#like Cassie could get him to see the emotional side of things but I think she's too respectful about it

[grandwretch]

literally anytime they're alone on a mission Ax and Marco have the same dynamic as Elfangor and Loren in the Andalite Chronicles. Like, the scene with them on the Yeerk ship in Megamorphs #1 is the same villain, the same Star Trek references, the same unhinged planning on the Andalite's part... Earlier, Marco was joyriding just like Elfangor did in the Mustang. Its like... they're literally mirroring the canon married couple and I'm supposed to be like, oh, they're bros.

[deadsetobsessions]

Sea Cryptic! Danny AU- Pt. 7

[Pt.1] [Pt.2] [Pt.3] [Pt.4] [Pt.5] [Pt.6] [Pt.8] [Pt.9] [Pt.10]

“I’m having a child.”

Danny stared at Batman.

“…Uh, congrats?”

Batman whips out a stack of paper and a pen. “It’s you. Sign here and initial the highlighted spots.”

Danny instinctively, from years of dealing with Vlad, whacked the stack right out of Batman’s hands and into the bay. He doesn’t even feel bad about littering this time because, “Begone, fruitloop!”

Wait, no, that’s not what he meant.

“I mean- I have parents!”

“Not for long.” Batman muttered and then did a double take. “You have parents? How?”

Danny gasped, placing a hand on his chest to clutch his metaphorical pearls. He ignored Batman’s mutters. Everyone knows the vigilante has an adoption problem. At least, everyone who lived in Gotham did, as everyone who didn’t was somehow convinced that he “worked alone” or some bullshit like that. “Are you naturally this insensitive or were you dropped on your head as a baby? Obviously I had to come from somewhere.”

“They’re still… alive?”

“And kicking,” Danny said, inching away from yet another rich weird guy trying to adopt him. “Mostly the kicking part, though.” He said, remembering the sparring sessions. His mom could kick his as six ways to Sunday with nothing but jiu-jitsu and still have time to work in the lab.

“I see.”

“I’m charging you extra for the emotional upheaval. I have trauma regarding rich people trying to adopt me.”

Batman sullenly handed over a thousand.

“Sweet. There’s a group of shades down here asking if you could find their murderer. Apparently the serial killer is still at large.” Danny pointed.

“Of course. Tell me everything.”

The adoption papers disappeared as Batman went into detective mode.

Danny shoved the cash into his glowing chest and breathed a sigh of relief. He needed to make rent this month so it was a windfall running into Batman.

——

“Hey, Tim?”

Tim woke up from his Power Nap. “Huh?”

“Phantom’s complaining that Batman kept trying to adopt him.”

Tim blinked. “Uh.. what does that have to do with me?”

Danny stared at him, a patiently amused smile on his face. “Just in case the rumor about the Wayne’s sugar-daddy-into the Bats was a thing. Other than that, we might have to confront Batman to get him off of Phantom’s back. ”

“You… want to confront Batman.”

“Hey, man, Phantom’s a friend and it’s ride or die.” Danny snickered. It was literally die, with his Phantom side of things. He held two fists up, and wound them, like Popeye right after eating spinach or something. “And if Batman bothers Phantom, we ride at dawn.”

“Batman doesn’t come out unless it’s dark, though? Or for the Justice League.” Tim grinned. He mentally classified Danny under his “to go to” list. That’s where Bart, Bernard, Cassie, Kon, and Garfield were. If he starts shit, he could count on them to have his back and cause even more shit. Danny, wanting to fistfight Bruce over the man making Phantom uncomfortable? He absolutely is making that list.

“Then we ride at, like, dusk. Or uh, like 10PM. I gotta get my beauty sleep.”

“You’ll definitely need it,” Tim inconspicuously texted the group chat, which quickly blew up.

“Shut up,” Danny playfully shoved Tim. “Wait, can Batman even legally adopt? Isn’t being a vigilante illegal? And how can he adopt someone dead?”

Tim dramatically flailed and splayed over Danny’s carpeted living room. “Dunno about his identity,” he lied to Danny, like a liar. “But Gotham has a bunch of laws for the undead/restored to life people so there’s probably enough gray space there.”

Danny spluttered. “You guys have undead friendly laws?”

“Yeah, geht do you think Grundy just chills out? Plus, we have like a minor resurrection event every few years. It usually doesn’t stick but sometimes it does. Bruce pushed for those laws when Jason came back to life, except he doesn’t actually want people to know he’s like, alive.”

“Jason died?” Danny blinked. Well, that would explain the vibes. “Huh. So what’s up with his rank vibes then?”

“Rank vibes?” Tim pressed record on his phone.

Danny nodded. “Yeah, you know how Phantom’s got like a really chill green vibe?” Inwardly, Danny snickered at his pun. Chill. Yeah, he meant that very literally. “Jason’s got kind of a rank green vibe. He’s kind of stinky? Definitely never introduce him to Phantom.” Danny’s senses got worse in his ghost form.

“Jason regularly showers, though?!”

“Not smell! Like, a spiritual smell?”

“You can smell souls?!” Tim sat up. “Bro, you’re a meta?!”

“Uh.” Danny hesitated. “Yeah. I can smell souls. It’s a thing. Everyone from my town can do it.”

“What?!” Tim paused. “Wait, can Phantom smell souls?”

“Yeah. We’re, uh, from the same town.”

“Danny, what the fuck?”

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, you’re the one with a soul-sick brother! Not to mention, you’re kinda stinky too!”

“Hey!”

“Soul-stinky nerd man!”

——

“I stink?!” Jason spluttered out, extremely offended.

“The Lazarus pits. He’s most likely smelling traces of Lazarus pit on you, you imbecile.”

“We need to speak to Phantom. This instant.”

“I dunno, B. Danny sounded like he was gonna break your face if you bothered Phantom anymore.” Dick snickered.

“Yeah,” Tim chimed in, from his seat in front of the Bat-computer. “He was pretty serious.”

“Are we just gonna glaze over the fact that they’re from the same town?!” Stephanie exclaimed, practicing her moves on a training dummy.

“How does that even work? What does that mean? I thought Phantom was an immortal?” Duke asked.

“We also can’t rule out time-travel.” Barbara slammed her baton into a training dummy, twisting her wheelchair in an agile maneuver that left the dummy on the floor.

“No bothering Phantom.” Cass proclaimed.

“That’s quite right. You all have a warm dinner sitting above your cave and should it remain uneaten, I assure you that sherbet Sunday and crêpe Tuesday shall be canceled.” Alfred stepped in. The Bats, threatened, scrambled to ditch their gear and go upstairs.

[raineydays411]

My Fathers' Daughter pt 13

Hello everyone! Can I just say thank you to everyone for the love and support! Thank you everyone for sticking by me while I took a break. Thank you everyone for the kind messages and ideas. I'm the type of person that needs positive reassurance so really, it's you guys that are the reason I returned to writing.

For the first time in months you felt at peace.

Ironically, it was when you were shoved in a stinky backseat of a dirty taxi. But you were in a stinky taxi with people you truly love.

And Dopinder.

But even he's better than being in that house right now. Anything truly is.

"Hey" A soft voice breaks your thoughts, you turn from where you're looking out the window.

Peter was gazing at you with concern in his eyes. He had his own reservations about coming to get you, that's why Wade had decided to kidnap him. But seeing you, practically throw yourself into him and cry?! He didn't need any more convincing than that.

One thing Y/n Stark does not do is let people see her cry.

"Are you okay?" He asks, knowing that you're not but he knows that you won't tell him if he doesn't ask.

You take a look into his eyes, seeing concern. Then from the corner of your eye you see Wade turn his head an inch, trying to subtly listen in without giving away the fact that he cares about you.

"I'm.." You pause, feeling a knot in your throat, " I'm just really craving a burger."

"What the dick?!" Wade screams from the front, startling all of you in the car, and causing Dopinder to swerve, " We came here for emotional support goddamn it, let us support your emotions!!"

You chuckle at the outburst, mood momentarily lifting, " You can support me by getting me something to eat outside this taxi. It reeks back here...no offense Dopi"

"Non taken Ms. Stark, I am well aware of the unpleasant scents in the back."

Dopinder makes a stop at what looks like a local burger joint in the city , allowing you and Peter to take a breath of fresh air.

Or at least as fresh as Gotham city air could be.

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

Back at the Manor, Christine and Bruce are having a long overdue conversation about you and her relationship.

" I just don't understand where everything went so wrong" Christine cried, face held in her hands," I just don't"

"Perhaps when you stopped visiting her when we adopted Dick" Bruce said in a semi sarcastic semi serious voice.

Christine shot a glare to her husband, " I'm glad you find the destruction of my relationship with my daughter funny Bruce, I really do."

Bruce sighs from where he's standing, " I don't find it amusing one bit, but Christine you have to admit this situation is your fault."

"I know it is! Believe me I know" Christine shouts, " These last few months, all I've been reminded is that it's my fault!"

"But where is your accountability?" Bruce asks, " I don't hold what you did against you because it's not my place. The kids don't because quite frankly, this hasn't affected them except for Cassie who thinks you're replacing her, and Damian, who sees you sad and believes Y/n is the sole cause of it."

Christine sighs, the few months you have been in the home, she has noticed Cassie's jealousy towards you and the resentment for the situation. She's done her best to reassure her that she has enough love for the two of you girls, but she still insisted on being as far away from you as possible. Damian...Damian is young and perceptive but difficult so she isn't so worried about him.

"If Y/n just spent time with them--"

"It isn't her responsibility to reassure your children that she isn't taking you away from them. Hell Christine, it isn't her responsibility to make anything easier for you." Bruce says impatiently, " I have been holding my tongue because you're my wife above anything and I am on your side. But being a husband and on your side means that I have a responsibility to tell you when you are wrong."

"Then tell me Bruce, tell me what I'm doing wrong. Please beacause every move I make, I just mess things up." Christine cries, genuienly asking for her husbands help

Bruce looks Christine in the eye, " Well first, you have to stop forcing your motherhood on that poor girl"

He holds a hand up before Christine can say anything, " I know that biologically you are her mother, but you know as well as I do that biological relation has no meaning."

Christine nods, allowing Bruce to continue

"The child you knew is not the young lady you want to get to know." Bruce says sternly, " She has life experiences that you were not a part of, and most of all she's not looking for a mother, Christine she has one. It's just not you."

Christine bursts into tears, the weight of that statement hitting her heart. Bruce gathers her in his arms.

"You need to get to know Y/n not as the child you left behind but as Y/n. That's what all of us need to do."

Christine weeps silently in her husbands chest, truly absorbing his words.

She knows he's right. He usually is.

But it hurts her. She truly has to acknowledge the one thing she has ever been ashamed about. The one thing that she has been repressing and repressing all these years.

That she abandoned you.

She abandoned you. She abandoned you when you were six and she didn't show up to the mothers day dance.

She abandoned you when you were eight and she promise dthat she would take you to get your ears pierced and she didn't show up because of a phone call.

And she abandoned you when you were nine, and she adopted Dick.

"What I don't think I understand is why?" Bruce asked quietly.

All these years, she said it was because she was needed more at the manor rather than in New York. But why did she really?

"Why?" Christine repeats quietly, " I..."

Why did she? What on earth possessed her to do the one thing she promised she'd never do the day you were born.

"I don't know." She says, " I.. spent years, hiding this huge secret from you. Years taking back and forth trips from here to New York, pretending she didn't exist or pretending like you didn't. I just..."

Bruce hums, urging her to continue

" And seeing the disappointment every time I left and didn't take her or disappointment from Tony that I didn't choose them. " She teared up, she hadn't even thought about the pain she put that man through, " Then it was the disappointment from Dick everytime I left. It got too.."

"Too hard." Bruce finished for Christine,

" Yeah," Christine sighed, " I just wanted to stop all the lying and the double lives, but by the time it became too much...it was too deep and I was scared I'd lose it all."

Bruce stayed quiet holding his wife, "I would've hoped that you had enough faith in me to tell me"

Christine scoffed, " Please, do you really believe that at that time you would've forgiven me? Before Damian?"

Bruce sighed, " I guess not."

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

As the conversation between Bruce and Christine went on, the kids were having one of their own.

"I don't understand what's so good about her anyway" Cass mumbles, " All she's done since she's been here is cause trouble"

"Yeah like any of us made Ma's life easy since we got here?" Jason spits back defending you, " Dick you didn't even talk to Ma because of your fight with Bruce, I died, Tim didn't even consider her a mother for years, Damian..is damian and hated her for months, plus is a product of Bruce cheating, and you Cass, you almost killed her before you became family."

Everyone stayed silent as Jason basically read them to filth.

"Why?" Damian asks quietly, " Why does everyone like that girl so much?"

"She's just had a hard go of it Damian, just like all of us." Dick said softly, " Think about how you felt when your mother stopped coming around. When you came here and didn't know anyone."

Damian stayed quiet.

"I know you love Mom, I do too" Dick continued, " But the hostility towards Y/n has to end. From all of us."

They stood quiet, letting the words sink in.

"I have been quite pleasant towards her actually" Jason said smugly

"Yeah cause you think with your dick and not your brain" Tim said smartly, only to receive a slap on the back of his head.

"That's my sister you fucking idiot" Jason says angrily.

Dick smiled, glad that at least one person was truly and genuinely on your side in this house, even if it's not him.

" How about we take her out?" Dick says, " Both her and Mom need some space, there's no point in her staying in that room all day and night."

Jason nods," Yeah, that's actually a good idea."

The two oldest sons rise, about to head to you room when Damian speaks up

"You won't find her there."

The boys pause and look at him

"What did you do to her you demon?" Jason says suspiciously

Damian rolls his eyes, " I've done nothing of the sort, but I saw her sneak out and leave in a taxi with an Indian man, a man in a red suit and unfortunate looking face, and a teenager in hello kitty sleeping pants."

Silence.

"Okay, if you're having a stroke please let me know so I can take you to the hospital." Tim said looking concerned.

Damian rolled his eyes again, " She left."

Jason was already barging into your room not even bothering to knock, seeing your room empty and the window open.

"Fuck."

Dick raced in after him seeing the empty room

"Well fuck."

They look at eachother, wondering who was going to tell their mother that you were gone but it was actually Damian that suggested

"Perhaps we should go after her? Mother and Father seemed rather preoccupied at the moment."

Jason looked at Dick and said, " She couldn't have gotten too far."

"Well, it has been a couple hours since she left." Damian adds

"Hours?!" Dick shouts, " Damian why didn't you say anything?"

"I don't like her." Damian rolls his eyes.

"Where's Y/n?" a voice asks

All heads turned to the doorway, seeing their father standing there.

"Um... about that."

"Find her, and you all better hope she's okay."

Everyone scrambled, either to put their suits on or to just make it out of the house.

He said that with his Batman voice.

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

Back with you and the red team, as Wade took to calling you all, you all were eating burgers in the parking lot of the now closed burger joint.

" So are you going to tell us what happend or what?" Wade ask with food falling from his stuffed mouth.

You and Peter look on with disgust.

"What?" Wade asks, " Go on and tell us about your mommy issues."

You roll your eyes and look away, missing the look Peter gives to Wade for being to crass.

You get lost in thought, the argument still fresh on your mind.

It made you so angry.

Why? Why did she hide those emails?

The one thing you wanted most in this whole situation was to go home. You missed your father, your mother, the team. Your family.

