#if this feels weird blame that. i just needed something to put my brain at ease before sleep

[icewindandboringhorror]

I occasionally wish to reach out to old friends/acquaintances I haven't spoken to since high school/some other even earlier time in my life, but I have SOOO little social energy even for required tasks (like making dr phone calls or etc), I never have any leftover for extra ones, and it would be very odd to message someone I haven't spoken to in like 5 years out of the blue but then take 4 entire months to respond back lol.. My natural curiosity with nostalgia/collecting details of the past/etc. (literally if I were born a little earlier I would definitely do scrapbooking or something lol) is very strong, but, alas, not strong enough to beat out the Social Issues Demons apparently

[ariquar]

“Keep the turns gentle, and no aerial maneuvers,” Ariquar says for what feels like the seventeenth time since he's called the dragon before him into the temple gardens. Belqoriik’s white wings shuffle as he keeps his neck low to the ground so Ariquar can reach around him. He turns one large, sky-blue eye to Ariquar and the human apprentice beside him. He's young, red-haired and freckled, hair pulled back with a strap of cloth around his forehead. He's obviously nervous, but hiding it with the way he's clenching his fists at his sides.

“I will not drop the hatchling, Dovahkiin. I have not dropped you, geh?” The dragon’s lips curl upward, almost as though he's smiling.

“You have not,” Ariquar agrees, pulling one of the saddle straps tighter. Belqoriik only shifts to aid in the adjustment, pulling his neck slightly away. Once the strap is tightened, Ariquar shows the human man to the stirrup, continuing his conversation from before. “But I have more experience riding on your kind, saddled and unsaddled.”

“Hm.” Belqoriik turns now, making sure his neck is straight and even so the human can find his place. Ariquar helps in that, showing him where to latch himself in.

“Think you're ready, Orrin?” Ariquar asks. Orrin — that's the human’s name, Belqoriik remembers — nods once, his hands gripping the handle of the saddle.

The design was the result of Ariquar and the dragons working together to find something comfortable for both the rider and the dragon — long leather straps wrap around the neck and chest, secured over the shoulder of the wings. The seat rests at the base of the neck, rather than near the head, and only the dragons who either bear short spines or were willing to have them modified have been fitted for saddles.

Orrin settles in lower. Belqoriik thinks about jokingly shaking him just to see his reaction, but decides not to once he feels just how nervous the poor boy is. His legs are anxiously tapping his sides, and Belqoriik hums low in his chest to calm him.

“Drem, youngling. I will not drop you. Your kinbok would have my head if I did.”

“It is something truly unprecedented, to fly. For humans.” Orrin says. His voice is low, and Belqoriik thinks that he may be controlling his volume so Ariquar doesn't hear.

“Humans are not built for flight. But neither are elves, and your kinbok handles it quite well.” Belqoriik says. He takes a step forward. Orrin grips the saddle tighter.

“He's got the soul of one of you, though.” Orrin says. Belqoriik laughs, a rumbling, crackling noise like ice breaking near the Windhelm docks.

“That does nothing for his body. He is as fragile as you, when it comes to this.”

Orrin seems to relax at that. But still his grip is strong, holding on while Belqoriik begins to move forward in earnest toward the newly-constructed flight platform of the temple gardens. It juts out to serve as a place for dragons to pick up speed before taking off — nearby there are also newly built perches of sorts, hewn from metal and stone. Orrin gets one good look at one of the dragons perched, watching — and then he's shaken from the view as Belqoriik jumps, wings spread to glide downward. The dive is faster than Orrin expected, whipping his hair back and pressing his heavy coat to his body, and then —

Belqoriik flaps his wings, and it feels as though Orrin is being tossed for a moment before he gets his bearings. After several more flaps of his wings, Orrin seems to catch the rhythm of it and braces for each movement. Belqoriik arcs his neck just so to get a glance in Orrin’s direction, then he tilts his wings to turn in the air.

Down below, the sprawling camp of the reachfolk looks miniscule. Orrin looks over the other side of Belqoriik’s body, taking in the long, winding rivers and open wildlands.

He's seen so much of Skyrim, but it’s never been put in this sort of perspective. It looks small in a strange way, yet vast in another that he can't quite comprehend.

“Settled?” Belqoriik asks. The wind is loud enough that Orrin isn't sure his voice will be heard over it, but he tries to reply, shouting in the affirmative.

Belqoriik tilts a wing again, turning into a slow descending circle. A slow and easy way to get the human on his back more accustomed to flight, rather than taking him up into the clouds and the chilling, biting air there. Perhaps he will convince Ariquar to allow him to fly this human further out, into the hills and valleys across Skyrim.

(It is a strange thing to want company. Even stranger to want it in the form of mortals — though, Belqoriik, like all of the dragons staying under Ariquar’s banner, have found that mortals make such interesting conversation despite their short lives. Or, perhaps, because of that very reason.)

Their flight lasts only as long as it takes for the sky to become clouded. Before the weather can turn wet and cold, Belqoriik flies them back to the temple, where he lands in the gentlest way he can muster. Humans and mortals are all so fragile.

Orrin undoes the saddle straps, climbing down onto the solid ground once more. Ariquar is there to greet him, steadying him with both hands.

“How did it go?” Ariquar asks.

Orrin runs his fingers through his own hair. It's gotten tangled from the wind — he'll braid it before the next time.

Next time?

“It went well.” Belqoriik says. “Your youngling-apprentice settled into flight quite easily.”

“Is that so,” Ariquar says, rubbing his bearded chin with one hand. Something in his eyes tells Orrin that he's planning something. Orrin says nothing in response, only holding onto the hope that he'll be chosen for the next flight.

Belqoriik reaches out with his long snout — white-scaled, nearly pearlescent on sunny days — and taps Orrin in the back just as he and Ariquar turn to head back into the temple walls.

“You have bravery, to fly such heights.” He says, and Orrin seems taken aback.

“Thank you?” He says sheepishly, and Belqoriik grins at him, all of his dagger-sized teeth on full display.

“When the weather is warmer and you will not freeze to death, I will take you into the skies once more. Higher, then, so you can truly see what you mortals have never been able to.” He nudges Orrin again, who now reaches out and puts a hand on the end of his snout.

“I will look forward to it. And I will be less terrified.”

[yanderenightmare]

Reo Mikage & Nagi Seishiro

♡ TW: nsfw, doubt, misunderstanding

♡ FEM reader

Thinking about how, drunk one night after partying with some of your boyfriend Reo’s teammates and watching him and Nagi sing one too many karaoke songs in each other’s arms, you make a dumb joke about how if they wanted to fuck, you’d be down to watch.

He doesn’t answer, and your eyes are already closed, ready to fall asleep, so you don’t see the look he gives you—peeled eyes already picturing it.

You think nothing of it when he rolls over you a few moments later, feeling hornier than usual. You’re too drunk and tired to put much effort back into it, but Reo doesn’t seem to mind—holding you close while panting at your ear, being clingier than usual. You just blame it on the drink.

Nagi’s Reo’s best friend and roommate, so it’s not strange for them to be close. Nor is it strange for the three of you to hang out, either. It’s just… somehow, the vibe feels a little weird after that night. You’re not sure why, but every time you come over, it’s as if there’s this expectation in the air, as if they’re waiting for something.

The three of you are drinking one night not long after. And that odd feeling you’d been feeling lately quickly disappears along with the first few cans of beer. Everything feels normal. The three of you watch a movie, talk a bit, and have a few laughs, and after switching to something stronger, you all end up sitting on the floor, passing the last of the bottle around like college kids. Good ol’ times.

And then Nagi kisses you.

“What the fuck?”

You jolt back, and the empty bottle rolls across the floor.

There’s a standstill as you ask yourself what just happened, believing the question is more than clearly expressed on your face. But, instead of apologizing or explaining himself, Nagi just looks at Reo, causing you to look at him as well. And that strange feeling reappears—the one that tells you there’s something you’re missing.

“What’s going on?” you decide to break the silence since neither of them was bothering to clue you in, keeping your eyes trained on Reo, giving him a glare, demanding he explain himself.

His voice is low, a little embarrassed perhaps, and a little suggestive in the way he speaks as if hoping you’d take his meaning without further clarification, “You said you wouldn’t mind if Seishi joined us...” 

It completely stunts you, head entirely blank for a second or a few until it settles, and you backtrack to that night a week ago. 

“What?” You shake your head with an off-put and perplexed grimace. “That was a joke!”

You sit there then, feeling weird all over—seeing only one conclusion after wracking your brain.

“Oh my god!” you exclaim and get up in a hurry. “I can’t believe this—if the two of you want to fuck, get your butts out of the closet and do it already!” You storm off, flushed and mortified beyond repair, muttering loudly, “Can’t believe you’re dragging me into this. I’m going home. Never call me.”

You’re stopped before you get very far. Reo’s hand around your upper arm is not too hard but enough to make you halt despite your determined stomping. Needing to get out of there quick before the tears could come—you can’t believe you’ve been someone's beard all this time. Can’t believe he’d string you along like this, use you, and you actually thought you loved–

“You got it all wrong,” he insists, pulling you back to look at him. “It’s not Seishi and me.”

“I mean, how would we? We’re both tops,” Nagi adds, only a step behind.

You bite your lip. So confused you’re sputtering when you ask, “What then? So, you want a threesome? Is that what this is about?”

Reo laughs nervously—something he never does—saying, “Not exactly...” 

You can’t say he’s being of much help. “Then what?”

“Y’know…” 

He’s blushing profusely in a manner you’ve never before seen. 

He can’t even look at you as he bows down and whispers in your ear,  “I want to watch.”

♡ MISCELLANEOUS masterlist

[gaintsnowflake]

❆ UNTIL THE EVEVATORE CHIMED (part two)

PAIRING : dick grayson x fem!reader

ONESHOT : you try to manage your feelings when your boyfriend doesn't remember

WARNINGS : angst. pure angst. heavy loads of grief. mentions of death, test, and memory loss

A/N : im not actually that happy with this part two, but at the same time i need some comfort in my hurt....

part one | masterlist

      THE MORNING AFTER Dick appeared, alive, was nothing you expected. It was quiet, not silent, but quiet enough for you to hear the people on the street and the hum of the air conditioning. 

     You hadn’t let him sleep in your bed. Not yet. He was still a stranger, wearing the skin of someone you loved. A man who used to fall asleep tangled in your limbs like ivy, now resting stiffly on your couch as if the cushions might reject him too. 

     That was, until 2 a.m. Until the nightmares hit— your name falling from his lips like a cry in the dark.  Suddenly you were wrapped in his arms again. His body moving on instinct. Yours doing the same. Holding you just the way he used to when he’d come home from a bad patrol.

      Soon enough, the sun crept through the blinds of the living room like a poorly kept secret. Hovering over the two of you in enough light that you seemed to forget this was technically a stranger, cuddling you in your lover's skin.

      “Good morning, pretty boy,” you said, before the words could filter through your shame. You pulled back fast, like your mouth had betrayed you. “Sorry— I didn’t mean…”

      And that start to made for an awfully weird day between the two of you. The silence wasn't welcoming. It wasn’t the kind you would share as lovers, not the peace after the storm. It was heavy, laced with too much unsaid and too many versions of him you weren’t sure existed anymore. Avoiding each other's pitiful stares seemed to become a dance in the hours before you made breakfast.

      For breakfast, you made sure to be soft with every movement as you placed a bowl of his favorite off brand cereal down in front of him at the table. Before realizing he sat in his exact seat, it must have been instinct.

     “You used to love this brand, swore by it,” you couldn’t help but laugh a bit, the feeling of uncertainty hitting your stomach. A shake in your hand as you watched him take the first bite. 

     “I can tell why,” he says. “Thank you!”

      Two words. And they broke you.

      “Of course.”

      You smiled, blinking too fast, trying to hide the tears. You weren’t sure if he saw them. Maybe it didn’t matter. 

      The silence that followed wasn’t painful this time. More like a mutual understanding. Something old trying to find a heartbeat again.

     “I called Bruce,” you finally said, watching how the name landed. It didn’t. “He’s your adoptive father. He wants us at the manor. They’re going to run some tests. Try to… help.”

     “Test?” His brow furrowed like a child trying to solve a math problem.

     “Just standard things like a brain scan and some questions, shouldn’t be painful,” your smile wavers slightly as you lightly lie. You in truth have no idea what they might put Dick through. “We could head over after breakfast?”

     “Sounds great! Are we taking… the dog?” The name of Haley was on the tip of his tongue, yet he couldn’t seem to remember. Concern seemed to wash over you again, if he couldn’t remember Haley, the dog he basically acts like he personally birthed, how far gone was he?

    “Yeah, Haley can come, I’m sure she will have fun with Titus, or any of your brother's pets really..” 

    “I have a brother?” 

     You felt yet another pang in your chest. The feeling of pieces being taken away from your heart. And you may never know if you would get them back. Yet you had to pretend that you weren’t fading away every time he didn’t remember. Because if you didn’t you knew he’d feel guilt. As if it was his fault. But how can you blame the man who can barely remember his own name.

    “A few, all adopted,” You whispered, as if they’d forgotten about him too. 

    “What are they like? Am I close to them?” 

    “You have a lot of adopted family, or at least somewhat adopted, you're closer with Jason, Tim, Damian,  and your ex, Barabra who is also kinda like your sister now, it's complicated,” You sighed and pinched your nose bridge trying to explain the family that took months for you to fully understand the dynamics of, “But, out of the people who will be there it most likely be Jason, Tim, Damian, Barabra, Steph, and then maybe Cass and Duke, and then Alfred your butler who you love greatly and is basically your grandfather.”

    “Wait, slow down, I’m confused…” Though his brows furrowed, he felt a sense of familiarity in the names. He knew them all, even if he didn’t exactly know.

    It only got worse when you arrived. The manor felt colder than usual. They welcomed him with small gestures, as confusion seemed to take over his face. They all looked similar enough to cause confusion when approaching one another, even confusing Bruce for Jason was a new low. 

    None of the brooding blokes willingly expressed their sorrows but it was obvious with how they rarely removed him from their sightlines, even Damian said, “You cannot do this to us again, Grayson.” Which, in evil demon child words, showed how truly scared he was for his brother.

    When the time they took him away from you came, they led him to the depths of the cave to attempt all kinds of things, he only glanced back to give an awkward but comforting smile. Leaving you a broken mess. 

    Doubts seemed to cause you to double over as sorry sobs came out of your body. You were left to mourn your lover for a second time. But instead of burying him, it was feared he may never know you again. 

   The sobs were loud, sudden, and uninvited. You didn’t cry pretty. Not anymore. Not for this. And before you knew, you ended up in his old room, staring at posters from a circus that didn’t exist anymore. Trinkets half-dusted. Memories that wouldn’t stop knocking.

