#I think as sincerely as I can about anything

[barnesafterglow]

the art of missing someone

summary: bucky barnes was a lot, but he would always be yours

pairing: bucky barnes x fem!reader

word count: 3.2k

warnings: brief college then modern au, little bit of angst, don't ask if this is based off personal experience i will cry, smut (MINORS DNI!) [unprotected sex, oral (f receiving)], confessions, idk man i'm just here

a/n: first fic of 2025!! this was a bitch and i still lowkey hate it but it is what it is

main masterlist - i no longer have a taglist but you can follow @theafterglowlibrary for updates!

The thing about Bucky Barnes was, well, he’s kind of an asshole.

In a funny way, really, but an asshole through and through and, for some reason, that did it for you.

It did it for you so much, in fact, that you had been going in circles with him for years now. You met him originally at a party in college; you didn’t know anyone except for your roommate, Natasha, and she introduced you. You immediately gravitated towards him, with his quick wit and sharp opinions, you felt like you could talk to him about anything. He kept close to you the entire night, getting more touchy as the evening dragged on, until the tipping point came.

You were finishing up a game of beer pong where you and Bucky absolutely dominated, and as you sank the last cup, he picked you up, swinging you around before setting you back on your feet. The thing is, he didn’t really let you go. You stood there, in the middle of a crowded party, with his arms around you and it was like everyone else disappeared.

Searching your eyes for permission, he bent his head down and his lips met yours and that was really the beginning of it all. It was unlike any kiss you had ever had, sweet but a little desperate and you craved more.

It became a thing, after that. You would see Bucky at a party, make nice for a few hours, then end up in a closet or empty bedroom making out until someone came to find you.

But more than that, Bucky became your friend. He was who you talked to in your darkest moments, who you sent stupid videos to, everything, and you liked it like that.

That is, until everything got turned on its head.

It happened right after graduation. You had just moved into your own apartment and were waiting for Bucky to come over for movie night. You hadn’t seen each other in a few weeks, the communication very much lacking, but you figured it was just a busy time for both of you and once you got settled, everything would be fine.

That is, until you got a phone call as you closed the microwave door and started the popcorn. Immediately seeing Bucky’s name, you wiped your hands and answered.

“Hey, you almost here?”

There was a moment of silence on the other end, then a sigh.

“I- I don’t know how to say this,” Bucky started, and you found yourself growing nervous. There was nothing you and Bucky couldn’t talk about. Well, almost nothing. “Me and Dot, well, we’ve been talking and…”

His voice trailed off, the line going quiet again. But you were going to make him say it.

“We’re getting back together. She really wants to make it work this time.”

And there it was. Dot was Bucky’s on again-off again for the last several years, stretching back to before you even knew him, and it was a sore spot in your friendship. They had mostly been “off” in the time you’d known him, save for a few memorable occasions where she wormed her way back into his life for a couple weeks just to break his heart all over again. It was safe to say she was not your favorite person, and you certainly weren’t hers.

“Bucky…” you started, but he cut you off.

“No, I know what you’re thinking.” He actually probably had no clue how evil the thoughts you had were, but you weren’t going to enlighten him. “But it’s serious this time, we’ve been talking since graduation and we’re both ready to give this a real shot, without all the bullshit.”

He sounded so sincere, and he was your best friend, so you took a deep breath and sighed, accepting the fact that if you wanted Bucky in your life, this was just something you would have to deal with.

You could hear his relieved laugh on the other end, and you felt your stomach give an odd lurch, like someone had pulled a carpet out from under you.

“I knew you would understand, thank you.”

“Of course, Buck. Now, what about movie night?”

Another beat of silence, then, just like you knew it would happen:

“I can’t, Dot is coming over.”

You wanted to argue, to scream, to make him feel bad about choosing her over you, but hadn’t he already? So instead, you mumbled a quiet agreement and hung up, not wanting to talk to him any longer. Already, it felt like the beginning of the end.

And you weren’t sure you were ready for that.

-

It didn’t even happen slowly, is the worst part. You didn’t see Bucky that night, or any night for the weeks that followed. It wasn’t until you saw him at the coffee shop by your apartment that you were able to talk to him.

You sat down at his table, no longer interested in placid excuses and apologies, and asked him point blank what was going on.

“I’m just trying to keep Dot happy.”

“By staying away from me?” You were frustrated, sure, but under that really you were just hurt. “Listen, you know I don’t like her, but I would never ask you to choose between us. That’s not fair and if she cared about you like she said she does, then she wouldn’t either.”

“It’s not like that!” His voice was raising, just a little, so you knew he was just being defensive. He must have heard it too because he cleared his throat, voicing going back to normal. “I just don’t want to cause any problems.”

You nodded, grabbing your coffee as you stood up, and headed for the door. If he was willing to let your friendship go, then you weren’t going to fight him on it. So you left, face heated with embarrassment and tears threatening to spill over.

As you passed the threshold to the coffee shop back onto the sidewalk, you pulled your headphones on, ignoring the bustle of the city and Bucky still watching you leave through the window.

-

Adjusting to a life without Bucky was weird, you had to admit, but you did it anyway. The first few weeks were the hardest, when he was the first person you wanted to text during any occasion, but eventually that muscle memory faded until you were reaching out to the people who actually valued you in their life. 

Almost a year passed, and you moved on in all the ways you could. You heard Bucky moved back across the river to Brooklyn and that was about all you knew; your friends avoided the mention of even his name if they could help it, even though you knew at the very least Steve and Natasha still talked to him.

You just hoped he was happy, no matter what he was doing.

It was a cold January night when the notification came through. Wanda had recently convinced you to get on a dating app, even though you were perfectly content being single, thank you, but you had to admit the attention didn’t hurt.

You weren’t expecting much when your phone chimed and you unlocked it without even looking at the notification. Which is how you came face to face with Bucky’s Hinge profile, and a message attached to a picture of you that you knew he had taken saying: hey, you look familiar.

Was that really how he was going to make amends, on a dating app?

You supposed it was kind of funny, in that asshole way of his, and you stared at the message for another moment before responding.

oh, i know you?

if you want to

And, well, that was the thing. You did want to. No matter what he did, no matter how much he hurt you, he was still your best friend. Your Bucky.

Instead of answering, you pulled up a contact you hadn’t opened in months and pressed call. It rang one time before a familiar voice flooded the other end.

“Hey, stranger.”

“Hey, Buck.”

It was a healthy conversation, if you were being honest. Bucky apologized, told you he and Dot were done for good this time and, against your better judgment, you accepted it. You talked for hours after that, catching up on life and reminiscing on old memories, until you checked the time.

“Shit, it’s late,” you said as you put the phone back to your ear. “Almost midnight.”

And then, the words you dreaded but wanted desperately.

“Come over.”

“To Brooklyn? Buck I can’t take the subway this late.”

“I’ll pay for your Uber. Just come over.” You could hear the words he wanted to say, the ones on the tip of his tongue that he just wouldn’t force out.

“Well, I did miss you.” You tried to press it, to make him say it, but he only hummed on the other end.

“So is that a yes?”

You looked down at yourself, cozied up in sweatpants and a hoodie that you were almost entirely sure was Bucky’s, and sighed.

“Yes.”

“Perfect, your Uber will be there in 8 minutes.”

You didn’t have time to wonder how he got your new address - probably one of your mutual friends, maybe he had been keeping more tabs on you than you had on him - and shot up from the couch. With no time to change, you headed to the bathroom and brushed your teeth before taming your hair in the best way you could. As you were stuffing some clothes in an overnight bag - just in case, you told yourself - your phone chimed with a text from Bucky that your Uber had arrived. 

In a whirlwind, you rushed to the car where the driver seemed very put off at having to wait a whole 90 seconds for you to walk four flights of stairs, and slid in.

The whole ride there you were nervous. The thing with Bucky was, despite many drunken hookups, you’d never actually had sex. You weren’t really sure why, just that it had never happened and you had been grateful for it in the long run. You weren’t even sure if it would happen tonight, if he still wanted you like that. Even with all your talking and catching up, you hadn’t been brave enough to ask what this meant.

At nearly 1am, your Uber pulled up outside a beautiful Brooklyn brownstone and, there on the front porch, stood Bucky.

He wrapped you in his arms as he stood in front of you, and it all felt so heartbreakingly familiar you gave in immediately, all the tension leaking from your body at the feeling Bucky gave you. 

“Hey,” he said softly into your hair. “Come on in.”

Bucky’s house was so far from his old college apartment it was frightening, yet it couldn’t have felt more like Bucky. More like home. 

You took in your surroundings, shelves of books and vintage furniture and warm tones, it was almost like stepping back into your own place, the aesthetics were so similar. That was the funny feeling in your chest, you were sure.

Eventually, you ended up on Bucky’s couch with some superhero movie on, not really watching it but still grateful for its background noise to fill the room with each lull in the conversation. Not that there were many, one thing that came easy with Bucky had always been talking - although neither of you did much of that when it really mattered; you figured you could put that out of your mind for now. 

Over the course of the movie, you and Bucky shifted closer together until your thighs were pressed flush and you could feel the air from each of his exaggerated hand movements. It wasn’t until a wayward wave nearly grazed your nose that you truly realized how close you had become, and the sight of Bucky’s eyes shifting subtly to your lips has your self restraint at an all time low.

Fuck it, you thought. You had wanted this for so long, but you also knew you could live without Bucky if everything went tits up. It was a sad thought, that, but you couldn’t let this opportunity go. With every bit of courage you had, you let your hand float up to cup Bucky’s cheek, eyes searching for any sort of hesitation. When you found none, you leaned forward to close the admittedly small gap between your lips.

It was electric. Never had a kiss from someone else ever lit a fire inside you the way one from Bucky did. It started off slow, searching, a chance to reacquaint yourselves. But the second Bucky’s hand reached to tangle in your hair, everything shifted. 

Suddenly you were pulled in Bucky’s lap, legs straddling his, lips desperate for a taste of what you’d missed for so long. It was everything you hadn’t let yourself wish for, and you had a feeling you weren’t going to be missing it again anytime soon.

It wasn’t until your shirts were on the floor and Bucky was making quick work of your clasped bra that you thought maybe it would be smart to just slow down. Just for a second, just to get your bearings. 

An honest to god whine fell from his lips as you pulled back, stopping his hands from undressing you any further. 

“Buck,” you whispered, forehead pressed to his, hands cupping his face as if he was something precious. Though you supposed he was, to you at least. “What’s going on?”

“I just…” His voice trailed off, obviously unsure of himself even though this at least was familiar territory. What was to come next, however, was not. “I can’t go another day without making you mine.”

Your core tightened at the words, vivid memories of what Bucky’s hands and mouth could do; fantasies of what else he could do invaded as well as suddenly talking didn’t seem like a priority anymore. 

