#a long and slow recovery

[emotionaldisaster909]

for the new chapter of “A Long and Slow Recovery” by @ardenrabbit

[fruitsand-peachies]

Art for the incredible @ardenrabbit's story "A Long and Slow Recovery" which is my FAVORITE tgcf fic right now, I can't recommend it enough. Seriously broke my heart and mended it like eighteen times by now.

[whatmattersisyou]

From the latest chapter of "A Long and Slow Recovery" cause my brain couldn't shut up about it

Thank you so so much @ardenrabbit for sharing such a masterpiece with us!!! I am sobbing happily wiggling my feet every time there is an update :3 you are amazing!!!!

[ao3screenshotss]

[kazooreal]

BABE WAKE UP ALASR GOT UPDATED

[emotionaldisaster909]

.)

.) i’m bout to go reread alasr-

"I deserve whatever punishment I get, and I cant die anyways. so why not put all the blame on me?" hearing this line and knowing Exactly what kind of punishment he got ....

[pangur-and-grim]

hey how long after your broken leg were you walking? im 5 weeks into a broken leg and im starting to lose my mind a little at not being able to walk

oh god. good luck!

you might have a better recover time than me, depending on your type of break? mine was a comminuted fracture, which take longer to heal (because your bone is totally fucked). but I can give my rough timeline:

Feb 28, leg broke

April 10, can put weight on leg, walking with cast on

May 1, walking without cast indoors (though still wearing the cast outdoors)

May 8, able to walk outdoors without cast

June 28, able to walk for long periods without limping

August (still to come!) able to go back to weight lifting as a hobby

[the-red-thread-that-strangles]

Written for the 'cold' prompt

Where there should be a gun, only a butcher's knife waits for Akai.

Right.

They confiscated his weapons.

Oh well. Even declawed, he still has fangs. Just means he needs to get up close to get the kill.

Akai drops from his bed into a crouch. The knife's handle digs into his hand, unyielding, providing steady support in a hazy world.

He follows the edge of the bed, to where he can see light pass through the gap under the door. The sound of glass shattering, followed by a thud is what woke him, he's sure, but there's no footsteps, no shadow passing by. His intruder might be good.

But Akai knows he's better.

He sneaks up to the door, listening, waiting. There's faint breathing outside, too fast. Whoever it is, it's possible his attacker got caught up in the adrenaline rush. That should make it easier to surprise and dispatch them.

He takes cover behind the wall, and kicks the door open.

The living room lights blind him momentarily, too bright in the night. Akai blinks through the nausea, checks the windows he can see from his position - intact.

Good. He can still hear the breathing - irregular - but the sounds of the night remain distant, removed. He dashes to the other side of the door, surveilling the familiar living room outside.

As expected, all windows are shuttered, bolted shut from the inside. The intruder is trapped with him, then.

Ah, yes.

He's missed the hunt.

Though something seems off. He can't see them, but the source of noise doesn't appear to be moving. What are they waiting for? Data to download from his laptop? Poisoned gas to distribute in the room?

He can't smell anything strange, but beneath the scent of cigarette smoke and bourbon, it would be difficult to detect. He still puts a hand over his mouth, breathes as shallowly as he can manage.

Fine, fine. He'll go greet them already.

He sneaks around the too-comfortable sofa, takes cover behind his armchair, creeps up to the kitchen isle. Beyond its corner is the source of the noise, the source of another breath in his space.

He turns the corner, ready to dispatch the intruder-

-and barely manages to stop the knife in time. Stabs the ground next to an exposed neck.

There's a crumpled form on his floor in a sea of broken glass, blond hair covering their face.

Jodie?

No, that can't be.

Cold dread seizes his heart.

Jodie is dead.

His ears ring with the echo of a gunshot, drowning out all sounds but his own, stuttering heartbeat. It throbs in his head, too fast, too loud.

No. No. No.

Vertigo takes a hold of him, would have him join the figure on the floor.

The knife drops from his hands, clutters onto the floor uselessly. He grips the cupboard's corner, trying to maintain his balance. Doesn't quite manage it, and missteps.

A sharp pain in his foot forces him back to the present.

That's a problem for later.

Breathe. Assess.

The person in his kitchen groans, a rather common sound in Akai's presence.

Furuya.

He's alive.

But for how long?

Akai rushes to kneel by Furuya's side, doesn't care about the glass shards that pierce easily through his socks, his sweatpants, as he cradles the limp body in his kitchen.

He checks the head the head the head-

It's wet.

His heart beats double-time, blood rushes in his head. But there's no exit wound, and his fingers come away clear.

