairly. I saw your resume, your presentation, yeh were so involved into this that it made me feel that I lack something. Yeh were better and it was hard for me to accept. I know I was a douche, I gave you hell. But you’re good. You’re damn good. You are the right person on this position.’ he said, looking at you with a proud smile.

You were listening to his words and your heart grew bigger. You pursed your lips, trying to prevent another stream of tears flood your cheeks.

‘And uhm…. Seeing how beautiful and sexy you are and bearing in mind I can’t have you, made it unbearable.’ he added, his voice vividly saddened. He emptied his glass in one sip, frowning his eyebrows at the strength of the alcohol. ‘And I really can’t forget that night in LA. It was… more than wonderful… And it was more than just sex.’ he said and being afraid of your reaction, he looked ahead of him.

Your heart was beating faster. It was pounding in your chest. You’ve been waiting to hear this for weeks. You didn’t expect much; you just wanted to know you are not his booty call. You moved from the chair to the floor next to him. You sat down to face him and put your hand to his cheek.

‘It was more than just sex for me either… But I was too scared to admit it.’ you said and both of your faces lighted up. You put a noisy kiss on his lips and rested your head on his chest. His arms wrapped around you automatically. ‘But what now?’ you asked.

‘Lemme take you out on a real date and we’ll see how it goes.’ he said caressing your hair.                 ‘How ‘bout a dinner at the restaurant at the top of The Shard?’ he asked tugging strands of your hair behind your ear.

‘Wow, I’ve never been there. Are you taking all of your birds there?’ you asked cockily.

‘No, only the special ones.’ he said with a smug smile.

You both laughed and he tightened his embrace around you. You could hear his heartbeat; it calmed you down after this stressful day. His right hand was slowly caressing your hair and the left one was stroking your cheek; you finally felt relaxed.

‘C’mon, let me take a taxi and take you home. It’s been a long day.’ he kissed the top of your head and both of you stood up. You put on your shoes, and your coat, gathered your bag and headed to the main door. He was waiting there for you and seeing you approach, he stretched out his arm into your direction. Little hesitant, you took his hand and you both left the office entwining your fingers.

[survivor-guyana]

Episode 3 - "I am like... a very good person." - Nikias

I forgot what i said last but this tribe swap was very good for me. I kept two allies Mitchell and Sarah. But also Aidan and Dani were in my “best fucking people ever” alliance so thats good. We have a fav Jenna with us. I dont want to lose but if we do its gunna hopefully be her. Im sorry but u guys are up by 2. 👀 keeping eye out for Jones and Tim.

I was honestly sad about the swap because i liked my tribe so much. However, im excited to see how this all plays out. It seems like we got active fans on our tribe so hopefully group challenges will work well!

TRIBE SWAP HAPPENED FUCK originally I was gonna sue the hosts,,, ORIGINALLY I was gonna file a restraining order,,,,, but,,, the more I thought about it,, and the more I talked with everyone on my "new tribe",,, I'm feeling okay? which is SHOCKINg for my standards let me elaborate,, I put "new tribe" in quotes because is it REALLY a new tribe when 5 of the 6 people are from the same original tribe? The tribe consists of myself, Nick, Tim, TJ, JD, and Nikias. Which is GREAT for me for a whole list of reasons... I don't think we'll lose as much because we have comp threats like JD and Nick on our team. If we DO lose, we have an easy boot in Nikias. And if we lose AGAIN, I'm in a 3 person majority with Nick and Tim (and maybe even TJ too) .So no matter how this swap ends up, I don't think I'll be the first person booted if we go to a tribal council at any point. which is GREAT. Actual now that I think about it, if we never go to tribal, that would be even more incredible. Because I think I'm doing a decent job at pulling Nikias onto my side. I don't think he's a bad person, and if we do lose, it would absolutely SUCK because he's really cool/could be a good ally down the road. actually now that I think about it,, I've talked more with Nikias in one night than I've talked to JD in a week? is that saying a lot? I think so. I ACTUALLY MESSAGED JD TOO and she was like "can I get back to you later? I'm busy" WHICH IS FINE and it's a lot better than leaving me on read BUT LIKE,,,, okay Jan. If I WERE to hypothetically go to tribal,,, I'd much rather see JD go than Nikias, but I'm not sure if I can help that? It really depends on what everyone else wants to do, because I don't really wanna stray away from the majority of the group at the first tribal I go to yk? Like,,, everyone on the tribe knows she's good in challenges, and if we ever LOSE a challenge, why get rid of the person who's best at challenges? IDK. hopefully we don't go to tribal at all? and I don't have to worry about losing ANYONE? that'd be great, thanks! god why couldn't i have been switched onto a tribe with Jose, thinking about this would've been WAY easier.

