#i found out he was a planned romance or at least ending sort of and now im seeing my hawke from a whole new perspective

[sparemoon]

RELEASE THE DA2 VARRIC ROMANCE ENDING BIOWARE

[insomaniacat]

orv spoilers

tbh I'm so happy there is no explicit romance in orv (minus the brief stuff that happens with jhw and lhs) and because of that I feel like I've been able to appreciate kdj in such a profound way as a character

like sure i like joongdok and yoohankim but to me at least kdj has this level of asexuality to him that I don't usually associate him with anyone that romantically. And their relationships are still as complex and has such a great depth that they are like THE foundest of families and I can return to the kim dokja company at the end of the day as all of them being my comfort characters. you know that saying like 'i love you so much i'd make the world burn for you'? it's meant to be this dramatic line about how much you love someone (romantically), but kdj's company fully encapsulates this in a platonic way that just isn't cringey or anything like that

they are all so platonic but they love each other to such an unconditional way that they ALL decide to relive through all the scenarios again in the hope of finding kim dokja again. and later, they all help to write and spread a story - stories, the thing the reader loves - again, in hopes of bringing kdj back home. they aren't sure if it'll work, but it is through this love they all have that they don't give up and put their hope in this seemingly impossible method

and this is also what makes them fundamentally different from kdj. unlike kim dokja in the apocalypse, they do not have any sort of proof their methods will work. kdj has twsa - the novel he grew up reading, the novel he fantasized living in, the novel that he's spent 13 years following, learning every nook and cranny and probably even planning out his own way to survive the apocalypse from this lengthy novel. he has some sort of assurance his methods will work, with the amount of time hsy put into describing the settings (remember that twsa was not popular and one of the complaints was that tls123 put too much emphasis on the settings that deterred people from reading it, when really, that too was a way to ensure kdj survived the apocalypse later on). he has had time to reassure himself and plan for it, and probably had yjh case test them all

but kdj's company had no assurance - they did not grow up with a book that confirmed their methods of bringing kdj back would work. they did not have any 'third plans', no 'ressurections', no 'restarts', that kdj had in the apocalypse. all they had was their own hope - something kdj didn't have when he was fifteen sitting in that hospital bed after that failed suicide attempt, feeling like the whole world was against him. Until he searched up those three words on his phone. Those three words that were probably 'Ways of Survival'.

And then he found his hope in twsa. he found his hope in yjh, the protagonist made just for him. he found hope in the story that he believed in for the next thirteen years. the story that got him through high school, the CSATs, the military. his hope was in this tangible book that carried him through the apocalypse.

kdj's company had none of that. they only had their hope in kim dokja - the man they survived the scenarios with. they could only put their hope in their memories of surviving with the man that saved them, even though there was no evidence he lived in their world anymore. they had to put their hope in the fact that they remembered he existed, even though they had to acknowledge that they didn't know everything about him.

sing shong touches upon this idea a lot throughout orv - does something really exist if no one knows about it? or, in a more modern saying, did a fallen tree in a forest really fall if no one heard it? what proves the existence of something? what proves that something truly happened? sing shong seems to make it pretty clear that the existence of something can be represented metaphorically like a 'story', and stories need a 'reader', some sort of spectator that witnesses it, for the 'story' to exist.

for kim dokja, his final sacrifice, where he split into infinite little pieces scattered across the universe, was to ensure that everything existed. that open ending, as tragic as it was, was meant to be comforting. that his sacrifice was supposed to be so existences like you and me, are real. no matter how lonely we may feel throughout our lives, a metaphorical 'kim dokja' is looking at our own stories, spectating our own stories, even living our own lives himself.

and what i hate to say sometimes is that kim dokja is not really a character - he is an idea. he is an idea of some being affirming our lives, that it's real, that what we do from day to day, even something as simple as getting up in the mornings and brushing your teeth, or thumbing through a store catalog, matters. and this is why kim dokja sacrificed himself. for all the stories that may have not 'existed' if no one was watching it.

and it's out of love. this tragic, terrible love for the world, that eats away at yourself until you are nothing. but at least you exist.

[lgtinterrupted]

Vehemence.

Chapter One.

Mature - Dark Romance Severus Snape x Female Student Reader Words: 3k Previous ; Next (Coming Soon) Chapter Warnings: Language, Smoking/Referenced Drug Use MDNI, 18+, Mature Audiences Only

Notes: Welcome to Chapter One of "Vehemence", though this chapter is introduction and establishment, I hope for all my readers to see the potential in this story . . . and buckle up for what I have planned. Love you all ꨄ

I was sure that Professor Snape had never missed a day from teaching in the seven years I had attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, despite my hoping as I stealthily slipped in through the dungeons door. Quite possibly, I considered, he had never missed a day since he started teaching all together. I didn’t specifically despise potions class, not as much as I did Herbology at least, despite my immense dislike for the potions teacher himself, Professor Snape, the “Hogwarts Sadist”, the student body had so fondly named him.

Make no mistake, I wasn’t a poor student…when I tried, I simply just lacked the motivation to try, increasingly so as my time at Hogwarts neared the end. I had deemed this effect, “Seventh Year Syndrome”, to which I was not the first known infected at Hogwarts, but perhaps the most advanced in my symptoms. 

Besides, my passing-period smoke breaks in the astronomy tower held a lot more importance in my book, which I had regrettably missed today, due to the couple of Hufflepuffs who discovered my spot and deemed it their between-class makeout spot, landing me in the foulest of moods.

Snape was leaning over his desk, flipping through a textbook with the wide expanse of his back facing me, his posture was rigid as ever. I hoped he wouldn’t notice me; realistically, though, the man had eyes on the back of his head. 

As I crept in, I received quite a  few annoyed looks from my fellow Slytherins that screamed, “do NOT risk our points with your idiocy.” I knew my hijinx were anything but appreciated by them. I was painfully aware how unpopular I was with my classmates. My arm was still sore from where Natalie Challock, a fellow seventh year Slytherin, had socked me for the last five points after my riposte against Professor Trelawney following her attempt to convince me of yet another “impending doom”. 

“Beware all subsistence for a month!” She had said, waving her fingers in my face with the eccentricity only she could muster. “You must fast or risk death!”

How did she think that would even work..? That I would starve myself for a month or risk what? A fictional punishment delivered by a fictional fate? Yeah no way.

It was only a matter of seconds before I was asking whose fortune she mistold to get her job. 

Personally, I had found it clever, unfortunately, she did not. It lost me five points…and earned me a week's worth of sorting tea leaves at lunch, which was about the last way I wanted to spend my time, especially with Trelawney watching me with her creepy owl-like eyes, and the moisture of my hands wicked away by the painful dryness of bay leaves and dried lavender.

I was about two steps from taking my seat in the back of the class - a specific chosen spot I had claimed the first day of potions (coincidentally that might have been the only day I was ever actually early) - when a monotone, baritone voice sliced through the silence in the room.

“Mrs. [Last Name], surely, you aren’t attempting to infiltrate my class ten minutes late?”

I froze my actions, one hand possessively on my book bag, which held my pack of cigarettes, among my textbooks, of course. I could deal with him embarrassing me in front of the class, I could deal with detentions and punishment, I could NOT get caught (again) with “muggle death sticks”, as so vigorously titled by Madam Pomphrey in one of her lectures, after being caught by Professor Sprout smoking out the back door of the greenhouse.

In my defense, you would assume that a Herbology teacher would be fine with a little tobacco.

Wrong.

“Shit,” I muttered, and of course it did not fall upon deaf ears.

Snape cocked his eyebrow to me, the lines of his face deepening with his scowl. “This is not the Quidditch field, which means such dull-witted language will not be tolerated, do you understand?”

Still standing in the aisle of the class, my eyes wandered across my classmates, who held mixed expressions of annoyance and despair, before landing on my best friend, Natalie Challock, who was sporting a disgustingly wide smirk, her pale face blotchy red with excitement, resembling someone who had just run through a swarm of bees. 

My eyes darted back to Snape, who impatiently waited for my response. His jaw ticked as I glared into his eyes.

“Yes, Snape,” It fell from my tongue with an unignorable amount of venom, way more than I intended. Acting on impulse was sort of my thing, but calling a teacher, calling Professor Snape by just his last name? That was stupid even for me. 

In the fraction of a second, his oxfords were echoing across the gray stone of the dungeons floor, the black void of his robes descending upon me until he stood inches from me. It was seconds before I realized the tip of his wand was poised directly under my jaw. I strained my chin up, avoiding the pointed tip of his ebony wand. I knew he had half a mind to hex me, to turn me into any number of vile creatures to prove his point; but I also knew he had self restraint.

My blood thudded painfully in my ears, no doubt my face was darkened with any number of shades of embarrassment.

“Furthermore,” His tone lowered, even and controlled, which was much more frightening than if he had just yelled at me. “If you decide to disrupt my class with your tardiness or disrespect your Professor again, I will have no choice but to report you to headmaster Dumbledore for your frequent disturbances.”

I bit my tongue until the sharp taste of metallic stung my mouth.

“Are. We. Clear, Mrs. [Last Name]?” 

He looked down at me, his angular nose almost emphasizing the sharp contours of his expression, his eyes narrowed with assertion, his lip crooked annoyedly. My heart stopped for a moment. I swallowed thickly and answered.

“Yes, Professor.” 

“Good.”

Snape turned his back and stalked up to his desk, pulling the heavy potions textbook from its resting place and balancing it with one angular hand. He seethed, “Then sit down, and tell the class how to brew three and a quarter liters of Draught of Living Death.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And that, regretfully, concludes our class today,” Snape deadpanned, closing his book with an audible snap, and setting it behind him on the desk. Half the class had gathered items into their bags haphazardly and bolted out the door before he could say,  “Dismissed.”

“Thank Merlin,” I uttered and stood from my chair, quickly tossing my supplies into my bag, slinging the strap over my shoulder, and turning to face the door. My back ached from the hard classroom chairs, and there was a hole in my tight where I had worried at it with my finger. 

I was about three strides from freedom when Snape’s voice sliced through the bustle of students.

“Not you, Mrs. [Last Name].”

Natalie Challock passed me on her way out, shooting me a fake grin with her stupidly straight, but intensely yellowed teeth. Her little minions followed behind her, a group of three girls, all Slytherin. I tried to take some sort of satisfaction from the fact that none of them actually liked each other, but stuck together solely because of their parents' allegiances to a certain Dark Lord, but it seemed they had the leg up on me in this situation.

Wow I sucked at consoling myself.

“Have fun!” She whispered, twiddling her finger at me.

My fist bunched up and I shoved it in my pocket to grip my wand, absolutely inclined to hex her into next week. But I didn’t. Instead, I glowered at her until her posse of fakeness disappeared around the corner of the potions room doorway.

“Mrs. [Last Name].”

My attention snapped back to Snape, who stood in front of his desk, arms crossed over his chest. I could faintly hear the sound of the door shut behind me, but I was too caught under Snape’s stare to look back. He glared me down, ever the ice queen of Hogwarts.

“Do you find it enjoyable to constantly disrupt the entire class with your late habits?”

“No, Professor.” Suddenly my shoes seemed to be the most interesting view in the room. 

“I don't suppose you have a reason for being late?” He looked expectant.

“Well, I’d have to pin it on the Hufflepuffs snogging in my tower.” It came out before I thought to filter my words; maybe the damp decomposition smell of the dungeons was starting to affect my brain. It was possible, I decided, though, there was truth to my statement. If I hadn’t been late, I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble, or about to receive the detention I was undoubtedly about to earn myself.

Yes, definitely the Hufflepuffs, not my own big mouth.

Snape raised an eyebrow incredulously. “The Hufflepuffs…”

“Yes!” Guess I’m committing to this. Sorry random Hufflepuff snoggers! “If they had found some other place to snog besides my astronomy tower, I would have made my smoke break and been to class on time!” 

Oops, too much information.

In a moment, his wand was brandished, and he flicked his wrist. My book bag flipped open on my hip and out came my carton of cigarettes, a bundle of sin floating directly into my professor's outstretched palm. I was caught red handed, utterly defeated. I watched him flatly, my frustration budding.

The carton landed gently in the palm of Snape's hand, he turned it between his fingers and stared at it with a level of disdain only he could manage.  

He offers a murmured, “Eager for disease, now are we?”

I decided silence was probably the best course of action.

Snape set the carton atop the book on his desk, and replied, “I will be confiscating these.”

“But Sir,-”

“Unless you rather I bring these to Dumbledore’s attention?”

Checkmate. I was caught in his trap. I wondered if he drew a sense of satisfaction from this, from winning. I couldn’t blame him, I would probably be equally as miserable if I spent the hours of my day cramped up in the depths of the mildew infested dungeon. 

“No, thank you.” I responded curtly, not wanting to give him something else to critique me on.

“Good.” His eyes flashed with something unplaceable. “Then get out of my office.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Slytherin common room greets me coldly at lunch, as I walk in and drop onto the snakeskin couch, my bag tossed forgotten by my feet. I don't bother looking around for my housemates, knowing they are all busy stuffing their faces in the great hall, so I shuck my tie, pulling it from my neck as I draw in the breath I so desperately needed since my encounter with Snape.

I settle down against the leather and brandish my wand, pointing it at the hourglass.

“Tempus Markus!” 

The sands of the hourglass pull together, shifting to fill the top chamber until they settle, and the steady stream of tan grains begin to filter down, a timer for lunch.

“Merlin, that man must be miserable.” I sigh aloud, leaning my head back against the couch, my hair falls over the back and for a moment I relish how nice it feels.

“Who? Professor Snape?”

My head darts up and I see a girl sitting across from me.

I eye her suspiciously (how did she approach so quietly?).

“...Yeah.” I say in cautious agreement.

“He was quite harsh on you today, though I suppose you were late.” She adds the second part and thoughtfully looks up, as if she’s tracking down another thought. What an odd girl, is all I can fathom. Everything about her is pristine, from her short black bob to her neat uniform. She doesn't have a bag, but instead a neat stack of books balanced over her knobby tucked together knees. I guess she is a fourth year, from her size and the youthful roundness of her face.

So why is she in seventh year potions?

The girl sticks out a hand to me. “I’m Violet Pershare.” I reach forward and shake it. Shockingly, Violet has one hell of a firm handshake “I’m a third year,” She says with an umph of pride, I can tell she’s been waiting for me to ask. “Headmaster Dumbledore has me taking more advanced courses. We have potions together, second period! I sit in the very front of the class on the left. You sit in the back right? I couldn’t imagine sitting in the back, I had bad eyesight, you see, but my mother wont let me get glasses, something about how no witch in our family has had to wear them. Personally, I think glasses look quite smart.”

I take a deep breath to ward away the headache this conversation is undoubtedly bringing on. “Yes,” Is all I have to offer for her spiel, though I’m not quite sure to what part I’m even responding to. 

“I like to come to the common room for lunch, the great hall is too loud. Usually I just study since no one else is here.” She smiles awkwardly and looks excitedly down at her lap, her hands clasped together. 

There is something charming about Violet, maybe it comes from my sibling-less upbringing, but she fits the little sister profile well, though a little goody-two-shoes and talkative for my taste; then again maybe I’m just trying to talk myself out of taking this little scholar of a third year under my wing.

I press my lips together. I could use a smoke right now, to clear my head, it feels fuzzy, like my thoughts are padded with static.

“You shouldn’t smoke!” Violet bursts out, clapping her hand over her mouth in a matter of seconds.

