#that’s how the last season ended and that’s how the new one is starting

[wagconts]

F1 Alert | Formula 1

➤ summary :: Where you create an interactive game for Formula 1 fans, and become the new star of the pits.

➤ warnings :: a quick imagine, with prior development.

➤ word count :: 0.839 words

➤ masterlist | sportify

➤ Notes :: I had this idea because Swifitie fans know about "Swift Alert", which was a game where we bet on the clothes from The Eras Tour. So I wanted to bring this into the context of Formula 1.

Working on F1's social media was a daily grind, but you loved every second of it. Between creating posts, planning content, and keeping up with trends, your mind was always spinning, thinking of ways to make fans feel more connected to the drivers. Then, one brainstorming night, the idea hit: an interactive game where fans could bet on little details of the race weekends.

— What if we created something like a more elaborate 'Fantasy F1,' but focusing on the small stuff? Helmets, suits, celebrations... — you suggested, drawing curious looks from the team. — We could call it 'F1 Alert'.

After a few weeks of planning, meetings, and tweaks, the app was ready. It was simple: fans could make predictions about visual and behavioral items about the drivers before the GPs. Each correct guess earned points, which could be redeemed for virtual prizes or discounts on official products.

On launch day, you were nervous. Would it be a hit or a flop? It only took a few hours to get the answer: it was a phenomenon.

The app had questions that kept fans hooked, especially with the fact that those points were worth something.

— Leclerc’s helmet in Monaco: same as always or something special?

— Which driver will complain the most on the radio?

— How many drivers will retire from the race? And who?

The numbers didn’t lie. In the first weekend, a little over 70 thousand people signed up. And the drivers quickly took notice.

At the pre-GP press conference, Russell was the first to mention it:

— Did you guys see that app? F1 Alert? Are you betting on my training suit now? That’s a lot of pressure! — he joked, drawing laughs.

Next to him was Charles, who also smiled.

— I saw it too. Someone bet my helmet will have gold on it. — he made a confused face. — Gold? I don’t know if I’m that fancy.

You didn’t realize the impact would be so big until that moment. Seeing the drivers talk about something you created was surreal. But things got even more intense in the paddock.

At the Italian GP, while you were tweaking a post backstage, Pierre showed up out of nowhere behind you.

— So, you’re the one behind the app? — he asked, crossing his arms with a big grin.

You laughed, a little startled.

— It depends. If you like it, then yes. If not, marketing came up with it.

— Oh, I like it. But now I have to think of new helmets every week, because I don’t want the fans to get bored. — He winked before walking off, leaving you laughing alone.

The F1 Alert craze grew with each race. Fans’ discussions on social media were massive, and even journalists started mentioning the game in their reports. Some drivers, like Norris, began directly engaging with the fans.

— Do you think I’ll use a special helmet in Singapore? Place your bets on the app. — he smiled at the line of fans in the stands.

Meanwhile, you started getting recognized in the paddock. It wasn’t something you expected, but the drivers and teams now knew who you were. At the Las Vegas GP, Max Verstappen stopped you during a technical meeting with a rare smile.

— Just wanna know... Who was the creative genius that put “Max will smile on the podium” in the game?

You tried to keep your composure but ended up laughing.

— My bad. Sorry, but it was irresistible.

— Well, I hope no one bets on that. It’ll be money down the drain. — he joked.

The interactions with the drivers became more frequent, but the peak came at the last GP of the year, when the season had ended and some fans were satisfied with their scores on the game. And the burning question was whether the game would continue the next year.

During the final press conference, Daniel Ricciardo — who was making a special appearance as a third driver — decided to mention you.

— I wanna thank the person behind F1 Alert. Thanks to them, I’m already thinking about how to celebrate before I even know if I’ll be on the podium.

The cameras zoomed in on you in the corner of the room, as everyone laughed. It was the moment you realized how much your idea had impacted the world of Formula 1.

After that GP, you got nicknames in the paddock: “the pit star,” “the mind behind the game,” among others. And while you tried to stay grounded, you couldn’t deny that the app’s success had put you in the spotlight.

Now, you were more than just another face in the paddock. You’d built an incredible bond with the fans who always asked you questions like, “What’s the next update for the game?” and you’d made amazing friendships with some of the drivers. It was all like a dream. F1 Alert was just the beginning.

[coffeegnomee]

Not to be dramatic but the being teammed with so many people individually who are not teammates themselves is emblematic of the change in mentality towards teams and team projects that started in the last months of season 4.

It's not universal to the entirety of season 4, as some teams, like 3ht survived the entire season being unified in their common goals.

But for players like Mapicc, Zam, and to some extent spoke too, the season was characterized by realizing and putting into practice your own personal goals and values, regardless of what the team was doing or wanted to do.

Which is interesting because they are part of this "problem" of the change in view towards teammates despite being The Lifestealers. And yet, for most of us, devotions just Are lifesteal and are seen as the golden standard. But it, interestingly enough, they are not immune. This is not so much a new member mentality as a new lifesteal mentality everyone is working through.

At the start of team awesome all three worked happily together, fulfilling each other's goals despite personal preferences. Because that's was a teammate does. They killed 3ht because mapicc wanted to despite Ro objecting (but he still helped kill them), they obsidianed spawn despite zam not being too happy that his builds were being destroyed (but he still helped because he was happy to be included and he didn't care that much), they protected the prison and made up reasons from thin air about how they were in the right for it, they duped and opposed APO.

Personal preference for not doing this or that plot didn't usually matter when it came to supporting the team's idea.

Hesitations were spoken and resolved with little dramatics, and any player the others wanted to kill were accepted wholesale by the team. There's a little moment I just watched where Spoke and Zam bed trap planet and Mapicc opposes bc it's Planet but then he realizes he doesn't care that much and if it was anyone else he'd be like hell yea.

Which is such a far cry from what we're seeing this season with like Kab going, if you threaten Clown too much Mane I will just betray you outright despite our teaming.

Whichever members you picked as your team were your top priority. They were the ones you choose to protect and be protected by. Past relationships, interior affections, were generally put to the side in favor of supporting the team.

Personal preference for not killing this or that member didn't usually matter when it came to supporting the team.

That all changed by the end of the season. Zam learned to stand up for his personal preferences of no exploits. Leaving team after team. To this day it's still seen as the battle of being true to himself and being true to the team and if you can do what the team wants without loosing yourself.

Mapicc betrayed Ro with his trap everyone in the end when he trapped Planetlord (omg I just realized how damn much Mapicc cares about Planet. They have never teamed but he will avoid killing Planet so much. this is like also a s5 comment. anyway)

Mapicc and Zam both opposed Spoke's ending and jumped into both portals without talking to the server.

And that has created the internal mentality of individualism on this server. It's so much less this team vs this team and so much more us against them but i love some of them so im not against them but you are but that's okay i just wont attack them you can attack them.

Each player collects their network of trust individually with other members.

Zam with Derap and Mapicc and Poafa, all separately bc heaven knows poafa STILL hasn't been added to the team

Mapicc with the Empire and Zam seperately

Derap with Zam and Wemmbu and Jaron and 4c to lesser extents SB and Pangi

Kab with Bacon and Hannah and Clown and now Mane and Pentar

Flame with Mane and Pangi and previously Wemmbu and Zam

Mane with Flame and whatever chungus he decides to work with for the month

Clown with Kab and Mane and Flame at one point.

Bacon with Planet and Kab and Hannah

4C and his unknown number of loyalties to people who are most certainly not teammed and FOCUS and derap

Wemmbu with Derap and Mane and Flame and Bacon and Kab and Hannah all at one point

And then there's roshambogames who historically, time and again, will simply drop everything for mapicc, teammed or not.

Nearly every active member is marked by loyalties to people who are not teammed with each other. And nearly all of them will be actually upset if one of their loyalties goes against their other loyalties.

Which often leads to inaction because one person cares about a member on the opposing side so they will just stand to the side and let others take care of the situation.

And partially that's because what happened in season 5 was too much.

In season 5 the growing individualism pulled off a plot that was so shocking it drew both sides to the extremes and made everyone traumatized towards the classic teaming mindset.

Creating a mid season teammate switchup with inviting Jumper to the Abyss and inviting Pentar into a closer friendship with Gucci in doing the Abyss too, should have resulted in team unity where past relations were left to the side in favor of this new team, this unified goal.

And it was that utopia. The Void Ponies were one of the most wholesome and joyful teams (despite zam's grumpiness at times). Jumper and Pentar were instrumental in the whimsy and everyone participated as best they could to the common goal of voiding the world.

But it was all a lie for Jumper, holding her original loyalty to Minute (and 4c and Vitalasy) over this new loyalty.

And Pentar's loyalty to Jumper, their friendship before joining this scary new world, lead him to leave all bonds of friendship with the void ponies in that hole.

Both of them held teammates with people not on the same team. And in the end they chose one side over another.

Zam nearly vowed to himself to never get involved in a team project he didn't 100% love and has had trust issues to this day.

Mapicc also is jittery towards being betrayed, approaching zam all season like a wild horse who needs to willingly choose him and not imposing his own will on zam, it's been a big season of respecting how zam thinks and acts which is a whole separate post. and which is constantly evolving with whatever will happen with mawn. But Mapicc trusts precious few people and doesn't extend loyalty unless he's certain it will be reciprocated which is why we're in the situation where he refuses to team with atlas and only will team with zam despite both of them knowing he will probably kill derap more. But they don't want to Not be teamed so they accept this world where they're on two teams.

People are willing to be open with their loyalties and are cautious against delving too deeply into one team or another.

Teammate politics have become more and more and more complicated as the seasons progress. Whether that's simply because there's more access to the chaos with so many more streams, or the fading of the worst parts of the past in favor of the story that unfolded as seen through videos. Or wether that's simply the growth in old players as they're marked by every arc combined with the growth in new members as they learn to navigate in this historic world for themselves.

