#don't get me wrong i love that it's finally getting the recognition it deserves after all these years

[darklight-owl]

In case you're wondering why all my 31 Minutos posting is in spanish it's because if one person mistakes me for an english speaker who is only now getting into the show because of That One Youtube Video I don't think I'll be able to recover.

[thatgirl4815]

Ray's Feelings

Ray's process of falling in love with Sand has such nuance to it that I think gets horribly overshadowed by his actions alone, not their context. Yes, Ray mistreats Sand. Yes, Ray has a lot to apologize for. But I think Ray is a broken person who has a lot to apologize for because he's in a situation that he is grossly under-equipped, both mentally and emotionally, to handle.

@victorialovesstiles' post here includes a great discussion of the moment Ray becomes fully aware of Sand's feelings for him in Ep8. Up to this point, I don't think Ray tried to pin down exactly how he felt for Sand because the situation didn't necessitate it. He and Sand were "friends," and that label was always fine with Ray, until it wasn't enough anymore, until Sand couldn't put up with it. Looking back on all of this progression, I'd argue Ray has had feelings for Sand for as long as Sand has had feelings for him, but he hasn't been in a place to confront them the same way Sand has. It makes sense given that Sand is the one in the bad spot, watching Ray chase after Mew. If their situations had been reversed, I think Ray would've had to contend with his feelings much more directly much earlier.

Ray makes comments like this that point to the depth of his feelings, but he never truly vocalizes them outright until later in Ep9. Ray realizing how happy he is with Sand and admitting to that is the first step in the recognition of his true feelings, that he sees Sand as more than a good friend who takes care of him and just so happens to sleep with him.

Ray's feelings are strong, but they are also delicate, as demonstrated by the fight at Sand's apartment in Ep10. This dialogue in particular:

Ray thinks he deserves to be upset for having his emotions played with, which says more than anything how much Ep9 meant to him. It's also important in the context of money, because Ray's self-worth is so heavily influenced by what he can offer other people: if nothing else, he has always had his wealth to fall back on. And here is Sand claiming to love him, but all Ray can see is someone who accepted payment. Every conversation they’ve about the separation of feelings and money is being put into question.

At the end of Ep10, Ray echoes his dialogue in Ep8. I personally like that Ray makes a point of saying how happy he is with Sand; what stands out to me here is that Ray is confessing this to imaginary Sand, so he's technically only really admitting it to himself. He makes me happy and I keep screwing it up. He does care, and he's always cared, but I can't do anything but ruin it. I was made to ruin things. Those are all thoughts that seem to lay at the core of his dialogue at the end of Ep10.

I guess my main point here is that we witness Ray returning to this idea time and time again that when he's with Sand, he's truly happy. Sand sees beyond his problems, beyond the brokenness. Even with how complex their situation is, there's something so beautiful about that simplicity. Sand makes Ray happy. That’s what it’s always boiled down to.

"I know now that you want nothing from me" -> I have a feeling this entire speech from Ray is going to form a deeper trust between Ray and Sand. Ray knows now that Sand is true. He knows that he has overthought everything. The reason why Ray skews the situation with Sand is because Ray is so used to viewing himself in a negative light, but he was clinging to the hope that Sand didn't see him that way. Even when other characters insult Ray for his behavior (which isn't entirely undeserved), Sand was always there to explain why he was wrong, to encourage him to be better. When it's Sand, it's about growth, not just recognition.

The ending scene in Ep10 is such a catharsis because Ray is finally coming to terms with the fact that virtually all of the doubts and complexities surrounding his relationship with Sand were created by him. But Sand has always been true. Sand has always loved him. And now that he sees that, he knows just how important it is that he clings to that love and never lets it go.

[itsdelicates-blog]

Sleep Aid~ Vera Farmiga x Reader

summary~ you can't sleep, but vera is your sleep aid.

——————————————————————————

Grumbling in annoyance, I sit up in my bed and stretch my legs. Atleast a solid 1 hour and a half I've been trying to sleep with no luck at all. Huffing, I get out of bed and grab my fluffy blanket and throw it over my shoulders.

Grumpily, is walking downstairs, I poke my head around the corner of the living room, where Vera was quietly watching tv also scrolling on her phone. I make my way over to her and stand in front waiting for her to notice me. She looks up, confused as she thought I was sleeping.

"You okay hun?" she asks softly

I say nothing and simply open my blanket, making grabby hands. She shifts her position allowing me into her lap. I curl up on her lap and hold onto her tight feeling instantly better in her presence.

"What's wrong my love?" She inquires, rubbing my back gently with one hand, turning down the tv with the other.

"I can't sleep" I grumble into her chest "I've been trying for hours"

she begins gently rocking back and forth, "I'm sorry hun, come on sleep now"

Before long i find myself drifting off to the sound of her beating heart against my ear.

———————————————————————————

Vera debated on getting up, needing to put you to bed, but wanting to do so without waking you.

She finally decided that she too was a little tired and to get you to bed.

After shutting off the tv, she gently secured her hands under your thighs. Carefully standing up from the couch making her way to the bedroom doing her best not to wake her sleeping girlfriend. When she gets to the bedroom, she tries to lay you down without stirring you but fails. You barely opened your eyes "Don't leave" you barely whispered out.

Vera suppressed her chuckles, reassuring you "I'm not going anywhere, I just need to change and I'll be right back to snuggle up okay hun" you let out a big yawn and snuggle in further to your blanket. Soon, as promised she crawls into bed laying herself down behind you and wrapping her arms around your front to hold you close.

As you feel her slide in behind you, you stir a little and turn around to face her. You let out a few mumbled sounds and snuggle your face into her chest taking in her scent, settling yourself to sleep.

She kissed the top of your head and said a quiet 'I love you'

Together the two of you both drift off with a small smile on each of your faces.

———————————————————————————

first one!! I decided to make this book because this beautiful woman deserves more recognition xx (and because I'm in love with her but whatever) 🥰

If anyone has anyone requests feel free to dm them to me or comment here!

~lou 🧚

[whenits--notreal]

➼ Batman hits Tim shouting "YOU DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING" in Batman (2016) issue #71 (1) (2). It is later explained that this [Batman spinning Tim's jaw] was a form of communication, a "language" which they had established between themselves beforehand. In this language, what Batman said roughly translates to "shut up". No, I'm not joking, this was later explained in issue #81.

➼ The exchange between Bruce and Damian in which Batman very much breaks character is from Batman (2016) issue #145. Spoiler alert: it's not Bruce. The whole dialogue went smthn like:

D: …is it really you? B: It is. D: prove it. B: After you moved in with me… you couldn't sleep. Nightmares. I'd sit in your room with you until you'd finally drift off. /The next day you'd always pretend like it never happened. D: Father… B: I'm back, son …and nothing can stop us.

Despite it not actually being Bruce, I included this for 2 main reasons: 1 ) because it's so obviously not Bruce and still his kids go [in the next panel] "So, the big question is… is it actually Bruce…" and 2 ) because it precedes a POV change to the actual Bruce who is trynna survive solo and is having a cute flashback in #147 (1) (2).

➼ The panel showing Bruce staying at home with a sick Jason instead of going on patrol is from Red Hood and the Outlaws (2012) issue #3. It's pretty self-explanatory, Jason was too sick to go on patrol so Bruce was gonna go alone, but then he changed his mind and cancelled patrol for the night. This is real big tho cuz he prioritised his son over his mission for once (1) (2) (3).

Context: RH and the Outlaws were in a situation where they had to leave their "most cherished memories" with this guy called S'aru as collateral and this was the memory that was taken from Jason (he doesn't want the memory back after they're done with their mission ☹). Also, the art is gorgeous.

➼ The one where B says that Tim isn't his soldier but his son is from Batman (2016) #127. It's an internal dialogue between him and Zur (the other Batman who is a bit bonkers). It's like when he's physically faced with the personification of his Batman persona and his mission, he is finally able to wrap his head around the fact that Robin or not, his kids are his kids, not his soldiers. Otherwise when it's just him, he kinda just ignores the fact and pretends that he doesn't feel/act in two completely conflicting ways when his kids are in question (1) (2) (3). He's a hypocrite and I'm still salty at the "In memory of -- Robin -- A good soldier".

Anyway, it's pretty heartwarming that this was one of the only instances in which he was able to keep the Batman of Zur-en-Arrh in check.

➼ The "I love you, dad" is from the 2016 Nightwing Comics #100 and while I have certain... qualms about Tom Taylor and his writing (don't get me wrong, he's a technically good writer and I enjoy reading what he writes. I just don't like what he's done with the bigger picture if that makes sense-- anyway), I really like this moment and B+N's relationship throughout the past few issues.

For me, Dick is a character with sooo much baggage to unpack and, honestly, I believe he's almost as emotionally closed off as Batman is, he just wears a smile while he's at it and believes the best of people where Batman assumes the worst. But when it comes to his own personal emotions, he bottles them up like he's Doraemon's pouch and has space to spare.

Here though, Bruce takes the initiative, taking off his cowl, and finally says what needed to be said long ago. With no miscommunications! In fact, Bruce delivers with eloquence! And he apologises! It only took Alfie dying...

Anyway, here're the panels: (0) (0.5) (1) (2) (3) (4)

(Added in a few extra pages because Dick was getting the recognition he deserves)

➼ Now following the comic with the heartfelt conversation and Nightwing appreciation, we have the sixth panel: Bruce knocking out Dick's tooth. Yippee. And that would be from Batman (2011) #7. Dick is angry at B cuz he swiped a tissue sample from him without telling him then B just backhands (Backfists? backpunches?) one of Dick's molars right out of his mouth (1).

The reason was that there was evidence in that very molar that Dick was selected by the court of owls when he was young to be trained as an assassin. (2) Now here's the thing, B had no evidence and instead of idk telling Dick about his thoughts (and this is all happening as Dick is going off at Bruce for keeping secrets) and taking an x-ray or smthn, he forcefully knocks it out.

And then they just move on like what just happened was okay. There's not even a hint of remorse or the like, instead, B just rebukes Dick for "underestimating" the Court of Owls. Bro, he was max 8 years old when he was still in the circus, why would he think something happened then? Anyway, Snyder has a real propensity for writing Bruce as a wacko imo.

➼ The next one really pisses me off. Bruce swiping Dick across the face and shouting, "DON'T YOU DARE BLAME ME FOR JASON'S DEATH! DON'T YOU DARE!" is from The New Titans (1988) #55. Let's put aside the fact that yes, it is his fault that a barely 15 y/o kid was trapesing the streets in glorified underwear and making enemies of psychologically challenged, overqualified, criminal masterminds and was eventually brutally beaten to death by one of said criminal masterminds in some twisted parody of a love confession.