Instead, she made you believe that your father just forgot about you and your family didn't miss you.

While you knew logically that was impossible, you still stood up late at night because of the doubts creeping in. You cried, longing to hear your father croon rock music while he was tinkering with something, or the soft voice of your mother as she handled some business. You missed the smell of the training room and the sound of Steve teasing whoever he chose to tourture train that day. You missed FRIDAY. The tech. Your life.

"What happened in there" Peter asked softly.

You maintain eye contact with him for about a second before looking away, feeling ashamed with your emotional state.

"I couldn't take it anymore" You said softly, "These people...they weren't... they weren't mean to me or anything but I didn't belong there."

You take a pause then continue, " It's like... I had no purpose there. You know? At home, I help dad with whatever he needs, I helped mom with the business, hell I could just take a step outside. But here? I'm either in my room or being snuck out by Jason for a few hours. I can't go into a room without killing the happy family vibe they have going on. I'm just..."

You choke up, the knot in your throat growing, "I'm just a reminder of the past. Of the life she didn't want."

Peter's eyes soften even more, he reached out a comforting hand.

"I have to be there, while she and her family are happy then I walk in and it's like I'm either a ghost or a pest." You cry tears falling from your eye, " I feel so unwanted. I've never felt this way in my life."

"Didn't your mom abandon you?" Wade asks, getting an elbow to the side by Dopinder.

That comment causes you to cry more, but before Peter can make a move Wade actually pulls you in a hug.

"Alright Alright" Wade says, " Look kid, obviously you're happy there, so how about we go find those asshole that are looking for you and take them out ourselves?"

You sniff and look up at him, " What?"

"Yeah. That's the whole reason you're here. So lets kill those motherfucker and you can go home and forget this shit hole of a city. Seriously it's disgusting here."

You chuckle wetly, " It is gross here. I thought New york was bad"

The four of you laugh, the mood finally lifting.

But good moments never last forever.

Peter's head jerks up, face shifting from amusement to concern

"Guys there's something wro-" Peter gets cut off.

"How about we make it easier for you, now you don't have to look for us." A voice says, you aren't able to see it before you feel Wades body jerk and suddenly there's a pain in your arm.

You look down and see a dart, and you're barely able to make out the blue and red dots on the building across the street before darkness consumes you and you hit the ground.

[rebelliousstories]

Did You Know?

Relationship: Spencer Reid x Reader

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Request: No

Warnings: Angst, Light Fluff, Allusions to Pregnancy

Word Count: 1,083

Main Masterlist: Here

Criminal Minds Masterlist: Here

Part Two: I Know Now// Part Three: Somebody Knows// Part Four: What We Know

Summary: Spencer is sent to prison and is waiting on his team to get him out. Meanwhile, his partner is there for morale support.

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much preforms much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.” Vincent Van Gogh

Never in a million years did she think she would be in this position. Getting a call from Emily in the middle of the night was not what she expected. But to be told that her husband is currently in federal custody and awaiting trial, that was another. But she took it as it came. There was nothing she could do for her husband except just to be there for him. She would never be able to get the image of him in handcuffs in the BAU out of her head, but she was glad she was able to hug him.

“Spence. Oh my Spence.” She hugged him over the handcuffs that were hidden with the jacket. His fingertips were just barely able to grasp on to her shirt to pull her as close as physically possible.

“Hey honey. I’m sorry you have to see me like this. How’s my mom?” He whispered into her ear. Spencer was thankful that everyone decided to keep a healthy distance as the husband and wife reunited.

“She’s good. Wondering when you’re coming home, but I am helping Cassie take care of her. I don’t care about seeing you handcuffed, sweetheart. I’m just glad I can see you and hold you.” Her reply made Spencer want to cry. He knew it was not fair to her to have to deal with this whole situation. Stepping back, she pressed a sweet kiss to his lips and tried to convey all of the lover she felt into that kiss. Pulling away completely, she watched as he accepted embraces from his teammates.

If only they knew at the time, how much of a roller coaster this was going to be. She sat on the prison bus waiting to be taken to the facility. Being able to see her husband was wonderful, except for the fact that she would be sitting across from him in a cubicle, with a sheet of glass separating them. The bus ride was bumpy, but thankfully it was over quick. Stepping off, her hair was swept away in the windy weather outside.

Walking inside the correctional facility, her eyes kept scanning the room, looking for any threats. A side effect from working for the FBI all those years ago. Now, it only served as a reminder of where she had once been, and of how her husband became that title. She walked up to the reception desk and placed her id down.

“Inmate name?” The officer asked. Her voice was devoid of any emotion.

“Spencer Reid. I’m his wife.” She supplied her name, and waited as the officer scanned a list and then her ID again.

“You’re not on the list. Next!” The officer yelled, pushing the woman off to the side. She stood there dumbfounded as she was handed back her ID, but knew better than to fight with the officer. Her body, especially her heart felt numb as she walked outside and waited for the bus to take her back to the car lot. Why was she denied access to see her husband? JJ was able to see him; so why was she not?

After the numbness wore off, rage fueled her. It kept her going all the way to the FBI headquarters where she signed in for a visitor’s pass silently. Marching her way into the BAU’s office on the sixth floor, she noticed how everyone was still there thankfully. She made her way over to JJ, who was surrounded by Tara, Matt, and Stephen.

“Hey,” JJ greeted, ”how are you doing?”

“Don’t give me that.” She snapped, leaving the agents in a state of shock. Never had she ever snapped, not even raised her voice.

“Whoa, what is going on?” The blonde woman asked, holding her hands up in surrender.

“Did you know?” Mrs. Reid growled, with her patience wearing thin.

“Did I know what? You’re not making any sense.” JJ tried to reason and de escalate the situation, but Emily and David were already out of their offices and looking out at the bullpen.

“Did you know when you went to visit Spence that he had put me on the ‘no visit’ list?” There it was. The million dollar question. JJ remained silent for a minute, but her face did the talking before her words caught up.

“Listen, you have to understand his reasons.” She tried to reach for the woman, but she slipped out of the way.

“You knew? And you didn’t tell me? I just got back from there, hoping to see my husband and check in on him. Only to be turned away at the gate. And you never told me?” Now, she was yelling. It was scary to see the former profiler turned professor yell. She spoke sternly sometimes sure, but she never raised her voice in anger.

“He wants to protect you from the inside. Spence asked us not to tell.” A slip of the tongue and now her fury was leveled to everyone.

“You all knew?” Prentiss and Rossi made their way down the stairs by this point.

“Yes, we did.” The dark haired agent said, walking along with her right hand man.

“Spencer doesn’t want you to see him like that so he asked if we would not tell you that he had put you on that list.” Emily placed her hand on the woman, and it was like her strings were cut. Rage left and was followed by intense depression. Sobs wracked her body as she crumpled to the floor. Emily tried to grab her, but Luke was the one that actually got his arms around her.

There was nothing left for her now. Everything came crashing down around her; her world was shattered. She thought about every interaction that she had ever had with Spencer. There were probably some that she was missing, but she was not blessed with his memory skills. But every major moment came to her at that time. The first time they met, their first date, when he introduced her to his mom, their proposal and wedding. Rubbing her stomach, she wondered when she would wake from this nightmare and be safe in her husband’s arms once again.

Zsa Zsa Gabor said, “To be loved is a strength. To love is a weakness.”

[ewingstan]

Halloween and cringetober may be behind us, yet I remain, coughing this up onto your back porch. Alec Lisa and Aisha were the only ones who enjoyed the costume party. Individuals and costume explanations below the cut:

Aisha and Brian: Power and Aki Hayakawa Chainsaw Man

This one goes out to the nine-year old I work with who wore a Denji costume for the school Halloween parade. Shoutout to you guy I don't know how you're allowed to watch that its the blood and sexual fantasies show.

I feel like miss suiciding-baiting-people-on-4chan would like Power. Aki works for Brian as they carry the "supposedly normal responsible one of their batshit group who very clearly has something wrong with him" niche of their series.

I feel like CSM is something that Brian and Alec would put on in the background when they were hanging out together. It's not really either of their thing, but it good pizza night fodder. Brian freaks out when Aisha mentions watching it.

Brian agreed to be Aki after he learned he could just wear a suit instead of making a real costume. Brian obviously likes objectively ridiculous costumes but it has to be something strained through 5 layers of machismo and a 17-year-old's idea of professionalism. He'll dress like something that gets painted onto a van but if there's too much whimsy or fun he'll start to freak. So halloween costumes would be weird for him. Aki just wearing a suit and a sword seemed like a good solution for this right up until the point where he had to explain what it was. Its from, hm, y'know, uhhhh this anime that my sister likes I'm just here to match with her.

Whenever he pulls the "I'm just in costume for my sister" thing Aisha makes everyone forget she exists. No escaping the weeb allegations for you Brian.

Taylor and Lisa: Madoka Kaname and Homura Akemi, Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Don't know if I need to explain this one, Worm/Madoka comparisons are almost cliche at this point

The costumes were Lisa's idea. Obviously.

The costumes were also Lisa's purchases, and enough was spent on them to make a veteran cosplayer weep. Her refusal to die her hair black would also make them weep but for different reasons.

After taking a look at herself Taylor enveloped herself in a particularly dense bug swarm for the whole night.

She eventually retreated to some side-room she found Brian hiding in and chatted with him for the rest of the party. On the condition that he make a darkness cloud for her.

She started choking on a prawn half an hour in after remembering he could see through his darkness clouds.

Rachel and Alec: Jade Harley and Dirk Strider, Homestuck

They are not going as a matching pair. Rachel does not know that she and Alec are wearing costumes from the same comic. She does not know what Homestuck is. This is one of the many ways she's better than us.

Rachel thinks she should've just been able to wear her usual dog mask for this party. Its a costume. What do you mean it doesn't count.

And why is her usual mask not enough, but the dog ears Cassie was really excited to loan her are fine? Aren't ears less costume than a full mask?

Admittedly apart from the pseudo-mind-control Alec and Dirk don't have a lot in common. Alec probably thinks he's more like Dirk than he actually is.

Dirk is if the concept of being in your own head was a guy, nay several guys, while Alec literally has to outsource getting in touch with his emotions to other bodies. Honestly the closest worm character to Dirk would probably be Krouse, considering the whole "chessmaster-manipulator who puts everything on himself and overmanages all his relationships while self-identifying as the person who can handle being the bad guy" thing, which Alec doesn't have going on at all. However:

It let me put Alec in a silly little fancylad outfit.

(Also they're both SB&HJ fans, so honestly I think its the perfect choice).

[according2thelore]

Thanks Lizzy for the ask!

Here is a Late wincest Weds ask from me!

What is one scene or conversation Sam and Dean had that was especially wincest flavored that you want to rewrite to make it be EXPLICITLY wincest instead of weirdcest?

Muah! Ty again!

- Cassi

hi, cassi!! happy wincest wednesday!

thank YOU so much for the ask!!!

AGH! this one is so hard! my immediate reach for this one is of course the church scene. nothing like gently bandaging wounds/handfasting in a church while proclaiming your love:

DEAN: [...] But I can't do it without you. SAM: You can barely do it with me. I mean, you think I screw up everything I try. You think I need a chaperone, remember? DEAN: Come on, man. That's not what I meant. SAM: No, it's exactly what you meant. You want to know what I confessed in there? What my greatest sin was? It was how many times I let you down. I can't do that again. DEAN: Sam -- SAM: [beginning to cry] What happens when you've decided I can't be trusted again? I mean, who are you gonna turn to next time instead of me? Another angel, another -- another vampire? Do you have any idea what it feels like to watch your brother just – DEAN: Hold on, hold on! You seriously think that? Because none of it -- none of it -- is true. Listen, man, I know we've had our disagreements, okay? Hell, I know I've said some junk that set you back on your heels. But, Sammy...come on. I killed Benny to save you. I'm willing to let this bastard and all the sons of bitches that killed mom walk because of you. Don't you dare think that there is anything, past or present, that I would put in front of you! It has never been like that, ever! I need you to see that. I'm begging you. SAM: How do I stop? [SAM squeezes his hand as blood drips out onto the floor the orange glow is a little brighter but then starts to fade.] DEAN: Just let it go. SAM: I can't. It's in me, Dean. You don't know what this feels like. [DEAN wraps a bandanna around Sam’s cut.] DEAN: Hey, listen, we will figure it out, okay, just like we always do. Come on. [DEAN grabs SAM and pulls him in for a tight hug.] DEAN: Come on. Let it go, okay? Let it go, brother.

i needed sam to make his jealousy over benny more overt, and i would probably rewrite it to make it even more codependent and offputting if that's possible.

my mind also goes to dean's final monologue in s15e20, but...like...that's already borderline textual. it could stand to have just a touch more wincest:

SAM: P-Please. DEAN: I'm fading pretty...I'm fading pretty quick, so... there's a few things that I need you to hear. Come here. (Sam moves closer and Dean puts his hand on the side of Sam's neck) Let me look at you. Yeah, there he is. I'm so proud of you, Sam (Dean's hand is on Sam's shoulder and Sam is holding onto Dean wrist) DEAN: You know that? I've always looked up to you. (Sam is getting emotional, trying not to cry) Man, when we were kids, you were so damn smar... smart. You never...You never took any of dad's crap. I never knew how you did that. And you're stronger than me. You always have been. Hey, did I ever tell you... Did I ever tell you that night that, uh... that I ca... That I came for you when you were at school? You know, when dad hadn't come back from his hunting trip? SAM: Yeah, um.. Uh, the Woman in White. DEAN: The Woman in White. That's right. I must have stood outside your dorm for hours... because I didn't... I didn't know what... What you would say. (Sam is visibly crying) I thought you'd tell me to... to get lost or get dead. And I don't know what I would've done... if I didn't have you. 'Cause I was so scared. I was scared, 'cause when it all came down to it, it was always you and me. It's always been you... and me. SAM (crying): Then don't leave me. Don't leave me. I can't do this alone. DEAN: Yes, you can. SAM: Well, I don't want to. DEAN: Hey. I'm not leaving you. I'm gonna be with you... (Dean is crying as he places his fist over Sam's heart) Right here... every day. Every day you're out there and you're Li... And you're living and you're fighting, 'cause you...You always keep fighting. You hear me? I'll be there every step. I love you so much. My baby brother.

like...c'mon.

i also think i would rewrite dean in croatoan to say "you know what it's about" with his patent sam-smitten-eyes, before he gets cut off:

SAM: Dean, don't do this. Just get the hell out of here. DEAN: No way. SAM: Give me my gun, and leave. DEAN: For the last time, Sam. No. SAM: (slamming the table) This is the dumbest thing you've ever done. DEAN: Oh, I don't know about that. Remember that waitress in Tampa? (shudders) SAM: Dean, I'm sick. It's over for me. It doesn't have to be for you. DEAN: No? SAM: No, you can keep going. DEAN: Who says I want to? SAM: What? DEAN crosses to the other wall and pulls a handgun out of his waistband before sitting on the file cabinet. DEAN: I'm tired, Sam. I'm tired of this job, this life . . . this weight on my shoulders, man. I'm tired of it. SAM: So what, so you're just going to give up? You're just gonna lay down and die? Look, Dean, I know this stuff with Dad has — DEAN: You're wrong. It's not about Dad. I mean, part of it is, sure, but . . . SAM: What is it about? [my addition] DEAN: You know what it's about-- (They hear a noise outside.)

small one, and not "romantic," but definitely wincest, i think it would have been lovely if they changed s4e21 from

DEAN: No. I'm not giving him demon blood. I won't do it. BOBBY: And if he dies? DEAN: Then at least he dies human!

to:

DEAN: Then at least he dies mine!

because i think a lot of the ruby/dean conflict is about control, about who owns sam, and over who has guardianship over sam's decisions. plus, i think it reflects a lot of dean's control issues he has this season.

another small thing that could've been a joke, is during "mystery spot," sam should've tried kissing dean to see if that changed anything. dean could die immediately after, and it could've been played as a gag. i'm actually shocked he didn't try to kiss him. if it works, it works, right?

but i think my final choice has to be not a specific line of dialogue, but a scene. my ultimate choice for tweaking is the final montage in s15.

i'm talking domestic!chesters. i think it's perfect that they end up basically married in the bunker, and i would've loved to see just little hints that it's more than meets the eye. "dean's" room has the other side of the bed perfectly made. sam's jacket hangs on the other chair. dean reaches for someone on the other side of the bed before he realizes they're already up. later, dean rests a casual hand on sam's hip when he passes him in the kitchen.

at the pie festival, someone makes a comment that they're such a cute couple, and sam demurs but dean just winks. sam wipes the whipped cream off of dean's nose and puts his finger in his own mouth. dean kisses him and now they've both got shit on their face.

one of the witnesses flirts with sam and dean makes a weird face. sam steps closer to him and smiles awkwardly.