It's a slow story. One that gathers a hundred small interactions up only to release them with a trebuchet into one server-defining moment.

It is truly uncharted territory what all these disparate loyalties will lead to. And it's making season 6 so unique.

[souliebird]

[[and then I met you || ch. 31]]

Series: Daredevil || Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader || Rating: Explicit

Summary:

A one-night stand years ago gave you a daughter and you are now able to put a name to her father – Matthew Murdock. Everything is about to change again as you navigate trying to integrate your life with that of the handsome and charming blind lawyer’s and Matt realizes he needs to not only protect his new family from Hell's Kitchen, but from the world.

chapter masterlist

Words: 3.8k

ao3 link

As the clock ticks over from morning to midday, the city is ravaged by the first storm of the season. Howling winds force the sheets of rain to fall near horizontally while lightning streaks across the sky over the bay. Run off threatens to flood the subways and sewers and power has begun to flicker in certain neighborhoods. The news is advising everyone to stay indoors, and it seems that for once the people of New York are listening.

But the weather is none of your concern as you drag your nails over Matt’s scalp. From your spot on the couch, you watch with satisfaction as his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat and you have a distinct feeling he is holding back an absolutely filthy moan. You’ve begun to learn just exactly what he likes, so to get out the noise you desire, you guide your fingers towards his temples, then rake your claws through the dark hair there. 

The reaction is instantaneous. He presses back into the couch, pushing his head against you more as a low pleased noise escapes his lips. 

“Daddy, don’t move!” Mouse chastises from where she sits on the floor in front of him. One of his large hands is laid across her lap and your little one has been oh so carefully turning his nails a lovely shade of ballerina pink. 

“I’m sorry, angel,” the man melting into your touch mumbles, “Mommy’s hands just feel really good.” 

To emphasize his point, you begin to flex your fingers, gently scratching Matt’s head and treating him like an overgrown cat. As he leans more into your hands, you flash a mischievous grin to your daughter, sending her into a fit of giggles. 

Deciding you have had your fill of physical teasing for the moment, you dance your fingers to the back of Matt’s skull before flattening them so you can smooth down his neck and across his shoulders. You hunch forward for better access, then push your hands down his bare chest, stopping when you’ve reached his pecs. You’ve angled it so you are loosely draped around him, with your lips beside his ear. 

“How about I make us a snack while you finish up with Daddy?” You ask Minnie, who eagerly nods in response.

“Apples, please! Thank you!”

“Okay, I’ll cut up some apples.”

As one last little flirt, you dig your nails into Matt’s chest before you begin to pull away. As if not to be outdone by your playfulness, he turns his head and quickly plants two kisses on your cheek. 

Minnie lets out an absolute squeal of delight while you feel your entire being heat up with slight embarrassment and anxiety. While you’ve been nervous about possibly confusing her with public displays of affection, Matt has had no qualms about it, and you are starting to think he is on the right track. Mouse has been positively thrilled about your developing relationship and seems to be the biggest cheerleader for it. 

You are terrified for her for when it inevitably comes to an end, but you tell yourself it won’t affect her relationship with Matt. You are determined to see to it that no matter what happens between you and Matt physically, it will not be detrimental to your daughter. 

As you move away from the couch and head to the kitchen, you tell yourself it is okay that she sees her Mommy and Daddy kissing. It is a normal thing for a child to experience and it isn’t like you are being lewd or inappropriate around her. Light teasing is perfectly acceptable, and you have been teasing Matt, after all. 

Still, your heart pounds in your chest as Minnie returns to playing manicurist. 

“You gots to keep your hands super extra still, or I’ms gonna get pink all over them.”

“I’ll keep them super extra still,” Matt promises and you have a feeling he is going to be true to his word. You know that with all of his training and abilities, he can probably keep his hand from moving even a micrometer and he is not one to disappoint his little girl. 

You pluck two apples from your fruit bowl and bring them to the sink to wash. You have become much more thorough in your rinsing, now overly hyper aware of things like pesticides and wax. You might not taste such things, but the two other members of your small family can and it is your responsibility to make sure everything is as clean as can be. You have a new special produce brush, and you scrub at the apples until they practically sparkle, enjoying the sounds of Mouse and Matt bonding as you do. 

“This finger has more ouchies,” you hear Minnie advise. “It’s gonna need…gonna need three more kissies to make it better. Ands a shot!”

“And a shot?” Matt asks and you peek over your shoulder to see your daughter nodding in response. 

You don’t fight the smile that comes to your lips and turn back to your task. 

You are pretty sure Matt’s knuckles are permanently scraped up from his nights out as a vigilante. His hands are covered in dozens of small, barely noticeable scars. 

Unfortunately, many of his other injuries aren’t as easily overlooked. There is currently a large bruise poking out from the top of his pajama pants along his hip and the moment it was seen, Doctor Minnie jumped into action. While she didn’t question where it came from, she did prescribe kisses and bandages to remedy it, and once a pink band-aid was placed on it, Matt let her know he was all healed. You could tell he had felt extremely guilty that she had witnessed the byproduct of his late nights out and you have the feeling he is going to be even more cautious about letting people leave marks on him. 

But if that is what keeps him safe, you are more than happy to let your daughter unknowingly guilt trip him. 

You take your time in slicing up the apples. The nail polish you purchased is quick drying, but it does need a minute or so to work and Minnie isn’t the fastest at applying it. You watch as she practically doubles over Matt’s left hand as she works, and you can see her little tongue stuck out in concentration. To her credit, she’s only gotten a few smudges on his skin, and they will be easy enough to peel off when dry. 

You guess he must sense you watching him, because Matt flashes you a nice big smile. “No pictures to share with Foggy this time?” he asks, the joke clear in his voice.

“I don’t want him getting jealous and coming over to crash our spa day,” you reply with your own smile. “Unless that is what you want?”

Minnie’s head shoots up and her lips turn down into a little scowl. “No Froggy! I don’ts have green! I gots to get green for Froggy’s!”

You do in fact own green nail polish, but you are not going to correct her over this. Instead, you get curious about her color associations. 

“What about Auntie Karen? What color would you do her nails?”

Minnie screws up her face in thought before declaring, “Orange! Auntie Karen and Mister Frank are orange and Max is blue! Like his collar! He’s gotta match and be pretty!”

“And Mommy and Daddy are pink?” Matt confirms, holding up the hand that is already done being painted and wiggling his fingers.

“Yeah!” Mouse practically shouts. “‘Cause it’s my favoritest and yous are my favoritest peoples. But I gets sparkles ‘cause they are pretty.” 

“Can I get sparkles next time?” the wonderful man that is her father asks and by the way Minnie’s face lights up, you already know the answer. 

“We can match!” Then, with the quickness only a toddler can achieve, snatches up the hand she was working on and hunches back over it. “But you are pinks today! So, you can match Mommy!”

You feel warm and pleased at her words. It is hard to feel anxious when she is so excited about you and Matt being a pair.

You admire your own nails as you fetch a plate to put the apple slices on. You had done yours and Minnie’s last night in preparation for your spa day, and while they are simple, the pale pink your daughter picked out is truly a flattering color. 

You return to the living room with a plate of snacks and set them on the coffee table before sitting on the ground beside Matt. You watch as Minnie finishes up lacquering his pinky, giving a small applause when she finishes. 

“You did such a good job, Mouse.” 

“Thank you very much!” She replies, beaming up at you. She thrusts the polish brush and bottle at you, and you close it up tight while Matt holds up his hands and spreads out his fingers.

“I feel so fancy. Thank you, princess.”

“You’re welcomes, Daddy!” Mouse replies before whirling around and grabbing an apple slice to shove into her mouth.

You shake your head fondly at her antics before reaching for your own snack. As you do, Matt playfully bumps his shoulder into yours and holds his hand out in front of you, palm down. Thinking he is asking for a piece of apple, you take one and offer it out. 

To your surprise, he shakes his head. 

“I think the good doctor prescribed me three kissies for my fingers. Do you mind fulfilling that order?”

Once again, you feel your body heat up, but instead of the expected embarrassment, it is a pleasant, warm feeling. You bite your lip, then, delicately and very much shyly take his hand in your free one. You guide it up to your mouth, then, counting out loud as you do, place one, two, and three soft kisses to his knuckles. 

The smile Matt gives you is brighter than you’ve ever seen it.

Your heart clenches in your chest and your throat gets tight - not from anxiety but from him literally taking your breath away. For the briefest of moments, all you can see is him and his beautiful happiness. His emotions reach out and wrap around your soul and without even realizing it, you are returning his smile.

Not wanting to break the moment with something stupid, you slowly turn his hand, so it is palm up and place the apple slice into it. 

“This should help, too,��� you breathe out, unable to take your gaze off of his face. “An apple a day and all that.”

His expression softens and he gives the smallest of nods as he replies just as quietly, “Thank you, darling.” 

A giddiness you are not used to runs down your spine and you finally force yourself to avert your gaze. To keep yourself from blurting something out, you mimic your daughter and bite into your apple slice. 

Ever not aware of the emotions swirling in the air, your daughter stands up, another apple slice in her hand, and declares, “We’s should do face masks now!”

Grateful for her suggestion of a distraction, you quickly agree, “Face masks sound perfect. Do you want to do the sheet masks or the clay one?”

Minnie toddles around to the other side of the coffee table, where all your spa day supplies are laid out. You have a caddy of nail polish, a caddy of hair supplies, and a caddy of different facial treatments. This is not Mouse’s first rodeo with self-pamper days and she expertly starts going through the different types of masks available. She pulls them out one by one, examining the packaging carefully before discarding the non-acceptable ones. 

You chew your snack silently while you watch her sort through them, curious which she will choose for each of you. The first one to be set aside is a sheet mask that has a tiger face printed on it, then there is a Hello Kitty one, and finally a panda. She pats her pile triumphantly before putting the ones not deemed worthy back into the caddy one at a time. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever done a face mask,” Matt comments as he finishes a second apple slice. “What do they do?” 

