#the broke answer is that the boots got out of my control

[weaponizedmoth]

Abigail just standing there (waiting for the bus).

[incorrectbatfam]

Who would get snapped by Thanos?

(also on Ao3)

Of all places, he was buying fucking cigarettes when it happened.

Jason was digging through his wallet when the woman behind him suddenly screamed. He whirled around and—

Hang on, didn't she have a kid with her? He could've sworn there was a toddler whining about candy just now. But when he looked, his eyes were met with a pile of dust and the lady staring at her hand, face pale.

Behind her were a group of teenagers. The shortest one—couldn't have been more than 14—turned to the others and said, "Guys, something's wrong." But before anyone could react, his skin cracked and he crumbled to pieces, leaving his friends scrambling.

The cashier dialed the police. Someone demanded to know what was going on. Without his helmet or guns, it wasn't as though Jason could say he got this all taken care of. Cigarettes forgotten, he slipped away from the crowd and called Bruce.

No answer. So he tried again, and on the third time he left an expletive-filled voicemail before hopping on his bike.

He zipped past the changing signals and swerved around the three-car pileup forming as he tried Dick's number. But all he got was that godawful singsong voicemail that Dick recorded years back.

That was two down already.

No.

No, he wasn't gonna think like that. Those two knuckleheads were fine. Hell, with a family of detectives, they were probably cracking the case as Jason broke a red light.

He picked another number.

It clicked.

"Roy, are you—"

"Jason." Roy's ragged breathing almost made his words unintelligible. "It's Lian. She—she..."

"It's happening everywhere," Jason said. "I don't know who's behind this but I'm gonna keep you updated."

There was nothing on the other line. Not a breath or panicking keen. His heart dropped.

"Roy?"

After several attempts, he had no choice but to hang up.

He didn't even wait for his motorcycle to stop completely, dumping it next to the others.

"Guys?"

The Cave was far, far too quiet. Jason grabbed his domino and a batarang lying on a bench.

"Hello? Anyone?"

He stuck a comm in his ear. It crackled to life.

"Guys, we have a situation. Is anyone reading me right now?"

Silence.

He spotted a familiar wheelchair in front of the glowing Batcomputer and let out a sigh of relief.

"Oracle! I'm glad you're—"

But there was no red hair or keyboard clacks to go with it. A steaming coffee cup was tipped over, soaking a case file and dripping onto the floor.

Alfred had to be okay. He's Alfred.

Jason raced upstairs, almost missing the three piles on the couch with purple, yellow, and orange video game controllers buried among them. In the cat bed is another one. His lunch crawled up his throat, but he swallowed it down and moved to the next room.

"Alfred?" His boots echoed through the halls with each step. "Anyone here?"

He checked the kitchen, but it wasn't Alfred he found. Rather it was Damian, staring at his ash-covered fingertips just like the lady at the store.

"They were right here." Damian's voice trembled. "Me and Cain and Pennyworth, we were talking and... and..."

He stumbled forward. Jason caught him.

"I got you. I got you." He wrapped his arms around the kid.

"Akhi?"

Something about it made Jason's blood run cold.

"I don't feel so good."

"Don't say that. You're fine." He squeezed tighter.

"I—I don't want to go. Not again." Damian's fists—oh God, they're so tiny—clung to Jason's shirt.

But all the pleading in the world amounted to nothing as the atoms of his baby brother slipped through his fingers. And even though it felt like everything was bubbling to the surface, he couldn't scream or cry out. All he could do was kneel there, numb, wondering who would have the audacity.

After who-knows-how-long, he felt Ace nuzzle against his ribs.

"You're still here."

"Arf!"

"You're right." Jason swiped the tears from his face and stood up. "Fetch me my guns. There will be hell to pay."

[muneca-lemon-steppa]

Kisses for Bad Days

Alfie Solomons x Fem!Reader

Warnings: talking about depression, language

A/N: A few days ago I was having what I call a “low day”. Transparently I’m going through my summer of healing, so I’m doing a lot of heart work and sometimes I get down. So I wrote this to just… idk cope I guess. If anyone struggles with this kind of stuff, just know you’re loved, and you’re wanted and needed. - Mo

As an aside, I’m running out of ideas!! Send me some ideas if you wantttt!!

The day started out well enough. The weather had finally turned a sweet cool, and there was a beautiful sunrise. You and Alfie shared a good strong cup of tea, he read the morning paper to you, and you gave a him more than a few kisses goodbye as he left for the office.

It was setting up to be a good day. You had a list of chores you wanted to get done, and a great meal planned out for tonight. It should have been a good day. It should have. It really should have.

Nothing, happened, per say. It was just your thoughts getting in the way. It had been like this for a few years now. Where you would get your hopes up for a good day. Have your plan. Get excited for the day. But as the day went on, you felt your body aches, your heart turning heavy, and your mind would just race without peace. Sometimes, you could control it and push through. But some days. Some days you could only lay back down and cry. Ever since you’ve started living with Alfie, you tried to keep your crying to a minimum, not letting him see you. But he’d caught you sometimes. And he’d worry and caress you, asking what was wrong, if he had done anything. Bless him. He didn’t do anything. He never did anything. Nothing happened. Nothing caused it. It just… washed over you. Shrouded you like a massive blanket that you couldn’t get out from under.

Today was a crying day. You did the best you could. The laundry was never folded. The grand meal in your mind turned into pot roast to roast in the fire for the rest of the day. Then you just crawled into bed. Laying there. Staring into space, watch the plaster on the walls change in shape. Listening to the wind and voices outside your window. Hours passed. Tears fell. And soon enough the evening sun came, and the front door rustled with the sound of Alfie’s boots.

“Darling! Sweetheart I’m home! Oh it smells great my dove. Dove? Darling?”

When Alfie heard the rustling of the sheets, he knew what kind of day it was. He just sighed, taking off his jacket and boots. He hated seeing you like this. Not because it was inconvenient or bothersome. No, just because it broke something deep within him. His darling, suffering so. Alfie was someone who found the solutions. Always had the answer. Always was able to piece together the broken china, fix the squeaky door, figure out where the draft was coming from. That’s what he does. He makes his sweet heart smile. Makes her day better. That’s what he does. It’s his joy.

Alfie knows the sadness is no one’s fault. He knows that it just is, and maybe one day it’ll leave you. He just wishes he could take it from you. He wishes that if anything, he could hold it for you. He felt helpless not being able to carry it for you. All he could do was be there.

He find you huddled in the sheets and quilts that you’ve made and collected. No longer in the dress he left you in. Your hair is loose, spread around you like another blanket, and you have one of his shirts wrapped right around you like a shield. Alfie changes from his outside clothes, and lifts the sheets and blankets up, “All right little bird, scoot over yeah? Yeah let me get next to you. No no don’t worry about your face and tears I don’t wanna hear it. Now come here, tell your old husband what’s the matter. What’s got my little wife upset. Your mind playing tricks again eh?”

You buried your face in his chest, just letting the tears flow freely. Alfie just hummed to you, patting the top of your head. Eventually, your breathing evens out, and you let your fingers trace the unruly curls on his chest. You finally feel ready to talk, “I don’t know what’s wrong with me Alfie.”

“No no nothing, is wrong with you pet. Ollie, he’s got something wrong with him, that silly little boy. You are perfect sweet heart. So what you let your tears ruin all my shirts?”

“Alfie!!!!!”

“Oh my dove I am just teasing you. No no don’t be cross with me please treacle. You know those shirts were ruined before we even met.”

He places his palm beneath your quivering chin, tilting your face to look up at him, "You're safe little bird. No one is upset with you. You've done nothing wrong my darling."

Though his words were so soothing to your racing mind, you still felt the tears well up, "I just don't want you to feel like I'm a burden."

Alfie shook his head quickly, kissing the tip of your nose, "You've never been a burden to me dove. Frankly, I wish you would be more of a burden. A little too independent, leaving your poor old husband in the dust."

You let out a small giggle, and Alfie felt his heart lighten, and he just pressed your closer to him, "Oh my sweet girl. My sweet sweet girl. I know it hurts. I know. But I'll always be here to hold you. You trust me?"

You nodded kissing the corner of his mouth, "I trust you Alfie."

"Good, but you missed treacle lets try that again yeah?"

You couldn't help but roll your eyes and try to push him away, but his strong arms just pulled you right next to him, allowing him to pepper your face with his scratchy and bushy kisses. Once you both were thoroughly out of breath from roughhousing, Alfie just stared into your eyes, pushing the stray hair out of your face, "I love you so much darling. More than you know. Why don't you take a bath, and meet me in the parlor? We'll listen to the radio and play cards?"

You nodded in assent, kissing him gently but fully.

Days like this were hard. Sometimes it felt like the loneliest island in the world. But with Alfie, there was a saving grace. There you could escape from the loneliness and find safe harbor in his arms. With Alfie, you could survive anything. You could thrive. You could have a beautiful evening. You can feel love where you still need to love yourself.

[starsfic]

Prompt for Red coming to Mei’s place, obviously trying to hold back tears after a fight with his dad broke out after Red Son had distracted DBK from something tedious

He got yelled at and eventually stormed out, except there was a moment of dread when Red realized that he had nowhere to go hide and decompress.

Almost his entire life thus far was devoted to his family and freeing his father, and now that he was, Red now has nothing but his family.

And by watching the way other parents treat their children, he’s beginning to realize that maybe they don’t even treat him the best.

So he goes to the only person he knows, Mei.

He figured she wouldn’t turn her fire tutor away if he just pretended to drop by to see how her control was going, but she immediately saw through the façade and it crumpled like dust the moment she cupped his cheek and asked him what happened.

((In summary, a touch starved Red gets human affection for the first time in his waking life and decides he never wants to go without it again))

"Red Boy?"

"Ah, Dragon Girl!" He was acting like he wasn't shivering wet and clearly cold, his hair limp. Were those tear tracks on his face? As Xiaojiao moved to let him in, still pretty shocked that he was there, the light provided an answer.

Yes, it was.

"Why- How did you know my address?"

"You gave it to me, remember?" Red sat on the bench by the doors to pull off his boots. "You insisted that we swap numbers and addresses for "fun hangouts" and refused to take no for an answer." He pulled off his coat next, revealing those strong arms. "So, I figured I would take advantage and stop by and see how you were doing. You haven't burned down the world yet, so I was curious."

That was a big fat lie and she knew it. She could smell them, a skill her mother had managed to install in a rare moment where she wasn't acting disapprovingly. The only person who she couldn't see through was Qi Xiaotian and he took advantage of that more times than she was comfortable with. However, Red was an open book.

Something had happened. Something, she was willing to guess, that involved his family, all he had.

She couldn't help it. She reached out and cupped his cheek. The tears were already starting to roll down his face when she whispered, softly, "What happened?"

Red crumbled, right into her arms, and Xiaojiao was there to hold him.

[dont-doubt-dopple]

The Rainy Day Agreement

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Here’s my gift to @joifee as part of the @mcyt-valentines event! I have such a blast with this every year and this was no exception! I hope you enjoy.

