#they show up like 15 minutes in they like barely get a total of 8 minutes of screen time

[dweebspam]

Very obsessed with those weird ass gym robots from that one episode of dan vs

[ssaalexblake]

the thing about cm is that the writers have always been totally upfront about there never being an inter-team romance played out on the show, that's not what it's about and that was the score and remains it. What Other show that's been on air as long hasn't had a will they/won't they? lasting for like 8 years before they finally do it? Or had a pair have a very ill advised affair? or any number of other combos.

CM is different to that by design, not by accident.

(that they had luke and garcia flirt all the time with nothing to show for it, and then when they thought they'd been cancelled they had them agree to a date in the last 5 minutes of the show is Telling. That they tanked it in the very next episode 2 years later that they never thought would exist is More telling.)

teasing moments between characters is not promising you that they're gonna suddenly have an ooc gay affair, and while i'm going to assume what's happening here is that they've not mentioned the No Romance rule for a while not realising that their audience is not all the same one they Used to have back on CBS, they really have made the score clear multiple times in the past.

If you're waiting for JJ to divorce herself from her own personality and suddenly decide to have a steamy gay affair with Emily you're going to be waiting a Long Time. And this is Really obvious and doesn't really even need stating, to be frank.

I've seen some Wild shit coming from the fandom, like somebody saying with their whole chest that the only reason jj ended up with will was because of aj's pregnancy (that part is true) but devolved into 'what universe are You from' territory when they claimed that otherwise they were going to do a shippy story with jj and emily. And even Aside from the whole No Team Romance rule, you are Aware this was in like 2007 right??? I know you're all young and all but in 2007 every gay thing in a tv show was a Groundbreaking Moment in television history still. Stuff you slam for being tame representation that's not good enough for you was ground-breaking rep in the mid 2010's!! This was 2007. CM barely acknowledged that gay people existed for an entire 15 seasons.

That their first episode on paramount made one of the leads queer is actually kind of funny in that regard, and Incredibly telling in general. It was Never the writers who were against that (in fact, a number of them in the cbs years were gay themselves) but got forbidden to go there by the network.

For the record, other topics that were considered unpalatable by the network and not to be used in stories very often were things like cannibalism and a variety of other disturbing things you can do to people. So gayness was ranked with them. Charming. (there used to be webchats with writers after episodes aired, and you learnt some Shit in those, let me tell you).

Anyway, i digress, they're not going to go there and have been honest about it. Whatever ship 'there' is is sitting somewhere at Snowball's chance in hell, and while i'd sell maybe a rib for tara and emily to be canon, i'm more than aware it'd be a waste of a rib. At Most i think maybe they'll do another 11th hour thing with luke and garcia when they eventually get cancelled again.

Because the same show runner is still in place. There's not been a change of management. Maybe If they'd got a new person in, but they haven't.

[aemiron-main]

OH STUFF IS REALLY WONKED UP IN REGARDS TO TIME IN THE HALLOWEEN EP OH MY GOD. there’s the post i made about how the scene with mike is 11 minutes ahead in the footage joyce watches (the footage will records is at 8:04 when we see it during trick or treating vs the footage that joyce watches shows the same footage but timestamped with 8:15 instead) but it doesnt end there.  remember the scene earlier in the halloween ep with bob showing jonathan how to use the camera? and he says “T to zoom in”?? During that scene at the time, the timestamp was 5:43 pm. but when joyce watches that scene later, it’s timestamped with 6:11 pm. So not only is that a TOTALLY different time than 5:43, just like how the mike recording has a different time, but it’s also a different time gap between the two timestamps compared to the gap between the mike scene timestamps (which is 11 minutes). The timestamp gap between the bob scenes is 28 minutes.

what the fresh fuck is going on with time. i’d dismiss it as a continuity error if a.) this wasn’t stranger things and b.) if they didn’t take the time to specifically show us the timestamps of these scenes initally vs the timestamps AFTER, when joyce watches the recording. they didn’t have to show us that. the scene of bob teaching jonathan to zoom in seemingly serves no purpose. unless it’s tied to some sort of time fuckery. but wait. it gets even fucking WEIRDER. because when joyce is watching the footage, we get the front view of it from her pov, right? and it says OCT 31 84 6:11 PM

but when we see it from a side view, it’s hard to see in this screenshot but much easier to see when you’re watching the show in motion, the EXACT same clip swaps to saying “OCT 30 84 6:11 PM”

BUT IT GETS EVEN EVEN FUCKING WEIRDER- because then, the footage in the same shot, goes from bob to the party’s trick or treating night, and it’s a scene from right before they go up to the door and get called exterminators. but this also CLEARLY says oct 30, i know it’s hard to see in that screenshot, but if you watch the footage in motion, it’s absolutely a 0 and not a 1.

THIS is what a 1 or a 31 looks like from this side view- it’s very clearly a 31, unlike the other shots which show 30, so it’s NOT just the perspective warping it, because we DO see a 31 from that angle too. again, it’s a lot clearer watching the show in motion. 

And we also see another discrepancy! This is the footage that will filmed when getting called exterminators, and the date is OCT 31 84 at 7:22 pm 

But then when joyce watches, it’s still OCT 31 84, but it’s 7:45 instead- a 23 minute difference. 

 And the closer we get to will going to the upside-down on halloween, the shorter the differences in time between the that was filmed vs the footage joyce watches become. The oct 30th vs oct 31st fuckery aside because thats a whole other can of worms, the bob scenes, which happen the earliest out of all the scenes i’ve mentioned here, happen at 5:43 when jonathan is filming vs at 6:11 when joyce rewatches, which is a  28 minute time difference. The next scene that happens (not the order that joyce watches them in, but rather, the order that they happened in chronologically during the halloween episode) is the trick or treat exterminator scene, which has a 23 minute difference. And then there’s the mike recording scene, which has an 11 minute difference.  what the FUCK is going on here. and i’m only BARELY scraping the surface of a BUNCH of time references i’ve noticed in s2, all of which i’m compiling rn 

[pastelwitchling]

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, episode 4 thoughts.

It occurs to me that there are some people who don't believe you can love something with all your heart and soul... and still critique it. Yet here I am. I can love the Percy Jackson show and still point out the flaws. So if you can't handle any critique of the show, don't read this, or it's all on you if you get pissed off or frustrated. I'm more than happy to discuss if you disagree with anything I'm about to say, but I will not tolerate hate or insults.

Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the latest Percy Jackson episode:

I think the general consensus (HA!) that I saw on IG was that people felt like the episode was too short, and... yeah, it definitely felt like it ended very quickly, and in the middle of a battle too. I understand not wanting it to be a monster per episode, but we've got 8 episodes in total, and much bigger things are about to happen that I think deserve more than one episode a little more than the chimera, to be honest.

I love how much I loved Annabeth in this episode, she was great. I loved Grover, he was great. Percy was phenomenal as always.

I will say that I definitely feel like I understand the show's formula now. A minute or two of some epic imagery, but not doing much with it because we have to have exposition for about 15 to 20 minutes, another minute or two of trio development and conversation, and then jumping right into the action for the rest of the episode.

Y'all can't hear the way I talk, so I get some of this sounds frustrated, but I'm more... clinical about it. To me, we already have the books and the first two movies (should've been five) that, personally, I feel did some of this epic stuff a little better, and so whatever good the show offers now, to me, is just an extra treat.

I loved the little additions, I loved Athena punishing Annabeth because it shows the gods' cruelty even towards their own kids, I loved Percy switching their places, I loved that confrontation, I loved him getting poisoned, that was cool. (I love Percy, I swear, but that was just really cool 😂)

I think the kids playing these characters are perfect, I think the action sequences are awesome, I think the intensity and lines are amazing, I just feel like the pacing and tone of the show is pretty different from the books. To me, the movies just... offered a little more epic-ness in terms of Percy's powers. Movie Percy, to me, really felt like the son of Poseidon because they let him use his powers, and they gave him a connection to water.

I don't really know how I feel about Percy Jackson... being afraid... of water...

I get the idea, I get that it's supposed to be ironic, I really do, but this isn't a book. We don't hear Percy's inner monologue about his comfort around Montauk and the beach there, and water has barely come into play in this show at all. Like there's a surprising lack of it. I get he's Sally Jackson's son, that's the whole thing, but he's a demigod of water and we've barely seen him have any connection to water. Why? Because most of the episode is taken up with EXPOSITION.

Humor me for a second. How much more impactful do you think it would've been if maybe that flashback scene to him as a kid was maybe instead that he was standing in front of the beach at Montauk? Maybe he was looking over the water, watching the waves. Maybe he felt this silent beckoning, moves closer to the water, and Sally Jackson comes running out, screaming for him to get away from the waves. She snatches him up, warns him never to go into the ocean without her again, that he's too young, he's not ready to set off on his own. She'll be talking about his life as a demigod, but he'll imagine she's talking about him drowning or something without her there to look after him. He tells her to breathe, just like he did in the initial flashback, and they share a hug and we see her true distress at almost losing her son to the life of a demigod too soon where he finds out who he is and has to leave for camp, and then Percy wakes up in the train. Suddenly that memory means something completely different to what he remembered. That way, it not only gives him that connection to Montauk, but it also explains him not really being around water much in the time we've seen him, because then we know as the audience that he's been warned away from the water and the life it'll include if he was to venture too far away into it.

Here's the thing. I saw that Rick Riordan really, really cares about making the truest adaptation he can (that's, like, his entire selling point whenever he talks about the show), which is understandable because it's no secret how much he loathed the movies. We know. If you've ever seen any panel or interview, you know how much Rick hates those films. Again, fair, because they're very different from the books. I love them, I think they're tons of fun, but I'm not the author of this series, you know? I don't care about phenomenal adaptations, I care about fun ones. RWRB is very different from the book, and is certainly not without its flaws, but neither is the book itself. They're still both super fun though, so they're still both my favorite romances.

That said, I think it's important to remember that Rick is a writer, not a filmmaker. What works in a book will not always work in a show or movie. The book is in Percy's perspective, so we get a lot of inner monologue on his feelings, thoughts, interests, and what matters most to him. The show rarely lets him talk except to ask a question or throw out a one-liner (that always lands, by the way, Percy is the absolute heart of this show, and the show really becomes phenomenal and fun when he's allowed to speak), forgetting that while Book Percy asked a lot of questions too, we still got his inner monologue to know more about him and his feelings. I think Walker is perfect in conveying a lot of emotion just in his facial expressions, but I do think the show has to give him more to work with because at this point, he's managing the emotional parts all on his own with not much assistance from the script.

I think Rick was so consumed with doing the things the films didn't do that he dismissed the good things the films did. I will reiterate that this isn't necessarily a bad thing. This show is such a treat, we get so many great moments as well as moments that I think could've been done better. Still, that's the way it goes. So for now, I will just enjoy what we get, pick it apart, because that's what I do, and have fun all the same. It's Percy Jackson! It's impossible not to have fun.

[adammbakri]

H’ai

ABOUT FIVE OR SIX YEARS AGO

I was back home on a family visit. Summers in New York get suffocating, so I got into the habit of spending most of them in Palestine.

One early morning, while I was in a state between sleeping and waking - later I would learn that this phenomena has been scientifically termed “hypnopompic state” - I saw him standing on the edge of my bed: a tiny little boy of 4 or 5 years old, about 10 CM long (a little over 4 inches) with wavy brown curls and big brown eyes! He seemed to be looking at me as if in a state of wonder, and his eyes kept getting larger and larger. Expressionless really, but not unfriendly. The dream must have continued for a few seconds before I woke up with a very agreeable feeling. However, not intrigued enough, I rushed to a lazy conclusion that it was most likely my appreciation for "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry that unconsciously concocted this whole surrealistic vision. So I brushed it off and went about my day.

FAST FORWARD FOUR OR FIVE YEARS (During which I didn’t give the vision any serious thoughts)  

Excerpts from my diary: August, Summer of 2022 The city of Hammamat, Tunisia

Entry 1. 8/1: I arrived at the studio today. There were a group of men standing at the entrance. I didn’t recognize any of them except the line producer whom I recognized from his profile photo on whatsapp. The strangest thing happened! Upon seeing me entering, he said, "here comes the spy". Huh? If that was a joke, it was shockingly bizarre. And if it wasn’t, I am very confused.

I was supposed to have a fitting at 4pm. I waited in a dusty fitting room smelling a mixture of mole and sewage. The fitting ladies have left their lunch boxes uncovered so flies were swarming everywhere. The costume designer didn’t show up. Neither did her associates. I left.

Entry 2. 8/2: I had my first session with the sword trainer this morning. He didn’t speak a word of English or Arabic.  He only spoke Spanish and had a cigarette in his mouth the entire time. The session, according to the training schedule, was supposed to be a full hour solely with me. Instead, we mimed our way through for 15 minutes with the presence of another actor, a young kid of 16 or 17 who kept his sunglasses all the time and barely said hi. I am supposed to start shooting in a week or so.

Entry 3. 8/3: I had a fitting today and I like the costumes. They look good on me. I bumped into the director today. We exchanged hello and I expressed my enthusiasm, an interaction of 7 seconds in total. Weather is unbearably hot.

Entry 4. 8/4: Line producer called me yesterday at 10pm. I was in bed. He mumbled something about the horse trainer sending a report against me, saying I can’t ride a horse! Huh? What horse trainer? I haven’t seen him! He must have mistaken me with someone else. He said no, he sent him my picture! I said I have shot an entire movie for 3 months and a half riding a horse, having had trained intensively for 7 months prior to that. What is he talking about? Line producer kept making this weird sound: ha’m h’am. What the hell was that? Was he actually listening to me? I think he is either clinically retarded or has serious concentration issues. Where am I? Who are these people?

Entry 5. 8/5: Over breakfast, I met one of the actors on the show. He said, "the staff of the hotel love you… those are the people that count - the real people - Don't mind what others say." What others say!!!! What did he mean by that! I wish he didn't say that because now I will be walking and looking behind my back!

Entry 6. 8/6: this production is a disaster. I have to get things done, and do my work to the best of my abilities despite of this chaos.   These are things that are way beyond my control. I am not responsible for teaching people how to follow a protocol. Or how to be decent human beings.

Entry 7. 8/7: We haven't had any rehearsal or meeting with the director yet. They told me he doesn't want to rehearse or meet! How strange! I see him at the gym from time to time. He is on his phone the entire time. We exchange hellos! He actually knows I'm one of the main actors of his show, the one he is supposed to direct, but he doesn't seem very interested in meeting me. What is going on? Who IS this guy?