“They moisturize your skin,” you say just as Minnie chimes, “They make you softs!”

He laughs, and ever the good sport, agrees to let you put one on him. 

Minnie, of course, wants to be Hello Kitty, and you get assigned to be a panda, leaving Matt as the tiger. As you explain to Matt the procedure and what exactly you are going to be doing to his face, Mouse grabs the television remote and brings up one of her cartoons. She knows the mask should stay on the length of one episode, but first she must choose what is acceptable for a relaxing time.

As she makes her hard choice, you help Matt apply his mask. You guide him to tilt his head back, then gentle as you can, lay it out.

“It doesn’t smell nearly as bad as I thought it would,” he hums as you begin to smooth it out. 

You don’t respond, instead focusing on making sure there are no wrinkles and that the mask is touching as much skin as possible. Under your fingers, his eyes flutter close and you hope he is finding the day as relaxing as it is meant to be. 

In front of you, Mouse has selected the short she wants to watch and has turned her attention to her mask. She clearly needs no help as she rips it open and begins to unfold it. She is far less gentle with it than you are and practically smacks it onto her face. It is too big for her, but she doesn’t care, and as soon as it is partially where it needs to be, she flops down on her back, arms and legs spread out.

“Ahhhh,” she sighs out, content as can be. You have no doubts she is enjoying her day of pampering.

You are as quick as your little one to get your mask on, but much more precise. Once it is patted down, you sit back down beside Matt, a hair’s breadth away from his shoulder, and close your eyes. 

The coolness of the mask is something you do find relaxing. In a strange way, it helps to center you and block out all the external stressors in your life. Sitting against the couch, you feel like you are in your own little world. 

At least, until Matt’s hand finds yours and he laces your fingers together. 

Once again, he has your breath catching in your chest. 

Karen’s voice sings out in your head before your anxiety has a chance to process things and your free hand shoots up to wrap around the gem hanging from your neck - the one you have yet to take off since it was put on.

She called it a confession. She said he glowed when he spoke about you. 

Was it similar to the glow he had when you kissed his fingers? Or the one you felt when you fell into his arms in your kitchen?

Does he get breathless over you? Does his heartbeat wildly enough to make him dizzy? 

You can’t see how you could possibly cause those types of reactions in him - you aren’t anything special. You know you are No One and the only person in the whole universe who would choose you still has trouble putting on her own shoes. 

But, if you make Matt happy, in any way, isn’t that a good thing? 

Isn’t that what you want? To make someone happy?

If him holding your hand and kissing your cheek makes him light up like it does, why should you deny him of it? Afterall, you like it, too, even if it confuses you. 

You know that eventually it will all come to an end, but you don’t want it to be because you keep being so skittish about his affections. You fear you will inevitably hurt him if you keep acting the way you do because you know the one thing Matt wants more than anything is to be a Family. 

If anyone is going to be hurt by this relationship, it is going to be you and you will not have it any other way. 

You give the ruby one last squeeze as you make up your mind. As you let your hand drop down into your lap, you scoot that millimeter closer to Matt and slide down a bit so you can rest your head on his shoulder. It is a little awkward, but it isn’t the worst thing in the world - especially when he squeezes your hand tight and drops a kiss to the top of your head. Moisturizer gets in your hair, but that is perfectly fine. 

You stay tucked against him as the cartoon plays out on the television. You half listen to it and half focus on Matt’s thumb rubbing over your knuckles. 

As soon as the credits begin to roll, Minnie is bouncing up and ripping off her mask.

“So refreshing!” she cooes, rubbing her hands along her cheeks. 

“It is,” Matt replies, letting go of your hand to remove the sheet from his face and you do the same with your own. “I wouldn’t say no to doing that again.”

You take up the trash from the face masks and go to toss them as your daughter decides the next course of action. She is back at the caddies, going through the hair supplies, looking for who knows what. Out of the corner of your eyes, you see Matt push himself up, so he is sitting on the couch.

“What if we give Mommy a massage?” he asks and before you can even process what is being said, Mouse is cheering and agreeing. 

“Mommy! Come sits so we can massages you! I can do your feets!”

You stare dumbly at them for a few seconds, letting the suggestion wash over you, before you cautiously make your way back to Matt and sit on the floor between his legs. Mouse instantly plops right in front of you and demands that you put a foot in her lap, so you do as you are told.

As she pulls off your socks and begins to tug at your toes, Matt’s hands smooth over your shoulders. It is different from the massage you gave him all those nights ago - he clearly knows what he is doing. He finds a knot right away and with a few circles of his thumb it is melting away. You quickly become putty under his hands. 

Your little one is just as determined as Matt is to make you relax, though she doesn’t know the techniques. She rubs her little fist over the arch of your foot as hard as she can, and it actually feels really good. 

You could very much get used to this treatment. 

You lose track of time as they work you over, though you are sure it must only be a few minutes. Minnie makes you trade out your feet while Matt moves to your neck, and he teases the base of your skull with his nails, making you smile. 

You can understand why he enjoys it so much. 

Then suddenly, Matt’s hands freeze, and you feel him still behind you.

Before you can ask what is wrong, he is telling you the answer, “Someone just taped something to your door. They are putting it on all the doors in the building.”

You figure it is your landlord doing some sort of maintenance announcement, but curiosity gets the better of you and you get up to go see what it could possibly be. Minnie is at your heel as you go.

“I can help you read it! I’m learning big words now!” 

“You are learning your big words,” you praise. “Soon you’ll be reading to me and Daddy. Have you been practicing your Braille?” 

Her curls bounce as she nods vigorously. “I knows the whole alphabet!”

You don’t think that is quite true, but you like her confidence. She has certainly been very keen to learn math and reading since meeting Spider-man. You are pretty sure she’s going to fly past the expected milestones for a four-year-old soon enough. 

You are cautious as you open the front door and sure enough, a notice is posted there. You snatch it up, then quickly close and lock the door, leaning against it as you read. At your side, Mouse reaches up for the paper, wanting her turn with it, but you ignore her for the moment.

You feel the color drain from your face, and you read the words out loud so both Matt and Minnie know what is happening, “‘Starting Sunday at eight am, the water in the building will be shut off as we repair the pipes connecting to the city’s water supply. We expect the repairs to be finished by Friday and for the water to be turned back on by Saturday morning. We are sorry for the inconvenience.’” You crumple the paper in your hand and groan, “No water for a week?”

“We can’ts drink water for a whole week?” Minnie exclaims from your knee, sounding put out as you feel. She yanks the notice from your hand and runs right to her Daddy to show it to him. “We’ll die! We needs water! Mommy loves water!”

Matt is prepared for his daughter’s onslaught and scoops her up, so she is on his hip. He takes the paper from her as he makes his way back to you and holds it out to return it. You take it with a sigh. “You won’t die, sweetpea. And Mommy isn’t going to not have water. You can come stay with me for the week. It will be like a long sleep over.”

“I love sleep overs!” Mouse says, despite never having spent the night away from the apartment. 

You know better than to try to argue with Matt on the subject and the fact is you can’t. You don’t have the funds to rent a hotel room for the week and if Matt was not here to offer his place, you would pretty much be screwed. You would have probably ended up staying and dragging Minnie down to the bodega everytime she needed to pee and using bottled water to give her a bath. 

But that doesn’t mean the monster in your chest is happy about it. It is already crawling up your spine and undoing all of Matt’s work in making you relax and there is nothing you can do to fight it. All you can tell yourself is everything will be okay and as always you are panicking over nothing. 

You push yourself off the door and go to Matt and Mouse. You squeeze her little arm while you lean in and place a sweet kiss to Matt’s cheek, determined to let him have his Family.

“I’ll go start packing our bags.”

---

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[emsdevs]

A Luke Hughes ask of his girlfriend going into labour and him telling his family he is a dad to a son

a/n: I'm so sorry for the wait nonnie! I hope you still like it! Also everyone please note: I have never been pregnant and therefore do not know the exact process of having a baby. If there are inaccuracies, please ignore them. Thanks and enjoy dad!Luke :)

Labor of Love

You swore you both would be prepared for this, and you definitely were. Luke, on the other, didn’t seem to be taking it as well. When you felt your water break, you called him into the room, telling him the situation.

“Oh god. Oh no. We have so much to do. Oh my god. Okay, you can get changed if you wanna, and I’ll get everything in the car,” he said, frantically moving around the room.

“Luke, baby, I can’t change my pants by myself,” you answered, significantly calmer.

“Right! Right, I knew that,” he plays it off, coming over to help you undress and redress. He moves you to the car where you get situated while he runs around grabbing everything you might need while at the hospital. 

After you arrived and got checked in, Luke called his family, letting them know you had gone into labor and were at the hospital. Next, he called yours. It was very early in the off-season and you went into labor a little bit early, so they would have to fly in from Michigan, unable to be there until two days later at the earliest. After many excited reactions, he was finally done with his round of phone calls, and he walked back into your room in just enough time for you to start laboring. Fourteen hours of blaming and yelling at Luke later, you had delivered your baby and were waiting to find out the gender. You both had agreed since it was your first child, you wanted to wait to find out the gender until the baby was born. Soon, your baby was in your arms and the midwife was telling you that you’d delivered a beautiful baby boy. The tears started flowing the moment he was placed in your arms, and out of the corner of your eye, you could see Luke in the same state beside you. 

“You did so well, baby. Look what you brought us,” he was getting choked up staring at the perfect mix of you and him.

“He’s so perfect,” you move your finger so your son can grab it, “a baby boy.” Soon, the nurses were stealing him away to run all the tests needed, and you instructed Luke to never let your baby boy out of his sight. Eventually, your boys returned, and you all got some much-needed family time. Soon though, you and your son were in desperate need of sleep, so Luke took that time to go inform his family. When he walked through the doors to the waiting room, everyone stood up waiting for whatever news he had for them. 