Read on AO3 Here

Word Count: 2,003

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The last thing the Codfather expected when he heard a knock on the door at during a rainstorm was fWhip.

He stood with pleading eyes as he looked up at Jimmy, broken wings in hand. His scarf was wrapped around one of the support beams trying to hold the clearly broken contraption in place. The skin that was exposed was covered in cuts and scrapes from a crash landing, and his goggles were missing the glass on the left side. And he was soaked, every inch of him dripping as the rain pelted him more each second he stood there.

“I, uh … can I maybe get out of the rain?” FWhip chuckled as he broke eye contact with Jimmy. Jimmy didn’t know what to say, just gestured the Count of the Grimlands inside. He was too stunned to speak even as the squeaking of fWhip’s boots echoed across his stone floors. He could feel the slight judgement of a better builder looking at his plain, sparsely decorated interior but he didn’t care. It did what he needed it to do.

“What are you doing here?” Jimmy asked, finally finding his voice as fWhip took a seat on the floor by his couch.

“I was testing a prototype for wings. Seeing if I could make one without having to beat the dragon and go to the end. Clearly didn’t work. Crashed in your empire. Came straight to you.” FWhip’s eyes remained locked on the wings on the table, not looking at Jimmy as he talked.

“But Sausage is right next door. You could have gone to him. Why me?” Jimmy wrapped a towel around his shoulders as fWhip remained unmoving. He looked over to his chests and barrels stacked against the wall. There had to be some stuff in there to repair the wings. And maybe he could find some cocoa beans lying around to make some hot chocolate.

“I … I don’t want to deal with him right now.”

“I get that, considering … well, Sausage.” Jimmy could have sworn he heard a small soft snicker come from fWhip, but he was too far away to hear over the sound of all the items in his chest. He really needed to organize these one day. “But me?? I don’t … I don’t understand? I’m your number 1 enemy.”

“I don’t want to talk about that, Jimmy.” FWhip sighed. “I just … I don’t exactly have control over where I crash land and I didn’t want to be out in the storm for very long, okay? Is that an acceptable answer for you, CodBoy?”

Jimmy paused to look back at him with a look of feigned hurt on his face. Not like fWhip saw it anyways under the mask. “How dARE YOU! Here I was looking to help you repair those wings and you DISRESPECT the codFATHER like that?!“

FWhip didn’t answer, just pulled the towel closer in to himself. Jimmy rolled his eyes and continued digging. It stayed in silence after that, tense awkward silence, that was only broken when Jimmy put everything he found on the table with the wings. Sewing kit, scrap fabric, sticks and tape. FWhip offered a small smile at the gesture, and for the first time Jimmy noticed just how quiet and out of everything he was. This was not the confident cocky engineer willing to sneak TnT traps under his nose in broad daylight. He was … Jimmy didn’t quite know. Whatever he was, yelling at him over a disrespectful nickname wasn’t helping the situation.

“Did you want anything to drink?” Jimmy asked, squatting down on fWhip’s right. “I mean, I know we’re enemies but …”

“Sausage is your enemy.” FWhip snapped. “I’m just Sausage’s ally who likes … I’m just Sausage’s ally.”

“What do you like, fWhip?” More silence. “FWhip, this is going to be a very long night if you keep whatever’s got you like this to yourself.”

“I don’t have to stay and bother you; I can go home.” FWhip began to get up but stopped as Jimmy grabbed his hand.

“Storm like this doesn’t pass quickly. I’d rather know you’re safe and leave when there’s at least some light.” Jimmy slowly brought fWhip back down to the floor, eyes never leaving his slightly stunned face. “Now, do you want to talk? Cause clearly there’s other things going on in your mind besides how to fix your wings.”

“They’re probably not worth the effort to repair them, in all honesty. It was a valiant effort but I don’t see it being a long term solution. One stray rocket is enough to rip through this fabric.”

“Is that was caused you to …” Jimmy whistled as his hand moved to indicate a nosedive into the ground. FWhip nodded. “I mean, you got all the way here with them, right? Assuming you started in the Grimlands? That’s still super impressive.”

“I, um, actually started at Spawn. Much less impressive.”

“Don’t downplay your own achievements. You’re much better at all this building and creating and inventing stuff than I could ever be.”

“You’re getting better. I mean look at this place!” FWhip used his free hand to gesture around the shack. “Nobody does homely cozy vibes like you do. And this is such a great build too.”

“You’re just saying that.” Jimmy blushed, turning away from fWhip. He closed his eyes as fWhip’s hand gently cupped his face and turned his back to face each other.

“Jimmy, look at me.” Jimmy slowly opened his eyes, soft brown meeting piercing blue. “Do not look down on yourself. No matter what me or anyone else has told you about your building skills. Your style is amazing, your skills only look to improve, and nobody has the power to take that away from you. Not Joel, not Sausage, and certainly not me.”

“Thank you.” Jimmy smiled. “Did you need anything, by the way? I was trying to say how bad of a host I was being before being so rudely interrupted.”

“Just water.” FWhip replied, finally pulling his hand out of Jimmy’s. Jimmy missed the warmth it brought and almost reached out to grab it again. But his didn’t. “Thanks.”

“I can do food as well.” Jimmy suggested, “Maybe avoiding fish cause of well … us. But I have chicken, steak, bread.”

“Just water. Thanks.” FWhip repeated. Jimmy nodded and silently got what his guest wanted before deciding to push him again.

“Is it something I did or am doing that’s making you like this?” He asked. “You’re not … you.”

“That obvious?”

“Considering it’s me of all people noticing it, yes.” He placed the water down in front of fWhip before sitting back down again. “You don’t have to tell me anything but … if it makes you feel better, whatever is said does not have to leave this room. It can stay between us.”

“Promise?” There was a slight pause from Jimmy at the immediate response, but he quickly nodded to fWhip. Frankly, he wasn’t going to tell ANYBODY that this encounter even happened. Who would believe him, anyways? “Say it.”

“I promise…” He began, as he took his mask off to show just how serious he was about what was happening. “…that nothing said tonight will leave this room.”

FWhip sighed as he grabbed Jimmy’s hand and brought him back down to the floor. “Can’t believe I’m willing to tell you any of this. I don’t even know where to start. I … You know what? You asked a lot of questions tonight. What do you want me to start?”

Jimmy threw fWhip a slight side eye at the deflection. “Why are you here, fWhip? Why not go to Mythland?”

“I … didn’t go to Sausage because I wanted to see you. I don’t like being your enemy. I like making you flustered with harmless pranks and seeing your face become all red. Like … right now, actually.” FWhip chuckled as Jimmy felt the blood rush to his face. He turned away.

“So what? You like me as a friend?”

“Uhhh, some could say more than that. But I definitely don’t want to be your enemy.”

“What are you proposing, fWhip? Cause whatever happens tonight doesn’t leave here. Our dynamic in the world can’t change.”

“But what if the dynamic between the two of us in private changed?” Jimmy turn back to look at fWhip in slight curiosity but mostly shock. “What if, and you can say no to this, we had a secret relationshiiip?” FWhip quickly closed his eyes and shifted away, as if expecting Jimmy to yell and scream at him for how bad an idea it was. But Jimmy didn’t. He sat there staring at fWhip trying to figure out where he felt about all this. Sure he was annoyed at all the teasing and pranks but fWhip never did anything to kill him or hurt him. Most of the antagonism came from Sausage. FWhip was even helpful when he needed, giving him food during his first week and helping him to decorate his river. Admittedly, the stones were the cover for TnT traps. But looking at fWhip, as he nervously peaked one eye open to see Jimmy’s reaction, he could tell that he meant it. He didn’t want to hate Jimmy and be on bad terms with him.

“How … do you even know I even think of you like that?” Jimmy teased, but fWhip smirked back as if he knew something Jimmy hadn’t picked up on.

“Well, you’re still holding my hand.” Jimmy felt his face blush up as he looked down. True to his word, fWhip’s hand was still intertwined with his. Jimmy very quickly pulled away, including standing up and walking away from fWhip.

“No no no no no I can’t, fWhip. There’s no way. There’s absolutely no way.”

“Why can’t you?” FWhip asked he stood up. “On the clock enemies, off the clock … whatever you want to call us.”

“tHERE’S an US?!” Jimmy could feel his voice cracking but he didn’t care. This was a lot to handle all at once as fWhip slowly approached him. “Listen, fWhip, this is a lot, you know? I didn’t expected to be confronted with any of this I just …”

“Hey, it’s okay. Breathe, Jimmy.” FWhip smiled as he grabbed Jimmy’s hand again. Jimmy felt his tenseness in his shoulders again. Maybe this idea of having something with fWhip wasn’t such a bad idea. “I’m not trying to push you. You asked for an answer and I gave a solution to a problem I wanted to solve. I get it if it’s selfish and again, I will do what you say. Ask me to leave and I will.” FWhip gently began to pull away but Jimmy grasped his hand tighter.

“Don’t.” Jimmy said softly. “Can I try something, just to you know see if this would work? It’s going to take a lot of work considering everything going on with our alliances and there will be times where I have to probably fake being mad at you and I’m not exactly the best actor…”

“Jimmy, if you want to kiss me just shut up and do it already!”

That statement, that consent, was enough for Jimmy’s body to start moving. FWhip’s kiss tasted like gunpowder and redstone but felt like the explosion of a firework in the night sky. He burned like fire that radiated from his whole body, lips no longer needed air the longer they stayed locked. And when they broke apart, Jimmy longed for more. He wanted fWhip to pin him against the wall and do not very PG things.

“You sure this isn’t going to work anymore, Codfather?” FWhip teased as his hand ran its way through Jimmy’s hair.

“On the clock enemies still though.”

“We can make it work. I heard enemies to lovers is pretty popular.”

“Shut up or I will stab you the next time we’re in public.”

“Make me.” FWhip shot back, sticking his tongue out for good measure. And for once, Jimmy knew exactly how to make that happen.

[eggtrolls]

Congrats on being done tapering! If it's not too personal, can I ask what made you decide to rawdog life? I'm on a daily med rn, and can't really imagine being able to manage life without it, 'cause it gave me my brain back. I don't know if I will always feel like I want to take this med forever, or if I want to only take it for a while and then try my hand at life unmedicated again, but I am interested to hear about your decision making process!

I’m on day 5 of no meds and so far my head/life hasn’t exploded. I’m answering this with the strictest caveat that this is just my experience, if it doesn’t apply to your scenario, then don’t take it to heart, use critical thinking skills (old woman shakes fist at sky), etc.

N/B: I’m very lucky that my withdrawal side effects have been really minor — it’s mainly that I’m HUNGRY. This medication has some minor appetite suppressant side effects but, other than that, I can’t say that I’ve noticed any real consequences. My dose was very, very low since I’ve been tapering for a while but it’ll be a while before it’s fully out of my system so I’ll check back in maybe a month.

