#and how sad is it to go from almost co parenting these kids

[fourmoony]

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐓: Chapter Two

After breaking your ankle in the wake of a break up, you're determined to get through your senior year without any interference from James Potter. That is, until his loyalty to loose cannon Sirius Black lands him straight in your lap. Or, rather, your kiddie-skate group.

CW: Language, mentions of violence, sour sibling relationships, overbearing parents, mention of car crash and scars.

ITN: The Masterlist

James

One of James’ earliest memories is of the rink, back home. It’s not exactly a clear memory. There was lots of falling, a plastic penguin almost the size of him, and Sirius Black. His first day at kiddie-skate. Even though he’d spent more time on his ass than skating, it’s a memory James will always cherish. Even if it blurs, slightly, as time goes on. Because it’s the day he met Sirius. At five years old, James had no idea that the lanky, smart as a whip kid who somehow managed to both stumble across the ice and act like he owned it at the same time, was going to be one of the most important people in his life. Sirius is James’ soulmate. His best friend. There isn’t a day where James isn’t grateful for Sirius Black stumbling into his life; wild and untamed.

Except, maybe, today.

The rink at Hogwarts is a place James always feels at home. The smell of Zamboni fuel and the rubber mats meant to protect skate blades. The banging of lockers and the whir of the air conditioning that keeps the ice cool. It’s a small area of campus where James can go when he feels too much. Too overwhelmed, too sad, too anxious. A safe place. Even training is a relief to James. A time in which he’s allocated to turn his brain off, become captain and lead his team. He focusses on plays and makes mental notes on what to work on with the guys. During games he’s focussed on one thing: winning.

But today. Today, Hogwarts Arena is the very source of James’ anxiety, of the weight in his chest that just keeps pressing. It’s not that he’s scared of the rink. Or even of you. But the idea of being in charge of twelve miniature humans whilst knowing in the back of his mind that you’d rather be literally anywhere else is a pretty decent source of anxiety. The last thing James wants to do is make you uncomfortable in an environment that you love so much. You’ve coached mini skate since you were a sophomore. You once told James that it felt like your purpose. To fill the world with as many accomplished skaters as possible. Be a role-model. A guiding light. Someone they could look back at and think I’m glad I had a coach like her. A motivator. A kind soul.

You’re setting cones out on the ice when James takes a seat on the team bench to put his skates on. The kids are down by the tunnel, if the noise that flows from it is anything to go by. James finds himself staring as you skate. You do it with such ease that it reminds him hockey isn’t the only on-ice sport. You’ve trained your entire life to get to the level you’re at, today. He knows you’re going for Nationals again, this year, refuses to allow himself to think about last year. You deserve better of him than to have him distracted by that whilst co-coaching. He knows how that spiral goes. Spent all of his summer thinking about you, about the physical therapy you’d be enduring, the anger you’d have been feeling. Shame washes over him, hot and fast.

He ties his skates tighter than they probably need to be and joins you on the ice. Your head turns at the sound of his blades against the ice, fresh pressed by the Zamboni, after your training session with Pince, probably. You’re still wearing your training clothes, likely haven’t left the rink to get food between practice and mini skate. James makes a mental note to bring you something, next week.

“You’re late.” You call across the ice. You set another cone down, skate towards the next location.

James weaves in and out of the cones you’ve set out with ease, gaining on you without trying. “My Econ class ran long. Flitwick sent you an email.”

Your ponytail swishes when you turn to drop the next cone, feet crossing in a way James imagines is only capable because of your toe picks. If he tried a move like that in his blunt rounded hockey skates, he’d land on his face. With the final cone in your hand, you skate backwards, eyes on James. “Literally the last thing I said to you was ‘be on time’, James.” You sigh.

James smiles, “Actually, I believe the last thing you said to me was ‘You’re sorry that you feel like shit’.”

Your eyebrows hook in the middle when they furrow. James knows he has no right to chide you or try to joke with you, but he wants this to be painless. He hurt you, he knows that. He done a lot of stupid shit, things he can’t take back, even if he wishes he could. But he never thought you’d want to act like strangers, like two people who can’t hold a civil conversation. In his opinion, there’s too much history there, for that.

“The kids will be out any minute. We’re going over control. You take half, I take half.” You nod your head to the pile of cones on the other side of the rink.

James nods. “Sure thing.” He gets to work on setting up his cones before the kids come out of the tunnel.

The majority of kiddie-skate passes in a flurry of tiny skates torpedoing around James. He tries to keep up, tries not to come across as stern, even when all six of the kids under his leadership would rather race each other across the span of the ice. They remind him of he and Sirius, at that age. Causing trouble everywhere they went, consequences be damned. It’s exhausting, but nowhere near as awkward as he thought it might be. You dutifully keep your kids to your side of the ice, well behaved and skating in neat circles around their cones. James finds himself wondering if you gave him the wild bunch as a punishment. By the end of the session, James finds himself giving in and racing seven-year-old Michael from one net to the other. He considers letting him win but decides against it when he sees the determination on Michael’s face, the sure-fire way he glides on his skates. He’s fast; has potential. That shouldn’t be coddled. It should be nurtured, turned into motivation to try harder, next time. Because, next time, when he does try harder, he might just win. Until he’s playing at division one level.

James is sure that’ll be true, one day.

The parents mill around by the exit doors at the far end of the ice, ten minutes before the session ends. James can’t quite believe how fast the time has gone. You call him and his group of kids over to the middle of the ice, skidding to a stop on the edge of your skates. Dutifully, James directs his kids towards you. “Let’s go, team. The boss wants us over here.”

If you hear him, you don’t say anything. Instead, you direct James to stand next to you, arms crossed over your chest. “What did we learn, today?” You ask.

“Control.”

You nod, smile kind and patient. “That control is a key part in skating. Whether it be hockey or figure skating. If you can’t control your weight, your speed, your skates? Pshh,” You scoff, dramatically, “Game over, guys. You’re out.”

There’s amusement in your voice, despite the importance of what you’re saying. James finds it admirable, your ability to connect with the kids. You could connect with anyone, anywhere, though. It’s the kind of person you are. Patient, kind. Undeserving of all the bullshit James has brought into your life since you met him.

“Did you lose control when you broke your ankle?” One of the kids asks. A younger girl, a sparkly pink helmet sitting squint on her head. There’s no malice, just that childlike innocence that brings about curiosity.

The question shocks you, regardless. Your lips press into a thin line, eyes a little distant. James wonders if he should step in, cover for you. Change the subject, somehow.

“No, Kayla,” You fix your face, a sort of wistful look that James can’t figure out. “No, I lost focus.”

James feels his heart sink. Two nights before you left for Nationals, James dropped an irreversible bomb on you. It broke your heart, tore your relationship apart. Then, he sent you off to Nationals with a head full of his bullshit and watched you break your ankle in front of the entire country. Because he distracted you. He broke your focus. Took away the gold medal that had your name written on it.

The guilt keeps him awake at night. More so than the ache of missing you. Because he does. He misses everything about you. Your smile, your laugh, the way your nose scrunches when you’re focussing. He even misses your grumpiness when trying, and failing, to nail a new routine. He misses holding you, kissing you, telling you that he loves you.

But the guilt, the shame. The reality of what he did. It plays on a loop in his head, eats him alive. He’s trying not to drown in it as he watches you dismiss the kids, waving to parents as you skate them to the door. James just stands there, in the middle of the ice. Unsure of how to act. Unsure of what to do, if he should go, if he should stay and try to talk to you. He settles for skating to the team bench, a carved-out box halfway up the side boards. He sits down on the bench, bends down to untie his skates.

The door clicks shut behind you a moment later, a whoosh of cold air and the scent of your perfume as your skates skid to a stop outside the box, beforehand. James looks up as you cross past him, sitting on the opposite end of the bench. You follow his lead, untying your skates in silence. He puts his guards on, places them in his bag. Puts his shoes on. All the while suffocating in the silence.

“It wasn’t your fault.” You tell James. Your voice is quiet, so soft, like maybe you’re not sure you want him to hear you. Your eyes don’t leave your socked feet, hands folded in your lap.

James focusses on putting his shoes on. Doesn’t look at you. “You were right, you know.”

He catches the way your face scrunches, the sadness there. You won’t appreciate his comfort, so he doesn’t give you it. Instead, he stands, slings his bag over his shoulder. His hand itches to reach out and touch you, to tell you that he’s sorry. He wishes he could change everything, could take it all back. “I do feel like shit. But that’s not why I’m sorry.”

Your head tilts up. Your eyes are filled with tears and James can’t stomach it. He hates himself. You look so sad and tired. “See you on Sunday.” He nods and books it out of the team box, along the corridor, the foyer, and into the carpark.

He climbs into his truck, lets the shame swallow him whole, lets the pain burn him. And there, in private, alone, he breaks. He loathes himself for it. He has no right, no reason to be so sad, so solemn. He took everything from you. Yet he still breaks, anyway.

James doesn’t know how much more he can take before he can’t put himself back together, anymore.

Sirius

The Hogwarts Library is Sirius’ least likely haunt. He, honestly, avoids it at all costs. Unless he’s trying to find Lily. Even then, he tends to only stay for ten minutes, or so. It’s not that he hates studying. He actually enjoys his classes, finds the work stimulating for his overactive brain. He’s smart. That’s not to be doubted, even if he acts like an idiot ninety-nine percent of the time. The reason he hates the library so much is because it reminds him of the one at Grimmauld Place.

Hogwarts library is brighter, in fairness. But the high ceilings, regal architecture, the smell of old books and the eerie quiet. It’s all too similar to the library in his childhood home. It makes his skin crawl, the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention. He’s guarded, like he always was at home. A place where it was do or die, fight to survive. Libraries are supposed to be a peaceful place. A place of childlike wonderment, a place where you can get lost in stories of knights in shining armour, passionate love. His opinion of libraries is that it’s a place one would go to get the shit kicked out of them at a dinner party for being too smart tongued. He remembers that all too well. Hates that particular story.

The girl at the front desk smiles kindly at him, but all he sees is a vulture waiting to pick him off, trap him here and make him relive his worst memories over and over. He grimaces, places his hands on the cold wood of the desk and begs it to ground him. Sirius forces a breath as he rolls his shoulders.

“I’m here for community service? There’s a kid writing a paper or something.” His words are breathy, unsure, gritted out through unwilling teeth. He hates this. Hates it with his entire being.

The blonde girl smiles, likely a little awe struck at the sight of a hockey player in the library. As far as Sirius knows, none of them use the library. Half of the team prefer to study at home, and half of them could give less of a shit about their degrees. “Uh, sure, Sirius, right?” She asks, prucking around the desk for a sheet of paper. 

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Astrology is on the third floor. He’ll be waiting at the main desk for you.”

Sirius nods, thanks the girl and heads towards the stairs. He climbs them two at a time, skin itching with anticipation. He really hopes whoever he’s stuck with for the foreseeable future isn’t an overachieving dick. The signs for the astrology section of Hogwarts library point to the right, Sirius follows them all the way to the main desk in the centre of the floor. All of the shelves surround it in a circle, little stars and flecks of paint on the edge of each bookcase. In the centre of the circle sits a circle table, scattered with open books, papers, drawings of constellations.

Sirius tries not to think too hard about the irony of being landed with an astronomy student. He might hate everything about his family, but he loves the stars. Loves his namesake.

There’s no one at the desk, their things left abandoned. Sirius tries not to be nosey but fails. The closest thing to him are drawings, mappings of planets and stars. Hand drawn; with such painstaking detail he finds himself in awe of it. He sets it down, moves on to the next piece of paper, covered in barely legible ramblings about the importance of planet distance, star mapping, it’s barely congeable.

“Did no one ever teach you not to touch what’s not yours?”

Sirius freezes, blood draining from his entire body. The ice cold, baritone voice. Sirius hears it in his nightmares. It claws at the darkest parts of him. His hands shake as he turns; face to face with a more polished carbon copy of himself. Regulus Black is two years younger than Sirius, and yet he looks almost a decade older. He looks positively regal in his ironed clothes, with his perfectly tamed hair and clean-shaven face. Even his shoes don’t have a single scuff on them. It’s not lost on Sirius, the idea that this could have been him. He was supposed to be the heir, the brother with his shit together.

Regulus scowls at Sirius, reaches forwards to rip the paper from his trembling hands. His brain refuses to work, bile rises in his throat. He’s going to kill Moody.

There are memories, there. Playing somewhere in the back of his head. Childlike voices talking in hushed tones, screaming, fighting, hateful words, laughing, crying. He and Regulus were once as close as brothers could be. He hates that Regulus now looks at him with disgust. But refuses to let him win.

“Only thing my parents taught me was to hit fast and hard, watch your enemies wither and die.” Sirius scoffs, hands stuffed in his pockets. He will not allow Regulus to see him rattled. “Of course, they treated their own children like enemies.”

It’s Regulus’ turn to scoff. Even his scoff is prim and proper. He rounds the table and takes a seat, like a king in his throne. Sirius supposes he is. Everything in the Black family dynasty will be his in a few years. Everything Sirius didn’t want. Everything Regulus didn’t want. Not until he didn’t have a choice. “You wanted for nothing.” Regulus quips.

Sirius’ blood burns with the statement. He sounds exactly like their mother. Cruel, evil. Willing to overlook the darkness of her own soul because it got her what she wanted. Money and power. “Spoken like a true Black, Reggie. Congratulations.”

Regulus’ smile is nothing short of bitter. He knows the insult that lies in there, but he shrugs it off as easy as picking a piece of lint from his pure cotton shirt.

“I need all of the books from section A to B noted. Titles, author, date of publication. Alphabetised.” Regulus levels Sirius with a bored look and he balks.

