#lost phoenix event

[clumsypuppy]

oooh wait so the plot hole of “why doesnt a spirit medium just channel the victims spirit” is literally bc the DL-6 spirit channeling cant be repeated huh

[moondancediner]

Love of my Life

summary: the dagger squad meets hangman's best-kept secret

jake seresin x reader

word count: 1490

warnings: no editing, fluff

a/n: this popped into my head the other night... enjoy! also this gif makes me CHOKE ohmylord

song rec: love of my life - harry styles

masterlist

It wasn’t on purpose. Nights when you and Jake ended up at the same bar were never planned, mostly because your friends from work always wanted to go somewhere downtown, and Jake’s friends from work always wanted to go to the Hard Deck so there was never a chance for the two groups to intersect. 

Tonight, however, your friends had enough of hearing about all your nights at the Hard Deck with your fighter pilot husband who drops by work every once and a while with lunch or a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. They decided to venture out to the Hard Deck tonight for your monthly get-together and you weren’t going to miss an opportunity to ogle at your husband from across the bar while he played darts and pool with his Dagger Squad friends who just so happened to be in town visiting. 

And that’s exactly where you found yourself on this lovely Friday night. Your friend walked over to your standing table with another drink for you and you thanked her with a smile. She immediately started diving into some workplace gossip, keeping her voice quiet since so many of your colleagues had managed to make it out tonight. You half-listened to her go on how bad the break room refrigerator smelled the other day but your real focus was on Jake who was playing pool with Phoenix, Fanboy, and Bob. He had Bob on his team and you were surprised to see him actually give the man a chance to play without correcting or coaching him. 

You knew all about the Dagger Squad, when Jake was first sent out here you followed him, even knowing this wouldn’t be a permanent duty station, and he talked about everyone he was competing against non stop. From the moment he came home after training you were getting a full rundown of the days happening (you were sworn to secrecy of the top secret events, of course). You learned quickly who was who, even if you never got the opportunity to meet them. 

After the mission, you were pulling out boxes and getting ready to move what little belongings you brought over to the island when Jake came home and surprised you to your core. He accepted a teaching position here on the North Island and you were staying for the foreseeable future. 

You were shocked but over the moon. Jake would be in one spot for at least a couple years and wouldn’t be off on deployments and missions so often. You could start a family and he could actually be there for all of it. 

“Hello? Anybody home?” A hand waving in front of your face brought you out of memories and a trance you hadn’t realized you were in. You laughed and smiled at your friend, but not before catching the eye of Phoenix, who totally caught you staring at Jake. 

“Sorry, sorry, got a little lost there.” You waved her hand out of your face and took another sip from your drink. 

“I’ll say,” she laughed, “I mean, I get it.” Her eyebrows wagged and you laughed heartily, throwing your head back. She was always complimenting your choice of husband and you had to agree with her, he was fine as hell. 

“Fuck, I think one of his friends just caught me staring,” you said once the laughter died down. 

“Remind me again why he doesn’t tell them about you?” 

“It started off as a joke,” you start, “he wanted to see how long it would take one of them to notice, and now it’s just an ongoing bet we have.” 

“A bet I am about to win, by the way.” Jake suddenly appears behind you and you’re happy to see him until his words sink in.

“You’re not allowed to interfere!” You point at him and he just laughs. 

“No interference, I promise.” He leans on the table you two are standing at and you almost forget about the bet for a second because his green eyes still captivate you even after all this time. 

“Well, what are you doing over here then?”

“See now, that’s where it gets interesting because someone caught you looking at me,” he tips his beer over in the direction of his friends, who scatter like chickens when you turn your head to look at them, “and they bet me $20 that I couldn’t walk over here and get your phone number.” 

“Hmmm, seems like fair play to me.” Your friend interjects, looking contemplatively between you and your cheating husband. 

A noise comes out of your mouth, somewhere between disbelief and betrayal. You only had one month left before the bet was yours and you could claim your prize and now this happens, the perfect opportunity falls right into Jake’s lap. 

“Did none of them notice the giant ring on my finger?” You hold up your wedding rings, which glint even in the dim bar lighting and Jake takes your fingers in his hand, bending them towards himself before placing a kiss on your knuckles. You swoon. It’s impossible not to. “Don’t try to distract me, you’re in trouble.” 

“Come on darlin’,” His hand fell away from yours but moved slyly around your hip, where it curled around the belt loops of your shorts, and just then, while his face was inching towards yours, your wedding song came on. 

“When did this song get added to the jukebox?” 

“I may have put in a special request.” His smile did you in. You met him halfway and when your lips met that familiar kaleidoscope of butterflies took flight. Jake pulled away just to smile at you some more before pressing a few quick kisses to your lips. When he backed away enough, you took the chance to look over his shoulder and see what his friends thought. 

The entire group was standing around, completely gobsmacked at what just occurred and you could only imagine what was running through their minds. 

“After you, Mrs. Seresin,” Jake whispered in your ear. You gave him the best glare you could but he just laughed and grabbed your hand to walk you over to the group of people you already felt like you knew. 

Jake chuckled as you got within ear shot. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet someone,” he pulled you under his arm and you automatically slid your own across his back, “this is my wife.” He said it with genuine pride, a stark contrast to his usual cocky tone everyone was used to. 

“Wife?” Rooster repeated, dumbfounded.

“Pick your jaw up off the floor, Bradshaw.”

You ignored Jake and introduced yourself to everyone with a quick wave. “It’s nice to finally meet you all.” 

There was a beat of silence while you watched everyone process what was happening, but Phoenix broke it with a laugh. “You’ve been holding out on us, Bagman!” 

“Yeah, what the hell, man!” Rooster seemed downright offended that Jake would keep such a secret from them and you couldn’t help but laugh. 

“It’s not all Jake’s fault,” You come to his defense, “we had a bet going, which I just lost.” 

“What bet did you two have?” Bob asked, coming forward to introduce himself to you properly. 

You shook his outstretched hand, smiling. “We wanted to see how long it would take for someone to figure out he was married.”

“You… you don’t wear a wedding ring?” Rooster seemed to be having the hardest time with this revelation and it was cracking you up. 

Jake pulled his dog tags out from under his shirt, proudly turning them around to display his gold wedding band that perfectly matched the one around your finger. They both belonged to his grandparents and he was so proud to give you his grandmother's band on your wedding day. 

Phoenix studied the two of you for a moment, watched the way you started to sway to a song and Jake immediately joined in, watched how his attention always drifted back to you, and how his entire cocky dimenor melted away as soon as you were near. 

“So, what’s the story? How did you manage to bag Hangman?” Natasha asked, leaning her hands on the pool cue in front of her. 

Jake pretended to be offended. “I’m not that wild.” 

You roll your eyes affectionately before diving into the story of how you and Jake met. It was nothing spectacular or anything you would want to make a movie about, but it was a whirlwind romance that ended in the two of you married in the Seresin family’s backyard three summers ago. 

When you finished your story, all smiles for your husband, Rooster raised his beer in a toast. “Welcome to the family, Mrs. Seresin.” 

Jake couldn’t help but smile. It felt good to let the team in on his best-kept secret, even if he was gonna pay for her losing the bet later on tonight. 

---

thanks for reading ily

Requests are open 🫶🏻

[loveemagicpeace]

🌊Healing / powerful placements🌊

Pluto in 12th house-This is a very strong placement. You have a lot of ability to help and your transformations are very powerful. You have a lot of contact with your subconscious and can see and feel things that they do not feel. You can see deep into others and see what is hidden behind them and their energy. You know other people's secrets very well and can predict what they are. A person may not even need to tell you what they are feeling or what they have been through and you can see right through them. In life, you can witness many events that are transformative and life-changing. You can help people change their lives. Throughout your life, you may have experienced many emotional transformations and events that changed everything for you, but you always rise like a phoenix from the ashes. You can see the souls and feel the souls of other people. You may have a great ability to help discover how their soul feels and what they really need. You can endure a lot of hard things in life, you are a very strong person and many people don't see that. You are very good at hiding your power and not letting anyone take your power away from you. Many people will want to take your strength away from you. Pluto here acts like a shadow alchemist—working behind the scenes of your consciousness. It digs up what has been buried, repressed, or denied, and forces eventual confrontation, release, and rebirth. You may not appear powerful on the surface, but you hold deep inner strength that emerges in times of crisis. Your presence can be quietly intense, magnetic, and healing without you even trying. Much of your power is spiritual or energetic—you affect others on an unconscious level. Natural psychic ability, dream messages, and intuitive downloads may be part of your daily experience. You might be a spiritual alchemist, transmuting your own suffering into wisdom and helping others do the same.

Pluto in 8th house- You have a deep connection to the dark world and there is a lot of power within you. Many transformations related to intimacy, death and endings. This placement marks a soul that is not here for a superficial life. You’re here to experience profound transformation, emotional intensity, spiritual awakening, and the mysteries of life, death, and rebirth. You don’t do casual. Your connections are all or nothing, and you want to merge completely with someone’s soul. Sexual energy can be healing, intuitive, or even psychic. You often feel that intimacy is a spiritual experience. You’re meant to go deep into the psyche—yours and others’. This makes you naturally skilled at psychology, therapy, healing, or shadow work. Healing for you doesn’t come from “moving on”—it comes from going through the darkness, owning it, and rising again like the phoenix.There's a need to learn how to let go—of control, fear, attachments, and wounds from past lives or trauma. You may have experienced power struggles, betrayal, or loss early in life—this teaches you how to stand in your true inner power. You may have psychic gifts, especially around sensing hidden energies in people or places.

Mars in 12th house-is one of the most mysterious and spiritually charged placements. This placement holds immense hidden power, but it often takes time, solitude, and self-awareness to fully unlock its gifts. You’re meant to heal the aggressive or repressed aspects of masculinity within yourself and others. You may be drawn to energy healing, tantra, subconscious work, past life regression, or helping others release suppressed pain. You’re especially gifted in working with people who are lost, imprisoned (mentally or spiritually), or misunderstood. You might get flashes of action or energy in dreams, and your energy can manifest in mystical or symbolic ways. You might heal from karmic violence or persecution, learning to make peace with your own inner fire.

Neptune in 12th house-There is a depth and a high subconscious that you carry with you, you can have a lot of contact with spirituality, dreams and dreams can be important or give you messages. You are like a bridge between this world and another, and you often feel more at home in the spiritual or dream realm than in the physical world. Maybe sometimes you don't fully understand this energy, but you can be very creative with it and you can create things you wouldn't have thought of. Sometimes you can surprise yourself with how creative and intuitive you are. Art, poetry, music, and other symbolic forms speak to your soul—your spirit communicates through these channels. This makes you a powerful healer, but also vulnerable to energetic burnout, illusion, and confusion. You may have past-life memories or a subconscious pull toward spiritual traditions, mysticism, or healing arts. Neptune in the 12th is a soul placement—you’re not just here to live a life, you’re here to dream, feel, and heal in ways most people can’t begin to understand.

Chiron in water signs( Scorpio, Pisces, Cancer)-You have a natural ability to heal people and their wounds. You can help people look deeper into themselves and help them with their wounds. People can feel comfortable and more relaxed around you, and they may also feel like they can trust you more. Chiron carries deeply emotional and intuitive healing power. Water signs are connected to feelings, the soul, and the unconscious, and Chiron here indicates that your wounds—and your healing gifts—come from and move through the emotional, intuitive, and spiritual realms. Chiron in Cancer-You have a unique gift for creating emotional safety for others. You heal through emotional presence, softness, and offering people the care you once longed for. Chiron in Scorpio- You are a deep emotional alchemist—able to guide others through their darkest, most painful transitions. Gifted at transforming pain into power, shame into sacredness, and trauma into wisdom. You’re a natural healer for those dealing with death, grief, sexual trauma, or spiritual crisis. Chiron in Pisces-You are a mystic, dreamer, and empathic healer. You help others remember their divinity, reconnect with unconditional love, and surrender to spiritual flow.

Neptune in 1st house- You have a very strong energy, and you can help people with your energy and magic. You may carry with you a special gift that not everyone has. You have a great awareness of your subconscious. You can feel a lot of energy from others. You naturally tune into energies, moods, and frequencies—often without trying. Can be psychic, empathic, or artistic in a way that channels the unseen. You may not realize this, but just your presence has a healing, softening, or otherworldly effect on people. You can be a natural muse, energy healer, artist, or dream-weaver.

Virgo North Node-your deepest soul evolution in this life is about learning to ground your gifts, trust logic and routine, and heal others through practical wisdom—especially after lifetimes of being dreamy, overwhelmed, or overly self-sacrificing (Pisces South Node). Heal through precision: medicine, coaching, editing, organizing, analyzing.Practice rituals that support the body, mind, and spirit (yoga, herbalism, healthy routines). You can be a healer, therapist, mentor, or guide who offers grounded support. You’re a healer of chaos. A bringer of order, clarity, and gentle discipline. Your soul grows when you commit to service, build sacred routines.

North node in 8th / 12th house-with 8th house you’re here to face your fears, surrender control, and merge deeply with others—emotionally, spiritually, and even financially. You evolve through transformation, trauma healing, and shared power. Emotional alchemist: You can help others transform their wounds into wisdom. Death & rebirth guide: You have the power to navigate endings and be a midwife for new life (metaphorically or literally).Sexual healing & intimacy work: Deep connection is your medicine. You're here to dive into the dark, not avoid it—this gives you healing gifts in psychology, energy work, trauma release. With 12th house north node you’re here to release ego, control, and linear logic—and embrace intuition, soul, and spiritual service. Spiritual channeler: Natural psychic, dreamer, or intuitive healer. You can deeply feel and transmute collective pain. Music, art, poetry, dreams—your gifts can come through altered states. You teach people how to let go, grieve, forgive, and dissolve ego.

Saturn in 10th house -You have natural leadership potential, but often feel the weight of expectations—whether from society, family, or yourself. People may see you as serious or mature, even when you're young. This placement often marks someone who will be seen by the public—a person of status, authority, or recognition. You become someone who can lead with wisdom and inspire others through example. Step into the role of mentor, authority figure, or teacher in your field. Create a career that brings real impact, not just success. People may see you as someone who has a lot of experience, knowledge, and maturity. They may see you as someone who is wise.

Saturn in 1st house-You may carry yourself with strong composure and restraint. People sense your inner authority, even if you don’t speak much. You feel a deep, internal pressure to be strong, do better, and stay in control. Many with this placement struggled with self-confidence as children, but grow into powerful presence as they mature. You project strength and maturity naturally. People may take you seriously—even when you're being playful. You’re meant to own your space, not shrink in it. Saturn makes you grow into your identity over time — becoming someone with great gravitas and inner strength. You inspire trust and responsibility. People may look to you for leadership or protection, even if you don’t try to lead. You play the long game. You can rebuild yourself again and again, and come out stronger. This placement can suggest that your soul chose to master the self in this life. You're learning how to carry your own weight and transform self-imposed limitations into a deep, unshakable identity.

