#''we never promised to help! Also you're just bad with money''

[lili-elbe]

Parents are literally the worst most gaslighting narcissists in existence and i'm so fucking done. Wish they would drop dead

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Antiusurpation and the road to disenshittification

THIS WEEKEND (November 8-10), I'll be in TUCSON, AZ: I'm the GUEST OF HONOR at the TUSCON SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION.

Nineties kids had a good reason to be excited about the internet's promise of disintermediation: the gatekeepers who controlled our access to culture, politics, and opportunity were crooked as hell, and besides, they sucked.

For a second there, we really did get a lot of disintermediation, which created a big, weird, diverse pluralistic space for all kinds of voices, ideas, identities, hobbies, businesses and movements. Lots of these were either deeply objectionable or really stupid, or both, but there was also so much cool stuff on the old, good internet.

Then, after about ten seconds of sheer joy, we got all-new gatekeepers, who were at least as bad, and even more powerful, than the old ones. The net became Tom Eastman's "Five giant websites, each filled with screenshots of the other four." Culture, politics, finance, news, and especially power have been gathered into the hands of unaccountable, greedy, and often cruel intermediaries.

Oh, also, we had an election.

This isn't an election post. I have many thoughts about the election, but they're still these big, unformed blobs of anger, fear and sorrow. Experience teaches me that the only way to get past this is to just let all that bad stuff sit for a while and offgas its most noxious compounds, so that I can handle it safely and figure out what to do with it.

While I wait that out, I'm just getting the job done. Chop wood, carry water. I've got a book to write, Enshittification, for Farar, Straus, Giroux's MCD Books, and it's very nearly done:

https://twitter.com/search?q=from%3Adoctorow+%23dailywords&src=typed_query&f=live

Compartmentalizing my anxieties and plowing that energy into productive work isn't necessarily the healthiest coping strategy, but it's not the worst, either. It's how I wrote nine books during the covid lockdowns.

And sometimes, when you're not staring directly at something, you get past the tunnel vision that makes it impossible to see its edges, fracture lines, and weak points.

So I'm working on the book. It's a book about platforms, because enshittification is a phenomenon that is most visible and toxic on platforms. Platforms are intermediaries, who connect buyers and sellers, creators and audiences, workers and employers, politicians and voters, activists and crowds, as well as families, communities, and would-be romantic partners.

There's a reason we keep reinventing these intermediaries: they're useful. Like, it's technically possible for a writer to also be their own editor, printer, distributor, promoter and sales-force:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/19/crad-kilodney-was-an-outlier/#intermediation

But without middlemen, those are the only writers we'll get. The set of all writers who have something to say that I want to read is much larger than the set of all writers who are capable of running their own publishing operation.

The problem isn't middlemen: the problem is powerful middlemen. When an intermediary gets powerful enough to usurp the relationship between the parties on either side of the transaction, everything turns to shit:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/12/direct-the-problem-of-middlemen/

A dating service that faces pressure from competition, regulation, interoperability and a committed workforce will try as hard as it can to help you find Your Person. A dating service that buys up all its competitors, cows its workforce, captures its regulators and harnesses IP law to block interoperators will redesign its service so that you keep paying forever, and never find love:

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2024/02/13/1228749143/the-dating-app-paradox-why-dating-apps-may-be-worse-than-ever

Multiply this a millionfold, in every sector of our complex, high-tech world where we necessarily rely on skilled intermediaries to handle technical aspects of our lives that we can't – or shouldn't – manage ourselves. That world is beholden to predators who screw us and screw us and screw us, jacking up our rents:

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/yes-there-are-antitrust-voters-in

Cranking up the price of food:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/04/dont-let-your-meat-loaf/#meaty-beaty-big-and-bouncy

And everything else:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

(Maybe this is a post about the election after all?)

The difference between a helpmeet and a parasite is power. If we want to enjoy the benefits of intermediaries without the risks, we need policies that keep middlemen weak. That's the opposite of the system we have now.

Take interoperability and IP law. Interoperability (basically, plugging new things into existing things) is a really powerful check against powerful middlemen. If you rely on an ad-exchange to fund your newsgathering and they start ripping you off, then an interoperable system that lets you use a different exchange will not only end the rip off – it'll make it less likely to happen in the first place because the ad-tech platform will be afraid of losing your business:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-shatter-ad-tech

Interoperability means that when a printer company gouges you on ink, you can buy cheap third party ink cartridges and escape their grasp forever:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

Interoperability means that when Amazon rips off audiobook authors to the tune of $100m, those authors can pull their books from Amazon and sell them elsewhere and know that their listeners can move their libraries over to a different app:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/09/07/audible-exclusive/#audiblegate

But interoperability has been in retreat for 40 years, as IP law has expanded to criminalize otherwise normal activities, so that middlemen can use IP rights to protect themselves from their end-users and business customers:

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

That's what I mean when I say that "IP" is "any law that lets a business reach beyond its own walls and control the actions of its customers, competitors and critics."

For example, there's a pernicious law 1998 US law that I write about all the time, Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the "anticircumvention law." This is a law that felonizes tampering with copyright locks, even if you are the creator of the undelying work.

So Amazon – the owner of the monopoly audiobook platform Audible – puts a mandatory copyright lock around every audiobook they sell. I, as an author who writes, finances and narrates the audiobook, can't provide you, my customer, with a tool to remove that lock. If I do so, I face criminal sanctions: a five year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine for a first offense:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/25/can-you-hear-me-now/#acx-ripoff

In other words: if I let you take my own copyrighted work out of Amazon's app, I commit a felony, with penalties that are far stiffer than the penalties you would face if you were to simply pirate that audiobook. The penalties for you shoplifting the audiobook on CD at a truck-stop are lower than the penalties the author and publisher of the book would face if they simply gave you a tool to de-Amazon the file. Indeed, even if you hijacked the truck that delivered the CDs, you'd probably be looking at a shorter sentence.

This is a law that is purpose-built to encourage intermediaries to usurp the relationship between buyers and sellers, creators and audiences. It's a charter for parasitism and predation.

But as bad as that is, there's another aspect of DMCA 1201 that's even worse: the exemptions process.

You might have read recently about the Copyright Office "freeing the McFlurry" by granting a DMCA 1201 exemption for companies that want to reverse-engineer the error-codes from McDonald's finicky, unreliable frozen custard machines:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/28/mcbroken/#my-milkshake-brings-all-the-lawyers-to-the-yard

Under DMCA 1201, the Copyright Office hears petitions for these exemptions every three years. If they judge that anticircumvention law is interfering with some legitimate activity, the statute empowers them to grant an exemption.

When the DMCA passed in 1998 (and when the US Trade Rep pressured other world governments into passing nearly identical laws in the decades that followed), this exemptions process was billed as a "pressure valve" that would prevent abuses of anticircumvention law.

But this was a cynical trick. The way the law is structured, the Copyright Office can only grant "use" exemptions, but not "tools" exemptions. So if you are granted the right to move Audible audiobooks into a third-party app, you are personally required to figure out how to do that. You have to dump the machine code of the Audible app, decompile it, scan it for vulnerabilities, and bootstrap your own jailbreaking program to take Audible wrapper off the file.

No one is allowed to help you with this. You aren't allowed to discuss any of this publicly, or share a tool that you make with anyone else. Doing any of this is a potential felony.

In other words, DMCA 1201 gives intermediaries power over you, but bans you from asking an intermediary to help you escape another abusive middleman.

This is the exact opposite of how intermediary law should work. We should have rules that ban intermediaries from exercising undue power over the parties they serve, and we should have rules empowering intermediaries to erode the advantage of powerful intermediaries.

The fact that the Copyright Office grants you an exemption to anticircumvention law means nothing unless you can delegate that right to an intermediary who can exercise it on your behalf.

A world without publishing intermediaries is one in which the only writers who thrive are the ones capable of being publishers, too, and that's a tiny fraction of all the writers with something to say.

A world without interoperability intermediaries is one in which the only platform users who thrive are also skilled reverse-engineering ninja hackers – and that's an infinitesimal fraction of the platform users who would benefit from interoperabilty.

Let this be your north star in evaluating platform regulation proposals. Platform regulation should weaken intermediaries' powers over their users, and strengthen their power over other middlemen.

Put in this light, it's easy to see why the ill-informed calls to abolish Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (which makes platform users, not platforms, responsible for most unlawful speech) are so misguided:

https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/23/hello-youve-been-referred-here-because-youre-wrong-about-section-230-communications-decency-act/

If we require platforms to surveil all user speech and block anything that might violate any law, we give the largest, most powerful platforms a permanent advantage over smaller, better platforms, run by co-ops, hobbyists, nonprofits local governments, and startups. The big platforms have the capital to rig up massive, automated surveillance and censorship systems, and the only alternatives that can spring up have to be just as big and powerful as the Big Tech platforms we're so desperate to escape:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/23/evacuate-the-platforms/#let-the-platforms-burn

This is especially grave given the current political current, where fascist politicians are threatening platforms with brutal punishments for failing to censor disfavored political views.

Anyone who tells you that "it's only censorship when the government does it" is badly confused. It's only a First Amendment violation when the government does it, sure – but censorship has always relied on intermediaries. From the Inquisition to the Comics Code, government censors were only able to do their jobs because powerful middlemen, fearing state punishments, blocked anything that might cross the line, censoring far beyond the material actually prohibited by the law:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/22/self-censorship/#hugos

We live in a world of powerful, corrupt middlemen. From payments to real-estate, from job-search to romance, there's a legion of parasites masquerading as helpmeets, burying their greedy mouthparts into our tender flesh:

https://www.capitalisnt.com/episodes/visas-hidden-tax-on-americans

But intermediaries aren't the problem. You shouldn't have to stand up your own payment processor, or learn the ins and outs of real-estate law, or start your own single's bar. The problem is power, not intermediation.

As we set out to build a new, good internet (with a lot less help from the US government than seemed likely as recently as last week), let's remember that lesson: the point isn't disintermediation, it's weak intermediation.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/07/usurpers-helpmeets/#disreintermediation

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en (Image: Cryteria, CC BY 3.0, modified)

[genderqueerdykes]

I promise this is just coming from someone who wants to learn, and I apologize if it sounds hateful or rude for what I'm about to ask that is not what I want at all,

but when it comes to systems, DID, plurality, from what I have heard, it is something extremely extremely rare, and something that most people under the age of 25 the body isn't even supposed to like "reveal" until older. I'm just confused and I would really like to hear from someone who actually is plural and not just from like Google

is being a system, DID, and plurality even the same? And the only plural people I have met irl have like 25,000+ alters of dsmp characters (I ofc know not everyone who is plural isnt just fictive and it's all different)

just a very confused person who isn't plural and I would really like to learn and be educated !! I would really like to understand more and hate unreasonably for something I don't understand

hello there!

you can be plural without having DID. there's not really much else to it. DID is one form of plurality. it's not the end all be all of plurality. there are even other dissociative disorders like OSDD that get cast by the wayside when people adopt this kind of mentality. there's so much more to plurality than DID. also, there is no set age at which the symptoms at DID become apparent on the outside. i've been having dissociative symptoms since i was a kid. my alters were active and present even as a teenager!

relying on medical statistics alone for DID is a bad idea because most professionals who are capable of diagnosing someone with a mental health condition don't even know what dissociative disorders are or what they entail. my own therapist has known that I have DID the entire time i've known her, but she has told me that currently, she can't help me with it, because she has not received training for it. dissociative disorders are nowhere near as rare as we think they are, one has to consider that a number even as low as 1% - 2% of the global population is an absolutely massive number of people!

saying that DID is "extremely rare" in this case in order to discredit non dissociative plurals is an appeal to authority. it's appealing to the medical industry who refuses to take it seriously in the first place. the amount of professionals i've had who pointed out that i have dissociative disorders vs. the ones who never commented on it at all is pretty staggering. this is due to a lack of proper research due to lack of funding, not because DID is genuinely that rare. the reason there isn't more research into plurality in general is because of a lack of funding. medical studies and organizations require funding. if they don't see money in it, they won't do it.

DID is still a heavily stigmatized condition. things haven't gotten much better since it was renamed from Multiple Personality Disorder. people with dissociative disorders are still treated like shit in medical settings, so to me, it makes no sense at all whatsoever to pit dissociatives against other plurals because no one takes ANY of us seriously, it's not non-dissociative plurals' faults that we're not taken seriously. it's the medical industry. there are no medications to push for DID. DID does not respond to medication. this already makes a lot of doctors not want to interact with it at all, because there's no commissions for medications prescribed.

