#Karen: Maybe I should build too...

[newtsixtyfive]

I have many thoughts about how they would play Minecraft.

Matt, grinning as he violently clicks the mouse and moves it around trying to find Foggy: Foggy: Ack, what the hell- Matt! Matt, grins wider: Karen, peacefully making her way into a cave: Those walls better be up by nighttime, Nelson.

Matt would spam click the mouse in hopes of hitting Foggy who just wants to build (and is not so good at it) while Karen is the only one who knows how to play the damn game (she's the miner, food gatherer, etc).

Matt, lost in a cave: Uhh, guys. I think I found diamonds. Foggy: Really?! I told you we could play the game Karen! Where- Foggy: Wait a damn minute. Matt, with a devious grin: Yeah, I'm looking right at them.

[cherrrydragon]

➤ find something worth saving (it's all for the taking)

CHAPTER EIGHT: CONNECTIONS

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SUMMARY ↳ So.. dinner with the family. Yikes. Damian doesn't release his hold until you're both in a quieter part of the manor, away from potential eavesdroppers. "You enjoy teasing me, don't you?" he murmurs, voice dropping. You grin saliciously. "Of course I do," you reply, your voice teasing as you lean in closer to Damian. "It keeps things interesting, doesn't it?" pairing: jon kent x gn!reader x damian wayne warnings: subtle "accusations" of cheating wc: 4.4k NOTICE: im gonna start adding my notes/end notes on ao3 from now on if i have any. they just include my yapping (the beginning notes are usually just warnings anyway) i might go back and add them to previous chaps, might not.

You actually spend the next morning skipping your first classes in exchange for visiting the Den. You’ve had perfect attendance so far, so you’re only grievance is that you won’t be able to brag about it anymore. You’ll send in an excuse note later.

The reason for your absence is to take note of what you need for the badassium. Karen lists things off for you as you write them on a little note. A lot of it is high-grade expensive stuff. If Victoria can’t get it for you, you’ll just ask her for the money to get it yourself. Or just ask her where you can steal it.

You arrive only a tad bit late to ballet class. That’s a lie, there’s five minutes left till the bell. The teacher barely notices, too occupied with scolding some of the other kids. Victoria sees you enter and scurries over.

“Where were you?” she asks.

You pull out the list, holding it up to her. “Making this.” You hold it out to her. “It’s a list of all the stuff I need. You wanna help me? Get me these.”

She takes the paper, looking it over. “What is it?”

“Materials I need. I’m building something really important.” Victoria’s eyes roam the sheet, before nodding and tucking it into her bra.

“How fast do you need them?”

“As fast as you can get them without raising suspicion. If you can’t get them, either give me the money or tell me where I can pick it up myself.”

Victoria raises a brow. “You’d steal it?”

You shrug. “What, like it’s hard?”

She huffs is disbelief. She’ll get used to you soon enough. The bell rings, and you and Victoria walk out together. “My staff are very discreet,” she reassures. “I will get it to you.”

“Drop it off at this location,” you text her the address. It’s an old apartment close to your Den. No one lives there, you made sure.

Determined to be of use, she nods. You wave her goodbye as you drop her off. Since you missed first period, you’ll only get to see Damian at the end of the day. You also missed lunch, so there goes your most fulfilling meal of the day.

You’re beginning to feel like a zombie. You’ve always been isolated from your peers, not on purpose, most of the time. Your mind is simply far beyond theirs in every universe, it seems. It’s why you started online classes, you simply just couldn’t stand being in school with others. It was just so boring . Unfortunately for you, you’re stuck in class. Life’s rough. Maybe you should start skipping more often. You can definitely catch up, you just have to not miss too many classes.

Ms. M greets you with a bright and cheery disposition, quite the opposite to your current demeanor. You give Ms. M a stiff but polite smile, trying to muster some enthusiasm. She’s one of the few teachers you actually like, her passion for the subject always evident.

You place your head down on your desk, feeling the lull of boredom pull you under. As Ms. M begins her lecture, you try to focus, but your mind keeps drifting back to the list of materials and your plans for the badassium. The thought of finally making significant progress makes you giddy.

Luckily for your peace of mind, Ms. M has a short lecture for the day with no assignment. She leaves the class alone for the remainder of the day. You shut your eyes, breathing calm. Feeling the call of sleep, you answer, escaping from the boringness of the day.

Except a finger flicks your ear, rudely disturbing your would-be sleep.

“Damian,” you murmur, rising. “May I help you?”

“Where were you this morning?” He doesn’t waste time with pleasantries. He never does.

“Not here,” you grumble. “I had to take care of some stuff. And I was kind of thinking about not even coming at all.” It’s true. Most people in their right mind just stay home if they’re even ten minutes late.

Damian picks a piece of lint from your collar. “I thought that perhaps you were affected by Ivy’s abilities. After all, I doubt you are capable of taking care of yourself.”

You cup Damian’s face, making his lips pucker. “Aw, is this your roundabout way of saying you want to take care of me? You’re so sweet.”

He takes your hands into his own, pulling them away. “I didn’t think you the unfaithful type, [Name].”

You blink. “Huh?”

“Considering the compromising position I found you and Victoria in, certainly the two of you are… together?” His face twists as he says the last word. Oh, yeah. You forgot that he walked in on the two of you. The whole carnival thing occupied your thoughts.

“Well, first of all–” you start, placing your hands in your lap, tugging his hands there as well. “–you make it sound like we’re in the regency era and I’ve just compromised the young lady Victoria,” you huff in a British accent, rolling your eyes. “Second of all, what you walked in on was a… confusing situation. We kissed, agreed we were better of as friends, and that’s that. I am not the unfaithful type, fuck you,” you grin. Leaning back, you raise your legs so perch them on his thighs. Surprisingly, he lets you.

“So don’t worry, I’m still available and I would never cheat on you, baby.”

He pinches your thigh in retaliation, before moving to massage your calves. You let your head hang over the edge of your chair, relaxing. Damian’s got skilled hands, he has too. From his background as an assassin and his current occupation as Robin. His fingers work the stress out of your muscles. His hands feel really nice.

“We’ll go to my home to work more on the project,” he mutters, focused on his current task. You hum in contentment, the tension in your muscles melting away under Damian's skilled hands. “Sounds good to me,” you murmur. “Alfred makes really good sandwiches.”

Damian continues to knead your calves for a few more moments before finally stopping. “You’ve become spoiled.”

You laugh softly, sitting up and stretching. “Says the rich one.” You and Damian gather your things as the last bell rings. Stepping outside, you breathe in the cool air. It’s getting colder in Gotham, soon it’ll start snowing. Damian’s hand finds its place on your back, guiding you to the car. You make sure to greet Alfred as you step inside. 

“How’s Jon doing?” you ask. “I hope he isn’t too embarrassed about what happened.”

“Jon is fine. The antidote did it’s part. As for his unnecessary embarrassment…” he trails off, “...you should ask him yourself.”

You tsk. “Useless,” you joke. You have a feeling Jon will do anything to ignore and forget about what happened, so you’re not sure how easy it’ll be to ask him.

Wayne Manor stands before you once again as you arrive. The sprawling estate is both imposing and welcoming, a testament to the Wayne family’s legacy. You step out of the car, feeling a mix of anticipation and exhaustion.

When you enter, you’re greeted by a loud bark. A large dog, a Great Dane, rounds the corner. He trots happily towards Damian, panting. Damian gives him generous pets.

“This is Titus,” he introduces. Titus barks at you in greeting.

You grin reaching out a hand to pet him. “Hi, Titus.” Titus leans into your scritches, making you coo and increase your petting tenfold. 

“Sorry about that! I guess he knew you were here and got excited,” says a voice, rounding the corner. A figure clad is comfy loungewear makes his way over to the two of you. You clock him immediately as none other than Dick Grayson. He bears a charming smile as he approaches.

“You must be Damian’s friend I’ve heard so much about,” he greets, holding out a hand.

You shake it, looking at Damian smugly. “You talk about me, Dami?” You grin as he glares at you.

“I’m his older brother, Dick.”

The urge to make a joke is very strong, but you persevere. Wrong audience. “Nice to meet you. Damian hasn't mentioned you at all," you tease lightly, shooting Damian a playful glance.

Dick chuckles, looking between you and Damian with a knowing expression. "I can see that. Well, if you're Damian's friend, you're welcome here anytime. And it's always nice to meet someone who can keep him on his toes."

You chuckle softly, liking his easygoing demeanor. "Thanks, Dick. I'll do my best to keep him in line."

Damian doesn’t like how you and his brother are plotting against him in front of him, so he grabs you arm and drags you away. “We have work to do, Grayson. Do not bother us.”

Dick grins and winks as you two disappear from view. As Damian drags you away, you shoot Dick a playful wave before disappearing from view. You can hear Dick's laughter echoing behind you, amused.

Damian doesn't release his hold until you're both in a quieter part of the manor, away from potential eavesdroppers. "You enjoy teasing me, don't you?" he murmurs, voice dropping.

You grin saliciously. "Of course I do," you reply, your voice teasing as you lean in closer to Damian. "It keeps things interesting, doesn't it?"

“It seems to be your only talent,” he says, turning to look at you. Your faces are close together, breaths intermingling.

Your playful grin widens at his comment, enjoying the closeness as Damian's gaze meets yours. "Oh, I have plenty of talents," you retort smoothly, teasingly brushing a stray lock of hair from his forehead. Damian's pupils dilate, a glint flickering in his eyes before he regains his composure.

"Is that so?" he challenges, a smirk playing on his lips. His hand, which had been resting on your arm, moves to lightly trace the line of your jaw, his touch sending a shiver down your spine.

You lean into his touch, meeting his gaze with a mixture of playfulness and genuine affection. "Mhm," you murmur, your voice low. "But you'll have to stick around to find out all my secrets."

The intensity in Damian's eyes deepens, his thumb brushing lightly against your cheek. "Maybe I intend to," he replies, his voice dropping to a husky whisper.

Before the moment can escalate further, a loud bark interrupts the thick atmosphere. Titus, ever the loyal companion, trots over to Damian’s side, breaking the spell between you and Damian. You chuckle softly, pulling back slightly as Damian withdraws his hand.

Damian straightens beside you, brushing his hands down his front. Clearing his throat, grumbles. “We are distracted, we should be working.”

You shrug, easy. “You’re the guide.”

Damian leads you into the same room you worked in the last time you visited. Titus takes perch under the table, settling in and curling up. Today will probably be the last time you’re invited over for a while, if not indefinitely. You’re sure you’ll finish the powerpoint in an hour or so, so you wonder if Damian will kick you out as soon as that happens.

You hand Damian your laptop, since it’s been mostly you doing the actual work, it’s his turn. His fingers fly across the keys as he types. You sit on the table next to him and point out things he should add. You both work in comfortable silence, occasionally broken by your comments and Damian's terse responses. The atmosphere is focused, the earlier playful tension replaced by a shared sense of purpose. 

After an hour or so, you lean back, stretching your arms above your head. "I think that covers everything," you say, looking over the final slide.

Damian gives a final, scrutinizing look at the presentation before nodding in agreement. "It’s comprehensive," he admits, shutting the laptop. "We should be prepared for any questions they throw at us."

"Good," you reply, hopping off the table. "Now that the hard part's done, let's hope the presentation goes smoothly."

Damian closes your laptop and sets it aside. "It will. We've covered every angle. Even if they ask something unexpected, we can handle it."

You smile, appreciating his confidence. You stretch once more, your muscles appreciating the movement after sitting for so long. Titus wakes up from his nap, prancing over to you. You kneel and pet his face generously. He whines when you pull away to gather your stuff.

As you gather your things, you notice Damian watching you with an inscrutable expression. You can't quite read what's going on in his mind, but there's a sense of something unsaid lingering in the air.

“What is it?” you ask.

Damian hesitates, which he seems to do a lot around you. It’s strange to you how someone who appears so sure of himself, so absolute can do such a thing. “What are your plans for your future?”

You blink, taken aback. “Like… after high school?”

He nods, his gaze intense. "Yes. What do you see yourself doing?"

It's a question you haven't given much thought to, caught up as you are in the present challenges. You don’t really want to give it much thought. Being here long enough to go to college makes your stomach turn. You can’t pretend like you have been miserable all this time. You’ve made friends, made a life here. But it’s not your life.

“I haven’t really thought about a college or anything. I know I want to help people,” you say, eyes trailing off. “What do you wanna do?”

Damian’s expression softens. “I want to continue my fathers legacy. Do everything to make the city safer, I suppose. However, I would also like to explore my own interests.”

“I look forward to seeing your art in a museum, Damian,” you declare, facing him.

There's a moment of shared understanding between you, a recognition of the complexities that lie beneath the surface. It's a comforting feeling, knowing that despite your differences, you share a common drive to carve out your own paths.

A polite knock echoes against the door before it opens. Dick pokes his head out with a smile on his face. “Hey, you two. Hope I’m not interrupting anything?”

You shake your head. “Nah, we just finished.” You shoulder your bag over your shoulder. “I was actually about to head out.”

Dick perks up. “Actually, Alfred wanted to know if you would like to stay for dinner.”

Behind you, Damian freezes and narrows his eyes. “As [Name] was just saying, they were leaving–”

“–Actually I think I will stay for dinner,” you grin at Damian. Only a fool would skip out on a chance to taste Alfred Pennyworth’s cooking. Any pokes and prods about your identity you’ll meet head on, and any chance to embarrass Damian is a good chance.

Dick matches your grin, nodding. “I’ll let him know.” He disappears, closing the door and leaving you two alone

Damian scowls. “Whatever you are planning–”

“I have no wrong intentions whatsoever Damian,” you furrow your brows and place a hand on your chest in mock offense. “I’m offended you think so low of me.”

Damian's scowl deepens, clearly not amused by your teasing. "You always have some ulterior motive," he accuses, crossing his arms.

You step closer, looking up at him with a mischievous glint in your eye. "Maybe I just want to enjoy a nice dinner with your family. Is that such a crime?"

He narrows his eyes suspiciously. "Fine. But don't think I won't be watching you."

You smirk playfully. "I wouldn't expect anything less."

With that settled, you follow Damian out of the room and into the sprawling manor once more. The atmosphere shifts slightly as you join Damian and Titus, walking through the grand halls towards the dining room. You can't help but feel a mixture of excitement and curiosity about what dinner with the Wayne family will entail.

When you step into the room your senses immediately buzz with anticipation, jittering around your skull. Just about every single member of the Batfamily is present. Even goddamn Jason Todd is here, helping Alfred set the table. It boosts your ego a little bit. Bruce Wayne greets you as you enter.

“I’m glad we can have you over,” he smiles. “Damian doesn’t have many friends to bring over.”

You snort at Damian’s grunt. You decide not to push Damian's buttons further in front of his family. For now. "Thank you for having me, Mr. Wayne," you reply politely.

Bruce nods back, his smile warm and welcoming. "Please, call me Bruce. Make yourself at home."

You take your seat at the large table, Damian at one side and Dick at the other. Everyone else settles in as well. Alfred serves the meal, a fancy foreign meal you don’t understand the name of. Damian, of course, gets a vegetarian portion of it.

Jason speaks up first. “You gonna introduce us or what?” He asks Damian. He looks about a second way from pulling out a hidden knife from somewhere, so Dick jumps in to save the day.

“This is [Name], they’re Damian’s classmate and…” he pauses for dramatic effect, “...friend!”

