#and making horrible saw sequels

[hacksawboy]

they gave us adam and took him away and expected us not to fill in the gaps he left with terrible jokes?

The only way to enjoy the Saw franchise is to watch it as a comedy. It doesn't work unless your mocking all the characters out loud for the entire time

[lovesickeros]

☆ de fontaine

{☆} characters furina {☆} notes cult au, imposter au, drabble, gender neutral reader {☆} warnings angst, suicidal thoughts, hurt / no comfort {☆} word count 1.4k

This wasn't fair. This wasn't fair. This wasn't fair!

She thought, for one moment, she could put the mask down and breathe – for one moment of daydreaming, she thought she could just be Furina. She thought she would finally get to live the live she should've had in the first place, the life she threw away to play God to an audience who saw her as nothing but a circus animal, dancing to their whims. Furina just wanted to be selfish for one brief and fleeting moment..and it was gone before she could even grasp it in her hand. A comet soaring past far out of her reach.

She can barely keep her hands from violently shaking as she looks down at them – broken and bloody and more a corpse then a person – and she feels so numb she can't even feel the rain pelting against her back. None of this is fair, she wants to scream, why is it always me? But her voice is silent beneath the torrent of rain. She wonders if the ocean would take her if she sank into it's depths – just for a moment, she wonders how it would feel to finally be able to sleep at ease.

Furina is tired.

But Furina is nothing if not useful, isn't she?

So she forces her feet to move, dragging against the stone beneath her heels, and drags their bloodied body into the nearest empty building, letting the rain do the work of washing away the smeared blood following her path. The smell makes her feel sick, the feeling of it sticking to her hands and gloves makes her lightheaded, but she persists. Because Furina is useful, because Furina won't let them die out in the rain, because Furina won't stand by and just let them rot on the streets like some..pest.

Furina wants to go home. She wants to sleep and she isn't she if she wants to wake up, this time. But she keeps going anyway.

Because it's all she's ever done, and the habit sticks.

An Archon she may not be, not anymore, but the expectations of five hundred years still linger like eyes on the inside of her skull. They watch her, pry and prod at her thoughts, mocking laughter and judging eyes following her as she forces herself to dance to the song they weave with glee. Furina never stepped off that stage – she's still there, she thinks, watching the crowd stare at her in disdain as the curtain call looms above her like a guillotine. She still hears Neuvillette deliver her damnation and salvation with a trembling voice, still feels her hair stand on end when electro crackled like the crack of the whip, Clorinde's blade aimed at her like a loaded gun.

She's trapped on that stage and she never left, not really.

She hates it. She thinks she hates them, but it's not their fault. They didn't ask for this, didn't ask for everyone to turn against them, didn't ask for her to save them. Neither did she..yet here they are, she thinks.

She tries to tell herself she's in control this time, though. She can stop performing her part in this horrible, bloody play any time she wants. It makes her feel better, just for a little while, if she convinces herself she's still Furina, painfully human.

And Furina has always been good at lying.

It's the believing that's the hard part.

There isn't time for her to wallow in her own self pity, though. They're still bleeding out onto the dusty, creaky floorboards of some random, broken down house and she's just standing there as the blood stains the wood. She can fix it – she's good at fixing things. She's done nothing but fix things – try to, anyway – for five hundred years. She can fix a little wound, how hard could it be? Her hands are clenched so tight they ache as she kneels down, wincing at the creak of the floorboards beneath her heels– she hesitates just long enough to wonder if she's making a mistake before she peels away just enough of the outer layer of their clothes to see the deep, bloody gash across their chest. She tries not to think about it – it's deep, too deep, and she feels dizzy just looking at it, but she's handled worse, right?

Furina can fix it. That's what she's good at.

She doesn't feel so confident when she tries to wrack her brain for..something. Five hundred years, and a little wound stumps her? No, she had to have learned something, right? She's decidedly not trying to buy time because she's panicking, parsing through hundreds of years of memories like flipping through a book. Furina isn't made for this, not really – she's running on nothing but adrenaline and she's really not sure what she's doing, but she's trying. And just like before, it won't be enough, will it?

She'll fall short again – she'll be too late to fix it before she's alone again.

Furina was an Archon..used to be. What use would she have for that sort of knowledge? Which makes her predicament all the more harrowing and bleak. What was she supposed to do?

Furina had heard it first hand, that vitriol in Neuvillette's voice. She isn't sure she's ever heard him that..angry before. She's not sure he would listen to her if she tried, either. And that scares her more then anything. All of Fontaine was up in arms about this..imposter, yet here she was, staring down at them bleeding out in front of her, and she was trying to save them.

Why? Why is she throwing away her only chance at normalcy for a fraud? Why didn't she just turn them in?

They were dying – that should've been a good thing, shouldn't it? So why didn't it feel like it?

"Why you?" Her voice breaks as she speaks in harsh tones, grabbing the front of their shirt in trembling, bloodied hands. "Why now?" She wants to scream, to demand answers they can't give, to claw back the reprieve she was promised after five hundred years of agony..and all she can do is sob into their chest, pleading for an answer that will not come. "Why me?"

Silence is their answer, and it hangs heavy on her trembling shoulders as she cries.

Of course they don't, she thinks bitterly, no one has ever answered her pleas spoken in hushed sobs. Not her other self and certainly not them.

Furina has always been alone. Furina will always be alone.

Because Furina never left that stage, never left that moment when she looked at herself in the mirror and took up a mantle too heavy for her to bear. She always finds her way back eventually. There's no one on the other side anymore – she stands alone on a stage, waiting for an inevitable end she isn't sure will come.

"Please," She pleads through tears and choked sobs, clinging to them like they are all that keeps her from sinking. "Please don't leave me, too." The words burn on her tongue – how pathetic is she that she craves companionship from the bloodied body of the imposter? Perhaps she's truly lost her mind after all these years..perhaps she's finally gone mad. She must have.

But their presence is like the first feeling of gentle warmth upon her skin as the sun crests the horizon, like the gentle lap of tides along her heels, the sway of branches and leaves as the wind blows through them like an instrument all it's own. They are the soothing sound of rain against the window as she watches the dreary skies in fond longing, the first bloom of spring as color blooms upon the landscape like paint had been spilled across the hills and valleys.

They are like the faint spark she carefully nurtures and stokes, so fragile even the smallest wind could blow it out like a candle. She cradles it within her palms, pleads with whoever will listen – prays that someone finally listens, because if not for her, then for them.

She's failed to protect too much already, let too many people with so much trust in her fall between the cracks of her fingers like grains of sand. She won't let them go – she can't.

If nothing else, if she couldn't be saved when she begged for salvation from that five hundred year long agony, even if she never got that chance..

Furina will make sure they do.

[ganondoodle]

(idk if anyone wants to keep hearing my opinions on totk book stuff but-)

apparently it says that rauru DID have kids, multiple even, which yeah... is kinda necessary for zelda to even be connected to them so much so that sonia can SENSE a blood connection (which, even with all the excuses with magic, is just a little too far for me to suspend my disbelief bc its over, OVER, ten thousand years worth of generations that seperate her from them that one lil touch of the hand can sense that (feels more like an attempt to make you care about them or .. see them as zeldas "better" parents just bc they exchange a few nice words, i never got the feeling they were 'better' parents and its also kinda disrespectful to her actual parents, like sure rhoam wasnt the best but i wouldnt call rauru better just bc he was polite)- i could see maybe the light power of hylia or sth but since its the coolest dude that ever lived rauru now that had it which still doesnt make sense and makes me unreasonably annoyed and she can sense BOTH of their powers in her? nah) the fact theres NOTHING about them in the game itself is just so ... no way they planned any of this

i dont think theres anything they can do or say that wont make be believe they either

are making it up alla 'fix it in post' mentality trying to hastily explain stuff the game never bothers to do to try and appease fans or let it appear as if they thought about it at all

something went really REALLY wrong during development, which kinda seems likely given how the game turned out (im sorry i cannot let go, its not just the writing, the game design too and how little was changed in the map while being so damn expensive, i dont know how people dont feel scammed q_q)

given that they (allegedly) spent the last entire year of development on polish (where??? where????? huh??? like it would make it more understandable (EXCEPT for the price) if there was alot of trouble, which was also bc it got delayed and ... turned out like this, but they dont want to say it, especially given their reputation, with that quote i have heard way too many times 'a delayed game blah blah') i just??

are they just gonna go and do it like they did with kashiwa (kass)? "they uuuh where flying around the whole time ony cool sonau tech maschines, you just dont see or hear from them ooooorrr they were uuuuh out of the country at the time" (sending invitations to other continents to join their glorious kingdom ;) )

(bet they are also gonna say they did all the stuff like ... moving the shrines around (lol?) and lifting the islands up into the sky- which is still weird bc ... didnt they also say they were living in the sky before coming to the surface?? so where?? did they park all their islands on the surface and the mystery kids had the keys so they had to repark them back into the sky after they returned off camera?? xD also why are the islands so different as an environment if they where from the surface? like even the STONE up there is different- and if they were first in the sky then on the surface and the nback in the sky .. why is there not a single yellow tree or grass in the past- you cant really argue that it changed bc they were up there so long bc .. nothing else changed, the suddendly and totally always there sonau buildings are largely in prime condition, only some slightly moldy, and what we see of the glorious past looks barely any different from the present, aside from like ... some standard trees shuffled, no castle yet and that glowy uwu filter DESPITE that stupidly long time frame between it)

[rmayuscula]

queer was sooooooo bad but like i guess not in the way people expected it to be at least..........

[ccsainzleclerc5516]

Stay With Me

Pairing: Lando Norris x reader

Warnings: none

a/n: sequel to Try Me; in this one Carlos' appendix and Lando's crash happened at the same time

"Guys, don't let him fool you. He was horrible to me when we were kids" You joked taking a sip of your beer.

"That's one big fat lie you just said" Carlos defends himself.

"I'm sorry y/n, but I just can't believe that, he's so protective of you, you know just like an older brother should be" Kika commented on your accusations.

"Well he sure wasn't like that when we were little. One time he slammed me so hard against the door that I almost broke my hip! I was bleeding!" You say making everybody's jaws drop and listen carefully to what was coming next.

"Slammed you..I didn't slam you, I pushed you a little and then you threw yourself against the door just to make me look bad" Carlos rolled his eyes at you as you mockingly mimicked his words.

"You scarred me for life! Literally! I still have a scar from the cut!"

"What cut?" Lando asks coming back from the toilet and taking a seat between you and Charles.

"We were just talking about how Carlos was violent towards me when we were kids..so much that I have a visible scar because of him!" You explain.

"Oh the one on your right hip?" Lando blurts out and at that moment everyone falls silent staring at the two of you.

It was a calm relaxing night. Kika, Pierre, Charles, Carlos, Lando and you were hanging out on a yacht. You were drinking a little, talking, laughing, the music was playing in the background and you were all enjoying a race free weekend.

Somehow you got on the topic of your and Carlos's childhood so you decided to tell them some interesting stories. Lando didn't know about the story you just told them, but of course he saw the scar on your hip the first time he saw you naked. He traced it with the tips of his fingers and even kissed it before going down on you multiple times..

"How would you know that she has a scar on her right hip?" Carlos asks furrowing his eyebrows at him. Your breath caught and your heart rate quickened. No one said a word waiting with wide eyes for one of you to give an explanation.

"I-I.." Lando stammered glancing at you. Both of you were so caught off guard that you didn't know with what lie to come up with. You kinda knew there was no going back from this now. There was no point in lying actually because none of them were stupid. Everybody knew how he must've found out, but still, you couldn't believe your brother was going to find out this way about you two.

"Are you sleeping with my sister?" Carlos growls angrily clenching his hands.

"Carlos, calm down okay? I can explain-" Lando tries, but is soon cut off by Carlos getting up from his seat and gripping the collar of Lando's shirt.

From a pleasant and relaxing evening, things quickly got out of hand. Kika and you both let out a scream as Carlos pounced at Lando and Charles and Pierre quickly intervened pulling Carlos away.

"Carlos, stop!" You shout your chest quickly rising up and down as you stood in front of Lando who put his hands on your shoulders to calm you down because he could feel how scared you were.

"What are you doing?! Get your hands off her!" But Carlos was seeing red. He was so angry that one of his friends disobeyed his rule about staying away from his little sister.

"Stop it right now! Yes, Lando and I have been seeing each other for quite some time now and there's nothing you can do about it!" You declare confidently, but quickly blinking to stop the tears from rolling down your cheeks. You were disappointed and embarrassed with the way he overreacted. He acted as if Lando was a drg dealer or something not his friend. You always knew all Carlos wanted was to protect you and your feelings, but this was completely unnecessary.

"Estas loca o que?!" Carlos snaps at you. "There's no way I'm gonna approve of that!" Are you crazy or what?

"I don't care! You don't get to tell me what to do with my life! Stop treating me like a child! I don't need you to protect me!" You bark back frustration bursting out of you. "Besides, Lando is your friend! What is wrong with you to act like this?"

"Baby, calm down, please.." Lando mumbles quietly, but loud enough that Carlos hears him too.

"This..this is the last time you see her. I don't ever want you around her ever again."

But of course it wasn't like that. You weren't even thinking about breaking things off with him. You two cared about each other way too much to let it all go to waste. Although you agreed to let the situation settle down a bit so you didn't see each other for 2 weeks, until the next grand prix in Las Vegas.

You missed him. You weren't used to not seeing him for more than 3-4 days, and now it's been more than 10 days since you last saw each other. You missed his touch, you missed his kisses, his warm hugs that always made everything bad go away. And he missed you too, even more than he thought he would. He realized in that relatively short period of time that he doesn't want to be without you anymore. He also realized that, to him, nothing will ever make sense if you're not there.

You took the opportunity and went with Carlos to Las Vegas to be as close to Lando as possible even though Carlos never let you out of his sight. Since Carlos got his appendix removed two days before the grand prix, he wasn't able to race so you two were following the race from the Ferrari garage.

You were feeling kinda strange that day. You couldn't explain it, but your gut feeling was telling you that something was just off that day.

You had a great need to go to Lando before the start of the race and tell him how much you miss him and how much you are in love with him. But since you didn't want to cause problems with your brother who came out of the operating room two days ago and was still in pain, you decided to keep everything you desperately wanted to say to yourself.

Everything about your gut feeling became clear as a day when while following the race you saw a McLaren car snap out of control and heavily crash on the third lap of the race.

Your heart dropped and your legs went numb looking at the screen before you.

"No.." You whisper to yourself putting your hands over your mouth and turning to your brother who went pale. "Is-is that Lando?" You ask, your voice breaks as Carlos pulls you to him and wraps his arms around you.

"Shh, he's going to be fine, okay? Everything's going to be alright." Carlos eyes were stuck on the screen as he was comforting you rubbing your back and you cried into his chest.