Entry 8. 8/8: I can’t have this food anymore. I am going to get sick. From now on my dinner will be my lunch.

Entry 9. 8/9: colleagues who were friendly to me are now cold. Barely saying hi. I am so confused.  Why is this happening to me?  What is happening?  I miss Cynthia.  

Entry 10. 8/10: They cancelled my shooting days again. I can't take it anymore.

Entry 11. 8/11: I miss Cynthia so much.  

Entry 12. 8/12: First day of shoot was supposed to happen today. I waited 8 hours on set today at the end of which the 3rd AD came and said I can go home because we are not shooting.

I want to quit this show.

Entry 13. 8/13: At breakfast one of the actors told me the main actor left the show, and they are restarting everything. I am shocked.

I  called my father, told him what happened and said “I want to leave this show” . He said no I should stick around. It’ll be good for my career and I have to do my work professionally.  He seemed preoccupied so I let him go.  My anxiety is sky rocketing.

Entry 14. 8/14: shoot’s been delayed for another 5 days.  It’s been two weeks and I can’t stand it. It is grueling.  But I am here for work and I am a professional actor.  Repeat after me Adam: It’s going to be okay.

Entry 15. 8/15: first shooting day. Director doesn’t show up to set?  How is that possible?  

Entry 16. 8/16: I need to pick up my colors again.  Either that or I seriously get sick here.

AND I DID

I had watched a course on Domestika where the artist suggests the idea of writing down one's needs at the moment in time prior to creating a painting. So I followed his suggestion! The first thought I wrote was “I need a friend”. Then as I began to put my thoughts onto the paper, sketching out each detail and curve, something magical started to happen. The lines and shapes effortlessly took on a life of their own, gradually forming into the image of a little boy. And then, as I looked at the finished drawing, it hit me like a bolt of lightning - this was the same child who had appeared in my dream years ago! He was there all along! He never left my subconscious! All I had to do was bring him to the surface. With every stroke of my pencil, I felt as though I was breathing life into this new friend, watching him come alive on the page before me.  

Upon finishing up the first sketch I caught myself uttering the word “Kh’ai” … it’s a sound that Lebanese people use to express a feeling of relief or release… My wife uses it often. Holding the pen, I looked at the character and said he is H’ai with an H sound, not a KH.

H’ai is an Arabic word which means alive, thriving, breathing or animated.

I did end up leaving the show, or “forced to leave”, but thanks to H’ai, I was able to keep my peace and sanity through that awful time! Creating tens and tens of sketches and drawings that continue to this day! H’ai became not only a friend but a guide, a channel through which I connect to the Source of all things - the omnipresent - from which I draw upon images of beauty and wisdom. Drawing H’ai has become one of my most spiritual practices, akin to a meditation... a sacred ritual, healing, and divine. 

Darkness IS the absence of Light. But the concept of light cannot exist without its opposite. So yes, it goes without saying, I am forever grateful for the darkness that allowed H’ai to be manifested. To emerge as a beacon of Light… 

P.s visit my art page on Instagram: @adammbakriart to meet H’ai (:

Adam

[thestraggletag]

I posted 890 times in 2022

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Blogs I reblogged the most:

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@deliriumsdelight7

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I tagged 518 of my posts in 2022

Only 42% of my posts had no tags

#red carpet - 121 posts

#fashion - 51 posts

#emmys 2022 - 39 posts

#rumbelle - 35 posts

#wc 2022 - 21 posts

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#rumbelle fic - 15 posts

#spoilers - 13 posts

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Longest Tag: 127 characters

#but you bet your ass i wondered around there alone for like ten minutes with only my phone for light screaming here kitty kitty

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

The Changeling, Chapter 1

Rating: M

Summary: Belle and Lacey had always been as different as two twins could possibly be, but always ready to do whatever it took for each other. Which includes Belle putting her life in pause to replace Lacey in hers as she checked herself into rehab to kick a drinking habit that could potentially end her modelling career. All she had to do is attend some fittings, do a couple of photoshoots, avoid if possible the slimey and two-timing Killian Jones and steer clear of Lacey's boss, Mr Gold, and his suspicious nature.

How difficult could it possibly be?

A/N: This is my Rumbelled version of A Change of Place. Fic will have a total of around 6 (or perhaps 7) chapters.

“Lacey, honey! So good to have you back! How was the West Coast?”

Belle blinked, trying not to jump out of her skin when a tall woman dressed in a red maxi dress ran over to her and embraced her. ‘Be Lacey’, she told herself over and over, like she had done often in the past, when they had played at being each other to fool people. 

“I missed you too Ruby.”

It was easy to recognise her from Lacey’s descriptions, even without the bright red streak in her hair. Like her sister had told her she was loud and charming, personality exuding out of her. She could easily picture her and Lacey being best friends, going to parties and turning heads everywhere. She was glad she was on their side and knew of the whole damned mess.

“We have so much to catch on, hon. Let’s go somewhere more private, ok?”

She barely got time to admire the well-preserved Gothic revival details of the main foyer of the House of Gold, a building reminiscent of the Barbizon. Its sheer size and appearance spoke of power and wealth, but also of style and elegance. She wished she had the time to take it all in, wished she was simply visiting her sister at her place of work instead of trying to pass herself off as her. She told herself not to touch her hair, held up by bobby pins, a lot of hair lacquer, and a prayer, and followed her sister’s friend up an elevator.

She was soon whisked away to one of the middle floors, where she could tell most of the clothes were produced. It was all a mess of fabrics, feathers, rhinestones and forms, with people hovering over sewing machines and aligning sequins in different patterns. Ruby walked straight to a corner partially covered by folding screens. Behind was a small couch and a coffee table. It was clearly a well-used hidden little nook, one Lacey had mentioned was in constant use whenever the time came to start fitting the dresses to the models, before they were even finished. Given that the fashion house was meant to be months away from the nearest showing it looked like things were rather advanced, to Belle’s admittedly untrained eye. From what she knew from facetiming Lacey this was supposed to be a rather quiet time, specially for the models. It was the main reason why Lacey had chosen then to go visit her in California and why she had agreed to the switch, really, especially since it was supposed to be for months.

“You’ll hardly have to do any work, I promise! You’ll get to hole up at my fabulous apartment to do your thesis and enjoy a bit of life in the Big Apple! It’ll mostly be like a vacation.”

To Ruby’s credit, she waited till they were sitting down to lose it on her.

“Is Lacey mad? What the hell was she thinking? What the hell were you thinking? From what Lacey told me about you you were supposed to be the responsible twin! The level-headed one! You should’ve said no!”

Belle had thought that, over and over, on her plane ride from California to New York. It was a stupid idea and would never work. But Lacey was her little sister. Younger by minutes but still. Her responsibility, now that both their parents were dead. She owed her this. This chance to turn things around.

“You wanted me to tell Lacey that I wouldn’t help her get into rehab? Help her quit drinking? When I’ve been wanting for years for her to even admit she has a problem?”

She had told herself this too, when Lacey had shown up out of nowhere in the small apartment in Rosindale, near Berkeley. California reminded her a bit of Australia, which was nice, but the real reason why she had chosen to move there after graduating from Columbia was to pursue her PhD in Library Science and train, at the same time, at the North West Document Conservation Centre. She was hoping, after finishing her degree and the courses she was taking, to be able to work for museums or, if she was lucky, in the curatorial department of some major library. Her work at the university library was nice, but antique books were her passion. 

She hadn’t expected Lacey to show up at her home at all, taking into account she was supposed to be on the other side of the country, living the glamorous life of a Manhattan-based model. And though she had at first acted flippant, as if she had simply decided to impulsively visit her sister, she had eventually come clean about things. She had spoken in vague terms, and Belle hadn’t pushed for more, about increasing blackouts, bad decisions and regrets that were beginning to pile up. Then she talked about how when they were younger they used to play-act as each other and see whether they could fool their parents. Belle had read between the lines and told her she was crazy if she thought she was going to try a switch, like they did when they were girls.

“I’m scared, Bluebelle. I’ve never been scared this way before.”

That had decided her, then and there. She would see it through, how difficult could it possibly be? She had told herself over and over as she drove Lacey to a very private rehab centre and later took a flight to New York. She could continue with her thesis long-distance, her advisor preferred they meet virtually anyway. It was doable, and worth it. And it would only be for three months. Lacey needed that opportunity and she owed it to her sister to help her get it. Ruby, on the other hand, seemed to be more pessimistic about the whole thing.

“It’s just a couple of photoshoots and some fittings, right? I can do that.”

“Except that Lacey checked into rehab before I could tell her the house is pushing the fall show forward to avoid the competition getting wind of our designs like it happened in the last two shows. They bumped the date by six weeks, and Lacey’s program does not allow for contact with the outside world except in case of emergencies for the first whole month. So this means you will have to do a lot of the preparatory work and the pre-show, at least till we’re able to contact Lacey and get her to come back. Bosses want to give a sneak-peek to a few select names to further avoid being scooped.”

“A show? What do you mean a show?”

Ruby was looking her up and down, as if he was analysing every detail of her body. Surprisingly it did not feel creepy or objectifying, though it did make her feel anxious. Though Lacey and her were twins, she knew she wasn’t in shape the way Lacey was.

“Your measurements are not exactly Lacey’s. You have a bit more of a waist and thighs, and less breasts. Some padding will take care of the latter, and I suppose I can secretly get Granny to let out some of the clothes, but it won’t be enough. You gotta lose some weight or Joanna, the main fitter, will notice. We gotta get you ready for the pre-show events at least, and then we can adjust the clothes again for Lacey when she comes back. Granny will see to that. And so Lacey will handle the actual show, don’t worry about it. We’ll give her a call as soon as we’re able."

Belle took a few moments to be indignant about the remarks on her body. Sure, she wasn’t as thin as Lacey, and her breasts were more on the modest side, but that was because they were real. Then the reality of her situation sunk in and she began to panic.

“I can’t do this. I can’t do a show, or a pre-show, or whatever the fuck you’re talking about. I was psyching myself up for a fucking photoshoot, but a show? With an audience? No fucking way!”

Ruby seemed to be fully in agreement with her, which was nice. 

“I know! Look, no offence, but fashion shows are gruelling and they’re an art form. Lacey is the face of the collection, so she’ll feature centre stage on that night. It’s more than okay to go get her back. Her career is everything to her. I’m sure she can arrange for a rehab stay later.”

See the full post

45 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

#4

Hey, non-hispanic people, any of you have ever heard the mysterious call of the knife-sharpener? Or is this, somehow, uniquely a legacy of Spanish colonisation?

46 notes - Posted June 9, 2022

#3

You cannot take ONE nap on this website because when you come back everyone is collectively hallucinating a Scorsese film.

47 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

#2

Anyone still working for the UK government?

52 notes - Posted July 6, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Hey guys, I saw this thing on a TV show and got me curious. Americans cut their food and then switch their fork from the left hand to the right to eat it? Is this an actual thing that most Americans do? And what if you are left-handed?

97 notes - Posted March 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[angelsleepinggurl]

𝐒𝟏:𝐄𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐃𝐄 𝟔 | 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓: 𝘕𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘹 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

█ ✪ █▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓█ ✪ █

Today you weren't going to make any mistakes. Absolutely none. That's why you woke up 15 minutes earlier to eliminate the chance of errors. You had spent the night before trying to memorise most of his rough schedule, which was yet you still managed to do it. It was currently 8:00 and you were getting Nanami his breakfast before going to the office.

"Hey can I order a plain black coffee with two sugar packets and a box of custard donuts?" I request, looking for the new card Nanami gave me to pay with for stuff like breakfast or lunch etc.

"Sure thing, anything else you wanna order ma'am.

"Actually can I get another cup if coffee."

"Sure your total is 1819.88 yen, if that's all then please drive through to pay."

Once you arrive at the office you spot the two friendly receptionists, Annalise and Darios giving you a friendly smile. " How's your first day treating you newbie?" Annalise asks, looking up from her computer.

"It's been smooth so far but I mean the day has barely started." I respond.

Darios pinches her arm quite harshly,"Did you hear that idiot, she's basically telling you that you asked her a pointless question."

"That wasn't pointless it was polite something that you wouldn't know about." she retorts, rubbing her pained arm. " Whatever, if you want Y/N you can have lunch with us, only if you aren't overwhelmed in emails and phone calls." she smiles at me.

"Yea you should, it would be fun getting to know you more." Darios pitches in

"Yea thats sounds nice, I hope I can." I respond.

Annalise looks down at the coffee you're holding in your hands, "Now go give that man his coffee whilst it's still warm."

"Okay, bye guys, nice talking to you." I say before walking towards the elevator.

"God, this job is gonna eat her alive." Darios tells Annalise, the both of them still staring at you as you walk away.

"Yea shes like a clueless deer."

"Isn't it deer in headlights."

"Shut up I make more sense."

You finally make your way up to Nanami's office, so you knock on the door and enter after hearing a faint 'Come in.' "Good morning sir, here's your coffee." you greet a smile on your face, only to not be met by a response. Nanami has his back to you, he seemed to be wrapped up in a phone call. Once he's done he turns to face you and gives a small smile.

Oh.

You watch as he grabs a clipboard with a couple of pieces of paper attached to it and hands it to you. "Here's a rough list of tasks for the day, lemme show you to your office." You follow the blonde-haired man to your new office which is just across from his office actually. On the door is a golden plaque that reads 'Personal Assistant' with your name written on a white card. As Nanami opens the door you take a good look inside the room, it's plain. White, Simple, Bland, but it doesn't feel that way. It feels like an amazing monotonous second home and it's just for me. "I've got things to do Y/N so make sure complete the list so you can leave today." Nanami informs but you don't give him half of your attention as you're so entranced with the view of the window wall at the back of the office. The view of the city stretching out, everyone's busy lives outside as you spectate from your quiet, white bubble.

"Time to get to work."

After a couple of minutes maybe hours, you find yourself still not even halfway through the list. It wasn't your fault the system was so confusing. An exasperated sigh escapes your lips as you hold your throbbing head in your hands. It doesn't help that the room is deadly silent. When you were mere seconds from smashing the window wall behind you and jumping out, you heard the sound of an incoming Facetime call, you looked up to see it was from Naaila.

"Hey gurl! How's the new job going." Naaila greets enthusiastically, her face purposefully too close to the camera but you didn't even crack out a smile or a response as you had gone back to carefully inputting numbers into the system without accidentally deleting all of your progress.

