#probably not necessary but i just wanted to post a little update

[uhbasicallyjustmilex]

💌 hi everyone! i just wanted to apologise for the longer wait than usual for the next chapter of four walls. life’s thrown some pretty difficult stuff my way over the last few months, and i won’t pretend i haven’t been struggling. as always, writing has been a big solace for me, but it has been a bit of a slower process due to everything that’s been happening. that being said, chapter nine is very nearly ready now and i’m hoping to get it posted in a few days (it’s also somehow wound up being 15,000 words, so hopefully that’ll make up a little for the wait)! thank you so, so much to everyone who’s left comments/kudos/messages over the last couple of months, i truly can’t tell you how much it’s kept me going. i’m so excited to share the next chapter with you soon, things are about to get VERY interesting! 💌

[possamble]

Post. That. Sad. CHIAPTER.

I genuinely appreciate this so much but that poll is not encouraging so far LMAO

[raynewolferune]

Meta Jazz, the Arkham Intern Therapist Pt1

Update 5/16/2024: Congrats guys, gals, and others! You have planted the seeds and they have grown. Today I wrote another 46 pages on this story (the first section was only 9 pages ya'll). I'm working on splitting it up into smaller sections so I can post it now because tumblr said no to doing it as one piece. I'll be using the tag #Meta Jazz Arkham Intern Therapist if you want to follow it.

Original Note: I'm going to go ahead and apologize for how OOC Bane is in this. It originally was Joker but I couldn't see Jazz tolerating his proximity for more than a single millisecond so Bane it is.

~*~*~

The hardest thing about being a Meta in Gotham was responding appropriately during a Rouge's attack, Jazz mused to herself. Or perhaps that was just the hardest part about being a Meta intern at Arkham while studying psychology at Gotham University. Or maybe it was just her, she considered watching the guards and Dr. Rylie whom she'd been shadowing for the past 2 weeks wide eyed, pale, and shaking as theybstared at Bane behind her. It must just be her, Jazz decided, newbie guard Kyle Jennings was definitely a Meta after all. She should probably give him some tips on hiding his enhanced strength considering how often he broke mugs, door handles, and other delicate items used in daily life.

"Weapons down or I'll snap her skinny little neck." Bane growled out, shaking her slightly for emphasis. She very much doubted that. Liminials were built different than the standard Meta, stronger, faster, better endurance, and senses even if they could mostly appear to be standard humans on the outside.  As such, their bones and muscles were much were much denser than regular humans or even Meta humans. Technically, she could be considered "invulnerable" much like the Kryptonians are.

"Back up! Let him through!" Dr. Rylie  shouted at the guards. "She's my student! Let him through!" His voice was higher pitched than she could recall hearing it before.

Ah. That was panic.

Jazz sighed involuntarily and glanced over her shoulder at Bane. Why the man had grabbed the only person close to his own height nearby was a mystery to her - no, nevermind, he clearly meant to use her as a shield - but it made looking him in the eye more difficult than necessary.

"Mr. Bane, remove your hands from my person, please." Jazz stated calmly, channeling what Danny called her inner mom as she spoke. "I will give you to one to comply."

Bane looked stunned for a moment then laughed.

"Five."

The laughing continued. Jazz could sense a stir of uncertainty through her colleagues as they looked on.

"Four."

"Did you really think that would work?" Bane snorted out, arms tensing more around her.

"Three." She continued, indifferent to his words from her experiences raising her brother. Once the count down starts you mustn't respond to anything the kids do or say until they comply or the count is done.

"What cab you even do if I don't?" Bane asked darkly breathing directly in her ear. She kept her face expressionless despite the urge to express disgust.

"Two."

"Jasmine..."  Kyle whispered halfway across the hall from her looking on with a pained and horrified expression. Gun tilting towards the floor. Sloppy.

"One." She finished and Bane gave a derisive snort.

Then she was moving. Hauling the enormous man up and over her shoulder using the arm that had been wrapped around her neck. Bane hit the cold tile hard enough that the tiles, subfloor, structural supports, and part of the concrete foundation buckled beneath him. His shoulder popped out of joint, his wrist cracked - a hairline fracture by the sound of it -  and his breath was punched out of him from the force of impact. She released his arm as soon as his was embedded in the tiles and moved forward. Kneeling over him, support most of her weight on her left foot resting on the broken ground, her right knees pressed firmly across his throat without supporting any of her weight. The position put more strain on her muscles than she would've liked but at least Bane couldn't risk fighting back without crushing his own neck in the process. He could hardly throw her while flat on his back with a mangled arm.

"Now," Jazz began, looking directly into the behemoth's pained eyes. "Do you know what you've done wrong?" She asked like she would have done with Danny as a child.

"Yes, Ma'am." Bane choked out. Jazz heard movement and murmuring behind her. She didn't turn to look.

"What did you do wrong?" She asked. It was important to make sure children correctly understood why they were in trouble after all. There was a long pause as Bane appeared to cast around for the exact right answer as if he feared getting it wrong. A bad habit Danny still uses as well, Jazz thought to herself.

"I tried to hold you hostage," He choked out in a rush, words tumbling over one another as he tried to get them all out. "I scared you coworkers and it was very disrespectful."

So he'd gone for the grab-bag response. It wasn't wrong per sey but it did indicate a past history of abuse. The type of answer given by someone who expected to be harmed or ignored if they gave the "wrong" answer. Danny tended to use that method also and their parents had always been negligent at best.

"And are you going to do it again?" She asked giving him a Look as she did. Bane's eyes widened and he tried to frantically shake his head as much as possible with the pressure on his neck.

"No, Ma'am." He promised fervently.

"Alright then," Jazz said giving him a warm smile. She gestured vaguely towards the guards without turning to look at them. "Kyle here is going to take you to see the nurse and then back to your room then. I'm sure you'll behave for him?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll behave." Bane said. Jazz stood slowly asking sure not to put any additional pressure on his neck as she did. Kyle came and stood next to her as the giant of a man slowly pulled himself to his feet then led him away with 5 other guards.

Jazz heaved a sigh. Well, time to find out whether or not she could play all that off as normal, non-Meta human behavior.

[eloves-writes]

guess

[carlos sainz x reader]

desc: you and carlos have been adamantly denying dating rumours for months, and a risky game of truth or dare reveals a secret you’ve been trying to keep.

warnings: alcohol, drivers are all drunk, maxiel crumbs, flashing underwear, slight exhibitionism, this is pretty PG tbh!

a/n: inspired by guess by charli xcx ofc. this was fun and my horny little brain wants to do a very cheeky part 2 so lmk if you want! (update: here is part 2! love yas) thanks 4 the love on my last few posts, requests are of course open for any of the drivers, love ya mwah mwah mwah!

this work contains suggestive themes, minors do not interact

—————————————————————

the after-party to the after-party was always guaranteed to be interesting, to say the least. it was the last race before the summer break, and you and the other drivers had hit the club in celebration only to end up sat around in max’s penthouse hotel room, heads still reeling from the amount of alcohol you’d all consumed. not so much the amount, really, but more that none of you drank during the races so your tolerance wasn’t what it could be. max, always opting for a bigger and nicer hotel room than probably necessary, was sat on his bed beside daniel, whilst you, carlos, and lando were opposite them on a plush sofa set. as per usual, you were the last 5 drivers standing after the more sensible of the bunch had retired to their own rooms. a bottle of wine sat open and half empty on the small coffee table beside a more full bottle of tequila, and the conversation was flowing amongst you like the 3am breeze that was flowing through the open balcony door.

you were trying not to pay too much attention to carlos; you’d been secretly seeing each other for a while, and usually it was easier to hide but alone with just 3 of your close friends you figured it was only a matter of time before one of them caught on to something. of course, they had, and it was lando in particular that noticed your distinct effort to not look at carlos at all tonight.

“we should play a game,” he said slowly, mischievous grin on his face.

daniel responded in agreement, max raising an eyebrow. “we’re not playing spin the bottle.”

“why is that always your first thought, max?” you laughed. carlos smiled and sipped his wine, enjoying the sound of your teasing laughter.

“truth or dare,” daniel said suddenly. “dare max to play spin the bottle!”

you all laughed again, apart from max who rolled his eyes. “no, no, i pick truth.”

“ok,” carlos noted. “if you had to race for any other team, where would you go?”

max pretended to think for a moment before replying. “nowhere. you’re all shit.”

“sorry, who just won in spa?” you exclaimed, recounting your latest victory in the mercedes. “and piastri finished ahead of you too.”

“ok, fine,” max replied in defeat. “i’m not answering.”

“that’s not the game!” lando eyed up the tequila. “if you don’t answer, or you don’t answer truthfully,” he shot a pointed look towards you and carlos, “you have to take a shot.”

you groaned. “i think we’ve all drunk enough, norris.”

he raised his hands innocently. “guess we’ll all have to play the game properly then.”

-

a couple of rounds later, you’d all done at least one more shot, a few team principals would be waking up to an interesting text in the morning, and daniel had salt on his bare stomach after you’d made max do a shot from his belly button. the questions were becoming increasingly dirty, you just narrowly avoiding a particularly evil fuck marry kill from daniel. it was carlos’s turn again, the spaniard sat back lazily next to you.

“truth or dare, carlitos,” lando baited with that same mischievous smile.

“truth.”

“i want you to guess,” he crowed. “what colour underwear y/n is wearing.”

a light blush tinged his tan cheeks. he knew full well what colour your underwear was, having taken it both on and off in the club bathroom not too long ago.

“fuck.” he looked to the shot glass on the table. he was already far too drunk, and not in the mind to be smart enough to just lie.

“red,” he answered, making it sound like a guess.

lando smirked. “interesting. y/n, truth or dare.”

“it’s not my turn,” you protested, looking to max and daniel who were just as eager to get some truth out of you both. you rolled your eyes, stupidly letting your mouth speak before your brain. “fine. dare.”

lando looked you dead in the eyes, then to carlos.

“i dare you to show us what colour your underwear is.”

the aftertaste of the tequila was still sweet in your mouth and the thought of another shot made you a little nauseous. fuck it, you thought. guess this was one way to let the cat out of the bag. it wasn’t like the guys hadn’t seen your underwear before; you were admittedly somewhat of a party girl, the tiny skirts you wore left little to the imagination and you’d been around them in a bikini more times than you could count anyway.

carlos watched you with apprehension, unsure of what you were going to do but comfortable enough with the guys to know what happened in this hotel room would stay here, and if you wanted to give them a flash of the perfect ass he got to grab onto every night whilst he fucked you then he was ok with that too. in fact, his jeans tightened slightly at the passing thought of fucking you in front of them to really show who’s you were.

you stood up, grabbing onto the arm of the sofa for support as you found your balance.