(and maybe at the very end of dean's death, a kiss he has to gasp his way through because he can barely breathe at this point.)

i just LOVE domestic!chesters. 🥺 and would have loved to see them living their domestic bliss.

thank you so much for this ask, cassi! i am so sorry it's 37 miles long, lol! this was such a fun ask! happy wincest wednesday! <3

-lizzy

[delicateflowerss]

Don't Worry, Darling: One

After marrying the love of your life, Rafe Cameron, you thought you couldn't be happier. But when a murder shakes the island, you learn you don't know your husband as well as you thought. When does Paradise become Hell?

Warnings: 18+, eventual NON-CON, dark!Rafe, implied violence, blood, drug use, mentions of pregnancy, kook!reader, non-canon ages

This is on the short side, and more of an introduction to my new series. Next chapter will have more action, enjoy!

Series Masterlist

“How did you manage to not get knocked up?” Caroline asks through an amused smile. “I thought that would be the first thing Rafe would do on your honeymoon. Especially in a place like The Bahamas,” she adds.

Laughter follows from everyone including you.

“Maybe he did. She just doesn’t know it yet,” Audrey chimes in.

The same level of laughter erupts, but your smile falters a little.

“Rafe and I are waiting,” you explain.

“Why? You two seem so happy. And look at this place,” Caroline motions to the backyard of the house you share with Rafe, complete with a blue, sparkling pool and freshly mowed grass. “You’ve got it made.”

You shake your head, a smile still on your face. “I just got a new client, and I’m doing really well right now. There’s no need for us to rush.”

“Don’t you just work from home? You can have a baby and be a book editor,” Cassie points out, taking a sip of her Mai Tai.

“When you all have babies, then you can criticize me. But until then, I don’t want to hear it.” You try to keep your tone lighthearted. But there’s an edge to your voice, their words starting to bother you.

“We’re just playing around.” Caroline looks around, earning nods from your other friends. She smiles at you and sighs, “I’m excited for you. I mean, who knew someone could tame Rafe Cameron?”

“He’s come a long way. I think,” you pause thinking about the man you’ve married. “He really is the perfect husband.” Your eyes twinkle, a content smile tracing your lips.

“You know, I was a little worried when I heard you were getting married,” Kelce begins, picking up the glass he was pouring brown liquid into. “I thought there goes the Rafe Cameron I’ve always known, always doing whatever the fuck he wants, now having to answer to his wife.”

He walks over to Rafe, slapping him on the shoulder. “But I see I was wrong,” Kelce laughs.

“Nothing’s changing here,” Rafe says before bending down to snort the white lines off his desk through a rolled up hundred-dollar bill.

“So, Y/N’s okay with all this?” Topper asks, watching Rafe wipe the residue off his nose.

“I wouldn’t say that.” He breaks out into a grin. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

Topper just nods, his lips tight together.

Rafe’s face falls at the look Topper gives him. “It’s only for special occasions. Alright, Top? You don’t have to get all…”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything,” he interrupts. “This is just new to me.”

“What is?”

“You and responsibility.”

Rafe scoffs, looking away from him.

Before anything else is said, Kelce intervenes, “I was talking to Chase yesterday. Said he thinks he’s getting that promotion.”

“He always thinks that,” Rafe mutters.

“Well… He said he knows for sure this time. I guess Ward must have told him.”

At that, Rafe turns to look at Kelce, furrowing his brow.

“Are you sure?” He asks.

Kelce shrugs, “that’s what he said.”

He moves his glare to the floor, lips parting. “Huh.” A million different emotions pass through his eyes as he thinks for a moment. “So, Chase is getting promoted before I do?”

There’s a heaviness in his voice, like he’s finally admitting it to himself. Any fun carelessness in the room has disappeared, leaving a thick tension that’s anything but.

Kelce opens his mouth, but closes it right away, not knowing what to say.

“I’m sure your promotion is coming, Rafe. I mean, your dad owns the company,” Topper assures.

The smile on his face is wiped away when Rafe points his glare to him.

“Yeah. And your grandfather helped you get that job at that law firm,” Rafe fires back.

“I didn’t mean it like that. If you’re so upset, just talk to Ward.”

Rafe chuckles, a lack of humor evident. He taps his finger against the wood of his desk.

“No, you’re right. I’ll just talk to him.”

The hot, sticky air wraps around you as you fix the hat on your head, helping to block out the sun. You finish setting the soil around your freshly planted roses, the diamond on your ring glistening in the bright sunshine. You wish you could’ve finished gardening before the housewarming party last night, but better late than never.

A car door slamming behind you, startles you, forcing you to look at the street. You quickly stand up at the somewhat familiar face, brushing the dirt off your dress.

He doesn’t notice you until he’s gotten his equipment from his truck. You give him a slight wave, and you don’t miss the surprise that washes over his face.

“Oh. Didn’t realize this was your house.”

As much as JJ tries to hide it, his apprehension is apparent.

“We just moved in.” Your tone is so much brighter than his.

“Right.” He nervously looks around, like he’s searching for someone. He sighs, “I guess I should’ve read the names on my client list a little more carefully, Mrs. Cameron.”

Your lips part in realization. “Oh, Rafe’s not here. If that’s what you’re worried about.”

His silence confirms your suspicions.

“And he’s pretty much over all that stupid Kook vs. Pogue stuff.”

“Is he?” Doubt laces his voice.

You never understood why Rafe was so set on terrorizing his sister and her friends. But thankfully, he’s grown out of it.

“I think he can handle you being here once a week,” you assure.

“I don’t know about that.” JJ scratches the back of his head.

“He doesn’t even have to know.” That catches JJ’s attention, his gaze settled on you. “You’ll only be here while he’s at work. All he knows is he’s paying the pool company. I’d hate to see you lose out on a job because of Rafe,” you finish with a reassuring smile.

Maybe this is your way of righting all of Rafe’s wrongs.

He sighs, a smile finally forming on his lips.

“Fine. But only cause you’re so convincing.”

You stare at the food you dedicated your evening to, getting cold on their plates. Your lips are outlined in a pout, thinking about how Rafe is never home this late.

Your mind has already conjured up every worst-case scenario. But the most realistic scenario, is the one that hurts your heart the most. You worry that Rafe simply got distracted, and he forgot to tell you he’ll be home late.

You don’t want to be forgotten.

You try not to think about it. He really has changed so much, turned into the man you’ve always known he could be.

That’s why you married him.

So, you don’t want to think about how it could have all been for nothing.

Before you can go farther down your pit of despair, a ding from your phone pulls you back.

You breathe a sigh of relief at his text. He just needs to stay late and work. You know he’s been wanting that promotion, which goes further than wanting more money.

You text him back, making sure to put his dinner in the fridge.

The only sound that echoes through the dark house are Rafe’s footsteps. His movements are slow as he goes up the stairs, hoping to God that you’re sound asleep.

But once he gets past you in bed, sleeping peacefully, he locks himself in the bathroom. He stands there for a minute, unsure of what to do. Adrenaline still rushes through his veins, his breathing erratic.

His blue eyes find the mirror in front of him, taking in his disheveled state. The evidence of what he’s done is still on him and it hits him like a slap in the face.

After that, he’s frantic, peeling off his clothes as fast as he can.

Rafe steps into the shower, lathering soap over his skin, washing his hair, and scrubbing under his nails. The red tinted water goes down the drain.

Once he gets out, a towel around his hips, he picks up his clothes from the floor, inspecting them for any evidence.

His eyes widen at the stains, heading downstairs to throw them in the washer. He doesn’t worry about his shoes, only finding mud on them.

The clock reads 3:47 when he finally gets in bed next to you. You don’t stir as he settles in. Serenity paints your features as his are creased with uncertainty. But that slowly vanishes the longer he looks at your face. He softly presses his lips to your head before shutting his eyes.

Tags:

@fangirlwithlou @thebuttofcaptainamerica

Let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist for this series!

[theghostwiththeglitch]

A morning with a adhder speedster

It´s at 06:00 A.M., i could stay a little more, but my chest and legs feels overwhelmed. I don´t want to get out of bed, but i have work to do... OH MAN! My hands are cold and warm at the same time... It´s comphy... Let´s just get out of bed please legs, do your thing or whatever. Thanks legs for let me go out from my bedroom.

Everything is so quite in the hallway... please please please... don´t make any noise... don´t wake up the others... I hate the stairs, my legs are still sleepy and i don´t want to wake them up. I said it right? Wake them up, wake up them... wake... wake... oh, i stopped...

-Hm... wake sounds like waka and wakame or wakeme... That seaweed from Animal Crossing...Wait, did i said that loud? Don´t wake them... they are tired from work, college and the hero thing... I want to cry, if i wake them I- Who is in the living room?

Carefully, he approached to the couch and he couldn´t help but smile a little when he saw his formers pattners sleeping. Jaime, Cassie and Gar should have pass out on the couch when they come back from a mission. He thought that maybe they could be cold, it was normal be cold at this hours so he covered them with one of the blankets from the basket near the stairs. Jaime is going to complain a lot for the pain in his spine, neck and back... he pass out again with the armor on. Cassie snoring in her soft way and Gar making poses like a vogue model while he sleep, normal. He smile a last time while his mind was flooded with memories, you can tell that he was falling for them but to him that was normal. Bart can´t tell a lot about his emotions thanks to the alexithymia thing, but he knows when he feel comphy. They feel the same with me? Do i make them feel that too? He look a moment to Jaime and though that he would like to understand his own feelings, it´s confussing. Bullshit, i don´t care about what type of relationship, that happen to them too? Also I can ask them, but not now, later. Sleep well, sweathearts.

It was normal to him ask that type of questions, he wish not, but somedays were more... inexplicable. He started to dissociate in his own thoughts that he didn't even realize he had entered in the kitchen and make some breakfast. In the other side of the kitchen Tim was just watching and debating if he should make Bart comeback or not. Actually, is funny seeing him like that, but, he need to comeback, sorry kid. But sometimes, being a great detective and strategist doesn´t mean always having good ideas, like greeting a person from behind while they are dissociating.

-Hey Bart- Just as Tim´s hand landed on Bart´s shoulder, Bart felt how his heart was going to burst out of his chest as he grabbed his shirt with one hand and grabbed the kitchen counter with the other. His heart and his breath were going so fast, but most important thing: he didn´t screamed so his pals can still sleeping. In this state, he turned his head to see who was behind and he found his friend looking into his eyes as well. They were both like two deer that met a car on the road. They both stifled a laugh.

-Sorry, sorry, I totally forget that- Tim said whispering to iniciate a tone, Bart thanked, he didn´t want to wake them up.

-Don´t mind, don´t mind- Said Bart while moving one of his hands whispering as well . -I should have remember that you are always in the kitchen at this time when you don´t have a mission.- Tim smiled at him and Bart returned the smile. They both share the coffe, Tim always make a lot of coffe, they could open a coffeshop, Bart thought. People uses to think that the caffeine and Bart shouldn´t be friends, but caffeine helps him to relax, something that need it desesperately.

-So, you haven´t slept, have you?

As Tim hear his friend´s question, he sighed while leaving the cup on the table.

-I haven´t, there is this case that it's been keeping me up at night.

-You should to worry less, boy wonder. I´m sure you´ll figurate out, as you always do. And if you can´t because you need some time to relax and think, you can ask for help.

Tim looked and listened. He is good at analyzing and sometimes forget that Bart has that skills too. That´s not new for him, when you have a lack of sleep, the memory is also affected. He didn't wanted to recognize it.

-You are doing it again.

-What i am doing again?- Bart asked confussed, maybe he lose something? Maybe he should start to worry?

-That thing, not looking in the eyes when you said your opinion or trying to help. I know that you can´t control it, but breath, i don´t bite. And if could, i couldn't have the strength to do it.

Bart smirk a little. His friend was right. Maybe the group had problems in the past, but know is different. He comeback to this reality when he heard his friend´s voice.

-Maybe i need to enfocate it from other perspective. My work memory... isn´t working as it has to...- Tim said while rubbing the back of his neck. Bart sigh internally with Tim word´s, he knows how difficult is his friend to convince him about taking some time, so he was glad about what he said, they were worried.

They continued drinking their coffee without saying a word. Tim didn´t have nothing to say and Bart was lost in his thoughs, he didn´t even notice that he was being observed by Tim. Bart mind was fast when he worried about something and he never said nothing, if hefelt like he had nothing to say, he wouldn't say anything. However, his body language was obvious if you payed attention. Maybe Tim was not in his best conditions but a detective is always a detective. He has the itchy ticky fingers. His cheek is resting on the palm of his left hand. With the fingers of that hand he is touching his lobe and the strands of hair bhind it. His gace is lost in the coffe, but his pupil has small movements. His eyes are not full open and in fast moves he looks at the door. His breathing becomes deep and slow... He is worried, but why... Around 3:30 am I heard a sound coming from the living room, Wonder Girl, Beast Boy and Blue Beetle... Maybe... Tim decide to broke the silence.

-Talk to them.

-ExCuSe mE?- Tim let out a malevolic smile, the team found funny broke Bart in that way, it was... cute

-I said, talk to them- Bart didn´t move, he hasn´t talk about this with anyone because for him was shameful. He started to worry about, you can say it thanks for his ticks: hands, legs, jaw tension, silent hiperventiltion, searching with his eyes a way to run away...

-That happens to me too, i mean that things happen. I understand the relation between neurodivergency and alexithymia, but just do it in your way and in your time, just do it so yoy can get use to it. Talk in the way you feel.

-What if he- he stop.- What if they get mad? Please, don´t let him notice

Tim gives a sip of coffe while thinking. He knows Bart, he knows how he worried, he knows how he percieve things, he knows that misunderstood drive him mad, but he need him to stop overthinking.

-Then you have a bad taste in people. He still thinking about his emotions in that way... Like if they are something to apologise for...

