#lockdown happens a month later

[lettuce-gremlin]

Something Something Beckett declaring that he doesn't want anyone to feel the pain of losing a loved one again, but by self isolating to the extent that he is, he has basically caused his family and friends to lose him anyway

[helianskies]

mayb its the time of the month but i just got notifs of being in venice 4 years ago today and am now crying bc i suddenly miss it all. i miss those days, i miss the travelling, i miss being an undergrad, i miss saying to myself 'you know what, i'm going to treat me to a holiday',, i miss feeling that care-free

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Utah’s getting some of America’s best broadband

TOMORROW (May 17), I'm at the INTERNET ARCHIVE in SAN FRANCISCO to keynote the 10th anniversary of the AUTHORS ALLIANCE.

Residents of 21 cities in Utah have access to some of the fastest, most competitively priced broadband in the country, at speeds up to 10gb/s and prices as low as $75/month. It's uncapped, and the connections are symmetrical: perfect for uploading and downloading. And it's all thanks to the government.

This broadband service is, of course, delivered via fiber optic cable. Of course it is. Fiber is vastly superior to all other forms of broadband delivery, including satellites, but also cable and DSL. Fiber caps out at 100tb/s, while cable caps out at 50gb/s – that is, fiber is 1,000 times faster:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/10/why-fiber-vastly-superior-cable-and-5g

Despite the obvious superiority of fiber, America has been very slow to adopt it. Our monopolistic carriers act as though pulling fiber to our homes is an impossible challenge. All those wires that currently go to your house, from power-lines to copper phone-lines, are relics of a mysterious, fallen civilization and its long-lost arts. Apparently we could no more get a new wire to your house than we could build the pyramids using only hand-tools.

In a sense, the people who say we can't pull wires anymore are right: these are relics of a lost civilization. Specifically, electrification and later, universal telephone service was accomplished through massive federal grants under the New Deal – grants that were typically made to either local governments or non-profit co-operatives who got everyone in town connected to these essential modern utilities.

Today – thanks to decades of neoliberalism and its dogmatic insistence that governments can't do anything and shouldn't try, lest they break the fragile equilibrium of the market – we have lost much of the public capacity that our grandparents took for granted. But in the isolated pockets where this capacity lives on, amazing things happen.

Since 2015, residents of Jackson County, KY – one of the poorest counties in America – have enjoyed some of the country's fastest, cheapest, most reliable broadband. The desperately poor Appalachian county is home to a rural telephone co-op, which grew out of its rural electrification co-op, and it used a combination of federal grants and local capacity to bring fiber to every home in the county, traversing dangerous mountain passes with a mule named "Ole Bub" to reach the most remote homes. The result was an immediately economic uplift for the community, and in the longer term, the county had reliable and effective broadband during the covid lockdowns:

https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-one-traffic-light-town-with-some-of-the-fastest-internet-in-the-us

Contrast this with places where the private sector has the only say over who gets broadband, at what speed, and at what price. America is full of broadband deserts – deserts that strand our poorest people. Even in the hearts of our largest densest cities, whole neighborhoods can't get any broadband. You won't be surprised to learn that these are the neighborhoods that were historically redlined, and that the people who live in them are Black and brown, and also live with some of the highest levels of pollution and its attendant sicknesses:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/10/flicc/#digital-divide

These places are not set up for success under the best of circumstances, and during the lockdowns, they suffered terribly. You think your kid found it hard to go to Zoom school? Imagine what life was like for kids who attended remote learning while sitting on the baking tarmac in a Taco Bell parking lot, using its free wifi:

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/09/02/elem-s02.html

ISPs loathe competition. They divide up the country into exclusive territories like the Pope dividing up the "new world" and do not trouble one another by trying to sell to customers outside of "their" turf. When Frontier – one of the worst of America's terrible ISPs – went bankrupt, we got to see their books, and we learned two important facts:

The company booked one million customers who had no alternative as an asset, because they would pay more for slower broadband, and Frontier could save a fortune by skipping maintenance, and charging these customers for broadband even through multi-day outages; and

Frontier knew that it could make a billion dollars in profit over a decade by investing in fiber build-out, but it chose not to, because stock analysts will downrank any carrier that made capital investments that took more than five years to mature. Because Frontier's execs were paid primarily in stock, they chose to strand their customers with aging copper connections and to leave a billion dollars sitting on the table, so that their personal net worth didn't suffer a temporary downturn:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/04/frontiers-bankruptcy-reveals-cynical-choice-deny-profitable-fiber-millions

ISPs maintain the weirdest position: that a) only the private sector can deliver broadband effectively, but b) to do so, they'll need massive, unsupervised, no-strings-attached government handouts. For years, America went along with this improbable scheme, which is why Trump's FCC chairman Ajit Pai gave the carriers $45 billion in public funds to string slow, 19th-century-style copper lines across rural America:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/27/all-broadband-politics-are-local/

Now, this is obviously untrue, and people keep figuring out that publicly provisioned broadband is the only way for America to get the same standard of broadband connectivity that our cousins in other high-income nations enjoy. In order to thwart the public's will, the cable and telco lobbyists joined ALEC, the far-right, corporatist lobbying shop, and drafted "model legislation" banning cities and counties from providing broadband, even in places the carriers chose not to serve:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/19/culture-war-bullshit-stole-your-broadband/

Red states across America adopted these rules, and legislators sold this to their base by saying that this was just "keeping the government out of their internet" (even as every carrier relied on an exclusive, government-granted territorial charter, often with massive government subsidies).

ALEC didn't target red states exclusively because they had pliable, bribable conservative lawmakers. Red states trend rural, and rural places are the most likely sites for public fiber. Partly, that's because low-density areas are harder to make a business case for, but also because these are also the places that got electricity and telephone through New Deal co-ops, which are often still in place.

Just about the only places in America where people like their internet service are the 450+ small towns where the local government provides fiber. These places vote solidly Republican, and it was their beloved conservative lawmakers whom ALEC targeted to enact laws banning their equally beloved fiber – keep voting for Christmas, turkeys, and see where it gets you:

https://communitynets.org/content/community-network-map

But spare a little sympathy for the conservative movement here. The fact that reality has a pronounced leftist bias must be really frustrating for the ideological project of insisting that anything the market can't provide is literally impossible.

Which brings me back to Utah, a red state with a Republican governor and legislature, and a national leader in passing unconstitutional, unhinged, unworkable legislation as part of an elaborate culture war kabuki:

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165975112/utah-passes-an-age-verification-law-for-anyone-using-social-media

For more than two decades, a coalition of 21 cities in Utah have been building out municipal fiber. The consortium calls itself UTOPIA: "Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency":

https://www.utopiafiber.com/faqs/

UTOPIA pursues a hybrid model: they run "open access" fiber and then let anyone offer service over it. This can deliver the best of both worlds: publicly provisioned, blazing-fast fiber to your home, but with service provided by your choice of competing carriers. That means that if Moms for Liberty captures you local government, you're not captive to their ideas about what sites your ISP should block.

As Karl Bode writes for Techdirt, Utahns in UTOPIA regions have their choice of 18 carriers, and competition has driven down prices and increased speeds. Want uncapped 1gb fiber? That's $75/month. Want 10gb fiber? That's $150:

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/05/15/utah-locals-are-getting-cheap-10-gbps-fiber-thanks-to-local-governments/

UTOPIA's path to glory wasn't an easy one. The dismal telco monopolists Qwest and Lumen sued to put them out of business, delaying the rollout by years:

https://www.deseret.com/2005/7/22/19903471/utopia-responds-to-qwest-lawsuit/

UTOPIA has been profitable and self-sustaining for over 15 years and shows no sign of slowing. But 17 states still ban any attempt at this.

Keeping up such an obviously bad policy requires a steady stream of distractions and lies. The "government broadband doesn't work" lie has worn thin, so we've gotten a string of new lies about wireless service, insisting that fiber is obviated by point-to-point microwave relays, or 5g, or satellite service.

There's plenty of places where these services make sense. You're not going to be able to use fiber in a moving car, so yeah, you're going to want 5g (and those 5g towers are going to need to be connected to each other with fiber). Microwave relay service can fill the gap until fiber can be brought in, and it's great for temporary sites (especially in places where it doesn't rain, because rain, clouds, leaves and other obstructions are deadly for microwave relays). Satellite can make sense for an RV or a boat or remote scientific station.

But wireless services are orders of magnitude slower than fiber. With satellite service, you share your bandwidth with an entire region or even a state. If there's only a couple of users in your satellite's footprint, you might get great service, but when your carrier adds a thousand more customers, your connection is sliced into a thousand pieces.

That's also true for everyone sharing your fiber trunk, but the difference is that your fiber trunk supports speeds that are tens of thousands of times faster than the maximum speeds we can put through freespace electromagnetic spectrum. If we need more fiber capacity, we can just fish a new strand of fiber through the conduit. And while you can increase the capacity of wireless by increasing your power and bandwidth, at a certain point you start pump so much EM into the air that birds start falling out of the sky.

Every wireless device in a region shares the same electromagnetic spectrum, and we are only issued one such spectrum per universe. Each strand of fiber, by contrast, has its own little pocket universe, containing a subset of that spectrum.

Despite all its disadvantages, satellite broadband has one distinct advantage, at least from an investor's perspective: it can be monopolized. Just as we only have one electromagnetic spectrum, we also only have one sky, and the satellite density needed to sustain a colorably fast broadband speed pushes the limit of that shared sky:

https://spacenews.com/starlink-vs-the-astronomers/

Private investors love monopoly telecoms providers, because, like pre-bankruptcy Frontier, they are too big to care. Back in 2021, Altice – the fourth-largest cable operator in America – announced that it was slashing its broadband speeds, to be "in line with other ISPs":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/27/immortan-altice/#broadband-is-a-human-right

In other words: "We've figured out that our competitors are so much worse than we are that we are deliberately degrading our service because we know you will still pay us the same for less."

This is why corporate shills and pro-monopolists prefer satellite to municipal fiber. Sure, it's orders of magnitude slower than fiber. Sure, it costs subscribers far more. Sure, it's less reliable. But boy oh boy is it profitable.

The thing is, reality has a pronounced leftist bias. No amount of market magic will conjure up new electromagnetic spectra that will allow satellite to attain parity with fiber. Physics hates Starlink.

Yeah, I'm talking about Starlink. Of course I am. Elon Musk basically claims that his business genius can triumph over physics itself.

That's not the only vast, impersonal, implacable force that Musk claims he can best with his incredible reality-distortion field. Musk also claims that he can somehow add so many cars to the road that he will end traffic – in other words, he will best geometry too:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/09/herbies-revenge/#100-billion-here-100-billion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

Geometry hates Tesla, and physics hates Starlink. Reality has a leftist bias. The future is fiber, and public transit. These are both vastly preferable, more efficient, safer, more reliable and more plausible than satellite and private vehicles. Their only disadvantage is that they fail to give an easily gulled, thin-skinned compulsive liar more power over billions of people. That's a disadvantage I can live with.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/16/symmetrical-10gb-for-119/#utopia

Image: 4028mdk09 (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rote_LED_Fiberglasleuchte.JPG

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[munsonluhvr]

SWEETHEART SOIRÉE (DAY #2: LOVE LETTERS EVENT)

content: Eddie Munson x virgin!innocent!reader explicit, 18+ content! Your parents are strict, not willing to let you go out and participate in the shenanigans that happen on Valentine's Day; Eddie helps you sneak out so you can go out with him. word count - 4.1k

notes: this was so extremely fun to write. I got so engrossed in writing this that by the end I felt like I just snuck out to spend a night with Eddie #Iwish.

love letter event masterlist

The loud hum of conversation in Hawkins High cafeteria numbs your ears, the sound becoming unbearable. It’s Valentine’s day and all-around you people make plans for later tonight. Even at the table you sit at, your friends bounce back and forth to each other, making plans of their own. 

“I’m sorry your parents won’t let you out,” your friend Nancy Wheeler says to you with a frown. “Parents can be such a bummer.” 

You offer a smile, trying to play nonchalant. There’s nothing more pathetic then showcasing how truly bummed you are. Your parents are conservative, expecting you to behave like a lady all day, every day. Valentine’s day was a holiday your parents deemed too risky, the love circulating in the air making the perfect disease for you to catch and act promiscuous. They expected you home after school, in your room for the rest of the evening. For any of the previous years that would have been fine, you had never had a ��valentine,’ but this year was different – Eddie Munson had made it clear he was your Valentine. However, he wasn’t aware of the lockdown your parents will have on you later in the evening. 

You and Eddie have been dating for only a few months, still in the early stages of being in a relationship. You were crazy about each other, spending any free time you had with each other. Normally he’d be sitting with you during lunch, or you with him and his Hellfire friends, but you glanced back at his normal table, his chair at the end of the table left empty.

Just then, a hand clasps around the back your back, leaning you back. Your skin sparks under the touch, your eyes flickering to see Eddie’s eyes gazing at you. Your stomach twists, your body becoming a puddle under his gaze. Eddie leans over, placing a kiss on your mouth. “Happy Valentine’s Day, love.” Eddie says, disconnecting his mouth from yours. He crouches down next to your chair, holding onto the back of it for balance. You’re still reeling from his kiss, the form of affection never growing old; every time it gives you butterflies, your skin igniting with goosebumps. “I wanted to ask what you wanted to do tonight?” 

“She can’t go out. Her parents have her on lockdown.” Nancy tosses at Eddie, noticing your loss of words. Eddie frowns glancing from you to Nancy and then back to you. “Is that true?” 

You nod, glancing at your hands that rest on your lap. “My parents think Valentine’s is a promiscuous holiday, that I’ll get pregnant or something if I go out.” 

Eddie laughs, shaking his head. “Parents,” Eddie says. “Such assholes for no reason. That’s all right, don’t worry about it. Maybe we could do something next weekend then?”

You nod. “Definitely.”

Depressed is not a strong enough word to describe how you feel, sitting in your room on the evening of Valentine’s Day, all alone. Throughout the rest of the day at school, you were surrounded by the constant sounds of people making plans with their friends or significant others. You had heard about a couple of parties at various people’s houses, though you let it pass through your mind, knowing there was no possible chance you would be able to go. 

You’re bent over your desk, scribbling notes for your upcoming biology test. You sigh, the feeling of disappointment riddling your body. Though you’ve accepted your parents stance on going out on Valentine’s, still, your mind circulates around what everyone else is doing as you’re locked in your bedroom. 

Your door opens, your mother leaning into your room. “What are you doing?” she asks, her eyes landing on you at your desk. “Homework, I’m not allowed to do much else.” You reply with a huff. You glance at your mother who’s in her pajamas, a robe cloaking her body. She shakes her head, crossing her arms across her chest. “You’ll thank us later when you’re in college and not held back by a child.” 

You shake your head, turning back to your homework that is laid out in front of you. Your mother is impossible. You ignore her while she stands in your bedroom doorway, her eyes sweeping across your room. “Your father and I are going to bed, don’t even think about sneaking out.” She says, placing her hand on the doorknob. She begins to back into the hallway that leads to your room but leans back in before the door completely closes. “And pick up your clothes, this isn’t a pig pen.” Your bedroom door snaps shut. 

You roll your eyes, resting your elbow on the desktop, your hand cradling your head. You shrug the exchange off, not letting your mother’s attitude ruin your night further. You consume yourself with schoolwork until you hear a light knock on your bedroom, jolting you out of your mind. You turn in your chair, squinting to see what made the noise outside. Though it’s pitch dark outside, the sun setting hours ago, you see a figure outside your window. 

You get up from your spot, and as you get closer you notice that it’s only Eddie. Lifting from the bottom of the window, you push your window up, allowing the cold February air flow into your room. “Eddie? What are you doing?” 

Eddie sits atop your roof, holding onto the windowsill to maintain his balance on the roofs sloped structure. His cheeks are flushed pink, the cold numbing his body. “I’m sneaking you out, I was about to knock but your mom rolled into your room, so I waited until she left. You deserve to go out, you always go from school to home to back to school.” 

You lean outside, the smell of fresh air filling your nose, softening your tone to a light whisper in case either of your parents were near. “And you know what she told me when she came in? To not even think about sneaking out.” 

Eddie snorts. “They won’t even know that you went out, I’ll have you back in a little while. Come on, it’ll be fun.” 

Your eyes shift, the fear of your parents opening your door to check if you’re still in there scares you beyond belief. Your parents instilled their beliefs into you without your consent, ensuring that you were the perfect child. You never allowed yourself to cut loose, trying to meet their standards. You debated whether you believed life would allow you to have a little fun with no consequences. “I don’t know, Eddie… my parents really don’t want me going out tonight.” 

Eddie coos, leaning forward to let his fingers brush your cheek. His digits are cold, displaying he’d been outside for a little too long. “You’re such good girl, such a rule follower. Sometimes I feel like I’m corrupting you and feel guilty.” 