All the worst possible scenarios went through your head at that moment. The very fact that you could lose him scared the life out of you and you didn't even get to call him yours yet. You couldn't bear it.

"I need to see him. I want to be by his side." You said and Carlos just nodded. All the anger and rage quickly evaporated from him when he saw his best friend crash.

When Lando was taken for precautionary checks in the University Medical Center, you were in his driver's room pacing back and forth waiting for him or any kind of information about him. And then finally, after what seemed like years later, there he was entering the room after being told that you were there waiting for him.

"Lando.." You stopped in tracks at the sight of him in front of you before running into his arms. "You scared me so much you don't even know.." You said leaving gentle kisses over his cheeks, jaw and lips.

"I'm here, baby, it's okay" He said burying his face into the crook of your neck inhaling your scent as his arms tightened around you.

"I missed you, I missed you so much.." You say sobbing.

"I missed you too. I couldn't concentrate on anything, I just kept thinking about you the whole time" He admits looking deep into your eyes wiping your tears away with his thumbs. "Will you stay with me tonight?"

He didn't even have to ask. There was no force that would separate you from him anymore. From now on it was two of you together through everything and anything.

"I'll stay with you forever, baby" You smile softly as he leans his forehead against yours.

"I'll hold you to that"

[moonydustx]

To belong to you

requests | mastelist Pairing: Trafalgar D. Law x F! Reader Summary: sequel of A not so funny story. In this one, we see Law dealing with a somewhat stubborn reader, while he can barely deal with his feelings. Warnings: fluffy, a little hotter at the end, violence, Law exposing his feelings (this will always be a warning for me). W/C: 3.5K a/c: tried not to take so long to produce, but I ended up getting carried away by the text. Regarding the smutty, I'm thinking about bringing it to a third part, I believe this one was too big. Hope you like.

requested by anon: ok ok now m waiting for a sequel with an overprotective-clingy-lover emo boy Law who keeps reader at his sight❣️ ~ maybe a smutty? idk just give me some more Law

Part 1 | Part 3 (NSFW)

A week, two days and a few hours.

For a week, two days and a few hours Law's sleep became scarcer - which seemed impossible - at the same time, he seemed to have found a new hobby. You.

Since the fateful day he discovered what he had done, even if unconsciously, Law had made it his duty to be your support point. At the same time, even though he dedicated himself to repairing this mistake, nightmares continued to haunt the little sleep he still had. Some days, it was as if he only revisited the afternoon he saw you hurt. In others, it was as if he was fully aware of what he had done.

You didn't complain about all that attention. Of course, the guilt was clear in his eyes and you wished you could lift such a burden from him, but Law's temperament was already known as irreducible, it was almost impossible for you to become the person who would change that.

Sleep had also left you aside that night. Maybe because you were anxious, the next morning you would be emerging on the next island and you would finally see the sunlight again. Maybe your mind kept playing tricks and unlike the nightmares that Law had, you kept having dreams that were closer and closer to him.

What you had left that night was to catch up on your studies. The small stack of books piled up next to your small green notebook while you had been sitting on one of the cafeteria benches for half an hour facing the same calculation.

"I didn't expect to find company at this hour." Law appeared at the cafeteria entrance. The same tired eyes, but the gentle tone in his voice pleased you. "Sleepless?"

"I've been in bed for a long time this week, Captain. What about you, sleepless?"

"I ended up distracted by reading. I just came to get something to eat." he walked past you, heading over to one of the counters. "Did you remember to drink your tea?"

"Perhaps." you just responded and you could hear him grumble in response. It only took a few minutes for the cup to appear in front of him. "Do I really need to take this? It's horrible!"

"It's a medicine, its function is to be horrible, but to end up curing you." surprising you, he sat next to you. Next to it, a plate with some onigiris. You just looked at Law and your horrible cup of tea. "What?"

"How can such a pretty drink, full of flowers, be so horrible?"

"Drink it." in a way, you knew that his impatient tone at that moment wasn't serious at all. "I promise to reward you."

"Saying it like that, I feel like a child." you grumbled, taking a sip of your drink and trying to avoid the disgusted look on your face. Law, unlike you, seemed to enjoy his late dinner. "Next time, please give me poison. I will die happy."

"Good girl, congratulations." he said, in a cynical tone. Even so, the words pointed to another place in your mind. "I bet it wasn't that horrible."

"Said the one who's gorging himself on onigiri." With your complaint, Law just stretched out the piece he had already taken a bite of.

Maybe your intrusive thoughts, maybe it was just the desire to get the horrible taste out of your mouth, but you accepted what he offered.

She's just taking a piece. Law's mind looped through the seconds you bit the food. The lack of sleep must be playing tricks on him, making him imagine things he shouldn't. Are your lips as soft as they seem?

"So. What are you studying?" Law's brain went blank, searching for the first random topic that crossed his mind.

"Blood. In fact, I took a calculation to do and ended up getting lost. In the book it seems so much simpler."

"Let me see." He set the plate aside and approached your notebook.

Gray eyes looked attentively at each written number and you were busy analyzing it. The smell that came from him was the same as the t-shirt you had worn that day, his eyes had clear dark circles beneath them and even though it wasn't perfectly done, the little beard he had seemed to outline his face and seemed to match the dark tone. of the small piece of his tattoo that showed.

"So…" he began, pointing to the notebook. "Here, you're taking the wrong route. To calculate this type of transfusion, first you have to base it on the patient's weight and then use this formula. See."

You were too distracted by him and he was too distracted by the silly calculation you were so lost in. When he turned to ask if you understood, the only thing he found were your eyes watching him. Just a few centimeters away, his eyes danced between yours and your lips, wondering if the action would be hasty. Maybe it wasn't ideal to take the risk.

"Nerd." You muttered, letting out a small laugh.

"Just smarter than you." he replied, pulling away a little. "Take one more."

"Thank you captain!"

The night passed faster than you expected. Accompanied by Law, you spent most of the night redoing some exercises while he helped you, or at least watched you. And even though sleep hit your body, it was hard to close your eyes and sleep after spending so much time with him.

The morning came quickly and as usual on the days you emerged, you and Bepo were standing just staring at the sun on your skin. Some other companions were already beginning to disembark.

"I found you." Law's voice brought them both out of their little sunbath. "You take care of buying food."

"Ay captain!" Bepo reached out his hand, picking up the berries.

"You." He turned around, looking at you seriously. "No running, no heavy lifting, no long walks."

"All right, boss." you saluted, just to annoy him and watched him leave, without giving much more explanation.

The afternoon passed quickly in the small village. At least in the commercial part of the village, everything seemed very busy and colorful, as well as having huge taverns that you would definitely go to.

In addition to you and Bepo, the two also dragged Clione along for the task, which wasn't enough. Despite the captain's clear warning, you managed to convince Bepo that it was just an idle worry, which ended with you carrying some bags under your back.

"Need help?" the bear climbed Polar Tang first, reaching out to you.

As soon as you appeared in the Heart Pirates captain's field of vision, you knew you were in trouble. The blue dome enveloped you and soon the weight lifted from your back. Instead, two small flowers appeared on the ground.

"It seems the two of them decided to ignore my warning." Law grumbled as you picked up the two colorful branches that were at your feet.

"My fault, there's no need to fight him." you took the lead, going to where Law was standing. Around him, in addition to the bags he had taken from you, were a few small bouquets of plants and flowers, all as colorful as the city they had just visited. "What are these?"

"Just a few missing ingredients can become medicine, tea, ointments." he bent down, plucking a small yellow flower and handing it to you. "Something tells me your favorite is this one."

"Oh, God no." the image of last night's horrible tea came to mind. you held the flower up to your nose. The sweet smell was delicious, but just remembering the taste made your stomach turn. "It's so beautiful, but so bad." you made to return it, seeing him raise his hand and deny it.

"It is not necessary."

"Thanks." you laughed, pinning the small flower to the zipper of your jumpsuit.

"Captain." two humming voices came towards you. "What do you think about going to a bar today?"

"You can go." he responded to Shachi and Penguim, who were not convinced and joined in a chorus of please. "I'm not in the mood."

"Please, Captain. The town seems nice, I bet the bars are too." you joined the other two, interceding.

You knew that Law wasn't the most sociable person in the world, but if there was something you could boast about, it was your power of persuasion - which you hadn't yet realized only worked on him.

"Okay, okay." he gave up, seeing the three of you cheer up and Bepo shouting happily in the background. "However, no alcohol for you."

"Yet?" you grumbled, but his expression already made the answer clear. Your power of persuasion wouldn't work this time.

You weren't the type to take alcohol seriously enough for it to bother you, just going to a new place would be good enough for you. As soon as night fell, you started getting ready. As much as you wanted to wear something lighter, you didn't know how comfortable you would feel showing the scar on your leg, even though it was already partially healed, it wasn't such a pretty sight. You put on pants and a simple, comfortable blouse and headed towards the bar with Ikkaku.

Law watched you from afar. Unlike most of the women there, you weren't balancing on thin heels or with a face so adorned with colors that made your real expression disappear. You were you.

He saw you sit at one of the tables with the other companions. Everyone with drinks in front of them, except you. He could use some alcohol on him to give him the courage he lacked, but he knew it would be unfair. Ignoring the judgmental looks, he ordered two glasses of juice and took them to the table, looking for a place to sit.

"No vodka?" Ikkaku looked at the cup in front of you and the cup in front of the captain. "This is new."

"I'm banned until further notice." you replied, raising your glass to toast your captain. "At least someone had compassion on me."

"So cute." Ikkaku cheered and you surreptitiously tried to elbow her. "So, I saw people playing in the background. She can play, right captain?"

"As long as she doesn't bet Polar Tang." he replied, a shy smile on his lips. As much as he didn't admit it out loud, something woke up in him when the two of you were in some way related. "I think betting a mink could make some good money." he turned to Bepo, who immediately complained.

"Never!" you stood up, placing yourself next to Ikkaku and picking up your glass. "I'll be right back, I'll take the money from some idiots." you smiled, turning your face towards your captain. A soundless thank you left your lips, as you pointed to the glass in your hands.

Law tried to disguise it, tried to ignore your presence. It was as if your body had some kind of magnet, which made it find you in the midst of so many people who crowded into that bar.

The first time he looked at you, you and Ikkaku were side by side singing something that he couldn't hear from where he was, around you some other people were singing and others were playing cards. He could see some looks that bothered him. Why did they look at you like that? Law could feel the repulsion of those men, even from a distance.

The second time, the two of you seemed to be dealing the cards. A man next to you, one of the same ones who was looking at you, seemed to whisper something in your ear that seemed to have offended you. The expression soon disappeared from your face, returning to a calm expression. At that moment, Law could feel his body tingle and had to suppress the urge to make the man's head roll off his body, even though he had no idea what he had said to you.

The third time, the only thing Law saw was your head being pushed against the table, after that he only saw red and pure hatred in front of him. The other crew members with whom he shared the table only noticed a small playing card slowly fall towards the upholstery.

This time you hadn't stolen in the game but apparently some bastard decided you were hiding some cards. You felt your head against the table and you could hear Ikkaku swear. You could easily get out of there and reach for your dagger hidden in your boot, you could also trip and see the guy hit his own head against the table. You knew you wouldn't need to do anything when you saw a blue dome appear in front of you.

Unlike the many times you had seen him fight, Law didn't use his sword or his devil fruit. His hands reached for the man, twisting his arm and slamming his head against the table, ten times harder than what had been done to yours. The other man, who was restraining Ikkaku, immediately released her.

"What happened?" he asked and you knew the question was directed at you, even though he kept pinning the man against the table.

"They thought we were stealing in the game."

"He said we would pay for what we stole from him with money or anything else we could offer." Ikkaku added, as you stood up and untied your clothes.

"The bastard likes to threaten others." Law muttered and within seconds, the man's head rolled on the table, as he screamed desperately, not understanding what had happened. Looking around, Law reached for a small knife and immediately stuck it to the side of the man's head. "Next time I see you, I won't need to use any power to rip your head off."

Law walked away, his eyes immediately searched for you. You had your back to him, checking to see if your friend had gotten hurt.

"Are you two okay?" he walked closer, searching for any signs of injury on the two of you. At that point in the fight, the entire crew was already gathered alongside.

"It's okay captain, it was just that asshole. The others tried to help us." Ikkaku explained.

"Understood." He tried to calm things down, still thinking about what that stupid guy could have done if, for some moment, you had left his sight.

"For today, that's enough." you sighed, trying to give your best smile, which with all the stress caused, seemed impossible. "I'm going back to Polar Tang. I think today's activities tired me out."

You lied, blatantly. You weren't tired, on the contrary. The whole fight, Law showing up to defend you, that had lit you up. The only question that was going through your head was where Law's anger had come from. It wasn't the first time you ended up fighting with someone in a bar and every time Law would just laugh a little or if things got out of hand, He gave a little fright to anyone who even touched his crew. Today the gray eyes that accompanied you so much appreciate you full of fury.

"I'll join you. You guys, enjoy." Law took out some berries and placed them in Ikkaku's hand. "The next rounds are on me."

Bepo made to accompany you two, but was stopped by his friends. They seemed to see the entire situation clearer than the two of you ever would.

The walk to the submarine was quiet, much quieter than you were used to. Despite the beat, your head didn't hurt besides the fact that you saw Law analyze every inch of you after the argument.

Even after entering Polar Tang, silence prevailed between the two of you, it bothered you a lot more than you tried to show. Taking much smaller steps than Law's, you tried to catch up to him before he locked himself in his room and then you'm will only see him the next morning.

"Hang on!" You tried to follow him and even though you couldn't see his face, you knew he had heard you. "Captain!"

"I don't want to talk about it right now." he replied, stopping in front of his room.

"I am sorry but no." you replied and understanding that perhaps you had a discussion too serious to have there in the middle of the corridor, you just indicated the door behind him. "Let's just talk, just five minutes of your attention, okay?"

He could feel the blood boil in his veins, the words burned in Law's throat. Damn that damn bar, damn all the things that still haunted his mind. He had fallen, and fallen hard.

"I understand." you leaned the door behind you, keeping your arms crossed. "I understand all your concern, I mean, you have been carrying a burden that is not yours."

"No?" he laughed, almost cynically. "I won't apologize for that."

"What about all that at the bar?" you asked, approaching him. "About almost killing a guy over a card game."

"He was hurting you." the words came out of his mouth, bluntly.

You stopped a few centimeters away from him, watching him. You wanted to sound intimidating, you wanted to impose yourself on him, but it was him. It was the serious eyes looking down on you, the posture, the smell that emanated from him. As much as your brain tried to deny it, something in you liked - almost needed - Law to protect you.

"You know I'm not that fragile, right?" You held his arms, looking for even the slightest reaction. "I don't break so easily, if that's what makes you worry about me so much."

