#that and it didn't fit with Tara's character

[blackhholes]

teen wolf meme: [4/5] motifs -> bardo

All the stuff you guys were just saying? All that happens in Bardo. There are different progressive states where you can have hallucinations. Some you see, some you just hear. And you can be visited by peaceful or wrathful deities. [...] If there are different progressive states, then what's the last one? Death. You die.

[cobaltperun]

i have a request if possible ? for a tara carpenter x reader , or any jo character as you see fit , but in my head , it’s always been tara and no gf au-

so basically , if you’re familiar with 5 seconds of summer , every time i listen to them (their self titled album, specifically heartbreak girl) i always come up with like scenarios of r, mindy, amber and wes being 5sos basically and having r write that song about tara and how she’s always calling/texting r about the problems she’s having with chad without realizing that r is in love with her

which ofc leads r to go to amber, mindy and wes to write that song together and having them preform at a local bar/club or something because they’re locally known and tara, sam, chad and the rest of the friend group is in the crowd, being supportive- but once they hear the song , they immediately know who it’s about and just look at tara awkwardly , and- that’s as far as i’ve gotten

Heartbreak Girl

Tara Carpenter x gn!Reader (Request)

First of all, thank you for the request, it kind of just flowed out and here it is. I went with gender-neutral Reader since you didn't specify the gender. I hope you'll enjoy reading this.

Masterlist

Word count: 2.7k

"I know I should have seen it coming, but it still hurts, you know? I still love Chad, I just can't get over him," she sobbed, and you stopped pacing around your room to lean back and rest your head against the wall. You knew the story, you heard it from Tara countless times, and you may have heard it from Mindy even before Tara told you, mostly because Mindy got a bit pissed that Chad would end his relationship with Tara like that. Tara and Chad were in a relationship, they worked the summer job together and met Liv. Chad fell in love and broke up with Tara. The rest was history, and Tara, sharing Chad's circle of friends, and still being in love with him, couldn't move on.

One time Tara told you she figured it would be easier if he cheated on her. He didn't. He just sat down with her one day and said how he felt. Two weeks later Chad and Liv went on their first date and the circumstances kept Tara and Chad as somewhat friends.

"I'm sorry for being a bother, Y/N," she must have noticed your silence.

"You're not being a bother, Tara, I just don't know what to say that I already didn't tell you before," you bit your bottom lip, knowing full well you were lying. You knew what you wanted to say. You wanted to tell her you loved her, that in her heartbreak she kept breaking your heart too. Another sob made you speak before you could think things through. "Let's go out, just the two of us," you suggest, realizing too late what you were saying. "As friends, of course, just to get your mind off of everything," you quickly backtracked, hoping the explanation was sufficient enough, hoping she couldn't hear the nervous tapping of your foot against the floor, or the crack in your voice when you said 'friends' or anything else that could give you away.

Because, as much as you loved her, as much as you wanted to be with her, you didn't want to push her into another relationship when she was vulnerable and still heartbroken. You also didn't want to be her way of getting over Chad and nothing more. And you absolutely didn’t want to take advantage of her emotional turmoil.

"I'd love to, Y/N," it sounded like she stopped crying, thought she still sniffled a bit. "Thanks for being my friend and always being there to cheer me up," her words, even if you just encouraged them yourself, still hurt you.

"Don't mention it, I'm here for you," you brushed it off, subconsciously hoping maybe, just maybe, she'd realize how you feel on her own. You had no idea how mixed the signals you were sending her looked every now and then. In less than a minute you went from proclaiming friendly hanging out to promising to be there for her. "When do you want to meet up?"

Tara paused for a moment. "I'll call you tomorrow at ten to figure that out. Is that okay?"

You nodded and then frowned when you realized a moment later you were on the phone with her. "Of course."

And so you said your goodbyes, and you just slumped into the chair and dropped your head down to the table. A bit recklessly you tossed the phone to the bed on your side and silently expressed gratitude that it didn't hit the wall or drop to the floor. You sighed and placed your hands over your head, feeling like you were stuck in a never-ending cycle with Tara Carpenter.

Against your better judgment, you grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and began writing.

~X~

The friend date went well, better than you imagined it would and you and Tara hung out an hour longer than either of you anticipated. It was a nice change of pace and for a moment you actually convinced yourself you didn't feel anything romantic for her. For a moment, you were reminded of simpler times, when Tara really was just a friend in your eyes. That time was a long time ago, but sometimes you wished you could go back to that, at the very least everything was much simpler back then.

The paper waiting for you at your table broke that illusion and you grabbed your guitar, maybe you had something here after all. As you sat down to try different tunes you sent a message to the band, Mindy, Wes, and Amber, asking to meet up tomorrow for an additional practice.

~X~

The four of you met up in your garage where you kept your instruments, the guitars, and drums, anything else you needed you would just rent out for a couple of days. You were still a local band, so renting still saved you money.

"Let me see if I got everything right. You," Amber pointed at you, almost accusingly. "wrote this song about Tara and you don't want to confess how you feel?" she asked incredulously.

"Come on, it's not that obvious," you defended yourself and pointed at a line in the song. "See? Chad didn't exactly treat her bad, he just broke up with her."

"Yeah, sure, one line is going to convince everyone it isn't about Tara," Mindy added sarcastically and threw her arms up. "It's there for the dramatic effect, Y/N! Remember?" well, yeah, but still, were you really that obvious?

"She got you there," Wes wasn't helping.

You picked up your guitar and began playing the tune you thought would work well with the song. "Listen, I think we got something good here," you tried to focus on the song itself. "Regardless of who it was written for," you muttered.

"You're kidding, right? A sad tune? You're making this a ballad? No way," Mindy went to her drums. "This needs more energy," judging by the tone of her voice she wasn't budging on this. Well, at least she was on board.

"We are totally adding 'Thanks for being a friend' to the lyrics," Amber teased and you just groaned and buried your face in your hands.

"Don't forget being a sucker for anything Tara does," Wes joined in, causing all three of them to laugh at you.

"You're the worst," you muttered, too embarrassed to look at them. As it was the song that maybe could have passed as, you know, not absolutely obvious, might as well be named ‘Tara’ with how specific it was turning out to be.

~X~

Over the next month and a half, you and Tara fell into a bit of a habit. The first two weeks she continued sobbing, and you'd ask her to hang out. The week after that she just complained and you still asked her to hang out. The past few weeks she rarely even mentioned Chad during your calls, but she still insisted you were friends.

Honestly, just the fact that she seemed to be moving on as weeks went by mended your own heart. Somewhere along the line, you found out you were fine with the way things were. In a relationship or as friends, you wanted Tara in your life.

You walked her to her house, the backs of your hands occasionally brushing as you walked. The accidental touches became something both of you were comfortable with, as neither of you moved away from each other.

"You'll be performing tomorrow night, right?" Tara asked out of the blue.

You glanced at her and your eyes met. "Yeah. Are you going to come?" it wouldn't be the first time Tara would be in the crowd. Tara, Sam, Chad, Danny, Anika, and Liv were all supportive of your band, so they regularly came to your performances.

"You're not really asking that, are you? Of course, I'm going to come," she lightly jabbed your arm. "Besides, Mindy might have told me you guys have a new song you'll be performing for the first time in front of a crowd."

That little traitor. You cleared your throat to buy yourself a few extra seconds to get it together.

With the way things were going between you and Tara, you were almost tempted to scrap the song, but the other three voted against it. "No pressure then, it's not like we haven't had a new song in almost four months now," what could you say, it was a bit of a drought period as far as creativity went.

Tara laughed and just for a moment you thought you saw something else in her eyes, something similar to the way you would so often look at her. "You'll do great," she offered a much-needed encouragement as the two of you stopped in front of her house.

"Guess this is it for tonight," you smiled at her.

"Mhm, I'm glad I was the one to ask you out tonight, as friends, of course," she took a step closer and tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. And then you froze when she got on her tiptoes and kissed your cheek. "Thank you, for always being there for me," somehow, this time she omitted the friend part.

"I," you cleared your throat once more. "did say I'd be here for you, didn't I?" you tried to brush it off as you usually did for months now.

The intensity of Tara's gaze captured all of your attention and for a moment you even considered leaning in. You didn't though, you weren't sure she felt the same, or that she actually moved on.

"I'll see you tomorrow night, then?" she asked, lowering her gaze to your lips before quickly looking away.

You noticed it, and you wondered if Tara could hear how loud your heart was drumming in your chest. "Y-yeah," you finally stepped back from her, and the tension you were trying so hard to ignore began fading.

~X~

Tara pretty much threw herself on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. What was wrong with her? Falling in love with you so quickly and almost out of nowhere. Especially when you so explicitly insisted on hanging out as friends. Perhaps you were insisting too hard to cover your own feelings? A girl could hope, right?

She turned her playlist on, hoping to find some peace in music. As if to spite her, the first song that played was Brian Fallon's You Have Stolen My Heart and she nearly chucked her phone into a wall. Groaning she turned around and tucked herself into a blanket. It was entirely your fault. With your charming smile and clumsy mixed signals, she could never get a good read on them.

~X~

You were amazing on that improvised stage, just mesmerizing to watch and listen to and Tara found herself falling even harder. She also found herself ignoring Sam's teasing smile.

"Thank you, thank you! You are too kind! We'll wrap up the night with a premiere of our new song!" Wes yelled, hyping up the crowd.

"Let's hear an applause for Heartbreak Girl!" Mindy demanded, encouraging the crowd to interact with the four of you.

Tara was pulled to her feet by Anika and they both cheered. The name of the song, however, made Tara's heart skip a beat. Or was it the way you looked at her from the stage?

"You call me up, it's like a broken record, saying that your heart hurts. That you'll never get over him getting over you, and you end up crying. And I end up lying, 'cause I'm just a sucker for anything that you do," you sang, your eyes never leaving Tara's. It felt like there was no one else in the club but the two of you. But you weren't alone, and Tara felt the awkward stares directed at the back of her head.

Did you actually write a song for her?

"And when the phone call finally ends, you say "Thanks for being a friend" and I'm going in circles again and again," now she had no doubt, that the song really was about her. She stopped cheering and just stood there, taking the lyrics in.

She saw you hesitating, probably since you noticed her reaction, and she just smiled. You smiled back and continued.

"I dedicate this song to you, the one who never sees the truth, that I can take away you hurt, Heartbreak girl. Hold you tight straight through the daylight, I'm right here, when you gonna realize that I'm your cure, Heartbreak girl?" did you...? Were you saying what she thought you were saying?

She wasn't reading this wrong, was she?

"I bite my tongue, but I wanna scream out, you could be with me now. But I end up telling you what you wanna hear, but you're not ready. And it's so frustrating, he treats you so bad and I'm so good to you, it's not fair," her heart skips a beat as you continue, quoting the promise to call you tomorrow at ten and once again singing the chorus.

"I know someday it's gonna happen, and you'll finally forget the day you met him. Sometimes I'm so close to confession, I gotta get it through your head, that you belong with me instead," the look in your eyes, the eyes that told her 'This is it, I can't take it back now' it vanquished any doubt she may have had about how you felt.

She just wondered how long you felt that way about her without saying anything? Definitely before you first asked her to hang out as friends, but how long before that? And she felt like apologizing, for not noticing how you felt, for leaning on you for support even if it hurt you as well. And at the same time she fell even harder, because you were there for her even with everything you were feeling you were giving her all the time she needed.

~X~

The moment you ended the song and without any idea where the sudden boldness was coming from you jumped down from the stage and went over to Tara. You took a few deep breaths as you closed the distance and offered her your hand, the guitar still in your other hand.

Yeah, you didn't quite think that through.

Tara raised an eyebrow, clearly looking at the guitar, but then shrugged and took your hand.

"Uh, what now?" you asked sheepishly.

"Isn't that something you were supposed to figure out? Before you jumped down and came over?" she gave you a cheeky, teasing smile.

"I didn't think I'd get this far," you admitted, causing Tara to laugh.

"Just go behind the stage dumbass!" Mindy yelled, with the microphone still on. "And leave the guitar there while you're at it!"

You lowered your head and winced, trying to hide the embarrassment clearly visible on your face. Tara wasn't doing much better as she quickly pulled you behind the stage to escape the teasing.

You packed the guitar as both of you took time to compose yourself and catch a breath. "I really didn't think this through, did I?" you asked.

"No," Tara sat down on the chair near you. "You really didn't," she was fiddling with the loose thread on her shirt.

"I meant it, the song. Well, at least when I wrote it a month and a half ago," you decided to just be honest with her.

Tara raised her head to look at you, you could see hopefulness and uncertainty in her gaze. "What changed?"

You approached and sat down next to her. "I don't think you are still heartbroken," you took her hand.

Tara smiled. "I'm not. I'm in love with a clumsy musician that sucks at flirting," she leaned closer to you.

"Hey, it worked," you closed the distance, capturing her lips in a soft, gentle kiss. "Mhm, how about we go on a proper date then?" she asked when the kiss ended and you couldn't think of any better idea.

[thedomesticanthropologist]

The BG3 characters on Tiktok

Wyll: has 2 accounts. One is for fitness, dancercize, calisthenics, and a little bit posing while flexing. The other is an unhinged BookTok account where he cosplays and acts out romance scenes with himself, stitches cosplay character actors with himself. Dramatic poetry, songs, reenacting Broadway play moments. Responds to every comment.

I would also accept a children's entertainment performer type account from him.

Shadowheart: Silent poses while staring down the camera. Almost every video is the same, but they all pop off in popularity saying she looks mysterious and beautiful. She uses the camera to do her eyeliner and outfit checks. No editing, always short videos, never replies in the comments. Manages to get makeup 💄 deals and free outfits sent to her all the time. Puts in mimal effort

Karlach: someone else films her just being herself. She has several viral videos. Sometimes she plans them, like seeing how much cereal she can eat in one sitting or if she can punch down an old shed she found without using any tools. Captions are usually just some version of a meysmash or one word in all capital letters.

Astarion: Influencer that got all his followers by gossiping and sniping at other influencers in their comment sections or making call-out posts but if they're unpopular he turns off comments or deletes them and pretends he didn't do anything. Posts thirst traps that would be extremely cringe but people fall for it because he's pretty. Never does "getting ready" videos without having already gotten ready off camera and faking that his hair is just naturally Like That. Ends up with a niche fan base that is extremely feral for him and he uses them to target other accounts and harass people who annoy him. Or when he's bored.

Laezel: her entire account is just clips the Shadowheart takes of her mispronouncing words or being irritable. She gains a surprising amount of followers. There starts to be an underground plot to figure out if shafowheart and laezel live together, with fans pointing out background items that match. Neither of them address it directly.

Halsin: it... it's a nature channel. Camera is set up on a log or something at a bad angle and he either whittles in silence for 15 minutes and then shows u a duck, or the camera is in his hands shaking and being fumbled regularly with his thumb half over the mic and the view isn't always in focus but you're pretty sure he's telling you about the symbiotic relationship of moss on a tree. Most of his comment section is people asking him to take his shirt off.

Gale: his tiktok would be exactly what is VA's tiktok already is probably honestly ajsdgjdhdhjg. But OK, so he would absolutely wear velvet outfits and spend 30+ minutes describing one book at a time per video feom his giant library. Sometimes does wine reviews, or cheese reviews. Mixed in is short videos of Tara snoring or her paws twitching in her sleep.

[coraniaid]

#19 for person of interest and #2 for willow rosenberg

#19 ... one behind-the-scenes trivia fact I've learned somewhere and my thoughts on it.

I honestly don't really know that much trivia about Person of Interest. One thing I think I remember reading somewhere once is that the writers originally cast Amy Acker to play [a version of] Caroline Turing and only quite late in production decided on the twist that Caroline Turing was actually an alias for Root [at which point, presumably, they renamed her character, because she probably wasn't called 'Turing' before that].

Which is kind of amazing to me, if it's true: Amy Acker as Root is such a huge part of the show that's it's strange to think it almost didn't happen [and, presumably, the show itself would have gone off in an entirely different direction in Season 2 without Root: we'd have seen a lot more of Alicia Corwin for a start].

But, well, I can't find the original claim now and even if I did it probably didn't have any particularly solid proof to back it up. So maybe it's not true at all. (I think it's obvious that the writers hadn't yet cast Amy Acker as Root in Season 1's Root Cause, but that's a much less interesting claim to me).

#2 ... ...how I would have chosen to change their story from canon

Not an original take, I suppose, but to me the big problem with Willow's arc is the way that everything the show has been building up to since (at least) Becoming gets utterly derailed by the Willow-as-a-metaphorical-drug-addict subplot in Season 6. And, yeah, I can see arguments for this subplot: magic had been used as a metaphor for drug abuse before, and it does fit with Season 6's wider theme of exposing the characters to more bleakly quotidian problems like bills and dead-end jobs and (metaphorical) battles with social workers. But it just doesn't work for Willow or her arc. Willow's descent into villainy ends up being almost something that happens to her [because of bad actors like Amy or Rack or Warren] rather than something that evolves naturally from her own flaws.

And that's frustrating, because the show's already spent a lot of time setting up Willow's character flaws and how they will surely lead to tension between her and Tara and her and Buffy. We know Willow has self-image problems ["I'm not your sidekick!" she snaps at Buffy in Fear Itself], that she's afraid that people won't like her if they see the real version of her [see her dream in Restless for example], that she compensates for this by trying to help everyone and make herself useful ["I want to help", she tells Buffy in The Harvest, "I need to"].

We know Willow is prone to being jealous when other people get attention despite (in her eyes) not working as hard for it as she's had to or when they threaten to come between her and the people she loves [see: Faith in Season 3, Anya in Season 5]. We know Willow is very often unsympathetic to other people's problems if she can't personally relate to them [see ... well, many examples, but in particular Buffy in Dead Man's Party].

We know that Willow's been getting into magic to an extent that worries all the other sympathetic magically-aware people we know. We know that Willow has a strong sense of herself as a 'good person' despite the fact she often does things that are illegal or dangerous or unwise. We know that Willow is proud of her intelligence and her accomplishments and that she often ignores advice she doesn't like or lashes out at people she thinks are talking down to her [see, for example, the way she talks to Tara in their fight in Tough Love]. We know Willow has had trouble respecting other people's wishes and that her first reaction to relationships going wrong is to try to work out how she can "make" people forgive her [how she reacts to Oz discovering her with Xander in Season 3, for example].

None of this has anything to do with Willow being tricked into being a magical drug addict by a girl who used to be her pet rat. It just doesn't.

In my ideal version of Season 6, Tara still leaves Willow (for much the same reason she does in canon: Willow not respecting her boundaries, using magic to mess with her memories to 'resolve' arguments they have) and Willow still reacts terribly (and manages to de-rattify Amy). But Rack doesn't exist and more generally Amy is not at all the person she is in canon who pushes Willow to use magic more and more because she's some sort of self-destructive hedonist.

