#especially since only half of them make it to tumblr because the other half are so specific that without context they are nearly meaningless
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
"Olive Branch Unlimited Pasta Pass"
A less-than friendly encounter between Dogmark and Kenneth. 993 words. Read under the cut 👇
---
Mark grimaced at the jangle of the shop bell. It was ten minutes to closing; surely nobody needed taxidermy services this urgently. He was going to have to fucking sweep again, and why can't these people ever just put the dead cat in the damn freezer for the night?
He was halfway through his Customer Service Greeting-- a dry and listless "Hi, let me know if you need anything" with an implied "I hope you don't," when--
"Oh. Uh. Hi Kenneth," Mark coughed.
Kenneth, as it were, stepped into the Tucksidermy shop, taking in the many display shelves of magician squirrels, burlesque raccoons, and deer with hats, before finally catching Mark's attention. He smiled, though it did not reach his eyes. "Ah! Mark! Working hard?"
Kenneth let the shop door swing shut behind him; he held a large tupperware container tucked under one elbow, and his other hand gripped something in his pocket. For a man who had walked with a cane for as long as Mark knew him, Kenneth was moving with awfully fluid, easy strides.
Mark eyed the container with heavy suspicion. If there was someone's dearly departed family pet in there, he just might scream.
"Just. Uh. Closing up for the night," he said, setting his broom aside.
"Fantastic!" grinned the older man. "Then I hope you don't mind me asking: is Tuck in?"
Mark's pointed ears flicked.
Tuck had been different since coming back from the last mission. They hadn't told him everything that had happened, and the wedge between them and Kenneth remained vague handwaves and omissions. But still, holes in a story still leave behind the shape of some great and unspeakable thing.
And, if he was being honest, Mark was kinda creeped out by the way that guy was always so chipper. If he had more than a measly ounce of candor, he wouldn't have minded telling the old man to fuck off.
Mark slipped his glasses off and polished them on the front of his shirt.
"Tuck's not here," he lied.
Kenneth's face fell. "Oh! Are they, ah, are they alright?"
"Just-... Busy. I dunno."
This was, at least partially, the truth. The usual signs of Tuck is Working were present: Muffled FM radio pulsing through the wall. A hovering scent of blood and chemicals. A bearing in the workshop vent fan that squeaked at a frequency only dog ears could hear.
Kenneth furrowed his brow. "Oh. Hm."
That was another thing-- In the days since the mission to that facility, everyone had returned drained, bedraggled, frightened, or pissed off.
Everyone, that was, except Kenneth.
Kenneth, who Mark had seen take up jogging. Kenneth, whose familiar lines and wrinkles had begun to fade. Kenneth, whose sharpened eyes and revitalized wits now studied Mark, searching him for answers.
It all made Mark's skin crawl. Even as a grown-ass adult, he couldn't avoid feeling like a kid caught in a fib by a teacher. What the hell else was he supposed to say?Desperate for a break in eye contact, he replaced his glasses, grabbed the broom, and resumed sweeping.
Kenneth cleared his throat.
"Well, then, in any case, can I leave this here?" He was hoisting the container aloft in both hands. At Mark's skeptical stare at the plastic lid, he cracked open a corner, revealing a mess of pasta, tomatoes, and cheese.
Kenneth mistook Mark's sigh of relief for gratitude.
"Lasagna. I thought you both might appreciate some leftovers from dinner at Alice's house last night. So-- Ah, so sorry you had to miss it again!" The smile returned to his face. Uneasy. Apologetic.
Sorry. Right. Maybe they stayed home for a reason. Maybe they didn't want to be there with him. Maybe Tuck would have gone if he would just get rid of that fucking tape recorder. Mark's fingers twitched. Maybe he could take it from him the hard way.
He bit his tongue and swallowed his words.
"Um. Great," he said finally. He set down the broom and picked up the dustpan, dumping its contents unceremoniously in the trash.
"Ah," said Kenneth, crestfallen. Heavy silence fell over the two of them.
Once it was clear that Mark would make no move to accept the offering, Kenneth crossed the room and placed the container on the register counter. He patted the lid conclusively.
"Well, ah, I-... I hope you enjoy it!" A glimmer of hope clung to the edges of his words with desperation.
Once again, Mark said nothing. Folding his arms, his gaze darted from the tupperware, to the clock above it, to Kenneth. He sighed and swiped a hand down his face.
"Please go."
"Wh— Pardon?"
"We're closed."
Kenneth blinked. "O-oh, so soon?"
He swept his eyes across the shop. "Will, ah, will Tuck be back soon then, maybe?"
Mark thrust a clawed finger towards the door. "Get. Out," he growled, his human mask vaporized in an instant. A snarl curled up his snout, and his hackles bristled. Enough was enough.
The older man staggered backwards, eyes wide in terror. He raised his hands in submission and, without another word, fumbled open the door and slunk outside.
Mark slammed the shop door behind him and twisted the deadbolt shut. He glanced at the clock again. Five til was probably close enough.
Seething, he finished his chores and stalked out the back door.
Later, he rapped his knuckles on the doorframe to Tuck's workshop.
"Hey, we're all closed up now. I'm gonna get going." His voice shook a little, but he had at least managed to hide the dog back away.
Tuck looked up from its workbench. "Oh, heya Mark," it drawled. "Customers give ya any trouble today?"
"No. All good. See you tomorrow."
He hoisted the shop trash bag on his way out the door and slung it into the dumpster. It landed against the metal bottom with a heavy thud.
Kenneth's olive branch would be left there to rot until pickup day.
#ragsycon exclusive#ragsywrites#oc kenneth#oc dogmark#still have no consistent way of sharing what i write outside of the very specific discord channel i initially post these in#especially since only half of them make it to tumblr because the other half are so specific that without context they are nearly meaningles#anyway. guess who just got yelled at dot jpg
17 notes
·
View notes
Text
screaming in the club

time for another vent in tags
#so i was joking and i thought it came through but im also dumb and autistic and my jokes dont always cross. sO#i was joking about one of my roomates not seeing Nightmare Before Christmas before bc i was showing 2 of them my picture vinyl of it and whe#n one of them said they never saw it i said “but you were a loser on tumblr in the 2010s wdym” and their fiance was just rude to me and i th#ought it was clearly a joke but ig not and they lowley attacked me for it? im just?? i tried to clarify that i was joking and they know im a#utistic. hell the one i was joking to is also autistic but idk so now i feel like utter shit especially after all i did today thst juet drai#ned me. ive been trying to fix our 2nd shower. i had a meeting. i had an extremely hard therapy session. and i showered today. its been hell#like i am trying to get thru relapsing on SH and my ED and ofc they dont know but that shit made it worse and i dont want to say anything bc#then ill feel like im guilt tripping? idk but im also super nervous about a HRT appmt i have coming up and i cant afford it and we have no#food in the house i can eat rn and no one has gone shopping. i cant go shopping either bc i cant drive/dont have a car. and its making it#harder to help get back on track with eating when theres nothing for me to eat? so everything is fucking amazing right now.#the only meals i could POSSIBLY have and all claimed by the one roommate i was joking with. it all takes up half our freezer too so thats#fucking awesome. all this food for one person and none that i can eat or the other vegan in the house can eat. i have been hungry for DAYS.#all there has been for me to eat is cup ramen and grilled cheese. AND SOMEONE WHO WASNT FUCKING VEGAN ATE ALL THE VEGAN CHEESE IM GENUINELY#SO PISSED OFF? like dude yall have your own cheese wtf#the thing is its already really hard for me to tell when i am actually hungry bc of years of ignoring it so when i actually feel it and ther#es nothing it really gets to me. im so tired and idek where my EBT card is to get myself something. its all just so much.#i just want to lay in my bed and sleep for days. but i cant. i have too much shit to do. like even just tomorrow i have to clean the#bathroom. mop the kitchen. do dishes. shovel snow. and just generally take.care of shit because since we have 2 roomates MIA right now and#no one else wanted to do shit i had to step up and i am STRUGGLING. i have been for a while. the thing is everyone that didnt sign up for sh#it didnt have much going on besides probable seasonal depression#i relapsed. have debilitating mental health. i can barely get out of bed before 4 pm. and i have to take care of myself and my cat.#im so close to snapping on them at this point#i need the one roommate i actually like to come back or i swear i will lose my shit. hes only been gone for 6 days but HOLY SHIT#everything has gone to shit#vent over ig im going to sleep soon. still hungry if i cant find something.
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
I never thought I'd be creating an new account and being active on Tumblr again after years just to talk about a new THG book, but I've shipped Hayffie for more than half my life and people on Twitter are really getting on my nerves, so I needed to vent with people I know will understand.
I have some issues with certain narrative choices in SOTR, but I expected that since I’m not a big fan of prequels, especially ones released long after the original story. I think it's very tough to write a prequel more than a decade later without some things feeling like retcons. I had the same issue with TBOSAS, but I’m good at just ignoring that kind of thing. The original trilogy will always exist, so it doesn’t really affect me that much.
But I cannot stand seeing so many people saying the new book makes Hayffie impossible and acting like they're smarter because they don't ship it.
We've always known that Haymitch had a girlfriend when he was a teenager. It's not new information.
Haymitch and Lenore Dove had a sweet, young, idealized love - that ended up being an eternal what if and could it be if Haymitch had never gone to the Games, if Lenore Dove hadn’t died, if they had been born in a better world.
But Haymitch did go to the Games. Lenore Dove did die. They were born into a terrible world.
So why would it be so wrong for him to find love again? To allow himself to be happy? To have a relationship that works within the reality he actually lives in, instead of the one that could have been?
The reason I was drawn to Hayffie years ago and the reason most of my main ships are between mature characters instead of teenagers is because I’ve always found it more interesting when two people, in later stages of life, with scars, baggage, and different experiences, still manage to learn from each other, discover new things, and allow themselves to grow.
It’s so tragic to think of someone’s life as over when they were only 16. And Haymitch’s life is already tragic enough.
What SOTR establishes as canon shows that, despite all odds, Effie and Haymitch are gentle with each other from the very beginning. Despite all the propaganda and life in the Capitol, Effie is introduced as someone involved with the Games because of the love she has for her sister, as a kind person, as someone who knows Haymitch won’t hurt her.
Despite their social and ideological differences - and all the friction between them - they spend two decades keeping each other company in a horrible environment designed to discourage any kind of bond. They still work together as a team.
Post-Mockingjay, when they have to carry the weight of all their pain, torture, loss, and war, why is it so hard to imagine that they would help each other figure out who they are in a world without the Games? That they would help each other process the pain and learn to live with some peace and hope for the days ahead? That two people who know each other so well would slowly build their slow-burn romance, allowing themselves to love and be loved?
And none of this erases the impact or the feelings Haymitch had for Lenore Dove. It's just different. Simple as that.
He may believe that geese mate for life, but in reality, he hasn’t had the same life in a very long time. And in this new life, it’s Effie who walks beside him.
#it turned out way longer and cheesier than i expected but that's how serious they are to me#hayffie#haymitch abernathy#effie trinket#haymitch x effie#sotr spoilers#the hunger games#sotr
204 notes
·
View notes
Note
hi! i wrote the 141 fic and i just wanted to address this with as much grace as possible. I am half Black.
I didn't include Gaz in my fic because I don’t know him, that is LITERALLY it. My entire exposure to COD comes from Tumblr. I genuinely had NO FUCKING IDEA Gaz was part of 141. I thought he was like König or Keegan, who pop up in other parts of the fandom.
I KNEW THE OTHER THREE WERE A PART OF IT FROM CLIPS ONLINE (IE. GHOAP INTERACTIONS) AND OTHER TUMBLR FICS.