Law wished he had more time to plan, he wished he hadn't been as close to you as he was last week. That cat and mouse hunt between the two of you worked for a long time. It worked when he watched someone talk for too long over you and he chose to leave his jealousy aside, it worked when he watched you fight so many times and chose not to intrude, it worked when he saw your curves marked by any other clothes you wore ,except the crew's overalls, and he had to try his best not to look. It worked, sentence passed, something left aside.

"I like you." he began, the words coming out like relief from his lips. "I like you and to be honest, I don't know how to deal with it."

"Why not?"

"We are pirates, I have enemies, people who can use this to target me." he pointed to the space between the two of you. "I don't know if I can handle this, damn, I could barely hold my own against a drunk at the bar. I like you too much to risk you."

Just like the day he had seen you injured, his hands found your face, holding it as if it were the most precious thing Law had ever laid his hands on.

"I have a proposal." your hands found his, caressing them. "Here, in this room, just here it will be Law and me. Without all the worries of a captain, without all the responsibilities of a crew member, without fears. Just you and me, one belonging to the other. No one needs to know."

You wanted to say that maybe it wouldn't work and that maybe the two of you would just come out of this story more broken. You could also say that you would understand if he hated the idea. Before any words found the sound of the room, your lips were stolen by his.

None of Law's thoughts matched what he was feeling. Your lips giving way so he could taste a little of you. Your hands left his and spread out over the small gap in the open shirt he wore. Every inch of your body still seemed small for him to explore, his hands went down to your waist, almost merging his body with yours. He could stay there, in that room trapped with you for days. Damn the life of a captain, damn all the rationality he valued so much, you were more than enough.

"So…" you moved a few millimeters away from him, looking for just enough space to catch your breath.

One of his hands went up to your chin, one of his fingers running over your swollen and red lips in an almost sinful caress. How long did he wait to be like that?

One of his hands tangled in your hair, gently squeezing it so you could give him space. Law's lips - now warmer than when they first touched you - ran down your neck. You wouldn't take Law for an avid lover, but the way he held your body to his said completely the opposite.

"I accept your proposal." His low voice whispered next to your ear. His mind took him to dark places, but a little rationality still kept him lucid. "But maybe, maybe we should stop for now."

"No, we shouldn't." Serene eyes looked at him, but the malice in your words was clear.

"Yeah, we shouldn't."

[aspionagee]

First off-- I'm a HUGE fan of your writing, you have no idea how stoked I am for the next installment of A Patchwork Family. I was never a fan of severitus before I came across your fic by chance but your writing is so good it turned me onto it.

I was wondering if you had any severitus fic recs? I saw you post something about crime and punishment and gave that one a read (SO good), and since it seems you have incredible taste to go along with your incredible writing skills I was hoping you could help me out 💚

Thank you very much for the question! I actually have a ton of fic recs for Severitus, and I've been meaning to make a list for a while, so in no particular order here it is!

1. A Year Like None Other by aspeninthesunlight

This fic is also very special to me, and directly inspired A Patchwork Family. Snape ends up adopting Harry and Draco during their sixth year. It was written before the sixth and seventh books even came out, so there's a very fascinating plot!

2. To Trust by Clairdeloon

This one has a runaway Harry being sent to live with Snape after the Dursleys die before his first year. If you like angst this is the one to go for; it hurts so much but it's so worth it.

3. Time Left Today by gzdacs

After the situation with Quirrell, Harry is wanted by the Ministry for questioning. Snape is forced to transport him across Europe to hide him (with things progressively going more and more wrong!). Very enjoyable fic

4. Tension's Empathy: The Wanderers Curse by yarrowmirth

Another "Harry and Snape on the run" one, set after fifth year. I particularly enjoy how long it takes Snape and Harry to warm up to each other! It's also criminally underrated. I check so often for updates you have no idea

5. Grease & Lightning by Mothboss

Would highly recommend this and its sequel, Acid Reigns. Features Snape semi-accidentally acquiring eight-year-old Harry(with some of the best, age-accurate writing of a child I've ever seen). He takes on a protective big brother role and it's so perfect! Acid Reigns also uploads every Tuesday without fail, which I always look forward to

6. obscured by illisius

A recent fic discovery for me, where Obscurial Harry is sorted into Slytherin and Snape has to help him. I am rarely in this much pain when reading a fic, oh my god. The ANGST. It's just so perfect, and I'm so excited to see what's coming next for the universe!

7. The Potions Master and his Golden Boy by HazelEyes25

If you like your Severitus slowburn, this is the one. During Harry's second year, Snape slowly goes from Harry's mentor figure to guardian. It's full of lots of nice hurt/comfort!

8. aim & ignite by shostakobitch

The only biological father Severitus on this list, and HEAR ME OUT! Because if Snape turned out to be Harry's biological parent, this is EXACTLY how it would have gone down. Snape is perfectly canon; he is the horrible, snarky and cruel man from book canon even as he learns how to be a caring man to his child. Such a hard balance to strike, but it is done PERFECTLY. It also features Girl!Harry which I very rarely see in Severitus. With the beautiful prose thrown in on top, all I can do is beg you all to give this a go! So worth a read!!

9. O Mine Enemy by KirbyLane

This is a classic! I've not read it in a while and it's next on my reread list. Again, very good characterisation. Both Harry and Severus feel very human. Takes place during fifth year, and switches up canon a bit which I always like!

10. Crime and Punishment by Melolcatsi

Just in case anyone else didn't see the Crime and Punishment rec, I want to still put it here. This is one of the first Severitus fics I ever read, and it's so very special to me! Harry gets sent to live with Snape in the summer after fourth year when he is falsely accused of stealing. Snape's characterisation in particular is stunning

I could keep rambling on for hours, but this is essentially my top ten! I hope you all enjoy!

[bassiascoparia]

Percy Jackson's fridge horror

What gets to me about Percy Jackson and the sequel series is that there's so much fridge horror in it.

For those of you who don't know, fridge horror is something that seemingly innocent but has very disturbing undertones.

Like the climbing walls in CHB. What do you MEAN that they clash together, hurting the campers who haven't reached the top, and that there's also fucking lava which BURNS THE CAMPERS, NO LESS. And that Chiron allows it?

AND THAT HE FUCKING INSTALLED IT?

And there's lava below? Do you know how serious fucking lava burns are? They're horrible. Campers might have even died before.

And there's a full lava and earthquake mode too, and boulders roll down on the campers, which is pretty serious and can make for some fatal injuries. Jesus, Rick, what the hell were you thinking?

I wonder if Luke saw the horror of this and if this was a small part that motivated him to join Kronos. I really do wonder.

And in ToA, the Three Legged Death Race?

Chiron wants to reward who come back..........alive. Because it's so dangerous that it has fucking exploding Chainsaw Frisbees and iron orbs falling from the ceiling. And apparently it's so dangerous that you can find fucking Python in there too. Oh hey Python, wazzup old mate-AAAAAAHHHHHHH-gets swallowed and painfully digested.

And this is all because a MILLENIA OLD TUTOR WHO SHOULD KNOW BETTER AND A FUCKING GOD WHO'S SUPPOSED TO PROTECT THESE CHILDREN couldn't say no to a fucking eight year old who came up with the terribly dangerous and impractical idea for this race. An eight year old, folks.

Chiron is........a terrible person for this. No, fucking seriously. He sent those kids in knowing that they might die and have serious trauma if not. How anyone can like Chiron after this is beyond me. No wonder Luke joined Kronos. Such a shame he lost, though.

And Paolo Montes' limbs just casually being ripped off and then reattached? What the fuck was this, Rick? A child's limbs, that too, sawed off! Dismemberment is so comedic, especially when it happens to an unprepared child!

FUCKING NEWS FLASH, RICK, THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENS! DISMEMBERMENT IS SERIOUS AND PERMANENT TRAUMA! IT'S NOT JUST REATTACHING LIMBS AND OH EVERYTHING IS SUNSHINE AGAIN.

Feel free to add your own fridge horror that you've noticed.

[cartwrong]

I did #13 here :) from this prompt game

this now has a sequel here

19. “Tell me where you are, I’ll come get you.”

Lamb almost didn’t pick up. 

When he saw River’s name on his mobile, he pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger, exhaling loudly. Jackson Lamb had done a lot of horrible things in his life and he would answer for those one day, but until then, he was cursed with River Cartwright. It was almost half past four on Saturday morning, and there was no good reason for River to call him. 

“You better be dead, Cartwright.”

“Lamb?”

The voice was laced with pain and something Lamb couldn’t place, something he had never heard from River before, something close to terror. 

“Lamb. It hurts.”

Lamb pushed himself from the couch with a groan, his body making more noise than the old radiator clanging in the corner of his office. He stumbled to his desk, putting River on speakerphone as he dialled Ho’s number from his office phone. 

“River? Where are you? Tell me where you are, I’ll come get you.”

“I don’t know,” River slurred. “I can’t see anything.”

“Yeah?” Ho answered the office phone pressed between Lamb’s ear and shoulder.

“Track Cartwright’s service phone. Now,” Lamb barked. 

“What? Why? What hornet nest has Cartwright kicked now?” Ho asked. 

“Because I fucking told you to,” Lamb yelled. “River, are you alone?” 

“I think–I think so,” River said, his breath echoing from the phone in stuttered gasps. 

Lamb rifled through his drawer for his gun, loading it methodically, bullet by bullet. “River, I need you to try and remember what happened. I’m going to come and get you, but I need to know what I’m walking into. Is whoever did this to you still there?”

“I–I don’t–I don’t know,” River stuttered. “I think so.”

“How many men?”

“Three? Yeah, it was three,” River said, then was cut off by a groan. “Fuck.”

“Ho, you need to hurry the fuck up if you don’t want me to break this phone off in your fucking arsehole.”

“Yeah, I got it,” Ho said with an air of annoyance only he could muster. “Texting it to you now.”

Lamb dropped the office phone and was already half way down the stairs before Roddy’s text came through. 

“River? Stay quiet but don’t hang up. I’m on my fucking way.”

The Slough House door clanged shut behind him as Jackson Lamb rushed to his car to find his lost joe. He didn’t know how badly hurt River was, but he did know he was going to kill every last person responsible for it.

[paintsplash1712]

So since apparently Wicked Part 2/For Good is going to add more scenes, songs and will be darker than the musical I thought itd be fun to list things I'd love to see in Part 2:

Explain the timeskip. How long has it been? How old are the characters? In the book and 1939 movie, Elphaba is in her 40s (maybe?) when Dorethy comes and I know it won't be that long in this movie for obvious reasons. Which leads me to...

Explain where Elphaba has been the last few years. Everyone's in shock when they see Elphie in Act 2 (or in Nessa's case angry and heartbroken because her sister basically abandoned her) which means she hadn't been doing a lot of public activism so what has she been doing? Did she go to the Cloister of St. Glinda's like in the book? (I think that'd be cool)

Show don't tell with Nessa. Show us how wicked she turns out to be. In the musical its all just Boq's word basically because we don't hear any other Muchkin talk about the horrible acts Nessa did, only the lies of Elphaba. Did it get as bad as the books where its basically a dictatorship? More Nessa in general please!

I'd like to see some stuff from the books. I believe John M. Chu has stated as much before Part 1 came out but I saw nothing new from the books in the film so my hope is we'll get it in part 2. I'd like to see the Time Dragon and maybe his future telling puppet show or the interesting cultural differences between the sections of Oz (or at least keep the colour schemes)

Add on: Set up Liir! Obviously I don't expect him to be a kid or teenager because of the timeline of the musical vs the book but if Stephen Schwartz wants to make sequels you have to set him up considering he's the main character in book 2!

Some Dorothy and companion scenes would be sweet. Fiyero and Boq are main characters, I need to see their reactions to meeting again in these new forms. Also Fiyero being Dorothy's older brother type would be adorable!

And lasting... I want an extended version of March of the Witch Hunters! It's my favourite song next to No Good Deed and I want more!

[thisgirlnamedblusy]

Holy moly, your last story had me feeling feelings.

The sentence about the unborn baby being jealous got me thinking tho, what if their kid inherited some of Donna's possessive traits, like always wanting to be by y/n's side, much to the chagrin of poor Donna, who hasn't been able to cuddle reader at night without a (sometimes two) little body wiggling into their bed. And as their daughter grows, she kinda sees Donna as a threat, someone who takes her moms attention away. Donna doesn't rightly know how to deal with the feeling of love for her child, and annoyance at not having reader for themselves.

UNTIL one day when reader and child is taking a walk through the forest, and a couple of men comes up and threatens them, only for mama Donna to turn up and rescue them. Both Donna and her daughter have a revelation that day: Donna from how scared she would be if anything happened to both her love and her child, and daughter from how she now sees Donna as her mama too, who would always protect and love her. And they make an unspoken pact about protecting reader always xD

You don't have to write this if you don't want to, I just got the mama Donna brainrot lol

Thanks for feeding us starving queers some quality Donna content

Yesss!!!! Thank you for your words, and for your request! I'm glad to read you enjoyed that one!!! I hope you like it and sorry about the language mistakes!!! :))))

A long road to motherhood

Pairing: Donna Beneviento x Fem! Reader

Warnings: G!P Donna (implied), slightly dark themes, Donna's POV

Word count: 7,112

Summary: How I can be jealous of my own daughter?

N/A: Sorry about the language mistakes!!! Requests are open!!! This is a sequel to this one!!! I love you all!!! :))

As they say, time heals wounds.

After almost losing you, after seeing how life became more and more distant from your sight, I was able to get you back.

A miracle, the sign that my sins were forgiven, I couldn't say what exactly it was. I have always thought that coincidence doesn’t exist, even when I met you, a bad deed that was rewarded, a trip to hell of having you immobile in a bed. I could never forget the two weeks when I almost lost you, when my whole world almost collapsed, because of me.

But no, life stopped torturing me, you woke up, you woke up wanting to make me feel good, to forgive me, to continue loving me as I didn't think you did.

If I had to keep a memory in my mind, only one, I would choose the moment in which I turned my head and saw your eyes open, your sweet look from that stretcher, life shining in your eyes again, looking at me.

I made an effort not to torture myself, to not let the nightmares make my nights impossible. It could be because I was still mentally ill, I couldn't separate myself from what life had given me, but I had to be strong. It was no longer you and me. There was someone, someone much more important to care for, someone to fight day and night for with my demons, with my jealousy, with my stupid and sick way of being: our daughter, Giovanna.

Born from my mistakes, from my pathological possessiveness, that girl represented everything pure that was missing in my life. My family, our family had been formed thanks to the biggest mistake of my life, thanks to that horrible afternoon in which I took what I thought was mine.

Luckily, the girl kept me away from your screams of terror, from the way you resisted my actions. Little by little I began to forget it, especially when I saw that childish smile in the girl's eyes. She had no hard feelings. If her birth was a mistake, it would be the best one in my life.