Dick comes back from an off-world mission with the Titans 2 weeks after Jason's funeral. He ends up finding out about Jay's death from this little twat who I'm not even gonna bother naming and then after confirming the news he goes to comfort Bruce. He prioritised comforting Bruce over his own hurt at not being called or told in any way.

Bruce, in turn, takes to being an antagonistic asshole like they didn't both just lose the same person and subtly blames Dick for how things turned out. Dick goes, 'hey don't blame me' and Bruce goes 'DON'T YOU DARE BLAME ME' with a side of punch-to-the-face (1). Bruce then continues to rage at his own decision to take a sidekick (twice) but in a way that puts the blame on them (them being Dick and Jason), then he sort of disowns (?) Dick, and stomps out like the toddler that he is (2).

I could honestly never be Alfred.

➼ The page showing Bruce beating Jason is from Red Hood and The Outlaws (2016) #25. Jason shoots the Penguin (he doesn't die but neither B nor J know that) and Batman subsequently tracks him and beats him down like the loving father he is and Bizarro has to come save him (dk how much worse B could've done tbh) (1) (2).

Anyone with eyes would be able to understand why Jason finds it so hard to believe his father-figure loves him. Cuz he doesn't blood well act like it

➼ Next is Batman driving Dick Grayson to his new home or "hell" as he put it (weirdo?) after he officially made him his ward (consent wasn't included in the package). This is set in the Arkham Knight universe and is from All Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder #2. I'm not gonna link any more than that because the whole run stars a messed up Bruce.

Idk in what world, the symbol of Justice of a city would think it's okay to legally kidnap a recently orphaned child, gas them in your car, and call them "dense" or "retarded" when they ask the genuine question, who tf are you? And then he slaps him for grieving his dead parents because, and I quote, "Grief is the enemy. [...] There's no room for grief. Grief turns into acceptance. Forgiveness. Grief forgives what can never be forgiven. Never."

And then he attacks Alfred for feeding him because 'woe is me, I (voluntarily) survived on rats and without any help and I decree that this young 8-year-old does the same'.

➼ And finally, the last one (Batman beating Damian and sending him flying across the floor) is from the Battle of the Super Sons Movie. To his credit, Batman's body was taken over by this starfish-looking parasite thing.

Not a fan of the movie, personally. Not much to say either, I just put it there cuz one of the key aspects of the movie was meant to be Dami and B's father-son relationship (and the gif was kinda funny).

By the time Damian came along, DC writers half-realised that blatant physical abuse towards your kids was not cool.

Anyway, this turned out wayyyyy longer than I'd originally intended. I was just gonna cite the sources at first, and then decided to give context for those weren't gonna read the comics, and then a bit of my opinion slipped in towards the end ┬┴┬┴┤(･_├┬┴┬┴ ...

Happy Father's day, ig?

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

This may seem silly (sorry, please ignore me if you want), but something about the way I keep getting more and more TikToks talking about "how ugly Dabi is" gets on my nerves.

It just sounds ableist to me, like come on, the only reason they find him "ugly" is because he's full of burn scars if he only had a subtle one like Shoto they wouldn't be talking about it.

One of my oldest hit posts here on this blog talks about how even when these characters were fictional, you could still read all the ableism in the fandom from the way they talked about some of the LOV members.

I remember when jokes about Dabi being sooooo stinky were everywhere. When the fandom used to make fun of Tomura's unhygienic look. It's still so obvious when you think about how traditionally pretty heteromorphic characters are popular while massively important heteromorphic characters are just now getting the recognition they deserve.

Don't get me wrong, I think Hawk and Miruko are there exactly to be popular by their looks. They're drawn and written like that. It's nothing bad to love or admire them, okay? Nothing wrong with them being your favorites.

It's just that then people would ignore Spinner or Shoji. I'm happy that Shoji is more popular now and that Spinner is finally getting celebrated, but c'mon...

When it comes to Dabi, it's funny 'cause Horikoshi wants the readers to perceive him as handsome. You know it by the poses and certain highlights. He's also meant to look "creepy" because he's a villain! He should be scary, even uncomfortable to look at. Unnerving in the way your brain knows he should be falling apart, right?

But ugly???

We could have a conversation about real life beauty standards or bnha beauty standards, you know. I don't think it's necessary tho, since we all pretty much know that scars are portrayed as "attractive" as long as they are placed to please the eye and not depicted as something that is gonna make you uncomfortable because they are past wounds after all.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions, I guess, but it also bothers me when people would so easily joke about a character's beauty just to reinforce beauty stereotypes... It doesn't surprise me, when certain sides of TikTok are full of narrow-minded people...

Ugliness is 100% subjective and based on what people find attractive or not, anyway. I just hope you never see the "ugh Dabi is so gross looking" side of those arguments.

[respectthepetty]

Hey there. Hoping you're doing well. This is gonna sound random but I need a reason to watch He's coming to Me. I was looking at a list of all gmmtv shows and I've seen them all, except He's coming to me. And the weird thing is I don't have a reason. I adore Ohm, i don't particularly like Singto but that has never stopped me before. I have no problem with paranormal bl or sadness in bl. But for some reason every time I think I'm gonna watch it, I don't. I don't know if this has ever happen to anyone else but every once in a while this happens to me with a show or a film, like there's nothing wrong with it but I can't press play. And I have no idea why. I was hoping for some motivation I guess, just cause I'm a completionist and it's nagging me that I only have that one show left. Anyway, I'd appreciate your thoughts on this. (thanks for the space)

@nothingsbetterthancoffee, as a fellow completionist, I understand. Nothing can be left unfinished. No stone can remained unturned. No show can be left unwatched! But also, this show is a HOT TOP for me, so let me easily help you by giving you not one but TEN reasons to watch He's Coming to Me:

It has color-coded boys in love. <- The reason I showed up

Med/Mes is a stable, loyal, and intelligent Blue Boy who is happy (yellow) even in death. Thun is a Red Rascal who is spontaneous, energetic, and passionate. The love was always there, but seeing the color exchange always brings a smile to my face.

It's only eight episodes, and they are FREE!

Think of this as an eight-hour workday. Eat some breakfast, clock in to YouTube, watch five episodes (because after episode 5 is the PERFECT place to pause a la Bad Buddy), eat lunch, come back, watch the final three episodes, then clock out.

I know nobody wants to think of watching shows as work, but sometimes it helps to see the finish line at the end of day. Structure aids in productivity. And free is my favorite kind of watching experience, so it makes it even better.

The rooftop scene needs to be shown respect.

Mentioning Bad Buddy reminded me that He's Coming to Me's episode 5 rooftop scene walked, so Bad Buddy's episode 5 rooftop scene could run. Put some respect on this show's name!

The team behind it are elite professionals.

Aof, the director and an out gay man, has given us EVERYTHING! Bad Buddy, A Tale of Thousand Stars, Moonlight Chicken, and so much more. Rath, the cinematographer, has served us beautiful visuals every single time in Never Let Me Go, Dark Blue Kiss, and countless others. The screenwriter, Title, gave us the MaxTul vehicle MANNER OF DEATH. Imagine the Powerpuff Girls, but with film making. THAT'S the level of power behind this show.

The cast is stacked.

You already mentioned Singto and Ohm whose backs must hurt from carry the plot of so many shows on their shoulders, but the rest of the cast is A+ as well.

Sing and Chimon play the best friends, and they are the very BEST best friends. Sing has given us Todd(Black), and Chimon is about to embrace his sugar baby-ness in the upcoming Dangerous Romance. If they can stand next to THE Gun and the Perth, while holding their own, they deserve some recognition.

The supporting cast could beat every other supporting cast in a fist fight without breaking a sweat. We have Gunsmiles (who is no longer on the GMMTV's roster, sad times) who played in one of the best plots in 3 Will Be Free. We have Ampere who plays the office ally in GAP and La Pluie. Then we have Jum who only knows how to play the kindest mother from GAP, The Eclipse, and the upcoming Last Twilight. The twins, AJ and JJ show up, as well as Love who riled up enough people with her performance in Bad Buddy to get her own GL show!

Finally, we have the main ladies! Gigie makes you feel bad that this is a BL, so she won't get the guy, but that's because she is such a good character! Then there is Sine. I won't write much about her because I'm in love with her. I can't be rational about her. She never misses, and as a vegetarian, I would eat meat if she told me to. I. Love. Her.

The plot carries.

We all know shows that drag out the main plot for far too long. This show isn't one. It understands the assignment, and has a genuine plot beyond two boys falling in love. It also has twists and turns throughout that make sense to the original plot. Nothing seems disconnected, and everything seems logical in a show about ghosts.

The love is real.

For only eight episodes, in which one is mainly about a CHILD seeing ghosts, the way the love unfolds between the two leads is realistic. It is odd to see them first encounter each other when Thun is a kid, and Med is already a dead adult, but the way they come together as adults is touching.

The conflicts are believable.

Because of the way Med and Thun meet, and the overall plot, the conflicts are believable. They aren't just having issues because they don't want to communicate, or because it's the second to last episode. NO! One is a ghost who had his entire life ended, and the other is a young adult trying to figure out his life. The hesitation, the separation, and the conflicts in between are plausible.

The coming out SCENES are top tier.

If there is only one reason to watch this show, this is it! I don't need BLs to have a coming-out scene. Ever. If all of these shows existed in a magical bubble where being gay is the norm, I'd love it, but something about how Thun comes out in several ways, first to himself, then to his friends, and finally to his mom are all handled in the most endearing ways. These scenes healed my soul long before Be Loved in House: I Do hit me with its coming-out scene.

It has a happy ending.

Not only does it have a happy ending, but it has several happy resolutions for all the plots. It makes sure to wrap up the narrative while giving a little extra that completes the stories without feeling rushed or random.

Now that I've given you all these reasons, I hope you find it in yourself to finish the series. I know the first episode is rough to make it through, but once you get to the second half of episode 2, it should be smooth sailing.

As for me, I need to go write up He's Coming to Me (in Colors) post.

