#I DIDN'T MISS THE FACT THAT A FEW OF YOU SENT THIS BTW i am so super grateful for that

[porkcracker]

Hello!!

I just wanna say I really liked your Optimus father figure headcannons and Ratchet grandpa figure headcannons! It was really nice!

I was wondering if you can do a oneshot of those headcannons with a Non-binary reader? I think it'd be really wholesome and nice to see ^^

I was staring at this ask for a very long time and man I wish I had time to answer it quicker, because it hits some buttons. I'm happy you liked my headcanons btw. Still being probably months late, I still hope you enjoy this.

Dad!Optimus & Grandpa!Ratchet & NB!Reader It had been in no way your fault, but nonetheless you still found yourself shrinking into yourself as Optimus looked at you with a disappointed look in his bright blue optics. As the oldest of the humans on base, you had taken to watching over the three younger ones. Which as a result lead to you being equally in trouble, when they got in trouble and like in moments like this had broken something. You had been busy with yourself for a few minutes, so there was no clear way to say who had started it, but by the time yells and screams had drawn your attention they were running around the base, chasing each other with water guns.

To a degree you could understand them, the summer was hot, and even the base could grow uncomfortably warm at the height of the day, but to use water guns? Around a lot of technology? An exasperated sigh had left you, and you had to move to stop them, yelling after them. Alas, too late, an over enthusiastic shot from Miko had missed its intended target of Raf and instead hit Ratchets workstation. You watched with bated breath hoping it would do no damage, relaxing as it seemed to be fine and turning to the equally frozen kids, when there was a crackling noise and just as you turned back around the previously lit display darkened.

As the Bots returned, the children and their guardians were quickly sent on their way to bring said children home, which left you alone with Optimus and Ratchet. Ratchet had not left his damaged station since returning, attempting to fix the damage. Optimus on the other hand had turned to you. Which was what had led to this moment. The big bot wasn't angry, but the disappointment in his optics was far more disheartening in your opinion. Disappointing Optimus never sat right with you at all, not that you had been at this point very often before. No, rather, you were far more commonly sitting on his shoulder and conversing with him.

"(Y/N), I'm very glad that you watch the younger ones when you're alone at base, but if you need help than please do tell me. I would not want you to be overwhelmed by watching three other humans by yourself. I am quite sure, leaving one of the others at base to help you, would be manageable.", his voice was as gentle as always and perhaps the fact that he was seemingly more concerned for you than the damaged equipment and even considered leaving someone at base was worse. With the Deceptions being more experienced fighters and having no qualms, leaving someone to watch would be impractical. While usual Ratchet was at base, he was ready to leave base when necessary, so to stop that would be impractical.

Still you nodded and watched, still hunched into yourself, as Optimus joined Ratchet to look at the damage from the equipment. Coming to a decision, the next day, when the Bots and the kids left base, you made your way towards the workstation and had a closer look at the damage. It was quickly clear why such technically minimal water damage made this much trouble. The cables were sized for humans and while it must have been hard to connect when building the station it had no casing then and no it did, making it even harder for big cybertronian hands to work half hidden small human cables.

It didn't take long to get a torch and a few tools from your back, something you carried with you just in case, since you had started to get along better with Ratchet, often listening to his stories and grumbled life advice. Once back at the workstation, you turned the torch on and climbed into the casing of the workstation and working along the few small cables that needed to be fixed. Fixated on your work, it only registered that Optimus and Ratchet had come over, both not out with the others, when they began to talk, or well you assumed began to talk as you hadn't registered it before.

"It's almost amusing to watch you, how do the humans say it, mother hen them.", the sentence made you slow in your work with curiosity, wondering if they were talking about the other kids, your curiosity mirrored by the confused tone of Optimus. "What do you mean, old friend?" "Hah, it's obvious. (Y/N), you talk like you're their creator.", the way Ratchet said it was not judgemental, rather it seemed genuinely amusing. "I-", Optimus began, but was cut almost off immediately by a yelp. Both bots snapped their helms around, looking around, pinpointing the origin just as you crawled out of the casing of the workstation, your finger bleeding where you had slipped at the answer of the medic.

Before you could even fully get over the hem of the workstation, Ratchet scooped you up and walked off with words of chiding for injuring yourself. As much as Optimus had been caught off-guard by the words of his old friend, reflecting on them proofed them true. But alas, at least he was not the only one, he mused quietly as he watched said old friend fret over your cut with a rare care in his optics.

[godsfavoritescientist]

(this post is satire)

I keep seeing people be like "Mabel caused the apocalypse when she gave Bill the rift!" and I think those people are missing the bigger picture. The REAL reason why Mabel caused the apocalypse is because she didn't press the red button in nwhs to shut down the portal before it finished powering on!

She had NO reason to trust Stan by that point, all the evidence she had up until then pointed towards him being some kind of supercriminal who LIED about his identity and maybe even killed the real stan, and she KNEW for a FACT that the portal being turned on would cause the end of the world, because she saw the blacklight warning messages about it only a few minutes beforehand!

But when it came down to it, she didn't listen to her own brother (a reoccurring problem :/ its so toxic to have different goals and interests and opinions from someone as perfect as Dipper), and let the portal finish activating, which DIRECTLY led to the rift existing in the first place.

And sure, you might wanna argue that Stan was the one who spent thirty years making the portal functional again, and was also the one who started the portal-turning-on process, and was also the one who convinced Mabel not to shut down the portal at the last second, and he had plenty of time to see the blacklight warning messages between the time he discovered that Ford used blacklight and the time the portal finished powering on, but she still could have shut it down before it was too late! A little bit of emotional anguish doesn't excuse making a decision that led to the end of the world.

You might also want to argue that Ford was the one who made the portal in the first place (and he was manipulated by Bill for years... which is WAY worse than being tricked by Bill for one day or for one second, and is totally 100% definitely Ford's fault. Like... who would let themselves get tricked by Bill... just don't fall for it?) but Ford at least TRIED to shut down the portal after he discovered how dangerous it was. Like, sure, he started out ignoring a lot of people who warned him that it was dangerous, and even after he found out he never fully disassembled the portal before he fell in (or even just burned the portal schematic pages), and the last thing he told Stan was "help me!" which made it sound like he WANTED Stan to turn the incredibly dangerous portal back on.... but after he came back, he dedicated all of his time to fixing his mistakes! I guess except for the time he played dungeons dungeons and more dungeons for multiple days in a row with Dipper, and didn't say anything about Stan and the kids leaving the shack once it was bill-proofed, and didnt put alien adhesive on the rift right away when he found it in the spaceship, and let himself get captured by a security droid (as if letting himself be tricked by Bill wasn't enough...) and let Dipper, a 12 year old, carry the rift in his backpack while it was still cracked, but he at least he didn't say or do anything impulsive while upset with his sibling! And DON'T say "he punched Stan" or "he told Stan to leave his house by the end of the Summer" or "he corrected Stan's grammar right before they were going to defeat Bill in a way that wouldn't have required erasing Stan's memories", none of that helped to CAUSE the APOCALYPSE. Except for I guess the time he sent that postcard to Stan. He should have never brought Stan into such a dangerous situation when he knew he might get frustrated at him tbh, and he basically goaded Stan into shoving him into the portal, which helped to eventually create the rift. He should have dropped everything with their argument and turned off the portal before continuing the conversation! But even then, he wasn't the one who let the portal get turned on AGAIN, so he's STILL less to blame than Mabel.

Even if you think he DID somehow help to cause the apocalypse more than Mabel did (btw i am judging you for that if you are. Stan and Ford did basically nothing to help cause the apocalypse how could you hate them :/), Ford was the one who bill-proofed the shack! He did way more to try to stop the apocalypse than Mabel ever did! I mean yeah, Mabel was the one who fought tooth and nail for that unicorn hair, which they couldn't have bill-proofed the shack without, let alone have a safe haven during the apocalypse or make a successful shacktron without, but she wasn't the one to glue the unicorn hair into place around the shack. All she did was follow Ford's orders (unlike Dipper, who was willing to physically fight back against Ford and almost erase his mind when he thought Bill might be possessing him! And also the time he ignored Ford telling him not to try and save him and just focus on fixing the rift, and even brought the rift with him onto the droid, a highly dangerous environment that could have broken the rift and caused the apocalypse. It was so brave of Dipper to make such a risky move even though he knew what would happen if the rift broke open). All Mabel cared about was not getting separated from her sibling (a flaw she and Stan share tbh..... but at least the only thing Stan broke on accident was a science fair project and not an interdimensional rift!). She should have just sucked it up and accepted that Dipper getting away from her toxic behaviors and getting to be taught by Ford (the best possible mentor anyone could ever have!) would have been the best thing that ever happened to him. The show literally definitely 100% implies that Mabel is suffocating Dipper's potential just like Stan did with Ford, and its really sad that she was immature enough to be THAT UPSET about something Dipper was really happy about! Like, she's literally almost 13, she should be more mature by now. Not to mention picking up the wrong backpack and not even knowing what the rift was... use your critical thinking skills, Mabel! The audience knows how dangerous it is and we don't even live in the world of the show, its not that hard :/

Handing over the rift was less influential in ending the world than LETTING the rift be CREATED, but she still should have not wanted to spend more time with her friends and family. It's just like the time Stan spent decades trying to bring back his brother (who isn't even a good person?) instead of accepting that he was gone.

Like, sure, she didn't knowingly make a deal with Bill, but she still should have known better! The time Dipper knowingly made a deal with Bill after Bill made him upset at his sister was totally different, and even though he almost dropped Mabel from high up in a theater while she was in that cake prop, its not like she actually got hurt or anything, and if anything Dipper was in more danger from that mistake. Unlike when Mabel got put in that prison bubble! She got to be in a perfectly good and not-even-all-that-creepy fantasy land! Her getting lowkey brainwashed while in the bubble and trapped in there for away from any of her friends or family for what was supposed to be eternity is a pretty good deal as far as Bill deals go! And even if Bill ended up half a second away from killing her in the end, that's still nothing compared to the bridge plan he had for Dipper that he didn't get the chance to get close to following through with.

The bottom line is, Mabel is the worst member of the Pines family, and YES it IS a competition. Comparing all of their flaws and mistakes is what the show is all about! She should have either listened to what everyone else told her to do all the time or been kicked out of the house for the summer, and even that wouldn't have been enough of a punishment. If only she had shut down the portal before Ford came back, she would have been so much more bearable :)

Tl;dr: contrary to what was said in The Last Mabelcorn, Mabel Pines is NOT a good person and nearly SINGLEHANDEDLY caused the apocalypse!!!!!

[fortycumber]

so having read @mindmeltonabun-blog 's analysis of the plagiarism in My Demon, I felt strangely compelled to give my own review, since I have been pondering on it for quite some time now ever since I've finished it.

In short, my opinion would be, that the drama is a rather shallow, superficial, but visually stunning rendition of a popular trope that has been done a gazillion times before. It leaves a lot to the viewer's interpretation and their imagination due to the lack of proper explanation of major events in the plot. Think, an adaptation of a popular teen novel from the 2010s- short on everything but chemistry between the main actors (Fallen from 2016, The Mortal Instruments from 2013, heck even Twilight as the post stated as well and many more). The author laid out a nice blue print of a story that could have worked, had it been better researched and had she paid more attention to details. My particular problem with this drama was Gu Won's obvious identity crisis, which stems mainly from the fact that the author herself didn't really know what he was supposed to be. Like is he a demon, plucked from the many or is he the devil himself? He calls himself a demon, then then devil, he often claims that God's his boss, God herself says that she sent him there among humans, because she needed a "worker", which to me heavily implies that he's an angel..? Am I the only one who couldn't quite understand that part? And after the small discussion I had with certain commenters on Mydramalist, I guess I agree with the fact that he's supposed to be some kind of a fallen angel, mirroring the real devil, but that still doesn't explain as to why God called him "her worker". I guess, everything's part of the author's scarcely explained lore.

