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#For reference this is my 4th day fasting.. everything hurts. :
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Heavily breathing thru my mouth rn bc I feel like I physically cannot get enough air with my nose :/ I think it’s because I haven’t had any water yet but the thought of putting something in my stomach is disgusting to me. I go drink water anyways. Now I have an overwhelming urge to purge the water (something that I literally fucking needed) that I just drank bc I feel like a failure I put smth in my stomach. I fucking hate this 🙁
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boldlyvoid · 3 years
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Intro to Criminal Minds: Why They Did It
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Criminal Minds x Mindhunter AU
Spencer Reid x Peggy Carr (OC) Part 2: The Case
Summary: Spencer is teaching a 7-week seminar on the most interesting criminal cases, explaining their actions to understand why they took place. Only, not everyone in the audience is a student.
warnings: strangers to lovers, mutual pining, slow burn! flirting, fluff, eventual smut, idiots in love, OC is Wendy Carr and Jason Gideon's biological daughter. mentions of rape and murder (typical canon violence)
word count: 2.2K
ao3
P1
He’s not expecting her to roll out a full map after the waitress clears the food from their table. They’ve been in the booth for barely 20 minutes. Having mindless conversations about their day and small get to know each other questions while they ate.
“So, I brought all this to my dad,” she explained, dropping 33 files on the table as well as 2 spiral notebooks and a handful of pens. “He thinks I have a case, but he’s refusing to look at the evidence because he’s still triggered by it, which I get, but he said you’d be the best at helping me because I really just need a geo-profile consult.”
“How is he doing?”
She’s been waiting for him to ask but she still didn’t know how to answer, no matter how much time she had to prep, “uh, he’s good. He talks about you every time I see him, how often do you talk?”
“We haven’t talked since he almost died, 6 years ago now… yes, it was in 2015,” Spencer says it like it’s nothing serious.
“Oh,” she’s confused about it all. Her father talks about him more than anyone else, always remembering a case or a conversation that he just had to tell her about.
Spencer was his buddy in her eyes. “Here I was thinking he liked you more than me like you’re his favourite kid.”
“I’m not his kid,” his eyes widen at the insinuation that they’re somehow siblings in any sense.
It makes her laugh, she knows he’s interested in her a small amount. She was hoping he would, she’s heard so many wonderful things about him and she remembers just how cute he was back in 2005. Now he’s a man and a mighty fine one at that…
“I take it you’re an only child?” He changes the subject, “you can’t handle the idea of your father having relationships with people your age when you hardly know him?”
“How about you tell me who you think I am and I’ll tell you where you went wrong?” She challenges him rather than answering, she knows he’s good but she wants to see it in action.
Spencer raised his brow, “if I get it right, you’re paying for lunch.”
“Deal.”
He opens her notebook and takes a look at her notes, flipping through the pages reading the words just as fast as her father said he could. It was incomprehensible, but he didn’t read far… he keeps going back to her drawings, studying the pressure and how her mind worked.
“Your mom travelled a lot when you were a kid, and you always went with her. I’m thinking you have a few degrees, at least 3…” he pauses to watch her microexpressions, trailing her skin with his eyes as he looks for anything out of the ordinary. “There’s a doctorate in there but you hate being called Dr. Carr because that’s your mother’s name and it reminds you too much of people asking about her instead of how you’re doing.”
It cuts deep, but he hits the nail on the head and she just blinks. The simplest microexpression that shows him he got it right, his smile is awkward and he’s sorry for it.
“You were homeschooled so you don’t trust people very easily. You have issues with your father that you can’t place because you still don’t think you know him well enough to really have an opinion, and you’re jealous of me because you wish you knew how he brags about you when you’re not around, but he doesn’t talk about you because you told him not to.”
“I specifically told him I wanted to be left out of his life to stay safe, so it’s really my fault that he can’t brag about me. But I still wish someone would,” she admits with a soft smile. “And I think it’s not really jealousy. I’m not jealous of how he brags about his time with you. If anything, I really admire you now.”
He blushes a little, “alright, your turn.”
“You’ve never had a girlfriend before have you?” She calls him out right away. “You can’t take a compliment seriously because no one has loved you deep enough yet for you to believe them. I already know about your parents, I know that you’re scared of forgetting and that’s why you won't stop learning. I think you probably have a bucket list, you’re desperate for something exciting to happen and that’s why you like me already.”
He blinks right back, “touché.”
“I’ll still buy your lunch,” she smiled, and he smiled right back. “And I do have 3 degrees.”
“I do too.”
“I know,” she reminded him. “You’ve been working on that 4th one for the last 16 years.”
“I haven’t had the time.”
She shakes her head as she laughs, teasing him as if she’s better than him because she knows he finds her interesting already, “I had my Ph.D. by 17, as well 2 masters by the time I was 21.”
“3 Ph.D.’s by 22,” he bragged right back.
It had suddenly become a staring contest, “when exactly did your dad walk out on you?”
“I was 10.” Spencer answers. “When was the last time your mom said she was proud of you?”
“Oh, we're going that far, I see,” she laughed, hurt just a little that he dug that deep, “what happened to yours recently?”
“Alzheimer’s.”
“I’m really sorry, I knew about the schizophrenia already because of the fisher king case, that one is the one that still has my dad all fucked up,” she can’t help but rant as she apologizes, placing her hands on his in the centre of the table and he interlocks their fingers like they’ve known each other for years.
“Boston?” He asks her, changing the topic back to getting to know each other without letting go of her hands.
She nods, “Vegas?”
“You knew that already,” he catches her.
“Maybe so,” she blushes at the embarrassment of him picking up on her crush.
“How’d he describe me at chess?” There’s a cockiness behind it that she admires, smiling in response she just shakes her head.
“I don’t play chess, but he says that other than Agent Prentiss, you’re the only person who has come close to beating him.”
“Prentiss?” He looks almost offended at the fact he didn’t know that story.
“You were asleep on the jet, it was right after the trip to Azkaban,” she reminds him.
“Azkaban?” He repeats. “You mean Guantanamo?”
She’s only slightly embarrassed by the slip-up, blushing a deep red as she presses her lips together and squeezes his hand. “My mom calls it Azkaban, she hates it. If it wasn’t for the BAU, she would have never joined the bureau or the government in any way, she’s against the criminal justice system too, so…”
“She’s a woman of science and empathy, I’ve never met her, but I’ve read all her work.”
“So have I,” she’s full of butterflies for some reason as she thinks about him knowing everything that she does, she’s suddenly excited at the prospect of future conversations with him like this isn’t a one-time thing.
He’s still holding her hands over the map, both of them leaning in slightly as they kept talking, it felt overly intimate for a discussion of a case— and they haven’t even started yet.
She takes her hands out of his grip and flattens them over the map, “so I found a pattern, I was asked to look into the rape and murder of a friends sister, and now I’ve found 32 matching cases all over America going in alphabetical order by state, 2 a year since 2005.”
“Are you serious?”
She nods softly, “I’m a private investigator. I hated the academy and simply being in the BAU almost killed both of my parents so I’m not really fond of it, but I need help.”
“How did VICAP not pick this up?” Spencer’s still caught up on the fact this has been happening during his entire career and he had no way of helping. It was very clear by the look on his face.
“Because they’re college-age women getting raped in their dorms, 1 in each state, and men don’t care enough to dig a little deeper when it’s just a little girl who was probably asking for it anyway, right?”
He looks furious, but with her… not at her.
Not like most men, that’s actually exactly what any other guy would have said to her. ‘Not most men,’ they only said that if they were offended; when they knew that they were the exact type of man she was referring to.
He started opening case files then, flipping through everything as she watched carefully, “he always does it the exact same way. It’s every March and November between the 6th and 12th, he’s gotten to the O’s, which means the next hit should be in Oklahoma in exactly 2 months' time.”
“Has there been evidence?” Spencer asks, avoiding eye contact as he both listens and absorbs.
“1 footprint and some random fingerprints at the first few, other than that it’s like he was never there,” she sighs. “This is where I need your help; I’m unsure if he’s attacking randomly or if it’s planned ahead of time, so I brought the map to see if you can make any connection.”
“Alright,” he closes the folder and hands them to her so he can get a better look at everything. “I’m going to need the exact address of each one.”
“I have 32 mini maps,” she says, opening her book bag and handing him yet another folder.
“I’ve noticed they’re in every capital, and it’s always on the east side of the city,” she adds as he spreads them out on the table.
He takes his phone out of his pocket and turns on the flash, turning it face down and holding the sheets of paper over it, “If you look at them over each other, there might be a pattern. We should call my friend Penelope, she’ll be able to digitally do this and find something.”
“Okay,” Peggy nods along, “I really need to know within the week because I’m moving to Oklahoma.”
“What?” He looks overly worried.
“He’s interested in college-age brunettes,” she points at herself. “I’m going to rent an apartment with a sliding door in the kill zone, and I’m going to wait it out. I’ll make sure everyone knows I live alone, I won't make friends, I’ll keep the windows open when I go to the store, I’ll make myself a victim.”
“No, we can get the bureau to send in a team, you don’t need to be in harm's way,” he protests, “I won’t help if I know you’re throwing yourself in the middle of all this. I refuse.”
There’s an underlying panic that she doesn’t quite understand. He’s almost shaking as he thinks about her playing the victim, they stare back and forth at each other softly, eyes flickering over the other’s expression as he also reads her.
“Fine,” she agrees, finally. “But if you’re getting the team involved, I want to be able to have some say in the investigation. I don’t want to be kicked out for just being a PI.”
“On one condition,” Spencer smirks. “You have to teach the BTK seminar with me.”
“Deal,” she smiled. “But I have some conditions too.”
“Anything?”
He was going to regret that.
“We can’t sleep together until we catch the guy— don’t look at me like that!” she catches the way his jaw drops and his eyes glisten.
He’s in complete shock, trying to say words and failing miserably as she stares at him knowingly. “I only said that because I need rules for myself too. We can’t care more about each other than the victims. Solve the case with me and then I’ll have a crush on you, okay?”
“Okay,” he finally finds the words to agree. “Was it that obvious?”
“We held hands for 5 minutes, I’ve thought you were cute since you were 23 and that seminar was a; 'my horse is bigger than your horse' flirting match,” she calls it all out, “I’m just as into you as you are into me already, if not more so because I know way too much about you thanks to my dad and uncle Rossi.”
“Dave knew about you too?” He’s more upset than she expected.
She nods, “yeah, so that I’d be taken care of if anything happened to my dad.”
He is a little upset and she can’t figure out why from what she knows already, “why?”
“You’re so interesting, you and I could have been friends for the last 15 years and things could have been so interesting but you were a secret,” he whispers.
“I was right wasn’t I?”
He nods again, “Gideon doesn’t know about Maeve, but I had a girlfriend who died in front of me before I could tell her I loved her and it broke me.”
Everything makes sense now. The stares, the stuttering, the defensiveness at the idea of her being in harm's way after only knowing her for a few hours. He was desperately looking for someone like himself to prove that he wasn’t going to be alone forever, and he wanted that to be found in her.
“Solve the case with me, then you can learn what it’s like to love someone who loves you back.”
taglist:
@g0lden-cth @doctorspenceryeet @samuel-de-champagne-problems @reiding-recs @ssavanessa22 @spookyspence @shemarmooresfedora @spencers-dria@reidsfish @manuosorioh @mochionly @jswessie187 @k-k0129 @calm-and-doctor @blanchardsbk
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bronyinabottle · 3 years
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MY LITTLE PONY: A NEW GENERATION (G5 Movie) THOUGHTS
It’s finally here. The beginning of Generation 5. Though before I get into the movie in some detail I’m going to reiterate one more time what G5 means for my content and a non-spoilery summary of the movie.
Again, I will say that the movie nor will the G5 series coming later have much of an effect at all on any of my blogs. The revelation in Secrets of the Dragon’s Tear that life itself is also magic means that a world that implied to have no magic for years would mean the extinction of all life (Perhaps resulting in the wasteland we saw in the Season 5 finale). There may be something I’ll probably do at some point on a certain different blog. But even then, that may likely be a one-time thing and probably come around the time the series is starting to air.
That said, just because I’m continuing with mainly G4 content doesn’t mean I disapprove of G5. In fact, my non-spoilers thoughts on the movie is I think it is a good start for this new generation. There are questions I have that I’m not sure will be answered (Though many of those questions are the same ones I had in my Trailer/Preliminary thoughts) quickly enough. But the movie is structured well enough, in fact it’s probably a better movie as a whole compared to any of the movies G4 had (The 2017 movie, Rainbow Roadtrip, and all 4 Equestria Girls movies). As the 2017 movie was fun, but it jumped around a lot, sometimes scenes transitioning too fast. And while Rainbow Roadtrip may have been this on purpose, the entirely slice-of-life story taking up a long length… made it something of a less interesting plot to follow. It feels like some of that special could of been cut to at least a two-parter length and keep the same beats they hit. And while i have a soft spot for the 3rd and 4th Equestria Girls movies, I’ll always say a full-length pony adventure feels better suited for what I want to see out of MLP then spin-off movies with high school movie cliches and weird pony/human world shenanigans.
So movie-wise I’m not a G4 purist. It’ll take some time to see how Gen 5 compares to Friendship is Magic when we get to the series. As I feel it’d take a lot for it to surpass G4 in my mind. But I’m going to try to be as fair as possible and judge on it’s own merits. The implied connection to G4 by referring to G4 being ancient Equestria is going to naturally get the staff and hasbro pressured by fans to tell us what happened in-between the generations. Because that’s the trap they put the writers in when they made it so they want to try to say it’s in the same universe. That’s the double-edged sword Hasbro chose to have, trying to appease the G4 fanbase and keep at least some of them around. But at the cost of questions both nitpicky (Such as character design being inconsistent) or actual honest questions that need to be known (Why did magic disappear, and what happened to the Alicorns) for some of us to truly see this as the same Equestria.
After the break, I’ll have more spoilery thoughts
Even for a brief moment, it was nice seeing the Mane 6 and 2D animation. The former because of course those are the ponies many of us that saw all of G4 loved. And the latter, because while the animation wasn’t bad in this movie. I’m one of those who’d prefer to have 2D animation in an animated film. As in most cases aside from Pixar, it’s just a strong preference of mine. If this had the animation of the 2017 MLP movie but otherwise everything else was generally the same here, I feel that would of have been great.
I wish they didn’t have to have Sunny’s dad die off-screen, as he seems like he could of been a compelling character. And not to mention if perhaps he has any connection the “ancient” days in any fashion. But *sigh* I get it, it’s an old trope where part of the character’s offscreen growth is not having their parent(/s) around.
On a side note there’s quite a few times during the beginning of the movie that somewhat foreshadow what happens to Sunny later. 3 times where she had a fake horn and wings on her. Once in the flashback, then 2 separate times when she’s doing her protest where she has her own costumed wings and horn. As well as the helmet and mechanical wings.
Also, there’s no way around it. Some of the discussions this movie are going to get quite political. (Namely one part of Sunny’s song that could be seen as having a double meaning of a jab at Trumpsts regarding “Building your wall”) From the very premise in the early times, we know that the inspiration for the story was last year’s Black Lives Matter protests. Which honestly, I do support the message they’re going for. Having an anti-racism message to tell kids from the very beginning and making a focus on it is important when in G4 it only got briefly touched upon in Bridle Gossip and the Heath’s Warming Eve play. Although it certainly rose up to some form of prominence with Season 8 and onward. Still, while you can argue if G4 executed the anti-racism message well. it does come with something of a problem that the series finale left Equestria in the least divided it’s ever been.
And personally, I feel it’s a terrible interpretation of time to say “Well, it’s a realistic take. Racism has existed for years in our world. Same should go for the ponies” and while yes, racism is still rampant in today’s world. That said, that ignores that if we went from The Last Problem to the start of G5. There’s a huge difference between our world and Equestria. There is no ancient civilization that we look at like “Yeah, those were the golden days of world peace” when normally the “Golden age” was reserved for the high classes of Ancient Greece or Rome. It was most decidedly not perfect, with slavery rampant and wars for the sake of expanding an empire. While if you look at The Last Problem’s Equestria, you not only have peace between the three main types of ponies. But you literally have non-pony citizens in Equestria. You can see a dragon handing off a flower to a pony which can imply cross-species romantic relations. With the Friendship school still going strong, and was the reason that the world was saved in The Ending of the End. While perhaps it may be too glowing to say that future is perfect for everyone even in-universe. It’s certainly a hell of a lot better outlook then comparing to how we view even the so called Golden age of ancient civilizations. The Last Problem’s Equestria implies it looks to ally with every country outside of Equestria, not conquer them.
So it should still be a valid question on just how this world collapses to the point it gets to where G5 is at the start. I at least assume that it’s not the fault at all of any of the Mane 6 nor Twilight. Or at least I hope it isn’t, as I’d rather the MLP fanbase not have to deal with a The Last Jedi Luke Skywalker situation. (Where after the joyful end of the original trilogy, things go wrong as Luke almost murders the son of one of his best friends and his sister despite trying to hard and succeeding at redeeming his father who at that point in the canon was a galaxy-wide known ruthless mass-murderer.) I assume we’re at a point where everyone of the Mane 6 sans maybe Twilight are presumed dead. And even in Twilight’s case, there’s a chance that G5 decides to say that G4 overestimated the whole Alicorn immortality thing. Though I wouldn’t put it past Hasbro to have some event where the Mane 5 of G5 meet the Mane 6 in some special event whether that’s a a Season finale or a sequel movie/special. Where either the Mane 6 return in a limbo situation similar to the Pillars at the end of Season 7 or Time travel gets involved. They may even string us along on answering just what in the heck happened until they involve a meet-up with the Mane 6 in that way. Though I hope they don’t, I’d really like the beginning of the series (Or I guess this supposed special coming up in Spring supposedly?) starts to answer some questions. G5 should get a chance to stand on it’s own, but I hope the writers are actually well aware there will be so many questions people have and address them in the show. A cynical part of me feels like they’re likely to string us along until at least the Season 1 finale.
Onto the characters for a bit. I think Izzy Moonbow was absolutely the most stand-out character in the whole movie. She was energetic, funny, and aside from “The pegasi are bad news” she along with Zipp and Sunny were the most averse to the way the world was. She was already the most popular due to the tennis ball memes. But now it feels like she legit stands on her own and most certainly deserves to be the most popular character of G5 thus far. Behind her in a bit of a surprise to me was Zipp, who I thought would be mainly a Rainbow Dash-expy. Though she really helps out Izzy and Sunny in Zephyr Heights. Despite having Twilight be my favorite pony from the very beginning of G4 all the way to the end, I didn’t feel as strongly about Sunny for some reason. So she’s in the middle of the pack, she could grow on me later. I just don’t know if I click with her as much as I did with Twilight. As for the last two, while I don’t hate either of them. Either one could be the lowest of the 5 for one reason or another. Pipp (Although I will say she's probably my favorite character design out of the 5) feels like she doesn’t do a whole lot in the movie and it takes until she’s forced to be an outlaw because the other choice was to get imprisoned like her mother was. So she may come off as quite pretentious, though it’s arguable Rarity was the same way early in G4. But she definitely grew later. Could be the same case for Pipp. And as for Hitch, he has shining moments in the film. But what might hurt him is the fact he was such a bad friend to Sunny up until the campfire scene. “I’m the last real friend you have. You really want to lose me too?” is not a healthy friendship. Hitch may have been Sunny’s friend the longest, but it definitely feels like Izzy connected immediately. I don’t know if this show will get into shipping any of the main characters between each other mid-show, but if they do. I hope it’s between Izzy and Sunny currently, cause Hitch and Sunny just gives bad vibes even with Hitch getting better later.
