#I've made this comic three times in one sitting

[sturnslutz]

berry goes to matt's house for a little "tutoring session."

warnings: weed smoking, shotgunning, making out, grinding/dry humping, no actual p in v, basically sub matt, use of “mama”

the drive to matt's house didn't take very long. he insisted earlier in class that he could come pick you up in his brand new family van they recently got, but you denied politely as you had to do a couple errands for your aunt before seeing matt.

a couple textbooks and your laptop filled your passenger seat alongside your purse and whatever you needed. you didn't know if matt smoked or not, chris did, but you didn't really expect matt to. you brought a couple blunts just in case.

you sent matt a small message stating you got to his house as you knocked the door three times softly. he hearted it before shortly arriving after to the door. his face flushed a soft red as he smiled at you softly, muttering a small "hi."

"hey, matt. just you home?"

matt opened the door wider for you to come in, which you did. looking around, it looked a lot more normal then your house did which was filled with bright colors and aesthetics that you and your aunt love.

"yeah, my parents are at work and chris and nick are out somewhere, i'on really know." he said softly as he shut the door. he trailed behind you as you started exploring and walking around, which he made no effort to stop you, but was rather intrigued.

"sorry it's not much. our house is kinda boring." he said as he scratched the back of his neck, a bit worried you were going to judge him. did he really think you were like that? he couldn't help himself but inhale the trail of strawberry perfume filling the air around the both of you.

you stopped your movements abruptly, which almost made matt bump into you. "matt, do you think i'm a horrible person or something? i love your house, no matter what. i'm actually quite fascinated with it. i've never been in a house which wasn't maximalist to the max, or filled with a range of every color. i like this simple look."

he searched your face for any hint you were lying, but your big eyes just looked up at him with the most genuine honesty. he smiled softly, looking away and running a hand through his hair. "thank you. i really appreciate it. do you wanna head up to my room now? i think you'll like it a lot."

you face brightened even more at the thought, eliciting a big smile across your face. "yes, of course! lead the way.” he nodded and turned, beginning to walk to the staircase as you followed after him.

his room was the complete opposite of what you thought it was. it was filled to the brim with comic posters, action figures, legos of every universe, so many stuffed animals, and everything matt couldn't express in words, but rather filled his thoughts.

"sorry, it's a lot. it's really nerdy too." he said softly, his voice shaking a bit. you looked around the room in awe, genuinely surprised he's embarrassed by this. you would love to have a room like this.

"it's not, at all. i actually love it so much. its so you. i like being able to see what you're interests are." he smiled again softly, his blue eyes scrunching up in his glasses as he ran a hand through his hair, again.

"thank you, berry. i really appreciate that. so, do you wanna start studying?" he sits down on his bed, sitting in a criss-cross position as he looked up at you through those damn glasses that you adored. he looked so hot like this.

"yep. i brought some papers i need to finish." you sat down, tossing your shoes off and sitting in the same position as him, but across him as you grabbed your bag, dumping it. his eyes skimmed through the papers, but noticed something he didn't expect.

two blunts sitting right next to each other.

you saw him look at them, and you chuckled softly. "didn't know if you smoked or not, but they help me relax and study better. thought i could smoke one here, if you're cool with it."

he looked up at you again, nodding a bit. "y-yeah sure, i don't mind. do you think it'll make my room smell?" he asked a bit nervously. his parents knew that chris smoked to help with his adhd, but he didn't want them to think he did it also.

you nodded, picking them up and looking for the lighter through your papers. "yeah, probably because it's a blunt and not a cart, those don't smell as much. but don't worry i got some perfume that makes the weed smell basically disappear."

his face seemed to understand but also didn't. "a cart- whats that?"

you laughed a bit again, rubbing his knee. "nothing you need to worry about." he nodded again, now directing his attention to a couple of your papers, trying to understand what he actually needed to help you on.

what he didn't notice though, was you holding one of the blunts up to your mouth and lighting it, and when he did, it was when you blew the smoke towards him causing him to cough a bit. "shit- sorry baby. are you okay?" he nodded, his coughing wearing down. what caught him again off guard was the name you called him. baby.

"yeah, i'm okay." you took another hit, now redirecting it to the door area before looking down at the papers. he seemed to notice your calmer demeanor and wondered if the weed actually did make you focus better.

he didn't notice himself staring at the blunt that was fiddling in between your fingers, but you did. "wanna hit?" his attention came back to you as his eyes opened a bit wide. "what? no-no. well maybe? i don't know how to!" he panicked a bit, making you laugh.

"you don't have to hit it. i'll help. you ever heard of shotgunning?" you take another hit, a smaller one now to help preserve it. "like the chugging beer thing?"

"well, yes. that's also shotgunning, but there's another kind. it's where i take a hit, but blow it into your mouth then you inhale and let it out. it'll get you high also."

knowledge of smoking was not something matt ever thought he would be learning, but he wasn't really complaining.

"oh-okay. yeah, we can do it." he said, waiting for the rest of your instruction. you smiled, moving the papers off the bed as you handed him the blunt to hold, so you wouldn't burn yourself. you sat back up right, taking the blunt back into your hand.

"okay, just relax, lemme do what i need to do. also, can i straddle you? it helps me actually do it right." he was taken aback a bit at the thought of you actually getting on top of him, but nodded. "y-yeah. sure. go ahead." he leaned back into the bed more as he stretched out his legs and you climbed on top of him, right above his cock.

he was praying that he wouldn't get a boner as he knew you would feel it, so tried to look elsewhere, now fairly interested in his poster of pokemon he got when he was 11.

you chuckled a bit, grabbing his face in your left hand, redirecting his face towards you. "it's not gonna work if you're not actually looking at me, matt." he muttered a small "sorry" as you lifted the blunt to your lips, taking a big hit before leaning down.

your lips touched his as he let out a soft gasp, allowing you to blow the smoke into his mouth. once you blew most of it in, you leaned back up, watching his face. "inhale, good, now exhale." he did exactly as you said, but letting out harsh coughs in result.

you smiled at him as he finally regained his breath, looking up at you. his face was flushed as a cherry, but he laughed a bit. "that was my first kiss." he softly admitted, but this time not taking his eyes off you.

"really? wanna have another?" you smirked as you leaned back down, putting the blunt back in between your lips as you let out a puff of smoke, filling the air once around you both again. you finally had finished it, burying it's end into the table next to his bed as he nodded.

you leaned back all the way down, reconnecting your lips with his. he was very patient with it and being gentle. he let his hands fall to your hips as the kisses deepened, a very noticeable poke in between your thighs now.

your tongue made it's way into his mouth, matt happily accepting it. for what was his first kiss, he sure was good at it. you couldn't help but notice the ache in between your thighs, right where matt was. you started absentmindedly grinding against him, causing matt to moan into your mouth as you smirked and pulled away, a string of saliva connecting the both of you still. his flushed face and lopsided glasses made you even wetter than before.

"y'ever had a girl do this to you before, baby?" you tease him a bit, obviously knowing his answer. he shakes his head softly, burying his forehead in your neck. "n-no." "feel good, huh?" he whined softly as your hand reached to his head, gently pulling his hair. "mm-mhm."

"need words, matt." you tug a bit harder on his strands, causing a even louder whine to come from his throat. "yes, feels good." you nodded, grabbing his head out of your neck and softly pushing it back down on the pillow as you kiss him again.

this time, he was more hungry. his kisses were intense, like he was trying to kiss you deeper despite the minimal space between the both of you.

grinding against him was easy, his boner was very evident through his sweatpants, and you grinding against him gave him pleasure he never knew could erupt in him.

“fuck- mama, i’m close” he whimpered a bit softly as his hands gripped your ass through your pants, his hands roaming every inch he could. “yeah? cum for me, matt. i’m right here behind you.” you moaned softly as your head fell against his chest.

you pushed your hips closer to his, your movements minimal but rather putting pressure on his covered cock and your covered ache.

“fuck! berry!” he whimpered loudly as a warm spot filled the space between you two. you looked down as the dark grey spot grew larger with every twitch of his cock in his pants.

“i’m almost there, matty. can you cum again?” his fucked-out look without actually being in you, was so hot. you don’t know when, but he took off his glasses and set them aside, now allowing you to see his slightly red, dilated big blue eyes perfectly.

you don’t know if it’s the high, but just looking at him made you cum faster against him than you expected. your orgasm came as a surprise for you, loud moans coming from your mouth as your head falls against his chest.

he came for the 2nd time right after. moans and strangled whimpers fall from his mouth, filling the room with even more pretty sounds. as you both caught your breath, you rested against his chest, as his fingers played with your hair a bit.

your clothes sticking to you because of the sweat made you ick and he could tell you felt like this from your movements, almost trying to take it off.

“do you want me to get you some new clothes? i need to change anyways.” he whispers to you softly. a nod comes from you as you roll off him, flopping to the other side. his pants had a very evident dark grey area from the combination of your liquids flowing through your clothing.

a small chuckle falls from him as he looks down. he stands up, but his legs are wobbly, causing him to fall back on the bed. “what the hell?” he mutters a bit as his legs become a bit tingly.

“just relax a bit more, this was probably the first orgasm you had that actually made your body feel different, right?” you whisper a bit as you rub his arm a bit.

he hums a bit and nods, taking your advice. once he finally felt like he could stand properly, he walked carefully to his dresser. he pulled out 2 of his shirts, and 2 new pairs of sweats, and 2 new pairs of boxers.

“i don’t have any underwear so are boxers okay?” he walks over and hands the clothing to you as you hand him his glasses, immediately bringing back his vision.

“yeah, thank you matt.” he nods a bit as he walks out of his room, changing in the bathroom. you stood up and changed into his slightly oversized clothing, but extremely comfortable.

he knocks a couple times against the door as you allow him to come in. you were already laying back down in his bed, and his heart swoons seeing you in his clothing. he lays down next to you, fiddling with his fingers a bit.

“do you want to study a bit more?” he asks randomly, causing you to laugh loudly.

“didn’t we learn enough? we’ll just do it later.” he nods, understanding. both of your thoughts are interrupted at the sound of the front door opening, and chris and nick’s voices flowing through the house.

matt looks at you with worry in his eyes, but you rub his arm, helping him relax. “don’t worry, just relax. can i stay over? it’ll help me give them a better reasoning as to why im in your clothes.”

he nods immediately. “sure. of course. i’m sure my parents won’t mind. what about yours?”

“nah, my aunt won’t care. i live with her right now. sometimes i go to my parents’ house in upstate.” you explain to him as a knock comes through the door. “hey matt? you home, man?”

chris’s voice is heard as matt stiffens up once again. “just chill.” he lets out a breath as he talks. “yeah, i’m here.” and that lets chris in. his eyes immediately fall to matt, but then look to you as he gasps a bit.

“matt’s here, and berry’s here… in matt’s room? what the hell…?” it was clear chris was a bit high just like you and matt. the scent of weed also hits chris’s nose as he lets out another question. “were you guys smoking?”

“hey, chris. i came because he was tutoring me, and i smoked a bit because you know how it helps me study better. it’s getting late so matt told me i can stay here, and he allowed me to be in his clothes.”

chris nods slowly, but seemingly understands. “ight. mom and dad are staying at aunt cathy’s house tonight, so it’s just the 4 of us tonight, okay?”

his sight goes between you and matt as both you and matt nod. “okay, i got another blunt for later if you and nick wanna smoke it with us.” chris nodded at you, glancing out matt’s window. “hell yeah, but when it gets a bit darker out. so like 10? it’s saturday tomorrow so we’re good.”

you look at matt for a confirmation to which he nods, once again. “yeah, okay.” he says softly. chris walks out, and you plop back down next to matt, rubbing his shoulder. “you okay?” he smiles and hums. “yeah, i’m good. that felt really good.”

“i’m glad. dry humping is good, but actual sex is amazing. we aren’t there yet though.” his eyes widen a bit at the thought of actually having sex, but relaxed a bit at your reassurance.

“mhm- okay.” you smile again, rubbing his cheek a bit. “let’s take a nap before you we have to spend the whole night with energetic nick and chris.”

he laughs, nodding. he dips his head into your neck, wrapping his arm around your waist, holding you tight. he knew you two weren’t official and didn’t know if you’d actually ever be, but he knew he trusted you.

[nickyrat]

Don't make comics in the middle of the night 

[deadsetobsessions]

To the mf who had my house before me, if you see me on the street, turn around and run the other way. Because if I see you, know that it’s going to be on sight. Who even puts tile like that?? Anyways, I'm kind of sick, so that's why I've been kind of inactive.

But good news (ish) I got me a house! Yay! Let’s hope I can keep it. To celebrate, y’all can have this! And a few chapters! So technically this is a chapter update post?

——

Danny’s most favorite thing to do with Alfred Pennyworth is groundskeeping. While he might not be Sam, Danny could still appreciate the serenity and beauty of nature.

“Ow, fuck!”

“Master Danny, please refrain from using explicit language.”

“Sorry, Alfred. I got stabbed.”

“Oh dear. Will you be needing a bandage?”

“Nah, it’s okay. I think…” Danny hummed, peering closer at the reddish brown thorns sprouting from the ground. “That might be the rose bush?”

Alfred paused his snipping, turning around and coming closer to inspect the plant. “How peculiar. It seems to have grown a branch beneath the soil.”

In unison, Danny and Alfred lifted their heads to look at the rose bush, innocuously sitting three yards away.

“Huh. Weird.”

“Indeed.”

The door to one of Bruce Wayne’s many gardens, all opulently gothic to hide their vigilante disturbances, opened. The hinges swung without a single creak, as Alfred the butler always carried WD-40 on his person and a squeaky hinge in this mansion was an affront to his professionalism.

"Hey, guys! Whatcha doing?" Duke greeted, followed by Jason.

"Gardening! You wanna help?"

"Nah, I'm a Gothamite, not Poison Ivy, man. I don't do grass." Duke replied, plopping down on one of the lawn chairs with his drink. "But I can totally give you moral support... from over here."

Danny snorted. "What about you, Jason?"

Jason shrugged. "Sure, what are we doing?"

"There's a rose bush that grew all the way over here."

"Woah, crazy."

"Indeed, Master Jason. I shall go get the shovels."

"Okay, Alfie," Jason absently agreed, focused on finding where else the rose bush had grown to. "You wanna keep the bush, right?"

"That would be preferable."

"Duke, can't-" Jason paused, throwing a quick look at Danny before visibly changing tracks. "Can't you get us some drinks?"

"Kitchen's right over there, Jason." Duke pointedly leaned back and took a sip.

Danny piped up. "I'll get it! What did you want, Jason?"

----

Two hours later, covered in all manners of dirt and blades of grass, Jason and Danny sat back to survey the messed up garden.

"You sure we can't hire Ivy to move the plant somewhere?"

"She'd just make it worse," Jason grumbled.

"You guys can do it!" Duke cheered, scrolling through his phone and cherry picking the most hilarious pictures of Jason and Danny to send to the group chat. He chose the selfie, where he was grinning into the camera as Jason fell on his ass as Danny pulled up a long section of thorns.

Duke gets nailed in the face with two clumps of grass from his disgruntled brothers.

"I believe it is time for a shower." Alfred Pennyworth smiled, content. Days like these made him glad that his grandchildren found their way back.

[theoceansluvr]

Multi-Character x Nerd! Reader

warning; none except my endless yapping !! author's notes; *comically loud gulp* it's finals season so i decided to drop this before grinding my grades and whatnot😿 gave all the characters different random interests of mine sooo yay !