(thanks for the ask)

[best-supermassive-character]

‌Emily Davis x Jessica Riley

1. You can't tell me there's a straight explanation for their argument in the cabin. There's more sexual chemistry there than between Matt and Emily the whole game

2. bad bitches on some hot girl shit tragic best friends to enemies they just needed to kiss and make up

3. besties to girlfriends, can’t say more. they could bond again after traumatic experience why not

Ashley Brown x Chris Hartley x Josh Washington

1. personally?? personally. they just Are the best ship the seance scene single handedly conveys such an interesting and complex dynamic between the 3 of them in little under 10 minutes, tbh Every interaction they all have before shit goes down paints a picture of chemistry and friendship that could Very Easily transition into romantic it feels wrong to seperate the 3 of them into pairings... feels Unnatural

‌

Jamie Tiergan x Erin Keenan (Jerin)

1. my beloveds okay, i was in pleasant shock when saw a "young love" plot line (i didn't know anything about TDiM when i started it so didn't expect to get lesbians)

2. Jamie and Erin already have such a wonderful dynamic to begin with, having bounced around each other before taking the leap after enough flustering and teasing. They care so deeply for each other, and one losing the other is beyond heartbreaking. Erin even admits how much she doesn't want to lose Jamie, which makes my heart scream and yell and cry and oh my god

3. They're sweet, they're cute, they're canon! Supermassive finally gave us an official queer couple that can get together and Jerin deserves some recognition for that. <3

4. I mean, its Jerin! They're relationship is so cute and interesting even if they don't get together, its so clear when they don't they still very much love and adore each other and have so much more to say. And when they ARE together they are just so cute and gentle to each other. The perfect couple <3 (also they are a very rare non-white biracial lesbian couple that aren't toxic or weird so the representation they hold is just <3)

[walder-138]

Imagine: Vasili having a private conversation with Abbey about his messed up life

Be careful it's filled with ANGST.

"Sometimes.. love knows how it'll make you fall for it, and also, give you that everlasting pain that'll remain in your soul as a scar. It can cut you so deeply.. sharply, than a knife. That if you sew to suture the wound.. it'll never seem to remove from the image. It will keep on reminding you.. that you would have never been this miserable and unfortunate.. if you had never met them. Never.. just never.."

"I loved Helen.. I did.. very much." Vasili tried not to break in front of Abbey. "But I was a fool. A scoundrel. That I fell for her and did what was necessary to win her heart. Now you don't say I was brainwashed that's why I couldn't remember anything but the point is.." He looks at Abbey with a hopeless and shattered look. "Why did I let this all happen to me? What was inside of me that truly SAID you need to choose this very path? What made me choose Perseus? How did I get to Adler? Why? Because I did it myself, Abbey.. I.. I chose this. I subconsciously decided to make myself suffer for the wrong I did. I chose the wrong side.. and.. here I am. Look at me." He smiled half-heartedly, with his arms half raised.

"I was naive. Even after being this intelligent? This witty? I.. I can't seem to.. to.." His voice shivered. "Break through this very situation? Only if.. I could have used my brain, I would have never—" Vasili tried not to sob and covered his eyes with his arm, sniffing a bit. "But I deserve it, Abbey. Because I truly deserve it. I was away killing off people without realising I was now stuck with a bunch of manic criminals who wanted to destroy the world. But me? I couldn't even raise my voice.. that it also made me stop using my mind! For what it had been finally used for without my true consciousness!" He clenched his hair and sat down, in a defeated state.

"I'm tired, Abbey.. I'm so tired.." He sobbed as he rubbed his whole face to wipe off the tears. "The KGB thinks I murdered our own General.. I lost Dimitri.. Adler wished if I was dead anyway.. and sure I gave him a lesson back there and showed him my new form.. but.. even after all that.. I still feel.. lost. Like all my roads ahead of me have been blocked. And I see nothing but.. darkness.. and the light faded before I could ever reach myself through it.." He smiles sadly. "Tells a lot.. maybe if.. Adler shot me back at the cliff.. all this suffering would have ended. And I would be at ultimate peace.. a-am I right, Abbey?"

STOP IT KHUSHI. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. STOP IT. YOU BETTER BE PAYING FOR MY THERAPY AFTER THIS CAUSE GIRL IM SOBBING. IM IN YOUR WALLS NOW 😭😭😭 I WILL GET BACK AT YOU FOR THIS! JUST YOU EFFING SEE. I CANT FUCKING STAND THESE TWO

SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE!

Abbey reached out, almost about to put her hand on Vasili’s shoulder, but pulled away before it could make contact. Instead, Abbey took a deep breath. She was at a loss of words, tears welling up in her eyes. After a moment of silence, she swallowed and spoke.

“Don’t say that, Vin—Vasili.” She mentally cursed herself for that mistake.

“I know you’re tired, and you’re angry, and you’re hopeless, and you feel like everyone in the world hates you and is out to get you, but wallowing in your own self loathing… you’re gonna end up wasting your life away. The paths aren’t blocked by some other entity, Vasili, you’re blocking them.”

“Wasting away means they won. That they got rid of you without even trying. Adler and Park, the rest of them responsible for what happened to you, That’s what they want- it’s what our governments do. They lie, manipulate, screw your brain up beyond recognition, then make you blame yourself for cracking under circumstances nobody could withstand.” Abbey’s voice was quiet, but there was a sharp edge to her words. Her anger, though subtle, was still evident behind the words, albeit not towards Vasili.

Noticing that she was tense, her fist were clenched, and was ranting, Abbey stopped to take a breath. Abbey’s demeanor softened as she took a seat next to Vasili, taking in his defeated expression. She gently removed his hands from his face and held onto them as she continued to speak.

“Vasili, I lo- I care about you. It’s hard for you to believe, I know, but I’m not asking you to. You’ve had every opportunity to kill me, you didn’t. You could’ve sent us all to Duga, you didn’t.”

“What I’m saying is, you’re not a bad person. You’ve done unforgivable things in the past, I refuse to put you on a pedestal, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of doing good.”

Abbey sighed, and held onto his hands tighter.

“If you ever feel like you’re alone or don’t have a place to go, you can always stay here. I don’t need a warning, and you don’t need to talk to me if you don’t want. I can sleep on the cot and you can take the air mattress; the cats might jump on you in the night so I’d keep that in mind. Jazzy and Blue expect you to feed them at dawn.” She chuckled, before letting go of Vasili’s hands.

“They love you, the cats. They really do.” Something we have in common.

Abbey fades out of existence. Bro’s hallucinating 😭😭😭

[redge]

【OSHI NO KO】 Chapter 155

I was supposed to add these thoughts to this thread I posted on X but I don't want to make multiple posts anymore so here we go.

The cover page

Would you look at that cover. 😍 It's really bizarre to me that these two ladies are being pit against each other on the other side of the fandom but then in the OnK universe, though they see each other as rivals, they don't necessarily hate each other. I really don't get the root cause of the word wars 😅 (didn't realize that I forgot to include the cover when I posted this haha)

Hikaru Kamiki

"As if he'd become empty"

Oh the heartbreak 154 gave me. Had this man met an adult who could have guided him, things would have turned out differently. But it's too late to dwell on the past.

This statement from Hikaru makes me believe more on my analysis that 【OSHI NO KO】 is a documentary about Ruby with the interviews done by Hikaru Kamiki, including that 【mother】 version from Ai.

Also, when Ruby bursted out when Kamiki left, I think that's a proof that Ruby was really not oblivious who their father was.

Miyako loving the twins the way that they never experienced from their own mothers

Miyako finally got the recognition she deserves. 🤧 People might think that the build up of the revenge is comparatively pale to its conclusion but I think putting Miyako at the end of it is the best thing to end that revenge.

In the course of the manga when Ai died, we only saw Miyako as their manager but we haven't seen enough of her as a parent of the twins. Chapter 155 gave us that. Miyako never stopped Ruby and Aqua on whatever business they are on but she's always there, ready to welcome them home and fill them in with food on the table. That after a hard long day, these twins will be welcomed by a mother's love. It's something Gorou did not experience because his mother died from his birth. It's something Sarina did not experience because her mother didn't care about her. It's something they could have had as Aqua and Ruby only if Ai didn't die that early. This revenge started as early as chapter 10. Interesting too that on the same chapter, Miyako offered the twins if they want to be her children for real.

Miyako: Your mother will only be Ai-san, I know. You don't have to think of me as a mother. But I do think of you as my children.

And if you're given this love, even the strongest feeling of pain and suffering that has been the root of the revenge can slowly be healed through time. Because when you forgive, you don't do it for the person who wronged you. You do it for yourself. With this, Ruby's dilemma in chapter 147 "to forgive or not to forgive", we finally know Ruby's choice. And now, we're off to see Ruby fulfilling her mother's unfinished dreams.

Nino

My initial reaction when I read chapter 132 was that I didn't see that coming but it totally makes sense. Makes sense that Nino and Kamiki know each other. Makes sense that Nino feels that way as a B-Komachi member. And now that I read chapter 155, it also makes sense why of all the filming in the movie, Aqua was seen observing that fight scene between Ai and Nino. It was probably at this point that he's getting suspicious of her. That his initial thought that "it was probably not a B-Komachi member" was wrong after all. Kana Arima's portrayal of Nino made perfect sense because that hate and jealousy is crucial to understand what happened to Ai. Even that haircut of Akane in 155, while others associate it with becoming her own self again, I think it was again to understand a character: Nino. Believe me, when I saw that haircut from the leak, I know it reminded me of someone but I can't just pull it off. Others say it's the same hairstyle as Kana, but Akane's haircut in chapter 155 is much shorter. When the chapter was officially released, I realized that what I really thought of upon seeing that haircut was Nino. And Aqua telling that to Akane, getting surprised when he first saw Akane with that haircut means he caught on that too. Remember that Akane, throughout the manga, has been presented as someone who immersed herself into people to understand them more. She did it to understand Kana. She did it to understand Ai. And now she's doing it again to understand Nino.

There are more questions in my mind for every chapter that answers my previous questions and I just cannot wait to be enlightened by the end of the manga. (Please Aka-sensei I beg you let's finish this soon 🥲)

[llondonfog]

My bro showed me this and I laughed, hope it makes you laugh too.

https://youtu.be/Dm2qng5aWnM?si=T0uh6sbnz3ebnpEJ

https://youtu.be/8YqGSQCwmDs?si=hyEytjBr4G4J2Uzp

Also, please share with me some of those darth vaders raising Luke stories, they sound so sweet.

Have you ever read Darth Vader and son? Or Are You Scared Darth Vader?? Both are funny and cute. (Both are children’s books but I love them and have them in my bookshelf. 💚)

Hope you feel better Lettie 💞🌺

ljdfaskjkdsfl thank you for sharing these, i cannot wait to start the ahsoka show for myself after all of these gifsets and memes— hayden is a real treat to the fandom and i'm so glad he's finally getting all the recognition he deserves!!

