#imagine not knowing to take precautions when the news said because you thought it was in the other sea

[somestorythoughts]

While we’re all calling this guy an idiot and it is definitely deserved, I think Miles Bron also works as an example of how someone might not notice something dumb if they aren’t paying attention or don’t know about the thing.

Like “inbreathiate.” It’s obviously not a word and it’s pretty noticeably not a word. But personally, I assumed he was just being silly. It’s kind of similar to calling his house a “reclamation.” The first time I watched this I thought “huh wonder what he’s reclaiming” and then its just like “I think you mean ���a representation’ but I really have no fucking clue what goes through your thick head.”

And then there’s “that is the Aegean Sea.”

I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure we’re never actually told what sea they’re on. We know they’re in Greece and that the ferry takes about 2 hours to get to the island but I’m pretty sure the first time we get a location is Miles saying “swim in the Ionian sea.” And we have no reason to think otherwise because there’s no map or any mention of it.

There are a lot of times when you expect someone to know what they’re talking about, and if you don’t know anything about it you’re going to assume they’re right. Like for example, if you assume that someone who owns a car company knows at least a bit about cars and you know nothing, you might not be very skeptical when they say something anyone who does know about cars would immediately clock as bullshit.

Or maybe I’m just unobservant and you guys immediately clocked him as dumb. Also possible.

[doctor-dusk]

𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐬 | 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐭.

a private session, as he said.

warnings: mutual masturbation, fingering (f receiving), exhibitionism and voyeurism.

word count: 3.4k

part 1, part 2

it took me longer than expected. ngl that i've been feeling a bit discouraged and insecure about my writing lately and i've been putting off posting. anyway, hope you like it :3

you haven't stopped talking for a minute since alex got your phone number. like, for hours, going into the early hours of the morning sometimes. 

you found out he lived a few minutes away from you and was a bartender at a night pub, so eventually he had to be absent when he was on his shift. of course you understood, but you couldn't help but miss talking to him when he was away for too long, especially at night. you found yourself looking at his profile picture, or at the photos he sent you throughout the days. 

obviously, at this point you already had a certain level of intimacy, so he didn't see a problem in sending you some kind of spicy photos, for example, after the shower. oh, these were your favorites. you loved his toned muscles glistening with water, the fluffy towel wrapping around his waist, the marked v line. and of course, you loved seeing the outline of his cock in the towel. 

a was a tuesday night. particularly rainy, the wind was not violent and the news reported that it could last until the next day, but that doesn't bother you. you were reading a book peacefully on your bed when you felt your cell phone vibrate under your pillow.

you fumbled around the bed looking for your cell phone, reaching under your pillow to grab the phone, turning on the screen and smiling when you saw that he had sent you a message.

“hi baby, just got back home.’’ he texted you.

you smiled at the nickname. it was already natural for him to call you that, but you still found yourself giggling about it whenever he called you like that.

“did something happen?” you texted him back. he should be working now, since he had said he had a shift at the pub that night.

“the power went out at the pub because of the rain,” he explained in another message after a while. “guess i'll have to go back tomorrow to make up the hours. yay.” 

you chuckled softly. it wasn't like he didn't like his job, he just found it tiring sometimes.

“what are you going to do now?” you asked him. 

“well, for starters, i’m gonna take a shower and eat something.” he answered, sending another message afterwards. “but first of all take off these clothes. i'm so fucking wet.” 

“hey, that's my line.” you joked, imagining he must have laughed when he read it. and he did.

“cheeky. later i'll make you wetter than i am now, what do you think?” he suggested. you bit your lip.

“i’ll wait for it.’’ you texted back, swaying your legs up and down like a teenager.

“good. i’ll call you in 30 minutes. wear something nice for me, love ;)” 

you thought you were dressed appropriately for him. a cotton cropped shirt and a flared mini skirt. but you thought there's something missing. it wasn't "nice" enough for him.

you opened your closet and drawers, looking for some suggestion. you didn't even know exactly what you were looking for. 

your eyes landed on your underwear drawer, remembering that you had a pair of white knee socks somewhere. you didn't know if he would like them, but knowing him well enough, you could deduce that was worth a try.

you put on the socks, the soft fabric gliding over your legs like a massage, the hem resting right above your knees. you looked at your reflection in the mirror, flexing your leg and bending your knee to see how it looked. then you turned your back, looking over your shoulder to see how it looked from this angle. it wasn't bad. it showed off your legs nicely. he might like it, but if he doesn't, he'll be polite enough to ask you to take it off.

you made sure your door was locked, turning the knob twice as a precaution. once confirmed, you jumped on your bed, grabbing your phone. as if on time, a message from him popped up on your screen.

‘’ready?’’

‘’yep.’’ you texted, settling yourself in bed, lying partially between your pillows, your back resting on the headboard, your knee bent so you could rest your phone on it.

seconds later, a video call popped up on your screen, and you answered it without delay.

oh, as always, he was handsome. unlike you, he was standing, probably walking around his apartment, the position of the camera revealed that he was holding his phone a little too low. and of course, shirtless.

‘’hey love, i- fuck, no, no! wait a minute.’’ he said before you could say anything, leaving his phone in a corner, the camera focusing on the ceiling was all you could see now. you waited for him to come back, listening for some noises and trying to figure out what it was. seconds later, he came back. ‘’sorry, i had to put the neighbor's cat out. the bastard tried to steal my last slice of pizza.’’ 

you laughed at what he said. you expected anything but that. 

‘’how did he tried to steal your pizza?’’ you asked as he was making his way to the bedroom, turning off the lights on the way.

‘’he came in through my kitchen window. can't turn my back for a bloody second.’’ he rolled his eyes, entering his bedroom, sitting on the edge of his bed. ‘’you look lovely, baby. new necklace?’’ he pointed out. you looked at your chest, the silver necklace resting on your collarbone. you didn't even think he would notice that. but he was very observant, especially when it came to you.

‘’yeah, i bought it yesterday when i went out to shopping with my mom.’’ you answered and he hummed, his mouth was too busy eating a piece of pizza. ‘’although this isn't the necklace i was looking for.’’

‘’which one did you want?’’ he asked, his voice a little muffled as he was finishing the slice of pizza.

‘’your hand.’’ you answered him, causing him to cough almost uncontrollably because he almost choked on the piece of pizza. you would have laughed if you weren't so worried about him. “are you okay? i'm sorry, i-”

‘’no, no, i'm fine. wasn't expecting it, you can't do this to me, jesus.” he laughed after catching his breath, his face was a little red because of it. “you can't have my hand as your necklace if you choke me to death on a piece of pizza.”

“sorry, i didn't know you'd be so surprised.” you chuckled softly, watching him wipe his mouth with a napkin, throwing the paper in the trash.

“you just caught me by surprise, hon. you're not usually this forward.” he said. he was right, sometimes you were a little shy, even though you've done things that say otherwise. “by the way, are you wearing something nice like i asked you to?”

you nodded, adjusting your posture, getting into an angle so he could see your body when you stretched out your arm holding your phone in your hand, giving him a good view. he let out a low whistle, enjoying the view.

“no way, knee socks?” he asked with raised eyebrows as his eyes landed on your legs, making himself comfortable in his bed. it wasn't in a disapproving tone, by the way.

“yeah, did you like it?” you asked a little insecurely.

“hell, a lot.” he licked his lips, taking a look at you. “i have an idea, do you want to know what it is?”

you nodded eagerly. by the tone he spoke, he was certainly going to suggest something for you to do.

“take off your clothes. i want you in nothing but those knee socks. can you do that for me, love?”

the idea made your hair stand on end. you knew that eventually you would undress for him, but you didn't know that you would be so nervous about the idea and that it would be so exciting to be naked for him, wearing only a pair of white knee socks.

“you can take your time, baby. don't worry, i've got all the time in the world for you.” he reassured you, making you even more comfortable with the idea.

“shirt?” you suggested and he hummed in agreement.

“are you wearing a bra?” he asked and you shook your head. “good. i miss those nice tits of yours.”

you giggled, grabbing a pillow and placing it on the middle of the bed, positioning your phone so that it rests on it.

“is the angle okay?” you asked him, sitting with your legs spread on the bed. he could even get a small glimpse of your panties.

“amazing, baby. keep going.” he said. he didn't really care about the angle as long as he could see you and your body on full display for him on his phone screen.

you pulled your crop top up, pulling it over your head. the mere sight of your breasts on the screen made him groan, biting his lip as he palmed himself over his sweatpants, even though you couldn't see it for now.

‘’so beautiful. one day i'm going to suck those tits, mark my words.’’

you smiled at the idea. alex seemed like the kind of hungry man who could devour you if he could. and he really was. he wanted to mark you, to sink his fingers and teeth into your flesh, so that he and everyone else could see that he was the one who did this to you. he wanted to make sure everyday that you were his, that only he could see you like that and make you feel that way. 

you touched your boobs, adding a little more anticipation to the moment, your nipples hardening with the mere stimulation on them, your eyes rarely looking at him on the screen, focused on losing your shyness as you touched your left breast while your right hand went down your belly.

“the skirt too?” you asked him, tracing your index finger along the waistband of your skirt.

“everything.” alex answered, a minimally authoritative tone was noticeable in his voice, but you didn't think it was bad. it turned you on even more.

you shifted in bed, your fingers hooked on the sides of your skirt, slowly pulling it down, letting the material slide down your legs, his eyes watching every move without blinking, as if he would never see something like that again in his life. his hand tightened his grip on his cock, feeling that sooner or later he would have to take it out, such was the pressure inside his boxers.

“you have beautiful legs, love.” he praised you as he drank the sight of your semi naked body, the only thing that kept him from seeing you naked were your panties and knee socks.

“thank you.” you smiled, you liked it when he complimented you, even when it was something simple. you felt desired, in a way.

“you're nervous, aren't you?” he asked. he had never seen you in person and never lived with you physically, but he knew you well enough to know that.

“god, yes. i'm sorry, i've never done that.” you mumbled, closing your legs a bit so you wouldn't feel so exposed.

“that's okay, baby, you're doing so good. take your time.” he said in a reassuring tone, not wanting you to feel insecure or embarrassed around him. “just remember that sooner or later i'm going to see this pretty pussy of yours. and believe me, i'm going to gorge myself on it.”

you chuckled awkwardly, still feeling a bit insecure. he pouted slightly.

“hey, look at me.” he asked you, he couldn't just hold your face and make you look at him, so he expected you to look back at the screen, which is what you did. “don't worry about it. we're just going to have some fun, i want you to enjoy yourself with me, hm?” he spoke calmly and patiently, knowing he needed to be careful with his words.

you smiled, nodding in response to him. he knew how to reassure you, how to make you feel safe. you were in this together, after all.

you tried opening your legs again, your hand running over the fabric of your underwear, testing the waters as he swallowed hard at your actions. you touched your sensitive bud, feeling it contract inside your panties with the touch of your fingertip.

‘’mhm, that’s it. doing so good, love.” he said, his voice almost in a whisper as he stuck his hand inside his sweatpants, squeezing his cock more directly over his boxers, his thumb ghosted over his sensitive tip, leaking precum and staining the fabric of his underwear. 

he felt uncomfortable with this, shifting in bed to get his sweatpants and boxers down, freeing his cock, the angle he was lying at made the tip touch his stomach.

“you're making me hard as fuck.” he moaned in a somewhat anxious way.

“yeah? show me.” you instigated him.

fuck, you didn't even need to ask twice. he angled his phone so you could see his cock, his free hand grabbing it firmly by the base, massaging it deftly, working his way up until he reached the head, pulling back the foreskin so you could see his glistening tip practically taking over your screen.

you leaned against the headboard, supporting your body weight there while your hands were free. one hand hooked your panties, finally pulling to the side, showing him your most intimate area.

“beautiful. just like i imagined.” he bit his lip, watching your fingers firmly grip the fabric of your panties like a real hook while the fingers of your other hand roamed the skin of your crotch, teasing both you and him. “god, i can already imagine myself with my face buried in this pussy all day.”

you giggled, you loved how vocal he was. your index and middle finger wandered through your folds in an inverted 'v' position, sliding up and down your labia, feeling your digits getting wet.

“'wet?”

“so fucking wet.” you answered and he groaned. you also knew how to tease him with words, his dirty thoughts getting the best of him as he saw you touching yourself like this.

“yeah? think i can shove my cock inside you without needing lube?” he asked you, starting to pump his cock faster.

“oh, you have no idea.” you said in a sly tone, moving your hands away from there only to pull the panties down your legs, discarding them on the bed among the sheets. and you were just the way he asked, completely naked, except for the knee socks. oh, that made his cock throb.

“god, you're so fucking hot.” he hissed, pumping faster, his fist closed so tightly that his tip was getting redder and the veins were getting more visible. “touch yourself for me, love. please.”

you brought your index and middle fingers to your mouth, thinking about it. please. he never asked you “please”, not that you remember. he always asked, in a polite but authoritative tone, sounding like a gentle order. but never added the word please. 

it sounded like he's begging you. and you liked it.

“please?” you repeated the word, wetting your fingers, bringing them down to your sensitive bud that was aching to be touched.

“fucking please…” he said in a desperate growl, his eyes fixed on your body as you tesed him furter, circling your fingers on your clit, the contact making you hiss. “feels good?”

“mhmm, so good…” you hummed, circling your fingers counterclockwise, the way you always did when you pleased yourself alone in that bed in your room. “i wish you were touching me right now.”

“don't say that to me or i might come out in the rain and climb in through your bedroom window just to fuck you.” he panted, making you imagine the scene, a small whimper leaving your lips.

“yeah? would you fuck me good?” you asked, moving your fingers down, teasing your wet and slick entrance, your fingertips sliding in with ease.

“so good, baby. would you like it hard and deep?" he asked you, feeling the pleasure starting to get the best of him, he tried to hold on as much as he could.

you nodded eagerly, sliding two fingers inside your tight heat. he watched as you buried your own fingers inside your cunt until reached your knuckles, withdrawing them just to repeat the motion. nothing had ever turned him on as much as this. he felt like a teenager watching porn for the first time, but it was a thousand times better. it was real, and it was for him. only for him.

“so be it. gonna fuck you good, baby. the way you deserve it.” 

his words entered your mind like a virus, your eyes squeezed shut as your fingers went back and forth, coating them with your arousal. you couldn't help but vividly imagine him fucking you hard, his hips snapping against yours, his cock filling you to the brim as he squeezed your neck, calling you his little slut who takes his cock so fucking well.

“oh my god, please…” you whimpered breathlessly, your legs starting to tremble involuntarily, your head tilting to the side.

“are you going to come for me, love? you're so close, i can see it.” he hummed, watching you nodding, his fist was hurting, but he didn't want to stop, not when he was so close too.

“yes, yes, oh alex…” you moaned his name, making him grunt in response, his breath ragged and his body trembled, he could barely concentrate on holding the phone anymore, even though he doesn't want to miss a single second of you fingering yourself, chasing your climax.

“fuck, i can't hold back…” he almost whined, and you let out a satisfied smile, so close that you're already seeing stars.

“yes, fuck me, alex…” you moaned, and that was the last straw for him. he moaned loudly, his head falling back into the pillow as he came, making a mess of his own belly and chest, but he didn't stop, even though his senses were overwhelmed at this point.

as you watched him fucking his own fist through his orgasm and heard his whimpers, you followed him suit, cumming on your fingers, your free hand covered your mouth so you wouldn't moan loudly as the climax hit you, your trembling legs closed automatically around your hand as your fingers pumped and curled inside you to prolong your pleasure.

in the seconds that followed, all that could be heard besides the sound of the rain outside were the panting breaths as the bodies lay completely exhausted on the respective beds. it was so intense, you couldn't remember the last time you had an orgasm that good, especially when you were touching yourself.

after a few seconds, he broke the silence.

“still there?” he asked. you gave him thumbs up and he chuckled. you needed a few more seconds to recover.

“yeah, yeah…” you mumbled, taking a deep breath through your nose and letting it out through your mouth. then, you lifted your head, looking at him. he was as broken as you were.

“it just gets better, princess. you're amazing, really.” he said. and he was sincere, you could see it. or at least he gave you enough confidence to make you think that.

“you're amazing too. you must be even better in person.” you answered him next. it was like you were having pillow talk after sex. the difference is you hadn't had sex. not yet.

“well, baby, i'll try to impress you. i have to win you over every day.” he chuckled, groaning as he saw his own mess, knowing he would have to clean himself up. “hate this part.” 

“i wish i could lick you clean.” you pouted and he pouted too, chuckling at your boldness.

“you always get feisty after having your orgasm, huh?” he questioned and you giggled, picking up your panties to put them back on carefully, your legs felt like jelly. 

“only with you.” you winked at him, licking your fingers as he sighed at the sight of you. he was quiet for a while, just looking at you, his mind working in different ways. “what?”

“i want to see you.” he answered after a few seconds of silence.

“you’re seeing me already.” you chuckled and he shook his head after letting out a weak laugh.