To accuse ME (black woman) of racism for that is not only unfair, it's harmful. your supporters have been bullying the fuck out of me and i've had to delete anon submissions and block people.
i'm not going to include someone just for the sake of optics, esp if I can't write them well. there are tons of other gaz writers. was i wrong in tagging my post 141 men? sure! did i know gaz was in 141? no. i know nothing about him. i would not do him any justice.
in the nicest way possible, i can write who i write. my blog is self indulgent and i write who i know best. gaz is SUPER HOT, yes, BUT i wasn't particularly inspired to write him in this particular scenario. just as i wouldn't write someone like bruce banner from the avengers in an "avengers men with a fussy wife" fic bc idk anything about him. i dont think people would get on my case if i did that, if it makes sense?
and i would love to learn more about gaz, but i'm not obligated to write about him. getting on your blog to spread a false narrative to your followers is kind of unkind, especially due to your big following. but i just wanted you to know i'm not some white girl with an agenda.
hope that cleared everything up! :) xx
I wanna say first and foremost, my intention was not to send people to spread hate, bully or maliciously attack you and in no way do I condone that. Especially since I myself am a fully black women. That’s my fault in every way and I should’ve been more careful with my wording and should watch myself because of my following moving forward. Im sorry.
Secondly, I do understand only knowing cod characters via fics and edits on this app/tiktok and it’s not anyone’s job to have to look everyone up when you get interested in one singular character. You also don’t have the obligation to write every character known to man in every drabble/fic. That’s fine.
The conversation to be had though would be about exclusion and micro aggressions.
I’m not expecting you to know the ins and out of cod fandom especially when I see you do write for different fandoms (as do I). But exclusion towards Gaz on this app and in edits and the like, is a major issue in the fandom because of his race. And it’s probably a reason you didn’t know Gaz was apart of the 141. This is something that happens to many characters that look like you and me (black people).
And yes, I see (and again I apologize) that excluding Gaz was not your habitual intention. And sure, not all characters fit a certain scenarios.
But you not realizing Gaz was apart of the 141 was a micro aggression in itself, that’s what micro aggressions are.
The unconscious actions. 
The unconsciousness of excluding ppl who look like you and me just because of our skin color, facial structure and builds, the constant need to make black ppl look like aggressors even we don’t do anything wrong, being “scared” of black ppl having “too much” fun.
And those who are white, those are POC and those who are even half black, tend to do it a lot. Same thing with black men and colorism and how it’s ingrained in society’s culture. It’s done Unconsciously. (Not all the time tho) And I’m definitely sure for the white/poc ppl who follow me, it flew over their heads. They just see racism and that’s surface level. Yes, maybe that’s on me for not explaining it further. But that’s something that me and you have to live with till the day we die. And you should understand that.
Lastly, I want to reiterate, I know you did not mean it. I know you don’t have to write for Gaz if you don’t want to. I know Gaz doesn’t fit for some scenarios, same way that Soap doesn’t or Price doesn’t.
But I am saying to watch your actions towards ppl who look like you and me because they pan out at the end of the day.
145 notes
·
View notes
Text
The Savage and the Sanctuary - Ch. 7: Precautions
You and Joel deal with a growing threat as you prepare to take on a new role. A continuation of The Savage and the Sanctuary, a no outbreak TLOU story, from the prologue through chapter 6 found on Tumblr here.
Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader
CW: Mild violence. No use of Y/N. Whole fic will be explicit so minors DNI, 18+ only.
Length: 7.7k
Fic Masterlist | Masterlist | AO3 | Prologue | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
Three Weeks Later
“You remember your talking points, right?” Quinn asked, watching Ellie closely. “And all the rules?”
“No,” Ellie said, rolling her eyes. “I’ve completely forgotten the four things you’ve told me because I’m fucking dumb.”
“Hey,” you said, giving her a look. “C’mon, kid.”
“I know, I know,” she sighed. “Language. Yes, I know I can’t swear. I have to talk about how great Sissy is…”
“You don’t have to,” you said, giving Quinn a look. “You should be honest.”
“Then I’ll tell them all about how you make me do the stupidest homework and don’t let me stay up late and also don’t let me beat up people at school even when they deserve it,” Ellie said, smug.
“No,” Quinn said quickly. “You can’t…”
You cut her off before she got too far.
“It’ll be fine,” you said. “Ellie, say whatever you think is best. However this interview goes, it’ll all blow over in a few weeks, anyway.”
“Just try not to swear quite so much, kiddo,” Joel said, his arms crossed as he hovered between you and the front door, waiting for the reporters to arrive. “You and I both know you know better than that.”
“But I like to fucking swear,” she smirked and Joel, you could tell, was trying not to smirk back. “But if Big Miller says so…”
“Jesus,” Joel rolled his eyes.
The doorbell rang and Quinn ground her teeth but went with Joel to answer the door all the same.
This interview had been a last ditch effort on Quinn’s part. The media had latched on to the concept of Ellie’s existence and hadn’t eased up since the news broke. Photographers still showed up outside her school half the week, paparazzi camped outside the gym where you’d been training for Savage Starlight and would yell questions with Ellie’s name in them at you, there were several viral posts theorizing that you and Anna had secretly been lesbians and Ellie was your daughter together.
It didn’t take long for you to reach your breaking point. Quinn had the idea to offer up an interview to the biggest publications, one in your home where you posed for pictures and answered questions about Ellie, the adoption, Anna, the works. In exchange, they agreed to stop buying photos of you and Ellie as you went about your private lives in Austin.
You hoped it worked. You didn’t want to have to uproot Ellie yet again. The whole reason you’d come to Austin to begin with was that Elise had retired here and you didn’t want to keep Ellie from the only blood relation she had left or ask Elise to move to whatever new place you decided to settle, especially if you’d just have to do this same song and dance again in six months to a year when the press found out where you were again.
You were, at least, out of your brace now. It had been a close call on the interview date, Frank planning a few outfits for you - some designed to downplay the brace, others without worrying about it - just to be safe. But the fracture had healed well and quickly, not requiring a full cast or any extended time in the brace. You’d gotten permission to take it off at your follow up appointment a few days earlier and had been relishing your new-found freedom ever since. Your training for Savage Starlight was slated to pick up more now that you were healed but you were enjoying the small reprieve where you weren’t dealing with the brace and weren’t sore and exhausted every night.
Once things calmed down with the paparazzi, though, you could handle it. You hoped, anyway. In part because, outside of all that, things had been going smoothly - even with your surly bodyguard.
It was still a total mystery to you what he’d meant by keeping things “professional,” but things had definitely been that. Cool and distant, no more sitting next to each other by the pool late at night or sharing a drink now and then - things which seemed perfectly professional in your opinion but apparently weren’t for him. But, while he wasn’t wearing the watch you’d given him, he never snapped at you like he did the day you’d presented it to him, either.
You took what you could get with him. It was a little disorienting, having someone treat you with such indifference - especially when he’d shown some basic, human care in the past. Not that you expected him to treat you the way everyone else did. You weren’t stupid, you knew that almost every person you interacted with every day treated you the way they did because you were famous and because you had a carefully crafted public persona that was only loosely tied to who you really were. They were either fans of someone who didn’t really exist but had your body and face and name or they wanted some proximity to your fame and all that came with it. Of course someone like Joel - who had to be around you all the time, whose job required him to move quickly regardless of your feelings - would treat you differently. But it still stung all the same. Anything short of the harshness he’d treated you with that day in your driveway felt like mercy and you were almost ashamed at how desperately you clung to that.
“Hey,” you said to Ellie, reaching out and taking her hand, giving it a small squeeze. Her eyes met yours. “I’m sorry about this. And you should know that you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. We can shut it down right now if you want.”
She smiled a little tightly at you, giving your hand a small squeeze back.
“I know,” she said. “But… this will make it all easier, right? They’ll leave us both alone and you won’t be as stressed?”
“No,” you shook your head. “I don’t want you to do this because you’re worried about my stress level or…”
“I know,” she cut you off, smirking a little. “But I’m also doing it for me. Fuck switching schools again, man.”
You laughed a little and rested your head against hers, taking a deep breath as you heard the distinctive sound of Quinn’s reporter wrangling voice from your entry way.
“Well, now you’ll get an idea of what I do every day,” you said, lacing your fingers with hers. “See just how boring it is so you can tell all your friends at school that they don’t actually want to be movie stars when they grow up.”
Ellie snorted.
“Please,” she said. “I know you’re really off doing cool shit while wearing fancy clothes all the time. Definitely one big party, no work at all.”
You laughed before getting up to go greet the reporter, slipping into the version of yourself that you shared with the press as you did.
The interview went surprisingly well. Quinn had handpicked the reporter so that wasn’t a surprise, a well known freelancer who didn’t ask anything too invasive. Ellie held her own, curbing her swearing (mostly, a few, more minor, curse words snuck in) and being her witty and charming self. The photographer posed the two of you together on your couch, by the pool with your guitars, by the kitchen island pretending to cook - even though you basically never did that yourself, anyway.
Joel hovered the entire time. You could feel his eyes on you, the intensity of his gaze sharp. He stayed at the back of the reporter and photographer the whole time they were in your house. His arms stayed crossed over his chest, his jaw set firm, eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
“Hey,” you said quietly, your hand going to rest gently on Joel’s back, when the photographer was focused on Ellie and the reporter was reviewing his notes. “You OK?”
“Fine,” he grunted, glancing over at you. “Just tryin’ to do my job.”
“It’s just a reporter,” you said, raising your brows and trying not to smile. “I don’t think they’re going to bite.”
He just made a disgruntled sound and kept his eye on the visitors, his whole body still tense.
He didn’t ease up until the reporter and photographer were gone and outside the gates of your property.
“That was kinda fun!” Ellie said. “A lot of bullshit but not that awful.”
You smiled a little.
“Good,” you said. “I’m glad it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.”
“Told you you don’t actually work,” she teased. You snorted and she turned her attention to Joel. “Hey Big Miller, wanna kill some zombies? I was playing a level the other night and getting my ass kicked, I could use another gun.”
You glanced toward Joel, still worried that, at some point, he would decide he wanted to keep a professional distance from Ellie, too. She’d grown attached to your bodyguard over the last few months, not that she would ever admit it. She sought him out often to play video games or watch a movie. You could usually hear when she got home from school when he picked her up because she was still laughing at something he said when she walked in the door.
It still surprised you, how the two of them had connected. You hadn’t expected a - presumably - single, childless man to have bonded with your brash teenaged niece so thoroughly. Had it been anyone else, it would have sent alarm bells ringing. You had plenty of reason to not trust the motivations of men, especially around teenaged girls, but there was something distinctly safe about Joel and his connection with Ellie. And she needed as many people to care for her as she could get. You didn’t want her to lose that because of some misplaced notion of propriety.
“Been a minute since we went and messed up some undead,” he said, noticeably less tense now that the only people in the house were you, him, Ellie and Quinn. “Guess we should go show ‘em who’s boss.”
“Fuck yeah!” Ellie said, punching the air. You didn’t scold her for her language choice, instead just smiling a little at the two of them as he settled into the couch and picked up the controller - the device looking oddly small in his large hands - before going to find Quinn in your office.
“Ellie’s got some natural skill,” Quinn said, glancing up from the Emmy that functioned as a paperweight on your desk. “She’s smart, charismatic. Got a hell of a mouth on her.”
“Tell me about it,” you snorted. “Aren’t you glad you usually only have to rein me in?”
“Wrangling the two of you all the time would be a bit much,” she said. “I get the feeling you just feed off each other…”
“Yeah,” you laughed. “It used to be worse, back when I wasn’t actually responsible for her and we could just goof off and hang out. Drove her mom insane. I’m half surprised she wanted me to take her when…”
You trailed off, a knot tugging at the back of your throat.
“We won’t get any kind of prior article review,” Quinn said, sensing that you were ready to change the subject. “But I’m sure it’ll be positive. You gave them great shit to work with.”
“Thanks,” you smiled, tightly.
“So,” she said. “Ready for the fight choreo?”