PERCY JACKSON- Flowers

i like to think percy is pretty neutral about flowers; not his favorite, but doesn't hate them

but when you stepped into the picture ? ALLLLL of that changed !

probably has a flower language book sitting on his bedside table just because of you to be totally fair

because of you, he buys really specific colors (or asks the Demeter cabin to grow him some) of flowers for you because of their meanings

for example, he ABSOLUTELY got you yellow tulips when he asked you out :3c

as much as he's a blue guy, he knows what they stand for (hopeless love) and thought it'd be sweet

sometimes you name a flower he knows NOTHING about like what on earth is an azalea ??

listens to you carefully regardless since he finds it cute how often you ramble about why orchids are associated with royalty

received flowers for the first time from you and he's kept them ever since, claims it's because he keeps forgetting to get rid of them but he's just a sap like that

very supportive of your interests and WILL stay up for hours to hear you talk !

ANNABETH CHASE- Astronomy

at first she thought you were talking about astrology and wasn't all that interested, but then she saw the massive amount of books you had on the stars and understood

dare i say she takes you on stargazing dates where you just point out all the constellations and all the stars we'll never see

has watched about 8 space documentaries in one week, and still isn't tired of it

also ! when ever she's drafting up home designs, she ALWAYS puts a room with a glass ceiling or balcony so you can put your telescope there

she swears it's just for the visuals but she not very good at hiding it(i love you sappy annabeth chase <9)

bought you one of those little star projectors when you guys moved into New Rome !

you guys also made paper lanterns of all the planets + pluto and hung them up on the ceiling since you rarely get to go out much one you go to college

speaking of pluto.. you guys didn't speak for three days over an argument over the basis of it being a planet or not. annabeth refuses to say it is because scientifically it's not, but you say it is because "emotionally it's a planet to me !" (real conversation i've had btw)

takes you to the planetarium whenever you guys have the spare time mainly just to see to get all animated over all the facts you've probably already told her

she absolutely adores you no matter how many times she's heard about all the dwarf planets..

CONNOR STOLL- Comics

deep in my heart he's a flash or spiderman nerd, so it's perfect !

safe to say, if you like anyone else, you guys might dispute who the best superhero is every other day- lovingly of course !

dates probably consist of walking around comic books shops and talking about your favs or reading them in your cabin

swapping off comics whenever you finish one so you can talk about them

has absolutely stolen merch for you on numerous occasions because he can he let the love of his life go without that batman mug ?

definitely makes up insane theories about what happens whenever his favorite character dies..

"no, no, no, he's gonna come back in the next one, trust me !" "con.. he literally blew up." "SO DID JASON TODD BUT HERE WE ARE"

dare i say y'all have matching spider man and gwen or batman and catwoman keychains ?

you probably got him really into young justice on accident because you mentioned him reminding you of wally west(PLS TELL ME SOMEONE SEES THE VISION-)

honestly, you guys are just nerd for nerd but he won't admit to it as easily

LEO VALDEZ- Sharks

scratch what i said about connor being nerd for nerd, you and leo are THE nerd for nerd couple !!

made you a wind up shark toy as a gift because he was bored, and it was basically a marriage proposal to you

has definitely fallen asleep to you talking about sharks before ! not out of boredom, just because he likes your voice

moving on ! y'all know those cardboard sharks people were making ? well, he made you a metal version of your favorite shark !

takes you to aquariums whenever he can, which is rare, but he thrives off of hearing you get excited.. like a kid in a candy store

he also has a crazy supply of gummy sharks in the bunker now for whenever you come over

he has also made you shark shaped string lights because why would he ever let you buy anything ?!

let's you cover his well, everything with shark stickers ! workbench ? sure ! festus ? might protests, but if festus like it, alright !

you told him he'd be a hammerhead shark, and he now has a keychain of one on his belt loop at all times

he rambles to you about mechanics, so in turn you talk about sharks; it's a win-win situation :3c

YAYYYYY PSOTING AGAIN AND IT'S ABOUT MY INTERESTS !!!! this was actually in the drafts for a minute and WAS supposed to drop saturday but i got impatient- love y'all and uhh see you after finals !

[mcflymemes]

PROMPTS FOR PLAYFUL AFFECTION *  adjust as necessary, send 'reverse' for the reversal of action prompts

DIALOGUE PROMPTS

wait. are you ticklish?

get back here! i'm not finished with you yet!

you've got something on your face... right here!

ohh, you are so dead!

last one there's a rotten egg!

looks like i've got the upper hand now!

stop! i surrender! i surrender!

i'm not letting you beat me this time!

that was really cute. do it again.

can i paint your nails?

did you just smear that on my face?

who hit me with a snowball?

i love it when you play with my hair.

okay, now let's take a silly picture this time.

i've never heard your laugh before. i love it.

i'm going to do everything in my power to make you laugh.

we said that at the same time.

i've never had a real pillowfight before!

tag! you're it!

i like it when you play with my fingers.

ready or not, here i come!

get back here you!

wanna arm wrestle?

was that your foot?

stop running! just let me love you!

that's not fair! you cheated!

can i braid your hair?

did you just put a flower in my hair?

will you share that with me?

look! i painted a picture of you!

if you sit on the swings, i'll push you.

on three, we jump into that pile of leaves. ready?

did you just make that noise? that was adorable.

i love how your eyes crinkle when you smile.

can i play with your hair?

you have the most wonderful smile.

let's go down the slide together.

you beat me! how did you beat me?

we don't need music to dance!

this made me think of you when i saw it.

ACTION PROMPTS

[ sneak ] sender sneaks up behind receiver and puts their hands over their eyes to surprise them

[ tickle ] sender tickles receiver

[ chase ] sender playfully chases receiver until they're both tired

[ dance ] sender and receiver perform a silly dance together

[ snowball ] sender and receiver have an epic snowball fight

[ whipped ] sender smears a bit of whipped cream on receiver's face

[ cake ] sender smushes a piece of cake into receiver's face

[ pie ] sender smushes a pie into receiver's face

[ playground ] sender and receiver climb around on a playground together

[ swings ] sender and receiver sit on a swingset together

[ push ] sender pushes receiver on a swingset

[ smile ] sender uses their fingers to turn receiver's frown into a smile

[ win ] sender and receiver play a board game together, and sender secretly lets receiver win

[ pat ] sender playfully pats receiver's butt

[ hoist ] sender hoists receiver onto their shoulders and carries them around

[ footsie ] sender and receiver play a game of footsie under the table

[ mime ] across a crowded room, sender mimes a comical scene at receiver to try and make them laugh

[ pretend ] sender pretends to dramatically fall asleep ontop of receiver, holding in their laughter as they do so

[ rock ] sender and receiver hug, and sender rocks them side to side

[ handshake ] sender and receiver reenact their secret handshake

[ share ] sender and receiver share something from the menu at a restaurant

[mrsshabana]

𝐀 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐲

❀ Content Gyutaro x female!reader, taisho era, pure fluff

❀ Note So I decided to write an alternate ending to that Gyutaro comic that's been going around. I won't share it here because I don't want to post someone's art without their permission, but I've seen it all over Pinterest. If you haven't seen it, basically Gyutaro is working in a garden and three girls shout to him from their window. They ask him to come up and hang out with them. He becomes flustered and says, "Wait... really?" and then they say, "You really thought we were serious?" and start laughing at him and making fun of him, calling him a loser - causing him to run away in embarrassment. When I first saw that comic it broke my heart so I had to write something to give Gyutaro the ending he deserves.

He shouldn’t have been so gullible. But can you blame him? Girls never notice him, or if they do it’s always in a negative way. So the one time some cute girls asked him to hang out with them, of course he got excited. But it was just a cruel joke. 

After being so cruelly embarrassed, Gyutaro scurried away in a hurry. Trying to hide his tears so as not to embarrass himself further. 

He sits under a tree, away from view, and cries. Sobbing into the sleeve of his yukata, 

“I’m so stupid…” the boy whimpers. 

The weight of it all bearing down on him. He’s going to be a joke forever, isn’t he? No girl would show kindness to him, let alone give him a chance. As he soaks his yukata with tears his heart gets crushed by the rejection. 

Until someone’s voice calls out to him, “Hey! Garden boy!”

He looks up and sees a beautiful girl coming his way. He quickly wipes his tears and tries to hide the fact that he’s been crying. 

“Wh-what do you want?” 

“I wanted to join you, is that ok?” you say with a smile.

“No, I’m not an idiot,” he frowns, “I-I won’t fall for it again!” He tries his best to stand up for himself.

Your cheery expression shifts to one of sadness as you sit beside him, “Listen, I saw what happened.”

Gyutaro feels even more embarrassed now, knowing that you saw how he was rejected by those other girls. He wishes he could just hide and never face anyone again.

He looks down and says nothing, utterly ashamed. 

“Don’t listen to them, any girl would be lucky to spend an afternoon with you.” You gently place your hand on his shoulder.

“You’re lying… I’m disgusting… I’m a loser,” his voice quivers and his eyes begin to fill with tears. 

“No, you’re not! I’ll prove it to you.”

He quirks a brow and stares at you. What could you possibly mean?

You lean forward and kiss him. Softly pressing your lips against his. 

Immediately his entire face turns red. He can’t believe that just happened. If anything was going to shut up his insecurities, it would be a kiss from a cute girl. 

“I-I…” he stutters. 

You chuckle, “I’ve had a crush on you for a while. I never said anything because I was too shy. But when I saw how those girls treated you I felt like I had to say something.”

“A crush? On me…?” his eyes widen and he stares at you in disbelief. 

You nod, “I’ve watched you tend to the gardens here for a while,” you say shyly, “I think you’re really cute.”

This definitely made up for the embarrassment he had gone through earlier. Not only are you cuter than those other girls, but you’re really sweet too. Other girls don’t even come close to him because they find him too repulsive. But you actually kissed him! So there’s no doubt in his mind that your words are true. 

“W-Well um… I wouldn’t mind hanging out with you sometime,” he says as he shyly rubs the back of his neck. 

“I’d love that! I live in the blue house over there,” you point to the other side of the garden, “You should come by when you’re done working.”

His face heats up as he imagines visiting you at your home, “O-Ok, I’d like that.”

Before leaving you give him a kiss on the cheek. 

Excited to see you again, he quickly gets back on his feet and works like he was never rejected in the first place. Honestly, he’s never worked so fast.

[eternalmoonlight18]

Please Please Please (Don't Prove 'Em Right) Chapter 2

Trafaglar Law x afab Female!Reader

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Summary:

You are the Heart Pirates' beloved cook and sniper. However, you were also an insufferable troublemaker who always seemed to get on Law's nerves. He swears he's going to get rid of you one day, but as much as he hates it, why does he find you fascinating? Was it because you reminded him of someone he was greatly fond of?

As your relationship with Law grows, he only hopes you don't fucking embarrass him. After all, he has an image to uphold as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.

This story starts off as short stories between (Y/N), Law and the Heart Pirates, then picks up into the One Piece canon timeline, starting from Punk Hazard. This is a slow-burn Law x Female Reader story!

Updates every Sunday!

Cross-posted in Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57651295/chapters/146705491

Chapter 2: Soba, Warrior of the Sea

Chapter summary: Attempting to find blackmail material against your captain, you took a volume of Law's favourite comic series. The only problem is you misplaced it an hour later, and if you didn't find it, the captain was going to cut you up and throw you to the bottom of the sea.

Notes: Thank you for the love! I'm so glad y'all are loving this like I am! I'll make a taglist if more people are interested. And no, the title is not a typo and you'll find out why soon ;)

wc: 4k (hefty chapter this week!)

The Polar Tang smelt like fried eggs.

It was 7 am and Hearts Pirates were just waking up. It was a brand new day, and the crew were looking forward to seeing if they could dock on a new island. 

Ikakku made her way into the kitchen first, and she saw you cooking breakfast for the crew. You had your white jumpsuit unzipped with the sleeves tied around your waist. Your white tank top was stained with grease and was clinging to your skin due to sweat. 

She sat down facing your direction and rested her elbows on the table, with her cheek leaning on her palm. "Morning (Y/n)!" she greeted you.

You turn your head to see that Ikkaku has arrived. "Morning Ikkaku! Sorry I didn't wake you up, I knew that you wanted to help me today but you looked so peaceful sleeping," you said. 

Your crew-mate waved her hand dismissing the apology. "Don't even worry about it. I know you love being in the kitchen by yourself." She glanced at your exposed body. "Shouldn't you change and put your suit back on?" she commented.

You made an annoyed click with your mouth. "You know how annoying these jumpsuits are. I don't know why he insists that we can all do our jobs while wearing a white garbage bag as clothes. I don't care if he sees me like this and gets mad, I can't cook with this shit on." you complained. 

The girl behind you giggled, "Get mad? It's more like ogle your almost half-naked body. You know the captain has somewhat of a soft spot for you."

You scoffed. "Captain? We're talking about the guy who sliced me when he found that I put flour and bread in his rice balls?" 

"If anyone else did that, they would get thrown out of this sub." Ikkaku defended.

"Oh please. You know the captain is an emotionally constipated man who doesn't take a second glance at anyone."

"You'd be surprised our dear cook. I've seen Captain stare at you last month." Shachi interrupted as he walked into the kitchen with Penguin. 

"Shachi, that was because he was going to decapitate (Y/n) for smacking a loaf of bread on his head," Penguin corrected him.

"Oh..." he muttered.

You threw your head back in laughter as you remembered how you accidentally smacked the captain with a bagged loaf of bread because he was somehow caught in between the crossfire of you and Shachi arguing about stolen food portions. That day was the first time your head was separated from your body. 

The three crew-mates sitting at the dining table noticed how your cheeks flushed a light pink. They all grinned maniacally. 

"Were you thinking of the captain?" Penguin singsonged. 

You rolled your eyes as you placed a batch of fried eggs on a plate. "You know I don't have feelings for the captain like that."

"Aww, that's not true," Ikkaku whined. 

You continued to batter up a batch of pancakes and poured it into the hot pan in front of you. "Well, I can't lie the captain is good-looking. But I don't just fall in love with someone based on looks you guys, I would want to get to know the person before I would think about committing to a relationship," you explained as you flipped the pancake.

Shachi suddenly straightened his back in a sudden realization. "So you do admit that you find our awesome captain handsome! Why don't you try getting closer to him?" he asked.

You grabbed the plate of eggs from the counter and walked up towards your hungry crew-mates to place it on the table.

"I think the captain would rather eat bread than to get to know me. Besides, I know that he finds me insufferable, but that's because he doesn't know how to have fun. Now, who wants my special fried eggs?" 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was 10 am, and you just finished cleaning the kitchen and making the crew's lunch. You proudly put your hands on your hips as you scanned the area. You were a proud cook and proud of what you did. Your heart swelled in appreciation that you could use your talents and that your talents were well appreciated within the crew.

Unlike your 3 shitty brothers who always just shoved food down their throats without care. But that wasn't important.

You glanced at Bepo, the captain's favourite crew-mate (your assumption), finishing wiping the dishes clean. The Mink was always around the captain, so often that you swore that they were probably shower buddies. A mental image of Law and Bepo bathing together popped into your head. You stiffened a laugh. 

"(Y/n)-san, Captain wanted to request grilled fish and rice for dinner," Bepo said, interrupting your daydream.