The Christian elements of the story, especially the Joseon Era part, were interesting (like I would totally watch a standalone drama following only that arc of the story, it's ten times more original than the main one), but totally lacked in execution and research which made a complete jumbled mess of the whole story, I did catch a few references to the Bible here and there, dunno if they were intentional or not.

Do Do Hee, to me, seemed like an even more washed out replica of Nam Ji Ah from The Tale of the Nine Tailed, mainly in how she was structured: she was strong, independent and formidable until she met her male lead and in a way she served as a feisty enigma for him to solve throughout the first few episodes, until he did and she fell flat, constantly in a need of his protection and reassurance. The "Succession" part of the show was an absolute chaos, it was obvious from the beginning who the culprit was and his tactics were honestly laughable, he wasn't terrifying at all, yet alone secretive and elusive, his whole character seemed to have escaped from a makjang if you ask me. There was no real fight, no palpable hatred and conflict between Do Do Hee and him, he spent strategically more time stroking Gu Won's magical book and chatting up the maniac he hired in sketchy chatrooms, instead of doing evil things. I would so have preferred if the guy who was obsessed with Do Do Hee (for whichever reason we'll never find out btw or maybe I missed it, dunno) was the real villain instead of Noh Suk Min, he at least, evoked pure disgust and uneasiness in me, while Noh Suk Min made me laugh, literally. Oh and what a marvelous waste of Lee Sang Yi, his role was literally useless he was just there to be pretty (I love you boo <333333). Let's not forget the detectives please- they were even more useless, they just existed to be clueless about their jobs and look raggedy and lost most of the time.

The whole tone of the drama should have been different and more graphic. For a drama that deals with such heavy topics, it should've been darker, grittier, scarier, Gu Won should have been more dangerous, bolder, more seductive, sexier and more lethal, I mean he's a literal demon and given his tragic backstory he should have been truly ruthless, preying on people's misfortunes and feasting on the terrible outcome, in fact I think I would prefer for him to have been a libertine living an absolutely lavish and debauched life in the human underworld, where he would find most of his potential clients instead of the doleful theatre owner who mopes around clock towers looking for "his next victim", it just doesn't match the person he became after seeing Do Do Hee's past version dead and killing all of those people because of it (I mean Song Kang is more than a capable actor to do such a character, I wanna cry thinking what we've been deprived of seriously). For someone who boldly exclaims his hatred of people, he seems quite timid in hurting them, he should have been shown literally torturing people who didn't adhere to the contract and who wanted to escape it, instead he is just stuck in a dress up game with a plot that progresses nowhere and most of the time selectively "borrows" elements from other famous dramas. In fact the same thing could be said for Do Do Hee as well; as much as I liked most of her outfits, she was presented as this notorious business woman in episode one, but all she ever does in the rest of the episodes is just drive around town, looking like a Barbie doll.

I'm sure there were more things that irked me, but I just can't remember at the moment so I'll just stop here. The sole thing that saved this show was the chemistry between the leads.

[eijiroukiriot]

can you tell me about harutaka? i honestly am interested now bc i have no idea what it is but it being your second favorite anime ship makes it sound pretty promising :D

OKAY SO

harutaka is a ship from the kagerou project which is a vocaloid-song-series-turned-novel-series-turned-manga-turned-anime and so on and so on. the actual plot is mostly focused on a group of kids who call themselves the mekakushi dan (blindfold gang) who each have a superpower (called an "eye ability") and are stuck in a time loop that repeats every august 15th, but the main appeal of the series is the tangled web of relationships between the characters, and the songs (and chapters, etc) that focus on their relationships and histories and how those brought them to where they are today

harutaka is the ship between kokonose haruka and enomoto takane! their meeting is mostly explained in the song yuukei yesterday - basically, takane is a high school student with narcolepsy and a bad attitude who's always found it hard to make friends, since people tend to avoid her. to accommodate her during classes, her school puts her in a handicap class with just one other student - haruka, whose chronic illness has always made it hard for him to live a normal life, but who wants nothing more than to make friends, starting with takane. they're sort of opposites in that way. takane finds haruka's cheerful demeanor and relentless interest in her annoying - ideally, she'd like nothing to do with him.

UNFORTUNATELY FOR HER they both fall for each other basically as soon as they meet. the cherry on the cake is that they're dumb little teenagers who have never BEEN in love before (not to mention all the clashing feelings about having someone care about you unconditionally for the first time) so they deal with it in about the blushiest, dorkiest, most teenage way possible - haruka points his dumb cute face at haruka and she turns red and yells at him and he laughs all shy. it's a very tsundere/sweetboy romance at its core but i think the extra layers of getting to be very happy and feel normal and welcome for once in your life make this one on the surface alone

HOWEVER...you might notice that these characters don't appear to be in the lineup of the rest of the dan in the image above...except they are! just not quite as themselves. this is a bit that fits into the larger story of kagepro so it's going to sound a little strange on its own, but basically, their teacher was a part of this experiment studying the origin of the time loop they're stuck in - dealing with the supernatural powers that you gain once you're stuck in it. they don't know that he's been treating them as subjects this whole time, but going back a little into the high school romance side of things...right as the two of them are reaching the peak of their pining phase, one afternoon in class, haruka has a stroke - but to takane, it just looks like he's sleeping, and ignoring her, so she gets mad and goes home. later that day, when she finds out what happened, she realizes that this might be her last chance to tell haruka how she felt, and sprints to the hospital...except she never makes it there. when she collapses on the way, the proctors of the experiment find her, and separate her body from her consciousness, turning her into a (not quite artificial) a.i. that gets uploaded into the protagonist's computer. meanwhile, at the hospital, haruka is being offered everything he's ever wanted - a brand new body, with no weakness or illness...and no memories or emotions, either. he protests against it crying that he just wants to see takane, but it's not up to him in the end.

in their new forms, the two go by ene (enomoto takane) and konoha (kokonose haruka) - a cyber girl and robot boy. this is how they're stuck for the bulk of the story - everything that happens before this is a backstory that you only find out once you've seen both of them in action in their new lives!! and in their new lives, ene can't STAND konoha. takane really devotes herself to the role of ene, so even the people who she knew in her "past" life don't realize it's her...but it's the fact that konoha has no idea who she is that really hurts. imagine that every day you're tortured by the fact that you never got to tell the person you loved how you felt and now you're in this weird scary situation and you have no idea what's going to happen or if you'll ever get to be yourself again, and then he appears, but he doesn't look like he did or act like he did and even though you're painfully aware that it's him, he doesn't know it's you or even remember you or anything you did together...and you can't even let people know what you're feeling because you're stuck in this new identity!! through being in the dan together ene is forced to spend a lot of time with konoha but she refuses to address him by name (calling him "mr. imposter" instead which just sounds like an amongis joke now but is very emotional within the context of canon)

i really could go on and on and on about the very real angsty teenage emotions that go into this ship and the themes of love and loss but i've already gone on long enough - it's a combination of the actual dynamic and the goofy will-they-or-won't-they and the hardcore emotional story that has kept me on this train for all these years. i started shipping these two in MIDDLE SCHOOL!! and even now the fact that once the time loop is broken and august ends they get to have their happy ending and be together makes me think that wow. love is real and worth fighting for.

mekakucity actors is a bad anime and i definitely don't recommend it if you're trying to consume an easy-to-understand version of the kagerou project, but i will leave you with the anime version of yuukei yesterday because it's basically the only canon content we get of harutaka (and friends...i would explain shinaya but that's a whole nother post). thank you for letting me ramble! :)

[genshinconfessions]

[Spoilers for Inazuma/Particularly Peculiar Author quest again)

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This is the person who figured out the alphabet btw

Room 1 - The one with the giant Moon (Or sun, I'm... not sure actually)

"Trivia et notham estis luminibus lunae" - this one was one of the easiest, though the "notham" took me a while to get and I'm not sure about it. If you look closely, you can see really faded runes, and I just matched what I could. A quick google search told me "notham" is a Latin word and I said good enough. Also, there might be something missing before the "Trivia", since there's empty space while the line below that starts further back, and the first letter is rather faded.

Room 2 - The one with the three mountains

Side 1: "Hic tacitus ?er?ana. Calor Arge?" - This one was a bit worse, I couldn't match all the letters and some are partially faded so I was just going with what seemed to match best. That last letter I think might be an N now, but I'm not sure at all.

Side 2: "Vi?i?abi cae??? est no" - Now this one. This one was terrible. I literally can't read half because it's too faded, and I think it may be cut off on the right side too.

Side 3: "In stellare ?a??enti sa?i?ntia absconcitur" - I literally could not get a good look at some letters thanks to the roots, and some are really faded, so this was pretty ouch. I think the first letter on the third word might be a T but again, I'm not sure and I only noticed that right now somehow.

Now, as I just (excitedly) sent in, these runes also appear in the spiral abyss!

Considering the Abyss = Khaenri'ah thing, I think these runes may be Khaenri'ahn.

(Also, I didn't think to check but I think the runes in the Spiral Abyss are just random letters)

Another note: There are some other recurring patterns in both the Dragonspine ruins (especially the pillars match really well, as well as some of the patterns on doors), and some of the electro puzzles in the Inazuma ruins have connecting lines (not the glowy ones, the ones on the ground between these emitter thingies? hard to explain, sorry) have the same golden borders as some things in the Spiral Abyss.

And, interestingly, there are quite a few bird carvings in the Inazuma ruins, which checks out, since we've heard a lot about the thunder bird (?) so far... but it kind of makes me wonder, since a) there's way more in the outer part of the ruins than where you find the Murals, and they're carved, which the paintings aren't... might mean nothing, but it kind of makes me think they weren't made by the same people.

I'll have to think some more about what any of this means other than that the fact that this tells us that... these ruins have some connection to Khaenri'ah/the Abyss I guess? Or that someone who knew Khaenri'ahn wrote these texts and presumably drew these murals, but I think this is pretty neat so far! I'll be back here yelling if I figure something else out

-Seelie

heh i speak latin this is what youve got so far means. its hard to tell with missing words but its the rough idea.

- Trivia et notham estis luminibus lunae

The crossroads and _____ are the lights of the moon

nothem is probably wrong bc that makes no sense lol

- Hic tacitus ?er?ana calor arge

This has been silent ___ ____

- Vi?i???i caelum est no

_______ is swimming in the heavens

- In stellare ____ sapientia absconcitur

In the stars the wisdom of the _________ is being hidden

- keith

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wow i was gonna get my roommate to translate this but i totally forgot keith took latin asgdfhds i am a false friend

also i think that the missing words are missing on purpose because they seem to be the keywords! in any way, i’m sure we’ll end up knowing them later. how later? good question...

- katheryne from liyue

[cherrytdatt]

Sadness Ritual pt. 3

Pairing: Tom Holland x Reader

Word count: ~3.6k

Summary: Will Harrison's engagement party solve things between Y/N and Tom?

Warnings: N-O-T-H-I-N-G!

A/N: PART 3 IS HERE!!! after struggling a lot I finally did it. Part of this was inspired by the engagement scene in 'set it up' also know as my favorite rom-com ever so think about that vibe! I hope you guys like it. I really liked.

Playlist: No playlist...I heard so many things...It was a rollercoaster!

Part 1 | Part 2

Three months ago, at 3 am, Tom stood in your kitchen and said the words you wished for months to hear from him. And yet, you felt your entire chest hurt, and you couldn't look at him. You sent him home, and since then, you didn't see him again. But now, the inevitable was coming. Anna and Harrison's engagement party is in one day. You're the maid of honor, and Tom is the best man. Anna asked you if you would be okay seeing him again and, to be honest, you don't know, but it’s her engagement party. You won't deny the presence of her fianceé's best friend and best man.