“She’s doing good, and the baby was born at 3:17. He’s healthy and so perfect,” he sniffled at the end of his sentence, feeling the tears beginning to well up again.

“He?” Luke heard your mom ask.

“Yeah we had a baby boy,” he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He was crying because of the pure joy he felt, his mother wrapping him in her arms while she shed her own tears. Distantly, he could hear Jack and his father having their own celebration before Jim went to call Quinn who couldn’t be there because of playoffs. Gently, Ellen pulled back before asking what name you two had decided on. You both had kept your picks for the names a secret, wanting to keep it to yourselves for as long as possible.

“Samuel Bennett,” he spoke softly.

“Samuel Bennett Hughes,” Ellen breathed, “He sounds perfect, Luke.”

“He is, Mom,” before Luke could start crying again, Jack brought him into a hug, telling him he knew he’d be a good father. His father was the last to hug him, being sure Luke knew how proud he and Ellen were. He let them be the ones to inform Quinn and your family, wanting to get back to his family.

When he got to the room, he took a moment to really take in you and Samuel. You were the love of his life, and he couldn’t wait to see where this road takes you both. He couldn’t wait to spend more time with Samuel and get to know the little boy that you two, mainly you, brought into this world. He was so incredibly thankful to be able to have this moment. You two have been through a lot since getting together in high school. You even stuck with him after he got drafted, choosing to transfer to a school in New Jersey to be closer to him. He’s always had your unwavering support, and he hopes you know he’ll always have your back as well. Right now though, he’s sure both of you will be the co-founders of Samuel’s fan club. No matter what happened or where life leads the two of you, he knows he has you and Samuel, and that’s enough for him.

taglist: @heartsforjh @alex-wotton @devilinpradaheels @juxmi @macklin-celebrini-71 @puckmedude

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[muddyorbsblr]

empty baskets

'one look and they'll know' collection masterlist See my full list of works here!

Placement: dating era; a few weeks after 'the warmest bed i've ever known'

Summary: Tom makes a concerning discovery on laundry day

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x Reader

Word Count: 2.2k

Warning/s: steamy moments at the end; insecure Reader; mentions of previous cheating from exes; mentions of former toxic relationships [let me know if i missed anything!]

Things to be aware of: cinnamon roll bf Tomathy hours

The sound of the front door to his house closing alerted Tom of your return, a smile stretching across his face when you called out his name.

"In the laundry room, sweetheart. I'll be with you in a minute," he answered.

"Remember to separate your lights and darks." He could practically hear the amused smile on your face as you said the words.

His heart swelled at the comfortable humorous tone that you'd taken, at the familiarity that had woven its way into your exchanges, no matter how minuscule they might have been to anyone who would have been listening. After the scare of nearly losing you just under a month ago, he knew better than to take any moment with you for granted.

Tom dropped a final black running shirt into the load and was just about to start it, when he finally noticed what had felt off about this particular chore. What he had been feeling off about the past few weeks.

None of the clothes in the wash were yours. Not a single garment.

I must have missed them, he thought to himself, going through the other basket, brows furrowing together when he found it was just as empty as the one in his hand.

You'd been staying with him for the last two weeks, and he knew that you changed clothes. That was, at least during the times when the two of you were clothed in the house.

And yet despite that, he couldn't find a single item of your clothing in this room. Which led him to believe that you were keeping them in a laundry bag. Probably where you stashed your suitcase, in the entry way coat closet.

Only thing was that your laundry bag was nowhere to be found, and your suitcase was suspiciously heavier than it was yesterday morning. "Y/N?" he called out to you, unable to help the smile on his face when you peeked your head out from the study.

"What's up?"

"Anything you need to put in the wash, sweetheart?"

The confusion worsened when you shook your head. "Nope, I'm all good." And then you gave him a smile that was so strained it filled him with a sense of dread. The same kind of dread that he felt when he came home not two weeks ago to find you curled up in a chair, mumbling words that threatened to turn his world asunder had he not stopped you.

What were you hiding?

He made his way over to you, placing his hands on your shoulders, heart thundering in his chest when he saw the avoidant look in your eyes. Like you were desperately trying to scour your mind for a way out.

Just like you were that night he showed up at your doorstep. When you blurted out how you felt about him and promptly tried to take it back, denying you said anything at all. "You don't need to hide anything from me, goddess," he said carefully, pressing a tender kiss to your lips. "I want you to know that."

"My dirty clothes are in the Four Seasons, I have a room booked there to keep my things," you blurted out, the words rushing out of you with a sheepish look on your face. "That's where I went this morning, to grab a new set of clothes and…anything else I might need."

Tom took in a deep breath, unaware that he'd been holding it while awaiting your answer. A weight was somewhat lifted from his chest, though there was still the lingering fear that somehow part of this secret was in the form of another person.

It had happened before, with previous relationships. And while he felt that fear significantly less when you were around, it still lingered…and festered into something that had the potential to be crippling if it ever turned out to be true.

Even if it was fairly early on in the relationship, he knew in the depths of his soul that this would be his last. You would be the one he spent the rest of his life loving, the one he would build his future with. And whether that future entailed marriage and children, it no longer mattered to him.

What mattered, all that mattered, was that future would have you.

"Why?" he asked, silently pleading that the answer wouldn't involve his worst fears. He couldn't take that. Not from you.

"It's for…just in case," you said, barely audible. Your eyes began to mist over as you started trembling in his hold. "For if…and when…you get tired of having me around. Then I wouldn't have to scramble for a place to stay. Because it's already there prepped and waiting for me."

Your words completely stole the air from his lungs, quite possibly even stopped his heart. Tired of you? You did this because you were bracing yourself for the day he would tire of you?

"It happened before," you spoke again, choking the words out as you visibly fought against what he had no doubt were haunting memories from relationships past. "Long before, but still…it sucked. Not having anywhere to stay for a few hours, calling friends who suddenly pretended I was nobody to them because they took my ex's side. Calling hotels that were fully booked. I just wanted to be sure."

Suddenly your actions around his home filled him with a heartbreaking clarity. It wasn't just your clothes.

Not a single item on the bathroom counter was yours. You even kept your toothbrush in a little bag. 

The meticulous way you'd place back every item in his study and pack away all your work in your tote before putting it in the entry way closet with your suitcase. He simply thought you were being tidy.

But it wasn't that simple.

Other than your very presence in his arms now, there wasn't a single trace of you to be found in this house. Everything you had here wasn't just easy to pack up in five minutes to have you out the door.

You wouldn't even need five seconds.

He couldn't think of what else to do at that moment other than pull you into a desperate kiss, weaving his fingers into your hair and holding you tight against him with his free arm. The tension that held on to his heart with a vice grip lessened somewhat when he felt your lips moving with his, your own hands grasping at the fabric of his shirt to bring him in even closer.

How could you not know that this was precisely where he wanted you? Always?

"I could never tire of you, goddess," he sighed against your lips when he broke the kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too," you answered him with the faintest sniffle. "I need you to know that none of this is on you. You did nothing to make me feel this was what I should do, this is just…leftover self preservation. I don't know how to be any other way."

Tom took your hands in his, pressing a kiss to your knuckles. "Perhaps we can find a new way together," he proposed, placing one last kiss on your ring finger. The one he wished to place a ring upon one day.

It didn't matter when.

He motioned towards the bedroom, threading his fingers between yours to lead the way. "Come with me. I want to show you something."

There was a slight guilt that pinched away at his heart, realizing that you never even so much as peeked into the closet or the dressers. Because if you had, you would have seen it sooner.

You would have seen that he'd set aside half the dresser storage, and half the closet.

He was so overtaken with the joy of finally having you with him, he failed to see the signs that you hadn't been moving as if you lived with him. You moved like a scrupulously careful guest in his home, making sure everything was exactly as it was before you arrived.

Always ready to leave at a drop of a hat.

When the light turned on in the walk-in closet, Tom could hear the air leave your lungs the moment you that half of the racks were empty. He held your hand as he opened the drawers on the empty side, showing you that they, too, had nothing inside.

"You're not a guest in my home, Y/N. I--I know that it might be too early for us, but I want more than anything for you to see this as our home. I can understand if you're not quite ready yet, but I want you to know that there's space here for you. I don't want you to have to throw away money for a hotel room that isn't even slept in."

"Money isn't an issue," you mumbled, your eyes still fixed on the space he'd freed up for you. When you eventually tore your gaze away, he could see the tears that were welling up. "It's just…I've taken care of myself for so long. It's all I know. No one I was with ever cared--"

"I care, sweetheart." He pulled you into his arms, sighing into your hair when he felt you return his embrace. "And I understand you wish to take care of yourself, but perhaps I could care for you, too?"

Your only response was to nuzzle your face against his chest, before nodding against him. "Maybe we can take care of each other."

He kissed the top of your head, leading you out the closet and reaching for his phone, already placing a call to his assistant. "I'll send for someone to retrieve your belongings from the Four Seasons and settle the bill. You don't have to unpack everything if you're not ready, but at least they'll all be here. And I know you mentioned that money isn't an issue for you, but it doesn't sit right with me knowing you're spending so much on an unused room."

A soft smile finally graced your features, and you visibly looked more relaxed as you agreed to his proposal. "Fine. But next time we stay at a hotel I'm paying."

"It's a date," he said, bringing your joint hands up to kiss the back of your hand.

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of your mouth as you sat on the floor of the closet, your carry-on splayed open beside you as you carefully placed your clothes in the open drawers that Tom freed up for you. Our home, his words replayed in your mind. The mere thought threatened to overwhelm you.

He really is trying to ruin me for everyone else but him, you thought to yourself, your mind wandering back to that note you buried deep in the vaults of your phone. You were seldom one to let your guard down anywhere other than your home, where every security measure had triple the redundancies just to make sure that vulnerabilities were minimized, if not eradicated completely.

