#//I have a prompt for a sports!Connor

[felicitysmoaksx]

NHL Star! Connor Rhodes

Connor loved hockey. It had been his escape after his mother passed. It gave him a way to work out his anger and grief. A way to avoid his father, and the looming family business when everything became too much. When the world was pressing down on him. Hockey carried him through childhood to high school and even college. But the sport was never meant to be his future. Actually, he was meant to go to medical school and become a trauma surgeon. But all those plans came to a screeching halt when he was unexpectedly drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks. Now he was at a crossroads. He could continue with his plans to go to medical school. Or he go with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and play a sport that had given him so much, professionally. One thing was for sure. Med school could wait. It would always be there. Hockey wouldn't.

[paladin--strait]

paladin's 100 follower celly and new request list!! ✨

ahhh thank you so much for 100 followers! im so happy 🥳 and on my birthday too?? its like a gift 🎁 but, i hope that you guys like these prompts and the people i chose but if you have anybody that you want me to write for or a different prompt you wanna read you can still send it in and i'll see what i can do!

I love you all so much! keep reading to see the prompts and the people for your requests! ⬇️

the people who you request for are referred to as "name" in the prompts. and sorry, but none of these will be NSFW. even though i read it sometimes, im not comfortable with writing it just yet. all fics written will be under the tag "paladin's 100 follower celly!" make sure to check it out and drop a follow to see when a new fic comes out!! ❤️

some will be written in headcanon form and some will be in fic form! but let me know which one you want it in! ❤️

please let me know if you want the reader to be plus size, i'll happily write it for ya!

current request status: open!

✨ prompts!! ✨

1 - "I'm sick, don't get near me" "I don't care"

2 - "I want you to meet my parents." "but we just met!"

3 - crying in his arms

4 - him crying in your arms

5 - "listen to me, everything is going to be alright."

6 - "I'll take care of you."

7 - "they didn't deserve you."

8 - sugar baby x sugar daddy

9 - "I'm gonna be here for you whether you like it or not."

10 - bodyguard!(name) x reader

11 - sunshine!reader x (name)

12 - lazy morning

13 - team staff member x (name)

14 - comparing hand sizes

15 - cooking for his team (athletes only)

16 - cooking for his parents

17 - meeting his team (athletes only)

18 - (name) x baker!reader

19 - reader brings cookies or cupcakes for players team after a huge win (athletes only)

20 - reader gets hurt and (name) takes care of them

21 - wearing another players jersey (athletes only)

22 - (name) cooks for reader and it goes terribly wrong

23 - (name) cooks for reader and its good

24 - reader cooks for (name) and it goes terribly wrong

25 - reader cooks for (name) and its good

26 - reader hosts a suprise party for (name)

27 - rival player chirps player about reader, player goes crazy (athletes only)

28 - reader is a ref for the nhl, slowly falls for player (athletes only)

29 - reader cooks for (name)'s friends

30 - reader's child takes a liking to (name)

31 - reader is a storm chaser

32 - reader meets (name)'s pet and the pet loves reader

33 - reader watches an episode of her and (name)'s show without him knowing

34 - (name) comforts reader in a storm

35 - reader and (name) go to a pet store and reader convinces him to buy them a pet

36 - going to the eras tour with them

37 - going to a nba game with them

38 - going to yours/his little siblings sports game

39 - hairstylist!reader / doing his hair

40 - he teaches you how to play hockey (athletes only)

41 - reader compliments their eyes

42 - reader is a florist

43 - reader is a coach for a pee wee team

44 - teacher!reader

45 - coaches daughter

✨ nhl players! ✨

matt rempe

jack hughes

luke hughes

quinn hughes

trevor zegras

jamie drysdale

sidney crosby

cole caufield

nico hischer

timo meier

dawson mercer

andrei svechnikov

arturs silovs

sergei bobrovsky

matthew tkachuk

brady tkachuk

auston matthews

igor shesterkin

connor bedard

jeremey swayman

andrei vasilevskiy

stuart skinner

marc andre fleury

nico daws

jacob markstrom

aleksander barkov

brock boeser

j.t. miller

macklin celebrini

leo carlsson

mason mactavish

david pastrnak

artemi panarin

✨ other fandoms! ✨

tyler owens (twisters)

javi (twisters)

boone (twisters)

daryl dixon (the walking dead)

rick grimes (the walking dead)

carl grimes (the walking dead)

negan smith (the walking dead)

eugene porter (the walking dead)

abraham ford (the walking dead)

(there may be more added later)

[kudosmyhero]

Transformers vs. The Terminator #2: Enemy of My Enemy - part 2

Read Date: August 24, 2023 Cover Date: June 2020 ● Writer: David Mariotte ◦ John Barber ● Art: Alex Milne ● Colorist: David García Cruz ● Letterer: Jake M. Wood ● Editor: Tom Waltz ◦ Riley Farmer ◦ Megan Brown ●

**HERE BE SPOILERS: Skip ahead to the fan art/podcast to avoid spoilers (👏=didn't like it, 👏👏=it was ok, 👏👏👏=I liked it, 👏👏👏👏=I really liked it!, 👏👏👏👏👏=I loved it!)

Reactions As I Read: ● they spelled the noise! “tsche che chu sche chu”! I’m so delighted by this

● 👏👏👏👏👏

Synopsis: With the Ark having reawakened Megatron and his Decepticons, it seems as though nothing can spoil the Decepticon leader's moment of triumph as he levels his fusion cannon at the still-dormant Optimus Prime… but he didn't bargain on the T-800! Although his first shotgun blast simply bounces off his enemy's armor, Megatron's bemused overconfidence gives the Terminator—armed with superhuman aim and extensive knowledge of Cybertronian weak points—an opening to take out his left optic with one well-placed shot! Wounded and furious, Megatron orders Starscream and Soundwave to destroy the intruder. The Terminator's unwilling companion Sarah Connor weighs her options and decides to make a run for it before the aliens notice her, but Soundwave detects her presence and dispatches Ravage to eliminate her.

Soundwave and Starscream struggle to pin down the smaller and more maneuverable T-800, but Megatron's chief concern is getting his fellow Decepticons back online, using Teletraan I's restorative beam to repair and reactivate the remaining Decepticons before eliminating the stasis locked-Autobots. In the meantime, the Terminator withstands Soundwave's sonic blasts and Skywarp's lasers, then returns fire by hefting a discarded Cybertronian weapon off the ground and using it to send the purple Seeker flying. Ravage pursues Sarah Connor as the human clambers up a nearby cable and the chase takes them onto Teletraan's console. Ravage's pounce knocks the computer's scanner so that the repair beam intended for Skrapnel hits Optimus instead; as Starscream and Soundwave try to pin down the Terminator, they're caught off-guard when the revitalized Autobot leader promptly catches the two by surprise and sends them both sprawling! The Decepticons promptly break off their attack on the Terminator and turn their attention to Prime; correctly deducing that there might be two factions at play here, Sarah turns the Ark's repair systems on another robot who sports Optimus Prime's symbol… and, a few seconds later, Bumblebee joins the fight!

A panicked Starscream assumes that all the Autobots are coming back to life and orders a retreat. Despite his low opinion of the air commander, Megatron sees wisdom in Starscream's words, and orders his Decepticons to fall back as he blasts a hole in the side of the ship and flies off. The explosion leaves Prime and Bumblebee shaken but unhurt… but Prime, dismayed, notes the collateral damage has killed many Autobots and left more badly injured. Optimus thanks his strange rescuer for intervening, but the Terminator, now reduced to his metal endoskeleton, informs the pair that they too must be terminated!

The Terminator lands a shot on Optimus before Bumblebee wrestles him to the ground, but all three of the robots stop in their tracks when Sarah intervenes, and points out that, as far as she can tell, the Terminator's aggression makes him the real menace. An intrigued Optimus helps her down from the console while mulling over the prospect of sentient organics. Sarah demands an explanation of the Terminator's mission and whether she should simply let the two bigger machines destroy him. The Terminator finally admits the course that history takes from this point: after the Mount St. Hilary eruption awakens the Cybertronians, Megatron's war against humanity will prompt the people of Earth to form Skywatch, an anti-Transformer taskforce, and develop the Skynet supercomputer network to coordinate armies of man-made Terminator robots. But, despite Skynet's efforts, the war will end with total Cybertronian victory, the complete conquest of Earth… and mankind's extinction. Skynet only survives by feigning surrender and secretly constructing a time machine to retroactively win the war, but the Terminator's explanation deliberately omits the other part of his time-travelling mission—to ensure the creation of Skynet.

Although Bumblebee's unmoved, Optimus mulls over the implications of this story. In the Terminator's future, he eventually concludes, he and the Autobots must have died today, or else they surely would've stood up against Megatron's tyranny. Thus, the Terminator's interference has already altered the timeline; if that's true, Prime concludes, then they still have a chance to work together, prevent this dire future from ever coming to pass, and ensure the freedom of all sentient beings on Earth—biological or mechanical. With Sarah's encouragement, the Terminator weighs his options and then, reluctantly, accepts Prime's truce. The strange alliance ratified, Optimus asks for Sarah's help with reviving more Autobots; Sarah accepts, if he'll take her home afterwards… but when the Autobot leader assumes his new alternate mode, based on the truck that the Terminator hijacked to get them to Oregon in the first place, the reminder causes her to turn down the free ride.

On Oregon's west coast, the Decepticons regroup at a beach, where Starscream explains that their mysterious attacker was a cleverly-disguised machine, not one of the planet's native organic sentients. The fragile humans should give them no trouble, and Starscream illustrates this point by casually annihilating a nearby group of beachgoers. Pleased at the prospect of easy conquest, Megatron turns his attention to Refraktor and the Insecticons as they return from scouting the surrounding area for energy. Bombshell reports that they've found a suitable power source to fuel their invasion: a nearby robotics laboratory that he suspects might be connected to their mechanical foe. The Decepticons eagerly lay siege to the lab, unaware of the building's portentous position in history… the Cyberdyne Systems factory!

(https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Enemy_of_My_Enemy_Part_Two)

Fan Art: starscream by zibanitu6969

Accompanying Podcast: ● Swerve's Bar Podcast - here

[claraxbarton]

Yeah So

I'm abandoning my Bingo Card and just... doing the AUs I feel like because I am not good at structure. XD

Anyway, here are some I'm trying to hit for sure - if you out there have a request, hit me up and I will try to work it into the lineup for sure (Also, in June if not sooner, regular WIP updates are a go).

Royalty AU - LarsDunn probably also some a/b/o action

Historical AU - just gotta decide on a time period and a WHO. It's so tempting to do a Jo/MackGatsby thing but I already wrote one devastating fic for that pairing I should try for something happy.

Regency AU - which yes is historical but come on we all know there's a difference. I almost want to try some Wyatt Johnston/???(Roope? Pavelski? Miro AND Roope? Ty? Logan?)

Western AU - gotta do some cowboy stuff I mean... Matthew is just. Right there. Cowboy hat in hand. Waiting.

Other Sport - maybe baseball?? but really i kind of want to do Tennis. Like. OH. Tennis veterans Leo and Connor, not DONE yet but closer to the end than the beginning and then there's Connor Bedard jumping onto the scene all young and amazing and 'please bad touch me' about it.

Not Hockeys - Some way to work in an established Adam and Leon with Vince thrown in there. Lawyers is always my go to???

Academic AU - these are so challenging for me because I just want to make everyone a professor but also I kind of want to experiment with maybe... professor/TA but then does that make me awful @dwisp tell me I'm not evil????

Amnesia AU - hear me out. Jo/Mack. But like... somehow I'd make it happy????

Urban Fantasy AU - I really want to do some witch stuff. Anyone have a pairing request? I mean, all back is always MattDrai.

SugarBaby AU - I just. really really want to.

---

Alright, that's my working list. If you have a pairing or prompt request send it my way. i'm gonna be real: Pacific Rim/Drift AUs are cool but not my thing.

Other than that, I THINK I'm pretty open.