None of the songs I felt were particularly too special. Though I think the closest was Sprout’s “Danger, Danger” song that has similarities to Smells Like Teen Spirit in some parts of the song since I tend towards more rock/metal-esque music.
I touched upon it earlier, but there’s perhaps a stand-out reason for why the G5 movie outdid the 2017 MLP Movie. They have the typical “Our heroic group splits after a sad moment before coming together again for the climatic good end” in Sunny seeing that that the two crystals don’t instantly bring magic back, and when Twilight left the group after an argument that happened with Twilight trying to take a pearl. They perform the same purpose in the movie. But the crystals not working, crushing Sunny’s hope for a little while works better into the story. Where as Twilight’s part frustratingly brought the sea pony scene to an end too quickly and/or doesn’t feel right of Twilight to have done that. It felt forced in the 2017 movie, but works out in the G5 movie. Especially since a part of it is that it’s not the crystals themselves capable of bringing magic back. But it’s the journey going after the crystals that brings the ponies themselves their magic back.
Just a small note on dictator Sprout, he tries to cause a war. Though admittedly the film seems to treat him as a joke the entire time despite his seriously evil ambitions. With the only repercussions is he gets a wishy-washy answer on if he was a good sheriff from his mom. I don’t quite know how I feel about that yet, but I wonder what they’ll have in mind for Sprout given his actions. He and his mom are the only ones that feel like a true antagonist. Though they seem to be ok with things fast when the magic comes back.
But anyway on to the ending, we see that Sunny becomes an Alicorn. Which I guess with no other real Alicorns around, I guess it makes sense to alicornify her since she’s the real leader behind what united the leaders of each type of pony again. Though there is of course this weird thing where her horn and wings don’t seem like as much a part of her body compared to very obvious connected wings on Twilight when she got hers. Sunny keeps her horn and wings to the end of the movie, and has colored streaks in her hair. Though I do wonder if that;s truly permanent. If it is permanent, I suppose at least they got to have a headstart and have it established at the end of the introductory movie rather then have it shock people at the end of a shortened 3rd season. I still feel like Twilight had well earned her alicornhood considering that besides what she did in the series. She has a whole childhood and time as a teenager learning under Celestia. Which had to mean something, and I’m not sure Celestia just leaving her to live the rest of her days with her friends in ponyville was that. Sunny has no doubt been trying countless time to try to spread friendship throughout her life even after the tragedy of her father’s passing. So there’s no doubt she’s been through a lot, and may indeed be worthy of being an Alicorn at this point. Though in terms of screentime before Alicornhood it's definitely a lot less then Twilight had. And it is at least nice to see that it is possible for non-unicorns to become one. (The only case of that we sort of got was a children's book that may or may not be canon that implied Cadence was a pegasus before she ascended)
Though you have to wonder if the visual differences such as Sunny’s alicorn horn and wings, the cutie mark only on one side (Yes I know that’s how it was normally in the MLP generations before G4. But a distinct visual difference between shows is still noticeable even if the context of G4’s cutie marks on both sides of the flank was about it being easier on the puppets for Flash), and how animals can have wings or weird round shapes such as those bunnies when G4 has normal looking animals. There’s enough striking visual differences for any nitpicky G4 to say “This isn’t the same Equestria”. And if someone tries to say maybe some sort of evolution happened. That’s still trying to put a little too much real world logic on this fantasy world. And evolution tends to take millions of years to have such dramatic changes. Not 1000 years or so, there should still be normal looking animals at this point and time. And these small details are probably going to be the things most ignored but nonetheless can build a case that this isn’t the same Equestria. Even if they touch on the important questions like how magic disappeared and what happened to the Mane 6, there will be details they make different that will add to the case that this is it’s own universe if it doesn’t quite matchup with what was remembered about G4. There will be fans who will be that nitpicky to call G5 out of continuity for small details like that. That is again the trap they put themselves in when they decided to try to say it’s the same Equestria.
All-in-all though, I think that’s at least a good enough chunk about my thoughts on the movie to end off here. If there’s something I missed or something from the movie you’d like me to give a particular opinion about or elaborate on something feel free to ask me here. G5 is indeed off to a good start, just I will be along the many hoping some questions get answered sooner then later. And I’m not sure I’m confident in getting anywhere until a Season finale or a 2nd movie. And it’ll be a year before the series starts proper (Though again I guess there’s a 44 minute special coming in Spring to try to hold us over). But I could definitely see G5 finding it's own following, now there's just the inevitable clashes between some of the more vocal fans of each generation bickering at eachother. But hoping there will be enough that take the movie's lessons on divisiveness to heart and be able to enjoy both even if there may be preferences.
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amour-de-tous · 4 years
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Finally, the update on my health
TW: lots and lots and lots of talk about health, and bad health, in particular, below.  So I know I never really updated everyone on What Was (is) Going On With My Health. It’s been a huge mess, and I run out of spoons every day just trying to eat meals at the right times to take my meds.  Shortest version possible (believe it or not): at the end of May last year, 2019, pretty much all my joints and extremities swelled up unbelievably. Like I couldn’t put my feet on the floor because they were so swollen it felt like the skin would split open. I had to sit in a chair all day with my feet elevated on a stool and pillows just to keep them from continuing to swell, and I had to sleep with pillows under my feet to keep them from swelling more during the night. I say “sleep” loosely, because I was getting about an hour to two hours of very interrupted sleep every night. The swelling was so bad that just to leave my chair where my feet were elevated, and go sit at the table to eat meals, my feet would swell so bad it was hard for me to walk from the table back to my chair. Then my hands started going numb and tingly, but not in a “my hands are asleep” kind of way, but more an “this is excruciatingly painful but I still can’t feel my hands” kind of way. I couldn’t close my hands into a fist, and I couldn’t open my hands either, they were frozen in a sort of half curled position. There were several weeks where I couldn’t hold a fork or spoon to feed myself. There were months upon months were I couldn’t brush or wash my hair by myself. I spent months with my hands/wrists/feet/ankles packed in ice every 20 minutes to try to control the swelling. I also had this awful brain fog situation where I couldn’t focus on anything. Even if I had been able to hold a book, tablet, or phone (which I couldn’t, because my hands were so bad), I couldn’t read because I had absolutely zero concentration or focus or comprehension. Even watching TV was almost impossible because I would zone out and come back to awareness and so much time had passed I’d have no idea what was going on. I literally spent three or four months just sitting in that chair in pain, staring at the ceiling, crying on and off. So, so much more below the cut.
I could barely attend my niece and nephews baptism. We were there for as long as it took for the actual service to happen, and while I tried to stay for the meal and gifts and such, I was in such excruciating pain--and using a cane to even be able to walk--that we had to leave early.  My niece’s 4th birthday was a few weeks later, in late June, and again I was there with a cane and in excruciating pain. I’m my niece’s favourite person and having to tell her Auntie couldn’t get down and play with her, or hold her, was terrible. By the end of June, my PCP had run enough tests to be outside his area of knowledge and referred me out to a rheumatologist. The earliest the one I wanted to see could see me was January. This was the first week of July. So I looked around for whoever could see me first and chose them. The soonest someone could see me was, unfortunately, on my birthday last year, July 15th. So I spent my birthday seeing the rheumatologist, being diagnosed with carpal tunnel, tendinitis, and what he suspected was rheumatoid arthritis. Once I left his office, I spent my birthday getting bloodwork (8 vials, yikes, which continued monthly for the remainder of 2019), and then getting fitted for a set of wrist braces that I would have to sleep in for maybe the rest of my life, and wear during the day when the pain was so bad. The rheumatologist literally said to me “well, none of your labwork confirms this and we don’t really know, but we’re gonna treat you as if you had rheumatoid arthritis”. Although he kept running tests to try to confirm the RA, he didn’t look anywhere else to try and figure out what I actually have. So they started me on medication(s), and referred me to occupational therapy and physical therapy. I was so bad when I started going that my PT consisted of sitting in a chair and (trying) to flex my ankles in different directions, and then a lymph massage to try to reduce swelling. My occupational therapy, when I started, consisted of trying to pick up pieces of sponges and put them in a cup. I was so bad that was actually almost impossible for me. They also referred me out to have a nerve conduction test, where they stuck needles all through my arms and electrified them. It was the worst thing ever, let me tell you. Then I got referred to a hand surgeon (who is lovely, actually) for surgery. He decided to hold off on surgery and see if steroid shots would help (they did, to an extent, and I am so grateful for that). Fast forwards through months and months of testing and bloodwork and physical and occupational therapies and medications, and the swelling had reduced enough that I could stand up or walk to the bathroom or eat dinner without swelling up so bad anymore. Being at PT and OT still meant I came home and had to pack my feet and wrists in ice and elevate to take care of the extra swelling, but it was better. Not good, not right, but better. Fast forward more, still, and it’s December. At that point I could stand long enough to help cook dinner, or even run an errand or two before I was in too much pain and had to sit and elevate again. In mid-March they released me from PT and OT. Not because I was better--I still couldn’t (and can’t, now) bend my wrists at all--but because the prescription had run out. I’d basically used all the allotted amount I had. This ended up being alright in the long run, since aside from one trip to the lab for bloodwork, I haven’t left my house since my last day of OT on March 13th, due to Covid. Turns out having an auto-immune disease and being on immunosuppresants makes you REAL high risk for Covid, and I’m just not playing that game. At the beginning of April, I finally got to see the rheumatologist I WANTED to see all along (via video visit! Didn’t even have to leave my house and be exposed!). She’s awesome and is really set on finding an ACTUAL diagnosis for me and not just saying “we don’t know”. Had 9 vials taken from me in her first round of bloodwork, and then she said it looked like it could be Lupus and did more tests. She’s now pretty certain I DON’T have Lupus OR rheumatoid arthritis. I had an appointment with her at the very end of July (video, again), and it turns out she thinks I have something called sarcoidosis. This is going to require a CT scan, for my lungs and heart, to see if the disease is in them. Evidently with this particular auto-immune disease, your body overreacts and encapsulates what it thinks are dangerous foreign bodies (but really are just part of your own immune system) and creates “granulomas” around them. Basically think of an oyster creating a pearl around an invading body, except in this case instead of pearls, I have lumps of stuff that hurts me.  Horrifying to know I have to walk into a hospital at this point in time, of my own free will. Like I said before, aside from one set of bloodwork, I haven’t been exposed or been out where I could be exposed at ALL. All that goes out the window once I walk into a hospital for a CT scan. :\ After the CT scan, depending on the results, there’s other tests I’ll need. Chest x-rays, EKGs, pulmonary function tests, lung biopsies (YIKES) and others. She seems fairly confident that this is the correct diagnosis for me, but wants confirmation and also to see progression of disease.  At any rate, she’ll be changing my medication. Which sucks for so many reasons, not the least of which is I just picked up 360 tablets of it that I now won’t be taking. :| Also the fact that now I get to try a new medication and do the “am I having side effects or am I just anxious” song and dance. She’s also talking about needing to put me on steroids which I am REALLY unhappy about. I suppose it’s better to go on steroids than to die, but I’m still really unhappy about it. In other, related news, I’ve developed hypercalcemia. Which means there’s too much calcium in my blood, which can cause a HOST of other problems. So I’ve been put on a no-dairy, low calcium diet. Do you know how many items have calcium in them? Almost everything, that’s what. Also, they fortify all the non-dairy “milk” products with calcium. They all have as much or MORE calcium than dairy milk. It’s been a NIGHTMARE, to the point where I’m actually afraid of food now. I’m obsessively reading labels and doing research online. “How much calcium is in 81 grams of kiwi, after all?”. Nightmare. Dairy was my #1 love and foodgroup, and having to suddenly figure out all new things to eat and ways to cook while simultaneously being in pain and *exhausted* 24/7 because auto-immune is not. fun. at. all. It’s already all my energy every day to help make, eat, and clean up a meal. I literally have to sit in my chair after a meal with my feet elevated to recover. Now having to spend all this energy on a whole new diet plan is a nightmare. Basically this whole thing has been a MESS. It’s been 15 months, I’ve been being treated for the wrong disease for 14 months, the news I’m getting now is worse than the news that flattened my emotional response all those months ago, I still can’t function, and I can’t work. Oh, yeah. I haven’t played an instrument since May 2019. My whole life revolved around my music, and now I can’t even play to make myself feel better, because my hands don’t work. I’ve also been out of work since then, too: my last concert was April 2019. I haven’t made any money since. But I have had co-pays out the wazoo! Which reminds me that they raised the price on two of my meds, because of course they did. Thanks, congress. This has been really, really hard. My anxiety has skyrocketed through this, and my depression isn’t doing much better. Although physically I’m not as bad as I was, I’m nowhere near normal, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to my normal again, either. The best I’m hoping for at this point is to be able to eat calcium again someday, to not have my organs eaten up by this disease, and to continue existing. It’s been exhausting. It really, really has.  That’s not to mention the added stress and anxiety over Covid, and the fact that neither mom nor I can even go to a grocery store because of my high-risk status. We’re averaging getting groceries about once a month right now. It’s super fun now because I have to read the label on EVERYTHING but Aldi doesn’t post their nutrition labels online and!!! That means I have to either guess or not get things! Great!  All this to say that I miss being on tumblr. I miss all my friends here. I miss talking to you all and being able to laugh with you and geek out. Things have been really hard for me (and there are multitudes I haven’t included in here; even if my hands would allow that much typing, I’d probably hit a character limit. Just: I miss you all. I love you. I’ve been a wreck, but I think of you all often. <3
11 notes · View notes
drkcnry67 · 4 years
Text
Tumblr media
ttile: my alpha, my omega
pairing: John x Reader
fluff 2020 sq: age gap
kink 2020 sq: daddy kink
Abo 2019 sq: older alpha/younger omega
rating: 18+
tags: WARNING: THIS IS NOT FOR MINORS!!!! THIS WILL GIVE YOU NIGHTMARES!!! DO NOT PROCEED AT ALL!!!!! I REPEAT NOT FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18… TURN BACK AROUND DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200, DO NOT HIT THAT KEEP READING THING… DO NOT PROCEED… THIS STORY CONTAINS VAGINAL PENETRATION, ORAL FEMALE RECEIVING, HARDCORE SEXUAL CONTENT, FEMALE HEAT, MALE RUT, ALPHA CLAIMING OMEGA, FIRST TIME SHOWER SEX, ALPHA KNOTTING OMEGA… YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!
summery: not telling
word count (optional)
kink 2020 masterlist  fluff 2020 masterlist   ABO 2019 Masterlist
Many centuries ago, in a land now known to the world as Russia.. lives a legend where monsters of myth and story roam… to the west side we travel for our story today where we meet YN a young omega who is unaware yet of her full potential…
YN a young single omega who lives with her aunt who has always let her be her own person… but this her 21st birthday was when she now had to go and find her Alpha… she was now on a journey that sooner rather than later would cross her path…
John a handsome rugged alpha whose passion in the 4th week after his 35th birthday would soon lead him to a city called Bucharest to seek out his omega who would be on a journey of her own to find her alpha…
~today~
you were walking through the streets it was another day, another day of go to various places and check on the small businesses you were involved in… your own aunt had refered you into some small business transactions that you were now in charge of…
walking through the center of town, your nose caught a strong scent, you began to follow it… you were not paying attention as always you were listening to everything around you… 
 As you grew so did your abilities, your strength, your speed, your smell, your hearing, your sight… but you sure as hell did not see this one coming… for just a few feet away from you was someone new to town, someone who neither of you knew at the time would soon both parties would be very very very INTIMATE with one another. 
You were close to the fountain in the center of town, john who was not paying attention either was sitting on the edge of the fountain watching and listening to the bustle of the city… You were the one who was stupid enough to not be able to sense this one… 
for you tripped over a stone and fell knocking both you and John into the fountain… this was how you both met… not the greatest way to meet someone but certainly a unique way of doing things… 
john was first to come up for air… he noticed you struggling so he reached out and grabbed you by the hand and pulled you out of the water… some people who worked at the business your family had you in charge of had witnessed the entire thing, they came over with blankets awaiting orders or at least one of them was…
the other was your cousin, Castiel… your cousin was standing there laughing, this earned a low growl from John as he helped wrap you in the blanket… then he wrapped himself in one… 
John: “are you alright?”
YN: “ill be fine, but i should be asking you that… its my fault your all wet in the first place… i should have…”
you stopped speaking when your nose picked up the scent that now sat beside you… this man, this man was an alpha, your alpha… 
John however was having a similar reaction, this was the start the start of something beautiful… 
Castiel and his collegue come up to you as your cousin begins being a 1st class dumbass… 
Castiel: “oh cuz you tumbled cause you werent paying attention, what a clutz… how the hell are you still alive with you being so clumbsy?”
you had to show some restraint… you had to try and assert some authority…
YN: “you there shadowing my cousin, is the nearby apartment owned by the family still open…?”
collegue 1: “yes ma’am would you like it stalked with food and clothes for you and your friend here?”
YN: “yes and get my cousin a mouth muzzle he needs to learn when to speak and when not to speak…” 
 You hissed that last word.. this made john realize how badly he wanted you right then right there.. he could feel the feistiness coming off of you.. this sent him straight into a rut… 
 You however were already entering heat, you could feel johns hands round your own and the fact that you kinda knocked him into the fountain wasnt much better… both of you were not mad about the incident… But you now had started shivering, John gently picked you up into his arms you began to lead the way… 
the apartment nearby was prepped and ready when you and John arrived… John set you down on your feet…
John: “leave us we will let you know if we need anything…”
the poor collegue left in a haste… John went to lock the door as he took off his wet jacket and hung it by the door… you stripped off your sweater and tossed it on the heater… 
John: “cute place… i dont suppose you are a single omega, are you?”
you nod as you kinda do a hair shake but shiver in the process… 
John: “you should shower to warm up… go on i might join you in a few moments… just gonna see if there are towels…”
you nod not caring… you slunk to the bathroom and start the shower before stripping off your wet clothes… you get into the shower and the hot water starts to warm you up as you just stand there not caring that John might join you, not caring that it was the middle of the day..
John outside the bathroom was taking off his wet clothing and making sure his head was clear and that he was fully mentally composed before heading into the bathroom where he knew you were behind the curtain…
you knew he was just outside the curtain, so you turned around and smiled quietly to yourself… John came into the shower and stood behind you… eyeing you up and down he felt something come over him… his senses going haywire… 
John: “fear not i wont hurt you sweet omega… why dont you let go of all the embarrassment from earlier and let loose with me?”