The table erupts in chuckles at Dick's teasing, though Damian remains stoic and unamused. You take the opportunity to greet everyone with a friendly smile and a wave.

"It's nice to meet all of you," you say, trying to match their warm reception despite Damian's icy demeanor.

Tim, who's been quietly observing the interaction, finally speaks up. "So, [Name], Damian's told us a bit about you. How's school been treating you?"

You take a moment to collect your thoughts. "It's been... interesting," you reply diplomatically, trying not to reveal too much. "I’m used to online so it’s definitely an experience."

“[Name] takes a ballet class. They are also the lead in the upcoming winter performance,” Damian pipes up, no doubt trying to put you on the spot. Asshole.

Stephanie grins. “No way! Cass does ballet too,” she claps a hand on Cass’s shoulder. Cass nods. She signs ‘what is your favorite move?’ . Barbara opens her mouth, prepared to translate what Cass said, but you beat her to the punch. You respond, fingers moving in practiced efficiency to gesture out your favorite move. Cass grins in approval.

“You know sign?” asks Duke.

“I know a lot of languages,” you smile. It’s true. Many of the Avengers know multiple languages, and they took to teaching you as much as they could. You even learned some Asgardian to impress Thor (he cried). Nat said it was a crucial skill to have.

“Like what?” asks Bruce, leaning in.

You look up as you think. “Russian, Italian, Spanish, some German, some Latin…” you trail off, “...etcetera. My dad has a lot of cool friends.”

A shared look of impressed spreads throughout the room.  Bruce hums, “and what about your father? What does he do?”

“He invents things. Right now he’s on vacation. Don’t remember where exactly he said, but he sends me money every now and again.”

Bruce gets a kind of sour look on his face before nodding. “Ah, sounds like quite the character,” Bruce responds with a nod, trying to maintain his composure. You sense there might be more to Bruce's reaction, perhaps his adoption senses are tingling (God forbid). The dinner conversation continues on lighter notes as everyone shares anecdotes and stories, keeping the atmosphere lively.

“Damian says you also like to invent and program things,” pipes up Dick.

“Yeah, I’m actually working on something right now. It’s pretty big, but hopefully it’s works,” you reply vaguely.

“Your father must be very proud of your accomplishments,” Bruce remarks, his tone measured. He gets a couple of side-eyes.

You nod. “Yeah, he always encourages me to pursue my interests. He’s pretty cool like that.”

Barbara chuckles, "It's always good to have interests outside of school. Keeps things exciting."

Tim nods in agreement, sipping his drink. “Yeah, I dabble in programming too. It’s a useful skill to have.”

After a while, Alfred brings out dessert - a decadent chocolate mousse that looks almost too good to eat. Everyone digs in eagerly, sharing their thoughts on the meal and enjoying the dessert in comfortable chatter.

Throughout the evening, you notice Bruce observing you with a mix of curiosity and concern, as if trying to gauge something beyond your words. His occasional glances toward Damian and Dick imply a silent conversation that you're not privy to, though you catch a few knowing looks exchanged between the brothers.

As the dinner winds down, Alfred discreetly clears away the dishes, signaling the end of the meal. You offer to help with the dishes, but Alfred kindly declines, insisting that you're a guest tonight.

Dick stretches contentedly, breaking the comfortable silence that has settled over the table. "Well, it's been great having you over, [Name]. Hope you enjoyed the meal."

"Yeah, thanks for letting me crash dinner," you reply warmly, smiling around the table. "It's been really nice."

Damian stands abruptly. “I believe [Name] should be heading home now,” he states, pointedly ignoring the snickers.

You nod, rising from your seat. "Right. Thanks again for having me, everyone."

“You’re more than welcome to stay the night, [Name],” smirks Tim. “We have plenty of room, though I’m sure Damian would be happy to–” Cass pinches Tim’s ear, interrupting his sentence.

You smile at their antics. “My cat is waiting for me, so I have to pass. I appreciate the offer, though.”

Bruce nods, his expression serious yet not unkind. "Anytime, [Name]. You're welcome here."

With a final round of goodbyes and well-wishes, you follow Damian out of the dining room. The atmosphere between you two is quieter now, the playful tension from earlier replaced by a sense of calm. "You enjoyed yourself tonight," Damian states, more a statement than a question.

You nod, a small smile playing on your lips. "Yeah, your family's pretty entertaining. I like their dynamic.”

There's a moment of silence as you both stand there, the air thick with unspoken thoughts and emotions. You take a step closer, closing the distance between you and Damian. His gaze meets yours, a mixture of intensity and vulnerability that surprises you.

"You know," you begin, your voice low, "I do really like teasing you, Damian. But I also... appreciate our time together." Your heart beats a little faster as you admit this, feeling vulnerable yet strangely liberated.

Damian's expression softens further, a rare vulnerability in his eyes as he looks at you. "I... feel the same," he confesses quietly, almost hesitantly.

Before either of you can say more, the door creaks open, and Dick pokes his head in with a cheeky grin. "Hey, you two. Hate to interrupt, but Alfred’s outside ready to take [Name] home."

Damian straightens abruptly, a hint of irritation flickering across his features. "We'll be there shortly," he replies tersely, clearly annoyed at the interruption.

Dick raises an eyebrow, his grin widening. "Sure thing. Don't keep Alfred waiting too long," he teases before closing the door.

You roll your eyes playfully at Dick's teasing as he disappears, leaving you and Damian alone once more. There's a brief moment where neither of you speaks, the tension palpable in the air. Finally, Damian breaks the silence.

"We should go," he says, his voice low but firm.

You nod in agreement, trying to dispel the awkwardness that has settled between you. "Right. Let's go."

Together, you and Damian make your way out towards the front door of Wayne Manor. The grandeur of the mansion surrounds you, yet it feels less intimidating now, having spent an evening with Damian's family. As you step outside into the cool night air, Alfred waits patiently by the car, ready to drive you home. Damian walks beside you, carrying your stuff, his demeanor slightly tense yet thoughtful.

As you approach the car, Damian walks up to Alfred and mutters to him. Alfred raises a prim brow, handing Damian the keys with a nod. He walks back towards the Manor, where you see the rest of the family either peeking out the door or straight up standing outside looking. You snort. Damian sets your stuff in the backseat, opening the passenger side door for you to enter. You hum in appreciation, sitting inside.

Bruce watches the car drive away, a pinch in his brow.

“I thought Damian liked Jon?” questions Duke.

“He does.” Barbara squints. Tim gestures to the leaving car. “Then what was that?” he asks. Cassandra hums. “He also likes them, he doesn’t know it yet. Or he is just in denial.”

“Well if Cass says it’s so, then it’s so,” nods Stephanie sagely. Alfred leans closer to Bruce. “They may become part of your brood yet.”

"Perhaps," Bruce murmurs quietly, more to himself than to anyone else. Duke leans in, intrigued. "You think they're good for Damian?"

Bruce considers his words carefully before responding. "I think [Name] challenges Damian in ways that are both positive and... complicated."

Inside the car, Damian focuses on the road ahead, his grip tight on the steering wheel. The drive is quiet. You watch as people go on with their lives. Very few people roam the streets at this hour. You steal glances at Damian occasionally, noting the tense set of his jaw and the focused look in his eyes.

As you approach your apartment building, Damian breaks the silence. "I apologize for my family's... curiosity," he says, his voice soft yet tinged with annoyance.

You chuckle softly, shaking your head. "It's alright, Damian. They just want to get to know me better."

Damian parks the car and turns to face you, his expression unreadable. "They can be... overwhelming at times," he admits reluctantly.

"You're lucky to have them," you remark sincerely.

Damian steps out of the car, grabbing your bag and walking you to the front door. The air feels like a stark contrast to the warmth of Wayne Manor. Damian's gaze meets yours, a flicker of something unspoken passing between you. You lean in slightly, hesitating for a moment before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, just like last night. Damian freezes for an instant, different to his lack of reaction before.

"Goodnight, Damian," you murmur, pulling back slightly.

"Goodnight, [Name]," he replies softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

With a final smile, you close the door behind you. Damian stands there for a moment longer before driving away into the night. As you enter your apartment, you're greeted by the familiar sight of Nari lounging on the couch. Your phone buzzes in your pocket.

‘All of your materials have been delivered to the address.’ is what greets you when you open up Victoria’s chat. You grin, sending a thank you. Your bed feels like heaven as you sink into it. Tomorrow real progress will be made, and you can’t wait.

notes: reader and damian are practically dating already lets be honest they just dont know it yet

[burnthatbridge]

forgive me, father (for i feel no sin)

eddie/father brian (+ kinda buddie) | E | 4k | hot priest hookup Eddie finds religion in a gay bar. Or, rather, he finds a man of religion in a gay bar.

Because Eddie is trying this new thing where he doesn’t blame himself for everything, he would like to blame it all on Buck instead. And, honestly, what happens probably has a whole lot more to do with Buck than he’s ready to acknowledge. But, as much as he wants to say it is, it’s not Buck’s fault. The night out might be for him, but Eddie was the one who suggested it.

Only, when he’d said they should all go out for drinks, as way to cheer Buck up after allowing him a couple of weeks of sulking over the breakup, he’d thought it would be their usual: he and Buck and Hen and Chim and maybe Bobby at a badge and ladder joint, drinking beers and splitting fries and shooting the shit. Casual, relaxed, familiar.

He hadn’t expected to end up at a gay bar.

Bobby isn’t in attendance but in his place are Karen and Maddie and Ravi and his boyfriend, Seb, and — to Eddie’s minor displeasure — Josh. It’s been a lot: the music loud and the lights colorful and the energy around them electric.

It’s been a lot, but it’s also been fun.

They had crammed into a booth together and done shots with outrageous names that Eddie would have blushed to say aloud. Thankfully Chim had been all too happy to order for them and get Maddie a soft drink with a somehow even cruder title. Buck has been well and truly pep-talked by a drunk Karen and a tipsy Ravi and an always shrewd Josh, sober or not.  And they’ve all had a turn on the dance floor: Buck demonstrating that he has two left feet, Maddie proving it’s an affliction that doesn’t run in the family.

Buck’s still out there now, with Hen and Karen, though Eddie’s lost track of them amongst all the other patrons, bumping and grinding to the music, the strobe lighting casting everyone in frozen snapshots. He’s retired back to their booth after fighting his way to the bar for a glass of water, sweat dampening his armpits, the small of his back, from his prior dancing and the hot, humid air of the club.

Maddie and Chimney have gone home — Maddie lamenting that the morning part of morning sickness is a big fat lie — but Seb and Josh are seated in the booth, chatting — or almost yelling, really, to be heard over the blaring pop music. Their glasses are almost empty of the cocktails Josh had left the dance floor to order them about the time Buck was boogieing to Beyoncé and no amount of fruity juice could have tempted Eddie away from the sight. There’s no sign of Ravi and Eddie wonders if he’s off braving the battle to the bar that he’s just been through, trying to win them the victory of another round.

He collapses onto the padded seat of the booth, perched at the end, unfortunately on Josh’s side to leave space for Ravi to sit next to his boyfriend when he returns. Downs his water, maybe a little too desperately — feeling some of it spill from the side of his mouth, track down his jaw — but he’s parched, fluids sorely needed to replace those lost while twirling Karen around, while proving he has better moves than Josh, while shouting along to the NSYNC song he knows all the lyrics to because Sophia was obsessed with them when they were kids (and maybe, secretly, Eddie liked them too — just a little bit).

Ravi appears as he’s setting his empty glass back on the table, but with no cocktails in hand. He looks freshly sweaty enough to have been out on the dance floor but, with the heat in the building, that could simply be the result of a walk to the bathroom. He leans into Seb’s side, says something that Eddie doesn’t even try to hear with how loud the intro to the Katy Perry song that the DJ has selected is playing.

Josh shifts closer to Eddie, conversation interrupted by Ravi’s return. He speaks loud enough and with his mouth close enough to his ear that Eddie hears every word, clear and fully intelligible. “That guy is watching you.”

read more on ao3

[missmarveledsblog]

Angel ( frank castle x reader )

SUMMARY : When frank meets Matt murdock's sister , he become intrigued more and more as he's around the  so called angel of hell's kitchen 

warnings : violence , fighting etc . mutual pining

Enemies to lovers

Eye scanning over the sign in such pride yet the occasion was not for such occasion , coming back to hells kitchen he was bound to find out she was home . so here Y/N stood outside NELSON AND MURDOCK LAW OFFICE ready to tell her brother she was home and a failure. The admiration didn't last long when she felt herself being pushed forward almost losing her balance completely. " asshole" she grumbled seeing the man not even stopping to apologise or even recognise his actions as he was walking into the same building .

She already rang Karen so at least one person was expecting her. Maybe the redhead could give her advice on the best way to break her news. Walking into the office she let her eyes scan around , it was the same as the pictures she was sent but being in the space physically was a whole other thing. She was proud of her brother and foggy , she used to tease the two and call them dorks all the time. Of course the same jerk from before was sitting there , deep expression on his stupid handsome face.

She rolled her eyes taking a seat barely sparing him a glance looking around to find a familiar face. She went to grab a magazine and heard a scoff looking to see the man's eyes locked on the one she had chosen . " typical" he muttered. " Excuse me, can I help you? '' she asked, almost gritted teeth . " No, just typical you type of gals go for that celebrity shit" he laughed. " You don't know me pal and all you should really be saying is sorry for nearly knocking me over but your type doesn't have a grasp on manners' ' she crossed her legs and began flipping through the articles . '' shouldn't have been standing in the middle of the sidewalk like a ditz then"he shot back . " should barge through people like you can't see them then" she growled. " Look when murdock comes, I'm seeing him first way more important than whatever you got going on" he scoffed. " how do you know what I want?" she rolled her eyes . " let me guess wanna bang pool boy and find a way out of the prenup" he chuckled. The sting of his words wasn't what she needed, not when she was looking down at the picture of her ex fiance and ex best friend's picture .

" hey y/n good to see you" Karen rushed to her side. " hey great seeing you actually i need to do something , i could meet you guys later at Josie's but don't tell my brother ok" she grabbed her things . " hey you ok" the red head face in concern til her eyes fell on the magazine. " shit i didn't know" she took it up . " i'll see you later" was all the girl called out, running out the office completely. " What's her problem?" the man scoffed. "Frank , that's Y/N as in Matt's little sister , she caught her fiance in bed with her best friend. I mean shitty enough dude's famous for some stupid business company so she has to see it everywhere" she ripped the magazine up . " ah shit" he sighed. " What did you do?" She shot the man a look . " i may have been a complete asshole and took my stress out on her, misjudged her completely too, i mean she looked at her , said she was her to get out of a prenup and banging her pool boy" he winced dodging the incoming balls of paper . " You know Matt's gonna kill you right , or she will" Karen growled, rushing off to find the woman herself.

What frank didn't expect was the two women walking backwards as a man held a gun at them . " sit there and tell me where Murdock is' ' he growled. "I'm Murdock '' her voice cool, calm and well intriguing to the man . " y/n i don't think matt can get you out of self defence murder twice '' Karen said confusing the gunman and frank castle . " i won't kill him but if he doesn't put the gun down i will severely hurt him buddy i ain't having such a great time so if you could fuck off it would be great" she huffed unbothered to the firearm directed at her. " you need help?,"Frank called both amused and curious about his tone . Usually he would handle the situation yet the women didn't seem to be worried . "No," she glared at the man . Frank watched as the man's eyes flickered between the two and her hand moved backwards feeling around the table. " Oh look it's matt" she smiled, making the man turn before she grabbed the armed hand , he watched as the magazine clip fell to the floor and she emptied the chamber in the ceiling before smashing the paper weight to the man's gut. " I warned you buddy I ain't having a good day. '' She huffed and punched him once and the man was out cold. "See I don't need your help or opinions" she turned to the man throwing the paper weight into his hands. " You should clean up" Karen winced seeing the blood on her knuckle.

