#the love will never really go away. not entirely. when phoenix said 'you really are the person i always thought you were.' he MEANT it

[cornertheculprit]

something something phoenix ate glass for "dahlia" (aka he ate glass for the girl he fell in love with which was iris) and something something iris stood up in front of that court and admitted point blank that if she would've known that dahlia was planning to kill phoenix she would've done whatever it took to stop her even if it meant killing her. like oh my god you have phoenix studying to be a law student so he could go after miles but he still turned his back on that and attempted to COVER UP EVIDENCE in a way that put his life at risk for the woman he loved and iris loved dahlia because she was her sister but if she would've known dahlia's plan she would have killed her or died trying for the man she loved. girl they're so insane I'M so insane over them oh my GOD. it really was the right time but the wrong place for them......

[ellecdc]

Come Back, Be Here (part 5)

Sirius Black x fem!reader - First Wizarding War Order of the Phoenix - 3.5k p1 // p2 // p3 // p4 // p5 // p6 // p7 // p8

⚠️CW: graphic descriptions of injury, blood & gore, combat (people die), painful goodbyes, swearing (I wrote it so there's swearing, but I think you all know that by now)

Synopsis: The story of how you sacrificed yourself to save your friend and Order partner James months before. And what the fuck is Kreacher up to?

👋AN: I have never written (well anything TBF) combat/action before and I was very uncomfortable the entire time so I'm 1) glad it's over (for now) and 2) very sorry if it's awkward or painful to read. I'd love feedback or suggestions as I believe this story may involve more. xx

The spring-time sun meant you had an easier time staying comfortable during the day, but as the sun dipped below the top of the building across from you, it was becoming increasingly harder to stay warm. You sat on an overturned crate in an abandoned building watching the alleyway below you as you nibbled on a granola bar. It tasted like ash.

“Should we check in again?” James asked, leaning in front of you to peek out the partially broken window.

You fought the urge to roll your eyes. “We checked in only minutes ago, Prongs.”

He hummed in disgruntled acknowledgment. 

“Do you ever think about just like jumping when you look out a window?” James asked as he leaned a little too close to the jagged edge of the window for your liking.

“Pardon me?”

“You know, like when you’re on a bridge and you think ‘I could totally just launch myself off of this right now’, or when you’re holding something really expensive or delicate and you just want to throw it at a wall.”

You stared at your friend for a moment.

“Those are called intrusive thoughts, Jamie.”

“Are they bad?”

“Only when they stop being thoughts and turn into actions.”

“Got it.” He said with a nod.

“Hey, James?”

“Yeah.”

“Step away from the window please.”

He sighed and plopped down unceremoniously beside you. You offered him the rest of your granola bar which he only accepted once you assured him you were finished. 

You moved to sit on the floor so the two of you could play tic-tac-toe in the dust. James complained about breaking a nail and you agreed to check in with Emmeline and Benjy twice more over the following few hours.

“Okay; fuck, marry, avada: Helga Hufflepuff, the Minister of Magic, Merlin.” James asked.

You blew out a breath and leaned back onto your hands. “Hmmmm, how many times do I have to fuck them?”

“Just once.”

“Okay, and do I have to stay married forever and ever?”

“Uh, duh. Till death do you part.” He answered incredulously. 

“Will I die soon?”

James gave you an unimpressed look.

“Okay, uhm, ugh, I hate politicians, James.”

“I don’t want your life story, just answer the question.” 

“Fine. Fuck Merlin, marry Helga, avada the Minister.” You said, though you couldn’t help but cautiously look over your shoulder lest the Minister himself hear your treasonous answer. 

“Explain.”

“I just think Helga would treat me right.”

James nodded solemnly. “And the others?”

“You just said you didn’t want my life story.” 

“You’re right. Do me next.”

“In your dreams, Potter.”

James rolled his eyes. “Get your mind out of the gutter.” 

You chuckled and looked down at the street again.

“I don’t know James; it’s been pretty quiet. How long have we been here?” 

James shifted his weight to one hand in order to check his watch. “Well, we got here at, what, eight this morning? It’s been about twelve hours of nothing.”

You hummed in acknowledgement. “What do you think? Do you want to get home to Lily and Haz, or keep watch?” 

James groaned. “I always want to go home to Lily and Haz, but Benjy and Em were on this stake out yesterday too.”

You nodded and stood. You conjured your patronus and told Benjy and Emmeline that it was quiet enough for them to leave, and that James and you would stay for a little bit longer just in case. The silvery fox jumped once before it disappeared through the walls of the building, sending your message to the other team.

James chuckled. “Do you remember how pissed off Sirius was when he found out you had become an animagus?”

You smirked at the memory. “That was back when he hated me.”

James guffawed. “He never hated you.”

“Yes, he did!”

“Nuh uh, he thought he was playing it cool, but he fell just as hard for you as I did with my Lily flower.”

You shook your head. “No one fell as hard as you did, Jamie.”

“Too true.” He agreed. “I’m the best at everything I do.”

“I think he was mostly mad that I’d managed to do it by myself, whilst the three of you bumbled your way through it together.”

“Yeah. You started after us and managed to finish before Pete did.”

You chuckled at the memory.

(Hogwarts boat-house, 4th year)

“I don’t understand why you’re getting so worked up about this.”

Sirius looked at you incredulously. “Uhm, how about because it’s dangerous? What even compelled you to do something like this?”

“Uhm, you guys were doing it?”

“So?”

“So? If you can do it, why can’t I?” 

“Do you know how much trouble you could get into for this?” He asked while pinching the space between his brows.

“Why? Are you going to rat me out?”

Sirius guffawed. “I’m not a snitch, Dollface.”

You smiled wickedly at him. “Good, then shut up about it.”

You stood and stretched your limbs, stiff from the day of waiting for nothing to happen.

“I’m confused, James.” You said, poking your head into the window again. “Didn’t the tip suggest that this was a major meeting spot for Death Eaters and allies?”

James hummed in acknowledgement. 

“Then why haven’t we seen anything all day?”

He looked at you curiously. “I don’t know...isn’t no news good news?”

You groaned. “I don’t know. Not if we’re to believe the tip.”

“You think it was false?” 

You made a non-committal sound as you started to pace the room. 

“I mean, I guess it is weird for nothing to happen two days in a row.”

You stopped dead in your tracks. “Two days?”

James nodded at you. “Yeah, Emmeline and Benjy were here yesterday.”

“They were here yesterday?”

“Are you feeling okay? I literally just said that.” 

“Fuck, James, where did this tip come from?”

James scrunched his eyebrows. “I don’t know, Vix.”

You both stared at each other for a few moments. “I think we should leave.” You said.

“Apparate to location seven?” James asked as you helped him stand.

“Yep.”

You both pulled your wands and spun to apparate.

You looked at each other in confusion. 

After a quick nod, you both spun again.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” You muttered before moving back to the window; neither teams had any problems apparating in or out earlier today.

