#that i truly do think things will get better

[oldqueergrandma]

Everyone's experience has nuance, so here is mine;

While I was in high school, I was having a pretty good time. I had a circle of friends besides my one Worstie. I outsmarted a couple of scheduling problems so that I could take instrumental music, vocal music, and art electives each year. I'd started going to SF/Conventions so I'd found My People and my world was already a lot bigger than my high school.

It wasn't until later that I saw how seriously fucked up my life was then. Why I busted my ass to go to college four hours away, and then just collapsed. That drive I had in high school evaporated on me. I was free, and I didn't really understand what that meant.

Some years later, after he went through a lot of therapy, my (3 years younger) brother asked me if I could pinpoint "when things at home got really bad."

My reply was that they got steadily worse. I could really see it when I flunked out of college and had to move back home the following year.

For him, that year I went away marked the "Worst" year. And I just stared at him and very softly said, "And why do you think that? What was different about that year?"

I watched him connect the dots at last. "You weren't there... To protect me."

"And I'm sorry."

Now, we didn't have a horror story.

We weren't beaten, or starved. We weren't forced to work part-time jobs while in school to feed the family. My brothers were allowed to play sports and I was allowed to pursue art.

But we were being emotionally abused, financially abused, and watching our parents' descent into their own miserable madness.

High school is when you start to see the bigger picture. High school is when many of us start to see what kind of cage we have been living in.

And, for some people, they don't experience that awareness. They love it so much because it's the only time in their lives when the ratio of freedoms-to-Responsibilities is favorable. And they spend their life reliving those Glory Days.

But I gotta tell you, and tell you truly:

It gets better. It's going to get better in ways that you might not even know about. You are going to become the manager of your own affairs, and that means you're going to get to make choices about the shape of your life.

High school *can* be practice for figuring out your life. But once you're no longer being monitored, you have only yourself to answer to.

If your life right now is miserable, try to find a space in your mind to decide what you want it to be like.

One day, you will be able to curate your experiences fully.

Maybe you won't have a mansion to live in, but an apartment. If you need personal space that is really private, promise yourself now that you'll work toward that goal. (Ditto for a house full of fun roommates, a dorm room all tricked out with a loft, or house with a yard.)

One day, you will be able to curate your friend group, based on people you like, who are supportive and fun. You won't be thrown together with randos who happen to live nearby and were born the same year.

One day, you won't have to sneak around to date. One day, you can make your own choices (including not to date.)

Life is a great adventure. Consider me the wizard walking through the door to inform you that you're special. That there is great peril, but also great rewards ahead. It is dangerous to go alone.

But take my hand. Everything will turn out right in the end.

what a beautiful day to not be in high school

[ghostly-bat]

Bruce can never truly benched Damian because that boy would just.... Be one of his other siblings'/family friend's sidekick.

Oh? What's that? Robin is benched until further notice because of [insert reason here]? Sucks to suck, Nightbird is here now.

Huh, Robin and Nightbird can't make it to the field? Well, Batman didn't say anything about Redbird now, did he?

Welp! Since Robin, Nightbird and Redbird are all out of commission, I don't see any reason why Emu can't make a debut now!

This is awkward, but no fear for Batboy is here!

Batman can catch both Spoiler and Raider's hand—

Well.... Batman didn't say anything about patrolling during daylight, which is a good thing since that's when Messenger is out to play :)

If Bruce still doesn't relent, Damian just goes back full circle and makes a rotation.

(it's based on this art where an official artist from DC drew Damian in many costumes inspired by his brothers' vigilante gig)

I've been giggling at this for a good minute, it's the fact that the first half of his other sidekick names is just different variations of bird name's, I'm particularly fond of Emu.

This is also peak 10 to 12 year old Damian behavior because turly you can't bench him, you can't tie him down, you can't put baby in a corner, no one puts baby in a corner, he's going out on patrol whether you like it or not.

Listen he has a whole list of names and different identities he's been working on, he has backups for his backups you'd be dumb to think he doesn't. Did he cop some of his brothers costume ideas? sure but he rocks it better anyway. At this point Bruce just gives up, there's nothing he can do, Damian's older brothers maybe enable it a bit cus they think it's pretty cool that they get to have their own sidekick for a while.

And the art! He's so tiny 😭😭💚💚

[muddyorbsblr]

pieces of me

See my full list of works here!

Part of the 500 Follower Celebration Requested by: Anonymous

Summary: While staying over at Loki's place, you get woken up with violently painful period cramps, having you apologizing to him in a panic when your mind starts flashing back to a night almost exactly like this from a previous relationship

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Word Count: 2.8k

Warning/s: blood; Reader going through her period; mentions of a previously abusive relationship; language (nope not sorry, Rogers) [let me know if i missed anything!]

Things to be aware of: start of steamy moments at the end; precious green flag bf Loki hours

The timer went off with four beeps, and you turned down the brightness of your laptop, rubbing your eyes as you leaned back on the seat of the couch. You groaned into the dark quiet of the living room, stretching your arms and letting your eyes rest for a few minutes before you had to go back in and work on the post-mission report again.

"Darling, what did I tell you about working in such a horrendous position?" You barely had time to react to the sound of Loki's voice, or the gentle yet admonishing tone of his voice, before he scooped you up in his arms and cradled you against him as he sat on the couch.

"You should come to bed," he told you, a soft chuckle escaping him when you instantly relaxed in his hold. He pressed a kiss to the top of your head. "Your mission report can wait until the morning, little mortal, you need your rest."

"'M fine…" you mumbled your protest, words muffled when you nuzzled your face into the crook of the god's neck. "M'almost done…just fifteen more minutes."

He let out a long sigh before tilting your chin up to face him, placing a soft kiss to your lips before moving you off of his lap and reaching for your timer, setting another fifteen minutes to it. "Alright, Y/N. But after this I'm taking you to bed." The way your eyes lit up had him breaking out into an amused grin, reaching over to hold your hand and kiss your knuckles. "To sleep, darling. I prefer you awake and alert when it comes to our lovemaking."

Your boyfriend sat quietly next to you as you resumed work on the report, waiting patiently for the four beeps to go off again. Unfortunately there were still a few fields left to fill out right as the timer went off. He wrapped his hand around yours, placing your laptop down on the coffee table before easily scooping you up in his arms again, this time carrying you to his bedroom.

"You know…I can just go back to my place," you offered. "I know this wasn't exactly what you had in mind when I said I'd sleep over for the night so maybe I can come by tomorrow--?"

"Do you truly think that that is all I want you for, precious mortal?" He sat you down on the edge of his bed before crouching down, his face now level with yours. "I cherish any time I get to spend with you, regardless of what we do." He held the side of your face, weaving his fingers through your hair before closing the distance and capturing your lips in a tender kiss. "Lay down, my darling. Tonight I am more than content simply holding you while we sleep."

Sleep took you as soon as he settled down on the bed beside you and he laid on his side to drape his arm over you. It honestly surprised you how quickly you could drift off ever since you and Loki started seeing each other. Back when you were single you practically slept with one eye open, always ready to spring into action, a fully loaded gun in your nightstand, just in case someone ever made the mistake of going into your apartment and trying something with you.

And it wasn't any better in your previous relationship. Spending the night with your ex mostly consisted of making sure you slept at the very edge of the bed to make sure that his arm didn't accidentally land on you while he flailed about. God help you if it did, it was an hour long tirade about how you "messed up his sleep experience for the night", and he outright demanded that you would "make it up to him" by giving him head.

That was what had you feeling so…foreign in this new relationship with the Asgardian. When he asked you earlier tonight if you wanted to stay with him after coming back from a mission that separated you from each other for the last week, you immediately assumed that it meant part of the night would have been spent naked in bed and most definitely not sleeping.

Not like you would have complained, of course. To say the sex was otherworldly was an understatement.

So having him prioritizing your rest, holding you close at the center of the bed while still wearing the lounge set he laid out for you when you entered his apartment nearly ten hours ago, was entirely uncharted territory. In just a few short months, the god had crafted a blissful little bubble for you that had you so thoroughly and stupidly content. That had you feeling so…safe.

If only the figurative needle that burst that bubble hadn't come tonight in the form of a sharp ache in your lower stomach that had you waking up with a violent start. You lurched away from Loki, clutching your abdomen in pain and pressing your face into the mattress to muffle your groans.

No no no, you thought to yourself in a panic, recognizing the violent clenching as period cramps. This wasn't supposed to be for another week.

The sound of your boyfriend mumbling your name had you scrambling out of bed, mortification and dread flooding you when soft warm light washed over the room and you saw the tiny patch of blood on the mattress. "Darling, what's happened? What's wrong?" He followed your gaze to the spot on the bed. "Oh, my dear heart…"

"I-I'm sorry," you stammered, already reaching for the sheets and starting to work them off of the mattress. "I'll--I'll get the spot out and get these back to you." The words started to spill out from you, as if you couldn't get them out fast enough. "I'm so sorry Loki please don't be mad--"

The feel of his hand gently wrapping around your arm had you jumping to stand up straight and turn to face him. But instead of the ire you'd braced yourself for when your eyes met his, instead you found concern. Tenderness, even. "You will do no such thing, darling," he told you, his tone the gentlest you'd ever heard from him. "You will stay right here and I'll be back in a moment."

When he guided you to sit back down on the bed, you began to protest. "But the blood--"

"Is just blood," he insisted, pressing a kiss between your brows. "Nothing we need worry about." He sat you down on the bed, lightly touching your chin before he disappeared from the bedroom in a flash of green.

Barely two minutes later he returned. In one hand was a change of clothes from your closet. In the other was the little acrylic basket you kept in your bathroom cupboard decorated with shark stickers. He set the clothes down on top of his dresser and held his hand out towards you to take.

He led you to his bathroom, placing the basket on the countertop. "Get yourself cleaned and sorted, darling. I'll take care of the bedsheets," he told you before pressing a soft kiss to your forehead.

"You really don't need to I'll be done in a few minutes--"

The frantic tone in your voice stopped him from closing the door. "Y/N, what paltry excuse of a partner would I be if I didn't do what I could to alleviate what stresses your body is forced to suffer?"

Loki's response, especially the sincerity that came through with every word, had you floored. He said it like it was the simplest, most basic thing in the world. Like it didn't even need a modicum of common sense to come to that conclusion.

And yet your history was more than enough proof that the answer to his question would have been 'the kind that I've always had'. He must have seen the words forming all from the glazed over look in your eyes as you thought back on former boyfriends, and he let out a sigh, crossing the distance between you again and framing your face in his large hands.

"Darling, I may not completely understand Midgardian anatomy quite yet, an issue I will see to it that I remedy after tonight. But this? Ensuring that you need not add to the stress that you must already bear? This I can do. How could I allow myself to simply sit back and not offer my aid where it could benefit the woman I love?"

Both of you froze, stunned silent, at the words that came from the god. Love. It was a word you didn't dare to use even in the solace of your own thoughts. Sure, the last few months that you'd been with him were nothing short of a wonderful dream that you wish you'd never wake up from. Of course you loved him. Even before your first date, you already had it bad for him.

"You love me?" you blurted out, your words barely louder than a whisper.

"I do," he sighed, pressing his lips to yours in a tender kiss. "I have for a long while, my darling." He ghosted his lips up the bridge of your nose before pressing another kiss between your brows. "Get yourself cleaned," he repeated, murmuring the words into your skin. "I'll have tea waiting for you when you finish."

Once you were clean and you'd changed into the clothes Loki brought over for you, you stepped out of the bathroom, your heart warming at the sight of the god having placed a tray with a tea set on the storage bench in front of the bed. He shifted he way he sat at the edge of the bed, stretching his arm out toward you to invite you to sit on his thigh.

"Do you feel better, sweetheart?" He wrapped his arm around you, securing you against him as his hand worked its way under the hem of your shirt, thumb softly stroking at your skin. You only nodded your response before leaning over and giving him a kiss. He hummed contentedly against your lips, playfully nipping at your bottom lip before he pulled away. "What was that for?"

