#his last one regularly put people in the hospital

[seabeck]

What's the problem with pitbulls? Seems like a you issue tbh

I have yet to meet a pitbull that doesn’t have, or isn’t about to have, a bite record. And if they’re so good why are shelters across the country inundated with them?

Also theyre ugly looking.

[bet-on-me-13]

Reincarnation AU but it's not Danny

So! In basically every single Reincarnation AU I've seen, it's always Danny who gets reincarnated as a DC character. Sometimes it's Jazz, other times it's his Friends, but it never really strays from them. And I think we've been ignoring some people...

The Ancients! Danny is always reincarnated as a "Vacation" from his Ghost King Duties, so why not give the same courtesy to the other Ancients?

Specifically, Fright Knight.

Fright Knight has been a loyal servant and Knight of his Master for Millenia. Ever since he first formed as the Autumn Spirit, the Embodiment of Fear, the Fright Knight, he had declared his Servitude to the Ghost King, whomever it may be at the time. And he stayed in that position, through the passing of the Crown, through the Violent Coups, through every single Ghost King who had taken to the mantle. He was their Loyal Knight. Never Wavering. Never leaving their side.

Until Pariah Dark, but that situation was different. No previous King had even tried to take the human world before.

Thankfully, Pariah had only taken the Throne for a mere 5000 years, so he had not had to put up with him for long, and much of that time was with him stuck in his Coffin. That was the first time Fright Knight had ever left his Masters Side.

Then, that insolent Halfa he had met before came into the picture and Fright Knight had a new master.

King Phantom was...different.

Perhaps it was his remaining Humanity poking through? Or was it was the influence of the Human Realm that he still regularly visited? Or maybe he was simply just a Good Person, and there was no deeper meaning behind it?

Either way, Fright Knight noticed that he cared for his subjects in a far deeper manner than any previous king had. He had personal connections with as many Ghosts as he could, and often called the Ghosts he ruled his, Friends. It warmed his Long Frozen Core to see a King valuing his Subjects as much as he did.

He did not realize that the kindness Phantom extended to his people, also extended to himself.

One day, Phantom had been discussing his Human Life with some of his friends. Not his First Life, but his most recent Vacation. Over the Eons since he had taken the Throne, Phantom had been encouraged to take a Vacation every once in a while. It was not healthy for a Ghost to work non-stop like he did, especially for a Halfa.

It was not an uncommon practice in the Realms, many would take a break from the Endlessness of Death to embrace Life once more through Reincarnation. Although, many were too weak to retain their memories upon their second Forming. Mostly, it was Ancients or Kings who would use this as a Vacation, rather than a New Beginning.

There came a break in the conversation, and King Phantom turned his attention to his Knight. "Frighty, when was the last time you Reincarnated? Pandora did so recently, and it got me thinking."

"I have not taken leave of my post for thr Eons since my Forming, My Lord" Replied the Knight with Pride.

"What? You haven't taken a Break since you formed!? Frighty! That's not Healthy!" Exclaimed his King.

This lead to a whole conversation about how unhealthy his lifestyle was, which was another quirk of his Master. He cared for his Sunjects beyond their happiness.

"Fright Knight, as your King and as your Friend, I implore you to take a Vacation. It doesn't have to be forever, just a simple Human Lifespan, but please take a break, for your own Good."

And how could he refuse a request like that? One based in the kindness that his Majesty always showed his Subjects.

It took a few more years to finally iron out the plan for his Vacation, but what are a few years in the face of Eternity?

Finally, it came time to take his leave to the Mortal Realm, and to Life itself.

"Farewell, my Leige." Bowed Fright Knight, "I thank you for this opportunity."

"There's no need to thank me. Now go, and have fun, My Dark Knight."

...

That day, in Gotham General Hospital, a baby was born.

"What will you name him?" Asked the Doctor.

"I think I'll call him..." Began the need Mother, "...Bruce. Bruce Wayne."

[meetinginsamarra]

mayprompts2024,#20 do-over

Apparently there will be another AU happening. No beds but tats.

A Tattoo Shop AU.

I've no idea where this will go so I'll surprise us all. LOL

+++++

White Pony Tattoo - Part One (do-over)

Dr John Watson stood in front of 221 Baker Street and – for the first time in a very long time – felt anxious.

He was wondering why this actually happened to him right now. The London afternoon was mild and sunny, summer was about to begin and yet, an aura of foreboding seemed to hover around the well-kept Victorian building.

John shook himself mentally. This was completely ridiculous. There was nothing to be afraid of. There was no danger.

For God’s sake, he had fought for Queen and Country in Afghanistan, had saved several lives and countless limbs in the field hospital and also on the battlefield under heavy fire. He had not felt anxious then. Wary, yes. Cautious, of course. High on adrenaline, surely.

He had been shot in the shoulder while he was on a scouting mission with his team and had woken up in his own field hospital. When his fellow army doctor had disclosed to John in blunt medical terms that he might lose his arm, then John had been frightened.

After a long rehab process the arm was functioning again but John had been honourably discharged because of an intermittant tremor in his hand that made him unsuitable to work as a field surgeon.

Two years ago, John had returned to London and after struggling for three months he had found work as a physician in a local clinic. He had soon met a wonderful nurse named Mary Morstan, fell in love with her and they had married quickly.

Which brought John back to the reason why he was standing in the middle of the pavement in front of 221 Baker Street, staring at the tattoo shop like a village idiot.

The tattoo on his right upper arm needed a do-over.

“White Pony Tattoo” was not what John had expected. It was located in a small shop with a red awning above its single window. There were no flashing neon signs or colourful and enlarged pictures of tattoo designs the artist had created. No advertising of the shop’s services whatsoever. Everything was clinical and sterile, even off-putting. Had it not been for the single metal sign placed in the middle of the window, no one would have thought a tattoo shop would be behind it.

Maybe it was the sign that made John feel so anxious.

It read “White Pony Tattoo” and showed a stylized white running pony on its right side. On the left the sign read “no arguing, no crying, no boring designs”. This did not bode well. Just by the look of it, John would never have thought about setting a foot in there.

Yet, John had done his fair share of internet research to find the best tattoo shops in London because he really did not want some would-be tattoo artist botch up his skin.

White Pony Tattoo had topped several lists. The only shortcoming that people regularly mentioned was that the artist was capricious. The lesser polite said that he was a total dick. However, Sherlock’s – John assumed it was a pen name -artistry was highly acclaimed and he had won several competitions over the last years. Getting an appointment was difficult and being accepted as a client was even more so. But sometimes, when Sherlock was interested enough, he accepted walk-ins.

John straightened his back, raised his chin, took a deep breath and opened the door of the tattoo shop. A melodious door bell chimed and announced his presence.

IIt was cool and dim inside the shop and it smelled faintly of a fresh lemon fragrance. A thick purple curtain behind the wooden counter closed off the rearmost part of the shop. Quiet classical violin music played in the background.

“Hello?” John called out, taking off his jumper to let his tattoo show. “Is there anybody here?”

The curtain moved and a man stepped up to the counter. It was easy to recognize Sherlock from the few pictures John had seen on the internet.

“Hello, I’m here for a do-over…” John began.

“Shut up.” Sherlock commanded. His baritone voice was silky and opulent just like the luscious black curls that framed his aristocratic and unusual face.

John was so surprised that he closed his mouth with an audible plop.

Sherlock’s eyes roamed over John’s face and upper arms, then the rest of his body. Piercing blue grey eyes took in every detail, precise like an x-ray machine or better, like a computer tomograph. They missed nothing, pinning John to the spot and stripping him down to his very bones, unable to hide anything. It was uncanny. Disconcerting.

“Firstly, it’s called a cover-up, as you should very well know.”

Sherlock chided, frowning. His voice rumbled like the high-end engine of a race car and filled John with an unknown desire.

“Secondly, I’ve already deduced what you want. I won’t do it because it’s boring.”

+++++

The one(s) who know and tell me where the shop's name comes from will get a cameo in this AU (nothing bad, I promise). Are you game?

tagging @peageetibbs @totallysilvergirl @calaisreno @lisbeth-kk @raina-at

[thezombieprostitute]

Lol, half the comments on this video are about hot, competent doctors and nurses. Which babes do you think are getting inaccurate heart rates bc they’re just too damn fine!?

So, my brain started with Curtis as a nurse to a single mom who gets her heart racing by how good he is with her son. And then it went off to create the foundations for an entire Hospital AU! What the frick, brain?!

Lots more characters than I intended, making this post pretty long so I'll add a Read More. No promises on all characters making the cut, but also open to adding other characters.

Please let me know if you think the characters and their roles work or not! This is all very theoretical at the moment.

Bucky Barnes - Physical Therapist. He develops a crush on a new patient after they get to talking about all of their shared interests (including cats).

Chris Beck - Chief of Surgery. Established relationship with a woman he met in college. Married with at least one child.

Clark Kent - Oncologist. Sometimes throws off his coworkers because he's so friendly and good natured towards his patients but then gets steely and focused when it comes to everything else. He's been in the field so long, people think he must be superhuman, but what no one knows is that Clark regularly visits a BDSM club to help him keep his cool at work.

Curtis Everett - Nurse for an Internal Medicine practice. He meets a single mother during a regular appointment. Her babysitter canceled at the last minute and Curtis becomes the kid's favorite person.

Geralt - Pharmacist. Knows all the right medications and will question doctor notes, especially if there's an interaction with another medication that will cause problems. Primarily enjoys the company of one of the pharmacy tech's whose been there almost as long as him.

Jake Jensen - Nurse in the Pediatrics Ward. He's popular with the kids for his willingness to play, bring plushies, and fix up video game systems. Whatever they need to help their treatments go easier, he's there to help them. He meets a newer nurse and helps her with the emotional struggles that come with the job.

James Mace - Custodial. It's not the most celebrated job, but it's honest work and Mace is happy to do his part to keep the hospital running. He's the go-to for when things break down, including the car of a lovely doctor who's at her wits end.

Johnny Storm - New surgeon. Definitely a hot shot who thinks he's the best of the best, despite having so much more to learn. Regularly hooks up with the nurses as part of his "good luck" ritual. Eager to impress the one nurse who turned him down.

Lloyd Hansen - He's put enough money into this hospital to get a wing named after him. Now his mother is in need of care and Lloyd is very demanding of the cardiologist in charge of said care.

Ransom Drysdale - Major donor to the hospital. It's pretty much just to look good to the press but he meets either the Hospital Director or the Gifts Manager (not yet sure which) at a charity event and wants to get to know her better.

Steve Rogers - ER Doctor. Always cool under pressure, able to prioritize cases when there's a rush, and quick to protect his staff from an unruly patient. He has a crush on one of the cafe/cafeteria workers that he talks to when he needs a moment of peace.

Walter Marshall - Security. Divorced with a teenage daughter. Meets another single parent at a school event.

[mollymauk-teafleak]

more buddie becoming dads thoughts

I would love to eventually write this as a proper fic but in an attempt to shift a bit of a writing slump and justify the nights I've fallen asleep plotting this out, here's how I see the birth of Buck and Eddie's first daughter going in a trans Buck AU. Because you know nothing goes simply for these two idiots, they're trapped in a procedural drama, there's got to be some Shenanigans. Kind of a follow up to this fic I wrote!

Putting under a cut for mentions of male presenting pregnancy

So Buck having to be on restricted duty was obviously a Whole Thing but he knows it has a time limit, he's not going to be wielding a clipboard forever so he makes his peace with it. That and he's so exhausted, he's falling asleep on nearly every flat surface in the station house.

But he's right at the end of his pregnancy and there's a big disaster. A carnival is in town but a storm hits and theres a flash flood and trees coming down and power lines falling so the 118 rush into action. And Eddie is working when he sees Buck drive up in his pick up, in sweats and an old army hoodie of Eddie's. Of course Eddie is beside himself worrying about him, trying to get him to go home but Buck won't have it, you need every hand you guys can get, nothing bad's going to happen to him while he just sends people to reunification tents and puts bandages on people. Eddie has to admit he's right so he has to let him just get on with it, though he makes him Swear to keep in contact with him regularly.