So the swap: I feel really good about the swap bc 4/6 people in it are in an alliance. First of all, I want to win the challenge. Second, if we don’t win the challenge, I’ve wanted Mitchell out for a while now and I think Jenna will vote anyone to save her ass. I just hope the others stick to our alliance. It would be completely idiotic for them not to bc we have the numbers already, but who knows

SO THIS REWARD CHALLENGE IS scary,,,,,, not because I think I'm gonna lose or anything,, but it's because I think I have an actually decent score? Idk what Obey the Game standards are, but I got to level 108. which SUCKs if it actually is a good score, because I'm not too sure if I want to win this challenge. I feel like i'm in somewhat of a good position right now, and I don't need the idea of having an idol clue putting a target on my back. I have other people on my tribe (and on other tribes) that would share their clues with me,, I don't need people to know that I have one. hopefully that makes sense Best case scenario: Nick/Tim win - and they share it with me either way Maybe Okay Scenario?: TJ/Nikias/I win - not sure if either TJ or Nikias would share it with me, and I don't want to the target on my back. Worst Case Scenario: JD wins. She won't share it with me. And she probably wouldn't say anything if she won lol. so lets LOSE THIS THING, BABY, WOOHOO

Tribe swap... Tribe swap... Tribe swap... Tribe swap...  I still don't know how I'm personally doing in this game. This tribe swap is either going to make me or break me. There are four people from the other tribe and literally the ONE person I didn't want on my new tribe from my old tribe.. is honestly the ONE person I got stuck with. Is this some sick joke? Am I being Punk'd? Is this some sort of karma for being a bad human being from time-to-time? It's always hard to figure out what exactly my game plan is going forward. I'm honestly terrified of having a bad score and being voted out because I'm a weak-link. It's so much harder when you lose and there's only 5 other fucking options. I guess as of right now I'm trying to focus on making some social bonds. Sammy gave me that super idol so hopefully there is something there... Alyssa is basically me if I was 21, American, and like super pretty. Chelsea has some potential and José is a stoner like me? So I can work with this.. I just need them to want to work with me....

FUCK THIS PARANOIA OKAY I gotta give myself a lil more respect I've been freaking out for like,,,, 7 years now about who my "number one" should be - whether that be Sammy, Tim, Alyssa Nick TJ etc etc etksjadslfk the only person that can be my number one is me I can't keep looking out for every single person in this game - sure, it's nice to have people looking out for me, and I can always reciprocate it. But my top priority will always be the betterment of my game. I can't devote so much trust to so many people. If I had to rank the people in trust that I've met thus far (from most trustworthy to least), it would be Sammy > Tim > Alyssa > Nick > TJ > Nikias > JD > Jenna > Chelsea > Jose. So yeah.  This is Guacamole Jones' Decree of Solitude: I will resort to writing down all of my info (so I never forget) I will be honest with the people that are honest with me. But I will not share this information with anyone, but myself. If anyone wants to open up to me, I will consider sharing a piece of my info but never the whole truth, and never anything more. I will share what is best for me. So I may receive the hypothetical One Million Dollars (- tax) Signed, (with love) Jones.

So I feel pretty great about my new tribe.  5 original favorites and only 1 fan.  Nik got 2 votes last Tribal and seems to be on the outs with his old tribe.  Furthermore he seems like a good dude who if I can protect may give me his full loyalty going forward.  I also was lucky to swap with both Tim and Jonesy.  I also have a deal with JD and TJ.  So if we have to go to Tribal I’m not sure who is best for me to vote.  I’ll likely let the rest of the group decide and play along.  I am trending towards a leadership role, which is good for building a resume to win but with 18 ppl left it’s kind of early to be looking that far ahead.  As of now it’s better  to just stay under the radar and not make any waves.

Well, this swap was interesting. I reconnected with a great friend in Nikias and think I have a solid ally there moving forward. I’m glad I get the chance to build my relationship with Jones and Tim more, and I’m excited to learn more form Nick and JD. Overall, I’m very curious how this is going to go!