In your line of work, the one starkly outside the path that brought you to the man you love, it wasn't just a "nice to have" to have multiple measures of security. The alternative was to be in a constant state of alertness. To always be ready to fight your way out.

You never knew there could be another way. A way where there were no backups, or backups for your backups. A way that no longer involved having a place ready for you in case you got kicked to the curb because your boyfriend decided to finally take up the offer of the office succubus.

Before you knew it, the carry-on was empty, other than your run of the mill weapons of choice for self-defense. But you decided against placing that anywhere within reach, instead zipping the compartment closed before closing and locking the luggage.

There was no need for it here.

The door to the closet opened, the sight of your boyfriend walking in wearing only a pair of grey sweatpants making you smile and bite your lip. "Well hey there," you greeted him, placing your hand in his and letting out a little giggle when he helped you to your feet before pulling you into a kiss.

"Just need a few more pieces to put in the wash, darling," he murmured against your lips. "Four, to be exact."

He worked his hands under your shirt and pulled it over your head, proceeding to work his way under the waistband of your joggers.

"Three…" You held on to his shoulders to keep upright, a teasing smirk on his face as he hooked his fingers underneath your panties. "Two…" In one smooth motion, he tugged them downwards, both garments falling to your feet, your boyfriend letting out a sinful guttural sound when you were bared to him.

Then your feet left the ground, him lifting you by the backs of your thighs and coaxing you to wrap your legs around him as he brought you back into the bedroom. He laid you down on the bed, lustful darkened blue eyes raking over your body before he reached for the waistband of his own sweats.

"One…"

A/N: Where can I order one of these cinnamon roll Tomathy-shaped boyfriends? Asking for myself--

'everything' taglist: @simplyholl @loopsisloops @imalovernotahater @coldnique @loz-3 @huntress-artemiss @salempoe @vickie5446 @athalialaufeyson @lokiprompts @kats72 @kikster606 @asgards-princess-of-mischief @lokixryss @thomase1 @mischief2sarawr @lovingchoices14 @lunarnights95 @goblingirlsarah @iamlokisgloriouspurpose @creationsbyme @maple-seed @mjsthrillernp @ladyofthestayingpower @mygfloki @sititran @glitterylokislut @ozymdias @fictive-sl0th  @lokidbadguy @mochie85 @silverfire475 @joyful-enchantress @elizabethmidnight2017 @holdmytesseract @smolvenger @gigglingtiggerv2 @lokidokieokie

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[lovedrruunk]

A Fresh Start [series masterlist] Jinx ୨ৎ reader !

⋆ This fic takes place after the events of Season 2, where Jinx [now going by Powder] moves away to a faraway town in the middle of nowhere. As she struggles to settle in and process everything, she catches sight of you and is instantly starstruck.

tags || fluff / strangers to more (whatever that means ammirite) / slight stalking that’s taken lightly / self deprecation (yum) / SFW!!! status || ongoing! near its end. [series playlist]

[part i] After choosing to break the cycle, Jinx [now Powder] tries to find her place in the countryside away from everything she once knew, drawn to someone who seems to embody everything she's wanted but never deserved.

[part ii] When the mysterious new girl in town makes a lasting first impression, you make it your goal to befriend and welcome her to the town.

[part iii] Powder can't stop thinking about your earlier interactions and is sure she messed everything up. Except this time she has concepts of a plan to fix it.

[part iv] She's weird, she's creepy, she's a total stalker, and now she's... loitering outside your door...?

[part v] Powder finally made it to the hangout stage (good for her!), and guess she never really realized how good talking to you one on one would feel.

part vi in the works!!

⋆˚𝜗𝜚˚⋆

[beautysurvives]

also don’t see enough ppl acknowledge how Dean and Jack are going through such similar journeys in s14. The parallels between Jack losing his soul and the s6 soulless Sam arc are right there on the surface, but what Dean is going through with Michael is also a huge parallel.

I know people get mad at Dean for putting Jack in the Ma’lak box, and I guess it’s easy to forget that Dean’s original plan was to put himself in there. The way Dean blames himself for Michael’s escape (the line is something like “I let my guard down”) is something that gets echoed by Jack so many times, about failing to kill Michael and getting tricked by Lucifer. Jack thinks it’s his fault for not being strong enough. His fault for being too trusting.

And the fact that Dean didn’t put himself in the Ma’lak box — the fact that he allowed his family to convince him not to — that he let his emotional connections guide him rather than his instincts — probably feels like another huge failure for him, and it 100% connects to Mary’s death. Not just because he’s grieving her, not just because he indirectly got her killed, but because, for him, she represents emotional vulnerability and honesty and connection, everything that he believes family should be. Trust and safety, and most importantly, the presence of a parent/matriarch/patriarch — because if she’s gone, who’s left to lead the family? The responsibility has always fallen on his shoulders as the older brother without a stable father figure, but Dean has never wanted this role, and at this point is really not equipped to handle it. Once Mary came around to filling that role in s14, a bit of the weight was lifted from Dean’s shoulders.

And now that ability to breathe a little easier, to start accepting Jack as his own son with the knowledge that, this time, he doesn’t have to feel like he’s the only person responsible for a kid’s life — all of that, to Dean, was his own mistake. It’s a reminder not to trust, not to be emotional, not to form new attachments, and especially not to feel safe or happy (another huge theme in this season: happiness leading to death)

Because if he had just gone in the box, Michael wouldn’t have gotten out, all those hunters wouldn’t have died, and Jack wouldn’t have burned the last of his soul to save him. And if we go even further back, if Dean had never said yes to AU Michael in the first place — which, if you remember, was to save Sam (and Jack, who also doubles as Sam’s foil) from Lucifer.

Another important detail is how in his s12 confrontation with Mary (in Who We Are), Dean blames her for everything that happened in her absence — including Sam losing his soul. Although in that situation, prior to Mary’s resurrection, the main person who could’ve been blamed for that was Cas, and even that (in Dean’s mind) was a reach, because I’m sure he believed that Cas was telling the truth about it being a mistake, and at the end of the day no one really knew why Sam lost his soul. Similarly, many of the things that Sam did while soulless were blamed on Sam himself, which, in light of what we saw in s11 and with Donatello (that not having a soul doesn’t automatically make you harmful), kind of holds up. But still, who can be blamed for mistakes, errors in judgment, or consequences of risky decisions made in the absence of crucial information. Mary, like Chuck and Amara in s15, becomes that person simply by virtue of being a parent. Which is also why it’s so easy for Dean to start placing all the blame on Cas for failing to warn him about Jack killing the snake, and then failing to get back in time to warn them — being absent when they needed him there most. Regardless of how Dean has been behaving towards Jack, regardless of his own internal feelings of parenthood, Cas is the only one in tfw who has claimed responsibility for Jack, verbally identified himself as Jacks father, and accepted blame by apologizing.

People often point out how Sam behaves like a parent to Jack, but I think they miss the opportunity to connect this to the role Dean had to play after Mary’s death when he was a child. Sam sees Jacks need for another father figure besides Cas, just as Dean did for Sam when they were children — which is something I think Dean recognizes in s15, when he says “I tried the family thing, didn’t work” and Sam says “Yeah, me too.” Dean could be talking about Cas and Jack, or Lisa and Ben, but Sam is most likely talking about Jack. And if you watch the scene, there’s this little look from Dean that I’ve always read as guilt, because imo he does see Jack as his child, and regrets that Sam was parentified in his absence.

But when it comes to Dean himself, as one of Jack’s parents, he completely deflects blame in light of Mary’s death. He starts acting like he never saw Jack as family — and like his relationship with Cas was never “real” — and it’s especially easy because they’ve never had an actual out loud conversation where they explicitly defined Dean’s significance to either of them. His rejection of Jack as a family member — and his subsequent rejection of Cas as a partner — is not because Dean never loved/cared about him — it’s a rejection of responsibility. It’s his inability to recognize himself as partially culpable (and he is, because, despite his relative passivity at the start, he went along wholeheartedly with the plan to use Jack’s soul to bring him back, and he, like Cas and Sam, put the responsibility to make sure that Jack didn’t lose his soul on other people AND allowed Jack to be unsupervised and put in situations where he’d be tempted to use his powers AND didn’t even allow himself to see the warning signs — and none of this makes it entirely Dean’s fault, because of course he was dealing with his own Michael crisis — he was hardly in a position to really act like a good parent, which he knew) — but the death of Mary also means the absence of a central figure to blame. It is the absence of a leader.

So when Chuck appears and gives him the Equalizer — the gun that will kill both its target and the person wielding it — of course he’ll take that deal. God is telling him to do it, and that it’s the only way — and without Mary present to remind him that she wouldn’t want this (which he realizes on his own later), he believes it.

Of course he’ll die killing Jack, because in Dean’s heart he sees them as the same person. He sees them as equally to blame. And it’s so connected to everything that came before Jack too — it’s a fitting punishment for the mistake Dean’s been making over and over again since episode one — since his father first told him that he’d have to kill Sam. Since he refused, time and again. Since he let himself get close to Cas just to get betrayed over and over. Since he decided to team up with Crowley, despite that warning he’d been given (if John saw you working with a demon…) Since he saved Baby Amara, not knowing that she’d grow up to be the darkness. Letting his love and compassion and empathy blind him to something that, in his mind — in any good hunter’s mind — should be black and white. The monster is supposed to die, even if it looks like you. It shouldn’t matter how you feel because feeling means the monsters win.

[shanastoryteller]

so, you've been posting/reblogging about sam being the exception to the rules of "This is alright to do when everyone else does it/ It's not alright to do but we can do it to sam". Do you have any fanfic recs that throw that hat around? Like, they realize they were actually in the wrong? or some good fix it? some bad break it?

