#if they'd been able to talk things out like adults

[problemswithbooks]

I think the reason it comes across as demonizing the women in this specific situation is because, simply put, it kind of is, even if not purposely.

Stella and this other woman are the only two people we see cheated on by gay men. In the first episode, when the situation is between a straight couple, Blitz has no problem killing the target, and said target is portrayed as a bloodthirsty cannibal and cultist. But now that it's a gay couple doing the cheating they're wholesome, cheating isn't worth killing someone over, and Blitz can't kill them.

It feels like a double standard and as if the show is saying women in these situations are always stupid and abusive. If it had been left to just Stella it wouldn't be as big a problem. One time isn't a pattern--two is.

On top of that, it wasn't necessary. If the show is simply trying to show that Blitz and Stolas made the right choice, and they can be happy, it did not need the client to be a woman or the couple to be gay. The client could have been an abusive man wanting revenge on his lesbian wife. Or another gay man. Just because the couple has kids doesn't require one party to be the opposite gender. The audience and Stolas and Blitz should be smart enough to get the message no matter the gender of the people in the situation.

There was no need to shove an exact replica of Stella into the show to get the point across that Stolas and Blitz can be happy. To me, it felt as if the show didn't trust the audience to get their message unless they spoon-fed it to them. In order to do this they added the second female character, whose presented as the evil roadblock that comes between a happy, wholesome gay couple. Given there is no positive representations of the opposite, of a woman accepting their ex-husband and being a decent person, it comes across as the show pushing the idea of women in these situations being abusers and purely unsympathetic.

[Side note, the couple are the only genuinely good people shown on Earth--in every other instance, humans on Earth have been portrayed as comically awful or at least gullible and stupid. I find it weird how the show abandoned its own previous writing/characterization of Earth in order to give us this wholesome moment.]

I Feel Making Both Stella And The Karen Customer Evil Shrews Sends A Message Of Excluding Divorced Spouses From Blended Families

It's really interesting that the idealized gay families exclude the mother from the picture due to demonizing her as a witch even if their complaints of cheating is treated as not that big of a deal. Even though they frame their anger as ignorance, there is a sense they feel betrayed and replaced while the narrative doesn't dwell. I mean nothing in the narratives does anything to dwell that they were at one point the mother of their ex's children and consider their existence just a hindrance to happiness. I know sometimes that can happen in real life but it comes off as misogyny because they refuse to give depth to women who are no more than one dimensional stereotypes meant to make the other partner better. It really seems like a insidious excuse to shove the mother out of the picture because she doesn't fit into their idealized family picture.

[oh-obrien]

GRID ACE 0.4

Gamer Reader x Lestappen SMAU

AHHHH PART 0.4. Honestly this is helping me grow my creativity and learn to love a new fandom even more! Sorry for the brief disappearance, being an adult with a big girl job makes me cry sometimes hehe!!

As always all pictures are from Pinterest and reader has various face claims!

Please leave me requests.

I have a part five planned for this... one shot style

With that LET’S GO

Masterlsit / Previous Part / Next Part

F1forthegirls Fans seem to think the picture added to y/n’s story yesterday was considered a soft conformation of her involvement with both drivers and them arriving to the paddock together this morning is their first public outing

User1 The real question is did they all leave the same hotel together this morning?

-> F1forthegirls I hate to be that person but if they all arrived together this morning it can be assumed they left the hotel together.

-> User2 I’m staying in the same hotel as most of the crew and drivers and saw them leave together this morning! They got off the elevator together and Y/N was sandwiched between the two of them while they waited for their car.

-> User3 the plot is getting thickerrrrrrrr

User4 is anyone able to find details on if they all have their own rooms or not?

-> F1forthegirls we report on the information we are given, we will not invade the driver’s privacy to try and confirm an speculations.

-> User3 respectful queens

-> Xx.y/n.xX is it really respectful when every single move I make is currently being watched and talked about?

-> User4 OH MY GOD

-> Xx.y/n.xX I was actually being kind of serious but okay...

-> F1forthegirls If you'd like to reply to us directly feel free to DM us! We'd be happy to share your side also!

-> Xx.y/n.xX 🙄

User3 are we not going to talk about Y/N/ being annoyed in the replies??

-> User2 Like no girly you're the one who chose to step out into public with these men and post THAT on your Instagram story for the whole ass world to see

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

User5 WAIT this is INSANE, the FIA really said give the girlies what they want with COTA.

-> User6 NO because I NEED to know who's behind this tomfoolery. They really said HERE YOU GO when they gave us Lestappen pressers.

-> User7 Ferrari and RB are doing a fan event together later too.

-> User5 their media teams know what they're doing. You'd think they'd want to quash any rumors flying around. Two drivers in a relationship with the same girl???

-> User8 Not to be THAT person but they're potentially looking at pulling in a pretty new demographic to the sport and they'd be fans of arguably two of the most recognizable teams in the sport.

-> User9 No because that's smart... maybe this whole thing had been an RB pub stunt and Charles just got pulled in??? Lando too TBH.

-> User8 RIGHT??? Pulling in the gamer girlies with max and Y/N streaming together first and Charles and Lando just kind of got dragged into it.

-> User10 I feel like they were going for a love triangle and Max and Charles are just too nice for that and it turned into whatever this friendship is. Lando and Y/N just give sibling vibes, McLaren is bound to get some fans from that dynamic also.

F1forthegirls We would once again like to state that we personally will not speculate on the driver's personal relationships on this page, our twitter is purely for news. If you want a more in depth take on F1 news each week tune into our podcast that releases Monday at noon eastern time!

-> User11 we don't speculate on drivers relationships here but we will absolutely do it on our podcast. we love hypocritical queens. Please leave Max, Charles and Y/N alone.

-> User12 girl this is not a good look they're public figures

-> User11 Public figures who still deserve privacy

-> User13 I think they deserve privacy but if they are in a poly relationship I don't think y'all realize how good and bad this could be at the same time

-> User14 I don't think Red Bull and Ferrari of all teams would be overjoyed to see their two top drivers in a relationship with the same girl.

-> User13 But consider the fact that this would really be one of the first public poly couples of such a high status

-> User15 I work in marketing in motorsports and the teams would either dive head first with marketing or absolutely not allow it to be public.

->User14 From a contract standpoint they'd need to write in so many NDA's for Max and Charles so they can't share team information or anything.

-> User15 They probably already have those NDA's in place...

->Xx.y/n.xX do I get a say in this conversation or?????

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

Xx.y/n.xX just added to their story

REPLIES ARE DIABLED FOR THIS STORY

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

Xx.y/n.xX just posted

Tagged @ Maxverstappen1 , @ Charles_leclerc

Liked by Maxverstappen1, Charles_leclerc and 34,688 others

Comments on this post are limited

Xx.y/n.xX Mama told me to only date winners, so I picked two. As Miley Cyrus once said "It's a party in the U.S.A."

-> Yourbestfriend HARD LAUNCH OF THE CENTURY

-> Xx.y/n.xX 😘

Maxverstappen1 ❤️

-> Charles_leclerc 💕💕

-> Xx.y/n.xX @ maxverstappen1 Char put two hearts I think he wins

-> Charles_leclerc I also got first place in the actual race Max only got first in the sprint 🙄

-> Xx.y/n.xX @ maxverstappen1 he has a point Maxie

-> Landonorris ew save the nicknames please

-> Xx.y/n.xX I'm sorry mister 5 second penalty I didn't say you could speak.

Liked by @ maxverstappen1

-> Danielricciardo C O L D

-> Xx.y/n.xX please Danny, it was a burn. I lit your ass on fire with that one @ Landonorris

User16 IM SORRY WHAT IS THIS HARD LAUNCH

-> Redbullracing an admin approved one 👍

-> Scuderiaferrari 🤭

-> User17 NOT THE ADMINS GIGGLING OVER THIS

-> User18 Admins commenting makes me think they aren't joking with this one

-> User16 No like the admins are literally insane for this.

User19 this is going to make or break the F1 community

-> User20 I just want to know the dynamic

-> User21 Lestappen girlies are QUAKING in the wake of this one

Danielricciardo SO I PUT MY HANDS UP THEY'RE PLAYING MY SONG

-> Xx.y/n.xX THE BUTTERFLIES FLY AWAY I'M NODDING MY HEAD LIKE YEAH

-> Danielricciardo I will make sure they play this BANGER at the afterparty

-> Xx.y/n.xX Like it isn't first on my list Mr. Ricciardo

-> Danielricciardo @ georgerussell63 @ alex_albon @ landonorris you British boys will be shaking in your boots hearing this one at the club

-> Georgerussell63 Yee Haw 🤠

-> Alex_albon please I'm a seasoned pro with this one

-> Landonorris you doubt my abilities when drinks, me and y/n are mixed together

-> Xx.y/n.xX 🫡

Oscarpiastri MOM, DAD... and dad??? YEAH.

-> Xx.y/n.xX SON

-> Xx.y/n.xX @ mclaren I like this one more tell Lando to go off track more often

-> Landonorris I'm not buying a round tonight now

-> Xx.y/n.xX please, as soon as T-Swift comes on you're a GONNER

User22 BUT WHY IS Y/N EXPOSING ALL OF THEM KIND OF HYSTERICAL.

-> User23 the girly we needed and never knew it

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

Maxverstappen1 just posted

Tagged @ Xx.y/n.xX , @ charles_leclerc

Liked by redbullracing, Xx.y/n.xX and 56,678 others

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Maxverstappen1 that you COTA!

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

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Tagged @ Xx.y/n.xX , @ Maxverstappen1

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Charles_leclerc BEST. RACE. EVER.

𓈒⠀𓂃⠀⠀˖⠀𓇬⠀˖⠀⠀𓂃⠀𓈒

Tag list : @that-one-little-soybean @menagerofmischief @delululeclerc @evermoreandroyalblue

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Aita for not taking down a jokey sign on my bathroom door when my parents came over?

Cw: talk of diarrhea. Not explicitly.

So I (21f)and 2 of my friends (20f,lets call her lilly and 23m, lets call him matt)moved into an apartment about 2 years ago and so far, everything has been good. We've been able to manage our bills, keep a clean home, I couldn't ask for better. We've known each other since middle school, there's ackward moments and small disagreements when Matt brings over his boyfriend (he almost always yells when he speaks and slams doors) but everything is generally all good.

Every apartment shared by more than one gen z is gonna have some quirks and ours is the "code brown" sign. Me and matt have IBS and occasionally have some mild to moderate.... Bowel problems and there's only one bathroom. Usually it's not a problem but there's been a few occasions where someone will be taking awhile scrolling tik Tok or whatever or taking a long shower and me or Matt have an issue.

Originally it was a group chat half joke warning that someone was having a "code brown" and no one could lolly gag in the restroom because one of us might be making trips. It became an inside joke and last year, lilly had a cheap small hanging sign made by some wood burner on Etsy that basically read on one side "All clear, private!" and on the other read "Code brown! Get going or get down!". It was hilarious and we hung it on the bathroom door and now use it unironically. All our friends enjoyed it, Matt's boyfriend loudly so but not so much my parents.