"I love you, too," you told him. "I realized while I was in the shower that I didn't say the words back. Like an idiot. But I do…love you. I don't think I even remember a time that I wasn't--"

He quieted the rest of your words when he pulled you into another kiss, weaving his fingers through your hair and holding you in place. "My precious little mortal," he sighed against your lips before he stole another kiss. "Why did you think I would be angry with you over something so…paltry?" You shifted to move off of his thigh, which made him hold you tighter. "You need not hide from me, my love. I need you to know this."

"It's just…" Your voice grew faint as you tried to find the right starting point to even start telling the god about the scars that had stayed with you from the ghosts of your past relationships. "I don't know how to even start finding the words," you said lamely, picking at the stitching of the hem of your top. "But maybe…maybe I can show you."

Loki's eyes widened as you placed your hand over his and brought it up to touch your temple. "Are you certain?" he asked, breathless.

"Of course," you said softly, giving him a tiny smile. "I trust you, Mischief."

You rested your forehead against his, bracing your hands on his shoulders as the memories flooded your mind, nearly knocking the wind out of you. All of the times that your last boyfriend before him mistreated you, neglected your needs and only called you over to stay the night when he wanted sex.

The time when you woke up on a night just like tonight, with painful cramps that came a week early because of the stresses of passing your SHIELD exams that were a part of your final assessment to be taken on to the Avengers team. You'd left a small patch of blood on his sheets and he had an absolute meltdown.

Even just the memory of his words had you flinching in Loki's arms.

Dammit those sheets were a graduation gift from my mom, you dumb bitch. You better clean that up and it better be fucking spotless.

Baby I'm sorry, it's just you know how important anything from my Mama is to me. I mean how would you feel if I just went and pissed on those journals your dad gave you for Christmas last year? What do you mean of course it's the same thing. But that's not what's important, pookie bear. What's important is making it up to me. I mean, you did disrupt my sleep experience.

"I've seen enough, darling," Loki snarled pulling away from you, pure fury in his eyes upon seeing that bringing those memories so vividly to the surface had made your cheeks wet with tears. "I should have his head for his abhorrent mistreatment of you."

You gave the god a half-hearted shrug. "He's someone else's problem now, thank fuck."

"He should not be anyone's problem."

"We can't just get rid of him, he's a civilian," you grumbled, already hating that you had to argue against his sentiment even though you actually agreed with him on a fundamental level. "He's not worth the legalities that we'd be facing. Trust me, I've considered it. From setting his house on fire to hacking his car to drive off a cliff. He's not worth facing the consequences."

Loki pursed his lips, wrapping his arms around you a bit tighter. "I suppose you're right, my love." He pressed a kiss to your forehead. "Then the only course of action now is taking care of you. Putting those awful memories far in the back of your mind."

He guided you to lay back down on his bed, holding you against him with your back to his chest. He splayed his hand across your lower stomach and used his seiðr to warm the area, relieving your cramps.

It didn't take long before you relaxed against one another, sleep once again sinking its hooks into you.

The next few days felt like something out of a dream, the raven-haired Asgardian going above and beyond, ensuring that you were well taken care of and that you weren't doing anything that could cause you additional undue stress. If he so much as saw you stumble or touch your head while you walked, he scooped you up in his arms and brought you back to his apartment, telling you to rest for an hour. You made a throwaway joke when he laid you down for a nap, calling him "Doctor Loki" right as you fell asleep.

On the fourth day of your period, usually the last day if you were to rely on your history, you got a text from the god telling you to meet him in his apartment for a "routine check-up". It seemed he caught on to your joke and wanted to play along.

However the last thing you expected was to walk into his bedroom and be greeted with the sight of him dressed in only dark slacks and a white doctor's coat, his eyes framed by a pair of angular square glasses. He smirked as his eyes raked over your figure, standing to his full height before making his way to you. "Hello, darling."

"What's all this, Mischief?"

"Well, the symptoms of your…condition seem to have abated," he answered, fighting back the playful smile that threatened to stretch across his face. "Aside from those pesky little headaches that seem to plague you every now and again. Luckily I have a quick and…rather enjoyable remedy for this."

He took your hand in his and started to guide you toward the bathroom.

"And what exactly is this treatment you have in mind?"

"Easy, my love," he said, casually shrugging off the white doctor coat, putting his well-defined chest and abs on display before pulling you into his arms with a gentle tug. He traced a finger down the bridge of your nose before tilting your chin up so he could lay his lips on yours, the kiss quickly becoming more and more heated with each brush of his lips. "Pleasure." With a wave of his hand your clothes and his disappeared in a flash of green and he led you into the shower. "Sweet, decadent, overwhelming pleasure."

A/N: Another request from the 500 follower celebration done! I had such a cozy lil time writing this kind of Loki where he just takes care of his bb and just makes sure that she feels safe and loved 🥹💖

I've got another 4-day weekend ahead of me starting tomorrow and hopefully I can use this time to knock out some stories from both my neverending Tumblr and non-Tumblr TBRs, getting some stories either properly planned out or actually written out, and just overall being productive 🫡

Already working on the next request from the 500 follower celebration list and…it's a Hiddles x Reader story that involves a mango ride 😈

'everything' taglist: @simplyholl @loopsisloops @imalovernotahater @coldnique @loz-3 @huntress-artemiss @salempoe @athalialaufeyson @lokiprompts @kats72 @kikster606 @asgards-princess-of-mischief @lokixryss @thomase1 @mischief2sarawr @lovingchoices14 @lunarnights95 @goblingirlsarah @iamlokisgloriouspurpose @creationsbyme @maple-seed @mjsthrillernp @ladyofthestayingpower @sititran @glitterylokislut @ozymdias @fictive-sl0th  @lokidbadguy @mochie85 @silverfire475 @joyful-enchantress @elizabethmidnight2017 @holdmytesseract @smolvenger @gigglingtiggerv2 @lokidokieokie @superficialdomina @kmc1989 @november-rayne @goddessofwonderland @buttercupcookies-blog @peaky-marvel @lokiified @dryyoursaltyoceantears @herdetectivetheorist @alexakeyloveloki @lulubelle814 @jaidenhawke @km-ffluv @huntedmusicgardenn @steaa90-blog

[starmaidengarden]

@meime13 request: OMG, I just read what i requested, it was super cute, tbh, I didn't expected u to reply to my request, thank u very much, i think at this rate i'll become a bit greedy and always sending requests, ofc, if u don't mind, thank u very much Can I request smth else? Of course if u don't mind, may I request headcanons second year students (+Ace, if it's too much u can ignore it) with an s/o who's really sensitive, like can get provoked really easily and can cry from anger as well, and takes things personally sometimes without realizing it and sometimes unconsciously victimize herself and really subjective altho she claims to be "logical", and she absolutely hate this side of her and wish she was stone hearted person or emotionless and use her brain instead of her heart Sorry for too much yapping, it's ok if u don't accept the request, tbh i think i got a lil too excited, Take care

— 2nd years : ace : x gn!reader. victimize, ace being ace. established relationship. dividers : uzmacchiato!

a/n: no worries! I love your headcanons! Feel free to send as many requests as you like. There was a problem with the request where I couldn't add pictures. Sorry to do it this way again. hope you enjoy!!

Riddle Rosehearts ༉⋆｡˚

⭑.ᐟ At first, Riddle might have a tough time with how you react—he used to keep his feelings bottled up, thinking they were a weakness. But when he sees you cry or take things seriously, it hits him hard.

⭑.ᐟ He really tries to tread carefully around you and feels bad if he comes off too harsh. “Being pushed by your emotions isn’t a bad thing. It just needs a little guidance instead of pushing it away.” He’ll help you find ways to handle your feelings better—like journaling, or even venting sessions.

Ace Trappola ༉⋆｡˚

⭑.ᐟ At first, he might be kind of clueless and joke around too much, unintentionally setting you off. When he realizes his teasing has hurt you, his behavior changes completely. “Wait, I didn’t mean it like that! Damn, I’m really sorry—I was just messing around.” He’d feel really bad seeing you cry out of frustration or anger, especially if it was triggered by something he said.

⭑.ᐟ He doesn’t like seeing you hate yourself over your feelings and often tries to reassure you. “If you were just some emotionless robot, I probably wouldn’t even like you,” he says with a half-smile, hoping to lighten the mood. When you're overwhelmed, he tries to help you work through your feelings logically, but he’s learned to listen more and push less. He understands that being present for you, especially in tough moments, is what truly matters.

Ruggie Bucchi ༉⋆｡˚

⭑.ᐟ Ruggie is really good at brushing things off, so he’s surprised by how seriously you take everything. He often jokes about stuff that upsets you, not because he intends any harm, but because that’s just how he deals with things—and it usually backfires. When he sees you getting upset or spiraling into negative thoughts about yourself, he shifts into serious mode.

⭑.ᐟ He quietly brings you some food, sits next to you, and lets you vent until you calm down. Then, he teases you just enough to help you get out of your head. He reminds you that feeling emotions is part of getting through life; not everything has to be so logical all the time. “Even if you feel too much sometimes, I’d rather that than you not care at all.”

Azul Ashengrotto ༉⋆｡˚

⭑.ᐟ Azul truly understands your deep-seated feelings, even if he presents a tough surface. He knows what it’s like to struggle with parts of yourself that you can’t change, particularly the lingering fear of being perceived as “weak.” Initially, he is taken aback by your emotional outbursts and tries to resolve everything with logic, which only deepens your distress.

⭑.ᐟ However, once he realizes this approach isn’t effective, he shifts. He begins offering you more compliments and the emotional support you’ve been missing. Also, he enjoys helping you work through your thoughts, gently guiding you past any negative thinking. “Even if you can’t see it right now, I promise—what I see is someone worth listening to.”

Jade Leech ༉⋆｡˚

⭑.ᐟ Jade is really in tune with your feelings—he picks up on your emotional shifts even before you do. He never makes you feel dumb or irrational for crying or reacting strongly. His voice has this calm, soothing vibe, kind of like a lullaby. When you’re stuck in a loop of self-hate, he helps you flip your thoughts around. “Your feelings are part of what makes you, you. Why get rid of something so human?”

⭑.ᐟ He’s the kind of person who helps you figure out your reactions without judging. He’s never condescending but does push back a bit “Do you really want to be emotionless, or do you just want to avoid getting hurt so easily?”

Floyd Leech ༉⋆｡˚

⭑.ᐟ Floyd really loves your passionate side because it’s all over the place and real. He never judges you for it, even if he doesn’t always get it. If you’re crying out of anger, he gets fired up too— “Who messed with you? Want me to take care of them?” He’s not the type to baby you, but he knows how to comfort you in his own way—with tight hugs and holding your face, telling you, “I like Shrimpy just like this. Don’t change and become boring.”

⭑.ᐟ He can be pretty blunt and might say stuff that ends up hurting your feelings without meaning to. Then he gets a bit mopey if you take it too hard, like, “I didn’t mean it that way, don’t be like that…” Floyd appreciates your honesty, even if it leads to tears because you’re never boring, and that’s what he loves the most.

Kalim Al-Asim ༉⋆｡˚

⭑.ᐟ He doesn’t judge you for crying or getting upset—often. However, since he is such a cheerful person, he sometimes fails to notice when you're really struggling internally or blaming yourself.

⭑.ᐟ When he does pick up on it, he responds by showing even more affection: giving you hugs, showering you with compliments, and listing all the reasons he loves how expressive you are. He’s not interested in changing you; he simply reminds you that it’s completely okay to be emotional—it just shows how much you care. “Honestly, if you weren’t like this, I probably wouldn’t have fallen for you. You make everything feel so real.”