So Buck is helping out with the organisation side of everything, Eddie is with the 118 managing the disaster. And they've got things pretty much sorted out, they're the last ones left on scene when Athena comes marching up, practically dragging a very coy looking Buck behind her, with an expression like he got caught kicking a soccer ball through the kitchen window. Athena says she hopes you guys have an ambulance left over because she's just found out that Buck's been having contractions for hours. Buck just mutters that his waters broke a while ago too, he didn't mention that...but he's fine!

Cue the 118 piling into the ambulance, Athena giving them a police escort, Bobby getting behind the wheel, Chim beside him calling Maddie on FaceTime, Hen in the back with Buck and an internally screaming Eddie. But the storm is still so bad, travelling is hard, the roads are washed out so in the end it falls to Hen. She jokes mildly that this is a little more of Buck than she ever wanted to see but, of they weren't going to make it to a hospital this is a pretty good second option? Buck grunts that he never liked hospitals anyway.

So they pull up on the side of the road and after a pep talk from Maddie over the phone, Eddie holding his hand so tight and murmuring over and over how much he loves him, a lot of yelling about why the hell did she have to inherit his massive head, they have their tiny baby girl. And Buck's just grinning a mile wide and holding her tight because holy shit, he actually did it. Eddie murmurs of course he did, he's fucking incredible.

So it's messy and chaotic and Eddie begs Buck to never do that to him again but it's still one of the best days of their lives

[good-omens-headcanons]

CW/TW: Long headconon (could also be seen as a fanfic prompt), very sad, HIV crisis, losing people

I headconon that Crowley made a bunch of queer friends in the 70s and 80s in different queer clubs, pubs and pride parades.

And when the HIV crisis started he was among those queer women who supported gay men and went to protests. During his work there he was the one who cheered people up, gave people a shoulder to cry on and was regularly getting into rows/fights with judgmental people. He is fondly remembered by the old queers for what he did.

But he often visited Aziraphale then and it happened several times that he just fell on his knees, buried his head in Aziraphale's lap, grabbing his clothes and absolutely bawling his eyes out. Not just because his friends were dying (he got used to that over the centuries) but because they were dying fast and young, a lot of them were dying alone, left by their families and judgmental friends, because of the stigma, the treatment by doctors, the hopelessness, because there was nothing he could do, was allowed to do.

And Aziraphale did his best to comfort Crowley. Petting his head, hugging him, holding him, letting him just release all his pain. After that Crowley would often apologize for messing up Aziraphale clothes with tears and snot. But Aziraphale would just dismiss that and gently take his hand, pulling him to the backroom to make some tea, before Crowley could shut his emotions out from him.

However when Freddie died, Crowley entered the bookshop, one nearly empty bottle of whiskey in his hand, utterly drunk and slurred "He's dead". As Aziraphale rose out of his chair to comfort him, gently saying "Oh Crowley", Crowley took the last sip of his whiskey, put the empty bottle on a shelf, turned around and left. Aziraphale didn't see him for the next 9 months. No one at the hospital he volunteered at saw him either. Upon Aziraphale seeing him again and asking where he had been, he just acted like Aziraphale hasn't said anything at all. Aziraphale never asked again and strongly avoids talking about the time of the HIV crisis and the illness and death of Crowley's best friend.

Sometimes now Crowley talks about what he and Freddie got up to at parties. Sometimes Crowley talks about something that happens in pop culture and music and says "Freddie would have loved that" then usually the atmosphere visibly changes and Aziraphale awkwardly finds another topic to talk about.

[warrior-cats-rewritten]

Anthro!AU. There's no real timeline for this.

Names follow 3 formats. Let's grab... Dovewing!

Dovewing is also called Dove, Miss Wing, and Dove Wing.

Turtle Tail is also called Turtletail, Miss Tail (or Miss T) and Turtle.

Cats like Millie or Snake will sometimes take last names, but highly prefer their single name.

Bramblekit absolutely took a cookie when offered while he was at Frostfur's house, thinking they were chocolate chip, only to get oatmeal raisin. He hated it but was too polite to spit it out.

Snowbird cut Ratscar off from seeing his nespring when she found out about his connections to a cult called The Place of No Stars.

Blossompaw and Briarpaw regularly swam in a river nearby their house, with Bumblepaw on watch for anyone coming who might get them in trouble.

Briarlight also put flame stickers/decals on her wheelchair. She sometimes rotates them out for seasonal stuff, like holiday themed ones. She put a weed sticker on it once for 4/20 and Millie threw a fit over it.

During the nasty custody battle between Goldenflower and Tigerclaw, Swiftpaw told Tigerclaw he never wanted to see him again, he would rather be dead than have his father hold any custody of him.

Smudge regularly visits and babysits Squirrelkit and Leafkit, he wishes Firestar would move back to Kittypet Town, but understands that his best friend is happier in Clan City.

Leafpool was in a very bad situation when she was pregnant with her triplets, as Crowfeather left her with nothing when they broke up. She pretended that she was going to be a surrogate, as Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight were having trouble conceiving. That was the lie.

Squirrelflight works as a professional chef. Ferncloud works as a stay-at-home mom but makes plush for her friends and their kids, as sewing is her passion. Thornclaw is a PE teacher. Ashfur is a drama teacher. Brambleberry is a chemistry teacher. Leafpool is a doctor. Cinderheart is a receptionist at the hospital Leafpool works at.

Hollyleaf and Cinderheart were "borderline dating" for MONTHS before Jayfeather snapped and screamed at one of them "just spit it out already!"

Jayfeather is a programmer, and works at making more video games and controllers accessible to blind folks like him! He works with Snowtail (Snowkit) who also works helps out gamers who are HoH.

Scourge is a lawyer, who helps Firestar find the evidence that Tigerstar murdered Redtail during an election.

Turtle Tail is preschool teacher, and works with Sorreltail and Snowbird. They work together at Kit School in Sanctuary Lake Elementary School/Preschool.

Clan City has 5 main districts, for the 5 Clans. Everyone is generally very proud of their home and where their family came from, and xenophobia seems to be on the rise... Many come over, but just as many are driven out by the harsh attitudes of the locals.

In another time, there are more districts. Jingo District, Blood District, and Warrior District. There is also Mountain City, and Gorge City where people in the Sky District lived for many years following a massive disaster that forced everyone to evacuate, they lived with the locals there for years, giving a mjor economy boost to a dying city, and caused quite the controversy when they left.

Guardian Village is nearby as well, traditional people who live amongst ruins, as well as many dotted Sister Settlements, where a semi-nomadic traveling group sets up camps. There is The River Kingdom, a valley where a group of secretive cats live in peace, also called The Park by outsiders.

In another time, the 5 founders of Clan City, Skystar, Thunderstar, Windstar, Shadowstar and Riverstar, settled there together after disaster swept the area. Shadowstar came from Mountain Village, plauge causing some cats to leave for hope of a better life, Windstar came from a village on the Moor that was destroyed by wildfires with her fiance Gorse Fur, Skystar came from what would later become Rogue Town, bounced through orphanages with her brother Fox, Thunderstar was born to 2 Mountain Cats, Clear Sky and Bright Storm, soon after arriving in the area, and Riverstar came from the River Kingdom to escape a flood with his young niece Flutter.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jonathan V. Last at The Bulwark:

Nobody cares about media stories but the announcement over the weekend that ABC News decided to settle Donald Trump’s weak defamation suit for $15 million is a big forking deal.

(1) ABC News didn’t settle. Disney did.

I do not have inside information but a decision this consequential was almost certainly not made by Almin Karamehmedovic, the president of ABC News. It probably wasn’t made by his boss, Debra OConnell, who runs the news group for Disney Entertainment Networks. I’d bet the milk money that Bob Iger—the CEO of Disney and one of the most important corporate executives in America—made the final call on settling with Trump. Because this is a decision that affects the entire corporation’s relationship to the federal government. And while it might be against the interest of ABC News to sell out its journalists, it’s very much in the interest of the Walt Disney Company to be on good terms with a president who is open about punishing his enemies and rewarding his friends.

(2) All of corporate America is making the peace.

We talked about Trump’s tribute/protection racket last week and how Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have gotten right with Big Orange. Add Disney to the list. This is an important development because Bezos and Zuckerberg are founder/owners. They have gigantic personal stakes in their companies and thus a great deal to lose. But Iger is just a normal CEO. Which is to say: He’s a hired hand. For sure, Bob Iger is well compensated for his work, but he doesn’t “own” Disney. And if even workaday CEOs like Iger—who have much less to lose than founders—are going to accommodate themselves to Trump, then everyone is going to fall in line.

(3) The media has already capitulated.

Over at the Los Angeles Times the billionaire owner is openly putting his thumb on the scale to make the paper more hospitable to Trump. Writers and editors at the Washington Post are running for the exits as Bezos’s new Trump-friendly publisher mucks about. Time magazine named Trump “Man of the Year” and the magazine’s owner said that Trump’s election “marks a time of great promise” for America and that “we look forward to working together.”1 Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski presented themselves at Trump’s court to reset their relationship and then discovered a delicate sensibility concerning on-air criticism of Trump cabinet nominees. And now Disney has cut off ABC News at the knees and put everyone in its news division on notice that they will not be supported by corporate if they make enemies with Trump world. What is capitulation going to look like going forward? Mainstream news outlets aren’t going to start fluffing Trump. The capitulation will look more like this: (1) They’ll try to buy protection by employing Trump favorites. That’s what the LA Times did by bringing in Scott Jennings. Media companies will hope that by paying people who have access to Trump they can persuade Trump to leave them alone. (2) They’ll cut down on platforming Trump critics who are in DGAF mode. Instead, they’ll favor tame critics who stay in the realm of normal kabuki theater. (3) They’ll start leaving things unsaid.

[...]

3. Lawfare

One more thing about the asymmetry of Trump’s defamation claim against ABC News. Fox News broadcasts regularly refer to the “Biden crime family.” A guest on Newsmax called President Joe Biden—who has never been convicted of any crimes—the “head of the Biden crime family.” In May 2020 Donald Trump Jr. authored an Instagram post with a picture of Biden saying: “See you later, alligator” alongside an image of an alligator saying: “In a while, pedophile.” On September 15, 2020 Donald Trump himself insinuated that Joe Biden was a pedophile, retweeting a post with the hashtag “#PedoBiden.” Joe Biden didn’t file defamation suits against the Trumps père et fils. We have established a playing field in which the forces of MAGA can slander, libel, and defame with near impunity—what is QAnon if not an elaborate defamation case?—while simultaneously using libel law to attack legitimate critics in an attempt to chill everyone else’s speech.

Jonathan V. Last at The Bulwark wrote a home-run column on why ABC’s folding to Donald Trump is an abject act of surrender to fascism.

See Also:

The Present Age: ABC News Just Showed Trump Exactly How to Silence Journalists

[diaryujin]

𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐓

summary: this is the first christmas you’re spending without minho. obviously, everything feels different now, and you’re just so lost without him – the person who’s been there for everything. what you didn’t know was that, however, he was still here.

includes: death, car accidents, drunk driving, depression-like state, suicidal thoughts, ghosts, this is set during the night between 25th-26th, crying, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Yeji, Lia and Ryujin (of ITZY) are your friends, hospitals, wounds, scars, lmk if i missed anything!

pairing: ghost! bf! minho x human! fem! Reader

word count: 1.7K

taglist: @kflixnet

You sat on the couch in your living room. Most of the lights are off, save for one. You didn’t want to bother with making it all ‘cheery’ and ‘bright’ as you were on this day year after year after year. “Your surroundings are a reflection of yourself” is a quote you had heard before, and it probably held true. You didn’t feel any joy inside, and you didn’t have to put on a facade that said otherwise to anyone, so there was no point.

You had made a decision to spend this Christmas alone. Weighing down your family and friends with your sorrow was an ass move, and you wanted them to be happy, to celebrate like they did every year. It was nearly midnight – at this time, people would be asleep, or still up with their families, or at parties, or out on trips with friends or something else that they enjoyed. Very few would be distressed or sad right now.

You, unfortunately, were part of that few.