 "Hellooo." Naaila calls out looking at the camera confused."Y/N."

At the sound of hearing your name, you jump slightly and force your eyes away from the screen. "Sorry it's just....it's just..."

"Damn this job hit you hard huh. Y/N FOCUS. You need to take a break." Naaila states intensely staring at herself.

"I can't I have to.... I have to...." you could even give your best friend a minute of your attention because of how determined you were to finish all of your tasks.

"Have you even had lunch yet?" your best friend asks with a concerned tone. "You know what I don't wanna hear it I'm gonna come over there and get you and scream at your boss for neglecting your human rights."

"Naaila-"

Just then Nanami opens your office door, so much for knocking. Due to your brain literally going overtime, you only end up staring at the man, with no thoughts in your head. "Y/N I'm having a lunch meeting in 10 minutes I need you to come with me I'll buy you lunch." Those words seemed to have sparked your brain again, you physically sat up at the sound of getting a permissible break.

It takes a while for you to even register a response, "Oh yea okay sure." you reply. Nanami nods and closes the door behind him as he walks out. At that sound, Naaila over the other end of the FaceTime call starts snickering.

"Y/N, he's totally hot I don't know how that wasn't the first thing you picked up on when you met him. And his voice is all like attractive." Naaila's goofiness puts a smile on your face.

"Ok Nana gotta go." You say, hurriedly stuffing items into your bag.

"You go get your sexy ass boss girl."

"Oh shut up." you reply, playfully rolling your eyes at her before hanging up.

𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫…

[feuqueerfire]

Our Dating Sim

Okay, I've got to actually watch this, it's like barely 2 hours long total and is fairly light-hearted, so this can't become like the few 12/16 ep shows I'd tried to watch since August and then given up on just a couple minutes in.

Episode 1 (Oct 19)

lol so this is how people feel when their job shows up in a show. why was this guy concentrating so hard on writing 5 words of comments on the code related to very self-explanatory function names lol

job interviews, worst nightmare for ever (but also… i wish i was getting some lol i want a job). At least the CEO is friendly

Gi Tae’s (Eddy) psychological warfare please he’s putting Lee Wan through it

Episode 2 (Oct 19)

ah sad, the confessing and running away

the Gameboy nickname misunderstanding is awkward to me

Gi Tae being Gameboy, that's expected but I wonder for how long he's known it's Lee Wan?

Episode 3 (Oct 19)

Actually crying for Wan, man’s just got here on his first day and has work piled on him and Gi Tae also putting him through it. Meanwhile, Gi Tae seems like he’s having fun lol

Also Jamie mentioning Wan’s unrequited love twice lol

Ah, Gi Tae recommending Wan isn’t a surprise but him insisting and arguing on behalf of him kind of is

[Linguistics] Wan's unexpected boldness and confronting Gi Tae, going down to informal + 너

Not to mention all this being on a ROOF again - the original confession place

And Gi Tae's boldness back as he basically says the reason he's been looking at Wan's webtoons as Gameboy is because he's got a crush on him woah

Episode 4 (Oct 19)

The CEO is so funny for no reason, like he keeps trying to make Wan comfortable and also apparently needs to be told by Gi Tae to do his work. + him and the other workers spying on Gi Tae and Wan trying to guess whether they're fighting or not lol

Does it say that Gi Tae's been blocked on Wan's webtoon? didn't sub it

ah, the restaurant scene - funny how in Gi Tae's attempts to fluster Wan, he played himself too

pls not Wan saying he's betting on Sunny but helping out Gi Tae during the game, ah and gaining a barrage of skinship from Gi Tae for it

The film camera thing is so good, like Wan's anguish that he's making clear but Gi Tae's anguish that he hides first by being playful and fucking around with Wan but then breaking down

Gi Tae confession, nice - and at the school too, even if not on the roof

This is quite well paced, we're 4 episodes into this 8 15-minute episode drama.

I usually get annoyed by work-place or similar setting shows where one person holds all the cards while the other is kind of at their mercy but I haven't been bothered by it here much at all, actually. I think it has to do with the fact that they know each other from before so it's more even footing than if a stranger started harassing you, Wan also left/abandoned Gi Tae first so I can understand why he's being antagonistic, Wan also doesn't bend to Gi Tae's will even though Gi Tae's playing with him so much.

The way I didn't even know they had little post-credit scenes of them in high school dating sim-style until I saw someone mention it in a post

Also, Wan kind of reminds me of Pawin from GMMTV.

Episode 5 (Oct 20)

broo is Gi Tae just gonna have to repeat "I like you" in 10 different times and Wan avoiding it each time?

ah, kiss. cute but since they're drunk i hope it's not gonna be like "oh i was drunk" "oh i don't rmr"

This was an okay ep but didn't quite follow up with the emotionally charged scenes of last ep

Episode 6 (Oct 20)

Well at least they both remember but "you can try having a crush on me a little longer" is crazy lmao Wan

Ahhh I fucking love when characters do random roleplays like this "unrequited love" way of asking out on a date, so cute

Agh, this park date of them just walking around and playing hard to get and being cute T.T

ohh I saw this scene of Gi Tae getting mad at Wan's blind date setup, I didn't realize the two had started dating by this time lol

I like that Gi Tae is simultaneously straightforward and insistent but also listens well to Wan. One of my fave episode types where the characters are just playful and cute and know they like each other (a la Ep 7 in Bad Buddy), a happy time to show them just being cute and affectionate before real angst/conflict starts again

Episode 7 (Oct 20)

Wan leaving without a trace actually traumatized Gi Tae for real, from the way he's searched for him everywhere, the way his friends talk about it, even his reasoning for the plants being that they take root and don't go anywhere

woah tense breakfast convo fr

ah, Gi Tae breaking down

Episode 8 (Oct 20)

Ah, Wan getting a teeny bit of his own medicine with Gi Tae's short disappearance

pls this PD is scarred from these rookie artists turning down the opportunity while thinking of "the reason they started drawing" lol

Also usually I'm like hmmm turning down an opportunity for a relationship that's just starting out is questionable but I think it does work out better for these people in this specific circumstance

I just realized in this 1 Year Later part that Gi Tae reminds me of Shinee Key

Ah, good ending

Overall Thoughts:

The pacing of this was so good, they managed to give everything needed and timed it well within 2 hours. Well written, well acted, well planned, well shot, woah, nice. I liked and understood the main characters and even the side characters had distinct personalities despite not being fully fledged. I loved how Gi Tae and Wan were so playful with each other, whether it be with the teasing they did and playing hard to get but also the easy affection they often had whether it be kisses, pecks, tickles, hugs, hand holding, just regular romantic touching - a good balance between being strangely chaste and very raunchy. Was cute but I won't think about them again, probably.

Also, one of the characters reminds me of Lee Yedam (Boys Planet, One Pact)

Rating: 6.5/10

[eristic-kaleidoscope]

Loss of Life’s Passion - Ch3 Motive Reveal 5 (post 1/2)

8 PM, once again the PA system rang. It was the third night of motive, and judging from the ding of the intercom, everyone was still alive. As this dragged on, the more exhausting it had become. Even if this and the last round had been mildly easier than the face-off of the sisters round, but certainly the easier streak couldn’t hold up for long, right?

“BAD EVENING!! Everybody get up and get over here! Clap clap clap!” She stated this verbally rather than actually clapping. “We have an appointment in the flower garden I’m sure you’ll just looooove~ 15 minutes, make it snappy!”

And suddenly, it was 8:01 PM. Another 8 has come and gone. Those who hadn’t already gathered to the flower garden in preparation for this made their way to the area for the summons, all 13 present and accounted for. Everyone gathered into their usually cliques, awaiting the news from the scientist standing at the front and the little bot doing its best to keep things in order.

“Greeeeat! We’re all here. It’s getting a little boooring now, though, isn’t it? Since no one’s gone yet, I decided to shake some stuff up for the next round, maybe make it a little spicier. But BEFORE THAT!! I’ve got a little vote tally for y’all!! Come take a look!”

An tapped a button on her tablet as the screen shifted from the usual thirteen feeds to a count of the next set of votes.

Ex-partner - 20 Mentor - 16 Default - 1

An snickered softly, apparently some kind of amused at the results.

“It’s amazing how much power buying extra votes can do, huh? Though now it’s going to be harder for you to buy more in future rounds. There’s only so many extra VR runs you can buy til you’re flat broke!!”

An tapped the tablet again.

Ex-partner - 21 Mentor - 16

She clicked her tongue and shook her head.

“Not that it actually would have made a difference here, but defaulting is quite the risk compared to what the actual public opinion was, huh? Well! I think that’s enough information so I’m moving onto the next stuff!! You know what I mean. The punishment, of course!”

An giggled, once again transitioning the screen.

The feed starts blurry, but refocuses itself automatically after a moment. On the screen, a slender blonde man with short, wavy hair stands before a tall but empty set of shelves, cradling an object in his hands. The focus sharpens a little more, revealing the item he's holding to be an antique camera. After fondly gazing at it for a moment, the man kneels to place it in a box near his feet, gently nestling it among what looks like scrap newspaper for a bit of cushioning. Satisfied, he then stands, and exits the room by a door on the edge of the camera's view, box in hand.

The feed cuts to an interior shot of a car, taken from the dashboard looking backwards. It's dark outside, but through the back window, the blonde man can be seen placing the box he just packed into the trunk of the car. There are a few other boxes in the backseat, and from this angle it's just barely possible to make out several more in the trunk. Carefully, so as to avoid damaging the cameras within, the man shuts the trunk and walks out of view. He appears again a moment later, climbing into the driver's seat.

The video dissolves into static briefly, and when it returns, the car is in motion, driving down the street in the dark. The driver's phone sounds, the distinctive noise of a ridesharing app notifying him of a potential passenger. He glances down at his phone to dismiss the notification, and during that brief lapse of attention, something violently strikes the back of his car from the side. The car's interior is thrown into turmoil, boxes flying, as the vehicle rolls over and over, and eventually the feed cuts out entirely.

After a brief moment, a new camera angle replaces it, showing the completely totaled car from above. It's practically bent in half. The trunk was jarred open by the impact, and a magnificent trail of shattered cameras and scattered newspaper covers the road behind the car. In the middle of the wreckage, the blonde man kneels, head in his hands.

[teaandfiction-28]

I'm so excited for this, honestly want to choose all of them but for now, could you please write something with Smut 8?

Can't wait to read it 💙💙

Knew I could count on you for the smut @acdassenza - a girl after my own heart!! 💛 Really hope you enjoy.

—————————

Prompt: “Why don’t you put that mouth to better use?”

Word Count: 1.3k

Warnings: Plenty of smut, very brief mention of attempted rape [18+ only].

Timeline: For those of you following the stories, this one shot is set between Chapters 14 and 15 of Perfect Storm. For those who haven’t read the books yet (I totally recommend you do!), for a bit of context, Hank and Kate are together but they are yet to tell the rest of the unit.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” 

Hank simply lifted both eyebrows, his tongue tracing along his teeth just as it always did when he was making an effort to reign in his infamous temper. He could feel both Antonio and Alvin’s eyes boring holes into the side of his head and he knew that both of them were silently wondering how he was going to handle such a blatant show of disrespect. 

“You’re just going to let that prick walk?” She seethed, her bright hazel eyes alight with a fiery rage as she stared him down, the air between them crackling with tension. 

She knew just as well as he did that, in this job, sometimes you had to do things you didn’t want to do. And, unfortunately, this was one of those times. The order to release the perverted scumbag currently in their custody had come from the very top, all because his father was wealthy and was fortunate enough the have both the Mayor and the Chief of Police on speed dial. It wasn’t like he relished the idea of letting an attempted rapist skate away without a care in the world but his hands were tied. 

He held her gaze for a few more beats before turning towards Alvin and Antonio.

“You give us a minute?” 

His tone was low with a lethal lilt that rooted Antonio to the spot for a few moments longer than he should have but he eventually succumbed to Alvin’s not-so-gentle prodding and reluctantly left Hank’s office, casting a concerned glance at Kate over his shoulder as he passed. She was still breathing heavy with barely suppressed anger when she heard the door close behind her with a quiet click, indicating that they were now very much alone. 

Hank turned his eyes back to her face but, instead of his usually warm russet orbs, they were a deep shade of umber, making it almost impossible to differentiate the pupil from the iris. 

That was the very second Kate knew she’d fucked up. Royally. 

They’d been sleeping together for a few months and, aside from the gigantic cock-up with Kevin and his CI, they been very much on the same page...until now. 

“You think it’s okay to talk to me like that in front of my subordinates?” He said quietly, the muscle in his jaw beginning to twitch with barely suppressed anger.

“I-”

She had barely opened her mouth to respond when he slammed a fist onto his desk, hard enough to topple both his nameplate and the single picture frame and the sudden movement succeeded in startling Kate into silence. 

“If the next words out of your mouth are anything but ‘no Sarg’, we’re gonna have a real problem.”

The only silver lining was that it had been Alvin and Antonio bearing witness to the verbal assault she had aimed his way. If she had pulled that stunt in front of any of the others, he wouldn’t have had a choice but to give her yet another written warning which would have resulted in formal disciplinary action. Action that could potentially see her removed from the unit and, as far as he was concerned, that wasn’t a viable option. Not only did it give him peace of mind to have her close, she was a first-class detective and there was no way he was going to give her up to Vice or the Gang Unit without a fight. 

“You know...” He muttered, slowly pushing to his feet and rounding his desk. “...one of these days your smart mouth is going to get you into hot water, you know that?” 

The sound of the lock sliding into place had Kate swallowing thickly, her eyes trained on the blinds behind his desk. She didn’t need to turn around to know that he was slowly advancing on her like a predator stalking its prey. His scent invaded her senses long before his lips touched the base of her neck, the familiar earthy aroma mixed with a hint of citrus and leather that she had come to associate with him permeating the air around her. 

Nuzzling his face into the soft patch of skin behind her ear, he grasped her by the waist and spun her to face him, instantly seizing her lips with his in a hard, savage kiss. Two sets of hands moved at a frenetic pace, touching, grabbing and pulling at whatever they could reach in an effort to draw the other closer. 

Not one to be outdone by his aggressive ministrations, Kate sucked his lower lip into her mouth, laving it with her tongue before biting down sharply; not hard enough to draw blood but certainly hard enough to leave the abused flesh swollen and tender. Gripping the fabric of his navy button-up in both fists, Kate pushed him around his desk until she was able to shove him back down into his chair and drop to her knees before him. 