AND YES I LOVE THOSE LITTLE BOOKS ; u ; if you really want some vader raising luke fic recs, i am more than happy to provide the ones that i go back to time and time again for some good old comfort under the cut!!

ao3:

Force Bond: this series i read YEARLY. it is such a wholesome cornerstone piece of fanfiction in my life, i cannot get enough of it and am amazed by the fact that the author has kept it going with new updates twenty years later. basic premise is that luke escapes from tatooine and a crazed ex-jedi who wants to kill him as a young child and winds up on coruscant where a chance encounter with the emperor's right hand man might change their lives forever :')

The Emperor Skywalker Conspiracy: this short one is just for laughs, it's a great use of memes to react to the news that luke skywalker is darth vader's son as if you were in the sw universe and learning about it in real time through tumblr updates

Where Our Intrepid Hero Doesn't Get Away: a fun set of short drabbles exploring various different au possibilities within the sw universe of vader having to come to the rescue of his reckless son<3

The Family Tree: THIS ONE IS SO GOOD, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IT CHANGED ME. i fucking love this trope- character a and b get stuck somewhere with no escape and are forced to have a heart-to-heart conversation ITS SO DAMN GOOD AND EMOTIONAL AHHHH

The Heir: i absolutely adore this concept and how the author presented it; palpatine raising a young luke as his son and creating a rift of hatred between vader and his child, only for vader to find out the truth and murder the emperor thus making his young son the rightful ruler. so full of angst and delightful twists, it's a fun read!!

ffnet

My Bitten Heart: told through an outsider pov of a rescue mission gone wrong. fully changed my perspective on writing when i read this over ten years ago.

Three Days, Two Nights and One Lifetime: one-shot where luke gets shot down over a desolate planet and experiences brief blindness and amnesia. who should find him in this state? :)

Between Flight and Longing: luke and han go to a distant planet in search of....something. vader happens upon them and a hilarious (and hurt/comfort) trio emerges as vader struggles to understand what could possibly be ailing his son.

[cryoexorcist]

okay i have thoughts. spoilers for lantern rite under the cut.

FIRST OFF, THEY MET IN GAME. I'm so happy that they FINALLY gave us canon interactions between chongyun and xiao, and chongyun and zhongli! Those relationships mean so much to me in rp, and I'm so happy that hoyo is finally branching out and giving chongyun more people to interact with that isn't just xingqiu and xiangling.

more headcanons for chongyun too? mahjong? how cool is that honestly? ALSO, I CAN FINALLY CONFIRM THAT CHONGYUN IS NOT THAT IGNORANT, HE TOTALLY KNOWS THAT XINGQIU'S AN AUTHOR. Chongyun may be the worst liar in existence, but he's covering up for his best friend in the classic chongyun fashion, and we love it.

I am so here for Chongyun finally getting more recognition. He's been left on the backburner for far too long, completely forgotten about and ignored. We were fed this event, and I'm smug that a lot of the general bad takes the fandom has on him were proven false.

FOR ONE. he doesn't hate hu tao. I am so fucking sick of hearing that. I have seen that all over reddit from people who put laughing emojis after saying that and acting like Chongyun finds her obnoxious. They're friends. They've always been friends. Why on god's green earth would chongyun hate her when they both have similar ways of thinking?

His voice line is that he finds her smirk condescending, not that he finds her obnoxious. And it could even be a case of him misunderstanding her facial expressions too!

ALSO THE FACT THAT PEOPLE ARE SO ADAMANT THAT CHONGYUN AND XIAO HATE EACH OTHER. like I know chongyun isn't a popular character, but holy batman of awful takes? That one actually makes me angry cause like. One. who the hell would hate Xiao? and two, do people actually pay attention to the shit chongyun says? My guess is no because he isn't your fave five star, he's a 4 star that people gloss over because uwu baby.

Chongyun is one of the most laid back, passive guys who also doesn't take shit. that's canon. He doesn't like Xiao putting down his clan, but he loves and admires Xiao because that's? a fucking yaksha???? THAT HIS CLAN WORKS WITH????

Mostly I am just tired of this fandom erasing chongyun from the narrative like he isn't one of Liyue's power houses. The guy works tirelessly to protect Liyue, he's got one hell of an intriguing backstory that again, is barely mentioned. The fandom as a whole tends to overlook Chongyun and/or only see him as an accessory to Xingqiu. Which, don't get me wrong, I adore their friendship, but I want to pluck Xingqiu and toss him aside so Chongyun can have the fucking spotlight for once.

This is why I push to throw Chongyun at a lot of people here on tumblr. He's such a fascinating character with so much potential, and if hoyo isn't gonna write him, I gotta.

And if the fandom isn't gonna give him the respect he deserves, then we gotta, as writers.

I know this one event isn't going to change the collective fandom's mind about him and he's still going to be largely ignored again, but man. I am thriving over interactions.

Also, for rp's sake, I am choosing to believe that Chongyun and Xiao were faking not knowing each other. Chongyun and Xiao are very very close and I will hold tightly to this headcanon and you can pry it from my cold, dead fingers. And even then good look because I will have superglued it to my cold, dead fingers.

[thatguytj11]

Angry Confession Prompt. It’s Never Enough.

After reading @persephones-journey prompt, I decided to give it a go. Hope you all enjoy, I literally finished this just today lol.

2 & 8. “How can you not understand how much I love you?” & “You make me so angry sometimes. And you make me love you all the time.”

Matt angrily shoves the door open to his vintage condo home. He walks in and slams the door right in Emma's face.

He didn't want anything to do with her. Hell, he couldn't even look at her. Not after what she did.

As he walked to the kitchen, he heard Emma’s footsteps right behind him. "Matt please, please just stop."

"Leave me alone Emma I don't want to talk to you right now," he said, his voice cold and harsh.

"But I need to apologize," she pleaded, her voice cracking with emotion. "Please don't shut me out. We've been doing that for months; it's only made things worse between us."

Matt stopped dead in his tracks, feeling a twinge of guilt in his chest. He turned his head to face her, his eyes looking deeply within hers. "Okay fine then let's talk." His arms crossed in front of his chest as he waited for her to explain herself.

Emma took a deep breath, trying to gather her thoughts. "It just happened, Matt. He just kissed me, but it didn’t mean anything. I swear."

"But why?" he asked, his voice laced with anger. "Why would you do that?"

"I don't know," she admitted, tears welling up in her eyes. "I was just caught up in the moment. I'm sorry, I know it was wrong."

"It was more than just wrong, the way you..." he paused. "Emma, the way you were kissing him. It looked like you were enjoying it. Like you wanted it to happen in the first place."

"No, it wasn't like that."

"Oh well then what was it like then, huh? Was he just helping you rehearse Romeo and Juliet or something?"

"No, of course not," she snapped, finally losing her patience. "Can you just listen to reason for five damn minutes?"

"I am fucking listening!" he growled, his hands balling into fists. "That's all I've ever done, and too much of it I'm afraid." He scoffed, turning back around to go get a drink.

"What is that supposed to mean? Why are you always so hostile towards me?"

"Oh, is that what I'm being," he replied, his tone cold. "Cause every time that you make a mistake, it's always seems to be my fault."

"But what about you?" she countered, stepping closer to him. "What about all the mistakes you've made?"

He stiffened, his jaw clenching. "What about them?"

"Nothing," she sighed.

"No go ahead," he challenged, his body tense. "Tell me about my mistakes."

She could feel her anger welling inside her chest, like it was about to explode at any given time. "Taylor."

“What about her?”

"The way you look at her, like she's the only woman in the world. The way you talk to her, like she's your everything. The times you've been with her, when I've been right here."

He took a step back, his face turning pale. "She’s just a friend," he stammered, trying to deflect the conversation. "It's just work, that's all."

"It's not just work," she spat, her eyes burning with rage. "You like her Matt. I can see it in your eyes."

"She means nothing to me, Emma! Not like you. I love you. The first time I met you , I knew you were the one. The only one for me."

"But you don't act like it," she argued, her tone rising. "It feels like we don't talk about anything anymore. You work day and night with your movies, you come home depressed. Nearly drink yourself to death and fall asleep!"

"Because I don't feel appreciated," he shot back, his temper flaring. "This is my career Emma; this is my passion. I'm a director, for God's sake! Don't you think I deserve some recognition for that?"

“Of course, I do," she assured him, stepping closer. "But that doesn't mean you have to neglect me in the process. You deserve to be happy, too."

He let out a bitter laugh, his shoulders slumping. "What makes you think you know what I deserve. You never ask me about how I'm feeling. It's all about you! Everything! No matter how much I try, you always end up pushing me away."

"I never push you away," she protested, hurt flashing across her face. "I just want what's best for us."

"And what's that?" he questioned, his voice low and tense. "Cause I can't seem to understand it."

"How can you not understand how much I love you?" she whispered, taking a step closer to him.

"Because nothing ever seems to be enough for you. Whether it's too much, or to little, you're always searching for something else. It's like you're looking for the perfect equation to make you happy, and when you can't figure it out, you just give up."

"Wow, you really don't know me?" Emma scoffed. "You think that with me it's all just about things. Like all the money, all the clothes, the jewelry. Matt the only thing that could ever make me happy was you. Cause where was I ever going to find another Matthew Perkins? You are the first man to ever make me feel loved, like I existed. Or at least I thought you did."

He looked at her, his eyes softening as he saw the sincerity in her words. "Emma, you do exi---"

"I changed my whole life for you. I moved here to L.A. just so I could be with you. I left my family, my friends, my job. Everything," she continued, tears now streaming down her face. "And now it feels like all of that sacrifice was for nothing. Like you don't even care about me anymore."

"I do," he protested. "I never cheat on you; I take care of you. Im good boyfriend, Emma."

"But you don't love me like you used to," she whispered, her voice cracking. "It's like you're just going through the motions. I can't keep living like this, Matt. I need to feel like I matter to you."

He reached out to her, his hand hovering over her cheek. "You do matter to me, Emma. More than anything in this world."

"Then why have you been so distant latley?" She questioned.

Matt sighed, his hand dropping to his side. "I don't know, Emma. Maybe I've been taking you for granted. Maybe I've been so focused on my career that I forgot about the most important thing in my life."

"And what's that?" she asked, her eyes searching his.

"You," he said firmly. "You are the most important thing in my life. And Taylor..." he paused. "Your right, I did have feelings for her. And it hurts so much for me to admit that because I have you. And I know I'm not supposed to feel that way, but I can't help it."