Jamil Viper ༉⋆｡˚

⭑.ᐟ Jamil picks up on everything, even the little stuff, like small expressions and changes in your mood. He may not always say anything, but he knows exactly how easily you can get hurt. When you get upset and cry from anger, he helps you take deep breaths while giving you some space. Later on, he’ll sit next to you and ask if you want to talk or let it all out.

⭑.ᐟ He also tries to share some of his grounding tricks with you, like breathing techniques or mental checklists, to help you work through your feelings. “You don’t have to be emotionless to be strong. Honestly, it just means your heart is more open than mine ever was.”

Silver ༉⋆｡˚

⭑.ᐟ Silver is incredibly patient with you, your sensitivity doesn’t bother him. When you feel overwhelmed, he speaks to you softly and doesn’t push you to "make sense" of things—he simply waits until you feel safe.

⭑.ᐟ He encourages you to take it easy, find your footing, and slow down. “You don’t have to figure everything out. Sometimes you just need to feel it.” If you express a desire to be emotionless, he frowns, “That would be a shame. Your feelings are what make you, you.”

[forever-rogue]

❛ just relax and let me take care of you. ❜ but with Tommy cause lord knows there’s barely anything for him😔 and it’s reader who’s stressed and he helps her relax?

AN | You’re so right and you should say it. I’ve been a Tommy stan and I’ll die a Tommy stan. Enjoy some softness 💕

Pairing | Tommy Miller x Fem!Reader 

Warnings | Reader has experienced significant trauma from canon-typical violence

Word Count | 3k

Masterlist | Main 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You jolted awake, sitting up and gasping for breath as your eyes scanned the dark, quiet bedroom. Clammy and tense, you scrubbed a hand down your face, willing yourself to calm down.

It was just a dream. A nightmare. Another hellish reminder of what had happened. What you had witnessed was forever etched into your memory. You hastily brushed away the tears rolling down your cheeks, attempting to keep your crying as quiet as possible.

“Hey, hey.” Tommy sat up next to you, his hands seeking you out in the darkness of the bedroom. There was only a sliver of pale moonlight streaming in through the curtain, bathing you both in an almost ethereal glow. Your body relaxed slightly at the feeling of his hands on yours, tenderly pulling away your hands from your face, “it’s okay. I’m right here—I’ve got you.”

“I…” you trailed off, at a loss for words. How did you even begin to describe what had started to haunt both your days and nights? You didn't have to with him; he understood even if he hadn't been there with you.

You burrowed your cheek into his hand, letting his gentle touch ground you. You were at home, safe, in your bedroom with Tommy. He made gentle sounds as he brushed away your tears, reminding you that everything was okay. Once your initial panic wore off, he pulled you into his lap, wrapping his strong arms around you as you burrowed your face in his chest. Your tears quickly soaked through his shirt, but he didn't loosen his hold on you; you could have ruined a thousand shirts and he wouldn't have cared.

“Tommy,” his name was but a whisper as he rubbed your back in soothing circles. He was so gentle, his touch reverent and loving. That made the tears come harder as you realized that this man was one of the best things that had ever happened to you, “it was the same dream. Again. I-I….I want it to stop.”

“I know,” he whispered.

“Every night when I wake up, I check to make sure you’re there—because I can’t... I can’t lose you, Tommy.” Your voice was thick with tears, and Tommy had to fight back his own. “Even when you are there, I worry...sometimes I think, what if it had been you and not Joel? And it's so selfish of me. I just…I don't want to feel like this forever. I want to be normal again. I don’t always want to go around and just be expecting the worst.”

“Honey.” He turned your face up toward his so he could meet your eyes, “there is nothing wrong with you. You went through a lot. Its going to be hard for a while but it won't always be this way. You’ll get better….we’ll all get better.”

“Promise?”

“I do,” he pressed kisses to your forehead and cheeks, before brushing his lips lightly against yours, “I promise.”

“Okay,” you kissed him, slowly and gently, trying to memorize every touch, taste, and feel of him, “can you…hold me tonight?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, slowly laying back down and pulling tightly into his arms, making you feel both safe and sound, “sleep. I'll be right here. I'll stay awake all night if you need.”

“You need rest too,” you sniffled softly, “try and get some sleep too.”

“Let me worry about you, yeah?” He kissed the top of your head, “just rest.”

“Love you, Tommy,” you whispered, sleep already tugging you back into its sweet embrace. At least with Tommy holding you, you might be able to get some dreamless sleep.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The thought of going outside Jackson again was enough to have you reeling. You didn’t want to go, you wanted to stay home, safe and with your family. But, you realized, it wasn’t even truly safe inside anymore either. Not when the sanctity of your home had been compromised. It didn’t matter that you knew it was more or less a fluke experience and unlikely to happen again. But it didn’t matter.

All you could see was the destruction and death upon your return with Ellie, Jesse, Dina, and Joel. Joel. It was watching him almost die, getting beaten halfway to death that haunted you. You had no clue how he had survived, hell, how any of you made it out alive, but you did.

You returned, wanting nothing more than to see your husband and sleeping for a very, very long time. Unfortunately, no rest ever seemed to come for the wicked and when you returned to Jackson, it was like coming back to a version of hell that nothing could have prepared you for.

But there wasn’t time to mourn, to rest, to destress, to make sure you were okay. No. The city needed help, its people needed people and no matter how much you were hurting, you’d never turn away from the opportunity to help.

So you worked without resting, without making sure you were okay.

And now, several months later, you were still jumpy, still having nightmares, and never relaxed. It was like your body never got the message that it could be off high alert. Your body was always buzzing and vibrating, waiting for what came next.

Tommy had noticed; everyone had noticed. It was like the only other person that understood was Joel. Joel, your brother-in-law that had bounced back as everyone expected. He was tired and so were you. At least you had someone to commiserate with while he recovered and you helped him as much as you could. You liked spending time with him; sometimes it felt like he was the only one that understood. 

“Hey - are you listening?” you blinked a few times as your eyes adjusted to the man standing in front of you. Jesse had a look somewhere between annoyance and pity on his face, “where’d you go?”

“Nowhere,” you whispered, “sorry.”

“We’re going out on patrol, it’s our turn. We have to go,” he said nodded towards the stables as you swallowed thickly, “we have to go.”

“Jesse,” you whispered, wondering how you could possibly get out of patrol. You knew that Tommy had pulled strings with the council since you’d been back to make sure you didn’t have to go out. But there was only so long he could protect you before you needed to take care of yourself. Your heart was fluttering around wildly in your chest as you frowned at him, “can you take - “

“I’m sorry,” he reached over and gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze, “the council isn’t willing to keep switching your shifts. I tried…Tommy tried.”

“Okay,” you took the gun he held out to you, the weight in your hand feeling foreign and off putting. You holstered, feeling like a caricature of yourself; you from a few months ago, from before, would have laughed. You would have never acted like this, “let’s go then.”

“It won’t be long or too far out,” he promised as you padded after him to get your horses, keeping your eyes peeled for Tommy. Before you managed to leave, you heard your name being called, followed by your husband running up to you, a worried expression on his face. 

“Tommy,” his name fell from your lips like a prayer as he wrapped his arms around you, squeezing you tightly. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, “I tried but-”

“It’s okay,” you insisted, pulling back and pressing a kiss to his cheek, “I can’t keep hiding forever.”

“Here,” he took off his flannel jacket, the one you loved so much, and put it on you, immediately enveloping you in his scent, “it’s cold out there. I’ll be right here when you get home. I promise.”

“I know,” you sighed softly as he buttoned up the jacket before pulling you in for another kiss, “I love you.”

“I love you,” his voice was low in your ear, just for you. There was a deep frown on his face as he looked you over. You reached up and put your hands on his face, studying all the freckles that dotted his golden skin. You kissed him and he kissed you back, putting every fiber of his being into the kiss, “right here, okay?”

“Okay,” you agreed before letting go of him and turning back towards Jesse, “bye.”

He gave Jesse a hard nod as he watched the two of you leave, his own feeling like it was breaking in half.  He had done everything he could to try and help you come out of the haze you were in, but he knew that there was only so much he could do before you just needed to face your demons head on. He just hated that he wasn’t going with you. But in some ways, he supposed, it was better that he wasn’t there. 

But he’d be right there the moment you got home.  And Tommy Miller was determined to make sure you knew how much he loved you, and that he’d always protect you.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

By the time you got back the next evening, your nerves were shot. Part of you was glad to have gone out and conquered at least some of your fears, but the other part just wanted to get home to hide. It was uneventful and Jesse was right, everything was fine. Very fine. You hoped that over time, going back on patrol would become easier again. 

You weren’t a damsel in distress; you were the hero of your own story. Right now it didn’t feel like that...but you held onto hope that you’d get back to yourself soon. 

Your home was brightly lit, warmth spilling from the windows, with Tommy waiting for you. You almost ran when it came into view, but decided to make yourself walk at a calm pace. There was nothing to fear, nothing to run from, but so much to get home to. 

You opened the door, the familiar creak making you feel at ease. The first thing that came into view as you came inside and kicked your boots was the vase of flowers that was on the table. They were fresh and beautiful, and not shockingly, all of your favorites.

“Tommy?” you called softly, and were instantly met by the sound of his approaching footsteps. He stopped in front of you, a big, soft grin on his face, and his hair down and curly as ever. Dressed in a soft sweatshirt and plaid pajama pants, he looked cozy—so at home, so at ease.

As soon as your brain made the connection that you were home, and he was here, your husband, you couldn’t help the sniffles and tears that welled up immediately, running down your cheeks before you knew what was happening. 

A panicked look colored his features as he closed the gap and hugged you tightly, his embrace almost too tight. Almost. But it was never enough.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you sniffled. “I promise. I’m just... I’m so glad to be home. With you.”

“Shh,” he whispered softly, “‘m always gonna be here. You know that. Now, how about this…you just relax and let me take care of you.”

“Tommy-”

“I wasn’t aware I was asking a question,” he teased, getting a huff of laughter out of you. You nodded gently, giving into him without any real opposition; besides, you knew better than to argue with one of the Millers, “let me do this, please.”

“Okay,” you nodded and a comfortable, peaceful silence fell over the two of you. Tommy’s deft fingers worked to unbutton your (his) jacket, which he hung up in the coat closet. He removed the holster that was still strapped onto your thigh and put everything away safely and out of your sight. His gentle touch sent shivers down your spine, causing goosebumps all to erupt all over your skin.

“C’mon,” he took your hand in his, fingers tangled with yours as he started heading up the stairs. You trailed after him, realizing that you would have easily went wherever with him; you trusted him completely. 

He led you to the bathroom, making quick work of turning on the hot water, and pouring some oils into the tub. You couldn’t even remember the last time you took a bath; your body was practically aching and begging for it. 

A small sigh escaped your lips as he ran and grabbed a couple of clean, fluffy towels before turning his attention back to you. He reached for the hem of your sweater, meeting your eyes to make sure you were okay before taking it off your body. You watched as he studied you reverently, his golden brown eyes almost never leaving you. You attempted to reach behind you to take off your bra but he gently pushed your hands out of the way, doing it himself instead. Your body was so relaxed into his touch, and he soon had your pants and underwear off too. He held his out hand to help you into the tub before taking off his own clothes and getting in opposite you. It wasn’t sexual—but the intimacy of simply being with him made you want to cry all over again.

“Thank you,” your voice cut through the silence as he turned the water off and relaxed into its warmth as well.

“There’s nothing to thank me for,” he insisted, running his fingers along your calf, “I want you to be able to be comfortable and calm. I know it’s been hard, but I hope you know that you always have me.”

“I know, Tommy,” you took his hand and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of it, causing a warmth to color his cheeks, “you always have me too. It’s just been…hard. But it’s been for everyone, I don’t know why it’s affecting me this much.”