Maybe not the way she was conceived, but I could feel proud of the change that little Giovanna Beneviento made in our lives. I almost lost you because of my selfishness, but I got you back because... Well, I couldn't say why exactly. Maybe you forgave me, maybe you never could. I didn't know, with you it was impossible to know.

The years passed, the girl grew up and with her everything we had formed by chance, because of me, settled into routine, like a new way of living, of caring, of loving...

“Asleep,” you said amused, entering the bedroom, closing the door, wearing that smile on your face, the one I didn't think I deserved.

Luck smiles on the wicked, it smiled on me, the luck of having you, of having you and our daughter. I was not worthy of such honor, such light that had appeared in the darkness of my life.

“She’s alright?” I asked, getting under the covers. You nodded, motioning with your thumb, joining me.

“Yes, she's with Angie,” you answered, kissing me quickly. I frowned, with an amused look.

“That doesn't answer my question,” I whispered, kissing her shoulder, thanking with my lips that you never left, that all my flaws seemed like just an illusion to you.

“Well, I told her the story of the princess and the eel, it is her favorite,” you said with an interesting look. I shook my head, laughing at that attitude you had, that attitude that didn't disappear even in your worst moments. I didn't deserve you.

“The princess and the frog,” I corrected, narrowing my eye, with a sinister smile. You laughed, disapproving of my correction with a wave of your hand and a tired sigh.

“No, no, Donna,” you whispered, with a mocking tone. “You heard me correctly. Eel.”

“What difference does it make?” I asked curiously, admiring your imagination, your ability to make Giovanna fall asleep every night with those made-up stories. Only you could do it.

“Oh, I'm glad you’ve asked me...” you whispered, darkening your voice, making me pay more attention to you. “Well, when the princess kisses the toad, it becomes a prince, right?”

I nodded, listening to you with curiosity, trying not to let my eye go to the scar on your arm, the one that showed the worst two weeks of my life, the ones in which I was on the verge of losing you, because of me.

“Well, in my story, when the princess kisses the eel, the prize is… an electric tickle attack!” you said loudly, attacking me mercilessly, running over my body with your restless hands, making me laugh involuntarily.

“(Y/N)...” I said, grabbing your wrists to end your torture.

“Do you like my story?” you asked, climbing onto my lap, with that shine in your eyes that made me tremble, get excited. You were so perfect, so sweet... So... Fiery.

“Is that the end?” I asked, hugging your body, keeping it close to mine, rocking it. You pretended to think about the answer, which came in the form of a tender, but hot kiss on my lips, one that made me sigh.

“Well, that's the all-audiences ending,” you purred in my ear, forcing my hands to scratch the fabric of your pajamas as a result of the subtle but perceptible movement of your hips against mine.

“Is there an alternative ending?” I asked with a low voice, impatiently putting my hand in your pants, keeping your gaze, which drifted to my lap while you nodded.

“Yes, but it can't be told,” you whispered, reacting to my touch with erratic movements of your body.

“Maybe you can show it to me,” I said, with a smile close to your lips, noticing your nervous breathing, your desire to love me once again, to let yourself be loved, this time for real, that time without arguments, without terrible ideas going through my head.

“Maybe I can,” you whispered, melting into me in a passionate, hot, wet kiss, dancing with my body, caressing my hair, my back, comically fighting with your pajamas so they would disappear from our path.

 “Mom, mom!” a shrill voice sounded behind the door, causing you to move, to turn away from me with scared eyes.

Small steps approached the bed and with the strength that a 6 year old girl could have, Giovanna climbed up to meet us.

“Gio, what are you doing here?” you asked, your face blushing. “Why did you get up?”

“I've had a nightmare...” the girl murmured, looking at me out of the corner of her eye, with a strange feeling that made me raise my eyebrow.

“Oh, a nightmare?” you said, taking the girl in her arms. “You just fell asleep, darling.”

“Yes, but I had the nightmare,” she said, looking away. Was she lying?

“Oh, poor Gio, the evil monsters again?” you asked with a tender voice, placing the little girl between the two of us.

I couldn't help but sigh tiredly. It might seem like a tender moment, a moment when our daughter needed that coveted motherly love. Well, it could be like that, but I knew it wasn't.

When she was born, she was a good baby, who cried like a normal baby, who let herself be rocked, who fell asleep in my arms. That changed over the years. Somehow, as if she had noticed the absence of her mother in the first moments of her life, she could no longer live without her.

Always with you, the girl was always with you, she cooked with you, she bathed with you, and, of course, she slept with you.

The nights stopped being a small bastion of intimacy between us when Giovanna had enough capacity to reason. Sometimes I thought she did it on purpose, to annoy me. She couldn't think that way. I really was trying not to think that way.

“Yes, mom...” the little girl sighed, causing another hug from you and a look of helplessness that you gave me over your shoulder. “Can I sleep here?”

“No, tesoro,” I said, taking the girl in my arms, in a furious outburst at that interruption.

I wouldn't have acted like that if it hadn't been the countless times it happened. “Come on, let's put you to bed.”

“No! I want to stay with mom,” the girl protested, breaking free from my grip, crawling comically across the bed to reach your arms. You laughed, shaking your head.

“(Y/N), tell her something,” I said, showing clear displeasure at the situation. My patience grew as the girl did, but lately it was slowing down, maybe too fast.

You shrugged, hugging our daughter, who seemed to be having another of her usual tantrums.

“Oh, come on, Donna, poor thing. It's okay. She can sleep with us,” you said, giving in to the little girl's emotional blackmail, to those fake tears that ran down her cheek.

“It's okay if it were the first time, (Y/N)” I said, sitting on the bed. “She has to learn to face her fears.”

“Mamma mean... Mom, mamma is mean...” Giovanna said, hanging on to your pajamas, looking at me with eyes that I wished I had never seen. They seemed full of hatred, irrational hatred. Why did she remind me so much of me?

“No, don't say that, honey, mommy Donna isn't mean, she cares about you,” you sighed, cradling the little girl in your arms.

I laughed nervously and crossed my arms, shaking my head. Despised by my own daughter, was this the punishment that awaited me for my horrible acts?

“Well, then she has to let me sleep with you,” the girl said, without bothering to look at my face.

“She's going to do it, right, Donna?” you asked, looking at me. I couldn't do anything else. I had to nod in defeat, for my own daughter.

“Oh, okay,” I huffed, getting under the covers.

I looked at the girl, the girl looked at me and did something that made me sit up again. Her face radiated the sweet taste of victory, sticking her tongue out at me mockingly.

“Hey!” I protested, annoyed by that unpleasant gesture. “(Y/N), the girl stuck her tongue out at me.”

“Oh, come on, stop it and let's go to sleep,” you said tiredly, turning off the light on the table, enveloping the room in the deepest darkness.

I wanted to protest again, to punish Giovanna for treating me that way, but I did nothing, as always. I just crossed my arms again, pressed against the edge of the bed.

Silence finally reigned in my head, and in my ears. Frustrated and nervous, I thought about everything that was happening, about my daughter's unfair attitude towards me. You said that perhaps she had inherited that possessiveness.

 I trembled to think that it could be that way.

Of all my flaws, that was the worst. Just thinking that my daughter could become someone like me... My entire body trembled with terror at that idea, my stomach clenched as I imagined it. Giovanna had inherited almost all of my looks, that wasn't a bad thing. But that her mind worked like mine, that she thought she had to have you to herself...

No, that was something that horrified me, something I tried to ignore in each and every one of her tantrums.

With my eye open, thinking about that possibility, I spent part of the night, well, until a small foot hit me in the face, snapping me out of my own personal torture.

“Mamma, move, I don't have room,” the girl protested, causing me to grunt, pushing her small leg away with an angry gasp.

“You have plenty of room, Giovanna,” I said with a serious voice, perhaps too serious for such a young girl. She didn't seem to care and she continued kicking my body until she forced me to fall off the bed with a thud.

“Mamma, you fell,” my daughter whispered, with a malicious tone, with a tone I hated hearing.

A mocking laugh reached my ears. It wasn't the girl. It was you, (Y/N).

Did you really find it funny that my daughter looked down on me like that? My dark mind lurked in my thoughts, but I was stronger, at that moment I could control my impulses, although I didn't know for how long.

“Do you find it funny? Your daughter kicked me out of bed,” I said furiously, suddenly getting up from the floor.

“No, no, not at all,” you said, not knowing how to hide the mockery that appeared in your words.

I sighed again, running a hand through my hair, shaking my head.

“You know what? You can stay there, I'm leaving,” I said furiously, grabbing one of the cushions from the bed, leaving the room, stopped by your mocking hand on my wrist.

“Come on, Donna, stop acting like a child and go back to bed,” you said, your voice tired. I opened my eyes wide, offended by that reproach.

“Do I behave like a child?” I asked, with my hands on my hips. “Tell your daughter, she hasn't stopped until she kicked me out of bed and...”

“Donna, stop it,” you scolded me, leaving me glued to the wooden floor. “I don't know which of the two is more childish, really...” you sighed, turning around, letting me go.

I opened my mouth to say something, but my insides were churning furiously. I knew I was right, but I couldn't help but feel that it was internal rage, an uncontrolled rage that clouded my disturbed mind was the reason for all your suffering. I would never hurt you again, (Y/N), ever again.

“Buoa notte,” I whispered before disappearing down the hallway, walking towards the office.

Lying back on that old sofa, I thought about whether all of that was really a punishment, if the happiness I felt from having you next to me, from having a family, was just the illusion of reward, instead of a macabre game of hell itself.

“Hello, hello, hello, exiled again?” a familiar, too familiar voice asked, Angie, who entered the office with an amused step.

“What do you think?” I asked, settling down on that horrible sofa, looking away from that annoying doll. “If you did your job well…”

“What job?” the doll asked, jumping into my stomach, with a maddening voice that I didn't need to hear.

“Giovanna has had nightmares again,” I commented in a low voice, forcing Angie to get off my body, turning around, trying not to stick the wood of that sofa that little by little was becoming my new bed.

“Oh, I didn't know,” she muttered, climbing up again, just to annoy me. Why would my own conscience want to annoy me? It seemed like everyone was against me, as always.

“You didn’t know? You sleep with her,” I said incredulously, suspecting something I already knew. Angie shrugged, shaking her head from side to side. “Piccola bugiarda…”

“Don't blame her. She wants to be with her mother,” the doll said, downplaying the fact that my daughter was a little liar, something admirable at her age, but equally irritating.

“I'm her mother too,” I protested, sitting up, saying out loud a truth that my own daughter seemed to deny from the moment she said her first word, from the moment she decided not to separate from you.

“That's quite obvious,” Angie murmured, making me roll my eye and cross my arms, pressing my nails into my skin.

“But it seems like I’m not... Giovanna doesn't see me as such,” I said with a lower voice. “Cazzo, Angie, I can't even spend a moment with (Y/N) alone...”

“Oh...” the puppet sighed, forcing me to look at her. “I don't think you're jealous of your own daughter, Donna.”

“What? Of course I’m not,” I said immediately, separating that possibility from my head, the possibility that had been tormenting me for some time.

“Well, it seems like it,” Angie rebuked, earning a strong push from me to took her off the couch.

“Don’t say nonsense. I'm sure it's a phase or something...” I muttered, grabbing the cushion to channel my anger into that piece of fabric instead of losing my nerve.

I hadn't lost my mind for too long, I wanted you to be proud of me.

“Well, well, what you want is to be alone with (Y/N) to make more babies to get on my nerves,” the irreverent puppet commented.

I huffed tiredly. Of course, Angie was part of me. She was just as possessive and jealous as me, as Giovanna...

“You don't understand,” I said in a dark tone, looking away from her. “I adore our daughter but I would like to have time for (Y/N) and me and… Besides, I'm afraid of…”

“Of what, Donna?”

“I’m afraid of Giovanna being like me”

That night I barely slept. The erratic thoughts in my head wandered freely thanks to the lack of your body hugging mine, your heat dissipating my demons. No, I couldn't be jealous of Giovanna, I couldn't feel hatred towards the person I loved most in the world. Or maybe I can, I didn't know, I was incapable of controlling everything that was going through my head, I was incapable of not seeing myself in my daughter's hateful glances.

“Good morning, darling...” your soft voice, your caresses on my hair woke me up from my recurring nightmares, some in which my old self took control of my actions, some in which I hurt you, again. “Have you been able to sleep?”

“Yes, well, I'm used to that horrible couch,” I murmured, yawning, sitting up to return those precious caresses, that kiss that I wanted to give you to calm my senses.

“Donna,” you sighed, with a sad look, lack of that fun that always guided your life. “Come on, don't be mad.”

“I'm not mad,” I said defensively, bringing my knees to my chest. “How did the little princess sleep?” I asked, unable to prevent irony from coating my words.

“Well, well, it seems like she doesn't have nightmares anymore,” you commented, oblivious to the mockery of my question, or rather, wanting to be oblivious to it.

“Yeah, sure,” I said, shaking my head, with a fake smile on my face.

“Don't be like that with Gio, she's a little girl, it's normal that she wants to be with her mother,” you explained, never ceasing in your attempt to calm me down with your caresses.

 I wish it had been that easy from the beginning, I wish your love could have put an end to my jealousy.

“With you, of course,” I murmured angrily, squeezing my fist tightly, a fist you grabbed, undoing its shape before it hurt me, again.

“Don't have a hard time, my love. You know what Giovanna is like, she's like…”

“Like me,” I interrupted, making you sigh intensely and lower your gaze. That was what you were going to say, it doesn't matter if you denied it.

“Yes, but not in the way you're thinking,” you said, lying, I could see it in your eyes, you were lying.

Liar

“I need to take a shower,” you commented, leaving aside that interesting and dangerous topic of conversation. “Why don't you give the girl breakfast? So you spend some time together.”

“She’s going to to bite me,” I murmured, unintentionally earning another of your tender laughs, another of your quick kisses on the lips, caresses and kisses I never deserved.

“Stop protesting and act like a mother,” you said amused, leaving the office.

I growled, uncovering myself and going to look for that little monster.

“Come on, Giovanna, drink the milk...” I said, tired of the girl's obvious refusal.

Already dressed, I prepared to fulfill the task you gave me, bathing the little girl and giving her breakfast. To say it was easy was a dirty liar. It was not.

Giovanna's protests grated in my ears. She loved her mother, she loved you.

“I don't want to, where is mom?” Giovanna asked, in a childlike posture, crossing her arms and dodging each of my attempts to bring the glass to her mouth.

“Mom is taking a shower, come on, obey,” I said, already tired from that infernal bath, from the kicks and punches of protest from my daughter, from our daughter. If she didn't look so much like me, I'd think she was just yours.

“I don't want to,” the girl said, looking at me proudly. I snorted, getting angry.

“Giovanna...” I hissed threateningly, sternly. She shook her head. “Come on, don't make it more difficult for me.”