   You didn’t even hear him come in. Too large to be Dick. Too familiar to be anyone else. Jason sat beside you, his voice breaking just enough to let you know he understood.

    “How are you holding up?” he asked.

    “I’m worried,” you said.

    Jason gave a ghost of a smile. “What if he forgets I tried to kill him once?”

    “You’d never win.”

    “Damn straight,” he muttered.

    The silence sat between you again. Not harsh. Just… grieving.

    Then he asked the question no one else had dared.

    “But how are you?”

    And this time, you didn’t dodge it.

    “Scared,” you whispered. “If he doesn’t remember... The man I love is gone. The one I wanted to marry. I’ll have to watch him rebuild, and maybe I won’t be part of it. Maybe I’ll just be the girl who reminds him of a life he doesn’t want anymore.”

     Jason didn’t speak.

     He didn’t need to.

     And then, like the universe had mercy— a hand touched your shoulder. Familiar. Gentle.

    “I don’t know who I am,” a voice said behind you. “But something in me still knows who you are.”

     You turned.

     His eyes weren’t just blue. They were your sky, the air you breathe.

     “If I fell for you once, what’s stopping me from doing it AGAIN?”

[oddballwriter]

Just a Bite:

BBQ ENA &/X Vampire-inspired!reader

Summary: ENA with a Vampire-inspired entity!reader (platonic or romantic)

Warnings: Can be read as platonic or romantic if you want. Reader and ENA are referred to as friends but they can be “friends” if you want to go the romantic route. Cannibalism- Reader has to eat different forms of “life” it live and ENA lets her eat her limbs. Mentions that ENA lets reader eat her limbs so that reader will stay her friend. ENA being self- destructive to please people (reader) despite the fact that it’s implied that it causes her issues and impairments. Reader feeling bad and setting boundaries for ENA. I really don’t know how to describe this fucking shit. Just read it. It’s less weird, or maybe even more weird, idk it’s late as fuck and I got vampire brain worms. Let me know if I should tag anything. Cause I probably should.

Author’s Snip: I don’t know. I was possessed by my vampire brain worms and it’s hella late and I got morning classes tomorrow babes. These melatonin gummies got me just making shit. I’m either COOKING or I’m burning down the fucking kitchen. Either way bone apple teeth.

Notes: Idk reader discretion advised or whatever. Not too sure if this is a dead dove. Let me know if you want more of whatever this is.

I’ll shut up now. Enjoy! And don’t be afraid to request.

Being a digital vampire was interesting. In simple words, you needed to consume other beings’ essence of life or something with it. Like source code or even a piece of their body if you can get a piece. Granted, no one wants the essences of their life to be eaten, but you gotta live too. It’s not really your fault that your code is unstable and need to parasite off of others or else you’ll crash and essentially die

It’s hard making friends though. Everyone always thinks that you’re trying to feed off them, but your need for more sustenance is never-ending and never satisfied. It’s a bit annoying but you don’t blame them. But that left you having to eat the source codes of mannequins, which weren’t all that rich in “the good stuff” as you put it.

It just sucks that people always think you know Dratula even though he’s not really a vampire no matter how hard he tries to sell it

You weren’t sure what called you towards ENA. Her two contrasting personalities that would go back and forth. The way she carried herself? The fact that everyone seemed to shun her too? She just seemed interesting to you.

Her salesperson side was very polite and almost flattering to you. Offering you an appealing sounding product and deal the was most likely just a prism scheme that was well worded. Her meanie side was more rude, but entertaining to you

You sort of just followed her around as she did ‘jobs’ and tried to find the genies of the doors or some other task that she needed to do. You don’t think she really knew what you were and just thought that people were trying to mess with her and also insulting you when they said that you were bad news. It wasn’t until she accidentally got someone killed (think Hoarder Alex) and you decided to have your fill with a loose limb while they were still “fresh”. That honestly freaked her out a bit. You think she actually buffered because the grin of her red side was wiped clean off with a face of pure shock. You feared that you had finally scared away someone you would have considered a friend, and maybe she did think of running for a second. But instead she just tried to go back to her normal self and sort of just avoid to subject, but her meanie side jumped in and just shouted “What the fuck was that?!”

You explained, sort of. Just the basics, you need to leech off of others to live.

All she asked was if you were going to do that to her, to which you said that you don’t want to nor plan to. She just said “Alright.” before she just went back to her salesperson side and continued on, beckoning for you to join in, grinning while saying “We can work over contracts and terms and conditions on a later date. We have more business to attend to.”

You had no clue what she meant by that and was a bit confused about how her Meanie said for the most part talked to you very… she wasn’t yelling or demanding answers. She just asked if you were going to or wanted to eat her source code in an way that seems like concern, confusion, and maybe a bit of intrigue

You both never talked about it again. She’d semi turn a blind eye when you’d take a bite out of a mannequin or something small and insignificant. She only ever asked “How often must this task be fulfilled? What is our quota?” (Asking how often you need to eat) You told her that you just try and get by until you need to feed from something again and that you just eat whatever you can get away with. She just responded with “hmm” and carried on

She’s seen you scrap for anything. A whole mannequin. A pet. One of Cain’s coins. A piece of Coral Glasses’ papers (it didn’t do anything, it was just paper). A leg you yanked out of the blood ocean and had to fight in order to get a proper bite. You tried to take a bite out of a blob person. That didn’t go too well… you didn’t like the taste. And each time ENA just… watched, almost like observing what counts as sustenance for you. Why? You didn’t really know until later.

You’ve seen her ‘die’ a few times and then return in the place of a mannequin. She comes back perfectly fine each time. She could lose her limbs and then she just gets them all back when she comes back around.

You thought about eating one of her limbs when she ‘dies’, but that was crossing a line for you. She was your friend. You don’t eat your friends. Even if she’d be such a good source of code to eat and would sustain you so well compared to all the scraps you eat. But you had to refrain

But one day, you’d gone so long with nothing. The hunger you had wanted something “good”, a real source, not scraps. You tried, you ate, and ate, and ate. You ate all the mannequins you could chase down but they did nothing. You were desperate. Wanting to eat anything and anyone. But you wouldn’t dare be bold enough to just go on a frenzy.

That’s when ENA popped off one of her arms and gave it to you. You heard her meanie side say something about eating it if you’re “that damn hungry” and you didn’t hesitate. You didn’t even realize that she gave you the other one and you ate that up too. It wasn’t until you snapped out of it and looked up seeing her armless that you realized what you’ve done. You apologized but she won’t take it. She just regenerates herself new ones when she dies and comes back and tells you to take whatever you want next time.

And you do

You feel bad though. Awful even.

Yeah, you’d take from random people when go had the chance, and ENA was willingly giving herself for you to eat, and she said that you can take a piece whenever you wanted. But it just felt wrong. Like you were taking advantage of her like everyone else does.

Except instead of taking advantage of the people pleasing part of her business side by giving her a task, you were literally taking parts of her that she wasn’t going to get back unless she came back through a mannequin and settling for using whatever she had left of her till then

Eventually you set a boundary for her despite her insisting that she’s happy to give you everything regardless of the price on her end, even calling it a “Great exchange for your loyal companionship.”. Which just made you feel bad since you’ve been around her long enough to know that it meant that she saw you taking as much as you wanted of her in exchange for you sticking around her.

Anyways. You settled on just taking one, ONE, of the fingers from her clawed hand. Always the middle, so that she can still hold her megaphone in that hand and avoid another incident she had once with a person that made her meanie side come out and a very specific finger. It was enough to sustain you between regenerations since ENA is a bit clumsy sometimes and has to come back quite a bit.

[dancethroughthethunder]

Been There, Done That

Pairing: Joel Miller x Reader

Word Count: 7.6k

Summary: The residents of Jackson keep trying to tell Tommy they think there’s something going on with you and Joel but he’s not buying it. Tommy doesn’t blame them, he spent over two decades trying to get the two of you to admit your feelings for each other, and that was before the outbreak.

Author’s Note: My first ever Joel fic. This one has bounced around in my brain for quite a while, and I really have to thank the very kind commenter on my WIP list (not sure if they want to be tagged so I won't) whose kind words encouraged me to wrap and post this. My sweet, soft Joel Miller and a mischievous cast of folks in Jackson. This work can also be found here at my ao3. I hope you enjoy! Divider below credit to @saradika-graphics :)

You’re out on patrol with Joel, Jesse, and Cat walking through Teton Village. In a mile or so you’ll split off with Cat to the west while Jesse and Joel go east. For now, you’re all walking alongside your horses, giving them a chance to rest before riding ahead further. Cat is in the lead with you and Jesse in the middle, and Joel bringing up the rear just a few steps behind you. 

Compared to you and Joel, Jesse and Cat are still newer to patrolling but they’re no longer considered in training. Still, Jesse can’t help but to glance over at the two of you every now and then, making sure to follow your lead, while still maintaining an active view of his surroundings. He’s trained and patrolled with Joel enough to know just how good his situational awareness is, and how it puts him a step ahead of some of the other patrolmen.

Luckily, it’s been an easy patrol so far – there’s been no signs of infected or other people, and yesterday’s patrol didn’t turn anything up either though. two days ago someone noted some tracks. Your guards are still up, but you’re able to chat while you’re going, there’s no need for complete stealth and silence right now.

“So, Jesse, how’s Dina?” Rolling his eyes, he knows even before he turns to look at you that you’ve got a shit-eating grin. 

“I’m pretty sure you know as well as I do since you ate breakfast with her right before we left.” It’s all good natured as Jesse tries to deflect away from what you’re really asking.

“Oh, I’m not sure I know her as well as you do.” You joke.

“Alright, give the kid a break.” Before Jesse has a chance to reply, Joel catches up to you and takes your hand in his. At first, Jesse thinks that maybe Joel is trying to get your attention, or lead you somewhere but he’s shocked when he realizes that he’s just walking alongside you, his hand in yours.

He’s trying not to stare but it shocks him. Joel’s not exactly the affectionate type, but here he is with his left hand in your right, like it’s something he does every day. Neither of you seem bothered by it, and Jesse doesn’t want to make it weird so he just offers Joel an amused “thank you” for stopping your line of thought and keeps walking. 

About half a mile later, when you pass the library, you make a big show of wanting to go inside and grab a book.

“I don’t think so.” Joel interrupts.

“Oh come on, the weight of one book won’t make or break me.” You look up at Joel with a look as sweet as honey.

It’s clear you’ve had this conversation before as Joel as he fixes you with a look but doesn’t say anything. You both continue walking, it’s clear that if you really wanted to take off towards the library, you could, and it’s equally clear that Joel could tug you away if he wanted. But neither of you do. It’s a practiced song and dance between you two and Jesse watches as a smile starts to break through Joel’s attempt at looking stern.

“I’ll stop on our way back.” 

“I figured you would.” Joel says, and it’s the softest Jesse’s ever heard him sound. “Cat, don’t let her grab more than two, y’hear?” 

Cat just silently nods at the direction, and when you lock eyes with Jesse, you’ve got a mischievous look in your eyes. Jesse makes a mental note to check later – he’s almost sure that look means you’ll be returning with no fewer than three books. (You come back with five.)

Not long after that, you and Cat prepare to part ways with the guys. Jesse’s not sure when you and Joel stopped holding hands, but then again after the initial shock, it did sort of make sense for him too. He’s always assumed there was something going on with you two even though you’ve always sworn you were just friends. Hell, he’s even talked about it with Tommy. He’s looking forward to telling him this latest update later. 

“Alright, watch each others’ backs. Just because we haven’t seen anything come from those tracks doesn’t mean there’s nothing out there.” Joel tells you and Cat.

“I know. You do the same.” 

You and Joel exchange a quick nod, and Jesse does the same with Cat. Then you split one way while he and Joel go the other way. They don’t see you for the rest of the afternoon, but that’s expected with the way your routes diverge. Aside from one clicker that Joel takes out, it’s an incredibly calm patrol. 

As they enter the gates, Joel offers to sign Jesse’s gun back in with his own and take the horses. Jesse hands the gun and reins over before heading to Tommy’s office. It’s partly a chance to update him on how patrol went, but it’s mostly a chance to gossip while Tommy takes a look at some blueprints he’s been working on with Joel.

“So how was patrol?” Tommy asks after a few minutes of idle gossip, turning his focus back to his work. 

“Good, we followed up on those tracks that were spotted the other day, found one lone infected that Joel took out. Other than that, nothing out of the norm.” Jesse subconsciously stands a little straighter as he delivers this mini-report, his mind in business mode. 

Tommy doesn’t have much more to ask, he’ll get any details from Joel later and he trusts that if there’s anything to know immediately, one of the four of you would have already told him. Jesse’s a good kid and good on patrol, if he says it was all good, it was. So Tommy just nods and hums his approval.

“Tommy, they were holding hands.” Jesse says, sitting down and finally dropping what he thinks is going to be the biggest piece of gossip of the day.

Tommy doesn’t even bother looking up, “Were they near the old library?” 

“Well yeah, how’d you know?” Jesse’s eyes widen with surprise. How could Tommy possibly know that? 

“She’s always been a big reader, kid. Back in the day they’d go to the mall with Sarah, and Joel would have to practically drag her away from the bookstore before she could buy everything. Now it’s as much an old habit as it is practical. She can only carry so many books back on patrol.” 

“I’m telling you,” Jesse shakes his head, “they kept holding hands after they had walked past.”

“Joel was probably giving her shit about her running back to the library, and she was probably giving it right back about being tempted to do it.” Tommy shrugs. 

“Alright, if you say so.” Jesse wants to argue that he knows what he saw, how the two of you looked, but he gives up. Tommy’s just as stubborn as Joel and it’s easier to let it go. 

“Trust me, kid. They’ve been like this for decades. You’re not the first person to tell me you think something is up with them. I spent years thinking the same thing. But on a more interesting note, what’s this I hear about you and Dina getting back together again?” Tommy smirks, finally looking up right at Jesse.

“How the fuck could you possibly know that already? How does everyone know?” Jesse sighs exasperatedly while Tommy laughs. 

The two men spend the next hour together, talking and working as Tommy starts walking Jesse through what he’s been doing. Jesse is focused on the work but at the back of his mind, he’s still considering what he saw on patrol. The instinctive way that Joel grabbed your hand, the way it didn’t even phase you.

Sure, you were near the old library and you did joke about getting books but you didn’t look like you were trying to head there, and it didn’t look like Joel was trying to lead you anywhere, he was just trying to be with you. Frankly, it was quite a sight: big, bad Joel Miller, strapped with at least four weapons, eyes constantly scanning his surroundings and one hand softly holding onto you. What kind of trust that must entail to tie one hand to yours, knowing that’s a few extra seconds before it could reach for a weapon. Jesse loves Dina, he really does, but he’s not sure that he’d hold her hand on patrol. Not when it could be by his side, ready for action.