You frown. “Don’t feel guilty, I just don’t want to deal with my parents grounding me for months and never letting me see you again.” 

Eddie smiles, his fingers moving away from your cheek and down to your own fingers. His fingertips graze across your knuckles, his fingers beginning to lace into yours. “Trust me, I’ll have you back in just a little bit.” 

You look back into your room, glancing at the door. Your heart beats, nervousness stuck in your throat. You debate, the pros and cons laying themselves out in your mind. You bite your lip, glancing back at Eddie. Since you and Eddie started dating, your dates were limited to directly after school while your parents were still at work or at school sporting events when your parents would allow you to spend time at. Once or twice, you had managed to sneak to Eddie’s house but only for a short while. 

Before you give it too much thought, talking yourself out of it, you fold yourself small enough to crouch through the window. Eddie cheers quietly, his hands pumping in the air, while he wraps an arm around your waist. Together, you and Eddie guide yourself off the roof, and you thank the universe for making your house a short, squatty two-story home. Once you get to the lowest part of the roof, Eddie maneuvers himself down, holding his arms out for you to hold onto while you hop down to the frost covered ground. As you jog from your backyard to the street where Eddie’s large van in parked you say a short prayer, though unlike your parents you don’t have strong feelings for ‘higher power,’ you ask whoever is up there to allow you just one night of fun. 

Eddie’s hand grasps yours, pulling you with excitement. In your slipper covered feet, you make it to Eddie’s van in a short minute. Instantly, Eddie turns the van on, the warm air blowing into the body of the car to warm your chilled body. You cover your mouth, a squeal escaping. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m doing this!” 

Eddie chuckles. “Welcome to the dark side.” 

You smile, fastening your seatbelt. And off you and Eddie go. 

It’s only around 11 o’clock, car headlights flashing past as you and Eddie coast down the Hawkins streets.  As you blow by downtown Hawkins, groups of girls in dresses, flower bouquets in their hands, their boyfriends trailing behind them; you catch a glimpse of what life is like outside of your home and away from your parents. Storefronts and restaurants have pink, paper cutouts of hearts and cupids, the town square demonstrating an appreciation for love day. 

“Where are we going?” you say, glancing at Eddie. 

“The pond by my house; there’s something I want to show you.” Eddie says, glancing back at you. Eddie’s house is on the other side of Hawkins, and you don’t venture their often; your parents claiming it’s ‘the wrong side of the tracks.’ When you went to Eddie’s house, it was only the first and second time you had really been to that side of Hawkins. You live a very sheltered life. 

Eddie turns right onto a dirt path, his headlights lighting up the dark park that surrounds the car. Bare trees, stick branches sticking out in all directions, crowd around in patches, almost blocking the path in which the car drives on. “You aren’t going to kill me are you?” You ask, the dark park giving eerie feelings. 

Eddie laughs, shaking his head. “Now why would I do something like that?” 

You shrug, smiling at the sound of his laugh. Eddie pulls into an unmarked parking spot, the car pointed in the direction of a half-frozen pond. It’s a fairly small pond and you frown at the sight; what did Eddie want to show you here?

Eddie shrugs his jacket off, placing the article of clothing around your shoulders. “What are you doing?” you ask, beginning to slip his jean jacket on. Eddie opens the driver’s side door, letting the cold air rush in. “I told you there’s something I want to show you.” 

“But it’s dark out.” You say with a frown. “What if there are, like, moose out there?”

Eddie frowns, another laugh escaping his lips. “This is Indiana, y/n, I don’t think we have moose here. I’ll keep you safe, come on.” You sigh, opening your door and hoping out of Eddie’s vehicle. 

You follow Eddie, reaching for his hand. You hate the dark, especially in an ambiguous park you’ve never been to before. Eddie follows a path that walks around the length of the small pond, your body staying close to his. After a short walk, Eddie places you in front of him, his hands on your shoulder. He leans close, pointing towards the edge of the pond. “Look,” Eddie says, his cologne radiating off of him. You squint, looking in the direction Eddie points in. When you see what he’s pointing at, you gasp softly. 

At the edge of the pond, almost hidden by the cattails, is a pair of swans, their pure white bodies reflecting the moonlight off them; they almost glow. Their bodies stick out against the dark water, the outlines of the revealed by the bright moonlight. They stay close to each other in the low temperatures, just as you and Eddie stand on the path, their long, thin necks bent around each other. The two swans nuzzle into each other, their black beaks lovingly pecking at each other. 

“I-I’ve never seen swans before,” you say, stepping closer to the edge of the pond to look. Suddenly, you’re no longer afraid of the dark, willing to stand in the dark of the night for hours just to watch the swans love each other.  

“This is where I come to do, uh, business and I noticed them last time I was here. They’re new, they weren’t here before.” Eddie says, watching you become entranced by the large birds. You can’t help but roll your eyes at Eddie mentioning his drug dealing business, but you feel special that Eddie thought to bring you here to see them. 

The pair of swans begin to drift away from the edge, one trailing behind the other, as they glide across the pond. You watch with curiosity, watching as the birds pause directly in front of you and Eddie in the middle of the pond. The front swan turns, angling itself towards the swan that was trailing behind. They stretch their necks, bending until their small heads are pressed against each other, their chests touching, making the outline of a heart with their bodies. “Eddie, look,” you say, your breath getting caught in your throat. 

Eddie pulls your back against his chest, his arm securing itself around your upper body. He leans into you, placing a kiss on your cheek. “Come on,” Eddie whispers, placing a second kiss on the edge of your jaw, a third under your ear on your neck. Eddie gently pulls you in the direction of the car, your eyes trained on the birds. As Eddie tugs your away, you watch as the two birds break apart, the heart broken, and they continue to the other side of the pond, one swan in front of the other. It was almost as if the swans did the display just for you and Eddie. 

Back at the car, Eddie opens the two back doors of the van, gesturing for you to get inside. You frown as you climb in, seating yourself in the bare backseat of Eddie’s car. You shrug Eddie’s jacket off, the warm heat still filling the car. As Eddie follows you into the backseat, he closes the van doors behind him. As he turns to you, Eddie crosses his arms across his body, lifting his Hellfire t-shirt up and off his torso. “Eddie, what are you doing? You’re going to catch a cold-“ you say, as Eddie maneuvers his body to hover over where you sit. Eddie pushes your upper body down with one hand, his other hand parting your legs. All at once you knew where this was going. 

You settle against the car floor, your mouth attaching to Eddie’s, your lips moving in harmony with each other. Your cold hands find their way to Eddie’s chest, your fingertips leaving cool trails across his warm skin. While Eddie presses his lips into yours, he uses his free hand to push your pajama pants down, revealing your naked bottom half underneath. Eddie groans against your mouth, feeling your bare cunt brush across his fingertips. 

You gasp, your mouth parting from Eddie’s. You had never been touched in that part of your body, except for your own hands and fingers, and the feeling was so much better then you could have imagined. Your hand fumbles at Eddie’s waist, attempting to unbuckle his belt. After an unsuccessful attempt, Eddie helps, his lips nipping at yours during the processes. Finally, his belt comes free, Eddie working quickly to unzip his jeans and shrug them off. At the same time, you lift your shirt up and off your body, the cold air that seeps into the car attacking your bare breasts. When Eddie looks back up at you after pulling his pants and boxers off, his eyes go wide like saucers looking at your bare chest. This was the first time Eddie has ever seen you naked, few opportunities throughout the few months you and Eddie have been dating allowed for such an activity. 

With eagerness, Eddie places himself over you, your bare hips meeting his. “Do you want to do this?” Eddie asks, his fingers brushing across your cheek bone. “We don’t have to.” 

You nod, cupping the side of his face with your hand. “I want to. It’s just my, uh, first time is all.” 

Eddie nods, his brows knitting together. “Just tell me if you want to stop; you promise you’ll say if you want to stop?” 

You nod, spreading your legs so Eddie can settle himself between you. “Will you walk me through it?” Eddie nods, his tender touches ensuring he’ll protect you the entire time. 

“Are you ready? I’ll push myself in now; it might sting a little bit, but I’ll go slow.” Eddie holds himself in his hand, leaning on his arm. Eddie is surpised to find that your body is already slick with arousal for him, the discovery turning him on beyond belief. 

You lean your head back against the floor, your eyes watching Eddie’s movement. “I’m ready.” You inhale, exhale, and Eddie pushes himself into you with ease. You gasp, your body working to adjust to Eddie’s large size. Your eyes flutter shut, the pleasurable pain coursing through you. “Are you all right?” Eddie asks, his hand cradling your head against his arm that he props himself up on. 

“You can move, I’m okay.” You say, your arms wrapping around his body. Eddie leans over you, placing a kiss on your jaw again. “You’re so beautiful, I feel like I don’t tell you often enough.” Eddie says, his eyes grazing across your face. 

You laugh. “You tell me every day.” 

Eddie shakes his head, his fingertips brushing across the outline of your lips. “That’s not often enough.” You blush, your mind blank. Eddie refocuses, rocking his hips against yours. Underneath him you groan, the pain starting to turn into pleasure. You wrap your legs around Eddie’s waist, feeling a need to be as close as possible to him. Though the car is cold, you and Eddie’s bodies become slick with a light layer of sweat, your core burning at the bottom of your stomach. 

Eddie buries his face into the crook of your neck, mumbling mindlessly as he becomes lost in the intertwining of your bodies. “You feel so good,” Eddie says clearly, his warm breath fanning against your skin. You whine, the feeling of Eddie rocking against you building pressure in your lower half. You aren’t coherent enough to form words, everything coming out in a mumble, as you begin to unravel under Eddie, your mind and body in a complete trance from Eddie’s touch. 

Eddie ducks his head away from your neck, leaving a few kisses in his wake as he trails down to your breasts. Swiftly, he cups one of your breasts into his large, rough hand, placing his mouth around your nipple. Your back arches in response, your hand leaving his back to entangle itself into his hair. You mewl, words beginning to form on your tongue. 

“Oh, Eddie.” You whisper, your fingers closing with locks of his hair in your hand. Unlatching his mouth from your nipple, Eddie trails kisses back up your chest, up the front of your throat. You lean your head back, silently asking Eddie to not stop. 

Every touch Eddie lays on your skin brings you further to the edge, his strokes slowing down and speeding up in the perfect rhythm. You don’t care if your parents know you’ve snuck out of the house, you don’t care if Hawkins police is cruising around  the streets looking for you, you know you’ve met heaven where you lay underneath Eddie, your legs parted just for him. 

The muscles of your cunt clench around Eddie, the pressure bringing Eddie closer with each stroke. Eddie buries his head in your neck again, your fingers still intertwined in his hair. You whine underneath him, mumbling mindlessly, turning Eddie on further and further. Eddie’s head fills with dirty ideas, with ways he wants to fold you, different places he wants to fuck you, but he knows there will be plenty of times in the future to explore his thoughts. 

With a few strokes, Eddie curls against you, a low grunt leaving his mouth as he releases into the depth of your cunt, your body arching as you finish too, the feeling of his body pressed against yours bringing to the brink. 

Eddie pulls himself from you, instantly cradling you in his arms. Placing a kiss on your temple, Eddie nudges into you. “Are you okay? Anything hurt?” 

You shake your head, the warmth of his body against yours feeling nice.  “It felt great.” Is all you can manage to say between breaths. Eddie laughs, his fingertips trailing across your skin. “You’re telling me.” 

The ride back to your house was fast, too fast for your liking, and you stand in your backyard underneath your bedroom window. All the lights in your house were dark, your parents’ bedroom at the front of the house dark, no movement behind their shut curtains. You and Eddie really pulled it off. 

Eddie kneels in the wet grass, making himself a stepping tool. You hold onto his shoulder, using his thigh as a steppingstone to your low roof. With a little upper body strength, you ease your way onto your roof, Eddie standing up from the kneeling position to help guide your legs. After, Eddie maneuvers his way on to the roof with ease. He ushers you up, lifting your cracked window open enough for you to sneak into. You climb into your room as quietly as possible, your eyes looking towards your bedside table, your small analog clock reading “2:50 AM.” 

You turn to the window, Eddie crouching down just as he had when he appeared in your window earlier that night. “See? Just like you never left.” 

You smile. “I had a great time, thank you.” You lean out the window, placing a kiss on Eddie’s cheek. “Go before you catch a cold.” Eddie nods, his eyes lingering on you. 

“Oh, wait.” Eddie whispers, reaching his hand behind his back. “I almost forgot to give you this.” Eddie places a single red rose on your windowsill, a light blush tinting his cheeks. You pick the flower up, lifting it to smell it’s fragrant petals. Your heart swells, the kind gesture making you feel warm. 

“I feel bad, I didn’t get you anything for Valentine’s.” 

Eddie shrugs. “You are already the greatest gift.” Eddie leans forward again, catching your lips against his. Then, swiftly, Eddie maneuvers across your roof, waving goodbye as he dodges across your backyard.  

You linger by the window, wondering if you’re in a dream, the night too perfect for words. After a minute, you tuck yourself under your bedsheets, the warmth warning your tingling limbs. As you lay, the rose placed on your bedside table, you hear footsteps coming towards your room. You let your eyes flutter shut, relaxing your body as if you were asleep. 

You hear the doorknob turn, the door cracking open. “See,” you hear your father say, the floor creaking under his weight. The door opens wider, your dad allowing your mother to peer into your room. “She’s still in here, not acting like a hooligan in the dark of the night.” 

You hear your mother hum, the sound of her bracelets clinking as she crosses her arm. “I swear I just heard two voices talking.”

Your father scoffs and you can imagine him shaking his head. You hear their footsteps moving towards the hallway and out of your room. You hear your bedroom door begin to close. “You need to start trusting her more, she’s not the type to be inclined to sneak out in the middle of the night…” you hear your dad say, the rest of his sentence muffled by your closed bedroom door.

You can’t help but smile against your sheets, the memories of Eddie’s mouth planted on yours, his fingertips dragging across your bare skin, the image of the two swans making a heart out of their bodies against the dark of the night. Perhaps it was a good thing you parents didn’t know what you were capable of doing.  

[f1fnatic]

100 WAYS TO SAY I LOVE YOU ⤿ l. norris 4

→ ( in which. . . ) it is your and lando's 4 year anniversary and as a gift, you give him a journal of 100 entries of moments during your relationship, here are some of lando's favorite moments.

→ ( type of fanfic. . . ) written

→ ( pairing. . . ) lando norris x sainz!reader (gender not specified

→ ( content warnings/disclaimers. . . ) this is coming from lando's pov, jumps from 2022-2024 at the end

→ ( author's note. . . ) this is my first time with a short summary type of fic, i hope you enjoy! see the end for more

→ ( masterlist )

→ 12/5/2019, the day we first met

it was my first time in the f1 paddock and carlos had invited me to the spanish gp. you accidentally bumped into me, which caused my piping hot, freshly brewed espresso to spill all over the front of my blouse. you apologized briefly before running off to do whatever media duty you had for that day. later, after the grand prix was over, carlos made you apologize the right way and made you buy me a new shirt. p.s that shirt is one of my favorites :)

→ 24/10/2019, the day we hung out 1 on 1 for the first time

we went to lunch and then found this quaint drive-in movie on the outskirts of monaco. they were playing my favorite summer-time movie, grease. i got to see a different side of you that day. you didn't have carlos to bounce off of, it was sweet to see you for you. your presence was so comforting to me. you were so relaxed and laid back. you fell asleep in my lap and that was when your worries truly melted away. i was very giddy after you left, it just so happened to be the first time my heart fluttered at the thought of you. p.s.s sorry for quating grease so much

→ 31/12/2020, new years eve

the day you kissed me for the first time. at first, i was surprised and thought the alcohol was making you act brash and forward. but after you didn't move away, i knew it was on purpose. i do not know what i could have done if you didn't kiss me. carlos got this picture of us and it has become one of my favorites. it marks such an important milestone in our relationship.

→ 23/3/2020, lockdown

when the uk officially shut down their borders and went into lockdown. monaco had shut theirs down a month prior, so i came to live with you until i couldn't anymore. it was hard, i didn't want to leave you and go back to monaco. we were still figuring out if we wanted to be in a relationship and i knew that the time apart would be difficult to navigate. so much uncertainty and change. it helped us grow into the people we are now <3

→ 31/8/2020, the day you asked me to be your partner

it also just so happened to be my birthday. we had been facetiming almost every day/night. i was watching every single grand prix to show my undying support for you. your unofficial home grand prix the day before had gone well, and i remember being so proud of you. you woke me up by surprising me at my apartment door in monaco with a bouquet of my favorite flowers, as well as my favorite snacks. i couldn't help but cry, but then you asked one of the most important questions ever, and obviously i said yes!