“What have you done to mom?” she asked, leaving me stunned, leaving me breathless because of that horrible accusation.

“What are you talking about, tesoro?” I asked incredulously at those words, at that question. Did she remember she existed because I forced you to? It didn't seem possible.

“Mom's not here, I'm sure it's your fault,” the girl repeated, without looking at my face, gracefully avoiding my attempts to get her to eat breakfast.

“Don't talk nonsense and have breakfast at once,” I said tiredly, ignoring that horrible accusation.

“I don't want to, I want mom to come,” Giovanna said, kicking in the chair, threatening with another tantrum.

“I told you... Mom is taking a shower,” I whispered, losing my patience. “Eat breakfast or I won't let you play with Angie.”

Apparently, the threat of punishment had an effect. The girl clumsily picked up the glass, drinking some milk. I sighed in relief, but not for long. With a mocking sound, the milk in her mouth shot into the worst possible place, into my face.

I blinked in shock at this evil act and tried to ignore the boisterous laughter of the Angie doll, who seemed to be writhing on the floor, amused at my expense.

“It's over, you're punished,” I said furiously, grabbing the little girl's arm, who protested with an exaggerated scream.

“Let me go! Mom!” the little girl yelled, disconsolately calling her mother, calling you, her savior.

“Stai zitto, Giovanna,” I said furiously with a dark voice, but maintaining my composure, wiping my face.

“Lasciami in pace!” she screeched in response, moving erratically.

“Io sono la tua mamma, ascoltami, Giovanna...” I whispered, stopping that protest as best I could, being totally incapable.

“Tu non sei la mia mamma, sei una stupida!” she screamed, insulting me, making it clear that she didn't love me, that she only loved you.

That was a hard blow for my fragile mind, too hard.

“Hey, hey...” your voice resonated to calm that bloody battle, appearing from the hallway with a gaze fixed on the girl, with a frown. “What's going on here? If you're going to fight, at least do it in my language, will you?”

 “Your daughter, (Y/N), that's what's happening,” I said furiously, unable to get rid of the strong accent that anger made me have. You approached, shaking your head, running a hand through my hair.

“What happened to you? Has a cow fallen on your face?” you joked, making the girl laugh in amusement, being picked up by your protective arms.

I didn't know what to say, I simply tried to fight against my wounded heart, against the tears that threatened to slide down my cheek.

With a growl, I walked away from you, quickly, ignoring your calls.

“Donna! Hey, Donna! Come here,” you shouted, calling me. I turned to look at you, but I could only see the girl's triumphant eyes, ones that almost made me lose control.

I ignored your screams, going down to the basement, running quickly towards my room, containing the rage that was beginning to build up in my fists.

Furious, I kicked a chair, kicked the bed, and pulled my hair. The situation was unbearable but... No, I couldn't lose my mind in front of you, of our daughter. I couldn't go back to being that evil woman who ruined your life, the one who forced you through her deranged mind. I didn't want it to come back, but I couldn't stop it.

“Maledizione!” I shouted, releasing all my anger in a punch that hit the mirror of the old dresser. Blood flowed from my hand. The pain was intense, but not compared to the damage to my delicate, sensitive, sick heart...

How to deal with the love I felt for you, and for my daughter? How to handle those horrible feelings that haunted me? I loved Giovanna. I loved her more than my own life, even if she didn't feel the same way.

Jealousy, possessiveness, yes, there was no longer any doubt, it was my fault. Giovanna was born for that reason. She came into the world because of my pathetic and crazy obsession with keeping you by my side. Just as it happened with me, it happened with her. My desire not to lose you, to keep you close to me had passed to Giovanna, turning her into my reflection, into an adorable version of the monster that I considered myself to be.

The situation was getting out of control. I should never have been a mother, I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve to have you by my side. Your words, the love you said you felt for me were no longer enough.

That was my punishment for keeping you. That was my punishment for all the harm I did to you, creating something wonderful, a beautiful daughter, only for me to be nothing to her, just a nuisance, a threat that stood between her mother and her.

I looked at the blood that flowed from my knuckles, that blood that reminded me that I was still a human being. I shook my head, I buried it in my arms and there, in the solitude of my room, far from my family, far from the most important things in the world for me, I cried inconsolably.

“Quando ci vuole, ci vuole, mm?” I repeated that phrase looking at myself in the broken mirror, demanding a bit of fortitude from myself, gaining enough strength to get up and return to your side.

No matter how hard the path was, my duty was to walk along it. That was my penance.

“You shouldn't treat mommy that way, honey... She loves you very much.” Your voice caught my attention, making me hide before revealing myself again.

“She doesn't love me, she just wants to take me away from you,” the girl said, sobbing. That made me squirm again, but I managed to stay calm.

“No, that's not true, darling. Donna would do anything for you, for us… Remember how she made you Mrs. Freckles? She's your favorite doll, right?” you asked, giving Giovanna that doll, one that I made her when she was three years old, when she didn't hate me.

“Yes...” Giovanna said, hugging the doll tightly. That was the closest I'd come to her to give me some love the last two years. I cried again thinking about it.

“Besides, you don't remember but... Thanks to your mom, you're healthy and strong now, I'm sure you didn't know that,” you commented, with a soft voice, cradling the girl, calming her tantrum.

Giovanna shook her head, curious.

“I don't remember,” she said, with her hand on her mouth, in an adorable way. Well, at least it made me smile.

“Of course not, you had just been born and I... Well, I got very, very sick... I couldn't take care of you, but do you know who did?” you asked, with a voice similar to the one you used when you told her a story.

 The girl shook her head.

“Donna, your mommy, she took care of you until I got well again. She fed you, changed your diaper, sang lullabies to you to make you fall asleep...” You explained, making the knot in my stomach grow stronger. I didn't want to remember those two weeks, I didn't want to.

“Mamma Donna?” the girl asked, lowering her gaze.

“Yes, honey, she was very kind to you, you should be a good girl and return her favor, don't you think?” you said, with a softer voice.

The girl seemed to think about it, but finally, just as I suspected, she shook her head.

“Go to play with Angie, okay?” you said when you looked at me out of the corner of your eye, when you realized my presence. “Then we could take a walk in the forest, would you like to?”

“Yes, yes, a walk!” Giovanna said, excited about the idea, running around the room, passing by me without even looking at me.

“Donna, darling,” you sighed, walking slowly towards me, looking down at my wound, still bleeding. “Oh, my love… Have you hurt yourself again?”

I nodded, trying not to look at her, feeling ashamed, feeling that I was the monster you seemed to fall in love with once again.

“Gods, what have you done? Come, let's heal you,” you sighed, with that look you had when my mind went crazy, something that hadn't happened for too long.

Slowly, with a sad look, you bandaged my wound, not wanting to say anything, looking at me from time to time, with pity, thinking you had lost me again.

“Giovanna said I wasn't her mother,” I murmured while you worked on my wound. You looked at me, sighing, closing the bandage around my hand, holding it in yours.

“Don't pay attention to her, she's a little girl. You know that children say a lot of nonsense,” you commented, lifting my chin so you could see my face damaged by crying.

“It's not nonsense,” I said, furious again.

"Of course it is. Giovanna loves you, even if she doesn't tell you, I know,” you said in a soft tone, trying to convince me to abandon that shameful jealousy, that lack of your love that girl was forcing me to feel.

“You think so?” I said, turning around, looking on the coffee table for one of the many drawings my daughter made and showing it to you superbly. “Where am I here?”

“Oh, well...” you said, taking the sheet of paper, looking at the figures of Giovanna, Angie and you. “Oh, look, here you are,” you said smiling, pointing to a small black figure in the corner of the paper. I raised my eyebrows.

“There are lint in this house bigger than that black stain,” I said ironically, becoming defensive again.

“That black stain is you,” you joked, nudging me. I looked at you with a burning gaze, making you step back.

“Exactly, I'm just a black stain in our daughter's life, and in your life,” I murmured, looking away.

“No, that's not true, you know I love you very much Donna. You know that I...” you said, almost begging for me to listen to you, too late.

“I have to work on my dolls,” I said, getting up from the couch, rubbing the bandaged wound on my hand. “Thank you for healing me.”

“Donna, honey, wait...”

Nothing you said could be enough to calm the tide of my dark thoughts.

Just a black stain, a monster that wanted to separate my daughter from her mother, that was me in that family, nothing else.

“We'll be back before it gets dark,” you said, kissing me on the cheek as you said goodbye, heading out the door. “Come on, Gio, give mommy a kiss,” you ordered the girl, who was tugging impatiently at your dress.

“I don't want to,” the girl murmured, taking refuge between your legs. “Come on, mom, come on.”

You looked at me, apologizing for her, I shook my head. Not even Angie stayed with me.

With nothing better to do, I leaned on the porch railing, watching you walk away, letting my mind think that this might be the last time I saw you. In my hands, I held the black veil with which I used to cover my face, imagining a fleeting hope that would allow me to go with you.

I'm just stupid, like my daughter said. I didn't deserve the fantastic family I had. I never did it, it was all my fault.

“Look, Donna, what a kick... It's incredible...”

“Do you think we should paint the room? It's a bit dull for a girl, or a boy...”

“I want to see what it's like...”

As I looked somewhere I didn't notice, I remembered those moments, those horrible moments of your pregnancy, horrible, yes, but also tender, adorable. I was to blame for your suffering and your smiles. The harm that little Giovanna did to you was the first of my punishments.

I sighed, letting a tear fall onto the wooden floor, shaking my head, denying myself the truth of a terrible thought. You would be much better off without me.

“Donna, Donna!” A shrill voice derived that horrible thought from my head. My Angie doll appeared from the trees, clumsily running towards me.

“Angie? What's going on?” I asked, shaking my head as I ran to pick up the puppet, who was panting comically from that impromptu run.

“(Y/N), (Y/N) and Gio are in trouble, you have to help them, quickly!” the doll shouted, pulling the fabric of my dress. I, scared by that phrase, calmed the puppet by shaking it so it would stop babbling.

“What? In trouble?” I asked scared, with my body trembling with fear.

“Some bad men have trapped them in the forest, you have to do something, run, run!”

Frightened by that revelation, I put the black veil over my face, lowering the doll to the ground. My gaze darkened.

Nobody touches my family.

“Okay, take me there, Angie,” I whispered.

The doll nodded and led me by the hand into the depths of the forest.

“Do you want to stay still, you damn brat?” A deep voice reached my ears. This horrible vision appeared behind some bushes.

Two men, probably from the village, were holding my daughter, holding you in the same way while you kicked, trying unsuccessfully to get out of their grasp.

“Ah! Damn! She has bitten me!” The fatter one yelled, protesting against Giovanna's surprising attack against his hand.

“Let my mom go, you silly! Let her go!” the girl shouted, now in the arms of that evil man.

“Damn child!” the other man shouted, trying to keep you still.

“Gio!” you screamed, watching how the girl kicked tirelessly. My whole body burned with rage. “Let her go, you asshole, she's a child!”

“I will if you give me what I want, young lady,” the bandit murmured.

“I already told you that we don't have money!” you screamed again, growling, fighting with the hands that went to your neck.

“I think so, look at that girl's doll, it must be worth a lot of lei...”

“No, Mrs. Freckles!” Giovanna yelled, when that vermin snatched her doll.

“You're screwing up quite well... You don't know where you've gotten yourself,” you growled, your eyes burning with helplessness.

I couldn't take it anymore.

“Mamma!”  Giovanna  said when I, with a calm, threatening step, appeared from the shadows.

“Ah!” the fat man shouted, receiving a well-deserved kick in the crotch from my daughter, something that made me smile.

“Damn... What the hell...?” the man murmured, now moaning in pain, while I picked up my frightened daughter in my arms.

“Oliver, look who she is...” the man holding you said, pointing at me, who was trying to comfort the little girl's crying.

“Oh, shit...” the fat man sighed, eyes wide open, kneeling in the snow. “Lady Beneviento…”

I didn't say anything, I just sighed, cradling my daughter who, for once, clung to me disconsolately.

“Donna,” you whispered, with a triumphant smile.

“Greg, I think you should let the girl go,” the kneeling man said. His friend, unfortunately for him, didn’t seem to pay attention to him.

“Are you stupid? She can't hurt us, she's just a nutcase,” his partner said, with a crazy look, putting a knife to your neck. “Don’t, don't move or the girl dies.”

“Greg, no...” the fat man said, pulling on his partner's clothes.

“Are you a coward or what's wrong with you?” this Greg guy snapped, smiling in a horrible way, holding the sharp blade to your delicate neck. “One, one step back, you doll psychopath…”

Of course, I didn't obey.

“Don't insult her, dude... Don’t do it...” his partner lamented, closing his eyes and bowing his head.

“Get up, now we have the control. She won't do anything if she doesn't want the girl to get hurt,” that stupid man said, making me laugh. “Give us everything you have if you don't want us hurt her. I will do it, I swear...”

“No, you won't,” I whispered, extending my free hand toward them.

“Ah! Snakes!” the fat man shouted, rolling on the ground. “They are everywhere!”

The girl looked at me smiling curiously, just like you, who was no longer trembling.

“What do you say, Giovanna? What do you think can scare that stupid guy so much?” I asked amused, looking into the scared eyes of the man who was still holding you.

“Mmm,” the girl murmured, changing terror for amusement. “Coccodrilli!”

“I like it,” I said with a dark look, walking towards that man who was threatening you. His eyes changed to ones of terror, especially since his partner continued to struggle with his hallucinations.

“No, no, wait, wait,” he said, letting you go and putting his hands up. “It, it was a misunderstanding, I... Ah! It has torn off my arm!” He said horrified, when he finally succumbed to my powers.

You ran to my side, into my arms, with a smile of relief, the three of us watching that pitiful spectacle together.

“They’re everywhere!”

“It ripped off my leg! Help!”

I approached them slowly, putting a hand on your shoulder, holding little Giovanna in my arms.

“The next time you mess with my family I won't be pious,” I threatened, giving as much fear as I could, being that monster I hated so much being, to protect my family.

“That’s right!” the girl said “Fools!”

The rats fled at last, leaving a small moment of tension behind them.

“Gods, Donna, you showed up,” you whispered, removing the black cloth from my face, kissing me quickly and then our daughter. “Gio, are you okay?”

“Mrs. Freckles!” the girl screamed. I lowered her to the ground so she could run towards her doll, now with a broken arm.

“Don't worry, honey, Donna will fix it,” you said, you now being the one holding the girl, as expected. “Come on, let's go home…”

The way back was silent. Your hand in mine expressed gratitude, love, what I didn't think you felt for me. Even Giovanna's distrustful look seemed to change, looking at me embarrassedly over your shoulder, as if she were sad, or sorry for something.

The next day the routine continued, but not before talking at length about that incident. Miraculously, Giovanna didn’t seem to have nightmares that night and, surprisingly, according to you, excited by my bravery, you allowed me to make love to you, for the first time in many months.