"And the only plural people I have met irl have like 25,000+ alters of dsmp characters."

i'm pointing this out gently, i don't think you're a bad person, but this is sooooo mean, please don't be that mean and judgmental about other people, plural or not. please consider how those people would feel if they heard you talking about them like that. even if you don't view them as plural, you shouldn't think it's okay to discredit their lived experience. what are you getting out of phrasing it like that? even if that person turns out to not be plural, please do not judge other people based off of things like this. you don't live inside of their head. you don't know what's going on in there.

i'm not entirely sure why people think this way about introjects and fictives, but they're an extremely normal part of the plural experience! one of the most well known DID systems of all time, Truddi Chase and The Troops, had not only fictional alters (Elvira) but also factual ones as well (Mean Joe Green). this is not new, nor is it isolated to non dissociative plurals. introjects and fictives are extremely normal. it doesn't mean someone is faking just because they've introjected someone, or someones.

hope that helps, in general, please understand that the only lived experience that you are the arbiter of is your own and you cannot tell someone else what they're experiencing, no matter what. plurality will look different for every person, system and so on that experiences it! the sooner you accept that the easier your own life will become. it's not hurting you for someone to have headmates that you don't like. that's their business, not yours, and that's actually a very freeing thing!

great addition from the tags:

[tarot-by-e11e]

PAC: What do you need to learn to love about yourself?

Never forget to only take what resonates and leave what doesn't. This is a general PAC reading, so if the first pile you chose doesn't resonate with you, then maybe you're meant to read another pile.

(this is for entertainment purposes only)

.·:*¨ ¨*:·. •,¸,.·’ ‘·.,¸,•.·:*¨ ¨*:·.•,¸,.·’ ‘·.,¸,•.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

Pile 1: Ace of Swords, 4 of Coins, 9 of Cups

You may feel like an outcast, Pile 1. You don’t think like other people. You might have also been scrutinized for being able to “work smart”, being told, “Why do we have to do it a new way when the old way still works?”. My dear Pile 1, you must learn to love your inner visionary. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve the current system of things. You sought to evolve and you hope by sharing your ideas, others can grow and move forward with you. You’re also able to see through the mess and create clarity for yourself. Embrace the parts of you that can naturally find ways of life more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Another great thing about you that deserves a whole lot of love is your practical approach towards financial literacy. Others might have called you stingy but they didn’t know you might have grown up in a place of lack. So you had promised yourself to work smart so that you won’t have to worry about how you’re going to afford to put food on the table, a roof over your head, and clothes on your back.

There’s nothing to be ashamed about knowing how to make money work for you. You have this natural ability to be wise and practical about your resources. Be proud that you know how to also be secure internally as well. Establishing healthy boundaries is a skill we all need yet not everyone learns. People call you guarded, I say you know that not everyone deserves to have access to you.

Finally, never shame yourself for being able to achieve your goals and dreams in life, pile 1. You should allow yourself to enjoy the fruits of your labor unapologetically. This is a rather hard pill to swallow for those with survivor’s guilt. Being able to become the person you’ve always wanted to be means those people you loved who didn’t evolve with you might get left behind. This makes it difficult for you to allow yourself to savor your success when you have loved ones who haven’t achieved their dreams yet.

As much as you want to be happy for them, you can’t make them achieve their success for them. They chose their way of life as you did yours. If your success bothers them, it’s not your responsibility to coddle and make yourself small for their comfort. So, if you feel you deserve to go on a solo vacation for your hard work, then go for it. If you want to move into your own apartment, go right ahead.

You have every right to use your money to whoever you see fit. You’ve worked hard to earn that, so treat yourself right with the fruits of your labor. Don’t apologize for that promotion. Never apologize for your happiness. You just need to remember one thing: you can’t control how others react to your success.

.·:*¨ ¨*:·. •,¸,.·’ ‘·.,¸,•.·:*¨ ¨*:·.•,¸,.·’ ‘·.,¸,•.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

Pile 2: Moon, 9 of Swords, 4 of Swords

First of all pile 2, one thing you should learn to love about yourself is your intuition and your ability to easily see through the BS. Yup, I said it loud and clear. You see through the BS in people. They can’t lie to you, even to save their lives. Your intuition is a gift that helps you in any way that can help lead you into your highest good. Though it seems that pile 2 feels bad that you see through the superficial two-faced niceties among your peers. You might have experienced moments where you muttered under your breath, “I hope I’m wrong” only to be proven right yet again. Don’t you think it’s high time you should stop lying to yourself and embrace this amazing gift?

Another thing you should learn to love about yourself is knowing your limits and being able to give yourself the space to honor and validate your fears and anxiety. Don’t beat yourself up for being aware of what you can or cannot do because knowing your limitations means you can utilize whatever skills you have at hand that are to your advantage.

Also, not everyone is resilient enough to be able to hold space for their fears, anxiety, and insecurities without letting the aforementioned swallow them whole. You know yourself well enough that you need to be able to safely allow your feelings to be seen and validated for your and everyone’s good. You know what it’s like to be at the bottom, so you know that with your acquired knowledge backed by personal experience, you can help someone else ease through their own fears and anxiety.

Finally Pile 2, you need to stop feeling guilty about prioritizing your self-care and rest. You know what your body requires to be able to do your tasks every day. There’s nothing wrong with being able to listen to what your body needs intuitively. When you know you’re about to rest, you know yourself well enough that you need to pause, reassess, and re-strategize your approach moving forward.

You should also be proud of knowing how to protect your peace. Some people who call you selfish for putting yourself, down don’t like the fact that they can’t manipulate and abuse you to their advantage. The issue is with them, never with you. Knowing how to protect and defend yourself is something you should be proud of. You know your worth and you also know what you won’t tolerate. So, you shouldn’t fault and cave into to toxic societal norm of conforming to unrealistic and unethical double standards. Embrace your self-worth. Never feel bad about putting yourself first.

.·:*¨ ¨*:·. •,¸,.·’ ‘·.,¸,•.·:*¨ ¨*:·.•,¸,.·’ ‘·.,¸,•.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

Pile 3: 5 of Swords, 10 of Coins, Justice

Hi Pile 3, what you need to learn to love about yourself is your conflict resolution skills. This pile feels like my eloquent speakers pile. Could also be my bookworm pile. With an extensive vocabulary and unfortunately growing up in a hostile environment, for the sake of your survival, you grew up having no choice but to be good at conflict resolution. I know it’s an odd thing to love about yourself but another great thing that you should learn to love about yourself is you know when to stand firm and fight, if necessary.

Like, if diplomacy is useless, you’re ready to take the offensive approach. But this has always been your last resort. Knowing what it’s like to grow up in a chaotic environment if you had a choice, you would avoid recreating that childhood chaos in your current adult life. You’d exhaust all diplomatic approaches before you’re forced to take the offensive stance. That’s one of the many things about you that deserves to be loved and appreciated.

What you need to learn to love about yourself is your legacy/roots/ancestry, pile 3. This could also be my POC / mixed race / immigrant pile. It sort of makes sense why you’re a bit iffy about your lineage, especially if you’re mixed race because you might have been bullied when you were younger. So, it’s a bit tricky to love a part of you that your immediate environment teased/bullied/ostracized you for.

You must have dealt with a whole plethora of traumatic stories because you don’t look like most people around you. There’s nothing wrong with being different. There’s nothing wrong with being an immigrant. There’s nothing wrong about being of mixed race. You are beautiful/handsome/lovable just the way you are. The issues is never with you so never shame yourself for your lineage. You deserve love, respect, and happiness for simply existing.

Finally, don��t feel bad about being honest and holding others accountable. There’s nothing to be ashamed of when you are upholding your integrity. You should learn to love the parts of yourself that cannot stand injustice. You have this natural instinct to defend the powerless and speak for the silenced. Not everyone is brave enough to fight for their beliefs and the rights of others. Your need for truth is quite remarkable. So never feel bad about not being a good liar. It just means you don’t see the point of lying to someone.

In this age where manipulation and mental games are being praised as “owning your power”, people, like you pile 3, are rarer than black opals in a Pacific ocean full of diamonds. So never let anyone bully you into conforming to this mental gymnastics just to be accepted/in a relationship. People who are meant to be in your life don’t have to be lied to in order for them to want to be with you. You can only keep someone that wants to be kept.

.·:*¨ ¨*:·. •,¸,.·’ ‘·.,¸,•.·:*¨ ¨*:·.•,¸,.·’ ‘·.,¸,•.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

Pile 4: 10 of Cups, Page of Wands, King of Cups

From what I can pick up for you pile 4 is that you should be proud that you came from a loving home. I know, it kind of sounds like too much of a flex. To have been able to grow up in a loving environment while your peers grew up in chaotic and traumatic environments tends to leave a heavy guilt in your heart. A part of you feels bad that you can’t relate to having a crappy childhood because your parents actually did the work and healed together so that you can have a happy childhood.

So… whenever your friends or peers open up about how they feel unloved and unappreciated at home then they ask you about your childhood, you must have lied to avoid putting salt in their wounds. I understand the need for camaraderie but you shouldn’t feel bad about having come from a loving family. If your friends are okay with this suggestion, why not invite them over? Ask your family if they can be more understanding and considerate towards your friends. To be an example that not all adults are bad.

Another interpretation of this card is to be proud of your happiness. Don’t feel bad that you actually have a loving partner while your friends are still single. Don’t be ashamed of being seen with your significant other. It’s not like you’re intentionally making your single friends jealous whenever you answer their questions about your love life.

You should be unapologetically proud of your happiness, especially when you know you did nothing wrong. Why apologize for your happiness when everyone wants to be happy, in some shape or form? Also, consider this as a word of caution, if someone around you isn’t happy for your happiness, best to cut ties with them. It’s not wise to be around someone who doesn’t know how to be happy for the happiness of others. This doesn’t just involve relationships, this can also be applied to promotions, achievements, and awards.

Something about yourself that deserves more love pile 3 is your cheerful disposition and adventurous spirit. It’s not shameful to be able to see the silver lining. It’s not bad to be able to see the good in people. With how our world is in constant chaos and peril, we need people like you who haven’t lost hope for a better and brighter future.

So never feel bad about being perceived as naïve when you’re simply not projecting your bad experiences to the new people you meet in your life. What’s so bad about still being able to be excited about the glimmers in life? There’s nothing to feel bad about being able to cater and nurture your inner child. So never let the world shame you for never giving up hope.

Finally Pile 4, you should learn to love your natural inclination for diplomacy. Knowing when to listen to your heart or when to lead with your head is such a life-changing and valuable ability that majority of us are constantly learning to master day by day. You might have been told that you’re so mature and wiser than your age, which might have been internalized as this insatiable need to always be reliable and dependable. At times, it might feel like such a burden at times; to always be the person everyone relies on.

So… since you are aware of the weight of the responsibility of being the reliable person for everyone, you should use your ability of discernment to decide a schedule on when will you entertain request for counsel for those who need you. You know what your needs are, and you also know that you need to be able to live a balanced life to be of service to others. So, learn to be okay with putting yourself first so that you can help others better in a later date.

.·:*¨ ¨*:·. •,¸,.·’ ‘·.,¸,•.·:*¨ ¨*:·.•,¸,.·’ ‘·.,¸,•.·:*¨ ¨*:·.

Please do let me know how you resonate with your pile in the comment section below.

Thank you so much for looking through my PAC.

Tagging my personal account: @e11e27 as a reminder.

[resident-idiot-simp]

Bucky and Steve running across Logan and meeting Wade and Laura in the process

(x)

Logan was out shopping when he heard a whisper "Lucky James." And smelled familiar scents. It's Barnes and Rogers, he knows immediately his plans for the day are going to be postponed.

He just sighs and walks towards an alley so they can talk without too many onlookers. They stand at the opening of the alley with crossed arms and wide eyes. Logan just puts his arms out to the side as if he's showing off.

"It's been a while." Logan acknowledges.

"A WHILE?!" Rogers half shouts, "How are you not old It's been close to a century?" Barnes asks.

Logan just raised an eyebrow at them, "I could ask you the same thing but I know the answer to that." Logan points out.

"Of course you know the answer everyone knows did they enhance you too?" Rogers asks and Logan shakes his head. "Nah I don't need enhancements I was born this way." Logan says with a shrug.

"Explain." Barnes orders and Logan does. "I'm a mutant."

Barnes and Rogers share a look. "So what are you just slow to age?" Barnes asks. Logan smirks, "Kinda It's more like I have a healing factor the likes of which you've never seen. With a few other things." Logan tacks the last part on like an afterthought.

"What do you mean?" Rogers asks. Logan chuckles to himself, "For all intents and purposes I'm immortal. I was there when the bombs dropped in Japan and I'm still here."

Barnes and Rogers looked shell-shocked.

"I'm twice as old as both of you." Logan adds just because he can.

This seems to break them slightly. "Do you want to get lunch with us so we can catch up?" Barnes asks and Logan shrugs. "If you pay with that Stark money." Logan offers, and they agree.

They go to one of Logan's favorite places Wade had shown him and he takes their normal booth in the corner. The waitresses greet him happily and he smiles and waves back. It's very different from the world he was in and he'd like to keep it that way.

Barnes and Rogers couldn't keep their eyes off him like if they looked way he might just up and disappear. He understood but couldn't really relate.