"Ready for the party?" Anna asked while you two looked at some dresses in some store.

The party would be something small, just family and friends, in Tom's backyard. You wanted to help, but going to Tom's house, knowing he would be there, wasn't in your plans.

"Yeah! I'm so happy for you. And Harrison. Since your first date, I knew you two would get married," you said with a smile. "I remember I said I would be a shitty maid of honor," you said with a laugh. "And Tom said he would be a great best man," your smile faded a little when you thought about Tom.

"Did you talk to him?" Anna asked, already knowing the answer.

"No," you said simply.

"Harrison said he's feeling better, but still misses you," Anna said with a weak voice.

You cleared your throat. "I miss him too," you said almost in a whisper.

"Why don't you talk to him?" she asked.

"I don't know. Things got pretty bad between us. I'm still sad with him, and I'm sure he is sad with me too," you said, and the sadness in your voice was almost palpable.

"I'm sure he forgave you. And I think you already forgave him. You're just afraid," she said.

"Maybe. Let's see how mad I'll be when I see him tomorrow," you chuckled, but your voice was still sad. "D-do you...hum...do know what happened...to the girl?

"Oh, please! He ended things with her the morning after your fight, and never saw her again," Anna said.

"What you think of these?" you asked, putting a black floral dress in front of you, and changing the subject to hide how happy that information made you.

"Loved," she said animatedly.

"I'll try it," you said, going into the dressing room.

You didn't wanna think about Tom and all the situation now, but the talk with Anna got stuck into your head. 'He still misses you'. Her voice was louder and clearer than when you talked. You decided to buy the black dress for Anna's party. Thank God she chose a very casual party, so you could go with comfortable clothes.

"I see you tomorrow," Anna said goodbye, leaving you in front of your building.

You got into your apartment, still thinking about your talk with her. You missed Tom, more than anything in your life, but every time you thought about those pictures, and the fact that he did all that even though he liked you, you felt a strange and bitter feeling in your stomach. All you wanted was to talk to him and solve things, but you felt so afraid of what he would do and what he was willing to do to make things better. 

You used the rest of your night writing some essays you had to finish this week and watching some comedy on TV.

'Hey. How are you? I just wanna say that I can't wait to see you tomorrow. And I want you to know that I'm cool if you decide not to talk with me. I just want you to be okay 🙂' Tom's message took your attention away from the TV. You stared at the text, not knowing what to say. Of course, you wanted to see him, but talk to him would be the best thing? You really didn't know.

'Hi. I'm great. And you? I'm okay talking to you tomorrow,' you typed, throwing the phone on the other side of the couch like it was a bomb ready to explode. "Fuck!" you said, noticing the smile that appeared in your face.

'I'm good. That's good. I miss talking to you. How crazy it is that our friends are getting married?!@#$' The bleep from your phone made you smile again, and you reached for it, reading his text.

'Crazy as shit! We're not old enough for this,' you ignored the first half of the text on purpose. You missed him, but you weren't ready to let him know that yet.

'I keep saying this to Harrison, but he doesn't listen to me lol. But they love each other very much. Harrison showed me his speech, and I cried like a baby,' he said, and you laughed, remembering how easy it was for him to cry. He had a playlist just for that.

'Well, It's not that hard to make you cry lol. I chose not to hear Anna's speech. I wanted to be a surprise,' you confessed. She told you it would be very emotional, so you decided to enjoy with everyone else at the party.

'I don't cry that easily. I didn't even cry in my last movie,' he said, and you remembered you didn't watch the movie with him because the release happened when you were not talking.

'Congratulations on the movie, btw. I heard it's very good,' you said, confessing you didn't watch it. The real reason for you not to watch you weren't confessing. You didn't wanna hear see him or hear his voice. It was too painful.

'You didn't watch it yet? 😱' he asked, and you could see the shocked and offended look on his face.

'I'm sorry. I didn't have time,' you lied.

'We need to change this! This is unacceptable!' he said, and you wanted to invite him over to solve things once and for all. You wanted to sit in front of the TV, with Tom by your side, like you always did, and watch as many movies as possible.

'I'm going to bed now. See you tomorrow at the party,' you cut him off before he could ask anything else, and Tom noticed that. Because in one minute he was smiling at his cellphone, just about to ask you to watch a movie with him, and now he was staring at your last text, questioning everything he could've said or done to make things different.

"Hey, mate. Are you okay?" Harry asked, entering the TV room, and seeing his brother with a weird face, ignoring the TV.

"Yeah. Just...talked to Y/N," he said, pointing at his phone.

"Really? How did it go?" Harry asked, genuinely interested. He saw his brother whining and moping around the house for the last three months. After the pictures got released, Tom freaked out. He had to go to therapy, you stopped coming to their house, and he wasn't that cheerful guy anymore. Now, he was in a good place. Not like before, but he was getting there. And talk to you was the last step to make everything go back to normal.

"It was going back to normal, but then she shut me down. Not aggressively. She just didn't give me the opportunity to make things as normal as before," he said.

"Oh! I'm sorry, man. But that is better than nothing, right?" Harry shrugged. "And you are seeing her tomorrow. Who knows what can happen?" he smiled, and his brother did the same.

To say that this night was hard was an understatement. Tom couldn't sleep. He scrolled through his entire timeline on Instagram, watched a movie, then another one, ate, played video game, and when there was nothing else to do, he decided that 5am was a good time to go to the gym. But not even that helped him relax. He could feel every fiber in his body suffering from anxiety. Tea with his mom after lunch was the only thing that kept his mind calm for a few hours. After that, he went home to get ready for the party. 

There was no set of clothes in his closet that worked. Nothing was good enough. "Hey..." Anna called him from the door. "Want some help?" she offered.

"No. I know you have other things to do. I don't wanna bother you," he said with a smile.

"Not a chance. Everything is settled and I'm ready. Harrison is the one taking forever," she rolled her eyes. "I can help you," she said, getting into his room, and sitting in his bed. "What are your choices?" she asked.

"I don't have any," he scratched his neck, a little embarrassed.

"I think I know what to do," she said, getting up and going through his closet. "It will be simple..." she said, picking up a black pair of jeans and throwing at him. "But very cute..." she picked a black shirt.

"How can a black shirt with a black pair of jeans be cute?" he asked, looking at the clothes she gave him.

"Please..." she rolled her eyes. "You'll look cute," she picked a black cardigan, that he rarely used, and gave it to him. "And will match with the maid of honor, cause she's wearing black too," she finally gave him a white sneaker and a pair of glasses that he liked to use as a fashion statement.

"I'll match the maid of honor?" he asked, biting his bottom lip, trying not to smile.

"Perfectly!" Anna said with a happy smile.

Tom looked at the ground. "I talked to her yesterday," he said, putting the clothes on the bed before Anna could leave.

"And?" Anna said expectantly.

"I was just telling her she didn't need to talk to me today if she didn't want to. But, she said she was okay talking to me," his shrug was trying to sound like he didn't care, but his smile was showing the truth.

"I think you two will work things out," Anna said with a smile, leaning in the doorway.

"I hope so. I miss her so much, it's physically painful sometimes," he confessed with a sad voice.

"I know. I'm rooting for you," Anna said, going to him, and giving him a hug.

"Thanks," he said, and she smiled, leaving him alone.

Soon, the house was getting crowded. The backyard was decorated with fairy lights and wooden furniture. The waiters and waitresses walked around the house, serving beer and pizza.

Tom tried to distract himself, talking to as many people as he could. His mom, dad, and brothers were there since they were practically Harrison's family. His mom was feeling his son's anxiety.

"Are you okay?" she whispered to him.

"Great," he said, but his voice sounded anxious. He kept moving his weight from one foot to another. "She'll be here soon," he said.

"I know. And you'll let her be. Otherwise, you'll scare her," she said.

"Yeah...sure," he agreed. He glanced at the door as he did at least fifty times in the last hour, and for his surprise, this time you were there, taking off your jacket, revealing the black floral dress Anna said you would wear. And you two were matching. Tom's smile grew wilder unconsciously. You talked to some guests that were inside the house and then went outside, joining Anna and Harrison. You looked like an angel. Tom couldn't believe he survived all this time away from you. You looked at him for a second, and he saw Anna whispering something to you. You smiled, widely, and Tom felt like he had won the night.

You walked toward him, going to talk to his family. You didn't see Nikki for so long. You missed drinking tea with her, talking about your life, asking for advice.

"Hey, Ms. Holland," you greeted her.

"Hi, sweetie. Long time, no see,' she said, hugging you.

"Yeah. I was...busy," you said, looking at Tom for a split second and then to her again.

"I imagined. How is everything going? College. Work. Life?" she asked.

"Pretty much the same. I meant to call you a few times in the last months, but I didn't wanna bother you," you said sincerely. You really thought about calling and talking to her.

"Don't be silly. I would've loved talking to you," she said with a kind smile. "Let's have lunch this week. What do you think?"

"I would like that very much," you said, relieved that she didn't hate you after all the drama.

"Dom, look who is here," she said, calling her husband's attention. He said goodbye to the person he was talking to, engaging in conversation with you two. Sometimes your eyes met Tom's, and he noticed a sparkle in them every time you did. He didn't say anything while you were talking to his parents. He didn't want to upset you. "If you excuse us, darling, we're gonna talk to some friends," Nikki said, caressing your arm.

"Sure, go ahead," you said with a smile. They left, and it was just you and Tom.

"Hi," he said softly, trying to contain his excitement.

"Hey," you said, scratching the label of the bottle you were holding, anxiously.

"You look really good," he said, drinking a sip of his beer after.

"Thanks. You too," you were avoiding his eyes.

"Anna helped me choose this," he pointed to his clothes.

"It looks good," you smiled, finally looking in his eyes.

Tom couldn't hold it anymore. His mind wanted to keep it cool, but his mouth was faster. "I miss you. Everyday," he said. You looked at him, and all your worries were dead. All you could think was how much you missed him and how much you wanted him back in your life.

"I..." you started.

"Okay, everyone...it's toast time," Anna said clinking her glass with a fork. You and Tom looked at each other. Tom was afraid he had ruined his only chance. You were sad cause you couldn't tell him you missed him too.

"I'll go first," Harrison said, and some people cheered. "So...Anna. What can I talk about Anna?" he joked. "I'm kidding. I'll just say that the first time Y/N brought you around," he looked at you, raising his bottle, and you smiled. "That day, I knew I would marry you. I didn't say anything cause we were all friends, and I didn't want to scare you. But then, we were watching England's game at the 2018 World Cup, and when we lost, you cried. At that moment, I knew I had do something to make you mine, cause we were made for each other. Two months later I asked you out, and we started dating. Now I'm happy to say that we're gonna cry over the English team together, forever," he said the last part, looking at her. Everyone around cheered and applauded them and Anna gave him a quick kiss.

"Okay, now it's my turn," Anna said, taking a step forward. She was a showoff. "Are you ready to cry?" she asked, looking at him, and he smiled, nodding. I thought I would never find someone that I loved enough to ignore their flaws and accept spending my life with them. Unlike from you, when we first met, I thought great eyes, great body," she laughed, looking at him. "We could be friends. I mean, Tom and Y/N were always together. It wasn't like we could ignore each other," she said, and you and Tom looked at each other. A bit of sadness in your eyes, thinking about how that part wasn't true anymore. "But then, I got to meet you better, I started to see your flaws, and yet, dislike you wasn't an option even if I tried. My grandma always said 'we like because...we love despite...' I like you because you're nice to me, you are my best friend and you always search for me in a room when someone tells something funny, just to see my reaction. And I love you despite you being the last one to get ready, your gym schedule, and all the times you yell 'Wonderwall' in my ear, even though you know I hate this song," she finished. Her eyes were glistening with tears, just like everybody else. It took a few seconds for people to start cheering and clapping them. Harrison hugged her, with a wide and bright smile.

