#oh the never ending double standards on this show

[danibeanie]

astronotes❤️‍🔥

underdeveloped virgo moons are HIGHLY critical when it has anything to do with themselves, others and environments. It can be exhausting having to work with these people cause they’re never satisfied.

cancer placements always have endearing nick names for their friends or their loved ones. especially if cancer resides in the 3rd house.

many people like to associate mysteriousness with pluto and while I do agree SOOOO many people ignore cancer placements/prominent moon aspects when it comes to that topic.there’s a reason why many iconic women have cancer placements and it’s because of that allure🌙 ALSO the moon card in tarot literally represents secrets/hidden.

-Angelina joline

-Margot Robbie

-Pamela Anderson

libra venus men will give you the world and are such romantics. my dad has this placement and he’s one of the reasons why I have such high standards in men😭

taurus placements are very much in tune with their 5 senses and THEY WILL make you feel as comfortable as possible when your with them. can’t tell you how many times people come to my house and say how cozy it is. I think that’s the biggest compliment when you make someone feel safe❤️‍🔥

I feel like earth placements are the most intimidating when it comes to 1st impression wether it be sun,moon, or rising. there’s always a no bs energy to them and are always searching for goals/stability. which can make people think that your not here to waste time.

scorpio risings are always studying people and if they’re comfortable with you they’ll tell you!! small details they notice about you ,changes in your movements when your uncomfortable, certain shirts you like to wear or body parts you like to show off. which I think is super attractive coming from a mercury dominant that’s always looking at details.

mars dominant/mars 1st house people always look good in active wear. it doesn’t even matter the occasion they will wear it and it will always look good.

working with someone that has the opposite mars from you is literally hell. your gonna have to find a common ground with them if not these people are gonna irk the living shi outta you. *cough* *cough* cancerxcap *cough*

chiron synastry is so funny because you end up finding their chart and your like “oh that’s why they triggered me so much” my ex manger had her chiron in my 1st house and yeah no. it also conjuncted my venus and she would say some things that weren’t too nice to say the least😭 it was a double whammy though because my chiron conjuncted her mars which triggered me the most because you use your mars placement a lot in the work field.

virgo risings are the easiest for me to spot. There’s this simplicity to their beauty but so detailed. very much clean girl aesthetic.

most leo risings I know have blonde highlights or just always CHANGING their hair. Its true what they say their hair is very prominent in their appearance.

anya taylor joy being a taurus rising is not surprising literally just look at her cupids bow😭 and her facial structure. she is so gorgeous

[dragonlands]

There's so much negativity around Izzy's death so I wanted to address some of the points I keep seeing thrown around.

"Izzy's death was pointless"

No, he just had his big speech about how basically they can kill him but they cannot kill the movement. That is a clear paraller to a lot of real life protestors of unjustice. He died protecting the community, he died so the community could go on.

"Izzy's death made his healing pointless"

No it didn't. Healing is always good, feeling happiness and belonging are ALWAYS worth it. We never know how long we've got, doesn't mean we gotta stop trying to be better or happier. His healing was still real. It still mattered.

"Izzy's character arc was left unfinished, it's bad writing"

Oh my god. If you open any writing guide about how to write impactful deaths, and the first thing that comes up is to leave some part of their arc unfinished. And his arc did go through quite a beautiful line, sure there could've been more but his story didn't end like, mid arc. As a writer, of course you want to make the audience sad when a character dies. It's good storytelling. Good stories are supposed to make us feel.

"Izzy died on the arms of his abuser"

Where the hell did this idea come from? Ed and Izzy have been in a toxic codependent relationship way before this show started. You could argue that Izzy was Ed's abuser, but that is not the argument I want to make here. Yes, we saw Ed driven to madness shoot Izzy on screen, but we know Izzy's the one that forced him to be Blackbeart when he didn't want it anymore. There's turmoil all around them. But the final moment is them finally meeting as people, not as components of Blackbeard.

"Izzy's death was unnecessarily awful"

His death was sad, yes, but it was quite beautiful as far as deaths go. He was surrounded by family who cared for him. He was loved, and accepted as he is. He knew his legacy will be carried on.

"They killed off the only character that showed us healing is never too late"

Did we watch the same show? That begins with then unhappy 40+ year old Stede deciding it's finally time to reach for his dreams? Where we see Blackbeard slowly gaining back his humanity? Where Black Pete starts off as toxically masculine dude but ends up in a soft gay marriage? Where most of the crew wanted to mutiny but then they realized being soft is good, actually. Jim's whole purpose in life being revenge but them learning to let that go and instead concentrate on love and fun and family. And so on. Izzy's arc is beautiful, but he's not the only person healing who thought it was too late already.

"Izzy's death was bury your gays trope"

No, what, no. In a pirate show where everyobody is queer some queer people will die. Bury your gays is about only having one or few queer characters and killing them off while the straights get their happily ever afters. This is so far from that.

Also, I want people to be aware of the phenomenon, where creators of diverse shows are subjected to more critism than those of non diverse shows. If this intrests you, Sarah Z on Youtube made a great video on it called Double standards and diverse media. Our flag means death has given us so much, queer love story with a happily ever after, finding community, nonbinary character. And the creators have always been so kind to fans, so let's show them tht kindness back. Because critizicing this one aspect can easily turn to seeming like the whole story is just unwanted. That stories like Ed and Stede's aren't worth telling. And I'm so aftraid that will happen, when just now for the first time in years we are finally getting queer stories.

Also, I understand people are sad. I am sad too - Izzy was an amazing character and his death was sad but that's just. Good writing. You can grieve, but trying to turn it into a moral or dramaturgy issue is just not a good look. And attacking the creators of this wonderful show is just horrible.

Remember - this fandom is a safe space ship 🏴‍☠️🏳️‍🌈

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

for a show who's creator openly and shamelessly calls people abuse apologists, ML's tendency to use love and moral uprightness as justification really does not help the hypocrisy and double standards allegations. i know I've seen people who haven't kept up with the show or never watch it to begin with asking what's happening in this show but it does feel bad when you see people being told that yea, ML really said "the end justifies the means" and love can forgive even the most heinous crimes (which is, yanno, an actual manipulation tactics used by abusers to keep the people they abuse in relationships with them). that terrorist who's been destroying the city and manipulating it's inhabitants and abusing his child? poor little meow meow, his wife is dead and he just wants her back. that kid who's response to his oh so troubled past of being abused decides to use the miraculous to do something that'll get people killed? he's fine, he's got a girlfriend now. (nevermind that the show already said your sad backstory isn't an excuse for your bad actions to somebody else but who cares about the unfortunate teenage girl) doesn't matter if how the protagonist acts ableist, destroys public property and disregards young girls and their privacy (already an irl problem tbh) itself is horrific, so long as we get rid of the girls who's going to make the classmates sad for like two seconds. doesn't matter if you're sending a child away to be further abused and neglected, our class bully is gone and we don't gotta put up with her anymore. doesn't matter if i have to lie to an abused child about the extend of how shitty his dad is so long as he's not too sad about said abusive parent dying. canon says they're all good actions so obviously they must be!

The thing is the stuff with Chloe in Season 5 isn't bad in a vacuum. The lesson that your past can only go so far to justify your present actions isn't a bad one. It's just that the show ignores that lesson time and time again with almost every antagonist who isn't Chloe, like Felix, Sabrina, Andre, Nathalie, and Gabriel.

This is seriously a show that had an episode end with a child being taken to live with her verbally abusive mother treated as a satisfying conclusion right before another episode trying to tell a serious story about child abuse.

If you want to talk about a serious issue like child abuse, you can't "both sides" this. Pick a lane for God's sake.

[forestdeath1]

I see many Snape Stans (I dislike Snape but I see why he turned out the way he did) saying James sexually assaulted him, especially on TikTok, when it’s not the truth at all, we don’t know if he ever actually took off his pants because and it wasn’t his fault that Snape wasn’t wearing any trousers. While he did bully him he never sexually assaulted him, and so many people are now saying this and I’m just flabbergasted, why did no one read the books? Why does everyone get their informations off TikTok and Twitter?

I don't really like this topic, to be honest. But here's how I perceive it.

1. In the canon, as far as I remember, it wasn't even implied that wizards wore trousers under their robes. They all just wore their underwear. And Lupin says:

"Oh, that one had a great vogue during my time at Hogwarts," said Lupin reminiscently. "There were a few months in my fifth year when you couldn’t move for being hoisted into the air by your ankle."

"Yes," he said, "but he wasn't the only one. As I say, it was very popular. . . . You know how these spells come and go. . . ."

So Snape not only created this spell himself, but it also became popular at school. So many students were hanging upside down, showing off their underwear.

From this, we can infer that wizards perceived it slightly differently than we do now, and even than Harry. It was "fun" bullying, but nothing more. Even Lupin himself sounds like he's justifying it, although he probably got hung upside down too ("There were a few months in my fifth year when you couldn’t move for being hoisted into the air by your ankle.").

2. We don't know for sure if James ended up taking Snape's pants off. Logically speaking, JKR simply didn't describe it, assuming that he did. Given the time the book was written, she probably didn't intend to invest it with such a horrible meaning. This all happens in the 70s in the WW. For our time, of course, it's SA. And that's awful. But the perception of that time could leave its mark. For example, when I was in school, many things that are now considered "awful" were seen as "not so bad". Those who did those awful things back then didn't even really understand how awful their actions truly were. Society evolves and we increasingly respect people's personal psychological and physical boundaries. What we didn't perceive as SA back then is considered SA today. A simple example you've probably seen in movies, spanking children was considered normal and right. That's how society raised those people. Surely today those same people wouldn't spank their children, because they would understand it's bad.

So it's likely that nobody at school perceived this action as SA. Moreover, James always played to the crowd. And if he really, according to the author's intention, took Snape's pants off, and the whole school saw it as normal, and didn't start looking at James with disgust... it raises big questions for the school students, doesn't it? If my friend did this today, he wouldn't be my friend anymore. Most people would look at such a person with disgust. But James's popularity didn't diminish at all.