That small release seemed to mark the beginning of a new stage, or maybe it was just that the girl was too sleepy to want to annoy me. I didn't know.

Like every day, I worked on my dolls, well, that time, on poor Mrs. Freckles, repairing her arm in silence, with the only sound of the workshop clock keeping me company.

A tug on my dress distracted me. I hadn't heard her, but my daughter had entered the workshop like a silent breeze. I assumed she wanted to check the state of Mrs. Freckles' injury.

“Mamma...” she murmured, with her head bowed. I sighed, smiling, pretending that I had no hard feelings, pretending I didn't care about her attitude toward me.

“What do you want, tesoro? She's almost fixed,” I murmured, looking at the doll again. The girl tugged at my dress again, now catching my attention.

Giovanna didn't say anything. She just moved her hands up, opening and closing her fists with a sad look, asking, surprisingly, to be held in my arms.

I, without hesitation, obeyed her silent request, sitting her on my lap while I fixed her favorite doll.

“Will she recover?” she asked, observing my work. I smiled sincerely, nodding.

“Of course,” I said, amused. “Mrs. Freckles is very brave, don't you think?”

Giovanna nodded profusely, with a hand on her mouth, a hand that I slowly withdrew, so I could see the precious daughter I conceived.

“You are also very brave,” she murmured, as if something was stopping her from saying that. I stopped sewing, looking at my daughter's sincere expression. “You saved us.”

“I only did what I had to do, tesoro, protect my family,” I said with a slightly serious tone, accommodating the girl in a more comfortable position.

“I have a gift for you...” Giovanna whispered, taking one of her little hands to the pocket of her dress and taking out a sheet of paper.

I picked it up slowly, frowning when I saw one of Giovanna's drawings. Mysteriously, I seemed to be the protagonist.

“Look, mamma, it's you, see?” she explained, pointing to my dark figure in the  middle of the drawing, rising triumphantly over two evil bandits. “Look, that's mom and me, smiling because you saved us.”

“Giovanna, it's... Amazing...” I sighed, trying not to get too excited, looking over and over again at the surprising details of that drawing.

“You will always protect us, right?” she asked with a low voice, as if she was also about to cry.

“Of course, tesoro,” I said, wiping away a tear that finally ran down her cheek. “Mom and you are the most important things in my life.”

“And will we always be?” the girl asked, a little more worried.

“Always, my love,” I said, with a smile.

“Won't you let them hurt mom?” she asked again.

 I shook my head.

“Never,” I said, with a more serious tone. Giovanna smiled and, with an unexpected gesture, jumped into my arms, hugging me tightly, with an affection that I could never imagine or deserve.

“I love you so much, mamma...” she whispered with a tender voice, finally making me emotional.

“I love you too, my beautiful girl...”

[venusmage]

genuine q's from someone wanting to place KCD2 and saw your huge praise!

Do you have to have played 1 to get it or no?

If you do have to play 1 is that one good? I heard such a mixed bag when it released and I'm not sure if that was just the 'there are only white people' thing or what

I want to play these games but I have not personally paid a lot of attention to the world of video games in many years and do not know the current narrative/vibe around the KCD1 and 2 team, appreciate any insights!

1. No you don't! As someone who bounced off of KCD1 when it released, 2 does a great job recapping the most important story beats within the first hour of the game. I think it might be one of the best done "previously on" type segments I've ever seen. My wife knew nothing about the series at all and she understood everything going on with zero issue.

That being said, I'm loving 2 so much that I am going to go back and give 1 another shot after we're finished. 1 IS good, but it was Warhorse's first game and a niche one at that, so it has some jank that I'm not feeling in 2 so far. I think they really polished things up in the sequel and it's probably going to prepare me for 1. I won't lie and say 2 doesn't have a learning curve. One of my only, if not my only critique is that I wish the game had better accessibility options for those who want to customize parts of the experience. Right now mods are handling that, but it's only a fix if you're a PC player. However as a person who tends to find an abundance of systems/options overwhelming, this game does a good job in making the management aspects FUN rather than a chore. This has quickly become a cozy game for me lol.

2. I guess the criticism you mentioned for 1 could be levied at 2 as well, but I do think that kind of argument may be taking the game in bad faith or misguided. KCD's thing is that it's heavily researched, fairly faithful historical fiction. Bohemia is in what is now the Czech Republic. The games take place in the early 1400s and try to accurately reflect the people, culture, and beliefs from that era. I don't think its a bad thing that the devs, who are based in Prauge, want to create a game that is inspired by their country's history. If you have absolutely no interest in the time period or that part of Europe then maybe it won't be for you and that's totally okay! As someone who usually likes A) creating my own playable characters from scratch B) playing women and C) doesn't often care for war stories -- this game surprised me in that it didn't deter me at all. I love Henry as much as if he were a custom PC.

I admit to not knowing a lot about the devs in general. I like keeping a distance from the commercial art I consume because I think blurring the line between creators and fandom pretty much always ends badly (bioware...larian a bit too). I've heard that there is at least one vocally shitty developer who's a typical anti-woke gamer asshole, but I have no reason to think that the other people involved with making the game are like that at all, and I don't believe in discarding an entire piece of art because one shitty person is attached. Because here's the thing: while KCD2 very faithfully portrays some deeply upsetting subject matter (war, racism/xenophobia, PTSD, homophobia, sexism, antisemitism), 3/4ths into the game I've only seen these portrayals done in a way that is respectful to the vulnerable parties. An acknowledgement that these horrible things happen while clearly condemning them at the same time. I've not had a suck-my-teeth-and-grimace moment with this game despite the grim plot line. It does not punch down. Which is funny, given the crowd of gamerbros that are fans of it as well. The story and characters are too thoughtfully written for it to be anythibg but intentional. Having a game not insult my intelligence has been lovely. I feel like that's rare lately.

Yes most of the plot important characters are European Christian guys from 1403 and they act like it. However the minority characters that are included are handled with just as much respect and effort as our lead Henry. Katherine, Samuel and Musa are three of my favorites in the entire cast, actually. As well as Hans who genuinely feels like he's written to be implied gay/bi. His romance, compared to the two straight options, genuinely seems to me like the "intended" one just due to how the plot is written and the themes throughout the story, and hes with Henry the whole game. And the thing is this game is so carefully and lovingly put together that I struggle to believe it's just a coincidence. Because nothing in this fucking game is a coincidence.

Sorry for the gigantic response but I think this RPG is so special in such a rare way. The Writers, developers, musicians artists and actors all deserve the highest praise. The first and only game that if it doesn't win GOTY I'm actually going to be pissed.

[bigfan-fanfic]

Back Into Trouble (Winchester!Reader x Winchester Bros PLATONIC)

A sequel to Brother Mine

This fic takes place somewhere near the end of season 1, after episode 19 but before episode 20. In addition, there's a song called Brother Mine that is really sweet and cute especially if put into this context of being Sam and Dean's, but especially Dean's, older brother. "I know that I sit and I worry too much/Especially when you come home such a sight/But I guess what you've got to do, boy, you go ahead and do it/And I sure hope things will be all right"

You may not have enjoyed returning to hunting, but you're damn good at it.

Although it's made even more frustrating when your father actually calls in.

You're not so thrilled about continuing on this... gallivanting cross-country, especially when John is chasing down the demon that killed your mother.

But Sam seems to have come to terms with it, though you honestly feel like that might have more to do with his desire to avenge Jess.

The real problem you see with your little brothers is their inability to let go.

You had all been raised by John in the hunting lifestyle, the family business.

But it's been decades since your mother's death. A horrible thing, that you have had to come to terms with having no real answers for.

And you can understand the desire for vengeance, for a clear-cut answer that will "solve everything."

It won't.

Something you've tried to get your brothers to think about is the future. About what they want out of their lives.

Because you remember how it was, living completely in the moment, day to day, hunt to hunt. And it was Bobby who pointed out that you had potential, that you deserved a life, if not now, then at least the promise of one.

So you convince them to take a rest in Massachusetts after leaving a hunt. Just to take a couple of days for hanging out.

Dean wants to see the Cheers bar and Sam wants to visit the Old North Church, so you get an actual hotel suite in Boston.

You check in with your colleagues and employees, apologizing for being incommunicado for so long. Thankfully the hotel has a business center with a fax machine you can sign invoices and contracts with.

Dean looks at you curiously. "So... you really did just... start a business?"

"Technically I bought it out from the owner who wanted to retire. So more... maintaining."

"You really are just... out of the life."

"I was, til you two called me."

"...sorry." Dean mumbles, and you grab his shoulder.

"Don't be. I was never doing this for Dad. I'm here for you and for Sammy."

Dean nods thoughtfully.

"You saw him. With that girl at the art gallery. He liked her. She liked him."

"Yeah."

"And you... with Cassie."

"Your point being?"

"Life keeps building off-ramps for you but you keep on truckin down this road."

Dean scowls. "Look, I'm not stupid. I know this life is dangerous. I know my days are probably numbered. But I'm making a difference. I'm saving people."

"What about you?"

He blinks. "What about me?"

"I'm done trying to force you out of the life, Dean. It's your choice. When we finally deal with all this shit - when the bastard that killed Mom is dead and you and Sam are finally free... I'm not gonna stop you if you go back to hunting."

"You're not?"

You nod. "But I'll be damned if I'm gonna lose contact with you again. I'll be there when you need a place to crash or a voice to call. Maybe you'll even visit me.

"Just... I need you to promise me you're not gonna run yourself into the ground. None of this has been your fault. It's not your fault about Mom, and it wasn't your fault I left, and it's not your fault that Dad couldn't really be a dad to us."

Dean wants to protest but you shush him. "You're gonna do what you do. And I'm gonna stop hunting again. For good this time. But when you decide it's time to come home... I hope you come to me, little brother."

You stand up then, leaving Dean to his thoughts. He's quiet for the rest of the day, but you feel an almost companionable nature to the silence.

And just maybe, after this all... maybe your brothers will follow you away from the things that go bump in the night.

[what-shitfuckery-is-this-ew]

What is the dream smp drama ?

tl;dr called all Tommyinnit fans the r slur, deleted the tweet and didn't apologise till waaaay later, before which he made multiple streams and all the shit about him started coming out again (because his streams made everything worse). Tubbo made a stream about it in a very mature way by asking to talk on stream (Dream has a history of cutting private conversations up to make other creators look bad) and eventually it just turned into Tubbo vs Dream because Tommy blocked him, and Dream started being a shit to Tubbo. Most of the dsmp, some outside ccs, and editors/twitter folk who were in the fandom got involved revealing more stuff about Dream and how shitty he was.

Full timeline + ~16 hours worth of Tubbo stream below

BOO. This is gonna take too long so i'm posting it before it's finished and gonna edit it over time. As Tubbo himself said, this situation is a death by a 1000 cuts (small problems which kinda blew up recently)

Dream and Quackity had drama. That's a whole other thing and i'm not sure we can really go into it without this being comparable to Do you love the colour of the sky so we'll assume you know what happened there. (~April 2022)

A little after this were the first set of grooming allegations against Dream, made by Alexandria (October 2022)

This just caused the dsmp to kinda just fall out

Tommy made a video entitled "If Youtubers were Honest" which included a part on the Dream vs Quackity (5 Aug 2023)

Dream texted Tom's mum, bro literally harassed Tom's mum

fast forward to 2025:

Tommyinnit calls Mizkif the worst person he’s knows

Mizkif calls Tommy cringe and annoying which xQc also does in his reaction to Mizkif's stream

Tommy called xQc a trump supporter (true)

xQc had a public meltdown saying Trump is cool and that Tommy is dickriding Dream (but he does this by giving free promo to Tommy's show)

Dream quotes with the following meme.

This is where our path also diverges because there are so many streamers. Everyone reacts to the tweet and Dream deletes it.

Then Dream ranted to reddit saying he didn’t understand cause he’s autistic so he should be able to reclaim it (stupidest thing i’ve ever heard). It was meant to be his "apology". He also mentioned that the public’s reaction to Nicolas Cantu doing the same was generally positive (while i do agree most of the public went overboard in terms of support for Cantu especially when he used slurs as insults - most people only focused on him calling out Dream for covering up assaults and being weird around women and children + after the initial hype died down most people did agree his use of slurs and harassment of the driver was horrible - hence why he’s literally gone. He has no upcoming roles and he's def not coming back for the tmnt sequel). The biggest issue here is how instead of taking accountability he’s pulling this whataboutism card.

Also just a note that he claims he saw the meme, but people did the reverse image search - he created it.

id: Genuinely still confused on what the "rules" are. Honestly not trying to be obtuse, multiple people go viral calling me the r word and everyone explains that its ok because they're neurodivergent, so then I see a meme that uses it and post it and get absolutely throttled for it. Obviously it's the internet being disingenous, but that doesn't completely invalidate anyone that might be upset by it. Most of the people calling me ableist for using it are the same people that lit off fireworks when Nicolas Cantu was the slur slinging slasher (including Tommy's closest friends). it's either okay or it's not okay, the double standards are infuriating. I have my own reasons for having a problem with Tommy going around being the "internet police" and was expecting to get a lot of shit for going after poor Tommy that lies about me constantly, but obviously i had no intentions of attacking every Dream SMP fan or being ableist lmao. It was a dig at Tommy fans, because somehow the worst of the ex dream smp stans have congregated all to make up lies and shit on other creators and Tommy feeds right into it to promote his patreon, shows or wharever else he's currently promoting, because he has absolutely no backbone. Either way, my lesson from this is that twitter is somehow even less reasonable than i thought in the first place, oh and don't use the r word under any circumstances even if you see a funny meme and you're autistic. Lesson learned, hopefully i can be forgiven. Back to coding

Tubbo did a 1 hour stream on this. Technically he did a 7 hour stream he cut into bits, but for the sake of the timeline making sense, he made a 1 hour stream. He was gonna talk to Dream on stream. He agrees that his friends do shit talk more than he's comfortable with BUT

Why is Dream only getting involved and doing this much when Tommy insulted xQc and not you know when he called Dream a pedo

You can't reclaim a slur if you use it as an insult

He thought this entire thing was Dream ragebaiting to get people ready for a new song or smth, and he reminded the audience of Nicolas Cantu being drunk.

"If you don't want to be made fun of for doing shitty things just stop doing shitty things"

Tommy in this time released a video saying he blocked Dream and that it was horrible that Dream used the r slur. From this point Tubbo decided against calling Dream, instead watching Dream's 3 hour stream on the topic and reacting to it.

[artmolonara]

Peek-a-Boo - A Lumpy Where's Waldo Story

A continuation/sequel to Lullaby Bye, which you can read here (Also, shout-out to @nami-ramen for making an amazing illustration inspired off that fic, which you can see here) @jackie-the-clown, here is another Junior centered fic, per your wish.

No horrible stuff happens in this one, everyone, not to worry.