“Take me to bed.” And that was all he needed. 

Bucky scooped you up bridal style, carrying you across the threshold of his bedroom and laying you gently on his bed. Your eyes darted around, wanting more of snippets of the life Bucky had built here, but you were quickly distracted by his body covering yours, the weight of him pressed between your thighs was comforting and intoxicating. 

Bucky’s touch proved even more distracting as he shed you of your bra, mouth immediately latching to one nipple, the little nips and sucks enough to drive you crazy on their own, while his hands pinched at the other. He continued his assault until you were dizzy with want, then he trailed down your body with his mouth, not leaving an inch of skin undiscovered until he reached the waistband of your sweatpants.

He pulled them down just an inch, then his eyes shot up to meet yours at the discovery. 

“No underwear?” His voice was deep, husky, almost fucked out if you really thought about it. It was a thrill that your hold on him was so tight that just the thought of you without underwear was enough to leave him reeling just a little bit. 

You batted your eyes innocently. “Someone didn’t give me much warning about my Uber, I apologize.”

The giggle in your voice suggested the insincerity of your apology, but it didn’t deter Bucky as he pulled your pants from your body, mouth and hands still exploring. 

His fingers traced unknown patterns along your inner thighs, gently pushing them apart until you were fully exposed to him. You felt nervous all of a sudden, like you had never been in this position before. You had, of course, but never sober, and never with Bucky looking at you so attentively - like he was going to eat you alive. 

It was intense, having Bucky’s eyes bore into you as he lowered his mouth to your core, starting with gentle kitten licks until your hips were bucking, searching for more friction. One of his hands pinned your hips to the bed, while the other slipped through your folds, spreading spit and slick, before he slipped one inside of you. Then two, then three, until you were begging for release.

All it took was a soft whisper of come on, baby and a crook of Bucky’s fingers and you were falling apart, the intensity of your orgasm whipping through you, and as you floated back down to your senses, Bucky was still going. 

It was feverish, like he couldn’t get enough of your pleasure, and each twitch and moan encouraged him until your hands tangled in his hair, pulling him away from your spent body.

He let out a protest, but you silenced it by pressing your lips to his, moaning at the taste of yourself as his tongue pressed into your mouth. You were lost in the sensation, letting yourself be manhandled until you were once again in Bucky’s lap. Sometime while you had been transported to another planet, his pants had been shed and you were oh so close to getting everything you ever wanted. 

With your mouth still pressed to his, you rolled your hips, feeling the weight of him sliding along you. You kept at it, teasing and grinding until he thrust his hips and there it was; one slight adjustment and the feeling of Bucky stretching you out to was more overwhelming than you could have imagined.

Your hips stilled, as did Bucky’s, letting you adjust to him until you pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, your way of telling him that you were okay, that he could move.

His thrusts started slowly, letting you feel every inch of him until you were begging for more. When his hands stopped roaming to grip your hips tightly, you knew you were done for.

Bucky held you in place, his hips snapping up to fuck into you and all you could do was hold on for the ride. 

You were so overwhelmed you almost missed Bucky’s words, mixed in with his moans, but once you caught them, they were as clear as day:

I missed you.

Over and over, Bucky was repeating the words, interspersed with groans and heavy panting, but your heart restricted regardless 

He missed you. Bucky missed you.

With your thoughts such a jumbled mess, reveling in the fact that this was really happening, your orgasm snuck up on you. One second you were floating on the high of Bucky and the next you were crashing, falling, and he was right there to catch you as you came down.

His hips slowed, stuttering as he spilled into you with one final thrust.

For a moment, the world around you didn’t exist. All there was was this moment, with Bucky’s arms around you and your head buried in his shoulder. Everything came back at once: your harsh breaths, the noise of the TV far away in the living room, and Bucky’s hushed whispers as he held you.

“I missed you so much.” You didn’t respond for a moment, but you lifted your head to meet Bucky’s eyes. In them lay the sincerity of his words, vulnerable now that they weren’t being said in the heat of the moment.

“I missed you too, Buck.”

[wonderjanga]

Imagine Billy and Mary and Freddy say from the start that they're siblings.

And the three of them somehow are all homeless street kids. Chaotic little gremlins.

And one day Black Adam sees them transform and is like 'WHAT THE ACTUAL-'.

And you choose what happens next-

Teth didn’t even know how this happened. Or, well, he does, but he’s still having a hard time comprehending it. See, he was minding his business in an appropriate(suspicious) disguise while scouting Fawcett for the Champion. As for why he was looking for the champion, it was because the man was missing. The champion having disappeared was suspicious, considering the man washed over his city like a hawk. Anyways, he was walking around when all of a sudden he just spots this child with the bluest eyes he’s ever seen with a little girl who also has the bluest eyes he’s ever seen. The little boy unfortunately noticed him.

Billy: “Can I help you, mister?”

Ah. Adam was staring. Though, that was mostly because the young boy looked strikingly like Aman. Anyways, Adam didn’t even know how it happened, but one moment he was talking to the kid, the next he was giving him a bunch on Kahndaqi currency as if that’ll be useful to the boy. The kid still took it though.

Billy: *bright ahh smile* “Thanks, mister!”

Black Adam: “Yes…” *wondering if the kid used mind control for a moment* “I am now off to go torment Captain Marvel. Good day, stupid children.” *flies off*

Mary, Freddy, and Billy: *offended* “Hey!” *watch him go*

Billy: *still watching him fly off* “…Adam really sucks at disguising himself.”

Freddy: “No duh, he literally said he was gonna go torment you.”

Mary: *picks up one of the coins Adam gave them* “Do you guys think we could trade this with a fairy for money? They like shiny stuffs.”

Billy: “We probably could.”

Anyways, fast forward, three months and Teth, whenever he was in Fawcett, which was unfortunately becoming more and more frequent, kept feeding and giving money to these three little urchins that are somewhat (it’s actually more than somewhat, but he would never admit it) tolerable.

Then, the fateful day came. The children were standing at their usual spot, and Adam was flying over. Then, the blasted little old bald fool with the glasses, psoriasis or Savana or whatever his name was started attacking. The children ran into an alleyway, and because of the fact Adam could care less about Savannah he flew after them because the alleyway looked shady. He was then greeted with the three of them… transforming… into his worst enemies. Specifically, the one who looked like Aman, Billy, transformed into the Champion.

After the fight with Sivana…

Black Adam: “You…”

Marvel: *startles* “Black Adam! What’re you doing here?” *suspicious*

Black Adam: *ignores him and is kind of angry monologging* “I’ve… I’ve been giving you three money and food for months… You’ve been making a fool of me!”

Marvel, Junior, and Mary: *share looks with each other cause ‘uh oh, he knows*

Marvel: “Uh… well, no. We all actually eat all that and make good financial choices. All the money I get from my job goes to rent, and on top of that we all work odd jobs for food and utility money. You’ve been a great help.” *super duper sincere*

Junior and Mary: “You’ve helped us a lot, mister!”

Black Adam: “You’ve still been making a fool of me! Also, why do you three have the power of the Living Lightning?! You’re children!”

Junior: “So?”

Black Adam: “So, none of you should have anything to do with the Rock of Eternity or being the World’s Mightiest Mortal!”

Mary: “That’s more the Wizard’s fault, not ours. Or wait no, that’s Billy fault cause he’s the one who gave us our powers.”

*silence*

Black Adam: “…I can’t believe I’ve been fighting children the entire time.”

Junior: “I know, right? And you still lose.”

Black Adam: *wants to get angry at that but just can’t muster it* “I…” *in his mind says ‘f this’, turns around and flies off*

Adam basically stewed in anger while in Kahndaq before he came back after like a week and started feeding and giving money to the kids again. He now just ignores the fact that he knows Billy is Cap and just chooses to believe that they’re two different people and still fights him.

[yuyusshinelight]

Dad thoughts feat ATEEZ: I want a brother/sister

♪ This post is about how I think they would be as parents; just that, some thoughts. This does NOT represent any of Ateez's members in any way.

♪ English is not my first language so sorry if there's any mistake.

Vocabulary just in case someone doesn't know:

y/s/n — your son's name

y/d/n — your daughter's name

Byeol — star

Jagi — sweetheart, darling, etc...

Note: Hi my shining stars! Here I come with a new scenario for our boys being dads because I know how much you like those parenting headcanons. I hope you like it and enjoy your reading. Love you all!!!

SEONGHWA

Seonghwa and your daughter were peacefully building their Lego sets together when the older Park decided to have a conversation about that not too little issue you had commented to him when he had arrived at home "I have heard that you want a little sibling, byeol" and the little girl only nodded, not stopping her really important task of mistakenly making the base of the moon on which his half-finished Sanrio doll should lie "And can daddy know why you want a little brother or sister?".

Seonghwa was clearly trying to get your daughter to tell him the same thing you had told him that afternoon without asking her directly. The way you looked at the ground with a soft pout when you told him that your little star had been sad lately for being only child had him worried about the issue being more serious than he though at first.

"I don't like to be alone" At that confession Seonghwa's heart stopped. Perhaps you two had made her feel lonely without realizing it? "But you have mommy and daddy, my love".

"It's not the same... We can't stay together all the time" The sadness with which his beloved daughter said that felt like the most hurtful stab directly into his heart, it even made Seonghwa hate his work for a moment "Daddy and mommy would like to be with you all the time, baby, but—".

"But you can't, I know..." For how his baby had finished his sentence, Seonghwa couldn't help but feel worse, her small but heartbreaking pout could be perfectly appreciated in her sweet voice.

Something in his head snapped.

In the gentlest way he could, the man took his daughter from her seat to put her on his lap and give her that so needed hug he was craving for "Don't you worry, byeol, mommy and daddy will bring you a little brother or sister, okay?" The speed at which her head turned to look him directly in the eyes even scared the poor man with the possibility of a sudden dizziness or some blow to his little girl from such an action but all his worries erased as fast as your daughter moved her head seconds before thanks to the way in which her eyes shone brighter than ever, holding the galaxy itself in those small orbs exactly like his own "Really? It's a promise?".

The excitement on the little girl's face brought out the most tender and sincere smile from Seonghwa who didn't last long to rub his nose against hers, showering her soft cheeks with many kisses "It's a promise, my byeol".

And maybe he should have talked about the sibling thing with you before promising it to your daughter but, let's not lie, Seonghwa knew you better than yourself; the moment he said yes to his daughter he was already counting on you to be more than okay with having a second child. In fact, you were the one who laid Seonghwa on your shared bed after making sure that your child was peacefully asleep on her own to ride him like never before until he decided to change positions to bury himself even deeper inside you. It wasn't in his plans to break the promise he made to his little star so he fucked you until he left your belly nicely swollen with his seed.

Neither of you could deny anything to your little four-year-old walking smile.