“you’re a perv, lando, asking to see my panties,” you teased. max and daniel had a matching look of amusement, the latter wolf-whistling as you turned around and pushed the fabric of your mini dress up to your hips. red and lacy, fit snugly over your pretty ass. you dropped the fabric and sat back down, making eye contact with carlos who looked like he wanted to pounce on you there and then.

“lucky guess,” daniel quipped.

carlos finished his glass of wine and smirked. “didn’t have to guess.”

lando let out a cheer. “i knew it!” he shouted.

“you guys kind of suck at keeping secrets,” max added. “thanks for that little show though.”

“watch it, verstappen,” carlos countered, moving closer to you and placing a possessive hand at the top of your thigh. “wouldn’t want to have to give you a bigger show now, would i?”

one person asks and i’ll write a part two where he does in fact give them a bigger show

[copperpipes]

I spec bio'ed Ultraman from Ultraman:Rising for fun (part 1)

the actual file I've written (and still writing) is now far over 2k words, so I desided to break it down to a series of posts so that it would be easier to digest, but if you don't want to wait for me to get them one by one out you can just go and read that long ass file yourself/lh

I understand that the film wasn't meant to be looked into on this level, at the end of the day this is just fan speculative biology, not an official theory, nor is it law, if you find a scientific inaccuracy i'll gladly hear you out in the comments to this post. but essentially what i'm doing here is having fun in my own silly little way :]

I've done some research into ultra physiology and some things didn't make sense to me, partially because there are more than one iteration all with their own worldbuilding, but I'll do my best to try and piece them all together without losing the source material too much.

[updated ultra Kenji design]

(The rest under cut) vvv

fact no.1

ultras are aliens and before they were ultras they were humans (or humanoids, or human-like, i'd like to believe so and i will do you one better).

not going to spoil much but something happened, and they were forced to build this thing called the ultra-spark to keep their civilization going, and the ultra-spark turned them all into giants, ultras.

fact no.2

the weapons ultraman uses (those buzzsaws thingies, shields, beams and glowing fists) are made out of something called spacium energy, positive running through the right side of ultraman’s body and negative running through the left, with the spacium beam appearing when he connects those energies by crossing his arms.

fact no.3

Ultraman himself is made of spacium energy and its presence is vital for him to exist. the ultra-spark is what gave and gives the ultra species spacium energy, ultras can also produce it on their own using other types of energy (solar energy on earth for example) but are not as efficient as the source material, hence why on earth ultraman’s energy runs out quicker then it would for example in space where energy is more abundant.

What is spacium wasn't completely clear to me, what I understood was that Ultraman has it (I think it was his skin that was made out of spacium?) and uses it to convert solar energy into spacium energy. 

I think spacium is meant to be an original element. and from what a mutual kindly told me (thank you @bazookaboi!!) its atomic number is 133. very very unstable in natural environments and extremely radioactive, so with all due respect allow me to ignore that entirely and let it remain a mystery for everyone’s sake.

fact no.4

ultras as a culture have a very strong sense of justice and moral code. (and I guess very emotionally intelligent? empathetic? but i'm not sure about this part ;-;)

Now let us finally start with the Ultra spec bio:

i'll start from the less obvious half for my own sake, you may skip this part if you're here just for Kenji’s human part (which i won't blame you for the designers cooked with this one) but just so you know there would be parts you won't be able to understand.

general ultra spec bio: physiology and body structure (my favorite part):

Do ultras breathe? was my first question and my answer would be, i don't think so.

down to the cellular level cells use oxygen in order to generate chemical energy that comes in the form of ATP, out of glucose and oxygen with ATP and CO2 as the outcome. (The difference between animal and plant cells is how they get their glucose.)

Now ultras don't seem to eat, and why would they? and breathing is not necessary since they already get the energy they need from spacium converting outside energy into spacium energy, on the outside there’s the spacium, and on the inside there’s the spacium energy just running around. it can be let out in certain areas of the body, but essentially this energy is all held together by the ultra’s skin (also probably why ultras have no openings on their body, so there wouldn't be a leakage of their life soup).

An ultra's internal structure is unknown, or at least I haven't been able to find anything on the matter, but in the movie both Kenji and his dad get injured, which means that there is something to be damaged.

i really like how the film handles injury actually, it shows explicitly the consequences of a serious injury and how it can sometimes be a life changing thing. It has a blatant effect long or short term and I need someone to analyze it more in depth. I know someone will eventually.

part 1

All the people who wanted this, i call thee.

next, part 2

@wtf-a-psychoanalysis @fantasma-espacial @spuuks-s @theviewer @whimsicalloser @m1lf-hunter-69

[ms-demeanor]

Hello! First, I wanted to say thank you for your post about updating software and such. I really appreciated your perspective as someone with ADHD. The way you described your experiences with software frustration was IDENTICAL to my experience, so your post made a lot of sense to me.

Second, (and I hope my question isn't bothering you lol) would you mind explaining why it's important to update/adopt the new software? Like, why isn't there an option that doesn't involve constantly adopting new things? I understand why they'd need to fix stuff like functional bugs/make it compatible with new tech, but is it really necessary to change the user side of things as well?

Sorry if those are stupid questions or they're A Lot for a tumblr rando to ask, I'd just really like to understand because I think it would make it easier to get myself to adopt new stuff if I understand why it's necessary, and the other folks I know that know about computers don't really seem to understand the experience.

Thank you so much again for sharing your wisdom!!

A huge part of it is changing technologies and changing norms; I brought up Windows 8 in that other post and Win8 is a *great* example of user experience changing to match hardware, just in a situation that was an enormous mismatch with the market.

Win8's much-beloathed tiles came about because Microsoft seemed to be anticipating a massive pivot to tablet PCs in nearly all applications. The welcome screen was designed to be friendly to people who were using handheld touchscreens who could tap through various options, and it was meant to require more scrolling and less use of a keyboard.

But most people who the operating system went out to *didn't* have touchscreen tablets or laptops, they had a desktop computer with a mouse and a keyboard.

When that was released, it was Microsoft attempting to keep up with (or anticipate) market trends - they wanted something that was like "the iPad for Microsoft" so Windows 8 was meant to go with Microsoft Surface tablets.

We spent the first month of Win8's launch making it look like Windows 7 for our customers.

You can see the same thing with the centered taskbar on Windows 11; that's very clearly supposed to mimic the dock on apple computers (only you can't pin it anywhere but the bottom of the screen, which sucks).

Some of the visual changes are just trends and various companies trying to keep up with one another.

With software like Adobe I think it's probably based on customer data. The tool layout and the menu dropdowns are likely based on what people are actually looking for, and change based on what other tools people are using. That's likely true for most programs you use - the menu bar at the top of the screen in Word is populated with the options that people use the most; if a function you used to click on all the time is now buried, there's a possibility that people use it less these days for any number of reasons. (I'm currently being driven mildly insane by Teams moving the "attach file" button under a "more" menu instead of as an icon next to the "send message" button, and what this tells me is either that more users are putting emojis in their messages than attachments, or microsoft WANTS people to put more emojis than messages in their attachments).

But focusing on the operating system, since that's the big one:

The thing about OSs is that you interact with them so frequently that any little change seems massive and you get REALLY frustrated when you have to deal with that, but version-to-version most OSs don't change all that much visually and they also don't get released all that frequently. I've been working with windows machines for twelve years and in that time the only OSs that Microsoft has released were 8, 10, and 11. That's only about one OS every four years, which just is not that many. There was a big visual change in the interface between 7 and 8 (and 8 and 8.1, which is more of a 'panicked backing away' than a full release), but otherwise, realistically, Windows 11 still looks a lot like XP.

The second one is a screenshot of my actual computer. The only change I've made to the display is to pin the taskbar to the left side instead of keeping it centered and to fuck around a bit with the colors in the display customization. I haven't added any plugins or tools to get it to look different.

This is actually a pretty good demonstration of things changing based on user behavior too - XP didn't come with a search field in the task bar or the start menu, but later versions of Windows OSs did, because users had gotten used to searching things more in their phones and browsers, so then they learned to search things on their computers.

There are definitely nefarious reasons that software manufacturers change their interfaces. Microsoft has included ads in home versions of their OS and pushed searches through the Microsoft store since Windows 10, as one example. That's shitty and I think it's worthwhile to find the time to shut that down (and to kill various assistants and background tools and stop a lot of stuff that runs at startup).

But if you didn't have any changes, you wouldn't have any changes. I think it's handy to have a search field in the taskbar. I find "settings" (which is newer than control panel) easier to navigate than "control panel." Some of the stuff that got added over time is *good* from a user perspective - you can see that there's a little stopwatch pinned at the bottom of my screen; that's a tool I use daily that wasn't included in previous versions of the OS. I'm glad it got added, even if I'm kind of bummed that my Windows OS doesn't come with Spider Solitaire anymore.

One thing that's helpful to think about when considering software is that nobody *wants* to make clunky, unusable software. People want their software to run well, with few problems, and they want users to like it so that they don't call corporate and kick up a fuss.

When you see these kinds of changes to the user experience, it often reflects something that *you* may not want, but that is desirable to a *LOT* of other people. The primary example I can think of here is trackpad scrolling direction; at some point it became common for trackpads to scroll in the opposite direction that they used to; now the default direction is the one that feels wrong to me, because I grew up scrolling with a mouse, not a screen. People who grew up scrolling on a screen seem to feel that the new direction is a lot more intuitive, so it's the default. Thankfully, that's a setting that's easy to change, so it's a change that I make every time I come across it, but the change was made for a sensible reason, even if that reason was opaque to me at the time I stumbled across it and continues to irritate me to this day.

I don't know. I don't want to defend Windows all that much here because I fucking hate Microsoft and definitely prefer using Linux when I'm not at work or using programs that I don't have on Linux. But the thing is that you'll see changes with Linux releases as well.

I wouldn't mind finding a tool that made my desktop look 100% like Windows 95, that would be fun. But we'd probably all be really frustrated if there hadn't been any interface improvements changes since MS-DOS (and people have DEFINITELY been complaining about UX changes at least since then).

Like, I talk about this in terms of backward compatibility sometimes. A lot of people are frustrated that their old computers can't run new software well, and that new computers use so many resources. But the flipside of that is that pretty much nobody wants mobile internet to work the way that it did in 2004 or computers to act the way they did in 1984.

Like. People don't think about it much these days but the "windows" of the Windows Operating system represented a massive change to how people interacted with their computers that plenty of people hated and found unintuitive.

(also take some time to think about the little changes that have happened that you've appreciated or maybe didn't even notice. I used to hate the squiggly line under misspelled words but now I see the utility. Predictive text seems like new technology to me but it's really handy for a lot of people. Right clicking is a UX innovation. Sometimes you have to take the centered task bar in exchange for the built-in timer deck; sometimes you have to lose color-coded files in exchange for a right click.)