About a week ago, I finally allowed my parents to check out my place. They aren't super Christian like evangelicals but my dad has been going red pilled and more so by the day so I tried to make my apartment look less like it was shared by three liberals and wore something nice and cooked a nice dinner. I paid for lilly and matt to go catch a movie and some Wendy's on me so they'd be out of the house. All was good until my dad went to the bathroom and came back with the damn sign looking like his head was going to explode. He screamed at me that he thought I was an adult, that I was failing at getting my shit together (they don't pay for anything and i live on my own?) and I was a child for hanging up such a clearly inappropriate sign. My mom agreed, though much less Intensely and my dad proceeded to break the sign over his knee and chastise me for a good 20 minutes before grabbing his things, demanding an apology in a few days and leaving with my mom.

Once lilly and matt got home I apologized and offered to buy a new sign. Lilly and Matt were just happy nothing else was broken and I was ok. I did eventually apologize to my dad because I can see where a poop sign might be a little inappropriate for important company but tbh I forgot about it and I was so busy making dinner I didn't realize it was still up or I would of tossed it in my room and moved on. Lilly and Matt just say my dad has a stick up his ass and shouldn't of messed with the sign(it was flipped to the no code brown side so he had to flip it to see it).

Was i the asshole for not taking down a gag sign about poop when my parents came over?

What are these acronyms?

[byfulcrums]

I hate it when people make the DC characters feel scared of Phantom. Or when they make them freak out over how crazy his life is

Most of the characters would just go “Oh a Ghost King! That's cool” and either attack, befriend or ignore

They always write Dick to be the responsible one when he's not. If he saw this child he wouldn't go “Omg he's so young!!! Poor baby!!!” he'd go “Oh god no please don't let B see this one” and then “Hey this one's kind of fucked up. I'm going to keep it for a while to see what happens wish me luck🤞”

Or when they make the JL freak out about him. Guys, Flash is able to break reality, time travel, destroy the multiverse and more. If he finds out Danny is Dick's clone or something he'd go “again? How many clones are there?” and just vibe with it

Danny would be so happy to find people who just don't give a shit about how weird he is. He only has his friends and sister and they're just. Three people. This boy needs mental help and everyone freaking out about him isn't helping. He's just vibing with his new also overpowered friends

“Yeah so I'm half dead. I was killed by a ghost portal that opened right where I was, and instead of actually killing me it brought me back to life. I'm a ghost possessing its own body. Sometimes if I feel too weak I'll look the way I looked when I died — with my chest half open and my eyes bleeding. My blood is green. I will probably see everyone I love die. Wild, right?”

“Oh yeah! I've got my own experience with dying. It sucks, man. It's funny for the fastest man alive to not have been able to outrun death lmao. Speedsters also age really weirdly. I'm a married adult with two children but I look like I'm 18. But then later I look like I'm 30. And then 20. And then 40. Sometimes I'm afraid I'll look into the mirror and won't recognize who I see haha”

“Talking about body horror! I don't know if I'm the real me. I've created so many mes (the scout thingies) that I can't tell if I'm the original one or not. Maybe I died, and I'm the only thing that remains of me, and I would never be able to tell. I could be being tortured right at this moment. I could be trapped in the speedforce. And no one would ever know because I'm right here, but if I'm not me then they'd live with an imposter by their side”

“Ahh, body horror. My old friend”

(they're all on the verge of a panic attack)

Danny, glowing with a green light at 3am in the kitchen: Hey what the fuck are you doing here

Green Lantern, also glowing with a green light: I live here you fuck

Danny: Shit this isn't my house??

[a-cat-in-toffee]

w2 doesn't reach for her gloves. She stands there with her arms crossed, though still the knife in hand (under her arm, she wasn't using it as a threat) just looking at him. She took a deep breath, trying to force herself to... calm down or whatever. "You spent the entire first half of our conversation lying to me and purposefully putting me on edge. You acted like I was an annoyance and that I owed you my damage. I would've talked to you about anything, but you showed interest in my work. They're things I'm very proud of. Fuckin' sue me." Her grip tightened on the knife. As much as she was loath to admit it, the conversation before had been nice. She'd feel a bit bad about hurting him. "You wanna fight? Fine. I'll fight you. If you insist on not being able to settle this like adults, sure. But there's no coming back from this. You make the first swing and then we're done talking. That's what happens if you decide to do this." w2 narrowed her eyes at him. The second he got too close to her with the syringe, she was prepared to stab at him. She's aim for the head area- get him knocked out before he could get her. Her clothes were thick on purpose, and even if they didn't stop the syringe, they'd sure make Bell's life harder.

hello. its me again. i know we just finished a rp. but i. really want to throw. w2 (destroyers ashe) at bell. think . they could be really fun. if you maybe wanted.

ABSOLUTELY!!!! That’s so silly I just went into your ask box BDBDBEJDBDJDJS, I would love that 😈😈 I love being silly with bell…..

In the bell tower again? :3

[drdemonprince]

Hey Devon. This is related to community-building ask, as I feel it kinda hit something in me, and that is my frustration with my local queer "main community", who is mostly made up of people who can work/hang together (people in visual and performative arts, LGBT NGOs, event organisers and so on). It's so closed off and so circlejerk-y that it's demoralising. I've been trying to fit in ever since I started being an adult, almost ten years ago, but I have never made any progress on getting to any of its members. I have made queer friends who are wonderful people, and as you said in the previous ask, that is enough and makes a community of our own already. Nevertheless, it is frustrating for all of us to go to a queer space/show/event just to see that the crowd there is made up of people who know each other and talk to each other and make big groups, while we're just sitting there. It brings us down to know that for queer political events like protests (which are ofc organised by them), we have no one left to fall back on except us. It makes it weird when only one of us is able to go protest, they'd rather not go because it feels so lonely to be sitting around all those people who just know each other, who have been passing by us for so many times over the years, and yet never take interest in even saying "hi" or whatever. It makes us think that they're fucking disingenuous and their "community building" is a load of crap. And I don't really want to feel like that about my people, but look at me, after almost ten years in my city, I fucking do.

Hi there, thanks for your message.

Let me just say that while I understand where the perception comes from, the queer people who put on shows, run nonprofits, and go out clubbing are not "The main lgbtq community" in your city. They're just a bunch of cliquish, careerist, young, privileged people who market themselves as such because they've been convinced that's what the "queer community" is and because doing so helps them get butts in seats at events.

I've seen theater kids, drag performers, DJs, comedians, party promoters, and other various people of the attention-seeking arts (said neutrally) do this all my fucking life. They stake a claim on building "feminist spaces" and "anti-racist" spaces, too, among other things, and use those higher values to sell tickets to their shit too. It's a way to make every tragedy that strikes oppressed people into an advertisement for their burlesques and shit. Don't let the self-important myopia get to you.

The real queer community? In any given city? Well, it's not any one thing. There is no singular "queer community". What people often refer to as the LGBTQ community or the queer community is a demographic, not an actual community. That demographic is marketed to, including by fellow queer people, but that does not a community make.

A community consists of people who know one another, and have enduring bonds, and who have shown up for one another mutually in multiple ways. A lot of these hot cool stylish young queer people are actually merely colleagues of one another. When there's a conflict, or a cancellation, or a venue that closes, they will be tossed to the wind like so many dandelion seeds. Compare that to you and your friends, who can and do remain in contact as the seasons of life change.

It is demoralizing to see so many people who talk a big game about community fail to show up to do activist work that is meaningful to you. I can't deny feeling the same way. For many years, I dated an actor who was very plugged into the local scene, and while his theater company had a reputation for being progressive, trans inclusive, even left-leaning, almost nobody in that collective did anything for the broader 'community' at all. They were all too busy being overworked five nights a week for like a $200 per week stipend, writing plays in which they repeated leftist platitudes but did relatively little.

I'm being a big overly cynical here -- the theater did just put on a big pro Palestinian fundraiser -- but the fact is that running a club, a theater, a local education org, or a regular drag show is a business, and in the end the business always comes first. Even when the members of that business might not want it to. They're often extremely exploited and underpaid, which is part of what makes them so hungry to market themselves and maintain their careers. I have sympathy for it. But meaningful social connections and local impact it does not make.

All of which is to say: please try to remember that these people presenting themselves as the symbols of the local "community" are just a bunch of artistic kids who are trying to make a living doing what they love. They're naive, exploited, a little self-absorbed yes, but they're ultimately not that important. they just deal in a very self-important line of work.

There are SO many queer people all around you who never go to those fucking clubs and shows and aren't even on instagram. The "main" queer community, demographically, is more like the nerdy 40 year old gay couple that lives down the street from you who goes out to the movies once or twice a month and holds board game nights with their friends. The "main" queer community is volunteering at the zoo, going camping with their fraternity brothers that they met 20 years ago, working at the car dealership, planting tomatoes at the local community garden, taking care of elders with dementia, organizing weekly running groups.

You can find people like this -- total normies -- who will care about causes greater than themselves and want to contribute to community building efforts. Many of those people are already doing a ton to make community. It's just less sexy and less self-consciously queer than like, the dance parties. It's also more diverse, accessible, and capable of meeting people where they are at.

It does sound like you would like to meet more activist friends / politically engaged friends, and for that I'd say try looking at pro-Palestinian (for example) events and spaces and seeing who turns up there, checking out a local food not bombs chapter, looking up local mutual aid groups or buy nothing groups, getting involved in hyper-local initiatives, and putting what feelers you can on local forums and personals boards (like Lex, local Facebook groups, local Meetup groups, etc). You probably wont find a perfect space, but you will find worthwhile people scattered everywhere you look!

[eggrollforyou]

How Can I Say I Love You

Law x F!Reader

WC: 1467

CW: angst to fluff, parental/parental figure loss, tooth aching fluff, minor Law backstory spoilers (if you're not caught up through Dressrosa), seems like an OC but I'm too lazy for that, so leader insert 🤣, mutual pining, post time skip 

A/N: this was supposed to be a quick, cute thing, but that clearly got away from me. So I’ll be turning it into parts. Still cute, but apparently my brain had something else in mind. Readers and Law’s thoughts are in italics. Enjoy!

Three little words. Just three little words that seemed to hold so much weight, they'd change the trajectory of everything. Three little terrifying words that could mean the end, if unrequited. 

Far be it from Law to understand how the combinations of chemicals and electrical signals in the brain could have such a profound effect. He's known its highs but has experienced far more of its devastation. Was he cursed? Never able to express what he wanted to with you.

He first met you when you were both children. He, on the search for a cure for his disease with Corazon. You, another sick child, at one of the hospitals he was dragged to. “Hi, I'm (Y/N),” your small voice broke through the background buzz of the hospital chatter. Law turned around to see you sitting on the other side of the room, electric teal blue hair with a white streak framing your face. “Hmmph, yea, so what?” he grumbles indignantly. He hated hospitals. He was grateful for Cora-san to try to help him, but it was going nowhere. He pulled his knees into his chest and sulked while Corazon argued with the physician. “Are you sick?” you ask him, unphased by his grumpiness. Maybe that's why he's acting upset, maybe he just doesn't feel good. He must be sick like me, you think to yourself. “I'm sick too,” you get up to come closer to talk to the grumpiest little boy you've ever encountered and suddenly you fall to your knees in a coughing fit, unable to breathe. 