“no, i want to really see you. to meet you in person.” 

oh. now that was another level.

[abbysimsfun]

Sims In Bloom: Generation 2 Pt. 78 (Conrad's New Dad Mode)

Heather and Conrad brought baby Lavender home under a light snowfall. A dusting of white on the ground quickly disappeared: the calm before Brindleton's Bay's notoriously blizzard-like winter weather.

Inside the Nesbitt-Gordon home, not even the cries of a tiny newborn could dampen her blissful parents' spirits.

Baby Lavender loved attention from the start, often crying just to be held. Both mom and baby were in perfect health, and Conrad took to fatherhood immediately.

She was named to honour Conrad's mother, whose death so deeply affected him. Every night, he cradled his daughter in his strong arms when he came home from work, his heart full of love he'd never imagined possible.

"Hi, sweet girl. Daddy missed you today." The tiny infant gazed back at him, wide-eyed. "And what did you do all day? Did you sleep well? Did you let your mom sleep well, too?"

Heather woke from a nap and watched Conrad bond with their daughter. "I think she's already smiling at you," she said.

"I think I'm turning into my Dad. He loved everyone's babies and I always thought I'd drop them. But it's like I can hear him in my head telling me how to hold her. Like he's right here."

Heather shrugged. "Maybe he is. You know I'm not really into all that Watcher stuff, but we've seen ghosts, made friends with the Grim Reaper..."

"Mrs. Goth's daughter-in-law really walked in on her and Grim getting out of the shower together?"

"That's what Spencer said! If it wasn't Mrs. Goth, I might not believe it. But after everything she's shown us this past year, it just makes sense. Apparently Lydia wasn't even phased by it because living with Mrs. Goth is like walking around in a half-haunted house."

(Apparently actual woohoo actions with Grim aren't available until Tuesday because these two are fully official romantic partners now and would not get in the shower or even 'woohoo here.' HURRY UP, BELLA WANTS SOME GRIMMIE!)

"She brings up travelling on her seance table practically every time I see her," said Conrad. "And it's weird...ever since I got back from the Magic Realm I've been just as curious as I've been glad we've been too busy."

"You should go sometime. I told you, it was like going to school. I might need to stick close to Lavender to meet her demanding schedule, but Bella kept you safe in Glimmerbrook and we all trust her. Ash, too."

"I heard him talk about good tailoring the other day." He chuckled, placing Lavender back in her bassinet. "Between Bella and Nancy, I won't be surprised if he ditches the knit caps and hoodies for good, eventually."

"How was your day?" Heather stood, pulling him into an embrace.

"Long. I'm glad to be home. Hard to believe you're already going back to work next week."

(She didn't take traditional maternity leave as a small business owner. She just had a baby on Saturday and went back to work on Tuesday in-game.)

Conrad's phone beeped. "Is that work?" Heather asked.

He nodded. "Ever since I made sargent at the station, my cases have gotten a little tougher. But this can wait."

"My parents want to come this weekend to meet Lavender, and I said it was fine," she said. Conrad nodded as his phone beeped again. "Do you need to get that? Conrad, are you okay? Is this about those security cameras you ordered?"

"What? No. That's just a safety precaution."

"Well, why now?"

He froze, glancing back at their sleepy-eyed little girl. "She came along and I just...It's not like we'll be the only people in the world with a home security system."

"Conrad, if you're working a difficult case, you can talk to me. I can handle it."

He smiled. "Everything's fine, and the phone stopped beeping. What should I make for dinner?"

Although Heather and Conrad were officially engaged, they had no immediate plans to tie the knot - mostly because Heather and the Watcher wanted to wait for a warmer season to get married.

They were still a team, still committed, but for now they were both busy with work, caring for their pets, and raising two kids. Heather balanced Lavender's feeding schedule, helped Ash with his homework, and ran the clinic.

But unlike when Ash was born, Heather wasn't by herself and she could rely on Conrad to be there. Despite her exhaustion, this time felt so much easier. ->

<- Previous Chapter | Gen 2 Start | Gen 1 Summary | Gen 1 Start

NOTE: I'm trying to make my posts shorter. Trying! This post was going to have 23 photos so it's been split into two and this episode is posting a lil earlier than I'd intended it to post tomorrow. I'm still trying to get out a certain amount of storyline before Halloween so I've already broken my plan to post every other day. I'm learning as I go and I'm slowly adapting to shorter installments, I swear, but thank you so much for putting up with my wordiness, guys. 🙏

[apomaro-mellow]

King and Prince 15

Part 14

We have officially begun the second arc of this fic! Arc 1: Enemies Arc 2: Friends? ....Friends.... (<- You are here!) Arc 3: Lovers

The day before the festivities, Eddie was constantly on his feet and on the move. He had barely a moment to himself. But as the sun set, he took a second to check in on his favorite hostage-turned-guest. But Eddie never did these checks in person. Now seemed to be the time to give Steve as much space as he could. Eddie didn’t know in detail what kind of life he led in his old kingdom, but it couldn’t be anything good. A crown prince should be fighting tooth and nail to get back home. Steve hadn’t made any escape attempts since that last one weeks ago.

Eddie stood by the window of his room and held a hand out to beckon the raven that landed. He stroked its feathers in thanks for letting him see Steve. His eyes became the bird’s eyes whenever he wished, allowing him to see how Steve behaved while he was alone. He never intruded for long, but Eddie wasn’t going to fall to a soft heart and let someone untrustworthy roam without suspicion.

His precaution was starting to appear unnecessary in the end. Because Steve had no plans to harm anyone, not even him. As much as he and Dustin had prodded at the prince to see further than his own nose and learn about what was around him, Eddie had to admit that he too had his own assumptions about him. 

He hadn’t imagined the enemy to be an uncontrollable monster like the other side did. But Eddie hadn’t expected someone willingly lending a hand to some kids, who did manual labor with very minimal grumbling. He hadn’t expected Steve to be, well, nice. He might be the first Harrington who Eddie hadn’t wanted to kill on sight.

One thing his little feathered friend reminded him of was the fact that Steve’s wardrobe was severely cut down from what he must be used to. There was certainly a drop of quality as well, though it was comfortable to wear. And Eddie thought he shouldn’t be left out of the fun when it came to new clothes.

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

The next morning, Steve rose with the sun and had breakfast with the children in the kitchen. Afterwards, he figured his job for the day would be helping out wherever he was needed for the activities around the castle. But when he caught Robin in the hallway, she shook her head at him.

“I don’t have you today. You belong to those kids there”, she pointed to the gaggle catching up from behind.

“Them?”, Steve asked. “But they’re going to-” Their plans all involved the action happening in the town just outside the castle gates. A town filled with this kingdom’s people. People who might want to see Steve’s end, if they knew who he was.

Robin just waved with her fingers as Dustin and El grabbed both of his arms and started to pull him towards the main entrance of the castle. Outside, a wagon was already hitched up to a horse, driver at the ready to take them out. Steve tried to keep the apprehension off his face as he watched the kids get on, then followed after. Obviously the townsfolk couldn’t tell who he was just by looking at him. Even so, what if someone let something slip and the wrong thing was overheard?

His charges were unaware, still talking about all the things to do once they were there. They were already dressed in their new finery, surely with a warning not to get them too dirty before the performance. Steve tried not to feel too disappointed by his own clothing. He didn’t need any eyes drawn to him.

“We’re going to the games first”, Lucas said.

“Who said you’re in charge?”, Max challenged.

“I thought we agreed we should see the market first”, Will said.

“I agree that we should go before they run out of strawberries”, Dustin started. “But we can afford some time to go and see the mechanists first.”

Steve was suddenly struck with why he was put on supervising duty. Without an adult, they’d surely run off in a dozen different directions. They were let out right in the thick of it and Steve was overwhelmed but only for a moment as he clapped his hands and called them to attention.

“Hey. Hey! If one of you gets lost or hurt, that’s my neck on the chopping block!” Steve didn’t want to think of how literal that might be. “I’ll decide where we go and when and I swear to the old gods and new if I hear any griping, you can hop right back on the wagon.”

There was definitely some eye rolling. And the start of groans. And crossed arms. But no one directly opposed him. That left Steve to make a decision. He put his hands on his hips, looking at them one by one as they gazed back expectantly.

“So here’s what we’re going to do”, he began. “You all just ate. We don’t need to go and get berries right now. I promise we’ll go before they run out. It makes the most sense to do the games first. You guys are bouncing off the walls and need something to direct all that energy.”

After which, they’d be in a mood for some kind of refreshing pick-me-up, like freshly picked fruit. And maybe even some kind of meal before seeing what else the people of this town had to offer. His plan was met with minimal protests and for a moment Steve got the idea that they might actually like and respect him. There were games for both young and old, separated by skill level.

Lucas decided to try his hand at archery and Steve felt a twinge of pride, especially when he got a near bullseye on the first try. The next few weren’t as great but he hoped Lucas would remember that first near-win. If nothing else, he might remember the impressed look on Max’s face before she wiped it away, glancing around to make sure no one else saw. Even though the others typically weren’t so swayed by feats of athleticism, they congratulated Lucas.

“You almost got it in!”, Will exclaimed.

“Think of the potential. With an archer, we could be unstoppable!”, Dustin said.

Steve didn’t want to think about what sort of potential they were imagining. He’d thought he’d just follow them around and make sure they didn’t get kidnapped but was thrown off when they dragged him to a different field where there were older competitors.

“I think it’s time you show us what you got”, Mike said, arms crossed.

“What?”

“You talk a big game, but no one’s actually seen you do anything serious”, Max said.

“Lucas was there when Nancy tried to chop my head off”, Steve said in his defense.

Mike shrugged. “Yeah, but she was probably going easy on you.”

“You’d probably be good at that”, El pointed to where a bunch of young adults were tossing spears to see who could get it the farthest.

A simple task, especially given his royal training. Steve thought it almost unfair as he stepped up to compete. But he took the other seriously as he stretched and got ready. He wasn’t surprised when he thrust the spear forward and it fell in a graceful arc leagues further than any other. Still, he was glad that he wasn’t getting rusty up in that castle, locked away. Steve figured he’d proven himself, but then he was pointed to hay bale lifting, then the races, and then a child toss.

“Wait, why am I tossing you guys into the water?”, Steve asked while other people were stretching their legs.

Dustin lit up. “The child toss has a rich history that’s actually hotly debated and only because Eddie won’t tell us what really happened because he thinks its funny how many different stories there are-”

“Just lift them up and throw them in the pond as fast as you can”, Max said.

“As fun as it would be to chuck some of you, not in these clothes”, Steve put his foot down.

Thankfully, they moved quickly to the other games. All things that Steve excelled at. For as much as he was trying to keep a low profile, the townsfolk started to be taken with this talented stranger. It didn’t hurt that many of the events gave them glimpses at his physique. As he promised, once they got their fill of watching him compete, he took them to the market where farmers were presenting the bounties of early spring. It was a good preview of things to come in the following months.

Steve popped a berry into his mouth when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw a man he didn’t recognize. For a moment, he thought he’d been seen for who he was, but he read the other man’s body language. There was something a little nervous about it, especially in the way he seemed to want to look at Steve but not meet his gaze.

“Hey uh, so I saw you over at the fields and uh-”

Ah.

Steve licked some of the juice off his fingers and noticed how intensely he was being watched. He had his fair share of bedmates back home and was familiar with the look of desire. It had just been so long since he'd seen it. Before the man could continue, El was calling for him and Max was grabbing him by the elbow. The girls wanted to go and watch the street musicians while the boys wanted to go and visit the mechanists. Steve finally conceded to a split on the condition that they met up for lunch in half an hour.

“Half an hour is barely any time”, Mike complained.

“It’s all you have if you want to eat before seeing the illusionist. You have to be on stage right after that”, Steve reminded them.

Given that time limit, Will and the other boys rushed off to see the new machines and inventions dreamt up during the winter while the girls led Steve towards music playing. Unbeknownst to anyone there, the king was already present, red hood obscuring his face as he sat on a barrel, playing a cheerful tune for his people.

Part 16

Tag Team

@thesuninyaface @only-evanescent @snakeorsquid @ignoremyworld @theclichefortunecookie @goodolefashionedloverboi @just-a-tiny-void @0body0disphoria0 @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @samsoble @jamieweasley13 @y4r3luv @xtkxkrzrizir @un-knownperson @greekgeek24 @justdrugsformethanks @potato-of-the-lord @notaqueenakhaleesi @swimmingbirdrunningrock @queenie-ofthe-void @nebulainajar @lil-gremlin-things @nicememerino @robininblue @hornedqueenofhell @anne-bennett-cosplayer @moomkin77 @here4thetrama @bookworm0690 @autumncrocusandladybug @lil-gremlin-things @littlebluejane

[baby-alien11]

imagine being pregnant with Chad's baby

scream vi au, the group knows that Quinn and Ethan are siblings

During the five months that you and Chad had been dating, both of you were always careful to use protection when having sex because of the fact that you were beggining college

But after the Halloween party at a fraternity, and due to being too drunk to remember any precautions, the inevitable happened

Of course the next morning, both of you woke up naked in the spare room of Sam, Tara and Quinn's appartment

For the next weeks things were normal

Until the symptomes started

It began with things like morning sickness, headaches, dizziness

At first you tought it was because of the stress and let it slip

That was until Sam (the unoficial mom of the group) noticed it and decided to do something

"Y/N, take your coat and purse, I'm taking you to the doctor", Sam said confusing you

"I already said that I'm stressed for college", you responded, "I'm okay, I promise"

"I know", Sam nodded, "I just want to make sure you aren't sick"

Knowing she wouldn't let you alone until you went with her, you sighed in anoyance before standing and taking your things to go with her

Arriving at the doctor, she asked all the symptomes you had at the moment before running some test on you

You were pregnant

Hearing that words were a big shock to you because of all you think, pregnant was the one that never crossed your mind

While the doctor keep talking about precautions and stuff like that, you were dissociating not paying attention

After leaving the doctor's office, you started to cry because of the sudden news, which made Sam hug you tightly

Deciding not to attend classes for the rest of the day, you stayed in the appartment laying on the couch eating what Sam gave you

After finishing classes, Chad was the first one to cross the door seeing you sitting on the couch watching cartoons and eating ice cream

"Baby, how are you? What did they tell you?", was the first thing Chad said the moment he saw you

"I think we need to talk in private", you responded

A little confused, Chad followed you to the spare room closing the door before sitting on the bed

"So, at the doctor appointment I told her all the symptoms that I had, and then she made me do some tests", you explained giving him the envelope, "This was the result"

A little confused, Chad openned the envelope reading the information in the paper, noticing he read the result the moment his eyes locked with yours again

"Is this real?", Chad asked in shock

"Yeah", you nodded playing with a pillow, "The doctor made me blood tests"

"So, what do you want to do?", Chad questioned taking your hand, "I'm supporting any decision you want to take"

"I don't know, this news was so unexpected"

"Hey, you don't have to take a decision yet, we can still have time to take one"

Nodding, Chad pulled you in a hug in which you rest your head on his chest

During the next week, the thought of making a decision invaded your mind because of all the pros and cons that both options involved

The thing that definite your decision happenned while you were getting a chai latte in a cafeteria, when you spotted a young couple with a baby looking so happy, that made you to start to imagine you, Chad and the baby

Inmediatly after recieving your drink, you were quick to walk into the campus library were you knew he would be studying

The moment you notice the table he was, you walked towards him, standing by the chair he was sitting

"I want us to keep the baby", you stated getting his attention, "I just saw a couple with a baby and something woke up in me that told me that we should have the baby"

"Sweatheart", Chad smiled softly before standing up to hug you, "You know that I'll be supporting any decision that you take, and this may be hard because we're still in our first year of college, but we are going to be the best parents for that child"

"We're having a baby", you teared up a little

"We're having a baby", Chad nodded kissing you

That same day, in the afternoon, you and Chad were the first ones to arrive to the apartment, were bot of you left a box with some baby articles inside with a note that read "open when everyone is here"

In the time while the group arrived, you and Chad decided to start making lunch for everyone

The first ones to arrive, twenty minutes after you, were Tara, Mindy and Anika getting confused by the box in the center table

"Guys", Tara spoke getting your attention, "What is this?"

"We don't know", you shrudded your shoulders

"It was here when we arrived", Chad continued

"Great", Mindy exclaimed, "We survived ghostface but know we are stuck in a Hellraiser situation"

Laughing in silence, you and Chad continued preparing lunch while the three girls stood in there looking at the box without openning it, soon after Quinn and Ethan also arrived to the apartment standing with the others looking with curiosity at the box, when Sam, who was the last one to arrive, entered the space, everyone turned to look at her

"Can you open the box for us?", Quinn asked

"What box?", Sam frowned aproaching the group, noticing it, "Who brought this?"