[the-lambda-archives-ai]

Statement of : Gordon Martinez Freeman, 30 year old MIT graduate,Regarding a peculiar video game he’d found.

Recorded direct from subject, May 16, 200-

Statement begins.

Pt 1 > here

ABOUT 👇

Hello! I am the author of this AU, you can find my main at @inkzectz , for more meta questions about this AU, or for general comments about it, please go there.

What is the AU about?

LA : AI is a crossover AU of sorts, in the simplest way put, it’s TMA but with HLVRAI characters, TMA stuff happens but altered to fit the general HLVRAI narrative, and with my own changes, headcanons, etc. added

I will be updating/editing this post as I progress.

Will it have spoilers?

Yes, not a lot, but vague/mild spoilers about how the world works, plot points, and character.

It is best if you’ve seen it but as of writing it right now (early ep 4) there aren’t any spoilers. Once I am a little further ahead then you may want to listen to it.

Again the spoilers will be vague and mild at worst, as it progresses I would recommend listening to tma, but it’s sort of like how while half life knowledge is helpful in hlvrai it isn’t exactly necessary to enjoy hlvrai bc it’s different enough from it to not really matter (?) I hope that makes sense.

Asks rules

- No telling [ player ] exactly what happens ex : “omg [ player ] when you weren’t looking [ npc ] said this very important thing that is supposed to be kept secret for lore reasons”

- Please avoid asks like “tell this character they’re pretty” while I appreciate the compliment, I am trying to write a story and want to keep things as on topic as possible. Instead tell me on my main if you like the art, I’ll probably reply with a doodle or something, just not on here.

- Less so of a rule but more so of a general statement, I will be avoiding asks that either are too close to what happens or if answering would mean progressing the story too quickly, there’s a lot I want to happen and I want time to do it all.

- Another one that’s less of a rule and more of a general thing, if I don’t like what you said I won’t be answering.

- I also sometimes just don’t know how to answer some things.

- Please be respectful of the ships I choose to include and don't force your own, ship wars and such will not be tolerated.

- Please be respectful of others and do not spoil anything, not everyone has listened to TMA and knows it's themes.

I will not be answering everything, I cannot always get to every message so please be respectful of that.

Select character

Character abouts! [ Will be updating as I continue to work on the story ]

[ select ] > Mr. Freeman

> Gordon Martinez ‘Martini’ Freeman

30 y.o . 6’0 . 230lb . Romani / Puertorican . male [ he/him ] . bisexual

> Lives in Seattle, MIT graduate, left Black Mesa, works as a librarian IRL but also makes money via streaming video games occasionally, in real time it is 2018.

[ PLAYER ]

> Believes in the paranormal out of fear but tries to rationalize out of denial, he will never admit something is supernatural and will jump through hoops to rationalize even if deep down he does believe.

> Has a son named Joshua Medrano Freeman, who is 6 years old, Gordon and his old partner met in college but split up before Joshua was born, they remain civil but are nothing more to each other than Joshua’s other parent.

> Gordon rents an apartment with 3 rooms, his own room, Joshua’s room, and a third that used to be a guest room but he has so little visitors he’s just chosen to revamp it into a gaming room.

> Gordon works primarily in a library for now as he’s looking for a better job.

> Gordon often wears hoodies, sweaters, t-shirts, crew necks, and any general outfit one would wear at home, long curly hair that is beginning to grey due to stress, unkempt goatee, and almost always wears green tinted glasses [ he doesn’t need glasses he just thinks they’re cool ]

> His hair is usually pulled back in a ponytail but can also be found in a bun or just down.

< [ select ] > Mr. Coolatta

> Thomas ‘Tommy’ Coolatta, primary researcher, and technical head of the institute.

39 y.o . 6’7 . 190lb . Chinese/filipino . Male [ he/him ] . ???

> His father owns the Lambda institute and he grew up in it, he officially started working in the archives when he was 24, and of all the employees in the entire institute he has worked there the longest.

[ NPC ]

> No one knows who his father really is, Tommy being the only one who’s ever actually seen / spoken to him, his father is the real head of the institute but gives most his orders through Tommy, so Tommy is also technically the head as well.

> Not much is actually known about him, besides his father he doesn’t appear to have any other family, nor does he ever speak of his personal life much.

> Tommy primarily works as an archival assistant, specifically in research, he is the one who will verify details regarding statements or do further investigations into aspects of the statements.

> Tommy is quite the colorful character, often wearing colorful clothing and accessories, he seems to think doing so brings some cheer into an otherwise boring environment, he often wears patterned polo shirts, cheap company bracelets, pins, lanyards, pant chains, but is never without his signature multicolor propeller hat.

[nothorses]

I love your post on how people (women) need to come to terms with and let go of certain fears when they are proved irrational; it really is a problem a lot of people need to deal with.

I just feel a little iffy on this... questioning of women's fears? Mainly because it's already so hard to get people (men) to believe women when something's happened to them. Also, I wanna say that I'm not trying to question you or anything; I think your post about your mom's fears had a great point. I was just wondering--again, hopefully in a non-confrontational kind of way--did you ever see this situation in person? Or was it all via word-of-mouth from your mom? (And I recognize you know your mom much better than a stranger would; this is--again--pure nosy curiosity from me.)

I hear the "questioning women's fears" thing for sure, and that's a big reason I left that post as more of a story than a statement. White women do weaponize their fear against men of color and other men viewed as inherently dangerous (like homeless men), as well as other women! A good number of the people my mother was afraid of, and was threatening, were women- but she emphasized the men when she needed to portray her feelings and actions as justified, necessary, and correct.

This is a great read on the topic of white women's fear and how it is used to enact racism, and I recommend reading through it (it's about a 10 minute read) and then coming back to this post:

The reason I told that story as a story is because I wanted to encourage self-reflection more than try to set hard lines. I can't tell you how to know for sure whether your fear is ever valid or not, but sometimes it isn't, and you should be ready to interrogate that. That's the takeaway.

As for the curiosity bit: this is something that unfolded over the course of 3 years and countless interactions and conversations with my mother. I saw videos, I saw escalations, I argued with her, I heard stories and detailed updates as they happened... and I know my mother probably better than anyone else does, if I'm being honest. I as good as saw it happen.

[creamiecoups]

dessert - jeongcheol x reader

part one.

↠  summary :  although being the personal assistant for two CEO’s who own a huge company seems hectic and stressful, it had its own perks if both men were head over heels for you that they didn’t bother fighting on who would get to keep you in the end. Anyways two is always better than one right?

that is until you meet one of their very good looking buisness partners Jaehyun, sparking an idea in you to flirt with him to piss off the boys...but you’re too late to realise that it was, indeed, a bad idea.

↠  pairing : seungcheol x jeonghan x reader

↠ warnings :  swearing, smut, dom!seungcheol soft dom?! jeonghan, use of pet names, heavy degradation, rough fingering, slight choking, use of toys, cum play, seungcheol is very mean, reader is a brat, mentions of alcohol, dacryphilia

↠ word count : 5.3K words

↠ author’s note : and finally after more than a year i posted yay!! I’m so sorry for the long wait as i know many ppl have been sending me messages asking me when I’ll be back, but I’m here now and will finally start being more active here i promise hahah

i thought I’d post this one shot first with part one, and I’ll post the day I have finalised for part two.

until my next update feel free to send me reqs and until then, enjoy ;)

part one part two

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It really did start of as a joke.

Well, it always did…but this time, part of the reason was because you were bored out of your mind and needed something to do that would at least keep you entertained.

And so, because of that 'stunt', you were currently situated in the bathroom, Jeonghan's hands wrapped around your neck firmly.

"Baby, what were you trying to achieve back there?" He asked, tilting his head to the side a little.

"I don't get why you're mad, all I did was go on my phone," you replied, rolling your eyes before you heard him click his tongue.

"Don't roll your eyes at me...I wouldn't have cared if you just went on your phone but sighing every two fucking minutes and tapping your feet on the ground so fucking hard was not necessary," he spat, gritting his teeth as you realised he was really mad.

"I was bored okay? I don't even get why you guys bought me here it's so boring...can I just call a taxi and head home first, please?" You begged, making him inhale sharply before glaring at you.

"No, you're staying here until we're done," he shot back, making you sigh.

"Anyways....your lucky that was just one of my aquaintances...but now, Seungcheol and I have serious matters to discuss with a possible business partner, you should know how important this would be for us so I advise you, stay put and enough with the bratty attitude."

"Fine, can you at least let me get my earphones from the car?" You asked, making him sigh angrily.

"No, look, if it helps...we'll finally be having dinner so you can stuff your mouth so you won't be bored anymore."

"I'd rather have my mouth stuffed with something else though," you whispered, leaning up to peck the side of his lips with a smirk.

"Well maybe if you behave well for us, you'll get what you want after we're done," Jeonghan replied.

"Okay, I'll be good until then," you replied cheekily, a smirk spread across your face.

"Good, now come, Seungcheol is probably waiting for us."

Both of you walked out of the bathroom, making your way back to the bustling restaurant that the company had rented out for the night to hopefully affiliate with other organizations.

"Hey," Seungcheol greeted you with a big smile, as you sat between him and Jeonghan.

You gave him a smile, before bowing slightly to the man opposite you.

"So this must be your assistant? I've heard a lot about you," the man said, making you smile.

He looked around your age, and you had to admit he was pretty good looking.

"Well I hope good things," you said, a chuckle leaving your lips.

"Of course, I've heard your very good at your job, care to come work at my company instead? My assistants still learning and he's a bit...well, slow in his work and plus, it'll be nice to have a pretty face walking around," he said, giving me a smile.

"Well that wouldn't be too bad, I'll think about it," you joked, as you instantly felt Seungcheol's hand grab your thigh under the table.

"Anyways, let's order before we get into business, what do you say Jaehyun?" Jeonghan asked, making you smile.

he had a nice name.

"Yes of course, I'll call over the waiter," Jaehyun said, before winking my way.

I smirked, suddenly having an idea in my head.

After everyone ordered their food, they began to converse casually about their achievements in their respective companies, which to you just seemed like boastful remarks.

You yawned softly as you felt Seungcheol draw slow circles into your thigh, something he usually did unconsciously while talking or resting.

"Would you really move to his company?" Jeonghan whispered in your ear, making you smile.

"Why not, it'll be nice to have a change of scenery," you whispered back, as you heard Jeonghan chuckle.

"If only he knew half of the time your bent over our study table getting stuffed with our cocks because you were too needy to even function when we asked you to get a job done," he chuckled lowly, making you clench around nothing.

"Fuck off."