-Rebekah🧜🏻‍♀️

[falesten-iw]

There’s been endless talk about bodies vanishing in Gaza: martyrs who don’t just die but are erased, turned into nothing more than smoke rising into the sky, like their souls got hacked and rage-quit existence entirely. And no, this isn’t some cinematic moment or dystopian novel. This is our everyday reality, unfolding in front of us like a cursed game with no exit.

Bullets? Sure, horrifying, but they play by rules. You’ve got entry wounds and exit wounds. Grotesque, but at least they make sense. Shrapnel? Same deal. It tears through you, maybe stays lodged, maybe tears its way out. Awful, but still following some logic. Both bullets and shrapnel can, yes, kill you, but they won’t make your body vanish.

But the weapons used by the IDF? They don’t just kill; they erase you. They leave nothing behind but the void, as if the universe itself decided you were a bug in the system and patched you out. These weapons aren’t just meant to kill; they’re engineered for maximum obliteration. Their purpose isn’t just destruction, it’s erasure. Like someone thought, "What if war, but with a side of existential dread?"

You can see that in this video. A martyr’s body lying in the dirt, and this strange black-and-white smoke curling out of him, like his very existence was being deleted in real time. It wasn’t fire. It wasn’t anything normal. It was like the laws of physics glitched out around him, like reality had decided to rage-quit too. It wasn’t just a death; it was a redacted event.

But here’s the thing: the Gazan people are still holding on. Barely. We’re clinging to what’s left of life as if it’s the last lifeline in an impossible final boss battle. But let’s be real, we can’t do it alone. There’s no Phoenix Kit or supply drop coming for us. That’s where you come in. Please help us. Donate and reblog this post to spread our story. BTW, this isn’t just my battle. It’s for 26 lives, including two orphaned children who’ve lost everything, and a family member battling hemiplegia after shrapnel tore through her during a bombing. She need urgent surgery to replace the infected, failing plates keeping her alive. The stakes couldn’t be higher. The future of 26 lives rests in your hands.

The video showing the injured family member is shared before in this post: Link.

Vetted and shared by @90-ghost: Link.

Verified and shared by @el-shab-hussein: Link

Listed as number 282 in "The Vetted Gaza Evacuation Fundraiser Spreadsheet" compiled by @el-shab-hussein and @nabulsi : Link

Listed on the Butterfly Effect Project, number 957: Link

Additionally, Al Jazeera News has documented apart of my family's case: Link

If, for some reason, you couldn't donate via GoFundMe, you can donate via PayPal instead.

Donate on GoFundMe: Link

Donate on Paypal: Link Please keep the conversion rates in mind when donating through GoFundMe. Every 110 SEK is equivalent to 10 dollars, and 220 SEK equals 20 dollars and so on. Please help us !

Note: There’s even a raffle for a handmade Palestinian thob if you want to participate : Link

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[fantasy-girl974]

▷— MASTERPOST —◁

NaruMitsu comic : Lean On Me

This is where I'll update little by little the links with all the pages so you won't be lost with the many posts !

◴ Status : ONGOING # Number of pages : 41 pages ♥ Pairing : Narumitsu (P. Wright x M. Edgeworth | Ace Attorney Series) ✓ Rating : Teen And Up Audiences ⁕ Links : AO3 ◆ Summary : This story takes place 3 years after Phoenix Wright's disbarment and "Ace Attorney Investigations : Collections". Miles Edgeworth starts to visit occasionally Phoenix to request his aid on some of his cases he received in Europe and to check on him and Trucy. Miles is still not aware what fully happened the day Phoenix got disbarred. He only knows from him that he's now working at the Borsh Club bar as a pianist and vaguely shared his suspicion toward the defense attorney, Kristoph Gavin. However, since this regrettable event, Phoenix's habit to conceal his feelings and opinions got even more considerable than it used to, which is getting on Miles' nerve.

Reblogs are very appreciated !

If you wish to support me for more comics : you can have an early access to the pages (4 days before anyone) by joining the "Adventurer tier" on my Ko-Fi. Even giving one Cappuccino will means a lot! Any support will be cherished ☕❤️

I hope you will enjoy this story just as much I enjoyed drawing it, thank you in advance ;u; 💕

[ COVER ] // [Notes + Pg 01 - 02] // [Pg 03 - 04] // [Pg 05 - 06 - 07] // [Pg 08 - 09 - 10] // [Pg 11 - 12 - 13] // [Pg 14 - 15 - 16] // [Pg 17 - 18 - 19]

[arijackz]

PICK A CARD: Your Fall Awakening

✧ "I loved watching the base of those thunderstorms, the billowing tops of the cumulonimbus, the lightning that effortlessly lit up the lake and the sky. It was gorgeous, so energetic. I was in love." - Ginger Zee

Disclaimer: This is a general reading, take what resonates. This is a gender-neutral reading, change any pronouns to apply to you. Also, the tense changes from past to present to future, I hope this doesn't make the reading difficult.

Also! Thank you so much to everyone who put in a paid reading request, when my life stabilizes, those will be on the top of my priority list. <3

p1 → p2 ↙︎ p3 → p4

Pile One (King of Cups, 5oC, The Sun, The Knight of Cups)

This energy feels sudden but fated. This year’s eclipse season has been insane and you were always destined to reach a cosmic juncture of complete renewal around this time. The scales are tipping in your favor and this is your season to receive. 

This is my emotionally attuned pile. You were a sensitive child—a walking bundle of warmth and acceptance—until people took advantage of your gentle soul. You could have been the typical sunshine kid always giggling, easily making connections, and being a bright energy people were easily attracted to. Whether or not you were aware of it, people saw your capacity for love and happiness as intimidating and “fake”. Their reality did not shine as bright as yours so they could not fathom your authentic happiness.

That doesn’t mean people did not try to take advantage of your gentleness. Society associates friendliness/happiness as weakness and sees you as an easy target to get over on. Being trusting isn’t naivety, it isn’t your fault that you extended your time and resources to greedy people, it is their loss that they ruined a genuine connection because they were too far gone in their own misery to recognize a helping hand out of the shadows. 

This is a general reading so the details of what happened vary greatly, for most of you, there was a series of traumatic events involving your interpersonal relationships that scarred your heart. I visually see a wilting flower or a chest caving in on itself. 

Betrayal, cheating, abuse, years and years of lying, bullying, isolation, being ignored, and just overall feeling less important than the other people in your life.

But we don’t need to get into the nitty gritty of that bullshit. That chapter is closed, burned, and a renewed phoenix is rising from its ashes. 

To any other person, these events would have turned them rotten and nasty, but you never passed this hurt onto others, you just held onto it and kept holding on until it slowly drained and left all the cavities in your body empty and numb. You’re used to depletion, giving and giving, but being left in the dust after everyone else gets their fill and moves on.

Listen to me, you are stepping into your rainfall- the world revolves around you- era. You’re being rewarded for your resilience and “the cycle ends with me” attitude. A hurt person hurt you and you turned that into further reason why you would never be so cruel to another soul.

You got the sun, the best fucking card in the deck, right in the middle of your spread. With the lies you’ve been fed over the years, at some point on your journey, you got lost in the illusions of lack and fear. Fear that you weren’t enough and less than the magnificent being you truly are.

But this juncture is like a lightning strike of clarity to your consciousness, you are realizing that this journey is just that… a journey. A life lesson circling you back to your power so you can acknowledge just how fucking desirable your heart actually is.

People tried to rob you of your happiness because they wanted it. People tried to squash your kindness because they wanted it. People abused your time and energy because they yearned for it but could never have it. Think about it, if you had nothing of value, they wouldn’t have plotted on the resources you offered. 

We’ve all heard the saying, “You don’t know how good you have something until you lose it.” Life put you on this course of being on top, hitting rock bottom (deep depression), and then climbing up again so you can cultivate the strength to have a sensitive soul and defend it against all the greedy hands who want a piece. 

This journey taught you discernment, who to trust and who not to trust. It taught you how to pick yourself up and dust off. You learned to be stingy with your time and treat yourself as high value. Most importantly, you experienced your first full cycle of rebirth, where you learn that even your lowest of lows are temporary and it is universal law that all things eventually come to an end to be reborn bigger and better. 

True strength is seeing the world’s ugliness and not letting it taint you. You’ve been the victim of cruel actions and you wouldn’t dare enforce those on anyone else. The universe honors people like you. You were always meant to experience this upcoming win fall.

If you’re reading this, you’re already beginning to feel it. Shifts like this happen internally before manifesting externally. You step outside and the world looks more… romantic.

You can feel it in your bones that you are about to receive your fairytale life. The moon is smiling back at you and the stars are spelling out your name.

Embrace this Knight of cups energy and follow the whims of your heart, they’re leading you to your new timeline. Fall in love with yourself and acknowledge the battle you not only survived but won. 

P.S. Little you is so motherfucking proud of who you are and what you stand for. They knew you would make it back to them. It pained them to see you lost in other people’s lies but they never doubted your capability to see love in life again. Your kid self lived and breathed this joy and they knew nobody could truly take it from them. They are happy to see you realize it too.  

"Sometimes, the strongest roots grow in the softest soil."

Pile Two (King of Swords rev., King of Pentacles, 10oW, Queen of Wands rev.)

YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH! There is no fucking reason to fixate on changing yourself when you are already perfect as is, sugar plum!

You carried your family’s burdens up a verrry long mountain. You were trekking through life with a generational weight strapped on your back. Your greatest devil was expectations. 

You were told who you should be, what you should do, how you should act, what you should believe in. 

There weren’t many loving voices in your home, your efforts were met with harsh critiques and a heavier load on your plate. This is the classic case of being pushed beyond limits no child should have to reach. In your upbringing, it was perfection or nothing. Not only did you have to excel academically, you had to be attractive and have a thriving social life, do extracurriculars, and anything else that exemplified you as a model child and citizen. 

And even then, when you did all those things, you didn’t get the proper acknowledgment or congratulations you deserved. Lots of you just got higher expectations set after you proved you could reach an already unrealistic standard. God forbid you didn’t reach those standards, some of you got shunned or abused. 

Sometimes you felt more like a project your people flaunted rather than someone they authentically loved and cared for.

This fucked with your young psyche. I mean… what's the point!? You jump through all these hoops to barely get a pat on the back? Yeah, you seemed perfect on the outside but internally, you were teeming with self-hate and the contempt of not being enough for anyone. 

I am getting frustrated just channeling this message, damn you deserved so much more! 

(Do you get migraines or tension headaches?)

This is my pile of people who did not get the privilege of choosing their own career path. Your guardians told you to study to become a doctor, engineer, scientist, artist, or whatever the hell they wanted to flaunt as an extension of themselves. 

But get this, your people didn’t do that shit either! They push so hard for you to be someone they’re not because they’re projecting their (fear of) failure onto you. 

For some (those who were not ignored or abused), it wasn’t malicious. They pushed you to be great because they wanted the best for you, but the way they handled it was fucked up.

There was a lot of fear about falling short of expectations and disappointing the people around you. Creating this mindset that you had to perform for affection and needed to prove that you were of value to people in order to be loved.

Some of you heavily rebelled against this authoritarian force in your life. Explicitly, through using sex to satiate your desire to feel loved. Like with your family, you viewed love as transactional and went into “relationships” with people who disguised their lust for you as love but only truly wanted to exploit your vulnerable state.

I am sorry you did not deserve that, you are better with those energies out of your life. 

BAAABBBYYYY, this season is rinsing out all that gunk between your ears and pushing the weight off your back. Can you feel your spine unfurl?

This season you’re letting all the bullshit go. You’re garnering strength the rest of society only talks about. You’re looking at yourself in the mirror and saying that nobody’s expectations are worth living a life you don’t want to live. Those people were empowered by you not recognizing your own capability, they were the only measurement of how worthy you were and the only source of the approval you craved. 

(why won't this center???^)

You’re awakening to just how much of a bad mf you truly are! You’re the king of pentacles- you’re your own empire! You’re reclaiming your power and acknowledging that with all the time and effort you put into building someone else’s dreams, you have the strength to build your own!

With every challenge thrown at you, YOU BODY THAT SHIT!

I’m getting chills, I feel like a hype man lmao. I’m your biggest fan fr. I want you on my team! You’re an irreplaceable asset that anyone would be blessed to work with. 

All the pressure you faced has forged you into a one-of-a-kind gemstone and you are shining brightly! 

This journey taught you the power of control and how to take the reigns of your own chariot. You will never allow another soul to take your will from you again. 

*Clears throat* Don’t tell anyone I said this but… expect your life to blossom in ways you can’t even begin to fathom.

Your 5th house: leisure, pleasure, romance, creativity, and your 10th house: higher self, your image, and how you carry yourself once you leave the shadows is getting a major activation.  

The dreams of your future that you wouldn’t dare whisper to the people in your life are being heard by Source and they’re being packaged (with a cute lil bow) behind the scenes, ready to be delivered at your feet. I am not kidding, your oracle cards are: 10th house, 5th house, Venus, fated meeting, and “Blessings you couldn’t even dream of are walking to your front door”.

There is a special emphasis on your creative endeavors, unleash the side of you that was shunned, and allow it to garner the love and attention that has always been meant for you! It is your time to live life the way you’ve always wanted to. 

P.S. People don’t want to hear it because getting your expectations high is a “bad” thing or whatever, but you will meet someone. It’s a fated meeting and you two are meant for each other. Royal love. You got all court cards and while I was typing, “one-of-a-kind” autocorrected to “one-of-a-king”. 

Pressure Reveals Our Brilliance

Pile Three (10oS Rev., 10oW, 8oP, Queen of Swords, Emperor)

Growing up, my mom always told me that when we feel like we’re wandering aimlessly, we’re actually slowly inching closer to where we’re meant to be.

I pass these words of wisdom on to you because you know the pain of wandering all too well. When you were younger, your energy was unadulterated and you dreamt big without any doubt creeping around your skull to sully your aspirations. You are naturally a very ambitious person with a killer drive to get shit done.

However, something shifted. I don’t think it was a specific event, it happened over time. The wrong people and painful situations slowly chipped away at your spark for life until your body lost its will and you slowly staggered to the ground with all ten swords in your back. 

There was a dense fog around who you were and what you wanted. You questioned your desires and your ability to achieve them, growing more frustrated with your own confusion. Until eventually, you stopped dreaming. Anything to curb the painful disappointment of feeling like a person coming from a broken mold. Or a human without an outline, just an indistinct blur melting into the background. 