Bart died while the coffee was running out of his nose.

Espero que te guste @itsme-inbooks

And... also i dedicated to you @adhdslugcrimes , my adhder partner in crime

[monty-glasses-roxy]

Thoughts~

Bonnie being angry and disappointed at Freddy when Cassie helps bring him back only for him to see the destruction and decay of his family and home that Freddy allowed to happen because of Gregory, and breaks up with him.

Bonnie later slowly starts falling in love with Proto Freddy (maybe a bit of it is Bonnie projecting but he's def falling) instead.

And Freddy can see it happening from where he is.

Gay drama~

(Long post. I went off on one lmao and can't use read mores on my phone, sorry mobile users)

Ohhh that's a fun one! Bonnie rebounding onto Protobear and after a while those feelings become real... he deserves it honestly. He deserves a happy ending after everything, and so does Protobear! Bet that's an emotional rollercoaster to get through though... That party doesn't sound fun... For them anyway. Very fun for us though! Sucks to be them!

You know what else is fun for this? Bonnie falling for whoever Freddy believed deactivated him. Freddy treating someone differently before the events of SB, and side eying them all the time, not trusting them at all because of what the must have done to Bonnie... It must have been them! They're the only one the makes sense! They're the one that made him disappear and is trying to act like everything's normal! They must be to blame! They took his Bonnie from him and won't tell him what they did or where he is! Whether he's right or not is irrelevant, if he believes it's true, he's going to want nothing to do with them! They need to stay away from Bonnie!

And now here he is. Watching Bonnie flirt with that person. Be it Monty, Roxy, Moon, Chica, whoever. Freddy finally saying out loud what he's felt he's known for a long time now, that this animatronic killed him, how could Bonnie possibly even still look at them, never mind fall in love with them after that?!

Bonnie's face falls flat. He turns to Freddy and stares him right in the eyes. "They didn't do it, Freddy." or even, "They did it to save me, Freddy. What did you do?"

Absolutely devastating. The gay drama is so good

On another note, this is making me think of Protobear and Roxy being fucking hilarious. "Hey, you wanna really freak him out?" one of them asks and they start fake dating in front of Freddy to piss him off. Like they're the most over the top, mushy couple with the most insufferable nicknames, trying so hard not to laugh their asses off, and the first one to crack loses. Everyone gets in on it. Whaaaaat?? Roxy and Protobear?? Oh they're sooooo in love so so so in love, they're not pretending, they would never pretend!!

Jskdndk they get Cassie in on it and she starts calling them mum and dad 2 and Freddy is pointedly trying to leave the room as quickly as possible, but as usual, the fucking doors aren't letting him out again. They're always on the blink now, it's absolutely never Roxy using her security clearance to play Musical Doors with him. Nope. Never. Look at their fake mushy romance boy, you can't escape.

Freddy has never been more confused and sickened in his life. He's always hated Roxy and Roxy's always hated him, this is the worst thing to have to watch ever. He's even more upset if Bonnie pretends to be their partner as well, and even more so if Roxy was who he assumed deactivated him. This is a nightmare scenario and he's being so brave about it.

Sat there trying so hard not to say a word. He's so fine. Not glaring at all. No no no, he's not staring listlessly at them, he's just trying to contact maintenance via the network, obviously. He's not resisting the urge to grimace and not wishing the floor would swallow him up right now. Absolutely not. He would never. He's so so so happy for them. Yup. So so happy. Could not be happier. Why won't these fucking doors open?!

You could apply the fake dating to Protobear and Bonnie specifically too. Bonnie's going through a rebound, and he knows it, so he stays away from Protobear for a while. He tries to take care of himself and the others are right there to help him out the best they can. When he's feeling better, he starts gradually spending more time with Protobear (who has had the situation of Bonnie and Freddy explained to him and is very understanding about it) and the two start slowly building a friendship. Slowly, so as to not rush Bonnie through anything. Protobear himself has walked away from several hangouts because he can tell that Bonnie is struggling, even if he won't admit it, they're handling this with the utmost care...

But then Bonnie, Roxy, Monty and Chica, the four that should never be trusted without supervision, get talking. Bonnie is laughing at these three clowns telling him all about how they're fucking with Freddy for fun, and let him in on some of their schemes. They're hilarious, and he would have thought so before everything happened too, even if he did think they were a bit mean at times. I mean, rallying a bunch of kids to gang up on Freddy in their Fazerblast game as a 'super secret mission' is a touch mean, right? Not anymore. He deserves it.

But then they get to thinking. Bonnie wants to try messing with him too. They bring him in on some of their dastardly plans, and come up with several new ones for him, and believe me, at this time, not a single one of them has the braincell, so you can imagine the bullshit they come up with lmao. He finds this weirdly cathartic. The ability to moderately inconvenience Freddy in funny ways is more fun than he thought it'd be. He was worried it would hurt, worried it would make him think about things too much, and while it does hurt to look at him sometimes... Well his heart is more with his friends than ever now. He feels no desire to be nice to him, or to go back to how things were anymore. He's okay now and this is what makes that real to him...

Then one day it hits him. His own plan to mess with Freddy. Completely his own, the three stooges had nothing to do with this one. It hit him when he was hanging out with Protobear and DJ. What if they were fake dating in front of Freddy? Bonnie and Protobear! Madly in love, with the most sickeningly sweet pet names and the worst pick up lines you've ever heard in your life! DJ thinks that would be pretty mean... But would get him so good, he's a surprisingly petty guy sometimes. Protobear agrees and is completely up for this, it sounds hilarious, but... is Bonnie sure he's ready for that? Is he sure he can handle that?

They think on it a bit and talk to the others about it, who think that's fucking genius but have the same concerns as Protobear. Sunny thinks it's a bit much (and he's probably right) but is very excited to play along with this. He loves playing pretend, he's where Cassie gets it from. When they decide they're gonna do it, they set a few boundaries just in case, make a safe word for if they feel they start going too far with it, and swear to eachother to call it off if it all starts getting too much... Or maybe too real.

Oh my god they have so much fucking fun with it. Protobear has never laughed so hard in his life. The others joining in, helping them pull this off, and building on the joke too make it even more fun! They're having a blast and Freddy is suffering greatly! Customer service mode can't save him now!

But after a while, things start to change. Some of the flirting becomes a little too heartfelt. The insistence that they're not actually a thing becomes less frequent. The act starts to spill over into their everyday lives. Suddenly, they're not so sure this is still a joke anymore. Suddenly, the overdramatic cuddles last until long after Freddy has left the room. Suddenly, they're starting to wonder what it be like to be together for real.

Realisation hits and oh god oh no oh fuck this was NOT the PLAN god DAMN IT

So much fun to be had here!

One more funny one: instead of just Roxy or Bonnie pretending to be with Protobear, what if it's everyone? Protobear has one giant polycule going on where everyone apparently adores him and he dotes on everyone cause he loves them all so so so much. Freddy is staring in disbelief at the 'romantic' cuddle pile Protobear is right in the centre of like this is the most normal thing in the world. It's a Plex wide competition to see who can be the most insufferable in a fake relationship and whoever cracks first loses. It's a team effort! A coordinated attack! And sometimes they actually do fluster Protobear and eachother they're all having fun!

I'd like to call this plan the Protocule :)

(Also, hi jellycreamjammedart! This is the first post I've made today so you may wanna check I've not reblogged with more additions later on. I know you get online kinda late in my timezone, or at least that's when I tend to see you around, so saying this is just in case!)

[muchelburstenstein]

Under the Stars

(Content Warning: Burst)

There was no proper name for the part of town that children were warned to stay away from.

For some, it was the wrong side of the tracks, or the inner city, or some area that was notorious for being high in crime or with lots of feral stray animals around. But for us, growing up in DePaign, it was only known as “The Woods”. It was impossible to miss what our parents meant, however. A dense treeline filled with all manner of incomprehensible monstrosity and dangerous plant life, all of them eager to do terrible things to boys, and even worse things to girls.

But my boyfriend and I knew better. By the time we hit highschool everyone knew they were just scary tales told to keep little kids from going past the treeline, away from adult supervision. The two of us were about to graduate from highschool, and on a beautiful Saturday, we decided to go camping in that supposedly infested area, just to prove how right we were, how much we knew better.

We met first thing in the morning, excited to explore this supposedly dangerous area. The two of us were both on the track team, toned and muscled, not a bit of pudge anywhere on us. Not bodybuilders, but definitely in shape. My dark hair was kept short, so as not to get in my eyes when running or jumping, and I've rarely found myself regretting that choice. Practicality has always been my strong suit, having given up on being a beauty queen at a young age. My skin was a dark tan, showing my Hispanic heritage clearly. But I liked to think I managed to be attractive in ways other than normal beauty, by being clever, capable, quick.

Sure enough, the dashing young man I'd found thought so too. Of course, Alex would blush if he ever heard me call him that. You wouldn't think that you could see a blush on a guy whose skin was that dark, but after spending a lot of time around him, I learned to spot it. I think it's adorable that he gets embarrassed so easily, the handsome, athletic African-American simply couldn’t take a compliment to save his life.

The sounds of our hometown faded as we strode deeper into the trees, drowned out by the leaves and plants and the chittering of animals. We held hands whenever possible, just enjoying the beauty of nature and the thrill of being together in such a forbidden place. Our relationship had never been terribly physical, and we took great joy in just the simple, quiet moments, mutually existing, savoring each other’s company.

There was plenty of that here. For hours we just walked and explored, breaking the quiet with the occasional joke or compliment, stopping only to eat. Over time, the sun started setting, and we looked for a place to set up our camp. We found a small clearing without too much trouble, just large enough to give us room for our sleeping bags. We’d packed no tent, eager to sleep under the majesty of the night sky, the break in the branches above giving us a delightful view.

As the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, Alex called me over to the sleeping bags. The pair of us simply lay back and enjoyed the incredible night sky. There were no ambient lights, everything was blocked by the trees. I had never seen so many stars in my life, even with the sky largely hidden by the woods.

As we laid side by side, holding hands, it was easy to get lost in the beauty above us, and the passion between. "I love you..." I whispered, voice wavering with emotion. "I love you too, Cassie..." the hushed reply came, fingers gripping my hand slightly tighter. We stayed like that for quite some time, hot having to worry about anything or anyone else, able to be wholly, entirely ourselves and in love.

Of course, it couldn’t last.

I winced as I felt a pinching sensation on my shoulder as though something had bit or stung me. I swiped with my free hand, trying to brush whatever annoying bug had bit or stung me away. But as time went on, a strange, warm numbness started to ooze from the point of attack, coursing through my body until I couldn't move at all. Before I could say anything, I was fully paralyzed, unable to move or speak.

As my heart pounded with powerless fear, I sensed something starting to crawl into my sleeping bag, strangely shaped and almost the size of a kitten. Icy shivers ran down my spine, old warning and threats from my childhood racing though my mind as I felt whatever had done this to me stealthily working its way further in. The creature reached the leg of my shorts, quickly slipping up the fabric without hesitation. I felt six sharp, insectile legs gripping my flesh as it neared my groin.

Something thin and slimy pressed against my skin, slowly slipping closer to the hem of my underwear. After a few seconds of being stymied by the soft cloth and elastic, it slipped through, entering my panties. I struggled to cry out, to move, to do ANYTHING as whatever organ was wriggling along my skin began to slither over my labia.

I wanted to cry as the abomination probed at me, the slimy member pressing between my sensitive lips. Then, to my disgust, it began to slip into my body.

I couldn't do anything as this horrible thing forced itself deeper and deeper into my feminine tunnel. The tip pressed against my cervix, stopping only for a second before wiggling its way into my vulnerable womb.

Stillness for a moment as my stomach turned, anxiety, terror, and disgust all fighting for emotional priority as I waited with baited breath to see what happened next. Then, to my horror, I felt the monster vibrating inside my shorts, the tube widening as something was pushed through it.

Something thick, sticky and warm began spurting into my womb as fear gripped me tight. I wasn’t an idiot, able to make a pretty solid guess as to what it was.

I wanted to throw up, to scream, to run, to get to the hospital and beg for a pregnancy test, and then an abortion. I was livid with myself, felt so incredibly stupid. I’d brought this on myself. Why didn't I just listen to my parents? They knew it was dangerous here, but no, I just had to prove them wrong.

Heat flooded my body as I was inseminated. There was only one possible reason something would do this, and that was to plant its horrible, inhuman children inside my uterus. For several minutes, the evil thing pumped more of the thick, disgusting seed into me, before finally dragging the member out. I could feel tears pricking my vision, breathing speeding up, as whatever had attacked me crawled out from my sleeping bag. Strange twinges came from my core, I could only assume it's terrifying offspring taking root inside my uterus.

The numbness started to fade, my attacker having vanished into the night. But I was already starting to feel an ominous tightness within me. Somewhere deep down, I knew it was too late. I was gestating at least one monstrous child, most likely more.

I'd had a friend, a long time ago, that had been impregnated while she was asleep. We'd had a sleepover for her birthday, but the thing had only attacked her out of all the guests. She’d been terrified of what her parents would think so we all sat as quiet as possible, watching a baby bump grow huge on her little body.

After less than a half hour, as the rest of our friends fled the room in terror, I held my screaming friend's hand as she endured her fatal labor. Inhuman children ripped her belly apart from inside. If this creature was anything like that one, I knew I didn't have long. The thing inside me would burst from my fertile baby bump, and there was nothing I could do to stop it in time.

Finally, the paralytic toxin having run its course, I started to cry, letting my free hand roam my midriff. The skin was already tight, my pubic mound firmer than before. My gently toned belly was straining to keep its flat, athletic shape from the force gradually altering my shape, my feminine form eagerly destroying all the work I had done to accommodate the terrible monstrosities that had been raped into me. Everything already yielding to my rapidly progressing, deadly pregnancy.

"Cassie, what's wrong?" I heard my boyfriend's voice come from next to me. I took comfort from the fact that I would pass on next to the one I loved more than anyone else.

There's…” I had to stop, take a deep breath, choking on the despair and fear of the inevitable. “Alex, I was just attacked, something stung me, paralyzed me. I... It... It raped me... I'm p-pregnant with its babies..." I opened the sleeping bag, hands shaking, and sure enough, my shirt was already starting to follow the slight curve of my pregnancy, my toned body losing the battle to feminine purpose. There was no mistaking the shape of it as anything other than impending motherhood.

My perfect gentleman's eyes went wide, realizing that I'd been molested by a monster right next to him, forced to bear its child against my will, and he hadn't even realized. "I... I... oh god… hon, I'm so sorry! We have to go, get your parents, or find a hospital, we need to hurry, I-"

I shuddered, biting my lip to hold mack the moan of discomfort clawing up my throat. My caressed my slowly swelling midriff, and I scooted closer to my distraught soulmate. I felt so impossibly close to him right this moment, even as I was bearing a deadly monster within my body. I hugged Alex tight, kissing him, running delicate fingers over his back, his arms...

I shivered. A thought crossed my mind. Normally, I would reject it outright, it would be too risky, especially at my age, with everything I wanted to do, to see still. But now... what did I have to lose? There was no way I’d survive to see another sunrise. Why not allow myself to indulge in something a little… primal?