“Vix, this isn’t good.” 

“Alright,” you breathed out, squaring your shoulders, “alright. Let’s scout the area. We’ll find out where this anti-apparition ward ends and get the hell out of here.”

James, looking far paler than he had moments ago, offered you one nod before getting into stance and following you to the door. 

You grabbed the handle and heard an awful searing sound before you realized it was the sound of your hand against the metal doorknob. 

“FUCK!” You shouted as you pulled your hand away, blisters already littering the palm of your hand. James quickly cast an auguamenti over your hand followed by a glacius. The stinging slowly subsided but you could still feel your heartbeat in your palm, and tears threatened to spill from your eyes. 

James leaned his ear closer to the door. “I...I feel like I hear a dragon?”

You paled. 

“Fiendfyre.”

You moved over to the window and cast a despulso, shattering the remaining glass and leaning out of it. 

“This way.” You said to James over your shoulder before changing into Vixen and jumping down two storeys. Your paws stumbled beneath you as you landed awkwardly, but you fared better than you would have in your human form.

James looked down at you from the window as you changed back to your human form before giving him a quick nod. He jumped and you cast an arresto momentum, slowly lowering him to the ground. 

You both tried to apparate again to no prevail. James cast a revelio which illuminated the shimmery grid lock of the ward around you. 

“It doesn’t look like it goes far. We just need to make it to the street.” James said as he nodded his head down the alleyway. 

You began in that direction when two shadowy, masked figures stepped into the alley from the street. You huffed and figured you’d fare better on the other end, save having to climb over the barbed wire. When you turned again to run, another set of masked figures stepped out on that end too.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.” One of them sing-songed. 

“Through the building.” James commanded and the two of you moved to the door of the building across the alleyway.

James cast a despulso to open the door as you threw a bombarda at the second set of Death Eaters. You narrowly dodged a confringo as more bolts of light shot your way.

You ran down the hall, looking around corners for signs of an exit. You passed a hallway and felt a hand grab your arm before you were slammed into the wall.

A wand was pressed to your throat when you heard James cast a flipendo. The wizard pinning you was sent flying, so you righted yourself and grabbed James’s hand before sprinting down the hallway again. 

You shot a hex at a fire extinguisher as you passed it which fogged up the hallway behind you. 

“Confringo!” A voice suddenly shouted from ahead. A ball of fire hit James’s square in the chest as he moved to block you from it. He fell to the ground with a thud as you cast a protego around the two of you. 

Three more casts bounced off of your shield before you shot an incendio at them, watching the robes and masks melt away before the wizards turned to ash. 

“You idiot!” You gritted through your teeth as you cast healing charms over James’ burn. 

“Wake up James, get your arse up.” You insisted, gripping his chin and shaking his head back and forth. 

You looked up at the sound of running and shot another bombarda behind you. The sickening sound of a body hitting a wall and sliding to the ground let you know you hit your mark as you continued to rouse James.

“You need to get up James. Come on, let’s go.” You said as you hauled him into a sitting position. You mentally cursed him and his dedication to the gym as you tried to manhandle his 183cm (six-foot) pure muscle figure. The movement caused him to groan.

“Yes, come on Prongs, get up, we need to go.” You insisted, giving him another shake. The burning in your hand was starting to return and you felt the beginnings of a wicked headache coming on. You could hear shouting from the floor above you – you had company. 

The wall behind you exploded suddenly and threw you both across the hall. Your head made a sickening crack as it met the brick wall and James was covered with rubble.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” You moaned as you felt heat spread down your neck. You ripped a large piece of glass from your right thigh as you stood, which began to bleed far too quickly for your liking. Wobbly as all hell, you moved over to James and pulled the cinderblocks from his body.

“Come on Potter,” you muttered. “You’ve got a wife and kid at home.”

He groaned in agony as you pulled him into a crouch.

“And you’ve got a Sirius.” He slurred.

“Exactly,” you grunted as you used your wand to throw a piece of wall at some assailants to your left. “And if I go home to my boyfriend without his boyfriend, he will have my head.”

Both of you hissed in pain as you stood, but you trudged through the rubble and moved to the end of the hall. You pushed through a door which brought you out into an alleyway parallel to the one you guys had just been in. You cast a revelioand saw that the anti-apparition ward ended at the sidewalk about ten yards away. 

The sound of an explosion followed by screaming made you turn. The building you and James had been in for your stake out had been completely consumed by the fiendfyre and was spreading to the building you just exited. 

“The fiendfyre caused friendly fire.” James muttered. 

You pushed at his shoulder and directed him toward the street. “James, this way, we’re almost-” 

“BOMBARDA.”

“No!”

The wind was knocked clean out of you and your senses vanished. You saw bright white and couldn’t hear anything past the ringing in your ears. You tried to stay calm as you willed your lungs to take in more air. 

You were aware of someone standing above you, or in front of you, but you couldn’t see or hear them. There were hands, warm hands, you were being shaken. 

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no.” 

Choking.

You could hear choking.

You could hear!

You hear yourself choking. 

You sucked in a deep breath that caused an unbelievable amount of pain in your stomach; the breath shuddered as it left your body. 

“No, no, no. Vix please.”

You opened your eyes. Though your eyesight was still white around the edges you could see James’ face in front of yours.

“Y/N, we’re almost there.” James whimpered, tilting his head toward the sidewalk where the ward line ended. You lifted your hand to your head even though it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and when you pulled your hand back it was red. 

“James.” You choked out. “Go, I’ll find you.”

“Y/N.”

You attempted to sit up straighter, but it elicited a strangled sob from you. You felt a strange pressure in the left of your stomach, and when you looked down you could see why.

Your head, also feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds, lolled as you lifted your shirt to expose a metal rod that had impaled you from behind. Your view of the injury quickly became obscured as blood flowed from the wound. Between the wound to your thigh, and now your stomach, the gravel below you was quickly becoming drenched in your blood. You knew then. This injury was well beyond either of your wheelhouse.

“Jamie.”

“No.”

“James.” You whined quietly, lolling your head back against the fence behind you. “You have to go.” 

“Y/N, I won’t. I cannot leave without you.” 

“You have to.” 

“No.” He cried miserably. 

You took a few breaths, heart hurting both from blood loss and for your partner.

“What about Sirius? Hm?” He shot at you.

You smiled at the thought of your sweet boy. You felt like you could smell him now; worn leather, caramel, and his cigarettes. You knew he tried to spell the smell away, but it never really worked; you’d learned to associate the scent with him though, so you mostly didn’t mind. 

“You’ll take care of him for me, won’t you?” You asked your friend, offering him a tired smile. Tears fell from his eyes; he was too pretty to cry, you thought. 

“Vix, please, he needs you.”

“Thank him for me?”

James sobbed.

“I’m so-” you grunted and fought the urge to gag. “I’m so thankful for him. For all of you.”