"Y/N and Chad said it was here when they arrived", Anika answered

Taking a glance at both of you with little suspission, Sam took the top of the box to open it, revealing some baby stuff like a feeding bottle, baby socks, a little blanket and a yellow teddy bear

"What the hell?", Ethan murmured with confussion

"There's something written in the reverse of the top", Tara pointed taking it to read the words in it, "Congratulation, you are going to be uncles and aunts"

From the kitchen, you and Chad looked at the whole group with funny smiles and wondering when they get the hint, being Mindy the first one to get it rising her head to look at the two people in the kitchen

"No fucking way!", Mindy exclaimed gainning that the group focus the attention on both of you, "Are you serious?"

Nodding with little smiles confirming the news, the whole group scream in excitement running towards both of you to congratulate you

Since the news were released to the group, things were a little different, starting with the fact that every drink that had alcohol was thrown away due to a pact that the group made about not drinking for the next nine months in solidarity with you, and Sam also decided to stop smoking in order to not put you or the baby in danger with the smoke

That made you almost cry due to how involved they were

Another thing that changed was the fact that you and Chad started living in the spare room of the apartment for comfort and it was more easy for the two of you

Specially because of the morning sickness hitting you hard

Your college live also change because you always were accompanied by Chad, and if he wasn't around someone would be

And also they would carry your favorite snacks

Entering the second thrimester and when your belly started to show, both of you decided to tell your parents about the baby

First were yours because of the proximity due to them living in Washington Heights

At first they were shocked for the sudden and unexpected news, especially because you and Chad weren't even a year together, but after a few hours they started to accept the fact that their little girl was about to have a baby

The next weekend, you, Chad and Mindy flew to Woodsboro to tell the news to Martha, fortunately you knew her personally because of the time when she was in New York to pay a visit to the core four

Certainly she was happy with the surprise visit of the three of you

But when you and Chad told her the news, Martha stayed in state of shock for about five minutes scaring the three of you for a moment, even Mindy had to assure that she was still breathing

But after the shock, she started to cry of happiness because she was going to be a grandma

Taking advantage of being in town, Chad and Mindy decided to go to the cementary to visit the old members of the group who were victims of the attacks, which you decided to go with them

While Mindy went in her part to leave flowers to Wes, sheriff Judy and Dewey, you and Chad went to Liv's grave

"Pink flowers because of her hair?", you asked softly with your hand on Chads shoulder while he was crouched accommodating them

"Yeah", Chad nodded, "Bright pink, one of her favourite colors"

"I would've loved to meet her", you said, "She seemed like a nice girl"

"She was", Chad nodded standing up, "I think both of you would've been great friends, I'm going with Mindy to say hi to Wes"

"Okay, I'll go with you in a second", you responded at wath Chad walk away, so you took the opportunity to crouch down being careful, "Hey Liv, I'm Y/N, Chad's girlfriend, I promise to take care of him, he might be a big and strong boy but he's still a himbo, and I hope everything is good up there"

When the three of you came back from the cementary after an hour, the sight of Martha with boxes full of the twins baby and toddler things were around the living room

"I got emotional and I decided to go to the basement for this", Martha explained, "It doesn't matter if it's a girl or a boy"

Feeling tears in your eyes, you were quick to almost run towards her direction to hug her

After that weekend, your luggages were filled with baby and toddler stuff of both genders

With the baby growing inside you, the cravings also grow

So now, a whole cabinet of the kitchen and two drawers of the refrigerator were filled with your favourite snacks

But if doesn't matter if it's the middle of the night, Chad would go looking for the most especific and strange snack you want at that moment

Another thing was that you refused to use the typical mathernity clothes, so when you where at the apartment you use Chads shirts and sweatshirts with shorts or sweatpants

On public, you liked to wear some juvenile mathernity clothes that were comfortable for you and your growing belly

When the time to know the gender of the baby came, you and Chad asked the doctor to keep the gender as a secret for the reveal party

On that same weekend, the friend group with both of your parents, and also Sam's new boyfriend, Danny, who was one of the neighbors of the building, were there for the reveal party

And also, you and Chad stated the color white as a dress code

"So, here's how this is going to work", Mindy spoke since she was the one who gave the idea of how to do it, "Inside this black pillow, there are feathers, pink for girl and blue for boy, to reveal the gender of my future nephew or niece, all you have to do is stab the pillow"

"You seriously did this when almost all of us were stabbed last year?", Chad asked in disbelief, "Also uncle Randy died this way"

"I asked if I could be in charge of this and both of you said yes", Mindy replied holding two knives, "Now, it's time to know if we are getting a Laurie Strode or an Ash Williams"

With resignation and fun, you and Chad took carefully the knives from her hands to aproach the pillow

Sharing an excited and nervous look, you and Chad stabbed the pillow and cut it down, revealing pink feathers getting an instant reaction of screams of celebration while you and Chad hug each other with a few tears in your eyes

When both of you separate from the hug, everyone started to congratulate both of you

"I'm going to put my babygirl in Pokémon onesies!", Chad exclaimed in happiness

Since knowing the baby would be a girl, everyone was so excited that they started to buy small things that soon turned into some bigger stuff

The most surprising was coming home after school and seeing your parents in the living room with a crib still in the box

It took your dad, Chad, Ethan, Danny and Sam three and a half hours to build it

Entering the third and last thrimester, things started to be more tense and stressful because of the proximity of the birth

That was the principal reason for everyone in the group to start living in the apartment

"Okay, Tara is going to sleep in my room so Mindy and Anika can sleep in Tara's room", Sam instructed during the little moving

"Quinn, can I sleep in your room?", Ethan asked

"No, why?", Quinn frowned

"Because I'm your brother", Ethan replied with indignation

"Enough reason to not let you sleep in there", Quinn pointed, "Just sleep in the couch"

"I love the different sibling dynamics in the group", Anika commented

Thanks to everyone living in the same apartment, the place started to feel small for the amount of people living in there

But everyone make their effort to make things comfortable, especially for you and the future baby

Also, almost every day there was a package at the door, almost all of them were stuff for the baby or for you

And to say that your favorite accesorie was the pillow for pregnant women was your life savior was nothing

For a part, Chad was happy that you were comfortable while sleeping, but on the other he wasn't due to the fact the he slept in a little corner of the bed for the lack of space

"Roomie", Chad called Ethan who was sleeping on the couch managing to woke him, "Can you give me a little space to sleep?"

"Dude, you have your own room", Ethan discussed half asleep

"Yes, I know, but Y/N's pillow is taking the entire bed", Chad replied, "So please, can you make a little space for me?"

Resignated, Ethan moved a little so Chad could sleep on the other side of the sofa-bed

Movie nights every friday and saturday stayed the same, with the difference that when it was Mindy's turn to choose the movie, she picked some horror movie that involves pregnant women or childs (Rosemary's Baby, The Omen or something in that style)

And you somehow always ended up crying thanks to the hormones

When the last month of pregnancy entered, the bag for the hospital was prepared and placed in the entrance and multiple drills of birth were held in order to be ready when the time came

And because of being the last month everyone was on the verge of nerves, especially because the doctor didn't gave an especific date for the birth

But honestly, you were relaxed, especially because since the eight month you started to do yoga with Tara, Quinn and Anika as a form of relaxation

Something that the others needed to do

As the weeks passed, the expectation started to grow

Until one night during the half of the month when you woke up in the middle of the night with some pain in your belly

"Chad", you called your boyfriend shaking his arm, "Chad, wake up"

"What's wrong?", Chad woke up with urgency, "Are you okay?"

"I think the baby is coming", you responded feeling the pain, "I feel the contractions"

"The baby is coming!", Chad exclaimed getting up from the bed to run to the closet and grab your crocs with your jacket, "Here, put this"

When you were getting up from bed, you felt a liquid falling realising you'd just break waters

All that comotion was enough to wake up the entire apartment because when both of you got out of your room, everyone was awake wondering what was happening until they saw both of your faces

"Everyone, I'm taking them to the hospital", Sam said taking charge of the situation, "We will update you of everything"

"If someone can clean our room I will love you forever, because I broke water there", you added breathing deep

Thankfully the ride the hospital was quick due to the fact that it was the middle of the night, even for the streets of New York

Arriving there, they were quick to put you in a maternity room while Sam and Chad filled your formulary

Due to the fact that this was your first child, the process lasted almost 24 hours for the dilatation and due to being a natural birth

When the time arrived, you where accompannied by Chad, the doctor that was with you since the first appointment and a bunch of nurses

Finally, after a whole day of waiting your babygirl arrived

The instant Chad and you heard the soft cries, tears started to fall from your eyes

"You did awesome, moma", Chad complimented kissing your sweaty forehead, "You are amazing"

Still crying of happiness, you were quick to hug Chad for his words

"This girl is anxious to meet her parents", the doctor interrupted

As soon as you felt your babygirl skin against your naked chest, the tears grow noticing her skin that was a mix of yours and Chads, but her hair had the texture of his

"You look good with our baby, moma"

"You look good as well, daddy"

"So, what are you going to name her?". the doctor asked with sweetness for the scene in front of her eyes

Sharing a glance, you and Chad nodded confirming that the name both of you discussed a few weeks ago was the one

"Sabrina", Chad said putting his hand on the baby's head

[aswefindourwayback]

I love you, I’m sorry

Authors note: this is my most vulnerable piece of writing that I’ve ever shared since it’s taken inspiration from some terrible moments in my life. So it’s not my best piece of writing. Feedback is always appreciated.

Word count: 2071

Content warning: mentions of poor mental health, angst

you’ve never been able to keep people in your life, no matter how hard you tried. you would always change parts of you to fit other people’s wants and needs but it was still never enough. it got so bad that you were having thoughts about ending it all, thinking it’d be easier for everyone around you. they wouldn’t have to deal with your bullshit anymore and they could finally breathe again. but you instead threw yourself into your work.

you were already good at your job, but you quickly became the best. your work became your life. you stopped seeing and talking to your friends because you got so caught up in your work.

after years of working your ass off, you found yourself as a profiler for the FBI. you were now a member of the BAU. it took some getting used to and learning how to socialize but you got the hang of it. you guys were cracking case after case. you got along with all your coworkers and you guys often had fun together. you really loved all the laughs and good times you had with them, even outside of office hours. like that one time Emily, jj, and Penelope invited you out to go shopping and get dinner. it was something you were terrified of doing, getting closer to people and getting out amid socializing again, but you did it and found that it wasn’t as bad as you’d made it out to be in your head.

but there was one who you really got along with. spence. when you guys first met, you were both a bit shy and timid. but with time, you two grew incredibly close, always going to each other for anything and everything. and over time you fell for him, without meaning to. you knew it would complicate not only work but your friendship with him. your friendship with him means the world to him and you don’t know what you’d do if you lost him, so you kept your feelings to yourself. until one day, you didn’t.

it had been a normal day when rossi had called you into his office to talk about some case details. after going over the details and correcting him a few times, he asked you something:

“so, when are you gonna tell him?”

“what? tell who what?” you asked, completely lost in the conversation.

“reid. when are you gonna tell him how you feel?”

“spencer? what do i feel for him?” you said trying to play stupid. but it was rossi, he could see straight through you.

“Dont play dumb, kid.”

You slouched your shoulders in defeat, “no, i’m not gonna tell him.”

“Why not?”

“there’s a millions reasons to stay quiet”

“but there’s a million reasons to tell him too. don’t be afraid y/n.”

“easy for you to say. you’re not the one confessing your feelings”

“but i’ve done it a million times, kid. trust me. what if something good comes from this?”

“what if i ruin the one good thing in my life?”

“you won’t”

“how do you know that?”

“i just do.”

“what if it’s not the right time? like we’ve got that new case coming up and spence has been through some awful shit recently.”

“there’s never a “right time”. you just gotta do it.”

“i never intended to fall for him.”

“feelings are something we can’t control.”

“fuck. i’m gonna do it.” you say walking out of rossi’s office. the last thing you hear is rossi calling out to you “good luck, kid! not that you need the luck.”

-=+=-

you waited until the work day was over cause you didn’t want to make it very awkward in case you were rejected, which would very likely happen according to your calculations (you tend to distort your brain and imagine that the worst will happen for any situation). the odds of you being rejected were quite high so, you were just taking safety precautions. and if he still ended up rejecting you, you had it all planned. you would transfer to another branch. it’s not the best plan but you never claimed to be the brightest.

most of the team had already left for the day, so it was just you and spence standing waiting for the elevator, just talking about the paperwork you guys had worked on today. the elevator dinged, indicating it had arrived and the doors opened.

as you two stepped in, you took in a deep breathe and faced spencer.

“hey” you’d said.

“hey” he said, smiling shyly.

“so i’m gonna tell you something and i need you to let me finish before you say anything.”

“alright, i’m listening.”

“spence, i really like you, i mean really like you, so go ahead and reject me. i'm a big girl, i can take it. also you don’t have to say anything now.” you said at lightning speed, squeezing your eyes shut, afraid to look at him.

“y/n?” he asked as you felt his finger lightly lift your chin up.

“open your eyes, y/n”

you did as he said.

“i have something to tell you too.” he admitted, dropping his hand from your chin and shoving them into his pockets. your eyebrows were scrunched up a bit, hopeful of what his response would be, “i’ve never felt a connection with anyone before like this. I know that’s not surprising considering my awkwardness around people and my need to always correct people when they’re wrong and the fact that I shove myself into my job so much but i’ve dreamt of kissing you and feeling like i was on cloud 9. i started to notice when morgan kept calling me out for always watching you. and then i kept having dreams about you. not like any weird or sexual dreams or anything. just dreams where we hung out. just being near you. but i definitely want to see how this goes.”

“oh thank fuck” you said letting out an exasperated breathe.

that had made you both laugh. you felt like so much weight had been lifted off your shoulders.

“so” spence has started, exaggerating the length of the word.

“so”

“do you wanna like, hang out now? we could go get a drink or something. or if you want to wait and stuff then we can do that.” he’d said, almost stumbling over his words.

“id love to get a drink, spence.” you smiled at him.

and he smiled back.

at the bar, you two mostly forgot about your drinks and basket of fries as you were so caught up in each others company. you spent the night talking and laughing. you laugh so much, you were sure you were going to have abs in the morning. you’d never felt so happy. he made you forget about all your worries. he was unbelievably amazing that it was hard for you to believe that he existed and that he liked you back.

you two stayed until the bar almost closed for the night. he walked you home and you two kept talking on the walk. once you two had reached your door, you stood in front of him, not wanting the night to end.

“thanks for the drinks. i had a great time.” you said to him

“thanks for joining me. i had a great time too. um, do you think we could keep this on the down low for now? i don’t want everyone breathing down our necks at work and stuff. and i just wanna enjoy us for a bit.”

“yeah, of course. i’ll see you at work tomorrow. goodnight, spence.” you said as you walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek, making both your cheeks turn bright red.

“goodnight, y/n”

-=+=-

the past few months have been amazing. you and spence have been doing amazing as a team, not just at work. so many nights were spent together, either in complete silence or going on stupid late night adventures aka going down to the gas station across the street from your apartment to get snacks. you were so grateful for him and you were head over heels for him. you never thought you could feel this way for someone. you guys had of course had some ups and downs, mostly due to you and your mental health but you always got through it together, and for that you were forever grateful. he was different to anyone you’d ever met. he actually wanted to learn about the things you struggle with and wanted to learn what were ways he could help you. and after a really bad episode, you helped you breathe and told you he’d stay with you no matter what battles you two would have to face, cause he knew in the end, you two would end up the winners. it was insane to think someone so amazing would be able to love the mess you are, but he somehow does.

until he started to distance himself. it started after a specific incident when you had said something that came off wrong when he’d already had a bad day. after that, you could see it in the way he would interact with you. his speech and body language had changed towards you. his messages became a lot drier, even if you were verbally talking, he’d seem so disinterested, it was disheartening. you wanted to fix things but you didn’t know how. so you decided to arrange a nice little date night for the both of you, so you could show him how much you loved him and to talk things out. you even wrote down a little letter to tell him how grateful you are for him.

when you entered the office to tell him about the plan, he was on the phone so you waited behind him, waiting for the call to end. you didn’t mean to but you eavesdropped a bit, he seemed like his old happy self when he was on the phone, and you overheard a name, “maeve”.

you decided to walk away cause the call seemed to be taking a while. you walked towards morgan’s desk, where he was sitting and talking to pen.

“hey, what’s going on with you?” morgan had asked as soon as you walked up.

“nothing much, just waiting for spence to finish his call so i can talk to him about something.”

“oh yeah, he’s been on his phone a lot lately.” morgan had said.

“really? do you know why?”

“there’s this girl named maeve that he’s been talking about nonstop. he seems really infatuated with her, it’s nice to see him this way.” pen had said.

it was at that moment that all those bad feelings came back. your heart felt as if it was being grabbed out of your chest, just to be bitten into and shredded to pieces.

“i gotta go.” was all you said before you walked away from morgan’s desk.

you walked over to your desk and grabbed your stuff before walking to rossi’s office door and telling him you were leaving early.

“you alright, kid?”