Amy should be more or less the same person she was halfway through Season 3. She shouldn't be luring Willow into drug dens [drug dens which she shouldn't even know about!]. She shouldn't suddenly be recast as a Bad Influence. She should be more or less the person she was in Gingerbread. She should be (honestly) amazed by how much better at magic Willow's gotten since high school. She should think of Willow as her friend and try to 'stand up for her' because she (thinks she) knows that Willow lets people push her around too easily. She should (unintentioally) feed Willow's ego: tell her that she's perfectly in the right and it's everyone else who's over-reacting to her growing magical strength.

And yes, maybe eventually she should start directly encouraging Willow to misuse magic (to help her 'fix' her relationship with her Dad, for example, or to get back into college despite technically not finishing high school). But it should be a gradual process. It shouldn't be something that starts fan theories about Catherine Madison somehow posessing her again. And the narrative should [and I can't stress how much it doesn't do this] care the slightest bit about Amy herself as a person, and recognize that she has gone through something awful and traumatic.

Amy's role in the plot of Season 6 should be to encourage Willow to keep telling herself she can use magic all the time whatever anyone else says because she's a good person. She should enable Willow, sure, but not intentionally. She's been a rat since she was 17; she shouldn't know things about the world she didn't know three years ago (except rat things, I guess). She shouldn't force Willow to do magic or trick her into it, because then what happens to Willow is no longer a consequence of who Willow is as a person.

You can make Amy a catalyst for Willow's continued bad behaviour without making her deliberately evil. You just need to make Willow the more active partner in their relationship. Wilow should be the one to decide to keep using magic but just keep it hidden; the one who keeps finding excuses for why she can treat people like objects and still be a good person; the one who keeps redefining where the line is everytime she steps over it. Until eventually Willow goes too far even for Amy, and she has to reckon with what she's been doing all this time.

And that makes Season 7 Willow works better too, because she's actually got something real to feel guilty about. She's not just sorry that after Tara died she reacted by temporarily going a bit crazy and having a relapse into her former addiction [and then being persuaded by some bad magical energy she absorbed into wanting to end the world]. She should be sorry about what she deliberately did to Tara (and to Amy, and to Buffy, and to Dawn, and to everyone else), not what she almost did to the world when she wasn't in her right mind.

I mean, sure, you can keep Warren killing Tara if you want [I'm not sure I would, but...]. Play up the parallels between Warren and Willow, even. Keep Willow killing him and trying to kill Jonathan and Andrew. Keep her trying to end the world, too. But the fundamental moral agency should be Willow's.

Her arc shouldn't be a temporary drug habit she's tricked into by her Bad Friend followed by going cold turkey for a bit and then relapsing after a random horrible event. She shouldn't decide to end the world because a coven of witches we've never met use Giles as a proxy for some elaborate and almost self-defeating 11-dimensional chess game (I quite like Grave, all in all, but that particular twist is infuriatingly stupid). Willow should drive her Season 6 arc by being Willow, only worse. By being the same "callous and deeply strange" Willow we know from the high school seasons, just more so, one who ignores Buffy's advice from Ted to "use [her] powers for good".

The writers shouldn't be afraid to acknowledge that Willow Rosenberg (who, to be clear, is one of my favorite characters in fiction) actually does have the capacity to be a bad person without external factors forcing her into it.

[czrpenters]

mine | gf!sam carpenter x reader

summary: it's very hard to sam fight against her instincts. so, maybe she should embrace them.

pairings: ghostface!sam carpenter x mackenzie!fem!reader.

warnings: mentions of mental disorders, blood, death of a character, suicide, dark themes.

word count: 3.2k words.

masterlist | request rules.

Sam felt guilty. She felt dirty. Disgusting, even.

Ever since the attacks in Woodsboro, she felt a switch turn inside of her. I mean, she always felt a little different, ever since she was a kid; she hated sharing, hated when things didn't went her way. Hated pretty much every person alive except her sister. And she never found peace. She had to reccur to drinking and drugs to forget about those feelings, even if for just a second. It was raging. Like it was tearing her chest from the inside out. The hallucinations with her real father, the voices she heard telling her to do things, all the anxiety and panic she felt daily. It was torture, to her.

And that got so freaking worse when she met you.

Sam met you through her sister, Tara. The attacks in Woodsboro were very personal to you. You lost your sister there. Your best friend, your Liv. You guys were closer than everything. Both of you were almost the same person, like two peas in a pod. Losing her was losing a part of you. And Sam pretty much saved you back then. Physically and emotionally.

When Sam fell in love with you, she thought that all of the horrible shit she felt would go away for good. She was innocent, of course; thought that love was the solution to all the problems in the world. And it was, for a while.

She felt peaceful, she felt at home. Everytime you kissed her, she forgot about everything bad that was inside of her. It was calm. Something she didn't even remembered how it felt. After Richie, Sam never thought about dating again; she couldn't even trust people enough to let them in. But she trusted you; she loved you. There was something about you and your personality that captivated her, and Sam couldn't even figure it out what it was. She didn't wanted to. She was too busy loving you to even think about these things.

That was the scenario for the first few months of your relationship, of course.

She definetly felt a switch turn inside of her after the attacks.

Why did she felt like that? Why did it feel good? When killing Richie, stabbing him, his blood splattering all over the floor and against her face. Seeing his life fade away in her bare hands. Why did it felt right?

It was too much, for her. She had to go to therapy, against her own will. It was scary. She had to switch therapists every now and then everytime she spoke about her feelings. It was too much for them, as well.

These thoughts haunted her. She had dreams about Richie, about the feeling of his blood in her hands, the smell of Amber's burnt skin, the knife piercing through Richie's flesh. And it wasn't helpful when her father decided to show up every now and then to have a little chat with her.

"You know you wanna do it." Sam turned around, scared that someone had broken into her house, but it was just him. Billy Loomis. "It's a human instinct, Sam. It's our instinct."

She took a deep breath, deciding to ignore him, getting back to her chores. It was almost like she could feel his presence in the room physically. She heard him laugh, but promptly ignored him; getting back to cut some vegetables for dinner. "Look at you, Sam. Look how the knife fits perfectly in your hand. It's like you were made for this."

She closed her eyes shut and threw the knife angrily at the sink. "Shut up! Shut the fuck up!" She screamed, turning around and realizing he was finally gone. That was her life now, day after day. The meds were barely working, and therapy was pretty much useless. So, in a last attempt to save the last bits of her sanity, she decided to leave Woodsboro. Maybe that was the solution all along, she thought. She needed to move on, to forget about the trauma, to live a normal life with her family. And maybe, just maybe, New York City would erase all of the past.

--

Sam woke up breathless. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. Another nightmare, like usual. And as always, about you. Dreaming about your death. The thought of you dying was terrifying to her, she felt this need to protect you from everything and everyone at all times and it could be too much for her own sanity sometims.

She looked to the side of the bed, her body shaking when she realised you weren't there.

"(Y/N)?" She got up the bed and looked for you in the bathroom, feeling dizzy and anxious. "(Y/N)??"

She ran to the kitchen, hoping to find you there; which she did. You were making yourself some late night snack with your headphones on, not even paying atention to your surroundings. Her heart finally slowed down, holding the chair next to her to calm herself down. You turned around for whatever reason and saw her there, looking like she ran a marathon. "Baby? Are you okay?"

"I'm- I'm fine." She looked at you, breathless. You took your airpods off, worried. I mean, it was a common thing to see her waking up in the middle of the night; you knew she had nightmares all the time, probably everyday. You made her sit down, holding her head between your hands. "Tell me, what happened this time?"

"You were there... You were-" She didn't even had the guts to say it. She couldn't even think about you dying. "It felt so fucking real."

"I know, baby. I know." You soothed her, sitting in her lap and holding her in your arms. She felt a kiss on the top of her head, and your smell quickly invaded her nostrils; she finally was at peace now. "It was a bad dream, ok? Remember what I told you: These are only..."

"...Only dreams. You're right." She finished the sentence, looking at you, feeling finally at peace. You kissed her head again, getting out of your embrace.

"I'm gonna get you some water, baby."

"No... Stay with me." She whined, like a baby. You laughed and kissed her lips quickly.

"I'm literally 10 steps away from you. I think you can handle a couple of seconds without me, huh?" You answered, going to the fridge to grab her a water bottle. She looked straight at you, waiting for you to be done so she could finally hug you again. You handed her the water bottle and she promptly drank it; nightmares made her really thristy, for some reason. You were getting ready to sit on her lap again but your phone started ringing, making you go in its direction. "Who the fuck is calling me right now?"

You were intrigued, until you saw the number's id. It was your friend from college, Rachel. The two of you got very close ever since you moved to New York. And that bothered the shit out of Sam, mainly because you were talking to her all the time. Laughing with her, going to places with her. She should do all of this stuff with me, she thought.

"Let me guess... Rachel again?" Sam asked, kind of annoyed. The feeling she hated the most started to build up inside of her. She hated sharing.

"She's not that bad, baby. I get that she can be too much sometimes, but you really should give her a chance." You said before answering the phone. You were so naive, Sam thought. You were innocent to the point where you thought that the reason Sam hated her was because of her personality (rightfully so, because Rachel really could be unbearable sometimes). She could be the nicest, friendliest person in the entire world, and that wouldn't change a thing.

To Sam, she was competition. She was the enemy.

You turned away so you could talk to your friend more privately. It wasn't even something that important, probably just some late night movie session that Rachel was having on her own and she called to say how it was going. It was the love for movies that brought you two together; and also your shared hate of Van Helsing and the second triology of Star Wars.

Sam frowned and got up, going to the bathroom to wash her face a little bit. She was stressed. She was angry. This isn't how it was supposed to be.

Stupid. She's so stupid. She can't even wait until morning to call her? Fucking bitch.

She washed her face with a little bit of cold water, but when she was finished and looked herself in the mirror, she saw him again.

"She's so inconvinient, am I right?" He said, blood splattered all over his face and clothes. "Calling your girl at 3 AM, as if she didn't had anything better to do... As if she didn't had a girlfriend to take care of."

"Stop it." She said, quietly. She didn't wanted for you to know that Billy was back.

"Why do you let this happen, Sam? It isn't right. She's yours. Yet here you are, letting her waste your guys' time to talk with another chick. Oh, I thought you were better than that..."

"Please, shut up."

"You know what you need to do. This has gone way too far." He said, seriously. "You need to take her out of your way, Sam."

"I'm not gonna do shit." She took a deep breath, remembering all of the things you said to her when she was anxious, but this time they weren't helping.

"But you should. She's gonna take your girl away. Are you gonna let that happen, Sam? That's not how we do stuff."

"I'm not like you..."

"Don't be like me, then. Be better. Sneak away in the middle of the night."

"Stop."

"Grab your knife with you. Tie your hair in a ponytail."

"Please, stop."

"Slice her wrists and make it look like a suicide."

"Please..."

"Wear the mask, Sam."

"STOP!" She yelled, and looked up. Billy was gone.

"I'll call you later, Rach." You turned off your phone and ran into the bathroom, where you found Sam crying in front of the sink. You took the girl into your arms and caressed her hair softly.  "Baby, I'm so sorry... You're gonna be alright, okay?" Sam nodded in your arms, still crying. She was scared of herself. Scared of him coming back. Scared that this plan would, maybe, come true one day.

And the worst part about all of this is the fact it seemed like a very good idea.

--

It was eating her alive. Everytime you grabbed your phone to talk to her, everytime she called. Or worse, when you invited her over to watch some stupid sci-fi movies. She could do all that shit with me. She should do all that shit with me. That was all she was thinking when she was on her way to her therapist (which, surprisingly, didn't leave when Sam opened up about her feelings). It didn't take long for her to get to the therapist's office; that was something Sam loved about NYC. She would just take the subway and go pretty much everywhere in the city.

"I don't know if I can keep doing this." She said to her doctor, whose name she didn't even bothered to remember at the moment. Other than being a shrink, he was also a psychiatrist, and to Sam, it meant that his hobby was to fill her up with meds she didn't need.

"Doing what, Sam?" The man asked. He was a nice guy, Sam thought. Mid 50s, a velvety type of voice, and was one of the few people in the world that actually listened to her.

"Sharing her. I just, I can't. It's too much."

"She's not your possession, Sam. You know that, I know that." No. He was wrong. You were hers.

"I know." She lied. "But still. It bothers me."

"And how it makes you feel, exactly?"

"Like I'm about to die. Everytime she's not with me. Everytime she spends time with another person, I wished I was dead." Another lie. She didn't wanted to die, she wanted to kill. And deep down, she knew it. She knew Billy was right; it was her instinct. But she couldn't let them take over. She had to be good. For you, and you only.

"She's a grown woman. Don't you think she is allowed to have her own life?"

"I know that. But she could do all that stuff with me. I'm capable of making her laugh, watch some stupid movies with her, or take her to fucking Madison Square Garden or some shit. I'm enough. I'm all what she needs." She said that last part in a whisper. The doctor wrote some things down, before looking at her again.

"How are the meds going, Sam?" She took a deep breath, relaxing in the chair.

"They suck. But I'm still taking them." The therapist smiled.

"That's the spirit." He wrote another thing down. "I know they can be a little bit hard on your body, but you know they help. Are you still having hallucinations?"

"Sometimes. Not like in the past, but still." She looked at the ceiling, unable to make eye contact with the man. It was a tough topic.

"When do you have them, mostly?"

"When I'm angry, or alone." The doctor nodded, making Sam confused. "Why is that?"

"These are the moments that you feel the most vulnerable, and unfortunately that's how this works; it attacks you when it knows that it can get to you." He said, without even using the term that Sam feared the most. "You can't let that happen, Sam. When you feel angry, or when you're alone, try your best to not listen to it. To not listen to him. If it gets really bad I could prescribe you something, but-"

"No. No more meds." Sam interrupted him. "I can handle it."

He nodded. The consult ended quickly, and Sam was already roaming New York City's streets after a couple of minutes. She needed to forget about all of this, in a healthy way. She promised you and Tara to stop drinking, so the only solution she had to forget about all of her shit was to walk.

She grabbed her phone, hoping you'd had texted her. Nothing. Why she wouldn text me? She always texts me after my consult. Sam thought for a second. Opened Instagram, trying to see if you posted anything. She clicked on your stories. Her heart sank to her stomach, seeing a picture of you and Rachel. Of course she was with Rachel. Stupid, fucking Rachel. She didn't even knew you were gonna be with her tonight.

"Why didn't you tell me you were gonna be busy tonight?"

You didn't take long to respond. "I thought I told you, baby. I'm just watching some tv shows with Rach."

Just reading her name made Sam feel nauseous. Rachel. Such an ugly name.

Sam responded your text lovingly, but feeling the opposite inside. All of that anger and fury came back to her. And that was only one thing in her mind right now.

--

Sam waited. 30 minutes, 1 hour. 2 hours. Nothing. You got home after 3 hours of waiting, which made Sam freaking pissed. She was supposed to be with me.

"Hey baby, I'm home! Sorry I took too long..." You got into the apartment, and Sam gave you a fake smile. You walked to te couch, where she was sitting, and sat on her lap, kissing her entire face dozens of times. "I'm sorry, okay? I know that friday's are our nights, but I'll make it up to you. I promise."

"It's fine, baby. Don't worry."

It wasn't fine. Sam wasn't really proud of what she did next, but it was the only solution she could think at the moment. She put a few drops of some allergy meds in your water, to make you sleepy; which happened in about 30 minutes. You both were cuddling while watching some stupid reality show, when you fell asleep. It was te perfect oportunity; Tara was at Chad's dorm, Quinn was at some hookup's place. It was just the two of you. She would be back before you woke up.

Sam changed her clothing. Put on the most generic outfit she could find, nothing special. Grabbed a hair tie. Put a surgical mask on, along with some reading glasses. She felt like fucking Clark Kent. She put some stuff in her backpack and made her way into the streets. She was calm. You wouldn't find out. Never.

Sam was a smart girl, she did her research. She knew Rachel's address by memory, and with a little internet help, she also found out that Rachel was freaking depressed. Damn, how can this be so easy? Thankfully, Rachel lived in a small house right near Brooklyn. It was late at night, no one was walking the streets except for Sam. The whole way there, she felt anxious, but in the best fucking way possible. Sam never felt this good before, only when she was with you. She always felt happy with you.

It didn't took that long for Sam to get there. Sam tied her hair, looking at the girls body right at the window. She was hidden behind a car, which made it easier for her to change into the outfit she brought. A ghostface's outfit.

"Put on the mask, Sam." She heard Billy's voice in her head, making her shiver. "Listen to me this time."

And she did.

Sam entered the house with no difficulty, the girl lived by herself and had a poor security system. She got inside, and did what she was yearning to do for days.

"Sam? What are you doing here?" The girl asked, after Sam revealed herself. She wanted Rachel to ser her, she wanted for her to know who was her killer.

"I'm here to gut you, Rachel."

Sam took the girl down, immobilizing her. Putting all her body weight on the top of hers. She tried to fight back but it was useless, Sam was stronger.

With a razor, she slit both of the girls wrists vertically.

The blood splattered all over the floor, all over Sam's body.

She felt a rush of dopamine immediately. It felt so fucking good. Seeing her life fade away right in front of her. Now (Y/N) would spend all of her time with me.

Sam spent some 10 minutes just looking at the girls dead body, like if it was a piece of art. She took a deep breath, grabbing a wooden pick she brought with her to clean under Rachel's nails, trying to erase each and every bit of Sam's dna that could potentially frame her. She knew it wouldn't have any, but still.

Sam got up, went to the girls computer. Wrote a suicide letter. It was pretty convincible, to be honest.

Before leaving, Sam looked at her lifelesss body one last time, her mouth watering at the sight. Right next to her, was Billy, looking pleased.

"Good job, Sam. I'm proud of you, kid." Sam took a deep breath. "No one is taking your girl away now."

⠀

tags: @laenordeservedbetter @attaccadq

[reidsaurora]

hellohello i'd like to order a confetti cupcake with luke alvez and a hint of a "oh shit are we really doing this" kind of relationship/date whatever thank youuu

this is the cutest ever, i'm so happy with how it turned out! hope you enjoy 🫶🏻

"The Mistletoe Mishap" ~ L. Alvez

pairing: luke alvez x gn!reader

summary: "you'd be surprised just how seriously the bau took their christmas in july celebrations."

word count: 922

warnings: a couple swear words, mentions of food, a lil splash of sexual humor at the end, i think that's it!

genre: festive fluff ❤️✨️

extra notes: the icon in the collage is by @delicatejareau (edited to fit the theme of the collage a lil better) and the dividers below are by @anlian-aishang!

beta read by: @dungeons-are-too-cold (thank you, love!)

birthday bash | masterlist | ask box

🧁 Confetti Cupcakes - send me a character + concept/trope/au and i'll write you a blurb!