“Just because it was hard for everyone, doesn’t make the fact it was hard for you any less important,” you offered him a tightlipped smile in response, “everyone heals differently. But you’ve been...throwing yourself into doing so much, I’m afraid that you haven’t taken the time for yourself. You need to take care of yourself too, yeah?”

“It feels-”

“It’s not selfish,” he knew exactly where your train of thought was going and was quick to shut it down, “if the roles were reversed, what would you tell me to do?”

“I…” you huffed dramatically before splashing some water at him, “you know I’d be telling you to take time for yourself and make sure you heal yourself too, not just everyone else.”

“Exactly,” he winked at you, before reaching for your hand and pulling you onto his lap. Your hands went to his chest and you sighed softly, admiring the man that you called yours. He played gently with your hair before you leaned in and kissed him, letting the time melt away as you lost yourself to his touch.  There was something that felt so grounding about being there in that moment with him. Just the two of you. Nothing else.

“Tommy…” your voice trailed off as you ran a hand through his curly hair, lightly scratching at his scalp. He made a small sound of content as a serious look settled on your face.

“We’re going to be okay, you know,” he reached for your hand, resting his palm against yours, his touch gentle, “probably doesn’t feel like it right now, but it will be. It always is.”

“I suppose,” you admired how much larger his hands were, entwining your fingers with his, “and if it’s not?”

“It’s going to be. Promise.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Are you warm enough?” you were already burrowed under the covers, finding the bedding clean and fresh. You turned just enough to look at him before nodding, “good.”

He went to close the window, leaving it open just a small crack for a bit of fresh air. You stuck your fingers out from under the covers, motioning for him to come over, “please say you’re going to join me.”

“I was going to let you get some rest,” his hands were on his as he raised an eyebrow, bringing a smile to your face, “you sure you want me intruding on your peace and quiet, darlin’?”

“I always want you,” you huffed, causing him to laugh softly as you moved closer to the middle of bed so he could join you, “just wanna lay here with you.”

“Alright, alright,” he held up his hands in defeat before stripping off his shirt and getting into the bed next to you. His strong arms reached for you, pulling you tightly into his large, warm body, “that better for you?”

“It’s perfect,” you agreed, tangling your legs with his. There was something that made you feel so safe and comforted by being held by him. You inhaled his familiar smell before pressing a kiss to his shoulder, “thank you, my love.”

“Like I said, you have nothing to thank me for,” he insisted, “I know it ain’t much, but I just wanted to do a little something special for you.”

“It’s more than,” you insisted, “I feel better, I do. It’s been getting better and I know a lot of that is because of you. I don’t know when I’ll feel completely back to normal but this is already a lot better than it was.”

“Whatever you need,” he ghosted his fingers along with you before swiping his thumb along your bottom lip, “I’ll do it.”

You kissed the tip of his finger, eyes on his as you offered him a look of acknowledgment. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. 

And you knew you could always count on Tommy to be there for you.

[wrathofrats]

Mushy May Day 1: sleepovers

Read under cut or on ao3! Prompts by @forlorn-crows

Ifrit asks aether who he has a crush on during a game.

Featuring 700 words of: truth or dare, ifrit is kinda stupid but we love him, i love writing early ifrit and aether as frat bros, they’re besties your honor, ifrit can’t make popcorn

“You didn’t even pop it?” Aether cocked an eyebrow at ifrit as he threw a package of microwave popcorn onto his lap, setting two cans of soda on the nightstand.

“I’m a fire ghoul, why the hell would I pop it downstairs and let it get cold?”

Ifrit crawled onto the bed grabbing the package off of aethers lap, picking at the plastic around it. Aether reached over him for his own drink. The can was a little warm, ifrit was sometimes bad at controlling his element. Should’ve asked him to grab a cup of ice but it wasn’t a huge deal. He took the plastic scraps and threw them into the small trash can by the bed.

“Didn’t omega tell you to stop using your magic for things that weren’t important? Tell me you at least grabbed a bowl” aether sighed. He knew ifrit didn’t, watching him hold the bag in his hands as it rapidly expanded. Ifrit stared at it intensely, mouthing numbers, no doubt counting the seconds between pops as if he was actually using the microwave. Aethers tried to explain to him it doesn’t work the same, ifrit never listens though. It makes him feel useful.

“No bowl. Omegas a stick in the mud. It’s faster this way too, look! Have some”

Aether rolled his eyes, sticking his hand into the bag and throwing a couple pieces into his mouth, wincing at the bitter taste.

“Ifrit this is burnt”

“Wow. God forbid a woman make a mistake” ifrit grabbed the bag back from him, shoving his own hand up into his mouth. He tried not to make it obvious he also couldn’t stand the taste, powering through to eat a couple more pieces before abandoning the bag between them.

“You’re not even …. Whatever.” Aether sighed “movie?”

“We always watch a movie. Can we play a game or something? We could even do each other's nails, have a spa bath or something.”

“A game? You want to play fucking truth or dare or something like kits-“

“Yeah!” Ifrit interrupted him, perking up at the mention. Aether furrowed his brow at him. There was no way he was serious right? Judging by the smile on his face and the way he turned to sit up facing aether, no, he wasn’t joking. “Ok, truth or dare?”

“You genuinely want to play?” There was a pause before ifrit nodded like it was completely obvious, “fine, truth”

“Boring. Who do you have a cruuushhhhh on?” Ifrit sang, hands in his lap and wiggling happily like a little girl.

“Dare.” Aether quickly corrected himself. A stupid blush was no doubt rising to his cheeks. The game was stupid anyways, truly he could just lie until he got bored and relented to a movie and some cuddles or something.

“Absolutely not. Answer the question, come on it’s not like it’s a secret”

“Fuck you asshole” aether scoffed as if ifrit wasn’t entirely correct, “no one thanks. Why, do you have one or something?”

“It’s obvious it’s dewdrop. You start tripping over yourself when he’s around.” Ifrit snicked

“You dodged my question”

“You dodged mine!”

Aether huffed, taking another bite of cold burnt popcorn as if it might taste better this time. Ifrit may be an idiot but god did that boy know how to read people.

“Maybe. Since you already know apparently. You can’t fucking tell him though ifrit i swear to god-“

“I won’t! It’s sweet. I don’t see him act nice to most but he’s always nice to you. Just thought I’d point it out”

Aether quickly took a sip of his drink, using it as a break to think for a second. There was no way dew liked him back, that shit head was in a different sisters room most nights. Hope sparked in his chest anyways.

“Your turn fritter, cough it up”

Ifrit laughed, leaning back against the pillows and crossing his hands in front of him in thought. He had a small smile on his face, swinging the leg that was hanging off the bed.

“Zephyr. They’re just …”

“I fucking knew it!”

“Shut up! Listen- they’re so smart and I like the way they take things seriously, I don’t know they’re just nice to be around”

“Gay”

“Fuck you”

[haveasnickerss]

Yes to everything.

Also, even tho Crosshair and Echo weren't there, they weren't dead, they were just gone, in another place.

The rest of the batch weren't mourning, at least not in the 'they're never coming back way' sense (bc they were mourning, as in he's taking another path and he isn't with us rn)

Tech had a great capacity of adaptability, he said it himself, and he was used to putting aside his feelings and making the changes that were necessary and gave them the better odds of survival (hence plan 99). You compared him with an engine, and I agree. He was the engine, he hacked into things and made plans and quick calculations, knew the best strategies to optimize the team, and was usually the one who got the information- and he was the medic in the team.

So after plan 99, not only did they lack his abilities to solve the problems they encountered, which was exactly what they needed, they also could not deal with the pain of truly losing a brother for the first time- suddenly death wasn't inevitable, it was a very real thing (I do believe (read as I'm in denial) he survived and became CX-2). They were mourning a brother that they would never see again.

They went back to Cid's for AZI bc they didn't have a medic and Omega needed one which turned out to be a bad decision, but one they made while heartbroken, so without Tech there they didn't stop to think, couldn't stop to think if there wasn't another place to go (or to get AZI and get out of there immediately)

They didn't even have the time to properly mourn him, bc Cid betrayed them and suddenly they lost more of their family. They were desperate and heartbroken and everything had gone wrong.

(I also want to say we were robbed of seeing Crosshair react to Tech's death, we know he knows but we never saw how he reacted when they told him)

remember in S2 when Tech said "This squad existed before Echo was a part of it, and it will exist after."

and then in S3 Crosshair said "Clone Force 99 died with Tech. We're not that squad anymore."

i just think about this a lot.

[sparrows4bats]

I believe in Disney Princess Damian supremacy. I believe in a boy who loves nature so much it loves him back just as fiercely.

Odiespenelope on ao3 wrote a one shot and it has occupied my every waking thought since. The Al ghul are eco terrorists, the boy loves the world and I need that influence and core belief to filter into more of his actions.

Give me a Damian that when he came to Gotham, was horrified at the state of local animals and ecosystems and since his father will not allow him to punish every abuser or ceo who destroys the environment like they deserve, He will work to fix their mistakes. Fulfil both his parents legacies at once by making this city better for all living creatures not just people.

Give me a damian who after causing so much pain learnt love from Goliath, the bats in the cave and Titus. Let him learn how to spread it to other animals and eventually people.

Give me a Damian who feeds every stray he comes across no matter the species to the point Alfred sows him extra pockets in his robin uniform and civilian coats. Some are big enough to hold cats and injured birds safely during fights.

Damian brings home and fosters any animal he can hide from Bruce. The largest so far has been a horse he liberated from a neglectful carriage driver in Gotham Park. (Father caught Goliath within three days so it doesn't count.)

After batcow arrives it becomes easier because when she is not in the cave, Bruce doesn't look in her Barn. The Barn has become his base of animal and plant operations. With the help of Alfred and a very amused Oracle (she found out after watching Damian on traffic cams with dozens of cats following him around like adoring fans) it grows larger and more extreme.

He creates relationships with every no kill shelter in the city and most decent veterinarians. The network becomes helpful in finding good homes for the animals he rescues and blacklisting bad owners.

Anyone found abusing an animal lives in fear of katanas. They hear soft words to puppies and cats after they have been brutally incapacitated.

He investigates companies with harmful environmental practices and passes any information he has onto Oracle to deal with. (For particularly bad offenders, he let's poison Ivy deal with them)

He carries around wild flower seed balls and puts money into local parks and nature reserves. The harbour is his next big project. ( There's so much he could do with an oyster and seaweed farm for biological filtration and detoxification of the water.)

He just never expects Gothams animals to protect him aswell.

He rescues an army of pigeons who attack a mugger after they gets a lucky shot in and get Damian in the throat. The birds descend in a fury. The mugger is so terrified he gives up before Damian can get him back for the throat punch.

The cats are next. Clawing and Biting human traffickers. Bruce assumes Silena did it, but Damian (who has twisted his ankle in the fight) knows.

It's only after a raccoon starts handing him back batarangs that he's thrown that he decides to try cultivating this behaviour on purpose.

Jon, who he goes to for animal husbandry advice and later training tips, thinks this is the funniest thing to happen ever. (Once he knows the amount of work Damian does for so many animals, he starts to fall a little in love with the boy who has birds happily making a home in his hair and only truly smiles at his strays.)

It's not long until every criminal begins to fear the sound of wings in alleys and claws on cement. You never know which stray is one of Robins.

The batfamily only realise what's going on when Damian is kidnapped and is rescued by a pack of stray dogs somehow. Each has a robin themed collar. Dick thinks it's the cutest thing in the universe, and Bruce gives him funds directly to increase the size of his operation. (After he freaks out about Damian being so much like Talia and how could he be this blind to what's going on in his house. He rescued hundreds of animals??? How??)

Robins Strays now includes exotic birds, a tiger, a couple of goats, a deer, and hundreds of rats and mice, each trained to gather information and retrieve lost and missing items during investigations.