"Great speech," you said, going to her and Harrison, and hugging them. Tom following right behind you.

"I almost cried again," Tom said, hugging Harrison.

"Almost?" Anna asked, her thumbs brushing the corner of his eyes, cleaning a tear that threatened to fall.

"It was a really good speech," he defended himself.

"Thanks," she smiled. "We're gonna talk to...some people. We see you guys later?" she said holding your hand, and you and Tom nodded.

"We're gonna eat something," he said, resting his hand on your lower back, and they left. "Can we talk?" he asked, once Harrison and Anna left.

 "Yeah, sure!" you said, and he noticed the anxiety in your voice. At least he wasn't the only one that was afraid.

He walked to his room, opening the door so you could go in first. You walked to the window, looking at the party that was happening downstairs.

"It looks really good from here," you said. "They are so happy," you smiled, watching Harrison and Anna dance together.

"I'm happy to see you," he said, cutting you off. "I've missed you. Everyone did," his hands were in his pockets, and he was trying to stay calm even though his heart was loud in his ear.

"I missed everyone too. It was good to see your mom," you said, fidgeting with the fabric of your dress. The room went silent. Tom didn't wanna push you, but he wanted to be with you and talk like before. Maybe he didn't think this through. The only noise was the music from the party. "I'm sorry," you said, taking a step forward, and Tom looked at you, waiting. You were nervous. "I'm sorry for pushing you away the way I did," your voice was heavy. "We were both sad and broken-hearted, and I was selfish. I only thought about the pain I was feeling. I'm sorry for ignoring your feelings," you said, and Tom felt his heart beating faster. He never thought about that night this way. He always thought about how much pain he caused you and how guilty he was feeling.

"I should've talked to you. I was so focused on the reasons why we couldn't be together," Tom said, taking a step in your direction. "I never thought about the reasons why we could," he confessed. These last three months he thought a lot about what he did wrong, and not talking to you sooner, giving you the chance to decide if you two could work, was his biggest mistake. "I was a coward. With you, with me, with that girl," his voice was trembling. "And I regret every day for what I did," he finished. You were looking at him, and your expression was unreadable. Even for him, that knew you for half of his life.

"I love you, and I," you started, but then you stopped. Your eyes blinking heavily. "I love you," you repeated after a few seconds, touching your lips with your fingers, looking away from him. It was like you could touch every word. "I...I love you!" you said like you just realized that. You had told him that before, but you were so hurt that you never let yourself feel that completely. Now, standing here, with nothing in your way, that was all you could feel. "I love you..." you smiled, looking at Tom that still had a lost look in his face. "I love you!" you said one last time like you were declaring your feelings for him.

Without giving you a chance to say it again, Tom walked the two steps that were keeping you apart, holding your face in his hands, and kissing you. It was urgent and frantic at first, but then you felt your heart slowing down and it was like the entire world was in slow motion. Your hand went to his waist, holding his sweater, while his fingers tangled in your hair, one of his hands holding your neck, deepening, even more, the kiss.

"I love you too," he whispered against your lips, breaking the kiss. He smiled, looking into your eyes. "And I really think we should go on a date."

~

1 year and 7 months later...

"Lunch is ready," Sam called from the kitchen, and soon footsteps and a door closing were heard upstairs.

"Y/N! You're cheating!" Tom yelled.

"Stop whining. I just closed the door!" you yelled back, running down the stair.

"Racing again?" Sam asked, seeing you enter the kitchen breathless.

"He said he would clean the room if I won," you shrugged. You yelped, feeling Tom lifting you up by the waist. "NO! PUT ME DOWN!" you yelled. 

"You cheated!" he said, carrying you to the backyard and locking you out. He pointed and laughed at you through the glass door.

"I can't believe you are doing this. Let me in. I'm hungry!" you said, crossing your arms on your chest.

"If you wanna get in you'll have to do three things first," he said.

"They are being idiots again?" Harry asked entering the kitchen and seeing you two.

"What's going on?" Harrison asked, and Harry pointed to the glass door.

"Idiots," Anna said sitting on a chair around the dinner table.

"What three things?" you asked.

"First, you'll apologize for cheating," he said and you rolled your eyes. "Second, you'll help me clean the room. And third," he put his hand on his pocket, taking out a black velvet box. He opened the box, revealing a ring, and your eyes grew wider, noticing what was happening. "Marry me?" he said, and you covered your mouth in shock, just like everyone else behind him.

"Yes!" you said, feeling your eyes burning. "Yesyesyes!" you repeated, nodding frantically, while he opened the door, pulling you into a hug.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

[caranfindel]

Recap/review 15.02: “Raising Hell”

THEN: Sam shot God! Welcome to the end. Demon!Jack. Last week's non-scary ghosts or spirits or whatever. Strangely missing from the "Then:" Sam's godhole vision. It's actually a very short "Then." Maybe the episode itself is so good, so crammed full of wonderful things, that the "Then" had to be kept brief to make room for all of it.

Or then again, maybe not.

Now. We're still in Harlan, Kansas. A woman holding a scarf over her nose and mouth sneaks into the forbidden zone, and is startled by a neighbor. Or "neighbor." She's seen Close Encounters and knows the benzene story is fake (but if it was true, lady, I don't think that scarf would save you). And yet she's apparently never seen a horror movie, because the fact that her "neighbor" is silently and creepily staring at her doesn't raise any alarm bells. He stabs her a few times and then smokes out into an old-timey ghost who says "Disembowel. D-I-S-E-M-B-O-W-E-L. Disembowel." Well. Okay. She certainly doesn't look disemboweled, but I'll take your word for it. I mean, you spelled it and everything.

Title card. (BTW, you need to check out this very through breakdown of everything you're missing in the title card. It's fantastic.)

Nighttime. Harlan High School. Sam is large and in charge, but the people are restless. And apparently there are "hunters in the zone." Sam gets everyone's attention and tells them the EPA will be here tomorrow (a lie) and they need to stay out of the zone (the truth) and is adorably befuddled when he asks if there are any questions and everyone raises their hand. He's wearing a huge chain around his neck and, unfortunately, has gone back to the undershirt.

[[MORE]]

[[MORE]]

The zone. Dean and Belphagar. Dean's EMF meter is going crazy, and Belphagar says there are spirits about (are they ghosts? souls? spirits?) but they don't like him so they skedaddled. (Do we believe that?) Dean can't believe he's working with a demon again, and Belphagar can't believe he's working with a hunter, and it's the classic buddy comedy all over again. Except it's not a comedy and they're not buddies. (Do I miss Metatron?) He reminds us that his rationale for working with hunters is that he liked Hell the way it was. (Do we believe that?)

There's a fiery blast at the zone border, and even though Dean was facing it and Belphagar was facing in the other direction, Belphagar is the one who points it out and says "escape attempt, eleven o'clock." The bad guys can't cross the barrier, but rock salt can, which is convenient. Dean blasts a spirit away, who I believe is the same one from the "Then" but I can't be bothered to confirm and is relieved that the warding still works. Belphagar expositions that it won't last forever, and these ghosts/spirits/whatever are more dangerous than average. For example, the ghost Dean just shot was Francis Tumbelty, aka Jack the Ripper.

(Sidebar: Okay, I did actually rewind and use closed-captioning to confirm what Jack said, because what I heard was Francis Tomelty. And here's how my brain works: I can't remember my kid's phone number, I can't remember my license plate number, I can't remember to call the guy to fix the garage door opener, but I do remember that musician Sting's first wife was named Frances Tomelty. That's how useless my brain is. But Wikipedia confirms that Francis Tumbelty is, in fact, a Jack the Ripper suspect.)

I know, Dean, I feel the same way.

High school. It's daylight now. The citizens are still restless, someone's wife is "missing," the benzene story is wearing thin (sidebar: I'm still using captions, and they misspelled benzene,) and people are plotting an escape.

Zone. Ghosts/spirits/whatever are gathering in one of the houses. Francis Tumbelty, who does not have a British accent (but it turns out he was born in Ireland but raised in America so okay, I guess someone did their research), informs the group that they were released from Hell by God himself. And all of these spirits know what hunters are. And Belphegar's name is actually Belphegor. Well. So much to learn tonight. Tumbelty says they need to gather the spirits who are still in hiding. And they can break the warding because "Warding is a door, doors have locks, locks have keys." Actually, the analogy I would have used is that warding is a lock but WHATEVER. Their plan is to "make it as ugly as possible for those who stand guard." Well, the ineffective spooky makeup will help.

Outside. Hunters are patrolling the perimeter. Civilians sneak out of the bushes and then walk right down the middle of the dang street. And then meet a couple of very unscary ghosts. Oh no, what will happen?

I don't know, because we cut back to the high school. They found the first woman's body, and Cas thinks they need to tell her family, and Sam's all, can't do that yet, people are gonna panic. They're interrupted by the arrival of Rowena, which was a surprise to me because I covered the guest star credits. Although it shouldn't have been a surprise, since Dean called her for help in the previous episode. (See how useless my brain is?) She pretends to be more interested in Cas than Sam but I'm not fooled.

Sam says "Remember a couple of years ago when we were trying to get rid of Amara," as if that's how the conversation would go, as if that's anything either of them would need to be reminded of. What he really would have said was "You know the soul bomb you made for Amara? We need another one of those."

WHATEVER.

They don't want to use it as a bomb, they just want a way to capture the ghosts. Rowena thinks it would be too difficult, but they're interrupted by someone who tells Sam they have "a situation."

Zone. The situation is that the two civilians are facing down Dean and Belphegor. And apparently they've been standing there long enough for Sam to actually show up at the zone, which is miles away from where he was. WHATEVER. Dean explains that the guy is married to the woman who was D-I-S-E-M-B-O-W-E-L-E-D earlier and came to look for her. (BTW, we're almost 10 minutes in, and this is the first scene with Sam and Dean together.) Sam, in his kind way, tells them they need to go back to the school. Then black goo drips out of their eyes and Dean realizes they're possessed. The whole standing-and-staring part didn't clue him in (WHATEVER) but now he gets it.

Bowlegs! Hair blowing in the breeze! Something for everyone!

Tumbelty appears and tells them if they don't open the warding, the spirits are going to kill these two civilian vessels. The civilians drop to the ground, groaning in pain, and I remember back when the guys would have let the spirits out in order to save two innocent people. Or at least would have been conflicted about it. (WHATEVER.)

However, some unexpected shots ring out, sprinkling the possessed civilians with... confetti? How festive. Tumbelty zaps out and the Winchesters and Belphegor turn to see none other than Arthur Ketch. Who is also a surprise to me. I guess that gig as an insurance agent didn't work out. Dean seems ridiculously annoyed to see him. Ridiculous considering that they were working together fairly recently. (WHATEVER.)

And now, since none of my regular download sources worked out and I'm forced to rewatch on the CW app, I'm sitting through commercials. Like a goddamn animal.

Back at the school. Ketch says he just happened to be in the area when they sent out the call for hunters. Dean's still not pleased. What is his problem? Am I forgetting something? Did they leave on bad terms? His gun, stolen from the BMoL, shoots iron flakes. Which somehow expels the spirit without hurting the vessel. He and Rowena reacquaint themselves, and she holds no hard feelings against him regarding the whole prisoner thing, since he let her escape. Well, you actually bought that escape, Rowena, but okay. There is an uncomfortable level of eyefucking, as least as far as the Winchesters are concerned.

Belphegor shows up and they have to explain to Ketch that Jack is dead and oh, Sam's face, when he says "dead." This is the first time this episode has made me feel anything. Well, anything good. And it turns out Ketch was actually contracted by "an attractive female demon" (seriously, that just means a demon in an attractive female vessel but WHATEVER) to kill Belphegor. Her name is Ardat and I guess she's gonna show up later. Yawn.