I feel static in my bones. I see that your shadows locked you in place- paralyzed. Limited only to the realms in your head as you watch the world evolve and move on without you.

This pile struggles with the most intense anxiety. Have you seen Inside Out 2? There is a scene where the anxiety emotion goes into overdrive and can’t remove herself from the control panel and Riley has an ongoing panic attack. For a huge chunk of your life, your anxiety couldn’t release itself from the command center. Your whole life has felt like you’ve been holding your breath, waiting for the panic attack to subside. 

You’re a nervous nelly, I’m afraid. Not to be offensive, but I imagine a nervous, wet chihuahua shaking like a leaf (haha, been there).

Something about your friendships and the negative influence of others is important. The ten of swords is typically a betrayal card. These situations left you with an aching sense that you didn’t have control over the direction of your life, so you spent your days worrying about everything that has and will go wrong.

Maybe people told you that you weren’t capable? Maybe you felt like you didn't measure up to the people around you who had direction in their lives.

You have a lot of energy, pent-up energy. It is actually one of your blessings, you have an abundance of energy to achieve all that you set your mind to. But these traumatic events locked up this vitality and prevented it from being properly expressed. It didn’t go away, it got transmuted into mental energy and you “thought” yourself to death. 

It’s funny—you probably daydream about taking action and doing the everyday things that others do without a second thought. For them, it’s normal, but for you, it’s a wild dream. 

This is my late bloomer pile. The things people your age typically do, you haven’t gotten around to because you can’t seem to get your body and mind on the same accord. 

You had restless energy, your body was always on but not in motion. Think of a tightly stretched rubber band aching to be released anywhere but stuck in this moment of tension. You felt the pull, the urge to leap into action, yet something held you back—whether it was doubt, hesitation, or simply the weight of expectation. Each day was a reminder of your potential, a constant yearning to break free and finally express that energy in a meaningful way. But, the second you went in for the kill, your bones locked up and left you stagnant.

I want to cry writing this. Your wishes are so simple and you will get them tenfold, quote me. 

This season you are getting the key to freedom from your mental prison- clarity. Clarity on just how possible everything is. You are awakening to the world at your fingertips and the very road map woven into your heart.

It sounds silly, but you dream of work! You want to go out and create without paralyzing fear looming over your shoulder. This is your deepest desire because you are meant to do it. You’re the fucking emperor AND the queen of swords. Your name is meant to be plastered on a building somewhere, and no amount of fear or doubt is going to keep you from that. 

This journey taught you how to build mental fortitude and define yourself. You won’t listen to any voice that prevents you from living the life you want to live, not even your own. The next time you get stabbed in the back, you won’t even flinch and you sure as hell won’t stop your motion. 

You don’t need to think, just be. Your feet will take you to where you need to go.

(Shoutout to my Rahuvians!)

Your wildest dreams have been heard and answered, and you’re beginning to find your direction again. I know it’s hard to believe, especially after spending so much of your life in an illusionary prison—a mental construct that felt all too real. But take a deep breath and allow those bars to melt away. Remember, this chapter is just that: a chapter in your life. You are ready to turn the page and embark on a new adventure, one that could be your very first! Embrace the possibilities ahead, and tell any lingering fears to shut the fuck up and kick rocks.

This next phase in your life is anything but slow, it’s a complete 180 from what you’re used to. Get ready to be a busy bee and in high demand. Your mind and body will be sharp, focused, and honed in on your craft. You are mastering something and achieving great success. “Blessings you couldn’t even dream of are walking to your front door.”

P.S. I know that was a long, agonizing, period in your life but jump for joy now that it’s over! I promise you, it truly is!! Don’t stress about the past or worry about what you should or could have done differently. You did everything perfectly and you were always meant to be where you are right now. 

I know this might sound cliché, but the situation was out of your hands. The lesson was about learning to surrender control and trusting in the only constant in life: change. Nothing lasts forever, your pain is temporary. Trust that this experience has shaped you, and now you have the opportunity to step forward with newfound strength and resilience. Embrace the future—it’s waiting for you!

She's Using the Colors of Her Aura to Define Her Being

Pile Four (2oP, 7oW, 4oW, 90P, Clear, Third Eye Chakra, 1st House, Pluto)

Hmmm, pentacles (earth​ = stay and grow, grow, grow) and wands (fire = go, go, go)… “Should I stay or should I go?” 

Nobody wants to hear it, but you’re being pushed into hermit mode. But fear not! ☝🏾 This will be your last and most peaceful retreat. You’re caught in a battle between the urge to slow down and prioritize your wellness and the temptation to jump up and grind. Embrace this time for reflection and self-care—it’s essential for your growth. When you take the time to recharge, you’ll emerge stronger and more focused, ready to tackle whatever comes next with renewed energy. Trust that this phase is necessary for your journey.

The right answer is a blend of both. Make a steady meditation and fitness plan you can rely on where you feel productive yet kept to yourself. Your energy is sensitive at this time and people are going to try and purposely trigger you because they can sense that you’re getting ready to pop out and do your mf jig!

You are crazy intuitive and are awakening to this fact, but just like the start of any journey, you’re trying to find a balance between your intuition and judgment.

Spoiler alert, they're the same thing! 

ESPECIALLY for you. Check to see if you have Pluto, Ketu (south node), Jupiter (Sag or Pisces), Mars (Aries or Scorpio), or Moon (Cancer) in your first, fourth, seventh, or tenth house. Or literally anything in your eighth house.

You are blessed with the ability to see beyond the veil of illusion and are meant to nurture and refine this gift. Embrace it as a powerful tool for understanding yourself and the world around you. Trust your intuition and allow it to guide you through challenges, helping you uncover deeper truths. 

This season is bringing changes to your physical body and immediate environment, you feel most vulnerable to the weather changes and are probably having trouble sleeping. You are likely feeling tension between your eyebrows and are seeing images that aren't actually there. 

You’re experiencing a third eye awakening and a major karmic clearing, this is my most spiritual pile by far. If you’re not into these types of things, this isn’t your pile. Actually, this group really stands out from the others, I don’t have advice for you per se; this message is to assure you that you’re not delusional. 

I am here to tell you to trust what you’re seeing. You’re right! Whatever you think is happening… is happening. If you think great things are coming, they absolutely are. Conversely, if you feel that something shady is going on behind the scenes, then that’s exactly what’s unfolding. Trust your instincts; they’re guiding you toward the truth.

Here’s a secret about intuitive judgment: If the thoughts are causing anxiety and plaguing you with fear, they’re not true. On the other hand, if your instincts provide insight into a situation and help you feel more in control, you’re on the right track. Even if the truth is harsh or painful, knowing it empowers you to make informed decisions about your next move. 

The truth is enlightening, even if it leads to a tower moment where everything you thought you knew comes crumbling down. Lies may feel comforting at first, but they can slowly trap you, binding you to a life that isn’t truly yours. Your soul craves deep transformation and healing. It may sound cryptic, but this is your season to die and allow yourself to be reborn anew. Embrace the intensity of Scorpio season; it’s a powerful time for you to shed old skin and welcome a higher version of yourself. 

Who is this higher version? You have been cultivating them bit by bit with every trial thrown your way and it is finally time for them to rise to the surface. This version embodies your resilience, wisdom, and strength, shaped by your experiences and the lessons learned along the way. Embrace this transformation and let your true self shine. You are ready to step into your power and create the life you’ve always envisioned.

(Any Mula natives in the chat?)

I am excited for you, it’ll be tiring and unpleasant but the world waiting for you on the other side is one of bountiful harvests and celebrations! Hang in there! 

Embrace the slowness and allow yourself to relax while it's here because this next chapter is TURNT. 

P.S. You’re hot—like really, incredibly sexy. Your gaze is piercing, and people feel as though you see straight through them into depths they aren’t even aware of. You don’t have to do much to unsettle others; they’re easily triggered because they can’t hide behind the safety of their masks when they’re around you. Your authenticity and intensity shine through, making them confront their own truths. Embrace that power; it’s a gift that not everyone possesses!

She Follows the Blueprint Woven Into Her Flesh

[hargreeves-duncan]

⎯⎯ JAKE “HANGMAN” SERESIN HEADCANONS

visual is for vibes only, reader’s appearance is nondescript!

pairing: jake “hangman” seresin x fem!reader

warnings: brief mention of ptsd

word count: 0.6k

a/n: some jake headcanons because top gun summer will never be over for me

- 33 (during the events of Top Gun: Maverick)

- Born and raised in Texas

- Has three older sisters (35, 36, 38)

- The youngest of which he’s been trying to set Phoenix up with for years

- “I’m telling you, Phoenix, she’s into the whole younger woman thing…”

- His middle sister stayed behind to work as a ranch hand on the family estate

- She’s quieter than the rest of her siblings but she’s the town’s golden girl - everyone loves her

- His eldest sister has a set of twins who he absolutely adores

- Always makes sure to bring them back souvenirs from wherever he’s deployed to

- All three of his sisters have called him “Jakey” since he was a kid and they still love to torment him with the name now

- When they do it with you around, he complains to his mother but she thinks it’s the sweetest thing ever and only encourages the girls more

- Was close to his father, George Seresin, when he was really young, who was also in the Navy

- His dad was the one who put him onto the greats, like Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen

- After an overseas deployment, when Jake was eight, his father came home practically mute and didn’t engage with the family as much

- Thankfully, his mother, Carol Ann Seresin, remained as warm and cheerful as ever in caring for Jake and his sisters back then

- After he graduated the Naval Academy, he was gifted his grandfather’s watch by his father

- You’ve not seen him wear it out on more than ten occasions since you’ve been together because of how precious it is to him

- He grew out of his Texan accent a long time ago but it comes out when he’s angry, tired or horny

- Sometimes, he’ll exaggerate it just because he knows how much you love to hear it

- Jake is very particular about how coffee is made under his roof

- His mom always made it strong, black, with no “added nonsense” and, now, so does he

- One of the biggest things he missed when he first moved out was helping his mom brew coffee every morning, but he’s happy to have found that routine again with you

- He refuses to take more than one trip carrying in the groceries

- He’ll have his keys in his teeth, a dozen bags on his arms and have to kick the front door open before he’ll take a second trip

- He’s incredibly competitive with everyone, even you

- In true youngest child fashion, he trash-talks mercilessly and still ends up winning 90% of the time

- He’s more vain than he’d care to admit

- He doesn’t mind having dirt on his boots but god forbid he leaves the house without ironing his shirt

- Wolfs down every meal like he’s been starved, especially the ones made by you

- Insists on teaching you to drive stick, no matter how much you protest

- He calls it a “lost art”

- You think he’s just making an excuse to hold your hand over the gearshift

- He will call you every pet name under the sun - Honey, Babydoll, Sweetheart, you name it

- Always one to impress, Jake’s the type of guy to buy you “just because” flowers every week or so

- He keeps a picture of you in his wallet that doubles as his travel buddy whenever he’s deployed

- Loves showing you off to the rest of the Dagger Squad

- He always likes to be close to you in some capacity

- When you’re out together, Jake’ll often find himself holding his hand out mid-sentence for you to take or slipping an arm around your waist

- If you’re a fast walker and you walk ahead of him, you can bet he’ll be chasing your heels

- “Are you tryin’ to lose me or something, babydoll? What’s the rush?”

[roosterforme]

Stateside | Rooster x Reader

Summary: Bradley made a mistake last summer when he left for his deployment without ever asking you out, and then he thought about you a lot when he was gone. He was stateside again for less than a day when the other guys coerced him to help with a fundraiser at the Hard Deck. A friendly wager with the squad might not be the only thing he wins by the end of the night.

Warnings: Fluff, angst, drinking, swears

Length: 4500 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

Check out my masterlist for more. Banner made by @thedroneranger Written for Pick Your Poison

Bradley had barely been stateside for twenty four hours when he woke up in his bed at noon to an array of texts arriving all at once. Five months on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with nothing much going for him left him surprisingly exhausted. It wasn't that he didn't want to see his friends, he just needed a full day to himself to readjust. 

He groaned and rolled over after glancing at his phone and seeing the words Hard Deck in a message from Jake. He closed his eyes again after tossing his phone aside, but about ten seconds later, he cracked them open again. If there was one thing he had consistently thought about over the course of those five months, it was you. Your bright smile, your perfect laugh, your navy blue tee shirts that said The Hard Deck across the front.

When he reached for his phone and checked the message from Jake, he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. Maybe this could be an excuse to see you again sooner rather than later.

Hangman: Hey, we need you to come to the Hard Deck tonight. It's the annual charity event, and Bob can't make it. We're short a bartender. And don't try to bitch out of this, Phoenix told me you're home.

Bradley covered his face with his hand and thought long and hard about this. The real bartenders would be there to help which meant there was a chance you'd be one of them. If he volunteered for this, then maybe he'd find himself in close quarters with you for a few hours instead of the other Naval officers he'd been stuck with for months on end. Just the idea of accidentally bumping into you while pouring a beer had him texting Jake back.

Yeah, I'll be there.

Even though he was still pretty tired later in the afternoon, Bradley took a shower and then spent some extra time on his hair before dressing in his lucky shirt. That five month deployment was the reason he didn't ask you out during the summer, and now he was nervous to see you again. He had good intel from Penny that you'd been single the last time he saw you in August, but what if you had a boyfriend now? Or worse, what if you didn't even acknowledge him when you saw him?

He groaned as he looked in the bathroom mirror. Hours, possibly even days... that's how much time he'd had you on his mind while he was away. And for what? A crush on a girl who was probably too young for him? A cute bartender at the Navy hangout who definitely got asked out nightly? Shit. He was a lost cause. 

And now he was going to be late if he didn't leave right away. He grabbed his keys, and headed out to his Bronco which he had missed dearly. So if nothing else, he'd get to cruise around later after the event. But on the ride to the bar, all he could imagine was how you'd look in the passenger seat, smiling at him at every stoplight and singing along to the radio. 

"Fuck," he grunted as he parked next to Jake's truck before heading inside. He let his heart fill with hope as he strolled in to find Penny, Jake, Javy and Reuben behind the bar with two bartenders. But neither of them were you.

"Rooster!" Reuben cheered, and soon he was being clapped on the back and high fived by the guys he hadn't seen in months. It was nice, but he couldn't help but think that his smile would have been more genuine if you were here.

Jake smirked. "So glad you left your perch and joined us."

Bradley laughed as he gave Penny a hug. "Come on, man, I literally just got home."

Penny smiled up at him. "Thanks for filling in. It'll be great." Bradley really wanted to ask her about you, but then Penny patted him on the cheek before turning to reach under the bar top. "This will be a breeze for you guys," she said, handing matching shirts to the four of them. "Just a basic bar menu tonight. No super fancy cocktails. Just beer, wine, some pre-made sangria, and a few different kinds of shots."