You exhaustedly sighed. "Again? This is the third time we had that this week, I swear that my breath permanently smells like fish now."

The Mink turned around to you and lowered his head. "Sorry..."

You gave a halfhearted smile to your crew-mate. "Never mind that I can never get mad at you Bepo, you're one of the few people who help me around the kitchen. Tell the captain that if he wants his favourite dish he needs to come up and ask me personally instead of using you as a communicator."

Bepo profusely nodded. "I'll tell him right away."

As Bepo was going to leave, you stopped him. "Wait," you called up to him. The Bear stopped in his tracks. 

You put your hand on your chin and started to think. "I don't want to make that fucking grilled fish and rice dish again. What if I know something about the captain and I can use it to hold against him? That way I can never make those dishes ever again." 

Once your idea formed in your head you started to grin evilly and rubbed your hands together like a madman.

Bepo, seeing this unfold in front of him, started to get nervous. "Uh, (Y/n)-san? What are you doing? Why did you stop me?" he asked. 

You whipped your head up to face Bepo and walked up in front of him. Putting your hand on the side of your mouth like you were telling a secret, you started to ask, "You're pretty close to the captain right?"

Bepo flinched. "Uhm, yes?"

"And you know a lot about him right? Like his deepest and darkest secrets?"

"Well, I guess so?"

"So, if you tell me something about him, something that he doesn't want anyone to know, you'd tell me in exchange for, let's say, my special sushi recipe?"

Bepo started sweating and you smirked. You knew the Mink bear loved your special sushi recipe, and you knew he could not resist.

"(Y/n)-san... I can't betray the captain like that." he said. The poor bear sounded like he was trying to convince himself not to give in to your temptation.

"Oh? Well, that's too bad, I was going to also make Soba for tonight too, what a shame," you said with fake sadness.

Bepo started to whimper. If there was one thing he didn't play about, it was Soba.

The Mink started to whip his head left and right to see if anyone was listening in to the conversation. Then he leaned down to your level.

"Oh alright, but PLEASE don't tell the captain about this!" he harshly whispered.

You grinned as you crossed your heart. "The information is safe with me."

Bepo hesitated, then he quickly confessed, "The captain is a huge fan of the comic series Sora, Warrior of the Sea! He has a huge collection hidden in his library of books."

You leaned back in surprise, with your smile widening into a perplexed grin. "Our feared captain is a NERD?!"

Bepo frantically waved his paws at you. "(Y/n)-san! Please you're being too loud!" he begged.

You burst out laughing, bending frontwards while your hands were clutching your stomach. Oh, the information that you just obtained was your One Piece! You never expect your stoic and boring captain to be a huge fan of a children's comic series. And he collected the comics too? This was just what you needed to blackmail Law.

You quickly collected yourself from laughing too hard. "Good doing business with you Bepo, you can expect a very good dinner tonight." You said. You winked at him and hurriedly walked out of the kitchen.

"Oh man, what did I do..." he mumbled. 

Meanwhile, you were scouring around the Polar Tang to find Law's collection of books. While walking in the corridors of the submarine, you encountered Jean Bart.

"Hey, Jean! Where are you heading to?" you asked the big man.

Jean rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey (Y/n)! I'm heading to the infirmary for my annual checkup with the captain."

The statement gave you a green light. You were going to head to the captain's room to get your hands on those comics no matter what. It may be a big risk but if it means that you wouldn't have to grill fish ever again, so be it.

"Good to know! I'm just heading back to my room, I've been doing a lot of cooking today." You said it as an alibi. 

You started to walk past the man. Jean's head followed your direction. He looked confused. "But your shared room is the opposite way...?" he said, watching your form walk further away. 

You didn't hear the man. You were hyper-focused on sneaking into the captain's room while he was busy with medical examinations.

Eventually, you came across a double door. There was a sign on the left door that read Trafalgar Law. This must be it.

You slowly grabbed the handle of the right door and twisted it. Pushing the door open you slowly walked into the captain's quarters. It was clean and neat as you expected it to be. The captain was a clean freak, the complete opposite of what you dealt with in the kitchen. On the right of the room was a queen bed, with a nightstand on its left side. There was a decent-sized desk perpendicular to the doors which were filled with scattered papers. To the right of the desk was a tall bookshelf filled with all kinds of books.

Bingo.

You stepped into the room and closed the door quietly behind your back. You hurriedly walked to the bookshelf and started scanning through from top to bottom.

"Archives of Medical Plants... Grand List of Diseases... Mink Autonomy... North Blue Medical Association, dang nothing but medical books," you muttered as you looked through the bookshelf.

Unable to find anything on the bookshelf, you looked around the desk. You opened the drawers hoping to find some comics but found your bounty poster instead.

"Weird, why does he have my poster in there? It doesn't look like he has the rest of the crew's posters." you thought.

You put your hands on your hips and huffed in frustration. "If I were Trafalgar Law, where would I put my precious comic books?" you thought again. 

Your eyes soon landed on the nightstand, and a lightbulb went off on your head. 

You hurriedly scampered to the nightstand. You immediately opened the bottom drawer and found your One Piece.

In the drawer were 12 volumes of Sora, Warrior of the Sea. You carefully picked up the first volume. It was in pristine condition. You noticed it was covered with a plastic sleeve and you chuckled.

"Oh captain I never thought you would be a nerd. This is so good," you said giddily. 

You quickly took the first volume and placed it under your tank top at your back. Then you quickly put on the sleeves of your jumpsuit and zipped it up. You promptly got up and then quickly left the bedroom, quietly closing the door behind your back. You sighed in relief and took in a deep breath until someone spoke up on your left, "Why were you in the captain's room?"

"GAHHHH!!" you screamed. You whipped your head to your left, only to see Penguin leaning up against the wall with a grin.

"Is captain also in there too?" he inquired.

You grabbed onto the man's collar and pushed him against the wall. "Are you crazy? Don't scare me like that! And no, the captain is in the infirmary right now with Jean!" you whispered harshly.

Penguin raised his hands in defeat. "All right all right. But what were you doing in there?"

You released him and took a step back. "Well since you're here, I found the captain's deepest darkest secret," you said grinning. 

He gasped and put his hands on his mouth. "You found out about Corazon?!"

You tilted your head to the left. "Cora-who?"

Penguin laughed nervously. "Oh, that, uh never mind."

You huffed, dismissing what the man just said. "I found out that captain is a huge nerd! I have his copy of Sora, Warrior of the Sea hidden on me right now." you snickered.

Penguin looked like he was going to faint. Then you saw him morph into the angriest you had ever seen him, "WHY WOULD YOU TAKE THAT?!" he screamed. 

You flinched and his sudden outburst. "Whoa now, it's just blackmail material."

"The captain does not play about touching his comic books!"

You squinted. "Wait...you knew about this?"

The man made a raspberry noise "Of course I did. Bepo, Shachi and I grew up with the captain."

"Ah, that makes sense."

Now Penguin squinted. "Wait a minute, who told you about Captain's collection?"

You nervously laughed. "Ah, Bepo told me."

He groaned. "That fucking bear can't keep his mouth shut," he mumbled.

You dismissively waved your hand. "Never mind him. I bribed him. Now, I know you want to take a peak of this comic with me, don't you Penguin?" you asked. 

He scratched the back of his neck. "Well, it won't hurt just to read a bit."

"Great!" you said as you clapped your hands. "Let's head to the kitchen to read!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was now 4 pm and you just finished preparing dinner. You and Penguin delightfully indulged in the first volume of Sora, Warrior of the Sea. As much as you wanted to continue making fun of the captain for liking a kid's comic series, you found yourself enjoying it as well. But, you reminded yourself that the reason why you took the comic book was to blackmail your captain into never suggesting rice and grilled fish ever again. So you placed it in your shared room with Ikkaku. 

You cleaned up the remaining dishes and placed them next to the sink. You made your special sushi and Soba, as per Bepo's request. You hurriedly walked out of the kitchen to go to your room, eager to read the rest of the comic before using it for blackmail.

However, when you entered your shared room and checked your bed, where you hid the book under your covers, you couldn't find it. You started to panic and started throwing your stuff around to find it. You knew Ikkaku wouldn't have taken it, she was in the boiler room all day so she wouldn't have entered the room at all. 

"Fuck! It was just here! Where did it go?!" you spluttered. 

You started to check your desk until you heard a knock on the door. 

"One moment!" you called out.

The knock came in again, but this time someone spoke. "It's me (Y/n)-ya. Can I speak to you?" 

Your blood ran cold. This was the worst timing ever, and now you were going to die today because of it. 

You sped walked to the door and opened it and saw your captain standing at the door. He was wearing his usual black coat, but this time he wasn't donning his signature hat.

You laughed out of nervousness. "H-hey captain! How can I help you?" you asked.

The raven-haired man raised his eyebrows as he noticed your nervousness. "Is something the matter (Y/n)-ya? Are you unwell?" he inquisitively asked. 

You waved your hand. "Nooo, I'm all okay captain. Why did you come to see me?" you said trying to change the subject.

Law wasn't convinced by your statement but continued anyway. "Bepo told me to come to you directly for food suggestions." He was struggling to meet your eyes. "Well, you told him to tell you and you're right. I should be approaching you personally for things that I request. It isn't fair to dismiss you when you're one of our important crew members." he continued. It seemed like he was trying to apologize. However, that was the least of your worries because you had a lost comic book to find and if you didn't find it soon you were good as dead.

You let out a forced laugh. "Oh it's nothing, captain, no problem, I'll make your fish and rice tonight, let me just head to the kitchen to make it right now!"

You attempted to walk past the doctor but he gently pushed you back in the room and entered with you. He promptly closed the door behind him and took a step towards you, leaning close to your face.

"(Y/n)-ya, you're hiding something aren't you?" he said, staring into you with a strange gleam in his eyes. 

The air suddenly felt hot and you started sweating profusely. You looked off to the side and pursued your lips together. "I don't know what you're talking about captain."

The man's face fell into a frown. "You're a terrible liar (Y/n)-ya. You can't keep a straight face."

Your face turned red in embarrassment. Then suddenly, Law used his Devil Fruit powers to materialize the comic book into his hands. You felt like you were going to pass out.

"Oh, so you have no idea how this ended up in your room?" he said mockingly.

"H-how did you, I-i-" you stuttered in shock. Then you suddenly remember again why you took it in the first place. 

"HA! I took it because I found out that you're a huge nerd! You're a huge fan of Soba, Warrior of the Sea! I will tell everyone in this submarine that you like children's comics if you continue to ask me to make your wretched rice and grilled fish again!" you said proudly. You put your hands on your hips and glared at Law, thinking that the blackmail worked.

There was a pregnant pause. But then Law did unspeakable. For the first time, he burst out laughing. 

The captain was genuinely laughing. A smile adorned his face, with his eyes crinkling up in a crescent shape. This was a big shock to you because you were never met with laughter when it came to Law, only scowls, yelling and threats of violence.

But for some reason, your heart gently fluttered at the sight. To see the captain in such a new light was... interesting to say the least. 

The captain collected his breath and then started to talk. "First of all, who's Soba?"

"Tonight's dinner menu," you answered with no hesitation.

The man sighed, "No, you said Soba the Great Warrior of the Sea, but it's Sora." he corrected you. 

"Oh fuck." you thought. "My hungry ass was thinking thinking about soba."

"Second of all," the doctor continued, "why do you have my book?"

You were pissed off. Did he not realize that you just tried to blackmail him? "Captain, you do realize that I was trying to blackmail you right?"

Law smirked. "Is that so? Well, it's not blackmail if everyone here knows about it," he said.

You swear your brain stopped working. This whole time your plan failed because everyone but you knew that the captain was into superhero comics. You were about to feed the crew shitty food for the entire week.

Noticing that you weren't responding, the man continued to speak. "Also, Penguin told me that you enjoyed reading through it."

You gritted your teeth. "That fucking snitch, I can never tell him anything!" you muttered.

Law chuckled. "Don't worry, I blackmailed him into telling me what happened. I felt that something happening on my submarine."

So everyone's blackmail worked but yours huh? It's like the gods wanted to see you fail.

Law suddenly put down the comic book and dropped it on your bed. Then the doctor suddenly put his tattooed hand behind your neck and pulled you forward so that his mouth was next to your left ear. His cheek was leaning up against yours and you felt yourself blush and heat up from the contact.

"Why are you so adamant on pushing my buttons (Y/n)-ya?" he whispered in your ear.

You felt his goatee scrape against the bottom side of your cheek and you felt your cheeks heat up even more.

"I-I was just-" you stuttered.

"Do you want to get thoroughly punished? It's like you're asking me to punish you." he interrupted. You felt his hot breath in your ear and you swore that you were going to pass out then and there.

The doctor let go of your neck to place both hands on your shoulders and took a look at you. You couldn't tell if he was angry or not. His eyes showed a different look that you were unfamiliar with. It was like he wanted to devour you and throw you out at the same time. The man started shaking from anger for a brief moment, then he stopped and sighed in defeat.

"Your punishment is to read all 12 volumes of Sora with me," he said, finally breaking the silence.

You blankly stared at your captain. You expected that you were going to be kicked out of the crew. But a comic book club with the captain? that was new. "You want me to what?"

"I'm not repeating myself (Y/n)-ya. Since you wanted my books so bad, you will read it with me and talk about it with me," he ordered.

You started to smile out of confusion. "Hey...you just want to talk about Sora with someone don't you?" you questioned him in a teasing tone. 

Law started to scowl as his ears started to turn red. "This isn't about me, I am punishing you for your ridiculous behaviour again," he growled. 

You shook your head and laughed. You brushed off the man's hands on your shoulders and started to walk out of the room. "You're so cute, captain. Fine, for once I agree to do your punishment only because I think it's interesting. Come on now, dinner is going to start soon and I still have to make your disgusting rice and grilled fish meal."

"I AM NOT CUTE!" you heard the tattooed doctor shout behind your back. You didn't see it but his ears turned even more red because of your compliment. Nonetheless, the man started to follow you out of the room. 

But as soon as you opened the door, you were greeted by Ikkaku standing right in front of you. Her eyes were popping out of her head as she saw both you and the captain in the room. She started giggling, as she put both of her hands on her mouth. "Oh my god."

You rolled your eyes and the captain walked passed you your fellow female crew-mate. "I was just questioning (Y/n)-ya, nothing to get worked up over with." he coolly said as he walked down the hall of the submarine.

"Girl, what happened in there?" she asked giddily.

You side-eyed the girl as you started to walk past her as well. “I tried blackmailing the captain but it didn't work.”

Ikkaku frowned and started to follow you. "Come on, what really happened?" she questioned. But you ignored her words as you started to journey into the kitchen. 

You giggled as you walked down the hall. For some reason, Shachi's words replayed in your head.

"Why don't you try getting closer to him?"

A small started to form on your lips. It didn't seem like a bad idea at all.

[spiderb00]

Hi!

So after the jealousy thoughts, I've been wondering how the kats and their girlfriends would react to their first serious fight.

I feel like Sophia and FamOut!Y/N would be very mature and would talk things out; Manon and her girl would be very angry to each other and would resolve things throught sex; and Lara would be angry at first but then would start crying and would be very sad.

I don't know...

Anyways, love your writing.

-<3 anon

No, but I imagine it the same way, anon!

Manon and her girlfriend are crazy, they are both very intense, so when they have their first fight, it is not pleasant at all. I feel like their fights always have three phases.