I stare at her incredulously. 

“I’m sorry!” She offers quickly.

My first reaction is to glance around, partially hoping Natalie Challock is going to jump out from behind a statue and howl with laughter at my foolishness for falling for a prank so ridiculous. 

My second reaction is to narrow my eyes and spit out a bitter, “I don’t think Professor Snape would be happy with you eavesdropping on his after class scoldings.”

“Oh no!” I'm surprised to find she sounds almost shocked herself. “I would never!”

“Then what, you expect me to believe you read minds?”

She twists her hands in her lap and avoids eye contact. I raise an eyebrow before bunching up my tie in my hands and tossing it to her from across the coffee table dividing us. It lands limply in her lap, shocking her out of her trance.

“I’m…” She glances around at the empty room like she expects half the year to pour in at any minute.  “I’m not supposed to talk about it.”

I shrug, nonchalantness is the key to getting this information. I yawn and reach for my bag, pulling out a random text book and laying it in my lap, flipping to a random page - dog-eared years ago by a previous owner - and pretending to scan over the words, which to my nicotine deficient brain looked like a jumble of glyphs.

Violet looks at her lap and folds my tie neatly until it resembles a pocket square. She looks dejected at the sudden abrupt end of our conversation. 

It’s only a few moments before she speaks again in a hushed voice, “If you promise not to tell anyone…”

I smile and close my book with an ecstatic snap and reach out my pink finger to her, which she looks at confused, so I lower it, chiding myself for not remembering that not everyone comes from the muggle world, as situation faced more often than not in Slytherin, a house dominated by blood supremacists - but I don't determine Violet as the type, mostly just young and unaware that there are other ways to grow up not involving overbearing pureblood parents, something I’m not unfamiliar with.

“I’ve been practicing Legilimency.” Violet admits. “Professor Snape teaches it as a special night class.”

“Legilimency?” I murmur. I’ve heard of the practice. General, ability to peer into peoples minds, but when harnessed by art wizards, it’s the ability to infiltrate and pick apart any thought. Just the idea that Violet had invaded my mind made my stomach ache something vile.

What had she seen? The bite in the back of my mind cooed that she had surely viewed more than a fleeting thought. Maybe she was poking around, maybe there was an agenda - not hard to believe with the avoidant dart of her eyes.

Fuck, I was paranoid.

“I’m not supposed to tell anyone about my classes, but I guess I’m just so excited.” Violet offers a somewhat assuring smile. “I’m sorry I read your thoughts, again, It’s hard to learn how and when…y’know?” 

“Yeah, it's okay.” I’m not sure if I mean it.

Violet nods a few times and leans forward to offer me my tie, still neatly folded. As I take it from her, her eyes float down to the hourglass, and when I do the same I see there is only a sprinkle of sand at the top of the glass chamber.

“Shit!”, “Oh Merlin!” Both me and Violet jump to our feet and exclaim.

I scramble to tie my tie, the green silk slipping loosely around my collar. By the time it's finished and I’ve grasped my messenger bag, Violet is gone.

[itsthatmff]

Taking you out on a date ||| Genos, Garou, Metal bat

Appreciation post for the teen trio of opm 🤭

She/her pronouns used!

Requests are open anytime <3

Genos

“I apologize, I must have disappointed you.”

Poor boy literally spent DAYS analyzing your likes and dislikes in order to take you out to the perfect date, as you both made plans to go out on the weekend.

He spent so much time trying to sort out potential places to go that he ended up with nothing on the day you both wanted to go out.

He stood there, in front of your door about to pick you up, with the guiltiest expression on his face. (Well as guilty as a cyborg can look, ykwim)

says sorry for about 100 times before he shuts his mouth. You literally have to stop him mid sentence for his explanations to end.

“IT’S OKAY- you could have just asked me where i want to go instead of making it so hard for you. I like Aquariums, why don’t we go there?”

“Oh.”

Feels like the most stupid (person) in the world at that moment. Had he known it was this easy, he probably wouldn’t have gone through such lengths. (He would have. Cuz boy doesn’t realize that he’s in love with you.)

Usually Genos is pretty blunt and forward, i guess that’s why trying to come up with something was so hard for him. For the first time, trying to ask you directly didnt cross his mind, as he wanted to make you happy all by himself.

You both spent the rest of the day at the aquarium, with you admiring the sea animals, and him admiring you. He realized after a while that his gaze was stuck on you, and definitely made a mental note to ask dr. Kuseno if there was something wrong in his system.

EVERY TIME YOU MENTIONED THAT AN ANIMAL LOOKED CUTE, HE PAMPERED YOU WITH INFORMATION ON THAT SPECIFIC ANIMAL.

Like the tension would be all romantic, you’d be looking at glowing jellyfish, and he’d be staring at you, smiling a tinsy bit. Then you’d say something like “look Genos! That jellyfish looks so cute!” And the next second, Genos would turn into a search engine.

“That’s an Aequorea victoria, also sometimes called the crystal jelly. It’s a bioluminescent hydrozoan jellyfish, or hydromedusa. It can be found off the west coast of North America. The species is best known as the source of aequorin, and green fluorescent protein-“

“Okay- thats enough genos.”

All in all, it would be a pretty fun date! Genos would end the day by saying “I really enjoyed going out with you, Y/N-san. Next time I will take you out to someplace even better. No mistakes allowed.”

Garou

“What are you looking at? Don’t you like it?”

Guy heard “let’s go on a date!” And rolled with it.

Though his idea of a “date” might look a bit different.

100 percent took advantage of it when you said “let’s go somewhere you like”

So of course y’all ended up in an all you can eat buffet.

And he won’t be paying for it 💀 (the fee might look a “bit” expensive, make sure you take a good amount of money with you)

Chugs down a plate after the other, so at least the money isn’t wasted.

Once he sees your kind of upset face, he stops taking bites of that real good steak and looks at you confused.

You were happy to spend time with him, you really were, But this just wasn’t what you thought it out to be. Of course you expected it to be at least a LITTLE romantic, even though he wasn’t your boyfriend yet, nor did he know that you liked him.

But sorry to disappoint you, romance is a foreign word for this oblivious man.

If you tell him how you feel about the date though, he’ll give you the widest smirk “you’re happy to spend time with me?” Completely ignoring everything else you said

Once y’all are done eating, he’ll make sure to walk you home, if you’re cold he’ll even hold you. So that’s at least something ?

You have to be REALLY forward and blunt with him, or else all he’ll do is tease you.

If you really wanna make him blush just straight up hold his hand, he won’t do nun. Yelling at you or hurting you is an absolute no for him.

Metal bat

“My sister suggested this place, ya like it?”

Metal bat pretty much has all the knowledge he needs when it comes to girls, as he has to take out and hang out with his little sister a lot.

Most of the time it’s shopping malls where his sister drags him from shop to shop for hours.

So like once they were both shopping for a cute little bag because Zenko had won a piano competition and big brother was proud asf 🤭 and ofc she had realized that he’d be mentioning this one girl from time to time.

“Big bro, why don’t you just take her out on a date?”

But like, we’re talking about a little kid here, so her advice may not be as fitting 😭 she literally only gave him tips on where SHE would like to go.

“If I were her I’d love to be taken to an amusement park, and then he should win me a big unicorn plushy !”

But Metal bat loves his sister more than anything, AND he has 2 brain cells so ofc he’d listen to her, thinking it’d be the best date idea.

A couple days later (he especially took a day off from work for you and told the HQ that they shouldnt call him even if there’s an emergency) he takes you out saying it’s a “surprise”, but once you both stand in front of the amusement park, your reaction isn’t quite what he expected.

It was an kids amusement park. ALL of the rides were fit in for children.

You were happy of course, but metal bat expected you to be fawning over him by now. (That’s what zenko at least told him. Quoting “she’ll be head over heels once you both arrive big brother!”)

“Why are we at an kids amusement park ?”

“My sister recommended it”

“…”

“…”

“Makes sense.”

Well you both already got tickets so all you could do was make the best out of it.

At least the food was good! Metal bat bought you candied apples, chocolate strawberries, cotton candy, everything you laid your eyes on.

And he got you lots of plushies, like, LOTS of plushies.

The kids there did recognize Him tho, so it took a while to get away from the crowd of children wanting autographs and photos.

Metal bat ends up feeling like he ruined your date, so you can see him being kinda upset, after cheering him up though, you both promise to go to a place that both of you could enjoy next time.

He literally has to hold himself back not to spit out the words “i love you” cuz you looked so adorable on that day. (Especially eating the cotton candy)

[my-mt-heart]

Thoughts on TBOC PalyFest

It started out fine. It felt like Melissa and Louis were getting more opportunities to talk and obviously I liked the focus on Daryl's and Carol's reunion because their relationship is (or should be) the show's beating heart.

I strongly disagree with Gimple that the 204 reunion topped Terminus. It was an imitation and it played in a vacuum.

Norman said "When they come together. The sound goes out. They're the only two people on the planet." And this is what I mean about the vacuum. That sentiment does come out during the scene, but it does not hold true after the scene is over, at least not on Daryl's end.

Gimple really said "we wanted to make Daryl not know who he was anymore" like that was smart.

When asked why Isabelle had to die, Zabel said that "It was looking at the sort of grand plan of the show and building to sort of where we felt like it was gonna go, and specifically in terms of kind of getting to a version that was really Daryl and Carol trying to make their way through new territories and new environments. And so that they seem to go together." Naturally his first instinct is to blame Carol/Melissa for another female character's death, but that is so false it's laughable. Isabelle died because he's a misogynist. Frankly, I think he would have killed her off eventually even if Carol didn't come back.

Both Zabel and Gimple suggest that the death makes Caryl's reunion more compelling because it allows Carol to show up for Daryl when he's "at his lowest." Translation: Carol is also there just to be Daryl's support.

According to Zabel, we can expect the idea of Carol being there for Daryl at his lowest to pop back up in S3, which is just further confirmation to me that the season is fucked. Just because the location changes doesn't mean the misogyny will.

It's one thing for Zabel to think a romance between Daryl and a nun he just met made any fucking sense for the character, but what's Norman's excuse? He said Daryl was wondering "why I can't have this" as if the flagship show never fucking happened. Why does this man have so much creative control when he doesn't seem to know or care about who Daryl is?

When asked what Carol thinks about Daryl's relationship with Isabelle and the other characters in France, Melissa said that it was surprising for her and I think she spoke for all of us when she said of Daryl "I don't know you anymore." I cannot emphasize enough how deeply heartbreaking of a story it is for Carol to do everything in her power to find the most important person in her life and after just a few short months, he's already found a new family. Carol deserved a thousand times better. She is not the one who needs to be there for Daryl going forward. He needs to fucking show up for her, but I don't trust the four horsemen to ever do her justice. The leadership on this show needs to fucking change yesterday.

[quantum1mmortality]

kung lao x reader where they are like secretly dating and little by little making it more obvious to everyone??? Like, leaving hickeys, bite marks etc, until they start noticing and pointing it out??? Sorry if its confusing😭

I'm a sucker for a good secret dating romance, I gotchu anon

Tw/cw: gn reader I think??? Idk do correct me if I'm wrong, not really NSFW but mentions of sex, a lot of marking and Kung Lao being a tease, cursing

Not proofread as per usual

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You were a really good friend of Johnny's, just so happened to be one of Liu Kangs pupils as well. Although you didn't have super strength like your best friend did, you were highly trained by him.

When everything started going to shit and everyone had to go team up at the request of Liu Kang, you were quick to try and make friends with everyone, making it less awkward for potential missions.

You made quick friends with Kenshi, Tomas, even Raiden. But you had a very odd relationship with Kung Lao. According to Johnny, he'd often times catch Kung Lao, eyes drifting over you, not leaving unless you looked directly at him.

Other times, he'd say Kung Lao would attempt to talk to you, but Johnny could sense by his body language he was nervous.

You couldn't help but admit Kung Lao was attractive. He was exactly your type and everything you wanted in a man. But to his credit, you were nervous as well, not wanting to make small talk either.

That all changed when you two were sent on a mission together, basically just to scout something out or some shit. To be fair, Liu Kang seemed like he was making this mission up on the spot. Almost as if he knew you two had feelings for each other.

When you got to the spot he told you to scout out, it was a waterfall. A fucking waterfall. You both were told to stay there for the entire day, at a waterfall.

Either there was something actually going on or Liu Kang just has a twisted sense of humor when it comes to this sort of thing.

Truth be told, Liu Kang could tell you two liked each other. He could feel the perverted thoughts of each other just bubbling in your minds and decided he couldn't take it anymore. So, he decided to basically send you two on a date. Completed with nice scenery, no one around, and he even gave you guys a basket full of little finger sandwiches. How cute.

The two of you ended up just talking the entire time bonding over such a silly fear you both shared. You both had eventually realized what was going on and why you were sent on this "mission" and decided to make the most of your alone time.

During that "making the most of it", you had taken each others firsts, under the pale moonlight while the sounds of the waterfall next to you drowned everything else out. All you could think about in that moment was each other.

The original plan was to make it so that nobody found out at first. However, Kung Lao had gotten extremely caught up in the moment and ended up leaving hickeys on you in visible places. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

The love bites on your neck and the scratch marks on his back were very evident the day after, however. While you were upset that they were so visible, Kung Lao was more than happy to show off his back to everyone. He even offered another round just to get more.

He assured you that everything was gonna be alright, a few marks isn't gonna kill you and it shows your affection for one another, which is why he loved his scratches so much.

Neither of you thought it would be a good time to say you guys were dating, so you decided to try and keep things on the down low. You did, at least. However, with the hickeys he'd leave on you, it became very hard to come up with excuses on the spot.

When the two of you got back from your little mission, mostly everyone could sense something was different. Raiden was consistently asking Kung Lao why he has scratches on his back because he decided today was the day he'd train shirtless (because of course he would), and Johnny would NOT leave you alone.

Johnny just would not stop asking you where you got the hickeys from, even though he knew the answer. You would always blush from embarrassment when he asked though, eyeing Kung Lao as you did.

When it came to night time, Kung Lao made it a point to sit next to you. This made Johnny sit across from you, which you could tell he wasn't very happy about. You could see him out of the corner of your eye, arms crossed as he watched you and Kung Lao talk like there was no one else at the table.

Mostly everyone picked up on the small touches you'd leave on his arm and the way he'd caress your thigh. The way the both of you were laughing made it seem like you'd known each other for years.

Over the next few days, you'd continue to sleep together. You'd start leaving hickeys on Kung Lao as a lesson, but instead of being upset , he was ecstatic at the way you'd left a mark on him. He'd ask you over and over leave more marks on more visible places.

Practically everyone in your group knew you were together, you'd just stopped hiding it. You'd occasionally climb onto his lap while he was sitting down and watching him train, while he'd give you small kisses and wrap his arms around your waist very often.

Johnny had decided he's had enough with your very obvious mutual pining and asked the question that should've been clear.

"are you two fucking?"

EVERYONE snapped their heads to look at the three of you. Kung Lao has his arms around you and you were hugging into his chest, while Johnny was in front of the both of you with his hands on his hips.

The silence from the both of you was enough for the answer to be known. Raiden and Kenshi let out small disappointed sighs as Johnny scolded you about keeping this from him.

All the whole Liu Kang was internally patting himself on the back for being a good wingman

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/n: if my fics ever become proofread, immediately assume my account has been hacked. You guys ever go over shit you wrote??? That's embarrassing, I'm not doing that.