She reached up, cupping his cheek in her hand. "Matt, it's okay. I understand."

"But it's not ok, it's fucked up. You have put up with so much of my shit for months, Emma. I cared more about finishing this movie than I did about you. I'm the reason why you kissed that guy."

Emma pulled him into a hug, her arms wrapping tightly around him.

"I'm not so innocent either Matt. I shut you out because I was so insecure about our relationship. And I thought that kissing another guy could solve everything. I'm so selfish."

He pulled back, looking into her eyes. "We both made mistakes, Emma. No matter how many times we try to fix them, we just somehow find more ways to hurt eachother." Matt took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. "But that dosent mean we should give up on each other. We can fix this, I know we can."

Emma nodded; her expression determined. "We will. And this time, we won't make the same mistakes."

Matt gently pulled Emma into his arms, his lips pressing against hers in a soft embrace. "I will never understand what I did to deserve you,” he whispered.

Emma giggled, her soft fingers pinching the side of his cheeks. "I love you, Matt. No matter how much you make me angry sometimes. You still know how to make me love you all the time."

He pulled away, a small smile on his face. "And I love you too, Emma. No matter what happens."

As he spoke, he could feel his heart ache with regret and guilt, but he pushed those feelings aside, focusing on the promise of a brighter future with the woman he loved. The world around them seemed to fade away, and all that mattered was the two of them.

The end.

P.S. I’m looking forward to posting more often 😊

Tag list: @gemini-mama @emilyhufflepufftlk

[morsinteritus]

No words can elaborate how much pain and damage you've done.

No amount of faking it and standing brave will ever make up for what you did

No pleas of "sorry"s and other ways you wish to mend it (as if you wanted to anyway with how you see me as wrong every step of the fucking way) will ever fill the gap you've punctured in this hollow heart i possess.

You will never get me back but i will still eat with you and the pack of wolves in sheep's clothing which you de facto lead every single recognition day.

I will only talk if you beg and beg for me to say yes. Given you never want to beg for others, it will never happen.

Besides, calling me "it's always about you" and saying "wara man sato malinig" was the final nail in the coffin for a relationship in which you had nothing worth offering back.

You were so boring that you couldn't talk anything about yourself that i even had to talk to you for months about updating myself and you couldn't insert yourself ANYWHERE INTERESTING. THEN YOU HAD THE AUDACITY TO SAY "IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT ME" when you've never ever given anything bout yourself. I was the only one efforting on that boat whilst your bullshit exploitative and manipulative savior complex gets the better of you once I'm your groupmate and you call it an act of friendship when it was your obligation to do as a fucking leader so irregardless if i was your groupmate or not. I AM SO SICK OF YOU and the fact that I've ended up this sick and pathetic that my coping mechanism is to fight my pain with more pain and stress to counteract the damage you've done is slowly driving me physically ill. I hate that this anger hasn't disapitated despite my emotionless face everytime i go outside. I hate that i loved you that much i started hating you and how i remember every bullshit you say that you change every single time a new person asked. I hate that i feel like i mustn't be angry and don't deserve to voice out. I hate that you will never know you are the one in the wrong and won't stop with your bullshit on wokeness and contemporarily shit mindset and oneliners. Your voice is so irritating saying those things I wished that I was either fully deaf to not hear that homoerotic voice your larynx has been playing the minute you started puberty or hoped I had a knife to slit open your throat to rip that voicebox out in order to break whatever repetitive disc recording of whatever you present in every fucking research time that turns me into an overstimulated monster as I breathe and continue to relapse from the damage you did.

I may as well be Sisyphus as everytime I heal back such wounds tend to return in the morning back to square one; a pain comparable to that of Prometheus, forever bound to a mountain with a vulture eating out his liver and the latter growing back again every day to be eaten. I am trapped in a cycle. I am trapped in the hell you've made me feel while you enjoy your life after ruining another. I wonder if ever i do become valedictorian i will add this segment in my speech. I wonder if i will immortalize you in some way so infamously disgusting you'd see just how much regret you would have for a man who stated he has no regrets in life and proceeds to whine how he should've done something about a decision he had complete control on but couldn't because he's lazy.

Papa was right. I should've killed you that day. I should've taken your life. Your lucky all i did is sob and never got my urges over me.

[delicatelystrangepolice]

So I finally deleted Exquisite Hearts from the internet

I have been thinking about it since before I even posted it. A completely weird thing for me to do because I felt like I had enough experience with writing and posting to know where I stand.

Exquisite Hearts took me on such an unpredictable journey that it took me half a year to realize the impact.

The writing process was nice. It was so nice I got a little too excited about it. It felt so special. I don't think anyone can realize how special that was. Not even myself.

It was the first thing I wrote creatively in a really long time. It was the thing that put this little hopeful spark in my mind: you can do this. See? You are doing it! I was so happy writing it that I didn't even realize I was invested in it to the point of neglecting my own mental health.

I lost an entire summer on it. The summer when I should have been relaxing and unwinding, not putting more stress on myself.

But the rational part of me slapped me in the face and screamed: You ARE relaxing! You are writing a stupid bullshit fanfic, it's not rocket science! There are literally no stakes in it! Nobody cares, you shouldn't either!

Well. I cared anyway.

The problem with this story wasn't the fact it was bad. I wrote much, much worse things in the past. Some of them are still all over the internet and they are so bad that I can't even get through them. Riddled with mistakes, terrible English, half-baked scenes, and zero original idea behind them. I still like them. It doesn't bother me it's out there. I can even get some comments here and there after years and think fondly of the times I was involved in them.

My idea of writing fanfiction comes from a very private, very sincere place. People write for fandom because they want to share. They want to share the love, the creativity, their fantasies, their writing. I still think it's a wholesome thing we can have here - this world of sharing just out of pure love. I don't want to change my view of fanfiction, because I like this aspect of it the most. I want art to be a thing of love. Not worrying about numbers or paychecks or recognition.

The problem for my personal journey with this story came when the two worlds crashed. On the one hand, I had this thing I loved so much - on the other the potential readers.

I posted it in a state of rush and let's say... desperation. When I started to write it I thought that the three months I had were more than enough to finish it. And it was an educated guess: I had nothing else going on, I knew my writing skills, I knew what I wanted this story to be. It went pretty smoothly from there.

What I didn't know was the fact how terrible I would feel about it.

I had six months to think about the whole fiasco and I still have no idea what went wrong.

For those last couple of months, I was trying to talk myself into a more positive attitude: just get back to work, you'll feel better about this whole thing. It's just a story. It's a good enough story. You just wrote a thing, and look, you even made something out of it! You got a wonderful writer talking to you, encouraging you even - isn't that worth something? Just leave it be, you will feel better about it when the right time comes.

Somehow, it never came. Every time I went to ao3 and saw it sitting there uselessly it bothered me. I didn't want to think I was too sensitive to cope with such bullshit (because WHY?? Why would I even be bothered by it??) but the fact remained. I hated it the most of all my stories and I thought - this story does not deserve this much hate. It's your little hopeful baby. Nobody cares about it like you do. Just get over it.

I wrote some things in the meantime. Just to feel happy about it again. I didn't.

I even beta-read some stories for another author because I thought - well, you obviously can't write for shit but maybe you could be useful for something. And my use of 'beta-reading' here may be a little out of proportion - I just went there, trying to feel brave and give someone something I needed with Exquisite Hearts myself: a little help, a little encouragement, and a little love.

(Despite my agony and stress over other things, I hope at least that one went well. She wrote her stories and I hope she still loves them.)

The first mistake I made writing Exquisite Hearts was to think I wanted to post it. I didn’t want to believe it was a mistake for a long time. But it was. And if it takes deleting it to undo it, so be it.

When September came I already knew: I wouldn’t be writing for a long time after that. For the next couple of months, I was trying to bullshit myself into thinking that maybe I just wasn’t in the right mindset, maybe I was just being dramatic, maybe it didn’t have to be this miserable. Nothing changed. And believe me, I tried.

I know nobody can help me with that. This thing? Is me trying to help myself.

[shychick-52]

Hmm, seems I was in the minority. Oh, well!

I prefer the idea of Gandra officially joining Team Science as an employee. I respect her anticapitalist, independent values, but:

She and Fenton would be able to be together all the time, work and do science together all day and every day.

Scrooge always allows Team Science an enormous deal of creative freedom (and especially with the buzzards gone, that would only increase), which I think Gandra would really appreciate in her passion for super-science and pushing the boundaries of science. Plus, I can see Scrooge having come a long way from the uptight businessman he still showed signs of in early season 1 when he told Gyro his machines were too dangerous, threatened to cut his funding if another invention went wrong, etc. I can see him really trusting his team now, especially after it really became cemented at the end of 'The Last Adventure' (after the final battle, where they all worked together to defeat Bradford) that everyone- friends and allies alike- is his family.

I can see her learning to respect Scrooge a lot more after the battle with F.O.W.L. in 'The Last Adventure.'

We know Gandra works very well with Gyro and the rest of Team Science from when she teamed up with them to defeat Beaks in 'Beaks In the Shell' and to disable the Solego Void in 'The Last Adventure' (and key points of those times are when Gyro hugely praised the GizmoCloud that Fenton and Gandra worked so hard on, Gyro figured out and fixed the problem with the glitches in the GizmoCloud, and Gandra risked her life to save Gyro and Ludwig Von Drake from Bradford's attack- while taking the majority of the hit- without a second thought)

Gandra's been essentially alone for so long, faced rejection, and always convinced herself she didn't need anyone as a means of masking her pain. But now that she's in a loving, supportive relationship with Fenton- the only one who ever cared about her and saw so much more in her than a dangerous crackpot and a crook- she's learned what it means to not only be cared about, but to care about others in return. And after the welcome reception/approval and trust she received from first Huey, then Gyro for her part on the GizmoCloud, and Fenton's mom as his girlfriend (after being so scared to go public with both their relationship and the GizmoCloud, for fear of continuing to be judged and misunderstood), she started to really know what it was finally like to have friends and to belong for the first time. And at the end of 'The Last Adventure', during the group victory when Scrooge told Bradford "I didn't defeat you- my family did! All of them!" I like to think that's when she really felt not only free, but officially part of a family.