"H-how have you been what have you been doing?" Rogers asked and what a question to start with. He might as well rip the bandage off now.

"I'm not your Lucky James." He says completely ignoring that question for now. "Also it's Logan now has been for a while."

They stare blankly and he continues.

"The man you served with isn't me he died a while ago. I'm from another universe a far shittier one of my own making. I was brought here as a replacement for the man you knew."

"...what?" Barnes breathed sounding a bit heartbroken.

"It's complicated and I don't know the full story, but you need to understand I'm not the same person you knew. It is most likely that we had the exact same experiences, but you are not my Barnes and Rogers and I am not your Logan."

"What happened to him?" Rogers asked.

"He sacrificed himself to save some kids. He was a hero and a legend to those who knew him." Logan answered.

"And you're not?" Rogers asked, sharp as a tack that one.

"Not in my world. I did a lot of bad things got real mad...lost control...... I'm not like the other Logan my story differs after the X-Men."

"You are an X-man?" Barnes asked and Logan looked away.

"Your Logan was. I am just a disgrace who couldn't accept I needed to get over myself."

Barnes's eyes lit up as he connected dots, "You're Wolverine." Steve's head wipped towards Logan as he also realized.

Logan nodded.

"Well, the question still stands How are you and what have you been doing?" Steve asks and Logan smiles slightly.

"Better, I have a new purpose and shot at life thanks to Wade. I'm doing jobs with the maniac and living a pretty normal life."

"Who's Wade?" Barnes asked with a raised brow. Logan smiles he can't help it. "My fiance. He's the one who brought me here, but that's a long complicated story that I promise isn't that interesting." Logan answered with a shrug.

"You said you did jobs. You want to specify?" Rogers asked and Logan rolled his eyes.

"We work for the TVA which is something I'm not going to get into and normal merc shit." Logan says offhandedly.

Rogers splutters his drink and Barnes looks interested. "Would I know Wade?" Barnes  asks and Logan smirks, "Definitely." They give their orders as the waitress comes and Logan gets a call.

He answers with a surprisingly soft, "Hey kit." That has Barnes and Rogers looking at one another eyes wide.

"Yeah yeah, we're at our favorite place." A pause. "Yeah ok, do you want your usual?" Another pause, "Ok see you in a bit bye."

The waitress raises an eyebrow at Logan, "Does she want her usual?" Logan nods and she scratches something else down before leaving.

"What was that?" They ask at the same time and Logan just smiles. "The main reason your Logan sacrificed himself is coming." He says and he sounds so incredibly fond.

They talk for a while longer until Logan perks up and the super soldiers turn to see what Logan's looking at.

It's a young lady who looks so much like Logan all of the questions they have are answered after just a glance.

"Come here kit." Logan calls his voice seeming to vibrate like a purr. The lady makes her way to the seat next to Logan smiling.

"Hi, papá." She greets her voice vibrating the same way. Logan throws an arm over her shoulder and squeezes before letting her go.

Rogers is trying and failing to speak as Barnes just stares. "This is Laura." Logan introduces and Barnes manages to get himself under control first.

"Nice to meet you Laura you can call me Bucky that's Steve." He sounds only slightly breathy which is impressive. Logan knows full well this is one of the last things they expected.

"I know." She says flatly and Rogers can't help the bark of laughter that escapes him. That's definitely Logan's daughter no doubt about it. Barnes seemed to have a similar reaction but managed to only snicker.

Logan doesn't even hide the shit-eating smile that crosses his face.

"Did Wade follow you?" Logan asked and Laura rolled her eyes. "He said he wouldn't so I give it 30 minutes until he shows up." Logan nods along like he expected this answer.

Barnes seemed to remember what Logan had said about this being the reason they're Logan had sacrificed himself as he looked at her closer.

"You're our Logan's kid." He stated more than asked. Rogers jerked in his seat as he too recalled that. Laura just sighed. Barnes suddenly felt like shit. Logan however didn't seem upset or annoyed at him.

"Yes, but I'm technically a clone. They took his DNA during the Weapons X program. I'm an attempt at recreating the perfect weapon." She said as she gestured at Logan who looked pissed off at the reminder.

There was a lot there that Rogers and Barnes hadn't heard yet none of which sounded good.

"I miss Dad but his sacrifice wasn't in vain. I have another life now a better one just like he wanted." She answered easily. Rogers and Barnes nodded sagely It definitely made them feel better knowing that their friend had sacrificed himself to save his daughter.

"I don't know how much you want to answer but what exactly was Weapons X?" Barnes asked the both of them.

Logan answered, "It was an organization that prays on mutants. It really started with me they tricked me into getting adamantium adhered to my bones before...well...they made me into the perfect weapon and took away my free will."

Laura leaned into him and Logan welcomed it smiling softly at her before continuing, "I was the tenth attempt and the first success. I eventually escaped, But they couldn't let it go so they tried cloning me." He breathed out.

Laura picked up from there, "I'm the 23rd attempt." She answered with a shrug. "Weapons X has been taken down but there's still offshoots that's what got pop."

Logan growled softly. "Fucking Francis." He snarled. Barnes seemed to look like he might be connecting some dots but couldn't quite put the whole picture together.

They were interrupted by the food being delivered. They talk for a while longer about less touchy issues after that, Laura even explaind what it's like in the mansion. That is until a while later when the diner goes silent and Logan and Laura perk up.

Rogers and Barnes reluctantly turn to see Deadpool sans his normal outfit. As he makes his way to the back booth where they are sitting. People he passes scramble out the door behind him.

Most of the waiters and waitresses look nervous, but he pays them no mind as he makes his way over. Rogers and Barnes prepare for a fight. "Peanut Mini, how are we doing?" He chirped.

Laura starts purring, "Pop." She greeted. "Thought you said you weren't going to follow the kit darling?" Logan asked his voice warbling the same way Laura's was.

"And let you two have all the fun? Please!" He rolled his eyes. He then turned and finally looked at the other two men and his eyes went wide.

Logan lunged at him covering his mouth, "Don't you dare scream Wade." He threatened as he pulled him down into the other open chair next to him.

Laura just laughed and Logan glared at her. Eventually, Wade managed to wiggle out of Logan's grasp, "OMG CAPTAIN AMERICA MY HERO!" He cried.

Rogers looked distinctly uncomfortable, "YOU KNEW I WANTED TO BE EXACTLY LIKE YOU WHEN I GREW UP DESPITE THE FACT I AM CANADIAN!" Wade exclaimed excitedly.

Rogers wanted to point out the fact that he ended up the exact opposite of him but didn't. His face however must have conveyed this because Deadpool answered." I KNOW I DIDN'T QUITE MANAGE IT BUT I GOT PRETTY CLOSE!"

Steve went to speak but Bucky was quick to speak over him because he had questions. He had never dared get close to Deadpool he was terrifying but now seemed like a perfect time.

"What do you mean by pretty close? I mean you're known for taking any job with a high enough pay?" He didn't ask rudely just really pointing out a fact in the underground.

Wade turned his attention to him, "Well sure But it's mainly bad people, Hell I'm quite warm-blooded for a merc. Besides when you're the best at what you do you end up taking the dirty jobs." And then as an afterthought tacked on, "And I do like money how else am I supposed to buy cocaine?"

"Al does love her cocaine." Laura agreed and Logan nodded along with that train of thought.

Rogers looked like he might explode and Logan looked lovestruck. The soldiers wondered distinctly what Logan saw in this maniac.

"What do you mean warm-blooded?" Barnes asked.

"Well, sometimes when kids get desperate they come to get help through unorthodox means. Most people don't touch it because the pay isn't good." Deadpool explained easily.

That seemed...actually pretty sweet which was surprising for someone like Deadpool.

"Besides I mainly take hits on drug lords, child traffickers, rapists, murderers, and the other unsavory," Deadpool answers easily and Logan nods at that confirming it.

The conversations continue and surprisingly Deadpool or Wade actually seems... Okay. Logan is enamored with him and it's understandable he has a charm to him if you can get over his...eccentricities.

Laura also clearly loves him and that's enough for them. They plan to have lunch at some later point. They pay and Wade leaves a generous tip...like a couple hundred dollars generous. The waitress seems to know him and thanks him with a smile. And just like that the trio is gone.

Steve and Bucky make their way back to the tower as they try to figure out how to explain the encounter they just had with the other Avengers.

"So where have you been?" Tony asks the moment they appear in the main area. The two share a look, "We met an old friend and caught up."

"Old friend, how old was he 90?" Clint asks from the couch. Bucky chuckles, "Actually he's much older than that. We had no idea though turns out he's a mutant."

Everyone pauses at that and looks over to them all asking them to continue with just a glance.

"Super enhanced healing factor It's as immortal as it sounds." Steve answered.

"Yeah?" Tony asked eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Yeah, but it's complicated and it turns out he has a kid and fiance." Steve answered easily.

"With immortality? that sounds painful." Tony asked seeming haunted at the idea of outliving Pepper and Morgan.

Bucky chuckled, "Funny thing that they're also immortal."

Everyone paused, "How did that happen?" Bruce asked.

"Both are experiments from his DNA." Barnes revealed.

Tony and Bruce shared a look, "Is there any way we can meet them?" Tony asked excitedly.

Bucky and Steve shared a glance, "Well...sure but.." Steve trailed off.

"One of them is Deadpool." Barnes finished.

Natasha and Clint seemed to jump a foot in the air out of shock alone.

"WHAT?!" They both shouted in shock.

(I plan on posting this tomorrow to Ao3)

[undreaming-fanfiction]

Part 2 to the Kas!Eddie thingy. Please read that for this to make sense, but you can just ignore this good ending bit and pretend that they never learned their lesson.

When they come to, they are safely tucked in beds, still in their clothes, but their bruises and scratches have been treated. There's a small table too, with some fruits, coffee, juice and a healthy breakfast they haven't had in ages.

Next to it, they see a handwritten note: "Come see me downstairs when you're ready. Steve Harrington."

They are cautious. Terrified. But the windows have bars, their stomachs are empty and even if they could escape, that winged creature wouldn't let them leave, they think. So they eat, some of them even use the warm shower in the guest room, and then they take the stairs down, to their fate.

Steve Harrington is sitting at his kitchen table, sipping coffee. He is wearing a yellow sweater, reading glasses and even though his hair has grey streaks and there are wrinkles around his eyes, he doesn't seem like someone they could take on. They don't even think about trying it.

"Ah, good morning. I hope you liked the breakfast. Now, I hope you got everything you needed out of your system yesterday, so we can get down to business. What would you say to having a job and a roof over your head?"

They stare, but he's not joking. Harrington explains to them that he's willing to house them and feed them for some work on his house and the grounds until they get back on their feet. He needs the help anyway, he has the money to pay them a reasonable amount. They already saw the accomodations, so...are they interested?

They are, this is their chance and they all see it, but one of them has the presence of mind to ask - what about the monster?

"The boyfriend!" one of them corrects him quickly.

Steve smiles and gets up. "Ah, that is good question indeed." He knocks on the door of the small bedroom on the main floor and calls out: "Eddie? Can you come here for a second?"

It - no, he - doesn't like a monster. He's a normal young man, maybe a bit too old school rockstar looking to be completely inconspicuous, but still a man. He has a mane of curly hair, a lazy smile with teeth that are just a bit too sharp...and a swarm of bats tattoed on his forearm.

Harrington gives him a brief peck on his cheek. "Our guests want to know if the monster is going to be a problem. Care to tell them? I need to get something done in the town anyways."

Eddie sits down and winks at them. He waits for Steve to leave and then he explains it all.

Steve is all about second chances. He also can't bear to leave strays outside, much to the group's luck. And Eddie respects that, he wants to believe that they all had just a lot of bad luck, just like he once had. But he'll be watching them so that they don't end up hurting anyone, including themselves.

"Like you didn't hurt us yesterday?" someone chimes in and Eddie laughs.

"You stupid twerp," he says and it almost sounds loving, "No matter what you think happened yesterday, I did save you. I heard you coming from a mile away, saw you arguing in the woods. I smelled your anger. That's why I could afford to just scare you, knock you around a little. But if you got past me and attacked Steve..."

"You would have killed us?"

But Eddie shakes his head. "No. Not me. But Steve would have. You'd stand no chance. Against monsters, maybe. Against a man who's been to the hell and back? No way."

---

They work on the grounds of the Harrington mansion, do the maintenance, mow lawns, clean and dust everything, and in a few months, they have enough money to move away. They thank Steve and Eddie, promise to call and stay in touch.

That day the last one leaves, Steve drives to the pawnshop and when the owner comes to the counter, Steve tells him: "They're gone now."

"Good job, Steve. Another group of misguided youth brought back to the right path. You're so good at this, it's almost disgusting." A glass of vodka finds its way to Steve's hand and he laughs, drinks with his friend to success.

As Steve turns around to leave, he nods at Murray. "Just warn a guy the next time, okay? You're lucky Eddie got to them first."