YN: “but dont you have to claim me before we “let loose” as you so put it…”
John: “are you okay if i claim you right here right now? i know you feel the same way about me as i do about you…”
YN: “claim me John i do feel the same way.. and i have a bad heat right now ive had it since before i knocked us into the fountain… help me daddy…”
John at that moment placed an arm around your waist, you placed your arm on interlocking fingers, his teeth changed into fangs he let off a low growl before spinning around so he was under the water as he sunk his fangs deep into your shoulder…
the feeling of being claimed made a loud shrill of moaning sound escape your lips... Blood flowed from the wound down between you and John just the feeling that you had been claimed was amazing... 
Then John released the bite, he spun you around and lifted you up placing you on his massive cock... He trusted hard into your virginity... He was getting as much pleasure from this as you were... The release came in waves, fast never slowing waves... 
John had you against the wall as he thrust into you again, his cock already rock hard again... your pussy throbbing for more, your moans turning soft to loud in seconds... the kissing was constant... the thrusts grew more and more frequent with each passing moment... 
with now being claimed every single rut and heat that you both had been feeling in the last week came on and on and on... escaping the shower after your recent release before it hit again you both got out of the shower and dried off...
John: “im gonna fuck you into the middle of next week...”
YN: “but the age gap the pack...”
John: “do we really care about that?”
YN: “no daddy of course not...”
John: “by the way keep calling me daddy and ill give you my knot alot sooner than we may plan to...”
YN: “yes daddy...”
John threw you onto the bed and climbed on top of you kissing you he was hard again, you felt him slide into you a moan released from your lips. the feeling of being fucked by your alpha had your mind going ten thousand miles a minute... 
Johns mind was dragging him through the dirt... both of you would have to face the pack leaders sooner or later... yea there are alphas but there is a council that guards every single decision made within each pack... 
one of those leaders happened to be your uncle... that leader had spies everywhere... he knew what was happening in that apartment right then... he was planning his attack... 
several hours later you and John were laying there waiting for John’s knot to take effect... covered by the thinnest sheet on the bed you were just happy to be in the arms of someone who cares deeply for you...
John: “when the knot finishes being released, we need to connect with our packs and face the trials of their thoughts on us...”
You knew he was right but you snuggled in closer, his beard tickling the back of your neck... thats when you both heard it the footsteps and running outside the door... 
John: “alright baby girl stay calm just move with me we cant let the knot escape your body...”
the door flung wide open John was pounding you into the bed as your uncle and his men walked inside...
Nazam: “excuse me what the hell is going on?”
YN: “be with you in a moment uncle...”
you and John finished and then snuggled back into a spoon this time with a thicker blanket over the naughty bits...
YN: “uncle, what an unplesent surprise what brings you and your lackys here?”
nazam: “dont play dumb with me... i can smell the blood, this man claimed you didnt he?”
John spoke at that moment keeping his arm around your waist...
John: “yes i did, my name is John winchester im the alpha for the north eastern pack... i came this way to find my omega... and i found her in the form of your niece... now like my omega here asked, What brings you here?”
Nazam: “well well well, let me see here ah yes im here to invite you both to the trials of rites tonight... there is still 8 hours for you both to prepare... now dont you dare take it lightly and if you think about skipping town we will deny the trial of rites by which instead you both will be exiled hunted and killed... that is all...”
YN: “leave this apartment uncle... we know our rights and legally im claimed by John he and i cant be seperated... and if need be i will fight you uncle...”
Nazam stands tall and eyes you with John...
Nazam: “i suppose you will stand by her side...”
John: “yes and i intend to marry your niece with or without the blessing of the packs... this is the life we both want and its together forever... i hope this knot that im releasing into your niece gets her pregnant the council’s laws prevent execution or seperation of the couple upon findout of pregnancy... now leave good day sir...”
nazam leaves his henchmen follow, your cousin’s friends come in and fix the door... you and John are left alone once more with eachother and your thoughts... 
John: “were you serious about fighting your uncle?”
YN: “were you serious about marrying me?”
John: “i guess we both have plans and together we shall conquer it all... now lets rest a bit before tonight so we both have strength to deal with what is to come...”
You smile as John still having you on his cock so his knot can finish flips you around so you both facing eachother as you both begin to nod off..
John: “yo lacky thats outside the door...”
Collegue 1: “yes sir...”
John: “wake us up in 7 hours we are going for a snooze..”
Collegue 1: “as you wish sir...”
the lacky left you felt John holding you close to his strong form as you drifted off into a sleep full of happy thoughts... John fell asleep shortly after you did... both of you dreaming of a life where no threats stood in the way of your better lives...
~thats all for now~
7 notes · View notes
legion1993 · 5 years
Text
my alpha, my omega
Tumblr media
ttile: my alpha, my omega
pairing: John x Reader
fluff 2020 sq: age gap
kink 2020 sq: daddy kink
Abo 2019 sq: older alpha/younger omega
rating: 18+
tags: WARNING: THIS IS NOT FOR MINORS!!!! THIS WILL GIVE YOU NIGHTMARES!!! DO NOT PROCEED AT ALL!!!!! I REPEAT NOT FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18… TURN BACK AROUND DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT $200, DO NOT HIT THAT KEEP READING THING… DO NOT PROCEED… THIS STORY CONTAINS VAGINAL PENETRATION, ORAL FEMALE RECEIVING, HARDCORE SEXUAL CONTENT, FEMALE HEAT, MALE RUT, ALPHA CLAIMING OMEGA, FIRST TIME SHOWER SEX, ALPHA KNOTTING OMEGA… YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!
summery: not telling
word count (optional)
kink 2020 masterlist  fluff 2020 masterlist   ABO 2019 Masterlist
Many centuries ago, in a land now known to the world as Russia.. lives a legend where monsters of myth and story roam… to the west side we travel for our story today where we meet YN a young omega who is unaware yet of her full potential…
YN a young single omega who lives with her aunt who has always let her be her own person… but this her 21st birthday was when she now had to go and find her Alpha… she was now on a journey that sooner rather than later would cross her path…
John a handsome rugged alpha whose passion in the 4th week after his 35th birthday would soon lead him to a city called Bucharest to seek out his omega who would be on a journey of her own to find her alpha…
~today~
you were walking through the streets it was another day, another day of go to various places and check on the small businesses you were involved in… your own aunt had refered you into some small business transactions that you were now in charge of…
walking through the center of town, your nose caught a strong scent, you began to follow it… you were not paying attention as always you were listening to everything around you… 
 As you grew so did your abilities, your strength, your speed, your smell, your hearing, your sight… but you sure as hell did not see this one coming… for just a few feet away from you was someone new to town, someone who neither of you knew at the time would soon both parties would be very very very INTIMATE with one another. 
You were close to the fountain in the center of town, john who was not paying attention either was sitting on the edge of the fountain watching and listening to the bustle of the city… You were the one who was stupid enough to not be able to sense this one… 
for you tripped over a stone and fell knocking both you and John into the fountain… this was how you both met… not the greatest way to meet someone but certainly a unique way of doing things… 
john was first to come up for air… he noticed you struggling so he reached out and grabbed you by the hand and pulled you out of the water… some people who worked at the business your family had you in charge of had witnessed the entire thing, they came over with blankets awaiting orders or at least one of them was…
the other was your cousin, Castiel… your cousin was standing there laughing, this earned a low growl from John as he helped wrap you in the blanket… then he wrapped himself in one… 
John: “are you alright?”
YN: “ill be fine, but i should be asking you that… its my fault your all wet in the first place… i should have…”
you stopped speaking when your nose picked up the scent that now sat beside you… this man, this man was an alpha, your alpha… 
John however was having a similar reaction, this was the start the start of something beautiful… 
Castiel and his collegue come up to you as your cousin begins being a 1st class dumbass… 
Castiel: “oh cuz you tumbled cause you werent paying attention, what a clutz… how the hell are you still alive with you being so clumbsy?”
you had to show some restraint… you had to try and assert some authority…
YN: “you there shadowing my cousin, is the nearby apartment owned by the family still open…?”
collegue 1: “yes ma’am would you like it stalked with food and clothes for you and your friend here?”
YN: “yes and get my cousin a mouth muzzle he needs to learn when to speak and when not to speak…” 
 You hissed that last word.. this made john realize how badly he wanted you right then right there.. he could feel the feistiness coming off of you.. this sent him straight into a rut… 
 You however were already entering heat, you could feel johns hands round your own and the fact that you kinda knocked him into the fountain wasnt much better… both of you were not mad about the incident… But you now had started shivering, John gently picked you up into his arms you began to lead the way… 
the apartment nearby was prepped and ready when you and John arrived… John set you down on your feet…
John: “leave us we will let you know if we need anything…”
the poor collegue left in a haste… John went to lock the door as he took off his wet jacket and hung it by the door… you stripped off your sweater and tossed it on the heater… 
John: “cute place… i dont suppose you are a single omega, are you?”
you nod as you kinda do a hair shake but shiver in the process… 
John: “you should shower to warm up… go on i might join you in a few moments… just gonna see if there are towels…”
you nod not caring… you slunk to the bathroom and start the shower before stripping off your wet clothes… you get into the shower and the hot water starts to warm you up as you just stand there not caring that John might join you, not caring that it was the middle of the day..
John outside the bathroom was taking off his wet clothing and making sure his head was clear and that he was fully mentally composed before heading into the bathroom where he knew you were behind the curtain…
you knew he was just outside the curtain, so you turned around and smiled quietly to yourself… John came into the shower and stood behind you… eyeing you up and down he felt something come over him… his senses going haywire… 
John: “fear not i wont hurt you sweet omega… why dont you let go of all the embarrassment from earlier and let loose with me?”
YN: “but dont you have to claim me before we “let loose” as you so put it…”
John: “are you okay if i claim you right here right now? i know you feel the same way about me as i do about you…”
YN: “claim me John i do feel the same way.. and i have a bad heat right now ive had it since before i knocked us into the fountain… help me daddy…”
John at that moment placed an arm around your waist, you placed your arm on interlocking fingers, his teeth changed into fangs he let off a low growl before spinning around so he was under the water as he sunk his fangs deep into your shoulder…
the feeling of being claimed made a loud shrill of moaning sound escape your lips... Blood flowed from the wound down between you and John just the feeling that you had been claimed was amazing... 
Then John released the bite, he spun you around and lifted you up placing you on his massive cock... He trusted hard into your virginity... He was getting as much pleasure from this as you were... The release came in waves, fast never slowing waves... 
John had you against the wall as he thrust into you again, his cock already rock hard again... your pussy throbbing for more, your moans turning soft to loud in seconds... the kissing was constant... the thrusts grew more and more frequent with each passing moment... 
with now being claimed every single rut and heat that you both had been feeling in the last week came on and on and on... escaping the shower after your recent release before it hit again you both got out of the shower and dried off...
John: “im gonna fuck you into the middle of next week...”
YN: “but the age gap the pack...”
John: “do we really care about that?”
YN: “no daddy of course not...”
John: “by the way keep calling me daddy and ill give you my knot alot sooner than we may plan to...”
YN: “yes daddy...”
John threw you onto the bed and climbed on top of you kissing you he was hard again, you felt him slide into you a moan released from your lips. the feeling of being fucked by your alpha had your mind going ten thousand miles a minute... 
Johns mind was dragging him through the dirt... both of you would have to face the pack leaders sooner or later... yea there are alphas but there is a council that guards every single decision made within each pack... 
one of those leaders happened to be your uncle... that leader had spies everywhere... he knew what was happening in that apartment right then... he was planning his attack... 
several hours later you and John were laying there waiting for John’s knot to take effect... covered by the thinnest sheet on the bed you were just happy to be in the arms of someone who cares deeply for you...
John: “when the knot finishes being released, we need to connect with our packs and face the trials of their thoughts on us...”
You knew he was right but you snuggled in closer, his beard tickling the back of your neck... thats when you both heard it the footsteps and running outside the door... 
John: “alright baby girl stay calm just move with me we cant let the knot escape your body...”
the door flung wide open John was pounding you into the bed as your uncle and his men walked inside...
Nazam: “excuse me what the hell is going on?”
YN: “be with you in a moment uncle...”
you and John finished and then snuggled back into a spoon this time with a thicker blanket over the naughty bits...
YN: “uncle, what an unplesent surprise what brings you and your lackys here?”
nazam: “dont play dumb with me... i can smell the blood, this man claimed you didnt he?”
John spoke at that moment keeping his arm around your waist...
John: “yes i did, my name is John winchester im the alpha for the north eastern pack... i came this way to find my omega... and i found her in the form of your niece... now like my omega here asked, What brings you here?”
Nazam: “well well well, let me see here ah yes im here to invite you both to the trials of rites tonight... there is still 8 hours for you both to prepare... now dont you dare take it lightly and if you think about skipping town we will deny the trial of rites by which instead you both will be exiled hunted and killed... that is all...”
YN: “leave this apartment uncle... we know our rights and legally im claimed by John he and i cant be seperated... and if need be i will fight you uncle...”
Nazam stands tall and eyes you with John...
Nazam: “i suppose you will stand by her side...”
John: “yes and i intend to marry your niece with or without the blessing of the packs... this is the life we both want and its together forever... i hope this knot that im releasing into your niece gets her pregnant the council’s laws prevent execution or seperation of the couple upon findout of pregnancy... now leave good day sir...”
nazam leaves his henchmen follow, your cousin’s friends come in and fix the door... you and John are left alone once more with eachother and your thoughts... 
John: “were you serious about fighting your uncle?”
YN: “were you serious about marrying me?”
John: “i guess we both have plans and together we shall conquer it all... now lets rest a bit before tonight so we both have strength to deal with what is to come...”
You smile as John still having you on his cock so his knot can finish flips you around so you both facing eachother as you both begin to nod off..
John: “yo lacky thats outside the door...”
Collegue 1: “yes sir...”
John: “wake us up in 7 hours we are going for a snooze..”
Collegue 1: “as you wish sir...”
the lacky left you felt John holding you close to his strong form as you drifted off into a sleep full of happy thoughts... John fell asleep shortly after you did... both of you dreaming of a life where no threats stood in the way of your better lives...
~thats all for now~
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makeste · 5 years
Text
BnHA Chapter 208: [S] Bakugou: Win and rescue.
Previously on BnHA: Teams BakuJirouSeroSatou and TokaBondoAwaKama began the 4th round battle. Over on the sidelines, Aizawa chided his students for not being as strategic as class B, while All Might said that class A hadn’t yet shown everything they were capable of. Anyway, so Bakugou’s strategy consisted of “let’s just charge at them while Jirou keeps an ear out”, which predictably resulted in them running into an ambush. Class B’s Bondo used his glue quirk to try and entrap the group, but Bakugou stopped him, which was fairly impressive considering that he was also battling Tokage’s various amputated body parts which were all attacking him like Buggy the Clown because quirks are fucking absurd you guys. Anyway, so then Kamakiri from class B dove in to attack Jirou. But as All Might and Deku looked on, thinking flashbacky thoughts about the whole “win by saving people and save people in order to win” thing, Bakugou dove in to intercept Kamakiri’s attack.
Today on BnHA: We learned that Bakugou’s strategy of “let’s just kick their asses” also included a supplemental strategy of “and if you guys get in trouble I’ll save you.” Everyone on the sidelines is like “whaaaaat!” and Monoma nearly has an aneurysm, poor kid. Bakugou says he wants a perfect victory, meaning 4-0 with everyone unscathed. He heads after the fleeing Bondo, only to be ensnared in a trap by Awase. But then Satou busts him free, and we learn that Bakugou’s plan also included a second supplemental strategy of “and if I’m in trouble you guys save me.” In short, this kid has finally learned teamwork, and within the span of about two minutes, Sero and Jirou take out Awase, Satou restrains Bondo, Bakugou KOs Kamakiri, and then with the help of the others -- using Sero’s tape and his grenades -- he takes out Tokage as well. Anyways, you guys know I don’t like to exaggerate, but this is the best chapter in the history of time, and now if you’ll excuse me I’m off to go pick up my “Congrats on winning the manga, son, you make me proud each and every day” cake. Peace.
(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 224, so any ETAs will reflect that.)
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wow, seeing it from this angle I can appreciate just how close that was. Bakugou had to blast himself in between Kama and Jirou with incredible precision and with barely any time to think, let alone pull it off. Satou didn’t even manage to turn around in the same span of time
(ETA: Satou actually makes this panel look like some kind of renaissance painting and it’s hilarious.)
not to mention from this view you can see how close-range that shot actually was. like how is Kamakiri even alive
oh I see, he blocked it with his swords
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you know. because explosions are famously weak against swords
also, “concludes”? already?? like, we’ve barely even gotten started. damn Bakugou, do you have an appointment or something after this? is your coach going to turn back into a pumpkin or what
oh hey
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so the saving them part was so important you went and made it an Official Part Of Your Plan, huh. wow. when this kid commits to something, he fucking commits
but we already knew that, didn’t we. he has always been like that. putting 100% into everything. aiming for the top. it’s just that for the first time, we’re seeing that determination aimed in the right direction. or well, not to say that he was aiming in the wrong direction before, but it’s more like his destination was a bit too narrow-minded. and now he’s finally seeing the full picture of what a hero needs to be, the kind of person he needs to become. so now, imagine this tenacity applied toward the aim of keeping the world safe. he is gonna do it. people will know that’s a fucking promise. that is how you become someone that people can put their trust in
basically this boy is going to kill it when it comes to heroing. this chapter has barely even started and already I’m so fucking proud. future numero uno right here. the Symbol of Victory. fuck yeah
anyway I should stop gushing over Bakugou’s character development so I can finish the chapter. I’m sure I’ll break down like six more times to gush some more anyway. probably
so Bakugou is all “you blocked it, eh?” in that manner of his that’s both acknowledging and insulting
yeah Bakugou. he blocked it with a sword. you know. how swords do. I’m sorry, I still can’t get over this lol. it’s like a medieval knight against a fucking bazooka
but anyway, so when in doubt, simply blow them up again right?
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lol now that’s more like it. “you blocked it” smdh. for fuck’s sake
lol now Kama is turning tail and thinking “avoid fighting Bakugou head-on. if that happens, retreat immediately!”
and yeah, that’s a valid strategy
now we’re cutting to our audience!