This brings us back to the fact that nobody back then saw it as worse than bullying. So the society of that time hadn't yet formed enough understanding of what SA was and how bad it was to expose someone else's genitals. So James didn't fully understand either how awful it was, much more awful than pink bubbles out of your mouth or doubling someone's head in size. So for them it was all on the same level — taking someone's pants off or making them hang upside down or doubling their head in size.

I'm not justifying it, but the wizarding world is pretty harsh. Neville was thrown out of a window, Harry almost killed Draco, Fred and George literally made a kid disappear for a week, and Hermione kept Rita Skeeter captive in a jar for over a month. All of this is awful, but the wizarding world operates by different moral standards.

If judged in terms of our morality, there are almost no morally pure characters in these books.

I especially don't understand Snape stans (I mean I like Snape, but I don’t understand their logic). In terms of our morality, both Snape and James deserve to be punished. Snape would have got a much bigger sentence for joining and helping a terrorist organisation. What are Snape stans trying to prove? That Snape was better? No, he wasn't. They're all arseholes in terms of the muggle world of 2024.

[okaerina]

...bf!ricky 🐾

warnings! : kinda bad first work typa post but i might've went overboard with the loml 🤗

bf!ricky is down bad for your affection. he is a bit awkward at initiating affection first but when you take matters in your hand and allow him to just bask in your warmth he is DEAD. he is squealing like a high school girl inside but tries to calm his rigid breathe and insane bpm.

bf!ricky is gonna spoil you rotten! expect lots of anonymous gifts and fancy outings from him (cuz he's young and rich)

"ricky i told you no more gifts without my asking didn’t i ?" you said in a slightly scolding manner as you open the lavish looking tiny box just to get blinded by the shine of a tiny yet gorgeous ring. ricky just shrugs and gives you a cute smile that has your hurt melting.

bf!ricky loves everything you do means EVERY SINGLE THING. it can be the most normal task like combing your hair infront him and he's swooning over you in no time but when you do something for him? he swears he's suffering from never ending cardiac issues but he isn’t complaining though 🤭.

bf!ricky gives you insane lover privileges. his double standard for you is so noticeable it has his friends crying how soft he gets when it's you. every mf can see how his gaze softens or how his face lits up just by the thought of you my boys ready to jump of a cliff for u fr. one fine dat ricky invited you to his practice in yuehua so he could show off his skills duh and when ollie just randomly comes up and says how hungry he is and begs ricky to give him a payback treat but he just keeps on pouring his attention all over you and proceeds to ignore ollie 😭😭😭.

bf!ricky will be pretty possessive towards you imo. how is he not supposed to get irritated when some random pest won’t stop gawking at what belongs to him aka you and disturbing his love life. one glare and those mfs are off to hell 😌💅. It's all fun and games till he gets mad for good oh boy.

uneasyness immediately took over your senses as soon as that barista in the cafe that ricky took you out wouldn’t stop staring at you and being the amazing boyfriend ricky is immediately starts to come for your aid not until that bastard just smirks at you with that nasty look when he shoots him a glare and the next thing you see is your boyfriend throwing the barista away like a trash bag after whispering smtg that has the man crawling away in terror "pathetic", ricky tsks clearly pissed but don’t worry he'll make it up to you ;)

bf!ricky who's literary the sweetest person in the entire universe he loves you sm he'll trade of everything just for you hell he'd sell his soul and do anything just for you so make sure to give him the love he deserves bcz you’re his lil happy pill his world his cutiepatootie <333

© aenfilmz 2023

[neoballsucker]

DIVE INTO YOU

Summary : you and your co-workers/ friends decided to go on a trip for a vacation from work what else could happen?

Genre : friends/ coworkers to lovers

Pairs : doyoung X fem!reader X Johnny

Waring : Smut , fluff at the end , threesome , Double Penetration , if there any else pls lemme know 😭🙏

WC : 1.8k

A/N : it's kinda quick cuz I wrote that when I was half asleep I'm sorry 😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️

You always dreamed of a man to fit the standards your standards tall handsome face muscular body a sweet smile smooth voice talented can cook can take care of you and understand you and show you love as much as you do you tried dating multiple times it never worked out you really thought you were the problem you never lasted with any of them while they find the love of their life getting married and even having kids you didn't really care children and marriage weren't really your thing being the hopeless romantic you are , you went to the bar after work , you worked in a really big company and you were getting paid really well , you never complained about anything in your life

I'm the bar you sometimes go with your workmates but most of the times you go alone, the job was alot so you go to get drunk and maybe get laid if you're lucky enough

“The usual or something new this time?” The bartender asked you

“Nah get me the usual or do you have anything special ?” you asks and rolls her eyes

“Then the usual” he chuckles and disappears

You look around the bar you notice some familiar faces but you weren't really interested in any of them until your eyes were fixed on doyoung and Johnny

They were from the office you worked at they were everyone's crush , when someone try and flirt with any of them they just smile and nod simply, some people thought they had girlfriends some thought they were gay and dating cause they always stick to eachother and hang out together

You were kinda interested in them they were handsome and so gentle and kind with everyone but you didn't really wanna date someone from work

“Here's your drink miss” he taps your shoulder

“ah thank you” you take the drink from his hand as you turn your back you find a muscular body Infront of you…well two of them actually

“Oh hey y/n right?” It was a familiar voice you looked up to see the two beautiful men from your office the voice was coming from doyoung

“Ahh yes you're right that's me” you smile and nod slightly

“You look stunning by the way” the other older man says with a sweet smile

“Oh well thank you you look great as well” you smile back at him

“Oh let's go take a seat” doyoung noted and both you and Johnny nod in agreement all three of you walk over to the nearest table

The three of you talked and got to know eachother more it was really nice talking to them they were nice and had a really stable life both of them were gentle with you had a really sweet smile the night ended with all three of you drunk everyone barely could walk on their feet

The next day when you woke up you found both of them checking if you went home safely it was really sweet of them

Days after days weeks after weeks you developed a really good friendship

Months passed and you decided to go on a vacation it was nice to go on a beach trip after working most of the year right?

After a long trip everybody goes to their room and rest til the next morning

“Good morning y/n !!” A text from doyoung was sent

“ahh good morning doyoung did you sleep well?”

“Oh yes I did wanna head to the beach?”

“Oh yeah sure just wait until I get ready”

“Yeah alright then see you soon”

You smile at his text and go to change and get ready you wore your 2 piece swimsuit and did your hair and wore some sunscreen after that you got out of your room heading to the hotel's gate and met doyoung and Johnny there

“Good morning princess did you sleep well?” Johnny asked while smiling

“Oh yes I did , did you sleep well ?” You smile back at him

“Of course I did” he chuckles softly as you roll your eyes

As both men sit in the front seats you sit in the backseat

“i had to reserve the beach” doyoung says

“What ? Why did you do that there's literally nothing special about it” you ask confusedly

“Well that beach is really famous and it has alot good services so it was worth it y/n” doyoung says trying to convince you

“Yeah we will also stay the whole day there they has some house Infront of the beach so don't worry about it so much” Johnny added to the younger man's words

“Oh well…at that point it's fine I guess “ you can hear them both chuckles after about 30 minutes you finally arrived to your destination

“C'mon y/m we arrived” doyoung says

Johnny was more flirty than doyoung he always flirted with you it's not like you're the only one he always flirted with people it was something he does while doyoung was more serious while talking he didn't like being really flirty or anything but never complained about any of them it's their nature

You got out of the car grabbing your bag and tried helping them taking out the things they got but they refused

“Let me guess you didn't grab any clothes to stay here did you?” Doyoung asks you and chuckles

“And how was I supposed to know we're staying here? Nobody told me”

“Well luckily I got extra pajama in case something happened or whatever”

“Aww thank you doyoung “ you hugged him for few seconds and pulled out

“Anyways love birds are you ready to have fun?” Johnny says and rolls his eyes

“Oh stop Johnny you're not funny anyways let's go” doyoung chuckles and grabs few things like towels sunscreen sunglasses etc

You all headed to the beach it was fun Johnny tried showing off his skills but failed trying some tricks you saw on the internet it was fun you laughed talked time passed really quickly everyone got out showered and slept for about an hour

“Wake up sleepy head” you feel doyoung shake you off

“I'm awake doyoung” you said In a sleepy tone

“I can see that” he tsks as you feel his face closer to you

You tried to keep distance

“Are you trying to kiss me or what?” You ask jokingly

“Oh is it that obvious?” He chuckles and got closer to you, it was kinda surprising to you cause doyoung wasn't the type to flirt at all you panicked as he got closer to you

You felt his lips on yours you didn't know what to do that moment but you gave in and kissed him back you can feel his hands around your waist pulling your body closer against him as you wrap your hands around his neck the kiss last for few moments until you hear someone clearing his throat both of you and doyoung pulled out and looked at johnny awkwardly

“uhh well…Johnny it's not like th-”

“Wanna join us?” Doyoung cuts you off

“Oh well hell yeah dude you know I'm in” Johnny sits next you and now you're stuck between both of them like a sandwich

As you feel Johnny leans in and kisses your lips you didn't resist it this time you actually returned the kiss immediately after few moments you feel doyoung pulling you to meet his lips he kisses your lips passionately and gently you feel Johnny taking off his shirt revealing his toned body and tattoos he then pulls you to kiss him again as doyoung takes off his shirt as well , it was like a dream of yours you didn't fantasize about them before you alway saw them as some friends from work you never expected it to end up like that

Kissing doyoung then Johnny then doyoung again it kept going like that for a while until doyoung throws you on the bed as both of them take off their pants you take off your shirt and pants as well being only left in your laced underwear and bra they both get on bed and Johnny captures your lips in a kiss while doyoung kisses your neck you moan in Johnny lips and you feel your bra being ripped off revealing your breasts Johnny let go off your mouth and puts one of your nipples in your mouth and doyoung takes the other one in his mouth you rub your thighs against eachother as you feel wet you feel hands on your thighs taking off your panties carefully both of them inserts one of their fingers inside you you moan loudly as your eyes roll back due to the pleasure

“O-oh fuck I want b-both of you of fuck” you could barely talk due to Overstimulation

“There is no condoms in here y/n” doyoung says

“It doesn't matter just…just fuck me” you

“As you wish princess” Johnny says and looks at doyoung

“C'mon doyoung stop being so boring I know you're hard too” Johnny say as you hear doyoung sighs