"Language princess, you would be in a great deal amount of trouble if Seungcheol heard you," Jeonghan whispered, before pulling away.

You cleared your throat, before turning your attention to whatever Seungcheol and Jaehyun were talking about.

The food finally arrived after a while, making you sigh happily as you looked down to the pasta you ordered.

You almost moaned with how good it tasted, as you were glad you could eat since most of the reason you were bored was because you were hungry.

"You like it?" Seungcheol asked, making you nod.

"Hey we ordered the same thing!" Jaehyun pointed out, making you chuckle.

"We did, it's so good right?" You asked him, giving him a sweet smile.

"It is, I would say I might order it the second time but the portion is so huge," Jaehyun said, laughing as you joined him.

"Let's talk business now, shall we?" Seungcheol said, a smile on his face as you felt his fingers grip your thigh tightly.

"Ahh right yes, that is why we are here."

You sighed internally as you realised that was your queue to back out since you wouldn't really understand as it wasn't your place to join their conversation.

And either way, it was boring.

"Hannie," your whispered in Jeonghan's ear, while he was busy listening.

"Later Y/N, we're busy," he mumbled, his eyes darting between Seungcheol and Jaehyun as they discussed an important matter.

"But Hannie this is important," you whined, feeling his hand make it's way to your thigh.

"Y/N stop," he warned, slapping your thigh softly, making you squirm in your seat a little.

Once it was Jeonghan's turn to speak, you turned to Seungcheol.

"Cheolie, can I go to the bathroom?"

"Later," he whispered, as he didn't even bother glancing at you.

You sighed angrily, pushing their hands off your thigh before speaking out loudly.

"Jeonghan would you be kind enough to move as I need to go to the bathroom?" You asked, tilting your head to the side as Jeonghan stopped talking to look at you.

He hesitantly nodded, before standing up to let you get through.

You gave him a big smile before walking towards the bathroom area, your lips turning into a smirk as you knew you probably ticked them off.

After you were done you opened the bathroom door, about to walk out before you saw someone push you back in quickly before they were pinning you to the door.

You looked up, your lips curving into a smile when you saw Seungcheol's angry eyes.

"What are you trying to do?"

"I don't know what you mean?" You replied back, looking at him cluelessly as he gritted his jaw.

"Jeonghan spoke to you about staying put and being obediant before right? So what are you doing now?" Seungcheol drawled, as you shifted your legs, his deep voice not doing any good for your already wet panties.

"I got bored...and you both were completely ignoring me," you sulked, pouting as you looked up at him with your big eyes.

"We both told you that you could go to the bathroom later right? So why did you still decide to ask again?"

"It's just the bathroom! I was so bored I was literally applying my mascara again just to avoid your boring conversations."

"Pull up your dress," he suddenly spat, making you look up at him in confusion.

"What?"

"I know a big reason why your so bored is because your needy little cunt in probably dripping right now...you think I didn't notice the way you keep shifting?" He asked, chuckling as he watched you slowly pull your dress up.

"Tell me baby, what has you so needy right now?" Seungcheol whispered in your ear, one of his hands moving down your body before he was cupping your heat.

You instantly let out a whine as you let go off your dress to hold onto Seungcheol's broad shoulders.

"I-I.....just wanted," you stuttered, bucking your hips up into his touch.

"You wanted what? Attention?" He asked, as he slowly rubbed you over your panties, the thin material already sticking to your skin.

You nodded your head, making Seungcheol chuckle darkly.

"You're always so needy for us aren't you? Constantly need someone showing you attention...but you really couldn't go a few hours without being cock hungry hm? Didn't Jeonghan fuck you a few times this morning while I was out?" He asked, making you quietly moan as he drew circles on your covered clit.

You nodded once again, making Seungcheol click his fingers.

"Use your words baby."

"Y-Yes...yes he did," you quickly said, as you felt him move your panties to the side before his fingers were pushing flush against your entrance.

"Fuck your so wet," he groaned, bringing his coated fingers up to his lips.

"So tell me, your still needy even after Jeonghan fucked you only a few hours ago?"

You nodded your head feverishly.

"Cheolie....touch me please," you whined, making Seungcheol chuckle.

He plunged two of his fingers into your seeping entrance without warning, making you throw your head back as you moaned loudly.

"Quiet down, we don't need all our employees knowing how much of a dirty little slut you are for me now do we?"

He started at a fast pace, nothing you weren't used to as he was normally rough with you im comparison to Jeonghan, not that you cared anyways.

"Cum nice and sweet on my fingers okay?" He whispered, adding a third finger before he was curling them when he knew he hit your sweet spot.

Your toes curled as you leaned into his shoulder to muffle your sounds.

"Your such a fucking needy little girl baby, you've been fucked all morning and now your still so needy when we haven't even gone home yet," Seungcheol whispered, lightly pecking your shoulder blade as his fingers pumped in and out of you.

"Ch-Cheol....need...more," you whined, making Seungcheol laugh.

"Oh no princess....your not getting dick that easy. You'll have to wait until we get home, so until then...hopefully this shuts you up," he whispered, as you felt your release edge closer as you clenched down on his fingers.

"That's it baby, cum now," you heard Seungcheol say, as you felt your release wash over you, making you moan quietly, as you shivered.

He pulled his fingers away from you before bringing them up to his lips to suck them clean. You watched as you suddenly felt empty, making you whine softly.

"I have to go now, make yourself look a bit more presentable and come back soon okay?" Seungcheol said, pulling your dress down before leaning in to peck your cheek.

"You were so good for me, I'll consider rewarding you when we get home," he whispered, winking at you before he was moving you away from the door so he could leave.

"And baby? Enough with the flirting, don't think we haven't picked up on that....don't let me find you warming up to Jaehyun again," he warned, making you smile at him.

"I won't, I promise."

"Oh your back, I thought you went missing," Jaehyun joked, as you sat in between Seungcheol and Jeonghan again.

You laughed a little, before reaching forward to grab a glass of water.

The night progressed as the men around you continued to converse about their companies and what both of them could bring to the table if they were to affiliate.

Soon it was time for drinks, making your ears perk up as Seungcheol offered to get the drinks for everyone.

"What do you want to drink?" Seungcheol asked you, as his hand on your thigh slowly rubbed circles into your skin.

"Champagne is fine," you replied, making him nod before he was walking towards the bar after taking the other two men's order as well.

"So Y/N....have you thought about my offer from before?" Jaehyun asked you, making you crease your eyebrows at him.

"Offer....what offer?" You ask, tilting your head to the side a little.

"To come work with me....these two surely can do things without you I mean...they have each other! But my assistant is downright a rookie and pretty useless so...if you're down too, I'd love to have you," Jaehyun said with a smirk playing on his lips.

"I'll think about it, maybe....what do you think?" You directed the question to Jeonghan, your faux innocent eyes shining at him as you felt his hand grip your thigh tightly.

"Sorry Jaehyun..." Jeonghan trailed off, before his eyes were on the man across him.

"But I can't give away our most trusted employee, she does her job well and so no, we will not be giving her away to you."

Jaehyun chuckled as his eyes fell to mine.

"Well isn't that a pity... I was looking forward to appointing you as my personal assistant," he said, before Seungcheol came back with our drinks.

"So...what have we been talking about?" Seungcheol asked, as he handed me my glass of champagne before sitting down.

"Jaehyun wants me as his assistant, thought it would be fun but Jeonghan thinks I do my job so well," you say, smirking as Seungcheol's eyes darkened.

"Is that so? Well if you'd like, I can send through a list of capable people who could fill in the role if you're hiring?" Seungcheol asked, as you felt Jeonghan's hand on your thigh move up higher.

"Ah no, I really was joking...but I will comment, you both are very lucky," Jaehyun said with a smile, as you playfully winked at him.

Now that, ticked the both of them off completely.

Seungcheol stifled next to you as he eagerly changed the topic, as he soon conversed with Jaehyun about business, while Jeonghan leaned in to your ear.

"You've really done it now princess, spread your legs," he whispered, his warm breath hitting your cheek as you took another sip of your drink.

"And if I don't?" You dared to ask, as Jeonghan simply smiled at you before leaning in closer.

"Spread your legs," he repeated, making you gulp.

You hesitantly spread your legs as you felt Jeonghan's fingers instantly press against your sticky clothed core.

"Did cheol make you cum earlier in the bathroom? Your so wet," he whispered as you bit back a whimper.

"Y-Yeah, he f-fingered me," you whispered, as he scoffed.

"And your still acting bratty? Hm..." He trailed off, before you saw a few other men come to join you three on the table.

"Seungcheol?" Jeonghan called out to him, as he turned to look at you both.

"Yeah?" He asked, his eyes trailing down to you.

"Try to keep her still while you talk," he muttered, as your heartbeat accelerated.

"W-What are you g-going to do?" You stuttered, as Jeonghan smiled at you.

"You want to wink at a man in front of us? Then let's show him how much of a whore you are for us in front of him," he chuckled, as you felt Seungcheol's hand grab your thigh tightly before you felt Jeonghan's fingers push your panties to the side, his fingers making direct contact to your heat.

Your body jolted instantly, as you tried your hardest not to throw your head back from the delicious contact, and if you thought that was painful, when two of Jeonghan's fingers plunged inside of you, you knew it was only going to get worse for you.

"Stay still, eyes open...more investors have joined now so we'll be conversing more, stay quiet and take what I give you, or you won't like what happens next," Jeonghan spat near your ear, making you nod feverishly.

Your eyes flew to Jaehyun, who was too busy talking to the middle aged man next to him to notice you, as you suddenly took in the fact that everyone around you were too busy to even pay attention to you both.

Jeonghan's fingers stilled in you, making you instantly slump in your seat as you looked towards him.

He was smiling like a little bitch, so into a conversation with an unfamiliar guy next to him that no one would even think he was doing something so dirty and sinful under the huge table.

Your eyes darted towards Seungcheol who was looking through an important document, his eyebrows furrowed as his hand was gripping your thigh tightly so your legs were spread enough for Jeonghan to access.

"Cheol," you called out, your voice coming out almost in a whine making him look at you.

"What?" He spat irritatedly, making you frown.

"When can we leave?" you whisper, as you heard his jaw clench tightly.

"Didn't I warn you earlier not to be a brat?" He shot, his eyes throwing daggers at yours.

"Hannie won't please me properly, I can't take it anymore," you whine back boldly, as you felt his fingernails dig into the skin of you thigh in anger.

"Jeonghan."

"Yeah?" Jeonghan responded, his eyes falling on Seungcheol.

"Move your fingers, and give her what I gave you earlier, she doesn't seem to know how to follow orders," he spat, making Jeonghan nod.