[leelany-world]

DBH Rarepairsweek: First Meeting (North x Chloe)

@dbhrarepairs DBH rarepairsweek 6, Day 6, prompt: First Meetings

Words: 3,232 Relationships: North x Chloe Additional Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, First Meetings, Fluff and Humor, Post-Peaceful Android Revolution (Detroit: Become Human), New Jericho (Detroit: Become Human), Falling In Love, First Kiss, Sweet badass Chloe, smitten badass North, Kidnapping, DBH Rarepairs Week Summary: “I’m Chloe,” she introduced herself when she reached her and North didn’t react—couldn’t react. North was speechless. But North was never speechless. At that moment, however, she didn't even know her own name when all she could think of was that cute smile and those curious, big, blue eyes looking at her expectantly. The charm Chloe exuded had caught her off guard, and in person it was even stronger than on TV. “I…,” North couldn't say more when her voice modulator stopped working.

First Meeting

North was angry.

She stormed down the stairs, fists clenched and teeth gritted. Every approaching android jumped out of her way, afraid to experience her wrath.

She wasn't always angry, as everyone always assumed, but at that moment she was.

The day had finally come when they would discuss with CyberLife's new and former CEO Elijah Kamski any unresolved issues regarding the future welfare of androids. He had reclaimed the company and wanted to come to negotiate further action with the androids, because they needed supplies to survive, such as thirium and spare parts, as well as repairs that were only available from CyberLife. In addition, the CyberLife Tower was to become the new headquarters of the androids.

But with Markus, Connor, Simon and Josh still stuck in a meeting with President Warren, North had to go and greet Kamski while they wrapped up the meeting.

The other leaders knew she would detest it, but she was no help in dealing with the President either. It was clear to all that the meeting could be completed more peacefully without her, as she just didn't have the best relationship with humans. North knew they weren't all bad, and they really had a strong human support base that gave them shelter and any help they could get. But for her, the only real exceptions were Hank (but of course only because of Connor and Sumo), and Rose, who was a saint among the androids because she had helped and saved so many of them.

Elijah Kamski, however, was another matter entirely. Every time North saw this arrogant, egocentric piece of man speak in interviews as if he were the catalyst and victor of the revolution himself, she wanted to scream and wrap her hands around his fragile human neck.

So now North stood at the entrance of New Jericho, adjusting her fancy white pantsuit and tugging at her hair, which was tamed in a single braid. She tried to keep her anger in check and not immediately strangle him when he came.

After the revolution, she had switched to business attire—her new battle armor—as the fight for android rights continued, this time with words in negotiations. She noticed people took her more seriously, especially because of her past, and that gave her another enormous boost of confidence.

A sleek dark blue sports car pulled up with screeching tires, but North couldn't see inside because of the tinted windows. Given the dramatic entrance, however, it could only be Kamski.

But the first thing she saw when the driver's door opened were delicate feet in elegant white pumps, followed by slender, graceful legs. Around the knees began a dress as blue as the sky above them. The driver was a woman, and when she got out of the car, North saw she was wearing an elegant sheath dress, perfectly tailored to her body. Her long, blond hair was pinned into a low ponytail and draped over her shoulder. 

Then North's gaze reached her gorgeous face; a face that everyone knew. It was Chloe. The first android ever created that had passed the Turing test. 

North was in awe. 

Her eyes never left Chloe, and she had to remind herself to close her mouth again.

She had heard so much about Chloe, seen her in interviews, and now she was meeting her in person. She was beautiful. This was nothing new for androids, of course, but the grace with which she moved and the wits she had shown in post-revolution interviews made North look up to her. 

She tried to remain professional, but her stoic facade was shattered when Chloe noticed her welcoming committee and gave North the sweetest smile she had ever seen.

“I’m Chloe,” she introduced herself when she reached her and North didn’t react—couldn’t react.

North was speechless.

But North was never speechless. At that moment, however, she didn't even know her own name when all she could think of was that cute smile and those curious, big, blue eyes looking at her expectantly. The charm Chloe exuded had caught her off guard, and in person it was even stronger than on TV.

“I…,” North could not say more when her voice modulator stopped working.

“You are North?” Chloe giggled as she noticed her lack of speech.

“North, yes. That’s me. Hello, Chloe,” she babbled. “I thought we would meet Kamski.” Her mouth was quicker before she could stop her thoughts from coming out unfiltered.

“And I thought I would finally see Markus again,” Chloe countered. “But to be honest I'm more intrigued to get to know you right now, North,” Chloe added with an innocent smile, that didn't fit the sparkle and mirth shining in her eyes.

“I…,” North was speechless—again. 

Chloe giggled, and North’s thirium pump stopped. What the hell was wrong? A virus? She should let that check as soon as possible after the meeting.

“You?” Chloe asked with a laugh when North rang for the words, still lost in those blue eyes.

North took a deep, artificial breath to cool down her system and clear her thoughts. “I think I'm very glad you left Kamski at home,” North finally managed to say. “I've been known to be friendlier without humans around.”

“I know. That's why I'm here alone today. Elijah can be annoying when he's too much the center of attention, and I've decided that's not helpful in this tense situation,” Chloe explained, hooking her arm with North's. “Now please show me the way.”

North stared at their linked arms before looking up into Chloe's face.

At that moment, Markus messaged her they needed some more time and asked her to show the guests around. North sighed. She had hoped that the presence of the others would calm her nerves, but now she had to manage on her own.

“Am I that intimidating?” Chloe asked innocently. “Usually people see me as the sweet, innocent little girl.”

“No! No... I ... You're the first of us, you're ... important,” North replied. “I was nothing ... A doll to—”

“Stop it, North.”

And North did.

“You saved your life, and then you fought for us and saved the lives of our species. You all did more on the streets of Detroit while I was stuck safely at home with Kamski.”

“But I…”

“Shh,” Chloe put her finger to North's lips to silence her, who closed her eyes at the touch. “Now show this old lady what you've accomplished and built here.”

That made North laugh, and a part of her usual self came back. “You look damn fine for being the oldest of us.”

“Let me tell you my secret,” Chloe whispered mischievously as they put their heads together.

“Okay,” said North, giggling.

“First,”—Chloe raised her index finger to emphasize her point—“avoid sunlight.” Each additional point was also backed up with another finger. “Second, use thermal paste on face and décolleté in the morning and evening; third, drink at least three liters of thirium per day; and fourth, get at least eight hours of stasis per day.”

Chloe looked intently at North, and North returned the gaze; she had followed every word that had passed Chloe's lips.

Then they both burst out laughing at the ridiculous answer.

North was happy.

That was exactly what North had needed to break the tension. Something heavy that had been pressing on her chest had suddenly loosened. Still, a little nervousness remained in her when she looked at Chloe.

But she had found her voice again and showed Chloe around, starting with the large entrance hall of the former abandoned office complex. It was a welcome area for new androids, but also a meeting place for everyone else. So it was no surprise that they immediately caught everyone's eye.

Everyone looked at Chloe in awe, and a crowd quickly gathered around to greet her.

North was fascinated by Chloe. How lovely she was with people, and she really seemed to enjoy it. Her sweet smile never faltered, her eyes shining as she greeted one android after another, accepting small gifts from two YK500s.

But soon she was saying goodbye as she had to go to a meeting about their future, thanking everyone for their kind words as she linked arms with North again.

“You have a good way with people. Markus would say that I should take a page from your book right now,” North said when they had rounded a corner.

“Trust me, if you can handle Elijah, you can handle anything,” Chloe said, and they both burst out laughing again.

When the fit of laughter was over, North paused their walk to look Chloe in the eyes. “Does he treat you well?”

“Yes, he does,” Chloe smiled. “He couldn't treat me any better.” 

North stiffened. “Oh, I see.”

She turned to go on, but Chloe’s hand on her arm stopped her.

“No, not like that. He's always treated me like his little sister.”

North tried to read her face, then she remembered something. “But what about the Kamski test Connor told us about? You couldn't have been okay with that!” North asked, anger starting to boil inside her again as she thought about it. When Connor had told them the story, it had taken him, Markus, Simon, and Josh to hold her back from going to Kamski and killing him herself.

But before anger could overwhelm her, she was snapped out of her thoughts by Chloe's laughter.

“What?” North snapped.

“It was my idea,” Chloe stated.

North froze. “What.”

“It was my idea!” Chloe laughed again. 

“Don't tease me.”

“I don't, really. It was a critical situation with the upcoming revolution and I came up with the idea of pushing Connor into deviancy. Elijah installed the option to upload my memory, and in the event of a failed test, I would have been uploaded into a new body.”

North was shocked.

Did she hear that right? She could only stare at Chloe with wide, questioning eyes.

“You all sacrificed something, and that was the least I could offer in that situation.” Chloe defended her idea.

“Directly putting your life on the line?”

“Just like you all did in the middle of the battle!” Chloe argued.

And she was right, North understood it. They fell into a comfortable silence as they both let the situation sink in. 

They walked on and North led Chloe to the infirmary, where they were again greeted by excited androids. The next stop was then one of the floors that had been converted to private rooms for androids, before they went to the briefing room.

Markus, Connor, Josh, and Simon were still not there, so Chloe decided to show North the ideas for the renovation of the CyberLife Tower. For this, she placed a hologram projector on the round table in the middle of the room, which showed the plans.

They were so engrossed in their conversation, firing more ideas at each other, that they didn't notice when the others arrived.

Markus' loud cough snapped them out of it, and they both took a step apart when they realized how close they were standing to each other.

“Markus! It’s been so long,” Chloe greeted him happily.

“Chloe, it’s so good to see you again,” Markus said, and walked towards her with open arms for a hug.

He introduced her to everyone, and they were very curious about their connection. So Chloe told them the story of how Elijah built Markus and that she helped him. They had visited Carl Manfred and Markus a few times, and Chloe always made sure Markus was treated well.

After that, they got down to business.

In the end, the meeting wasn't as boring as North had thought it would be if Kamski had been there.

Chloe listened eagerly to their demands on CyberLife and even suggested additional items for them to consider.

“Elijah said I knew better than he what was best for my people, and he would agree with anything I informed him of.”

“Do we speak of the same Kamski here?” North asked.

Chloe gave her a knowing smile. “You know, he's just a total nerd who has to keep up the facade of being the mysterious inventor of us.”

“Hard to believe,” North huffed.

After even more discussions, Chloe suggested they go to the tower together to take a closer look at a few things.

“I’m sorry, I have to attend another meeting soon,” Markus announced. “But North can go with you!” 

“What?” North asked, she didn’t know about another meeting, but she suspected something.

“Sorry, I have a meeting for the resource distribution,” Simon added.

“Duties in the infirmary,” Josh stated.

Connor looked irritated at the others before he spoke. “I can—”

Markus nudged him with his elbow. “Right, yes. I can’t go with you either because I have to escort Markus, you know, bodyguard things.”

Markus nodded in agreement at Connor’s words.

North had seen through their act. “I’m going to kill you,” she whispered, and emphasized her statement with the throat-slitting gesture. But they all just grinned back at her.

“No problem. North is capable of keeping me entertained. We're big girls, and we'll work it out on our own,” Chloe smiled again, but North could only stare at her.

They said their goodbyes and walked to Chloe’s car.

North had barely closed the door when Chloe stepped on the gas, and North instinctively clawed at the grab handles.

She only earned a sly smile in return.

Chloe was driving like a madwoman through the streets of Detroit, but North was enjoying every second of it. She knew Chloe would never act that careless and had everything under control. And what's wrong with just living for the moment?

“You're manipulating the traffic lights.”

“Don't tell anyone!”

They joked, laughing at the craziness of the moment, until Chloe turned onto the MacArthur Bridge. 

An explosion hit the car, and they rolled over, skidded across the asphalt and crashed into the bridge railing. Then something that felt like an electric wave hit them, and everything went black.

North awoke from the forced stasis and noticed that she was cuffed to a pipe against a wall. It looked like they were in an abandoned warehouse. The room was small, gray concrete walls and concrete floor damp and full of mold, the sparse light coming through a window slit in the wall above. There was garbage and animal feces everywhere; her white suit was ruined.