Background: I started taking medication (daily oral non-SSRI anti-depressant; happy to get into the details in a DM) when I was in my mid twenties and I’m now in my early thirties. My life now is completely, radically different from where it was. My external circumstances (high pressure environment, low grade abusive relationship, brand new place with no real friends or support system) are completely different. But also my internal circumstances (lack of emotional regulation, lack of self worth reinforced by abusive relationship, limited control over life and actions in general, not great relationship with family, pretty much broke) are very, very different. And changing the internal circumstances is a big part of the regular emotional maintenance grind: therapy, meds, eating the bitter greens (sometimes literally, sometimes in the form of exercise, actual self care, doing things that are otherwise hard, etc.), and so on. I haven’t been standing still while taking meds; I have been actively working on becoming a mentally healthier person.

For my specific mental health circumstances (I don’t have ADHD/autism), I view things like therapy and medication in the same way that I do PT — something you do to respond to an injury/trauma/whatever. For me, personally, the default state is one of health. It actually corresponds quite well with my recent foot injury from taekwondo: my foot was okay; I got hurt, I needed to change how I walked and used my foot and external support to help make those changes; gradually my foot healed; I was able to remove the external support(s).

Present: I started thinking about tapering off my medication when I was at the dentist and they asked if I take any medications and I said I take a daily multivitamin and [antidepressant] but not for depression - I haven’t met the criteria for depression in years - but for what my psychiatrist calls “health maintenance”. So then it’s like….what’s the point? What am I getting from this that I couldn’t provide for myself? And tapering down from my full dose to half of that, to half of that, showed me that the current reality is, without meds, I am capable of maintaining my mental health.

What makes me feel okay about going off my medication and leaving therapy is the same as what makes me feel okay not walking around in a boot anymore: I can put the boot back on if something happens. I have my podiatrist’s number the same way I have my therapist and psychiatrist’s numbers. I also have a much, much more robust social circle of people than I did when I started on meds. I have built layer upon layer of safety nets for myself. I think you, and most people, probably can do that, too, regardless of what your menty h situation is.

Future/reflections: I will say that this medication did or at least helped save my life when I started taking it but…it’s kind of like if you’re drowning and someone throws you a life preserver from the shore — you still have to grab it, put it on, and swim to land. And where I think a lot of people get stuck is the ‘swim to land’ part. They put the life preserver on and float, rather than swim. They’re no longer drowning - this is good! But they’re still getting buffeted by currents, they might get hit by a boat, there might be sharks, and the water is cold. They have been treading water, trying not to sink, for years. They are exhausted. And therefore many people feel like they have to keep going with the external supports of medications, therapy, whatever their thing is, because they do. Saying ‘why aren’t you swimming’ is not helpful which is why I’m not doing that and why this is in no way prescriptive.

(And here’s the gag: I was that person! It took me the better part of a decade to get to this point where I’m hauling my carcass up on dry land. If someone tells me I don’t “get it” because I’m sooooooo mentally well adjusted and shouldn’t talk about experiences of XYZ symptom of depression, I will kick them very, very hard)

To continue the metaphor, I also know that the shore I’m swimming to - that I’ve finally arrived at - is not the same as the one I left, and that’s fine. My foot is not the same as it was pre-injury and that’s also fine. But unlike my foot, I don’t want to return to where I was pre-meds/therapy a) because it’s not a halcyon, golden age where nothing hurts and everything is beautiful; b) because that’s where I was when I ended up needing therapy and meds in the first place; c) because that’s not even possible, but mostly d) because I found and built something better than before.

[callsign-dexter]

Whisper in the Wind: 6 Months AU

Request: for the angst starters may I humbly request these two for Ben and Natasha? 🙏🏻

‘hold my hand if you need to.’

‘don’t panic.’

Starter: 'Hold my hand if you need to.' and 'Don't panic'

Pairings: OC!Benjamin Bradshaw x Daughter!Reader, Natasha Trace x Daughter!Reader, Benjamin Bradshaw x Natasha Trace, Bradley Bradshaw x OC!Wife!Leah Bradshaw

Warnings: angst, inaccurate hospital talk, car crashes, pregnancy

Masterlist

Whisper in the Wind

miscellaneous angst starters

A/N: thank you @justabigassnerd for giving me these angst prompts so that this AU piece could come to life.

Natasha and Ben have been engaged for about 6 months now. They had decided to wait until their little girl was born and a few months old before they even talked about getting married. Natasha had 3 months to go and then they would be holding their baby girl in their arms. Originally, they talked about not knowing the gender of their soon-to-be bundle of joy but they just couldn’t help themselves and broke down and found out the gender. There were some rough patches in the pregnancy but with both parents being in the military they handled with control and ease. They still hadn’t decided on a name but they did have several picked out and they knew for sure that they wanted her middle name to be Caroline a tribute to Ben and Bradley’s mother.

It was finally the weekend which meant that they had a whole two days by themselves. Natasha wasn’t allowed to fly but she still had to go in to work on paperwork and get things settled for when she and Ben went on maternity leave. Since Ben didn’t want her driving, he had taken it upon himself to drive both of them into work and back home. He doted on her the very second, she found out she was pregnant, he already doted on her but when he found out that she was carrying his unborn child he stepped it up big time, then again, his mother raised him to treat a woman right and he was also so much like his father.

Ben and Natahsa had just arrived home and he helped her get out of her Nissan Xterra and grabbed their stuff as they made their way into the house. When they got in, he was quick to bend down and take off her boots and then when he was done, he stayed on his eyes that was he was eye level with her stomach and held it in his hands and kissed it and smiled. Natasha smiled at the action he had done every day to the point it had become a ritual; he was really going to be a great father. “Alright, Jellybean. No, giving your mom a hard time tonight, we want her well rested.” He said and their baby moved into his hands and voice, Natasha had come to the conclusion that she was going to be daddy’s girl through and through. She brought her hands to his hair and ran them through enjoying the moment. “Now it’s time to get you and momma fed.” He said and gave one more kiss to her stomach and then stood up and kissed her. Then he got to work. “How about some homemade mac and cheese and some pork chops and yes there will be hot sauce.” Ben said and Natasha smiled, one thing about Ben was that he was an excellent cook and she was too but after becoming pregnant some smells got to her and it just made her exhausted and she left all the cooking duties to him.

“Sounds absolutely perfect.” She said and then she felt a kick and chuckled and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow “Eaglet agrees.” She said and he chuckled.

“Now go and sit down I’ll bring it to you when it is ready.” He said and she nodded and went and sat down in a kitchen chair that way she could still talk to him and be with him. She was just happy to take the pressure off of her feet. They talked about work and the plans about when their daughter was here and most importantly names. As they were talking her phone began to ring and she got it out of her pocket and looked at the caller id and it was Bradley and she answered it and put it on speaker.

“Hey you’re on speaker.” She said and she heard a chuckle.

“We’ll I guess I can’t tell you about the deep dark secrets of Ben then.” Bradley said and they all chuckled but Ben rolled his eyes but smile appeared on his face.

“Just remember that I know a lot of secrets about you little brother that Leah doesn’t know about.” He said tending the food as he heard a gasp from him.

“You wouldn’t dare.” Bradley said

“Try me.” Ben said and Natasha just smiled at their bickering.

“The reason I called was because we wanted to know what you were doing and how Birdie was doing.” He said, he had given the baby that name because Ben’s callsign was Eagle and so was Natasha’s was Phoenix, they were truly keeping the bird callsigns in the family.

“Well Ben is cooking some pork chops and homemade mac and cheese and Eaglet has been pretty much cooperative during the day until we got home and her daddy had talked to her.” Natasha said rubbing her belly and Ben looked at her watching her has he flipped the pork chops and could take his eyes off of them.

“Oh, what I wouldn’t do for some of his homemade mac and cheese.” Leah said “Wanna send us some?” She asked and everyone chuckled.

“You got it.” Ben said fully joking the food was pretty much done and now it was resting and cooling off. “What’s your plans for the weekend?” Ben asked them.

“Nothing huge. Maybe go down to the beach. You guys?” Bradley asked

“Nothing really, just gonna spend some time with each other and stay off my feet.” Natasha said

“Well, we don’t want to keep you guys. Have a good night and enjoy your homemade mac and cheese. We love you.” Leah said full of jealously.

“We will. Goodnight, guys. We love you too.” Ben said and Natasha hung up and Ben began plating her plate and then he brought it over with her glass of water and set it down in front of her.

“Why thank you fiancée.” She said and bent down and kissed her.

“You’re welcome my soon to be wife.” He said after breaking the kiss and then he went and got his food and glass of water, he would’ve gotten a beer or something sweetened but when Natasha had to quit drinking and was advised to not drink anything sugary, Ben had made it his choice to go along with her because he loved her so much and it was heathier in the long run.

Supper came and went and now the were finding themselves sitting on the couch snuggled together as they watched a comedy. Natasha was cuddled into Ben and he had his arms around her and one set on her stomach. Every now and then their baby would kick and they both smiled, she seemed so active while Ben was around.

Midnight rolled around and they finally decided to go to bed. Ben helped his pregnant fiancée up and helped her walk up the stairs making sure she wouldn’t fall backwards once all 3 of them were up safely he let up on his protectiveness. They got ready together and then they were slipping in to bed for a, hopefully, a goodnight’s sleep and not a lot of getting up to go pee.

Morning came around and thankfully she had only had to get up twice during the night and both times she had succeeded without waking Ben up, which was a surprise. Naturally they were early risers but they could get away with sleeping until 10 AM on most weekends. Ben had actually gotten up before Natasha and was getting breakfast ready. She was just about to get up when he came through with a tray with two plates of food, fruits, and drinks of their choice. “I figured we would have breakfast in bed and then go out and spend sometime out on the town.” Ben said and she smiled.

“That sounds perfect.” She said and he smiled then he walked into the room the rest of the way and sat down on the bed and put the tray in between them and then he turned on the TV. Nothing interesting was on so they switched to their DVR and watched some saved shows that they wanted to catch up on. Natasha started to get restless and this caught Ben’s attention almost immediately.

“What’s wrong?” He asked moving the try so he could have better access to her.

“Nothing worrisome. Your child is just playing soccer with my bladder and making me need to pee.” She said and he laughed.

“Always my child when she is doing something.” He chuckled but got up and began to help her get up and to their connected bathroom. When she was done, she flushed and washed her hands and then joined her fiancée back in bed.

“So, what do you have planned for us today?” She asked and he looked at her.

“Well, we need to run to the store and grab a few things and then I figured we would go baby shopping for a little bit more stuff.” Ben said and she smiled, he was always thinking of her and their baby always putting them first.

“That sounds perfect.” She said and then they started to get ready to leave. As always, they got ready together and then walked downstairs together. Ben helped his fiancée get her shoes on and then he got his shoes and they were heading out the door. They had decided to take Natasha’s vehicle since it had more space than his truck, he helped her get in and then he got in and opened the garage. Ben started the car and backed out of the garage and they were on their way and pulling out of the neighborhood.