His younger brother, acting like Sirius is beneath him. He shrugs, “Better get to work then, Reggie. Might take you a while.”

“You’re the one on community service for acting like a rabid animal.” Regulus shrugs.

“Yeah, I’ll take the suspension. This shit isn’t gonna happen.”

Regulus chuckles and Sirius can already picture it. His younger brother, sweet, kind, sensitive Reggie. Turned into a fortune five hundred shark, belittling his staff because he can. Just like their father. “Sure. Throw away your hockey career, Sirius. But the Black family won’t be there to welcome you back when you blow your trust fund.”

Sirius’ jaw ticks. Hockey is his life. The Cannon’s won’t touch him with a ten-foot pole, draft or no draft, if he doesn’t touch the ice this season.

“You’re just like him, you know.” Sirius spits. He doesn’t miss the way Regulus’ face hardens; a little shame mixed in there somewhere. They’re too similar, in some ways. Sirius knows exactly where to press where it hurts. 

Regulus hands him a notepad. “A to B.”

“Better get out before you end up like her, too, Reggie. That shit’s irreversible.” Sirius tells him, disappointed in himself for even saying it. It feels like acid on his tongue. He turns and goes to find section A. Doesn’t look back to see the fear on his younger brother’s face.

Remus

Thursday evenings are Remus’ least favourite. There’s no practice to keep his mind occupied, the gym is closed for deep cleaning, there’s nothing for him to occupy himself with, except his weekly call with his parents. He’s longed for an excuse to cancel a million times over. It never comes. A punishment, Remus thinks, for something he did in a past life. He loves his parents. They can be overbearing, intense, but they care. That’s a lot more than some people have.

But they don’t get him. His father, more so, than his mother. Hope Lupin is kind and understanding. If Remus told her he wanted to sack it all in and become a shark wrestler, tomorrow, she’d buy him a shark keyring and do as much research as it took to help him on his way. But Lyall Lupin? Five-time Stanley Cup Winner, top player in the NHL for years, retired, hardass hockey player? He’d strangle his only son with his bare hands. All he ever does is push. He pushes and pushes and refuses to see Remus’ health as an issue.

It’s exhausting. Sometimes, Remus just wants to be told to slow down. As much as he’d hate to (he has goals, things he wants to do, his illness won’t stop him). It would still be nice to not have so much pressure on him all of the time.

The call connects with a heavy sense of dread. Hope and Lyall are in their living room, a large canvass of Remus with his first ever hockey trophy hung proudly behind him. That was before the crash, before the scars and brittle bones. Back when the world was his for the taking. Remus hates that photo.

“Hi, love.” Hope beams, cheeks appled out in a smile.

Remus looks most like his mum. Right down to the sandy brown hair, fluffy and unruly. Except he has his father’s nose. The nose that his least favourite scar slashes jaggedly across. He avoids looking at the square with his face on it. Instead, he focusses on the look on his father’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Remus asks, nerves on edge.

Lyall Lupin, to the media, to people who don’t know him, is an unreadable man. Remus can read him like a book. His face might portray as impassive, but he’s furious. About what, Remus has no fucking idea. It’s always something.

“Nothing, love.” Hope tries to shake it off.

“You were a little heavy on your left skate last game, no?” Lyall grits out.

Remus almost laughs. Like, full on belly laughs. Disbelief washes over him, hot and furious, his blood burning. “I played first and second line because Kennedy bust his shoulder over the summer. You remember I have a bad knee, right?” Remus scoffs, eyebrows raised.

He sees the way his mother eyes his scars, the way they pale with the stretch. She looks sad, remorseful. He relaxes his face, shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“Of course, we do, Rem.”

“You think the Wasps will be impressed with that performance? So early in the season, too.” Lyall scoffs, waving a dismissive hand at Remus.

Sometimes Remus thinks his parents see right through him. Sometimes, he wants to scream that he’s right there. That they almost lost him altogether and anything he does now should be a fucking bonus. That he’s sick of never being good enough. That his father should be grateful Remus is even still physically able to get on the ice.

Instead, he swallows the anger and sighs. “Holme gave me some new physio exercises. It’ll be better next time.”

His father nods. “Good.”

“Is that all, then?” Remus asks shortly.

“How was your week?” Hope asks, at the same time Lyall lets out a stern, cold, “Yes.”

She frowns at her husband, who blatantly ignores her. It raises a feral beast in Remus. A wolf howling. He wants to tell his father to respect his wife, to appreciate all she does for him. But he knows Hope hates when he does that. So, he scoffs, hangs up, and slams his laptop closed. He’s exhausted after a mere five-minute phone call, wants nothing more than to crawl into bed with a book and pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist.

But Sirius stands in his doorway, a sympathetic look on his face. Remus hates it. Hates when Sirius treats him like something fragile, something that can be easily broken. While it may be physically accurate, it will take a lot more effort from Lyall Lupin to break Remus mentally.

“He was in top form.” Sirius murmurs.

Remus nods, runs his hands across his face. The raised bumps of his scars irritates him, so he drops his hands to his lap. “How was community service?”

Sirius shrugs. “The kid writing the paper?”

Remus hums.

“Regulus.”

“Shit. Sorry, Pads.” Remus offers, hand itching to reach out and intertwine with Sirius’. A comforting touch for both of them. He doesn’t.

Just follows Sirius across the room with his eyes as he approaches Remus’ neatly made bed and climbs in. Remus sighs. He’s not sure he has the energy for whatever game Sirius is playing. He can barely keep up anymore. They’re toeing the line between best friends and something else, and while Remus enjoys it, sometimes, he doesn’t think he can stomach it tonight.

But Sirius pushes the display pillows off the side, pulls back the covers for Remus and he finds he can’t resist.

Sirius smells like old books with a touch of cinnamon. He curls into Remus’ side with ease, muscles relaxing until he’s lax in his arms. He feels himself relaxing, too.

“I miss him.” Sirius whispers, voice broken.

Remus presses his lips to Sirius’ hair. “I know.”

“He hates me.”

His chest constricts. Remus knows how much Sirius regrets leaving Regulus. It weighs on him, is probably a large part of why he refuses to take responsibility for anything, ever. He wishes he could make it better for Sirius. “He hates that you got out.”

“I hate myself for not dragging him with me.” Sirius says.

His grip tightens on Remus, his head pushing further into Remus’ neck.

“He’ll forgive you. If you tell him.”

Sirius doesn’t say anything. His breathing slows, Remus feels his eyelashes flutter against his neck. Asleep. Out cold.

He presses one last kiss to Sirius’ hair, pushes all of the thoughts out of his head, and follows suit.

[menacing-menace-rat]

Can I get platonic yandere headcanons for all of the founding members of the Justice League?

I definitely can! Also sorry it took me so long to get to this. I'm still learning about how the inbox stuff works.

I'm going to have to make this in parts because it's alot to look at with all 7 members. This is part 1 of ?

I'm gonna use the founding members from the animated universe. More members and I love Martian Manhunter. If you were looking for the Snyder universe let me know and I'll edit the post and add Cyborg for you. 🤗

Warnings: kidnapping, gaslighting, obsessive behavior, general yandere creep stuff.

Platonic yandere justice league members part 1

Superman

You were a scientist at LexCorp

After some questionable experiments you knew you had to blow the whistle

So you went to the Daily Planet.

That's where it all stared.

So smart with a kind heart, how could he not protect you?

He's deluded himself completely.

He can't see how he can be the villain in anyone's story let alone yours.

He's very aware of his own strength thankfully.

You are more of a risk to yourself than he is. At least physically 👀

You'd be moved to a farmhouse almost right away.

When it comes to kidnapping you, he has no self control, it's near instant.

he knows how fragile humans are and he refuses to take any chances.

No matter how much you pleaded with him it was no use.

He was the only one who could help you and stop Lex.

This man has a scary amount of patience. No amount of hitting or screaming is going to set him off.

He will subconsciously prolong any solution that would make Lex and his people less of a threat to you.

He'd insist on sharing a bed. If he was anyone else you'd be worried he would try something.

If he wanted that kind of thing from you, you knew he could just make you.

So you were pretty sure whatever this was it was at least a platonic infatuation.

At night he'd hold you so tight it was difficult to move.

A physical reminder of what you already felt inside, trapped.

There was no escaping that farm. Anywhere in the city he could hear you.

He'd hear the front door open or your panting as you tried to run for the nearest road.

He wouldn't allow any kind of phones or computers in the house.

Why would he? Need help? He'll be there faster than any cop. You are lonely? That's fine he'd love to have hour long talks about anything you want.

Batman

Your best bet is to play along for years maybe. How ever long it takes for him to maybe let you make a grocery run alone.

He found you on the streets. Maybe it was your sad eyes or your dirty face but he knew he had to take you in.

He'd tell himself he could help you learn to fight. That you'd make a great Robin.

Deep down he knew he'd never let you fight in any way.

He's not like Superman. He knows how much he cares for you is unhealthy. He knows it's wrong to take you in and effectively trap you in a huge manor but what else can he do?

He is a world class manipulator. He also has far less patience then Superman.

Too many escape attempts and he's going to make a plan.

He'd go as far as to allow you to "escape". Only to orchestrate some horrible traumatic event so he can find you and save you all over again.

Depending on how strong willed you were the worst it would be.

It was twisted and horrible but he almost craved reassuring you.

He loved your tears so long as they weren't for a real reason.

Bruce kept a tight lid on his emotions. You'd never see him lose it. He'd never show he was upset with you.

Despite this being a very unconventional child/parent relationship his go to punishment is normally grounding and lost of privileges.

You'd be home schooled of course.

He isn't all that hands on unsurprisingly.

He'd ask one of the other kids to keep en eye on you or even another justice league members.

Asking them for help wouldn't work.

The kids are on board with Bruce. Even if they weren't what could they do?

As for the other JL members he'd tell them you were mentally ill and confused.

He'd get his colleagues/friends admiration for being so selfless by raising a sick child and you'd just look crazy.

Bruce is not known for his affection but he does try.

If you are crying or screaming he might try and comfort you with a hug or by rubbing your back.

He's not the best at comforting words either but his little acts of kindness are where he shines

He'd do his best to make most of your days as structured and predictable as possible.

You'd be kept in the best health imaginable. whether you liked it or not.

Anything you can ask for he'd give you, so long as you don't ask for freedom.

He even makes time to tuck you in every night no matter your age.

If he has time he might even read to you.

You probably are never getting free of him and his kids but your best bet would be utilize the uncontrollable.

Batman is a planner. He likes to be able to predict things.

Try and wait till something goes majorly wrong.

All of Arkhams prisoners being released or an alien invasion are your only chances of slipping out of that place. You'd only get one shot though.

Diana isn't crazy right off the bat.

Wonder Woman

(This one might be the only non gender neutral one.)

You were an anthropologist given the rare opportunity to study the amazonians from the island of Themyscira.

She is cool under pressure and isn't easily impressed.

After so long of staying there she'd start to feel like you were her sister.

But once she's invested in you there is no going back.

She would follow you back to whatever city you called home.

She isn't shy about her sisterly love for you. There would be no mind games with her.

She respects you too much for that.

She is so direct about it she would likely just tell you, you were going to go back to the island with her and be with her forever.

Depending on your reaction towards her directness she may not even make you.

She might be okay with you just visiting. For a while at least.

She's confident and self assured.

If you liked being around her as much as she likes being around you things would be easy.

If not life was going to be hard and potentially painful.

Rejecting her affection and forthcomingness will break her heart.

She would blame herself and work to be better.

Unfortunately being better to her means giving you even less space.

She'd make you come back with her.

An island full of tall strong women all who listen to Diana's will.

You are not escaping.

She is near impossible to trick twice if you have already tried to get away from her.

That being said it wouldn't be all that bad.

She would be painfully gentle with you. So long as you just listen.

You are her little sister after all.

She differs from Kent and Bruce in a big way.

She would train you, she is pragmatic and understands one day she may not be there to protect you.

Long and rigorous training sessions would be the norm for a while.

On Themiscyra you'd have much more freedoms. You would even be able to walk around alone if you showed you can handle it.

Your happiness is her second priority after your safety.

She'd being you anything you wanted from your part of the world.

She would like for you to participate in amazonian traditions and customs but she'd never make you. Even if she wants to sometimes

She'd relish in watching you acclimate to her world.

She would insist her sisters treat you with the love and respect she feels you deserve.

Your only hope of escape would be to somehow get off the island and disappear.

Nothing sort of complete disappearance would work. If she ever caught you again you wouldn't be leaving that island for a second time.

More to come hopefully soon. There will be 2 or 3 parts in total not sure yet. Hope you enjoyed!

[danikamariewrites]

okay BUTTTT i feel like a very important aspect to being feysand's housewife would also be co-parenting nyx and maybe even getting pregnant with a babe of her own?? feysand would be SO protective and doting of their soft little wifey bringing in their newest night court baby

Housewife part 3

A/n: omg ur so right anon. I think Nyx would love having two moms because that just means another person to love and spoil him

Warnings: poly relationship, pregnancy, and fluff

I think you would come into the relationship when Nyx was 3

They introduced you to Nyx before the inner circle. Even though he didn’t fully understand what was going on he became very attached to you

When you moved in you wanted to spend more time with Nyx

You take him out shopping with you and you always make sure to stop to get him a toy. Feyre and Rhys would give you two a look when you came home and he was holding the new toy. “What? This is the only one he needs to complete his collection.” “Yeah, I need it.” Nyx says with a small giggle at his parents faces

During the days at home you two read together, take naps, play in the garden, or playing g his favorite- hide and seek

Nyx loves to color and paint just like Feyre. You all decided fostering his creativity was important and would let him pursue any activity he wanted

Putting him to bed was always so easy

He loves bedtime stories so one of those and he’s out like a light

When he calls you mom for the first time your heart almost stops and there are tears in your eyes

You two were in the kitchen and you were making Nyx his lunch. He had just turned 4 last week so he asked for some cake with his sandwich and you couldn’t say no to that. Nyx climbed onto a chair and waited patiently for his food. When you set it down in front of him the little boy smiled up at you and said, “Thanks mom.” Before digging in

Of course he had no idea the affect him calling you mom had on you

You crouched down and pulled Nyx into a tight hug. Ruffling his hair you kissed his head. “I love you so much Nyx.” He kissed your cheek, “I love you too mom.”