But, he figures, you and Joel are old hat at patrolling together. Everyone knows that you and Joel have been best friends since way before the outbreak, back to your school days. He’s seen the way you two move as one, so maybe those few seconds aren’t as concerning, as necessary. Maybe it’s an old habit, of a friendship from a lifetime ago. Besides, Tommy’s known you his whole life, has had decades of seeing you two together. Maybe he’s right, but if he isn’t, Jesse won’t wait to say I told you so. 

Just like he told Jesse, Tommy is so used to having to tell people no, you and Joel aren’t an item that he doesn’t even think to mention it to anyone. It’s old news, not even worth a mention to Maria at the end of the day despite the other gossip he passes along. He doesn’t give it another thought, not even when he’s thrust into a similar conversation with Eugene at the Tipsy Bison a few days later. 

“So, guess who I saw leaving your brother’s house early this morning?” Eugene asks as Tommy slides up next to him at the bar. 

“Do I even want to know?” Tommy asks with a groan. Joel’s really not as much of a ladies man as the gossip mill wishes he was, but he has been known to go on a date here or there. Still, as far as gossip comes, Eugene’s a pretty reliable source. 

Eugene doesn’t say anything, he just looks at Tommy as if to say, come on, guess. After a moment of silence, the look morphs into one that seems to indicate you’re not this dumb. I know you know who. 

“Oh come on, you can’t seriously tell me that even you think there’s something going on with them?” Tommy rolls his eyes. Neither man says your name, they don’t have to, they both know that they’re talking about you.

“No, I know. I’ve been on the other side of this conversation, myself, but this time there’s something to it.” Eugene jokes, taking a sip of his drink as Tommy just shakes his head. 

“You’re nuts. I think the weed is finally going to your head.” 

“That may be, but I know what I saw.” Eugene says. “We got that heavy rain this morning, and I was out on the porch just watching it come down when I saw her come out and head down the road towards her own house.” 

Tommy just shakes his head, “alright so she was there. You and I both know that doesn’t mean anything. They were probably just having breakfast.” 

You were, in fact, having breakfast. Joel had fried up a few eggs and you had brought over a loaf of bed to have some toast. The two of you ate your breakfast and sat there, watching the rain through the window as you drank your coffee. Eventually, a glance at the clock told you that it was time to head home so you could get ready before your shift. You were helping out at the school today – in another life, you were a substitute teacher to get through grad school, and while you’re a bit of a Jack-of-all-trades nowadays, you still find yourself slipping into the classroom from time-to-time. 

“Alright, thanks for breakfast, I’ve gotta head home.” You told Joel as you pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, watching as he put away the last dish you’d washed and dried. 

“Are you sure I can’t talk you into staying for another cup of coffee?” Just like every time you’re over for breakfast, Joel refused to let you wash your coffee mug right away, just in case you want another, he always says.

“Joel Miller? Offering to give away even more of his coffee? That’s crazy talk. You keep that up and people are liable to think you’ve been body snatched.” You laughed as you headed to the front door to lace up your shoes. You didn’t notice the way Joel pauses for a moment, glancing back into the kitchen as if to confirm he’s still got an extra can tucked away high in the pantry where you wouldn’t think to look. 

“At least take a jacket. You should’ve brought one.” Joel moved to grab his raincoat from the hall closet.

“It wasn’t raining when I left. Besides, a little rain never killed anyone.” You smiled. 

“I don’t know about that, you might be sweet enough to melt.” Joel teased.

“You’re incorrigible, Joel Miller. I’m fine, I’m only going over two streets to go get ready. I can dry off and grab my own jacket before I head to the school.”

“Yeah, alright. Have a good day.” Joel knew he'd lost, it’s always a battle of stubborn will between you and it was his turn to give in. 

With the rain pouring down around you, you gave Joel a quick wave before setting off towards your house. It was the type of heavy rain where you just keep your head down and trudge through to your destination. You meant what you said, you didn’t mind the walk in the rain, but it did keep you from really noticing Eugene watching from a few porches down as you departed. 

“Nah, it was too early to be decent. Hell, I couldn’t even tell you why I was up. Maybe the storm woke me.” Eugene tells Tommy, now that he’s done recounting the way he saw you leave this morning.

Instead of continuing to focus on your alleged walk of shame, Tommy takes the opportunity to joke with Eugene. “Ah, that old man sleep schedule.” 

Before either man can say anything else, Tommy feels someone coming up behind him. 

“You’re no spring chicken yourself, anymore.” Joel knocks shoulders with Tommy, joining their conversation. 

Whether Eugene agrees with Tommy’s assessment of a casual, platonic breakfast or not, he takes the hint to drop the conversation while the brothers start bickering. Even if Tommy completely missed the point Eugene was trying to make. There’s no way you would have been out in that weather early enough for breakfast, and even if you had been crazy enough, you would have had a jacket.

No, Eugene knows what he saw and what it meant. Tommy can think whatever he wants, but Eugene is sure you didn’t just go over for breakfast, but woke up and had it there. At the end of the day, he’s amused but it’s really none of his business so when the next conversation comes along, Eugene lets it go. There’s no point in bringing it up any further yet, but maybe he’ll keep an eye on you two and see if he notices anything else. 

A week later, Dina heads towards the front gates, waiting for Jesse to return from another patrol. She knows how proud he’s been to get to go on more and more patrols, and today he’s out  with Joel again, just the two of them. Dina’s only been on a few patrols so far, and she knows Jesse likes patrolling with and learning from Joel the best, but she prefers your style of teaching. She likes Joel and he knows what he’s doing, but you feel like a cool aunt, or a fun older sister, even out on patrol. Dina misses Talia, and while neither of you are trying to replace the people you’ve lost, it’s nice to have someone in that familial role. 

Today, she gets to go out on patrol with you, taking over after Jesse and Joel. The two of you had grabbed lunch with Ellie before you offered to go sign out the guns if Dina would get the horses, telling her you’d meet her by the gates.  

By the time Dina (and both horses) walk up to the gates, you’re already there chatting with Maria. Dina walks up to join you and you exchange her gun for the reins to your horse. 

“Alright, I’ll stop by later.” You tell Maria, turning to make sure everything is set the way you like it. Dina waves to Maria as she turns to walk away. 

“Let’s just wait a few minutes for the guys to get back and then we can head out.”

Strategically, it’s a smart choice. It means the gates only have to open once, and that you can quickly touch base and see if there is anything you should know before you head out. Selfishly, Dina’s glad to have the chance to see Jesse. Plus, she’s convinced there’s something going on between you and Joel so she’s taking every opportunity she can to pay attention. 

Sure enough, not even a minute later she hears the call to open the gates and the two of them move forward so they can meet the guys right at the opening.

Dina watches as your eyes light up with relief seeing Joel and Jesse back in one piece. She notices the way you give each of them a quick once-over for any injuries before your gaze lingers on Joel. She feels an immediate sense of satisfaction, this is the exact type of thing she's looking out for.

“Hi, you. Come here often?” You ask.

“I’ve been known to.” Joel responds, and it’s easy for Dina to see why the women of Jackson love to watch him – with that charming smile and gleam in his eyes, not to mention the accent. He’s not her type, but she gets it.

Dina takes a minute to say hi to Jesse while you and Joel talk.

“Anything we should know?” She asks, in a similar version of the conversation you and Joel are having.

“We didn’t see anything, so hopefully your route is quiet too.” Jesse tells her. 

“Okay.” Dina says, giving him a quick kiss. “I’ll see you later.”

“Be safe.” Jesse tells her.

“You be safe out there.” Joel tells you at the same time.

“Always am. Love you.” Dina’s glad she’s looking at Jesse and not towards you and Joel because her jaw drops. Sure, she thought something was going on but she wasn't expecting anything so direct.

Joel grunts back something that sounds like “love you too.” Dina doesn’t think her jaw could be any lower. She knows you’re an affectionate person but telling Joel you love him? In the middle of Jackson? And him saying it back? No way is she hearing what she’s hearing. A quick glance at Jesse’s look of astonishment reveals that she’s not the only one shocked or who heard it.

“Alright, miss Dina. Time for us to head out.” 

Dina just nods, still stunned by your matter of fact, nonchalant tone, and mounts her horse to follow you out of the gates. 

You do spend a good part of patrol talking about people in Jackson (general), relationships (hers) and rumors, but you never mention what you said to Joel. She has so many questions but doesn’t want to scare you off, or make patrol weird. No, she’ll keep waiting and watching and bring it up later. 

The next day, she stops by lunch with everyone to grab a sandwich and is delighted to see Tommy and Ellie eating together.

“Oh my god.” She says, in lieu of a greeting.

“Good afternoon to you, too.” Tommy says while Ellie just nods with a mouthful of food. 

“You’ll never guess what I heard yesterday?” She’s so excited she doesn’t give them a chance to answer before continuing, “so, as you know we had patrol after Joel and Jesse and we met them at the gates to switch off and right before we left, I heard her tell Joel she loves him. And he said it back!” She’s nearly yelling, she’s so excited.

“Okay.” Tommy says, before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“Okay? Okay! This is big news!” She exclaims.

“Dina, I hear you. But, I’ve been hearing her say that since high school.”

“No way, this was romantic. Trust me.” Ellie snorts as Dina digs her heels in. 

“I thought that too. It’s easier when you just accept it.” He shrugs.

“I dunno, Tommy. They do look pretty damn cozy lately.” Ellie adds in Dina's defense. “But then again, it is Joel, so.” Dina’s smile fades as she groans in reply to Ellie.

“Exactly, it’s Joel. Joel!” She tries again.

“What’s this about Joel?” You ask, walking up to the table with your own plate in hand. 

“Ah, Dina’s just telling us about you telling Joel you love him.” Tommy pointedly ignores the look Dina is giving him to be quiet, and tells you the exact thing she’s trying to avoid him saying.

“Tommy what the fuck?” She bursts out and you just laugh.

“Oh, fair enough.” You say, sitting down. Dina watches, exasperated as you unwrap your sandwich and start eating. No, it doesn’t matter how Tommy denies it and you play it off, she’s positive something is going on. And she’s going to keep watching until she has complete proof. She was already on a mission, but now she's determined to double down. While you start talking with Tommy, she scoots over closer to Ellie, roping her into her plan. 

It takes another week for the girls to come up with their plan and get everything ready, but it’s finally time. Ellie has talked Joel into another movie night and Dina has gotten you to promise that you’ll attend, not that it took much convincing. 

They almost go so far as to ask Maria what kind of movie you should watch, but decide against it, worrying that she’d tell you their scheme. They do tell Tommy, much to his amusement. 

“Hold on, so your big plan is to watch a movie with them, and just see what they do?” The corners of his eyes crinkle with amusement. “And you think this will be different from any other movie you’ve watched with them, because…?”

“We have a plan, Tommy.” Ellie says, almost defiantly.

“Yeah. I asked her about what movies she likes on patrol, and talked her into looking at the library to see what they have. She found a few she said she liked that we brought back. This way it’s something she already knows, and they have options.” Dina nods as if this is the lynchpin of their entire plan. 

“Plus, Dina will pretend to get a headache and go home and I’ll ‘fall asleep’ on the couch so they’ll think it’s just them but I can watch them.” She’s so excited about it, it brings a genuine smile to Tommy’s face.

For a minute, Tommy is thrown back 20 years, instead of Ellie, it’s Sarah scheming over the two of you. He tries so hard to see them each as their own person, but sometimes, in moments like this, he can’t help but see the similarities. But he can’t say that, so instead he just smiles.

The girls spend the rest of the day excited and finally, it’s time to head over for dinner. They’re full of excited energy as they meet you and Joel at the house, and instead of going off to Ellie’s room like they normally do, they sit with you in the kitchen while you cook, talking about a little of everything until Joel finally cracks and sends them to the living room, “It's not that big of a kitchen, it’s gonna take twice as long if you’re hovering.”

You just laugh and wink at Dina as the girls groan and go to the living room.

“They’re in good spirits today.” You say.

“Teenage girls, still the same as 20 years ago apparently.” Joel grumbles, but you see through it to know that he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“Who would have thought at our big age we’d still be surrounded by them?” You pause your stirring and share a smile with Joel. You miss Sarah more than anything, and are glad to have Ellie and Dina in your lives, even when they’re being ridiculous. 

Without the constant interruptions, you two finish making dinner and call the girls to the table to eat. It’s a practiced routine with you and Joel dishing out food around each other listening to Ellie’s recount of her day. 

You’re not entirely sure what’s up during dinner but it’s clear that the girls are up to something . The little looks between the two of them, the way they keep giggling when they mention movie night. You’re just not sure what. Dina had the great idea to check out the movie selection at the Grand Teton library on patrol so you know you’ve got a couple of new options and you can’t think what might be causing it. Oh , you realize, one of the movies you grabbed was Dirty Dancing, the title is probably what’s giving them the giggles.

With that mystery solved, you turn your attention back to your dinner, leaving the girls to their own amusement. By the time dinner is done, they seem to mostly contain themselves so you send them off to pick a movie in the other room while you and Joel do the dishes. 

“What is with the giggling?” Joel says, the second you hear laughter coming from the other room.

“My best guess? We grabbed Dirty Dancing. I think the title is setting them off.” You shrug as you scrub the next dish.

“Could be.” Joel muses. 

It doesn’t take long for you to finish the dishes and dry your hands. Before you can make your way to the living room, Dina and Ellie come back to the kitchen.

“Dina’s got a headache!” Ellie nearly yells. It’s almost laughable, only Ellie would shout next to someone with a headache. 

“Yeah, sorry, I think I need a rain check on movie night.” Dina says, almost looking sheepish.

“Alright, honey. You want to go up to Ellie’s room and lay down? I can grab you a cool cloth.” You offer, concerned.

“No, that’s okay, I’m just gonna head home.” Dina says with a small shrug.

“Why don’t we save the movie for another night? We can play a game with Ellie instead.” You look over at Joel who nods in agreement.

“No!” Both girls yell, startling you and Joel.

“Dina doesn’t mind.” Ellie says.

“Yeah, I don’t want you to miss out. I’ll watch another time!” Dina adds. You and Joel exchange a look but frankly, you don’t have the energy to try and decipher every bit of teenage weirdness from the girls so you just agree. Dina gets sent home with a couple of cookies you were going to share during the movie, a hug, and a promise to you to get some rest. 

You and Joel turn back to the dishes to finish cleaning up while Ellie walks Dina to the door.

“That was fucking perfect, I don’t think they suspect anything.” Ellie says, louder than she intends. In the kitchen, you have to bite back your laughter. Truthfully, you’re not sure what this performance has been about, but you definitely suspect something is up with Dina. Even if you didn't, Ellie's momentary inability to whisper would have looped you in.

