#this is just me making edits for the wrong scenes XD

[apparently-artless]

kaname kei & his very supportive teammates ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

boukyaku battery #05

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep8 Musings - Loustat (SPOILERS) Pt2: Reunion

You don't know the HALF of what Lestat feels for Louis, to let YOUR grimy arse steal his man, just for LOUIS's happiness. ANYTHING for Louis.

Am I the only one who felt left hanging? We BEEN knew it didn't make sense, but what's your POINT, exactly? If Louis misremembered Lestat whispering, it's just par for the course about the odyssey of recollection. But if Lestat DID do telepathy, is that evidence of...what? That the vampire bond works differently than what's been explained? That he COULD read Lou's mind? AMC, this is AGGRAVATING.

Your goose is COOKED, my guy.

The copium & denial pack Louis was smoking as he laughed was 🤌

That's right, start sweating!

Master manipulation; cuz he certainly would NOT have, as we soon find out. ANYTHING for Louis. (Dang, Imma have to take back some of what I said about Lestat's character development not having started yet.)

I was shocked. I was NOT expecting this plot twist. I was ready to throw Lestat out with the rest of the TRASH, in the DUMP. Well dang. Guess I'll only leave him rotting in a TINY landfill.

I nearly SCREAMED--@nashvillethotchicken and I were talking about Loustat as Bobby and Whitney ages ago! I cannot BELIEVE AMC threw in a New Edition reference in the year of our lord 2024; y'all are diabolical AF, Rolin, STOP IT.

I wonder if AMC used Hurricane Odette cuz the OG script was set in pandemic!2020, so it would make sense that a year later Louis would head back to NOLA during 2021 when Hurricane Odette last hit.

That looks like NOLA's Pontchartrain Hotel--lemme find out he bumped into the Mayfairs when Rowan & them were in town, LOL.

Lestat got more aliases than the KGB; meanwhile Louis just sprinkles his long AF unique AF name all over the place. 🤦 But I guess it's ok, since the tour guide never mentioned him & Claudia by name. (Not Tom Anderson in another finale, LOL.) Louis so offended the tour guide said he ran a voodoo cult. XD

Fall of the House of Lioncourt-Melmouth.

You're gosh darned right! THEE Louis of Troy is in the building!

You love to see it. "A wearisome fledgling; all the millennials are--" not Lestat making PALE PROXIES of rat-catcher extraordinare LDPDL out of millennials. 😭

Lestat, if you don't get your crazy arse outta here with that bloodstained wooden keyboard Imma ROTFLMFAO.

NO JOKE, I effed up my friend's whole set when I started screaming "Siri, Pause," cuz my friend's Siri started freaking out and effed up the volume! XD

HERE WE EFFING GOOOOOOOO

(Best scene all season, fight me on this)

You know this was TEARING Lestat up, cuz of what happened in 1973--I gave Louis to you so you could do BETTER by him than EYE did, and instead it's NICKI ALL OVER AGAIN.

Imma smack him--this is NOT the time to be self-loathing, Lestat!

NOLA is my home--and the SAINT is not a city--I'm gonna cry.

He did. He just forgot, when reality settled in and the allure/nostalgia/glamour wore off. "I tried to make nights awful for you." Not the whole time, Louis. Y'all actually were happy b4--even Claudia said "the easy times" stopped after Florence died; and esp. after Charlie died. Lou can't be blamed for grieving his mom's death, and he definitely can't be blamed for Lestat & Claudia falling out after Charlie. Everything that happened after that--the 7 years of depression--was ALSO Lestat's fault. "I wanted you to suffer, cuz I was suffering;" I'm glad Les just waved that aside and said they BOTH wronged e/o.

He's not suicidal anymore then! He has nights in front of him to look forward to! So Lou can finally "learn to live honestly" with HIMSELF.

And Lestat dove RIGHT ON IN with that! He's been carrying that with him for DECADES, worried about Louis & what happened.

I LOVE that Les' language changes (the way his voice CRACKS and goes so TINY, oml)--he asked Lou in 1973 if he was "ill," and if something had happened TO him; so as to not spook/trigger or blame him--but he can ask more candidly now in a (relatively) "healthier" 2024 if Lou tried to hurt/kill himself; and get a more candid/honest answer. CLOSURE, y'all, I'm gonna cry.

GOOOOOOD. Don't EVER forget your daughter. Y'all need to have a Claudia Memorial; to KEEP remembering her, as she was in all her vampiric splendour, the good times AND the bad times.

I KNOW this hurt Louis to his effing core. The way Jacob cried FIRE!

I'm so glad Lou hugged him--YES YOU WERE, Uncle Les. And you KNOW it; you FELT that bond b/t y'all, even if she never looked at you. The distance b/t y'all was in name only, cuz a little Black girl couldn't have TWO daddies in 1917 and have one of them be white on top of it. I AM YOUR MAKER, sure, but you were her BLOOD FATHER, and she loved you, which is why she hoped you'd help her.

ANOTHER ROUND IN THE STORMY ROMANCE OF YOU TWO. 😭👏

What are these magical off-mic speeches/pep-talks Louis keeps giving people in Season 2?!? THE PEOPLE WANNA KNOW, gosh darnit!

DRATS.

I get why Jam said they thought the Loustat ending was "satisfying." It was nice, even though I'd've preferred to see Lestat in the Dubai penthouse at the end. :\

I LOVE THIS, AMC, thank you! ❤️

[fabuloustrash05]

Hi, Sorry to bother you again but You seem to be like...a lorekeeper of TMNT 2012 Knowledge.

How the hell does Magic work in that show? I'm aware RatDad Kinda has it with the healing hands, and I also saw Shinigami has it? I don't know. I'm confused. I kinda fell off in the middle of S3 and only know stuff based off the Wiki.

First off, don't always trust the wiki. Lots of fans edit it and add false info just to push their own narrative or make ridiculous claims with no source to back it up. I also recommend checking out the rest of season 3 and onward! It does get kinda sloppy by season 4 but it's still a fun watch! Reading a wiki ain't gonna do the series justice lol

Now, to your question, imma be honest with you, regarding the magic in TMNT 2012, I really don’t know how it works XD

TMNT 2012 barely acknowledges the magic concept, granted it was a very out of no where thing like "hey magic also exist in our universe btw!" and when it does show up it’s gone before you can even process it was there so it gets forgotten quickly (at least to me when I rewatch the show).

The magic in TMNT 2012 I don’t think shows up until season 3 (someone correct me if I'm wrong) when Leo is confronted by the deer spirit in the episode Vision Quest (who btw never shows up again, put them on the list of one and done 2012 characters). After that, every other magic related thing is very subtle cause the series focuses way more on the sci-fi angle, which was the theme that was established in the first episode and was continued to be explore throughout the series. I just crack it down to it being a spiritual ninjutsu thing, but I've rarely put much thought into it.

For those who are curious, the magic and even paranormal things we see in TMNT 2012 are few but what we got are...

The Deer Spirit

The Healing Hands Technique

(which btw I wish they used this technique more cause it would've been VERY helpful in other situations later down the line...)

Sir Malachi

Was it magic or did he just drug the Turtles to play discount DND with him??

Alopex's cursed Blades of Vengeance

Ghosts and possession

Cults and Demons

Magic users such as Jei and Kintaro

Yokais such as Bake-danuki and Jorōgumo

(granted these mostly existed in Usagi's universe so they probably don't fully count in the Turtles world but who knows)

And the very existence of Shinigami

Though Shini and her whole magic thing is barely explored or explained. They say she's a witch but we barely see her do witchy things. Most of her tricks and techniques seem more like blink and you'll miss it magician stuff than an actual literal witch. We know she can hypnotize people and make them see scary hallucinations, and it's also suggested that she can shapeshift into a cat but she only ever does it once and it's very subtly to the point that some fans probably didn't even know that the black cat in her intro scene in her first episode was her.

Btw, according to Shinigami's concept art, her hypno stone weapon (as seen in gif) is said to be a family heirloom, meaning she comes from a supposed long line of witches and magic users. Sure wish THAT was explored more for her character instead of her just being there as Karai's hype woman and another chick for Mikey to drool over...

[minerwarfare-suzuya]

Guess we're back to this Again

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

I guess this is sad news because Miles will be deleting his blog again and going back to being a private blog without trace.

But why?

Well all I can say that this aged poorly-

But to be fair no one was 100% accepting of his apology. We were all skeptical about his changed ways.

Though I can't deny that I genuinely did think he had changed and was showing proof that he moved past that annoying phase of harassing or bullying artists and users alike.

Boy was I wrong and to think that I had my expectations high. (I didn't)

What went wrong?

Apparently there had been stuff going on behind the scenes...

An artist that I shall not name has been dealing with Miles aggressive behavior directly in the DMs.

Which you would think he wouldn't fuck around and find out after this.👇

But I suppose he decided to fuck around and find out again.

Here's a screen recording of the conversation between this artist and Miles interacting but I've been told that it is best to fast forward onto the 2:33 timestamp.

"Tumblr just gives me bad vibes and i do not understand anything XD"

Yeah, I wonder why...

SURELY it mustn't be the consequences of your actions again.

Yeah, honestly I don't need to sound like a fucken broken record or be on repeat about Miles being a man child. I think it's clear that he went against his word by still being an entitled brat.

Just to also clarify that Miles Guidelines on his pinned post never specified that you cannot do changes to the oc or have them be used in your own AU. It was clearly stated that you can't claim them as your own or discredit their ownership.

But I think what's more upsetting is having the audacity to buy two OCs while knowingly that someone else wanted them.

Honestly at this point

Who gives a fuck? It's like damn me if I do use them or damn me if I don't use them for my own personal preference.

Just the fact that you had shove Mobox87's name to justify your argument and be on your high horse is utterly disgusting behavior!

Especially after apologizing and going back to do the same shit again!

This is exactly why I and many others were skeptical of your apology. We knew that you'd do it again because we all knew you were just itching to go off at someone eventually using Mobox87's OCs in the way that it triggered you.

But GOD forbid that person were ever me to go crazy at drawing characters you bought.

Anyways, I don't need to make this a long post on how this asshole is so disrespectful when I have these posts.

Miles ownership timeline drama

Aftermath Final Response

Plus the video shared is more than enough to get mad and be critical of Miles.

*sighs*

I never said this unironically but I think it will be the first time I say unironically and mean it.

KILL YOURSELF

Edit: Update! Apparently he's staying now-

But he still went against his apology. So, Fuck Miles.

Also-

[destinygoldenstar]

☀️This Jake Stan Is Routing For Him To Take REVENGE☀️ - Total Drama Viewer Reacts to Disventure Camp Season 1 Episode 11 “Lights Out”

(EDIT after reaction, again. There's ONE POINT in this reaction where I just... BREAK, Get so bloody pissed. It's personal stuff I got triggered by. So... be aware when that comes. You might know what scene it is.)

Jake gets slay pass.

I don’t make the rules. Jake gets slay pass. And he better use it

🔥OPERATION GET REVENGE ON ELLIE IS A GO🔥

And at the end of last episode Jake said he wanted revenge, so YEAH. I'M SUPPORTING HIM WANTING THAT.

I don't hate Ellie, but what she did was screwed up. Gaslight your friend with their personal trauma and ruin their relationship with someone, all for your own personal benefit? Yeah. YOU BETTER BE SLEEPING WITH ONE EYE OPEN TONIGHT.

SHE BETTER PAY

Okay I'll specify. I don't THINK she's going, that would be way too obvious and easy. So it's a, "I don't necessarily have to win, I just have to make sure you lose" situation.

Jake doesn't have to get Ellie eliminated. He just needs to make sure revenge is served hot.

And don't go after Gabby. She did nothing wrong.

I will make it clear, cause last episode it might have been confusing how I worded it: Jake is NOT 100% 'the victim' here. He was stupid, he's the reason their evil plot even worked in the first place. Being traumatized is not an excuse for impulsive behavior. Being gay is not an excuse, either. I'M AWARE OF THAT. But did he do anything to DESERVE this prior?

Did he target you? No?

Did he personally go after YOUR relationship with your partner for the sake of the game, Ellie? No?

Did he ever treat you like shit? No?

SO WHAT THE HELL?

Oh god, I'm already fueled up with fire and my eyes are crusty cause I woke up an hour ago. It's morning where I'm at. I know. Weird for me.

So lets get into it and see some chaos unfold.

*I got an ad for an ice drink*

Okay even the episode itself is telling me, "GOLDEN, YOU NEED TO CALM DOWN."

"I said I'm sorry."

Oh my god we're jumping right into this. Here we go.

"Do you have any idea what you did? You got Tom mad at me AND you voted him out!"

"Do you think I get some sick pleasure from this?"

"Maybe you do!"

"I feel terrible, Jake."

"Oh don't pull that crap with me!"

"You can't just say 'I'm sowwy' and expect me to forgive you for something that HURT ME THAT BADLY."

...

Flash back to every time Jake said sowwy and didn't get forgiven.

BUT despite the hypocrisy, I'm still on his side in this argument. I'm sorry. He has every right to be pissed.

"God will those two ever shut up?!"

YOU CAUSED THIS. YOU TOLD ELLIE TO DO THAT TO HIM.

YOU SHUT UP.

"And you two, why should I ever trust you again?!"

YOU SHOULDN'T.

YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TRUSTED THEM AFTER THE FIRST BETRAYAL.

"Wow, Ellie's mad that someone lied to her."

"Wow, what a damn hypocrite you both are. Who would've thought?"

They're BOTH stupid, okay?

Miriam's just walking by completely out of this XD

"Eh I'm chilling. Where's my coffee? Elders can drink coffee, right? I'm just chilling and making white noise out of this."

"Smell that? That's the smell of tension."

...I need to get a Febreze in my room.

"And none of it is targeted at me!"

...

HOW?!?!?!

HOW IS NO ONE AFTER YOU?!?!?!?!

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!?!?!?!

YOU SHOULD HAVE THE BIGGEST TARGET ON YOUR BACK!!!!!

YOU MADE THE PLAN. YOU BETRAYED SEVERAL PEOPLE. YOU CAUSED THIS FIGHT. YOU DECIEVED EVERYONE IN THAT ELIMINATION.

HOW IS NO ONE AFTER YOU?! THAT MAKES NO SENSE.

"Don't you get it Golden? I'm the villain! Therefore I'm completely excused for everything I've done!"

SURE. EXCUSE THE BEHAVIOR OF THE ONE PERSON WHO ORCHESTRATED THE WHOLE THING.

SURE.

"You know this is your fault, right?"

THANK YOU, MIRIAM.

"I know."

I know too. She DOES feel guilty, I'll give her that.

"You know, at one point, I thought I could trust you, and maybe I was too quick to judge you. But you've proven you're just like Grett, Fiore, and Alec. You're a no good trouble maker. Anything to win money, right? Shows your character through and through."

👏

THANK YOU. CALL HER OUT ON HER BULLSHIT.

THIS IS GOOD.

THIS IS GOOD CALLING OUT.

"Okay, I'm not about to be shamed for wanting to win. As if you don't?!"

Oh come on Ellie. You know she's right.

LISTEN TO MIRIAM. She's calling you out to try and HELP YOU BE BETTER.

She's not saying this to hurt you.

"Why would you vote with them in the first place? They betrayed you."

THANK YOU. FACTS.

"After we voted out Fiore and Alec, who would've been next?"

Depends. Depends what the challenge was and what the relationships were.

"Alright, fine, it would've been you."

"See why I did what I did?"

Yes.

But you could've done it WITHOUT HURTING PEOPLE.

"It doesn't bother me that you kicked Tom out. It's a game after all. But maybe you should've done things in a way where they wouldn't get hurt."

👏

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

YOU COULD'VE JUST STOLE THE FUCKING IDOL.

"It was the only way, Miriam. I'm sorry."

NO IT WASN'T.

Are we SERIOUSLY going to say "But Ellie was just playing the game, so it doesn't count."

Was Jake and Tom's relationship 'just a game?' She didn't have to go the personal route. She could've just stolen that motherfucking idol and all her problems would've been solved.

Yes I'm still calling that out. Add that to the counter I did.

But look, I'm SO HAPPY that Ellie at least got called out on her bullshit... even if that got twisted in her favor.

There's slandering people and intentionally hurting them, and then there's calling them out when they did something wrong because they care about you and want you to be better.

MIRIAM WAS CLEARLY DOING THE LATTER.

SHE CARES. SHE WANTS TO HELP YOU NOT MAKE THESE MISTAKES AGAIN. LISTEN TO HER.

I hope this episode at least ends with Ellie taking what Miriam said to account and realizing she was right. That would be WONDERFUL.

I know you're better than this, Ellie!

PLEASE ELLIE. SEE THE LIGHT.🙏

"There is no light, so it's impossible to navigate without a flashlight."

That sounds like a safety hazard.

"Two of them contain drained flashlights."

Um... I count three, your honor.

That's an animation error.

"You will have to trust each other to share items as you make your way to the surface."

OH I KNOW WHERE THAT'S GOING...

It sucks cause I think both Jake AND Ellie need that immunity more than the others.

UM, THAT'S LIFE THREATENING. WHAT?!

IS THAT A SCORPION?!?!

*Gets a 'take your style quiz' ad*

No THAT's the monster. Gotcha.

Why am I getting so many ads today?

"Trust others? I can't name one person I trust here."

Okay, yeah, she has a point there.

"Two of them are backstabbers, one of them is pissed at me, and the grandma is a grandma."

YEP THAT'S A SCORPION

Oh, BYE ELLIE XD

Is this cause I gave Jake slay pass?

I know HE didn't do this, but uh...

"You know, Golden told me to get revenge on Ellie, well here you go."

I DIDN'T MEAN KILL HER.

Well shit. Let me guess, Ellie has the batteries.

"We can find the exit without a flashlight!"

What are you gonna use? The wall? Idk how helpful that is.

Oh, Ellie doesn't have batteries. Okay... how is that gonna work, then?

*SQUIRMING* THAT'S TERRIFYING...

IDK IF I SHOULD CHEER CAUSE ITS FIORE OR FEEL BAD FOR HER CAUSE ITS A KID-

"I'm not leaving you!"

AW WAIT, SHE CARES ABOUT HIM?! WHAT?!

"Why did I feel worried when Alec got attacked by the scorpion? It's like I... cared about his well being? Weird."

Well... I'll be damned.

I thought didn't care shit about Alec. Huh.

Villain found family.

MY GUY. YOU ARE A BEAST.

FIGHTING A BEAST.

"What's wrong? I heard screams around here."

XD

THE DEAD PANNED WAY SHE SAID THAT.

"Oh. You. See ya."

XD

OKAY, THAT'S DESERVED. HONESTLY.

"There's a scorpion here."

"More reason to dip."

"I'm gonna DIE."

"See you in hell."

...actually, it would be fucked up if you left him to DIE, so...

But ditch him afterwards.

"This way!"

*Doordash ad*

"LET'S GO GET DOORDASH!" XD

"Not another scorpion, please..."

OH IT'S WORSE THAN A SCORPION MY GUY XD

"...kinda wish it was now."

XD

"Give me your flashlight. I can guide you along the way."

Uh, how do I put this? NO.

"Do you think we're gonna trust you?"

"Cause uh, I think I learned something from last time!"

"I can't steal your flashlight! I'm small! If I try to run away with it you'll catch up to me quickly."

Uh, yeah no. Still not buying it.

"I hate to say it, but the girl's got a point, Jake. Give her your flashlight."

"But-"

"Just give it to her."

Oh my god Miriam...

LET ME GUESS, SHE'S GONNA DIP, AND THEY'RE GONNA SAY IT WAS JAKE'S FAULT

Even though JAKE was the one that was NOT trusting her, and MIRIAM was the one who agreed to it.

"It's obvious I'll do my best to leave them the first chance I get. They're the fools for trusting me again."

Yeah, they're... oh my god.

If it's entirely Jake's fault, MAKE IT ENTIRELY JAKE'S FAULT, is all I'm saying.

If you want to paint the narrative that Jake is a gullible moron who believes EVERYTHING he's told. Fine. Then swap the dialogue here and have Jake be the one to suggest giving the light to her. Then I'll believe it was entirely his fault. THAT'S NOT HARD.

If you want me to hate Jake, MAKE ME HATE JAKE.

OH HEY!

I thought you guys were eliminated! What are you doing here?

OH SHIT...

Um...

I didn't think we'd be dealing with MURDERERS...