Akai lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

Beneath his touch Furuya is burning up, though. As if he needed any further indication that something's very, very wrong. Furuya would never let himself be seen this sweaty, flushed, exposed, if he could help it.

"Furuya. Furuya-kun."

Another groan, and finally, there's some resistance in Akai's arms. Furuya winces, furrows his brows. He blinks up at Akai, eyes unfocused, but awake, at least.

Alive.

"Stop shouting already. I'm right here."

Furuya's voice comes out too nasally, his airways must be obstructed. Akai tilts his head a little, to put less strain on it. Let Furuya breathe more easily.

"Since when is the kitchen so tall?"

Not good. He's hallucinating. Or at least struggling with spatial awareness.

Akai manages to snatch Furuya's wrist in time, draws him close. He really doesn't need shards of glass stuck in his hands, in addition to whatever knocked him out.

Akai steadies him, lets him lean against himself. Isn't ready to let go of him, anytime soon.

He should assess the damage first, but he's curious.

"Furuya. What are you doing here?"

The agent frowns at him, seemingly confused. It takes him a moment to answer.

"You gave me the key?", he sneers. Curls in on himself protectively.

Except that's not what Akai is asking. Why is Furuya here, in the middle of the night, when-

"You're sick."

Maybe stating the obvious will get through to him, seeing as he seems to have trouble grasping the severity of his situation.

"So? It is Thursday. I promised."

He says it airily, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. As if it explains everything.

Yukiko-san had given Akai an earful for not taking care of himself properly, but even he knows to hole up and rest when he's sick. Not drive halfway across town on a paper-thin promise.

Surely, Furuya would have to understand that his own safety, his own health, comes first?

Right?

"I am fine. Get me to my car. I have inconvenienced you enough as it is."

Akai blinks. Furuya can barely move, and he wants to do what, exactly, in his car? Call for help? Suffer? Try to drive?

While he would like to assume this is a bout of temporary insanity brought on by the fever, if Akai looks back on their shared history, he isn't sure Furuya ever knew when to quit. Or what was good for him.

Damnit.

Alright.

"I'm driving you home."

He got to keep his car, at least, even if the gadgets were removed, his permits revoked. They'd told him to stick to travelling on foot, too, if he can. But for Furuya, he could make an exception.

"Who do I call to check up on you?"

At that, Furuya simply laughs at him.

Akai has never heard him do so, before.

It's not pretty.

Cold and hollow, the sound rings harshly in the night. Interrupted by coughs and sputters, Furuya's laughter is an ugly, broken thing, as far removed from joy as can be. It goes on for far too long.

This isn't funny.

Akai shivers. He'll be glad if he never has to hear that dreadful sound again.

"Just leave me be. I will survive, like always."

Up until that moment, Akai was pretty sure he'd lost it. But deep inside his chest, something stirs. A fragile little thing; it aches and splinters and breaks at the sight before him.

Furuya's bright smile is polished, his eyes like shining glass. It's too much.

Akai would be more inclined to believe him if Furuya wasn't shivering. If his nose wasn't running. If his eyes weren't red.

"No."

He might not know Furuya Rei. He barely knew Bourbon, and Amuro Tooru was actively out for his blood. He has no idea what happened to this man, to make him so furious at the world, yet so resigned to his fate. But the emotion that just shone through Furuya's carefully maintained image is all too familiar.

Survival isn't the prize it's made out to be. Not when-

Don't think about them. Someone needs to keep it together, and it won't be Furuya. You can do that, right? Not for yourself, but for him.

Yes.

A hypothesis forms, unbidden. The promise was just an excuse. Furuya came here because he had no other place to go to. No one to turn to.

That's fine. Akai understands. He doesn't have one either. Not anymore.

But he can give Furuya what he still has left: himself.

"I won't leave you alone."

He's the worst person for this; Akai barely knows how to take care of himself. The last time he looked after someone with a cold... he might still have been a teenager, taking care of Shukichi.

But it beats suffering alone, surely.

"Great. That means I have a chance to die of food poisoning."

There's a shimmer of life in Furuya's eyes, before he closes them. A faint smile, as he rests his head against Akai's chest. Broken, but a little more human than the Venetian mask he showed before.

Akai squeezes him, once, then picks him up without too much trouble. Shards of glass fall from their clothes, as he rises, holding Furuya close.

Alright.

First, he needs to clean up his guest.

Then, the flat.

Lastly, himself, if he has energy to spare.