HONGJOONG

"I want a little sister" said your three-year-old son as he perched himself in his father's work chair, a phrase that made Hongjoong drop whatever he was with that same moment and look at the kid "What? Why all of a sudden?".

"My best friend just had one and she's very cute" The way in which his baby waddled slowly without letting go of the chair, with that rascally face inherited from him himself, looking at him expectantly for an affirmative answer, brought out of Hongjoong his most genuine smile "Well, yes. Babies are really cute" he said, ruffling his hair before picking him up and sitting the child on his lap "but that's not a reason to have one, love".

For how the minor gasped dramatically while frowning, there was no doubt that that response had even offended him. This little boy's reactions were so comically unique that Hongjoong's stomach even hurt from laughing on many occasions.

"But I want one!" The child said as if it was the most prevalent reason to have a baby, and Hongjoong was about to talk but the appearance of his favorite girl stopped him "I think I have something to say in all this no?" You said, entering the room until you were standing next to your husband, something that didn't last long because said husband didn't like the idea of not having you closer so he sat you on his free leg; and it's not like you were going to complain, in fact, you hugged him "It's my belly the one that's going to hold that little sister for nine months".

"How?" As soon as he asked, both parents' eyes widened. You should have assumed he would ask, but hey, it's not like you mind talking about it, not like Hongjoong apparently "How what, baby?" He acted dumb, clearly not wanting to have that conversation now, too young his son to talk about anything of that "How will the baby get into mommy's tummy?" But this little curious boy wasn't about to leave the topic for Hongjoong's misfortune, who even let out an accidental "Oh shit".

It had to be said that Hongjoong didn't expect that he should have to answer this question at this point of his short life as a father, nor did he expect that too adorable "Oh shit" from the kid either. Word that clearly set off your alarms as a mother "No, baby. Don't say that" You corrected him, booping his nose and waiting for the child to ask why he couldn't say it if his dad could but you were surprised with that too cute "Okay mommy".

Both you and Hongjoong were about to die of love.

"That's my good boy" Hongjoong said, ruffling his hair one more time and giving him a kiss on the head "So are you going to bring me a little sister yes or not?" You both looked at each other, not knowing exactly what to say, until Hongjoong decided to leave the answer hanging in the air "We'll see" to which your son answered with an unfortunate unexpected "Fuck".

"HONGJOONG" Was the first thing that crossed your mind, yelling at the surprised man that was now looking at you "I DIDN'T EVEN SAY THAT" But then he stopped, thinking for a moment "Well maybe he has learned it from me, yes..." And your son nodding only made you look even worse at your husband "Don't say that either, okay baby?" And with that your baby boy covered his mouth with his two little hands and nod one more time, making you both laugh.

YUNHO

It was a peaceful night at Jeong's residence until your eldest son ended with said peace after all those failed attempts to play with his little sister who was only dedicated to watch him move while eating her tiny fist so calmly in her baby-hammock.

"I want another brother or sister!" Your son screamed, running towards his father's open legs to hide his head in his crotch and hold on to his legs. Sudden blow to his private parts that made Yunho complain and you chuckled softly under your breath so as not to be discovered by your husband who was already looking at you with half-closed eyes and shaking his head despite being laughing too.

"Why do you say that, baby?" You asked after you managed to calm your laughter "Because Y/D/N never plays with me!" Your son screamed again, readjusting his posture while firming his grip without separating an inch from his father "It's that?" Yunho asked between laughs, stroking his little head after hearing his son complain in a sort of shouted sob "I mean, if you want another sibling daddy will give you one".

"Tch, Yunho" His first name, not jagi. Bad moment to put on display his pleaser nature, man "But you have to ask mommy too" And you nodded, he was safe "So... you want another sibling to play with because your sister can't, baby?" And your son nodded without taking his head off his father's body "But you have to know that if we give you a new brother or sister, they couldn't play with you either" And that's the moment your son lifted his head, looking at you directly with a mix of horror and surprise, as if what you had said was the strangest thing ever "Why?".

"Because they would be even smaller than Y/D/N".

"More?!" He was silent for a moment after both Yunho and you nodded, seeming to be reconsidering what you had just revealed to him, when he suddenly separated from Yunho completely, crossing his arms and giving you both his back angrily "I don't want another sibling then".

"Oh no, my third baby" Jeong senior said dramatically, he even put his hands on his chest where his heart was pretending to be hurt "Yunho" you said in a warning tone, taking your son in your arms to hug him, accommodating you two in the couch under the warmth of your favorite blanket "Oh, come on. Three kids sounds nice, don't you think?".

"Y/D/N is only seven months old, let me enjoy life without kicks that burst my ribs a little longer" You couldn't see it because you were too busy kissing your son but you already knew that Yunho was smiling for how happy he sounded saying "A little longer? Is that a yes to a third baby?" Which only confirmed to you that Yunho was indeed looking forward to having a third. And one thing you were never good at since you started dating him was saying no to him when he looked so adorably excited about something "It's a 'maybe when my ribs return to their natural position because your daughter opened them for kicking them so many times' ".

"We're having a third" Yunho said victoriously with that goofy smile that you fell in love with at first sight and that, to this day, was still one of your many weak points.

YEOSANG

"Daddy" your daughter said in the softest voice you could have ever heard in your life. You couldn't see her because you were at the laundry room while your husband and daughter were doing an afternoon snack but you could even swear that she was playing with her little fingers nervously for the tone she used. That was one of her gestures when she was about to ask for something "Tell me, darling" Yeosang sounded as cute as your daughter which made you smile foolishly, nothing could please you more than the fact that the two loves of your life were so much alike "Can I have a sibling, please?".

That question surely made you slow down the speed at which you were doing the laundry, as if that would help you to hear better. It was a topic Yeosang and you talked about a few months ago, both thinking that it would be nice to have a second child not only because you two think that having siblings is so beneficial for a kid, but because you both were attracted by the idea of expanding your family. Another living proof of your love for each other.

But those were your reasons to want another baby, what would your daughter's reasons be? You were curious about them. Just like Yeosang.

"Of course, darling. But can daddy know why you ask?" The tenderness with which your husband was handling this conversation, like every conversation he had with your daughter, was so heartwarming. You could die of a sweet high "I want a sibling to be my best friend forever" and your daughter was about to finish what her father had started.

Not being able to be a mere listener anymore, you put the small skirt you had in your hands back in the laundry basket to go out to the kitchen, finding the lovely picture of your daughter sitting at the counter next to your husband, helping him prepare a bowl of fruit for the three of you to enjoy together.

"Have you heard it, Y/N-ah?" Yeosang said, looking at you with a cute smile that made his dimples stand out. He looked so innocent that made your heart beat in happiness "That's why I'm here, jagi" you approached them, taking your daughter's cheeks between your hands "To tell our baby that mommy and daddy will try to give her a sibling as soon as possible" and then you showered your little girl with lots of kisses to which she replied more than delighted just to join forces you both a few seconds later to shower Yeosang with kisses as well. Something the male was more than happy to accept.

SAN

When your older daughter asked in the middle of the dinner for another sibling you choked with your water to which San quickly reacted by patting you gently on the back, a situation that seemed very funny to the youngest of the three children who couldn't stop laughing at mommy's coughing fit. Whoever was not amused at all was your middle child, and it was not surprising after how much she cried and threw a tantrum when San and you told her that she was going to be big sister.

"Another one?!" She looked at her parents with a mixture of fear, surprise and rejection in her eyes that threatened to burst into tears if you gave her an affirmative answer. She looked so affected that she even worried you both. San couldn't see his kid like that "No, baby" he answered with so much tenderness, hugging the kid and giving her a soft kiss on her forehead before looking at you and asking "No?".

Who knows, maybe you were expecting a fourth child and he didn't know it.

But you shook your head what made your older daughter cross her arms and openly complain about not having a fourth sibling to which your second daughter yelled a not too nice "Three are fine!" Frowning and getting up from her seat to climb onto her father's lap so he could hold her as she wanted, searching for his comfort "But I want another brother!" The eldest answered in the same way her sister had spoken. The girls' tone only hinted at an impending fight between them, something that neither San nor you wanted obviously so San immediately cut them off with a serious "Enough girls".

San hated to use a severe tone with his children but he hated even more the idea of having a fight between his daughters when it was supposed to be a nice and lovely dinner in family. Much worse if the fight was going to be about whether or not to have another member in your family.

"What have we said about raising our voices in a bad way?" He said with seriousness, which made both kids look down with a pout "Sorry..." Both girls said at unison, now looking up at their father before looking at the other, your middle child climbing off San's lap to hug her older sister as an apology. Both had been taught to apologise to each other with a hug to make amends.

And after seeing that your daughters were fine again you decided to settle the dispute "About the sibling thing" both girls had their attention on you now "Daddy and mommy think that three kids are enough, by the moment" which made your second daughter smile unconsciously while your eldest pouted "But that doesn't mean that we won't bring you another sibling in the future" this time your second daughter was the one not looking so pleased while the eldest was smiling.

From the way they both nodded you knew they were content but not satisfied with that. You had given birth to them and raised them, you knew absolutely every single one of their gestures and what they meant. But hey, the discussion was over and you could go back to dinner in peace.

MINGI

"I like this one" Your son said, pointing to a photo in which both children were curled up in their father's arms, the three of them sleeping on the couch comfortably, Mingi hadn't even changed his clothes; one of your favorite pictures in fact, just looking at it almost brought tears to your eyes "In this one dad had just arrived from a tour. You refused to leave his arms even for a single second".

"How old were we?" This one was your daughter "Seven months" Mingi answered, smiling at the memory of how his babies received him that day with their little arms raised, calling him between really cute babblings while they moved nervously in their mother's arms "Such cute babies we were and I don't remember that" Your daughter said dramatically "We need a baby in this house".

"Wait, what?" You looked between your kids and Mingi, who was as surprised as you from hearing that, getting even more surprised when your son agreed with his sister "Right! If we have a little brother or sister they will look as cute as us!".

"Woo, woo, woo. Slow down you two" Mingi tried to calm his already excited twins but it didn't work at all "And why a little brother or a little sister when we can have both?" Your daughter ignored him to continue her talk with her brother, you could almost swear that her eyes were shining. But here dad came to try to calm the situation a second time after seeing the way in which your eyes widened "I told you to slow down, neither your mom nor I have said that we are going to bring you a sibling".

"But daddy! We lost each other as a baby!" Your son exclaimed dramatically as if it was the worst thing ever, with his hands on his father's cheeks and his head tilted back to add more drama "We want to have a baby at home" your daughter pouted sadly with a frown and, before Mingi had the opportunity to reply to that you suddenly said "Well, they really seem very excited about the idea of being big bother and sister, daddy" looking at him with a knowing smile. Apparently he had misinterpreted that expression of yours from a few seconds ago.