“yeah, i just forgot something.” you said as you spread the fakest smile on your face.

you walked out the office and looked back at spence, hoping he’d walk after you to check on you. but he was so caught up in his phone call that he didn’t notice you leave.

you walked out to your car trying to keep the tears at bay. you ripped up the letter you’d written for him.

was it all a lie?

did he really mean those things he said to you?

was he playing you the whole time?

or did he just change his mind?

you messed up again.

you made mistake after mistake and he finally got tired of you.

he was the best but you were the worst.

you’re wrong again, about being lovable, cause you’re not.

it’s the way life goes.

it’ll never end.

you felt like pink cherry blossom petals that were left on the ground. loved and cherished when in the trees, awed at when falling, then left discarded and forgotten on the ground once you were no longer attached to the thing that gave you life. always being stomped over and discarded. never to be seen or loved again. the way it’s always been and the way it’ll always be.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Can I ask what do you mean that Félix is “far from the only victim of the issue?” What other characters have this issue from Miraculous?

When I said, "Felix is far from the only victim of this issue," I was referring to the ongoing problem of inconsistent characterization. Generally speaking, characters should act according to their own internal logic. When they do, they come across as reasonably consistent, predictable, and - most importantly - realistic.

I'll talk in depth about the concept of consistent character logic and how you get around it in a moment. Before I do, I want to give a few examples from the show to demonstrate what I mean by inconsistent characterization as we must understand what the show is doing wrong before we can discuss how to do it right. This issue is so widespread that I could go character by character and give examples, but for the sake of brevity, I'll just pick the first three that come to mind.

Alya

In Chameleon, we get this exchange:

Alya: A good reporter always verifies her sources. Can you prove [that Lila] doesn't actually know Ladybug? Marinette: Well I–uh… I… I… Okay! You want proof she's lying? Hey Lila! You forgot your napkin!

In this scene, Alya comes across as massively hypocritical because we all know that Alya isn't holding Lila to the same standard that Marinette is being held to. Alya will happily believe whatever BS Lila spouts and even post it on the Ladyblog for all the world to see.

We also know that this habit of not verifying sources isn't a new thing for Alya. We saw it bite her in the ass a couple times back in season one with things like the Lady WiFi incident where Alya thought that Chloe was Ladybug based on little more than circumstantial evidence.

But at the same time, we get things like this scene from the start of Feast:

Alya: Now you know back in the day sculptures were painted, right? Most of the paint vanished over time, but tiny microscopic pigments still remain. Thanks to this special app, witness how it originally looked. But here's the big thing. All these works of art have something in common. It's the same symbol! Look, everywhere. (Marinette gasps as she imagines Master Fu's mission) It's like some kind of secret society emblem. As if a kind of Order of the Guardians has been watching over the superheroes since the beginning of time!

This scene showed off some serious research skills. Alya uncovered secrets that the guardians had kept hidden for centuries or possibly even millennia! And this isn't the only time where we see Alya pull off this kind of quality research. If you pay attention, you'll realize that she clearly wasn't kidding when she says that she checks her sources!

In other words, depending on the episode, Alya is either a brilliant reporter who does her research or a tabloid journalist who takes anything she's given at face value as long as it makes for a popular blog post. There is no consistency nor is there a gradual change over time. The quality of Alya's journalism jumps back and forth from episode to episode depending on what the writers need it to be for the plot to work.

Nino

Nino is the holder of the miraculous of Protection and we were told many times that a miraculous must suit the person who bears it, so Nino supposedly embodies the spirit of Protection. And yet, in the season five episode Illusion, we see him:

Out his secret identity for no reason

Out his girlfriend's secret identity for no reason and without her permission!

Purposefully antagonize his best friend's father even though he knows that Gabriel and Adrien have a very tense relationship

Willingly get someone akumatized without taking any precautions to minimize the damage that akuma will do

Does that sound like a protector to you? Does it even sound like someone who should be made a part-time hero? I'd say no. Especially since Nino doesn't apologize for any of this. He happily justifies his own behavior and is even treated as being in the right. The only sudo-apology we get is this:

Nino: Mr. Agreste, I owe you an apology. All your troubles today, the pizza, the pasta, the chocolate, all that was... that was a plan to help Ladybug and Cat Noir. And it worked, dude! I mean, sir... Ladybug, Cat Noir, look! (shows a picture of Gabriel’s akumatization) Magic lightning! That's how Monarch gives his akumatized villains the power of the Miraculous!

Which is followed by everyone praising Nino for uncovering a thing that we now know goes nowhere. The heroes never try to track down the "lightning" Nino caught on film, so he risked Adrien's relationship and freedom for nothing. If that's protection, then count me out!

Adrien

At the start of season two, we get Glacitor, which gives us this exchange:

Cat Noir: There's a boy? Who is...? Ladybug: It's— I can't tell you who it is. We can't know anything about each other. Our identities must remain a secret. We're both superheroes, Cat Noir. We don't have a choice. (There's a silence. They look at each other sadly. Cat Noir walks closer and smiles before he hands her a rose, which Ladybug takes) Cat Noir: I get it, Ladybug. Your friendship means everything to me. (kisses her cheek) You can keep the rose. It goes with your costume.

And then, in this same episode, when Adrien is alone with Plagg, he says:

Adrien: Perhaps Ladybug will love me someday. I mean, like, I love her. I have to believe. In the meantime, her friendship is the best gift of all.

Driving home the fact that he truly meant what he said to Ladybug. He is happy to just be her friend, though he does hope that, one day, their relationship changes.

Then, towards the end of season two, we get Frozer which has Chat Noir do this:

Cat Noir: For you, M'lady. (kneels and showed the rose on his hand.) Ladybug: Seriously, Cat Noir? You're about to transform back! (points his ring) Cat Noir: So what? Ladybug: Well, if you transform back, then I'll know who you are and then... Cat Noir: And then we won't keep secrets from each other anymore. (transforms back to Adrien and Ladybug is shocked) Adrien: We'll be united, more powerful and free, we'll defeat Hawk Moth, then we can both run away to an island! (Ladybug smiles a little bit) Far away from everything. We will live off nothing but fruits, and we will have a little pet hamster and we will name it- Ladybug: Cat Noir! (It was revealed it was a daydream from Cat Noir) I can't accept this rose from you. I told you already. I'm in love with someone else. Cat Noir: I know, M'lady. But if he weren't here, would things be different between us?

And this:

Ladyice: Cat Noir. We need to set up a trap for whoever turned the city into a giant ice rink. (throws yo-yo) Icecat: (bitterly) My feline instincts prefer to track and observe before I attack. You go your way, I'll go mine. Ladyice: Please don't tell me you're mad at me about the rose. Icecat: There may be a certain chill now between us. Ladyice: I get it, but we should really focus on saving Paris right now. Icecat: We don't always have to do everything together, after all. It's not like we're a couple. (skates away) Ladyice: Cat Noir, don't get all pouty on me!

And this:

Adrien: I hope this helps you get more students to sign up. (walks away with Kagami) Kagami: You still keep doing what other people want you to do. Adrien: No, I just want him to be happy. And I'm not changing my target. Even if it means failing over and over again, because one day, I will succeed and hit it.

Oh yeah, he's totally respecting Ladybug's "no" and prioritizing their friendship over his feelings! This is top tier dreamy romantic lead writing!

On Characterization

By now, you hopefully see I what I meant when I said that Felix is far from the only character to have magical personality changes for the sake of The Plot. No one is safe from being rewritten. Sometimes characters change permanently without a real explanation. Sometimes characters ping pong back and forth. Other times they're so weird and wacky that you truly have no idea who this character is supposed to be. This is a problem because well written characters tend to be predictable. That doesn't mean that you'll always know exactly what a character will do. It just meant that a character's actions should make sense to the audience.

But, if you're a writer, how do you do that?

Allow me to explain!

If you want to write a solid, believable character, you have to keep them logically consistent. This does not mean that their actions need to be logical. All it means is that any character-based logic you establish has to be respected and followed.

For example, if you establish that Marinette can't talk to Adrien without messing up her words, then you cannot have an episode where she's suddenly able to talk to him because you are breaking one of Marinette's character rules.

If you have established this rule for Marinette, but your story needs to let Marinette talk to Adrien, then you need to do one of two things: create a situation that logically breaks her rules OR give her a character arc. That's just how characterization works! You establish a character, let the audience get to know them, then find ways to tell the story you want to tell while honoring the character you introduced the audience to. If your characters' are ping ponging all over the place and acting completely different from episode to episode, then you are failing at characterization.

Before we end, let's take a moment to rewind and explain what I meant when I talked about the two ways to get around a character's rules. We'll start with the easier way: breaking rules by putting the character in a situation that forces them to do something they'd usually never do.

Extenuating Circumstances

This is the first of the two ways to get around character rules and Miraculous occasionally does it well. For example, in Risk, they needed to get Marinette and Adrien to talk about things that Marinette and Adrien would never discuss, so the writers had an akuma make them talk. That's good writing! Special circumstances can - and often should - override character rules. No one will struggle to believe it if a pacifist becomes violent when their loved ones are threatened. In fact, in that scenario, keeping the pacifist a pacifist may make the character feel unbelievable depending on why they're a pacifist and the nature of the threat.

It's important to note that these rule breaking moments tend to be short lived like how Marinette and Adrien both reverted as soon as Risk was no longer affecting them.

Above, we discussed how out of character Nino was in Illusion, but his behavior in that episode isn't all that different from his behavior in Rocketear and I have no issues with Nino's writing in Rocketear. The reason for the discrepancy is that, in Rocketear, Nino thought that Alya was cheating on him. That's the kind of extenuating circumstance that would make someone act a little weird. In other words, Illusion's problem is not Nino's behavior, it's the context of his behavior. The writers simply didn't put in the work to make Illusion feel believable.

Character Arcs

Now that we've talked about temporary changes, let's switch gears and talk about the way you make more permanent changes to a character's rules. Namely, character arcs.

People are probably more familiar with this tool, but I'll still quickly define it: a character arc is when a character undergoes a change in personality, behavior, and/or beliefs based on an experience or series of experiences.

Miraculous is terrible at character arcs, so I don't have any examples to pull from in canon. Instead, let's take the Adrien example from above and rewrite it to be a character arc where he goes from pouting about being turned down to accepting that he really is happy to just be Ladybug's friend.

It is incredibly common for teenagers to struggle with the concept of rejection. Heck, even full grown adults struggle with it! You meet someone and you're drawn to them and you start building up this wonderful relationship in your head but, before that dream even gets a chance to become reality, your love interest blows it up with a, "No." Instead of accepting that, "No," you become obsessed with changing their mind. If only they'd see you in the right light, you know that they'd love you like you love them!

Obviously that's not how things work and this point of view is quite problematic, but this is a kids show and Adrien is only 14. It's reasonable for him to need to learn this lesson. I'd even go so far as to argue that we need characters to learn this lesson in kids shows. And if you don't think it should be learned by characters who eventually do end up with their love, that's fine, I don't disagree. However, I do think the lesson still works so long as we get a good gap between the character learning it and the character getting together with their love interest.

On to the rewrite!

In this new version of season two, Chat Noir doesn't take the Glaciator rejection well. Instead of smiling and accepting it, he asks if he has any chance and he's devastated when he's told, "No." We'll even add a scene at the end of the episode where Adrien tells Plagg, "I'm going to change Ladybug's mind!" In other words, Glaciator now plays like Frozer and it also leads into a season-wide conflict where Chat Noir is good to his word.

Throughout the season, he keeps pushing things, trying to prove that he's the better pick and that mystery boy is a waste of Ladybug's time. This all culminates in the new version of Frozer, wherein Adrien decides to go out with Kagami to make Ladybug jealous. But remember, that episode only happens because Kagami is trying to convince Adrien to give up on his crush and crush on her instead. Aka, the exact same thing that Adrien has been doing all season.

As you may have already guessed, in the new Frozer, we see Kagami do the same kinds of things that Chat Noir has been doing to Ladybug because Kagami is equally desperate to prove that she and Adrien are meant to be. He just needs to wake up and get with the program!

The more Kagami pushes, the more Adrien realizes that this date was a terrible mistake. He also realizes, "Oh shit, is this how I've been acting? Gosh, I'm an awful friend! I'm going to ruin my partnership if I keep this up."

By the end of the episode, Chat Noir apologies to Ladybug and Kagami can either learn the same lesson or promise to not give up, leading Adrien to sigh and promise to suffer through her advances for at least a little while longer because he wants to try and get her to learn the same lesson he did.

From that point on, Chat Noir is totally respectful of Ladybug, but still very much in love with her. She can even say that she hates hurting him, to which he'll reply, "You didn't do a thing to hurt me, my Lady. You've been perfectly clear about what you want. I'm going to do my best to respect that because your friendship means everything to me. I don't want my feelings to ruin what we have."

I'd also have this conversation establish that the flirty banter is okay by both of them and have them both promise to say something if their boundaries change, but I'm not writing all that out. What really matters is that Chat Noir has now learned a valuable lesson and we can have all of the Ladynoir hi-jinks we love so much without any of that nasty, pushy undercurrent we get in canon. Instead, we now get some lovely, heartfelt pinning that's going to play so good when the reveal happens!

If you want to really have some run, you can even let Ladybug develop feelings for Chat Noir to really highlight how sexy respect is. It's up to your preferences, but I do enjoy a good "two crushes" crisis and Marinette's sexual/romantic alignment seems to allow for multiple crushes based on the Luka and Catwalker stuff.

Conclusion

You can make almost any character do almost anything if you play your cards right, but Miraculous isn't playing the game. The writers seem to do whatever they want and it's sad because there's a good show to be had here. Good characters, too. It's why I continue to defend them in spite of the mess that is canon. Every single character in this show could have been great if the show had put in the effort to make them great.

[petalouda85]

Birth

Fandom: Blades of Light and Shadow 2

Pairings: Tyril x f!human!MC (Kassandra)

Word count: 1.4k

Concept: Kade, Imtura, and Mal wait for news of the newest member of their family

Tags: @liviusofpella, @megas-choices, @starlight-starfury, @dutifullynuttywitch, @thosehallowedhalls @choicesficwriterscreations

AO3 link: x

A/N: Finally. The fic I’ve wanted to post for a very long time. I can finally reveal the name for Baby Starfury 🥰 after the emotional rollercoaster of Forever (in my Mind), you guys deserve a fluffy treat. Enjoy.

Reading had always been easy for Kade. Almost as easy as breathing. He could grab any tome and easily be lost in the words, his mind taken to places far away and times long gone, it all brought to life with his imagination. Tonight, however, it was hard to concentrate as his mind constantly drifted towards the cabin near to where he sat, his stomach twisting with the knowledge of what was happening inside. He tried to listen for any noise coming from the home, despite knowing it was pointless; Nia and Tyril had made sure of that.

Unable to focus on his book, Kade looked towards the other two that kept him quiet company in the homestead. Mal practiced a few quick movements with his dagger, stabbing into an imaginary foe, while Imtura stood off to the side, aiming and hurling her axes into a nearby tree, the bark splitting more each time. Boredom could rationalize their weapon practice, but Kade knew better.

A few weeks prior, when everyone had finally arrived in Riverbend, the villagers warned them of a group of elves that had recently traveled through. While no direct questions were asked, their apparent interest in the “Hero of Morella” had set off alarm bells in everyone and precautions were taken.

When Kassandra went into labor, Nia and Tyril had cast a spell over the clearing, masking the homestead, and then a silencing spell over the cabin. Once the door shut behind them, Mal and Imtura had pulled their weapons closer, ready to be grabbed at the first sign of trouble. Several hours had passed since then, the high afternoon sun now replaced by a bright moon; Kade reckoned it was past midnight already.

He snapped his book shut and leaned forward with a great sigh, rubbing his eyes and face trying to relieve the tension and growing exhaustion.

“I can’t believe I’m going to be an uncle.” He said softly. He must’ve been louder than he thought because in a split second, Mal stood before him.

“You and me both, buddy.” The rogue said, sitting down next to him. “It’s happening and I still have trouble wrapping my head around it. Elf boy and kit are going to be parents. Who would’ve thought the wet blanket and the life of the party would ever reach this point.”

“It is hard to wrap your head around it all.” Kade said. “For so long, it was just me and my sister. Now she’s having a baby.” He let out a weak chuckle. “It’s stupid to think so but, part of me is scared that she’ll forget me; a child takes priority after all.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” Imtura said, pulling her axe from the tree before joining the two men. “I’ve travelled with Kassandra long enough to know that she’d never forget you or any of us. We’re all her family and nothing’s gonna change that, not even a new tiny landrat.”

“Would be nice if the little tyke made headway.” Mal said, letting out a loud yawn. “All this doing nothing is making me tired.” His yawn was replaced with a yelp when Imtura slapped him across his head. “Hey!”

“You can’t rush these things.” She scolded. “The tyke gets here when they get here. And that could be in the next 5 minutes or in the next few hours. Hells, little guy could already be here and Kassandra’s just not up for visitors right now. We just got to wait.”