“Fine I swear I don't know how this will turn out” doyoung finally gives in

They both get up

“You sure you can take both of us babe?” Doyoung says as him and Johnny settled between your legs

“Yes I can just please do it” you begged them

As you feel them in you already

“Oh fuck you're so tight oh my god” Johnny says his voice was much deeper and low

Doyoung was quiet moaning his moans was like music for your ears they both try to move in sync adjusting themselves as you moan loudly hips thrusting the sound of your moans the whole thing seemed like a dream to your vision was blurry as you can barely breathe you feel your release as your eyes close tightly gripping on the sheets as you feel their seeds in you , you moan loudly and roll your eyes they both stop and throw themselves next you on both sides and the three of you just fall asleep

You wake up the next day you found yourself sleeping by yourself you just go shower and head to the kitchen you found them both there talking

“Good morning y/n” doyoung smiles

“Oh good morning doie” you smile back and hug him awkwardly he returns the hug he usually doesn't do that something was wrong but you didn't mind it

“So me and Johnny were talking..and well would you want to be my…well our girlfriend”

You look at them for a while

“Oh well yeah sure you guys are great but can you both share” you chuckles and hug doyoung even tighter Johnny joins and you three end up making love on the floor”

[doromoni]

Hunting Affections

Charles Leclerc x photographer! reader

Max Verstappen x photographer! reader

Part 4.

fantic + smau fic

y/n faceclaim : Hwang Eunbi

warning : nothing~ it’s just fluff for now :)) and a teensy weensy bit of silly season

A/N : UP FOR EDITING 🤍

<previous next>

Summary; Love is but a concept — just connections of neurons that take part in the brain … and yet, why is it the most painful when one falls alone?

or

Loving someone who doesn’t love you back , until you can’t no more. Maybe then they’ll actually know what they’ve lost.

What is the age when we started to care less about our date of birth? When our birthday starts to feel mundane , just another day in this life on earth . To begin with, I never did make a fuss about my birthdays. The greetings of my most loved people were enough for my happiness. I never have wanted celebrations , parties, or gifts.

That was until they threw me the most meaningful birthday, I could ever hope for. There stood Max , Lando, and Daniel with the biggest of grins holding what seems to be an attempt of a birthday cake as they sang to me happy birthday — and then came their present. In the box , 4 smiling faces stared back at me, their facing were shining with unadulterated joy and peace — it reflected true happiness… it was a framed picture of us , in the McDonald’s parking lot, the day when we all first met.

I never in my life would have guessed that the three strangers who met me at my worst would still be around and care enough to celebrate my life. I could never be grateful enough for the light that these three people had shone upon me and guided me to the end of the dark tunnel.

Oh how time quickly goes by , because another year is added to my life . It’s my birthday and now I’ve learned to celebrate it with the people who love me back.

maxverstappen1

Liked by y/n_stills. , danielricciardo, landonorris and 3,627,728 others

maxverstappen1 Happiest Birthday to you, my Liebling 💙 Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your life. Nothing in this world is enough to show how much I love and adore you, If i could gift you the universe, I would. I love you endlessly, Y/N L/N.

tagged @y/n_stills.

y/n_stills. I cannot put into words how much I treasure you Max Emilian Verstappen. You’ve been the person to love me , when I cannot love myself. You’ve given my life the color it lost and I am forever grateful for you, my love . I would never be able to repay what you’ve done for me. I love you so so much! @maxverstappen1

maxverstappen1 you being with me is enough payment , Liebling.

landonorris So the Porsche was for y/n’s birthday?

maxverstappen1 yes , she was more excited for the cake tho.

y/n_stills. What? It was good cake ~ 10/10. Yummy .

danielricciardo We spent a whole week trying to find the perfect car — because someone was psychoanalyzing everything and you liked the cake better. welp we did give you a photo of us for your last birthday and you cried so…

landonorris that we did . the number of white shades still gives me trauma, how can there be so much?! Its white!

y/n_stills. Sheesh calm down~ i still loved the Porsche , imagine how many chicks I’ll pick up with this baddie.

maxverstappen1 excuse me?

y/n_stills. I ment to say , thank you and I love you 😘

user1 honestly, these 2 🥺 my standards just skyrocketed.

user2 I want what they have :((

user3 Forget Romeo and Juliet , I want Max and Y/N.

user4 Max is so whipped for Y/N .He’s so soft for her I couldn’t process it hsksgwjsg.

user5 Ikr?? I didn’t expect Max to be so bby. I love it!

user6 huhuhu when is it my turn?

user7 ayo?? Why isn’t anyone talking about how Max just bought Y/N a freaking Porsche for her birthday??? Hello?

user8 They are so rich, it hurts

user9 y/n is not gonna escape the gold digger accusations at this point 🥹.

user8 sometimes I forget that they are literal millionaires

user10 Before anyone calls y/n a gold digger , please know that she herself is healthy and wealthy. Thank you.

user11 yuh, do your research before you comment y’all ~ y/n is a boss bitch who earns her own dough

y/n_stills. 1h

viewed by landonorris , oscarpiastri, charles_leclerc and 696,916 others

story replies :

landonorris u just jelly cause am getting more attention than u 👁️👅👁️

y/n_stills. Sure ~ what ever you say , kinder. Just make sure not to neglect your other boyfriend.

landonorris Hey! Unfair… I can’t be mean to you. It’s your birthday 😡

y/n_stills. 👁️👅👁️

oscarpiastri Welp at least , max’s boyfriend 2 and lando’s boyfriend 2 aren’t there yet.

y/n_stills. OSCAR HAHAHAHA , I’m screen shooting this for future use. But yeah~ Daniel and Carlos aren’t here yet.

oscarpiastri oh noo blackmail material~

y/n_stills. Worry not , little papaya ! I wont tell them it’s you~ you can count on me. Are you on your way ? You are coming right? are you driving?? Don’t text and drive oh my gosh.

oscarpiastri Yes, im on my way . No, I’m not driving . Calm down Mom. we’re almost near! Oh Happy Birthday, talk when we’re there .byeee!

charles_leclerc Oh, you’re with them again… Are you going somewhere?

y/n_stills.

Liked by maxverstappen1, landonorris, danielricciardo, and 1,728, 027 others

The past year might have been rough, but now I’ve never been happier— and it’s all thanks to the people who held me dear in their hearts. Most importantly to the three strangers who pulled me in their circle of chaos, thank you for making me feel loved and accepted then , and more so now. I Love you guys.

Thank you everyone for your heartfelt greetings and thank you for celebrating my birthday with me ! A birthday well spent indeed!

P.S don’t blame us if you’re hangover for tomorrow’s GP… we did try to stop you. 🤭

maxverstappen1 I never knew that helping the sad pretty lady at the grid party would lead us to what we have now. Happiest birthday Liebling 💙

y/n_stills. you’ve done enough! Don’t make me love you more , Max Verstappen >:((

danielricciardo Happiest Birthday again, kid! I’ll always be here for you when you need me ~ you know the drill.

y/n_stills. thanks danny 🥺 Thank you for being the big brother I needed.

landonorris Happy Birthday (nickname)! I’m glad that I approached you then because you also had changed our lives for the better. For more years to come!

y/n_stills. Aww, Lando! Your gonna make me cry even more >:(( , but thank you 🤍

lewishamilton Happiest Birthday Kiddo! you deserve only the best. More happy years to come, dear.

y/n_stills. Thank you Lew! you didn’t have to fly just for my birthday , but you did huhu thank you! I loved the gift btw please say thank you to the nephews for me — their artworks were so lovely 🤍

oscarpiastri Happy Birthday Y/N! you truly only deserve the best. Thank you for sharing your kindness to everyone. You were one of the people who made me feel that I belong in this sport when I first started and thank you for your continuous support and presence. Thank you for being my grid mom🧡

y/n_stills. Little papaya 🥺 Thank you so much for saying that, you truly have melted my heart. I’m officially adopting you >:((

Liked by oscarpiastri

y/n_stills. @maxverstappen1 we have a son now.

Liked by maxverstappen1, oscarpiastri

landonorris @oscarpiastri stop stealing my friend >:(

oscarpiastri how about no @landonorris :))

y/n_stills. Ugh my son is already bullying lando , im so proud 😫

redbullracing Happiest Birthday Y/N!!

y/n_stills. Thank you, energy drink company ✨ thanks for the gift of wings . ~ pls don’t fire me

Skysports Happy Birthday Y/N! , We’ll miss you.

y/n_stills Thank you, my lovely ex-employers 🤍 thank you for always filling your pantry with may favorites.

F1 Double World Champion Max Verstappen is Dating Future Red Bull Racing Team Senior Design Director Y/N L/N!

Article by : Lola Scotts

In picture : Max Verstappen and Y/N L/N at a flower shop at Manchester

Max Verstappen , The 2 time world driver’s championship winner , had just officially announced his relationship with multi-business owner and Sky Sports Formula 1 photographer Y/N L/N . Both have confirmed their relations on instagram with a sweet and personal post , a few hours after a fan had leaked their attendance to a mutual friend’s concert . And was later on spotted strolling a locally owned flea market in Manchester.

The Dutch Red Bull driver and the Korean born photographer had been already close friends prior to the relationship ; often times within the company of Formula 1 drivers— Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris. The coming together of the couple was a pleasant surprise to the realm of motorsports. As fans continue to anticipate the kind of dynamic these two would bring to the paddock, specially with relation to the 1st driver of the Italian racing team Ferrari — who was linked to L/N before.

Y/N L/N has already been a paddock favorite amongst motorsport fans not only for her close knit friendship with the drivers and some of the team principals , but also for her professionalism on track. Y/N had stated in an interview before that her love of the sport had led her to the opportunity to intern for the Italian racing team, Ferrari — and was later on officially scouted by Sky Sports as one of their Senior Design Directors for their photography and videography sectors .

Moreover, the boom in popularity of Formula 1 in social media has lead teams scrambling for purchase— and the knowledge of Y/N L/N’s ending contract with Sky Sports has been their life line; as several of the racing teams have reportedly been in negotiations with L/N.