“This what you want Sarg?” She murmured, glancing up at him through thick lashes as she ran her palms over his denim-clad thighs. “You want me to obey you, is that it?”

His response died on his tongue when she swiftly unbuckled his belt and, with deft fingers, popped the button on his jeans and tugged the zipper down, immediately dipping a hand into his boxers to draw out his rock hard length. 

“Here’s an idea.” He growled, fisting her wavy locks into a makeshift ponytail. “Why don’t you put that mouth to better use, hmm?”

All of her previous anger seemed to dissipate when she peered up the length of his body to find the man she had taken to her bed almost every night for the past few months staring intently back at her, emerging from behind the tough exterior that he presented to the rest of the world. 

“Who knew you were full of such good ideas?” She muttered with a saucy wink, grasping his length in her soft palm and, with perfectly pursed lips, she blew a stream of cool air over the tip of his cock, barely containing her smug grin when his hips instinctively jerked towards her in search of sweet friction. 

Hank’s eyes almost disappeared into the back of his head when she took the wide crest of him into the molten cavern of her mouth, her tongue tracking over each of the prominent veins in turn. She bought him to the edge embarrassingly quickly and, as he began to throb and pulse in her mouth, she fluttered her tongue just beneath the swollen tip and he spilled himself into her mouth with a quiet grunt of satisfaction, his hips arching into small, jerky thrusts until she had swallowed everything he had to offer. 

She eventually drew his slowly-softening length from her mouth, her tongue swiping over her lower lip as she tucked him back into his jeans with a surprising amount of gentleness given how their encounter had started. He reached out and helped her to her feet, tugging her down for a long, passionate kiss, suddenly entirely unwilling to let her go. 

“We’ll talk about this again later.” He said quietly, brushing a stray curl away from her face tenderly when they eventually parted. 

“Yes sir.” 

With a final peck to his lips, she slowly moved towards the door, waiting until  Hank was done righting his clothing before she slipped back the lock and moved into the bullpen. All conversations stopped mid-flow and six pairs of eyes darted between her and Hank who was hovering in the doorway, his stern expression a million miles from the look of pure ecstasy he had worn not minutes earlier.

"Everybody back to work. I want all of your reports on my desk before you leave.” 

Just as he was about the close the door, he caught Alvin’s quirked eyebrow from across the room and, as he took a large bite of his half-eaten banana with a wry grin, Hank had a sinking feeling that his best friend knew exactly what he had been up to behind closed doors. 

[pensbridgrton]

give me your thoughts on pen and colin writing to each other xoxo

thank you i appreciate you.

LISTEN I'M ECSTATIC both of them being writers is one of my many things I adored about their book, so getting to see them becoming closer through it??? OVER THE MOON. I love how Nicola described it too - how Pen isn't as shy in her writing, she can be more of herself, so in turn by writing to Colin, he actually comes to know her better than anyone else. This is perfect? And it resonates with me because one of the reasons why RMB works so well is that Colin doesn't notice Penelope - until she DECIDES she wants to be noticed. It's not coincidence that Penelope becomes more of herself as PENELOPE once she lets go of Lady Whistledown, and I feel like this is more crumbs for the show going in the same direction and I love that. (Lady Whistledown is her as a young adult, but being Penelope as herself without that crutch is when she's actually a woman and not a girl anymore.)

Also? An actual friends to lovers slowburn? With tiny crumbs? (Because let's be real all of this is going to amount of 10 minutes total screen-time in the whole 8 hours and it's going to be delightful.) I absolutely see Colin having a realization at the end of S2 that he likes Penelope a little more than he thought and in S3 starts pushing her away because he's putting marriage and love on the back-burner and Penelope deserves better. But also I'm absolutely ready to see Colin flirting with men and women and pretending to be over the whole love thing but really still being a romantic who wants to see his siblings happy (yeah I'm being a clown holding onto matchmaking Colin but it's literally the only hill I'll die on.)

Anyway I love winning in this way, it's what I deserve after 15 years in fandom always losing and having to make shit up from SCRAPS. I've built ships with my bare hands and it's nice to have a canon one for once lol.

[strongermonster]

my moron boss who’s big into micro-managing and “we have to follow the exact letter of the rules!!!!111″ type idiot just wasted a huge amount of money on a new timecard system at work that we absolutely did not need, bc she had these notions of “””time theft””” and whatever, i don’t really know or care. (also it’s close to the end of the year so let’s blow thru the budget on crap no one wants or needs instead of the backlog of Actual Helpful Things).

but it’s backfiring gloriously on her bc the new system is a nightmare than requires CONSTANT babysitting on her end, and she’s not smart enough to understand the program, or ask for help.

most of the employees work in the back and start at 6:30am. if you swipe in during the 3 minutes BEFORE this time, you’re green. if you swipe in at say, 6:25am, or 6:31am, it’s red and requires a supervisors attention on the back-end. it also counts you as red if you swipe in on time at 6:30am. (...)

all of the front end people like the cashiers have odd start times like 11am, 1:30pm, and are universally in the red. doesn’t matter when their shift starts or ends, what time they swiped in, if they were called and asked to start early, or even if they show up at all! according to The Machine, they are late. every single person who does not swipe in at 6:27, 6:28, or 6:29am needs a manual validation in the system in order to not be red. there are about 90 employees total, and about 50 on an average day. that is a lot of red to have to manually correct. (there’s probably a way to fix this or expand the threshold for what counts as red, or shut it off entirely, but my boss is too stupid to figure it out) this whole fucking thing came up bc of a complete non-issue, which is that our locker room is very small, and the capacity of it for covid distancing rules is THREE people at a time. there are about 35 that start at 6:30am. so most mornings, no matter what time you show up, you’re stuck waiting in line just to put your shit away and get ready for work, and it’s only getting worse bc the weather is getting colder, so now there’s jackets and boots and things that need to get taken off and put away before the next person can enter.

it doesn’t even matter if you show up at 6am to try and squeak in early, bc the manager who opens the doors can barely show up 15 mins before 630 on most days, so if you’re the last bunch in, it’s still 630-635 before you can swipe in.

the health and safety group did a poll and everyone from the morning group agreed that they would be fine with increasing the locker room capacity to 5 or even 7. everyone who shows up at that time except for 2 insane supervisors (including the one who bought the new system) are vaccinated, so we agreed we were okay with it as a good solution. but ofc “that’s breaking the rules!!” so it got shot down. (we also tried to say that we should just across the board count everyone who shows up for their shift as started at 630. don’t bother swiping in; if you showed up, for fairness’ sake, 630 for everyone. that ofc did not go over well)

also, since people are routinely swiping in around 5 minutes late every day (through no fault of their own) a bunch are staying 5 minutes late to make up. 5 minutes doesn’t sound like much, but 2 years of ‘just 5 minutes’ really adds up to a lot of money lost.  The Machine also counts this as red, because you’ve gone over your scheduled end time, even if you’re still at exactly your 8 hours.

while i’m positive there’s an easy fix for all of this, it does NOT affect wages in any way and i’m still getting paid by the minute, even if those minutes are red, so i will not be volunteering to help in any way, and instead will enjoy the next little while of swiping in at 631 and out at whatever time guarantees that i’m red, just to cause problems and inconveniences (: 

[usmsgutterson]

Yellow- Pin Hawthorne

OKAY, YES-- I’ve wanted to write for Pin Hawthorne since having finished the show, and I’ve decided to do it, because I simply can’t resist and Pin is my favorite moody horseboi, plus, this blurb (imagine? I don’t know how long it’s gonna go yet!) is entirely inspired by the songs Yellow and Sparks by Coldplay, because the show is modern and the songs were released W A Y before the years that show is set in, so yay! 

Pins aged up in this, as well. In the show he’s around 16-17? In this, he and the reader are both 20!

I might have Pins characterization a little off because I’ve only watched the show once (I’m gonna rewatch it before I do a shadow and bone rewatch,, moody pin is just a bit too endearing) but other than that, lets do it!

The reader is American for this, and I did mostly keep it gender neutral, aside from an outfit description! Even then, though, I did try to keep it androgynous

Fic type- fluff

Warnings-none

It took a ton of convincing on Pins part to get his dad to let him use the castle for something that, to anyone else, might’ve seemed small. He’d known it might’ve, and started the process a good month before the event was even to happen. A decision that he’d made that wound up working in his favor. 

“You really love them, don’t you?” His father asked, pressing the keys into his palm as Pin gave a nod. “Even with all the stupid nicknames?” Pin grimaced, but nodded again. 

“Even the stupid nicknames, Dad,” he assured. “All of them.” His father broke out into a smile, pulling Pin in for a hug as he tucked the key away into his jacket pocket.

“Well then, happy anniversary,” his father mumbled. “Five years? Gotta admit, I had faith, but I didn’t think you’d make it this far. Not with someone like them.”

“I know,” Pin retorted. “I’m pretty lucky.” Pin knew that ‘pretty lucky’ might as well have been understatement of the year, but went along with it anyway, pulling away from his father and slowly approaching Elvis, patting his side a few times before climbing onto the saddle and riding down to the castle that he, as the duke, could technically call home. 

The castle was big and at times, tough to get around, but he made his way just fine, letting Elvis move at a slow gallop rather than a run, figuring that he had the time, considering you’d agreed to meet at 8 and it was barely 7:15.

When he arrived, he put Elvis away safely, and made his way through the entrance and up to the outdoor balcony, which had a view outlooking the expansive land on which the castle was built, and the trees that went around the outerrim of the space.

He grabbed his bag off the chair on which he’d had his butler leave it the day previous, almost grinning to himself as he sat at the glass table, rummaging through the bag for everything that he’d put in it.

A bottle of wine, because why not, several sweets, a ton of the polaroids you’d taken in the seven years you’d known each other, some fairy lights that he’d hang up so that you weren’t totally and completely in the dark, and a bluetooth speaker that Becky had gotten him that Christmas; one that he’d still not bothered to use, despite the fact that it was almost June. 

“Can I get you anything sir?” Arthur poked his head through the balcony door way, and Pin found himself startled. 

“Uh, yes please. Wine glasses,” Arthur gave a single, solitary nod.

“The dinner that you requested will be here by the time you requested for it,” he responded. “Though, are you really sure fast food is what you want? It doesn’t seem right to celebrate an anniversary with fast food.” Pin forced his gaze to his lap so that Arthur wouldn’t glimpse his smile. 

You’d come from America, just like Zoe had, but you’d moved with your family to the island when you were eleven. You’d met Pin when you were thirteen. 

One summer, Pins father was insistent that he get away from the stables, spend some time somewhere he’d not gone before, travel a little, and your family had agreed to let him spend the eight weeks of summer with you in the united states. 

You’d had your first date in a McDonalds that same summer, when you and Pin were fifteen. He’d felt weirded out, at first. The fact that he’d never eaten from a McDonalds, despite there having been a couple on the island, almost made him confused. You’d gotten chicken nuggets to split and a couple of the pastries to count as a desert of sorts, and thus sparked the relationship.

“No reason,” Pin murmured. “It’s quick. It’s easy, and the last meal that they ate was lunch.” Arthur gave another nod, and Pin began fiddling with the speaker as he heard Arthurs footsteps grow farther and farther away. 

It was a speaker that was almost the size of his hand and designed to look like a vintage radio. Forest green was the color, and the dial on the right side would control volume. The three buttons below the dial were the power button, the on/off button, and the skip button. Pin turned it on, checking the sound quality by playing two MCR songs, silently bopping his head as Arthur returned, the supplies that Pin had asked Arthur to gather in a bag perched neatly on his arm.

Arthur placed the bag on the table wordlessly, leaving Pin to do his thing as he stopped using the speaker,  deciding that the sounds of nature; the river, the rustling of trees and the beautiful view of the sky as the sun grew closer and closer to setting was much better company than Gerard Way scream-singing his lungs out. 

He’d spent the remainder of the time he had working on your gift. At the end of it, he felt proud of himself, even despite how dumb he’d thought the idea was at first.

It was all of his favorite photos of you--polaroids he’d taken via polaroid camera and polaroids that became polaroids when he’d used a polaroid printer alike-- neatly put into a big picture frame, plus a couple of his sweaters that you liked to steal, some of your favorite sweets, and a journal he knew you’d been eyeing at one of the shops. 

Arthur put the McDonalds onto the table in the last ten minutes before eight, putting the wine glasses beside the bag. “I’ll send them here when they’ve arrived,” he murmured, shooting Pin a smile as he turned and walked away. 

Sure enough, ten minutes later, Pin had the dinner mostly set up, the chicken nuggets at the center of the table, fries on either side, wine glasses filled the appropriate amount. 

“You’re lucky I love you, Hawthorne,” Pin was almost breathless as he glanced over to you, putting the bag that he’d put your gift in on the ground to his right. “If you were anyone else, I’d not have waited so long to eat dinner.” You’d worn a simple pair of black jeans, with a black turtleneck and a dark gray blazer overtop. You styled your hair like you always did, and your smile was bright, eyes warm as you looked at him.

“McDonalds and wine,” you sat, putting the gift you’d gotten Pin on the ground to your left, reaching across the table and taking his hand in yours. “The perfect way to a persons heart.”

“Do you like it?” He asked, gesturing to the fairy lights Arthur must’ve put up while he was busy in the world of gift making. They weren’t lit yet, as the sun had barely begun to dip over the horizon, but he’d light them once it grew darker. You nodded.

“It’s absolutely lovely,” you responded. “I didn’t think you’d put this much effort in, to be totally honest.” You were poking at him, pricking gently at his work ethic in the hopes of getting a kiss across the table. 

“I’d have been fine just cuddling the day away,” you admitted. “And I know you would’ve, but thank you. For everything.” He smiled, feeling grateful for Zoe’s suggestion that he use the castles balcony to his advantage when he’d brought his plans up to her and Marcus. 

“You’re welcome,” he responded. 

After that, you lapsed into a comfortable silence, making occasional conversation as you ate and drank. You let Pin ramble about the sick horses at Bright Fields and made a mental note to visit the hospital part of the stables, see how they were doing and make sure they knew that they were loved. As you cleaned up, putting your garbage back into the McDonalds bag, you gave Pin updates on some of the horses around the stables and the wild horses that you and Jade had been tracking. 