Murray grins back. "Saved by a monster. How poetic."

And he mouths along with Steve's words, when he corrects him: "Not a monster. My boyfriend."

[enmstorytime]

The Contract

I put it in the introduction of my book, a promise that was tongue in cheek, that was meant in good fun, that would never, never, never actually have to be upheld: If I make $50,000,000 on this book, that's the last day I wear clothing. And to prove it to my fans, anyone who sends me the receipt for their purchase of this book has the right to host one party that I will attend in my new clothing-free life. I'll serve the drinks for the whole night.

When my editor looked over my introduction, he cocked his eyebrow, and simply said, "Bold."

"It's not like it's going to happen," I said. "Besides, with fifty mil in the bank, I could buy a house far enough from the public eye that I'd live my life in privacy. It wouldn't be too bad. Groceries would be delivered, and I guess it would be a good reason for me to never talk to my parents again."

"What about the book signings?" My editor asked, like this was a real conversation. "What about the promised parties."

"I don't know," I said shrugging. "It sounds kind of fun to me."

"A naked book signing sounds fun to you?" My editor said, sounding surprised."

"Once i earn that kind of money, I think my fans deserve whatever they want from me," I said, laughing. "But you've seen the sales on my last book. I barely made $10,000."

"You're writing is good though," my editor said. "It's a problem of marketing. And a naked book signing might just get the marketing up."

"No naked book signing until the fifty million," I said, surprised that my editor was even considering this.

"Okay, okay, no naked book signing... yet," My editor said. "But I think this promise of living forever naked and of becoming a free, naked bartender might be what we need to help your writing career really take off."

"I'm not a free, naked bartender," I said. "To get my services they have to buy the book."

"Fine, fine, whatever you say," my editor said. "But really, I think this is a stroke of marketing genius. We could make a website where people can buy your book, which would automatically submit the receipt, and then they'd be taken to your calendar where they could schedule your bartending services."

"It's never going to happen," I said.

"We could also get you on talk shows," my editor said. "No one is that excited to hear from any old writer. But the old cliche, sex sells, is really true."

"It won't sell $50,000,000 worth of books," I said.

"Of course, no one will believe you'd really go through with it," my editor said. "Unless... Would you be willing to sign a notarized contract agreeing to this deal? You'd sign for yourself, obviously, and we, the publishing company, would sign on behalf of your readers."

"I don't think that will be necessary," I said, laughing, even though my editor still looked more serious than I expected him to. "It's fifty million dollars."

"If it's never going to happen," my editor said, steepling his fingers and looking me up and down, "then why not sign a contract."

So, I did.

I went on talk shows before my book's publication, where late-night hosts made jokes about shrinkage, and workouts, and courage. One host even promised to have my contractual naked bartending party on his show. I laughed, and grinned, and leaned into the humor, enjoying what I assumed was my fifteen minutes of fame.

My friends all winked at me when they promised to buy my book, or they made me promise to not forget the little guys when I made my millions.

My parents were less understanding. My dad told me I was a shame to the family. Everyone at church kept telling he and my mom how they'd seen me on the TV, and how sorry they were that my parents had raised such a desperate, sinful, greedy child. My mom told me she'd never look at me again if I actually went through with becoming a nudist.

When the original sales numbers came in after my publication, I started to sweat. I made ten million. Every copy that had sold within a week, and my publishing company was preparing for a reprint.

"You better start looking at private jet," my editor said over the phone as he was sharing the numbers with me.

"You don't really think it'll happen do you?" I asked, my stomach performing somersaults. "It's just a temporary media hype, right?"

But it wasn't. As the initial reviews came in, my book was receiving praise, and there was buzz that I would be nominated for a few awards ("No matter what happens with this next print, you're contractually obligated to attend those award dinners, if you're nominated," my editor reminded me again over the phone).

The publishing company put me back on the media tour to talk about the writing. At each stop I was given time to plug what inspired the book, to talk about the process, and then the teasing started. Hosts asked if I was nervous. Hosts called me brave. The host who had promised to have me bartend on the air rolled out a drink cart that could be wheeled through his live studio audience.

My friends started asking for previews. "I'll see it all soon enough anyway," was said to me almost daily.

My dad called to tell me he'd written me out of the will, since I was already rich enough anyway. My mom stopped speaking to me.

At the second printing, my book sales landed at a crisp $42,000,000 in my bank account. Every copy sold. I had assumed that this printing would give me the answer on whether or not my life was going to change more drastically than it already had. I don't know if you've ever realized that everyone who meets you is actively picturing you naked, but I was now very aware that that was what was happening to me. All anyone wanted to talk to me about was my body. And my company was almost literally edging me, printing just enough books that I'd have to wait one more round before finding out whether I'd be allowed clothing again.

"You've got your private jet, right?" My editor asked. "If not, check your email, I've sent you a few listings for some small, cheaper jets. But you'll definitely need one."

Out of caution I bought myself a secluded cabin in the woods, far enough from civilization that I could still go outside and enjoy the sun, even if I had to go out sans all my clothing. I told no one where my cabin was.

I was back on the talk show circuit. This time we weren't talking about the writing, we talked about the printing details, we talked about the number of books that would need to sell before I had to honor my contract. My publishing company sent copies of the contract to each host, and I heard the stipulations read over and over again while audiences wolf-whistled and jeered. The website to buy my book and schedule my bartending services was posted at the bottom of the screen. Each talk show ended with the host promising that I would be back once my next printing had sold out.

Some fans started a website that had one of those thermometer charts that people often use for fundraising events. The visual of 42/50 hit home harder than anything else had. Under the chart were pages and pages of AI renditions of what I looked like under my clothes.

"Listen, it's over," my editor said over the phone one night. "The pre-sale numbers for your next printing put you at $75,000,000."

My heart plummeted.

"I gotta say, I don't envy you," my editor continued. "The publishing company wants to have a recorded event where we break the news to you, and where you turn your clothing over to us."

"It's not in my contract that that would be recorded," I said. "I'd prefer to just ship everything, and then probably never come back into your office, thanks."

"Believe me, I get it," my editor said, and I could hear the grin on his face. "And you're right, it's not in your contract. But I think you should do it. We're drafting a new contract that I think you'll like."

"Will I get my clothes back if I do the recording?" I asked, allowing myself a second of hope that he immediately squashed.

"God no," he said, chuckling. "You're our gold mine, and we aren't just going to give that up. But, we'll censor you on the recording. The minute there's full frontal, blurring effects will go on. You'll also be given a guaranteed five more printings of this book, and a contract for five books of your choice, plus a memoir deal that you'll write after five years all about your first five years as the world's most public nudist."

"I don't think so," I said.

"I would reconsider," my editor said. "This allows you to ease into your exposure. Sure, the live studio audience won't have the blur, but the world at large will. Eventually, you'll end up somewhere online, and everyone will see everything, but this buys you a little more time. Plus, the company is throwing in a private jet, since I know you haven't bought one yet."

I hadn't bought the jet. But now, I knew I needed one, otherwise I'd be pushing my way through busy terminals, the only naked person getting pressed up on by the hundreds of people hauling their luggage.

"It's tempting," I said.

"You're alternative is that we will send our enforcement team to collect what is ours," my editor said. "And you know how hard it is to schedule things as a company of this size. It's likely we'd forget to send you warning, so you could be out in the street, and our big, burly enforcers could show up and tear the clothes right off your body, in front of everyone, and those beautiful camera phones won't give you the same guarantee of a modesty blur."

"Fine," I said, understanding that my publishing company would be getting what they wanted.

The printing came and sold. My editor was right, my bank account now had over $75,000,000, and that was with the cost of my small, private cabin in the woods taken out. I signed the new contract the day of the recording in my editor's office before I was escorted to a filming studio. I had packed up every piece of clothing I owned, and had given the publishing company's enforcers keys to my home and my cabin so they could ensure that I was living up to my end of the contract. I hadn't withheld any clothing.

In the filming studio, my editor called me up on stage. Surrounding me on stage were at least fifteen mannequins, each dressed in something that had been mine. One was dressed in my talk-show suit. One was dressed in my favorite jockstrap that I used to wear on dates when I hoped to get lucky.

I wore my normal clothes: t-shirt, jeans, tennis shoes, baseball cap. I wanted today to feel as normal as possible, even though I had barely slept the night before, even though I knew today would not be a normal day.

The program wasn't long. I sat across from my editor, both of surrounded by mannequins, the jock-strap clad one framed by the two of us. He asked me about each outfit that was displayed. I told him the stories of where I got them, why I picked them, what I would miss about them.

"And which outfit will you miss the most?" my editor asked.

"The only answer to that question is the one that I have on right now," I said, and the audience chuckled appreciatively. Hungrily.

"I'd miss that one too, if I were you," he said to more laughs. "But the time has come to say goodbye."

The blood rushed to my face and to my crotch.

"I've been instructed to give you one last choice," my editor said. "Would you like to hand over your clothes or have them taken from you?"

Without giving me time to respond, two burly men appeared out of nowhere. Their hands groped and grabbed at my clothing, and my arms and legs moved at their command as I was shucked of everything.

In seconds, almost as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone, and with them every stitch of clothing I had worn today. There was no ceremony, no gentleness, no gradual removal to acclimate to new levels of nudity. I was fully clothed one moment. Completely naked the next.

And I stood there, hands at my sides, processing that I didn't even say goodbye to my clothing, that I would never again feel denim on my legs, or cotton sleeves against my arms. It took me nearly a full minute standing in front of my editor and my live audience to realize that I hadn't reached down to cover my cock.

[stormberry-12]

faceless // P3: yes sir. negative ~ charles leclerc x reader

pairing: charles leclerc x fem!driver!reader

includes/authors notes: language, lack of equal rights/ gender equality, readers an unknown figure in the races, fem!reader's gender assumed as male, use of "y/n". So sorry this took so long, I've had some mega writters block and no motivation really. But I hope it's still good and thank you so much for all the kind feedback, it means a lot! <3

Bold Italics are the past.

Normal Italics are thoughts.

summary: "There is a new mysterious driver on the grid. Nobody knows who he is, the only thing we know is that he races for Red Bull with the number 66. Other drivers call him the faceless driver for none have ever seen his face or heard him speak. The faceless driver is a legend in the making and even giving Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen a run for their money…”

"No fucking way mate," Lando choked out his words, "Holy fuck-" 

Lando's face had never looked so shocked, he scratched the inner corner of his left eye as if he thought he was seeing something. And when his eyes focused back on you, you could see his mind filling with questions. His eyes flickered from the helmet sitting on the ground to the tears brimming in your eyes.

"Oh my god," you sobbed into your hands as your mind began to race. 

Should you run away? 

'Oh, sorry Lando, no you must have seen my celebrity doppelganger in the suit earlier. It wasn't me-"

"No wait, don't cry-" he protested, rushing over and crouching down next to you on the ground, "You're my idol, I'm like obsessed with your driving, you're frickin' amazing-"

"Oh, shut up Lando!" you snapped, instantly feeling bad for yelling in his face. He was silent for a moment, not taken aback by your outburst though. "Sorry," you whispered.

You looked up to see him scanning your face intently. "You haven't told Charles yet," he said matter-of-factly like he could read your life all of a sudden.

You shook your head.

"Who else knows?"

"Just you and Christian-"

"Heh, I'm so special,"

"Lando stop!" you cried quietly, feeling more tears forming. "You weren't supposed to find out and I'm so going to get fired for this-"

"Why would you be fired?" he asked,  "You're the driver keeping Red Bull afloat right now while Max is shittin' the bed,"

"Because. It's part of my contract that no one knows who I am,"

"Who came up with that shit?"

You furrowed your eyebrows at him, "What shit?"

"Your contract rules," he said.

"We both did. I didn't want to be in the media, I've never liked it. And Christian just agreed I guess-"

"But you and Charles were just in a video together, you've been doing media anyway," He chuckled dryly.

True.

"And you and Charles love each other, I can see it in your eyes, I don't think the media content is going to stop anytime soon. Frankly, they will ask you to do more now that you've already agreed once."

Also true.

"I understand that privacy is important to you but..."

"Yeah, I know, I know... you're right," you said, wiping tears away from under your eyes, thinking back to the tweets you had just read, "After the video went out I was expecting so much worse but nothing happened, I might need to take a chill pill."

"Maybe..." he said slowly. "And why should-"

"-I care what people on the internet think of me?" you stole the words right out of Lando's mouth, a smile growing on his face. "Charles tells me that every time I don't help with his Twitch streams,"

"Right, you're thinking like a media-trained F1 driver already!" he grinned. "Except, I don't think you're getting enough credit for your racing because you keep that helmet on all the damn time. Just one guy's opinion though,"

You hummed in response, getting lost in your own mind again.