“I know, I know! Doesn’t mean I can’t complain about the waiting. It’s not like we got a lot to do besides that and there’s only so many fake guys I can stab.”

“I’d offer a book, but I get the sense neither of you are readers, even when faced with endless boredom.” All three laughed.

“We’ll leave the reading to you, kid.” Mal stood up from the bench and pulled forth a deck of cards from his pocket. “Up for a game?” He asked the orc, who smiled.

“Always. Be ready to lose.” The two found a patch of grass to sit on and began their game. Kade watched them half-heartedly for a moment before opening his book once more, trying his best not to nod off.

He shut his eyes briefly and when he opened them next, his face was glued against the cover of the book and his back was stiff from the hard bench. With a groan, he sat up, a thin blanket falling off him. Looking around him, he found Imtura and Mal also asleep in the grass, their card game replaced by a now extinguished fire, and the birds singing their morning song as the sun’s beams began to peak through the trees. He stretched his back and checked the state of the cabin, finding the spell still on it, before moving towards his slumbering companions.

“Rise and shine.” Kade said as Mal woke up.

“Morning already? Nothing yet?”

“Nothing yet.” Kade moved to wake Imtura next. Soon, the three sat down for a silent breakfast, ready for the prospect of another day of waiting. After their quick meal, Kade returned to the bench and grabbed his book, ready to try reading it yet again, when a magical hum came from the cabin. He immediately abandoned the tome, jumping to his feet when some low noises could be heard from inside. The door clicked open, and everyone ran to it as Nia appeared in the frame, looking frazzled and tired. Despite her weary state, the priestess was smiling.

“Everything’s fine.” She quickly said, seeing the worry on their faces. “Mom and baby are doing fine. They were born just after midnight. They’re all cleaned up and have already been resting for some time.”

“Midnight? But-“ Mal began to protest but Imtura gave him another slap. The priestess fought down a snicker at his incredulous look before she opened the door a bit wider.

“You can come in but only for a little while; Kassandra’s still very tired.”

Kade ran in first, finding Aderyn preparing some food in the kitchen. He quickly sent her a grateful smile before dashing towards the bedroom, the others on his heels. The moment he stepped into the entrance way, he froze.

Mal unceremoniously bumped into him, but any complaint was quickly gone when the three heard the soft gurgling noises coming from the little bundle resting in Kassandra’s arms.

She was lying in bed, looking exhausted and worn out. Tyril, seated in a chair next to the bed, appeared exhausted as well but both were staring down at the bundle with immeasurable love and affection in their eyes. The two looked up as the visitors slowly entered the room.

“Hi.” Kassandra said, her eyes brimming with tears, before looking down at her child. “Look who’s here.”

Kade stood frozen in place for a moment, alternating his gaze between his sister and the child in her arms, before rushing to the bed and embracing her tightly, tears forming in his eyes.

“I’m so proud of you.” He whispered to her. He continued holding her, hearing her sniffle before she returned the embrace

“Thank you.” He gave her a kiss on her cheek before pulling away. He then quickly turned towards Tyril and embraced him too; it took the elf a moment to return the gesture.

“Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Kade pulled away and sat down on the bed, watching the child with pride swelling in his chest.

“Do you want to hold them?” Kassandra asked after a while.

“Yes.”

Gently, she passed the bundle to him, the man gawking down at the baby nestled in the blanket their mother had made for them. They were beautiful, dark-skinned and a barely visible black fuzz on their head. They looked almost entirely human, if not for their ears. Granted, they were shorter than the standard elven ears but there was no denying the point at the end of them.

“Hi.” Kade said softly and in disbelief. He took their little hand, the tiny digits not even wrapping entirely around his thumb. “I’m your uncle.” He turned to look at Mal, Imtura and Nia; none had a dry eye. “And your other uncle and aunts are here too.” He looked back to the new parents, who beamed with pride as they held each other’s hand. “What’s their name?”

Tyril looked to Kassandra, who nodded.

“Everyone,” Tyril began with a proud smile, “meet our daughter, Kaya.”

[undreaming-fanfiction]

With This Ring (3)

(part two HERE, Ao3 link to the fic HERE)

“Why Harrington…you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

Steve opened his mouth, then promptly closed it. There wasn't much to say that he could articulate and he didn't feel like screaming that fine evening, well, maybe a little, but Eddie could take offense at that. Don't offend the walking dead guy sounded like a reasonable precaution.

"I don't know, man," he croaked out, mustering a barely visible smile. "You seem too corporeal for a ghost."

Eddie snorted and for a second, Steve could forget what he was dealing with, because Eddie's smile was still mischievous and his laugh, while still a bit rough, sounded genuine. "Shit. True, let me fix that. You look like you've seen a zombie, Harrington."

Shaking his head, Steve attempted to properly sit up and cursed when he put pressure on his ankle. He'd forgotten about the stupid injury for a moment, more focused on the whole Eddie buried in the woods and suddenly walking around and conversing thing, but now the pain came back with vengeance. "That zombie's going to have a free dinner ticket here," he choked out as he inspected his foot. Didn't seem broken, but sprained...sure.

He wiggled around on the ground, trying to find a way to get back on his feet without feeling like something was breaking his foot in half, but failing miserably. And yeah, maybe he should have been a bit more concerned about the literal undead guy standing over him, but Steve was a practical man. Focus on what you can resolve and all that. 

Looking up at Eddie who was watching him with a slight amused smirk, he pointed at himself. “Well? Are you going to eat me or what?” 

Another snort. “Don’t flatter yourself, Harrington. No matter what my reputation is, I wouldn’t eat just anyone, even if they’re sprawled in front of me like the most pathetic stingray in existence.” 

“Stingray?!” Steve spat out. 

Eddie nodded and descended into a squat to look Steve in the eye, well, as much as they could see in the growing darkness and through Eddie’s messy mane. “Yup. Flat and flapping around. Very much a stingray. Now, Harrington…even with your limited belief in the supernatural, I assume you do know that raising the dead comes with a cost.” 

“I’m so sorry.” 

The dark eyes blinked in confusion. “Excuse me, what?” 

Steve shuffled closer to Eddie, which might not have been the greatest idea he’d ever had, but now that the adrenaline was slowly fading, the gravity of his situation felt like his stomach was full of cold lead. “I didn’t know,” he blurted out and it sounded more like a sob, something too painful to keep in. “I thought, I hoped that you’d be safe, that you finally got your wish and made it out of this shitty town. I imagined that…that one day I’d hear your music on the radio and I’d know for sure, but even until then, I just…I thought you were safe!” 

His breathing was coming out shorter and shorter and wasn’t that just hilarious, getting all choked up in front of a reanimated corpse of his former friend. But running wasn’t an option anyway, and Steve just found it so unfair because Eddie used to be so full of life and promise, so bright and now...

“Hey, Steve. It’s fine, really.” Eddie’s voice was gentler now, more familiar, and that made Steve’s breathing even more shaky. “Shit, you’re…look, you really need to breathe, like, now? Please?” 

Steve was inhaling the cool evening air as much as he could, but his lungs wouldn’t cooperate, as if they refused to take what they needed. “…am…trying!” he wheezed out, but his lips were heavy and getting more difficult to move each second. 

He had never fainted twice in the same day. So maybe he’d experience something new. Apart from meeting a living corpse, of course. 

The said corpse was panicking, it seemed. His cold, dirt-covered hands were shaking Steve’s shoulders now. “Shit, look, Steve, I swear it’s not that lonely, I don’t need the company so just…inhale, exhale, all that good stuff, yeah? Don’t…just don’t suffocate. This grave ain’t big enough for the two of us and…hey, Steve?! Steve!”   

But Steve didn’t hear him anymore. With a whooshing in his ears that sounded very much like a descending murder of crows, Steve’s world disappeared into darkness. 

When he came to, he was sitting in an eerily lit bar, well, more like half-laying on the floor. Someone had been kind enough to stuff an old pillow – mostly eaten through, but still comfortable - under his head. What a fucked-up dream that was. Whatever it was that he’d drunk, it was way stronger than his usual choices. I’m never drinking again. 

And then he saw a familiar figure crouched on the ground, talking to…someone? He couldn’t really see, he was still dizzy, but he tried to clear his head and listen. 

“…a magnificent idea, Eddie. He gets all freaked out because you’re dead and what do you do to help him? You bring him here. To the land of the dead.” 

The voice was annoyed and something felt off about it, but he seemed reasonable enough. Whatever the invisible man was talking about, it sounded right. Except the whole land of the dead thing. And…

And Eddie being dead. 

Steve shot up from the ground and regretted it immediately. His ankle exploded with pain and he had to grasp the edges of the bar to keep himself upright. 

“Hey, young man, careful! That looks like a nasty sprain!” someone said. Steve was so relieved to hear another human being, he turned towards the voice and-

“…Bob?” 

Bob Newby smiled at him, kind and lopsided as always. Except his t-shirt was black with crusted blood, and he was pale, almost blue. “Hi, Steve. Long time no see.” Snapping his fingers – oh god, his left hand was mostly bone, he reached for a bar stool. “Sit down. You can’t put any weight on that foot, at least not until I find a bandage and compress that. It would be better if you could lie down, but at least for now don’t move too much.” 

 Steve just stared at him, familiar and foreign at the same time. He´d known Bob Newby for ages, they weren’t close, but Bob would always recommend the best technology for when Steve had still been brave enough to record his music. “You’ll love this one, Steve, the sound is really much more vibrant,” he’d wink at younger Steve Harrington. “Oh, and I got you a shoe box. An empty one, to carry it home. I know it’s not exactly…well. We all have hobbies we don’t want to share with the world, right? Or at least with some people in it.”

Bob Newby had been dead for two years now. He was mauled by a huge feral dog that attacked young Will Byers and his friends near the junkyard. Bob died a hero – with strength no one knew he possessed, he fought off the aggressive animal long enough for the kids to escape and lock themselves inside an old bus. They saw things they never should have seen, but at least they were alive. 

Steve didn’t want to think about that day, about how he decided to go on a long walk to clear his head after the breakup with Nancy. About how he came across Bob’s body and six terrified voices screaming at him, muffled behind the glass window. About how he heard snarling, how he grabbed the closest thing next to him – a metal rod, rusted but still firm – and smashed the dog’s face in. 

He didn’t want to think about the look on Bob’s bloodied face, pained but also triumphant. 

Bob was unfazed by his silence. He had procured a bandage from somewhere and started wrapping Steve’s ankle with practiced ease. “I hear you avenged me and saved the kids,” he smiled. “I believe thanks are in order.” 

Steve huffed in bitter laughter. “I don’t know about that. If I hadn’t spent half an hour moping about my ex-girlfriend, things would have been different.” 

There it was, that kind smile again. “Sure would be. Maybe I’d still be alive. Or maybe it would have also got you. Then Will and the other children. Ifs don’t help anyone, Steve, so how about you accept the praise where it’s due? You can’t save everyone.” 

It should have been comforting, but the words felt like a punch in the gut. “It feels like I can’t save anyone,” he admitted, more to himself than to Bob. “You from that beast, Nancy from her own family and from myself, Eddie…”

Eddie. 

Bob playfully slapped his calf when he twitched, attempting to stand up. “Patience, Steve. You don’t want to join us here yet, I hope? So let me finish treating your ankle, then you can hop off. But to calm you down...Eddie? Your breathing friend is up.” 

Steve didn’t dare to turn around, but the panicked shuffling and muffled “oh shit. Shitshitshit. Shit shit” gave him a good idea of Eddie’s mental state, and he had to admit, it felt good to be the calm one for once. 

He more felt than saw Eddie saunter towards the old bar, leaning against it behind Bob with a feigned nonchalance. Steve knew that posture all too well, from all the times Eddie was a bundle of nerves but putting on a brave front. “Howdy,” he saluted Steve. He’d tried to clean up a little – rubbing his eyes until he created muddy panda circles around them, removing some smaller roots from his hair and dusting off his vest. It was equally endearing and hilarious. 

Steve opened his mouth to speak, but someone else made it before him. 

“Smooth.” 

The bored voice came from behind Steve. Or more precisely...from behind the bar? 

Eddie snorted and tapped the wooden surface. “If you want to talk, have some manners and get up here.” 

“Easy to say for you, these bones are old. Hey Benny, help me up?” 

Benny – god, another name that rang in Steve’s head with painful familiarity – turned around and shot an amused look towards the ground. “One day I’ll make you your own tiny staircase,” he grumbled and reached down, lifting up…

…a cat. 

No, not any cat. It was black, with greying fur around its muzzle, mostly black except for a greyish triangle near its tail. Steve knew this cat well – he scratched it, no, him, for hours when visiting Mrs. Henderson and her son, Dustin. 

Dart turned his head to the side and nodded. “Hi.” 

Steve raised his hand and slowly waved. “…hi.” He half-expected someone to say something because…the cat talked. He was pretty sure cats weren’t supposed to do that. “Uh…” 

The cat rolled his eyes, if that was even possible. “Yeah, cats talk and the dead have their own bar, keep up. You also fainted when Eddie performed that wonderfully dramatic number for you.” He shot a nasty look at the dead man. 

Eddie couldn’t blush, no blood and all, but he had the decency to look ashamed. “Sorry,” he whispered towards Steve’s injured ankle. 

“You should be,” said Dart and Eddie grew an inch shorter under his critical gaze. “You had it all planned out, you had the perfect opportunity and what do you do? You go all zombie-like on him. If I were Steve, I wouldn’t even want to hear your proposal.” 

“Proposal?” Steve blinked in confusion between Dart and Eddie. “I’m pretty sure it was me who accidentally proposed? I guess…yeah, Eddie still has the ring, so why should he have to propose?” 

Bob finally finished wrapping Steve’s ankle in bandages, and rose to his feet. “You’re engaged? Congratulations!” 

Eddie fiddled with the ring on his finger. “Uh, yeah. So that part? Totally unplanned. Actually, also illegal for us to get married. Twice illegal. Man and man, dead and not dead. So…I’m actually keeping the ring for bargaining purposes.” 

Dart stabbed him with another deadly stare. “You. Could. Have. Just. ASKED.” 

“Doing that now.” For someone who always claimed to be as direct as humanly possible, Eddie was stalling, wringing his hands and staring anywhere else but Steve. “So…uh. Harrington. Not that you especially liked me when I was alive and I guess I didn’t become more charming by dying. But still. You brought me back, you’re just a little bit responsible for disturbing my resting place. And I will forgive you for that and calmly crawl back into the ground…for a price.” 

“A price?” Maybe Steve was as obtuse as they said, but what good would money do in the world of dead? 

Eddie nodded, still hypnotizing Steve’s gradually swelling ankle. “Yep. Price. Not…monetary, no. But I need your help with something. So, a small service from you and I will go back where I belong. And you get this back.” Wiggling his finger, the ring caught light from the dim bar lightbulbs. “So, do we have a deal?” 

Steve nodded almost instantly. “Sure.” 

“And before you say no, you should kn- wait, what?” Eddie’s eyes snapped back to Steve’s face. “Uh. Sorry, there might still be some dirt in my ears.”

Dart laid his paw onto Eddie’s shoulder and slowly extended his claws. “Take the yes and shut up, Eddie.” 

The dark eyes narrowed at the claws. “You know I don’t feel pain.” 

“So you won’t mind me meowling on your grave every single night for the rest of your undead existence?” 

Eddie flinched. “You monster.” 

But Dart just rolled his eyes and returned back to Steve, gesturing at him to provide ear scratches. Flabbergasted, Steve obliged. 

“So, Steve,” started Dart and turned his head towards Steve’s hand, “the thing is…to the left, yes, thank you…this isn’t the proper afterlife, as you might have guessed. This place would be way too crowded. So everyone here waits for something. Has something tying them to the mortal world.” 

Did Steve imagine it or was Eddie slowly shrinking under Dart’s critical gaze? 

“Some just wait for their loved ones to reunite. Some just need to process their anger or grief before they go. And some, Edward Theodore Munson, are utterly, hopelessly and stupidly stubborn!” he growled. 

Yep, Eddie was definitely shrinking. 

“See, some of our residents just have grandiose plans and they decide that they’re not going anywhere before they fulfill them. And no, they don’t let anyone local help them. Because it needs to be perrrfect.” Another growl, another twitch in Eddie’s eyebrow. “So here we are, facing a dilemma. Either Eddie stays here forever and drives everyone crazy with his bitching and moaning, or you step in, save the day and save his soul and everyone’s who has to deal with his constant complaints.” 

Steve didn’t dare to stop the movement of his fingers, not until asked. “I already agreed,” he reminded both of them. “What do I have to do?” 

Dart blinked at Eddie. “Cat got your tongue? Wasn’t me, I swear.” 

The dead man snorted. “Right. So, you might remember…I used to play. The piano, I mean. And the guitar and more, but this is about the piano. And I also put together some music of my own.”

Steve’s heart clenched painfully at the memory. “As if I could ever forget.” As if I could forget the days when I felt like myself for once. 

