#i'm glad i ignored the absolute shitshow last night

[nataliescatorccio]

the anti-woke crowd: euRoViSIon iS a sOnG cOnTeST iT's NoT pOLiTiCaL

also the anti-woke crowd:

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

My other theme this week is actually based on a quote from one of your recent posts! It’s “the gentlest futures” - one story where Buck’s going a bit crazy trying to guarantee those futures for everyone he loves and another where he’s already built his own!

⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️ (seeing the end chapter count on this story kind of broke my brain! But it definitely fit the vibe of the last chapter - sad about an ending but so grateful for the experience! Loving these last snippets though! Seeing them all thriving in their new roles and still being a family - it’s so beautiful! And watching Buck realize he doesn’t need to hold on so tight to the 118 because he’s never being abandoned again - love that for him!!)

⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️⚖️ (oh boy Buck didn’t anyone ever tell you not to make deals with sketchy supernatural authorities? I’m definitely worried about him but it is very on brand for him to sacrifice his sanity and soul to keep the people he loves safe. I love it! And I’m very intrigued by the nullification clause - a way for the whole curse to be gone huh? Interesting…)

- PCA <3

Oh I love this!!! Great theme.

123 or 1k for ⚡️(yeah! Can't believe I really made it to the end, and I'm glad it feels like it's wrapping up in an okay place):

---

“Buckley’s still here,” Bowman says to Hen. He snorts. “That’s a shame.”

So that’s how it’s going to be, then? They couldn’t have just ignored each other? Like professionals? 

“Firefighter Buckley is a valued member of this team,” Hen fires back. And he loves her. He really does. But nothing she says to him is going to matter, when it comes to Buck. He has it out for Buck and he doesn’t respect Hen. They just need to try to get through this day with as few casualties as possible. 

This endeavor proves to be a challenge. For one, the rescue itself is getting harder the longer it goes on. The people inside are struggling. For another, Bowman loudly disagrees with Hen’s slow but steady method of evacuation. They can knock a hole in the wall and pray, but it’s a load bearing wall and the house is already collapsing. The victims could be killed in seconds. Hence Hen’s plan to stabilize what they can before sawing a small, precise gap in the wall. They can hear the victims inside. Communicate through knocks and shouts. They know they have time. 

Bowman also knows they have time. That doesn’t seem to matter to him, though. 

“The quicker we get out of this shitshow, the better,” he grits, before instructing his crew to ignore Hen’s orders and knock down the wall anyway. 

Buck has never seen anything like it, honestly. Just flagrant disregard for procedure. He may have more seniority than Hen, but she’s in charge of this scene. Eddie’s in charge of the whole damn thing. And Eddie told Bowman to assist the 118. Assist. Not take over. 

A few of the 114 firefighters look hesitant for a second. Unsure of the protocol. 

“Absolutely do not do that!” Hen says. She radios to Eddie. Explains what’s happening. Her voice is frantic. 

But they do. They do it. And despite the 118’s best efforts to reduce the damage and rescue the victims, one of them dies. 

��☆☆

It’s a hard night. An impossible one. 

Neither Eddie or Buck seem to know how to move forward from today’s events. They both feel horrible. Drained. Defeated. They both feel guilt, even though there is a clear culprit. Captain Bowman. 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Yardley tells him afterwards, as they are sifting through so much paperwork Eddie’s vision starts to blur. “You did everything right, and a seasoned fire captain made a very bad call. You couldn’t and shouldn’t have anticipated that.”

Well, he might have. He’s heard all about what kind of man Bowman is. But Buck never had a bad word to say about his endangering people’s lives. It always sounded to Eddie that he was just a bully. Which sucks, but… Well, this is something more than that. 

“And, Eddie,” Yardley continues. “Even if we couldn’t point the blame at one person… These are the sort of calls you’ll be on from here on out. They aren’t routine. People will die. And most of the time it won’t be on you. Do the best you can, and start counting the people that survive.”

And though Eddie knows it’s good advice, he doesn’t quite feel it. 

“We saved fifty-seven residents today, Eddie,” Yardley says. 

And it should have been fifty-eight. 