The fact is that Mingi had caught your message but, with both children staring at him expectantly, he couldn't do anything but respond to you with one look that only you could interpret: tomorrow you weren't going to be able to get out of bed. But that was only for you, obviously, the answer for your twins was "Then it seems to me that the family is going to grow, mommy " For which your living room ended up filled with euphoric shouts from your kids.

WOOYOUNG

"Babe, come here!" Wooyoung screamed from the kitchen and a lot of horrible things crossed your mind, since your son had been burned until he had cut one of his fingers "What happens?! I swear to god that if my baby is missing just one finger I'll—".

"None of that, I have everything under control here. Just listen to what our baby has to tell you" and with that all your attention went to your three year old boy who was jumping in the stool he was standing on to help his dad with dinner "I want a little sister!" And at such a revelation you could only blink several times, looking between father and son in silence until, after blinking a few more times, you said a simple "A sister".

"Yes!" Your eldest son said really excited, jumping even higher in his spot to which Wooyoung already had his arm around him but without touching him, just as a precautionary measure to prevent his son from falling "I already have a brother, I want a sister now".

Without a doubt, you thought it was quite cute the way he had said it, swaying his little body from side to side with those bright little eyes, but you couldn't help but to look up at the smiling father, looking for an answer "Do you have anything to do with this, love?" And Wooyoung shoke his head, not stopping smiling even for a second "It's all Y/S/N idea. But I also think that it's time to have a girl, babe".

And, to say the truth, the idea of having a girl was quite tempting, even more so when you had been thinking the same thing for a while. Having two children was fantastic as well as exhausting, you were more than sure that having one more could only double the happiness but also the exhaustion. And that was a sacrifice you were willing to do for sure.

"And you? Do you want a sister too?" You asked your second son who you were carrying in your arm, the baby smiling at you the very next moment his big shining eyes met yours which made you smile too "Okay then. Let's see if we can bring you a little sister" You finally said, both your eldest son and your husband screamed with excitement "But you have to know that it may not be a girl but another boy".

"We can always try again, love, don't worry about that" Wooyoung said nonchalantly, winking at you with a big smile to which your son exclaimed an excited "Yes!" Happy with the thought that one way or another he was going to have a little sister "Why did I already expect it..." You shook your head but not in a bad mood, you were also laughing at how predictable Wooyoung and your son were to you.

JONGHO

"Go, go. Ask daddy, my love" Jongho heard you say to your son distantly, you were at the bathroom giving your kid a shower while he was resting on the sofa after having set the table for dinner. Then, the sound of tiny quick steps made him turn off his phone, waiting for his son to appear in front of him just to be surprised by the kid poking his little head out on the side "Hi, baby" Said Jongho, waiting patiently for his son to tell him whatever he had to tell him "I want a brother!".

One, two, three blinks from the surprised father. Not even a hi. His son went straight to the point. The child was certainly clear about his priorities.

Well, such a question demanded seriousness so Jongho leaned closer to the armrest to close distance with his son, resting one arm and intertwining his hands "Daddy and mommy have to talk about it first but tell me, why you want a sibling?".

He had heard multiple reasons why a child might want a sibling. Some quite cute, some quite funny, and with the witty answers your son had for everything, Jongho was especially curious about this one. What a surprise he got when he heard your little boy say "All my friends are from the school or the park, if I have a sibling I will have a friend at home too!".

It was certainly something totally unexpected for Jongho. Although the thought of his son indirectly telling him that he felt lonely at home worried him for a moment, the sight of the smiling kid quickly dispelled all those worries. His little boy just wanted a playmate at home like he had at school and in the park.

"Fine. We'll see if we give you a sibling, okay?" Your son nodded enthusiastically at his father before going to the dining table, leaving both Jongho and you alone in the living room "That was a maybe for a second baby?" You asked him with something like hope shining in your eyes and that was when Jongho remembered hearing you say how much you wanted a second child when you were on the phone, talking to a friend.

If both his son and wife wanted to expand the family, he only could please them so, standing up from his seat, Jongho approached you, stopping in front of you with both hands in the pockets of his trousers "We'll see. We can try as many times as you want but I don't control biology, jagi" and he left you there with a blush on your cheeks, clearly having taken the hint in his words, going to the dining table too with a big smile on his lips.

[velvetvexations]

I guess Plaidos is doing that thing where she unblocks me to reblog me again lol.

Accusing me of pretending to be a trans woman is in fact misgendering me. I am a trans woman. I provably have a voice that can only belong to a person AMAB or someone who's tried very hard over a long period of time to masculinize their voice, so if I'm not a 'TMA' person, you must be necessarily be accusing me of being a man, although it would not be any better if you were saying I was any other kinna non-trans woman either, because it's still misgendering to say a trans woman is faking being a trans woman regardless.

You're misgendering a trans woman when you say I'm not a trans woman. You literally said me claiming to be a trans woman is the same as a conservative man making an attack helicopter joke. You can apologize for that at your leisure.

Extremely conceited. You come up on my blog fairly infrequently, but you have over fifteen times the followers I do and what you say has reverberations in trans discourse, so sometimes I get anons letting me know what new hornet's nest you've kicked off. I don't look at your blog because it makes my skin physically crawl. The fact that you're an Actually Popular Trans Woman on Tumblr, unlike me, means that you're going to get talked about occasionally because every time you say some dumb shit your gaggle of idiots is ready to enthusiastically vomit it at the other minority groups you call slurs.

Sincerely, get the fuck over it, you're either a prominant transfeminist literary analysist or you aren't.

It's literally a content warning, because you're a hateful and offensive person, but it's wild I should even have to defend that since 'transfeminists' will tag posts hating on me on a regular basis for no particular reason.

If you actually do go through that tag, you'll see that I tend to only ever talk about you in response to people bringing you up first, or in the case of you misgendering me, you talking about me first. The only real exception is that I made two posts about the Dropout discourse you blatantly started for attention, which was (a) still brought to me by anons since I'd not have known you were responsible for that otherwise and (b) a special interest of mine I was really fucking pissed off that you were fucking up with the bullshit that special interest was an escape from.

I'm not sending anyone to do anything, moron.

Your vanity is not charming. I've talked about you lately in direct response to you talking about and misgendering me. You are discussing me too dummy.

I don't think you should be transmisogynistically harassed, but I'm absolutely fucking not responsible for someone with fifteen times the followers I have getting backlash to things like defending a 4chan slur for non-binary people. Like, no, actually, someone taking issue with that is not on me, and considering what you think counts as transmisogyny, I'm not really sure I even buy your characterization of said backlash, especially if they're "directly referencing" anything I say.

Completely unsupported by your behavior! Do you remember when you were randomly like "if you're wondering what velvetvexations is up to, she's saying you can call trans women hysterical because they don't have uteruses" when that was not what I fucking said?

I've tried making the same "I'll never mention you if you don't mention me" offer to people who obsessively stalk my blog before, including people who I would never talk about anyway because they don't have nearly the same presence on this website. I've asked them to stop screenshotting my blog and lying about me and getting anons sent to my inbox as a result. I've reported them to Tumblr, who doesn't consider it harassment. Each time the people stalking me - which is what they were actually doing to me, unlike me occasionally commenting when someone tells me you've caused some new discourse - was laughed at and told I simply deserve it or bring it upon myself.

Once again, you position yourself as a serious transfeminist activist and you have the following to back it up. You have influence in the conversation around transfeminism and as a trans woman I have a right to talk about it. Tell people to stop parroting your every word, or better yet, entirely stop kicking at trans men and non-binary people literally every day. Like literally every day you do this, it's why I can't look at your blog because it fucking repulses me.

You don't do anything to help trans women. You don't care about trans women. You care about being cruel to other trans people and using that to prop up your own crumbling ego. I would love it if your opinions weren't unfortunately popular and constantly being widely disseminated among others, but like, they are, and it's fucking disastrous for everyone involved. I don't hate you more than any other dumbass radfem.

I've helped TERFs deradicalize and retransition. You will never in your life do a quarter of what I do for transfeminism. The most you will ever accomplish is being an aggressive contrarian who's too unoriginal to come up with headcanons that weren't popular with transmascs first and claiming it a win when you say they're too stupid and shallow to interpret art correctly.

[theemissuniverse]

“THE HEART AND THE HEAD” HENRY HART X SCIENTIST FEM! READER

SUMMARY : You and Henry are polar opposites but Henry couldn’t care less. (Based on movie Henry so Henry is 24.) Reader is also based on Harper from Wizards of Waverly outfit wise.

WARNINGS : explicit content. Reader is meant to be on the plus size but it really doesn’t matter I don’t think

MASTERLIST

Ever since Henry moved to Dystopia, he had to get used to the weird characters he would come across. That included you, the quirky but insanely intelligent scientist he just happened to met.

It was all by chance. He ended up saving you from a burglary. And ever since then, the two of you were inseparable.

The two of you clicked, despite your differences. There honestly wasn’t anything about the two of that was the same and yet, the two of were stuck together like glue.

He appreciated how different you were. Your weirdness attracted him to you. Not to mention you could match his sarcasm well.

And he liked it.

The only thing you hated about Henry was how heroic he was. He took risks. Being impulsive was a trait you did not appreciate when it came to him.

And it was showing right now.

“Ah, shit.”

“Hold still.”

Right now you were patching Henry up from his recent fight. Henry ended up defeating the guy with the ability to control fire but he ended up with some battle wounds to show it.

You were cleaning out the wound down towards his abdomen. Henry could hear the attitude in your voice. “You’re mad at me.”

“I’m not mad.”

“You’re mad at me.”

“I’m mad at the things that you do now hush.”

Henry hissed a little, feeling you clean the wound with chemicals. He saw you were having a hard time cleaning it with his shirt on. “I can take it off.”

You paused, feeling the heat rise to your cheeks. “No, it’s fine.”

“Here, let me.” Henry pulled the shirt over him anyway, and tossed it to the side.

You always knew Henry had a nice body but seeing it up close and in person did something to you. You bit your lip, mumbling a quick “thanks” before going back to work.

Henry didn’t say anything. He just admired you. He knew he was developing feelings for you. He wasn’t stupid. He could recognize it. How could he not?

You were beautiful, intelligent, brave, caring, funny. All traits he loved in a woman. He was trying to push it away because he respected the relationship he had with you. You two were partners, helping get crime off the streets.

But he didn’t want to push it away though.

You were clearly going through making one of your crazy outfits that you always did. Today, you were wearing a dress made out of crayola markers. Yes, the dress would’ve been bizarre to anyone else but there was something about your uniqueness and you being unapologetically you that made you attractive to Henry.

Henry was looking you up and down, checking you out as if you were half naked and the hottest girl in the room. You could wear the stupidest of clothing to anyone else but to him you’d still be attractive.