At least sad Sammy is good.

Reno? I laughed and said ha ha, I wonder if Amara is here and it turns out she is! (Because, again, I covered the guest stars.) She's getting a massage. Her maseusse is replaced by Chuck, who looks about 10-20 years younger than he did the last time we saw him. (Just for Men. Find it in the men's section.) She's annoyed with his presence. He's rambling. He liked the Game of Thrones ending, which I guess is supposed to signal what an awful hack of a storyteller he is. Or to warn us that we won't like the ending of our own Show. Or both.

High school. Poor Cas has to lie to Restless Citizen #3 that they're looking for the other missing citizens. "You said you'd keep us safe!" the guys says. That cuts deep, man. Meanwhile, Rowena has given Dean a shopping list. She asks him about Ketch, even though, as Dean points out, they've obviously met. "That was more of a torturer-torturee relationship. Fun, but I didn't really get to know him." But Dean doesn't want to play matchmaker, and says she shouldn't get involved with Ketch. "I mean, Sam is right here," he says. "Why don't you guys get off high center and do it?" (No, not really.)

Cas comes up behind Dean, all rumpled and sad and wanting a hug, and he apologizes for "dropping the puck." Dean doesn't want to hear it. He's so very angry, at Cas and at Chuck and at his life being one giant rat maze. Cas doesn't think their whole existence has been a lie, because even though they were in a maze, they were still living their lives in that maze. That's what life is. Chuck sets up the obstacles, but they still run their own obstacle course. Dean doesn't accept this.

It's interesting that Dean is the one who's taking the truth about Chuck so hard. Sam and Cas were the ones who had faith, and you'd think they'd be knocked harder by the realization that there was never a benevolent God. But on the other hand, Sam's so used to being manipulated by outside forces; this is nothing new to him. And Cas has already seen how the sausage is made. So they're both just, yeah, this is how it is, let's deal with it.

However. I'm not feeling the Dean-Cas conflict at all. I don't really care. And I suspect it's going to be a Big Deal. {sigh}

I’m definitely feeling angry Dean. So much.

Zone. Nighttime. Dean and Ketch are on patrol. I mean, I guess it makes sense to leave Chief Sam in charge at the school, but I'm tired of the guys being split up. Dean gives Ketch one of the giant chains they've been wearing, and says it's iron, to prevent possession. Wow, that would be a heavy chain. They talk about God and Rowena, and then Dean gets a text message. "Trouble. Two hunters haven't checked in." Uh oh!

Meat packing plant. Seriously? There is a meat packing plant in the middle of this residential area? So many chains hanging from the ceiling. I wonder what kind of cage flashbacks Sam would have in here. (And if you fic that, I'd like to be notified, please and thank you.) Dean and Ketch search the place and then it gets cold and then Ketch is hurled against a wall. Hard. Lizzie Borden appears, prepared to take an ax to Dean's head, but an electronically altered voice says "Stop! Get out!" She zaps out and we see the voice belongs to... Kevin???

Turns out when Chuck said he was sending Kevin to Heaven, he lied. Um. Why? What's the rationale for this? I mean, he did things to make a good story, but what was the purpose of sending Kevin to Hell and not letting the Winchesters (or anybody else) know? Dean promises they'll get him to Heaven, and Kevin accept this happily, because Kevin knows that Dean always takes care of him, as promised. (Ha.) Kevin can feel the wards weakening, but he doesn't know if the other spirits can detect it. And the other spirits are afraid of Kevin because he was personally cast down by God. Um. Okay. WHATEVER. But this tells Dean they can use him as a spy.

Reno. Chuck is flipping through channels, and he spends a couple of seconds watching a cooking show where the recipe involves tripe. Which is so meta, isn't it?

He's whiny. I'm over it. So is Amara. And she suddenly detects (WHATEVER) that he needs her for some reason. She can feel his own version of the godhole? She pokes at it and it hurts. "Something happened. You're not complete. You're not at full strength."

Zone. Sam doesn't think using Kevin is safe. Well, he's already dead, so. Belphegor shows up and they're all, your wards are failing and he's all, duh, I told you that was happening, I thought you heroes would have this wrapped up by now. (Are they really fading due to the nature of wards, or is this deliberate? Discuss.) And this spell was a one-time thing - he can't do it again. Because...? We'll never know, because neither brother asks. WHATEVER.

This conversation is like some people. Stupid but pretty.

Belphegor knows Kevin and calls him a "whiny millenial" and my goodness, he gets around a lot for a low-level grunt, doesn't he? He tells the guys that Kevin can't get into Heaven because once a soul is cast into Hell, Heaven can't take it. I am quite sure that Show has forgotten about John and Bobby, who both accomplished that very thing, and I'm shocked to find Show actually address this. Belphegor says God made an exception, and that isn't likely to happen again, since God doesn't like them any more. Oh no! The only way to fix this is if someone else takes over for God!

Reno. Chuck checks out his own godhole, which looks just like Sam's. He pokes at it and winces in pain.

Zone. Sam feels pain in his own godhole. Because they're connected! He lies that he's okay and it's getting better and Dean's all yeah, right.

Sam, for a professional liar, you are so bad at it.

Zone. Spirit meeting. They know the wards are fading. Tumbelty thinks they should attack at a weak point, rather than waiting for the whole thing to collapse. Kevin shows up. They all know him, and some fear him. But Tumbelty knows he's buds with the Winchesters. Because all these spirits know the Winchesters. You know, I can understand all the demons knowing who they are. That's justified. But every resident of Hell? I'm not feeling it. WHATEVER.

High school. More heavy flirting between Rowena and Ketch. Somehow Ketch knows something she doesn't know - that a jolt of electricity will fast-forward her spell. Can we just skip this part? It makes as much sense as the Rowena/Gabriel detour when they were trying to open the rift. They're interrupted by a call from Dean, who demands she hurry. Yes, please.

Zone. Rowena shows up with a bag and runs right into Tumbelty. Who knows her. Because they used to date. All this romance for Rowena, and Sam's still sitting alone at the high school. Come on, Ro. Climb that mountain. Tumbelty tells her they've got Kevin, and sends a message for the Winchesters to meet them at their spirit house. Ketch shows up behind him, with his iron confetti gun, and blasts him, but Tumbelty whacks him with a rock. However, Rowena escapes.

{Commercial time. Zombieland 2 looks good.}

TFW is finally all together. Rowena tells them about Kevin. Dean asks if she has the soulcatcher, and for some reason, Sam has a problem with the name soulcatcher. I suppose this was supposed to be humorous. She does, but she doesn't know if it will work.

Spirit house. Winchesters show up. Tumbelty says if they shut down the warding, he won't devour Kevin. They say no. Tumbelty sticks his hand into Kevin, and this takes a really really long time, but Rowena finally shows up with the crystal and catches all of their souls. Boy, it's a good time devouring Kevin's soul took so very, very long. Rowena tells them this crystal isn't as powerful as the earlier version, and can only gather a few souls at a time. In fact, some of the souls here got away. Oooh, I wonder who.

Kevin tells them about the plan to break through the warding at the weakest point. Jump to the weakest point. There are at least 100 spirits there, according to Belphegor, and more are coming. Dean brings his gun up when someone approaches, but it's only Ketch. Oh, good, he escaped safely from Tumbelty's clutches! How fortunate. It's odd that he's no longer wearing that huge iron chain, though.

Dean tries shooting at the spirits they can't see, but Belphegor tells him there are too many. So Rowena goes forth with her soulcatcher. She still seems to be on this side of the warding, which means she's able to drag the souls through the barrier. I wonder if it would have worked better if she'd gone past the barrier. Then Ketch backhands her because, SURPRISE SURPRISE, he's actually possessed. He drips black goo from his eyes, just to confirm, and picks up the soulcatcher. Dean tries to shoot him, but is conveniently out of ammo. Tumbelty!Ketch monologues and then Dean pulls out his handgun and shoots him and he... tosses the soulcatcher to Dean? Drops it horizontally? Somehow, the thing ends up flying into Dean's hand.

WHATEVER.

(Or did Ketch toss it to him once he was depossessed? Discuss.)

Rowena takes it back and sucks up the few visible souls, including Tumbelty's. Yay! Success! Is Ketch alive? Dunno!

Time jump. Ketch is alive, with only a wounded shoulder, and is being loaded into an ambulance. Cas tells Sam that he tried to heal him, but couldn't. "You're just tired," Sam says. "We all are." Oh, I don't think so, Sam. Dean apologizes to Ketch, and lets us know it was an iron bullet, which is why it expelled Tumbelty. Ketch and Rowena exchange a longing glance. Dean stares. Angrily, maybe? Angry that Mary's ex dared to look for love again? Angry that Rowena is flirting with someone else right in front of Sam? Angry that Ketch is such a wuss that he actually needs an ambulance, and medical treatment, for a mere bullet to the shoulder? Angry that he's stuck inside a Buckleming episode? All of the above? He and Rowena exchange an uncomfortable look.

Aftermath! Kevin doesn't want to stay in the zone and hang out with the guys. He knows he can't get into Heaven, so he's just gonna ghost around and wander the earth. Sam tells him this is a terrible way to exist, and Kevin points out that it's better than Hell. And Kevin and Sam give us what might be the motto for just this episode, or maybe for the entire season:

I'm sorry, Kevin. I wish there was some way to make this right.

Me too. But there isn't. And sometimes, you just gotta accept that.

Kevin tells the Winchesters he loves them (d'aw) and they don't say it back (aw) and Belphegor quite easily makes a little opening in the barrier. So easily, that it really makes you wonder why he has so little power to keep it going. Yep, it sure does. Kevin is gone. Sad waves.

Reno. Amara is hitting the road. Chuck isn't invited. And she knows he's too weak to do anything about it. He can't leave this world without her help, and she ain't helping.

Zone. We see dozens of glowing souls flitting about. The warding won't last long. We need a plan B. "How," asks Dean. How indeed.

So. When I watched this for the first time last night, I desperately wanted to fast forward through the scenes with the spirits in the house. And the Ketch/Rowena stuff. It wasn't any better on rewatch. Some of this episode was just the usual Buckleming nonsense - badly written, stupid things happen for stupid reasons, yada yada yada. But the Kevin plot... can we blame that on the Buckleming? Or was that a showrunner master plan? Either way, it's annoying. And probably pointless. The only good thing about this episode was the confirmation of the connection between Sam and Chuck. I noticed a distinct lack of excitement on my Tumblr feed, so maybe a lot of us feel the same way. If you haven't watched this one yet, my vote is: don't bother.

Please help me stay unspoiled, thanks!

[iron-man-loves-you-3000]

I See The Way They Look At Me (Peter Parker x Female Reader) Part One (1)

Title is from 'O.D.D' by Hey Violet (it's a really good song btw)

A/N - Uh, I might make this into a lil series

~~

Peter Parker was a good kid. He was good in school, not counting the occasions that he skipped. And when he skipped, I skipped. You see, he's Spiderman. Yeah, that dude who can shoot webs. Yeah. It's pretty normal.

Me? Well, I'm an Asgardian. Loki's daughter. Yep. But it gets better! Because my father is half Jotun, guess what! I am too! Which means that technically I'm a princess of Jotunheim. It's a weird one. Luckily enough, the Frost Giants in Jotunheim seem to like me.

My Dad was the god of Mischief, and Lies. My Uncle was the god of Thunder. My grandfather, not biological, was just the king, but he's...not the nicest. I guess I ended up being the god of Animals? And any other mythical beast that isn't humanoid, except anything that bears human-like intelligence, with a few exceptions.