"I won't tell a soul, I promise," He crossed his hand over his heart, "Scouts honor,"

For some reason, you felt you could trust Lando. You gave him a small smile and let your shoulders relax, taking deep breaths to calm your nerves. He stood up and offered you his hand, you took it gladly and rose to your feet. "I think you should talk to Christian about it,"

"I will, thanks Lan,"

"No problem," he winked, slowly stepping away, "And for what it's worth I truly meant what I said before. You're amazing, don't let them push you around or tell you otherwise. You gotta pave the way for all the little girls out there."

That shook you to your core. 

You had never thought about your career that way and it bothered you how oblivious you had been.

How could you not realize the impact you could be making for the girls who dream of racing just like you had? Who cared what some old guy on the internet thought about women in motorsport, he needed to grow up. And you needed to make a difference. It was all sliding into place.

Also, since when had Lando been that well-spoken in his life?

After a quick 'See you on track,' you and Lando parted ways towards your respected garages. Pulling your helmet over your face, you stepped out of the alleyway and marched towards the blue and red signs of the Red Bull garage.

Christian gave you a look through your visor as you walked up to the car, you just nodded, he hated it when you were late. You climbed into the car and tried to shake the nerves out of your body, you could see a camera in your peripherals, panning the garage and landing on you. 

Pave the way Y/n.

This newfound purpose gave you anxiety but at the same time a different kind of drive to your craft. You could feel the car hum beneath you, grateful for the all-clear from the team, you exited the garage to start warming up your tires.

"Radio check, you ready for this?"

"Yep. Copy." 

Shit, that sounded forced didn't it? Why were you acting so weird? Be yourself Y/n.

"Ah, not going to humor me today? That's too bad mate," Rick chuckled.

"Don't know why but it smells like barbeque in the car,"

"You've got a problem, change your fucking carrrr,"

"No, you change your car because Checo has been saying the car is fucked-"

This had Ricky howling with laughter over the mic.

"Okay, that's enough lads." Christian stepped in, pulling the plug on you and Rick mocking him.

"Fun police..." Ricky sighed.

"I'm not a fun police, do your job Richard."

"You are a fun police, I have it on record. I hAvE it, I hAve iT pRiNteD oUt!"

"66."

"Sorry." you replied, giggling to yourself and waving back at Lando as you passed.

"Damn it!" Charles cursed stomping towards the Ferrari garage. He had just spun out two races in a row and had to, unfortunately, retire from the race.

Walking into the garage he could feel all eyes on him as he stuffed his gloves and balaclava into his helmet angrily. A few engineers and his trainer gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he walked past, but no one dared to interact with Charles while he was this livid.

He needed y/n.

She was who he always needed after a bad race, he walked to his driver's room remembering the spin-out from his previous race hoping that y/n would actually be there this time.

"Where's y/n?"

"I don't know mate, sorry. She disappeared a while ago," an engineer named Fred shrugged.

But of course, as he opened the door she was nowhere to be found once again. Thoughts ran through his mind a hundred miles per minute

Had she always left after he got into the car and never actually watched him race?

Is he not as important to her as she made it seem?

Was she just in this for the money like a few of the girls he had been with before?

No, y/n isn't like that. He told himself, but still, he felt that pang of uncertainty in his chest. It would certainly be the reason why whenever he asked for her opinion on his performance it was almost as if she didn't remember what happened, she would just nod, smile, and agree with whatever he said.

Charles sat down on the couch and shut the door to his room. The TV had the race on and he watched the 19 remaining cars complete lap after lap. 

He couldn't watch this anymore...

"Ohh! That was a nasty hit from Verstappen from behind- SOMEONE HAS SPUN INTO THE WALL AND IT LOOKS TO BE THE OTHER RED BULL!"

"Oh my, it is! I can tell you right now Crofty, Christian Horner is not going to be pleased about that,"

"The race has just been red-flagged and we are currently awaiting more news on the second Red Bull driver. Here's a replay, there's Max Verstappen in third and his teammate ahead of him in second."

"And Verstappen was told to hold position because both drivers were in the podium places, Max is slightly slower than his teammate with very worn tires, but he pushes them anyway and tries to go for the very forced overtake. And there it is! Now why does he swerve into his teammate?!? This is mind-boggling to me-"

Charles looked up from his phone and back to the television. A bright 66 is painted on the Red Bull that is in pieces on the edge of the track. And as the camera zooms into the smoking race car, the eerie silence in Charles's driver's room makes his chest tighten slightly.

"Oh dear, it seems we have no verbal conformation from the driver so as you can see the medical car has made it's way to the scene."

Charles watches the unconscious driver slowly get pulled from the car and layed on a stretcher right there on the side of the track. They lift the visor of his helmet and shine a light across the driver's face as their eyes flutter awake. Beautiful eyes that Charles had engraved in his brain from the moment he met her.

previous chapter // next chapter

[notmorbid]

any other family.

dialogue prompts from any other family by eleanor brown.

who gets to say what it means to be a family?

all perfect moments are comprised of small details, are they not?

there just never seems to be enough time.

i am generally filled with rage, these days.

you can't bullshit a bullshitter.

you're always saying how tired you are. let someone help.

it will all work out. it has to.

it is all so complicated, and it was supposed to be so simple.

don't make me do this again.

why didn't you tell me how bad it was?

i've tried to talk to you dozens of times.

i have never felt so far away from you.

people say we're strange. maybe we are.

i don't understand why you're being so stubborn.

when the universe offers you a gift, you say yes.

i am not yours to rescue.

your hearing is highly selective.

do all parents feel like this?

abrupt change is not helpful for anyone.

this is turning out to be the least relaxing vacation in the history of ever.

i must not have prayed hard enough.

you're a terrible example, but most only children turn out okay.

family and money don't mix.

you can't rescue everyone, okay?

i'll figure it out. i always do.

when you say goodbye to something, you also get to say hello to everything that'll take its place.

you've survived 100% of the changes in your life thus far. odds are, you'll survive whatever comes next.

tonight. not 'later'. tonight.

you need to let ___ go.

what the hell is wrong with me? besides everything?

knowing and feeling are two different things.

the only thing we can do is hold hands and walk into the future together. with hope.

you're the only one i can count on to tell me the truth.

everything you do seems easy.

is this what we've been reduced to?

i have a good feeling about this.

everyone needs something to take care of.

why don't you ever stand up to ____?

one of the most amazing things about being a parent is rediscovering things you forgot were amazing.

we are a family now, whether we like it or not.

isn't it nice having someone to share the load, every once in a while?

you should take up drinking. it has all sorts of side benefits.

i told you [name] was a bitch.

i felt better when we weren't talking about it.

when i am ready for help, i will ask for help.

i am a gordian knot of emotions, and i cannot bear to cut through it.

what are we but the sum of our experiences?

what's the use of living if we can't apply our pasts to our presents?

you always seem so calm and confident.

we're still going to be a family, though, right?

if only parenthood came with scheduled alerts on coming changes and crises.

i didn't have to be your mother, i get to be your mother.

you are smart and silly and amazing and curious, and i love you very, very much.

i would have said yes to anything, to make the pain end.

i'm sad. it sucks. what else is there to say?

i can't imagine going through that alone.

you must be so strong.

i just want to burn it all down.

a relationship is a series of promises.

i am not above bribery.

it's not a family vacation without a few trips to the emergency room.

it's intimidating to be around you.

you probably came out of the womb punching.

it doesn't do us any good to be comparing, does it? we aren't the same people.

i've never been good at crying.

it's amazing how you can be right next to someone and have no idea what they're thinking.

you don't have to do this alone. you don't have to pretend to be okay when you're not.

you have to talk to someone. it's too much to carry if you don't.

i don't need reminders. i think about it every day.

i said ____ could spend the night, not move in.

your eyes are like cartoon saucers.

i'm sorry i didn't realize how unhappy you were.

[the-shiftshop]

Origins of the Shop: The Shop and its Founders

As part of the 2,000 Followers milestones, The Shift Shop presents, Origin of the Shop.

AI Image generated through DeepAI. This story is completely a work of fiction. Historical features may not be accurate.

DATA RETRIEVED FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE SHIFT SHOP. REPORT NARRATED BY TIMOTHEO HYEONGJU LEE.

-

It was around 1910s, when the Japanese took control of Korea. The suppression against Koreans was bad. I witness my people get bruttaly treated by the foreignmen in our own land. My family, I lost my own immediate family in just a month after they took hold of our country. I decided to find a way to escape this hell. Boarded a trading ship from China, making sure no one can trace me. I managed to do so, landing me to a foreign country I have never known.

I managed to escape Korea and arrived in the Philippines through a ship. I couldn't speak their language, but I can do a few English or so. I couldn't make any more suspicion, so I decided to stay low, but in tough times, one shall do anything to survive.

One day, I was starving. I had no money, nor any means of getting any, so I learned to steal. A few days, I managed to get food without getting caught, but that didn't last long as an American soldier saw me stealing bread at a local shop. They chased me around town, and I tried to run for my life.

That is when I met Stephen Diaz, a soap store owner. He hid me in his shop until the soldiers eventually gave up in looking for me.

"You can stay here. I'll make sure you're part of a family from now on."

Diaz was 3 years older than I am. He treated me like a younger brother and kept me in like what he promised, like a part of a family. Diaz, too, is alone. His family died under the Spanish Regime and making soap and selling them is his primary way to survive. Throughout those years of living in his shop, we became business partners. Eventually, we don't just sell soaps anymore. I thought him how to make herbal tea. We bought ceramics from chinese merchants we can use to brew them. We started selling tea leaves and herbs.

Although, business wasn't that great. Our sales didn't go well and eventually we get our feet deep in debt. We thought of everything we can do, but we had to close the shop.

It was devastating to see Diaz, my best friend and brother, working harder in other ways just to support us both, while I couldn't do anything. I can't find a job or people will suspect me for being here illegally. All I can do for Diaz is make him tea every night.

One night, I was harvesting herbs from our backyard. I saw a gleaming light a few bushes away from I am. Upon exploring, there I saw a floating white crystal. I felt it calling onto me. I hear it promising me things that can help us get back to our feet.

"I promise you a way to be more prosperous. A power to help those in need, and also to help you."

I was blinded by it, but I know how truthful its words are, I just don't know why. I came closer, and then I held it in my palm, and then that was the day I was bestown the power I hold now. Power coursed through my veins. Hunger and pain disappeared. I was stonger, less stress. I just know I felt better.

I took the crystal inside and kept it where we usually put our income every single day. The next day, I decided to open the shop once more, giving it one last chance.

Diaz and I were surprised with what's going on. Soaps advertised to bring your youthful skin back, started to actually turn people younger the longer they use it. Teas that promises strength started to make people bigger, healthier. We are in awe.

People started coming in, amazed with our miracle. Everyone were celebrating, except for one person, Diaz.

Diaz was skeptical with the promise of the crystal. He said there's a big possibility that the crystal was offered by an Engkanto, or a Mambabarang, who purposely didn't say that there's a catch with this power. That night, we argued. He begged me to throw the crystal away, but I can't just do that. All I want was to help Diaz, or maybe I was too greedy with the power I now have.

Diaz and I pulled against the cystal on each end, accidentally splitting it in half. I felt my power lessen, and saw the other half Diaz was holding turn black.

Right that moment, we noticed light coming out from the shop and saw people with torches and pitchforks, screaming at us, calling us witches and monsters. People started to abuse our store products and saw what can happen when they overuse it, and they blamed us for what happened to those people.

They started storming in the shop. Diaz was caught by the people.

"THEO!" He screamed as he reach his hand to me, "Help me!"

But before I know it, the crystal in my hand generated a big wave of force, pushing everyone outside, incluing Diaz, and with my last scream, everyone disappeared.

It was quiet. What used to be night sky, now sunlight peaks throught the window. I can hear chirping of the birds oustide. That is when I realized, the whole shop was transported to a different place.

I was alone. Whatever happened to Diaz, I have no clue. All I have was his shop, and the crystal.

From then point on, I built the shop on my own, using the powers bestown to me, fulfilling what duties the crystal gave me, helping others and myself.

Diaz, if only I were able to save you. My deepest regrets and apologies. I'll find you soon.

[cheeseceli]

Falling in Love [deeper than I've felt before]

Pairing: Hyunjin × gn!Reader

Genre: fluff, slowburn

Warnings: reader drinks alcohol at some point, not proofread.

Request: part 2 of Moving On but can be read individually

a/n: it took a while to go to the plot but i promise y/n moves on lmao; the ending is a bit rushed? But creativity had left me sadly. Also this was posted accidentally so I'm so sorry if there is something which seems off

The day has come. And you still can't believe how dumb you were from accepting the invitation to go to your ex's wedding.

You were going straight to the biggest heartbreak you'd ever have, but there was no turning back now. You said you would be in the damn party so you will be there.

"Seriously Y/n, I think you shouldn't go." Yeji, a friend of yours, said while helping you figure out something to wear "Just tell him that you were sick or something. I can lie to him if you want"

"I said I'd be there and I'm not one to break a promise."