When you put him down for his nap after lunch you went to Rhys’s office where he and Feyre were talking over some documents. Rhys saw you first and was confused by your tears and smile. “Y/n, is everything ok?” You nod enthusiastically. “Everything’s perfect. Nyx called me mom.” They both started crying as well and embraced you

Feyre is mommy and you’re mom, Nyx made that decision on his own

You absolutely cannot discipline this kid to save your life. Neither can Feyre so you two leave it to Rhys (he’s not very good at it either he folds pretty quick)

Special days with the three of you include going for ice cream, swims in the Sidra, and every month you take Nyx to this cute tea cafe where you eat fancy foods and have tea served in fancy cups

When he starts school the 3 of you don’t know how to handle it. You all cry on his first day not wanting him to go because it means he’s growing up and won’t need you guys one day. But that’s way far ahead

Nyx was happy to go to school, he loves making new friends and playing with the other kids

You all take turns dropping him off at school or sometimes you and Feyre drop him off together and get breakfast in the city

You always pick Nyx up and get an after school treat together where he tells you all about what he did in school

There were times when Nyx was sad and you guys never knew who he’d want to comfort him

One day when you picked Nyx up from school he had an angry scowl on his face and he was silent the whole way home. Feyre and Rhys were there to greet you at the door but he just ran up to his room and slammed the door

“What’s wrong?” Feyre asked worriedly. “I don’t know. He was quiet the whole way home. I asked but…nothing.” You started biting your lip as your mind raced. Was he being bullied? Did his teacher yell at him? Rhys heard you and Feyre having similar thoughts. He rested a hand on each of your shoulders, “I’ll go talk to him.”

Rhys got no where with Nyx. You guys accepted defeat and called in backup. Cassian and Azriel. They called themselves the A-team while referring to you 3 as the B-team (not true they are just very cocky)

After an hour of talking with Nyx they all came downstairs. Nyx climbed on the couch shoving himself between Rhys and Feyre. Cassian crouched down in front of him, “It’s ok Nyx, tell them what you told us.” He gave the little boy a reassuring smile. When you looked at Azriel you got a different vibe. The shadowsinger looked like he was about the kill someone. “Titus made fun of my family picture I drew. He got yelled at but I’m still mad.”

You swear you heard all 3 of your hearts break at once. That night you talked to Nyx about how all families are different and not everyone is going to understand that. He seemed better after that and said he would ignore Titus from now on

When you get pregnant you, Feyre, and Rhys were so excited to grow your family

The first person you guys told was Nyx

You were a little nervous telling him. How would he react? Would he hate you now? Would he be upset because all the attention would be on the new babe? You didn’t want your little guy to feel unloved or anything

You cried yourself to sleep over this in Rhys and Feyre’s arms the night before you told him

The next day you took him out for a special family day for ice cream and a new toy

When you got home your palms were sweating from nerves

Rhys ushered you all into the living room telling Nyx that you had big new to share with him. Rhys sat him in one of the Illyrian armchairs

“Nyx, we have something very important to tell you.” Rhys started. “Yes and we want you to know that we love you and this is going to be a big change, but a good one.” Feyre adds. You were supposed to bring it home and deliver the news. “You’re going to be a big brother honey. I’m pregnant, isn’t that exciting.”

Nyx just blinked at you a few times the smiled. “Will I have a brother or sister? Will they have wings too? Oh, when will they be here?” He was bouncing up and down with excitement in the big armchair

As your pregnancy went on and your belly got bigger Nyx loved saying hi to his sibling

He also loved to pat your belly and ask if you needed anything, he was just adorable

You guys pull nap on the couch together and he would read his books out loud so his little sibling would know his favorite books

[trans-pickles]

idea that i've been brewing but probs won't have time to write but based off my terrible kieran was part of the gang/it was the o'driscolls that killed eliza and isaac - isaac lives but is raised as an o'driscoll with a sort of paternal relationship with kieran and tries to rescue him from the vdls - which is when arthur finds out he's alive. kieran and arthur awkwardly forced into co-parenting situation and fall in love along the way

tbh it makes sense to me, from what kieran says in game colm is no stranger to pressing prisoners into service. love the idea that it's almost this dark mirror of arthur's situation with dutch, where colm would act like isaac is a son to him but only when he really needs something from him which is actually almost exactly like dutch oops but it's this sort of implicit threat that with the o'driscolls, you pull your weight and make yourself useful, otherwise, you know...

isaac doesn't exactly have anywhere to go so when kieran "joins" he immediately finds a kindred spirit. maybe colm has taught him to shoot and fight and kill, but kieran teaches him about horses and fishing and bird calls. at this point isaac doesn't remember much about arthur. maybe he resents him for leaving him and his mother to die. maybe he kind of holds him on a pedestal and keeps this childish idea that someday his dad is gonna save him but he's starting to get a little too old to believe it as much as he did. maybe it's all just foggy in his mind. either way, after kieran is captured isaac is furious. colm shows no intention of going to save him and isaac is STEAMING when colm has the audacity to say that kieran better not talk.

if colm isn't gonna do something then isaac sure is, so he susses out where the gang is holed up and does his very best to free kieran. but obviously he can't get far with a malnourished and somewhat delirious straggler and he refuses to leave him behind. he's caught obviously, and in the scuffle kieran calls his name, and of course when something goes wrong arthur needs to be called over, and through a whole bunch of shouting (and afterwards, some awkward conversation) everything is pieced together.

isaac being an o'driscoll is kind of what clues them in to the fact that kieran wasn't really lying about not being a huge fan of colm himself. i mean, if they would kill eliza and keep her young son prisoner then they'd certainly keep kieran on after killing his old gang. he gets cut loose without even being threatened with gelding! and by now he's more willing to talk anyway - isaac being under the vdl's protection and thus unable to be caught in the crossfire makes him more willing to sic them on the o'driscolls. he barely even processes the REASON they've suddenly started trusting him until he actually listens to some of the breathless questions arthur is asking as he practically shakes isaac.

as soon as he hears isaac's name arthur is struck with a pang of sadness. but then he sees the kid, does some quick math in his head, remembers how there was only the one grave... it's seeing isaac's face that clinches it for him. dark grey eyes like his mother's, a scowling mouth that must look just like arthur's as he shouts at bill to let him go. arthur realizes just in time that oh yeah, this guy is invading their camp and he's dangerously close to losing his son again so he screams at everyone to put their goddamn guns away and immediately just assaults isaac with a barrage of questions.

it's a very long night for everyone. when everything is cleared up and after arthur has finished crushing isaac in his giant hug he has to accept the fact that someone else raised his kid. he doesn't know whether to resent kieran for having isaac's affection or just be happy that at least in these past few years he's had a better role model than colm (depending how long kieran has been with the o'driscolls... idk what's better, him joining up when isaac is already a teen or him being colm's whipping boy when isaac is first encountered). but arthur of course has to play nice with kieran but he slowly grows to appreciate the calming influence he has on isaac.

kieran for his part is having mixed feelings on actually meeting arthur for the first time. whatever feelings isaac had about arthur, kieran DEFINITELY was told about them. it's odd to finally meet the man in the flesh, especially since he's the one who KIDNAPPED him and threatened to kill him!!! but he kind of starts seeing how hard it is for arthur to accept the whole situation and starts tentatively trying to get closer to him. he doesn't want to... give him pointers, exactly, for fear that arthur will think he's being patronizing, but he'll sort of gently mention things isaac likes, and in turn arthur starts to swallow his pride and seek kieran out for these things.

the funniest thing is isaac seeing the two of them slowly start to get along and realizing exactly what's happening. i imagine he'd get into some kind of parent-trap shenanigans to try to speed things up and they somehow work despite them being horrendously planned.

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Cookie Kisses

Week 3 of the Winter Writing Challenge

prompts: hot chocolate / baking / dancing 

Summary: Dieter finds you baking cookies in your home after being away to shoot his series for months.

Pairing: Dieter Bravo x fem. reader

wordcount: 1.9k

Rating: T

Warnings: fluff, making out, suggestive language (?), talk of future plans involving kids

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It’s funny how much your life can change in less than a year. 

A year ago you were living in a shitty apartment with four other people, working three jobs and still not being able to afford a dollar more than you needed to survive. 

LA had turned into a fucking pipe dream for you. 

You knew thousands of people tried to make their dream come true by moving to the city of stars. 

Just like you did. You were a writer. You wanted to work in television or the movies. 

Yet after months and months you did not even get one call back or anyone interested in your work. You were getting frustrated.

You were at your lowest point a year ago just before Christmas. Not being able to afford the flight back to see you parents for the holidays, and not enough money to treat yourself to a shitty Christmas dinner from the supermarket. 

You were working 16 hour shifts at the diner just to not be back in your shitty apartment where you would spend all your time talking yourself out of just giving up and moving back home. 

It was one of those 16 hour shifts, at 3 am on a Thursday that Dieter Bravo stepped into your life. 

You had heard that he had been shooting in a studio not far away from the diner from some time from one of your co workers. Apparently he had been to the diner quite regularly in the last two weeks, just not ever when you had been there. 

You welcomed him to the diner with a tired smile, handing him the menu, missing the way he looked after you, when you left to get his order of a hot chocolate. 

You had missed a lot in the weeks after that first meeting too. 

Like that he somehow managed to now always showed up in your shift, seated in your section. 

How he tried to keep talking to you, when all you were doing was going through your to do list while taking his order. 

How he seemed to tip you always more than average on days you looked sad.

Of course you knew who Dieter Bravo was. 

You had seen some of his movies and the very successful series two years ago he stared in. An HBO series about… fungi zombies. Or…. Whatever. 

It was another nightly visit from him almost six weeks after your first meeting where you finally realised that maybe Dieter Bravo was interested in more than your ability to deliver food and the best hot chocolate he ever had (his words). 

The diner had been busy and there had been no free space in your section. You had seen him come in, giving him a friendly smile as you walked by and back into the kitchen. You put in the latest orders and excused yourself for a small restroom break after. 

When you stepped back into the diner it was completely empty. 

Safe for Dieter’s preferred table where the man was waiting for you. Two hot chocolates waiting in front of him, looking at you with big brown puppy eyes. 

When you thought back to this night it still seemed like the beginning of a fairytale. 

He had told you that he paid off everyone in the diner to leave, including most of the staff. He had told you that he had been trying to get your attention for weeks. 

You thought it was a joke first, why would Oscar winning actor Dieter Bravo wanting to get your attention?

He could have everyone, why would he want you?

You would learn months later that he was pretty sure he had fallen in love with you that first time he saw you, just before Christmas when he walked into the diner. 

Your life had changed significantly after Dieter stepped into your life. 

Dieter and you started hanging out outside of your work quite frequently before he asked you out on a date. 

And dating you did. 

He took you out to have dinner, flew you out to Canada when he was shooting the second season of his HBO series. He made you teach him how to make the perfect hot chocolate so he could make it for you.

He kissed and fucked you whenever you where together. 

The Dieter you got to know, and the persona he let the outside world know, were two completely different people.

He told you he loved you and that for the first time in his life he felt like he did not need drugs to make it through the day. Not that he did not do anymore drugs, just significantly less (as you learned from him and his manager). And only rarely in front of you.

When the lease of your apartment was up, he asked you to move in with him. Into his new house he had bought in the hidden hills and help him make it feel like home. 

Your home. 

Now, a week before Christmas you were standing in a kitchen that was double as big as your apartment before, preparing another batch of Christmas cookies you were making for your guests next week. 

Dieter had insisted on inviting his and your parents over for the holidays and you could not wait for them to get here. 

Dieter was due to be back from Canada for some reshoots later that day and you hoped you would be finished by the time he was back. 

You hoped he liked how you decorated the house, save for the Christmas tree you wanted to decorate with him once he was back. 

Moving in with Dieter had been an experience. While you were on the border of being OCD tidy, he was… not. You were both still learning how to get used to this new normal, but excited to do it together. 

You hadn’t spend much time together with Dieter in this house yet. You moved in in the beginning of October and he had to leave before Halloween to continue to shoot his series. You had only seen each other since then once when he was back for a brief meeting for another movie he would be shooting in Italy the next year.

Humming along to the radio to some Christmas song you loaded up the dishwasher, waiting for the timer of the oven to go off, you missed the garage door opening and footsteps making their way inside the house. 

It’s why you almost had a heart attack once you turned around and found Dieter grinning at you over his sunglasses, standing at the kitchen island. 

„Holy shit,“ you gasped, your hand pressing against your chest and your wild beating heart. 

„Hey babe,“ his grin widened and you laughed, before you practically ran around the counter, throwing yourself into his arms. 

„I missed you baby,“ you murmured and he kissed you, sighing audibly against your lips. 

„You taste like cookies,“ he mumbled against your lips, kissing you all over your face, his hands both on your ass, pulling you against him. 

„Want some?“ You asked. 

„Cookies?“ He asked. You nodded. He shook his head. 

„Want something different,“ he kissed you again, slowly walking you backwards until you felt the counter against your back. 

He kissed down your neck, his fingers pulling at your shirt. 

„Missed your tits,“ he dipped his nose into your cleavage and you bit your lip. 