You hadn’t been able to sleep normally ever since exactly last year, so to be fair, it wasn’t just you being a Grinch. This day was nothing special, you were just following old patterns. It was also around this time 365 days ago that you lost him, your Minho.

You both were returning home after a gathering with your friends, Changbin, Hyunjin, Jisung, Yongbok, Yeji, Jisu, and Ryujin. It was a cheerful night. A lot of laughs and food was shared, and you were sure that nothing could ruin the high spirits you were in, which only seemed to heighten as Minho drove the car and you sat in the passenger seat beside him. He was taunting you over a stupid joke you made in the get-together, and you were laughing at him. 

Everything was perfect.

Until it wasn’t.

A drunk driver had crashed violently into your car, knocking you out. You remembered nothing that your lover had said before you blacked out, except for a faint ‘I love you’. You woke up in the hospital, your parents next to your bed, sobbing. Shortly after, Hyunjin and Yeji, the only two available after the gathering since the others were unable to be contacted, rushed into your room as soon as they were allowed in. It took you a few days for you to get rid of the daze you were in since the accident. When you were better than before, the first thing you asked had gotten you a frown from your friends, who visited regularly, and a sigh from your parents.

“Where’s Minho?”

They all looked at each other before Jisung took in a deep breath with slightly watery eyes. 

“He’s…He’s not here.”

“Why? Is he okay? Were his injuries worse than mine?”

At your words, Jisung held back a little sob and turned around to bury his face in Yongbok’s shoulder, unable to answer you. Jisu glanced around, and after seeing that no one else was ready to speak, opened her mouth.

“He’s in a better place, Y/N.”

“What do you…you’re not serious.”

Your eyes widened and flitted between everyone’s faces, before setting on Jisu’s again, hoping that this was some kind of sick joke. When there was just emotion and pity in them, you turned your head slowly to look down at your hands, which were unconsciously gripping your blanket. You seemed frozen, but a million thoughts were bouncing around in your head, spinning, spinning, but never quite settling. So many emotions swum around, it was causing your head to hurt. You blinked rapidly, breathing heavily through your mouth.

Minho – gone.

An overwhelming surge of exhaustion enveloped you suddenly, and you let your eyes close before falling back onto your pillow, succumbing to your tiredness.

Dori leapt into your lap, nestling there. Even with the heating on, cats who were all close by, and you in Minho’s prized hoodie, you didn’t feel warm. It was cold, so cold, being so alone without your favorite person. You had healed somehow, although a small scar above your eyebrow would stay to cruelly remind you of the day you lost everything every time you looked in the mirror. 

Your body might’ve recovered, but your heart wouldn’t. It wouldn’t allow itself to.

“Dead on the spot.”

You didn’t even get to say goodbye properly.

The only consolation you had was that the last time you saw him, there was a bright smile on his face and that it wasn’t him being alone like you were. You’d never want him to feel any pain, and you would choose you being left alone and for him to move on than him suffering without you.

Even though sometimes you wished you died as well so that you could possibly still be with him since there was no chance of him coming back.

Dori purred, and you snapped out of your reverie. You started stroking the cat’s back, smiling weakly to yourself at the living reminder of him. You scratched the back of his head, and suddenly your head was filled with memories you treasured. You held onto them dearly like they were your lifeline – which, in hindsight, they were. They were what kept you going in moments when you felt so empty. 

Tears escaped your eyes and streaked down your cheeks. They plopped onto Dori’s fur, making it slightly damp. You didn’t bother to wipe them, since you didn’t want to get cat hair into your eyes, and it would be more efficient for you to just get up later and wash your face as you could expect more of them throughout the night. Small sniffles came from your nose, and you cleared your throat when it felt too dry. 

It was in this situation that Minho phased in.

You felt a cold rush of air that moved your curtains, and you looked around to see what might have caused it, since your windows were shut because you had the heater on and to block out the sounds of Christmas carols. After seeing nothing, you focused on the cat in your lap, stroking its coat rhythmically as you got lost in your head.

Minho glanced down at himself, and sure enough, he was a ghost. He couldn’t be seen in any mirror or by any human, but some animals could. He hoped his cats would be counted in that ‘some’ because he really missed them – they were his babies, after all.

Not as much as he missed you though.

He took in your form, and his eyes widened as he noticed how different you were since he last saw you. You looked more tired with slight eyebags. He couldn’t pinpoint anything else, but you had definitely changed for the worse. His heart – not that he had a proper one – hurt seeing you like this, and he slightly felt guilty for causing you to be like this and for not being there to comfort you.

He went over to you, his steps noiseless. Soonie’s ears perked up and he turned to look at his late owner, before jumping onto his paws. Doonie seemed to notice the ghost too, and mewed. He smiled at his cats, squatting to get on their level. He patted their heads, before getting up again to sit next to you. The couch didn’t shift, so you had no idea he was there.

He placed his hand on top of yours, sighing.

“Y/N. You may not see me, but I’m here. Isn’t that- great?”

There was no response on your end, which was expected, but Minho was overjoyed to be with you again and didn’t give a shit.

“I’m sorry for leaving you without saying a proper goodbye. Lord, you look terrible. You’re struggling, and it’s all my fault. I should have been there for you, I should have- and yet I wasn’t. I’d do anything to trade places with you, you know? Even if that included going through the accident over and over, just so that you could be the one that passed and I could have stayed.”

Almost immediately after he said that, you broke down. You covered your eyes with your arms, the tears soaking Minho’s hoodie. You let yourself heave out pained sobs which you had been holding back until now, because how long could you hold it in?

His eyes widened, and he wrapped his arms around you. The three cats mewed again as you felt a breeze around your body again – however, this one was warm, truly warm. You calmed down a little, sobs reducing to small whimpers. He looked down at you, face filled with concern, before cupping your cheek. He scanned your face and realized that you looked worse now than when he was alive to see you cry in real-time.

He frowned upon noticing your scars. He then leaned down to kiss them all one by one, his lips moving gently as if you were a fragile thing that could easily break. Once he was done with that, he pecked your right cheek, then the left one, before going up to your forehead and planting a lingering one there. His eyes darted to your lips, aching to feel them one more time, but he just leaned back. He wouldn’t be able to feel their usual warmth, which was what made them so comfortable and loving, and he didn’t want to claim you – he was yours and always would be, but you were no longer his. It would take you time to move on, he knew that, but eventually you would, and doing this felt like he was holding you back.

Not that you knew, but you did feel the same warmth on your face which was oddly familiar.

He got off the couch, knowing his time was nearly up. He kissed the cats’ heads, saying his goodbyes to them, before moving back to the spot where he spawned from. He waved at you, blowing the curtains again, which startled you.

“Merry Christmas, my love. I’ll see if I can come back next year.”

With that, he disappeared, causing Doonie to run over and swat the area where he previously was, and to mewl in frustration as nothing happened.

“Doonie, come back here. There’s no one there.”

It didn’t matter, because strangely enough, you were feeling a bit better than before, as if some of your strength had returned. You suddenly felt drowsy, and yawned, before lying down on the couch. You felt cozy now, which was confusing yet comfortable. “Must be the magic of a Christmas spirit.”

a/n: btw the drunk driver survived and got bailed out yikes

[hypermoyashi]

I finished Chapters 3 and 4 of my Trimax re-read! And, boy, these chapters are so fun and then we're also starting to getting to some of the classic Trimax/Trigun heartbreak, too.

Starting off with! Meryl's chapter! She grew out her hair a little, it looks so nice! And we get her canonical age--she's 23 in Trimax, and 21 pre-time skip. I don't blame everyone for commenting on how accomplished she is at such a young age. It also makes me wonder how old Milly is, too! I always headcanoned Milly as older, but we shall see if canon has any more details on that lol.

I do also really like the themes they explored with Meryl's character here, how she gets just a touch of silly sticky her tongue out at her asshole coworker, saying her time with Vash wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be, thinking it'd probably be true she'd be happier living a peaceful life but deciding to get involved and help Vash anyway, because she has good memories with him... They note she only traveled with him for four months, and it's been two years, but man. He's still important to her! And she is important to him in return, given he only opened the door for the hitman when Meryl's name came up! Vash&Meryl is one of my favorite dynamics, they're so soft ;~; Meryl was also just. So cool. Confronting the hitman. And Milly to the rescue! Loved that it was Milly who showed up to support Meryl and get her out of a sticky situation when I thought it'd be one of the men. Very fun surprise!

More under the cut! (Mind the warnings!)

Also the amount of silly Wolfwood gets is very much appreciated too! Between popping out of nowhere to ask why the hitman was messing with Vash, dragging Vash to the hospital, pouring Tabasco sauce onto the hitman's wounds, and then eating noodles while watching a major disaster in action--he's so ridiculous sometimes, I love him jrekngjkneg

And then we get our first appearances of Brad and Sensei (or Doc, I think?)! Brad is his normal self, very hesitant on Vash because of reasons, but can't wait for him to come around like he normally does. I think having a group of people Vash regularly visits does help put his immortality into perspective--a lot of immortal figures in stories isolate themselves, but of course Vash loves people and can't bring himself to do that entirely. So you end up with this group of people who've grown up with a stray cat immortal just wandering in and hanging out occasionally, and it's. Both really cool and must be weird, for that one guy you knew as a kid to just be exactly the same now that you're an adult.

And then. We got another scene between Vash and Knives, this one right after the Fall. So same deal as last time, I'm going to break down some of the stuff that went on between them; if you have a different reading of them that does not involve Knives being abusive, that is fine! Please just be respectful of my personal reading!

Warnings for explicit discussions of abusive relationships and the dynamics involved, including both emotional and physical abuse.

Deflecting Blame/Playing Clueless/Downplaying the Harm He's Done: Knives tries to help Vash up after the crash, only for Vash to smack his hand away and start yelling at him. Knives asks what Vash's problem is, as if he can't guess why Vash is upset with him. He also implies Vash shouldn't be angry with him since they're brothers and it's just the two of them now. The fact he immediately starts gloating about how magnificent all the deaths from the crash were doesn't make me confident he was really genuine with not understanding why Vash was mad. To me, it reads more as he knows why Vash is upset, he just doesn't fundamentally see Vash's anger as valid since he thinks Vash should just agree with him. Hence, why he downplays, makes light of, or outright ignores Vash's feelings.

Physical Abuse as Punishment/Power Plays: When Vash compares Knives to humanity, saying his actions are inhuman, Knives agrees and responds by kicking him to the ground, then continuing to kick him while he's on the ground. These aren't light, either--Vash is shown with a bloody nose and bruises on his face in one of the panels on the next page. Knives is using a physical beating to discourage behavior he doesn't like and, to me, it does kind of read as Knives using the beating to shut down Vash being upset with him as well. Since, ultimately, Vash's anger and hurt fades from the scene when Knives gets angry with him in return and beats him. He's also shown as the one in power in this scene, with Vash not even able to fully stand from the sand while Knives is seemly fine.

Isolating Vash from everyone who is not Knives: Very successfully, in this instance. Not only does he talk about killing everyone until it's just the two of them left on the planet, he's also killed Rem, their main adult caretaker and support, along with pretty much anyone else Vash might be able to go to for help, given they'll all be busy trying not to die, if they're not dead already. So Vash is well and truly stuck with Knives at this point in time.

Tacking on a disclaimer that I'm not an expert, and physical abuse kind of falls outside my wheelhouse, as well. Either way, though, definitely interesting to compile this stuff as it crops up within the chapter. I am noticing more now that I'm going through a second read through.

I will report back with more as I continue to read through the chapters!