" or you could explain why their bullet holes in my ceiling" she turned to see the familiar smirk of her brother . " what bullet holes, you can't see them" she rushed to him in a hug. " So if I was to stick my cane up there" he asked. " what the halloween prop you carry around" she shot back . " hey Y/N" . " Hey foggy" . " You ok?" Matt asked softly . " I mean i didn't kill him but he will have a headache" she looked down at the still unconscious man. " not what i meant" he chuckled. " I mean it sucked but Jesus those people were draining" she sighed hugging him again , he could tell she was lying but let it go as he squeezed her tighter. " Well, let's bring him to the office to see what he wants," he nodded to the man . "Well punisher there is waiting to talk to you and i need to get back to my hotel room but i'll meet you later" she walked out before they could say anything. " you told her?" Frank asked. " No, she's just good at that sort of thing," he chuckled .

Being in josie now that was way better than the gala's and pretentious socialite events. It was normal people with real life things going on . She saw her brother and the usual gang sitting as well as the man , who she now knew as Frank Castle . " hey angel's back" a voice called. " Yeah, I'm back," she laughed, heading towards the group. " Angel , devil really," Frank laughed. " except people know me" she said smiling a dig . " Hey, before I wanna apologise, I was having a bad day," he began . " and took it out on me yeah i got it" she shook her head rolling her eyes before heading to the bar before the man could even finish his apology. " hey i'm trying to be nice here" he followed. " Ok? You're still a dick , I mean I'm having a shitty time of it and I didn't take it out on those around me" she quipped. " usual please" she called. " Well then how can I make it up to you" he smiled. " Hmm that ones a thinker i'll get back to you" she smirked before taking a sip of her drink . " you're trouble," he shooting her a flirty grin . " You've no idea" she walked and left him standing there . " buddy she will have you praying" a man chuckled. " ain't that what angels are for" he chuckled, heading back to the group.

The rest of the night they let the worries of the world subside for once and enjoyed the moment . The flirty tension between Hell kitchens' own angel and the punisher was so immense that even her own brother could feel it. " I'm going to head off, I need to get up early to see some places" she yawned as they all booed. " hey i need a place to live plus you got jobs to be doing" she laughed . " Wait, I'll walk you back , lotta scary people out there" frank stood. " And I'm the scariest of them all so i'm ok" she laughed walking off . " She's not wrong," Matt snorted . " She is scary , she's made foggy cry before" Karen agreed. " that was only... five times" the man protested sloppily . " go follow after even i can see you want to" Matt teased. " Just don't sneak up on her," Foggy called. " How much is saying those two get together?" Karen asked . " We don't need to be on the obvious" Matt shook his head.

The dark streets of Hell kitchen held many memories both good and a lot of bad for the woman . passing the church seeing her standing there she shook her head still not as forgiving as her brother for the now sister's abandonment. The boxing gym her father spent time in training them both , to the old schoolyard she may have used to those lessons in .

she felt the presence following her like she was prey she felt it second she left the bar. Her brother wasn't the only one who could sense things turning to the dark alley . He stood wondering where the hell she went , one minute she was there and next gone in a split second , his boss wasn't going to be happy about that one that was for sure. Just as he walked further into the alley she watched from the shadows as he appeared making her roll her eyes she grabbed the familiar man holding her finger over her lips not to disrupt their new friend. She walked out, one movement swept his leg from under him and the mysterious man landed on his back. " Why are you following me , you know dark alleyways aren't safe right?" she asked, pressing her foot on his throat. Boss wants you , he knows you are special" the man choked out . " I mean of course I am but what does your boss think is so special?" she pushed harder. " he knows your enhanced" he spluttered and coughed. " your ex has been sharing it around sweetness everyone gonna want the angel" he grunted pulling a knife out only for her to kick it from his hand. " My ex lies honey I wouldn't listen to a word he says he told me he was eight inches " she walked just as he jumped up she swung around kicking him sending him to the ground .

" wanna tell me what that was about" Frank walked out by her side. " i may or may have not signed up for something when i was 18 turned out to be hydra and well got something extra in return" she shrugged. " extra?" . " yeah extra '' she shrugged and continued walking. They were out of the alley within seconds they were surrounded at gunpoint. " Will that extra help us here?" he asked, looking for his own plan. " can't a girl have a bit of mystery," she groaned, lifting her palms as the other men shouted for her to stop. The light on her palms glowing in a sort of purple hue as the guns they head pulled from their hands she used her other palm to pull the men to their knees as her own feet came off the ground . " You took long enough, '' she called out as the devil of hell's kitchen stepped forward. " i had a prior engagement," he gruffed. The two didn't speak for long when her hands pulled the guns apart tiny pieces falling to the ground as the men jumped up . the now devil and punisher fighting side by side in an all too familiar sequence of events . Her own feet hitting the ground panting, one of the assailants finding it the perfect opportunity to try grab her from behind that was til the back of her head hit his nose and the crack echoed through the streets before her hand grabbed his arm throwing him over her shoulder and hitting the ground with a thump . " this could have come up at any time" frank grunt dodging the incoming fists at his face . " I usually don't advertise to asshole men, I can levitate" she huffed, sending a punch to a man's gut . " Can you flirt another time?" Daredevil rasped, sending one to the ground as the three stood around now incapacitated men. " I'll leave the door open , you come on" she grabbed Frank's arm as the two walked off.

Thankfully due to the location and it being dead of night the staff in the lobby of the hotel barely batted an eyelash at their appearance when they strolled in clearly after some sort of altercation . " I'm surprised you're not an avenger or some shit" Frank quipped once both got into the elevator. " I turned them down, starks annoying" she winked until she felt the sting in her abdomen. " your bleeding heavy" he gruffed. " no shit Sherlock," she gritted . " we need to get you somewhere" he went to press the button but she grabbed his hand. " Just help me to my room" she panted, feeling the burning sensation taking over as the adrenaline was clearly wearing off. He wanted to yell at her but she knew more than he did in the situation so he held his tongue. Throwing one hand over his shoulder as his own wrapped around her waist keeping her supported, two walked down the hall as she gave directions to her room .

the minute the door shut she moved to the balcony door. Soon enough the man came in while she walked over toward the corner of the room and hands over the wound as she shoved something into her mouth. A muffled scream the men looked while a strong purple glow from her hands hit , she turned showing the bleeding stopped and the wound closed over. " See" she winced a sway in her step. " grab her she's going to pass out" Matt sighed before pulling the mask from his face. " why isn't this phasing you" frank brought her over laying her on the bed . " She's done this before huh?". " A few times actually , she nearly burned off tony stark's goatee after a comment on her ass " he walked towards the bed happy to hear everything appeared to be stable. " Why haven't you gotten her to help you out?" . " whether enhanced or not, she's my baby sister who used your brain" . " you Murdocks are trouble and pain in my fucking ass" frank huffed out pulling a bottle from the mini bar. " Well you like at least one of us and I know it's not me, '' he smirked.

" she is not safe here" he completely ignored the man's observation and sly comment . " I'll come back as well as me and we bring her back to mine , stay with her" Matt threw his mask on. " Well, where else am I going to go?" he looked up to see the man was already gone. " hate when he does that" he took his drink and seat . eyes stuck to her form how peaceful she was when her mouth wasn't running although he'd did secretly like it. But now that nickname angel made sense the ethereal effortless beauty that she had . He needed to stop staring before he got completely lost in her .

Matt returned half an hour later to some nervous looking kid driving the car as they carried her out . " how old are you 12 " Frank joked. " I'm the same age as Angel, I'm 24 sir" he squeaked out . " God Mr stark is gonna kill me" he muttered. " ok that's sorted come parker drive " matt got in the car . " She is still stable," he called back . " She hasn't woken up either, " Frank said, seeing her still sleeping head on his lap . " How's her healing factor holding? " the boy asked . " How's her, what , who is this kid". "Peter Parker sir , spiderman" he whispered in the last part . " She can heal herself," Matt added. "your fucking with me right" frank asked only for matt to lift her top slightly to show the wound from earlier was almost gone . " Anything else I'm missing here" he asked the two. "Not yet anyways thanks for lift kid" matt patted his shoulder as two got frank still carrying her as Parker drove off. " really he's the Web slinger" . " she waking up let her get inside" matt walked ahead. "Ominous asshole," Frank grumbled, stopping when he heard the little laugh . " hey if you're awake you can walk " he looked down to see her eyes shoot close making him laugh shaking his head carrying her in. " ok ok where here free ride over" she went to drop her but her feet hit the floor first.

"Little shit" he mumbled as she went straight to her bag. " oh shut up you were worried about her less than ten minutes ago" . " Worried about little old me , I'm honoured" she snorted, heading to the bathroom. " definitely a pain in my ass" he fell back on the sofa. " Yeah, tell that to you that thing you call a heart" matt chuckled. " fuck off and shut up" he added eyes locked towards the bathroom . " I hate to even say this but she's the same , she just hides it way better" Matt handed him a beer. " Who hides what better?" she asked. " Karen hides her feelings better" Matt spoke up . " Being blind didn't heighten your lying sense huh?" She took his own beer out of his hand before sitting on the sofa. " You sure he's actually blind though," Frank asked her. " finally someone else who questions it" she raised the beer up . " You two are made for each other" he walked out of the room . " we're right, I mean I changed this place around so many times and no accidents" she yelled out. "Goodnight assholes , angels don't cook, I don't need my place to burn down" he called back .

" pfft that was one extremely high as hell time and it only burned like half the kitchen down" she laughed nervously. " wait the saint in there let you get high" . " hey jesus isn't against weed , i mean i was first and last time was kinda snuck into a frat party , tried to be like yeah i'm cool , didn't end so well" she winced. " Something I gotta ask, how did you know who I was? Matt said he didn't tell you, " he asked . " I rang Matt during a time you guys were working together and well he said he was with a friend , the punisher you yelled for him to wrap it up along with more colourful words , so when i heard you today" she smiled . " Good memory," he nodded. " I've what they call the perfect brain. I don't use it that often clearly given my life choice but I remember things I hear and see made me prime candidate for that stupid trial they said it was" she grimaced . " the experiments , what made you do it?" . " Jesus, I never had so many questions and I've been arrested a lot" . " not very angel like now is it sweetheart" he teased . " I'm more fallen angel than heaven sent" she winked . " Well where did that come from then" he asked when he saw how her smile faltered. It seemed like the wrong question. " my dad called me , called me so many folks forgot i had a real name" her voice was less playful than before . " hey sorry i didn't mean to bring up anything bad for you" he rambled. " nah it's ok really , you wanna another beer , you hungry?" She stood up quickly. " I'll take the beer , I might pass on the food from that slight warning" he chuckled. " I'm ordering a pizza jackass" she rolled her eyes . " Well then yeah i could eat" . " I decide if you deserve it now" she tapped her chin walking backwards stumbling after hitting a chair . " blind my ass," she muttered as her cheek flushed and a frank laugh filled the living room.

" Hey, you're supposed to be on my side" she pouted. " with you murdock's nah" he shook his head. " oh shut up i'm already your favourite" she stuck her tongue out. " maybe" he muttered when she couldn't hear him . " I'd say we're even, I mean you being a dick at first to helping me out" she came in handing him the beer. " I think you owe me one for that actually" . " what would that be?". " I think you should let me think about that over dinner tomorrow night" he said calmly and cool yet his heart was beating so fast he was probably sure Matt could hear it and was gonna give him shit. " pick me up at 7" she played it cool and honestly glad her voice didn't betray her . " fuck it" was all she heard before her face was pulled toward him and her lips hitting his. It was sort of a kiss she never felt so much emotion in before , like maybe she was doing it totally wrong til now. She leaned more into the action tilting her head so she could deepen it. His hands gripping her waist before pulling her completely onto his lap like she was always meant to be there , the soft sigh from her lips told him she felt the same way . " NO HAVING SEX ON MY SOFA '' the yell made them stop ,foreheads resting against each other before they broke into a fit of laughter like two teenagers being caught by their parents. " would have been easier if he was deaf" she joked. " I HEARD THAT" . " to answer your question earlier , he definitely is not my favourite Murdock" he smirked before leaning up and capturing her lips again . 

[saras-almanac]

Being under the assumption that both Eddie’s and Bobby’s storylines will feature heavily in the last few episodes of the season with fallout and some consequences set up for season 8, I have some thoughts about what I want to see for the show since I’m procrastinating doing anything today…

Bobby – Having to actually physically face someone from the fire, I want that to be a big sign for Bobby to actually start working through his trauma and guilt in a way that doesn’t necessarily lead to a potential relapse story, but some tension with Athena because she can’t understand what he’s going through, how he feels really (similar to when he was helping that drunk driving woman after the pileup from Blindsided). Another thing I want is to see him taking more of an active role in his AA meetings—I want him to really start focusing on that so he can have friends outside of people he’s Captain of, plus it’ll help set up what his endgame should be: focusing on his meetings and helping people who have been at or are at rock bottom because he is someone who can really understand. And he doesn’t need to be a first responder to still help.

Athena – I literally just want her to interact more with Buck. (Though I literally want Buck to interact with everyone so much) If his apartment does burn down or he moves, maybe Athena offers him to stay at their place since Maddie and Chimney are dealing with their own stuff, Eddie’s off on his own, and it’s a bit too soon to fully move in with Tommy). But just imagine the talks they could have over tea late at night, both of them being night owls. They could talk about their careers, how to know when to keep trying for advancement or when it’s okay to be content where you’re at. Plus let’s say Athena gets drafted to help on a case of some sort, bringing home some files along with her notes, only to wake up in the morning to see Buck on his third cup of coffee and a full red string makeshift pinboard set up on the table going through all the potential theories. (Athena wants to be annoyed but also, maybe he’s on to something? And it’s not like he went out and started doing his own sleuthing and digging through someone’s trash so… )

Buck – Obviously next season I just want him and Tommy to still be together and their big storyline is working on continuing to build their relationship, especially allowing Buck to really be there for Tommy in a way that we’ve already seen Tommy do for Buck. I want their relationship to be settled and steady, even with the bumps and hiccups, but ultimately something that settles Buck so he can really focus on his career and what he wants outside of being a firefighter. (Obviously my endgame for Buck is being Captain at a different firehouse, or well on his way to actually being Captain). But there’s so much angst and humor to be had in the background where Buck/Tommy doesn’t have to take up too much space. Obviously the angst of if Tommy gets hurt or just learning about his past (which I have lots of thoughts about) and Buck learning to cope with that, still growing and getting better at direct communication. Which could lead into a funny runner in an episode where Buck goes around asking everyone (Bobby, Athena, Maddie, Chimney) how they handle it when their partner is hurt and how is the best way for him to comfort Tommy after a rough shift because he obviously wants to do it the best way possible because Tommy is the best and always seems to know what to do and Buck just wants to be the same for him—only for him to get his real answer from Karen (because I also want more Buck with Karen and Buck and Hen being siblings next season). Plus Buck could be in random scenes because he’s obviously getting kicked out of Bobby and Athena’s house at least twice a week for their roleplaying nights that Buck doesn’t want to really ask about but accidentally knows too much about, which also leads to him showing up at May’s one night when everyone else is at work or busy and they have that weird “do you know what I know about mom and dad” conversation about what their parents are getting up to. (Plus leaning into May and Buck developing a relationship could also show us a lot of both of those characters because it’d be in different roles than we’ve seen them—May as the younger sister, Buck as the older brother) Plus I absolutely need to see Buck and Carla being friends again.