“Okay, you’ll have to tell me everything.” Dina says.

“Tomorrow at breakfast.” Ellie nods, seriously, as if they’re discussing battle plans and not an attempt to catch you and Joel in a romance. 

Dina leaves and Ellie meets you and Joel in the living room. She claims the slightly larger of the two couches, and sprawls out hoping it will push you two to sit closely on the other.

“How does one small person take up so much space?” Joel teases. Ellie just lifts up a middle finger in response while you laugh. 

You toss her a blanket as you cross the room towards the small stack of VHS tapes. 

“I’m thinking Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s one of my favorites, I think you’ll like it, El.” Joel just laughs, knowing how many times you’d bring it over for movie night back in the day.

“Sure.” Honestly, Ellie doesn’t care what you watch tonight, since her focus is going to be on you and Joel. 

With that decided, you pop the tape in the VCR and grab a blanket for yourself. You make your way back to the couch and Ellie nearly jumps for joy when you curl up right next to Joel like you always do. 

As Joel extends an arm on the back of the couch behind you, he raises one eyebrow at Ellie, trying to figure out why she’s being so damn weird. When she gives him a thumbs up, he’s no less confused but brushes it off as Ellie being Ellie. 

She makes sure to get cozy at an angle where she can see the tv and you and Joel, but you won’t have an easy glimpse to know whether or not she’s awake. A few minutes into the movie she makes a point to yawn, and then she does it again a few minutes later. Damn, she thinks, this does look like a good movie, but it’ll be worth it to watch you and Joel. She’ll just have to see if you want to watch it with her again sometime. 

Not even twenty minutes into the movie, you look over at Ellie and nudge Joel, “she’s out cold.” 

Joel moves to reach for the remote before you can stop him, “no, it’s okay. Let her sleep, she and I can watch it another time.” Joel just nods and when he moves back, his arm falls from the back of the couch to around your shoulders. Ellie thinks she deserves some kind of award for feigning sleep during this. 

With Joel’s arm around your shoulders, one of your favorite movies on the tv and a cozy blanket draped over your laps, you’re happy as a clam and contentedly drop your head to Joel’s chest. The two of you stay that way for the rest of the movie. On the one hand, Ellie considers your cuddling a win. On the other hand, she was definitely hoping for something more exciting. Though she does eventually actually fall asleep, but she won’t tell Dina that part. 

The next morning, she’s wide awake the second her feet hit the floor for once, ready to meet Dina for breakfast. She tosses out a “good morning, going to breakfast, bye” all in one breath before she runs out the door. 

Dina’s already waiting for her with two plates when she gets to breakfast, and she eagerly fills her in on what happened after she left. It doesn’t take long for them to spot Tommy and wave him over to share their information.

“Them cuddling during a movie? During Raiders? Sorry, kiddos, been there done that. Literally.” Tommy offers them a sympathetic smile.

“You can’t ruin this for us, Tommy. Something’s up with them.” Ellie insists.

“Whatever you say.” Tommy laughs and shakes his head before saying goodbye and heading off to work for the day.

This time, he does mention it to Maria when they’re chatting after dinner. 

“Honestly, hon, I don’t know why everyone is suddenly so focused on them. They’ve been like this forever. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been convinced that they were finally getting together. It’s always ‘no, Tommy, we’re just friends’, ‘Tommy it’s platonic’, ‘she’s just a friend, Tommy’ so I finally was like fine! Short of them fucking making out in front of my face, it’s all platonic.” Tommy’s being overdramatic and Maria is having a hard time keeping a straight face. 

“I’m sorry to say, I also think that there’s something going on there.”

“Oh, not you too.” Tommy groans.

This afternoon, it was Maria’s turn to stop by the store to get what passes for groceries nowadays. They still have some things in the pantry, and later this week they’re having a birthday dinner for you, so she mostly focused on grabbing some produce and meat. 

She had looked over and saw Joel entering the store. They exchanged a pleasant nod and she continued with her shopping while Joel began his. Joel seemed to be a man on a mission and quickly gathered what he needed, with them both arriving at the front at the same time. 

With a slightly larger basket, Maria gestured to let Joel go first. 

Joel set his purchases down on the counter where it could be marked off for inventory purposes. Maria glanced down and saw sugar, flour, eggs, and some applesauce. With a nod, Dominique reached under the counter and grabbed what appeared to be a container of spices. Wordlessly, Joel pulled a can of coffee out of his bag in exchange.

“Normally you’re taking home the coffee, not bringing it back.” Maria couldn’t help herself from saying. 

“Well, her birthday’s coming up.” Joel scratches the back of his neck and shrugs. “Her favorite has always been spice cake, and I asked Dominique a while ago to keep an eye out for any spices I could use.” 

Maria’s heart melted. Coffee is hard to come by, and it’s long been a running joke in Jackson that now that they’ve got a steady supply, nothing could come between Joel Miller and his daily cup. But to see him willingly handing over an entire can of it, just to get something for you, is something she never expected from him.

“You were in luck, too. I almost feel bad asking for the whole can in return.” Dominique joked, despite taking the coffee anyways.

“Thank you, mighty appreciated.” Joel nodded, grabbing the rest of his goods to put in his bag before delicately placing the spice jar on top. 

Maria wanted to say more, but it was clear that was enough sentimentality for Joel as it was. So instead, she said, “well, I, for one, am looking forward to this Friday night birthday party. It’s nice to be able to celebrate things even though it’s not how it used to be.”

Joel simply nodded in return, but one glance at the look in his eyes told Maria that he was visiting a faraway time, a time where he could have gotten you a cheap cake from the supermarket, ice cream, and easy, store bought presents. If she could have seen in his mind, she’d have heard years of singing each other happy birthday with laughter – his, yours, Tommy’s, their parents, and Sarah’s. She’d have seen the way that Sarah insisted on learning how to make a spice cake every year, even though you promised you’d have been just as happy with chocolate cake, or vanilla; the way your eyes would always light up with the first bite, the perfect mix of the spices in the cake with the frosting (regular, not cream cheese, thank you very much). 

She couldn’t see any of that, but she could see Joel’s love for you in this simple act of preparing to bake a cake. So, much like the other residents of Jackson, including their friends lately, she filed it away to tell Tommy. 

“Alright, I’ll admit, you make a compelling argument. I guess that’s what I get for marrying a lawyer.” Tommy jokes, pulling her into his lap. “Still, they’ve always been close. I’m telling you, they’re just friends. After all this time, I’ve given up hope of matchmaking them.” He jokes. 

“You never know.” Maria teases, laying her head on her husband’s shoulder, before changing the subject slightly to what’s planned for your birthday party and who is responsible for what. 

The next few days fly by for your group as everyone is looking forward to getting together. Naturally, everyone spends all of their time together anyways but it’s nice to have an event planned, something to look forward to that celebrates something like Maria told Joel. 

Tonight’s party is being held after dinner, and has your closest friends and family. You’ve got a big flannel on over a comfortable dress that lives at the back of your closet for every celebration under the sun and Ellie plopped a homemade, paper birthday crown on your head. Everyone has finished their dinner and Joel disappeared for a moment before bringing out a cake. Which, admittedly, made you tear up. It’s the end of the world and he’s still making you a birthday cake, you shake your head at the thought.

“Alright, thank y’all for comin’. I know I don’t usually host or make a big speech, but bear with me just a minute.” Joel stands, with a drink in hand, looking around the bar at everyone gathered for your birthday: you, Ellie, Dina, Jesse, Maria, Tommy, and Eugene. The best of your community, as far as you’re concerned. 

“Someone often tells me that it’s okay to celebrate, the big things and the little things. Hell, she’s been telling me that most of my life. So today, this one’s for you, darlin’. It’s hard work to keep a place like this running and lord knows how much we all owe Tommy and Maria, but we also owe it to you. To the way you volunteer for a little bit of every job, take care of everyone, and I’m sure everyone agrees that we owe you a big thank you for putting up with me and keeping me as in line as you can, all these years.” Joel says, laughing when Tommy bursts out laughing. 

“I love you, honey. I ain’t got any candles but you’ll just have to close your eyes and make a wish anyways.” 

Tommy watches Joel tuck you into his side and press a kiss to the top of your head while you close your eyes to make your wish and blow out the lighter Eugene offers. It’s such a familiar scene to Tommy that he can almost picture Sarah sitting on your other side, waiting to help you cut and serve the cake. He’s so busy thinking about the life you all deserved that he nearly misses seeing you open your eyes, and lean up to press a kiss to Joel’s lips.

“Hold on, what ?!” Amidst the chorus of ‘happy birthday’ that’s starting, Tommy is staring at you two, wide eyed.

“What do you mean ‘what’, Tommy Miller?” You’ve got a mischievous smile on your face as you grab the knife from Maria and start cutting the cake. 

“Ain’t you been the one tryin’ to get us together all this time?” Joel adds.

“Well, I was. But the two of you are hopeless so I gave up. Years ago. You’re just friends. That’s what you’ve been saying, that’s what I’ve been telling everyone.” Tommy throws his hands in the air, exasperated, as though the two of you have organized all of this just to frustrate him.

“I mean we were, and then we weren’t.” Joel adds, unhelpfully. 

“Tommy, we haven’t exactly been subtle,” you laugh, “I’m pretty sure Jesse saw us holding hands a few weeks ago.” You nod your head towards Jesse who doesn’t get his chance to finally say I told you so before Tommy cuts him off. 

“He said you were passing the library, Joel always had to hold your hand passing the bookstore so you wouldn’t wander off and buy the whole fucking store.” 

“He was holding my hand long before we got to the library.” You smile, leaning back into Joel.

“That’s what I said!” Jesse whispers to Dina, who tucks her head into his shoulder and giggles.

“Okay fine, so you were holding hands.” Tommy concedes.

“Right, and I know Dina heard me tell Joel I love him before patrol one day because y’all were talking about it the next day.” Dina’s giggles continue. 

“You’ve been telling him that for decades. Hell, you tell me and Maria you love us. I don’t see you kissing us.” 

“I didn’t know either of you wanted me to, sugar.” You wink at him. “But nah, fair enough. Well, he never said anything to me but I think Eugene saw me leaving Joel’s too early to be decent one morning.” Your voice trails up, unsure.

“I did.” Eugene confirms, very matter of fact. 

“Though he might not have said anything.” You add, assuming that maybe he hadn’t since it had never gotten back to you or Joel.

“No, I did that too.” Everyone laughs. Eugene might be a cranky old man, but damn does he love his gossip. But you have to earn the right for him to like you enough to include you in it, and all of you at this table have been lucky enough to have been brought into the fold. 

“How many times in school did I come downstairs and you were already there for breakfast? Half the time you came over with breakfast in exchange for a ride to school and half the time you’d fallen asleep studying or watching a movie with me right there too. How was I supposed to know this time it was different?” Tommy continues ranting.

“Tommy, have you been watching my girl all this time?” 

“How the hell could I not, Joel? Everywhere I’ve gone for decades it’s ‘are they together’, ‘have they finally kissed’, 'are they sleeping together', nobody wanted you two together more than me. But no, every time I thought there was something going on you convinced me it was just platonic. Excuse me for finally believing you.” Tommy’s doing a remarkable job keeping up the facade of being annoyed, but you can tell how delighted he is for the two of you.

“Okay, so my brother and my best friend are together. Finally, after all these years. It’s all I’ve wanted, so why the hell do I feel cheated?” He finishes his rant with an exaggerated sigh.

“In our defense, we really thought you knew. Don’t think I don’t know that Miss Dina and Miss Ellie over there have been watching our every move.” Ellie looks sheepish for once at having been caught. 

“Well regardless of who knows or not”, Joel cuts back in, “I wanted to thank all of y’all for helping me put together this party for the best woman I’ve ever known. I don’t know why you put up with me, with any of us” Joel says with a wink to Ellie, “But we’re sure glad you do. Happy birthday, baby. Let’s have some cake.”

“Oh fuck yeah, finally!” Ellie yells as she squeezes past Maria to grab one of the first slices of cake. She’s never had spice cake before but Joel has told her about it, how it’ll be the first one he’s been able to make for you in years. It's been a monumental effort for her not to have ruined the surprise for you and she's pretty proud of herself, and ready to finally try it.

Sure, Tommy had a point, or several, with the reason he assumed you two were still platonic but Joel still can’t believe his brother didn’t know you had gotten together. Joel doesn’t need a mirror to know that he looks at you like you hung the moon in the sky. He’s still got one arm around you, and looks down to see you laughing at something with Dina and Jesse while you’re scooping a bite of cake into your mouth. When that first bite hits your tongue, your eyes light up at the familiar flavor that you never thought you’d get to experience again.

Joel loves you in every mood, but damn does he love the way you look when you’re happy. He knows you’ll tease him for it later, that everyone here is likely to, but he doesn’t bother waiting for you to finish your conversation as he uses his other hand to tilt your chin towards him and kiss you. You’re still finishing your cake so you end up accidentally covering him in frosting as well. 

“Oops.” You say, not at all sorry, as you grab a napkin to wipe his face. But Joel doesn’t let you, he just pulls you back in for another kiss. This one is long enough that Ellie starts complaining about “old people germs” and “public indecency”. You start laughing into the kiss before pulling away, setting down your plate to chase Ellie around the room to press a sloppy kiss to her cheek.

“I mean really, holding hands, being together at all hours, saying they love each other, saving up for a spice cake? From the two of them? Been there, done that, for over 30 damn years!” Tommy grumbles one last time to Maria as she hands him a plate of cake. In truth, he’s thrilled. He can’t keep the smile from his face as he looks at you, at the love that was there all along that you’ve finally given into. 

I hope you’re seeing this, sweetheart. He sends a thought up to Sarah, knowing that she wanted you two together as much as he always did. The world might have ended long ago, but as long as there are pockets of love and joy like this, they can keep going.

[nikkeora]

quick batsib!r and tim comfort bc the boy needs a hug post crisis, based on my rough understanding of conner's death and tim's cloning attempts soon after, becaue this boy has died a lot of times and it's hard to exactly understand how he did if you didn't read the actual comic (which i haven't)

Tim isn’t doing so well.

Hasn’t for a while.

It’s obvious to anyone, really. Anyone who knew him at all. His sleeping’s getting worse, avoiding it for a week straight then crashing for two days and starting the cycle all over again. He spends most of his waking hours down in the cave, having built a new lab on a level even more underground than Bruce's usual center of operations. It's hidden just around the corner, where no one can find him if they don't know where to look.

He's so confused, all the time. He's not eating, not sleeping, he'll look at the sandwich Bruce has put in front of him or whatever Alfred cooked up like he genuinely doesn't know what to do with it. He'll stop in the middle of whatever he's doing and stare at the wall or a screen for over an hour, this blank look on his face that's honestly a little terrifying for you because you always knew what he was thinking. Always. And now you just... can't, anymore.