As you cleaned the wound, you felt his eyes on you. When you looked up, you saw Henry was looking at you, dead in the eyes.

When you first met Henry, he was a nice guy. A little sassy at times but he was humorous and good and you needed a guy like that at the time. In a place like Dystopia, you had to treasure men like that.

Then Henry started to get a little flirtatious with you. You couldn’t tell if he was serious or just playing around so you’d always ignore his advances.

This time you didn’t think you could ignore it.

You looked away from him and focused on the wound. “I’m almost done cleaning it.”

Henry wouldn’t let you look away. He lifted your chin up and forced you to look at him. “I’m sorry, okay? Stop being mad.”

His voice was a little playful but you felt the sincerity in his voice which made it tug at the strings of your heart a little. “What you did was too much.”

“I know but you know I’m on autopilot when I get into the action.”

You sighed, knowing this about him. “You have a good heart, Henry.” You placed your hand over his heart. “But sometimes we need to use this.” You pointed at his head. “Because if we don’t then this.” You placed your hand back over his heart. “Doesn’t matter.”

Henry gripped your hand when you placed it. “I don’t need that. That’s what I got you for.”

You let out a smile, tilting your head at the former sidekick. When he spoke, it always felt like poetry to you. Or maybe you were a little bias.

You cleared your throat. Then took a bandage. You placed it directly on Henry’s wound. “All done.”

Henry saw you were trying to be quick to pull away at his touch and walk away. He got off from the table and grabbed your arm. Then forced you to turn and look at him.

A gasp came from your lips from his assertiveness. “Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?” You forced yourself to play stupid.

“Pushing me away. You’re driving me insane.”

“I’m not pushing you away, Hen.”

“Bullshit. I feel it.”

You let out a sigh before turning away from him. You rubbed the back of your neck out of frustration. Henry was right behind you, following your lead.

He started to rub the back of your neck with his strong hands. The tension from your neck instantly released. You let out a moan of relief.

His hands were on your love handles and he gave them a gentle rub, making you sigh more out of relaxation. “Stop, pushing me away.”

“Henry…”

The long moan of his name, made him force you to turn around and face him. His left hand stayed on your love handle while his right hand caressed your face. “Why are you doing this?” You asked him.

Henry tilted his head at your behavior, observing your reaction. He saw your eyes about to fill with tears. Then it was too late. A tear dropped down your cheek.

He quickly kissed it away. “Why are you crying?”

“Why are you doing this?” You repeated.

Henry brought your chin up, making sure you were looking at him in the eyes. Usually he did have a smart remark but now wasn’t the time for that right now. Now was the time to be real. “Because I have feelings for you.”

“No you don’t.”

He knew this was coming. You doubting his feelings for you just because you were different than the girls he would usually go after. “You don’t get to tell me who I can and can’t have feelings for. I decide that. Not you, me.”

You bit your lip. You wanted to look away but you knew Henry was just going to make you look at him. “I don’t want to get hurt, Henry.”

“I won’t hurt you. I promise.” He whispered.

It was your turn to make a move. You cupped his face with both hands, kissing him.

Henry quickly kissed you back. He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you closer to him. The kiss felt perfect. Everything he imagined it would be. He didn’t want to let you go, afraid if you pulled back he would never get you like this again.

He pushed you up against one of your desks. He knocked down all the stuff that was on it. You were thankful you didn’t have any important work on the desk.

He picked you up, setting you down on the desk, continuing to kiss you like his life depended on it.

Your hands went to his chest. You had forgotten he was completely shirtless. His abs were defined. The muscles along his arm hugged you like a snug blanket.

Henry moaned in your mouth at the feeling of just simply your hands on his chest. His hand went to the back of your neck. He gave you a big, sloppy, deep, but passionate kiss.

He pulled away and looked at you back in your eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He told you again.

It was then you just had to take in a deep breath and nod in acceptance. “Okay.”

[strandnreyes]

“Why are both of you here?”

TK looks at him from the passenger seat as Jonah throws his backpack across the seat of Carlos’ truck and climbs in. “Hello to you too.”

He winces in apology. “Hi. Usually it’s just TK picking me up.”

Carlos shrugs as he pulls away from the curb. “I finished a case this afternoon. Got home early. We were…”

They share a look. “Running errands,” TK finishes for him, and Jonah cringes.

“Yeah.”

Jonah is fifteen and those two are not as subtle about their sex life as they think they are. Jonah doesn’t want to think about it. He wrinkles his nose and looks out the window as he leaves his high school and Maggie Peters behind for the day.

“Who was that you were talking to?” TK asks. “I don’t think we’ve met her.” He looks to his husband for confirmation, who shakes his head.

“You don’t know her.”

Carlos meets his gaze in the rearview mirror. “Okay,” he draws out slowly, and Jonah huffs. It goes against everything in Jonah’s fifteen-year-old boy nature to not deflect and bottle up, but he’s been in this family long enough that he knows that’ll only cause worry. He’s not really in the mood for TK’s concerned glances and Carlos’ well-intentioned, but overly mushy invitations to talk about anything.

Jonah would rather just be out with it. Plus, deep down, he likes that his family is so close.

“Maggie. I want to ask her to the dance.”

Another look is shared between the front seats before TK smiles. “That’s great! Are you afraid she’ll say no?”

“No, we’ve been totally flirty in Mrs. Lakes’ class all year,” he dismisses. Before he can receive a lecture on paying attention—he’s getting an A in the class, thank you very much—Jonah throws his hands up and groans. “But I don’t know how!”

Carlos looks back at him when they hit a red light. “I think you just say ‘will you go to the dance with me?’.”

Jonah groans again. “No. You can’t do that. That’s boring. It has to be Insta worthy.”

“Boring?” TK says with a laugh. “It sounds sweet to ask someone sincerely.”

“Yeah, but you’re old.”

Carlos barks a laugh and TK scowls. “Okay, ouch. Listen, bud. It might not be some perfect world with unicorns and rainbows, but if it comes from the heart, that’s what counts.”

He sounds so hopeful about it and it’s nice, but his idea of romance is so skewed. He and Carlos have been together like, forever. He doesn’t know a thing about dating. Or girls.

“You guys are hopeless. I’ll just ask Max for ideas.”

[myloveobbsessed]

Ｓｅｃｒｅｔ

•••

Genre: fluff

Warnings: Pregnancy

Characters: Naruto Uzumaki x femreader

Notes: Naruto is hokage so this is more in the Boruto settings. You two are married.

•••

You have been pregnant for a while now and have been hiding it from your husband. Seeing as he is the hokage and is pretty busy it has been an easier task to do. Wearing baggy clothes to hide your growing bump.

And eating your weird combinations/cravings in private. To avoid being asked any questions. You know Naruto wouldn't react violently or anything if you told him but you thought that it just wasn't the time to be pregnant seeing as his homage duties keeps him away from home often. You wouldn't want to distract him. But you haven't been a secretive as you think.

You two relax on the couch Naruto having some free time. Your legs resting over his lap as he slurps up a cup of ramen noodles as he watches tv, while you read a book. After a few minutes of silence Narutos eyes trial over to your relaxed form he sets down his now empty cup of noodles on the coffee table and turns a bit to face you. Noticing his slight movements your eyes glance up from your book to him. At this moment the blonde parts his lips to let the words leave his mouth.

“Youve been gaining weight recently…”

Your breath catches in your throat, and your grip on the book tightens slightly. Of all the ways he could’ve brought this up, that was the route he chose? You glance at him, his expression one of curiosity rather than accusation, and it’s clear he doesn’t mean any harm. Still, your heart races.

“Gee, thanks Naruto” you deadpan, trying to keep your voice neutral as you turn a page in your book.

He blinks, tilting his head. “No, no! I didn’t mean it in a bad way, believe it!” He scratches his cheek, looking a little sheepish. “Its just I've noticed you've been wearing sweaters and stuff…its the middles of summer you know…and eating weird things”

You don't look at him opting to keep your eyes on your book. “What so I can't eat now? I don't think a man who eats five cups a ramen a day can question someone on their eating habits.”

Naruto pouts, crossing his arms. “Hey! Ramen is a perfectly balanced meal,” he argues, his tone defensive but lighthearted. “And that’s not what I meant!”

You finally glance up from your book, arching a brow. “Then what do you mean?”

He hesitates for a moment, his blue eyes scanning your face as if piecing something together. Then, without warning, he leans closer, squinting at you suspiciously.

“You know I've asked Sakura about your odd behavior” hearing his words starts to make you a little nervous and speak with a anxious tone. “So what.” “she told me to come and ask you so…whats going on?”

Your grip on your book tightens slightly as you force yourself to stay calm. “Nothing’s going on,” you reply a little too quickly, avoiding his gaze.

Naruto narrows his eyes. “Uh-huh. That’s what suspicious people say.” He shifts even closer, studying your expression carefully. “You’ve been acting weird for weeks—wearing baggy clothes, sneaking off to eat, avoiding questions… even Sakura thinks something’s up.”

You internally curse Sakura for her sharp intuition. Of course, she would pick up on your behavior.

Naruto suddenly gasps dramatically. “Wait! You’re not—cheating on me, are you?!”

Your eyes widen in horror. “WHAT?! Naruto, no!”

He laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Okay, okay! Just making sure.” Then, before you can deflect again, he gently grabs your hands, his touch warm and grounding. “But really… what’s going on? You can tell me anything, you know that.”

His sincerity makes your chest tighten with guilt. You can’t keep hiding this from him. Taking a deep breath, you finally meet his eyes.

“…I’m pregnant.”

For a second, Naruto doesn’t react. He just stares at you, blinking. Then, his mouth opens slightly, as if his brain is catching up to your words. “You’re… pregnant?” His voice is barely above a whisper.

You nod hesitantly.

There’s another beat of silence. Then, his entire face lights up like a sunrise. “YOU’RE PREGNANT?!”

You barely have time to react before he practically tackles you into a hug, laughing loudly. “I’M GONNA BE A DAD! BELIEVE IT!” His excitement radiates off him in waves as he pulls back, his hands trembling slightly as they settle on your stomach. “Oh man… oh man! I can’t believe this! This is amazing!”

Seeing his pure, unfiltered joy makes your eyes sting with emotion. “You’re really happy?”

“Are you kidding?! This is the best thing ever!” He grins so wide it looks like it might split his face. Then, his expression softens, and he presses his forehead against yours. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

You sigh, guilt creeping back in. “I… I didn’t know if it was the right time. You’re so busy with Hokage duties, and I didn’t want to stress you out.”

Naruto leans back, giving you the most serious look you’ve seen from him in a long time. “Babe… nothing is more important to me than you. And now… our baby.” His voice is gentle, yet firm. “I wish you told me sooner so we could’ve gone through this together.”

Your heart swells with love, and you squeeze his hands. “I’m sorry. I just… didn’t know how to bring it up.”