Tommy – I absolutely want him to stick around and for them to start filling in the gaps of his life a bit more because he is a really friendly person and has buddies and people to hang out with, but he’s also really lonely and I think that’s why jumped all in with his friendship with Eddie and putting his best foot forward with Buck. Just want him around lol

HenRen – My most beloved ladies. I just want them to keep going and having them face outside challenges together, as a team. So next season could be them wanting to officially adopt Mara but it’s their first adoption (where the kid is not a baby) and they want to do this right, not making Mara feel pressured or like she has to accept this. Obviously them juggling Mara and their still complicated feelings about Denny reconnecting with Nathanial behind their backs is a really good story for them, and then what happens if they get more kids, or another case similar to Mara where it’s a slightly older child and it upsets the balance a bit more? I just love the idea of them as foster parents and want to keep exploring that, even if it is “repetitive” because it’s wonderful to see such amazing parents who are actively trying to be the best they can be and making sure to put their kids first. (Endgame for them, adopting a baby girl, which doesn’t make them love their other children less, but it’d be a really nice full circle moment of them with Denny and Nia, to this full-scale family) Would also love to see Karen interacting a bit more with people—I think at least starting with Chimney and Buck would be a really quick and easy way—Buck could be babysitting a bit, coming over for game nights, showing up randomly. Just a way to start getting Karen more featured because she is literally sunshine and I think it’d be really cool to see her talking about her job and Buck’s excitement and how he’d be super interested in it. (And maybe she’s starting to question if she wants to stay at her job, now with the kids and she’s not sure if she’s as excited about it anymore, or maybe she hasn’t fully been herself at work since the explosion… anything for Karen that’s not sad or too angsty because I can’t handle it. Or one of her brothers comes to stay for an undisclosed amount of time causing hijinx.)

Madney – Oh my god… These two need much less angst and just pure happiness forever. But obviously, that’s not going to happen. So what I would love to see is their storyline centered around the next steps for their family, namely whether or not they want more kids. Jee was a happy accident and they’d never not want her, but it does bring up the question of do they want more children? They both have some issues surrounding parental relationships, and while they’ve been working through them and are incredible parents themselves, would they feel ready or able to have another child or more children? Not to mention physically, for Maddie, would she be willing and able to put herself through that again? I don’t know. It’s something that could really give them a lot of meat in a story while not being needlessly overdramatic—Like my hopes for HenRen, I want them to face things as a couple and still support each other.

Eddie – I need him to be getting help. I want to see this story completely blow up in his face because he doesn’t really have a lot of storylines that deal with the fallout of his actions. And this will hopefully be something that is just him making the worst possible decisions ever and then seeing him lash out at people would be peak writing for this character, to watch him build himself back up and really allow him to have relationships outside of Chris and Buck. I know they’re all friends, but Eddie literally doesn’t really interact with anyone else. Would love to see him and Buck on the outs for a bit so they could both have scenes with some other people. Plus I’d love this story to lead to a happily single Eddie, realizing that he doesn’t need to have a partner just for Chris’s sake and that he’s not really interested in dating right now, despite the fact it feels like everyone in his life (his family) keeps pushing that on him. He honestly needs to do a lot of work on himself to be ready and able to be in a romantic relationship because Eddie is actually the worst in relationships—and whether that’s only because he’s still dealing with Shannon’s death and the way he’s clearly romanticized their past or because he genuinely doesn’t want to date or doesn’t know how to date, we can explore. I want to know more about Eddie because from the beginning he’s basically just been Single Dad Veteran and I don’t feel like they’ve really given him much else until this season. Let Eddie be alone so we can actually learn who he is more before he gets into another relationship—or crazier yet, allow for Single Representation Eddie where he ultimately decides he’s happier alone and doesn’t need anyone.

Josh – My endgame for Josh is obviously him taking over Sue’s position at the Call Center—which would obviously lead to Maddie officially taking over Josh’s spot. But like Buck, I want Josh to have a little more stability in his life so he has stuff outside the call center to help balance himself when he does take on that role. Could be a really great way to sort of mirror Buck and Josh—both of them knowing what they want to do and being really great at it but having no real idea of what to do if that’s taken away. Josh sort of stumbled into this job and excelled at it immensely, but sort of at the expense of his own personal life (plus the trauma of his last “official” experience with dating). Whereas Buck’s never really set aside his personal life for his job but hasn’t ever really found that balance of both with someone who really gets him. So there could be a lot to explore with them as an option. I just want to see a bit more of Josh and maybe he gets a boyfriend or at least starts to date again.

Ravi – I have no idea what I want for him other than for him to be around. In my ideal endgame, he’s obviously taking over Buck’s role at the 118, so maybe just keeping him involved in the crew more. Maybe he has a big dramatic storyline for season 8, dealing with his past or getting injured or showing how he withdraws very quickly. I don’t know he’s sort of a blank slate so they could really do anything with him. I just want to see him around more.

Basically I just have a lot of thoughts and wanted to write them all out here because why not.

[daniclaytcn]

I have been telling my friends that season 7 is a bridge. Also, that Tim had a plan and as he wasn’t in the last 2, the story isn’t as he planned so he spent the whole season taking the characters there. Meaning healing from last trauma to add new traumas and building the foundations for the next season, foundations he thought were going to be build.

For example:

- Chim and Maddie fostering Mara is the bridge to Maddie and Chim having another child, maybe adopting this time.

- Hen and Karen will adopt Mara, and I’m not quite sure about the next step because I’m thinking about Captain Hen but I don’t think it’ll happen in the next season.

- Bi Buck we know what bridge that is even if some people don’t want to accept it.

- Eddie, being bad written, is the bridge to prioritising and putting himself first for them establishing boundaries with his parents. (Kind of Buck did). Also, to discover himself and what he really wants. Healing.

- Bobby to realise he’s a hero and that his works wasn’t over, especially now that Gerrard is back.

- Athena hasn’t been a proper cop this season and both times (Harry incident and whatever the fuck was the Amir thing) she has used her power so I think something will happen there that’ll make her stop and think.

The reason why the wasn’t room for development is because for some stories, it was the end (Chim being traumatised in his wedding by Doug) and for other stories it was the beginning (the whole episode 7x10)

i'm sorry, i don't want to sound like i'm being dismissive of your opinion because you're entitled to it, but i don't agree with any of this. to start with, it's too bad that tim couldn't tell the story he wanted to after s4, but that's not an excuse for him to come back two seasons later, throw a temper tantrum and ignore everything that's happened since that isn't convenient for him. lol. as for the rest, let's break it down:

this sets up for maddie and chim having another child...except we don't actually KNOW how THEY feel about it. they've never talked about having more kids, let alone fostering. we never saw any of this from their POV, we were just up and told that they wanted to do it for henren. which is a beautiful thing for them to do, but we don't know what they feel about it, if they've considered the logistics of having a second child, about jee having a sibling—none of it!

my issue with henren this season was that they recycled the plot of them having trouble with expanding their family for, what, the...third time? it's so tired and feels like misery porn at this point (and let's not even get into the uncomfortable racial elements around the way mara was written in 7x05).

something as monumental as the bi!buck arc should have been explored better. sorry. aside from his conversation with maddie, we barely got to see buck do any kind of serious self-reflection about this major part of his identity and his relationship with tommy, has, well. it's just been written in a very strange and off-putting way post 7x05. sorry to say.

whatever happened with eddie is really not the way to get him to prioritize himself! think about it. for the first time he prioritized his own grief in trying to get catharsis with kim. and it backfired on him spectacularly. he hurt his kid. he lost christopher. i don't think he's ever gonna recover from this guilt. if anything, what's happened will only reinforce his belief that he should never prioritize himself, ever. the thing with kim didn't lead to any kind of healing, it made everything a million times worse. he was quite literally punished by the narrative for his grief and it's quite sickening. and given how things were handled this season i highly doubt it will be treated with any kind of nuance or care in the next.

this has not been the first time athena has abused her power—only the most egregious instance of it—and it won't be the last. if abusing her power in s1 and harassing a teenage girl then didn't get her to stop and think, i don't think this will. sorry.

my entire point, is that most of the things you've mentioned here was incredibly last minute. madney fostering mara. the eddie/kim plotline. eddie's conflict with chris. the bobby and amir plotline. everything in 7x10 felt like an afterthought. why is it that bobby's life was in serious danger and yet we barely saw anything of him? why didn't we get to see more the firefam being worried over him and holding vigil? how is it that eddie and chris didn't even have a single conversation before chris went away to a different state?

you don't use all ten episodes of a season just to set up new plot points for the rest without developing or concluding the stuff already going on in a meaningful manner that makes sense. sorry.

[safety-pin-punk]

firstly, I love your blog and it's been a great resource to have as I've been learning abt punk! I hope you're well & ty for everything you do <3 do you have any advice for finding punk communities, both irl and online? I really wanna talk to ppl abt everything I'm learning and loving, but it's really hard to find communities. besides the landmine of trying to avoid nazi punks and the like, I don't rlly drink or anything so bars/clubs can be weird -teacupqueer/persie

Thank you so much!! I’m doing pretty well!

Finding Punk Communities Online:

I’ll be honest, I can really only speak on behalf of tumblr here. I don’t use other socials all that much.

But! If you want to find a fun awesome punk community on tumblr, you are already off to a great start! Find a punk blog you like or who has similar music taste, see who they reblog from and tag in their posts. I’ve met a LOT of really cool people this way on here! (Shoutout to @polyamorouspunk and @my-chemical-ratz whose blogs you should check out simply because they are cool people). And I’ve also met people who are in bands, or involved with bands (like @necromancy-savant and @dopamineband (who don’t use their tumblr anymore 😭)). I didn’t meet these people right away, it took a while of steady interaction with tumblr to build up these connections.

There are also Discord communities too, I don’t use discord much but I *think* (?) I saw a post go around a while ago where someone was starting up a punk discord server? Honestly maybe I’ll take the time to start one up, it might make me use Discord more lmao

Finding Punk Communities IRL:

Bars and clubs aren’t the only places to find punks!!

I’d recommend checking out any queer spaces in your area, I doubt it would surprise you to learn how often these two groups overlap.

Also! If you are near a city, chances are you have an underground scene somewhere. Google and Reddit are great resources to find the places punks gather in your city. For example: in my city theres a cafe and record shop that are popular among the alternative crowd that I never would have found without the use of Google.

Otherwise, what are your hobbies? If you like gardening/are into solar punk, see if theres a local gardening club! (I’d say a 50/50 chance of punk or karens tbh with this one).

Start up a book club at a local library that focuses on books like 1984 and Brave New World.

Go to gigs that arent at bars or clubs, I went to one back in February that was at an abandoned church, that was turned into a concert venue. The place was child friendly so there was no alcohol, but there were a lot of cool people there!

And the best tip I have for you to avoid nazis is to just know their symbols and signs. Do a bit of research on it and familiarize yourself with what to avoid

As always, other suggestions for anon are welcome!!

[fry-or-die]

kakihara and ichi are really interesting parallels... kakiharas violence and ichis violence has the opposite effects too, because of how they act.. I feel like in a way kakiharas is appealing? im not a freak but I feel like everyone was entertained by the things he was doing, the high he got off of it was fun to see.. while ichi as a character in general, is the childishness to kakiharas maturity. hes still getting pleasure out of it yeah, but its especially apparent in the last fight.. maybe its cause of kakihara being unceremoniously beaten and seeing ichi like that? was so disappointing not seeing him be able to enjoy it

like idk if this makes sense but I'll put it like this;

kakiharas violence is the most appealing because you can see him enjoying it sincerely whether its on himself or someone else, and its sometimes a lil comedic (gun rimming) or kinda sexually appealing (karen stabbing someone as he smiles) what im tryna say is that its easier to see him a certain way, hes an older man, hairy and flabby, scarred and pierced with a thick tongue

ichis violence refuses to be appealing to anyone, because you see how he has to be stuck in his trauma for so long and be manipulated by jijii to do it properly. his face and crying while he kills also refuses to be appealing. he doesnt really have control, so he wants to hurt people to gain it back. even wanted to abuse the only person who stuck up for him in school because of that- but its also sad at the same time because hes deluded himself into thinking that she'd want it to be that way? in both instances where he was with a woman that reminded him of that girl, he thought that they enjoyed being hurt, and he even had a moment of clarity after jijii told him off.. it was short lived because it made him question if he should kill. really tragic shit. I don't think he "became normal" either, not just cause he started crying again when he was almost attacked- but because of how that girl reacted when he asked her out.. it was kinda weird! like maybe hes abusive behind closed doors..? maybe im wrong though and hes just a douche at worst. one way they showed how ichi thinks is by having him only really interact positively with jijii, kaneko, his son and a boy. two kids.. and he teaches em to fight because he sees himself in them. so maybe showing him interact with someone his age is proof enough that hes normal? eh. i still hold that somethings up. ichis a smooth faced young man with a strong build, short hair and bright eyes, hes tall and shy looking, and overall extrmely plain. contrasting kakiharas insanely unique design

also i think ichi "getting stronger" is like, super funny too. like a twisted look on a shonen protag that wants to be the best at whatever. thats all i wanted to say though, i hope this makes sense.

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

Hello! :)

How would your main 10 skeletons react if their child was chosen for a main role in a play/dance and have been practicing for over a year for the role only to be replaced and not have a role at all?

This actually happened to me when I was taking dance :(

Hope you have a nice day/night!

Undertale Sans - He's sad for his kid, but that happens. It's alright though. If Sans has one weakness, it's clearly not bear to see his family sad. Not only he's going to find you another role, but it will be ten times better than the one you had. He didn't hesitate one second to use Mettaton to have access to some cool opportunities.

Undertale Papyrus - He's so mad they ditched you like this. It's maybe touching him a little more than it should be as well as he used to get ditched from everything as a kid. He still assures you it has nothing to do with your skills and that he's sure you'll find another opportunity soon. Not two days later, he convinces Mettaton to hire you. Being an international star is way better than some role in your school.

Underswap Sans - That's life, kiddo. It's unfair, but it happens often. Blue tries to comfort them the best he can, but he can tell you're disappointed. It's ok though, you can still use what you learn to try somewhere else. He believes in you, he's sure you can find a better opportunity!

Underswap Papyrus - He's so mad at your teacher for just ditching you for no reason. It's unfair, and you clearly wanted to participate a lot. After trying to beg your cause at the school, he's involving some local journalists to make everyone realize how stupid they are to not accept their daughter! He wins in the end and you get your role back.

Underfell Sans - He tells his kid that they didn't deserve them anyway because they're too good for their shitty show. Red is so gonna hack the show to put videos of you training in the middle of the dance performance so everyone sees what they lost. He doesn't care if he gets into trouble. Not his fault you're all jealous.

Underfell Papyrus - He goes full Karen mode and he's storming the dance class to say what he thinks of that bullshit decision. He pays for lessons for his child all year, he even buys them private sessions. Either you pay him back or he's suing you, and oh boy, you don't want him to sue you when he's the best lawyer in the city. Either you give back their child's role or you're going in prison for stealing his money.