Dragons, for example. They're extremely intelligent. But, lo and behold, I can still chill out (haha) with them.

Which brings me to why I'm on...Earth? Is that what this place is called? Or Midguard, I guess.

Odin wasn't too impressed by the fact that I was a literal animal magnet. Dragons would fly in, and I would have to fly them out, although I did enjoy watching them wreak havoc.

Sometimes I would scare Thor by befriending a Thunder Dragon. Thunder Dragons are big, huge, serpentine beasts. They're long, ridiculously long, and have a massive wingspan. They also have four eyes, two on each side. They're pretty cute. Anyway. Uncle Thor is pretty scared of them, because they're one of the only creatures he can't scare off with his powers. So, when we were both walking around outside the city, I called one over, quickly befriended it, and then proceeded to prank Thor. He wasn't very impressed.

Anyway, because of my tendency to bring dangerous beasts in, Odin sent me down to Midguard so I could stay with the Avengers.

Me and Peter had taken to each other pretty quickly. We got on like a house on fire, one could say, but I don't really deal with fire. That why I stay away from any Helhounds, they're literally furnaces. Mean as well. They've got bark, literally, and bite.

So, once Peter learned of what I could do, he kept asking for demonstrations. I'd take him to somewhere remote, using the Asgardian version of a portal, and then I'd call over any creature he wanted me to. I once summoned a huge spider. We called him Aragog, because Harry Potter.

And while I showed off, Peter would observe me. He'd learnt most of my little quirks. Like how I had a tendency to slip into a baby voice when talking to animals. Especially snakes.

I must've picked that trait up from my Father. I had also inherited his personality, although I'm a little bit easier to approach.

Peter told Tony about my love of snakes, and the next day, when I got back from school, there was a full sized Vivarium, with a baby Durrell's Ground Boa inside. I named him Korealis. He's a few months old now, and where I go, he goes. No joke. He even comes with me to school.

They...know who I am. And because I am technically a god, they can't do anything. I maybe revel in that a bit too much. Korealis wraps himself around my neck, loosely, and stares at people. I mean, he can't blink, he doesn't have eyelids, so, y'know.

Ever since Tony got me Korealis, we've been close. Sure, Loki is my Dad, and I love him despite everything, and I used to see him a lot, but Tony's like a second father. Surprisingly, Dad didn't doesn't mind. He actually liked the fact that me and Tony are so close. I guess he did not care, as long as I was safe.

Hey, I went off topic again!

Peter...there were times when I wondered if he was really as fine as he seemed to be. Nobody his age should be seeing the things he's seen. The Infinity War? That was horrible. I was there. I was on Titan.

I saw him...no.

No.

I wouldn't think about that. I wouldn't think about how I cried. Oh, how I cried. I was already a mess because of Dad, but that was the final straw. After that, I helped Thor with New Asgard. I asked Dragons and Griffons and Pegasi to protect the land, and they agreed, gladly. To any non magical being, they just look like birds. But to another Asgardian, or a Sorcerer, or someone who knew what they were, they looked as they normally did. Majestic beasts, soaring through the sky. Graceful. Ready to attack. Ready to defend.

After New Asgard was stable, I headed off. I trained, honed my skills, until I was just like my Father. I think he'd be proud of me now, y'know. If only he could see me.

I missed him.

Then the remains of the Avengers came calling, and all it took for me to crack was to look at Tony, and I was a sobbing mess again. The memories came flooding back.

But it's over now. Tony was hurt, but he's okay. Pepper wants him to retire, but he's as stubborn as my Father. He won't retire.

When I first came here people were scared. Loki's attack was still fresh in the minds of some, and seeing me, smirking like the world was at my control, only caused memories to resurface. Even Tony was tense. Thor was quick to soothe everyone, though, reassuring them that, although personality wise, I was my Father, I wouldn't try to take over the world.

After I reverse engineered Tony's suit, and made my own, he warmed up to me. I guess he wasn't expecting me to be able to do it. But I did! And now I have my own suit. It's not like Tony's, mine is green and gold, and lighter so that I could move faster, and dodge easier. I replaced the repulsors with Asgardian Tech, and I chose to harness the Frixe Dragon's powers. I fired ice beams from one hand, and from the other, fire. I could freeze someone if I needed, and then unthaw them. Simple.

Peter was pretty impressed by that feat, and he literally took every chance he could to try and befriend me after that. Ugh, he makes me soft, I swear. For a while I was cautious, I didn't want to let my guard down, but I soon let him in, and, well, the rest is history.

Mine and Peter's first kiss was when he came back, after the whole Thanos fiasco. I was too excited, I couldn't contain myself, and after seeing him come back, I couldn't stop myself. I rand forwards, and I kinda just did it. Peter was grinning like a dork when I realised what I'd done, and I'd pulled away, and quickly darted off, taking to the air in my suit. Tony still teased me about that moment. Everyone did. I guess we were a little ray of sunshine in a battle.

It's kinda cute when you put it that way.

Me and Peter started dating two months after the kiss. He'd gathered the courage to ask if I could show him some more magical creatures, and I happily agreed, taking him to Mount Kilimanjaro. We sat halfway up, and I showed him Griffons, a Pygmy Faerie Dragon, and a Arachnellkero. Basically a giant spider, with wings. Once I'd sent them back, he asked for me to show him my favourite. I paused, thinking, and I then called a Basilisk. It was young, and therefore it's gaze was useless. No harm was caused. Peter smiled brightly at me, and in that moment, I couldn't help but smile back.

After I returned the Basilisk, we sat in a peaceful silence. Perfectly calm. At some point we wound up holding hands. At some point I fell asleep. At some point he called Stephen to portal us home.

I think Thor borrowed Tony's phone to take a picture of that moment. I don't blame him.

I wonder what my Father would say now. Would he be proud? Or disappointed, as Odin always was with him? But...Loki swore to me that he wouldn't be like Odin, and he wasn't. And he's dead now, damn it!

I missed him, I thought, as tears ran down my face. I wanted him back.

To Be Continued...

[rogue-barnes-16]

SWEET

Request: Can I please request an imagine where Bucky falls in love with a nerdy, sweet, innocent, short (I’m 4ft 10 1/2in btw LOL) Kindergarten teacher (I’m also a kindergarten teacher😂). They meet when she takes the kids on a field trip to the museum (the one that has all of the Captain America and Bucky stuff), they talk a lot and he asks her on a date + he introduces her to Steve and Sam as his girlfriend + Bucky being soft for the reader + sweet kisses, cuddles, and hugs.💜

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x teacher!Reader

Genre: super Fluffy

Tags:

Requested by: @kpopgirlbtssvt

Permanent taglist: @notexactlythatgirl @thisismysecrethappyplace @sofreakinmanyfandoms @pizzarollpatrol @bubblycypress87 @sinviix @loislp @lovenaturefirst @dyanna-corona @2ptonpt @goodnightmode @disneyprincessbuffyannesummers @mannls @cutie1365 @catch22inareddress @mybooradley @sebastianisasnack

Warnings: none (?)

A/N: wanna hear something funny? I read it wrong. Like the whole request, so I had to delete what I'd written and write it again (why am I such a mess?) and THEN tumblr deleted it after I had finished it. Anyway, I hope the wait was worth it, enjoy <3

Rogue-barnes-16 masterlist

BUCKY'S P. O. V.

I didn't want to go to the Smithsonian to see the expo of Captain Fuckin' America all over again, but Natasha insisted that they had modified it, and that I sure had to go and see it all over again.

I was walking towards one of the newly added panels when a little kid bumped into my leg. "Fuck!" I turned around just in time to see the kid falling on his butt. "God 'm sorry" I kneeled in front of him to check if he was okay.

I heard rushed steps that preceded the view of a girl kneeling in front of me. "what did I say about running?-I'm sorry" she added, giving me an apologetic smile.

"I'm the one who's sorry" I smiled at her, but she wasn't even looking in my direction.

"Miss Y/n!" the woman turned around to look at a bunch of little kids that were now approaching us "look, It's Bucky Barnes!" the whole group started to squeal excited.

"Oh- I-" Y/n was finally looking at me with wide eyes and lips parted, and for the first time, I was able to see how damn beautiful she was. "Oh" she repeated, letting out nervous chuckle.

Her eyes, along with the children's ones and the few people's in the museum, were too much for me to deal with. "I-I'm sorry again. Have- have a good... time" I muttered, beaming at her before getting up to leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

READER'S P. O. V.

"Okay, kids, let's go pick things up" I said, smiling at the children while I grabbed the keys. I opened the five lockers where they had left their things, and then, after checking the number on my key, I looked for mine.

At the beginning of the trip, I had asked one of the receptionists to store my things while I helped the kids, in order to save some time. And, of course, they had to choose a locker from the third row.

Right before I left to ask for help, Bucky Barnes entered in the room and, flashling me a smile, he walked to his locker.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped to him and tapped his shoulder. "I'm- I don't want to bother but my things... They're in that locker and" he looked at the locker I was pointing at. "I kinda-" c'mon, say it, I thought, it's not like he hasn't seen you. "God this is so embarrassing" I let out a nervous chuckle "I'm too short to reach it, could you-"

He let out a chuckle. "sure. Gimme your key?" I gave it to him and waited besides him. "here" he called my attention, carefully handing me my bag.

The corners of my mouth twitched when, instead of giving me my jacket, he held it for me to put it on "Thank you so much"

BUCKY'S P. O. V.

"No worries, Y/n" I gnawed my lip nervously before adding something else. "it's Y/n right?" she, biting back a grin, nodded.

"well, thank you anyway... Bucky." she replied, looking up at me enough time to see the blush creeping over my neck and ears. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two of us. "I should get g-"

"Did you like the expo?" I blurted out, feeling incredibly unhappy about her leaving.

She looked at me, with a spark of surprise and confusion in her eyes. "yeah. I actually come with the kids often." I nodded, my mind buzzing, trying to find a way to keep the conversation going. "Did you like it?"

Sadly, I heard her question after I had spoken, and not before. "would you like to grab a coffee?" her lips parted and her eyes widened, I realized I should have thought twice. "God 'm sorry, I don't-"

"Uh... I've to come back to school with the children" before I was able to tell her to forget it, she spoke again. "but this- this afternoon I'm free?" she questioned more than stated, gnawing her lower lip.

"is that a yes?" she nodded, extending her hand to me. "what... Oh fuck sorry" we both laughed while I gave her my phone for her to write down her number.

"Okay so" she gave it back to me and grabbed her bag. "I finish at 4"

"Okay Uh..." I walked out of the building with her and her class "Send me the address of the school and I'll pick you up"

"Sure, see you later, Bucky!" She said excitedly, walking away with the kids.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I double checked the address she had sent me before climbing off my bike.

Bucky: I'm outside:) r u ready?

During the few minutes it took her to answer, a wave of insecurities overwhelmed me, but most of them were ridiculous things I had never been insecure of.

And then it hit me, how damn nervous I was.

Y/n: I have a problem :(

Y/n: come in, I'll explain

I did as she told me to do and, after asking where Y/n was, I got to her class' door, where she was already waiting for me.

"Hey there" I greeted with a smile, managing to suppress the 'beautiful' that almost came out of me. "what happened?"

"i have to prepare a last minute activity for tomorrow" She groaned dramatically, running a hand through her hair. "I'm so sorry, I really wanted to-"

"Hey, 's okay" I gave her a small smile, not even bothering on hiding my disappointment. "tomorrow maybe?"

"yeah... Okay" she parted her lips a couple of times like she wanted to say something, but she ended up giving me a tight-lipped smile and got in the class.

READER'S P. O. V.

Who the fuck cancels a date with Bucky Barnes? Oh, yes. Me. I let out a loud groan followed by a whine, and I almost missed the buzz of my phone.

Bucky: are you gonna be alone?

Y/n: yeah why?