The first one is always a scream, In the first one, there is always shouting, arguments being shouted at each other and anger eating away at their chests. In the second phase, they would stop scream and scream, their breathing slightly irregular, and they are in some corner of the room looking at each other from afar.

In the third, they would talk about the reason for the argument more calmly, now really listening to each other's points of view, before apologizing and kissing calmly. The calm kiss doesn't last, because they start making out and advancing on each other, until they are inevitably in bed, naked and now truly making up.

Sophia and Famout!Yn would be very mature. They almost never fight so when they do, they want to resolve it as quickly as possible.

They sit down and talk about what's bothering them, always trying to reach an agreement that is good for both parties. Like any argument, it is very stressful, but they think it is better to sit down and resolve it calmly than to shout and leave.

After they sort it out, they would just carry on as if nothing had happened, they had already resolved what was wrong, there was no point in remembering it.

Daniela and her girlfriend are comical, Yn doesn't fight back, she just lets Daniela throw everything at her. It's like Daniela is screaming and throwing a tantrum and Yn is passively waiting for the latina to calm down so they can talk.

When Daniela finally calms down, Yn will try to resolve the situation, which always works. She simply tells how it can be resolved and Daniela is like "Oh, she's right.", But Yn still apologize first.

Lara is not much different from Daniela, she would be yelling at you (most of the fights are because of her jealousy) while you just look at her and wait for her to calm down.

However, once Lara stops screaming, she starts crying and blaming you, she would say that you make her emotional.

This is your time to act and hug her, telling her that nothing was happening and that you only love her. Lara would surprisingly apologize first, she is aware of your jealousy, and so she would apologize to you and say that she would try to control herself.

Megan and Yn are something else, usually Megan just has a sullen face until Yn notices and asks what happened. When the redhead explains what made her upset, Yn will talk and try to make the two of them feel better.

Megan would internally agree with the peace offering Yn was offering, but externally she would continue to sulk. The first time this happened Yn didn't understand, but over time she figured out what she needed to do.

All Megan needed after a fight was junk food, movies and lots of your kisses. It was easy once you understood the rule.

[lvnleah]

Sage’s third birthday | Leah Williamson x Lia Wälti

Summary: Leah and Lia celebrate Sage’s third birthday in true Sage styles.

notes: thank you so much to @scribblesofagoonerr for helping me write this! :)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

"I can't believe she's three. Only seems like yesterday I was bringing her home from the hospital." Leah sighed, finishing blowing up a pink balloon.

Lia nodded in agreement as she hung up the pink birthday banners "The time really has flown by, hasn't it?"

She'd been there since the day Sage was born, one of the first people to meet the precious little girl. Leah could recall countless moments when Sage had been fussy, and Lia had been right by her side, offering comfort and support.

"Mhm, I miss her being so small like she was,” Leah smiled, “but she is becoming such a sweet, clever and funny little girl. I don't think I've done so bad now, have I?"

Lia placed her arm around Leah’s shoulder, planting a kiss on her girlfriend's temple, "You've done an amazing job. You have yourself to be proud of for that.”

"I couldn't have done it without you," Leah leaned over, kissing Lia’s soft lips.

"I wouldn't have ever left you on your own, there’s nothing else I would’ve rather done than have snuggles with her when she was a newborn.” Lia grinned.

As Leah released a balloon, it made a comical squeaking noise, and Lia burst into laughter. "I suppose we'd better finish blowing these balloons up," she said. "They won't inflate themselves, will they?"

"No, they won't," Leah agreed. "And you're right, it's getting late. Our little miss will probably wake us up the moment the sun rises, won't she?"

Leah and Lia continued decorating the living room before setting up Sage’s presents in their bedroom. They headed to bed, falling asleep in each other's embrace.

The sun peeked through the curtains, casting a warm glow across the room. Sage's excited voice pierced the morning stillness as she burst through the girl's door.

"Mumma! Mummy!” Sage’s little voice cheered” Wake up! Wake up!"

Leah stirred, her eyes fluttering open. "Right on cue," she mumbled, her voice still heavy with sleep.

“Wake up!” Sage continued, Mr Flopsy in a tight grip as she climbed onto the bed.

Lia chuckled from her side of the bed as Leah rolled over onto her back

“Lia, your daughter is awake," she teased.

Lia gasped jokingly. "My daughter? What happened to our daughter?"

Leah grinned, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. "She's your daughter when she's awake this early."

Sage bounced onto the bed, her little face beaming as she collapsed down onto Lia’s chest.

"Sage has a right to be awake and excited today, it is a very important day, isn't it?" Lia smiled, holding Sage against her chest.

Leah played along. "It is? What important day is it?" She smiled at her little girl.

Sage's eyes widened. "It's my birthday, silly Mumma!"

Leah laughed. "Oh right, yes, of course it is, Bubba. And do you remember how old you are today?"

"I'm three, Mumma!" Sage declared proudly, settling between both women and bouncing up and down on the bed.

Leah's heart swelled. "That's right, clever girl!" She leaned over and pressed a kiss on the top of Sage's forehead.

"Shall we open your presents now?" Lia asked, capturing Sage's attention as she pointed over to the pile sitting in the corner.

"Yeah, the presents!" Sage shouted in excitement, using the phrase that Kyra had recently taught her.

Leah slipped out of bed before setting the pile of wrapped gifts down in front of Sage. "Wow, Bubba, look how much stuff you have!"

Sage's eyes widened as she tore into the first package. "Wow. Thank you, mumma! Thank you, mummy!”

Leah and Lia exchanged a glance, their hearts full. "You're welcome, my girl," Leah smiled.

While Sage played with all of her new toys, Leah whipped up a special birthday girl breakfast that consisted of Sage’s favourite things. Lia got roped into playing with the new Barbies, something they had to tear Sage away from while they got her ready.

On the drive to training, Leah and Lia didn’t even get to choose a song. The whole drive, which was a short one, was filled with Sage’s own song choices.

"I hear it's someone's birthday today. I wonder who it could be, hm?" Viv said as Leah unstrapped Sage from her car seat.

"It's me!” Sage smiled, running over and standing in front of Viv before jumping up and down, “It’s mine Vivi. I’m three!"

"What!” Viv gasped, leaning down to Sage’s height. “there's no way you're three already!"

"Uh-huh.” Sage nodded, “It’s my birthday!"

"Wow, happy birthday!” Viv smiled, “Did you get lots and lots of presents?"

Sage nodded once again, "Yeah! I opened them with Mumma and Mummy this morning!"

"Oh wow. you've been spoiled a lot!"

Beth sneaked up behind Sage, tickling her before lifting her and throwing her up in the air "There’s the birthday girl!"

"Ah! Ah! put me... put me down!" Sage giggled, her blonde ponytail flying all over the place.

"Put her down, Beth!” Viv warned, “Before you make her sick!"

Beth jokingly rolled her eyes at her girlfriend before resting Sage on her hip, "Always a spoilsport, Vivi!”

"You’ll be the one complaining when she throws up on you, leifje!”

As Beth carried Sage into the lobby of the training centre, Lia, Leah, and Viv followed close behind, chatting animatedly about the upcoming celebration. The lobby was bustling with activity, decorated with colourful balloons and streamers in honour of Sage's special day. It wasn’t long before they were stopped by someone else.

"I spy a little girl whose birthday is today!" Alessia smiled warmly as Beth set Sage down on the floor. The toddler's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Lessi! Lessi!" Sage cheered, her small arms reaching out eagerly.

"Hi, Sage," Alessia beamed, kneeling to hug the excited toddler as she wrapped herself around Alessia's legs. “Happy birthday!"

Sage grinned from ear to ear, her eyes sparkling. "Thank 'ou!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with pure joy.

Just then, Kyra appeared through the doors, her face lighting up when she saw the birthday girl. She scooped Sage up into her arms effortlessly, twirling her around. “Sage, do you know what birthday girls get on their birthday?"

"What?" Sage's eyes widened with curiosity.

"Birthday cake!" Kyra gasped, her enthusiasm infectious.

"Cake?!" Sage echoed, her excitement reaching new heights.

Kyra nodded, a mischievous glint in her eye. "Uh-huh. Lots of it!"

Leah, who had been watching the exchange with a smile, sighed and shook her head. "Don’t tell her that, Kyra. She'll want to eat it all!"

Sage's face fell into a pout as she turned to Leah. “I wan' cake, Mumma!”

Leah sighed again, but her eyes softened. "We'll have cake, Sage, but later on," she said, trying to balance the toddler's excitement with a hint of restraint.

Alessia chuckled, ruffling Sage's hair. "Well done, Kyra. Now she's got cake on her mind for the rest of the day."

"I didn't think she'd react like that," Kyra admitted, looking somewhat sheepish as she balanced Sage on her hip.

"Really? How'd you think she would react when you mention the word c-a-k-e?" Alessia teased, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"I can spell, you know! I'm smart! Mumma says so!" Sage interjected proudly, her little face beaming with confidence.

"That's my girl!" Leah responded, her heart swelling with pride as she ruffled Sage's hair.

"She's definitely your mini-me, that's for sure. I'm surprised she hasn't already started doing sudokus yet," Katie remarked jokingly as she appeared out of nowherer.

"There's still time for it," Kyra chimed in, snickering as she shared a glance with Katie.

Leah couldn't help but roll her eyes affectionately at the banter. "We'll eat it in a bit, Sage. We have to train first. Come on, let's get you set up on the sideline. Do you want to do some colouring?"

"Okay, Mumma!" Sage agreed eagerly, her earlier disappointment forgotten as she focused on the prospect of colouring.

After getting changed, Leah led Sage to the sidelines outside and set her up with crayons and colouring books, the bright hues catching the toddler's eye. The rest of the team gathered outside, readying themselves for training. The buzz of activity filled the air, a mix of laughter and anticipation.

"That's my girl," Leah said, smiling proudly as Sage concentrated on her colouring.

"We'll be over here if you need us, okay, sweetheart?" Lia added, giving Sage a reassuring smile.

After a while, Sage grew bored of her colouring and made her way over to Lia. She tapped Lia on the leg, grabbing her mum’s attention.

"Mummy, can I kick the ball?" Sage asked, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

"Course you can, sweetheart. Go ahead!" Lia encouraged her.

"Go Sage, go!" cheered Leah from beside the goal where she stood with Manuela.

"Woohoo!" Beth cheered as Sage kicked the ball into the back of the net. "Look at you go, Sage!"

"She's already a star striker in the making!" Alessia commented, clapping her hands.

"Not if I have anything to do about it. She's gonna be a defender just like her mumma," Leah interjected, winking.

"What if she wants to be a midfielder like me?" Lia suggested, laughing.

"Nah, she's gonna follow in my footsteps!" Leah insisted with a determined nod.

"Mumma, I wanna be a striker like Lessi!" Sage declared, kicking the ball with enthusiasm.

"Ha! Told you!" Alessia teased, a grin spreading across her face.

"Oh, shut up! She’ll be a defender!" Leah retorted, playfully rolling her eyes.

After the impromptu football session, everyone gathered inside for lunch. The room was filled with laughter and chatter as plates were passed around and stories were shared. Once everyone had finished eating, Leah brought out the cake, a beautifully decorated confection that had everyone’s eyes widening in anticipation. She set it down in front of Sage before fetching a lighter from the chefs.

"Can we have cake now?" Sage asked impatiently, her eyes fixed on the cake.

"Slow down, slowpoke. We haven't even lit the candles yet!" Lia replied, smiling at her daughter's eagerness.

"I wan' eat it though!" Sage pouted as she sat on Viv’s lap, her legs swinging back and forth.

"Patience, kid," Katie laughed, ruffling Sage's hair.

"This is Leah's child we're talking about. Do you really think she has any patience?" Kyra said, grinning.

"I heard my name mentioned," Leah said, walking over with a grin, the lighter in hand. She lit the candles as everyone gathered around, ready to sing Happy Birthday to the excited birthday girl.

As the candles flickered to life, everyone gathered around the table, forming a semi-circle around Sage. Leah stood beside her, smiling proudly, while Lia took her place on the other side, ready to join in the celebration.

"Alright, everyone," Leah called out. "On the count of three. One, two, three!"

The room erupted into a chorus of "Happy Birthday,". Sage's eyes sparkled with excitement as she looked around at the familiar faces singing just for her.

As the song concluded, Leah crouched down next to Sage. "Okay, sweetheart, make a wish and blow out the candles."

Sage closed her eyes tightly, her little face scrunching up in concentration as she made her wish. Then, with a deep breath, she blew out the candles, everyone cheering as the last flame flickered out.

"Yay, Sage!" Viv said, giving her a gentle squeeze.

"Good job, sweetheart!" Lia added, kissing the top of her head.

"What did you wish for?" Katie asked, leaning in with a curious smile.

Sage grinned but shook her head. "Can't tell, or it won't come true!"

"Smart girl," Manuela said, chuckling. "Let's hope it comes true, then."

Leah began cutting the cake, handing out slices to everyone. The rich aroma of chocolate filled the air, making everyone's mouths water. Sage took a big bite, her eyes widening with delight.

"Mmm, so good!" she exclaimed, her face covered in frosting.

As everyone dug into their slices, the room buzzed with conversation. Kyra was recounting a funny story from training, making everyone laugh.

Leah sat back, watching the scene with a content smile. These moments, surrounded by family and friends, were the ones she cherished most.

After everyone had finished their cake, Alessia stood up, clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright, everyone, it's the present time!"

Sage's eyes lit up even more, if that were possible, and she bounced in her seat with excitement. "Presents!"

Leah and Lia guided Sage to a spot on the floor where a pile of brightly wrapped gifts awaited her. Sage wasted no time, tearing into the first package with gusto. She gasped as she pulled out a brand-new football jersey, personalised with her name on the back.

"Look, Mummy! It's got my name on it!" she squealed, holding it up for everyone to see.

"That one's from me," Beth said, smiling. "Now you can look just like your mum on the field."

Sage beamed and hugged the jersey to her chest. "Thank you, Beffy!"

One by one, Sage opened her presents, each one bringing new excitement. There was a set of new colouring books and markers, a pair of shiny new football boots, and even a small goal set for the backyard.

As the last present was opened, Sage looked around at everyone, her face glowing with happiness. "Thank ‘ou, everyone! This is the best birthday ever!”

Leah and Lia shared a smile, their hearts full. "You're welcome, sweetheart," Leah said, pulling Sage into a hug. "We love you so much."

Finally, Leah and Lia managed to get Sage home. She was definitely on a sugar high from all of the cake Kyra had fed her but by the time they were home, Sage was completely knocked out.

"She's had a good day," Lia said softly, as Leah laid Sage down in her bed.

"The best," Leah agreed, tucking Sage in before kissing her forehead. "And so have I."

They quietly closed the door to Sage's room and headed downstairs, the house now quiet and peaceful after the day's excitement. Leah collapsed onto the couch, sighing contentedly. Lia joined her, resting her head on Leah's shoulder.

"Today was perfect," Lia murmured. "Seeing Sage so happy... it means everything."

Leah nodded, wrapping her arm around Lia. "It really does. She's growing up so fast. Sometimes I wish we could slow it down, just enjoy every moment a little longer."

Lia smiled, looking up at Leah. "We're doing a pretty good job of enjoying it, I think. Days like today are proof of that."