Ivy, Harley, and Silena have dubbed him a Siren and give him any animals or environment related cases they can't personally handle. (Damian adores them, especially after meeting Harleys hyenas)

Gotham adores Robin and knows never to hurt an animal with an R on it or any animal, really. They make plushies of Goliath when he is introduced to the public after an arkham asylum breakout. (Bruce gave up on trying to get the animals to stop fighting crime. It's as useless as trying to stop his children.)

Jon eventually asks Damian out while they are bottle feeding newborn kittens in the barn under the watchful eyes of two dragons and a zoos' worth of pets.

He gets shovel talked by Silena and Ivy first. It's terrifying.

[angelflms]

guys....remmick isn't just a standard disney villain you know that right?

like mf is scary as hell. he looks charming as hell, has a sweet looking smile, can sympathize with the juke gang because of the oppression the irish went through in america (it mirrored that of us Black Americans, believe it or not). you wanna feel bad.

that is until you realize this man wants to take sammie's god given gift.

the fact that he already stole a song from a Black woman that has disturbing lyrics in them (search up the history of pick poor robin).

the fact that in theory, if he had asked sammie politely, like stack did during the end credit scene, remmick would've been able to connect with his ancestors he's long lost due to being a vampire (and ofc the fucking brits being horrid).

but nope. he wanted to take it as his own.

he believed in equality but only if it was done his way.

he wasn't the klan. hell he thought his offer was better than dealing with the klan. i genuinely do believe that he didn't think he was racist and that he was just trying to heal those who were hurting and was looking for a semblance of family.

but he was still racist.

but he was in a "northern" way. where people were/are nice to Black people but to a certain extent. if they can get something out of it, then they'll be nice.

that's why the whole "remmick isn't racist" thing is fucking crazy and almost offensive, especially as a woman who has dealt with people like remmick as a Black girl in 2025 living in northern US

y'all should've saw how shit went down once trump went into office. the ally veils were lifted and we saw people's true colors.

just like the juke saw remmick's after a while.

that's why seeing the "remmick x sammie" and the "remmick x readers" from (mainly) white girlies on here give me an ick. because it tells me that you didn't truly see what story was being told.

you only saw a charming man played by cook from skins uk.

or maybe you did see the story. and you just didn't give a fuck.

in comes the "it's not that deep" squad from people who again, didn't get the movie.

[ilikepjo24]

I said I do it and this is me doing it.

On Mai's half-assed redemption arc..

We all noticed it. We all (hopefully) didn't like it, let's talk about it.

Unfortunately, Mai is currently the main love interest for Zuko. And I say unfortunately not because I don't ship Maiko (I don't, but that's irrelevant) but because it's the reason why they screwed up her character. Zuko is Good™ and so his love interest needs to be Good™ too. It's why the creators are finally trying to actually redeem her instead of ignoring her bad actions during the war, like they've done up until now.

So why am I complaining? Well, in case you're new here, that's just pretty much what I do, in general. But also, it's because they aren't really fixing anything. Let me explain.

See, redeeming a character implies that we are adressing their actions, holding them accountable, expecting them to do better and them actually doing better. Mai's redemption arc is failing to follow this plan at the very first step.

Mai's role in the war was greatly affected by her friendship with Azula. Had she been a nobody noble that Azula wouldn't look twice at, she'd never be recruited and wouldn't have any impact on the battlefield. Being friends with Azula is what upgraded her from a bakcground character to a side character. Does that mean Azula forced her to do it all? No. I'm not having this conversation again. Mai asked to join Azula and both girls visibly had fun. Mai made her choice. Now what should be done is to hold her accountable expect her to do better and ultimately get redeemed. Only problem? Well...

This. Creators seem to think that since Mai had the opportunity to do bad stuff because she was Azula's friend, then by making the friendship "fake" and "forced" that makes Mai's actions be Not Her Fault™. After all, she could only do those things because of Azula, so if her frinedship with Azula isn't real then that means that she was just plaing a role and her actions aren't really her own, right?

Sorry to let you know, Mai dickriders, but that is simply not true. For multiple reasons. First being; her friendship with Azula was not fake. The narrative might be trying to push the agenda that it was forced, but you can't seriously believe that Mai didn't grow to care for Azula and vise versa, as is made obvious by the moments they share physical affections and laugh together at a joke Mai cracked.

Sure, the motivation for the relationship may have been gaining power, but the end up liking each other, and Mai joins Azula on her mission as willingly as she later does the bad things she ends up doing. And with great pleasure, may I add. That's right, Mai enjoyed doing evil things. She smiled in anticipation of beating down Earth Kingdom soldeirs and laughed at the fear Azula instilled in others.

In case you needed a reminder.

In any case, whether or not the friendship of Mai and Azula were sincere, Mai did bad things that she needs to be held accountable for if she's ever going to be truly redeemed. You could argue that she was "forced" to do it by Azula, but then anyone else could argue that Azula was forced to do it by Ozai. Truth is, both were urged, gently or not-so-gently to do bad things that they ended up enjoying doing because they got pleasure out of instilling fear on others because they are the villains of the show. One can't just brush all of Mai's actions under the rug to "purify" her of the bad things she willingly did and enjoyed doing. You wanna redeem her so bad? Do it properly.

Thus proven.

[wbellab]

Busy Woman | J. Bucky Barnes

summary: You’ve always had a soft spot for Bucky Barnes. Shamelessly flirted just to see that annoyed look that made him look so good. He never gave you more than those quiet stares, jaw tight like he was holding something back. Fine by you. You had better things to do than wait around for a man stuck in the 40s. At least, that’s what you told yourself.

pairing: tfatws!bucky x fem!reader

cw: angst (i love writing that lol), post endgame, mentally unstable reader, grumpy bucky, flirting, reader has no filter, sexual jokes, implied canon deaths, implied canon violence, several times

3k words

inspo: busy woman by sabrina carpenter

It started of with occasional flirting. You’ve been told that James—Bucky as people called him—Barnes was an ex assassin, a super soldier with a body count larger than you would’ve suspected, a guy that had the power to literally crush you if you annoyed him too much. But you didn’t care.

You’ve always been too bold and shameless for your own being. Life is too short to worry about details as insignificant as his body count (his death toll—you didn’t care about his past experience with women, or men ?—the more the better…).

This being said, you did not ignore who he was. You obviously acknowledge what he had done before. But hey, you could still appreciate beauty for what it was. Because James Buchanan Barnes was truly a sight for sore eyes. You didn’t know where all this playful flirting started getting more real.

"You look good in black." You mentioned one day gesturing to his gear. You both were paired in a small check up mission, much to your delight and Bucky’s annoyance.

"I always wear black clothes." He huffed.

"Yeah, my point." You smiled.

Men look hot in black, that’s a universal law, so you didn’t think much when you gave that comment. You’ve always been like that, subtly flirting with anyone, giving genuine compliments, sometimes out of the blue. It came naturally, especially with Bucky. What you truly did not expect was seeing his face flushing. It was subtle, but your eyes noticed. And that’s how your one sided flirting with him truly began.

"Something’s off." Bucky muttered, looking at the tracking device in his hands.

"Probably my clothes." It took him a moment to grasp it. But when he did his eyes just widened, and he sighed, used to it already. "You have no sense of humour whatsoever it is alarming." You continued after observing his reaction.

"No because that is straight off the worst pick up line you could come up with. Is this what you call flirting ?"

"You’re so confident that Im flirting with you. That is also alarming."

You were in fact flirting with him, though subtly. But you still kept the upper hand, folding your arms across your chest in a way that was almost childish.

He matched your gesture, folding his arms against his chest, a playful smirk on his face. "Well I hope you’re not because rejecting you now would probably mess with our assignment discharge." It was subtle too. But it was his way of rejecting you, kind of. You didn’t flinch. You wouldn’t take it seriously until he said the words straight to your face.

"Oh…" you pouted, mock-hurt. "I didn’t want your old cranky ass anyway." The lie rolled off your tongue effortlessly. It wasn’t awkward—your smile stayed sharp, teasing, and his matched it. He probably thought you were joking. Maybe you were. "But hey although i’m busy, clothes are always optional if you ever need a favor."

He groaned. Yep, you absolutely loved teasing him.

Something resonated through him one day. It was right after Thanos erased half of the world population. To him the blip felt like just a second but to you, you aged five years. You were apart of the Time Heist mission. You saw your sister sacrifice herself, to save you and the world. And you felt awfully guilty.

Things had drastically changed, when people reappeared. Bucky found himself in a world that was once again moving on while he was freezing with time. But still he got pardoned for his former actions, he started seeing a therapist and right when he thought he would be able to get his life together, Steve left. But you, you were the same old person. Talking to him as if nothing changed, as if you didn’t age five years older while he still looked the same.

You were in his apartment on a random evening—the very same night he returned from a "date" with the girl from the sushi place. Not that he knew you’d stalked him. When Bucky noticed his door was unlocked, a sinking feeling settled in his chest. He was sure he’d locked it. The key turned too easily. Then he saw you. A sigh left his lips, probably exasperation or relief. Maybe a bit of both. Still he didn’t have the energy to make you leave at that moment. Great mistake.

"I mean a win is a win, it shrunk our age gap with five years." You shrugged to him when the subject of the blip came into the conversation. It was more you talking and him huffing and listening. Barely listening. "You know I missed you. It was kind of boring without you."

"I bet it was." He huffed. "Look why don’t you just–" he gestured to your figure laying on his couch a bag of crisps, that you stole from his pantry, in your hands. "Stop putting crumbs all around the apartment and just get out now."

"Woah, I see you’re still rude." You mumbled. "I just missed you during those five years you know ? And since all of my friends are either gone or dead I just feel… super, super lonely." You sighed, dramatically. Although it sounded like a joke, you meant everything you said.

Your life truly fell apart when half of the population disappeared, it was already crumbling before but now, it was much more worse. Things were different. If it wasn’t for Nat being with you before, you would’ve probably not made it past your twenties. But now that she died, sacrificing herself, you just felt like you were dying all over again.

"Don’t you feel lonely ?" You asked cutting the silence. He turned to you, a bit surprised by what you asked him. You were staring straight ahead without blinking and that’s when he noticed the flask in your hand.

"You’ve got to be kidding me…" He muttered under his breath, taking the flask away from you. "Have you seriously brought alcohol here ?"

"I told you I felt lonely." You tried to defend yourself, as if it was enough to justify your need to drink alcohol. "But you did not answer me."

He sighed slumping in the couch next to you. He stared at the bottle that he stole from you just seconds ago, and he brought it to his mouth before wincing.

"This thing is disgusting."

"Its just some cheap vodka. I don’t have money." You answered sadly, your eyes not leaving the point you were fixing on the ceiling. You were absolutely wasted, after just one sip. To be fair it was your first time drinking, your system was definitely not used to it, even with all the serum injected in your veins.

"Once you’re sober, you’re getting out of here."

"Why do you badly want me to go mmh ?" You asked turning your head towards him, a frown on your face. You were not about to cry. Yes definitely not in front of him. "I would’ve rather gone to Sam." You say bluntly, the alcohol loosening your thoughts. "But he’s visiting his family and I thought you would maybe appreciate some company."

"Well I clearly don’t so you have your answer now." He said more firmly. "I don’t want your company."

"You don’t want me ?" You pouted, although your face showed a hint of amusement. Your fingers lightly grazed his flesh arm, and Bucky flinched at the contact—until he noticed your gaze shift toward the flask in his left hand. With a reluctant sigh, he offered it to you. But you did not take it. Instead you reached for his metal wrist,guiding him until the rim of the flask touched your lips, forcing him to pour de drink in your mouth. He was too stunned to resist, his eyes widening as he let you. "What ?" You hiccuped, probably from the drinking. "It’s technically you making me drunk now so it gives me a reason to stay longer." You giggled. You genuinely though at that moment that it was the smartest thing you’ve ever done. And that’s something to say because you were an ex spy.

"Fine." He said standing up and pouring the rest of the alcohol in the sink. You quickly got up, trying to follow him. Your walk was wobbly.