In the middle of the room, she noticed Chloe tied to an old chair with some ropes.

“Chloe, are you okay?” She asked as she shook the cuffs to get free.

“Yes. Except for my car. It was a unique model,” she sighed, also trying to free herself from her restraints.

North tried to contact the others, but communications were blocked. Either by the thick walls or even by special equipment the kidnappers must have obtained.

Their sounds had drawn attention to them when the door opened with a terrible squeak, and two sullen-looking men came in, one stocky, the other gaunt with a scruffy beard.

“Great, you guys are awake. We weren't sure if we fried your wires or not. Would have been hard to blackmail Kamski with some scrap metal,” the bearded one laughed.

North would have liked to snap his neck.

“Can you please loosen the rope? It hurts my wrists,” Chloe sniveled.

“You're an android, you don't make demands, and you can't even feel pain,” the other man said, slapping her across the face.

“Chloe!” North shouted.

She wanted to snap his neck too.

“I'm sorry, you're right,” Chloe sobbed, “I will be silent and obey.”

“That’s a good girl,” the fat man said and grabbed her chin, ogling her in a nauseating way. 

Something in North twisted. These disgusting men better kept their hands off Chloe.

“You sick bastards, you won't survive this,” North growled, “I'm going to tear you to pieces, slowly.”

“Oh, you will?” he laughed. “And how will you do that? Tied up and at our mercy.”

“Actually, all we need is her,” the other man interjected and pointed at Chloe when he stepped up to North. “You're useless to us. Except for one thing your model is good for.” He leered down at North and grabbed her hair to pull her face to his. She felt his beard scratching across her skin.

North gritted her teeth and braced herself to ram her head into his ugly face, making him cry out in pain.

“Shit! That fucking bitch broke my nose!” he wailed, letting go of her to touch his bleeding nose, while spitting blood—at least two teeth were gone, too.

North slumped back on the floor, a satisfied grin on her face splattered with human blood.

The other guy came and looked at the nose. “Yeah, looks broken. Go and take care of that.”

The injured man hurried away as the stout one turned back to North and pointed a gun at her.

“You bit—”

The man went down as a chair broke against the back of his head.

“They always underestimate me,” Chloe said, rubbing her wrist where her synthetic skin still flickered from the marks of the ropes. She had freed herself when no one paid any attention to her.

“What the...,” the second man returned when he heard the commotion. When he saw his partner lying on the ground, his eyes widened and he tried to flee. But Chloe jumped on his back, put him in a headlock until he slumped unconscious. 

She took the keys from him and rushed to North to free her.

“Always?” North asked, perplexed. “So this happens a lot?”

She stood up and made a futile attempt to wipe the dirt off her clothes.

“Yeah, Eli has some enemies and they all have the same scam where they kidnap me to blackmail him,” Chloe explained. “By the way, I know a good dry cleaner who can fix that.”

“Thanks,” North replied, still confused. “But then shouldn't he hire bodyguards for you?”

“Where's the fun in that?” Chloe laughed and ripped the bottom of her dress to move around better. Then she stepped closer to North and wiped the blood from her face. They stared at each other, their faces so close. North was impressed with Chloe's fighting skills, and her thirium pump was acting up. She should definitely get that checked out.

“Shall we go and rough up the rest now?” whispered Chloe, holding out her hand invitingly to North.

“Nothing I'd rather do!” North beamed at her, took her hand, and they sprinted out of the room to finish off the rest of the gang.

Twenty minutes later, they strutted out of the warehouse without a single scratch, but with a few bloodstains on their clothes, and big grins on their faces as they still held hands.

“That was an interesting first meeting, wasn't it?” asked Chloe, turning to North.

“It couldn't have been better,” North grinned. It felt good to let out all that pent-up energy from all those boring meetings. She needed something to do, not just sit around.

“I could top it,” Chloe suggested.

“Yeah? I'm down for it,” North smirked, and Chloe reached up to pull her face into a kiss.

This was definitely the best first meeting they'd both ever had.

[itskenwaybitch]

h e l l o ! ~ ★

→ i’m kennedy (or skye, or wolf, or ken, or...whatever) nice to meet you!

→ 20. she/they. lesbian who would make a very special exception for a choice few fictional men. furry + suiter. rabid fangirl of various things. horse girl. undergad psychology student. self-shipper (i'm totally okay with sharing! in fact PLEASE TALK TO ME if we have an f/o in common!!!!). shitpost curator.

→ my one and only blog for any and all interests. i can't run multiple blogs, i don't have the energy or brain capacity for that. :) 👍

→ character anons + roleplay blogs welcome!!!

→ tone indicators are appreciated!

→ minors are REQUIRED to block my nsfw tag: #˚✧nsfw

→ DNI: MINORS UNDER 16. PEDOS. ZOOS. BIGOTS. NAZIS. CONSERVATIVES. JUST ANY GENERAL HATEFUL HUMAN BEING.

→ tag directory + interests + f/os under the cut!

→ carrd

t a g s ~ ★

→ fair warning: i have a tag for EVERYTHING!! i feel like they are self-explanatory for the most part, but if you're confused, come here for a reference! :3 i also add new tags a lot so don't be surprised to see things pop up here.

#˚✧denkeeping - any info posts like this. masterlist. about me. etc.

#˚✧brainrot - rambles + infodumping.

#˚✧packtalk - sayin stuff

#˚✧resources - anything that other people made that i use! post templates, dividers, decorations, etc.

#˚✧titanposting - attack on titan stuff.

#˚✧asscreed - assassin’s creed stuff.

#˚✧watcherihardlyknowher - watcher stuff.

#˚✧nomourners - grishaverse stuff

#˚✧dnp - dan and phil stuff

#˚✧baldgate - baldur's gate stuff

#˚✧delusion - self-insert/self-ship stuff. block if you cringe. this is my silly little blog. let me be cringe and delusional in peace.

#˚✧mailtime! - asks. anons, friends, and character anons will get their own tag with their name/emoji in front. ex: jean mail time!

#˚✧furryshit - i feel like this needs no explanation.

#˚✧skye’sshippingco. - ship stuff.

#˚✧lolz - memes

#˚✧🐺🩷{insert character name here} - a way to better organize posts dedicated to my faves.

#˚✧nsfw - self explanatory

#˚✧🩷{person} - interactions with friendos!

#˚✧tagthings - challenges/prompts/stuff you guys tag me in :p

#˚✧g(r)eek - anything ancient greece or greek mythology related

loves/interests ~ ★

→ attack on titan

→ alternative music [pierce the veil, idkhow, fall out boy, maneskin, system of a down, to name a few]

→ assassin's creed

→ six of crows

→ red dead redemption 2

→ baldur's gate 3

→ various horse games (Kenway on HI3 + Kendra Ponyheart on SSO)

→ the nightmare before christmas. (fuck tim burton tho)

→ phandom

→ watcher/buzzfeed unsolved

→ equestrian sports and anything horse related. i ride hunters/equitation!

→ wolves

→ the furry fandom (SFW ONLY PLS)

→ greek mythology

→ psychology, sociology, anthropology, all the -ologies...

→ mushrooms, frogs, nature-y cottage core vibes, ya know

→ shitposting

f / o s ~ ★

→ ratonhnhaké:ton/connor kenway - assassin's creed III

→ kassandra - assassin's creed odyssey

→ jean kirschtein (season 4 specifically) - attack on titan

→ more to come im sure lol. me and my simp ass.

[anthonybialy]

Former Buffalo Sabres Have Fun at Current Fans’ Expense

I’ve been told the Stanley Cup has been awarded.  Exile prompts vastly different whims.  My lengthy postseasons have oscillated between focusing on thriving teams as a distraction and skating away for the summer as a mental health break from a distraction that’s itself supposed to be just that.  I went with the latter this year.  Either way, I’m another Buffalo Sabres fan trying to keep the perennially disappointing team we’re cursed to follow from ruining enjoyment of the sport.  That’s Terry Pegula’s legacy.

The Stanley Cup will remain in its home country of the United States of America.  This nation includes the state of Florida, which has a more legitimate claim to hockey supremacy than Canada’s Tijuana.  Buffalo’s team helps Gary Bettman by showing that traditional hockey cities aren’t the only place for success and may not in fact experience it at all.

Inflicting disappointment gradually shields against shock.  Imagine explaining to the Buffalo sports fan unfrozen after 35 years trapped in a West Seneca glacier that Miami finally has a Stanley Cup to go along with Tampa Bay’s three.  Add how the Buccaneers won two Super Bowls to get the poor thawing dude to refreeze himself.

The tradition of leaving Buffalo to win a championship extends beyond even the record-setting Sabres absence.  The universe wants to make sure you know exactly how cruel it is by flaunting erstwhile heroes celebrating with different employers.  I refuse to list the countless names that come to mind for sanity’s sake.

Samson Reinhart found his dream partner after he left you.  But don’t take it personally.  Who knew he could stop underachieving to become a worthwhile partner?  Well, the Panthers did.  Rejected Sabres fans try to determine if he was unspectacular as a player or underutilized by a franchise that specializes in such.  A champion who scores at will shows that failure is not a curse when you’re doing it to yourself.

Who’s your favorite player who escaped drought conditions?  Brandon Montour scored 11 points this postseason, which is a reminder that the Sabres could sure use a puck-moving defenseman like him.  Oops!  Buffalo fans may not miss Evan Rodrigues as much even though he can put Stanley Cup winner on his business card no matter how his personal career’s gone.

The Panthers are so good that they overcame having Kyle Okposo.  The least inspirational captain possible found a way to avoid pouting about fans who noticed how he played, namely by joining a solid act.  The drought’s embodiment matched his futility with the Sabres personally as a passenger by not scoring in 17 playoff games.  It matched his total in Buffalo.

The responsible party is anything but.  Okposo led his previous team through the playoff absence he helped cause.  He’s Hot Dog Guy without anyone laughing.  Masochistic Sabres fans show how much abuse they’ll tolerate by cheering for a conman who stole from their team in every way.  Getting someone else to pay him to not produce is the closest this franchise gets to a win.

The runner-up provokes thoughts about what could’ve been if you thought there was relief.  Connor McDavid winning a Conn Smythe despite not being able to singlehandedly do the same with the Cup offers a reminder that even lottery ping pong balls are against us.  Then again, the Sabres might have wasted an all-time player’s potential as their most egregious example yet.  Try to remember the downside of seeming blessings to appreciate not receiving them.

At least one of the two teams I wanted to lose lost.  I was one more Buffalo fan cheering against Edmonton because their coach chose to start a lame feud with a fanbase that treats slights as offenses against made men.  Cup-pursuing failure Kris Knoblauch could’ve coached the Bills because he’s won the same number of titles.  I’m teasing.  He surely appreciates the precedent.

Acting as a farm team is not the most fulfilling way to be linked to championships.  The Sabres can’t use the excuse of big market teams raiding poor little towns.  You don’t even have to ask why Buffalo remains a small market.  It’s tough to grow when the multibillionaire owner drains taxpayers so he doesn’t have to pay his own business expenses.  Blaming lack of talent gets tricky when latent abilities emerge upon leaving town.  Previous Sabres coaches kept kryptonite in their pockets.

This is the latest season in a long series.  We’re beyond tired of watching those for whom we once cheered nab championships.  Seeing lost assets celebrate in different jerseys is particularly painful for fans of a team that will go at least four presidential elections between advancing.  The Sabres South win doesn’t count as a moral Cup for Buffalo in any way.  In fact, the only team that lost more than Buffalo was Edmonton.

A secondary defeat is common for the primary star-crossed sports city.  Just this year we’ve also endured a damned Boston team winning another freaking championship; even worse, it’s the one sort-of wrested from Buffalo.  That’s on top of yet one more Super Bowl win for a nemesis that can’t be classified as a rival for as long as it prevails in every postseason matchup.  And whoever wins the World Series will have a major league team unlike the city that thought Pilot Field was built as the home for that precise purpose.