“Y/N.”

“Tell him I’d do it all again. Every moment of it. If it meant I got to love him.” You breathed in deeply. “It was worth every minute of it.” 

A portion of the building behind James collapsed in on itself under the flames, but neither of you moved your gaze from the other. 

“Tell him for me?” You asked again.

James’s face was scrunched in pain as he nodded.

“I’m sorry, Y/N.” He cried.

“I’m not.” You said as you shook your head. “I don’t re-I don’t-” You tried to take a deep breath but found yourself unable to.

“I don’t regret anything.” You finished on an exhale. 

The building behind James continued to fall as smoke and debris fell around the two of you. You shakily lifted one of your hands to his face and wiped at the tear tracks lining his cheeks. You lifted your wand in the other and cast a diffindo at the death eaters approaching behind him. You were thankful your vision was going, knowing the sight behind James would be unbelievably gruesome. 

“I-” you started, your breathing becoming erratic. “I love you. All of you.”

James nodded as he leaned down to kiss your forehead. 

“I am so lucky to have known you, Vix.”

“Go now.” You said quietly.

James held your head to his shoulder.

“You - you have to go.” 

James kissed your head again.

“Go.”

You rested your head against your own shoulder as you watched James hobble to the end of the alleyway. You did it, you thought to yourself, you saved him.

James made it to the sidewalk when he turned to face you. You tried to offer him one last smile as he spun and apparated away.

A sob tore through you, and it felt as though it emptied your lungs of any remaining air. 

No matter, you wouldn’t need air anymore anyway.

“I’m sorry I didn’t make it home, Siri.” You thought. “I’ll find you in our next life, and I’ll love you there too.” 

With a shuddering sigh, you fell asleep. 

It was dark. It made sense. Death would be dark. Should it be cold? Perhaps. You only wished it wasn’t also painful. It was quiet, but you could hear.

“Why waste your energy on a pathetic mudblood?”

“Information. Knowledge is power, after all.”

“Couldn’t you have found a mudblood that wasn’t so close to death then?”

“We would’ve had more to choose from had someone not thought to fight with fiendfyre instead of a good old incendio.”

“Incendio was boring, I wanted to spice things up a little.”

“Your penchant for spice lost us numbers, Junior. The Dark Lord will not be pleased.”

“Then we’ll get the mudblood talking. Once we get information, the numbers won’t matter.” 

“You ignorant-”

“Enough! What’s done is done. Someone will have to take responsibility for the repercussions when the time comes.”

“Severus is right. For now, the mudblood comes with me.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“The last prisoner did not even survive the night under your watch.”

“Pfft. You should have heard the mouth on that nasty witch. I did the world a favour.”

“Foulness tends to be a common trait of the Order. Please do keep up, Goyle.”

“I do not see how you are in any position to be barking orders around here. You are barely out of Hogwarts yourself, child.”

“Yes, and this child received their dark mark before they even graduated. In fact, Mulciber, I have had my mark longer than you.”

“What do you even want with the mudblood anyway?”

“Trying to keep it in the family, baby Black?”

“Yes, Purebloods tend to do that. I can see that your ancestors kept it a little too close to home, however.”

“You don’t know what to do with a prisoner; let the rest of us enjoy her a little.”

“I am not concerned about enjoying, you imbecile. I work for the Dark Lord, that is my only concern. I am one of the most skilled legillimens and occlumens here, I will not let my dick get in the way of getting information for the Dark Lord, unlike the rest of you, so I will take the mudblood.” 

“Hmph, well, we’ll see how long this lasts.”

You listen: Doors. Floorboards. Parchment. Fireplace.

...

...

“You’re awake.”

...

...

...

“Squeezing your eyes shut will not change the fact that I know you are awake.”

Are they talking to me?

“Yes, I am talking to you.”

Shit.

“Very elegant.”

I’m fucking alive?!

“Indeed, you are.”

You peeled your eyes open and blinked against the light above you. The room was dark, with dark-grained wood on the ceiling and walls, and little light save from the gaudy chandelier above you and a tiny window letting in a minuscule amount of light which seemed to dissipate by the time it reached one foot from the source.  

Your neck cracked loudly as you turned your head to the voice, and you swore you felt your heart fall out of your feet.

“You can’t be serious?” You rasped disbelievingly. 

“Close, but no.” The man smirked as he stood and moved toward the table you were lying on. “The name is Regulus. Regulus Arcturus Black.”

You felt your heart rate pick up as you stared at the face of a man who held an uncanny similarity to your boyfriend. 

“I don’t suppose you happen to know occlumency, do you?”

You shook your head; unsure you could voice anything more than a horrified whimper.

“Shame. Well, for your sake, I hope you are a quick learner.” 

And he stupefied you. 

(Present)

“Kreacher, what have you done?” You spat angrily, twisting your arm in his grasp. He appeared wholly unimpressed with the situation and less than inclined to respond to you.

“Let go.” You muttered as you tried to tear your arm from the house-elf. For looking so small, thin, and well, decrepit, he was surprisingly strong. You considered pulling your wand when someone spoke.

“Release her.”

Your head shot up at the sound. You were met with a scarily familiar smirk that left you feeling weightless.

The elf obeyed, though you wish he hadn’t as you suddenly felt weak in the knees. 

“Welcome back, Y/N.” He smirked as he stood from his perch on the edge of an ornate desk. “Ready to finish this?” 

Continue to part six here.

[lynzishell]

The Present 🤍 San Myshuno

Prev // Next

Transcript below the cut:

Phoenix: Hey. Dawn: [sniffles] Hey. Phoenix: Why are you sitting in the dark? Dawn: [shrugs]

Dawn: I was worried you wouldn’t come back. Phoenix: I just needed some time to cool down. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that, I’m sorry. Dawn: It’s okay. You were mad. I don’t blame you. Phoenix: It’s not okay. I should’ve stepped away sooner. It won’t happen again, I promise.

Dawn: [nods] Are you still angry? Phoenix: Yes. But mostly, I’m hurt. And confused. Dawn: I’m so sorry. For everything. You have to believe me; I’d take it all back if I could.

Phoenix: I know. I just… I don’t understand why. I’m racking my brain, but I can’t make sense of any of it. Why did you do it? Dawn: I don’t know. I just… when I read the letter, and I learned about his life and his son, it felt important to… I couldn’t just disregard it, throw it away.

Phoenix: Okay. But why contact him? Dawn: I knew you weren’t ready to talk to him, but I hoped one day you would be. I guess it was just a way to leave that door open… just in case. Phoenix: But you knew that’s not what I wanted. It’s never been what I wanted. That’s not going to change.

Dawn: Well maybe it’s not just about you. Phoenix: What?

Dawn: What about Aspen? Doesn’t she deserve the opportunity to know her grandfather and her uncle? Phoenix: Aspen is fine. She’s surrounded by family. Megan and Alex, Atlas and Asher, they all love her, and they’re all here for her, and for us. Dawn: Megan and Alex aren’t her grandparents. Joseph is. And she deserves to know him. I couldn’t just turn my back on that. Why can’t you give him a chance? For her.