You'd be surprised just how seriously the BAU took their Christmas in July celebrations.

What started as Penelope bringing Christmas cookies to the office one day turned into watching Elf during their lunch hour, Secret Santa exchanges, and weekly contests to see who could show up in the ugliest Christmas sweater (Spencer was winning so far with his sweater made completely out of tinsel).

However, the one unfortunate part of Christmas in July was the mistletoe hanging over every. single. doorframe.

Sure, mistletoe in the workplace was awkward enough as it was, but it certainly didn't help that there was one person you absolutely couldn't get caught under it with.

You and Luke had been dating for a few months by this point and, thus far, you'd successfully kept it under wraps. But every time one of you stopped in a doorway, your heart began to beat so hard, you thought it would bang its way out of your chest.

Usually, you two found a way to keep enough distance that it would be almost impossible to pass under the mistletoe at the same time. But today? The last day of your Christmas in July celebration? Of course it would be the day you didn't.

You and Luke were the last two to show up at the round table room for lunch and a movie, which you'd gathered was Frosty the Snowman when you heard the familiar theme song upon walking in.

Your shoulder brushed something hard as you entered the room, and for some reason, you just knew it wasn't going to end well when you looked up and made eye contact with whoever else was under the mistletoe with you.

You attempted to make a run for your seat, but a familiar voice stopped you in your tracks. "Now, Y/N, you know the rules of mistletoe," Penelope reminded you from her seat. You should've known there wasn't a way out of this, not when Penelope Garcia, self-proclaimed President of the 'Christmas In July Club', was around.

The rules of mistletoe varied a little in the workplace, at least. Some people went for high-fives while others went for hugs. Emily had even gone as far as kissing Tara on the cheek one day, but no one dared to kiss anyone on the mouth yet. So, really, there was no reason to panic, right?

Still, you froze in place, your fight or flight mode clearly not having kicked in yet. Instead, your eyes met Luke's with a look that said, 'please save me,' your hands gripping your lunch bag for some form of stability.

Your chest rose and fell in a rapid rhythm, your heart beating hard against your sternum. "Are we really gonna do this?" you silently mouthed up at him, your whole body on the verge of something close to a panic attack.

"Come on, you guys," Rossi teased, "If Boy Genius can high-five people under the mistletoe, you can too."

Chuckles erupted from your coworkers, but not from you nor Luke. Instead, Luke looked down at you, his tongue jutting out to wet his lips, and somehow, as simple a gesture as it was, the soft eye contact was enough to bring you out of your state of panic. You knew that whatever happened, whether he kissed you or not, and whether or not this kiss led to your secret being exposed, Luke had this, had you.

In one swift motion, he had both his hands planted on either side of your face. "Fuck it," he whispered, barely giving you a second to process the words before his lips were on yours.

His familiar scent fell around you like your own protective bubble as he kissed you, his hold on your face absolutely intoxicating. The taste of his morning coffee burned through you, your stomach doing a loop-de-loop at the sensation.

You knew as soon as he pulled away that all eyes would be on the both of you, but you didn't expect half of their jaws to be on the floor.

"Damn," Emily said, flabbergasted. "Is everyone around here getting laid except for me?"

Penelope was the next to speak, which was quite surprising, considering it looked as though her jaw was out of commission not three seconds prior. "Who knew Newbie could canoodle like that?"

Your face flushed as crimson as the sweater your colleague wore. "Penelope," you scolded her, your hands bringing your lunch bag in front of your face, covering the blush that had taken over.

Luke was having none of that, pulling the lunch bag away from your cheeks. "Y/N sure knows," he smirked before leaving a soft kiss on your forehead.

The blonde all but jumped out of her chair. "Is this a thing? How come no one told me about the thing? Why am I always the last to know about a thing?"

Luke tossed an arm around your shoulders, providing you with a sense of calm and comfort as you thought about your next words. "Technically," you started, "you're all the first to find out about the thing."

"Except Roxy," Luke corrected. "She pretty much knew it was a thing before it actually was a thing."

Next thing you knew, the girls were pulling you over to one side of the room, practically begging for details. Out of the corner of your eye, you caught Spencer sharing a fist bump with Luke, a smile overtaking your face.

Oh, how they got on your nerves, but oh how, you loved the BAU.

-> taglist: @1234-angelika @drayshadow @alexxavicry @nomajdetective @cordyandbilliehavemyheart @darkloverfox @sammyrenae68 @cherrycandle @asgardprincess97 @gh0stgurl @randomwriter1021 @eddieharrington @danielle143 @esposadomd @reidselle @dungeons-are-too-cold @louderfortheback @reidsbookclub @cwritesforfun @cynbx @juismissing @captainchris-pike @lukeclvez

[blackwolfstabs]

FALL FOR THOSE EYES

No matter what their parents say, Sam can't ignore Tara. (or Tara has separation anxiety)

fandom: Scream characters: Sam Carpenter, Tara Carpenter, Christina Carpenter, Mr. Carpenter content: pre-movie (Scream V) // Tara (4), Sam (10) a/n: i wrote this MONTHS ago (like 10 months ago, back when i first started my account lol) didn't expect to post it, didn't plan to post it, but here we are because i can't be fucking consistent. having said this, if you don't like what i write about, i don't need to hear about it, just skip over it please :) side note: Mikey is Tara's cat plush.

Sam lay awake in the darkness of her room in the early hours of 1:00 AM, staring at the ceiling as she listened to her baby sister cry relentlessly. She was going back and forth from her bedroom to their parents’ room, where she’d just be taken back by one of them. Having gone through this for countless nights, the older sibling knew that Tara would spend her time targeting their mother first, and then, when she wasn’t getting her way, she’d start to ask for their father.

But it never worked.

She hated to hear Tara cry so much, but she couldn’t understand why it was so hard for her to just go to sleep. Their parents weren’t going anywhere. They were just in the other room. She’d see them in the morning. Why was it so hard for her?

This time, she heard her mother bring Tara back into her room.

“Tara, you need to go night-night.”

By the sounds of the youngest’s shaky moans and sniffles, Sam guessed she was clinging to her as she put her back into her bed.

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Noo-hoooo!” And her hysterics stirred up again. “I wa-hant you to sta-hay, Mama-haaa!”

Christina left the room, leaving her daughter’s cries echoing down the hallway.

“Mama, pleeee-hease! Mama!”

Tara’s hitching breath was sharp, which made her listening sister start to worry that she would work herself up into an asthma attack. She heard her crying be interrupted by a few coughs, before it continued, her voice getting closer as she made another attempt to leave her room.

“Mm- Mmm– Mm-hmm… Mo-hommy…” She struggled to get out words in full sentences from her accumulated mucus. “I– Ih-hi… want yo-hou… Mommy…”

Great, now she was talking to herself. Samantha covered her face with her hands and lay still, hating how sad her baby sister sounded. And she couldn’t do anything for her. She had been told by their parents to ignore her crying, because she needed to learn. But it was so hard. She just wanted to go lay with her, so they could both get some sleep. She heard Tara’s footsteps retreat into the living room. Again.

A couple more seconds and the cycle repeated, but this time, it was their father bringing her back. Judging from where her whimpers came from, he was carrying her.

“Daddy, nooo-ho-hoo…” 

“Shh-shhh, Tara,” her parent soothed. “You’re okay.”

Even though she wasn’t there, Sam could see him putting her back into bed and actually making the effort to tuck her in around her resistant squirms and sobs.

“Goodnight.”

However, Tara started to cry again as she tried to make him stay, “B-but… my-hy tummy h-hurts, Daddy!” She was already trying to get out of her blankets to prepare to follow him out.

“That’s because you’re crying so much, sweetheart,” he reasoned. A few quiet seconds passed, before he concluded his stay. “Calm down, you’re okay. Hug Mikey and take some deep breaths. Your tummy will feel better soon. Goodnight.”

“I want one more hug!”

Sam bit her lower lip. She hated it when Tara said that.

He must’ve given it to her. “Goodnight, Tara.”

Even after her last hug, the youngest Carpenter was thrown into another fit. “No, Da-ha-ha-ddy! Noooo!” Her bedroom door shut. Uhh-huh-huuhhh!”

Her older sister felt her eyes go hot as she dropped her hands to continue the one-sided stare-off with the ceiling. How long was she going to have to sit here and listen to this before Tara wore herself out? Her cries didn’t leave her room anymore, but they stayed coming through the wall, leaving Sam guessing that she was just lying there sobbing by herself. Their parents were across the house, so they didn’t have to hear how heartbroken she sounded…

A few minutes passed before all went quiet, and she thought that she must’ve cried herself to sleep. But then what she was most afraid of happened…

“Saaaam! … Sa-ha-hammy!”

The owner of the name screwed her eyes shut, but her sister’s pleas grew louder.

“Mmm– Saaaammyyy!”

She covered her ears with her hands, doing what she could to keep herself from running to her rescue. Only it wasn’t a rescue. Tara simply didn’t want to be alone in her room, but she could be. She was being trained to be. She could do it. She remembered what her mother had told her after she and her father had found out that she was sneaking into Tara’s room to keep her quiet.

“She’s a big girl now, Sam. She has to learn how to self-soothe.”

But it was so hard to ignore her.

The shaky moans grew louder, until the door to her room opened and Tara padded in, sniffling and jumping her breaths while she clutched Mikey close. Now, it was of no use. Samantha lowered her hands from her ears and picked her head up to see her sister coming up to her bedside.

“Sammy…” she whined, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I–I… I wa-hant…”

Before she could finish her broken sentences, Sam pushed her covers down and sat up with a sigh. This made Tara start to whimper again, fearful that her last resort would shut her out too. She took her hand and began to guide her towards the door, but the younger just started to break down again.

“I wa-haanna sleep with yo-hou, Sammy!” The little girl was too tired to try and hold herself back, so she was pulled against her will.

“Shhh, I know, Tara. Come on,” Sam continued to hush her as she tugged her past the threshold. She could hear her start to wheeze when she sucked in breaths, her asthma catching up with her from the inability to calm herself down.

But the other hadn’t realized it yet. She was too focused on wanting her way. “I do-hon’t wanna be by myself!” she sobbed, wiping her tears away with Mikey’s marbled faux fur.

“You’re not,” her older sister assured her, “I’m gonna sleep with you.” This seemed to make her start to calm down, sniffling and giving quiet moans to stabilize her crying onslaught. Once they got to her bedside, the taller girl picked her up and put her on the bed. “Lay down. I’ll be right back, okay?”

Tara only gave a partial nod as Sam left the room to grab the tissue box from the bathroom. When she came back into the room, she shut the door and climbed up on the bed to settle next to the recovering occupier, who had willingly got under the covers and was facing her.

She blinked up through drying tears. “Sammy, m-my tummy… hurts,” she complained.

So she wasn’t just pulling strings after all. “I know. It’s because you cried for a long time,” she answered, then went to pull a tissue out from the box, “You know how you have a hard time breathing so you swallow all of the snot in your throat to breathe again?”

Tara nodded.

“All of that snot goes into your tummy and makes it hurt.”

“I… I feel full, too…”

Sam nodded, “Yeah, so don’t swallow it anymore.” She then held the tissue up to her sibling’s nose. “Blow.” She did, and then, she went on to wipe the excess snot draining from her runny nose. “Good girl.” As Tara took in a deep breath to get an adequate amount of air, the other tucked the used tissue into the space between the pillows. “Better?”

Another nod had her placing the tissue box aside and laying down next to her baby sister. She tugged the blankets up to her shoulder and watched Tara roll onto her back to breathe better, where she softly pawed her throat, a small whimper emitting from it. “Remember what Mama said to do,” she reminded, knowing she was scared of having an asthma attack, “Smell the roses, then blow out the birthday candles.” 

And her little sister obeyed, taking a deep breath in through her nose, then letting it out of her mouth.

“Slower, Tara. You can breathe. You’re okay.”

She did so, finding it easier when Sam did it with her. She fiddled with Mikey’s fur while curling and relaxing her toes as she repeated the cycle, a tactic used to decompress her muscles as well.

Eventually, after many breathing cycles and a few tissues, she was able to exhibit a normal breath pattern, making her feel more at ease. But there was still one problem. 

Samantha, on the same hand, had relaxed too, the tactical exercise having her nearly falling asleep. She stirred herself awake. “You getting sleepy yet?” she asked as she suppressed a yawn behind her hand.

But Tara turned her head to look at her with her still-wide-awake puppy eyes. “My tummy still hurts…” she confessed.

Her big sister moved closer to her with a gentle grunt. “It’ll stop hurting in a little bit.” She laid her head down and shut her eyes. Beneath the blanket, she reached her hand over to place it over the gist of the younger’s stomach, where she began to rub in a small circle. “Does it hurt here?” 

“Mm-hmm,” was the reply. The little girl tugged her arms up to allow the caressing hand to do its work as she sank into her pillow while holding her stuffed cat close to her face. “Mama always gives me tummy rubs whenever it hurts,” she whispered.

Eyes still closed, Sam smiled with a short chuckle, “I know.” She knew that was true from seeing it many times. She knew Tara milked stomach aches from time-to-time, just so their mother would hold her. As weird as it might be, being petted like that made her baby sister feel secure. It calmed her down, kinda like a dog. “I don’t think I do it as good as Mom though,” she joked.

Tara giggled. “That’s okay. It still feels good.” She blinked at her sister’s closed eyes, happy that she wasn’t alone anymore. 

“You better not be faking,” the other then opened one eye to glance at the smile on her face.

The younger’s face dropped. “I’m not!”

“You fake stomach aches to Mom all the time, I know you do.”

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

“Liar!”

“Faker!”

“Meanie!”

If she was going to name-call like that, Sam was sure she was feeling better, and she slipped the hand that was caressing her sibling’s abdomen beneath her shirt to tickle her bare, on the offense.

Tara squealed and drowned into laughter as she tried to shove her hand away. “No-ho-ho! Sa-hammy!” She twisted onto her side to curl into herself, then reached out to retaliate, snaking her little fingers into her attacker’s neck.

The new victim pulled her shoulders forward in an awkward block, beginning to snicker herself. But then that caused Tara to move one of her hands to her open underarm, which made her shriek. She then made use of her other hand, which she plunged into the side of the younger’s neck, the side between the pillow that would make it hard to block.

Tara squirmed against the mattress, outdone by aged-strength. She kicked out, inadvertently catching Sam off-guard and having her tickling cease. This made her defend harder, moving her hands from her sister’s neck and underarm to her ribs, sides, anywhere she could to prove her dominance. 

Now, both sisters were in hysterics, trying to get the upper hand from each other, which was a losing game. So, Sam took the initiative to break it up. “Oka-hay, Ta-hara-ha! Stop! We-he need to slee-he-he-heep!” She pulled her hands away and pulled her arms close to her in order to prove her surrender.

Luckily, her sister took it, and backed off as well, her laughter fading to leave a sleepy smile. She may not have been ready to go back to sleep after crying so much, but after all of that, she was tired. 

Samantha panted, readjusting her clothing that had been disheveled from the fight. Tara didn’t seem to care about hers, so when they reverted to lying on their sides, facing each other, she took it upon herself to tug her shirt down and her shorts up.

When they both recovered, the older sibling settled with a content sigh, while the younger one nestled into her pillow with a soft hum. At first, Sam had shut her eyes to welcome the recurrence of sleep, but something possessed her to open them again. And when she raised them to check on Tara, she had done the same.

Her baby sister blinked, the flood of tears that had once ruled her having left no trace on her precious face. “I love you, Sammy.”

The other smiled and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “I love you too, Tara.”

Tara shuffled closer to her and nuzzled Mikey’s fur. She felt safe, happy, and sleepy now that she was with her sister. When her mother and father wouldn’t be there to give her that security, she knew Sam would always be there. “Promise you’ll stay with me all night?” she quizzed, knowing she’d usually leave in the early morning, before the sun came up, so their parents wouldn’t know.

Sam nodded, her tired blink not strong enough to pull her into darkness before she was able to promise, “Until the morning light.”

───────────────────────────

[snarkylinda]

The thing is- Spencer can still be written as Bi, and it would fit his character almost seamlessly.

Ok so- we all know we were robbed of Bi king Spencer in the original show. Fuck CBS, all my homies hate CBS etc etc- BUT, and even tho we saw most of Spencer's adult life, an late, bisexual awakening would fit him alot actually.

Tara was easy to write as queer due to the fact we saw so little of her personal life on the original show- all we know it's that she was married and had a fiancee, so making her Pan in the revival wasn't that hard to fit in with that. Spencer is the opposite- we know him since he was 23. A babu. And know lots of lil bits and pieces of his childhood and teenage dreams- and we also know he does what he can to fit in.

This is mostly dedicated to his neurodivergent traits- stuff that was mostly the reason why he was so brutally picked on school. But come on- in the community we know what "trying to fit in" means growing.

So we have this kid that grew up on a unstable, sometimes downright hostile environment that went after him for being "unusual"- ofc he would never explore his own sexuality besides "Girls Pretty"- he is literally that "I might be No Binary but I have work tomorrow so I don't have time for that" meme. Boy was furthering his education and taking care of of his mom. He had alot of his plate already. High school/College is when most queer people figure out shit for themselves but, and I quote "I was 12- it was all very confusing". Any chance of having a relationship with a fellow student would be at best weird- at worst literally illegal.

So yeah, time to go solve crimes- his dating and personal life become non-existent. His only girlfriend he didn't even know show she looked until she got murdered and is heavily implied the grief and quilt was there UNTIL THE VERY LAST FUCKING EPISODE- thus stopping him from fully moving on with his life.

Flash forward to now- he is in therapy. He is often encouraged to do stuff out of his confort zone (ie: have a life) and hadn't been with the BAU for what? 3 years? 4?? And his ghost girlfriend told him to pretty much focus on healing and finding himself for once-

So in conclusion, give my boy a boyfriend.

[thearcherprentiss]

Criminal Minds as things my friends have said pt. 4

Emily: "1: I didn't know where I was, and B: I didn't know anyone."

Morgan: "1 and B?"

Emily: "Oh, shut up!"

Reid: "You did a really good job cooking this chicken, Rossi!"

Rossi: "...that's a pork chop."

Reid, staring at what is CLEARLY a pork chop: "Are you sure??"

Emily: "Believe it or not, I'm not heartless."

JJ: "I never thought you were heartless."

Emily: "Yes I am!"

JJ: "But you just said-"

Emily: "NO"

Rossi: "Yesterday I looked out my window and saw a guy speed by on a lawnmower. He looked really happy. I wish my life was that exciting... maybe I should buy a lawnmower."

Reid: "What if she doesn't like me?"

Garcia: "Then she isn't good enough for you."

*awkward pause*

Emily: "Again, this time with feeling!"