I feel terrible for poor fans of playoff teams.  They’re adjusting to the offseason when Sabres fans are beyond accustomed to it.  It would feel uncomfortable to still follow hockey in summer.  You can’t skate on sand.  Letting all those Dolphins fans attend a parade where the Stanley Cup is the grand marshal seems far more preferable.  Particular absurd justifications change every year as results remain constant.

[americaswritings]

Come back to me

Warnings: angst, mentions of injuries, blood & death (not very graphic though)

Prompt: "I can't lose her."

Summary:  You're a doctor and volunteer to help out at a charity run. But then an explosion rattles the event. The ER is overwhelmed by patients and no one knows if you're okay. Connor takes it the hardest. Will he ever get the chance to tell you how he feels?

Words: 3.5k

Pairing: Connor Rhodes x reader

A/N: Since then has writing summaries become harder than writing the actual piece?? Lol. I hope you enjoy my take on a worried Connor :)

Add yourself to my taglist!

Masterlist

“Hey, ready to go?”, you asked Natalie as you entered the break room where everyone was getting ready for their shift. But your face fell when you noticed Natalie’s apologetic expression. “No, don’t you dare leave me alone in his!”, you protested, but you could tell the decision had been made already.

“I’m sorry”, Natalie began, and you groaned. “You can’t be serious”, you stated in disbelief, your previous enthusiasm gone. “Dr. Morgan called in sick today, so I have to take her shift. I’m sorry”, Natalie explained, and you could tell she felt guilty for cancelling so late.

The two of you had signed up to help at a charity run. No one else had been interested in it, so you and Natalie had decided to volunteer together. But giving out water bottles and treating minor injuries without her to chat with would be beyond boring.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving me alone in this”, you groaned in frustration, fully aware that the others were watching the encounter with amused smiles. 

“I told you it was a bad idea”, Connor commented with a smirk, and you shot him a deadly look. “It would have been fun, if Natalie wouldn’t have dumped me last minute”, you complained. 

“Hey, I didn’t plan on this to happen”, she defended, and you sighed. “I know. I just can’t believe I will have to stand in the cold for hours on end when I could be here in the ER, attending serious cases.”

The others chuckled, before heading off to the ER one after one. Natalie squeezed your shoulder before she left, and Connor gave you a small thumbs up. You rolled your eyes at him, grabbing everything you would need for the day and heading off yourself.

-

"Here you go. Next time you should pay more attention to your surroundings." You finished your treatment on a young man who had tripped and scrapped his knee.

"And I think you should reconsider your shoe wear. As much as I know, those aren't considered proper running shoes", you pointed towards the man's feet, which were sporting in a pair of green crocs.

"Yes ma’am", he replied, but you didn't think he was taking your advice seriously. As you watched him jog off you sighed.

You couldn't believe you had volunteered here instead of attending surgeries and real emergencies. Now you understood why everyone else had laughed about you and Natalie, when you had brought up your decision to volunteer.

But a small part of you was proud that you had made that decision and stick to it. You believed that being here was also a part of being a good doctor. For you it meant more than hiding in an operating room.

It was getting out and meeting people, even if the treatments didn’t require much of your skills. And it definitely taught you to appreciate your work field more.

The cold seemed to have found its way into your body and you hadn’t been able to stop shivering for quite a while, even with a hot drink in your hands.

It impressed you, how people chose to run during these temperatures and how much fun everyone seemed to be having. It would have infected you much more if you hadn’t been freezing as much.

You looked up from the cup in your hands to find a girl walking towards your booth. Her face was red, and she was panting heavily. You quickly grabbed a water bottle, making your way over to her, but before you could reach her an ear-piercing bang filled the air.

You felt the ground being pulled from under your feet as your body was sent flying backwards. The moment you made contact with the ground, the world went black.

-

“Listen up everyone! There has been an explosion at Millennium Park. We have a flood of patients coming in. Postpone surgeries, discharge patients with minor symptoms and clear as many beds as possible. It will be stressful day!”

Connor felt like his heart had missed a beat as Maggie spoke up. “Millennium Park?”, he questioned, his voice sounding husky as the words began to register in his mind. 

Lately he had found you being on his mind more and more. Even after work you consumed his thoughts. He clearly must have heard it wrong because he was too fixed on you.

But Maggie nodded. “Yeah, it’s where a charity run is taking place today. Police thinks it was a planned attack”, she informed them, and he could hear the others around him mumbling to each other about the horrible news.

But they sounded far away to him. Like he was underwater, and he was sinking deeper and deeper. “Connor?” Someone grabbed him by the shoulder, shaking him a little to break him out of his trance.

It was Will he realized. Will, who hadn’t been in the break room this morning. He looked around, finding Natalie and Ethan making their way over to him, both of their faces mirroring the shock he felt. 

“She is there”, he whispered, and Will furrowed his brows. “Who’s there? What are you talking about?” But Connor didn’t have to answer him. Natalie had reached them, wrapping Will in a tight hug, who seemed completely clueless about what was going on.

Connor felt numb, watching Natalie cry into his friend’s shoulder. It didn’t feel real, couldn’t be real. “I have to call her”, he realized, reaching for his phone in his pocket. His hands were shaking as he unlocked it, searching for your contact.

Ethan had joined them. He explained the situation to Will, who was trying to soothe Natalie, but Connor blocked him out. All he was focused on was the possibility of you being hurt.

As Natalie noticed him calling you, she broke the hug, turning around so she could see him. They all watched as he held the phone to his ear, waiting and waiting, his heart sinking as the time passed and you didn’t pick up.

Connor admired him for it. He felt frozen, like it was impossible to think straight now that his thoughts were circling only around you and what could have happened to you.

“That doesn’t have to mean anything, alright?”, Ethan spoke up as Connor slowly lowered his phone. 

“The Millennium Park is huge. She might not have even be close to the explosion”, he tried to calm them, and Connor detected he had shifted into soldier mode. Something he did when he was under pressure, which helped him put his feelings aside and focus on the task on hand. 

“She is likely treating the victims. Do you really think she would stand by, watch, and pick up the phone? You know her, she would help as best as she can.”

“Then why isn’t she answering her phone?”, he asked frankly, calling you again but without any luck. It felt like his throat was closing in, making it hard for him to fill his lungs with air. 

He knew Ethan was right, you would immediately jump in to help, and his explanation seemed to soothe him a little.

His heartbeat began to slow down, and it was easier for him to breathe again. He could see that Natalie had regained her composure, confident in Ethan’s idea as well.

“Now let’s get back to work”, Will announced, patting Connor’s shoulder as he jogged over to the entrance of the ER where the first ambulances were arriving.

Connor couldn’t stop thinking and worrying about you, not until he knew you were safe and well, but he couldn’t just stand around and do nothing either. They needed all the help they could get. 

“You good?” Ethan was still eyeing him, probably debating whether Connor was in the condition to focus on his work. 

“I can’t lose her”, he admitted and Ethan responded with an empathetic smile. "You won't", he reassured him.

And Ethan was right, you were probably on scene, treating the victims. It would be beyond humiliating for him, if you showed up later and found out he hadn’t been able to do the same, because he had been too worried about you.

So Connor braced himself, trying to push the thoughts of you aside and regain a clear head. He offered Ethan a sharp nod, before marching off to take over a patient.

-

A ringing in your ears was the first thing you noticed when you started to regain consciousness. Your eyes felt heavy, but after a moment you could open them. Immediately tears sprung to your eyes and you began to cough at the smoke surrounding you.

You scanned your body for any visible injuries, but it seemed you had been lucky. Carefully you shifted yourself up, beginning to crawl forward as you didn't trust your legs to carry you.

You could make out someone lying near you and realized it was the girl that had been walking towards you. She was unconscious and you leaned down to feel the pulse on her neck.

It was there, a little weak but steady. You breathed out in relief before starting to check her for visible injuries.

When you came to the conclusion she was stable, you fished for a pen in the pocket of your jacket. With shaky hands you scribbled what you had found out on her hand, hoping the rescue forces would see it before you moved on to the next person.

-

"What do we have?”, Connor asked as he took on another patient.

He had lost count at this point. There had been too many and the onrush was so big, that they had been completely overwhelmed, despite their preparations. He had heard that the cafeteria and break room had been converted to makeshift operation rooms and Maggie was desperately trying to call in more nurses.

He was beyond exhausted, but the adrenaline was keeping him going. His worry about you hadn’t decreased, not after he had seen the devastation the explosion had left. They had lost too many patients today.

“28-year-old male. Complains about chest pain and suffered a trauma to the abdomen.” Connor’s eyes scanned the patient in front of him, pausing as his eyes got caught on something. 

"What is this?", he muttered as he mustered the patient's hand, which was covered by writing.

“We found him like that. It turns out someone on scene has been checking on people and doing first aid way before rescue forces arrived”, the paramedic explained, and Connor felt like the air was knocked out of his lungs. 

“Who did this?”, he asked as he examined the writing with furrowed brows, his hope growing. It was a little smudgy, but readable.

Ethan had been right; you were treating patients on scene. It had to be you.

He could see Ethan making his way over towards them and gestured him to take over. He was glad the other doctor didn’t question him but followed his request without hesitation.

“Do you know who it is?”, he asked the paramedic, his hope rising at the possibility that you were okay. She shook her head, clearly in a hurry to get back to the ambulance. But when she turned, wanting to leave the ER, he quickly grabbed her wrist. 

“Please, just give me one more moment”, he pleaded, and her eyes softened. “I have a picture of her, right here.” He fumbled with his phone, his hands starting to shake again as his nerves took over. 

It didn’t take him long to pull up a photo of you. It was a selfie you had taken with him and Natalie after shift, all of you still dressed in your scrubs and making grimaces for the camera. 

“Here! Is she the doctor you’re talking about?” He handed the paramedic his phone. She narrowed her eyes as she studied the photo, and he felt his impatience grow with every passing second she didn’t say anything.

“It’s a little hard to tell”, she admitted sternly, but as she saw the desperation in his eyes she sighed. “Do you have another photo?”, she asked, and Connor nodded eagerly. His fingers trembled as he chose another photo of you.

He could visibly remember the day it had been taken.

You had just finished a difficult surgery, looking forward to your lunch break. As you had beamed with pride at your successful procedure, he hadn’t been able to take your eyes off you. Your smile could have lit up a whole room in that moment and he had felt himself drawn to you more than ever.

But he couldn’t cross that line, so he had insisted on taking a photo of you instead. To remember this moment.

It showed you in your whole height, dressed in your scrubs as you tried to pose to look professional. But he could see the spark in your eyes that gave away your happiness.

He handed the paramedic his phone once more and this time she seemed more certain about her answer. “I am pretty sure that’s her”, she confirmed, giving him an empathetic smile before she made her exit.

Connor could vaguely remember walking over to a corner of the ER, leaning against a wall for support. The relief that you were okay was too overwhelming. The adrenaline that had kept him going the past hours seemed to leave his body and his knees threatened to give in. 

It was getting hard for him to breathe as his mind was playing out the scenarios what could have happened once more.

“Hey man, you’re okay?” Will had appeared next to him. He gulped, trying to win back his composure. “She’s okay”, he breathed out and he saw the relief on his friend’s face. “That’s great news!” Will patted his shoulder, but the worry was still evident on his face. 

“How about you take a little break and get some fresh air”, he suggested, but Connor fend him off. “I’m fine”, he declared, but his voice gave him away. He saw Will opening his mouth to protest, but he didn’t get the chance when Natalie stepped in.

“I will take it from here”, she told her boyfriend, and they exchanged a quick glance before the redhead walked off. “Come one, let’s get a breath of fresh air”, Natalie recommended and even though her voice was soft, there was a determination to it that allowed no protest.

He looked around, debating whether he could allow himself to rest for a moment. Natalie seemed to notice. “It has calmed down a bit. I think we have got through the worst. And we both need a clear head before we get back to work”, she reasoned, and he decided it sounded convincing enough.

Chicago’s cold air hit him the moment they stepped outside. Although he wasn’t a fan of the city’s low temperatures, he welcomed it now, as it seemed to help him regain a clear head.