Law peeks his eyes over his knees, dark under the brim of his spotted hat, but showing concern that he quickly changes to a scowl, “You really shouldn't cough close to other people like that, you could get someone else sick,” he sneers. You finally regain your breath and sniffle. You were so tired of being here, no one to play with or talk to. Your mom had to work all the time to make ends meet and couldn't afford to take time off to be with you while you were admitted for treatment. 

So you spend your days alone with only nurses coming to check on you every couple hours. Your eyes were watering from the pain in your chest, but you continued, “I'm sorry. It's just SO boring here.” Law suddenly notices that you're alone. There's nothing to indicate an adult with you. It's just you and a stuffed bear that was nearly falling apart from living a loved life. “I-I'm Law,” he mumbles. “Nice to meet you, Law!” your face lights up. “Wanna play tic-tac-toe?” you ask, picking up a piece of paper and a pencil. He begrudgingly agrees and scoots over to you. You play several games until suddenly, you hear screaming from hospital staff and a tall blonde man with a heart shirt and big black coat runs, scooping Law up and running away. Hospital staff screaming about Amber Lead disease and quarantines as they chase them. Suddenly, you were alone again. 

It seemed like fate that you both found each other again as teens. You were walking to the beach with your fishing rod. It was just you now. You woke that morning, hunger eating away at you. It had been a couple days since you ate. Managing to steal a fishing rod from a boat at the docks the day before, you got up to fish. You need to try your luck again. Whistling as you walked along the shore trying to reach a rocky outcrop that would let you cast further out, hoping to catch something, you grabbed your belly as it screamed its displeasure at you. 

Law, Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin were walking along the shore, trying to figure out where their next stop would be. Rounding a dune, he sees a girl walking with a fishing pole. Electric blue teal hair, pulled back in a braid with a white streak weaved in and out of the braid. Wait���.who is that? I know that hair….could it be? he thinks to himself.

“Y/N?!” you hear someone call your name and you whip around looking for the source until you see that white spotted hat that you'll never forget. The same hat from that grumpy little boy in the hospital. “Law?!” You shout in surprise. He's not alone. In tow, he has a Mink companion, and two other boys- one with a penguin hat and the other with an orca hat. Law introduces you to his little band of misfits and you spend the rest of the day catching up. 

The others are asleep, but you and Law are still talking. You shed a tear that night when Law tells you Cora is gone. You never knew him, nor did you see their relationship, but you could see the hurt in his eyes. Even in the dim light put out by the campfire you're sitting by. Losing your mother, you knew the heavy feeling in your chest when you thought about her. “You should stay with us, we could always use the extra help,” he says with hope. “Yeah, that'd be great,” you smile back. Finally feeling some peace that your nights won't be so lonely. You travel with them for a couple years. Spending your days together on the loose, running wild, doing whatever you had to, to survive. You both would stay up in the early hours of the morning. Lying down looking at the stars, talking for hours holding hands, sharing your first kiss. You were inseparable. You loved that he found family again in Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin. His heart had been through far too much, but he opened it for them. It made yours hurt less for him.

Those three little words. He felt it then with you. But his heart had been too broken, so he kept it guarded and close. Fearing what would happen to it if he uttered those words to you. Something he later regretted when you were separated again- on the run with no plan to regroup. A heist to survive, gone wrong. Law and the others managed to get to the boat you were stealing on time, but you were held up. Getting separated and then later caught by authorities. By the time you escaped, they were gone. You knew they had to leave. It hurt, but you couldn't blame them. You feared this was the end of your time with Law again. Ending abruptly like when you two met.

One of his biggest regrets was never telling you how he felt. Now he feared he would never get the chance. But it seemed the universe had different plans again. Law and his crew, the Heart Pirates, were restocking on an island- a simple routine stop. He surely wasn't looking for trouble as he was walking through the market, perusing the stalls brimming with vendors and customers alike. It was a busy morning, loud with laughter and bartering, but Law had his fill of the market. Having found a rare coin, he pocketed his purchase after paying the vendor. Making his way back to the ship, the voices grew quieter the further away he walked. He gave the crew the afternoon off, but as the captain, he had a pile of work to do. More reports, endless medical journals to read, he had a plan to start a pot of coffee and sit down in his sanctuary, his office on the Polar Tang.

The quiet abruptly ended and suddenly shouting and scrambling was coming from the market. “Stop her! Stop that thief!” a vendor screamed. Law merely peeked over his shoulder but didn't stop, it was none of his concern. As he rounded a corner leading to a bay where they were hiding the Tang, he was suddenly stopped. A woman running around the same corner slamming into his chest and bouncing back, “AHH! SHIT, watch it!” She bellowed. Law nearly stumbled over, with a scowl, ready to tear this person’s head off, he stopped in his tracks, eyes wide. He's face to face with a woman with electric teal blue hair….with the signature white streak framing her face. “Y/N!?” He gasps. 

Your eyes are wide, you're stuck frozen in place. Law…. he's right here. In front of you again. But now, he's all grown up. You hardly recognize him. Tall, filled out, covered in tattoos it seems. You can only tell by his signature hat and his same tired, piercing eyes. “Gotta go!” you rush, spinning on your heel, carrying a bag of loot of things you clearly stole from the market and running toward the tree line along the path. Law reaches out, “Wait!” he calls out as he runs after you. 

Thanks for reading! I'm pretty happy with this portion and am currently working on the remainder of it, but because my brain won't let me post anything less than what it perceives as perfect, it'll have to wait!

Tags: @shy-writer-999

Dividers by @cafekitsune

[fl3shm4id3n]

ₐₜₜₑₙₜᵢₒₙ

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦?

ᴘᴀɪʀɪɴɢ: ᴊᴏɴᴀᴛʜᴀɴ ᴄʀᴀɴᴇ x ꜰᴇᴍ! ɪᴍᴘʟɪᴇᴅ ꜱᴜᴄᴄᴜʙᴜꜱ/ᴠᴀᴍᴘɪʀᴇ! ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

Tw: slight SMUT?, Mentions of murder/homicides, reader is a narcissists and delulu (delusional af), mentions of promiscuity, talks about sex, reader is self absorb, age gap (reader is early 20s and Jonathan is in his early 30s), toxic behavior, reader is a bit needy, making out, titty grabbing and groping.

A/N: I wanted to write something, based on Jennifer Check from Jennifer's Body.

Masterlist

All that you regretted was not being careful enough, you had been caught. And out of all night, it just had to be prom night, you hated being seen the way that you did. Your dress all wet with blood, your hair was also wet and your makeup was a mess. When you saw the pictures on the news paper, you nearly lost it. All you wanted to do was scream by how bad you looked that night. The only good thing was that you looked hot in the orange jumpsuit given to you, the whole trial you were busy trying to look good and pretty for the cameras. You'd even smile and wave as if you were some kind of celebrity who just won an award and was loved by many. You weren't, but you loved to think that you did.

You were going to be an Arkham for a while, well until you were stable enough to go back out into the real world. You hated your stay. They didn't give you any kind of skincare or makeup that you could use. The only thing that was good was that you had your own room. Except that room looked like shit. You hated it, but it was better than dealing with a lunatic. Most days you'd be rotting in bed or looking at yourself in the small plastic mirror. Trying to make yourself look decent of some kind. You hated not having skincare of your makeup. One morning you had woken up, then discovered that you had a pimple on your cheek. You threw a fit, you screamed and even fought with the security guards because of your silly little outburst.

You didn't even know if you'd be able to stand being in Arkham for long. It's already been two whole years and you still haven't adjusted to that place for lunatics. You wanted to get out, but you couldn't. You couldn't bride anyone with smiles, eyelash flutters or even a kiss on the cheek. Nope, it would be much harder then you thought. When it came to doctors, you tried to bride them with a wink here or a complement there. But no, they'd get fed up with you and leave to tend to someone else. It frustrated you so much. One because those tricks would normally work on anyone. Mainly those dumb high school boys who really wanted attention from a hot girl. Except, you weren't in high school anymore. You were a whole adult and so was everyone in the nut house.

That morning you simply laid in bed, staring endlessly at the ceiling while chewing on a piece of your hair. You were bored, not only that but you felt as if your skin was dry and flaky. You were having a bad morning, all you wanted to do was lay in bed and simply rot. While you continued mindlessly staring at the ceiling, you heard your door open. Sitting up, you saw that it was one of the guards. Great, another doctor. Hopefully this one is easy to crack.

You got up, then followed the guard into the room where you were left alone with the doctor. They told you to sit down and wait, as you waited. You couldn't help but bitch and whine to yourself about looking like crap. "Ugh, if I could at least have my gold hoop earrings." You whined, while throwing your head back as you slumped onto the chair. After a few minutes. You heard the door open, you didn't brother looking over until you saw a man standing in front of you. "You must be miss L/N." He said, his voice sounded, soothing and almost relaxed. Looking up, you saw who this new doctor was.

You were taken by surprise due to how cute he was. He looked no older than late twenties or early thirties maybe. He has brown hair, pale skin, peachy plumped lips and those eyes. God, those eyes were the most beautiful thing ever, almost as beautiful as you. He looked just like those boy magazines that you'd often stare at and have day dreams about bring with those boys. "And who am I pleasured to meet?" You asked, while sitting up straight, even fixed your hair a bit. "I'm Jonathan Crane, but you can call me Doctor Crane." he responded, with a neutral look and voice. You couldn't help but bite your bottom lip and ogle at him, like a teenage girl, that you still wished you were.

"Do you know why am here?" Jonathan asked, while studying your body language. Seen how you must have been smitten by him. It was an obvious observation. "Because you wanted to see the one and only, Y/n L/n?" You teased, while you giggle. All he did was look at you, seen how you were just being a tease. "Just kidding, you came to see what was wrong with me, but don't worry. There's nothing wrong with me, but I'll let you check me up." You said, with a smile and wink. Jonathan just sighed, he almost couldn't believe how shameless you were. "So, your file says that you have been convicted of a few homicides involving boys." He explained, reminding you on why you were here in the first place.

"That was a long time ago, it doesn't even matter anymore." You said, almost getting annoyed but kept your composure. "Tell me about yourself, you must be interesting." You said, while leaning against the table a bit, giving him somewhat of a view of your chest. You were glad that the orange shirt of your prison jumpsuit was somewhat big enough to give a peak at your chest. "How about, we talk about you instead. I'm here to talk to you and about you." Jonathan said, making you blush like a school girl. Were you dreaming or something? "About me? What of me?" You asked him, while looking at him. Admiring how handsome he was. How well put together he is. You just wanted to run your fingers through his hair, maybe even take his glasses and try them on just for shits and giggle. You felt as if you had fallen in love with him on the spot.