Holy shit this just got a lot darker.

"When I found out at the hotel that Derek and Trevor were exterminating the animals in the forest, I was about to take justice into my own hands! But I remembered that the last time I tried, things didn't end well..."

"And how did you know it was them?"

"I may or may not have threatened the hotel receptionists so they would tell me the truth."

Oh my god Gabby, I love you XD

"I did all your spy work for you! You're welcome! Torture always works!"

(No it doesn't)

"I wanted to call the police! But with my record, I knew they wouldn't listen to me, so I remembered that you're a cop."

So Gabby's a delinquent...

Honestly I'm not surprised.

Also Tom was a spy, where'd you get this from?

"Then what are you? A ninja?"

XD

THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS ENTIRE TIME.

"I saved your life. You should thank me."

Facts.

"I can't believe I'm forced to work with you again."

I know. It sucks. You really should ditch him.

"Calm down. You're acting like Jake."

OH SHUT UP. YOU DESERVE IT.

"Listen Ellie, I still think back to the early days, when we were the two outcasts of Team Purple-"

LA LA LA LA LA, I'M NOT LISTENING.

NOPE. NOPE. NOPE.

YOU HAD YOUR SHOT ALEC.

YOU HAD THREE SHOTS, ALEC.

THREE STRIKES. YOU'RE OUT.

I'M NOT LISTENING.

"What do they teach you in school nowadays?"

Bunch of useless shit, let me tell ya

Ditch him. Ditch him. Ditch him.

YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!!!

OH THAT'S SATISFYING!!

OH I LOVE THAT

Why is Ellie being such a girlboss this episode? XD

And after I swore revenge on her at the start too

"Bye Alec."

"Oh fuck you."

XD

THAT'S WHAT YOU GET.

YOU DESERVED THAT.

Ellie is seeing the light and I'm gonna be proud of her if she does!

"I think we should take the path to the left."

You guys can SEE the light, right?

Fiore can't really trick you with the light source, can she?

"Gays and boomers first."

AYO. THAT'S OFFENSIVE.

"You did put the batteries in, right? I can barely see a thing."

Again, Jake is the 'moron' quote on quote, but he's the one questioning this shit.

NO JAKE

Oh please tell me he didn't DIE from that.

Fuck you, Fiore.

I don't care that you're a kid. Fuck you.

"You meant for this to happen, didn't you, you brat?!"

Is Miriam gonna beat her ass? PLEASE.

XD

YES! GET. HER. ASS. MIRIAM.

GET HER ASS!!

"I should call child protective services on you, you know?!"

Is that directed at Miriam or me cause I'm routing for Miriam to hurt you?

Would love to see that in court.

"Did you attempt murder on Mr. Jake... whatever his last name is?"

"Um, I'm a kid your honor."

"I'm going to take that as a yes."

OH. HELLO.

THIS IS CONVENIENT.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"Like you care."

And here we go.

He's still mad at you. For good reason.

"No thanks, I'd rather be in the dark than-"

*Ad on a hurricane*

He'd rather be in the dark than in a hurricane. Honestly, fair.

Okay she saved him.

See, she ain't gonna leave you for dead.

Aw, Alec being so worried about Fiore though...

Damn. They actually have a bond. Who would've thought?

"Go for immunity! We can't let Ellie or Jake win."

I hope Jake DOES get immunity. HE NEEDS IT.

"And don't even get me started on what annoys me the most about you..."

Ellie looks so done.

"UGH, consequences for my actions SUCK."

"Bruh? Why you pissed? I only took advantage of you, triggered some PTSD, betrayed your trust, lied to you, and ruined your relationship for my own personal benefit to win money. You ask me, you being pissed at me IS TOTALLY UNCALLED FOR."

"I WAS THE PLAYING THE GAME. THEREFORE, IT DOESN'T COUNT."

I imagine they were there for hours of Jake just nonstop ranting.

"I hope you know, Ellie, I am PISSED at you. And Golden told me that she wants me to give you karma. Well here it is! I WILL NOT SHUT UP FOR THE REST OF THE TRIP."

"Tom warned me about you, and I decided 'Huh, you know what? Ellie isn't such a bad person.' Of course Tom was right. He's always right. And now, because of you, he won't ever talk to me again! You were never hurt like I was. You don't know what it feels like to be cheated on!"

Honestly, EVERYTHING he said there was just FACTS.

Ellie, you screwed him up beyond repair. That needs to be made clear to her.

Though I will say this: Trauma and being gay is not an excuse XD

He IS wrong on that front.

Oh they made it. Cool.

Who gets the immunity though?

Talk it out? Please?

"Only one of us can win..."

"If you give this to me, maybe I'll forgive you."

Yeah, he does need it.

The opportunity is open, Ellie! Redeem yourself!

COME HOME. COME TO THE LIGHT. GET YOUR FRIENDS BACK.

"You know what? You can eat shit and die."

WHAT?!?!?! ELLIE NOOOO

NO YOU WERE DOING GOOD

WHY?!?!?!?!

"And 'BOO HOO, AWWW, I GOT CHEATED ON'. GROW THE HELL UP JAKE."

WHAT THE FUCK?! 😠

"You say you're a victim, but you're really just a sponge for drama. You feed off the smallest setbacks, acting as if the world's against you."

😠

"Tom probably saw it too."

DON'T YOU DARE DO THAT TO HIM.

"You have no right to shame me."

YOU HURT HIM. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!?!

"After you voted out Gabby, I never pulled this on you, cause I have some sense to not be a dick."

BULL. SHIT. 😡 THAT WAS FIORE AND ALEC.

"Maybe if you weren't so annoying, your boyfriend wouldn't have cheated on you."

*Paused the Episode on this frame*

...

So, this is being written TEN MINUTES after I paused the episode in that frame.

What happened in between that ten minutes was that I PAUSED the episode, got out of my seat paced around my room in rage, SCREAMED THE F WORD, I'm lucky my family isn't home at the moment so they can't hear me, and I left the room and paced around in my kitchen to calm down because I felt SICK, HURT, TRIGGERED, and ATTACKED.

Not the writer's fault. They don't know. But... OMG

YOU. YOOOOOUUUUUU

YOU CANNOT DO THAT

I am VERY EMOTIONAL in this segment if you can't tell.

YOU CANNOT SAY THAT TO PEOPLE.

YOU CANNOT SAY THAT TO PEOPLE.

Maybe in a separate post, when I cooled my head, I'll talk about WHY this scene hurt me so much.

But my reason is not actually based off the characters. Roles swapped, I think I'd still react this way.

Bottom line is, remember when I said earlier that Miriam was calling Ellie out to help her?

THIS ISN'T THAT. THIS IS NOT 'ELLIE CALLING JAKE OUT ON HIS BULLSHIT', THIS IS NOT 'ELLIE GIRLBOSS MOMENT'. THIS IS SHAMING.

This is SHAMING someone with serious mental problems that need help.

This is not 'Oh, Ellie's ROASTING Jake right now, what a powerful moment for her! Hell ya, he deserved it!'

THIS TRIGGERED ME.

I actually KNEW this scene existed before I watched the show. But I had no context, didn't know what episode it was, didn't know when it showed up, and I didn't remember the exact dialogue. But it was in a clip of a reaction that was cheering for Ellie doing this.

I won't give names, I won't throw hands, that's not their fault if they see it that way. This is just VERY PERSONAL FOR ME.

I won't give massive details, because it's so personal, but why it triggered me? I HAVE BEEN THERE IN MY LIFE.

I HAVE BEEN THERE YEARS AGO, MULTIPLE TIMES, WITH MULTIPLE PEOPLE DOING THIS SHIT TO ME. Acting JUST LIKE how Ellie does here, towards me.

It caused me a lot of problems growing up. My family AGREED with the people doing that, so that was not fun. They said 'I needed to hear this. I deserved it.'

So I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. This shit does no favors to the person you're 'roasting'. If anything, this makes the behavior you're calling out WORSE. They act even MORE like this whiny bratty type as a way to cope with the thought that everyone hates them!

ELLIE. YOU CAN'T DO THIS.

THAT HURTS PEOPLE.

I DON'T CARE IF IT'S JAKE. I DON'T CARE IF YOU HATE JAKE. THAT'S NOT THE POINT.

YOU CAN'T SAY THAT TO PEOPLE.

I'm not saying Jake is innocent and doesn't deserve calling out. BUT, THAT'S NOW HOW YOU DO IT

EVERYTHING Ellie said in that was just... ANGERED ME. IT ANGERED ME.

I gotta calm down. I'm sorry. I gotta calm down. Peace.

(That time card isn't an exaggeration)

I'm calm. I'm okay. I went for a walk. I got some lunch. I'm good.

Fuck you, Ellie.

I can finish the episode.

Oh.

I thought Ellie was gonna get immunity. Guess not.

Wow, actually, thinking about it, she would've gotten immunity, something good for her game, if she DIDN'T waste time saying all that shit to Jake.

She could've just said "lol nope", shoved him, and then LEFT.

And she would've gotten immunity.

But no. She had to psychologically damage Jake instead. That was more important.

'For the game' my ass.

"Once again, Ellie proved what a backstabber she is. But at least this time, she didn't get away with it."

I don't want to say 'for no reason', cause you WERE being a bitch to her. But at the end of the day, you vote her off...

Unless she sides with the villains again...

Shit...

Ooooooooooooooooooooooohhh shit.

I think this is it for Jake.

"Am I nervous about tonight's vote? Yes. I feel like I have no control. It all depends on Fiore and Alec."

That's true. They could vote Miriam. Or you.

Cause you and Jake are sure not as hell voting together after you both pull that shit on each other.

"In just a few short days, me and Fiore went from enemy number one to being the ones in control."

I know. That's crazy.

You guys orchestrated the whole thing, confessed that, and no one went after you. That's crazy.

Oooooooohh god...

I'm actually feeling kinda hopeless.

I think I know who it is.

'JAKE'

Yeah...

'ELLIE'

Should've went for the gold.

'ELLIE'

'JAKE'

Aaaaaaaannnnnd I know Fiore's handwriting at this point.

It's over.

*Long Depressed Sigh*

...I knew it.

We didn't get revenge. Goddammit.

"Whatever. I don't care."

"Spoken like a man who cares."

"Miriam, I'm so sorry to be leaving you. Maybe if I had taken things differently, none of this would've happened."

Yeah...

"Thank you so much for supporting me. Everything from my grandmother to Tom..."

Oh come on, don't make this sad for me.

"Don't fret, kid. I thought I wouldn't open up to anyone here. But you were patient with me, and taught me that I shouldn't judge people so quickly."

Yeah. He's chaotic like that.

"You may be down, but you're not out. Play your butt off Miriam. We'll see each other when this is all over, okay?"

Yes. Win for them, Miriam.

Awwwwwwww💗

...damn. I'm gonna miss that trainwreck.

"These people voted out Tom and Jake. They've fooled me time and time again. They think my days are numbered, but they don't realize who they're messing with. No more Mrs. Nice Gran."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS

GRANDMA'S GONNA SLAY!!!!

Aaaaaaannnnnddd that's it.

Welp, all my favs are gone.

That's usually how it is, so I don't really care about that sort of thing.

Damn, Jake got a bad ending.

Either bro gets therapy, or he's coming back more hostile and broken and distrusting of everyone around him than ever before.

In that sense, I think Jake left the show with the worst outcome 😢

Part of that IS his fault, I admit. If he had just cooled off for two seconds and listened to Ellie, he would’ve survived and gotten a friend back. But no.

So as much as I hate the scene, I admit I DO LIKE the idea of Jake getting called out for his bullshit. In any other circumstance, HE WOULD DESERVE IT.

BUT HOLY SHIT ELLIE, IF THAT WAS YOUR INTENT THAT WAS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT.

I can totally imagine that Jake comes back in a future season and he’s this bitter, hostile, whiny, “Don’t trust anyone. Everybody is out to get me. Everybody is an enemy who wants to hurt me.” And being even MORE unpleasant for his peers than he is in this season. (Except with Miriam) And a deeper layer being him acting that way because of self loathing. “Ellie was right. I am a dick. I don’t deserve to be loved at all. I’m going to be alone in the end.”

I would hate it, that would probably be obnoxious depending on execution, but I think that would be a consistent writing transition. (Again, kinda like Teruko)

So… I didn’t think I was gonna like Jake as much as I did. I mentioned before but I saw some out of context clips, some of them being only about hatred towards Jake and that calling out scene. So I thought, cause I didn’t know context, “Oh, he’s probably this massive dickhole of a person.”

And then I watch it for myself and look where we are. I love this trainwreck.

Not in the sense of “Cinnamon roll baby girl did nothing wrong and his trauma excuses him of all his actions” Cause uh… hell no.

It was just very refreshing for me to have a character whose experiences and issues actually make them hard to deal with and messy and ‘annoying’. Especially for someone like me who didn’t have exact experiences but also acted like that years ago until I got help.

There’s a GREAT VIDEO that really fits this topic, I’ll put it here. It’s about flawed characters and the discourse surrounding them.

(This also works for Ellie, and other characters in this show too.)

I defended him when no one else did. Till the end. I did it. I did the impossible. Hello. I’m a Stan.

Fuck you, Ellie. Fuck. You.

Okay I have two different takes, objective and subjective.

Subjectively I think I hate her now. Just cause of that scene being WRONG on so many levels.

But objectively I see her POV in the sense of “She’s too far gone”. And Jake was giving her shit. And she didn’t want to listen to Miriam. I said this last time. This is a cool concept for a character and I’m down for it.

But yeah, she’s too far gone.

Right now, if I was being subjective she’d be an F tier just for that scene alone.

/j. CALM DOWN.

But she is one of the more interesting and intriguing characters left, and I do think she has a chance to win still.

In Total Drama, they usually DON’T let villain/morally grey characters win just because that’s an ‘unpleasant ending’. Unless it’s Heather, but even then that’s… debatable cause of the season.

But you know, this is an indie show. They can do whatever they want. So who knows.

Miriam’s gotta get revenge on her though. She’s our only hope.

Jake passed on the slay pass to Grandma Miriam, and trust me. SHES COMING FOR YOU ALL.

If you guys want me to continue these reactions, be sure to let me know.

[egg-emperor]

Whenever you play Sonic Forces and you're the avatar, do you ever think "screw you Sonic, I need to be with my beloved, Eggman!"? Haha.

Wanted to send positive vibes after hearing your hardships 💙

ALL THE TIME from the moment the Eggman Empire VS The Resistance was revealed to be a thing I was like aww man why can't I join the Empire instead? I don't wanna fight him, everyone knows I'm the very last person who could ever "resist" Eggman in any sense of the word lol he's absolutely irresistible

The avatar isn't accurate to me at all for that so when I play with one based on myself, it feels so wrong. If I was dragged into the Resistance, I'd encounter Eggman and immediately want to jump in the Egg Mobile into his arms and say take me with yooou you deserve the world because you're so handsome and sexy fjsbgksbgksgks

I mean god LOOK at him

I know he's a terrible evil terrorizing tyrannical asshole doing all the wrong things and getting thousands of people killed and the world would be awful under his control but he's so GORGEOUS Idc. I'd immediately fold in this situation all morals would go out the window and I'd want him to get everything he wants lol 😍

It would've been fun if Eggman visibly directly interacted with the avatar on screen in the cutscenes so I could get good moments and screenshots of us together but instead he hardly acknowledges or even looks at the avatar most of the time, all his focus is on Sonic and co in scenes where they show up with him XD

But I can imagine if he had a direct one on one interaction in a scene, it would've been along the lines of the ones he has with you as the player in other games. So I mean it is very fitting that he barely acknowledged them in Forces, with his "umm who're you? :\ if you want my autograph wait until I epically win this tournament, now shoo"

and "who the heck are you don't talk to me" attitude

^ I WOULD NOT FUCKING THINK THAT!!!

Edit for accuracy:

That's more like it

I'm just an insignificant civilian 🤩 I'd go weak in the knees as he degrades and belittles me like this, so casually too because he's just that confident and firm in his superiority over me and that's so sexy. But I'll happily become a member of the Eggman Empire and actually become something more useful in serving him if he'll have me hehe

He's so rude and condescending, looking down on and degrading strangers because they're nothing compared to his greatness and unworthy of his superior presence! It perfectly captures his egotism, rudeness, arrogance, and feelings of superiority. He'd be a rude asshole to me like this and I'd be like ohhh he's so dreamy and swoon 🥰💘

And to remedy the scenes where the avatar in Forces is OOC for me when it's the one that I made to be myself, I sometimes imagine him as an uncover spy serving the Empire and reporting back secretly, then betraying The Resistance when the work is done heh Though the Eggman bodysuit and shoes I give to my avatar would already make that pretty obvious XD

(Thank you I appreciate it 💜)

[yumedoca]

And UY's third cour's final PV dropped.... which means it's time for me to share my thoughts!!

(And as usual. Ignore the shitty quality of the screenshots)

First up, I have to mention the fact that MAISONdes is doing the OP and ED again!! The new OP is 'Rock On*' feat. Hashimero, Meguru and the new ED is 'Raizakura' feat. 9Lana, SAKURAmoti. Here are the gorgeous album cover arts for both songs and oh my gosh, they are so precious!!

*It might either be 'Lock on' since the Japanese pronunciation for 'L' and 'R' sounds the same.

(Edit: Seems like it is 'Lock on' after all!!)

As for my thoughts on the songs themselves, so far they sound great, but to form a proper opinion I need to hear the whole thing as well as see how it pairs with the visuals.

Now to the actual PV itself.. (Attention: Spoilers!!)

First up, as expected, there's a lot of new footage shown. Many of them are from the episodes shown in the previous PV which I've already discussed (go read it if you haven't, since this is technically a part 2) so I'm not going to talk about any episode shown previously unless it's new or specifically worth mentioning..

First, I want to talk about the adaptation of the hilariously deceptive 'Lum becomes a cow' chapter. Let's be honest, this is hands down the funniest AtaLum chapter of all time and it looks like the remake is making the AtaLum moments in this one extra dramatic (they even added rain for more effect!) just so the final payoff would hit us in the most hilarious way possible (unless those bits are from something else but I doubt it). AtaLum enjoyers (me included) are being really well fed this cour, huh?

I don't know where these and a few others come from (please tell me if you know!!). I'm guessing the fourth one might be from the chapter about Ryu's mom since it was already confirmed previously and the montage looks like a flashback with lot of beach vibes but I might be wrong. The Kotatsu Neko one might come from the Kitsune (fox) chapter with the photo and camera since I remember a similar scene which looks like that shot, but again I might be wrong. There are a few other scenes as well (Onsen-mark getting hit, Ten hanging from a tree and such). Maybe they're anime original scenes? Who knows, but we'll know sooner enough...

That's really all I have to say anything new about the PV, everything else are chapters I've already pointed out. That aside I do have to give props to how absolutely gorgeous everything looks as well as the fluid animation. The above shot of Lum and Ten sleeping is so pretty!! There are others but there's too many to count and it's obvious which all they are. I also like how Inaba's bunny realm looks and I'm also in love with AtaLum's outfit colorings for their 'date' in the electric jungle arc, they're kinda caramel coded!! Speaking of AtaLum, the PV also showed a lot of their key moments which surprised me since I though they'd keep those a secret till the episode airs, but to be fair, it's only bits and it did end up making the PV a bit emotional.. :')

(I had space for one more image till I hit Tumblr's limit so here, have an Inaba coming out of a trash can. He looks so proud of himself XD)

Anyways, that's all for now. This cour seems to be very AtaLum focused, to the point where the OP and ED album cover arts have both Lum and Ataru in it!! But it still has other fun storylines as well and I'm excited for all the episodes, may it be big or small. There's one week left and we'll probably get next weeks episode titles on Tuesday (as how it always is). One more week, here we go!!!

[king-candybug-backup]

Going to gush a little about a couple Kill Switch scenes that I appreciate because I think you're being too hard on yourself about whatever pacing issues you think you have :)

Every night, after the arcade had closed and the random roster race was concluded, Vanellope would sneak a heal kit out of Hero’s Duty, gather up some food, and then come to see him for a few hours. 

Whatever true reasons she must’ve had, she’d always hide them under the guise of ‘keeping him company’. Perhaps it was her sneaky way of torturing him, forcing him to listen to her ear-gratingly-annoying voice every night. If this little brat weren’t his only ticket out of here, he’d have tried to kill her a hundred times over by now.