→ 8/31/2021, our 1 year anniversary

wow, i could not believe that we had been together for 365 days. one full orbit of the earth around the sun. you yourself are my sun, lando. the light of my life. that night you surprised me with a high-end massage since we were still in lockdown. you do not know how much i appreciated that, work had made me so stressed. it was wonderful to relax. i remember you being upset because we couldn't spend it together and promised that we would never spend another anniversary apart, and so far, you have.

→ 4/1/2022, when i asked you to move in with me

everything leading up to the moment i asked you was so nerve-wracking that i was trying not to have an anxiety attack. i was so scared that you weren't going to say yes, but, obviously you did. once you moved in, my apartment finally felt like a home. it felt so full with you. the happiness that would run through my veins when i saw that your things were next to mine. your clothes next to mine in the closet, our coffee mugs side by side on the countertop, and our shoes piled next to the door, waiting for us to go out together. that was and still is one of my happiest memories <3

→ 14/2/2022, valentines day

our first valentines together in person as a couple! we had such a beautiful ocean view breakfast that you surpirsed me with (it was delicious btw) and then later that night, you took me to dinner and had max decorate our bedroom while we were out. have it on record that that was my favorite night ever ;)

→ 1/7/2022, our first grand prix as a couple

this just so happened to be the day that we confirmed we were dating!! it was such a weight lifted off of my shoulders to finally be able to call you mine in public. the fans were so supportive. i felt so much pride to be able to wear a jersey with your name on it. that whole weekend was bliss.

→ 31/8/2024 our 4 year anniversary

today. that's all i have to say. today has been the best day and everything i could ask for. today you surprised me with the biggest question of my life. today you asked me to marry you. and, without any hesitation, i said yes. of course, i would say yes. lando, you are the best thing to have ever happen to me. you are my world, my everything, my star in a field of black. you have brought such happiness into my life that i can't even BEGIN to describe. i am so unbelievably happy that you bumped into me that fateful day in the mclaren paddock. if you hadn't, who knows where we would be. i love you so much lan, here is to 4 years and so many more.

woww two posts in the span of a week what is happening... i was deciding to add pictures but i could not find any good ones that made sense for the entries. anyways, requests and feedback are welcome! make sure to leave a comment and kudos as well (only if you want :P)

[poetryincostume]

I’ve been a combination of burnt out and uninspired and busy with work which means I have done next to no personal sewing for a distressingly long time. I did, however, teach myself to knit a few months ago after twenty years of failing and months of yearning for Audrey Horne’s red jumper (but in black.) I haven’t finished said jumper, but it is mostly done!

One thing I have, however, completed is reupholstering this chair I use in my bedroom! I picked this up off eBay in the depths of the first covid lockdown with every intention of reupholstering it. Four years, a whole new bedroom later and this totally period correct dinosauria linen, the chair is finally has a whole new life!

This Edwardian corner chair was in sad state. The base webbing was rotten and falling apart, and when I took it apart I very much regretted having this chair sitting as was in my personal space for so long so filled with dust and filth and rotten canvas.

Cotton and linen upholstery herringbone tape and a sturdy cavalry twill from my stash make up the base. The chair was padded with hair canvas and layers of silk-cotton padding from my stash sandwiched with more twill. Although this was a long overdue project, it was only half consciously planned so a lot of improv in terms of ‘proper’ materials happened.

To trim, all that I had to hand that felt appropriate was this vintage French fringe. It isn’t really right for a chair but turned out well as the body of the chair is pockmarked with its history of shoddy reupholsters over the years. The end result is ridiculous and kitschy and I love it.

Most importantly I have enough fabric and trims left to make a few cushions to match.

[luxaofhesperides]

Ghostlight prompt: Danny and Duke being childhood friends, but Danny tells Duke the moment the accident happens and such cause he trusts him, only for Danny to go radio silent when giw decide to block the town communications in senior year.

So Duke-does he tell Danny he's Signal or not? Up to you-gets worried the longer no contact goes by.

Maybe the away game thing seen in other posts where the sports team still does away games and Danny gets enough good will with star or dash maybe and they send a message to Duke that's some coded phrase and Duke knows shits going down?

(yourlocalcorviddad, it's a side blog so didn't want to send from main sorry)

Danny is not someone who is on his mind a lot, these days. It’s to be expected, considering how distance and their double lives eat up all the time they have to talk. Really, it’s a miracle that they were able to speak enough to learn about their own individual vigilante work, especially with Duke bouncing around foster homes for a good portion of that time. 

They haven’t spoke in months but that’s normal for them.

Duke thinks he can be forgiven for not knowing something was wrong. He still won’t forgive himself for it.

“Danny’s gone?” he repeats, feeling numb. There’s static ringing in his ears, his entire world hollowing out.

The guy in front of him looks grim, unable to meet Duke’s eyes. Did he introduce himself? Duke can’t remember, can’t keep his spiraling thoughts straight in his head. “He’s gone. His entire family is gone and we haven’t been able to call for help because… well…”

“It’s those guys, right? The ones in white?”

“You know about them?”

“Danny told me. Danny told me a lot about what he did in Amity Park.”

The guy lets out a slow, relieved breath. “Good, then I don’t have to explain. Sorry, it’s just that it’s not something we talk about, especially out in the open. After the last few months, things got really bad. We know the GIW took the Fentons, but we can’t find out how or why and they’ve got us on a tight lockdown.”

“Then how did you get out?” Duke asks. Another arguably more important question pops into his mind a second later. “Actually, how do you know about Danny and… you know. The other things.”

The grimness on the guy’s expression fades away some beneath the sudden shame and embarrassment. “Oh, that. Well, I dunno how much he told you about his, like, daily life, but, um. I’m Dash. Baxter. I bullied him?”

Dash. 

Dash. That’s a name he recognizes. 

Danny’s complained about Dash a lot in the past. Since they were in middle school, really. Duke would always get mad on Danny’s behalf about how terribly he’s being treated, how no one would stop such obvious bullying. And every time, Danny would laugh it off and say in that soft voice of his, It’s alright, Duke, really. Having you care is more than enough for me.

It never stopped the bullying, though, but the way Danny talked about Dash changed when they both entered high school. He was still annoyed about everything Dash did, but there were less insults about him, less venting about every little thing that pissed Danny off about him, as if he just didn’t care anymore.

And there is, of course, the most memorable time Danny called Duke about Dash over the summer.

Hey, Danny, Duke had began, only to be cut off by Danny yelling, I kissed Dash?! Or he kissed me?! What am I supposed to do now!

And Duke, despite the jealousy he felt at hearing that Danny and Dash kissed, laughed so hard he cried while Danny yelled at him to be helpful. 

There wasn’t any discussion on Dash since, beyond a comment here and there about a funny fanboying thing Dash had said about Phantom. The focus of their conversations shifted towards how hard it was to be heroes or vigilantes, quiet reassurances that they’re both doing the best they can, tips traded about best ways to patch themselves up and get through the night. Sometimes, it felt like Danny was the only person in the world to really know Duke; all his pain and promises, his dreams, everything he was Before and who he became in the After.

He’s missed Danny, but the last message Danny sent him told him that things were getting rough in Amity Park, and to not call or contact him until he reached out first.

So Duke trusted in Danny and focused his attention in Gotham, putting his all into becoming a better hero, someone people can rely on. 

He thinks that maybe he should have fallen into the Bats’ bad habits of invading privacy to make sure Danny’s okay. 

Too late for that now, though.

“I know you,” Duke says after a long moment. “He talked about you sometimes. Come with me, we have a lot to discuss.”

Dash looks appropriately nervous, but he doesn’t argue. 

It’s a tense, quiet walk to the library where Barbara works. She’s stationed at the front desk when he arrives and greets him with a smile, eyes flicking towards Dash in question.

“Hey, Babs, got a private study room open?”

Her gaze sharpens and Duke can’t help the feeling of relief that flows through him, knowing that Oracle is ready to look out for him. “Let me check,” she says, turning towards the computer to click around a few pages. “Study room 8 is open.”

That’s the study room with a working lock and soundproofing. It also has cameras and a mic inside, but all the other study rooms have one too, just for safety purposes. Things could always go terribly wrong when people are locked together in a small room, and having video and audio evidence of what happened has assisted in more than a few cases. 

He leads them up to the second floor, past the students studying and the group of young children in the back corner of the library listening intently to a read aloud. 

The only occupied study rooms are those up front, closer to the stairs. The back rooms are empty and quiet, the perfect place for a little impromptu interrogation.

“So,” Duke says as he closes the door to study room 8 behind them. Dash sits down as if this is just a casual conversation, but the way his foot taps against the floor betrays his nerves. “Danny’s gone. And somehow, that lead you to me.”

Dash glance around, then leans closer to drop his voice into a harsh whisper. “The Guys In White got some insane upgrades a few months ago and forced every citizen of Amity Park into a surveillance state. The entire Fenton family is gone, but we all know it’s really because they want Danny.”

“Explain the situation in Amity Park some more.”

“Well. It’s like this: we didn’t take them seriously, so they upped their moves and got us trapped. No one goes in or out of Amity Park without good, verifiable reason. We have a curfew and we can be randomly stopped and searched for ectoplasm or exposure to ghosts. Most of the ghosts have left, but a few of the stronger ones hang around to cause trouble to get the GIW off our backs for a bit.”

“So how did you end up in Gotham?”

“I was invited to tour the college. And since outsiders were expecting me, the GIW let me go. But there’s definitely some that tailed me to Gotham, but I can’t find them at all. Even talking to you now is a huge risk for me.”

Which means they don’t have much time to talk before someone comes looking for Dash. His words, paired with everything Duke’s heard from Danny, paint a deeply unpleasant picture in his mind. “Are you going to be in trouble?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. It’s Danny we’re all worried about. He told me before he got caught that if anything happened to him, I should find you. Tucker helped us narrow down where exactly you are and sent you that text to get you to where we met.”

“What do you think I can do?”

“I don’t know,” Dash admits. “But Danny trusts you, and he needs your help.”

Duke was never going to say no to this request to begin with, but damn if those words don’t make him want to run to Amity Park without waiting for anyone else.

“Okay,” he says. “Okay. I’ll help rescue him and bring down the GIW. You should go now, before they get too suspicious.”

“What are you planning?”

“I got a couple of friends who are good at destroying government property. Trust me, you’ll see what we’re up, we’re pretty noticeable if we’re pissed off enough.”

“Don’t take too long then,” Dash says, standing up, “I expect a good show from you. See you around, man.”

And with that, Dash pats Duke’s shoulder and leaves the study room. Duke doesn’t follow after him.  He’s got a rescue to start planning, and the less time he wastes, the better.

In the end, it’s pretty simple. It’s not a hard mission at all when the time comes for them to act, but the amount of data they gather and have to shift through is daunting. But that’s more Tim and Barbara’s forte, so he trusts them to handle it. 

Together with Red Robin, Spoiler, and Black Bat, they hit Amity Park hard and fast. 

One night was spent learning the lay of the land and every station and lab set up by the GIW. The second night was spent burning it all down and tossing open cages full of green blob ghosts and a few transparent, weakly glowing human ghosts. Stronger ghosts, glowing brightly, joined them in a few places with battle cries and maniacal laughter.

They split up and took down all the bases and patrol stations on their own, sweeping through the city like vengeful shadows. 

By dawn, the GIW were in shambles, without any bases or equipment, and rounded up for arrest. 

Cass was the one to find Danny and his family; his parents were forced to create weapons for the GIW under threat of Danny and Jazz’s torture. Danny was locked up like an animal and studied. Jazz had restraints on, including a muzzle, and a bloodthirsty rage in her eyes. Apparently, she had put up the most fight and, while being studied for repeated exposure to ectoplasm and radiation, started biting people.

The Fentons are big names in this conflict. Tim makes the executive decision to burn one of his out-of-state safehouses so they can hide and recover in peace, then promptly moves them into it as soon as the EMTs give them the all clear. They’re gone by the time the sun is rising over the horizon, and the curious Amity Parkers that have gathered behind the blockade of police cars have to be reassured that the Fentons have been taken away for their protection, not for further abuses. Even then, tensions are high and the locals are clearly prepared to start rioting now that they have a chance to fight back.

As vigilantes, they’re not meant to interact with cops much. Perhaps it’s simply their experiences in Gotham that keep them at a distance, disappearing into the neighborhood the moment attention shifts off of them. Either way, Duke is hurrying out of Amity Park with the rest of the team on his heels, eager to return to Gotham and follow up on their own leads to make sure the GIW is properly gutted and dismantled. 

Duke heads off for the Hatch as soon as they reach Gotham, hoping to shed the suit and finally be able to call Danny. The guilt of not noticing how bad things had gotten rolls through his stomach, and more than that, he’s missed hearing Danny’s voice. 

The first few calls go straight to voicemail. Duke leaves a quick message asking Danny to let him know how he’s doing as soon as he can talk. 

Then he goes for a shower and to change into civilian clothes, prepared to make his way to Wayne Manor to let Bruce know how everything went. And hopefully distract him from his Disappointed Father/Leader Lecture about taking on missions behind his back, as if Duke can’t handle himself. And also because Bruce has no leg to stand on when it comes to this. He’s fully prepared to throw that entire lecture back into his face at a moment’s notice.

The post-mission exhaustion is hitting him hard and fast. Duke has to brace himself against the wall once he’s out of the shower, resisting the urge to just lie on the floor and sleep there until he starts feeling more human. 

Somehow, he gets himself into some sweatpants and a plain shirt, pulls on a pair of mismatched socks, and begins gathering his things so he can get to the Batcave. 

He’s in no state to be driving. Maybe someone would be willing to take him there?

Just as he reaches for his phone to thumb through his contacts and see who he can bother, it buzzes in his hand. Duke blames the way he jumps on his exhaustion, then blinks his tired eyes to squint at the name that pops up onto the screen.

Danny.

All at once, his exhaustion fades away. A rush of adrenaline runs through him as he scrambles to accept the call, already pacing around the room so he doesn’t fall asleep. 

“Hello?”

There’s a moment of silence, then the exhale of a breath that turns to static over the call. “Duke,” Danny’s tired voice says. “Duke…”

“You doing okay? I couldn’t get to you before you and your family had to leave and go into hiding, but I’ve been worried about you, man.”

“I’m good. We’re all fine, now. Fentons are strong, you know? We’ll bounce back in no time.”

From what he’s heard about Danny’s family, that’s most definitely true. He’s seen the pictures of walls Jack Fenton has burst through with his body. It’ still hard to believe that no one in the family is a meta, outside of Danny.

“You need anything? I can get it to you, just say the word. Anything at all.”

Danny hums, then asks with a playful note in his voice, “Anything?”

“Anything.”

“I need you. How fast can you come meet me? I’ll even pay for express delivery.”

Duke laughs, so relieved at hearing the lightness return to Danny’s voice that he feels weak in the knees. “It’ll be at least two days. I gotta sleep and debrief with Batman before I can see you. It’s gonna take some time to get out of Gotham again.”

“Maybe I can go to you, instead,” Danny suggests. “Fly over and be there is less than an hour.”

“Are you in any shape to be flying right now?”

“I’m fine! Already healing and everything,” Danny insists.

“It might be dangerous if any rogue GIW agents go after you.”

“Well,” Danny says, “That’s why I need to get to my knight in shining armor sooner rather than later, right?”

Duke bites his lip to fight back a smile, blinking his eyes forcefully to keep them from closing under the heavy weight of exhaustion. “Does that make you a damsel in distress?”

“I mean, I did need rescuing, so I guess? I’m not much of a damsel, but I could put on a pretty dress for you. It’ll be like playing pretend when we were kids.”

“Oh, man, I kinda miss those poofy dresses. I think I could still rock on, put it on top of the armor when I go out for patrol.”

Danny snickers. “Signal: the most well dressed vigilante in Gotham.”

“That’s me, baby!”

The last of the agonizing fear that’s choked him since he first talked to Dash finally melts away. Danny’s fine now. Everything’s okay; the GIW are done for and there’s plenty of people willing to look out for the Fentons. This will never happen again.

“Hey,” Danny says, voice suddenly turing more serious. “Send me your location. I wasn’t joking when I said I could fly over to you. And before you say anything! I do need it; Jazz and my parents are smothering me and I just need to get away from everything and pretend all of this never happened.”

The admission softens Duke, makes him shove away everything that tells him this is a bad idea, that Danny needs more rest first, that having Danny fly over alone and without warning any of the Bats fills Duke with anxiety. 

He does miss Danny. More than he can put into words.

“Yeah, okay,” he says at last. “Come meet me, Danny.”

He texts Danny the location of the Hatch before common sense tells him to be more careful with his base of operations. Not that it matters, anyways; if there’s anyone in the world he trusts with everything, it’s Danny. 