So how do i feel about my tribe swap? well in one word pretty weird.. The thing is that i am in a situation 5-1 which is pretty scary and it will be almost imposible to find cracks but on the other side i really like some people on this tribe. I feel like if i can make connections and play the card that i was on the bottom on the other tribe and that i hated my tribe, that could make them feel more secure with me. Its like i am in a bad position but it's a new begining in this game but i will just try to put myself in the best position possible. I am gonna try to be as carefull as i can be with my words and be better socially and work with people that are working together. But what is the best thing and the worst thing at the same time is that these 5 are strong competitors and i am like... a very good person. They can help me stay safe by winning immunity, but there is no doupt in my mind that i am gonna drag them down in the challenges and that's a really good argument of getting rid of me apart from being the only fan there.

ok soooo I have been talking with a bunch of peeps and I am trying to get a solid group that I can rely on.  I am super tight with Jones and TJ and I have talked a lot.  Also I am trying to get close with Alyssa.  Anyways, I think I have covered my ground with the active people.  Jenna is on and off a lot so I am not sure how well I can depend on her in the future but ya never know.  I feel bad for the fans tribe too tbh bc like they really flopping lmaoooo.  I hope there is a swap soon so that I can meet new people but also switch the game up a bit.  ILL TALK TO YALL LATER

So I go to bed early, cus I'm super tired from the competition (no I will not stop bragging about it lol) and when I work up, we won the challenge but i have like... 3 less people on my team. No need idea what happened. But I like it..oops to the person I'd just made an alliance with who is now on a tribe alone.... Was that one in the Alliance? I'm gonna have to check that lol the host are amazing, you've all been so go to me while I've been super busy, sorry of rigging me an idol, and trust me... I asked :( they are to good lol

I am a little it annoyed with how this game is going for myself, I am not sure if I want to trust Nick as much as I did before, we will see I suppose. But something that struck me funny is that out of 6 of us on this tribe 5 went to search the Rainforest, and I was the only one that went to search the mountains. Now, the only thing I can think of is that the clue had something to do with Water, close to it or around it or, like 'hey, dont get wet'. BECAUSE GUESS WHO FOUND THE IDOL? The one that didn't go to the rainforest, the one that didn't know anything about the clue! But I found it over by the stream on the mountain sooooo that is what I assume the clue said.  Anyway, I'm feeling really on the out's and right now I am only really liking talking to Jones, I know its not just about liking to talk to people but you gonna have something to talk about right? *sigh* anyway, sad JD here, sitting on the outside of her tribe, but still bringing home the challenge cus I was the only one that did the rap part in the Riff-Off. I wish I could say like, Canadian gotta rep that Drake, but I dont know much of his shit but I love that part of the riff-off (sunglasses) ((((  https://dumielauxepices.net/sites/default/files/sunglasses-emoji-clipart-oversized-784794-395105.jpg   ))))

(half of this is yawning)

So this Immunity challenge my team didn't work together very well.  We picked IMO a hard song to build a theme and story with.  In addition I was a very weak teammate this round.  I had a bunch going on and didn't record any video.  I tried to give input in ways we could be creative... but all in all I was one of the weakest links to the losing team.  For that I am a little nervous.  However I think I am in a good spot with Tim and Jonesy.  I have shared my idol clue with them and am working on building a trusting relationship to help me get to the end.  IN addition I've been having good one on one talks with JD, TJ, and Nikias.  I don't think my name is coming up from any front as a result of the work I'm doing sharing info with them all and making them feel apart of my gameplay.  TBH I don't know who to vote.  I like Nik alot and I believe him when he says he is on the outs with his old tribe and I think if I saved him he would be in my pocket for the rest of the game...  but I also think voting out a favorite could make me a target in a new swap to a group of favorites that want revenge.  So, really no reason to make waves.  Prob going to have to vote Nikias because it makes the most strategic sense.

Well that was a rough first week, back to back to back losses and tribal councils. Thankfully I wasn't among the first two leaving the game, but before we could even reconnect after Bee's departure, we were  thrown into a swap unprepared. Desperately wishing that my alliance had planned for a swap this early, but we were all thinking it wouldn't be for another tribal or two. My tribe broken and divided, I was lucky to land in a tribe with a majority of fans, while three of my tribe mates were thrown to the wolves in the other two tribes. Im worried that our success in the last immunity challenge, will be the death of Nikias, as he's the only fan in his tribe.