In picture: Y/N L/N at New Red Bull Office in Berlin

Nevertheless, due to the high probability of Y/N’s shift from Sky Sports to exclusively work for Red Bull Racing, some argue that lack of professionalism and partiality will be at play . But, such claims are quickly shut down when Red Bull had released a statement that proves that a contract was already in process, way before the relationship of the dutch champion and the accredited photographer has been established.

Still, even with the flames and barbs of the media , Verstappen and L/N are cool as a cucumber — as the two were spotted celebrating the photographer’s birthday with friends and loved ones before the end of month long formula 1 summer break.

The next Grand Prix is fast approaching. I do not know about you, but I believe that things will be a little more exciting for Formula 1.

charles_leclerc

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charles_leclerc originally mine , I refuse to give up.

comments are restricted

[hrts4hanniehae]

clutch || one

there are written parts :)

the good thing about being a game streamer was that when you were famous, your salary was kind of high. the bad thing was that the streaming platform wonwoo uses... started taking a huge cut of his earnings, leading him to this situation.

voice call

"okay to be honest, wonwoo, you were kind of stupid in the sense that you didn't buy your house but rented instead."- mingyu

"2 years ago, i was broke, mingyu. i just finished university and needed a place big enough for me and seollie. this place was very cheap for the amount of space." - wonwoo

"can't you buy this place outright? you have the money... right?" - mingyu

"my streaming platform started taking 30% of my earnings. and the building's owner changed, so there was a rent increase. it'll take me a long time to buy this apartment outright. by the time i can, i'll be in debt." - wonwoo

"so a roommate!" - mingyu

"why can't you be my roommate?" - wonwoo

"i already bought myself a place. plus your apartment is really far from my restaurant." - mingyu

"so how do you come by every morning to cook me food?" - wonwoo

"my restaurant is only open for dinner. i'm a celebrity chef, wonwoo. if it was open the whole day, i wouldn't get any rest. anyways, talk to the girl. she may be quite a good roommate for you." - mingyu

"sure..." - wonwoo

she fixed her hair and checked her face in her camera again. this was her 5th try at apartment hunting. when her ex-boyfriend decided to cheat on her and steal her studio apartment, she lost many things. apparently, no one liked rooming with an artist because they were "messy" and may dirty the apartment.

"i swear if this guy rejects me i have no options left... please oh my god PLEASE let me stay here... don't screw up the interview..."

"yn ln?"

mind you, she had never seen her potential roommate's face before and she definitely did not expect someone of MODEL STANDARDS to be calling her name.

"jeon wunwoo?"

"wonwoo. jeon wonwoo."

ah... i've already screwed up.

"oh i'm so sorry..."

"it's fine. come on up."

she's funny... who the hell monologues out loud?

"so these will be your rooms. they're connected by the closet." - wonwoo

"i get two rooms?" - yn

"don't you need space to do your art?" - wonwoo

"oh. oh yea. thank you." - yn

"oh yea. i also have a dog, seollie. she's my family dog. i hope your not allergic." - wonwoo

"i'm not. I love dogs!" - yn

"that's good. also, there's only one bathroom so please remember to knock before entering." - wonwoo

"ah okay. wait but i thought we were having an interview. you're showing me around as if you've already decided i'm moving in." - yn

"are you not?" - wonwoo

"oh i am?" - yn

"i prefer to deal with things quickly. this roommate idea was my friend's, not mine. so i would really rather the first "candidate" be the last." - wonwoo

"i have no complaints. when can i move in? i promise i'll be out of here by the end of next year." - yn

"we have a deal. you can move in starting tomorrow." - wonwoo

"any roommate rules or do we draft that out tomorrow?" - yn

"... tomorrow." - wonwoo

"great. thanks. I'll be back tomorrow with my stuff." - yn

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

a/n - i screw up the tweet dates A LOT so please just ignore them most of the time okay... I don't like the dates either but my app doesn't let me remove them also i'm assuming seollie is a sheepadoodle and a female and i'm so sorry if i'm wrong but there's too little info on wonwoo's family dog to be accurate.

synopsis: wonwoo is a popular streamer known for his incredible gaming skills and good looks. He turned heads. but he hates the attention. he just wants to play games and earn money. one day he receives a letter. his apartment’s rent has almost doubled. no warnings at all. his current paycheck from streaming can’t shoulder those bills. he has no choice but to rent out his spare room. to who? a fresh art university graduate who has… 1. a stable job ✅ 2. talent for art and sculpting ✅ 3. many friends ❌ 4. social anxiety ✅ 5. no filter ✅ when his iconic cat logo gets copystriked, she comes to the rescue with a new logo for him. when his apartment’s walls start peeling, she fixes it. whatever he used to struggle with… the empty space... was now filled by her. so what does he *last player standing* do when her ex *enemy spotted* tries to take her back? heh. *clutch* he clutches.

inspired by wonwoo's gam3bo1 streams, falling into your smile & gogo squid (has hints of valorant)

pairing: streamer!jeon wonwoo x fem!artist!reader (ft. jeongcheol, soonhoon, junhao, seoksoo, verkwan)

genre: fluff, comfort, slowburn, comfort, pining, bestfriend!minghao

warnings: stalker ex, toxic ex, mentions of abuse, guns (game), cursing, hate comments, panic attacks

started: 28.12.23 ended: ?

taglist: join from my masterlist

main masterlist

smau socials

previous I next

tags! @fairyofhour @megseungmin @sun-daddy-yoriichi @woozixo @euphoric-univers @christinewithluv @haowonbins @ocyeanicc @asyre @cynthiaaax13 @superhoshisvt @bangantokchy @chimmy-bts @angelarin @daisawa @writingbarnes @jeonghansshitester

@belladaises @wonwootakemyheart @wonwooz1 @luchiet @kookssecret @caratsland @peachescreamandcrumble @thepoopdokyeomtouched @isabellah29 @leah-rose03 @yandere-stories @coupshour

[nickel156]

Tamlin stans: I'm not excusing his (abusive) behavior b-but.......*proceeds to excuse his behavior* i love yalls commitment to the hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty. Mwah! 💋

Touch grass, please!

There's a difference between condoning abuse and acknowledging character growth.

But ohh the hypocritical double standard!

Rhysand drugged Feyre, paraded her around in revealing outfits and forced her to give lap dances until she puked, all while touching her arms and waist.

Now, imagine if Tamlin or any other male character did this. The fandom would have burned them at the stake! But Rhysand? Oh, he gets a free pass because he’s framed as the ultimate bad boy turned good, the misunderstood hero, the dark prince with a heart of gold. How convenient.

And before anyone jumps in with the classic “but he had no choice!” narrative—spare me. We all have choices, and Rhysand’s involved manipulating and using Feyre without her consent. The fact that he had "good intentions" doesn’t change the nature of his actions. Yet, many fans brush these incidents aside, swooning over him because he’s the end game love interest, and apparently, that absolves all sins.

Rhysand never explicitly apologizes for his actions. There’s no heartfelt, “I’m sorry for drugging you and manipulating you,” no acknowledgment of the trauma he contributed to. But hey, who needs apologies when you have a tragic backstory, right? (And sex on paint) It seems that in the calculus of fictional redemption, a sob story plus grand romantic gestures equals instant forgiveness.

The selective blindness in this fandom is crazy. When other characters exhibit controlling or manipulative behavior, they’re vilified beyond redemption. But Rhysand? Oh, he gets essays defending his tactics, romanticizing his so-called protective measures, and painting him as the ultimate feminist ally. It’s as if putting on a show of "respect" in later books magically erases his earlier transgressions.

Is not telling your wife and mate their baby would kill them respect?

Asking for a friend.



[kideaternomnom]

nah cuz i agree with you SO much on the post you made about Megumi and how people think his character sucks. Like sure you can go hate a character but its for THE worst reasons. All they say is how bland he is and how he just doesn’t care. 

People complain how he’s just a object used in the story. Like no this kid isn’t your typical Sasuke i wanna get revenge on my family, he has probably one of the best written characters in the show. He has feelings obviously and was dedicated to Tsumiki and wanted to make sure she was happy. And i HATE when people say “oh Sukuna had no deeper meaning to make Megumi his vessel” like no?? He obviously didn’t choose Yuji as his vessel and hated him and how he was. A big reason for that is how inexperienced Yuji was at Jujutsu. He had no idea what cursed spirits WERE until earlier before he became the vessel, and only had his strength. (no hate on Yuji tho) So obviously Megumi was the perfect choice for Sukuna, he is extremely intelligent , focused, and Sukuna probably wanted to take advantage of his skilled shikigami use. Like when he first went against Kirara, he IMMEDIATELY figured out her cursed technique and was skilled with how he fought her. And him as a character? People whine about his underdeveloped relationship with Gojo, and Yuji. Megumi had so much trust in Yuji and after rewatching the anime, I saw how driven this guy is because he ended up not regretting how he selfishly saved him, and thinks he’s a genuinely good person. And Gojo?! How is THAT relationship bad? He looks out for Megumi SO MUCH and it wasn’t just because of that promise Toji made, but because he genuinely cares. Sure he feels entitled to him, but he want to watch him succeed and be happy too! But seriously, Megumi is way too misunderstood in the fandom bro.

You basically summarized everything I think about this god forsaken fandom. 😭 I find it funny how Megumi haters will call him a "bum" or question why he loses fights, when it's drilled in peoples' heads MULTIPLE TIMES. He has fucking inferiority complex, regrets of his sister, and got abandoned by his damn dad for Pete's sake. His whole drive at that moment from the beginning of the series basically stemmed from Tsumiki. His sister aka his only direct blood family left who got into a COMA before he can fully appreciate her. ☠️ Also, once again- the IRONY of JJK fandumb calling Megumi "bland" yet when he does have dynamics (Toji, Gojo, Yuji, Tsumik, etc) that also gets downplayed just because there isn't Idk 50 mf pages on them. This fandom's double standards and hypocrisy will never cease to amaze me ESPECIALLY concerning Megumi. 🤧

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

Boneheads Problem With Your Assessment They Want To Make Stolas A Victim Of Blitzo When It's The Other Way Around

The problem is that his mistakes are treated as a blimp instead of giving him a full wake up call. He instead is babied and say his big issues are just not real or self-realization that doesn't understand the full extent. Oh my gosh, when will the babying never end and when will these braindead followers realize it. No, even if you were sheltered you still are responsible for your actions if you cross the line. And Stolas crossed several times and needed to be called out. And again like Blitzo he needs to realize he can't expect to have his apology accepted easily. Sorry, but these boneheads are so hooked on what bs this show is selling the can't see it for the trashfire it is. Seriously, they say he realizes how wrong, but in my opinion he doesn't and he still making everything about himself and not what Blitzo wants and he's a selfish prick for it. The blame is obvious when the narrative shits on Blitzo more than it ever does for Stolas who is babied and you don't realize because you yourselves baby him. The double standards are there but you guys don't want to see it.