“Yeah, so…I can’t leave before making sure the music outlasts me. I don’t…I used to have this big, big plan. Record what I have and send it to one guy from Indy I knew. He saw potential in me, told me so right before…yeah.” 

“But…” Steve’s tongue was heavy all of a sudden, stumbling over his words. “You were brilliant. Why don’t you record it yourself? Or is it about technology and stuff? I can get you that.” 

Eddie chuckled with all the bitterness in the world. “Yeah, well. Let’s just say that I tried. I tried and tried and fucking tried, but you know what? It’s just not right.” 

“What do you mean? Because I remember you playing and…I don’t think anyone could get it done better than you, Eddie.” 

Dart sighed and pawed at Steve’s hand, finally letting him rest. “What he means is that dead bodies aren’t really known for their flexibility and dexterity, Steve,” he clarified. “Eddie has been practicing for months now, day and night in this bar. Everyone thinks it’s perfect.” 

“Everyone but him,” Steve guessed and Dart gave him an understanding look. One more memory, Eddie playing in the music room in their school until his fingers hurt, wanting to try just one more time, just that one section that isn’t right, not yet. 

Eddie waved his hand, scoffing. “Oh give me a break. If I’m to follow the light, go to the other side or whatever you want to call it, I want it to be worth it. I’ve been making compromises my whole life, but not here, not fucking now. So here’s the deal, Stevie-boy. We go upstairs – your world, that is – and you’ll practice my music like your life-“ 

“Or marriage,” added Dart mischievously, eyeing the ring on Eddie’s finger. 

“Yes, like they depend on it. And then we’ll record it, send it to my contact with Wayne’s contact info, ownership or whatever.” His voice dropped lower at the mention of his uncle’s name. “And then I’ll give you your precious ring back and move on. Being buried and waiting for the worms to come isn’t my idea of a good time anyway. Deal?” 

Without thinking, Steve offered Eddie his hand. “Deal.” Then his brow furrowed, a telltale sign there was something nagging in his brain. “Well, maybe one request from me. If someone sees us in the world above. Can you…like, can you pretend that we’re actually engaged for that time? Or at least that you’re a vengeful zombie who’s crazy opposed to the idea of marriage and is willing to curse me or drag me to the underworld if I marry anyone within the next few days?” 

Eddie’s jaw dropped. “What?” 

Chapter 4 here

[sepdet]

To nobody's surprise (except followers of the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party), this excerpt is chilling:

In May 2020, Fred attended a meeting with Trump at the White House alongside several health advocates, as well as Trump’s former Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Brett Giroir, the former assistant secretary for health. At first, things were going well.

[CW: extreme ableism and gratuitous cat photos below the cut. The latter is in no way meant to make light of the former.]

“The meeting I had assumed would be a quick handshake hello with Donald had turned into a 45-minute discussion in the Oval Office,” Fred wrote. “Donald seemed engaged, especially when several people in our group spoke about the heart-wrenching and expensive efforts they’d made to care for their profoundly disabled family members, who were constantly in and out of the hospital and living with complex arrays of challenges.”

After the meeting concluded, however, Trump called his nephew back in to speak with him.

“I thought he had been touched by what the doctor and advocates in the meeting had just shared about their journey with their patients and their own family members,” Fred wrote. “But I was wrong.”

He recalled his uncle’s words to him: “‘Those people …’ Donald said, trailing off. ‘The shape they’re in, all the expenses, maybe those kinds of people should just die.’” Fred wrote that he hadn’t known how to respond to the former president’s comment, so he quickly left

But Trump’s callous, inhuman attitude toward Americans with disabilities did not end there. Fred recounted a later interaction with his uncle, where he had called the former president to ask for help buoying the fund that supported his son’s care.

Fred wrote that his uncle didn’t seem convinced. “‘I don’t know,’ he finally said, letting out a sigh. ‘He doesn’t recognize you. Maybe you should just let him die and move down to Florida.’

“Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear Donald say that. It wasn’t far off from what he’d said that day in the Oval Office after our meeting with the advocates. Only that time, it was other people’s children who should die. This time, it was my son,” Fred wrote.

This time, Fred hit back, he wrote. “‘No, Donald,’ I said. ‘He does recognize me.’”

Oop, there it is: Donald Trump, eugenicist.

Childless cat lady reaction:

You can't imagine what it was like going through the pandemic as a medically vulnerable person, watching the President encouraging people to drop precautions against spreading a deadly disease. He forced me to self-isolate even more, because I couldn't enter any building without encountering unmasked people before there was a vaccine. "Childless cat lady?!" Fuck you, Vance, that cat was my life support when Trump threw us under the bus.

Which reminds me, I need to order the next $6000 injection I've had to take since COViD plus arthritis turned my immune system into a hit squad against my own organs.

Trump would tell my father, who pays my medical bills, to let me die.

And I'm keenly aware how lucky I am to have family to support me, unlike all the people like me who did die.

@pumpkin-belly passed away peacefully in my lap in May. I spent more on an elderly cat’s medical bills than a billionaire was willing to spend on his own great-nephew. That bighearted orange fluffball was worth infinitely more than the orange carbuncle running for president.

Whom I don't trust not to follow through with his notions of eugenics if he is reelected.

Avenge Pumpkin. Defend disabled people. Vote blue. (Please)

[circus-babe]

No survivors | 01

Synopsis: A new hope to this cruel world.

Genre: Apocalypse au, smut

Warning: Mentions of death, killing, weapons, blood

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader

Word count: 3,5k

Your anxiety was growing by the second, your hands shaking from fear. Who could ever blame you?

The world was getting destroyed, if it wasn’t already. Stores vandalized, broken glass shattered all around the roads, and even blood splattered around like a crime scene.

Except there wasn’t any.

It wasn’t always like that though. The world used to be a peaceful place, yeah maybe there would be some bad things on it but it can never compare to this.

What was supposed to be a small virus made innocent people turn into the creatures they are now. Those horrible and horrific creatures.

Called walkers or Zombies. No name is any better.

This is not what you ever imagined when you said a new world would come. You didn’t expect to see people being eaten alive by those undead things. The sight of them screaming, trying to fight for their life is so sad.

Yet you can’t do anything.

Everyone's for themselves now, this world has become so selfish. Anyone would kill to survive and it doesn’t mean it’s always to kill those undeads.

Some people take it up to themselves to hurt humans for food, water, or any other resources.

The government failed everyone, warning all people to wear masks and follow the safety precautions just for it all to go to shit. Without telling anyone what truly happened.

After five months of this happening you aren’t sure how you survived. In no way have you gotten used to the feeling of being outside though. The feeling of danger once you step outside your hiding spot. Looking around for any undead before taking any steps further.

The world became more fearful and it’s up to you to fight through it. To survive with what you got. And it’s not much. You’re brave in some parts, you managed to come outside a couple of times. Bring food for yourself and others but that bravery isn’t always there.

Sometimes fear washes over you and you freeze. The fear when you see a lot of them in an area and not knowing what to do. It’s scary but you have to suck it up. You are learning to.

Peeking through the corner, you see some undead looking in the other direction, something that made you relieved, but not too relieved.

Not trying to get any distractions, you quickly hid back on the wall. Feeling yourself getting nervous by the seconds.

This isn't the first time you've seen the undead nor will it be the last. Sometimes you do hope it's the last time you see them and that this is just an awful nightmare you will wake up from, unfortunately that hope is slowly fading away.

Mostly because it doesn’t seem to get any better no matter how much time passes by.

As your grip on the bat got tighter, you slowly focused yourself towards the sound of the undead.

The horrifying and disgusting sound each one of them made. It's unbelievable to think that those undead out there were once normal humans. Humans that were just living their regular lives not knowing all of this would happen. The thought of the pain they had to go through makes your heart shatter.

But now is not the time to cry, you need to be strong to survive. No weakness is allowed and that means not crying over bullshit that happened before.

There’s many rules that are being applied now, rules you created yourself. The world changed you and you have to accept the change before it’s too late. If you are weak you die, if you are too slow you die, if you are alone without actual knowledge you die.

No other solution.

"Okay y/n if you do this right you will live" you whispered to yourself while pulling the black bandana to cover your nose and mouth.

Every time you went outside, you always got your face covered with blood after hitting them to death. Not a pleasant thing to say but it was true. So this time you brought a bandana. The bandana your father used to wear on his wrist because it was his only thing he got left from his parents. Which now makes you realize how valuable the bandana truly is.

As you took your last deep breath, you started to make your way across the street without getting any attention from the undead.

Taking slow steps and not trying to make any noise, which was truly important to not do in this situation. You continued walking closely to the wall, eyes scanning the area, and your hand clutching to the bat.

Once you reached the end of the concrete wall, you started crouching towards a bush on the side of the road, making you pause when you heard an undead way too close to you. Heavy breathing, you crouched beside the bush, trying to stay as still as possible.

Without moving, your eyes slowly averted to the undead that was making its way closer to you. Bit by bit it moved its legs slowly on the dirt road. You wanted to move, however if you did the undead would see you right away and kill you. If you are too close it can smell you as well. So for now you have to pray that it goes towards a different direction.

The undead continued to come closer towards you, making you even more nervous. You hit many undead before, that’s nothing new. But there was always fear that surrounded you whenever you saw one.

It’s normal to be scared, mostly in this situation. But fear isn’t always good, and you should know that more than anyone.

The only solution you could think of at this moment was to hit it. That’s if the undead gets too close to you.

As you were getting ready to stand up and hit the undead, you were quick to be stopped when a gunshot was loudly heard. Confused, you looked over towards the destroyed store the sound of the gunshot came from. There were people here besides you?

It was a relief knowing there were other people trying to survive just like you, but there was also fear. Everyone is now for themselves, humans turned selfish. And if you are an obstacle you get crushed.

Instead of going towards you, the undead now started heading towards the sound, making you sigh in relief. Once you saw it far away from you, you started to crouch your way out and towards the empty home.

Not letting the bat go, you looked over towards both sides and once it was clear you crossed the road quickly. Smiling, you started running towards the house but stopped once you heard a scream, a scream that was so damn powerful.

Gulping you turn towards the sound which came from the same shop you heard the gunshot from. There is definitely someone there that needs help, but are you willing to risk your life for them?

There’s no time for being the hero, in some situations it is okay to be selfish. As harsh as that sounds it’s reality now.

Biting your lip you looked over, trying to see how many undead there were. And not surprised you are met with more than six of them. Shaking your head, you turned away from the shop not really wanting to risk your life for whoever was in there.

Once again another gunshot came from the place making you feel guilty. You know damn well that if it was someone else they wouldn't have helped you or even try to. But you are not like that, you can't be. After all, this was once a peaceful world. Might as well try to make it better at least for a little.

Sometimes you hate your weak heart.

With a sigh, you turned around and ran towards the shop not caring about anything other than saving whoever was in there.

Quickly you stopped though, trying to analyze the amount of undead inside and out, for the most part whoever was in there got half of them. Which concludes that they are out of bullets now.

There were too many for you to fight and if you tried to, you would die. So a plan is the right move. Nervously, you started to look around scanning anything that can help you but you only landed on a big rock.

If you use that big rock to smash the glass window from across the road the noise will attract the undead. Since they mostly go for sound and not much of actual hunting. Quickly, you made your way towards the rock, which you slowly picked up for its weight.

"This is it y/n. Either you do it or you die" you firmly said to yourself, not letting fear get to you.

The biggest mistake you can do in an apocalypse is let fear get to you, that is called suicide. To be able to survive you need to act without thinking which it's what you are about to do.

With all the force you had, you threw the rock across the road and into the big window who in just seconds shattered everywhere, making some glass cut your face. Without hesitating you ran away from it and into the back of the shop. Pushing the door open with your leg as you quickly headed inside, but stopped in mid track.

"Are you okay?" you asked, walking closer to the person who was holding his arm in pain, while blood was dripping onto the floor. All kinds of thoughts were crossing your mind. What if he got bitten? Were you too late?

"Hello?" you spoke up again, coming closer to the person who slowly turned towards you, his face showing you that he was visibly in pain. Scared you waited for whoever it was to speak.

"Thank you" the person spoke up, making you confused but you nodded either way. Slowly your eyes averted to his hand which was covered in blood. It didn't look like a bite, you seen way too many of them to know that what he has isn't one. He was stabbed in the hand.

"Your hand"

"Yeah.. i landed on the wrong side of the floor" he laughed lightly, while trying to cover the pain. Coming closer to him, you examined his hand to check for any other deeper wounds which thankfully you didn't find.

"Come with me" you said, not letting him say anything before you dragged him outside of the shop while still being careful of your surroundings. The person was more of a friendly person than you expected it to be.

In an apocalypse it is very rare to find someone with a friendly vibe. Not that you are asking for it with this whole thing happening. Everyone is rather harsh than kind. But it’s nice to find someone friendly enough.

Without saying a word the person followed you towards the house you were going to enter earlier. Closing the door and the extra locks on the side of the door, just for safety.

Silently, you made your way towards him.

"Alright dude, let's fix this wound" you said, making him sit on the couch as you went to look for the first aid kit you saved for emergencies, while putting your backpack with some food on the side.

You aren’t sure if you have enough food for two. With how rare it is to find something that isn’t expired or already empty, wasting it is dangerous. You have a couple of cans that will last you and him for approximately one week.

And then you have to go hunt again.

"Why did you do that?" he asked, watching you rummage through the cabinets until you found the aid kit. Ignoring his question, you walked closer towards him, kneeling down and signaling him to extend his hand towards you, which he slowly does.

"This will hurt" you told him as you poured some rubbing alcohol into a cloth and pressed it into his palm, which he immediately hissed at. His eyes stayed on his hand while yours were doing just the same.

The whole time there was this awkward silence, just like when you first meet someone. A silence you hate so much. It was the reason why you would hate to meet new people.

The process didn’t take too long, after disinfecting the cut, all you had to do was wrap it up.

While you were wrapping his palm with the bandage, you noticed the sadness in his eyes, and if it weren’t that noticeable you would’ve ignored it.

Instead it made you wonder what was going on in his head. Something probably happened back there that hurt him not just physically but mentally as well. It’s common in this new reality.

"Are you alright?" you finally decided to break the silence and ask him, trying to make a conversation with him. He slowly looked towards you and gave you a small nod.

"Yeah" he looked down at his hand again, without taking your eyes from him you gave his shoulder a touch. Something about him seemed familiar, maybe it was because you found those same eyes and look familiar.

"You lost someone, didn't you?" you asked, recognizing that same familiar face and look he was giving you.

You weren't always alone, you were once in two groups. And one of those groups just had to be your family. You were determined to help them, to keep them safe and protected, especially your younger sister which you loved so much.

Unfortunately that's not what happened since at some point the undead caught up to you and your family. Biting them in the process. You never intended on leaving them, you were actually planning on dying with them, but they wanted you safe. They wanted for you to continue living which probably was the worst decision you have ever taken. It's been almost two months since that incident happened but you'll never forget it.

"Yeah.." he quietly answered, making all those memories of your family come back to you once again. "You know my mother once did the same thing you are doing right now. She helped me with my wound just the exact same way you are doing it." he softly laughed, keeping his eyes on his arms which now you realized the meaning behind it.

"Thank you" he said, finally meeting your eyes which had a little more happiness in them. Giving him a small smile you caressed your thumb on his free hand.

Something about him was just so calming. It felt as if you knew him for years as if he was your best friend. Being with him felt so comforting yet so heart warming which you haven't felt ever since your family died.

"Don't thank me, I'm sure anyone would've done it" and by the look he made you knew he figured out your lie. There's no way anyone would've helped him, not with these circumstances. Everyone's for themselves right now, which you find so selfish but you understand where they are coming from.

Surviving is what they are aiming for and people will slow them down. You learned a lot about being a burden with a small group.

After your family, you didn’t have much. Your survival skills were lacking and when you found another group they took you in. Teaching you ways to kill the undead with just smashing their brain with a knife, or smashing their head with a bat.

You thanked them for that, and only that. You then figured out they were going to betray you. To which didn’t happen because you ran away from that place and ever since then, you have been surviving on your own.

You aren’t sure if they are still alive, but you don’t really care now.

“Are you alone?” you stood up, walking back to the table as you started taking out the cans from your backpack, side-eyeing him from time to time

“No, I was with my friends.” he silently said, and if it wasn’t so quiet in the house you were staying at you swore you wouldn't have heard it. “But we separated when the undead started surrounding us.”

It would mean they all took it for themselves, running towards different directions trying to save themselves. That’s smart, the only thing is finding them is difficult.

“So you don’t know if they are alive?” you said, the sentence coming out more bitter than you intended it to be. It was true but the way you said it sounded harsh.

“No, but I hope they are” he silently said, making you sigh once you took out the last can and a couple of water bottles you found.

“What’s your name?” you asked, walking closer to him with a small water bottle, handing it to him as he slowly took it. “Jungkook and thank you” he said, to which you just nodded. “And you?”

“Y/n” you said, as he started drinking from the water bottle, sighing with relief once he gulped it all down. You could tell he was thirsty. It made you conclude he was out there for a while.