This part I particularly love because it does a really good job at communicating how King Candy thinks in such a small, casual paragraph! He's only ever used kindness as a manipulation tactic, so it makes total sense that he'd see Vanellope's kindness as the same thing; not true kindness, but some sort of means to an end, something she must be doing to get one over on him somehow. He's completely and totally wrong of course but this small thought process fits his character really well! There's so much I could say about just this part if I were better at wording things, but ye, I just love this!

His head arose at the sound, blinking a few times to squint at her, as though he couldn’t tell if he’d actually woken up yet. “... You’re back?” 

“Well, yeah, obviously.” She replied, hoisting her haul against the bars of the cage. “If it took threats of violence to get ridda me, I’d’ve just left ya trapped in Diet Cola Mountain.”

Completely baffled, he just stared at her, slack-jawed. She really was a lot stupider than he initially thought.

This part I really like because I think it's another short but effective way to show how his thought process is going to develop about the situation. He keeps seeing her nice gestures as her being foolish and dumb, which I think will let his guard down more as time goes on and he sees this more and more as "oh she'll be EASY to manipulate" even though Vanellope is actually smart and knows full well to be wary of him, and he just can't process how her kindness does not equal stupidity, so his flawed world view there is pretty much setting himself up for failure if he misleads himself into thinking she's a lot dumber than she actually is (That is, if I'm reading into that part correctly. Mayby I'm overthinking a little bit there. xD Bad at wording things)

She shot a snarky look his way. “Also, you literally tried to kill me in Rainbow Lane, I don’t think you have much room to judge, there.”

He looked as though he were about to object, took a second to think about it, then shrugged in a surprisingly nonchalant manner. “True.”

Vanellope rolled her eyes before continuing on her original tangent. “So, what, d’you think every single other racer on the track suddenly doesn’t matter if they don’t win every single time?” When she saw King Candy open his mouth to respond, she quickly held up her hand, remembering who it was she’d been speaking to. “Actually, don’t answer that.” 

And this part I don't have much to say about I just like because it's funny xD

Brb, gotta go have a cry real quick 😭

But seriously, thank you, that's so sweet! :') I'm honestly blown away by how much people seem to be liking the fic so far, it makes me really happy that you're enjoying it! 💗 Your ask honestly just made my day, like, THIS FANDOM IS SO NICE, WHAT IS HAPPENING

It also makes me very very happy to know that people are picking up on the vibes I am putting down, thank you very muchly

And what I mean by the whole "pacing issues" thing is really just, like, there were a couple of parts that simply didn't transition between scenes very smoothly, and it comes off as a little jarring (in my opinion). I didn't have the chance to finish the edits yesterday as originally planned, but basically all I'm going to do is add a scene with Candy and Vanellope talking a little bit more before the Sinistar attack, because I feel like that part happened too quickly before they had a chance to build up a bit more of a consistent dynamic, and I'm also going to add a scene before Candy tries to attack her to show his anger growing a bit more naturally, as I feel like that part was glossed over a little too much. Like, he went from "I'm going to bide my time and wait for an opportune moment" to "Actually f#@% everything I'm going to stab this child right now" without exploring his worsening emotional state enough, lol. Those were really the only two issues that were bothering me about it. Like I know it's not the HUGEST deal, but I feel like I can make it better, so I wanna try, lmao

[dynamic-k]

ok i seriously cannot think of a question. AAAAAAA-

ummm... Because I can't think of one for Super Sticks, I am actually going to ask about The Spark AU.

Soo... Chosen has powers. The Spark is a Human AU. Other sticks- wait no humans- have been seen to have powers, like Quarter.

I swear why do I actually like and feel attached to Quarter- something is seriously wrong with me. He appeared for like, what, one chapter, and didn't even say anything?

If The Spark is a Human AU, then why do some humans have powers? Unless it's a human AU with powers. In which case, I'm an idiot.

Besides that, what does resonating actually mean? What is a 'core' and do people from other worlds have it as well? What does it do? You said somewhere that The Spark and a core are not the same thing.

What is The Spark?

Also, reading back on chapter one, what would have happened is Second touched Quarter's cage?

Like- because he's connected to it, would it hurt if he just- I dunno how to say this, but just kind of poked it with his finger?

hmmm... What is Quarter's powers like? Like- what is it actually, and how did he intend to use it in the fight?

Also if he can make solid things i can kind of just imagine him making letters in the air to talk. Oooo- does he know sign language? ASL, or BSL??? Oh I can just imagine him talking excitedly with Hazard from Super Sticks!!! (Before Vic gave him the gene supplements thingies, of course)

CROSSOVER hehe

See you next time, have a lovely day!

-R

Yay!! Spark AU ask!! My first one ever, actually- :O

jaehjawghrkjWJRGHAR *insert feral happy noises*

Disclaimer: I am under the influence of a coffee. Beware of rambles.

First off! I need to clarify things, since Quarter technically does have powers but also doesn't-

Remember this scene in chapter one?

"human modificators"

The Faction is artificially granting their own, different types of synthesized power. It's not efficient, has many drawbacks, and isn't exactly healthy for the Factionist receiving it. Quarter has a sensitive mental connection to his ability, enough that it sent waves of a mental, phantom pain striking through his head like a hammer when Demo was flung into the energy and broke through. Such a sudden break was rather harsh on the Factionist.

If Second would have touched it, he would've been granted a little shock, as Quarter's energy is highly electric. But just a minor bump against the glowing cage lines wouldn't hurt Quarter at all. It was the sudden and unexpected force, not to mention the strength of Chosen's throw that contributed to Demo's speed as he was launched, that really contributed to Quarter's brief mental agony.

I am really, oddly happy for some reason that Quarter stuck out to you! I spent like twenty some minutes making him, and I plan for him to show up later at some point near the end of The Spark, edition one.

....Yes, I may have a sequel planned, shoosh- XD With the big ol' clifferhangery ending, I kinda have to make another fic don't I~?

I hope that answers your question, about why a lot of the Factionists are superpowered despite the tag on the fanfic labeling the AU as a Human AU. Which, is true, because it's an Earth in the story that everyone lives on, and everyone [with some possible exceptions] is a human. But, you know. Modificators. Human experimentation~? :D

Honestly, with how many people have asked a similar question: wondering why there are superpowers present despite the fanfic being labeled as a Human AU... I probably should add another clarifying tag, like the "Alternate Universe - Superpowers" one... XD Oy. I thought my clarity was okay on that front, but apparently not.

Luckily, we have these asks!! :D I am answering the questions, ehehehe

Resonation lore is a big deal in The Spark AU. I'll say what I can for now, it's such a rambly topic for me- XD

As far as "other worlds"... Uh, there is only one relevant to the plot right now. Which is the one that I implied Chosen and his parents came from when Chosen was rather young as stated in-story.

Second was born on Earth, though, as seen in the flashy-flashy-backy-backy~ U v U The poor boy has no clue...

A core is like a store of energy? but not like superpower energy or an energy that can be utilized for running/powering something, more like... How do I say this... More like the heart. A core is not vitally important to whom it belongs to, but it is a big part of who the character with the core is and what kind of potential the character has for certain things that are not human in nature at all~

It will be explained much better later in the plot.

The Spark and a core are very not the same thing, but the Spark is something that can be contained within a core, and only within a certain species that isn't human that Chosen and Second may both happen to be- *is cut off before further explanation*

Quarter's artificial power is sorta... the ability to create electric matter and shape it at will. It's quite formidable, and he utilized it to encase the roof in a large electric energy barrier, glowing cage lines meant to keep the fight from moving off the roof, and to keep Chosen contained with the other Factionsists so he couldn't flee.

Not like it worked- O w O Chosen is a LOT stronger than he looks, and Demo is so huge, it took the trio quite by surprise~

HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?!?! :O I AM IN SHOCK- Yes, Quarter does use his ability to draw words in the air, he loves practicing cursive especially- WHAT THE STICK, YOU GUESSED THAT SO SPOT ON RIGHT-

Quarter does know a fair amount of sign language. Used it mostly before he joined the Faction and ended up receiving his current power. He's very close with Demolition and Kree, and often only communicates with them using looks and facial expressions, of which the other two tend to understand very easily due to how long they spent training together.

The process of receiving a synthetic power is quite painful by the way!! :D And, uh, most of the Factionist incidents/encounters are drawn up to play some sympathy toward the guys. Also because, I like giving everyone a character and personality! U v U Even if it does mean spending a little extra time creating said OC.

Now the Mercenaries are a liiiittle bit different in the sympathetic regard? As in, you can tell they're only following orders, but they do enough harmful things it's difficult at the start to, uh, feel the exact same way about the four of them, than it is to feel about any other misguided Factionist who believes they're in the right. Mercenaries, uh... let's just say I have plans. I say this a lot, don't I- ...we'll get there when we get there, I really can't spoil tooooo much~ >:3

Anyway, Quarter's plan was as I mentioned: Making the cage to box Chosen in, so his two teammates could fight him better. Quarter would have also joined in the fight two, creating energy arrows or projectiles once he was sure that the initial cage lines were stable. It does take him a moment or two to make sure that the energy he is outputting is in place. A detriment, or weakness, I guess.

More crossover ideas!! TS!Quarter and SS!Hazard, oh STICK. They'd be besties, for sure. O w O

Fun fact: TS!Hazard is NOT mute, actually. :3

That's all the TS!merc info you'll be getting out of meeeeeeeee- /total-lie, I-can't-keep-my-mouth-shut

[paranorahjones]

Ok so, for reverse unpopular opinion, MAWS and Stranger Things :).

I genuinely laughed out loud when I saw the second thing in this ask. Evil evil evil 🤣

BUT FIRST WE START WITH MAWS

@dangerously-human BLESS YOU for also asking me about MAwS, I'm gonna do a two-for-one here and tag you in this one (and then answer your other one afterwards)

I'm gonna try to keep my thoughts brief because I'm gonna make an incredibly long post about it later but main points:

I absolutely adore the way MAwS portrays physical and emotional attraction between two adults while balancing both of those aspects of romantic attraction in a way that never makes the viewer feel it's unrealistic or uncomfortable, or like either party is objectifying the other. This is what my long post will largely be about because the way it's done in MAwS feels incredibly rare and valuable.

This has been said by so many other people but I also just adore Clark Kent's character in MAwS. Until now I have never once found myself significantly compelled by any mainstream superhero media besides Megamind. I tried with Marvel and it didn't take. I saw less of DC and didn't really see anything that drew me in, though to be fair I didn't really look. I didn't grow up reading comics and only knew the characters by their stereotypes or their gritty, subversive adaptations that no one likes.

And then I watched MAwS and it changed everything. XD I care about all of it now. I want to know so much more.

I also really really love this adaptation of Lois Lane. I'm really not familiar with the others, but she's such a fun and real-feeling character. She's larger than life and also so down-to-earth when she needs to be. She makes mistakes a lot and does her best to right them, and it's so comforting that she really feels like exactly what she is: a 23-year-old intern with the energy of a caged comet, trying her best to live up to extremely high expectations and her own aspirations. Sometimes that energy goes in the wrong direction, but she is well-intentioned and genuine and really a sweetheart. I love her to death.

I just. ugh. I love them so much. 😭

Okay. Now for part two.

Stranger Things. Can I talk specifically about the first and second seasons? Because those two seasons, for the most part, felt like such a beautiful embodiment of the "love conquers all" trope that we both love. The boys protecting Eleven at the start and doing everything they could to help her, Mike especially doing his best to communicate with her and be a source of safety and comfort for her, and at the end of the first season, her sacrifice to protect all of them. Good gosh. I still can't watch that scene without crying. AND THEN IN THE SECOND SEASON us finding out that Mike tried to reach out into the void for Eleven every single day for 353 days straight?? Destroys me. Utterly. I love Mike so much. (also fun fact, if you add up the digits in 353 it equals 11. i remember binging the second season on the night it came out and screaming to myself about that when it came up.)

I'm gonna throw this link in here because it's one of the best fan edits I've ever seen in my entire life and it encapsulates all of my feelings about Mike and Eleven in season one. I remember watching it over and over again seven years ago and it still brings back all of those emotions. It's so good.

Additional things I love about Stranger Things:

The music. Oh my gosh, the music. The soundtrack from season one is often on repeat in my car. It's freaking beautiful.

Steve. Best freaking redemptive character arc I've ever seen in anything ever. He goes from being perfectly hate-able to someone I would die for in the span of two seasons, and just continues to get better.

Steve's hair. It's great.

It being the reason that we have the infamous "category five woman moment" post about Joyce Byers. I think about it all the time. One of my top five favorite phrases ever.

There are more things but I think I've talked about Stranger Things more than I talked about MAwS at this point, ironically. XD

Thank you both so much for the asks!! These were so fun!! :DDD 💙

[thepaintedlady00]

Nightshade

Chapter 22 | Chapter 24

Holy shit it's been a minute! Hi y'all! I'm back! Life's been absolutely insane lately and finding the time or the inspiration to write has just been really hard the past month or so. So, sorry this has taken so long to get out, but to make it up to y'all here's a 40 PAGE chapter! 😅😂 TW: THIS TW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS! The usual, language, smoking, drinking, mentions of drugs and alcohol, some very painful memories, mentions of abuse/neglect, mentions/descriptions of nudity and inappropriate photos of a minor, violence, blood, character death, panic attacks, general not so good stuff is gonna go down, unhealthy coping mechanisms (aka ignoring all the shit going wrong until we can't anymore), make out scenes, dirty talk, some minor roleplay if you squint, and finally some fuckin SMUT! Yeah, the will they won't they train has FINALLY left the station! We've got some teasing, foreplay, oral female & male receiving (kind of a little), penetration, nipple play, idk what else to tell ya xD And a little bit of unhealty family drama at the end of it :) Also it's super late where I live so this chapter was very VERY roughly edited, so if ya see any mistakes, no you don't xD

Chapter 23: Oysters & Champagne

The greatest changes happen with time. It is the slow, steady progression that paves the way forward for bigger, brighter things. The shift between day and night, the methodical building of new cities and roads, and the lowering of one's guard to allow connection and emotion to take hold. The greatest things often happen slowly, then all at once.

As I watched Jake sign to Prue from across the diner table, taking her feedback with a determination I wouldn't have expected from him when we'd first met, it was hard not to think of Rada's old saying. “Slowly, then all at once,” Rada explained as she helped guide my brush into lighter, slower strokes. “See? Rome was not built in a day my Lena, your painting will not be perfected in that time either.”

So much had changed in the past months that it was hard to even remember how it all began. In the beginning, Jake had been just another annoying bad-boy bartender that wanted a quick easy fuck and I'd been just another closed-off, flighty back waiter. Yet, here we were, sitting side by side in a diner booth. It was strange to think that when we'd first met I wanted nothing to do with him or his flirtatious advances and now… Now I couldn't imagine a moment without him.

“Okay, okay, let me try this,” he said with a sly grin. “Your boyfriend is a pussy.”

Prue rolled her eyes, but admitted, “You're improving.”

“Thank you,” he beamed, clearly pleased with himself and his joke.

She reached over the table and flicked his head. “You're an ass.”

Jake rubbed his forehead as I laughed. “You deserved that.”

“Worth it.”

As we happily resumed eating our breakfasts the diner door opened and slammed shut. Quinn tore her jacket off and threw it into the booth as she slid in and picked up her menu. It'd been like this for a few days. Quinn would show up pissed off about something, we'd ask, she'd tell us it was nothing and then she'd get drunk every night. It was an obvious cycle of coping, the question was what she was coping with.

Prue and I shared a glance, trying to work out the best way to approach the subject. Jake, however, just went straight into speaking, “What's crawled up your ass?”

“Nothing,” she ground out glaring at him from behind her menu.

He laughed. “And you call me grumpy.”

Something in her finally broke. “Fuck you, at least I have a reason to be so grumpy!”

“Yeah?” He continued to press, the asshole in him just unable to contain his glee at getting a rise out of someone. “Like what?”

“Like my dumbass fucking dad showing up!”

The silence that followed was interrupted by the sound of our forks clacking against the plates. Quinn's dad was something serious, something that rarely came up anymore but serious all the same. He was a known addict who spent her entire childhood bouncing between neglect and full-fledged abuse. When Quinn lived across the street from us we could hear him yelling and throwing things at all hours of the day. At night he'd leave, sometimes for weeks at a time, and Quinn would essentially come and live with us until her dad came pounding on our door demanding his kid back.

My dad had beat the shit out of him more times than I could remember, but other than that there wasn't much we could do, not when Quinn refused to let us. For years she held out hope that her dad would one day get things figured out and they could be a real family. That hope died when she turned sixteen and he disappeared. After she'd grown up and gotten on her own two feet he started showing up at random asking for money or a place to stay while he “figured some things out”, but that always ended the same. With Quinn brokenhearted.

“Your dad's back in town?” I asked. “Why didn't you say anything?”

“It doesn't matter,” she responded.

“Yes, it does! We all know what he puts you through, Quinn. We could-”

“You could do nothing because unlike you I don't have two big brothers and a drug dealer on speed dial.” The harsh words settled over the table, sinking into both of us for a minute before Quinn shook her head and relented to the tired ache in her. “I… I'm sorry, Lee. I didn't mean that.”

“It's okay,” I reassured her, reaching across the table to take her hand. “I know.”

Tears built in her eyes but she wouldn't cry, not because of him, not ever again. “I told him to fuck off already so he's probably halfway back into whatever hole he crawled out of.”

Prue put her arm around Quinn's shoulder and hugged her. “Want us to stay with you? I can close up shop for the day.”

“I can call in,” I offered.

“I can say pussy,” Jake added, getting a laugh out of her. “Seriously though, I dunno what they're saying but… Fuck your dad.”

She sniffled and shook off the wave of sorrow. “Thanks, all of you, but I'm good.”

Holding out her pinky Prue gave her a look. “Pinky swear?”

Quinn shook it and nodded. “Pinky swear.”

“And, just for the record,” I said, “My brothers would always come to help you, Quinn. So would Dom. You're not alone.”

“I know,” she whispered, but I could see what was left unsaid in her eyes. It's not the same. We may have been Quinn's found family, but the hurt in her was the same as Patrick felt. She knew she wasn't blood… She knew if it came to a choice between me and her my brothers would choose me every time. And nothing I said or did would change her mind on it.

The ring of Jake's phone broke the uneasy silence. He checked the number with narrow eyes. “It's Dom.”

“Dom's calling you?” Quinn questioned, forcing herself to relax even just partially.

“Okay, what did you guys do that day I was gone?” I teased. “First he's actually using your government name, then he's calling you on the phone?”

Jake shushed me as he answered. “Hey, what's up? Uh… No, I don't. Sure, I guess. Yeah, see you in a bit.”

“What was that about?”

“Apparently I'm getting a couch and a TV.”

I shook my head and nudged him. “Seriously, what did you do?”

Jake shrugged, taking a final bite of his food before standing. “Don't worry bout it, Princess. See you at work.”

“See you at work,” I replied. “Don't break any legs trying to move that shit into your tiny apartment.”

He flipped me off as he made his way out the diner door and headed out. When I turned back to the table Quinn and Prue were both grinning at me. “You've seen his apartment now?”

“It's not a big deal,” I replied.

“Is this part of that juicy phone call I intercepted a while ago?” Her eyebrows rose. “A sexy debt if I remember correctly.”

“I have no clue what you're talking about.”

Prue slapped her hands on the table. “Spill it!”

“There's nothing to spill,” I insisted.

“Bullshit!” Quinn interjected. “You were gone all day.”

With a roll of my eyes and a giddy, girlish feeling making my stomach fill with butterflies I caved. “We just hung out and took a few pictures with his camera.”

Quinn's brows wiggled. “Sexy pictures?”

“Maybe…” 

Prue happily squeaked. “Oh my god did you two finally-”

“No.”

Quinn groaned, throwing her head back. “Oh my god! Just fuck already!”

I shook my head. “Classy, Quinn.”

“Seriously!” She continued. “I feel like I'm getting blue balled and I'm not even involved in your almost fucks!”

“Just think about how great it would feel to finally do it,” Prue added. “I know I was absolutely buzzing when Will and I finally did!”

“I…” With a sigh I looked down and quickly, quietly admitted. “I have thought about it.”

Quinn quickly translated for Prue and both of them became insatiable for the rest of breakfast.