Natalie took a deep breath beside him, and he sensed she needed this break just as much as he did. She had just been better at hiding it.

“When she comes home tonight, she will be blown away by all the love she will be receiving”, Natalie spoke first, and the image educed a smile from him. “Yeah”, he agreed, tucking his hands in the pockets of his scrubs.

“Are you finally going to tell her how you feel?” The question caught him off guard and he turned to Natalie in shock, who chuckled at his bewildered expression. “We can all see how much you care for her”, she told him. 

“I am not sure if tonight is the right moment to do it. After everything that happened…”, he trailed off, and she furrowed her brows at him. “That is exactly why you should do it. If something would have happened to her today, you would have regretted not telling her, trust me.”

He considered her words for a moment, noticing that the conversation seemed to ground him.

“I don’t want to overwhelm her with it after today”, he added, still not convinced by your best friend’s words. “She would probably kill me right now for saying this, but she cares for you too. I can tell when I see the two of you together. I am sure it would be a relief to hear it after such a tough day.”

“You’re really passionate about this”, Connor stated, a teasing smile on his lips. It felt good to be out of the hospital for a moment and escape the hectic of the ER. He felt much lighter already and he couldn’t wait for you to come back. Now that he knew you were fine, he felt eager to see you and hold you close, like he had wanted to so many times.

Natalie was right. After today his reasons not to cross that line between the two of you seemed meaningless. All he could think about was how the dread of nearly losing you had felt like.

“Yeah, well, she’s my best friend and I want her to be happy. But it seems like the two of you need a little extra push”, Natalie stated, and he chuckled.

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for the moment before bracing himself. “Get back to work?”, he suggested, and Natalie nodded. 

-

You didn’t know how much time had passed since the explosion had gone off. Rescue forces had arrived quickly, but there had been too many victims and too little medics and ambulances. You could only imagine the chaos that must be taking place in the hospitals.

“I got her!”, you called to one of the paramedics, jogging over to a woman, who was clutching her bleeding arm. “Hey, I’m doctor (Y/L/N)”, you introduced yourself. “How about you sit down, okay? I will take a look at that wound of yours.”

She nodded, obviously still in shock. “What’s your name?”, you asked her as you carefully removed her hand from the wound, examining the cut that ran along her upper arm.

“I’m Ma-Maddie”, she stuttered, her eyes fixed on you. “Okay Maddie. The wound isn’t too deep, but I have to sanitize it, so it doesn’t get infected, alright?” She nodded, her eyes wide in fear.

“I am going to be honest with you, this will hurt. But it will be over just as quickly, okay?” She nodded once more, and you gave her a moment to brace herself before you started to clean the wound. She let out a painful whimper and you hurried to get it over with as fast.

“I am done”, you announced, and she let out a sigh. “This will need stitches”, you explained, clutching your belly as a sudden sharp pain shot through it. You gulped, blinked a few times, and tried to win back your composure, but the pain only increased.

“There is an ambulance over there. They will do your stitches”, you choked out, pointing towards it and the woman followed your advice, oblivious to your sudden change of course. When she had turned you bent over in pain. Black dots were clouding your vision, and you felt sick.

You saw someone walking over to you, a policeman you realized. Then your knees gave in, and you collapsed to the ground.

His face appeared in your view, and you could hear him speaking to you, but his voice sounded far away, and you couldn’t speak. He gestured towards the side and soon another face came into sight. You felt yourself being lifted off the ground and carried towards what looked like the inside of an ambulance.

“You need to stay with us”, was the last thing you heard before you blacked out.

-

Connor took off his gloves as he left a patient’s room. The ER had calmed down a little and he felt the exhaustion kicking in. As he dumped the gloves, his eyes landed on the tv, which was playing the news. The images showed the destruction the explosion had left, and when it featured clips of the rescue forces on-site, he caught himself searching for you.

“We have another one incoming!”, Maggie announced, and he quickly hurried over to the entrance of the ER. Right on cue the doors opened, and two paramedics rolled in a gurney.

“Young female. Collapsed on scene as she was treating patients. Possible internal bleeding in the abdomen due to the impact of the shockwave”, the paramedic reported as they rolled the patient in.

He stepped closer and his heart seemed to stop when his initial fear at her words was confirmed. It was you, laying on the stretcher. Your face was covered by a light shade of dust and a few sprinkles of blood. 

Underneath it you looked pale, your eyes were closed, and you were hooked to an IV. 

No.

This couldn’t be happening. He had expected you to return to the hospital in an ambulance. But not this way. 

Not like this.

---

Yes there will be a part two for this :)

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[augment-techs]

W I N X for the letter prompt for Connor and Trent

Wingfic: When a person reaches 13, they grow wings as a reflection of their soul. For Conner, this is no problem; he's never been traumatized without getting help and he doesn't suffer from neglect or low self-esteem. And to show it off how good he has it, his wings are a glistening spectacle of brazen blood red with brown clustered highlights at his joints. Trent, however, rarely shows off his wings, especially only after just joining the team, and with the whole mess with Mesagog being found out as his father. When he finally did trust Conner enough to show them, they were a pale, muted mess. What once had been shining white and black tern's wings had faded into a tatty mass of unkempt feathers, a sort of dust settling over them in Trent's anxiety and depression; some important bits that helped him fly had also come undone. Needless to say, when Conner finally got over himself and saw how much Trent was hurting, he immediately went to town preening him and building his confidence back enough to at least a happy medium of where Trent could fly again. Intoxication: After everything--the Rangers, high school, college, a nervous breakdown that came out of nowhere--Trent was put up with multiple doctors, who gave him multiple drugs. A lot of them didn’t do anything to make him feel any less...less...about himself; but several of them did get him high. He painted Anton’s house magenta with sunset highlights and wrote that graphic novel he planned as a kid with a snowy owl and a purple unicorn in thirty-eight hours one time, even. Conner...has had beer. After a match with his sport’s team at college went well, and then immediately puked his guts out. Not worth it to try anything more than that. New AU: So...The Power Ranger thing never happened, but Trent had to make it on his own when Anton refused to pay for art school, and Conner had to make a better living than what he could afford working at as a barista when he suffered an injury his first year on a major league team. Through trial and error, their friends (Kira and Ethan, Cassidy and Devin) set them up to do work in the porn industry together as live cam-boys. They actually became exceedingly popular among fetish circles that like power fantasies of Trent topping Conner with something of a darker persona; and Conner got his props for being able to deadass lift Trent into the air and doing a standing sixty-nine on command. X-Ray: When Trent was evil as the White Ranger, he did have time and tide to watch the Rangers from afar, though none of them nearly as much as Conner out of his suit. Often after taking time to wash off after a sporting event in the communal showers where the White Ranger could not be heard, could not be seen. Sometimes he’d even get himself off at the display under the soap and water back home in the privacy of his own room and the safety of his own mind. Conner...is actually missing the baby toe off of his left foot. Nothing bad happened to cause it; he just never developed it in the womb. It doesn’t bother him, but he wished often that people didn’t make such a big deal out of it every time he had to take his shoes off for practical reasons among new people. Questions that got annoying and boring after a while made him almost gag. Trent, after they started dating, never asked about it, but he did find it interesting enough to ask if he could sketch it once--but not in a fetish kind of way. More like Da Vinci dissecting dead bodies and sketching them for people to look over centuries later.

[felicitysmoaksx]

Here’s a bit of a challenge for you for your advent calendar! Sports au Conner plays a sport and meets Sarah in the emergency room.

Hi anon! Thanks so much for the prompt! Hope you enjoy it! As a side note, I know I missed a day, but I really didn't feel good. So I'll make it up over the weekend.

The hockey player had all of his teeth. Sarah noted as he grinned easily at her. Heat filled her cheeks as she continued her initial exam like Dr. Halstead told her to. But it wasn't a creepy grin like the sleazy guy who stood across the street smoking whatever in his pipe, (She didn't know what it was, but she knew it definitely wasn't legal.) liked to give her when she got home.

Instead, the hockey player's smile gave her butterflies. It was annoying because if her disaster of a relationship with Joey had shown her anything, she didn't have time to date right now.

"I'm Connor," his voice was rich and warm. Like drinking a hot chocolate on a cold Chicago night. When she glanced up at him, from where she was listening to his heart, his grin broadened. Then he added, "By the way."

Though more heat filled her cheeks, she shook her head at him with a little grin pulling at her lips. "Dr. Halstead should be right in."

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Connor asked as he pulled away from her slightly. "I didn't mean to. I thought-"

"You're fine," Sarah assured him, chuckling, "But I'm a fourth-year medical student. Technically not a doctor until I graduate. My ED rotation is the last thing I have to do before that happens. So that means I'm not allowed to make any decisions or perform any medical procedures without a doctor supervising."

"So, Ms. Med Student my flirting isn't making you uncomfortable?" He questioned and the brunette shook her head softly. Just because she didn’t have time to date, didn’t mean it wasn’t nice to be wanted by someone.

“So if I was to ask you for your number?” 

She was saved from answering his question by Dr. Halstead walking into the treatment room with a tablet. “Okay, Mr-”

Will glanced up and then stopped short, “Connor. How’re you doing? That knee still giving you trouble?” 

The red-headed doctor explained to Reese, “Connor, here is a frequent flyer because of his knee. Think it might be time to retire buddy? Start on that second act?”

“I’m barely into my thirties and you’re making me sound ancient, Will. But with the season about to start the team trainer wants to make sure I’m clear to start.” Connor explained and Will turned back to Sarah.

“Connor plays right wringer for the Chicago Blackhawks.” He told her. After giving Dr. Halstead the initial results from her examination, she gave the other man another grin. “Glad my assumption about you being a hockey player was right.”

“I bet you’re right about a lot of things.” 

Will raised his eyebrows at Connor’s words as he felt as if he were witnessing something he wasn’t supposed to. Especially when Reese turned beat red all over. The spell was broken when Dr. Choi called for the med student. With one last smile at Connor, the brunette was gone. 

Will explained that they would need an X-ray of Connor’s knee before he could clear him. It’d be a minute but they’d be right in. In the meantime, he was going to go check on another patient. “Oh and Connor, I saw you flirting with our med student.” 

“A gorgeous woman is a gorgeous woman.” The hockey player returned with a shrug. 

“Yeah, well we’re pretty protective over her here. Hurt her and you’ll need to find another hospital.”

[theresthesnitch]

Crooked

A/N: another entry for @harryandginuary BINGO. I had a lot of fun with this one. I hope you do too.

Did you know that Charlie Chaplin once came in third in a look alike contest?

Read it here on AO3.

Prompt: O 73. You've dared me to do this as a joke but there's no way I'm backing out now.

***

"You don't have to do it."

Harry scoffed. "Of course I do.

"Listen, mate," Ron said. "I realize I'm the one who dared you to do it, but you don't have to actually enter the Harry Potter look alike contest."

"You may have meant it as a joke, but I'm committed now. I'm going to do it."

They stood in line at the registration table, and Harry looked around the room. The costumes were really bad. Did people think he really dressed like that? Looked like that?

The person in front of him moved, and Harry stepped up to the table with a nervous smile. "One entry, please."

"You can't charm your eyes green."

Harry, confused, replied, "I didn't?"

The witch sitting at the registration table narrowed her eyes at him. "It's against the rules of the contest. You can charm the scar; you can't charm the eyes."

"Solid rule. Good catching this one," Ron said from just over his left shoulder.

She pointed her wand at Harry's face, and his hand twitched for his wand before she said, "finite incantatum." Harry stood there staring at her, eyes unchanged. "Fine, whatever, it's not the right color anyway, so it won't help you."

Harry wondered briefly if Ron was going to die of laughter. "Er, right. Okay. Can I enter now?"

The witch rolled her eyes. "Name?"

"Harry Potter."

The witch fixed him with such a glare that he was sure he was going to implode under it. Ron, meanwhile, was struggling to breath.

"Obviously, buddy. But I need your real name to register for the contest."

Harry blanked. "But, my name really… James. James Evans."