[star-girl-05]

Reader falls in love with doctor

I Like Like You

Doctor Who x reader

You knew you were doomed the moment you found yourself listening to his long-winded spiel about things you couldn’t begin to understand. In spite of this, you sat there, never interrupting, just nodding when he paused for a breath, checking if you were still listening. Of course you were you'd always pay attention to him.

Despite the fact that he had no idea, everything he did made you want him more. His obliviousness to your feelings was both annoying and a relief. You could only imagine the horror if The Doctor ever found out about your feelings. Everything would change between you too. The Doctor doesn't do romance. He might flirt but it's all harmless. You know that. 

You know that nothing would ever happen between you and The Doctor. That didn’t make it any easier to try and get over him. Especially when you spent all of your time with him. Your whole life revolves around him, and when you're trying to get over someone that's not a good thing. 

You just wanted to get over your crush, so you could continue to travel with him without your heart getting in the way. So you decided the best way to do that was to get with someone new. That someone ended up being a guy named Daniel. The two of you have been texting for a few weeks. 

You're only now getting around to actually meeting him. Having convinced The Doctor to take a small break. He had no idea you planned on going on a date. He only realized that was your plan when you came walking out wearing a stunning black dress. Both his hearts stopped functioning for a moment. You looked absolutely ravishing, he let his eyes wander for only a moment before turning back to the console. 

In his mind, the Doctor can recall the exact moment when he realized he was in love with you. The two of you were returning back to the Tardis after a dangerous adventure. Both you and The Doctor had a few cuts and bruises. Nothing life-threatening but you were still fussing about them.

He can still remember how focused you were when you changed his bandages. It was as if you were performing surgery and not cleaning a superficial wound. In that moment though when you were lecturing him about being safe, he realized just how much he needed you. How much he loves you. 

His world stopped when he realized that fact. Things he once thought of as an impossibility were suddenly becoming possible. He never saw himself as settling down, planning to travel forever. If you asked him though, he would commit fully to the life. He’d get a nine-to-five, working to save up for a house with a picket fence. He would do anything and everything to make you happy. Maybe the two of you would have kids. That was a dangerous thought, one that made his hearts race. 

That was all a silly dream though, completely hypothetical. He would never tell you his feelings, you deserved better than him. So he’ll just admire you from afar. 

Right now though having seen you in that dress he wants to do much more than admire you. “Where are you headed dressed like that?” He tries his best to seem casual as he asks but he's nervous. Nervous you're going to say a date, which is really the most likely answer. 

“I’m going on a date”, a date with a man that isn’t him. This is what he wants; he consoles himself, but it does nothing to make him feel better. 

“Oh”

 Oh, what is that supposed to mean? He turns away before you can decipher the look on his face. Secretly you were hoping to get some sort of reaction out of The Doctor. Nothing huge, maybe just a blush, something to show you that he at least thought you were attractive. 

“I’ll be back later, so don’t wait up” Your steps are slow as you make your way to the door. Repeating affirmations that the perfect remedy for getting over The Doctor is a night out with a handsome guy. 

The Doctor watched you leave his knuckles turning white from how tight his grip was on the console. He stayed like that for a few minutes staring longingly at the door. He wants you to have a good time just not with anyone that isn’t him. He hated himself for thinking that but the more he stood alone in the tardis the more thoughts like that plagued him. Until he can't think rationally anymore, grabbing his phone and dialing your number. 

It’s been ten minutes. You and Daniel are just about to sit down when you get the call. The Doctor never calls, he barely uses a phone unless it’s an emergency. You give your date an apologetic look telling him you’ll just be a moment. 

“Is something the matter?”

“No… I nevermind” he quickly hangs up the phone leaving you even more perplexed. You redialed his number only for it to go straight to voicemail. You tried to text him only to be left on unseen. Why isn’t he answering? You begin to panic knowing The Doctor there's no telling what could be the matter. You say a quick goodbye to Daniel before running to the tardis. 

You're out of breath and your feet ache when you reach the Tardis. The sigh of relief you let out when you saw the Tardis is still there. You quickly open the door only to be greeted by The Doctor fiddling with the console. His head popped up at the sound of the door opening. “This is a surprise. What are you doing back so early?” he gave you a goofy smile, one you might admire if you hadn’t run all the way here. 

“I’m back because I thought something had happened to you. Do you not know how to answer a phone?" 

“Oh that's what that ringing was I thought there was something wrong with the tardis”, he knew it was his phone he just couldn’t bring himself to answer it. Having no excuse for his random call. Though knowing his lack of response got you this worried made both his hearts skip a beat.

“Are you kidding me? I left my date just because you can’t distinguish the sound of a cell phone ringing and the tardis?!?”

“I’m sorry, I’ll know better next time." 

“Good, I’ll see you later” you give a glare. “Don’t call” the Doctors eyes widen as you open the Tardis doors. He thought this meant you’d cancel the date. 

“You're still going?” He tries not to sound as desperate as he feels.��

“Yes luckily Daniel hasn’t been scared off by me abruptly leaving”

“Are you sure? I mean you're already back here and you know we could just go on an adventure” he was already fiddling with the console but you're quick to stop him. Grabbing his arm and pulling him away. 

“We can go on an adventure some other time” he gives you a pitiful nod a pout resting on his beautiful face. “I’ll see you later Doctor” he watches you walk out eyes drifting over your figure. A feeling of dread overtook him. He felt like he was losing you. What if your date with Daniel goes well and you decide to stop traveling with him? The thought has him running after you. He catches up to you quickly both his hearts aching. “Doctor this better be important."

“It is” you give him a look to continue telling him Daniel is waiting for you. He takes a deep breath; he can’t believe he's about to say this. “Darling, don’t go on that date." 

You rolled your eyes. You wanted a reaction out of him but you were finding this annoying. All you wanted was to sit down, eat some nice food and have a nice conversation with a cute guy. 

“Just listen, I like you” your eyes widen, you think you must have heard him wrong. There's no way the Doctor said he likes you too; he must mean in a friendly way. 

“I like you too” 

“No, I mean I like like you, in a kissing type of way” his explanation has you giggling. 

“You like like me in a kissing way” you reiterate with a smile blooming on your face. 

“Yes” your heart is about to explode. You’ve only dreamed of something like this happening. You're immediately pulling him by his jacket pressing your lips against his. It's everything you thought it was going to be. 

You pull away softly panting, “I like like you in a kissing way too” he laughs pulling you back into him. 

You texted Daniel apologizing for cancelling on him and informing him of your new relationship.

[thepersonnamedsam]

hello! i hope you’re doing well!! could i request some dating headcanons for jamie x reader x roy? if you’re not comfortable writing poly ships, then just headcanons for Jamie would be fine!! i just found your blog but i just want to say that your writing is super amazing!! thank you!!

headcanons - jt9 & rk6

pairing: jamie tartt x fem!reader x roy kent

summary: headcanons about the favourite poly couple on the field

warnings: i sincerely hope no one sees this as a warning, but still; poly couple, some sexual themes but nothing explicit

note: thank you so much for your request! and i’m glad that you like my stuff <3 it’s more like a story than headcanons, hope it’s okay like this.. :)

masterlist / taglist

roy kent - the man, the myth, the legend, would you ever see him in a relationship? probably. would you ever see him in a relationship with one than more person? but that’s exactly what’s going on

you met jamie first, he was a little prick you weren’t very fond of, but when he transferred to afc richmond, he changed. he also met roy

jamie introduced you to roy and he fell for you immediately - you didn’t

it took you a while to like both of them

but you did like jamie first

it made roy furious - he started to treat jamie like some sort of slut

that’s when you talked to roy and you felt something when he looked at you with those eyes

your stomach churned and your heart fluttered- you didn’t do anything though

what you did do, was tell jamie

he was shocked at first, but he kind of understood your feelings

because he kind of felt those feelings for roy too

you mastered a plan to tell roy, but he crashed it, when he just pulled you aside one day and kissed you

he told you, that he couldn’t stop thinking of you and that he would tolerate the prick

you were so happy, both boys or men as roy would say, now happy and yours

at first you tried to hide your relationship- the team knew you were dating jamie, so the relationship between you and roy and jamie and roy had to be kept a secret

the relationship between roy and jamie was anyway a bit different- they weren’t like a couple couple (at least they thought they weren’t)

it was more like a bromance rather than a romance

hugging and showing love in the way of saying it or light touches was normal between the two, but kissing or even sex, wasn’t happening between the two ballers

as non intimate the relation between those two were, yours with them was even more intimate

jamie is definitely the soft one, he treats you like a princess. does everything for you and wants you all the time

roy on the other hand was a bit more harder. he is a softie inside and only lets you see this side when you two were alone, you loved it though. but when jamie is around, he is this big, rough teddy bear

it was hard for roy to not show you his love around the team

he once even wanted to ask the diamond dogs what to do - until he realised that they also didn’t know

but sooner or later the team found out

it was when jamie’s dad just showed up and jamie punched him, when roy realised that he gave a fuck about what the others were thinking and that jamie needed him right then

the team was about hesitant at first, not understanding the whole dynamic, but they soon understood it and supported you fully

at the end of the day, you three were laying on bed, jamie in the middle of you and roy, his head was laying on your chest and roy was spooning him from behind

your right hand on his cheek, stroking it softly, and the left hand in his hair, massaging it gently

roy had his arm around his waist

you were whispering sweet nothings, told him about your day and how much you missed your boys

jamie is such a softie, but you loved it

he cried that night, but he was glad his two loved ones were right by his side

roy is usually the jealous type- when jamie received too much attention from you he was grunting, not voicing his feelings, just grunting

but it was okay for tonight

you were usually the one who cooked - the boys are on cleaning duty

roy usually didn’t complain, oh but jamie, my god does he complain

„why do i have to clean up the kitchen? you were the one who cooked?“ he would say after you cooked the meal

and roy mostly responded like this: „that’s exactly why we have to do it, you little fuck, she already cooked!“

roy swears like a sailor, we all know that, it didn’t make you uncomfortable, but hearing fuck every two seconds was something to get used to

so he tried to tone it down - it didn’t work

jamie laughed every time when he saw you twisted up face in the beginning

but after some time you didn’t even hear it anymore

but believe me, roy would do anything for you

getting you both from the night club because you were too drunk to even remember where you were

buying you expensive gifts because that’s what you deserve

bringing home flowers to surprise you

helping jamie, because that’s the only wish you ever had - that the two boys would love each other

and they did, in their own way

you loved them and they loved you, very much so

and you were so happy to have them in your life

i mean, how could you not love them

°°°

taglist: @topguncultleader , @lovelyy-moonlight , @youkissedareaderinthedark , @thybulleric

[starrieisdelusional]

Must we really rely on fate?

a somewhat proper rambling of how i want bbc merlin plot to go (a fix it au)

Season 1 : The One They Call Emrys

Season 1 is going to stay as a light-hearted season to introduce the world of Merlin. The general plot stays the same with a few additions:

merlin shows doubt in gaius / kilgharrah decisions

the old religion is more apparent

Dragons and dragonlords aren’t extinct but very endangered

merlin empathizes with morgana but never decided to help her

introduction of elyan: he doesn't stay in camelot, opting to travel instead

Gwen's father didn’t die (To Kill a King never happened)

Nimueh didn't die

Morgause appears in the last episode

The Poisoned Chalice is going to be the season's finale (the episode where nimueh poisons merlin) as the climax of the season with higher stakes and it will be up to Arthur to save the day.

Season 2 : The Veils of Deceit

From here on out, the canon episodes becomes less relevant. As the title suggest, this season is more plot heavy. Uncovering hidden truths and digging deeper into the main cast's past:

the introduction of mordred: everyone loves him except for merlin, and by i mean everyone, i mean, gwen, arthur, morgana, leon, anyone you can think of, he is a lot more involved in the show than just appearing for 3 episodes

introduction of balinor on the first episode

balinor acts as merlin's mentor figure for this season and their meeting goes something like this (balinor: ...you can speak to dragons...? merlin: is that not common or something?)

balinor meets hunnith

merlin doesn't know balinor is his father until it's too late

ygraine situation happened exactly as it is in the show

ygraine acts sort of like a guardian angel of arthur but unable to fully communicate with him

Arthur has started getting skeptical towards uther.

Arthur-centric episodes: there should at least be one episode where the main lead is Arthur instead of Merlin (example: arthur's POV when merlin is at the tavern)

morgana finds out about her origins

Introduction of Percival and Gwaine

merthur kissed (they never talked about it because they're depressing like that)

dragonlords in this au are going to be a bit different than dragonlords in canon. Instead of controlling dragons, dragonlords and dragons build mutual respect.

As the season progress, kilgharrah lost hope of merlin and decided to turn to nimueh instead. Nimueh attacked the castle with kilgharrah but they lost with the exchange of balinor's life. In this battle Merlin finally acquire his dragonlord powers.

After the battle, it is shown that Morgana has joined side with Morgause. Kilgharrah has joined her too, dissapointed at Nimueh's failure.

Season 3 : The Collapse of Uther

Season 3 follows the canon premise: morgana's corruption and uther's end:

aithusa is born (everyone adores her)

aggravaine appears as a minor character in an episode

morgwen romance

nimueh isn't really active now that morgause is taking control of things and decided to leave it up to her even if she doesn't like her

nimueh warns kilgharrah about morgause

In this AU, morgana's goal is to only get magic legalized in camelot, and the season portrays those attempts. She plans to keep everyone out of it.

But as the season progresses Morgana is getting more and more agitated at arthur's complacency, especially after gwen's father's death. Her irritation is further amplified after she found out that she's uther's bastard daughter.

She felt especially betrayed when she found out that Merlin is the legendary Emrys and he decided to do nothing for them, opting to stay to uther's side.

Following all of this, Morgana ratted Merlin out to the entire court. This goes on a back and forth with Arthur getting Merlin out of jail (he still doesn’t believe Merlin has magic) and Morgause attacking citadel.

At the end, Morgause forces Merlin to kill uther with his magic to save arthur’s life. Betrayed, Arthur banned Merlin from Camelot.

Season 4: Darkness Before Dawn

Season 4 is set about 1 year after uther’s death and the start of arthur’s journey to find out what it means to be king. S4 will went back and forth in time, switching between the present and the following events that happened:

even if merlin is ‘gone’, he actually stays in camelot, protecting the kingdom, out of arthur’s sight (this often shows in assassins showing up dead or citadel having so much harvest and resources they don’t know what to do with it)

everyone decided to ignores this

the roundtable is established

mordred becomes a knight

morgana has separated from morgause

morgana was furious at what morgause did at the finale of season three. she never wanted uther to die and didn’t want merlin to get banned. Morgana thinks arthur is not ready to be king

Kilgharrah stayed with morgause longer than morgana did until he realized that morgause is dangerous but got enslaved by her

Merlin later saves him

Morgause is now working with aggravaine who becomes one of the nobles at the house of pendragon

Aggravaine wants to take the throne from arthur and much more evil and manipulative

Aggravaine is court advisor

S4 is explores more political stuff in albion ( in depth look at other kingdoms, their thoughts on sorcery, etc etc)

merlin lives with morgana, aithusa, and kilgharrah in the woods. They made truce with each other

cendred is introduced and is working together with morgause and aggravaine

nimueh becomes merlin's mentor figure and occasionally visits him and morgana

(i’m considering to make this blank period of season 3 and 4 into a new season considering how much happened 😭)

In early episodes, there was a time where Merlin’s magic disappeared for days. Arthur got restless and decided to scout him out as a kid by drinking a youth potion that Gaius gave him.