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first of all there was no kick, Kaminari. wtf are you talking about
(ETA: thank you @asukaskerian for pointing out that this is referring to him shoving Jirou out of the way with his foot in the previous chapter. I swear I reread that half a dozen times trying to see if he kicked Kamakiri and it never even occurred to me that it might’ve been Jirou instead lol.)
and second, what exactly is your angle here, Monoma? are you attempting to mock Bakugou for... doing the right thing? being a good person?? did he throw you for a loop. do you need a moment to collect yourself
lol Kirishima
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every now and then this kid just blows me away though. like, obviously he knows there’s nothing wrong with Monoma’s eyes! so a line like “your eyes are working fine” would normally carry an undercurrent of passive-aggressiveness in a situation like this! you know, like “okay but that’s my bro, dude. so if you’re about to try and make fun of his hard-earned character development, I’m gonna need you to step the fuck off right now”
but because it’s Kirishima, he somehow impossibly manages to deliver this line without any bitchiness. he’s defending Bakugou while at the same time subtly telling Monoma to back down, but somehow he still keeps everything friendly. this is genuinely amazing to me, and I’m sincerely jealous of how effortless he makes this look
lol Monoma
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okay I’m starting to think he may not actually have had an angle and his entire worldview has in fact just been shattered
it’s okay Monoma, you can still maintain your beloved rivalry with class A even if they are actually lovely people who have been nothing but kind to you and now even their last bastion of ill-mannered and bratty behavior is turning out to be an upstanding citizen. a little friendly competition never hurt anyone
awwww Kiri
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I still want Bakugou to have a gets-hurt-saving-someone moment also, but so far he’s been too damn competent. still, the dream is alive! I love this manga
anyway! so back to the boy in question!
Jirou is all “thanks” and he’s all “shut your mouth!” lmao
see, you have to be able to speak Bakugou. what he means is “forget about it, just stay focused.” which they know! doesn’t mean they can’t still get annoyed by it, of course, but his classmates understand him by this point I think
haha my boyyyy
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look at their faces. “a hero is someone who brings reassurance.” well I don’t know what you would call this, but I’d say they all look pretty damn assured right now
and yet, the tiny beads of sweat. because there’s always that flash of hesitation that’s like “oh no, I’m being inspired by Bakugou. is this okay. quick, moral alignment check. we still good?”
but once they realize that yeah, they are, they can’t help but feel the same excitement as him. fuck yeah, let’s do this. let’s beat this challenge. let’s win the day. let’s get stronger
(ETA: and this is also what I was talking about yesterday about his smile being contagious. because it is, though. and also do you remember way back in chapter 106 when Aizawa was talking about how he and Deku inspire the rest of the class and get them all hyped up? about how “they infected the rest of the class with their passion and fervor”? fucking this, though. I love this so much.)
oh my poor class B
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this is not actually a strategy. this is them straight up acknowledging they can’t beat Bakugou and saying “well we’ll just keep trying and hope it works out”
and what bits of strategy they do have appear to be entirely focused on him only
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like, this doesn’t even make sense. first of all, the fact that they’re following his lead is a strength, not a weakness. every good combat unit needs a leader. in fact I’d argue that was something the previous class A teams messed up to some degree
and second, just because he is leading them though doesn’t mean they’ll just fall apart without him. if you think that you’re gonna have another thing coming
basically this is just a lot of wishful thinking which is unfortunately heavily reliant on exploiting a bug that was fixed in the Bakugou 2.0 release. sorry Tokage. you guys are fuuuuucked
anyway so Jirou’s trying to hear what they’re up to, but it’s difficult with all of Tokage’s interference. but she says there’s less of the Tokage Noise than there was before though
so the others assume that means they’re regrouping for another attack
yeah Baku they’re trying to wear you down and trick you into making a mistake or something. then step 2: ?? and step three: profit. idk
heh
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I want to ruffle his hair so bad. this might not be a normal person’s response to a panel like this. I’m aware, but this is how I live you guys
oho!
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at first I was like “the hell are you doing” but boy he’s got good eyes
also I fucking love the ZOOM effect of these two panels though?? like, you see how far away he is in the first panel, and then in the next you see how he’s crossed that gap in an instant, and it’s just like, !! like oh shit. even knowing how fast he is, it’s still so jarring to actually experience it like that though. and hella cool
Awase what are you doing
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are you using your quirk to make some kind of weapon or something. like LEGOs
OH SHIT
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THIS BOY IS PRETTY FAST TOO HUH
well there go the gauntlets! those things are fucking expensive, Awase
I’m not so worried about those, but the ones that seem to be attached to his torso are definitely a problem. or is that just his shirt? if so, less of a problem
so Sero figures that the perfectly staged ambush means that Tokage’s eyes must be hovering around nearby again
and he’s shooting some tape up to where Baku and Awase are
Awase’s looking smug and thinking that Sero will never be able to hit him with all the obstacles around
I mean, yeah. like that seems obvious. I figure he must have had some other aim in mind, though I can’t figure out what
oh sweet!
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no pun intended by the way! but that is indeed a sweet assist! glad Satou got to fucking do something finally lol
also my thanks to him and Awase as well for smashing the gauntlets to bits. I have to assume he’ll just get new ones, of course. but if you ever feel like going for a sleek redesign though, Katsuki... I’m just saying. at least until you grow into your fucking costume so it doesn’t feel so much like you’re trying to make yourself into an action figure
(ETA: yeah he has them back a mere ten chapters from now. he doesn’t listen to me. whatever, I’m only trying to help kid but you do you.)
looool
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I’m fucking dying omg
so now Awase is frantically sticking a steel plate from another of his pockets onto his face like a welder’s mask
!! what’s this??
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IS THIS A TEAMWORK PLAY!?
AHHHHHHH
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YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
holy shit
someone send the recording of this over to the Hero Public Safety Commission. you can give Bakugou his license now. no need to keep spending the people’s tax dollars on babysitting classes
by the way I fucking love Jirou’s little bluetooth speakers holy shit? I know they’re not bluetooth cuz she’s got her earjacks plugged in, but I’m just referring to their size, okay? anyway they’re fucking awesome. and the new sleeves on her costume are badass too. you go, Deep Dope
anyhoo it looks like Bakugou’s heading after Bondo since we’re seeing the latter turn around now and he’s got that deer-in-headlights look. which, it’s pretty impressive how Horikoshi managed to convey that from a dude with a colander face, by the way
Tokage’s shooting a bunch of her body parts over there trying to save him, but you know it ain’t gonna work
hahahahahahaha
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you fucking maniac
although hell, this is still fucking tame compared to the shit those kids pulled in the first three battles though
now Satou’s grabbing him and it looks like they got him!
meanwhile Sero has restrained Awase!
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sorry Vlad King
lol again Monoma
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WHEN THEY’RE AT LEVEL ONE AND YOU’RE AT LEVEL 50, NATURALLY YOU’LL BE GROWING AT DIFFERENT RATES
holy shit. so what level would we say Bakugou’s teamwork has grown to? he still has room for improvement, obviously, in spite of my giddy enthusiasm. maybe halfway there? little more than? say level 25-30? it’s difficult to say, because Bakugou’s level 50 teamwork is more than likely going to look very different from Deku’s. and also because his level 50 combat skills are pretty effective at concealing any weaknesses in his teamwork skills because they more than make up for the gap right now
for what it’s worth, though, despite what Monoma says, this isn’t the first time Bakugou has shown himself capable of teamwork. in fact, the actual first time we saw a hint of that was all the way back during the cavalry battle. it was, in fact, against Monoma himself. maybe he was just too traumatized by it to remember lol
okay so this is quickly becoming the “everyone is shocked at Bakugou’s character development” show though
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you guys really should have watched season 3 of the anime through to the end before you came in here all cocky
haha now she’s all “what is this team?! it’s too perfect!!”
that’s what I’ve been saying! this team was never not going to kick ass and take names
lol class A is so proud
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lmao poor Deku and All Might. Jirou’s getting all of your credit
I can’t say I’m complaining though. also, do I suddenly ship BakuJirou?? quick, shipping alignment check. we still good?
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hmm, yep, we good. and yep I do
well this sure is a momentous day
wtf Sero
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okay first of all, ew. like what happens to the discarded body parts after? ew. ew
and second of all, can someone please check under the mask and make sure that really is Sero and not Deku. holy shit Sero let me go check your class rank again
-- holy shit you guys, Sero is ranked 17th. either he’s been focused on self-improvement as much as Bakugou has been, or class A is so fucking smart that even the 17th smartest kid is out here giving detailed analyses of quirks they’ve barely even seen
and shit, you guys, he’s still going
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meanwhile Kacchan is flinging poor Kamakiri into a wall
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oh my god I can’t wait to see that one in the anime. gonna be like two fucking years, but I’ll be sitting right here, waiting
OH SHIT YOU GUYS
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OH SHIT
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I’M GLAD HE CLARIFIED THAT THEY DON’T HAVE A TON OF POWER BECAUSE I WAS SERIOUSLY LIKE “OH SHIT HE’S ABOUT TO BLOW HER TO KINGDOM COME”
OH MY FUCK
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IT’S LIKE A HORROR MOVIE WHERE THE AUDIENCE IS ON THE KILLER’S SIDE LMAO
HAHAHAHA
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IS IT MY FUCKING BIRTHDAY OR WHAT?? OH MY GOD
oh my godddd
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BOY!!!
(º̩̩́⌣º̩̩̀)
my son is all grown. you guys. I’m so proud. I fucking can’t
this chapter might as well have been titled “Bakugou wins the manga and everyone is shocked and amazed and proud.” that’s basically what just happened here. oh my god. what a blessed glorious day
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Bonus post: Everybody Hurts - Review
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So the letter D is going along nicely, but before that I'm going to do something quite different, namely a book review.
My hope is that my pseudo-academic academic style will be complemented nicely by exploring what other people have written on the genre. I hope to do more of these eventually, but probably not at a too steady rate because I can be rather lazy when it comes to reading.
Everybody hurts is a book published in 2007 that was written by Leslie Simon, who at the time worked as an editor for Alternative Press and Trevor Kelly who worked as a staff writer, also for Alternative Press. The book is actually quite different from my blog in many respects. Aside from the obvious ones, it isn't specifically focused on 90's emo but instead on what in 2007 was considered contemporary emo. Also unlike my blog it's focused on emo culture (the cover says "an essential guide to emo culture") as opposed to just music.
Some background: The 4th wave, Real Emo and the death of Scene culture
Part of what makes this book interesting to me is that it's very much a product of its time. The story that it tells about the music and community surrounding it is incredibly different than what would have been told in the 90's and even more so today.
So, first some basics: Emo is a very broad term that at many points have meant different things. One popular way to categorize it is by splitting it into 4 (or 5) waves. We have the first wave which refers to the offshoot of hardcore-punk that is the origin of the genre. The second wave is much more influenced by indie, alt-rock and pop. It's much less overtly punky, depending on where you draw the line between first and second wave. The third wave (which corresponds to the time period when this book was written) consists to a large degree of pop-punk and poppy post-hardcore. This is the period of time in which emo music was the most commercially successful and emo culture was properly cemented in the public conciousness. Finally, we have the fourth wave also known as the "emo revival". Now, this is where things get interesting.
As the name implies, emo revival was a movement concerned with bringing back emo to an earlier stage, namely the second wave. As such, many people associated with the revival where to some degree self-concious about the way "their" genre was misinterpreted as being about something else, namely third wave emo. Emo culture at the time was often mocked and the more commercial emo music wasn't looked upon favourably in underground circles. Fourth wave wasn't just a re-embrace of the values of the second wave but a rejection of the third wave.
I should also mention that this isn't nearly as true as it used to be now that enough time has passed for people to be nostalgic sooner than derisive, although it's an assumption that is very much woven into contemporary emo culture.
The history of emo as told from a fourth wave perspective would generally look on the third wave as an embarrassing parenthesis that we'd be better of forgetting. Some people have even gone as far as referring to the bulk of the third wave as "fake emo", being emo in name only while failing to embrace the core values of the genre sufficiently to be considered part of it.
So, this is where this book comes in. Being written in 2007, instead of viewing third wave emo as a heretical misstep, it's treated as the logical conclusion of the genre.
Emo as an identity
Another contrast with modern-day emo culture is it's treatment of emo as almost more of an identity than a music genre. This is also very typical of the time period. I'm born in the mid 90's, and my first exposure to the word emo (as I remember it) was when I was perhaps 10 or so and a friend told me about "a group of mentally ill people who dress in black and self harm". Not even a mention of the music! From then on my pre-pubescent self was mostly exposed to Emo as an identity. Sure, they had a special type of music that they listened to, but it wasn't any more integral to their emo-ness than their fashion for example.
Fast forward to today and I would never unironically call myself or anyone else "an emo", and I don't think almost anyone else would either. The understanding of emo that you find by modern fans is of something that might have cultural connotations, but is ultimately a style of music at heart.
While the authors where a lot more familiar with what emo in general than my 10 year old self and also saw music as a more central part of it, it is very informed by the view of Emo as a broader identity and only a small part of the book is actually about music.
My impression
The book starts of with a foreword by Andy Greenwald, author of Nothing feels good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, And Emo, a book that I'm hoping to eventually cover on this blog.
Then we get to the first chapter, titled ideology. For a second I (foolishly) thought that it would be a Žižek-style examination of pop-culture or something, and got very exited. Reading a few words below, we get a faux dictionary definition of the word:
ide•ol•o•gy n a body of ideas and social needs that separates you from your parents, the pep squad, and Dave Matthews Band fans.
Žižek was never this snarky.
After appropriately adjusting my expectations, snark is a constant background noise in the book. It's sometimes funny, sometimes making fun of a target that deserves it, sometimes an excuse to not treat a subject seriously and sometimes something that has aged quite poorly (ableist slurs stand out like a sore thumb, something it generally didn't in 2007).
The book is divided in 9 chapters, discussing everything from emo ideology, emo fashion, emo literature to emo eating habits and oh right, actual emo music. I generally found that the book was quite well researched (although it is an entertainment book, so it's not exactly done with any academic rigor) and that the authors where happy on going in to detail on most of the subjects they brought up. The facts and anecdotes that make up every chapter are accompanied by either helpful advice ("Don't put on a band shirt right after buying it from the merch table, you'll look like an emo novice") or snarky commentary ("Let's say that a guy and his crush watched One Tree Hill a week earlier with a group of seven of their friends. Never mind that there where nine people in the room. In emo terms, this was a date.")
One section of the book is about emo blogs. Just for fun, let's see how my emo blog measures up:
[From the section "how to emo-fy your blog" [...] you're going to want to look over your text and ask yourself a series of questions before hitting the "submit" button and releasing your deepest, most intimate thoughts into the world. Those questions are as follows:
Does this read well?
Am I making my points in a clear and efficient way?
Did I use actual paragraphs?
Did I capitalize all the words that need capitalisation?
Is this what my life is actually like?
Ok, 5. doesn't really apply but for the others it seems like I'm doing fine. So far, so good.
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you should probably scrap your post and start over. Ideally, a good emo blog post should be over dramatic and a bit abstruse. You know the magnets you see on fridges that people sometimes assemble into bizarre phrases? That's what emo posts are supposed to look like
Well, fuck.
Chapter 6: Music - a review
While it can be anywhere from amusing to interesting to read about everything from proper show etiquette to Emo porn sites (yes, seriously), this being a music blog first and foremost I'm gonna give some extra attention to their taste in music.
They have a section titled "Essential Emo Records 101". So what does it consist of and what do I think of it?
Rites of Spring, S/T
Embrace, S/T
Sunny Day Real Estate, Diary
Jawbreaker, Dear You
Lifetime, Hello Bastards
Texas is the Reason, Do You Know Who You Are?
Weezer, Pinkerton
The Promise Ring, Nothing Feels Good
The Get Up Kids, Something To Write Home About
Jimmy Eat World, Clarity
So far, so good. Lifetime is almost never talked about these days, but Hello Bastards is still a solid record. Mineral, American Football and Cap'n Jazz are all absent, although American Football and Cap'n Jazz weren't very popular until a long time after they split, so it's not that strange I suppose. They would be impossible to not include had the list been written today though. All the bands are accompanied by some text. For the first two albums they snarkily remark that they're not so much good as important historically. I believe that this comes from viewing the history of as stepping stones to what it was when this book was written and not with an attempt to see emo as it was at the time which I think is disappointing although not very surprising.
Saves the Day, Through Being Cool
Glassjaw, Everything You Ever Wanted
At the Drive-in, Relationship of Command
Bright Eyes, Fever and Mirrors
Thursday, Full Collapse
Dashboard Confessional, The Places You Have Come To Fear the Most
Taking Back Sunday, Tell All Your Friends
The Used, S/T
The All-American Rejects, S/T
Brand New, Deja Entendu
Coheed and Cambria, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Yellowcard, Ocean Avenue
Hawthorne Heights, The Silence in Black and White
My Chemical Romance, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Fall Out Boy, From Under the Cork Tree
Panic! At the Disco, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
There are a couple of albums that I personally don't really think qualify as emo even from a third wave point of view (although, maybe I'm just too poisoned by 4th wave elitism) namely Fevers and Mirrors, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 and A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. I do still think that at least the first two at least are quite good so it's more of a matter of being overly loose with the genre. Although, maybe it's worth interpreting this list as more "music that emo people like" rather than "emo music" in line with the rest of the book. I did honestly think that it would be a bit worse in terms of including "non-emo" music so I'm honestly positively surprised. The authors do in my opinion manage to escape with a good amount of emo cred.
One thing that I'm disappointed in is the complete absence of screamo music, although this is once again more disappointing than surprising really.
Final verdict
One helpful question to ask when reviewing any piece of media is "who is this for?". My impression is that it's mostly for people who are already immersed in Emo culture who are interested in laughing at themselves. It is a very silly subculture in many ways (particularly in 2007) and the authors poke fun of this many times. If you can take it in stride, this book might be a pleasant read. You might also learn some things that you have missed.
For people such as me who are trying to puzzle together what emo culture actually was like at the time I find that the snark gets in the way of actually learning things, and I wish that they had taken a slightly more serious approach. The book could also have done with a lot more interviews.
Ultimately I think this leaves the book with a quite narrow audience in the present day, but that's fine maybe. At the time it came out it was actually commenting on something culturally relevant and might have served as a decent primer to the subculture.
Today however, I think that I can only really recommend it to the unhealthily obsessed (like me) and the nostalgic.
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thesportssoundoff · 6 years
Text
Everybody is winning except us
Joey
October 7th
Of all of the ways this could've gone, I'm really surprised I didn't figure this would be the EXACT way it would go.
You can't predict Khabib going feet first into a melee outnumbered like 5 to 1, you can't predict Conor McGregor having a "Greedo shot first" moment by actually throwing the first punch (although in his defense, as he scales the cage, someone else is scaling it and I would've assumed anybody from Khabib's corner is going to be after me or my team at that point), you can't predict riots or a full on culture/nationalistic war.
You can always predict chaos in MMA. You can always predict the WORST CASE SCENARIO in this sport.
If you think of all the positive aspects from just the fight alone, you could be here for a while. Conor McGregor took two years off of MMA, came back to fight the scariest dude and had an actually not half bad performance given the stylistic match up, the rust factor and his natural shortcomings as a fighter (quick twitch high reflex muscle memory guy with poor cardio). If anything he could have/should have been applauded for taking the risk and we'd all be asking how a run back goes with an additional six-ish months of training. For Khabib, he once again answered another litany of questions and for the most part aced the toughest test of his career. For the UFC, they put on a tremendous fight card without a hitch, made massive money and set themselves up for another run of successful fights for both guys including a rematch. Everything could've been positive.