Phoenix: Dawn, I’m protecting her. Why would I allow that man into her life? Dawn: I really believe he’s changed.

Phoenix: Why? Because he said so? How many times did he tell my mother that he’d changed, only to show up wasted and belligerent? Hell, even Julian had to cut him off eventually. The man is full of shit. Why would I believe this time is any different? Why would I risk it when I have you and Aspen to think about? I don’t want her anywhere near him. Or your parents for that matter. What if it was them who’d reached out? You think the fact that they’re her “real” grandparents is reason to let those awful people into her life?

Dawn: Well, you don’t have to worry about that because they’d never care enough to bother! At least your dad cares enough to try! Do you know what I would give… [voice cracks] Phoenix: What?

Dawn: All I’ve ever wanted is for them to love me the way they’re supposed to. To care about me and my life, be there for the important moments. But no. Ash’s mom had to step in and do all the things MY mother should’ve been there to do. And I had to put a smile on my face and be happy about it because anything less would be ungrateful. And now what? They’re supposed to step in and pretend to be Aspen’s grandparents because her own don’t give a shit?

Phoenix: Dawn… Dawn: And then the one thing I’ve spent my entire life wishing for shows up out of nowhere in an envelope with your name on it, and you just want to toss it away like it means nothing.

Dawn: [crying] I’m sorry.

[roosterforme]

Underneath It All | Rooster x Reader

Written for Kinktober

Summary: You and Bradley discover each other's kinks, and nobody is disappointed. (Lingerie and sex in public)

Warnings: Smut and filth, 18+ only, PiV intercourse, oral sex

Length: 2500

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

Can be read as part of my Series Is It Working For You? OR it can be read as a standalone story! Masterlist

Bradley was pretty annoyed. It was supposed to be date night. Just the two of you. But as soon as he mentioned to Fanboy that he was taking you to the newest restaurant near base, it had turned into a group hang. 

The thing that Bradley found most annoying was the fact that you didn't seem to find this annoying at all. You said it sounded fun, and you couldn't wait to see everyone again. 

Bradley just wanted to be with you... alone. You'd only just established the whole boyfriend and girlfriend thing a few weeks previously, after weeks of Bradley sweating hard over you. And now he had to turn his romantic plans into something thoroughly un-romantic to accommodate the fact that Phoenix, Bob, Payback, Fanboy, Hangman and Coyote would be there too. Great.

So Bradley picked you up at your place, kissed you until you were going to be late if you didn't leave immediately, and buckled you into the Bronco. 

"I'm so excited to have dinner with everyone," you reiterated. 

He just grunted. God, you looked fucking hot in that black wrap dress. He was pretty sure if he pulled at the loose bow tied at your side, the entire front of the dress would come open. 

He was never going to make it through this dinner. 

"Are you okay, Roo? You seem kind of irritated tonight," you pointed out. Bradley let his right hand drift to your bare thigh and slid it up under your dress while he drove.

"I'm fine, Baby Girl. I'm just a little disappointed that I have to share your company with the others tonight. I was hoping it would be just me and you." His fingers drifted up until they found something lacy, and he groaned. He couldn't wait to get you out of your dress later. 

You bit your lower lip, and with amusement in your voice, you said, "Maybe we can skip out right after we eat dinner. We don't need to stay for dessert and coffee."

"That's my girl."

---------------------------------

Eating with these people right now was tedious. Bradley liked his friends, loved them really. They were all great people. Well, Hangman was... Hangman. But he could not wait to get the fuck out of this restaurant and get you alone. He had inhaled his meal, and now he was just waiting for you to give him the signal that you were ready to leave.

You were sitting right across from him, and every time you turned to your right to talk to Bob, you leaned on your elbow and pressed your tits together slightly. Bradley swore you were doing it on purpose, since the deep v-front of your dress was giving him the perfect view. He was practically drooling as he listened to you graciously talk to Bob about his brother's five Persian cats. Bradley did not know how you were managing to do that with a smile on your face.

When you shifted a bit in your seat, Bradley's eyes went right back to your chest, and he saw a bit of black lace peeking out the top of your dress. 

"You okay, man?" Payback asked him. "You seem very distracted."

Bradley just hummed in agreement, and then he felt you drag your high heel up his pant leg as you caught his eye. He noticed your phone was in your hands just before his phone vibrated in his pocket. Your mouth quirked into a sly smile before you tucked your phone back into your bag. 

Bradley narrowed his eyes at you before reaching into his pocket to retrieve his phone. He was not surprised to see that the text was from you, and he figured it was you letting him know you were ready to leave. What he saw, however, had him nearly tipping out of his chair.

"Holy shit," he muttered, quickly turning his screen away from Payback. Because you had just sent him a dirty picture. 

Bradley's wide eyes darted between his phone screen and your smirking face several times before he really focused on the image. And there you were, lying on your back in the middle of your bed, your hair all over your pillow. You were wearing the sexiest strappy, black lace bodysuit he had ever seen in his life along with your black high heels. You were looking at the camera and your back was slightly arched up off the bed. The text caption read, "This is what I'm wearing under my dress." Bradley had never explicitly told you how much he liked lingerie, but it seemed as though you somehow knew what this would do to him.

Fuck. He was already getting hard. He wanted you out of your dress as soon as possible. You ran your high heel up his leg again, and this time he reached for your foot under the table. He traced the inside of your ankle with his thumb and you bit your lip again. Shit, he wanted to clear everything off the table and do this right here. 

"It's time to go," he told you, his voice sounding extra raspy, even to his own ears. He released your foot, and you were both instantly out of your seats.

"Hey, you're leaving already?" asked Fanboy. "We didn't even order dessert yet!"

"I'm taking my dessert to-go," Bradley replied, swiftly wrapping his arm around your waist. He threw a bunch of bills from his wallet onto the table to cover your meals plus a hefty tip, and then he was moving. 

"Um, it was nice to see everyone!" you called out as he yanked you along beside him. Bradley registered that everyone looked stunned except for Phoenix, who was cracking up.

"I take it you liked what you saw?" you asked him, a breathy laugh in your voice as you quickly exited the restaurant and plunged into the dark night outside. 

Bradley pushed you back against the front of the building and gently bit your neck. Your moan caused a few pedestrians to turn and look at you before rushing onward. 

"You're too good to me. I'm gonna reward you for that sexy photo, Baby Girl. I'm gonna reward you with this," he rasped, pressing himself against you. His dick was rock hard, and now Bradley had to really try to focus on getting you away from the crowded sidewalk. 

You gasped as he bit you a little harder and then pulled you toward the Bronco. "I must admit, this got an even better reaction than I had anticipated." You were a bit breathless as you asked, "You like lingerie, huh, Roo?" 