Garcia: "Oh my god, he is literally having a crisis!"

Emily: "I was uncomfortable, okay!"

Luke: "Tara, I'm going to give you the best advice that I can."

Tara: "Uh oh."

Luke: "As Lily Tomlin once said: carry yourself with the confidence of a mediocre white man."

Tara: "That actually might be the best advice you've ever given."

Tara: "I've hit a new low. Or a new high. Depends on how you look at it. I used my internet stalker skills to find someone I met today. I knew two facts about him: where he went to school, and that he failed chemistry. I didn't know his name and I still found him."

Matt: "That's concerning."

Tara: "It's a gift."

Emily: "I will be so mad if I find out you didn't do what you were supposed to do."

Reid: "How would you find out?"

Emily: "I have my ways..."

Reid: "You know... I believe you."

Emily, backing out of the room: "Watch your back, Spencer."

Reid, eyes wide: "Okay..."

Hotch: "Emily, you cannot just fight people whenever you feel like it."

Emily: "That's homophobic!"

Hotch: "How is that-"

Emily: "Silence, unless you want to be a homphobe."

Hotch: "I hate it here."

Reid: "Do you want half of this piece of gum?"

Luke: "Why?"

Reid: "Because a whole piece is too much. I don't want to be wasteful."

Luke, taking the gum hesitantly: "You're a really strange person."

Reid: "I'm aware, thank you."

Morgan: "Everyone has a Spongebob character that fits their personality. Hotch is Squidward, Rossi is Mr. Krabs, JJ is Sandy, Reid is Karen, Garcia is Pearl, Emily is Plankton, and I'm Spongebob."

Emily, rolling her eyes: "Of course you're the main character."

Hotch: "Derek, is this what you think about in your spare time?"

Morgan: "No, I usually think about it when I'm supposed to be paying attention."

[wheretheharekissesthefox]

Of demons and monsters - Chapter 2: Accommodate

Astarion can't stop fantasising about finally taking Gale. But, to his utter frustration, the wizard isn't willing. Thus, the vampire spawn's faced with his inner demons and monsters from the past.

(Trigger warning (18+): graphic description of sex, smut, anilingus, anal sex, cunnilingus, consensual blood drinking, body worship, biting, ear kink (kinda), fellatio, fingering, frottage, deepthroating, face-fucking, hand job, thigh fucking, vomiting, watersports, wax play, mentioning of past non-con/rape, character study, talking lots of talking, emotional rollercoaster, respecting boundaries is sexy)

Notes:

To avoid confusion: In one of my other fanfics, Halsin and Tav had named the owlbear cup Naïlo, which means 'night breeze' in the Elven language.)

The rest of the week, Gale was busy with work. Meanwhile, Astarion tried to be useful and productive. He was still unsure what he wanted to do with his newfound freedom. As a former magistrate, he had very specific knowledge, but it was outdated and didn't fit today's politics anymore. Thus, the vampire spawn pondered what else he could do and was talented at. It angered and frustrated him that the only other thing he was good at was seducing people. Astarion was disgusted, he'd never take a job in that line of work. For far too long, he'd been treated like a courtesan by Cazador. The vampire spawn felt like punching something – or causing a bloodbath.

Good-humoured, Shadowheart was walking home from the Selûnite temple. Today had been a calm day without a sudden surge of devotees visiting. Thus, Shadowheart went home earlier than usual. She was humming one of Tav's songs, her long braid swinging behind her back. Her silvery staff with a dark blue sphere on the top didn't just mark her as an authority figure, but could also serve as a trusty weapon. It made a clicking sound every time it connected with the cobblestones as the cleric walked through the streets. When she arrived at home and unlocked the front door, a pungent smell and Astarion's raised voice welcomed her.

"What do you mean 'two cloves are not two bulbs'? I don't see the difference!"

"That's a beginner’s mistake, Mister Ancunin," Tara replied calmly but sternly. "The recipe asks for two cloves of garlic, not two entire bulbs of it."

"How was I supposed to know that?" yelled the addressed.

Shadowheart heard some awful clattering noise and an obscene swearword.

"Please, Mister Ancunin, kicking the kitchen cabinet won't help you," tsked the tressym, unimpressed.

The cleric threw her shoes off and rushed into the kitchen. Astarion stood next to the stove, looking murderous, while Tara sat on a chair nearby like a tired mother who watched her child's temper tantrum. The countertop was a mess. Shadowheart took it all in, stunned.

"First, put the knife down, Astarion, and then tell me what's going on," she greeted him.

The addressed jumped at the sound of her voice and turned around.

"Oh... uhm, hello Shadowheart. I didn't hear you," he replied bashfully and finally let go of the knife. "I was trying to cook, but this stupid recipe isn't telling me the right things!"

He glared at the mentioned book, seconds away from throwing it into the fire, but controlled himself since it belonged to Gale. Shadowheart moved closer.

"What's the problem? Something with the amount of garlic, I heard?"

"Yes," nodded Tara. "Mister Ancunin added two bulbs of garlic instead of two cloves. The soup's ruined and burns my nostrils! Phew!"

"I didn't know the difference," Astarion gritted out. "I've never cooked before. I never had to and now... well.... It's not necessary anymore. I can't even taste test the soup to try and fix it because I'd vomit immediately."

He looked crushed and Shadowheart had mercy on him. With a deep sigh, she grabbed a spoon and moved to the stove.

"Let me try it for you."

Astarion looked at her, surprised and wide-eyed.

"It – It might be really bad," he warned.

Shadowheart shrugged nonchalantly.

"Curiosity killed the cat."

She dunked the spoon into the simmering dish that smelled truly pungently of garlic, and put it in her mouth. Astarion and Tara watched her with bathed breath. Shadowheart grimaced and started coughing.

"Damn, Astarion! You could kill an entire legion of vampires with this thing!"

"Is it that bad?" he asked saddened.

"I told you to toss it out," Tara scolded him.

"No! No, we can fix it," intervened the cleric. "Just let me think for a second."

Excitedly, Astarion grabbed her arm, eyes sparkling with joy.

"Really? You think so?"

She nodded and a wide, happy smile spread over the vampire spawn's face. Tara, on the other hand, sighed deeply.

"What do you have in mind, Miss Hollowleaf?"

"Well... I'm not the best at cooking, but... we could use cream to mellow the strong garlic flavour and then, instead of making a soup, we could boil it down to a sauce in which we can toss some noodles."

"That sounds amazing!" cheered Astarion. "You're a lifesaver."

He hugged the cleric who was surprised about the vampire spawn's affectionate touch. He rarely did it. Smiling, she leaned into it and, because it felt right, even kissed his cheek. Astarion blinked at her dumbstruck. Shadowheart grinned at him.

"Come on, let's fix your dish."

With a groan, Gale closed the door behind him and leaned against it. He was tired. His pupils had been awful today: forgot their homework, talked during the lectures, almost burned the class room down because they'd ignored his warnings...

Why am I doing this to myself? Gale wondered. I should be a private tutor instead.

"Mister Dekarios!" Tara came running happily. "It's so good to see you. I've missed you."

The addressed chuckled and bent down to lift her up for snuggles.

"I saw you just this morning, my dearest Tara, and you've praised my cooking. – Apropos cooking, why do I smell garlic? It's rather pungent."

Tara sighed, long-sufferingly.

"Your lover cooked for you and made a terrible mistake."

"Tav? But she's rather good at cooking. Did she try garlic bread, or something?"

The tressym placed her front paws on his chest and looked up at the wizard.

"No, my dear Gale, it's Mister Ancunin."

The addressed's eyes widened, surprised and in disbelief.

"But... he doesn't know how to cook and doesn't need to. Why would he go to such lengths –"

"For you, silly," Tara snickered. "He wants to please you desperately."

"Oh..."

Gale was speechless. His heart thumped in his chest and he welled up a bit. His oldest friend rubbed her head against his clean-shaven chin, purring.

"Say hello to him. Shadowheart helped him save the mess."

The wizard huffed a laugh, placed Tara on the floor, and walked into the kitchen. Astarion, Shadowheart and Tav stood next to the stove, staring into the pot. Gale observed them quietly before making himself known.

"Hello, my dears. It smells delicious. A little tressym told me that a certain vampire spawn cooked his first meal and that a lovely cleric helped him."

The other three turned around and smiled at him.

"That's correct, darling. I wanted to do something nice for you," Astarion replied.

"It smells so damn good!" sighed Tav, salivating.

"You're in luck," snickered Shadowheart. "Dinner's ready."

She handed them their plates and they sat down to eat. Astarion fed Tara, Scratch and Naïlo before joining and observing the others anxiously. Gale rolled the thick noodles around his fork and elegantly brought them to his mouth. He closed his eyes as he chewed, savouring the flavours.

"Holy shit! It's so good!" exclaimed Tav. "You outdid yourself. That's so incredibly tasty!"

"Really?" asked Astarion, still anxious.

Shadowheart nodded and answered, with her mouth full: "It was a great idea to add cream. It mellowed everything out and the noodles soak up the flavours perfectly. We've created a masterpiece."

Now, everyone turned towards Gale who was still chewing his first mouthful. He finally swallowed and licked his lips.

"It's delicious," he said and the vampire spawn and the cleric breathed a sigh of relief. "The garlic flavour's strong, but pairs perfectly well with the cream, the pepper, and the pork belly chunks. Do I also taste a hint of nutmeg? And I believe there's chives."

Astarion nodded and the wizard smiled at him. When he rolled up his fork again, he added teasingly: "Whoever made the noodles needs more practice though. They're awfully thick."

Astarion grinned devilishly.

"It told you to let me do it. My knife skills are much better than yours."

"Shut up," grumbled Shadowheart, no heat behind her words, and shovelled more food into her mouth.

"I'm impressed," remarked Tav. " For this being your first time, you cooked incredibly well. Thank you, loves, for this absolutely tasty meal."

She kissed Astarion and Shadowheart.

"You smell like garlic," grumbled the latter.

"That's the point of a garlic sauce, and by the way, so do you, you silly goose," snickered the bard.

After dinner and when he was ready for bed, Gale pulled Astarion into a passionate kiss.

"Thank you for cooking. I appreciate it. It was delicious. One question though... Isn't it uhm... 'counterproductive' when I smell like garlic? I mean you're a vampire and all that."

Astarion chuckled, replying: "The garlic thing's a myth and holds no power over me."

He leaned up to kiss the wizard again. Then, he whispered against his lips: "Also, I don't mind when you smell like garlic. I'm fine with that."

"Hm, good to know," smiled Gale. "That means I can kiss you some more."

"You've already brushed your teeth, darling."

"That's not the point. I was seriously concerned when Tav kissed you during dinner. I thought you're going to melt or burst into flames or something to that effect. But I'm glad I was wrong."

He connected their lips again softly.

"Let's go to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Mhm, you do that, darling. Meanwhile, I'll go find a lovely meal on the streets. I'll join you later."

With one last kiss, Astarion left the house and Gale made his way to the bedroom. Tav already lay in their big, spacious bed, waving him closer.

One year into their relationship, Shadowheart, amid tears, had confessed that she couldn't sleep well when sharing a bed. Instead of judgement, she'd received sympathy. They'd bought a single bed for her and had moved it into the corner between the wall and some of their chest of drawers. Shadowheart didn't mind sleeping in the same room as others, but she needed space to get a refreshing good night's sleep. Which she required as a high priestess of Selûne who should radiate calmness and patience. Shadowheart still snuggled with the others in the big bed, but moved over to her own to sleep through the night.

Tonight, she already rested in her bed, dog-tired. Gale felt as worn-out as the cleric looked and face-planted into the bed.

"My students will be the death of me," he groaned. "It's exhausting to look after them so that they don't accidentally kill themselves."

Tav snickered and smooched him.

"Well then, goodnight and sleep well, love," she smiled.

With a hum, Gale kissed her forehead before collapsing onto the mattress and falling asleep shortly after. He didn't even register when Astarion joined them in bed.

Gale had the Fridays and weekends off, but they were often occupied by marking his pupils' essays and homework, or by preparing lectures and papers. Thus, the wizard was happy when he'd finished everything on Friday night. Contently, he leaned back in his chair and stretched his stiff limbs. He'd definitely overworked himself this week, not just because of his students but also because he'd done some private research.

Gale couldn't forget his conversation with Astarion regarding the latter's bedroom activity fantasies. But no matter how much he tried to convince himself that he could do it, the thought of being taken that way, filled him with so much discomfort, anxiety, and actual fear that he couldn't bring himself to do it. But there were other ways to accommodate his lover. Hopefully, it was enough.

Gale stood up, mind set on his mission, and took a bath. He washed himself thoroughly, dried off, and dressed in his favourite robe. Then, he went looking for his lover. He found Astarion in the living room, surrounded by the animals, reading a cookbook.

"So... 'simmering' means cooking something at a very low temperature, right?"

"Exactly, Mister Ancunin," purred Tara.

"I know what 'season to taste' means, but how should I do that without being able to actually taste the food?"

"Hmm... maybe follow every step except this one, and then let someone else taste and additionally season the dish for you, like Shadowheart did."

"That's probably the best idea," nodded the vampire spawn.

"Busy learning new things I see," smiled Gale and entered the room.

Scratch wagged his tail sleepily and Naïlo hooted as a greeting. Gale gave them some well-deserved affection.

"One's never too old to learn new things," replied Astarion. "I'm still figuring out what I'll do with myself now. I can't just vegetate in our home for the rest of my life. I want to pull my weight and do something useful with which I can earn some money. I can't work as a magistrate anymore though... The job was rather tedious anyway and it led up to the entire tragedy that is my life."

"You're rather talented at sewing and you have a very tasteful sense of fashion," Gale told him. "You'd make an excellent tailor."

"Maybe," muttered Astarion, lost in thought.

The wizard observed him for a bit before he said: "You seem busy and in a brooding state. I'll leave you be and come by later."

"No, it's fine," retorted the vampire spawn and looked up at him. "You're here, that means you'd like to tell me something. Go on, darling."

Gale licked his lips, confidence wavering.

"I uhm... I thought you might like to take this elsewhere. Your bedroom for example."

It immediately clicked in his lover's head and a grin spread over his face.

"I'd love to, darling," purred the vampire spawn. "I was waiting all week to have you. You always sleep like a log nowadays, because of your bratty students."

He pulled the wizard into a passionate kiss and then led him downstairs to his room. They immediately started to strip while Gale revealed: "I did some research and made some interesting discoveries."

"And you'd like to try them out? Oh, darling, I like that kind of research. You should do it more often," smirked Astarion.

Gale blushed a bit, cleared his throat, and smiled bashfully. They kissed, running their hands over each other's skin, and blindly stumbled towards the bed. Astarion brought the wizard under him, leaving biting kisses on his neck, and rubbed up against him. The wizard sighed and stroke his lover's pointy ears who shivered and moaned at the touch. Astarion bit down on his neck, not even drinking his blood, just burying his fangs in him. Gale groaned, his eyelids fluttered. There was something so intimate and erotic about being bitten – and fed on. He rolled his hips up into the vampire spawn, almost bucking the latter off. Astarion chuckled.

"Eager, are we?" He licked Gale's Adam's apple. "Let me taste you."

The wizard was surprised when his lover started kissing a trail down his torso instead of biting him again to feed. It seemed like he wanted to taste something else than blood.

"You should be the one on the receiving end," Gale panted. "I have some interesting things to share with you."

"Later," the vampire spawn told him and started to suck him off.

The wizard bit his lips and moaned lowly, running his fingers through his lover's hair. The latter pulled back with an obscene slurp and sat up. The hungry look on his face made Gale swallow nervously. Suddenly, something seemed to snap in Astarion.

"Turn around. Now," he growled and before the wizard had the chance to do anything, he was flipped onto his stomach. Astarion was immediately on him, kissing his back, licking down his spine, and biting his left buttcheek. Gale let out a little undignified squeak of shock at the uncharacteristic rough treatment and manhandling.

"Up on your knees."

The wizard was so shocked and confused about the situation that he complied. Astarion growled again, then, he spread his lover's cheeks and licked across his hole. Gale gasped, gripped by sudden fear.

"No."

He whined when the vampire spawn buried his tongue in him demandingly, opening him up.

"Astarion..."

The addressed grunted and drew back, only to push two well-oiled fingers into him and plunge his tongue right back in between them. Gale cried out when the vampire spawn stroke his prostate. It felt good, but the undoubtably soon-coming next step made him tremble in fear.

"No, Astarion, please stop."

The wizard sobbed. His mind unhelpfully already providing images of the further events. The tears spilled over and he turned his face into the bedsheets to stifle another sob.

"Astarion!" he cried in a panic. "No! Please stop! Please..."

The addressed suddenly drew back with a gasp and Gale dropped onto the bed with another sob. All his strength had suddenly left him.

"Shit," he heard Astarion pant. "Shit!"

The vampire spawn moved and rolled Gale onto his side to look at him. The latter's vision was blurry with tears as he gazed up at his lover who seemed almost as shocked and anxious as him.

"I can't, I'm sorry," Gale cried. "I really want to give this to you, but I can't."

"No, don't apologise. I pushed you despite knowing I shouldn't. I - I ignored your boundaries, your words. I'm truly sorry. I'll never do it again, I promise." Astarion looked angry. Not at him, Gale realised, but at himself. "Can I... can I touch you?"

The wizard nodded and utter relief showed on his lover's face. The vampire spawn lay down next to him and pulled him into a hug. Gale went willingly, with a deep sigh. Astarion kissed his forehead, holding him tight.

"I'm sorry," he whispered again. "I behaved like a monster."

"No. You stopped."

"Yes, but too late."

"It's – it's alright. You didn't go any further."

"But I thought about it." Now, Astarion tensed, angrily screwing his eyes shut and turning his head away. "I heard your pleas and despite of it, I seriously thought about shoving my dick into you and fucking you without your consent. – I'm so disgusting."

Astarion pressed the heels of his palms into his eye sockets and made an angry noise.

"I hate myself for it. – Gods, I'm acting like the monster I swore never to become!"

He gulped in some air, trembling.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

And before Gale could say or do anything, Astarion shot up from the bed, stumbled over to his washbasin and vomited into the porcelain bowl. His retching almost turned Gale's stomach as well. He quickly placed a hand on his queasy belly and mumbled a spell to ease the rising nausea . Then, he got up and rushed over to his lover who was still panting and dry heaving. He was hyperventilating, Gale realised. He placed a hand on Astarion's back and muttered a spell to calm him down and ease the nausea. The reaction was immediate. The vampire spawn relaxed, stopped gagging, and his breathing slowed.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Gale hummed and recited another spell to clean up the literal bloody mess. Then, he wrapped his arms around his lover.

"Sh, sh, it's alright, dear. I'm here and I won't leave," the wizard promised.