***Please Enjoy***

A little over a year had elapsed since the Detective's wife had been terminated, and during that time, Waldo had observed many interesting changes around his pursuer's residence.

Firstly, the Detective had moved most of the living quarters down to the first floor, and hardly ever went upstairs anymore. The railings remained broken. Perhaps it was a memorial or reminder of the night he had his fun.

Secondly, the Detective themselves. They had definitely started on route to a spiral, and Waldo would not deter them, as they were moving along on the path that was required.

And last and most interestingly, little Junior was growing up. Waldo was always on the move from one place to the other, seeing new things and experiencing new games on a daily basis. So it was rather strange for him to observe one thing for so long, let alone a child's development.

But perhaps that is what kept bringing him back. The kid was always a surprise every time he would drop by, and was constantly changing, evolving.

Or perhaps there was a slight concern that the Detective, in their all consuming pursuit of little old him, was missing out on those certain special moments.

Waldo reminised on a few.

He had been there, peering into the home, when the little one had spied him and pulled themselves up to stand in their crib for the first time. Junior had looked so happy to see him.

And he had been there, by an open screen window during a nap time, when the first word had been said. The child rarely slept through all of nap time, and when they had woken up and seen him, Waldo had softly called out with his customary "Hello!" to which Junior echoed back with a "Eh-oh!"

Now, the Detective was no where near absentee and neglectful. These types of moments were few and far between, but as a parent, they certainly could be doing more... still, Waldo did enjoy those brief moments were he could see the intrepid little Detective Jr without being seen by their parent.

He must not be seen.

And he would not be, he had foreseen it.

...

The autumn evening was cool and crisp in the Detective's neighborhood. He had appeared in the forest and had taken the time to walk there, enjoying the change of the season. The lights were still on when he arrived, but he knew things were quiet inside. Peeking in through a blind, he saw the poor Detective had fallen asleep sitting up in their chair at the dining room table. Seems Waldo had just missed dinner and the nightly Junior put down routine, but arrived before dishes were done. The Detective must have been all tuckered out today, and who could blame them. The life of a single parent was certainly draining, or so he had heard.

Waldo wondered if the Detective might remarry one day, and the thought spurned something in him.

He found himself walking to the back door, and trying the lock. It was open. Sloppy, sloppy. The Detective was really out of it today.

It was strange entering the house again. The place was clean now, and if one didn't know, one would never guess that a grisly murder had happened there. But Waldo knew, could feel the echoes of it, and it set his teeth on edge.

A soft snore refocused him, and silently, he stepped into the dining room. There was the Detective, still in work clothes, slumped over a dirty plate. A high chair next to them showed evidence that Junior had enjoyed a pasta dish, as red sauce and noodles were splatted everywhere. Waldo found himself chuckling in appreciation at the child's handy work.

Speaking of which, Waldo made his way to the little one's room now. Inside, Junior was stood up in their crib, as if expecting him. Waldo grinned.

"Hello!" He greeted him quietly, "How are you? Have you been tormenting the Detective for me?" The babe's face turned up in a smile, "Wah!"

Waldo's eyes flashed maroon and lavender, beaming, "Oh, are you trying to say Waldo? Say 'Waldo!'"

"WAH-wah!" they excitedly began to bounce up and down.

Waldo laughed pridefully, then stopped himself, looking over his shoulder. Mustn't be too loud. Small chuckles still snuck through his lips as he imagined the look on the Detective's face if Junior started saying his name.

"Let's not blow my cover just yet." He set his cane down against the crib and lifted Junior up out of it, setting them down in the middle of the floor. The little one was a veritable bundle of energy, one that would no doubt keep the Detective up and sleep deprived. An entertaining prospect, to be sure, but right now he was feeling... sympathetic.

So, he played with the little one, who had lots of toys the Detective spoiled them with. They seemed particularly fond of dinosaurs, and Waldo found it great fun playing out disembowelment with the T-Rex, sprinkling in facts here and there that were lost on the child's ears as they mimicked the monstrous roars of a Deinonychus.

"Uh oh," Waldo held a red ball overhead, "here comes the meteor!" He dropped it, and proceeded to make all the dinosaurs fall over and cry out in agony, "Agh! We're burning! The air is boiling our blood, we can't breath!" He ended it off with exaggerated death rattles, making Junior giggle and clap their hands.

Then the child looked up at him expectantly, and placed their tiny hands over their face clumsily. Waldo smirked. They were wanted to play their favorite game.

"Uh oh, where did Junior go?" He made a show of looking around. The baby laughed, throwing out their hands, to which Waldo played surprised, "There you are!"

Now it was his turn. He covered his face. "Where's Waldooo?" he mocked the Detective's voice.

"Wah-Da!"

His lips curled in jubilation as he slowly revealed himself, grinning at the tiny being pointing at him.

"You found me!"

Junior laughed, wiggling and waving their hands about in excitement, before that open smile widened into a yawn. Waldo sighed happily. Finally, all tuckered out.

"Ok, Junior, bedtime." He scooped them back up, taking a moment to rock them. The tiny hands curled into his sweater, soft noises of falling asleep. He laid the little monster to rest, switching on a little music box by the crib as he quietly left the room with cane in hand.

The sun had set a little more now, and the Detective was still passed out in the chair. Waldo hummed at the sight, knowing the horrible pain their back would be in from sleeping in that position...

...

Hmmm, perhaps he still had a bit of time to be uncharacteristically altruistic. Nothing in the cards at the moment after all, the sands still had a long time to go moving through the hourglass before the next stage would begin.

And so, Waldo cleared the table, cleaned the dishes, and dumped the Detective's drink down the drain. Then, with a show of strength that was surprising from his lithe body, he picked up the Detective, bridal style, and carried them into the living room, but not before walking over to the spot he snuffed out Wenda's light, and giving a quick pirouette twirl.

Resting the Detective down on their favorite seat, he moved a lock of their hair behind their ear. "You're doing an amazing job, my dear Detective," he whispered into it, "Just give me a call if you need any help." He leaned in closer, lips grazing the shell, "I'm all you'll ever need."

And with that, he left, locking the back door behind him with a spare key he snagged. When the Detective awoke sometime in the early morning, they would explain away not being able to remember cleaning up as a result of the exhaustion the night before.

...

What wasn't so easily explained away was that, within the month, Junior had taken up drawing a certain familiar "imaginary" friend in crayon.

Needles to say, the Detective changed the locks.

But at least Waldo could still see the drawing on the Detective's cork board through the study window.

He had never been prouder.

~FIN/to be continued~

OK, plan to do kinda a year jump between each fic, the next one will be a little darker (no babies harmed, Waldo will make sure). If anything, the next one promises to be cathartic.

I made Waldo surprisingly knowledgeable about dinosaurs. He'd definitely be the guy cheering on the dinos killing people in Jurassic Park while pointing out all the inconstancy in scientific accuracy. What can I say, he's visited a number of museums in his time (fav was probably Triassic Hall. Learn about it here)

If you like my writing, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi. Commissions are open!

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[rosetterer]

the peace the evening brings (by rosetterer)

(Sequel to mornings are sweeter with you and such a perfect day)

Summary:

”Only one cup?” Chimney asks when Hen comes to stand in front of them. There truly is only one cup of coffee in her hands. ”Yeah,” she says with a small smile and shoots a smirk at Buck. ”Turns out, it was a delivery for a certain Evan.” "Evan?" Chimney asks, sounding confused, and then mirrors the smirk on Hen's lips. "Oh, Evan.” - A horrible shift + a second date (just bucktommy continuing to be cute af)

Read on AO3: the peace the evening brings - rosetterer - 9-1-1 (TV) [Archive of Our Own]

Or continue reading here:

The sun is beginning to rise and that usually means one of two things: either their shift is about to calm down even more because the darkness of the night will soon fade away or more calls are about to start coming in with the traffic that will be created when people start making their way to work.

Buck doesn't say the Q-word and he certainly doesn't mention how he thinks it's going to be a Q-day. He almost wishes something were to happen. There are only so many games to play or meals to be cooked.

After checking the firetruck and all its supplies, he helped a couple set up a car seat in their new car.

In other words, it has been a very boring start to their shift.

”Ooh, who’s ordered us coffee?” Hen says then, sitting up from her lounching position on the couch.

Buck turns to look around at what she’s looking at with a hopeful smile on her face and sees a nervous-looking young man typing something on his phone and holding a cup holder in his other hand.

”Maybe this is one of those influencer things,” Chimney speaks up.

Hen raises her eyebrows at him.

"You know, those ones where they do nice things for others for views," he explains. "Maybe this time around they decided to treat firefighters for coffee."

”If that was the case, I think they would’ve come here themself,” Hen tells him and gets up on her feet.

”Unless they’re filming the delivery guy and us from some bush nearby,” Buck joins the conversation.

Chimney smiles at him and gives a nod, ”Exactly!”

”Whatever it is, I’m getting the caffeine,” Hen tells them and makes her way to the delivery guy.

Buck turns around on the couch to face them so that he can see how it all goes down. He is genuinely interested in who it is that has decided to bless them with coffee. Maddie likes to do such things every once in a while, especially on special days, but as far as Buck is aware, today is nothing special. He doesn't think.

Hen talks to the delivery guy for a surprising amount of time and if Buck didn’t know that she was a lesbian, he would’ve teased her about flirting with the guy when she finally makes her way back to them.

”Only one cup?” Chimney asks when Hen comes to stand in front of them.

There truly is only one cup of coffee in her hands.

”Yeah,” she says with a small smile and shoots a smirk at Buck. ”Turns out, it was a delivery for a certain Evan.”

"Evan?" Chimney asks, sounding confused, and then mirrors the smirk on Hen's lips. "Oh, Evan.”

A sheepish smile rises on Buck's lips as he reaches for the coffee cup. On the side of it, there is a crappy sketch of what looks somewhat like a cloud and a rainbow (with no color in it.) Right on top of the probably-a-cloud, it says: Have a good shift, Ev.

”So…” Chimney begins, having slid closer to him in the blink of an eye, startling Buck slightly. ”What’s with this… ’Evan’ thing?”

”W- What do you mean?” Buck mumbles out, taking a quick sip of the coffee. It’s still nice and warm.

”Nobody calls you Evan,” Hen joins in.

”Maddie does,” Buck reminds her, looking between the two. ”And my parents do.”

”We never do,” Chimney says.

”So?”

”I think what he means is…” Hen starts, moving closer, ”As far as we know, none of the people you’ve ever dated have called you Evan and you never really introduce yourself as that, so… How’d that happen?”

”He…” Buck begins and gives a small shrug. ”He saw my name on my Starbucks cup and just… Has called me that since then.”

”You give them your real name at Starbucks?” Chimney asks then, seeming even more confused and Buck is just happy to move on with the conversation.

It’s not that he doesn’t like to talk about Tommy. He loves it. But he also wants to keep this to himself. It’s so new still. They haven’t been able to go on a second date yet. Haven’t even seen each other in two weeks because of their shifts. It’s been hard but they’ve been texting and it’s also been so good. He just misses him.

”Buck?”

”What?” Buck asks and then shakes his head, ”Oh yeah, right. Uh, I… They wrote ’Fuck’ on my cup last year and I don’t want them to do that again, so… Evan.”

Hen nods, sitting down next to him, ”That makes sense.”

When silence washes over them, Buck allows himself to relax again. He leans against the back of the couch and sips on his coffee as he fishes his phone out of his pocket. The phone flops clumsily into his lap as he uses his left hand to get it, and finds Tommy's name at the top of the list of people who he has been texting.

How much did you pay some poor barista to draw a sad black and white rainbow on my cup?

Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that. Any good?

It’s perfect. Thanks. ❤️

❤️

”So, how’s it going?” Chimney asks, blurting out the question with such force that it seems like he was truly trying to hold it back.

”It’s going fine,” Buck tells him, pocketing his phone and sipping his coffee.

Hen squints at him, ”You’re being weird.”

”I don’t know what you mean,” he replies and sips again.

"Usually when you're really into someone, you can't shut up about them," Hen tells him and Chimney nods vigorously in agreement, "I even asked Bobby if you've talked to him about this Tommy and he said you haven't."

”That suspicious,” Chimney says.

”Look,” Buck says with a sigh and sets the cup down. ”We haven’t been able to go on another date yet, even though we both very much want that, and that’s that. Everything’s fine.”

”Fine?” Hen asks, raising her eyebrows.

"That sounds… exciting," Chimney mumbles and shoots him a look. "What does that mean? Fine? Like… There's no heat?"

There hasn’t been much time for there to be heat, Buck thinks to himself. But it’s certainly bubbling under the surface of their new relationship. He felt it when he first met Tommy. When their hands touched for the first time. When they kissed.

Buck doesn’t answer Chimney’s question but gives him a look that hopefully makes it clear that what he’s asking is ridiculous.

Hen lowers her voice, ”Have you guys had sex yet?”

Buck’s mind goes blank, mostly because he didn’t expect Hen to be the one to ask such a question but it seems that she is more curious about the relationship than she leads on. Also, because it’s none of their business.

Also, because the mere thought makes his heart beat just a little faster.

”You know…” Buck begins, instead of telling his friends off. ”I’ve really got a feeling that today’s going to be a quiet day.”

The looks sent his way would definitely kill if the saying was true but Buck only laughs. He takes the cup in his hand again, downs the rest of his coffee, and gets up. He places the cup in his locker, puts on his gear (which gets him an odd look from Bobby who happens to be passing by), and waits.

And then, the alarm goes off.

-

The universe responds to his comment by sending them to a housefire, from which they thankfully manage to save everyone. If they hadn't, Buck would definitely have had to take a couple of weeks off because of the guilt. Eddie, of course, already told him that even if something bad had happened, it wouldn't have been his fault because, in reality, the universe doesn't care whether he said that it was going to be a quiet shift or not.

But still. Buck feels relieved.

But the moment that he’s about to step back into the firetruck, tired and dirty from soot, his phone decides to drop onto the ground and when he panics and tries to catch it, he ends up stepping on it as well.

"Damn it," he mumbles, taking his poor phone into his hand and turning it on.

Half of the screen flickers, and the other doesn't.

”God fucking damn it,” he swears again as he climbs in, and finds that Chimney and Hen are having the time of their life because of his misfortune. ”Yes, I’m sure you two are really enjoying this. Oh, come on, I was meant to-”

He pauses. Hen stops laughing and looks at him.

”Meant to… What?” She asks, curious now.

”Nothing,” Buck mumbles, trying to make himself small in the corner of his seat as Bobby begins to drive.

”He was supposed to text Tommy,” Chimney teases with the biggest grin on his face. ”Poor Buckaroo, you’re going to have to send him smoke signals or something.”

”You can use my phone,” Eddie tells him then. Thank God for Eddie. ”If you can remember his number...”