Then he sends the Bats a quick text saying he’s crashing in the Hatch and to not bother him until the sun is fully up two days from now. Oracle gives him a thumbs up emoji, which is a good guarantee that she will personally see to it that no non-emergency messages interrupt his rest and recovery time.

Duke has no idea how long it will take Danny to get to the Hatch, so he putters around, cleaning up the space and straightening it out in an attempt to keep busy enough that he doesn’t crash. Travel really takes it out of him. It’s one of the cons of being born and raised in Gotham: he doesn’t have the stamina to travel outside of it, especially when they were there and back in less than three days.

Thank god for Tim’s many motorcycles and his tendency to see the speed limit as a weak suggestion that can be ignored while on a mission.

Ultimately, the call of sleep is too strong to resist. 

One moment, Duke is sorting through files on the Hatch’s computer, and the next moment, he’s face down on a bed with his face shoved into a pillow. 

Blearly, he manages to pull his phone out of his pocket and send Danny a typo-ridden text that hopefully gets across the message of might be asleep so just come in, don’t wait for me to answer the door.

He’s out like a light as soon as it sends. The last thing Duke registers is his phone dropping out of his hand and falling against the mattress with a little bounce.

When he begins to wake up, something’s changed. As much as he wants to go back to sleep, awareness comes back to him slowly and Duke forces himself to claw his way out of unconsciousness to figure out what, exactly, is bothering him so much. Until he figures out what’s changed in the room, he won’t be able to sleep because he’ll be worried about someone breaking in.

His mind comes back online long before his body does. It’s only when he tries to move that Duke realizes he’s no longer alone on the bed; there’s someone wrapped up in his arms, body temperature a little too cool to be a normal human.

Blinking open his eyes, Duke looks down at the head of messy black hair and feels Danny’s soft breath ghost across his chest. 

“Danny?” he manages to say, voice rough with sleep. 

Danny hums and doesn’t move.

“Hey, look up. Let me see if you’re really alright.”

“Mmm, no,” Danny mumbles, burrowing his face into Duke’s chest some more. “‘m sleepy.”

A good argument. Duke is also sleepy. 

“Fine,” he says, “Check in the morning, then. G’night, Danny.”

“Night, Duke. Thanks for saving me.”

He tightens his grip on Danny, contentment burning warm in his chest. “Always, Danny. I’ll always save you.”

That’s why he’s a hero, after all. To save others, to reach a hand out to everyone the way he needed when he was younger. To keep the people he loves safe. To make sure Danny always finds a way back to him. 

This is what makes all the pain of this lifestyle worth it.

Danny makes everything worth it.

(@yourlocalcorviddad tagging to make sure you see this!)

[wingzie]

Home - Mi Casa

On 20th December, my flat flooded. This was due to a fault in the flat above, which caused water from their boiler to vastly flow into my flat. This happened for about six hours until someone came to fix the problem. The only way I can describe it is like watching a waterfall of warm water cascade across my entire flat. It will probably come to no surprise that, after the event was over, my flat was deemed unlivable due to the water damage. I have since also had to throw out most of my furniture and belongings. After having a somewhat stressful Christmas at my Mother’s, I came back knowing that I was effectively homeless and I have been living at a hotel for over a month now. My current stay is until the end of March, but I have been warned that the work in my flat might take up to June to complete. Which is somewhat poetic, if it will take that long. All of this has got me thinking about one thing though: What classes as a home? I have mentioned before how, due to my parents work, my childhood involved moving location every couple of years. I thought this was “the norm” and just went along with it. Even when my parents divorced. When my Mother wanted to move closer to her own family, she asked if I wanted to move to somewhere near her. Or stay closer to work. I chose the later option and found a lovely place to rent near work. Where I had just been promoted at the time. Things were going well and I wanted to use this opprtunity to start my own life.

Lockdown happened shortly afterwards, so I missed a big chunk of getting to know the area and the local people. However, I made up for it later on with community work and have since made some amazing friends. These include army and non army and this is where I consider myself very lucky. Though I am still having nightmares and my mental health isn’t the greatest right now, the kindness of people around me since the flood has been incredible. 

I have several colleagues who fight over who will do my washing or bring me meals. Some friends have invited me to their houses. The belongings which survived are scattered around different houses in storage. People often check in on me. And I try to do what I can in return to thank them. It’s a big part of what makes a community a community. And thus what makes the community a secure part of a home. It keeps things going even if one falls down or needs support.

In terms of BTS, we have seen Yoongi be afraid of moving in the past. Jungkook mentioned the members being back together in BV4. How the members congregated together during ITS or at hotels whilst on tour. No matter where they go or no matter how long apart, they make it work or lift each other up. The same goes for their group chat too or hearing each other's voices on the phone. As long as they are together, they are able to keep going as a team. And in part of that, I am also very grateful that Jimin and Jungkook have each other right now. 

Not being in your physical home throws you completely off balance, but knowing you have that connection with others and the love around it goes a long way. And that is what makes a home. Note: I know this is very different than what I normally post, but I have had this in my drafts for a while and decided I might aswel share it. Talking about how traumatic the last month has been is somewhat helpful to and I would like to thank everyone who has reached out, offered helped or been so understanding about my lack of post schedule. Much Love, Becca xx

[raya-hunter01]

Not My Sister's Keeper Pt. 13 Final

Not My Sister’s Keeper

Jey Uso X OC (Kayla)

Roman X OC(Regina)

Rating: 18+

Warning: Smut; sex, fluff, couple arguing, Jealousy, infidelity, pregnancy

Roamn’s wife recently left medical school and returned home to save her marriage. Upon her return, she finds out things are not what they seem. Her sister is pregnant by her best friend Jey Uso, who is also Roman’s cousin, and her husband is acting suspiciously.

What happens when a conversation overhead on a baby monitor blows her world apart?

Five Months Later

Rebecca’s House

Rebecca’s POV

“Sweetie I’m just glad you agreed to come over to help me cook thanksgiving dinner.”

“I know you trying mama and I’m going to try to meet you halfway.” Kara said with a tired sigh rubbing her belly.

“Wait were you using the bathroom?” I asked seeing the shower in the background.

“Yes, the baby keeps sitting on my bladder and I’m peeing constantly,” Kara moaned washing her hands.

“I guess I didn’t help calling you at 7:00 a.m.,” I joked as Kara genuinely smiled.

“It’s no problem, I be up with the chickens these days trying to get comfortable.”

“It will end soon enough and then you’re going to be tired from lack of sleep.”

“I can’t wait either.”

My daughter was going to be an amazing mother. “Uh, is Josh still leaving later on today?”

“Yea, he’s gotta film some stuff but he will back tomorrow night in time for thanksgiving. Tani is going to drop me off at your house and come back and get me when I’m ready.”

“Well, that’s nice of her, I know how I ain’t on her list of people she likes.”

“Karbug, who on the phone?” I heard Jey asked as I chuckled seeing Kara turn the camera on him.

“Hey, Josh sorry to wake ya’ll up so early.”

“Nah, you good I got to get up soon anyway,” he said waving at me.

 “I know ya’ll want to spend a little more time together, so I’ll let you go. I love you, Kara and be safe coming out in this weather.”

“I love you too mama, and I will. See you a little later.”

“I felt joyful, I had my baby back and was about to become a grandma again. While fixing breakfast for Logan, our local news alert interrupted my favorite morning show. “What the hell goin’ on now in the middle of a fucking hurricane.”

Channel 10 news

“I am April, and this is Channel 10 news. Early this morning before daybreak we’ve been told three inmates escaped the Pensacola Women’s State Prison. A security breach occurred, and caused the prison to go into lockdown, but three prisoners managed to bypass the system and count of inmates.”

“Oh my god,” I gasped in shock…This isn’t happening…Not now.

“Through an emergency investigation it was discovered Taylor Green, a newly hired guard was having sexual encounters with the three women. In exchange for the sexual encounters, Green helped the inmates escape.”

“Lord, please don’t let it be her...Don’t let it be her.”

“As of 7:00 a.m. two of the women have been captured but Tia Morris is still at large and is armed and dangerous. Please be safe everyone and if you have any information, please call 911.”

“Tia…What are you doin’?”

Cutting the TV off, I rushed to check the doors to make sure everything was locked and secure.  The storm raged outside and within me as I rushed upstairs to check on Logan.

 I signed in relief seeing her still asleep. Gently kissing her forehead, I then went and checked the rest of the upstairs before going back downstairs.

“Calm down Rebecca, she probably on the road trying to get the hell outta town. Your safe and Logan is safe,” I whispered trying to calm down but deep down I felt something bad was going to happen.

--------

-Jey’s & Kara’s House

Jey’s POV

These last five months had been a dream, and it was getting harder and harder to leave Kara. She had been traveling with me some during her pregnancy, I even bought us a bus. I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible when she was with me.

She had been doing great up until these last two months though. Our son or daughter was determined to make his or her arrival early. We had been spending a lot of time at the hospital lately stopping her labor.

 Then the baby, won’t cooperate at all during the ultrasounds so we still don’t know if we’re having a boy or a girl. We don’t care though as long as he or she is healthy.

“Jey, we will be fine, you’re coming back tomorrow night.”

“I don’t want to leave ya’ll though,” I said kissing Kara’s belly. The storm raging outside making even harder to leave. I wanted to stay home in this bed with my wife.

“Well daddy, you gotta go so you can film. Then you get to come home and be with us for the next nine weeks.”

Damn right I was, my mom was going to stay with us, but I wanted to be home to be with Kara and the baby. I was going into a feud with the new bloodline so we were going to film some stuff that would air over the next two months. Then when I come back, I will be rejoining Roman and Jimmy to reunite the original bloodline.

“Doody, you heard me?” Kara said running her fingers through my hair.

“Yea, I heard you baby. I know I gotta go, but I don’t like it.”

“We will be fine, I promise.”

 “Hey, I’mma need you to stay in mama’s belly while I’m gone kid. No hospital visits, please.”

“I know right, these hospital visits with these contractions ain’t been no joke but I haven’t had any for two weeks.”

 Feeling a strong kick, I smiled and kissed her stomach. “I will take that kick as you telling yo’ daddy you gon’ be good,” I chuckled getting up and grabbing my bag.

“Let me get up-” gently pushing her back against her pillow, I shook my head.

“Nope….. Stay there, Ma will be here soon.” Leaning over to kiss her I knew I had to leave now, or I wouldn’t. “Fine, I’ll sleep a little longer,” she whispered against my lips. “Thank you for your cooperation, Ma.”

I suddenly had a nagging feeling, but I don’t want to scare her. It probably was me just not wanting to leave her.

“Be safe, we love you, daddy.”

“I love ya’ll too, and I’ll be back soon.”

Walking out of our bedroom I looked back one last time at my family quickly taking my phone out and snapping a picture of Kara laying in bed her belly on full display.

“Bye, Josh.”

“Ok, I’m gone…Love ya’ll.”

“We love you too!”

I felt like I should have stayed but I tried to push down the feeling that I was making a big mistake leaving.

---

Two hours Later

Kara’s Parents House

Rebecca’s POV

Still no updates on Tia but the prison assured me they were looking everywhere but told me to stay put. I tried to call Kara but no answer, I even called their house phone. It was best if she just stayed home and didn’t come over. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to her or the baby. “Come on Josh, pick up.”

“This is josh, you know what to do. Leave it at the beep..Yeet.”

“Josh, its Rebecca. I’ve tried to get Kara on the phone, but she isn’t picking up. Tia has escaped and they can’t find her, don’t leave the house or if you have go back!”  

CRASH

“Oh my god, No! Logan, sweetie, are you ok?!” I yelled running upstairs. Peeking in on her again I saw her still sound asleep. What the hell is going on?

Once again, I cautiously headed to check out my room.  As I opened the door, I heard a loud bang followed by a sharp pain shot through my stomach.

Tia’s POV

That was so easy, I didn’t think it would be this simple. “I told you that you’d be sorry.” I didn’t want to hurt my mother, all she had to do was listen and help me. She turned her back on me so as far as I’m concerned she’s collateral damage.

T-T-Tia, don’t h- hurt the baby,” my mother cried collapsing to the floor in pain. Not a care in the world about her own self.

“I would never ever hurt her; she’s coming with me.” I couldn’t leave without her; she was my ticket to getting what I needed out of Roman.

As my mother lay gasping for breath, I grabbed her cellphone as she tried to reach for it.

“Oh, you want help? Well, go find the phone,” I said throwing it out of the room as she sobbed in defeat. Just as I was about to go get Logan I heard the front door open.

“Ma, you ok? My phone is acting up and I saw I had some missed calls. Tani dropped me off and went to run a quick errand but will be back in a bit to take me to Verizon. I swear Jey will lose his mind if he can’t get in touch with me,” Kara rambled as she walked around downstairs looking for mama.  I couldn’t believe my luck right now.

“Oh, this is too good. I swear God loves me,” I chuckled as my mother lay gasping for breath pulling at my legs.” N- No, T- Tia.”

“Get off me,” I hissed kicking as I heard Kara coming up the stairs. “Ma, Logan, ya’ll ok?”  

I heard her go into Logan’s room down the hall. “Yea, come on in here next bitch, I got a surprise for you.” I could practically smell the worry on her from down the hall and I loved it.

All I had to do was wait for her to come down here to check on mama.

Kara’s POV

“Logan,” I whispered shaking her a little as she moaned opening her eyes. “Tee Tee, you here,” her tiny innocent voice said stretching her arms out wide.

“Yea, sweetie it’s me. I need you to get up ok, but don’t make a sound.” Making that statement alone in a mere whisper seemed to wake her up as she nodded, giving me a hug.

“Mommy here?” her tiny voice asked with worry as I nodded, holding her close. “Yea, I think so, and I need to get you out of here. Remember what we practiced?” I asked as she nodded.

“I run to Ms. Ruby house, her light on.” She whispered rubbing her tired eyes. “Yes, that’s right pretty girl, her outside porch light will be on and she will get some help for us.”

“I scared Tee Tee.” Logan cried, my heart breaking. Logan was an innocent child who didn’t deserve any of this mess.

“I know baby, but I got you and I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.” I felt helpless, that we had to teach a four-year-old how to run for help but thank God she was smart and understood.

Tia thought she was smart but the eerie silence when I came in and seeing mom’s phone laying in the hall. I knew something was up and I knew we needed help.

“I left the front door open, and when I go down the hall, I want you to tip toe down the steps, try not to make a noise. Once you get to the front door start runnin’ and don’t stop till you get to Ms. Ruby’s house, ok?”

“Tee Tee come wit me?”

“No baby I can’t run, I’d never make it. That’s why I need your help and no matter what, don’t look back or stop running until you get there. Tell her grandma is hurt and we need help.”

The fear in her tiny face broke my heart but I had to be remain calm on the the outside, inside I was losing it. After I put on her shoes and coat she once again wrapped her tiny arms around me. “I love you Tee Tee Kara.”

“I love you too baby, I want you to always remember that.”

Putting her hood on I took a breath, trying to dial 911 once again but to no avial.. we had no choice it was now or never. As I left her room, I signaled for her to go downstair. Seeing her follow my directions as she tip toed down the steps, I had a hard time controlling my tears.

“Logan, try to get dressed and I will look for grandma sweetie,” I said closing her door. Glancing over the rail, I saw she was finally at the front door. She quickly turned on the porch light and glanced back up at me.

Her tiny face filled with determination as she nodded at me and took off running as fast as her little legs would allow. “Thank God,” I whispered thankful she had escaped.

 Slowly going down the hall I could see Tia’s reflection in the huge hall mirror that was adjacent to my mother’s room. There she was standing in our mother’s room with a gun. I  felt my heart drop hearing my mother crying in pain.

“Run! Kara, get Logan and run!” My mother screamed as I took off back downstairs trying not to fall.

“Uh, not now ,” I cried feeling a sharp pain shot through my stomach. “Not yet please, just give mama a little time,” I pleaded looking for my dad’s gun.

“Looking for daddy’s gun Kara?” Tia’s cold voice sending chills down my spine. It was either me or her and in this moment and I will do anything to keep my child safe, even if it means killing my own sister.

Logan’s POV

I was tired but I couldn’t stop running. Ms. Ruby house was close, I just had to keep running.  “Ms. Ruby!” I cried finally seeing the blue house with the front porch light on. “Ms. Rubby help!” I cried knocking and kicking her door trying to make sure she heard me.

I ran into her arms the minute the door opened. “Ted, call 911 Tia’s at Rebecca’s!” she yelled as I continued to cry. “Please help my grammy and Tee Tee.”

“We’re getting help sweetie, you did so good our sweet girl,” Ms. Ruby whispered, holding me close as I cried.  

Ruby’s POV

“You ok, I got you, sweet girl,” I reassured Logan carrying her inside as my son called the police. “The lines are busy; the hurricane is messing with towers and phone lines.”

 “Keep trying Ted!” I screamed as he nodded once again trying to get help.