I stood, letting a simmering urgency slip into my eyes. "I love you Alex..." I purred, hiding the sudden pain as one of my babies kicked for the first time within me. As my sweetly innocent boyfriend watched in awe, I reached the physical appearance of a girl just short of her third trimester. I gripped my shirt, which now utterly failed to hide my increasingly gravid middle, and pulled it over my head. I then quickly unclasped my bra, exposing my light brown breasts to the one I most wanted to see them. They were aching slightly, feeling heavy, and I could tell they were swelling as well, likely with milk that would never be used, my body convinced this was a perfectly normal, if somewhat fast pregnancy.

Meanwhile, my fellow athlete’s face was getting that slightly darker shade that always made me smile. "Wh-what are you doing, I-" I reached down, bending awkwardly around my rapidly swelling baby bump, my condition already making my movements strained, awkward. I tugged at the waistband of my shorts, letting them drop around my ankles. A small smile to this charming young man as my panties joined them in short order, and I stepped out, naked and pregnant and... I hoped... beautiful.

I started to blush as well. "I've... I've never had sex before... And I... I don't think these- mnph!" The monsters I'd been forced to carry pushed against my increasingly fecund mound, causing a small, but alarming, amount of pain with the force of their motion. It only helped drive my point home, if I was honest. “I don't think my babies are going to be very c-careful on their way out..."

My eyes started to water as I sat next to the man I wanted to spend the rest of my short life with, overwhelmed with emotion and feeling my body nurturing the nightmarish children that could kill me. "I don't want to die a virgin.” I managed to force out, struggling to keep my voice steady. “I... I want t-to have you inside m-me, at the end..." Alex shook his head, grabbing my arms as I started to tug at his shirt. "No, we, we have to be able to get you help, it can't be- oh no..." His eyes went wide as I gasped in pain, my back arching as my horrible rape-babies pushed forward so far and hard it distended my belly

"I... they're growing s-so fast hon..." I gasped, alarmed by how rapid the pregnancy was, my terrible labor already beginning, before I was even done gestating my own murderers. "I d-don't have long. I can burst trying to get out of the forest, scared and in p-pain and hopeless... or I can do it doing something that I've w-wanted since I hit puberty... something I would happily have be my last act in my life."

Alex looked at me helplessly. I could see the idea of losing me was torture to him. "Please... just l-let me enjoy you once, before the end..." I whispered. Tears welled up in his eyes. Then, taking a deep breath, he stood. I watched, thrilled and relieved, as his shirt came off, exposing the chest that is just as toned as mine. Well... as toned as mine WAS, before it was slowly reshaped into a motherly swell, undone entirely as a result of this unwilling pregnancy.

I looked at myself as my soon-to-be-lover stripped naked, horrified at how much I'd changed, and how quickly. I used to be strong, quick, in complete control of my body. Skinny and beautiful, in a powerful way. Now I was round, full, looking like a woman almost in her eighth month of pregnancy. No longer strong and quick, I was slow and fertile and helpless. Over the course of such a short span of time, the body I'd spent most of my life maintaining and perfecting had been utterly transformed by something I had no say in happening.

What made it even worse was knowing how it would end. That the condition I’d spent so much time and effort supporting and nurturing had been stolen away by the product of rape, and that the children born from that vile act would steal away my life. I began to tremble, wrapping my arms around my chest, refusing to touch the impossible to ignore proof of my violation as tears ran down my face.

Then, muscled arms wrapped around me. One hand brushed along my inner thigh, making me shiver. "Are... are you ready?" He asked, clearly nervous. Another strong kick came from inside me, and I was unable to hold back the moan of pain this time. I rubbed my fecund mound anxiously, watching as my belly button popped out, forced into on outie by the mounting pressure within. I looked so terribly close to being due.

"As I'll ever be..." I replied, worried about how this would end, but eager to lose myself in the sweet distraction of Alex’s body.

He laid down, and I let my fingers stroke along his thickness. It was strange, how satisfying I found it when I felt it throb at my careful touch, pressing more eagerly against my fingers. I crawled awkwardly over him, using one hand to guide his tip between my legs. I felt it pressing against my swollen, sensitive, pregnant lips, ready to slip inside and take my virginity.

"I... I l-love you..." I whispered, still nervous in spite of everything. "I love you too." came the hushed reply, and I felt a hand caress my face. I lowered my weight even more, and... it slid inside.

It felt so amazing. My walls stretched as I took him, a sweet tightness, an incredible ache echoing all the way into my life-filled core. I was immediately overwhelmed by the raw pleasure of my first consensual sexual experience. I barely even felt him spear my hymen, officially claiming my innocence.

His member was buried within my heavily pregnant teenage body, giving me a feeling I'd never known I had longed for. Alex’s broad hands gripped my toned thighs as I began to ride him, and after but a moment, his own movements began to compliment mine. Our breathing grew heavier, panting as we began to sweat, occasionally moaning or gasping as I felt the thing inside me begin to push and prod, reaching the end of its gestation.

I could tell I didn't have long now before it was time to deliver the thing within me. I kept feeling several distinct movements in different areas, and even as I lost myself in the beautiful feeling of at last making love to this wonderful boy. I began to realize that I had been impregnated with more than one of whatever monster I had been forced to bear against my will.

"Oh my god C-cassie, you feel so good... I l-love youuu..." My beautiful boyfriend moaned under me. His hands wandered up, over my firm, round pregnant swell. Alex's eyes went wide, as he realized he was caressing the things that would likely soon erupt from me, and seemed to feel guilty about it. I let my light brown hands slip over his dark ones, and whispered "I wanted your babies... it's ok… I’ll be pregnant for you, Alex… I’ll give birth for you..." I joined his exploration of my new form. I was surprised how nice it felt to actually have the straining, hot flesh of my fertility rubbed my someone I felt so close to in this moment.

Then, without warning, my rape-babies pushed against my sweet boy’s palm forcefully, forcing me to cry out. I saw my lover go slightly pale, but I leaned down, kissing his forehead reassuringly, caressing his cheek to let him know I was still ok. Our love making continued, as I realized I could feel his heartbeat between my legs, inside my feminine tunnel as every pulse, every change could be detected by my walls gripping him so deliciously. I felt a warm tension beginning to build within me, the pleasure this glorious union was causing growing by the moment.

"God... Alex... it's so good, I feel you inside me, don't stop, I nee-AGH!" Even as my orgasm continued to gather, I drew nearer to my fatal delivery. His hands held either side of my belly, and I leaned back as the creatures invading my womb began to press more urgently, more forcefully with every terrible effort. I shuddered, moaning, as I heard a quiet pop. Alex gasped as I felt fluids run down my tunnel, drenching his member buried so wonderfully within me.

My waters had broken

"I think it’s time..." I whispered.

My cry of pain echoed in the clearing, a strong thrust coming from my violated uterus. Alex was trying to lift me, and I pressed his shoulders to the ground, looking into his eyes. "Don't you dare st-stop! Make me cum, I need to- ARGH! C-cum right n-now, under the stars, with you!"

The skin of my belly was tenting under the attack of my unwanted offspring, and I was biting my lip, trying to be strong. Gods, it was time, they were coming, I was gonna give birth, this was really happening, I couldn’t stop it...

The wonderful dark-skinned athlete took a deep breath, put his arms back on my belly, and said "Cum for me mommy… Cum while you give birth to my babies like a good girl..." I nodded, his words making me feel unbelievably submissive, eager to follow his instructions. I’d never felt so girly, so feminine in my entirely life. Alex was the only person I’d ever known that I was okay with the idea of saying such things to me.

Then, I leaned back, letting my fatal belly thrust forward, prominent and full and fertile. Even with the terror and fear and pain, I couldn't help but feel incredibly sexy as the man I loved filled me with his shaft, with his seed, and I went into hard, deadly labor.

I gasped as the battering of my rape-baby bump continued, one strong push after another coming from within. They were rhythmic, and my lover's powerful motions matched that pace perfectly. Every time my babies thrust themselves forward, so too was I filled between my legs, muscular thighs quivering. As my offspring receded, so do did the feeling of penetration. It intensified the pain, the stole it, funnling it all into pleasure, when then all surged into sweet, unbearable agony once more.

"Alex, g-gods they’re- NMPH! They're c-coming, they w-want out, want t-to be bornnnGHAH!!!" The sensations were so intense, so amazing and painful at the same time, I felt like I would explode just trying to hold them all inside me.

That was silly, of course. I was just going to burst.

Slowly, the sensations from my monster-filled midriff overwhelmed the wonder in my birth canal, and tears began to leak from the corner of my eyes once more. I still felt Alex's hands holding my womb, caressing it. "It's ok love... you're... hah... doing so good... I feel so good, you're so beautiful..." He gasped, and I could feel him throbbing, pulsing inside me. "You're... s-such a good mommy... Just... let our babies come out... Don’t f-fight it, just let them out of your body, good girl, that’s r-right… Cum for me Cassie, please, cum our b-babies out of your belly..."

I could feel the monsters within starting to draw blood, thrusting cruelly, relentlessly. My abominable offspring's assault grew stronger with each push, making my skin strain to hold them in. I began to whimper, the painful sensation overwhelming my thoughts, able to focus only on this moment, joined sexually with my partner as my children slowly broke through my womb. 

"It hurts, it h-hurts Alex, gods please make them stop, I'm b-birthing them, I don’t w-want this it’s S-SO BAD!!!" I felt a pulse from the thick member lodged deep inside me, and I felt my feminine tunnel respond, sending pleasure shooting into my straining womb, gripping him tightly.

"I-i'm s-so close babe..." The first and only man I would make love to moaned. I could feel his wonderful organ contracting and throbbing inside, and knew he was telling the truth.

"H-hurry, please, s-so are the babies, it hurts, they want to come out SO M-MUCH, HURRY BABE THEY’RE BEING BORN R-RIGHT N-NOOOWWW!!!" I felt the muscles of my uterus slowly starting to give way, even as I felt sexual tension coiled within me like a steel trap, ready to snap. Alex began to press into me more urgently, harder, faster, as I brought my hands to the front of my belly. I followed the thrusts, fruitlessly pushing back, trying to hold myself together for just a bit longer.

"Baby... oh baby... CASSIE I'M CUMMING!!!" I felt hot, sticky seed flowing into my already pregnant body, knowing the sperm were just as doomed as I was. The sensation of the strong jets of impotent cum thudding against my cervix, matching the thrusts of my murderous rape babies made my womb begin to spasm, an unbelievably powerful orgasm crashing through me.

Pleasure mingled with pain, the contractions from my orgasmic labor making me convulse as they helped rip the wounds caused by my children's relentless assault wider. Agitated by the squeezing and twitching, my monstrous offspring began to attack their glorified egg even harder. Thrust, thrust thrust, thrust-

THRUST!!!

Alex went pale, looking at the point where our bodies joined. "Babe... oh no, there's blood… They’re almost out..." I could feel it, the crimson fluid pouring from my gradually rupturing uterus, running down my tunnel, coating my walls and his still leaking shaft. "They're coming love, they're so close they're coming out of MEEE!!!" I couldn’t stop spasming, leaning forward, planting my hands onto the ground next to Alex's shoulders.

We looked into each others eyes as I fought to hold myself up, toes curling in pain, arms quivering with exhaustion. We were both covered in sweat, and it dripped from me as I struggled to endure this torture. Our eyes widened as I gagged, the torture spiking as we heard my womb rupture, tearing open with a sound like wet cardboard being torn to shreds. Even with the devastating physical rauma it continued to lazily throb with my orgasm. Through all of this, I refused to look away from the face I wanted to carry into the afterlife with me.

One strong, dark hand wiped away my tears, and caressed my cheek. "It's ok hon... I love you... let them come, relax, it’ll hurt less if you don’t fight..." He was crying, seeing how much pain I was in, but trying to be strong for me. Alex's other hand was softly stroking my belly as my soon-to-be-born monsters began to break through my abdominal wall. "They're al-almost there, almost out. Good girl, just like that, let yourself give birth..." I moaned, unable to scream anymore. They thrust hard, again, and again. My tanned skin felt like it was on fire, they were so close to tearing out of me.

"I... l-love... you... A-ALEX OH GODS NO, IT'S TIIIMEEE!!!" One final bellow, as a spurt of blood covered my lover's chest. I felt his fingertips trace the hot, burning edges of the small hole. Another thrust, and more crimson fluid shot from my body. A final attack, and my massive belly was ripped wide open by the monsters I never wanted to carry, let alone give birth to. I felt them tumbling out of me, landing on the man under my ruined body.

He let out a sob, leaning up and kissing my lips. I returned it weakly, shock setting in, the last vestiges of my first and final orgasm fading. "I'll never forget you..." Alex whispered. "I'll tell your parents. I'll let everyone know, I promise. I love you so, so much. I’m so proud of you, I love you so much, you did amazing..."

He was still talking. Trying to comfort me. But his words began to bleed together, melding into an indecipherable mess. I felt so cold... My blood running over my first and only lovers body from my ruined belly as my unwanted children disappeared into the dark. "I... love... you... t-too..." I breathed, arms trembling, and then collapsing.

I closed my eyes, and let myself drift. The stars in the night sky above me were so beautiful, and I joined them in their beautiful void...

[sio-writes]

A Botanist's Guide: Chapter 10

<<Chapter 9

<<<Chapter 1

TW: Alcohol consumption (nothing excessive, but it's in there)

Cassie

"Don't be nervous," I say. "It's just a presentation. A presentation that in part determines the future of your career. You have to make them like you for this one, because by the end of the experiment it'll be too late."

"Uh," Jillie says, eyes darting to the side and then back to me. She shifts uncomfortably under my hands, caught in my steel-like grip.

"Say something like that, but better," I plead, releasing her and anxiously looking for a presence who isn't there. It's just Jillie and me today, as it has been for the past week. And it's Milestone Day. The day I present my tiny little plants to a board for them to go "Hmm, this one could be greener," and then they decide to pull all my funding. And my lab. And Jillie. 

Jillie shakes herself free from my grasp. "Hon, you're gonna do fine. And if you don't,  it's not the end of the world."

I glance up and down the hallway, like a final girl in a horror movie. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she clasps a hand on my shoulder. "Even if you don't have the lab, you'll still be here. With us."

I know who she means by "us," but I don't want to correct her. I last saw him a week ago, and he'd left in such a hurry neither of us could even say goodbye. "They already don't like me, Jill."

"You don't know that! Besides, it's not like you can make the plants grow any faster. Honestly, they gave you the shittiest timeline. What respectable scientist asks you to grow fully formed fruit trees in three months?"

I heave a sigh through my nose. I don't have an argument against her, but that's not the point. If this doesn't go well it'll mean I failed. That I couldn't do literally the only thing I was put on this planet to accomplish. And if I can't do that, then why am I here? 

For all that I was set up to fail, the plants do look great. We rushed them like crazy, but they're kicking some serious ass. The tomatoes and beans are starting to flower, and the lettuce and strawberries are spreading their leaves out. The lemon tree saplings are ready to be put in the ground outside. The greenhouse actually smells like a greenhouse, crisp leaves and fresh citrus. We pulled a potato out of the ground and it was maybe the size of a quarter but it was the best looking thing I'd seen all year. 

But the board won't see it that way. They only want results, and experiments past have acquainted me with their specific brand of expectations. Today, as always, I'll be classified as "underperforming." 