“There’s a foal, too!” Pin loved seeing you get so excited, and that was no exception. “I know that we shouldn’t name the wild horses, but I couldn’t help myself, so I named the horse November.”

“Why November?”

“The foals coat is white. Snow is white, and snow happens in November. It just seemed fitting!” You grabbed the bag, going inside only briefly to put it into the nearest trash bin before walking back out and sitting back down. 

Pin grabbed the bag with your gift in it at the same time you grabbed the bag with his. He slid yours to you with a bright smile, and you slid his to him with the same.

You opened yours first. “Your hoodies!” You yelled out, smile turning into a full on beam, “Pin, you know that we’re moving in together in the fall, right? You’re just gonna get these back!” Pin shrugged.

“You get them until the fall, I’ll wash them, wear them a couple of times, and then they’re yours again. I get to see you in my clothes and you get to be warm and comfortable constantly! I call it a win-win situation!” 

“Can’t disagree with that!” You put the sweaters back in the bag, grabbing the photo frame next. 

You sighed, feeling your legs turn to jello as your heart melted. You looked up at him, feeling tears well up in your eyes as you did. “Five years of polaroids,” you whispered. “And you’re giving them back to me?” Pin just shrugged, feeling tempted to round the table, crouch next to you and kiss you senseless, but he resisted. 

“I took photos of them,” he responded, pulling his phone out of his pants pocket and waving it around. “I can always get more copies from the polaroid printer.” You laughed lightly.

“Thank you, Pin, so much.” You’d never stop saying it. You had so much to thank him for. Every smile, every laugh, every dinner date, every ride out into the countryside and every kiss. 

“You don’t need to thank me, love,” he responded. “Theres one more thing in there for you.” He gestured to the bag as you put the photo frame back into it, pulling out the journal you’d been eying a moment later. 

“No fucking way!” You cursed, turning it over in your hands. Pin leaned back into his chair, shrugging while he nodded. 

It was a simple journal: a brown leather bound thing that was the same color as Elvis’s fur, but it had pages that were suitable for practically anything.

“I know you’ve wanted it for a while, and, well, I figured you could use it for just about anything. Sketches, diary entries, even putting bank statements in the thing would make a good use for it,” You slightly stood, planting a kiss to his nose across the table. 

You put the journal back into the bag and gestured to the bag he’d put in his lap. “It’s your turn, duke.”

“Don’t call me that,” he whispered. He narrowed his eyes at you, but the smirk that followed after told you he’d not been serious. 

The first thing he’d pulled out was a scrapbook of the years that you’d spent together. From photos like the victory one that Ted had taken after you’d completed riding lessons, Pin doing a thumbs up on the right side of your horse while you sat on it still, throwing a peace sign and smiling, to random photos you’d taken together. 

Blurry ones that’d been taken with the timer feature. You flipping off the camera while Pin flopped back onto his bed. One from when you were both sixteen, in the middle of turning around, his arms snaked around your waist and yours resting on his shoulders as you kissed, the screen blurred but not so blurred that you couldn’t tell what was happening. 

A couple that Zoe, Jade, Becky and Marcus had taken. You, exhausted, with your head in Pins lap as he fiddled with a camera, curled up and almost hidden from sight in the haybales. You and Pin at the pony prom, slow dancing, looking at each other with nothing but love in your eyes. A shot taken as you and Pin left the stables, backs to the camera, hands interlocked. A photo of you and Pin in the haybales again, you with your head on his chest, his arm around your shoulders, hay in your hair. A laptop sat discarded beside Pins sleeping body, playing old episodes of Criminal Minds. Both of you had sleepy smiles on your faces. 

Pin laughed as he saw more than one picture of you two asleep in the haybales, some taken by Jade, most taken by Zoe, though there were a few shots that’d been taken by his father. 

“I love this,” he glanced up at you, then to the speaker that sat on the edge of the table. “I love you, Y/N.”

“I love you too, horse-boy!” He snorted, putting the scrapbook on the table and grabbing the next thing in the bag.

It was a sweater; one that he’d not seen since before his eighteenth birthday. “Thief,” he murmured, folding the sweater and putting it atop the scrapbook. 

“You’re my favorite person,” was your lovestruck retort. He blushed as he grabbed the last thing in the bag.

It was a camera; a polaroid to replace the one that’d been broken in the months before, and it was vintage. 

“You didn’t,” he looks up at you, face showing disbelief as clearly as his voice did. In response, you just shrugged.

“We’ve taken a lot of photos, and you loved the polaroid camera. I used a connection or two that I have and I grabbed it for you.”

“How much was it?” He asked. “We had a limit! No more than fifty pounds!” 

“It was forty nine pounds, and the taming of a wild horse found just outside the coast of Maine. She comes in a couple of days, by the way.” Pin put the things back in the bag and stood, grabbing the speaker and turning it on, connecting his phone to it a minute later.

“You love chaos,” he teased. “But I love you, so I love it by association.” He held his hand out to you, and you took it, giggling as he pulled you in close, bringing you into a passionate kiss that lingered on your lips even after it’d ended. 

He paused only to have Yellow by Coldplay stream through the speaker, putting his phone on the table next to it.

“May I have this dance?” He asked, emphasizing more on his accent in a silly way to get you to laugh. It worked, to his delight, as you nodded, cheeks flushing bright red.

“You may have every dance, if you so wish it,” he felt his cheeks heat up as he pulled you closer, pressing a kiss to your forehead and gently swaying with you as your arms moved to rest at his shoulders and his moved to your waist, wrapping around it, his hands meeting and folding at the small of your back. ‘

He’d found a way to loop the song so that it played a couple of times back to back, but you didn’t mind. You had Pin. You had Pin and his sarcasm, his smiles, his voice, still drenched with sleep in the mornings and his peaceful face while he slept. You had tea in the mornings, quiet afternoons spent riding or in helping horses, and evenings laughing with your friends, Pin at your side. 

You’d known Pin for seven years, and you’d been dating him for five. He was like the lgiht at the end of a very long, very dark tunnel, and he embraced you tightly as you finally escaped it. 

“What makes you happy?” he asked you absentmindedly, just to get to hear the melodic sound of your voice again. You laughed, meeting his gaze with a smile. 

“You, Pin,” you responded. “You make me happy.” He stared at you for a long moment, wishing that he had what he’d kept in his sock drawer since Christmas. 

“What makes you happy?” You repeated.

“You, Y/N. Always you,” you leaned up, pressing your lips to his without so much as thinking twice.

The kiss was messy, and you stumbled backward a little, but you giggled as you did. When you pulled away, you were delighted to find that Pins cheeks were burning as bright as yours, the same red that coated some parts the sky as the sun dipped down the horizon. 

“You’re the love of my life,” Pin was almost in awe at how easily you said it, like you’d been reading off a grocery list or ingredients for a recipe. Pin had wanted to say it since he’d bought the thing that sat in that pathetic little sock drawer, but he’d still not figured out how to say it and make it worthwhile.

“Do you want forever?” The closest he’d get, but he was fine with that, and relieved as you’d nodded. “I promise you forever then, Y/N.”

[scripturiends]

gave me no compasses, gave me no signs

Read on ao3

Summary: It was the one time her hunch had been wrong.

In which Han Joonhwi is acting suspicious, and Kang Sol A intends to find out why.

Rating: T

Word count: 3,848

Notes: Title taken from Taylor Swift’s ‘invisible string’: “Time, curious time, gave me no compasses, gave me no signs; were there clues I didn’t see?”

~

As promised, here is the Solhwi fic that I had hoped to be up before Episode 7 airs. I went straight to work after receiving positive feedback from an interest check post. As I mentioned there, the story isn’t necessarily dwelling on the current timeline, but is, for the most part, still canon-compliant. I totally made up all the legal jargon, so please bear with me. And, like the show, I decided to do ‘cutscenes’ instead of one unilinear fic.

I had a lot of fun with this little project for the past two days, so I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it :) I’d also love to hear your thoughts, please do send me a message or feel free to comment, it would mean the absolute world to me. Thank you and let’s all look forward to Episodes 7 and 8 this week!

The fic is under the cut. As a sidenote, this fic is un-beta’ed. All mistakes are mine.

~

I.

Kang Sol A swears she only drifted off for a second.

She had been burning the midnight oil for the past few days, well into the weekend, so much that the tension was radiating into her atmosphere, so much that the heat was starting to get to her head. Her Civil Code paper may not write itself, but neither could she if it took every ounce of her energy just to even sit up. So she plopped down on her bed, head heavy on her pillow, still fighting the urge to doze off.

She blinked, slowly, and as her eyes fluttered at an alarming rate, they eventually closed — just for a moment, I’ll count to ten and then wake up again — and stilled.

Birds were chirping outside her window when her eyes shot open, and that’s how she knew she messed up big-time. She woke with a start, frantically shaking off the books and papers off her person and frisking for her phone, silently praying that she wasn’t too late for her meeting with her project partner Seo Jiho, who she knows absolutely despises latecomers.

Sol A felt something vibrate from behind her, and an incomprehensible sound escaped her lips as she checked her phone. There were mountains of notifications that prevented her from checking the current time: self-set alarms, e-mails from her professors, reminders about today’s meeting with Jiho, and missed calls from a certain Han Joonhwi.

Clearing all of them at once, she finally reads: 9:07 AM. She was supposed to meet Jiho at 9:15. Sol A breathes a sigh of relief, but her momentary celebration is cut short when her phone starts to ring.

Han Joonhwi was calling again.

She didn’t even get a chance to speak yet when the voice on the other end asked, “Breakfast?”

Sol A put him on speaker phone as she packed up her things. “Can’t,” she replied mindlessly. “I have to meet with Seo Jiho and I’m already late. Eat by yourself.”

A few seconds of silence went unnoticed as Kang Sol A zipped up her knapsack and wore it over her shoulder. She finally picked up her phone and switched back to the handset. “Don’t skip breakfast, you hear me?”

Still nothing. “Joonhwi-ah.”

“Walk fast,” was all he said. And then he hung up.

That caught Sol A off guard, but she heeded the advice anyway.

She made it to the study room at exactly 9:13, only stopping by the entrance to catch her breath and tie her hair back into a ponytail. It was silent, so she half-hoped that no one would be there, but half-expected nothing less from Jiho. So she walks in, footsteps heavy, only skidding to a halt when she sees Jiho staring someone down, someone whose back looked all-too-familiar.

“You like her, don’t you?” she overhears from Jiho. “Kang So-”

Jiho suddenly fell silent at the sight of Sol A, and the man opposite him suddenly turned his head towards her. She was right about who it was — it was none other than the person she spoke with on the phone just a few minutes ago.

If Joonhwi was surprised, he didn’t show it.

But Kang Sol A did. She blinked once, and with a hint of dubiousness, she asked, “Who likes who?”

The men shared a look, and she was met with silence again, which was beginning to irk her. But she bit her tongue, took a seat across Seo Jiho, and grinned cheekily at him. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You aren’t...” Jiho replied, trailing off.

“I am by your standards. I know you,” she said matter-of-factly. “For Seo Jiho, ‘on time’ actually means ‘thirty minutes early’. Which means I’m late.”

Sighing wistfully, Sol A added, “I learned that the hard way.”

She locks eyes with Joonhwi momentarily, but he averts his gaze, expression unreadable. Sol A ignores this and tries her luck once more, eyes flitting from Jiho to Joonhwi and back. “Who were you guys talking about?”

This time, almost with no hesitation, Joonhwi finally spoke up. “No one,” he answered. “My roommate was just practicing his cross-examination skills on me.”

He stood up, giving Seo Jiho a final staredown. “They’re very poor at the moment. Help him out, will you?”

Then, without looking Kang Sol A in the eye, he gave her a soft squeeze on the shoulder, and promptly left.

Sol A’s eyes followed Joonhwi’s back, and stayed there even after he left. His touch lingered on her shoulder like a ghost, but instead of comfort, all she felt was fear. Suspicion. Restlessness. That maybe he was hiding something, and whether it involved her or not, she was keen on finding out just exactly what it was.

II.

“I’m telling you, Yeseul-ah,” Sol A insists. “Something’s up with him.”

They link arms, walking past the school entrance and into the lobby. Jeon Yeseul turns to her, hair falling perfectly into place as she lets out an angelic laugh. God, Sol A thinks. Even her laugh is perfect. But past the admiration for her Aphrodite-like features, Sol A feels like she’s being mocked.

She pouts. “You don’t believe me.”

“I do!” Yeseul defends. “You think he likes Kang Sol B.”

Sol A slides her left hand off Yeseul’s arm and holds her friend’s right one lightly. “So why are you laughing at me, then?”

“Unnie.” Yeseul wraps an arm around Sol A’s shoulder. “Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe Joonhwi-oppa likes you?”

Sol A almost choked on her spit. Of course she’s thought about it — after all, she’s a hundred percent certain that it was the name Kang Sol that slipped from Seo Jiho’s mouth a few days ago. But none of the evidence so far points to it being herself. And anyway, it’s not as if he’s shown any interest in Sol A as a woman. In fact, all he does is tease her. And she’s okay with that. And Sol B already likes Joonhwi. And they seem to be a far better fit than Sol A and Joonhwi. And it’s not like she harbors any romantic feelings for him, either.

She pushes the thought away before it could become bigger.

Sol A denies, deflects, and defends. “That can’t be right.”

“Why not?” her friend challenges.

“Why would he be avoiding me if that were true?” Sol A counters.

“People do that when they feel awkward around their crush,” Yeseul rebuts.

This is starting to feel like a game of chess rather than a conversation between best friends. “I think he’s just scared I’ll tell my roommate or something.” Before Yeseul could say anything else, by some stroke of luck, Sol A spots Joonhwi from her peripheral vision, walking past Lady Justice.

Yeseul smiles kindly at Sol A. She doesn’t doubt its genuineness, but she feels like it’s laced with mischief. “Should we test your theory, then?”

What does that mean?

“Joonhwi-oppa!” Yeseul shouts, waving at him from across the room.

She’s not going to ask him, is she?

Yeseul runs to Joonhwi, a light skip in her step. “I have something to ask you.”

Wait.

“Wait,” escaped from Sol A’s lips, barely a whisper before it started registering on her what Yeseul was about to do. And when it does, she finally sprints. “Jeon Yeseul, wait!”

“Oppa.” Yeseul bats her eyelashes at Joonhwi. Sol A was in tow behind her, feeling small but unsure why.

“Oh, Yeseul-ah,” Joonhwi greets. His eyes lit up at the sight of his friend and classmate.