“You’re right,” Eddie says.

When he goes home, Buck is in an even worse state. He’s scraped and bruised all over. He’s changed into warm clothes, and has wrapped himself in a blanket. He’s clearly still feeling the residual cold of the water. Eddie gets that. He was cold for a long time after the well. When Eddie finds him, he’s sitting up in bed, watching television. Brooke is asleep on his chest and he’s stroking her hair. Soothing himself, more than her, Eddie thinks. 

“Hi,” Eddie says softly, dropping his bag on the floor and walking to the bed to kiss them both on their respective foreheads.

“Hey,” Buck whispers back.

“Where’s Chris?” Eddie asks. 

“Friend’s house,” Buck says. “He begged. Thought it might be better anyway, tonight.”

“Which friend?”

“Duncan.”

“Is that the one with the ugly dogs?” Eddie asks.

Buck snorts. “They’re boxers. They’re sweet.”

“They’re hideous, but sure.”

Buck rolls his eyes. They’ve had this argument before. Eddie knows he’s right. Even Chris says they’re annoying. 

“You okay?” Eddie asks. He walks away from the bed to change into sweats and a tank top. He’s not as cold as Buck. He didn’t spend very much time in the water.

Buck shrugs. “I feel awful.”

“Yeah, me too,” Eddie says. “There’s going to be an investigation into Bowman.”

“Hen wondered,” Buck mutters.

“She okay?” Eddie asks. 

“She’s pissed.” 

“No kidding,” Eddie sighs.

“I don’t get it y’know?” Buck says.

“Which part?” Eddie asks. “Because we already knew he was an ass by how he treated you.”

“Yeah, but…” He sighs. “Okay, when Bobby fired me-”

“Still hilarious, by the way,” Eddie says.

“When Bobby momentarily let me go, he said he didn’t think I understood how lucky I was to be a firefighter,” Buck says. “And to some degree, he was right. I’ve never been as stupid as Bowman, but I didn’t get it as much, then.”

---

96 for ⚖️ (Nullification clause will be important!):

---

No. He’s not. He’s obviously fucking not. This is going to be the rest of his life, and he’s going to be miserable, and Eddie can say all he wants about things being okay, but he doesn’t even want Buck like this. He made that clear. So nothing is going to be okay for Buck. That was the whole point of this, right? Nothing will be okay for Buck. It’ll be okay for everyone else. 

“Just make it through the call,” Eddie says.

But it won’t end, then. It’ll never end. Maybe Billy Boils’ friends had the right idea, ensuring he’d be sent to the gallows. 

Luckily, the call takes them towards two of the ten guests Buck could single out for punishment. Meaning, he can do it. He just needs a second. It’ll make some of this pressure go away. Give him some relief. He needs that. He needs that, and then he can focus on his job.

The scene in the penthouse is sort of absurd. It’s a dual-story suite. There’s a balcony from the upper level overlooking the living area. One of the police officers on the scene explains what has happened. Two brothers, twin sons of a wealthy businessman with quite the social media following built for themselves, are staying here. The one brother has pushed the other over the balcony, where he landed directly on a glass table below. There’s a lot of blood and agonized moaning. 

The unharmed brother is sitting on a leather loveseat, cuffed. He looks dazed and teary-eyed. Potentially high. He doesn’t look mildly remorseful.

Buck can tell both brothers are targets for him. Qualified leads, or whatever. But he thinks he’ll go for the non-injured one first. 

“How long have you all been here?” Bobby asks the police officer. “Why weren’t we called sooner?”

Buck ignores the response. As Eddie, Chim, and Hen work on the injured brother, Buck grabs a flashlight from Eddie’s med bag and wanders over to the cuffed one. 

“What do you want?” He sneers at Buck. “An autograph?”

Buck literally has never heard of this man-child before today. But yeah, totally. 

“To check you for a concussion,” Buck says. 

“I haven’t hit my head,” he replies. “Just protocol, man,” Buck lies.

“Whatever,” the guy rolls his eyes. 

Buck starts a phony version of a routine check. He flies through it, not very diligent. 