Arthur found Merlin injured and tend to his injuries. Morgana found them days after. To stay with them, arthur keeps the pretends of being a stupid kid who visits morgana and merlin occasionally while trying to balance his life in the kingdom as king.

Gwen founds out about all of this from Gaius and drink an aging potion, disguising herself as kid arthur’s grandma so merlin and morgana wouldn’t get too suspicious. The knights are in the know and covers for Gwen and Arthur disappearance.

Arthur gets less and less involved with the throne, disappearing, falling asleep in meetings, more often than not Aggravaine has to stepped in to replace him. The court is displeased with Arthur, especially because he made choices that they considered are too soft.

Aggravaine manage to manipulate the court into favoring him and takes the throne from Arthur through majority votes. Declaring himself as king.

An assassination attempt is made on Aggravaine and he declares Arthur guilty, having an excuse to sentence him to death, he sends Arthur to be executed. Merlin with a few other people helped him escape, making them an enemy to Camelot.

Season 5: The Weight of a Crown

S5 is set right after S4 with aggravaine as king and the main cast live together in morgana and merlin's cottage:

aggravaine legalized magic

aggravaine made morgause a noble in the royal court

aggravaine ruled as a tyrant, letting magic thrive with him

arthur reconsile with merlin and morgana

ealdor's massacre: aggravaine attacked ealdor in order to find merlin and in this event, hunnith dies, along with everyone in the village

gaius dies

arthur didn't do anything in the beginning because he genuinely thinks that his uncle is the perfect candidate for a king. With magic also legalized, there's nothing left he needed to do.

Arthur will eventually see that Aggravaine's rule brings nothing but misery. He went on a journey to obtain excalibur and took the throne back from him. Morgause has managed to escape once again.

Season 6: The Once and Future Kingdom

s6 is a somewhat epilogue and wraps up loose ends with the main cast set in the following positions in the House of Pendragon:

Arthur: King

Merlin: Court Dragonlord, Court Physician, and Consort

Gwen: Court Advisor or Head of the house

Morgana: Court Sorceress

Aithusa: Court Dragon

Mordred: Heir to throne

these are some things that happened:

merthur got MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

merlin got a staff from arthur

camelot allied with the druids

we'll get to know more about morgause past

As the main cast live their happily ever after, the threat hasn't completely been eradicated with morgause on the loose and aggravaine still alive in the dungeons. The final villain for this story will be the triple goddess / destiny themselves that wants the prophecy of Arthur sleeping in Avalon for 2000 years to come true because that's how it supposed to go but merlin and arthur managed to rewrite their story

THE END!!!!!!!!! (some things to be changed)

===========================================

To find all my other ramblings about this AU, click the links below or filter with the hashtag #must we really rely on fate?

AU Outline:

Additional Links:

Old Masterlist

Why Merlin isn't Queen / King / Court Sorcerer / Court Advisor

Merthur Reunion (now discarded)

Magic Reveal Aftermath (will be updated on a new post)

[leoruby-draws]

Decided to add another member to the Training Wheels Outlaw team, Gillian Wahrman aka Wyldheart!

This spirited young girl is a very obscure character seen in Grant Emerson's 1994 book Damage! She's only ever seen in relation to Grant, and Grant's a bit obscure himself, so she has very little appearances in the comics.

From what little we saw of her, she seemed fairly nice and pretty naive, I'm guessing she was pretty sheltered in life. Her adoptive father, Abriam Wahrman , found her in a spacecraft as a baby, so she kinda has a superman style origin (in fact, I thought she could fit the team as the superman expy, but I ended up having other ideas...).

Her father is part of the organization that gave Grant his powers but are also trying to hunt him down. She and Grant ended up as friends, but are keeping their friendship a secret for now. For now it works, tho I doubt that'll stay the case. She and Grant get along very well, he helps ground her and tries to prevent people from taking advantage of her naivety. In turn she helps him lighten up a bit and have fun!

Anyways, when she learned about Grant hanging out with this strange group, she decided she wanted in! And so she did! Jason is amused if a bit overwhelmed by her positivity, he's not quite sure how to deal with her but at least he has fun with her. The rest of the team likes her cheerfulness, bit of a break from the more serious and 'edgy' members attitudes.

Here's a couple of extra doodles of Gillian meeting the others:

This last one is was a first draft of her, I'll be real her outfit is kinda strange, simultaneously both overly designed and yet super basic. I didn't really like it honestly, but I could see underneath all that there was a way to make it work. I'm not sure if I succeeded, might've oversimplified it but I tried.

Now I'm gonna stop right here and talk about something real quick. If you go over to the DC fandom wiki and go to Gillian's page, here's what you see in the sidebar:

Is this some sort of mistake? I don't know if I missed something, but in none of her appearances was she shown to be a New God or Genesisian. Was she planned to be one but the writers dropped that plot point? Or did they not get the chance since Grant's book got canceled? If not, why did the wiki put that in? I don't know man, but I really do like that idea, like a lot. In fact in my au, she is in fact a New God! Perhaps her parents got in trouble of sorts and maybe sent her away to protect her? I'm kinda wanna make up a story of the parents being on opposite sides and their Romeo/Juliet romance caused an uproar. I'm not too well versed in New God lore, so I don't if that would work but it's one idea at least.

Here's a page of Gillian finding out her heritage:

Everyone looks shocked! (btw that guy in the back is Iron Munro, who helps out Grant sometimes). If Gillian's a new god, what would she be the god of? Maybe something like Harmony or Joy.

Well I hope to draw Gillian some more, she's a pretty fun addition to the team, and I hoped you liked all this!

A correction! Gillian is a New God, it's explained in Damage #8!

This is what happens when you speed 'read' and completely look over the details. Sorry about that, I can be pretty spacey sometimes. Thanks to @isfjmel-phleg for the correction! Still isn't it cool and unique that Gillian's a new god? DC should bring her back!

[kiddbegins]

Closed Off - Will Halstead

requested: yes

word count: 2,231

warnings: nothing really, just cute, closed off reader i guess?

a/n: i apologize if this isn't written well?? i cant tell-

Masterlist

“You’re a lot different under the sheets, aren’t you?” “How so?” “…You’re way softer, I like this side of you.”

When you started working at Chicago Med, you swore that you would just live your life there as a doctor and that was that. No romances, no mingling of any sort. As minimal talk of your personal life as possible. 

You wanted to leave that part of you back in New York and let Chicago be completely detached. As well as not letting your coworkers into your inner circle. And so far it had been working. Most of the people you worked with knew you were self reserved, respected that.

Including one Will Halstead but he really couldn’t get past the fact it drew him in even more than any sort of mystery usually would. Seriously, how could he just ignore that the new beautiful doctor at the hospital had so much hidden behind a brick wall. 

He of course respected your want to privacy, but that didn’t stop him from conveniently going to the vending machine at the same time as you, offering up any sort of light conversation he could. Simply wanting to offer out his attention and want to at least be friends.

And in all honesty, you found it cute. That he cared, if that was even the right word to use, to try and let you hunker down in this city. To know that you had each and every person in this hospital to lean on regardless of what you tried to shut out.

Usually you would just brush him off, but today was… decently hard. You had no real way to save this mother and you had to tell her family that. So you decided on grabbing something to try and calm yourself down. Some chips.

As always, Will followed you, leaning against the side of the machine with a slight grin. “Hey, what kind you getting?” He waited, knowing if you were going to reply it wouldn’t be right away. And he was right.

With a sigh, you looked up at him, “Salt and vinegar.” Short and bluntly, leaning down to grab the bag out of the bottom, sucking in a breath before going to go around him. As if he could tell, Will turned with you.

“Hey, wait. You alright?” His hand went to your arm, something that usually wouldn’t have made you stop but for some reason you did, gripping the small bag of chips in your hands. Genuinely you didn’t know if it was the bad day getting to you or what but you shook your head.

Will frowned slightly, pushing past the surprise that you actually spoke to him, “Do you wanna talk about it? Maybe I could help?” He offered, you nodding faintly. If it meant even possibly coming up with something to help your patient you’d do it.

“Yeah, my patient, she’s sick and I can’t save her. She’s past the point of chemo and everything so,” You paused faintly. “I don’t really know what to do.” Something you didn’t admit lightly. 

You were good at your job, cold shoulder or not. And honestly, one of the highest success rates of doctors in the ED, only topped by Dr. Choi. “Let me take a look at her and her papers and I’ll see if I can find anything. New eyes and all.” He once more offered.

Part of you was ashamed of the help but you brushed it off. Will managed to find something and by the end of the day, she was on a new treatment plan that was hopefully going to get her home before the holidays.

Later that night, when shift was about to end, you went into the break room, not looking for Will, but bumping into him was actually alright. “Hey, Halstead.” He lifted his head towards you with a hum of acknowledgement. “I just wanted to say an actual thank you for today.” You paused, actually feeling a bit nervous speaking up.

“I’m glad I could help. Always nice to see a parent make it home to their family.” Will shrugged his jacket on, watching as you still stood there, hands clasped together, “Was there something else?”” 

With how quickly you usually split from any sort of conversation it was odd that you didn’t with him, at least not now. “Well, I was uh, gonna see if you’d let me get you a drink.” Will’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Because honestly, I don’t think I could have handled losing that mother today.” You rolled your tongue against your cheek nervously.

He nodded faintly, doing his best (and failing) to hide the smile that was actively growing on his face. “Well, I think I’d like that.”

“Just the one though.” You faintly laughed, “Don’t get your hopes up.” You managed to joke faintly, Will holding his hands up in defense. He’d take anything he could, conversation was conversation and that was how the two of you ended up next to one another at Molly’s that evening, a beer in both of your hands.

Will leaned on the counter, “You know, you’re pretty hard to read.” He spoke, looking over at you. “And I like to think I’m pretty good at reading people.” He sipped from his drink with a thoughtful look behind his eyes. That much was true, Will was good at knowing what kind of person he was getting entangled with.

Not that he ever had the best judgment on what that meant or would lead to but at least he had a baseline. With you though it was like there was nothing. You didn’t give off anything. He had nothing to base his thoughts off.

“Well, that’s kind of the point.” You shrugged, taking a swig from your bottle, “That’s exactly how I want it to be.” Will shifted at the statement, facing you more, his eyebrows pulling together as he looked over at you.

“Why?” He chuckled faintly. “I mean, you’ve been in Chicago a few months now and all I got from you is that you’re from New York and that you like cats.” The only reason he even knew that was the pin you had attached to your jacket that you sometimes wore.

A small black cat pin. “Well if I answered that I’d be giving away all my secrets, wouldn’t I?” You cocked an eyebrow up, crossing a leg over the other. Will chuckled faintly, nodding with a shrug. He sighed faintly, tilting his bottle towards you.

“I guess you’re right.” Once more he took a decently big swig from his beer, taking a moment to think over his next words, “You know I’m gonna keep trying to get to know you right?” Will spoke, glancing to you. If he was one thing it was stubborn and one thing he wanted more than anything was to sneak through one of the tiniest cracks you had to have. 

Because everybody has one in the walls they put up. “I know.” You leaned your elbow on your knee, glancing up at him. “Doesn’t mean I’ll give in though.” The two of you shared a look, and you were unable to say you weren’t attempting to flirt at least a little bit. And it wasn’t like you were fully against talking to him in general. He wasn’t the worst company.

Will hummed faintly, he wasn’t sure what he was exactly allowed to do or say. Sure you had asked him to get the drink but that only put you at acquaintance level. If that. And as much as he wanted to reach out, put a hand on yours, he couldn’t let himself. That would be too far. 

At least to him. But truthfully, you couldn’t keep the facade up that much longer. Because he was persistent and you were only so strong. “Well, I figured as much. But hey, maybe I’ll crack you down.” Will smiled warmly, and for some reason that was it. That was the smile that made you just want to confess everything you’ve ever held back to him.

You sucked in a deep breath, looking away from him in a vain attempt at keeping your composure. “Yeah, maybe.” There was a brief silence, you finishing your beer before standing, grabbing your jacket off the back of your chair. “Well, thanks again. Enjoy the rest of your beer.” 

Will stood quickly, reaching his hand out just as fast, stopping before it touched your arm, “Wait, you’re leaving already?” He said, a tinge of disappointment in his voice. Slightly you nodded, lifting your gaze to him with pursed lips, his eyes locking with yours. 

“Uh, yeah, I should,” You gave him a light smile, frozen in place as much as you wanted to walk away it was like you couldn’t. Something about looking at Will just made you want to stay. Whether it was the warmth of his eyes, how he pressed you for conversation while still respecting when you snipped it in the bud.

Something held you there, and it wasn’t the hand he lightly put on your arm, stepping slightly closer, “Or, you could stay. Let me buy you another drink.” His voice was hopeful and so alluring that before you knew it you were agreeing, sitting back down with another drink in your hand. 

It was like somehow he just knew that you didn’t actually want to leave. That you wanted to keep talking. And he managed to keep you wrapped up in conversation along with a few more drinks that led to you walking out together and you laying in his bed that night. 

Not minding when his hands traced over your skin or how your head rested against his chest, his hands twisting through your hair, luring you to sleep.

-

You were the first to wake up the next morning, shifting onto your side to face Will. He was still asleep, his arms tucked under his head and hair sticking up all over the place. It was admittedly extremely cute and you couldn’t help but gently reach over, raking your hand through his hair and pushing it off of his forehead.

He just looked so peaceful, content, that it almost made you feel bad for always brushing him off. Made you second guess the fact that you were so closed off. Maybe this was your way of finally opening up. Will shifted slightly under your touch, making you retract it quickly, eyes widening. 

“Mmm, what time ’s it?” He mumbled, eyes still shut. Just slightly you leaned up, looking over his shoulder at the clock on the bedside table, having to push hair out of the way as it fell over your eyes.

“Only 7,” You spoke softly, laying back down, this time meeting his gaze as he finally opened his eyes. Will grinned widely, shifting closer, his arm going around your waist, nuzzling up against your side. “You’re clingy when you just wake up huh?”

The man nodded as best he could, tucking his head away in the crevice of your neck. “Only when I’m this comfortable.” His statement was muffled but you understood it nonetheless, unable to keep yourself from bringing a hand up to rake through his hair. “Now you just don’t want me to get up,” He chuckled lightly.

You hummed softly, twirling some of his hair around your fingers. “You are admittedly kind of cozy, I won’t lie.” The man lifted his head, looking across your face quickly. A deep blush covered your cheeks as he looked at you.

He was practically studying you, taking note of your face, how you looked back at him. All of it. “I… what?” You asked quickly, eyebrows tightly pulling together.

Will shook his head slightly, “Nothing, you’re just a lot different under the sheets, aren’t you.” He leaned up on his elbows, planting them on either side of you as he spoke. It made his heart flutter, the way you only seemed to be comfortable letting him in.

“How so?”

“You’re softer. Not as closed off.” He spoke, a breath catching in your throat. The man reached out, hesitantly putting a hand on the side of your face. “I like this side of you.” Will swiped his thumb over your cheek, “A lot.” He admitted, giving you a tight smile.

Everything he said was thought over, worried that the wrong move or wrong saying would send you running. That he’d overstep in some way or another. But in reality, you missed being around others. 

A lonely life in Chicago was just that. Lonely. And as much as you were content with how you were living there was always a bit of something that had you wanting to change your own mind. 