While it pained Sol A to just sit back and watch, knowing that Joonhwi had been purposefully avoiding her, she let the scene unfold, trusting that Yeseul knew what she was doing.

“You haven’t been going to the study group sessions lately,” Yeseul starts.

Sol A hoped it would get a rise out of him, seeing as he was the one who started the group to begin with, but was barely showing up these days. Instead, all he said was, “The pair project in Civil Code has been holding me up.”

Yeah, right, she thinks. A second-round judicial exam passer and a former police academy student having a hard time in Civil Code? Why do I find that hard to believe?

Sol A scoffs, and Yeseul pinches her side. “Sol-unnie and I are meeting the others for lunch. You should come join us.”

“Ah,” Joonhwi drawled out slowly, as if coming up with an excuse to say no. Sol A expects it to be his next move. “I wish I could, but-”

Knew it.

“Kang Sol B will be there,” Sol A blurts out, fully aware that it’s a total lie. Still, she had to try.

Something in Joonhwi’s mood changed, and his face hardened. Still not making eye contact with Sol A, he excuses himself from Yeseul. “I’ll take a rain check today, okay?”

And without another word, he left again, leaving Sol A with the same emptiness that she had felt in the study room the other day.

Yeseul finally turns to Sol A, crossing her arms. “You’re right. He’s being weird.”

III.

A few more days without Joonhwi’s company, and Sol A was starting to feel its ill effects on her. She hadn’t realized just how much she took him for granted until he was no longer around to challenge her ideas, to annoy her over the littlest of things, to calm her down when she’s freaking out, to be her drinking buddy, to be someone she could tell any and every stupid story to, with the utmost confidence that he’ll keep it to himself or that he wouldn’t belittle her for it.

They’d been through too much together now, and even their fateful first meeting all those years ago didn’t faze him from her. In fact, her little scheme, no matter how deceitful at the time, brought him closer not just to her, but to Byeol, her mom, and to an extent, even Dan.

So what changed? What on earth did Seo Jiho say to him, and what on earth did she walk into, that made him close himself off from her? Proximity may not breed familiarity, but right now she wishes nothing more than to be in his orbit again.

Arguably the worst consequence of the lack of Joonhwi in Sol A’s life right now is having no one to eat with.

During one of her all-nighters at the dorm, she found herself with an intense craving for some ramyeon. She removed her earphones, partly to pull herself back to reality, but mostly to ask her roommate to have a meal with her. As if Sol B would say yes, but it was worth a shot.

“I’m going downstairs for a bite. You wanna come?”

No response, as expected from Kang Sol B. Sol A inwardly rolled her eyes, spinning in her chair to tease her roommate, only to find the desk empty.

She scratched her head while walking, wondering where Sol B could be at this time of night. And without a heads up, too… She was getting worried.

But it seems like her concern was all for naught, because Sol B was right where Sol A was headed.

And she was there with Han Joonhwi.

She was laughing. It was the first time that she saw Sol B laugh, maybe ever, and to see that Joonhwi could be someone who could do that for her, made Sol A feel proud. Like knowing Han Joonhwi was a privilege, not only because of the way he could make people comfortable around him, but also because Sol A had once been on the receiving end of it herself.

She should be relieved. In fact, she should be happy. Because it means that her guess was right, which means she doesn’t have to keep digging anymore. She could just tell Joonhwi that his secret’s safe with her, and they could finally go back to the way they were before... Right?

And yet something about witnessing the pair interact as a mere bystander didn’t sit right with Sol A. There’s a pang in her chest that she can’t quite comprehend — maybe she just misses him, or maybe it’s something else completely. Because if Han Joonhwi has feelings for Kang Sol B, and they’re together right now, then that leaves only one explanation: he must be avoiding her, and for a completely different reason.

It was the first time her hunch had been wrong.

Needless to say, Sol A lost her appetite and trudged back upstairs lifelessly, a bitter taste in her mouth and an ache in her stomach that she couldn’t quite place where it even came from.

IV.

Come Friday, Sol A was too exhausted to even think about Han Joonhwi. Between the endless deadlines and papers to write, her job in the copy room, and the Seo Byungju case, her energy had been too depleted and her social battery too worn out to even care that her relationships could be falling apart.

The only thing she has going for her now is the Legal Clinic, the one place where she could bury her nose deep in case digests and law readings and she would absolutely never get tired of it, because it’s the one place where she feels like she’s making a real difference, especially when people’s lives are at stake. It was the remaining part of her life where Sol A felt like she was in control, so these days, all her emotionally-charged passion was focused on this one thing.

But of course that had to fall apart too, when Professor Yang asked for her to stay after class.

He cut right to the chase. “I’ll be meeting with my defense lawyer today so I need you to consult with the client in my stead.”

Count on Yangcrates to always give Sol A a heart attack in under two seconds.

“M-me?” she stuttered.

The professor’s face twitched, ever-so-slightly, which Sol A took as a sign to backtrack and confidently proclaim that she’s up to the task. She knows there’s nothing Yang Jonghoon hates more than a quitter.

“Ah, yes, of course,” she accedes, with a little more verve.

He nods once in her direction. “And take Han Joonhwi with you,” he commanded.

She’s doomed. Not that she wasn’t doomed before, but now that Professor Yang had to drag her personal life into this, she was really in shambles.

Sol A clears her throat. “With all due respect, Sir,” she laughs nervously, “don’t you trust me?”

Professor Yang takes a moment to think about it. Sol A wonders if today’s the day she finally gets a definitive answer. But Yangcrates is as sly as ever. “This is your chance to get back at him for the Bad FaMa case. Make him your assistant this time.”

He walks away, leaving Sol A dumbfounded once again, but not before he adds, “Under my orders, of course.”

Sol A’s knees buckled at the thought. Normally, she would find this predicament to be absolutely funny, a chance to bicker with Joonhwi and learn something from him at the same time. But he’s angry at her, and she doesn’t even know why, and even merely approaching him has turned into a problem.

Everything in Sol A’s life right now is a problem. She wonders if it's getting Joonhwi back that would fix everything.

Upon leaving the classroom, she spots him getting a drink from the vending machine. She has to slap herself twice, just to mentally prepare herself, to muster up the courage to approach him again.

“Come on, Sol,” she whispers to herself. “This isn’t hard.”

Shaking off the nerves, she takes a step forward, but in a momentary state of weakness, takes another step back. “So what if he’s mad? That’s his problem. I’ve never given him a reason to be angry. He should suck it up. Not me. Come on. Just do it.”

A step forward.

“Just do it.”

A step back.

“Goddamn it.”

One final step back to boost herself forward, and she’s running towards him, pretending to be as casual as possible. “Han Joonhwi!” she calls out to him.

His eyes widen at the sight of her, knowing he has nowhere to escape.

“Did you get my text? Professor Yang needs our help at the Legal Clinic.” She smiled at him. “Let’s go.”

Joonhwi scratched the back of his head, and Sol A just knows it’s about to be another lame excuse. “I can’t. I’m meeting Sol B for our Civil Code term paper.”

He can’t even look at her, and Sol A wonders just how bad she had hurt Joonhwi for him to feel like this towards her. But that only lasted for a second, when she realized just exactly what he said. Then, her pity turned into irritation, as she accused, “Liar.”

Sol A crossed her arms, and glared at Joonhwi. “Did you forget that I’m her roommate? She went home today.”

V.

Sol A sat across Joonhwi inside the Legal Clinic, her eyes narrowed to slits. A profound silence enveloped the room, interrupted only by a sharp inhale from her.

“You like Kang Sol B, don’t you?”

The only response she got was Han Joonhwi’s signature smirk, playful and taunting, one that said, ‘You don’t know me, and you never will’.

She hated that.

She slammed a hand on the table, and pointed at him accusingly. “Don’t look at me like that. I would have kept your secret if you just asked. Is that why you were avoiding me? Because you think I’d tell her or something?”

The same smile painted on his face, Joonhwi exhaled defeatedly. “Kang Sol A, I thought I taught you to never make any claims with unfounded bases.”

An eyebrow perched up on Sol A’s end. “It’s not unfounded,” she argues.

“Where’s your evidence, then?” he dared her.

Sol A had been waiting for this. She listed everything he had ever done — or refused to do, which was spend time with her, speak to her, or even look at her, which was absolutely the bare minimum — since the incident with Seo Jiho up to this very moment.

He waves his hand dismissingly. “That’s all speculative.”

If his goal was to rile her up, then it’s definitely working. “Then what about what I heard Seo Jiho tell you that one time? And most importantly, you straight up lied to my face.”

“Circumstantial,” he quips. “That would never hold up in court, especially not when the only witness is yourself. How are you going to be both the defense lawyer and the sole witness?”

Han Joonhwi should be at the edge of the precipice here, and yet he has managed to flip the situation over and turn it into an interrogation for Kang Sol A.

Nothing can hide her frustration anymore. “I would never be the lawyer in my own case. Look, it’s still evidence. You asked, and I gave it. Seriously, Han Joonhwi, what’s with you?”

Instead of a direct answer, he points out, “You rely on your emotions too much.”

Almost immediately, she shoots back, “And you rely on the law too much. This isn’t a courtroom. This is a human conversation.”

He purses his lips, unable to say anything, and Kang Sol A continues. “You’re too stubborn.”

“And you’re too nosy.”

“You’ve benefited from it more than once.” Sol A’s patience is getting thinner by the second. “Can’t you just tell me what I did so that I can either apologize for it or call you out for being wrong?”

“You and Sol B are hardly friends. What reason would I have to be afraid?” Amusement gleamed in Joonhwi’s eyes; Sol A was astounded by how he could stay so nonchalant about this. “Think.”

She glared at him, but still ceded. Damn his tenacity. “Fine, I’ll play along.”

She rolled her eyes, and in a blasé manner, started to think out loud. “I overheard Jiho ask you if you liked Kang Sol, and then you started avoiding me. Yeseul asked you to join us for lunch, and when I said Sol B would be there, even though she really wasn’t, you declined. So I thought it was her that you liked. But it doesn’t make sense, because I saw you two hanging out at the cafeteria that one night-”

His arrogant expression changed to one of shock. “You did?”

“-and then you straight up lied to me about your plans. Unless you two are already dating-”

“We’re not,” he interrupts once more. Sol A eyes him with suspicion. “We’re not,” he repeats indignantly.

“-it could only mean that you do like Kang Sol…”

Joonhwi starts slowly nodding, face a little flushed, but somehow urging her on to continue.

“...just not B. You like-”

“Kang Sol A.” Professor Yang enters the room, calling out her name.

She’s sure her professor asked her to do something, but she was unmoved. At this point, she doesn’t think anything could pull her out of her reverie for the rest of the day.

A veil that covered her eyes was lifted, and she had never been so pitiful of the blindfold that Lady Justice wore. The scales Kang Sol A carried, as heavy as the burdens she was facing, balanced with Han Joonhwi holding them up with her. She wanted nothing more than to take his hand right at that moment, to feel the heaviness in its entirety, and thank him for staying anyway.

They don't talk for the rest of the day, but Kang Sol A is unbothered.

Her questioning attitude may have always gotten her in trouble in school, but this was the one time she was glad to be wrong.

Epilogue

Han Joonhwi fell asleep on his desk again.

He normally finishes up all his revisions early, but because of his agitation, the cold table seemed to be more inviting than the bed, where he simply ends up tossing and turning.

Despite the stiff neck it was bound to cause, he’s been doing it for days, only being woken up by his constant 8:30 alarms. This time, however, it was his gracious roommate Seo Jiho who finally interrupted him from his slumber.

Jiho slammed a sealed instant ramyeon pack on Joonhwi’s desk. He groggily looked up at his friend, whose hair was still disheveled, and asked, “What’s this?”

“It’s from Kang Sol A.” Before walking away, he deadpanned, “Do your own bidding next time. I’m not your messenger.”

Joonhwi took the cup ramyeon, spotting the bright yellow sticky note on it, not unlike the ones he’d put on Sol A’s notebook, or occasionally, her forehead. He smiled to himself as he read the message, walking out to heat up some water for breakfast, but not before carefully displaying the note on his bulletin board for the whole world to see.

Han Joonhwi,

For a second-round judicial exam passer, you can be so dense.

I like you back, you idiot.

Now stop sulking and have breakfast with me.

Idiot.

~

Send me your thoughts/fic requests here!

[simsadventures]

Gilded: Chapter 3: Power Over Me

Mobster!Steve x Reader

Summary: What more can you do than have a rad bachelorette party and then move to a house full of mobsters. It all sounds fun, right? Well, not according to your experience. 

Warnings: mobster AU, drinking, swearing, surveillance, angst, smidge of fluff, violence, mention of bruises, fear 

Word Count: 5737

A/N: A little late, I know I know, but I wanted to make sure the chapter was exactly how I wanted it. I keep thinking I will get to the wedding, and then some situations occur and I know I have to concentrate on them a little more. Than being said, I think we will finally see the wedding next! What do you think of this part? Did you like it? Is the reader a little less annoying? Let me know xx

Series Masterlist __ Masterlist 

< Previous Chapter 

The scene was supposed to be joyous, but, for some reason, the majority of what you felt was filled with sadness. Not for any particular reason, it was just the weigh of your decision finally settling in your heart and the realization hitting you that you would indeed be getting married in a week to a total stranger, who was a mobster, none less. 

You chose it, you had to remind yourself as tears fought their way in your eyes. It was just momentary sadness overpowering you, the feeling that your wedding wouldn’t be filled with people loving and caring for you, that the day would be more about showing off Steve’s power over the world than showing his love for his new bride, for whom he had none. And you would be there almost alone: no parents, no extended family, and a very few close friends. Whom you loved dearly, of course, and without whom you wouldn’t even be considering taking such a step. You needed them there, and not just the two lovable idiots you lived with. 

It was also people you’ve come to love during your university years as well as some coworkers, like Christy and Anja. Together it made around 15 people, which was actually a lot more than you had anticipated, but still. It would have to be Aidan walking you down the aisle, and just the mere thought made a choked sob escape your lips. 

The sound brought the attention of the room to you, and before you knew it, you were enveloped in a bone-crushing hug from all the people there, everyone telling you that you should be happy, that this was a good thing. Of course, nobody except Caroline and Aidan knew the reality behind the wedding. All they thought was happening was that you fell madly in love with Steve Rogers, and now you two were tying the knot. You even overhead Aisha say that you were definitely pregnant, otherwise, you wouldn’t have rushed into it like this. You tried to assure everyone that there was no pregnancy at all, but, of course, people believed what they wanted, and you lacked the energy to go around the room and speak to them individually, denying what they formed in their heads. 