But this is MMA. The Worst Case Scenario more often than not will rear its ugly head at the most inopportune time. There's no point in step by stepping anybody through the brawl. What's done is done, what happened happened and everybody and anybody has their opinions on it. We all gain nothing from replaying it over and over. It's more about how we leave this entire fiasco with perceived egg on the faces of everyone involved.
I feel like we have to begin with Khabib Nurmagomedov because at the end of the day, he's the guy here who took this entire joke to the next level. You can't go and fight dudes at the cageside area. That's basic common sense stuff. The problem is that this isn't the first time Khabib has been involved in utter tripe before and maybe this is just who he is. To me, nobody has had their public perception hurt the way he has over the past few weeks from the homeless guy push ups to the presser comments to the open work out fiasco. If "gotten to" is a deal then Khabib epitomized it this entire weekend. Even his brief press conference was a trainwreck as he went from contrition for his behavior to wondering why it was a big deal and dare I even say, attempting the tried and true Whataboutisms that ultimately lead down a road to nowhere. It takes great skill to talk for a minute and reveal you still don't quite get why you're going to be a in a world of trouble.
Now if you believe in the receipt then Conor McGregor's been way overdue for one. This is an act that's spiraled out of control since his KO of Jose Aldo (and perhaps maybe even a bit before that happened) with an eventual "Oh Shit" coming at some point. You don't continually win in shit situations of your own making before something eventually backfires on you (unless you're Jon Jones) and Conor's last two years have exposed the very worst of the act. The Andre Fili/Artem Lobov situation, the Bellator incident, bar fights, speeding tickets of a dangerous sort, the ENTIRE Mayweather-McGregor fight lead up, the bus incident and the presser that was basically a collection of "Too far!" material in an already "Too far!" situation. Conor's gone for it on 4th down a lot recently and every situation he's either scored or gotten a penalty bail out from the bad decision. Eventually those do catch up with you and here we are now. Again, the erosion of SBG; it's image as a gym full of average dudes accomplishing great MMA shit evolving into the world's biggest collection of fake McGregor's has to be mentioned. What do you do when King Midas' left hand turns everything to gold but his right hand turns everything to shit?
Of course we can also bundle up everybody else into one neat and tidy paragraph here; the UFC for being a business first and not a common sense machine second. The bus attack was part of the story in my opinion and couldn't be neglected BUT somebody with a hint of common sense should've said "tone it down" to Conor and Khabib about religion, this that or the other thing. Instead they played it fast and loose, like they did/do with DC vs Jones, without realizing that Jones vs Cormier was a really personal rivalry about two people who for the most part kept it at two people. Hell taking it one step further, we can say that the UFC should've told Conor to tone it down in 2016 or 2017 or 2018. This is what happens when a fighter gains power and becomes TOO big to say to no to. You get this. Conor should've been told "No!" faaaar sooner than this. How about SBG and Khabib's cohorts who seemed to want to interject their asses into this as much as the two fighters themselves. We can also turn a sarcastic thumbs up to the majority of the MMA media; the ones who bloviated "Conor's back!" as he poured out his presser best but not once stopped to ask if maybe this whole religion/nationalism/family feud was going a bit too far. The same ones who refer to last night as a disgrace (which it was) without stopping once along the way to ask if we were heading into this situation by virtue of nobody wondering if this was spiraling. The ones who are SO reliant on MMA (and ergo the UFC and ergo Conor) to do well that they, like the UFC, allowed anything to go in the pursuit of the traffic. Lastly and perhaps most painfully? Us as fans. When the things that sell are always the worst, the bar is always raised. As consumers we have the ability to dictate what we receive and if what works is the dirt worst? Well that's on us, no? If we ascribe to the "We fight in a cage, nothing is bad for the sport" mantra then we wear this. We may not have asked for THIS specifically but that's neither here nor there because we've asked fore more of the bad shit. We ASKED for this.
And ya know the sick part? Everybody wins here really if you think about it. Assuming Khabib isn't suspended for life and incapable of getting back into the United States? He'll have a Conor McGregor rivalry for years to live off of. The same goes for Conor who has mastered the "losing the fights where you have an out" approach. Vs Nate? Well that was on two weeks notice at 170 lbs! Vs Floyd? First fight in boxing! This one? Two year layoff vs the world's greatest wrestler! Once Dana White gets over his personal shame and disappointment? The business man is going to make him realize that he'll have general wealth for every generation he's ever going to have with a Khabib vs Conor rematch. The folks decrying this as shameful will playfully bite their nails and play the "Who knows what's gonna happen!" gimmick at every presser, every face off and every single day leading up to the rematch. Those who shout about how "passionate" these fanbases are will continue to do so while also saying "they're not ALL like that!" when confronted with every social media clip of fans brawling and fighting outside the venue. Even Dillon Danis, a less self aware Robert Drysdale who fashions himself as a bootleg Conor McGregor, has basically made himself into a household name now. Everybody wins because so long as consumers want it? Business ALWAYS wins. That's the nature of the game. It's MMA at its dirt worst and there's perhaps no other place MMA shines then when it's at their dirt worst. Be it boxing or MMA, business booms at the dirt worst level. This is seemingly where the sport actually wakes up and decides to perform.
There are basically just two losers here really. The first is the lightweight division which sure looks like it's careening towards yet another stripped champion. And potentially yet another interim champion. And potentially  yet another year of question or determining just what the hell is going with the most loaded weight class in sports with fighters stuck on a broken elevator that's going neither up nor down. We have the most blessed division in the history of this weird sport and right now we have a champion who's about to be suspended, a former champ who is probably going to chase "money fights" now and the real champion who seems one poorly timed stunt away from ripping everything on the lower half of his body. The world's most talented division is about to get its dick buried in the dirt again for no reason other than the guys at the top of the helm can't control themselves. The other loser? Those of us who cling to the hope that one day this sport won't be like this. At the end of the day, we need to stop assuming MMA's going to one day grow up and just resign ourselves to the knowledge that it is what it is. For those of us who believe this thing is going to clean itself up? Probably not happening. The idea that one day in the not too distant future fights will be able to sell on the basis of being great fights and we won't need to squeeze every bit of juice out of it by resorting to the dirt worst (be it DC referring to Jon Jones as a junkie, anything Colby Covington does or the latent ethnocentrism used to sell this feud) should be dead now. As much as we all want MMA to treat itself like a sport, what the people want---and seemingly what EVERYONE involved in this sport wants---is this. We built this sport on it and now we gotta own it. All sports have brawls/fracases but they're not the drawing point to drawing people in. We WANT this. We OWN this.
If you don't believe me, wait until Covington vs Woodley to confirm it all over again. Prepare yourself for the worst case scenario.
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loverontheleft · 6 years
Text
Ready to Leap (7.1)
AU with B as a band teacher and reader as an English teacher. Fluff and smut anticipated. Chapters 1-6 can be found on my Masterlist.
Brendon x reader. Warnings: language, sexual implications, and content.
Because I don’t want to end up teaching British Literature online through a fanfic (though what a class that would be), I’m gonna continue playing fast and loose with the progression of time. Classroom time will be present as required by the plot. If you have questions about any of the works I mention and want to know why I used them or just have general questions about them, feel free to ask! I love teaching more than I love Brendon (which is a fucking lot) so I love getting literature questions.
NOTE:
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Now that I have your attention. THIS CHAPTER IS FROM BRENDON’S POV. I’m still using Y/n when Brendon’s referring to the reader because it seems easiest, but the second person “you” in this chapter is our boy.
Word count: 3.5k
-||-
“Sounds like a plan. I’m really sorry Urie, but I do actually have some work to do this planning period.” She looks regretful, like she really does want to stay - and you want her to stay too. But you’re not going to interfere with her job.
You nod, understanding. She reaches for the panties still in your hand and you pull back.
“No ma’am, these are mine now. You left them for me. Also, your dress doesn’t have pockets; where would you even put them until you got back to your room?”
“Well, seeing as I’m not wearing any currently, I would have just put them on.” Your eyes go wide and she smiles. “But like you said, they’re yours now, so I’ll just head back to my room.” She gives you a quick kiss before turning and walking towards the office door.
“Milton, you’re kidding, right? You’re fucking with me right now. Oh my god.” You’re sitting on the couch now, head resting against interlocked fingers. She turns before leaving your office and blows you a kiss. Once she’s gone, you sit back and groan, eyes shut. “Woman, you are going to be the death of me, I swear.”
You’re distracted the rest of your planning period; you keep playing the moment you found her panties on repeat. Your alarm went off, you rolled over to hit the snooze button, and, instead of smooth plastic, your fingers touch lace. Confused, your fingers close around the lace and bring it over to your drowsy eyes. You turn on the table lamp with your free hand and blink to focus. “Jesus fucking Christ.” As if you weren’t hard enough from your evening together playing on repeat behind your eyes all night; this was a whole new level. Your eyes slide to the time on your clock. You don’t have time, unless it’s in the shower. You groan again, clutching her panties and rolling out of bed.
The bell for 4th block rings and you shake your head, clearing out memories of steamy showers. Time to focus. You leave for Invitationals early Saturday morning; you have 3 more practices left , and only one of them is an extended practice. Maybe letting them leave early last night was a - no. Your mind wanders back to kissing her, how she responded so eagerly, so soft and willing, the rest of your evening together, sucking strawberry off of her fingers, and you reaffirm your decision. You all deserved a break yesterday.
“Heyyyyyy Mr. Urie.” Emily drops her bag by her seat and grins at you. “Ms. Milton was really distracted in second block.” Don’t react. Don’t react.
“Was she?” Calm. Mostly uninterested. Good.
“Yep. Anyway, thanks for letting us go early yesterday; I finished my chemistry research project early and don’t have anything to do over Invitationals weekend. How was your night?”
You look at her and can’t tell what she knows. If she knows. You’re pretty sure all of the cars were gone when you - but Marissa maybe? She wouldn’t have said anything. Would she? No.
“It was very pleasant, thank you for asking. Good job on the chem project, by the way. Good to stay on top of things.” Y/n, in your lap, rocking on top of you, grinding those hips down, rubbing herself against your dick, moaning in your ear, telling you to come. Fuck. It’s going to be a long day.
Everyone’s changing for practice and you head into your office to send her a quick text. “Can’t stop thinking about you. Headed out to the field. Practice is over at 3:30 today.” You don’t expect a response so you’re stunned when your phone vibrates immediately.
“I’ll meet you in the band room at 4.”
It’s. Going. To. Be. A. Long. Day.
Practice goes as smoothly as it could go; Marissa looks more confident, steps are all neat and precise, and the shapes are clean and exact. They sound amazing. They’re working hard, and you’re sure it’s out of appreciation for their unexpected night off. You finetune a few things, have the sections retune, and run it again. And just like that, it’s 3:25. “Excellent job guys - I mean it. Really phenomenal. Do that Saturday and you’ll be really pleased with your ratings. Pack up, head inside, and be sure to stay hydrated. Extended practice tomorrow!”
You wait until the field is cleared and climb down the ladder. By the time you get back inside and change, it’ll be 3:45. Everyone will be gone and you’ll only have to wait fifteen minutes.
It’s 4 on the dot and there’s a soft knocking at your door. You pull the door open and she’s standing there and just when you thought you couldn’t be any more attracted to her -
“I ordered pizza.” She’s holding the box in her hands and you can smell it; it’s mouthwatering. “It's not filet mignon toast, but figured we could go over some logistics for the competition.”
Moments later, you’re both seated on the floor, her legs curled under her delicately, and you’re discussing bus schedules and food prep. “Typically the Band Boosters make a ton of sandwiches and put them back in the loaf sleeves and we put those in coolers with the drinks and bring dry snacks along.”
She nods thoughtfully. “That works. What are we doing for dinner Saturday after the competition?”
“What are we, you and I, doing, or what are we, the collective band, doing?” Your hand is wandering up her thigh over her dress and she blushes. “We, you and I, are doing whatever we, you and I, want.”
“But we should probably be with the collective band, right?”
“That’s what the parent volunteers are for. Typically they divide into 4 groups and go to 4 different restaurants. Each kid has their own “band account” where tip money and bonus work hour rewards from the fish fry go, so they don’t have to worry about spending their own money.”
“That’s really smart.” She looks impressed and you smile.
“It took a while to get it all in order, but it works really well now. But anyway, the parent volunteers take them to dinner with the understanding that I need to be alone and decompress. With my anxiety and everything, I need some alone time after competitions.” She looks so concerned, so protective. “I’m usually fine, honestly. Just a lot of tension and high energy and crowds, sometimes it’s a bit much, especially at Invitationals which can be a two-day event if things go well Saturday.”
She places her hand over yours and smiles. “So what I’m hearing is a quiet night in with hotel room service.” She pauses, squeezing your hand. “And a ‘do not disturb’ sign.”
“That, Milton, is a very tempting offer. But we can go out for real food and then come back for that sign.”
“Either works for me.” She shrugs and takes another bite of pizza, a bit of sauce grazing the corner of her mouth. You lean in and kiss her, tongue flicking out and capturing it.
“What are your plans for the rest of the evening?” Your own personal plans depend on however she replies.
“Grading Beowulf outlines and writing a comprehension test and doing a stupid scantron answer sheet.”
“Gosh Milton, I was going to ask if you wanted to go to Disney World, but your night sounds so much better,” you tease and she laughs.
“Definitely.”
You hesitate, flipping your hand over under hers to hold hers lightly. “As always, tell me if I’m moving too fast but, you are welcome to come over and I’ll make a random scantron answer sheet for you and you can write questions and change answers around after. It takes one thing off your to-do list.”
She grins, setting down her pizza and moving it off of her lap. “And why would you helping me with a test be moving too fast?”
“I just don’t want you to think I’m trying to hold you captive or anything, having you over every night.”
“Wait, you’re not planning to hold me captive? Then what were those handcuffs for?” She shrieks with laughter when you shove the pizza box out from between you and tackle her, hand behind her head protectively, kissing her fiercely.
“You’re bad, Milton.”
“You like it, Urie.”
-||-
You both agree that she’ll go get what she needs from her room, go home and change, and then head over.
It’s an hour later and she’s sitting on your couch, green pen in hand, muttering something about logical fallacies and as stupid as it sounds, you’d watch her grade for hours. She showed up in sinfully tight leggings and your black tee, hair in a messy bun, and glasses on. “Damn,” you whistled when you opened the door. “How do you look good in anything?” and she grinned, stepping inside and kissing you softly once you’d shut the door.
“Are you ready for Milton’s Torturedome?” She asks, holding a stack of outlines.
“I’m ready to watch you, although admittedly I can think of like five other things I’d rather watch you do.”
She grins. “Just five, Urie? I’m hurt.”
You groan and pull her over to the couch. “Stop teasing me and grade. Let me know when you want me to start on the scantron and how many questions you want.” That was 40 minutes ago.
You look over at her again, taking a break from your scantron coloring, and she’s biting her lip in thought. She can feel your gaze and she looks up at you with a smile. “Yes?”
“Just looking.”
“Mmmm. Well I think I’m just about done with these. How goes the scantron?”
You smirk, holding it up. “Urie...is every answer C?” She’s laughing and you shake your head.
“Nope the last one is D.” You turn it over to show her.
“And you say I’m the bad one.” She sets aside the pile of outlines and crawls into your lap. “That’s just evil.”
“I can change it if you wa-“
“No. It’s hilarious.” She yawns and stretches and you feel her thighs tense around yours. “True confession, I already have the Beowulf test written. I just need to shuffle answers now and I can do that tomorrow.”
You grin. “I like this true confession. What does it mean for our evening?”
She grins back, running a hand through your hair. “It means we can put on a movie and pretend to watch it for five minutes before we give in and start making out.”
“Fuck yes.”
When her phone alarm goes off at 10:30, she pulls away breathlessly and frowns. “I don’t wanna stop.”
You look up at her, her lips swollen and hair all over the place, shirt missing. She’s drawing patterns on your bare chest, connecting the dots between the various marks she’s left. “I don’t want to stop either, but we set an alarm for a reason,” you remind her woefully.
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She rocks back onto her heels and fixes her hair. “What are we going to do Saturday night?”
You smirk, reaching out to caress the side of her breast. “I was hoping more of this.”
She giggles, and shakes her head. “No, I mean, yes but...for sleeping arrangements.”
“Oh, there’s usually another faculty member who goes, Mr. Dean, but he’s not teaching here this year. The school pays for two rooms for school employee chaperones.” She nods slowly.
“That sort of seems like a waste of money.” She grins, noticing your hopeful confusion. “I was hoping I’d be spending the evening in your bed.”
You groan, leaning up to tangle a hand in her hair and pull her back down on top of you. “Fuck, Milton, I want that too.” Your mouth is on hers and she grips the side of your face, moaning hungrily into your kiss.
Out of nowhere, she pulls back for a moment, thoughtful. “But obviously the kids will notice if we are in the same room. So...keep the room. Ask for adjoining ones if possible, to make things easier. I’ll just make an anonymous donation for the cost.”
You laugh, kissing her softly. “I’ve got it. Don’t protest.”
Thursday drags. Extended practice is rough today, not performance-wise, just as far as time goes. Friday is worse. You’ve both agreed it’s probably best to cut back on your time together at school over these two days, but you’re definitely regretting the choice. She probably is too.
She texts you late Friday evening. “Jeans and the band polo you gave me for tomorrow?”
You have several things you want to reply with, each implying your desire for her naked, but instead, you send back, “perfect” and a smiley face.
“Thanks Urie. Sleep well, and I’ll see you bright and early.”
She’s not lying; with Invitationals being so far away, the band and chaperones meet at the school at 5am. This is nothing for her, but the kids (and you) are lethargic. Fortunately for you, she’s taken charge of all bus logistics and is giving instructions. All you have to do is stand next to her to give her credibility with the band parents and not drag her to the ground and ravage her. That second one is easier said than done. She’s so hot with a clipboard in her hands.
Everything goes smoothly and you’re boarded and rolling by 5:30 - a whole thirty minutes early. This will give you time to stop somewhere for breakfast - a drive thru - but hungry high schoolers are like piranhas so you’re grateful. You are both seated at the front of the bus, and manage to appear as just colleagues the entire 6-hour drive. It’s hard, but you’re not taking any chances.
Lunch, as always, is chaotic but when you step away to discuss something with the competition coordinator, you happen to glance back over and your heart is so full. She’s walking around, checking in with students, insisting they drink more water, calming down the nervous freshmen, answering questions from parent volunteers and generally keeping things running smoothly. She looks up, catches your eye, and breaks into a radiant smile. “Hi,” you mouth while the coordinator checks something with his supervisor. She smiles, giving you a soft wave.
This is the first competition of the season and while it doesn’t count as a qualifier for State for your region, your scores here have always been reflective of how you’ll do at competitions that carry some real weight. The kids know this and are nervous - but it’s the excited nervous that doesn’t have you worried. You and Y/n are sitting in the bleachers with the other parent volunteers; the two of you are at the very top of the bleachers to get as close to a judge’s view as you can get. The march-on is smooth and well executed; the cadence from the drumline already has the crowd excited. You’re more nervous than the students are honestly; the announcer always gives the name of the band director and the name of the show composer. This is the first year both will be your name and you are petrified. The band comes to a halt. Marissa waits, facing the judges’ window. Her hands are steady at her side.