Bradley started to unbutton his lucky shirt before pulling the new one on in its place. He smoothed his hand along the front of the blue shirt that said THE HARD DECK FIGHTS CANCER, and he noticed the two bartenders glancing at him. They were both cute but decidedly not what he had been hoping for tonight. 

"Hey," he asked them with a nod. They smiled in response, so he decided to just go ahead and ask them about you.

"She quit a few weeks ago," the first one told him. "After she graduated from law school."

"She moved, too," said the second one. "Left San Diego."

Shit. He was too late after all, nodding in response to them as he pressed his lips together in a firm line. He'd never been any good at this kind of thing, which was why he always fell into casual relationships. What should he have done? Asked you out, gone on a handful of dates and then tried to persuade you to wait five months for him? Just for him to get deployed over and over again? That wouldn't have been fair to you.

But he didn't feel like it was fair to him either, because right now he was having a hard time even remembering exactly how pretty you were and the precise tone of your laughter. Probably for the best. At least he only needed to do this event for a few hours before he could leave and go for a long drive. He swallowed down his disappointment and turned toward the guys who were in the middle of conversation. 

"How about a side wager?" Javy asked, tossing a bottle of vodka up into the air and catching it over and over again. "You know, for the charity?"

"What did you have in mind?" Bradley asked as Penny went to peek outside. "Because I doubt Penny will let us strip for charity again after last year. The two of you scuffed up the bar top," Bradley added, gesturing at Jake as well.

They both started laughing like idiots before Jake said, "Nah, let's give Penny a break this year and just tally up our tips at the end of the night. Whoever donates the least amount of tip money to the charity is the loser."

"Oh, that's a great idea," Javy said as he ate the orange slices and cherries that were meant to garnish the drinks. "What's the punishment for losing?"

Reuben smirked and said, "Loser has to report to the tarmac on Monday in his underwear. Instant push ups from Mav."

"Deal," Jake said.

"Absolutely," Javy agreed.

Three pairs of eyes settled on Bradley, and he slowly said, "Okay." If he strolled out of the locker room in just his underwear and boots on his first day back from a long deployment when he was supposed to sit down with the admirals and Maverick and have a debrief, he'd probably earn a greater punishment than just a few push ups. But it was for the charity, so he'd do it.

But he soon learned he'd made a mistake after Penny called out, "Let's get started," and propped the doors open. The first person through the door was Reuben's wife, followed by Javy's fiancee and Jake's girlfriend. And all of her sorority sisters. 

"Shit," Bradley grunted. "Did you make me come here just so I would lose?"

Javy was handing out pint glasses that they could use as tip cups as he smirked, and Bradley was wondering if there was any way he could actually stuff his discreetly with cash from his own wallet.

"You'll be just fine," Jake drawled as the jukebox came blaring to life. But even the music was mocking him as Slow Ride started to play, and Bradley had people in front of him expecting him to make them drinks. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jake's girlfriend open her purse and start stuffing Jake's tip cup full. "I feel like that's considered cheating," Bradley told her, and she rolled her eyes and smirked before tucking five dollars into his cup as well.

"Don't tip Bradshaw, Sweets," Jake complained. "We made him come here as a buffer!"

"I knew it was a setup!" Bradley groaned as he listened to someone ask him for some wine and some beer. That was easy enough. He knew how to do that. Or at least he thought he did, but then one of the bartenders who had volunteered for the night told him he poured too much wine into the glass.

Then a woman asked him for a green tea shot, and he stared at her blankly. He leaned closer to Javy and asked, "What the hell is in a green tea shot?" 

"I don't know," he replied as he poured two pints at the same time. "But you better figure it out, because your tip cup is still practically empty."

"Shit." He was scrambling to flag down the young bartenders again when he froze. He only caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye, but he knew it was you simply by the way you moved and the color of your hair. And then you sat down in the only empty stool left at the bar and smiled at him, your voice drawing his eyes up to your perfect face. 

"Rooster. You're back."

The little thoughts and fantasies he'd indulged in while deployed had nothing on the real thing, and he knew he was blushing as you smiled and waited for him to respond. But it had been months since he'd been this close to you, and now he was really beating himself up for not trying to make you his sooner. Because if you were his, he could do all the things he wanted to do right now. Like kiss you.

"Rooster," you repeated with hesitation in your eyes, your voice softer, nearly drowned out by the jukebox. 

"They said you quit," he blurted out as he leaned on the bartop, curious as to why you were here tonight. "And that you moved."

Your eyes went a little wider as you nodded, your smile still soft. "I did. You asked about me?"

"Can you make me a green tea shot or not?"

Bradley begrudgingly switched his focus to the woman next to you and sighed. He was about to tell her he didn't even know what that was, or that maybe she should fuck off so he could talk to you, but then you reached out and ran your fingers along the back of his hand. 

Your touch was brief but intentional, and all of the irritation seemed to ease out of his body as his gaze snapped back to yours. "Yeah," you told the other woman as your finger grazed his knuckle one more time. "He can make you a green tea shot."

"I don't even know what's in it," he told you, with a helpless smile, trying to fight the urge to reach for your hand. 

You kind of shrugged as you said, "I do. I'll talk you through it."

Bradley's smile grew which left you giggling as he said, "I'm kind of helpless back here. Nothing like you."

"Well, you can learn from the best," you told him, reaching out to squeeze his wrist before pointing to the many liquor bottles behind him. "Irish whiskey and peach schnapps," you told him, leaning on the bar now, so close that he just couldn't bring himself to turn away from you. 

"Okay," he said, memorizing the exact color of your eyes. "Thanks for doing this."

You bit your lip and smiled up at him, and when Bradley moved just slightly closer, he thought he heard you whimper. Your eyes were full of emotion that reflected his own as you said, "Focus, Rooster. Irish whiskey and peach schnapps."

He nodded once and then finally moved away from you as he scanned the bottles and grabbed the two you told him. "Good," you said, pointing to the mini fridge and saying, "now get the sweet and sour mix. It's in a pink jug. Yeah, you got it. Now you need a half ounce of each."

Bradley listened to you explain how to use the shaker while he gave you another helpless look. "I'm just a simple beer or bourbon drinker," he said as he strained the drink that his customer had been waiting several minutes for into a shot glass.

You laughed and said, "I know you are, and it's kind of endearing that you don't know what you're doing. Now top it off with a splash of Sprite." 

Bradley grabbed the soda gun, pressed the little green button and then looked up at you again. "This is endearing?" he asked, finally sliding the shot to the annoyed woman who unenthusiastically put a dollar in his tip cup and turned away.

"Very," you promised him. "And now I want you to make me a kamikaze shot."

He gave you a bland look, but his heart was pounding. "Are you joking right now?"

Bradley was hyper focused on your lips as you said, "Not at all. You can handle it. It's vodka, triple sec and lime juice. I prefer Finlandia. Impress me, and I'll leave you a nice big tip for the charity."

Then he groaned. He had forgotten about the wager and the other patrons looking for drinks and just all of it. He raked his fingers through his hair. "Thanks, but I'll probably still end up in my underwear at work on Monday morning." 

When he pushed away from the bar again, your eyes dipped down to his jeans before snapping back up. "Underwear?"

"Yeah," he grunted as he reached for the type of vodka you liked best. You told him how much to use, and he dumped it in a shaker. "The guys coerced me into volunteering tonight. I literally just got home from deployment, but here I am... their scapegoat," he said, arms held out at his sides. "They threw out a side bet based on tip money, and next thing I know, all of their wives and girlfriends show up with a bunch of cash."

While he shook your kamikaze shot, he watched you turn first to your right and then to your left, eyeing up the overflowing tip cups in front of Reuben, Javy and Jake. Your lips parted, and you gaped at Bradley, but your eyes looked a little devious now. "You know, all of this makes a lot of sense since the guys made me come tonight."

Bradley carefully poured out your shot and asked, "What do you mean they made you come?" He realized his voice sounded annoyed, but how did they all have your phone number anyway? He'd been standing here thinking about asking you for it, but they were apparently already texting you. 

You accepted the shot and took a small sip to taste it. "They kept messaging me earlier today, saying I absolutely needed to be here tonight. They said it was important I made it to the charity event." Then you tipped your head back, and Bradley was treated to the soft looking expanse of your neck as you swallowed down the rest of the shot he made. When you were done, you set the glass down and licked your lips as you dug some money out of your pocket. "That was delicious."

While you loaded his cup with all the cash in your pocket, Bradley tried to ask you where you lived now. If the guys were bugging you earlier today, you couldn't be that far. But before he could get a word out, you pushed yourself up so you were kneeling on the bar right in front of him, and he looked up at you as you grinned down at him. 

"Don't worry, Rooster," you said as you ran your fingers through his hair. "I got you." Then Bradley was reaching for your hips. He didn't fucking care if the place was packed, he was ready to haul you off to the back hallway and ask you if he could kiss your pretty lips. You beamed at him as his hands met your body, but you just cupped your fingers around your mouth and shouted over the music, "Come get your drinks from Rooster! He knows how to make everything! But kamikazes are his specialty! And he's hot!"

His eyes went wide as you slipped out of his grasp and back onto your stool while an influx of mostly women queued up in front of him. "What did you do?" he asked, trying to mentally process an order for a cosmopolitan while stumbling over you calling him hot.

"I'm helping you not embarrass yourself at work. Keep the vodka out. Grab the Cointreau and a martini glass. We're about to show the guys what's up."

Bradley struggled through drink after drink as quickly as he could, but you never gave up on him. Occasionally you'd slide things out of his way or point out where he could find something he needed, and at some point you grabbed a second pint glass for his overflowing tip money. And all the while, he stole as many glances at you as he could while he worked. 

When Penny eventually walked behind him, patted him on the shoulder and said there was less than an hour left of the event, she also shared a smile with you. But there was no hope. The other guys were already working on their third tip cups each. "I don't think I can make up the deficit," he groaned, pulling up the hem of his shirt and wiping his brow with it. 

"Oh, that's a great idea," you mused, leaning across the bar and pulling his shirt up higher. "Take it off."

He stared at you as you tugged on the fabric. "Take it off?"

You nodded, the moevent exaggerated as you said, "Absolutely. Take your shirt off." As he looked around awkwardly before pulling his shirt over his head, you cupped your hands around your mouth once again and said, "He has six pack abs!"

Now the guys were glaring at him. "So do I!" Reuben complained.

"Don't you dare take your shirt off!" his wife told him, pointing at him in warning. 

Bradley knew his cheeks were flushed, and all he really wanted to do was talk to you and hopefully kiss you. And he really wanted to do all of that with his shirt on, because he felt a bit like a stripper now as you reached for a third tip cup. The cash was filling it up quickly, and he smirked as he thought about Reuben, Jake or Javy in their underwear instead of him. And it was all for a charity after all. 

"Make him use the shaker!" you urged a woman who looked like she was in her seventies and holding a crisp fifty dollar bill. "Make him flex."

Bradley groaned your name which sent you into a fit of laughter, your second empty shot glass still in front of you. "This isn't right," he complained half heartedly as he shook the older woman's Mai Tai with flexed abs and biceps. 

"It is so right," you told him, and he appreciated that you were scoping out the other guys' tip cups instead of looking at him right now. "Keep going. It's going to be so close." And then that fifty ended up in Bradley's cup when he handed over the cocktail, and you said, "Or maybe not!"

"Last call for the fundraiser!" Penny shouted over the crowd, and Bradley almost sighed in relief when the last few people ordered beers and a glass of wine. And then it was all over, and he had a huge amount of cash in front of him along with you. But he didn't care about the tips as much as he did getting to finally talk to you. The fundraiser was technically over, and you were looking at him the same way he was looking at you.

When he took a breath to suggest you and he go for a walk, he felt a hand on his bare back. It was one of the young bartenders who was helping out, and she said, "I can count up your tips for you," with a smile.

"Nope," you said, reaching for his cups yourself and shooting her a glare. "I'll do his. You go help Coyote." You didn't move again until her hand slipped off of his back and she walked away, and then you looked at Bradley and asked, "What are you going to do for me if you win?"

He watched as you quickly sorted the bills into efficient piles as he pulled his shirt back on and leaned against the bar. It had quieted down significantly, and now Penny was taking a few drink orders while everyone else seemed to move to the tables. He felt like he had a moment of privacy with you as he said, "I guess that depends. Apparently you moved away, Sweetheart."

"I did," you confirmed with a smirk as you counted up his twenties. 

"But you came back tonight."

You rolled your eyes, still smiling as you moved to the pile of tens. "I'm not too far away. I took a full time job and moved to Del Mar. The guys told me I needed to be here tonight for a special surprise. They said something I had been missing was returning. So I came down."

Bradley's fingers flexed on the edge of the bartop. "They did?"

You looked a little vulnerable as you stacked the bills in one pile and said, "Eight hundred and seventy one dollars." 

He nodded once and pushed the money aside without really looking at it. "You'd been missing something, Sweetheart?" he pressed gently, heart pounding in his chest. 

You bit your lip as your eyes drifted closed when he rubbed his thumb across your cheek. "I guess I must have asked the guys one time too many if they knew when you'd be back from your deployment."

"Oh," he rasped as you looked at him again. "You missed me?"

"Yes," you whispered. "I was going to ask you out, but then you were just gone. And they told me you were deployed, and I thought I really missed my chance. And I didn't even know if you were single or not, so I-"

Bradley had heard enough, so he kissed you. Just a soft press of his lips to yours, but you practically crawled onto the bar to get closer to him. And it was better than he spent the last five months imagining it might be. He could taste the vodka and lime on your tongue as it met his. Your fingers gently combed through his hair again, and he moaned, "I missed you too, Sweetheart."

Your laughter was soft and sweet as your nose brushed against his, and then he jerked back a few inches as Reuben shouted. "Yo, Rooster! There's time for that later, man! How much tip money did you make?"

"Eight hundred and seventy one," you replied as your fingers trailed down his scarred cheek to rub his mustache before you pecked him on the lips. The three guys groaned in unison, and Bradley watched your face light up in a beautiful smile. 

"This is not why we told you that you had to come tonight!" Jake whined, pointing at you and pouting. "You were supposed to distract him, not help him win! He was just supposed to turn into a bumbling mess and admit he has feelings for you!"

You turned away from Jake, and you asked Bradley, "So, do you have feelings for me?"

He huffed out a laugh before he hopped up to sit on the bar, swung his long legs over to the other side and hopped down again. You jumped from your stool and into his arms when he said, "I thought about you the whole time I was away, Sweetheart. I wanted to ask you out in the summer, but I didn't think it was right to hope you'd wait almost half a year for me to be stateside. For us to be together again."