Heavily you sighed, giving up on keeping yourself from leaning into his palm. Will grinned wider, shifting closer to you. “Does this mean you’re done with that? At least with me?” He muttered, eyes meeting yours as you slightly nodded.

“At least with you,” One of your hands went over his, pulling him closer. Will’s arm went to the spot on the bed behind you, leaning forward. “Which makes you, very lucky.” You mumbled, in turn putting your hand on his cheek instead,

Will laughed quietly with a hum, “Is that so?” His voice low as you got closer to him, nodding once more before pressing your lips to his firmly, putting your arm over his shoulder tightly.

“It is.”

JOIN WILL'S TAGLIST HERE!

tags: @winchesterszvonecek, @everything-fandom, @thebejeweledwatercat, @mrspeacem1nusone, @wnbweasley, @alexxavicry, @halsteadbrasil, @firetruckstuckley, @lilithblade, @angelicbxtchthea

[fountainpenguin]

🌆 Heroes' Journey 🌆

WordGirl

Pulling back the curtain on a world where mere mortals possess wild superpowers, with a focus on WordGirl and Kid Math's mentor-apprentice-equals relationship. Heavy consideration on how superpowers affect society, with emphasis on found families, secrets, and the mortifying ordeal of being known.

#ridwork guides

What Is This AU?

A slice-of-life WordGirl period piece that expands on the worldbuilding and character relationships seen in the show. Worldbuilding is thoughtful, lightly angsty, but mostly lighthearted with a goal to avoid infodumping and serious angst.

Give it up for Rex trying to hide his powers while more and more people grow convinced he's only hiding them due to abusive upbringing. Shout-out to Becky juggling his superhero training with her fractured social life.

AO3 Series - Heroes' Journey

WG Character Study Series - 28 Million Degrees

All WordGirl 'fics - Any series

WordGirl blog tag - #Satirical vocab alien child show

Posts about Rex and Becky as a comedic duo - #LexiHexa duo

Tone

Serious, but sprinkled with fluff and general tomfoolery. Cute and goofy moments interspersed with light relationship drama. Blends cartoony vibes and a thoughtful take on the worldbuilding.

Ex: Chuck has a broken foot that takes him out of the villain game while he recovers. Becky has to do homework. Yet we still have the Narrator and featured words :)

Characters

Heroes' Journey is a relationship study focusing mostly on Becky, Rex, and Huggy. Parents, friend groups, and neighbors play supporting roles.

Factor It In spotlights Rose Franklin, Victor Best, Eileen, and Granny May, as I figured they could use some extra love. Most villains show up at some point in the Heroes' Journey timeline.

Ships

Canon-compliant within the show's timeline. For me, this means Tobey has a crush on WordGirl, who doesn't reciprocate. Becky has a crush on Scoops, and Scoops/Violet is mutual. Also, Brent/Miss Question, who I definitely don't call [‽] in my head.

Romantic ships are not a big focus in the series as I prefer emphasis on friendships and rivalries, but you'll see romance in the background. Exposition Guy/Exposition Guy's Wife OTP SWEEP! ... Tim and Sally are there too, I guess.

- I write Becky as asexual with no interest in sex, pregnancy, or kids. She loves romance books and would like a fairytale romance, but... her true love is unlearning guilt, taking breaks, and finding peace with herself, I think :)

- Rex sort of has a crush on her, by which I mean he's convinced it's "obvious" the two alien superheroes will end up together. I see them growing up to have a pretty queerplatonic relationship. As he grows, he also develops a crush on Violet (She's kind to him) and Tobey (He uses calculations to build robots; idk what you expected).

- It's important to me that you know Rex is bisexual and when he's an adult, he will tell you this and giggle because "bisect" is a math term and he thinks it's funny every time he says it.

Setting

Fair City, which I've set in the state of Washington (Spotted owls and sasquatches represent!)

"AlgoRhythm" takes place December 1997 and the main 'fic - Factor It In - opens January 1998. This series may range from as early as Huggy's pilot years and Becky's infancy to as late as their adulthood.

Is It For Me?

If you like Becky, Huggy, Rex, the Narrator, thoughtful character relationships, and deeper worldbuilding about life in a world of superpowers, this series may be up your alley! I strive for canon-compliancy for pieces set during show canon.

I try to spotlight less popular characters in the show. Popular villains like Dr. Two-Brains are definitely there, but I try to give folks like Hal Hardbargain, Timmy Timbo, and the Coach their chance to shine as well (both as villains and civilians).

I have no "Becky's family finds out she's WordGirl reveal planned for this story," at least not in Becky's youth.

Major Themes

Expectations, pressure, stability, control, culture, conforming vs. self-expression, envy, trust, pride, guilt, secret-keeping, growth, self-reflection, moving on, and found family

Plot Highlights

- "AlgoRhythm" follows Kid Math as WordGirl introduces him to the Evil Villains Association at an overstimulating party.

- Factor It In bridges the gap between Rex's arrival in "Kid Math" and his cameos in both his Rex and Kid Math clothes in later episodes.

Other works in this series further develop the relationship between straightforward Rex and wishy-washy Becky, with plots ranging from teaching Rex about life on Earth to teaching Becky about the culture of Lexicon and Hexagon.

- Generally, the vibe is that Kid Math is inexperienced and therefore falls for tricks that don't feel WordGirl, so people try to take advantage of him. He gets frustrated when he doesn't understand why he has to follow certain rules and she gets frustrated by his stubborn pride. Shenanigans occur and require problem solving.

- "Flypaper" depicts The Gang in their late teens and young adulthood. Becky is now in college and left Huggy with Rex, who's Fair City's main hero until she returns. She feels detached and uncertain about where she is in life. Also, WordGirl and Super Why speak on a panel together and I badly need you to know.

Ongoing?

I wrote a one-shot in 2018. In 2023, I posted more content. This series is ongoing with infrequent updates at the time of posting.

- On hiatus & in need of buffer building. Intent to finish.

Warnings, notes, and explanations below so readers can learn more about this AU.

👀 Take a Peek

New here? You might like to start with these:

These character studies take place within this universe, though they're not listed as Heroes' Journey content since they focus on side characters:

- "Your family is doing okay" (G - 4400 words) - First meeting of Exposition Guy (Milo) and his to-be wife (Miah)

- "A penny for your thoughts (Oh no)" (G - 7000 words) - A zero-dialogue challenge with Captain Tangent

- "28 Cities" (G - 25k words) - A one-shot series focused on queerplatonic Rhyme and Reason. A taste of childhood with powers vs. without powers. Ongoing, but on hiatus.

Start Reading

Recommended ways to get into the full AU

"AlgoRhythm"

- Get started with a fluffy piece about Kid Math training under WordGirl, then attending a party so she can introduce him to different villains.

- Intro to basics like character dynamics, superpowers, and how Rex thinks

- Fluff, humor, & found family vibes

- Large cast of characters

🗺️ Worldbuilding

- It's rare to be born with powers, but not unheard of. The determining factor is genetics, as is the case with Kid Potato and the Butcher, or the Bests.

-> In-story, there's a character called the Nightmare King: father of Exposition Guy, the Narrator [and his twin], and Invisi-Bill. Their abilities range from semi-omniscience to invisibility, with the Narrator having both.

- Those who have powers are charmed. Doctor Two-Brains is not charmed as he relies on tech, and neither is Captain Tangent, who replies on a curse and his hook.

- Miss Question is not technically classified as charmed due to receiving her powers from lightning. However, she's found acceptance in the charmed community and she can use the label if she wants to. Chuck IS technically charmed, but doesn't identify with the label because he doesn't consider himself to have powers; it's just part of his family history.

-> Chuck would register as charmed on a blood test while Miss Question would not.

- It can take years for powers to show themselves. Most people show theirs as a toddler or during puberty. It's very rare for someone to spontaneously discover powers as an adult. There is seemingly no limit to the types of powers people can have. 1 power is the standard, but some people have as many as 3. It's very, very rare to have more than 3.

-> Rhyme has about 4 powers depending on how you classify things like super strength and durability alongside her super speed and freeze breath. Her dad has wind powers and her mom had water powers. Her family has a long history of charmed genes while Reason's has a long history of none.

- Charmed individuals may study in public school or in specialized charm schools that tailor teaching and accommodations to better suit them. Becky fears that if her parents learn about her flight and super strength, they'll send her to charm school (away from her friends).

-> Becky and Rex are not charmed because they're aliens; their powers follow special rules. However, Becky is "out" as a charmed individual who can speak with monkeys.

- All Lexiconians and Hexagonians have the potential for superhuman abilities. However, these abilities are nullified when they're on their planets, which contain trace amounts of Lexonite / Hexanite in the soil and ground them like average people.

-> Rex was raised with the intention of leaving Hexagon to pursue life as a hero somewhere else. He has the book knowledge for his powers, but no practical experience until coming to Earth.

- During Factor It In, Rex tries to conceal his powers while moving between foster homes, unaware that his caseworker found out about his quick healing and flight. Miah hints to him several times that she and Milo [Exposition Guy] are "a very charm-friendly household."

-> Flight is a rare ability. Miah suspects Rex may be lying low to avoid being traced by an abusive supervillain relative. Beyond that, she's surprised he would hide his powers, as it's not like they're unheard of in this world.

- There's a lot of depth to my takes on Lexiconian and Hexagonian culture, such as Lexicon being more into exploring nature and hunting or gathering food while Hexagon is more into mechanical things and agriculture. Rex is scared of storms because he grew up on a planet that had weather under control, and it's overstimulating for him.

- Both Rex and Becky have synesthesia. Rex can't read because "that's a Lexiconian's job." Also, Hexagon apparently had unicorns and Becky is jealous. My 'fics trickle details like this in over time.

- Last thing worth mentioning is that Huggy grew up with a lot of simians. Some he's on good terms with, others he has rocky history with, but it's generally accepted that Lexiconian monkeys are very intelligent and make great pilots.

- You can also send an Ask if you want to hear me talk about this world. I tag WordGirl content as #Satirical vocab alien child show

📋 Notes & Warnings

- Canon-typical violence (It's taken seriously and people do get injured, but the vibe is what you'd expect for goofy superhero content).

-> Cuts, scrapes, and wooziness are fair game, but no blood or gore. The most serious injury is probably Chuck's broken foot.

-> You should assume all robots are fair game to be destroyed.

-> No serious injuries or character death. Death mentions are backstory only

- Abuse mentions (Adults suspect Rex ran from an abusive home). However, no on-screen abuse besides the basics like family pressure from the Bests and Doctor Two-Brains having a rough go of it.

-> In "28 Cities," it's implied that Rhyme's dad pushed her superhero training pretty far and that she was emotionally and/or physically abused in the process. Reason only hears about this later.

- Rex has canon-typical morbid commentary (which is funny if you take it as "ha ha logic boy" but you could also read it as "Oh that's super dark Rex wtf?")

-> Ex: wanting to tear down the city

- Rare mentions of death (Ex: Rhyme's backstory ("28 Cities") where it's said her dad is a hero turned villain since his hero work didn't pay well enough to provide for Rhyme after his wife died.

More details about Rex's crush on Becky:

Rex sees himself as "Becky's obvious choice in partner someday" and is repeatedly flummoxed when she rejects his elaborate plans to court her 15 years from now.

Becky's asexual with no desire for pregnancy, but as they get older, people definitely try shipping her with Kid Math. She does go out with him in their teens/young adulthood in "A Little Ambiguity," which is a lovely date where no one has childhood baggage weighing them down.

As years pass, a young adult Becky starts seriously debating if she should "settle" with him because there are just so many parts of marrying Rex that are easier than trying to date other people, like the fact that he knows her superhero identity, doesn't think she's fragile, and he can take care of himself in the event that he's targeted.

-> It's the inherent angst of "I don't want kids anyway and I would really like a companion and he knows me so well, but WOW is he going to be so smug about it and I hate that."

It's this weird QPR where Becky's not sure if she feels "love" in the ways it's commonly defined and she's upset and burned out and lonely. Meanwhile Rex has gone on lots of dates, but always felt like she was the clearly logical option. Ah yes, Lexiconian definition crisis meets Hexagonian practicality.

-> I can't even say that I ship them because I Don't Romantically, but I need to study her chronic wishy-washiness & his refusal to look beyond surface-level understanding of things. Do u see my vision?

- All my WordGirl 'fics

- Want more info? Send an Ask!

You can create works based on this AU. Please cite me and/or the AU as appropriate (i.e. for things very specific to this AU). You are free to expand on ideas you've thought of thanks to my AU as a jumping off point. I'd love to reblog or link things to my AO3 works if I see them!

I write content with morally gray characters. Please don't portray my story events or worldbuilding out of context with intentional malice. As in, I request you do not post things created for the specific intention of bashing me or the AU

[lastbluetardis]

What Makes a Family (2/?)

Summary: Single parents Rose Tyler and James McCrimmon come together to embark on a whirlwind, passionate romance that seems to be the happy ending neither of them thought they’d get. But when James’s past comes back to haunt them and threatens to tear away everything they’ve built together, they must find a way to weather the storm that will either break them or draw them ever closer, all while answering the question of what it means to be a family.

💜 It’s back!! This is the new and improved version!! 💜

Ten x Rose AU

This Chapter: Teen, ~6800 words

AO3

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“There’s a new boy in my class!”

James McCrimmon looked up from the calendar he was putting together of assignments, projects, and lesson plans for the month of September: there were a few units he was shuffling around, but for the most part, he could use his old calendar from last school year. That was the best part about teaching, in his opinion: once he had his first year under his belt, everything else came much more easily, since he wasn’t starting from a completely blank slate.

His nine-year-old daughter, Alex, skipped cheerily through the door of his classroom, the French braid he’d done for her that morning miraculously still intact and bouncing off her shoulders. She flashed him a grin that stole his heart all over again, and he was suddenly aware of how much he’d missed her over the course of the school day.

“Hiya, darling,” he said, rolling his chair away from his desk and opening his arms for her. She dropped her school bag onto an empty desk, then vaulted into his lap. He gave her a big hug and pecked a kiss to her cheek. “What do you mean there’s a new boy in your class? It’s the first day; isn’t everyone new?”

Alex let out a sigh of the long-suffering. “Well, yeah, but I at least recognized everyone else. But David’s brand new. That’s his name. David. He just moved here, all the way from London.”

“Wow,” James said. “Must be hard for him, starting at a new school and not knowing anyone, huh?”

“I’m gonna be his friend,” Alex said brightly.

His heart swelled; Alex seemed to go through life making it her personal mission to love everyone she met. If only adults could be so kind. Other children, too. Far too many of Alex’s friendships fizzled out because she was too much for them to handle: too loud, too giddy, too energetic. Every time Alex came home crying that so-and-so didn’t want to be her friend anymore, a small piece of him died inside, buried with the friends he, too, had lost through the decades for the exact same reasons. The apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree at all in that regard.

“That’s very kind of you,” he murmured, kissing her cheek again. “How was the rest of your day? High and low?”

“Low: they had tinned pears for dessert at lunch.” Alex pulled the most disgusted face he’d ever seen on a nine-year-old, and James had to stifle a chuckle. He wasn’t sure if his daughter hated pears because he hated pears, or if she genuinely didn’t like the fruit of her own volition. Either way, if that was the worst part about her day, all was well. “It was so gross. I gave mine to Connor, and he gave me the banana his mum packed him in his lunch. High: I won the class spelling challenge and got a lolly. Miss Oswald was testing us to make sure we knew our vocabulary from last year. I did.”