[russellsppttemplates]

The Gaslys and the Leclercs on vacation (Pierre Gasly)

Continuing the tradition, the Gaslys and Leclercs go on a vacation together

Note: english is not my first language. Since my last post was a dad!Charles piece, here's some for Pierre

Thank you so much to everyone who likes and reblogs, your feedback is appreciated, and while I'm not actively taking requests, I am writing some blurbs when I can (usually at nighttime when I can, and I must mention that it has been a while) so if you have any ideas or concepts that can be written in a small amount of sentences and you want to share, feel free to do so! ✨️🩶

After what felt like endless text messages in the group chat, hours of planning in the hospitality while your husbands and kids were busy somewhere else, you and Charles' wife had managed to book an entire 10 day vacation for your families to enjoy some time together. "Do we have everything?", Pierre said as he closed the boot of the car, counting all the suitcases, "four kids are in, and there's me and you", you chuckled, "yes, I'd think the adults are an important part of this all", he joked as he got inside the car with you, "are we mad for going on holiday as four adults and seven kids?", you asked, feeling overwhelmed at the math of it all, "the boys are big enough and they usually behave well, Élodie and Amélie also get along great, honestly it's Celeste that's maybe the harder question and, fortunately she is a very calm baby", he soothed your worries, "plus, we all understand what it is to be surrounded by them all the time. Promise me you'll enjoy these days", he said as he grabbed your hand to kiss your knuckles, "I will, can't wait to catch up with them and spend some time in the sun without the smell of fuel", you smiled as he checked in the kids for the the last time before he started driving you to the airport. The six of you arrived at the airport, buggies for the smaller children as the older ones could walk just fine on their own, "there you are!", you heard Charles call for you as you approached them, Alexandre letting go of your hand as he ran to meet up Hervé, the two hugging eachother as if they hadn't seen eachother in years, "I have this very cool game I want to show you!", your oldest said to his friend as you greeted everyone, hair ruffles for the kids and hugs to their parents, "this is one big group, hm? Just imagine all of them in a plane with other people", you chuckled as you heard shrieks of excitement and squeals all around, "they just nearly drive us mad, so it wouldn't be long until all the aunts on the plan to throw us death glares", Charles' wife said while one of the flight attendants from the jet welcomed you inside, helping the kids settle in while the luggage was being put away.

The flight had gone smoothly-ish, Celeste having some trouble settling down with the noise from the engine, the take off not being pleasant for her, making you get up once you were able to safely and bounce while you walked in the small space, Élodie, as usual, and Amélie fascinated with your ten month old as they wanted to help you with her in anything they could, "she's like a doll", they said as they took turns in holding her bottle close to her mouth, Charles and Pierre laughing at their excitement over something so simple while the boys played on their iPads.

.

"Do they need it again?", your husband said as you got up from his embrace to help Charles' wife bring her kids back around to put suncream on them, "they are Charles' kids, no amount of suncream is ever enough", you said as his wife pointed her finger, indicating you were saying the truth, "they really don't take the sun that well, bless them, tiny little shrimps we're going to have if I don't top them up regularly", she said before thanking you and handing you a bottle of product to put on their skin, "guys", you called your okw too, "Come here so you can put this on too, and no fussing, please", you called as you watched your oldest slump his shoulders and his siblings following suit, "and that is why they're your kids", you said as you watched your husband over your sunglasses, pushing them back up on the bridge of your nose before he slapped your waist playfully, his hand coming to check on Celeste who was sleeping in her bassinet in the shade.

A while later, while the kids were snacking by the pool on the sunbeds, all wrapped up in their towells as they chatted about a mixture of subjects, you and Charles' wife caught up with life while your husbands took the opportunity to go for a quick workout, "Do you ever think about another one?", you asked as you noticed her shining eyes as she fed Celeste on her lap, "don't get me wrong, but three is enough. Although we have the means and everything is going well, I think the Leclercs are where they should be", she smiled sweetly as you nodded, Celeste finding amusement in the details of her swimsuit and running her hands through the beads, "Mama, can we go in the water now?", Louis asked you, "Not so soon, mon coeur, why don't you go and play with the toys we brought?", you answered as they seemed to remember the toys the boys insisted on bringing, an array of puzzles and some comic books they had recently taken an interest in, "C'mon, Alexandre, you're really going to like this one, it's about space!", Thomas said excitedly as he pushed his friends to go inside, leaving the girls outside, "Amélie, Élodie, aren't you joining us?", Hervé asked them before they shook their heads, "No, we're going to stay here and talk about girly things", your second child said as she waved them off, "girly things? Are we talking about boyfriends or girlfriends?", you teased them as you heard their giggles, "No, mama, we don't want those", she replied as they got back to their chats, seeing their fathers arrive from their workout, "have you two ditched your brothers?", Charles said as he kissed his daughter, his hand coming to tickle Élodie who always let out a big laugh whenever he did it, "they're playing inside, papa", she said before they made their way up to you, Celeste playing with some soft toys you carried with you at all times since you never knew when you'd need to crack them out to entertain her, "Hello, little one", Pierre said as he grabbed his daughter so she could sit on his lap as he sat next to you, Charles doing the same with his wife, "they seem to be invested in it", Charles commented, "just wait until they get competitive, or Louis comes running because Alexandre was cheating", Pierre said as he grabbed one of the finger puppets, "aren't they doing puzzles? How can you cheat in puzzles?", Charles asked, "Oh, don't even question him with that, we spent half an hour the other day explaining to him that seeing the colours around the piece and getting the clue from there was not cheating and was actually they goal of puzzles", you said as you scratched the back of your neck, remembering the tantrum you and Pierre had to deal with.

.

You decided to have dinner outside the house for a change, choosing a local restaurant that seemed quite calm and give you some privacy, even despite the fact that you had seven children with you and, like so, you should probably be worried about that instead, "how about some pasta for the kids? All they eat throughout the day is just picking at things and snack bits, maybe something a bit more consistent for this meal", Charles tempted as the adults nodded, the kids cheering, "and some fries, mama, please?", you heard Thomas ask his mother, "sure, mon petit", she chuckled at his big smile, "just don't be surprised if they all go missing when they her here, I hear Pierre and Y/N are big fans", she teased as he looked at you with furrowed eyebrows, "it's okay, we can share", he smiled.

The food arrived quite quickly and everyone started eating, the kids eventually finding ways to mess with the adults wether it was over stolen fries, kisses with pasta sauce covered lips and sitting on your laps, "can we get some ice cream? Please?", Hervé asked as Pierre checked with everyone, ordering dessert for the kids as well as some treats for you. It was nearly 1am when Élodie and Amélie insisted they would sing some nursery rhyme they found out they both knew, Hervé laying against his mother's chest while his brother kept trying to keep his eyes open, Thomas and Celeste somehow out for the night as Louis asked you "mama, they're going to stop eventually, right?".

[eliotquillon]

I always thought those pictures emma sloan took of them soooo cute. honestly if it was any other showrunner they would've milked the chameron relation for at least another season. alas it is our loss. Could you maybe write something about those pictures and where they eventually ended up?

sorry this ends on kind of a sad note LMFAO couldn't help myself. feel free to stop reading before the final asterisk if you want to leave this on a happy ending :P

They’re just photographs. The fact that he keeps them doesn’t have to mean anything.

*

The truth is that Chase has never been a photo kind of guy. His memories of his family aren’t fond enough to warrant a shrine in their absence, he didn’t really keep in touch with any of his old high school and college friends after he moved to America, and while he has other friends now–the local Saturday soccer team, the guys at the bowling alley, some of the regulars at the deli he always buys his lunch from–they’re not the sort of people you take pictures of. He’s passing through their lives, and they’re passing through his; it’s nice while it lasts, but there’s no point pretending. There’s a tiny, almost thumb-sized photo of his mother holding him as a baby that he keeps in his wallet, but most of the time he makes sure to fold his cash in a way that he doesn’t have to keep seeing it. It isn’t deep, or anything. There are posters and prints in his apartment, little trinkets from the occasional grateful clinic patient and old gifts from girls he used to go out with and seashells from the beaches in Melbourne that he keeps under his bed–Chase isn’t allergic to sentimentality, he’s not House. But there aren’t really any photos. He doesn’t see the point.

This, he knows, puts him on one side of the spectrum; Foreman, Chase would guess, is somewhere in the middle–he keeps a photo of his own mother pinned up carefully inside his hospital locker–and Cameron is safely, squarely, on the opposite side. He’s seen her wallet, the inside of her glove compartment that one time she was driving them back to his apartment and asked him to pass her a chapstick: they’re littered with them, a mix of Polaroids and disposable film and photobooth strips and digital print outs. A small, mean part of Chase suspects that this might be why Cameron is always so insistent on making them go to his apartment instead of hers; he doesn’t really remember the inside of her bedroom well enough from that one night last year, but he suspects she keeps her wedding album proudly on display. And he doesn’t begrudge her for it. They’re not together; what kind of an asshole would he be, to begrudge her for it? But he can’t help but be intrigued. Cameron’s life, from his outside-in perspective, isn’t exactly bursting to the full. She works; she fucks Chase; she sometimes volunteers at her local church and then complains about how weird it feels to be there for hours afterwards. She has precisely one friend that she hangs out with regularly–Josie–and although Chase has never met her, she sounds absolutely insufferable. On the surface, it is emptier than his. But to look at it from the photos alone–from his lack of them, from her abundance of them–it would seem the complete opposite.

This is, in truth, why he is initially intrigued by Emma Sloan’s photograph of Cameron. For a moment, Chase sees that photograph and imagines himself as a photograph person–for a moment, he wants to childishly fold the photo away and slip it into his pocket and keep it somewhere nobody else can see. It isn’t like it’s a particularly special moment, either. It’s just Cameron, wearing her glasses, preparing to do a bladder tap. He means it when he tells Emma that he sees her all day like this: focused, compassionate, ready to do good. The realisation that everyone else sees her like this, too, suddenly makes him feel absurdly jealous in a way he’d rather not dwell on. It’s just Cameron. 

But Emma tells him to keep it, gives him permission to stow away the little bright, warm feeling in his chest, and Chase can’t help it: he smiles. He barely hears the camera go off again. “Thanks,” he tells Emma, not yet dwelling on what the hell he’s doing or why he’s so interested in this picture, and he pretends that he doesn’t know why Emma laughs.

*

“When’d she take this picture of you?” Cameron asks, holding the photo of Chase looking at her own photo. “You look so…”

Enamoured, Chase thinks. Head over heels. Surely you can see it?

He isn’t disappointed when Cameron doesn’t ask to keep the photograph. It’s for the best, really; if she kept it, maybe she’d keep asking what Emma did to make him smile like that. It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean anything that Chase, who has no photographs, kept hers, and that Cameron, who hoards photographs, didn’t ask to keep his.

*

He can’t bring himself to get rid of it, even after he asks Cameron for more and she says no; even after he keeps confessing his feelings to her every Tuesday and she keeps getting more annoyed and insistent that she doesn’t return them. The upside, Chase thinks, is that at least Cameron doesn’t come around to his apartment anymore. He doesn’t have to worry about keeping Emma’s photograph hidden like a bad secret. He keeps it tucked between his bookshelves, the thin, glossy paper slightly bent from being pressed between two hardbacks; at first Chase kept it facing outward, but it hurt too much, seeing her face–earnest and bright and so Cameron–and feeling like a stranger to her again, just another voyeur. As much of an outsider as Emma, even though he still sees her every day.

When House fires him, Chase decides he’ll get it framed. Emma was right; he wants to see Cameron outside of work. He’s probably never going to see her again–not with any regularity, anyway; they’ll probably cross paths at conferences or whenever Foreman is back in town, but it won’t be anywhere close to the same–and the feelings will fade, eventually. He’ll stop hurting. The photograph will be good exposure therapy. Chase will get used to seeing her in photograph form, and learn to forget about Cameron in her real form, and soon it will just be a nice, artsy photo taken by a patient he particularly liked. It won’t be weird. It’ll be nice. It will.

*

“What’s this?” Cameron asks, after their third–maybe fourth–real date. She’s prowling around his bookshelf and looking for something to read–she is, she claims, protesting Chase’s decision to rent the new Spider-Man movie–and her fingers brush against the concealed edge of Emma’s photograph. Chase never did get around to getting it framed; Cameron showed up on his doorstep before he got the chance. His apartment is still technically photo-less, but Cameron has a photobooth strip of them she made them take when they went to a fair last week, and he keeps reminding her to give him half of the photos. So he’s working on it, basically. That’s the main thing. “Wait–is this me?” She’s holding up the photo properly now, wine-dark mouth in a small little o of surprise. “This is Emma Sloan’s work, right?” Cameron asks, when Chase doesn’t answer the first question. It’s obvious, after all. “I’ve never seen this one before. Did you steal it?” “She gave it to me,” Chase answers defensively, ducking his head. He feels embarrassed, and a little caught-out. “She said I should keep it. I think she…knew. That I had–that I have–feelings for you.”