It was Friday night, and you were in your apartment, surrounded by all those people who would come to your wedding. You sent a list of names to Steve that afternoon, and, after what you assumed was a background check on all of them, he agreed that yes, these 15 people could actually come. And when he did, you called an emergency meeting at your apartment, using it both as a way of inviting them to the wedding and as a kind of bachelorette party, where all you wanted to do was to drink heavily, eat a disgusting amount of carbs and pass out around dusk. Safe to say, all of your friends had been in, and by the time it was 11 PM, you were all tipsy, and people started to dance. Some (ehm, ehm, Caroline) even on a table, which was hilarious to the rest of you. 

The sadness came and went all evening, but you were determined not to let it ruin your night. So, every time you felt like it was creeping up on you again, you just told somebody and let them hug you until you were feeling better. 

Then, somebody came up with the idea to play Never Have I Ever, and since the tequila still burned in your veins, you agreed immediately. And so the game started. You were roaring like a pride of lions, each answer louder than the previous ones, but the most fun arose from telling each other funny stories. 

“Ok, so this one time I was blowing off my boyfriend, right? And you know how much I hate the taste of sperm, and he knows it as well, but this one time he really insisted on my swallowing, and so when he finally came, I squeaked and pointed somewhere behind him so that I could spit the cum to glass under the table, and when he turned around I showed him my mouth, void of any liquid, and he looked super proud,” your friend Naila laughed as she told the story to the question: never have I ever swallowed cum. 

The night was flowing smoothly, and soon, you saw that it was getting somehow lighter outside. And, sure enough, when you looked out of the window, you saw that the sunrise was coming in mere minutes. 

“Guys, guys! The sunrise is here. Let’s go to the roof to enjoy it,” you yelled even though half of the people were already fast asleep. The few of you who were still barely alive, which was around 5 of you, staggered towards the door and crawled up the stairs to the highest levels, and when you opened the last door, you had New York underneath you. 

You were wasted and exhausted, but the sight poured new life into you as you watched the early orange rays shine on one building at a time, waking up the city that never slept. It was magical, and it took your breath away. You felt your worries melting away as you saw a new day coming, and you thought it was a new day with many possibilities and hopes for you. You had nothing to lose, and Steve proved to you that he would, indeed, take care of you if need be. All would be if you just played your part and learned enough about Steve to be able to escape his wrath. 

The exhaustion then hit your body just as the ray hit your face, and you waved at the drunk group watching the sunrise, each of them in their own realm of thoughts, and soon enough, you sauntered back to your room, where you fell asleep just like the rest of the bachelorette party. 

A piercing tone woke you up with a start, and, for a second, you didn’t even know where you were, what time it was, or even what fucking century it was. The throbbing in your head prevented your brain from functioning properly, and so you rummaged through the pile of clothes next to your bed, fishing for what was obviously your phone. Gosh, how you hated the ringtone, and you reminded yourself to just mute your phone altogether because then nothing like this could happen again. 

You picked up without so much as looking at the screen and just sneered a harsh what into the speaker. 

“Well, good morning to you too, honey,” you heard Steve’s smug voice and rolled your eyes so hard the pain in your head increased. “Is this the way to greet your future husband? I don’t fucking think so,” he continued, and a considerable part of you contemplated just hanging up on him and his annoyingly sexy voice. 

“Steve, I have no fucking idea what time it is, but it’s definitely not time for you to call me and want me to be nice. Give me a few good hours of sleep, and then we can talk, ok?” You hoped this would do it, but from the silence on the other side, you assumed he wouldn’t let be just yet. 

“What happened? Did your bachelorette party get a little out of hand, and you went to sleep only after sunrise?” 

You gasped, shocked how he knew any of it, and for the first time, the fog in front of your brain lifted a little bit. You checked the time, and seeing it was only 9 AM, you assumed that asshole woke you up on purpose if he knew so much about your nightly activities. 

“How the fuck-“

“Language!” He yelled suddenly, and you flinched at the intensity of his voice. “I know everything, and I told you I would have somebody keeping an eye on you at all times. You’re only lucky the guy sleeping next to you is gay, you’d be in so much trouble otherwise, honey,” Steve spat, and the only sound you could muster was a long huff, as you regretted ever being born. 

“What do you want, Steve? If you know so much, you must know that I’m beat and all I wanna do is sleep, with a guy in my bed or without him. So, if you have something to tell me, please do, otherwise, have a good day, and I’ll catch up with you later.”

“We’re gonna have so much fun together, you and I, Y/N. I’m calling because I wanted to let you know that your room is prepared and ready for you and that your bodyguard will pick you up at exactly 8 PM, so don’t be late. Clint will also help you carry all things you need. I’ll send you his number so that you can be in touch with him. Oh, and honey? Take some aspirin and go to sleep, you sound like you need it,” even through the phone, you could hear him smirk as he hung up and let you on your own once again. Thank God.

“Who was it?” Aidan asked sleepily from the other side of the bed, and you just grumbled some response, not really sure if he understood what you meant, but when he hummed and patted your outstretched hand, you took it as yes, I understand you mean your future husband Steve Rogers, nice talk. 

The phone signalled you received a text, and when you looked at it, it was your bodyguard’s phone number and a directive, telling you to go to sleep already, because the dark circles under your eyes didn’t suit you. 

Oh, how you wanted to kill this man already. He got on your nerves more easily than anybody ever before, and for a brief moment, you wondered why he affected you so. You didn’t even know him, and you shouldn’t let him tossing you back and forth, but here you were, pissed because you could just imagine how proud he was of himself that he woke you up and told you what to do so many times in such a short call. 

Sighing, you got up from the bed and went to check the window to see if you could spot the nosy bodyguard ratting on you to Steve. You needed to have a word with him because he just couldn’t go running to Steve every time you blinked. 

Looking around the street, you tried to spot a strange vehicle, one that didn’t fit into the street you grew to know so well. And, sure enough, there was a large SUV, much like the one you had driven with Steve before, and you noticed that the windows were tilted. Since your apartment was on the first floor, anybody from the street had a great view right into your flat, and because you passed out totally exhausted, you didn’t have the time, nor did you remember to shut your blinds. 

You huffed and shut them now, cursing Steve and his nosiness because he wasn’t making your life any easier, and you weren’t even married yet. The year in front of you would be annoying and difficult, but maybe it would make you feel alive again. 

Shaking your head, you didn’t let the memories flood your brain as you strode back to your back, plopped on it belly-first and fell straight asleep.

“Are you sure it’s everything?” Aidan looked around your now half-empty room, except for the furniture that you knew you wouldn’t need. Steve promised to give you a furnished room, and you took his word for it, so you just took the essentials, like your clothes and sentimental stuff. Marie Condo would have been proud because you still managed to get rid of a few things that didn’t spark joy!

“Yeah, and even if I left something here, I could still come, you know? It’s not like I’m never seeing you or this place again. I’ll still be like a 30-minute ride away,” you smiled soothingly at him, but he just shook his head, obviously fighting all the emotions swirling in his heart. 

“Alright, alright. No crying. I’ll call you guys when I’m all settled, and Steve actually lets me be by myself, and I’ll show you the room, ok?”

Both Aiden and Caroline nodded speechlessly and then pulled you in a group hug. 

“You sure you wanna do it? We can still make it seem like we kidnapped you and take you somewhere to Mexico, or Argentina, or wherever he wouldn’t find you,” Caroline whispered, and you laughed through the tears fighting their way out of your eyes. 

“I’ll be fine, you���ll see. We will all have so much fun, and before we know it, the year is over, and I’m back here with you guys, having lived a little,” you smirked, and they nodded reassuringly, not really sure if it really was the best way to live a life, but they didn’t want to push you again. Your heart was set, and they both knew there was nothing they could do now. Except, of course, really kidnapping you. 

“Miss Y/L/N, we should go. The boss said we should be there at 9 PM at the latest, and I would prefer if we could be a little early,” Clint said professionally, but you could see that he was afraid of what would Steve do had you arrived late. You didn’t want to start this weird-ass journey by pissing your future husband or making him hurt his employees (you didn’t know whether he would actually do that, but just to be on the safe side, since he did cut off a guy’s finger a mere few days ago). 

You nodded and stepped from your best friends, looking at them and smiling brightly. You didn’t want any teary goodbyes, so you just showed them thumbs up and followed Clint out of the door. You knew there would be some tears when you left but didn’t think they would come as early as on the first step from your apartment. 

Fortunately, there weren’t that many steps to go before you were out of the building and rushed into the SUV by Clint. It was dark already, but you didn’t want him to see you cry, so you swiftly pulled out your sunglasses and put them on, not saying a word to Clint as he started the car and pulled it into New York’s night traffic. The lights around you were almost blinding, and for a moment, you were glad you had the glasses on, but then another wave of regret and sadness hit you, and you had a hard time keeping in the sobs. Scratching your arms, you stared out of the window and took a few calming breaths, telling yourself to get a grip because you were about to enter the lion’s den, and you couldn’t show them any emotions. 

You knew Clint knew what was going on, but he was gentleman enough not to comment on it. Still, you needed to make sure he understood this little episode was just between the two of you. 

“Can I ask you something, Clint?” You said suddenly and saw his eyes flickering between the road and the mirror, meeting your eyes for a moment. 

“Of course, Miss Y/L/N. However, I should warn you, I am not allowed to give you certain information,” he said formally, and you nodded knowingly. 

“Yeah, right. If I asked you to keep a little secret from your boss, would you keep it?” You asked and nibbled on your lower lip anxiously. 

He seemed to have thought for a second before he nodded his head in a manner telling you that there were things Steve didn’t need to know. His eyes met yours again before he spoke up. 

“I’m now your bodyguard, and if I think the information kept from the boss is in your best interest, then I won’t tell him anything. For example, you smiled all the way to the apartment, no tears and no sunglasses. Though, I think you should powder your nose and dry your face,” he smirked, and you laughed a little, nodding gratefully and doing exactly as he said. 

The car stopped exactly as you put all the supplies back into your purse, and you had a feeling Clint took a longer route to Steve’s house just to give your face the time to dry up and calm down. Checking the time, you saw it was 10 minutes before 9 and saw the relief on Clint’s face when he realized the same thing. 

“Alright, I will take you to the boss and then will get the boys to help with your things. We won’t go through anything, but if you need our help when you’re unpacking, all you have to do is text me,” Clint said, walking you to the door. 

The man you met on your first night there was standing as a sculpture at the exact same spot, and you wondered if he ever moved from that hallway. He did move towards you, gesturing to your purse, but Clint’s hand stopped him mid-motion. 

“She’s clean. I’ve been with her the whole time,” he said sternly and with authority, and when he saw the first man taking a breath to protest, Clint just gave him a chilling frown, and the man stepped down, hung his head in defeat and let you through. 

“It’s not a problem, Clint; I could have shown him the purse, you know?” You almost whispered as you walked through the empty rooms and hallways with Clint by your side. 

“They need to learn to respect you, Miss. You are, after all, marrying the boss very soon, and they need to understand that you are not a threat,” he gave you a curt nod, and you blushed a little. You didn’t know what it was, but the way Clint spoke to you with so much trust and respect already made you feel much better. You knew it would be an issue, so having somebody on your side was a huge relief already. 

“Thank you, Clint, I really-“ 

“Well, happy you two are best buddies already! Are you gonna braid each other’s hair and do each other’s nails soon too?” A voice snapped you back to reality, a voice you already knew too well. Steve was leaning against a door, his face stoic despite the mocking tone of his voice. Clint obviously tensed next to you, mumbled some apology and scurried out of the room, leaving you with Steve. 

You just looked at him and crossed your arms on your chest. 

“Do you need to be like this?” You asked incredulously, not really understanding why he had to be such an ass when all you did was having some sort of conversation with one of his loyal men. 

“Like what, honey? You seem to forget who I am and what I can do to you and your fucking life,” he sneered when he finally pulled away from the door and marched right in front of you. 

Your arms fell from your chest as you stared at him, trying to figure him out. Which, considering he was a prolific mobster, wasn’t the easiest task at hand. But you tried nevertheless and poked to see where was all this coming from. He obviously needed to be in control of every situation, always the centre of attention, and, you realized, it was probably this that pissed him off. You walked in, not really paying attention to him standing by the door but carelessly talking to somebody else. But his attitude was another thing entirely. 

“What do you want me to say, Steve? That I’m sorry I talked to somebody else and that it won’t happen again? You know it probably will, especially since you assigned Clint with the task of taking care of me and making sure I survive this year with you, which is really all he had done in the 40 minutes I have known him,” you reasoned, trying to sound confident but not pushy. You needed to show him that he couldn’t just toss you around like he might have thought. You didn’t expect him changing his attitude altogether for you, but you, at least, hoped he would go easy on you. 

He was seething but also thinking; you could see his mind going in overdrive to come up with something snarky and mean. But you were quicker than him, once again. 

“Will you be so kind and show me to my room? I would like to get settled in before we start talking about the wedding.”

“There will be no talk of a wedding. All you have to take care of is go tomorrow and pick your fucking dress. Everything else is being dealt with. I won’t need you tonight, so you can go and be by yourself till tomorrow,” he snapped and walked away without saying another word. 

Great, now you felt like you were grounded, and all you did was talking with somebody nice to you. You shook your head disapprovingly and headed in a direction you thought might have been your room, but after taking a few turns, you weren’t even sure you were in New York anymore. 

“Hey, what the fuck are you doing here?” You heard from behind you, and before you knew what was happening, somebody pushed you forcibly against the nearest wall, pressing their elbow into your neck. You coughed, surprised, clawing at the man’s forearms and trying to let him loosen the press because it was getting harder and harder to breathe. 

“I said, what the fuck are you doing here?” He yelled into your face, and you tried to tell him, but your voice wouldn’t come out. So, you just stared at him, tears filling your eyes before you heard a loud hey from somewhere behind you two and saw a man with long brown hair running towards you. 

“Sarge, this woman was roaming around here. I think she is a spy,” the man still holding you said to the newly arrived guy, and all you could do was shake your head and tried to make yourself look as non-threatening as possible. Which wasn’t difficult considering you were in no position to be able to even defend yourself had the man decided to crush your trachea. 