@justaboot @writebackatya About Gandra actively working for Scrooge's competitors... you don't mean Beaks or Glomgold tho, do you? I mean, obviously, there's no way she would work for Beaks again, and I honestly can't see her taking a job for Glomgold because of what a pos he is (plus, I can't see her working for anyone who would want her to harm the Ducks or do any bad stuff after F.O.W.L.; I can't see such a step backwards in her character development). Plus, after she and Fenton launch the GizmoCloud, surely her options would no longer be limited to only villains who don't care how much destruction her inventions cause, because she would finally gain the recognition she deserved from the scientific community, so I can see her actually getting a ton of job offers from actual legit people. (Also, when you said actively taking a job with Scrooge's competitors, did you mean full-time or freelance? If full-time, I'm curious how come, since I thought the majority favored her as a freelance scientist?

@writebackatya It honestly bothered me too that Fenton continued to have a bathroom stall as his workspace after Gyro sincerely promoted him (and pretty much told him he would start treating him with the respect and support his own mentor never gave him) at the end of 'Astro B.O.Y.D.', and that he called him "Dr. Intern" (like, he called him "Dr. Crackshell-Cabrera" when he promoted him, so wtf??)... but I honestly don't think that Gyro continued to treat Fenton like shit. I think he honestly did treat him much better, and also that he did offer Fenton his own workspace in the lab, but that Fenton humbly declined because he's used to it in there... because it's the only logical explanation after Gyro's sincerity when he promoted him (and both Fenton and Gyro would explain this to Gandra). What are your thoughts?

[starlightxsvt]

I Like It When You Love Me

➳ pairing — artist!the8 x wife!reader

➳ genre — broken marriage au, primarily angst, fluff, smut.

➳ word count — 6.6k

➳ synopsis — the canvas of your marriage with your husband, world known artist, minghao is seeming to tear apart. it wasn't always like this and you don't know how long you can hold on when you can't see a future for the two of you.

➳warnings — marriage troubles, cursing, drinking, anxiety, arguments, sickness(fever), medication, misunderstanding, lots of crying, allusions to cheating, pregnancy talk, unprotected sex(don't do this irl), emotional sex.

➳ playlist — i like it when you love me- oh wonder// wish- choi yuree// lie- sasha sloan//say you love me- jessie ware// lie again- seventeen// breaking down- ailee// hai cheng- the8// without you- seventeen.

It's late when your aching feet hit the cold floor of your home.

The wall clock reads 12 am. With a grunt, you head to your bedroom, annoyed at the thought that you didn't have many hours at home before you had to go to work at eight.

The past week has been extremely hectic and being the managing director of a leading private company does not help as more duties keep being handed over to you. But you aren't usually a pushover. You wouldn't have accepted all these works or spent all these stupid extra hours at work had you not been feeling this pain.

This horrible, diabolical pain that has you overworking just to numb it.

Minghao had returned from a five-day trip to Paris this weekend and you were so excited to have him back, eagerly awaiting to spend some quality time with him as he promised before he left.

Except, you got none of that. Minghao returned and then drowned himself in work, saying that he had to finish two pieces within this month for an important client.

Hurt would be an understatement for what his words made you feel. Disappointment, desperation, anger, sorrow and a million other feelings went through you and you wanted to smash things around and tell him to fuck off with his artwork.

Only you didn't. You just nodded and let him go do his work, creating masterpieces. Masterpieces that have now become far more precious than you, even though he once claimed that you were the most precious thing in his life.

That was a long time ago.

In the two years of your marriage, it wasn't always like this. It had started happily, full of love and understanding and all good things until slowly your husband gained popularity and were asked to attend a thousand functions at a thousand different places over the globe and create more and more artworks for important elites.

That was okay. It made you extremely happy that he gained the recognition he deserved. But what was not okay was the distance that started to form between the two of you despite your best efforts. At first, he asked you to come along with him, and see the world and however tempting that offer was, you had your life set here. Your job, your family and friends, the house that you two had just bought. So, you denied his offer and let him go on his way.

But you visited. During the second week of his month-long stay in Rome, you flew over to visit your husband whom you had missed desperately. Though after you arrived, you realized it was a bad idea. Your husband barely had time to eat with the numerous orders for paintings piling up and he spent all day locked up inside a room with only his paints and brushes. If he was happy to see you he didn't get to express it much.

Still, you stayed. You stayed a week and then a couple of more days just because you longed to be close to your husband, breathe the same air as him.

Eventually, you had to return home, to your work. Later, when he came back from Rome, you thought you'd finally have him all to yourself but how wrong you were.

Your husband was exhausted and he slept for a whole day straight. But you couldn't hold that against him. So you cooked for him, cuddled him and took care of all his needs. And then, a day later, everything was back the way it was as he left early in the morning for a meeting with a curator, throwing apologies your way.

It all went downhill from there. He was always with his work, breathing it in and out as it became the sun of his solar system; replacing the sun that was once you. His apologies stopped coming and you stopped expecting them because for one, they didn't change anything and two, they only made you feel guilty. Like you were holding your husband back from his success.

So you let him go. Let your marriage go. You stopped asking when he'd return home and instead said it was all okay and if he needed anything you'd be there.

But on days like today, you regret your decision. On long, exhausting days like today, you don't want to do anything but come home to your husband and let him hold you in the safety of his arms like he once used to.

But your desire stays like that, a desire, far from the reality in which you sit on the cold, empty bed that you share with your husband and weep.

-

You don't know if it's the alarm or the horrible thrumming of your head that wakes you from your slumber. Huffing, you shut down the noise and try to sit up, only to feel like your head might as well come off of your neck.

"Fuck." You hiss, rubbing your temples. You definitely can't go to work today with this headache.

With all your might, you manage to get yourself up and stumble towards the dining room as you desperately try to pour yourself some water.

"_____?" Someone calls your name.

You turn towards the direction of the voice and blink furiously, trying to focus through the numbing ache. "Hao?"

Your husband stands there, dressed for work as he sips a cup of coffee. You definitely didn't expect to see him as he always left for work before you.

"You alright?"

"Y-yeah." You breathe roughly and gulp down the glass of water you managed to pour yourself before you slump down onto the breakfast stool. "You're still here." You murmur, eyes closed as you rub your forehead.

"Yeah. I came home pretty late last night."

Pretty late. That means later than he already does.

"Do you have a fever? Or is it just a headache?" You feel him standing next to you.

"Headache." You murmur.

"Take some medicine then. Should I call Martha?"

Martha is your family doctor and despite her expertise, you can't tolerate her for more than a minute when she starts running her mouth. Which she always does and doesn't get the hint to stop anytime soon. You heavily doubt that's going to be helpful given your current condition.

"No. I'll just... rest." Your words come out slurred. You hear a sigh next to you before your husband puts a hand on your shoulder. "Alright, then. I need to get going. Call Martha if you feel too bad, hmm?"

You only nod and watch with blurry vision as your husband puts on his coat and heads out the door. The silence that follows is eerie. It stretches the gaping hollow inside your heart as you pathetically sit by yourself and let the silence wash over you.

For a little moment, you don't register the pain in your head. No, it is overtaken by the scathingly ache blooming in your heart as you realize your husband just left you by yourself when your head feels like it'll split into two, when you can barely see or walk straight.

You don't know what you had expected. Maybe a hug? A kiss? Words of reassurance? Or a promise of returning home as quickly as possible? Or to pick you up and tuck you in bed? Maybe heat something up for you? Maybe stay with you for a few minutes longer?

Tears burn your eyes as you sit and think about your miserable state. You are angry, frustrated, and in horrible pain but for the first time since this drought started between you and your husband, you feel hopeless.

There is no hope left for you. For this marriage. There cannot be when he saw you in pain and still chose to leave for work. And the hopelessness frightens you more than anything.

Your husband doesn't love you anymore. He doesn't care anymore.

The sound of glass shattering makes you realize you had just thrown it into the floor out of anger. And you can't bring yourself to care. You walk over the little pieces, breaking them further underneath your slippers as you head back into the bedroom and lie down.

Tugging the covers up to your chin, you close your eyes and cry silently, wishing you'd rather never wake up again.

But you do.

It's noon when you open your eyes again and this time it doesn't feel like you've been hit with a crowbar on your head. No, but it feels like you've been sleeping inside an oven, your skin covered in sweat and heat radiating off your face. As you press your palms to your head you realize you have a fever.

Great.

Sighing, you stand up on your wobbly feet and head to the kitchen to get something for your groaning stomach. Ignoring the shattered glass lying on the floor, you heat up the leftover rice and curry you found in your fridge.

Alone and miserable, you finish the food that now has lost its flavourful taste.

Much like your marriage.

Then you grab the medicine box and quickly swallow some pills before you sit on the large couch in your even larger living room.

The afternoon light pours in from the large windows, bathing the room in a beautiful, angelic shade of golden. The sunlight falls on a particular piece of artwork that hangs on the wall of the living room, painted by your dear husband.

The artwork is simple but vibrant, realistic and full of emotions, just like all the works of your husband. It's a painting of two hands, one holding the other, a beautiful ring adorned on the ring finger of the woman's hand. The woman is you and the man is your husband.

He drew this piece after he had proposed to you and then gave it to you as your wedding present. You remember being delighted and shedding a few tears at the marvelous artwork and remember being even more delighted on the day you tied the knot.

You thought you had found your happily ever after. That no matter what, you had your husband and he had you and together you'd get through anything the world threw your way. Only two years later, you now sit alone and feverish, in a large house that contains nothing but you the painful echos of your heart.

The memories once beautiful have now become bitter and before you start shedding more tears, you push yourself up and head towards the bathroom to take a bath. Once done, you retreat into your bed and let the wallowing grief swallow you whole once more.

It's nighttime when you wake up.

9:46 to be exact. Your headache is pretty much gone and the fever has come down a bit but you still feel drowsy and exhausted. You hear the shower running which makes you think you are hearing things.

But no. The wristwatch and wallet sitting on the dresser assure you that you didn't hear wrong and that your husband is home. Which is a record. He's never home this early. Well 9 pm isn't anywhere near early but comparing that to his usual 11 am or even later entrance, this sure is a record.

You sit up as you hear the shower stop. A few minutes later Minghao emerges from the bathroom, wearing a loose pair of pajamas.

"Oh, hey. You're up." He smiles. "How do you feel? Did you take some pills?"

You only nod as you watch his naked upper half. How long has it been since you saw him naked? You can't remember. The feeling leaves a bitter taste in your mouth.

"Good." He hums as he puts on a tee. "I ordered some vegetable soup for you. It should make you feel better."

Once again, you nod.

"Oh, I found some broken glass on the floor. Did you get hurt?"

"No, I dropped a glass by accident."