"It's barely a promise. He admitted himself that it would be awkward, it's better if you skip it. You're just torturing yourself at this point"

"I'm going. Besides, maybe that's what I need to finally move on. It's been 3 years already. I need that."

Yeji sighed. She openly disagreed with your point of view, there should be another way of moving on without shattering your heart into pieces, but she wouldn't insist anymore.

"We have some hours until the wedding. Let's go to the mall, we need something good for you to wear" she got up from the edge of your bed "unless you wanna go in pajamas."

And that's how, four hours later, you were fully prepared to the wedding. Even though you looked great, you still felt a pain in your chest because of the price you spent. The situation was starting to become a little ridiculous, you couldn't believe you wasted so much money on an outfit you'd never wear again because it'd probably bring a lot of bad memories.

This better have a good outcome.

But deep inside you were happy that Yeji made you put some effort in how you'd look because the place was beautiful. The decoration was really enchanting, with a lot of white and green flowers and you could even hear the sound of a piano. It looked like the wedding was designed to fit a disney princess' movie.

The guests were also gorgeous. Some of them were still your friends while some were "ex-friends", as you lost contact with them after the break up. There were a lot of people you didn't know there, friends and family of Changbin's partner you assumed. It looked like you could actually enjoy the night if it wasn't for the current scenario.

You ended up sitting in the table with all the other Itzy girls and for some moments you were able to forget the bad feeling in your chest. That was until the ceremony started.

Needless to say that you cried during the vows. They were so happy, Changbin was happy. At the same time that your heart was aching, you felt a a weight out of your shoulders. It was like you were finally given the chance to set free from your past and not be attached to it anymore.

Changbin wouldn't come back. You shouldn't wait for him.

It was less painful than what you originally thought. Seeing how he cried after seeing his partner and how he didn't hesitate to kiss them, you could even feel happiness. I'm happy you're happy at last. That's how you were able to clap and celebrate for the now married couple, along the rest of the guests.

Now, of course, you needed to drink. Realisation was still sinking in and you couldn't say congratulations to the couple while being sober. That's why you went straight up to the bar once people started to dance and sat down in the first free chair you could find.

"Y/n?"

You looked to the side and saw Hyunjin. The fact that sooner or later one of the stray kids members would show up slipped of your mind and you were actually surprised for seeing the boy in front of you. Even though you were still friends with Changbin, you barely talked to the kids. The last time you saw Hyunjin was two years ago, you think. He got even prettier, you noticed.

"Hey" you finally reply "it's been a while."

"I know right? Wasn't expecting to see you here though."

"I wasn't supposed to be here I guess... I might be leaving soon"

It seemed that Hyunjin understood the circumstances, it was reasonable your urge to leave. But at the same time, the night had just started and it's been a pretty long time since you last talked to everyone. They missed you. He missed you.

"At least have a drink with me" he proposes, already calling the bartender "I wanna know what you've been into." How could you say no?

So you and Hyunjin drank together while catching up with each other and God, you did miss a lot. Hyunjin was talking about every show they attended to while you gossiped about a drama that was happening in your work place. He showed pictures of his paintings while you showed pictures of your pets. He even gave you a minor spoiler of their next comeback. You laughed a lot during some hours.

While you were telling him about the last trip you did with some of your friends, a different song started playing and everyone got out of the center of the room. You looked at the commotion to find out it was when the just married couple begun their dance. You were observing them, so you failed to notice Hyunjin's gaze on you and his little smile. He truly missed you.

"Are you guys okay?"

You looked at him, taking a while to understand what he meant. By the time you comprehended it, he regretted and tried saying "I'm sorry, shouldn't have asked".

"We're okay" you answered "we should be at least."

"No hard feelings? Were you able to, you know, move on?"

"I'm moving on as we speak. I think this is my last chapter with him."

He was looking at you with curiosity. Like he actually wanted to understand your feelings, like he actually wanted to listen without judgements. So you kept explaining:

"Maybe I was ready for a while, I just didn't want to let go. I've never been good with changes. I just didn't want to lose the possibility of everything being fine without any change." you grew consciously of the man's attention on you, so you tried to brush it off by laughing "Sorry for the therapy session all of the sudden."

He giggled "Don't worry, I don't mind. I'm happy for you, to be able to keep going. Happy for both of you."

The dance was close to an end and everyone was cheering, but Changbin and his partner looked like they were in their own world, lost in each others embrace and smile. You could see their love in their eyes. That's what they deserved.

"I am happy too."

You were being genuine. Its like another weight was lifted off you. You were slowly collecting the pieces of your heart and putting them together. You were healing.

When the newlyweds finished their first dance as a married couple, the guests applauded in joy and went back to the dance floor when another song started playing. Hyunjin drank the last sip of the drink he ordered and stood up. You didn't want to admit but you were kinda disappointed that he was already going. You started to wonder if you had said anything wrong or said too much, that was until he offered his hand to you with a smile.

He saw your confused expression and explained it clearly“Let's dance. You're not planning on staying in this bar for the whole night, are you? ”

“I am, actually. Besides I'm going home soon, there's no need to-”

“C'mon Y/n. ” he interrupted you while moving forward to hold your hand “You cannot come to a wedding party and not dance to at least one song. I promise I'll stop bothering you after this.”

Hesitantly, you held his hand back and got up.

“Was my offer to stop bothering you so tempting? You're even smiling” he said, making you laugh.

“Shut up.”

The room was filled with couples and friends. You didn't notice that the song that was playing, falling in love by cigarettes after sex, required a slow dancing. You just noticed it after Hyunjin was really close to you, holding your waist with both hands and smiling dearly for you. You soon placed your hands in his shoulder.

“You weren't so bold before, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Normally you wouldn't invite someone to dance, you were always kinda shy. I remember I begged you to dance with me in my own birthday party and still you denied.”

“That was when I was a trainee, how do you even remember that?”

“Oh it made me cry for weeks”

He laughed, bringing you closer to him. You guys were barely dancing, you were just hugging each other and swinging from side to side.

“Were you always this dramatic?”

“You're one to talk.”

“Well...” Hyunjin said before sighing, like he was wondering what words to use for what he was about to say.“we can say that I regret not accepting your invite to dance back then. And who knows when I'll have another opportunity.”

You were the shy one now. You really didn't expect to Hyunjin to be so bold, even though he didn't say nothing considered too much and you probably were analysing to deeply. Trying to not blush, you decided to light the situation: "I say it was the alcohol that made you so straightforward."

"Oh that helped of course" he laughed. And you kept talking the most random things while being on each other's arms, dancing to a love song like it was something casual. When the first song came to an end, he was ready to say goodbye to you, even though that was the last thing he wanted in the moment.

"I don't mind dancing for another song" you said. You don't know what made you change your mind so quickly, but then you saw his smile and understood the change of heart. That smile was worth a lot of dances.

You probably danced for more than two hours. In slow songs you'd just hug each other while talking about your life, in happy songs you would dance like crazy and proceed to judge those who were better than you and sometimes you'd just follow hyunjin's lead to try to follow a dance routine. You just stopped when Hyunjin was covered in sweat and your feet couldn't handle anymore. Then you both went to the bar, laughing like that was the funniest thing to ever happen on your life.

"Y/N!"

Looking to the side, you were met with Yeji. You noticed that her breath wasn't even, which meant that she was probably looking for you for a while now.

“You're still friends with Yeji?”

“Yeah, we still go out sometimes. Why?”

“Just wanted to know.”

“I was looking for you everywhere” Yeji was now right in front of you, breathing heavily “Me and the girls are going back to the dorms, we need to be up early tomorrow. Do you want to go with us?”

You searched for your cell phone, wondering what time it was. It was a little bit past midnight. You wanted to be there for more time, you felt like the night was just starting, but sadly the Itzy girls were your only ride back home. That meant you needed to go now.

You glanced at Hyunjin, who was looking at with expectation. For a second you thought that he was trying to convince you to stay for a bit longer, to enjoy the night with him. But it couldn't be this, right? So you just brushed it off.

“Well, I'll be going then” he gave you a small smile, but he was averting his eyes, trying to not look directly at you, but still he got closer to hug you goodbye “I hope to see you around.”

“Don't go missing this time.”

You laughed at his little joke and he giggled back. You believe it would've been easier to go away if he kept looking at somewhere else, but now his eyes were on you and you felt like you couldn't move. You truly wished the night could be longer.

You had your thoughts interrupted when Yeji faked a cough by your side, making you and Hyunjin both come back to reality and making you get away from his arms. Only then you started to walk away, trying to not look as much as you could.

“Bye Hyunjin.”

He just nodded his head, trying to not say bye. You and Yeji started to walk away, saying goodbye to the ones you'd find in your way.

"Oh wait" you remembered your friend "I still have to congratulate Changbin and his partner, I didn't get the chance to do that earlier."

"They were talking to his parents last time I saw them. Do you feel better?"

"Kinda? I mean, it will take a while to be 100% over this but I already feel a weight off my shoulders."

Yeji smiled and, even though she didn't say anything else, you could see she was happy for your growth. Now you could only wish you would heal and find yourself in a better situation from now on. Maybe you could fall in love again, deeper than you've felt before.

Feedbacks and reblogs are very much appreciated!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for "gossiping" about a coworker?

I (27m) work in a liquor store and am quite genuinely the most competent employee despite having been until very recently the newest. Other than the owner, there are 2 who've worked there longer than me and both of them (I'll call em C (31m) and M(39f) have made much less effort to learn about liquor or even, quite frankly, people skills than I have. And lemme tell you, I started out very socially anxious. I'm a regular socialite now.

So C, at least, has a really good work ethic. He's not super socially adept with customers but he makes up for it by going above and beyond, like taking initiative to do a lot of the relatively "shit" work that the rest of us don't wanna do. I'd also say I get along with him very well bc he's pretty intelligent and open-minded.

M, meanwhile, is genuinely the most simple-minded person I've ever known in my life. The good thing is that she seems to be kind of self-aware of not being very smart and able to be a good sport about it (ngl it helps that I'm gay and she's the type to want a sassy gbf so i can kinda get away with being mean as a joke) - and she is also often just as self-aware about the fact that she doesn't do shit at work. Like she'll literally pause deliveries just bc she doesn't feel like driving, she never takes out trash, she's basically always late, she mentally shuts down at the prospect of any math despite working with money, she has little to no decision-making skills either, she spends half her shift in the bathroom and the other half literally playing solitaire, she isn't able to help customers with shit bc she's never made an effort to learn about anything we sell, etc. But she's nice, and we really don't need her help that much with anything other than just having people behind the counter.

And that's more or less what I told the newest hire, S(25F). It was in the context of explaining exactly how incredibly easy this job is - that basically almost nothing was gonna be expected of her. As examples I told her how M does the least here by far after being here for over 2 years and is at no risk of being fired. I really didn't think much of it bc my intentions were purely to point out that this is a chill job.

But a few weeks later, seemingly at random, M kinda blew up at me for being "disrespectful" about something entirely unrelated. In short it was a matter of me getting a little too comfortable joking about her incompetence in front of a customer, and I hadn't realized in this particular instance it would be upsetting but I understood after the fact and I apologized. She responded literally ONLY by saying "you're not gonna disrespect me, I'm grown" and went on to literally just leave for the day. I was baffled, but when I saw her next I basically immediately gave another apology. She explained then that the reason she was upset was that the new girl S told her that I said she was the laziest one here, saying "I thought we were friends."

I obviously tried to apologize profusely, promising her that it wasn't a "talking shit" sort of thing and trying to explain the context of that, etc. But also I think it's pretty fucking rich and kinda insane of her to be so upset that I said she was lazy. She says so herself, all the time. Also the fact that S would tell M about this conversation and clearly either leave out the context or just do nothing to dissuade M from being upset about it.... Basically idk if I should feel bad about this. In the future I won't be talking shit to S just pragmatically speaking but WAS i wrong to do it at all? AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[novankenn]

A Winning Hand AU An Exodus

/== Master Post List ==/

Blake and Yang knew things were getting out of hand, bur they also knew they were in no position to help in dealing with it. So they made the smart decision. To stay out of the way, as Pyrrha and her "Sisters" did their thing... which apparently involved several of them packing for trips abroad.

Yang: Hon... I've got a bad feeling about this. Are you SURE I'll be safe in Menagerie?

Blake: Listen Babe. Pyrrha has said you're not up for grabs. YOu're "my blond" but yes.... you'll be safe, and we can start a happy life together, there. Just u...

Just that second the door to what was formerly team RWBY's dorm swung open, and in walked Yang and Blake's roommates. Ever since the "SisterHood" or the "Court of the Red-Queen", depending on who you asked... started Ren and Nora had moved in with Yang and Blake.

Nora: Nope!

Ren: Nora!

Yang/Blake: Nope? Nope what?

Nora: We are coming with you.

Yang: Why?

Nora: It's not safe around here. I might have been labeled Rennie's Red-head... but the looks those...