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

honestly not this fandom's strong suit. probably the most self indulgent part of see something say something is having dean accept that sam going to stanford wasn't a personal attack, was something he needed to do for himself, and the no contact trauma of it all was pretty much entirely john's fault. in canon he's literally betrayed by sam going to college until he DIES. he never chills or gives credit to the idea that sam deserved and needed space to grow outside of him

there are a couple "sam dies in the panic room" fics floating around out there, which are pretty good, but relatively short and sort of only deal with the immediate regret that dean feels because his brother is dead and not really because he understands how he fucked up

here are some that sort of qualify, but nothing that quite scratches the id for this in the exact way i'd like. unfortunately i think to really dig into this (for me) you've got to hit "sam was both saved and destroyed by dean's deal" and "dean came back wrong" right over the head before you can really deal with the repercussions of it. which is both hard and sort of an unpopular opinion! so i get it

feel free to drop your own recs if you have them!

Crossed Wires by rivkat (summary: A spnj2xmas gift for costsofregret, who liked angst, pining!Sam, one thinking the other is dead, and hurt/comfort. It’s like you know me.) sort of deals with the concept of sam's autonomy but it's pretty brief.

One Saved Message by ratherastory (summary: After a hunting accident puts Sam out of commission for a couple of days, Dean decides to surprise his brother with a new phone, since his old one is toast. Even better is when he finds that he’s been able to save all of Sam’s old information and restore it to his cell. That’s when he discovers an old voicemail that Sam has kept saved for the last two and a half years… Charity fic for help_japan. sinka won a fic from me and requested some Voicemail fix-it fic, and that is what I have attempted here. Spoilers for all aired episodes up to 6.19.) deals with the voicemail but not really all the actions dean took to make that voicemail believable

Paint Me a Monster by TheMarvelousTolkienJob (summary: Sam is a freak. He knows that and, after everything that happened with Ruby and the demon blood, Dean finally does too. Not that they actually talk about it or anything. No, they wait around for Sam to be kidnapped and tortured before they do that.) is a fic focused on all of this and it addresses the voicemail and the reasons the voicemail was believable but it doesn't end with anything so much resolved as it is at least in the open air. which is a perfectly good ending, i just want closure T_T

The Talking Cure by Mollyamory (Molly) (summary: Dean tries to keep his mouth shut, but as much as he wants to keep quiet, he also wants to say--) set immediately after season 8 with no gadreel. dean feels the need to reiterate what he said in the church

Soft Like a Blue Triceratops by sprinkles888 (summary: Sam finishes the trials, expecting to die. Instead, he gets a life that sounds idyllic - the demons locked away, the angels gone (mostly), and Dean by his side. All he has to worry about is the various monsters attempting to fill the power vacuum; a too-empty bunker; his own deteriorating mental health; Dean’s dive back into alcoholism; and not getting enough sleep (even for him). Oh yeah, and that pesky fact that his dreams are starting to seem a little bit too much like visions. He can handle it. He can. (Sometimes he can’t.) If this is healing, Sam sure doesn’t want to know what deterioration looks like. A season eight finale/post-season 8 AU) is probably the closest i've found that really comes down to grilling both on how messed up the brothers are and how it's taking a toll on sam specifically, but it doesn't really get into the double standards of it all. bold for emphasis is mine, because my god that's really the whole fic. great exploration of them, but it did hurt to read

not at all in the vein of the ask, but by the same author Sounds Like Truth and Feels Like Courage by sprinkles888 (summary: Turns out that the Men of Letters had a way to perform magic on the regular without the messiness of witchcraft. All they need for it is a pair of soulmates, a couple of rings from the bunker, and a willingness to spend time platonically touching. And, well, the Winchesters are already sitting at two out of three… (In which Sam and Dean cuddle, spend time being emotionally vulnerable, mend relationships, learn just how powerful their souls are, find power in memories, watch way too much Netflix, and become targets of an organized group of monsters set on killing them.)) is a comfy warm fic about the boys by the same author that i can reread without hurting my own feelings

[toasttt11]

wisdom

April 29, 2023

Hayden cheered with her team feeling her whole jaw aching, The Oilers had just beat the Los Angeles Kings in the first series of the playoffs in game six.

Hayden had two goals and an assist in the game.

Hayden bonked her helmet to Ryan’s helmet as they beamed at each other.

Hayden celebrate on the ice for a while with her team before heading down to the locker room.

She sat down in her stall and she couldn’t ignore the throbbing pain in her jaw. Hayden’s been having twinges of pain here and there since the end of the season and she didn’t why but it wasn’t something that was affecting her play yet so she’s not saying anything to anyone yet.

Hayden checked her phone and frowned seeing the score of the Devils game. They lost in game six against the Ranger’s and would be going to game seven.

Hayden wanted to try and get out to see one of Luke’s and Jack’s playoff games but there’s no time for her to come out.

Luckily Jack and Luke got Ellen, Jim and Quinn with them in New Jersey.

Connor sat down in his stall and handed Hayden an ice pack and Advil. He’s noticed the way she’s been eating oddly and holding her jaw at times, he will respect her not wanting to say anything because he does the same but he won’t just sit and not help her.

Hayden looked at Connor surprised that he noticed.

“I won’t say anything unless it gets worse.” Connor whispered if he started noticing whatever was bothering was getting worst he would have go to the trainers and get checked.

Hayden nodded softly and quickly took the advil and sighed in relief as she help the ice pack to one of her jaw.

May 8, 2023

Hayden took a deep breath sitting in her stall after the game and taking a shower and just putting workout clothes back on. They had just lost in game three against the Vegas Knights.

The pain in her jaw has not gotten any better over the last week if anything it was significant worse. She noticed her jaw was starting to swell and it hurt to open her jaw.

Hayden was having a hard time eating anything and has been living on basically all protein shakes. She was always having a noticeably hard time talking and she has been barely calling or talking to anyone, mostly only answering her sibling calls before games and talking here and there at the rink.

“Alright you’re going to see the trainers now.” Connor told her as he just finished putting his suit back on.

Connor had no clue how no one noticed Hayden in so much pain but he couldn’t let her go any longer without seeing the trainers. She was starting to look like she was losing weight.

Hayden slowly nodded and stood up slowly wobbly her body weak after the game and Connor steadied her.

Connor gave Leon a nod as Leon looked over worried, Leon also noticed something off with Hayden and talked with Connor about it.

Connor walked Hayden to the trainers and helped her sit on the bed as the trainer came over.

Hayden grabbed Connor’s hand and gave him a look wanting him to stay.

Connor easily understood and nodded, he started talking for Hayden seeing she was having a hard time.

The trainer took x-rays of her jaw and she immediately saw the problem, “Her wisdoms teeth are impacted, all four of them are pressing against your teeth. Usually i would recommend you get surgery immediately for all them to be removed but with hockey i understand they won’t be possible.”

Hayden furrowed her brows gesturing to the notepad and the trainee handed it to her, “I had my wisdom teeth checked they weren’t growing in but they were straight and not growing but and not needed to be removed.” Hayden wrote it down and handed the notepad back.

“It can happen, some people’s can take years to finally start growing in.” The trainer explained.

The trainer gave Hayden a schedule of everyday IV’s as Hayden is barely getting enough nutrients, a numbing gel for the inside of her mouth to stop some pain and for her to container to take advil and use ice compressions.

May 14, 2023

Hayden hung her head low as the buzzer went off, they had just lost in game six against the Knights. They were officially eliminated from the playoffs.

Hayden honestly was barley staying standing up after the game, her wisdom teeth had got even worse and she could barley open her mouth without excruciating pain and she’s only been able to get any food by an IV. She hasn’t spoken in days.

She did tell her family that she would get wisdom teeth surgery once she was eliminated from the playoffs but didn’t say how bad it was.

Jack and Luke were eliminated from playoffs a few days ago and Jim, Ellen and Quinn were with them and they would all be in Edmonton tomorrow for Hayden’s surgery.

Hayden leaned on Ryan as she stumbled on the ice and he helped lead her off the ice.

Ryan has been staying over a lot the past few days as he was told about Hayden’s situation and didn’t want her to be alone even if she was barley sleeping because she was in so much pain.

Connor and Ryan both helped Hayden get out of her equipment and Leon came over and helped guide Hayden to the shower letting her take a quick shower and toss a simple t-shirt and athletics shorts on after.

Zach came over after Hayden finished showering and gently brushed out her hair and put it into a simple braid for a Hayden, “Feel better Blakey.” Zach whispered and Hayden softly squeezed his hand.

The whole team has noticed how everything just dimmed with Hayden not being able to talk much and being in so much pain.

Connor helped Hayden stand back up and Ryan wrapped an arm around Hayden helping her walk out.

She’s been using her very minimal energy all in the games and just completely exhausted after the games.

Ryan and Hayden walked by all the family waiting and Lauren and Celeste shared a sad smile hating how much Hayden is in pain.

May 15, 2023

Ryan picked up the Hughes as Hayden should not be driving. He also explained more about everything Hayden was dealing with the wisdom teeth as she only told them the basics not wanting to distract Jack and Luke.

Ellen walked in first immediately and hand e whole face softened seeing a miserable Hayden on her couch, “Oh bug.” Ellen cooed sitting down next to Hayden. Hayden hasn’t heard that nickname in years.

Hayden looked at her godmother with sad eyes. Her face was swollen but the rest of her look thin and she lost a lot of weight.

Ellen frowned feeling horrible Hayden has been this bad the entire time and they didn’t know.

Jim pressed a gentle kiss to Hayden’s forehead as Luke and Jack both gently cuddled on both sides of her and Quinn gave her a kiss on the forehead and sat on the floor in front of her.

Jack frowned seeing how much pain Hayden was in and stated she could barely do anything, he knew if she felt better she would be laughing at his missing tooth right now.