"Bradley," you moaned. His hands found your hips just like earlier, and this time he pulled you snug against him while your fingers teased through his hair. "If a guy is worth waiting for, then I'd wait forever."

He kissed you again, tasting and nipping the lips that he'd dreamed about. Inhaling all of your sweetness that his mind didn't do justice to when he'd been away. Feeling your smile against his lips for the first time.

"Let me ask you again," you said, pausing between kisses. "Since I clearly helped you win the bet, what are you going to do for me?"

"Anything you want," he said immediately as you started to push him toward the door with a grin. 

"How about we go for a long drive? And we can talk about how the next time you're deployed, your girlfriend will be waiting patiently for you to return?"

Bradley scooped you up, sending you into a fit of laughter as he carried you directly to his Bronco.

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

Bradley was exhausted on Monday to the point where the travel mug of coffee you sent him with did nothing to keep him from yawning out on the tarmac at 8:00. But every yawn ended with him smiling as he thought about how perfect the weekend had been. In the very early hours of Sunday morning, you'd agreed to be his girlfriend. And now he was waiting for the cherry on top of it all.

He didn't have to wait long as he stood between Reuben and Javy, the three of them looking nearly identical in their matching flight suits and boots, standing at attention in front of Maverick. Then Jake came strolling out, and Bradley instantly started laughing. 

Maverick turned, took one look at Hangman in his boxer shorts and combat boots and said, "I don't even want to know what's going on here, I just want five hundred push ups."

Jake's eyes looked like they were going to bug out of his face as everyone else tried their best to hold in their laughter. Bradley took his phone out as discreetly as he could and snapped a picture of Jake panicking on the tarmac before he dropped down onto the ground and started on his punishment. 

"Everyone else to your jets," Mav barked, and Bradley didn't stick around to hear him say it again. Instead he texted you the photo of Jake along with a short message.

Couldn't have pulled it off without your help, Sweetheart.

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

The way I would die of this man just casually started calling me his Sweetheart. I love that he swept the guys to win the bet! Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

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[dirtyvulture]

Pandora's Box - Part 2

Tomb Raider!Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Enchantress!Reader

18+ only, read at your own risk

Summary: Natasha has spent years hunting the elusive Pandora’s Box, which many say doesn’t even exist. What happens when she not only finds it, but accidentally unleashes the sinister force hiding within?

Word count: 2338

Image from @sapphosclosefriend

AN: I was feeling sad today so I finished the chapter, please enjoy! 😭

Click here to read Part 1.

Natasha drags her dirty boots across the clean linoleum floor–she knows Steve will lecture her on cleanliness, but she’s too tired to care. It had been almost 24 hours since her visit to Latvia, and after she emerged from the cave, she boarded the first flight back to New York. She hadn’t even informed her team she was returning home, and they both leaped up in surprise when she knocks the door open.

“Nat! What are you doing here?” Steve asks, coming over to help with her duffel bag. 

She holds it to her chest, away from him. Without saying anything, she reaches in and pulls out a jacket folded into a square. She unfurls it, revealing a scarf that she carefully unwinds from the box.

“What is that?” Clint asks.

“Pandora’s Box,” Natasha announces, a note of pride in her voice despite her exhaustion of crossing multiple time zones and not sleeping for a second on the plane. “I found it in Latvia, just like I said I would.”

“You opened it,” Clint says, crouching down behind his desk and eyeing the box in Natasha’s hands.

“Well, I dropped it, actually.”

“That’s even worse.”

“It’s empty,” Natasha says, opening the box for emphasis and even Steve flinches away. “Oh, get a grip, you two. See? There’s nothing in it now, and there was nothing in it when I found it.”

Steve is the braver one and comes forward for a closer inspection. 

“But,” Natasha goes on, “something odd did happen when I dropped the box.”

“How did you drop the box?” Steve asks, holding the box in his hands and looking at the carvings on the outside.

“I accidentally set off a booby trap I had avoided on my way to it. Some arrows came out of the wall and one of them grazed my leg, so I lost my balance,” she explains. “When the box hit the ground, there was this flash of light–”

“It was probably your headlamp,” Steve says.

“And a voice–”

“All in your head,” Steve cuts off, and Natasha glares at him to be quiet.

“It was another woman’s voice, with an accent I’ve never heard before. She said ‘Enchantress.’”

Clint’s eyes, barely visible over the edge of his desk, grow wide.

“And I felt her touch my cheek. And that was it,” Natasha says.

“Maybe the Enchantress was in the box? And now you’ve set her free?” Steve guesses.

“Potentially.” Natasha shrugs, acknowledging the ridiculousness of the situation. She isn’t even sure what to do with the box now. Maybe she would send it to some colleagues at the university for testing. But as ordinary and plain as the box was, she couldn’t help but feel it truly had been a vessel for something more.

“Keep an eye on the news, Steve. If anything anywhere in the world starts happening without explanation, we can blame it on the Enchantress.”

“Yes, ma’am.” For once, Steve doesn’t argue.

***********************************************************************

A week later, Natasha sits and stares at the corkboard on the wall between her and Steve’s desk. Following her instruction, Steve had printed out news headliners and clipped front pages of newspapers and tacked them to the board. On Sunday, there was one article. Now, seven days later, Natasha couldn’t even see the brown cork anymore behind all the pages.

Phoenix, Arizona: Two dead in apparent landmine explosion 

Major earthquake recorded in Qatar, dozens injured

Series of mysterious fires plague Russian military bases

Japanese police engage in multiple deadly shootouts with armed citizens

“Are we just slapping everyday world events on the board now?” Clint teases. 

“Steve’s the one that picked them out,” Natasha says, and she is wholly satisfied with her teammate’s work. Despite his disbelief in many of her cases, he always understood his assignments perfectly and never failed to deliver a good work product. 

“What’s so special about the shootings in Japan?” Clint asks.

“Guns are illegal for any citizen to own there.”

“So? If people want to get their hands on one so badly, they’ll find a way.”

“That’s true,” Natasha says, “But what about the landmine in Arizona? I mean, sure there’s a lot of desert, but it’s also one of the most populated cities in America. There’s no reason for landmines to be hidden there, and if someone planted it recently, out of all the weapons we now have access to, why choose that one?”

“Okay, that one’s a little hard to explain,” Clint admits. “But you know how crazy people can be–”

“Qatar is so far away from any major fault line, scientists have said it’s almost physically impossible for any earthquake to happen there,” Natasha says. Clint looks stumped now. “Steve even went as far as to compile a list of the victims.” She presents him with a piece of paper from her desk. “They’re all of either Sokovian or Russian origin.”

Clint takes a moment to read the paper. “So, we think these attacks and natural disasters aren’t so random?” Natasha shakes her head. “Why do you think these groups are being targeted?”

It had stumped Natasha at first, until she looked back into one of the stories surrounding the Enchantress’s origins. “The Enchantress is from Slorenia. When the War of 1624 happened, many Slorenians fled to the nearby countries for asylum. Supposedly, her and her family went to Sokovia, but they were not welcomed there, and life was even harder for them as immigrants. And then Russia invaded Sokovia and…” Natasha trails off, sadness filling her. “Her family is said to have died in the war; it’s not known with certainty if she did too, but either way, it’s the perfect beginnings of a revenge arc.”

“So you think the Enchantress is getting revenge for her and/or her family’s deaths in the modern day?” Clint says.

“Yep.”

“If that’s the case, why not just target Russia? Or Sokovia? The events here are just scattered all over the place.” He waves a hand across the corkboard.

“She’s going after the descendants,” Natasha whispers with startling clarity. “Those who are directly related to the Russian soldiers, or the Sokovian people that ostracized her family.”

Clint is quiet.

“Now, I’m not sure how the family trees trace back, that’s centuries of life, but do we know anyone in our immediate vicinity from those countries?” Natasha asks.

“The Maximoffs,” Clint says. A twin brother and sister, who immigrated from Sokovia in their youth, now serving as a track and field coach and history professor respectively. 

“We need to find them. And warn them.” Natasha grabs her leather jacket from her chair. 

***********************************************************************

Clint arranges for them to meet the Maximoffs at a coffee shop not too far from the campus. He did not divulge the reason for their meeting, only that it was urgent business and they needed to come immediately. 

Natasha arrives at the coffee shop first, while Clint hangs back at the office to finish up some paperwork and fill Steve in. She orders a black coffee for herself, then sits on a stool by the large window overlooking the quiet street.

“Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?”

Natasha startles out of her thoughts and looks over her shoulder. Standing next to her, holding a coffee cup, is the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen in her life. You’re dressed in a white button-up and white slacks, a crescent moon pendant resting in the hollow of your throat. The steam from your cup swirls around your face and Natasha suddenly feels so small and inadequate in your presence.

“Is anyone sitting here?” you repeat when Natasha is too frozen to speak.

“Oh, uh, no! I’m…I’m waiting for some friends, but…um, they’re not here yet,” she stammers. “Please, h-have a seat.” She cringes at how pleading she sounds.

“Thanks. I won’t be long.” You take a seat, crossing one leg over the other. Natasha doesn’t even notice that the coffee shop is almost entirely deserted and that you’ve still chosen to sit next to her. Your fingers cover up the name written on your cup, but Natasha can see it ends with the letter “S.”

“Do you come here often?” Natasha asks, wanting to hold your attention for as long as she can.

“No, this is my first time. I’m new to the area.” You sip your drink and Natasha watches the moon resting on your throat rise and fall with your swallow. 

“Will you be working at the university?” Natasha asks, trying to shake herself out of her hypnosis. “Because that’s where I am.”

You shake your head. “Just…passing through.”

“Well, if you ever want someone to show you around, I’d be more than happy to,” Natasha says. You laugh and lean forward, your hand brushing over Natasha’s thigh. The touch is electric and for a moment Natasha wishes she had worn shorts instead of jeans.

“You’re a pretty little thing, and very sweet to offer that,” you say, withdrawing your hand. “What do you do at the university?”

“Archaeology.” Natasha puffs her chest out, as if it’s the sexiest study one could partake in. “I get to travel the world and look for artifacts many people don’t think even exist. And sometimes I find them, and sometimes they’re not always what people think they are.”

“Have you found anything exciting recently?” You gaze into her eyes and Natasha fears she’s going to fall off her stool. 

“Um, well, I uh, actually just got back from Latvia and I–”

“I’m so sorry,” you interrupt, looking down at your phone buzzing in your hand. “I have to go, but it was nice talking to you.” You get up and touch her shoulders as you walk by, and Natasha is so dumbstruck she doesn’t even think to ask for your number. She mournfully watches you leave your coffee cup on the trash can before you open the door for Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. 

“Over here!” Natasha calls. She collects her black coffee from the counter and joins the two at a table. “Thanks for responding to Clint’s message so fast. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other,” she says. 

“Is everything okay?” Wanda asks. “It looked like you were limping.”

“I cut my leg on my last outing, but it’s fine,” Natasha dismisses. “Look, I need to be quick, because I think you both might be in danger.” Wanda and Pietro look alarmed. “I was just in Latvia, looking for Pandora’s Box. Have you heard of it?”

Wanda nods, while Pietro looks lost. “It’s an artifact said to contain the soul of the Enchantress,” Wanda explains. “The most commonly accepted lore of the Enchantress is that she was a woman from Slorenia, who developed mythical powers after her family died in Sokovia during the War of 1624.”

“And Natasha, you found this artifact?” Pietro asks.

“Yes. And I opened it.”

Wanda gasps. “Why would you–”

“Okay, okay, I dropped it, but yes, I technically opened the box and now–”

“You think the Enchantress is coming after us?” Pietro chuckles. “We did not kill her family.”

“No, but your ancestors may have. Or mistreated them so badly, the Enchantress still felt they were responsible in some way,” Natasha says.

“I’m going to get a drink, would you like something, Wanda?” Pietro announces, standing up and Natasha is frustrated he’s not taking this seriously.

“Just a vanilla latte please,” she says, and Pietro wanders off to the counter.

“I’m not making this up, Wanda,” Natasha pleads. “I came back from Latvia a week ago, where I found the box, and the strangest things have been happening all over the world. A land mine killed two people in Arizona. Arizona! And Qatar just had a six-point-six earthquake recorded, when they’re nowhere near a fault line–”

“I’m sorry, Natasha. You sound like you might need some more rest after your trip,” Wanda says, shaking her head. “Pandora’s Box is literally just a myth. There’s no real evidence that–”

There is a loud screech and the two women look towards the front window of the coffee shop. A gray car jumps the curb and comes hurtling off the road, probably over 50 miles per hour, and smashes into the front window. Natasha reaches across the table and slams Wanda’s head down as hundreds of jagged glass shards go flying above them. She hears screams and a small explosion when the car collides with the counter, plowing right through it. The car comes to a thundering halt when its hood crumples against the back brick wall, the tires still spinning angrily but finding no traction.

Natasha sits up as dust swirls around them, grabbing Wanda and checking if she’s all right. 

“Pietro? Where’s Pietro?” Wanda coughs.

Natasha stares at the pile of rubble where the counter and Pietro were. There is a pair of gray Adidas shoes with green highlights sitting atop the dirt. 

“Pietro! Pietro!” Wanda starts screaming.

Natasha grabs onto Wanda’s jacket before she can throw herself at the car. From her angle, it doesn’t look like there’s even a driver in the vehicle, but she can’t be sure. Outside the coffee shop, people are running up the sidewalk to assess the damage. Natasha already hears a siren in the distance.

Across the street, Natasha sees you standing there and smiling, your hands tucked casually in your pockets. A wave of uneasiness washes over her and she wants to run over to you, but she can’t leave Wanda alone.  

“Come on. We need to get out of here,” Natasha says, but Wanda is hysterical, pushing and slapping at her while she screams and cries. But Natasha is stronger and practically picks her up, marching her out of the remains of the coffee shop. When Natasha looks back to where you had been standing, and you’ve suddenly vanished.

They pass the trash can by the door, still intact, with the cup you left on top. Natasha pauses to get a closer look at the name scrawled on the paper sleeve: “ENCHANTRESS.”

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

AN: Wanda can't catch a break in any of my fics lol 😅

Click here to read Part 3!

Please like, reblog, and comment! Follow for more content. 🥰

[sometimeslwish]

The Ocean Beyond The Sea

Saw this edit, then remembered the song and made this post, saw this edit later on, got the writer blues, got some encouragement from @comatosebunny09, remembered the rafayel x nonmc reader drabble I started writing after s:ate but never finished and BAM, this came out.

As you can tell, it was quite the sequence of events that led me to churn out 2.3k words in two days after a few weeks of not writing.