He did read the message, but the fact that I didn't get any kind of reply made me kind of upset.

To my surprise, not even ten minutes later Bucky was entering in the class with two coffees and two doughnuts.

"what's this?" I asked, a smile creeping over my face while he set everything over my desk.

"Didn't feel like waiting" he handed me a one of the coffees, leaning against the desk. "and I thought you could use some company"

"I definitely could" I confessed with a chuckle, walking to his side and hopping onto the table. "thanks Bucky. This was really sweet."

We looked at each other for a moment, the same stupid smile on our faces. "can you tell me if the coffee's good? 'cause I have no fucking clue what I ordered."

I let out a laugh "how's that even possible?"

"names were long and complicated, doll" he defended himself. "it was easier back in the day"

"back in the day" I echoed amused before taking a sip of my drink. "well it's... Sweet"

"just like you, then" I felt my cheeks reddening at that simple statement. "and it's hot too" snorting, I buried my face on Bucky arm, who was softly chuckling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of my alarm going off had never been so annoying.

When I tried to move to turn it off, Bucky’s strong arms tightened around my waist, pulling me closer to his chest. "don't"

"Bucky, I have to work" I mumbled, trying not so hard to get rid of his embrace. "c'mon, do you want me to lose my job?"

We had been dating for a few weeks already, but it was the first time that I had stayed the night at Bucky’s house —a. K. a the Avengers tower— so I wanted to leave before anyone could wake up.

"not gonna lose it, darlin'. You're too good at it." he stated, nuzzling his nose against my neck. "You're so warm. Like a blanket"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Bucky, c'mon" I half-heartedly pulled away, earing a whine from him, and jumped out of the bed.

It took me less time than I thought to find the kitchen. Surprisingly, the hardest part was to find the food.

I was focused on the things in the fridge when a voice almost gave me a heart attack. "Jesus Fucking Christ! Who are you?" I turned around to be met with Sam Wilson himself, dressed in a pigeon pj's.

"I'm-"

"That's Barnes tee-shirt" he stated, calmly stepping to the hall. "STEVE GET YOUR ASS HERE, BARNES BROUGHT A GIRL!"

"WHAT WHERE?" My eyes went wide and I froze in place when Steve fucking Rogers entered. "Holy motherfucking shit, 's true"

"Uh..."

"'Course it's true!" Sam yelled offended.

Thank God, in that moment Bucky entered in the kitchen and made his way towards me. "found your breakfast?" I denied, not being able to formule a proper sentence. "shouldda waited for me, baby" he whispered, grabbing a few things from the top shelf. "Sorry 'bout them" he pulled me closer and pecked my nose.

"Buck" Steve called his friend and we both turned to him. "who's her?"

"she's Y/n" he stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "my girlfriend." I started to blush like crazy, and Bucky might have felt it, because he pulled me to the side his chest with one of his arms, while with the other prepared my breakfast.

"You're what now?" Sam asked, and I saw him leaning over the counter between us. "Tell us about you, Y/n"

I opened my mouth to try to avoid that somehow, but Bucky was faster. "she gotta go to work, right?" I nodded and he gave me the breakfast. "c'mon, baby. Eat and I'll drive you there."

"Okay." I finally managed to speak, and Bucky leaned on me to peck my lips. "thanks Bucky"

He gave me a smile an guided my out of the kitchen with the breakfast in my hands, leaving behind us Steve's and Sam's bantering about us.

"I'm really sorry. Forgot today was training day" he apologized again in low voice, kissing my temple.

"it's okay, they seem nice" I said entering in his room and leaving the breakfast over the nightstand. "but they're like hyped kids"

"they're indeed" he agreed with a grin on his face. "so" throwing himself to the bed, he lay on his back with his head resting over one of his hands. "now that I'm taking you to school, and we've more time..."

I huffed, but when he pouted at me, I gave in. "just five more minutes." I warned, scooting closer to him and lying on his chest with my arms hugging him.

"Okay, miss" he replied, shifting his position to be able to cuddle me better. "just five more minutes"

"Bucky I mean it" I warned him again when he got way too comfortable.

"No you don't"

"fuck you, James" I said, chuckling heartedly.

"sweet"

I wrapped my arms around his neck and brought him into a kiss, which turned out to be a mess due to both of our smiles.

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

God this has been in my ask box for so long. Anon wherever you are i am so sorry my dude. Writing requests are closed btw, I'm just clearing out my inbox.

Lucy's leg came down hard, splitting the earth where it landed, narrowly missing Natsu who had ducked to the left with a cocky grin, disappearing into the cloud of smoke from her attack.

The sun beat down on the pair of them from its high seat in the sky, not a cloud in sight to lessen the heat or a lick of cool breeze in the still air. Dry and dusty air swirled in Lucy's lungs and she greedily sucked in more lungfuls of it as she stood by, tense with tight fists, waiting for his next move.

Lucy barely even registered that she was wearing her Taurus dress still, her spirit's strength flowed through her muscles as though it were her own. Lucy's whip was tossed to the side, long forgotten and her hair slipped free of their buns. Stray strands stuck up all about her head and stuck to her sweaty skin. They felt gross, she wanted nothing more than to pull them all in a ponytail but she didn't have those seconds to spare.

A wild grin pulled at her lips when Natsu threw himself at her, dodging beneath her left hook. The wind from the force set him off balance slightly but it didn't stop him from dropping into a crouch and sweeping out her feet from under her. Lucy's back hit the dirt hard, knocking the wind out of her lungs in a strangled grunt.

She gritted her teeth, blinking the dirt and sweat from her eyes, taking in the only moment of calm she's had all day. Begrudgingly though she had to admit.

What were they now? 5 for 5? Lucy wasn't quite sure. She jumped to her feet, not even having the time to steady herself when he came flying out of nowhere. His fist broke the already beat up earth where she was just seconds ago.

He stayed there for a bit, a heavy frown pulling at the corners of his lips. Natsu watched her keenly, unblinking as she searched for an opening on him.

Well this wasn't how they was expecting today to go. One spar, just out of curiosity if nothing else. It was never asked although she could see it whenever she fought an enemy, the excited twitch of his lips and the sparkle in his eyes.

Natsu wanted to go against her, and Lucy'd be dammed if she didn't want to test herself against him.

One round turned to five, with Happy abandoning them after the first 2, possibly figuring something that they hadn't at the time. Her eyes narrowed at him, taking in a bit of the damage she had caused.

His cheek was slightly discoloured, a weak purple hue atop his dark skin that had spread since last she focused on it, going down to touch at his jaw. It distracted her from the split in his lip, which he was now gnawing on in concentration. His fingers curled and uncurled in the dirt, bare chest heaving for breath while his other hand gripped his scarf tightly.

Lucy stole a few seconds to pull her hair up and out of her way, wincing at a pain in her side from where Natsu’s leg had caught her earlier. That was gonna bruise for sure, and the one on her shoulder too. Though she didn't dwell on those thoughts too much, the adrenaline coursing through her veins had her on a jittery high that buzzed in her head, numbing the sparks of pain her bruises sent out.

Now lucy could sorta understand why her partner loved a good brawl so much.

Lucy dropped her body into a stance, arms hanging loose about her sides and ready for anything when she saw him hop to his feet. Natsu only threw his head back in a hearty laugh, pulling the scarf from his neck. He wrapped it around his head, securing it in place with a tight knot. His tongue darted out to swipe away the blood beading from his split lip.

Natsu's eyes sharpened on her again, widening his stance, readying for something. She didn't like that toothy grin on his face right now.

Natsu lunged towards her, feet pounding heavily and the scarf's tassles whipped wildly in the air behind him.

A straight attack? Someone was getting desperate, going for his typical right hook when she'd obviously seen through it before. Lucy pulled her fist back. One straight attack for another, an excellent trade off in her opinion.

He didn't even slow at her raised fist, in fact it seemed that he hurtled towards her even faster. This round was gonna be hers, Lucy thought with a smug grin.

"Hya!" She shouted, letting loose her attack, and he took it. Her fist collided with his face, just below his right eye and he grunted at the hit. She froze, not expecting it to land. A wave of concern washed over her, briefly blocking out the adrenaline pumping through her.

"Natsu you-" his fingers curled tightly around her wrist, yanking it from his face. Lucy lashed out with her other hand, hitting nothing as Natsu disappeared behind her, twisting her arm behind her back and keeping her in place.

She slapped fruitlessly at his shoulder with her free hand but he grabbed that too, pulling it behind her like the other.

He panted, breathing slowing to normal as she struggled against his grip, hissing out a complaint when he drew her back flush to his chest.

"I win." He hummed, nosing at her neck. He took a deep breath then rested his chin on her shoulder, looking up at her with mirth filled eyes. "Ready to call it quits?"

"One more round." Lucy ground out. She tested his grip on her, unyielding, and she looked back down at him. The toothy grin was back with a hint of something devilish beneath it. "One more round." She repeated firmly. "And then I'm done."

"But Luuuuuuuuucy," He whined in her ear. "How ya planning on getting outta this? Seems impossible to me. Just say that I'm the winner and I'll let ya go."

"I think I know a way out. Sorry about this in advance by the way."

"Wait sorry about wha-" his question transformed into a yelp, feeling pain shoot up his foot, her boot crushing his toes without mercy. His grip on her loosened and Lucy pushed him off, scrambling away to a good distance while Natsu hopped around nursing his injured foot.

"That was low Luce! Really low!" He grumbled out, gingerly putting weight on his foot. She gave him time to recover, watching as he hobbled around grumpily as the pain she caused receded.

Lucy scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Low blow huh? And pinning my hands behind my back wasn't one?" She peeled off her gloves and chucked them somewhere to the side. She flashed her hands gratefully, they were starting to chafe in there.

"Consider that my revenge. Now quite fooling around. You ready?"

Natsu straightened, signature toothy grin plastered on his face. His most recent injury seemingly forgotten. He cracked his knuckles excitedly, fingers twitching before they curled into tight fists.

"For you? Always."

[georgianadarcies]

🐣🐨🦔🐢🐄🐸🐧🦭

DID YOU LIKE MY COUNTDOWN!? That was fun! I had fun. That was actually more fun than I thought it would be! There were too many good posts to name. It was very fun reading all your comments and theories.  Though side note: animal anon has no problem with people joining her BUT it must be animals and it must not mess with my countdown. No statues! Animal anon does animals, not statues. Side side note: can someone settle the debate of if that emoji is a hedgehog or a porcupine? Because I have no idea. Side note side note side note: sorry if you got multiple asks in a day...my system isn't perfected yet so sometimes I send two (or three) because I forgot I sent one and didn't want to accidently miss anyone (also sorry if i did miss you, still perfecting the system, no one has been animal anon blacklisted, i promise!)

Anyway, GUESS WHAT TODAY IS!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 It's been one year since I started animal anon! How exciting is that?! Phew, what a year we've had together! I mean what better way to start this second year than some chaos since that's how animal anon started to begin with! I will admit, it was slightly stressful coming up with something to meet the occasion of this event. I hope the countdown and this post live up to it. No, I'm not going to reveal myself just yet.. maybe that will be for year 2...😏😏. BUT I will give you some fun facts about me! So let's see; first, I'm from the Midwest (so not Canadian, but close so I do have a slight accent), but I currently live in the TriState area. Second, I am a MASSIVE theater nerd. No, seriously I have been to 21 shows since Broadway reopened in September and I'm actually going to my 22nd tonight. I don't know if this makes that fact better or worse, but I've really only been to about 12 different show because out of those 22, 10 of those are one specific show. Third, I am fluent in German and English. Though, I suck at writing in German, I never learned how to, so don't ask me to do that please. Fourth, my favorite color is red, so you can guess my favorite Taylor album (and coincidently also the show I've been to see 10 times on Broadway...). Fifth, I love to talk A LOT if you couldn't tell by the essays I send yall. And lastly, I can also confirm I am not Taylor...but I will say that I do share something very important with her... tell me your guesses down below as to what very important thing you think Taylor and I have in common, and I'll send some extra animals to whomever I see gets it right first!