The others don't know what he's trying to do. Not yet. You only found out because you'd heard a loud crash from the deepest part of the cave, going down to see what's going on only to find Tim haunched over broken glass and smashed machinery.

You’d thought he needed this back then. Tim solves problems, it’s what he does. He fixes things. He solves problems. He solves problems. He does. He swears he can solve this one. He has to. You’d thought he just needed to see this through. He would take the first couple fails and put things down, finally allow himself to mourn.

But then the first dozen attempts came and went.

Twenty.

Thirty, fifty, eighty-

What is it, something just shy of a hundred, now?

He's dead on his feet as he shuffles around, going over the same equation he's already tried to and thought he did solve tens upon dozens of times over, muttering to himself as he circles the 7-foot tall chamber full of murky green liquid from the only Lazarus pit in Gotham.

Another failed attempt might actually kill him.

“Tim.” A part of you blames yourself for letting things get this far. “You need to sleep.”

It takes a minute for your voice to register. ���I can sleep when I'm dead.”

“Which is going to be very soon if you don't go to bed.”

“Great, so you'll get what you want either way.”

The things you're saying might as well be gibberish.

You bite the inside of your cheek. He's going to kill you for this. You know he will. But he's been slowly killing himself over the past few months, and you can't just sit around and watch him anymore. You never should have in the first place.

You walk over to the wall and unplug the computer.

A second ticks by.

He tackles you.

He might as well be feral with how he lunged at you. You narrowly avoid hitting your head on one of his machines on the way down, air ripped from your lungs as nothing breaks the fall. Your head hits the stone floor and there's a weird squelching sound from where your teeth had been gnawing on the inside of your cheek. You taste copper before the sting registers.

You don't stop him, though. He needs to get everything out of his system.

But then he's confused again. He sits there, one hand bunched up the front of your top and the other raised in a loose fist, ans he just.. stops. As if he's not even the same person who'd tackled you down here just a second ago. Your hands are on either side of you, not bothering to block any hit that might come your way.

He thinks. Or doesn't think. Everything feels wrong. His clothes are too clean. His hair is too greasy. The computer is shut off and that constant hum that has been poking and prodding at him brain for the last few months is suddenly quiet. He's on top of you. He shouldn't be on top of you. He doesn't want to hurt anyone. Except maybe himself.

There's broken glass on the floor again, remnants of the world's best mom mug Dick had gotten for Bruce scattered all over the floor, pearly white amongst weirdly thick black liquid that can hardly be called coffee anymore. It reminds him of stars.

Stars.

Like the studs on Conner's leather jacket.

Like the one diamond earring he always wears.

Wore. Past tense.

The hand he has in the air trembles. There's water in his eyes and he can't breathe - he thinks he is drowning. It's cold. Too cold. His clothes are too clean. Why are they clean?

He flinches when you grab his wrist, slowly lowering his hand. The other is still tightly clutching the front of your shirt, fist sitting on the uppermost part of your sternum. His knuckles press down, hard, hard enough to bruise. He doesn't want to hurt you. He doesn't. He doesn't know why he's hurting you.

Make him stop.

Make it stop.

Make it stop—

He sobs when you finally manage to pull him down close enough to wrap your arms around him.

You haven't seen him actually cry since the day Conner died. He's lived on a self-sustained numbness until now. Maybe it was his mind protecting him. Because it knew he couldn't handle feeling all the things he secretly is.

“It was my fault,” he chokes out, struggling to breathe. He's drowning again. Don't let him drown. “I- I told him to keep fighting. I should have told him to go home.”

You don't say anything. He's not going to hear you like this. Instead you rub his back, taking deep breathes so that he can feel the slow rise and fall of your chest. His breathing slowly, very slowly, evens out, now matching yours with the occasional hiccup.

“It's not your fault,” you finally tell him. He probably doesn't want to hear it. It's all people have said to him regarding the incident since it happened. “You helped him save the world, that’s all. It’s not your fault.”

He doesn’t say anything against it, but you know he doesn’t believe it. His heart doesn’t. His brain.. probably doesn’t, either. But he lets you hold him, and you try your best to let him process, hopefully start to realize that he wasn’t responsible for anything that happened.

Your arms are tight around him and your legs are falling asleep from the way he’s sitting on them, but that doesn’t matter.

“You saved everyone. Every person who wakes up and has someone to care about? They have you and Conner to thank.” A pause. “…you’re not helping Conner by trying to bring him back, Tim. Not like this. You’re killing what he gave his life to protect. It’s important you live. If only to make sure he didn’t die for nothing.”

“…I didn’t want to save everyone, I wanted to save him.”

[metalotaku-da]

Dcxdp Danny phantom and klarion are friends.

Danny as the ghost king who loves to prank loves teaching a younger appearance klarion all kinds of fun gags and tricks of magical nature. It's like the younger sibling he always wanted. And is a nice break from some of his royal duties. But things have been a little busier than usual they haven't gotten to really get out and have fun. Danny is 30 looks 20. Klarion is looking 14. But in the thousands for age.

Klarion is bored and upset. He wants time with Danny to himself. No interruption from clockwork or the eternal. Other ghosts. No one. It's not fair. He needs a plan to sneak Danny out of the infinite realm, hide him and not be the fall guy when they get caught. Because it's clockwork they will be caught it's the when. He needs someone else to do the summoning work. But who and how.

He lands on John Constantine. Clockwork doesn't like him much. And Danny inherited all the old kings claims. So he be able use that if things got dicey. And klarion is not a fan either of the jerk. To buddy buddy with nabou. So he has a fall guy to blame for the summoning. Just needs to setup a prank so good that John thinks he has no choice but to summon someone who could destroy the world.

Takes him a week to land on act like I'm gonna do it so he has to first. Easy. And he can brag to a bunch of villains to really drive the urgency. Perfect.

Plan worked like a charm. Maybe to good though. John got a bunch of heroes to help. No good no good. John is lieing to his super jerk friends. Klarion can see the seal. It will make Danny weaker and lock him to the jerk like a dog on a leash. Not to the artifact he said they could lock him away with. He's gotta fix this quick. He drops in the pawns he recruited to distract. While discreetly changing the ruin on the summoning without mucking it up so it doesn't work. All while fighting zantana, and racing the circle lighting up.

The summoning is completed. But something obviously went very very wrong. Klarion has teakle distract zantana while he goes over the summoning again to see what he shifted. Oopsie. The ruin for shrinking power turned to shrinking age. But thats ok. It can be fixed later. Maybe. Probably. He didn't get the teather changed before it set. But that's an easy fix by killing Constantine. But his friend is here. And now they can really play. So it's all good. Klarion is ecstatic. So much so teakle runs to him as he shrinks causing one of the supers to over swing on an attack on his familiar.

But Danny needs a minute. As he blinks wearily on his feet. Rubbing at his face. Ugh summoning. He hates summoning. And this had to be a strong one. Because he couldn't resist like most of them. Whatever once the brain fog clears he'll be good and can really give the jerks who did a real stern talking to. Or maybe he'll scare them. That sounds better. Standing infront of him is a blonde man looking like a dirty drunk cop dective from TV. Who is gapping at him as a cigarette burns on the ground at his feet. This guy has to be like a gaint too cause Danny has to really crane his head back to look up at his face. There is a bunch of commotion going on but he's to focuses on this weird feeling he has towards this weirdo. Who seems like he's confused. Maybe it was an accident. Whatever. Danny still isn't happy. He puts his hands on his hips. "Hey jerk face! What do you think your doing?" Then Danny's eyes went wide. "Oh by the ancients is that my voice! What's wrong with my voice!" Danny now clutched his throat before waving his arms wildly at the creepy man. "What did you to me you weirdo! I sound like a baby!"

"It a bloody fucking child."

"It's bad to cuss infront of kids Constantine." Someone else says outside the circle.

Danny's head snaps their direction. Danny's eyes widen as he puts his hand into view looking at himself panic taking over and he looks around at all these tall people looking at him or fighting. He opens his mouth to scream in fear or frustration he doesn't know till he hears a voice he recognizes.

"Don't wail, don't wail!" Danny closes his mouth and looks around for the source.

"Klarion?"

"Sorry my bad. I messed up change the circle so it wouldn't weaken you. And well oopsie " klarion rushed into the circle hugging little Danny tight. "But you are here. So now we can play." Klarion gasped as he pulled back from Danny. "I can be the big brother now!"

"Noooooo, klarion I was already a little brother. I wanted to be a big brother more." Danny whined. His white hair flopping over as he rolled his head in complaint.

"To bad. I'm the big brother now. We are gonna have so much fun. You just have to get rid of this looser so we can go do our thing." Klarion gestured towards Constantine.

[inosukijiro]

✮⋆˙ modern!reader

𝘀𝘆𝗻. ━ one minute, you were at home and the next, you were gone. but now, here you are, and it looks like you're here to stay!

𖤐 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀 .ᐟ hiiii, first post in a few months huh (╥﹏╥). anyways i’ve had this idea in my brain for a really looong time so im v happy to get this out of my drafts. also i never wrote headcanons or for spn before so i hope its okayyy <3

𖤐 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 .ᐟ none?  lowercase intended. gender-neutral reader unless stated otherwise. modern reader in spn. this was supposed to be shorter then i yapped a little too much oops. 1.02k words.

  ─── ⋆⋅𖦹⋅⋆ ───  ─── ⋆⋅𖦹⋅⋆ ───  ─── ⋆⋅𖦹⋅⋆ ───

𖤐 .ᐟ you are a long way away from home, whether you like it or not. you try so hard to maintain your composure, because in your mind, there is no point in freaking out. but you do, just a little bit in the beginning because how could you not? you’re a nervous wreck, no doubt. and the boys can’t really blame you.

𖤐 .ᐟ you are armed with nothing more than your crochet hook, your small purse, and the clothes on your back. you are lost and for right now, you feel small and alone.

𖤐 .ᐟ but you are going to be put through an interrogation. they are the winchesters and can never be too careful. it’s nothing over the top, but you are from where you are and the boys had just about enough of their lives being on display. you are on your best behavior — polite and kind, but you are still nervous and a little shaky.

𖤐 .ᐟ you, who is trying to remain calm through the initial skepticism that came with popping up out of nowhere. the assumption is witches, a curse maybe. deans got the holy water ready just in case and sams flipping through lore for any type of explanation. there is, but no one likes it. there’s a recollection of something a witch had done a week ago, mentioning something about being out of this world. it’s a reach, a long shot even, but that witch is long gone. 

𖤐 .ᐟ so, here you are. you, who knows things. too many things. things that the brothers would rather you not know. you know their traumas — their childhood traumas no less. you know about most of their hunts and their world ending drama. deans wary, though sams more open to understanding. 

𖤐 .ᐟ that's because you aren’t threatening. you aren’t weird, at least not in a bad way. you aren’t obsessive, you're respectful. you don’t pry, you don’t push, you never overstep. you ask before touching anything, you clean up after yourself — making it look like you were never even there. you never bring up anything either, nothing that would be uncomfortable. nothing that would deliberately show the knowledge you had. you stayed in their present and contributed if asked. 

𖤐 .ᐟ you didn’t insert yourself in any hunts, maybe because you knew that you weren’t a hunter. or maybe because the boys would not be receptive to having to babysit you out there. but you are helpful. you organize lore books and help with research, and cook. that certainly softens dean up a bit.

𖤐 .ᐟ you’re a sweetheart, and over time it's really hard for them to stay away though. you're crafty and witty the more you come out of your shell, and it's a wonderful sight to behold. you are many things — soft and sweet, happy like sunshine; but you do have a little bark, and a little bite, and are most certainly able to keep up. you radiate such warmth that you are the calm to their chaos.

𖤐 .ᐟ the thing about you — the thing that makes it so easy for both of them — is that you already get them. there’s no need for explanations. no need to spell out their trauma or their history, because you do in fact, already know. and not in any way that makes them uncomfortable, not in a way that feels invasive. you don’t use it against them, don’t throw their past mistakes in their faces. you just understand.

𖤐 .ᐟ for sam, he doesn’t have to explain why he does anything. he doesn’t have to explain why he hesitates sometimes. why he still believed in trying to save people, even when the world has given him every reason not to. you don't see him as just sam winchester, boy king, a tragic protagonist. you just see him. you never look at him like he’s naive for wanting more than just hunting, for being drawn to books and research and the idea of a quiet life. you remind him, in little ways, that he’s allowed to want more, even if he never really gets it.

𖤐 .ᐟ and for dean… well, it takes longer for dean to get there. because it's one thing for him to slightly like you, to even tolerate your presence. it’s another to trust you and let you in. and he does. it’s the way dean stops questioning if you’re staying. the way he smiles when you giggle at his dumb jokes without forcing it. the way his heart clenches when you hand him one of his beers without him having to ask. the way you see him — the real him. not just the reckless, self-sacrificing jackass that he presented himself to be. and you don’t try to fix him. no, you would never do that. you don’t pity him. you just stay.

𖤐 .ᐟ there’s an unspoken something you notice in the way dean always finds himself standing closer to you than necessary. or the way sam’s gaze lingers a little too long when you’re focused on a book. the way both of them instinctively check to make sure you’re okay after a hunt, even though you weren't even there. how your absence feels wrong whenever you’re not with them.

𖤐 .ᐟ you do, however, treat them the way you think they deserve to be treated. with a little bit of softness and a little bit of delicacy. not too much. oh no, but just enough to not scare them away. 

𖤐 .ᐟ you don’t make them work for your understanding. they don’t have to explain why they are the way they are. why they react the way they do. why some nights they drink too much and fall apart under the weight of everything. you already know. and because of that, they don’t have to pretend with you. they can just be. 

𖤐 .ᐟ and maybe you’re stuck, trying to find your place in their world. sometimes you think that you have no business being here. it's dangerous with everything that goes on in their lives. and… that's okay. they’ll help you. they’ll pick you up and bring you in close. they’ll bring you back when you're distant — pull you back to reality. because you aren’t alone, you’re with them.

ᝰ .ᐟ lmk if i cooked or not chat, ty (˶˃⤙˂˶)

[prlssprfctn]

hey! so the intro for this is weird but pls hear me out

yesterday night while walking home from a bar with friends, a group of men probably about my age (early-mid 20s) in a large truck started shouting queer slurs at us then threatened to kill me 😬

my nerves are still a little frazzled but my stupid brain is currently attempting to manage these anxieties about what happened by going “hmm I wonder how the batkids would have responded if they saw that happen”

so I was just wondering if you had any kinda headcanons or anything about how any of the batkids would handle a scenario like this :) I know this is kinda heavy haha so pls don’t feel like you gotta respond to this but I really like your writings and thought it was worth a shot to reach out and ask :) thank you!