Tags: Rafayel x non mc reader, gn reader, angst, mentions of death and drowning, drowning as a metaphor for both death and love, assassin reader, mentions of stalking (from both reader and Rafayel, although his is more subtle)

Bottom Of The Deep Blue Sea

You've always wanted to drown.

Not literally– or well, maybe so... It's hard to explain.

The ocean has always called to you. Since before the experiments, before escaping and before the N109 zone. Like a voice in the back of your head that keeps singing to you.

It's because of the heart inside of you. A heart that you shouldn't have.

You resurface from the water, blinking away the droplets as you stand up. You don't take a deep breath, it's unnecessary, with this complicated evol of yours.

It's a blessing and a curse.

It means it's hard to kill you– a weed that will continuously grow no matter how many times you uproot it. You'll adapt and overcome, take in whichever form necessary to survive, over and over again, whether you want to or not. You will survive. Like a phoenix. Like a true human weapon.

It means people want your power.

People like Ever, who will stop at nothing, the same people who experimented on you in the search for immortality.

You get out of the tub and grab a towel, making quick work to dry yourself and get ready for the night– or well, day ahead. You never know in the n109 zone, it's easy to forget with the constant darkness.

. . . . .

There's blue eyes staring at you.

They're beautiful and captivating, you want to get lost in them and never come back out.

Oh, how you wish to drown.

. . . . .

There's a song that you've always hummed as you went on your missions. A song that gave you the reputation you have now. "A phantom with a siren like voice that leads you to your death" people warn.

You don't mind it.

You've never felt like yourself anyways, only a ghost floating around, unable to leave.

You didn't even realize you were humming it, at first, until Sylus pointed it out on your first partnered mission. You'd shrugged before finishing the job, giving a simple "I don't know, it's always been with me," for an answer.

He'd accepted it with no questions asked and the topic had been dropped, forgotten into the darkness of the night.

. . . . .

Endless blue. You're surrounded by it.

You can hear children's laughter and a voice narrating a story. You stay and watch from afar, taking the time to enjoy the sight before it's too late.

You wonder if you'll ever find him, if you'll ever meet again. If he remembers.

You hope he does.

Oh, how you want to drown.

. . . . .

You find him in an auction.

All you catch is a glimpse of purple hair, but you know it's him. You'd recognize him anywhere, from any angle. How could a devout follower not?

Sylus takes one look at you and that is all he needs to know.

"It's him."

You don't need to answer.

It's him.

Later that night, you reveal one of your cards to Sylus.

"Would you believe me if I said that I know someone from a past life?" You blurt out on your way back to the mansion.

It takes him a few seconds for him to answer and when he does, he takes you by surprise, "Yes."

You get to see a side of him that not even the twins have seen, one you're not sure you'd ever see.

He looks tired, but not his usual tired. It's soul tired, like centuries have been taken from him when he sits down. You get to know one of his secrets, memories of a past life shared with miss hunter, just like you and Rafayel.

You bond over the shared problem, even if the variables and solutions to it are completely different.

Two peas in a pond, destined to die at their lover's hands. You feel a little bit less alone.

"I guess you can say we're friends now." You pat his back and smile at his unimpressed stare, saying nothing else as you turn to leave to your room.

You try not to think about how it's the first time you've smiled in years. The motion feeling wrong after so long.

. . . . .

You shouldn't.

You really shouldn't, but you don't have anything else to do. Not like you have better examples anyways, with the way Sylus sends Mephisto to his little miss.

You watch him from afar. Alternating between staring at his paintings and watching him interact.

He looks even more beautiful than last time.

You follow him. Carefully and without raising suspicion. You never approach him, simply watch.

He's with the little miss and the smile he gives her makes you green with envy.

Oh, how you need to drown.

. . . . .

You've made a habit of it.

The twins call it stalking, but you call it shadowing. Ever so in denial.

You do it when you're free, when the sea lets up and doesn't tug at the heart.

It's to keep him safe, you lie to yourself, knowing he's more than capable enough.

For backup, just in case things go wrong. They never do, he's always in control, always steps ahead.

You wish you would come closer, but you never find the right time. Opportunities pass you by as you overthink. You've met the little miss' eyes a few times, acknowledged her when she recognized you. Each time, you leave before she can do anything about it. As if you were delegating your job.

A job he didn't ask you to take.

. . . . .

You make eye contact with him through the glass of a shop. It's sudden and unplanned, you don't get to hide behind something or someone.

Blue and pink eyes, staring into your soul, throwing you into an endless, calming blue. It feels like the breath was knocked out from your lungs and simultaneously put back in.

You're thankful she's with him, because you need to run and hide. It keeps him from chasing you.

It's finally happened, he knows. You wonder how long you'll get to run before he finds you. You won't be able to hide, you've seen what he can do.

You just hope you're ready for when it's your turn.

Oh, how you long to drown.

. . . . .

Miss hunter makes it to the n109 zone with his help.

You avoid her like the plague.

He'll close in at any second now, you can feel him right around the corner.

You'll never be ready.

Running from her is easier, you just ask Sylus for a vacation. He doesn't ask why, simply grants it.

You go to a villa near the beach. The ocean's call is stronger there, but it calms you instead of driving you restless.

. . . . .

You make the mistake of lowering your guard when miss hunter goes back to Linkon.

You're completely in your element, fighting the men without breaking a sweat. You're too focused to notice who the owner of the gaze you feel on you is.

You come face to face with him when you're done, his back against a wall, your dagger just a few centimeters away from his neck and his own against your chest, right where your heart is.

He's supposed to be with miss hunter, not in this alleyway with you.

Your gasp is unbidden and you stumble back as you pull away, dropping your dagger to the floor like it burned you.

He's beautiful, always been. Divine, otherworldly, enchanting. No word in any language would be enough to describe his beauty.

There's recognition in his eyes. He crouches to pick up your dagger, a poor imitation of his old one.

"I finally found you, my beloved bride."

Will you finally get to drown?

Take Me Back To Eden

[relicsongmel]

On Iris and Miles: the commonalities of Ace Attorney's most underrated duo

Ah, Iris and Miles...by this point it's no secret that the pair has one of my favorite dynamics in all of Ace Attorney. They're just...silly. Delightfully so. Autism-to-autism communication except their autism wavelengths aren't compatible in the slightest. Autism starers who hate being stared at lest the other see the hidden depths of their soul they’ve put so much work into hiding. Spacing out and getting lost in thought and needing to remind the other that they’re still there and the conversation isn’t over. Among many other charming little moments.

Of course, nothing in this series is surface level, and there's a lot more to be said about Iris and Miles aside from the fact they're both socially awkward disaster introverts who at times can barely seem to stumble their way through basic conversation (and believe me, I say that with nothing but love for them). In terms of fandom discussion, one of the most common things you'll see is conversations regarding Iris' canonical romantic feelings for Phoenix Wright versus Miles' subtextual ones (if it can even be called "subtext" at this point), and specifically how a certain bit of easily missable dialogue seems to imply that Iris is aware of Miles' feelings (which I give my thoughts on in this post here). And while analyzing their relationship from that angle can certainly be interesting...

There is so much more to Iris and Miles that I've never seen anyone else talk about.

Don't get me wrong; I don't think anyone's in the wrong for getting lost in Gay Lawyer Excitement. I'm far from innocent of it myself—it's compelling to think about, and the Narumitsu framework serves as a backdrop for much of my analysis on the franchise, BttT and Iris included. I just think it's reductive to focus solely on the possibility of love drama and jealousy between her and Miles, while ignoring everything else that makes that oft-referenced scene actually work—that being, the very way the two work exceptionally well together as characters, through the many, MANY parallels in their upbringing and traits that I can no longer be silent about.

In fact, I'm just gonna come out and say it: Sister Iris Fey-Hawthorne of Hazakura Temple mirrors Miles Edgeworth so goddamn much that she is quite literally the perfect choice for his first client as a defense attorney. And it's through this mirroring that his choice to defend her becomes so much more than a desire to help his childhood friend, or a chance to briefly live the life he once dreamed of at age nine—it's emblematic of his own personal self-acceptance and healing, and culminates his trilogy character arc in a beautifully full-circle, satisfying way. So, let's get into the details, shall we?

The first point I'd like to bring up is that Iris and Miles have a shared disdain of spirit channeling. There's some slight differences in how they express it—Iris' distaste is mostly directed toward the practice of channeling itself, as she states very early on in BttT. That said, she lives at Hazakura Temple even as an adult and continuously dedicates herself to her training, so she still has some level of respect (or at least tolerance) for spirit medium culture. Miles, on the other hand, rejects everything to do with channeling and mediums themselves/their lifestyle, as seen by how he angrily denounces Misty Fey at the mere mention of the Kurain Channeling Technique. The way his and Iris' lingering resentment presents itself is different, but the root of it is the same: The DL-6 Incident, an event that brought both of their families to ruin and left them with a great deal of trauma. They were inextricably linked by it years before they met—and though we never see Miles move beyond his denial of spiritual abilities (there's kinda a whole lotta other shit in BttT that needs to take priority), I like to think that he and Iris could have some very interesting conversations with each other on the subject post-canon.

Next, I'd like to point out that there's a noticeable parallel between Iris hiding herself away at Hazakura after Turnabout Memories and Miles “choosing death” after AA1. I'm of the opinion that neither of them had any intentions of returning to Phoenix, let alone explaining anything, when they set out to do so—Iris resolved to train endlessly as a form of self-flagellation penance, never appearing before Phoenix again so as not to hurt him any more, and Miles left his note at the Prosecutor’s Office with full confidence he would never again return to the courtroom (whether it was truly a suicide note is up for debate, but the game makes it fairly clear that before his offscreen epiphany Miles' initial choice was to leave his prosecutor career for good). They both wholly blamed themselves for being the reason they were even put in such a position, and their absences left Phoenix with unresolved grief as large as a mountain, and deep as an ocean. They both had events that brought them out of hiding—Miles chose to reforge his life and helped Phoenix from the shadows during Turnabout Big Top, and Iris received and accepted Godot’s request for help with his plan (though I’d imagine Phoenix’s presence caught her by complete surprise). They both were put through the wringer and came out of it resolving to reveal the truth. Phoenix, despite being hurt, wanted to believe in them both and ultimately decided to forgive them due to his unwavering faith.

Now, as for the events of BttT themselves, specifically Miles' choice to take up the mantle of a defense attorney and represent Iris in court, it's worth noting that he has multiple reasons for doing so. He just saw his best friend clam up in the hospital when pressed about Iris and wants to do what he can to help him heal, and in Miles' mind, truth in the most healing thing of all, so he becomes her attorney on the condition that she will eventually tell Phoenix what she's been hiding from him. The popular fanon joke about this is that Miles flew halfway across the world in a private jet when he heard his boyfriend was in peril, and took his attorney's badge simply because he couldn't say no to him—and they do have a point that that is an utterly Deranged™ way to express loyalty to someone...but I will argue until my dying breath that it wasn't just about Phoenix or Miles' latent feelings for him (or his latent jealousy prompting him to self-sabotage by pushing Feenris together). It was more than that.

Phoenix may have been the instigating factor, but I believe the reason Miles ultimately decided to defend Iris was because he empathized with her.

Because he saw himself in her.

A young, guarded individual stuck in the detention center for a murder they didn't commit. Going along with the punishment because even if the crime they're on trial for isn't the same as the one they committed, they believe themself guilty regardless. Stuck in a hopeless rut of neverending self-blame, and desperate to keep someone they care about from discovering the truth about them.

Sound familiar?

Miles doesn't make any promises to Iris initially, but after hearing her out...he learns of a tale all too familiar to his own experience in the defendant's seat two years prior, and he empathizes with it. He's far from upfront about his own feelings most of the time, but he demonstrates on multiple occasions that he actually has quite the knack for understanding other people's emotions (such as the end of BttT, when he explains to Phoenix that Maya is very emotionally resilient when there's someone she has to be strong for). Miles may have chosen the path of a prosecutor, but due to his upbringing of having been raised by Gregory, he has the instinct of a defense attorney—he feels strongly compelled to save people, whether they be the falsely accused or the victims of crime. And after finding common ground with Iris, he resolves to do the same thing for her as Phoenix once did for him—save her by proving her not guilty and giving her closure. It's an undeniably selfless act that speaks volumes as to how far he's come since we first met his douche-y AA1 self, and serves as excellent contrast for how we just saw Bratworth act in Turnabout Beginnings.

What really tips the scene over the edge, however...is that because Iris reminds Miles so much of himself, his offer to defend her becomes symbolic of his own self-acceptance.

While it's true he was proven innocent two years ago, and reinvented himself as the kind of prosecutor who can truly bring about justice for those who need it, and shows nothing but confidence in his newfound ideals...we never really see him acknowledge that he was worthy of such redemption. Certainly not with words, at least.

But thanks to Iris, we get to watch him prove it through his actions. Through his unyielding dedication to ensuring that this woman, who's clearly suffering from repressed guilt, knows that she is just as worthy as he was of being freed from her shackles, both real and self-imposed, by the all-encompassing light of truth. And I don't think it's a stretch to say that Iris found that inspiring. So much so that after a single conversation, she decides to finally let go of her need to obfuscate anything and everything about herself/her actions that could interfere with how she feels she has to be perceived in that moment, and begin to own up to the harm she's done by telling Miles what she did (in vague terms, granted, but this is the most progress ANYONE'S made in getting Iris to come forward with what’s on her mind to this point, which is still impressive). And for the first time, someone has helped her realize that maybe, just maybe...she could start on the path toward revealing the truth to the person most in need of the answers she's kept locked away in her heart all this time.

Iris wouldn't have found the courage to seek the truth if not for Miles. And it's because of Iris that Miles gets the chance to prove to himself that he was worthy of salvation all along.

They're perfect, your honor.

[misshoneyimhome]

500 FOLLOWERS FESTIVAL

"If you cross her, then you cross me” I Matthew Knies☆

Requested: yes/no

Summary: After weeks apart, Matthew Knies finally sees his girlfriend again, his heart racing with anticipation. Yet, the sight of bruises on her arm brings a sharp reminder of why he hates being away from her.

Tropes & warnings: Matthew Knies x reader, established relationship, boyfriend!Kniesy, protective!Kniesy, no real harm (bruise), Smut 18+; Oral sex (f receiving), fingering, unprotected sex (p in v), cum inside;

Other notes: So, we're at the final stop of our Followers Festival, and I can’t express enough how grateful I am for your input! Writing like this is always so much fun and thrilling, as it's pushing me to explore new challenges 🤗 Thank you so much for joining my little celebration and for reading my work ❤️ Lots of love!

Word count: 2.9K

➼｡ﾟ

You and your boyfriend, Matthew Knies, had been apart for far too long.