He smiles and presses a soft kiss to your forehead. “Well, now that I do know, I’m gonna be here every step of the way. No way am I missing out on being a dad.”

Naruto suddenly places both hands gently on your stomach, grinning from ear to ear. “Hey, little guy—or girl—I’m your dad! And I’m gonna be the best one ever, believe it!”

You can’t help but laugh, warmth blooming in your chest. Maybe keeping it a secret wasn’t necessary after all.

•••

[house-of-mirrors]

Saw a reddit post saying fbg knows their playerbase because there's a little tease of romance with a master* in the ttrpg guide

No, I don't think they know their monster loving playerbase (refuses to elaborate)

(Elaborates anyway) I don't know how to explain it, only that you can tell when someone truly understands the genre/subgenre they're writing. The monster romance in motr fell extremely flat for me as a paranormal romance reader/writer. The romance fell flat for me as a romance reader. Paranormal is not just romance with a nonhuman. You can't just write human romance and add fur or scales or fangs. Readers are not scared of the beastly traits or power struggle trust me. It needs sincerity, not "haha our fans will try to kiss anything that moves." (A bat doesn't even have the lip shape to kiss which #real master lovers know--)

*It's Mr Pages. The scraps of master romance content are always for Mr Pages. No shade at fans but please there's more than 1 master character and they all have different personalities. They just arbitrarily decided one was the most popular because hd (and a certain ending) is the ambition the fandom is most vocal about

(The fandom woobifies and likes to think Pages is the nicest master despite the fact it represents state censorship and kills people for censorship but that's a whole other post)

[that-hazbin]

I think Charlie might be privileged enough to not understand why someone would want to be white passing, especially back in Alastor's times. I mean, I don't think there would be many times she would be met with racism. Her skin is *literally* white. I think she might be the kind of person who is insistent on being your true self, not seeing how it could be harmful to someone in some situations like that.

I'm not sure if Alastor would be hesitant about dropping some things, like straightening his hair or something, but if he was, I think Charlie might be a person to push too much too soon.

Also, I think Alastor can be very good reusing things that others would've thrown away already.

Like using banana peels as shoe polish (not that specifically, but the best example I could think of)

Which confuses Charlie and probably Lucifer. And Alastor might roll his eyes at their privileged white asses

Charlie is Hellborn, even if she weren't privileged I sincerely doubt she would understand the concept of judging people based on their skin color. Like, yes, her skin is literally white, but she did not grow up in human society in which having white skin would give her privileges, so I don't think that actually matters in her case? Her standing is based on being royalty, it doesn't have anything to do with her skin color. She's not human, she will NEVER be able to understand human racism because she lives in Hell.

Sinners change appearances when they land there, so them continuing to operate on their own ideas of racism would be extremely confusing to her not just because she's privileged. Like, many of these people no longer have the same skin color they had when they were alive, but sinners still can somehow clock people of certain races based on what... their clothing?? The way they talk, the way they carry themselves?? Literally how??? She won't ever get it.

You're right that Charlie would be the type who pushes too much, though. It's because of her lack of understanding of human racism that she genuinely just wouldn't see how Big of a deal this is for Alastor.

Honestly speaking, she wouldn't understand how "straightening hair and changing accent" contributes to Alastor pretending to be "white." She doesn't even understand the concept of "white." She'll just think Alastor is hiding his true self or something like that and be pretty pushy trying to get him to open up, not understanding that she's asking him to throw away what was essentially his safety measures against extreme prejudice for the past century.

As for Lucifer, I think he would have a better understanding of human racism just based solely on the fact that he can be summoned to the human world, and has DEFINITELY seen some Fucked Up shit. Still, those summonings are under extremely specific circumstances and he definitely hasn't seen the full scope of the human world, so his understanding is still limited. So yeah, he and Charlie would be Confused. Like, often.

[fake-mouthstatic]

cooking together

@bucktommyfluffebruary, day 2. rated G.

💕

It's late the next morning when Tommy wakes, feeling a lot more rested than he'd expected.

Ordinarily, it took him a few days to recover after a twenty four, but then he'd never had Evan there to take care of him before.

His heart swells in his chest at the memory of Evan gently scrubbing him clean and making sure he ate before tucking him into bed.

He'd not had someone look after him like that since before his mom had passed, nearly thirty years ago now, and it makes him unexpectedly emotional; he thinks his mom would have liked Evan.

The clatter of what sounds like a spatula being dropped pulls him from his thoughts and his stomach rumbles as he suddenly notices the smell of breakfast in the air.

read the rest under the cut or on ao3 // other days here

Well, lunch technically, he thinks, checking the bedside clock to see that it's nearly 1pm.

He drags himself out of bed and uses the bathroom before throwing on the nearest pair of sweatpants.

"Mornin'," he says, wandering into the bright sunshine of the kitchen to see Evan at the counter, whisking.

Evan turns to him with a wide smile.

"Hey," he says, and Tommy doesn't miss the way his gaze flickers to his bare chest for a moment. "Sleep alright?"

"Like the dead." Tommy moves into Evan's space, sliding his arms around his waist and resting his head on his shoulder. "Whatcha making?"

"Pancakes."

Tommy hums contentedly, placing a kiss to the bolt of Evan's jaw.

"My favourite."

"I know," Evan grins, looking adorably pleased with himself.

"Want me to do anything?"

"You can slice the fruit if you like," Evan says, nodding towards the counter by the fridge. "Or fry the bacon?"

"You're doing bacon and fruit?" Tommy asks, smirking.

"Yeah, well, you didn't each much last night. Didn't want you to be hungry."

Tommy kisses him again, lips brushing against the stubble of his cheek.

"Thank you. For looking after me."

"Don't need to thank me." Evan turns his head as much as he can while Tommy is still clinging onto him, meeting his gaze with a shy smile. "I like looking after you."

Tommy opens his mouth and then closes it again, not quite sure what to say.

Evan sounds so sincere that there's no doubt he absolutely means it and that's… well that's almost too much for Tommy to think about right now, still a little dazed as he is from his twelve hour sleep.

Instead he moves one hand from Evan's waist and up to his face, turning his head with gentle fingers on his chin.

"I like when you look after me," he murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before stepping over to the pile of fruit waiting to be sliced.

Evan's pleased smile lingers as he goes back to whisking the batter and Tommy chops bananas and halves strawberries in a fog of warm happiness, wondering whether six months is too soon to ask Evan to move in with him.

[plotthotrobin]

I’ve talked about the polite neutrality between the three lords during White Clouds, but I have another point about friendships in this game to make. The Golden Deer are the only house that feel like something close to an actual friend group to me - but that’s not a complaint or me saying that GD is objectively the best house. (There being a ‘best house’ actively defeats the point - and I actually like more of the students from the BE.) It’s just neat to compare and contrast.

Despite most of them having known one another from a young age, the Blue Lions feel more like the reunion of kids who played together during their parent’s work meetings. They’re stiff and awkward around each other a lot of the time despite being more familiar. They get along because they have to for the future of their kingdom. Hell, I think at least half of their interrelationships are at least initially born out of obligation. And that isn’t to diminish the sincerity of some of the friendships that do blossom, but that energy overall never really goes away. I think it reflects the tone/culture of Faerghus and Dimitri both really well, actually, since there are a lot of themes of tradition and doing what is socially expected of you.

The Black Eagles are kind of a weird mix of strangers and friends when they start out. I read them as being more individually isolated than the other two houses. Because the unspoken obligation of the BL’s isn’t there, this group falls into almost the opposite camp. Dorothea, Ferdinand, and Petra are on good terms with almost everyone - but aren’t actually close to anybody. Linhardt and Caspar are childhood friends of sorts, but a lot of it seems like the former merely tolerating the latter (especially during WC) - and neither of them are really close to anyone else. Bernadetta is… well, Bernadetta. Edelgard and Hubert are the one exception since they are very close, but even then they are princess and retainer - not ever really friends on an equal level, even though they have a deep love and respect for one another. The house as a whole, though, doesn’t feel very tight-knit. Again, none of this is a complaint. I can’t say much when it comes to Adrestia itself, but I do think it reflects a lot of Edelgard’s individualistic mindset on a personal level as well as her overall approach in Crimson Flower.

Other than Raphael and Ignatz, none of the Golden Deer seem to know each other by much more than name at the start of the game - which means that they’re all getting to know each other at the same time. I truly think that different foundation makes them growing together feels a little more organic in terms of friendship. I can easily see this group naturally sitting around a campfire and swapping funny stories. While, again, I can’t say much in terms of Leicester’s culture or anything, I think this works extremely well considering Claude’s whole thing is wanting to tear down walls and bring people together. It’s really nice to see. (Quick disclaimer: I don’t believe Claude truly sees them as his friends until post-timeskip during VW specifically, but do think most of the others view him as a friend pretty early on.)

It’s interesting how these setups affect their respective routes. 😊

[seasonal-writes]

Hey there! So, it’s been a while. I have done a lot of thinking, some writing, some attempts—but I have come to the conclusion that I do not think I will be writing out the continuation and end of When Fate Finds Golden Rings. It took me a while to get to this point, and I'm so sorry to anyone who was hoping or expecting me to eventually come back to posting it on ao3. You know, you just.. don’t write on a fic for over a year-ish and surprise! Maybe you really lost the energy and passion for this piece after all. Which is okay. 

BUT. Instead,

Welcome to: Ro gives away the plans for the ending, rambles about that process, and gives other weird notes about their first big boy AU. Because I saw a post about bullet point-ing fic and realized I am, in fact, allowed to do that. 

Strap in because this is going to be a Big Post. Sorry in advance. And if it wasn't very obvious, um. Spoilers for When Fate Finds Golden Rings below the cut. <3

It’ll probably be starting at chapter 14. 

So, I want to disclose, before we begin: the ending is not totally up to my current standards as a writer. And this isn’t going to be me bashing my own creative process or my burnout or anything like that. I just feel like noting that… had I thought about the ending in more detail instead of flying by the seat of my pants, I think that it would be more put-together and interesting. I think that applies to the entire story, honestly. So. Yeah. If the ending falls a little flat, that is why. I was too busy daydreaming over my epilogue—which I will be talking about as well!! It's honestly my favorite aspect that came from continually thinking about the fic rather than writing it. LMAO.

Interestingly enough, I originally wrote that there were going to be at most like, 7-8 chapters left. realistically, that would probably not have happened. Considering this outline was in SHAMBLES, I can safely say it would’ve been a whirlwind last few chapters. sincerely, future Ro after writing out the mess you’re about to see.

The place where Joel, Lizzie, and Etho live was going to be the place where the ending took place. All the chapters in this “arc” as I'd call them—even though that’s not really what they are—were going to be here and were originally intended to be a deeper dive into Tango’s background. Since the first half of the story is really steeped in Jimmy’s world, it had only felt right to give Tango his own section and exposition as a character.