“Think so,” you nodded. “It’ll be weird, I think, but good. I hope good, anyway.”
She hummed in agreement, nodding a little.
“What?” You asked. “I feel like there’s something you’re not saying.”
“Well, we have some timing updates and some new asks,” she said.
“OK…”
“They want you in LA a bit earlier than originally planned,” she said. “They’ve got the costume ready and they want to get you properly in it for a final screen test and fitting as well as for a few shots they can polish into a teaser trailer of sorts for the announcement at the con.”
“Seriously?” You groaned. “When?”
“Friday.”
“Friday?” You gaped. “Thursday is Thanksgiving!”
“I know,” she said. “But they’re pretty set on this and it’s already a hell of a truncated timeline given your injury.”
“Jesus,” you pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed. “Fine.”
“They also want you to attend the premiere of Scarlet Sentinel after the announcement,” she continued.
“When the hell is that?” You asked.
“The 11th,” she said. “Just a few more days, it’s not too bad.”
“A few more days during the first Christmas after Ellie’s mom died,” you snapped.
“I know,” she said.
“And they know what happened at the last fucking premiere, right?” You asked. “Because…”
“They know,” she said. “But you and I both know with the timing of the convention and the announcement, your name is going to come up a lot on that red carpet. They figure, better to have you there to talk about it yourself than leave it to someone else.”
“Fine,” you sighed. “But I’m coming back on the 12th. This damn movie had better be worth it.”
“Just think of all the little girls who will have a badass superhero to look up to because of you,” she smiled a little. “And remember that you’re the one who wanted me to chase this role for you.”
“Yeah,” you sighed. “I know. I’m guessing I’ll have my grumpy shadow for this whole adventure?”
“After what happened at the last premiere?” Quinn scoffed. “Absolutely.”
You sighed, frustrated both at the situation and yourself. Part of you was glad that Joel was coming, his presence making you feel more protected than anyone else’s - including the guards who filled in when he was off. But you knew this trip was going to make both of you miserable.
Another few weeks in Los Angeles with Joel. Perfect. Just perfect.
***
Joel ground his teeth, his head on a swivel.
Was there ever going to come a time that he wasn’t tense and frustrated when it came to you?
He doubted it.
There was something inherently frustrating about you. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was but it was absolutely there.
Maybe it was that you were insufferably, disturbingly stubborn. Maybe it was that the whole fucking world seemed drawn to you. Maybe it was your ceaselessly annoying habit of underestimating any potential threat when it came to yourself.
Maybe it was the fact that, in spite of his request for professionalism and his newfound practice of trying to shove some distance between the two of you, he was just as drawn to you now as ever. Even though you were a bad idea, even though you terrified him, he had to fight to keep himself away from you.
He had to force himself to stay in his room when sitting at your house instead of seeking you out. He had to stop himself from thinking about you in ways he fucking knew he shouldn’t, stop himself from searching your name on Google when he was aching and desperate and couldn’t think of anything else. On the rare occasions he wasn’t near you - when he was taking Ellie to school or on his mandatory days off in between stints of protecting you - he’d see something that would remind him of you and have the strange urge to text you about it. As though he’d ever texted you about anything besides business, as though you were friends. As though he was anything at all to you.
Now, he was stuck sitting outside where you were doing some kind of fucking training for that damn movie. Fuck if he knew what it was, all he knew was that he’d tried to talk you and the trainer - some musclebound jackass named Alan who looked like he knew more about making punching look good than making it effective - into moving the training to your house. Alan had vetoed that.
“No,” he’d said, shaking his head as he took a look around the space that Joel had worked with you in for weeks. “No, this is way too small for what we need.”
“The hell you mean it’s too small,” Joel snapped. “What are you doin’, throwing a goddamn party?”
The guy looked at Joel for a moment.
“You realize that this is a favor, right?” He said. “That I’m the most in demand fight choreographer in the goddamn business and I’m taking time away from other work to come here so I can train her because it’s supposedly safer here than LA? I’m not about to slim shit down any further than I already have, I’ve booked us time at a private gym in the city, she’ll be perfectly safe there since you’re apparently incapable of doing your damn job in California.”
Joel fought the urge to swing on the fucker.
“She gets hurt because you need a goddamn ballroom to teach her how to throw a more cinematic punch…”
“That’ll be on you, won’t it?” He said.
Joel couldn’t argue with him. He was right, the weight of that settling in the pit of his stomach. Your safety was on his head.
That was a double edged sword. He didn’t trust anyone else to keep you safe. He wasn’t comfortable with something like your life sitting squarely on his shoulders. It wasn’t something that had ever bothered him with other clients but you were different. In so many things you were different.
He’d been standing in this stupid fucking waiting room of this stupid fucking private gym for what felt like a small eternity. Nothing had happened, of course. Nothing had happened the two days before, either. That didn’t seem to make a damn difference, though. He was still tense, still watching for any threat, still frustrated that you were in an uncontrolled space and out of his sight.
His phone vibrated in his pocket and Joel did a quick scan of the area - including the parking lot that he could see through the large windows - before checking it. It only ever vibrated for family, work or clients, it had to be something important.
He was right. It was a text from Tommy.
Been a change on the Siren case. Come to HQ with principal ASAP.
“Shit,” Joel said quietly, going to text him back when he heard your voice - sharp and panicked and muffled by the door.
His body reacted before his mind caught up. He reached the door before he fully realized what he was doing, damn near ripping the thing off its hinges and racing into the room where you were training.
You were flat on your back in the middle of the room, mats on the floor to cushion any falls, and Alan was on top of you. He was straddling you, his knees astride your hips, his hands on your throat, holding you down. Your hands were on his chest, face twisted into a snarl as you shoved at him but the man was bigger than you, stronger than you and Joel had to stop him.
He ran for you with a roar, tucking his shoulder and slamming into the other man, the mats on the ground cushioning their fall as they tumbled.
“What the fuck!” Alan yelled as they came to a stop, Joel shoving the other man into the ground and pinning him.
“Joel!” You yelled but he was focused on the man below him.
“I don’t know what -“ Alan began but Joel cut him off with a punch, sharp against the man’s cheek, sending his head whipping around.
“Joel!” You caught his elbow as he went to punch again and he let you pull him back, Alan groaning on the floor. You tugged Joel to his feet and he panted for breath, looking down at the man who’d been hurting you, the man who he wanted to hurt more. But, for now, he wasn’t going anywhere and Joel turned his attention to you.
Your eyes were wide, your skin slick with sweat and your hand had gone from the crook of his arm to his side when he turned and the weight of your palm was heavy on him. But you were alive. He could breathe.
“Joel…” you panted, almost like a question. His hand went to your cheek, your skin warm. He tilted your head gently, looking over your neck, trying to see any damage.
“He hurt you?” He asked, voice rough. “You OK?”
“What?” You asked, gaping at him.
“Did he hurt you,” he said again.
“No!” You shook yourself free of Joel’s hold on you. “No, he didn’t hurt me! It was fucking fight choreography!”
You ducked around Joel and rushed toward Alan, kneeling beside him as he sat up, holding his face and adjusting his jaw.
“Fuck,” Joel said quietly, wincing as he watched you gingerly examine the other man, the two of you talking low, your back to Joel the whole time.
He should be more embarrassed about this and part of him was but he couldn’t help but just be relieved. You were safe. He didn’t need to see you hurting, didn’t need to live in that shock of fear that had all but swallowed him when he saw you on the ground, your life in the hands of another man. You were alive, you were safe. That was all that mattered, he couldn’t bring himself to give a shit about anything else.
After a minute, Alan looked ready to get up and Joel approached him cautiously, your trainer’s eyes narrowing at him.
“Sorry,” Joel said awkwardly, offering him his hand. “Didn’t know… Never had a job with an actress before…”
“S’alright,” he said before taking Joel’s hand. He pulled him to his feet and he cracked his neck. “I’ve taken worse hits but damn, man, you hit like a fucking hammer.”
Joel caught a glimpse of you rolling your eyes off to the side and he smirked a little.
“Yeah, well,” he shrugged. “Might be your job to make it look good, it’s my job to knock someone on their ass and keep ‘em there.”
“You’re damn good at it,” he said before turning to you. “If it’s all the same to you, I’m going to say we call it early.”
“Of course,” you said quickly. “Again, I’m so sorry, I…”
“It’s fine,” he cut you off, laughing a little. “Does me good to take a hit now and then in my line of work. You should be more than prepped for the shots they want to get later this week but I’ll be in LA if you run into any issues. Now I’m going to head back to my hotel to ice my face and try to think of the best way to explain this to my wife when she picks me up from the airport.”
“We need to go, anyway,” Joel said and you frowned. “Got a text from Tommy, told to bring you to HQ as soon as possible so that’s where we’re headed.”
“Fine,” you sighed, exasperated. “Let’s just run home first so I can change…”
“No,” he cut you off. “We’re going straight there.”
“But I’m disgusting!” You said, arms out at your sides as if to prove your point. “I’m not about to go to a meeting when I’m dripping sweat, that’s just…”
“Don’t matter,” Joel said.
“Is everything OK?” Alan asked, looking between the two of you.
You answered before Joel got a chance to respond.
“It’s fine,” you said, shooting Joel a look that almost dared him to talk. “He just loves to make my life difficult, it’s his favorite hobby, so he’s using this as an excuse.”
Joel quirked his jaw but bit his tongue.
“Come on, Siren,” he said. “Let’s go.”
He watched as you stalked off to get your bag and water bottle, snatching them up with an almost comically angry look on your face as you did. He made you stay behind him while he surveyed the small parking lot before keeping you safely hidden from view from as much of the broader world as he could until he got you to the car.
You reminded him of Ellie as he started the drive to the office, your arms crossed tight over your chest, staring straight ahead with your eyes narrowed. It would be intimidating if you were more… well, intimidating. On you it was almost comical, like watching a lion cub try and snarl at a threat.
“That was mortifying,” you said eventually, your fingers digging into your upper arms so hard that Joel could see the indentations in your flesh. “Completely fucking embarrassing, I can’t believe…”
“Can’t believe I did my job?” Joel asked. “Can’t believe I tried to keep you safe? Shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to you at this point, Siren, been doin’ this for a few months now.”
“Oh fuck off,” you snapped. “That was not you doing your fucking job, that was you losing your temper for who knows what reason and…”
“That was me intervening when you were in danger,” Joel snapped back. “How the hell was I supposed to know that guy was supposed to be fuckin’ choking you out? And you, what? Expect me to just sit there and let it happen? Jesus.”
“This is why I don’t need a fucking bodyguard,” you muttered, shaking your head. “Let alone one who doesn’t know the fucking industry. I fake die sometimes, too, Joel, you going to call 911? Plan my funeral?”
Joel ignored you, clenching his jaw as he called Tommy.
“Yeah,” Tommy said by way of greeting.
“One minute out,” Joel said.
“You’re gettin’ an escort in,” Tommy said.
Joel frowned.
“That serious?”
“We’ll discuss it when you get here,” Tommy said. “Just… being cautious.”
A team of four men met the car when Joel pulled up to the building where Tommy’s business was based. He passed the keys to one and fell into formation around you, immediately at your right as the four men surrounded you, blocking you from any view from passing or the random pedestrian.
“This is such overkill,” you muttered.
“Better over kill than you killed,” Joel glared at you as you rolled your eyes.
But Joel did feel like he could relax a little now that the two of you were in the office. This was a controlled space, you weren’t at risk here. You might be pissed at him but he’d take that. If you were safe, alive? Pissed he could handle.
Tommy seemed prepared for it, at least, not shaken by your sour attitude.
“Joel,” Tommy nodded to him before looking to you. “Ma’am.”
“You’ll have to excuse the fact that I smell like a gym sock,” you said, clearly pissed but trying to control yourself. “Someone didn’t let me shower or change before coming here.”