„Baby…“ you gasped and he helped you sit on the counter. 

„Missed all of you,“ he murmured.

Parting your legs so he could stand between them he pushed your shirt up, kissing your stomach. 

„Canada is too fucking cold. Colder than your feet at night,“ he hummed and you giggled. He playfully bit into your hip before his hands both came to rest on your upper thighs. You pulled him into your arms, your fingers brushing through his hair as he rested his head against your chest. 

„I really missed you Dieter,“ you whispered and he snuggled even closer against you. 

„Love that I get to come home to you now,“ he said and propped his chin up against your chest, looking up at you. 

The timer of the oven let you both jump, and you chuckled. 

„One more batch to go and then you get to do whatever you want to me,“ you whispered, kissing his forehead. He pouted, sighing dramatically before he let go of you and helped you off the counter. 

He hovered behind you, following you like a puppy, as you took the finished batch out and put the last batch into the oven. 

You gently slapped his fingers away as he tried to steal a cookie. 

„Let them cool down for a second, will you?“ You chastised him playfully and pouted. You carefully pulled his glasses off, your hands on his cheeks. 

„There you are,“ you smiled and got on your tiptoes to kiss him again. His arms wrapped around you again, running soothingly up and down your back. 

„Can we make that pie I love so much tomorrow?“ He asked. 

„We as in us two?“ You asked, an eyebrow raised. 

He pursed his lips. 

„Well you are gonna bake and I am gonna lick all the bowls. I’m very good at licking“ he said seriously, wiggling his eyebrows. 

You shook your head with a laugh, your hands crossing behind his neck. 

„You are very good at licking,“ you agreed. 

„Want a demonstration?“ He offered, his hands on your ass again and you could feel how hard he was as he rubbed himself against you. 

„In… twenty minutes. Can’t let those cookies burn,“ you said and he pouted again. 

„You’re so damn mean,“ he whined. 

„But you love it,“ you say. 

„Yeah. Yeah I do,“ he sighed before he kissed you. 

It was a minute or so later that he slowly began to swing you to the beat of the music, some Michael Bublé Christmas song in the background. Smiling you let your head rest against his shoulder, one of his hands now in the middle of your back, gently guiding the impromptu slow dance. 

Sometimes you imagined moments like this years in the future. Maybe with a dog and cat around. Maybe a kid or two. 

As long as Dieter was in your future, you would be okay with everything life could throw at you. 

„You still got that meeting on Friday?“ He asked, his head resting on top of yous. 

„Yeah. They seemed really interested,“ you mumbled against his shirt. 

While you still hadn’t gotten your first big job, it looked like that might change in the near future. 

Dieter and you bonded over your love for writing and you both had been working on a script, which you sent out to some studios under different pseudonyms. 

You did not want to use Dieter’s connections to make it. Ever since you went public with your relationship, people knew who you were. And may it be stubborn, you did not want to use his name to finally get the recognition you always dreamed of. 

You already had two meetings with studios, a third one just around the corner before Dieter would join you to reveal who the second writer was. 

„You excited for Christmas?“ He asked you. You looked up at him. 

„So much. We gotta decorate the tree together this week,“ you said. 

He nodded and leaned in to kiss you, humming against your lips. You did not know it then, but a week later he would ask you to marry him. 

„I love you,“ Dieter mumbled against your lips.

„I love you too.“

[michelle-is-writing]

Unexpected ch.2, Spencer Reid

Word count: 4.4k~

Read the first part here!

It isn't that hard to lie and say you need an emergency transfer to where your parents live. Thankfully, I'm able to do such a thing and move into a house similar to the last one I had when I lived in Las Vegas. I'm even more thankful to gain a good position at the FBI agency there, but I'm not all too thrilled about having to leave my best friends at Quantico. I knew them for only a short year, but it felt like I knew them forever.

Four months of the same work I once did months before pass, but this time, I've had to do it a bit differently. Instead of being able to travel to other agencies and help review specific cases for them to solve, I'm forced to stay at my agency and continue working there. It turns out the FBI doesn't exactly like their pregnant workers traveling, no matter how far along they are.

In my second month of working, I found out I was pregnant through a sudden spell of vomiting and fever. When one of my co-workers took me to the doctor, they did a blood test, and like any other unsuspecting parent, the news hit me in the face. One night of passion, sadness, and hurt lead to that moment where I was given the two exciting words that I had least expected.

"You're pregnant!"

When I was first given the news, I was excited, and I still am. I've always wanted kids, but I've always wanted to have kids that had a father present in their lives (preferably, in this case, Spencer). Going by the fact that Spencer most likely hates me for my sudden absence from work and leaving in the middle of the night, I can presume he doesn't want anything to do with our baby. Who would? But at the same time, can you blame me for leaving?

I felt alone in a relationship with a guy who acted like he barely knew me when we had known each other for our entire lives. I felt like I knew Spencer like no one else, and vice versa. I was wrong about something I would have bet my life on, and it was absolutely mortifying.

I still love Spencer, and I will never stop loving him. I think out of everything, that's the most painful thing. The high probability that he hates me now comes in second, which is why I haven't told him about my pregnancy. That, and I presume he never wanted kids - so, how can I push that onto him and make him not only hate me but a child he helped create? Why would my child ever deserve that?

Without fail, Penelope has tried to call me once every week ever since I left, and I just can't answer her calls. As stated once before, me leaving out of nowhere is embarrassing. I know that the gang is concerned about me leaving without saying anything, but how can I face them without lying? I can't just tell them I left because I knew Spencer didn't love me like I thought - that would've just added insult to injury.

However, the call Penelope sent this week was followed by two consecutive text messages.

Answer me right now or I will hack into any information about you there is available!

I mean it!

Because I knew she really did mean it, I answered her next call without hesitation.

"Hi, Penelope," I answered her, my voice drained of all emotion. Sitting down on my couch with my phone held against my ear, I placed my free hand over my small baby bump and lightly rub it without even thinking about it. I love my ever-growing child with all of my heart, and I haven't even met the baby boy yet.

"Don't 'hey, Penelope' me!" She almost shouts into my ear, causing me to close my eyes with guilt. "You haven't called, texted, emailed, nothing! You have sent me absolutely nothing explaining why you left! Why did you leave?!"

Her question makes me want to vomit, and I know I can't lie to her. "Spencer and I slept together the night before I left," I explain blatantly, hearing an immediate response only seconds later.

"So what?! Was the sex lousy? Did he not do it right?" Her questions roll off her tongue without pausing. "You have to teach the boy! He hasn't had that much experience in the past years, so you have to give him pointers and-"

"Pen, he couldn't get Maeve off his mind," I cut her off, tears rolling down my cheeks. As much as I'd love to laugh at Penelope's usual actions, I can't when I'm thinking about that night. "H-he mentioned her right after we were done, and I realized I would never be enough for him. I-I just couldn't face him after that, Pen; I just couldn't."

Unlike last time, Penelope halts her words before letting out a single-word response. "Oh," She mutters, every ounce of anger or frustration gone from her voice. She knew how I felt about Spencer and how I had always felt about him, even when we were younger.

A few more seconds pass before she speaks up again, her voice now a bit quieter. "But why couldn't you call me back or anything? Why'd you have to ignore me?"

Penelope's softly spoken words break my heart, and with the already falling tears, I can't hold back the new ones that arise. Biting my lip to prevent myself from sobbing out-loud, I take my hand away from my belly and raise it to cover my mouth. I never wanted to hurt anyone - I truly didn't - so, it hurts to hear that I ended up doing so anyway.

"Penelope, I'm pregnant," I shakily confess, shaking my head as I continually cry. "And I couldn't tell you, or Spencer, or anyone, because Spencer never wanted any kids! He never wanted me, Pen!"

Every word that leaves my lips is followed by my hands waving around frantically as I close my eyes with a shake of my head. It physically hurts to admit all of this to Penelope. Not only does it hurt, but it's embarrassing. I'm by myself with no one around me, the only guy I've ever loved doesn't want me, and I'm pregnant and scared to death. I have never felt so alone in my life, and it sucks.

"...Does he know?" Penelope asks, making me instantly sober up.

"NO!" I nearly shout, my eyes shooting open. "No, Pen, you cannot tell him! Whatever, you do, do. not. tell. him!"

"But, he deserves to know, (Y/n)!" Penelope argues, making me cry even more. She just said the same thing I've been debating with myself over the past two months, and to hear her say it makes me want to just fall asleep and forget about my problems. She's right, and I know it.

"He. doesn't. want. kids. Pen!" I repeat myself, placing my hand to my forehead. "And he doesn't want me either!"

"(Y/n), he does! He does want you!" Penelope tells me, making me shake my head. "When you left, he didn't talk to anyone. He just... he shrank into himself and never came back out! When we saw that you had transferred to the Las Vegas Unit, Spencer submitted transfer papers! Just to be with you!" Her words shoot right through me, making me pause in my actions as my eyes go wide. "He got denied, and when you didn't respond to my calls or his calls, he thought... he thought you didn't love him."

"Oh, God," I mutter, shaking my head. "I never stopped loving him, Pen - how could I? H-how could he think that?" I ask, not expecting an answer back from Penelope. "I tried to do everything I could to make him feel loved, to let him know I loved him and only him!"

Leaning my head back against the couch, I sink further into the plush material with a sigh. "When in reality, I was the one who never got anything like that back," I explain, my voice slow and calm now that I've let out the things I've been holding back on saying for months now. "I was the one who felt like I was never good enough no matter what I did or how hard I'd try... I would always be second-best - and that was that."

"If only you know how wrong you are, (Y/n)," Penelope tells me, sounding like she's crying too. "I-I know you won't believe me, but none of what you are saying is true. Absolutely none of it," She adds, "Spencer loves you with every ounce of his being, and you are not second-best to him."

"Pen..." I drag on, sighing.

"I know you don't believe me, but you have to," She states, before letting out a sigh. "I miss you, girl-genius, and I want to come and see you," Penelope confesses, making me lightly smile. "I miss our fashion conversations and shopping trips, and I've been sad the entire time you've been gone!"

Once all of her words process through my mind, I smile fully. Despite the shit that I've done, she's still the same fun-loving, girly-girl Penelope that I was close to in Quantico, and somehow, we're still close.

"I miss you too, Pen," I tell her, placing my hand back on top of my risen belly. In response, two little feet kick against my hand, making me smile. "I... I'm off for the next couple weeks if you want to come and see me," I tell her, "I think I'd like it if my baby boy met his aunty."

As soon as the words leave my lips, Penelope gasps. "You're having a boy?" She asks gently, making me giggle. I guess I didn't include that when I first told her. "That's it - I'll be coming in on Friday!"

I grin. "Don't rent a hotel room!" I tell her, standing from the couch to walk into the extra room in my house. I didn't think I'd be having anybody stay over for a while, so I didn't put any sheets or pillows on the guest bedroom bed. "I have a guest room here at my place, so don't waste any money on a room."

"Okay, okay!" She cheers, making me smile even more. "I'll get a flight and be over there in no time. I love you, and I'll see you then!"

With that, I tell her I love her back and we hang up. With my phone now in my hand rather than pressed against my ear, I move to sit on the mattress and sigh. I wasn't expecting Penelope to say everything she did, nor did I expect her to be so forgiving of me. Although, it is Penelope we're talking about here, and I don't think there's ever been a moment in her life where she wasn't understanding. I told her my problems, and in spite of loving Spencer like a brother, she listened to me and understood where I was coming from.

"I'm sorry you had to hear what your mummy told Aunt Pen," I apologize to my bump, my hand still resting against it. "Your daddy really is a great guy with a big heart, but mummy wasn't meant for him," Despite my heart cracking as I mutter these words, I smile and circle my hand around my bump. "However, mummy knows that you and I are meant to be, and no matter what, you will always be my little boy."

With Penelope calling me on Wednesday night, I didn't have to wait long for her arrival. I even went out and bought some lilac sheets for the bed so she could be on new ones, and I also got a pair of peacock themed earrings for her while I was out. I have to admit I'm a bit excited to see what she has to say about the nursery I've put together myself. I painted the walls with pale blue paint and then stenciled ducks throughout the middle of the wall. The furniture is all made out of a Walnut wood shade, and the curtains match the walls with a yellow ribbon holding them together.

On Friday night, I put everything together for Penelope's arrival and smile to myself. A part of me wants to believe it's just her that's coming, but another part of me is telling me that she's bringing Spencer with her. I'm partially scared, but at the same time, I'm not. What happens, happens... and there's nothing I can do about it.

Hearing a knock at the door, I close the kitchen drawer I'm currently digging into and move onto the next one. "Come in!" I shout, digging through the mess of kitchen utensils to find the pair of earrings I bought for Penelope. What interrupts me is two little feet kicking me as I do so, making me stop and place a hand to my belly. "Not now, little one!" I whisper with a smile, feeling my baby boy halt in his kicking. I can only hope he'll be willing to listen to me like this when he gets older.

Just as I find the black gift bag with the peacock themed jewelry in it, I hear my apartment door open and close. It isn't a peppy voice that I hear a few seconds later, and instead, a voice that I've wanted to hear for what feels like such a long time. Now that I hear him speak, I realize my mother's intuition has already kicked in.

"You know," the deep, yet boyish voice begins, making me stop moving. "Standing for long lengths of time can slow down the growth of a fetus, and cause premature birth as well as prolonged pain in the lower back."

A few moments pass before I slowly place the jewelry on my kitchen counter and turn around to see Spencer standing a few feet away from me, his hands wrestling with each other. Despite my mind telling me not to, my body takes charge, and I look into Spencer's eyes to see him gazing at me with glossed-over eyes. Once he sees my bump, his mouth lightly drops. "You..." He begins, holding a hand out. "You look amazing."