“Huh,” Cameron says. She traces her fingers contemplatively over her own face, and nods decisively. “Give me a second.” “Wait, Allison, I’m sorry,” Chase calls after her, as Cameron suddenly dashes out of his living room and starts toeing on her shoes. She’s a little tipsy, and swaying with the movement; he wants to reach out and steady her when she wobbles a little with one foot in her heels, but he isn’t sure if it’d be welcome. “I didn’t mean to be creepy, I just–” “Robert,” Cameron cuts him off authoritatively, “give me a second. Wait here.”

Chase watches, helpless, out the window as she totters out towards her car and opens her…passenger door? What, he thinks blankly. If Cameron was going to run away screaming–and, if he’s honest, a part of him did expect her to; she gets a little funny when it comes to grand declarations–she should be getting in the driver’s seat. Not folding herself up like a pretzel while she roots around in her glove compartment, holding something triumphantly aloft and then full-on sprints back up the front steps and into the hallway…

“Look,” Cameron smiles, “we match.” It’s that photo of him: the one that Cameron said made him look all glowy. It hasn’t fared as well as Chase’s photo of Cameron; it’s creased and slightly whitened, like she’s been folding it and unfolding it fastidiously over the last few months, like she couldn’t bear to stop touching it. A little part of Chase thinks he might cry. “But you didn’t–I was with you when we gave Emma back her stuff,” Chase says, dumbfounded. “You didn’t ask to keep it.”

“Maybe you didn’t steal yours,” Cameron says, “but I did.” She smiles down at the photo again, and brushes her fingers against photo-Chase’s black-and-white face. “You were looking at my photo, right? When Emma took this one?”

“Yeah,” Chase allows.

“I want to make you look like this picture all the time,” Cameron says shyly, and then he kisses her: because he can do that now, because she likes him back, because now he gets to see her after work and it’s wonderful. 

They get the photos framed, when they move in together. They’re the first of many.

* When Cameron goes to Chicago, she takes Emma’s photographs with her. It makes sense, Chase thinks. He tells himself he doesn’t miss them.

[apr1lias]

Just for my own documentation (and anyone else’s if they want it) here’s a summary of Thursday at Silverstone. This is going under the cut because while this is a summary, I myself cannot summarise the words lmao.

The basics/area/idk how to describe it:

- Arriving at the track it really feels like more people are here for Thursday than last year (hopefully this continues for the weekend since this is regularly not a well attended race in comparison).

- There was also so many people wearing different merch whereas the last 2 years have been pretty much Marc and Vale. Fabio I think actually looked the most popular this year, but there was a surprising amount of Martin fans.

- The one thing I’m disappointed about is that last year they changed the bit around the fanzone from grass to gravel and it’s the same this year. It makes it a lot more inaccessible and its so difficult to get to the activities and stuff.

- In fact I think they changed the layout way more this year but it was still fine, just weird that they don’t want us touching grass lol.

- The fans as a whole behaved well but there were a few people that were rude, not necessarily towards the riders but towards other fans.

The paddock:

- The paddock opened at 11 but the queue started at like half past 10, but it really didn’t take long to get in so it was fine. It was ridiculously hot though.

- The paddock itself is massive, but for the GP teams its too small unlike the old layout. They’ve had to add a secondary part at the back for some of the smaller teams in Moto2/3 for their hospitality and motor homes.

- They didn’t have anywhere to get drinks in the paddock unlike last year. We wouldve had to leave to get drinks but luckily we bought water and they had refilling stations.

- We wanted to get to the pitlane for the bike reveals and the queue was… well just absolutely ridiculous to put it mildly. We decided to skip it which was sad but we got to watch the reveals on the screen (Yamaha and Pramac won for me and I love Trackhouse’s too).

The auction:

- The auction is so fun. Basically all the riders put something of theirs, for example a knee slider or boots or something, and then people bid (slightly ridiculous) amounts of money for them for the two wheels for life.

- Joe Roberts was brought on stage and he was giving away part of his race winning bike from mugello??? They got 4k for it.

- Jake Dixon was there on stage but he was ill. He brought Summer (his daughter) out on stage and she waved at all of us which was so cute.

- The auctioned a Prosecco bottle that was signed by Johann Zarco, Jack Miller and wait for it…. Pecco Bagnaia. No one else seemed to care how ironic that was but I burst out laughing.

- Johann Zarco talks a lot. By a lot I mean he may as well have presented the auction himself. That’s all I can say about the MotoGP riders that I didn’t know already.

- Actually I just want to say that Fabio seems really shy and reserved but he knows how to work a crowd. The British crowd absolutely love both him and Rins but I genuinely think he’s the best supported rider here, maybe even more than Marc.

- He also did the auction for his boots which was absolutely hilarious. He wanted to buy them himself too but got outbidded 😭

- Also Remy kind of said on stage that it appears he will be doing another year of WSBK with Yamaha!!!!!

- We left early because of the rain but it was so fun, if I had money then I would’ve been bidding on stuff but it was fun regardless.

The riders (and team people i suppose):

- Met the Moto3 baby goats extremely early and David and Collin are both lovely and so polite too.

- Ran into Massimo Rivola. I have a picture with him and he smiled at me when he saw I was wearing Aprilia merch. Also found Pablo Nieto and Frankie Carchedi and said hello to Nadia Padovani.

- My friend saw Somkiat in the motorhome and shouted at him, and he kind of jumped and pointed but he came down for a chat and a photo. Again, he is probably one of the, if not the, nicest person in the whole paddock.

- Found Celestino and again he is so nice but also comes across as really shy. I actually told him he was my favourite out of everyone and he seemed really grateful for it (unless he thought I was crazy which is also possible).

- Saw somebody who I thought was J.A. Rueda but I’m not 100% sure. Also ran into both Senna Agius and Jeremy Alcoba and when I tell you those boys look the same its crazy.

- Saw Albert and had to stop myself from apologising that I jinx him every weekend. Also a great guy it seems and we saw him a few more times after that.

- Not saying it’s necessarily him all the time but it’s two years in a row I’ve had a very negative experience of a certain #1. Never said hello or anything when people said it to him, unlike literally every other rider (yes including Fabio and Marc and any other person you want to try a pull a gotcha card on).

- I need to issue a public apology to Jorge Martin because I saw him on his scooter and shouted “Hola Jorge” from a distance and following that he got swamped. He’s not off the shit list but he was actually a nice guy. I also asked if he could sign anything Aprilia yet (thought I’d ask because i had my pen and cap) and he smiled and said not this time.

- I have had skin-on-skin contact with Fabio (not even out of context: he touched my arm while I was helping him escape on the scooter from a crowd).

- I didn’t see him but my friend did and the good news is for the first time in two years Pedro has arrived at Silverstone not on crutches!!!

- Saw Maverick, Aleix and Enea (who was walking back and forth around Aprilia for some reason). They were down the opposite end to all of us but all smiled and waved. Maverick disappeared somewhere so I’m pretty sure he’s a wizard.

- Found Luca who was lovely again. Also Miguel who said he has given up dentistry now!! Again lovely and stopped for as many as he could, as did Bezz.

- We stopped to get some shade, which conveniently ended up being outside the Yamaha hospitality. Got a picture with Remy and I got thrown off because he was speaking perfect Italian to someone.

- Saw Sarah (Jake’s wife) and we said good luck to him for the weekend, and we asked where he was but she told us he was ill (which you could tell from the auction lol)

- David Muñoz was laughing at everyone queueing for and just sat there on his bike.

- Saw Ai and he was really patient because I could not get the camera to work. Again such a lovely guy and in case anyone was curious: he and Somkiat are still really good friends and Somkiat was riding Ai around on the same scooter so they’re still cool.

- I said it earlier but favourite rider of the day: Tony Arbolino aka loml. I cannot even tell you how nice he is because that deserves a post in itself. He was so happy I had his cap that he thanked me before I could thank him for signing it (his signature is interesting to say the least lmao I put the picture so you be the judge). Also some man offered to take our picture but I didn’t realise and I’m fairly confident it was his manager.

So yeah this was basically my day. If you wanna ask about any other riders cause I saw so many (the ones I’ve mentioned are the ones I have pictures with or of) then feel free to ask but yes 11/10 day, would recommend it to everyone. Hopefully we have a good weekend to follow!

[uncpanda]

Minx

Pairing: Lex Luthor x GN!Reader 

Prompt 31: Ending a kiss with a little nip to the lip. 

“I cannot believe we are missing the MET Gala for this.” 

You laugh, and turn to look at Lionel. He’s dressed in a suit and looks painfully out of place. While the man hadn’t been initially thrilled about your relationship with Lex, he had been trying to get closer to you and Lex since the wedding, and he tried to spend time with you and Lex regularly; something that never failed to baffle your husband. 

You put your hands on your hips,  “What do you mean? This is the annual Smallville County Fair. This is a time honored tradition and I haven’t missed one since mom and dad adopted me, which was three days after I was born.” 

Lionel stares at you, and behind him Lex is trying really hard to not laugh, “So you’ve come to this fair every year? No matter what? You’ve never missed it?” 

You shake your head, “Nope. When I was nine and had a hundred degree fever, we stopped by on the way to the hospital. When I was in college, I would drive back for it. The fair ended up getting rescheduled for two days before Lex and I were due back from our honeymoon, and I made him leave early.”

Lionel’s head whips around to look at his son, “You stopped traveling around Europe to come back for some rinky dink fair.” 

Lex nods, “It’s a Kent family tradition.” Lionel’s eyes go wide as Lex sheds his outer jacket to reveal a sweatshirt, with the words “Kent Family Farm” on them, jeans, and tennis shoes. “What the hell are you wearing?” 

“Well the Kents have a stand here. And in order for everyone to enjoy the fair, we take turns manning the stand and selling stuff. This is just the uniform. Don’t worry, Martha has one for you too.” 

“Please tell me you’re lying.” 

Lex wraps his arm around your shoulders, “Nope.” 

Lionel lets out a little whimper, and you take pity on the man. “Come on Lionel. How about we play some games.” 

It takes exactly three games for Lionel to start complaining about people being cheats, and the games being rigged. When you offer him some of the funnel cake you and Lex are splitting he gives you a health lesson, and by the time you reach your family’s stand he looks about ready to rip his hair out. 

You get him settled in a chair, and suggest he check his email. That seems to calm him, as he connects with the world outside of Smallville. You head back to the front of the booth to find your dad handing money over to Lex. 

“What in the world are you two doing?” 

Your dad grumbles, “Your husband hustled me. I bet him twenty dollars that he couldn’t get Lionel out here and keep him here for at least two hours.” 

Lex holds up three fingers, “He’s lasted for three, and only made one child cry. That’s a success in my book.” 

Your dad shrugs, before saying, “Speaking of which, he’s been banned for next year.” 

“I’m sure he’ll be devastated.” Any talk about Lionel ceases as your mother comes over. She and your dad head out to explore and you go to Lex. You tuck yourself into his side, and he says, “We didn’t come back from our honeymoon early. And we missed the last three of these things.” 

“Yeah. But your dad tends to complain less if he thinks something is a tradition or is important to me.” 

Lex laughs before swooping down to kiss you, he ends it with a little nip to your bottom lip, before resting his forehead against yours. “You are such a minx.” 

“And that’s exactly how you like me.” 

[prettyinpurplelights]

IV.

“I cannot believe we actually made it.” Mia gripped your hand excitedly, her acrylic nails digging painfully into your skin.

“Girl, hold my hand any tighter and you’ll crush my bones. I won’t have a hand to collect my diploma with.” You giggled softly, prying her fingers off the back of your hand so you could lace your fingers together instead, her sweaty palm pressing against yours.

“Sorry.” She replied and you squeezed her hand in response. “I’m just so nervous, can you believe after all our hard work, we’re finally here?”