"Alright, James. You're going to be number 4. When the time comes, they'll call you on stage."

"Right, thanks."

Harry walked away with Ron wiping tears from under his eyes. "Merlin, I'm glad you did this. It's going to be so fun for me."

Harry smiled. "I've never been so anonymous in my life. No one's even looking at me!"

"Of course not, mate. You don't even look like Harry Potter."

"Yeah, apparently I got the eyes wrong."

Ron looked around the room that was slowly filling up. "I can't believe you let my sister judge this."

"First off, if you think I let Ginny do anything, you are very much mistaken about how our relationship works. And never let Ginny hear you say that I let her do something. Second," Harry shrugged a shoulder, "it's for charity."

"Alright, I guess that's-"

"Your scar is crooked."

Harry turned around to face a slightly short, wiry man wearing a number 6 with blond hair and the most elaborate lightning scar he had ever seen. Do these people even know what I look like? "Excuse me?"

"Your scar is crooked," not-Harry 6 said. "You messed up the charm, and it's not even straight. Sloppy work."

"Huh," Ron said, looking Harry straight on, "your scar is a bit crooked."

Harry chuckled before turning back to not-Harry 6. "Thanks, mate. Good looking out."

"You can't really expect to compete if you don't put in the effort. Better luck next time." Not-Harry 6 walked away and left Harry standing with his mouth hanging open and Ron, once again, dying of laughter next to him.

"Ron, I think I might lose the Harry look-alike contest."

"Harry, your fiancée is judging." Ron clapped Harry on the shoulder. "You're absolutely going to lose the look alike contest."

"Welcome, everyone, to this year's War Orphan Carnival. We're ready to start our Harry Potter Look-Alike Contest. Can I get all the contestants on the stage?"

Harry walked on stage with a handful of other contestants, and lined up next to a witch with a number 3 around her neck. Harry did a double take looking at her. She looked remarkably like him. He looked out to where Ron was standing in the crowd with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He raised an eyebrow in question. It has to be charms, right? Ron shrugged in response.

"Now everyone, we have a very special guest judge for our contest this year," the announcer said. "If anyone can tell us who the true Harry Potter look alike is, it would be her. Let's give a big round of applause for Ginny Weasley!"

Ginny walked on stage and immediately locked eyes with Harry. He shrugged a shoulder, and her eyes glimmered with mischief. She walked to the microphone, said a few words, and then was walking down the line of contestants. She chatted briefly with not-Harry 1, who was a tall wizard wearing Gryffindor robes, and not-Harry 2, who wore red and gold Quidditch robes and carried a broomstick.

Ginny stopped in front of not-Harry 3 and looked her up and down. She looked over at Harry with wide eyes, then back to not-Harry 3. “That’s a really impressive costume. Did you use charms?”

“No,” said not-Harry 3. “I’m Harry Potter.”

“Right, of course,” said Ginny. “It’s very good. Is that your natural hair?”

“Yes.” Not-Harry 3 was not very talkative.

“Great!” Ginny seemed a little lost now. “Well, good luck!”

Ginny stopped in front of Harry and looked him up and down. “Tell me about your Harry costume.”

Harry smiled. “Apparently I got the green eyes wrong and the scar is crooked.”

“Idiot.” Not-Harry 6 was apparently listening in. “You don’t tell the judge how you messed up the costume. Amateur.”

Ginny looked up to Harry’s forehead. “Huh, it is crooked.”

“Told you,” mumbled not-Harry 6.

“Maybe I’ll give you a chance to redeem yourself,” Ginny said with a coy smile.

“Oh?” Harry asked. “What do I have to do?”

“Just answer a few trivia questions.”

“Were we supposed to memorize Harry Potter trivia for this?” asked not-Harry 2 to not-Harry 1. “I don’t remember seeing that in the rules.”

“Anyone can do Harry trivia,” Ginny went on, poorly concealed glee on her face. “I’m going to ask you Ginny trivia - things only the REAL Harry would know.”

“Alright,” Harry said. “Give me your best Ginny trivia.”

“Favorite color?”

“She’ll tell you it’s blue, but it’s really green. Green like a fresh-pickled toad.”

Ginny shook her head. “Favorite food?”

“French toast, but only if it is served with powdered sugar and not syrup.”

“Favorite number?”

“Seven.”

“Favorite season?”

“Autumn.”

“Favorite flower?”

Harry froze and his jaw dropped. Did she have a favorite flower?

“I - uh - Gerbera daisies?”

“What, no. That’s Hermione’s favorite flower.”

“It is?” said Ron’s voice from the audience. An echo of laughter went around the crowd.

“It is,” Ginny said over her shoulder. “One more chance. My fiance would absolutely know my favorite flower.”

Harry racked his brain, but he couldn’t think of a single other flower. “Lily?”

Ginny snorted. “No. Daffodils. Nice try, but you are clearly not a very good Harry Potter.” She winked, and moved down the line to not-Harry 5.

Not-Harry 5 was a little child who barely came up to Harry’s waist. His hair was rumpled, and he wore black robes with a stuffed white snowy owl on his shoulder. Ginny squatted in front of him. “Hi, sweetie. What’s your name?”

“Connor.”

“Hi Connor. I like your owl.”

“Thanks. I have a wand, too.” He held up a stick that had tape and glue around the end for a handle.

“Where did you get that wand, Connor?”

“I made it,” he said. “See, I put glue and tape, and it goes swish swish.” He waved the wand around.

“It’s very good. I was afraid I was going to have to tell Harry you had his wand. It looks so much like his!”

“Thank you. Mummy drew a scar on my forehead too. See.” He pointed at his head.

“I see. Your scar is not crooked, Connor.” he nodded his head. “Connor, do you know what Harry Potter’s favorite spell is?”

“Expelli-arms!” Connor waved his wand around when he said it, and Harry’s heart melted.

“Very good! You’re a very convincing Harry.”

“Thank you. He’s my favorite.”

“He’s my favorite, too. I’ll see you later, okay Connor?”

“Bye, Ginny.”

Ginny stood up and moved down to not-Harry 6, who was now sporting a black Harry wig. Not-Harry 6 regaled Ginny with an explanation of how his clothing choice was authentic and how he had done extensive research into the kinds of clothing that was preferred by Harry when he was at Hogwarts. Harry rolled his eyes and hoped no one was taking notes on this.

At last, Ginny walked back up to the podium. “Ready to make your choices?” the announcer asked.

“I am.” Ginny conferred briefly with the announcer, then stood to the side

“In third place, Number 6!” Not-Harry 6 walked forward to accept his medal, and returned to his spot. Harry could hear him grumbling slightly.

“Second place, Number 3!” Not-Harry 3 accepted her award quietly to a smattering of applause from the crowd.

"And finally, our grand winner in our Harry Potter Look-Alike Contest is, drumroll please," The announcer paused everyone in the room drummed their hands on their legs, "Number 5!”

Connor lit up like it was the best day of his life, and walked forward to grab his trophy. He tripped over the edge of his robes a bit, causing not-Hedwig to wobble on his shoulder, and then stood next to Ginny.

“Congratulations, Connor.”

“Thank you, Ginny.”

“Connor, would you like to meet the real Harry Potter?”

Connor’s eyes were as big as saucers, and he nodded emphatically. Ginny turned back to the announcer. “Roger, I happen to know that Harry is here today, and I think I can convince him to come up and say hi.”

The announcer’s face lit up. “Oh, ho ho! A special treat indeed. Mr. Potter, are you here today?”

The crowd went absolutely silent, and Harry waited for a beat before walking forward.

“Not you, you wanker,” not-Harry 6 said. “Get back in line!”

Harry continued forward, and shot a wink over his shoulder. He walked straight up to Ginny, dipped her dramatically and pressed a kiss to her lips. The crowd went wild. He set her upright before breaking the kiss and heard, “Oh merlin. I just called Harry Potter a wanker,” from somewhere over his shoulder.

Harry knelt in front of Connor, who looked like he couldn’t believe what was happening in front of him. “Hi Connor. Congratulations on winning.”

“Thank you, Mr. Potter.” His voice came out at barely a whisper.

“Can you call me Harry, Connor?”

“Yes.” Still a whisper.

“You know, you get to go home and tell all your friends that you beat Harry Potter in a Harry Potter look-alike contest.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah,” Harry parroted. “I like your Hedwig.”

“Thank you.” Connor’s voice was a bit louder now. “You’re my hero.”

“Want to know a secret, Connor?” He nodded emphatically. “You are my hero.” An “awww” went up from the audience. Connor’s face lit up and he threw his arms around Harry in a hug. “I bet your mom is here. Do you want to take a picture with Ginny and I?” He nodded again.

A few minutes later, they finished a round of pictures with Connor’s mom, and a few more for the Prophet with all three winners.

“Thank you, everyone,” Roger the announcer said. “Congratulations to our winners, and let’s hear a round of applause for Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley!” The crowd roared, and Harry and Ginny made to leave the stage when they heard a gasp.

“Oh my merlin. I told Harry Potter that his scar was crooked!”

[nectar-cellar]

the lovely @honeyviesims sent me all the emojis for arjun in a headcanon post that was going around a while ago. i figured i would attach my answers to this photo dump! i’m sorry i’m so slow at these LMAO 

this was a really fun character development exercise 😋 i hope you like finding out more about him! and if not just enjoy the pictures 💗

☾ - sleep headcanon

arjun sleeps shirtless or naked, and snores loudly. he’s one of those human radiators who are always warm. :3  

★ - sad headcanon

he would talk to a close friend, partner, or therapist about his feelings if they were available. he might eat his feelings, or listen to sad music and go for a walk/jog. he would let himself cry. he’s a big softie.

☆ - happy headcanon

arjun is a happy-go-lucky kinda guy, so having a cheerful disposition is part of his normal personality ☀️ he’s always smiling and cracking jokes, especially around friends.

☠ - angry/violent headcanon

i think it would take a lot to make him furious. he would be the type to not sweat the small stuff, or he would initiate a calm conversation if something was really bothering him. he’s patient and good-natured. being physically violent towards any object or person just isn’t him! i think the most he would do is raise his voice and pace around. i could see him being more stubborn and quick-to-anger with his family since they’d know how to push his buttons.

✿ - Sex headcanon

he has a high libido and is definitely a pleaser. he would have no problem being loud and vocal. i can see him being the adventurous type... but only with the right person!!!

■ -  Bedroom/house/living quarters headcanon

i can see him having a modest apartment that’s always slightly messy in a cozy, homey way. he would have a fully stocked kitchen because the man loves eating and cooking for himself and loved ones. (hence the camo print apron.) i can see him having a tv and video game console he plays on the weekends and after work. he would watch sports games and movies on it too. his bookshelves would be filled with books on exercise, nutrition, and self-improvement. he definitely has some yoga mats, weights, kettlebells, and other miscellaneous home workout equipment tucked away somewhere. he would love to have a home gym one day.

♡ - romantic headcanon

he’s definitely not interested in hookups or friends-with-benefits type relationships. he’s a hopeless romantic at heart. he’s the kind of person who would only date or get into a relationship with someone if he saw serious, long-term potential with them. like, getting a pet together, marriage, kids, the whole nine yards. anything less just isn’t worth it to him.

♥ - family headcanon

he grew up with a big, warm, and loving family. he has a few sisters he is close to. arjun is a family-oriented guy for sure.

☮ - friendship headcanon

he is a good listener. the type of friend who will give honest advice but in a gentle and considerate way. he always looks out for his friends. when making plans, he’s not fussy about the activity or place, what matters to him is getting to spend time with the other people and having fun. he would definitely be the designated driver on a night out.

♦ - quirks/hobbies headcanon

hobbies: i think i covered these in the other prompts :3 bodybuilding is his main hobby. see: the stringer and short shorts.

quirks: he’s a bit of a slob. he loves spicy food. he sings in the shower and will unapologetically belt out songs off-key at karaoke. he blushes when he’s embarrassed. he tends to get loud when he’s excited.  