This was going to become the part of the story where it’s like, Jimmy and tango are in a more stable place for a moment so it gives them more time to reflect. It also would’ve given them time to be away from each other, which I thought was important for two guys who had been subjected to good ol’ forced proximity and were finally given little outs to be apart; i.e. Etho taking tango away for a day, Jimmy spending time with Lizzie and/or Joel. That was a chapter idea I had: both basically kinda being like: yeah! no! I can be alone. I don't miss him at all. not even a little. it feels weird without him here though, right- and just dealing with that. Plus the fear of getting caught, the fear of the OTHER one getting caught and not knowing. yeah. <3

Something I had planned on happening between Tango and Jimmy was that Jimmy was basically going to very much avoid his own feelings all around. He’s so attached to this guy, very much falling for him, and convinced that he is in the way despite it all. He’s kinda… under the impression that maybe he’s in the wrong for not wanting to stay, because OBVIOUSLY Jimmy knows better than to stay in one place like this after the whole journey thus far, when Tango seems so happy. So Jimmy, flawed as this idea is, just assumes Tango will be better off if he stays close to his home and Jimmy doesn’t want to make Tango feel like he has to keep running. The best way i can describe this is like

Jimmy: Man. Tango seems really happy here. I don't think he needs me. I bet he wants to stay. No, I'm not gonna ask him, that’s crazy. What I WILL do, however, is leave without telling him. 

and then he did. :) 

That was basically going to lead into a chapter where Jimmy is ~kidnapped~ on his way out of town by ANOTHER set of characters I was excited about: the mercenaries, Ren, Martyn, and BigB! Golden Rings!Ren is fun to me because he keeps the Red King aesthetic. For some context of why they exist: the three stooges mercenaries heard through the grapevine that if the two princes were captured and returned alive, there would be a big reward. I never actually decided if they’d been tracking Jimmy and Tango for a while, or if it was a coincidence that the reward went out and they happened to stumble into town. but all that matters is that Ren ‘n Gang are in fact successful, and smuggle Jimmy off to a camp somewhere along the road headed back to the palace with full intentions of bringing him home, with or without tango. 

behind the scenes, tango is actively losing his mind. so, fun fact here: I never actually…wrote down how this next bit happens. please forgive me i haven’t touched this outline in like a year and a lot has happened since then- but OoOoh wow! Tango manages to find him!! at the camp!! at night. please note here that golden rings!tango has reflective animal eyes. like cats at night when light shines on them? that’s tango. 

I had this whole scene planned where I would riff off the Tango Rage and make him go nuts on these guys. The funny thing is that Tango can’t really fight, but I think he would do an effective job on scaring the shit out of them and chasing them out of camp. Like, spooky story level shit—crackling twigs, snapping branches, etc.. At the end, Tango manages to untie Jimmy and they make a quick getaway back to town. 

When I tell you this was gonna be one exciting chapter after exciting chapter, I mean it. The next big part, dear rancher enjoyers, was going to be the confession scene. 

Basically, imagine. Tango and Jimmy are walking home. tango is really quiet, won’t look at jimmy except to make sure he’s still right there. There is a storm brewing in the sky, and they’re trying to get back as soon as possible. but suddenly, tango freezes in place. Jimmy gets a few feet ahead, but stops and turns when he notices tango isn’t in pace with him. tango looks hurt. more hurt than jimmy’s ever seen him. which makes Jimmy feel awful. and it’s like:

T: If you wanted to leave, you should have told me.  J: …Tango. T: If you wanted to leave, you should have come and told me. We are friends— a team, you've said it yourself. I would’ve been ready to go.  J: I wasn’t…I was hoping you wouldn’t follow me.  T: Why wouldn’t I follow you? J: I just thought it’d be easier on both of us if I left you to your devices here. I’m sorry.  T: You’re sorry? You think that’s gonna just- just make this better for me? After you just up and left me there, worried that you’d been taken back to your family? T: And- And you almost were, too! You were this close, Jimmy! If you were that scared of staying then- J: You know, there was nothing forcing you to come get me, I could’ve just gone and you could’ve stayed and lived the life you wanted back in the palace! I thought that was the plan! Freedom for both of us! T: ….You really just don’t get it, huh? Are you that dense? J: What? What don’t I understand? T: I am in love with you, you idiot! J: …You.. you what? [dialogue taken from the scene i started writing but never finished<3]

And then more things happen and then they KISSSSSSSS !!! 

Realistically, I want to note that the transition between here and the ending was very finicky and not written down. so, instead, i will be giving you a general run down of what the ending was supposed to be. 

With tango and jimmy now having confessed and acting upon those feelings, they think they’re safe for the moment. However, soon after, etho finds them and basically alerts them of an uptick of Nether Guard, having heard that the mercenaries reported their sighting and now, rather rapidly because ~portal transport~, the kings were sending search parties out once more. etho suggests they get out of the city, and the two agree, prepping quickly to leave what became a very good few allies and safe place for the roads once more. 

The day they are supposed to flee, the overworld’s royal party arrives; Grian heading the way, seeming to be the one sent to find his little brother. 

This part got really fuzzy for me because I don't think I ever actually plotted out the transitionary period between "you two need to run" and "we're running, it's bad."

What I do know, though, is that the final scene would’ve been a confrontation with Grian, who attempts to convince them to come home. but when Jimmy explains, begs his brother to try and understand (i also think he uses his secret relationship with Scar as a bit of an example. leverage, even); Grian eventually wishes his brother goodbye, and turns a blind eye to let them run. 

Epilogue: Tango and Jimmy, fittingly, escape to the countryside. When they eventually outrun search parties and the call for their return dies down, they settle on a tiny cottage out on a tiny farm with wishes to expand it and make it their own. Jimmy tends to the animals. Occasionally, he sends a letter under a false name, and he gets one in response; a brother, far away, still keeping him in on happenings in the kingdom and in his life. Tango dives into his redstone, creating and building and making things he never would’ve had much time to while being a king. He thinks of a guard, long left behind, and wonders if he thinks of him too. 

The two never marry, as marriage doesn’t leave a very sweet taste in their mouths—but they do make vows, whispered promises to stay together forever. A prophecy haunts them; but they were never really the type to obey any plan laid out for them, anyway. 

Some years later, a quiet life has been established—but one day, someone arrives. Tango has gone out to gather supplies, so when there’s a knock, Jimmy answers the door. 

Before him, there is a tall figure with a familiar set of eyes. Impulse, knight and ex-personal guard of the Nether Court, stands before him. When Tango returns to find him, a beautiful reunion is had; one with tears and relief and all the love in the world so present in one moment. 

GUESS WHAT !!! TANGO/JIMMY/IMPULSE CANON IN GOLDEN RINGS EPILOGUE!! IMPULSE COMES BACK TO HIS BOY AFTER ESSENTIALLY GIVING UP HIS GUARD POSITION BECAUSE IT’S NOT THE SAME!! THEY CAN BE SO SILLY TOGETHER NOW!! AAAAAAAAA I’VE BEEN WAITING TO SHARE THIS GOD-

please god someone ask me about this dynamic i’m not okay

And, yeah! That was kind of it for the story. As I said, it falls flat to an extent. It’s not the ending that I would give it today. I still wanted to share it, even if it wasn’t the best or most detailed. I love this story, I love this universe and its characters and all the work I did on it. I still want to think about it, talk about it, etc. I’m not letting it go completely, just.. the fic won’t be finished. I am of the firm belief that I could’ve done a lot of things differently, that the story could be even better if I rewrote it entirely. But that’s not a project for right now. :) Because holy shit this fic is at 65k and that would be… hoooo.. a lot of work. Just like picking it back up and finishing it would also be quite a bit of work. It’s hard—I’ve had people tell me just to do it, just to finish the damn thing for the sake of finishing it and not quitting. So, this is my version of that, even if it isn’t the same. I don’t feel like I’m quitting, I'm only a little sad about how it's ending for now, but it feels right. I’m just like 99% sure I won’t enjoy writing the rest out. And, like I said at the start, that’s okay. Passion and motivation changes. People grow.

Anyway, that’s all! Thanks for listening to my silly little ramble about this AU that is old but still lovely. If you guys have questions or wanna chat about the AU at all, my ask box is always open even if I am terrible at answering them. If I find anything else or think up anything, maybe I’ll post about it! But, for now, I hope you all enjoyed my sillies. I love everyone who set foot in this space and read what is still my most favorite fanfiction I've ever written. :)

[scoobydoodean]

Throughout 7.21, Cas becomes more coherent—and more sincere. He 1) notices Sam seems troubled and 2) asks about it.

CASTIEL You seem troubled. Of course, that's a primary aspect of your personality, so I sometimes ignore it. SAM Okay. Um... right now I'm just wondering about you.

Cas is surprised.

CASTIEL What about me? You're worried about the burden I lifted from you. SAM I think I was done for. Do you see Lucifer? CASTIEL I did at first. But that was... It was a projection of yours, I think, sort of an aftertaste. Now I more see... well, everything. It's funny. I was – I was done for, too. The weight of all my mistakes, all those lives and souls lost, I... I couldn't take it, either. I was… I was lost until I took on your pain. It's strange to think that that helped, but –

So he's not hallucinating Lucifer still. He hasn't for a while. But transferring Sam's hallucinations shifted Cas's worldview. Like a psychedelic trip. He's gazing down on everything from high above (including his own past choices and how those have impacted those around him, including the pain his friends are experiencing) and he can't touch any of it right now. And that's comforting, because he doesn't have to deal with the pain or the guilt. That's why people being angry at each other makes him upset—it pulls him down from his high view point, reminds him that people actually care and hurt and feel. They aren't just bees buzzing around, carrying out the plan.

It's interesting where Sam goes with this, but maybe not a bad idea. He tries to make Cas feel safe to experience feel his guilt. He makes it clear they understand him (maybe even seeing his motivations with more rose-colored glasses than he should), and they aren't going to abandon him.

SAM I know you never did anything but try to help. I realize that, Cas, and I'm grateful. We're all grateful. And we're gonna help you get better, okay? No matter what it takes. CASTIEL What do you mean, "better"?

Cas probably feels lighter than he has in ages. Why change that?

By the end of the episode, he's acknowledging his choices lead to the present situation (which is progress) but in the third person.

DEAN Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back off. We're actually trying to clean up one of your angel's messes! You know that. CASTIEL He's right. An angel brought the Leviathan back into this world, and – and they begged him. They begged him not to do it.

He's close to acknowledging his responsibility in all this, but he's speaking as if it was someone else who did these things. He still isn't quite ready to face the world again. But he's getting there. And look—Cas's guilt is a serious problem. When he really starts feeling it, he feels it so intensely that he dodges Dean in Purgatory for a year and refuses to come out so he can continue doing penance. It makes sense that he's scared to float back down to earth. But it also makes sense that Dean is angry with him, even as he worries and tries to defend him from Hester.