"Yeah," Leah agreed, her eyes softening. "We really are."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, the only sound the ticking of the clock on the wall. Eventually, Lia shifted, sitting up slightly. "We should probably clean up a bit before bed."

Leah groaned playfully. "Do we have to? Can't we just leave it for tomorrow?"

Lia chuckled. "As tempting as that is, you know we'll regret it in the morning."

"True," Leah sighed, standing up and stretching. "Alright, let's get it over with."

Together, they moved through the house, tidying up the remnants of this morning. They picked up wrapping paper, washed the dishes, and set the living room back in order. It didn't take long with both of them working together, and soon the house was back to its usual neat state.

As they finished, Lia took Leah's hand, pulling her towards their bedroom. "Come on, let's get some rest. We deserve it."

Leah smiled, squeezing Lia's hand. "You don't have to convince me.”

They made their way upstairs, stopping briefly to check on Sage one last time. She was still sound asleep, a peaceful expression on her face.

In their room, they changed into their pyjamas and climbed into bed, the day's events catching up with them. Leah turned off the light, and they settled into the comfortable embrace of the covers.

"Goodnight, love," Leah whispered, kissing Lia’s shoulder before switching the lamp off and falling asleep.

[sokkastyles]

An Overanalysis of Zuko and Food (plus Iroh)

So, I've seen a lot of meta about how Zuko appears skinnier at certain points in the series depending on where he is in his arc. During the worst parts of Zuko's time as a refugee in season two, he seems to have lost a lot of his muscle mass, but towards the end of season two, he's less muscular than season one Zuko but distinctly rounder in the face, as he becomes more adjusted to a more (relatively) normal teenage life, living under a roof and not as a captain of a naval vessel, having access to a stable food source, and letting himself be taken care of by Iroh. At the beginning of season three he's in the palace, with plenty of access to food, but appears much thinner, and several people have made the inference that it was likely Zuko was not eating as well due simply to the anxiety of being back with his abuser.

But I've also noticed several other interesting things that could indicate something about Zuko's relationship to food. In book one, Zuko is built up, he's a military leader, he's trying to fulfill his role as prince of a nation that values strength and power, and there's one scene in particular that shows him not eating, in contrast to Iroh.

We see Zuko raging over not being able to capture Aang while at dinner, and Iroh asks him if he's going to eat his food, to which he replies that he's going to eat it later, and angrily takes it away from Iroh.

The main purpose of this scene is to contrast Zuko's single-minded determination with regard to his mission with Iroh's hedonism. Even on a military vessel, Iroh is presented as the antithesis of Spartan Fire Nation military culture. Zuko shows clear distaste for this behavior, because he has learned to detest it from his father, and angrily takes the food away from Iroh, saying he's going to "finish it later." And book one Zuko looks like he probably isn't missing any meals. He's jacked, and he's probably eating a lot of protein to keep up that physic. But is he going to sit around enjoying a meal when he's stressed about finding the Avatar? Absolutely not. The food in this scene looks very inviting, steaming hot, but Zuko will eat only when it's necessary to do so, and won't tolerate uncle eating more than his fill.

At the start of book two, Zuko and Iroh are without the trappings of even Zuko's banishment. They've lost everything, and are forced to forage for food, an endeavor that is less than successful. They are fed by Song's family, and I've seen some theorize that Iroh intentionally poisoned himself in order to force Zuko to seek help, which is an interesting theory considering that given stressful and even dire situations, Zuko's inclination seems to be to turn down food more often than not.

When Zuko is later separated from Iroh, we see him contemplate stealing food when faced with starvation, but makes the decision not to steal from a pregnant family.

Later in season two, Zuko and Iroh are living as refugees in Ba Sing Se. Zuko no longer looks bone thin, and presumably has stable access to food, although not the royal trappings of a prince. He's much more filled out, but appears more round and less lean muscle. We see him visit a restaurant with Jin, and we get a close up of him pushing around his food on the plate to indicate his anxiety about the date.

(I also want to mention here that in the "Going Home Again" comic, which takes place before the start of book three, Mai says that the food in Ba Sing Se is awful and Zuko says it's not so bad once you get used to it.)

Then at the end of book two, when Zuko recovers from his sickness, he immediately is interested in the jook that uncle is making, to Iroh's surprise, who says that Zuko wouldn't like it. Zuko happily eats a bowl despite this.

This is meant to show us Zuko's newfound appreciation for life after recovering from spiritual sickness. But it's also interesting when taken in the context of Zuko's previous relationship with food. Iroh assumes that Zuko will not want to eat the jook, but one thing that is interesting is that it's a meal commonly made by adults for children or others recovering from illness. We can infer that Iroh was making the jook for Zuko, despite his assertion that Zuko wouldn't want it. I think this is consistent with how we see Zuko turn down food when he is uncomfortable or anxious, but when he's in a place where he feels safe, he will let himself eat.

Finally, at the start of book three, we see Zuko turn down food when being offered it by servants.

And finally only accepting a hot towel (used to wipe away sweat.) Despite having access to excesses, he's uncomfortable and constantly on edge.

I also have to mention Mai again here, and how Zuko, despite turning down food for himself, offers to get food for Mai, which is meant to show us how Zuko struggles to connect to the world in which Mai belongs. It's worth mentioning also that we see Zuko bring Mai food twice in the beach to try and make her happy (and failing) while eating nothing himself.

We also see Zuko offer Iroh food in prison.

Zuko says that even though he knows it's not Iroh's favorite, it beats prison food. This actually mirrors Iroh making the jook for Zuko in book two, which Iroh says Zuko does not like, but making it for him anyway. Zuko is trying to return uncle's care for him, but what Iroh really wants is for Zuko to be safe.

At the tail end of book three, Zuko seems to have gained back some of his muscle mass, and appears much more comfortable with the gaang, but he's still shown not indulging when the rest are.

The screenshot actually frames him in direct contrast to the rest of the gaang, as Aang's teacher who is strict about him goofing off during training (a callback to season one Zuko who was displeased with Iroh's hedonism). We don't know if Katara had any watermelon juice herself, but she's seen making several "glasses." (Hello, momtara and dadko.)

Anyway, I think Katara the gaang made sure Zuko had enough food and that he was eating, and that he reciprocated by making them tea in return.

[fabbyf1]

*taps microphone* is this thing on?

oh, hello.

it's me, yah girl.

you'll never guess what grandma's been up to.

after avoiding my google docs for weeks months, i have finally dusted them off and started writing again. i'll be honest with you guys: i've gone through a lot of ups and downs with writing recently, where i loved it one day and hated it the next, which is why i took such a massive break. i don't like to post things i'm not proud of, and don't fully believe in, so i'm glad i took some time away to do other things and not let writing fanfiction ruin my mental health.

but now? WE'RE BACK BABY. i followed troy bolton's advice and got my head in the game and thought to myself, what would bring you joy to write? and there was really only one answer to that question.

lestappen.

so that's what i've done.

i set out to make this a one-shot pwp, and if that's what i decide it's going to be, then it's pretty much complete right now and just needs an edit. but i think i'm gonna try to add more onto it over the next couple days and make it a short story instead.

it won't be anything massive like long live or vapor, but maybe a little more than a one-shot.

happy charles on pole day, besties. thank you for sticking by me while i got my life together.

snippet under the cut.

context: friend-charles has a bad hook-up and asks friend-max to give him an honest blow job review

Charles stretched his neck to the left and right as if he was about to hop into his car. 

“Do you always stretch before giving someone a blow job?” Max asked, ignoring the sweat that was forming around his hairline. 

“Fuck off,” Charles said lightheartedly. He brought his hands up and hesitated for just a moment before resting them gently on Max’s knees. Don’t be weird, don’t be weird, don’t be weird. Max was proud when the muscles of his thighs didn’t twitch or anything at the contact. “Now move your hand out of the way,” Charles instructed, looking down at where Max was covering himself.

“You’re bossier than I thought you’d be,” Max said, trying to sound as normal as possible. 

“Is that right?” Charles asked, hands still gripping Max’s knees. “Do you think about me often, Max Verstappen?” 

“I—” Max squeaked, which was somehow more embarrassing than sitting with his cock out. He glared at him as he said, “Fuck you.” Charles looked delighted by his words, which only made Max narrow his eyes further. “Don’t make me regret this,” Max warned, finally letting his hand fall to his side. 

Charles looked at where Max was lying soft against his thigh. “Do you need me to flirt with you or something?” 

Max scoffed. “No, asshole, I don’t need—” 

“Ohhh, Max, you’re so handsome,” Charles cooed in a high-pitched tone anyway. Max’s jaw dropped open in shock. “You’re so big and strong and fast,” Charles continued, batting his eyes at him in an exaggerated way that would be comical if he wasn’t on his knees. “Mister three-time world champion with a big dick and a—”  

Max’s cock twitched, and they both saw it happen. 

“Oh my god,” Charles said, gasping loudly before cackling. “Oh my god, that actually did it for you?” 

“No!” Max snapped, covering himself again with his hands. “Fuck you! It was a coincidence!” But he wasn’t even sure if Charles could hear him over his roaring laughter.

This might be the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to him.

He always knew that Charles Leclerc would be his downfall, but he never expected it to be over a blow job.

[writingthroughmyass]

Service Animal (Part Three)

Logan Howlett X Reader (afab)

Part One here

Part Two here

CONTENT/WARNINGS: Get ready for smushing ya'll. Nothing especially kinky, just your average pp 2 pp sex as a result of all that foreplay in the first two parts lol. This fic doesn't really follow the logic of the movies, just warning you, cos let's be real there is no logic in the movies so I kinda combined it with the OG comics.

Enjoy!

You're pushing Logan backwards to your bed, kissing, licking and biting at his lips the whole way. The back of his legs come in contact with the mattress and you push him so he's sitting on the edge. 

You climb on top of him, your knees are on either side of his thighs, never breaking contact from his mouth. You grind your hips down into his erection and moan into his mouth from the exquisite friction. 

Your mouth moves to his neck, sucking and biting as your hands roam his broad chest, moving under the hem of his tight, white t-shirt to feel his firm flesh. 

He's panting heavily, chest heaving with each breath, hands fisted tight into the fabric at your waist. You can't help but smile at his moans as you nibble the skin under his ear. 

“Fuck, darling, where is this coming from? You could hardly even look me in the eye before,” he says breathlessly.

“I've been wanting this for a long time,” you murmur into the thick hair on his cheek. 

“Well fuck, wish you'd told me. I've been dreaming about this from day one.” 

You pull his t-shirt up his torso and he removes his arms from the sleeves so you can pull it over his head. 

You sit back so you can look at him in all his glory. His hair is a mess from your wandering hands, pretty mouth hanging open so you can see his perfect, white teeth and pink tongue. His skin is flushed and you can see the marks you've made on him healing before your very eyes- which is a bit disappointing as all you want to do is brand him as yours. 

He's looking up at you through half lidded eyes, the desire he feels is on full display, as evidenced by his mountain of an erection. Even through his jeans you feel how big he is, causing your mouth to salivate in excitement. 

He's helping you to pull your own top off, throwing it carelessly across the room. Your breasts are at his eye level. He eyes them in awe despite still being covered with your bra. He leans forward and kisses them, starting at the middle of your sternum to your right breast then your left. His hands are so tight on your waist you're sure your skin will bruise. 

He looks up at you as his hands move to your back, his eyes asking for permission before expertly unclipping your bra from your body. His eyes rove over the image of your bare breasts. He sits for a few moments, just looking. 

Suddenly you feel a bit of shyness creep up on you at how he's staring so intently. 

His right hand moves from your hip to gently trace the curve of your breast, running his fingers across the swell of it. You watch as he cups it, as if to test the weight of it before he grips your breast roughly in his palm. His other hand moves to your free breast, taking your nipple between thumb and forefinger and giving it a firm twist. Your back is arching, pushing your chest towards him as he watches his hands explore you. 

“Perfect,” he whispers under his breath. “So fucking perfect, so pretty.” 

“I could say the same,” you murmur. 

Your hands are wondering over his stomach now, feeling how firm and broad it is under your comparatively small palms. Your fingers trace the shape of his abs, running through his lovely happy trail, letting the curls catch at your fingers. You make a sound at the back of your throat in ecstasy, delirious with excitement that you're finally able to touch him, to kiss him, to make him yours. 

You moan when you feel the wet heat of his mouth over one of your nipples, his teeth grazing the tip. 

Your fingernails run along the lines on his hips that lead down to his throbbing cock, which is hopelessly straining upwards to reach you. 

His hands move to the middle of your back as he flips you over so your back is on the bed. You whimper in disappointment.

“What's wrong, darlin’?” he asks with a furrowed brow.

You distractedly think that you could get used to him calling you darling  in that gravelly voice of his. 

“I wanna play with your cock,” you whine. “Wanna touch you.”

“We'll get to it eventually, okay? I need to taste your pretty pussy. Please, let me.” 

Logan? Begging during sex? Oh… your mind reels at how delicious it is. 

“Well, what are you waiting for then?” you quip with a smile, your body almost vibrating with excitement. 

Without further ado, he's unbuttoned your jeans and has his fingers hooked into the waistband, lifting your hips as he yanks it from your pelvis then your legs. He's hovering above you now, hands on either side of you. He dips his head so he can kiss you deeply. You feel yourself melt into him. 

Fuck, he hasn't even touched you where you most need him, yet you feel your entire body coiling, preparing for what he's about to give you. 

He mouths sloppily along your neck, down your chest and stomach. He spends a few extra moments enjoying the skin of your hip on his mouth before continuing his journey downwards until he arrives at your clothed pussy. He kneels on the floor and pulls your body closer to him by the thighs. 

You realise he's playing with your body, teasing you, as a single finger gently prods at your soaking underwear. 

“Fuck, darling's so wet already,” he murmurs. 

You feel a little jump behind your ribs that travels to your core when his face moves to your pussy. His nose is flush with your entrance as he inhales deeply. You feel yourself squirm, his touches only causing your carnal itch to worsen instead of giving relief. 

“This scent has been driving me crazy for too long,” he says, voice muffled from your pussy. 

“W-what do you mean?” you ask, your head spinning.

His eyes rise to meet yours as his hands readjust your thighs, spreading them further and pushing forward so your knees are pointing to your shoulders. 

“Remember when I told you I could smell if you're about to have an episode?”

“Yeah…” you say hesitantly, feeling your stomach drop.

“Well… I can also smell it when you're aroused,” he murmurs into your entrance, nose nudging against your clit in the most perfect way.  “And wouldn't you know it… you're always aroused when you're around me.” 

Your hands come up to cover your face. 

“Well, fuck, that's so embarrassing,” you whine. 

You already feel so exposed, spread out like this before him, his face full frontal with your pussy. Then he has to go and say that. There's something so wonderfully humiliating about it that has you clenching on nothing. 

You feel his broad hands on your wrists, gently moving your hands away from your face.

“Don't hide. I wanna watch you,” he says in a low voice. 

His eyes return to your pussy, moving forward so his lips are pressed to it, mouthing at you through your underwear. 

It's so unfair. He's just playing with you, drawing this out. You need him to take you, ravish you, use you. But instead he's so slow and methodical about it, such a stark contrast to his everyday behaviour. 

When you'd allow your mind to wander and fantasize about what he'd be like in bed, you'd always imagined him as feral, wild, selfish and unyielding. But you have to admit… this is so much better, even if it is frustrating and borderline painful as you feel the heat licking fervently in your belly. 