*

Jake watched the bikers easily maneuver the decently sized couch and the modest TV around the stairs and up into his apartment. He'd attempted to help a few times but quickly got told to “bugger off” by what looked like an eighty-year-old man, so he just stood and watched. Dom stood next to him, silently observing before he finally asked, “Well, what do you think?”

“It looks good,” he answered. “Still a bit confused as to why you're giving me this shit but hey, frees free.”

Dom chuckled, a real chuckle. “I don't got the room for it, besides, you earned it.”

Shaking his head, Jake once again reiterated the facts. “I didn't do anything. I just-”

“You just protected her,” Dom finished for him. “That ain’t nothin’, Jake.”

“Yeah, but I don't need… Payment or anything for it.” He looked at Dom, meeting the hardened eyes. “I didn't do it for that.”

“I know.” The drug dealer clapped him on the shoulder. “Consider it a gift then.”

“Didn't take you for a guy that gave out gifts.”

“I'm not, so just say thank you and we'll never speak of it again.”

Jake chuckled. “Thank you, Dom.”

“Shut up,” he answered, nodding to the new space. “It's a bit crowded.”

With a shrug, Jake just examined the soft leather. “It's not too bad. I'm used to tight spaces.”

Hemingway leaped onto the sofa, purring as he rubbed the soft leather on his skin. “Well, at least the cat likes it.” Dom watched the others leave and moved to follow. “Call me if you can't get the TV workin'. I'll have John come out and fix it.”

“John's the one that calls me a twit, right?”

“Yep.”

“I'm sure the TV works fine.” He waved them off and closed the door, staring at the tiny living room he now had set up.

It wasn't perfect or fancy, most people would even argue that it was too much for the already cramped space, but Jake kind of liked it. His chair had gotten pushed into the back corner with his guitar on top of it. The edges of the couch left only a little room for people to slide past to the bathroom, but he rarely had company over so that didn't matter much. The TV fit on top of one of his shelves and left enough room for him to put DVDs or VHS tapes up too. He'd moved the thin coffee table he never used into the center of the space, pushing it up against the shelf a bit so there was enough legroom for the couch and then he sat down.

“Well,” he asked, turning towards the cat. “What do you think?”

Hemingway's only response was a loud purr as he curled up on the section of couch that was bathed in sunlight. 

Jake chuckled at the creature and settled into the leather, resting his head against the back of the couch. “Yeah, it's pretty nice.”

*

22West was relatively quiet when I got in. The kitchen was almost done with prep work and from what I could tell we weren't overbooked. The locker room was empty and stayed empty as I changed into my work attire. It felt kind of nice, to have a moment of quiet to myself at the start of a hopeful easy shift.

Jake set his bike down by the door and quickly entered, hair still disheveled. I closed my locker and smirked at him. “You're running later than normal.”

“I fell asleep,” he answered, practically tearing the locker open and throwing his newly returned jacket to me. I opened my mouth to protest, but he just gave me a look over his shoulder, “Just let this one be easy for me tonight?”

“Fine,” I agreed, reopening my locker and shoving the jacket inside. “Just this once.”

“Thanks, princess.”

“How was moving your couch in?”

Jake just chuckled. “I barely touched the damn thing. The bikers took care of everything.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, they're pretty efficient when they wanna be. So, are you ever gonna spill the beans on why you're all so buddy-buddy all of a sudden?”

He glanced at me, a fleeting thing shining in his eyes before he looked down at his tie and shrugged. “There’s nothing to tell, really. I just came looking for you and they… Respected that.”

Glaring at him through narrow eyes I reached up and helped him with his tie. “Likely story.”

“You worried they'll start to like me better than you?” He teased.

“As if!” I laughed. “You're not nearly that charming.”

With a smirk, Jake leaned forward, “So how charming do you think I am?”

Humming in thought I knew the real answer. The instant, resounding too charming filled my brain for a minute before I answered. “I'd say you're a solid four.”

“Four?!” He scoffed. “I'm higher than four.”

“You certainly think so,” I replied with a wicked grin, my hands smoothing down his chest. His phone buzzed against the metal material of his locker. “I'll save you a plate, sweetie.”

Rolling his eyes he answered with a simple, “Thanks.”

Once I'd emerged from the kitchen the noise that the restaurant had been absent of, filled the space. Everyone was gathered around the wall instead of at the table eating. They whispered to one another, giggling and making suggestive faces. “What are we giggling about?”

Sasha smirked, giddily grabbing my wrist to pull me towards the wall. “We are just admiring the new painting that has graced our humble restaurant!”

The crowd parted and my heart stopped dead in my chest. There, hanging on the wall in front of me was, well, me. My portrait. My nude portrait. I felt lightheaded, my vision blurring, and the voices of everyone joking and teasing were suddenly drowned out by a loud, shrill ringing. 

It wasn't the sight of my nude body that filled me with a sense of dread. Though I still hated the sight of it - of what it had originally represented - it was the large splatter of crimson that stained the canvas that truly made my heart sink. It was the vivid and violent contrast between the soft hues of acrylic and the hard flakes of dried blood.

My brush slid along the canvas, the bright hues of blue and yellow, and lavender contrasting against the neutral skin tones of my self-portrait. I'd struggled to look at it, the fleshy rendering of my mostly nude figure. Its imperfections made me feel even more inadequate than I already did, the reference photo being one of the first that Tony had taken of me. That was his art, dressing and posing me to look perfect - to look like the beautiful and obedient woman he always said I'd grow into.

Truthfully I hadn't even considered painting something for this upcoming gala, having known well in advance they only wanted nudes or mostly sos to display. That wasn't what I painted, nor was it something I was particularly interested in doing, but Tony had insisted. So, there it was in all its hideous, imperfect glory. The portrait of a self I didn't even feel was me, but rather the hollow husk everyone else wanted. Everyone but Rada.

She peered over her shoulder, watching me paint for a moment as she cleaned the penthouse living room. The look on her face told me that she hated it as much as I did. But, she said nothing about how cold and lifeless it felt or about how she thought it in poor taste to paint a fourteen-year-old nude. Rada just kept cleaning, offering me what reassurance she could, like she always did. And like always, just knowing she was here was enough.

The elevator dinged open and Jules held Tony up, guiding him to the nearest chair and helping him get settled. It was obvious that he'd just got back from one of his benders on the flight back from France so I tried to keep my eyes to myself. Tony was never predictable per se, but he was always constant. His violence was never random, nor was it ever out of the blue. But, that changed when he got high enough.

“I'll go get the doctor, just to be certain you haven't taken too much.”

He chuckled. “Ever loyal, my dear friend. Some in the house could learn from you.”

The jab was obviously meant for me, but I kept my eyes on my painting, hoping it would spare me his anger for at least tonight. Jules exited quickly and with him gone, everything fell apart. The first noise I heard was the sound of metal clinking against the marble countertop, and the next was the bone-chilling sound of the cylinder of his revolver spinning. 

My brush froze on the canvas, ears honing into the slow steps he took toward me before he hauled me up by the hair. “Let's play a game, baby girl.”

“I…” The words struggled to find their way from my throat as my eyes caught Rada's. “I have to finish my painting for the gala tomorrow.”

“It can wait,” he insisted, throwing me back into the counter and pinning me against it.

He spun the cylinder again, a crazed grin settling on his lips as he held it to his head and pulled the trigger twice. As always, he laughed when I flinched and then forced the gun into my hand. “I don't-” His finger forced my own down onto the trigger.

The game played out like it always did until Tony's smile faltered and a rage seemed to fill his eyes. “Do you love me?”

I'd spoken the words so many times before then, but for some reason, I froze. My brain screamed at me, begging me to say it - to tell him I loved him, but deep in my heart I knew the truth. I don't love you. This isn't love. The rage spilled from his eyes, overtaking his face as he struck me hard enough to make my head hit the counter. The blow was enough to force the words out, “I do! You know I love you!”

“Is that right?” He spat, carelessly tossing the gun onto the counter and holding my head down on it. I gripped at him, searching for skin to scratch or anything to get him off me. “You didn't seem so sure just a moment ago.”

“No! I'm sure! I… I was just confused!”

“Confused?” He laughed, a sound that sent chills up my spine and made my muscles all tense. “Stupid girl. Do you even understand?” He hauled me up, holding my face in one of his hands so hard I could feel my jaw crack. “You're alive because I want you. If it weren't for me, you'd be nothing!”

“I know!” My lips trembled as I blinked back tears. “I'm nothing without you, Tony. I know that. Please…”

I prepared myself for another bout of his laughter, or another blow maybe, but neither came. Instead, I heard the cock of Tony's gun and a surprised… Annoyed sound leave his throat. “What do you think you're doing?”

“Let go of her,” Rada demanded. From the corner of my blurred vision, I could just barely see her, standing at the end of the counter pointing Tony's gun at him with slightly trembling hands. “You let her go now, or I swear on all of God's holy saints I will kill you.”

He laughed then, that deep, boisterous one that sent terror through me. Turning his head Tony smiled at me. “Seems you're not the only one that's forgotten their place.”

Through the tight grip of his hands, I begged, pleaded with him, “Please…”

With one harsh shove, my head collided with the counter enough to make my ears ring and my vision spin. I could hear his footsteps and the quiet sound of the gun's trigger being pulled.

Click.

Fear, desperate and heavy, filled my lungs and stole my breath as I scrambled to find my bearings.

Click.

Click.

Click.

Bang.

My vision cleared just in time to watch Rada collapse half on top of my painting. Blood gushed from the side of her neck, spraying across the canvas and staining the carpet. A sharp breath finally filled my lungs, yet I still found them breathless. “NO!”

I scrambled forward, pressing my hands to her neck and desperately trying to apply enough pressure to stop the bleeding. Her body shook beneath me, at least it felt that way… It could have been my own shaking. Through the sound of her gurgling breaths, I could hear Tony laughing. “L… Le…”

“Shh,” I urged. “Don't talk. Just hold on. Someone's gonna help.”

Rada smiled, tears filling her eyes as she struggled to lift a hand to lovingly brush my hair behind my ear. “My… Bea…utifil…” Blood splattered across my face as she coughed. “Da… Daugh…”

I could feel her skin grow cold as her chest stuttered and then stopped. “No! Mama please!” I sobbed, moving my hands to shake her shoulders. “Don't leave me here! Mama!”

“What's happened?” Jules’ voice cut through my screams as he burst into the room.

Tony, still laughing, waved him off. “One of the maids got a bit too bold. Don't worry, my friend, I took care of it.”

Rage filled me, rage and grief and a forever-festering desire to end it all. Chest heaving and lungs burning I stood and turned to the kitchen as Jules helped Tony back to his seat. I grabbed a knife from the counter and ran forward with a wail. Tony's eyes shined at the sight of me and the knife flying toward him as if this was what he wanted. Jules turned his head and with no hesitation, he threw himself between Tony and me.

Blood, hot and sticky, splashed my hands and face as my knife met flesh.

*

Jake glared at the message on his phone, a sense of regret and shame making him feel sick to his stomach. 

Won't be back for another day or two. - Simone

When Jake had finally worked up the courage to answer her calls on Thanksgiving morning she'd been livid. She screamed at him for being so selfish and childish and demanded he stop with his attitude and come with her. He'd held his ground, of course, but the sting of her anger always made him feel like a pathetic eight-year-old boy being scolded. Jake had said sorry. He'd texted her, checking in, he even tried to call, but she'd given him nothing in response until now.

He breathed out a frustrated breath and put his phone back in his pocket, shutting his locker and hurrying downstairs to distract himself from the weight of his feelings with food and his friends gossiping. That, however, was not what he walked into. The group gathered around one of the walls, laughing and asking questions when he approached. “The fucks everyone pissing themselves over?”

Ari shifted, revealing more of the large painting that now hung on the wall of the restaurant. Jake’s jaw dropped at the sight of a nude figure - a body he'd grown most familiar with in the past months. If he'd been unsure at all, the bold curves of her name labeling the corner of the piece erased it. Lena. 

The redhead in question stood, frozen staring up at it as Sasha talked and teased in her ear. A cold shiver crawled up his spine at the sight of her. This wasn't just some embarrassing nude portrait. This was something else. Something that made her spine stiffen and her skin lose its color. 

Jake shoved past everyone and moved between Lena and Sasha. The Russian cursed at him in the foreign language. “What the hell?”

“Fuck off Sasha!”

With a prideful scoff, he turned away, shooing the crowd. “Bossy bossy!”

“Lena,” Jake whispered, reaching out for her. His fingers barely grazed her arm before she recoiled, a quick reaction he would have missed if he'd not been paying attention. She turned and looked at him with glossy eyes and a dead expression that made his gut tighten and his heart drop. “Lena?”

With a sharp exhale and a staggering step, she was moving. She stepped around him, shoved through the crowd and across the lobby. Her body flung itself through the kitchen doors and Jake followed, not even sure if it was what she'd want. The second he entered behind her he found her hunched over the garbage, throwing up the breakfast they'd shared. The kitchen crew all made noises of disgust and Scott dropped his utensils to turn and look at the disruption. “What the hell, Red?”

Lena composed herself, wiping the spit from her mouth with a shaking hand. “S-sorry chef.”

“Are you good now?” Scott asked, his tone as harsh and uncaring as it always was, but his eyes narrowed in concern.

Isaac had dropped everything and rushed to the front of the line, held off only by her raising a hand to stop him as she shook her head. “I… Just…” She looked like she was about to puke again, but held it back. “I just need a minute.”

As she turned toward the stairs, not meeting his eyes, Jake felt his worry shift to anger. This had to be him. The Anthony that Dom had told him about. And in that moment, Jake understood Patrick's bitterness about how little he truly knew. He felt unprepared - unequipped to offer Lena any help, but even with that aching feeling, Jake followed her up the stairs. He'd be there, no matter what she needed from him, Jake would be there.

*

I knew I was moving, talking. I could feel each strained movement and hear each shaky reply. None of it registered. In my mind, I was still standing in front of that painting… Still in the penthouse living room watching my mom bleed out. I was stuck, or my mind was, reliving that moment over and over again while my body just kept moving on autopilot.

“What can we do when we feel stuck?” Dad asked.

“Keep moving.”

“Keep moving. Find something to ground you.”

“Keep moving,” I murmured to myself as I stumbled up the stairs. “Just keep moving.”

I could hear someone following me up, but I didn't stop or look back. I just had to keep going. One foot in front of the other. When I finally made it to the locker room bathroom I barely registered slamming the door shut and fumbling for the knobs of the faucet. It felt like my head was spinning with the noise and the heat and the nausea.

“Get out,” I told myself in the mirror trying to focus on my face and drown out the sound of Tony's laugh with the running water. “Get out.”

“Stupid girl. Do you even understand?”

I was going to throw up again. “Get out.”

“If it weren't for me, you'd be nothing.”

A pounding came from the door as it got harder and harder to breathe. “Get out.”

“I'm the only one that could ever love you.”

In the background, I heard the door open, but whoever was standing in it was distorted… Replaced by Tony's laughing face and his thin frame. It isn't real, I told myself, but my body was already gone. Desperate panic forced the shrill cry from my lips, “GET OUT!”

Whoever it was vanished, but the fear didn't go with them. Every inch of me shook as I scrambled to find a foothold in reality. I needed something, anything to keep me from passing out. “Find something to ground you.”

There was one thing that would keep me going. One thing I could use. I turned the cold water off and stuck my hands beneath the boiling water. The pain made everything else fade away, forcing my body to stay on its feet and pulling my mind to the present. My heart hammered in my chest and a pained cry echoed in my ears as I stared into my own reflection.

Tears stained my cheeks and my hair had tiny clumps of throw up in it. It wasn't pretty, but it was real. I was here. The door opened again and Isaac opened his mouth, obviously having prepared something to say. That something vanished as he watched the steam rise up from the sink and he realized what I was doing. He ran forward and turned the water off, switching it to cold as he looked at my red hands. “Shit!”

“I couldn't get out,” I whispered in a broken… Pathetic voice.

Isaac held me from behind, keeping my hands beneath the now-cold water as I began to shake again. The pain was gone and without it, everything else started to creep back in. “It's okay, Lena. It's okay.”

“I…” A breathless whine caught in my throat. “I can't get out.”

“You're out,” he answered. “You're here.”

“I… I…” My body lurched forward, bile spewing from my mouth as panic began to set back in.

Isaac squeezed my hands and stammered before he released me. “Okay… Fuck… Okay, I… I'm gonna call Peter.”

I shut my eyes, setting my head against the chilled sink. “Getoutgetoutgetoutgetout.”

Without even really thinking I shut the cold water off and reached for the hot water knob. Find something to ground yourself. A hand settled on top of mine as a new body settled in Isaac's place behind me, one I recognized instantly. “Stop.” 

Jake.

Standing upright I opened my eyes, I stared into his eyes through the mirror. “Can you tell me what you need?”

Clenching my jaw I shook my head as my chest stuttered with repressed sobs. “That's okay.” Jake gently pulled my arms back, crossing them over my chest and holding me tightly to his. “Can you feel my heartbeat?”

I nodded.

“Can you feel my breaths?”

I nodded again. 

“Breathe with me,” he whispered, pressing his head to mine as he quietly counted. I watched us through the mirror for a minute before I let my eyes shut. Jake's steady breaths fanned across my neck, his heart beat against my back and his warm embrace sank into my bones. It was like his whole body was speaking to mine… Telling it that there was no danger. I was safe. “That's it, just breathe, Princess. You're here. You're safe with me.”

I'm safe. I'm with Jake. Slowly my breaths began to even out and my brain felt less muddled. I'm with Jake. My body stopped shaking and eventually, all that was left was us. I'm safe.

Isaac's panicked voice echoed as he walked back towards the bathroom door. “I don't know what to do! She's… I don't even know how to explain it.”

Swallowing, I quietly asked, “Is he talking to my brother?”

“Yeah,” Jake answered. “He got worried.”

“Can you tell him I'm okay now? I…” I opened my eyes and met Jake's gaze. “I don't want Peter to come all the way down here. Please.”

“Okay.” He looked down at the sink.

“I'm good now,” I assured him. “I'm just gonna sit down for a minute.”

If it were anyone else they'd likely have fought me, but this was Jake. He knew I wasn't lying. His hold on me loosened and he carefully helped me sit on top of the toilet lid. “I'll be right back.”

While the muffled conversation carried on outside the door I just sat there, staring at my reddened hands with an empty sense of impending doom. He was here. In this restaurant. He'd hung that painting where every guest, everyone passing close enough by the windows, would be able to see it. Still, I knew it wasn't about publicly shaming me. If that were the case he would've chosen to frame one of the many photos he had of me. This was a personal message. A reminder.

“If you're going to play games, you'd best be prepared to do whatever it takes to win.” He reminded me often after that night, that Rada had played and lost. That Francois had played and lost. Everyone always lost. “They don't have the mind or the stomach to win this game of ours, baby girl. We're still the only ones even playing.”

Deep down I knew what this meant. I knew, yet I refused to think it - to breathe life into that horrifying and terrible thought. He didn't get to toy with me. He didn't get to scare me out of this life.

This life was mine. I had survived his horrors, I'd taken the blows and I'd made my choices. I had fought and bled and killed for this life. He didn't get to take that away, not now, not ever. He didn't get to win.

I wiped my eyes and forced everything back into that box deep inside me. Once my feet steadied I walked out into the locker room where Jake had taken the phone from Isaac and was trying to talk my brothers down. I held my hand out. “Let me talk to them.”

Jake watched me for a minute before he nodded, “She wants to talk to you. Here.”

“Thanks.” I held the phone to my ear, listening to Patrick in the background throwing things around in search of his shoes. “I'm fine. Just stay home and take care of the gym.”

“Fuck that!” Patrick yelled.

“Is he there?” Peter asked, his voice filled with the rage he rarely had.

Sparing a glance at Jake I answered, “No. He's not stupid enough to show up with Dom around.”

“Then what happened?”

Flashes filled my head again as I forced myself to answer. “It's just a painting, Pete.”

“Which painting?”

“One you don't have to worry about,” I bit in bitter frustration. “Just… Please don't come. Please.”

“Lena you-”

“I am fine.” I insisted coldly. “I… I just want to work, okay? Can you just let me do that?”

Peter was quiet for a moment before he asked, “Promise me you're safe?”

As if on their own, my eyes drifted to Jake again, meeting those sea-blue eyes. “I promise.”

He shouted at Patrick before speaking again. “Okay. Put Isaac back on.”