Just remembered the Sorry board disk horse.

If Cas gave me that completely insincere smile while holding up the game “Sorry” as a form of “apology” I would have not only knocked the board on the ground I would have launched at him over the table.

[shy-blue-blossom]

Lily of the Valley

Anthony Bridgerton

Words can be hurtful. Something people can forget when they speak to others. Anthony forgets this. They hurt the ones they care about. His wife heard a passing comment as she approached him, but she did not bring it up. She said farewell to the other lords and took his arm to leave. They got into the carriage with the family to go home, Anthony said goodnight before he went into his office to finish some work. After his wife got ready for bed she did not wish him a goodnight as she normally would.

Anthony woke to an empty bed the next morning, not getting a greeting from his wife. He did not want to think anything was wrong, however it was unlike her. When he entered the dining hall she was in a deep conversation with Eloise - Hyacinth was trying to listen in. He carried on with his day knowing he would speak to her later when she was free.

It was only after dinner Anthony realised he had not seen or spoken to his wife since the ball. He decided to leave his work for the rest of the day, instead he went to his room. Walking into the room, he saw his wife sitting at her vanity putting some cream onto her face and only looked his way when the door shut behind him.

"Hello dear, do you not have work to finish?" She questioned as she went back to what she doing. This surprised Anthony as she normally would give him a smile before a kiss.

"I wanted to spend some time with my beautiful wife," Anthony said as he walked over to her. "It feels like I have not seen you today," He kissed her cheek once he reached her.

She smile at the contact but said nothing. He kept kissing her and trying to get her to crack as he knew she would not out right say what is wrong. While kissing down her shoulder, he notices her latest embroidery piece sitting on the vanity. He pulled back as he asked her what the flower was, not recognising it as any he has given her.

"Lily of the valley," was the short reply he got before she stood and made her way to their bed, not noting that Anthony's gaze was on her work. She looked at him when he did not say anything, only to see him holding the embroidered piece in hand. There was hope he knew what the flower meant but she did not hold her breath as the flower was beautiful but had a sad meaning and when trying to court a young lady, you do not look to buy the flowers like that from the florist. "Are you coming to bed?" His name and title was left purposely, hoping he would not notice.

"What have I said or done to need your forgiveness?" Anthony had suddenly spun around, made his way to his wife, only to perch himself on the edge of the bed next to her. "I know, it was the comment I said at the ball the other night was it not?" Her silence was the answer. He joined her on the bed before he continued specking. "I should have known you heard me when you where quiet on the way back." Taking her hand, he pressed a kiss to her palm. "I have no apologise that will make up for what I said, I should not have been part of the conversation." He kissed up her arm as he spoke before he looked at her, not attempting to kiss her lips yet. "I sincerely apologise."

She watched him and pressed her lips to his before he could pull away once she noticed him moving away from her. Anthony laid her on her back and joined her laying on her side after parting. They stayed in each other arms, enjoying their time together knowing they cannot live with the other.

The end.

~~~~~~~~~~

Language of Flowers

Masterlist

[bentnotbroken1fanfiction]

Sneak Peek of ch 6 of YGTWG

Style’s dad doesn’t look surprised to see him. But that’s not a shock. He’d already seen Kant last night after all. He’s not sure what he told him, but it’s possible he warned him about some of the things that have happened.  

Which could make this whole thing easier….or harder. 

Jay confirms it as soon as the door shuts behind them. “So, I’m going to assume you are here to fill in the blanks that Kant left?” 

“That depends,” Fadel replies, following him to the dining table. “What exactly did he tell you?”

The man gestures for Fadel to take a seat, and when he does he also sits down and begins speaking. “He came here late last night, but didn’t stay for long. He was banged up pretty good, but wouldn’t tell me what happened. He just started talking about how he was blackmailed by a police officer and got Style involved in something shady. He told me that if a Captain by the name of Christ showed up, that I shouldn’t tell him anything about Style…or you. He said I also shouldn’t trust anything he says about you guys, and that if you showed up before Kant had a chance to return with news of Style, that I should listen to what you have to say.”

Fadel is kind of shocked by this news. Kant had warned him about the police officer and hadn’t revealed anything too damning. He had also thought that Fadel would come here and make things right. Which…yeah, Fadel wouldn't have left Style's dad hanging like thst, but for Kant to acknowledge it…well, it means something to Fadel. And he doesn’t like it, but he feels a little bit grateful to the bastard for taking the tome to come here last night,  and for telling Jay to listen to Fadel. It’s going to make this all a bit easier now. 

“Kant was right to warn you and he was also right to think that I would come here.” He begins, “But before I tell you what I came here to say,” he pauses and takes a grounding breath. “I want you to know that I truly and sincerely love your son.”

The man in front of him simply smiles and says. “I know.” 

That throws Fadel for a loop. “You…know?” 

He nods and puts a gentle hand on Fadel’s shoulder. “Son, there are some things you come to learn about life once you’re as old as I am. And one of them is that sometimes, it’s not about the words you say. It’s about your actions and the way you look at someone. And I’ve seen the way you look at my son.”  Fadel’s chest grows tighter with his words. “I can tell that you love him. Maybe even more than he loves you.”

“If he was smarter, he wouldn’t love me at all.” He replies quietly and stands up from the chair, preparing himself for what comes next. 

And now it’s Jay’s turn to look apprehensive. “Why-”

Before he can get the question out, Fadel drops to his knees and wai’s deeply to him. 

“What are you-”

“The reason I’m here right now, and the reason Kant was here, is because Style was taken by a dangerous organization yesterday morning and was seriously injured.” He can tell that he’s about to ask more questions so he barrels on. “And while I wasn’t the one that harmed him, what transpired happened because of his affiliation with me. I don’t expect you to forgive me for this transgression, but I had to come here to explain with my own mouth what happened.” 

His voice sounds panicked when he asks, “What do you mean injured? How bad is it?” 

“The important thing is that he is okay now. His life isn’t in danger. But I’m not going to lie to you.” He finally looks up at Style’s father, because he feels that he needs to look the man in the eye when he tells him this. He deserves that much. “It was really bad. He was beaten and stabbed. They had him for over four hours before I was able to get help to find him and intervene. I got there in time to stop the man that took him and Kant was able to stabilize him enough that we could get him to a doctor in time, but he had to have emergency surgery. Some of his injuries are extensive.”

Jay’s eyes look almost hollowed out and his face is quickly changing from confused worry to anger. “You said he was taken? As in kidnapped? By who? Why would they take Style?”

“He didn’t do anything wrong. They took him because of me. It’s my fault.” He can’t bear to see the disappointment on the man's face so he stares back at the floor. “I used to work for a company that has ties with the underground Mafia. I was raised by the owner after my parents were murdered and I was made to do…. unsavory things…but I’d been trying to get away for the last few years. I opened the restaurant and my brother and I were making plans for our escape…for our future. This was our chance to get out, and when I met Style I thought…well…I was naive to think that she was going to let us go without a fight. Style was collateral damage that I didn’t see coming. But I should have. And I will forever regret not realizing the danger he was in.” 

“You said you stopped the person who hurt him?” 

“Yes.” 

“Did you make him pay?” Fadel’s eyes snap back to Style’s fathers. He looks serious. He wants to know. And Fadel finds that he wants to tell him. “Yes.”

[heretherebedork]

You might want to not tag this one, but I gotta get it out for TH/K writing.

For me, personally, I think the contrast of having such well written characters against not so rounded ones is what undersells them more.

Both Style and Fadel are really well thought, written, and consistent through and throughout, but Kant and Bison? They have their moments, but there's something within them that feels a bit empty. They're compelling characters but only in theory, in practice... I'm not sure what is exactly what they're lacking, but it feels as if they're just written for moments, for scenes between them, but they're just not well developed by themselves.

I'm finding myself enjoying much more the interpretations and afterthoughts the fandom has about them than they themselves, especially with Kant, who's peak of interest for me was at the water boat bit and then it just went nowhere. Well

Ah, welcome to the no tags zone, anon! I will keep this in that area and I respect you for it because I agree.

Kant is, for me, the bigger problem. He feels hollow. His 'fake' love feels the same as his real love and that really removes a lot of the... feelings... in the relationship. We saw Style change as he started to care for Fadel and we saw his momentary fear and then how he got over it and saw every aspect of his love for him as well as how he regained his trust after the betrayal.

But with Kant it's just all been... words. Words, words, words and none of them actually deep or meaningful. None of them feel meaningful. He's just... also there.

I think they made Kant too perfect.

He was a car thief but only for his brother!!! And he was a snitch but only to save his brother!!! The guy who calls him an asshole? Lying!!! He was really the NICEST GUY EVER. And then that just leaves with Kant the Actual Angel who only did anything wrong because he just loved his baby brother SO MUCH that he also said he was gonna abandon him the instant he got out of high school but, you know, that's... that's okay I guess?

He just doesn't feel like a whole, entire character. He feels like someone wrote out the parts of a character they thought mattered to the romance and then just... stopped. He's a really cool tattoo artist who used to steal cars because he had to take care of his little brother and now he's gonna snitch on this hitman and pretend to love him but OOOOO turns out not to be fake!

But there's no depth to any of it. It's all so shallow. The depth is what we give it but the show isn't giving us any of it. The show is as deep as the water Kant reached when he was still experiencing his phobia while we're trying to make it as deep as he reached thirty seconds later when he was suddenly and inexplicably cured of it.

AND because Kant is a Perfect Character who can Do No Wrong he brings down the people around him. And Bison is more complex and multi-faceted but because he has to be played entirely with Kant his depth ends up unable to actually be explored in the relationship because Kant doesn't have the same depth.

It's why, frankly, I found his scene with Fadel and forgiveness to never quite go as far as I needed it to go.

Then again, I still don't trust Kant. I know I have and the show doesn't care but he still feels like he's lying to me. Like, he doesn't feel sincere to me because I feel like he never changed from the part of the story where he was supposedly 'faking' his love.

(Also, fuck the idea that bringing back the safeword in the kidnapping is actually bringing back the BDSM or a good callback because it wasn't, it wasn't deep, it was a callback that didn't make a lot of sense in context and didn't go anywhere in the actual story and apparently that was also all it took to make no more BDSM for Bison, I guess?!?!?!)

Anyway, I love Fadel and Style and they make me very happy and Kant and Bison are also there. I'm more invested in Keen and Nont at this point and Nont is probably, like, tied up under the place Fadel was crying.

But yes, anon. I fully agree that Kant is underdeveloped and I think that underdevelopment has spread to Bison and I think it's weakened them as characters to the point that they cannot carry the plot or the romance... at least for me.