Shit I almost forgot to confess!! Im so glad that my tribe consists of mostly OG favorites and one fan! Im also HAPPY that I got to swap with Nick and Jones. At this point she's my number 1 ally. Together we searched the idol system but found NOTHING I'm- . 

We swapped this week and have 5fans/1fave AND we aren’t going to tribal this week. Life is good

Omg we swapped and I’m on my same tribe basically. 5/6 of us were originally on arakaka. But we finally aren’t going to tribal so thank god!! Judges were harsh though because we tried pretty hard okkk. Anyway I love the tribe still.HAPPY??

I think getting the numbers at the tribe switch is a blessing and a curse. I'm glad I'm with most of my "alliance" from the first tribe and definitely glad that I'm with Dani but I think it's going to give me this facade that I'm Arakaka strong until the end and I'm not sure. Playing in this new ORG environment where I don't really know anyone makes me feel like playing with no regrets. I don't owe any of these people anything and I trust absolutely none of them at this point...... I'm warming up to Mitchell more and more but I'm not sure how he fits in with the others. I do think he'll be loyal but who knows. I don't want to fry his chickens up in a Popeyes three piece just yet. As for Jenna... she's funny but bland with me? Maybe I need to try more but I'm threatened by her social game. But apparently she got 20th last time? I don't know how to feel about her. I think somebody on the ther tribe mentioned knowing her or being threatened by her. Maybe her scores were good? I have no idea but eh. At this point I just want to find a core three to move forward with but most of these people suck and I don't know if there already is one. 

So I've been with my new tribe for about 3 days now and I honestly still don't 100% know how I feel about this whole tribe swap ordeal. I PERSONALLY like the people on my new tribe better. My new tribe members are more personable (with the exception of José) and I don't feel like I'm wasting their time by talking to them like I had previously felt on my old tribe. As of right now I do feel a tad bit more comfortable with Devon. He gave me his idol clue but I'm not too sure if he's just really trying to make me fall for this or not? Maybe he has already found the idol? WHO KNOWS? Alyssa is super fucking cool. We don't really talk about the game as much so that kind of scares me BUT there hasn't been a lot of game to talk as of yet? SO maybe that will change going forward (I hope so). Alyssa is someone I can see myself working tbh. Alyssa and Sammy are definitely the two from the old Horososo Tribe who have reached out to me the most. They are the social King and Queen of this tribe. CONFIRMED. Knocking on wood here.. BUT if we ever go to Tribal MAYBE just MAYBE they'll not vote out José and not me? Praying to Gaga.

I won reward which was the idol clue. It doesnt really help me much but it does say there are other items as well in the game. And we won immunity whichbis great. Im so happy not having to go to tribal.

moooood ok i don’t mind the swap bc everything’s going ok and im still not pming people meidgjskdkf but the comp went rly good!!! we came in second but i found out there’s three tribes so it’s ok! judges think there was literally too many ads and it wasn’t the challenge but have u ever seen a full video without ads on youtube lmao

So my file corrupted on my original video for the challenge but I was able to submit something thanks to Jonesy. We lost anyways lmao and it looks like the vote tonight will be Nikias. Sorry pal but the numbers are just there.

I’m going on a date tonight so I’m case I don’t get to submit a video tonight, I just want to be VERY clear: I fucking LOVE Jess and would DIE for her. F2 homie vibes

So pretty much, I've been pretty much invisible the entire week, and it's been great. I'm letting my tribe drag me for now, and personally, i think with how things are going, we're going to continue to win challenges, and I don't have to worry until I reach another swap, which at that point, personally, I'm just going to go all in and people are going to be like... where did this bitch come from? LMAO

I couldn't be more happy to be on the strongest tribe! Sammy and Alyssa are quite close, but they are also tight with Chelsea. That leaves 2 options: 1. Get them to vote out Jose, based on inactive attitudes. He won't supply them with any use later down the road. 2. Get Jose to draw rocks with myself and Jess, leaving the odds in a 1/4 against me going in rocks. I'm torn on what the best strategy is, but for now, I need to establish the best personal connections possible and hope our tribe secures immunity all the way into the next swap/an eventual merge.

it's too late to come up with a jones pun, but,, JONES