_

Almost a year ago, your life had taken an unexpected yet wonderful turn, where it all started on a crisp autumn evening when you decided to attend a charity event organised by your company. You hadn’t particularly been enthusiastic about going, but it was for a good cause, and as the newest (and youngest) hire, you felt obliged to make an appearance.

The venue was a beautiful old mansion converted into an event space, filled with elegantly dressed guests, soft music, and the hum of polite conversation. And almost lost in your own thoughts, you casually wandered around, occasionally mingling with colleagues and sampling the delicious hors d'oeuvres, when you suddenly spotted a tall, handsome man across the room. He had a relaxed confidence about him, and you couldn't help but notice the way he smiled as he chatted with a group of people.

Then feeling the need to hold onto something for comfort, you made your way over to the refreshment table near where he stood. And as luck would have it, you both reached for the same glass of champagne at the same time, where the tall man simply laughed, a warm, genuine sound, and motioned for you to take it.

“Looks like we have the same taste,” he said with a grin.

You smiled back, feeling a spark of something you couldn’t quite identify. “I guess we do.”

“I’m Matthew, by the way,” he introduced casually, extending his hand.

“I'm y/n,” you replied softly, shaking his hand in a polite and friendly manner. His grip was firm yet reassuring, and you found yourself immediately at ease.

And from that small moment, the conversation flowed effortlessly. You discovered that Matthew was a professional hockey player, currently enjoying some downtime before the new season began. He was charming and down-to-earth, with a passion for the sport that was infectious. You shared stories about your jobs, your interests, and your families, finding common ground in unexpected places.

So, as the evening progressed, you both found yourselves gravitating towards each other, enjoying the easy banter and undeniable chemistry. When the event then started to wind down, Matthew hesitated for a moment before asking if you’d like to grab a coffee sometime.

“I'd love that,” you replied, feeling a flutter of excitement.

And so, your relationship began. The first coffee date turned into a series of outings—dinners, walks in the park, movie nights—each one bringing you closer together. Matthew’s schedule was hectic, but he always made time for you, and you quickly found yourself falling for him faster than you had ever thought possible.

By the time you reached the six-month mark, you knew this was something truly special. Despite the challenges of his demanding career and your own busy life, the bond you shared only grew stronger. The time apart was hard, but it made the moments together even more precious.

_

The off-season brought you nothing but more joy and excitement into your life. Matthew had invited you to spend a few weeks in his hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, where you were introduced to everyone. 

And those weeks in Phoenix were nothing but magical, filled with warm, sun-soaked days and cool, starry nights. You visited his favourite childhood spots, hiked the stunning desert trails, and shared countless meals with his family, where his parents welcomed you with open arms, treating you like one of their own.

Matthew took you to some of his favourite local hangouts, where you met his old friends who regaled you with stories of their younger days. And you could easily see the deep bonds he had with them, which made you feel even closer to him. The evenings were your favourite, spent on the porch of his family’s home, sipping cold drinks and watching the spectacular Arizona sunsets.

Those quiet moments, where you could simply enjoy each other's company without any interruptions, were what you cherished the most. 

But as wonderful as those weeks had been, reality eventually intruded, and you were called back to return to work. Matthew stayed back as he was busy with off-season training, his days then filled with rigorous workouts and team meetings, while your own days were consumed by the demands of your job. 

Though you both tried to keep in touch with nightly video calls and sweet text messages throughout the day, it was never quite the same as being together. The screen could never capture the warmth of his touch or the comfort of his presence.

The nights were lonely, and the days felt endless without him. The ache of missing him settled deep in your chest, a constant reminder of the distance between you. You threw yourself into work, trying to fill the void, but it was a poor substitute for the man you loved. Weekends were the hardest. You'd find yourself aimlessly wandering the apartment, lingering over the photos of the two of you scattered around, each one a painful reminder of what you were missing.

And sensing your melancholy, your friends decided to cheer you up. So, they dragged you out one night, determined to lift your spirits. They took you to a lively bar downtown, where the air was thick with the scent of alcohol and the sound of loud, pulsing music. And for a while, it worked. The drinks flowed, laughter came easily, and the music helped drown out your thoughts as you danced with your girlfriends, trying to forget how much you missed Matthew.

But then, amid the flashing lights and the thumping bass, a man approached you. At first, he seemed harmless, just another person looking to have a good time. But as the night wore on, his behaviour became more insistent. He moved closer, invading your personal space, and his touch lingered on your arm longer than was comfortable. You tried to signal politely but firmly that you weren’t interested, yet he didn’t seem to take the hint. At one point, his grip even tightened around your wrist, and though you managed to pull away, the encounter left you shaken.

Nothing overtly dangerous happened, but his touch left you feeling unsettled. You felt a surge of anger and frustration, not just at the man who had crossed the line, but at the circumstances that had left you vulnerable and alone. You wished Matthew had been there, his presence a shield against the world.

_

Fortunately, only two days later, you stood at the airport, your heart pounding with anticipation. The noise of the bustling crowd, the rolling of suitcases, and the constant announcements over the intercom all faded into the background as you anxiously scanned the throngs of people for a familiar face. Every second felt like an eternity. But then, through the sea of strangers, you finally spotted him. Matthew’s tall frame and broad shoulders were unmistakable.

Your heart leapt as your eyes met his, and you saw his face break into a wide grin that mirrored your own. And without a moment's hesitation, you dashed towards him, your feet barely touching the ground. When you reached him, you threw yourself into his arms, feeling the solid warmth of his body against yours. And effortlessly, he lifted you slightly off the ground as he hugged you tightly, burying his face in your hair.

“Missed you so much,” he murmured into your ear, his voice rough with emotion.

“Missed you too,” you replied, your voice muffled against his chest. The relief of being in his embrace after so long was overwhelming, washing over you in waves. You could feel the tension of the past weeks melt away as you clung to him, savouring the familiar scent of his cologne and the steady beat of his heart.

So, with no intention of wasting a single moment, you grabbed his hand and headed straight for the car. The drive to your shared apartment was filled with stolen glances and soft touches, the air between you crackling with anticipation. And by the time you reached your place, the need to be close to each other was almost too much to bear.

As soon as the door closed behind you, Matthew’s lips were already on yours, the urgency of your reunion clear in every kiss. His hands roamed over your back, pulling you closer as if to make up for the lost time. Meanwhile, your own hands fumbled with his jacket, eager to feel his skin against yours. You barely made it to the living room before clothes began to come off, a trail of discarded garments marking your path to the bedroom.

And once in the bedroom, Matthew’s hands explored your body, rediscovering every curve he had missed. His touch was both tender and demanding, his fingertips tracing the lines of your body with a familiarity that sent shivers down your spine. The kisses grew more passionate as he explored your skin, each touch igniting a fire within you.

He knew your body like a map he’d charted himself, but his touch faltered when he encountered a mark on your arm—a bruise that hadn’t been there before. So, he pulled back slightly, his eyes narrowing as he examined the bruise.

“Who did this to you?” His voice was rough, filled with concern and barely-contained anger. His jaw tightened as he looked at you, his protective instincts flaring up.

“It’s nothing, Matts,” you said, trying to downplay it. “Just some guy at a bar… it’s not a big deal.”

“No, this is something!” His eyes were fierce, the protective side of him coming to the fore. “A guy touched you? And bruised you?”

“It looks worse than it was…” you began, but he cut you off with a gentle but firm grip on your chin, tilting your face up to meet his gaze.

Matthew’s face softened slightly, but the anger in his eyes didn’t fully dissipate. “I don’t like thinking about someone else touching you.”

You sighed, reaching up to cup his face, your thumb gently stroking his cheek. “I’m alright. I’m here with you now. That’s what matters.”

His gaze remained intense, but then he leaned in, capturing your lips once more in a deep, passionate kiss that stole every bit of air from your lungs. His hands were rough yet tender, conveying the love and longing that had built up over the past weeks. And the kiss was an attempt to claim you, to remind you of his presence and devotion, and you could feel the intensity of his emotions in every movement—how his lips pressed against yours, how his hands held you close. It was as if he was pouring all the missed moments and unspoken words into that one kiss.

And then, Matthew’s focus shifted to ensuring your pleasure, his touch expert and attentive. He started by exploring your body with his mouth, trailing kisses down your jawline and along the valley of your breasts. He lingered briefly at each nipple before continuing downward, moving past your belly button to your core.

Light moans escaped you as he settled between your legs, his arms wrapped around your thighs. He then kissed around your needy centre, his touch both deliberate and tender.

“Please, Matts. I need you,” you whimpered softly, your hand finding his brown locks, as if to pull him closer.

But Matthew just smirked against your skin, tightening his grip before he finally indulged in the craving he’d been holding back. Skillfully, he licked up your folds, drawing moans from you—sweet music to his ears as he savoured your tasty honey.

“Oh yes,” you breathed out, your head sinking deeper into the pillow below you, your fingers gripping his hair. “Mmm, more…”

And your plea was his command. He licked you several times, making sure to explore all of your sensitive areas, before focusing on your sensitive clit. Sucking and nipping, he wasted no time in drawing louder moans from you. And as he sensed your light squirming under his touch, feeling the power he held over you, he worked his skilled mouth with determination.

“Mmm, taste so fucking delicious, baby,” he hummed huskily into your core as he ate you out you like a starved man getting his first meal in months.

“Fuck,” you cried softly as you felt the arousal build within you, a familiar wave of pleasure coursing through your body. You were approaching your climax, and the ecstasy intensified as Matthew continued to suck on your sensitive bead of nerves, making you shut your eyes tightly. And when he then added his long fingers into the mix, it didn’t take long before his skilled tongue pushed you to your first orgasm.

“I’m gonna cu—Matts, I’m coming!”

The sensation was intense, a welcome relief from the tension of your separation.

And as Matthew looked up from between your legs, urging you to meet his gaze, a satisfied smirk played on his lips. “It’s good to be home.”

You couldn’t suppress a smile either, the rush of your orgasm still lingering as he gently moved to hover over you. Feeling the need to shift positions, you then signalled for him to lie on his back.

And Matthew naturally obliged. He always enjoyed when you tried to take charge—emphasis on *trying*, as you both knew that even when you were on top, he was still the one truly in control.

Yet, as you positioned yourself on top of him, you led with fervour and passion. His length was larger than any man you’d experienced before, but whenever he was inside you, it felt like your bodies melded perfectly together. You rolled your hips smoothly, his hands guiding you gently, as your palms pressed firmly on his muscular chest, giving you support to increase your pace at his unspoken command. Then with his thumb pressing insistently against your sensitive clit, Matthew helped you reach another peak. Arching your back and clenching around him, you let his name slip from your lips in a deep moan.

It was a blissful moment as you reached your second orgasm. However, as the rhythm of your movements built, Matthew’s own desire surged. So, with a swift motion, he turned you around into missionary, where he effortlessly took control and began pounding into you with primal intensity. His movements were relentless, driven by his need for release. 

It had been too long. Too long since he had felt himself inside you, too long since he’d climaxed under your touch.

His breathing was erratic, mingling with the sounds of your moans and the echo of skin slapping against skin throughout the room. Your nails dug into the back of his shoulders, and the force of his thrusts pushed both of you to the brink, each touch and movement designed to make the experience as overwhelming and fulfilling as possible.

“Fuck baby…. Oh yes,” he groaned deeply as he spilled his release into you, gasping for air. Matthew knew he finished sooner than he’d usually do, but given the time apart, it was no surprise to either of you.

Besides, you were already satisfied with your own rather quick orgasms he’d caused you. 

You both panted deeply, surprised by how intense and satisfying the reunion felt, more so than you had anticipated. And as you lay tangled in the sheets, the aftermath of your intimacy left both of you spent but content. Yet, you could sense something lingering in Matthew’s demeanour—a worry that hadn’t quite been erased.

“What’s wrong, my love?” you asked softly, tuning slightly to face your incredibly handsome boyfriend, with his Arizona tan. 

But Matthew just brushed a strand of hair from your face, his voice tender and sincere. “I just don’t like thinking of someone else touching you.”

“Then don’t think about it,” you replied, resting a hand on his chest. “Nothing happened. I’m here with you now.”

“But still… if someone crosses you, they also cross me,” he said, his tone resolute and protective. “And I’m not going to let it go. If I knew who it was, I’d…”

“You’d what? Risk your career by punching a stranger in the face?” you chuckled lightly with a cocked brow. 

“No,” Matthew breathed out softly. “I just wanted to make them pay for doing anything like this to you…”

You couldn’t help but smile up at him, touched by his fierce loyalty. “You’re wonderful, Matts. But I can take care of myself when you’re not here. You don’t need to go around and punch people for me.”

“I know you can,” he said, gently pulling you even closer. “I just… I love you so much. I’ve never loved anyone like this before. And… I don’t want to lose you.”

“You’ll never lose me. Not now, not ever.” You pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, reassuring him. 

Matthew’s arms tightened around you, a final, tender embrace as the two of you settled into a peaceful slumber. In that moment, all the fears and uncertainties of the past few weeks faded away, leaving only the certainty of your love for each other.

Well, Matthew, of course, couldn’t let it go completely. So, he interrogated your friends, pressing them for any information about who might have done this to you, earning light chuckles from all of you. However, as weeks passed, the bruises fading, and the hockey season began, the incident faded into the background.

[lynzishell]

Prev // Next

Transcript below the cut:

Aspen: NOOOOOO!!!!

Aspen: I want dadddyyyyyyy!!!! Dawn: Oh, don’t worry, dad’s going to have a talk with you when he gets out of the shower.

[front door opens and closes] Atlas: Hello? Aspen: TONTON!!

Atlas: What is going on, kiddo? Aspen: Mommy’s being mean.

Atlas: What’s wrong? Aspen: [sniffling] I don’t want to leave Pepper.

Dawn: A little help, please? She did it again. Phoenix: [in his most impressive dad-voice] Aspen Leanne! Atlas: Uh-oh Aspen: [screeching] Down down!

Aspen: Go away! Phoenix: Uh-uh. Stop right there.

Phoenix: What did we talk about? Aspen: I don’t know. Phoenix: Annie. Aspen: No biting. Phoenix: And what did you do? Aspen: [sniffles] B-but Pepper will be scared.

Phoenix: I know you want Pepper to come with us, but he’s too little. He could get lost or hurt, so he has to stay behind, but Atlas and Asher are going to make sure he’s taken care of while we’re gone, okay? Aspen: [nods] Phoenix: It’ll be like a big sleepover with Pixel and Pluto. He’ll have lots of fun. Aspen: Promise? Phoenix: Promise.

Phoenix: What you did wasn’t very nice, was it? Aspen: [shakes head guiltily] Phoenix: Can you tell Mom you’re sorry?