“I’m afraid that’s my fault,” Tommy said. “I got Quinn on the line, I���m gonna loop her into this conversation, too…”
He switched on the speaker phone.
“We’re all here now,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “We OK to get started?”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “Lay things out.”
You frowned and glanced at Joel, as if he’d have any better idea about what this was going to be about than you did. He just frowned, too.
“This was sent to your address here in Austin,” Tommy said, dropping a printed image of a letter on the other side of his desk, closer to you and Joel. You stepped forward and picked it up, Joel looking over your shoulder at it. “Police have the original.”
It was a note, like the ones before.
I love your home. I can’t wait to share it with you. But why do you have other men spending the night? They won’t love you like I love you. Don’t you know that? Don’t you see?
If I can’t have you, no one will.
Joel’s hand trembled as he took the copy from you, tracing the words over and over.
If I can’t have you, no one will.
For a moment - just a moment - Joel had that vision of you again. The one that had come to his dreams more often than he cared to admit, the one where he couldn’t save you.
There was someone out there who wanted you, wanted you so badly they were willing to kill to have you and what if he couldn’t stop them? What if they got to you when he was off for a few days, what if something happened when you were just out of reach? What if all he could do was stand there and watch you die?
“Well someone’s getting ballsy, isn’t he?” You said wryly.
“You don’t sound like you’re taking this seriously,” Quinn said, the sharpness in her tone apparent even through the crackle of the speaker phone.
“Probably because I’m not,” you shrugged, crossing your arms over your torso, your chin raised defiantly. “He’s just some weirdo. He knew where I lived in LA, too, and was too cowardly to show his fucking face, what difference does it make if he’s got my Austin address?”
“We’re going to tighten up security,” Tommy said, looking around you to Joel.
“Tighten up?” You gaped at him before Joel had a chance to respond. “Tighten up how! Someone already follows me everywhere I go, is he supposed to, what, chase me into the bathroom when I take a piss now, too? This is insane! Quinn, tell them they’re insane!”
“It’s not insane,” Quinn said. “He’s escalating, there are valid concerns for your safety and we’re going to take the appropriate precautions. Maybe you should hear what those precautions are before you fly off the handle about it.”
“Jesus,” you rolled your eyes before you sighed. “Fine. Alright, what else am I going to have to fucking give up.”
Joel’s jaw twitched but he remained silent, watching you closely as his brother started reviewing the changes.
“Biggest one will be you’re never on the exterior of your home alone,” Tommy said.
“I’m already never alone outside my house!” You gaped at him.
“You’re never alone when you leave your property,” Tommy corrected. “But you’ve been able to go outside, swim, run, take a walk on your own as long as you stayed on your property. That will no longer be the case.”
“Seriously?” You looked between Tommy and Joel, aghast. “I can’t step outside my own front door unsupervised? What am I, a toddler?”
“We will also be stepping up who is on hand at your home,” Tommy said, ignoring your protests. “We’ll be doing more frequent perimeter checks and generally have a more active presence there. But that will be less obtrusive, you will still have just one body man when you leave the property for most outings.”
“What about when I’m in LA?” You asked.
“You ain’t serious,” Joel said before Tommy had a chance to answer. “You’re not still goin’ to fucking California, not after that letter.”
“Yes, I am,” you said. “I have to do some early shots in two days, the con is a week after that, followed by…”
“And you can’t do any of it if you’re fuckin’ dead!” Joel snapped. “So you’re staying here, not goin’ to where that asshole is!”
“No, she’s not,” Quinn said, a sense of finality in her voice. “She’s going to LA…”
“You really willing to put her fucking life on the line for a goddamn movie?” Joel snapped, louder than he’d meant to but he couldn’t seem to make himself stop. “You’re gonna let her get hurt, get killed so you assholes can make a few bucks?”
“She won’t be at risk if…”
“Not at risk?” Joel cut Quinn off. “If she ain’t at risk then why am I here!”
“She is actually in the fucking room if you assholes would fucking listen to her!” You yelled, Joel turning to face you, shocked. He didn’t think he’d ever heard you yell like that before. “I’m going to LA.”
Joel went to protest but you wouldn’t let him.
“No!” You snapped, rounding on him. “I’m going to LA! I’m going to LA, I’m going to do my fucking job and I’m going to go to the con and the goddamn movie premiere and then I’m going to come home and spend Christmas with my niece and you’re going to stay out of my fucking way!”
“Well that’s where you’re wrong,” Quinn said.
“What?” You asked, still sounding pissed but not yelling now.
“He won’t be out of your way,” Quinn said wryly. “Because he’s coming with you to everything.”
“Well obviously,” you said, rolling your eyes. “He’s been doing that.”
“I mean,” Quinn continued. “He’s going to come with you to the premiere. As your date.”
You and Joel both stood silently for a moment, dumbstruck.
“What,” Joel said eventually.
“You’re going to the premiere as her date,” Tommy said this time, looking between the two of you. “They decided they need you there,” he said, nodding to you. “And last one was enough of an opening that you got hurt but having you walk the red carpet with a bodyguard isn’t really an option. So, we keep Joel close - as your date - and he keeps you safe.”
“No,” Joel shook his head. “No, the answer is she don’t go to the damn premiere, not sending me along with her like I’m some kind of goddamn undercover agent or some shit, this ain’t…”
“Can’t I just go with Chris or Justice or something?” You asked and Joel tried to ignore how his stomach turned at the thought of you with either of those fucking guys on your arm. “We just tell them what’s going on and…”
“Someone who isn’t trained ain’t gonna cut it,” Tommy shook his head. “It has to be Joel.”
You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose.
“Fine,” you said. “If that’s what it takes? Fine.”
“This is a bad fuckin’ idea,” Joel muttered. “I don’t…”
“Oh, come on Big Miller,” you said, your tone shifting to something more familiar, that dry, sarcastic edge to it he’d come to know well. “Didn’t you know? I’m the most beautiful woman in the world. There are men who would kill to be in your shoes.”
“Yeah,” Joel muttered. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
He didn’t press the subject when the two of you got back to your house that night, the new cadence of protection already kicking in, more guards obvious at the perimeter of your property. You didn’t wait for Joel to open the car door for you - something you’d become more willing to do as time had passed. Instead you just stormed off toward the house, Joel following quickly behind you. Before he had the chance to lecture you about it, you looked back over your shoulder to him.
“I’m going in the pool,” you snapped. “Since you apparently have to fucking babysit me anytime I step foot out my goddamn door now.”
He expected you to go get changed into a swimsuit but you didn’t. Instead you just stalked straight through the entry way, the living room, out the back of the house, stepping out of your shoes as went, walking straight to the water’s edge without pausing and jumping in fully clothed.
Joel stood and watched, worried for a moment when you didn’t surface immediately. But then you screamed under the water, the sound muffled and distorted and sounding almost desperate. You went quiet and surfaced, immediately going to a ladder and pulling yourself up, more stalking toward the house than walking, eyes straight ahead like Joel wasn’t even there, leaving a trail of water on the floor in your wake as you went to your bedroom and closed the door.
Joel tried to ignore the tug of concern in his chest. He picked up Ellie from school - the kid so excited about having a few days off for Thanksgiving and seeing her grandmother - and played a video game with her. You didn’t come out of your room. He kept hoping to hear some sign of you when he went to his own room, even as he was desperate for some distance, and he thought he heard you come out at one point. Just your quiet steps in bare feet and the cadence of talking just out of reach of where really hear it.
He tried to let that soothe him. You clearly didn’t want anything to do with him - not that he blamed you, he had literally asked for this - but he couldn’t help but worry as he stared at his ceiling. You were upset but you’d left your room, talked to Ellie, hopefully eaten something. That was… it was fine. Good, even. He didn’t need to be a part of it or see it for himself and he’d done everything he could to make sure that here, within these walls, you were safe.
That thought didn’t help him actually, really rest, though. He started to drift off and the image of you, pinned down with a man’s hands around your throat took over. But this time, he was always too far away to fix it. He’d run and run and run but it was like he was moving through Jell-o, not able to reach you but not able to look away.
He jerked awake, his heart racing in his chest, and he sighed, wiping a layer of sweat away from his face.
It was late now, quiet in the house. He debated it, for a moment, but not for long, getting up and going to the kitchen for a drink. But when he passed the hall with your room and office, he saw a soft glow around your office door. He frowned at that, going to the kitchen and grabbing two beers before going to that glowing door. He hesitated for a moment. He shouldn’t be doing this. He knew better. He was the one who asked for a professional distance, he was the one who knew this couldn’t go anywhere good. But… you were right there, the comfort of knowing you were OK so close.
He knocked.
You were silent for a moment, long enough that he considered just going back to his room when you spoke.
“Come in.”
He did, finding you tucked into a corner of the couch that sat below the window, a tablet and papers spread on every surface around you. You seemed almost surprised to see him, your eyebrows rising as you looked at him through your lashes, not fully looking up from something that was sitting open on your lap.
“I thought you might be Ellie,” you said. “Can I help you?”
He shrugged.
“Saw the light,” he said, handing you the bottle, staying far enough away from you that he had to stretch to reach and you had to reach back to take it. “Thought you might… I dunno.”
You nodded slowly, opening the beer and taking long pull.
“Thanks,” you said, adjusting enough that the pages spread on the couch around you rustled. Joel just nodded, opening his own beer and taking a sip, too. He didn’t taste it much, one hand shoved in the pocket of his pajama pants as he walked slowly through your office, taking everything in. He was rarely in this room, he didn’t know it well. There was an Emmy on your desk and three more on a bookshelf. There were two Golden Globes, too, all in better shape than the Oscar was. He frowned at that.
“How many of these damn things do you have?” He asked, glancing back over his shoulder to you.
“Emmys?” You asked. “Just the four. Three for Siren and then one for Family Tree. That was my first one, they gave me some meatier things once I was in my teens. Some ‘very special episode’ type bullshit. One where I had to decide whether or not to have sex with my high school boyfriend, that sort of thing. The television academy ate it up. Then there are the Globes - one for Siren, one for The District - and there’s a SAG in my office in LA. I think that’s it.”
“Lot of hardware,” Joel said, coming back to the sitting area of your office, taking the chair near your end of the couch, his fingers rapping against the glass of his beer bottle.
“Yeah, well,” you laughed, a little cynically. “I keep telling Leo he needs to get me on Broadway so I can win a Tony. Then all I need is some bullshit way to win a Grammy and I can EGOT.”
“EGOT?” Joel frowned.
“Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony,” you said. “All the big ones.”
“Shit,” he shook his head a little, taking another swig of beer. “Aim high, I guess. What are you workin’ on?”
“Character research,” you said, holding up what was on your lap. It was a comic book, one from the series he’d seen Ellie reading. “I think I’ve just about figured her out but I’m trying to make sure I feel good with it before Friday. I’ve been reading up on how people react to certain traumas, trying to fold that in, see what seems right.”
“Didn’t know playin’ a superhero needed so much research,” he said.
“Playing anyone requires research,” you said. “People are complicated things.”
“Suppose so,” he said. “What…”
“Why are you here, Joel,” you cut him off.
He clenched his jaw for a moment.
“I…” he took a deep breath. “Do you really have to go to LA.”
“Are you serious?” You gaped at him.
“Yes,” he said. “It’s not safe. Should stay here where we have shit more locked down and…”
“And I have a movie to make!” You cut him off. “Do you really expect them to relocate production to fucking Texas because of me?”
“Yes,” he said again.
“Joel,” you pinched the bridge of your nose and sighed.
“Ain’t you some huge star?” He pressed on, staring down at his beer bottle, picking at the label with his thumb. “Got all those damn trophies, everyone on the damn planet knows your name, just have all that shit come to you and…”
“Joel,” you said, more gently this time, gentle enough that he frowned, looking over at you. You smiled a little. “That’s not how it works.”
“Why not.”