"Do you even know how much this cost me ?" You rolled your eyes, trying your hardest to not completely crumble on the ground.

"Have you seen yourself right now ?"

"Do you care for me ?"

"Not even close."

"Okay fine if you don’t want me…" You feigned walking towards the door but before you reached the handle you turned toward him. "I’ll just deem you gay." You giggled so hard you lost your balance.

The sexual undertones were not unnoticed by Bucky and he simply decided to blame the alcohol for your behaviour– although you always acted this way, sober or not. He was empathetic enough to help you off the ground and lead you back to the couch. You arms were around his shoulders as he grabbed you from your waist. When he tried to pull away, you were still gripping him hard.

"I am so lonely James." you murmured, your voice barely audible against his chest. You felt the rapid thrum of his heart beneath your cheek. He must have great stamina, you thought unaware it was racing for an entirely different reason.

"I know me too." He admitted too. Knowing that you wouldn’t remember it the next day.

He left you sleeping on his couch, you were definitely not going back to your house in this state and he should do with it.

Bucky woke up the next morning to an unexpected sound: silence. No burning kitchen, no flooded bathroom. Everything was exactly as he’d left it. For a moment, he wondered if he’d imagined you being there at all—some kind of strange dream brought on by exhaustion and memory.

But then he saw the neatly folded plaid blanket on the couch. You’d been there. You just left before he woke up. No note, no text—just gone. And it was barely 7 a.m.

It’s fine, he told himself. Nothing happened. I asked her to leave.

Still, a faint, unwelcome flicker of disappointment crept in. You could’ve at least thanked him, right?

He did not have time to dwell on it anyway. He had a more important business to attend to.

…

Sam was glaring at Bucky from across the jet. The hum of the engines was the only sound between them, heavy silence stretching thin like thread ready to snap. After deciding to confront Sam about the shield this morning, Bucky found him heading to Munich for an operation and he decided to tag along. That is pretty much how they found themselves in this situation.

"So…who are we fighting ?" Your voice cut through the quinjet, and you appeared from the steering cabin. You wore a headset and a black gear, the one you usually wore when you went on missions.

Bucky’s head snapped toward you, his expression tightening the second his eyes landed on your face. He grumbled something under his breath—he was definitely cursing you. The corner of your mouth tugged upward despite yourself. You always did have that effect on him.

"Did you plan this ?" His question was raised towards Sam.

"Why would I plan this ? You were the one who forced yourself into this plane" Sam retorted, he then turned to you a bit surprised. "What are you doing here ?"

"I happen to be training to become a pilot here and well it also happens to be the exact plane you guys are in so…" you lingered a bit. "I guess we’re working together." You flashed a wide smile.

"We’re absolutely not." Bucky said.

"I did not ask." You shrugged going to sit right next to Sam, which gave you a great sight of Bucky in front of you. This man looks so good when he’s annoyed. "I think Sam would rather work with me than with your little bitch ass anyway."

"Couldn’t have said it better." Sam muttered, and you extended your hand high-fiving him.

"Do you have something with my ass ? ‘Cause you’ve been talking a lot about it lately ."

"Wouldn’t you want to know." You winked at him. You hunched forward, elbows on your knees and hands supporting your face. Without breaking the eye contact. You stayed like this for a full minute.

Bucky felt… off. Unsettled. You were talking to him like nothing had happened—as if just the night before, you hadn’t shown up at his apartment, drunk and messy and vulnerable. As if you hadn’t buried your face in his chest and confessed that you were lonely. As if you hadn’t fallen asleep right there against him.

And now? You were smirking, teasing him like it meant nothing. Like he meant nothing.

Maybe you didn’t remember. Maybe it had been one of those hazy, half-lost nights for you. Or maybe—maybe that kind of moment was just something you could toss aside without blinking.

But for Bucky, it lingered. It was etched into the quiet corners of his mind.

And now you were laughing at him. Flirting like the night hadn’t happened.

He clenched his jaw and broke the eye contact, not trusting himself to speak. Because the truth—the one he hadn’t said out loud—was that it hadn’t been nothing for him.

"Haha you lost !" You cheered, turning to Sam. "See that, I just fixed his staring problem."

Sam caught the brief exchange and couldn’t help the amused grin that spread across his face. This mission wouldn’t be that bad now with you joining them.

"I don’t think you fixed anything. You just made freeky magoo over there very flustered."

Bucky rolled his eyes in exasperation.

Before he could answer anything, Torres appeared from the cockpit.

"One minute till drop off, Sam."

"Y’all did not answer me." You huffed standing up and grabbing an earpiece of you own.

"Flag smashers." Sam briefly answered. "You probably heard of them."

"Thirty seconds !" You heard Torres yell.

"Enjoy your ride Buck." Sam

"Oh no you can’t call me that."

"Why not ? That’s what Steve called you."

"Steve knew me longer and Steve had a plan."

"I have a plan." Sam turned to you. "You coming ?"

"Yep." You got up and Sam extended his hand for you to take. The plane was extremely low so you couldn’t use a chute.

"Fifteen seconds."

Sam gripped your waist.

"Oh yeah, what’s your plan ? Her ?" Bucky called, but Sam ignored him and jumped out of the plane with you in his arms.

"How’s he coming down ?" You asked Sam once you both were in the air flying towards the the outbuilding where your targets were located.

"He’ll manage."

"I had all of that on camera you know that." Sam said from beside you. You were watching Bucky from Redwing’s camera. He was lying on the ground where he fell a few seconds earlier from the plane.

"The whining looks good on you Barnes."

"Get out of my face or you’ll experience what real whining sounds like."

"Kinky." You muttered

"That’s a fucking threat."

The mission had gone sideways—again.

Smoke still lingered in the air, the convoy you were meant to intercept now far gone in the horizon. The intel had been wrong. Again. Too many hostiles, too many surprises, and no backup. Well except for Captain American wannabe and his acolyte.

And somewhere in the brutal fight, Bucky had done what he thought was best.

He had tossed you out of the moving truck.

Literally.

You were still brushing gravel off your jacket as you stormed down the dirt path beside him, your hair wild, your boots stomping with each step. You were limping, pretty sure you had twisted your ankle.

"You threw me off of a fucking truck, Barnes!"

"I saved your life." Bucky snapped, not even looking at you.

Sam trailed just a few steps behind, looking like he was trying not to laugh. Or interfere. Or get involved in the very obvious mess brewing between you two.

You turned on Bucky, not even acknowledging your hobbling stride, walking backward just to glare at him properly. "You couldn’t have just said ‘jump’? But no? You had to manhandle me and yeet me into a ditch like a rag doll?"

"You weren’t listening!" Bucky growled. "You were about to get blown up, and I didn’t have time to argue!"

"So your solution was throwing me out of a moving vehicle?!"

"You’re fine, aren’t you?" he snapped back, finally meeting your glare. "Little bruised ego, that’s all."

Sam finally sighed, raising his hands. "Alright, alright. Can we not kill each other while we’re in the middle of nowhere? I don’t feel like dying because you two decided now was the time to have a full-blown breakup fight—without even dating."

You both turned to glare at him in perfect unison.

Sam just shrugged. "I’m just saying what we’re all thinking."

"She shouldn’t have come." He deadpanned, he wasn’t even addressing to you and this made your blood boil.

Your eyes narrowed dangerously. "You don’t get to decide what I can handle. I’m not some helpless bitch."

"Oh really ?" He let out a dry laugh. "Could’ve fooled me." he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

When Bucky stared at your eyes, there was no longer that usual warmth that you always had when you talked to him. Gone was the usual glint of mischief, that effortless warmth you always carried when you tossed a smirk his way or teased him like he didn’t terrify most people. Your gaze now was colder—steeled, unreadable. You weren’t joking anymore.

"Nothing," Bucky gritted out, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "I’m just done cleaning up after someone who treats everything like a joke and never thinks about anyone but herself."

The words hung in the air like a slap. You froze mid-step.

He wasn’t just talking about the mission anymore. You knew it.

You stared at him, stunned for a second, before your voice dropped, sharp and cold. “Say what you really want to say, Barnes. Stop dancing around it.”

He didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at you.

That silence? It cut deeper than his words.

You shook your head with a bitter smile. “Right. That’s what I thought.” You turned and kept walking.

And maybe for the first time, he realized you were genuinely hurt.

part 2 (coming soon…)

a/n: this has been sitting in my drafts for sooo long. There will be a part 2 I just need to edit it, although i’m highly contemplating turning this into a fanfic

[soarelesiluna-ao3]

I would love to read a Bojere getting together scene that involves showering together. Maybe at first they joke around about one joining the other in the shower until they take the jokes too far and realize neither of them were joking at all

Yes yes yes!! Since BoJere week is rapidly approaching, I think I'll post this as a warm-up. I'm not yet sure whether I'll take part on it but I'm beaming with excitement over them since the last time they saw each other 🥹💙

Also just wanted to thank everyone for the 18 follows, it means the world to me to know there's people reading my silly little stuff 💙

I'm slowly going through my askbox - you can keep leaving stuff in the meantime. Have a great Labor Day and take well deserved rests!

Content under the cut!

Ps. I do love writing Jere's broken English. I truly do.

First night with Jere in Slovenia. The first night of a very few productive days upcoming. They had been talking over the phone about these days, excited like children who were about to visit the zoo. After such a long time of not seeing each other, it was just logical to be so hyped about reecountering their favorite people in the world, right?

Bojan's apartment sufficed for Jere to stay in - his friends understood the need for closeness with him, after all. Kris' old room was rearranged and made available for the stay. All day, the Finn had been talking about getting a shower, because he felt tired from the flight and needed a rest, but also wanted to get things done. Bojan, in turn, had started another inside joke to add to the collection - if he was too tired to take a bath, maybe he could help him out with that.

The thing of having so much of a bond with someone, is that you never know where the line between truth and joke is drawn in some occasions, and this was one of them. Bojan helped him figure out the shower and was about to leave, when the rapper let out a small whine.

"So you not shower with me?"

This made the Slovene stop for a second, as if trying to process a foreign language.

"What?"

"You said if I was tired you'll help me shower", Jere continued. "And I, uh, think I am, yes."

"Jerč... I don't think we'll fit into the shower..." Bojan bit his lower lip at the thought.

"No problem, nothing I not have seen before", the way he said it caused them both to laugh. "Come on, I'm sure we have good time!"

"Okay, sure..." Bojan grinned, and started taking off his clothes, leaving them in a messy pile by the sink. Soon, the both of them were standing in front of the other in the shower, warm water hitting their skin. It felt nice, it had been quite cold lately, so the warmth was pleasant. And the company was even better.

"Okay, now what?"

"Uh... I don't know", Bojan shrugged. "I think... I could help you out. Just relax and let me work my magic."

"Ooh, magic. You magic man, you. I like that."

Gentle hands reached for the shampoo bottle and pressed some of it into his palm, before starting to massage the dark hair to make foam.

"Your hair is growing again", the Slovene smiled. "Like it used to be back then. When we met."

"I still handsome guy, right?" Jere's question came out as playful.

"You could be bald and I still think you'd be the most beautiful man on Earth", the sweet words rolled off Bojan's tongue so easy it surprised him, despite it being three years of them together. "Don't do it though."

"Nah, I don't think I will. That's too much", a moment of silence passed before the Finn spoke again. "Will you wash me, too?"

"I'm here to help you out, am I not?" Bojan leant over his shoulder and left a small kiss, before grabbing a sponge and the bar of soap he always used. Then, he started gently rubbing it against his body. Another moment of silence. "I missed you. I missed touching your skin, having your scent close, knowing... I have someone to hold when I wake up."

"Oh, Bojan... I miss you too. Everyday. I know we talk a lot. But it's not the same. Never it's not the same. You are special. Very special. That's why I asked you to shower with me."

"Huh? How so?"