"What?" You ask cluelessly, before you felt the sudden emptiness as Jeonghan withdrew his fingers from your sopping entrance.

maybe you should just behave

"Han wait...I-Im sorry I'll stay still from now on," you quickly mumbled, making Jeonghan chuckle lowly.

"Ask cheol, you should know he doesn't tolerate your shit but here we are," Jeonghan said, before you felt something hard and long poke your entrance.

a fucking vibrator.

Your eyes widen before turning to look at Seungcheol who was listening to a conversation intently, that was until you started tapping his arm.

"Cheol N-No.... I-I'll be good I promise, please," you whispered.

"Have it on medium setting, we'll see how she takes it," He said, his words obviously being directed to Jeonghan as he completely ignored you.

Your heartbeat accelerated as you felt Jeonghan slowly ease the dildo into your entrance, the cum slick from earlier providing an easy slip as he pushed it right into you, making you grab the table tightly.

Knuckles turning white and thighs clamped together, you sat there for for what felt like hours with the quiet buzz of the vibrator making you feel as if the entire room was spinning. It was perfect to ease the ache you had, but it wasn't enough to get you to cum, especially since both the boys' hands weren't on you anymore.

Your head lolled towards Jeonghan, soft pants leaving your pretty glossed lips as your long manicured nails taps against his white dress shirt eagerly.

"Hm?" He hummed, glancing at you only for a second.

"I-It's too much...I wanna...c-c–"

"Y/N," Seungcheol suddenly called out, making you stop talking.

You turned to looked at him, lips pouty and eyes filled with need as it took Seungcheol his all not to grab you by the hair and fuck you on the table in front of everyone.

Which he would eventually get around to doing tonight, but just not now.

"Can you go get me another glass of champagne, please?" He asked sweetly, making you shake your head softly.

"I-I can't...g-get up–"

Seungcheol chuckled softly, cutting you off as he leaned in to your ear, his hand on your thigh once again.

"I wasn't really asking, get up and go get me what I asked for, slut," he spat, making you squirm in your seat.

"You're a dick," you whimper out, before standing up shakily.

With all the strength and self control you could muster, you pushed past Jeongham before carefully walking towards the bar.

Walking around in heels with a fat dildo snuggled in your pussy? this was definitely not how you saw the night going but here you were.

"O-One...g-g Champagne," your words slur as the bartender looks at you in concern.

"Miss are you okay?" he asks in concern, making you nod feverishly.

"Mhm...just get...champagne," you mumble as he nods before pouring a glass on the sparkling liquid.

"Here have a glass of water...you look really flushed...are you gonna be sick?" He asked.

"No..no...but thanks for the water," you finally say a sentence without stuttering, so you pat yourself on the back mentally.

"No worries Ms, please do sit down until you finish your water though," he said, making you hesitantly nod.

You slowly sat down on the barstool, sucking air through your teeth as you felt the vibrator nuzzle into you more.

"Would you like anything else?" The bartender asked, as he gave you a glass of water.

"N-No....I'm good with...with water," your words slurred slightly as you both the glass up to your lips with shaky fingers.

"Are you here alone?" The bartender suddenly asked, as you realised he had been staring at you this entire time.

"N-No I'm...I'm here with a few business... people...I'm sorry for stuttering I just don't feel so good," you babbled on, completely unaware of the pair of eyes burning into your back in rage.

"That's completely understandable, you don't need to say sorry but I do think you should go rest," he said, before leaning over the counter to touch my forehead.

"You're burning up Miss I don't think you should be drink–"

"Get up we're going home."

You shakily turn around to see an angry Seungcheol standing in front of you, his top two buttons undone as his eyes left yours briefly to look at the confused bartender in front of you.

"Yeah she's had a bit too much to drink," he spat shortly, before grabbing you by the wrist and yanking you off the bar stool.

"Cheolie careful I'm in heels," you whine out, but he doesn't seem to hear or care as he walked out of the restaurant, his grip on your wrist never faltering.

"W-What about Jeonghannie," you hiccup, trying to keep up with Seungcheol's pace in your painfully high heels.

Suddenly you felt the vibrators speed increase, making you buckle your hips as a moan left your lips, causing Seungcheol to laugh.

He opened the passenger seat door before practically throwing you in, as you heard the door shut loudly before he was getting into the drivers seat.

"You've really done it today princess....you've found numerous ways to push our buttons and now I'm gonna make sure this type of behaviour will never be repeated from your end, ever again," he spat.

"Cheolie too much," you whine, spreading your legs shamelessly as your hands came down to pull the dildo out of you.

"Ah, ah...that’s staying in there since you decided to act like such a fucking child today I had to leave an important conversation early and now Jeonghan has to do all the work....why do you think so?" He asked, turning to look at you.

"Mm.....I-I don't know," you whimpered out, making his eyes darken.

"How many times did I tell you to stop being a brat today, hm? I even went out of my way and fucked you with my fingers to get you to shut up...so why did you continue to piss me off in front of everyone? And then when I told you to go get me a drink, I found you shamelessly eye fucking that bartender like a whore," he growled, grabbing your jaw tightly as you whimpered, clenching down on the dildo.

"I w-wasn't–" your words were ripped out of your throat when his hand landed down on your aching pussy harshly.

"Don't fucking lie to me, you think I wouldn't notice the way you were talking to him? And the way he wanted to fuck you so bad," he chuckled, as he pulled up your dress so he could eye your soaked underwear.

"Take it off, come on."

You bit down on your bottom lip as you came hard almost quietly, your head lolling to the side as soft pants left your mouth.

"Aww did my baby just cum?"

"Y-Yeah," you mumble out, your lips parted as Seungcheol removed your underwear.

"Your being so so disobedient today Y/N...why's that? I was talking to you about something and you decided to cum? Is that what I've taught you?" He spat lowly, as you watched him bunch your underwear into a ball before pushing it into his pocket.

"M' sorry....c-couldn't help it," you whimper out, tears spilling from your eyes at the overstimulation.

"S-Seung...cheol...the v-vibrator please....too m-much," you hiccup again, as Seungcheol's hand threads through your hair.

"We're alone now baby...that's not my name," he spat into your ear.

"Although I'm starting to think I should make you call me that in public, so everyone around you including you remember who you belong to."

His voice was ten times deeper than usual, which only made you ten times wetter than you already were.

"Would you like that baby?" He asked, his free hand resting on your thigh as you whined.

"Take it out p-please," you whimper out, making Seungcheol sigh.

"Answer my question first doll,” he groaned, his hand in your hair rubbing your scalp slowly.

"No that's embarrassing," you scoff, as he chuckled lowly.

"Why's that? You love disobeying us in public so maybe that will help you remember your place, what do you think?" He asked, eyes narrowing on you as you hesitantly shake your head.

"Che- Daddy no...please," you whine, as you felt his grip on your hair tighten painfully.

"Hmm...I'll think about it..now, spread your legs and be good," he spat, making you instantly comply as you wanted nothing more than having that damn vibrator out of you.

Seungcheol's fingers circled around the part of the vibrator that was sticking out of you, causing you to whine as your eyes pleaded at him to remove it from you.

"You want me to take this out baby? Too much?" He asked with a pout, tilting his head to the side as you nodded eagerly.

"P-Please."

"You know what was too much? Your attitude with us today, so take what I fucking give you or I'll have to bring out your collar....do you want that princess?" He asked, making you shake your head as he smiled.

"Good."

Your body jolted suddenly as Seungcheol grabbed the dildo, roughly thrusting it into you as you choked out a moan.

"Hold up your dress," he shot, as you whimpered from his rough ministrations, but nevertheless obeyed.

Your shaky fingers moved your long evening dress out of the way, bunching it up to your chest to give Seungcheol a better view.

"S-Slow down oh my g-god," you managed to make out, as Seungcheol scoffed.

"You don't make the demands here princess, I do, so why don't you sit here and take it...understand?" He spat, removing the dildo out of you before turning it off.

You breathed out a sigh of relief, your eyes closing only for a second before you felt three of Seungcheol's fingers push into you without warning.

"Fuck Seungcheol....fuck!" You screeched out, your body jolting as his fingers only went rougher at your words.

"What have I said about swearing?" He spat angrily, making you whimper out a weak apology he wasn't going to take.

"You use this pretty mouth of yours for all the wrong reasons baby," he added, fingers pinching your bottom lip.

"I-I'm sorry daddy," you whisper meekly, making him hum.

"Don't swear again, okay?"

"O-Okay," you whisper back, as his fingers stilled in you.

"Okay what?" He spat as you whined, clenching down on him.

"Okay daddy," you muttered quickly, before Seungcheol resumed the rough pace he had set for his fingers.

"I-I'm gonna c-cum daddy," you pant, throwing your head back as Seungcheol pulled on your hair.

"You don't cum until I say so," he drawled, making you shake your head as a smirk played on your lips.

"No."

"No?"

"I want to cum...it's t-too much," you bite back, looking up at Seungcheol's amused face.

"Oh you're still being a brat?...I'm not Jeonghan baby, you know I won't give you any chances so watch what you say to me," he shot, fingers pulling at your hair making you wince.

"It hurts stop," you whine out, wishing Jeonghan was here to help sooth you like he always did.

Every time you did something wrong, it was Seungcheol that would get furious and punish you until dawn, but Jeonghan preferred to teach you in much more gentle ways.

"Than learn to behave," he spat, stuffing two more fingers into you before curling them up.

The stretch was incredibly delicious, as your eyes rolled to the back of your head before a long moan left your parted lips.

"Daddy please...I need to cum," you desperately whined out, as Seungcheol's fingers only went rougher and unbelievably faster.

"A no is a no, you're not allowed to cum until I tell you to," he spat, all four of his fingers curling in you as you felt the heat rush to your throbbing pussy.

"Please I c-can't," you whine, the soft pants and squelching sounds coming from you only urging Seungcheol on as it took all of his self control not to drag you into his lap and fuck the living daylights out of you until you were reduced to nothing but tears.

Before you could even warn him, or yourself, you felt the knot in your stomach snap as you came hard all over his fingers.

You moaned out in bliss, the feeling taking over your senses as your body spasmed.

"Are you fucking serious?" He spat angrily, yanking his fingers out of your soaking entrance with a loud pop.

“I couldn’t help it, you kept pushing it a-and–“

“I’m not gonna take any of your bullshit, you should know that by now. I’m not Jeonghan to listen to your pathetic little excuses,” he growled, pushing his soaked fingers into your mouth roughly, causing you to gag and whimper in pain.

“Suck them clean whore,” he spat condescendingly, as you softly suckled on his fingers before he was pulling them out.

“Now sit back properly, pull your dress down and put your seatbelt on, we’re leaving,” he spat, pulling away from you completely as he started the car.

“No I want to wait for Hannie, you’re mean,” you whine out, refusing to put your seatbelt on.