“Finally! Yes, we need the police and an ambulance at 1254 Greer Road. Tia Morris, an inmate that escape earlier this morning is there and is dangerous. She has two hostages.”

“I want my daddy,” Logan cried as I pulled out my cell and tried to dial Roman and after a couple of times my phone finally dialed through.

“Hey, Ms. Neslon-”

“Roman have ya’ll left yet?”

“Uh, no we are grounded at the airport until the weather slacks off, is everything ok?”

“Roman, Tia has escaped and is at Rebecca’s.”

“Logan-”

“Roman, she got out, but Kara and Rebecca are still in the house with Tia. Rebecca is hurt from what Logan is telling me.”

Putting the phone on speaker I continued to comfort Logan. “Logan, your daddy is on the phone.” Her tiny head perking up at the new information.

“Daddy, she hurt grammy,” she cried as I could hear the worry and relief in Roman’s voice.

“Daddy’s coming my baby, we are so proud of you.”

“Tee Tee help me runway,” she cried as I could hear Roman crying. “Grammy and Tee Tee Kara are going to be ok. I promise.”

Jimmy’s POV

“What you talkin’ bout Uce?” Jey asked hearing Kara’s name. “Daddy loves you and we are on the way to you.” Roman said in a panic hanging up the phone.

“Kevin, get the car back up here we need to get off this plane!” Roman yelled as I felt the room starting to spin.

“Stop and tell us what the fuck is going on!” Jey demanded as Roman wiped his tears. “Tia has Kara and Rebecca hostage. Logan ran to get help, and they have the ambulance and police on the way.”

“Kara…My Kara?” Jey asked in disbelief reaching for his phone as I placed my hand on my shoulder. “She’s gon’ be ok, they both are,” I tried to reassure him.

“Roman, call Regina and warn her,” I advised trying not to freak out as Jey kept redialing Kara’s phone, the color draining from his face each time he got a busy signal or no answer at all.

“Regina it’s me baby, I need you to listen to me carefully.”

Jey’s POV

“We gotta get there!” I yelled pulling away from Jimmy and grabbing my coat. I had to get to my wife, this isn’t happening right now.

“No, I want you to stay at the house and lock everything up. Logan is ok with Ms. Nelson. I don’t need you in any danger, Tia is insane.” “Jimmy, have you heard from Trin? I know she was supposed to help Kara and Rebecca with the food today.” I asked, the realization hitting him hard that Trin was once again in danger of being hurt because of Tia.

The silence as we all tried to call our loved ones frustrating us more and more by the second as each call was met with a busy signal or no answer.

“Pick up, pick up Trin,” he whispered dialing her number again.

“Come on baby, pick up please.” I pleaded. Damn it, where is the fucking car? I kept trying to call Kara but no luck.  I even took a chance calling Rebecca’s house phone.

 “Fuck!” I screamed getting a busy signal, but I kept calling as we made our way to the car.

“Please keep them safe.”

I knew I should have followed my first mind and not even left. The darkness, wind and rain were a blessing in disguise, and I was thankful we were still here when Ms. Nelson called.

“I knew one thing, I was going to Kill her…I was going to kill Tia if Trin didn’t beat me to it.

Rebecca’s house

Trin’s POV

Whoo, I made it. I had gone to the store to get a few more things to help make dinner for tomorrow. I even ran into Tani and told her I would take Kara later on to get her phone looked at and for her to just go home and get out of this weather.

 Hell, I really believe it’s just the weather messing with the towers. After the weather passes, I think we will be good.

“Why the hell is the front door open?” I muttered. “Kara where you at?  I saw Tani at the store and told her that she could go home,” I said walking in and placing the groceries on the counter in the kitchen.

“Trinity, we good, just leave and turn on the porch light. I’ll hit you up later.” I heard Kara yell causing me to pause.

Trinity?.....The porch light?…Why was Kara calling me by my first name, she always calls me Trin…The porch light is already on, what is sh-. ….Oh shit, Tia is here. She was giving me hints, to get the hell out and get help.

“Uh, yea sure, I’ll make sure to turn it on. I love you girly and I’ll holla at you later.” I said going back out to the car. Picking up my phone I tried to dial out and no luck.  

I then drove out the gate and parked my car out of sight a little way down the road and headed back up to the house. I had to think of a way to get back inside, I couldn’t leave Kara.

Kara’s POV

“Where is mama, Tia?” I asked rubbing my stomach as another pain jolted down my spine as she smiled. “Upstairs in her room, hopefully bleeding out or already dead,” she smiled as I gasped seeing Trin’s reflection in the patio window.

We had to get the drop on this crazy bitch, and I knew I couldn’t do it alone. I knew I was going into labor because the pain was different than the Braxton hicks I had experienced before.

“I got to get up Logan and pack her a few things. Go over there and have a seat. Looks like you’re in labor sis.”

She still didn’t know Logan was long gone and I had faith she made it to Ruby’s house by now and the police were on the way. I had to believe that. “You sure you ain’t gon’ shoot me in the back again?” I groaned trying to breathe through my current contraction.

“Nah, you safe this time, my niece or nephew is your only saving grace right now,” she whispered watching me closely as I steadied my breathing.

Suddenly another sharp pain it. “The contractions are too close,” I cried collapsing to the floor as I saw Trin looking at me with worry before taking off towards the side of the house.

“You betta hold it in, I ain’t delivering no baby. You on your own with that shit. Just let me get me kid and I’ll leave you to it.”

“I don’t want you touching me anyway, let alone passing your evil ass spirit onto my baby,” I snapped as she kicked me in the stomach. “Now watch yourself,” she hissed as I rolled into a ball.

“Ugh! Fuck you!” I cried cradling my stomach as I felt another kick, this time across my lower back.

“T-Tia stop,” I heard my mom cry as I refused to uncurl my body. I had one job and that was to protect my child.

 “Oh, mama so nice of you to join us. Look at you clawing your way down the stairs to help your baby girl,” Tia laughed as I heard the sound of glass shattering from the side of the house. Trin….Trin was back inside the house.

“What the hell?!” Tia shouted running towards the sound as I pulled myself towards my mother.  “Ma, are you ok?” I cried truly terrified seeing her covered in blood and holding her stomach.

“Yea, get Logan,” she coughed, fighting to keep her eyes open. “I did, she’s gone to get help, just hang on.”

“End it Kara….Keep Logan safe,” she moaned before she passed out from the pain. Feeling her chest rise and fall under my hand I gently kissed her forehead.

“Mama, just hang in there,” I cried. Suddenly, I heard another crash followed by a gunshot.

“Trin!” I screamed, willing myself to my feet in spite of another powerful contraction tearing through my body. I had to help her. “Come on baby, just hang in there for a little while longer,” I pleaded making my way down the hall. I saw the broken window but now sign of Trin or Tia.

“I told you bitch! I warned you didn’t I?” I heard Trin yell as I got closer. Thank God she was ok, they had apparently fought their way up to the second floor.

Grabbling the railing I slowly made my way up the back stairs to the spare bedroom.

Trin’s POV

This bitch really tried to shoot at me and then dodge up the back steps to hide. Nah, not today, you gon’ learn to head the warning.

“I told you I was gon’ show you crazy!” I yelled throwing Tia against the wall as she tried to protect herself. “I’ll kill you!” Tia screamed as I grabbed her by the throat choking her.

 “Not if I kill you first,” I hissed as Tia raked me in the eyes and punched me in the stomach. “You gon’ have to kill me!” Tia screamed, tackling me to the floor as I returned the favor by kneeing her in the stomach and elbowing her in the throat.

Her gasping for breath bringing me great joy. “I’ll be happy to make your wish come true bitch!” I yelled climbing on top of her wrapping my hands back around her throat as I slammed her head against the floor. “Ow,” she hissed grabbing the back of head as I kept on. “I told you not to touch my sister, you just don’t listen.”

“Trin, I can hear the cops” Kara said as I punched her again for good measure before getting up to check on Kara who was now bent over in pain.

“Are you ok?”

“What do we do Trin?” Kara cried as I hugged her closely. “I’mma whoop her ass till the cops get here, and they gon’ take her ass back to jail,” I said trying to calm her down as Tia writhed on the floor in pain.

“She could get out again Trin! We can’t keep doing this! What do we need to do?!” Kara cried as I felt helpless. I knew what we needed to do for us all to have some peace, I just hoped Kara felt the same way.

 Grasping her chin, I made her calm down and look at me. “I’ll tell you what we do. We end it, Kara, you hear me? We end this shit once and for all, that’s what we do,” I said making sure she understood what I was saying.

As we both looked down at the gun in her hands, we knew what we had to do. “Ya’ll ain’t got the balls, don’t worry though, I’ll find a way back out,” Tia gloated as Kara put down the gun.

Kara’s POV

“Kara, what you doing?” Trin asked as I stood up trying to gather myself. “It has to look like an accident,” I mumbled not believing the words coming out of my mouth. I said it so low; I didn’t even know if Trin heard me or not.

“Let’s do it,” she said without hesitation as I nodded as we looked at each other knowing if we wanted this to truly be over Tia had to go.

I wanted no room for error or a trial.  Suddenly Trin attacked Tia again as I wiped my fingerprints off the gun and put it in the center of the floor.

I knew Tia would go for it and put her prints back on the weapon. “Stupid bitch!” Tia yelled trying to grab Trin by her hair, coming up short as Trin gripped her by the neck and threw her onto the dresser shattering the glass. “Trin now!” I yelled as she looked at me taking a step back as Tia crawled towards the gun and grabbed it.

“Don’t move,” Tia gasped trying to point the gun at Trin but couldn’t focus. Trin had rocked her and she was unsure of her surroundings. I managed to sneak behind Tia as she stood up preparing to try to attack Trin with the gun. Quickly I grabbed her from behind extending her arms in the air as the gun went off again.

“Trin now!” I screamed as Trin ran towards us.

Jey’s POV

“Uce, there’s the cops,” Jimmy said pointing at the three cop cars surrounding Rebecca’s house. “Thank god!” Roman cried as we jumped out trying to get closer.

“Hey, we got a situation, now stay back,” a cop said as felt myself losing it. “My wife is in there and ya’ll need to get her out or I’ll do it my damn self!” None of us giving a damn about the storm at the moment as the rain seemed to be falling even harder than it had been all morning.

“No, no, no, Kara! Trin!” Roman yelled as I looked up to see Kara, Trin, and Tia tussling over a gun on the small balcony. One of the cops was trying to get a clear shot but Kara was in the way.

Tia suddenly lost her footing, going over the railing still holding on to Kara. “Kara, No!” I cried as Kara cried out.

“Pull Trin!” Kara yelled as Trin tried to pull them both up but this crazy bitch started laughed trying to pull Kara over the rail with her. “It’s over Kara!”

“Shoot her fuckin’ ass!” I screamed as Roman, and I tried to get past the cops.

“Let go, Tia!”  Kara screamed as Trin held on to her tight, trying to pull her back as the rain continued to bombard us all.

“I know ya’ll seeing this shit, she trying to kill’em both! Shoot her ass, what ya’ll waitin’ for?!” Jimmy pleaded as it seemed to be a tug of war with Trin having a tight grip on Kara, and Tia trying to pull her over the railing with her.

“I’m taking you with me bitch! You don’t get a happy ending!” Tia screamed. “Shoot her ass!” I yelled my eyes bouncing between Trin struggling to keep a grip on Kara and Tia’s joy at Kara’s pain.

Seeing Kara’s belly pressed up against the railing as she cried out in pain was all I could take. My wife and my child were hurting, and nobody was gon’ stop me from getting to them.

“Bite her ass Kara!..... Is ya’ll gon’ do something or not?! You know what? Move out the fuckin’ way!” I yelled, pushing through the cops and running inside as Roman blocked their path.

As I made my way in the house, past the EMT’s working on Rebecaa, I heard a blood curdling scream and a huge thud.

“Help us!” I heard Trin scream as I took the back steps two at a time trying to get to them busting in the room and seeing the wreckage. I knew a war had taken place in here and I knew Trin had held it down for Kara.

“I- I- Its….. It’s over,” Kara sobbed as I breathed a sigh of relief seeing my wife curled up in Trins arms as they held each other tight sobbing.

“It’s over, sis.” Running over to them I did the only thing I could and that was hold them both in my arms. It really was over…It was finally over.

“I am so sorry I left you, I should have followed my gut,” I cried as Kara shook her head. “You’re here now and you couldn’t have known baby.”

“I was so fuckin’ scared, Kara I had to get to you.”

“We’re ok.”

“Is Logan, ok?” Trin and Kara asked at the same time as I smiled at them. “Yea, she’s fine. She did everything ya’ll told her to do and got help.”

“I knew she would, is my mom, ok?”

 “Yea, the EMT’s are working on her,” I whispered as Kara nodded, wincing in pain.

“Are you good?” I asked rubbing her stomach as she groaned.

“Yea, I’m good but I’m in labor.” Kara hissed trying to breathe through an apparent contraction.

“Wait what!!”

Roman’s POV

She was dead, Tia was finally out of our lives and I felt bad at the relief that filled my body as they covered her up with a sheet. Logan was free of her, we all were free of her.

“Daddy!”  

Nothing ever sounded so sweet than to hear her voice. Smiling, I turned just in time to catch her in my arms. “Daddy you here!” She yelled as I cried, holding her close. “Daddy is here baby, and I’m so glad you ok Lo Lo.” I said walking down the driveway, and away from the crime scene. Last thing I wanted was for Logan to be traumatized seeing her mother’s dead body under a white sheet.

I know she didn’t know her well but that wasn’t something a four-year-old should have to see. Thankfully the rain had finally stopped for the moment.

“Tee Tee save me daddy.”

“I know baby, I know. ..Thank you, Ms. Nelson,” I said giving her a hug as she scoffed. “No need, this little one is everyone in this neighborhood’s grandbaby. You ain’t never gotta worry when she’s here.”

“I still can’t thank you enough.”

“Gram hurt daddy,” she said pointing as the EMT’s loaded Rebecca in the ambulance as we moved to the side of the road to let another ambulance in.

“Yes, she is but the EMT’s are taking care of her. I don’t want you to be scared,” I said as Jimmy embraced us both. Before running to meet Trin as she came out of the house.

“Jurdy!” she screamed jumping in his arms as he held her close. “Don’t ever do this to me again,” I faintly heard him say they cried together. Where was Kara?

A few seconds later I saw the other EMT wheel Kara out on a stretcher with Jey holding her hand coaching her through a contraction.

“No way,” I said as Trin smiled. “Yes way….Kara’s in labor,” she said giving Logan and I a hug.

“Tee Tee be a mommy?” Logan asked as Trin kissed her on the check. “Yea sweetie, your Tee Tee is about to be a mommy.”

---

Pensacola General Hospital

Jey’s POV

“Come on baby you got it, just bear down.”

 “I can’t, wait I can’t push!” Kara screamed laying back on the bed as I wiped her forehead.

"Kara, the baby’s head is almost out. On your next contraction I need you to take a deep breath, bear down and push with all you got," Dr. Rivers instructed. “No, I wanna take a nap. Tag you it, you take over, Jey,” I cried as Jey gently kissed me.

“If I could, I would baby, but only you can do this. I know you can do this, and I’m right here wit you.”

“I know and I love you.”

 I love you more, now let’s meet our baby. I bet he or she has your beautiful eyes.”

“And your nose,” Kara whimpered as I kissed her forehead and then her lips once again for good measure.  “Let’s go Mrs. Fatu,” I encouraged as she grunted through another contraction pushing with all her might. “Look Kara, it’s the baby. Come on baby, keep pushing.” I had never seen anything so amazing.

“Ahhh! Get it out! Get it out!” Kara screamed, and finally after ten hours of labor the most beautiful sound I have ever heard filled the room.

“Congratulations, it’s a boy!”

His tiny wails bringing forth my own tears without shame as they placed our son on Kara’s chest.

“He’s so beautiful, look at him Jey,” Kara cried as I fell in love all over again with her, and our son…. We have a son “I love you so much… I love ya’ll so much.” I cried just full and so happy as I kissed my wife and son.

“We love you too, daddy.” I don’t know how Kara knew, but I really needed to hear that. I had almost lost them both today and I just really needed to hear it.

“What are we gon’ name him?” I asked as Kara looked at me and smiled.

“How about after his dad?” she asked as I felt like my heart was about to explode. “Joshua? Like you really want to name him Joshua?” I asked as she nodded placing him in my arms.

“Yea, I can’t think of any better name…Can you?” She whispered reaching up and wiping my tears.

“Joshua, daddy loves you very much and I promise you and ya’ ma gon’ have the best of everything,” I promised as he opened his eyes and looked me.

“He’s looking at me Kara, and he looks just like me,” I said my voice breaking. “I know baby, I know.”