“Because,” you said. “Do you know what goes into making a movie? It’s not just some actors and camera men. There’s equipment we’re using that only exists in a few places on the planet and LA is one of those places. We start principal photography in January, do you know how much work has already been done so we’re ready to shoot? Do you know how many people’s livelihoods depend on this movie being made when we said we were making it where we planned to make it? And I mean actual people, not just rich assholes like me. The budget on this movie is $210 million and yeah, $35 million of that is coming to me but the vast majority of that money is going to support the hundreds of people who work on the movie who are just trying to pay their mortgage and put their kids through college. We move locations, shift filming dates now? Those people are suddenly out of work when it’s too late to get on any other projects. If you don’t think you’re up for it, talk to Tommy, have them send someone else…”
“No,” he said sharply.
You frowned.
“Why not?” You asked. “Just…”
Joel clenched his jaw, looking down at the beer bottle again. The corner of the label was shredded.
“Don’t trust anyone else,” he said. “If you’re goin’ to LA, it’s with me. End of story.”
You were quiet for a moment.
“Why do you care so much?” You asked eventually.
“I… I don’t…” he bounced his leg, trying to find the words before finally looking over at you again. “I don’t want to watch you die.”
You scoffed.
“I don’t think anyone would really hold it against you if I do,” you said wryly. “So don’t worry about it.”
“That ain’t why I’m worried,” he said sharply before taking a deep breath and going back to the bottle, picking away at the label more and more. “I didn’t take this job to watch someone fuckin’ hunt you down.”
You were quiet again.
“Why did you hit Alan today.”
He took a shaky breath.
“I thought he was hurtin’ you,” he couldn’t bring himself to look at you. “And I.. I can’t…”
He clenched his jaw, gripping the bottle so tight it hurt.
“I need you to not get hurt,” he said. “Not gonna let you get yourself killed. And you… you just like to ignore what I tell you, you do reckless shit and it’s gonna…”
“I’ll do what I’m told,” you cut him off, a keen kind of honesty in your voice, the shift noticeable enough that he looked over at you. Your eyes were oddly open, looking at him in much the same way you had the night you got hurt at the premiere, like all the artifice of your public persona had been stripped away and all that was left was yourself. “I don’t… I absolutely loathe just how much of my own life is out of my control and how all I am is just some thing all these other people move around to make money and the fact that I can’t even go outside right now without someone babysitting me… It struck a nerve. But… I’ll behave. I’ll do what you tell me to do. I won’t take any risks, I’ll tell you everything you need to know, I’ll obey when you tell me to do something. I’ll take it seriously.”
He watched you for a moment.
“You’ll let me keep you safe?” He asked quietly.
“I’ll let you keep me safe,” you said softly. “I promise. Just come with me to LA. You… you make me feel safe. I’ll do what you say, I’ll let you protect me. I promise.”
“OK,” he nodded, looking at the label in pieces in his hands. “I’ll protect you.”
He just prayed that would be enough.
Next Chapter
A/N: Thank you for reading! I know this took me roughly 6 million years to update and I wish I had a good reason for that but, in all honesty, I just don't. I appreciate you spending your time with these characters, even after I've left you hanging.
Things are going to start ramping up next chapter! I really can't wait for what's coming, there's stuff I've been picturing since I first thought up this story that is just around the corner. I hope you enjoy it!
In the mean time, if you want to see what Thanksgiving Day was like for Siren and Joel, you can check out this (now officially canon) one shot I posted for the holiday.
Thanks again for being here! I love sharing this story with you all.
Love you!!
Taglist: @christinamadsen @eff4freddie @brittmb115 @copperhalfcent @r3dheadedwitch @pedropascalsbbg @lovelyjess69 @yopossum @moel-jiller @picketniffler @lilyevanstan1325 @reluctanthalfwayoptimism @wintersquirrel @missladym1981 @mellymbee @canthinkof1user @inept-the-magnificent @secretlyangelic @pedrobae @scarletsloveletter @phry-k @sunnytuliptime
#fanfic#joel miller x female reader#joel miller x reader#joel miller x you#joel miller x oc#bodyguard!joel#bodyguard au#tsats#the savage and the sanctuary
115 notes
·
View notes
Text
My menstrual cycle is acting up and making my brain focus on weird things. So let's talk about...
Interspecies sex!
One of the fun things you get to explore when writing a fantasy story with a lot of non-human people, especially if they're also from different evolutionary roots and not related at all.
Like what does it even mean for a primate to be sexually attracted to an amphibian? How does that happen? How do all these different people species view sexuality? How do they feel about interspecies intercourse? It's a fascinating subject!
Especially if you're like me, asexual and autistic with a special interest in fantasy biology and culture and a detached scientific fascination for the concept of sex through the lens of fiction.
No images in this post. Just a hasty ramble, no time for new art, and frankly the rogue censorbots on tumblr are already marking perfectly normal images as potentially mature, so I don't need them jumping on me right now lol. But I'm still putting this post under a cut.
I have been writing many different relationship dynamics in my own project, including some interspecies relationships and a lot of queer characters.
Some of my people species are, by nature, somewhat asexual. Whether it's a seasonal thing or a full time thing.
Drow: the majority of drow, aside from the "males", are asexual by default! Those who become matriarchs may suddenly find themselves experiencing sexual attraction for the first time during their secondary puberty, which can be confusing and overwhelming, but they may also remain asexual and simply participate in sex because the duty of a matriarch is to bear children.
Quetzalin: for about half the year, all adult quetzalin are functionally asexual due to a natural hormone change. But during courting season, the majority of adult quetzalin do feel sexual attraction, and they feel it quite strongly! The flip from no sexual attraction and a low libido to high sexual attraction and a high libido can be overwhelming, so the qurtxalin have actually developed some fairly well advanced hormone treatments to make it easier.
Goblins: similar to quetzalin, goblins only feel sexual attraction for part of the year, but for them it's a rather spontaneous short-term burst of both attraction and libido that leads to a big group orgy at the nursery ponds, driving them to lay and fertilize thousands of eggs.
Pixies: since they are basically giant bees, the majority of pixies do not feel sexual attraction at all, ever. Sexual desire really only shows up in the hive mothers and their short-lived mates.
So with all these people who experience such a lack of attraction and/or a lack of libido, you might expect them to avoid sex, especially outside their own species groups. Perhaps you expect them to be a little more open to interspecies sex only when they're in a seasonal libido wave.
And yet, the least likely group, pixies, show an odd fascination for sex with people of other species. What could draw a sapient bee towards sex? They find it entertaining. They like to watch, and they like the way other people react to being touched. And much to their own surprise and delight, there are vertebrate people who will gladly have sex with pixies! There are all sorts of people; elves, orcs, even goblins, who think the idea of letting pixies crawl on their naked bodies is very sexy. It helps that pixies can vibrate their abdomens and that they're roughly the size of an elf's penis.
Goblins and quetzalin outside of their own courting/mating seasons may not feel attraction or a clear libido, but that doesn't stop them from having sex with people of other species all year round if they want it. And they both have bodies that are covered in unique textures; feathers on the quetzalin and mucus on the goblins. Even if the goblin mucus can carry toxins, depending on their diet, it's usually only going to create a tingling numb feeling, which some potential sex partners might find even more arousing.
And while the average cavern drow are almost invariably asexual, a lot of them will curiously explore sex while spending a few years living outside as young adults.
And the far more allosexual minstrel drow have been participating in interspecies sex and running diverse sex work establishments for hundreds of years.
Given the presence of real life humans who have the hots for increasing bizarre non human fictional characters and monstrous creatures, I'm sure I don't have to explain why it's possible for people to find themselves attracted to partners outside their own species, or why they might find sex with other people species to be enjoyable. The differences between their species may very well be the traits that draw them to each other and make the sex more fun and exciting.
Whether it is inherently kinky or not is up to the individual I suppose! But when the pixies organize mutual research exchanges with vertebrate people and ask for volunteers to let the pixies study vertebrate sexual pleasure, I'm sure they have to account for sample bias as the people who sign up are very likely to be into a variety of kinks and therefore have different tolerances and may show different reactions compared to someone who doesn't get involved in kink.
And then of course, on the flip side of all this, it must be considered that historically, and frankly even contemporarily, there have been and always will be people who view interspecies sex with a sour look on their face. It could be the product of bigotry, more often than not. Certainly if there are actual cultural and legal taboos agaisnt it, that can be attributed to interspecies bigotry.
But it's also possible that some people's sexuality simply does not extend to those outside their own species group. It may even be that interspecies attraction is considered more queer than simply being gay or attracted to multiple genders.
I think I'm running out of things to say.
Well! That's my incoherent ramble then! Brought to u by my brain on menstrual hormones and a silly thought train about pixies conducting sex studies.
Hope u enjoyed it. Have a nice day!
70 notes
·
View notes
Text
Ok, look, what a weird season. I do want to give some major props to Ken Choi and Angela Basset for putting in some stellar fucking performances, especially, Angela Basset who literally worked miracles through some incredibly stilted dialogue during Bobby’s death arc.
But here’s the rub, the actors ARE carrying the show, especially in the second half of 8B because WHAT IS THE WRITING. The spectacles of the rescues are incredible - but it only hooks you in IF it is highlighting the relationships between the characters. Was the beenado weird and hilarious? YES! But the show pulls it off because Bathena were in a weird place post cruise and with the house. The rescue is about the relationship between Bobby and Athena. It adds octane, but the spark is there between the characters.
I literally have a tumblr account about this show - and I don’t know what the current relationship is between several main characters… characters who are the focus of central story arcs. I don’t even know when things were happening. We got a quick cutaway of Mara’s adoption - the focus of a 2+ episode arc from… 8A. Why now? Why not before? All of that family drama happened off screen. That’s is at best confusing, but it is so weird when it’s major character interaction.
Do let me get to the buddie/BuckTommy of it all - I literally do not know, right now, what Buck’s relationship is with either Eddie or Tommy. Sure Eddie saved the day for Buck, but… um… what is the point of this arc if Buck is just moving back out. Does Eddie know Buck is moving? Does he not now? Either is a dynamic and interesting and dramatic CHOICE. That’s not what we have. It’s just Buck house shopping.
What is Buck’s relationship with TOMMY? They hooked up, Tommy was at Bobby’s funeral. And… nothing? What? There isn’t even anything to interpret, it’s all just… something is going on, just offscreen, just not for the viewer? Well then why fucking watch the show if I don’t get to see the relationships of the CHARACTERS?!
I have no doubts that the show runners would say “more will be revealed” but I’m not talking about what any of these relationships will be - I don’t know what they are NOW. Like are Buck and Eddie on good terms? How did Chris handle being told he was staying in LA? How did Chris react to Buck apartment shopping? Have Tommy and Buck spoken once since the helicopter ride?
The showrunners make comments about how people are over interpreting some shots or a hand position or a clothing choice - how about you make some creative fucking decisions and give these actors some fucking dialogue. With each other. And that’s before getting into how some of the side relationships are - like how are Eddie and Tommy? Fuck it - Ravi is at Maddie’s biiiirth? How close are Maddie and Ravi? Does Josh still exist? Does he not stop by Maddie’s new baby?
I’m just so tired. Put some characters on screen. Have them talk. We can do the emergencies when know what they MEAN to the CHARACTERS WTF.
#I’m just so tired#tell a story#911 abc#911 on abc#wee woo#gay firefighter show#buddie#eddie diaz#evan buckley#buck x eddie#911#911 spoilers#eddie x buck#buddie 911#evan buck buckely#athena grant#chimney han#henrietta wilson#henren#athena#bathena
67 notes
·
View notes
Text
☆ random obey me headcanons part 2!
asmodeus, levi and barbatos ♡
part one (lucifer, mammon and simeon)
part three (beelzebub, belphegor, solomon)
part four (satan and diavolo)
cw: some small nsfw on asmo's part :p
small note: thank you so much for the likes and reblogs! i never expected such a large majority of people to enjoy my content so it's very dear to me. once again, thank you!