“From Putnam High School in Putnam, Connecticut, the Putnam High Marching Band is under the direction of Mr. Brendon Urie and drum major Marissa Wayford. They are performing Heroes and Villains, arranged by Mr. Brendon Urie.” Her hand squeezes yours. “Putnam High Marching Band, you may take the field for exhibition.” You let out a sigh. That should reassure the kids. Scores, but not scores that really matter. It usually helps you.
Marissa strides to the podium, ascends gracefully. She scans left, scans right. “Band horns up!” You want to vomit. And then they’re off.
Her hand is still squeezing yours and you can’t breathe. They’re doing so well. You are meticulous and obsessive and you haven’t spotted anything. People are cheering at each musical transition; you feel less sick. This is going well. It’s going really well. She looks over at you and smiles. “I’m so proud of you,” she whispers and you can’t fight the smile that spreads across your face. The crowd is screaming - there’s just something about a full company in a straight line forward march that drives people wild - it’s the band version of a dancer’s kickline, she whispers to you and you laugh.
Trumpet solo on Taps. She squeezes tighter and you both sigh in relief when that high note soars, pure and clear, through the stadium.
“Band horns down!” It’s over. It’s over. The entire crowd is on their feet roaring, and you’re staring at each other in ecstasy and her face, fuck, you can see how proud of you she is and without thinking, you grab her by the back of the neck and crush your mouth over hers. She moans into the kiss and tangles her hands in your hair, back arching so her chest is pressing into yours and your other hand is sliding down her back and she’s opening her mouth for your tongue and fuck this is so goo- oh fuck. Fuck.
You think it hits her at the same time and you both pull away from each other, panicked. Almost coordinated, you both whirl to the front and she lets out a sigh of relief that doesn’t even come close to what you’re feeling. The band is marching off and all of the parents are on still on their feet cheering.
“Odds that someone saw that?” You ask, breathing hard. Her eyes are still wide.
“Maybe one of the kids on the field but I doubt they’d know it was us.” You look around. You’re the only band with white show shirts. You and Y/n have on black band polos.
“I don’t know Milton...look around.” She does and comes to the same conclusion. She looks petrified. “I’m sure they didn’t look up here,” you soothe, unsure if you believe yourself. “They were probably watching Marissa and waiting for the march-off.” She nods and looks somewhat comforted.
“Okay. Let’s just go with that. We need to collect them and get them back on the bus, to the hotel, then divided into groups for dinner?” Making a plan calms her. She looks more confident.
“Yep. Let’s head down there now.” You reach for her hand and she gives you a pointed look and then grins. “Oh. Right.”
No one says anything about it to either of you walking to the bus or on the bus. The kids are chattering loudly about a variety of topics in the hotel lobby but you don’t hear either of your names. You might be okay. “Alright guys!” You get their attention and when they turn to look at you, you can see the glee in their faces. They know how well they did. “I’ll get scores emailed to me in about 4 hours. You’ve got time to get change, get dinner, and relax a bit at the hotel before we come back together in the meeting room downstairs. I’m so proud of you all. It was incredible to watch and I am just so, so excited for this season. Truly, an excellent job.” They can’t stop smiling and neither can you. “Now go change and stick stick with your groups.”
Y/n went up to change once you gave her her key, so ideally she’ll be ready to go to dinner once you get up there. To your mutual delight, the hotel was able to give you an adjoining room. You slide your key into the door, planning to knock on the connecting door to collect her for dinner. The green light blinks, you walk into your room, and all of your breath leaves your body. “Holy fuck Milton.”
She grins, leaning back on her elbows on your bed, eyes on you. “You like it?”
You nod silently, looking her up and down. “Did your friend make this for you too?” She giggles, shaking her head. “Stand up. I wanna see all of this.” She arches up, slipping off the bed and standing, turning slowly. The dress is a black silky material that plunges low between her breasts and slits high up her left thigh. “You know I’m not letting you leave the room in this, right?”
“That’s exactly what I was counting on.”
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sweetmemories2606 · 6 years
Text
Jerza Week Day 4: Dreams
Good afternoon, everyone. Here we go with day 4.
Here's the info: 
Title: Our dreams came true.
Summary: While preparing for their daughter's 4th birthday, Jellal happens to ask Erza what her biggest dream is. Upon remembering everything she'd ever dreamed of, she realizes that they all came true.
Pairings: Jerza (family) and Gruvia (minor).
Timeline: This is set about 12 years after the ending of Fairy Tail.
Warnings: This is just pure FLUFF. Also, there's a flashback here with my newest Jerza Headcanon: the reason why Erza loves strawberry cake. 
Word Count: 1800 words.
Happy reading! 
(Oops, I totally forgot to credit the artists for the two bottom pictures. A million times sorry for that)
Here are the credits:
Jerza Wedding-Found on Pinterest, but submitted by NaLu-love on Fanpop
Jerza Family- Moonllita on Devinatart
                                            Our dreams came true
It was a quiet afternoon in the household of Jellal and Erza Fernandes. The two of them were cooking together, preparing a strawberry cake for the party that would be taking place the next day: their daughter's birthday.
Young Scarlet Fernandes would be turning 4 the following day and the two parents couldn't be happier. It had gone by so fast; it seemed like only yesterday he had been proposing to her on that sunny afternoon two years after the end of the war. Yet here they were, 10 years later, and so many things had changed.
They were discussing that while keeping a close eye on the two children who were outside playing with Gray and Juvia; the couple had agreed to keep an eye on them while Jellal and Erza got everything ready. Scarlet's older brother, Simon, was happily trying to catch the snowflakes Gray made fall while Scarlet and Juvia watched them, sitting on the grass. The water mage would eventually make it rain a bit, much to the child's delight.
The other couple was thankful for their help, knowing that they already had enough trouble taking care of their own three children; Mika, Silver and River; who were away on a trip with Lyon and Meredy.
 That was the whole reason why they'd managed to come help in the first place; as great parents as Gray and Juvia were, they couldn't watch over 5 children at once. Specially when those children were overly energetic and could use magic.
In any case, while they were watching their daughter and son play and finishing the cake, there was a moment when Jellal turned to his wife and asked "Tell me, Erza, what would you say is your biggest dream?"
 A nostalgic smile came upon her face as she considered the question.
Truth be told, she had had many dreams throughout life, the two of them did.
When they were children, they dreamed of being free.
"Tell me, do you think we'll ever be free?" Erza had asked her friends one day when they were sitting on the ground; Jellal played with her hair like he always loved to do, Simon staring at them while trying to hide his jealousy, Milliana was half asleep and Whally played with some rocks.
"I don't know, but I hope so." The latter had replied quickly while the others, except for Jellal, looked to the ground.
"It's starting to feel more like a distant dream." The brunette told them; her eyes were closed by she was clearly paying attention.
"I don't even remember what being free is like." Simon said, a sad look upon his face. He had been the first one to be brought to the Tower, when he'd been barely 5.
"I do. I remember playing in the grass and eating strawberry cake." Jellal said, letting go of Erza's hair and walking till he was in front of her.
"Your mom made you strawberry cake too?" She stared at him wide-eyed and he nodded, a smile upon his face.
"Yep. I remember it was delicious and I always wanted more." He replied happily.
"Now I want to have strawberry cake." Simon said, making the duo laugh.
"I'm sorry, Simon." Erza apologized gently and it wasn't long before he smiled.
"It's ok. It's nice to learn more about who you were before we came here." Jellal jumped in after that.
"I agree. I wish I could've known you before, Erza." He told the red head, making her blush a bit.
"Really?" She asked, wondering why he'd have wanted to.
"Of course! We would've had the most fun eating strawberry cake together. Ah, I wish you'd tasted my mom's cake; it was the best!" By then he had taking her hands in his and was swinging them excitedly.
"I wish I could've met you before too." Erza admitted, making his smile enlarge.
"It's no use wishing for things that are impossible." Whally reminded them, making her frown.
"Then how about we wish for something that might be possible?" Jellal added, as positive as ever.
"Like what?" Milliana asked, having opened her eyes and sat up against the rock where she'd been previously trying to sleep.
"Freedom." He replied simply.
"Do you really think that someday we'll be free?" Erza asked, curious and hopeful.
"Of course, Erza. I have no doubt about it." His reassurance was enough to keep hope alive in her heart, for she knew that he was possibly the most determined person she'd ever know.
"You two are just dreaming." Simon said, clearly jealous, though they didn't notice.
"Maybe. But I believe that dreams can come true if you work hard enough." Milliana replied.
"I hope so. I'd really like to get out of here." Erza said and Jellal took her hands once again while staring determinedly at her.
"When you do, Erza, can you promise me something?" She nodded, curious.
"What is it?" He smiled brightly before answering.
"Promise me that you'll eat lost of strawberry cake." And she did. In the years that followed her release from the Tower, Erza always kept his words close to heart and she tried to follow through as much as possible.
Then, as they grew older and finally realized their feelings, a new dream arose: The wish to be loved.
"Is there something you want to say?" Erza turned to look at him, eyebrows raised and face impassive, emotionless. She wouldn't allow him to see how much she was hurting or how his actions had affected her. Not even Jellal would be allowed to have power over her, at least to his knowledge.
"You know." He swallowed hard and she stared at him in confusion, having no idea what he was referring to.
"Know what?" He sighed deeply before closing the distance between them. Suddenly, he was close. Too close.
Her stubborn heart started beating faster with hope and she cursed it. Cursed herself for being so affected by him. She was Erza Scarlet, the strongest mage in Fairy Tail. This lovesick, scared, hopeful girl was nothing like her.
"You must know. Why else would you have confessed your feelings even after I asked you not to?" She was taken aback by his reply and stared at him open mouthed.
"Jellal…" She tried to say something, but nothing came out as his arms wrapped tightly around her waist and suddenly she was pressed against him, she could feel his heart beating now, just as wildly as hers. Her own arms wrapped around his neck as they stared intensely at each other.
"I'm sorry." He whispered gently, eyes avoiding hers. "Sorry I have avoided you, sorry I made you suffer for so long. I am truly sorry, Erza, for everything." Then he had finally said those three words she desperately wanted to hear. I love you.
Besides love, there was something else they had desperately needed. Something which Jellal had, at first, dreamed about, but later lost hope that he'd ever receive it: Forgiveness.
"I don't want you to think of me as someone who makes you comfortable, it's wrong. After everything I've done to you…" She interrupted him.
"How many times do I have to tell you that I forgive you? You have to let it go, Jellal, or else you'll never move on from your mistakes." He shook his head, still unwilling to accept it.
"I can't let it go, not when it haunts me all the time. The times that I hurt you, threatened to kill the people you love. I can't forgive myself." Her expression softened and she gently touched his cheek.
"Look at me." Erza commanded when he avoided her eyes. "You are not that person anymore. You've changed; I can see it clearly. You've become kind and loyal and I'm not the only one who thinks so. You need to focus on the person you've become instead of who you were before." He couldn't help it but to smile.
"You always know what to say, don't you?" He repeated the words he had said to her less than two weeks before, when they had encountered each other after 7 years of him believing her to be dead. Their conversation that day wasn't much different from this one. The difference was that they were both aware of their feelings now.
"That's still not true. I just see you for who you are and I'd like it if you did as well." Jellal sighed.
"That's not the problem here, Erza." That had her shaking her head and sighing.
"You idiot. I'll never understand why you refuse to accept my forgiveness." His response was obvious, repetitive, annoying.
"I don't deserve it." She knew he was broken, but so was she.
"Stop being so stubborn and just let me help you." He was shocked by her harshness, but Erza was determined. Even if he didn't love her, she wouldn't let him go. Not yet.
"You have to let me go. It's best for both of us if we stay away from each other." He said, as if reading her thoughts. She shook her head vigorously, her hands falling to his shoulders.
"No, it wouldn't. I can't let you go." She told him firmly and before she could stop herself, the words came out and everything changed. I love you.
Never had they imagined that some day all of their dreams would actually come true, yet here they were, happily married and with two beautiful children.
"Honestly, I don't think there's any big dream left." Erza looked back towards the gardens just as Juvia took Scarlet into her arms and kissed the little girl's forehead. "I already have everything I need." Jellal also smiled before wrapping his arms around her, bringing her closer for a soft kiss.
Life was finally good for them and peace ruled their hearts. They considered themselves to be the proof that, sometimes, dreams do actually come true.
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thatishogwash · 6 years
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And Everything Was Fine
Written for Bokuroo Week 2018 Day Four: April 4th - You can't always get what you want
AO3
Kuroo would rather be anywhere than at this party.  Though he was using the term party very loosely at this point.  They were all in their thirties, they didn’t party per say more like a small gathering of old friends with a few drinks and food.  People had to get home early to relieve sitters and they had work early in the morning.  Other adult things that made Kuroo’s stomach twist and pull in odd ways.
Kuroo wasn’t jealous, not really.  He was glad for his friends who managed to snag dream jobs and those who had started families or were beginning to start families.  He was happy to hear about trips to far away places and upcoming vacations.  He wasn’t jealous but he did feel stuck.
Going to university had been a no brainer for Kuroo.  He was at the top of his class in high school and he had done fantastically in college.  He had even managed to get a decent research job using his degree after he graduated.  But then the funds had dried up when the research led nowhere and Kuroo had been out of a job.  He spent his days working at an onsen and nights bartending while he continued to room with his college roommate.
Kuroo didn’t know why Sawamura continued to room with him, perhaps pity or concern, but the other man was just about the only good thing going in Kuroo’s life.  Sawamura had gotten joined the police academy after high school and gotten into Tokyo police department rather easily.  Kuroo and Sawamura had moved in together after a disastrous first dormmate experience Kuroo had.  Sawamura had gotten his criminal justice degree doing night courses and had moved up to detective just this past year.  He earned more than enough to get his own place but he stayed with Kuroo.
Kuroo kept expecting Sawamura to bring home some beautiful creature with him one day and inform Kuroo he was moving out.  Only god knew why the other man didn’t have someone as of yet, Kuroo had no romantic notions towards the other man but Sawamura in uniform was a sight to behold.
Sawamura was the one who dragged Kuroo to the party.  It was a lowkey affair but mostly Kuroo wanted to go home, change into his comfy clothes, and cuddle with Sawamura on the couch.
“Hey hey hey!”  A booming voice cut through the low chatter, causing eyerolls and grins all around as someone unexpected entered the house.  Kuroo’s stomach twisted as he looked over at the front entrance to the large form of his high school crush.
High school crush was actually putting it mildly.  Saying it that way made it seem as if it was something in the past, something Kuroo had gotten over and moved on from within the passing years.  Kuroo had moved on from the crush portion, that was true, now it was just full blown out unrequited love.
Bokuto was one of those few lucky people who seemed to get everything they ever dreamed of.  It didn’t just fall into his lap, he worked hard everyday of his life to get what he deserved and Kuroo had seen it first hand.  Had seen the blood, sweat, and tears Bokuto had shed to claw his way to the top.  How he had to start over from the bottom again and again and push his way to the top.  He was returning home from his second time at the Olympics and looked really great from his time spent in training.
Akaashi appeared to Bokuto’s left, smiling as he placed a hand on Bokuto’s arm to keep his former ace from waving his hands around wildly.  That was another thing Bokuto had gotten right, Akaashi.  The man had only gotten more beautiful with age, he carried a calm sort of dignity that Kuroo couldn’t even pretend he had.
“Tetsurou!”  Bokuto shouted happily once he spotted Kuroo, bounding over to him and wrapping some rather impressive arms around Kuroo.  Kuroo leaned into the hug, wrapping his own arms around Bokuto’s waist and squeezing him gently.  Kuroo pressed his face into Bokuto’s neck, tried not to inhale too deeply and look like a complete nutjob.  “Rough day, eh?”  Kuroo nodded and allowed Bokuto to rub up and down his back soothingly, his hand big and warm and a little rough against Kuroo’s back.
Kuroo pulled away because he was sure there was some sort of social norm that mandated the length of hugs between friends and he had already overstepped that by a lot.  Bokuto beamed at him, cheeks and nose a little red due to sunburn.
“I told you to be careful.”  Kuroo said, tapping Bokuto’s nose and watching it scrunch up adorably in response.
“This is nothing, you should have seen Akaashi’s face.”  Bokuto said with a grin.  Because Akaashi had gone to see Bokuto at the olympics, he had seen Bokuto’s amazing plays in person and had been there to support him while Kuroo was stuck at home, watching recorded games because he had been working during the real thing.
“What about my face?”  Akaashi asked as he walked over with Sawamura.
“You need to take better care of your skin Akaashi.”  Bokuto stated wisely, as if he hadn’t spent a day sprawled out on Kuroo’s living room floor once when they were 22 and he claimed that he didn’t need sunscreen and spent the entire day playing beach volleyball.  He had been as red as a lobster and Kuroo had mercilessly teased him while simultaneously pointing all fans at Bokuto’s body and spreading aloe over his burnt skin.
“I will do better in the future, thank you Bokuto.”  Akaashi’s voice was flat but Bokuto beamed as if he had no idea that Akaashi was being a little shit.
“Did someone say baby pictures?”  Bokuto turned his head before quickly making his way over to Konoha, who was showing off his new twins.
Kuroo watched Bokuto lean over Konoha’s shoulder, cooing and laughing at various pictures and videos.  There was always light and life practically oozing out of Bokuto.  The first Olympic he was in he became a fast fan favorite with his good looks and cheerful personality.  Kuroo had seen the numerous fan encounter pictures, with Bokuto hunched over his usually much smaller companion and both of them grinning broadly at the camera.  It made Kuroo’s heart ache sweetly with each picture he saw, every interview and game he watched.
Kuroo turned away from Bokuto before anyone else noticed his staring.  He turned back just in time to see Akaashi and Sawamura sharing a smile, standing close to each other.  It would have been normal if Sawamura’s mouth was nearly touching Akaashi’s ear, his forehead resting against Akaashi’s temple.  Akaashi was slightly taller than Sawamura but it wasn’t usually a noticable difference unless they were right on top of each other.
“What are you doing?”  Kuroo hissed out, appalled and feeling queasy as he glanced back over at an oblivious Bokuto before turning back to people he used to admire.  Akaashi’s eyebrows rose delicately as Sawamura turned to Kuroo.
“We’re around friends.”  Sawamura said firmly.
“Bokuto’s here!”  Kuroo rubbed at his face.  “You shouldn’t even be doing that in the first place.”  Kuroo couldn’t believe Akaashi and Sawamura were looking at him as if he was the one doing something wrong.  As if he had been the one to shamelessly flirt with a taken man.
“What the hell Kuroo?”  Sawamura asked, voice tight and temper high if he was referring to Kuroo by his family name.  They had long ago lost all formalities with each other.