Normally I'd wish for the cold logic of my bristly alien coworker to back Jillie up and also work to make me feel better, but he's not here. He hasn't been here for a week. Last equivalent-Friday he packed his things and mentioned…something about the auditing process and giving us prep time, before he left without another word. I refuse to think his name because then I'll get all weepy and anxious all over again which Jillie picks up on like a bloodhound. And I've been trying not to wonder why things were left so…shitty. My best guess is that he figured me out. Aliens all have a sixth sense, don't they? That's how it goes in the movies. They can read minds and he's been reading my unstoppable torrent of filth and squishy romance that's been hitting me like a tidal wave ever since he kissed my hand in that stupid aquarium. 

Pushing down my own unbearable emotions was supposed to pep me up for today, make me emotionless like the results of the experiment. But I don't feel any better than when I left my apartment this morning. Just walking inside has my stomach churning because this whole side of the building reminds me of undergrad. I'm not sure if I'm going to break out in hives or shotgun a beer.

Jillie wraps her hands around my arms. This is where we part ways, or where she waits outside with tissues and a finger of whiskey. "You got this, kick their ass."

I look to the doors, then back to her ruggedly determined face. She can't come inside to watch the presentation, but she's got enough moxy to make plain old dirt look cool. And I've gone through worse and come out…kind of okay at the end. Relax. It's just another meeting with a bunch of suits. Suits with PhDs. 

The doors open, and I stumble on my way to the platform. He's here, Kri is here. Sitting with the board, or more aptly in the row behind them. And they're all looking at me. He's here, he knew he'd be here, and he didn't think to give me a warning? Jerk.

I give a short nod to Dr. Rogan, Choi, Devi, and Esmail. Dr. Devi is the only one who gives me a smile and a wave, putting me a little more at ease, but Dr. Rogan is the one I need to impress. His stare is as cold and indifferent as ice was to the Titanic, and I try not to internalize it. He's always been a hardass. I don't bother looking back at Kri, mostly because I'm peeved, but partially because I don't know which would be worse from him: any emotion, or none at all.

And even stupider, I still miss the bastard. Jillie's good company, but it's weird not having someone to banter over the proper watering procedure with. I felt like we could talk for hours. We had really started to click, and I think I ruined it. 

I'm trying not to freak out, but the only correlation I can make is our trip. I forced it to go pretty deep, but I didn't think I took it too far. If I recall correctly, he offered up the information, I didn't ask for it. I offered the same, but was it too much? Has he decided I'm not worth the trouble? I don't want to lose him just because I'm too fucked up, but after today I may never see him again.

"Dr. Rowland," Rogan starts, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Before we begin, we need to address your audit."

My stomach sinks. "Yes?" I never saw the audit, but I have a good idea of what's in the early sections. I never expected Kri to change it, even I'll admit I was harsh at first. But if Rogan saw the whole thing, he'd see that we got better with time.

Rogan turns around, ignoring me in favor of Kri. "Dr. Khri'asxu, you were her auditor, correct?"

"Correct," Kri says.

"Would you say she acted appropriately?"

Kri's eyes narrow. "Yes." 

I grit my teeth. He calls my attention only to ignore me. What a dick. 

"Your report states she lacked discipline in the initial weeks, yes?"

"That was my mistake, she needed no improvement." I catch myself before I can roll my eyes, trying very hard to keep my mouth shut. My hands are clasped behind my back so they don't see my fists tighten. I know exactly where Rogan is going with this, and I'm sick of it. 

Rogan turns back to look at me, subtly doing a once-over and I have to resist making a face. "And she followed the proper dress code?" 

When his back is turned, I scowl. My dress is fine. It's form-fitting, but it sits at my knees with sleeves to the elbows. It has a high, draping neckline where I put on my only piece of jewelry-- a flat silver necklace, for occasions just like this one where I'm in a room with judgy men. If I had come in wearing my normal jeans and lab coat, they'd mark me down for being unprofessional. I left my hair down and parted it on the side today because Jillie told me it would look nice.

Kri seems to remember that I'm in the room, his gaze lingering on me. "Yes."

"Including proper safety protocol such as hair--"

"Excuse me," I say, planting my hands on my hips. "I'm right here. You can ask me these questions."

Rogan twists back to face me, finally. "Dr. Rowland there are several notes on your appearance that--"

"How is my wardrobe is relevant to my scientific analysis?" I can process what Kri thought of my clothes later, I need to get this presentation over with.

"We need to maintain professional airs to our hosts--"

"The aliens who don't wear clothing?? No offense," I say down to Kri, who only shrugs.

"Now, if you're ready," I say. "I'd like to begin."

Dr. Rogan purses his lips. "Have it your way, Dr. Rowland."

***

Emotions are easy to set aside when doing a slideshow. All I have to do is get the little clicker in hand--complete with laser pointer-- and talk enough to cover the bullet points and the charts. Jillie and I put this together and went over it about a million times before today. I know it front to back, I could point to all the pictures with my eyes closed. It's smooth sailing, but by the third slide I'm still sweating up a storm. I'm not the best at reading a room, but the atmosphere feels dismal. I'm on my own up here, no help, no impressed expressions, no encouragement at all. Just the scratch of pens or typing on a laptop. I want to stop and ask if I'm doing alright or if I should just start packing my stuff now.

And each time I look down, sweeping my gaze over their faces, I make eye contact with Kri. He's not looking at the presentation at all, just at me. Which wouldn't be so bad, except it looks like he wants to eat me alive. He looks downright pissed. No notes on his part--he doesn't need them-- so it's nothing but awkward eye contact. For an hour and a half. Is it really my outfit? I don't think I look unprofessional, I'm ninety percent sure I've worn this on a dinner date before. So what'd I do to piss him off?

It's a notion that grabs my attention the whole presentation, like an itch in the back of my brain that I'm not allowed to acknowledge. 

So I push through it, wading through muck and hoping there's clear water on the other side. I like to think that I know what I'm talking about, and as I click through each slide, I feel more and more relaxed. I'm talking with my hands relaying stories and mishaps, I even get Rogan to crack a smile a few times. Choi laughs at a stupid joke I make, and Devi is smiling down at her screen when I start on the final results.

By the time I'm wrapping up, we're practically shooting the shit. Dr. Choi promises to stop by the greenhouse to see the plants, and Dr. Devi wants to get drinks sometime. I'm shaking hands and talking about future experiments, ignoring the cooling layer of sweat and rush of energy I have from my fight or flight response going into overdrive.

I want to talk with Kri - but what do I say? What level of familiarity is best in this situation? I can't decide, so I leave him alone; I'm pointedly ignoring him as I wave everyone off and pull my little cart of samples out of the room. He doesn't make any moves to speak to me either, but I'm not letting myself be hurt by it.

Throwing open the door, I feel so much lighter. Jillie's not back from wherever she goes during these presentations, and the hallway is empty, save for me and my cart full of stuff.

That is, until the door to the hall clicks shut, and Kri steps out. An angry chill runs up my spine when he starts towards me--I don't know what to say. I didn't inside, and I don't know now. He stops in front of me, and I realize he's waiting for me to move, but this could be my only chance to talk to him again.

I go for casual. I smack his chest and it's like hitting a brick wall. "You dick! You were observing and you didn't tell me?!"

He straightens, caught out and somehow offended. "It was confidential information."

The anger is back, indignant and unchecked. "And my appearance? Was that confidential information too?!"

He crosses all four arms and flutters his wings, but doesn't answer. At that moment, Jillie turns the corner and sees us. 

"Hey!" She rushes up to me and crushes me in a hug. "I heard laughing and talking, you totally did it!" 

Her smile is huge as she hugs me with all her might, and the nervous energy coursing through my body needs to dissipate, so I squeeze her back. "I did it!" 

She turns her attention to Kri, unaware of the tension from before. "What'd they say??" 

Kri swallows, looking between the two of us. "They did not begin discussion until I left." Well, he certainly doesn't seem to have a problem talking to her. He should be talking to me casually.

"But what were the vibes?" Jillie insists.

"The…vibrations?" 

"Their impression!" 

Kri looks at us again, as if weighing the professional consequences of office gossip. I can be mad at him for noting down my outfit, but I can't be mad if he just wants to follow the rules. It's kind of his thing. He's done enough for me in the past few weeks, even if he's reverted to his earlier, dickish ways. 

I lean back, conceding. "You don't have to."

Kri's eyes land on me and stay there, and he sighs. "They seemed rather impressed, actually." 

My jaw drops. "Really?!" 

"Indeed."

I let out an inhumanly high squeal and wrap my arms around Jillie. "They liked me!"

"They liked you!"

"It may be too early to--"

"Shut up!" I wave him off. "They liked me!"

Jillie's head falls back and she looks at me with wide eyes. "Celebration time?"

I groan out loud, "Fuck yes." 

Celebration time narrows down to circling through the three bars and single nightclub in the Outpost until we forget what planet we're on, and then passing out at the closest respective apartment. It sounds heavenly. I'm not a nightclub kind of girl, but there's nothing left to do at the lab today. And I definitely need to unwind.

Jillie turns to Kri, and I nearly stop her before she asks, "You comin'?"

I'm halfway to covering Jillie's mouth when he looks to me. I've been caught, and shame bubbles up behind my chest. That was super rude, today was probably just as stressful for him as it was for me.

He looks me up and down, and shakes his head minutely, "I have no desire to drink with coworkers." And then he turns on his heel and walks down the hallway.

Okay, maybe it wasn't so rude of me.

"Ouch, dude." Jillie says, and I feel my high from earlier starting to deflate. Disappointment swells in me like water in a clogged toilet--unpleasant, gross, and I need to get rid of it as fast as possible.

When I don't have a snappy reply, Jillie picks it up. "Well screw you!" she says to his retreating back. "We got some good shit going on!"

I should say something, should reach out again. I at least should ask how he's been. We're still friends, right? Even if he doesn't tell me what's going on.

"What do you want to do first?" Jillie asks as we head down the hallway with my stuff in tow.

"I dunno," I reply, shaking my thoughts clear like an Etch-A-Sketch. I can worry about this tomorrow. "Chogie's?"

Her face twists in disgust. "Their apps are gross. I have a place in mind."

I nod in agreement, their food all tastes like the same deep fried crap. Eating first is a good idea too, I'm not an undergrad anymore and even just the thought of straight vodka makes me gag.

I eye her in my peripheral. "I thought it was the usual?" And she turns to me with a glint in her eye.

"We're gonna add some laser tag."

***

"I really don't think--"

"Don't think," Jillie shouts over the loud music being pumped into the obstacle course. "Just shoot!"

We clink our shots of tequila and down them as the doors to the waiting room open. There's about a dozen other people in here with us, and another room on the opposite side with the dozen or so members of the opposing team. 

The course doors slide open and Jillie crouches down and starts walking around like a covert operative in a video game, and it makes me laugh so hard someone on the opposing team pegs me with their laser. This is our second stop on the circuit, so I'm already a few drinks deep. It's a pleasant buzz in my brain-- the floor is wobbly, the lights are strobing, and it feels like my presentation is miles away. I could shoot it away with my laser gun. The bar we'd hit before coming here had been very generous with their pours, and I've always been a lightweight. Thoughts come and go, popping like bubbles before moving onto the next topic, and Jillie has been wonderfully distracting.

There's no plan, no tactic, I have no idea what I'm doing. I run around like a chicken, tagging whoever I can, even if it's someone on the same team. Pull trigger, gun goes pew pew, that's all I need to know. The music is louder in here than the waiting room, drowning out the shouts, the lasers, and my thoughts. 

This is fun, I'm having a good time, and not thinking about much at all. The course is a madhouse. The whole thing is neon on top of a healthy coat of black paint, lit by blacklights so everything shines. There's tunnels, ramps, a second level to snipe the nearly twenty people they've crammed in here. The alcohol in my system is simultaneously making me a better shot and the worst fucking thing this building has seen as I sprint from hiding spot to hiding spot. Jillie had ditched me the second the doors opened, and when people see me stumbling they pass me by. After having all eyes on me for several hours today, it's nice being the drunk girl no one pays attention to.

After a few rounds of getting our asses handed to us, we make friends with the rest of the team. Our bar-hopping ritual isn't so exclusive, it seems, as John and Billie, a married couple from France, are doing the same circuit we are. We rope in a few extra bodies-- Harper and Divi, a human-ento couple that I've been eyeing since we started at the laser tag. Divi has a light brown plating, with cream-colored vitiligo all down her arms and legs. And tailing us is Lindsey, a newbie from accounting.

Everyone is drunk, and by the time we reach the nightclub, we're clumped on the dancefloor like besties. It's loud, it smells like sweat and alcohol and cheap perfume, but with each knock of an elbow and bump into my hip, I'm forgetting about the presentation and focusing on the alcohol singing in my veins.

"What brought you out?" Lindsey asks over the thump of the music. She's speaking more to Jillie, something she's been doing all night. I don't mind though, Jillie's been more than happy to oblige. Jillie answers Lindsey over the music, and they have a stilted, but very close conversation. Jillie laughs at something she says and pulls her into a dance, and I think they're hitting it off really well. 

Lindsay is nice. She bought us shots and pulled us all onto the dancefloor, she's opened up a lot since the laser tag. 

After a few songs it's too much heat, too close contact, and I slam into the bar. I wave the bartender down for some water, and rest my head on my hand as I watch the crowd. Right on me is Jillie, giving me her biggest eyes, full of concern.

"Hey, you okay?" she asks, voice winded. 

I wave her off. "Oh I'm fine. Just needed a break."

The bartender sets a full glass in front me and looks at Jillie, who gestures at my glass. "Same, please." 

I concentrate down at my water, and Jillie scoots in closer. "You sure you're alright." 

I sigh heavily. "Yeah, just a lot on my mind." 

I see Jillie nod, and I respond with my own. I don't have much to say, and I wish I was better at small talk. 

No matter how much I try to push it back, my thoughts feel like clouds, nebulous and squishy. The more I try to pinpoint things, the more I sink into them. It's hard to escape when I know I have to see him next week, and I don't want things to fall flat by bringing it up.

Jillie pulls me out of my thoughts. "You think I'd--Do you think I'd do good on my own?" She leans into me on one elbow.

We share a look, and snort-laugh at the same time.

I smack her arm. "Hell no, Jills, you can't lead research to save your life. What brought that up?"

"I was talkin' to my mom yesterday and she was askin'. She thinks bein' your assistant is beneath me. But I told her!" She waves her arm, and her drink sloshes out onto the bartop. "I told her you were awesome! You're great at giving directions."

I sip at my water, my brow furrowing. I hate to be a buzzkill at this point, but we're two rounds in for this place, six drinks total since the start of the night, and if it doesn't come out now then I won't say it. "Not great at much else."

Jillie's head falls to the side. "Whaddya mean?"

I blow air through my lips, and rub my temple with my fingers. "Do you really think I did well today?" 

"Cass!" Jillie scoffs and snacks my arm. "You fuckin' killed it!"

I frown at my hands. "So what next?"

"Well," she starts ticking off on her fingers. "You need to kill the final review, which you will, and when you secure more funding you can add more plants, and then--"

"No," I cut her off. "No, I mean, like, what else is there?"

Jillie looks away, down at the bartop, then back to me. "I'm not following."

I groan, not at her, but because it's hard to vocalize when I have three shots still working their way through my system. "I'm boring! What else do I do?! I wake up, I go to work, I fall asleep."

She searches my face for a moment, and her brow furrows, sympathetic. "You've been a little too busy to do anything else, hon."