Bradley opened the passenger door for you and buckled you in. He leaned in close, his lips gently skimming over yours, his mustache tickling you. He wasn't sure exactly how to describe the extent to which he liked lingerie. Or how much he liked seeing you in it. He had always been a visual creature, and seeing you in that black lace was like being presented with a pretty little gift to unwrap and enjoy. 

"I do, Sweetheart. I like it a lot. And I'm going to love fucking my girlfriend while she's wearing it."

He watched you squeeze your thighs together and suck in a breath as he tugged open the tie at the side of your dress. He watched the fabric fall open, exposing your lace covered tits. 

You tipped your head back and moaned, and Bradley was grateful that he had parked at the far end of the lot where it was quiet. "Let's get out of here," he managed, as he ran his fingers over your lace covered nipples making you whine.

Once he was in the driver's seat and pulling onto the main road, he felt a little bit more in control of the situation. Or at least he did until you reached over and gently squeezed him through his pants. His dick throbbed against your hand, and soon you were unbuttoning and unzipping. 

"Fuck, Baby Girl," was all he managed to say as your hand slipped inside his boxer briefs and you started gently stroking him. "You keep that up, and I'm gonna pull over and fuck you on the side of the road."

You pumped your hand around him harder and leaned closer. You licked his neck and whispered, "Promise?"

He hissed in a breath. The way you made him feel, how much you could turn him on... it was unbelievable. "You want me to, don't you?"

When Bradley only got a whimper in response, he quickly made a sharp right and headed for one of the bayside beaches that closed at sunset. He deftly steered his Bronco around one of the gates meant to keep people out at this time of night, and parked near the water. 

As soon as he turned the engine off, you were immediately in his lap. The front of your dress was fully open, and he ran his hands all over your body as you started to grind against him. 

He kissed you sweetly and yanked the strip of lace covering your core to one side. He gathered your arousal on his fingertips, and without any further warning, he started fucking you hard with two fingers. 

"Bradley!" you yelped as your head tipped back against the steering wheel, and you arched your chest toward him. He licked and nipped your breasts through the lace of the low cut bodysuit, nuzzling his nose between your tits. 

"You look so perfect like this, Sweetheart. Now climb into the backseat for me like a good girl."

When he withdrew his fingers, you did as you were told. You climbed carefully over the center console and spread yourself out along the seat on your back for him, your loose dress trailing behind you. 

Bradley hopped out of the driver's door and opened the one behind it, his hard dick hanging out of his dress pants bounced around as he moved. The sight of you bathed in moonlight and the little bit of glow from the Bronco's dome light would be burned into his brain for the rest of his life. You scooted yourself closer to the open door where he stood, and he quickly grabbed your hips and pulled you to him, until your lace covered pussy was rubbing his cock. 

You looked up at him and bit your lip as he ran his hands up and down both of your bare thighs. He took a few seconds to gently bend your knees and kiss your ankles just above your high heels before hiking your knees up over his shoulders.

"Think you can keep quiet? There are a few houses right over there," he said, nodding to his right. Bradley could see people moving around inside their lit up homes. He had no doubt that they would be able to see you if they decided to look outside in this direction. 

"I'll try," was all you managed to say before he yanked the lacy fabric to one side again, ran his fingers along your pussy and plunged his dick inside you. 

He fucked you hard and fast, figuring the entire night up to this point counted as foreplay. The slapping of his skin against yours spurred him on, as did the way you clamped your hands over your mouth to try and keep yourself quiet. 

"You're doing great," he groaned through clenched teeth, gripping your hips hard and pounding into you. Your breasts were bouncing so much, the bodysuit started to slip, revealing one perfect pink nipple. "Fuck, I love these tits." He leaned down and pulled it into his mouth, sucking hard. 

"Bradley!" you squealed, running your hands through his hair while he licked and sucked. 

He pounded into you harder, fucked you rougher. "You keep making that much noise, and someone's gonna hear us," he whispered against your ear. He pushed against you more until your knees were almost touching your shoulders. He slipped two of his fingers into your mouth and let you suck on them to keep you hushed. "That's better, Baby Girl. Gotta keep you quiet. I don't want anyone else seeing you like this, just me." 

You moaned around his fingers, and your pretty gaze met his. He knew how to make you come, and he kept his eyes on yours as he shifted slightly and rubbed against your clit with his pelvic bone while he fucked you. 

You started to shake and clench around him. "I know what you like, and I'll give it to you every single time, Sweetheart. Especially when you dress up just for me." 

You sucked and licked his fingers, squeaking and making obscene muffled sounds as you came. 

"Fuck, I'm there too," he told you, and his movements became shallow as he withdrew his fingers from your mouth. 

As you were moaning through the end of your orgasm, you started to push Bradley gently off of you. 

"Roo, come in my mouth, sexy, so we don't mess up the upholstery."

Bradley didn't need to be told twice. He pulled his cock out of your pussy, climbed on top of you on the seat and straddled your chest. You propped yourself up a little and opened your mouth wide for him, your pink tongue licking your lips as he groaned. You reached out, and with one pump of your fist along his messy length, he watched his cum hit your tongue, your lips, and the back of your throat. Then you pulled him closer and took him fully into your mouth, licking up every last bit of his cum and your wetness from him with the sweetest expression on your face. You kissed along his softening length and the top of his thigh, as you smiled up at him. Bradley watched you intently, the deep recesses of his mind registering the fact that he was absolutely going to marry you someday. 

"Did we just check off two kinks in one go?" you asked him as he eased his large body off of yours. 

"Huh?" God, he could barely think at the moment, could barely manage zipping up his pants and reaching down to pull you up. 

You climbed out of the back door and Bradley pulled you into his arms for a long kiss before wrapping your dress closed over your sexy lingerie. 

"Bradley, I think we may have just checked off your lingerie kink at the same time as my sex in public kink." You were grinning up at him. 

Bradley stroked his fingers along your cheek. "Yeah, I think we did. And the way you protected the Bronco's upholstery? I fucking love you. You know that right?"

You giggled as he walked you back to the passenger seat to buckle you in again.

"I love you too, Roo. Let's go back to my place."

Thanks for reading my smut!

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[callsign-magnolia]

Love In The Dark // Ch. 4

Mature Content 18+

Summary: Iris never realized how much she truly depended on her eyesight until it was gone. But it never really stopped her, just another hurdle to jump over in life. Depending on people was never something she got used to, she still attempts to do things herself. Eventually, her roommate and best friend let's her down, but a tall, sandy brown haired aviator catches her.

Rooster x Blind!OC

Warnings: angst, alcohol, deception? I think that's it, if I missed any let me know!

