#CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE IT?

[amethystpath-writes]

Could you please write something like Hero let Villain rest at Hero’s house after Villain was beaten up and half dead injured, but Villain sneaked out Hero’s house as soon as they regained consciousness and when they were still burning up because they thought they were such a burden, now Hero had to find Villain in the rain and persuade them they were not a burden at all

Golden Boy

(A/N) This sat in my inbox for a MINUTE. I got a little behind 🤏 but I’m here! I made it. I did it. I got…*drumroll* a Kindle Scribe! Best device I have ever owned and I have written, not one, but TWO stories in just one day. This is just one of them. Thank you all for your continued support. Here’s some well-earned fluff (enjoy it while it lasts- you know me).

<3

******

“Villain, are you insane? You’ll freeze out here in the rain!”

Sure, Villain heard the hero- loud and clear, actually- but she had to keep walking. Her leg stung badly, and Villain wasn’t sure she would make it, but she was alive. She could push through. All she had to do was-

“-Villain!”

Her breath caught in her throat and she choked back a cry as she collapsed. Her leg. God, how it hurt.

Rain poured down on Villain, pelting her face and loosening her bandages, though clinging against her skin all the same. The pain of everything should have made her sick, but all she could focus on was Hero’s footsteps growing faster. She wasn’t his problem, so why was he running to her?

“Villain. Villain, hey. Are you alright?” His footsteps began to slow. She grimaced, wondering why he couldn’t just leave her alone.

“I don’t need your help,” she seethed.

He ignored her- blatantly. His hands were placed delicately on her shoulders, tugging at her and trying to convince her to turn and face him.

“Don’t touch me,” Villain snapped, and she gulped at the pain in her stomach as she twisted away from Hero.

“Sorry. Sorry, I’m sorry.” His words were rushed. “Did I hurt you?”

He wasn’t worried for her. He couldn’t be. “Is it that difficult to believe a girl doesn’t want to be stalked in the dark by a man and be dragged back to a home that isn’t hers?” This, of course, wasn’t the problem. Her own home didn’t come with a medic, or any first aid for that matter.

She faced him now, only to see him gnaw at the dead skin of his bottom lip. His gaze fell to a puddle forming on the road beside Villain, and she could see something like remorse glint in his eyes- or maybe it was just the rain.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just- what are you doing out here? I heard a noise in the kitchen and by the time I could throw my boxers on, you’d already gone out the front door.”

“Oh, don’t do that. Pretend you care and…” She trailed off, her voice sharp as she made an attempt to stand. It burned, stung, and throbbed, but she pushed, pushed, pushed until the pain was so great that she ultimately collapsed again.

Something pulled- her skin, and it was warm where it ripped.

“You reopened the wound. Let me take you back, Villain.” He held his hand out to help, but Villain rejected it with a swat of her hand. “You need re-bandaged and then you need to rest.” He didn’t touch her shoulder this time, didn’t offer a hand again, but he looked at her. Looked at her like he was pleading with her.

“So what? So I can use up all your medical supplies? I- I can bleed on your couch and-”

“Bed,” he corrected, “and yes, so you can do all those things and more. Whatever you need if it makes you better. You really think I care about inventory and dirty sheets?”

Villain rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to pretend you care about me. I already know I’m the last person you want laying on your couch.”

Hero opened his mouth to speak, but Villain beat him to it.

“Bed,” she corrected this time. Villain took a deep breath and held it deep in her chest before making a second attempt to stand. Somehow, despite the open, bleeding wound in her stomach, and the pain of her battered leg, she managed to stand this time. Painfully, she began stumbling away on her own.

“You’re not a burden, you know?” Hero’s voice was muffled by the rain between them, but she heard well enough to stop in her tracks. He struck a chord.

Instead of accepting it, she bit back. “Bet that’s real easy for you to say, Golden Boy.” Her voice was breaking. The pain throughout her body was becoming impossible to ignore. She swallowed. Could Hero even hear her? Did it matter? She should keep walking, Villain thought, but Hero’s voice stopped her before she could.

“Who made you feel this way about yourself?” His voice was closer than Villain expected, having just walked away from him. When did he come so close?

A breath whistled from between her parted lips. When did she become so tired? And when did she place her arm on Hero’s arm for support?

“Maybe it was me,” Villain said. “Don’t they say you’re your own worst critic?” She tried to chuckle, tried to show defiance at the first sign of care, but she coughed instead. Perhaps she should have taken it as a sign, but Villain was stubborn. She didn’t feel she deserved Hero, not with as many problems as she came with. “Go home, Hero. Take your boxers off and enjoy your silk sheets.”

Hero looked down at her now, one eyebrow raised. “I don’t have silk sheets.”

“You do. In the closet, across the hall.” She was running out of breath.