You feel his hands pulling at the waistband of your underwear at your hips, two fingers tapping on one side. You take the hint and lift your pelvis so he can pull the fabric over your legs and feet, planting kisses sporadically from your hip to your ankle. 

It occurs to you that he's practically worshipping your body, savouring each touch so completely that you're turning into mush beneath him. Again, it's incredibly frustrating, but you're enjoying the slow build.

His hands push your thighs forwards again, making you small. 

His plush lips are running along one thigh, hands massaging your flesh as he takes his sweet time. 

You begin to whimper impatiently but the sound only makes him chuckle darkly. He pulls back a little and blows gently onto your pussy. Your entire body gives an involuntary spasm at the sensation, a pathetic mewl sounding from the back of your throat. 

“Fuck, you're a rat bastard, y’know that?” you grind out, not even trying to hide how you're panting desperately. 

“Am I now?” he almost purrs. 

You feel your body spasm again as his tongue finds your clit, lightly tracing it before pulling it into his mouth. The wet heat of it is so startling that your body is vibrating. You feel the slight graze of his teeth as he sucks and you feel your eyes go cross with pleasure. 

You whimper as he pulls away, only for his hand to gather some of the juices from between your legs to swipe it over your clit. Then his index and middle fingers are pinching at it and rolling it, causing your hips to thrust towards him in desperation.

“Such a pretty pussy,” he breathes, staring at you. “Does darling like this?” 

His fingers begin to get more rough with you as he listens to the sounds you're making. You lift your head to look at him and his eyes are glazed over as if he's drunk on your pleasure. You feel the coil in you tighten once again at the sight of his lips and chin, slick with your wetness. 

“Fuck yeah, darling likes this,” you manage to squeak out. Your voice is higher than usual, trembling and fragile. “Now, get back to work, puppy,” you demand, pushing his head into your pussy. 

You can feel that you're getting close, a slow impending tidal wave, still gathering speed. His hot mouth on you has you begging him, don't stop, please keep going, you're so fucking good at this, puppy. 

You feel him hum into you as a single digit enters you, working its way inside you, giving you the delicious stretch you were craving so badly. But it’s still not enough.

His hazel eyes are still fixed on you, paying attention to your reactions, gauging how to make you feel as good as humanly possible. As you look at him, you're suddenly struck with the realisation that this is your friend with his head between your legs, eating you out desperately like a man starving. Your service animal, serving you as well as he could. 

You feel the beast in you continuing to compress. You're so, so fucking close, but he's got you on the edge, keeping you there, wringing the pleasure out of you without giving you the release you're chasing.

His thick digit crooks inside you in the direction of your belly, exploring, searching for your sweet spot. You cry out a quiet sob when he finds it. 

“Close,” you strangle out. So close. 

Your moans spur him on to move his mouth more vigorously against you, his mutton chops scratching so good against your thighs. 

Then suddenly your body is floating, the wind is knocked out of you as your entire being seems to be suspended in mid air. You don't breathe, you don't think, you don't make a sound. Then all at once the wave crashes into you hard. You're trying to move away from Logan's mouth but at the same time seeking it out, feeling the overstimulation wreak havoc on your body as his hands hold you down as you ride out your high. 

“Fu-uck,” you moan. 

It fucking hurts but it hurts good. 

He continues to lap at your pussy even after you've come back down, tongue gathering up the slick around your thighs. The sensation is soothing as you settle back into the bed, feeling your body turn boneless.

You hear him chuckle quietly and the sound makes you frown at him.

“What's so funny?” you slur, still in the process of coming back down to earth. 

“You're just so hot. I love it. Your moans are driving me crazy over here,” he groans, and you feel pity for his poor jeans, doing their best to restrain his cock. 

“Where'd you learn how to do that anyway?” you ask, incredulously.

“I just do what your body is asking me for,” he explains simply, planting a wet kiss on your thigh.

You jolt when he slowly pulls his finger out from inside you. You almost whimper at the loss.

“Logan,” your lips and tongue fit around his name, like a prayer. 

“Yeah, what is it, sweetheart?” 

“I need to fuck you,” you state simply. 

You watch as that familiar line forms between his brows. You get the urge to press your lips to it to kiss it away. 

“You're sure about this?” he asks you seriously. You try not to get distracted by his heaving chest as it rises and falls with his breaths. 

“More than anything,” you assure him. “If anything I'm wondering if you are sure about this.” 

“Why wouldn't I be?” 

You sit up and take one of his hands in yours, fingers running across his knuckles where his claws come out.

“Your heart belongs to Jean, doesn't it?” you say, trying to ignore the dull ache behind your ribcage. 

He's silent in thought for a few moments, gaze averted.

“With Jean… it's… complicated,” he says slowly. “I've loved other women before her and after as well. It doesn't mean I don't care about you. But… it seems to be a trend where the people I care about get hurt.” 

“I'm alright though, I can look after myse-”

“But the day will come where you won't be,” he interupts. “I've been around for a very long time, remember? But Jean… the Phoenix… I don't have to be afraid of losing her. I know it's fucked up, but that's how it is. And, she knows me like no one else does. When she enters my mind…” he trails off. 

“I get it,” you say softly, laying a kiss over his knuckles. “You've spent a lot of your life not knowing who you are. It's important for you to have someone who knows you fully. “ 

His hazel gaze looks deep into you, that wrinkle still marring the space between his brows.

“Yeah… that's exactly it. M’sorry, but I can't control how I feel.” 

“Logan, please don't apologize. I'll have you any way I can. It means a lot that you're talking about this at all. You're so emotionally constipated it scares me sometimes.” 

That makes him laugh. He gets up from his kneeling position and removes his jeans, keeping his briefs on. Your eyes stray to his groin, relieved to see he's still hard despite the tough topic you were discussing. 

You grab his hand again and pull him so he's sitting on the bed with you, pulling him into a deep kiss. You can taste yourself on his tongue and you note that your flavours combined are quite complimentary, if you do say so yourself. 

He pulls away slightly and looks at you. 

“Are you really sure?” he asks quietly. “I'm… I'm fucked up. Plus the whole thing with Jean- I just want to make sure you really understand what you're getting into. Because I feel like if you knew, you wouldn't want me.” 

“Hey, I know you're like a thousand years old, but I'm not a kid. I know what I'm doing and I know what I want. And I want you,” you smile at him. 

“I'm going to ignore your jab at my age.” 

“And I’m going to fuck you now,” you say, pushing his chest so his back falls into the bed. 

“Wait, do we need a rubber? I mean, I’ve had a bisalp but-”

“Oh, you’ve had a bisalp, have you? I missed it the first couple hundred times you danced down the hall singing about it,” he teases. 

“But,” you continue, as if he never spoke, “I mean, there’s still STDs.”

“I’m invulnerable to diseases,” he frowns at you. “You don’t know me all that well, do you?”

“Huh? Since when?”

“Since always. It’s part of my healing factor.”

“But, that’s not healing, that’s curing a fucking disease,” you say incredulously. 

“Are you going to fuck me or what?” he grunts impatiently. 

“Oh, right, right,” you say quickly, not wanting him to change his mind. “We’ll explore that later, I guess.”

You straddle his waist, hands still on his chest. You bend to kiss his neck and work down his chest, nails lightly scratching his nipples, causing him to groan in pleasure. 

The sound is music to your ears. You want to hear him more. 

Your mouth trails down his firm stomach, your fingers tracing every line, every curve. His torso twitches with your touches, craving more. 

You arrive at the lip of his underwear and absentmindedly take note of the wet patch on the fabric there. 

You wish you could make him suffer like you did, but you don't have the patience for it. Not when you can see how his curls adorn his chest and stomach, leading down to where he needs you the most. 

Gently, you touch your lips to where his cock is leaking through the fabric, hands massaging his muscular thighs. 

Your gaze meets his and the expression on his face gives you pause.  

He almost looks like he's in pain…

You can't help the feeling of awe that comes over you. Awe that you're the one doing this to him. Turning him into putty in your hands. And you'd barely even touched him yet. 

Your hand slips past the waistband of his briefs to grip his cock. A hiss escapes his lips as your fingers brush against his tender head. 

“Fuck, you're killing me here,” he grunts. You watch as his pecs flex with the sheer effort of withstanding your teasing. 

Slowly, you peel his underwear back so you can get a peek at his cock. 

You stare at it, slack-jawed.

He's not only girthy but long. With little dark curls climbing up the base, the skin a few shades darker than his own bronzed skin, the head, so full of his arousal, a lovely rouge colour. 

He's packing a beautiful dick. 

Your hand can barely encircle his full girth and it feels heavy in your fingers. You note the thick veins running up his length and feel your mouth watering just looking at it. 

“Dude, your dick is gorgeous,” you state matter-of-factly. 

He rolls his eyes.

“How romanti-” his words are cut off with a gasp as you take his head into your mouth, tongue dipping into the slit to collect the moisture building there. 

He tastes strangely good, considering how much he smokes and drinks. Like salt and a tinge of sweetness. 

There's no way you can take all of him in your mouth, so you pull back to spit on his cock. 

“Fuck, you are a nasty girl,” he smirks at you. 

With his cock lubed up with your saliva, your hand begins to stroke him and you sit up to kiss him on his mouth, wanting to shut him the fuck up. 

You concentrate on his head, fist squeezing to overstimulate him and you get the reaction you wanted. 

“Mmh-h-hey, wai-ait,” he's moaning into your mouth, body squirming beneath you. “Fu-uck, th-that’s… sen-”

You put your mouth over him again, your fist moving up and down, wrist twisting expertly. Your other hand dips down to cup his balls. 

His hands are in your hair, both simultaneously pulling you close and pushing you away. 

You feel pride at how speechless he is. 

Your cheeks are hollowed as you stroke up and down his length with your tongue. One of his hands comes to rest on your jaw, feeling his own cock through your cheek.

You feel his cock twitch on your tongue and then he's spilling his cum into your mouth. 

Oops.

You do your best to swallow it all but there's so much. 

When he's finally spent, you release him from your mouth, some of his cum dripping from the corner of your lips. 

“It's been a while, huh?” you chuckle, your cheek resting on his hip as you continue to cradle his cock in your hand. 

He doesn't say anything. Just grabs your head in both hands, eyes half-lidded, as he pulls you up to kiss your mouth clean of himself. 

You can't help the moan that escapes you at just how dirty it is. 

Finally you pull back for air and he's shuffling underneath you, removing his briefs completely. 

You look down and notice with shock that he's still as rigid and tall as the pyramid of Giza. 

“Regenerating factor,” he explains simply, reading the look on your face. 

“I'm learning so much about you today.” 

You climb up his body so you're hovering over his cock, feeling a bit of apprehension due to his size. 

“Just take it slow. And you've already come once so you should be ready,” he says gently. Again, he's reading the look on your face. 

You nod and look into his face, wanting to see his expression as you sink down on him. There's an unmistakable heat in your belly, an excitement to have him inside of you. 

Slowly, you bear down so his tip is at your entrance, stretching you open. Your pussy is still sensitive from the mind blowing orgasm you had before, so even just the very tip has you rolling your eyes back.

A moan escapes you. You can't even seem to keep looking at him, everything is blurring together as you lose yourself in the bliss of his cock pushing inside of you. 

“Fu-uck, Logan,” you whine. 

“What is it, darling?” he pants.

“You feel… so good,” 

“You… Ah… you haven't even-even taken all of me yet,” he says, struggling to string a sentence together.

His hands are on your hips, not guiding your movements but just holding on. As though he needs to ground himself.

You feel his own hips move up into you impatiently, his cock spearing into you and you hiss. It's painful, but it's a strangely good pain. 

You feel that familiar tightening in your lower stomach and marvel at how quickly you're coming undone again. 

You roll your hips as your cunt hugs and squeezes him, trying desperately to swallow all of him. Finally, you feel him bottom out and the both of you moan at the same time with the relief of it, feeling his head fitting snugly and wonderfully so deep inside of you. 

You lean your upper body over him so you can kiss and bite at his neck, needing to keep your mouth busy so you don't say anything stupid. Your hands are at his shoulders, nails digging in. 

Vaguely, you can hear him grunting with the pain of it but he doesn't ask you to stop. 

“Sit up for me, darling, so I can see you,” he says breathlessly. 

You don't want to, so you ignore him. 

“Sit up,” he demands again. 

When you ignore him the second time, his broad hands move from your hips to your shoulders, forcefully pressing so you have to sit up. 

Your hands move to his thighs and your back straightens, continuing to roll your hips, chasing your high. 

You're almost there, you can almost taste it.

“‘M close,” you manage to get out. “Fuck, I-”

His eyes are following your breasts as they bounce with your movements. His hand moves to connect with your clit, pinching and rolling the bud, causing your moans to turn desperate because you are so close. It's gathering and picking up speed and it's about to steamroll you over. 

“Logan,” you moan, feeling the heat build and build. You need it. You need it. 

“S-so-good-Logan- you… ah… I-” you’re jabbering, but you can’t stop yourself. “I love-I love- y-your cock- I-”

I love you.

Then he's pulsing inside of you, his own moans joining yours. You feel him spill himself inside of you, the twitching of his cock is so intense it's giving you extra pleasure. You watch as he punches his fists into the bed and you hear a tearing sound. 

Then he's flipped you over so you're on your back and he's above you. He grabs at your legs clumsily, delirious with his orgasm, and he lifts them up over his shoulders, sloppily pressing kisses to your calf muscle. 

Then he's moving. And the angle hits something especially heinous within you. You feel like you need to pee. You try desperately to hold it in, but everything within you is screaming to let go. 

“Relax, darling, let it come,” he's telling you. But he sounds so far away yet so near, as if he's speaking inside your mind. 

You don't want to allow it to happen, but your body betrays you and it hits you with an explosion that scares you. The dam has crumbled with a bang and you feel something gushing from you and it almost feels painful but oh so good. 

You have your eyes screwed shut as it wracks through you and you're almost sobbing. You could swear it's a religious experience. 

You slowly come to, only to realise that Logan is chanting your name. Not to get your attention, but just to have it on his lips. 

Your eyes open and the first thing you see is Logan, your legs still over his shoulders and his hands are gripping your thighs so hard you're sure it will bruise. 

He's staring at you with wonder. 

That's when you notice the liquid dripping down his chest and stomach. 

“Darlin’, that was so hot,” he gasps out with a tremble at the back of his throat. “You did so good. Oh my god, darling, you did so good, fuck.” 

“What… did I do exactly?” 

“You squirted all over me, was the hottest fuckin’ thing.” His eyes are ablaze with awe. 

You didn't know you could do that. 

“I… didn't know I could do that,” you say, your mind and mouth lagging behind each other. “Wow.”

You feel dumbstruck. You both laugh a little bit, basking in the afterglow. 

“Are you going to keep going or are you done? Because I am done,” you sigh dramatically. 

“Mmm… yeah I'm done,” he grunts. “Sorry about your bed by the way.” 

“Huh?” you say dreamily, still not completely present. 

“Nothing-never mind, just relax.” 

You feel Logan slowly slip himself out of you. You feel bruised inside so the movement is more jarring than you were expecting. Once he's fully pulled out of you, you feel the loss of him instantly and even though he's still in the room with you, you miss him. 

You feel a wet gushing between your legs.

“Jesus, Logan, how much did you come?” 