__

Roman’s POV

“Ms. Regina, can we go eat?” Logan asked as Regina scooped her up in her arms. “Of course, you deserve a hero’s dinner after what you did today, lil lady,” she said as Logan gave her a hug.

“Thank you for taking her,” I said as Regina gave me a chaste kiss on the lips. “You stay here and find out about Rebecca, I got Logan.”

I felt thankful, thankful that Rebecca and Kara had a plan in case Tia came back. Thankful for Regina coming into my life and loving Logan. These last five months just kind of hit me out of the blue. I wasn’t looking for anything or anyone and up pops Regina.

Very headstrong, has her own business and she puts my ass in my place when I need it. She met Logan last month and since then they have been joined at the hip. “You want to join them, Bill?” I asked as shook his head.

“Nah, I’m ok. I mean we’re on the outs, but I need to be here to make sure the old bat is ok,” Bill said as I chuckled to myself.

“Ok, I see your point.” I said spotting the doctor heading towards us.

“Oh, I know him…Tim how is she?” Bill asked shaking the doctor’s hand.

“She’s good, we got the bullet, and it didn’t hit any main arteries. She’s in recovery but will definitely have to take it easy for awhile.”

“Thank you so much, and we will make sure she does just that,” Bill said as I looked up and saw Jey coming from labor and delivery.

“How is Kara?” I asked as he smiled pulling out his phone. “She’s good and so is our son.” He said showing me a picture of Kara and the baby.

“A boy…How about that,” I said smiling. Kara looked so happy. “Tell her I’m happy for ya’ll.” Jey nodded, giving Bill his phone.

“There’s my boy,” Bill gushed as Jey beamed with pride. He was going to be a great dad and husband to Kara. That much I knew, and I wished them well.

“How is Rebecca?” Jey asked as Bill scoffed. “That old bat is tough as nails, she’ll be ok,” he said as Jey laughed. “Well, that’s good to hear, Kara was worried.”

“Tell her that her mama has eight lives left,” Bill said as I shook my head.” I will even though she gon’ wonder why in so many words you calling her mama a cat.”

“I prefer the term bitch in heat, but enough about that. What did the cops say?” Bill asked as Jey smiled. “No charges for Kara and Trin, it was self-defense.”

“Thank god, last thing we needed was another trial,” I said as Bill and Jey agreed. It was over…It really was finally all over.

Kara’s POV

Watching Trin with my son, I knew I couldn’t have asked for a better sister or aunt for my child. She took control and kept me grounded. Geez, I can still hear Tia’s body hitting the ground.

“Jey’s coming, I saw him push pass the cops. It’s now or never, let her ass go,” Trin whispered as I screamed for good measure making it seems as if Tia was slipping.

The look of shock on her face as I let her go was things instant karma is made of. She knew she was about to meet her end and the only thing she could do was scream.

Closing my eyes, I cringed hearing her body hit the ground bellow as Trin pulled me back in the room as we collapsed on the floor in an exhausted, thankful heap.

“Trin, thank you,” I cried as she shook her head engulfing me in a hug. “Don’t thank me….We did what we had to do.”

We walked away with some bumps and bruises, but the most important thing is that Tia is gone.  She’s gone and can’t hurt the people we love anymore.

“Trin-”

“Don’t say it Kara…It’s ok,” she whispered placing Joshua back in my arms.  

“But we-”

“Did nothing wrong, and the cops agree. That’s why there were no charges filed.”

“I know, I just hate I had to involve you in my mess.”

“I told you a long time ago you my sister, and I meant that.”

“Trin, I’m just-”

“Overthinking, when you should be enjoying my nephew,” she said as I smiled looking down at my son.

“To the grave,” I whispered extending my pinky out as she chuckled. “To the grave,” she said as we pinky promised to never talk about what happened again. After I fed Joshua and put him down I noticed Trin on her phone.

"What's got you smiling?" I asked climbing back in bed.

"Dear brother posted the baby, let me comment," Trin said full of excitement.

"Glad he didn't post me, I look a mess."

Girl, shut up, you look as beautiful as ever," she scolded giving me a hug.

 In the end, I guess I really was my sister’s keeper after all…And I didn’t mind it at all.

Trin was my sister in every way that mattered, and I would always have her back like she had mine.

-----

Four Years Later

Pensacola Pediatric and Internal medicine

Kara’s POV

“I want to thank you all for coming today as we get ready for our grand opening next week. I want you all to know that without you all there is no me. Thank you all for loving and supporting me.”

The happy faces of my family as I stood in front of my first practice is something I will never forget. Residency was hard but the completion and certification was well worth it.

“Hey lil man,” I whispered picking up Joshua as Jey put his arm around Logan making sure she was ok. “Mama, we eat now?” Joshua asked as I sighed. “In a few minutes we will eat lunch, ok?”

 His little pout as he laid his head on my shoulder making me smile. “Tee Tee, this is so neat,” Logan said giving me a hug. "Thank you sweetie."  Logan just turned eight a few weeks ago and growing up so fast and is already an amazing young lady.

 After Tia’s death, I felt responsible but every time I looked at this beautiful little girl, I knew. I knew we made the right decision for her, and I would always be there for her and so would Trin.

She also had Regina who has been a huge bright light in her life as well. She was good for Roman, and Logan. Hopefully one day he will take that step and try marriage again.

“Are you staying with us tonight, Logan?” I asked as Roman smiled at Regina. I knew he was loving the possibility of them having some alone time.  

“Yes, I wanted to spend the night if it was, ok? Is uncle Jey still grillin’?”

“Yea, I am, and you can stay whenever you want Lo,” Jey said hugging her as she smiled. “Thanks, uncle Jey.” Logan always relished in the attention and love that Jimmy and Jey showered upon her and I can’t say that I blame her. They loved her dearly and she loved them.

“Well, you can get Janiya too while you at it,” Trin said pointing at her three-month-old daughter, who currently had her father wrapped around her little finger speaking baby talk to her.

“Uh, no that baby is spoiled and gon’ holla for Jimmy all night. No ma’am, we pass until she gets a little older sis,” I said as Trin shrugged her shoulders. “It ain’t me, it’s him. See what you did Jimmy?”

“Aye, get off my back. It’s our first one,” Jimmy said smiling at his daughter.

“I guess you get a pass.. You look so cute being in Daddy mode,” Trin teased as my mother gave me hug. “I’m proud of you baby,” she whispered as I held her tight. “And I’m proud of you.”

“Ya’ll proud of me too, right?” my dad asked, jumping in our hug as we laughed. “Yes, we are very proud of you too, dad.”

My parents never got back together, but they are nice to each other and survive our family get togethers. That’s a plus for me.

“Ok, can I love on my wife now?” Jey asked, tapping my dad on the shoulder. My dad couldn’t get out of the way fast enough for me as I jumped into my husband’s arms.

“ I love you so much and I'm proud of you,” he whispered as I smiled truly happy that I had did everything I set out to do. Everything had been worth it, and a new journey was beginning for us.

"I love you more and like I told you, we did this together." I reassured him as my mother picked up Joshua.

"I was just about to pick him up Rebecca."

"Tani, you snooze, you lose. And how bout you finally admit that you don't hate me as much as you used too?"My mother asked as Tani rolled her eyes. Shaking my head I buried my head in Jey's neck.

"I can admit it, doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Please, you love sharing grammy duties with me."

"Them two a trip," Jey said shaking his head at their exchange. It's never boring, I can tell you that much.

"Think we should tell'em they're going to have another baby to spoil in a few months?" I asked as Jey smiled at me.

"Nah, they can wait a few more weeks. I ain't ready to share you just yet."

"Agreed, we need some peace and quiet for awhile."

"Damn, we really made it here,huh?" he asked still in somewhat shock, caressing my face. "Yea baby, we really made it."

The end.

Taglist:

@reci24 @southerngirl41 @vebner37 @jeyusos-girl @melaninsugababy @romanreignkisser @bebesobrielo@arination99 @2-muchsauce

@bakugoumarianawrites @empressdede @alyyaanna @christinabae

@anonandwannakeepitthatway @venusesworld jeyusosgirl  theninthwonder mya2real  justazzi @whatdoeseverybodywant  reignsboy19

wooahmiri alichesmi pytbgeezy @ superpietom 

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 thatgirlest98 zdotspinalot mainthingdoja jimingotthajams

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jaded-human mainthingdoja mrswolffs-blog shamaness11 justarheaslut

[sabine-smitten-obviously]

Good Omens - January reads part #1- fanfics recs 🤓🩷

Follow along for short summaries each month about the books i read🩷

I only read finished stories and rarely one-shots. You will find no WIPs in here. Also you will only find happy or at least hopeful endings here - i couldn´t handle anything else.

Also i try to find every author here on tumblr to link-to, but sadly some times i am out of luck. If you happen to know them, please tell them, write to me in the comments or DM me and i will update the post!

Ratings in ()

Multichapter Fanfics

1] Sky Clear Blue (E) by @klikandtuna

Human Au. It is the year 1804 and Azekiel is running a bookshop, but this folly is about to end, as he is obliged to marry the daughter of a pastor. Meanwhile in the year 2024 Crowley lives in a flat above a deserted shop. He can still read "A.Z. Fell, purveyor of the books" and is fascinated by it. And so sometimes he sneaks down in the empty place, until one day he finds a small handmade angel under the floorboards. And isnt it just a coincidence that Crowley likes to fiddle with a machine for timetravelling? 😉

It doesn't say in the tags but it feels a bit like a Dr. Who Crossover in the first chapters. This is a longfic of 749 pages that will decorate your mind. Brace yourself for some big emotions and quite a stretch of at least umcomfortable feelings and questions. Be brave, you will be rewarded. 🩷 Do make sure you read to the end!

One of the many most touching sentences: " He lives in the lilac wood of his own imagination, and he lives there all alone." 🦄

And incredibly there is also a song to one of the chapters, its a lullaby Azekiel sings for Crowley.

2] The two that got away (T) by @caedmonfaith

Aziraphale is alone at the pub, when a tall lanky ginger walks in - also alone. They start talking and decide to meet again there. But then the world goes crazy and lockdown starts. Years later, Crowley still thinks of the "angel", neither knowing his name, phone number or any further details. When Nina tries to set him up for a blind date, he stubbornly refuses. Good thing, that Nina and Maggie don´t let him get away with it. 😉

A sweet little christmas-story you can read every time of the year. I just love @caedmonfaith, you can seriously read everything from them and will always be in safe hands! 🩷

3] What are you doing on New Years Eve (T) by @thebookshoparoundthecorner

It is 1806, when Crowley and Aziraphale happen to be meet by chance on New Years Eve. The fic takes us through the years and tells about other New Years, including the ones after the end of S2. 🍀

4] Against all expectations (E) by @sixbynine

A/B/O & regency aera: Aziraphale/she/her is an Omega to be presented for marriage, but she has the least interest in finding a husband. So she sneaks away from the ball, but while trying to climb off the balcony, a strange Gentleman and Alpha even helps her to gather her dress and braid her hair.

A tale of unconventional thoughts and gender questioning, that had me googling for victorian paperweights and you"ll never guess why. 🤭

5] The trouble with beeing a demon (E) by @verdantvulpus

This fic is basically the answer to the question: if there are 2 Crowleys and 2 Aziraphales - how many different possibilities are there for them to enjoy themselves in bed (and also other places)? 🌶️🌶️🌶️ Felt Plot : Smut - Ratio = 1 : 9

Lovely quote: " There isn't a me that doesn't love Aziraphale."

6] The Grindr Logo Doesn´t Even have a 'G' in it (E) by @indieninja92

Set after S1, Aziraphale and Crowley are free to explore their friendship - or is it more? In the meantime Aziraphale is stumbling upon a fascinating but anonymous creature on Grindr for having online fun. 🌶️🌶️

I read this fic a while ago and while i was sick now, i listened to it in a great audiobook-adaption from @podfixx! Superhot no matter if you listen or read it, the shower-scene will live in my head rent-free forever.

Oneshots

7] Trust me (T) by @beet-feet

Set after S2, Crowley cant handle his broken heart and seeks a final solution... 😔

Mind the tags, but as always - a hopefull ending.

8] Keepsake (E) by @naromoreau

AU, Crowley is a fairy that likes to tease Aziraphale, who is a centaur. Well, that can't go without punishment any longer ... 🌶🌶🌶

Art by @golswia !

9] Christmas Traditions and all that (T) by @captainblou

Crowley wakes on christmas morning - alone. But only, because Aziraphale has a surprise for him. 🎅😉

Lovely quote: "If Aziraphale wasn't the first thing he'd see, and touch, and smell in the morning, then it wasn't worth waking up at all."

10] Animal Instinct (G) by @captainblou

Crowley returns to the bookshop after a day in hell and desperately needs to unwind. Though this time must have been especially awful, because when the angel returns with tea, Crowley is - gone?

Yes, i have subscribed to this author and so this is why you sometimes get more than 1 rec for her 😁

11] A little help from a fiend (E) by @mimsynims

Human AU - although not really. Aziraphale sumons a demon because he is in need of ... assistance. I can´t tell you more without spoiling it. You´ll never guess what kind of "payment" the demon is willing to accept. 😉 Had me downloading the follow-up multichapter-fic!

12] Submitted for your consideration (E) by @zehwulf

Crowley hires a professional dom - but when he opens the door and takes the other man in, he doubts this will ever work. Well - it will. Better than expected. 😁🌶️

Go ahead - spoil yourself, love yourself - and don´t forget your love for the authors, too! 🤗

[sandboxwritings]

you know what its late and im too tired to think of words anymore so im just gonna post this wip here and go to bed

enjoy!

If there was one thing that was not on Grian's New Years' bingo card it would be growing wings. In fact, if anyone had so much as suggested it as a possibility to him he would have laughed them off, assuming it was the prelude to some strange prank. And yet, here he was two weeks into the new year with what were undoubtedly wings sprouting to either side of his spine, connecting to his shoulder blades in a way that they should not be able to.

That wasn't the only strange thing happening to him either. For one, he's lighter. Not in a diet-culture-fad or hitting the gym to meet that New Year's resolution that'll fade out in a month or so, he is just literally lighter. Less dense? Like the amount of physical space he takes up is the same but his mass is…less? Now, Grian is far from an ornithologist but he was able to quickly learn that bird bones are hollow and he does not like the implications that has for him and his new feathered existence. It does, however, mean he can jump higher, which is kind of fun to test out whenever he's taking the lift to and from his apartment unit.

It also means he's a bit more fragile than he's used to being.

Now, one might be asking, shouldn't a person who has strange growths go see a doctor immediately? And the answer is yes! Of course, and in Grian's defense, he did do that! It's not his fault that the hospital was overflowing with people at the time, most of which were in much more dire straits than he himself was and so he elected to turn around and go home. He would just go back. . . later. Eventually. He swore he would. Maybe.

Surely it would resolve itself.

That was ten days ago, before Grian's new wings had become more distinct and feathered and had only barely been strange misshapen lumps on his back. And in those ten days the entire world had changed.

An emergency notice had been sent out across the city, played on every news broadcast in the district, an alert sent to every cell phone registered to the local area code. Some strange bacteria had been discovered in the water ducts that fed into every reservoir across Hermitopia and it should be avoided at all costs. Citizens were instructed to limit skin exposure and refrain from drinking any sources of unsealed water. Stations were set up across the city to provide clean, filtered water in the meantime while the contamination was dealt with.

It was too little, far too late.

While Hermitopia was effectively put on mass lockdown, Grian's wings continued to fill out. He was almost glad for the shelter in place orders as it meant no one saw the process of his strange, wrinkly-skinned chicken wings double in size day after day. No one saw him nearly scratching the things bloody while the pin feathers grew in. No one was there to see him standing in the middle of his living room and struggling to activate muscles that hadn't existed days ago. No one else was there to look on in awe as he finally stretched both fully feathered wings out for the first time, touching wingtips to diagonal corners of the room.

Just over three weeks into the New Year, Hermitopia holds a press conference. It plays on every device from the heart of downtown to three cities over. As many have already come to realize, the contamination was more than simple bacteria in the water. It was a chemical agent, a biohazard, that was capable of adapting to and changing different forms of matter. Particularly, it changed living matter down to the DNA. Irrevocably.

The city weeps. There is fear and panic. Questions fly about what this means, what comes next, what do we do? Social media forums explode with speculation and rumors. Friends and family hold one another close amidst the chaos of a changing world.

Grian turns off his phone, sits outside on his tiny balcony, and looks at the stars. He feels the wind ruffle his feathers, feels the way it tugs at his skin, pulls him toward the edge. He flexes new muscles that support new, fragile bones.

Spreads his wings.

They say there's no better way to learn to fly. . . right?

And he jumps.