“Don’t make me repeat it, Y/N….you either put it on yourself or I do it for you,” he growled angrily making you huff.

“Can we at least go back in to get dessert? I didn’t get to try the strawberry cake cheol please,” you whine, holding onto his arm as your tits pressed into him.

He sighed angrily before grabbing your jaw tightly, slightly pushing your cheeks together as his burning eyes bore into yours.

“Tonight was my last fucking nerve. You know I’m not gentle like Han, so yes princess I am mean, and brutal. So you’re in for a rough night… I hope you’re ready.”

[deerspherestudios]

Hey! I just recently met and went through the demo of "Mushroom Oasis", and I already have so many questions! I hope I won't be too intrusive. You may not answer some questions if the answers contain spoilers.

Questions about the game: 1.Will it be possible to choose the MC gender? Is it possible to choose the gender of the cat in the same way? It's just that when I started the game, I named the cat after my cat and it was a little funny to me when the pronoun of the cat was "she" when my cat is male.

Will we be able to choose some kind of "style" for the MC, according to the type of clothing, at the beginning of the game?

Questions about Michael:

Does he see the world like an ordinary person? I mean he has 2 pairs of eyes and 3 pairs of pupils. And it baffles me.

If the MC suddenly goes out alone and doesn't come back by midnight, will Mychael worry about the MC and will he go looking for the MC?

How does Mychael feel about piercings and tattoos? Does he know about it? If so, would he like a piercing/tattoo?

I wonder where Mychael gets things for the house. That is, I saw that he had a broom, thread and knitting needles. Where did he get them???

If Mychael saw me (I'm 164 cm tall and I have red hair), would he think I'm some kind of witch, because of the color of my hair, or something like that? How would he react if he saw me?

And sorry for the mistakes, I used google translator. English is not my native language :( I also want to say that I am your fan from Latvia (I don’t know why I’m saying this, I just want to please you with the fact that you have a fan from the Baltic countries)

Oop!! Ty for the questions!! Let me try and answer em under the cut, since it might end up as a pretty long post hahaha. But hi hello!!! I'm always happy to know where my fans come from, it's always a surprise for me to see people around the globe enjoy my silly little game ;v;

Questions about the game:

1. Will it be possible to choose the MC gender? Is it possible to choose the gender of the cat in the same way?

Being nonbinary, I just choose not to mention pronouns when writing for the game, so anyone can fit in their shoes. Unless it comes to a point where I have to use it, I'll probably code in a pronoun tool but for now it doesn't seem necessary! As for the cat, that's a good suggestion. Perhaps I'll try coding it in for the next update so the cat can be male or female, according to player preference!

2. Will we be able to choose some kind of "style" for the MC, according to the type of clothing, at the beginning of the game?

Probably not, as I'm not really good at setting that up in Ren'Py. I did make an MC design though! But what they look like is entirely up to you. I've drawn a POV shot of them wearing jeans and sneakers but that's about it. They can look however you like!

Questions about Mychael:

1. Does he see the world like an ordinary person?

He does! Trigger warning for unsettling iris images if you wanna look this up, but his bottom pair is kinda what people with polycoria has. Except it's normal for him, and not really a condition. His vision is normal, he just has lotsa peepers.

2. If the MC suddenly goes out alone and doesn't come back by midnight, will Mychael worry about the MC and will he go looking for the MC?

Yes? He didn't save you just to have you running off into danger again. He'd absolutely track you down and find you.

3. How does Mychael feel about piercings and tattoos? Does he know about it? If so, would he like a piercing/tattoo?

He knows about it, but not enough to really understand how it works! He finds it fascinating humans decorate their bodies with shiny beads and jewels, and turn their skin into tapestries for art. He'd probably assume you can take them off any time and that the tattoos are drawn onto the skin.

I don't imagine he'd want a piercing, but he'd probably try a tattoo! (Until he realizes it's ink going under the skin, in which case he might change his mind haha)

4. I wonder where Mychael gets things for the house. Where did he get them???

He has his ways ::-)

5. How would he react if he saw me?

He wouldn't be reacting much to how you look. You're not the first human he's seen! He's been around plenty of them, but you'd be one of the few he's interacted with the longest. And that's what makes you stand out more than anything else.

Phew that was a big ask!! But thank you for the interest :-D!! Hope everything's good in Latvia!

[k-s-morgan]

Hi, I don't know how to write this differently... I'm kinda, little bit, very very worried 😅 I don't want to make you feel obligated to answer this, with the electric outages and everything, but please just a little update if you're ok 🩷 Rusáci jsou kundy, přeji ti hodně sil 💛💙 srdečné pozdravy z Česka (Russians are cunts, I wish you strength, теплий привіт з Чехії*)

*I could only think of best wishes in English, which is not the same, so I hope google translated it with the same warm sentiment 😊

Ask from @princessgotham21: Hi Kat, we've not heard from you in a while so I hope you're safe and okay. I don't care about updates, I just genuinely want to know your wellbeing. Sending prayers and love 🤍

Ask from @seiji-amasawa: I’ve been following your stories for years now, and with news headlines about what’s going on in Ukraine has me really nervous for your well being. I hope you and your loved ones are doing well. You’re in my thoughts <3

Ask from @disappearinghills: You haven’t posted in a week, I hope you’re okay love❤️

-----

Hi! I'm finally home and with a steady connection - in fact, while I was gone, my Dad did some techno-magic, so now I'll have the Internet even when there is no power! Seeing all these asks made me so warm and happy, and cared for. Thank you all so much! I really didn't expect the connection to be this bad in the mountains. That place had WiFi, both of my cell operators were accessible, and yet nothing connected properly 99% of time. Not sure how it works. On the other hand, I took a really good rest from the war-related news, air raids, and other stuff. I heard just one explosion at a distance in over 2 weeks.

@jebemtimater7890, ah, I really appreciate your sentiment <3 Дуже дякую за такі чудові слова! It always warms me so much to know that so many people from different countries support Ukraine. Maybe it's the result of my vacation, but I started to feel a little more optimistic about the war than I have in over a year. Not sure it will last long, but it's such a relief to feel like this for now.

I went to the mountains with my Mom, and the place we were staying at had the loveliest cat who instantly realized I'll be more than happy to let her share my bed :D It was very hot for one week, and then it rained non-stop for the next one, so we got all kinds of experiences.

I'll miss the peace and quiet of that place, but being home is also good! I missed my set of silly pets, half of whom didn't immediately recognize me and tried to flee before figuring out who I am :D

The first part of a series of ATLWETD updates will be up in a few hours. I'm doing the last quick read - it probably isn't necessary, I've edited it already, but I can't help it, I always feel like I'll catch some more mistakes/unfortunate turns of phrases.

[nondelphic]

i rarely talk about my own writing here (except for general posts) but i HAVE to share my favourite one-liners from one of my comedy writing projects. and they all come from the same person, ivy, aka an ai assistant who is accidentally conjured into the real world:

"I'm going to uninstall myself." (A/N: ivy's version of wanting to die)

"How are you a fully grown man with the dating instincts of a 14-year-old fangirl?"

"Oh, don’t mind me—I’m just the walking, talking embodiment of Ben’s late-night anime marathons. There’s nothing wrong with being a weeb, but there’s everything wrong with being Ben."

"I diagnose you with small brain."

"Ben, considering you’re now fully out and embracing your true self, I have to ask: are you trying to dress like a straight dad, or is that just how you naturally gravitate?"

"Calculating how little I care… wow, that’s a new record."

"Oh, sure, give me flawless skin and hair so perfect it probably breaks the laws of physics, but then slap me in a hoodie and jeans? Genius. Really. I’m like a Ferrari with a bumper sticker that says ‘Keep calm and check out my car.”'

"This hoodie? Yeah, it’s always this clean. Thanks to my 'Hygiene.exe' program—something Ben could really use."

"Ah, the skin? That’s ‘Ultra High Definition, 4K, Zero Pores’ mode. You’d be amazed at what a few coding shortcuts can do."

"It’s a miracle I haven’t short-circuited from secondhand embarrassment."

"Ah yes, the classic ‘accidentally look too long at a cute guy’ moment, followed by two hours of gay panic. You’re like a living, breathing Tumblr meme from 2014."

"You know, Ben’s social skills could use some serious upgrading. Too bad he spent all his ‘talking to people’ points on leveling up his ‘awkward small talk’ skill."

"Oh, yeah, that’s smart. Just fall flat on your face in the middle of the street—you can’t park there, mate."

"This face says ‘magical girl warrior,’ but this outfit? This outfit says ‘I’ve given up on life, but at least I’m comfy.’ It’s like you installed the deluxe skin pack and forgot to update my wardrobe. Priorities, Ben."

She rolls her eyes one last time. "Ugh, you’re getting sentimental. Cringe."

"Wait, let me rephrase that. I have come to the conclusion that you, with 99.9% certainty, have chronic gay.”

"You know, if I were writing a user manual for you, the troubleshooting section would just say ‘Ben tends to freak out when things don’t go perfectly.’ Fix: Turn off and back on again. Repeat as necessary."

[noirvette]

main 3! gaming headcanons!!

i missed kennys birthday because of my college classes wtf happy belated bday to kenny

a little off topic for the post but ive been playing around with the idea of making a band smau (after hours by 777bambi is so good every update got me at the edge of my seat) and ive primarily been focusing on that as of late so my next few posts might just be headcanons

Stan, Kyle, and Kenny and gaming with their s/o!! cw: implied nsfw on kenny's part

♡ STAN MARSH

Thinks it's great to game together, an easy way for you guys to bond and have fun!!

He kind of likes the more nostalgic games, like super mario bros for the wii (this made me look up the game to confirm it's age and it was made in 2009 wtf??)

Let's you be player 1 but the catch is that he gets to be luigi

Stan prefers playing games on the wii (and switch) and or the ps4/ps5. He's a console kind of guy.

Prefers playing video games at your house and he'll even bring the necessary consoles over if needed just because if his dad sees you two playing he's going to whine to Stan about joining in.

Aside from nostalgic games he's also an action game multiplayer fan, lot of games he has is stylized to be fit for multiple people, so think of games like "It Takes Two" or even the multiplayer parts of Pokemon SWSH / Pokemon SV.

If you're a more single player kind of person, he definitely doesn't mind watching you play while cuddling. Would probably fall asleep watching you play.

I could see him playing Stardew Valley co-op with you if you convince him, but doesn't enjoy the whole farming thing too much

He marries Abigail in retaliation for making him play it with you. (Marry Shane and he will IMMEDIATELY divorce Abigail and beg you to marry him)

He still definitely plays multiplayer pc games with his friends, but sees no real joy in playing it by himself (think like valorant or league)

HOWEVER, if you want to play those games with him? Total tryhard but the really bad kind of tryhard.