“Thank you.” I turned towards the door where Isaac stood biting his nails. “Here.”

I watched him move out of the locker room, talking to my brother for a second before I turned back to Jake. What do I say? I asked myself. He no doubt had a thousand questions, all of which would be tied up in the painting… Which was tied up in Rada and Tony and everything I didn't want him to know. So, when his mouth opened I stopped breathing. “What do you need?”

What? My brain went blank in seconds as I gaped at him. “W… Don't you have like a million questions?”

“Course I do,” he replied simply. “The most important of them being that one. So, what do you need?”

“Honestly? I… Kinda wanna just forget this ever happened.” I admitted looking down at my feet. “

“That's gonna be kinda hard with that thing hanging up out there.”

“Yeah, it is.”

He shrugged a shoulder and moved to pass me. “Gimme one minute.”

I followed him to the door. “What are you doing?”

“Just trust me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Sasha!” He hollered, heading across the hall toward the front room. “Give me a hand real quick?”

Service started before Jake came back and so I jumped into work. I used it to distract myself from obsessing over the fact that hundreds of rich assholes were out there, no doubt looking at my painting - my body. That got harder to do when Will moved me to back waiting. The first follow of my night felt like I was walking right into a lion's den. And then it suddenly wasn't. 

I didn't know what they did, all I knew was when I walked out of the kitchen and into the sea of customers, the painting was nowhere in sight. I looked at Jake as he worked behind the bar, and all the answer he offered me was a smile.

After that, the night felt a little less heavy and before I knew it we were all gathering around the bar for after shift drinks. I gave Nicky a pat on the back and smiled. “Head home Nick, I'll get it all closed up.”

“You sure?” He asked, handing me his bar rag.

“Go on,” I urged.

Jake and I worked side by side, serving drinks to each of our friends as they all mingled and began to filter out the door. It felt good to be behind the bar with him again, but whenever I looked up all I could see was that painting on the wall. Fighting that foreboding feeling was tiring and not something I wanted to spend all night doing.

“So,” Jake started cautiously as he stacked a few glasses. “Today was a lot.”

I sighed and looked down at the bartop. “Yeah… Sorry about earlier. I wasn't trying to be… I dunno, pathetic.”

“You were hardly pathetic,” he assured me.

“Thanks,” I whispered, finally looking up at him.

“For what?”

“Grounding me.” Suddenly shy beneath his gaze I looked away. “I have a hard time coming out of episodes like that and you… You made it less shitty. A lot less shitty. So, thank you.”

His fingers combed through my hair as he brushed it behind my ear. “No problem, Princess.”

“Let's get drunk tonight.”

With a smirk, he asked, “You think that'll help?”

“Can't hurt to try.” I shrugged, repeating the words he'd told me. “Besides, I kinda want you to be all over me again.”

Jake's smirk grew wider, turning to pull my body into his. “Like this?”

I nodded, happily drinking in the warmth and the smell of him. “Yeah. Like that.”

“Come on then,” he answered, tugging me out from behind the bar and throwing his jacket around my shoulders. “Let's go.”

*

Jake watched Lena dance from the bar as he nursed his first and likely only drink for the night. She'd been drinking steadily since they arrived, though no one seemed to want to discourage her from it. Peter and Patrick had told Dom shortly after Lena had talked them out of coming and so he and the bikers were nowhere in sight. Whether that was something to worry about or not, he didn't know.

At first, he'd considered talking to the brothers about the whole situation, but Patrick had just given him a shake of his head and nodded to Lena. A reminder that everything - or almost everything - they did was on her terms. They'd discuss it when she was ready to. She'll never be ready to, he told himself.

Lena was strong and stubborn. In those first months, he'd thought she was fearless. The longer he spent with her - with everyone - the more he realized that no one was truly unafraid. Everyone feared something and that was okay… It was normal to be afraid. Fear often meant that you cared about something outside of yourself. But, Lena's fear was something entirely different. Her fear was intertwined with her anger and her sorrow. So much of her was packed into the threads she refused to acknowledge let alone pull on. 

So, she'd keep drinking and dancing and moving forward. She'd leave seeing that painting in the restaurant as buried as whatever memory it was tied to. And, though his stomach twisted into knots at the thought of leaving her panic attack in the bathroom unresolved, Jake would let her have this. He had to.

After an hour he excused himself outside, not bothering to take the alley to the couch while the bikers had vacated their spot out front of the bar. He grabbed his jacket from Lena's seat and fished out his cigarettes and his lighter, moving to pull one out when he looked up and saw Quinn. She was boxed up against the wall outside by an older, angry-looking man - her father if he had to guess. From the door, Jake could see the tears building in her eyes as he screamed at her and grabbed her arms to shake her. His jaw clenched and his feet carried him toward her. “Hey!”

“Jake-” she tried to interrupt.

He ignored her, shoving the man's filthy hands off Quinn and occupying the spot in front of her. “Get the fuck out of here.”

Her dad laughed. “You’re a real tough guy, huh? Do you know who the fuck I am?”

“Don't care.” Jake shoved him again when he tried to get up in his face. 

“You're gonna regret this,” he said, spitting at Jake's feet as he glared at Quinn and slunk back into the night mumbling and grumbling curses and threats under his breath.

He waited until the man had vanished around the corner to turn to Quinn. She was closed off, almost angry as she huffed, “You didn't have to do that.”

“I know,” Jake answered, lighting his cigarette. He took a drag before wordlessly offering it to her. Quinn accepted and smoked in silence alongside him. “So, that's your dad?”

“Yep.”

“Seems like a real charmer.”

She sighed. “Yeah.”

Jake recognized the look in her eyes, that painful anger. “I never knew my dad, but he probably wasn't too different from your old man.”

“It sucks, right?” she asked, looking up at him. “Being so… Unimportant to someone that's supposed to love you.”

“Yeah, it does,” he earnestly replied. “But, we've got other people, you know… Better people.”

“I know,” she whispered. “That's different though.”

With a solemn nod, he agreed, “I know it is.”

“Thanks,” she said, clearing her throat. “For the smoke.”

“No problem. And, if he shows up again or bothers you or whatever, just call me and I'll come take care of it.”

“You don't have to worry about me,” Quinn insisted with a sad look.

It was a simple, sad sentence, one Jake had used countless times before. He knew the ugly truth that hid behind the words. I don't want to be weak. Weak. It was laughable to think anyone found Quinn weak. In all the time he'd known her, she was nothing short of sassy, strong, and confident. Yet, here, on the side of the street, Quinn looked small.

She must've felt small too, the way she kept glancing at him with that fearful hint of shame. Jake felt a few things swirl around in his chest. Anger that her shitty dad made her feel like this small and unimportant. Sad that her shitty dad made her feel unloved. But the strongest among them was a new, blinding need to protect her. Jake wanted to make sure Quinn never felt that way ever again and it was frightening for a moment. However scared he was of this new responsible feeling, he quickly decided that he didn't care.

He didn't care how scared he was, he knew Quinn and he knew that she deserved the same kind of family that she'd given him with her persistence and her meddling. “Yeah, but what kinda big brother would I be if I didn't.”

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at him and breathed out a soft laugh. “I…I've never had a big brother before.”

“I've never been one before,” he replied, looking anywhere but her face. “Guess it'll be something new for both of us.”

Quinn nodded, and without another word, she stepped forward and hugged him. “Well, just for the record, I can't think of a better idiot to be my big brother.”

He held her close, letting the words fill him with pride. “I have my smart moments.”

They held each other for a moment longer, both holding onto that feeling of family that neither of them had known - at least not like this. Then Quinn pulled away, wiping her eyes. “We should get back inside.”

“Yeah, we should.” He replied, following her with a steady arm around her shoulder.

*

I downed the shot in one quick motion, shaking off the burning tingling feeling that engulfed my face after. It felt nice to forget. The tingling was all I could really focus on… Well, the only other thing I could focus on.

Jake had been cool and collected all day. He'd handled the painting, the panic attack, and everything else seemingly with ease. While I made quick work of every drink Ian made, he slowly drank his beer and watched me with amusement. It reminded me of the last time I'd gotten wasted, what little of it I could remember.

Want. No matter how much I drank or how much I kept putting the big shit off, the want never lessened. As I watched Jake with that stoic face of his, all I could think about were those heated moments between us. All I could think about was how badly I wanted to do all of them again. So, with a wide, drunken grin I took hold of his hand and started pulling him through the crowd. “Come on!”

He chuckled but let me drag him to the back hall next to the bathrooms. “You gonna hurl?”

“No,” I giggled, stumbling into his chest. “I wanna kiss you!”

“Yeah? And we had to come over here to do that?”

“I'm not gonna make out with you in front of my dad!” I replied in a giddy, hushed whisper. “Do you wanna kiss or not?”

Jake stepped forward, backing me into the wall, his hands landing on my hips as I stared up at him in awe. “I always wanna kiss you, princess.”

With a satisfied hum, I gripped his shirt and pulled him towards me. “Good.”

In the dimly lit hallway surrounded by noise and bodies somehow in my mind, it was just the two of us. Jake's lips moved in time with my own, our hands grabbing at one another with a furious need to somehow be closer. The slight buzz of the alcohol made my head feel light and erased all of the lingering unknowns from my mind entirely. It was that mix that made me feel bold enough to touch Jake exactly how I wanted to.

I palmed him through his jeans, swallowing every moan until he pulled away from my lips with a groan. He squeezed my hips, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. “Fuck.”

Smiling, I leaned forward and kissed his neck. “You're so pretty.”

“If you were sober I…” He groaned again as my teeth scraped his Adam's apple.

“You'd what?”

Jake looked down at me and shook his head, hands leaving my hips to take hold of my face. “I'd do a lot of things.”

“Sounds fun. Would I like it?”

“Definitely,” he whispered.

I smirked. “How do you know?”

Bumping our noses together Jake shrugged, “I have it on good authority I excel at the art of pleasure.”

“Hmm,” I hummed playfully, “I think you're just overconfident.”

“I'll just have to give you a private demonstration.” He sighed against my lips, amused and frustrated all at once. “When you're sober.”

“When I’m sober,” I repeated, pressing another kiss to his lips. “Raincheck?”

He chuckled. “Raincheck.”

“We can still make out though, right?”

“Absolutely,” he answered, pressing me back into the wall and wasting no time reconnecting our lips.

It wasn't until Patrick rounded the corner and quickly covered his eyes with a disgruntled groan. “God, can a man use the toilet without havin' to see his sister doing… that?”

With haste, Jake and I fixed our clothes and bashfully leaned against the wall. “Sorry, Pat.”

He walked past us, shaking his head. “I don't wanna see none of that when I walk back out. Get a room or something.”

The rest of the night was filled with laughter and too many shots, but it was good. As we played our shitty drinking games and teased one another I was blissfully content. All thoughts of the restaurant, the painting, Rada, Tony… It was pushed so far into the back of my mind that it was nothing more than a blurry memory.

As Jake walked Quinn and me to my apartment I noticed how relaxed she seemed. Even in my slightly drunk state, I recognized how the tension seemed to have lifted from her shoulders as she walked beside Jake with a smile. She felt safe with him and it made my chest feel warm and fuzzy. When we reached my door, she turned and hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” he replied, awkwardly patting her head. “I mean it.”

“I know.”

Giving them both a fond look I pressed one last kiss to Jake's lips. “Goodnight, tough guy. Try not to get beat up on your way home.”

He chuckled. “I'll do my best.”

“Tell our cat goodnight from me!”

“Goodnight, Lena,” he hollered as he walked down the sidewalk.

Inside Quinn and I flopped onto my bed, both tossing and turning, fighting over the blanket to try and get comfortable. “Hey,” I whispered as we both finally settled. “What happened tonight?”

She snuggled into the pillow and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, Lee.”

“Quinn-”

“Seriously,” she replied quickly, a smile tugging at her lips. “My big brother took care of it.”

Even in my inebriated state, I didn’t need to ask who she was talking about. The answer was clear. I smiled and closed my eyes. “Jake’s good at that.”

“Yeah, he is.”

*

Jake stood in front of the bar, watching the workers closely as they situated the lights. Mr. Hiragana and I walked through the space of the new restaurant, now finally cleared of garbage and wreckage. It looked bigger than it had, but that might've just been how the fixed walls and proper lighting made it feel. “So,” the man beside me began, “I assume you and your colleagues have discussed the design of the space?”

“We have,” I answered, again glancing at Jake. “Scott doesn't care either way, so long as the kitchen is big enough with new appliances. Jake wanted full control of the bar.” With a smile, I handed him the simple sketches I’d done. “And you know me, I'm the one with the vision.”

“Of course,” he agreed, eyes carefully looking over the pages with a smile. “Your visions never cease to amaze me, little fish.”

Nudging him with my elbow I smiled. “So, you think it's doable?”

“It is fairly simple.” Handing the papers to the lead on the project they exchanged a few words before he patted my hand and looked around the room. “This will be the pride of the city when all is said and done.”

“That's ambitious,” I said with a laugh. “The big apples got a lot of gems.”

Nodding Mr. Hiragana said again, “And this will be one of them.”

With a tilt of my head and a soft smile, I squeezed his hand. “Were you always this optimistic?”

“Only after I met you,” he replied, squeezing my hand back. 

“Was I ever this optimistic?” A sad feeling took root in my chest as I looked around at the clean slate. “It feels like so long ago that I had something like this… A dream.”

Mr. Hiragana nodded, his thoughtful eyes never leaving my face as he answered, “You have been through much these years we have been apart. You have changed… Grown not only in body but in mind. The little fish I met at that hotel so many years ago is not the same one that stands before me now. You have known sorrow, fear, loss.” With a proud gleam in his eyes, he nodded more assuredly. “And in spite of it all, you have survived. It is normal to lose one's optimism after such a trying journey. But, one day you will find it again.”

“You've grown wiser in our time apart,” I deduced.

With a deep laugh, he shook his head. “In some ways, I suppose. All that live to be my age have some wisdom to depart onto younger ears.” With a glance at Jake, he smirked. “Though, some of that wisdom is repeated words said by a much wiser voice than mine.”

“How do you mean?”

“Slowly, then all at once.” His words made everything still as Rada's bright smile and tender kiss on my head warmed me. Mr. Hiragana smiled again. “This is what she always said when encouraging you to follow your heart, yes?”

My eyes drifted towards the bar where Jake paced behind the wooden bartop. His eyes darted back and forth, memorizing the space he'd claimed as his and visualizing whatever it was his mind had thought up for it. For a split second, it was like I too could see that bright image he had in his head. A bar with soft lights and glittering bottles, pictures of everyone that mattered littering the wall behind it. A place that felt lavish and expensive without being so snooty and uptight. A place to feel at home. 

Then that all vanished as his head turned and those blue eyes pierced mine. The vision faded from his mind, replaced by another… Less focused one. That wicked gleam shined like the sun over water as his tongue darted out to wet his lips and his eyes lazily moved down the length of me. Sinful. That was the only word I knew that properly described him as I broke eye contact with him and cleared my throat.

“Thank you.” I looked back up at him, ignoring the knowing look he gave me in return, and bowed my head. “For helping me find my way.”

He bowed his head in return. “You have always known your way, Little Fish. I have simply reminded you of it.”

I glanced at the time and bowed again. “We should be going.”

“I look forward to our next meeting.” He squeezed my hand one last time. “They would be proud of you.”

After leaving the crew behind to work on the building Jake and I headed to work. We made small talk about the progress of the restaurant, a subject Jake was still clearly uncomfortable with. “Mr. Hiragana says we'll probably be able to open before next years up.”

Jake stiffly nodded, eyes still staring straight ahead. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” I answered, watching him carefully. “So, how are you feeling about the whole thing?”

“Fine.”

I reached out and stopped him mid-step, my hand carefully laying on his arm and encouraging him to look at me. “Jake.”

He shook his head and sighed, “I feel fine. Excited… But… It's… It's just a lot and it's complicated.”

“Anything I can do to help?” I asked with a tender tilt of my head.

“No, I don't think so.”

I shrugged. “Well, I give you full permission to be an asshole about restaurant shit while you figure it out. That help?”

Jake chuckled, visibly pleased with the idea of an asshole pass. “Maybe a little.”

“Good,” I beamed back as the heavy cloud of tension dissipated and the rest of our walk felt normal again. It wasn't until we entered 22West that the weight of everything came crashing down over me all over again.

A new painting hung on the wall, not one nearly as painful to look at, but another all the same. The light blues of the waves gradually faded into black as the painting shifted focus from the boat - my mother's boat - to the nothingness that lurked beneath the water. My heart dropped into my stomach, twisting and tightening until it was nothing more than a ball of iron filling my stomach with dread.

*

The clinking of silverware felt louder that family meal than any other, at least it did to Jake. He sat next to Lena, whose eyes hadn't left the painting since they'd arrived. It was a simple image of a boat and the ocean depths, but he knew what it really meant to her… Some of it anyway. As his eyes passed between the painting and Lena's emotionless face, Jake wanted nothing more than to ask the question that hung on the tip of his tongue.

Why does this make you feel so afraid? 

His best and only guess was that it had something to do with Anthony… Something to do with the three years that Lena tried her damnedest to never focus on. But, in that curious, protective way of his, Jake wanted to know more. He wanted to understand the situation fully so he could at least make an attempt to lessen the impact of it.

They had been the only two that hadn't already gotten dressed in those hideous shirts, having been late to oversee things at the new restaurant space, and as they changed in the quiet of an empty locker room Jake felt relieved no one else was here. The apprehensive, almost avoidant air around Lena never once lifted as he turned to look at her. “You okay?”

She didn't even glance at him when she answered, “It's just… A lot…”

He found it ironic that her words – her feelings mirrored his so perfectly. Any other time it would have made him chuckle, but right now all he wanted was to make her feel better. The panic in her voice as she screamed at him to get out the other day had made him feel physically sick. Seeing her using pain to somehow try to ignore the memories made him feel even worse. Jake wanted - needed - to help her.

“So take it out on me,” Jake suggested, her words from their walk circling around in his head as he closed his locker.

“What?”

“All that shit you're holding onto, take some of it out on me.”

“I'm not gonna do that.”

“Why not?” He asked with a hopeful smirk. “Like me too much?”

“Less and less each minute,” she weakly joked.

“Let's play a game,” he offered. “We go back in time tonight to before we became friends. I'll be my charming self and you can be a bitch.”

“Jake…”

Pushing himself off his locker he chuckled. “Oh come on, princess. Have some fun. Play a game with me.”

Shaking her head Lena finally nodded. “Alright, fine, I'll play.”

Jake smirked down at her. “See ya downstairs, Lana.”

“See ya, jerk.”

Tonight was gonna be fun.

*

“Behind,” Jake deadpanned for the third time tonight, the mischievous glow in his eyes the only thing giving away his true emotions. “Watch where you're standing, Lana.”

He’d been purposefully waiting until I’d stepped up behind him to turn directly into me and pretend to be annoyed. Part of his “game”. I'd been skeptical of his plan and it’d taken me a minute to adjust to the amped-up brand of his usual asshole behaviors, but once I did I actually found the whole thing… Fun… “Watch where you're walking, jerk.”

Jake slid out of the kitchen with nothing more than a smile. Everyone around us looked confused, but shocking none of them said a word. Isaac and Scott gave me the occasional questioning look, likely expecting me to explain it later. I didn't care about any of that though. I didn't care about the new painting or the past it dug up. I didn't care about Tony's obvious involvement. All I cared about was thinking up a new snarky comment to hit Jake with the next time I saw him.

I continued to switch between line and dish before moving to help restock the bar. Jake saw me the second I left the kitchen with the two bottles in my hand and slid to stand in the middle of the bar space, shaking his cocktail. “Sorry, I need the room.”

“Idiot,” I mumbled under my breath, just loud enough for him to hear me as I pressed my chest up against his back to slide past him. “Good thing for you I don't mind getting up close and personal.”

“Lucky me,” he replied, pursing his lips as he watched me bend over to grab the now-empty rack for the glasses. 

He slid the drink to the guest who had ordered it and quickly turned, putting his body directly behind mine so I'd run into him when I stood up. I played into his hand and with an exaggerated eye roll I mimicked his words, “Behind.”

“Sorry,” he taunted. “I was just admiring the view.”

“I'm just surprised you have the time to admire anyone else's ass when you're so obviously in love with your own.”

Chuckling he let me pass. “I assure you, an ass like yours puts mine to shame, princess.”