"Because... If I feel you, I know this is not dream."

A small smile appeared on the singer's lips, as he gently patted Jere's shoulder to tell him to turn around. Wrapping his arms around his neck, he leant in and started kissing him. A very slow kiss, as if his lips were trying to remember how it felt, despite having kissed many times since his arrival. A long-lasting kiss, that ended with Bojan hiding into the crook of his neck.

"I hope... This helps you a bit."

"It does", Jere left a kiss on Bojan's ear. "I'm so glad to be home. In your arms."

[just1cefor4ll]

—Wait, you know MCR?!

Sirius Black x f!reader

summary. Sirius Black—loud, reckless, and stupidly cocky. Yet, somehow, you form an unexpected friendship with him. Beneath his brash exterior, he finds peace in your calm presence, and a quiet bond slowly grows.

A/N. if you’d like to be added to the taglist, dm me, let me know in my inbox or comment under this post!

part 1 || part 2

Sirius Black had never truly had a serious relationship during his 6 years at hogwarts. It was either a one time thing or he got bored of the girl just a few days into the relationship. No spark had ever lasted long enough to catch fire.

His friends knew this better than anyone. They often joked about it, teased him for his lack of commitment, and sometimes even took it upon themselves to “find the one” for him. But the girl—whoever she was meant to be—was never found.

Well.. at least not by them.

Sirius was walking to his Care of Magical Creatures class, today they were learning about merpeople who reside in the schools Black Lake. It wasn’t something that completely peaked his interest but it wasn’t boring to him either.

Professor Kettleburn had allowed the students to bring blankets to sit on while he explained the lesson, but naturally, that little detail had completely escaped Black’s notice—leaving him standing awkwardly, glaring at the rocky ground in annoyance. That was, until he saw you—sat alone, utterly absorbed in the class as if it were the juiciest bit of gossip one could possibly overhear. Amused, he smiled and made his way over, crouching down beside you. “May I?” he asked, gesturing to the space next to you. You— althought hesitant at first—nodded, shifting over a little before turning your full attention back to the professor’s rambling once more.

His gaze remained fixed—not on the lake, not on the textbook now half-buried in his satchel, but on you. Your eyes, the shape of your nose, the way your hair framed your face like it had been drawn that way. There was something ethereal about you—something quietly beautiful.

He watched you the way ancient Greeks might have watched Aphrodite rise from the sea—half in awe, half in disbelief that someone so beautiful could exist so casually in front of him.

“Do you always stare like that?” you asked, your eyes still on Professor Kettleburn.

Sirius blinked, caught off guard. Then a grin curled onto his lips. “Only when there’s something worth staring at.”

You looked at him properly this time. Not long. Not with any kind of reaction he could pin down. Just a look. Enough to let him know you’d heard the line—and weren’t particularly impressed.

“Flattery will get you nowhere, Black.”

Sirius blinked, a half-second slower than usual, caught a little off guard.

You didn’t look at him when you spoke. “What’s the matter? Surprised I know your name and didn’t throw myself at you?” That earned a small huff of laughter from him. “A little, yeah. Usually there’s more—” he paused, searching for the word, “—fanfare.” You tilted your head slightly, the corners of your mouth lifting in something that wasn’t quite a smile. “I don’t make a habit of applauding people for existing.”

He studied you then, properly. You weren’t rude—just honest. And not the kind of honest that tried to make a point. You simply said what you meant and left it at that.

He liked that. It made him curious. And curiosity had always killed the cat.

The class wrapped up, students starting to gather their things and wander off. You stood, grabbing all of your belongings before dusting off your cloak and started up the hill without a backward glance.

Sirius hesitated. He was meant to stay behind and meet his friends—who all had a free period—but something tugged at him, as though an invisible hand had nudged him forward. Before he could think twice, he was striding after you, falling into step beside you with such ease it felt.. natural.

“Shouldn’t you be heading to your own class?” You glanced at him, faint amusement in your tone as you caught the curious glint in the Gryffindor boy’s eyes.

He gave a lopsided smile and shrugged. “I thought it’d be rather rude to let a lady walk alone after bothering her.” That earned him a smile, and you nodded. Silence settled between you, but being in the presence of Sirius Black meant that peace wouldn’t last long. “You’re unusual,” he blurted out suddenly, his cheeks tinged with pink. He winced inwardly at how it sounded. You let out a short laugh, shaking your head. “Thank Merlin. I’d much rather be that than ordinary.”

He looked relieved, emboldened even. “No, I didn’t mean it badly,” he added quickly. “It’s just—you don’t do what everyone else does. You don’t seem to want to fit into this perfect mold most do.”

“That’s because I don’t feel the need to be like everyone else, as cheesy as it sounds,” you said plainly, the corner of your mouth quirking. “What good would it do me?”

He let out a soft chuckle. “Yeah, I get what you mean. Never saw the point in being picture perfect when I can just be myself and fuck around with my mates.”

After a brief pause, he added, “You know, you’re not like any girl I’ve met here.”

You raised a brow, half-teasing. “And what sort of girls do you usually meet, Black?”

He smirked, eyes glinting. “Most girls want something—flattery, a bit of fun, maybe to say they’ve had a go at charming a Black. I don’t really know. But you—you don't even flinch when I talk. I think I like that.”

You let out a small hum of consideration, letting the breeze tousle your hair. “Maybe I just haven’t figured out what I want from you yet.”

That made him pause mid-step. When you glanced back at him, there was something unreadable in your gaze. Sirius blinked, then grinned—slow and genuine.

“Well,” he said, catching up again, “you’ll have to let me know when you do.”

Neither of you spoke again—not because there was nothing to say, but because the silence had shifted into something companionable. Something comfortable.

As you reached your classroom, your paths would part.

You paused first, turning to him with a faint, knowing smile. “I appreciated the company, Black.”

He gave a casual shrug, though there was something softer behind his eyes. “Anytime.”

You lingered for just a heartbeat longer before stepping away, disappearing into the corridor that would take you to your next class.

Sirius stood there for a moment, hands shoved deep into his pockets, watching the spot where you’d gone.

And though he would never admit it aloud—not to James, Remus, to Peter, not even to himself—he hoped you’d want something from him, eventually.

The next few weeks, he’d see you in that same class, the Great Hall or simply walking through the endless halls of Hogwarts.

You two would chat from time to time, although Sirius would be the one doing most of the talking—

—It was a quiet evening by Hogwarts standards, the Great Hall buzzing with its usual clamour of clinking cutlery, echoing laughter, and chatter from every corner. You’d slipped away from the chaos of the students, opting instead for a stone bench tucked just along the corridor outside, half-hidden behind a suit of armour. The low hum of distant voices bled softly through the open doors, but out here, it was far more peaceful.

Sirius found you not long after, as if he’d been expecting you to be there.

“You’ve a habit of vanishing, you know that?” he said lightly, leaning against the opposite wall, arms folded as he watched you with that half-curious, half-amused expression he wore so well.

“I wasn’t aware I was being tracked,” you replied, glancing up from your book. The candlelight from the sconces along the corridor cast warm shadows across his face, softening the sharpness in his eyes.

“Not tracked,” he said, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Just.. noticed. You sort of stand out by being the only person going out of the hall when everyone else is going in.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Is that what counts as charm in your circle?”

“Absolutely. We’re refined gentlemen,” he said, mockingly formal, before relaxing again. You chuckled, shaking your head. “You must all be exhausting in the same room.” “Oh definitely. James usually swoons over Lily, Peter is.. a bit dimwitted and Remus is just trying to keep us all under control. Would be a lie if he didn’t cause a bit of trouble here and there thought.” You nod, closing your book you’ve long forgotten about. “Sounds like quite the friendship.”

Sirius smiled, a fondness in his expression that softened some of the usual bravado. “It is. Messy, ridiculous, a bit reckless.. but it’s real. They’re more like brothers, really.”

You looked at him, the edges of your smile still lingering. “You speak about them like you really love them.”

“I do,” he said, simply. Then, after a short pause, he added, “But it’s nice to have someone calmer like you when things get overwhelming.”

Your gaze met his, steady and warm. “I’m glad.”

He nodded, eyes still on you.

There was a beat of silence, not awkward, but expectant—like something unsaid was hanging between you.

You turned back to your book. “You’re welcome to sit, you know.”

He glanced at the spot beside you, then shook his head. “No offence, but I don’t think I could sit still long enough. This—” he tapped the wall behind him, “—feels more like my speed.”

You smirked faintly. “Restless soul.”

“Reckon it’s part of my charm.” His voice softened a touch. “Do you ever go in to eat? I barely see you in there.”

“Sometimes. But it’s quieter out here.”

“Too many eyes in there?”

You hesitated, then nodded. “Something like that.”

He didn’t press. Instead, he let the moment stretch, gaze flicking to the book in your lap.

“What’re you reading?”

You held it up for him to see. “Shakespear.”

“Love sick soul?” He teased, mocking your former statement. You laughed—soft, but enough to draw his full attention again. His smile in return was subtle, warm, and just a bit smug, like he'd won something small but meaningful.

“I’ll leave you to it,” he said eventually, pushing off the wall. “But I’ll be around. In case you ever fancy some company that’s slightly more talkative than your book.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

He gave you a final nod, that ever-present grin lingering on his lips as he disappeared back into the Hall.

© just1cefor4all— I don’t consent to my writing being reposted to other platforms or fed into AI. Translating it is also strictly prohibited. 🚫

taglist: no one yet …

[mission-light-if]

Mission Light - Lawyer Path Part 2 - Out Now!

Hello guys, it's me again :)

First of all, I know I said that I would try to upload the update by the 8th of April, but yeah, that didn't happen, obviously.

Before my top surgery, a lot happened, and I had no time to finish everything.

I also lost some of the things I had written because I was careless.

I was frustrated about that, and after the surgery, I needed some time to recover. I also had a few complications, and university started again.

By now, I've managed to rewrite a lot of what was lost, but not everything.

Since I finally want to put something out there, and it's been six months since I originally wanted to finish the lawyer prologue, I've decided to upload what I have so far.

Which, in itself, is also a lot—I'd estimate it to be around 170,000–180,000 words :)

Now, there are still about 3-4 things missing, but when you play the new update, you'll notice that I added a short text/info when that's the case.

I will add those sections in the future. There are also some more minor things I want to add here and there, so my work on the lawyer prologue isn't finished yet.

However, since I have worked on it so much, I’m really tired of seeing it at the moment. So maybe I'll start working on the next chapter first and then get back to what’s missing in the lawyer prologue later on to regain some motivation/fun in writing. I've been wanting to start the next chapter for so long; I finally want to write all the scenes I've been planning and more.

Honestly, it’s been an up-and-down process. Sometimes I was really motivated, sometimes I wasn't, and there were just parts I kept putting off because I had no fun writing them, but I needed them for the progression of the story. So, the quality of the writing may differ in some parts.

I also have to fix the scaling and the relationship/flirt points for some characters/parts, but that's something that only concerns me for now since they aren’t really relevant at the moment, but yeah.

Starting now, I want to do weekly updates. That means, at the end of every week, I’ll upload a new version with everything I’ve written and done during that week, so please remember that. It could be a new choice, just one new paragraph, or maybe a lot of new content.

I will always tell you what I added/changed, though.

If you find any bugs/code problems, please let me know on Tumblr :)

I also try to answer the remaining asks at some point, but it may take some time since I have an important exam coming up that I can’t fail because it's my second-to-last chance to pass.

Nonetheless, I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved.

It’s been almost a year since I started working on this project, and even though I would have liked to have published more by now, I’m really happy with what I’ve done so far.

The way it’s going right now, I’ll probably be writing this for like 5 more years, but that’s okay—art takes time, and I know I function differently than others, in the way I work, think, and how my energy levels work.

I’ve worked for at least three hours almost every day on this project, at least on the days I was home and not out, and it's the most, the longest, and the most consistent thing I’ve ever done.