Leaning back against the counter behind me, I look away and harshly swallow, my throat feeling like it's being squeezed closed. "Spence..." I say the name I've always called him, but nothing follows it. I don't know what to say to Spencer at this moment, and going by the short silence that follows, he doesn't either.

"Why..." he starts, making me look back at him. This time, his tears are falling down his face freely. "Why didn't you tell me?" He finally asks, gently shaking his head. He truly doesn't realize, and even if I tell him, I don't think he'd understand.

"I know why you left," He explains, walking toward me with unsure steps. "And I-I realize that it was so stupid to talk about Maeve after we... we-we," Spencer stutters, making me shake my head as I bite my lip. "I never meant to send you away, (Y/n); I never wanted you to leave," He confesses, a tear trailing down his cheek. "That was the last thing I wanted you to do."

Once again, in spite of every signal my mind is sending me, I watch myself step forward and wipe Spencer's fallen tears away, his head leaning into my touch as I do so. With tears gathering in my eyes, I watch with bleary vision as Spencer lets out a shaky sigh before looking down at my bump and gently smiling. "It-It's mine," He states the obvious, making me smile as the tears finally fall.

Leaving my hand against the side of his face, I take his hand into my free hand and place it against my stomach, his warm fingers pressing against my belly with a softness I've never felt from him. "He is yours," I explain, emphasizing the sex to him. Instantly, he picks up on it and lets out a short noise of happiness, making me want to hug him to death, but I don't think I can handle that at this moment.

"Spencer, do you... do you want me? Have you... have you ever wanted me?" I ask him, his eyes instantly flickering up to meet mine.

"Every day of my life, yes," Spencer tells me, nodding his head up and down repeatedly. "My words to you about Maeve w-were not an attempt to tell you otherwise, I promise you," Watching as he shakes his head, I see him visibly struggle to swallow. "I just needed to get that out, and with you, I felt like I could tell you anything," He confesses, a few seconds passing before he shakes his head again. "And I felt that if I didn't let out my feelings, I wouldn't be able to move on, and then I wouldn't be able to give you all of me in my entirety because there is nothing I want more than that."

More tears sliding down his face, he leans down and lays his head against mine. Meanwhile, the tears haven't stopped falling from my eyes either, and even though I've felt hurt by Spencer for these past few months, I know he's telling me the truth. "I want you, (Y/n); you're all I've ever wanted," He tells me, crying even more as he shakes his head. "If you would have told me that I messed up that night by saying the stuff I did that bothered you, I would have apologized until the end of time for you. I would've done anything just to get you to stay."

At this moment, I feel guilty for not only what I've put myself through for these last months, but Spencer as well. I'm glad that he understands why I felt the way I did, but what I'm unhappy about is the fact that I was the one who wasn't understanding. For five seconds, if I had seen the difference in how he said his last words to me rather than what he was saying, we wouldn't be in this predicament. We wouldn't have been without each other, and we wouldn't have gone through so much by ourselves with no one to fall back on.

"If I wasn't pregnant with your baby," I start, my voice wary and slow. "Would you have still come back for me?" I ask, pulling my head away from his to look up at him.

In response, Spencer simply smiles and nods. "Even if you had left in the morning and told me goodbye, and you came here without our son growing inside you, I would have still fought for you with my life," He confesses, still smiling. "When I was young, I was stupid and I let you go without a fight," Spencer then shakes his head. "I don't want to do that again - I can't do that again."

Once again, I know that what Spencer's telling me is completely truthful and coming from his heart. For once, he isn't saying statistics or facts about what is going on around him, and instead, he's speaking up about himself and how he feels. He's not reading from a textbook or informative journal - it's all coming from him.

"I don't want you to do that again either, Spencer," I admit, welcoming his arm as he wraps them around my waist and slowly pulls me close. With my bump pressed against his practically non-existent stomach, I smile, feeling two little feet kick in response. My boy has never reacted like this when I've hugged people in the past - maybe he somehow knows who I'm hugging, and perhaps he's excited.

"I love you, (Y/n)," Spencer states, his other hand coming up to hold my cheek. Looking up at him, I see tears still flowing down his cheeks like before, although there are fewer this time around as his smile remains on his lips. "I love you so much, and I want you to see that so badly."

Spencer Reid - the man who avoids drama at all costs, rarely takes risks, isn't too great with social interaction, and who doesn't always show his emotions - is currently standing in my kitchen with his arms holding me close to him as he confesses his true feelings. At the same time, he's interacting with our son in ways he doesn't even know about, and for once, he's fighting for me by taking a six-hour flight to get to me and try to win me back. At this point, I never realized that it's something I've wished for with all my heart ever since I left.

"I do see it, Spence," I tell him, giving him a tearful smile. "I see it right now as we speak, and I see it looking back too," I add on, watching as his face never changes at my words. He probably doesn't believe me, or he doesn't want to because he's mad at himself for waiting for so long to do such a thing. "I see everything, Spencer, and I will always love you too," This time, my words do make a change occur, and I'm thankful to see it's a positive one. "Besides, I always have."

In response, his smile widens before he leans forward and plants his lips against mine. However, the kiss doesn't last long as Spencer soon pulls away and pushes his head into my neck. "Please, forgive me," He pleads, sounding broken like before. "Please, please, please," Spencer repeats the word over and over again until I speak up.

"Baby, I forgave you long ago," I tell him, only to earn a head shake in response.

"No, no, not just for this," Spencer murmurs, raising his head from my neck. Leaning above me, Spencer stares into my eyes while gently swaying us in our embrace. I don't think he knows he's doing it.

"Back when we still lived here in Las Vegas, I-I moved everything out of the apartment without telling you. I was in a rush to get moved into my dorm while moving my mom into Bennington that all I left was a note, a stupid note!"

Every word that leaves his lips afterward doesn't reach my ears. He left me a note? When I went into the empty apartment, there was absolutely nothing in there! If there was a note, then I surely would have seen it.

"Spencer," I cut him off from his rambling, and for once, he stops speaking. Turning my eyes up to his, I gently shake my head. "There was no note in the apartment. I-I went in, and every-single-thing was gone; it felt like you wanted me to feel forgotten, and it hurt."

Once I'm done speaking, Spencer leans down and places another kiss to my lips, apologies following afterward just like before. "I promise you, I left a note - I swear I did!" Spencer's words come out in a rush as if he were scared that I wouldn't believe him.

"It's okay, Spencer. I believe you," I assure him, nodding. "The owners of the apartment probably came by and cleaned up since there was absolutely nothing left - no furniture, pictures, curtains, nothing."

At that, Spencer shakes his head with squinted eyes. He then goes to say something, but quickly cuts himself off with a sigh. "No matter what, I love you - I loved you back then too," He confesses, his eyes flashing over to mine. "I thought for the longest time that you wanted nothing to do with me, hence why you never tried to see me."

If only he knows how far that is from the truth. For so long, I tried to find him. I searched everywhere online, but nothing ever came up except for old news articles about how smart of a kid he was. It wasn't until I joined the BAU that I realized why his online presence was so scarce - it was for his protection.

"I searched for you for a long time," I tell him, smiling at him as I reach up to cup his cheek. "But, I could never find anything on you. I never thought to look at our employee list though."

Laughing at my words, Spencer shakes his head at the irony before sighing once again. "I looked for you too, but I always got scared when I found you," He confesses, shaking his head. "I didn't think you'd want me meddling in your life."

Just like before, his words break my heart. There are too many damn things that have gone wrong in our relationship that could have been solved way before now. "Let's... let's not let another misunderstanding ruin our relationship again - please," I plead, wanting nothing more but to be close with Spencer without anything holding us back.

Liking the idea, Spencer smiles back and nods. "Let's," He agrees, leaning forward to plant his lips onto mine. As soon as he does, the baby boy in my belly begins kicking again, prompting me to place both of Spencer's hands on my stomach. Feeling his son kick, Spencer pulls away from the kiss to let out a mix of a surprised gasp/laugh, making me giggle with him. "I love you," He tells me, turning his smiling face back to me with happiness written all over it.

Smiling back, I lean farther into him with his hands still pressed against my swollen tummy, my head leaning against his chest. "I love you too," I respond, feeling as if the only things around me that matter are Spencer and our son.

Thanks to Penelope (who I doubt is even coming down here and is probably waiting for me to return to Quantico), I finally get to be with the person I feel to be my soulmate, once and for all.

This may not have been the way I wanted to start a family, but I can't say I'm ungrateful for us now. Finally, after so many years, things are cleared up and no longer blocking the possibility of Spencer and I loving each other. For once, we finally get to be with each other in peace and utter devotion - nothing else.

[garretgentleman-art]

WHY NOT?! Okay, we going to wait until you're drunk enough to admit that Phoenix fits perfectly into your category of kittens. By the way, once Diego almost called him Kitten in game. There are affectionate nicknames that parents call their children, and there are names for flirting. This trio is in the first category, but Trite is in the second. Maya and Simon are in the category of older children, so Diego does not feel like a parent with them and uses their names (but sometimes Cookie/Сupcake and Birdy). I'm not an English speaker (obviously), so I really hope I'm not mistaken with the connotations. More options for Trucy: Sweetheart, Miracle, Sparkle, Dove... Headcanons:

- Diego worked for Wright & Co. as a legal consultant during his house arrest. Then Miles gave him back the position of prosecutor and he left, but he still go in there from time to time (mainly to chat with Phoenix and check if the kids is okey). - Phoenix has a magatama, Apollo and Trucy are psychics, and Athena is an empath. Diego is the only lawyer without advantages (he is more likely with debuffs). I think Pearl gave him a magatama, but he doesn't use it because he has standarts. Well, he can use it if he goes to interview killers... - Phoenix is a bad mentor and not a very reliable boss. He constantly leaves Athena and Apollo to study on their own. One day Mr. Armando came into the office. He felt sorry for the children, so he took them with him to the prosecutor's office. He not only gave them a tour, but also told them a lot of useful information and gave them a list of legal literature. Frankly, Apollo and Athena love and respect Mr. Armando more than they love their boss. - Diego won a more cases than Phoenix. He gladly tells young people stories from his practice and gives advice. Diego: Trite? How long have you been standing here? Are you interested too?? Phoenix: Uh, of course not, I'm the boss, I already know everything. Diego: Grossberg always said that attorney can only become a good lawyer after five years of practice. How many do you have? Four? You are still a beginner. Phoenix: Oh come on, I'm not the only one who missed a bunch of years here! Diego: ... Athena: (heard an emotion of depression) Boss how could you!!! Apollo: ??? Diego: Huh, right... Sorry kids, maybe my experience is too outdated in these 12 years. Apollo: 12 years? Mr. Armando, were they taken away your badge too? Diego: Badge? Yes, you can say so ... I was as naive as Phoenix, but the evidence that poisoned my life was slipped to me by a less kind girl. Phoenix: Can we.. haha.. Just have a coffee? - At the first meeting with Diego Apollo was very nervous. Trucy and Maya frightened him with the fact that Mr. Armando was in prison and was very strict with newcomers, but the fact that it was dark in the office and his spooky mask glowed influenced him the most. Diego sat at the table in silence and stroked the white cat like some kind of mafia. And then he completely broke the atmosphere by calling Apollo Bunny and offering him coffee. - Apollo is the only one who doesn't like Diego's habit of using nicknames. But deep down, he is glad that Diego is nice and patronizing with him, because he would not want him to be indifferent and scary. - Athena gets along very well with Diego and when she feels that he is sad, she always tries to cheer him up. My brother's brother is my brother, right? She wants to have a family dinner with Simon and Mr. Armando, but one of them is always busy at the prosecutor's office. Or do they do it on purpose? - Trucy treats Diego like family. Phoenix often brought her to the Fey manor, where Diego looked after her and Pearl. For a time, Trucy even considered him to be Pearl's father. She was not confused that Pearl was patronizing Diego (Pearl knows only one authority, the mystic Maya), because she does the same with her dad!

[compassionatereminders]

I'm 26 and I left my job were co-workers and boss were pretty much bullies. I worked split shifts (example from 7 am - 11 am then from 2 pm - 6 pm). Other times I mostly worked from 1 pm till 9 pm. I almost never got morning shifts so I could work from 6 am till 2 pm. I worked 6 days per week. I don't have a drivers license or a car so waiting for the bus took me a lot of time as well. If I finished at 11 am I was home at noon, I cooked something, cleaned up, took a shower and went to work again so I'd be there at 2 pm.

Mentally I was so unwell and I was exhausted since. And I feel like I deserve better than being exhausted, sad and depressed. I put all my energy to work I had none for me. I stopped seeing friends, I had zero energy.

And I feel like it's bizarre how people think you should be GRATEFUL to have work, no matter what kind, no matter if you are miserable. Am I crazy to think it's better to be jobless than being miserable 24/7?

1 free day I had off I still had zero energy. Mostly I was sleeping, napping or watching some kind of tv show and I was stressed all day like a kid that tomorrow I have to go to work again. You know like that kid that no one likes at school and the kid keep thinking the whole weekend "oh no it's going to be Monday soon".

People think I should be ashamed I left work, because they think I'm a lazy bum now (I live with my parents still we have a house but I have savings and I don't live there for free) but I don't feel ashamed. My parents kinda support me with my decision because they see how stressed I was.

But I feel society in general think you should be grateful that work is depressing/stressing/killing you.

I just wanted to say this because you reblogged how everyone deserve to eat & have roof over their head. Because I agree with that post and I just wanted to add how toxic our world is.

I'm sick when I see people preaching how people should be grateful for minimum wage.

Politicians steal millions, destroying their own people with bad decisions etc. but people only focus on other people because they don't want to be miserable as them. And instead of wanting better work hours/better work environment they would rather bad talk about others.