“How flattering,” I deadpanned. “Save some of that charm for the people dumb enough to pay you, pretty boy.”

The night dragged on, but I hardly noticed how long it really was. Once the guests had vacated the dining room everyone drank themselves into a better mood. Nicky left early, leaving Jake and me to close the bar down. Next to me, Jake finished counting his tips with a click of his tongue, “Only four hundred tonight.”

“Well,” I sarcastically remarked, putting a bottle back in place. “Looks like tonight's gonna be a big fat bust. If only there was a way you could salvage your wounded ego.”

“Wanna know what I think?” He asked, ignoring my taunt as he side-eyed me. He poured Heather's drink into a to-go cup with a thoughtful grin.

“Desperately,” I answered in that slightly mocking tone he was known for.

Jake slid the cup to her and watched the group start to leave. “I think I should snag us some food from the kitchen while you grab a bottle from the wine cellar,” he turned and looked me up and down, reminiscent of how he had in the beginning. “Then we meet at my place in a half hour.”

The look in his eyes told me exactly what his words didn't, but I still wanted to hear him say it. With a coy smile and a tiny step too close, I asked in a light, teasing tone, “Like a date?”

“If that's what you wanna call it,” he replied just as teasing, but both of us could pick out the genuine nature in each other's words.

My heart did a flip inside. For the first time since the painting had arrived 22West felt like it should. It felt like just another space, one I didn't feel paranoid or anxious in. Jake was there, standing in front of me, inviting me to spend the night with him… Inviting me to forget about anything and everything else. Mr. Hiragana’s words - Rada’s words - echoed in my mind. “Slowly, then all at once.”

“It’s a date then,” I answered, a sudden hopefulness, or maybe blind courage, refusing to let old fears rob me of this - of anything else with Jake.

That cocky grin of his made me roll my eyes as he kept up the persona of that asshole-ish self we’d be toying around with all through service. “See you there, Princess.”

“Don’t get too cocky, pretty boy, or I’ll stand you up.”

Jake chuckled and shook his head. “No, you won’t.”

God this shouldn’t be so fun. “Won’t I?”

He bent his head down, crowding my space and letting his eyes shamelessly roam down to my cleavage. “You want this too bad to stand me up.”

I replied through the feeling of heat rising up my neck. “You seem confident about that.”

“I am confident,” he answered, tugging his lower lip between his teeth for a moment. “That’s the point of this game, isn’t it? We pretend to be the assholes we were to each other when we first met so we can finally just say what we really mean?”

Though I hadn’t seen the game that way before, it clicked the second Jake had said it. Everything that had happened the past few days… Thanksgiving, the bar, tonight, one thing after another after another after another all getting in the way of what I, we, wanted and dreaded more than anything. The conversation. The admittance. The game had given me - given us both - the courage to just come out with it, to commit once and for all to an action. A date. “You’re right.”

Jake smirked even wider, cocky and dickish as he leaned in closer, tilting his head ever so slightly in that smart-ass kind of way. “Am I?”

“Don’t ruin it.” I carefully pushed against his chest and took a step back. “Now, excuse me. I have an expensive bottle to steal.”

“That’s my girl,” he muttered, just low enough that I couldn’t be totally sure he’d even said it. He watched me turn and walk away, the burning feeling of his eyes on me only making my heart beat faster in my chest.

Down in the chilled wine cellar, I stood, staring at the shelves, as my mind caught up with my body. A date. Holy shit. This is a date. I glanced down at my plain attire and shook my head. “Nope.” Digging my phone out of my pocket I moved forward, scanning the bottles on the shelves as the line rang.

“Hello?” Quinn sang into the phone.

“Where are you?”

“Wow, not even a hi, how’s it going?”

“Quinn, no time!” I replied, hurriedly. “I need an outfit.”

She made a curious noise over the phone. “What for?”

“I…” A stupid gin made my cheeks burn as I answered, “I have a date.”

“Are you two finally calling your one on one time, a date?” Quinn inquired with a light teasing tone. “How bold of you.”

“Shut up, do you have something I can wear or not?”

With a sigh, I could hear her as she started flipping through her rack of clothes. “If you want my professional opinion, showing up in nothing at all would be your best option.”

Rolling my eyes I finally found the bottle I'd been searching for. “Quinn…”

“Fiiinnee, I've got a few options. See you in ten?”

“Sounds good, thank you!”

“Det-”

“Details as payment, I know Q.”

Bottle in hand I hurried up the stairs, saying goodnight to the dish crew as they finished changing and headed out into the chilled air. My steps felt both lighter and heavier as I walked beneath the neon lights and moved around the slow crowds. I tried not to focus on what this meant… On the obvious expectation that both Jake and I had at this point, but that was practically impossible.

We'd already done everything else, a fact everyone was keen on reminding us. We'd kissed and touched and whispered heated words. Jake and I were far past any normal friendship. We had been for a while. Yet, there we were using games to commit to an actual date. There we were coming up with some kind of excuse to meet at his apartment where things were bound to go a very specific way.

Are we even going to get to open this bottle? I wondered, nails picking at the fancy label. Or is he going to just kiss me the second I walk in? The vivid and tantalizing image of him pulling me into his apartment and pressing me into his front door filled my brain. Am I going to be able to not kiss him first? Another valid question.

Quinn's apartment wasn't far from Ozzy's or the club. She lived a few blocks up the way in a modest one-bedroom place she'd busted her ass to afford back in the day. The old, sun-faded brick shifted to peeling wallpaper as I made my way inside and up the creaking staircase to the third floor. The second door down the hallway, the only door not decorated with scuff marks from people's shoes. 

Ari was waiting to open the door with a wide smirk. “TIGER!” She purred, pulling me inside the dimly lit warm space and pressing a kiss to my cheek. “I heard you have a daaaaattteeee.”

Quinn's apartment was always in some state of chaos. Shoes were tossed around, blankets hung off of every soft surface and her makeup and hair supplies were scattered around her place like hidden gems. She liked it this way, liked the way it made things feel crowded and lived in. Having grown up with nothing Quinn collected things and held them close like a slutty magpie.

The warm lights from her lamps lit up the living space, where it appeared I'd interrupted a dinner date. Quinn emerged from her bedroom to the left and helped peel Ari off me with a loving look and teasing in her eyes. “It's not a big deal remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Ari giggled. “Just two friends hanging out late into the night.”

“You two are the worst,” I grumbled, setting the bottle down on Quinn's counter. “So, any good choices?”

With an offended look, Quinn waved me into her bedroom. “As if you need to ask.”

Ari looked at the bottle with wide eyes and a huge grin. “Thief!” She gasped. “I love you!”

“Don't open it,” I called out to her. “If there's any left tomorrow I'll bring it up to you guys.”

Quinn's eyes widened and she practically vibrated as she hopped onto her bed among the outfits she'd pulled from her closet. “Is this gonna be an overnight date?”

“Maybe,” I answered, trying not to let my excitement or my terror change my voice.

“Oh my god, are you gonna let him take your V card?”

I nudged her leg, almost sending her off the bed. “My V card's been gone for a while Q.”

She shook her head. “It's been over a year since that cards gotten punched in. It counts.”

“Outfits,” I sighed, changing the subject.

“Well now that I know it's a slumber party,” she rummaged through her pile of clothes and pulled out a little black dress. “This is what you're wearing.”

“I don't get to try anything else on?”

“Nope!”

With a groan, I grabbed the dress from out of her hands and stomped out of her room towards the bathroom. “Why did I even ask for your help?”

“Because I'm the best!” Was her loudly overjoyed reply.

Once I'd closed myself into the small bathroom with old checkered floor tiling and the tiny pink sink I looked at the dress she'd chosen. It wasn't ugly or too gaudy. It was simple, black silk with a modest hem of lace around the top and bottom. The spaghetti straps were thin, but I was just thankful there were straps at all… Or a dress at all for that matter.

I took my time sliding it on, stuffing my bra and other clothes under the sink until I could come back and get them. In Quinn's mirror, I fluffed my hair and fixed my makeup, trying to focus on the excited feeling in my chest instead of the anxious ball in my stomach. This isn't a big deal. It's just Jake. 

Just Jake… As if that had ever been true.

Unveiling the dress to Quinn and Ari resulted in the two catcalling me for five minutes. “God damn!”

“It's about time you let those girls out to play again!” Ari laughed, looking at my boobs. “No bra too? Jakey's a lucky boy tonight!”

“I'm leaving my clothes under your sink,” I told Quinn as I gathered my things and grabbed the bottle off the counter. “Thanks for the dress!”

“No problem! Have fun being a slut tonight!”

Flipping her off I left the apartment, trying to calm my nerves with each step forward. It wasn't a big deal. It was just Jake. This was just a date.

*

Jake had spent a solid ten minutes meticulously opening and cleaning each of the oysters he'd grabbed from the kitchen. He'd found a niceish plate to put them on and shooed his cat off the counter. Then he'd started truly freaking out.

Lena was on her way with whatever bottle she'd grabbed. They'd drink, eat, and then the inevitable would happen. They’d share a look. He'd touch her or she'd touch him and from there they'd be unable to stop themselves from checking off their list of rainchecks all in one go.

He turned on a movie, the first movie his hands could find, and he cleaned. It wasn't really an effective way to keep his mind off the possibilities that were at this point all but certainties, but he still did it. Maybe it was, to keep his hands busy or maybe he just felt self-conscious about Lena returning to his space.

By the time she knocked on his door, everything was clean and ready. Everything except for him. Do we continue our game? He asked himself, hand hovering over the doorknob. Would that make things easier or would that just make me seem like an asshole?

Opening the door he came face to face with her fluffy red hair and tempting lips and… Fucking hell. The little black dress she wore hugged her body in all the right places, showing off her lean shoulders and peaked nipples. He hadn't expected her to change. Lena smiled, that nervous smile that made the corners of her lips twitch and held up the bottle. “I hope you like champagne.”

Say something. Anything. And say something he did. “You're late.”

Asshole it is I guess.

Thankfully Lena just rolled her eyes and leaned against his doorframe. “Aw, did I keep you waiting?”

“A little,” he said, clearing his throat as he moved to let her in. “It’s been a damn chore keeping this cat off the oysters.”

As if Jake had bribed him to, Hemingway made a not-so-sneaky break for the plate on the counter. Jake jumped, intercepting him just in time. The cat hissed and angrily swatted Jake's arms as he carried him to the sofa. From his kitchen, Lena laughed. “I'm sorry. If I'd have known you were in a heated standoff with the cat I would have hurried.”

He shrugged his shoulders, casually making his way back to the kitchen. “So, champagne?”

“One of the more expensive bottles of it,” she promised, handing the bottle to him for inspection. 

Jake barely looked at it, focusing more on her. She looked nervous, but the good kind. The kind that told him she was comfortable being here on this date with him. That was all he could ask for - all he wanted. He'd only take the night as far as she was comfortable with, but judging by the look in her eyes Jake was confident she wanted things to go the same way he did.

So, he grabbed a pair of his shitty glasses from the cupboard and started to open the bottle. She arched her brow. “Not even gonna look at it?”

“I trust your taste in drinks.”

“Even after I gave you nothing but shitty ones that one night?”

Jake chuckled, popping the cork and nodding at her. “Even after that.” He poured her a glass and slid the plate of oysters between them. “So, how’s Quinn?”

Lena blushed, glancing down at her dress. “Was it that obvious?”

“Mhm,” he replied. “I've seen Quinn dress you up enough times to recognize her work.”

“Well, what do you think?” She asked, taking a step back and raising her arms to give him a full view of her.

What did he think? As if she didn't already know every single thought ran through his head. Jake could have voiced any of the lewd things - god knew he'd done that thousands of times before - but instead he found himself answering more sincerely, “I think you look perfect.”

*

My question had been simple, given how well I knew Jake and how his dirty mind worked. It was simple. Ask an obvious question about the very sultry dress Quinn had given me and received an equally obvious dirty response. Simple. Casual. And not at all what Jake said.

“I think you look perfect.”

Perfect. That wasn't a word I was used to hearing, especially when it came to me. Yet this would mark - at least - the second time Jake had used it. Butterflies filled my stomach, filling me with that fuzzy feeling of warm tingles. If it had been anyone else using that word I would have known exactly how to respond. Bullshit. But, I knew he meant it. The look in his eyes, the hint of a real smile, the way he looked just as surprised as I did.

Jake thought I looked perfect.

“So, how do you like your new TV?” I asked turning my now blushing face away from him to look at the bright screen where Egon and the rest of the Ghostbusters were quietly playing out their scenes. My face burned even hotter as I remembered Halloween… Remembered how good Jake had looked dressed as Egon. Maybe he still has that costume?  “Ghostbusters?”

“It's a good movie,” he defended, but the wicked gleam in his eye told me he was thinking the same as me.

Smirking, I shrugged. “Woulda thought you'd turn on Romeo and Juliet.”

With a smirk, Jake nodded, “Also a good movie.”

I used the heated tension humming between us as an opportunity to take the first oyster. The salty taste washed over my tongue as I examined the slightly shiny shell in my hand. “So, what's your plan, pretty boy?”

“Am I supposed to have a plan?” He asked with a chuckle.

“I mean I'd think so, after your very confident invitation at work.”

Jake shrugged, taking a moment to enjoy an oyster. “Honestly, I just wanted to be around you.”

“You couldn't be around me at Ozzy's?”

“Okay… I wanted to be around you alone. That better?”

I hummed, beaming at his admission. “Yep.”

He rolled his eyes, casually pushing the plate out of Hemingway's reach. “Don't sound so smug, princess. You were dying to come be alone with me.”

“Hardly!” I argued - lied.

Jake stepped around the counter, placing his body flush up against my own and giving me that look. “Hardly? So you don't want me to do this?”

His fingers skimmed up my exposed thigh, dragging the lace hem of the dress up. I gulped, my eyes shifting to his lips without a second thought. “I want you to do whatever you wanna do.”

“Oh, come on, princess. You can do better than that.”

Fuck it. “I… want you… To kiss me.”

He lifted his hand, fingers grazing the side of my neck as he carefully tilted my head up even more. Our lips brushed against each other, a sigh of anticipation hot on our mingled breaths, and then… Darkness.

The lights cut out, casting Jake and me in complete darkness. Outside horns honked and the chaos told us both that the block - hell maybe even the city, had just shared our experience. Jake’s hands drifted to my shoulders, holding onto me for a moment as he adjusted to the dark. “Of fucking course.”

I swallowed my disappointment and forced a chuckle out of my dry throat. “Don’t suppose you've got any candles on hand?”

“I think I have a few,” he answered. “Let me get a lighter or something.”

Jake stumbled around in the dark until he reached his jacket, pulling the cigarettes and lighter out. The flame did little to light the room, but after a minute of searching his bare cupboards, he found what little he had in candles. I could see the tension in his shoulders almost as clearly as the sour purse of his lips. “Hopefully it's not the whole city.”

“Yeah.” He answered through clenched teeth as handed me the lighter. “I'm gonna go see if anyone outside knows what's going on.”

“Okay,” I replied, watching him go. “I'll light these I guess.”

I stared into the flame as I held the lighter to the wick of the candle and let out a defeated sigh. It's always something. Betting lesbians, a money-hungry Russian, the past, the future… Maybe it was a sign. Maybe the universe in its infinite wisdom was trying to tell us we weren't good together.

The wax dripped over the edge of the candle as I held the light to it. “Bullshit.”

Fuck the universe, I decided. Fuck the past or the future. Fuck everything that tries to tell me what I want.

I wanted Jake. Physically, romantically, in any and every way that he would have me. I wanted him. And tonight was going to be the night whether the city or the universe liked it or not.

I carefully lit the remaining candles, illuminating his apartment just enough to see the outline of his furniture. As I set the last down on the counter I leaned over to give Hemingway a reassuring pat, all the while trying to hold onto the newfound courage making my stomach twist into knots. “It's alright.”

The cat seemed to release some of his tension, using my distracted state to snag an oyster and take shelter in the bathroom where he decided to hide in Jake's open laundry bin. As I quietly chuckled at the way the tips of his ears poked out of the top, and the ferocious noises he made dining on his stolen meal, the apartment door opened and slammed shut as Jake returned. With a silent curse, he threw his jacket and shoes off to the side. “Well, nobody knows shit, but everyone's expecting the power to be out for the rest of the night at least.”

“Damn,” I remarked, trying not to talk myself out of taking action. “Right when your plan was just starting to work.”

It was a flirtatious little taunt, wholeheartedly meant to shift Jake’s focus from the unexpected interruption and back to the fact that we'd been on the verge of a kiss when the lights went out. Sadly, that didn't happen. Instead, Jake continued to grumble, scouring his shelf for a pack of cigarettes and then his lighter, which I still held. “Damn, where the fuck did it go?”

I watched him search for a minute before holding up the object he sought with a smug smirk. “Looking for this?”

He turned to look at me, face set in a grumpy scowl as he lifted the candle off the coffee table and held the flame to the end of his cigarette, lighting it. “Nope.”

“Suit yourself,” I replied, bothered as I set the lighter down on the counter. “Now what?”

Flopping down on his couch Jake laughed humorlessly. “I don't have any board games we can play if that's what you're hoping for.”

“I’m sure we can think of something more interesting to do than play a board game.” Hint. Hint.

Jake rolled his eyes gesturing to the darkened apartment. “You're welcome to look around for something to do.”

DO ME! I wanted to shout at him. My eyes scanned the shelves, looking for something that could lighten Jake's pissy mood and somehow salvage the night. “Where's your camera?” I asked. “We could take some more pictures.”

“In case you didn't notice, we don't exactly have the best lighting for that,” he snarkily replied.

“So you wanna just sit in the dark and do nothing?”

“I'm doing something,” he answered, lifting up his cigarette.

“Well, maybe I wanna do more than sit and smoke.” Jake ignored my statement, staring at the wall in front of him with a bitter, disappointed look on his face. “Really? You gonna ignore me now?”

He glanced at me and shrugged. “You're more than welcome to find something to do.”

Idiot. After a moment of watching the angry puffs of smoke exhale from his lungs I pushed myself away from the counter and flopped down on the couch beside him with a frustrated sigh. Jake's eyes lowered to watch my boobs bounce with the movement. Of course, that'd be what cheers him up. “You know most people would be more concerned with entertaining their guests.”

It was like a light finally flicked on in his brain and with a suggestive raise of his brows and a not at all subtle smirk, Jake and I were back on the same page. Only now I felt like making him work for it.

"Oh, you want some attention?" He took another long drag of the cigarette, slowly sliding closer to me, closing the space between us. He was right there, just a head tilt away from my lips. He timed his head down, seeking me out, expecting me to make it easy.

“You're insufferable." I leaned back, crossing my arms - pressing my breasts up to really catch his attention. He breathed smoke out across my face with a light laugh and a smirk. 

"You like it," he whispered, our noses bumping one another.

"This isn't something friends usually do," I said quietly, smugly. Resuming the game we had earlier, the game meant to make this easier, and now the game that I'd use to torture him.

Jake was more smug as he grinned back at me, his eyes dark with lust and sin that would put even the devil to shame. "Yeah, well, I don't want to be your fucking friend." For a split second that something real flashed in his eyes, a fleeting feeling or thought he didn't dare let himself hold onto for too long.

I sighed, that same wave of reality washing over me, forcing my heart to beat quicker and my mind to race with doubt. Moving my head back a little more I whispered the thought, the fear that had kept us from committing to this all along, "This is a bad idea."

He nodded, not in agreement, but in acknowledgment that this was the very fear he shared. Adam's apple bobbing, Jake's eyes dropped to my lips as he sighed, "One of my worst."

I wasn't prepared for the kiss, or the way his hand wound into my hair to pull me closer. Though, I should have been. Jake tasted like oysters and champagne, smoke and, and want. He pulled me effortlessly into his lap, coaxing my mouth open and tangling his tongue with mine to effectively silence that pesky thought in both our minds. He was addictive and he knew it. Smug bastard, he was.

Of all the times we'd kissed, this one felt the most like our first. Maybe it was because of the way he'd been acting like he had in the beginning, asshole-ish and reserved. Or maybe it was because we both knew this was it. There was no forgotten thing, no drunk Russian or nosey lesbians. It was just us.

This was it.

I pulled back slightly, my hand smoothing over his jaw as we both dropped the act and slowly started to abandon our fear in favor of that intimate thing that hummed between us. Still, I couldn't resist the taunt that slid off my tongue, "So, you don't want to be my friend anymore?"