Yang: Sisters?

Blake: Cultists?

Ren: Baby-crazed psychos?

Nora: All of the above... give me makes my skin crawl. Like what would happen to me if something happened to REN?

Ren: Nothing is going...

Nora: What if something DID? Like a piano being dropped on your head?

Yang: Nora I don't...

Nora: Like you're ANY SAFER!

Yang: What's that supposed to mean?

Nora: What if something happened to Blake and she's not in the picture anymore? What if you guys break up? What do you think would happen then?

Yang: Oh Gods... what would happen? Blake's the only thing keeping me safe!

Blake: Nora, stop putting those ideas into Yang's head! It gives her nightmares!

Ren: Nora, enough. Pyrrha and Jaune are out friends. Everyone in that... group is a friend... well except for Neo... she strikes me as a little stab happy.

Blake: Ren is right. You guys are safe. You're spoken for, and I know Jaune wouldn't let...

Nora: But Juane's not the one leading the group. It's Pyrrha!

Yang: Yeah, this all started with P-Money.

Blake: Okay. We're getting off track. So you and Ren want to come to Menagerie with Yang and I?

Ren: Please, if it is not too much trouble. It would just be for the trip there. We can find out own lodgings and such. It wouldn't be the first time we've needed to work to support ourselves.

Blake: But what...

Nora: Smash Grimm, duh.

Yang: It would be nice to have some company. It's a long trip right?

Blake: Depending on how we go. Bullhead would be the fastest, but I know we don't have the fu...

Nora: Hold that thought.

Yang / Blake / Ren: ????

Nora moved to the door, and leaned out...

Nora: WEISS! WEISS CAN I SPEAK TO YOU FOR A MINUTE?

Nora leaned back, and gave everyone a smile.

Nora: We'll just ask...

Weiss: Good afternoon Nora.

Nora: AHHHHH!!!!

Weiss: Umm, you asked to speak with me?

Nora: Um... could we borrow enough lien to get four one-way bullhead tickets to Menagerie off you? We'll pay you back, I promise!

Weiss: Why do you want to leave?

Yang: Well... um...

Ren: Peace of mind, plus you could always use this dorm to help... house you other sisters?

Weiss: Peace of mind? You two are perfectly safe. Yang is Blake's Blond. Nora is Ren's red-head. You are untouchable so saith her Majesty the Red Queen.

Blake: It's great of you to say it, Weiss. It means...

Weiss: So long as you are not abandoned by them.

Yang: And you made it creepy.

Nora: So, can we?

Weiss: Certainly. I will book your flight myself. First class.

Nora / Ren / Blake : First class?

Yang: I've never flown first class before. Is what they say about the leg room true?

Weiss: Yes.

Yang: Sign me up!

Weiss: I will. Please be safe, and please stay in touch.

Nora: We will, I promise!

Weiss: Very well. Will two days be enough time?

The quartet nodded, and Weiss smiles and as quickly as she appeared she vanished.

Ren: Well that was... convenient, but not unwelcome.

Nora: Time to get packing! Nudie Beaches here I come!

Blake: That is NOT a thing in Menagerie!

Ren: Yet.

Yang: Did you just say yet, to Nudie Beaches not being a thing?

Ren: Maybe.

[nogenderbee]

♡˗ˏ✎*ೃ˚ ℝ𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕤 ₊˚ˑ༄

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ @bleachtheidiot @prsk-krow @modyuki @virtualpoison @miguelito-maruti-blog @hakulivesformusic @hayillaaaaaaa

ᵀᴼᴰᴬʸ'ˢ ᴬᴿᵀ : Beneath the Everlasting Ringing of Bells - Kanade Yoisaki

QUICK NOTE: written for fem!reader, sorry!!

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You messed up BAD... you were right now at your friends... no... your crushes wedding!! You thought it's just flying crush but no! Even now, when you're already an adult, you still have this fluffy feeling whenever you see Kanade...

Thanks to you being the same gender tho, you got to see her early as you helped her get ready. You were happy for her... you truly were! But at the same time... you couldn't accept it... But she looked so pretty and you didn't wanted to ruin this day for her...

"Kanade... do you... love him?"

You asked catching her off guard a bit... you simply wanted to ask to make sure this is gonna be right choice to let he go... to make sure this is the right guy for her, even if you yourself wasn't convinced...

"I... it's for my dad... I have to... I'm sure I will someday. He... he's not bad, I want to believe."

That honestly only made you worry... Why's she married someone she doesn't love? Sure, her father is in very bad health situation and this man has lots of money and contacts but still... there's surely a way to make it work and get a happy ending for everyone?

"(Why must she always put everyone before herself... I know it's her dad but current doctors aren't bad ar all! And... I could work extra if she...)"

You looked up and saw her slowly walking away. Of course it hurt... it hurt like hell... You were about to go bur her other friend gave you a "go for it" look ans somehow you felt like teen again. Not caring about the consequences and just wanting to go with current emotions...

"Kanade!! Wait!"

You yelled speed walking closer to her. When she turned away to look at you, your heart skipped a hit. You literally forgot how mesmerizing she looks thanks to all this rollercoaster of emotions...

But even then, you had to stop yourself from admiring her and do your best to not let her end up with that asshole!!

"Kanade, listen! I know your dad is important to you but... He's a complete asshole. He doesn't treat you right, he insults you.. are you sure it's the right choice?!"

"If it's for my-"

"Do you really think he'd be happy seeing you give up your own happiness for his health? He's kind man, I know that... But..."

Seeing how your words struct her to state of small paralysis, you decided to take a big breath and as your last resort of wanting her to be happy, you decided it's now or never... go big or go home...

"If... I know how it sounds but... I'd give up my everything for you and your happiness. I may not have much but I PROMISE to take extra hours at work to help you out however I can! Just please don't end up with him. I... I love you too much to let you so that..!!!"

You panted a bit as you let out everything that was on your chest for so many years... heck, you even had to look at floor for a while so your confidence wouldn't suddenly disappear as you realized how many things you just said.

"... I... I can't promise to give up on the idea of wedding all along, but... I'll go there and tell them I'm not ready. If I'll be sure he won't need more professional support, I promise I'll reach out to you..."

She gave you a gentle but also the sweetest smiled, clearly thanking you for breaking through her and for not giving up. And she also promised to reach out to you!!

"(Well.. maybe she doesn't love me back but... at least she'll be happier than with that bastard.. hopefully...)"

"Oh and maybe..."

Your eyes shifted from the ground to white haired girl, look of appreciation and slight proudness replaced by small surprise and curiosity, wondering what she could want to say that her voice sounded so serious all of the sudden... she even stopped mid way and gently turned to you.

"maybe... WE will have our happy ever after if everything goes right..."

She sent you another grateful smile and that was when you knew... you could due happily now that you know the girl you loved so much returns your feelings!

You put one hand to your heart as you looked into the sky, gently whispering important words that were meant for girl occupying your mind, but since she was gone, they were for your ears only~

"I'll do my best for that to happen, you have my word..."

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[cwritesforfun]

Patrick Zweig x Fem!Reader: Be My Coach? And Girlfriend? Part Two

Y/N = Your Name

Read Part One here! <~ read this first pls hehe (This part, part 2, has lots of angst and drama building off of Part One)

*** I Do NOT own the characters from Challengers or their plot *** Some of the plot in this is fictional:)

...

This is the playlist I listened to on Spotify as I wrote this - feel free to listen to for the vibes!!!

...

Masterlist

Your POV

Your alarm blares and you groan. God you want to sleep in. You feel arms tighten around your waist and you say, “Patrick, we have to get you to practice.” He replies, “You’re my Coach and I’m your ride there. Give me 5 more minutes please, Coach.” You reply, “I want you to win today’s match and move to the next round, Patrick. Getting up also means you get money… and I’ll give you a kiss.” That jolts Patrick right out of bed. He changes clothes and says, “I’m ready for my kiss.” You press a kiss onto his lips as you say, “Good boy,” and you feel him sigh into the kiss. It’s safe to say it was a good kiss.

You pack a bag for the day then give him breakfast you have stocked in your fridge. With the way he eats, you're going to need more food for the rest of the week.

You walk with Patrick to check in for his first day. The lady at the check in table exclaims, “You know, someone pretty exciting is going to be showing up this week to compete.” Patrick asks, “Who?” You watch as the lady twirls a tennis racket with Art Donaldson’s face on it and she says, “Art Donaldson.”

Sh** the worst thing that could have been said to Patrick pre-match. Sh** and you’re his Coach. Art being here means Tashi which means old feelings and old feuds. Patrick could go back to Tashi and leave you alone again. He promised he would be different. In fact, you had no problem with Tashi until she slept with Patrick. You played her a few times in college, talked at matches, and were friends until Patrick slept with her right after you two broke up. It made you feel like he only ever wanted her, not you. You suddenly wish you had said no to being Patrick's Coach. You made a mistake. If you weren't his Coach and Art still was competing, you could've just ignored them all and moved on. You actually had no personal problem with Art, but since you were dating Patrick, Art was painted in a bad light and you disliked him. However, you've seen some games and whether or not Patrick would like it, he could learn from Art on the court. You would never say that though. You felt bad for Art when Patrick slept with Tashi while she was dating Art, but you didn't reach out because you never knew if Patrick was right that Art was a jerk or not. That and Art stayed with Tashi and capitalized off of their relationship, so you found it distasteful.

You leave the building and wait for Patrick outside. He walks out a few minutes later and says, “I can practice on practice court 1. Come on. We’ll talk on the way.” You follow him and he says, “I don’t like that Art is suddenly showing up and competing in this Challenger. He’s the only one who can beat me. I don’t want to see Tashi. I know you’re worried that I’d choose her over you, but I wouldn’t." You reply, “Yeah. I don’t like that Art is going to be here one bit. It has Tashi written all over it. It's like she has some ulterior motive. I’ve seen the way she coaches him… but don’t worry because by the end of this week, we’ll have you ready to beat him.” He replies, “I love your optimism.” You laugh and say, "I've seen him play. I have a few tips to help you." He smiles and replies, "Well well well I'm excited now." You practice with him and he then leaves to shower.

You take a walk to where the other Coaches can go inside of this country club. You stop in the restroom to clean your face and redo your make-up before you head to find some food.

One of the male coaches inside stops you and asks, "Hey, aren't you Y/N?" You answer, "Yeah I am. Why?" The coach asks, "Why are you in the Coach's building?" You reply, "I coach Patrick Zweig." The coach replies, "Oh you're a coach and a player? That must be hard." You smirk and reply, "It's nothing I can't handle." The coach nods and walks off.

You leave after mingling for a bit because everyone is giving you weird looks. It's not your fault you're playing and competing. It makes no one want to to be your friend. Life can be very alienating sometimes. Your Coach and your team want you to win, not to be happy. Press wants you to mess up. Your competitors want to beat you. People only want to date you to use you and to get famous.

You take your food to the patio where you open your phone.

You see a text from Art in a group chat with Tashi, Patrick, and me that says:

Hey Y/N and Patrick, I know we don't talk a lot. I see you're both competing in the Challenger this weekend. What do you say we get together for old time's sake - the four of us? Dinner tonight at 8 pm?

You hear, "Oh so you saw the text?" You see Patrick standing there and you nod. It's better that he doesn't know how lonely and stressed you are. You ask, "What should we do? I don't want to be mean, but none of us ended on the best terms." He slumps next to you, puts his head on your shoulder, and says, "Fu** it let's get it over with. We go tonight and maybe we don't have to deal with them again." He steals one of your bread rolls and you say, "I got this whole plate for you, no stealing from mine." He takes the plate from you and says, "Thank you. You're always so kind to me." You reply, "We'll have to see Art if you play him... or if they watch me play tomorrow. If it's Tashi's way, both of those will happen." He sighs and says, "Ugh just tell them we're in, but ask for something more casual. I don't have anything fancy here." You reply, "I'm fine with that." You send the text and Art almost immediately texts back an address to some diner nearby where the hotel receptionist told him had the best burgers in town.

You & Patrick sit outside talking for a bit then you both go to watch the current match going on.

But not before long, it's time to get ready for Patrick's match. He leaves first to change and get all stretched. You head to check him in, make sure everything is set, and then you'll let him know when it's time to go.

You kiss him for good luck on his request then you take your seat in the first row to watch him compete. You noticed on the schedule for today that Art is playing on another court. You hope he loses so Patrick can win this whole weekend. It would mean a lot to Patrick and you think it would really set up him up for success in the tennis world.

Patrick plays and WINS!!!

When Patrick walks out of the locker room, he's laughing. He tells you about some Scandinavian tennis player named Finn Larsen that was trash-talking a few other tennis players in the locker room. (I found this online lol I don't even remember the locker room guy's name)

You and Patrick get some free snacks then head back to the hotel. Patrick convinces you to get into the shower with him and you find no reason to say no to him. He did win and you're dating, so you should be intimate. And, you need to let loose. You're too tense.