Horrortale Sans - He feels guilty. He can tell that's because the kids are scared of him when he's coming to take you home at the end of your classes. You tell him it's not his fault they're racist bitches and that you prefer to leave than support their anti-monster bullshit anyway. He's so proud of you. He's going to help you find another role though. He wants to help.

Horrortale Papyrus - He can tell immediately it's because he's scary and the other parents complained. But that's not going to happen. There's no way you're dropping your dream role for some racist idiots. He's going to tell them what he thinks of this, and of how ashame they should be for showing such an example for the young generation. He casually threatens to sue them for discriminating his child as well because it's what it is: discrimination for being a monster. He's not going to tolerate this. That's ten years since the monsters are out of the Underground, get over it already!

Swapfell Sans - That's fine, he simply pays the class director and tells them nicely that if they keep causing trouble for his child, he's closing their business definitely. The director screams at him for trying to buy privileges. The next day, the building mysteriously explodes during the night. How could that happen? O:

Swapfell Papyrus - That's fine. When you're down, nothing is better than a little revenge. You spend the night throwing dog poop and eggs at every window of the building lol. Rus switches on every faucet of the building too and let them run the entire weekend. Someone is going to have a surprise on Monday. And a water tax so high they're going to faint. That's for the money he lost in their stupid school. He's going to find another role for his kid after that.

Fellswap Gold Sans - Oh, it's fine. He simply goes to see your teacher and gives them the scare of their life by threatening them with his bones and blasters. Either you give their role to their kid or... Well, you don't really want to know what can happen, right? :)

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He's disgusted your school would do something so lame after such a long time training. He assures you you're a good dancer though and that they're losing more than you, because you're clearly going to find something better and make them all jealous. When you find a new role, he's sticking posters of your show everywhere on and inside your old school so they all see what they missed.

[kinardsevan]

Ok so for Gerrard’s arc, I have a new idea 😂

So god willing, Brian Thompson will only be in 3 episodes (nothing on him, just his character 😂) and not half the season. So here’s what I want:

Character focused episodes for his arc. I feel like we should start with Eddie, given he was the one left most hung up in 710. We see his summer without Christopher, his struggles to deal and also going back to therapy, really getting down into the worst of what’s still affecting him about losing Shannon. I’d love to see him do a support group for widows and meet someone, even if it’s just another guy friend who can relate. This helps with his relationship with Chris, but maybe he isn’t ready to come back home right away, but that’s okay because Eddie is also finding his stride in learning how to deal with being alone.

Episode 2, I want Hen and Chim. We see Hen and Karen dealing with fighting to get Mara back, all the tangles that they go through with the adoption process, fighting to bring down Ortiz, etc. by the end of this episode, they’re starting to get things in order for Mara to come back home and it’s all looking good. (We’re also getting updates on how Eddie is doing in therapy, etc).

Episode 3 we get Buck and Bobby. We see how Gerrard’s return has affected Evan and Tommy (in good and bad ways, what anxieties it’s brought up for both of them etc), while Bobby is dealing with (literal) home issues, finding a new house in the current market, him and Athena living out of their suitcases while they shuffle between hotels and the 118 sharing their homes (Buck and Eddie esp).

On the option of doing 2 people per episode, if we get Ravi as main cast, he could be included here. We see him and Eddie struggle the most in the beginning with Gerrard because of his racism. (If we also find out Ravi is LGBTQ, this would be an added layer, as the fandom seems to have decided that).

I definitely see Hen and Chimney being the most protective, although Buck will be too, at first. He’ll be least likely to fall into Gerrard’s wrath due to being a white, straight-presenting male who’s just fallen in with the wrong people. Gerrard will think he can educate Evan out of that role. I can even see him being a bit of a shrinking violet, kinda falling into Tommy’s ways of just removing him from the situation as much as possible because he’s trying to protect both himself and Tommy. But then something happens, maybe to Eddie, and Evan feels guilty for it. He tells Tommy about it, expecting sympathy, but Tommy calls him out for doing exactly what he did when he was at the 118, and that’s what flips Buck. He shows up at work the next day and is in full support of his friends again, but this is what gets Gerrard to turn on him, thinking the pretty cis-boy was on his side only to find out he’s not just been playing him, but he’s bisexual and sleeping with Tommy.

Shit gets bad from there. None of them have respect for Gerrard, and they want to stage a mutiny, but Bobby is there to remind them all that this is their job and the man is still in charge, regardless of how much they all hate him. Except they’ve been doing everything the right way for months. They’ve filed complaints, they’ve covered each others backs and stayed out of trouble on calls, but this man doesn’t give a fuck about them.

I really do feel like his undoing will be Buck, because he’ll see him as a turncoat. Most likely a callback to Tommy’s near death, with Eddie or Chim going in after him. Gerrard swears it’s all the kid’s fault and he had no idea that he was still in the building (they all know damn well that he did).

Bobby finally finds a house. Hen and Karen finally get told Mara can come home. Chris is talking to Eddie again. Personally, all of them are thriving. Except for the part where their boss almost got their friend killed.

They show up at Simpsons office in a united front, and tell them that if Gerrard stays, they all walk. He’s racist, homophobic, abusive, and almost got one of their friends killed just a few days ago. Simpson isn’t quite sure he wants to see them win by mutiny, and tells them that this kind of behavior won’t be tolerated.

And then Tommy and Evan walk in (they’re late coming from the hospital and for whatever reason in my head, Evan is on crutches) and tell him that they walk too. And maybe Simpson is okay with an entire firehouse kinda, but losing one of his pilots, especially one who brings him press, well that could cause a domino effect with an entire class of LAFD walking. So he gives in.

I feel like there would be some kind of caveat to this; like maybe Bobby is interim chief and they have to be overseen by someone else (maybe Simpson himself being around a little more regularly), but they get what they want, mostly bc Simpson can risk his planned bid for mayor in the spring. We end the arc with Gerrard out, our people doing better. Final scenes have Mara coming home officially, Eddie on a call with Chris about coming to visit (for thanksgiving break? Idk), maybe staying longer. Bobby and Athena get keys to a new place (maybe they’re renting?). Chimney and Maddie are ready to finally settle back into marriage by themselves after all the chaos. Life is good. And then we get our bow tied with Evan and Tommy at home (whether they still live separately or together is fine either way), Tommy massaging Evan’s bad leg, both of them glad that Gerrard is gone. Maybe this is where we get the vulnerable discussion of Evan telling Tommy he thought he might leave, because that’s what people do when he gets hurt. And Tommy tells him he’s not leaving because he loves him.

Or maybe they just have a sweet moment at home, idk lol. But this is something I could more realistically see happening with the arc (and would prefer).

[xlovely-daydreamsx]

IFHY CH. 1 (Miguel O’Hara x Reader)

God, he can’t stop himself now. Not with how you peer up at him through long lashes, eyes glazed over with lust. Not with how your tongue darts out to lick your lips and he thinks about capturing them in his own, biting at them until they’re red and swollen and that adorable pout is forever plastered on your face.

He watches your fingers glide under the waistband of his suit, manicured nails scraping lightly against the skin there and he almost moans. 

How long had it been since he let another person touch him like this, or rather, at all?

Warnings: nsfw (18+), possesiveness, rough, mild blood, dirty talk, mentions of character death, you and miguel are both sad and bad at coping

Word Count: 4085

Note: This might be an ongoing series because I have So Many Thoughts. Feel free to send me asks about anything confusing, and let me know if I should continue to post this here or not... IFHY is a Tyler the Creator song, which y’all should listen to - it’s my Miguel’s anthem basically lmfao. ANYWAYS pls enjoy i appreciate u all!

When the spiders begin to infect your world, you know the only person who can keep things under control is you. At least, you’re the only one anyone would hold accountable if they decided to do something… unsavory, and if the large black hole in the middle of New York City was indicative of anything, it was that the spiders were nothing but trouble.

Peter called you first, because he always did. 

“Uhm, boss lady, there’s some other Spider-Men here, and they want me to join some secret society? I think I’m being recruited into the Illuminati…” he trails off, obviously whispering into the phone. Since your father had passed, Peter had sort of… leaned on you, in a sense. You hadn’t any recollection of meeting the boy despite his Avenger status, but he looked at you with so much melancholy in his gaze that you knew he must see something of Tony in you, and you’d allow it simply to make yourself feel better. Nobody thinks you’re anything like your dad, but on days like these, you can only wish you were.

“I’ll be right there, Pete.” You mumble back, setting his location into KAREN and heading out, thick black wings spreading behind you, launching you into the night.

The explosion comes moments after.

You see it in the sky - a clash of black and white that seems unworldly, knocking the wind from beneath your wings and sending you flying back, tumbling towards one of the hundreds of towering buildings in New York.

Crack. You hear it as you collide, feeling the dig of concrete and glass into your back - a feeling you’re all too familiar with, and yet it seems like so long ago that you had felt it last. It’s almost… exhilarating. 

You steady yourself with a foot against the building, launching yourself off of it and back towards the wreckage of whatever unfortunate event was unfolding in your city.

You watch beeps, signaling your close proximity to Peter and you begin your descent to him.

It was horrible, really, how excited you were at the idea of a fight. The last time you had been involved in something like this was with him by your side… maybe if everything went awry, you could join him soon enough.

There’s a huge fucking hole in your city, you realize as you approach.

“KAREN,” you speak into your wrist as you glide by, “send the bots out to scan and contain the area.” She replies with a conformation, but you’re too transfixed on the pit beneath you. It’s horribly, endlessly back, and you feel yourself being tugged towards it ever-so-slightly as you fly. 

You need to find Peter, and fast.

You see the other spiders before you see yours. There’s three of them, all with striking blue and red suits, drawing your eye in curiosity. They all looked so… different. You expected some evil version of Peter, red eyes and big fangs and very obviously variants of your Spider-Man, but the crowd that greets you is nothing of the sort.

You plummet down to the surface, positioning yourself in front of your spider. His suit glimmers with gold and metals- a suit your dad supposedly had made for him.

Looking at it makes you a little queasy, and you fight the urge to stare at your palms, covered in the same glittering metals.

“(Y/N)!” Peter sounds so relieved. He’s always happy to have that weight off his shoulders, free of carrying the burden all on his own. You wonder how long he’d been doing so before you recruited him into the New Avengers.

You wonder how anyone could give up control like he can.

“I guess you guys haven’t gotten the memo,” you gesture at the trio of spiders in front of you. A biker chick, a ballerina, and the biggest fucking beefcake you’ve ever seen in your life; it’s somehow not the weirdest group of friends you’ve seen in your days in the city, “but Earth-616 is closed for tourism and immigration. I don’t care what planet, galaxy, dimension y’all are from, but you need to leave.”

“Sorry, pendeja, we’re not here for you. This is obviously Spider-Man business, no?” The beefcake speaks, strolling towards you leisurely. His arms are crossed, horribly large things that strain under the fabric of his suit. You smile warmly at him, cocking your head.

“Mmh, no.” The smile drops, “I am Earth-616’s representative, not Spider-Man.”

“I work for her!” Peter points at you, nodding to the other Spider-People. You try not to cringe.

“That’s your problem, not mine. My problem,” he points behind you at the gaping hole in the city, “is that.” He’s closer to you now, absolutely looming over you, and it’s then that you realize how truly large he is. You’d always been on the smaller side of the scale, but his stature was all encompassing, his shadow engulfing you with no effort at all. 

You watch as his eyes drift down to you, then back over your head at the pit, and with a little jingle on your watch, you’re prompted to bring your eyes to it, too. Your drones had arrived, and were making quick work of scanning the hole and surrounding areas.

“Don’t worry, little buddy,” you reach up and pat his arm - oh my God, he’s rock fucking solid, “I’m already taking care of it.”

He practically growls at you, “You don’t have the technology to take care of it; we barely do, and this is our specialty.” 

“Was that supposed to sound impressive?” He grimaces, “It’s okay to admit that someone’s better than you.”

The scowl he gives you sends a shiver down your spine.

“Look, I don’t have time to argue with some… little girl, okay? That hole could destroy your universe, do you understand? Now, step back and let us do our work.” You simply watch him as he steps past you to the ledge of the building, rocketing himself off of it. He flies for a minute, rather impressively, you might add, but it isn’t long before he approaches the hole and slams into something transparent, a ripple of blue emanating from where he collided with your drones’ protective barrier.

You turn to the other spider-people, who you can tell are trying to hold back laughter.

“Now, are we open to collaboration?”

Your house is so empty. Apartment, penthouse, whatever you want to call it, it was always the same when you got back. No laughter, no steps echoing through the hall, no glasses clinking in the kitchen. It’s just you and the ghosts of the life you’ll never get back.

So, when you enter the penthouse with a visitor in tow, the sound of his footsteps following close behind you - something other than the sound of your keys jingling and your ragged breathing - it almost feels alien to the space around you. This home wasn’t meant for people anymore; this was your silent prison.

But it’s comforting in a way. It feels familiar… melancholic. 

“You’ve got this whole place to yourself?” He lets his eyes wander over the space as you lead him down the hall, past the kitchen and towards the stairs.

“Yup,” you say with a pop of the P, sounding characteristically unenthusiastic about it. What you wouldn’t give to have that be untrue.

“It’s not as fun as you’d think it would be,” you lead him down the stairs, down, down, down towards the lab. Your father’s lab, which you haven’t bothered to enter in so many months. You had let Sam and Rhodey take whatever they wanted, but you hadn’t bothered to look. There was nothing worth seeing down here, anyways.

“I know it’s not,” he replies like it’s the most casual thing in the world, like everyone knows what it’s like to be totally, truly alone like you, “the silence is… too much.”

You don’t know how to respond, so you simply type in your code, allowing the glass door to slide open for him. The room is big, much bigger than you remember but somehow suffocating all the same.

You realize after a moment that there isn’t a single suit left in the lab, and you wonder if they really needed them, or if it was some kind of kindness for you.

You elect to stop looking.

“Make yourself at home, big guy.” You say, making quick work of cleaning your desk by simply wiping it all onto the floor with a clang. You don’t know what it was going to be, nor do you care to - he wasn’t there to help you finish it, and you had more work to do than ever. “KAREN, pull up our data on the big hole, please.”

‘Our earlier scans indicate that the hole is actually a large concentration of Anti-Matter,’ her robotic voice thrums through the room, holograms of information popping up all around you, ‘our drones have managed to contain it for the time being, but it seems to be trying to expand within the barrier’s perimeters.’

“I have one of those, too,” Miguel says behind you, too close for comfort. His presence is all-encompassing, casting you in a shadow, 

“A big hole?” You cock your head, and he only shakes his head disapprovingly.

“LYLA, pull up our data to compare.”

Another voice chimes as a little woman appears in front of you, a pout on her face.

“What, I don’t get a please? KAREN got one,” her eyes drift to you, “can I work for you instead?” Miguel just sighs, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Now, please, LYLA.” She smiles, and your blue holograms are soon accompanied by orange, merging together in a technicolor lightshow in front of you both. 

“A lot of this data actually overlaps,” LYLA says, flickering in and out of view all over the room, inspecting everything you have to offer, “but your drones missed a few key components.” She expands a few pieces, covering you in the orange light of her holos. 

It’s times like these that you wish you really were Tony Stark’s daughter- then you might have a tiny bit of his intelligence to understand what was in front of you.

You’d figure it out eventually, though - you always do.