Even if my writing, storytelling, progression, and choices aren't perfect, I’m happy I started this. Otherwise, it would have forever remained a dream of mine.

This is the project I always wanted to do: writing, game mechanics, my art, and my characters. So, I think this will be sort of my life project.

It's really, really far in the future, but at one point, I would love to add maybe a mini webtoon, mini-games, a better sidebar, more lore, game mechanics like a diary or letters, a timeline, some voiced lines, etc., stuff like that, and maybe even a character creator drawn by me, where you can create your own character.

That way, when I finish everything, I’ll truly have my dream work of art, incorporating all forms of art I like and everything I mentioned before.

I am grateful for every person reading and liking my story; it means so much to me.

Now for the update

This update includes:

Updated Prologue and First Part:

I changed a lot of the writing/internal struggles of the main character

I added the possibility to play matchmaker between Hongyu and Marcos/Maria

I added more depth to the main character's past with Noel and the lingering effects

I also changed a lot of the choices and their outcomes

I added a new system for Noel and the main character's dynamic (hate him, believe in good/nostalgia, afraid of him)

The New Second Part:

Meet Noel again and deal with him in different ways

Learn about your coworkers' superpowers

Pick one of two choices, leading to two entirely different fight paths

Awaken your own powers

Decide how to approach the fight with Noel (on both paths), leading to many individual fight outcomes (the two different broader paths with 4 main splits and even more choices on one, and 2-3 splits on the other)

Meet another agent, Min, in the aftermath of the fight and deal with everything that happened

Ask more questions and figure out more about what’s going on and went on behind the scenes

Prepare/start to get ready to confront Noel and his group in the next chapter to finally end things once and for all

Meet more agents (Sinan and Nayla) in the end and meet your group's pet dog, Vin :)

That’s it for now :)

Take care,

Jakob

Play here

[blueberry-ry]

hello I am really curious about ur thoughts on what makes Jaster a military dictator.

I'm ngl my knowledge of him is the very limited stuff we saw in the comics he was in and then a whole bunch of fanon so I'd love to hear ur thoughts 👀

To be honest I mostly meant it as a joke but—

Well, first we have to start from a simple fact about Jaster: we do not actually know what he truly stands for.

That is what's truly difficult in understanding Jaster, for me. The information we have about him is always too vague to actually figure out a proper moral or honor code for this guy, we could ask ourselves “would he believe this?” or “would he hate this?” and every answer would be pure speculation because we do not really have a base to understand what he would truly believe in. But let’s get into my thoughts:

What would make Jaster a military dictator?

He thinks Mandalorians should strive to be mercenaries/highly-paid soldiers.

This one is pretty simple in my opinion, ofc we do not know to what extent this belief goes, if he thinks that all all mandos should be paid soldiers and go fight in other people’s conflicts, or if he thinks only a certain class of mandos should.

But if we go with the first, the idea that all mandos should be forced to be soldiers, not warriors, not people who know how to fight, but soldiers, and so one of the many gears of a very organized machine of death, and they also get no choice in the matter- well it does not paint the prettiest of pictures now does it.

He has a whole paramilitary group that responds to him.

This one is probably the most “military dictatorship” coded of the points, and I don’t think I have to explain why what is basically a Head of State having a private army, that responds to him, only him and no other than him, is generally a very bad bad idea.

He has “reworked” the Resol’nare.

Now for this one we have to go into a phase of pure speculation, since we do not actually see how he reworked this Resol’nare.

He could have made it more modern, he could have used an even more ancient version of the one commonly known, he could have gave it a purely personal twist- but we don’t know.

But, if we look at what the common Resol’nare, it has a point saying “Rally to the cause of the Mand’alor” - which again, on paper it seems innocuous enough, but it could be very easily twisted into an “Obey your Mand’alor” kind of thing, which starts to smell a bit totalitarian (since it does not seem to give you a choice in the matter) and could easily be used as an excuse from the Leader to make the people do whatever he wants. So yeah, who knows, maybe he could have given the Resol’nare a more authoritarian twist.

He is described as honorable.

Which could mean, literally everything and absolutely nothing at the same time.

What does honor even mean? It’s a word whose meaning changes so much between cultures and individuals, you could be the best person alive and call yourself “honorable”, or be the worst motherfucker out there and still call yourself “honorable”, and in both cases who could really tell you which one is right and which one is wrong?

Hell, here in Italy not so long ago it was legal to kill your wife if she was cheating on you so that you could protect your “honor”.

Honor most often than not leads to very fucked up morales and ideals, so I do not see how the figure of Jaster would be safe from this.

He could even look a kid in the eyes and say “it is actually very honorable to get yourself blown up for your people, go out there and try it” while giving him a bomb, whatever it means for Jaster to be “honorable” is purely up to speculation, but it could mean he is the best guy alive or the worst motherfucker out there (but just a little step better than Tor).

He is described as pious.

Again this one is murky as fuck as a point to me. Pious is a very religious word which does not simply mean “faithful”, since you can be faithful to a lot of things, to a code, to a person, to law etc. while pious is specifically about religion, and mostly used in Catholicism.

So either this is the confirmation that the actual space-Catholics were the Mandalorians all along, or someone didn’t really think too much at the implications of giving a character such an adjective.

Jaster could be religious, and very devoted to this religion. But what is this religion even about? Is it the old Mandalorian religion of the Three Gods? A new Mandalorian religion he is helping in spreading around? Maybe a religion from Concord Dawn? A whole other religion from another culture he just so happened to be very passionate about? A whole other religion he invented to make himself appear more important than he actually was?

Who knows.

BUT- using faith to make yourself appear as the “Chosen One” or the “Rightful Heir” and to keep the people in check and too afraid to rebel against you is a pretty common trope after all (the monarchy, the Pope etc.) so he could just use the same trick for all we know.

Anyway, am I overthinking all this? Oh absolutely yes.

But I still think it would still be very cool to explore this instead of the “Jaster is the rightful ruler and is the best and all his morales and ideals are always the right kind and every single one of the good guys agrees with him because he is just so right about everything” I tend to often see especially in fics lol.

[wake-me-up-inside-imagines]

A Charlie craven (I think that is how it's spelled) X nurodivergint reader specifically autistic or ADHD or both if its no trouble its ok if you don't want to

Yeah no problem! I'm gonna stick to autism for this post because I don't have ADHD and I fear trying to write for it will end up with me falling into stereotypes, but if you would still like an ADHD post, I'll be happy to write one!

Yandere! Mafia Boss With A Darling Who Has Autism

gn! reader

Warnings: kidnapping, implied torture involving skin (not on reader), overstimulation, intentional and unintentional infantilization, obsession, mentioned fighting, Charlie doesn't know much about autism but he's learning

Divider credit goes to: @enchanthings-a

-I feel like Charlie would be pretty understanding of an autistic darling, all things considered. Of course, kidnapping you and forcing you into a new environment wasn't so great, especially if you already weren't good with change to begin with, but he had expected a bad reaction, so it was kind of par for the course.

-Having said that, Charlie does do everything he can to keep your environment as comfortable as possible. He already learned your likes and dislikes through stalking you, so your room will already be decked out in the most comfortable, least overstimulating decorations, textures, and colors by the time you get there. The change is horrifying and so is the situation, but you can't really complain about the room. That's been decorated to perfection. Charlie also tries to keep the rest of the house relatively friendly to your needs, but it might take awhile to fix some things, depending on the previous furnishing and your preferences.

-Charlie's naturally pretty blunt with his thoughts and emotions, so he doesn't have a hard time communicating efficiently with you. He's always made himself very clear with what he wants to convey, and while he's much gentler with you than his employees, that habit doesn't die. He just uses a nicer tone when speaking to you. When there are mix ups in communication, he doesn't get upset. You ask him for clarification or he'll see your confusion and he immediately clarifies whatever it is he was talking about, barely giving the miscommunication a second thought. he truly doesn't get bothered by it, he gets it. As long as you understand what he's saying by the end of it, all is good.

-Because Charlie's super protective of you, you don't often get the chance to interact with others besides him (at least at first). However, in the event that you do end up in social situations, Charlie makes sure you're always comfortable and in the loop with what's going on. If there's some social cue you're not picking up on, Charlie will be sure to clarify for you. He's not very subtle about it so it can be embarrassing and borderline infantilizing, but he's not doing it on purpose. He just wants to include you fully, and telling you how it is tends to be Charlie's go to. If you give him a better way to communicate possibly missed social cues he'll quickly adapt, but if you don't say anything he'll carry on they way he normally does.

-One thing that does drive Charlie a little crazy is a lack of eye contact, but if you're someone who struggles with that, he tries not to blame you. He's aware it's not your fault and it's not like you're trying to be rude, so he has no real reason to complain. He just likes connecting with you via eye contact, but he'll figure out ways to cope with the lack of it appropriately.

-One thing you and Charlie have in common is the tendency to have more black and white thought patterns. It can lead to some pretty heated arguments if you two can't get the other to understand your point of view. It'll take a decent amount of work and communication to work that out, and it's something you two may need to start getting better at. Still, it's nice to have someone who can relate to similar thought patterns, even if it creates issues sometimes.

-Charlie often does his best to keep anything that could trigger your sensory issues to a minimum, but he is naturally pretty loud, which might cause some issues. Still, he'll try to keep his voice at a reasonable level if you ask him to. He'll also do his best to control other aspects that might trigger you like textures, air quality, temperature, brightness, stuff like that. It's not too hard considering how much money he has at his disposal to change things out if need be, it's more an adjustment in terms of remembering what's ok and what isn't. He's pretty good at remembering though, only the best for his darling, right?

-If you do happen to get overwhelmed or overstimulated, Charlie makes sure to bring you to a dark, quiet spot in the house. He's not sure exactly how to comfort you, if you want to be touched, if he should say anything, so he'll probably shuffle around awkwardly and wait for you to tell him what to do. He doesn't want to make things worse for you, after all. He'll mostly just end up sitting relatively close you without touching you directly, nervously rocking back and forth while he watches you try to calm down. He hates when you feel like this, especially since you describe overstimulation as having something crawl or poke around in your skin. As someone who's inflicted skin related torture on people before, it is not an experience he wants you to go through. Ever.

-On the topic of hyperfixations, Charlie doesn't really understand them, at least when you first explain it to him. He'll indulge you of course, buying you anything and everything related to whatever you may be obsessing over while listening to you talk nonstop about it, but he doesn't really understand why you feel so strongly about something seemingly unimportant. Why do you care so much about some random piece of media, or a band, or something of the like? Sure it's entertaining, but is it that cool?

-And then he realizes that he's just as obsessed with you as you are with your hyper fixation, and honestly, he's even more offended. Why can't you focus your devotion onto him, like he's done to you? Why does a something so insignificant grasp your attention more then him? Is he not good enough? Does he not entertain you enough? Is e not loving you enough? What more can he do to prove he deserves to be the focus of your obsession?

-Yeah he doesn't really understand the difference between being harmlessly obsessed with a piece of media and being obsessed with a real person to the point of stalking and kidnapping, but uh...that's neither here nor there.

-The biggest downside to being with Charlie as an autistic person is his habit of infantilizing you, but you have to understand that it's not because of your autism, it's because he's insane. No matter who his darling is, autistic or not, he'll treat them like they're much more fragile then they actually are. Because you're a civilian, he believes you to be much more weak then him, both in mind and in body. It's for this reason that he babies you to near death. He wants to spoil you rotten, but he also sees you as beneath him, in a way. Like you're someone who needs to be coddled and protected rather than a normal person with unique strengths and weaknesses. It has nothing to do wit your autism though, so it's not like he's treating you differently then he would any other darling.

-Overall, he's not too bad with an autistic darling, despite his lack of understanding on the matter. If you can ignore his typical infantilization, you'll probably fare fine.

I hope you enjoyed!