(also, my friends and I did make a report and we’re currently talking with the civil rights division of our local gov’t about handling this case as a hate crime so we are in the midst of handling it)

oh my god, i am so sorry this happened to you. i am glad you put charges and dealing with the situation, though. be careful, and i hope you are recovering well.

Bruce, i feel like, would try to charm his way out of this at first since he doesn't need additional interent drama. maybe he will try to smile politely and go along lines like, "oh, is that supposed to be offensive?" but if the situation escalates, he will not be afraid just to fight them off. who would blame him, anyway?

i have a feeling that Dick doesn't like fighting on the streets as well, and he usually tries to escalate the fight, only ever using it as the last resort. i also think that if someone picks up on him at night, he just decides to creep out everyone by using his amazing gymnastics. like, imagine him just turning his head around like an owl, cracking bones like in horror and pretending to be a spider — men will run away in the instant. without a fight. that's effective.

Cassandra is not a one to deal with bullshit like this. she doesn't acknowledge these people at all, but if they start to actively catch her attention and cause a fight, she will first offer the scariest death stare to ever exist. people mostly scram afterwards, but if someone didn't, she will nonchalantly break the bones of their arm. as a threat.

you see, Jason probably is not getting annoyed by people like this. who would pick up on a fucking double-fridge, right? i think he mostly spawns behind his siblings' backs when someone picks up on them and terrifies tf out of others. but if someone did risk their lives, i think Jason would either just point a gun silently (if he is in a bad mood) or start roast these people so much, they would leave.

oh, Tim. Tim is gracious about it. someone starts haunting him on the streets, so he wordlessly records a video, and while that person still screams at him, he calls his lawyer. they will get charged and outed in the news for this faster than they will finish their attempts to terrify Tim.

Steph starts shouting back. she is so loud about it that people usually start gathering around them, and she starts making him join the conversation, too. "just look at this weirdo, huh! hey, hey, you, look at him and tell me — isn't he fucking insane?" and stuff. she is equally good at escalating the fight to the reaching point of just make people leave embarrassed, depending on the situation.

baby Damian definitely doesn't even understand the meaning of slurs — his family is adequate, and he is a sheltered kid in a way, so he has no idea what all that means. but he feels a threatening aura. he first reminds people who he is, giving a chance to escape... and when it is not working, someone is about to get stabbed.

Duke tries to joke it off first. like, in a "oh, from all slurs, i got called *this*? that's something new, buddy, kudos" kind of way. if it doesn't work and people continue annoying him, he simply fights these people. he doesn't care much.

[adore-laur]

GET OVER HERE

——

Your phone's default ringtone goes off from its place on the coffee table. Your eyes shoot up from the book you're reading, and you see Harry's name appear, along with your lock screen, which is a candid picture of both of you. After bookmarking the page you were engrossed in, you reach forward and slide your thumb across the screen to answer.

"What's up?" you say, holding the phone to your ear.

"C'mere," Harry murmurs lowly on the other end.

You screw your face up and absentmindedly pick at a loose thread on your pants. "Why?"

"Because I need to discuss something with you."

A scoffed laugh escapes your mouth. He's literally in the room next to you, getting ready for the show, so you ask, "Can't you just text me or tell me right now?"

He's comically silent before uttering an innocent, high-pitched "No?"

You sigh loudly and rise from the comfy couch. As you hang up, you leave the lounge and traverse down the hall. It takes precisely seven steps to reach his private dressing room. The door is wide open, with aromatic cologne and quiet melodies wafting through.

Harry is the first thing you see. He's sitting comfortably in a canvas chair with only a towel around his waist and socks on his feet. The counter in front of him is a mess with hair products, cosmetic brushes, and face creams scattered on the surface. His phone lies on his lap, which means he's been talking to you on speaker.

You clear your throat, which causes him to turn his head and look at you. "What did you need to discuss with me?"

He meekly smiles. "Hi."

"What do you want?" you rephrase impatiently, wanting to return to your romance book. It was just getting steamy!

"Come closer," he says, glancing you up and down.

You notice that he hasn't moved his hands away from his face. They both unnaturally cup his cheeks, and you can't figure out why.

"Why are your hands like that?" you ask with suspicion.

His eyebrows pinch together. "Like what?"

"You're being weird."

"You're being weird."

"We're not doing this," you say, pinching the bridge of your nose. "Tell me what you need, or else I'm walking away. I have a book to finish."

Harry keeps his hands on his face and curls his pinky finger to beckon you closer. "Get over here."

Your heart flutters when he says it in a way that implies you might be in trouble. You rack your brain for anything that could have led him to call you and have you come to his dressing room.

As you slowly walk to him, his eyes don't leave yours. When you stand in front of him, his legs spread in invitation, and he says, "On my lap, baby."

You do as he commands and sit on his left thigh. One of his hands moves from his face to rest on your waist, while the other stays put. He hasn't put his rings on yet, so his fingers feel bizarrely bare on your skin.

"What?" you whisper, your gaze curiously dancing over his face.

Harry leans back in his chair. "Wanna know why I'm covering my cheek?"

"Yeah. I've asked that already."

"Don't get sassy with me."

You swallow nervously. "Did you cut yourself while shaving?" you guess, knowing it's happened a few times before.

"Nope," he replies, tapping his fingers against his cheekbone. "Try again."

You purse your lips and ponder. "Hmm… do you have a zit?"

Harry runs his tongue across his teeth, obviously not amused. "You're on a roll today, aren't you?"

"Just tell me," you breathe out as your shoulders slump.

"You," he says while jerking the leg that you sit on, "gave me a hickey the other day. Right on my jaw, where everyone can see."

You roll your lips in to try to hide your smile. "I'm so sorry."

Harry removes his hand, revealing a brownish-red mark on his jawbone from when the both of you were in a hotel suite in Tacoma. It's a known rule not to leave marks, especially since it's common for him to be photographed in the cities he visits. You take all the blame. You couldn't help it, really—it's nice to be a little greedy sometimes.

"Now I have to tell my makeup artist to cover it up," he mutters, his hand squeezing your ankle. "I have to come up with a stupid excuse and tell them that I punched myself or something."

You laugh. "That's a terrible excuse."

He tilts his head to the side and gives you a blank stare. "Oh, is it? Then would the culprit be so kind as to help me out?"

"Just say, I don't know, that you got hit by something thrown on stage."

Harry blinks three times before saying, "That's actually a really good idea. Okay, you can leave now. Your work here is done. Discussion over."

You lean closer and whisper, "Where's my reward?"

He gives your ass a salacious squeeze. "Meet me in our suite tonight after the show. You better be on your best behavior."

——

[cyanocophrenic]

Obsession

I'm not a complicated woman, I swear.

I'm so boring.

I'm quiet. I live alone. I drink decaf. I file my taxes in January. I majored in art history.

I crochet, goddammit! I crochet cardigans, the most boring kind of sweater! And then I wear them! Like Mister Rogers, aka the plainest person to ever exist.

No one could possibly suspect how deeply weird I am.

I've been perfect. I've never left a browser history. I've never worn blue and red together. I've kept myself as trim as my mom's genes let me. No one's ever caught me watching the movie.

You know... the movie?

You know the movie.

Well, I mean, I guess it's "movies" now, but... I know which one left a violet stain on my soul.

You can't blame me.

Well... you certainly can't, anyway.

If you were me, maxed out on good karma, toeing every line you've ever met, perfectly alone in all the universe... what would you have done differently? What other choice was there?

Never mind how I got the chance. As soon as I found out about it, there was nothing else I could do. Everything I thought I knew about myself fell away. All the safe choices and good behavior just gone, poof, like they never existed. This is my fate, it was made for me.

I was always going to be the one chewing this stick of gum.

In the end, it was like they wanted me to find it.

Dodging through an unlocked door, stealing through low-lit corridors, drawn to it like the heartbeat of the universe.

It's so silly. I know it is. Some stray neutrino passed through my brain as a child, and I watched the wrong movie, and I twisted into whatever it is that I am. All I've wanted is to become something else, and that something is big, and round, and draped in the shreds of the last clothes she'll ever wear.

That last part is really important for reasons I just can't explain. All that matters is that I literally get too big for my britches. I just need to hear that little "pop". That's it.

I can never seem to imagine past that. Regardless, I'm putting the gum to my lips, completely, defiantly unaware of how this will end. It's on my tongue, and the flavor is unreal. I guess they didn't bother with the roast beef or anything. It's just violently fruity. Juicy, and warm, and way too sweet.

A door creaks open. I was so sure I wouldn't be found, but joke's on them. It's too late.

It's a mousy woman woman with huge glasses, wearing a lab coat. She peeks around the door before she enters, like she doesn't want to offend me.

"Oh-" she says.

"Um," I say around a mouthful of juice. "I-"

And then I think, hey, wait, I've made my choice. It doesn't matter how this ends! What's she going to do, save me? I'm in control here! Kind of!

"... um." I say again. Actually, it's hard to talk. I'm swallowing a lot of juice.

She steps all the way into the room.

"Uh, hi," she says, fiddling with her glasses. She looks at me, and then down at her clipboard, and then back to me. "Are you-"

"I'm not spitting it out," I say, before gulping down another burst of juice. I'm starting to feel kinda bloated.

"No, I mean. Um," she says, "sorry, I'm new here, um."

I'm tired of my mouth working so hard, so I make a show of swallowing the gum.

"Oh!" she says, "that was fast," and she makes some sort of mark on her clipboard.

What.

"Um, could you follow me this way, please?" she asks, gesturing toward another door I hadn't noticed. One of those big ones like they have on loading docks that roll upward.

"What?" I ask, reflexively.

She walks over and pushes a big red button on the wall. The door starts lifting.

"Oh, sorry, we can wait if you want," she says, "you'll fit, don't worry."

I start to have a thought, but then my stomach gurgles and I feel like I'm on an elevator going down. I clutch my sides and double over, but... it's getting hard to bend.

"Don't worry," she says again, "it just feels weird, but you'll be okay."

The thought comes back. Someone was expecting this. They're prepared for this.

I look back at the pedestal the gum was resting on. It's already been replaced with another piece.

The worst feeling in the world is thinking you're making a defiant last stand, only to find out that the hill you chose to die on was ready-made for your dramatic exit, and that you'll be asked to leave through the gift shop and pay way too much for the photos they take of you. You know, figuratively.

I have to do something they won't see coming.

I turn around and lunge for the new piece of gum. Or, at least, I try to lunge, but my thighs are filling up and it's getting difficult to move dramatically. Still, I grab it and cram it in my mouth. Might as well be a brat.

"Oh!" she chirps again, and makes another mark on her clipboard. "Wow! So-"

God, I'm feeling so full. I can feel every inch of my clothes pulling taut against my skin. I gave in to temptation and wore a blue top, blue jeans, and a red belt. I couldn't help myself. Now, that belt is starting to dig in, trying to squeeze me in half.

I swallow the new gum, too, and look down at myself. I'm getting pretty big, bulging out around the belt. My shirt is riding up, exposing my swelling blue belly to the cool air. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her make another mark.

I try to touch my growing midsection, but it's getting hard to move my arms. They're filling up too. I feel warm all over now.

"You're blowing up so fast!" she says.

She opens her mouth to say something else, and that's when my belt snaps apart. My equator surges outward, jiggling and sloshing from the violent release.

It feels so, so strange, becoming something completely alien to what you use to be.

That said, it also feels amazing. Swelling bigger and bigger with gushing blueberry juice, bursting out of- wait.

I'm still growing, but besides the belt, everything's still on.

I try to look down again, but all I can see is the blue horizon of my belly. I flap my hands in frustration.

The lady speaks up again. "Since you're likely unable to move by yourself now, may I have your permission to roll you?"

"Um," I say, trying to think. I'm freaking out a little right now. "Uh."

I need this. It's all I've ever really needed. I just need need need to blow up and burst out of my clothes, that's it, and who cares what happens to the blueberry that used to be me.

All I need is to burst one little button and I'm done. I'll have won. Good day, miss.

The problems is, I'm perfectly round now, and my jeans are so, so tight but haven't so much as snapped a stray thread.

"Miss?" she says, "may I roll you away?"

I try to think of something to say, just to stall for a little more time. I'm so close, so so close.

Instead, I break down.

"Please," I beg her, "I'm going to lose my mind if I can't pop this button."

"Hey-" she starts, but I'm in a full-on panic right now.

"I have to, I have to, I don't know if I'll ever get another chance to be a blueberry, and like what if you roll me away and I never get juiced and I'm just stuck like this forever which would be hot but still or like what if this is as big as I can get and it's just impossible like what the fuck who even makes clothes that fit spherical women I knew I should have worn the red ones-"

"-but-"

"And I know what you're thinking! She broke the rules, it doesn't matter what she wants, she's just a blueberry now, blueberries don't want things, they're not even people! She had her chance and she blew it except she couldn't even blow it-"

"Miss! Please," she snaps, and she walks over, reaches up, and pinches my lips closed.

We lock eyes, because where else can I look, and for a moment, I just cry silent blue tears down my puffy cheeks, pouting all the while.

Then she smiles, and says, "I'm a trained professional, Miss. I can help you with that." She lets go, brushes her frizzy hair out of her eyes, and disappears behind me.

I feel her warm little hands on either side of me, like she's trying to give me a weird hug. Then I feel her squeeze into me. It feels startling, she must be way stronger than she looks. The pressure builds more and more, and I can hear her making an adorable little straining noise.

Then, there's a pop, and immediately a sense of relief. I hear a little zipping noise as the fly on my jeans explodes open. I gasp at the sensation.

Finally.

I give a little shudder, releasing the tension I hadn't realized was building the whole time. How Freudian of me, I guess. The oral stage ain't got nothing on this.

"Now then," she says, appearing in front of me again, smiling wider, making yet another mark. "May I please roll you away, Miss?"

[kaiseamr]

"S-so good..."

virgin! Luffy X afab! Reader ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: .☽ . :☆ﾟ. ─── ! ! MDNI ! !