You can’t help but notice how much he looks at you. Your work had been rather silent so far, only small comments made when absolutely necessary on his part, but his eyes say more to you than anything else. Deep, dark circles that match your own, watching every move you make. Every bend, stretch, turn - his eyes are on you, tracing your delicate form.

You were well aware of the effect you have on men. Since you were young, much too young, you had known - you were the cover of Playboy at 16, Vogue and Cosmo in the following years, now too many to count. Teenage heartthrob (Y/N) Stark, just as wild and untamed as her father had been. At least, that’s always what they had said. You never tried to seduce anyone, but who wouldn’t want to be on their knees for a Stark?

Miguel, apparently, because every time you would catch his gaze he would avert it, avoiding your attention like the plague. He’s like a wild animal, cornered, threatened, by you. By your mere presence.

To be completely honest, it bothered you. Everyone wanted you, would try to take a bite whenever opportunity arose, so what was so special about him? Why wouldn’t he try? 

If you know anything, it’s that men love the chase.

And yet he won’t chase you at all.

It’s… irritating, you decide, but a good challenge nonetheless.

“You know,” you say, breaking the silence. You find yourself approaching his workspace, feet moving without any real thought behind it.

“You look lonely,” your hand trails against the desk and he watches as it glides across the sleek metal, his shoulders tense but unmoving, “We could keep each other company.”

You’re in front of him now, his knees slightly spread as he sits, and you knock them with your own to make room for yourself, sinking in between the space he makes for you.

“(Y/N),” he practically growls, and you know he wants it just as much as you do. You know he doesn’t think he deserves it. You know it’s an act of self punishment, so you ignore it. 

Your hand glides across the fabric of the suit straining against his thick, muscled thighs. You trail higher, higher up to the V of his hips and he releases a shuddering breath. Fingers searching until they find the button they’re looking for, allowing the lower half of his suit to release.

“Do you want me to?”

“Do you want me, too?” She asks him, her touch featherlight on his skin. She sets him ablaze, sending shivers wracking his body and a growing heat in his groin that he hasn’t felt in so long, save for lonely nights in his quarters, fisting himself shamefully in the shower and washing the evidence of his crimes down the drain. He needs it more than he’s willing to admit, and the way your voice echoes in his ears, soft and sweet and innocent. He can’t bring himself to tell you no, even though he knows you’d never ask him such a thing if you really knew him. But you want him, and it’s been so long since someone has wanted him, so he simply threads his fingers through your hair. 

God, he can’t stop himself now. Not with how you peer up at him through long lashes, eyes glazed over with lust. Not with how your tongue darts out to lick your lips and he thinks about capturing them in his own, biting at them until they’re red and swollen and that adorable pout is forever plastered on your face.

He watches your fingers glide under the waistband of his suit, manicured nails scraping lightly against the skin there and he almost moans. 

How long had it been since he let another person touch him like this, or rather, at all?

You pull the waistband down, down until his cock springs out of its place under the fabric, the head already pink and dripping.

Jesus, he looks so large compared to you. Your hands barely fit around it, the length of it seemingly almost as big as your head. You were so small, though - everything about you was small, and yet you acted so much larger than life that he had forgotten how fragile you appeared to be. He can’t forget it now, though - not with the comparison right in front of him; not with the way you were on your knees for him.

You place small kisses against his length, moving ever higher and leaving a trail of spit behind that left him aching. You sent him a coy smile before you licked against his tip, precum smearing on your lips like gloss. You take the head in easily, tongue swirling across the slit in a way that makes his hips buck up, but you keep your composure, a small hand against his pelvis to push him back down.

He reaches for it, taking your wrist in his hand, which completely engulfs you.

“Muñeca,” he lets out a shaky sigh, “I know you can take it.” No more words are needed - he knows you understand with the way you gaze up at him, your jaw going slack and your tongue laying flat underneath his cock. He tightens the hand in your hair and pushes you down, thrusting deep into your throat. He keeps pushing, fucking into you like a fleshlight, feeling the warm wetness of it with every motion. He wanted to mould you to the shape of his cock, have you still feel the ghost of him every time you swallow, missing the feeling of choking on him.

You gag around him but stay lax, pliant - obedient. Those eyes, God, glossy and tearful, but wanting. You want this, him, you want him, you want him-

He pushes your head down to his pubes, holding you there as your throat constricts around him and he cums deep, an iron grip keeping you in place as he empties into you.

With a rough shove, you’re off his cock and you stumble backwards off your knees, catching yourself on your hand as you cough. He barely gives you a second before an impossibly large hand grabs your face, fingers pushing roughly into your jaw.

“Show me,” he commands, and you oblige without complaint, mouth open and tongue out with an aah.

“Mi niña buena, no? So hungry for my cum.” He says, and you have the audacity to smile, nodding with your eyes shut lazily, nuzzling slightly into his grip.

He can’t control himself a second longer.

He grabs you harshly by the arm, pulling you upwards into his lap and straight into a kiss. He can’t help but growl into it, too much teeth on his end but he needs to feel in control, like he can capture you with every swipe of his tongue into your mouth and every nip against your bottom lip.

He thinks he tastes blood.

His hands find your thighs and he lifts you up, claws digging into your soft, supple skin as he drops you on the desk, pushing you with a harsh hand against your chest. Your back hits the table, cold metal against the part of your skin unveiled by your shirt riding up high on your back.

Miguel doesn’t have time to undress you, no time for tenderness or patience. Instead, he rips at your shorts, his animalistic claws tearing through the fabric of both them and your undergarments, leaving you bare below the waist and he takes it all in eagerly, eyes scanning every part of your body. He pushes your shirt upward, exposing your breasts kept carefully under a plain, black bra. One swipe of a claw and that falls away, too, leaving you completely exposed.

You don’t even look embarrassed.

Miguel is the one falling to his knees now, coming face to face with your bare pussy like a man praying at the altar, and it’s with closed eyes and shaking palms that he buries himself into it, tongue lapping incessantly at your folds.

He eats like a starving man, tongue flicking against your clit over and over until your back is arching inches above table, white knuckling the edges of it as abuses your sensitive cunt. 

The lust coursing through him threatens to tear him apart, so he braces himself with hands on your thighs, claws digging into the skin and leaving you with a hot pain to accompany the unending pleasure he’s giving you.

He sucks against your clit and your hand instinctively reaches for him, threading into his black locks and rutting against his tongue as you cum hard, harder than you ever have by yourself, alone in that room with your multitude of toys. Despite the many men you had been with, nothing could have prepared you for the beast that sits between your legs, eyes dark with a hunger that threatens to swallow you whole.

“Miguel, please,” You don’t even know what you’re begging for - more, mercy, you aren’t sure, but his figure is looming over you in seconds, his cock already hard once again as he rubs the tip against your sopping wet entrance, slick sounds echoing in the room along with your pants.

“Gonna fill you up with my cock, chiquita. Fill you up and stretch you out. Fuck,” he bares his fangs and you moan, “you want it, baby? Tell me you want it.” He grabs you by the jaw again, fingers gliding across your blood stained lips. “Ask your papi real sweet like.”

You can tell he wants it just as much as you do, feeling the heat from his cock against you, his precum adding to the slick of your cunt, but you want to beg him, want to obey, so you oblige.

“Please, please, fuck, I want you inside me. Break me, Miguel, please.”

Break you - fuck, he could do that. Every part of his body threatened to; his sharp claws against your soft skin, strong grip and large hands on your delicate wrists, his towering frame over your own, much smaller one. He was Godzilla and you were fucking Tokyo. 

His dick pushed into you entirely ungentle, his bestial tendencies apparent in everything he does. Your thighs are covered in scratches, some smeared with small lines of blood, and the constant mix of pain and pleasure makes your head spin.

He stretches you out thoroughly, his massive girth shoved into you inch by inch until he’s hilt-deep inside of you and you swear you can feel him in your womb.

He doesn’t waste any time, pumping in and out of you at a bruising pace, pulling you down to the hilt with every movement. You can barely think, head spinning, filled only with thoughts of the strong figure fucking into you like a dog in heat.

He’s so, so much bigger than anything else you’d ever had, and the way he stretches you open leaves your stomach in knots.

He’s in love with your pussy. The taste of you is like honey, your warmth engulfs his cock in a pleasure like no other- it’s like you were made for him.

He leans down and captures you into another kiss, broken up by your incessant moans with every thrust of him into your cervix. It’s all too much and not enough at the same time, and when he pulls out of the kiss and opts to leave trails of them along your neck, teeth nipping and gnashing at the skin they find there. Every part of this man threatens to consume you, and yet you give yourself up readily, wrapping your arms around his neck and digging your nails into his back as you moan. 

He growls against your shoulder and you feel sharp teeth pierce into you, deep searing pain that rips a cry out of your mouth as your orgasm crashes over you. He fucks your through it, hard thrust after thrust until you feel him twitching inside you and he buries himself balls deep, cock pulsing as he fills you with cum.

Neither of you can bother to care about the implications.

He can’t help but stare down at you as you lay there, chest heaving and eyes half-lidded. You looked fucked, and it took everything in him to stop himself from fucking you again. Maybe he went too rough, he thinks as he stares at the bleeding bite on your shoulder and scratches littering your body, but when he pulls out and your pussy is gushing with your cum and his own, he can’t bring himself to regret it in the slightest.

“You took it so well, (Y/N).” The sound of your name on his tongue pulls you out of your stupor and you can only respond with a groan, your hand rubbing against your eyes.

You needed a shower and a nap.

You push yourself up onto your elbows and watch as he secures his suit back in place, the traces of your deeds only apparent on your soiled figure.

He presses a few buttons on his watch, and in a moment, a small, metal spider crawls out of it, making you furrow your brow as you watch him fiddle with it. Holding it by the leg, he holds it out to you, and you hold your palm up warily. It drops into your palm, skittering before settling itself in your grasp.

“All the data you need is compiled on that little guy. Try to take care of it, okay?” You nod, much too tired to speak.

Miguel’s eyes flit over you one last time, and the way his brow furrows leaves you wondering what exactly he’s thinking in that gorgeous head of his.

He takes one impossibly large step toward you, hand reaching for your face and it takes all your willpower not to flinch away from him. His grasp is gentle this time, thumb tracing against the soft curve of your jaw as he places a small, delicate kiss against your forehead.

“Take care, chiquita.” 

And with that, he takes his leave, the light of his portal dimming as he exits, leaving you alone.

[papabearbobbynash]

Hi,

Do you think there should be more love shown to Bobby when he was in a coma? I mean when Buck was in a coma even May, Athena, and Chris was there. Everyone came to see Buck. But when Bobby was in a coma no one wait beside him only Athena? It would be great if May continue telling Bobby she loves him like when she told Bobby when Buck was in a coma. Maybe that would be the push for Bobby to wake up. His (step) daughter asking him to come back home to their family. What if there was an interaction between Buck and May beside his bed and them discussing that Bobby is basically their dad. Even Harry, remember when Michael was asking the family about proposing to David, Harry said that he now had 3 dads so Harry sees Bobby as his father too. Have the kids interact with each other would be great. Since Bobby's main guilt is about losing his kids. It would shown that in this life he has kids too though not his biologicaly. Maddie and Karen were not in the hospital. It seems like nobody cares about Bobby even though Bobby has always been the anchor to them. It's sad actually. Instead of the date with Tommy, Tommy could've supported Buck by showing up in the hospital.

Hi

there were many questionable decisions on this episode regarding Bobby and I definitely think the biggest problem was the lack of emotion of a dramatic situation they build up for three weeks.

They promoted the hell out of Bobby being in danger in this finale and when it reached the moment for them to gut wreck us, they cut most part of it (Athena in his bedside almost crying, Eddie praying on his bedside while Buck looks almost catatonic). Not to count the complete wtf decisions regarding it other decisions, such as May and Harry not being there for the painful part? When the actors are in the episode and we know it's hard for Corinne to be on the episodes due schedule with her college? Not a single solo scene with any of the 118 who lost their shit before for way lighter injuries Bobby had? Buck "almost lost my dad" thought turning into a sexual joke? Really??

The fact Athena was out hunting whoever done it, I get it, because i expected it end on that. People who expected Athena to do different don't know her character well tbh. The moment she heard from the doctors that Bobby's heart stopped for 14 minutes, she already lost hope, she thought he wasn't waking up from that, and she had lost him. With that? She wouldn't sit there and watch him die for nothing, because in her mind this wouldn't do anything good for Bobby. She already went through that with Emmet and she definitly wouldn't wait 30 years to catch the culprit. This time she had to do something even though it's completely a bad call from her part, because its mostly a coping mechanism to shield her from the pain she is feeling while trying to compensate for the guilt (into believing Amir was the culprit when she invited him in their house + her last words for her husband being on a argument) and to mask her pain. So this part i get it, even if her ways of doing it are definitely not the best to watch. From Athena's part i think we got enough emotion, even if misdirected, however it could have been better. (Forever mourning the promo scene not making to the final cut)

Overall I don't think they made Bobby unimportant (Considering the "goodbye montage" makes it clear he is that much important even if himself doesn't see it). The problem of the whole hospital moments is they writing ooc scenes that don't feel genuinely the character we've watched so far (except for Athena, personally she was totally in character) in the middle of a rushed episode that did not need to be rushed.

Heck they could have left Bobby's life hanging till the premiere. They had the perfect chance of a wrecking cliffhanger if that is what they wanted. They didn't need to worry about being cancelled with such an unfinished story line.

It would stress the hell out of me, but would have killed as a starting anchor to the next season, because it's literally an emotional disaster for the team. It would also allow certain breath in the finale for Athena's character, May and Harry presence could be more meaningful and not only after the turmoil and we could have scenes with the team and Bobby as well.

Instead we got that.. Anyway, it had some bathena moments, but this was underwhelming after all that build up. And i definitely think this episode should have been more emotional. Like allow the audience to feel the pain of the situation before rush to solve it?

Thank you for the ask, and sorry for the venting.

[bellaxgiornata]

Falling For the Devil [Part twenty-three: "The Day of Phone Tag"]

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Summary: Matt has court all day and you both keep missing each other's phone calls while trying to make plans for the evening.

Or

You touch it. You finally touch Matt’s ass.

[Series of one-shots about Reader meeting, falling for, and dating Matt Murdock.]

Warnings: 18+ for this series; contains humor, fluff, romance, angst, smut (like...a lot of it later in the series), language, some violence

Word Count: 3.3k

a/n: Transferring more of these over again! Enjoy this fluffy little installment! You can find the other installments for this series on tumblr here.

Tuesday Morning

Your hands lathered the shampoo into your hair, scrubbing your scalp with your eyes closed as you showered. You were still feeling half awake despite the warm water running over you, not used to waking up and jumping in the shower instead of making yourself a cup of coffee. Having not had a chance to shower last night, too focused on finishing an article for Ellison, you’d rushed to grab one before needing to leave for the office this morning. You knew your hair would probably be a bit of a mess, not having much time to fix it once you finished showering, but you didn’t have an option. You were just hoping you’d have enough time to at least dry it so you weren’t freezing as you walked to work.

As you were about to stick your head under the spray and rinse off the soap, you heard your phone’s ringtone coming from the bathroom counter. Curious, you pulled back the shower curtain and peered around it. Matt’s name was displayed along your screen. With a sigh, you slipped back under the warm spray. You’d have to call him back when you got out and were dressed or you’d be late to work. Rinsing off your hair, a minute later you heard the telltale beep that meant he’d left you a voicemail and you hurried to finish your shower.