The car ride was filled with laughter and music. Nothing could bother the happy couple. They had just come to a red light. He kept looking over at his perfect pregnant fiancée and she was glowing and he smiled. “Have I ever told you that you’re the most beautiful pregnant woman ever?” He asked and hung her head smirked.

“Every single day and I’ll never get tired of it.” She said and then he turned back to the road as he saw the light turn green in his peripheral view. Just as he was starting to go and cross an intersection and car from the left side came barreling at them and the only thing, he heard was a honk and metal crushing against metal and then the pain came. The other car was going at such a high speed that it pushed them to the other side of the road and flipped them and then they were crashing into a telephone pole. Both of them were knocked unconscious. Ben had slumped onto the wheel and on the horn making it blare and Natasha was knocked into the back of her seat.

The blaring horn is what woke him up and then the pain came to him everywhere. It took him a few minutes to figure out where he was but when he figured it out, he started to panic, he slowly lifted his head and he groaned in pain and then laid it on his headrest. He needed Nat so all of his attention turned to her and when he tried to move his body protested. “Nat?” He asked in a hoarse voice but got no answer “Baby.” He said and found some strength to move his hand and to her. But yet again no response.

Natahsa didn’t know where she was but she was waking up in the bar Carole, Bradley, and Ben they had visited when they went to see Goose and Maverick. She just looked around until she heard music and then Carole and Goose laughing together, she recognized them from the pictures that Bradley and Ben had laying around and on the wall. “Carole? Goose?” He asked and they turned to her and smiled and she got up from the table as Goose started to play the familiar tune of Great Balls of Fire. “What’s going on?” She asked and they looked at him sadly.

“You were in a car accident baby.” Carole said and stroked her cheek and she leaned into it; her touch felt so warm.

“Ben. Our child.” She said and began to panic.

“Ben is alright. He’s trying to wake you up and it is not your time so we don’t have long.” Goose said as he played the tune.

“Our baby?” She asked moving her hand to her stomach.

“They’re ok for right now. Help is on the way but you need to wake up.” Carole said

“I wish you both were down there with us. It would mean the world to us.” Natasha said and they smiled softly at her.

“We are with you. Just look around. We’re a whisper in the wind.” Goose said and that made Natasha smile.

“Gosh, I’ve always wanted to meet you but not like this.” She said and they chuckled.

“We’re always watching. We’re just happy we can meet you now and can’t wait for your wedding and seeing our grandchild be born. May I?” Carole asked and Natasha nodded and she put her hand on her stomach and then she felt a kick and she smiled that was the first time she felt her kick since the accident. Goose stood up as Carole took her hand off of Natasha’s stomach and pulled her into a hug.

“I’m so glad that Ben has met you. You both are perfect for each other.” Goose said and she melted into his touch it reminded her off Ben’s. All too soon the warmth was gone and then being replaced by Carole.

“Now, get back down there to our son, your fiancée, have this sweet little girl, get married, and help Leah keep our boys straight. Who knows where they would’ve ended up if they hadn’t found you both.” Carole said and released.

“Now don’t keep Ben waiting. He’s getting panicked. Tell the boys and Leah that we love them so much.” Goose said and she nodded.

“It was nice meeting you even if the circumstances weren’t great.” She said and they all laughed and then they said their goodbyes and she was waking up to Ben’s gentle touch.

“Baby?” Ben said and she slowly opened her eyes and looked over at him and he sighed in relief and then the pain hit her and she wanted to scream. She must’ve made a face because he was taking her hand “Hold my hand if you need to.” He said and she took it and squeezed it and he didn’t complain.

“I think something is wrong with the baby.” She said as more pain hit her.

“What do you mean?” He asked worrying.

“It hurts.” She said

“Don’t panic.” He started “Help is on the way.” He said and about that time sirens could be heard and then someone was rushing to them. The window was smashed so it was easy to talk to them “Help her first. She’s 6 months pregnant and in a lot of pain.” He said and they nodded.

“How are you feeling sir?” One paramedic asked.

“Everything hurts but I’ll be fine just help my pregnant fiancée, please.” He said

“We understand sir, we also need to help you. My partners are helping them.” They said and he slowly nodded. With controlled chaos they got them out and they were heading to the hospital. They were rolled into the hospital and they had taken him to an emergency room and then he saw her being wheeled passed him and he panicked.

“Where are they taking her?” He asked trying to get up but was pushed down by nurses and doctors and he let them due to the pain.

“Sir, just lay down.” A doctor said and he started to struggle.

“No, I need to know where my fiancée is being taken.” He said and tried to get up again and struggle and then they were pushing a sedative into his IV that was set in the ambulance and he was out like a light muttering that he needed to get to Natasha and their unborn baby.

Ben didn’t know how long he was out for but when he woke up Bradley and Leah were there and that confused him. “Bradley?” He slurred and that caught Bradley and Leah’s attention.

“Hey. How you feeling?” Leah asked putting a comforting hand on his hand.

“I’m fine. Nat and Jellybean?” He asked

“They’re in surgery.” Bradley asked and Ben’s heart monitor was starting to spike.

“What?” He asked starting to panic again and Bradley stood up and was lightly pushing Ben back as he tried to get up.

“They said they were both doing fine. There was a placenta tear but they’re fixing it. They’re both going strong. You’re going to be released once thy are out of surgery and when you woke up.” Bradley said and he nodded and settled down and the heart monitor settled, Bradley released him. He didn’t know Leah had left the room until she came back with a nurse and his doctor.

“Captain Bradshaw, you were lucky. You just had a dislocated shoulder and a cracked rib. We did have to sedate you after you starting resisting but we understand. Your wife and baby are doing well from the last I heard and should be out and in recovery in a few minutes. We’ll start your release process and get you to their room as soon as possible.” He said and Ben nodded.

“Thank you.” He said and the doctor nodded and then left as the nurse had him sign releasee forms and take the IV out.

“We stopped by the house and got some clothes for both of you.” Leah said holding a bag up and he smiled.

“Thank you, guys. Thank you for getting down here so quickly.” Ben said and slowly got up and Leah walked out of the room while Bradley helped his older brother then she got the all clear to come in.

“Anything for my older brother and future sister-in-law and niece.” Bradley said and Ben hugged him and then they released and Leah brought him in a hug.

“You guys scared us. We’re just glad you’re ok. We got the call and then were on the next flight out to here.” Leah said as she released him from the hug. About that time a nurse came in to grab them and take them to Natasha and their baby, Y/N. They followed in silence and when they got there and Ben saw his fiancée laying there, he almost broke down but when he heard his baby’s heartbeat he broke down and almost collapsed, he would’ve if Bradley wasn’t there to catch him. They walked in and Ben sat down on the chair not having his full strength back and Bradley hugged Leah. The doctor turned to them and smiled.

“Both of them are just fine. She was lucky to have only sprained her wrist and there was a placenta tear but we repaired it and everything was successful. She should be waking here in a few minutes since we didn’t want to use much anesthesia on her and the baby. The nurse and I will be back in a few to check on them both.” He said and they nodded and then left and that is when Leah and Bradley took their seats.

10 minutes later Natasha was waking up to bright lights and to her sleeping fiancée with his hand on her stomach and Bradley and Leah, who were awake. Leah was the first to notice “Hey.” She said softly and Nat smiled.

“How long has he been asleep?” Nat asked referring to Ben.

“Not too long. Want me to wake him?” Bradley asked and she shook her head.

“No, I will.” She said and they nodded and then she slowly turned to him and brought her right hand to his face and began to stroke it and started to speak softly. Once she saw him show his signs of waking up, she smiled and after a minute or two he woke up confused but then he saw her awake and was awake in an instant.

“Baby.” He said and got up and kissed her forehead his hand never leaving her stomach. “You’re ok.” He said and she nodded.

“We’re both ok.” She said and it was quiet for a minute. “I saw Goose and Carole while we were in the car.” She said and everyone was silent. “They told me to tell you that they love you and that I needed to come back to help Leah keep you boys straight.” She said and they chuckled.

“Yea that sounds like dad.” Ben said and Bradley nodded. The nurse and doctor walked in and checked on them and told them that they wanted to keep her in the hospital for a few days just to be sure and they agreed. Bradley and Leah would still be there they told work that they had a family emergency and had to be gone for a few weeks and they understood.

After a few days Nat got the all clear to go home and that is exactly what they did. It was really nice having Bradley and Leah there and they never got in the way and if Nat and Ben wanted space, they gave it to them. The doctor’s told them to take it easy and that is exactly what they were doing and why Bradley and Leah stayed.

Goose and Carole were looking down on their children and smiled. All of them were alive and healthy and their granddaughter was active but not too active sensing that her mother had something done and didn’t want to injury her further. “They’re going to be ok.” Carole said as she snuggled into Goose and he threw an arm around his wife. He kissed the side of her head and smiled.

“Yes, they are.” Goose said “Our granddaughter is going to be one spoiled little girl and is going to be one little fighter.” He said.

“Yes, she is. I can’t wait to watch her grow up.” Carole said

This accident just brought everyone together and they formed a stronger bond because of it. Ben, Natasha, and Y/N were safe. They were under careful watch of Bradley, Leah, Goose, and Carole. Nothing could bring them down they were a strong family and nothing was going to break them. They loved each other and were going to take care of each other no matter if their sick or just having a bad day. They're family and to them family sticks together no matter what unless you pull their Naval Academy papers then that’s a whole different story.

Tag list:

@kmc1989

@els-marvelvsp

@atarmychick007

@nyx2021

@grandstrangerphantom

@angenu01-blog

@talesofreading

@callsigns-haze

@roosteraloha

@laura-naruto-fan1998

[kittenofdoomage]

Lust Drunk

Fandom: Supernatural

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Sam Winchester x female!reader

Prompt: hit with spell on hunt

Word Count: 780

Warnings: dub-con, smut, sex spell, mutual attraction, humor, Dean’s an ass

Everything had happened so fast. One moment you were chasing the witch through a dark forest, Sam on your tail, gun loaded, and the next, you were waking with the dawn in a lush green meadow. As you rolled over, you connected with another body, Sam, laying right beside you in the wildflowers. Rushing water reached your ears, along with birdsong and bees, but you couldn’t focus on anything but him.

The second you touched him, it was like an electric current ran through you, leading you straight into his arms as he pulled you in to kiss you. His hands tore at your clothes as desperately as you tore at his and before you knew it, you were on your knees in the grass with Sam bent over you, guiding his cock to your pussy.

It was nothing like you’d fantasized about in your wildest dreams. Sam was considerately endowed, enough that you need a moment to clear the fog of arousal that clouded your senses. He was shaking as he held himself deep, obviously struggling to control himself, and when you pushed back against him, he groaned, sliding one hand underneath your belly as he started to thrust.

Neither of you had the ability to think outside of each other. Whatever the witch had done, it had completely taken over, and round after round, Sam reached for you again right as you reached for him. Time lost all meaning under the influence of lust, and even when you began to tire, you couldn’t stop.