"Oh. Well, I've cleaned it up so don't worry. I'll get the table ready. Freshen up. Let's eat it while it's hot." He says as he heads out of the room. You sit in silence for a while, processing the situation before doing as he asked.

-

The silence at the dinner table is borderline suffocating. The air between the two of you is tense and it chokes you as you have trouble swallowing the warm soup. You wonder if it's you who only feels this way. Your husband, sitting opposite you, eats his dinner in a relaxed manner and you have no idea what is going on in his head.

As impassive as ever.

"When did we become like this?" You whisper, almost to yourself as a wry smile sets onto your lips. Minghao's eyes lock with yours as he frowns. "What?"

You sit straight and clear your throat. You need to get this over with. "When did we become like this, Minghao? Since when has it become so tense between the two of us? It has been months since we shared a meal— since I shared a meal with my husband and what are we doing? We're acting like strangers, like we're not fucking married to each other! Like.... like everything is fine!"

"Everything is fine. What are you talking about?" His voice is calm and it makes your blood boil.

"Fine? Everything is fine?" You scoff. "When was the last time we went on a date? Okay, never mind, when was the last time we had sex? Or hugged each other? Or kissed properly? You know what, fuck all that, when was the last time we, a married couple had a proper conversation or saw each other for more than two minutes?" By now you have stood up and are yelling, your fists banging on the table as you pour out everything bottled up inside you.

Minghao's brow knit into a frown as he hears you ramble. He gently sets down his spoon and intertwines his fingers as he sits and stares at the table in silence.

"You actually think everything is fine, huh?" You're baffled. "You have nothing to say."

"You know how busy I have been." His voice is quiet.

The audacity of this man!

"How dare you say that, Minghao?" You seethe. "You are trying to tell me that for the past eight months, you've been so busy that you couldn't spend a few minutes of quality time with your wife?"

He remains silent and you feel like you are tumbling down an abyss of dark despair. He doesn't seem even a little bit worried or regretful. Has he truly moved past you or, is it...

"Have you found someone else, Hao?" Your voice is tiny. His wide eyes land on yours.

"What? No! How could you say that?"

"When you barely have time for your wife, one can think that, no?"

His lips form a hard line. "No, ____. I'm not seeing anyone. I've so much work to do I barely have time to sleep."

"Yeah, that's it. Work, work and work. All you do is work. I look at you and honestly, I feel like you're the only person in the world who works. I've never seen someone as busy as you, so we all must be jobless, huh?" You sneer.

Fury blazes in his eyes as he abruptly stands up, making the legs of the chair scratch loudly against the floor. "You have no right to talk like that! Do you know how much pressure is on me? Do you know how much people expect from me? Do you think we'd be living in this huge fucking house and driving nice fucking cars without my hard work?"

"That's the thing!" You scream. "I never wanted a huge house or a fucking car! I've only ever wanted you! I want my husband to be with me. I want to come back home to my husband and I want to be his priority just as he's mine. I just want you, Hao." Your voice cracks, your arms slumping at your sides in defeat.

He keeps scowling at you, his jaw clenched. Moments pass by and you expect him to say something but instead, he walks away from the dining table and towards the hanger by the door, from where he picks his coat, slings it on his shoulder and walks out the door.

You stay rooted in your spot, absolutely baffled.

Moments pass by as your brain processes everything that has taken place in the last ten minutes. And then, the headache returns. Stronger than before. So intense that you've to sit back down on the chair and clutch your head tightly.

The pain is strong enough to distract you from the fact that you are crying. When you realize, you're angrier at yourself.

The last thing you should be doing is shedding tears. You did nothing wrong. You addressed the elephant in the room and it is his fault for running away instead of talking to you.

Gosh, when did it become like this? When did he become like this?

More tears gather in your eyes as you think back to the times when things were not like now, when you never imagined one day it could come down collapsing.

You used to be each other's world. Where did it go wrong? Did you not try enough? Or is it simply the fact that he doesn't love you anymore?

The absolute despair makes you want to rip your hair out and you're more annoyed by the stupid headache, making you feel pathetic and weak. Trying to shake the pain and the tears off, you stand up and drag yourself to the bedroom, locking the door behind you.

If he comes back, he can sleep in the other room. There's no way you're letting him in your bed tonight.

Switching off all the lights, you crawl into bed and close your eyes, trying to tune out the throbbing in your head and the events of this evening.

-

You wake up with cold sweat. The first thing you feel is your headache which has gotten significantly worse since last night. It feels like someone is pounding against your temples and it's going to crack anytime soon.

The next thing that captures your attention is the early morning sunlight, pouring from the windows and flooding the room, in turn burning your eyes. Who the hell drew out all the blinds?

Then, you feel something against your cheek, warm and soft. Confused, you blink repeatedly, which proves to be a hard job due to the headache and try to focus your vision. Tilting your head just a little you find a man sitting by the bed, one of his hands stroking your cheek with the softest touch.

It's your husband, you realize after a second.

He looks different. Very different than last night. The harsh lines on his face, the anger in his eyes, the hardness in his jaw are all gone. They are replaced with a soft, worried gaze, his brows furrowed in concentration as he gapes at you intently, his lips parted just a bit. The morning light floods in from behind him, casting him with an ethereal glow and you forget to breathe for a second as you simply take in his beauty.

"Baby? You're awake?" He calls, shifting closer to you.

Baby. It has been a long time since he called you that. The fondness and love in his voice are ironically unsettling.

Swallowing, you try to speak but no words come out. You lick your lips and immediately your husband reaches for the bottle of water by the bed. Helping you move your head, he holds it against your lips, tilting it softly. "Drink, baby. Slowly."

Once you are done he sets the bottle back down and sighs heavily, "Gosh _____." He shakes his head. "Why did you lock the door? Do you know how sacred I got when I came home and found the door locked and you were not replying?"

It takes you a while to process what he's saying and once you realize it, you feel a little guilty. You did it to keep him out not intending to make him worry.

"Thank god we had spare keys," he sighs, rubbing his forehead before brushing away the hair over them. Then his eyes set on you. "Your head hurts doesn't it?"

You only nod.

He once again, sighs loudly as he gives you a look that is akin to what a mother looks like at her bratty child. "Why didn't you take some medicine last night?" He scolds, reaching for the folded towel beside you and wiping your forehead. "You need to eat now. Then you can have your medicine." He announces as he stands up. "Let me bring breakfast here. Do you need help to go to the bathroom?"

Bathroom. Right. Your bladder is bursting.

Pushing the covers away you shake your head as a reply and gently get out of bed. Despite your response, Minghao stretches his arms around you in case you lose your balance as you slowly head towards the bathroom.

"Don't lock the door." He commands once you're inside and heads of the room to get breakfast. You do your thing and as you wash your hands your eyes fall on the mirror, almost scaring you.

You look gaunt, tired and messy and it makes you cringe. You splash water on your face repeatedly in an attempt to look a bit more refreshed before admitting defeat and crawling back to bed. Soon after, Minghao returns, with a small foldable table that carries your breakfast. A healthy heap of pancakes, yogurt and berries with orange juice.

"I can't eat all that." You whisper.

"Shush." He gives you a pointed look, setting the table in front of you and starting to cut the pancake into pieces for you.

You want to protest but you're too tired and it feels nice to be doted by your husband. So you opt to just watch him, wondering what could have happened that caused such a dramatic flair in his behavior.

Your head hurts too much to think so you put a pause on those thoughts.

Once done cutting the pancakes into bite-sized pieces, he doesn't hand the fork to you but stabs a few pieces and holds them against your lips. Like an obedient child, you open your mouth and let him feed you.

And so, in silence, he repeats this motion and you happily comply, too tired to even move. Once you are finished eating, he quickly reaches for the cold medicine and drops a couple of pills in your palm with a glass of water. Once you've taken your pills he gives you a soft smile with a pat on your shoulder before taking all the utensils and placing them on the table as he heads out of the bedroom.

You start to feel drowsy, your eyelids starting to feel heavy once again as your head lies against the headboard. A while passes by and you suppose your husband is doing the dishes. Or maybe he's having breakfast. Has he eaten? You forgot to ask.

Just as your mind begins to wander, he's back. "Feeling sleepy?" Minghao asks, a fond smile on his lips as he notices your sleepy eyes. You hum and not, shifting to lie down and he's quick to rush over, helping you lie down and pull the covers up to your chest. Then you watch him close the curtains, darkening the room so that you can fall asleep.

"Sleep for a while. When you wake up, you'll feel a lot better, trust me." He says coming back over to you and much to your surprise, he crawls into the bed with you. You're even more surprised when he pulls you into his arms, placing your head right below his chin as he hugs your body, whispering, "I'll lie with you till you fall asleep."

The gesture warms your heart and gives your stomach butterflies but you say, "Are you sure? I'm sick. You could get sick too."

"Mhmm." Is the reply you get.

There's a beat of silence as you lay still in his arms before you ask, "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah. Just before you woke up."

Another pregnant pause, this one longer than before.

"We need to talk, you know." Your voice is as soft as a feather. You hear silence for a while, which makes your heart drum loudly against your ribcage.

What is he thinking?

"I know." You hear him sigh. His arms wrap around your shoulder tighter as he speaks. "We will when you feel better."

-

True to his words, you feel a hell lot better the next time you open your eyes. The sky is shaded with hues of orange and pink and blue, indicating dusk has fallen.

The bedroom is empty and you can't hear any sounds from outside, wondering if your husband is at work. It is the most probable scenario, considering he had spent so much time looking after you this morning.

With a sigh, you head for the bathroom and start drawing yourself a bath, in which you soak for a long long time. When your fingers are all pruned and you start to doze off, you get off, drying yourself and putting on some nice clothes.

You take your time brushing your hair and doing your skincare with special care since it has been a while since you felt like yourself.

Once done and happy with how you look you emerge from the bedroom to find the apartment empty as you had assumed. For a while, you contemplate whether to call your husband and ask about his whereabouts but you decide against it, not ready to go back to the previous routine.

Instead, to satisfy your growling stomach, you look through the cupboards and gather all the essentials to make yourself some grilled cheese. You're pleased to find your whole pantry stocked and you realize your husband took the liberty of doing the groceries when you were sick. Though it's a simple act, it warms your heart and makes you smile.

As you are toasting the bread for the grilled cheese, the front door opens, making you frown. A moment later, your husband pads into the main area and upon seeing you, knits his brows in confusion.

"Hey," you give him an awkward smile. He looks more puzzled. "Hey. Why are you cooking? Aren't you sick?"