“I know.” You sighed, looking out into the audience of family members and friends that were filling into the giant cathedral to watch and support their loved ones on one of the most important days of their lives. You and Mia had finally come to the end of your degrees, and today would encapsulate the last four years of all nighters and countless assignments. You were graduating with a Master’s degree in fashion design and marketing, Mia in medical neuroscience with psychology. As well as saying goodbye to your university, you were both parting ways with the city too, leaving Marseille for Paris early the following morning. During your final year, your main project was to put on your own fashion show, making the pieces as well as being responsible for promoting and marketing the event. You didn’t sleep for several weeks, but it had all been worth it because the show was a huge success, landing you the highest grade in your cohort as well as a job waiting for you at Louis Vuitton, whom having interned for them the summer before, and after your show being such a hit, offered you a place at their headquarters in Paris. Mia had also secured a fellowship in one of the biggest hospitals in the country, working with their research department on new treatments and cures and finding the causes for all sorts of illnesses to do with the brain that she had tried to explain to you but had gone completely over your head. All you understood was that it was incredibly competitive and very hard to get into, so you were extremely proud of her, and very excited to start this new chapter of your young adult lives together. You had already leased an apartment to share, and moved almost all your stuff over during the summer break. It was now a matter of starting to unpack and make it more of a home when you both returned to Paris for the last time in less than 24 hours.

“Ouuu I see Elliot!” Mia squealed, waving her hand that wasn’t holding yours excitedly. “He’s with our parents, come on, let's go and say hi before grad starts.” She stood up, dragging you down the small steps where the choir would usually be during mass, instead, today, it was where the graduates were to be seated during the graduation ceremony. She pulled you through the aisle, mumbling a few excuse me’s as you weaved through the sea of people talking to each other, the atmosphere electrified with excitement and anticipation for the upcoming ceremony.

“Mommy, Daddy!” Mia's smile grew wider as she hugged her parents tightly. Her parents had moved to London when she was 14, her dad’s hotel business was expanding and he’d started to branch out into the rest of Europe. Mia was supposed to have gone with them but she didn’t want to move to England, and after a lot of bargaining, she’d managed to agree with her parents that she’d live with her grandmother instead, hence how you became friends, she had moved to Bondy late into the school year and the only spare seat in your form tutor was next to you and the rest was history. Unfortunately, Mia’s grandmother had passed away just before she was due to start university, and since she was officially an adult, her parents let her stay in France. She’d fly out to see them regularly but it had been a while since she last saw them, and they’re very busy people so you knew she was very pleased to have them here and you’re glad they could show up for her.

You hugged your own parents, your dad clicking at his camera repeatedly, making sure he had enough photos to commemorate this occasion.

“Dad, I don’t even think I’m in the frame in the one you just took.” You laughed at him, as he squinted behind the lens.

“Close enough! I’m so proud of you, my sweet baby girl.” He leant over to kiss your cheek before walking off, muttering about finding someone to take a group photograph.

“You know I don’t think he made such a fuss when I was graduating.” Elliot appeared by your side, his hand reaching up to grab your cap, to remove it so he could ruffle your hair. You ducked under his arm, knowing exactly what he was trying to do and pushed him away from you.

“Don’t you dare El, I was up at 6 this morning doing my hair, you’re not messing it up!” You scowled. “And besides, we both know I’m mum and dad’s favourite.” You added. A smug smile spread across your face as you shrugged your shoulders.

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes. “At least I’m the smart one, all you do is play with pretty fabric all day.” Elliot had graduated with a degree in sports science the year before, ending up at PSG, working as part of their medical staff. From what he had told you, he was really enjoying himself, and it probably helped that it was the same team Kylian played for, those two together, you were sure they were putting the other PSG players and staff members through hell.

“You know without people like Y/N, the rest of us would have nothing to wear, you’d be naked right now.” Mia slid up to Elliot, her arm wrapping around his waist as his went over her shoulder and squeezed it.

“I know you wouldn’t complain about that.” He replied.

“Mmmm, probably not.” She looked up at him, pursing her lips as he reached down to kiss her.

“Ew, the both of you. Please, I’m literally standing right here.”

They both laughed, pulling away just as your dad returned, some poor 20-something looking boy in his stead, holding the camera.

“Where’s Marco? Is he not coming?” Elliot asked, craning his head around to see if he could spot your boyfriend.

“Um…he’s in Tokyo. We broke up.”

Ex-boyfriend.

“Oh shit, sorry sis. What hap-“

“Group photo everyone, quick together!” Your dad interrupted his sentence, and you were thankful for his extraness in that moment, not wanting to answer any questions about your break-up. Your dad ushered you, your mum, Elliot, Mia and her parents into a huddle. It took a couple of minutes to organise everybody, your dad was kind of a perfectionist; it’s probably where Elliot got it from. You were stood between Mia and your mum, your brother behind the both of you. You turned to face him and from the look in your eyes and the way your lip turned downward slightly, he knew what you were going to ask, the issue of Marco long forgotten. Someone else was on your mind now.

“He’s going to be here Y/N. He might be a bit late, but he’ll be here.”

“He didn’t come down with you?”

“I had to pick Mum and Dad up so we got a later flight, he said he’d make it down himself. He wouldn’t miss this. I’m sure he’s on his way.”

You nodded, as you turned back to the boy holding the camera, mustering up the biggest smile you could, trying to ignore the way your heart felt so heavy in your chest and the sudden way your gown started to feel stuffy and uncomfortable. You and Kylian weren’t on bad terms, in fact, you were great. It had been almost three years since you’d decided to take a step back from him, and focus on yourself and who you were outside loving him. Not to say you stopped loving him, you don’t think that was something you’d ever be able to do, but you’d reached a point where he wasn’t all you thought about and it didn’t dictate everything you did and consume your entire being. You’d even managed to date someone this year, your first official boyfriend, Marco, for about 10 months, until he had to move to Japan for a student exchange transfer and you’d mutually decided to end things while you were on a good note because long distance for a whole year was not worth it; you’d remained friends though. You liked him a lot, but you didn’t love him, which was one of the reasons why he’d also agreed, howbeit reluctantly, to break up before his transfer, he’d told you he loved you 2 months prior and you were still yet to say it back. He had wanted to stay for you, but you encouraged him to go, not wanting to hold him back, especially when his feelings were so strong for you and yours were…well, not as strong. You didn’t want to disappoint him if you still couldn’t commit several months down the line and he’d thrown his future away for you.

“Graduates please make your way to your assigned seats, the ceremony will begin in 5 minutes.”

You and Mia hugged your families one more time before making your way back towards the stage. Your phone buzzed in your hand as you sat down, bringing it up to your face.

“Kylian?” Mia asked, her inquisitive nature causing her to lean over your shoulder and read the text on your phone.

“Ouuuu Marcoooo.” She sang teasingly as sat back and unlocked her own phone.

Hey, I know we’re not together anymore, but you’re still my friend so I wanted to wish you luck today! ♥️ proud of you always

Thank you Marco 🥺 I really appreciate it. How’s Japan treating you?

It’s amazing. The culture is just wow. And the sushi DEFINITELY tastes better here. You’d love it.

Your fingers hovered over the keyboard, ready to type out a reply when he sent another message.

I miss you.

You heard Mia wince audibly next to you, obviously reading the conversation between you and Marco.

“Get your big ass head out of my business.” You bumped your shoulder against hers as you sent Marco a quick reply about the ceremony starting so you had to go, not at all in the mood to unpack what that “I miss you” meant.

“Shame. I liked Marco. He was good for you.”

“Mmmm.”

“At least he congratulated you, better than that idiot your brother calls a best friend.”

“Ky’s our best friend too. And I thought you were on his side? Team KyY/N?”

“That was two years ago Y/N. He couldn’t even be bothered to send you a message about not coming.”

“El said he’d be here.”

“You think so?”

“I told him about today personally. He promised me he’d be here. For the both of us.”

“Oh we both know which one of us he’s coming for. And honestly I couldn’t give a fuck if he shows up for me, no offence. But for you? I’m skinning him alive the second we get to Paris.”

“He’ll be here.” You whispered to no one, almost as though you were trying to convince yourself. He had given you his word he wouldn’t miss today when you’d called him a few months ago about it. Initially you thought it might be weird, speaking to him on the phone, since you’d only been texting recently, but the thing about you and Kylian is no matter how much time you spent apart, you never fail to fall right back into your usual stead of things.

You hadn’t seen him since your birthday at the end of January, where there’d been a sort of awkward moment when you’d introduced him to Marco, who then had been your official boyfriend for a couple of weeks. He had just gotten back together with Renee, they had been together since your little confrontation at the airport two years back when you’d told him to focus on her. They had been on and off since they’d started dating, from what you’ve seen in the media, Kylian never really talked to you about her. From what you’d read over the course of the years, they’d broken up a couple of times, not that you cared or were keeping count.

******

He picked up after 3 rings, his face filling the screen when he answered. You gave him a little wave and a smile spread across his features, his dimples greeting you.

“Y/N. Hey.”

“Hi!” You replied, your voice chirpier than you’d expected it to be.

“You okay? Did something happen?”

He must’ve noticed the way you anxiously chewed at your bottom lip, your telltale sign something was wrong or you were nervous. In a similar way, he would squeeze his eyebrows together and his nose would twitch involuntarily when he was feeling the same. The harder he scrunched his eyebrows, the less nervous he was, the increased frequency of frown lines strewn across his forehead meant he was more likely to be angry instead. You knew each other’s tics and tells, probably better than you knew your own. By logic you and Kylian should’ve worked, you complemented and contrasted each other in the most perfect ways, but for some reason, the universe didn’t seem to agree and rather preferred to have the two of you in constant awkward situations and miscommunications leading to petty arguments. It was a quite cruel joke to be honest.

“Um, no, everything’s fine, I’m good. I was just wondering what you were doing August 1st.”

“Hmmm, the league starts again the week after that I’m sure, so just training.”

“Or nothing, if that’s what you need me to be doing.” He added and you couldn’t help the way your heart fluttered a little bit his words.

“Well Mia and I are finally graduating on the 1st. My parents and Elliot will be there. I was wondering if you wanted to come-“

“I’ll be there.”

“Really?” He laughed at your response.

“Gummy, you’ve wanted to be a fashion designer for as long as I’ve known you. I remember when you took it upon yourself to be mine and El’s stylists in middle school, I don’t even know why I let you do that, you used to put me in the most ridiculous outfits.”

“All you wanted to wear to school was your football kit.” You rolled your eyes. “I was trying to broaden your horizon a little bit.”

“Even then, you had talent, I can’t even imagine what you’re able to do now.”

“Well not to brag, but I am on track to finish top of my class.”

“Didn’t expect anything less from my girl.” He smiled genuinely and heat rose rapidly to your cheeks as you looked away from him for a moment.

“Of course I want to be there for you. But are you sure you’re 100% about it? Not to brag, but I am kind of a hotshot on the football scene right now.” He mocked, using your words against you playfully.

“Oh shut up!”

He laughed again, before continuing.

“I’m serious though Y/N, I know you like to stay out of the limelight and stuff, I don’t want to ruin that for you or steal attention away. This isn’t a private party like your birthday.”

“I want you there Ky, I want everyone I love there. I’ll be okay.” You nodded. Just then, you heard your boyfriend call out from your bedroom, his voice growing louder as he neared you in the kitchen.

“You ready babe?” He wrapped his arms around your waist, pressed a kiss against your cheek when he noticed you were on the phone.

“Oh hey man!” He waved at the screen. “How are you doing Kylian!”

“Hey…Marco. I’m good.” The smile on Kylian’s face dropped briefly as he greeted your boyfriend with a slight grimace. You quirked your eyebrow, wondering what the hell that was about but now it was his turn to break eye contact, looking everywhere but at you and Marco.

“How’s Renee?”

“Ummm she’s good. We’re…good.”

“Still can’t believe this guy is dating the biggest supermodel in the world, very fitting.”

You scowled, turning to face Marco, his comment grating on you a little bit.

“As opposed to you dating what?” You questioned, daring him to say some more bullshit.

“The hottest, smartest, kindest girl in the world of course.”

“Hmmm, better be.”

“How did you deal with her quick temper all your life Kylian?” Marco asked, and you elbowed his rib in response.