“You’re clear,” he says at the end, then pats the guy on the shoulder. He’s not supposed to do something like that. But it doesn’t matter. It’s enough to get what he needs.

The scary thing is that what he sees isn’t even that extraordinary any more. The badness. The aura. The past he gets to see. It’s par for the course with what he’s been seeing lately. Misogyny, predatory sexual behaviour, general abuse of the people around him, the environment, and his wealth. Truly vapid and inhuman beliefs. Just… Grotesque. And it would have made Buck sick at first. Now, he just quickly chooses the worst possible fate and calls it a day. 

But the problem is, when Buck is done, he doesn’t feel any better. No itch has been scratched. No pressure has been relieved. He feels awful. 

His feels a constant thrum of panic. Why isn’t it lessening? Why isn’t it going away? This wasn’t the deal he made. The quota isn’t supposed to consistently increase or disappear. Right? Nemesis didn’t say anything about that. Did she? Because Buck… He can’t… He can’t live like this. 

He tries again with the other brother. Touching his arm briefly as he helps lift a backboard onto a gurney. Same shit past. Same punishing future. Same… Same nothing. No relief. Nothing at all. 

⚖️

Bobby sends him home. He doesn’t get to talk to Eddie, the way Eddie wanted to. He gets back to the station and vomits, so overwhelmed by what he’s experiencing. The physical side and the abject dread. 

“I’m still worried this is residual from your illness in the fall,” Bobby says. “I’m worried about you, Buck.”

Who fucking isn’t?

[super-unpredictable98]

Another All Nighter (Tales From the Original Timeline)

Fandom: Misfits Pairing: Nathan x Lydia (OC - Hard Candy’ verse) Word Count: around 1,3k Warning: Strong language, spiders (if anyone's scared of that)

(Masterlist)

Finals preparation was killing me, there was so much to study, so much to remember... My parents and Simon were starting to worry about me, locked in my room all day and night, reading those stupid flashcards and barely eating anything or getting any sleep.

One of those nights, while I was revising my science notes once again, I heard a weird knocking on my window. I thought I was just going mental from the sleep deprivation, but it happened again. When I looked back, I noticed someone was throwing pebbles.

I rolled my eyes with a smile, there's only one person who would waste their time doing this stupid shit for me... I got up to open the window and looked down:

"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet," I leaned over the edge.

"I understood about 30% of what y'just said."

"Heya, Nats."

"Hey, Lollipop," he grinned widely. "Haven't seen you around and Barry told me you've been locked in there for ages, so I thought I'd drop by... I've got food and some beers."

"I suppose a break wouldn't kill me," I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. "Come up."

Of course Nathan wouldn't ring the doorbell and come in like a normal person... He looked down at the floor and it slowly raised, forming a flight of stairs that lead to my room. He climbed up and I helped him in.

"I brought your favorite," Nathan handed me the paper bag. "Cheeseburger with caramelized onions and chili fries."

"Oh, you're an angel," I groaned. "I'm starving!"

"So I've been told..."

"Did Simon ask you to come?" I got into bed and Nathan joined me.

"No, that was actually my idea... Well, mine and Junior's, he suggested the burgers t'cheer you up."

"Aw, I love that little guy," I giggled before taking my first bite.

"He loves you," he chuckled. "I think he has a little crush. He actually wanted t'come tonight, but I asked him t'stay and take care of mummy."

"That explains the proposal last week," I joked.

"Well, the little fella has good taste, gotta give him that..."

My heart raced with that observation and I nearly choked, but that might've been because I was absolutely devouring my dinner.

"Someone's real hungry, huh?" Nathan watched me eating like I've been fasting for a week.

"Don't you judge me..." I pushed him playfully.

"I'm not, I think it's cute," he started eating as well. "You could've given me a call t'let me know your parents aren't feedin' ya."

"My stomach has been in a knot since this shitshow started."

"Glad that I was able t'fix it. So what you readin'?"

"Um..." I tried to hide the fact that I was watching the movement of his adam's apple. "Science, it's zoology."

"Zoology? That's cool, I like that."

"You like zoology?" I said skeptically. "Since when?"