"Dunno, I'll let you decide." He said, god he was such a gentleman. "I don't know..." you said, not sure what to say or do, but then you got an idea. You quickly changed your demeaner, you went from being flirtatious to a bit sad. "It's just, been so lonely." You moaned, almost seductively. But he didn't budge. "How so?" He asked, while studying your body language. "You know, no big, strong, handsome man to protect me." You said, while looking at him directly in his eyes. You had a small pout on your lips. Trying to seem and sound as innocent and seductive as possible. "I'm sure security is doing that." He said, damn it! He wasn't falling for it.

You sighed, but kept up your act. "I know, but... You know what I mean. I want someone to love and protect me. You know, how a husband protects his wife?" You asked him, while moving both your arms on both sides of your breasts and slightly pushed them together. Making them more visible for him to see. But you noticed how he wasn't even trying to look at your chest. He just looked at your face. Then you thought of something, slowly. You scooted a bit closer to the table, then your right arm reached over and held it out for his hand to take. "Can you lend me a hand?" You asked sweetly while tilting your head to the side. Jonathan hesitated, but he reached out and allowed you to get a hold of his hand.

You took his hand and slowly guided it towards your chest, but you placed his hand on where your heart was. His huge palm could feel the plushy and softness of your breast. You somewhat wished that he'd give it a small and light squeeze. "Feel my heart Doctor Crane... I think it's broken." You nearly said in a whisper. Seductively. Even with his hand on your breast he didn't seem to budge, he just looked at your face and nothing else. After some time, he removed his hand off your breast and checked the time on his watch. "Well, our time is up." That's all he said, you felt disappointed. You weren't used to that kind rejection, your previous doctors would of cummed right in their pants, him? He was going to be a challenge and you weren't going to give up easily.

Almost a whole month has passed and still, nothing. Doctor Crane was a hard nut to crack. Not only that, but your so called supernatural powers didn't show up. To this day, you still aren't really able to explain how you got them. Ever since that night that you had been killed by those guys who claimed to be a band, you've been behaving and acting strange. Were your powers weak? Or did they go away? The reason why you were powerful a two years back, was because you fed off the attention you were given by everyone, specially the boys. In here, anyone barely even looked at you. It made you feel weak and drained. Maybe that's what it was, the lack of attention is what's making you feel that way. You hated it.

The only one who fed you attention was Doctor Crane, after your sessions. You'd have that energy, you felt much fresher than before. That's what made you love him even more. Despite his coldness, he gave you that energy that you so needed. Your previous doctors didn't do that, since they only see you once and after you played your little game they'd leave because they couldn't stand you. Ever since Doctor Crane into your life, you couldn't help but fall for him. Was it really love? You weren't so sure or bothered trying to find an answer to your question. You just loved how he'd give you attention, even if it'd irritate the hell out of him. He stayed. Probably to study you some more, but you didn't mind being studied by him. As long as he feeds you the attention you've craved for the last two years, you didn't care.

That day, you didn't see the doctor. Since he was other stuff to do. It'd been a whole week since you've seen him. He'd come every day, until now. He just hasn't showed up at all. It made you sad and made you feel even more tired and drained. His attention was something that you've got addicted too. You wanted it, you had to have it. But you couldn't, it wouldn't be easy. You felt your skin get flaky and dry, like a snake's. You began to see that you were getting dark circles under eyes. Because of how tired you've got. God, you missed him so much. You've began to have dreams of you and him, married, living together. You didn't understand why, you didn't have dreams of that sort, ever.

It was already late at night, you laid in bed. Alone in the dark, still feeling like shit. You were laying on your side, facing the wall. Thinking about Doctor Jonathan Crane. You simply stared at the wall, seen how you had managed to engrave his name onto that old concrete wall. Since the day he didn't show up, was when you craved his name into the wall. Just so that you could stare and look at the name, sometimes even caress it as if it was the most delicate thing. Eventually you closed your eyes, trying to maybe get some sleep, and dream about him.

But your eyes quickly shot open when you heard the door of your room open. You quickly sat up and turned around to see who or what it was. It was somewhat dark, but the small window of your cell allowed you to see who it was. It was him, Jonathan. He stood there looking back at you for a whole minute. You didn't even notice him closing the door, your name focus was him. "Jonathan?" You said, almost in disbelief. "The one and only." He said, his voice made your chest rise and your heartbeat go over the roof. Not only that, but you also felt how your skin began to feel fresh, as if cold water had been splashed onto your dry skin. Making it feel refreshed.

"Oh Johnny." You said, quickly getting up from your bed and ran up to him. He wasn't far away from you, since your room was small. Almost as small as your old walk in closet. Once you reached him, you wrapped your arms around his waist. Hugging him tightly. "I missed you, so much." You said, while hugging him. You couldn't help but get a whiff of his washed clothed mixed with his cologne. You missed that scent, his scent. You felt how he too wrapped one arm around your waist and petted your hair. "I know you did." He said, neutrally, but it sounded sweet to you. He was sweet to you in his way. You didn't want to let go or him to let you go. You wanted to be in his arms forever until you both die and rot.

Then he slowly pulled away from you, looking down at your face. But you kept your arms around his waist, so that he couldn't go just yet or even attempted to leave. "You have no idea how bad I wanted to see you." Jonathan said, while gently caressing your cheek. Making you purr and close your eyes by the touch of his hand on your now fresh and bright skin. "Where did you go? Why did you leave me here alone?" you asked, almost desperate to know his reasons why you disappeared for a whole week. "I had other things to tend to." He said, while looking at you. Seen how week and vulnerable you were at the moment. "Doesn't matter anymore, at least you came here. To see me." You said, with a small smile on your lips. Happy to be this close to him. This was the first time you've ever been this close to him.

"Can I ask you something?" You asked, almost timidly, but you just had to ask him. "Of course, what is it?" He asked, while looking at you. His eyes, damn those eyes. They made your legs shake and nearly go week. "Could I kiss you?" you asked, while beginning to breath heavily. All of a sudden you got, you felt your skin heat up and needed to remove some clothes just to calm the heat down. Jonathan smiled at you. Sweetly, but that sweetness had a small hint of sinisterism. "Of course you can." He said, without hesitating. You smashed your lips against his.

Jonathan let out a small grunt as soon as your lips touched his. Your arms snaked around his neck, desperately trying to get him to be closer to you than he already was. Jonathan held you close to him as well. The kiss got slightly violent and more sloppy. Both your tongued wrestled one another's, followed by teeth clanking against one another and your lips pressed against his. You needed that, you wanted that. Jonathan's hands grabbed at your ass, giving it a squeeze every now and then, as a way of getting you either railed up or just flat out tease you. Soon after, you felt his hand get a hold of one of your breasts. Causing you to moan against his mouth.

His palm caress and gripped onto your breast, slightly pinching your harden nipple. "Ah!" You moaned against his mouth, feeling how your once weak body was burning with desire. You wanted more, you needed more. As soon as your hands reached down to get a hold of his belt. Jonathan stopped grabbing your breast and pull away from the sloppy kiss. "Wha-" You manage to say. You looked at him, shocked and breathless by his sudden motion. "Now now." He simply said, while he admired how worked up you were. "But-" You were quickly cut off by him. "Shh, shh." He shushed you. In which you. You could feel how his cold hand gently got a hold of your chin and cheeks, as soon as his cold skin touched the hot skin of your cheeks. You felt relaxed.

"Patience. You're not ready yet." He said, making you let out a small whine. "But I am." You whined, you sounded so needy, but you didn't care. You wanted him right there and then. "You think you're ready, but you're not. Be patient." He said said, almost in a whisper. So that only you could hear. You wanted to protest, but you didn't. You choose to listen again. You simply nodded in response. "Alright, Doctor." You said, almost in a form of a moan. Jonathan smirked at you, gently cleaning off yours and his mixed saliva off your bottom lip with his thumb. "Good girl." He praised, making you nearly fell at your knees by his words.

ₙₑₓₜ ₚₐᵣₜ

[rambles-on-dragon-age]

Tell me you only played the game once and didn't bother to engage with anything going on without telling me. 🙄

I'll respond to that nonsensical drivel in that screen shot under the cut BUT the reason they came onto your post to spew their brainless takes is because hating this game is performative at this point.

There's no reason to just drop it and move on because they crave the attention of hating something popular, of regurgitating the same brainless and nonsensical takes everywhere they can. They were too lazy to engage with what the game offered and just outed themself as such.

I'm also an ADHD'er and was all over the place while playing. I've only played once and look at everything I gleaned from it; imagine what's going to happen when I'm not buzzing on nervous energy and actually get to go through it taking my time and snooping for the small details. This game was genuinely engaging and was like a repeated dopamine hit. Every single detail was built with love and this game screams of lore and worldbuilding in every little piece.

As for that nonsensical drivel in the response screenshotted;;

"The side quests are just going from place to place looking for a note, having a boss fight, rinse and repeat."

You mean like literally every single J/RPG game in existence??? You mean the industry standard?? The thing that has been a staple of RPGs for decades now?? How many of those did we have in Inquisition? I can promise it's at least double what Veilguard gave us. How many in DA2? DAO?

"Every companion quest ends with you having to kill their Generic Big Bad and then make a binary choice for the companion."

Every companion quest mirrors and/or parallels the main story line and themes of the game. The complaint should be that the game is repeatedly beating us over the head with the main themes, but then again it did that and you still missed it apparently.

Every companion quest you've been there with them, as their new employer and then friend, every step of the way. You've seen the build up, the backstory, the stakes, all of it. They TELL YOU that they're too close to the issue and need someone outside of it, ROOK, to help them decide. Do you not have friends? Is that the problem? You don't have friends that help you and then talk you through a decision??' They TELL YOU that they're too close to the issue and need someone outside of it, ROOK, to help them decide. Do you not have friends? Is that the problem? You don't have friends that help you and then talk you through a decision??

"Most of the romances are lacking."

IT'S NOT A GAME ABOUT ROMANCE, IT'S A GAME ABOUT SAVING THE WORLD. The romance is meant to be a little flavor sprinkled on the side!! Play an otome game if you're only here for romance !!!!!

"There's very little conflict between the companions and when they're is they kiss and make up."

This is the first game where you hand select a group of professionals and essentially hire them. This is not a slapdash gang slapped together of whomever was willing to deal with world saving fuckery. Each of the people involved has been with their organization for years or decades and fulfill jobs in a professional capacity. I'm also confused on how repeated death threats counts as "very little conflict". But whatever; you made it clear you didn't really do much in the game so you probably missed the majority of the interpersonal conflicts they had. And yeah. As professionals living in close quarters at the end of the world, I would hope they'd be capable of being adults about it and talk through their problems and learn to live with their differences. Like adults should be able to do.

"Every time a companion is having a problem they get this generic 'I'm here for you' 'thanks rook i feel better now' cutscene."

Do you not... have friends? Do they not have things going on in their lives? In the face of something grave happening, words don't always help. Words won't stop their world from falling apart. Know what does? Knowing someone witnessed their worst and is still willing to stand by them. That if they need a shoulder, that shoulder is there for them. In real life, I've been on both sides of that generic conversation. It makes a difference.