'Twas a regular day on the sunny... The sound of the waves, the crew talking, everyone doing their normal routines. You were enjoying a mouth watering margarita made my Sanji and reading a book while breathing in the fresh air. Then your captain, Luffy uses his devil fruit to stretch his way towards you. "Hey! Whacha reading!" He giggles. "Oh it's just a book about a murder mystery." You put the drink down and give your full attention to Luffy. "Hmm... Sounds boring you should come with me!" He blushes, but just a tad. "You feeling ok Luffy?" You put your hand on his head. "You look a little red, you feeling sick?" Luffy quickly shakes his head. "N-no! I'm fine... Even if I wasn't I would go straight to Chopper!" He looks away trying to avoid your eyes. "I know but you can tell me..." You frown and look concerned. "Listen, I just feel weird! I don't know what's happening with me but I keep feeling something, and it happens every time I'm near you! It's like you're poisoning me!" Luffy shouts. You're a bit startled by his sudden outburst but quickly calm yourself down. "Luffy... What are you feeling." "I don't know... My heart is beating fast, I'm sweating. And I feel like my pants are shrinking!" He looks at you shyly. "O-ok... Uhm. I don't think that's normal, and what do you mean your pants are shrin-..." You look down a bit. "Oh... Luffy don't worry forget what I said about this not being normal. This is actually quite common. I just can't believe you don't know..." You get a little flustered. "What do you mean?" He looks confused and puts his hands on his hips. You get up and take his arm and walk to a room. "Where are we going?!" He yells at you. "Hey this isn't funny..." He pouts. You bring him to your room. "Luffy I need you to tell me you 100% want help." I look at him seriously. "Yes! I do want help." He folds his arms. You move him to your bed and make him sit down, you pull down his pants and his underwear, he's already hard, extremely hard. "W-woah! That's my private!" He looks flustered. "I'm gonna help you Luffy..." He bites his lip when you touch his cock. You hear a little whimper escape from his lips, you just lose it and start stroking his cock. "A- Aaahh~... That feels weird but good!" He moans out. You wrap your lips around his cock and tease his tip. "God! S-so good... You tongue feels so good!" He tangles his fingers in you hair and tugs. He immediately comes, you can't blame him though. This might be his first time. Suddenly his grabs you and lays you down on the bed. He quickly pulls off your clothes. "L-Luffy! What are you doing!" You blush and moan. But he doesn't answer, he just smashes his lips on your lips. The kiss is very sloppy but he doesn't care, he just wants to get all his frustration out. He moves one hand to your breast and squishes it. You moan in his moan and he understood that what he was doing made you feel good. He moves the hand that was kneading your breast your cunt. He doesn't know how to touch you because he's only touched himself before so he takes off you panties and pulls away from the kiss. You both are panting. "Luffy... Please." He's not even listening to you anymore he just wants you, he needs to be inside of you. He lines up with your hole and thrusts in. How did he know what to do? Maybe it's like second nature because he's a guy? You thought. But you can barley think when a dick is going in and out of you so you just moan and whimper for more. You only onto his neck. "Please Luffy! It's so good, feels so good!" You scream into his shoulder. "Yeah? God the way you squeeze around me!" He moans into your ear, its like you just vacuumed his voice into your brain. He begins to move faster and harder. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Yeah I'm done 😭

[dr-spectre]

RANT POST ABOUT CALLIE AHEAD!!!

I need to get some old and built up feelings out of my chest before i explode into a trillion pieces, if you do not wish to see a LONG rambling about me getting mad and rageful about this important character to me then by all means skip over and have a good rest of your day or night!

If you can handle me getting a bit pissed off and mean then keep on reading!!

This will also be a VERY LONG POST!!! Because I have a lot to rant about. Some of it i have talked about before many times but i need to talk about them... Again..

So anyways. If you wanna move on, that's okay, if you wanna stick around? That's all good as well!!! I highly HIGHLY encourage you to read all that I have to say. Okay? Thank you!

You know, as someone who has put in a lot of time and research into Hypno Callie and the others. What I've come to notice in media is that people tend to use the words mind control, brainwashing, hypnosis, influence, indoctrination, corruption, all interchangeably despite each word having vastly different meanings and connotations and effects.

Brainwashing has been used as an incorrect word to describe a lot of these kinds of plots in TV, movies, games, etc. and it really bugs me personally. Like, if you see something as clearly hypnosis, they explain that it is hypnosis and there is a hypnotic element at play here, you cannot just slap the word brainwashing onto it. It's like if I called a mango an apple you know? Or if I showed you a squid and you called it an octopus and you were REALLY adamant that it's an octopus.

Another example, if there's mind controlled zombies that are being controlled by aliens or something, slapping the word hypnotised or brainwashing onto that scenario is stupid because they clearly explained it in the story with evidence that it's straight up direct mind control and nothing else.

This doesn't just to apply to Splatoon btw, this annoyance goes for every other time a "mind control" plot has occurred in fiction.

I don't wanna sound rude here, I really don't! But guys, do you realise that we have this cool thing all across the world called a language? And languages have words in them!!!! And words have meanings in them that are brains understand and interpret!?

If I say the word "fluffy" what do you think of? "Fluff, fur, cute, huggable, adorable." You think of cute fluffy things, yeah?

If I say the word "hypnosis" what do you think of? A trance like state, a weird altered state of consciousness, maybe even a weird sleep/flow state?

If I say the word "brainwashed" what do you think of? Cults, militarily, experiments, evil, etc.

You guys see why I take issue? You guys see why I am extremely picky and laser focused on people's word choices when it comes to Callie and what happened? You guys see why I get really angry when people who do fuck tons of research into the events of Splatoon forget that languages exist and fail to see things past a fucking Wikipedia article?!? Is it seriously THAT hard for some people to say hypnotised?

I don't even necessarily blame most people for the words that they use, they don't know any better! And you know what? That's okay! I don't wanna get mad at SOME people since that word has been used incorrectly in media for a long ass time. And you wanna know another reason why i don't blame the casual fan or someone not in the know that much too? Because even the SPLATOON DEVELOPERS use brainwashing to describe Callie which is just... from my research and posts, incorrect.

I have yet to find a single person who can confidently explain to me that Callie was actually brainwashed and provide evidence to me to prove their points. Cause all I see is people just saying that "oh, a wiki and an artbook said so, so it must be true." Instead of looking at the actual game and looking at Hypno Callie's personality, behaviour, actions, etc. and comparing them to regular Callie.

Why do you think 99% of people call her Hypno Callie? Like there's a reason as to why her name is that in most circles... Have you ever talked to someone who calls her brainwashed Callie? Probably not...

God... I'm really sorry if i come off as some gatekeeping fan or elitist snob or some shit. I'm not trying to be and i don't wanna be like that. I wanna educate people, make people think of a different perspective and make people think a little more you know?

I'm just getting tired of it all... It affects how I see Hypno Callie and the events of Splatoon 2. I can't enjoy it when some people throw out these certain words, and it makes me feel so sad and terrible. And not in an engaging way, just a sadness that fucking stings my chest and I'm SO SICK OF IT!!!!!

I just despise this notion in the Splatoon community, Inkipedia, YouTube videos, social media and official sources that Callie was kidnapped out of the blue when she was alone and Octavio forced the shades onto her, brainwashing her and removing her memories. I hate it so much. It's something that truly fills me with great sadness and pain and pure anger. Callie is a comfort character of mine and to hear that scenario for her in official canon is just... no. I can't accept it. I refuse to accept such a vile and awful thing. It makes the Octarians more evil and way less sympathetic that way too, it makes DJ Octavio's eventual redemption make less sense because in one game he's this fucking monster and the next he's like "Hey guys imma help you out!" It makes his character incredibly inconsistent at that point.

it makes his appearance with Cuttlefish at the Grand Fest feel less satisfying because there this huge black spot on his character from Splatoon 2 where he apparently did something truly evil and unredeemable. Why would Cuttlefish be okay with standing next to a man who """kidnapped and brainwashed"""" his grand daughter?! I don't care about their history together, if i was Cuttlefish and I heard about that kind of event for my grand daughter, I WOULD NEVER FORGIVE OCTAVIO!!!

Hypnosis by nature is less evil and has more nuance and agency for Callie and the Octarians. Sure it's still fucking bad but not as extreme and dark as brainwashing is. The two terms are so vastly different and using either word willy-nilly is extremely annoying and frustrating to me.

Hypnosis ≠ brainwashing and you cannot prove to me otherwise. You literally cannot mind control someone with hypnosis, that's not how it works. They are so opposite of each other it's actually insane. I DON'T GET WHY PEOPLE USE THEM INTERCHANGEABLY ALL THE FUCKING TIME?!?! WHY?!?!!? Is it a lack of knowledge?!? Lack of caring?! Is it because of how hypnosis is portrayed?!?!

And the whole "Callie was kidnapped/abducted." My god... Do people understand what words are coming out of their fucking mouths?

Callie was more than willing to join the Octarians and she said to them "okay fine I'll hear you out." That is not KIDNAPPING!!!!!!!!!! THAT STATEMENT MADE BY CALLIE GOES AGAINST THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD!!!!

I don't know why they say this in some official sources either, i don't know why Inkipedia lists it on their pages. i don't know why fans keep wanting to push this idea that Callie was kidnapped, is it because an artbook said so and nothing in the game? I don't know why timeline explainers and people who do a fuck ton of research into Splatoon push it too. If Callie was kidnapped you figure she would mention it. But she doesn't!!!! Marie does and says she was brainwashed in the North American (NoA) localization, but of course she would think that and from her perspective she would figure that is the case from her limited knowledge of what happened to Callie.

God I just.... I hate it when people say Callie was brainwashed. I fucking despise it. It makes me so violently angry and upset and EVERYONE WHO HAS A LOUD VOICE IN THE COMMUNITY SAYS IT!!!

This doesn't even impact just Callie. It impacts the entirety of the Octarians as a species and DJ Octavio too. I LIKE DJ OCTAVIO!! I THINK HE WAS FUNNY IN SPLATOON 1! I like his role in Splatoon 3 and how he redeems himself and how he appeared in the Grand Festival with Cuttlefish. It ties back to before the Great Turf War when the Inklings and Octarians were on good terms and now finally that peace is back....

But this enjoyment... this appreciation of his character growth gets ruined because of the shit Nintendo did and what the fanbase did when Splatoon 2 rolled around... I can't enjoy Octavio as a character anymore because of the notion that Callie was brainwashed by him.

I can't look at his inkipedia page because IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH THEY SAY HE BRAINWASHED HER!!!!

And don't you EVEN MENTION the line "I remixed Callie's brain!" My brother in Christ, that is not only a call back to a line he said in the final boss of Splatoon 1, but it's also because DJ Octavio is a.. idk... DJ!!!! A DISC JOCKEY!!!! In the NoA version of Splatoon, Octavio's personality is very loud and in your face, compared to his more sinister and intense personality in the European and original Japanese versions. This serious personality was only given to Octavio finally in the NOA version of Splatoon 3 ROTM where his personality actually matches his Japanese and European versions from Splatoon 1 and 2.

Octavio says puns and musical terms to describe shit in the NoA versions of Splatoon 1 and 2. Remixing by definition is taking a song and altering it to make something new. What is Hypno Callie? A REMIX OF CALLIE!!!! It's Callie but she's more aggressive, emotional and impulsive. And you know where we've seen this remix of Callie before? IN SPLATOON 1!!!! IN THE SPLATFEST DIALOGUE!!!!

Octavio didn't literally mean that he "remixed her brain." via actual brain, washing. He just means that he gave Callie a new twist, and Callie in her hypnotic state was like "okay fine I'll hear you out."

Octavio hypnotising Callie who wanted to help the Octarians anyways out of her own free will, planting suggestions into her head that SHE HERSELF ACCEPTED AS DURING HYPNOSIS, SUGGESTIONS GIVEN CANNOT GO AGAINST THE PERSON'S MORALS AND IDEOLOGIES!!! So that Callie would be more likely to stay in Octo Canyon and not decide to suddenly run off as Callie was under a lot of mental distress and emotion from her busy and lonely life, and allowing Callie to put her influence onto Octo Canyon to help his people and boost motivation, fits more in line with Splatoon as a series and Octavio as a character than the whole "he brainwashed Callie" bullshit that has plagued the internet for 7 years and continuing. Why do you think Callie is so chill to see DJ Octavio come back in Splatoon 3 huh? Why do you think she misses shaven Octarians in ROTM? Why do you think she calls Octarians cute? Hmm... I WONDER WHY?!?!?!

Is Octavio still bad? Yes! Did he use Callie to benefit his people? YES!!!! Was Octavio being manipulative and selfish? FUCK YES!!! HE'S THE ANTAGONIST!!!! I AM NOT RESOLVING THAT MAN OF BLAME!!!! DONT GET MY WORDS TWISTED!!! HE'S STILL BAD! just not unredeemable... because once you say he brainwashed someone and forcefully removed Callie's memories like a pure evil monster, then you have a character who is pretty much unredeemable at that point. You have made him cross a line that he can't turn back from. You implanted these disgusting and disturbingly sexual suggestions about Octavio and Callie and her outfit. Why the FUCK do you want that? Why?! Why do you wanna even suggest the idea that Callie was forced to wear skimpy clothing against her consent and knowledge? Do you know how fucking DISGUSTING AND EVIL THAT IS?!?!?! FOR A SERIES SUCH AS SPLATOON?!?!?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ON WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO FUCKING IMPLY HERE?!?!?!

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!?! GOD!!!! WHY DO YOU WANT THESE AWFUL THINGS DONE TO CALLIE AGAINST HER KNOWLEDGE AND CONSENT IN THE MAIN TIMELINE!!??!?!?!?!! For AUs I get it, it's your right as a fan to make fanfiction and explore darker topics. I personally won't read it but I won't EVER stop someone from making a darker AU. It has its place in the community and I 100% respect it with all of my heart. I truly respect those who make dark AUs and darker takes on Splatoon because I'm sure it's fun and interesting for some people. To each their own! I actually like hearing my friends talk about Fuzzy AUs and stuff like that, given the time and place, darker toned AUs are something that i find really interesting but I'm not super duper in love with them.

But don't you DARE put these disgusting and sexual undertones about Callie and the Octarians in the main canon. Fuck off. Don't you even try and suggest that the Octarians are this purely evil race that forced Callie into a revealing outfit while she was completely unaware and it was against her consent. And that they just grabbed her... god... Jesus Christ man. Fuck. I hate thinking about that so much dude.

This type of scenario that people push did NOT happen.

THIS DID!

I'm so angry. I'm so sorry for this giant humongous rant. I care a lot about Callie. I only want the best for her. I only want a more engaging and more in-depth take on Splatoon 2. I want to enjoy Tidal Rush, I want to enjoy Spicy Calamari Inkantation, I want to enjoy Fresh Start, I want to enjoy the Bomb Rush Blush remix like how i enjoy Unconscience by Marina Agitando. I want to enjoy Hypno Callie in general, BUT SOMETIMES I JUST CANT AND I GET SO SAD AND MY CHEST HURTS!!!! This has been going on FOR SOOO LONGGG!!

I keep making all these posts about Callie because I still see that kind of bullshit being thrown around. Imagine having a perspective on a character you really love and you try and hold on to it. But everyone else around is pushing that perspective down and you feel so sad and stupid and ridiculous... And so your only option left is to scream and bark and yell....

I am literally gonna keep ranting until I can see the word "brainwashed" in media without having a fucking heart attack. I wanna just be able to enjoy Callie's arc and see it for what it truly is...