Astarion sobbed and pressed his face into Gale's shoulder, digging his fingers into him.

"I'm sorry. Please, forgive me, I beg you."

Gale kissed his temple and answered: "You don't have to beg. I'm still here, aren't I, and I promise you that I won't go as long as you want me around."

Astarion nodded, pressing himself even closer to the wizard, and the latter remembered what Astarion had told him.

'I want to crawl inside of you.'

Such simple words with such a heavy implication.

"I think it's best if we go to bed and rest," Gale said softly, and Astarion nodded again silently.

They lay down on the bed, tightly entangled. The wizard extinguished all the candles except for one and closed his eyes. He was almost asleep when he heard Astarion whisper pleadingly: "Please, don't hate me for what I've done."

"I could never hate you," mumbled Gale before sleep overpowered him for real.

When Gale awoke the next morning and blearily opened his eyes, Astarion was watching him with an unreadable expression.

"Morning, dear," mumbled the wizard. "May I kiss you?"

Relief showed on the vampire spawn's face and he nodded eagerly. Smiling sleepily, Gale placed a hand on his lover's cheek and his lips on his.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

The addressed shrugged.

"I'm still disgusted with myself."

"Don't be," Gale told him and kissed him again.

Astarion drew back and wanted to know: "How can you still love me?"

"Because I do," answered the wizard simply. "It's not like I can get rid of my feelings for you just because you've done something I don't approve of."

The vampire spawn chewed on his lower lip, asking: "Do you want to get rid of them? Your feelings I mean."

"No. I love you and nothing can changed that. I told you before."

Astarion bit his lip harder, frowning, until a small rivulet of blood dripped down his chin. Gale wiped it off gently, but his lover shied away from his touch.

"You said you'd still love me if I hurt you, but I don't want you to. If I'll ever hurt you in any shape or form, draw too much blood or force myself onto you, I want you to hate me. I want you to kill me. Show me no mercy if I'll become a monster like Cazador. Obliterate me like the grand wizard you are."

Gale's eyes widened and he shook his head vehemently.

"No! I could never." He gripped Astarion's arm to hold him closer as the latter tried to lean away further. "Please don't ask me to do such an unspeakable thing."

Astarion glared at him, baring his fangs.

"You all respect my boundaries. You never touch me without asking first. For years, you didn't touch my scars because it made me uncomfortable. I have so many boundaries, so many no-goes, and you just accept them. You, on the other hand, have one simple wish: to not be taken anally. And I am disgustingly upset about it. I tried to push your limit multiple times without taking into consideration how you feel about it! Like a selfish, wretched monster! What if I lose control for real? What if I rape you? What if I seriously hurt you, Tav, Shadowheart, or Halsin? What if I drain them dry, eh? Would you still love me?"

"I'm not afraid of you, Astarion," Gale snapped back. "I know who you are and what you are and I trust you. I know my lovers, my spouses. Bloody hells, I know my husband!"

At that, the vampire spawn stilled.

"Your husband," he mumbled, absentmindedly touching the silvery family sigil ring. A four-pointed star: Dekarios. His wedding ring.

"Yes," Gale said softly and stroke his cheek. "My husband Astarion Ancunin Dekarios. And my wife, Tav Sionnach Ancunin Dekarios. The loves of my life."

The vampire spawn blinked away tears, huffing a watery laugh.

"We're married," he sniffed, still in disbelief, and Gale smiled at him.

"We are, my dear."

He kissed him softly, left hand straying upwards to caress the pale elf's pointy ear. Astarion sighed and leaned into the touch.

"I still can't believe that not one but two people decided to love and marry me. I come with so much baggage. Why would you want someone who's broken like me?"

"Stop it. You're not broken," the wizard told him sternly. "You're traumatised and working your way through it. And I'm proud of you. We all are."

Astarion closed his eyes, leaning his head against Gale's shoulder. An ugly sob clawed its way out of his throat.

"I love you," he whispered, clinging to his lover.

The latter kissed his ear and stroke his back.

"I love you too. – Now, stop hurting yourself. Please."

Astarion nodded silently and Gale placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. The vampire spawn sighed, wrapping his arms around his husband, and breathed in the calming scent of lavender that lingered on the wizard's skin, hair, and clothes. Some things would never change. Astarion smiled softly. He drew back to look at Gale and leaned in to ravish his mouth. The latter moaned lowly and gave him a demonstration of his talented tongue. Gods, it made Astarion weak in the knees to think about what that tongue was capable of. The vampire spawn sunk his fingers into Gale's chest-length mane, marvelling at its softness once more. While moaning into his lover's mouth, the vampire spawn moved into his lap, searching for friction. The wizard gasped and wrapped a hand around them both.

"Yes," panted Astarion, bucking into the offered grip.

But Gale eased him back with his other hand against his chest and looked at him.

"Wait," he panted. "I have something better to offer. As I told you, I read up on some things."

"You're a walking, talking cyclopaedia. I don't think you'd need to read more," Astarion teased lightly.

Gale didn't take the bait and chuckled instead.

"Well, this wasn't my usual topic. I had to dig a little until I found what I've been looking for."

Now, the vampire spawn's curiosity got the better of him.

"Really? On what exactly did you read up on?"

Instead of answering, Gale lifted his hand, uttered a spell, and slid his glowing hand down his own throat. Astarion raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think you need a spell to be more talkative. You're annoying enough as you are, darling."

Gale shook his head with an amused snort.

"It's not for talking. I can't give you what you want, but there might be something I can do that feels similarly good."

"And what's that?" asked Astarion curiously.

Gale blushed and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"The spell... It uhm... It completely removes one's gag reflex – and more."

Astarion's eyes widened in surprise.

"You want me to fuck your face?" he blurted out.

"No, my throat," muttered the wizard.

The vampire spawn suddenly felt dizzy.

"Oh... Oh, darling, I'd love that. If you're willing."

Gale swallowed thickly but nodded. He lay down on the bed and Astarion straddled his chest.

"You should - You should face the other way," the wizard told him, shyly. "I read that it feels better that way because –" He had to lower his gaze. "– because you can go deeper. It'll feel more like you're taking my uhm... you know."

Gale was incredibly uncomfortable to spell it out and Astarion had mercy on him. He leaned down to place a gentle kiss on his lover's lips.

"I'd love to try it."

He turned around, facing the foot of the bed instead of the headboard and slowly lowered himself down.

"Tap my leg if it's too much," he instructed the wizard who hummed.

Astarion took a deep breath, positioned his arms on the mattress at Gale's sides and bent his knees further. He bit his lips and moaned lowly when Gale took him in his mouth. Carefully, the vampire spawn rolled his hips forwards, sliding his cock down his lover's throat. When he went pass his uvula, Gale moaned instead of gagged, and Astarion's eyes rolled back.

"Oh, shit!" he groaned. "It feels so good."

Gale seemed pleased, gently stroking his thighs. The vampire spawn kept pushing forward and down the willing throat until Gale's lips touched his pubic bone. He moaned loudly, hips stuttering. The wizard's throat was tight, hot and soft – just like Astarion pictured his ass to be.

"Fuck," he groaned. "Oh, fuck... Gale…"

The addressed hummed around him, the vibration zapping through the vampire spawn like lightning. He whined and something snapped in him. He drew back, only to thrust in again, desperate to feel that tight clutch around him. Blissfully, Astarion threw his head back and started to fuck Gale's throat for real. He shoved his hips into him over and over again until he moaned with every exhale. His eyes rolled back in his head again and he closed his eyes.

"Yes," he groaned and climaxed with a blissful cry.

Gale's throat worked around him, swallowing his load. Astarion moaned and lost another flood. Slowly, he pulled out and gasped when his member slipped past his lover's soft lips. He had just enough strength left to turn around before he collapsed.

"Gods, darling... That was... I've never experienced anything like this before."

"Hmm." Gale smiled pleased, stroking Astarion's hair. "According to your reaction, my research was a success. – There's more by the way."

"Really?" The vampire spawn gazed at him, still drunk on his orgasm and terribly aroused. "Care to share?"

The wizard smirked smugly.

"But, you know, listening to my garrulous explanations and monologues is rather tedious. I wouldn't want to bore you."

Astarion snickered.

"Truer words have never been spoken. But still; tell me everything you learned while doing research, darling."

"Well..." Gale turned a bit to make better eye contact. "As you can probably imagine, there's endless literature on sexual practices, but I obviously looked for specific things that might please you. One starting point was your affinity for the differences in our body temperatures and I found some rather uhm... 'unconventional' methods. The first involves candles, or better said melted candle wax. It's easily explained and very forward: Light a candle, let the wax melt and drip onto your partner's body. It'll bring them excitement and pleasure."

"Sounds... interesting."

"Would you like to try it?"

When Astarion nodded, Gale stretched out his hand with a whispered spell and the candle on the nightstand flew over. He lit it with another spell and Astarion watched the calm flame with bated breath. There was some undiagnosable anxiety stirring in his belly, but he ignored it. Gale locked eyes with him.

"Are you ready?"

Astarion nodded.

"Are you sure you want to try this? You don't have to."

"I want to," replied the vampire spawn determinedly.

The wizard nodded, shifted his attention to the candle, and tilted it sideways. A small dollop of melted wax dropped onto Astarion's solar plexus and he gasped in shock. It was hot on his cold, undead skin, but didn't truly hurt. When the wax first hit his skin, there was a quick moment of pain which immediately fizzled out into a prickling feeling.

"Alright?" Gale asked, always checking in on him.

Astarion was almost at the verge of tears again. His lovers were always so attentive and respectful, and he'd almost screwed it up.

"Yes," he whispered. "Do it again."

Gale moved the candle slightly upwards and the next puddle of wax hit Astarion's sternum. The vampire spawn gasped again, shivering at the heat of it. He moaned when the wax hit his skin for the third time.

"Do you want me to keep going?"

"Yes. Gods, just... give me more," panted Astarion.

The wizard hummed and carefully continued his work. The vampire spawn trembled beneath him, gasping or moaning each time the hot, melted wax hit his skin. Gale painted a random pattern, dripping the white wax all over his lover's torso. He left out certain areas, like the areolas and the belly button because they're too sensitive for it. Astarion revelled under the attention even though it wasn't his favourite thing. Suddenly, a stupid idea popped into his head, he still voiced it.

"Drip it on my dick."

"That's a terrible idea. That'll seriously burn you."

"Just do it. You can heal me afterwards."

"If you wish," muttered Gale and did as he was told.

When the hot wax hit the tip of Astarion's penis and started flowing down along his length, his mouth fell open in a guttural moan and his eyes rolled back in his head.

"Mmmh...oh, fuck..."

"It hurts, doesn't it?" the wizard stated worried.

"Yes, but no. In a way, but it also feels... good," groaned the vampire spawn, his member twitching as the wax started to cool and harden. "It - it's difficult to describe. Do it again."

"Astarion, I don't think that's –"

"Again. Please."

With a sigh, Gale complied. A string of hot wax drizzled over the tip of the penis again, slightly pooling in the slit before running down. The vampire spawn whined and bucked up. It felt so painfully good. Gale stared at him.

"You're getting... hard?" he asked in disbelief.

All Astarion could do was whimper and his member twitched in excitement. His eyes rolled back in his head again when wax hit his erection a third time.

"Oooh Gods!"

He trembled, surprised about teetering at the edge already again.

"I'm going to –"

His sentence ended in a shout as more hot wax dribbled over his length. His mouth fell open in a silent cry and his seeds spilled over, pushing the hardening wax away from the tip. The feeling had him moaning again.

"Most fascinating," mumbled Gale. "I didn't think you could come from this."

"Me neither," panted Astarion with a chuckle.

Gale's unfocused gaze wandered over his lover's wax-littered torso, lost in thought.

"Since your body's colder than a living being’s, you're more sensitive to heat, but only when it's in contact with your skin, not the temperature around you. You don't react this way to the summer heat."

"You're a genius," teased the vampire spawn. "I'm undead, darling. The weather conditions don't bother me, I neither sweat nor freeze."

"I know, but it's a rather peculiar phenomenon," muttered the wizard.

Astarion smirked, petting his husband's hair.

"Can you please focus on our bedroom activities again, darling?"

The addressed blinked and looked up.

"Of course. Apologies."

Gale kissed him gently, then, the vampire spawn smirked.

"Has your research provided you with more methods?"

"Yes, but..." The wizard blushed, averting his gaze. "I doubt you'll enjoy it. It's a rather unconventional, disgusting practice. I don't even want to tell you about it."

Astarion was intrigued by the mysteriousness.

"Do tell."

Gale swallowed and licked his lips.

"Well... it's uh... You like it when I... you know."

The vampire spawn raised an eyebrow questioningly and the wizard wanted to hide somewhere in embarrassment.

"You like it when I spill into you," he finally got out, turning crimson. "But no matter if I use a spell or not, the amount will never be enough to satisfy you. The method I found is... well... one empties one's bladder into one's partner."

Astarion's eyes widened.

"What?" he whispered.

Gale ducked and tried to hide in the sheets.

"It's disgusting, I know. I didn't want to tell you anyway."

"Wait, wait..." The vampire spawn's head was spinning. "You're telling me people pee into their partners?!"

"Yes," mumbled Gale into the blanket.

Astarion blinked, staring at the ceiling. How would that feel like? Being filled with a gush of hot urine. Disgusting, no question, but also... Astarion licked his lips. It would be incredibly warm and much more than a load of semen. He was surprised when a shiver ran down his spine and his member twitched at the thought.

"We could try it," he said lowly.

Gale stared at him in disbelief and suddenly, Astarion felt self-conscious and embarrassed.

"Are you sure? Do you really want to try?"

Biting his lip, the vampire spawn nodded. He would have blushed if that had been physical possible.

"If it's your wish, we can try," Gale told him. "Do you want to do it now?"

Astarion nodded hastily and pulled him into a sloppy kiss. Then, he asked: "Can you though?"

The wizard huffed a laugh, flustered.

"Well, it's morning and I haven't used the privy yet, so... my bladder's rather full."

"Let's do it then," the vampire spawn told him, sounding more confident than he was.

To his utter relief, Gale nodded and replied: "We better do this on the floor. It'll be messy."

Astarion attempted to stumble out of bed, but his lover held him back.

"Let me prepare you first," he said and placed a kiss on his cheek.

The wizard uttered a spell and the candle wax vanished from Astarion's body. The latter was thankful for it because the hardening wax was starting to tug uncomfortably on his skin when he moved. The vampire spawn handed him the lubricant and Gale carefully but efficiently opened him up with his fingers. The vampire spawn sighed and moaned at the gentle treatment. When the wizard finally deemed him ready, he retracted his fingers and placed a kiss on Astarion's erection. The latter rolled out of bed and got down on all fourth. He was so aroused and needy that he didn't feel ashamed anymore. Gale moved closer, pumping himself to full hardness, and positioned himself behind his lover. He bent down and kissed Astarion's tailbone.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes," breathed the addressed.

"Ready?"

The vampire spawn nodded, biting his lips in anticipation. Gale kissed his scars first and only then pulled back to push into him. Astarion moaned lowly, closing his eyes blissfully. He loved to be filled by the wizard's cock who had the perfect length and girth. Gale started to move, leisurely thrusting into his partner, hitting his prostate every time. Other than usual, he didn't lean over the vampire spawn but kneeled with a straight back, watching how his member moved in and out of his lover's cold, greedy hole. Moaning lowly, the wizard grabbed onto Astarion's hips to hold him tight.

"Do you – Do you really want this?" he panted. "You have to tell me now, I can't stop later."

"Do it," moaned the vampire spawn. "I want to feel your heat inside me, please."

With a grunt, Gale bottomed out and climaxed, spilling into him, with his head thrown back. Astarion moaned, glutes flexing and trying to milk him dry. The wizard took a deep breath, let go, and started to pee into his lover. Astarion's eyes went wide when the hot urine flooded his cold body. His mouth dropped open in a loud, guttural cry, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he spilled his release onto the floor while the stream of liquid didn't seem to end. His body shook at the sudden warm rush, and he moaned and moaned, as he ass pulsed around Gale's cock.

"Yes... fuck..."

He felt his insides fill up for the first time in over two centuries (from the wrong end, but still), all hot, and so, so much. His eyes rolled again as he kept moaning and drooling onto the floor. Gale slowly rocked into him even though he wasn't hard anymore. Astarion felt the liquid slush around inside him and slightly trickle out and down his thighs, leaving hot traces behind. Whining, he flexed his glutes, hoping to keep as much as possible inside him. Gale moaned lowly at the movement and slowly pulled out. More urine gushed out and down Astarion legs who moaned at the feeling. He hadn't even known that such an act was possible – or practiced. For the first time in centuries, his body felt warm. He could die happy now.

Gale tenderly caressed his buttocks and asked: "How are you feeling?"

"Fantastic," slurred the vampire spawn. "It’s so warm and I'm so... full. Gods..."

"So... it's... good?"

"More than," Astarion moaned.

The wizard brought a hand around him, running it over his belly. Then, he gently pulled Astarion backwards until he was kneeling. The vampire spawn whined when more of the urine gushed out of him and soaked the floor under him, warm and wet.

"Oooh... shit..." he sobbed and trembled.

With a hum, Gale wrapped his arms around him and kissed his husband's neck while he stroke his gaunt belly.

"Are you warm now, Astarion?" he whispered. "Do you feel alive?"

"Yes," the addressed groaned, leaning more into his lover.

Gale chuckled and littered his neck with kisses. Astarion sighed, happy and sated. He had never felt this way before. They dwelled like this for a while, kneeling and embracing, with Gale kissing the vampire spawn's neck and caressing his abdomen while the latter rested his head against the wizard's shoulder. When the liquids started to cool and feel itchy on his skin, Astarion started to wiggle around uncomfortably. Gale cleaned them up with a spell, including the floor, and, instead of sex and urine, the room smelled faintly of lavender. Astarion sighed, turned his head and met Gale for a sweet kiss.

"Thank you for indulging me and my perversions."

"Anything for you."

They kissed again, then, they got up to move back to the bed.

"Oof, my knees are killing me," groaned the wizard and the vampire spawn snickered.

They lay down and cuddled close together. Smiling, Astarion brushed his fingers along Gale's clean-shaven jaw.

"You're getting old, my love."

The wizard stared at him wide-eyed.

"You never call me that before," he whispered and the vampire spawn frowned, concerned.

"I never called you what? Old?"

"My love."

"Oh..." Astarion blinked, surprised. "But, you are. You are my love."

"Astarion..." Gale was at the verge of tears and he hugged his husband.

"You know..." The vampire spawn looked at him. "For almost two centuries, I had to lure young, pretty things back to my master. What I wanted and felt never mattered. And now that I finally have a choice, I realised that I don't like young, pretty things. – Don't get me wrong, I am vain." He smirked a bit. "But my definition of beauty is different than Cazador's. The eye of the beholder and all that."