“Uh… a lot. I did tell you I was pent up. Now get up, you better go pee. No girl of mine is getting a UTI.” 

You groan and sink yourself further into the bed, only to feel a rough texture behind your shoulder. You turn slightly and that's when you notice the torn sheets. 

You bolt upright. 

There's three tears clean through the sheets and into the mattress. And on your other side are another three tears. 

“When… when did you even do that?” you ask hesitantly.

“When I came the second time,” he says sheepishly. 

Fuck.

“Next time, we're using your bed,” you grumble. 

“I'll get it fixed, promise.” 

After you pee and remove the torn, wet sheets to place a towel over the partially destroyed mattress, you both settle back into the bed together. You’re snuggled up against his  side as he lays on his back. 

“I can't believe you're such a freak,” Logan says in wonder. “Here I was, worried I'd done something perverted to you, but in reality it's you who's the pervert.” 

Silence. 

“You had a boner against my ass, Logan.”

A/N: I hope the Jean thing is okay, I know the fanbase isn't the biggest fan of her lol. I just feel like she plays a pretty big role in understanding Logan as a character and his traumas. I feel like another part of his attraction for her also has to do with the fact that she's unavailable. Hurt that you're expecting is better than hurt that you're not expecting, if that makes sense.

Plus, let's be for real, this fella is poly. Just kinda funny he keeps falling in love with so many women but he still has no bitches.

[librarylexicon]

hi! i'm one of those insane people who got into dc via seeing tumblr posts and going "huh these tropes seem like they are tailor made to get me obsessed" but was too intimidated by the volume of comics, and instead read the wikipedia pages of like 20 characters and dove right into fanfiction after. but i've been finding myself getting more and more frustrated with fanfics that are of the "i ignore canon entirely" variety and more and more curious about aspects of canon that are only brushed upon in fanfic. i kinda want to get into the comics but the amount is just. overwhelming. i don't really know where to start, both in regards to the timeline and where to actually find the comics to read. can i ask you for recommendations? if you don't have the time or inclination, no pressure, just delete this ask XD. thank you!

Hi! I'm glad you asked! I've had this ask sitting in my box for a little while because I've been working on redoing a Batfamily comics reading guide I made for my sister back in 2019 to get her into reading comics (it worked). Here is the reading guide, which is currently complete up to the No Man's Land section:

There's a lot of info in the guide to get you started (especially regarding your second point of where to actually find the comics to read), so I'll just address your first point (the timeline) here under the cut by providing an extended summary of events. There are spoilers ahead, but it's a useful read if you're the kind of person who likes to see the big picture before delving in. Warning: it's long!

The Timeline

(Most of the comics mentioned below have been bolded in the reading guide, so should be easy to find and read.)

Batman and Batfamily comics are old. Batman and Robin have both been around for over 80 years. Does this mean you need to read every comic since 1940? Absolutely not! For comic book reasons, there have been several mainstream continuities throughout the years, one after the other, but the best place to start is directly after the universe-rebooting event called Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, which established a new continuity known as Post-Crisis. Don't try to read that comic, just trust that it happened. You don't have to read every single one of the comics listed here, especially if you already know some context from fandom (like who's who), but these are the ones most important to the Batfamily mythos.

Origin and early years

Start your Batman reading journey with Batman: Year One, which documents the origin and first year of Batman, establishes his working relationship with Jim Gordon and introduces Selina Kyle (Catwoman). There are many stories capturing Batman's earliest years, the best of which are Batman: The Man Who Laughs (where he meets the Joker for the first time), Batman: The Long Halloween and its sequel Batman: Dark Victory.

Dick as Robin

Dick Grayson, a young acrobat, is introduced in Batman: Dark Victory when Haly's Circus comes to Gotham and his parents fall to their deaths before his (and Bruce's) eyes during their trapeze act, and he comes into his own as the first Robin in the superb one-shot Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet. You should also read Batman: Ego for an excellent dissection of both Bruce and Batman. Other high quality Dick!Robin stories that flesh out this period and establish Bruce and Dick's relationship are Robin: Year One, Batman: Grimm (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #149-153) and Year One: Batman/Scarecrow. Also a good read around this time are the three Halloween stories by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale (who created The Long Halloween and Dark Victory) collected in Batman: Haunted Knight. Lastly, a natural companion to Robin: Year One is Batgirl: Year One, starring Barbara Gordon, Jim's daughter-slash-adopted-niece.

Jason as Robin

Bit of a timeskip here. By now, Dick's been Robin for six years or so (sources vary), and Jason Todd is introduced in Batman (1940) #408-409 and faces Two-Face in #410-411. There are some fun Jason stories in Detective Comics (1937) #569-574. To see what Dick's up to at this time, read Nightwing: Year One, and also check out Batman #416 for an alternate story of how Dick and Jason meet.

A new Gotham vigilante, Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) is introduced right around here in Huntress: Year One, and Barbara Gordon (who by now has retired from being Batgirl) is shot by the Joker and left paralysed from the waist down in Batman: The Killing Joke. A good Jason!Robin story that slots in here is Batman: The Cult, before the tension between Bruce and Jason is raised in Batman #425-426. Finally, Jason's life and short-lived career as Robin are permanently ended by the Joker in Batman: A Death in the Family.

Aftermath

Bruce is straight up not having a good time right now. He's mourning his kid, the Joker is still at large, he's sans both a Robin and a Batgirl, and he's accused of treason in the character study comic Batman: Blind Justice (Detective Comics #598-600). Sometime later, Dick Grayson (who is sort of estranged from Bruce and has been hanging out with his Titans friends for years) returns to Gotham in the fantastic Batman: Year Three (Batman #436-439), which retells Dick's origin (with some contradictions to other stories listed here, because that's just the nature of comics) and deals with Dick's parents' killer, Tony Zucco, possibly getting parole. Look out for a cute cameo in this one, but don't worry if you miss it – it'll come up again.

Noticing Batman's increased brutality in the wake of Robin's death, a precocious thirteen-year-old named Tim Drake bursts into the narrative when he hunts down Dick at Haly's Circus in the seminal Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying. Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City (Batman #452-454) is a good solo Batman story from around this period, and Batman: Rite of Passage (Detective Comics #618-621) and Batman: Identity Crisis (Batman #455-457) are defining stories for Tim's pre-Robin period as he explores who he is and who he wants to be. (Specifically, Tim's mother is killed and his father is left paralysed.)

Tim as Robin

(Note: Tim is Robin up until Damian is, but I've split Tim's Robin tenure into multiple sections so that it's easier to follow.)

Now that Tim has officially taken up the mantle, Bruce sends him to train in Paris, where he makes enemies of his own and chooses the bo staff for his weapon in the 1991 Robin miniseries. Around this time, Barbara Gordon reinvents herself as Oracle in Oracle: Year One (The Batman Chronicles #5). Tim debuts as Robin with Batman in Gotham in Batman #465, works cases with Bruce in stories like Batman: Shadow Box (Batman #467-469), and even tackles the Joker when Batman is out of town in Robin II: The Joker's Wild.

Other good stories from this period are Batman: Electric City (Detective Comics #644-646), a character study of Tim's relationship with his dad in Batman #480, and a Batfamily teamup and Nightwing cameo in Batman: The Last Arkham (Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1-4). Stephanie Brown dubs herself the Spoiler to spoil the plans of her father, third-rate villain Cluemaster, in Detective Comics #647-649, and Huntress returns with her unorthodox methods in Detective Comics #652-653.

Next up, the sprawling epic that is the Knightfall Saga. Jean-Paul Valley, a graduate student with a family legacy causing him to be beholden to a lifetime of conditioning known as "the System", debuts in Batman: Sword of Azrael. Batman, who has been overworking himself due to increasing pressures from all sides, finds himself increasingly worn out in the stories collected in Batman: Prelude to Knightfall. (Around this time, Robin also forges an unlikely friendship with Huntress in Robin III: Cry of the Huntress.)

In Batman: Knightfall, a huge Arkham Asylum breakout pushes Batman to his limits, and when he finally returns home, mentally and physically depleted, he finds a new enemy waiting to destroy him. It's not pretty. While Bruce recovers, he appoints Jean-Paul Valley to be Batman to Tim's Robin in Batman: Knightquest. Unfortunately, with the System still active, Tim finds himself increasingly sidelined and Jim Gordon breaks ties with this new, inappropriately ruthless Batman. A lot of things happen, but Bruce eventually returns (and so does Nightwing, yay!) in Batman: KnightsEnd.

Right after KnightsEnd but before the next story, there's a DC-wide event called Zero Hour, in which the universe is destroyed and remade. From a Doylist perspective, this is an opportunity for DC to smooth out some oddities with their Post-Crisis timeline and eliminate any plot elements they were dissatisfied with. Among other things, the murderer of Bruce's parents, who had previously been established as a random mugger named Joe Chill, is retconned to be unconfirmed (naturally, this changed later). You don't have to read the main Zero Hour comic, which is a five-issue limited series numbered in reverse order, but there are interesting crossover issues in the various Batfamily comics that are ongoing at this time, including Tim!Robin solving a case with Dick!Robin in Robin (1993) #10. The main reason I mention Zero Hour is because it explains why there are key differences between early Post-Crisis comics like most of Jason's run and post-Zero Hour comics like Nightwing: Year One. The answer is retconning, and it'll come up again and again. Such is the nature of trying to maintain longevity and internal consistency for comics that never end.

Okay, back to the main events! In what is my favourite comic of all time, Bruce rights wrongs by asking Dick to temporarily be Batman instead of Jean-Paul (yay!), and Dick and Tim grow close as Batman and Robin and as honorary brothers before Dick and Bruce finally see eye to eye in Batman: Prodigal. When Bruce is ready to be Batman again, he dons a new, darker suit (which is very close to the suit in the Tim Burton movies that were popular at the time) in Batman: Troika. Alfred, who voluntarily left Bruce's employ in Knightquest, is persuaded to return to Gotham by his best friend, none other than Dick Grayson, in Nightwing: Alfred's Return. Later, Dick does some soul-searching of his own (and gains a new costume!) in the 1995 Nightwing miniseries, and three concurrent stories in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #46-47, Batman #527-528 and Detective Comics #693-694 lay the groundwork for the dramatic next stage of Gotham history.

No Man's Land

What's up next for Gotham? It's a plague! Dubbed the Apocalypse Virus and otherwise known as the Clench, this plague ravages Gotham in the Batfamily crossover Batman: Contagion, which is followed by a resurgence in Batman: Legacy. It's dramatic, it's whumpy, it's mesmerising and it's pretty great.

By this point, you'll be familiar with the regular cast of characters and can read more of their solo comics at your leisure. There's Batman for Bruce and Detective Comics and Batman: Shadow of the Bat for higher chances of him teaming up with others. Tim's solo comic, Robin (1993), has been going since Knightfall, and Dick's excellent long-running comic Nightwing (1996) begins here. Read Robin for Tim's teenage adventures (skateboarding, making friends in school), family ups and downs (his dad is mercurial, but at least he has a cool stepmother, Dana) and love life (he starts dating Steph) and read Nightwing for Dick striking out on his own in the neighbouring city of Blüdhaven, where he eventually joins the police academy to fight crime from a different angle. (There's also the Azrael comic, which may appeal if you find yourself liking Jean-Paul Valley, but as I haven't read much of it, I make no promises about its quality.)

Continuing the notable Batfamily crossover events, Nightwing has a dalliance with Huntress in Nightwing/Huntress, and a massive earthquake devastates Gotham in Batman: Cataclysm. The consequences of this spin into Batman: Aftershock, Batman: Road to No Man's Land and the sprawling, ambitious epic that is Batman: No Man's Land, in which Gotham is declared no longer part of the United States. Within this year of danger, chaos and political limbo, we are introduced to a silent young woman, daughter of the assassin David Cain. With Barbara's blessing, she comes to live at Oracle's base (the Clock Tower) and becomes the second Batgirl. (Also during this period, Steph gives birth to a baby from a former boyfriend, and Tim – in disguise – gets himself stuck in No Man's Land to help her. It's complicated.)

New Gotham

This, along with the previous section, is one of my favourite periods in Batfamily comics. Many of the solo comics just mentioned are at their peak in terms of storytelling, characterisation and plot development, and several more excellent series begin here, including the family-focused Batman: Gotham Knights and the first ever perpetual Batgirl series for the new Batgirl, who would come to be known as Cassandra Cain. Both series are well worth reading!

Batman: Evolution (Detective Comics #742-750) touches on the fallout of the No Man's Land and rebuilding "New Gotham", and Bruce unwillingly gains a personal bodyguard named Sasha Bordeaux in Batman: A Walk in the Park (Detective Comics #751-752), which of course complicates his nocturnal activities as Batman. Soon after, Jim Gordon is shot in Batman: Offcer Down, and (unrelatedly) Dick and Barbara, who have been having off-the-chart levels of UST for years, finally call their flirting what it is: dating. Also at this time, Bruce has been rekindling his relationship with his pre-No Man's Land girlfriend, Vesper Fairchild.

In Joker: Last Laugh, the Joker decides to go out with a bang in when he finds out he's apparently suffering from terminal brain cancer. The theme of family is explored in Batman: Gotham Knights, with Bruce offering to adopt Dick (at long last) in Batman: Matatoa (Batman: Gotham Knights #16-17). And then a secret threatens to tear the Batfamily apart when Bruce is accused of murdering Vesper Fairchild in Bruce Wayne: Murderer?, eventually prompting him to drop the Bruce Wayne identity completely (this made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move) and become Batman full-time as he goes on the run in Bruce Wayne: Fugitive. Eventually the murder is solved and the murderer is accounted for, and these two stories are probably my favourite Batfamily crossovers ever. They're so juicy and get to the heart of everything I love about each member!

The excellent Bruce & Dick comic Batman/Nightwing: Bloodborne fits somewhere around here, as well as Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee's beautifully drawn and critically acclaimed Batman: Hush, which touches on Bruce's on-again, off-again relationship with Selina Kyle. Around this time in the Nightwing comic, Dick's life has been on a downward spiral for months because of a multitude of factors, including losing his girlfriend, his day job, his circus family, his apartment building and more. This is also where the villains Blockbuster and Tarantula are prominent.

Over in Robin, Tim's father discovers that Tim is Robin and demands that Tim give up the mantle, which he reluctantly does. This results in Bruce offering the job to Steph, driving a wedge between her and Tim. Her tenure as Robin is short-lived for several reasons, and all this leads into the mega-crossover Batman: War Games, in which a massive gang war breaks out in Gotham and Tim's sort-of girlfriend, Darla Aquista, is killed. By the time the dust settles, Steph is (believed) dead, Dick temporarily gives up his Nightwing mantle to work for the mafia (yup), Barbara and Jim leave Gotham and Tim's father is murdered in the DC-wide crossover Identity Crisis, resulting in Tim and Cassandra relocating to Blüdhaven, effectively sealing the breakup of the Batfamily. War Games is followed up by Batman: War Crimes, which is included here for timeline reasons and not much else.

Batman's pretty much all alone in Gotham again, right? Time for somebody else to return. Someone who's been haunting the narrative all these years. Yup, in the wake of the gang war, when rival mob bosses are vying to wrest control of the city, a new crime lord emerges in Batman: Under the Hood: the Red Hood, who turns out to be Jason Todd, back from the dead, and no longer a boy in a yellow cape but instead a ruthless, hypocritical murderer with a chip on his shoulder and no qualms about stabbing Batman's allies. (For more about Jason between his death and return to Gotham, read Red Hood: Lost Days.)