“That’s wonderful, well done,” he praised.

“Your turn,” she prompted. “High and low.”

“Low: I’ve got all these worksheets to mark.” James gestured to the stack of algebra problems that he was using to gauge the sort of maths he needed to review before starting new material with his Year Sixes. He hoped his students remembered their basic arithmetic. “Love the teaching, hate the marking. And my high: I found some new slow cooker recipes that sound yummy. We can try one out this weekend, if you’d like.”

“Ooh, lemme see!”

James absently bounced his daughter in his lap as he pulled up his web browser’s bookmark tab where he’d saved the recipes. He opened each of the ones that caught his eyes in individual tabs, then began showing them to Alex in the order of what he thought she’d like best.

They spent the next few minutes reading the recipes together. While they did, James watched his daughter’s face intently, noting the ones that piqued her interest and the ones she wrinkled her nose at. She wasn’t necessarily a picky eater, per se, but she never consistently had a favorite food; one day she would love spaghetti, then the next wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole, and would be back to loving it the following week. It certainly made meal planning a difficult chore.

“This sounds like Chinese takeaway,” Alex said, pointing to the recipe for chicken and broccoli. “Can we do this one?”

“Sure thing. We can stop by the shops after school on Friday to get everything we’ll need.”

“M’kay. I’m hungry,” she announced, hopping out of his lap.

“Yeah? All that talk of food make you a bit peckish?” James rolled his chair back to the mini-fridge he kept beneath his desk and rooted around for an apple and container of yogurt. Before he could ask “Which one do you want?”, Alex snatched the apple and bit into it. A droplet of juice dribbled down her chin.

James handed her a napkin and said, “Once I finish these worksheets, we’ll go home. Do you have anything to work on? Let me see your log book.”

Alex rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a small spiral-bound notebook calendar planner. She handed it to him, and he flipped it open to today’s date. Apart from “read for twenty minutes at home”, she had no other homework. Not surprising, considering it was the first day of school. No teacher he knew assigned homework on the first day.

“Right, once you finish your snack, I’ll let you watch something on YouTube ‘til I finish my grading.”

Alex rolled her eyes and nodded, her mouth too full for her to form a proper reply. He couldn’t help it; even though this was their normal routine—Alex joining him in his classroom at the end of every school day—he could never stop himself from reminding her of the schedule: that he had papers to grade or lessons to plan, so she needed to sit quietly for an hour working on her own schoolwork before they could go home for the night.

The sound of chewing became background noise as James worked swiftly through the problems he’d assigned his class. He had the answer key memorized, so it was a simple enough matter of granting the questions a check mark or an X. He was relieved to see that he wouldn’t need to do too much review, apart from reminding students how to work with fractions in their algebra. They seem to have forgotten that finding a common denominator when adding and subtracting was a requirement, not a suggestion.

He wrapped up his work earlier than usual, right as one of Alex’s YouTube videos came to an end. He stepped up to her, popped her earbuds out, and whispered, “Time to go home.”

She dutifully shut down the computer then set it in his desk drawer where it would be waiting for her tomorrow afternoon, as always.

James slung his bag over one shoulder and guided his child out of his classroom, locking the door behind him. There were a few other teachers milling about the halls, as well as the janitorial staff.

“Goodnight, Mr. O’Brien!”

“Goodnight, Miss McCrimmon.” Graham O’Brien, a kindly, recently-widowed gentleman, sketched a half-bow to Alex, making her giggle and follow up with a curtsey.

Alex bade goodnight to every soul they came across. She knew them all by name, and they, in kind, knew her. Not just as the daughter of one of the teachers, but as a cheery little girl who was genuinely kind to everyone. On more than one occasion over the years, a teacher or staff member came by to tell James of an encounter they had with Alex that had brightened their day, whether it was a card she’d made for them out of the blue, or how she’d complimented their new haircut.

When the pair returned home to their small, end-unit terraced house, the first thing Alex did was race to the back door to let in the bouncing, fluffy creature staring piteously at them through the glass.

“K9!” Alex cried, as though it had been weeks since she’d seen her dog rather than a few hours.

The black-and-while labradoodle danced around Alex’s legs, his entire back half wriggling with excitement and pleasure as Alex smothered him in kisses and scratches. He rolled onto his back, tongue lolling as Alex gave him ample belly rubs.

“Ready to go for a walk?” Alex cooed. “Ready for a walkie?”

K9 bounded to his feet at the “w” word, then eagerly followed his little mistress to her bedroom where she changed out of her school uniform. Likewise, James changed out of his work clothes and put on a worn pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt that would help combat the chill of the evening air. Summer was ending early, it seemed.

When he returned to the foyer, Alex was in the middle of securing the walking harness around their dog, who, despite his rapidly-wagging tail, was standing patiently.

“Got it?” James asked, double-checking her work, even though she’d been proficient with getting K9 harnessed up for years.

“Got it.” She clipped the lead to the harness. “Let’s go!”

K9 pranced in place while James grabbed the house key, then opened the front door. Despite the dog’s eagerness, he didn’t pull on his leash; rather, he let himself be guided out of the house by Alex and stayed right by her heel, letting her set the pace. Those months of obedience training when he was a puppy paid off, helped by the fact that K9 seemed to be a more intelligent than usual animal.

James snapped a quick photo of his child and dog on his phone, then fell into step with Alex. As they walked through the neighborhood, greeting anyone and everyone they passed, Alex continued to recount the minutiae of her school day.

“Miss Oswald assigned a project already,” Alex announced. “On the solar system, due in a couple weeks—September nineteenth. We’ve got to build a model with the sun and all eight planets, but we can include Pluto if we want to ‘cos we know he’s out there, and Miss Oswald said that ages ago Pluto used to be its own planet but then some scientists decided it wasn’t. How does that work? How can they just say a planet isn’t a planet when we know it’s a planet?”

James was about to explain exactly how and why Pluto was demoted, but his daughter barreled on, her question seemingly rhetorical.

“And we’ve got to try and make the planets’ sizes as accurate as possible. Not like, accurate, ‘cos obviously planets are massive, but to scale with each other. Roughly. So Jupiter has to be the biggest—well, the sun is the biggest, but you know what I mean—and Mercury has to be the smallest. And we can try to color-code them if we want, and I do want to, so we have to paint Mercury gray and Venus yellow and Earth green and blue and…”

It was impressive that she hadn’t paused to catch her breath yet, but rather continued to ramble on and on about her project. At least she’s excited about it, James thought. Unlike her project on Guy Fawkes last year.

The assignment had been to play pretend at being a museum tour guide with specialty knowledge of a famous historical figure. Each student was to stand in front of the class and talk for a few minutes about their person. The one mistake Alex’s teacher had made regarding the project was assigning the historical figure to the students, rather than letting them pick one. James understood the rationale; at that age, most eight-year-olds likely didn’t have much experience with historical figures to get a diverse enough representation that wasn’t solely old monarchs. But Alex struggled with the project because she was disinterested in the person she was assigned.

James had practiced with his daughter every night in the days leading up to the presentation, but she utterly refused to cooperate, and had rushed through the spiel of Guy Fawkes with no facts other than the gruesome details of his death. It had been no surprise, therefore, when James had been called into an after-school meeting with Alex and her teacher to discuss why her presentation had gone so poorly, even though she could recite fact after fact about Guy Fawkes when prompted.

Alex’s response had merely been, “Guy Fawkes is so boring. He was part of a failed plot to kill a king, got caught, then died, and now we’ve got Bonfire Night, which is the only good thing about him anyway.”

That had prompted James to tell her that lots of things in her life would be boring, but she needed execute even the most boring of tasks satisfactorily. He wasn’t sure how well the lesson sank in, considering she’d only done marginally better on the second chance her teacher had given her to complete the project. However, the teacher told James that, going forward, students could pick their historical figure, or be assigned one if they couldn’t come up with anyone to research.

Presently, Alex was listing everything she knew about the various planets, from their size to surface temperature to how many moons—if any—orbited around them. She even began to recite some of the names of the moons certain planets had, then asked another rhetorical question about why Earth’s moon didn’t have a proper name like all of the other moons, and that society should come up with a name for it.

James was struck with such pride that he’d created such a clever little human. He would have to tell Alex’s teacher, Clara, that this planet project would probably be Alex’s favorite assignment of the year.

After an hour of walking the familiar streets of their neighborhood, they arrived back home and started on dinner. Alex fed and watered K9 while James tended to their food, warming up leftover chicken parmesan and peas.

“Wanna be Eugene or Olaf?” Alex asked, holding up two blue cups with the respective Disney characters printed on them.

“Either,” he said absently, testing to see if their meals were heated through.

“Eugene, since your hair’s the same,” Alex said with a decisive nod. “I’m gonna be Belle.”

Alex filled their cups with water and plopped down in her usual seat at the kitchen table. Really, it had been a card table from his days at uni, but with just him and his daughter living in their small house, they didn’t need much more space than that.

James mentally rehearsed his lesson plans for the following day while he ate, only half-listening to Alex, who inexplicably still had more to talk about, then they worked together to clean up the dishes from their meal.

And that was their night. Years of engrained habits made for a predictable—if not a little dull—evening, even down to their dog knowing when Alex’s bedtime was. K9 dutifully sat on the floor at the foot of Alex’s bed while James tucked himself onto the edge of her twin-sized mattress to read a few chapters of Matilda together. The book was one of her favorites; they must have read it a dozen times together, enough so that James nearly had the whole thing memorized.

When he reached a good stopping point, James stuffed a bookmark between the pages and set the novel on Alex’s bedside table.

“I like Miss Honey,” Alex said, tucking her arm tightly around his waist and preventing him from leaving her bed yet. He melted back into the mattress, happy to give her more snuggles. “I don’t like Matilda’s mum and dad. They’re mean.”

“Yeah, they are,” he agreed, resting his cheek into her soft, chestnut locks.

“You’re not mean to me,” Alex continued.

“I try not to be. Funnily enough, I like you quite a lot,” he teased, poking her side.

Alex squirmed and breathed out a silent laugh. She yawned and hugged him tighter. “Hey Daddy?”

“Hey whatty?”

“I’m never gonna have any siblings, am I?”

James froze, mind whirring to figure out where the question had come from. Was it the book they’d just read? Matilda had an older brother, but as they established, the Wormwood family was rubbish.

“Well, never is quite the absolute,” he started, scratching at the back of his suddenly-hot neck. “It’s got a sort of finality, doesn’t it? Never…”

Alex sighed, her shoulders drooping. James cringed, and amended his daft response by gently saying, “No, you probably won’t have any siblings.”

“Why not?” she asked, frowning. “I hate being an only child. Everyone else has brothers and sisters except for me!”

James’s heart sank at her outburst. “I’m sure that’s not true. Loads of kids don’t have brothers or sisters—I never did.”

“We had to introduce ourselves to the class today and only one other kid in my class was an only child.” Alex sniffled, wiping at her eyes. “It’s not fair!”

James pulled her close, tucking his cheek to her hair and rubbing long, slow lines down her back. “I’m sorry, darling, but sometimes that’s just the way things are. Sometimes things in life aren’t fair, and it’s really crummy, but we need to find a way to be okay with it.”

She kept her face buried in his chest as she said, “Don’t you want more kids?”

James licked his lips. Alex loosely knew where babies came from and how they were made, but like most nine-year-olds, he didn’t think she truly understood the full picture, or the implications therein.

“Well, for starters, having a baby takes two people,” he hedged. “And it’s just me. So that rather throws a spanner in the works, doesn’t it?”

Alex stilled for a moment, then pulled back to look up at him. Her eyes weren’t nearly red enough for her to have been properly crying, but her distress was unmistakable nevertheless.

“Don’t you want to get married?” she asked curiously.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s complicated.”

If he were being honest, James had considered marriage exactly once: when his on-again, off-again girlfriend, River, informed him that she was pregnant in the summer before their final year at university. And even then, it had been an impulsive proposal on his part. Though he’d only known about the baby for all of thirty seconds, he was determined not to be his father, who’d never acknowledged James’s existence, or his mother, who often left him in the care of his grandparents because she was too busy enjoying her youth to be weighed down by a child.

Thankfully River had knocked some sense into him, and the conversation of marriage had never gone further than those first few minutes.

But since then, there had never been anyone in James’s life he’d considered spending his forever with. There had been Joan, whom he’d dated for slightly over a year when Alex was a toddler, but there hadn’t been any sort of spark between them—just familiarity and a mutual desire not to be alone. Then there was Harry, who, until last Christmas, had been a fellow teacher that James regularly hooked up with after work parties and events. Harry had moved away to Wales, and James found that after the initial pang of loss, he didn’t really miss Harry at all.

He wondered if that meant there was something wrong with him, that nobody ever cared to stay long enough to want to stay forever.

“Well I think you should get married and have lots of babies so I can have lots of siblings,” Alex announced decisively, breaking him out of his maudlin thoughts.

“Duly noted.” James leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Time to get some sleep. I love you very much. Even if it’s just you and me forever, I’ll never be disappointed with our life.”

A hint of a smile flashed across her lips, and she leaned up to kiss his cheek. “Love you, too. Nighty night.”

He carefully slid off the mattress and tugged the blankets up to her shoulders. Alex grabbed them and hugged them tight to her chest, cocooning herself in their comfort, as she wriggled into the warm spot left behind by his body. He stroked her hair, brushing it away from her face, and moved to exit her room. On the way, he gave K9 a quick scratch behind his ears.

“Good boy. Keep her safe. Chase away her scary dreams.”

The dog snuffled, as though understanding his nightly assignment, and curled up on the floor in a way that he faced the door. James smiled fondly, and left.

He went back to the kitchen and sat with his computer at the table to get a few things finished for his class for the following morning. He proofread the algebra worksheets he’d be giving his students, and triple-checked that he knew how to do all of the practice problems correctly without looking at his notes.

However, the lessons review took longer than he would have liked because he kept getting distracted with the conversation he’d had with Alex. This wasn’t the first time she’d inquired about having siblings—and it probably wouldn’t be the last—but it was the first time she’d expressed such displeasure at being an only child.

Truthfully, James had never considered fatherhood until it had been thrust upon him unceremoniously. While she had turned out to be the best gift of his life, his daughter hadn’t exactly been planned. Though he’d flourished in fatherhood, his child would be hard-pressed to get a sibling, as his dating life over the past almost-decade had been non-existent apart from impersonal hookups on occasion. Even those had cooled in recent years.

Blowing out a tense breath, James stood up, not in the mood to do any more lesson prep, knowing his focus was finished for the night. Instead, he meandered to his bedroom and the locked briefcase he kept in the back of his closet beside his locked safe of sex toys that were surely covered in dust and cobwebs for how infrequently they were used nowadays.

He grabbed the briefcase and flicked the dial to reflect the correct number combination, and popped open the case. It was where he kept all important legal documents for himself and Alex, but at the very bottom of the stack was a small stash of near-pristine photographs. He picked them up, handling them gingerly as though his mere touch would ruin them, and began to leaf through them.

The top-most photograph had been taken by a helpful nurse on the morning of Alex’s birth. James smiled at the sight of his pink, wrinkly, furious-looking baby. Her brows were knitted and her little lips were puckered into a frown, as though she couldn’t believe the audacity of the universe to force her into existence.

At the time this photograph had been taken, James hadn’t yet held Alex. His baby was instead resting on her mother’s chest.