“Wait,” Akaashi placed his hand on Sawamura’s bicep, holding the other man back and Kuroo gave a quick glance to Bokuto to see that he was still occupied.  Kuroo knew long distance relationships were hard but he never expected Akaashi to have an affair and especially not with Sawamura.  “Why would it matter if Bokuto is here?”
“Because you two have been dating since forever.”  Kuroo began to wonder if maybe Bokuto knew, if they had an open relationship.  Kuroo and Bokuto didn’t much talk about their romantic relationships.  Mostly for Kuroo it was because he had none and it hurt to hear Bokuto talk about Akaashi so he never asked about it.
“We went out on two dates a decade ago before realizing we were better off as friends.”  Akaashi’s voice had dipped low, devoid of emotion which usually was a telling sign that he was truly and properly angry.  “I’ve been dating Sawamura for months now.”  Kuroo turned to Sawamura, who nodded in agreement.
“I told you about it when it started.”  Sawamura confirmed.
“You-” Kuroo went over his past conversations with Sawamura in his head.  “You said Akaashi would be around more often and if I was okay with that.  That he might crash at our place but mostly you would be staying there.”  Kuroo felt like a complete idiot and Akaashi shaking his head didn’t help.
“It’s okay, you’ve been kind of having a rough go of things.”  Sawamura gave Kuroo’s head a rub.
“No, don’t comfort him, he’s an idiot.”  Akaashi chastised Sawamura, pulling his hand away from Kuroo’s head and entwining their fingers.  “You’re completely missing the most crucial part.”
“Crucial part?”  Kuroo asked, edging backwards from Akaashi’s fierce frown.
“The fact that you’ve been in love with Bokuto for years now and he’s felt the same way.”  Akaashi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand.  “I couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t confess when it was so blindingly obvious.”
“It was?”  Kuroo hesitantly asked because he was afraid that it wasn’t true.  Nothing was really going as Kuroo had expected his life to go and he never thought he would actually have his feelings returned.
“Yes it was, still is.”  Sawamura confirmed.  Sawamura might enjoy playing a prank or two on Kuroo but he was never outright cruel.  If he said Bokuto loved Kuroo then he was telling the truth.
“I’m going to steal Konoha’s baby.”  Bokuto said as he walked back over.  “They are super tired and there are two of them so they probably won’t notice if one goes missing, right?”  Bokuto glanced around for confirmation.
“Daichi, do you need something to drink?”  Akaashi asked tactfully, leading his apparent boyfriend away and leaving Kuroo alone with Bokuto.
“So, Akaashi and Daichi are dating huh?”  Kuroo asked.
“For months now.”  Bokuto turned back to Kuroo with a frown.  “You okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”  Kuroo asked, genuinely curious.
“Because you’ve been in love with Daichi for years.”  Bokuto glanced around once more.  “So him dating someone else must really suck.”  Kuroo’s heart felt like it stuttered and stopped for a moment before he took a step closer to Bokuto because he could have sworn it sounded like Bokuto was jealous.  Jealous of Kuroo being in love with someone else.
“I don’t love Daichi, at least not like that.”  Kuroo stated firmly.  
“But wasn’t he your first kiss and everything?”  Bokuto asked and Kuroo cringed at the memory.
“Yeah but that was a long time ago when we were trying to figure ourselves out.”  Kuroo had been coming to terms with the fact that he was gay.  Being in love with one of your best friends was one thing but admitting that you’d never have the wife and kids your parents always pictured you with?  That was a difficult adjustment.  Sawamura was bisexual and dealing the a lot of the same problems, especially with going into a career with the police.  It came with certain stigmas.  Kuroo and Sawamura felt comfortable with each other enough to experiment.  No real feelings were involved and it was mostly clumsy and messy with a lot of mistakes and laughter.  Kuroo couldn’t regret that, but maybe he should have made things clearer to Bokuto.
“So you don’t love him?”  Bokuto asked, also taking another step closer.
“Not him.”  Kuroo glanced down at Bokuto’s lips, a little red from sunburn and cracked and dry.
“Just kiss already!”  Someone shouted from behind them and they both turned to see the entire room looking at them.
Kuroo laughed as Bokuto ducked his head, hiding his blushing face in his shoulder.  He wrapped his arms around the other man, content for that night.  Not much had changed.  The next morning Kuroo would have to get up early to go open the onsen and he would spend a long night bartending afterwards while his degree sat in a box gathering dust and he continued to room with his old room mate, who he was not in love with, but right at that moment everything was just as it should be.
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a-broken-potato · 4 years
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Well, I guess if I’m gonna use this as a coping mechanism I might as well tell my story. Here we go, ⚠️TW⚠️ this includes blood, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse references, self harm mentions, running away, etc read at your own risk.⚠️
So I was born to a teen mom, she was 16 when she got pregnant. She married my birth father in a shotgun wedding after she found out. He was in and out of prison most of my childhood so he wasn’t there much and my birth parents were never very faithful to each other (they are still married today but have multiple kids with other people and are dating other people.) things were okay for a while, I lived in Arizona for the first four months of my life then my birth mother and I moved up to montana to live with my current parents (my biological grandparents on my biodads side) I lived there till I was about 18 months, a year and a half old and that’s when things started turning south. I was soon taken in the middle of the night in November of 2002, my birth mother decided to run and she took me with her. She took me up to a place in Montana where it’s mostly mountains and forest and not many people. There we shared a house with her best friend and her best friends boyfriend. She never rlly took care of me much, she’d go to work and then she’s get back and her friend would go to work but instead of taking care of me she’d have sex with her friends boyfriend or go to party or drink or do drugs or whatever else she could find to do. I’d wander in the woods by myself sometimes, looking for food or just exploring like a child my age does. I would see my current parents every couple of weeks but then my now mom found out some of the stuff that was going on and called CPS. My birth mother ran yet again. She took me to Oregon where we spent quite a lot of time. She then started dating this guy, I’m gonna call him Mike. Most of my problems began with Mike. Things were okay for a couple weeks then things started going bad. Both he and my bio mom did drugs and drank a lot so a when he’d do things most of the time it was because he was on drugs. One day started hitting her and yelling at her. Then when he couldn’t get enough he would also take it out on me but he didn’t just hit me or yell at me, he’d also touch me. He got worse and worse until the day I went into state coustody. He was so doped up on drugs he slashed his wrist and started writing on the wall with blood. My birth mother was so scared she called the cops to come and get him but then they saw drugs in her purse and arrested her too. I went into foster care that day. I went to two different houses, I was one of the lucky ones, my parents now found me pretty quick after I went in and started fostering me. One of the houses I went to, they had a lot of kids. One of the older ones tho, he was 18 at the time, he would scare me intentionally all the time, and sometimes yell at me. The other house I don’t remember much about, just this little toy that was on the side of my bed. It was a little aquarium with fish in it and a yellow knob on the bottom, and if you turn the knob it plays music and the fish swim around (I’m still trying to find this thing so if anyone knows what I’m talking about or knows where I can get one please let me know!). I remember my nose being stopped up and I was scared cause I couldn’t breath so I wound that thing up and it calmed me down and I fell asleep. I was placed with my current Danton February of 2006 but because of my birth mother not wanting me to be with them I wasn’t adopted until April of 2007 (around my 4th birthday). We then moved to Colorado, where we currently live. My birth father has caused me a lot of emotional problems too, due to him just disappearing for years at a time and just coming back and thinking things can go back to the way they were before.
My memories of the above were mostly repressed until the past couple of years. Idk why I’ve been remembering but I have and I will update this post as I remember more. Sometimes I’ll start remembering something and I’m basically in a trance or I start crying my eyes out or, sometimes, I’ll remember in the form of nightmares and will wake up crying or, in some rare cases, screaming.
My parents don’t rlly believe I’m able to remember all of that but I am.
So fast forward to about 6, I went to a new church one day with my family and I ended up meeting this girl named Katy. She was my best friend, de did everything together, she was constantly over at my house, and when we weren’t together we were on the phone. She was my best friend for about 5 years, then things began to turn south. She found out she was bi, which I was completely fine with but she started forcing me to be in a relationship with her. She took my first kiss (but I count my actual first kiss with my current boyfriend bc I didn’t want the other one to happen but I wanted this one to happen) and ended up raping me multiple times. She ghosted me a couple months after I asked her if we could go back to being friends.
This next part isn’t necessarily trauma but it’s the after effects of it.After I was adopted I had a lot of problems. I was angry all the time, sometimes to the point I’d hit my mom. I have a fear of leaving my house cause I’m afraid I’m never coming back. When I was 12 I started acting out. First I started talking to my birth mother and planning to run away to her, my memory was still mostly blocked at that time and I had this delusion that the only true family was blood. Anyway, I started planning to run to her, well my actual mom found out and I got in big trouble
Skip forward a year and I’m in a vacation bible school in June of 2016 I was 13 and just starting to remember things. I had been depressed for as long as I could remember and I had started cutting when I was 7 but I always only did it in the winter bc I could wear long sleeves without suspicion. Well I ended up relapsing in the middle of June. My vbs teacher found out and said I had to tell my mom by the next day or she would. I started planning to run again but this time I invited a friend I had made at vbs. She knew about my cutting and I felt safe asking her, well she told her mom who then told the teacher who told my mom. I didn’t tell my mom how long I’d been doing this but I did say it had happened before. I still remember my dads words, “I’m not mad, honey, I’m just disappointed”. I didn’t stop that year tho. I only actually stopped cutting last year in May of 2019 (I say cutting bc I now have other things that hurt myself just I less harmful ways, like digging my nails into my skin or slapping myself with a rubber band or purposely running into walls)
2017 I was caught shoplifting. I was in kohl’s with my parents and started nicking just little things. Well I didn’t avoid the cameras well and the caught me. I can still see my mom crying her eyes out, so disappointed in her girl. I still have the papers bc I even though I can’t stand looking at them, I can’t bring myself to throw them away either. I somehow managed to make it out with a warning instead of going to juvie.
I am not able to say no to people, even if I don’t want to I try and help them. I just can’t say no to anyone. I’m getting a little better now though with the help of my boyfriend.
I’ve had multiple eating disorders as well but I’m not gonna get into those.
I’m otherwords I’m a fucked up human and I’m learning more things about both my past and my future every day
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amphtaminedreams · 5 years
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Sustainability for Beginners: Lookbook no.2
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Hi to anyone who’s reading!
From the title, you can probably get an idea of what this little excerpt will be about. Fast fashion, its impact on the environment and its exploitation of workers in developing countries is a topic that has been brought to the forefront of online debate, and for good reason; most clothes that end up in landfills take over 200 years or more to decompose and garment production is one of the most significant pollutants of the planet. 80% of garment manufacturers in developing countries are women, 60% are under 18 and basic workplace expectations as we know them are non-existent: minimum wages, health and safety regulations and workers’ rights are severely lacking.
That being said (and this is a very first world struggle), making the transition from being blissfully unaware, or rather, wilfully ignorant of the damage caused by fast fashion when it is something you’ve mindlessly indulged in for years to partaking in it with a critical eye can be quite difficult. The reality is that whilst some high street retailers have a slightly better reputation than others, most do continue to outsource their production to countries with looser regulations such as Indonesia, Morocco and India in order to keep profits up. To stay away from fast fashion completely requires redirecting your attention away from the high street (online “budget” fast fashion retailers included) and towards independent, sustainable boutiques, second hand stores and charity shops. For a lot of people, this isn’t something that can be done overnight, similar to making the change to veganism or vegetarianism. Habit is a hard thing to conquer; I think a lot of people will relate to using binge eating as a means of instant gratification. In a similar vein, if binge shopping isn’t a term, I want to make it one, because I think it’s just as much of a high. Many a night has been spent giving in to poor impulse control and making a serious online shopping order. At least it’s not hurting myself, I’d think, not sparing a thought to the harm fast fashion does to others and our planet. We all have the need to consume so deeply ingrained into us that I think we develop a kind of blind spot with regards to the suffering it can cause; it’s a bit of an out of sight, out of mind situation.
There’s definitely a class dynamic to the fast fashion discussion too. It’s not realistic for everyone to purchase from sustainable brands, nor do they have the time to trawl charity shops for whatever’s “on trend”. A lot of people do also depend on high street retailers for their jobs. I think the ideal scenario would be that retailers start to realise how much consumers care about issues such as sustainability and workers’ rights, and make changes accordingly. Their intentions may be to keep us coming back, but if they are willing to treat workers more fairly, and we as consumers are willing to be more mindful of what we’re throwing out, that would already be a drastic improvement. 
So what’s the point of this post? What am I actually suggesting we do?
Well, if you can stop buying into fast fashion on the spot, great. But honestly, it would be naive to say this is achievable for the majority. Controversial, but I don’t think that the fashion industry as a whole needs to be crushed. I love everything about fashion. It sounds a little dramatic but I do think of it as an art form and one of the greatest outlets of self-expression. IMO, it comes down to, on a microlevel, being conscious of what we do with our clothes once we’ve bought them (check if your local charity shop actually needs clothes before lumping them with several bin bags of your stuff! It could easily end up in a landfill! Don’t throw stuff out! Use Depop! Swap clothes with friends!), but more importantly, letting retailers know that we do care about environmental and workers’ issues. The biggest way to do this? Speaking out, but more importantly, reducing their profit and thus reducing our consumption. The speaking out part of the equation is pretty self-explanatory. There was recently a petition going round, for example, to pressure H&M into following through on their promise to ensure a living wage for all their workers (had around 150,000 of 250,000 signatures when I signed it so it was doing pretty well, though I need to follow up on what became of it). Research the tragedies of fast fashion, the Rana Plaza collapse of 2013 being a pretty well known one, and keep it in circulation. 
With regards to reducing our consumption, personally, I’ve made an agreement with myself not to buy any new clothes until October. I recently went on a bit of a mad one, lol, and bought way too much from Motel Rocks and Pretty Little Thing, and so I intend not to buy anything else (unless it’s second hand) for 3 months. I’m generally pretty good at this; said shopping spree was my first since January. In the meantime, I want to look into sustainable but affordable brands for when I do next go shopping again (my friend recommended Nobody’s Child to me! I had no idea they were a sustainable brand as they are so affordable! House of Sunny is another one I just made an order from and their clothes are beautiful!). Good on You is a really helpful app that I recently downloaded that gives clothing stores ratings based on how ethical they are; they take multiple factors into account including how a brand treats its workers, its carbon footprint, and whether animals are harmed in the production of any of its garments. Until October, if I do feel like going shopping, I’m going to stick to Depop (which is super easy to browse and convenient to use), Ebay, and vintage/charity shops. Charity shops are definitely the more affordable option but most metropolitan cities do have areas dedicated to vintage shops and fashion and most will have a range of garments to suit all budgets. Of course London has Brick Lane’s Vintage Market and Camden Market, but I recently visited friends in Sheffield and Bristol which also both have areas known for a wide range of vintage shops all in close proximity. Ask the people you know for suggestions, as they’re likely going to be the best points of reference. Fuck Google, lol. 
Most importantly though, USE WHAT YOU HAVE, and this is the point that ties into this whole post. See, I challenged myself to come up with at least 10 new looks without any new clothes and clearly went a bit overboard, as I ended up with 18. There’s no neon, bodycon, or biker shorts, soz, so they aren’t necessarily the most “trendy” but I do feel they reflect my personal style in way that’s current. Layering is your best friend and simple touches like a belt or a piece of jewellery can bring something up to date if it’s been neglected for a year or so. I’m not gonna lie, I do intend to do a lookbook including some of the new clothes I got the other week (like I said, they’re the first lot of clothes I’ve bought since January, give me a break!), but I wanted to affirm to myself that I can do it without buying anything new as well and that I’ve got more than enough to last me until October. THE FACT THAT OUTFIT RECYCLING IS SOMETHING THAT EVEN HAS A FUCKING NAME, LET ALONE IS SUPPOSEDLY LOOKED DOWN UPON IS RIDICULOUS. Good fashion is timeless, you don’t need whatever ugly trend consumerism is trying to convince you is the peak of haute couture to make a statement, lol. 
So to finish off my ramble, here is the 18 outfits I put together from my already owned clothes. I’ve labelled where things are from just to fill the empty space, but I’m now realising it was a bit of redundant effort as it’s not like any of the things are available. Creating unnecessary tasks for myself: A Saga. Anyways, I intend to put a couple of pieces on my Depop over the next couple of days (@lozpez), so if you read all the way to the end and like anything, keep an eye out. And also thanks for reading!
Lauren x
DISCLAIMER: Background in the first 2 images are mine. 9 below are not. 3rd is a Malcom T.Liepke portrait sourced from Google, 4th is Alphonse Mucha! I’m not sure about the rest but if anybody happens to be reading this and does know, hmu!