I don't think you have to grateful to work a stressful and unfulfilling job in a toxic environment. And I think people who are unsatisfied with their jobs have the right to talk about that without being judged and shamed. That being said, in a society where most of the stuff you need to maintain your existence is tied to your ability to work, it IS in fact a privilege to be able to work OR to be able to safely be unemployed. And this is also important to acknowledge in discussions about toxic work culture

[gothamstreetcat]

i don't know if i'll end up deleting this or not, but for a while now i've been feeling a bit of an ache and i feel kind of a mix of shame and guilt over it.

this is my mother, her name was martha and she passed away when i was around three (the last photo is my dad on the left). and for a long time i didn't think it bothered me to not have a mom (even though looking back i think young me really did want a mom). but ever since my dad passed away i feel an ache for not having either of my parents - which i feel is selfish because not everyone has parents to begin with and there are a lot of people out there who had really awful parents and that is really difficult when you're young.

anyway, my mom was a really incredible person. she was kind and nice and such an artist. my family tells me all the time how wonderful she was - how she really turned my dad's life around and saved his life. he wasn't in a good place when he met her but because he loved her so much (and he really did) he changed the bad parts in his life. co-workers of mine used to tell me how emotional my dad would get talking about my mom and showing them pictures - and if you knew my dad that's usually the complete opposite of how he really is.

and my mom wasn't supposed to have kids - she was very sick and couldn't get pregnant even though being a mother was all she really wanted. when she did miraculously get pregnant the doctors wanted her to have an abortion and basically no one was going to tell my mom what to do, lol. she left me a diary where she talked about how sick she was and how sad she felt about leaving me. i read the diary every few years and i always realize how much pain she was in and i feel bad a. because she missed out on everything she wanted and b. i realize there were times when i wanted a mom or someone to be mom and i think if she knew that it would really hurt her feelings.

i'm 27 now and all i really think about is how much of an amazing person my mother was and how i'm never going to get to met her. i'm never going to have or experience things that other people experienced with their own mothers. i'm never going to know what her favorite tv show was, or if she cussed. i'm never going to be able to make art with her - and sometimes i feel sad because there are people in my life who got more time with her then i did. and i'm never going to know if she is proud of me. if i'm good enough. she talked about how happy i was as a baby and people used to tell me how much she loved dressing me up in dresses. but i hate dresses and i have to be medicated in order to be happy.

people tell me i look so much like my mother but i just think about how beautiful she was - inside an out. she didn't have to try and be beautiful, she just was. she was an amazing person and i just feel like such an awful one. i have tattoos and piercings and i know it sounds silly but sometimes i worry that i let my mom down - that i wouldn't be beautiful to her.

and sometimes i think about how much i probably let my dad down because i literally have no goals in life. i just want to be home on my computer and make my silly little gifs, and how i am utterly obsessed with a tv show to the point where it almost takes over my whole life. it's not really funny but there was literally a time where my dad was upset with me and told me i couldn't watch my favorite show anymore, and so i decided i wasn't going to get (because i got that way when things i love were taken from me) and i'm entirely sure how it happened but somehow i ended up on the floor and my dad was dragging me across the concrete and he pushed me into a pantry.

and i know it's not the worse kind of abuse ever and he never beat me but he had a tendency to scream at me a lot and sometimes hit me and i was afraid of him. and sometimes it hurts me how i look back and i feel like all i ever did was make my dad upset with me - and it's so awful because he's dead now and it's never going to get any better but i still want my dad to love me. things were not even always bad but sometimes it's very hard to remember good things because the negative ones are what weigh on me the most.

i love my dad so much. he was so funny and there were times when i was young where he really put me first. and he really cared about other people.

i don't know how to make peace with any of this. i just know i get this moments where i miss my parents terribly. and i wonder everything i'm missing out on.

[shiningshenanigans]

Ok… so…

I love the idea of Mobius going back to his timeline to co-parent with Don and show up in Kevin and Sean’s lives as the weird uncle/long lost twin brother trope. 

But you know what I would love even more?

A post-TVA family reunion with Mobius and his family from his actual timeline.

Like, imagine Kevin and Sean waking up in the void after their timeline was pruned. Imagine them running away from Alioth and freaking out about how scary and cool it was that they almost got eaten by a cloud monster. Imagine them growing up in the void, surviving off of all the Boy Scout skills they’re dad taught them. Imagine them high-jacking a jet-ski, putting it on wheels, and riding around all over the void like land pirates. Imagine them bartering and making alliances with all the Lokis (Kid Loki would TOTALLY be their best friend!). Imagine them bonding and relying on each other to survive, becoming the inseparable duo they were meant to be in the process.

Imagine the new TVA cleaning up the void, getting wind of this land pirate brother duo that rides around on a jet-ski, and just immediately knowing it’s Mobius’s boys. Imagine them letting Mobius know, and Mobius HURDLING out of retirement to go on a mission to find them. Imagine the hilariously heartfelt and tearful reunion that would occur when he does. Imagine them all being so proud of each other: Mobius being proud of his boys for surviving in the void for so long, and Kevin and Sean being in awe of their Dad, who is no longer the goofy jet-ski salesman they once knew, but is now a time-cop hero who helped free the multiverse.

And what about their mom? What if Mobius’s nexus event had something to do with her absence? What if his timeline, the one that got pruned, was the one timeline where she didn’t die, or get snapped, or leave him? If we go with the divorce option, the implications of that are devastating. How sad would it be if the moment they chose to stay together rather than get divorced was the moment the TVA showed up? It would add a whole new layer of evil and just despicable wrongness to what He Who Remains did. What are the odds that she’s still alive out there in the void somewhere, too? What if Mobius and the boys decide to go look for her together?

Just… Mobius reuniting with his family, his real family, that family that was affected by the TVA in the same way that he was… there’s a whole sci-fi family adventure movie to be made there. He Who Remains destroyed so much, but this one family survived it all and lived to tell the tale. That’s the ending I really want for Mobius!

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

Sonic Frontiers gives us a little backstory tidbit for Eggman here with him mentioning in his private diary how his family all apparently greatly missed Maria after her death but he himself felt utterly unloved

Like, the fact that he's STILL angry about this as an adult and resents the cousin he never knew for this makes me think his childhood must have been a very lonely one

This along with Adventure 2 revealing how as a kid he adored his grandfather its easy to imagine that a combination of being a lonely unloved kid and losing the one family member he cared about probably played a part in why Eggman became the bitter and angry man he is now

Eggman's obsession with a mechanical world becomes rather sad in this context as well. In a world of robots everything is controlled. No one dies, no one dissapoints and there's no element of unpredictability. He wants a world he has control over

Him having such a lonely childhood also explains why despite his goal being a world where everyone has been transformed into either Badniks or Zom-Bots completely under his control, he keeps making machines that have personalities

Its telling that one of the first things he did when he had amnesia was make himself a daughter and even before that we see that he has an almost fatherly affection for Metal Sonic. And here he can't help but begin to care about Sage as a father, eventually fully coming to see her as family.

I feel like Eggman is a lot like the pre-Flashpoint version of the Riddler. In his origin story from back when the Riddler was actually just a fun weirdo who loved doing puzzle crime, Edward admits that everything he's done since he became a criminal is because he desperately wants someone to acknowledge him and think he's Good Enough. The reason he leaves Riddles isn't just because he wants to outwit Batman, it's because he wants Batman to be impressed he outwitted him and go "Damn, your a smart guy Edward".

It's also interesting that in his notes on Sonic and his allies he can't help but show some respect for them, most likely because even though they constantly frustrate his schemes, I suspect the fact that they actually see him as a threat makes Eggman feel some measure of connection to them....his own parents cared more about the memory of a deceased relative than they did about him but Sonic and co care even if they care in the sense of "Oh god we have to stop this nutbag from turning everyone on earth into robots after stealing magic gems" and the fact that they keep beating him obviously means Eggman has some measure of respect for them as well...he's even shown that he views Sonic as a worthy foe a few times in the games, such as Sonic Adventure 2 as well as in this game

[denimbex1986]

'There are certain kinds of films that really impact me emotionally. One genre is what I will call “Saddest Film I Ever Saw”, and weirdly the Brits seem to have almost cornered the market on this one.

If asked, I usually say the very saddest film I have ever seen is “Never Let Me Go”, the heart-rending British Sci Fi classic based on Nobel-prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel. Oh, and if that didn’t make you cry, with its trio of Oscar winners and nominees — Andrew Garfield, Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightly — trying to love and live before they are forced to sever their limbs (yep), then the Merchant-Ivory production of Ishiguro’s “The Remains of the Day” has to.

Or your tear ducts have straight up dried up.

And, also from the UK, Saorise Ronan in the insanely sad Dystopian Sci Fi film, “How We Live Now”. Oh.my.garsh. There’s a new one: a distinctly British tale of late love, “All of Us Strangers”.

Gay Love and Heartbreak: Who Knew?

I have read a lot of reviews of this film, and, well, it had a nearly perfect IMDB Critics and Users score. I recently had a debate with some other people who are quite knowledgeable about film, about whether IMDB scores even matter. They eschew IMDB and use Letterbox’d — all the cool kids do, apparently (LOL).

Trust me, IMDB scores matter. Nearly every film I have ever seen that has had an IMDB score higher than 6.5 has been Good, and ones with a 6.8–7.1 score (they hardly ever (ever) go higher than that) are usually amazing.

What critics have keyed on is not that this is a beautiful tale of Gay love, of growing up Gay during the AIDS era and having parents who, in the words of The Fresh Prince, “just don’t understand” (or do they?), and then get killed in a car crash. Although all of that is present. Critics have keyed on the fact that “All of Us Strangers” is a timeless story of love and loss. Period. It could be any pair of people: old, young, gay, straight. It doesn’t matter, because Haigh’s and co-writer Taichi Yamada’s script and direction deliver the goods.

The Progress We Have Made

This film probably could not have been made, or been as successful even ten years ago. But today, when despite the forces of Evil arrayed against LGBTQ+ people all over the world, and especially in the US, Haigh presents us with an achingly beautiful love story between two people, who happen to be Gay Men. And it shows us, sans any prurience, gorgeous scenes of Gay Lovemaking that are the farthest thing from pornographic or even lurid.

And he does this by asking more narrative questions than he ever answers. Which I, personally, love.

Andrew Scott plays Adam, a screen-writer (how Meta) living in a nearly empty apartment building somewhere in London, at some point in time (the recent past? the near future?), who by a simple twist of fate ends up in the arms of Harry, played by Paul Mescal. I have loved Scott ever since his turn as a sexually active Anglican Priest in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s amazing TV series “Fleabag”, and also love Mescal for, among other things, the critically lauded “Aftersun”.

A Queer Ghost Story?

What makes the narrative so fascinating is that, in parallel with this surprising tale of new love, Adam decides to return to his home town and finds his Mother and Father still living in the house in which he grew up, and still the same age they were thirty years ago right before they died in a car crash.

Why and how this impossible thing is happening provides much of the narrative force for “All of Us Strangers”, and Haigh inter-weaves the yearning love of Adam and Harry with Adam’s need to talk to his parents. You see, he needs to know if they knew he was Gay when he was in school (they did) and whether his Mum approves of the fact he likes Men, not Women (She does).

If you are fully willing to “suspend disbelief” (as Poet Coleridge famously said) then you are all in, and the only important thing is to see how Adam’s dialogues with his Mum (played by the excellent Claire Foy) and his Da (played by the under-rated Jamie Bell) will give them, and him some Peace.

It Gets Weird, then it Gets…

And why do they need that? Because, and this not a spoiler, they are all probably Dead. Jamie Ramsay’s gorgeous, yet unintrusive, Cinematography establishes a dream-like visual language in which we simply follow along both the Love Story and the Ghost Story, and really don’t want it to end.

But, alas, the story needs to go somewhere, and in the third reel Adam comes back to the Apartment Building to find Harry dead in Harry’s apartment. Again, not a spoiler, as it is never clear if any of the few characters in the film are actually alive in the first place.

As they lie together on his Bed, the shot of the two of them starts to shrink against a white background, eventually collapsing like a Neutron Star. Queue tears — bawling, really.

Question posed? Yes. Answered? Brilliantly, no.'

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Naruto Characters as Parents- Co-Sleeping

Hatake Kakashi

Will happily co-sleep. Kid gets sleep, he gets sleep, it’s a win-win.

Only co-sleeps in an actual bed with blankets and pillows far away from his kid

Stuffies are allowed to join and his kids favorite is expected

Will almost always pass out first, but is also able to wake up at the sign of anything wrong and stop his kid from falling off the bed.

There is no ‘too old to co-sleep’. His adult kid wants dad cuddles cuz they feel like shit? He’s willing to give them.

Maito Gai

Will co-sleep anywhere.

Has passed out after a long day in his chair, kid neatly tucked against his chest happily sleeping.

Bed is the only place he will NOT co-sleep because he’s afraid he’ll roll over onto his kid and hurt them.

Rarely falls asleep at the same time as his kid and will sometimes wait for them to pass out and then get up to continue his day until it’s actually time for him to go to bed.

Yamato

Says he will not co-sleep but caves every time.

He has read all the books saying how dangerous it is but his kid just looks so sad when he says no. He doesn’t want them to be sad.

Always gets stuck with a stuffy he says he doesn’t want but then won’t let go of when he’s asleep.

Hates it because his kid is a kicker and his face hurts.

Umino Iruka

Will not co-sleep.

No budging, no arguing. He’ll stay with his kid till they pass out but that’s it.

Gets mad at the others for co-sleeping because it’s dangerous but they never listen to him

[rileyh20]

Quick vent ig, TW: Swearing, Divorce, Sad stuff, Small mention of suicide.