[tallymonster]

Memories of Us Chapter 16

AO3 Link || Masterlist

Tags: @justporo @satanicspinosaurus @sleepy-timaeus @davenswitcher @wayward-hel @hereliesblackdragon @misscrissfemmefatale

Slowly getting my updates out lol sorry for the shitty upload schedule. Blame my depression 😘

Thanks as always to @cheesy-cryptid for blessing me with their permission to use their art as the launching pad to this fic that has helped me deal with my grief. Also to my besties @micropoe10 and @tragedybunny for indulging me and for being my main support system when the sadness takes my mind over. I owe you guys my life. 🫂❤️

Anyway, enjoy!

In the evening, Astarion takes his leave. They part with a kiss as he departs in the cloak of growing darkness. Octavia sits alone in her house, the dull cracking of the firewood soothed the ache she felt. She meant to tell Astarion her secret, but he instead surprised her with one of his own.

Octavia could have never imagined the dinner with Astarion ending in an even more complicated situation. As she takes it all in, she notices the mess around her.

The wine bottles and glasses are still on the table, there are cushions upturned on the floor, and her underwear is still on the armrest. She takes a second to chuckle at the entirety of these last two days. How quickly the tables had turned.

Octavia begins to collect the confetti of garbage around her when she hears a knock at her door. “Oh shit, please don't tell me he came back for something.” she groans. Tying her hair back, she exhales and swings the door open. She's surprised to see Gale of all people, in front of her with a bag.

“Good evening! By the look on your face, I gather you forgot about you asking me to come over a couple of days ago? Maybe you even forgot about the whole ‘showing me the journal you were bequeathed by your mother and revealing more of your past to me’ that you mentioned?” Gale finishes with a smile.

After a few rapid blinks from Octavia, he holds up the bag and says “I brought booze?” Octavia smiles and opens the door wider, allowing him to pass her. “Come on in friend, you and I happen to have a few interesting things to talk about.”

Gale steps through and sees the small disaster area that she calls a living room. He grimaces and turns to her, “This is not what I remember it looking like in here? Are your living quarters usually this disheveled??”

Octavia scoffs and feigns offense. She picks up one of the cushions near the coffee table and throws it towards Gale, missing him. “Damn it!” she laughs, playfully stomping on the ground. “I was hoping I smacked you so I could tell Astarion! He would never let you live that down.”

Gale pours himself a drink, “Haha yes laugh it up at my expense, but when I do things like this-” He snaps his finger and within seconds Octavia’s living room is perfect. “You would be a right mess without me. Admit it.” Gale smirks with a playful laugh, he was right, though.

Octavia grabs Gale’s glass and drinks it, “You wizards and your magic cleaning spells. Show off, probably don't even know how to clean your dishes properly.” He stares at her with a challenging look, he lifts up his hand and places his thumb and forefinger together.

“Please, if you want to antagonize me, I could revert it to your previous standards?” Gale’s eyes turn mischievous, he glances at her waiting for a reaction.

“You wouldn't dare, then I can't show you the book that you wanted to see.” Octavia says teasing his need for knowledge. Gale opens his mouth to say something, but does a double take when he notices Octavia’s bra peeking out of the corner of the couch.

Gale lets out a scandalized laugh, his head thrown back along with his eyebrows. “Wow, with the way your undergarments are stuffed in the cushions, you’d think you had sex with Astarion!” He reaches down and grabs the piece of forgotten clothing and holds it out like a freshly caught fish. “Gods, you couldn't even bother to grab this? If I could have seen it, my spell would have picked it up for you, oh well.”

Octavia snatches her bra back and throws it towards her bathroom. Her face fully flushed, she ignored Gale’s question and walked towards her bookshelf. “Oh GODS! You did, didn't you, Octavia?” Gale followed behind her, dropping the bag softly at the end of the coffee table.

“Octavia, talk to me… what happened between you two?” Gale asks with a softer, yet suspicious tone. Octavia continues to look through her bookshelf picking out a brown, worn leather bound book. She turns back to Gale and sighs.

“Gale…” she starts and grimaces. “Octavia…” he answers. The two of them stay locked in a stare, neither one wanting to crack, until Octavia begins to giggle. Her cheeks flush and her eyes remain closed. She places the book on her forehead shielding her face from Gale.

“Took you long enough. I was wondering if it would happen soon or if two would just keep pining away for another six months.” Gale laughs as he pulls the book away from Octavia’s grasp.

He turns to sit on the couch as Octavia grabs another bottle out of Gale’s bag. She joins him, sitting down calmly and says, “Do you have more in there? I have a lot to talk to you about, in particular…” Octavia opens the bottle and takes a long drink from it, exhaling loudly once she swallows the alcohol. “How long have you known about Astarion being a vampire?”

Gale's eyes widen in shock, he turns to Octavia, his face is completely blank aside from the giant frown on his lips. “WHAT? I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN?” Gale nervously looks around, gripping Octavia’s book tightly in his hands. His eyes darted back and forth trying to focus on something other than Octavia.

“Gale, please don't keep lying to me. Besides, Astarion already told me himself.” Octavia takes her time pouring the wine into the other empty glass on the table. There's so much she wants to know, but Gale isn't the person to ask. “Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were friends, I opened up to you about my family. The least-”

“Stop. Stop right there.” Gale holds up his hand, “That was not my story to tell you, Octavia. You know damn well I wouldn't dare cross any of Astarion’s boundaries. This was something he explicitly told me not to tell you.”

Gale places the book down, giving Octavia the look a disappointed parent gives their delinquent teen.

“Why do you insist on testing boundaries? I get that you feel lied to, but I can't risk my friendship with him for you. He and I have an understanding that I have never had with anyone else. I can't really explain it, but it feels like he and I have been friends in another life. Who knows?” Gale shrugs, and leans back. “Anyway, I'm happy you two are doing well. Next time please grab your underwear before I come over?”

Octavia is quiet, she looks down at the book on the table, she picks it up along with the glass of wine. She hands the book to Gale and takes a sip of her drink. Gale’s eyes linger on Octavia’s wrist before she remembers the two puncture wounds on it. She retracts her hand and covers it up under the knitted cardigan she wore.

She could feel her face flush, how the hell would she be able to explain that away?

“You know what, I’m not even going to ask nor do I care. What you and Astarion do when you two are alone is entirely NONE of my business.” There was a brief pause, Octavia was about to say something before Gale cut her off. “How did it feel though? When he bit you?”

Octavia smirked and shot him a playful look, Gale swallowed and laughed, “You can't blame me, I'm a lover of knowledge, and well….can't say I haven't been a little curious…not many people remember what happened to the vampires in the Underdark. By the change in your expression I'm guessing you don't either?”

Octavia shakes her head, she heard stories from her family about the runaway spawn that were freed when her great grandmother was out on her adventure. Their plight at the hands of that evil bastard Cazador. The way they looked at her with hunger and fear. “I only know a little from stories my grandmother told me, what do you know?”

Gale looks at her with a forlorn stare, he bites his lips and his brows knit in a sorrowful expression. “Those people, the thousands of victims of such cruelty, a lot of them died when they were on their trek to the Underdark. Astarion has told me stories from when he would visit them. He has friends, family, people he knew who didn't make it. You and I were lucky and fortunate enough to have parents, a home, friends, the luxury of a life well lived. He doesn't. At least not one he remembers fondly.”

Octavia is shocked at what Gale tells her, she had no idea the type of horrific events that would have led Astarion to where he is now. “Gods…” she breathes out, her heart aching at the images being conjured in her mind.

“Please believe me when I tell you that I've been pushing him to try to open up to you and trust you. He’s not the type of person to put it all out there immediately.” Gale places his hand on Octavia’s shoulder, “Give him time to feel comfortable and you will get your answers. Now please, can I read this incredibly interesting journal you told me about??”

Octavia laughs softly, she leans over, grabs the book on the table a hands it to Gale. She sighs and takes a drink. Her mind is still buzzing, she can't think about those things and place Astarion in the middle of it. He's such a guarded person and now it was all making sense.

Gale leafs through the journal carefully, stopping and throwing his head back a little. His eyes flit back and forth for a few moments before he glances back at Octavia.

“Quote ‘Gale is nice enough, but he talks way too much. He and I shared a moment in the Weave earlier tonight. I felt this wonderful power flowing throughout my body . Like I was being held in a blanket of pure magic and ecstasy. My mind couldn't help imagine Gale kissing me. I mean he is pretty good looking, not gonna lie, he has these beautiful brown eyes that just seem to burn with his emotions….it's just…I don't really see myself with him…not when there's others who are capturing my attention much more ardently.’”

Octavia and Gale sat in an awkward silence for a few moments before the both of them broke out in a fit of laughter. The irony of Gale hitting on her at the night of the fundraiser coming back to them. “Guess it runs in the family then?” Octavia manages to say in the middle of her giggles, she wipes a tear at the corner of her eye and presses her hand to her cheek.

“That's so embarrassing, I'm so embarrassed for my great grandfather. What do they call that? Secondhand embassment?? Oh gods, have I apologized enough for that? I'm so sorry, I was so drunk.” Gale laughs and flips through the pages some more. He takes a drink and points out another passage.

He pushed the book onto Octavia’s hands, pointing to the paragraph in the middle of the page. Octavia begins to read it as Gale adjusted his reading glasses. “ Tonight, I had a little run in with the newest member of our little group. Turns out he's a vampire!” Octavia almost drops the book in her hands as Gale stares at her.