"I feel a lot better and I was hungry." You shrug. You notice he is wearing what he was this morning and it makes you wonder where he actually was.

"Let me do that. You should rest some more."

"No, I'm fine, Hao. I'm tired of lying in bed all day. I need to do something." You decline as you reach for a piece of cheese and carefully put it on top of the bread. You can feel your husband's eyes trained on you and clearing your throat, you ask. "Where did you go?"

"Downstairs. Studio. Had to tie some loose ends."

Minghao's studio is on the first floor of this condo since you both decided that it would be better if he had a separate space for his work and not somewhere that is too far away from your home. So when you two came across a space on the first floor, you rented it out immediately.

Nodding, you focus on grilling your toast. You expect him to leave you, maybe go freshen up but he stays immobile in his spot, quietly watching you.

You frown. "Would you...like one?" You motion towards your grilled cheese. He shakes his head.

"We should talk."

There's a heavy pause in the air. You watch him for a few beats, swallowing the lump in your throat before nodding softly. "Yeah, we should."

It's time to lay all your cards on the table.

Turning the stove off you put aside your snack and take a seat on the couch. Your husband follows you and sits down right beside you but maintains a few meters of distance.

The tension is crackling in the air and as much as you'd like to break it, you've said all you had to yesterday, so now it's his turn to speak. Hence, you wait patiently.

"I'm sorry." His voice is quiet. "For lashing out at you yesterday. For everything."

You stare at your lap where your fingers fidget with each other.

"I... really don't know what is the right thing to say. I know I've fucked up big time and I'm...scared I'll disappoint you more." He breathes, his wide, pained eyes trained on your face.

You heave out a sigh. "I'm listening, Hao. I'm here and I'm listening."

"Right." He swallows, nodding before taking a deep breath and starting. "I'm sorry. I...got my priorities messed up. I took you for granted and I never should have done that. It's just that..." He swallows, searching for the right words as you watch him with patience. "I got lost in work. I mean, one day I have barely any orders and suddenly I have so many clients and so many events to show up at. I got lost. I didn't want to disappoint them but instead, I disappointed you and I didn't even realize it." He shakes his head at himself.

You feel awful for him and your hand itches to reach out and cup his cheek, smooth away the lines of worry on his face. But you hold yourself.

"I'm so fucking sorry. I could never apologize enough. But know that you've always been the most important thing in my life and you always will be. I just... forgot that. But now I'm here, ____. I'm here and I promise to never let you down again. Just give me another chance." His desperate eyes search for yours, his hands reaching for yours and holding them tightly.

"Oh Hao," you whisper, a lone tear traveling down your cheek. "No, no, no." His hands immediately wipe it away as he says, "Please, don't cry. I know you're mad at me and if you want to be alone, I'll let you be. I just needed— "

"Xu Minghao!" You admonish him with a pout. "I'm not really mad. Not anymore." You whisper.

You can literally see the burden weighing on his shoulders lift.

"Really?" His voice is like a gleeful child's.

You nod, moving closer to him and snaking your arms around his neck, fingers playing with his mullet. "Though you still have to do some work to make it up to me— "

"I promise I'll do anything."

"And, make sure this never happens again, hm? Whatever happens, don't push me away Hao. We're in this together. If you're busy let me know. Call me. I'll do anything to help you, my love."

Your husband's eyes turn glassy.

"I know. I'm...so sorry. I'm such a bad husband."

You frown. "No, Hao. Don't say that. You're a wonderful wonderful man and I'm so lucky to have you."

"Really?" A small smile makes his lips twitch.

"Really." You smile. "We all make mistakes, love. What's important is to learn from them and not repeat them. And I know how much painting means to you. You finally had your big break so I suppose you got a little overwhelmed."

His hands reach out to hold yours as he nods shakily. "Yes, I did get overwhelmed. But not anymore. I've got my priorities straight." His eyes gleam as you clearly hear the promise in his voice. It sets your body aflame.

"Good because you should get working on making it up to me. You can start by taking me to bed and you know..." You give him the bedroom eyes as your fingers trail over his neck, teasing him with your touch.

There's a spark in his eyes that shoots desire throughout your body. "Anything you want, my queen." He gives you a teasing smile.

You bite your lip as he quickly pulls you with him, feet moving straight towards the bedroom. As soon as you step in, he pushes you onto the bed and quickly starts taking off his cardigan and then his tank top.

You watch with a lust-fueled gaze, your husband's beautiful body appearing in front of your eyes after a long, long time. Giving you an almost shy smile, Minghao takes off your top for you, leaving you half bare and then kneeling to take your pants off. You aid him in his work as he tugs it off with your panties and a flurry of embarrassment courses through you as you remember you haven't shaved in a while.

Just as you attempt to hide yourself, your husband catches on and gives you an admonishing look. "Uh uh. None of that, let me see my beautiful wife."

He takes off your pants all the way along with your underwear and wastes no time burying his face between your thighs.

The sensation is delightful as you throw your head back and moan loudly, unashamed. One of your hands moves to his head, grabbing his hair in a fist as you hold him against you, grinding on his mouth. You hear your husband moan, the sound muffled against your core and feel his hands trailing up towards your chest as he pinches your nipples.

Another loud moan makes its way out of you as your breath stutters and you gasp, the feel of his hands on your starved body sending shockwaves throughout you. "H-Hao...I won't last..." You croak, hand fisting the bedsheets tightly. The only response you get is a hum as he starts eating you out with renewed vigor, his tongue mercilessly flicking against your clit.

You keep grinding your hips against his face, desperate to feel him even more while your mouth remains hung open with the onslaught of pleasure. It all becomes too much when your husband wraps his lips around your swollen clit and sucks, hard, making you dive head first into your orgasm. A broken cry escapes your lips as he keeps the torture going throughout your high, before finally pulling back and standing up with a satisfied smirk.

You remain limp in the bed, breathing heavily and watching your husband with hooded eyes, his lips glistening with your arousal and a prominent bulge in his pants. Before you can ask him to take them off, he does so and with a mischievous smile moves on top of you.

"Ready baby?" He whispers, his hands moving over his shaft to lube it up with precum. You can only nod, pulling him closer by the neck and kissing him deeply. As you do so, he slips in and your body tenses up as you cry out in a pleasure so beautiful it's overwhelming.

He hushes you, kissing your forehead, waiting for a few moments to let you adjust. You can feel how tense his body is, how harsh his breaths are as he stays immobile to make you feel better.

"Move, p-please. I'm okay." You whisper, eyes searching for his. He swallows and nods, finally giving you a good thrust that makes the two of you moan out loud in pleasure. "Shit," he chokes, eyes screwed tight as he builds up a pace thrusting slow but deep inside you. "I'm not gonna last long." He breathes.

"Me neither," you whisper, your eyes only on him as your nails claw into his back. Even though your bodies are pressed against each other, that doesn't seem to be enough for you as you keep pulling him closer and closer, wrapping your body fully around his, your head resting on his shoulder.

The time away from each other suddenly washes over you, making you realize once again, just how much you truly missed him, his touch, his attention. So you cling to him like a koala as he builds up his pace and when you start feeling that particular tingle, that jolt of electricity down your spine, you warn. "Hao, g-gonna come."

"Thank fuck, love. I'm coming too. Come with me, I've got you." He whispers into your ear, holding you tightly in his arms as he delivers one final thrust and you see stars behind your eyelids as you come with a loud wail of his name.

It takes some time for you to come back to your senses fully and register your surroundings. Once you do, you find your husband lying next to you, arms around your torso, eyes closed as he breathes heavily. The stickiness of his come between your legs makes you wince and want to move but you decide against it, snuggling with your husband instead.

Everything else can wait. Now that you have finally got what you've been longing for, you simply let yourself relax and breathe in his scent, enjoying the moment.

As you both lie in silence, basking in the afterglow, your throat constricts all of a sudden and there's a heavy feeling settling in your heart. "Hao?" You croak. Your voice brings your husband to act immediately as he rests on one of his elbows and peeks a worried glance at you. "What's wrong, my love? Did I hurt you?"

A lone tear leaks down your eye at his tenderness. You reach up to his face, your fingers softly trailing over his gorgeous features. "No, no you didn't. I just— I really missed you, husband."

"Oh love," Minghao quickly wraps his arms around you, pulling you right into his chest and letting you breathe in his scent. It's your place of comfort and healing as you exhale a shaky breath, letting go of all the painful memories.

"I missed you too. And I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. Now all I'll do is make it up to you. Fuck everything else."

"What? No— your works... you have got a deadline. The Kim family asked you to — "

"They can wait. My only priority is you."

"Minghao," you try to give him a stern glare. "It's millions of dollars."

"And you're worth more." He shrugs, dropping a sweet kiss on your forehead. "Besides I've been needing a break for the longest time. I'm sure Mingyu will understand. I'm his friend, after all."

"Still...are you sure?" You whisper.

"A thousand percent. Let's go on a vacation, wife. Take a few days off, hmm?" He asks, hope brimming in his eyes.

You sigh as you rub your temples and give in. "Okay. I will. The past few weeks sucked. I guess I need a break too."

He smiles, blindingly beautiful and your heart soars with happiness. "How about Rome?" He whispers, trailing his lips over your jaw and down your throat.

"Mhmm," you only him, eyes falling close at the sensation.

"Also...there's something I wanted to propose to you." He pulls back to focus his eyes on you, his voice suddenly serious. You raise a brow at his sudden change in demeanor.

"It's about time we start working on making a baby, no?"

Your eyes widen at the proposal before heat spreads throughout your face. "H-Hao— " You're too stunned to speak.

"It's okay if you aren't ready, my love— "

"No! No! I'm ready! I'm ready." You fling your arms around your husband's shoulders. "I just... didn't expect you to bring it up. I thought you wanted to wait longer...?"

You hear his soft chuckle as he wraps one arm around you while cradling your head with the other. "As I said, I'm getting my priorities straight."

You can't help grinning like a goofball. "This better not be a split second decision, Xu Minghao. It is no easy feat to raise a baby." You try to sound stern. He nods solemnly, "I know, love. But I'm ready." His fingers lace with yours. "I want this. With you."

You pretend to release a dramatic sigh.

"Then let's get started, shall we?"

a/n: ik this was a rather plain fic but I thought I should write something simple for a change. i feel like the plot of this was a realistic one, even though it might be simple and predictable. we often overlook these storylines due to its simplicity but I believe they have their own charm. hope you enjoyed reading this and your feedbacks are highly appreciated!