“Fucking idiot! That’s the boss’ bride! Let her go, you dickhead,” the man, sarge, growled, and you felt the pressure leaving your body. Which was all it took for you to collapse on the floor and start coughing uncontrollably, gripping your neck in your hands to protect it from any further disturbance. 

“I-I, I didn’t know, Sarge! Don’t tell him. I thought she was some fucking spy. What the hell was she even doing here all alone, huh? It’s not my fucking fault she came sniffing around stuff that is none of her business,” the man tried to defend himself, but from the murderous gaze he received from the sergeant, he wasn’t very successful. 

“Are you ok, Miss? Did he break anything? Is your head spinning? Are you feeling nauseous? Any of this?” He crouched down to your level and extended an arm to you, and you flinched instinctively, not feeling too sure who was your friend here and who wasn’t. So, to play it safe, nobody was your friend, and you’d be scared of them all, forever. Easy business. 

The man saw your reaction and frowned even more but was persistent when he removed your hands from your neck to see an already-forming bruise alongside your throat. 

“You need to talk to me, Y/N. Are you hurting anywhere?” 

You coughed and grimaced because, yes, in fact, you did hurt and that all over the fucking neck and even your head. Which, given the man almost crushed your fucking throat with his elbow, wasn’t that surprising. 

“I’ll be fine. And I wasn’t sniffing around; I was just looking for my room. I thought it might be somewhere here, and I would have asked if I saw anyone. But this place is like a fucking maze, and I was all alone,” you screeched, and the sergeant nodded and helped you to stand up. He was pulling out what looked like a phone, but you stopped him. 

“Don’t call him, please. I’m fine. I just need to get to the room, so I can put some cold water on it, have a drink and go to sleep. Please,” you accentuated and saw the man weighing his options before he put the phone back to his pocket and nodded for you to follow him. 

“I will tell him, just so you know. Steve needs to know about this, and we need to make sure you are introduced to the whole house the first thing in the morning so that this doesn’t happen again. But he needs to know. I will give you a few minutes to take it all in before I do call him, though,” he said with a resolution in his voice, and while you wanted to protest, you saw that it would have been to no avail. So, not saying another word, you let yourself in what was supposed to be your room and took it all in. 

The walls were this very soft grey, which you actually preferred to the cold white you saw a lot all over the house. There was a king-sized bed against the main wall, framed with two bed-side tables and two matching white and gold lamps. There were many pillows on the bed and a plaid, grey and blue, throw as well, making it all feel very homey. You could see a large closet, where you could have easily fit ten times the amount of clothes you owned. The only other thing in the room was a table with a chair and some drawers, where you could picture yourself working and writing. 

However, when you turned around, you saw something that caught your attention. An easel with a little table on wheels, on top of which was a palette where you could see yourself mixing colors left and right. You squealed, but the sound reminded you that you have just been assaulted and that you could admire the room later. 

You took your time in the bathroom, inspecting your neck and hissing here and there when you touched it carefully. You knew the sarge was outside your door, probably counting in his head before he called Steve, and you were actually pretty surprised he wasn’t marching in already. Just when you thought of it, the door to your room flew open, and you heard Steve and the man talking (well, actually, more like yelling at each other).

“Where the fuck is she? I’m going to kill Drax. I swear to fucking God, man. How is it even possible that he does shit like this? They were all supposed to be briefed, for fuck’s sake. Imma have Sam’s ass as well for this. Fuck!” He yelled and kicked into something, which made you frowned, and you rushed out of the bathroom. 

Steve spun around and almost ran towards you, cradling your face in his hands carefully and lifting your head so that he could have a clear view of the injuries. He was swearing under his breath, but you couldn’t help it and stare at him, wide-eyed. He was actually careful with you, sweet even as he took it all in, and when he was sure you wouldn’t die right there, he took a step back from you. 

“Are you ok?” He asked after a moment, and all you could was just nod and stand there awkwardly, scratching your arms behind your back. 

“Will you be able to find your room easier next time?” 

“No, we took too many turns. But I won’t leave this room till morning anyway, and I will learn to stay out of the way very quickly, I promise,” you rushed to say, not really wanting to meet any of his crew alone again. 

“You can’t be scared walking around here, honey. I will show you around right now, and I have already called an emergency meeting, and I want you there. This can never happen again,” he said gravely, and you understood this was probably his way of apologizing for something that wasn’t really all his fault. Well, he didn’t have to storm off and leave you there, nor did he have to scare Clint away, who was ready to show you to your room in the first place. 

“Is it necessary, Steve? If I’m quite honest, I don’t feel too comfortable leaving the room right now,” you quipped, but Steve wasn’t listening anymore. He just grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the door. Weirdly, you felt a little better having the skin-on-skin contact with him because, at least now, nobody would be stupid enough to attack you. 

You tried to remember the way and took in the details that would make you not lose your trail again, such as the red vase on one of the tables in the corner that looked just like the corner two minutes ago, but the vase was something you could remember, so you took a mental note of that and other little things that would serve for your safety, obviously. Because when Steve told you people would want you dead, you sort of didn’t expect those people would be in the house with you. 

You walked through the spacious kitchen and the adjacent dining room to find yourself in what looked like a meeting room, with around 20 men gathered and scattered all over the room. 

When Steve finally stopped, he let go of your hand, but he instinctively reached for you and pulled you against his side. You looked at him in slight disbelief again but didn’t say anything as he stared in front of himself till the room was as quiet as a freaking church during a sermon. 

“Let me make this very quick: however lays as much as a fucking finger on Y/N here, I will kill you, and I won’t give a fuck who you are. You were briefed that I’m getting married to the woman I want, and because somebody wasn’t paying attention to the fucking briefing, evidently, my fiancé is now sporting a black neck, which she will have to cover for our wedding. Drax, you and I will speak tomorrow, I was ready to kill you, but I’m a reasonable man, so I will sleep and think of your punishment then. Now, any questions?” He asked threateningly, and you knew even if somebody did have a question, nobody would dare to ask it now. 

And just as you predicted, the room was as quiet as before, and Steve waved his hand so that everybody was dismissed and they could breathe again. Just not in his presence. 

“Sam, you stay here,” Steve added when he saw one of his closest men leaving the room as well. 

“I will deal with him, Steve. I don’t know how that could have happened, but it won’t ever again, I promise. If it does, you can have my head, man,” the bulky man said and smiled warmly at you. 

“By the way, hi, I’m Sam. I’m like the muscles here, you know? So, if you need to pick something up, I’m your guy,” he said with a wink, and you chuckled but took his hand to shake it. 

“Nice to meet you, Sam, and I will remember that, thank you.” 

“Alright, now, we have all the pleasantries behind us, you can go back to your room and go to sleep. And Y/N, if anybody as much as looks at you the wrong way, you tell me, ok? This marriage might not be a genuine one, but none of these assholes knows that or should care about that. They should protect you just like they protect me, and I don’t care what they say. I can’t have my fucking wife scared to walk these halls,” he was still frowning as he was saying all this to you, but you could see he was much more relaxed than when all the men were in the room. These two, the sergeant whose name you still didn’t know, and Sam, were obviously close to Steve because despite the winks Sam gave to you, Steve didn’t make a scene, nor did he give you the pointed looks when others were around. Still, you were on thin ice, and there was too much drama for one day for you to try and challenge him in any way. 

“Ay ay, Captain,” you chuckled, and the corner of Steve’s mouth actually moved a little, so you took that as a good sign. 

“Alright, I will try and get back to my room and call it a day because tomorrow is an important day! So, nice to meet you, gentlemen, and I will see you soon, I guess,” you waved at them awkwardly, and Sam waved back enthusiastically as you left the men to themselves. 

“She is actually quite nice,” Sam summarized, and winked at Bucky, who just rolled his eyes at him in annoyance, having just enough of Sam’s antics for one day. 

“Yeah, yeah, she actually is, when she’s not talking back and challenging every fucking thing I say,” Steve complained, and it was a turn for both men to roll their eyes at their best friend. 

“Oh yeah, because you love when they’re meek and quiet, we forgot. C’mon, man, somebody fucking choked her today, and she was still standing here with her head held high, keeping it together like a fucking pro. I say she is perfect for you,” Sam said defensively when he saw the murderous stare from his friend/boss. 

Good thing Sam didn’t see you in your room because as soon as you closed the door behind yourself, the tears just streamed down your face, and small sobs left your lips. You were glad the day was over and dreaded what the next day would bring. 

Next Chapter >

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[liquid-luck-00]

When Two Coffee Addicts Unite

Part 1

@maribatmarch-2k21 Day 8: Texting

Ao3 *** Part 2

Okay so this can either be a continuation of Internet Friends or the beginning of something new. But if you want to read this as a continuation of Internet friends then you should know:

The police department is almost as bad as Damocles when dealing with powerful figures. They take the video and audio footage and simply put it in the file. Because at the time Lila still had most or in fact all of the class under her thumb, they all supported Lila’s claim that it was an accident. Lila claims that a sudden dizzy spell struck her, and she fell forwards towards Marinette. And as Mari was already on the edge of the balcony it was an accident. The fact that the file sat in the police department until well after any claim could be valid it wasn’t looked into more. Mari, her friends, and Tim did have backups of the footage, complete records for every interaction with the police, and recorded calls and interactions when dealing with the police. But as they didn’t want to involve the embassy as this would become an international affair they didn’t bother with the case.

That said the police don’t bother with the Miracle Court to avoid work. However, with the Mayor, Medical responders, and the Fire Department all aid the heroes, the police only do the bare minimum.

Marinette’s class has begun to watch Lila, but they didn’t look into her lies because except for this incident it’s just she said she said with occasional ‘injuries’ on Lila. Most of them are wary of Lila but they aren’t converted to Marinette’s side, but there is an increased tolerance between them.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette had just sat back at her seat after eating lunch, while the classroom was still empty. There was still half an hour left. Alix, Kim, Nino, Sabrina, and Max walked in as she sat down.

"Marinette you got the time?" Alix called out. They were on somewhat okay terms since Lila’s claims were a total 180 from the Marinette that they have known for forever.

"30 minutes left." she announced looking of her phone and in turn her missed messages.

Tim:

       Mari

       Mari

       Mari

       Nettie

       Marin

       Bean

       Bug

       Marinette

Marinette:

       What's wrong.

Tim:

       I have back to back meetings starting in 3 hrs. until 5.

       and

Marinette:

       Let me guess haven't slept.

Tim:

       Exactly

       Help me please

Marinette:

       How many reports can you send me?

Tim:

       Quite a few

Marinette:

       Send me what you can.

       Review the rest.

       Take a nap!

       And I'll be a little voice during your meeting.

Tim:

       Thanks, I owe you Bean.

Marinette:

I'II hold you to that.

Tim:

       Sent

Marinette:

       Just make sure you wake up.

Tim:

       I make no promises.

       On second thought I don't want to find out how you are mad

She made it through the 15 minutes of class because Lila was akumatized. Lila had burst into the class followed by Alya, Nino, and Adrien. She claimed Mari cornered her in the bathroom and beat her a few minutes ago, showing everyone the 'bruises' on her arms. Chloe handed something to Sabrina who walked up to Lila.

"Oh, you poor thing," Sabrina consoled, Lila only whimpered. "Here this has a salve that helps bruises." She gently took Lila's wrist and wiped a 'bruise' which disappeared instantly.

"That's amazing what is it called?" Alya commented. "I should get some for Nora."

"Make-up remover." Sabrina and Chloe spoke together.

"Besides." Alix butt in. "Marinette's been here the past half hour and hasn't left."

"What?! How do you know?" Lila cried.

"Cause we've been here the whole time with her." Sabrina commented.

Marinette for her part didn't know or hear the conversation around her.

"Marinette. Marinette. Earth to Marinette," Kim shouted.

"Present!" She jolted practically standing. "Wait," she looked around, "class hasn't started."

"What are you hyper fixated on?" Adrien asked innocently.

"Just some reports, don't think you'd like them too much Kit-Kat."

"Fair," he shrugged sitting next to her. "So how were you in two places at once?"

"I can't," her head tilted to the side confusion clear on her face.

"So, if Mari hasn't left, can't be in two places at once, and your 'bruises' came off with make-up remover. How do you explain that Lila?" Adrien around, the class slowly draining their conclusions. However, Marinette spoke up. "She lied, obviously..." she stated having gone back to the reports.

"Um you said that out loud, Cake Pop, and loud at that."

"Huh?" sure enough when she looked around some were shock still, others typed furiously into their phones.

That was when Mrs. Bustier walked in, fifteen minutes late to the class. Which was also when the bandy contained restraint ended. Lila was akumatized, school let out, and the rest of her night went smoothly.

Tim woke up, and with her help survived his meetings. Some while on patrol she would constantly mute and unmute herself. Luckily, it wasn't more than twice, and they didn't run into anyone. Chat didn’t ask questions, figured it out since she was pouring over Wayne documents earlier. Tim would call her back after the private meetings and ended around 10.

At around 11 Tim text her back.

Tim:

      Thanks Bug you saved me today.

Marinette:

      No problem Draco

      You owe me though.

Tim:

      I remember.

      Go to bed it's like midnight over there!

Marinette:

      Yeah Yeah

Tim:

      Ooh

      Congratulations 2x!

Marinette:

      What???

      Please explain.

      Tim

      Tim

      Timothy

      Timothy Drake-Wayne answer me.

      Dragon please

      Ugh fine I'll sleep.

Which is what she did when he wouldn’t answer her.

She woke up the next morning to two emails from W. E.. The first was for a collaboration between W.E. and MDC for a show featuring Wayne Tech accessories and their new climate fabrics. She immediately responded and accepted. The second was that her class was one of two to be accepted as transfer students to Gotham Academy and intern slots at WE, she forwarded that to her teacher and the school.

Marinette:

      You Gremlin

Tim:

      Like I said congrats

      Oh, I need you to give me three names.

Marinette:

      What for?

Her mind was racing at the possibilities.

Tim:

      You'll find out.

Marinette:

      What’s the other school?

Tim:

      Some Prep school in the UK.

Marinette:

      Give me a Sec.

She opened another contact and typed.

Marinette:

      Hey, did you get a spot in the Wayne/GA internship?

Mystery:

      Yes.

      Why?

Marinette:

      Tell the others we are hitting Gotham with style.

Mystery:

      Very well.

Mari then sent three names to him and smiled. This was going to be fun.

Next

~~~~~~~~~~

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