Astarion stroke Gale's hair, smiling softly.

"You're beautiful. The crow's feet and the lines on your forehead that get deeper with each year that passes. Your majestic hair that's turning more and more grey. Your body that finally gets softer again. I can't wait until you have a pudgy little belly and love handles."

At that, Gale snorted a laugh, but kept quiet otherwise.

"I love that you're growing out your hair. It suits you."

"Well, it's better than a beard," the wizard replied and, with a chuckle, he added: "Tara would be furious if I'd stop shaving again."

"And rightfully so," grinned the vampire spawn and kissed him again. "You know, you do look like your mother."

At that, Gale smiled brightly. Proudly, Astarion realised. He kept caressing his husband's face.

"Since we've met, you've aged and it's beautiful. Because it means that you survived and are alive. I'll never age, but I'm not into youth. I'm attracted to people who show signs of aging, and I can finally choose who I take to bed. – The same goes for Tav, you know? She's not a beauty, obviously, but I love the way her eyes sparkle when she's happy and how her beaming smile lights up a room. I love the freckles on her broad shoulders and her tiny, little breasts, and that she can pick me up with ease and carry me around like a princess. I love her and I love you, and I love that I can be by your sides while both of you age."

"You might change your mind in forty years when we'll be all saggy skin and wrinkles and smell like old people," said Gale softly, but the vampire spawn shook his head.

"No," he replied with a serious expression on his face. "No, I'll always love you, just the way you are."

Smiling, the wizard pulled him in for a kiss, pouring all his feelings into it.

"I love you too," he muttered against his husband's lips. "As long as I live, you won't get rid of me."

Astarion snickered, replying: "I never want to get rid of you, my love."

They stayed in bed, warm and cosy, lying in each other's arms, and trading kisses. For once, time went by without their contribution. Astarion and Gale simply dwelled in each other's company without a care in the world.

[zeroducks-2]

tell us about the nasty Slade man from TT03

since you guys (and @exhausted-pigeon) asked, here's me talking about iconic Teen Titans 2003 Slade :D

Disclaimer right here. Unlike a lot of fortunate folks, I did not have Teen Titans available to watch back then (I really missed out, especially cause I was in my pre-teen years and that would have been The Perfect Show for me at that point). This means that I only got to watch tt03 recently, therefore these thoughts don't come from someone who holds the show dear as a childhood memory, and who fell in love with it a long time ago, who had their christening to DC stuff through that and yada yada.

I'll therefore discuss tt03 Slade without personal/emotional involvement, and keeping in mind that tt03 is indeed a show intended for a young audience. I'll be adding screenshots for poignancy, so it's going to be a pretty long post :)

End of disclaimer, now onto the good shit.

So, what to say about Slade. Fans have been calling him downright devious, the Teenagers Tormentor, A True Menace To Society, a master manipulator, and a child predator even if there's nothing *too* explicit being that this is a show for kids.

(not that kids being the target audience stopped them showing Slade sleeping with Tara in NTT back in the '80s, but that's a conversation for another time)

Do I think that any of this is true? The answer is essentially yes, I agree with all of the above.

Slade is a very fun character, and his presence dominates the scene every time he's on screen. He's a solid villain, one that feels truly threatening for the protagonists (and not like a forgettable bad guy who can be overpowered with The Power Of Friendship™), and he fits perfectly with the dynamic of the show. He will do the most ridiculous corny things, like materializing at random in a corner of a panoramic wheel cart, while the wheel is in motion, right when Terra and Beast Boy are about to kiss (just to ruin their night basically).

I tried to find a gif cause this scene is too funny but sadly I didn't manage.

But he will also (and mostly) do fucked up shit which people nowadays argue as not belonging in a kid show, like grooming teenagers and/or forcing them to work for him.

His design is also easily iconic, and he's huge in bulk compared to the tiny, slender kid protagonists, adding to the threatening vibe.

I mean look at that Raven's a mushroom compared to him

But he's not a monster - you know he's a human being while you're watching the show, whether you imagine an eyepatch and silver hair like comicbooks!Slade or you picture a completely different kind of face on him, you still know he's just a man... or is he.

The show subtly toys with the idea that Slade might not be human after all. His face is never shown - every single time one of the characters manages to overpower him and unmask him, they find out that they've been fighting against a robot.

This happens after a fight so violent Robin almost dies by falling off a building, and SLADE HIMSELF saves him - reason being more or less "I'm not done kicking your ass". Eventually Robin manages to overpower him, takes off his mask, and lo and behold:

Slade wasn't even there the whole time.

Also, he seems to live in some sort of lab filled with complicated tech and huge gears that spin into nothing. Does this man even need to sleep, eat or drink?

What is this place and how high is the rent

I love what he did with the huge gears it's so ambient

All of this contributes to the threatening, mysterious aura surrounding the character. Which at times can turn into outright terrifying despite the show being relatively lighthearted. Pretty soon the narrative manages to establish the fact that Slade is nearly impossible to beat, that he will do anything to bring down the protagonists (or bring them under his control), and that you can always expect the worst from him.

But the most interesting aspect to discuss is for most people the child predator vibes this character has from his first appearance throughout the entirety of the show. And to whoever says "you can't tell me that they didn't do this intentionally", well, consider two things

1 - Slade in the comicbooks did sleep with a 15yo, in order to use her to bring down the Titans. So like, the fact that he *might* sleep with kids isn't much of a far-fetched hypothesis and 2 - The way he acts goes beyond the average "well this is a kids show of course the villain will act in weird ways towards kids".

Let me expand a little on this second point. When the protagonist of a story is a kid, the villain that will try to hurt/kill them is not automatically a child predator or a child abuser, only because he hurts a kid. In the context of that story it makes sense that the villain will act as if the protag was an adult - the story was created with a young audience in mind, and if other characters treated the protag like a child it would break their immersion.

So is this the case with Slade? Well yes, but actually no. There obviously is a case of "he treats the characters like adults cause it's a kids show" but does he, really? Slade works with the fact that the characters are kids, therefore inexperienced and easy to manipulate. He also wants an apprentice, which necessarily has to be young. In Terra's case, he plays on her insecurities and her need for someone to teach her and guide her. And then there's the way the scenes are directed and the creepiness factor of just how this man interacts with these kids that rightfully puts him in the creep zone, regardless of what exactly the story will show in terms of explicit details.

For this to make more sense I need to make examples, so let's dive in a little deeper starting with Fans Favorite's ... *drumroll* ...

The Apprentice Arc

It starts out with Slade contacting the Titans to tell them that he planted a bomb in the city. Robin, who's already obsessing at the point of waking up drenched in sweat after nightmares where he and Slade beat the shit out of each other, snaps into action to retrieve the trigger of the bomb.

Tis Robin waking up in his "Pepe Silvia" room dedicated to Slade after a nightmare, for your viewing pleasure.

So off the kids go, and while Robin chases Slade, the rest of the team goes try and dismantle the bomb. Slade tosses Robin around for a while, and when Robin manages to grab the remote control, Slade reveals that this is not a remote control because there is no bomb at all - rather, the rest of the Titans have just gotten hit with a laser beam that infected them with nanomachines. Now Robin has to do Slade's bidding and become his apprentice; if he refuses, or disobeys, Slade will use a button to inflict pain and potentially kill the other Titans, thanks to those nanomachines.

These are said nanomachines attached to the Titans' blood cells, conveniently displayed in huge ass screens. I love this scene so much it's so SERIOUS and SO CORNY at the same time lmao.

What ensues is Robin being forced to become Slade's apprentice, dressed in a cute replica of Slade's own suit,

And meanwhile Slade tosses him around either for the funsies or because Robin dares do something he doesn't like. Explicitly saying that he wants Robin to call him "Master". Please go watch the scene, it's 7 seconds long but it conveys EVERYTHING. This mf calls Robin "good boy" in the most condescending way you can ever imagine. Here, click this, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Here's Slade beating up a child for your viewing pleasure.

So at some point Robin is ordered to infiltrate Wayne Enterprise. The Titans try to stop him, Slade pushes for him to fight them, but baby doesn't want to especially when Starfire refuses to engage him. Slade not only starts to torture them with the nanomachines, forcing Robin to shoot them, but when kiddo gets back to him he receives the ass-whooping of his life, followed by this scene:

Here Slade is basically saying "I'm going to put you in your place in a way that will stick", but the scene is conveniently cut by the arrival of the rest of the Titans.

Robin has the idea of infecting himself with the nanomachines, so now if Slade wants to kill them, he has to kill him too. And Slade... tosses away the button, discarding the nanomachines plan on the spot, because the point REALLY was having Robin as an apprentice. If he can't have him, then there's no point.

Then there's Terra's Arc in Season 2, which goes more or less like this:

The Titans meet Terra, a kid their age who's very strong (she can manipulate the earth) but can't perfectly control her own powers. She's very self-conscious about this and when Beast Boy finds out, she begs him not to tell anyone, which he promises.

Soon after she gets singled out by Slade, who corners her and starts poking and prodding about how weak she is, unable to control her powers, and how her "new friends" will soon find out and once they do, they will discard her.

Honestly the fact that he's so big and Terra's itty bitty teeny tiny really adds to the overall creepiness of this scene. They're blocked in a cave underground btw, and to hammer the point home Slade starts tossing her around until she completely freaks out and almost buries herself under the rubble.

Soon after that, Robin deduces by himself that Terra isn't in complete control of her powers, but Terra thinks that Beast Boy snitched on her after promising he wouldn't say anything. Hurt and betrayed she runs away, and guess who she runs to?

As far as I remember, the amount of time Terra spends with Slade is nondescript. But what she says is that he trained her, taught her to not be afraid of her own powers (which is true, she can control her powers now), and gave her a purpose and direction. She comes back and infiltrates the Titans, now being a well groomed little spy, but despite her efforts Slade keeps being abusive and beats the living hell out of her when she comes back to him after a failed mission. He can puppeteer her through the suit she's wearing, but at some point she manages to break free of his control and the arc ends tragically with Terra killing Slade, and herself.

Is this the end of it then? Nuh-huh. Here comes the

Whatever the fuck is happening to Robin Arc

So Slade is dead. But at some point during a fight, Robin starts seeing him and chasing him, getting a mild ass-whoop like he normally would. His teammates are obviously confused but they comply when Robin tells them to go defuse these bombs that Slade planted - only there are no bombs. And it looks like Robin is the only one who can even see Slade.

The situation escalates at the point of Robin having to be strapped to a bed because he was literally killing himself while "fighting Slade", despite being the only one who could see him. Slade himself is the one that frees him from the restraints, and keeps beating him within an inch of his life, at the point that Robin starts begging.

And here we have what's probably the most memorable line of the whole show: "I am the thing that keeps you up at night. I am the evil that haunts every dark corner of your mind. I will never rest and neither will you."

What is happening here in theory is that Robin got dosed with toxic dust coming from Slade's mask, therefore he's seeing things and his brain is in so much stress that he might die from strain (he ends up saving himself by turning on the light). But taking into consideration what happened during the Apprentice arc, it's easy to see parallels with PTSD.

There is actually more. There's Slade being resurrected by Trigon and going rapey on Raven (you've seen the screenshot before) by tearing off her cape, and there's also an epic moment in which Slade goes to hell, WITH ROBIN'S HELP, to retrieve his own body and aid in the fight against Trigon. But I think my point already came across well enough:

Teen Titans 2003 Slade is a fucking creep, and compared to him, NTT Deathstroke is a sweet little lamb who wouldn't hurt a fly. Which is why it is so funny to me when people claim tt03 Slade is "better cause he never slept with a teenager" - Boy oh boy, you might have not seen it on screen but the subtext is clear as day.

This man has no moral code, no bounds (other than what the PG rating of the show will place on him) and not an ounce of humanity. I don't need to see no scene with half naked kids smoking cigarettes with only a bathrobe as clothing (like this one) to know what this man did.

[grape-eating-vampire]

alright, it's done. i finished it.

this is the third and final part of things that happened in my first bg3 playthrough ever that I found so funny that I put them in my notes (spoilers below)

let me start this by saying I have only cried twice in the 155 hours it took me to complete this shit. however, I have almost-screamed at the characters more times than I'd like to admit. but first here's stuff that happened since the last one of these posts I made:

after killing Orin I went around Baldur's Gate for a while and did odd sidequests, including

clearing out a haunted house and sidelining to kill a stinky man in a wardrobe (and drag his body to a guy two streets over)

entirely ignored Gale's quest to look at a book because I kept getting arrested there after having killed the boss mage guy

I also foolishly though this wouldn't have any consequences. oh boy was I wrong

went to see a underwater prison, got told off by Gortash, decided to explore it after killing him, and promptly forgot to do so

killed Gortash! fuck that guy the only good thing about him is his fancy robe

tried to recruit a dragon called Ansur, found out the emperor is Balduran (????????? honestly I was shocked)

killed said dragon and felt like I was playing skyrim all over again

found a letter ("Dear Ansur") by Balduran/the Emperor. this was the first time I cried. I could still cry.

patch 6 came out! that was yesterday and I spent about 10 minutes trying out new kisses and sitting on Shadowhearts stool in camp (she now says "I'm glad you decided to join me" or something like that when you do)

went pretty much straight to the underground pool thing where the brain was supposed to be

failed abysmally to Dominate The Brain™

got pulled out by the emperor and had to start beef with Lae'zel because I had also forgotten to care about Orpheus and the hammer from the House of Hope

admittedly, I didn't really forget, I just didn't want to spend any more time with Raphael than I absolutely had to

my +14 persuasion saved the day once more and Lae'zel was fine with the one hope in her life getting his brains sucked out

went off to fight the brain once more. my game crashed twice trying to load that cutscene.

met all my allies! I forgot how many there were actually, and I only called on two of the groups later on

fought a lot. like a LOT lot.

got to the Netherbrain and kicked it's ass*

*had to reload about 3 times and try again because Minsc at level 12 was stuck on 100 hp for some reason and kept fucking dying

finally managed to kill the fucker! had Lae'zel deal the killing blow which seemed very fitting

more cutscenes, but this one actually didn't crash the game, I got to look at some beautiful unloaded walls and stuff instead

Lae'zel left right after we got to the haven. understandably so

remember how I ignored Gale's quest? well he didn't blow himself up like he inteded earlier, but he left to becOME A GOD????? I cannot fucking deal with this man

Karlach on the pier. this was the second time I cried, but unproportionally much so

Wyll left with her for Avernus, the little cutscene of them arriving there made me feel a bit better

Astarion had to leg it because of the sun (sorry)

Shadowheart didn't do much of anything during all of this, neither did Minsc, Halsin or Jaheira

decided to go help kids with Halsin, seems to fit my character (eventhough I really didn't roleplay so much)

we got an epilogue! yippie!

caught up there with everyone, except Lae'zel (who was there via the fantasy version of zoom) and Gale (who was there via the fantasy equivalent of a voicemail)

tried to hug Gale, couldn't, almost cried again but managed

also met a tressym who I recognized from fanart as Tara. I don't know why she was there, we never met her before and Gale hadn't mentioned her either

read a LOT of letters the party had received. barely kept my composure at the Gur's letter to Astarion

Withers did a cool speech and the game ended

after all of this and so much more that I didn't take notes about, I can confidentially say that Baldur's Gate 3 is the best video game I have ever played, and within it's genre my favourite ever!

I'm also emotionally devestated, especially after these final parts (but in a good way)

that's all, thanks for reading!

[streaminn]

UHHH YOU’RE WELCOME FOR THE PLAYLIST ?? Can’t believe that that’s what made me finally make a Spotify account lol also a lot of good songs in here, apart form the ones I already knew (Tear You Apart, Smoke and Mirrors that dug up my nightcore days in middle school.. and The Other Side Of Paradise) I really liked IN MY MOUTH, An Unhealthy Obsession, Kiss Me You Animal, The Dismemberment Song and Brutus. Idk if you’ve talked abt The Hearse Song (I liked it too btw) before but I need to know how it fits t&t

Now that I’m hooked back on t&t, I’ve got more questions. Does Enid interact with her brothers at school ? How’s their relationship ? How do they view her now that she’s part of the elders ? Are/Were they worried ? Has her view of ‘regular’ werewolves been altered by the elders ? Like, "don’t mingle too much with them, they got domesticated". The elders view Enid as family (do they all really ?) but, and even after having been kinda Stockholmed by them, she doesn’t. Her earring is for Wednesday. Does any of them know it ? suspect it ? If (when) she leaves them for good, how will they react ? Will they make her fight for it ?

And now my cents on the Jenna Ortega’s characters love triangle. (I have never seen any of the other shows) You said that Enid was like ‘just a monster’ when Tara asked abt her scars. And like, Tara’s gonna be like ‘How ?? why ?’ and Enid will just look at her and respond ‘had to protect someone’. And she will say it with A Look in her eyes, like she’s looking not at Tara but at that someone. Someone so important that now Enid is covered in scars.

Phoebe and Tara may have a place in her heart (and her bed lol) but Wednesday also has one in her flesh. Forever.

-🦎🧦

The hearse song fits bc it's this acceptance that you'll die like the rest is how I think Enid's mentality during the winter. Just this morbid mindset as she lived with the elders during her denial stage

Nightcore days is such a mood tho, when I first got into yt that was my jam and how I found most of my music taste before transitioning to actual bands

Enid does not interact with her brothers actually! Like she won't even glance at them. They didn't do the same before so why must she? It doesn't stop them from prodding however because they don't know anything about the situation other than Esther telling them to stay away from Enid.

The last time they saw their sister, there were litter of bruises along her wrist and her teeth was bared as she pushed herself into the house to move out.

I don't think enid really cares about the other werewolves bc again, idt they paid much attention to her since she couldn't wolf out. She does however find them being competitive over things that don't matter irritating. Like which one of them get to sleep with the most girls or smth along those lines, just crude things that don't matter in the end. If they were to brag about how easily they stripped flesh from bone she'd perk up but outside of that, she doesn't really bother with them

Enid can't leave though, as much as she plans too. Sure she can walk away, she can live her life but the elders will always be apart of it whether she wants too or not. Romulus is aware of her intentions but he isn't worried, his daughter is growing and what kind of father is he if he doesn't nurture her independence? He spoils his family yes but his methods of living is simply unorthodox and wrong in alot of people's eyes

Not Tara realizing that she isn't the first girl. Yknow what they say abt first loves, they'll always be remembered even if they don't stay

Do love the mention of how Tara and phoebe may hold space in Enid's heart but the wolf bled first for wednesday, different kind of devotion right there

[glitterandmoondustofficial]

And Onto Further Stillness

Chapter 12

Notes:

Characters: Yrelia, Gale, Tara Rating: Teen Warnings: Some language, illness Notes: I actually rewrote this chapter about one million times. This was originally going to be posted before chapter 11 but I decided to post pone it to polish it more. They were originally going to get into one of their rare arguments but it just did not make sense as far as their personalities go. It's not that they don't have minor arguments, as rare as they are, it's just in this instance it didn't make sense.