“You see what I mean?” He laughed, walking away from you. Kylian didn’t even bat an eye, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world at that moment.

“So anyways-“ You started but Kylian interrupted you, the words tumbling out of his mouth faster than you could register them.

“I gotta go. But I’ll be there August 1st. You have my word.”

“Oh, okay, yeah sure. Say hi to Renee for me.” You had barely managed to get out before he ended the FaceTime abruptly.

******

That was the last time you’d spoken, save the occasional text, but not once had he mentioned he wouldn’t be able to make it to your graduation. So by the time the ceremony was done and you had collected your diploma and walked down the aisle to cheers from your family, received more congratulations and took even more pictures and said your goodbyes to your family, to say you were simply pissed off was a great understandment. Some fool had even thought it would be funny to do Kylian’s infamous goal celebration in front of the cameras before collecting his diploma which amused everyone in the cathedral but vexed you even more. Kylian had always been there for you, he’s always tried his best to be present when you needed him, this was one of very few times he hadn’t shown up for you. But it hurt still, this was probably the most important thing you’d needed him for, and he’d not even bothered to shoot you a text he would be a no show.

“I know for sure he got on that plane Y/N.” Elliot had tried to reassure you earlier when you’d walked him and your parents to the Uber they had booked to take them back to the airport.

“Well that means fuck all to me. He’s not here.”

“Gosh he’s such an idiot. I’m going to skin him alive when I see him.”

“Funny your girlfriend said the same thing.” You laughed, but not really feeling humoured in the slightest. “Don’t worry about it El, I don’t know why I expected any different from him.”

“I know he has the funniest way of showing it, but he cares about you Y/N. And he loves you.” You ignored his comment, giving him one last hug before he slid into the front seat of the cab.

“I love you El.”

“Love you too sis. Always. You and Mia have fun tonight alright? And I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

You nodded, saying goodbye to your parents once more before the car pulled away. Mia appeared at your side, leaning her head on your shoulder.

“Mia?”

“Mmhm?” She replied.

“Let’s get absolutely fucking wasted tonight.”

———

“Why the fuck did you listen to me when I said we should get wasted last night.” You groaned, flopping onto the couch, your suitcases abandoned by the door. You’d finally arrived at your apartment in Paris, a little before midday, exhausted and terribly hungover.

“You looked like you needed it.” Mia sat by your side, laying your head on her chest and rubbing your shoulders.

“You’re so lucky you recover quickly, I still feel like I’ve been hit by a monster truck.”

“I’m gonna go out and do some food shopping, I’ll bring you something. Get some rest.”

You’d practically gone straight from the bar to the train station. You, Mia and your group of university friends had gone out to celebrate graduating, and also spend one last night together before you all split and went your different ways. It had been a great night, but you’re definitely regretting it now, as you were sure the others were too. You hadn’t even had a chance to shower as you and Mia had to pack the last of your stuff and hand in your old keys to the landlord before 7am since the train to Paris Lyon was leaving Marseille St. Charles around 8.

You decided to take a long shower while Mia was gone, you usually felt much better after a good soak. You’re glad to have your little travel toiletries bag because you had absolutely no idea where anything was; the apartment was filled with countless unopened cardboard boxes. You had about two weeks before your new job started so you and Mia could hopefully unpack and decorate in that time.

Definitely starting tomorrow. There was absolutely no way you��d be putting together furniture and organising your wardrobe today, you planned to stay in bed as long as you could instead.

You had just stepped out of the shower when you heard the doorbell ring, probably Mia who had forgotten her keys. You wrapped your towel around you, securing it as you opened the door.

“Did you not take your key-“ You looked up, your sentence breaking down half way through when you realised it wasn’t Mia in front of you. You rolled your eyes, moving to close the door in his face but he was quick, his foot reaching out to block the door from locking.

“Y/N, hear me out, please.”

“I don’t give a fuck about what you have to say Kylian, take your foot out of the way before I crush it.”

“I have boba?”

You paused for a second, still refusing to look at him.

“What flavour.”

“Mango milk tea with passion fruit pearls. I brought croissants too, from the best bakery in Paris. Very expensive. Very tasty.”

You opened the door wider, letting him walk through, cursing him for knowing you so well. He set the items on the little bit of space he could find on the kitchen worktop that wasn’t covered in boxes before turning to look at you.

His eyes scanned your body, starting at your legs, stopping when his eyes met yours. You felt stuck to the spot, your blood turning to lead as your eyes remained fixed on his, his mouth slightly ajar, your heart pounding fast. You forgot you were angry at him for a minute, flashbacks of the last time he’d seen you like this flickering across your mind instead as you suddenly remembered you were wearing next to nothing. Your hands came up to cover your chest and legs, breaking the both of you out of your hypnotic state.

“Umm…I’ll be back. Gonna put something on.” You muttered.

“Yeah…umm…sure, I’ll wait here.”

You raced to your room as quickly as you could, ignoring the funny feeling in your stomach and the way your heart was racing like it was running out of time. You rummaged through the boxes, trying to find one that had some clothes in it. After a couple of minutes of sifting through books and shoes and everything else, you managed to find a bag at the bottom of one of the boxes with your gym clothing.

You pulled the shorts and a t-shirt over your head, rolling your eyes when you realised which top you were wearing. You walked back into the room with your arms crossed, trying your best to look angry as you faced Kylian, a smile spreading across his face when he noticed your top.

“Wipe that smug grin off your face, I could only find my gym stuff and it was the only top in there.”

“You work out with my name on your back?” He held out the boba to you, his eyebrow raised in amusement.

“Shut up. These jerseys are surprisingly very breathable.” You snatched the plastic cup out of his grasp, piercing the film lid with the straw and taking a sip.

“Well yeah, we do run around in them for 90 minutes so we’d hope they’re breathable. Remind me to get you a new one from this season though, that one’s a bit outdated.”

“This one’s just fine. Thank you for the boba.” You raised the cup at him before stretching your hand out, pointing to the open door that led to the hallway. “You can go now.”

“Y/N-“

“Kylian I don’t want to hear it. You think what, by bringing my favourite drink and cracking jokes everything’s okay?”

“No, of course not. I tried to call you last night.“

“And I didn’t answer for a fucking reason. Did it cross your mind maybe I didn’t want to talk to you after you stood me and Mia up?”

“Listen-“

“There’s not an excuse you can give me that’s valid Kylian. You promised me you’d be there. I kept looking out for you, the whole ceremony, even after it was over, we lingered around the venue for so long my parents and Elliot almost missed their flight back home. Of course I didn’t tell them why I wanted to wait around, they still think you’re the best thing that’s happened to them besides their own kids.”

“Y/N, I’m sorry. I got on the plane to come to you, I swear-“

“So you were in Marseille yesterday?”

“Yes, I was on my way to-“

“Funny you were in Marseille yesterday.”

“Y/N-“

“Because I was in Marseille yesterday, and this morning too actually, up until about hmmm, 4 hours ago? But I didn’t see you. At all.”

“Y/N-“

“You’re so-“

“Y/N STOP TALKING!” He suddenly yelled, your sentence cut off midway by his outburst. You don’t think you’ve ever seen this many frown lines across his forehead before, he must be really pissed. That makes two of you.

“Don’t raise your voice at me.”

“Well I don’t have a choice if that’s the only way to get you to fucking listen.”

“I don’t have to listen to anything you have to say.”

“You know what? You always do this. You always assume you know what I’m going to say, or how I feel so you just cut me off before I get a chance to even explain myself.”

“Because I know you’re going to come out with some bullshit Kylian! Always you and your empty fucking promises, I’m so over it. But sure, prove me wrong. Go on, explain yourself then.”

You raised your arms as if to say he has the floor to speak. He clenched his jaw, his lips in a tight line as the both of you stared at each other, a million and one emotions swirling around you. Anger, pain, disappointment, sadness. If looks could kill, the both of you would be simultaneously 6 feet under.

“I swear I didn’t mean to miss your graduation Y/N, I really wanted to be there. I literally got to the airport and I, I bumped into Renee. I swear it was unplanned, I had no idea she was going to be there, and we just started talking and she had a lot she wanted to say to me, and honestly I didn’t realise how long we were together for, I swear it wasn’t my intention to miss your ceremony.”

“So what was so important that you had to talk about there in that moment, for such a long time-“

“She wanted to get back together.”

“You broke up?” This was news to you, as far as you were concerned, Kylian was still dating her, you hadn’t seen anything in the tabloids about them breaking up.

“Yeah. A couple of months ago.”

“So you’re back together now? For what, the 5th time?”

“It’s complicated Y/N. I love her.”

A sharp but fleeting pain travelled across your chest and it took everything in you not to physically keel over. It was laughable, how easy it was for one person to completely lose feelings they claim to have had and fall in love with someone else, while the other couldn’t even utter the words to another, whether they meant it or not. Because the pent up feelings were still there, choking you, gripping your heart tight and rendering you useless, incapable of loving anyone else, but him. You felt like dying, maybe it would hurt less than living in this sick and twisted reality, this constant loop of being reminded he’s never going to love you the way you love him.

“Yeah, Kylian, I can tell. Because she clearly means more to you than I do. I told you about this weeks in advance, you gave me your word yet when something better comes along you’re quick to just brush me under the rug like you always do.”

“I’m sorry, it wasn’t my intention. I didn’t even know how to talk to you when I realised I’d missed the ceremony, I didn’t think you’d want me there-“

“Of course I’d want you there, you fucking idiot, you’re my best friend. Why else would I ask you personally to come?

“I knew you’d at least be with your family, Mia, Marco.” He said Marco’s name with such disdain you almost laughed at the audacity he had to seem irked by the mere mention of your ex-boyfriend when he had a girlfriend of his own.

“Marco is in Japan. We broke up. For good.”

“Oh. I didn’t know.”

“Why would you? You don’t talk to me about Renee, I don’t talk to you about Marco. Some kind of unspoken rule right?”

There was a silence between you before he spoke.

“I’m sorry. I know you loved him.” For someone who’d been in your life for almost two decades, perhaps Kylian really didn’t know you as well as you thought he did. Or maybe you were so good at pretending you’d managed to convince everyone but yourself you’d been in love with Marco.

“Anyways Ky, I think you’ve done all your explaining. You can leave.”

He rounded the kitchen island, stepping closer to you so he could take your hand that wasn’t holding the drink, gripping it softly in his.

“Y/N, I really am sorry. Please, l don’t want us to start your move to Paris on a bad note. You have no idea how happy I am that you're finally here to stay. Let me take you out tomorrow. Just me and you, a celebratory dinner. On me. Heck I’ll even take you shopping, any store you like, I’ll carry all the bags and not complain one bit.”

A soft giggle left your lips and you cursed yourself for letting him get away with his shit so easily.

“Please, I’m sorry gummy. It won’t happen again. Let me make it up to you.”

“You better bring your shiniest Amex card tomorrow when you pick me up.”

“It’s a date.” He smiled, and you tried not to think too deeply into what he’d just said.

Just then, you heard the front door close, Mia appearing in the doorway with several shopping bags, singing to herself. She noticed you and Kylian stood in the middle of the kitchen, your hand in his and she rolled her eyes, knowing you had definitely let him off easy. Luckily for you, she wasn’t about to do that. She smiled sweetly, before reaching into one of the bags and pulling out an orange. It happened so quickly, you didn’t not anticipate the orange leaving Mia’s hand with such force, heading straight for Kylian’s head. He managed to duck at the last second, the fruit finding the wall behind him instead of his skull.

“Mia what the hell?!” He shouted.

“Fucking dickhead. You’re lucky that wasn’t a knife.”

/———-/

Part 4 finally 😭😭 just two more parts to go! Sorry it took so long please forgive me 🤞🏿 and it may seem like it’s going round in circles but they gotta do this stupid arguing and not talking about their feelings 5 times before they finally get their shit together so we’re getting close to the happy ending, very soon though it’s deffo going to get very messy before it gets better 😵‍💫 I hope y’all like it <3 (also it’s half 3 in the morning and I haven’t edited this entirely so I’m super sorry for any mistakes 🙏🏿)

Also I know the French don’t do graduations (shame if you ask me, I loved my grad) but I had to have one to fit the story 🤭

And I’m sorry for making y’all wait, im back at work and it’s hard to find the time to write (I had a bit of writers block) and also I find it hard to write super short pieces so it does take me a while to write so I’m super grateful to y’all for being so kind and patient 🥺🫶🏿

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[magodangretsus]

I have fanfiction ideas but I can't write them prose form, so I'm gonna write my idea in a tumblr draft so it will exist in some form even if I never get to actually writing it.