Word Count: 3.5k

Chapter 3 | Masterlist

As the night wore on Iris grew more comfortable with everyone. She just felt bad because Jake was inside away from his own party when he should be enjoying himself. “Hey Bradley?” She asked. He leaned over from his conversation with Bob and smiled at her. “Yeah?” He almost said it in her ear, his breath brushing her neck. Her mind went fuzzy for a second before she remembered she said his name. “I feel bad that Jake’s inside. It is his party.” Bradley smiled, her kindness striking him in a way he’s never felt before. “He’s just upset.” He noticed Iris’ face fall and he quickly spoke up. “Not with you. Jake feels kinda foolish for not seeing through Mandi’s words.” He said and Iris nodded. “I just hate that he’s not having fun with the rest of us.” She said. “Do you want me to go talk to him?” He asked and Iris sat still for a moment. He could tell the gears were turning in her head. “Would it help if I talked to him?” She didn’t seem too keen on the idea. “No, I can do it.” With that he stood, sliding his chair back under the table. “I’ll be right back. Need anything while I’m up?” He asked, leaning down next to her. “No, I’m good. Thank you, though.” She said, turning her head up to look at him. Bradley was startled by her actions, her nose so close to his and she never even knew it. “Then I’ll be back.” With that he walked into the house. Bradley looked around, not seeing Jake so he made his way up the stairs. He crept down the hallway till he got to Jake’s room. 

He peeked his head inside and saw Jake sitting on the edge with his head hung low. “You okay?” He asked and Jake lifted his head. Dismay was written all over his face and it shocked Bradley a little. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be fine.” He said. “I didn’t ask if you will be. I asked if you are now.” Jake took a deep breath, surprised by how abrupt Bradley was being. “I feel stupid.” Bradley nodded. “I can see why.” Jake glared at him. “She was so convincing, and then I made myself out to be a total ass to Iris.” Bradley chuckled. “Truth be told, I don’t think Iris actually blames you for that.” He said. “Don’t let it eat you up, Hangman.” Bradley said, getting ready to walk back downstairs. “Truth be told, and I can’t believe I’m saying this. You were too good for her anyway.” They both laughed as Bradley headed back downstairs. He made his way out the back door and chuckled to himself. "Coyote." Rooster said, staring at his friend and fighting the urge to chuckle. Iris was having an intense conversation with Phoenix and Bob, and poor Coyote was trying his best to offer her a drink. "Coyote, man. She can't see you. You're gonna have to tap her shoulder." Rooster said, and Coyote looked at him, brows furrowed. "Why?" Iris heard the entire conversation and chuckled to herself before turning around to face them. "Because I'm blind." Rooster laughed at the look of panic on Coyote's face. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't - " Iris just laughed at him, easing the panic in Coyote's chest. “It’s okay Coyote. I haven’t told you yet.” Iris said as she took the drink from him. “So am I the last to know?” He asked and Iris shook her head. “No, I think there’s one more person I haven’t told.” She said, trying to place who it was. “Mav. I don’t think we’ve mentioned it to him. Or Penny.” 

Iris realized that she hadn't actually told Penny, even though she may have figured it out. “I’ll tell them before it’s time to leave.” Iris said. The night went on and they she managed to tell Mav and Penny. “That explains a lot of things from today. But if you’re totally blind, why the sunglasses?” Mav asked. “The sun can still damage my eyes in ways I can’t notice, so I always make sure to wear them. Plus they can keep the skin around my eyes from wrinkling.” They nodded. Iris tried to hold back her yawn but it was no use, no one can really keep a yawn discreet. Rooster couldn’t help but smile at her as she took her sunglasses off and wiped the corner of her eyes. “Do you want to go?” He whispered to her and she couldn’t hold back her smile. “Are you ready to go?” She asked, not wanting to end his night early if he wasn’t ready. “I’m ready if you are.” He said, smiling at her as she turned to him. “Yeah.” He stood, gently taking her outstretched hand and helping her up. “Well we’re gonna go guys.” Bradley announced and everyone turned to face them. “I really enjoyed meeting you all.” Iris said, offering a wave. Phoenix stood and came over, slowly pulling Iris into a hug and she returned it. “We definitely have to get together sometime.” Iris smiled widely and nodded. “I’d love that.” She responded. “You can get my number from Rooster.” She nodded and everyone else came up to say goodbye before they walked into the house, passing Jake in the kitchen on their way out. “Leaving?” He asked, drying a glass. “Yeah.” Rooster said. “Thank you for the invite, Jake. even though the night kinda blew up.” He just gave Iris a tight smile and nodded. “You’re welcome, Iris.” 

Rooster led Iris outside and to his Bronco. “Careful.” He opened the door and helped her hop in. He stood and leaned over her, buckling her seatbelt for her. “I could’ve done that myself.” Iris said, a small smile on her face. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you do it yourself though?” She gave a small laugh as he closed her door gently, walking around and getting in on the driver’s side. Bradley backed out of Jake’s driveway, easing down the road. Iris had a wide smile on her face as he went down the road, the wind blowing through the Bronco had her hair whipping around. Maybe it was a good idea he took the roof off. Bradley turned up the radio, a station that plays mostly seventies and eighties and he was caught off guard as Iris started loudly singing. He couldn’t help but admire her for a moment before laughing and joining her. It wasn’t long before the sun went down and Bradley pulled into the driveway. He cut the Bronco off and sighed. “Mandi’s here.” He said and Iris just shrugged. “I don’t care. Everything is irreconcilable at this point. Our friendship has been going down the drain for a while and this was just the icing on the cake.” Bradley pursed his lips and nodded. “Want me to walk you in?” He asked and she flashed him a large tipsy smile. “Would you please?” He just chuckled and nodded. “Yes, I will.” He got out, coming around and helping her out. “Why don’t you come in for a minute? I’ll get you a water.” She smiled at him and he watched as she walked up onto the porch. He wasn’t thirsty in the slightest but he couldn’t say no. “Okay.” 

Iris punched in the code to the front door and stepped in. “Why don’t you have a seat on the couch and I’ll be back in a minute.” She turned and smiled at him and he agreed before closing the front door. As he turned back he saw Iris take a step and suddenly she was gone, a loud thud and a yelp replacing her physical presence. “Iris?!” He rushed over, finding her face down, attempting to push herself off the floor. “Iris.” He bent down next to her and watched as she lifted her hand to her face, blood covering it as she pulled it away. Immediately her body shook as she cried and Bradley could swear his heart split down the middle. “Oh, Iris.” He took her arm in his and attempted to help her off the floor. Thunderous footsteps shook the house as Mandi came down the stairs and started to laugh as she saw Iris. Bradley’s vision went red as he looked from Mandi out to the living room. “I know you know how to navigate the house but I never thought you’d run through here!” She laughed harder. “You rearranged all the furniture, Mandi! That’s a real shitty move.” Iris had calmed and shook herself free of bradley. “I want you OUT OF MY HOUSE!” Mandi jumped as Iris raised her voice. Mandi knew Iris could get angry but she had never been on the receiving end. “I’ll leave when I pack everything.” Bradley watched as Iris seethed. Even in the dark he could see her hands shaking and a vein in her neck standing out. What Bradley never expected was for Iris to lurch forward, reaching up the staircase and grabbing the back of Mandi’s hair. Bradley reached for her but before he could Iris had already pulled Mandi’s head back and punched her in the temple before letting go. Mandi stumbled back into the wall as Rooster gently laid his hands on Iris’ shoulders, her own hand reaching for his. “What the fuck?!” Mandi yelled, leaning against the wall to keep her balance.