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fuck-customers · 7 years
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Grocery store baker is back at it again, this time with a rather lengthy fuck managers. My department got a new manager about a month ago and I went from loving my job to hating it in that timeframe and honestly?? After today I've had Enough™ and need to rant about this under qualified mess of a man. My last manager, K, was a saint. She was experienced, qualified, stood up for her employees, made a schedule that accommodated everyone's availability, knew how to make a schedule, knew all the little semi-screwy parts of the company and how to avoid them, made sure everyone got their breaks, busted her ass for the department, got the orders in on time, was on top of the orders, was a great person to work with and a great person overall. She's the manager dreams are made of. This new bozo, S, is the exact opposite. He's been with the company for 3 months ((I've been with the company for 5 months, for reference)) and doesn't know jack. He's never been a manager before and only has about a year of assistant manager experience. He's got a heart problem which is exasperated by stress ((ya know, that thing that goes hand in hand with being a manager in a retail or food establishment???)) and is constantly calling out and fucking us all over because of it. The assistant manager, C, has been doing this for the past 10 years so she's been picking up the slack. However, she keeps having to leave early on Saturdays - whether S is there or not - because she ends up going waay over 40 hours and the store manager tosses her out ((the district manager is super strict about overtime and so far we're the only store in his district that has no overtime and isn't on the shit list)). So, besides fucking us over when he isn't there, he fucks us over by showing up as well. There's just such a variety of ways that he fucks us over while there that I'm gonna break it up. First off, besides S, the department is all women. S is 6 ft tall. Save for the decorator, Y - whose pregnant - I'm the tallest at just over 5'5. Most of our products are stored in our freezer until they're needed and all of our extra containers are stored in the fridge ((to hide them from food service but that's another story)). We try to keep things where we can reach them and try not to stack shit on the top shelf. S, however, decided, in this department of short people, to stack boxes 3-4 boxes high on the top shelf. Heavy stuff too like pies and frozen bread ((as opposed to light shit like cake donuts)). ((Ironically this month's safety focus is lifting and bending safely.)) So most of our closers - who need to get this shit - can't reach it and end up knocking things over and getting hurt. Has his employees getting hurt and asking for changes done anything?? Nope! It's still super unsafe! 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 My store is brand new. It was built from the ground up and opened last November with brand new appliances, trays, racks, etc. The store S is coming from is the oldest store in the district where the oven's internal thermometer isn't properly calibrated and all the trays have an inch of carbon buildup. So, naturally, the two stores are run a little differently. He hasn't even tried to learn how this store works he's expected that the things he learned to work around the older store's quirks will work perfectly here. So far he's ruined 6 muffin tins, and roughly $400 worth of bread ((he baked no bake bread at 400 degrees for 20 minutes it was rock hard I wanted to c r y)). Plus we have a new girl!!! So he's teaching her all this bad habits!!! And C has to go behind his back to teach her properly so T ((the other baker)) and I don't have a cow in the morning. The kicker is that we're super open about the quirks of the oven and proofed like even the people who don't use them know them. ((The top shelf of a rack won't bake in either oven and the proofer seal was never installed properly and it doesn't seal right so the proofer is like 5 degrees cooler and 10% less humid than it should be.)) S cannot make a functional schedule. He just doesn't make one. He's physically incapable of staffing the department. ((Part of the problem is that we're understaffed because 3 people quit and we never replaced them and 1 person is absolutely shit at her job and can't do a single thing right but that's another story.)) I'm the part time baker and T is the full time baker but you'd never be able to tell because I end up baking more than T. T wasn't initially trained as a decorator but now she decorates more than she bakes. I'm also trained as an opener and a midday shift clerk. I've got no issue working those shifts. I haven't worked as a clerk since December. In order to serve customers, get products packaged and on the sales floor, and basically function properly, the department needs a clerk at all times. There should be one who opens, one who works in the middle of the day, and one ((it should be two but we're so understaffed)) who closes. This allows the clerk to man the register, package what the baker's made/is making, and get product on the floor in a timely manner. It allows the decorator to focus on making cake orders, filling the cake case, and serving customers at the cake case. It allows the baker to focus on making all the mixes needed to stock the department. It allows the managers to take inventory, place orders, and put the product that we don't bake here on the floor. The clerk is necessary for optimal bakery functionality. Do we always have one? Nope. We have someone from 6-11 and one from 4-9. We need someone working from 11-4 or 5 to fill that 5 hour gap. What ends up happening is the clerk leaves, the baker is up to her elbows in mix, the decorator is in the freezer/fridge getting things she needs, the manager is in the back getting a load, and a customer is getting angry at a counter because no one is there to take care of them. The closer ends up having the package shit that should have been packaged and on the floor before 4 in addition to panning everything for tomorrow, packaging everything in the self-serve case, cleaning the department, and facing the sales floor. When the closer has to do the midday shift's job as well as their own job ((which takes 2 people as is, so basically they're doing the work of 3 people on their own)), things get missed. Especially when C gets sent home for working too many hours and S called out ((or didn't and just didn't show up)). Every damn day we end up several hours behind schedule because there's no one there in the middle of the day packaging and I want to s c r e a m. Technically, we have 4 closers. Except one girl cannot close alone because she's slower than molasses and cannot do her job at all. Someone has to close with her to make sure that everything gets done and that she doesn't fuck up the one (1) thing she'll end up doing. R is a disaster ((she was hired at the same time I was and she only gets 4 hours a week because she's such a burden for the department)). The other closers - E, N, and G ((the new girl)) - hate working with her because it's actually more work than working alone. E is our best closer - she deep-cleans the whole department, packages at the speed of light, and pans everything properly. N is good - not as fast, but very thorough. G is new but she's getting the hang of it. N is being trained to decorate and they're trying to get E to open more ((even though she's only given 19 hours a week because S doesn't like her)). Closing is a 2 person job. We desperately need more clerks we suffer every day. Fun fact: I'm quitting at the end of April because on May 9th I start at the Culinary Institute of America. I'm so excited and I talk about it constantly. I've got a countdown going, I wear my CIA hoodie when I'm on break, I use my CIA pen for everything, I talk about it constantly, and it's been a known fact since I started when I'd be quitting. Literally every single person in the department - and most of the employees in other departments - know this because I never shut up about it. Partly because I'm super fucking pumped and partly because I want it to be crystal clear when I'm leaving so no one can act shocked when I turn in my two weeks. Back in January K was talking about who would be trained to replace me. S, however, has made no such comments and is training another decorator instead. Like, there's already 3 people in the department who are trained as a decorator we don't need a 4th we literally only have 10 employees in the department. There have been no moves to hire anyone ((the new girl was actually a cashier who wanted to transfer departments)) and no talk of training someone to replace me. C and T are getting nervous because they're scared that when I quit they won't be ready for it and C will have to bake as well as decorate and, ya know, manage the department. The only saving grave is that everyone in the department- while we don't get along because girls are super fuckin catty - is united in hating S. Like even C is sick of his shit. We all collectively shittalk him to let off steam so we don't blow a fuse whenever he does something particularly stupid. We're super catty and don't get along typically but S has really united us by making us hate him lmao. Tl;dr: My dream manager got transferred and an under qualified man was promoted to fill her shoes and is fucking up in every way imaginable. I went from loving my job to hating in the span of a month because of him.
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dylan-hague · 8 years
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Chapter 34
Jump City. May 4th, 2018. 11:44 AM.
Damian scanned the shelves of books lining the wall of the little shop, overcome with embarrassment. He was always so good about keeping an eye on the gas in both his bikes, so having to pull over because his motorcycle literally wouldn’t go any farther was a total shock to him, and it was accompanied by many bewildered looks and annoying questions from bystanders outside the bookstore where he’d come to a stop, because “why is that kid riding a Yamaha, he can’t possibly be old enough to drive”. Wanting to avoid any more awkward questioning, Damian decided run into the bookstore, because somehow he forgot to charge his phone last night, and when he went to ping a Lyft, his phone was dead. Of course he had his charger on him (preparedness is a prerequisite for victory, after all… although he’d be better prepared if he’d just remembered to charge his phone), but it would still take a while for the cellular device to build up enough juice to get him home. So he went inside, asked if he could plug in, and the man behind the counter was nice enough to let him charge up, as well as use the store’s landline call for someone to bring him a gas can.
While he waited, Damian figured that the least he could do to repay the man for his service was take a look around the store, see if anything caught his eye, which it certainly did: Todd had been nagging at him to pick up a copy of Wuthering Heights for sometime (“It’s a classic! How have you not read it yet??” his brother carried on), and Raven mentioned that she had enjoyed it. Damian figured it couldn’t be any worse than the last book someone had recommended to him… Make no mistake, Machine Man was perfectly fine as a book. It just wasn’t as spectacular as Damian had been led to believe. It relied greatly on ironic turns and played heavily towards the action sci-fi crowd, which Damian found to be an odd mixture that could have worked out better than Drake had convinced him it would. Either way, Damian decided to pick up Wuthering Heights, as well as a new copy of Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales for Raven. (She had apparently loaned her copy to Tara, who then let Garfield take a look at it… Raven got it back yesterday in shreds. She was pretty upset about it.) By then, Damian’s phone had enough power for him to call Jon, who was there a few seconds later with a can of gas for the bike. Say what you will about ol’ Jonno, he was dependable. So once a Damian filled up on gas, he took off without another word to anyone on the street, determined to get home as soon as he could.
And why did Damian not pay attention to his fuel tank? Because he was distracted. Everything was practically upside-down in his life at the moment; despite his claims that he would publicly bring Damian to his knees, Riddler had yet to make any further appearances to anyone, and certainly wasn’t leaving any clues to his whereabouts. Damian didn’t know if he had been immensely over-prepared for his one-on-one with the green-suited puzzler, or if Riddler intended on dragging out this waiting game long enough to wear him thin, but he was upset about it either way. And somehow, Riddler was on the back-burner of Damian’s mind, as he was much more concerned about Raven… she was still shaken up over what he’d done. Damian kicked himself for being so inconsiderate of how she was feeling, because he hadn’t seen her so quiet since before Pier 64 two years ago. She refused to acknowledge it, insisted that everything was fine, but her sentences had become quick, one-word snippets of speech, and it seemed as though she held onto him tighter now than she’d ever done before, wouldn’t let go for much longer. Everywhere in the Tower he went, she would be close by, like she didn’t want to let him out of her sight for a second.
Damian would have loved this if not for the fact that it came as a result of her hurting… it had taken every bit of misdirection, distraction, and disappearance he could think of to keep her from following him right out into town. Why he insisted on going alone, he still didn’t know… but he had an inkling. It was that craving for intimacy that he’d been experiencing, the need to be more affectionate with one another. He and Raven had discussed it, sure, and they agreed they wanted to get closer. But something kept eating at him, gnawing at him from the pit of his stomach. He wanted more, and this time he didn’t like it. He was afraid to find out how much more would be enough. He was an addict, hooked on her like a drug he’d barely tasted. She was his heroin. He didn’t know what he could do, because for every thought he came up with for how to fight back against his body’s unruly impulses, ten more thoughts manifested that made him turn beet red, filled him with shame, and that he couldn’t for the life of him shake off. That look in her eyes that made him wonder if she wanted him as badly as he wanted her, that curve in her lips that made him want to drown himself in her kiss, the warmth of her silky-smooth skin that swallowed him up every time she drew near…
Damian found himself so consumed by his thoughts, he failed to notice the drunk man plowing through the red light to his left until his bike–and the world–had already disappeared from underneath him.
Titans Tower, Jump City. May 4th, 2018. 11:44 AM.
“He ran out of gas.”
Raven kept her eyes shut as she focused on Damian from the roof of the Tower. She could feel the breeze running through her long black hair, she could hear the sound of her breath as the air moved in and out of her lungs. She could even feel Jon’s eyes lock onto her, bewildered by her statement. But her attention stayed on her Damian.
“What? Who ran outta…” Superboy ask about to ask, but his voice trailed of as he realized what she was referring to. “… Raven, are you seriously watchin’ Damian right now?”
“You should go get a can ready for him, he’s gonna ask you to bring him enough to get him home.”
“Raven, look at me.” Jon’s brow furrowed as the pale girl turned her head slightly, half-opening one eye. “I get it, alright? What happened was scary, and Damian coulda got hurt real bad if we all hadn'ta been there. But that don’t mean ya gotta keep him under lock'n'key like this.–”
“No, Jon. You don’t get it.” Raven’s shadow began to waver as she opened both eyes to look back the boy. “You could have caught him yourself, no problem. You’re a Superman, nothing is too big or moves too fast for you to catch. But I couldn’t have saved him by myself. I put everything I had into grabbing him, and he still would have died. I understand you’re only trying to help… but he already died in my arms once. I’m not gonna lose him again.”
The two of them sat in silence for a moment. Jon let out a sigh as he stood up to fly away. “… Y'know, I can hear your heartbeat from anywhere in the world. Once you found him, I could hear his again too… and I heard it stop.” His feet slowly drifted off the roof as he moved out into the open air. “… you weren’t the only one who lost him that day.”
Raven’s eyes were already closed again by the time Jon took off towards the nearest gas station.
She hadn’t thought about that, but it made sense… like she said, he was a Kryptonian. Of course he could hear their heartbeats. Of course he liked to check on them every so often… she did that all the time. So of course he was probably listening for her everyday when she left for Gotham, just to see if she’d found their friend yet. Damian wasn’t just her best friend… Damian was Jon’s friend too. They both loved him.
“Jon, I’m sorry…” she reached out to try to speak to Jon through their minds… she’d never done so before, but she figured it was worth a shot. “I just… he’s all I have. Everything in my heart, it’s for him…”
Silence.
Again, it was worth a shot.
She turned her mind back to Damian. Apparently he’d picked something out at the bookstore, but she couldn’t tell what. He had already put the purchase out of his mind and was just then texting Jon for gas. He walked out the door, and there was Jon, already waiting for him. Many things could be said about Jonathan Kent… but he was a good friend.
Damian seemed troubled, so Raven decided to peek into his mind as he filled the gas tank… she smiled as she saw herself looking back at him in his mind. She blushed as she realized why he seemed so at odds with himself: he wanted to be more. More intimate, more… physical. He was ashamed… no, not just ashamed, afraid. The thought of being so close, so interwoven into someone else… he was terrified. He’d never been in a relationship like that with someone before. Neither had she, now that her mind was on the subject… did she want the same thing? Well… yes. Yes she did. I mean, look at him now. The wind running through his hair, those pale blue eyes looking coldly down the road in front of him, the hands covered in callouses that still felt gentle and welcoming on her skin…
She almost didn’t notice the white station wagon racing towards him from his left. But she did. And she nearly shattered when it barreled into him, sending him spinning through the air, crashing into the back windshield of a blue van parked several feet away.
She let out a scream as she threw herself off the edge of the roof, flying towards the city as fast as Azar’s magic would carry her.
When “Rachel” finally reached the hospital, Jon was already there, hugging his knees anxiously in the corner of the waiting room. As she ran to him, he jumped up to do the same and the two latched onto one another, each one clutching at the other’s back for dear life.
“Oh my God… Jon, oh my God…” Raven could barely manage the words before she broke down, falling into the alien’s arms as he sobbed.
“I know Rachel, I know,” Jon fought as hard as he could to hold himself together. “The doctors are doing everything they can, I swear. It’ll be alright… it’ll…” he let out a cough, and sucked in a shaky breath as he struggled harder to keep the tears at bay. “Listen, he’s alive… he’s alive, okay? His heart is still going. He’s breathing, his blood is still pumping.”
“I saw it, Jon…” the witch’s words were broken, and she pulled Superboy in tighter. “I watched him get hit… I… Jon, it was so bad. It happened so fast. It was so fast.”
“Rachel, don’t talk like that. He’s gonna be okay,” Jon was insistent, pulling away and looking into Raven’s eyes. “I promise you, Damian is gonna be fine.”
“Rachel! Jonathan!” The Titans turned to see Bruce and Cassandra Wayne marching towards them.
“Daddy!!” Raven cried as she jumped into Bruce’s arms. “Oh God, I saw it happen! I saw him!!” Bruce wrapped his arm around the half-demon, the other arm bringing Cassie in and holding them both as tight as he could.
“It’s gonna be alright, sweetheart… listen to me, that’s our boy in there,” the Batman whispered into Raven’s ear comfortingly. “That’s our Damian. You know he’s a fighter, you know how strong he is. He’s gonna be fine.” As he held the two girls close to him, he realized what she’d just done: she didn’t cry out “Bruce” or “Mr. Wayne” or even “Batman” (thank God she didn’t say Batman). She called him Daddy. And as much as it warmed his heart to know she felt welcome in his family, he knew what that meant… they were in a public place, surrounded by slack-jawed ordinary people... and frankly, he was Bruce Wayne. Word was bound to get around. He could already picture the headlines… “Daddy’s Girl: Bruce Wayne’s Second Daughter?”
“Rachel…” Raven looked up over Bruce’s shoulder to see Talia al Ghul standing behind them. She rushed forward, cupping Raven’s face and looking right into her with her piercing jade eyes. “Rachel, I’m so sorry. We came as soon as we heard…”
As Raven reached up and put a pale hand over Talia’s dark fingers, a grey-haired doctor stepped out into the waiting room. “Excuse me, we’re looking for the family of Mr. Damian Wayne…?”
Bruce turned to look the man in the eye. “I’m Bruce Wayne. I’m Damian’s father… we’re his family.” The billionaire began gesturing to everyone in their group. “This is his mother, Talia Head, his sister Cassandra, and his fiancée, Rachel Roth. And over there is Jonathan White, Damian’s Best Man.”
Cassie stepped forward. “How is he?”
The doctor put a hand on Cass’ shoulder and smiled. “It’s a miracle, but he’s gonna be fine. We’d like to keep him here for a few days just to be on the safe side, but he’s sustained very little injury. We had to pull some glass out of his back, and he’ll have to come back in a few months for the stitches to come out, but he’s practically undamaged otherwise. No broken bones, no damage to any organs… all he has are some shallow glass wounds and a mild concussion.”
“Oh God!” Bruce fell to his knees, hugging Raven close to him as he began to tear up. “Thank God!! Oh God, my boy… our boy’s okay. He’s okay.” Talia threw her arms around both of them as Jon ran up and did the same, all of them crying and laughing at the good news.
“Can we see him?” Cass asked, her face expressing her relief.
“Of course. He’s just woken up, and asked for Ms. Roth by name.” The doctor beckoned them forward. “If you’ll all just come with me…”
The group rushed down the hall and into a small room at the end of the corridor. There lying in a bed by the window was Damian, all dressed down in a hospital down, his eyes half-open and glazed over, with a little smile on his face.
“Hey…” the Son of Batman said slowly, still clearly dazed from the sedatives. “Dad? Cassie…? Mama? What are you guys doin’ here?”
“Damian…!” Raven ran to the bedside and grabbed her Damian’s face, pressing their lips together as tears streamed down her face. Damian’s eyes drifted shut as he brought his hand to her face, one lighting on her cheek as the other ran through her hair. After a brief moment, Raven broke away to look into the boy’s tired eyes.
Damian licked his lips and grinned back at her. “Rae…” he mumbled, “… have I ever told you you smell like strawberries…?”
Raven bit her lip as she felt her laughter coming up, holding in her reaction as best she could… unlike Jonathan, who had to walk back out into the hallway because he was laughing so hard. “Baby, you were in an accident,” she said, fighting back her giggle. “Do you remember?”
“Yeah… yeah, I got hit by a car.” Damian scratched his head as he thought back. “Like… I got hit by a car… into another car, right?”
Raven grinned as she nodded. “That’s right, Damian,” she stuttered. “But the doctors say you’re okay. You’re gonna have to stay in bed for awhile, but you’re gonna be okay.”
“Oh, good!” Damian exclaimed, his face beaming. “That’s really good! Can I… can I come home?”
“Not yet, baby…” the mage-girl cooed as she stroked Damian’s hair. “We need to wait a few days, okay? But I’m gonna be right here. I’ll be right here until we get to bring you home.”
“M'kay…” Damian smiled back at the girl. “Raven, I’m so glad you’re here…”
“Me too, Dame… me too.” Raven touched her nose to his gently, prompting a tired giggle from the boy. She turned to walk off so someone else could see him, and…
“Ooh… still cute.”
Raven’s face turned completely red as she realized what the drug-addled Titan was referring to. Damian lazily snickered as the poor girl walked past Talia, whose jaw had long since dropped at her son’s practically non-existent inhibitions.
“Damian!!” Talia yelled, biting back a cackle. “That was incredibly inappropriate!”
“Hey, Mama!!” Damian shouted, arms outstretched. “I love you, Mama!” Talia just shook her head and wrapped her arms around her son.
“Damian, I think we ought to have Raven heal you now…” Bruce whispers from across the room. “I heard about Riddler being here in California, and it would be best for everyone if we got you back in the field soon.”
The half-conscious Damian shook his head. “We rely too heavily on Rae-Rae’s healie-doo…” (Raven visibly cringed at the mention of the nickname) “I think I should juss do thissun analog. Old-school healies, y'know.” At this point, even Bruce had to hold back a chuckle.
“Well, that still leaves the issue of Riddler to deal with. I have to get back to Gotham, but I think I know someone who can help…” the Batman smirked as he pulled out his phone, holding it up to his ear. “… Hey, it’s me. Your semester just let out, right? Because I’m calling in a solid you owe me.”
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