Automatically I open my mouth to disagree, but she's not wrong. In the weeks leading up to today, I've been averaging ten, twelve hours between the lab and the greenhouse.

"Yeah but what now?" 

Now that the plants are a little hardier, they don't need round the clock care and are actually outside, where they're meant to be. We still need to measure growth and take soil readings and everything else, but it's less rigorous. It won't take as much time. Normally, I'd take on another experiment to keep myself busy, but my mind is fried. I don't have the energy to put together another proposal, write a thesis, and present it in front of another committee for approval. 

I suppose I could add onto EVA, plant some winter vegetables before the frost starts to set in. That's a few months away, and it's much less work to tack onto an existing experiment than to bring in a new one.

But that still sounds like a lot of work, more presentations, more things to worry about. And I love this project. I don't want to overload myself to a point where I'll hate it by the end.

"You could, I dunno, find a new hobby?" Jillie suggests. 

I purse my lips, my head falling into my hand. "I don't know what I like, though."

She smiles. "That's the point! Get out there, figure it out! What do you think you'd be into?"

I think for a second, and lift my glass of water. "I like to drink."

Jillie smack my arm. "That's not a hobby!"

I tilt my head back and stare at the ceiling.

"You like plants, yeah?"

I level a stare at her, lips pursed, and don't respond.

"How about something outdoors, then?"

I hum, weighing the options of picking up a new hobby. I have a tendency to fall into something for a few weeks then drop it forever when it doesn't stick. But getting outside of the Outpost sounds like fun. "Maybe," I settle on, nodding to her. "Maybe."

We finish our waters and head back to the dancefloor, and I'm caught up in the music before the first song ends.

***

As a whole group we migrate to the next bar down the line. A hole in the wall that isn't as nice with their pours, but the decor is pretty cool. It's half-bookstore in the front, with a small cutaway that leads to the bar. There's a small stage, currently occupied by a lovely looking man with a deep voice singing Our House on the karaoke machine. It's pretty packed in, but this bar is my favorite out of the three. The drinks may be watered down, but the vibes are mellow. There's a mix of people and ento here, and I can look at books I'll never read. 

My head is swimming after the last round, but the night is starting to wind down. I listen to the music for a bit, watching John and Billie slowly sway in each other's arms. My heart clenches again, so I tear my gaze away and towards the quieter section of the building--the bookshop.

It's closed at this point in the night, but they left it open for people to lounge. The store has free-standing bookshelves and cabinets, and after passing a few couches, I find Harper and Divi casually laying against one another towards the back. The room is still spinning, but it's dimly lit, thankfully not a strain on my eyes. I can already feel my head pounding tomorrow.

I give them both a short wave, making sure they recognize me. "Mind if I sit?"

Harper sits up, giving me enough room to sit down before she leans against me.

I fidget with my hands for a bit, the silence awkward but also comforting as I cast about for something to say. They were in the middle of a conversation when I approached, and I think I interrupted it. "How long have you two been together?"

Harper looks to Divi. "What is it, two years now?"

"The next full moon will make twenty-two months."

"Aw, you're so romantic." Harper taps Divi with one foot, and Divi gently places a hand over Harper's ankle and rubs softly. I don't mean to stare, but I'm not used to open PDA. Watching it fills me with longing, and a bit of jealousy.

"I wouldn't be if you knew how our calendar worked," Divi says evenly.

Harper scrunches her nose. "Then you will remain romantic. Do you have anyone?" Harper asks me, expression open and curious.

"Nah," I say, leaning back and kicking my feet up to the coffee table. The look Harper gives me is unconvinced, and I shrug helplessly. Alcohol tends to make me chatty, and I don't want to drag them into my own drama, but they did ask. "Okay, there's a guy at work."

"Human or ento?"

My face heats as I press my lips together. "Ento." I wave off her excited expression. "It's just a stupid crush anyway. I don't think he likes me."

Harper hums, lips pursed. "Don't be so sure, Cass. Has he done anything to show he may be interested?" 

I furrow my eyebrows. I want to tell them, but am I sharing too much? They would kind of be the best pair to offer a second opinion. Science is all about peer review. Or I could still be buzzed. "Well, we kind of went on a date-- a mutual errand, really-- to Igrien, but when I invited him back to my place, he said no."

Divi perks up, "Ah, I can explain that."

Harper rolls her eyes. "Inviting them to your place is basically a confession."

Divi comically deflates back into her seat. "It's a bit more complex than that," she mutters, pouting.

Harper grins and rolls her eyes, stage-whispering to me, "She's in sociology."

Divi pinches Harper's skin making her jump, and their paired laughter feels like a spear through my heart.

"So…I got rejected," I conclude.

"Not necessarily," Harper cuts in. "There's different rules for bringing someone home. If he assumed you knew about them, then…maybe."

"But I didn't," I pout.

"It is a complex question, as well," Divi adds. "Different cultures attribute different things to such rituals."

I lean forward, genuinely invested. We never got primed on any ento culture, and hearing it straight from the source is a chance I won't miss.

"For context," Divi says evenly. "Our courting rituals evolved from the fact that we're hermaphroditic. We bring mates into a nest and "fight"," she adds air quotes, "for our respective roles, which has evolved into many languages to express interest and preference. In today's society, it boils down to an elaborate dance of sorts to initiate a relationship."

"So inviting him in after a day out and he goes home?"

Divi makes a face akin to a cringe, "It truly depends on the individual and how they were raised. They could have easily taken you up on your offer but meant nothing of it, especially with you humans having different ideals. But in many cultures across the globe, inviting another in is a prelude to a serious relationship. Specifically, taking another to your sleeping quarters holds great significance."

"Yeah," Harper laughs. "Divi thought I knew that too, so the first time we go back to her place and I don't comment on her decor, she thought I was rejecting her."

"And I put so much work into making my home clean for you," Divi whinges, wiping away a fake tear.

Harper scoffs and jabs her with her foot. "I know that now!"

The two devolve into what feels like routine good-natured ribbing, and I'm left alone with my thoughts.

It makes sense why Kri would be mad at me, then. He's so proper and professional, of course he'd be grossed out by the idea of being with me. I wasn't consciously asking to have sex, but then again…I wasn't not asking for it. But why didn't he tell me? Reject me properly so I could move on. I've been trying to satiate myself at night on my own, ut I think it only made my feelings stronger. He could've at least extended the favor of me humiliating myself, he's always been efficient like that.

Watching the two of them, I wonder if that's what a relationship with Kri would look like. Not that I'll ever figure that out.

Pulling me back in, Divi tells me more about ento cultures, thankfully wading away from my particular predicament. I like hearing that certain gifts mean certain things, that certain ento cultures still make nests in trees for their mates, and that Igrien has gorgeous theaters that I should definitely check out. It's enough conversation that Jillie comes by and sits on the floor, letting me play with her hair until the bar closes.

Jillie's apartment is closer than mine, and we stumble our way through goodbyes and promises to meet up within the next week. We make it back without issue, and Jillie crashes into her bed before I can make it to the couch.

My head is swimming, less with the alcohol, and more with thoughts. I'm upset, upset that I had to learn all this information about ento rituals secondhand, in hindsight, without context. I wish that I had done it differently, maybe not invited him at all, had made more friends before this so maybe they could've warned me beforehand.

But eventually sleep pulls me under, warm and inviting where my mind is kept cold and disgruntled.

Chapter 11 >>

[psicostyles]

Loving me takes patience

PART FOUR

Hello everyone, i know no one cares buttttt...here is the fourth part nobody asked fo but its here anyway! its shorter than usual but yeah, the dark days has come.

Hope you like :D

read the previous ones: part one, part two, part three

*

After last week, Harry and Rebecca went out almost every day for lunch. They always talked about everything and nothing at the same time. Harry was always talking about Cassie. Rebecca could see the sparkle in his eyes, he was in love with his daughter. It was apparent he was a good father. Rebecca always asked about Cassie.

Harry liked to show her Cassie's drawings she did at kindergarten, talked about their play dates, and how he loved a "to-do list" so he could organize himself and how busy his schedule was. Rebecca was kind of amazed. Harry on the other hand was afraid of pushing too hard on his dad's side to the point where Rebecca could not get interested in him because of his lifestyle. Oh, if he only knew what was going on in her head, just in a few days, Harry somehow set a hurricane of emotions on her.

On Monday after work, Harry called his mom when he needed her the most. Cassie was with her mom spending the week, so he did not have anyone he could talk to - he wasn't the type of ''Oh I've so many friends" guy. So Harry dialled his mom's number and on the third ring, he said "Mom, there's this woman at work, we are friends and she is so...pretty mom! She is funny and smart, like so smart! But I'm so afraid of getting close to someone, you know? But...Cassie is the first and only priority in my life, I can't start thinking about being with someone, besides I don't even know if that's what I want and also, I don't even know if she has a partner, you know? I'm so afraid of being with someone who will leave me again, I can't allow anyone to hurt Cassie and me. I'm just so confused. Call me when you hear this, okay? I love you, mom" As we can see, the call went straight to voicemail. Harry decided it would be better to go to sleep.

The next day Harry woke up at his usual time, took a shower, had breakfast, and went to his Saturday morning run. His earphones were blasting in his ears. Believe me, Heavy Metal Rock wasn't his thing, but it seemed like he needed the beat to relieve the tension he didn't even know he was holding up. With every step as faster as the other, he ran and ran.

When he got home, he had another shower to clean all the sweat covering his body. Cassie is still over at her mom's. Harry took the opportunity to have a day to himself and his delayed duties. He cleaned the house, did the laundry, folded their clothes, and made a delicious lunch. In the afternoon, he called Cassie to see her pretty little face and have a little chat. Cassie was doing fine and playing by the pool the whole week since it was summer season and the weather was pretty steamy.

Harry was relaxing on the couch when his phone rang with a new message

"Hey, are you free tonight? "

It was Rebecca's name on the screen.

"Hello, yes I'm. Why?"

"Karaoke night uh! R u in?"

Harry smiled immediately typing

"Sure. Text me the address"

Rebecca replied that he was parking in front of a Korean bar full of people coming in and out in thirty minutes. Harry got in and spotted Rebecca with a few people. When their eyes met, Rebecca yelled his name so he followed his path to her. Rebecca introduced him to her friends; they got along very well.

Rebecca's best friend named Cristina started to chat with him, as a best friend role, she told him all the embarrassing moments they had together. After all the confraternization, karaoke time was finally beginning. 

They booked a booth just for them to enjoy. Rebecca felt comfortable around them, I dare to say.  All of them were half drunk by now. It's been two hours since Rebecca got there, also dare to say, she was far from being sober. A little tipsy maybe or half drunk, half sober. Well, we can't tell. Harry ran his eyes into the room looking at everyone, especially Rebecca. The way she hides her face when she laughs,  how she moves her hands while talking and mostly how pretty she looks under the colourful lights in the room. 

It hit him right in the stomach, he already knew of course, but either way...hit hard. Harry was falling in love.

Fast. 

*

anyway...tell me what you think and if you want to be tagged next time :D

feedbacks are always welcome!

see you soon and happy new year to everyone!

[m1st1x]

RUIN Theory! - AR

As always, spoilers for the RUIN dlc. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. We’re going into the AR aspects today.

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AR stands for Augmented Reality, which is different from VR (Virtual Reality). Augmented means to make something greater in value or size, which is what we see throughout the game. Helpi even says that “Fazbear has just made it better,” which matches up. No discrepancies here. Here I’m going to write down some observations and tell you what I think, but feel free to come to your own conclusions with the information I present.

The first thing I noticed is that Prototype Freddy doesn’t show up, which I’m sure you already know. He also can’t see you, which would line up with what we see in Security Breach. I suspect that this is because he isn’t in the Network, whether that’s because he’s in safe mode or just too broken to count is up for debate. I mean he is missing his head and seems to be out for mindless revenge as well as all the graffiti art leading into Fazerblast, but then again, Monty is doing that as well and still shows up on the Network. Speaking of Monty, he, Chica, and all the Endos show up as pink outlines. Monty and Chica can see you from what I understand, but the Endos won’t bother you. That might be because they’re broken enough to not recognize that you’re wearing the mask, AKA presumably not a threat, but I don’t have much of an idea on why the Endos ignore you. I feel like Vanny would’ve wanted them to see her if she was feeding them information on how to be Afton, but then again, maybe she just managed them while invisible. It would be safer for her. And the last main animatronic, Roxy, has green holograms (?) over her body to make up for the lack of material there. My first thought was that it was due to her being something we can deactivate, but the other nodes aren’t green like that. Now that I’m looking at it again after my previous theories, I think that it might just be the animatronic in the basement manipulating our view. It’s already been established that it can puppeteer Helpi with the purple vein things and yellow eyes, so who’s to say it couldn’t make her look different? But the real question is why. It couldn’t be to create an emotional attachment stronger, that would just lower the possibility of Cassie actually deactivating her. The only possible benefit I see from doing it is the extra agony that could come of it when the animatronic kills Cassie, but even then I feel like the risk outweighs the reward. It could also be the Entity trying to guilt trip Cassie, but that seems unlikely to me.

Onto the other bots. We don’t get to see Eclipse in AR, but we do see both Sun and Moon. One super odd but intriguing thing I found was that Sun only shows up in AR, while Moon is only present in the real world. Even their lines match up. This suggests that they’re both present, but only Moon can technically be out since it’s dark. There’s probably some symbolism that I’m not picking up on, but it’s interesting. Also you can only reboot Moon, it won’t let you do it with Sun. And, Sun is able to speak in the real world after you reboot them. (Side note: Sun’s side when in AR looks like the wet floor bots—you know, the ones you deactivate. Just thought it was something interesting to point out.) For the mini music men, some show up and some don’t. That probably means that some aren’t connected to the Network, which suggests that not all of them belonged to Vanny. Were they controlled by the Blob? Someone else? Maybe DJ was behind it. He can’t get out of the arcade, so maybe he got some friends to help him out. Who knows. His arcade seems to have a similar layout to the purple AR world that were brought to, so maybe he’s more connected to the main lore than we think.

I’m guessing that everything that we can walk through in AR is made by high tech illusion discs, but I have no real basis for that other than the fact that I’m pretty sure the animatronics can walk through them without issue. But someone must have come in after the destruction to put in some of the things, because there is an AR bridge (that you can fall through out of AR, oddly enough. One less point for illusion discs) over a destroyed portion of the catwalks in Gator Golf. I don’t see why Vanny (/Vanessa) would come back after escaping, but maybe she isn’t as nice (or as free) as I’m thinking. I will say this now though, I’m not even going to touch the portal stuff. Matpat and FuhNaff can figure that out. But I will say that Monty Golf is right next to the Daycare on the map, so the screen thing is just getting rid of an obstacle, not traveling through a portal. 

The environment is interesting in AR. Some things appear differently in AR, including but not limited to, some vending machines showing Roxy instead of whichever animatronic was there, Cassie being on cutouts, and the voice lines that you hear, with the ones from Gregory being new. Cassie being there was the most confusing for me. The voice lines seem to just be memories and the animatronic in the basement leading you to the correct outcomes (a bit frantically, might I add), most likely just mimicking what it heard the animatronics say (there are eyes everywhere after all). But the cutouts suggest that there was some sort of plan for her. Then again, it could just be the animatronic pushing her towards saving it. Adding more fuel to the fire, as they say. But what if it means that whoever was controlling Vanessa and Gregory (see Escape Plan Theory) was somehow responsible for sparking the friendship between Gregory and Cassie?