They had a few hours before Hayden surgery so Ellen and Quinn went to the grocery store to get a lot of soft foods for Hayden and some things for meals as they all would be staying in Edmonton for at least a week until Hayden could fly back to Michigan.

All of the Hughes went with Hayden to her surgery and Ellen and Jack went into the room with her.

Jack held Hayden’s hand as she was put under and then kissed her forehead and let her get rolled back to the surgery room.

Ellen had made Jack an appointment at the same dentist for during Hayden’s surgery and he got his implant made and would be able to pick up his fake tooth before they headed back to Michigan.

Hayden’s surgery took about two hours and she was in the post op room for almost an hour getting checked on as she came of anesthesia.

The doctor explained everything to Ellen and all of the prescriptions they would pick up as the rest of the family headed to Hayden’s room.

Hayden immediately looked a lot better, her eyes bright and not looking in pain and her face was just as swollen and her mouth had a lot of gauze.

“Jacky now we match.” Hayden’s voice slurred from all the numbness and pain medication.

Luke and Quinn immediately started laughing and Jim chuckled.

Jack laughed shaking his head fondly, now he knew his sister was feeling better as she teased him about his missing tooth.

Luke helped Hayden up and she leaned on her baby brother as he walked her out of the dentist.

Quinn had the bag of gauze for Hayden and Jack was walked in the other side of Hayden. The boys helped her get in to the car and Luke got in the back row letting Hayden sit in between Quinn and Jack.

Ellen and Jim came out and checked on Hayden before Jim started driving them back to Hayden’s home.

Hayden was mostly smiley and making jokes that just made everyone laugh.

Quinn helped Hayden out of the car and walked up to the front door and saw a giant bouquet of blue flowers on the front step.

Jack raised an eyebrow but picked up the bouquet for Hayden.

Quinn helped Hayden get her shoes off and brought her to the couch covering her with a blanket as Luke sat down next to her and handed her ice pack wrap for her face.

“Wanna see them Haydes?” Jack asked her softly and Hayden nodded and Jack brought the flowers down to her eye lever letting her look at the flowers and grabbed the card.

Hayden smiled a different smile that not a smile see often as she read the note making Jack, Quinn and Luke share a look.

Feel better Hayden. I’ll see you soon!

Love Matt <3

Hayden put the note back into the flowers, “There from Matt.” Hayden mumbled as she grabbed her stuff animal next to her, her penguin from Matt and cuddled with and rested her head on Luke’s shoulder.

“Matt.” Jack mouthed to Quinn with wide eyes making Quinn shake his head rolling his eyes fondly.

[lar-arts]

Hello?!?!? I want to hear about your watcher thoughts what do you mean "i didnt always have mouth?" "Is_experimental: false"?!?!?!‽‽‽

Anon thank you so much because now I get to ramble. Now, for the sake of being tidy I will start on my general watcher thoughts and then move on to how that relates to Grian and the last post I made.

Watchers exist outside of time. What they do is not time travel, they just work outside of our perception of time, being able to access different points in a timeline the same way we could while watching a video. This means that they don't experience time the same way we do (and this is important to remember)

Watchers in general can only watch. They cannot interfere with servers or players in any capacity, for the most part. The few that do, can because they have spent time watching over the code of a server instead of just the server itself, for all watchers have the ability to manipulate code but few actually know that and take the time to learn how to.

Watchers aren't gods. And I mean this in the sense that they don't have followers, there is not a watcher religion. The titles they have come from each other, not from any player choosing to follow them.

Players in servers that have been tampered with by watchers may regard them as gods and sometimes even create cults dedicated to them, but this is not a widespread phenomena.

Now, Grian Xelqua.

Grian used to be a player, technically. But due to Watchers not abiding by our rules of time, when he became a watcher he was always a watcher. When I wrote "Did I always have no mouth?" it was a reference to how becoming a Watcher changed him so thoroughly that now in his past he was already one (my Grian design has no mouth, so I thought it would be nice if original player Grian did have one. But you don't need a mouth in order to observe)

Grian, having been a player and an admin at that, has the knowledge on how to interact with code. Being what he is now helped him understand it more and get better at manipulating it, but his admin background helped a lot.

That knowledge is what gave him the tools to be able to make himself a "player"

"Player", because he is not really one. His body and consciusness are not tethered to his player form or disguise, it merely is a suit that allows him to interact with a server in ways that he can't in his watcher form.

The bit of code that is in my drawing comes from a microsoft learning site, that has a portion of the player data from minecraft bedrock. "Is experimental = false" was not changed and is how it was in the og code, but I did change "is spawnable" to be true, so that the Grian body can be spawned by the grian entity known as Xelqua. I also changed the hitbox size to be blank because Xelqua does not really have a hitbox.

Now: Grian did not escape the watchers. They are not something to be escaped, more than humanity is something to be escaped. He just got bored of just watching when he knew how playing felt, so he decided he wanted to play again. He hasn't stopped watching, but his main focus is now on hermitcraft and playing. (you could compare this to when you stop watching a tv show but still come to tumblr to check what has happened in the new seasons. You are not actively watching it but you are informed in what is happening, and someyimes you even put on an episode you know is good) (he is literally just playing minecraft)

Now, having been outside of time, grian spent quite a lot of it being a watcher. He has watched over a lot of servers, and a large amount of "time" has passed for him. He is far older than he was when he first went through that end portal, and that's why he had to go back to check how he used to look, so that his player form could be as close to it as possible.

That is not the case for everyone else. He came back and not even a month had passed (he knew this. He chose the moment to come back), just in time for him to get to hermitcraft season 6, a server that he had been invited to before everything happened.

He got in tough with the members of evo, but didn't really tell them much about what had happened to him and what he now is. They know he was taken by watchers, and that is it.

Okey I have more things to say about Xelqua and why he looks like that and some more info on watchers but I think this does for now?

[s0fter-sin]

(cw mental health struggles)

ghost isn’t allowed to be alone on leave

it’s a rule the 141 have known since the formation of the task force; set with such severity by price that soap and gaz could never bring themselves to question it. leave is rare anyway, so it honestly slips their minds

then las almas happens. shepherd happens. makarov happens

too much happens in too short a time that even price agrees they need a break

so he gives ghost the option; either he joins one of the others for the duration of their leave or they set up a check in schedule

it used to grate on ghost, this presumed helplessness; that he's someone who needs to be taken care of

then he came back from an enforced leave 20 kilos lighter; his limbs heavy and stiff from laying thoughtlessly in bed, the days blurring together long before he could grasp them

ghost can't be alone, not bc he's a flight risk, but bc losing his purpose makes him aware of how everything is just too much; how much every small action builds up until it's actually a dozen small actions that become insurmountable when he's caught in the depths of fatigue

it starts with laundry; it makes sense to live out of his duffle instead of unpacking, but then he runs out of fresh clothes. it still makes sense to only wear the clothes he'll bring back to base so he just bears the building reek of body odour until he can't smell it anymore

showering starts to go around the same time; without the constant distraction of work and training, all his pain and exhaustion catches up to him. the thought of hauling his body out of bed, of standing long enough to get clean, having to wash his hair and drag a bar of soap over his body just to then do the same with a towel and put on a new set of clothes... it just seems never ending. it's easy to miss a day here and there, then a few more when he gets used to laying there on his sweat-yellowed sheets. then before he knows it, it's been three weeks and his skin itches with the weight of his discomfort and the layers of filth

ghost tries to hang onto food the longest

he knows how much damage it'll do to his body to suddenly lose the macros and caloric density it's used to, knows it'll take longer to recover from than anything else... but then he runs out of his frozen meal prep. his fresh vegetables start to wilt and spoil and the guilt of letting them go bad stops him from buying more. protein lasts slightly longer if he eats it straight from the frypan instead of putting it on a plate but he cooks more to make up for the lack of sides and runs out quicker than he anticipated

but he's used the same pan night after night, built up burnt seasoning and meat residue and he knows he has to clean it before he can use it again. but that means moving it from the stove to the sink. means turning the sink on and scrubbing the pan clean of its stubborn muck. means drying it to put it back on the stove that's just as filthy and should be scrubbed too

it's too much

so ghost leaves the dirty frypan on the dirty stove and eats vegetables out of cans that he only needs to drain

then he runs out of forks

then he runs out of cans

he stops wearing clothes so it won't itch his dirty, irritated skin. he gives into the fatigue clawing at his eyes and weighing down his bones bc the only time he doesn't hurt is when he's asleep. but sleeping so much, laying down so much just makes his body ache in new ways

then he can't make himself get out of bed for shitty food he doesn't even want; that hurts him just to get

he gets hungry. then he's starving. then the hunger goes away altogether and he knows that's the point he should be worried but the only food he has is instant noodles and tea and even waiting for the kettle to boil to make them is just...

it's too much

it's all too much

why is existing so much work

he’s so tired

it’s

too

much-

ghost isn't allowed to be alone on leave

the check ins are harder but he wants to pretend he'll be better; that he won't need as much help, that price won't have to worry so much about him this time

so he picks the check ins; watches his captain give his subordinates their schedule of alternating shifts, each a maximum of three days apart. watches the doubt, then the worry, then the determination as he gives them their marching orders and list of tasks they need to ensure they complete before the end of each check in

and he tries not to be ashamed when every time, without fail, he needs their help

needs soap to gather his sweat-crusted laundry, somehow without an ounce of judgment or disgust; all too happy to tackle the fitted sheet if it means he can feel something fresh against his skin

needs gaz to wrap him in a towel and blow dry his hair when he can manage to move his rust-coated limbs into the shower. he lets him use his own products to wash his face, his hands soft and gentle as he holds his head up and smoothes sweet smelling oils into his undeserving skin

needs price to bring the meals he preps for him; listens to him explain the macros and calories in each container as he washes the few dishes that made it to the sink and puts a new packet of disposable cutlery on the counter within easy reach

it's still so much sometimes, even with all their help; little things a normal person wouldn't think twice about doing building up in his head and it makes him so angry that he just can't do them

that he's beaten by something as benign as a little pain and tiredness

but as price, gaz and soap remind him, that's what they're there for; to help him when he can't help himself, when things get too much. they watch each other's backs, no matter if the battlefield is a desert in urzikstan or an apartment in manchester

they have him

he isn’t alone

[obitez]