Yrelia woke up midmorning with a hell of a cough. She groaned and rubbed her throat. It felt raw. She sniffed, barely able to breathe through her nose. Her head pounded and felt hot. She was sweaty, the sheets and her nightgown felt damp.

Ah, so she was sick. 

She sat up and coughed again. She cursed under her breath before rubbing her face. A cold had taken hold of her and she was irritated by it. She must have picked it up from her nephews or maybe Gale brought something home from the Academy and gave it to her. Children were riddled with diseases. 

She moved to get out of bed to wash her face but the door opened. She jumped, her heart racing, not expecting anyone in the tower but herself. 

“Ah, my darling, I see you have awoken.”

“Gale,” she breathed as he stepped into the room. “You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here?” She coughed. “Why aren’t you at the Academy?”

Gale walked to the bed and smoothed out her hair. “You were coughing all night,” he explained. “So I took it upon myself to stay home. I explained to the Blackstaff that you are ill and require my care.” Yrelia stared at him in shock. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You stayed home from work because I have a cough?” She questioned slowly. 

“Yes?” He smiled at her. “Is that not what you’re supposed to do for your fiancée?”

Yrelia clenched her jaw, feeling incredibly awkward. “Beloved, I appreciate it but it’s just a cough, there’s no need for you to stay with me,” she said and then coughed. It hurt like hell. “I can handle this, I promise.” She coughed again. 

“By “handle this” do you by chance mean that you would be going about your day as normal and not resting?” She didn’t answer him. “And that is why I stayed home, my love.”

“You’re saying you stayed home because I won’t let a cough stop me from doing chores?” He grinned. “Gale, I assure you that this is-” she started to cough. 

He sighed. “You expect me to just leave you like this?” He asked softly. 

“Yes,” she said before having another coughing fit. “You don’t need to stay here all day while I rest.”

“Oh-ho! So you think you’ll actually convince me that you’re going to rest if I leave you here on your own.”

She groaned. “I will not do anything today, so go do what you love instead of worrying about me.”

“Who do you think you’re trying to fool?” He asked with a grin. “I was there when your hip was crushed and then you insisted on marching on the next morning.”

“That’s different.”

“I was also there when you narrowly avoided your head being chopped clean off and you continued on with blood streaming down your chin and neck.”

“It was just a scratch.”

“And how could I possibly forget when you so very delicately broke your ankle? How you tried to hobble on like it didn’t bother you and it took Lae’zel picking you up and throwing you over her shoulder to stop you from carrying forward?”

“What’s your point?”

“ My point ,” he cleared his throat like the academic he was, “is that I have good reason to believe that you will not rest if I go to the Academy today.” 

She huffed. “It’s just a seasonal cold,” she said and sniffed. “I’ve battled far worse things than the sniffles.” She sniffed again. “You can’t not educate your students because I’m under the weather.”

“My darling Yrelia,” he said firmly and placed his fists on his hips. “I’m afraid I must put my foot down and insist. You are quite ill and it is my job as your husband to take care of you.”

“You can’t call yourself my husband because you think I’ll get flustered and give in.” 

“I think whether I can or can’t do that depends on if it worked.”

She stared at him. “If you leave you’ll just use Tara and watch over me through her, won’t you?” He grinned at her. She laid back with a sigh. “ Fine . Your wife is giving in.” She coughed and rubbed her throat. 

His grin softened and he kissed her forehead. “Good. I will bring you breakfast and tea. Relax and I’ll serve it to you.” 

Gale left but not without another kiss on the forehead

Yrelia sighed and looked around the room. Things were untidy and it bothered her. It wasn’t a mess but laundry needed done, there were books around the room that needed to be put away, their bedding needed to be changed, the floors needed swept and mopped, the fireplace needed the ashes cleaned out, the sheepskin rug needed to be properly beaten, her nightstand was frightfully disorganized and needed to be wiped down. 

She groaned and started to stand up. 

“Yrelia.” She jumped at Gale’s voice. She looked around and saw Tara staring at her. “Don’t get out of bed,” he said through her. 

“You know, many people believe it’s an invasion of privacy to spy on your spouse.”

“Absolutely. However, I know you and your unwillingness to rest.”

“How does Tara feel about this possession?”

“This is not the first we have done this nor will it be the last time. Stay in bed.” 

She huffed and got back into bed. She reclined against the pillows and sighed. She felt uncomfortable with her untidy room. Again, not messy. Untidy . Disorganized. Needing a good once around. 

“Miss Rosewood,” Tara sighed. “There is no need to spend your energy on anything other than healing.”

“It’s just a cold,” Yrelia said and cleared her throat. “I’ve worked under far worse conditions.”

“And now that Mister Dekarios is here, you will never do that again.”

Yrelia sighed and then sniffed. She hated the idea of not being productive. Not cleaning or cooking or hunting. Not taking care of her partner or making sure he can relax when he comes home from work. She shouldn’t rest. She can’t rest. The last thing she needed was to be a burden upon the person she loved more than anyone. 

Surely Gale would understand that it’s simply not in her nature to let an illness get the better of her. Illness, stitches, broken bones, those were nothing! She started to get out of bed again when the door opened. 

“My lady,” Gale sighed with a tray of food. “I requested that you stay in bed. You must rest or your illness will worsen.”

“It’s just a cold, Gale, I can easily do our household chores. They don’t cause any strain, I swear.”

“Absolutely not,” he said firmly. “Please get back in bed.” She sighed but did as she was told. “You know, darling, most people would love to have breakfast brought to them while in bed. They also like to rest when ill.” He walked over to her. He kissed her forehead. “You have a fever. Even more reason to stay in bed .”

“You know, it’s sexy when you’re demanding.”

“While I appreciate the compliment, that won’t work on me when you sniffle halfway through it.” She scoffed in response. Gale placed the tray of food in her lap.“My dear lady, all that I ask is that you rest and allow me to take care of you.” Yrelia sighed. She wondered if he knew how big of a request that was. “I have spent years perfecting the art of healing soups,” he started again. “You’ll have the honor of being the first to try one. My mother refuses to share her recipe with me, she says I’ll get the recipe when she passes. I think that’s a bit ridiculous but it’s her recipe and you know I am about my own. The soup contains…”

The first to try one. 

Yrelia stared up at her fiancé with a bit of familiar sadness as he went into the details of the soup. He hadn’t had anybody, just as she hadn’t had anybody. He just wanted to take care of her. Was this something he had ached for in his loneliness? Something he had silently desired while he was with Mystra. A lover to care for, a lover to mend.

“I also have a wonderful tea for your throat,” he continued. “It works wonders on my own when I’m not feeling my best.” He sat on the edge of the bed and then kissed her brow. He reached for the teacup with tea in it. “It is a lemon tea blend,” he explained. He grabbed the jar of honey and poured the honey into a spoon. “Now, don’t worry, my love. I pay close attention to how you make your tea. I know exactly how much honey you prefer.”

She knew he did. He was so good to her. Too good for her. She watched him stir the tea, a determined look in his eyes staring through the glasses she had finally convinced him to get. Hair pulled back, beard freshly trimmed, first two buttons of his shirt unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up his forearms. She sighed. He would be damn near irresistible when she couldn’t press him into the mattress and ride him until he was unable to speak in complete sentences. 

He handed her the teacup and she took it into her hands. It was such a pretty set. A dark purple with gold stars painted on. She had wondered if there was actual gold in the paint but didn’t want to ask Gale and find out there actually was. She sipped the tea and sighed. He really did get the exact ratio perfect. Yrelia then tried the soup and it was, again, perfect. He was putting every remedy she had ever given to Cyr to shame. He was leagues better than she had ever been. 

“The soup isn’t nearly as well done as my mother’s,” he spoke up as she ate. “Hers was a miracle cure. I’m still not sure what she puts in that soup to make it so incredible, so my own humble recipe will have to do.” She swallowed to tell him that his soup was incredible but he spoke up again. “Although, I’m sure I could convince her to give me the recipe if I told her that you’re the one who is ill,” he mused. “No, it’s more likely that she would come here and insist on taking care of you herself,” he mumbled. “Bah, that’s not important,” he said and leaned in and kissed her forehead. “How are you feeling? Don’t leave out any details. I need to know what to tell the apothecary.”

“Apothecary? Gale, my beloved, it’s just a cold. There’s no need to bring home medicine for me. I’ve handled far, far worse than this.” He smiled at her. “You’re going to go anyway, aren’t you?”

“I do have a bit of a rebellious streak from my youth still left within me.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Now,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a notepad and pencil. “Fever.” He wrote something down. “Congestion.” He wrote again. “Cough, fatigue, headache.” He continued to write. “Did I miss something?” She stared at him. “Ah! Yes, of course. Irritability .” 

She groaned and rubbed her eyes. “I’m not irritated,” she lied. 

“No, you’re ill,” Gale said matter of factly. He picked up the tray of empty dishes and stood up. “And you would do well to hydrate and rest. I recommend sleeping. When you wake I’ll bring you something to drink.” He started to walk out of their bedroom. “While you’re asleep I will pop on over to the apothecary to have them create the perfect medicine for you.” She opened her mouth. “Do not think for a moment that you will be left alone. Tara will be here the entire time watching you and will be reporting back to me when I arrive home.” He paused for a moment. “Perhaps I should invest in sending stones for the two of us. It would be good in emergencies and…” he started to mumble about the benefits of the stones. 

“Darling…” she called him away from thinking out loud. 

“Oh, right, of course, dearest. You need peace and quiet , not me rambling about in our bedroom. I will leave you to rest. I will check on you periodically to make sure you don’t need anything.” He walked out of the room. “I love you,” he called before closing the door and started to speak of sending stones again as he walked away. 

Yrelia stared at the heavy wood bedroom door before sighing. He truly was too good for her. She shifted from her spot on the bed, feeling restless and anxious. She looked around the room, picking apart everything that needed to be done. Surely he would allow her some wiggle room? The sheets needed to be changed and he couldn’t expect her to be sick and sleep on dirty sheets.

She cleared her throat and leaned back for a moment, trying to listen to the exterior door closing. She waited mostly patiently, she was just going to change the sheets. Just the sheets.

And a clean comforter. 

Yrelia did buy a new comforter for the two of them. It had the prettiest floral pattern that she had been so excited about that she bought it without thinking. She immediately regretted the decision, chastising herself for making such a frivolous purchase. But then Gale told her loved the blanket when she brought it home and that he thought that they should buy more decor that she liked to decorate the tower with. She had started to cry and he panicked, thinking he had said something wrong.

She heard the front door close while she was lost thinking about how supportive Gale was. She blinked and looked out the balcony doors from the bed and sighed. She removed the blankets off of her and stood up. She sniffed loudly and let out a pathetic sigh. 

“Miss Rosewood,” Tara said from her spot on the chaise. “What are you doing right after Mister Dekarios leaves the house?”

“Erm, I’m…going to the bathroom?” Tara gave her a flat look. “I cannot stand to be in the bed with dirty sheets any longer.” She said and started to pull the bedding off the bed before Tara could say more. “It’s just changing the bedding, Tara, it requires zero effort.”

“You know that I will be informing him of what you’re doing?”

“Do you have to?”

“He asked that I do since he knew you would try something like this.”

Yrelia groaned but continued to change the bedding. Soon the dark colored sheets and purple comforter were switched for cream colored sheets and her floral blanket. All the pillows were fluffed and cases were replaced. Perfect. Gale would understand that she simply needed to change their bedding for her sake. It was fine.

Only she was incredibly hot now and that caused her to work up a bit of a sweat. She swallowed and rubbed her temple. She needed to take a cold shower. 

She had heard of Waterdeep’s clean water that was as easy as a “turn of a knob” but she didn’t believe it until she saw it. To say her life had been changed drastically when she took her first shower would be an understatement. Baths really couldn’t compare. 

She washed the sweat off her body and tried to cool down. She would be fine before Gale returned home. Completely fine. Not at all too hot and definitely not too thirsty.

“My love,” she heard Gale from outside the bathroom. “Could you tell me how our bedding changed?”

She was silent. “A ghost?”

She heard him sigh. “Yrelia.”

She turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around her body. She walked out of the bathroom and was met with a fairly annoyed Gale. She gave him an awkward smile and he sighed again.

“Beloved,” she started and he raised his brow at her. “The sheets needed to be changed,” she continued. “I didn’t want to lay on dirty sheets anymore.”

“Why didn’t you ask me to do it before I left?” She stared at him. “I am perfectly capable of changing sheets, my lady. Just as I am capable of every other chore within our home.”

“I know that you’re capable of doing it,” she said. “I just wanted to do it myself.”

“Well, as commendable your work ethic is, you’ll need to tone it down until you are back to health.” He walked behind her and grabbed her shoulders gently. He started to lead her back to their bed with clean bedding. He grabbed a hair tie from her cluttered nightstand and began to braid her wet hair. “You must rest, my love,” he said as he finished braiding her hair. “Now I know for certain that I cannot leave this tower.”

“Gale, don’t be silly. All I did was put clean bedding on our bed and take a shower,” she reasoned. She pulled away and turned to look at him. “You can’t put your life on hold because I have some bug that will be cleared up in a short amount of time,” she tried.

“It will be “cleared up” if you actually rest, Lia, and take the medicine I brought home for you. Now, please get into our bed and rest.”

She groaned but took off her towel. Gale took the towel from her and watched her as she climbed into bed. She sighed, content that her naked body was on clean sheets. She watched Gale pick up a bag that was on the foot of the bed and reach into it. He pulled out two brown bottles. He looked at the labels as he walked to her side. He set one on the nightstand and uncorked the other.

“This one's for you to take during the day and the other at night,” he explained. He handed her the bottle and she sniffed it. Her nose scrunched up as he brought a small cup from the bag. He took the bottle from her and poured some of the orange liquid into the cup. He handed her the cup with an expectant gaze.

Her nose scrunched again before she drank the disgusting liquid. “Ughhhhhh,” she groaned.

He took the cup from her and then kissed the top of her head. “How are you feeling?”

“Like my betrothed just tried to poison me.”

“Still irritable! Perhaps a nice nap will do you some good!” Yrelia groaned. She rubbed her eyes. “Would you like some water to wash down the taste?” He asked with a calm smile.

“Yes, please.”

Yrelia watched him walk out of the room and collapsed back onto the bed in a huff. Fine. Maybe she was irritated. Maybe she was a bit peeved. Maybe she was even a tad annoyed. Gale very clearly did not understand that there was no need to baby her when she was feeling just slightly under the weather. It was just a sniffle, it was just a cough. 

So what if she got a little hot while changing the sheets! It happens to the best of people. Maybe the tower just needed to be aired out because it was warm from all the chilly nights where Gale insisted on a fire. She’ll ask Gale to open the balcony doors. She may be hot but she wouldn’t go to the balcony while naked. The only person who needed to see her naked was her future husband.

“I’ve returned, my love,” Gale said and walked into the bedroom. “And I see you actually stayed in bed this time! Quite the mountain to overcome, I’m sure.”

“Are you going to be mean to me this whole time?”

“Are you going to continue to try to get out of bed?” She didn’t answer. He walked to her and handed her the glass of water. “Some water,” he said and bent down and kissed her lips. “And a kiss.” Yrelia watched Tara fly to the chaise. Yrelia stared up at Gale. “She is here to watch over you in case you take a turn for the worse.”

“Funny way of saying she’s spying on me,” Yrelia said flatly before sipping her water. “Can you open the balcony door? I’m hot.”

“That would be the fever,” Gale said. He walked to the glass doors and opened them. “I’m afraid they won’t be open for very long. Looks like rain.” He walked to her again. She handed him the empty glass of water. “Now, my dearest love, please try to rest. If you insist on not sleeping, is there a book I could grab off the shelf for you?”

Yrelia sighed. “Yeah,” she said quietly. “Do you mind? I’ll take whatever you give me.”

“I don’t mind in the least and that is a very confident statement, my lady. You are aware of the books that your loving future husband owns? Do you want me to start alphabetically or chronologically? I could also find my many textbooks from over the years. Some of them are elementary levels of simple cantrips that I had mastered by age six. Natural talent, of course. I drove the other students and the professors completely mad once I entered Blackstaff Academy.” 

Yrelia smiled fondly at him. She really did love him so damn much. Her irritation vanished and she held his hand in hers. He smiled and kissed her knuckles. 

“Like I said, I’ll take whatever you give me. Whether it’s one of my trashy novels or one of your textbooks,” she said. “You’ll probably have to read those to me, though.”

“Perhaps another time,” he said and kissed her nose. He stood up and walked to the bookshelf and pulled out a book. “I think you’ll enjoy this one,” he said and handed her a book. “It has all the elements that you enjoy but it’s from my collection.” She smiled up at him as he handed her the book. “Now, my love, I will leave you to relax. Please do not hesitate to call me for anything.”

After Gale left, Yrelia settled into the bed. Perhaps she could relax. Perhaps she could simply read this novel that Gale wanted her to read! 

And she did, she reclined on her bed and read the novel Gale gave her and realized he also had some romance books. She was quite curious to see what other books he had. She hadn’t gone through most of his books, seeing there were so many. Her love had a whole library of books. She smiled, thinking of their first time and how he seduced her with a book.

Her head started to hurt after about two hours and she set the book aside. She muttered about just a nap before promptly falling asleep. 

She had hoped it would be a restful sleep, but unfortunately she was far too anxious for that. She had nightmares. Her family berating her, beating her, screaming at her to leave and never come back. Cyr telling her he no longer wanted her around because she had decided to rest. Gale leaving her, calling her a burden, telling her he no longer loved her.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.

She woke up slowly, tears rolling down her face. She sniffed and let out a painful, dry cough. She cursed, feeling hot and lightheaded. She looked around the room and her stomach clenched at the mess. Tara was sleeping on Gale’s side of the bed. Her heart raced as she silently cried.

She needed to get up and fix the room.

She heard thunder in the distance and got out of bed. She swayed before stabilizing. She let out a breath, finding her robe and slipping it on, and walked to the balcony doors, feeling the breeze and smelling the scent of the sea and rain. She closed the balcony doors with a sigh. 

She then started around the room quietly. She first started with her nightstand. Organizing the books, the lamp, the hair ties, the headbands. Wiping off the dust and fallen hair from her head. She let out a sigh, feeling relieved that it looked so much better.

She then walked to a pile of books and started to place them back on the shelves, her hands shaking as she felt herself cry again. Just need to organize the books, just need to make sure that everything was in its proper place. 

She felt sweaty, hot, and lightheaded. There was a voice in the back of her head yelling at her to lay down, that she was pushing herself too hard. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t dare. She had already slept and that was already too much. She let herself believe that it would be fine, but it wasn’t. 