"Since always, I love animals, I'm always watchin' those documentaries about wildlife and shit... I can help."

"That would be really nice, actually," I smiled to myself. "You're way too nice to me, you're ruining me for other guys."

"That's good, if a guy doesn't treat you as well as I do, he doesn't deserve shit. I'm settin' those standards real high."

"Yeah, that's why I'm single..."

"Sounds like Rick is gone then?"

"Yep, broke up with him last week."

"Good for you, he was a bit of twat," Nathan leaned back, my eyes followed his bicep as he put one arm behind his head. "Never liked him."

"His sense of humor was shit."

"You love a funny guy, don'tcha?"

"I guess I do..."

"Poor fellas at your school don't stand a chance."

"Yeah? Why's that?"

"Cause we're friends, and I'm the funniest guy around."

"You cocky bastard..." I pinched his cheek.

A silence started eating us alive, my gaze moved between his eyes and his lips. Sometimes I thought he knew, he knew about my feelings. What if he knew and all those nice things he did for me was his way of telling me that he liked me too? Or maybe of making me feel less bad about being a pathetic romantic idiot pining after a married man.

"Y'got a little ketchup..." Nathan dragged his thumb over the corner of my mouth slowly and licked it right after.

We were so close, I could feel his breathing against my skin, I could smell his body wash, just one move and we could kiss. What If I kissed him? What would happen? Would he kiss me back or never look me in the eye again?

For a second I thought he was going to kiss me. His tongue quickly wet his lips, he leaned in closer, his hand was firmly on the back of my neck, he swallowed nervously before shutting his eyes and shaking his head as if trying to get rid of an intrusive thought.

"Are you okay?" I asked, slightly worried.

"Yeah, yeah..." he waved dismissively with his usual bravado. "I just thought I saw somethin' over there, but it was a shadow."

"Oh, okay," I felt dumb for even thinking a man like Nathan would even consider kissing me.

I had lost my chance, which wasn't fair to begin with, my chance was when I was 12? Now that I'm old enough he's taken and has a kid... So typical of me to lose at a game I didn't even get the chance to play.

Once we finished our dinner, he grabbed my notes and started looking through them, pretending to understand everything, but it was pretty clear he was a little lost.

"Uh, insects..." he mused, scratching his shy goatee. "Well, what makes an animal an insect?"

"Three body segments and six legs?"

"Well, yeah, but it's more than that..."

Nathan covered the palm of his hand for a second, and when he uncovered there was a beautiful blue butterfly there. I gasped at how amazing that was.

"What d'you see here?"

"Wings?"

"Yeah, lots of insects have wings, but not all of them," Nate slowly stroked the butterfly's wings, it seemed to like it. "But one thing that every insect has is a pair of antennae, see?"

"Aw, it's so cute!"

"You can touch it if you want, d'you wanna hold it?"

I nodded and Nathan placed his hand on top of mine, transferring the butterfly to me.

"So three body segments: head, thorax, and abdomen," I carefully analyzed the adorable creature.

"Exactly," he checked the notes once again. "Now arachnids..."

"Are you just gonna make animals out of thin air to help me study?"

"It's helpin', innit?" he chuckled, making the butterfly turn into a spider in my hand.

"JESUS CHRIST, NATHAN!" I screamed and he laughed.

"It's alright, look at it, it's cute... Look at this adorable little face."

After a closer look, I concluded that the jumping spider resting between my fingers was actually quite friendly.

"Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, sorry," Nate sighed amusedly. "So arachnids have eight legs and-"

"Nathan?" Simon's voice made both of us jump.

"Barry, Jesus!" he clutched his chest. "Scared the shit outta me!"

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing! Y'mentioned Lyddie wasn't eatin' right so I brought her some dinner, and now we're studyin'."

Simon was gonna say something snarky, but seeing me well fed and all happy with my jumping spider, he didn't have the nerve to. He simply shook his head with a timid smile, closing the door again.

"Next time ring the doorbell like a normal person!"

Tag List: @elliethesuperfruitlover @firstpersonnarrator @spanishmossmagnolia​@a-ghoulish-tale @seanfalco