This isn't what I usually would post, but I felt like I needed to get something off my chest without feeling like I'm complaining. Now, I have a great life, probably better then most people. My parents are usually nice to me, even if I feel like my mom doesn't care for me as much as she says she does. Yes, they are getting a divorce, but that isn't because of me. I knew they were most likely going to get a divorce when I was around 7 (seven) years old. I wasn't surprised, I wasn't even all that saddened. But I'm done being my parents therapist. I am sick of being in the middle of their toddler behavior. I know that isn't fair, but if they actually needed help, they would get help. Especially my mom, I'm sick of her venting to me and making almost every comment I make about the divorce or her! It's not fair to her for me feeling this way, but I am sick of it. I'm sick of her being one of the only things bringing down my mental health, of course she isn't all of it, but she's most of it. I don't need a therapist, despite what people say. Because I am very bad off, but I know this. I don't need a therapist to tell me what I already know. And I would just be complaining at that point! Why would I waste a therapist's time with my shit?

And my mom is so jealous for no fucking reason! My dad tells me to not tell my mom anything when I hangout with his co-worker, or if we do stuff together. Let me say it, she is married with a kid!! And she would have no interest in my dad (sorry dad). I don't get why my mom is so jealous of her for no reason! My mom said once that if I was friend's with that co-worker, I would be betraying her. Betraying. You know what? I am friends with her, and I don't care what my mom says anymore about me being friends with her!! I want to hangout with her and her kid. I want to be able to make my own friends without my mom thinking I'm betraying her.

And for some of you who might think my mom is real for being jealous, she really isn't. My dad's co-worker would never get with him, and he doesn't want her either. They are just really good friends, because my dad is friends with almost everyone!

So I sometimes wish I could see and hangout with my dad more? Yeah. But he doesn't make everything about him when I am with him. He tries his best to shield me away from most things, while also not treating me like a kid. I know I have a good life. Shit, most of my friends have worse lives and parents. So I don't know why I'm depressed, or have panic attacks, or mental breakdowns, or dissociate, or how I can no longer seem to fucking cry anymore!!

Sure, I may think my mom loves our dog more then me. I think my mom hates me at times, but that isn't true. But I am sick of this. I don't want to live like this anymore. Sometimes I think of suicide, but I would never do it. Not anymore. It is not worth my dad crying over that.

My parents have had shitty lives, really shitty ones. My dad's mom and dad got divorced (on good terms tho), then his dad's next wife was abusive and didn't care for him, and now his dad has his new wife who also wasn't that nice, but better.

My mom's mom got divorced after she was born, then again after her sister was born, and then her next husband killed himself. So I could say I have it much better then them.

I don't know why I feel like this, I have a much better life then others, but I don't know..

[rickie-the-storyteller]

Steph's Crew: Missing Pieces

Hey, friends!

So, the dialogues for the first instalment of the Stephanie Saga are complete. I'm probably going to post more Steph-related stuff here in future (maybe not as much as before, though). You guys more or less have the plot of the first book... except for the fact that there's a ton of things that I kind of missed out lol.

(Aside from that, though, there's the fact that a lot of the scenes I shared with you are really really old, and get changed, switched around, or even completely skipped in the story proper)

The story is super dense, since I wanted to include several different themes and discuss many different ideas and perspectives. Because of this, I often struggle answering the question of "what's the story actually about?" Like, there's many topics and themes that go into it, so I'm not 100% sure what the main idea here is (I'd say it's probably about friendship, and by extension, any relationship in life. With anyone, whether it's friends, family, romantic partners, etc. Giving examples of how to handle relationships and maintain strong connections with people, and how NOT to as well).

With all that being said, there are several important plot points in the first book that I didn't really go into in the dialogues I shared with you. I thought I'd briefly outline for you guys a bit, before I started telling you about the sequels!

Here goes...

Rachel and Gordon - I think I touched on this subplot in the dialogues, but it is a whole thing in the actual story. We go into Rachel's history with Gordon, the reason behind their divorce (the actual reason, not just Bret's theories lol), and Rachel's pain surrounding her infertility and desire to be a mother. I guess she kind of gets to be somewhat of a mother figure in Bret's life now that she's his legal guardian, but she's always wanted her own children, you know? She wanted children with Gordon, but they couldn't while they were together (which is one of the factors behind their relationship coming to an end). It's super sad... wish I could've gone into it a bit more, but that's a bit of context as to why things are tense between them in the story. (Things do get better for Rach in the sequel, though! Without giving too much away)

Reggie Ochre - Reggie is an old friend of Steph's that she kind of reconnects with (fun fact - in every instalment in the series, I have Steph reconnect with someone from her past, and they always move the plot forward in interesting ways. My favourite instance of this is in book 3, which I haven't really written much of, but the idea is definitely the most epic lol. I'm so excited about it!), who has joined a gang. His character is cool, and he and Steph have great chemistry together (they used to be a thing back in the day. Because of course they were... I feel like Stephanie has chemistry with almost every character in this story lol. That was in no way intentional, btw). He kind of introduces the theme of gang culture into the narrative, which is fun to explore.

Adam and Grace - I did get into this plot point, but I only really looked at it through the lens of how it affected Elise and the rest of Adam's family. I definitely tried to go into Adam and Grace's POV in the actual story as well lol. I just like getting a wide view of a situation like this. Something I didn't mention, though (which is pretty important), is the fact that Adam and Grace are no longer together. They split up a while after the kids were born (yes, kids plural. Grace had two twin girls). They are still close friends, though, and Adam and Grace co-parent pretty well. Both parents are very much in their children's lives, and they take good care of them. It's kind of interesting to see the difference between Elise's perfect privileged nuclear family dynamic and Adam's family with Grace and the twins. Shows how there isn't a set perfect method for family and parenting, and just because you don't follow all the traditional rules, doesn't mean you can't make the best of your situation and be the best parent you can be.

Holly Tucker - Holly (Bret's ex and Elise's old bully) gets a lot more focus than what I gave her in the dialogues. I basically sped through her storyline, but only through El's perspective. I tried to go into Bret's feelings towards Holly's shenanigans, too (since he is in a unique position... the person he's dating is causing pain to one of his oldest, dearest friends. That's a tough place for anyone to be. Plus, she cheated on him at Dylan's party lol).

Jelise - Jason's crush on El is given more focus. I feel like it lowkey comes from nowhere in the dialogues (aside from this one comment about Jason thinking Elise is the smartest person he knows, we don't get much of Jason's feelings towards her. Or anything, for that matter. But that makes sense, since he's not a crew member. He's more of a funny background character, like his friend Connor, who interestingly has a bit of development in the sequel, actually), but I give him and El more of a dynamic in the story, so you can kind of see something there.

Mary's secret boyfriend - This is actually a super in-the-background thing. But I thought I'd mention it, just cuz I love Mary haha.

Dylan and Robyn - Another background thing, but it's actually relevant to Dylan's story. This dynamic is meant to mirror Dylan's family dynamic. Tons of conflict, not necessarily one person's fault, but instead of Dylan taking responsibility for his end, he blames the other person entirely. His arc is kind of about him learning and growing, and not just shifting blame. Him mending his relationship with Robyn midway through kind of highlights his increasing maturity, and by the end, he's on genuinely good terms with her (and even keeps in touch with her, much to Alice's dismay lol).

Dylan's mum gets married - And Dylan invites the crew to the wedding. They all have a great time, and this just symbolises a fresh start for everybody. They've all grown enough to move on from past pains. All except for Steph, who is still nowhere to be found at this point (symbolising the fact that she never deals with her pain properly - she's always running and hiding from it). This event takes place a little while after Alice's (and Mary's) 18th birthday (where she and Dylan unfortunately decide to just stay friends for now. And this continues into most of book 2. Sorry, Dalice fans haha).

Stephanie's past lives - I mention a ton of times that Stephanie has moved around and been in many different homes and families, but never truly belonged anywhere. In the actual story, we get some insight into her experiences in her past homes and families. Some of these experiences are truly traumatic.... she's been abused, bullied, sexually assaulted, neglected, etc. All of these things have shaped her into the person she is today.

Stephanie and Danny - Danny, her first love. The person who taught her what real love is. Her knight in shining armour. Her ride or die. He gets a lot of focus, too. And he also comes back into Stephanie's life in the future lol.

There's probably some other stuff I haven't mentioned, but I think this is enough for now.

Let me know your thoughts! Do you think these are some interesting side plots?

[whatstruthgottodowithit]

The Girl He Left Behind [Part Five]

Fandom: American Actor, RPF, Elvis Presley, Elvis Movie 2022

Pairing: Elvis Presley x Original Female Character

Characters: Elvis Presley, Addison Goodwin, Gladys Presley, Vernon Presley, Minnie May ‘Dodger’ Presley, Red West, Sonny West, Gene Smith, Billy Smith, Original Female Characters, Colonel Tom Parker, Billy Smith, Marci Cunningham, Steve Cunningham, Jerry Schilling, Mary Jenkins, Alan Fortas, Marty Lacker, Original Male Characters, Mona Goodwin, Joe Goodwin

Word Count: 3510 // Rating: Mature

Summary: When Elvis returns home to Graceland from the Army he’s followed by the headlines ‘The Girl He Left Behind’ but what the media don’t know is that Priscilla wasn’t the first. No, that title belongs to someone Elvis will never forget.

Tags/ Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Graceland, Poverty, Friends to Lovers, 1950s Elvis, Bad Parenting, Surprise Surprise the Colonel Is a Colossal Prick, Parental Loss, Grief, Fun Fairs, Kissing, Vaginal Sex, Oral Sex, Movie Nights, Arguing, Tension, Denial of Feelings, Age Gap Romance, Underage, Addison is 17 Elvis is 22, Guilt, Betrayal, Extortion, Blackmail, Jealous, Army Elvis, American Draft, US Army, Lying, Time Shift with Elvis moving to Memphis, Flashbacks, Caught

Notes: This is gonna be several parts and its gon be sad so don’t say I didnt warn ya

LINK TO ALL PARTS // AO3 LINK // PINTEREST LINK

TAGS - @girlblogger2002 @sania562

When Addison woke the following day she was glad that she and Elvis had talked. It had been a little uncomfortable, realising she had been so see-through, but it had helped. But he had missed something. In all his evaluating he had failed to realise how much she had come to like him. She hadn’t meant to and at first, she had been determined to just be his friend. However, when she was around him, she couldn’t help but fall a little harder. He was just as she remembered and the feeling of comfort and safety that he brought with him felt the same as it had when they were kids. Except now it didn’t feel just friendly. It confused her at first after all she didn’t know if it was because she had been lacking that for so long, but as time passed she realised it wasn’t just platonic. She supposed it was dumb. She wasn’t the only one who fawned over him. Thousands of girls did but she did feel like she was the only one who saw him for him. The real him. That boy from Memphis. Her neighbour. Her friend.

Except they wouldn’t work. She knew that. He was older than her and sure to be more interested in one of the girls his posse introduced to him. And she had herself to think of. What would she do if they didn’t work out? Her house was now gone and all her worldly possessions, whilst there weren’t many, were crammed into her bedroom or the garage. He wasn’t gonna keep her in the spare room whilst he was romancing someone else. So, she had made the decision to let it be. She was lucky enough to have him in the capacity she had him now. Best not to risk it.

That talk had also brought with it another problem; she had upset one of her closest friends. When she rang Marci the next morning she had been informed that she was out though when she enquired further her brother panicked and told her simply that she didn’t want to see her. After that she didn’t think going over to her house would go down too well so instead, she formulated a plan.

That was why she was loitering by the school’s side gate. Her classes had finished an hour ago, but she hadn’t gone home instead she waited for Marci to finish choir practice. Marci appeared at the side door and spotted Addison almost at once, Addison could tell because her mouth immediately turned into a tight line before she turned her gaze dead ahead and continued walking.

‘Mar,’ Addison said coming to her side, but Marci didn’t slow down, ‘Mar please wait.’ ‘Why should I?’ Marci replied stiffly. ‘Cos you love me even if I am a bit of an ass,’ Addison said coming to a stop. Marci stopped in her tracks and turned to face her. She chewed on her lip looking at her for a moment before she said, ‘go on.’ ‘I’m sorry I called you an airhead,’ Addison said. ‘And?’ ‘And I’m sorry I made you feel like trash for liking Elvis. I don’t get it…well, I kinda do,’ she mumbled. ‘You’re one of the only ones not to,’ Marci said drily. 'I know, I know,’ Addison said, 'I guess I’m just a bit jealous you get to be normal.’ ‘Oh Addie,’ Marci said sympathetically. ‘I know it’s silly,’ Addison said as her friend looped her arm through hers. ‘It’s not,’ Marci said, ‘I guess I forget that you’ve not exactly had time to be listening to the latest tunes…with your dad and all. ‘Yeah not exactly had a chance to be a normal kid lately,’ Addison mumbled. ‘And now you’re passed even that,’ Marci said giggling as Addison looked at her with a confused frown, ‘like it or not honey your days of normality are long over. You might as well enjoy it.’ ‘I thought that’s what you might say. So, I decided to do just that,’ Addison said smiling as Marci’s face contorted into a puzzled look.

They were at the gate now and idling by the kerb was a car, hanging out of it was Jerry and Marci’s younger brother Steve. Addison dragged her friend toward it.

‘What’s going on?’ Marci asked as Jerry shifted from where he was leaning against the door so he could open it and let them in. Addison climbed in as did a hesitant Marci. ‘I’m making amends,’ Addison said. ‘By getting my brother to pick us up from school?’ she questioned. ‘Hey I can always make ya walk,’ Steve said earning a chuckle from Jerry. They’d set off now heading away from the school and towards their destination. ‘No,’ Addison said ignoring the boys, ‘by taking you for milkshakes.’ ‘Oh,’ Marci said, ‘that’s nice. I still don’t know why my idiot brother is included though.’ ‘You needed wheels,’ Steve said. ‘And you don’t do anything out of the goodness of your heart,’ Marci said suspiciously. ‘Let’s just say I’ve got a good incentive,’ Steve said. ‘Yeah,’ Jerry smirked, 'best milkshakes in town.’