And somewhere in-between, he'll need to call Yukiko-san. Maybe she will share the secret to her chicken noodle soup with him.

[25centsoda]

Whumptober 2024 - Day 17, SW

Summary:

After taking Luke from the medical facility he was imprisoned at, Vader brought Luke to the Executor. Luke is still processing the change. Day 17: NOWHERE ELSE TO GO Ruined Map | Shipwrecked | “We had a good run.”

A continuation of my 2021 fic Safety's A Breath Away

Excerpt:

Luke furrowed his brow, daring another glance down the durasteel hallway.

Since when had there been stormtroopers everywhere, and so many officers? Of all the people that had walked by, he didn’t think he’d seen a nurse once. Was there some kind of inspection? Takeover?

...it was an Imperial facility, right? Who else would get a former Inquisitor?

No, no; he’d definitely seen the Imperial cog around.

He shook his head as if to clear it. The new staff didn’t matter. What mattered was getting out, now matter how difficult the building suddenly was to navigate.

[playrsimpn]

Your writing gives me life💯🙌🏻🥰 You have my support and I need more kudos buttons to smash😍

Hey guys I set up a kofi in case anyone wants to help me write good 👀

disclaimer disclaimer this definitely has nothing to do with any nonprofit organizations nor any NSFW content

[emotionaldisaster909]

for the new chapter of “A Long and Slow Recovery” by @ardenrabbit

[karliahs]

two silly thoughts from me still thinking too much about UA teaching logistics:

1. I think given all might's time limit at the beginning of the series, they really can't have given him a homeroom class to look after - but I do think it would be very funny if nedzu did it anyway. yeah I know you're just here for OFA purposes and that you can only be in hero form for like 3 hours per day, but you do have to spend like 15 minutes of that looking after 20 random wide-eyed business course kids. no slackers allowed

2. each year presumably has the same class structure as what we see for class a's year - 2 hero classes and 1 of each of the others - [ETA: oops no they don't, it's apparently 2 hero classes and THREE of each of the others??? consider this now a non-canon-compliant joke:] but it seems at least vaguely plausible that the additional hero class is a more recent addition brought on either by hero commission pressure to churn out more heroes per year, or - funnier option - as a counterbalance for the fact that aizawa is expelling like 50% of the hero course anyway, so you have to start out with a bigger pool

[not-poignant]

Stardew Valley - 26/? - A Stain that Won’t Dissolve - Alex/Sebastian

Title: A Stain that Won’t Dissolve Rating: Explicit Pairing: Alex/Sebastian Tags: Hurt/comfort, aged-up characters (mid 20s), minor character death, angst, injury, grief, miscommunication, bullying, enemies to lovers, dubious consent, internalised homophobia, closeted character, past child abuse, dyslexia, antagonist farmer, unrequited love, pining, acceptance, top!Sebastian, bottom!Alex, power dynamics, happy ending.

Summary: Alex hates Sebastian – which is great because Sebastian more than returns the favour – and what starts out as revenge fantasy turns into unironic lust, which evolves into unrequited love. Alex gets a job, Sebastian marries the farmer, and both of them lose almost everything before finding each other again. A story of two mutual bullies who learn how to messily grow up.

A Stain that Won’t Dissolve (Alex/Sebastian) - Chapter 26 - Made Up Your Absent Mind

In which Alex spends time cleaning at Jodi's house, and realises that maybe he underestimated her. And then he cleans at Sebastian's house, and realises he completely overestimated Abigail's ability to be a basic human being.

[daftpatience]

From one fat person to another, doing god’s work making Draluc NOT skin and bone. That man needs to be fed.

YEAH!! i think for draluc it is a long and difficult gradual journey vs ronaldo who is able to put on a lot of good healthy weight easily thx to his lifestyle/eating better now that draluc is cooking for him BUT yes like my goal and headcanon is that draluc fills out thx to regularly feeding on ronaldo!!

it probably takes them awhile to do it regularly and draluc has to build up to being able to handle a lot of blood/get used to the feeling of a full stomach again BUT im sure keeping ronaldo well fed and looked after will make it tastier >:)

[friedwizardwhispers]

Guoshi Fangxin my beloved.

This episode really is bringing back my love for the angsty hualian post-100 years in a grave fanfics.

Lang Qianqiu is extremely lucky Hua Cheng never found out before he buried Xie Lian alive for this.

[larytello]

Shadow The Hedgehog and Maria Robotnik accused of leaving Laryssa Pontes totally broken and without Christmas or New Year Eve celebrations this December due to annoyingly and unexcused high cinema ticket prices, more at 11