Aspen: Sorry mommy. Dawn: Thanks love. Aspen: Can I have a snack? Dawn: Sure. Should we make a sandwich? Aspen: Okay.

Phoenix: Sorry about that. Atlas: Eventful day? Phoenix: You have no idea. Anyway, um, I put Pepper’s collar and favorite toys in a bag by the door. Do you need me to pack up some food for him? Asher: Nah, we have plenty at the house. Phoenix: Perfect. Thanks again for taking him this week.

Atlas: No problem. But you should know, we won’t actually be there. Phoenix: Where will you be? Atlas: We’re going to look at a few houses this week. Asher: Yeah, we realized we only have a couple months to get a place and get fully moved in before the twins are born.

Phoenix: So, you’re bringing home a third puppy and then bailing? Asher: [laughs] Pretty much. It’s fine though.   Atlas: Spencer is charging us five simoleons per puppy per day, so she’s more than happy to add an extra one to her routine. Phoenix: Good for her.

Aspen: Bye Pepper. Be a good boy for Tonton. No biting.

[biocrafthero]

Posting my card analyses I wrote in discord about the cards

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The stem of the glass makes the apple also look like a wine glass or a chalice

water looks like blood

DNA helix has red and blue colors on the two ends and nothing in the middle (red and blue appear all over this set and the helix is a new piece of symbolism for n25)

The apple in the water links back to all previous apple symbolism in the game. The skin of the apple is slightly peeled off

Mafuyu is the only one wearing this amount of white. By contrast, Kanade is wearing the most amount of black (more on that later)

Back to the cracking glass, its likely that Mafuyu would fall into the water(?) if it broke

Mafuyu is looking at the apple in the water. Based off of previous cards, this is probably meant to imply that she was the one who dropped it into the water

Mafuyu's card is the only one that isn't listed to the side by 45 degrees

The ferris wheel has wings on it, similar to symbolism from the Immiscible Discord event (another Kanade focus)

The ferris wheel, along with the shadows in the backgound, look fake. It looks like a shadow cast by a stained glass window, the spaces between the spokes of the wheel colored with an alternating red and blue palette

Kanade and Mafuyu's cards have balloons with strings. In Ena and Rin's cards the balloons don't have strings

Thank you to oomf for rotating the card for me btw

She is the only character seen holding onto any of the balloons. The string is highlighted with purple the closer it gets to her hand

Clocktower in the background has the hour hand at 1

Kanade is wearing the outfit with the most amount of black in it, contrasting with Mafuyu's outfit

The distortion effects on the card make it almost feel nightmarish

Kanade is wearing a specific kind of accesory called finger armor. Usually, the points of them are very sharp. This puts her in a very specific role in this setting, where she is the only character who wields something sharp in a world of fragile things (sharp objects popping balloons)

More bug symbolism on clothing, again like the Kana3 event's trained cards

Her expression is a really spiteful looking one. It's somewhere between angry and determined, so I'm choosing the emotion of spite to describe it. She never makes faces like this, only during Main Story and Kana3 was she ever in an emotional state like this

Some other things I brought up is the blood/water from Mafuyu's card reminding me of the saying "blood is thicker than water", the full saying being "the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb" which is meant to say that the bonds we create with other people will always be stronger than the familial bonds we are born into

The carnival/theme park setting also feels like its calling back to how in Mafu3 we learn that she got lost one time at Phoenix Wonderland as a child

The nightmarish appearance of Kanade's card thematically contrasts with the dreamlike nature of the memory that Mafuyu recalls during Mafu2

A friend pointed out that the ferris wheel's shadow in Mafuyu's card, paired alongside the bug in the center, makes it look like the bug is caught in a web

This Rin card is likely Rin witnessing Kanade passing out onto the floor due to Kanade overworking herself (like she did back in the flashback during Kana2)

This card from a valentines event parallels the Mafuyu card

This card is likely Ena attempting to get Kanade to eat/drink something so that she doesn't collapse again. Kanade as usual seems to be trying to wave off the kind gesture because of how little she values her well-being and how much she prioritizes composing. What I like is that, while Ena does look annoyed at Kanade, she shows a lot of concern for her (its very noticeable with the position of her eyebrows trust me)

Rin's pose here reminds me of those tiny ballerina figurines inside of music boxes

I don't have much to say about Ena's card either but I really like her expression. It makes me curious as to her role in this event....

Event logo is very similar to the logo for Immiscible Discord. Someone on instagram posted about this so I'll try and repeat their points

The glitching effects are very similar (obviously the colors are similar because its the colors of all the unit members)

The lines on the music sheets are all covered with glitch effects. As shown with her frustration

The apple is behind the music lines (idk correct term sorry) to show that Mafuyu's heart is unreachable

The music lines are wavering but steady out near the end. While the main obstacle is not overcame, focus has been regained

Anyways here's all of the leaks we have at the time of me posting this that other people uploaded to here (including the song and 2dmv) I will now promptly explode

[tivaforgood]

So, it's official: NCIS: Tony and Ziva is coming in September, which is only a few short weeks away!! Seriously… it'll fly by in the blink of an eye!

If you've been here for a while, you'll know that I'm a long-time Tiva lover, and this is the most excited for anything I have ever been, for obvious reasons!

But it recently dawned on me that there are people out there who may only be meeting Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David for the first time through the spinoff trailer, and wanting to watch the show because it looks awesome! (I wholeheartedly agree!)

Of course, this is a couple that spanned 8 years on NCIS, and over 190 episodes. That's a whole lot of television! While it is possible to watch all of them before the show premieres in August – and I would highly recommend it, as there's so many small moments you'd miss, and it's the best way to fully understand them –I realise that it might not be for everybody. If you only want to watch the mothership for Tiva, then you probably don't want to see most of the unnecessary filler episodes in the middle. Which is why I've made this – a breakdown of all Tiva episodes you need to watch before the spinoff comes out! (i.e things you need to see so there are very few gaps in your knowledge!) • Major Tiva episodes are highlighted in bold italics. • Anything else on the list are episodes that are recommended you watch, but which are not absolutely pivotal for you to be able to understand their story.

Season 3: (if you can, watch the whole thing.) 3x01: Kill Ari (Part 1) 3x02: Kill Ari (Part 2) 3x04: Silver War 3x06: The Voyeur's Web 3x08: Undercovers 3x09: Frame Up 3x10: Probie 3x12: Boxed In 3x22: Jeopardy 3x23: Hiatus (Part 1) 3x24: Hiatus (Part 2)

Season 4: (again, if you can, watch the whole thing.) 4x01: Shalom 4x09: Twisted Sister 4x16: Dead Man Walking 4x20: Cover Story 4x24: Angel of Death

Season 5: 5x01: Bury Your Dead 5x02: Family 5x10: Corporal Punishment 5x12: Stakeout 5x14: Internal Affairs 5x16: Recoil 5x18: Judgement Day (Part 1) 5x19: Judgement Day (Part 2)

Season 6: (yet again, watch the whole season.) 6x01: Last Man Standing 6x02: Agent Afloat 6x05: Nine Lives 6x08: Cloak 6x09: Dagger 6x22: Legend (Part 1) 6x23: Legend (Part 2) 6x24: Semper Fidelis 6x25: Aliyah Season 7: (and again, watch the whole thing.) 7x01: Truth or Consequences (THE ULTIMATE TIVA EPISODE) 7x02: Reunion 7x03: The Inside Man 7x04: Good Cop, Bad Cop 7x10: Faith 7x13: Jet Lag 7x18: Jurisdiction 7x24: Rule Fifty-One Season 8: (nothing is good about this season aside from these eps) 8x05: Dead Air 8x22: Baltimore 8x23: Swan Song 8x24: Pyramid Season 9: (I'd watch the whole thing.) 9x01: Nature of the Beast 9x11: Newborn King 9x12: Housekeeping 9x13: A Desperate Man 9x15: Secrets 9x23: Up in Smoke 9x24: Till Death Do Us Part Season 10: (Watch every episode. Trust me. This is THE Tiva season!) 10x01: Extreme Prejudice 10x02: Recovery 10x03: Phoenix 10x04: Lost at Sea 10x05: The Namesake 10x06: Shell Shock (Part 1) 10x07: Shell Shock (Part 2) 10x08: Gone 10x09: Devil's Trifecta 10x10: You Better Watch Out 10x11: Shabbat Shalom 10x12: Shiva 10x13: Hit and Run 10x14: Canary 10x15: Hereafter 10x16: Detour 10x17: Prime Suspect 10x18: Seek 10x19: Squall 10x20: Chasing Ghosts 10x21: Berlin 10x22: Revenge 10x23: Double Blind 10x24: Damned If You Do Season 11: 11x01: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot 11x02: Past, Present and Future Season 13: 13x23: Dead Letter 13x24: Family First Season 16: 16x13: She 16x24: Daughters Season 17: 17x01: Out of the Darkness 17x02: Into the Light 17x10: The North Pole 17x11: In the Wind [the spinoff begins directly after the events of this episode!]

Perhaps I'm biased, but if you can watch all 190-odd episodes, do it. It's the best way to truly understand these two characters and their relationship (and everything they've been through). And I feel it likely that the spinoff will contain small easter eggs and references to tiny Tiva moments, so to appreciate and recognise them all, I highly recommend watching every Tiva episode in existence! <3

[xmencompletionistgirl]

Alright, I guess this is my "yap about the Fall of the Mutants" post? This is my first major milestone completed while I'm running this blog so I'll ramble for a bit. This isn't really an event in the traditional sense, like, none of the X-titles actually cross over in meaningful ways other than a member of one book learning about the goings-on of another book via the news or something. So there isn't a grand narrative to comment on, the connecting thread is thematic, I guess. It's really just a glorified status quo change-up, which all events are in theory, but it doesn't actually really have the crossover element of the event which is kind of the selling point, so??? either way I'll talk about each book one at a time

(Uncanny X-Men #225-227)

May as well start with Uncanny. Shockingly, I don't have a ton to say. I think it was fine, but not amazing. Tbh I feel like Claremont's writing falters a bit whenever he's writing about 'end of the world' type stuff on a cosmological scale. The Phoenix Saga is great, but beyond that when he does these 'end of the universe' things it's all very similar, like a mini-Phoenix Saga repackaged. He's in love with these sweeping concepts of the world being in balance, very New Age, and he gets sort of lost in it. I don't have a great way of articulating it, though, and I'll save some of my deeper thoughts on his writing for a big fat Claremont era post once I finish his run. Some cool visuals anyway, and I'm glad that Storm has her powers back. We'll see where the 'world thinks the X-Men are dead' stuff goes, but I'm guessing it's not going to last very long.

(Power Pack #33)

X-Factor, also fine. Also not a ton to say. It was probably the weakest of the 3 overall, but not for lack of trying. I just find these early Apocalypse stories kind of dry? They aren't really saying much with his character, at least not yet. Not a fan of the 'dumb Beast' stuff either, no idea how long that last. I hope this leads to a power reset with him and getting his blue fur back, I really don't like looking at hairless Silver Age Beast. That being said, thank GOD X-Factor as Mutant Hunters era is over. Jfc what a bad concept. Simonson did her best to salvage it but you can physically feel her grating against the concept with every issue she writes. I feel so bad for her for inheriting Bob Layton's mess.

Oh I almost forgot; I hate Caliban in this?? Like, I really don't buy his turn to Apocalypse at all :( Probably the only part of this event that made me a bit irritated.

Every non-X-book tie-in was related to X-Factor, for some reason, also. It's really the only part of all of this that feels like a big event, but it's downplayed. Power Pack and Daredevil all the clear standouts. Really good. Pictured above, the Power Pack issue does a phenomenal job of selling the scale of it from a kids' perspective. Everything is on this incomprehensible scale and watching this giant rectangle of a spaceship knock into stuff in New York really sells how big of a threat Apocalypse is. And Daredevil is an on-the-street version of that, moreso focused on how New Yorkers react to this battle and think that the end of the world is here. It's a very human story and I really should read Nocenti's Daredevil run sometime, it seems pretty good.

The Fantastic Four tie-in was painfully average and the Captain America one was awful. Avoid them lol, they are very mired in their own continuity. Luckily I was familiar enough with the F4's history that I caught on quick, but they are in a VERY weird era here. No Reed or Sue, the Thing is in his pointy rock-skin era, She-Thing just got made, Doctor Doom has been ousted from Latveria... just madness. As for Cap, it's more comprehensible but it's just not very good. They're in the John Walker era and Steve has been forced out of the role (and is wearing USAgent's future costume), but he and Falcon and... *checks notes* Demolition Man a.k.a. D-Man and Nomad-but-not-the-Steve-Rogers-one,-the-Jack-Munroe-one (alright?) go and stop Famine from destroying a fuckton of crops in Nebraska or something and that's it, that's the whole tie-in. No mention of X-Factor iirc. Really weird book.

(New Mutants Vol. 1 #60)

And now, the New Mutants. Once again the BEST X-Family book. I'm a New Mutants girlie, I will stan them until my dying breath and that is THAT. I have so much to say. The book is great, Sunspot and Warlock are back, and the falling out with Magneto and the death of Doug actually sells the event!! It really feels like only they go through a status quo change worthy of the name 'The Fall of the Mutants'. It's a fairly average adventure for them to start with, and there's a bit too much fixation on a fairly uncompelling villain for my liking, but at the end of #60, a switch flicks. Doug dies in a really brutal, unceremonious way. He's just shot by the villain of the arc and that's it. He's dead.

(New Mutants Vol. 1 #60)

(New Mutants Vol. 1 #61)

I love. LOVE. Watching Illyana go demon mode on these guys. No notes. Please more of this before she's uh, out of commission until like 2007 lol.

(New Mutants Vol. 1 #61)

And then #61 is mourning. Everyone lashing out at each other and Magneto... being Magneto, ultimately pushes everyone away out of fear. I don't think my screenshots can capture it, it's really great stuff. (Also, that panel of Illyana crying about pretending to be a normal kid while sitting next to the body of her dead friend? Art.)

(Uncanny X-Men #227)

I almost forgot about this, but in Uncanny #227 we get a checkup with Kitty and Kurt, who are back! The sigh of relief I let out omg. I didn't even realize how much I missed them or how long it's been. Excalibur soon!!!!

Overall, it was alright! I'd say it's a step up from Mutant Massacre at least, which I thought was a bit all over the place. Events were a new concept back then though, and very clearly an editorial mandate, so I guess that's to be expected. I'd say read it if you're a Claremont era fan or an event completionist, but otherwise, eh. Not terrible, not mindblowing.

Except for New Mutants. That was great. Did I turn my Fall of the Mutants post into a New Mutants shill post? Yes I did and I won't apologize