"Every faction is generically good and interchangeable."

Factually incorrect. We even had a whole huge chunk of Davrin's quest to show us the Grey Wardens are actually hiding some really big, really grave secrets. Those are supposed to be some of the premier heroes of the realm. Everything with the Cauldron? Did you skip Davrin's quest? Banter shows that the Crows still torture recruits; they have in-fighting and assassinate their numbers. Lords of Fortune straight up have a murder pit where they throw the bodies of those "willing" combatants. Just because they're trying to show Rook their best face doesn't mean they're all good. You have to pay attention to the stuff in the game, not play with your eyes and ears closed.

"Lucanis is straight up lacking content somehow and got shoved in the pantry when everyone else gets a cool room that changes over time."

You have, again, completely missed the content that was blatantly in the game. Upon asking Lucanis why he's in the pantry and not, you know, in a room in the infinitely generating Lighthouse, he says he feels safe there. There's one entrance/exit so he can't be snuck up on. He can see the food and would know if someone was poisoning him. He's constantly brewing and drinking coffee to stay awake so Spite can't take his body for a walk; he's right there at the source and not walking back and forth to do so. He's also, you know, trying to stay awake so Spite can't take his body for a walk and his comfort level is one that helps him do that. Lucanis has the same amount of content that the other companions have. If you would have paid attention to his characterization as well as what he literally tells you to your face that wouldn't have even been part of the subject.

So I have ADHD right? And my first run of Veilguard took me 83 hours and I know I missed a ton of stuff even though I really tried to slow down and pay attention and read as many codex entries as I could. I’m still finding new stuff on my third run.

So when I see takes that are like “Veilguard is weirdly sexless compared to previous games” then in the same post you say you played 60 hours….like ya, you missed a ton of stuff. Which is fine? But you can’t get mad at the game or the writers for it that’s a you problem.

Or “You can’t talk to the npc’s so I can’t feel empathy for them” when like a) you can b) do you actually care about the people of Thedas like at all? I didn’t need the game to hit me with the empathy stick to care about a world I’ve loved for years. Again, this is a you problem not a writing problem.

Or “They sanitized/Disneyfied the lore.” Ugh.

Not saying you need to play the game again because I don’t care and honestly you don’t deserve it anyways but like if you’re going to say stupid shit at least be able to back it up.

[cheriladycl01]

The Rookie Prodigy - Carlos Sainz x Driver! Reader Part 4

Plot: You are a rookie coming into the 2022 season of Formula One into Alfa Romeo with team member Zhou Guanyu, being in a mid tier team can you help them rise up the ranks. What pressures occur for the only rookies within the 2022 line up!

After Saudi, you and Zhou travelled all the way back to Switzerland to the Sauber Factory where you had a debrief. You talked about your unfortunate DNF but how it shouldn't affect you going into Australia. Talked about Zhou's consistent P11 and that he just needed to push a little harder to get in the reach of points.

You'd spent a good few days there, getting photo's, doing promo's for some of the sponsor brands you guys were partnered with this year and trying to work out what you guys could improve on the car.

It was a good few days but, heading back to your parents home was strange. Nowhere had quiet ever felt like home to you, you'd lived between houses and hotels, the closest experience you'd ever had to finding a home was with Zhou and his family.

They would take you out for karting together and you would stay in the spare bedroom.

Once you left Switzerland you spent all your time up until race weekend with your family. Now they were a little older and had retired they'd managed to retire with quite the fortune, enough to keep them going on holidays whenever they felt like it.

They had time for you now, which felt even stranger considering you were never that close to your parents arguably when you needed them the most and now that you were an adult with your own place they wanted to get to know you.

You couldn't decide if it was painful and endearing, but when they asked to attend the Australian race with you, you felt like things were getting weird.

They of course offered to pay for their own flights, hotel and any other expenses but they wanted to actually see you drive.

So now you were sat in the First Class lounge in Qatar waiting for your connection to Australia.

"How are you feeling about the race?" your dad asks you.

"Yeah, I mean... it's been hard you know I have no-one to look up to on the team. Zhou and I are setting the standard together. In some ways that drives me more, but at the same time it's a lot of self learning this year!" you nod, not really sure how you were feeling about your team this year.

"Do you think they'll see you talent and get you in a better car next year?" your mothers asks.

"I'm not sure, Charles did it after one year... maybe I can too. But everyone seems pretty set on where they are right now!" you explain, knowing the grid seemed pretty locked up until 2024. The only place you might be able to go would Red Bull if they took Sergio Perez out, which was likely considering he was struggling to second Max. But he'd most likely be replaced with the Red Bull B team, AlphaTauri. It was all very up in the air.

The race weekend started up and you barley saw people outside of you team. You tried to find Daniel, to see of he'd come round the city with you but it wasn't looking likely with the tight schedule you had.

"Y/N! Y/N Wait up!" a voice shout's coming out of the Ferrari hospitality, you head spins looking to who the voice come from, but because of the accent you already knew.

"Hello Carlos!" you smile, looking over him. He was wearing his team polo similar to you and jeans although you were wearing shorts as it was extremely hot.

"Come with me!" he tells you, grabbing your arm and pulling you through the paddock.

The great thing about the paddock was how busy it was, it was rare for you to get spotted or caught on camera because everyone was running around, moving stuff, getting to the places they needed to be, helping lost fans who had paddock passes.

Carlos pulled you into the back of the Ferrari motorhome close to the garage where the tires were all stacked and lined up.

"You look so beautiful" he smiles, tucking some hair behind your ear. You blushed not expecting the light touch.

"I'm just in my team gear Carlos!" you giggle, not understanding the appeal.

"Well, i think you look beautiful in everything, a true work of art" he smiles and before you can even thank him or react, he places a hand on your cheek. He starts to lean in, and it feels like your heart is moving so quickly unlike everything else that seems to slow.

And the worst part is you find yourself leaning in too.

You'd sworn you'd never date or get involved with a fellow driver just because you knew it wouldn't end well.

However, when your lips joined you couldn't stop yourself pushing yourself closer into him, deepening the kiss further. He held you closer, the kiss getting more and more heated making him grab at your hips, squeezing them tightly.

"Carlos!" you whisper looking into those vacant brown eyes that didn't have a thing swimming behind them other than adoration. You'd always thought his eyes looked so clueless like a confused puppy.

"Yes mi carina" he says looking down at you, in seconds your lifted up pushed against the wall as he helps your legs wrap around him before his lips attach themselves to yours again.

"Carlos, no we cant" you say pulling away, you push against his chest, and unwrap your legs from around his waist, accidentally pushing your crotch into his making him groan in satisfaction. You can feel him under his own trousers and it makes you scramble even quicker to get your two feet on the ground.

"W-What?" he asks panting a little from the heated make-out.

"We- we cant be doing this. We are colleges professional athlete colleges. And, its a conflict of interest. I'd be at risk for loosing my seat. We just cant do anything, I'm sorry" you explain with a frown before walking off. You shake your head, knowing you'd done the right thing, for the betterment of your career.

As a female you always had to be more careful what you did and what you said as your seat was already more at risk than anyone else's on the grid. You couldn't make this kind of blunder as it would simply ruin your career.

You made your way back to the Alpha Romeo garage, and you knew you'd have to avoid Carlos for the rest of the weekend until you could talk to someone privately and trusted about everything that happened.

You knew it would be Zhou, but you couldn't talk to him now with the nosy members in the garage that would always be wondering what was going on the drivers room, just to get the scoop.

The race was the most interesting Carlos head wasnt in the game after what happened with you. He was overthinking everything and when he got onto the race track, that all relayed. He made a stupid move, backed out of an overtake and spun off which was awful considering he'd qualified P8 and has a good line up to make his way up the ranks and get the team more points, maybe even a double Ferrari podium.

You on the other hand was solely focused on racing, your team only told you it was a Ferrari that crashed out, you made your way up the grid from twelfth where you'd originally started to end up in P8, your team were ecstatic for you but again Zhou missed out on the points for a rookie era that cost him, points of a second on P10.

"So how do you feel about P8, great come back after your unfortunate DNF in Saudi!" the interviewer asks you and you had the biggest smile on your face.

"Amazing, obviously its great from the team getting those points again, I think me and Zhou are both still learning as rookies and it can be hard where we are both rookies on the same team, but I think the more races we do the better drivers we become. Today was hard, but I'm happy where we are right now!" you grin explaining to the interviewer your feelings.

"It really was an amazing race for you today. I think I'll be bold and say that all of us are excited to see what you can do in a better car!" he smiles at you and you nod.

"I think it's really funny you say that. As a rookie, coming from F2 the car's are majorly different so getting used to a mid field car is much easier than fighting your own skills in the likes of a Ferrari or Mercedes or a Championship car of the Red Bull. So I'm happy gaining the skills I am, in the car that I am in now. It's a good car and I have a great team behind me!" you explain and he nods, loving your level of maturity.

"Well, we are all really excited to see what you can bring to the table in IMOLA, what do you plan to do with that break?" he asks and you shake your head.

"Yeah, I'm excited for IMOLA, its got some really tight corners that I'm excited to see how the car holds up! As for my break, I'll be training making sure my body is ready for a fight and in top notch condition, my trainers told me no cheat days until after IMOLA now, so it's going to be intense" you joke before he offers you a goodbye and you leave.

As your PR manager pulls you to the car, you look over seeing Carlos watching you, stood by his personal trainer watching you get into the car, a sad look resting on his face.

"Awww poor Carlos, he must be gutted about the DNF" you manager says catching whats distracted you.

"Yeah, poor him!" you mutter.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @stupidandunnecessary @clayra-g @daemyratwst @honey-belden @moonypixel @lauralarsen @vader-is-hot @ironcowboycopnickel @itsjustkhaos @the-untamed-soul @beebo86 @happylittlereader @ziejustme @lou-larcher5 @thewulf @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @chillyleclerc @chanthereader @annoyingmoonballoon @summissss @evieepepi08 @havaneseoger08 @celesteblack08 @gulphulp @fandom1ruined2me @celebstories @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhh @georgeparisole @dakotatankbig @youcannotcancelquidditch @zzonsbeek @tallbrownhairsarcastic @mellowarcadefun @ourteenagetragedy @otako5811 @countingstacksandpanicattacks @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @hopexcroc @mirrorball-6 @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @the-fem1n1ne-urge @21stcenturytaegi @dark-night-sky-99 @spideybv28 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @kapsylia @laneyspaulding19 @lazybot @malynn @cassielikereading @viennakarma @teamnovalak @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @jlb20416 @yourbane

[gh0stbeeee]

Rise of the Guardians/The Guardians of Childhood is low-key my Roman Empire.

Like, specifically in the movie verse, there's just... so much that was never elaborated on. It's one of the unfortunate side effects of being kid's media, things get dumbed down for no reason.

Like, Jack Frost in general as a character. He died. DIED. He DROWNED in a pond saving his sister and??? Nothing. The entire moment when he remembered became "Oh I'm the fun guy that had a family and saved my sister!" AND DIED. Very important part that is completely glossed over other than the idea of sacrifice. Like, the other guardians were "chosen," did they not die too? Did Jack lose his memories because he died, but the others were chosen while alive, chose to leave their lives and remembered?