He hummed. “You found clean sheets and remade my bed before deciding you were too much. What an awful being you are. How horrible. How terrible and-”

“Smart-ass doesn’t fit you,” Villain rasped. “And neither do those boxers. Not from that dusty old closet, too, are they? Her hand brushed against his bare chest as she felt her eyes slip back, and she shuddered awake, feeling the goosebumps along his skin- a reminder that it was cold and raining, and that her clothes were soaked and bloody…”Will you walk me back?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Will you run off again?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. What if your blanket slips and I see something I don’t want to see?” Out of breath, out of breath. Breathe. Breathe, Villain. Was she talking to herself or was Hero talking to her?

“As if you wouldn’t be the one pulling it off before you left.” Hero was already turning around and supporting Villain as she matched his actions.

“Right.” It was all Villain’s lungs had the capacity to say. She would banter later, when Hero was changing her bandages in the morning- on her stomach and leg, places she’d have to lift her clothes or pull them down in order to see and access.

Villain hummed, and for a second time she woke herself up from her exhaustion, jolting and grasping at Hero’s chest. She hadn’t meant to hum at her own thoughts.

“What are you thinking about?” They were already at the front door. Hero must have left it open, assuming he would be returning with Villain in hand.

“You’re arrogant,” she quipped. “You know that?” Breathe. Breathe, breathe, breathe-breath-breathe.

“I know that you’re sleepy. Here, lay down. I need to change your bandages first.”

And so the night went, Villain’s bandages were changed, and she swore not to run off again. She swore, too, once Hero left the bedroom, that she wouldn’t let herself dream of the golden boy in boxers, running in the rain to tell her she’s not a burden. She refused, but then hadn’t she also refused refuge?

Yet here she was. Fresh, silk sheets- though perhaps a little dusty from the closet- on a thick-foamed mattress and a boy without boxers in the next room over.

[vyragosa]

daytez

[apollos-boyfriend]

so my younger cousin is flying in to visit from brazil on sunday, and will be staying here for like, the entirety of july. which, don't get me wrong, is super cool! i love the kid! but it felt like a super weird move, considering his parents are the SUPER strict and borderline helicopter parents. even the smallest prank/roughousing with him/his little sister would lead to a strict talking to from his parents, he couldn't ever do anything without their clear permission, that sort of stuff. so letting him fly at alone at 16 to a whole different country and stay there for a whole month seemed WILDLY out of character. additionally, it just felt like a super last-minute trip. it's not like we have any plans to do when he gets here, and the flight itself and stuff only got booked like, midway through june.

and i was talking to my mom about it, kind of trying to nudge some answers out of her, and after a while she went, "yeah, i think they're sending him over here to get away for his boyfriend. see if the distance breaks them off." which, first of all, surprised me because last i checked, they didn't KNOW he had a boyfriend. literally everyone in the family did EXCEPT for them because while that entire side of the family being semi-conservative, his parents (mostly his dad) are EXTREMELY old-fashioned. so clearly something already went wrong. and considering the only reason the rest of the family knew is because one person found out and it spread like wildfire, i have a sneaking suspicion he wasn't the one to tell them, either.

and second of all. they're sending him HERE. to try to make him forget his homosexuality. i couldn't do anything but just wordlessly gesture to the multiple pride flags scattered around my room, then to myself, because really? he has like two other cousins in the us and they're sending him to me? honey i am about to introduce this kid to queer scenes you have never even heard of. he'll be returning home with labels only shrimp can perceive

[costcopunk]

headcanon where mike starts working at sparky's after freddy's goes out of commission and matpat ness just likes to infodump abt the fazbear franchise to him

[tenthrees]

We just need Nina to do the love thing with Maggie. I have a plan.

[maykitz]

get-along t shirt

[wotchernewt]

cool new life series! very serious very dramatic!

[giantkillerjack]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

[plain-text version of this post can be found under the cut]

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

Plain-text version:

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

P.S. Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[moonilit]

He got some fact checking to do

[stuckinapril]

don't stress about that opportunity that fell through or that friend you lost or that thing you really want to happen but isn't. as long as you keep your chin up and try try try again, better things will replace your losses. i'm looking at my life rn and actually marveling at how every single thing i stressed about, whether it be an opportunity or a person, got supplanted w another thing that is so much better. it really is true that loss makes space for better things. these days i don't get sad when something doesn't work out. i get excited that i'm now open to so many other possibilities out there, so long as i actively seek them. you never lack. you just transition.

[evermorepeyton]

horrifying email to get at 2 am btw

[demaparbat-hp]

Golden Boy (and Silver Girl) for the Kintsugi AU.

[kensatou]

bonus:

[bookshelfdreams]

yk when you see someone share a finished handmade item that they clearly spent a lot of time and money on and it's just. The absolute tackiest thing you have seen in your life. And then you ask yourself why someone would waste all those resources on such an eyesore.

(no, of course you can't relate to that because you're a much nicer person than me)

In any case.

BEHOLD!

A wool coat!

The top fabric is handwoven and handspun, the whole thing is sewn by hand, too.

Leftovers. Barely anything, all things considered, which is very satisfying.

This thing took me well over 3 years to make, on and off. And now I'm done.

Thank you for your attention.

[rendevok]

step into the light

what do you see?

my sun,

my stars

shining on me

[valeriannnn]

weakest link