[slutforpringles]

Hey Jaimie, I just wanted to come on here and say thank you for all your contributions to the DR3 fandom. Whether it’s fighting for Daniel’s rights on Reddit or posting all the latest news, you’ve become somewhat of a lifeline for me. Your highlighted articles are my favourite to read, because it keeps me up to date with everything that’s happening. I truly hope you know how appreciated you are here, and I hope that the community that you’ve built here stays around for a long time, despite the recent news. Thank you for your dedication and positivity. Take care!

Hey, I know you sent this earlier today and I'm sorry it's taken me a while to reply, but I wanted to sit down and write a proper response. Getting this message was genuinely so lovely and I can't tell you how much it meant to me to hear that my tumblr has been able to be a positive place for someone 💞

I know I've very rarely been super personal on here, but this sport and this fandom has come to mean a lot to me, so I wanted to use this moment to express my gratitude to the dirlies (gn) and this community.

I was first introduced to F1 through friends while I was living in Europe in 2019 through DtS. I knew from the first moment I saw Daniel he was my favourite. I was immediately enamoured by his vivaciousness and that unabashed joy for life that exudes from every fibre of his being. But I was busy studying overseas and just didn't have the time to be fully bitten by the F1 bug.

I came home at the beginning of 2020 and between the pandemic, lockdowns and my personal life going toooootally to shit I was in a pretty bad place. And it was after a few months of struggle and wallowing that somehow my youtube algorithm landed me on a video of Daniel. I was hooked and very quickly worked my way through highlights, interviews, social media clips, all the funny videos, then each race highlight video as it came out in 2020, which led into every single WTF1 podcast (🙃😂) from 2020. The amount of google searches I did trying to learn all these racing and engineering terms and technical phrases I hadn't come across before (I distinctly remember googling what "box, box" meant because I had no effing clue what it meant 😂). I read every article I could about the upcoming season and the insane hype of Daniel going to McLaren (🙃🙃🙃) and can remember that first FP1 session in Bahrain I ever watched live.

I kind of stumbled onto tumblr via reddit. As I'd been learning about and becoming obsessed with F1 and Daniel I'd made my way onto the F1 sub, and for a long time I could be found on there first learning, and then discussing (and then later arguing for and defending Daniel lol). And I think it was as reddit started becoming more and more anti-Daniel that I started spending more time on tumblr.

For a long time before I joined tumblr I lurked, reading so many of all of your wonderful posts and opinions and seeing all the beautiful and creative fics and art. The mclaren hate blogging era was some of the best (and worst) times and some of the masterpieces on here in defence of Daniel and his career are so iconic and I have referenced their points/stats/quotes so many times in defence of Daniel.

I was a bit scared to fully join tumblr and start posting but I felt really quickly welcomed into this community on here. None of my friends IRL are remotely interested in F1, and so getting to talk about it here with all of you has been such a blessing (and I think my family are probably incredibly grateful that they don't have to listen to me talk about F1/Daniel quite as much as before 😅).

I just wanted to say how incredibly grateful I am to have gotten to experience the last few years with all of you on here. It hasn't always been easy and it's been a rollercoaster - that's for fucking sure - but the highs have been SO incredible. Daniel brought so much happiness and joy and laughter into my life at a time when I really, really needed it and seeing the outpouring of love for him on here the last few days has been beautiful, despite the heartbreaking circumstances.

I don't know what the next few months will look like without Daniel in F1, but I'll be sticking around for sure. I know I'm not always the best at replying to messages or inboxes (I blame my ADHD) but I'm always here for a chat and my messages are always open💞

[patoslover]

Sorry this is kinda long.... I would have liked to share this in the discord server, it's a more private way, but then the lockdown happened and I don't think I can wait any longer to show this.

Ok so.... Yesterday night, I got a bit emotional over my life and a little reflecting on what has happened the past month or so and how it affected me and all [10khaos, maggots discord sv, 15khaos, apocalypselockdown, among others] (as I always do, I'm such a soft-ass (I do hope that made up word doesn't mean anything flirty I'm trying to lowkey insult myself in here tyvm English)) And so as I always do when emotions hit, I wrote a poem-kinda-thing.

I showed it to @lxvenderjewel and @falling-raine and this happened

And later @the-beard-of-edward-teach saw it and well....

I made changes to it since I showed it to them, but it's for better, trust me.

(the poem is at the bottom of the post woo)

I think that's enough of a warning for y'all. But just in case, this made people cry, this poem, it's very very dear to me in levels I can't write I can't explain I can't put into poems all the feelings and stuff, but I hope this poem makes up for the most part.

Be careful. I love you.

Thank you @the-beard-of-edward-teach @arkytiorlecter @voids-ideas @orpiknight @cawdra @apollos-dodgeball-target @obsessed-sketches @zonzolik @dashoulinas-fandom-dump @eybefioro @queermarzipan @lxvenderjewel @ivory--raven @styx142 @myfranticscribbles @empressumbreon @frogs-go-ribbit @thearoacemess @goodomensduh @sounds-void-fishy @arkytiorlecter @random-doctor-on-the-internet @apophid-I-eat-everything @achilles-in-a-blanket-burrito @hello-ello-ello @harbinger-of-existential-dread @howmanyholesinswisscheese @an-ace-on-the-case @goblin-named-sam @1800ineedshelp @chaoticgenderflood @ivory--raven @aroaceblackhole @three-smiles-and-a-unicorn @coppicegate @zonzolik @falling-raine @dashoulinas-fandom-dump @koboldkatalyst @arkytiorlecter @friday-im-in-love-with-crowley @good-usernames-were-taken @weirdly-specific-but-ok THANK YOU THANK YOU ILY (oh wow that's a lot of ppl) (PLS PLS tell me if I forgot anyone there's so many of you, SORRY IF I TAGGED YOU TWICE AAA AND I'M SORRY IF YOU WERE TAGGED AND DUNNO WTF I AM I GOT LOST WITH THE TAGS AAAA AND SORRY IF I TAGGED U AND THE TAG DIDN'T WORK)

I love you all so so so so so so so much, you're so dear to me. Thank you. This is a gift for you.

Demons Out.

There's a hell outside,

Demonic screaming,

Trees, fall's leaving.

And I'm just here inside,

In my bubble.

Trapped inside me,

Trapped in myself.

There's demons out,

Asking to come.

But I won't let them,

I'm not alone.

Inside myself,

Inside my world,

I've got most people

Than all of your's.

They're worth more

Than any gold,

And they're far way,

More beautiful

Than any Sun,

Than any Star,

They are right here,

They are right now.

They're my comfort,

And some my loss,

But they're all lovely

Precious along.

They're the most

Amazing

Beings to exist,

And so I'm afraid

That they'll all be missed.

Because I fear

One day they'll go,

That's why I start

To sing a song.

Please let us all

Become real friends,

Please let us all

Reunite again.

There's demons out,

Angels inside.

There's me in-between

Caring for (them) all

Please let us all

Reunite again.

There's demons out.

And I'm in pain,

But not too much,

We'll find a way.

There's demons out,

We are in pain.

But I will start

To sing again.

I care for each

And every of you,

So then I start

To sing a song.

Please let us all

Reunite again.

There's demons out.

We'll try again.

[ryker-writes]

hehehe finished it sooner than I thought

Here's the second part! If you didn't see the first part, you can find it here

Warning: spoilers for book 6

Request rules and Masterlists

Broken Sibling relationships

Idia as a sibling (Broken relationship continued...)

eventually, you and Idia ended up at NRC together

your parents even decided he could bring the fake Ortho with him

all three of you got assigned to Ignihyde

still, Idia avoided you, and you avoided the fake Ortho

it was difficult since Idia always had the robot doing things for him around Ignihyde and the rest of the school

there was one time that it tried to talk to you

"I wanted to try and find a way for you and big brother to make up! We're family, and I think it would make you both much happier if you did. Then we can all play video games together, just like we used to. I really miss that and I know he does to. Don't you miss it?"

of course you did

you wanted nothing more than to play games with Idia and Ortho

but as the Ortho look-alike said that it missed playing games, you could help but think of the real Ortho

and once again, you're brought back to the scene of Ortho being ripped apart in front of you

a memory that served as a constant reminder that this was not the real Ortho

despite the robot's nice request, you couldn't do it

as long as Idia saw that robot as Ortho, you would never be able to be near them

months later, Charon broke into the school and took many students

a few even stopped you saying they needed you back at Styx

if you had to go then your parents must not be at the facility

which meant Idia and Ortho would be going too

not having much of a choice, you went with them back to the Island of Woe

the goal was to gather more data on the overblots at NRC

though you didn't need to do much work, your presence was still required

if anything went wrong they needed a Shroud to help fix the facility

that was your role

to sit there just in case something went wrong

Idia was the one working and running the tests

you were required to be near or in the main control room just in case

so when Styx started having an emergency lockdown, you were there

Idia had disappeared and the staff were saying that they couldn't override it

you quickly entered the Shroud authorization into the system, but it didn't work

the fake Ortho appeared as a hologram in front of you

"Sorry! I can't allow you to stop this."

"What's going on?"

"Me and big bro are working together. We're going to be heroes, just like we said when we were younger! All we have to do is open the underworld and release the phantoms to reset the world. Once that's done, we can do whatever we want! We can all play together again and be happy! You should help us!"

"You can't reset the world! Idia of all people should know that the real Ortho wouldn't want that!"

The robots expression shifted to one more...familiar, and he spoke in a much calmer tone

"I know. But I want you and big bro to be happy. My death has torn you two apart, and I'm sorry. You two deserve to be happy, no matter what it takes."

the hologram then disappeared

that didn't seem like it was the robot talking...it reminded you of Ortho

could he really have been talking to you?

that should be impossible but some part of you was saying that it was the truth

that was the real Ortho talking

he wanted you and Idia to be happy

of course he did

that's just like Ortho

you could feel tears running down your cheeks, but you didn't care

you got to talk to your brother again

Idia...

you want him to be happy too

but is resetting the world really the way to do it?

no, that would only make things worse

you had to help the other NRC students stop him

But there was no way you could face Idia and Ortho like this

What would you even say to help them?

After so long of Idia and you avoiding each other, what could you even say?

You wouldn’t be much help going down into Tartarus with the others anyway

Ever since what happened to Ortho, you can’t bring yourself to face the phantoms

So, you did your best to help them from the main control room

And you watched everything from the cameras

…including Idia’s overblot

You didn’t even think it was possible because of the Shroud family curse, but there he was

and he was attached to a giant phantom

but it wasn't just a phantom

it was Ortho

it used his voice and personality

some of it may be the robot, but you know the real Ortho is also in there

has the blot reached him too?

even though you were just watching through the cameras, you felt terrified

Were you about to lose both of your brothers for good?

but there was nothing you could do aside from watch the others battle Idia

thankfully, they were able to beat him, but Idia and Ortho both fell down into the underworld

Vil jumped after them and pulled Idia out

...but Ortho couldn't be saved

once again, Ortho had died

and it hurt all over again

but at the very least, you got to talk to the real Ortho again

Vil and the other students were talking to Idia about everything, and he closed the gate to the underworld

the others ended up coming out of Tartarus, and leaving, but Idia and you had to stay and fix Styx

he spent some time down in Tartarus before finally coming up

even then, he didn't talk to you

Styx was back up and running pretty quickly after that

and Idia shut himself in his old room again for a few hours

you dreaded what was happening

would he just make another replacement for Ortho?

sure enough, when he came out there was another robot following him

when you and Idia saw each other, he froze

he wasn't avoiding complete eye contact, but he wasn't saying anything

feeling nothing but disappointment in him for making another robot, you left

left him in the hallway, left Styx, left the Island of Woe, and went back to the school

not to long after, the both of them came back too

and things were back to normal for a while

you avoided the robot, and Idia avoided you

except, he didn't completely avoid you anymore

he (or sometimes his tablet) would hover in the same room as you, before sighing and leaving

that was pretty much the extent of it

until one day, there was a knock at your door

when you opened the door, Idia was standing there with the game you all used to play together in his hands

"I...I know that isn't Ortho. He knows it too, and I'm not going to force him to be Ortho anymore. He's developed his own personality...but he still wants to be part of our family. You don't have accept that right away...I just figured...the real Ortho wanted us to be happy. So, uh, do you maybe want to...play a game or two?"

[withwritersblock]

The Fall of Home

~The Fall of Home by Los Campesinos!~

Author's Note: idk honestly it's mostly word vomit ngl Italics are flashbacks Summary: Nate wins the cup and needs his childhood best friend to celebrate with him Warnings: Swearing, implied smut, shouting Word Count: 3,990 Nathan Mackinnon x fm!reader

She sat on the couch watching the dying minutes of the Stanley Cup finals. She watched Nate push Gabe towards the bench, her heart beating hard against her chest. It was t0o close. Not enough to feel as though they had done it. The Avalanche jersey covering her frame had Mackinnon on the back. It was Nate’s old jersey from his first few years in the league before the Avs switched to their new ones. 

Her childhood best friend had done it as the last ten seconds of the game the puck was in the Avs offensive zone.

It was like watching in slow motion as she watched the bench itch with anticipation as the clock winded down from five seconds. The buzzer goes off and the entire team throws their gear everywhere as they cheer and scatter on the ice. Her hands cover her mouth as her eyes well up in tears.

It had been his dream since the second Nate realized what hockey was. She watched him pretend to lift the cup on the lake behind his house countless times. Now in mere minutes she would get to see it done in real life. Except it is on her TV. 

Her fiance smiled widely as he hugged her side. “The cups coming back to Scotia!” Daniel mumbled as he kissed the side of her cheek. She smiled politely as she stared at the screen seeing Nate on the screen.

Daniel didn’t know that Nate and herself grew up next door to each other or that he was her first kiss. Or the first person he called after he got drafted first overall. Or the fact that they act like they're in a relationship every time they see each other again. Cuddling, kissing, dinner with each other’s parents.

And sex. A lot of it.

Except Nate hasn’t been home in two years. His family has gone and visited him in Colorado instead. She visited him once in Denver and stayed with him, in the same bed. Except nothing happened between them because of Daniel. Daniel entered her life during a difficult time. It was two months before COVID really went rampant. They went COVID crazy and moved in together right when the lockdown happened. His idea.

Nate stayed in Colorado, despite many of his teammates using the time to visit and stay with their families. But she had Daniel. She didn’t need Nate.

Except she still missed him as the months progressed and the further they had time apart it was as if the feelings she had for him were getting less and less suppressed. But he had a new life, new people, new and better successes. Hell. He just won the Stanley Cup. 

She even had a new life. Sure, it was still in the same community she grew up in but she had Daniel and a life that she’s supposed to be happy about.

“Are you crying?” Daniel questioned, a small furrow in his eyebrows. She shifted her gaze towards him for a brief second as she blinked rapidly. She looked back towards the screen to see Nate get handed the cup.

“Cole Harbour, you got another cup!” the announcer shouted as Nate shook the cup in the air with a wide smile on his features. She hasn’t seen him smile so wide since he was drafted.

“It’s just-look at ‘em,” she was referring to Nate.

“Yeah, they’d deserved it from the beginning,” Daniel said as he stood up from the couch to get another beer. 