☆ asmodeus:
- kinda bad at cooking. his way of slicing and dicing vegetables is very mediocre if not clumsy looking. there are days where his cooking is acceptable and days where it's to seasoned or too bland (always convinces himself its good tho and posts it on his devilgram)
- though he's kinda bad at cooking, his baking skills are okay! his favorite pastry to make are cookies because he can design them the most.
- "ofcourse mc! you'll always be the first one to try my desserts! unless you want to taste something else?~ ♡"
- he has a collection of sanrios, hironos and sonny angels in his room. ESPECIALLY sonny angels. crazy thing is he always gets them for free from his fans and its always the limited edition ones
- he really enjoys watching old movies from the human world especially the romcoms. mean girls, notting hill, pitch perfect. he will pester you to rewatch it with him even though you guys have seen it multiple times already.
- he keeps a small jewelry box in his room but instead of jewelry its full of pics of you and him and the gifts you give him. theres some pics in there where the other brothers were cut or crossed out so it'll be just you and him lmfao
- he is a yandere and i stand by this. it's not as obvious but if he's really into you he'll constantly mark you with his scent and the stuff he wears. he'll leave a hickey or a bite mark if you're lucky ;)
- the type of guy to only bring a purse to school. if you ask for a pencil the bitch is gonna open his bag and say "oopsie! i only brought my makeup pouch and mirror today. sorry babe!"
- has his own private concert in showers every goddamn day
- he'll either fangirl with you about celebrities or he'll get extremely jealous because you're simping for someone else.
☆ levi:
- sometimes his ass crack will be on display when he's sitting down on the floor
- wears booty shorts religiously. sometimes he'll casually just walk out his room wearing a hoodie and booty shorts with prints on it
- has a tumblr account where he posts a bunch of hc, drabbles and other shit and until now no one knows its him
- had an amino and discord phase where he always roleplayed with other people. till this day it haunts him at night
- he livestreams twice a week on twitch and has been scolded by lucifer on stream once. there was also a time where mammon barged in his room half naked and suddenly all the views went up 10x
- trolls on roblox like it's a 9 to 5 job
- every once in a while he'll stay in lucifers room while lucifer is doing paperwork. he'll just lay down on his bed, watch and play games and even fall asleep
- makes his own persona in every fandom he gets into and writes very detailed backstories (dw levi, same)
- only reads "x reader" fics for obvious reasons
- went insane because human world games and animes are better than the ones in devildom. dont get me started about aot. (his favorite is levi ackerman obvi)
☆ barbatos:
- wishes he could get piercings but since he's the demon prince's butler he obviously can't
- started tweakin when you said some humans keep rats and bugs as pets. like he stopped polishing some plates and looked at you like you just dog shitted diavolo's name
- really enjoys your spotify playlist filled with metalhead and grunge songs. he really likes slipknot
- likes to order those cute, fancy tea sets when he has the time. when you gifted him tea leaves and a limited edition teapot set his love for you sky rocketed.
- gets annoyed when solomon manspreads
- has a really good voice when he sings. he used to sing diavolo lullabies when his father would get angry at him
- scrolls through levi and mammon's post for educational purposes cuz he wants to learn slangs just incase diavolo asks him what a specific word means
- "barbatos, what does 'runnin from da opps' mean?"
- "my lord, 'runnin from da opps' is a slang made by the new generation. it means fleeing from your haters."
- loves to tailor and iron his bed sheets so he can have a peaceful rest after a long day of non stop errands.
#obey me shall we date#obey me#om! shall we date#om! swd#obey me barbatos#om! barbatos#barbatos x reader#barbatos obey me#obey me asmodeus#asmodeus obey me#asmodeus x reader#om! asmodeus#obey me leviathan#leviathan obey me#levi x reader#om! leviathan#leviathan x reader#om! x reader#obey me headcanons#om! headcanons
422 notes
·
View notes
Note
https://www.reddit.com/r/TheInheritanceGames/s/aXvI2s1MTg
if i could shove my foot all the way down somebody’s throat, i would do it to this person.
OPEN THE LINK AND READ BEFORE HAND BTW!!!
okay. im gonna make this brief because this person literally pissed me off so badly and then they had the AUDACITY to mention gender roles.
they said “oh, if lyra was a GUY and stalked grayson hawthorne for a year, then got mad when he didnt pay attention to her” or some other bullshit. like how… HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO MENTION GENDER ROLES RIGHT NOW WHEN YOU ARE THE ONE BEING SEXIST.
idec. people hold female characters to SUCH a high standard.
first of all, SHE NEVER FUCKING STALKED GRAYSON??? she tried to get his number. thats it. she in no way harmed him and when he told her to stop calling, SHE IMMEDIATELY DID. grayson engaged in those phone calls, so dont act like hes a baby and lyra forced that phone down his throat. she didnt.
edit: i didnt add this bc i forgot but i have to mention this now
and since that person mention lyra being a stalker for GETTING SOMEBODYS PHONE NUMBER, then why dont we start being technical?
the hawthornes sending letter after letter to averys house about the will was stalking. grayson showing up at. her. school. just to talk to her about the will was stalking. but wait…. thats not right. it’s only okay when grayson does it!!!
AND EVERYTHING MENTIONED IN THIS POST ACTUALLY MAKES ME WANT TO DIE. “oh, but lyra was mad at grayson for not calling her back, yadayada” HEY. DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT THIS IS? SINCE YOURE SO SMART DONT YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT THAT IS? THATS SOMETHING CALLED A FUCKING FLAW.
YES lyra being petty is bad. but it was ALSO bad when grayson was outright rude to avery for no reason in the first book, or when jameson treated avery as a game again, FOR NO REASON in the—KEYWORD—first. book.
because guess what? do you wanna read what that says?

book 1! as in book 1 in a trilogy! as in square 1 for characters to learn to grow!
this bitchbag moaned and whined about lyra not being perfect. WELL GUESS WHO TF ALSO WASNT PERFECT IN THE FIRST BOOK OF THE TRILOGY THEY APPEARED IN?
grayson hawthorne.
jameson hawthorne.
OH RIGHT! THE GUYS THAT EVERYBODY IN THIS FANDOM D RIDES LIKE THERES NO TOMORROW!!

oh my god. you’re so right. if lyra was “half as intelligent as she claimed to be”, then she would have realized through her trauma and obvious depression that the guy who she had been blaming because she is a flawed character who is still growing wasnt at blame. YOU SOLVED IT!!!
guess what!!! if you would have clipped every one of lyra’s “annoying and whiny” depressed thoughts and stuck them together but changed her name to grayson, i deadass would have thought that jlb wrote graysons pov of the inheritance games. you know why? OH RIGHT, BECAUSE THEY GO THROUGH THE EXACT SAME FUCKING HEALING PROCESS!
except everybody’s baby grayson DOESNT immediately get better at the end!! yeah, it took him 4 books to heal!! but oh no, lyra needs to be a perfectly healthy no bad days mother teresa #2 in the first sentence of her FIRST BOOK IN A TRILOGY for people to not raise their pitchforks!! fun fact: YOU ARE SEXIST!!
if you agree with this redditors points: you are sexist.
if you loved grayson even in the first book/even after you finished the trilogy but agree with this redditors points: you are sexist.
ALL IN ALL, THANK YOU TIG/TGG NON-TUMBLR COMMUNITY FOR BEING THE MOST SEXIST PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET, DONALD TRUMP WOULD BE PROUD 🫶🫶🫶
ps. im tempted to make a reddit account and reply to that post and ALLLLLL its comments, but just making this actually made my blood boil. like im being serious when i say that i had to stop mid writing. because im genuinely done with blatant sexism i cant stand it and i especially cant stand knowing that nobodies safe if even BOOK CHARACTERS are being targeted.
(also btw NO i dont think you’re sexist if u have genuine criticism for her character. but this wasnt that. this was blind hate and sexism because nobody nowadays has even a shred of literacy comprehension. there was a reply of a girl genuinely criticizing how she was written and i understand that, but this? this was genuinely sexist and it actually makes me mad that even book characters are facing harsh standards like this.)
#sooo…. where yall at 😍😍#lyra kane#lyra catalina kane#grayson hawthorne#the inheritance games#the grandest game#glorious rivals#the brothers hawthorne#jameson hawthorne#nash hawthorne#xander hawthorne#avery kylie grambs#libby grambs#phone girl#maxine liu
62 notes
·
View notes
Text
Beating the Dead Horse
This is an apology post and I want my followers to hear things from me personally. I will understand if my followers do not want to associate with my page or my content after this. But I needed to talk about this. This is something that could affect my entire life and livelihood. I really didn’t want to have to do this. I am not a screen shot queen so I’m going off the few things I have.
How it feels to be free from one of the most toxic fandoms that literally made you an awful person to be around:

I had already apologized personally to the people I was mean to over a year ago, probably a year and a half by now. I have separated myself from this group entirely and tumblr as a whole. I’m tired of people beating the dead horse. I am tired of this person harassing me and others. I am tired of my name being in this person’s mouth as they pick and choose what to share. I am so tired of @s4intpupp. I will never speak about this again after this and I do not want people to keep messaging me about it. I want to be left alone and enjoy my life in the real world.
I am actually looking to take legal action against her because defamation of character and emotional distress are crimes. I wish to pursue this legally. If anyone knows anything more about her, I want her served court papers and I am taking her and her mother to court. This is detrimental to my career and livelihood and I will not put up with lies or slander. Especially because she used my real face. My real face is being used in a document that could potentially make me lose my license and everything I have built in the real world.
First of all, I want to own up to one thing. I did talk a lot of shit. I did not like that person at all and neither did the people around me at the time. I wasn’t a good person. But I did not make a fake account to terrorize someone. I also only made one singular ask against someone. To paint me as the complete villain is insane.

You have been proven to go after people several times when they do not agree with you and you have even made extremely racist comments on people’s posts. You’re not a good person. I also, was not a good person. But to claim I groom you when I called you my little sister is crazy. You instigate fights and cry when they do not go your way. Your boyfriend is a white supremacist and you are mixed? Make that make sense.


The X reader post is actually about my irl ex friend who tried to steal my identity. We’re the same age. I cannot post her face nor her real name since I do not want a court case against me, but that girl was my high school friend, She even tried to SA me on her couch and broke into my garage back at my old place. She isolated me from all my friends. She had tried to show up to my house to become friends again so I wrote about it. The world does not revolve around you. I literally had forgotten you existed. Why on earth would I make a x reader about a minor? What the actual fuck.
I did block her because she’s an awful person and I blocked several of her accounts she made. She has so many accounts, it’s hard to keep track of them all. She has used these accounts to stalk and harass multiple people. Even to report accounts. Here are some of them.


I pick on people I care about. It’s how I show affection and that I care. If I didn’t pick at someone, it means I don’t care. It’s how I am to all my friends and the people around me. You have a hard time taking critiques and being held accountable. You will never grow as a person nor will you ever amount to anything. You will forever be a miserable person to be around.
You have lied about your age, because how on earth are you in so many adult spaces? Why are you in so many adult spaces making xxx Art and commission? If you are a minor, why are you involving yourself in adult spaces? You were in this server with this person, who gave me this screenshot. So why are you acting brand new?
This is the definition of grooming:

I did not groom you. I did not have a sexual nor romantic interest in you. Because 1) I am not attracted to minors at all. I am an eldest sibling and had seen you as a little sister once you fessed up to your age 2) I have a partner I am happy with and about to marry 3) you are ugly af.
I will never again get involved with a fandom like that again nor will I ever engage with anyone. I have taken a step back from tumblr, and my phone usage, by going back to school, buying a house, and even on the route to getting married. You do not occupy my mind nor are you someone I ever want to talk about again. This is the only amount of attention you will ever get me besides being served court papers once I get you. Do you not understand the consequences of what you have done? You will soon.