“Get your shit and get the hell out! I don’t want to fucking hear you, and if I do you’re gonna wish all I did was hit you!” Bradley was startled by her reaction, even if it was valid. Mandi rushed upstairs and Bradley spoke up. “Iris.” She turned her head towards him. “Come on, I’ll help you get cleaned up.” Iris stood there for a second, thinking about how she didn’t need his help. But her eyes softened when she realized it wasn’t because he felt obligated, he simply wanted to. “Okay.” He took her arm, leading her to the kitchen. Iris immediately stuck her arm out, feeling around to make sure nothing else was moved in her way. “Is it okay if I help you up on the counter?” Bradley asked and Iris nodded. “Yeah.” Iris turned her back to the counter and Bradley lifted her to sit on it. “Stay there.” Bradley walked away and got a paper towel, soaking it under the faucet before coming back. “Sit still.” Bradley brought his hand up, resting it on the side of her neck before bringing the paper towel up and gently wiping under her nose. They sat in silence as Bradley cleaned her up, making sure there was no blood to be found on her face. When Bradley was done he looked up seeing the tears streaming out of her eyes. Her hands clenched the counter, knuckles white from her grip. “Iris-” “Sorry.” She said, wiping her eyes. “It’s ridiculous I know.” Bradley furrowed his brows. “It’s not ridiculous. It’s completely understandable.” His words made her cry again. Bradley grabbed her arms, slowly pulling her into a hug before she latched onto him. The contact immediately sent her into sobs. Bradley held her for a while, rubbing her back and rocking side to side till she calmed down. 

Mandi grabbed everything she could, setting it all on the couch and coffee table before moving it to her car. Bradley held on to Iris and listened to Mandi’s every move, making sure she only took what was hers and nothing else. Once she was done she walked into the kitchen, slamming her key on the counter. “Here’s your fucking key.” She started out the door and Bradley wanted to yell at her, tell her how big of a bitch she was, but it wouldn’t change anything and he couldn’t let go of Iris in her state. Bradley listened to Mandi’s footsteps listening to her leave and once she did, he turned all his attention to Iris. She continued to cry and Bradley felt for her, not knowing how this situation would truly impact her. After a few moments her crying calmed and she pulled away, wiping her eyes. “I’m sorry, Bradley. I shouldn’t have clung to you like that.” He shook his head, gently grabbing her arms. “Don’t apologize, Iris. This is stressful, I get it.” She sighed, hanging her head low. “Is she actually gone?” Bradley raised a brow and looked towards the dining room. “Sit here and I’ll go look.” She nodded and Bradley walked out, making sure all of Mandi’s stuff was gone and when he peeked out the front window, he saw her car was gone. 

“Yeah, she’s gone.” He said as he walked back into the kitchen. Iris nodded, slowly sliding off the counter. “Thank you for your help Bradley. It means a lot to me.” He nodded. “Do you need my help with anything before I leave?” She shook her head. “Uh no, I think I’m good. Thank you though.” She walked with Bradley towards the front door, hands out in front of her to feel for the furniture. “Do you want my help moving the furniture back?” She shook her head. “No, I’ll get used to it soon.” Bradley furrowed his brows. “Are you sure? I’d hate to leave you with this mess.” She nodded as Bradley opened the front door and she grabbed it. “I’m sure, Bradley. Thank you.” He stepped out onto the front porch as he smiled at her. “Goodnight, Iris.” She gave him a small smile back. “Goodnight, Bradley.” With that she closed the door gently and locked it, and once again Bradley waited till he heard the door lock before walking back to his Bronco. Iris sighed and leaned her head against the door.

 After the drinks she’s had she was sleepy and her nose was still throbbing. She wouldn’t be surprised if it was broken, but Bradley probably would’ve noticed if it was. Iris turned out of the foyer and immediately put her hands out in front of her, slowly walking around the furniture. She bumped into the love seat and a table before she made it to the stairs. Walking upstairs she walked to her bedroom and entered slowly, worried Mandi moved some stuff around in there too. Thankfully it was all the same so she gathered some pajamas for after her shower. The warm water eased her muscles and relaxed her body. Once she got out she changed and crawled into bed. “Alexa, what’s my alarm?” She asked. “You have one alarm at five a.m. and another at six a.m.” She nodded, sliding down into her bed. Everything played through her mind and tears flowed from her eyes. Iris had never been alone for more than a few days before. Now she was alone permanently and the thought was terrifying. A million things could go wrong and she’d be alone and vulnerable. Someone could break in, a fire could start in her kitchen. The thought alone scared her so she got up, making her way downstairs and to the kitchen. She hovered her hand over the stove eyes, making sure she felt no heat and touched the dials, making sure they were all pointed to off before taking a deep breath and going back upstairs. She laid down again, facing the window, moonlight showing on her face. “I’m gonna be okay. Mama always says I’ll figure it out, so I’ll figure it out.” With that she drifted off. 

Iris spent the next few days navigating and learning her living room all over again. Emily would pick her up for work, she’d come home and slowly walk around, figuring everything out. “Are you okay here alone?” Em asked as she helped Iris carry her groceries inside. “Yeah, I’m still adjusting to being alone, but I’ll get used to it.” They set the bags on the counter as Iris started unloading it all. “I’ll go get the rest.” Em said, walking out. Iris left out a bag of ramen for dinner before finishing up. “I can hang around for a while if you want.” Emily said once everything was put away. Iris gave her a small smile. “Thanks, Em. But I’m about to shower and then eat dinner.” Truth be told Iris just wanted to be alone. “Are you sure?” She nodded. “I’m sure. I’m really tired so after I eat I’m just gonna go to bed. I haven’t been sleeping well.” Emily nodded but eyed Iris anyway. “Well, call if you need me. I’ll be over in a heartbeat.” Iris nodded, pulling Emily into a tight hug. “I will, Em. Thank you.” Emily left and Iris did as she said, shower, eat then bed. When she woke up the next morning, the motivation to get up was not there, so she called Emily.