It was almost quarter to seven by the time you were grabbing your things and racing out of your apartment, locking up and shouldering your phone to your ear as you listened to Matt’s voicemail before heading towards the elevator.

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s me. We never really finalized our plans yesterday. Were we getting together tonight? Or was it tomorrow? I can’t remember when you, Karen, and Marci were shopping for costumes.” He paused, clearing his throat as the sound of honking echoed through the message. “If you call me back soon you might catch me before I head to the courthouse. Otherwise maybe I’ll catch you during lunch recess or something. Love you, sweetie.”

As the elevator doors opened to the first floor, you smiled at the addition of the ‘love yous’ that had started popping up in the voicemails the pair of you had been leaving each other. Shifting your bag on your shoulder as you stepped out and into the lobby, you quickly dialed Matt back. The line rang a handful of times as you stepped out of your building and onto the street, being hit with the chilly October wind immediately. And then your phone went straight to voicemail. You sighed as the automated message told you Matt was unavailable. 

“Hey, Matty,” you began after the beep, walking your way briskly towards the office, “guess I missed you. My morning has sort of been off and I’m running late, but it was tomorrow I was going shopping with the girls. Which–you still haven’t told me what you’re going to the bar as and with what Foggy was saying, I’m now dying to know. You should at least give me a hint.” You swerved around a woman who was taking up way too much space along the sidewalk, shooting her a curious eye as it looked like she was doing yoga in the middle of the sidewalk dressed as a pineapple. New York City was fucking weird sometimes. “Anyway, I’m free tonight if you are. Just let me know what you want to do or who’s place you want to meet up at. Good luck with that case today and I love you, too.”

Tuesday Afternoon

“Katy,” you whined, head rolling back along your shoulders in your desk chair. “Just give me my damn phone back. I need to check that message from Matt.”

She grinned devilishly at you, your phone in her hands behind her back. Currently you two were the only ones in the office, everyone either out for lunch or chasing a lead. Which was why Katy was being exceptionally difficult right now.

“Not until I hear you promise me,” she pushed.

You rolled your eyes at her. “I am not promising you that!” you cried out.

One of her brows rose on her forehead as she shot you a very pointed look. “Seriously? You have Hell’s Kitchen’s finest ass in your bed, girl. I’m just asking you to take one little bitty bite of it. You can’t tell me you don’t want to. And I have no idea why you haven’t even grabbed it yet.”

“You really need to stop thinking about my boyfriend’s ass so much,” you told her. “That’s my ass, now.”

A wicked grin spread across Katy’s face as she stared back at you. “Then claim that ass, bitch. Take a fucking bite out of it or something. Fuck. And then tell me about how goddamn delicious it is afterwards.”

“ Katy !” you gasped out, eyes darting around the office as you prayed no one had slipped back in from lunch and overheard her.

She laughed at your discomfort and you felt your cheeks reddening. A moment later, your distinct ringtone rang out from behind her back. Katy quickly glanced down at it behind her, her face lighting up as she turned back to you. 

“Speak of the fine ass devil,” she teased. “Lover boy is calling.”

You bolted out of your chair towards her but Katy was quick, darting around the side of the cubicles. A frustrated groan flew out of you as you glared at her from across the office.

“Promise me you’ll at least grab that man’s ass,” she said, holding up your ringing phone. “Or I’ll let this go to voicemail.”

“Oh my God,” you breathed out, frustrated. “Katy, I don’t want to play phone tag with Matt all day, come on. He’s going to be back in court and I’ll have to wait hours to get ahold of him again.”

“Then promise me you’ll at least just touch that glorious butt that your man has!” Katy pressed, your ringing phone still held up in her hand. “Stop being so damn nervous–touch the butt!”

“Fuck–alright!” you agreed in exasperation. “I’ll touch his damn ass, now give me my phone!”

Satisfied, she tossed your phone across the cubicles towards you, but you fumbled catching it and it dropped to the floor. The moment you turned, about to bend over and pick it up, the call had already been sent to your voicemail. You groaned, frantically bending down and grabbing your phone. Quickly you opened your contacts and dialed him back, hoping to get ahold of him before bothering to check the messages–but to no avail. 

“Goddammit!” you cursed, ending the call.

Immediately you went into your voicemail, pulling up the message Matt had left you a little over an hour ago. You’d missed his call since you hadn’t been at your desk, too busy checking a lead yourself and having accidentally left your phone behind.

“You know I’m not telling you my costume,” Matt’s deep voice said in your ear, a light chuckle following. “Nice try though. I appreciate the effort. You’ll just have to wait until the party, like I already told you before. And Foggy is keeping his mouth shut on it, so don’t even try to get him to talk.” He sighed, his tone shifting to something softer and less amused. “I miss you. Two days without you is too long. Why don’t I grab dinner for tonight? Your place or mine, you pick. Or we could go out? We never did get around to that new restaurant after we both got sick. Whatever you want, sweetie. I’ll see you tonight, hopefully.”

You chewed your lip, wishing you could have answered any of his calls today. Two days was too long without him, he was right, and you were missing him, too. And missing his calls all day wasn’t helping. Frustrated, you played the message he just left next.

“We are not having any luck today with phone calls, are we? I just finished a quick lunch, was hoping to catch you before court is back in session but I guess I missed you again. Call me back, sweetie. Let me know about tonight. I love you.”

Exhaling roughly, you quickly dialed Matt back. The phone went straight to his voicemail as you expected. You knew he was back in court and his phone would be off until he was out again. That’s how it always was on days he had court.

“Fuck, I’m sorry I missed your calls again, Matt. That last one was Katy’s fault,” you told him in a rush. “She stole my phone. Wouldn’t give it back until I promised to take a bite of your ass and I–” you stopped short, eyes widening as Katy barked out a laugh beside you. “Shit,” you breathed out, eyes closing. “I did not mean to tell you that.”

Katy cupped a hand around her mouth, calling towards your phone, “She needs to gnaw on it like a dog with a bone! Fucking let her at it, man!”

“Katy!” you scolded, lowering the phone from your face for a moment. “Not cool!” She let out another laugh as you returned to your message. “ Anyway , I’m open to whatever you want to do tonight. Go out or stay in, whatever you’re feeling after work because I know how exhausting your day can get. And also, I’m pretty sure if I bribe Foggy with those bagels he likes, I can get him to tell me what your costume is.” You laughed lightly at the prospect–Foggy was a bagel whore. Everyone knew it. “So I uhm, I’ll talk to you later, baby–”

“Awww, he’s baby now?” Katy called out.

You shot her a pointed look. “He doesn’t need your commentary!” you harshly whispered to her. “Anyway, I love you,” you said back into your phone. “Hopefully I don’t miss the next call.”

You hung up and glared at Katy and her yogurt cup.

Tuesday Early Evening

Sliding the wet strands of hair from off of your face, you pushed open the door to your apartment building and stepped inside. Of course it had to start raining when you were half a block away and you had gotten caught in the middle of it. 

Sighing, you slipped into the elevator next to two other people, pushing the button for the fifth floor and then crossing your arms over your chest. You were starting to get cold in your damp clothes despite the heat in the building. A moment later you felt something vibrate in your pocket and your brows furrowed. Your hand darted down, slipping your phone from your dress pants pocket. Immediately your shoulders sagged when you’d realized you’d missed another call from Matt. You forgot you’d left your phone on vibrate when you’d gone into the staff meeting later this afternoon and you’d been too busy afterwards to remember to take it off. 

As you stepped out of the elevator onto your floor, you hurriedly made your way down to your apartment. Unlocking your front door, you stepped inside and pulled up your voicemail, quickly holding your phone to your ear as you kicked your shoes off.

“Well if you want a bite of my ass for dinner, I suppose we’ll just have to stay in tonight,” Matt’s amused voice said into your ear. You winced, having forgotten about the last voicemail you’d left him. “So staying in it is. I’ll grab us dinner from that sushi place and head to your place. Just got out of court for the day so I should be there soon.” You could tell he was walking, the sound of foot traffic and car traffic a bit louder in his message at this time of day. “And you can’t bribe Fog to tell you for bagels, because I already bribed him with those very same bagels not to tell you. Like I said, you’re waiting until Halloween to find out.” A beat later when he spoke again, his voice had dropped to a sultry whisper, one that even recorded was raising the little hairs along your forearms. “And I like it when you call me baby. Especially when it’s accompanied by those little breathy moans you make.”

The voicemail ended, your jaw partially hanging open at the way he’d ended it. Remembering that your clothes were wet, you set your phone down on the coffee table and made your way into your room, trying to ignore the way Matt’s voice at the end of that message had somehow worked you up a little. 

You peeled out of your wet work clothes, changing into leggings and a sweater since Matt was coming over–it was casual and comfortable but a little more dressed up than sweatpants and a sweatshirt would have been. As you were brushing through your damp hair, you heard a knock at your door. Setting the brush back down on your dresser, you quickly left your bedroom and headed to your front door.

Pulling it open, you spotted Matt holding a bag of takeout and it was obvious he had clearly gotten soaked from the rain, too. He had a big grin on his face though, apparently unphased by the drenched dress shirt and dress pants he was wearing.

“Hey, Matty, come in,” you told him, stepping aside.

“If I couldn’t already hear you in here,” he said, entering your apartment as you closed the door behind him and took the bag of food, “I’d have been afraid you wouldn’t be home with how we kept missing each other’s calls all day.”

“Yeah,” you said with a light laugh. “That was quite frustrating. Looks like you got caught in that downpour, too. You want me to grab you some dry clothes?”

“Yes, that’d be great, sweetheart,” he told you, leaning his cane against the wall by your front door as he always did.

“So how’d court go?” you asked, setting the food on your coffee table before heading back into your bedroom.

“It was long and tedious,” Matt called back to you from the living room. “The case is going into tomorrow. One of the witness testimonies dragged on for longer than expected. But it seems to be going well. For us, at least.”

You closed your dresser drawer, holding onto a pair of his sweatpants and one of his shirts. “That’s good,” you replied, turning and heading back towards your hallway. “Hopefully that means you guys will–”

You stopped abruptly at the sight of Matt in his tight boxers, his damp clothes folded and set off to the side of the room on your floor. He shot you a cheeky grin, clearly hearing your heart pick up at the sight of him. 

“Uhm, hopefully, uh, hopefully you guys will win,” you stammered out, crossing the room towards him. You cleared your throat, holding out his clothes. “I uh–here’s some dry clothes.”

The cheeky grin was still on his face as he accepted them from you, but he didn’t immediately start dressing. Instead, his head tilted a little to the side as he shifted the clothes to his left hand, holding out his right.

“Give me your hand,” he ordered.

You blinked hard a few times in response. “Uh, what?” you asked him.

“Give me your hand,” he repeated.

Uncertainty rolling through you, you tentatively placed your hand in his. The saucy little smile on his mouth only grew before he pulled your hand behind him and placed it resolutely on his right ass cheek. Your eyes widened, heart hammering wildly in your chest.

“What are you doing?” you asked him nervously.

He shrugged, taking his hand off of yours. You were too stunned to remove your hand from his ass, though.

“Figured you’ve been staring at it long enough,” he said lightly. “Thought I’d encourage you to just grab it finally.”

“I–I–” you stammered out, brain suddenly short-circuiting. 

You were grabbing his ass– finally . There was no way words were coming out of your mouth for the next thirty seconds while your brain remembered how to function. 

Matt chuckled, tossing his dry clothes onto your coffee table. “Here,” he said, grabbing your other hand and placing it onto his other ass cheek. 

Your face went red. He chuckled again before his hands snaked their way over your hips and onto your ass. Gripping a handful of your ass in each hand, he pulled you into him and you stumbled forward.

“Now I’m going to feel up your ass before I get dressed and we sit down and eat that sushi,” Matt informed you. “So you can either stand there overthinking, or you can take the opportunity to grab my ass like I know you want to.”

Biting your lip, noticing how Matt was unphased about boldly kneading your ass in his hands, your hands gave him a little squeeze–and your jaw dropped. How was it so fucking solid ? Your hands slid downwards a bit, cupping his ass, but hell, it was so large and round you couldn’t even fit an entire cheek in your whole hand. 

Matt huffed out a laugh beside your ear. “Does it live up to your expectations?” he asked.

Shyly you squeezed his ass in your hands another time, unsure when would be the next time you’d have the nerve to grab it again. And you sure as shit wanted to commit the feel of it to memory. 

“You don’t even need the suit,” you joked lightly. “I’m pretty sure a bullet would bounce off of your ass.”

A loud peel of laughter flew out of him as his hands slid off of you. Reluctantly you removed your hands from him as well.

“I don’t think I’d want to find out, sweetheart,” he told you, a large smile on his face. “Let’s have dinner though. I want to hear how your past couple of days were.”

Wednesday Morning

You slid your desk chair back from your computer, your head darting around the side of your cubicle. Katy glanced away from her monitor towards you, a spoonful of yogurt going into her mouth. She raised a curious brow as she slid the spoon back out.

“I touched it,” you whispered.

Her eyes grew wide and she quickly swallowed down the yogurt, sliding her chair towards you. “Oh my God , finally! How was it?” she asked quickly.

“It was the roundest, firmest, perkiest ass I’ve ever touched,” you whispered.

Her eyes closed as she smiled. “Fuck, I know you haven’t touched a lot of asses so that shouldn’t mean much, but goddamn I know what you’re saying,” she whispered.

“It was well worth the wait to touch,” you told her.

Her eyes opened and her brows rose up high. “Like so perky you could bounce a roll of quarters off of it?” She pointed a firm finger at your chest as she added, “Which, by the way, you should totally do.”

You grinned, nodding. “Yes. You could bounce a roll of quarters off of it.”

She playfully swatted at your shoulder as she leaned in further. “Then girl go bounce yourself off that man’s ass like it’s a fucking trampoline.”

“ Katy ,” you scolded, catching sight of Bianca shooting you both a strange glance as she walked past.

Katy laughed, leaning back in her chair and scooting back to her desk. “What?” she asked, picking her yogurt cup back up. “It’s not like you don’t want to, is it?”

You rolled your eyes at her bluntness, sliding your chair back towards your own desk. But you’d be lying if you’d said you weren’t thinking about Matt Murdock’s ass throughout the rest of your day.

[lover-of-mine]

The thing I find fascinating is that the show runners are fully capable of writing engaging couples. Henren, Bathena & Madney – their relationships are beautiful. And then we have Buck and Eddie with their respective LIs. It’s almost as if they want the relationships to fail.

This season, they had every chance to set up Tommy as a suitable LI for Buck. But they didn’t? They didn’t even have to show a grand love confession or the likes, but at least some small gestures. Them holding hands in the hospital, Tommy dressing up for the bachelor party, being a little more sensitive when they ran into Eddie during that first date… Just a few simple things that would have made all the difference.

I feel like most of the love for Tommy comes from headcanons the fandom accepted as universal truths, while there isn’t much in canon to support it.

This isn’t meant to be hate on the character (though it probably will be taken that way by certain people), it’s just that I don’t think he is a good fit for Buck. He’s guarded and deflects with a dry sense of humor, when Buck needs a person to be vulnerable with. You know, someone who is so soft and sickeningly sweet with him. So far, I didn’t get much of the sorts from Tommy. But then again, we didn’t get to see a whole lot of the relationship actually playing out on screen, so who knows.

And the other thing that started to bother me is about the daddy issue thing. There is nothing wrong with showing (or alluding to) a couple having an active/kinky sex life. In general, I’m all in favor of it.