After getting ready for dinner, you ask, "Are you ready to go have the best burgers with the most awkward company?" He answers, "God no, but we can't ignore them. They're both annoying in different ways." You laugh.

You park at the diner and see them inside at a booth sitting next to each other. You say, "They look so awkward right now. Geez." He replies, "They do. Let's go show them how happy we are." You smile and ask, "Do you really mean it?" He answers, "Yes of course I do. You're beautiful and amazing. You're also my girlfriend who I would shower with every day if I could." He only thinks of sex. You smirk and say, "Ok let's get out before we get in the backseat." He smirks and says, "I like how you think. I think we can be 10 minutes late." You smirk and say, "Fine, but only because you won today." He replies, "I'm winning in more than one way just by being your boyfriend."

After crawling out of the backseat, you fix your make-up in the side mirror and Patrick groans. He says, "They saw me and I waved... we could just leave. I could pretend I was waving at someone else inside the diner." You stand up straight, hold out your hand to him, and say, "They've seen us. That would never work. If we leave, we seem scared of them and of confrontation. Let's just go in and get this over with." He takes your hand and you both go inside.

You slide into the seat across Art and Patrick slides in across from Tashi. Art looks anxious and Tashi's face is blank. Art says, "Thank you for coming. We... I missed you both." Patrick's hand slides over yours under the table and you hear, "Great, the whole group is here. What can I get you all started to drink?" You see the waitress standing there looking eager and she keeps glancing between Patrick & Art. Of course she wants them and eyes them like prey, they're both hot. You exclaim, "I'll take a glass of water and a glass of pinot noir." Tashi exclaims, "The same for me... and stop looking at our husbands." The waitress suddenly looks down and replies, "Sorry, um what would you two like?" Patrick says, "A pint of the pale ale for me." Art says, "Same for me." The waitress nods and walks off.

Patrick says, "She wasn't looking at us differently than she was looking at you. You didn't have to be rude, Tashi." Tashi glares and says, "She was looking at you and Art like you were prey that could be easily taken. Right, Y/N?" You answer, "As much as I hate to admit Tashi is right, she's right." Patrick scoffs and exclaims "Unbelievable." You shrug and reply, "You can get her number later if you want it, I'm not stopping you... Art, why did you want to meet with us tonight?" Art shrugs and says, "I missed the fun we all had together. Things were lighter and better back then for everyone." You reply, "You can say that again. God, when did we get so old?" Tashi replies, "I'm retired already. I feel the oldest." You laugh and reply, "Too bad it's not us two playing each other in this challenger." Tashi replies, "Yeah, it is because you play a mean game. I respect you as a player. If you ever need a Coach, I'm here." You reply, "I don't know that we're that close, but thank you." Tashi glances at Patrick and says, "The offer extends to you as well, Patrick." Patrick replies, "Y/N is my Coach." Tashi scoffs and asks, "Since when?" Patrick answers, "Yesterday... and she's also my girlfriend." Tashi replies, "Well that is certainly a new development I was not aware of in your life." You reply, "I wasn't aware you and Patrick were on speaking terms." Tashi answers, "We're not, but I keep my eye on him through social media and talking with other Coaches. He's Art's competition again, it's what any good Coach would do." You notice Art look uncomfortable and wonder if he knew Tashi kept tabs on Patrick.

Patrick says he's going outside to smoke and Tashi says she's going to the bathroom, but you watch her follow Patrick. You should have known they would get back together sooner rather than later. Why did you trust Patrick again?

The waitress comes back, you order for you and Patrick while Art orders for him and Tashi. She also delivers all the drinks.

You ask, "How is your daughter, Art?" Art smiles and answers, "Lily's great. She's so young and excited about life. She was telling me about her new books and she was telling me about her dream about dragons last night when I slept in her room." You reply, "That's adorable. I'm so glad she is so happy and that she is being raised by someone who loves her. Has she been able to see you play?" He sighs and answers, "No, Tashi won't let her go. She thinks it'll be too long and boring for her. She says it's no space for kids. I showed Lily some clips of me playing sometimes, so she knows what I do." You reply, "I see kids all the time at afternoon matches. She could even bring a book or some kind of tablet to play games on if she gets bored. I'm sure no one would care unless she is disruptive." He nods and replies, "Yeah yeah maybe so... when did you and Patrick get back together?" You answer, "Yesterday, we talked a little and I couldn't say no to him. I wanted to help him succeed, but I'm regretting my decision to help him. I think he's slipping away from me. Are you worried about what they might be doing outside?" He shrugs and answers, "I want to stop playing tennis, but Tashi won't let me. She doesn't like to live in a world with no tennis. Tennis is her life. But my life is Lily and Tashi. If Tashi is happy, I'm happy." You ask, "Even if she is cheating on you with my boyfriend?" He glances down at his hands and says, "She'll always find her way back to Patrick, I think. They spark something inside of each other that only the other can do. We're just pawns in their game and it's okay if we fall in the process." You ask, "But how is that fair, Art? I'm set to win this whole weekend and I should feel on top of the world... yet I don't. You're set to win this weekend and you like how I feel." He takes a sip of his beer and replies, "I still have to play Patrick to win and he ... he's good especially if you're his Coach." You reply, "You're a strong player, Art. You just need to believe in yourself and block everyone else out." He smiles and says, "Thanks, Y/N. You're a strong player too. Tashi has shown me clips of you playing to help me train. She always tells me to play more like you." You hear, "I sure do say that. I see that you two are nice and cozy." You see Tashi standing there and Art immediately gets up to let her sit down. Patrick slides next to you and looks down at the table. Good, he should feel ashamed of whatever he got up to. You roll your eyes and say, "We were just making polite conversation as you two got nice and cozy outside." Tashi smiles and says, "Feisty. I knew I liked you."

The waitress returns with the food then leaves.

You ask, "So Tashi, why can't Lily go to any of Art's matches? I see kids all the time at the afternoon matches. I just think if she really wants to go, she should be able to support her dad." Tashi glares at Art then you before she answers, "Maybe I have, but since you're so concerned, I'll ask her later." You smirk and feel the win. She needs someone to call her out. The world does not revolve around her even if Art thinks so.

You continue dinner calmly as you make polite conversation with Art with occasional comments from either Patrick and Tashi.

Art pays for dinner saying it is a thank you for accepting the dinner invitation.

Tashi tells you that her and Art will be at your match tomorrow sitting front row with your family and friends. She said she wanted it to be a surprise and that she had asked your Coach when she saw your name on the list for this week. She knew this whole time that you would be here and that Patrick would be here. This is just one big ploy for her to pysch out Patrick and throw him off his game. She's also trying to throw you off your game and freak you out.

You get into Patrick's car and you drive back to the hotel in silence. You still don't know what to think or feel. You change into pajamas and clean your face off. You sit on your bed, open your journal, and you start writing about everything on your mind.

You feel Patrick tap you on the shoulder and he says, "Sorry uh... you've been writing a lot, but I wanted to talk to you. We haven't talked since dinner. I want to know what you're thinking." You shut your journal and set it on the table next to you before exclaiming, "You really want to know what I'm thinking, Patrick?" He answers, "Yes, I do. I really want to because you're my girlfriend and my Coach in that order. I care about you a lot and it worried me how quiet you were on the drive back." You answer, "I'm frustrated. I felt so alone with my team and felt like I was being pushed to be someone I don't want to be. Then you showed up and things were great for a day. It felt like you were ready for this relationship and to give it a real try. I was happy for the future. Then Art and Tashi showed up. You and Tashi went outside for a long time. I was left with Art who doesn't care if Tashi sleeps with you while you date me as long as it makes her happy. He wants to quit and he wants his daughter at his matches, but Tashi thinks the world revolves around her. And when you're in her orbit, you think the same thing. You revert back to her every time. You heard how she had planned this whole time to be at my match with Art. She knew how it would make me feel and she knew somehow you would be there, so she could mess with you too... Tonight at dinner, I felt like I had no one there for me. I felt alone." Patrick replies, "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way... Tashi did kiss me and I kissed back, but I stopped. I ... I stopped and pushed her off. I told her that I wanted to try to be the real deal for you and be there for you. I told her that I didn't want to see her again, but she told me that she'd be at your match... I think she wishes she was your Coach, but she is with Art. You play with as much passion as she did. Art lacks his passion for tennis and I think he's going to quit." You reply, "He is, he told me." He replies, "I don't want Tashi anymore. I'll tell you everyday if I have to until you finally believe me." You ask, "How do I know you won't slip up next time you see her?" He takes your hands in his and says, "I won't, I promise." You ask, "Did you want that waitress' number? She was looking at you like she wanted to devour you in her backseat, Patrick. I'm sure she's still there if you want to drive back." He answers, "I don't want to drive back... I thought she just looked at me normally. That's why I said unbelievable. I also thought you and I would be more united when we got to Art and Patrick. But then we saw them and Tashi hadn't changed, I just snapped without thinking. I should have used my head and considered how manipulative she could be. I really do apologize for snapping and seeming like I didn't want you in my life at dinner. I do want you in my life. It scares me how much I need you." You ask, "But do you need me for just sex, Patrick? This is the first time we're both being very honest with each other and it took your ex to make that happen. And earlier, when you and I were frustrated, we just f***ed and didn't talk. I realize now that I should have told you how I was feeling earlier too, so I will do better. But if we're going to date, you can't just f**k me and not talk. This won't work... And if you want just sex, then I think we should break up and I should just be your Coach." He asks, "Why do you always give ultimatums? Do you really not trust me?" You answer, "I'm trying to." He replies, "Try harder, starting now. Starting now, I'm your boyfriend and your student. We'll both talk to each other and communicate better. We'll also have sex because healthy couples do that." You smile and say, "Okay deal." He smiles. You say, "Great, now let me finish journaling, so I can try to get some rest before my match tomorrow." He replies, "Yes ma'am." ...

This will be continued in part three with your match and then Art vs Patrick... ooh what will happen?!?!?!

Masterlist

[the-lady-with-horns]

Hantengu clones × Makima! Reader. 👉👈

Please. Also, sorry for my English.

(If Makima is from Chainsaw Man, I hope you read/watched)

Hantengu clones with a Makima!Reader

Warnings: Controlling reader, Reader is based off a female person, But gender isnt mentioned at all. Slight spoilers for Csm part 2

Notes: Your English is fine!! I read part 1 and a few chapters of part 2 of chainsaw man, So I can write for A Makima!reader!! Also, Keep in mind that Makima is controlling, So these relationships are toxic.

SEKIDO

For some odd reason, He can't bring himself to yell at you, All he can feel are these Mushy, Disgusting , Feelings and he's Nice to you somehow.

He hates how you treat him like a dog, But he always listens in fear of what you Can/might do.

..his body feels like it's moving by itself, Which horrified the anger clone, His whole body was trying to leave you—To Run. To run far, Far, Away from you. You aren't a person.. You're a thing.. how else could you be so evil and uncaring? You can give Muzan a run for his money.

Your hand Gently cups Sekido's face, Sweet dripping from Him as your Hypnotic patterned eyes observed his face. “ Sit, Doggy. ” He grumbled from your command, He does it anyway. “ Good boy. ”

AIZETSU

He loves you. At least he thinks so.

He loves your touch, Everytime you leave, He sits at the door until you come back.

He never complains in your presence, He Always feels no sorrow while being around you, Even if he is a clone of sorrow.

He's your lovely dog. It doesn't matter that he's being controlled. He loves you so much that it hurts him.

“My cute Little sorrow clone," You coo Affectionately, His Head in your lap as you stroked his Hair, He's so easy to control, Terribly Easy.. The clones were trying to warn him, But he Didn't listen to them. Only your opinion mattered to him.

KARAKU

He stops flirting with other people, After meeting you.

He finds you and your dogs to be so sweet, Even if they do cause messes, He always helps getting stuff clean.

He doesn't know why he likes you. Everytime a person asks. He replies with a ‘ I don't know. ’ Sure, you have many good traits, But he still doesn't know exactly what he likes about you.

You and Karaku went out to get some dog treats, Karaku looked around for some as you found bone shaped one, playfully, You dangled one Infront of his face. “ Hey, Want one? ” You asked playfully, To no one surprise (Becuase of your control devil abilities) He ate one, He chews, Seemingly thinking, “Mmm, Dunno, They taste bad. ” You giggled.

UROGI

Would love to be your dog. Just like denji!

Hes quite the strong ‘Tool' as-well. He's always hyper and eager to serve you in any way possible.

Of course, You don't mind. He would literally put himself over a puddle and let you step on him.

He loves you so much!! He reminds you of a certain owl-girl (yoru)

“ Oooh, Ooh! (Name), Can we Go for a flight?! Promise I won't drop you! ” You stared Blankly at him for a few minutes, Hypnotic eyes never taken out of his, This made a bead of sweat roll down Urogi's chin as you smiled softly, “ Why, Of course, Urogi. ”