A story about two cousins drifting apart... Callie becoming so popular and famous... and lonely... that she became so mentally distraught and overthought everything. She did something incredibly irrational. She went to Octavio and the Octarians. Octavio knows that Callie can be a huge help to him after his loss and so he enlisted her help. And she just said, "okay, fine."

She was given hypnotic shades by Octavio in order to keep her more under control as she was ridden with mental illness and could leave Octo Canyon at any point with her overthinking. But he did NOT put her under total control and brainwash her, he needed Callie's influence for the Octarians, to decorate bases and add her touch into their music. The Octarians became happy and more motivated then ever. He didn't need a drone to help him. He needed, CALLIE.

However... Callie, in the canyon, lost herself, she gave into bitterness, hatred, sadness, anger... She knows who she is, but her memory is so cloudy and muffled by emotion and the shades... She needs help... Proper. Help. You can hear it in the songs found within the Octo Canyon, her reversed vocals sound so sad and deeply emotional...

When Marie arrives, Callie is mad at her, she wants nothing to do with her. But when Marie shoots the shades off of her, Callie is still dazed, upset, emotional, sick, she dances and continues to sing back against Marie's desperate words and pleas... Marie only wants to repair their broken relationship and lend out a hand to her cousin who needs to see the light....

But, when that heavenly melody echoed in that stadium, it was like a rushing tide of memories and feelings flooded into Callie. All of her and Marie's time performing, hosting news, celebrating Splatfests, and arriving to Inkopolis for the first time, came back to her and dispelled the darkness in her heart.

Callie heard the melody and went "wait... This isn't me! What am i doing!? YEAH! I REMEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

And well... The rest is history, the pair healed their relationship over the course of a few years and are stronger than ever.

They fulfilled their fresh start, they helped redeem an angry vengeful man from the past, they inspired the present with Off the Hook, and they planted the seeds for the future in Deep Cut.

and they won the Grand Festival... TOGETHER!

Well... At least that's MY interpretation on things ;). And i want my interpretation to be held strong in my head... I'm tired of getting chest pains man... I'm tired of feeling this sadness and pain... I'm tired of going on Inkipedia and seeing that FUCKING word. I'm tired of being scared to watch YouTube videos focusing on lore and the story of Splatoon because deep down i KNOW they will say that word that has such fucking horrible connotations and meaning behind it...

Anyways. I think I'm done. I think I'm just in a huge ranting mode and I had to get it out, my autism was really acting up and i wanted to vomit this stuff out of me. I hope you guys feel what I'm feeling and if you have a character who you feel similar towards, let me know! Let the anger out. Okay?

Have a Callie for sticking around and actually reading. You're amazing.

[mintedwitcher]

So recently I've been thinking about what my ideal ending for Buck would be. The others in the main cast have stories that have clear endings for the most part (Chim and Maddie with their growing family and the heavily implied Chim becoming Captain thing and continued HenRen domestic life), even Eddie and fixing his relationship with Chris (and then maybe hopefully taking the time to assess himself and go back to therapy again because mental healthy people probably don't have minor religious crises when learning their then-girlfriend was a nun in training and simultaneously have an extended emotional affair with their dead wife's doppelganger), but Buck's story is so up in the air. Like they really don't seem to know what they want to do with his character besides make him suffer and a lot of times its not even by the results of his actions ??? The truck bombing was aimed at Bobby, the tsunami was a natural disaster, the whole blood clot thing, oh you were a 'my sisters keeper' baby and that's why your parents were distant and emotionally abusive, everything with Maddie (none of which was also her fault I am not blaming her for Doug or the PPD), BOBBY DYING and him loosing his actual father figure!!! The big Buck driven plot points have been the lawsuit and him learning he's bi and coming out, and I'm sure other things but those are the big two at least and my brain is not fully on line yet. He's such a good character and I want him to have a story that's good without the bad things happen to Buck for plot reasons guys dont question it we are good writers this is a good show guys, yknow.

I've gone off the rails. I just don't know where they're planning on going with Buck's story and idk I kinda want the series finale to be a parallel to Red with his house full of memories and maybe they play up the whole him reminiscing to some young person and we think "oh no poor Buck is alone and his worst fears came true" but instead we learn its Jee's kid hanging out with their cool great uncle (or his own kid/grandchild) before some kind of party and it pans out and his home is happy and full of love and the people he cares about and a dog because he deserves a dog. I also don't know if I want him to end up with a woman, which feels weird to say because he is bi so he could still end up with a woman but I feel like terrible internet people would use an endgame hetero marriage as some kind of gotcha he was straight all along and the Tommy of it all was just pandering to the woke mob or something stupid like that. Also the main cast is already large enough I don't know if adding a whole new character would be worth it, I'm not sure what they would need to do to make me like another SO of Buck's. I'm sure it could happen but I can't imagine what it would be like. God this got long. Really, I don't think he needs to be in a relationship for his story to be complete, but this is television and shows and movies seem to think a fulfilling life you need to have a romantic partner.

TLDR I want Buck to be happy and that's literally it but this show seems hellbent on making the man miserable.

nonnie I love you, and I agree with you SO MUCH about all the terrible things they've done with Buck over the course of the show.

here's my ideal ending: (wow this got SUPER long im so sorry) (putting this under a cut because WOW)

(for context, I would want this to be the final episode of the show.)

almost the entire episode takes place outside of work, and it's been 5-10 years since the "last" episode.

we see Buck out at a park. he's got a dog, he's on the phone, and we hear that he's talking to Maddie. he's talking about how awful the traffic is and how bad the parking situation is, how it was taking forever to find a parking space so he just got out with the dog to secure a bench. the conversation is entirely one sided, so we don't hear Maddie's responses, but we see Buck light up with joy. the shot pans out, and there's the 118, set up at a bench already with their various kids and extended families, and there's balloons and a banner that says "congrats", and everyone's thrilled to see him. they all yell out "surprise!"

the park party continues, and in the background we see a man approaching with a stroller. the shot clears, and it's Tommy. this is how we learn that Buck and Tommy are married, when we see their matching rings. Buck scoops up the baby from the stroller, and Tommy makes a joke about how he's "just chopped liver to this kid," and "clearly Evan is the favourite." Buck reassures him that Tommy's still his favourite. the 118 groan at their sappiness but it's clear they're all really happy for him.

after the party, we get to follow the others for a while.

Maddie and Chim are considering hiring a contractor to build an addition to their house so they'll have a spare nursery for Buck's baby - this is how we learn that Buck and Tommy had been trying to become parents for a few years by this point - and decide to talk to Athena about it, since she still has all of the contacts who worked on her and Bobby's house way back when.

over with Hen and Karen, they're packing down Denny's bedroom in preparation for him to head to college (or move out, depending on how big the time jump has been). we learn that they're still fostering, but that the emotional toll is starting to wear on them, and they discuss whether it's smart to keep going, and their feelings about stopping. Hen broaches the idea of working with a youth shelter instead, and Karen, always a step ahead because she's brilliant, pulls up the list of shelters on her phone that she's had bookmarked for months, places that are in need of volunteers and resources. we leave their scene on a hopeful note.

over to Eddie and Chris, and they've moved house. we see them in the back garden, sitting by an ofrenda, where we see photographs of Abuela, Pepa, and Shannon set up. Eddie is teaching Chris about their culture, about the importance of remembrance and why their traditions matter. the back door to their house opens, and a woman walks outside to join them. this woman is Eddie's fiance. I have no concrete thoughts on who she should be, only that she's a good match for Eddie and that she loves Chris like her own. maybe she's Latina too, maybe she's not, I don't know. but she comes outside and reminds Eddie that he's going to be late for his therapy appointment if he doesn't move quick, and asks Chris if he needs a ride to his love interest's house for their Big Date (Chris is meeting his LI's parents for the first time that night). there's some light-hearted joking from Eddie about how his "little boy is growing up" at that part. Chris says his partner is picking him up, "but thanks, Mom." there's some very sentimental music as Eddie and his fiance lock eyes, with the picture of Shannon out-of-focus in the background, before Chris's words are acknowledged happily.

we move on, and we're back with Buck and Tommy at their house.

the first thing we notice is that their house is full of photos. friends, family, everyone that matters to the two of them are scattered around the house. there's a framed wedding photo on the mantel, with the baby's sonogram, hand/foot prints, and newborn photoshoot pictures framed around it. Buck and Tommy are on the couch, with the baby in a bassinet nearby, and a plain white box on the coffee table. the box, Buck explains to a perplexed Tommy, will be their child's Baby Box. he's got a craft supply box sitting next to it, and explains that it's a Necessary Part of crafting a baby box, to decorate it together. Tommy knows about the Buckley Baby Box Drama by now, so he doesn't argue, and he doesn't comment on the way Buck tears up when he very carefully paints the baby's name on the lid, taking the whole thing as seriously as he would a rescue mission. once the box is done, they talk for a while, and we learn snippets of their life in the interim: we learn that Tommy chose to take a promotion on the ground, better pay and a safer career path than helicopter rescues. we learn that one of Athena's kids are starting their probie year at the 118 soon. we learn that Buck did take a sabbatical from the 118 after Bobby's death, and that it was "the best choice he ever made." just, lots of little things mentioned in passing, and then Buck tells Tommy about Red, and how he'd been so afraid that he would turn out just like him in the end, and how glad he is that he didn't, and how sorry he still feels that Red did.

then, the last few scenes take place inside the firehouse.

everyone's there, eating at the table. family dinners have been reinstated. the head chair at the table remains empty. Buck cooked, so Eddie and Ravi are on cleanup duty. Hen and Chim slip away, and Buck wanders off. we follow him to the captain's office, but we don't see any name tag on the door or desk. inside, Chim is sitting in the desk chair, leaning back, hands behind his head. he cracks a joke about Buck needing to "get back to work".

Buck laughs. then he says, "okay, smartass, get out of my chair, I've got reports to fill out. unless you want to do those for me?"

and Chim jumps up and says "no thank you, I'd rather chug antiseptic."

Buck shoos him out of the office and moves to sit at the desk, turning around a nameplate as he goes. the nameplate says Captain Evan Buckley, and when the camera pans back out of the office, we see the same thing on the door.

the very last shot of the episode is the new 118 probie walking in through the app bay doors and, when stopped, asking for Captain Buckley.

full circle moment.

[pookie-mulder]

July 2024 fic roundup

Here are the highlights from this month! I really love doing these. It helps me be more engaged with what I’m reading and actually remember individual fics once I’m done with them (rather than stuffing them in the collective “fic soup” in my brain, where they’ll combine together until there’s no hope of remembering details). Anyway, I highly recommend doing some sort of fic journal! I’d love to know what you guys are reading.

🦆👧 Temporum VI by Emily_M1013

This is the third installment of a wonderful Emily AU, The Mallards series. I love how it puts its own spin on canon events, and I’m delighted every time I see an update in my inbox!

🤫🪪 Snakebitten by @onpaperfirst

My favorite thing about this fic is the way it adds to canon without rehashing what we’ve already seen in the show, building on season 5 so seamlessly. (The motel scene is 👌)

👰‍♀️🤵‍♂️yesterday’s future by @thursdayinspace

This fic answers the question I posed in this post: What if Mulder and Scully got married right after William was born? I loved it so much! The angst and the longing and the overwhelming love were just perfect.

👓😩 spectacular by @thursdayinspace

Scully has a thing for Mulder in glasses. Mulder has a think for Scully in glasses. They bang about it. (And who can blame them, really?)

🌳☕️ Suncadia by @sisterspooky1013

A banger from the great sisterspooky! It’s a casefic set in the weird post-Millennium era where they kiss sometimes but haven’t established the terms of their relationship yet. Pining and yearning abound!

🏥👰‍♀️ Something blue (and something pink) by @sunflowernyx

Mulder and Scully get married during the cancer arc. It’s sweet, angsty, adorable, and tender. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

🐶🪤 A Change of Seasons by Jo-Ann Lassiter

Still making my way through @lilydalexf’s survival fic recs! This one is a one-shot; perfect for when you want a bit of hurt/comfort without all the peril and drama.

🌨️🌲 Frozen by @dashakay

Classic, cozy, cabin-in-the-woods fic where our two favorite agents get snowed in and finally admit their feelings for each other.

🏥👻 Finding Rokovoko by prufrockslove

An instant addition to my holy grail list! This is the first fic I’ve read by this legendary author (I think?), and BOY HOWDY do I see why they’re so revered. I finished this fic in one sitting, reading late into the night (yes, I was very tired at work the next day).

I think it’s best if you go into this one mostly blind. All you need to know is that MSR are teetering on the knife’s edge between UST and RST, there’s plenty of cancer arc angst, and they go on a spooky adventure that will give you the creepy crawlies.

📝📱 Belphegor’s Prime by prufrockslove

Another absolute banger from the legend themselves. This fic is as close to perfection as humanly possible. The way everything comes together is just incredible. If you haven’t read it yet, do it now! Shirk all other responsibilities and devour this fic in one sitting!

One of my favorite things about this fic is how ruthless Mulder is. I don’t think I’ve encountered a version of him quite like this anywhere else. His intense love for his family and his innate sense of duty are intensified to the point where he skirts the boundaries of what’s morally acceptable. He’s so desperate to protect his loved ones and fix the world that he will do anything, even if he risks becoming his father(s). It felt so organic and natural for him to become that version of himself under the extreme circumstances.

Anyway, if you’re a fan of time travel, DILFs, or characters whose greatest strengths become a curse, this is the perfect fic for you!

🎪🎡 More Than a Feeling by @sisterspooky1013

A s6 casefic where M&S go undercover at a traveling carnival. I love how fleshed-out the OCs were — it really raised the stakes of the story and made you care what happened to them. Such a fun read!

🐞🩺 Inspection by @ingridgradient

Our favorite agents use tick checks as an excuse to touch each other. Need I say more? Things get hot! (Thanks for the rec, @is-on-its-way!)

P.S. If you like this one, check out let’s have a look by girlfromnowhere (thanks for finding it for me, @randomfoggytiger!)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿✝️ Hiraeth by prufrockslove

This is one of those fics that leaves you gobsmacked that someone wrote this for free and posted it online for anyone to enjoy. The amount of detail in this story is truly unbelievable. I don’t even normally like total AUs, but this one won me over!

Mulder and Scully’s medieval counterparts are so far removed from anything in canon, yet they still feel exactly like the characters we know and love. This fic is an absolute master class in characterization. I am now a prufrockslove stan account.

———

Special shoutout to @skelavender’s latest installment of fall into place, which isn’t out yet but I had the pleasure of beta reading. Guys, you are in for some serious shrimp emotions. It’s got everything you could ever want. I can’t wait until everyone gets to see how awesome it is!