EDIT: adding on to the mention of eyes, Sun says “the googly eyes just stare,” which could be a reference to the animatronic watching, listening, and learning.

[countrymusiclover]

11 - Sister Fights

Part 12

Other Hoyt’s Off Limits

Tag list- just ask to be added @stoneyggirl2 @dragonixfrye

Beau and I just froze in our places as I muttered under my breath wishing we had a way out of this. “Oh where’s Cassie with a phone call when you need her?” Because I knew my sister would be furious to hear our little secret.

Beau and I just were frozen where we stood with my sister standing in front of us. She had her arms crossed over her chest with a scowl of betrayal on her face. I knew I had messed up and I shouldn’t have kept it a secret because it would have avoided this exact moment. “Jenny before you get angry just let me explain that I have not hurt your sister since we started-“ Beau attempted to say calmly.

“Be quiet Beau!” She raised a hand cutting the sheriff off before he could say another word that she wouldn’t believe at this moment in time. “I can’t believe you went behind my back, Mallory. Was it all a load of crap that conversation we had that night after a few beers. Because I thought I was supposed to be the one helping you find love!”

Dropped my hands at my sides. I didn't know what the right thing to say was. That night I asked her to help me. I was in the most vulnerable state I had ever been in. “Jenny, I…I don’t know what to say. I was an emotional mess when I asked that of you. But now it is different. I have grown up since then. I can make the choice for myself and Beau has been nothing but a gentleman to me.”

“That’s the same thing you said about JW and we saw how that ended for you. But that isn’t important right now. You lied to me. You lied to your sister and here I thought we were always honest with each other.” She spat in my face before I turned my hands into fists at my sides.

“Is that this is coming too, Jen. Because you’ve had a fight with Cassie about sleeping with Cody and you forgave her. Then with Travis he freaking betrayed you and you still forgave him for that. So your track record is forgiving every liar on the planet.” I listed off my fingers seeing Beau give me a confused look because he assumed that she had taken care of Travis instead she let him run off to find whatever girl he was after.

Beau slowly raised his hands trying to calm down the situation before things got ugly between the two siblings. “Alright Hoyt let’s just hear her out before we jump to any conclusions about our relationship.”

“Oh I already have a conclusion you two are through. You need to stop whatever relationship this is because she isn’t someone you can just choose this job over or push around. She is my little sister and I will make sure that no low life country boy breaks her heart again!” My sister stomps her boots in the dirt getting in his face pointing her index finger harshly against his chest.

Stomping forward I grabbed my sister’s shoulder yanking her away from him not being able to take her yelling at him anymore. “Jenny, that's enough. Okay I really like him and I’m sorry I lied. Yet looking at you now maybe it was a good idea to keep it from you if this was going to happen. So you’ll just have to accept that I am not going to break up with him!”

“I can’t believe you are acting like a child over this. I am just doing what you asked me to do as your sister. And you clearly can’t see that so I’m gonna go!” She throws her hands up in the air getting in her car and drives off without another word.

I sucked in a shaky breath feeling tears starting to fall down my face watching her leave like this. My knees almost gave out from underneath me thankfully Beau noticed catching me before I could hit the ground. “Woah Mallory. Easy now I’ve got ya.” Wrapping my arms around his neck, our noses hit each other before he had me standing on my own feet.

“Thanks…I…I’m sorry for all this. I…I’m gonna go Beau.” I apologized to the sheriff, grabbing my coat and heading towards my truck. Since it would be awkward if I stayed here any longer since my sister had basically upset my whole evening.

Flinging my truck door opened I got in the driver seat about to close the door but he pressed his hand against it stopping my actions. “Hold up, Mal. Look I know you're upset and everything but - how about I take you out for some beers and cheese fries?”

“Beau…” Throwing my head back I slumped my shoulders wishing I hadn’t told him that I loved cheese fries with bacon at the bar we went to last time. Giving him a look he gives me those darn puppy dog eyes making me give in. “Fine. Hop in, I'll drive.”

He quickly snatched the keys from my hand before I could start the truck. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I made my emotional girlfriend drive? Plus I’m paying for your drinks.” He insisted so I slid over into the passenger seat letting him drive us to the place.

He held the door open for me while I got the beers and the fries, giving the bartender the money he had me seeing he had found an empty booth near the stage that usually had a band playing. Sliding in across him, taking a fry and popping it into my mouth smiling as he took two, throwing one in my direction. “Beau don’t waste the food.”

“It got you to smile, didn't it, Mallory.” He teased throwing some more until I threw some water in his face where he chuckled. By the end of this little food battle we were both covered in food and water but grinning ear to ear at the same time. Leaning back in the booth I giggled seeing Beau looking over his shoulder as some people were taking the stage.

“Alright everyone tonight we will be doing some karaoke. So if anyone has a suggestion, come up here. This is the song we will be starting with.” The announcer pulled up a song where I recognized the title Thinking Bout You.

Hitting my hands on the table I started tapping my boots on the wooden floor. “I love this song!”

“Then why don’t you go up there and sing?” He suggested tilting his head up towards the stage with a cheeky grin on his face.

Holding my hands up in the air I shook my head no feeling my face turning red like a tomato. I usually only sang when I was by myself. But otherwise I didn’t do it around others. “Hell no, Arlen. I don’t sing in front of crowds.”

“If I went up there would you do it then, Mallory.” He offered where I stayed silent until he got to his feet offering me his right hand. Slow putting mine in his he tugged me to my feet and up onto the stage with the two microphones. He took the first microphone looking in my direction when I picked up the second one sucking in a breath avoiding the gaze of the people in the audience. I never thought I would be doing something like this tonight but here we were. “Well, look who it is. Last call I thought I'd get. How's your mama, how you been? Girl, it's been too long. Saw your sister at the Circle K. Heard baby number two is on the way. Hadn't seen her since her wedding day. With you on my arm. It's good to hear from you again. Girl, what a coincidence. I was just thinking 'bout that weekend out on Cumberland Lake. And that one time in Baton Rouge when we made out in the rain. Where we went chasin' fallin' stars on a hill at your daddy's farm. Don't be sorry for callin' me up right outta the blue. I was just thinking 'bout you."

Closing my eyes I took a breath before reading the screen in front of me even though I knew all the words pretty well. "Hey, I just gotta say I heard your song the other day. And it put a smile on my face when I started reminiscing. I been on the edge of calling you. And I'm so glad I decided to…"

Beau and I turned to face one another smiling simply before we sang the duet part together. "I was just thinking 'bout that weekend out on Cumberland Lake. And that one time in Baton Rouge when we made out in the rain. Where we went chasin' fallin' stars on a hill at your daddy's farm. Don't be sorry for callin' me up right outta the blue. I was just thinking 'bout you. Oh, oh, I was just thinking 'bout you." I already enjoyed when he called me darling with that accent of his. So clearly he was good at singing.

"If you're ever back in town. Do what you're doin' right now. 'Cause I'm probably thinking 'bout you." Beau stared deeply into my eyes, taking my freehand in his twirling me underneath his arm, making me giggle up at the guy that was also my boss.

Squeezing my hand in his I spun him in and out of my chest before we got in the others face finishing the song together. Performing with him like this makes me forget how this evening started with an argument with my sister. "I was just thinking 'bout that weekend out on Cumberland Lake. And that one time in Baton Rouge when we made out in the rain. Where we went chasin' fallin' stars on a hill at your daddy's farm. Don't be sorry for callin' me up right outta the blue. I was just thinkin' 'bout you. Oh, oh, I was just thinkin' 'bout you. I was just thinkin' 'bout you. Oh, I was just thinkin' 'bout you." He wrapped his arms around my waist before I threw mine around his neck rushing back to our booth feeling like we were on cloud 9.

Unknown to either of us Jenny was sitting at the bar clutching a beer bottle in her hands watching the two of us before Cassie came and sat down beside her. "Jenny, I think you were wrong about Mallory." The blonde knew she wasn't leaving the bar anytime soon tonight.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

double-asking for the roadtrip au because *heart eyes emoji*

the roadtrip fic has hardly and solid plot or a working title yet but heck it's fun akskdjfhskfns

"Where's Jason?" Asks Duke, flat-out on a plush hotel bed that feels like a freaking cloud. Tim stretched out along one side of it, and if it doesn't say something about how big these beds are that the two of them, him and gangly Tim Drake, are both sprawled comfortably in the same one, Duke doesn't know what to say about that.

Tim doesn't look up from his laptop. "Probably pissing off Cass," he replies.

Duke raises an eyebrow, which Tim doesn't see, because he's staring at the computer screen. "On purpose?"

Tim shrugs. "Probably not, but also? Possibly. I don't think the whole thing with Steph is on purpose, though." Duke watches upside-down as a corner of Tim's mouth quirks up.

"Alright, I'll bite. How does Steph play into this?" 'Cause it's not like Duke hasn't noticed the rivalry between Cassie and Jason, they're not that subtle about it. He just hasn't asked. Not his monkeys, not his circus, right? He should use that one around Dick, see what the former circus kid thinks of that very appropriate saying.

Tim sighs. "I mean- you might get caught in the middle of it too. Cass is frustrated enough to stop pulling punches, at this point."

How Tim knows that, without a single word from the Batgirl in question for the duration of today's drive, Duke definitely won't question. If Tim is some kind of potential mind-reading meta, he's not going to be the one to out him.

Tim finally closes the laptop, looks at Duke. "Cass... does not," he emphasizes not, "Like Jay. I won't call it hate, because hate would have to have love to reflect from, but... it's close. It's the killing."

"I figured."

Tim nods. "And Jason hates being hated. They really don't get along in the best of circumstances, and, like... Cass can't turn off her abilities, you know?" He frowns. "Being stuck in an enclosed space with the entire family and all our emotional crap? Sucks for her and I don't think she expected it."

Duke remembers the excited, emoji-filled messages he'd gotten from Cassie about this trip the past few weeks. He doesn't think she expected it, either. "And Steph?"

Tim looks him directly in the eyes, which is freaking unnerving because Tim has those icy blue eyes like Bruce that look like he's staring directly into you sometimes, when he's not looking at you from behind messy-long hair. "Come on," he says, almost abruptly, then relaxes back against the cushiony headboard of the massive bed.

He sighs, loud and grating in the quiet of the room. There's a gorgeous view out the window, but the quiet, free of road noise and navigational conversational chatter, might be the best part. Duke stares out the window, overlooking a shockingly blue lake, watches a floating dock bob in the wind instead of watching the thinly veiled emotions crossing Tim's face. Tim is like a steel trap a lot of the time, expressionless as Red Robin but when he's himself, really, he doesn't hide so much. Duke doubts he really wants him to see all that, though, if he could even parse it all out.

Finally, after long enough that it almost makes Duke jump, Tim speaks again. "Steph has been spending a lot of time with Jason lately." Something about his tone, or maybe the words themselves, sounds weirdly deliberate. It takes Duke a minute to figure out why.

He pushes himself up on an elbow to stare at Tim, not upside-down. "They've got something going on," he fills in, and, yeah, that checks out.

Tim snorts. "Heck if I know. I don't think they're, like... dating? But there's... definitely something there."

"Mutual crush," Duke fills in again, because that definitely fits with what he's seen.

"Something like that," Tim says. "If my ex girlfriend, who's currently one of my best friends in general, and my brother have a thing for each other... who gets the shovel talk?"

Duke, to his credit, doesn't burst out laughing like he wants to do. "Hell if I know," he replies, then laughs because he just repeated what Tim had said a second ago. "So Jason is pissing Cassie off by hanging around with Steph?"

"Yep," Tim replies, popping the P. "I wonder if B is aware of this whole thing," he mutters.

Duke grins. "Tell him. Then he can handle the shovel talk."

Tim looks at him, startled and considering at the same time, then grins back.

[canonicallysoulmates]

Walker 3.08

Walker is back! And I'm gonna make this quick cause not a lot happens. There is a case, a missing rich dude who faked his death but the seemingly most important thing about that is that Captain James is on edge because of what Cassie and Walker did of opening the evidence case and the one who ends up getting the brunt of his anger is poor Trey! Captain screams at him because he and Cassie pursued a lead without contacting him even saying that maybe making Trey a ranger was a mistake. Captain James come over here I just wanna talk.

Anyways, the ep picks up where the last one left off with Abeline on the ground, they rush her to the hospital and it turns out she had a mild temporary stroke. Thankfully she's fine and makes a full recovery but she does need to make some changes less stress, a heart-healthy diet that kind of thing which are instructions that Bonham takes very seriously. It's actually quite sweet how he goes into protective mode and he wants to take care of her even doing research into things that could benefit her health, he does go a bit overboard with it though and Abeline has to talk some sense into him that she doesn't plan to live her life in fear.

He struggles with that a little bit because he doesn't want to think about her being gone but he does come around and realize that she's right, and he plans a really sweet, romantic dinner for them which is such a lovely scene. These two are definitely the highlight of this episode.

On the other side of the coin, something I didn't like was the resolution given to Stella and August fighting. At Abeline's request, Walker and the kids go to Dallas to try and get her brother because she wants to see him, and the whole time Stella and August are fighting and it all comes to an end as they're having breakfast. Walker tries to get them to talk and fix things but he does not know how to mediate and it starts to turn into one more fight so he's like "forget it, do what you want" and walks away. Stella and August start to go back and forth and what it all basically boils down to is Stella saying that the reason for August acting in such a way is because he misses their mom........*sigh*. And she's once again the bigger person telling him that she understands, that she's been through the same thing, and that while she's not their mom to let her be the person that he vents to and yells at..........Stella deserves better.

There are several things I don't like about this but I'll touch upon just two the first one is that they still have a father, Stella is taking on a level of responsibility that should not be hers, the person that should be telling August these things and taking on that responsibility of trying to fill in the gap that their mother left of being there when he needs someone to yell at and vent is Walker. The second is that August acknowledges that he and his mom were very close but he doesn't apologize to Stella, he doesn't acknowledge that he was in the wrong and that he hurt her these are things that better happen in the next couple of episodes or I'm going to be pissed. And actually, I will touch upon a third thing which is that I don't get how this kid is not in therapy or getting some counseling when he is clearly struggling with regulating his emotions and handling his anger. There's a whole storyline this season about how therapy has been beneficial to Liam yet not one single member of this family has considered that August would benefit from it as well.

I do like the conclusion with Abeline's brother because he misses her but he's not ready to see her yet but he does call her later that day. And I like it because it's real, last time they spoke they had a huge fight that made them go no contact for years. It's not easy to fix family relationships.

And then the episode ends on a shocker because Bonham tells Walker it's time to pack up and get his shit together. I'm paraphrasing. I get where Bonham is coming from but I cannot wrap my head around this- I think I'm too Latina for this because the thought of kicking your own son (and your grandchild!) out when he doesn't even live in the main house for no real reason cause yeah Walker's a mess who needs to get his shit together but that's not a reason! I would get it if he was a bad person, if he was being wildly irresponsible, bringing in drugs, didn't contribute anything but his biggest sin is not taking advice, not going to therapy, and that fatherhood has been kicking his ass lately. All Walker does is go to work, help out, and go to his little house to sleep. This is wild to me.