And just, what were his early years? For a very long time, at least a decade, he probably thought he was totally invisible, that he could never have a true conversation with another person, because I doubt that he stumbled upon another spirit/legend for a while.

Like, that would have driven him INSANE. There's no way he wouldn't be super socially awkward from the isolation, much less just totally mentally well. Are spirit's brains built different? They'd have to be, but I don't think they should be able to withstand that level. Like what was the mim thinking??? Seriously just abandoned a TEENAGER he resurrected with no memory or possibility of support, that's wrong.

And on that note, let me reiterate that Jack died. In front of his little sister. Who had to go back home and tell her family what happened. Did he have a father too? More siblings? Friends and family? They had a funeral no doubt, mourned him. Because he died.

The worst part? He was right there. The whole time. Jack came back to that pond and settlement for hundreds of years, even when it became Burgress. He probably watched his funeral not knowing what was going on, saw his family mourn him without knowing it was for him. He was there when they died, not knowing who they were to him. Did he realize later on? I can only imagine the devastation.

The worst part is Manny probably had to take his memories, because Jack would have been DEPRESSED. He would've tried everything to make them believe, and they probably never would. His parents would probably never see him again, they were adults. His sister was plausible, but she's still mortal. She would have died, Jack would have seen his little sister grow old and die while he stayed eternally young. He might've not ever recovered from that, mim taking his memories distanced him from the pain for when he remembered 300 years later.

But he also could have moved on, grown and loved her descendants and honored her. The mim took that choice away, and that's pretty fucked up.

Then yeah, 300 years of pretty much no acknowledgement. Going into live blind with no guidance or memories, trying to figure yourself out but being ignored by the once who brought you here. Jack would realistically be a little nutty, because wow. It's shown the even other spirits didn't really talk to him, he made them acknowledge him by playing pranks and pissing them off till they confronted him. Maybe it's in spirit's nature to be recluses, but it's not in Jack's. He wanted attention and to be seen, but no one wanted to or could give it to him.

That's why Jamie seeing him for the first time always makes me tear up. This is the first time for HUNDREDS of years that a human has acknowledged him, not an out of touch spirit, but a regular person Jack can connect with, that chose to see him, to believe. That's beautiful, and special.

There's just so many layers to this story that we never got to see, and I'm forever sad DreamWorks abandoned the franchise.

(If anyone has any good fics that explore topics like this, especially Jack's family, please share)

[angel-of-the-moons]

Idk how tumblr works so, apologies ig this isnt a request place.

But i was thinking poly johnny cage and kenshi x reader, where its just fluff with johnny and reader helping kenshi get dressed, bc hes blind, or something like that♡

Gods im soft for this poly relationship😫

Nahhh you getting something because ashslnsl this shit is cute as fuuuuck

Little Wonders

Kenshi x Johnny x Reader

TW/CW: None!

A/N: This is what I was talking about @crimsonbubble lol

🗡️🎥🗡️🎥🗡️🎥🗡️🎥🗡️🎥

Yet again, Kenshi ripped the shirt open to try and rebutton it. He had been at it for almost twenty minutes, now; having to undo the pearl baubles and slip them back into their holes again.

Only to find that this time, he was not one--but two buttons off and the shirt was still lopsided.

He let out a frustrated hiss and yanked the buttons free, this time snagging one so hard the little object popped out of its stitching and skittered across the bedroom floor.

Hanging his head in defeat, Kenshi felt around until he found the foot of your ridiculously large bed, plopping down and sinking into the downy soft mattress with a hefty sigh.

Kenshi could easily call Sento to him; use the magic sword to grant him his sight so he could see enough to map out the buttons, to get dressed by himself like a grown adult should be able to do.

But without Sento, he was as blind as a newborn kitten. And Sento wasn't a crutch. Kenshi needed to learn how to do things without his eyes, to adjust. Because it's not exactly subtle or publicly acceptable to carry a goddamn katana with you to a red carpet event. Which is what he had been trying to get ready for. He just wanted to wait until you and Johnny were preoccupied with swimming out some of your pre-event jitters in his pool to try, to get some of the privacy he needed to spare his dignity. He needed to learn how to do this, how to cope...

He couldn't walk around like you or Johnny without some sort of aid, couldn't dress himself properly anymore... he was damn lucky he could still feed himself without assistance.

"Oh, Kenshi..." He heard you sigh from the threshold of your bedroom door. You and Johnny smelled like the chlorine from the pool; your bathing suits had been stripped away and you both wore your plush bath robes to ward the chill off your naked bodies.

"If you'd asked us, we could have helped you, Ken." Johnny replied as well, moving to sit next to him as you began to gently unbutton the expensive silk blouse.

"You shouldn't have to." He retorted, "I should be able to do it--"

"Hush." You say to him gently, your fingers gently touching his lips to quiet him. Johnny slipped a hand around the back of Kenshi's neck, kneading the thick knots of tension he found there. His mouth twisted briefly into a slight frown when he felt just how tense he was.

"C'mon, babe!" Johnny said. Kenshi could practically hear the cock-eyed smirk Johnny had on his face. "You know we don't mind. Though, taking your shirt off is more fun than putting one on--"

"Oi! Shut it!" You snort, swatting at him before putting Kenshi's popped shirt on the dresser before pulling out one of Johnny's to put on him.

"Abuse! Abuse!" Johnny laid across his lap dramatically, feigning injury. "Oh, oh my god! Kenshi, do you hear how our lovely partner is treating me?! I swear, I should have you locked up!"

He can't help but smile, despite it all. It never failed. Whenever he was down in the dumps, dealing with his new "handicap" as he so deprecatingly referred to it as, the two of you swooped in to cheer him up, pulling a smile out of him when he thought there was none to be had.

"Hah! Like they'd believe you, you drama queen." You scoff, flicking him in his nose. "Now get up, you cry baby!"

Johnny snickered and laughed as he sat up, crawling onto the bed so he was sitting behind Kenshi, his legs spread to wrap around him from behind casually as he leaned back on his hands.

"Kenshi, hands." You hum to him, brushing a hand through his short dark hair, bringing your hand down to touch his cheek, your thumb caressing the corners of where his eyes used to be, feeling the cratered scars left behind by Mileena's sais.

He complies, his body posture softening as you and Johnny help him slip into the soft, buttery smooth shirt.

Johnny buttons his cuffs while you button his front.

"I..." Kenshi tried to find the words; anything to say to the two of you about why you shouldn't be helping him, that he needs to relearn these things on his own.

Johnny interrupts him first: "Nope." He hums, burying his face in the crook of his neck, breathing in the mixed scent of his own shirt and Kenshi's favorite body wash that still lingered on his skin.

"Can already hear those gears working on your head, Ken. Stop it."

"We're a team, Kenshi." You say to him, cupping his cheeks in your hand as Johnny effectively becomes a human koala bear.

"And we aren't going to let you struggle on your own. It's not weakness to ask for help from those you love. A strong individual knows you can't survive without it."

"Without what exactly?" He sighed, relaxing into the two of you.

"Love, you fuckin' goober." You snicker, leaning down to kiss him, his stubble brushing your face softly.

If he could, Kenshi Takahashi would have cried.

[effy-writes]

Hii!! I really love your writing and I saw that you're taking requests

WARNING up a head

I would like to know if you would be okay with writing a scenario involving Fizz and Ozzie with a reader (female or gender-neutral) who has epilepsy. The reader has been experiencing frequent seizures due to getting less sleep, stressing over work, missing a few doses of their medication (meds were pricey and they felt like a burden to them), and eating chocolate that was gifted by a coworker (they'd feel bad for declining), despite being aware that it's a trigger factor.

I've been going in and out of the hospital for the past 2 months due to high fever (after I fell off the stairs and hit my head) and seizure monitoring and despite being an adult, I feel like a burden to my parents because they have to look after me and pay for everything (and I try to skip a few days of meds to make them last a little bit longer) 🥲🥲🥲

And if you ever feel uncomfortable writing this, you can just ignore it! Mwah, have a good day/evening, loves!!

holy shit are you okay 😭😭 and thank you for requesting! and also thank you for the compliment!

also i didn’t know if you wanted one shot or HC so this is like a little bit of both i think

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

Fizz x GN!Epileptic! Reader x Ozzie HC

•You haven’t been epileptic your whole life. It all started when doing a performance at Ozzie’s and fell off a platform and hit your head. Obviously, your polyamorous relationship with Fizz and Ozzie were worried sick about you. They took you to a hospital straight away (and since it’s hell, it was a pretty sucky hospital), all they said was that you had a concussion.

• Going back to Ozzie’s house they made you take things slow and refused to let you do things. It was killing you though. Everyone at Ozzie’s loved your performances and the customers paid lots of money to go see you, and because of your injury you obviously can’t perform. So, customers ended up not going.

• You felt extremely guilty for it, but Fizz kept reassuring you that him and Ozzie aren’t mad. They just want you to get better.

•Well, things got even worse. A few days later you had a horrible fever. You felt so weak to even talk and your skin was burning up. Ozzie was the first to notice this. He took your temperature and was horrified whenever it came out to 105° F, which is a deadly fever. He immediately got Fizz and they took you to the hospital yet again. Since you’re an Imp they didn’t care, but after Ozzie showed his true form they took you seriously and monitored you.

•That same day Ozzie had to go to a very important Hell meeting so he left Fizz with you. He realized you looked worse even though they gave you IV medicine. When he saw your body shaking and eyes rolling back he freaked the fuck out. He called out for some nurses or doctors and they quickly gave you seizure medicine to stop the seizure. Obviously you were “blacked out” for this, so you don’t remember much. Fizz on the other hand was hyperventilating and got worried sick. He couldn’t call Ozzie because of him being at the meeting, so he held your hand and told you it’s going to be okay while you’re asleep.

•After some very expensive days at the hospital they officially diagnosed you with Early Post Traumatic seizure. Basically epilepsy. The moment you got this information you broke down. Ozzie rubbed your back while Fizz squeezed your hand. It hurt them to see you like this. The doctors prescribed expensive seizure medicine to take daily to prevent more seizures.

•Finally you were able to go back home and hoped things would go back to normal. Ozzie paid for the medication while Fizz reminded you to take them. The next couple of months the seizures became less frequent and almost disappeared.

•You were still able to perform (after months of begging, but they soon gave in because they saw you haven’t had a seizure in a while). However, Ozzie made a deal with you. You can only perform on Friday and Saturday nights and made it “seizure friendly” (basically on those days they refuse to show flashing lights), and because of those seizure friendly days more people started showing up because they also have epilepsy!!

•Your polyamorous relationship anniversary is coming up and you wanted to do something special. And lucky for you, it landed on a friday. You’ve been preparing this for months, you wanted it to be something completely different and wanted it to be special. However, you could only practice the dance with the backup dancers super early in the day (like 4 am) so Ozzie and Fizz won’t see what you’re getting up to. You’ll sneak out of the bedroom and head on down to Ozzie’s and meet the backup dancers there to practice.