“Sam,” you begged, as he approached again, sliding in behind you and bending his knees to slide on home once more. You cried out, reaching back for him, meeting him thrust for thrust, until he grew impatient, forcing you back onto your knees as he practically mounted you. It didn’t feel like you could stop the climax building in your core and as you let it take over, you had your first thought that wasn’t an urgent need for Sam.

This was a curse.

“Sam,” you repeated, less arousal and more concern in your voice. He slowed, nodding as sweat dripped off his hair onto your skin.

“Yeah,” he mumbled, though he didn’t stop. “I’m trying.”

His name came again, this time from the woods behind, and the spell broke like a twig. Sam grunted as he came one last time, unable to stop the flood of need before the enchantment wore off, but with his brother approaching quickly, he had to pull away. You barely noticed the mess - the last few hours had left you sticky and sore, but you didn’t particularly want Dean to see you that way.

“Dean, I’m here, but -” Sam stood straight holding up his hands. “Dude, I need you to stay back.”

“Is everything okay?” was the answering shout, closer this time. You were trying to find all the pieces of your clothing, some of which Sam had destroyed in your shared fit of passion.

“I’m butt naked, man,” Sam called out wearily. “We don’t know what happened.”

You found your t-shirt with a joyous cry, pulling it on quickly and tossing Sam his pants that were right next to it. He caught them, dragging them on only to realize that you’d broken the zipper in your impatience. “Oops?” you offered, giving him a lop-sided grin.

“Your pants,” he grunted, kicking them towards you. “What did she do to us?”

“I don’t know,” you sighed, shimmying into the pants and grimacing as the denim brushed against your bare and bruised cunt. “Kinda hope Dean killed her.”

“Are you decent?” Dean yelled.

“Mostly!” you shouted back, getting to your feet. “Where are my goddamn shoes?”

“We should really talk about this,” Sam said, finding one of his boots a few meters away. “But like -”

“Later?”

“Yeah.”

Dean finally appeared, frowning at you and his brother. “What the hell happened to you guys?”

Sam grinned sheepishly. “Witch got us with some kinda spell, we think,” he explained, hope blossoming on his face. “Did you kill her?”

His brother grinned. “Dropped a house on her. You shoulda seen it. I Dorothy’d that motherf-” He paused as something on the ground caught his eye and he bent to pick it up. Your skin crawled with heat as he held your bra aloft, the broken strap hanging down. “Is this -” His eyes slid to you, a dirty smirk on his lips. “Oh boy, she whammied you good, huh?” The smirk became a leer. “Or was that Sam?”

You growled, storming up to him and snatching the broken brassiere from his grasp as he keeled over laughing. “You’re lucky I don’t have my gun.”

[pen-of-roses]

WHG 20-Prompts 1&2-Din

WHG tag list: @ratracechronicler, @maple-writes, @concealeddarkness13 @drabbleitout, @grailfish, @forthesanityofsome, and @pied-piper-of-hamlet (let me know if you want to be added)

The plan had been to get through District Twelve and lay low while continuing her research. If they were lucky, maybe they could even make it to the remains of Thirteen to see what was hiding out there and if it had anything to do with the Veyrit and other gods of the world. Unlikely, but presumably not impossible. At the very least the ruins might hold something about before the war and shed light on where Safirel’s body was being kept.

Instead, they hadn’t even made it past District Eight.

Blythe’s boots came running into view. “My Lady, we need ta go now.” She sounded out of breath.

“Not yet,” she forced out past gritted teeth as the heat flared in her veins, gold overtaking her hand pressed against the wounds the Peacekeepers had inflicted on the man.

“Just a little more,” Safirel said. “Let me.”

The gold flooded her vision for the moment he took over. His presence was quickly becoming a familiar comfort, like a heavy blanket left in the sun, that wrapped around her and left her blissfully floating.

But just as quickly, it was gone, and she fell forward, gasping for breath and her body returning to normal, if a little colder.

Hands caught her, guiding her to the ground safely, Blythe’s most likely, given the string of curses she said in her native tongue, though the face she wore was still unfamiliar. “Ya shouldn’t have pushed that far again.”

She waved her off, even as the world was still spinning just a little too much. “Is he fully healed now?”

Sighing, she left her side and checked the man, Silk or something like that, over. “He’ll live, though he’s still out cold. Again, ya shouldn’t have done that. They know we’re here, Din.”

“You know I couldn’t have left him like that after he took that beating for us.”

Her brows knitted, but she dropped the point. After all, Blythe likely would’ve done the same thing if she could, just after Din was safe somewhere else.

Yelling broke out outside, unintelligible for the moment, but there was little doubt who it was.

“Damn it all! They were suppose ta take the bait!”

“Back door,” she wheezed, struggling to her feet.

In an instant, Blythe had an arm around her waist and was moving them both towards potential freedom. The house was small and easily navigable, but that was also a downfall. Even as she managed to get the back one open, she could hear the front door being crashed in.

“Search the house!”

“Sir, what about him?”

“Kill him.”

“No!” She yelled, and crumpled, coughing and gasping.

“My Lady, are you okay?” The concern and pain in her voice tore at her.

They were after her, not Blythe. 

“Blythe, run.”

“What? No, I’m not leaving ya!”

“That’s an order.” The words weren’t entirely hers, but the connection to Safirel was too distant for him to take complete control now, and her sentiment remained the same. “They won’t kill me. And I can’t lose you.”

Blythe set her jaw. “Sometimes, I really hate ya.” But she was running anyway and shifting her appearance already as the footfalls and voices got closer.

When they finally came into view, she glared up at them from the ground. They had the audacity to level their guns at her, what an empty threat. 

One of them pulled her to her feet and held her hands behind her back.

“Are you the real Najdinel,” Haven stepped forward, though his face was covered by the Peacekeepers uniform. “Or her little bitch?”

She spit on him in answer.

He struck her across the face.

Even as she tasted blood though, she tilted her head up and raised a haughty eyebrow, affecting the familiar air of authority. 

“We have means of proving it regardless, and whichever one you are, we’ll find the other soon enough.”

“You won’t touch her,” she growled.

“You have no authority here.”

“And you can’t kill me.”

Most likely they would take her back to the temples. They had contingency plans to prevent that, even though security would be tighter than before.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, girl. The beynlerya don’t have too much faith in your status as their prophetess anymore.”

Her heart sped up.

That was obvious before she’d even set the fire and attempted to fake her death. But they couldn’t disprove she wasn’t either. Not when no else had ever come forward or been found and she held the marks.

Still, she kept that off her face.

“So go ahead then, if you are going to.”

“We have other plans for you. The Capitol wants you in the Games. See if it sparks anything when you’re fighting for your life, or to make an example of liars and traitors if it doesn’t.”

That…had not been any of their plans.

“I don’t qualify, I’m not from the Districts.”

He actually laughed, as did several others. “Since when do you think that’s mattered to them? They have complete control here. You are powerless.”

“You won’t be able to contain me.”

“Then we’ll kill others in your place. But if you play nice, like a well trained girl, we’ll let your traitor of a friend go free.”

Blythe.

There was no way they would catch her if she was on her own and hiding. But she would come back for Din.

They were probably lying.

She couldn’t pass it up if they weren’t though.

“Swear on your blood and the Veyrit that’s true.”

“I swear.”

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes.

“We can’t trust them,” she thought.

“No. But we can use this too. Twist it against them. Another chance at revenge,” Safirel answered back, flashes of the bloody knife and fire replaying. “We’re more powerful than they are, Najdinel. And they’re about to give us free training and access to a live audience.”

Opening her eyes, she nodded, the heat settling into her veins but not appearing visibly. “Fine. Take me to the Reaping. But touch her, and I’ll kill you all.”

- - - - -

They dressed her up for it. Nothing dramatic, a simple white dress and gold ribbons through her dark hair and to hide the horns, but pretty enough. Enough to easily blend into the crowd unnoticed, knowing she wouldn’t run with Blythe’s life on the line.

Apparently, they didn’t want it yet known who she was. Even her name had been kept secret, so it getting called wouldn’t blow the cover either.

That big reveal would be for the Games themselves. They had always loved a spectacle outside of the temple, and the beynleyra had left her to the overly puffed up peacocks until she could prove herself.

Fat chance of that of course.

The magic may have finally ignited in her veins, but until Safirel was free and by her side, there was no way she was going to be caged by them again.

Plans would just have to be…adjusted.

The first name was called, not hers surprisingly, but a small child’s by the looks of things. She almost stepped forward to volunteer in her place, but someone else beat her to it. Family? Friends? It didn’t really matter, she seemed more determined and capable than a literal child.

The next name was her own though, and she took the stage with her head held high and the polite smile she’d perfected practically from birth, shaking off assistance from the Peacekeepers. She ignored the overly eager escort making a show of asking questions.

Being in the Games had been the deal. That did not mean she would start playing them now.

At the edges of the crowd, she watched someone’s hair shift from brown to blonde and grow slightly taller, before slipping away towards the train.

[bltngames]

Returning to Donkey Kong Country Returns

I am subjecting myself to Donkey Kong Country Returns again. This game and I have a bit of history.

I'd played Returns on real hardware near when it came out originally, and I sort of hated it. The game felt prohibitively sluggish to me. Some of that is due to Donkey Kong himself, which is made to feel big and heavy like a 300lb gorilla ought to. But some of that was also just, like, a strange problem with input latency. The game did not feel responsive, like I'd push the jump button and it'd take a frame or two for Donkey Kong to actually jump. This made platforming very difficult. Never figured out if I imagined it or if it was a real problem.

Though, for the record, playing Rayman Origins on that same Wii also felt sluggish in the same way as DKCR, leading me to believe it might have been a hardware problem, and not just my imagination. Either way, DKCR made me so mad I didn't even finish the second world, to my memory.

Tropical Freeze, the sequel to DKCR comes, and I receive it for review on TSSZ. I expected to savage that game's controls because of the way I felt with DKCR. Instead, I fall in love with it. Whatever problems I had with the Wii game don't exist in Tropical Freeze. It controls well and plays great. An awesome game.

Which makes me wonder: If everybody else loved DKCR, could it really just a hardware problem for me? Could I play DKCR somewhere else and have a better experience? Eventually, Nintendo ran a program where you got a free 3DS game as some kind of reward for a thing they're doing; like, if you buy a certain amount of games in a short length of time you'd get a free game? I forget. Point is, for my free game, I picked the 3DS port of Donkey Kong Country Returns.

And yet, the latency problem persisted even there. The game just felt sluggish and unresponsive and hard to control in a way I didn't enjoy. I guess it probably felt better than it did on the Wii, but not much. I played through over half the game on the 3DS, getting up to the dinosaur/cliff world, but struggled to muster up the energy to finish the rest of the game.

Which brings us here. I don't know why, but I booted DKCR in Dolphin up a couple nights ago and actually spent kind of a long time setting up the controls so that it felt comfortable. It's worth mentioning that when I played DKCR on real hardware back in 2014, I did so with the Gecko Cheat Code to enable Classic Controller Pro support because I refused to waggle. DKCR's waggle was maybe one of the most egregious "this really should have been a button" things ever, to me. Something Tropical Freeze fixed and was much better for!