James’s eyes wandered to the wild-haired woman cradling Alex to her breast. River. Part of James balked to refer to River as Alex’s mother, because what kind of mother abandoned her newborn child without a word, without an explanation. What kind of mother walked away and never looked back? James hadn’t heard from River in the nine and a half years she’d been gone; he didn’t even know if she was still alive.

He forced his long-held resentment at bay, knowing that River’s leaving was probably for the best. If she’d stayed, James knew in his heart of hearts their relationship never would have lasted. It would have crumbled to ash, and River would have gotten primary custody of their daughter—James would’ve been lucky to see his child on a weekly basis. He couldn’t imagine not having Alex every day, not tucking her into bed every night and hearing her say, “Nighty night, Daddy. I love you.”

A physical ache lodged somewhere behind his ribs until he reminded himself that he did have Alex with him, and always would. No, despite the initial terror and pain of abandonment, things had worked out for the best. Still, despite knowing he was better off without River, sometimes he yearned for the comfort of being with someone he was familiar with; he could always lose himself in her, for better or worse. Nobody ever talked about how lonely it was being a single parent; it was always about how hard it was to be the sole caretaker of a young child, or how rewarding the joy of parenthood was. And it was hard, and rewarding, but it was also incredibly isolating. There weren’t many opportunities to go out and meet people; or, if he did get a chance to go out, it was usually to take Alex on a playdate, where he would hang out with other parents who all seemed to be happily married or otherwise taken.

How did people do this, go on dates? Sure, he’d gone on plenty of dates when he’d been an unencumbered bachelor, but that had been at university, where he’d been surrounded by other horny young adults looking for a bit of fun. It was almost as if that part of his life had been lived by someone else. Someone with charm and charisma, someone without a care in the world, who didn’t know the meaning of responsibility even if it smacked him in the face.

It had been so easy back then. He had made dozens of friends from sheer proximity, had been invited to loads of parties where it was no trouble at all to drunkenly make out with whomever caught his fancy that night. No strings attached.

But now, he found, he wanted some strings. Now that he’d begun fixating on Alex’s of question about whether he wanted to get married, he couldn’t stop. What would it be like, knowing there was someone he could come home to, could fix dinner with, could share the household chores with? How comforting would it be to know there was someone with whom he could share all of his secrets and fears and dreams?

The thought of this mysterious figment of his imagination lodged a lump in his throat that he had a hard time swallowing down.

James cursed, frustrated with and sorry for himself. He replaced the photographs—all of which featured the long-lost River Song—back into his briefcase, before returning it to his closet, once again locking his past firmly away. He was luckier than most. He had a wonderful child, a stable job, and a nice (albeit small) home. And a dog. How could he possibly want anything more than that?

Damn Alex and her questions. And damn himself for getting stuck on this train of thought. He was a twenty-nine-year-old single father, and being a father would always come first. He would never trade his child for anyone, not even if the universe would guarantee him his perfect soulmate in exchange. Alex was his life’s greatest achievement, his greatest gift, his greatest joy. But dating as a single dad was hard. Most people weren’t exactly content to be second-best in a relationship, because that’s what they would be. His daughter would take priority, and there was no compromising that.

If only there was a way to advertise up front what his expectations were in a relationship, he lamented.

That thought brought him pause. Advertise…

He lived in the twenty-first century, didn’t he? He had the entire internet at his disposal, humankind at the tips of his fingers.

Before he could lose his nerve, James grabbed his phone from his pocket to send a message to one of his oldest friends. “Hypothetically, if one were to sign up for a dating app, which app should one choose?”

He should have known better than to think this entire conversation could be a text thread. Barely a minute after he sent the message, his phone buzzed in his palm with an incoming call: Jack Harkness.

With a heavy exhale, James flopped onto his couch and accepted the call.

“Doth mine eyes deceive me, or is James McCrimmon actually trying to get laid?”

James rolled his eyes, even as a ghost of a grin pulled up the corners of his mouth. “Good evening to you, too, Jack. And it was a hypothetical scenario, remember?”

“Well, hypothetically, I think you’re looking for a shag.”

“No,” James said with more patience than his friend probably deserved, “I’m just, y’know, entertaining the possibility of going out on a date. Getting to know someone. That’s all.”

“Getting to know someone biblically?”

“Jack!”

His friend laughed boisterously on the other end of the phone. “All right, all right. You’ll want to avoid Tinder then. Loads of horny people on that app. I assume you’re not looking to shag on the first date? You haven’t done that since uni.”

James’s cheeks and ears heated a bit. “Well, I’m not opposed to it, if there’s chemistry. But I’d prefer to meet someone who’s interested in a long-term relationship. I don’t want any quick, meaningless flings. I want, well, I want a partner. And I want someone who knows how important Alex is to me, and who accepts that and won’t try to change it.”

“I hear you loud and clear.”

Jack then launched into a ten-minute spiel about the various dating apps James could try, as well as providing his opinion on which ones would probably work best for what James was looking for. James digested all of the information as it poured out of his friend’s mouth, making a mental list of pros and cons for the recommended apps.

Once his app of choice was downloaded onto his phone, James continued speaking to Jack for advice on how to best advertise himself.

“I’m a man, interested in any gender, looking for… why can’t I click both friendship and serious relationship?” James asked as he set up his profile. “I’d like to be friends with my future partner. Doesn’t everyone want to be friends with the person they’re dating?”

“Funnily enough, it often doesn’t cross peoples’ minds to be friends with their significant other,” Jack drawled. “Not like you can talk; you and River were just fuck buddies.”

James bristled a bit, even though Jack wasn’t exactly wrong. But there was a bit more nuance to it. At least that’s what James always told himself. “We were friendly enough. We appreciated each other’s company to keep seeing each other throughout our days at uni. And we shared enough fondness for one another that we moved in when we learned of the pregnancy.”

“Well, yeah, ‘cos you’re a decent guy,” Jack argued. “Anyone else would’ve scampered away and refused to acknowledge that they’d ever had sex with the girl they’d knocked up. You know, it’s funny… you did the stereotypically “woman” thing by doing the best by your child and staying for her, while River did the stereotypically “man” thing by swanning off to God knows where.”

“Wasn’t very funny from where I was sitting,” James grumbled.

“You know I didn’t mean it like haha-funny. Peculiar-funny is what I meant. You know I was furious with River, too.”

James sighed and rubbed the heel of his hands into his eyes. “Yeah, I know. Thanks. But we’re getting sidetracked. I’m just gonna click that I’m looking for something serious. Oh Jesus, how do I describe myself in five hundred characters or less?!”

“Hmm, let’s see… Single dad looking for a life partner but will show you a good time too. Flaming hot sexy teacher who would be down for some kinky roleplay…”

“I’m trying not to attract one-night stands, thanks,” James interrupted. “Shut up and let me think.”

It was more difficult than it should have been, but after a few minutes of typing, deleting, and editing, James finally read out his profile bio: “I’m interested in finding a romantic partner. I’m a single dad of a beautiful nine-year-old girl who is my whole world. We like to play board games together and take walks with our dog. She likes to experiment in the kitchen, so we’re always cooking and baking. We love to travel, and we make a point of visiting a city we’ve never been to on school holidays. We also enjoy quieter pastimes of visiting museums or art galleries. If any of this appeals to you, send me a message.”

James knew he’d done something wrong by the series of impatient sighs Jack let out the longer he rattled off his information.

“As delightful as Alex is, people want to date you, not your daughter,” Jack said, exasperated.

Face heating, James skimmed back over what he’d written and mumbled, “Well, it’s all true. I can help it. Alex is my life.”

“I know she is,” Jack said softly. “But you know you’re allowed to have a life apart from your child, right?”

“Pfft. Nobody ever told me that.” James groaned and scrubbed his hands down his face. “It’s hopeless. I’m hopeless. I’m nearly thirty and have no bloody idea how to get somebody to go on a date with me. I can’t even figure out online dating.”

“You’re a perfect catch for someone,” his friend soothed. “But to find that someone, we need to tailor your profile a little bit. I’m not saying to cut out all mentions of Alex, because your future partner should know how seriously you take this fatherhood thing. But you need to put more of yourself into it. Believe it or not, you’re a pretty great person. I have no regrets from our twelve-year friendship.”

Jack’s words did little to quell the acid churning through James’s gut. “Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea. Maybe I should, I dunno, join a chess club and meet someone that way.”

“No no no, don’t give up yet,” Jack cajoled. “We can figure this out. There’s got to be someone on this damp little island who wants to fall in love with your ridiculously big heart and shag your clever little brains out. Let’s think: you’re dead clever and dead sexy. You know how to have a good time but can also enjoy a lazy day in. You’re a devoted dad and are eager to bring someone else into your tight-knit family unit. You’re looking for friendship and companionship with your romance.”

James hurriedly typed out all of Jack’s suggestions as he said them until they were hindered by the character count limit. They then spent time tweaking the phrasing and descriptions of the main aspects of James’s personality so that all of his strengths were put on clear display in a neat, concise bio.

“Oh bugger, I don’t have any photos of myself,” James muttered when he moved forward in his profile creation. “My phone is full of Alex, or she’s in all the photos with me.”

“That’s fine, as long as your face is there too. And not half out of frame.”

“No, I just… I don’t want my nine-year-old daughter’s face on an app meant for adults to find companionship in every definition of the word. What if some creep sees her and takes an interest and hacks my account and finds her and…”

James knew he was spiraling into an anxiety attack about something that had such a microscopic chance of happening, but he couldn’t help but think of one of his students last year, who had gone through the tribulations of a criminal trial because she’d been sexually abused by someone in her neighborhood.

“James, breathe,” Jack instructed, his voice firm but kind. “Let me send you some photos. Take a look, and see if you’re comfortable with them. Grab a glass of wine or something in the meantime.”

James did indeed pour himself a healthy measure of wine as he waited for whatever Jack was coming up with. To assuage his still-racing heart, James shuffled down the hall and poked his head into Alex’s room. She was safely in her bed, her blankets pulled up to her chin, her breathing deep and slow. His muscles unclenched, and he felt like he could breathe easily again.

“You still there?” Jack’s voice was faint from the living room, and James hurried back.

“Yeah, I’m here. What did you do?”

“Take a look. I texted you something.”

James set his wine on the coffee table and picked up his phone to look at his messages. Jack had sent him six photos. Alex was in four of them, and in each of those, he’d covered her face with a cartoonish image of a smiling orange flower in sunglasses.

“I didn’t even think of doing that,” James said sheepishly.

“I figured. Does that help?”

“Yeah. Loads. Thanks, Jack.”

James uploaded the photos, and hovered with his thumb overtop the publish profile button. “Do you… do you really think this will work?”

“I think it will work if you want it to work,” Jack answered. “Relationships take time and effort. You may find a few bad eggs along the way, but when you find some good ones, you need to make the effort to get to know them. This isn’t a magical fix. It’s just a way to stream-line conversation.”

James nodded. “Yeah. I’ll keep that in mind. Well. Here it goes.”

He held his breath, and pressed the button. The screen faded a little for a few seconds, before brightening back up with his new, shiny dating profile. Along with it, the app began showing him a rotating pool of potential matches for him. However, his brain was fried and he didn’t think he had the energy to read anyone else’s profile tonight. He closed the app and set his phone on his chest as he once again slouched into his couch.

He was about to work on ending the conversation with Jack when his friend asked, “If you don’t mind, why the sudden urge to start dating?”

James sighed. “I think I’m having a mid-life crisis.”

“You’re not middle-aged, so it’s more of a third-life crisis, but go on.”

James told Jack about Alex’s behavior at bedtime, and how upset she was that she didn’t have siblings, which led to him reevaluating what he wanted from life.

“I’m lonely,” he said at the end of his explanation. “I love my daughter with every fiber of my being, but…”

“But it’s not the same as having adult companionship,” Jack finished gently. “I get it. It’s okay, you know. You can be content with your life on the whole, but still wish for more.”

“It’s hard for me to acknowledge that without it feeling like I’m somehow displeased with Alex. Or I feel guilty because I’m admitting she’s not enough, when she is. Or I feel like I shouldn’t complain about my lot in life because I have the most perfect daughter in the world.”

“Well, you’re a bit biased on that assessment,” Jack teased. “But she is rather great, isn’t she?”

“The best,” James agreed. Then he let out a huge yawn. “Blimey, we’ve been chatting for an hour and a half. I should get to bed.”

“Yeah, me too. Give my love to Alex. When can Yan and I see her next? Wanna come over for dinner on Friday to celebrate the first week of school?”

“That sounds great. Thanks. We’ll bring dessert, as usual.”

“Perfect. See you then. Goodnight.”

James ended the call, then chugged the last of the wine in his glass before shuffling off to bed. When he stepped into his bedroom, though, a surprise waited for him: Alex was tucked under the blankets, and K9 was sprawled on the floor beside her.

Odd—he hadn’t heard her leave her room, and he’d just checked on her a half hour ago. James approached his daughter and pressed the backs of his fingers to her forehead, fearing an illness had drawn her to the comfort of his room. But her skin wasn’t any warmer than it ought to be.

She stirred at his touch, her eyelids lazily fluttering open. She blinked blearily, her gaze unfocused.

“Hiya, darling,” he whispered, kneeling in front of her. “You feel okay?”

“Marchin’ in the fields,” Alex slurred. “Keep up.”

James suppressed a chuckle as her eyes slid closed again. He stroked her hair away from her face, concluding that nothing more than sleepwalking—a habit she’d had since toddlerhood and was ever-so-slowly growing out of—had brought her to his bed. James left her where she was; she’d mosey back to her room if she wanted to.

Silently, he changed into pajamas, washed his face, and brushed his teeth before climbing into bed. Alex remained dead asleep, curled on her side facing away from him. His heart clenched with a flood of affection, and he leaned over to kiss the back of her head.

“Good night, sweetheart. Daddy loves you.”

[inside-lees-mind]

I saw your hyoga request and it’s truly a shame not many people write fanfics of him since I love him so much.

I was wondering if you could write smth along the lines of hyoga and a chemist reader having this sort of enemies to lovers kinda romance and in the beginning it’s all rocky but maybe during their trek in South America everything changes :) sfw ofc

This is my first time requesting so I don’t know if I’m doing this completely right so I understand if it is ignored. Thanks :))

Enemies to Lovers with Hyoga

This isn’t head canons but it flows like head canons and I don’t know if I like it 😭 I’m sorry, I hope I’m just being critical of my own work and it’s actually good.

Why should he be expected to save your life if you’re in danger? It’s pathetic. Truly. He’s frustrated, beyond it actually, that you don’t know how to handle an animal threatening you in the forest. But, as much as he hates it, you’re his ally. And admittedly, you can use chemistry to your advantage in just about any situation needed.

He finds that respectable, so he won’t kill you, but he questions himself for helping you out of a dangerous situation. Especially since he hasn’t liked you very much since his and Homura’s attack on Ishigami village some time ago.

You were the first person he saw, and you ran scared. He found it pathetic, because doing that with an animal, in most cases, would get you chased down and killed. So he followed you like an animal would. He stabbed you, and in order to get away with your life, you threw some sort of chemical in his face. That dirty trick, arguably much better than being stabbed, however, gave you enough time to get away.

He opted to move on to dealing with Kinro, but you stayed back, wounded and hiding. It’s smart, but you’re truly pathetic, he decided.

He should have taught you a lesson about running from a predatory animal, but he didn’t feel that he owes you anything. So why did he help you now?