•Because you’ve been getting less sleep and you’re stressed out fixing up this anniversary present, your seizures have been acting up. The first incident was that you were walking from the bedroom to the kitchen (and you stood up too fast) and immediately fell back down as your body compulses. Ozzie was already in the kitchen making breakfast and once he heard something (more like somebody) and saw you shaking he took action and turned you on your side just in case if you throw up. He also grew in size and placed his hand underneath your head so it wouldn’t keep hitting the ground repeatedly. Ozzie kept it cool, but Fizz was hyperventilating (this dude worry’s so much because you mean everything to him).

•You didn’t know how much your medicine costs until Fizz pointed it out. He didn’t mean any harm, he just said “Damn, this shit is more expensive than the Demon Driller 5000.” And yes, that’s saying a lot. He meant it as a joke and didn’t know it made you feel guilty. You wanted to skip the meds, but since Fizz keeps track of it you had to come up with a plan for him to not helicopter you.

•It was actually pretty easy, you told him you wanted to do things yourself and he respected that boundary. You hid the medicine and only took it twice a week, which definitely didn’t help your case.

•Both of your boyfriends were worried sick about you and wanted to take you to the hospital but you always declined (you even got mad at them because of it. You meant no harm but because of the stress and having to deal with seizures just made you on edge).

•At work a coworker gave you chocolate because the anniversary was coming up soon. You didn’t want to eat it because you really didn’t want to have a seizure since they hurt so much. But, you’re a people pleaser and you ate it. Soon enough, you had a seizure 30 minutes later (not while performing because Fizz and Ozzie begged you to not perform once you’ve been seizure free for 2 months).

•After that one, things got heated between you and your boyfriends.

“Is everything okay, babe? We’re so worried about you.” Ozzie rubbed your back.

“I am. Just stressed and tired because of these seizures.”

Fizz laid his body across you and Ozzie, his head on your lap. “Is that all? Or is there something more?”

•You kept it a secret for so long and it sucks because the anniversary is this friday and you really wanted it to be special. So, you told them everything, including skipping meds.

“I haven’t been sleeping a lot and I’m stressed because I’ve been working for months on this stupid performance for our anniversary.” You huffed. “And I may or may not be taking my meds.” You winced.

“WHAT?!” Ozzie yelled, but lowered his voice, “What? Why?”

“It’s too expensive and I feel so guilty that you have to pay and I feel like a burden.”

Fizz shot up, “You’re not a burden! We love you so much and want you to be healthy!”

“Don’t worry about the money, babe. I got it.”

“And sorry for spoiling the surprise.”

“Eh, I figured you were up to something.” Fizz smirked.

“What? How?” You laughed.

“I know you. I knew you longer than Ozzie.” He kissed your nose. “I can tell when you’re keeping secrets. But I’m VERY pissed at you for not taking your meds.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.”

Ozzie combed through your hair with his fingers, “Don’t ever apologize, and don’t ever skip your meds. I’m flattered you wanted to do a special performance for us, but we also care deeply about you. You’re not a burden, you’re our lover.”

[jedipoodoo]

I lowkey want hcs of fhe bad batch reacting to a partner whos a performer at bars, maybe like they saw her perform at the 79s? (She/her pronouns if you can!)

Ohohohohohoho I love a good singer reader.

Secret Star

Notes: No warnings, performing in front of a crowd, fancy dress up casino heist mission, bad batch x reader (mostly Echo).

"We need a diversion," Echo said, "Something to hold the crowd's attention while Hunter and I talk with the client."

You scanned over the crowd bustling about Canto Bight's most elite cantina. You and the the Batch had managed to locate the client by luring him in to a high stakes match between him and Omega (though one of Canto Bight's few rules was that only adults could participate in gambling, so Tech was the one seated at the table while Omega told him which moves to make). The problem was, you had the target's attention, but also that of everyone in the casino.

"I've got something," You whispered, throat running dry, "Just... Don't laugh."

"Laugh?" Echo asked, raising one eyebrow, "Laugh at what?"

You didn't say anything, but stood up from the bar and made your way to the stage. Even the band had stopped to watch the deal between Tech and the Target, leaving their microphones largely abandoned.

Your legs were a little unsteady until you reached the stage. Your heart was pounding in your chest, but the sight of the patrons was one that was largely familiar to you. You weren't nervous so much for the crowd, but for the management. Would you be able to sing long enough to really distract the crowd? Or would you be forced offstage before they could really do anything?

You forced yourself to belt out the first note, loud and clear. Half the casino looked up in surprise. No turning back now.

You broke out into an angry love ballad, wretched and cruel, heartfelt and poignant. Every patron in the casino had their eyes on you, drawn to your voice like a siren. The band, recognizing the song, quickly joined in on their instruments, and the music swelled through the crowd, drawing a few tears.

Echo sat at the bar, dumbfounded.

"Did you know she could do that?" Wrecker asked.

Echo nearly missed the question. He took a moment to shake his head, his fragile heart pounding in his chest.

"No, no I didn't."

Tech coughed subtly, "Not that this isn't an impressive performance, but I believe she did it to give us an opportunity?" He nodded to the target, who was eyeing you as hungrily as he had the pile of tokens on the table.

Echo caught your gaze as it swept over the spellbound crowd.

You implored him with your eyes, trying to gesture towards the target without tipping off anyone else.

Echo swallowed, his throat dry, and approached the target with Wrecker.

A few minutes later, you had performed an encore, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd, and the band begged you to join them as a permanent member. The tips had been flowing in with your house-shaking performance, and the cut they gave you was more than generous, but you had to decline.

You already had your own band.

The crowd thronged you, attempting to get an autograph and even a couple recording deals, but you politely declined each one. Eventually, you found solace in the target's isolated VIP booth, where the rest of the Batch was waiting for you. The target himself was nowhere to be seen, but Tech was intently studying something on his datapad, so you assumed they'd gotten the data you were after.

"You were amazing!" Omega squealed, throwing her arms around you, pinning your arms to your sides.

"Thanks kid," You laughed, studying the faces of everyone else in the booth.

Hunter sat back with his arms crossed, one foot propped up on the seat of his chair.

"Didn't know you had a set of pipes like that," He grinned.

You flushed and looked off to the side, "I... Used to be a singer at 79's. Kinda had to find another line of work after the war ended."

"It's good to have diverse talents," Tech said.

"It's a good thing you're a good fighter and a good singer! You shoulda sung to those Zygerrians back on Ord Mantell!" Wrecker said.

Echo was still tongue tied, staring you up and down. Much to his embarrassment, you looked back at him.

"You were, uh, really good out there," He mumbled behind his hand, trying to hide his shocked expression.

You stared down at your feet to try and hide your smile.

"Thanks, Echo."

You shook out your nerves and peered out of the booth.

"We should get going before someone calls the paparazzi."

Hunter chuckled, herding his brothers out of the booth. Thankfully, the hubbub from your earlier performance had died down, allowing all of you to make a hasty exit.

You held Omega's hand as you made your way back to the landing pad. She was asking all sorts of questions about how well you knew how to sing and if you could teach her. You looked around at your team, your band. You couldn't be more grateful to be with them.

"Hey," Echo was looking a little more confident now as he approached you on your other side.

"Hey yourself," You smiled.

Echo looked over his shoulder and off to the side, accidentally bumping into you a couple times.

"What's wrong?" you asked.

"Nothing," Echo said quickly, "Gotta make sure nothing bothers our star singer now, don't I?"

You were surprised by his comment, and strangely touched. Omega kept pulling you along, still talking a mile a minute, so you linked your arm through Echo's, pulling him with you.

"Nothing can bother me with my star ARC trooper around."

Echo stumbled a step or two, but laughed, and the stars above twinkle in delight.

[differenteagletragedy]

You liked the country club. It was pretty there, they had music sometimes, and all the people smiled at you. It was a fun place to be.

Then again, you were three years old, so you were easy to please.

You remembered your moms bringing you along to the club a few times -- they'd put you in nice clothes, you had to do your very best to keep them clean, and they told you to be on your best behavior, too. Sometimes it was a lot of pressure.

So that night, although you had felt excited for the outing, you found yourself wailing in your mommy's arms, completely inconsolable.

Back rubs wouldn't do the trick, your mommy's soft voice in your ear didn't work either. The longer you were upset, the more upset you got. You heard Liz grumble something at her seat across the table, but just as you were gearing up for your loudest scream yet, you felt a hand on your shoulder.

Startled, you scrambled around in your mommy's arms, turning on her lap to see who had touched you. There was a boy, pale with dark hair and little like you.

"Are you ok?" he whispered.

You were trying to figure out if you wanted to go back to crying or say something to the boy in front of you. Before you could say anything, a woman came up and grabbed by the shoulders.

"Come now, Baxter," she said, steering him away from your family. "Mind your manners."

You watched as he was led back to his own table. At one point, he glanced back at you and offered you a small smile.

Suddenly you didn't feel so sad anymore.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If the beaches in Hawaii were any different than the ones back home in Sunset Bird, then you sure couldn't tell. There was water, there was sand, shells and seaweed and crabs. You didn't understand why you had to leave your new best friend, Cove, and travel all that way when you could have done the same things back home.

"Tough luck, kiddo," Mommy told you. "You're only 8, so you're still going to be stuck with us for a while."

Really, you did understand it -- you all flew in to visit your family on Ma's side. You rarely got to see them after they moved away from California, and it made Ma happy to get to spend time with them. It made you happy too, of course, but you couldn't help but sulk a little bit. You didn't know you'd have a best friend when you first heard about the trip.

That day, everyone had decided to make a day out of going to one of the nicer local beaches. There wasn't as many people at this one, your grandfather had explained, mostly just some locals and some visitors from a nearby resort.

You'd been there a few hours when you took it upon yourself to make a sandcastle. Liz wanted to go swimming again and the adults were talking, so you were perfectly content playing by yourself. You were pretty far into the process, working on the sandy little structure with such focus that you didn't notice someone had approached you until they spoke.

"Nice castle."

The boy, tall and thin and maybe a little bit older than you, gave the compliment easily, but you didn't feel like he was being insincere. You felt your chest puff out a bit in pride, telling him, "It's not a big deal, I make these all the time at home."

"No, it's really good," he insisted. "I like your battlements."

"My what?"

He hesitated for a moment, then crouched down beside you. He pointed out all the different parts of the castle, telling you the technical names for them and their purposes.

"You sure know a lot about castles," you told him when he was done, and he laughed.

"You sure know a lot about building them," he replied. He wouldn't meet your eyes after that, and you felt yourself blushing a little. It was uncomfortable, but somehow nice at the same time.

Reaching out to the building tools laid out beside you, you picked up a shovel and held it out to him in a silent invitation to join you. He smiled, but before he was able to take it, someone nearby called out "Baxter!"

Baxter. You were sure you didn't know anyone by that name, but it still itched something in your brain. You tried to place it, why you remembered the name when you were positive you'd never heard it before, but before you could, the boy stood, brushing off his hands.