“Oh my GODS , no one ever mentioned a VAMPIRE in the party? Do you think Astarion knows who it is?? Do you think it could be someone connected to Cazador? I can't believe this..” Octavia’s hands tremble slightly as she looks down at the page.

“Octavia, there's no way he wouldn't know who it was, we could-” Gale begins to speak excitedly, but is cut off by Octavia who curtly responds, “No. We can't open up that old wound. You literally just gave me a whole lecture about respecting his boundaries, it seems very hypocritical of us to go prying into things when all we have is speculation.”

Gale nods and takes the book from her hands again. He flips for a minute until he lands on another passage mentioning the vampire in the group. “Here's another one..’ Tonight he seemed more distant…I figured that he was hungry again, but he didn't want to feed on my blood like the last couple of nights. Maybe I'll see what’s going on when he comes back.

I truly think there's something else going on with him, there's no way he can survive on the little he's been eating lately. Even with the abundant livestock and wild animals around. It seems that after Moonrise he's been pulling away from me more.

I thought it was just the whole thing with that creepy Drow lady or just being in the Shadow-cursed Lands messing with his head but…

I just don't know what to say or do anymore, we have to find out what this all means for him. I love him too much to let him down. We can figure this out together, I know we can.’ Huh, seems Tav was letting this vampire feed on her blood? Sounds like a terrible idea.” Gale passes the book back to Octavia, she places it on her lap and lets her mind wander.

She plays with the edge of the cover, letting the texture of the old leather ground her some. She starts to scratch at the corner with her nail, flicking the material until she feels it crack. Octavia gasps and stares down at the book.

“Octavia? What's wrong? Something else in there?” Gale looks back at her with concern. Octavia holds the book up as the cover separates from the corner. She glances back at Gale who throws his hands up in the air. They both stare at the book before Octavia rips the old leather cover off.

Gale gasps as if someone just slapped his mother, he clasps both hands on his mouth and shoots up on the couch. “What have you done?? That's a piece of history! We could have put that in the museum! I cannot believe you just destroyed-”

Octavia shoots him an annoyed look “Gale, I can destroy as many of my family heirlooms as I want. If you want to scold me on the historical integrity, you can do so after we solve this mystery. Now shut up and look at this!!”

She places the cover face up on the table, the crackled leather has evidence of I'm being tampered with previously. She placed the book cloth lined shell next to it and stared at the symbols and notes drawn all over both pieces.

‘eyes like knives that cut deep from within me. they sunk into me and never let me go. You must find out. I know that if you figured this out, you can find him and put this longing I've had to rest.’

Gale and Octavia stare at each other. In trying to solve one mystery it seems like they've uncovered possibly two more? From trying to find the subject in the paintings, the log book Astarion gave to Octavia, and now this secret that was hidden deep within the roots of Octavia’s family tree.

Octavia grabs her wine glass and throws back the rest of the liquid, swallowing with a hiss. Gale was preoccupied with the book cloth shell, he had his hands clasped together with two fingers sticking up in front of his lips. He had a look of quiet contemplation, serious and determined.

Gale hums and sighs, he sucks his teeth and leans back. “Something fucky is going on with this book…give me a little room.”

Suddenly he lifts both hands, placing them parallel to the table surface. He takes a few deep breaths, closes his eyes, and speaks words in a language Octavia has never heard before.

As he speaks, a faint lilac light surrounds the book and cover. The light begins to glow and pulse as Gale continues to speak. Octavia has no idea what the fuck is even happening but she's too stunned to speak. She watches as some faint words begin to rise up from the paper and cloth.

Gale finishes the spell and exhales shakily, he rolls his shoulders and places his hands down. He opens his eyes and looks at Octavia. She notices little bits of energy crackling along the tips of his hair. He shakes his head and she watches as the sparkles fly off and land in various places along her living room. “Sorry, I still haven't gotten the hang of controlling the energy blasts.”

Gale and Octavia laugh as he blows a little spark off the tip of his nose. He blinks rapidly and smiles at her bashfully. “Let's see what we uncovered, eh?” Octavia nods and turns to look back at the book.

On the spine of the book there were some glyphs drawn, Gale carefully picks up the book and inspects them. His brows shoot up in surprise, he looks at Octavia, his eyes wide as the plates in Octavia’s kitchen.

He turns to look at her, his expression completely astounded. “You have to see this.” He hands her the book as she looks at the cover. Along the spine she sees a string of words written in quick succession.

In this book, I have hidden my truth.

The words are there for you to find him.

I need to know what happened.

My star, my heart.

I await you in death.

However long it takes.

[ddaroll]

To be honest, I feel uncomfortable that Transformers fandom has a tendency to want Optimus only to be morally flawless.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you have to love all OP.

I fully understand with all my respect if you only want that kind of Optimus who is morally flawless.

The problem is the overcriticism of him who does not fit that standards of fandom.

Optimus is like the icon of Transformers. so he's in everyone's head like a soup with the images of all continuities rather than being thought of separately in each universes.

And if some Optimus in a particular continuity is being morally gray or making bad choices, people simply just read the wiki or read posts about that or ignore about the context why he made such choices then overcriticize him with confidence like he's the only one who's done wrong/bad things in the story.

And that's… that's just so weird. I've seen so many posts that overcriticizing him and getting self-righteous. They seem to feel themselves like… morally neat when they criticize Optimus. "I'm a very smart and analytical person who can spot these flaws even this overrated moral icon character!"

and... idk why but they are also obsessed with collecting Optimus' little faults and saying that Optimus should beg Megatron for forgiveness for THAT.

It's really weird considering Megatron also has done so many wrong things and they're always throwing same shits at each other in stories, but beyond that, above all, THEY ARE ALREADY PAST THAT STAGE!!

The two are no longer care about minor disputes in the past!!!

Megatron just wants to make Optimus know that his way is wrong, you little blind idealist, and Optimus is like "please just stop that madness and genocide and colonization. Universe hates us for this."

Do you really think that if Optimus apologizes to Megatron for the little things he did wrong in the past, the war will end just magically? AND DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT OPTIMUS NEVER TRIED SUCH THINGS DURING THE WAR?

I mean, if you really love and understand Optimus Prime, you should know that Optimus would have tried all the nonviolent ways to end the war arleady!

The initial feud between the two is no longer a matter now!The war between of them is now nothing but a huge ideological conflict!!

They are just divorced old men with a long history, not a fresh couple just started meeting each other!!!!!!

I just can't understand unless they enjoy criticizing the character who is considered as a moral icon to self-righteous themselves. I would fully understand if they criticize other characters equally, but no, they always have a huge double standard just for Optimus.

if they are all just nothing but Optimus haters, I still don't like it, but I could understand but this is also actually happening in Optimus fandom. Please show some love for him. at least don't try to prove your morality through him. please.

Oh I just read through what I wrote and I can see my anger is being expressed like a gradation LMAO I'm so sorry lol

anyway, so, yeah, please just see him as the same way like when you see the other common characters.

If you don't think of him as an overrated moral icon, or someone who should always be right, or a vessel of some kind of old ideologies (somehow people think that objectively correct ideologies are boring and outdated), but a person, you can enjoy the Transformers stories so much deeper. a low understanding of him will prevent you from enjoying thoes stories a lot. Like those ppl who blame Optimus just for cooperating with Ghost, without thinking about the consequences of not cooperating with them.

btw, the reason why I deleted my old tumblr was largely because of this. Back then, IDW Megatron was showing his redemption arc, and IDW Optimus was making mistakes to keep the peace he had barely achieved. and… yeah, I think you would know what was happend in Tumblr at the time. I left the fandom for 4 years because of that. The funny thing is, I didn't even know I was in love with Optimus until then. Anyone who knew me at that time would know how crazy I was about MTMTE lol

[thevulturesquadron]

The truth is in TAS and Xmen97 (I'm talking about cartoons only) Gambit had never had eyes on anyone except Rogue. He was never married to Belladonna in TAS and never showed any signs that he still had feelings for her or wanted to come back to her (voluntarily). Rogue, on other hand, had almost run away with Cody (but didn't want to be a reptile in the end), had come to Magneto the first day he appeared in school, rejected Gambit for Magneto. Yes, Gambit and Rogue weren't official, they didn't own each other, noone cheated on anyone physically. But emotionally Rogue did, she did cheat on her feelings for Gambit.

With Rogue's fixation on physical contact (her ultimate dream and goal in relationship) her actions are quite understandable. It's just that it was badly executed. She was shown as ping-pong ball between men, who didn't know what she wanted. So frustration in her character is also quite understandable.

And, yes, Gambit shouldn't criticize Rogue for hiding her past as every member of the team has secrets, him including. But I couldn't find any other faults.

Howdy! ✨

Oh, that is a good point! I will admit I had my wires partially crossed with the comics on this one - in the TAS Gambit and Bella Dona weren’t married, they were engaged. And in all honesty, TAS (both the original series and ‘97) treated Gambit way better than the ups and downs he had in comics.

Even so, the full context is that they weren’t together, they weren’t committed to each other in any way. In the original series they flirted and entertained the idea of feelings but never sat down to decide if they wanted to be more to each other. He might have said ‘I love you’ and ‘Your powers are not a problem to me’, but his words are weighed against his actions. And I think that’s something people forget when judging Rogue’s situation. Gambit is afraid of commitment - most of the time he is afraid of being serious about the things he feels. And that leaves Rogue with a strange ‘we’re dancing around each other, but nothing is THAT serious.’ (regardless if it’s because he wants to give her space and not scare her off, or if it’s because he doesn’t want to catch himself with how much she means to him). So I would argue that Rogue is not only showing interest in someone that she can touch, but also in someone who looks at her with honesty when it comes to their feelings. (the case for both Cody and Magneto)

Another thing that I absolutely agree with is that, yes, the show is guilty of doing a poor job of balancing the way in which it portrays both ends of their struggles. Whatever Remy does is wrapped in a tone that makes the audience feel bad for him, and always focuses on his wish to be better and redeem himself. It's always in his service (also because it needs people to care about him so that his moment in Ep.5 can hit hard). When Rogue is shown navigating her emotions and insecurities the audience is told that she is in the wrong. THAT is what people should be taking out of it and should be talking about, not nodding their heads along and calling her a cheater.