#I want you to hear it from me#a rant#f the baki community#apology#leave me alone#looking to pursue legal action
40 notes
·
View notes
Note
(I see you've redone your blog again) but anyway JayGrant is sooooo the friends that make a marriage pact as kids. And Jason thinks it's a joke but Grant is SO serious. 20 years later Grant breaks into Jason's apartment and is like "so I've noticed you're not yet wed-" and Jason is like "I THOUGHT YOU WERE FUCKING DEAD WHAT THE FUCK!" And Grant is like "Irrelevant. I need you to update your hand measurements to get the ring resized."
I did! I want it to represent what's going on on this little corner of Tumblr of mine hehe thanks for noticing!
Also!!! ASASGDJFG "I need you to update your hand measurements to get the ring resized." Meaning he already has a ring and has been constantly measuring Jason's hand throughout their childhood/teenage years, lmaoo I imagine Jason sitting there while Grant measures his hand going "lol you still on that?" While Grant very much is.
Jason being pulled the uno reverse card for once and being in the other end of "I THOUGHT YOU WERE FUCKING DEAD WHAT THE FUCK!" is so freaking funny.
Jason is still reeling on the fact that Grant came back at all, cause he had given hope he would. Jason sees his own resurrection as a curse so seeing Grant reviving gives him a new perspective and of course Grant goes, "We're soulmates, actually."
And Jason kind of believes him. Wants to believe him too.
Jason is —other than surprised Grant came back at all— is like "You meant it???"
Because he's on board, HEAVILY so, because he gets to marry the first crush he ever had, the very hetero guy who would mess around for shits and giggles, and make him flustered and red faced every time he'd throw hypotheticals at him: "I would treat you better than anyone else", "If you married me we'd never spend our nights sleeping"
All of this is especially funny immediately after Grant's resurrection, because Grant is fully convinced he came back for that one reason (it's actually way deeper than that but his obsessive streak is not gonna wind down for a while.)
Grant goes over the top with everything, the ring, the weeding, the preparations, his rich kid upbringing along his entitlement and hedonistic nature (that only amplified when he came back from dead) makes him a nightmare for anyone who gets on his way of making the Wedding anything less than perfect. This also goes along with me headcanoning him as a perfectionist (having your parents criticizing your shit since ever will do that to ya) bridezilla Grant says who lmao
And if we're going with the family dynamics...
Adeline Kane clutches her chest and almost has a heart attack because she finds out her son is alive Through a freaking Weeding Invitation.
Joey as well and his brain is balancing from wanting to beat the shit out his brother for making them go through this to go hug him and demand to be his best man.
Respawn, Alex, Rose and Wintergreen are invited as well, if only to cement the fact that Slade is very much not invited. He still shows up, though.
Jade is the bridesmaid, or best woman, or however it is. Grant shows up one day and is like "Bitch I'm getting married, you're the bridesmaid," she sighs, looks at his choice of a husband, sighs even more heavily and then they go shopping for the wedding.
The batfam on the other hand, Bruce and Dick are the ones who are having the hardest time.
Bruce is happy at first that Jason is settling and getting married, but then—
"Married to who?!"
Dick is sweating bullets, "Jason, you're still young, you don't have to settle for this one just yet!"
"No, I gotta."
Babs walks him through acceptance. When he recovers he drops Jason hints (as in, big passive aggressive hints) of him being the best man.
Jason lets him in tension for a while, at least until he decides who's gonna be the best man because he's not the first one to not-ask.
Meanwhile Steph and Tim pipe in, "can we plan your bachelor party?"
Damian is happy he gets to spend time and meet his half brother's family, (Respawn) and Jason will be there too I guess.
Jason is very much shoving in their faces, "I'm getting married before any of you losers."
Talia and Harvey are invited as well much to Bruce's dismay.
Bruce gets surprisingly along and is very supportive with Grant while he's in one of his bridezilla episodes because yes, Grant is right: Jason’s wedding deserves the best of the best.
Grant gets very intense about it too, hence, mark Jason down as scared and horny.
Slade, on the other hand, gets whiplash because Addie was just like that on their wedding.
#dc comics#batfam#dc#jason todd#bruce wayne#dick grayson#batfamily#damian wayne#grant wilson dc#mercfam#jaygrant#THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ASK#I love talking about them#I wrote this twice because Tumblr ate the first draft of this </3#Adeline kane#Slade wilson#sladdie#Batman#batman#red hood
192 notes
·
View notes
Note
I shifted using the void state!
I'm getting straight to the point because I know people don't like long success stories, but I used these two posts to finally shift to my desired reality and manifest my dream life.
Rotten’s Practical Guide to Shifting Realities
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zgrhCYyct7xV4j7d7qYFcoO8bAMx5Jqdb3NGoO81Oqs/edit
Reddit Post: The Power of the Void State
https://www.reddit.com/r/shiftingrealities/s/XMIo5TPYlM
Anyways, when I learned about the void state on Reddit, I was instantly captivated. I mean, who wouldn't be? The idea of not only using it for shifting but also manifesting my dream life for myself and my family felt like a dream come true. That's when I came across the second post I shared about the void state, and eventually, the first document I shared. They were incredibly informative and completely changed my perspective on shifting and the law of the universe.
I went on to stalk many of the recommended success stories on Reddit, exploring posts and comment sections that mentioned you. You seemed to be a common denominator in their journeys, helping them shift or guiding them with your posts. It made me happy to see your positive influence, even though your posts were from years ago and it seemed like you no longer have an account. Unfortunately, many other creators' posts were either inactive or banned due to Reddit's strict rules which is really annoying.
However, someone made a post about you, and one of your friends ended up commenting with your Tumblr account. So, I gathered a lot of valuable information from your account and a few others (like Fleur, Pink, Rem, Sexy Dream Girl, etc.) on Tumblr.
I must say, the Tumblr shifting and void community is miles ahead of Reddit and Amino. I was shocked that I hadn't come across this community before. Reddit is just starting to talk about the Law of assumption and the void, whereas you guys have been immersed in it for years. I even encountered some misconceptions on Reddit, where people still think the void can only be used for shifting and not for waking up in a whole new life. 🙄
Regardless, finding this app was the motivation I needed, and I discovered so much valuable information. I ended up using your theta wave method, combined with the first Reddit post I sent, to enter the void and shift to my dr. It's truly mind-blowing how easy it all was.
I can vouch for this process. All you need are the two Reddit posts I shared, as the guide is highly regarded within the shifting community, along with a few trustworthy Tumblr bloggers. I've been part of the shifting community since 2017, so I've seen it all, and I managed to shift within just two and a half weeks of finding these resources. Even though I was struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts, I realized it doesn't have to hinder your journey.
I wanted to share my experience here, and I might make a post on Reddit too. However, they have become stricter with success stories due to anti-troll measures, and it takes weeks to even months for anything to be processed. So, I wanted to share my journey here first.
I also recommend this: https://www.reddit.com/r/shiftingrealities/s/daFCQdyHim because it helped me understand what shifting really is. Manifesting too!
Lastly I'm 26 years old, and I've noticed that Reddit tends to have a more adult audience compared to Tumblr. At first, it felt nice to be surrounded by fellow adults discussing shifting. On the other hand, seeing Tumblr mostly filled with teens and younger adults made me wonder if it's easier for them, especially without the weight of responsibilities that often come with age.
But let me tell you, age is not a factor that determines our success in shifting. Whether you're 13 or 55, it doesn't matter. This is something we can all engage in, no matter our age.
Sure, there might be some challenges that come with getting older. As we accumulate more life experiences, doubts tend to creep in, and we become more logical. But guess what? Those doubts and logical thinking don't define our ability to shift realities. They are simply hurdles for us to overcome.
Hi love! I've spent some time going through all the resources you shared, and they've been incredibly helpful! Actually i have seen that guide in so many places, and it's truly enlightening. Thank you for sharing these amazing tools with us!
And yes, I wholeheartedly agree with what you said. age and doubt really do have no place in our journey they really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
I used to engage with @theastralplaneandbeyond5487 on Amino and Reddit too. He also has an informative YouTube channel and is in his 50s, I believe. His experiences and insights are rlly helpful and further show that age is just a number in this journey.
His journey showed me that we can do whatever we we want , regardless of our age. It's a beautiful reminder that we're all capable of creating and experiencing whatever we want 🩵
Also omg my Reddit era in 2021 was so fun. I’m glad it’s still helping people though my views have definitely evolved :D!
990 notes
·
View notes
Text
This is what I meant by my art getting worse because I used to be an anatomy fucking PRODIGY and now my anatomy looks like someone tried to put an adult rig on a child in Sims 4. This is probably a good example of the worst thing I've drawn in a while but something is urging me to post them anyway.
I'm trying to post generally what makes me happy, I guess. I drew these months ago but never uploaded them to Tumblr bc I felt like Tumblr would eviscerate me for pairing Sevika with a man, let alone Silco. I don't pair them in the main universe. This is the canon AU's Silco and Sevika. I'm also not against lesbian Sevika headcanons. I really don't hate any ships unless they're problematic.
I definitely don't view them as straight, the relationship would just be straight passing. I don't know specifically how to put into words what that means, I'm aro so I don't have many other labels besides that and every time I look for labels to describe them, there's another label out there that describes it better or the label I thought was good ended up having the wrong definition or the label is too descriptive or it's not descriptive enough.
Regardless I just assumed from the Arcane fandom that people will just think I'm trying to purposefully erase a common LGBTQ+ headcanon since this fandom lost its critical thinking skills after season 2. I especially hate "She's OBVIOUSLY a lesbian" comments bc that's not being pro-LGBTQ+, that's actually just re-enforcing gender norms by saying "masc woman = obviously a lesbian."
I headcanon Sevika as pan and then Silco is still a mystery since its impossible for me to find a label for him. Just an unlabeled man in love with his butch wife y'all Idk.
Sometimes I think Sevika's care for Silco in the main canon gets a little suspicious. She's loyal, jumping in front of bombs for Silco, killing Finn instead of Silco even though it's obvious Silco is beginning to waver the same way Vander did, hating Jinx but caring about Silco enough to give him parenting advice (and he listens to her ??), hating Jinx but taking her in and finally accepting her only after Silco dies, and then still mourning Silco's death over half a year after it happen and after finding out he was going to do the same thing Vander did ? That's a lot for your boss whose goals and loyalty have been wavering right in front of you whose only ever treated you like garbage despite your loyalty. Almost like something there isn't entirely for Zaun.
But main universe Silco could not and probably would not ever recipricate that.
AU Silco actually has his shit together, though.
P.S. I wanted to give AU Sevika dreadlocks like she had in her S2 concept art but since I already wasn't proud of this, I struggled to make them look right on a drawing that already looked wrong. Once I get the motivation or energy to draw again I'm still going to try to give her dreads, I went with her default hair from S1 because it's the only thing I'd already drawn prior at the time.
#arcane#arcane s1#arcane s2#arcane season 1#arcane season 2#silco#arcane silco#silco arcane#au silco#sevika#au sevika#sevilco
30 notes
·
View notes
Note
I don’t think it’s been long at all since I’ve sent anything in but coming back really does make me feel like a missing cat that just showed up in the garden four months later meowing for food.