Lastly, there's a DC-wide event called Infinite Crisis, which shakes up the whole DC Universe and leads to Batman, Nightwing and Robin taking a trip around the world for a whole year. (Infinite Crisis also kills off Tim's best friend, Conner Kent/Superboy. Tim's really going through it at this time, poor guy.) Oh, and Blüdhaven is razed by a bomb during Infinite Crisis as well. Yup.

One Year Later

(Disclaimer: it's been a while since I read this period and this one beyond it.) After a year away from Gotham, Batman, Nightwing and Robin return, and Bruce adopts Tim (at long last) in Batman: Face the Face. I'm sure this happy-ish period is going to last, right? Well, the very next story is Batman and Son, in which Bruce learns he has a young son named Damian, who is the child of Talia, daughter of Ra's al Ghul (Batman's currently dead, formerly immortal nemesis of League of Assassins fame). Damian and Tim instantly don't hit it off – rather, Tim is friendly until the bratty and hostile Damian reveals himself to be a murderer and attempts to kill Tim. Of course, Bruce doesn't take kindly to this, and Damian eventually goes back to live with his mother.

Also, during the year the others were away, Cassandra was brainwashed and became evil because of Deathstroke and DC Editorial (this made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move). Later, Bruce adopts her in the otherwise mediocre 2008 Batgirl miniseries. There's a lot of complicated stuff around this time, such as Steph being retconned as Alive All Along and returning to Gotham in Robin: Violent Tendencies (Robin #170-175, Robin/Spoiler Special), Dick relocating to New York and having a mediocre run in Nightwing, Tim having a new black and red Robin suit to honour Superboy's death, Tim struggling mentally and trying to clone Conner(!) and revive Steph, his dad and Conner, Ra's al Ghul coming back from the dead (again) and trying to use a younger body (Damian or Tim) to stabilise his form in Batman: The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul, and Bruce tackling the criminal organisation known as the Black Glove in Grant Morrison's Batman R.I.P.

DC-wide events once again have consequences (hooray) in Final Crisis, in which Batman dies. Is he dead for good? Well, this is comic book land, so probably not, but in the meantime, the public can't know that either Batman or Bruce Wayne have died. Hush masquerades as Bruce Wayne (long story) and the Robins battle it out for the mantle in Batman: Battle for the Cowl. Despite Tim's pleas, Dick refuses to become Batman, resulting in an imposter Batman who shoots to kill taking centre stage. This impostor turns out to be Jason, who fights first Tim, then Dick, the latter of whom defeats him. Against Bruce's wishes in his will, Dick becomes the new Batman, and Damian becomes Robin at his side.

Damian as Robin

This new status quo, also known as Batman: Reborn, marks the start of several new series, including Red Robin and Batgirl (2009). Red Robin stars Tim as a deeply unreliable narrator in his new title of Red Robin in his grief-fuelled efforts to gather evidence that Bruce is not dead, while Batgirl follows Stephanie Brown as she becomes the third Batgirl under Oracle's tutelage, the pair of them working out of the Batcave.

Dick, Damian and Alfred have relocated to the penthouse in Wayne Tower and operate out of the underground bunker. Dick and Damian's rocky partnership develops into an unlikely yet compelling and heartfelt bond in Batman and Robin (2009) as they tackle a plethora of villains, including Professor Pyg and Red Hood (again). And where is Cassandra Cain? Sidelined again! She gave up Batgirl for Steph, on Bruce's request, and now goes by Black Bat, though we don't see much of her for Editorial Reasons (sigh).

This being comics, Bruce doesn't stay dead for long, and with both Tim and Dick (separately) discovering evidence that Bruce is not dead, just lost in time (yup), they work together to bring him back alive. I don't pretend to remember all the intricacies of how this works, but you can read about Bruce's journey in Batman: Time and the Batman (Batman #700-703), Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne and Bruce Wayne: The Road Home. It's long and complex and honestly reading Grant Morrison's writing tends to do my head in.

There are a handful more stories after Bruce's return, including some hugs and heartfelt reunions (yes, really!) and the excellent Batman: The Black Mirror story starring Dick as Batman, but even though this is a really cool new status quo with a bunch of interesting implications going forward, the universe doesn't really stabilise, because we're up to 2011 by now, and the world gets hit by another DC-wide crossover called Flashpoint. Except, this is the biggest one since Crisis on Infinite Earths that I mentioned way back at the beginning, and so everything gets rebooted. EVERYTHING.

Batman and Detective Comics and other long-running comics are cancelled and their number restarted from #1, and many series are cancelled and just never reinstated. This new universe, known as the New 52, sets a new status quo that worked in some aspects but not so much in others. Many changes from the universe we just came from are just jumps that happen without explanation, such as Dick's return to being Nightwing (except now he's red instead of blue), Jason being an anti-hero with a bat on his chest instead of a villain, everyone being younger and closer in age, Steph and Cass being minimised and essentially replaced, and many more frustrating retcons that are confusing and/or illogical. But hey, at least the new Batman and Robin comic (starring Bruce and Damian) and Scott Snyder's Batman run (introducing the Court of Owls) are good! Note: the New 52 was soft rebooted in 2016 to become the current continuity, known at its inception as DC Rebirth, which reintroduced many Post-Crisis elements to mainstream canon.

Duke Thomas? He wasn't introduced until the New 52. Harper and Cullen Row? New 52. Tim being bisexual and dating Bernard? Rebirth, though Bernard was inspired by a very minor character of the same name from Tim's long-running Robin comic. Forever Evil, Spyral and the Grayson comic? New 52. Kate Kane (Batwoman)? She appeared during Batman: Reborn, but she wasn't established as Bruce's cousin until the New 52. Many such cases.

And so, right before Flashpoint is where the Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths continuity ends after twenty-five years, with Bruce as Batman and running a worldwide initiative called Batman Incorporated in Batman Incorporated (2010), Dick as Batman in Gotham, Damian as Robin, Tim as Red Robin, Steph as Batgirl, Cassandra as Black Bat, Barbara as Oracle and Jason as Red Hood (and full villain, not reformed in any way, shape or form). In this continuity, Bruce adopted (in order) Jason, Dick, Tim and Cassandra, and of course Damian is his biological son. It's my favourite continuity, and I hope you enjoy it too.

...And I apologise belatedly for the wall of text.

[sparklingelectricblue]

From the Ashes: Marvel Infinity #14

Continuing on from last week…

The comic starts with the following narration:

"Sometimes, you get a moment..."

We then see Max as a child with his father, Jakob.

The narration continues: "...when everything lines up... ...when anything is possible."

We now see Max facing a firing squad who has opened fire with Jakob's hand on his shoulder.

"When suddenly, you can make things happen."

We then see Max as child with bullets in midair.

"But other times.. Perhaps most of the time...

...you can't."

We then see blood and broken glass on the snow. We're back from where issue #13 left off and Max is waking up after being hit by a car.

Someone is calling to him off panel, "Mr. Eisenhardt..." Turns out, he's being roused by Rabbi Sagan and a bystander.

According to Google Translate, Max is saying "I... yes, Dad takes us across the Vistula. There's a famer in Radom who will hide us."

Cut off in the picture is the wreckage of the car in flames.

What might not be clear in the art is that Max is dragging his lower body to get to the car.

Narration continues: "A few months ago, Magneto could have made something happen."

"A few months ago, he could have dismantled the ruined car and spirited the child away to safety with a thought."

We now see a horrific scene of Anna in the fiery car screaming, "Somebody help us! Poppa won't wake up!"

Narration: "But now he is helpless"

Max is reaching into the car to get to her with the Rabbi reaching out behind him but Max is immediately burned.

Narration: "As helpless as he was when the jaws of the twentieth century closed on his people."

"Now, as then, he is condemned to simply bear witness."

Anna is grasping at her seatbelt, "I'm... I'm stuck!"

Max, face illuminated by the fire, is calling out to her "Then... then you must cut yourself loose! Is there anything to hand, a... a tool... something sharp?! Anything!"

Anna cuts through the seatbelt and begins clinging to her dad in the driver's seat, "I'm free! We can go now, Daddy!"

Max shouts back, "No! You have to leave him! He would want you to."

"Look! There are people here to help your father, but you have to climb!"

Anna is hesitant, "I... I..."

"DO IT!" Max shouts.

Anna starts climbing over her father as the firefighters are getting into position to hose off the car, "Daddy, I'm sorry! It's... it's too hot!"

"I've got you." - Max

Max is being attended to by a medical professional. They're wrapping up his burnt arm. Someone off panel says, "It smells like reindeer sausage in here."

Rabbi Sagan confirms that Anna is safe and well. "The father too. Concussion. Smoke inhalation, but he'll be fine."

Rabbi Sagan sits with Max. "... Did I tell you how my grandmother Coralie came to live here in Alaska?"

Max: "I can guess..."

Rabbi Sagan: "When she was just three years old, she was a detainee at Furs internment camp in France."

(as Rabbi Sagan speaks, we see scenes of grandmother Coralie's life illustrated)

"And she would have surely died there had Andree Salomon not rescued her and put her on a train bound for Lisbon, where the S.S. Mouzinho was waiting to take her to America.

She arrived in New York on June 21st, 1941, where she was placed with a foster family who moved to Anchorage soon afterwards.

On Purim, she'd always get maudlin drunk and tell us about her mother -- her desperate, hopeful smile as she entrusted her only daughter to a stranger and the sea.

She knew she wouldn't live to see her daughter thrive across the ocean.

She sent her anyway."

"With the coming of Moshiach and the resurrection of the righteous" the Rabbi responds. "But I think you already had one of those covered."

Back to X-Men HQ, AKA "The Factory." Later.

"Summers and the others are heading out on another mission. You should get some rest." Max says to Hank.

Hank: "Max... Respectfully.... ...You won't."

Max: "Henry, trust me..."

The end? Infinity comics will be focusing on the Alaska team for the next 2 issues so maybe we'll see more on this.

[luxtoony]

YOU.

@dandylovesturtles YOU. (grabs you by the shoulders and shakes like a maniac) How do you dare make me feel so much?!(should I tag this as spoilers?)

I've read "I may be invisible but I still look good" in one sitting, taking breaks to scream into oblivion about my pain, about how casual and natural the dialogue is, how pacing goes smoothly between the softer and harsher events, and so so so much more.

And so here I am bc I had to make something

This moment was so rough, I keep thinking about it all the time.

It may not be THE favourite moment exactly (that one will be made later) but it is from the disaster twins arc, which I adored and cried through the most (as well as the first two/three chapters) bc I am very very weak (and all the other arcs were made equally as great) . I love the story, the villains,the jokes, the character development and characterization and so so so much! I was so happy with many solutions and ideas because they matched my line of thought and didn't leave any annoying holes in the logic ✧⁠\⁠(⁠>⁠o⁠<⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠✧

So. Can't wait for the next part and in the meantime I humbly ofer this lil comic-y fanart

I will be back and I will ramble more, I'm sorry

[chaifootsteps]

Hi Chai,

Since I know you are not a transmisogynist, what are some of your favorite transfem characters or characters you hc as transfem?

Btw this is the Malva anon again, I've been sending asks more than once but I realized I may be a regular asker now lol

GL with Bluesky

*Rubs hands eagerly*. Gladly! Let's talk about some ladies!

Rachel Bighead from Rocko's Modern Life

My friend and I were watching this in VC the other night and Rachel's probably my favorite example of how to "trans" a character, especially one that's been around for a long time, right. Nothing about it feels shoehorned or asspulled or like it was done to appease a board somewhere. Ralph's defining characteristic throughout Rocko's original run was being absolutely miserable all the time, no matter how much success in life he achieved, and so when we learn that he went off soul searching and discovered Rachel was the answer? It made perfect, beautiful sense.

Rachel's just...amazing. She's dry as ever, but unflappably confident. She's Ralph at perfect peace, and the journey we see the Bighead family go on? Bev's immediate acceptance, Ed's tearful epiphany that that little tadpole who damaged his retina is still right in front of him, and the three of them hugging? God, this part of the special was so good. Rachel's so good.

Also, I ship her with Rocko like whoa.

2. Grell Sutcliffe from Black Butler

I freaking love Grell. She's absolutely nuts, has an awesome design and a kickass weapon, and was surprisingly poignant and not-meanspirited considering the time period the show came out in. I love how the English dub has her give a kind of orgasmic bird squawk every time something goes right for her. 10/10, would support every last one of her woman's wrongs.

(Incidentally, Grell's one of the reasons it annoys me when people call me transmysogynist based off my opinions on Arcee, because let me tell you, I did my tour of duty back during the Grell Wars.)

3. Jerry/Daphne from Some Like it Hot

First of all, this movie's amazing and if you haven't watched it and don't know the very famous ending, go remedy that right now. And then chase it with this fic. I'll wait.

I'm firmly in the camp that believes Jerry/Daphne is genderfluid, and holy cow, is this a lovely little story of self-discovery and falling in love. It's just so special to me. It makes me smile like a damn fool every single time.

4. Fem!Shep from Mass Effect

Okay, this one's kind of cheating because Shepards are customizable and can be anything you want, but I loved the idea from the get-go. That's in part because fem!Shep's model still moves like male!Shep, and it's especially noticeable when she sits, but it also just kind of feels fitting with a lot of the dialogue options. In conclusion, my Shepard was great and I need to replay that game with Legendary Edition because I miss her deeply.

5. Maevaris Tilani from Dragon Age

Mae's wonderful on so many levels and she's a character I'm very excited to meet face-to-face in Veilguard. She's stunning, an absolute powerhouse, she's good friends with my my beloved Dorian, and her relationship with her late chubs hubby was beautiful. I'm pretty sure she's not going to be romanceable, but if she was, I think my Rook would be doomed.

6. Hana from Tokyo Godfathers

This movie's a treasure and so is Hana. I like that she's old, she's stubbly, she doesn't pass flawlessly, but by god, if anyone deserves to be a mom, it's her.

7. Angel from Rent

Another genderfluid character! At least, that's my best guess. I've always loved that we have no fucking clue exactly what flavor of genderqueer Angel is, that not even the cast seems unanimous on it.

I loved Rent when I was younger, thought it was so deep and profound, and it's kinda not but Angel was easily my favorite character. Still is.

8. The Laughing Cow and the Lactaid Cow

They're cows that don't have udders and they're gay and in love, I don't make the rules.

9. Anode and Lug

Transfem lesbian bots from RiD's (the comic run IDW Arcee is from) much more competently written sister series, they're a demonstration of how to do it right. I like that one transitioned medically and the other didn't. Anode features very prominently in my Arcee fix-it fic and I grew very attached to her while writing it.

10. Marco from Star vs. the Forces of Evil

I'm gonna level with you, I never actually watched this show. But I was very invested in this one back in the day and disappointed when it never came true.

Honorable mention: Art the Clown from Terrifier

While I don't exactly headcanon Art as transfem, there's a fic on ao3 that explored the idea and I kind of dug it. I could see Art much younger, with many possible futures laid out, and that being one of them. I think if something fundamental hadn't broken in his soul/brain, he would have been either trans or a fruity old drag queen, happy as a clam.

Mind you, this is all fanon talk. My jaw would hit the floor with horror if this became canon and Art would go straight on the pile of characters I get yelled at for "misgendering" because if I refuse to swallow rotten food.