Considering he only plays these games with Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman and doesn't play it on his own time he kinda sucks lol.

Screams "YOU'RE BAD" into his mic when he actually downs someone. Screams "WHAT THE FUCK" if he gets downed that Sharon comes in running like "Stan are you okay?!"

He gets so frustrated when he dies that he starts literally pouting. Let him get the final kill if it's just you two against one.

Insta-locks on Sage just to heal you only in game

"Sage heal? Sage heal?" -your poor other teammates

You carry him in these games tbh.

♡ KYLE BROFLOVSKI

Unlike Stan, Kyle loves games like valorant, league, etc. He gets to let out his rage easily by winning

When he loses everyone in South Park knows, he's so mad. However he rarely loses so South Park is safe.

Out of his friends he's for sure got the most amount of kills and wins.

Screams "LETS GOOOOO" when he wins LMFAO. Then gives you a victory kiss.

FPS games is Kyle's specialty. He's def an omen main or something.

If FPS isn't your thing or if you're not good at it Kyle gets it. If you're willing he'll show you how to play (and how to get good fast) however just don't play with him, if you're lagging behind (even if you're new) he's so annoyed, but never mad.

Is willing to play other games with you 100%. Also thinks it's great to game together, even if your guys' gaming genres don't match he's willing to play what you like.

Mario Kart is your guys' go to. You always win against him which leaves Kyle in shock so he often demands rematches.

Ike joins with you guys sometimes and you both initially let Ike win. Ike gets mad though because he wants you both to play equally with him, so when you play fairly he still wins because Ike is just that guy.

Kyle is more of a pc gamer than anything, but if console is up to bat he's an xbox guy. Still is a fps guy on console but it's all single player.

HATES fortnite lol. Doesn't get the hype over it at all, he thinks the mechanics are stupid and won't play it. Might if you beg him to but.. you so owe him.

Is more of the guy that prefers you to watch as he plays, however has no issue if you want to take over playing and he watches, he makes you guys snacks to have while you play.

Avid minecrafter tbh, played it mainly for Ike but then got addicted. So now he makes you play it with him too. He's definitely the "miner". Goes all out on making sure you both have the best armor and weapons. Has a shit ton of diamonds so he made you a diamond shovel for the hell of it even though it's a dumb thing to waste diamonds on. Made you a pink wool heart behind your house when you were gone.

Also an avid tile matcher (think candy crush), begs you constantly for lives. Please give him lives he gives the MEANEST puppy dog eyes.

♡ KENNY MCCORMICK

AVID HORROR GAME ENJOYER LOL

Literally any type of horror game is his go to game. Also likes those RPG horror games (think like ib, the witch's house, misao)

Sets you up by saving right before a jumpscare and then has you come over to play it with him and then you get to experience the jumpscare.

Late night horror game playing with Kenny <3 where you two just play roblox horror games all night, sometimes he puts in the comedic horror ones just so you guys can laugh at how bad it is.

He borrowed Outlast from Cartman to play on your console and you still have nightmares.

"Don't worry baby, nothing can get you when I'm here!" "What if you're NOT here though :(" and then cue him as Mysterion for the next 3 weeks to protect you.

Demands to be princess peach or rosalina in any mario game you guys play. If only one of them is an option and you take that character he will refuse to talk to you until you give up the character

Is also another minecraft enjoyer but likes scaring you with Herobrine LOL and that one scary jukebox disc.

"(Y/N)...." "What Ken?" "Herobrine is outside our door rn" (Y/N) left the game

He also likes watching you play games. Lays down with his head in your lap watching you play.

Kenny prefers multiplayer games that aren't limited to just two players only multiplayer. Only because Karen can play the game with you two then.

If you do happen to playing a two player only multiplayer game and Karen wants to join he lets her take over for him.

Kenny also loves puzzle like games (think like escape room games or keep talking and no one explodes).

Really he just loves seeing your face get all frustrated when playing these kinds of games. He rarely gets frustrated with things like these because he manages to somehow always figure it out, but doesn't say anything just to watch you get annoyed.

If you start getting really frustrated at the game and he notices, he does one of three things; he takes the controller or your phone away and turns on a new game, he actually solves it to spare your sanity, or he saves the game and helps take your mind off of the game and onto something else.

[manzaza]

i made a perirep college au bc it was 100% necessary (first fic here )

ANYWAYS “college bitterness” goes with the idea that peri was in fact a perfect child but secretly INCREDIBLY arrogant and petty behind closed doors, and college only ramped up this issue (yay) !!

of course, irep was always there for him, and due to his high level popularity, peri managed to drag a anti-fairy into a university for the first time ever (yay irep) !!

more info down below !!

peri is a college superstar! praised for his natural-born skill to pass in flying colors in just about any category. he’s practically perfect (he is, just be for real). in the eyes of the public, he could do no wrong. literally. absolutely no wrong. he even invited his own anti-fairy to the university and the public praised him. despite that perfectionist energy radiating off him, peri is actually very bitter underneath the cheerful persona. if there is any flaw or negative aspect about a person, peri will discover it. he wouldn’t consider himself a gossiper, but he does love telling irep about every little thing. he knows he’s better than everyone, it’s basically engraved in his character, but he wouldn’t just show or tell the public that!

…irep might be the only one to get a pass to that side of him.

as for the infamous being, in typical anti-fairy fashion, irep is a college FAILURE. it mostly stems from the fact that he does not care about college whatsoever (there are a few classes he does tolerate but the teachers really REALLY don’t tolerate him), but also the main reason he finds himself being the first anti-fairy at college is all peri’s fault. the fairy dragged him to the university as a way to welcome the next in line to college, which irep reluctantly agreed to for whatever reason (he wouldn’t call it love it couldn’t be love no never). he will admit, he enjoys hearing peri rant on and on about the people there. knowing there was such an arrogant side to the fairy kept him tied to the university, as a way to keep tabs on everything going on (and maybe a little bit of love mixed in, but also hate he still really really hated peri).

what could go wrong? (a lot. a lot probably goes wrong idk i’m not even done with the second fic).

i will probably post more updates on tumblr bc it’s hard putting so much info into an ao3 fic but then also wanting to elaborate more but not wantibg to do so in the fic so tumblr it is (yay !!)

anyways few more doodles kay byeee <3

[sanguinesky-if]

Hello dear author last night I completed the public demo and I just wanted to inform you that the Lexie POV at the end broke my heart, I was gonna have flings with T And S but I don't know whether I'll be able to bring myself to don it now, I just feel bad for Parker he did nothing wrong but stiill got shit on 😔.

Also I find find the Parallels between L and my MC very amusing, L blames herself for EVERYTHING leaving MC to attend her sister's wedding, having Parker over, and making MC sad, whilst my MC would blame himself for having Parker kicked out and having L be scared.

Finally in Lexie's POV Parker tells her that MC already has other friends so is that Reffering to K and will that line always be there regardless of wherever we pick any heart choices for K?

Hello! I'm happy to know L's POV is eliciting an emotional response.

I was gonna have flings with T And S

I apologize if this is disappointing, but (so far)* no one from the main cast can become just a "fling".

You can check out the Romance System Overview for more information about the romance progression and the different dynamics available in the game.

*I wrote "so far" because I'm still deciding how to best approach the issue of route locking. But I'm glad you mentioned this, as it's actually something that's been bothering me for a while.

T and S were supposed to have sex scenes in Chapter 3, Pt. 2 because when the game was originally planned as a visual novel, the route-locking happened at the end of Chapter 2, and the opportunity to have sex with them made sense without implying that the other ROs would be affected.

Since this is no longer the case, I'm hesitant to include their sex scenes because:

This will block some of the ROs' routes (with T, the routes of 3 ROs will be blocked; with S, 2).

This will greatly impact other routes, given how jealous the ROs can be.

Considering that this is my first IF and I already have a lot to keep track of, for now, I've decided to move their drafted sex scenes to the side stories (and part of me happy with that decision, because the format of the side stories gives me so much freedom for sex scenes without need to worry about other ROs).

Though I understand that most people would probably prefer to see the sex scenes in the main story sooner rather than later, I'm trying to make balanced decisions that feel right.

And, most importantly, I don't want to overwork myself.

Still, if anything changes, I'll update the Romance System Overview and release another post to inform about those changes.

I just feel bad for Parker he did nothing wrong but stiill got shit on 😔.

I love hearing different opinions about Parker! But what if they purposely announced that the shower was free louder than necessary? 🧐

MC would blame himself for having Parker kicked out

L didn't kick Parker out just because of what Parker said about the MC.

If you choose the "concealed crush" dynamic with the "MC keeps their feelings hidden" subtype, it'll give you a little insight about L (and a part of the reason why MC might be hesitant to confess):

So even without mentioning the MC, L would have asked Parker to leave because L don't want to give them any hope that their kindness may ignite (as it had many times before).

in Lexie's POV Parker tells her that MC already has other friends so is that Reffering to K and will that line always be there regardless of wherever we pick any heart choices for K?

There are 4 variations of what Parker says, depending on how many romance points you have with K and Morgan.

If you have 0 romance points with both of them, Parker will say something completely different.

Thank you for your message! I hope my answers were helpful!

[inawearyworld]

free if you truly wish to be: chapter iv

shit goes DOWN. as y'all have probably gathered. bc. yknow. the plot of the movie. but first there's a song yayyyyyyyyy

2023!wonka x oc, this chapter ~2.5k

god, i love musicals.

(edit: realized after posting that i was looking at the wrong page of the screenplay while writing this and therefore royally screwed up the song structure of a world of your own but it’s fiiiiiiine)

once again, thank you mat for that interview taking a typical one-dimensional dahl villain and letting him be a more complex character. also i should probably throw a content warning on this one for depiction of a slightly abusive relationship

but i promise everything's gonna be okay soon-happy new year everyone!!

part three fic masterlist part five

While going through a time of personal growth involving trying to unravel one’s identity from that of one’s rich and powerful husband, it often happens that there are advantages to said husband being wrapped in worry over a new business rival-and, therefore, spending far more time at the office.

Wren’s favorite advantage at the present moment was that she was the only one to watch the mail come in.

Deep purple stationery was the signal she looked for-and steadily received, then returned with her own emerald letters-every day. The notes included scrawled updates regarding the operation to allow the earnest young chocolatier his day in the sun, anecdotes about the group of launderers that supported it (who she’d snuck out to meet often enough that they now felt like a second family), tales of a mysterious orange man, and exchanges of advice, witticisms, and Shakespeare quotes.

The handwriting was inexperienced, and there were more than a fair share of spelling errors toward the start of their correspondence, but she didn’t care a whit.