Hope it’s ok for me to say it, but I completely disagree with your statement that she is cheating (and especially on her feelings). We need to step out of this internalised double standards we have when we talk about cheating. In Season 3 when she leaves with Cody there was no commitment so there is no cheating. In ‘97 she has feelings for both men and people need to accept it, she is not cheating on any of them and not cheating herself. She is trying to understand what she wants (under a lot of pressure based on how fast the events in episode 5 were unfolding) while also trying to be honest with both of them. She isn’t acting on her feelings until after she has spoken with both (and when it happens, layers of guilt are added to her confusion). Also I’d go one step further and say that no, she didn’t reject Gambit for Magneto. In Episode 5 she went to Gambit to tell him about her past and say that she wants to be part of the future, do something that is not just about herself in Genosha. I’d actually argue that he’s the one that’s making it about their relationship instead by asking her to pick on an emotional level. He’s the one calling it quits.

I guess the question that it all boils down to is ‘what are we calling cheating’, right? Having feelings for more than one person without acting on it - is it considered cheating? Not in my books. Emotions are not simple ‘white and black’ statements. They are messy and extremely difficult to navigate. And for some reason we refuse to understand that or allow female characters to navigate that without passing judgement. Because heteronormativity tells us that if you love someone you love only them, and at the same time male characters are allowed to have flaws while female characters aren’t. It’s what’s happening with Rogue. It’s what’s happening with Jean. Because in the middle of all the confusion, grief and pain she leaped at something that could give her comfort by trying to kiss Logan, she is held accountable for the smallest attempt to explore her emotions while being ridiculed for daring to be upset at Scott.

There is also much that I want to say in defense of both Gambit and Scott but the internet has that covered (and then some) so I will just continue to be bitter about how female characters are perceived. 🙃But also, to the last point that you brought up, there are things in the way he reacted to Rogue during the fireplace scene that should be seen through a critical lens: the fact that he refused to look at her while she went on her knees asking him to meet her half way, the fact that his ‘I played the swamp rat’ was thrown at her in a hurtful/guilt tripping way that absolved him of the consequences of his decisions in whatever game they were playing, that in the end he told her she chose ‘wrong’ and that she would suffer for it - ‘he’ll break your heart’). But all of those speak of his own hurt, regrets and low self-worth and I loved him SO MUCH for it in that scene because I love flaws and growth in a character. The problem is that those are all subtle things that get put under the umbrella of ‘love’ in media, while being insecure and coming to terms with the fact that we can love different people for different reasons is vilified.

Hope that my answer wasn’t too much of a turn off - I am guilty of starting a thought and writing a million words about it. And I am thankful for the ask because it opens up a conversation and corrects context that would otherwise be swept aside by us looking at just the parts of a whole.

[theflyindutchwoman]

I know it’s disappointing that Lucy ranked so low in the detective’s exam, but let’s not forget that hardship when it comes to promotions it’s nothing new in the show. Both Angela and Nolan had their problems before getting to their current positions. One of the first things we learned about Angela is that she wanted to make detective and she didn’t make it until season 3 and Nolan was sent away so he couldn’t take the TO exam (in hindsight they just handed him the promotion later on in season 5 but I hope it kinda shows my point?)

Don’t get me wrong, I would have love for our girl to get the score she actually deserves, but I also wanna see where we go from here.

Oh, as disappointed and enraged as I am for Lucy, I also want to see how this is all going to play out. And in light of her upcoming storyline, let's just say that I'm even more intrigued. But what makes this so heartbreaking is the unfairness of the situation and the optics. It was never about Lucy's competence, even though that's the only thing that should matter. It was never about the sprinklers. That was just a convenient excuse. She got penalised for something that might be questionable (the five-player trade and getting her man a promotion) but she didn't break any rule. Worse : her promotion was blocked by someone who directly reaped the rewards of what she did. Let's take the time to acknowledge that Primm is now a lieutenant while he was still referred as a detective in s5.

And yet, this is nothing new. When Lucy found out about her score, all I could think about was what she said back in s1 : "Look, this kind of obstacle is new to you, but it's status quo for me. You're a novelty item right now, but in 13 months, you'll be a P2, and the cops will treat you like one of the guys, but I'll- I'll have to prove myself to every cop I work with." (1.01) "You'll never be in my shoes. And you'll never know how unfair that is." (1.04) And I hope that this is acknowledged. I hope this is part of her arc. Because this is all too real for women. And even more so for women of color.

Because yes, you're right, Angela and Nolan faced some hardships before being promoted… In Angela's case, it was due to a terrible mistake that she did. One that had devastating consequences (don't get me wrong, it was heartbreaking to see Angela in that position and she more than earned her promotion). Now, Nolan's situation was far more similar to the one Lucy's in : he pissed off a higher-up who decided to block him. Only since it lasted one episode, I can barely consider this as a hardship. Especially since he actually got the Golden Ticket for his trouble. You know, the thing that Nyla got after years of intense undercover work… (again with the optics here). So unless Lucy gets back on track in an episode or two, that would be a major double standard. One that circles back to what Lucy said in s1. And one that isn't new. Nolan broke the rules several times along the years and while he got punished, it never really stuck for long. Whereas Lucy hasn't broken anything and still got penalised.

All of this to say that I don't mind this storyline as long as it is treated properly. Besides, it's not like we didn't know it was coming… We were warned since the moment we found out about the detective exam. So I am looking forward to seeing what Lucy will do next. One thing I know is that every time she has been underestimated, she has prevailed and proved herself. But that's part of the issue, isn't it? She still has to prove herself. Despite getting a medal, despite being handpicked for the UC Academy while still being on patrol, despite being chosen to act as Watch Commander for a day, despite being listed as the arresting officers while she was an aide… All of these things that were supposed to help her advance her career weren't enough in the end. Scratch that : it didn't even matter. And that's why it hurts so much. So I really hope that she gets everything she deserves at the end of her arc. That this is going to be her season :)

[gemini-sensei]

Parents Night | Boss!Eli Moskowitz x Nanny!Reader Pt. 3

Chubby!Fem!Reader ○ Parts One and Two

Series Masterlist

Big thank you for @sensei-venus for the idea for this part 💖 small note, but when it comes to naming characters, I just use the first name that comes to mind sometimes, so sorry if you're name is in this.

CW: mentioned parental/spousal death, angst & fluff, nothing much else (half edited).

When the twins came running up to Reader with a flier from their school, their excitement was contagious. Phoenix shoved it as her whilst she was enjoying some down time in the living room, but she was quick to close her book and give them her undevided attention. Their grins were so big and happy as they started talking over each other, practically bouncing in place.

She took the flier and discovered it was for family night at their school, where the children could show them their classroom and where they learned. Reader had small memories of such nights when she was in grade school, how much fun it was to see her little friends and show off all the art projects she'd done.

"Oh, this is exciting," she told them, smiling wide. She flatted the slightly crumpled paper out on the table, imagining one of the twins had shoved it in their backpack and only remembered it now. "We should go give this to your dad, yeah?"

"We want you to come too," Mia giggled, barely able to keep herself on her feet as she hopped with enthusiasm. "We want you to meet Ms. Summer."

"And we want to show you our classroom!" Phoenix boasted proudly.

Reader laughed as she nodded along. "Alright, I'll come too. I think Junie will like it, don't you?"

"Yeah!" They shouted together. Then they started talking over each other again and somehow hatched a plan to go pick out their clothes for the special night - which was at the end of the week.

They ran off in a hurry and Reader softly laughed behind her hand. She stood up to take the flier to Eli's office, knocking on the door gently. When she heard him say "come in," she opened it swiftly and walked in with a smile.

"I hope your schedule isn't too busy Thursday night," she said and slipped him the paper.

He took it and smiled before looking up at her. "Not at all. I can take the kids and you can have the night off."

She grinned, flattered by his offer but ultimately more happy to join. "Actually, I've been invited."

"Phoenix and Mia want you to go?" he asked softly.

She nodded. "They're very excited for it. I think they're proud of learning, which is nice. I never wanted to sit down and do homework, but they're very receptive to it. So I don't mind joining you all if you don't."

He shook his head. "Not at all. I think it's sweet of them to want you to go. Plus, I really don't want to watch all three of them in a crowded school for two hours."

They laughed over the ordeal and set up a little game plan to have the night running smoothly. It was a short conversation, as soon Mia was yelling down for Reader's help and Eli's phone rang. They parted ways with smiles on their faces, thinking nothing more of it.

○●○

Thursday night approached a lot quicker than expected, almost surprising Reader when she realized what day it was early that morning. After the kids were dropped off, she spent the morning going over statements from her boutique when she saw the date. She had to double check everything and then plan out the rest of her day around that. She finished up her work early, saving some stuff for tomorrow, and had a pretty standard time taking care of Junie.

When it came time to go pick up the twins from school, she knew that they weren't going to have a lot of time between then and when they had to go back up to the school. So she went ahead and dressed Junie in her little dress and leggings, had her bag packed, and everything they could need in the car. Then she picked up the twins, brought them home, let them have a snack, then helped them get ready for their special night. It was hassle free, thankfully, and they didn't hit any bumps in the road.

They arrived at the school and Reader made sure to keep the twins close, even though they were practically bouncing off of the walls and trying to tug her down the halls to their classroom.

Her phone buzzed and she checked it, finding a text from Eli. Running late. Start without me. Be there ASAP.

She smiled, knowing that he was trying his best. With that being said, she let the twins walk her to their classroom while she pushed Junie in her stroller.

There was artwork all over the walls, from finger paintings to yarn projects, and more. Mia jumped up when she found hers and pointed it out to Reader, smiling wide as she told her about her finger painting and about what all there was to see on it. Phoenix was less interested in showing off his artwork and wanted her to see his writing handout, which was pinned up along with others that showed off how much they were learning.

"Look, see! See! I can spell smile!" he boasted.

Reader grinned. "That's amazing!"

They finally made it to the classroom, which was full of color and laughter. There were other kids inside, showing their parents and even some grandparents around the room. The teacher was standing near her desk, talking with a couple as she wore a bright smile.

Mia took hold of the front of the stroller and started pulling it with her in the direction of her teacher. "Come on! Come on!"

Phoenix bounded ahead, laughing as he hugged the woman around her leg. "Ms. Summer!"