Her ears rang as she walked around the room as quietly as she could. The scattered books were put on the correct shelves and she was on her last few.

“Lia,” she heard someone call her, their voice straining and full of concern. She ignored them, she couldn’t stop, she wouldn’t stop. “ Yrelia ,” the voice said, far more stern. She stopped that time. She looked at Gale and she could see the blatant worry on his face. “What are you doing?”

“I’m sorry,” she immediately said with panic in her voice. He blinked and that concerned expression deepened. “I’m almost done with this and then I’ll start on-”

“Yrelia,” Gale interrupted. “The only thing you need to do is rest,” he said and took the books out of her hands. “My love, you needn’t cry, please just come to bed.” He set aside the books haphazardly and grabbed her hands. 

“No, no, I can’t,” she cried softly. “I can’t. I have to…” she sniffed and let out a pathetic sob.  

“Lia,” Gale breathed. “Lia, it’s alright. You’re going to be alright. Come, follow me to bed.”

She shook her head and sobbed. “I can’t, if I do then…” she hiccupped. 

Her head hurt, her throat hurt, everything was hot, and her legs felt weak. Her knees gave out and she started to fall. Gale caught her. His voice was muffled, it felt like there was cotton in her ears. She felt light, like she was weightless. She softly cried, mumbling apologies.

The next thing she knew was she was laying down, her head rested against a cool pillow. A cold hand touched her face and she sighed in relief. There were more muffled voices; three of them in fact. She slipped in and out of consciousness, until she finally fell into a fever dream filled sleep.

She started awake when she heard a loud crack of thunder. Her heart raced and she stared out of the balcony doors. It was completely dark outside, no sun, moon, or stars for her to see. Just lightning in the distance. She tried to remember what had happened. Didn’t she go to sleep after reading that book?

She turned onto her back and raised her hand to her forehead. She coughed and rubbed her throat.

“Ah, I see that you’re awake,” she heard Gale say. She looked to her side and saw him sitting in a chair next to the bed. He had a book in his hands and a cup of tea was set on her nightstand.

“What happened?” She croaked. “I don’t remember.”

“No, I’d expect not. You were fairly delirious when I found you,” he said with a sigh. He closed the book and set it next to the teacup.

Yrelia tried to think about what happened. “Delirious?” She questioned. “I thought I fell asleep after reading the book.”

“I’m afraid not, my love. According to Tara you woke up and started walking around the room, trying to organize everything. You were mumbling to yourself and barely able to walk without tripping over yourself. She called for me and when I tried to pull you into bed, you collapsed.”

Yrelia stared at him for a moment and the memory started to piece itself together. She covered her face with her hands. “Shit,” she groaned.

“Indeed,” he said and leaned forward. “You were apologizing to me as if you had done something wrong.” He frowned. “I couldn’t imagine what it was exactly for. You had done nothing offensive other than trying to rest.” He sighed sadly. “And then it dawned on me, and I felt like a fool for not realizing it earlier.”

“Gale-”

He held up his hand and she closed her mouth. “You weren’t allowed to rest before, were you? When you were alone on your farm, when you were the one raising Cyr.” 

She frowned deeply. “No,” she said, her voice straining in pain.

She couldn’t rest. If she rested then her chores would back up. Cyr wouldn’t have been taken care of. She needed to be useful, she couldn’t be more of a burden than she already was. 

“Didn’t you ever wish someone would take care of you?”

“I did when I was younger,” she said sadly. “But it never happened. It probably took too long for me to accept that it wouldn’t happen. Hope is the damndest thing.”

“I’ve always found it admirable that you remain hopeful and don’t give into despair,” he said. “Without you there, I’m not sure any of us would have made it out without becoming Mind Flayers. You’re incredibly strong, Lia, and it’s your hope that makes you that strong.” She didn’t respond but tears formed in her eyes. “I have seen you come out victorious on the battlefield countless times. I have seen you unscathed from attacks that could have killed you. You are the most incredible person I’ve ever had the fortune of knowing. You are who led us to victory. Your work ethic is commendable, your perseverance is inspiring.” He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I love you. Fully, intensely, ardently. You are the sun in my sky and everyday I thank the gods that you are here in Waterdeep with me, but, my love, you must learn to rest. The last thing I want is for you to push yourself to the point of suffering.”

She slowly blinked, her wet eyelashes brushing against her skin. She let out a breath. “I’m afraid it’s going to take more than a few months to accept that.”

“I know,” he whispered. “It’s ridiculous to think you can easily change your habits after so long.” he picked up her hands and kissed them. “There is nothing more that I want than for you to be comfortable here,” he said with the sweetest and saddest eyes. “I had hoped that in bringing you here you would be happy, healthy, and rested. All I want for you is for you to feel comfortable enough to rest, to allow me one day to take care of everything while you do nothing. I want to make your life easier. From the time I decided I wanted us to be more than simple companions I was determined to make your life even the slightest bit easier.” 

Yrelia frowned and her bottom lip wobbled. Of course she had noticed. She had noticed from the very beginning. Every little thing he had done to ease her tireless nature. He did whatever he could for her when they were still figuring out their feelings for one another. 

The way this man loved her made her feel like she was cheating at life. 

“I love you,” she cried. “I’m sorry that I’m so stubborn.”

He laughed. He pressed a kiss into her knuckles. He released her hands and took her face in his hands. “You are without a doubt one of the most stubborn people I’ve ever had the honor of knowing.” A light sigh came from his chest. He kissed her cheeks. “However, we wouldn’t be here if not for your stubbornness, so it would be ungrateful of me to even dare come close to insulting such a wonderful facet of your complex personality.” 

She sniffed and she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. Tears rolled down her cheeks and he rubbed her back slowly. She softly cried. She was so tired, she felt so awful. Years and years of tireless work, of taking care of others when she begged the gods to send her someone who would take care of her just once. 

She had forgotten what it was like to be loved. Cyr had loved her like a mother, but just like a child he had found his partner and grew to love her more. She didn’t resent him, but it made her feel so lonely. Her last love affair made her wonder if he had ever truly loved her. Her first love made her wonder if she had just been someone to pass time with. 

After all this time of wondering what it was like to have someone make her priority, she had found that and she tried so hard to fight it. It was all she knew. Years of praying for help, for love, for care, and she couldn’t accept when it was given to her freely because she was convinced she would be a burden if she had. 

She knew it was ridiculous, she knew it was a panic response from years of neglect, from years of her putting everything and everyone else before herself, but did that matter? Did it matter that she had never put herself first? Was she truly so lost in love that she didn’t know how to respond to it?

She thought of her time in Waterdeep, of being with the person she loved more than anyone. His attempts to care for her and his attempts allow her to rest. How he had tried to convince her to not hunt after such a short time of being home. All the meals he insisted on cooking for her, all the times he would sit her down with a glass of wine while he flitted around the tower, doing all of the chores while Tara distracted her with conversation. 

He so badly wanted to take care of her. He wanted to take care of the person he loved and she knew it was because he never had the chance to do so before. To bring his partner into his home, declaring they would never have to lift a finger, and dutifully sitting them down with a kiss and working around them with bright eyes and a joyous smile. 

Yrelia pressed her fingers into Gale’s clothes. She wanted to apologize for worrying him, for being so stubborn, for not allowing him to do what he so dearly wanted, but she knew he didn’t want an apology. He wanted her to accept that he loved her beyond comparison and that all he wanted was to take care of her. 

“I have a question,” she croaked. 

Gale hummed and stopped rubbing her back for a moment. “What is it?”

“Who was the third person in our room? Or did I imagine that because I was delirious?”

“You didn’t imagine it. Tara brought a doctor here to examine you,” he said softly. Yrelia pulled away from him and Gale started to wipe the tears from her cheeks. “There seems to be a fairly virulent virus going around the districts. Some people don’t have symptoms while others have very intense ones. Some have even passed from the disease,” he explained. “It’s possible that I brought it home from the Academy with no symptoms, it’s also possible you caught the virus while you went on a hunt, or maybe you caught it from our nephews or their tutors.” He sighed. “At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter how you became ill. What matters is you resting and overcoming whatever virus this is.”

“That explains why the medicine you brought home didn’t help much,” she mumbled and rubbed her temples. 

“It does,” he agreed. “It seems the best thing for you is to-”

“Rest and let you take care of me?” She tried a smile, but it had to have looked weak and tired.

“Precisely.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

She sighed, holding onto his arms and rubbing them with her thumbs. “What time is it?”

“Approximately 10:15,” he said. “You’ve been asleep for hours,” he explained. “After the doctor cleared you, Tara and I have been watching over you. Is there anything that you need? Food? Water? A shower?”

“I…I want to be selfish.”

“I think you of all people can be selfish, Lia, but how so?”

She swallowed. “Come to bed,” she said softly. He blinked like that surprised him. “I know I’m disgusting right now but I want to lay with you.”

“I think “disgusting” is a bit too harsh, my love,” he said with a soft chuckle. “But I will gladly join you in bed.” She tried another smile and he sighed lightly. He kissed her forehead before standing up and starting to undress. “Now,” he started with a clear of his throat. “If you have decided to give in to my unreasonable demands of resting, then you should be prepared for tomorrow.”

“Wow, still being mean to me when I’m sick,” she fake coughed. 

“Hm, yes, I’m terrible.”

She smiled softly. “I guess that means you’re staying home tomorrow?”

“I’ve already contacted the Blackstaff and told him I would be taking care of you. Apparently the entirety of the Academy is invested in your health and recovery. I would expect flowers.”

She stared at him before blinking. “Beloved, how often do you speak about me at work?”

“I don’t see why that’s relevant,” he said with a teasing smile. 

She laughed softly. “I suppose you're right,” she said and smiled as he climbed into bed next to her. She immediately curled into him. He wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled her hair. She closed her eyes and breathed. “I meant to tell you,” Yrelia said softly. “Your soup was incredible, love. The best I’ve had.”

He didn’t answer at first and Yrelia wondered if he had fallen asleep. “Thank you,” he said. “That means a great deal coming from your lips.” She pressed her lips into his neck. “I’ll have to let everyone know that I made a successful soup, perhaps it will become as popular as my mother’s.”

“It’s popular with me,” she said with a smile. 

He held onto her tighter. “That’s enough for me.” He pressed his fingers into her bare back. “Get some sleep, my love, you deserve it.”

She hummed but said nothing more. She closed her eyes, breathing in Gale’s scent, and promptly fell asleep.

******

“Beloved,” Yrelia laughed. “You truly are one of a kind.”

“Are you making fun of me?” Gale said before coughing. 

“I am, but out of love, I assure you.” She grinned at him. “I told you to stop kissing me so much.”

He groaned. “It was a completely unreasonable request, Lia.” He coughed again. 

She let out a breathy chuckle. “Well, I have brought you the soup I used to make for Cyr,” she explained with a grin. She set the tray in his lap. “And some tea for your throat,” she continued. “And also medicine from the apothecary.” She grabbed the bottle and poured it into the cup. “Here you go, my love.”

He took the cup from her hands and drank it. He made a disgusted expression and stared at her like she betrayed him. She leaned in and kissed his forehead. “Eat, darling. I will stay here and read poetry to you while you do.”

“I’d rather you lay with me,” he said pathetically. “I am suffering withdrawals from the lack of your body against mine.”

Yrelia let out a loud laugh. “Oh? Is that so? Then I suppose I will have to get in bed with you. After you eat, of course.”

He sighed. “Yes, of course,” he mumbled before starting to eat. 

She kissed the top of his head and sat down. She grabbed a small book of poems as Gale ate his meal. Yrelia sighed lightly, her heart full and her mind calm. She realized that taking care of him was far different from her farm, and that she understood Gale’s need to take care of her. 

“I love you,” she said with a warm smile. “I’ll always be here to take care of you.” 

She picked up Gale’s hand and kissed it before opening the book and starting to read it aloud. 

[coraniaid]

Good news: I have objectively ranked Buffy's worst multi-episode subplots. By which I mean, these are the ones that I personally most object to, and I ranked them in a spreadsheet so this is practically science.

7) Willow/Xander secretly cheating (Season 3). Not quite as bad as its reputation, honestly? Yes, it's not much fun to watch and yes, Alyson Hannigan and Nicholas Brendon don't have any obvious chemistry (although I really have to think that's intentional). But it at least serves a useful thematic purpose in the season, with Xander and Willow's secrets both mirroring Buffy's own secret about Angel's return and influencing how they react to finding out about it. Plus, it gives the writers an excuse to break up Cordelia and Xander, so it can't be all bad.

Speaking of which:

6) Cordelia and Xander (Seasons 2-3). Yeah, this just sucks, sorry. As a silly one episode gag it was fine, but spinning it out for longer than that was a mistake for both characters. Sure, you can try to retcon it to be something more interesting than it is (especially by taking the more human and sympathetic version of Xander that the show hadn't actually bothered creating yet and projecting him back into it), but as presented on screen this is the closest the show ever comes to writing Xander as an actual Joss Whedon self-insert fantasy. Oh, of course, the pretty and popular cheerleader falls in love with awkward misfit Xander Harris (no doubt won over by his strategy of lingering hostility and constant insults and allegations of promiscuity), and of course she abandons all her friends to be with him. Of course she finds it romantic that he tries to cast a love spell on her "for revenge" after she tries to break up with him. Of course he makes her so much happier than any of her other older or more popular boyfriends did. Uh huh. As is true for so much of Buffy and Angel, Cordelia deserved a lot better than this.

5) Oz and Veruca (Season 4). In which Seth Green annoys Joss Whedon and gets written out of the show in revenge. This wouldn't be the first time that something like this happened, of course. And it's telling that Oz, unlike Darla or Cordelia, is only sent away from town at the end of the arc, rather than killed off outright. But that doesn't change the fact that this is still pretty bad. Oz has been a werewolf for almost two years by this point. It doesn't really make sense that it would suddenly start making him act like this. There were ways to write Oz out that didn't involve such blatant character assassination. (Not that Oz ever had much in the way of characterization.) Oh, and the werewolf costumes are still awful. Only this low on the list because it sets the stage for Willow and Tara.

Speaking of writing characters out of the show:

4) Riley's secret late night vampire visits (Season 5). I don't like Riley. As far as I'm concerned he's one of the weaker links of Season 4. I think he's an incredibly boring character, that he's not particularly likeable as a person and that ultimately he's a poor fit for the show. I'm glad he was written out. However. Writing him out by first making him (at least metaphorically) unfaithful, something he'd never shown any sign of being before, and then having him issue an ultimation to Buffy in which he threatens to join a secret paramilitary squad in South America if she doesn't immediately forgive him for said infidelity, and then having Xander lecture Buffy about how great Riley is, actually, and this is really all Buffy's fault for not paying him enough attention while her mother was in hospital with a brain tumor was ... uh. A choice.

3) Willow's magic addiction (Season 6). The use of magic as a metaphor for drug addiction was not new to Season 6. Arguably it's the first metaphorical use for magic in the show at all, going all the way back to Giles' backstory as revealed in The Dark Age. The show's metaphors are usually a bit subtler than this though. But the real problem is that Willow's magic addiction ends up replacing a much more interesting story the show had been slowly setting up for years, about Willow over-relying on magic to find easy solutions and not particularly concerning herself with other people's opinions or consent and her slightly warped personal morality ("occasionally I'm callous and strange", but also "I've also thought of myself as a good person"). Once all her problems can be reduced to something external, to something which happens to her rather than because of her, something which she's almost tricked into by her (retroactively) bad, unsympathetic drug addict friend Amy, the show just forgets all about this previous character work. What memory spell?

2) Spike's hypnotic trigger (Season 7). Having chosen to interpret soul lore in the least interesting way they could possibly think of (having a soul makes you Good and any of the people you hurt should just get over it), the writers realized they had a problem. Other than sitting around in a basement feeling sorry for himself, they didn't have anything for the newly ensouled Spike to actually do. Their solution -- what if Spike were ... hypnotized? -- does nothing but set up some incredibly boring new conflicts that have absolutely nothing to do with his established character or existing past. Or indeed with much of anything. I mean, come on. If this is all the writers could think of doing with a souled Spike, why even bother giving him a soul at all?

This would be easily the worst of Buffy's subplots, seeing that it throws out five seasons of existing character development, wastes any number of potentially interesting story ideas and culminates in the absolute nadir that is Lies My Parents Told Me, were it not for:

1) "Is Giles the FIrst Evil?" (Season 7). A long-running mystery that spans multiple episodes and which requires all of the characters involved to not only be complete idiots but to actually cease to exist when the camera isn't pointed at them. (None of them ever thought to touch Giles despite knowing about the First? None of them hugged him or shook his hand despite not having seen him in months? None of them ever accidentally touched him while sharing a house for weeks?) And it's a mystery that largely only exists for the audience, a question which the actual characters don't even ask themselves until getting a phone call from a complete stranger who by his own testimony can only still be alive if Giles isn't the First (if Giles had been killed by a Bringer, then why would they have left any witnesses?). All in the service of a subplot which takes up valuable time from an already painfully overcrowded season and whose only actual payoff is a wretched and sordid little joke about Giles touching teenage girls. Just abysmal on every level.

[ao3feed-narlie]

a game of number roulette

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/HrEdihT by kay_lalala **** It *could* be some kind of wrong number plot Just narrowed down to the very small world that is this room ~unknown number true. so i guess it’s more like some sort of number roulette in a very safe lgbtq+ environment Oh, yeah, number roulette defo fits better “Do I have the number of the absolute hottie standing near the bar, smiling at his phone? Or did I draw the number belonging to that girl with the beautifully dyed rainbow hair?” Nobody knows ~unknown number well, guess you’re lucky and pulled the hottie because the one with the rainbow hair is Darce… and i’m not Darce So, you’re hot? 👀 ~unknown number I did imply that, didn't I? so much for a good first impression *** OR: At a party where the only way to get to know each other is by text-messages, two randomly matched strangers start talking... Words: 3804, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 23 of let there be love and fluff in any universe, Part 6 of texting makes the heart go fluff Fandoms: Heartstopper (TV), Heartstopper (Webcomic) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Nicholas "Nick" Nelson, Charles "Charlie" Spring (Heartstopper), Darcy Olsson (only mentioned), Tara Jones (only mentioned), Elle Argent (only mentioned) Relationships: Nicholas "Nick" Nelson/Charles "Charlie" Spring Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - College/University, Gay Charles "Charlie" Spring (Heartstopper), Bisexual Nicholas "Nick" Nelson, Texting, text-fic, first meeting via text, not wrong number tho, more like a chance meeting via text, Meddling Friends, Fluff and Humor, Fluff, Coincidences, Chatting & Messaging, chat fic, from strangers-and-crushes to crushes-and-crushes to... read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/HrEdihT