She watched as Nate handed it off to Jack Johnson, a player who’s waited over a thousand games to achieve this. She tilted her head back as she wiped the tear that fell onto her cheek.

~~~

It had been several hours later and multiple Instagram story reels that have kept her up as she watched the team celebrate. She remained on the couch, a glass of wine in her hand. Her phone screen lit up with a call coming from Nate. She furrowed her eyebrows harshly as his contact photo popped on the screen. It was a picture of them back in his Halifax days. He was kissing her cheek, sweaty and still in his jersey.

Pulling the phone to her ear, it was loud on his end of the phone. “Y/N!” Nate shouted, “I need you in Denv-ver, when I get there tomorrow!” he shouted. He sounded blacked out. She smiled to herself, happy to hear his voice. His voice was practically gone but it was still amazing to hear. “I need to see you, we’ve got to-to celebrate,” he slurred. 

“Ask me again tomorrow,” she said laughing, “Enjoy your night Nathan,” she said, getting ready to hang up.

“Wait! Wait,” he chuckled, “I’m sorry you couldn’t come to Tampa, I wanted you here so bad,” he explained, the words taking forever to leave his lips. “Bu-but you’ve got a fi-fiance,”

Her features scrunched together as his voice was rasped as he was fighting hard to get the words out. “What does Daniel have to do with-”

“Because-” he hiccuped, “Because he has you and I don’t,” he let out. Her eyes widened as the words left his lips. Her stomach began to do flips as the words played in her mind on repeat.

“Because he has you and I don’t,”

“Because he has you and I don’t,”

“Because he has you and I don’t,”

“Oh dude, come on! Give me the phone, Nate! Give it to me. We said no drunk calling!” Erik’s voice rang out on Nate’s end of the phone. “Sorry, Y/N. He’ll call tomorrow when he’s sober!” Erik’s voice was closer to the phone as he spoke.

“Oh okay,” she mumbled as the phone call ended. Her hand began to shake as she pulled the phone from her ear. What the hell did he mean by that? 

It was hard to take anything he said seriously because he was drunk, he probably won’t even remember calling her. She brought her wine glass to her lips as she drank it all in one swig.

She lifted her gaze from her lap to the sound of loud footsteps coming from her hallway. “Baby, we’ve gotta get up early for that thing with your parents tomorrow. Remember? Come get some sleep,” Daniel said, his voice groggy from probably just waking up. 

She met his eye, praying for an ounce of butterflies or a feeling in her chest that told her he was the one. Or the spark that everyone talks about when you meet your soulmate. But nothing came out of it. She took a deep breath as she nodded, “Yeah, I’ll-” she cleared her throat, “I’ll be there in a minute.”

“So, things are pretty serious with him,” Nate mumbled as he messed with his fingernails, avoiding her gaze. She hummed as a reply as she avoided meeting his gaze. 

She was laying in his king sized bed in his apartment in Denver, contemplating on why she decided staying with him was better than a hotel. Because all she wanted to do right now was kiss him. It’s been three hundred and forty three days since she last kissed him and she missed the feeling of his lips on hers. 

“Why didn’t he come with you to visit me?” he asked, turning his gaze to her trying to read her features. She pulled her lips between her teeth as her eyes widened slightly. She took a sharp breath before looking towards him, her eyes landed on his bright blue eyes. His eyes were slightly swollen as he was recovering from a broken nose still from a few weeks back. 

“He doesn’t know that we’re friends,” the last word difficult to leave her lips, “He just thinks that I’m on a trip with friends to Denver to see a few games,” she explained. Nate fought off a smirk on his lips as he ran his tongue over his bottom lip.

“How’s your mom keeping that secret? If I remember correctly all our childhood photos together are all over the living room,” he said, raising his eyebrows. 

She chuckled as she inched towards him, slightly. “My brother decided to have four kids in the span of three years. So she replaced all of our photos with my niece and nephews.” 

Nate let out a huff of air as he shook his head, “I don’t envy him. Triplets, right?” he asked and she nodded.

“They’re adorable, but a handful,” she muttered.

She met his gaze as she took a deep breath. He smiled softly as he adjusted the pillow under his head. “Is he a Penguins fan or Avs fan?” Nate asked, referring to Daniel. It was common in their small community to be either a Pittsburgh Penguins fan for Sydney or a Colorado Avalanche fan for Nate. 

She scrunched her features together and Nate’s hand hit his chest like a fake dagger. “You couldn’t find an Avs fan to date?”

She rolled her eyes playfully as she laid onto her back, forcing her gaze to the ceiling. “You should get some sleep,” she muttered. 

Nate laid facing her still, admiring every detail about her. The way her hair laid across his pillow. The curve of her lips and the flutter of her eyelashes. “Y/N,” he let out barely above a whisper, his heart racing. She turned her head to meet his gaze. His eyes trail from her eyes to her lips. Needing to kiss her but he couldn’t. Nate was not one to make moves on someone else’s girlfriend. 

But this was Y/N. She was everything he’s ever wanted. Even down to the fake wedding they had when they were nine, it was the first time they kissed. They were nine, kisses at that age barely count but it was the first of many. 

She met his gaze, pursing her lips forward slightly as she watched his eyes flicker between her lips and her eyes. “He’s lucky to have you,” he let out finally. She smiled softly, “But I’ll beat the shit out of him if he hurts you,” 

“You would knock him out with one punch, he’s not very strong,” she muttered as he chuckled.

The next morning she was woken up by Daniel shoving her awake, “Wake up,” he mumbled as he began pacing in their bedroom. She rubbed her hand across her eyes as she was adjusting to the sudden touch to her body. “What the fuck is this?” he asked, shoving his phone into her face, she pulled her hand away as she stared towards the Facebook post that her mom shared early this morning. 

It was hard to read as his hands were shaking, “What-”

“What the fuck is this?” he asked again, dropping his phone onto her chest. She furrowed her eyebrows as she looked over the Facebook post. 

The caption said  From the lake behind our houses to the big stage! Our family couldn’t be more proud. Can’t wait to see the cup in your hands this time! #GoAvsGo #NateDogg

She cringed at the wording but her breath caught in her throat as she saw the collection of photos she added. Each photo shows Nate with her family. Majority of them with Nate and Y/N cuddling cozy and even one of them with him kissing her cheek. “Daniel, I can explain,” she said as she began to stand up from the bed.

“How fucking long were you going to keep this a secret?” he accused as she dropped his phone onto the mattress. Her mouth opened as she tried to find words to say. There was nothing to say. “I mean his contact photo in your phone is him kissing you!” 

“Wait, you went through my phone?” she countered as she looked at her phone in his hands. 

“No, he called you and I saw the picture. I mean, is the jersey you wore last night his? Like off of his fucking back?”

“I never wanted to lie or keep it from you. What was I supposed to say? Oh by the way, my best friend growing up is now this super famous athlete, I never see anymore.” she expressed. 

“He’s not your best friend, all these fucking pictures your mom posted is you two looking coupley. This one is from a year ago when you were in Denver, I mean what the actual fuck. Have you been cheating on me?” 

“What no! Will you stop shouting and sit down and have a conversation?” she countered. He shook his head while taking a deep breath. He reluctantly sat down beside her on the bed, refusing to meet her eye.

There was silence for a moment, “Nate and I grew up beside each other. We were born four months apart, our parents are best friends. He was my first friend. We had a weird relationship,” she hesitantly looked towards him, he was still fuming. “We were never in  a romantic relationship but,” she let out a huff of air, “Sometimes it felt like we were?” 

“I haven’t seen him since the last time I was in Denver, and nothing happened between us. He knows about you and Nate would never even try anything,” she explained. He shook his head.

“So what? You guys have had sex?” he questioned. Her mouth clamped open and shut and he groaned. “I can’t believe you’ve kept this from me!”

“He’s my past, Daniel, he doesn’t matter!”

“But he was a huge part of it! And clearly still is! He’s called you like four times!” he let out as he stood up from the bed. “And you know what, I don’t want to be with someone who keeps such a massive part of their life secret. I’ll move my stuff out by tomorrow,” he expressed, furious. He took a hold of his phone and stormed out of the bedroom.

“Daniel!?” she called out. She let out a huff of air before switching her gaze to her phone that was now lying on the floor.

“You look at those fucking photos and tell me how to feel!” Daniel shouted again. “I can’t compete!” he said before he left.

She tried to feel something for Daniel leaving. Her body was stiff as her mind was racing with thoughts of Nate. Instead of Daniel. She was wrong. He does matter. He always has and despite all of the time apart, he was still so important to her. 

~one week later~

She laid in the bed that she once shared with Daniel. He moved out the next day from the apartment after several more fights regarding Nate. He took the ring from her finger and threw it out of the window. Y/N knows she should’ve told Daniel about Nate. It was easier having him be a celebrity in her life than someone she loved. Someone she loved in more ways than one.

She’s spoken to Nate every day since they won. He would call twice. Once in the morning to recap the drunken things he would say well into the night. His drinking slowed down as the weeks progressed but he’s been celebrating every day since. Each night he would call and beg her to come see him in Denver. Every night she would consider it until she would realize he was too drunk to remember. She’d always leave it out the next day they’d talk.

She laid naked beside him as she traced her manicured finger along his chest. Tracing each line of his muscle, each outline. His hand fluttered his fingertips along her skin. He would trace his index finger from the base of her neck in a zig zag to her lower back.

“When do you go back to Denver?” she questioned barely above a whisper. He took a few seconds to reply as he continued the pattern on her back. 

“Tuesday,” he let out, shifting his gaze from the ceiling to her. She lifted her head to look down towards him. She leaned down and pressed her lips against his softly. He lifted his other hand from his side and rested it onto her cheek. “This might be the last time I’m back here for a while,” he let out as he stroked his thumb across her skin. 

She raised her eyebrows teasing as she pecked his lips, “Let’s make the most of it then,” she muttered between kisses. He smirked into the kiss.

It was sensual and slow, something they’ve perfected over the years as if they know exactly what the other person wanted. Nate pulled away from her lips, resting his forehead against hers. “I’ve missed you a lot,” he said as his hand on her cheek moved to the base of her neck. She opened her eyes to meet his gaze. Her cheeks heated up as she smiled.

“Me too,” she mumbled as he leaned towards her, kissing her.

She shook her head as her phone began to vibrate beside her, she lifted her phone up to see Nate was calling her. She took a deep breath as she put the phone to her ear. “Hi,” she mumbled.

“Come to Denver,” Nate said simply. His voice groggy as if he hasn’t spoken much yet. Pulling her head back against the pillow, she scrunched her features together.

“What?”

“I know you and Daniel broke up, I don’t know why you won’t tell me about it. But all I know is that I’ve been trying to see you because my dream has just happened and I want my best friend to be with me. The other half of this conversation can’t happen over the phone, so please come to Denver. Don’t make me wait till I bring the Cup home, please,” he let out as if he’s rehearsed it. 

She was stunned. Her eyes blinked slowly as she swallowed hard. “How’d you know about Daniel?” she asked, ignoring the rest for now.

“Y/N, our mother’s still live next to each other and they talk a lot. Come to Denver, I’ll book your flight. I just really need to see you,” 

“Okay,” she let out faster than how her mind could process anything.

“How fast can you get to the airport? I want to give you enough time to pack and get ready,”

~~~

She was walking through the airport in Denver trying to find Nate. It took about thirty minutes for her to find him sitting near the passenger pick up doors. He lifted his head, as if he could sense she was close to him. 

She stopped as she saw him stand slowly from his seat, shoving his phone into his pocket. He was glowing. It’s been over a year since she last saw him in person but her entire skin began tingly when she saw him as every moment between them played in her mind like a flipbook. 

Every kiss. Every intimate moment. Every conversation. Hockey games she wore his jersey to. Her graduation from university he flew from Denver to see. Their very first kiss at nine years old, their fake wedding. 

She walked towards him and he began walking towards her. Once they met, she let go of her suitcase and her carry-on bag and jumped into his arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist as he squeezed her tightly against his chest. He took a sharp breath, breathing in her floral perfume. Her hand rested on the base of his neck, running her fingers through the small pieces of his hair.

“God, you’re beautiful,” he muttered into her ear before she slowly pulled away from him, his hands remaining on her hips.

“I just spent way too many hours on two airplanes, don’t lie to me,” she muttered as she met his eyes. They were brighter as well as his smile. He was happier than he’s ever been. 

“Still beautiful,” he mumbled as he pulled her against his chest again. 

~~~

It had been a few hours since she got to Nate’s apartment. She had showered and got rid of the airport smell from her body and they were now sitting on his couch watching an action movie he had picked out. They were quiet but there was a looming tension between them. 

“What happened with Daniel?” Nate asked, keeping his gaze on the screen, trying to avoid looking towards her. She dropped her gaze to her lap, the conversation they’ve been avoiding.

“The day after you guys won the cup, my mom had posted something on Facebook,” she said as she let out a huff of air.

“I saw, it was nice,” he mumbled, Y/N fought off a smile.

“He felt blindsided because he didn’t know that we knew each other. Or knew each other that well and you had called a few times before I woke up and he saw my contact photo for you,” she paused again.

“He claimed I was cheating on him with you and he thought when I visited you in Denver that I cheated on him with you. He then threw my engagement ring out of the window and stormed out. Stayed with my mom that night so he could get his stuff out of my apartment,” 

“What the fuck? He threw your ring out of the window? That’s a dickhead move,” he said while shaking his head.

“I mean, not telling him about us was a dickhead move too, Nate,” 

“I don’t understand why you didn’t tell him,” Nate muttered, shifting his gaze to her. She tilted her head to the side as her lips fell into a pout as her eyes lowered to his lips before she met his gaze again.

“What did you mean when you said ‘he has you and I don’t’?” she asked him. His eyes widened as he pressed his lips together.

“You remembered that?” he asked. She nodded. “I’ve always thought one day we’d end up together, married with like four kids or something. I always thought one day I could convince you to move to Denver with me. Or after I retired we’d start a life together. But you started dating Daniel. I realized I waited too long. And I was going to go back to Halifax during those first months of COVID. But you were with Daniel, I couldn’t be around you and him. So I stayed in Denver.”

“And then he proposed and I lost my chance. I lost my chance because I wasn’t going to make a move on you when you were with him. So, I thought that if we stayed apart, I stopped visiting home, these feelings would just go away. It’s worse, Y/N.” he muttered as he scooted closer to her, forcing their faces to be near inches apart.

“I think sappy romantic stuff is bullshit. But Y/N, you’re my soulmate. I’m in love with you, have been in love with you long before I even knew what love meant,” he rested his hand on her cheek, “At fucking nine years old, I knew who I wanted to marry and seventeen years later I still know who I want to marry. It’s always been you.”

She delicately rested her hand on his chest as she smiled, “I can’t believe you did that math so fast,” she teased. He rolled his eyes playfully.

“Shut up,” he muttered before he pressed his lips against hers urgently. She returned the kiss quickly as she climbed onto his lap, straddling him as her hands were holding his cheeks.

“I was scared,” she muttered as she pulled away, “I was scared that you’d become this famous athlete and forget about me. So I pulled away,” she mumbled before pecking his lips. “I’m in love with you too.”

He smiled as he kissed her again. “Best fucking year,” he let out.

[the-phantom-author]

Hasan Piker | long-term gf

Yes, these were made at 1am while I was eating rice krispie treats. Reblogs always welcomed, request are open.

You meet Hasan toward the end of him working at The Young Turks in late 2019, when the two of you talked about his streaming and other social media, the both of you agreed that you wouldn’t physically be on them but he's more than allowed to talk about you.

You move in with him during lockdown. It wasn’t really lockdown yet when you first planned on moving, but he needed to move into a new apartment and neither of you really wanted to go through lockdown without the other. So, the two of you decided that it was a good time to move in together anyway.

It was during lockdown that you really got to know his mother, as she did live with the two of you. It was also during this time that chat got their first bits of information and glimpses of you. It was nothing huge or anything, there would be times that they see you leaving the apartment to go to work or get groceries. They could faintly hear you talking/cooing at Fish. They’d see throw blankets around the house, ask about them, and Hasan would respond with “My girlfriend gets cold easily” and move on.

Hasan is very careful with how he navigates your hidden relationship while online. One thing is for sure though, and that he’s so respectful of it. Like, he makes his “I’m fucking your mom” jokes as he does, but as soon as someone makes a joke that just a bit to suggestive he says “I have a girlfriend.” and move the conversation alone, not letting it go there again. The whole “Hasan Positivity Week” thing would be very “Flattered, but no.” He’s not letting any amount of disrespect go your way.

That said, if someone linked him one of your tiktoks, where you’re just like “I would totally drop my long term boyfriend for Hasan Piker, I mean look at him." Coupled with a bunch of photos of him that are from your personal camera roll. He is most definitely just sitting there, looking.

The way that he talks about you on stream though is very 🥰🥰. Like, someone in chat asked how yall met and he just said “She grinned, and everything about her was perfect, and I fell in love instantly". There are several times where he absentmindedly says “we” instead of “I”. Like “We’re going on a trip later this month” or “”We’re going out for dinner, so the stream is ending early.”

During this time you are soft launching, and by this time I mean the whole relationship. It’s vague pictures of him, pinterest like photos of coffee cups that have his hands and ring in them, pictures of furniture with his clothes in the background, you in tiktok wearing his hoodies or necklaces.

It is also after covid where chatter starts getting suspicious. They see the same woman in pictures from Austin, Ludwig, Will, and the lot , often in the background or barely there. Chat asks them all about her/you and they say nothing about it. Ethan mansions Hasan’s “special lady” far too much on leftovers to just be some kind of bit.

This is when chat starts to do some digging, they put the photos from and of you together with the photos of the mystery lady in the pictures from everyone. This prompts a discussion between you and hasan about what to do with introducing you to the internet.

It is decided that Hasan should start to soft launch you and this is what is fully intended to happen, however Hasan doesn’t know the definition of soft launching. He really just post a picture of the two of them together on iInstagram. The very next day the stream is just titled “Partner Reveal” and when the stream opens it’s just you, in his chair.

Chat soon realizes that the two of you are the duo they never knew they needed. Banter off the walls, and undeniable chemistry. There are a few portions of his stream that he automatically goes to get you and ask if you want to join the stream for it. Like if he ever starts to watch something that pertains to an interest of yours, true crimes, jubilee, those conspiracy videos he's watched a few times, or these 2000's reality TV shows,.

He'll even have specific subjects that he knows you know about in a non-political way, that he'll bring you in for. Just so he can have a normies opinion on it. A normie that he trust.