Obviously the Classic Controller support isn't needed on Dolphin, so I just set controller binds so that the R trigger grabs things and the L trigger waggles. Setting up the latter was a little tricky, because DKCR actually looks for you waggling both the remote and nunchuk at the same time in order to register a proper ground pound. An easy problem to solve once you realize what it wants, but it took close to an hour to find that answer.

And it feels... better? Actually? More responsive than it did on real hardware. Which makes me wonder if the Classic Controller code was the source of the dreaded latency -- but then, that wouldn't explain Rayman Origins or the 3DS version of DKCR.

But I also discovered some of these Gecko cheats just don't work, which could explain the problems I had with the original version. I guess I'll never know for sure.

I've turned on a few cheats here -- Diddy has infinite glide now, for instance, making him feel more like Dixie does in Tropical Freeze. And the clock is stopped during bonus rooms, because those never needed time pressure. But originally, I had more cheat codes turned on -- namely one which did remap waggle actions to the remote's B trigger. But turning that cheat just broke many other elements of control, like completely disabling Diddy's hover entirely.

Thus, I was forced to figure out how to properly bind waggle to my Dualshock 4's trigger. Ultimately, no sweat.

But I still don't know if I'll finish it. Even with the controls feeling "right," the game teeters on the edge of feeling ever so slightly unfriendly. Not much, but the game is weirdly adversarial, like it's trying to trick me into hurting myself. It's a hard thing to describe, and I don't even think everybody picks up on it, but there's a vibe with some retro games where it feels like you're fighting against the game designer themselves, you know?

Games are never just "difficult" or "challenging." There are different flavors these things come in. The way Dark Souls is hard isn't the same way that a shooter like Raiden IV is hard.

In the modern context, DKCR feels closer to something like Kaizo Mario or I Wanna Be The Guy, I guess. Games where you can feel an omnipresent creator watching you play, and they're deliberately trying to trip you up, as if they're shouting "YOU FELL FOR MY TRAP, LOSER!" and laughing at you.

There was a time early in the NES and SNES era where this kind of difficulty was a lot more common, especially in budget or licensed platformers. It's a level beyond the so-called "Nintendo Hard", where some clueless level designer is lost in the wild west of early game development and thinks this is what people want. Obviously games like Kaizo Mario and IWBTG are exaggerated forms of that, but it was definitely a style of game you encountered a lot back in the era.

I never got that vibe from the original Donkey Kong Country games, but DKCR has just a teeny tiny itty bitty sliver of that feel. You reach the third form of the first boss and it's like, "Really? Isn't this a little bit too much for the first boss?"

Who knows if I'll stick with it, but I've already played three sessions already, so it wasn't some kind of one-and-done sort of deal.

I'm surprised how nice it looks in Dolphin even just at 720p. It wouldn't take much work to put this out on the Switch; just clean up some of the GUI. It scales to higher resolutions remarkably well.

[kindheart525]

The ice skating rink was a jolly and festive scene on this crisp winter’s day. The Hearth’s Warming lights of the city glittered upon the ice as ponies of all ages skated over it, some foals just learning and others who were practically professionals. No matter their skill level, everypony was having a good time.

There was so much to see in this scene alone, but Stockholm had her sights set on just one pony: her boyfriend, her beloved, her handsome fancy boy with the tickly beard, Boot Polish.

He was like a graceful swan as he glided over the ice effortlessly, each pirouette sending up a mist of twinkling frost. Never was he more in his element than when he was on the ice, like Queen Luna in the dark blue of midnight.

How Stockholm longed to join him!

She focused on nothing else but Boot as she wandered out onto the ice herself, hoping to glide over to him and join his dance. But as soon as she hit the ice she lost control, her long body unable to stay upright over the razor-thin blades on her hooves.

“Ahh!” 

She squealed, instinctively shutting her eyes tight and flailing her paws around for something, anything to grab onto before she went down.

Her prayers were answered as somepony broke her fall, standing firm against her like a banister. The familiar scent of cologne let her know exactly who it was before she even opened her eyes.

“Bootie!”

“By Ardor! You should have called to me before venturing out onto the ice like that. I could have saved you from that fall much sooner.”

“I knowwww!”

Her face grew flushed with embarrassment, although it was clear he wasn’t upset with her at all, just worried.

“I was just too excited, it looked like fun! I guess I just overestimated how well I could balance. I don’t know how you do it!”

“There is no overestimating with you, my love.”

Stockholm’s heart melted as he leaned his warm body into her; Boot always knew just what to say to lift her up.

“If you wish to learn, I can teach you. No better time than the present, after all.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?”

“But of course.”

Boot was earnest in his offer. As much as he enjoyed performing solo tricks on the rink, it could never compare to being able to relish in life’s pleasures with his lover by his side. 

“Now, we will start with the basics.”

He guided her paws up until she was holding onto his shoulders and started gliding slowly backwards, leading her along. He was so skilled that he could do pirouettes blindfolded, but Stockholm was moving with much less ease.

“Ooh, I think I’m gonna fall!”

She could recite a full account of the pre-Celestial era from memory, but in her mind she couldn’t skate to save her life. Even with the steady support of her lover, her hooves were shaking and the world was spinning around her as she struggled to stay upright.

“No you won’t, I will make sure of it. Look at me. Focusing on the ground will only worsen your balance.”

Boot instructed her gently, staring up at his tall girlfriend with such love and tenderness that suddenly, Stockholm felt like everything was going to be okay.

“Start with a simple stroke. Two steps, then glide forward.”

“Two steps, glide forward…”

Stockholm repeated to herself as she followed the motions, resisting the urge to glance back down at her hooves. But staring into Boot’s eyes, it was like there was nopony else on the rink, and slowly she began to fall into rhythm.

Boot couldn’t be prouder as he watched her gradually become more confident in her strokes. He’d always known she was a quick learner, bright and intelligent beyond her lifetime. He had no doubt she could pick up skating as well.

“See! You’ve got it.”

The draconequus giggled and blushed, almost unable to believe she was doing this. But she didn’t let it break her stride as she kept going with more vigor.

It was like a scene out of a romantic Hearth’s Warming movie as the two lovers skated together, a gentle snowfall beginning to fall around them.

After what felt like an eternity of gliding in each other’s warm embrace, Boot leaned away just a bit.

“Would you like to try it on your own?”

“Maybe…”

Stockholm slowly lifted her paws off of him and tried to stand upright, but then that shaky feeling returned again. She’d only just started this, she didn’t have the hang of it yet! She almost fell as she gripped back onto the stallion she so adored.

“On second thought, can we just keep going like this?”

Boot smiled up at her with just as much warmth and adoration.

“I would love nothing more.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Background by CratzieKat

[viky2318]

THIS TIME I HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT I'M DOING

Underground, around between the Ruins and Snowdin

"How boring". Flowey looked at the human killing Toriel. Those timelines were kind of repetitive. Always doing more or less the same things: killing a certain monster instead of another, interacting in a certain way or in a different order... Most of the things kept repeating, as if the human didn't have any idea of what to do, but kept playing just because they were able to. Flowey followed the human as they got out of the ruins. Man, couldn't they just let them the control over the world? Even they seemed bored. Then he noticed someone in the woods. They were looking at the human, following them. The flower got near the person and... Papyrus?!? What is he doing here? Why is he following the human? He is supposed to be at his centry station! As he got near, he noticed the skeleton's expression. It was worried, a little bit scared, but also tired. When the human met a random monster and killed them, Papyrus did nothing but stare. If the human stole or broke something, he just sighed. The only moments where he got out of the woods and spoke to the human were when the trama asked it. What was happening?? Flowey decided to investigate. After the color tiles puzzle, he got near his friend and tapped him on the boot to catch his attention. The tall skeleton noticed him and half smiled. "O-oh, hello Flowey". Just a 'hello'? "What is happening?" The flower started. "I noticed you're following thus human everywhere with a very worried expression. Are you ok?". Papyrus sat down while the human walked around Snowdin. "Yes, I'm ok. Don't worry about me" he said. Flowey looked at his friend. That expression... He already saw it. On another face, but it was the same. Is the expression of someone that knows something that never wanted to know. His eyes widened. "You know about the resets, don't you?". Papyrus seemed like he wasn't expecting a question like this. "You... You know too?" He asked. "The flower rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, i remember too. When did you started remembering the timelines?" The skeleton's smile got a bit smaller. "Honestly I lost track of time. It seems like a thousand years and at the same time just a few days. It's... Confusing". Flowey then asked: "why are you following the human?". Papyrus got up as the human started heading towards Waterfall, and explained while walking a few meters behind them: "to try to understand his next moves and how the timeline will go. For now they never killed anyone in Snowdin, but I saw a trail of dust from the Ruins when they got out of there. I have my suspicions, but I can't be sure for now. They could be trying to reach an ending where Undyne became the queen, as it could be Mettaton or Alphys. Maybe the dog" he added in the end. Flowey looked at him surprised. "But... You know that for most of those endings you-" "I have to die. Yes, I'm aware of it. But everything will reset, so... It doesn't change much anymore". Flowey stopped as Papyrus got on his spot in the middle of the fog. This... Wasn't something he was expecting. Not only the fact that he remembers about the resets, but the fact that he was ok with dying. Even him finds it annoying at least. The flower tried to imagine the moment his friend figured out what was happening. Such a naive and energetic guy, he must have had a very bad crisis. He looked at the human killing Papyrus. It seemed like he was right. For a second, flowey thought he felt something similar to sadness while looking at him dusting away. Oh well. Now he just had to wait for the next reset.

I recently found a very cool alternative universe called "Existencial Crisis" where Papyrus remembers the resets, and I couldn't help but thinking about "what Flowey thought when he discovered this thing?". I didn't found a canonical answer, so I kinda created one. THIS IS NOT CANONICAL, I'M NOT PRETENDING TO OWN THIS UNIVERSE, IT BELONGS TO @havockingboo !!!

Check his Tumblr, he's a very cool human

[tanglepelt]

Danny was at least not being watched by a assassin. Which was good. But a bat? He wasn’t too sure that was any better. Sure he wasn’t trying to actively kill him.

But. The guy was a supposed crime lord if tuckers research was correct. Or at least an ex one? He was kinda confused on the whole thing. Tucker did say he had been seen working with the normal bats. Who he really wanted to avoid.

Sure he wasn’t an ecto-entity so the government couldn’t legally experiment on him. But he was aiding the ghosts. Which was a crime. So he really didn’t want to draw any attention to himself.

He didn’t Even have access to his tech. So he couldn’t out run a bat. Not when it was their home turf. He’s parents said he wouldn’t need it in Gotham. No he would be perfectly safe. Nothing was going to happen. Him having it would also be a breach of contract apparently.

The ones the GIW had just renewed prior to booting him out of Amity. Definitely not intentional to ensure he couldn’t protect himself. Which in fact made him more vulnerable. No weapons not protective suit.

He was only human.