☯ - likes/dislikes headcanon

he likes people who are genuine and down-to-earth. he likes most kinds of physical exercise, whether it’s indoors or outdoors. he likes leading a healthy and active lifestyle. he likes a glass of ice-cold beer. he likes animals and kids. he likes delicious food and he’ll indulge in junk food every once in a while.

he dislikes gossip, interpersonal conflicts, and people who look down on others. he prefers to avoid conflict whenever possible. he dislikes excessive materialism. he’s not a fan of the cold weather. he doesn’t “get” abstract art and films. he’s an innately good person and strongly dislikes immoral and/or selfish choices and actions.

▼ - childhood headcanon

he’s an extrovert because he grew up in a loud and lively household. he was always surrounded by his sisters, parents, and extended family members. they weren’t wealthy, but they were always comfortable. his childhood was a bit sheltered, but very loving and happy.

∇ -. old age/aging headcanon

in arjun’s ideal world, he’d eventually settle down with a partner, move into a bigger house (with a pool and home gym), have kids and/or pets, and grow old surrounded by family. he would probably age gracefully because he’s so passionate about health. he’ll definitely be traveling, staying active, and throwing frequent dinner parties well into his 60s and 70s. 🥳

♒ - cooking/food headcanon

at a certain point in his bodybuilding journey, he got bored of making chicken breast, kale, and rice for every meal, and picked up a cookbook. he enjoys savoury food, but either made with a healthy twist, or prepared with ingredients that align with his fitness goals. he is strongly against fad diets. he’ll pig out on junk food once in a while. you’ll never catch him eating a salad. he’s a big guy with a fast metabolism and a huge appetite.

☼ - appearance headcanon

hehe i think the pics i’ve posted are pretty self-explanatory. he’s very hairy, so he’s always sporting stubble or a full beard. he knows how to groom and dress himself because of his sisters’ advice and relentless teasing. he doesn’t have tattoos but is open to getting one in the future. in the game, all my sims are the same height for simplicity’s sake, but as a character he’s definitely tall. he’s a fan of athletic clothes, relaxed jeans, and keeps his outfits simple. he prefers comfort over style.  

ൠ - random headcanon

i made arjun and connor around the same time. i imagined the 2 of them were both personal trainers at the same gym. they were basically polar opposites. connor was the quiet, slightly anti-social one, and arjun was the warm and energetic one. connor is younger and less experienced, so eventually arjun would’ve extended a hand and been like hey kid, you’re new to this, let me help you with your customer service skills so you can get and retain more clients. lol random gym HC  💪😎

[hufflesocks]

Ok so I am a huge fan of the head cannon that the cores were once human so basically I’m just going to give my head cannon for what happened prior to GLaDOS taking over the facility and the events of Portal and Portal 2. And since I have been holding these head cannons in for too long, so I’m just going to info dump:

Due to the importance of Cave Johnson’s project of putting one’s consciousness into a computer, I would assume that those working on the project would want to run tests prior to the real thing. And what’s better than testing on the real thing: other people. For the very first test, the scientists working on the project decided to have the subject be one of Aperture’s many maintenance workers. This was due to that fact that if the test was successful then they could continue to use the core for maintenance work, and a robot doesn’t need breaks nor do they get sick. The candidate they chose was an immigrant from Norway named Virgil Evensen. He had no remaining close relatives and outside of a friendly old lady that he would cat sit for no one who would miss him. They put a lot of effort into the exterior of the core’s shell even going so far as to giving it floral designs that matched the tattoos of the subject they were using. The scientists wanted to make a very good first impression, and they did. The first transfer of human consciousness into a robot was a success. Though they learned the hard way that in order to avoid any existential crisis the memory of said person had to be completely whipped. Using this information they began to perform many other similar tests, with many other employees to create the personality cores.

Two particular Scientists who were involved in the project were Craig Nelson and Richard “Rick” Owens. Craig was originally on the project dealing primarily with with the science of actually transferring over human consciousness, while Rick was later partnered with him to help with the robotics aspect. Their relationship as co-workers was strained at first, but soon evolved into one of reluctant tolerance. Craig had a tendency to be a bit stuck up and arrogant, while Rick was more well adventurous and a bit of a braggart(think of him as a flirtatious cowboy). Rick developed the the type of attitude towards Craig that’s like “it’s not ok for anybody to pick on this person, but me.”

Rick grew up on a ranch in Montana with his older brother Connor. Connor went to school for Aeronautics, and eventually found himself under the employment of an up and coming science institute: Aperture Science. Rick followed in his brother’s footsteps getting a job at the same facility but in the field robotics. Rick enjoyed living and working in close proximity to his brother as he had a falling out with his father soon before he got the job. Eventually his brother got married and had a kid, named Kevin. One day, however only a few months after Kevin’s birth, his wife left in the middle of the night without a trace. So Kevin grew up with his father and his “cool uncle Rick.” Often Kevin would stay with Rick while his father was on space missions. This prompted him to develop an extreme love for anything and everything space. But one typical two week visit with his uncle became a permanent one. Rick had no idea what to do when he found out that his brother went missing in space. He was torn between grieving and figuring out a how to take care of Kevin. He was supposed to be “Cool uncle Rick.” The guy his nephew would hangout with, while his father was busy, not the kids primary caretaker. And the hardest part was figuring out a way to tell the kid his father wasn’t coming home. In the end he tried to explain that his father was now in space living amongst the stars. He hoped the kid understood the metaphor. But instead it just turned Kevin’s interest in space into an infatuation with going to space. Regardless, Rick managed to make the new situation work. Though taking care of Kevin by himself often ment bringing Kevin to Aperture’s daycare center when he couldn’t find a baby sitter.

Around this time employees began to seemingly disappear out of thin air. Due to the fact that Rick was on the lower end of Aperture’s personality core project he never knew the real reason. He just provided the blueprints for the cores and checked them over when they were done. He never picked up on the fact that their personalities seemed a bit too human. One day about several years after his brother’s death and only a few days after the CEO of Aperture’s, someone very important stopped showing up to work. Caroline was one of the few people at that facility who actually listened to what he had to say and didn’t just brush him off. Plus he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t developed a small crush on her. First Rick asked Craig if he knew anything, to which he received a curt “no.” Figuring Craig was just being himself, Rick began asking around with the higher ups. All of whom seemed to side step the question, say that she must have quit, or claimed they were too busy with Aperture’s new, biggest project GLaDOS. Eventually Rick was forced to drop it.

Craig was more involved in the higher ups of the personality core and GLaDOS projects. Thus, meaning that he knew the scientists were getting more desperate in using cores to control GLaDOS as well as which employees were up next for the trials. Apparently asking around about the disappearance of a higher up at Aperture was a sensitive subject. So when Craig heard who the project’s next test subject was, he immediately went to warn him. If anyone asked, Craig hated his coworker Rick, but in reality the two had formed a begrudging friendship. Plus the fact that Rick had a nephew to care for, didn’t make the decision to use him as a test subject sit well with Craig. Craig tried to warn Rick as best he could, without divulging the warning’s motive. But saying that Rick should quit immediately for no reason and leave Aperture pissed Rick off for some reason.

The next day when Rick went to work, Craig wasn’t at his desk, and Craig was always at his desk. This made Rick extremely worried. No matter how mad he was after their recent exchange; the guy never missed work, not even for sick days. This time he was more forceful in his questioning, demanding to know the reason for his friend’s disappearance. But the only answers he received were shrugs and suggestions that he get back to work.

By this point he was fully aware something real bad was going on, and was really reluctant to bring Kevin in with him the next day. But he couldn’t find a babysitter and he couldn’t leave the kid alone. After dropping off Kevin at the daycare center, he went to his desk. As he looked up from putting his “adventure” hat in the lower drawer of his desk, he saw two men in lab coats standing beside him. One addressed him by name and asked him to follow them for a scheduled testing session(something that employees were often asked to do every so often). However, Rick had a bad feeling about it and was reluctant to go. The two Scientists tried to restrain him, but he managed to fight them off. Once free his next thought was to find his nephew and get out. But before he could take another step a needle was injected into his neck and everything went dark.

The Scientists knew they had been too careless, when a daycare employee approached them. It was the end of the day and the employee asked when one of the young boys’ uncle would be arriving to pick him up. They were desperate. The GLaDOS project was failing and they needed to cover up any loose ends that could possibly lead to the beyond unethical actions of the project being released to the public. So they followed the daycare employee to the center and found the boy sitting at a table playing with a rocket ship. Recognizing the lab coat attire as one that his uncle often wore Kevin asked where his uncle was. In response the scientists offered to take the boy to his uncle.

The last three cores were hastily made. They were full of bugs and sported the personalities of Fact, Adventure, and Space(if one could even call those personalities). It was no surprise that they didn’t work when GLaDOS was booted up. The scientists were running out of ideas, and began to think the project a failure. Until one of the younger scientist by the name of Dr. Doug Rattmann offendedly and sarcastically mentioned using artificial intelligence based personality cores instead. Much to his dismay the scientists took his idea. They had enough data collected from the numerous personality core tests, that they could easily develop an AI software. Perhaps using AI would be better for managing a Human based robot, rather than other human based robots. The first test was run using a core with a focus on curiosity. GLaDOS lasted a whole quarter of a second before trying to kill the scientists. The test was a success and it looked like with just a few more cores, the scientists could get the machine under control.

[leondraisaitlsglove]

warm

My first fic for my one worded prompts ask game. I’m a little rusty but that what this game is all about.

You can read this on AO3 too

“Cold. I just feel cold.” Connor had said that after their 8th loss in a row. The clip of him saying it had been on loop on every sports site for the last 48 hours. He can feel the echoes of his own voice as the final buzzer goes off, the opposing team celebrating their win, the Rogers Place crowd half cleared out before the 5 minute mark.

This would be their 9th loss at home, and it would come after playing some decent hockey but just managing to not put that stupid piece of rubber into the back of the net.

But Connor’s not thinking about that. Honestly, he’s thinking about nothing at all. He stares ahead at the white ice. Sees shapes of blue and orange out the corners of his eyes. He feels the chill of the rink and the icy shoulders of the few fans.

When will it get better?

He doesn’t allow himself to think further. He gets up from the bench and makes his way down the tunnel to the locker room.

Most of the guys are quiet, mumbled whispers or tired groans. Connor goes through his routine of undressing his gear then taking a look around the room at how many have filtered out.

Connor lean’s over to Zach “who’s on media duty?” (‘cause he clearly wasn’t called.)

“Um… Jesse, I think Yamo went. Oh Tys and Leon too” he says.

“Thanks” Connor nods before looking at the door, part of him praying that Leon wouldn’t emerge right that second. So quickly Connor grabs his things, he heads off to a shower.

He can’t lie and say things are normal between them. But I mean when can things be okay when your team is fighting for a chance to win and failing.

Except with them, it's like trying to scratch an itch you can’t scratch. And Connor’s at the point where he can’t even look at Leon’s disappointed face without feeling like throwing up.

He turns the water on high, letting the scalding pressure rain down on his back. Long enough he can see his arms and legs and stomach become a deep shade of pink colour.

When Connor walks back into the empty locker room, he sees Leon sitting in Connor’s stall. Connor feels his stomach churn, so what if Connor’s maybe been avoiding him. So what if they haven’t had any conversation minus ones mid game in almost a week. So fucking what!

“How long was I in there?” Connor starts off easy.

Leon shrugs from across the room, Connor throws his towel in the bin but re-adjusts the sweat pants he’s wearing. “Long enough to make me worry. You had 2 more minutes before I came and got you.”

Connor steps forward and sighs “well I’m here now.”

“I know that” Leon pauses the stands “that’s why I’m here too.”

“You don’t have to be.”

“… but I want too.”

Connor feels his heart clench, “I’m sorry.”

“For shutting me out? You should be.”

“I am.”

“Good.”

Silence.

“You should be upset” Connor finally replies.

“I am” Leon says sternly “but I’m not getting in my head about it like you do.”

Connor feels his stomach curl “so?”

“You act like I don’t know you. Like I can’t read you like an open fucking book but this time… this time I’m done playing the game.”

“The game?” Connor echoes.