So contuining on with my dissertation here, this week I have been trying to figure out a prompt to live up to this occasion. As I already mentioned, my system isn't perfect! And I've been thinking a lot about community lately and how that's been lacking for so many because of Covid. So what I want yall to do is if you get this dissertation of mine, please send a message, post, anon, whatever you want to at least 1 other blog (though you can do more), telling them something you like about them and giving them an animal emoji! That way we can keep spreading the love all day long to as many as possible! 🥰

As always, you are all brilliant, kind, worthy, beautiful and as this past week has shown, hilarious and unique human beings. No seriously, some of your posts had me kneeling over in laughter. If you would so like, you can tag #animalanon so I and everyone can read all your lovely posts! IM STARTING EARLY TODAY SO WE CAN PARTY ALL DAY LONG BECAUSE I LOVE YALL SO MUCH 🎊 🦥🦁🐯

ahh yay this was so fun!! your asks always make me so happy and I love seeing everyone's responses on the dash!! happy anniversary btw <33 I can't believe it's been a year? time isn't real anymore I swear I thought it was like a few months but time flies

I am also from the midwest!! and red is also my favorite taylor album!! animal anon look at us we are like two peas in the pod although you may be disappointed bc I know like three or four broadway shows and that is all. I wonder if you and taylor both love cats? you are animal anon after all...

thank you again for including me in all this!! it's such a good time and I'm sorry it takes me ages to reply but I promise I love it very much <33

[citycfangels]

text: charlie ⇄  raquel

Charlie: [to the wrong number, attached picture: http://68.media.tumblr.com/1203872c019be23dab87c12490862f3c/tumblr_inline_njjkf7zAyH1t3m33w.jpg]

Charlie: good morning ;)

Raquel: I suggest a cold shower.

Raquel: and not sending me winky faces along with dick pics.

Raquel: if you want me that bad then use your words and actually say it.

Charlie: ... fuck, wrong number

Charlie: it wasn't meant for you

Charlie: my dick isn't actually in sight, btw

Raquel: wrong number?

Raquel: fuck you Charles. I hope you really do screw yourself.

Raquel: delete my number.

Charlie: for professional reasons, i'm not deleting your number

Charlie: i'm so so sorry, Quel. i just...

Charlie: nevermind.

Raquel: professional reasons my ass Charles. You don't need to have my number. If you need to contact me you can go through plenty of people to tell me something

Raquel: don't. I don't want to hear I'm sorry.

Raquel: forget it and forget about me. There's no reason for us to contact each other.

Raquel: you have other girls to be texting.

Charlie: wait a minute, you're such an hypocrite

Charlie: do i have to remind you that not a while ago you sent me an almost nude picture by mistake because you were texting Nathan?

Charlie: and no, the rule doesn't apply right now

Raquel: You're right, rules don't apply because as far as I know we don't have an agreement any more. Or maybe the rules only apply when you want them to apply.

Raquel: You knew there would be a possibility that I would be texting my BOYFRIEND pictures like that but you're texting me when we haven't talked in days and when you've been avoiding me. Call me a hypocrite all you want but it doesn't take away from the fact that you knew what you were getting into.

Charlie: we're not fucking, therefore the rules to make that easier doesn't apply right now

Charlie: i /knew/ what i was getting into. i'm very aware that you have someone else, i'm very aware that you would send him pictures, because as far as i know, you're in a happy relationship with him, that's why i wasn't freaking out when i got that picture. because i knew what i was getting into

Charlie: what's pisses me off is that while i have to be cool with the fact that you have Nathan and i am cool with that, you're being a whiny bitch because i'm sleeping with other girls.

Charlie: tell me how's that fair, Raquel.

Raquel: you're right. I shouldn't be happy that someone else can make you happy or that you want someone else in your bed that isn't me.

Raquel: you're right that I should be happy with what I have and that I shouldn't be freaking out.

Raquel: you don't have to worry about me being a whiny bitch or about having to be cool with anything.

Charlie: you deserve to be happy, and i'm the first person who wants you to be happy. and i'm not asking you to be happy because i'm fucking someone else, because that's the only thing i'm doing. i'm not even asking you to be cool with that, because i know you're not okay with that

Charlie: i'm only asking you to not do this when you did the exact same thing weeks ago and i didn't

Charlie: we fought, we're in this situation. you don't want to continue with this? fine, we're just coworkers, exes and that's it.

Raquel: I want you to be happy too.

Raquel: even if I'm the one that wants to make you happy (deleted)

Raquel: yeah sure if that's what you want.

Charlie: i'm asking you if you want that. i don't want to stop this, but if you want, i won't say anything.

Charlie: think about it if you need it, you don't need to answer right now

Raquel: I don't need to think about it.

Raquel: that better be the last time you send me a picture meant for someone else.

Charlie: yes ma'am, it won't happen again.

Charlie: are we okay or...?

Raquel: good. Not that I didn't appreciate it.

Raquel: well... you can keep my number if you want to but there's really only one way to make it up to me.

Charlie: good to know

Charlie: yeah?

Raquel: yep. Well actually a few ways but let's see what you come up with.

Charlie: i know i can make it up for you in form of sex and coffee, but is there anything you want?

Raquel: actually I wasn't thinking about sex this time. It's not all I think about with you 😜

Raquel: I don't know but we do have a reason to celebrate and that's one way you can make something up to me. I might have sort of maybe booked a commercial so I want a big congratulatory lunch or dinner or something with you.

Charlie: oh no, i must be doing something wrong

Charlie: did you? that's amazing! congrats.

Charlie: we should do something to celebrate, and it doesn't have to involve sex... or at least not until the end of it

Raquel: or this is phase one of me getting super attached to you

Raquel: THANK YOU! It just has me driving in a convertible with someone down the coast. It just films for five days but I'm actually really excited about it. They said I had a look whatever that means. Hopefully it means that I don't look like one of the girls in ugly outfits in fast and the furious movies and more like a girl willing to drive up the coast in a top down convertible which I never would do btw.

Raquel: I'm up for the challenge of keeping my hands off you if you are. What do you want to do?

Charlie: still, it sounds like a big deal. it's a commercial, but baby steps, right?

Charlie: i like the sound of that. dinner and drinks, and whoever wins this gets to be on top and gets to fulfill a fantasy the next time sex is happening, deal?

Raquel: yeah it's actually a huge baby step but I'm just not going to get all diva-ish yet. Soon enough you get to say that you slept with the star of a national commercial.

Raquel: dinner and drinks sounds perfect. As if you don't like me being on top. I give you one hell of a view.

Charlie: mmm, lucky me

Charlie: i enjoy it a lot, but you know how much i like to be on top and be in control ;)

Raquel: very lucky you. You knew me when. And you get to flash that fan club president's badge and not have to worry about my eventual fanboys.

Raquel: okay and you haven't let me down when I have let you be in control.

Charlie: you mean the hickeys?

Charlie: i'm kidding

Charlie: i would never let you down in bed. i'm too good to fail ;)

Raquel: if you want hickeys then you'll get them.

Raquel: you sound like a student athlete. Too good to fail always hustlin' #neverstop

Charlie: too bad i can't give you any

Charlie: ha ha, funny

Raquel: yeah too bad. Or you can try to give me hickies where you think no one will find them

Raquel: I'm a natural comedienne. Way better than Amy Schumer

Charlie: if you're lucky, you'll get them between your legs after dinner while i have dessert

Charlie: you can add that to you curriculum. actress on a national commercial, comedienne...

Raquel: then consider my cake yours.

Raquel: singer, dancer, model. I'm the dream girl and the total package.

Charlie: yummy cake

Charlie: wow, you're a quintuple threat. indeed you're quite the package

Raquel: the sweetest and yours.

Raquel: now you can go back and hashtag all of your old pics of my on your instagram with #blessed because you really are that lucky.

Charlie: lucky me

Charlie: so, where do you have to go to film this commercial?

Raquel: well it's just in Santa Monica or at least we meet in Santa Monica before we have to travel but it does mean that you don't get to see my face for 5 days.

Charlie: five days? well, it could be worst

Charlie: when do you start? i should give you a proper goodbye/break a leg or whatever it is the day before or something

Raquel: yeah, I could have actually booked a job that made me move to Canada or something not that I'm opposed to knowing more about where you're from.

Raquel: break a leg or almost break something and making sure I almost can't walk? Either way I'm okay with celebrating. I start on Tuesday. You can plan my surprise for Monday.

Charlie: eh, you could, but there's nothing too interesting up there besides me a long time ago tbh

Charlie: if it involves breaking something, then i would start on Sunday. and i will, because i plan on fucking you really good before you leave

Raquel: that is where most tv shows are moving just because production costs are low, and if I go then that would be one more thing to make it interesting.

Raquel: start on Sunday. You just want to hog that much of my time. Is that your plan so that I miss you more and come crawling back?

Charlie: if you say it like that, you have a point. there's nothing much there though

Charlie: busted, that was the whole plan i had in mind. fucking you and spend all day at my apartment so you would miss me when you're in Santa Monica

Raquel: I'll take your word for it, but just know that if I'm offered some huge greg berlanti super hero show that films in Canada I just might have to take it and you just might have to follow me to the edge of the earth

Raquel: I already am going to miss you, you goof, but if you think I need you to fuck me in order to remember then you can have me sunday night.

Charlie: you'd be the wildest fantasy of every nerd if you landed one. i guess i'll have to follow you and be your cheerleader or something like that, as i am the president of your fan club

Charlie: not that i think that, but what's better than sex before you go to Santa Monica for five days?

Raquel: you're supposed to follow me to the ends of the earth. I'd keep you entertained

Raquel: eh sex in general I can be indifferent on. It's sex with you that makes the difference. Maybe the better thing would be sex with you now and then not having to not see you for five days.

Charlie: yeah? how would you keep me entertained?

Charlie: wouldn't you prefer a whole night of sex on sunday that could be extended to monday morning though? you'd get coffee and a whole breakfast too

Raquel: by bringing my full array of board games, duh. We could play one round of monopoly and be entertained for days

Raquel: you should have just said and in the morning I'm making waffles like donkey in the shrek movie. But I'm only saying yes because the food.

Charlie: Monopoly? really? that ruining relationships game?

Charlie: only because of the food? now i'm offended

Raquel: IT ONLY RUINS RELATIONSHIPS IF YOU CHEAT OR IF YOU KNOCK OVER THE BOARD!

Raquel: yep. What are you gonna do about it?

Charlie: that's why i hate it!

Charlie: i don't know, i should tie you up and tease you until you beg for that

Raquel: there are just those two rules. We always could play scrabble. Or twister.

Raquel: ropes, your ties, or handcuffs?

Charlie: twister sounds good, so does strip-poker and any game with strip in the name

Charlie: i'll let you choose, babe. just keep in mind that i only own one tie.

Raquel: well don't you know twister is only supposed to be played naked?

Raquel: one tie isn't going to do and rope leaves rope burns so I'm thinking handcuffs.

Charlie: that's why it sounds good ;)

Charlie: oh, kinky. i'm a bad influence but you enjoy it anyways

Raquel: okay but if you want to do strip poker you're going to have to teach me

Raquel: you're the worst. I used to be wholesome. You ruined me.

Charlie: why would i teach you to win when i could watch you undress every time you lose?

Charlie: shhh, don't pretend you regret discovering the wonders of sex that makes it fun and hotter ;)

Raquel: that's unfair.

Raquel: okay I don't regret it and I'll see you later tonight to discover even more wonders 😘