Jake scoffed, pressing another kiss to my lips. "Stop talking."

"I thought you liked being my friend," I continued to tease, threading my fingers into his hair as his mouth moved down the column of my neck. I had to hold in a moan as his teeth tugged at the skin there.

"I like this better," he breathed out, smirking against my skin. His hands gripped my thighs and pulled me down further, rubbing our hips together in a way that sent pleasure up my spine. This time I couldn't contain the wanton moan. Jake chuckled. "Much better."

With a breathless huff, I pulled his hair until his head tilted back up to me. "Shut up."

“Oh,” he whispered breathlessly, lips pulling up into that cocky smirk of his. “Now you wanna stop talking?”

Before I could answer Jake had shifted, rolling me onto the couch beneath him. The new cushions were slow to yield to the weight of us, stiff but not uncomfortable. Above me, Jake's chain necklace dangled, glinting in the low moonlight as it kissed my lips just like he'd done seconds ago. He smirked down at me for a second before all the attitude and the teasing faded, leaving him just smiling down at me as he lifted a hand to my face.

His fingers traced my lips, gliding along my jaw. The swell of warmth… Of want made my chest constrict almost to the point of pain. Out of all the nights we’d spent together - out of all the things we'd already done - this moment was unlike all of them. I wanted him more than I could even understand and in some way… Through some invisible bond between us, I knew he felt the same. 

I lifted my head off the cushion and chased his lips. “I wanna stop talking now.”

Jake's still smokey breath fanned across my face as he chuckled. “Okay, Princess. No more talking.”

Our mouths met again, eager and hungry. It was like the feeling of his velvety lips on me, of his hands stroking and squeezing, erasing every thought in my brain. Everything that wasn't him just suddenly didn't matter. Jake dragged his tongue down my neck, fingers tugging the straps of the dress off my shoulders so his lips and teeth could literally my collarbones with kisses and bite marks.

To my surprise he kept moving down lower and lower until his hands were tucked up my dress, pulling my panties off my legs. Jake bit into the meat of my thigh, dragging me down the couch until my ass was literally in his hands. I lifted my head just in time to catch a glimpse of his dark head of hair vanishing beneath my dress as he dove mouth-first into my pussy.

“Oh my god!” I squeezed in shock as his warm tongue lather over my clit. “Jake!”

His fingers squeezing my thighs and holding them open was the only answer I received as his tongue continued its skilled work. With my head pressed firmly to the cushions, I gripped onto his hair, lifting my hips in time with his tongue movements and chasing the pleasure he so shamelessly offered. “Yes! Oh, Jake, right there!”

His teeth grazed my clit, sending me spasming as I came. That didn't stop him though. Jake's tongue just kept licking and sucking, drinking up every ounce that I had to offer until I was practically vibrating beneath him. I pulled his hair harder, pushing him off me and quickly standing up. Before he could ask what I was doing I tugged at his shirt. “Take this off.”

The wicked grin he answered with glowed in the candlelight. “Not gonna say please?”

Reaching down I tugged on his chain, taunting him with an almost kiss. “Now.”

Humming Jake rose from his knees and lifted the shirt over his head, spreading his arms and lightly flexing. “Happy now?”

I raked my nails over his abdomen, instantly undoing his belt as Jake's hands started sliding my arms through the straps of my dress. “I'll be much happier when we're both naked.”

“That makes two of us,” he agreed with a groan as the dress slid off my body with no resistance. Jake's mouth fell open as he lifted his lands to tease my nipples. “God you're perfect.”

My fingers fumbled, head nearly falling back as the pleasure his touch brought spiked through me. “Jake.”

His body pressed closer to mine, forcing me to step back until the backs of my legs hit his bed. “Are you sur-”

I silenced him with a finger over the lips and a gentle reminder, “No more talking.”

Without any more chances to let my fear win out, I finished with his belt and zipper. Kissing down his chest I slowly sank to my knees, taking his pants and underwear with me until his hard, pulsing cock was dangling in front of me. Jake watched me press a few light kisses to the head of him as he carefully lifted his feet out of his jeans. His breaths stuttered as I licked him base to tip, swirling my tongue around him the way I knew he liked from the first time.

“Fuck,” he breathed, quickly taking hold of my face. “As much as I fucking love that mouth of yours princess… I wanna actually fuck you tonight.”

I grinned, kissing his cock again. “Later then?”

“Absolutely.”

Standing in front of him, I set my hands on his broad shoulders, leaning up to kiss him again. Jake's hands wound into my hair as he turned us, pulling me on top of him as he settled on his back. I shifted my hips and angled his cock perfectly allowing me to finally, slowly begin to sink down on top of him. Jake's eyes fluttered shut, his mouth falling open as a surprised, pleasured sound fell from between his lips. His hands scrambled over my waist, squeezing my flesh. “Fuck.”

The stretch wasn't painful, not after the care Jake had taken, but I found myself shaking. It felt so good. Finally having him inside me, the impressive dick his ego permitted me from ever complimenting, hit all the right spots. It'd been a year since I'd had sex, but already, I found myself questioning if anyone else had ever made me feel like this with nothing more than one tiny thrust.

Once I was fully seated on top of him I found my eyes closing, head tilting back as I enjoyed the simple feeling of him twitching inside me, breathing beneath me, holding me. “Holy shit.”

“You're not wasting any time,” he said, holding onto me like his life depended on it. “Got somewhere to be?”

“You said you wanted to fuck me,” I replied, ignoring his teasing to lift my hips and bending over him. “So fuck me.”

Jake kissed me hard, setting one hand on the small of my back and using it to push me back down onto his dick. My sharp gasp broke our kiss and spurred my body into moving. Every thrust sent pure pleasure radiating through my body. Every noise Jake made was echoed by the ones I made. It was that word he'd kept saying. Perfect.

When my legs started to shake and my body felt heavier to lift in the fervorous up and down movements, Jake sat up. His tongue lathered over a nipple, earning another sharp sound from my throat, as his fingers traced up my spine and gently closed around the back of my neck. I could feel his lips curl up into a smirk as he pulled my nipple between his teeth. “Come on, princess. Don't stop.”

“Fuck,” I whispered, the desperate sound of his voice emptying my brain even more. “I… Oh god…”

“Don't tell me you're tired already,” he taunted, using his hands on my hip and neck to help lift and pull me. “We just got started.”

Grinding my teeth together to hold in the moan I bit back, “I should have guessed you'd be a pillow princess.”

Jake laughed, tilting his head up to kiss me again. “We can switch if you want.”

“Fuck you,” I answered breathlessly, my eyes punching together as the pleasure all began to build up inside me.

“That's what you're doing… Trying to at least.” He withdrew all attempts at helping me, returning his attention to my breasts.

“Jake,” I whined after what felt like hours. God, I'm out of Practice. Jake only hummed in reply to his name. “Please.”

More smug than ever he finally slid his hands to my waist and expertly flipped me onto my back. His sheets felt cold against my hot skin, but I hardly had a moment to focus on that when Jake wasted no time lifting one of my legs onto his shoulder and securing the other around his waist. “Try not to scream my name too loud, the neighbors tend to get mad about that.”

“You-” He thrust into me, the angle and the power behind it making sparks shoot up my stomach into my chest. “Oh fuck!”

“There you go,” he mumbled, fingers curling into the sheets by my head. “Let me hear those pretty noises.”

As he picked up the pace I realized I couldn't have denied his request even if I wanted to. Every noise I made echoed off the brick walls, every wet noise that his thrusts made only filled me with more fire. My fingers dug into his arms and clawed at his back as that coil in my gut wound tighter and tighter. “Jake,” I begged. “Don't stop!”

“Come on, princess,” he urged, pressing his lips to mine in a sloppy kiss. “I wanna feel you.”

“Ah!” I could feel myself tighten around him, drawing out another moan from Jake's lips.

“Fuck!” He cursed under his breath. “That's my girl. Come on… Come for me, Lena.”

That, the fucked out, desperate, adoring uttering of my name was what made the coil in my gut burst. Fingers digging into Jake's hair, pulling his lips down against mine I came around him, shaking as he thrust again and again and again, fucking me through the orgasm and into another as he came with me. His body tensed and shivered as he kissed me through his orgasm, pulling away to let out a shaky breath before he collapsed on top of me.

My chest heaved beneath him as I stretched my fingers and carefully pulled them from his hair. “Holy… Shit…”

Jake carefully rolled off me, throwing the condom away and collapsing next to me. “We should have been doing that this whole time.”

“Definitely,” I agreed, twisting my head to look at him… Afraid of what I'd find in his eyes when I did. Had this been a mistake?

Jake was smiling, genuinely smiling at me. His eyes were light and sparkling as he pulled me into his arms and threw his blanket over us both. His lips kissed my shoulders and my jaw and even though we’d just spent the last hour or more fucking I felt that swell of want again. “You know, we could be in the dark for a while.”

“All night even,” he agreed. “You should definitely stay the night.”

“Absolutely,” I agreed, kissing his lips. “And are you gonna… Entertain me?”

Nodding Jake traced the snake on my spine. “Of course. What kinda man would I be if I left you unsatisfied?”

It was going to be a long night. Long and sweaty and perfect.

*

Dom looked at the now entirely empty shop with a dead stare. His life's work was fucking gone, and it was all his fault. Desperate anger and a bitter, frustrated sorrow filled his lungs with a scream. He threw empty tool carts across the shop floor and kicked the side of the nearest car. Dom exploded, lashing out until he had to stop. 

His back slammed into one of the cars, and he bowed low. Defeated. The sound of her light footsteps treading through his mess gave him some tiny hint of hope. He watched her carefully slide into place beside him, looking out at the empty space. "Sorry."

"Stop." He shook his head, glaring at her. "I hate it when you apologize when you did nothin’ wrong."

Sarah giggled, bumping her shoulder into his. "Sorry."

"You're the worst."

She looked around with an exasperated sigh. "They really did a number on the place, huh?"

Nodding, he slapped the side of the car they leaned on. "Fuckers even took the damn hub caps."

"You are gonna take care of this, right, D?" Her emerald eyes sparkled up at him, hopeful and innocent. His baby sister. "I don't wanna lose you like Eddie."

His jaw clenched at the mention of the name. "Yeah, I'll take care of it."

She held out her pinky with tears in her eyes. "You promise?"

Dom wrapped his finger around hers and sighed, engulfing her in a big hug. "Yeah, I promise."

When he opened his eyes, Dom could still feel the warmth of Sarah's embrace. His mind clung to the sweet moments they'd shared until the end - until the pain made him feel like he couldn't breathe. That sensation forced him upright, scrambling to grab hold of the drugs he'd left at his bedside. He wanted to forget. More than anything, he wanted the pain to stop. 

Green eyes flashed in his mind. Hers and Lena's. He'd made them both a promise… A stupid fucking pinky swear. His fist tightened around the drugs as he forced himself to throw them across the room. "God dammit!"

"Well, ain't you just pathetic?”

Dom's head twisted to the door where Eddie lounged against the old frame. “The fuck are you doin here?”

Eddie shrugged, a heavy sigh following him as he sat in the cot opposite his. “It's her birthday today… Figured that's the kinda thing that warrants a temporary truce. We're family after all.”

“You're no family of mine,” he ground out.

Dom could see the hurt in Eddie's eyes, but as always he erased it with that goddamn smirk. “Feelings mutual, big brother. But, I ain't here for you. I'm here 'cause it's what she woulda wanted.”

“She doesn't get to want anything,” Dom said. “Not anymore.”

Eddie nodded, tensely. “Well, we both seem to have conflicting opinions about whose fault that is.”

“Get the fuck out!” Dom shouted, throwing himself to his feet to grab onto Eddie's jacket and throw him out the door. “You get the fuck out before I fucking kill you!”

“Oh, we both know how much you'd like that,” Eddie spat back, laughing in Dom's face. “Sibling killer that you are.”

It took four of his bikers to hold him back while Eddie waved off his men and left with a bitter curse in Spanish. After the noise of their car had gone, the bikers let him go and Dom was out the door. He needed some air. He needed some space away from this fucking warehouse… This fucking city.

There, illuminated in the golden rays of the rising sun, Mav sat on his bike, resting her head in her hands with a wide - real smile. Dom shook his head, forcing out the angry breath he'd been holding. “It's shit like this that makes everyone think you're a bitch.”

She just shrugged, that smile never faltering. “That a no to taking a joyride?”

“I could never say no to you.”

“It's one of the few things I like about you,” she teased, sitting up as he neared. The flippant, uncaring attitude fell for a moment as she asked, “You okay?”

Dom shook his head and answered with the truth, “No.”

Sliding back on the bike seat she patted the fine leather. “Come on then, big boy. Let's go for a ride.”

“Course, Mrs…. What is it now? Scott?”

Mav rolled her eyes. “As if I'd take that old fucks last name.”

With a chuckle, he smiled at her. “That's my Mav.”

“I'm not your anything,” she argued half-heartedly. 

Dom threw his leg over the seat and settled in with her sweet smell and soft hands around his waist. He revved the engine and Mav's arms squeezed him tighter. “You'll always be my Mav.”

“Just drive the damn bike, Dom.”

“Yes, Ma'am.”

[unmotivated-student]

How about an au where qRoier is a police officer and qCellbit is a famous private detective hired by the government to assist the police with a really difficult case?

In this, Cellbit would be used to working alone so he wouldn't be very excited when Roier was assigned as his assistant during his investigation. At first he refuses to have him as a partner/assistant even tries to push him away but little by little he begins to get used to Roier's presence, there begins to be more and more trust between the two until all of this leads to the realization that what they both feel for each other may be more than simple affection/companionship.

∆∆∆

"Why did you follow me?"

"Why didn't you tell your sexy police assistant that you were coming to investigate this place?"

"Because I don't need a "assistant", I can investigate and deduce by myself"

"And that's how it works, you are going to do all your enigma and mystery stuff while I use bullets and fists when necessary, you are more like the brain and I'm the muscle that contributes from time to time"

∆∆∆

"Be careful"

"Aaaww so you DO care about me"

"I mean, be careful you don't contaminate my crime scene"

"Did you have to ruin the moment like that?"

"It was you who didn't let me finish the sentence"

"Culero"

"Pendejo"

∆∆∆

"There is a small problem"

"What is it?"

"We may have fallen into a trap and we are in danger here"

"No mames"

"Yeah, if I'm not wrong, this place may explode in a couple of minutes"

"I told you it was strange that the murderer left clues on how to find them, and you call yourself a detective?! ¡¿No que muy detective cabrón?!"

"¡Cale a boca e corra, filho da puta! We have to get out of here, you can say "I told you so" as many times as you want when we're outside!"

∆∆∆

"Why did you decide to be a detective?"

"It's a long story"

"Isn't there a short version I can listen to?"

"I like solving mysteries and I'm pretty good at it"

"And that's it?" Cellbit nodded "I feel like that wasn't even 2% of the full story" Cellbit nodded again.

"And why did you decide to be a police officer?"

"Long story"

"Can I listen to the short version too?"

"The uniform looks sexy on me" They both broke loose laughing. "Someday will I be able to hear the full version of your story Cellbo?"

"Let's make a deal, when this is all over, let's go for a coffee and exchange stories, what do you think?"

"Oh, how subtle Mr. Detective, if you wanted a date with me, you just had to ask for it"

"Pendejo"

"We're both pendejos, aren't we?" Roier laughed.

"I think you're right, we are"

"And I accept the deal"

"What-..?"

"Let's go get that coffee when we have that criminal behind bars" Roier smiled.

Cellbit's brain stopped working for a moment and the only thing he could think was "Has Roier's smile always been this bright?"

I see romcom potential with this idea and I would like to know if someone has already written something like this because I want to read it :D

Edit: If there is anyone in the world who wants to use this, you can do so.

[I was playing the great ace attorney when this hit my brain xd]

[deadcool14]

SPOILERS!!!!!

SPOILERS!!!!!

SPOILERS!!!!!

SPOILERS!!!!!

I wanna talk about this show (btw pls watch it, it's so fucking good, the characters are peak and the animation is fucking amazing!):

Episode 1:

-I can't believe they foreshadowed the final boss with fucking Sonic trivia

-Ngl if I asked out a girl and she didn't know anything about neither Sonic or X-Men, I'm dipping the first chance I get

-I was wondering why Scott had the star t-shirt at the beginning, since he only got that at the finale battle with Gideon, to signify his love for Ramona, but with the added context it's not supposed to matter, it's there because it's his most recognizable look

-Matthew's entrance doesn't have the same umph as the movie's. His actor really went all out in that scene, XD

-Sucks that Scott wasn't very involved in this, since he is the title character, but I still loved everything about this. Hope we get to see his arc in the next season

Episode 2:

-Why is Ramona dyeing her hair so damn satisfying?

-Edit: The fact that STEPHEN of all people was the one that gave Scott a euology and was the only one that actually gave a damn XD

And it's pretty sweet that he would have been ok to find out if they sucked, if they found out they sucked together

-"Mommy!" yeah

-I can fucking believe she actually sang that fucking song XD

-Brie Larston is so talented; if I didn't already know she played Envy, I honestly could not tell that was her, but then again I only know her as Captain Marvel, where she has a deeper and much cooler voice

-So, if in the Scott Pilgrim world people just re-spawn at home after being defeated, does that mean that there no one can be murdered or manslaughtered? And if so, how do people actually get a "permanent game over"? Does everyone just die of old age? Also if people bury the coins dropped after someone dies, would that make grave-robbing the most common crime in the world?

-The fact that all Matthew needed to defeat Gideon was confidence is actually very inspiring. The probable reason why he's so extra (besides being a theater kid) is because Ramona dumped him, which really hurt his self-esteem. And while it's kinda sad and pathetic to let a middle school break-up bring down your self-worth, that doesn't mean it didn't suck for Matthew; and after realizing that Ramona wouldn't take him back just because he beat Scott, he finally got a reality check and decided that their goal was pointless, so he moved on from Ramona and decided to make something out of himself, and using the confidence he got from "beating" Scott, he unleashed his true power and was able to defeat Gideon, take his company, and then became successful Broadway actor

-"Et tu, eat me." Roxie is a fucking queen

Episode 3:

-Hey, I didn't asked to be fucking attacked about my writting process, Scott Pilgrim!

-Knives getting more character development besides being obsessed with Scott is everything I didn't know I ever wanted

-I feel you Stephen, I do 😞

-Omg I ship Knives and Kim so much!

-Since Roxie predates Toga, then should be saying that Toga gives off Roxie vibes?

-I'm in lesbians with all of them

-Roxie is so fucking horny lol. Tho I can't blame her, I would go rent to that video store everyday to talk to Kim or Hollie... and immediately choke and explode before a word comes out my mouth

-Also, fun fact: Hollie looks like a milf, but she's actually 26!

-Nice of that lady to apologize to Robot-01. He doesn't deserve all the mistreatment he gets, he's a good boi

Episode 4:

-Holy fuck this animation

-Bro, what is that song? XD

-'Edgar Wrong' XD XD XD

-Young Neil is a fucking treasure

💚 :3

-Straight Wallace is an anomaly that should not be allowed to exist

-Notorious heterosexual

-People are 100% saying some bullshit like, Lucas is only going out with her because he's secretly a pedo is only likes her because she's PLAYING a 17-year-old and that feeds his fetish

-Already saw a meme of the "My God!" clip, keep those coming people!

-Holy fuck this animation!!

-The paparazzi looking like cockroaches, nice

-I feel really bad for Lucas, he's actually a nice guy

-And then he fucking yeets a kid and steals his skateboard XD

-"Watch out guys, Vegan comin' through!"

Episode 5:

-I feel a little bad for Todd, but it's also so satisfying seeing this jackass, who thinks he can get away with anything because he's a rock star, get wrecked

-Weird the Vegan Police didn't show up to take away his powers tho; maybe they were informed of the situation and decided to give him a pass this time.

I really hope they expand on the whole concept of being Vegan in season 2

-Edit:

Envy: Hey, ask them what it feels like to always get his sloppy seconds?

Ramona: How does it feel-?

-I love how they expanded on the Stephen & Knives friendship :3

-I did not recognize Simon Pegg and Nick Frost until the end where they had the cornettos XD

Episode 6:

-Honestly, surprised they didn't bring up that Julie had a crush on Scott, and that's why she's always a bitch to him, specially because this is an anime, they can actually call her a tsundere!