This assassination attempt would have had his hide if he wasn’t so used to ghost attacking him. Before the peeler, which thankfully he got to sam in time he was just using a mask and a poorly made disguise. Then the fact the moment he realized the ghost would be a problem. He asked his mom to tech him how to defend himself and fight. She loved the time they had spent together.

So he may be human but he’s been facing the undead and unkillable for a year at this point. And ugh. Vlad. The minute he found out he was phantom he claimed he was just like his mother. The only good thing about the fruitloop was he now had so much experience finding hidden cameras and bug. Guns and knives. He just had to be smart about.

Danny knew he couldn’t just bolt. It wouldn’t work. He still considered it as an option. He could always activate his distress signal on the PDA ticket snuck him. Seeing as his parents took his phone away and gave them one that only connected to them. He was a bad influence according to them.

Red huntress wouldn’t make it here quick enough and would just out her as giving two cents about a ghost ally. They were very careful to ensure she only looked like a ghost hunter. Gave her more freedom to help ghosts secretly.

Well. He’d do what he does best. Improvise. Play it cool calm and collected.

Danny: do you agree with the governments plan to eradicate and kill an entire species from a different dimension? Your answer very much matters. As i for one don’t.

Danny: the government is very much trying to kill me at the moment. Like sure i broke into a government facility. It wasn’t the first time. I couldn’t just leave ember and boxy strapped to medical tables. I can honestly say it wasn’t me who broke in the four times after.

Danny: but seriously they were going to kill ember and boxy. Like sure ember can mind control ppl by singing. And boxy can control boxes. But that doesn’t mean they deserve to be experimented on.

Danny: and like sure the dimension kidnapped my whole town for two days. But what do you expect when someone steal ancient artifacts from a different dimension. We opened the portal into their dimension not the other way. So really. It’s not their fault they suddenly have a new playground. That’s just how they work. Have obsessions and what not to fulfill.

Danny: and i may of broken then laws. But the anti ecto acts make killing an entire species okay. So if that makes me a criminal so be it.

Jason for his part. Had turned his comms on. And hadn’t managed to get a word in. Yea. This was a big problem.

Dpxdc 180

Did Danny abuse the fact the GIW needed his parents tech. Yes of course. Danny not phantom seemed to be the trouble maker as of late. His parent threatened to withhold tech and blue prints from them if the GIW touched their kids.

Did he get caught breaking ember and boxy out of a government facility? yes. He expected the lecture he got.

The next jail break. It was not him. It was sam, Then the third. Also not him. That was Val… then it was Tucker. But not him.

The blame fell on him.

He did not expect to be shipped out of state. The GIW were happy to cover all costs. Even got him into a decent highschool. And had an apartment all arranged.

Gotham?

Not where he was expecting.

The assassination attempts. Also surprising.

Not so surprising. Tucker found out the GIW wanted to “silence” him. Offering a lot of money.

Of course his parents don’t listen. He is 15 perfectly fine to be all alone. Even if he is near some place with the nickname crime alley. Nope. He is just being dramatic. They tell him no one wants him dead.

[bellarkeselection]

Hi I was wondering if you can write a for yellowstone where kayce dutton s/o ex is stalking her and kayce had to go away for awhile and he comes back and finds her in the hospital with their kid ( not tate ) they had a accident on the ranch and he has flashbacks maybe from when his mom died

Baby You'll Be Safe Now

Kayce entered the hospital not really sure why the nurse just said he was marked as someone's emergency contact but wouldn't give the name. He hadn't been able to think clearly since he and Monica spilt up a few months ago. Tate, his son followed behind him in his steps as they followed the nurse to the room. Kayce opened the door and halted in his boots at the sight he saw before him now. Y/n L/n his childhood best friend lays in the bed clearly bruised all over with a little big pregnant belly. Her eyes were barely open as she mumbled in a shacky breath. "Kayce...it's...Tucker." He told his son to wait in the hallway closing the door gently behind himself.

Blinking my eyes opened I watched my best friend pull up a chair to my bedside nearly bawling in tears before we've even spoken another word to each other. The last time I saw him was the day he left to join the Navy seals because he got a girl pregnant from High school and needed the money. He wouldn't take any from his father or make her get rid of the child either. "Where's that son of a bitch. Y/n, what happened!" Kayce asked gently taking my hand in his. Sucking in a breath I was in a lot of pain because my ex had found me and beat me up because I wouldn't take him back. "I was heading to your family ranch but he grabbed me coming out of the bar. He...pulled me behind the alley demanding I tell him that...that the baby is his...but it's not..." Kayce and I locked eyes with each other both now crying.

Tucker Brecken was the boy I liked in high school, until we got together and I saw that he was extremely controlling and didn't want me talking with my best friend anymore. I broke up with him the night I went with Kayce to a party and we had some drinks and kissed. I prayed when I got pregnant that it wasn't Tucker's and it was answered because it was in fact Kayce's child growing inside me. "Y/n, I'm sorry this happened to you. I'm gonna find this guy and take him to the train station if that's what you want." He clutched his other hand into a fist baring his teeth at me. Lifting my freehand up I rest it against his cheek mumbled in a tired breath. "Kayce, you need to know...this baby is yours...not Tucker's."

Kayce leans up out of the chair gently kissing my forehead and whispering into my hair. "You don't have to worry about him anymore. I'm gonna take care of him Y/n. So he can't stalk you anymore." He intertwined our hands together kissing my palm. The door opened and in walks a little boy running up to Kayce. "Daddy, whose this?" He asked with a grin. "She's pregnant Tate with your possible little sister or brother. Her name is Y/n." I wave to the boy before he hugs me bouncing up and down in the seat. "Are you gonna marry my dad?" Kayce and I both stared at each other before I answered the boy knowing it was to marry anyone it would always be the youngest Dutton. "Maybe someday, Tate. Maybe someday."

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[give-soup-please]

Could I get head cannons about the narrator and a reader who is a computer in one of the offices- Ok I know that sounds weird, it's based on a dream I had. Like maybe the Stanley found a little easter egg where it's nighttime and he finds a sentient computer in an office who is a bit unaware of their surroundings. And Computer reader is just like "Oh hey Stanley how was your day?" And when Stanley gets the easter egg the narrator is locked out so he can't say anything or see anything that happens. So, the narrator gets the Easter egg himself without Stanley around, and when he meets reader their just like. "Oh hey Stanley, back again I see-"

"I'm not Stanley."

"Oh....who are then?"

And a little friendship develops from there, maybe the narrator keep them in his office to look after them, or maybe even tries to give them a more moveable body/vessel idk IT'S REALLY WEIRD I'LL BE ON MY WAY OUT BYEE-

(ALSO! Happy birthday mate :3 and just saying I was the person asking about the flustered reader by the narrator's voice and the overworked reader so yeah....BYE)

(I’m bending the prompt a little. Hope that’s alright) 

Narrator with Reader Who is a Computer in the Office

Stanley backs out of the boss’s office at the last second, trapping the narrator and cutting him off. He’s done this ending before, hundreds of times, but there’s always a hope it will be different. 

He will enter the escape pod before it gets dark and the game resets. Surely, he will be able to do it this time.

He strolls through the empty office, and is almost at the door that will lead him where he wants to go, when he spots your computer.

He knew all variations of what would appear on those screens. Inputs that will take him to button heaven, “the end is never the end” repeated infinitely, desktop screens, and all of the others. This one is different.

It’s got a green blinking indicator just like the monitor that gives him orders, but instead of giving commands, it reads: “Hello?” 

Cautiously, he sits down at the desk. He starts typing, then stops. What if this is another trick by the narrator, like his wife who turned out to be a mannequin? 

Whatever’s on the other side of that screen notices that Stanley is typing, and puts out another message. “Is someone there?”

Stanley looks around, double checking that the narrator is nowhere to be found, despite the fact that he can’t see the narrator anyway. 

The two of you start messaging back and forth. Stanley loses track of time, because it’s been so long since he’s found something new.

Every time he does the escape pod ending, you’re there waiting for him. The two of you develop quite the friendship over time. 

You always ask after his health, he always chats about how he’s doing. He asks who you are, but you don’t really have any clear answers for him.

You don’t seem to understand that you exist in an office. The only thing you can see besides the darkness is the wall of text that you two create together. 

Maybe you’re just as lonely as he is. 

After he’s done talking to you, he attempts to make it to the escape pod. It always slips through his fingers. At least he’s made a new friend in you, so it’s not a complete loss.

The two of you keep this up for a very long time, until one day… he just stops visiting. Memories of the conversations you two had seem distant. 

It turns out that when the player unplugged the phone, and the narrator booted the player out of Stanley, the game broke. He stops moving, unable to make a choice. The narrator begs him to move, and Stanley can’t. 

The narrator loses track of how much time he spends, waiting for something to change. It eventually begins to dawn on him that Stanley really won’t come back. Not in the way the narrator wants him to, anyway.

The narrator wanders through the office, feeling listless and out of control. While in his despair, he finds you.

Your message is blinking up cheerily at him. “Hello Stanley, how are you doing today?”

The narrator stares for several seconds. He built this office from the ground up. Every piece of furniture, every picture, every pile of papers, all adding to his narrative and the overall atmosphere of his story. He knows this office very well, and you aren’t meant to be here. Who the heck are you?

The narrator starts typing, wondering if he’s doing the right thing. He writes out, ‘I’m not Stanley.’, hits enter, and waits to see what will happen next. 

‘Who are you, then?’ The narrator works out the best way to respond. ‘I’m a storyteller. I was telling Stanley’s story, but…’ He stops there, emotions still too close to the surface to tell a stranger about the tragedy that was going on in his personal life.

The narrator takes a longer time to develop a friendship with you, having been so recently burned by Stanley leaving. But he’s lonely, and you’re there, and he can’t stop himself from coming back to you.

Eventually, you get moved into a room that the narrator rests in when he’s not narrating. It’s easier to talk to you that way, and he doesn’t have to look at the office, which is too cluttered with old memories.

The two of you talk about everything except for Stanley. You learn not to press on that particular bruise the narrator is nursing. You become the narrator’s anchor, because he has someone to talk to, someone who will pay attention to his words. He still prefers speaking over typing though, and begins to hatch an idea.

‘Reader’, he types one day. ‘Would you like to have a body, so we can talk to each other properly?’ The indicator blinks for several moments, as you work through your reply.

‘I think that would be nice.’ You write. ‘But…’ The narrator begins to get nervous. He’s so close to having someone in his life again. What could your hesitation be? 

‘Will it hurt?’ Ah. The narrator is again stumped on how to answer this. He eventually settles on ‘I don’t think so. I’ll do everything I can to make your transition as seamless as possible. However, I may need to put you to sleep for a bit so I can transfer your consciousness over to a new form. Is that okay?’

Under other circumstances, he may not ask for permission, but he’s grown so attached to you that the thought of hurting you is excruciating to him. You give your permission gladly.