He goes on thinking that over for months, between the voyage from Japan to New America. And it’s during that time you decide to ask him and the other guys to help you train. Your expression of interest in learning to use a spear, and maybe even his technique, had caught his attention.

So during that time he teaches you to use the spear even a little bit, he begins to notice there is just something about you. He doesn’t know what it is, so he pushes it down. He’s not one to go easy on you, so every day you have new bruises from getting hit with the blunt end of a practice spear. He often gets you and Mozu to spar, but of course, Mozu beats you.

You have no hope of ever beating either of them, lest it be pure luck or a battle of wits.

He takes a certain amount of interest in the way you are a master in your own field, but he catches you asking to learn other people’s skills even a little bit. He knows you have no real plan to be a spearman, but the skill is a nice thing to have. And he can respect that.

So during rest times, you finds himself near you, then eventually, throughout the days, talking briefly with you. Eventually, you two are having actually conversations. And he finds himself more interested in you than he ever has another person.

You often talk his ear off about chemistry. He hasn’t taken chemistry since high school, and he isn’t interested in the least, but he doesn’t mind it too much. You explain why there are always chemicals in your bag, and why they’re sealed so well. And eventually he asks what you threw in his face.

You explain it was harmless, but would burn a bit. He smiles.

“Ah, so just a bluff?” He smiles beneath his mask

“More of a distraction, but sort of.” You answer, looking out at the sea past the walls of the ship deck.

Eventually, you two become an unlikely couple. And the only way anyone would find out, is when he expresses his confidence in your abilities by addressing you as his partner. Unless, you were rather talkative and told everybody.

More often than you’re sparring with anyone, you’re discussing matters with Dr. Xeno and Senku, sometimes Chrome too. You help them find answers when you can, but often you and Chrome don’t fully understand some of the science they get into.

On foot, in South America, is where you two would find yourselves aware of your feelings. You spend most of your time side by side, or on the same motorcycle. And he realizes your arms around his waist aren’t something he minds at all. Your head rests on his back.

For a while, it’s just understood during this time that the two of you aren’t just friends or allies, but there is no word from either of you. No word until he calls you his later, and it’s just understood. He assumed as much and you don’t mind.

[always-andromeda]

hi! so excited for your valentine’s event! if you’re still accepting requests, could I perhaps get a white chocolate truffle with our dear mr. the riddler?

to keep it fun and seasonal, maybe it’s your first valentine’s day together and all he’s ever seen are movies, commercials, etc. so he’s super flustered and nervous that he has to like make this grand gesture and buy you a bunch of stuff, but maybe whatever he’s planning falls thru for some reason and he’s really upset? but then you comfort him and let him know that you don’t need any of that stuff and you end up eating an entire box of cheap chocolates together and watching a movie or something?

but also if you don’t like that premise, absolutely feel free to go with whatever you want! love your writing!! 💘💚

– 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐘𝐨𝐮

𝐄𝐝𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐆𝐍!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: don't you worry, anon. I adored this premise. and I genuinely loved writing it. so much so that it came out to a little over a thousand words oops I didn't mean to I promise!!

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: this ended up being a bit more angsty than I meant for it to be lmao, bits of fluff, blood mention (nothing graphic), Edward essentially has a meltdown, nothing else I can think of!

The day was supposed to be perfect. It was supposed to be a chocolate filled, candy coated, heart shaped, ribbon wrapped day of romance. That's how these sorts of holidays worked, right? Edward expected that he'd be planning so much that he'd barely get to feel the gratification of any of his efforts. Your adoring expression when you saw how devoted he was to making everything special would be his reward.

But with the way things were looking, he was losing it. Edward took a shallow breath and closed his eyes, going over the mental checklist for all of the things that had gone wrong that day.

He hadn't gotten the day off even though he'd requested it nearly a month in advance. Edward wouldn't forget the sneer on Zach's face as he chuckled and said, "Don't you need a date in order for that to work, Eddie boy?" Never mind his protest that he did have a date, which was precisely why he needed the day off in the first place. Zach didn't care. It had taken everything in Edward not to tear him to pieces in his stupid corporate office.

He figured he'd deal with it. That just meant his day was going to be a bit busier. At least the restaurant he wanted to take you out to was all set.

At least until he got home from work, flower bouquet in hand and called the restaurant for the fourth time that day, learned that their computer system had crashed, and wiped most of their reservation roster for the night. 

As much as Edward pitied the poor, panicked employee on the other end and the kind of night they were going to face, he had his own worries. He hung up quickly and leaned back against the kitchen wall, making a mental note to call later and see if the issue was fixed.

Alright, Edward. You're already lucky that you got this chance in the first place. And you're screwing it up. Just breathe. And do something.

So he did something. He found a vase in one of the cupboards for the flowers; a nice crystal one that would look perfect displayed on the coffee table, waiting for you when you got back to your apartment as well.

All his life he'd had butterfingers. And once more, they struck at the worst possible moment. As he carried the crystal vase to the coffee table in the living room, before he could quite process it, the vase was slipping from his hands and falling to the floor with a heart shattering crash.

Now he was on the ground, hurriedly sweeping the pieces of broken glass with his bare hands. Among the shards were flowers, now all scattered and already starting to look disheveled. The water was soaking into the knees of his slacks.

And the icing on the cake? Of course he had to slice his finger on a shard of glass when he wasn't paying attention. Without hesitation, he attempted to stop the blood flow...using the sleeve of his white button up. But he was already too far gone. 

You're screwing it up. You can't do anything right, can you? You're going to end up alo–

He clamped his hands around his ears, trying to block out the voice, trying to catch his breath, trying to hold onto something; anything. But it was like he was drowning. Going further and further down, the water clogged all of his senses.

Edward? Eddie? Eddie!

Finally, he felt a hand on his shoulder. And it all stopped. Edward opened his eyes and blinked heavily, catching your scared expression for only a few seconds before you replaced it with a tentative smile.

"Hey, are you with me?"

Edward nodded slowly, only just beginning to feel the waves of hot tears that had started rolling down his cheeks. This wasn't the first meltdown you'd witnessed from him. But it was the first one he'd had on a holiday. As much as they intimidated him, he'd managed to keep it together. Something about this one though pressed him so thin that he felt like he could shatter at any minute. 

And you already seemed so aware of it as you helped him get up and said, "You're home, you're with me."

You caught sight of the bright red blood on his shirt cuff and took his hand in yours tenderly, examining the small cut on the side of his index finger. "Let's take care of this first, alright?”

You took him into your little bathroom and carefully cleaned the wound before rubbing in a small dot of antibiotic ointment and sending him in your room to pick out a set of pajamas from your dresser. Normally, Edward would feel embarrassed, having sets of pajamas at your apartment for all the times he stayed over; he hated being alone at night. But now, he was grateful to get out of the damp slacks and bloodstained button up.

By the time he finished getting dressed, you'd picked the remaining pieces of glass, sopped up the water, and placed all the flowers on paper towels in your kitchen. And when he'd looked at them shamefully, you came up behind him, wrapping your arms around his midsection. Then you spoke, "They're beautiful flowers, Edward. Thank you. Maybe I could press them and use them in a project. That way I can keep them forever."

Edward hummed lightly, "That sounds lovely." You are lovely, he wanted to say. But somehow, he could tell that you already knew it as you walked him out to the living room, a massive box of chocolates and a small bottle of red wine on the coffee table.

"It's not much, but I didn't know if you'd have anything planned. So I figured we could spend the night in," you explained.

Edward didn't have the energy to scold himself for forgetting to tell you about his plan for the evening. None of that mattered anymore. He was tired. Exhausted, actually. But more than that, he was in love. In love with you and your gentle touch and your hopeful eyes as you waited for his reply. Like if the chocolate and the wine wasn't there, you'd probably still be content anyways. Content with him.

"I wouldn't ask for anything else, my angel," Edward said, his lips forming into a small, semi-circular smile as he pulled you into a warm, comforting embrace.

[iamvegorott]

Magicians Don't Need Superheros Pt16

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Marvin was back in the library and he’d been in that library for a week; reading, taking notes, getting annoyed, and falling into a routine of sorts as he did what Henrik said he was supposed to do and got settled into the House. 

He wasn’t aware of the time as he strolled between some shelves, taking a break from the current magic book he was reading and curious about what else the library offered. Marvin had already found the comics and manga Jackie had mentioned and, admittedly, read a few issues and volumes but he wasn’t going to tell Jackie that since he had a feeling his ears would be talked off. Maybe after he finished a series he’d mention it, but even then he wasn’t sure. 

When Marvin first ‘appeared’, as everyone called it, Jackie’s rambles were irritating but the longer he was here, the more Marvin realized it wasn’t really the rambling that got to him during that time. He was just on the verge of a mental breakdown at the sudden shift in realities and anything set him off. Now that he had accepted his new life, and had some consistency, Marvin discovered that he was used to Jackie’s excitement, hell, sometimes he found it…comforting. 

“These are romance books,” Marvin said to himself with a chuckle. “Curious to know who these are for.” He picked up one of the books and flipped it over to read the summary on the back. "God, this sounds so cheesy. Who reads these things?” 

“Hey, Marv!” Jackie’s voice spoke behind Marvin, but when he turned around, he didn’t see him. Marvin looked to the left, to the right, and still didn’t see him and he decided to look up a bit.

“Why are you on a bookshelf?” Marvin asked.

“Better view.” Jackie shrugged. 

“You must be a mixture of a cat and a dog.” Marvin chuckled as he returned the book to the shelf, accidentally leaving it so the spine stuck out a bit. 

“Would that make me like Catdog? You know the cartoon with the cat on one end and the dog on the other? Maybe not Catdog, since they’re two different people, so like a hybrid? A cat who barks or a dog that meows?” Jackie rested his cheek in his hand as he thought about it. 

“What about one of those little furry things you’re not supposed to feed after midnight?” Marvin suggested.

“Gremlins!?” Jackie laughed and bounced off the shelf, casually landing next to Marvin. “Did you know that there’s a scene after several Gremlins are killed that there's one in the background with a knife in them and they’re still moving? Like twitching and stuff which means that either it’s like slowly dying or it survives and that’s a whole different thing to think and worry about.” 

“I only know them by name, I haven’t seen the movie.” Marvin made his way back to where he’s claimed for his ‘researching spot’. 

“Movies.” Jackie corrected. 

“Are you putting those on the list as well?” 

“You have to at least see the first one.” 

“I guess I can handle that. Is this before or after the Twilight marathon?” 

“After. But we have to finish Avatar the Last Airbender first and we gotta watch the live-action as well. The show, not the movie. I wouldn’t put you through that.” 

“Is that our plan for the night?” Marvin was already tidying up and putting the last of the books on the coffee table.

“I’m actually going on patrol tonight after I get some dinner,” Jackie said. 

“Patrol?”

“You know, check around the city for signs of danger. Heroes do it all the time. You can join me if you want.” Jackie pulled his mask out of his hoodie pocket and put it on his face. 

Marvin thought about it for a second. He’s been cooped up in the House for a while, going out sounded like a nice break in the monotony. Plus watching Jackie bounce around and potentially singing his own theme song sounded entertaining to witness.

“Sure. Why not?” 

x~x~x

Marvin leaned against a street lamp, texting on his new phone, messaging the others on the ‘Septiceye Group Chat’ while Jackie was chatting it up with some ‘civilians’ as he had called them. So far, the patrol was just him and Jackie walking around the city. It was nice exploring the place when he wasn’t trying to escape. They got a treat from a bakery, tea and coffee from a cafe, they even popped into a frozen yogurt shop and tried a few samples before sharing a cup since they were beyond full by that point. It’s been a really nice and relaxing evening. 

You two enjoying your date~?

Anti’s text got Marvin to roll his eyes and he didn’t even respond. He tucked the phone back into his pocket with an annoyed huff. Marvin’s annoyance turned into a chuckle at the sight of Jackie casually holding up the largest fellow of the group he was talking to with one arm, holding them up like they weighed nothing. The others were all shouting in shock and taking pictures. 

Eventually, Jackie put the person down and the group were all laughing and saying he was cool. Marvin saw the brightness in Jackie’s face, the way he could tell that if Jackie was an actual dog, his tail would be wagging fast enough to cause a tornado. For a man who was likely strong and fast enough to snap the neck of everyone in the city in a matter of minutes, he was pretty adorable. 

“You all have a good day!” Jackie waved the group off, using that ‘hero voice’ Marvin caught him doing when he wore the mask. 

“Done with your fan club?” Marvin asked. 

“A good hero always has a great standing with civilians.” Jackie was still using that voice, chest puffed out and closed hands on his hips. 

“It helps when the hero is a dorky sweetheart.” 

“Well-I’m-I’m just-” 

And there’s Jackie’s actual voice. 

“Is it time to head back? The sun set a while ago and most of the shops are closed.” 

“It is getting late.” Jackie looked around and stiffened at seeing a woman strolling down the other side of the street. “Oh, shit.” He suddenly slipped away into a nearby alley. 

“Shouldn’t you go see if she-” Marvin didn’t get to finish before Jackie was yanking him into the alley as well. “What in the world, Jackie?” 

“She lives in the apartment above that store, she’ll be home in a moment,” Jackie whispered. 

“Why do you know that and why are we hiding?” Marvin used his regular volume and Jackie shushed him. 

“It’s nothing I just-”

“I will yell for her if you don’t tell me.”

“Marv, please-” Jackie’s eyes widened when Marvin took a deep breath and he waved his hands between them in a panic. “Okay, okay, I’ll tell, just don’t yell.” 

“Who is she?” Marvin lowered his voice to a whisper.

“She’s…I went on a date with a while ago. She called me a freak of nature that deserves to die alone and ghosted me.” Jackie confessed with a sigh and then tried to bury that sadness with a weak chuckle. “Not the worst date I’ve been on but not the greatest either. There was this other girl I went on a coffee date and she was really sweet but we just didn’t click and then this one guy-where are you going?” Jackie caught Marvin when he started walking off.

“I just want to talk to her.” 

“No!” Jackie held both of Marvin’s arms and tugged him back.

“I just want to talk, that’s all.” Marvin tried to free his arms. 

“With you, words are a lot more deadly than a weapon.” 

“I do have a pocket knife.” 

“Marv!” Jackie pulled fully this time and held Marvin to the wall so he could see him face-to-face again. “It’s fine. I’m over it. I just don’t want the awkwardness that would happen if she sees me, not unless I have to.” 

“Well, Mr. Fine and Over it. You currently have me pinned to an alley wall in the middle of the night, and you’re close enough that if I lifted my head slightly, we’d be kissing and it would be even more awkward if someone saw us like this.” Marvin waited as Jackie looked down at them and quickly held his arms up as he stepped away. 

“I just didn’t-I didn’t want you to-she doesn’t need-” Jackie’s blush was hidden by the dim lighting. 

“Let’s go back to the House and try to get an episode in before calling it a night,” Marvin suggested and Jackie’s body relaxed with relief. 

“That sounds really nice.” Jackie made sure the one woman was gone before leaving the alley with Marvin. 

Marvin held his hands behind his back as they walked, his fingers and phone glowing green for a moment before what looked like a small streak of green lightning jumped off his fingers and danced across the street. It headed for the shop Jackie pointed out and traveled up the wall, slipping through the crack of the partially opened window, and right when they were out of earshot, the lights in the apartment went out. 

A night of inconvenience while searching for new light bulbs would suffice. 

And what Jackie didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.