And while we're on that, anyone think it's weird that nearly single girl in the comic had or still has a crush on Scott? Like, seriously? This asshole, really? And you just know that if it was a manga made in Japan, Stacie would have a goddamn bro-con complex with him

-Idk how I feel about them just glossing over Gideon just being an absolute monster; like yeah, Ramona was a bitch with most of her relationships and she does tend to run away from her problems, but Gideon was a manipulative, ego-centric, abusive piece of shit. I mean, the guy kept his 6 ex-girlfriends frozen in stasis for appearences or for whatever else he wanted, and he wanted to do the same to Ramona. I like him and Julie being assholes together, but seriously, I hope they touch on that in season 2

-Dude fuck those kids, I would give Gordon so much respect for actually trying that; I wish I had a third of his confidence

-I never knew I needed to see Captain America and The Spot being goofy friends until now

-I headcanon that one of the reasons why they had Matthew take over Gideon's company was so they could finally give him a job XD, tho it was always insinuated that he was in the army, because of the Private Rank patch on his jacket, which they removed in this version and that really sucka because I liked that little detail; it was also another reference to him being the 1st Evil Ex, because Private is the 1st rank in the military

-At least Ramona does recognize that what she did was messed up, even if the Twins were also being dicks, she should have just called them both out and be done with them

-Those fucking Vegan Robots man, I swear to God

Episode 7:

-When Old Scott spoke, I thought it was Ben Schwartz at first lol

-I love how the world isn't the cliché "terrible post apocalyptic world caused by something that happened to the main character", it just looks really crappy, which... yeah, accurate; the look everyone has just seems to be the current fad, they just embraced the post-apocalyptic looking world they live in.

Also that tech is not that advanced, they have hover vehicles and board, and holo-phones, that does seem like they kind of tech we could have in a few decades, maybe

-The fucking Virtual Boy XD XD XD, surprised Scott's eyes weren't on fire after staring into that thing

-Old Wallace is a fucking GILF

-That lucky motherfucker! He probably got the Switch for free!! 😬😬😬

-Nice Death Stranding reference

-Ramona changing her hair color every week was symbolic of her always running away from her problems, but I like that she keeps doing it in the future, just because she likes it

-Of course Future Ramona has fucking Back To The Future roller blades XD

-Both Ramonas are the same fucking size XD

-At first it felt that they just speedran Scott and Knives, but then again Scott probably read a little of Old Young Neil's auto-biography and figured things out. And since Knives wasn't as obsessed with Scott at this point it makes sense that she'd take this a lot better, Kim and Stephen probably helped her out too

-But at least she catharsis by seeing Scott and Ramona not being able to kiss XD

-Oh! And I just realized that she didn't waste her first kiss on Scott! 😃

Good for her!!

Episode 8:

-I think it's dumb they gave Knives her look from the comics without any reason. She only changed her look to look more appealing to Scott in the comics, and in the epilogue she's back to her normal look, like, at least have people mention the look and her saying that she's trying something new

Edit: I rewatched the whole thing and I just realized that Even Older Scott punched the highlights out of Knives' hair XD

-It's basically a meme at this point, but pls have the Katayanagi Twins do something! They had such a bigger role in the comics. At least I wanted to see their combo moves animated!

It's nice that the Exes are actually cheering for them to kiss, or maybe they're just teasing because they can't; either way it's nice

-Even Older Scott is Ramona's 8th evil ex. He debuts in the 8th episode and has studied the powers of all the other 7 Evil Exes along with his own, which adds up to 8.

Sucks he didn't actually use their powers, I would have loved it if he used Vegan Powers combined with mystical powers, maybe instead of Demon Hipster Chicks he summons little Nega Scotts, he has stronger skateboard tricks than Lucas, he some robot arms that can shoot lasers and can help him do the Twins' combo moves, but doubled

-Edit: The fact that Knives went for Ramona instead of Scott. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!!

-Even Older (Nega) Scott is just Evil Ryu and I fucking love it!!

-Even Older Scott's color scheme not only signifyes just how jaded and lost he's become, but also that Nega Scott has completely taken him over is just *chef's kiss*

-Edit: Todd still has the Wallace tattoo XD also his was my favorite attack, he just teleports and slams down, simple, but awesome

Also Even Older Scott defeated him with a headbutt

-Edit: It would've been funny if he had also punched Roxie in the boob again

-Every future character has "Old" in their name, but Ramona is just "Future Ramona", she will cut you if you call her old. Real missed opportunity to not call the oldest Ramona "Future Future Ramona".

"MILF" and "GILF Ramona" also would have been acceptable

-Sex Bob-Bomb became the new Crash and the Boys, except that instead of having an 8-year-old, they have a 17-year-old.

And Scott now has his actual girlfriend watching him perform

-Looks like Ramona actually enjoyed the stunt double gig. Good for her, tho honestly, she should have stuck with Netflix, Idk why, but I feel like they're gonna blow up at somepoint

-I like the idea of Lucas x Kim, but I would still prefer Knives x Kim, and my personal made-up ship: Lucas x Stacie. I just love big bois with cute smol gfs

-At first, it didn't make sense to see Todd and Roxie hanging out, but then I realized that just like Roxie, Todd was hurt by someone who treated their relationship like an un-important after-thought, a phase; and just broke it up like it was nothing, without any consideration for the other's feelings. And now that Roxie got closure with Ramona she's helping him to move on from this in a way healthier way than she did. (That and they're both gay) That is so fucking wholesome, I need to see them being friends in season 2 pls!! Also sucks she didn't interact much with Matthew, because Satya Bhabha said that he thinks Matthew and Roxie would be friends.

Also this was kinda foreshadowed in episode 2, at the end of Matthew and Gideon's fight, where she mentions wanting to get Vegan Powers after seeing how convinient they are. I need Half-Ninja, Vegan, Lesbian, now!!!!

-Wallace: Holy shit! True love does exist!?

-Ramona is finally gonna stop running away, so she keeps most of her hair as her natural color with a little green at the end to not forget her past and where she came from

-Get wait to see what Goose's game, but it must be in pretty early development, probably untitled even

SEASON 2 PLSSSSSS!!!!

[scrollll]

Lemme leave this here.

Nuth, nope.

I echo @ppeonppeonhan post, and don't trust Nuth AT ALL anymore. I was willing to trust him. I really was. And a small part of me still is.... But. There's something wrong.

Not only in his stories, but above all, in how he portrays Nant.

Let's look at the facts i gathered in between breaks and working hours:

Who all had flashbacks with Nant or contact with him?

Soong (when he raped and attacked Nant),

Teena (when he saved Nant from Soong),

Jump (got a bj from Nant, more on that later),

Prom (of course),

The baddie bunch (Zouey, Captain, Porsche, First)

and Nuth

Did I forget anyone? I don't think so.

So, because I am insufferable, let's go through these flashbacks and pay attention to how Nant is described.

Soong:

Nant was on drugs/alcohol,

they slept together (without consent)

aaaaaaand Nant stole Soong's drugs. Bad idea in general. (Side note, what's up with that? Was this an attempt by Nant to retrieve the discarded drugs?)

Welp, anyway, Soong got angry.

Nant was crying, he was panicked, he was scared. And here lies a nice underpoint:

! He didn't even try to fight Soong. He was freaking out, but not aggressive. He was fucking desperate !

Teena:

Held Nant in his arms to protect him from Soong.

Nant clung to him, still full of panic and fear.

! He tried to find protection with Teena instead of attacking or freaking out himself !

He clung to the first thing that promised safety, no matter how foolish it may have seemed at this moment (bc fr, if one guy is beating you up, there is no guarantee that his flatmate/friends are not the same brand of asshole)

Jump:

Encountered Nant in the same situation as Teena and Soong (he hold Soong back)

BUT then one more time where they had sex or at least oral sex since he commented on Nonts bj skills at the party as "Twins are just so fucking identical"

(side note: could this be the point he brought up with Porsche? About not wanting to get in anyone's sugar daddy's way?)

Okay, but to get things straight ('cause these guys ain't):

! Jump encountered Nont without flinching or faltering, suggesting that at least Nant didn't bite him in the dick ! (still, very little is known about the encounter of these two)

Prom:

Confirmed to Nont that Nant loved aftercare, so mostly the cuddling and hugging and talking afterwards.

He also told Nont that Nant never became violent or manipulative towards him.

! Further evidence for the statement is that Prom was very shocked when Nont took out the knife in their first scene. So SM contractually, injuries are also taboo. !

The baddie bunch:

They liked Nont.

They were worried about him, missed him. (Btw does Zouey just strike me as having a damn guilty conscience?)

Captain took advantage of Nant, yes, but none of them seem to have had an active fight.

! They were more shocked at Nant's hurtful behavior when Nont had acted him out. !

So. After this long text, a little brain training, what impression do we have of Nant?

=> He's solid as a soft-boiled spaghetti and seems to have the aggressiveness of a teddy bear.

Except with Nuth.

Only with Nuth does he seem to have been violent.

And that makes me wonder, is that true?

Is the scar really from Nant loosing himself and stabbing Nuth?

Or would it make more sense, if Nuth himself held the knife and confronted Nant about sleeping with other people, like in the dream frequence with Phop we saw already?

That Nant tried to avoid Nuth with the knife and ending up stabbing him on accident? And this ending in Nant apologizing in his "suicide"-video, because he felt guilty for it?

So yeah, lots of more questions than answers but still... Nuth you are yet to come clean my bro.

Edit:

Don't read this as excuse for abusive behavior, if Nant turns out to be an asshole... welp, gotta admit then that I was wrong XD

I just have very much space to think about Nuth and although he seemed like a red herring... whyyyyy the dog mask??? Where is the corpse??? Who stopped the video??? And why are you not talking Nuth???

(Can't get over him being the bad guy, the writer framed him too well for this XD)

[realmermaid333]

AO3 Fic Tag Game :)

I was tagged by: @burntblueberrywaffles @suchaladyy @cosmic-lullaby and @nonamemanga

20 questions beneath the cut 😛

How many works do you have on ao3?

26!

What is your ao3 word count?

125,134

What fandoms do you write for?

I write for Wednesday, The Hunger Games, and I'm thinking of maybe writing some Walking Dead fics, we will see! Right now I am focusing on my Wednesday fics though till I finish them.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

His Little Bedbug

Tipsy Truth Telling

I'll See You Around

Take You Like A Drug

Can't Keep Quiet

Do you respond to comments?

Always! I love responding to comments

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This is hard to say, so I guess I will list three LOL. Well, I think first place is definitely A Hyde Only Knows One Thing: Pain. But the runner-ups are Don't Let Go of Me, and Nowhere to Go.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics have happy endings because I love happy endings! I love peace and love and joy! But I guess the happiest ending would be Smoke Signals as it is a growing-back-together/reconciliation fics that carries over to Say Yes to Heaven. And I also wanna throw in This Would Have Happened Anyway, which is an old Hunger Games fic I wrote that I plan to go in and re-edit soon haha.

Do you get hate on fics?

Rarely, but yes. I think the only fic I got hate on has been A Burning Hill. Luckily most people are wonderful!

Do you write smut? What kind?

Yes, LOL. Idk what the different kinds of smut are? but I tend to write established relationship smut, it is my fav. I write it pretty graphically, but I like to make it really sweet and comforting. I love romance!

Do you write crossovers?

No, but I think they are neat

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes!!! Smoke Signals was translated into Thai by the amazing @adogfrmhell :)

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! I co-wrote Take You Like A Drug with my bestie @suchaladyy, and also Wash Away Your Woes with @nonamemanga @suchaladyy and @averyaddamsromance ! it is so fun to cowrite with friends : D

What WIP would you like to finish but doubt you ever will?

I know I will finish it, but A Burning Hill! it is just on the backburner for a while longer.

What's your all time favorite ship?

I guess I'd say everlark because they were my first ever ship! they are just so cozy and forever in my heart.

What are your writing strengths?

I'd say showing emotion and imagery! I have been told I am able to make eyes water and hearts swoon hehe

What are your writing weaknesses?

I just wont shut up sometimes LOL, i tend to give almost too many details and too much imagery. Which I know is not inherently a bad thing, but it makes all my writing pieces so goddamn long lol! I start to feel like Bram Stoker writing Dracula XD. And sometimes I feel like my dialogue can be awkward, which I suppose makes it more realistic, so once again not always bad! i am just best at writing neurodivergent characters maybe hahah

thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I have done this very briefly before, but it was just two words in Spanish for a ritual scene! I would not write tons of dialogue in another language unless I had a beta who spoke that language fluently and who could translate and make sure the translation made sense.

First fandom you ever wrote for?

The Walking Dead! when i was like 12 I wrote TWD fanfic on wattpad LOL.

Favorite fanfic you've ever written?

How could you ask me this? What is wrong with you?

What fic would you want to rewrite one day?

I will be rewriting my Hunger Games one-shots series and reposting each one-shot as its own fic!

tagging: @therulerofallpotatos @wincestation @katwitchwriting @lovepoison9 @thesweetnessofspring and anyone who wants to join in!

[thoughtfulfangirling]

Movie Night

Property: Gargoyles Characters: Elisa and Broadway Words: 1,586 Fics are for fun, so no I do not edit these or rework them. At least right now. My focus is just trying to write again despite very little motivation. While I sat last night trying to think of anything to write however, I remembered a piece of fanart by @youkaiyume that one can see at the top of this post by them. (youkaiyume sorry to notif you but credit where credit is do. Feel free to disregard XD) where Elisa and Broadway are having a cozy night in. At least as I interpreted it. So I decided I wanted to write the scene!

“Can we watch something with a happy ending?” Broadway asked as he carefully lifted the couch to move it back against the wall, making sure not to jostle Cagney. The perfect fuzzy circle of black fur moved only to reveal a reflecting orb to judge the gargoyle's efforts. As the couch touched down, perfectly balanced, a nearly inaudible ‘meep’ marked Cagney’s begrudging approval before the reflected light was consumed by the void of black fur.

“So same as every other night?” Elisa’s amused voice called from the kitchen. Broadway heard the click of the microwave door closing and heard it whir to life.

“Did you make sure to get the buttered kind?” Broadway asked. Elisa had grabbed the wrong kind for the last movie night. He hadn’t even known popcorn came in a version without butter! She’d had to pull a stick out of the fridge and heat some up in the microwave to add before setting in for the show. Which ended up making him cry.

The time before last, they had watched a classic called Peter Pan, which he came to understand was a popular story told to children about a boy who never grows up. Except then last week they watched a version of the story where he did grow up and left childhood behind as completely as he could. It made him cry. It was about growing up being able to take on responsibilities but also allowing yourself to have childlike wonder, and yet one of the best characters died! Before he really got to grow up! They'd had to pause the movie for him.

“I checked it three times to be sure!” Elisa replied, assuring him there would be butter ready to go out of the microwave. Broadway began to fold a comforter in half and lay it in the space the couch had been. The furniture was sturdy enough for him to sit on, but it wasn’t the most comfortable for more than a couple of minutes. He’d taken to sitting on the floor, and Elisa had purchased a new, particularly fluffy comforter expressly for the purpose of ‘making a little nest,’ as she put it, for their bi-weekly movie nights.

Broadway had found himself a fan of these human entertainments, but the more he watched, the more it seemed he didn’t understand. So much of the stories seemed to reference each other. Elisa had begun finding him copies of the classics–the stories that shaped and informed many of the others. He enjoyed a lot of Shakespeare and had been curious when he learned so much media referenced him, but Elisa insisted he would need to see Romeo and Juliet where he learned how twisted the playwright could be. He didn’t like that one very much, but he did have to admit that it helped a lot of things make sense. It made him wary at first if this play was referenced in other things, but Elisa assured him that very few modern adaptations failed to give the heroes a happy ending.

“You want another Disney movie?” Elisa asked after the microwave stopped. The smell of popcorn intensified. Broadway finished putting pillows down for Elisa and cozying into his spot. He knew it would be a moment yet. One bag of popcorn was never enough for a movie night.

“Not if it’s like Lion King!” Broadway said as he turned the TV and muted the news. He switched inputs before turning the audio back on. He hated the news.

Elisa laughed. “You did end up liking that.” She reminded him.

“I mean sure. But it made me cry, and I don’t feel like crying tonight.” He set the remote down and tapped at his knee. For some reason, ti was different when people died in their detective movies, which were his favorite when they were just doing something for fun. It didn't seem quite as real somehow. But a lot of these other things they were trying somehow really clenched at his heart.

Another laugh. “No crying. Okay, I’ll see what I can do. That’s a high bar for you though B.” Elisa said before the microwave started up again, drowning out anything else she would potentially say.

Broadway considered her statement for a moment. Brooklyn and Lexington were out that night again working on the motorcycle which Elisa was sure was junk. She hadn’t tried to persuade his rookery mates not to make the attempt at fixing it, but she didn’t seem to think it could be done. Broadway was of the mind that if she thought that, she was probably right, But Elisa had admitted to him when it was just the two of them that Lexington was quite the genius with anything even loosely mechanical. Which… was true. But this was a strange world. Broadway didn’t get their fascination with those cars and bikes. Those were constrained to the ground, and they could soar through the sky. Given how many people packed into those things, in those narrow streets, despite that they could move fast, it was slow to use any of those things.

But the two seemed to bond over it, to get each other excited with their own excitement. It allowed them to reach speeds and feats otherwise closed off to them. Make them stronger and faster or something. Broadway never really understood this desire for such things, which always just reminded him that in this, he was the odd one out and not them. Gargoyles prided themselves on their prowess at protecting, which speed and strength helped with, and Broadway was content just to spend a quiet evening in with a friend, watching a good movie.

“Have we already done Beauty and the Beast?” Elisa asked after the second bag of popcorn came out of the microwave. Broadway grinned. This was usually when she brought it out for him before making one more for herself… which he still ate half of.

“It sounds familiar.” He replied, scrolling in his mind through the movies they'd sat through. Elisa had at one point tried to keep a list, but nothing really ever came of that. He usually remembered what they watched though. He knew he’d heard of Beauty and the Beast, but he was actually pretty sure he hadn't seen it. Still, with Romeo and Juliet fresh in his mind, he didn’t know if he wanted to watch something with a similar naming scheme.

“It’s one of those animated movies with cute sidekicks and musical numbers.” She told him as she passed him the large bowel of popcorn before retreating back to the kitchen to make the final bag. As Broadway made to bring the bowl to his chest, he stopped as he felt a tiny pressure on his hip. Cagney had gotten off the couch and was now looking to get into Broadway’s lap. He set the bowl down on the coffee table and grabbed the throw blanket off the couch and folded it into his lap before ever so gently lifting the cat on top of it. He smiled down at the silly, tiny little creature. He thought for a moment that it must be nice, to be small and cuddly and doted on as Elisa did Cagney.

“You’re sure I won’t cry?” He asked, running the back of his fingers along the creature’s spine as she kneaded at the blanket, prepping it to be the most comfortable little bed she could make it.

As the microwave ran, Elisa came back out and went to her little tower of movies which had been growing since she and Broadway had become friends. She pulled one off the shelf. This one didn’t look like something she’d grabbed recently for the precise purpose of having it available for their movie nights. Broadway was convinced. A cry movie or not, this was something Elisa loved, and he was curious to see it. They watched things she thought he would like or would help him understand other movies. Tonight, they would watch something that she liked. He gave her a nod.

Elisa walked over to the TV and popped the VHS into the VCR and hit play. She’d let the commercials play while her popcorn finished, and he would let her know if he saw anything in them that he wanted to see.

Cagney settled into his lap, allowing him to pick his popcorn back up and dig in as he let his thoughts go and let the wash of bright colors pull him in. A moment later and Elisa was putting her popcorn and beer (yuck) down on the coffee table and curled up in the nest of pillows he’d put together for her. She gave Cagney a pet, then started in on her bowl.

As the commercials came to a close and the movie begun, Broadway thought once more about Brooklyn and Lexington. They just didn’t have the interest in these movies. They didn’t know what they were missing. Maybe one of these days he could talk them into joining. Or they could have a night in the tower if they could get Hudson to let them use the TV at home. Because this was nice. He was glad Brooklyn and Lexington had something fun to spend their nights on. He and Elisa would enjoy this.

Elisa dropped her head against his arm as the first song started up. “This movie got me through so many stressful college evenings. Sometimes you really do just need something comforting.”

“Yeah.” Broadway replied. “I agree.”