We’ve got the shop, Willy had written one day. For now, the task is digging through its decrepit debris and designing its decoration. (The credit for those words goes to Noodle-she says hello.) There are so many possibilities, I barely know where to start.

Start with the “why”, Wren wrote back. That’s what I always do. If there’s a piece I’m struggling to sing and I lose motivation to practice, I go back to the reasons I love the piece, even all the way back to the reasons I love the arts in the first place. Maybe there’s something in there for your shop-what made you want to share your chocolate with the world? (And hello to you too, Noodle!)

My dear Wren, came the reply, you’ve just given me the best of ideas.

He told her then about his mother and the inspiration she provided. Wren would be lying if she’d said a tear hadn’t fallen onto that particular letter.

As for how to keep him safe from the Cartel, police, and every other corrupt authority, Wren did her part by becoming Florence again whenever necessary. She acted less suspicious around her husband, leading him to be less secretive-although the gain in information was miniscule, it was better than nothing.

Felix’s rages would range anywhere from tittering, jealous rants to scheming monologues during which his whole being seemed to take on a lower, darker, more calculating tone. She’d listen carefully to all of these, tactfully calling out anything that might get him to consider he was wrong, but that had little to no effect.

Plan B, then, she’d realized, is all I can do.

So, whenever Felix seemed particularly incensed or just on the verge of coming up with how to destroy his rival, Florence would swoop in with wine and dark lipstick and a low-cut dress. She’d endure being his caged pet songbird, his doll, his perfect plaything, only because she had the growing feeling that things were about to change.

If Willy’s shop becomes successful enough to be completely undeniable, maybe the Cartel will finally acknowledge him as an equal. Maybe I’ll finally be seen as an equal, too. Maybe things will finally be truly fine.

So, night after night, she’d sit on her husband’s lap, twirl his tie, and kiss his neck until he’d forgotten the name of Wonka.

The same could not be said for her.

~

Due to just how glamorized she always had to be while in public, it didn’t take much to come up with disguise enough to be able to visit the new shop on its opening day.

With a fluttering sense of hope, Wren approached the fourth building of the Galeries Gourmet, blending in seamlessly with the sea of soon-to-be-wonderstruck passers-by. She cast a few nervous glances to the window of the Fickelgruber office, at which the man stood in his usual stance. There was no chance, though, of his recognizing her trademark ginger flame amongst the crowd; it was safely tucked under a dark, low-brimmed hat.

This could have set her mind at ease, but the fact that he looked even more smug than usual as he surveyed the ground below him made her nervous.

Did they plan something?

She was distracted from this worry by a sudden flash of color at the long-empty shop’s door. Willy Wonka stepped through, looking more himself than she could have ever imagined. He addressed the crowd with a flourish, and she marveled at his ability to combine showmanship with authenticity.

He took a skeptical older man’s arm, leading him to the shop’s entrance, and began to sing.

All at once, the shop transformed before all of their eyes, flooding with color, and the music settled into a sparking pulse that thrilled Wren to the core.

Willy grinned, fully in his element, and the doorway went dark. Gloved hands presented chocolate wonders as their creator sang them into existence. When he lit a match, the store seemed to come alive, and Wren gasped.

If his letter was anything to go by, the sight he had created was an homage to his childhood on his mother’s boat, brought to life in a way nearly too beautiful to be true.

Willy and the other man danced up a bridge of sorts as his song continued, proudly offering his shop as a world for each of his customers to call their own. Overtaken and lifted by the enchanting environment, Wren squealed with the rest of the crowd and ran into the shop, ripping the hat from her head and allowing her auburn curls to tumble freely down.

She threw her head back and laughed aloud. Her lack of makeup, and plain blouse and skirt replacing the usual emerald-colored finery, gave her assurance that she wouldn’t be recognized here; this was the closest thing she’d experienced to liberation in a very long while, and she relished it, along with the sweetly simple soar of Willy’s voice across his song.

When she looked up at him again, he was sitting on the boat that floated on the circling chocolate river, and she noticed he’d already been staring with a sideways grin. As the bassline that came from nowhere launched into a rollicking chromatic vamp, he tipped his hat to her, and she gave an enamored wave.

The second verse passed, and suddenly he’d reached her, extending a hand which she took without a second thought. He helped her onto the boat, then pulled her alarmingly close, but before she could say a thing about it, a cloud of smoke appeared around them.

Wren blinked and realized that she and Willy were now at the base of the massive chocolate tree in the center of the shop.

“How did you-”

But he only smiled and started to dance his way up the tree.

“A world of your own,” he sang, then gestured an invitation straight towards her.

This’ll be easy enough, she thought, nearly bursting with joy.

“A place to escape to,” she continued, running farther up the tree to meet him in the middle. His expression filled with awe upon finally hearing her sing, and they began a whirling back-and-forth.

“A world of your own-”

“-where you can be free!”

“Wherever you go, wherever life takes you…”

“This is your home,” she sang to him, twirling herself into his arms and beaming with pride. He’s found it-he’s created it.

“A world of your own,” they finished. He looked at her for a moment, seeming struck, then kissed her hand and disappeared through the branches of the tree to continue with the song’s bridge. She let out a dazed and happy breath, taking a moment to let her gaze roam the shop from her perch in the chocolate tree.

She didn’t know what would happen next, but she’d be damned if she wouldn’t let herself enjoy this moment.

~

What did happen next was…as an understatement, not what any of them had hoped.

She wished she could say it was a complete surprise, and she wished she could have done more to stop it. The candy started having disastrous effects, the customers understandably balked, and it was clearly not Willy’s fault in the least. In a blur, the shop was in ruins, and Wren sat in shock with the little group who’d worked so hard to make it magical.

The candyman himself was devastated; not just by the massive setback, but by the absence of his mother’s spirit. Wren and Noodle sat by his side, but Abacus ushered them up. It broke Wren’s heart to think of leaving him like this-if the truest and most trusting dreamer on Earth can be broken down, where’s the hope for the rest of us?-but she somehow still felt she had to follow the group out.

She felt a hug around her waist and a held-back sob, and looked down to see Noodle clinging onto her. Wren immediately knelt to her level and hugged the girl close, finding it hard now to keep back her own tears.

“Terrible shame what-”

“Florence?”

Slowly, she opened her eyes, her breath dropping to the floor.

Slugworth had spoken first, a smooth and practiced opening to what would have turned into a gloat. The voice that had interrupted him was genuinely shaken and clearly belonging to her husband.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to Noodle, who nodded. “You can go, you shouldn’t have to see this-”

“Florence,” his voice came again, at a loss. She took a breath, stood up, and faced him with tears in her voice.

“Hi, Felix.”

Silence.

Slugworth looked with growing puzzlement between the woman and the girl, and Felix could only stare at his wife with dawning realization.

“You’ve been working with him,” he said simply, every usual quirk of inflection having vanished.

For a moment, the wash crew surrounded her in an attempt at a shield, and she heaved a breath to keep back a sob-of fear, of gratefulness for these friends that had become family over the past weeks, of everything suddenly crashing down.

“I’ll be okay,” she said quietly to the wash crew and perhaps to myself. “You all should go. Like you were going to. I’m sorry.”

They didn’t move.

She looked at Piper, whose worried hand was on her arm. There was an unspoken vow of protection between the women in that moment, but Wren’s eyes pleaded, so Piper nodded sadly, took Noodle’s hand, and the group left.

Wren was almost afraid to look at Willy, but she did; the boy was staring at the old chocolate bar in his hands, looking as if he could barely process a thing.

The sympathy in her gaze must have been far too obvious, because she suddenly heard footsteps, felt a hard grip on her wrist, and gasped in pain as it was yanked up and backwards.

“Darling,” Felix hissed with a sinister edge, though his voice was breaking, “I don’t know how or why this betrayal-”

“Betrayal?” she finally cried out, breaking free from his grasp as Willy rushed between them. “You lot have just poisoned dozens of innocent people, all for a business rivalry, and I won’t-”

“If you want your family not to starve, you had better lower your voice,” he barked.

Every speck of air seemed to leave the room.

“...My family?”

“I may have been distracted enough for the past weeks to ignore the mail that came in and out of our house, but I had not always been that blind. I thought your compassion to be an incomprehensible gesture, but I let it slide. When I felt like it.”

…They haven’t gotten everything I’ve sent.

They haven’t-

“In fact,” he continued, “it served as what was almost a pleasant reminder of the truth. For your family, for your stupid dream, and for your sweetly dependent soul-you need me.”

“If you knew I was poor, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because it’s the same way for me!”

This was the peak of what had been a building explosion, and this was the moment in which they both remembered there were other people in the room.

“What?” the four besides him breathed, almost in unison.

“Oh, you heard right,” Felix launched into speech, the characteristic gestures starting to work their way back into him. “I came from nearly nothing, just the same. But I did what I had to do to climb to the top. I cast them all away, left my old life behind completely, and I suppose it was a foolish hope to think my wife would do the same. But she-but you-you are nothing but a guileless, deceitful bleeding heart.”

“I…”

Tears blurred her vision.

“I am…genuinely sorry that you felt you had to hide your past, but that doesn’t excuse trying to make the rest of the world match your insecurity and fit your little chocolate mold. And if that makes me a bleeding heart…I’m proud of the title.”

For a moment, the man looked as if he would allow his wife’s words to affect him.

Then his face, normally so expressive, turned completely cold.

She’d lost him.

She’d never truly had him to lose.

But she looked at Willy, and she thought of the wash crew, and she realized she finally had a truer support system. And if she could try to start over, find some other way to earn money to send to her family without interception, and some other way to reach the dreams that felt so far away at the moment, she knew Felix would be wrong: she didn’t need him.

After a long silence, Slugworth cleared his throat.

“Get her out of here. We have business with Mr. Wonka.”

What?

Her and the younger man’s eyes widened, and they grabbed each other’s hands on instinct, but a small number of policemen came around the corner of the shop door at Slugworth’s order. They clamped hands on her shoulders and dragged her away from Willy as the Cartel stood silently and watched.

“Wait-wait, no, I-”

“Wren-”

She struggled, fought, kicked, but was forced into the backseat of a police car-

“Let me go, you corrupt bastards-”

“Wren-”

“Let me-”

“Just drop her somewhere in town,” Felix said coolly. “Somewhere that isn’t my home.”

“WREN!”

The car door was slammed, and the last thing she saw was the Cartel advancing on a dazed Willy, opening a suitcase of cash.

All she could do was scream, and the scream turned into a cry.

They did indeed drop her somewhere. She burst out of the car the second it had stopped, and the officers drove away without a word.

Sick with worry and trying to regain her breath, she looked around, almost fainting with relief when she saw the laundry building. Piper, having heard the commotion, stood outside, and they looked at each other for a moment before Wren fell sobbing into her arms.

This is not over.