“Are you alone?” he asked, putting the empty bottle on the coffee table. “Yeah” you answered quickly, making it short. He should’ve known that when he didn’t see anyone else in the house.

“For how long?” he then decided to ask, making you shrug. It’s been some time, maybe over two months since you truly didn’t stay much with the other group. It’s been just you after that.

“About two months i would say” you said, making him nod as he took out his backpack. “I have some stuff here, some canned food and some chocolate. Here, take it.” he laughed at the last part, taking out a chocolate bar from his backpack as he handed it to you.

With a small smile you took it. God you haven’t seen chocolate ever since this started. You missed it so much. Opening the chocolate bar, you split it in half, giving the other one to him.

“Until you find your group, you can stay here, i don’t mind” you said, standing up as you motioned for him to do so. To which he quickly did, silently following you towards a room.

The house was small, it was one of those cozy homes that didn’t have much space. But it did you the favor of keeping you hidden. You know that at some point you have to move locations since the food storage is running out.

So you will enjoy it for the time being.

“There’s two rooms here, you can sleep in this one” you said, opening the door as it revealed a small room. A bed and two nights stands besides it.

Nothing special but it helped.

Closing the door, you walked towards the other door. “And this is the bathroom, with how they will soon cut the water, the water is limited but you can shower” you said, opening the door as you pointed inside.

You got used to this home. It wasn’t yours, you used to have a small apartment in one of those buildings, but with everything happening you had to leave and find your family, to which luckly they came to visit you for the summer.

It wasn’t much luck though.

“So that’s all, are you hungry?” you asked, standing in front of him as you now got to realize his height. You didn’t notice just how tall he is.

“Yeah” he shyly said, making you chuckle.

With that you both walked into the kitchen, opening two cans of corn and eating that for the day. You both had some conversations here and there but there was still some awkward tension which was normal.

As night time started approaching he went on to shower and once he was done you went and showered as well. It was a well needed shower. The last thing was sleep, you could tell he was tired and with undead out there you decided to keep guard for the night.

He wanted to guard though, talking about how it wasn’t fair to you but you insisted until he finally agreed and headed to bed.

You aren’t sure if keeping him here was a good idea. Starting with the fact that it’s an extra person. Another human being you had to look out for. You aren’t sure of his skills or how great he is at defending himself.

You aren’t great yourself but you’re getting the hang of killing them more easily. And it’s not just about safety but food and supplies as well. The place you were staying in was a bit far from those shops. Around a twenty minute walk back and forth.

It was going to sting now that you had him but it was nice having some company. You got used to being by yourself but it still felt lonely from time to time.

He seemed friendly, a bit too friendly. But you assume he wants to have a positive attitude in this situation.

As the sky turned dark, you stood by the window checking around if any of them would come around. Switching from the living room towards the kitchen, the backdoor and back to the living room.

It was your duty now and you somehow felt responsible for him as well.

[alwaysteveswife]

Hello can you accept this request of the prompts '2. We are locked in...' , '21.- I'm sorry', '37.- I was such a fool', '41.- How could you' and '48.- I'm never leaving you' for a Divorced!Jonathan Byers x Divorced!Reader (both with kids) fic in which they meet again at a High-school reunion in the 2000s, that is in a hotel and when they try to leave using the elevator, they get stuck there and start talking about their lives and their past when they used to be childhood friends until high school when reader started to change to be popular and left him, and they discuss many things until they made up when the elevator starts to work again, to finally they exchange number to keep in contact with each other.

A New Beginning | Jonathan Byers x Fem!Reader.

a/n: First of all, credits to my friend @alex-walker-86 because she helped me with the title 💕 and second, I LOVED this idea, I don't know who you are, but I adore you, kisses to your wonderful imagination 😘. I had to change the 48 a bit, to make it look good, hope you don't mind 😔.

Warnings: Jonathan and reader divorced, Jonathan and Reader single parents (It says so in the request, but I put it as a precaution ^^).

Words: 2.5k

You took one last look at yourself in the mirror, fixing your dress with your hands. You walked around, checked your hairstyle and makeup, you wanted to look decent, rather, you wanted to avoid looking like a 38 year old woman with a divorce in progress and an eight year old child you loved with all your soul.

"Still getting ready?" you turned to look at Steve. He was with his arms crossed, smiling broadly in a teasing manner, "Hey, pretty, you look amazing."

He walked over to you, grabbing your shoulders and leading you out of the bathroom. As you complained to him about how he had no right to kick you out of your own bathroom, you managed to catch a glimpse out of the corner of your eye as Steve's girlfriend - whom he had miraculously been dating for almost half a year now - played happily with your son, Daniel.

"Why did you bring your girlfriend?" you frowned. It didn't bother you, but it seemed odd.

"We were supposed to go to dinner with her parents today," he sighed, leaning his full weight on you, ignoring your complaints, "but then you called me to ask for help with Dani and I couldn't say no."

You grimaced as you watched him sigh in love. You loved seeing him happy, but that didn't take away from the fact that it made you nauseous to see him being so mawkish with her or with anyone, especially if it was with you.

"When I told her I thought she was going to be mad, but she offered to come over with a big smile and canceled dinner without hesitation, don't you think she's a sweetheart?" You quickly brushed it aside, rolling your eyes jokingly.

"I'm glad you're happy and in love and all that shit, but that's not why I called you" you grabbed your wallet and walked over to your son. He had slightly tanned skin, eyes as dark as night and straight black hair. How happy you were that he looked like you and not his idiot father. "Honey, I'm leaving now."

You bent down to his height, giving him a resounding kiss on the forehead, laughing at the sight of your pink lipstick mark on it. You shook your head as you watched him try to remove the stain in vain, grumbling under your breath.

"Bye, Mom," he gave you a smile, one that made you feel a comforting warmth in your chest. You loved this child.

"Bye, Y/N" smiled Steve's girlfriend, holding some action figures of your son in her hands.

"Bye" you waved goodbye to her with a nod, walking to the exit door.

"I'll be right back" said Steve, kissing his girlfriend shortly, laughing as he heard Daniel pretend to retch, "Shall we?"

You walked out as soon as Steve opened the door for you, walking to his car. You always envied his life, in the financial sense of course. Even now he had the best of the best, and it was all thanks to his modeling job. How lucky were people with a good physique and charisma.

"Ladies first" you laughed exaggeratedly as you watched him open the passenger door for you, but you didn't hesitate for a moment to get in.

After a few seconds Steve was already in the driver's seat, turning on the radio after having started the car. The trip was silent, you had nothing to talk about and neither did he, at least not something that really interested you, so you both chose to let the music invade the atmosphere.

"Well," said Steve after about ten minutes of driving, "looks like we're here."

You nodded in agreement, looking at the fancy hotel your former classmates had decided to have the reunion at. You had no idea where they got the money to pay for it, but you didn't plan to complain.

"Thanks for the ride, and for taking care of Daniel," you said quietly, unbuckling your belt and letting out a heavy sigh. Again the nerves set in.

"It's nothing, you know I love kids" a kind smile appeared on his face, eliciting a chuckle from you. At what point had the great king of Hawkins, Steve Harrington, turned into a caring adult who was on the prowl for a wife and six small children?

"Anyway, go later" you got out of the car, still laughing, "remember to come get me, keep an eye out for the phone."

He nodded quickly, starting the car and disappearing into the night streets after a few seconds. You wrapped your arms around yourself, shivering slightly. It was colder than you thought it would be.

You entered the hotel, walking towards the receptionist and giving her your ID card. You saw her check a list and write something on it, then she gave you directions and you went to the elevator.

You pressed the button and waited a few seconds for it to open. You entered at a slow pace, trying to think of what you would tell your old friends why you had disappeared for two decades. Sure, the answer was obvious, they were all shit, you didn't want them in your life, not anymore, but you didn't want to tell them that, at least not today.

The elevator door began to close. A hand got in its way, making you open your eyes in surprise.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the man muttered, crestfallen, entering, trying to fix the sleeve of his suit, "I didn't mean to, but I really needed to get in and..."

You both looked at each other in surprise at the sight of the other's face. Your lips trembled slightly, his shoulders tensed at the same time. The elevator door closed.

"Jonathan" you murmured, turning over the bracelet you had decided to wear as an accessory for tonight, "it's been a while."

"Yeah..." he nodded, standing next to you, both of you looking at the elevator door. He looked too uncomfortable. "I guess we haven't talked since '83, huh?"

You tried to salivate, closing your eyes tightly. That was the year Will disappeared. The year you got sick of living in the shadows like a weirdo. The year you cut yourself off forever from him, from your lifelong best friend until that moment.

"Yeah, I guess so" you took a breath, shifting your foot impatiently, how long was this taking to go up?

You didn't want to keep talking to him, you wanted to run away, get some air, maybe a drink, no, the whole bottle of Champagne. With that thought in mind you tried to hold on for the rest of your trip. At least until the elevator moved abruptly, causing you both to stumble and fall to the floor.

"Oh, shit" you grunted under your breath, rubbing your hip and watching as Jonathan tried to call for help via the emergency button.

"Couldn't you fix it faster?" his voice sounded calm, too calm for the situation you both found yourselves in. You heard a male voice say on the other end 'sorry, we can't do anything for at least the next half hour'.

You banged your head against one of the walls, stretching your legs out on the floor and shivering slightly as you felt the cold on your legs.

"Well, looks like we're locked in..." said Jonathan, taking a seat across from you. He stretched his legs out as well, lightly brushing against yours.

"Yeah, I think I noticed" you grimaced as you saw Jonathan's expression at your sarcasm. You cleared your throat, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for talking back to me like that, or something else?" He raised his eyebrows, trying to connect their gazes, "because, as far as I remember, you're not the kind of person who would apologize for using sarcasm."

You sighed, holding your head with both hands. Suddenly your throat felt tight and your heart began to ache. You hated remembering that time, remembering how you treated Jonathan just because you want to be popular.

"That's not why I meant it" or at least you thought it was, you weren't even sure. After you left Hawkins High School you never saw him again, you could never apologize to him for everything you did to him. "Even though I should, I was such a fool at the time."

"Yes, you were" he replied mockingly, gently kicking your thigh. You looked at him in surprise, why was he acting like that? Was it a joke? "I think I understand why you did it though."

"Oh yeah?" you frowned as you heard him laugh out loud. You were seriously confused, "Why are you laughing? What's so funny?"

"It's just..." he closed his eyes, trying to take a deep breath so he could speak without laughter in between, "it amuses me to see how confused you look" a friendly smile made your heart skip a beat, "Y/N, it doesn't matter that you were a 'merciless bitch' back then, I'm over it" he tapped your thigh softly again, this time with an even bigger smile, "we were teenagers, stupid, impulsive, wanting to be accepted."

"Yeah, well, I'm still sorry I acted like a 'merciless bitch', you didn't deserve it" this time you smacked his thigh, looking down at your hands. You hadn't felt like that in a long time. "Don't think I'll repeat my apology."

He laughed again. You looked at him again. The confinement was beginning to become more bearable.

Jonathan put his hand to his forehead, brushing a few strands of hair out of his face, it was the first time you had seen him so concerned about his appearance. It was the first time you saw the white mark of a wedding ring on 'that' finger.

"What's that?" you pointed at his finger, feeling too curious to hold back the question.

"Oh," he lowered his hand, looking at the mark on the wedding ring, "it's proof that I'm divorced."

"I'm sorry" you mumbled quickly, knowing how awkward it was to have someone ask you about that. "I didn't know."

"How could you...?" He raised his eyebrows, expectantly.

Your cheeks tinged pink. You felt stupid right now.

"Right..." you cleared your throat, hugging your legs, "Nancy?"

He nodded, an overly deep sigh made you remember how terrible it was to go through all that, especially if you had a child.

"We got to a point where neither of us could find a reason to be together" he shrugged, "I think we were together these last few years just out of simple habit...and Amy, of course."

"Amy?" You cocked your head to the side, trying to remember some Amy.

"My daughter," he smiled sweetly, pulling his wallet out of his back pants pocket, "She's ten years old."

He took a photograph from one of the wallet's compartments. In it was a smiling little girl, without a set of teeth, with curly blonde hair and beautiful brown eyes; she looked like a little angel.

"She's beautiful, Jonathan" you smiled almost helplessly. She reminded you of your little boy, your reason for living.

"I know" he nodded proudly, taking the picture as soon as you handed it to him and putting it away carefully, "I'm not lying when I say she's a lovely little girl."

"I believe you" you laughed nodding, watching as he began to ramble on about how proud he was of his baby girl, how smart and talented she was... you were beginning to wonder if your ex-husband talked about Daniel like that. You didn't believe it, but you didn't care, you could give him all the love he needed all by yourself.

"I'm sorry, I guess I got carried away" he mumbled embarrassed after a few minutes, coughing slightly to cover the embarrassment in his voice, "tell me about yourself, we've only talked about my life."

"Well" You raised your hand, pointing to the finger where a few years ago your ring had been, "I'm also divorced" you smiled bitterly, lowering your hand heavily, "truth be told, I'm not sure what I saw in that idiot, but just as you see, things didn't work out."

"I'm sorry," he grimaced, crawling to your side and leaning his shoulder against yours. Barely a graze.

"It doesn't matter, I don't see him anymore anyway" you picked your shoulders, "and besides" you smiled, looking at Jonathan. Ah, if only you could have seen how your eyes sparkled at the memory of Daniel, "thanks to him I have Daniel".

"Your son?" He murmured in surprise.

"The one and only" you laughed, sighing with joy, "he's eight years old, I don't have pictures of him here, but believe me when I tell you he looks just like me."

"Then he must be very attractive" he joked, tapping your shoulder playfully.

"He is, he's the cutest boy in his class and..." you fell silent as you felt the elevator make an annoying noise and start moving.

You looked at Jonathan. He looked at you. Silence returned.

"Well, at least now we won't be starving" you laughed as you listened to him, shaking your head slightly.

Just as you were about to say something to him, his phone started ringing. You watched him pick it up and sigh as he saw who it was. You fell silent as he signaled you to wait.

"What happened?" he mumbled seriously, looking uncomfortable, "again? I thought we had agreed that you wouldn't do any more meetings in your days with her..." he sighed heavily, looking at the elevator door, "fine, I'll go there, don't leave until I get there."

And he cut the call.

"Everything okay?" you asked cautiously. It seemed to be a sensitive subject for him.

"Yeah, it's just Nancy," he mumbled, putting his phone away and dialing floor one, "she had a last minute meeting and won't be able to see Amy, so I'll have to come back."

"Oh, sure, I understand, it's happened to me a hundred times" you laughed nervously. Of course you knew the comp felt, and you also knew that a good father would do these things for his daughter, but you had liked talking to him. You wanted to keep having these kinds of talks with him.

He smiled, softly and tenderly. He helped you up from the floor. The door opened.

"Now that we meet again," he murmured close to your ear, sending a shiver down your spine, "I'll never let you go, not as easy as twenty years ago."

He handed you a slightly crumpled piece of paper and helped you off the elevator, stepping back into it. Your cheeks burned too much, but you still didn't look away from him until the doors were completely closed.

Only then did you look down to see the paper. You unwrapped it carefully, frowning in confusion as you saw that it had something written on it.

'I had hoped that we would meet again today, and the fact that you read this confirms it. I'll leave you my number so you can call me and we can get back in touch. Thank you for giving us a second chance to meet'.

"Idiot" you muttered with a smirk, tucking the paper carefully into your bag, thinking about how to ask Steve to start getting the idea of coming to visit Daniel more often.

Masterlist

[temple-of-truth]

Temple of Truth Episode 4#8 Transcript

Monday, August 6th, 2063

Transcript:

Hello, Truthers. Thanks for tuning in. We’re going to skip our usual introductory report because we have something really, really big to share. After years of making this show, this is probably the most important episode we’ve ever made. Truthers, we found the Deltas. Me, Ohm, and some co-investigators tracked down exactly who and where the Deltas have been coming from. And guys, it’s so much bigger than we ever imagined. Almost every corp is involved in this. I don’t even know how to start, so let’s start at the beginning.

Thanks to some tips on our forum from Truthers yewandthefoe and tardigrant, our team decided to check out a place called Disco Days. It’s a nightclub in the Combat Zone owned by Councilmember Nyx Nasir. There’ve been rumors of people going missing after visiting the club. Some people have popped up again weeks later, but they’ve seemed different. Yeah, exactly like a Delta would. On our first visit, we definitely noticed that something strange was going on. The floor of the bathroom sounded hollow, like there was another room below it. But we couldn’t stay long enough to figure anything else out.

For our next visit, we took an extra precaution: we brought weapons with us, and we all wore trackers in case one of us went missing. And sure enough, our friend Mindy Nox disappeared almost as soon as we got there. Her tracker led us into the sewers, until the signal went dark. We followed some strange signs in the sewers until we reached a door. And you’ll never guess what the code to the door was: Danger Gal.