Anyway, hello Playrough, hope you’re doing well 🙂🦎🐈
I’m not sure if you ever confirmed if you’ll ever write a fic about the ADA discovering Dazai’s small (although I will say it’s definitely the thing I’m most intrigued about in this au!) but I am interested in what the dynamic was like in the before period as well, like how the ADA viewed him, if they caught onto any of his little tells- should he have any 👀 or withdrawal symptoms. I know it was established that Ranpo knew immediately he was baby, but I wonder if the other’s would’ve caught on to any weirdness between them? Like Dazai getting visibly uncomfortable or even hostile whenever he gets close to him or Ranpo just acts strangely. Maybe they assume Ranpo just likes winding Dazai up, or- maybe they think Dazai just doesn’t like littles. I definitely think there’s some great angst potential with that- especially given how protective Kunikida would be with his babies, and becomes very guarded whenever mackerel’s around, until naturally the whole reveal scene finally happens and Kida just goes “shit, I’ve got a lot of foundation to build before he can really trust me 😬”
But that’s just extensive speculation- I’d much rather hear your thoughts on that :)
I do have a small headcanon that- should there ever be a fic in the future could easily be disproven, but I do like to imagine Dazai coming out of headspace after the reveal to discover he’s tucked up in Kida’s bed. He realises his secret’s out and attempts a Dazai classic of dipping out the door post regression before his cg even notices he’s awake- only to be pulled back into bed and held in a vice grip by Ranpo, who at some point, whether by sneaking in or announcing his arrival, came in and laid down with the snoozing babe. Despite mackerel’s protesting and wiggling, Ranpo just cuddles and gently scolds him for being so reckless by not getting any of the help he needs, until Kunikida comes in to check on him, and he has to endure the same physically affectionate but reprimanding reaction from him as well.
While it would definitely be- overwhelming for Babyzai, I think it would also highlight the fact that there isn’t just one other person that knows his classification now, and there are a lot of people who are willing and able to take care of him, even if he has a hard time accepting that and Chuu isn’t there :(
In other news, I’ve decided to reread your classification au again because I feel like I need to refresh my memory on some of the earlier parts 🫂🧚
(also tumblr’s glitching a bit for me rn and I can’t see the entire textbox, so if anything doesn’t make sense I apologise)
-🍓
I hope you have been well strawb anon ❤️🍓❤️ so happy to spot you in my garden once again 🌷🌷🪲🐈🌷🌷
I do plan to write The ADA Discovers Dazai Is Baby, it hasn’t officially been started but I’ve been rotating lots of ideas in my brain. I am probably going to try to get some other half finished works done first just to not be juggling too many, but also I might get struck with the urge to ✨write✨
Yes he will be having withdrawal symptoms, absolutely. I think Mori was probably able to get him top tier headspace blockers, and Dazai was on them for a long time and undoubtedly built up some kind of tolerance. The stuff they sell at the pharmacy doesn’t really do anything to help, but I also don’t think Dazai would be able to go cold turkey right away (i need to like, nail down exactly how the headspace blockers work like write out my fake drug labels), he’s irritable and on edge, probably super anxious for multiple reasons. The OTC blockers don’t block scent production ( where as the ones from Mori did) so he also gets patches to put on that stop scent production, and they are unbelievably itchy. Dazai probably has some kind of minor reaction to them and gets a rash as well, just all around has a rough time. I’m sure more than once he has to ditch work suddenly because he feels like he’s about to drop, only to spent the rest of the evening miserable and on the edge of headspace. Sometimes he does drop by himself, but I think it’s a catch 22 because he needs someone to help him feel safe in order to be as little as he needs to be, so his brain just doesn’t let it happen, but there also is a point where he cant keep going without dropping so Dazai teeters between headspaces, feeling so little but unable to actually be little. He’s probably very fidgety, biting his lip or chewing pens. Just not having a good time.
Dazai probably would be a bit standoffish towards Ranpo when the other is in headspace, partially because it’s hard to keep himself from dropping. Dazai will sometimes ignore Ranpo or just leave, and Kunikida definitely notices. it’s definitely not lost on Dazai that he’s not trusted, and I will have to elaborate there as well more on that concept but anyways Dazai is On Edge and acutely aware that the caregiver in the office dislikes him. I’d previously said i only wanted to do babyzai pov in the Ada stories but i am unsure now because the kunikida pov angst of realizing he’s been so harsh to a baby… we cookin
So after spending so long just not being able to properly drop, the poor thing is a mess. He’s really on edge at work, and the whole agency is busy and stressed (it’s still small at this point, so maybe they’re overwhelmed by having TWO cases at once for the first time, idk there is just something charming about the early beginning ADA ) and Kunikida is overwhelmed and frustrated and I think that’s just too much for Dazai and he just breaks down. I’m also just excited to explore those early ADA days where Dazai doesn’t really trust any of them and fears the more his new family learns about him, the less they’ll want to be around him.
Also I do think Ranpo knows Dazai is little, but I don’t think he knows he’s a baby. I totally agree he would be upset Dazai was so reckless, and I think because Ranpo is a little himself he’d recognize signs, but Ranpo’s a kid, not a baby. Also because i think it’s fun if Kunikida slowly has to figure out how tiny Dazai is ❤️ they absolutely would both be appalled that Dazai was so reckless with his health 💔
Thank you again 🍓 for all your support, this was very delightful to read and I’ve been chewing on it like a toy for a hot minute. I apologize, whenever I feel more low energy one of the first things I stop doing is answering messages 🫠I read and cherish them until i can get to them tho 🩷🩷
24 notes
·
View notes
Text
Over the last week, I decided to go ahead with bookmarking all the fics I've recommended over the years on AO3 since I abide by tumblr poll results always (and man pour one out for all the fic that never made it to AO3 or has since been deleted, sooooo many gems lost to time!) and it was a bit more than the ~3,000 I was expecting:

Hopefully, this will be easier than browsing the hundreds of recs posts I've made, since you can filter for any of the author's tags now! These are mostly focused on Star Wars and DC fandom, but I did my time in the anime mines and occasional tours through some TV fandoms or movies. You can dig into everything unfiltered and start your own filtering, or the bigger fandoms you'll find:
MAJOR FANDOMS: Each of these should have 100+ at minimum and, in the case of Star Wars, literally almost half of them are in that fandom. Look, Star Wars fandom might be a trash fire in a lot of ways, but it is ON FIRE with some good fic. (Older bookmarks not guaranteed to match my current sentiments, especially re: the Jedi, but they did catch my fancy at that point in time!)
STAR WARS: - All Star Wars -OR- All Star Wars minus the Obi-Wan/Anakin ship - OR- Nothing BUT Obi-Wan/Anakin
BATMAN/DC: - DC can sometimes be tricky, but you can do a Batman* search and get most of them (though, sometimes Nightwing* or Young Justice* or Superman* will catch some of the others). Honestly, though, you might want to just do a search for what character or dynamic you like and have fun from there, because otherwise you're getting a face full of my Dick Grayson Is The Center Of The Universe And I'm Making That Everyone Else's Problem agenda. ;)
MARVEL/MCU: - Marvel* will probably get most of the various properties, though you may want to filter for Defenders* or Guardians of the Galaxy* if you're interested -OR- Marvel* without the Thor/Loki - These focus a lot on the Thor* fandom if you want to witness the results of like 8 years of constant voracious reading in that fandom (Minus the ship), because, seriously, I read a LOT of Odinson family fic. - Bonus, just do a search for Maximoff* to find some really good X-Men: First Class-verse because, listen, I have been ALL ABOUT the Maximoff twins since long before the movies or MCU brought them over and I will DIE ON THE HILL of "Marvel, make Magneto their bio-dad again or I'm never reading another comic of yours ever".
TOLKIEN/LORD OF THE RINGS/SILMARILLION/HOBBIT: - Tolkien* -OR- Hobbit* -OR- Lord of the Rings* searches will turn up most of my Elf-hunting, I primarily focus on the Sindar Elves, but look I can't resist my problematic Feanorian faves or that I will die on the hill that Fingolfin is the best ever. (You have NO IDEA how sad I am that so much fic on Stories of Arda or FFNET is not easily bookmarked on AO3, sob. I externally bookmarked a few of the bigger ones, but sooo many shorter faves are missing from my recs tag.)
CLAMP: - X/Tokyo Babylon legitimately bums me out because it's not a huge fandom and yet so much of what was written was pre-AO3 and lost when CLAMPesque went down or was never brought over from Livejournal, yet this fandom (well, the Seishirou/Subaru pairing) still burns brightly in my heart.
MINOR FANDOMS: Ones that probably only have under 100 bookmarks (often around the 20-30 bookmarks range), but will at least give you a place to start! ANIME/MANGA: Bleach | Cardcaptor Sakura | Dragonball | Finder no Hyouteki/Viewfinder | Katekyou Hitman Reborn! | Kuroko no Basuke | One Piece | Sailor Moon | Madoka Magica | Naruto | Princess Tutu | Trigun | Weiss Kreuz | Yuri!!! on Ice
BOOKS: Chrestomanci | Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint
DRAMAS: Nirvana in Fire | The Untamed -OR- Modao Zu Shi
TV SHOWS/MOVIES: Community | Game of Thrones -OR- ASOIAF | Good Omens | Hannibal | Highlander | The Old Guard | Our Flag Means Death | Stranger Things
VIDEO GAMES: Dragon Age: Inquisition | Final Fantasy 8 | Genshin Impact | Okami
BANDS: Arashi
All right, whew, that was actually a fun project, despite how much work it was to hunt down a lot of older faves to see if they were on AO3, hopefully you'll find this useful!
355 notes
·
View notes
Text
Meet Our Writers
This week's spotlighted guild member is one of our moderators: Andrea!
AO3: Andrea_P_Quintell
Tumblr: @shortysus4
Age: 39 and a half
Pronouns: she/her
Guild Member since: October 2024
Fun Fact about yourself? I've been to all 50 US states and all 7 continents.
How long have you been writing fanfiction? Off and on since about 1998 or so-- Star Wars in the early years, SDV since 2023 :)
Favourite SDV character to write? Honestly, there is nobody I love writing more than I love writing about June (not even Ben)-- his softboi/drama queen personality is so similar to my own, and I adore letting him geek out about music, because I have both bachelor's and master's degrees in music theory/composition myself. If I'm limited to vanilla only, I have a soft spot for Sebastian and Sam, I love to let Seb be dark and moody while Sam is the opposite.
Favourite tropes/genre to write? Friends to lovers, with a heaping side of mutual pining! I LOVE to make two idiots realize their feelings for each other. Also, any time I can make boys kiss each other :D
Your most popular SDV fanfic? Forget Me Not, a Sambastian piece I'm pretty proud of :)
Your SDV underdog fic you wish more people would give a chance? I know it's a longfic, but I wish more people would take a chance on Coffee Beans, Candles, and Keyboards. I don't get many readers because of the whole "main love interest is from Ridgeside" thing, but I really feel like people would fall in love with Ben and June the way I have if they read it (and I constantly write for these boiz so you'll probably never run out of content).
Hear me out: Some hills I will die on: Sambastian is OTP and Leah is a lesbian! Also, for the love of Yoba people need to learn about the modded characters because there are so many good ones! Expanded, Ridgeside, East Scarp, and Adventure Guild Expanded add so many great friends and dynamics, and I wish there were more authors writing for those characters (especially mixing the mods). I never would have met the love of my life if not for taking a chance on installing Ridgeside, for example :)
Lastly, any other fandoms you write for? Star Wars (no sequel BS here, Mara Jade for life), Babysitters Club, and I read a ton of Yuri on Ice but haven't yet written for them... but hopefully someday!
We are very lucky to have someone as multitalented as Andrea as one of our number. Not only is she a writer and musician, she's also one of our moderators as well! If you check out her fics, please be sure to kudos and comment to show your support for small artists and writers.
If you write Stardew Valley fanfiction and would like to join our guild, please message this blog for an invite!
Credit to @lily-alphonse & @saradika for the banners
Please see AO3 for additional tags. Reader discretion is advised as always.
#stardew valley#sdv#stardew fanfic#stardew valley fanfic#fanfic#stardew valley fanfiction writers guild#sdv fanfic#stardew valley fanfiction#fanfiction#stardew fanfiction writers guild#fanfiction writer#writers supporting writers#junesquad#ridgeside village#stardew valley ridgeside
44 notes
·
View notes