"I have to go," he said. "Perhaps we can meet up another time."

You hoped he was right.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

13 was a difficult year for you. So many things were changing around you and within you, and you were unsure about so much of it. Everything felt intense and heavy and weird, and it wasn't a good feeling.

But when the boy at the country club soiree asked you to dance, things in your head calmed down, just for a few minutes. But it was enough.

He was beautiful, you thought -- you'd never seen a kid your age look so fancy before. His suit was well tailored, he didn't have one single black hair out of place and when he danced with you, he moved you around so effortlessly. It felt like you were in a movie that you loved but couldn't remember the name of. It felt right.

It was over as soon as it had begun, and before you could do anything, before you could even ask him his name, he'd disappeared back into the crowd.

You knew you'd been prone to dramatics lately, unable to contain all the big feelings that had been raging like a storm inside of you.

Still, this felt like more of a loss than it should have.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I can't believe it."

"Honestly, neither can I. It's quite the strange series of coincidences, isn't it?"

That was an understatement.

You were 18, sitting beside Baxter in the condo he was renting out for the summer. The very first time you'd met -- or met again, as it turned out -- he'd realized that you'd danced together five years earlier at the Summer Soiree. It had taken a little over a month of talking constantly, seeing each other almost every day and getting comfortable enough to tell each other about your lives that you'd realized you'd also met twice before that.

Baxter's memory was incredible, but what was even more extraordinary was the idea that the two of you had been running into each other in five-year increments since you were little kids. The world was so wide and full of so many people, but somehow it had brought you together again and again.

You knew that Baxter was only staying in Sunset Bird temporarily, that he'd be going back to college in Virginia when the summer was over. He'd been very clear about that, that your romantic relationship would just last while he was in town. But that magic of it all had you hoping against hope that maybe this time you could give the universe a break -- maybe you could stick together from here on out.

That all felt like too much to say though, so instead, you joked, "Do you want to go ahead and make plans for Summer 2021, or do you think we should leave it up to fate again?"

A strange expression crossed his face -- you couldn't quite make it out. It was something like pain.

Finally, Baxter said, "Fate's been kind enough to us for the past 15 years, hasn't it? Suppose we give it one more try."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

As they say, the third time's the charm.

When you met Baxter on the beach in Hawaii when you were 8, you didn't realize then that he was the boy who showed you kindness in the middle of a meltdown at the country club five years before. And when you danced at that same country club when you were 13, you weren't able to put things again then, either.

When you dated at 18 for a brief, beautiful summer, you'd almost made it -- you felt it then. The two of you had fallen in love, you'd both felt the same pull towards each other, but he wasn't ready.

Another five years had to pass, another chance meeting had to come about. This time, fate pulled him to you with him kicking and screaming and fighting against it, sure he didn't deserve it, but it pulled him just the same.

And now, as you watched him sleeping beside you in your shared bed in your shared home, you smiled knowing that you could finally give fate a rest.

There was just a few minutes left until your alarm was set to go off. You briefly considered closing your eyes for a little bit longer, pulling him against you and soaking in his warmth before you had to get up for the day, but as your eyes adjusted to the first bits of sunlight streaming into the room, you saw his pretty bare back facing you.

His skin was milky white and dotted with delicate little beauty marks -- a few on his shoulders, a couple down just above his waist line and some in between. You took a finger and started tracing along his back, going from one mole to the next, connecting the dots. They could be constellations. Your favorite galaxy.

"What are you doing?" Baxter asked, his voice groggy.

"Just thinking about how much I love you," you answered.

It took him a couple of tries, his gracefulness nonexistent in the mornings, but eventually he managed to capture your hand as it moved along his waist. He gently pulled you down and against him so that you were holding him from behind, squeezing your hand as he held it against his chest.

"It's time to wake up soon," you told him, placing a kiss on the back of his neck.

He groaned and scooted himself closer against you.

"Can I ask you something?"

Baxter groaned again, but you started planting kisses along his shoulder to placate him. When you felt him settle into the feeling, a few lighter, airier breaths telling you that he was waking up, you said, "What do you think we'll be doing five years from now?"

He let out a sleepy little laugh, then turned so that he could look at you. There was a little drool dried on the corner of his mouth, his hair was sticking up everywhere, but he was beautiful, and he was yours.

He didn't reply at first, instead taking your hand that he still held and moving it closer to his face. You watched as he gently stroked your palm, then each finger, one by one. He stopped on your ring finger -- the ring finger on your left hand -- and began tracing little circles around the base of it.

"Hmm," he said, lifting your hand to place a kiss in the same spot. "I wonder?"

[crazylittlejester]

Wait so is your modern au Sky also epileptic? (Sorry if this has been answered before XD) And if so, what kind and how do his symptoms manifest? (Full permission to yap ! I'm invested in this au /gen)

No worries! I honestly can't remember if I've talked about it or not for this au, but yes my modern au Sky has epilepsy too :)

(sorry this is a bigger yap than i intended it to be aljdlsljdld, you awakened my inner yapper. also my bad for typos if there are any)

The meds he takes to help stop him from having seizures so frequently (they don't stop them completely) make him pretty tired, he doesn't have as much energy as his friends and this makes him upset a lot of the time because he's had to sit out on a few activities. He also has to make sure he gets enough sleep and doesn't stay up too late or he'll risk triggering a seizure, so he can't stay up with Twi and Wars and sometimes it's hard for him to not feel like he HAS to exclude himself. Twi and Wars are both incredibly understanding, especially since they've known him for so long and have listened to him rant and tried to help as best as they could, but sometimes it's just exhausting for Sky to argue with HIMSELF. He knows his friends aren't excluding him and go out of their way to make sure he can join them, but he gets a little jealous when he has to go to bed and can still hear the TV on in the living room (and this is also why he can get a little snappy when Twi and Wars want to play video games all afternoon. It's not their fault and Sky feels bad for getting upset about it, but he PHYSICALLY cannot play with them, he can't share that with them, and he can only handle watching them for a little bit before he has to stop watching the screen. Twi and Wars don't have a whole lot of time they can play together because Wars is so busy and has like no free time, but they REALLY try to only play if Sky is out at work or actively asleep because they wanna spend time with him too)

One of the most outwardly noticeable signs he's about to have a seizure is that he'll get a bit of an energy boost and act a little hyper for HIM, which can sometimes be hard for friends to notice because when he's hyper his energy level basically just goes up to 'average young adult with unmedicated adhd', which is like half his friend group so he's just acting like the rest of them. Sometimes they don't notice because Sky suddenly being a little more energetic fuels the group's chaoticnes and they just rile each other up [This is EXACTLY what happened in Secrets (Un)known, which isn't a fic for this au but it was the first fic I wrote specifically about Sky having a seizure and just a good example of the situation I'm trying to describe aldjhkd] Things right before that SKY will notice include things like getting super anxious and suddenly feeling really heavy and like everything is slowing down. He'll also feel nauseous and like he's overheating.

His meds can also make it hard for him to focus and when he first started taking the ones he's currently on they'd give him headaches, though he doesn't really get headaches from them anymore, which he's super thankful for because the migraine auras he'd get would feel similar enough to seizure auras that he'd end up working himself into a panic attack thinking he was about to have a seizure, or, on the flip side, he'd tell himself it was just a migraine and then try to push through what ended up being a seizure

He can't drive, which has really affected his mental health because he gets frustrated that he can't be seizure free long enough to be able to learn how and he's got to rely on his friends to drive him places (granted he does live in a city, which is where both his job and college campus is, but sometimes the weather is bad and it just isn't walkable, or he has to go to an appointment which is a bit further away). The entire reason he's an english lit major who plans to become a teacher is because school was SUCH a struggle for him, between being unable to focus and having seizures and then missing school because he was simply unable to go, and because his grades were sometimes poor his teachers and the education system would make him feel stupid and it frustrated him to NO end. He'd get called sleepy and lazy, and 'no wonder he failed he doesn't pay attention in class' so he became HELL BENT on not letting another generation of kids with disabilities suffer like that. He's not stupid at all, he's so so smart and he has so much to say about the books he loves, and he wants to be able to help at least ONE kid who was taught to think they were just stupid realize no, their brain is just a little different. (Wars also played a part in this. He has unmedicated ADHD and couldn't pay attention well in class back in high school and his grades suffered a bit and he genuinely thought he was just stupid because the teachers would make fun of him and tell him he needed to spend less time thinking about his appearance and more time paying attention, and Sky got so genuinely fucking mad that Wars to this DAY believes he's just a pretty face that he snapped a bit and decided he was going to take his passion for literature and helping people and channel it into becoming an english teacher)

At THIS point, Sky's meds are helping ENOUGH that he won't stop taking them but he can't increase the dose to help more because of the side effects. He has focal impaired awareness seizures most commonly, which looks to the outside person like he's just zoned out. He'll usually blink quickly or sometimes his hand will twitch for about a minute and then he'll be a bit confused for a little afterwards, and it can sometimes be hard for him to talk immediately after. If he's really stressed out he can have a couple of those a week, but usually he'll have like 3-7 per month (though sometimes it can be more than that). It's RARE he makes it through a week without having a seizure at all

The main reason he's worried about changing his medication is because this current one has really decreased the number of big, dropping to the ground convulsing seizures he has per year, and he's scared to start trying other things because he doesn't want to risk those becoming more frequent. When he was younger he'd have several tonic clonic seizures per week, and now he'll get them like once-ish per month (again it depends on stress, sleep, and making sure he avoids flashing lights or fast moving videos. sometimes they'll happen more than once a month, sometimes he'll make it a full month without having one (and then get a little anxious about it))

Wars and Twi have kind of mastered the very fine line between taking care of Sky and pissing him off, because they're well aware Sky doesn't need their help with anything and if he does he'll ask for it, but sometimes when they notice him getting a bit worked up over something (like a school assignment or exams) and they've had to get really creative about helping distract him and calm him down without making Sky paranoid they're treating him like a ticking time bomb. They do not baby him, they do not treat him like he's about to explode, but Sky went through grade school and teachers who've all seen him start to get stressed and gone "Why don't we take some deep breaths?" in a SUPER condescending way, so it's become a bit of an instinct to lash out if he feels like he's being treated differently. The little things Wars and Twi do to help him just take a deep breath and relax a little are the same things they'll do to each other or any of their other friends when they get stressed, like make him some tea or offer to help him study by asking questions so he can see if he remembers the answer. They'll just get his dinner for him so he doesn't have to worry about it or get him a little treat at the store, sometimes Wars will literally just use a laser pointer to send one of his cats into Sky's room

He's been looking into seizure alert dogs, because he thinks one could be really useful and help him feel a little more independent and also help with his stress, but they're expensive and he lives in an apartment, so he's hesitant to get one

(full disclosure, I myself do not have epilepsy but a close friend of mine does and I've talked with her as well as someone who has a family member who experiences seizures and I've done a TON of research, however that does NOT make me an expert and if i do make any mistakes i would greatly appreciate kind corrections. representation is important to me, and i don't want to accidentally spread misinformation)