Marci eyed them all suspiciously but let it go falling back against her seat and watching Addison quietly. The boys talked a little about school and the upcoming football game, but the girls stayed quiet. Addison in quiet anticipation and Marci in general confusion. Soon enough they pulled onto Main Street which was distinctly busier than a normal Monday afternoon. Cars were parked all down the street but fortunately they managed to get a spot quite close to the diner they were going to. As they climbed out and headed inside Marci noticed there were a few school uniforms around. In fact, several of their fellow class men were in the diner and as they entered Marci saw why. There, sitting in a booth accompanied by a bunch of his friends, was Elvis. Marci looked to Addison who was watching her intently with a wry smile on her face.

‘What is-’ Marci sputtered. ‘Well I figured I could say sorry or I could prove it by giving you something that most girls would die for,’ Addison said giggling as Marci looked continually perplexed, ‘I couldn’t get you alone but I figured a milkshake date with Elvis Presley in front of, oh, say fifty other students might soften your heart enough to forgive me?’ ‘Definitely!’ Marci said with a squeal that seemed to catch Elvis’ attention. He waved at them, and Addison waved back before looking at her friend, ‘ready?’ ‘As ever!’ Marci beamed as the pair of them walked to the table.

It was already pretty packed when they got there. Red was sitting on a chair at the end of the booth whilst Sonny and Marty were facing Elvis. Jerry had tucked into the booth beside him, and Steve was sat on the back of it meaning the owner kept eyeballing them though having Elvis had drummed up so much business Addison supposed he couldn’t say anything.

‘Hey girls,’ Elvis said as they appeared at the table before he nodded at Marty saying, ‘shift over and let ‘em sit down.’ ‘But-’ Marty protested earning himself a stern look. He shuffled out of his side of the booth and pulled up a chair at the end of the table. Marci and Addison slotted in beside Sonny facing Elvis. ‘I take it you two made up?’ Elvis said making Marci blush deep crimson which caused a smirk to dance across his face. ‘Yeah,’ she said after a beat, ‘I’m glad we did.’ ‘Did she tell you I chewed her out for being rude to you?’ Elvis asked giddily. ‘Oh really?’ Marci said quirking an eyebrow. ‘He didn’t need to,’ Addison said, ‘I already felt bad enough.’ ‘I was just making sure,’ Elvis chuckled. ‘Well I’m glad you did because she sure knows how to apologise,’ Marci giggled. ‘Yeah well, I have to, seeing as I don’t have a need to do it that often,’ Addison smirked. ‘Yeah because you’re so stubborn,’ Elvis said. ‘No I’m just never normally in the wrong,’ Addison quipped making Elvis roll his eyes. ‘Well I better make the most of this one then if I’m not gonna see another for a while,’ Marci said. ‘Alright then,’ Elvis said, ‘we best get to ordering.’

They spent a while in the diner. Another couple of friends came down meaning the booth was now congregated more than any others though the diner itself was packed with school kids still wanting to get a look at Elvis. As the milkshakes and then burgers started to flow the group got into a natural rhythm. The girls, Jerry and Steve talked about their days at school. Elvis debated the upcoming football game with them which devolved a little into wider football talk amongst the boys though he steered it back onto a more communal topic as he noticed Addison and Marci had started to withdraw and talk amongst themselves. He wanted to keep her talking.

Since their little talk, he had wanted to test the waters and see if she would try and open up. And the opportunity had presented itself almost immediately. When she’d asked him to be a ‘date’ for Marci he’d agreed. Not that he had any interest in her friend. She was cute sure, but she wasn’t Addison, so he agreed that they could go out with the stipulation that it be a platonic date. When she’d agreed he’d tried to search her face for any flicker of jealousy, but he couldn’t see anything.

That was why he was intrigued to get her in the open. To see if she was still willing to be herself in front of the boys or her own friends. And as they talked and laughed, he started to feel like she was. To any outsider they looked like a normal group of young people, sitting and enjoying a shake after school and he liked that, a lot.

In fact, he’d sort of wished that he hadn’t made Marty swap seats. That he’d had some forethought to get Addison on his side of the booth so that she was next to him. Maybe he could even throw his arm on the back of the booth oh so casually though to the diner it would appear how he wanted it to be . Like she was his girl. As that thought popped into his head, he shook it out. He couldn’t think of things like that. He needed to behave.

But it was hard.

Especially when she was sitting across from him, ignorant of everything, as her pillow-like lips wrapped around her straw trying to get every last drop of her milkshake. She only looked up as Red said something to her.

‘Huh?’ she said not having caught whatever Red was talking about. ‘I said are ya trying to drink that or get all the way to China?’ Red said gesturing to her empty glass. ‘What can I say I get my money’s worth,’ she chuckled, ‘and if you’re gonna do something you might as well do it thoroughly.’ ‘Oh I don’t think there’s any doubt you’ve not given it your all,’ Red chuckled. Elvis chuckled too until he heard someone snigger from beside him, ‘if she’s that good at suckin’ I’ve got a few jobs she can do.’

‘What?’ Elvis said swivelling to look at Marty who looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. All attention fell on him as he turned beet red and sputtered, ‘n-n-nuthin’ EP.’ ‘No, if you’ve got some asinine quip to share by all means,’ Elvis said. ‘EP he was just messin’ around,’ Sonny said trying to diffuse the tension that had arose almost immediately. ‘Yeah it was a joke,’ Red said. ‘Well I don’t like it,’ Elvis spat. ‘It’s fine,’ Addison said quickly. ‘Addie-’ Elvis said looking at her though his heart soothed a little when she smiled at him. ‘Hey, it’s not his fault,’ Addison said, ‘he doesn’t know any better. I mean I assume he calls it a job because he pays all his girls to be there.’

A ripple of laughter ran through the group.

‘Nah he’s never found someone that was willing,’ Sonny joked as the boys continued to tease Marty. Elvis chuckled along feeling his upset ebbing away. However, he couldn’t help but notice the touch on his calf. It was a foot, small and dainty, and gently rubbing against his leg before it disappeared. He didn’t look down, but his eyes wandered across the table. Marci was so enraptured in the boys teasing she wasn’t looking at him, but his gaze met Addison’s who smiled softly at him before she turned her attention back to the conversation. He was sure it was her. She was reassuring him and though he’d longed to get her out in the open he enjoyed the fact that no one had seen her gesture. That her other side, the side only he saw, was not completely locked away like it could have been even if it was slightly out of view for everyone.

Though the conversation had taken off again, not dampened by a slightly crossed word, it didn’t have a chance to go too far as people started having to depart. As the group dwindled, they decided to call it a day. Whilst the boys handled the bill and Elvis signed a few autographs for the fans that still lingered inside the diner the girls went outside so they could say goodbye. It was chillier now as dusk descended on the streets of Memphis forcing neon signs and street lamps to illuminate. Steve hopped inside the car and got the heater running whilst the girls stood beside it.

‘So, am I completely forgiven?’ Addison said watching Marci with a smile. ‘Yeah,’ Marci giggled, ‘but you know you didn’t have to go to this much trouble.’ ‘He was happy to do it,’ Addison said. ‘I mean there was something else you could’ve done first,’ Marci said. ‘Oh? Like what?’ Addison said confused. ‘Oh I don’t know,’ Marci said, ‘maybe come to the Senior Ball?’ ‘Mar,’ Addison sighed. ‘Oh come on Addie,’ Marci sighed, ‘I’m going to be on my own at this rate!’ ‘I told you it’s not my scene,’ Addison sighed. ‘Why not? It could be good,’ Marci said. ‘And it could be horrible,’ Addison said. ‘But-’ ‘Mar please,’ Addison said immediately changing tact as she spotted Elvis approaching with some of the guys, ‘hey, ready to go?’ ‘Yeah,’ Elvis said coming to stand by her, ‘you need a ride, Marci?’ ‘No,’ Marci said with a smile, ‘Steve’s waiting.’ ‘Yeah so quit yappin’,’ Steve said leaning out the window. ‘I suppose I better get goin,’ she said glancing at her brother before she looked back at the pair. ‘Well, don’t be a stranger,’ Elvis said with a smile. Marci nodded and smiled before she looked at Addison and said, ‘think about it?’

Addison nodded and then watched her climb into Steve’s car. Elvis looked at her curiously but stopped as she looked up at him and said, ‘ready to go?’ ‘Yeah,’ Elvis said as they walked down the street to where his car was parked. He unlocked it and then opened the door for her, allowing her to slide inside. He followed her and soon they were headed back to Graceland. She was quieter now, the only sound was the radio and a light drizzle of rain outside. Elvis kept glancing at her, wondering what was going on inside her head. Eventually it became too much and before he could stop himself, he said, ‘so what was that about?’ ‘Huh?’ she asked finally turning to look at him. ‘What Marci said? You thinking’ about something?’ Elvis asked. ‘Oh, that? It’s nothing,’ Addison said shaking her head looking at him when he didn’t say anything. Instead, he merely raised a suspicious eyebrow, ‘honestly.’ ‘Well, what is it?’ Elvis said. ‘It’s not a big deal,’ Addison said. ‘Is that why you won’t tell me what it is?’ Elvis smirked making her glare at him. ‘You’re like a dog with a bone you know that?’ Addison smirked. ‘So you know I ain’t gonna drop it,’ Elvis reasoned. She rolled her eyes and sighed. ‘Fine,’ she grumbled, ‘she said I didn’t need to make it up to her this way. I could’ve done something else.’ ‘Well, I’m not gonna pretend that doesn’t sting,’ Elvis joked, ‘but now I gotta know what would trump milkshakes with me.’ ‘A dance,’ Addison said. ‘Oh.’ ‘See why I thought you might be better?’ Addison said. ‘So what’s the problem with this dance?’ Elvis said. ‘There isn’t one,’ Addison said, ‘I’m not going.’ ‘Why not?’ Elvis said. ‘Because I don’t want to,’ Addison replied. ‘Why not?’ Elvis said. ‘Because I don’t,’ Addison shrugged. ‘But-’ ‘Look I don’t want to and I’m not going to go,’ Addison said curtly, ‘if Marci wants to go then she’s more than welcome to.’ ‘But-’ Elvis tried again but she cut him off. ‘Just drop it okay?’ she said looking at him wearily. Elvis glanced at her for a moment and then nodded. They were making good progress he wasn’t going to go and ruin it when it was clear she wasn’t for yielding.

As silence descended between them the wheels were turning in his mind. Why was she so annoyed about a dance? Girls liked that stuff right? Millions of reasons for not wanting to go ran through his mind. Did she not have a date? Or worse did she have a date and not want to tell him? He wasn’t sure he wanted to open that door. So instead he forced himself to get out of his head.

‘So…Marci have fun?’ he asked after a moment. ‘Yeah,’ Addison said quietly. ‘She’s a nice kid,’ Elvis said, ‘I can see why you’re friends.’ ‘Yeah, she’s great,’ Addison said trying to ignore how the word ‘kid’ stung when she heard it. ‘You know I think Jerry might have a bit of a crush on her,’ he said glancing at her and smiling as he watched her face lit up. ‘You think?’ she asked turning to face him. ‘Sure seemed to blush a lot when she spoke to him,’ Elvis said. ‘I’m sure Steve will be thrilled,’ she chuckled.

They laughed and joked about their friends for a little while before the conversation turned back to their time at the diner until finally, they pulled into the driveway. As they got in the front door they found Vernon, Gladys and Dodger sitting in the lounge watching TV.

‘There you are,’ Gladys said as the pair of them stood in the doorway to the lounge. ‘Sorry we’re back late Mama,’ Elvis said. ‘Well it’s no bother,’ Gladys said, ‘Mary made dinner but I assumed you might be in town for the evening. Have you eaten?’ ‘We had something at the diner,’ Elvis said. ‘As long as you’re fed,’ Gladys said. ‘You wanna join us?’ Dodger said looking up from her knitting. Elvis looked to Addison who paused before she said, ‘actually I’m tired. If y’all don’t mind I think I’m gonna go to my room for a bit.’ ‘Sure darlin’,’ Vernon said glancing at her before turning his attention back to the TV. ‘It’s not even seven o’clock,’ Elvis said not wanting her to leave his company. ‘I know,’ she said, ‘I guess it’s just been a longer day than I thought.’ ‘But-’ ‘Night all,’ she said before she scarpered down the hall and out of sight followed by Elvis’ gaze and a calling of ‘goodnights’ from the rest of the Presleys.

Elvis sighed and went to sit down on the couch. His Mama smiled at him for a moment before her attention went back to the TV which he was thankful for. He didn’t need her scrutinising him right now. As the western they were watching played out on the screen in front of him he found himself drifting into his thoughts. Overall it had been a good day. He’d helped two friends make amends and though it was still a long way from what he wished for his relationship with Addison seemed to be improving. She was being herself with him both alone and around people which is what he hoped for. Until the car ride home.

When he’d asked about the dance she’d forced him off-topic and he longed to know why. He was sure that was why she’d gone to bed early too. To avoid him asking her again. She was right. He was like a dog with a bone but it wasn’t because he wanted to upset her, it was because he wanted to know the truth. No matter what it was. Whatever the reason she didn’t want to go to this dance he needed to know. As he sat there and stewed over it he realised something. She might not tell him, but she wasn’t the only person he knew that went to that school.

And he was going to find out what the problem was.