But looking back at season one, Buck used sex as an unhealthy coping mechanism to feel a connection to people. And he doesn’t have the best relationship with sex to begin with (Remember 7x05 and the talk with Eddie, where it hadn’t occurred to either of them that saying no is an option? Doesn’t sound healthy to me.) If they wanted to set Tommy apart, they should have put all their efforts into building an emotional connection between the two. I’m not saying that sex can’t be a part of it - not even that it can’t be kinky - but that the show should have put much more emphasis on the emotional aspect of it rather than the physical attraction.

Maybe it’s just wonky writing due to a shortened season but the relationship between the two isn’t half as good as it could have been.

No, but I made a post about this during the s6-7 hiatus, because it's not like the show doesn't know how to establish a love interest, bathena and madney work because all of them exist individually and Henren was introduced to us in a way where we would side with Karen, so even tho Karen only exists to be Hen's wife we care about her in a deeper way because Karen has never done anything wrong in her life. With Buck and Eddie all of the love interests are presented to us with something wrong with them. Shannon never had a fighting chance because she left and Eddie himself was never sure about her, Eddie was dating Ana and Marisol because he thought he had to, and I'm not even gonna go there with Kim. Abby breaks every possible protocol to call Buck, and she's never in it in the same way Buck is, Taylor tries to take advantage of Bobby's addiction for her personal gain and continues to take advantage of him to get ahead, Ali is never there, Natalia is too interested in Buck's death and Tommy is callous. There's a weird metaphor in there, but the basketball scene, the way Buck hits Tommy and ricochets back and Tommy doesn't even flinch. Buck needs someone who will bend. But the show didn't even try to establish an emotional connection between the two of them, everything comes back to the physical and with a character like Buck, who was shown using sex as a bad coping mechanism, to constantly make it seem like this new relationship isn't going beyond the sex is concerning. There were better ways to imply they are having sex. Even more considering the way the show had the opportunity to make it seem like they are building some sort of emotional connection and just chose not to. Every scene we had with the 2 of them could be rewritten adding the idea that they actually care about each other beyond the attraction, and that's a choice. To go the route they went is a choice. I'm still not over the way they had Tommy not dressing up and then Eddie suggesting matching outfits in the next scene. Like, it was that easy because they showed Eddie doing it. And I don't wanna compare, but with the constant triangle formation and the way they were showing Eddie as the person who understands Buck and Tommy as the dude Buck is fucking, we have nothing happening in our screen that makes it seem like Tommy is even a little fond of Buck and all I can think about is Buck standing in front of a hot air balloon with a huge bouquet of flowers for a woman who referred to him as a boytoy. Buck deserves someone who's gone for him and none of his canon love interests gave me that impression. And they make a very explicit choice to not make that implication. They could've been something, but right now they aren't. If you just watch the show you don't know why they are dating. They are just there. And coming from a show that wrote bathena, madney, and henren, and the way that Tommy being a firefighter gives him a fighting chance because it's real easy to make him exist outside of Buck, it's on purpose.

[eddiediazismyhusband]

I got bored and have now decided how Episode 2 of Season 8 should go. (This is on the hopeful assumption that Gerrard will only last about 3 episodes).

So we obviously need at least one episode of dickhead Gerrard (who I guess no one can report since he’s working with the evil councilwomen). So maybe Eddies on a leave to deal with his son, so he hasn’t met Gerrard as captain yet until episode two. 

So, Eddie is obviously going to be quite reckless and self-loathing this season. 

Hen, having almost lost Mara, will be sympathetic towards him (especially since Chim has the sarcastic side in the bag, what can’t you say about a man’s dead wife’s doppelgänger, he’s def gonna make a Vertigo movie reference). 

But Eddie and Hen worked together and know each other well, they’re basically siblings. She knows when he needs space. So, after a reckless “Buck style” save from Eddie, he’ll come up the stairs where most people are, and when Hen comes over to talk to him he’ll give her a “I can’t right now” look and carry on past.

But to everyone else he looks like he dismissed her (except they know Eddie doesn’t mean to be rude).

However… Gerrard doesn’t. Gerrard who only really knows Eddie as “that guy who did the crazy save earlier” and hasn’t really talked to anyone so far (cause he’s mad at himself and distancing himself).

So he’ll go over to Eddie and say “Well it’s nice to have a traditional guy around. Not listening to the useless comments.“ with a pointed look at Hen. And then he’ll clap Eddie on the back.

Eddie who’s heard all the stories of what Hen went through. Eddie who saw women get discriminated against in the army. Eddie who’s pissed off and lost everything.

And he’ll deck Gerrard in the face. 

The chief comes in starts interviewing everyone about it. 

(They could even do this episode from the end. With everyone talking to the Chief, trying to cover for Eddie at the start of the episode- we as the viewers not necessarily knowing it was Eddie who punched him- and then have his identity revealed to the viewers but not the Chief through the episode, with interview style scenes).

And just when the Chief goes downstairs and Gerrard comes out says he’s found the security footage of the punch… Ravi comes up the stairs.

So turns out a few years ago Gerrard was sued (or maybe he was married and got a divorce idk). And so he moved out of his house into a nice, big apartment since he could afford that better. 

And guess what? Ravi OWNS the apartment building.

So “unless you want horrific credit and nowhere to live Captain I strongly suggest you drop this right now.”

(A nice comparison to Ravi who wanted nothing to do with the 118 gang when he first met them). 

So together they all (totally not suspiciously) tell the Chief everything’s okay and Gerrard got hurt on a call. 

Yay, Ravi saves the day. And then we get a cute look between Ravi and Eddie because I really want them as friends. 

(Also side note, Athena and Harry are similar to Eddie and Chris, I really hope Athena and Eddie get a conversation about how to deal when your child doesn’t trust you as much and blames you for things, especially since I hope Athena regrets hitting Harry). 

STOP I LOVE THIS ravi saving the day not only as a poc character but as a character who, like you said, originally started out not wanting to be a part of the 118 would be such a great way to usher him in as a main cast member to solidify his place (keep manifesting for ravi main yall 🙏🙏) AND we get more landlord ravi shenanigans (ik it’s one of the more crack elements of the show but ravi being a landlord kills me)

and i agree athena and hen both know what eddie’s going through having to watch a child leave and (athena w harry and hen w both nia and mara) so him having that support would create such interesting dynamics… (even karen too bc i need more eddie & karen friendship moments pls and thank you) i also think athena being able to have a conversation with him about letting go of a romantic partner after losing them suddenly would be so beneficial to eddie too, AND the complexity of her relationship with michael as well could provide some context to eddie’s feelings that he may not have realized before (*cough cough* queer eddie *cough cough*👀👀👀)

[dabiensworld]

Spare key

Kastle Exchange May 26th, "What Could Be" The first thing they say to each other in Daredevil: Born Again/AU day

@kastleexchange

Part 1 of my vision of how the pilot episode would looks like from Karen's POV. Further parts will be a direct continuation.

“Did you plan to sneak out?” She heard a voice behind her back and the sound of bare feet on her floor. Was sure she would be able to get ready before he exited the shower. Her mind didn't register the moment the water stopped running. Maybe she got used to his presence here, in her apartment and personal space. 

“I can't sneak out of my own home, Frank.” Karen opened her cosmetic bag and she pulled out a nude lipstick. She looked in the mirror and saw in the reflection bare chested Frank with his skin glowing from water droplets and a towel around his waist. The sight was unbelievable, and yet it looked so normal that Karen couldn't believe it. 

“You should have waited for me, otherwise you would have locked me in your house.” 

“You know where the spare key is.” Karen pointed to a coconut bowl next to her door, where she keeps all her little stuff, including car keys and spare keys. Frank took them multiple times and everytime she found them inside the bowl. She hoped that one day she would find the bowl empty. She continued to watch in the mirror as Frank finished drying his body and putting on his pants. He noticed that she was glancing at him because he stood behind her and placed his hands on her hips, began to place kisses just behind her ear, along her hairline. That simple gesture warmed her from toes to head, but he could feel that something was on her mind. 

“You’re not in the mood. Didn't you get enough sleep?” As if he himself wasn't the reason for her sleep deprivation. He moved his head to look at her from a distance and look into her eyes, but for some reason she avoided his gaze. 

“What’s the matter?” He asked worriedly. She sighed and handed him her smartphone. 

“New York mayoral elections. Experts predict a landslide win for Wilson Fisk.” Frank read aloud. “Is that what you are worried about?”

“This is making me angry. Fisk ruined so many lives, killed so many people. I can’t believe that he walks freely around the city as if nothing had happened and now people want him to rule the entire city when he should be rotting in prison.”

“Well, I've killed people too and I walk freely around the city.” Frank said. 

“Yes, but you're not running for mayor of New York.” She was amused by her own joke, and their laughter echoed off the walls of her apartment. Karen liked the sound of his laugh. A low, but at the same time a little boyish. She turned her back to him so he wouldn't see her cheeks flushing. 

“If people elect him as mayor, it means that New York has a short memory after all.” Frank finished dressing, putting on a shirt. Karen noticed that he wasn't wearing the clothes he wore yesterday. Instead, he put on the one that Karen had washed a few days ago and put clean on the bottom shelf of her closet.

“Speaking of short memories of New York City, people don't remember The Punisher anymore, you don't have to hide behind that beard anymore.” 

“Why? You don’t like my beard?“ He looked at her and for the first time today their eyes met. 

“I hate it.” Karen replied in a slightly flirtatious tone. Frank grew a beard again, although this time it didn't look like it did when he picked it up on the street. On the contrary, his beard and hair were well-groomed and evenly trimmed. He looked very handsome, but Karen preferred his clean face. The beard was a bit in the way when he ate her out. 

“Karen, you may have noticed that the faucet in your shower is leaking.” Frank changed the topic of conversation.

“I know, I already reported it to the building administrator two weeks ago.” she answered while putting the rest of her makeup supplies into her bag. 

“I can fix it for you, I'll bring the tools. You won't have to wait for the administration to do something about it and…”

“You are doing this again, aren't you?” She interrupted him. 

“Doing what again?” His tone sounded surprised, as if he didn't know what she meant.

“You are looking for… excuses.”

“Excuses?”

“To come here. To…hang out with me.” She hadn't considered whether that was a good synonym for having sex, but saying it out loud would outline what they really meant to each other, and they had persistently avoided the topic.

They started sleeping together 15 months ago. Although the first night they only slept. Karen was terrified that once again someone was trying to kill her and she asked Frank to stay with her because she didn't want to be alone that night. She no longer remembered who wanted to hurt her, but she remembered the feel of his arms as they wrapped around her body, the warmth of his breath that tickled her neck, and the scent of the soap he used, soothing yet chemical. For a moment she felt happy, but that moment was fleeting, when she woke up in the morning in an empty bed, her heart broke.

Frank returned to her life 6 months later, although she had the impression that he had been lurking on the outskirts of her life, waiting for the opportune moment when Karen would need him. When one of Nelson, Murdock & Page's former clients publicly threatened her with death, Frank did not hesitate for a moment and eliminated it. Although the police ruled it a suicide, Karen saw her own. But for some reason Frank was avoiding her, so she decided to use the only way she knew he wouldn't be able to resist.  

She bought white flowers. She put them in her window. She waited. He showed up the same night. 

“I thought you needed help.” he said with a disappointing tone in his voice.

“I don't need help from you, I need answers.” 

But he made her wait a long time that night. Her bottle of wine was almost empty when he came, but without it she wouldn't have had the courage to push him until his back hit the wall and kissed him. Frank didn't seem like the type to hesitate, but Karen knew that he was surprised when she placed her hands on his body. But he finally gave in and embraced her and kissed her back. He did this all night long. Neither of them thought about what would happen in the morning. And when morning came Karen just let him go. She heard him waking up and getting ready, but she pretended to sleep.  She didn't feel the pain in her heart like last time. She felt that he would come back to her. 

And he came back, a few weeks later. She had the best night of her life with him again. He touched her and kissed her the way she liked, as if he knew her body and did it every day. She wanted him to do this. But morning came and Frank disappeared. And then he came back and disappeared again. Months of separation turned into weeks, and weeks into days. Frank always came back, but he always needed an excuse to do so.

Suddenly, various appliances in her apartment needed repairs, even though they had previously worked perfectly. Whenever something bad happened in Hell's Kitchen, he would stop by to check if she was okay. He insisted that she change the door locks and he did it himself. 

Only once did he show up at her door without any excuse, even though he actually had one. He bought a Springsteen album at a pawn shop and wanted to listen to it with her. It wasn't Karen's vibe, but it was nice, listening to the music with their fingers intertwined, feeling the warmth of his body, and his foot gently rubbing against her leg. Karen closed her eyes and wanted to live like this until the end of the world. With the man she loved. She was in love with Frank Castle. Did she have the courage to say it aloud? Saying it out loud could change everything between them. Their relationship was not limited only to carnal pleasures, they also had many hours of deep conversations. About Karen's past, about Frank's past, about the present, but they never touched on the topic of the future, especially the one that could be theirs together. 

For a long time, Karen was happy with what she had, but she knew it was only temporary. Because the world started to notice that she was happy. At least Matt and Foggy noticed. And they started asking questions. And she couldn't answer it. Because no one would understand the feelings she has for Frank. She didn't fully understand it either. And she guessed he did too. They were stuck in this state of limbo, in their bubble that was limited to the walls of her apartment. They felt good there, but she felt like she needed something more. Perhaps some confirmation that Frank would be there when she got home from work and wouldn't be gone when she opened her eyes in the morning. She spent days trying to get herself together to talk to him about it, but each time she was overcome with the thought that she would lose him. She started looking for excuses for herself, leaving the house earlier, before he woke up.

And that morning, egged on by all this information about Fisk, she decided she had to break through. It's ride or die. Alone or with him by her side.

“Listen, Frank. I really like your presence here. And I want you to know that you are always welcome here.” she started.

“But…?” 

“There is no but Frank. But if you have any doubts about it. I think we should talk about it. With sincerity.” They were always honest with each other. It was the unwritten rule between them, since the day they met. But the silence and understatements  were part of dishonesty and in their relationship there's no place for it. 

Frank didn't say a word or look at her, and Karen didn't know what that meant. Sometimes she felt like she knew him inside and out and could guess his every thought, and sometimes he was still a mystery to her that she wanted to solve. 

“Can we talk about it? Tonight?” She asked with with a trembling voice. Karen wasn't afraid of difficult conversations, she was afraid of those whose consequences she couldn't predict.  

Frank shook his head  and without looking up at her, he said “Yeah, we can talk.” 

She didn't feel a huge weight lift from her heart, but his agreement made her feel better. 

“What time will you be available? I'll order us something to eat.” 

“I finish at 8, won't that be too late?” Frank has been back to work in construction for a few months now and she thought he even liked it. With something to keep his mind and body occupied, Frank wasn't buried in own miserable thoughts. He got sense of purpose. 

“No, I'm going out for a drink with Matt and Foggy after work, so I'll be home around 9. I'll order some Chinese, we'll have dinner and talk. Does it fit you?” 

“Yeah, Chinese sounds fine.” he answered. 

“Great.” Before he had a chance to say something more she grabbed her purse, her phone and key. 

“I'll see you at nine. Have a nice day.” She kissed his cheek and led to the door. Before she closed them she noticed he reached the coconut bowl. 

Karen slowly began to develop a scenario in her head of what she would say to Frank and tried to anticipate what his responses would be. She couldn't have predicted that they wouldn't be able to have this conversation that night because the life she knew would end at Josie's bar.