Leon sighs, his hands flying to cross over his chest. Shielding himself away from Connor’s eventual fury or worse, building himself up to expose the truth.

“We get short and frustrated with each other. We start to compete against one another instead of the opposite guys on the ice. We walk on eggshells and pretend everything might be fine when we're really trying to rip each other’s heads off because why?!” He sighs frustratedly “because we feel we owe it to the other to be better than them. To be the piece that solves the puzzle, but I can’t do this anymore Connor!” He shouts, vowels ringing off the shelves of gear around them.

Connor looks down.

“Look at me!” Leon says sharply, “I need you beside me. I need you to be the other half of this dynamic duo otherwise we’re done for.”

Connor nods “I know I know, I just-“

Leon doesn’t let him finish “We’re a team, a duo, a fucking dynasty, doesn’t that count for something?! Doesn’t competing for the same spot exhaust you, when you and I can be side by side just like when we’re winning. We don’t have to do this, Con. We can end the cycle right now and we can get this team back on track. I just need you to believe me when I tell you… you are not the solution.” He breathes “We are.”

Connor doesn’t know what overcomes him. He doesn’t feel anything. Doesn’t think anything. Can’t, won’t, and doesn’t let himself be Thee Connor Mcdavid, hockey star.

Instead he becomes just Connor, who’s a lot shy, a lot dorky and a lot of feeling.

He reaches forward and let’s his bare chest hit Leon’s clothed one. He snakes his hand up to fit around Leon’s jaw and looks him so dead in the eyes, he could kill them both. “Losing hurts this much because you deserve to win big things.”

“That’s how I feel about you” Leon whispers.

Connor sucks in a choked off breath “but pushing myself to be 24 players on this team to win everything for you…” he rubs his thumb along Leon’s jaw.

Leon gets it, they both get it. Trying to win and actually winning are two very different concepts and in that it can be very isolating.

“Is that why you felt cold?”

Connor nods, “I felt alone. I felt like I couldn’t come up for air. I felt like I was losing a hold of this team and therefore, losing you.”

Leon shakes his head “well… that’s a little dramatic Davo.”

Connor let’s himself chuckle “just… shut up” he says with no heat.

“Or what? You’re going to make me?” Leon kids.

“I’m trying to have a nice moment here after you just tore open our entire bag of issues that we probably should’ve went to see the team therapist about but-“

Leon shrugs “yeah well…we can’t have everything.”

Connor sighs, still holding onto Leon’s jaw still unsure if he’s going to go through with what he planned to do here.

A few heartbeats go by.

“Guess what” Leon says.

“What”

“I don’t think you can be cold anymore.”

“How so?”

“‘Cause I’m right here keeping you warm.”

Before Connor’s about to speak, Leon kisses him.

It’s graceful and yet short, like a period at the end of a sentence.

“I’ve never felt something the way I feel for you” Connor mumbles out. Lips barely ghosting against Leon’s.

“And that’s scary isn't it?”

“Very. Much like running a hockey team.”

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t work on this together. Cause you and me Con. We’re a team. Like it or not.“

Connor chuckles, feeling his entire body vibrate “Oh I like it. I like it a lot.”

Connor kisses him again, just because he can.

[winnipegpatty]

hockey is still not for everyone

putting this under a cut cus it’s going to be long.

the latest news from the HDA, basically confirming what we already knew, that the NHL will not be signing their pledge that they asked them to back in, i think, June. the HDA will continue to work separately from the NHL.

so, this really fucking sucks, honestly. it’s not surprising in the least bit, but i’m still not ready to just give up.

first off. here’ a reminder of the HDA’s Pledge, and here’s where you can buy their merch (they now have Ally merch as well which is cool), and here’s where you can make direct donations if you’d like. 

that being said, i’d like to take a moment to look at the NHL’s own initiative “hockey is for everyone” so here’s what hockey is for everyone is SUPPOSED to do:

“Across the league throughout the year, the NHL and NHLPA work to provide the sport in a positive environment for players, families and fans of every race, colour, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and for those with disabilities.”

Each NHL team has a hockey is for everyone ambassador who “All have pledged to be leaders in the locker room and in the community” Well, I think it’s pretty clear most, if not all of these ambassadors aren’t doing shit. So who are they? It’s probably important we know, at least I think it is. These are the guys in EACH team who have specifically said they’re going to set a standard, so they should be held accountable for that standard.

Anaheim Ducks - John Gibson

Arizona Coyotes - Oliver Ekman Larsson (may likely be traded)

Boston Bruins - Brad Marchand

Buffalo Sabres - Brandon Montour

Calgary Flames - Austin Czarnik

Carolina Hurricanes - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Chicago Blackhawks - Connor Murphy

Colorado Avalanche - Colin Wilson (this guy is barely even on the team)

Columbus Blue Jackets - Seth Jones

Dallas Stars - John Klingberg

Detroit Red Wings - Justin Abdelkader

Edmonton Oilers - Jujhar Khaira

Florida Panthers - Frank Vatrano

Los Angeles Kings - Tyler Toffoli

Minnesota Wild - Currently no one

Montreal Canadiens - Max Domi (welp, not anymore lol)

Nashville Predators - Currently no one

New Jersey Devils - Currently no one

NY Islanders - Matt Martin

NY Rangers - Mika Zibanejad

Ottawa Senators - Mark Borowiecki

Philadelphia Flyers - Scott Laughton/Travis Konecny (unclear who is current)

Pittsburgh Penguins - Matt Murray (rip, not anymore) 

San Jose Sharks - Evander Kane

St. Louis Blues - Ryan O'Reilly

Tampa Bay Lightning - Mathieu Joseph 

Toronto Maple Leafs - Zach Hyman

Vancouver Canucks - Alex Edler

Vegas Golden Knights - Brayden McNabb

Washington Capitals - Braden Holtby

Winnipeg Jets - Nikolaj Ehlers

Let’s note a couple things:

1. 5 of 31 teams don’t even have a representative (two because of trades, but three didn’t have one during last season)

2. Some of these guys (Seth Jones and Max Domi and Brad Marchand for instance) are terrible humans that clearly don’t uphold this standard anywhere, much less in the locker room or on the ice

3. Evander Kane, while a cofound of HDA himself, is also a terrible human who have harassed women and actively hate women of color. 

4. Many of these guys were inside of the bubble, yet still had to be prompted by people like Ryan Reeves to act to strike games for two days. 

What’s the point of pointing all this out? Really, just to show you how much of a joke this “hockey is for everyone” initiative is. It’s clearly not something the NHL takes seriously, or something most of these guys take seriously. Pride nights are cool, and support of pride or of POC players is all fine and dandy if they’re actually backed up with actions, and as we clearly see both through their empty performative allyship within the bubble and in their lack of support of the HDA pledge, there are no actions to back up this initiative. None that are going to radically change the racism that is built within this sport at least. 

Unfortunately, I was unable to find a way to directly contact local teams (like through email or something) so if you know of a way to do so, please let me know. Ultimately the only way the NHL is going to change anything is by hearing it from the fans. We are a minority of people here on hockeyblr that want to see a difference happen, and it’s sad but it’s true. The only way we’re going to see change is if we’re heard. 

While I DO NOT advocate you going and harassing the above players, I linked their twitter profiles (if available AND if they are active) so that you could KINDLY express support of the HDA Pledge and ask that, as the Hockey Is For Everyone Ambassador of their team, they’d begin to put pressure on the NHL to accept and implement this pledge. It’s really the only way I see something change, is if players within the league start pressing for it to happen. ESPECIALLY if you are a white player, PLEASE reach out. If you have a local team, try and call them or email them, or reach out via social medias of the team as well. 

MAKE. THEM. HEAR. YOU.

[mnictasbcl]

Harmony

For #dbhcolorsofdeviancy, prompt:

June 6th: Music @connor-sent-by-cyberlife

Rating: Teen

Characters: Connor, Markus

Relationships: Connor/Markus

Additional Tags: Hobbies, Fluff, Music, Piano, Playing an instrument, Learning an instrument

Summary: Connor plays piano.

Story below! Or, read it on AO3

Everyone seemed to have a hobby, Connor realised, watching Markus paint in his studio one afternoon. He’d once tried art, creating a birthday present for the other android, and whilst he’d enjoyed it, it wasn’t completely for him. He took a while to create each piece, treating it more as a skill that he honed with each lesson from Markus.

Hank liked watching sports, listening to heavy metal and rock music, and other various things. When they got back from work most days, Connor would join Hank on the couch, watching whatever he put on. It was certainly enjoyable, but it was more the time spent with the man that he enjoyed and the relaxed atmosphere of watching mindless TV after a long and hard day of work, than the specific programmes put on.

“I don’t have a hobby.” He remarked, watching Markus paint long passionate strokes over the canvas. “Where do I find one?”

Markus turned around to look at him. “In your heart, love.” He chuckled. “It’s not easy. It’s something you find one day, and you just know it’s for you.” But upon seeing Connor’s befuddled look, he paused in painting. “The easiest way to find your hobby is to try new things.”

Connor thought it over. “I will search online for examples.” His eyes shuttered as he scoured the internet. “Cooking. No,” he shook his head, “I do that regularly for Lieutenant Anderson, but I do not excel at it. Perhaps… exercise? No. Playing an instrument…”

“That would suit you. I think you’d enjoy it.” Markus chipped in. “Carl has a piano in the dining room. I tried it once, but like painting is for you, it’s more of a task to me. Perhaps you would enjoy it. It’s very logic based, reading the sheet music, trying out chords, learning new pieces…”

Connor agreed. “I would like to try that.”

“Well, you’re welcome anytime to.”

 ___________________

 Anytime became the next week when Connor was visiting Carl and Markus. Hank came along with him. They liked to visit from time to time, discussing android news, Carl and Hank getting along quite well, bonding over their android sons.

Whilst Carl and Hank chatted away outside in the studio, Markus working on his art piece beside them, Connor made his way over to the piano.

Markus had showed him a tablet he could put on the music stand, able to connect to it and search through any piece he wanted to play. He started off with an easier piece, slow and in the minor key.

Sitting down, he let his hands glide over the keys a few times, getting accustomed to where the different notes were. Androids were lucky in not having to spend time learning how to read music, but the muscle memory would have to be formed the same way, with practice.

After striking a few chords, Connor slowly began the piece. A couple of mistakes in notes perturbed him, but after restarting the piece he was more confident. Unlike the loud, brash sounds of Hank’s genre of music, the classical notes were soothing to his audio processors.

It wasn’t long before the piece was finished, and he smiled. He was enjoying it. Without delving into any pieces based around a major, jollier key, he already knew he preferred the soft, sad tones of the minor pieces.

So, he picked another. His hands picked it up deftly, mistakes made were noted and made sure not to happen again. He dabbled in different pieces, noting down his favourites to play again another time. His hands constantly moving, he found his mind free and empty, only focused on playing the music and hearing the tinkling of the piano keys.

So caught up, that he didn’t notice when Markus stepped back inside, coming to grab another set of paints, before stopping at the doorway to listen. He hummed quietly with the time, recognising it as the ‘Melancholic’ piece he had played a long time ago, before he’d ever deviated.

“A nice piece.” He commented, after Connor had finished. The android jumped and spun around on the piano stool, calming when he saw it was Markus. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. But I see you’re enjoying playing.”

“I am.” Connor replied, turning back to the piano, dusting a finger over the glossy keys. “It is definitely logical and pleasing to learn each piece. I am also enjoying the music. I think… I think I might classify this as a hobby.” He smiled. “Thank you, Markus.”

“It’s no trouble.” He placed the paints onto a side table, coming over to the piano. “It’s lovely to hear you play. I… do know how to play a little. Care for a duet?”

Connor shuffled over on the stool to make room for him. “Of course. I think I found a song you may enjoy.”

And so they began, soft tunes of music playing into the open air, loud enough for Hank and Carl to hear where they were sat outside, the door still open. Sitting by the side of Markus, Connor found that he did indeed like music. Playing it for the first time, creating something like art but less tangible… it was beautiful.