Home Run

For @bucktommywinterfest

Round 8: Sports AU

Rating: G | Word Count: 2.880

Warnings: None

Additional Tags: AU - Baseball, No firefighting, Fluff

Full fic on AO3!

~~~~~~

Tommy pulled his old pickup truck into a spot in the employee section of the Ripken stadium parking lot. Through the windshield, right by the door, he could spot Chimney standing there, waiting for him. 

“Tommy!” the man called out to him as he got out of the truck. Chimney had a huge smile on his face. “It’s been forever man!” 

“Howie,” Tommy smiled as he greeted the other man. They had known each other for a long while, back into Tommy’s college days.  

“How long has it been since we worked on the same team?” Chimney asked. 

Tommy hummed. “Last time I checked, probably college.” 

Chimney laughed. “Well, how about I show you around.” 

“Sure thing.” 

It wasn’t a large stadium, barely larger than the college stadium he had coached at the year before (other than the parking lot, the parking lot was a lot larger). Chimney showed him a couple offices, and the locker rooms, then took him down to the field. 

“And here’s batting practice,” Chimney said, motioning with his arm at the players on the field. 

They stood from the sidelines, watching the batting practice that was taking place. Buckley was batting. He had a good swing, great form, good follow through, and great power - if only he wasn’t missing so many pitches.

“Who’s that?” Tommy asked as Chimney came to stand next to him. 

“The guy batting?” Chimney added. Tommy nodded. “That’s Evan Buckley, signed right out of high school last year.  He’s not too bad. If you ask me, he’s one of Bobby’s favorites.” 

“Bobby’s favorites?” Tommy asked. 

“I know you’ve worked with him before,” Chimney said as he nudged him in the side. “You know as well as I do that Bobby picks favorites. You were one of his as well.” 

Yeah, Tommy remembered. He had first met Bobby when he was playing at North Carolina State and Bobby was the General Manager there. Bobby had taken a large liking to him back then, and it was something that Tommy hadn’t missed. Now, over ten years later, Bobby was the General Manager of the Ironbirds, one of the Orioles farm teams. When he had heard that Tommy had been let go as one of the coaches of UCLA’s baseball team at the end of the college season, he had been quick to reach out and offer Tommy a job. 

Tommy had no other offers at the time, so he took Bobby up on it. 

“So what position does he play?” Tommy asked, looking back at the man still at the plate. 

“He rotates between outfield and first base.” 

“And what are his stats like?” 

“Not too bad,” Chimney said. “Second year on the team. As of last weekend, he hit his fourteenth home run. Batting average over 300, 50 hits, 26 RBIs.”

None of those were really bad for the start of July.

“What are the chances of him being brought up?” Tommy asked.

Chimney hummed as he thought over the conversation he had with Bobby a couple days ago. “Pretty high,” he said. “It probably won’t happen until next season with the ways things are playing out.” Tommy nodded. He understood how that all worked. 

“So then how about I introduce them to our new batting coach,” Chimney said as he knocked Tommy on the shoulder. 

“What?!” Tommy asked. “Before we even talk to Bobby?” 

“Oh come on, you should know you have the job already!” Chimney said. 

[lessons-from-moths]

This is probably the most complicated thing you could ask for, but hopefully this is a little helpful? I'll put it below the cut so this doesnt get too dreadfully long

Since comics have multiple canons, runs, and authors, fans have mostly decided to accept everything as canon, or pick and choose their favorite canons. If you're asking this in terms of getting the highlights, you'll likely want to start with Dick Grayson. Although Batman had caped crusades before the little guy (watch any Batman movie, they all have origins and adventures without the kiddos. Batman the Animated Series is also great to watch.), he's really where a lot of things begin when it comes to Gotham and all young heroes. (If you're looking for other super early DC stuff, Superman comics/movies are the way to go.)

For that, I would start around Batman: Dark Victory, Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet, Robin: Year One, Batgirl: Year One, and Teen Titans: Year One for comics. After that, for television/movies, Batman and Robin, Teen Titans, Teen Titans Go, and season 1 of Young Justice are great places to go. (Then if you're interested in other Titan origin stories, you can go from there!) Robin Dick Grayson comic writers in order: Bill Finger, Jim Mooney, John Broome, Elliot Maggin. This is also a good place to watch the Lego Batman Movie (probably one of my favorite Batman movies of all time).

From there, Jason begins to be introduced, and now we're following two character runs and things get extremely messy. Because now we've got both Nightwing/Titans comics and Batman and Jason-as-Robin comics being published. For this era, I would read The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, Nightwing: Year One, and The New Teen Titans: Games. I'm not as familiar with Jason's run, but here's what should be read for him (all screenshots will be linked at the end):

As far as tv/animation, season 2 of Young Justice can be watched, as well as the Titans live action tv series. I have lists linked below for more on that.

Once we get into Tim's and Damian's runs, I begin to lose the exact placement of the plot 😅 I'll link some helpful lists below. Tim's run is vaguely followed in Young Justice seasons 2-4.

The best tips I can give you regarding reading DC comics is to start with what interests you! For me, I read Superman's run, then all of Dick's run, then Jason's, and then Tim and Damian and Flash and so on. I was really into the Young Justice show and Teen Titans, so I stuck with those characters as well (Donna has a super fun run as well).

I wish there was an easier way to enjoy the DCU in order, but I'll link some hopefully helpful stuff below!

The most extensive list I've found regarding Batfam comics (this can be extremely overwhelming, but might be a place to start if you wanted to jump headfirst into Gotham)

This link shows a great way to watch all of the DC animated movies in order (there are 68 total).

This link shows how to watch all of the DC animated series in chronological order.

These resources get important due to Flashpoint (a point where the timeline converges and alternate dimensions are revealed in the DCU). CW's The Flash is a fun way to explore that particular canon, but Young Justice covers it pretty well, too.

Dick Grayson comic reading order (from fans, "the highlights" due to his extremely long run as Robin)

Jason Todd reading order (less overwhelming list)

Tim Drake comic reading order

Damian Wayne comic reading order

The Flash reading order bc I love him and the Flash family is accidentally at the center of the DCU (from Jay Garrick to Barry Allen to Wally West)

The series/movies I would watch last because of how much context they need are Harley Quinn, Young Justice: Phantoms, Stargirl, Birds of Prey.

Series/movies where it doesn't really matter are Doom Patrol (though Beast Boy context can be helpful), Gotham, Suicide Squad, and Creature Commandos. As a warning, Creature Commandos marks the beginning of the new James Gunn DCU, which started in 2023 with The Flash and will continue with Superman (2025). This is important to know bc Gunn has stated that all voice actors will be playing their live-action counterparts in his DCU.

Anyways, I hope this is a little helpful! Feel free to reach out with questions if you've got 'em or if my links stop working!

So hypothetically if I wanted to start getting into the DCU (but mainly the Gotham side) and would read comics and watch both cartoons and movies in chronological order, where would I start?

[afloralrib]

Watching the Castlevania: Nocturne s2 trailer in the year of our Lord 2025, only to see Olrox protecting Mizrak like a champ.

[unknown-cold]

People will never understand the grief and suffering that Caitlyn went through, they will never understand the complex characters who always did good things but unfortunately the world didn't do them justice. The characters who go through stages of despair, grief and anger, these are the characters the writers wanted to give you so that you understand the complexities of humans through fictional characters. They want to send you a deeper message than just this evil character who wants revenge. It's more complicated than that.

So let's get into the topic and why I made this post:

First Caitlyn never wanted to kill the child to get to Jinx. You never saw a character who was controlled by anger. Caitlyn saw nothing in front of her except Jixn, the person who completely destroyed her life. She became obsessed with Jinx in the same way that Jinx was obsessed with Caitlyn. Let's take another example of an angry and vengeful character, which is the character Ellie in tlou2. We saw her literally kill everyone in front of her to get to Abby. She even went as far as to kill Lev if Abby didn't fight her. Anger and sadness are emotions that are difficult to control. These emotions are what control the person.

And The Big Problem is no one hated Ellie back then, huh?? So why Caitlyn now 😑

But the sad thing for Caitlyn is that unfortunately the demon Ambessa is in the picture and she will definitely play an important role in changing Caitlyn's personality. Of course, as is known, Ambessa will benefit from Hex weapons and other things for her personal goals.

Another thing that caused Caitlyn to lose her mind was when Vi accidentally compared Cait to the person who killed her mother and had been trying to kill her multiple times. And Jinx had killed many people in Piltover more than once. All of these things came together on Caitlyn until she completely lost control of herself.

Bc in the end it is her city and she has the right to defend it and defend her people.

So honestly I don't blame Caitlyn, I'm not saying what she did was right, but AGAIN Vi unintentionally compared her to the person who killed her mother and caused her a lot of suffering, as Jinx kidnapped her, tortured her, and tried to kill her several times.

(Imagine someone comparing you to the person who killed your mother and ruined your life)

And in the end Caitlyn will realize her mistake and try to fix it and she will know that Ambessa was manipulating her all the time, and she will know that she is the cause of most of the problems in Piltover.

I'm sure Caitlyn's redemption arc will right all the wrongs she's done and will make up for everything to the Zaun people and Vi.

And mark my words, bc Caitlyn is the only character who knows the problems that exist in Zaun and surely after she gets rid of her anger that is eating her from the inside, she will do the right thing bc that is the core of the Caitlyn that we knew in season 1.

So please trust the writers and don't rush to judge characters until we see how they end first.

[earl-grey-crow]

season three of the way home and I'm back on my nonsense