The adults all laughed with him and the couple excused themselves as their own child came running over to show them something. The teacher greeted Phoenix happily, then looked up as Mia lead Reader and Junie - who was squealing with glee - over.

"Hi," Reader said with a short wave.

"Hello. I'm Summer Jensen, but everyone around here just calls me Ms. Summer," she said in return. She put her hand out and Reader took it to shake. "You must be the twins mother. They talk about you so much."

Reader was taken aback, slightly shocked. She licked her lips, quickly recovering as she held the woman's hand. "No, actually I'm their new nanny, Reader."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Ms. Summer said softly, though she looked a little confused. However, she covered it up with a smile. "They just speak so highly of the pretty dresses you wear."

Flattered, Reader couldn't help but do a little twirl. She owned a vintage clothing shop after all, so she had to dress the part in her opinion. It was one of her many loves and she wanted to share that with the world as much as possible, that was why she opened her store.

"How sweet," she said. She cut a quick look at the twins to see their reaction, and though Phoenix hadn't seemed too bothered by the comment, Mia looked a little sad. "Well, Mr. Moskowitz is on his way. He's just running a little late from work."

Ms. Summer nodded. "Alright-"

"Phoenix! Mia! Come meet my big brother!" another child shouted from across the room.

Phoenix grabbed Mia by the hand and pulled her over, the two looking in better spirits than a second ago.

With them away, Ms. Summer addressed Reader. "Again, I am so sorry. I was under the impression Mrs. Moskowitz was coming."

"Um, I don't really know how to say this, but the twins' mother passed away," Reader told her, voice gentle and low. She didn't want anyone to overhear who didn't need to, or make anyone upset. Even so, Junie became fussy, as if she knew what they were talking about. "Oh, sweet baby."

Reader bent down to take her from the stroller and console her. Ms. Summer watched with sad, careful eyes.

"I assume this is Junie," she said.

Reader smiled as she bounced the baby, who started to giggle, a crisis averted. "Yeah, she's a doll. The twins love her."

"I can tell. They talk about her quite a bit as well," Ms. Summer said.

They both entertained the baby until Phoenix, loud as ever, called Reader over to the book corner. The women said goodbye and parted ways. Ms. Summer let Reader put the stroller out of the way before she walked over to the little bookcases.

"You can sit on the beanie chair," Mia said, fluffing up the beanbag chair for her.

Reader smiled. "Alright," she said and carefully took a seat with Junie on her lap.

The twins proceeded to show off all the books they liked, mostly from being read to in class. Mia showed off the ones she especially liked to sit down with during their practice reading time. Phoenix showed off the picture books with cars and monster trucks, making sure to show his baby sister all the pictures.

They sat like that for a while before the twins wanted to show Reader another corner of the room. It was a fun time, but made even better when Eli showed up.

"Well well well, having fun without me?" he asked as he walked up.

He was still in his dress pants, but had gone forgone his professional looking jacket and tie. Reader had caught onto the fact that he was a far more casual person than his position let on, though he still took it very seriously. She got the impression, though, that if he could wear a tee shirt and sweats to work, he would, but as the CEO he had to keep some sense of professionalism about him. However, when he was working from home, it was casual all the day long.

"Daddy!" the twins shouted. They ran to him and hugged around the legs, buzzing with excitement.

He crouched down to give them a hug, squeezing them tight as they giggled. Then, once he stood up, it was Junie's turn. He took her into his arms and she held onto his shirt tightly, squealing with joy at seeing him.

"I hope they haven't been too much trouble for ya," he said, looking to Reader.

"No, of course not," she said.

"Come on, daddy," Mia said, taking his free hand. "I wanna show you my sea turtle drawing!"

"Reader!" Phoenix jumped up. "I need to go potty!"

"Oh, okay," she said. She and Eli shared a look before she turned her attention back onto Phoenix. "Do you want me to walk with you to the restroom?"

"Yes, please," he said and put out his hand.

She took it and the little group split up. Reader and Phoenix walked out into the hallway while Mia took Hawk and Junie to a wall full of more artwork. The restroom wasn't a long walk from the classroom and when they got there, Reader waited outside for him.

When he came out, he took her hand again and they started walking back to the classroom. However, he had something on his mind.

"I'm sorry I told Ms. Summer you were our mommy," he said, a little sadly.

Reader stopped and crouched down to his level. "Oh, Phoenix, it's okay. But can I ask why you did that?"

"Everyone else has mommies in my class... They're all real mommies and step mommies and just mommies, but I don't have one... I miss my mommy."

"Aw, honey, I know you do," she told him. She gave him a hug, holding him close as he began to sniffle. Rubbing his back gently, she shushed him. "I may not be your mommy, but I hope I'm someone you can trust, because I'm here for you and your sisters."

He nodded and buried his face in her shirt. When he wouldn't let go, she picked him up and held him on her hip, lightly rocking him as they stood in the lightly crowded hall. She let him cry softly until he was ready to go back to the classroom.

She walked with him in her arms, his face hidden in her neck because he didn't want his friends to see him upset. She didn't mind. However, when Eli saw them, he grew worried.

He walked over, leaving Junie and Mia to play on the rug with some toys and another child. "Hey, is everything okay?"

He layed a hand on his son's back, comforting him. Phoenix was receptive to it, but clung to Reader the entire time.

"Yeah, everything's okay," Reader said softly. "I'll tell you later."

Eli nodded, though still wore a worried expression. However, it melted away when she gave him a reassuring smile, and they continued their little tour of the school.

By the time they all arrived home, the twins were starving. Dinner was ready for them, so it was as simple as sit down and eat, then get the twins cleaned up and ready for bed.

Eli took care of Junie, ensuring she was fed and that she was dressed for bed. She fell asleep quickly and he laid her down in her bed, giving her a final kiss on the forehead and a soft goodnight.

When he walked down the hall, he heard Reader's voice coming from twins' room. It was split in half between Phoenix and Mia's sides, toys strewn about, costumes hanging off of bed posts, and from what Eli could gather, a Barbie was leading a dinosaur army into battle in the corner. It reminded him about how he needed to clean out one of the other rooms to turn into a bedroom, and he mentally put it at the top of his to-do list.

He came to stop at the door and peered in, seeing her reading to them. She was almost done, but that didn't mean anything, for Eli soon became just as spellbound by her storytelling abilities as the kids were. They were hooked to every word she spoke as she gave it bravado and flare, smiling the entire time.

As it came to an end, Phoenix yawned tiredly. Reader closed the book and placed it back on the little bookcase in the room, smiling at the kids softly.

"Goodnight," she said sweetly.

"Can I have a hug?" Phoenix asked abruptly before she could even think about walking to the door.

She smiled. "Of course."

Reader leant over to give him a big hug, then made sure to tuck him in tight. Then she hurried over to Mia's side of the room to do the same, mentioning how they could all have hugs. It made Mia giggle.

Eli came into the room to give each twin a kiss on the head and tell them goodnight, then exited with Reader. He turned out the light, watching the nightlights come to life, then he pulled the door almost shut.

The pair of adults walked down to the kitchen, Reader looking to make herself a cup of tea and Eli hoping to have a word with her. He waited a moment, not wanting to rush into things since it had been an eventful and long evening. He didn't let the silence hang for too long though.

"So, what happened tonight?"

Reader looked up from her cup for a moment, then put her eyes back down. She swallowed hard, an odd lump forming in the back of her throat. As she remembered everything the twins' teacher had said, she became a little embarrassed.

"Oh, well, uh, as it would turn out, Phoenix told his teacher that I was his and Mia's mom," she explained, hoping she'd found the right words. She didn't know how to navigate the situation as well when presenting it to her boss. They were his children after all.

Eli's posture changed. He stood straighter and became a little rigid. The thought of his wife came to mind and saddened him. He'd always miss her since her passing, but it wasn't as depressing as before. The wound was healing. It wasn't hard to talk about her anymore, but it hurt knowing his children missed her so much.

Then there was Reader, who was put into an awkward position because of it. Something completely out of her control. Something she still knew so little about.

"I'm sorry," he said. He bit his lip, trying to figure out where to go from there. All he could think of was apologizing.

She smiled kindly, awkward but understanding. "It's alright. I know and understand why he did it. He really misses her and feels like he's somehow different from his classmates without a mom. I mean, he was telling me how the other kids all have moms whether they're their "real" mom or not, and I think it makes him feel a little... othered in a way."

"Did someone say something to him?" Eli asked, a ting of worry in his voice. He knew from first hand experience that some kids were unusually cruel.

She shook her head. "Not that I know of. He's a smart boy, so I think maybe he's picked up on it over time."

They were silent for a moment, and still Eli could think of nothing but apologizing.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Reader said. She finished making her tea and walked up to him. "There's nothing to be sorry for. He's still coping, and it might be a little confusing to me still, that I'm here. I mean, look at it from his view. I'm a woman that's come to live with you and your family, and I take care of them everyday. They know I'm the nanny, but I don't think they quite understand what that means."

He nodded gently, letting everything sink in. It made sense. She made perfect sense. Who was he to go out and hire someone to come into their home and help take care of his kids? Sure, he made them all a part of the hiring process to ensure compatibility, only for them to find the perfect match off of the street, but that still had to be confusing for a child.

"It's almost no different than if I'd remarried," he said softly. He didn't like it, though. The hurt was still there and such a thought had not crossed his mind once since his wife died.

Reader chuckled, lightening the mood. She smiled. "Almost. You and I are far from romantic love interests, Mr. Moskowitz."

He smiled, glad that she could tease him like a friend. He was glad that the night had not ruined the entire agreement they had. He was glad she was so involved and nurturing and good with the kids. For, if it weren't for Reader, he wouldn't know what he'd be doing now. He supposed life would be that much harder, harder when it was hard enough; when there was still an emotional toll being taken out of him and his kids; when he was a single father at a loss for what more to do, left asking himself if he was doing it all right. He was thankful she was there, beyond thankful actually.

"I can't thank you enough."

"You don't have to thank me at all."

She took her cup of tea and sipped it, then started walking to the kitchen door.

"Goodnight, Eli."

He watched her pass through the door and disappear behind it, smiling. "Goodnight, Reader."