The day arrives. He’s built a body especially for you, custom to your requests. The last message he sees before you’re shut off is, ‘It’s been a lot of fun having these conversations, narrator. You speak so well. I hope your voice is as nice as your words. I hope I get to see you soon.’ He stares at the blank screen for several moments before getting to work.

He’s never worked so hard in his life. Building a model from scratch is difficult. It took him a while to develop someone as bland as Stanley, and your personality is strong in comparison. He sculpts, he molds, and when things are difficult, he daydreams about the life you’ll be able to share together once your body is complete. 

He begins to download your consciousness into your new form, which is a lot more difficult than he thought. He has to capture every single piece of you, even the subtle things that give you ‘flavor’ for lack of a better word. It’s exhausting work, but you’re worth it.

You come back from the edge of the void slowly. Your eyes crack open, and the narrator begins to laugh with delight.

It takes a while for you to learn the mechanics of your new body, but the narrator is with you every step of the way.   

(sorry this one took so long anon, the concept kind of got away from me and woah i think this is the longest one i've done so far.)

[burningablaze]

Midoriya x Reader - Time to Relax

Summary: After a long day of doing hero work, Midoriya comes home exhausted. To make his day a little better, you wanted to give him a special massage treatment

Relationship: S/O

Lee: Midoriya

Ler: Reader

Words: 1,864

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Perfect,” You said as you gently set your new foot bath over a towel. You bounced on your toes in excitement. You recently bought a new foot spa since your other one broke, and this new foot bath has everything you needed: heat settings, a bubble machine, rollers, and a pumice stone. It was perfect.

Before you could pour water into the small tub, Midoriya just got home from hero work. He looked more tired than usual; his eyelids were halfway closed, tiny beads of sweat flowed down his forehead, and his face cringed with every step he took.

“Izuku?” You whimpered. You were worried about Midoriya. He had a rough, tiring day. He strolled toward you as he groaned. “Are you okay?” You asked. “Yeah, I’m just exhausted. I’ll be fine.”

Midoriya sat down on the couch and took his shoes off. He sighed with relief. “I think these boots are killing me. I understand that the iron soles in my shoes allow me to make my kicks stronger, but I’m starting to believe that there getting uncomfortable.”

“Can you get them redone?” You asked and sat down next to him with your leg underneath you and used your arm as a headrest. Midoriya leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Yeah. I’ll go by the support team tomorrow to see what modifications they can do. For now, I just want to rest.”

You combed through his hair and lightly scratched his scalp, hoping it would make him feel relaxed. Midoriya gently smiled and breathed softly. You smiled with him without thinking. Midoriya lifted his head and noticed something on the floor before you. “What is that?” He asked.

“Hmm?” You hummed and looked down at your feet; your foot bath was still ready to be used. “Oh! I just got that today!” You said excitedly. “Oh yeah, that’s right. Your other one was old and broken. You used my card, right?” Midoriya inquired. You stared at him, thinking that he already knew the answer. No, you did not use his card.

“Baby, I don’t need to use your card all the time.” You said. Midoriya pushed out his bottom lip. “But I like when you buy stuff to spoil yourself.” This man is such a baby.

You sighed. “Alright, fine, I’ll use your card next time I go shopping,” Midoriya smiled widely. “But!” You exclaimed. Midoriya’s smile disappeared again. “I have to know if it’s okay with you first. I don’t want to spend all of your money.”

“Alright, deal,” Midoriya said. “Are you going to use it right now?” He questioned. “Nope. You are!” You chimed. “M-Me? But I never had anything like this before!” He said while covering his socked foot with the other. “Honey, you’ll be fine. It’s totally relaxing.” You reassured him.

You sprinkled Epsom salt in the bath and stirred it around. You made sure the water wasn’t too hot by using the control panel. Everything was perfect, and just in time when Midoriya came out of the bedroom in comfortable clothes.

“You ready?” You asked. Midoriya smiled sheepishly. “Y-Yeah,” He sat down on the couch in front of the foot spa. He lifted one leg to dip one foot slowly in the warm water. He suddenly became less tense and sank down into the cushions. He submerged his foot in the water and closed his eyes, letting the warm water relax him.

“How do you feel?” You asked. “It feels really good,” Midoriya replied and wiggled his toes. You looked at the control panel and pressed a button to turn on the bubble machine setting. The water began to move from the bubble jets. Midoriya giggled lightly. “It-It kinda ti-tihihickles.” “Want me to turn it off?” You asked. “No, nohoho. It’s fine.”

Midoriya wanted to explore a little more and moved his feet back and forth. He didn’t notice the rollers at the bottom. He giggled again. “What’s wrong this time?” You couldn’t help but laugh a little at his reaction. “There’s these spikey things at the bottom.” He said, letting out quiet giggles here and there. “Thohohose are rollers.” You said, chuckling. “Oh,”

After an hour, it was time to turn it off. Midoriya brought his feet out of the water and patted them dry with a towel that was underneath the foot bath so the water wouldn’t spill all over the floor. “Care to leave a review?” You joked. Midoriya kisses your lips. “I loved it. Don’t be surprised when I steal this away from you.” Both of you laughed.

Before Midoriya was about to get up from the couch after he was done drying his feet, you sat down in front of him with a couple of stuff in your hands. “I’m not done with you yet.” You said. You laid out a three-in-one tool and body cream next to you. “What is it?” Midoriya asked.

“I forgot to mention that you can’t just be done after soaking your feet. There are steps to make it better.” You said. Midoriya groaned. “Oh, hush, it’s not that bad.” You patted the tub, motioning to put his feet back in the water. Midoriya dunked his feet again, then pulled one foot out.

“Now then, let’s begin.” You grabbed the three-in-one tool and used the pumice stone side to softly grazed it over his heel. Midoriya wrapped his arm around his stomach and covered his mouth. He curled his toes and twitched his feet. “Stop squirming!” You said as you tried to hold his foot in place. “I cahahahahahan’t!”

You kept forgetting that Midoriya has ticklish feet. You shook your head and continued to scrub the stone over his heel and the outside of the arch. You weren’t going very fast or pressing too hard; Midoriya was just plain out ticklish. “Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha stohohohohohop, it tihihihihickles!” “Sorry, darling, nothing I can do about it.”

You wrapped your arm over his ankle to keep his foot still and kept going. “Nohohohohoho, that’s not fahahahahahair!” “Life’s not fair!” Midoriya struggled to slip his foot from your arm.

After you were done using the pumice stone, you flipped the handle to now use the brush. You snapped your fingers to get him to lay out one foot in front of you. “No, no, no, no, nohohohohohohoho!” “I’m sorry, baby, but this will probably tickle. I’ll be super gentle. You’ll thank me.”

You gently brushed the brush over the top of his toes. He was fighting for his life, clamping his mouth with both of his hands, and struggled not to move. His toes curled and moved away from the brush a few times, but he had to dedicate himself to getting it over with.

Midoriya panted heavily after you were done with everything, well, almost everything. You dried his feet with a towel and sat on the couch. You patted your thighs. Midoriya swung his feet over your lap. You grabbed your body cream and squirted a minimal amount of the lotion on your hands, and rubbed them together. “This will make your feet really soft and smooth.”

You glided your hands up and down his soles, wrapped them around the top of his feet, and pushed all your fingers in between his toes. Midoriya laughed like no tomorrow. He was wiggling his feet so much that you trapped his feet by placing one leg on top of his ankles while the other leg was below. You kinda felt bad, but it needed to be done.

“Plehehehehease don’t dohohohoho thahahahahahat! It’s tohohohohohoo muhuhuhuhuch! Plehehehease it tihihihihihickles! Ahahahahahahahahahahaha! AAH! NOT MY TOES! NOT MY TOHOHOHOHOHOHOES! Y/N STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!”

“Alright, alright, relax, you ticklish dork.” You said. Midoriya caught his breath and wondered why you haven’t let him go yet. “Uh, Y/N, could you let my feet go?” He asked nervously. “Not right now.” You said, smirking a little. “What, why?!”

“Because you’ve been working too hard, and you seemed you never had time to give yourself a break.” “But why this? Are you going to tickle me?” “If that’s what it takes to get you to relax, then yes, I am going to tickle you.”

Your nails scribbled up and down his soles. Midoriya arched his back and squirmed around. “Nohohohohohohoho! I’ve been tihihihihihickled already! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

“Yeah, but I figured that this would be fun. Tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle!” You scratched underneath the ball of his foot and the padding underneath his toes.

“No tickle tihihihihihihickles! Dohohohohohon’t tehehehehehease mehehehehe!” "Why not? I love how you squeal and get so flustered when I tease you and tickle you just like this.”

Midoriya threw his head back and didn’t have enough strength to get his feet free. You titled your head to the side. “Are your ankles ticklish?” You asked. Your hands slithered to his ankles and very lightly fluttered your fingertips over his ankles.

“Ehehehehehehehehehehehehe Y/N!” Midoriya blushed again and covered his mouth with his palms. “Aww, it does tickle, doesn’t it?” You kept the teasing and tickled all over his ankles. “Stohohohohohop teasing mehehehehehe!” “Tempting, but no.”

You softly glided your fingers across the top of his feet all the way to the top of his toes. “Y/N! Ahahahahahahahahahahaha, please, not my tohohohohohoes!”

You smirked. “Sorry, what did you say? I couldn’t hear you through your giggling.” Immediately you dug underneath his toes. Midoriya thrashed around like a worm while screaming.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NO PLEHEHEASE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” “Tickle, tickle, tickle! Kitchy, kitchy, kitchy, coo! Who’s my favorite ticklish pro hero?”

His loud laughter absolutely made you smile and kept tickling me for another moment. You kept one hand tickling his toes while using the other to rake his sole on his other foot. He went bunkers with that move.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, PLEASE, STOHOHOHOHOP! Y/N PLEHEHEHEASE! I CAHAHAHAN’T BREHEHEHEATHE! IT TIHIHIHIHICKLES SO BAHAHAHAHAD! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAY AWAYEHEHEHEHE FROM MY TOHOHOHOES! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Midoriya was desperately pulling his legs back to him as his face was turning red and his stomach was hurting. This time, you finally stopped torturing him. You lifted your leg so Midoriya could have his feet back. He continued to giggle as his feet felt tingly.

“I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean to go overboard.” You apologized with a sad tone. Somehow you felt upset about how much you tickled him and didn’t stop until he was screaming. All you wanted for him was to relax.

Midoriya stopped his giggling and glared at you. Your heart was beating against your chest of his scary gaze. Then, in one swoop, Midoriya playfully growled and pulled you close to him until you ended up lying on his chest. He began to kiss you on your cheeks and neck.

“Hahahahahahahaha, Izu! Quit it!” You shrieked. Midoriya gave out one last big kiss on your cheek before he stopped. “So your not mad?” You asked. “How can I be mad when you made me feel better? You have no idea how much I needed to laugh like that.” He said and pulled a lock of hair out of your face. “I’m glad.” You rested your head underneath his chin. “If All Might saw me now, he would probably do the same thing.” Midoriya chuckled. “Then don’t stop smiling.”