Follows from the last episode of Tiger and Bunny, can be either au or just decide that Yuri survives and is found.

Also it is clear to me that Kotetsu and Barnaby are married in all senses but (maybe) legal. And it's also obvious to me that some time during s2, Barnaby approached his husband about opening the relationship after reconnecting with Matias, which Kotetsu allowed.

And so this is when Kotetsu, having come around on that whole polyamory thing, perhaps considers pursuing a second partner as well.

Yuri is taken to the hospital, confesses while there, and eventually is sentenced to several years of prison and a good deal of mandatory therapy. During his hospital recovery which would preclude his sentence, Kotetsu and Barnaby, but especially the former, would pay him visits, which is a bit surprising but appreciated.

So either this is an au where Yuri is talked down from burning himself alive and jumping, or he is found alive afterwards. Either way, Yuri is convinced to live (you realized it's wrong to kill people for being "bad", this includes yourself, also if you feel bad for doing bad things, you can make up for it by doing good things from now on, etc), and so decides to turn himself in and face justice for what he did as Lunatic.

Yuri goes to prison, the heroes are reinstated and the NEXT returned to society, and Stern Bild gradually rebuilds after the destruction of the X outbreaks. Kotetsu, by popular demand once again, is allowed to continue working as a hero despite no longer being NEXT, and he along with the disabled Barnaby share their dream of inspiring weak and non-NEXT to see themselves as heroes too by being crowned Buddy Heroes. It's rough, but being used to only having access to their powers for 5 or 1 minute at a time before, it's surprisingly manageable. (Sorry Kaede, your dad still isn't coming home, but you sort of figured that already.)

Yuri hears about much of the above by Kotetsu, who is visiting him regularly in prison. This confuses Yuri, who is not entirely sure where they stand considering their former professional relationship and hero-villian rivalry. But Kotetsu has his reasons. One is to reassure Yuri that since losing his powers, even though he clings to his work as a hero, he isn't going to become like Mr. Legend. Another is to make sure Yuri is okay - he nearly killed himself before the prison sentence, and during his interrogations it became known that his mother was recently murdered, and that he's been suffering from psychotic visions for years. Kotetsu knows enough to understand him, even when they've disagreed with each other, and that means he cares enough to meddle (as Bunny would say).

So they talk, almost weekly, over the next several years. Kotetsu goes to the prison with Origami sometimes. And while Barnaby doesn't share the same impulse to get further involved with Lunatic, he can see where it's coming from, and is happy for Kotetsu when he talks about their regular chats, how their old director has started being less stiff around him and maybe even cracked a joke the other day.

Eventually, Yuri is released (with parole). For all the murders he committed, it feels soon, but he cooperated extensively during his sentencing and did help save the city.

Kotetsu is there when he's released. He invites him to drinks. Yuri accepts.

They go drinking, and mostly talk about what's next for Yuri. Yuri, guard lowered by alcohol and the many conversations they've had, thanks Kotetsu for being there for him all this time, and says he may not have believed in a future for himself without him, or had the strength to reach it. Kotetsu puts an arm around him, he cries, and Kotetsu offers to take him home because they're getting to be emotional and drunk messes.

Kotetsu wakes up in bed with Yuri. Shit.

Yuri wakes up hungover in bed with Kotetsu, who is panicking severely, because he is in a committed relationship with another man. Yuri takes stock and concludes that they did not have sex, but does remember making out pretty heavily before falling asleep in each other's arms. Knowing this was not intentional on Kotetsu's part, he offers to never speak of this again and pretend it never happened, an offer which Kotetsu eagerly and gratefully takes.

Kotetsu makes him fried rice for breakfast, says the fat helps with the hangover. It tastes very good. Kotetsu hands him his wrinkled shirt off the floor. Yuri feels some things and promptly ignores them. They part ways.

Kotetsu returns to work, and Barnaby asks how Yuri's release went, and Kotetsu does the dumb thing where he gets extremely nervous and suspiciously stammers a vague answer. He is sort of hoping that because they agreed never to speak of it again, that also means he doesn't have to tell his boyfriend about drunkenly cheating on him, because that is scary. (Barnaby is also in a relationship with Matias, but Barnaby asked for Kotetsu's permission before pursuing a relationship with him, and Kotetsu has not done that because he didn't think he was attracted to Yuri.)

The problem is - Kotetsu is still thinking about it. And, he knows he prioritizes his relationship with Barnaby, but he still cares about Yuri, and still wants to be there for him as he reacclimates to life after prison, especially when he was such a public figure both in and out of his mask. There is still definitely some worrying about his mental health, even with the therapy seeming to go well recently. Kotetsu worries. He is Kotetsu.

(Re: worrying about his mental health and still caring about him, Yuri probably calls Kotetsu at least once after a Hero TV broadcast ends just to hear his voice, prove to himself that he's safe. Living with the voices of the dead and losing family suddenly both will make you worry about this.)

Kotetsu assumes what happened there only happened because of the alcohol and heightened emotions, and Yuri is so cold and serious, surely when we're both sober, there won't be any kind of mood or opening for something like that to happen again!! Right!! If I just see him again, the atmosphere will be so different and I'll stop thinking about this!! He probably already has anyway!!

... It's normal, at first. Yuri is deadpanned and serious, but there's a humor to him now, one they formed over time; Kotetsu over-acts and Yuri plays the straight man, sometimes giving a sarcastic quip or a little smirk at his antics. Kotetsu can throw an arm around him and feel neither icy glare nor vengeful flame. But, uh, usually he doesn't glance away with a blush on his face. Uh oh. Uh. This silence is getting a little long. Oh no. Oh no, they're both thinking about it.

... Kotetsu tries to bring up Barnaby to assert how Normal things are. The atmosphere gets worse. This isn't good.

Kotetsu finally tells Barnaby about what happened the night Yuri was released. Barnaby is understandably not thrilled, but believes Kotetsu when he says he never anticipated or intended on that happening, and that nothing has happened since. But uh. So, Bunny, you know how you asked about opening our relationship..? I totally get it if you aren't comfortable with me doing it, especially considering what I just told you!!! But... Uhm...

Barnaby is a bit reserved, but ultimately decides that he can't possibly expect Kotetsu to be alright with his relationship with Matias if he can't be comfortable with Kotetsu seeing other people. With knowing consent. And it's been a few years since Matias was added to their relationship - they had some road bumps, Kotetsu was insecure at first (and didn't voice his discomfort because of said insecurity), but they've had many conversations since and both clearly know their rules about this kind of thing. So, okay. I know how much you care about him, and I know you're a stubborn old man so I doubt I could change your mind. Hmph. Love you too.

So, permission gained. Kotetsu no longer needs to feel guilty about these thoughts and memories that don't go away. Now the challenge is actually broaching the subject with Yuri.

Soooo, Yuri, want to get drinks again someti- oh, you're busy? Okay, well, when are you next free? ... You're not sure? Well, I mean - you're taking breaks, right? I know you overwork yourself! That's a bad habit to fall back into, I know things must be pretty overwhelming right now; I know, let me help you!! I insist!!

He forces his way in. Yuri is tense, and light small talk isn't lightening the mood at all. Yuri has already caught on that Kotetsu has something he needs to say to him, his guard is up for whatever it is. Kotetsu is so bad at hard, adult conversations. But. Soo, Yuri... Uh. Oh, how's Bunny? He's good! He and Matias! The three of us have been going out more as a trio, actually, and I still feel a little awkward being so much older than the two of them, but Matias is a nice guy, and we're kind of figuring out a dynamic! Not like, a romantic one, but - ohh the atmosphere in here feels like it's getting very cold very fast. He's not looking at me.

Ahem. Speaking of that. I, uh, I talked to Bunny. About the other night. When we went drinking. He wasn't thrilled, obviously, but, uh... Well, we do have an open relationship, so, uh... I, uh... If you'd... Y-yeah, I am suggesting that, if you wanted to, we could also... Yeah, yeah he's okay with it. Uh. No, I, don't think you'd have to go on double dates with the three of us. Like, they probably wouldn't mind? Bunny likes you by now! No you don't have to. But uh. Does that mean you....?

Kotetsu and Yuri get together. The relationship progress is very slow, which Kotetsu is able to be patient for because he still has Barnaby. Kotetsu doesn't know how much it'd be weird to talk to Barnaby about it, but he shares some of his worries with Matias, who has some insight about being introduced into a really strong, established relationship as someone on much unsteadier ground. Kotetsu dotes incessantly on his new boyfriend to try to reassure him, and Yuri insists he's not insecure, just unused to... Expressing himself. Not comfortable with it yet. But... Appreciates Kotetsu's patience, and, does love him, even if he's still learning to show it.

Things continue, and Barnaby gradually settles on curiosity. It's just... Hard to imagine the Director interacting comfortably with anyone, let alone someone as loud and brash as Kotetsu.

The first time he sees them interact, Yuri is just frozen. Awkward. How do I act around The Husband. I'm still getting used to flirting in general, how do I do it in front of other people, especially this person??

Barnaby: The old man isn't giving you a hard time, right?

Yuri: ... I think we communicate fine.

Barnaby: ....

Yuri: ....

Barnaby: Well, if you do ever have any trouble, you can come to me. I have some tricks for handling him.

Yuri: Thank you, Barnaby.

Barnaby: .....

Barnaby: I hope you know you two have my support. And I'm glad you seem to be doing well.

Yuri: Thank you, Barnaby. And it would not have come to this if I was not aware of your consent.

Barnaby will later complain to Matias at how painfully awkward it was. He'd started to feel bad for the guy. Kotetsu got worried about the atmosphere and kissed Yuri in front of him to try to reassure him it was okay, and it only made him more stiff. Kotetsu is an idiot. (No, Matias, they don't seem bad for each other, I think Kotetsu will be okay, it's just... That man. He's just like this. But I suppose opposites attract?)

And that is my fic idea, oh no it's past 1am

EDIT: More scenes

Also after they get together, Kotetsu is like "do you want to meet my kid?" and Yuri, who has several varieties of parent related trauma, and is also a known murderer, is like "uhh are you sure you want to do that?" and Kotetsu does because he wants to introduce the people he loves to each other.

Except, uh, as we've covered, Kotetsu is bad at having Important Adult Conversations. And the whole "explaining polyamory to my 13 year old" thing seemed... Listen, when Barnaby first got together with Matias, Kotetsu sort of felt like he was being traded in for someone younger and smarter. That obviously was never the case, and he's gotten past that, but he wonders if Kaede will worry that Barnaby doesn't like him anymore and he's just living in denial. So he never told her about Matias.

But now he wants to tell Kaede about Yuri, which means explaining polyamory and that Bunny is okay with it (she knows he and Barnaby are together), and the best way he can explain that is that Barnaby was the one who taught him about polyamory in the first place. Which means he's going to be throwing a lot at her at once.

Kaede is initially overwhelmed, but this is still less shocking than her dad dating her celebrity crush, she can handle anything at this point. Yes dad I'll meet your second boyfriend.

And then Yuri is on a video call with her, or meeting her in person, and he doesn't consider himself very good with kids but... Kaede, I love your father and I believe he's a good man. But my father was once a good man before he started losing his powers. If anything ever happens, know that I will defend you.

Kotetsu: ... I don't know whether to feel touched or threatened...

Kotetsu: I mean, I already lost my powers and I'm still a good man, right?? Right??

Yuri: You are, or I would not be here.

Kotetsu: Right!!!

Kotetsu: Ohhh Kaede, also be careful touching him because he's a NEXT and his power is very dangerous!

Yuri: ....

Okay NOW I'm done with my extremely ambitious fic outline I may or may not write one day (after I do quite a bit of research into how parole works).