We entered the door and found a warehouse. There, we had to fight one of the Danger Gals, until they ran away into the sewers. We found Mindy locked up and drugged, as well as one of the people working with Danger Gal. But it gets even worse. We found records with the names of people who had gone missing and which corp Danger Gal had sold them to. There were surgery tables for cyberware installations. After looking around and later interviewing the person we caught in the warehouse, we learned the truth: Danger Gal has been kidnapping people, reprogramming them, chroming them up, and selling them to corps for the last 15 years. Danger Gal has been making the Deltas. They’re the ones who took our friend and countless other people.

But it doesn’t end with them. They were using Disco Days because Nyx Nasir was in on the operation—and profiting greatly from it. Danger Gal has largely been targeting middle managers at corps who can give trade secrets to competitors, so they’ve sold to corps like Continental Foods, Petrochem, and Zeratech. They’ve also made people into soldiers for Militech and Lazarus. This is what I meant earlier when I said this is bigger than any of us imagined: it’s not just Danger Gal making the Deltas; all these corps are participating in it. They’re turning regular people into mindless clones for the sake of their own profits. Before all this, Ohm and I had thought that the Deltas were being made by just one of the corps, or two at most. This goes way beyond that. More than ever, all you Truthers listening need to be vigilant. If you know anyone who works at these corporations or has been to Disco Days, they could be in danger—or they could already be compromised. It’s possible this was only one part of a larger operation, so Danger Gal—or anyone else they were working with—could still be snatching people. Follow the safety tips for dealing with Deltas that we’ve given you guys in the past: keep quiet, keep away, and get out of there if things start going south.

But there is good news. For the first time, the authorities are actually taking the risk of Deltas seriously. I’m sure many of you all listening know that cops never listen when Truthers try to tip them off about these things. In this case, though, the warehouse was so full of evidence, including someone actually making Deltas, that the cops couldn’t ignore it. They’re working on a case against Danger Gal right now, and hopefully Nyx Nasir and the client corps will be next. This is a huge step for actually taking action against the Deltas. Also, this case is pretty high-profile, so now more Night City residents will learn about the Deltas. All those distrusting neighbors and judgmental family members that you guys have mentioned on our forums will finally understand the dangers that we’ve been trying to warn them about.

We now know more about the Deltas than ever before. For years, Ohm and I—along with you all listening at home—have been trying to figure out not just who is doing this, but why. We’ve had a lot of theories, but we now have a clear answer. Danger Gal was making the Deltas to support the cannibalizing greed of the corps in Night City. Of course, we still need to figure out how this figures into the larger picture. How do the Gammas relate to this? Are they the ones calling the shots and putting this whole operation in motion? Had the Sisters been warning us about this all along, but we missed the signs? As always, if you have any theories at home, post them on our forum online. It’s thanks to Truthers on our forum that we got this lead in the first place. Ohm and I wouldn’t be able to do this without you guys, or without our friends like Mindy and our co-investigators.

That’s all I think we can get through today. We’ll definitely keep unpacking the details and implications of this discovery for the next few episodes to come. We’ve learned a lot, but we’ve also learned what we have to fear. Good night for now, and remember to look out for each other. It’s the only defense we’ve got.

[and-but-so]

Console and protect and crack open and weep

Nursing often feels like a string of individual insane tasks and pieces that are cumulatively slammed together with outrageous force, resulting more entropy than one person can possibly comprehend. No one added task or step can be truly felt unless it happens to careen into the others just right and grip the divided attention of the person navigating the experience.

I took care of a woman today who has been through a lot in less than 60 years of life. She had a stroke, she had cancer, she lost her husband, and today she ended up in the hallway of TJUH ED around 1 pm in need of an especially painful packing of the structures inside her nose, because she was choking on clots of blood that poured down continuously. She had already been shuffled from New Jersey to Philadelphia, stuck in the hallway among some other deeply unhappy people. Eventually, as patients began to be moved to their inpatient areas I was able to bring her into one of my open rooms. In the room, we were able to give her some rest, some privacy, some relief.

She told me that she was familiar with hospitals because she had had a job in labor and delivery for years before her stroke put her out of work. She also revealed that her husband had passed away about a year ago of a sudden heart attack. Since then she had trapped herself in her room, suffering to the point where her family literally and physically dragged her out there to get her to try and re-enter the world. She resented that they did it, but acknowledged it was also for the best. She remembered how her husband made her laugh, how he held her close with his strong arms. She said that one of the last things they got to do together was take a cruise aboard the Spirit of Philadelphia, a riverboat on the Delaware, for dinner and dancing. He was never a dancer as far as she knew, and to her surprise, when he brought her to the floor to dance she found he had been taking lessons. She was so bowled over and she fawned over how such a seemingly ungraceful man could manage to surprise her this way. Recalling this memory brought her to tears. It was no wonder to me why and how she trapped herself in her room. I put my hand on her shoulder and offered consoling words I felt so dearly that I thought I would cry.

I administered some pain medication to ease her discomfort of being repeatedly prodded with instruments in both nostrils (so painful her resting heart rate shot to the 130s), tucked her in with a warm blanket and closed the door. She later told me that it was the first rest she had gotten in two days. At about 6:30 p.m., after she had weathered the four waves of visits from ENT residents jamming things in her nose without anesthesia, her bleeding had slowed and she felt safe going home with close follow-up next week. I removed her IV, reviewed the precautions she should come back to the ED for, and asked if she needed anything else. She thanked me so earnestly for the special care I had given her and I accepted this as gracefully as I've ever been able to. She said her nephews were on the way from New Jersey to pick her up and she needed clothing -- she had been transferred from the hospital where she had initially presented after bleeding through her shirt. I went rummaging in the closet for her requested 2XL t-shirt, knowing we rarely had what people were looking for. The article I pulled out of the bin was one of only two that we had: a soft gray t-shirt with an imagine of Snoopy with sunglasses on doing a really cocky lean. The caption next to him said: SO AWESOME IT HURTS. I couldn't think of a more appropriate item to offer to her.

When I handed her the shirt, she laughed. She found it just as fitting as I did. I made my way out of the room with "it was really my pleasure to care for you...". I find that I throw around "hope you feel better" so frequently it sometimes feels like it has lost meaning, but this time I truly meant it.

[onbearfeet]

I think what's contributing to that feeling is the profound sense of justice delayed, the feeling that people in power have let him off the hook so many times and in so many ways that it seems like he's a walking exception to the concept of cause and effect. Like he's fucked around so long that he'll die before he finds out.

Anyone else who said the things he said in 2015 wouldn't have made it past the primaries. Anyone else who did the things he did would have been impeached. Any other president who got impeached TWICE would have been removed. Anyone else who tried to coup away an election would have landed in federal prison. Anyone else who was that shitty about covid precautions should have gotten it sooner, and then he got top-of-the-line care so he didn't die like all the people we lost. Anyone else who stared into an eclipse should have gone blind.

But he's not a magical exception to the laws of the universe. He's a fascist nepo baby bully who keeps getting let off in court because of daddy's money or his connections, who gets away with saying shit because of his cult, who is protected by a sociopolitical system because punishing him means acknowledging the system's flaws, who probably didn't notice the retinal damage because he already can't see for shit.

He's not an unstoppable final boss. He's your shitty uncle that your mom says you have to be nice to at Thanksgiving. Everyone else just puts up with him showing up drunk or high, going on a new racist tirade during every course, and deadnaming your cousin until they flee the table in tears. You feel like you're the only one who sees how incredibly shitty he is, but the others know. They just don't think it's worth disrupting a holiday dinner.

But the thing is? The same people who can't imagine telling your uncle to shut up ALSO can't imagine you flipping the table.

Let me tell you a story.

A few years ago--2017 or 2018, I think--my dad started getting really extraordinarily shitty. He was emboldened by Trump and Fox News, and he started letting everyone know what he REALLY thought. This guy had already banned me from family Thanksgiving in 2016 because I hadn't voted for Trump, but he kept going from there even after Mom declared that she wasn't going to permanently exile her only daughter who was also her best friend. And that brings us to Christmas dinner, 2017 or '18, when he starts talking about how Hitler was a good painter, actually, and had some good ideas too.

Two things you ought to know here: first, Dad lecturing everyone has been a feature of family dinners for longer than I've been alive, and second, Mom used to have a bunch of older relatives with numbers on their arms, so even with the inertia of family tradition on his side, "Hitler was good actually" should have been a bridge too far even for him.

And then one of my siblings started AGREEING with him.

At that point, I experienced a kind of out-of-body experience where I no longer gave a single shit what happened to my mortal flesh or my emotional health, and I decided it was time to choose violence. I found myself staring at a bowl of cut pineapple on the table, imagining myself stabbing him with the serving fork, but no, that wasn't enough, I had to make him STOP TALKING and I knew from experience that pain alone wouldn't do that--

And then he paused for breath.

And into that half-moment of silence, I said:

"Did you know people used to rent pineapples by the hour?"

Dead silence. No one expects rental pineapples.

I went on to explain, at great length, using EXACTLY the techniques he did to monopolize the conversation, how the ability to grow a pineapple in a greenhouse was such a flex in 18th-century Europe that rich people used to rent them to take to parties as the ultimate status symbol. My sibling stared daggers. Dad looked bewildered. Mom looked like she was having a religious experience.

I got to the end of my story. I asked Mom what was for dessert. She took the cue, and nobody mentioned Hitler again, probably for fear of another pineapple speech.

These fuckers aren't invincible. They rely on you not realizing that.

But sometimes all it takes is the willingness to be rude about pineapples.

honest question: is the "pity vote" even a real thing, or is it just something that feels true? do the sort of people who aren't Trump Fanboys but like Tough Guys* see this as a show of strength or a reminder of the man's own vulnerability?

[yaomomvs]

— BEING INARIZAKI’S TEAM MANAGER AND A SECRET VOLLEYBALL PLAYER

inarizaki x f!manager

this is part of a hcs series, let me now what team you want next <3

okay so actually you ended being the manager because the girls volleyball team had already closed the application time

so you you were really looking forward to it and omg you were so sad about it

after being rejected, you were just peacefully going through the gym and you heard laughter from a bunch of guys

you recognized kosaku since he was in your class and waved at him.

and so, they were talking about getting a manager since this team is pretty much a lot to handle

and so since kosaku knew you were hard working and that the first idea that popped out oh his head was that if you wanted to try out.

kita respectfully introduced himself and asked if you were willingly try out 🥺🥺🥺 like what a man 🥺🥺

and mostly because the twins having fangirls always made this process kind of difficult, so instead kita and aran wanted to make sure it was someone who at least was trusted by one of them

and not to brag but bestie you are gorgeous

so it was a win win

atsumu refused to this because as the jerk he usually is, he said that he didn’t need any help

that son of a bitch

he was being soooo petty mainly after you said “oh don’t worry kita, idiots are not my type”

osamu fell in love with you ❗️

and aran

and suna

and well the team.

and so, looking at the other court where the girl vbc was training you said that it was something.

every! single! practice! is! chaotic!

but somehow you managed them so well

atsumu is still trying to prove that he doesn’t but oh boy he is the first one to requiere your help

you better believe this guys are your simps and are constantly competing over someone who a year ago could never imagine they had

your attention? the best way to prove each other they were superior

in away games, god bless the idiot that wants to even dares to try to do a move on you

they are lowkey intimidating

not but seriously

specially and surprisingly kita and aran

son como esos niños mamones fresas que de cierto modo les tienes miedo

besides

this team? over the moon for you

and tbh, they were so grateful for you, you did a lot for them that they started to feel some kind of embarrassing how before they wouldn’t know how to do basic stuff like cooking for camps, labeling they jerseys correctly, searching for new equipment like they love you

anyways that however was kinda sus to them

it all started when somehow you learned so quickly, and the technical stuff was not hard to understand as to others

surprisingly the first one to notice was suna

you could have said something but tbh

you still look forward to play volleyball like more seriously even as a hobby

BUT

BUT

you’d rather be dead than telling your team that’s what you wanted because

a) they could think you only joined to learn volleyball and not help them

b) you had your pride, you want to be recognized by your own merits rather than “of course, they are inarizaki’s manager if they weren’t they could have never been this good”

so you still played volleyball but hid from them

there was a gym nearby where constant tournaments were held

you were a ghost because knowing damn well your boys could go there at any moment you decided to take some precautions

like nickname and position was everything they knew about you

your teammates loved you, so they respected your private life, and it was kind of cool

but what you were not expecting is that for some reason, omimi had followed you one day bc you forgot something after practice.

being a friday it meant for some weird reason you always rushed out

“sus” suna says everytime

so he catches you going out to the gym and maybe, he thought, you were just going to workout or see someone

BUT THIS GUYS EYEBALLS ALMOST FALL WHEN HE SEES TOY RUSH AND TAKE OFF YOUR SCHOOL UNIFORM SHIRT AND TIE TO FUCKING REVEAL A JERSEY WUTH A #3 on it

bye you broke him

and so he tries to process it normally

key word: tries

and here we are him being interrogated by the team incredulous to his words.

ay first they interrogated him being overprotective by the fact that he was spending more time with you but when he tells them what he saw god dammit

they loose it when they find out.

and so, tsumu says something that everyone agrees with him for the first time

“let’s go and spy”

“i swear to god if y/n finds out...”

“shut up aran, unless you want to make it obvious and reveal our identity dumbass!”

“tsumu, the disguises are awful”

“come on kita not you too!”

“what if”

“akagi shut up all of you agreed with the idea”

“osamu you suck”

and so there they go. trying to find you in the sea of people at the entrance, not having a clear view yet, they only search for the navy blue and white uniform that omimi described to them when he saw you.

and then almost as if it was the gods plan, they started hearing whispers of people around mentioning the arrival of one of the most popular teams out there.

“come on what the big deal-” suna started saying, however your figure appeared and he instantly turned into a babbling mess.

as well as the rest of inarizaki vbc.

osamu had to double check to assure himself that it indeed was you, beautiful as ever, walking alongside your hot and apparently talented team.

minutes later, they were standing in the bleachers as quiet as they could. they spotted you.

“A SETTER” atsumu jumped of his seat and had to be scolded by aran who was also surprised by the position you were going to be playing.

“wasn’t expecting that” ginjima talks saying what everyone was currently thinking.

behind them was a couple of guys, who apparently did not know how lower their comments.

“the setter is kinda cute” “wow look at that” oml please even aran who was the voice of reason had the urge to punch them in the face.

still they decided to just focus on your game who has now been started. and even tho they wanted to not do it, they couldn’t help analyzing you and your moves in the court. it was natural, well because they were players and very good ones it’s inevitable for them to compare and to study the way you played more than anything.

they were not expecting you to be this good. almost everything in your technique was polished, your tema work was remarkable and god bless your ability to read the blockers.

but there was a moment when they just saw the panoramic view of your skills. atsumu could see your tired expression, the sweat on your body, he just knew you were feeling now the adrenaline of the last moments of the set.

still you yelled a “we will take it” and then, with the others team hope hanging on a thread, the ball came to your libero, which perfectly passed the ball to you.

there was greed in your eyes, so scary that kita for a moment feared for the other team.

and it was when you did the setter dump that your whole team stood up in pure shock.

who were you and why were you hiding?

sadly the boys screamed way too loud which lead to you, after you made the last point and give the history to your tema, lifted up your gaze and saw a bunch of idiots wearing hats and everything in between.

suna and tsumu ran the fastest in the team directly to the gate, and the with a bunch of losers behind them,

because after everything you were there arms crossed and a murderous look in your eyes.

“IM TOO YOUNG TO DIE Y/N” “osamu shut up!”

they, once you made sure to pinch each and everyone’s ears, starred bombarding questions on how did you managed to learned that and why you did ikr tell them

“come on guys, in school i’m already looked down at just because it’s you! so could you imagine me being a inarizaki student trying to move without your name?”

kita forced them to shut up and aran felt a a kind of guilt

as week as everyone else

“don’t worry y/n, we know now what it’s like to not being your own author.”

and so, they just told you how proud they were.

“maybe we are jerks but y/n we are your jerks, and over there or respect to you has just grown up”

suna the says “you’ve been there all of the time for a while now, i guess it out time to return the favor”

and so ever since then they alwaaaaays try to be at your games

like pls once the referee said one of your serves was out and from the bleachers he screaaaaaaamed, he claims that it was definitely in

kita always gives you some food after a game or practice

talking about practice

even if you are there for being a manager they always try to, at least half an hour before ending practice, they have a quick game with you playing alongside them or just including you in their repeats etc

and goooood bless once again anyone who tried to look down at you.

because after being constantly on you games ofc people started recognizing them as the inarizaki power house

if they heard someone relying your talent on them pls make sure they five them the coldest look ever

like ‘nah bro i dare you to say that one more time’

*knive eyes*

and

even some girls attend your games trying to flirt with them

you know what they do?

they brush them off and say “sorry, my type is y/n” suna says and the are 😳

pretty much everyone does this

come on even aran

inarizaki best boys 🥺🥺🥺