Buck glances over at Chimney and Hen, who are now whispering to each other about something that hopefully has nothing to do with Buck, and takes the phone that Eddie is offering him.

He does, in fact, remember Tommy’s number. He has stared at the cup with his number written on the side of it every single day before his shift.

Hi! I wrecked my phone, so I have to use Eddie's. I'm still coming over this evening, right? The plan hasn't changed? -Buck

It doesn’t take long for Tommy to reply.

Hi. Yes, we’re still on for this evening.

Can’t wait to see you.

Buck smiles and doesn't care that Chimney and Hen's attention has turned to him again.

Me neither.

He makes sure to delete the texts before he hands the phone over to Eddie with a mumbled ’thanks.’

-

The rest of the shift isn't any better and Buck really is regretting that Q-word now.

When they come back from their hopefully last call and the B-shift starts slowly rolling in, Buck throws himself on the couch and closes his eyes, hoping to take one of those micro naps. But instead of peace and quiet, his brain decides to replay every single call of the shift: the multiple housefires, a factory explosion, a car accident involving teens…

He’s never going to say that word again. He’s going to have to find synonyms. Maybe the universe won’t catch those.

Noiseless. Soundless. Muted. Faint. Silent.

”Buck?”

He blinks his tired eyes open, quickly realizing that he managed to fall asleep for just a little moment.

Eddie’s looking down at him, ”You were talking in your sleep. Well, listing things, I guess.”

”Oh,” he mumbles, a little embarrassed that he’d been saying his list of synonyms out loud. ”It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

”You do know that this shift wasn’t your fault, right? No matter what those two say,” Eddie continues, nodding his head toward Chimney and Hen, who are in the kitchen, chatting. ”They just like to tease you.”

”Yeah, I know,” Buck says and puts on a smile. ”I’ll get over it.”

”Good,” Eddie says and pats him on the shoulder a couple of times. ”Because the universe doesn’t care about what you have to say.”

Buck frowns, ”Well-”

”It doesn’t! It doesn’t care about what anyone says!” Eddie lets him know as he walks away with a smile. ”Look: Oh, I bet it’s going to be quiet today.”

Hen and Chimney don’t hear him but the B-shift does and Eddie gets a good death glare from them. Buck chuckles.

And the alarm… It doesn’t go off.

-

The micro nap he managed to get really helps him feel confident in driving over to Tommy's house even though the sun is setting and he still feels a little tired. The traffic isn't bad and he gets to Tommy's place a lot faster than he imagined he would.

Tommy’s talked about his house a lot, especially the amount of renovations he’s done on it over the years, and Buck has seen pictures but it’s different seeing it in front of his eyes. The house isn’t huge but the garage definitely makes it seem bigger than it is.

The front door is painted green. Buck knocks.

He sees a light come on and hears footsteps. The door opens.

”Hey Evan,” Tommy says with a smile.

”Hi,” Buck whispers back, answering the smile with his own.

They stare at each other for what feels like a small eternity and then, Tommy steps out of the way.

”Come on in,” he says. ”I just finished cooking, if you’re hungry.”

”Kind of starving,” Buck tells him, his eyes flickering to Tommy’s lips. Involuntarily, of course.

Tommy seems to notice but doesn't say anything. Just smiles again, places his hand on Buck's waist for a split second, and makes his way into the kitchen.

Buck follows.

The house is… warm. That's the only way he can describe it. When he steps into the kitchen, he feels like he's stepped into another country, maybe Italy, and like an Italian grandmother is about to walk in any moment now to stir the pasta or get started on a pizza dough.

That might be a little stereotypical but that’s how he feels. Plus, he knows that Tommy’s grandmother is Italian, so that probably has something to do with it.

”This is so nice,” Buck comments on the decor and leans against one of the kitchen counters.

Tommy smiles as he dips a spoon into some kind of sauce and holds it out to Buck, ”Thanks, baby. Tell me, is this any good?”

Buck blows on the little bit of sauce at the tip of the spoon and tastes it. It’s unlike any kind of pasta sauce Bobby has ever taught him to make and it’s so good. He lets out a small, satisfied groan and it makes Tommy laugh.

”I take it it’s good.”

”It’s so good,” Buck tells him.

-

The need to kiss Tommy grows over dinner. It has been far too long since he has felt those lips against his and ever since that first date, he has wanted to do nothing but kiss him again. Tommy talks about his day off, and what he'd done around the house and Buck listens with, what he is sure looks like, actual hearts coming out of his eyes.

Tommy’s eyes sparkle as he smiles, ”What?”

”What?” Buck mumbles right back, breaking himself out of a trance.

”You keep looking at me,” he says. ”And I finished my story about a minute ago.”

”I can’t help it that I love the way you look,” Buck finds himself saying.

Blood rushes to his cheeks immediately but before he can take anything back (he doesn’t want to take anything back), Tommy chuckles and lowers his eyes at his mostly empty plate.

”You’re very sweet, Evan,” he says.

”So are… So are you,” Buck tells him.

He desperately wants to reach out to hold Tommy’s hand but before he has the chance to even suggest such a thing, Tommy places his palms against the table as he begins to stand up.

”Why don’t we clean up and take this over to the couch?” He suggests.

And whatever this is, Buck is more than in.

-

Tommy’s arm is resting on the back of the couch right behind Buck’s shoulders as he searches through what movie they should put on. He keeps asking for Buck’s opinion and he keeps replying with: Whatever you want.

”Is there something wrong, Evan?” Tommy asks when Love, Actually begins to play.

Buck blinks, ”W- What do you mean?”

”You’ve been a bit quiet,” Tommy says gently, and finally, finally, wraps his arm around Buck’s shoulders and pulls him closer. ”Which, I get. You said you had a rough shift, I just… Want to know if everything’s okay.”

Buck opens his mouth, then closes it again. Gets lost in Tommy’s eyes once more.

”And you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Tommy continues. ”Just-”

”I really want to kiss you,” Buck blurts out.

Tommy blinks at him, ”Oh.”

”And I really, really want you to kiss me,” Buck says, unable to stop himself anymore. ”Why haven’t you?”

”Well, Evan,” Tommy says and takes hold of his hand. Buck feels himself melt. ”This is only our second date and on our first date, I told you that we’d go at your pace, so… I’ve kind of been sounding you out all evening and-”

”And it hasn’t seemed like I’ve wanted you to kiss me?” Buck asks but before Tommy can answer, he scoots just a little closer. ”Because I do. I don’t want you to worry whether I want this or not, because I do. It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted something, someone, this badly. I want you to hold my hand and wrap your arm around me when you feel like it. I want you to kiss-”

The arm around his shoulders tightens a little bit and pulls him closer. And then, those soft lips are pressing against his, moving slowly and Buck could cry from relief.

When Tommy pulls away, he rests his forehead against his.

”Like that?” He asks.

Buck feels breathless, ”Yeah, that works.”

Tommy chuckles, ”Good to know.”

And then kisses him again.

-

The last rays of the sun, barely peeking over the horizon make Tommy’s living room look almost golden. Buck snuggles a little closer as the movie keeps playing and takes his phone out of his pocket to check the time.

Only when a sharp corner of the broken screen pokes him in a very unpleasant way, does he remember what happened earlier that day.

”You okay?” Tommy asks immediately.

His finger, thankfully, isn’t bleeding but Buck handles the phone with more care as he sets it down on the couch in front of him.

”Yeah, just this damn thing…” He mumbles.

”You really wrecked it, huh?”

”It fell on the ground and then I stepped on it,” Buck says. ”I doubt it’s worth fixing anymore. That’ll probably cost as much as getting a new phone.”

”Mmh,” Tommy says, rubbing his thumb against his collarbone. It makes Buck shiver. ”I did do a little shopping today, you know…”

Buck looks up at him, ”Yeah?”

”Yeah,” Tommy says with a small smile. ”I remembered which kind of phone you have, so I bought a new screen and a back glass for it. I’ve fixed quite a lot of phones, so I’ve got plenty of pieces I can use to fix yours. It might not work but I can try.”

”Wait,” Buck says as he sits up. ”You, the man who refuses to download any kind of social media app on his phone, knows how to fix a phone?”

"Well, those are two very different things, Evan," Tommy explains, his hand coming to rest on Buck's thigh. "I like to fix things, not watch… Five-second clips of someone… I don't know, reviewing hair products?"

”That’s not all that TikTok-” Buck shakes his head. They’ve had this conversation many times over the phone. ”Let’s not get into that again. Do you really think you can fix it?”

"I'm not going to cause any more damage to it," Tommy tells him.

”Alright,” Buck says with a nod. ”That’s kind of hot.”

Tommy throws his head back in laughter.

-

Buck hadn’t been joking. He’s sitting on a very uncomfortable stool right next to Tommy’s workbench in the garage and a man who knows what he’s doing… It’s making him feel some type of way.

The insides of his phone are scattered on the table, in Tommy’s words: in an order that makes sense to him, and Buck already got one slap on the back of his hand for having messed with this order, and that awakened something else within him that he just couldn’t even begin to deal with right now.

As he leans his cheek against his hand and watches Tommy work, a terribly soft feeling takes over him. It’s peaceful and hopeful of the future. He has imagined a future with his partners in the past but never after only a second date. But this feels so easy, so natural… Like it’s meant to be.

He thinks about Eddie’s words about the universe and how it doesn’t care about what he has to say. And he’s still not sure whether he believes in something more powerful than himself or any other human being on this earth, but if the universe does listen to him, at least every once in a while, he would like to thank it for the man in front of him.

"I'll start putting it back together now. It should be fixed," Tommy mumbles, takes the first piece, and places it back inside the phone.

”You’re amazing,” Buck finds himself whispering.

A soft but surprised smile spreads on Tommy's face and God, Buck wants to kiss him. He will before he has to leave.

”Thank you, baby,” he says and places a hand on Buck’s thigh for just a fast moment before getting back to work. ”You’re quite amazing too.”

”Do you really think it’ll work?” Buck says, glancing at the phone.

”Mmh, I hope so,” Tommy tells him. ”I’ll just put the new screen on and it’ll be as good as new.”

Buck glances at the watch on Tommy’s wrist. It’s nearing midnight.

”There we go,” Tommy says after another ten minutes or so as he has reassembled the phone. ”Now the screen.”

Buck watches him work again. Despite his big hands and thick fingers, he works smoothly, like he has done this many times before. Maybe he has.

When the screen is in place, Tommy takes the phone and rubs it against a rag he finds on his workbench, cleaning up the screen from any possible smudge or piece of dust. Then, he holds the phone out to Buck with a proud smile.

”There we go, Evs,” he says. ”It’s the moment of truth.”

Buck takes the phone in his hand, careful not to drop it again, and presses the button on its side to turn it on.

And it does turn on and the whole screen works. There are no cracks.

”This is insane,” he says, looking up at Tommy. ”Where’d you learn to do all this?”

”I’ve been fixing things my whole life, kid,” he says, and Buck has to swallow at the nickname to calm himself down. ”I like to learn stuff like this in my free time. Comes in handy every once in a while. Especially when a cute guy needs his phone fixed.”

Buck places the phone back on the workbench and leans a little closer, ”And how many cute guys’ phones have you fixed?”

Tommy pretends to think about it for a moment before lowering his voice and leaning closer to him, ”Well… Only this one, really damn cute guy.”

”Mmh,” Buck hums with a smile. ”Must be a lucky guy.”

He is the one to press their lips together and when Tommy’s hand comes to rest on the back of his neck, heavy and warm, Buck moans into the kiss. Thankfully, this doesn’t seem to scare Tommy off and instead, he only deepens the kiss.

Buck stands up, awkwardly leaning down to keep their lips locked and Tommy’s hands slip to his hips. His ass is pressed against the workbench in a very uncomfortable way but he doesn’t care. He runs his hands through Tommy’s hair, messing it up, and allows them to travel down to his arms.

Those muscular, strong arms.

He has to pull away. Tommy looks a little dazed. Buck feels the same way.

”You okay?” Tommy asks, a little out of breath.

”Mmh,” Buck says, still stroking his arms and enjoying the feeling of muscle beneath his palms. ”But it’s midnight.”

”And?”

"And I can't stay the night," Buck says. Before Tommy gets the chance to say something, he continues, "It's not that I don't want to. God, I want to and there's something really hot about you having this workbench, and… God, that's the issue. If I stay the night, I know what'll end up happening."

”On the workbench?” Tommy asks, the tiniest of smirks on his lips.

"Maybe," his answer comes out as a punched-out breath of air.

”Sorry,” Tommy says with a chuckle and strokes his thumb along the tiny sliver of bare skin between the hem of Buck’s shirt and the waistband of his pants. ”I guess… I also know what would happen if you stayed the night and… Just like I said before, we can go at your pace, Evan.”

”I want to,” Buck promises him, ”I really do. But I’ve got a shift tomorrow and maybe… We can go on a third date and then think about it. I don’t want to rush this, Tommy.”

”Me neither,” Tommy agrees.

”Because I think…” Buck starts carefully. ”I think this could be something special.”

He gulps, feeling a little nervous. He watches Tommy’s face, waiting for a reply or some kind of look that will tell him that he has crossed a line and that it’s way too soon to say things like that to one another.

But instead, Tommy smiles again, ”I think so too, Evan.”

”God, I’m glad that I was late for work that day,” Buck says with a relieved laugh. ”Or, well, that I didn’t care that I was late and wanted my coffee.”

”And thank God that my friend made me think I could get a Pride rainbow cup from Starbucks,” Tommy says. ”Somehow, I managed to get a boyfriend instead.”

”B- Boyfriend?” Buck stutters.

”Oh shit,” Tommy mumbles. ”I’m sorry, it’s way too soon, I mean, we’ve only known each other for… God, I don’t even-”

”Tommy,” Buck stops him and rests his hands on his shoulders. ”It’s okay.”

The look in Tommy’s eyes brighten, ”Yeah?”

”Yeah,” Buck says with a nod. ”I mean, I know that we haven’t known each other for that long and I still have to come out to my parents but… I’d like to be your boyfriend. I mean, we’re dating, so…”

”Yeah,” Tommy agrees. ”Yeah, okay.”

”So… I’ll see you next weekend,” Buck says and adds, ”Boyfriend.”

Tommy grins, stroking Buck’s hips once more before getting up, ”250 pounds.”

”Hm?” Buck shoots him a confused look.

”The workbench can hold 250 pounds,” Tommy says, eyes flickering to Buck’s lips.

”Oh,” Buck says and breathes out, ”Y- Yeah, I can- We can make that work.”

”Mmh,” Tommy hums and then chuckles.

”You can’t just say shit like that when you know I can’t stay the night, Tommy” Buck whines.

Tommy holds his hands up, ”Sorry, sorry. Couldn’t help myself.”

Buck shakes his head at him, laughing as well. He presses a kiss on his cheek, ”Walk me out?”

Tommy nods and takes his hand in his, ”Of course.”