It's been weeks since Mandi moved out, and Iris felt an emptiness in the house she never knew could exist. It was quiet, the kind of quiet that could drive you mad. Iris was still so angry with Mandi, but she also mourned the loss of the friendship they had. Iris hadn’t properly been to work in a while, working the sporadic day here and there before not going for a while. “Good morning!” Emily was always so chirpy in the morning, Iris thought as she laid in her bed. “Hey, Em. Listen, I'm not going in for the next few days. I’m not feeling the best.” Emily furrowed her brows as she pulled her son from his high chair. “Are you okay? Do I need to take you to the doctor?” Iris shook her head and rolled onto her back. “No, I’m just not feeling myself. I think I just need a little time. We don’t have any meetings till next week, but if you need me feel free to call.” Emily nodded but worry settled. “You call me too if you need me.” Iris nodded at her words. “I will.” With that they said goodbye and hung up.  Iris sat on the couch, blanket wrapped around her as she just thought about everything. 

Her doorbell went off, and it tore her from her thoughts. She grabbed her phone, found her ring app, and pulled it up. "Who is it?" She asked. "It's Bradley. I just wanted to check on you." She cracked a small smile at the sound of his voice. She used the app to unlock the door. "It's open." He immediately stepped inside, locking the door behind him before stepping into the living room from the foyer. Iris just sat on the couch, and he just observed her for a minute. Her hair was up in a bun, and her bare legs stuck out from under the blanket she had wrapped around her. The room was dark. No blinds open, no lights on, no sound going. The room was an open expression of how Iris felt. "Hi." She said, and Bradley gave a small smile. "Hi." He responded, walking closer. "So what brings you to this side of town?" She asked, and he shrugged, sitting on the coffee table in front of her. The scent of his cologne and jet fuel invaded her senses, and it was a heavenly smell to her. "I just wanted to check on you. I've hardly heard from you, but I also haven't reached out much, and I'm sorry for that." She shook her head. "It's not your responsibility to check in on me, Bradley." He chuckled. "It's not. But I want to." She gave a half smile, nodding and keeping her head down. "How long have you been sitting like this?” Iris shrugged. “What day is it?” She asked. “Friday.” Her face fell. “Four days.” Bradley’s eyebrows shot up, concern lacing his features. “When was the last time you ate?” He asked. “This morning.” He was relieved to know she hadn’t just stopped eating. 

“Well, are you hungry now?” Iris blushed as her stomach rumbled. “A little.” Rooster smiled. “So am I. Would you wanna join me for dinner?” Iris furrowed her brows. “I appreciate the offer Rooster but I’m sure you can tell, I’m a train wreck.” A very cute train wreck. He thought. “I’m still in my flight suit, my hair is messed up from my helmet and I'm sure you’ve noticed but I reek of jet fuel. We can look like train wrecks together.” Iris fought back tears at his words. “Where would we even go?” She asked him and he smiled. “You like burgers?” He asked and Iris smiled. “Love them.” Rooster couldn’t help but do a little dance in his spot on the coffee table. “I know this great burger place on the beach, you up for it?” Iris thought to herself. She knew it wouldn’t hurt, it would probably do her some good but the thought of actually leaving the house in this state sucked. But her stomach ratted her out, growling again but twice as loud this time. “Okay, I’ll take you up on that offer.” Rooster grinned, gently taking her hand in his. “Then let’s go. I don’t want your stomach eating itself.” Iris laughed loudly as he helped her up. “You’re hilarious.”

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

Taglist: @roosterforme @mygyn @kmc1989 @briseisgone @lyn-js @shanimallina87 @dizzybee03 @lilylilyyyyyy @a-court-of-roscoe-and-baby @jessicab1991 @hu-dk

[tip-top-cloud-surfer]

The Daggers and Their (Secret) Kids

Word Count: 3.9k in total (About 0.5k per Dagger)

Summary: Headcanons about the families that the seven Daggers could have had going into TGM with, since there's nothing about their families mentioned in the movie.

Warnings: Pregnancy, Various Family Dynamics (Extra Warnings and Title Above Each Dagger; Read Them Before Proceeding), No Use of Y/N or "You", All Third Person POV, Kids are named but Partners are not, No Description about Partner's Appearances

Specific Warnings:

Rooster - Teen Pregnancy and Divorce

Phoenix - Referenced Minor Character Death

Bob - Infertility

Coyote - G-LOC Incident Referenced

Fanboy - Strained Relationship and Single Parenting

This work, all of my other works, and my entire blog are 18+ Only.

Master List

Rooster [Co-Parenting] [CW: Teen Pregnancy, Divorce]

Rooster has one son, who he named Nick after his dad

When he was eighteen and angry because Maverick pulled his papers, he ran to his high school girlfriend for comfort. They took a camping trip together to let off steam. And nine months later, Nick was born.

Rooster knew that he was in deep shit, especially because his girlfriend’s parents became outwardly hostile towards him after finding out about the pregnancy. So, he quickly enlisted in the Navy and they got married for the benefits.

It wasn’t a happy marriage. The stress of being teen parents and the separation because of Rooster’s job sapped out any of the affection that they had for each other. It was a marriage of duty and convenience, which became apparent whenever they were actually together. Rooster’s wife stayed close to her parents to have help with Nick. Rooster didn’t love being far away from his son, but he knew that the arrangement was best for Nick.

Their marriage lasted about six years. It was a tense but relatively amicable divorce. Rooster’s now ex-wife got primary custody since he was active-duty and Rooster never missed a child support payment. He usually paid more than he was mandated since he felt guilty that he wasn’t there for his son like he wanted to be.

Despite the distance and the divorce, after a few years of time apart and some personal growth, Rooster and his ex-wife developed a strong co-parenting relationship. He even attended her second wedding. Rooster is in constant communication with her and Nick, though he rarely brings up his son or divorce to his fellow aviators.  

Nick has a great relationship with Phoenix. She’s really the only person from his dad’s side of the family that he has ever met and he looks up to her. They email and text regularly, usually when Nick needs advice and he doesn’t want to ask his parents. Like when he needed advice on how to ask a girl out. Phoenix sent him step-by-step instructions and the girl said ‘yes.’ Rooster still doesn’t know about that.

Maverick knows about Nick, but never had the chance to meet him. He’s friends with Nick’s mom on Facebook and regularly prints out photos of Nick for his wall of memories. Especially the baby photos because that was the most painful time of the whole process. Maverick reached out to Bradley when he found out about Nick, but Rooster never returned his calls. So, Maverick settled for the photos, even if it killed him on the inside.

However, after the mission, Rooster brings Maverick to meet Nick for the first time.

They spend a weekend all together up at the hangar. Nick sees the old photos of Goose and Carole and asks Maverick for stories about them. Maverick takes Nick up in the P-51 and Rooster nearly has a heart attack after watching Maverick pull aerobatics with Nick. Rooster makes Nick swear to not tell his mom about that. Or the stunts that they were pulling on the Kawasaki. Rooster finds a patch of grey hair on his head after that weekend.

Hangman [Girl Dad]

Hangman, to everyone’s shock, is actually married with three little girls.

He met his wife while visiting his brother at UT Austin and they quickly fell in love. They were long-distance for most of their relationship before their engagement, which came with its own challenges, but they made it work.

They got married after Hangman graduated from flight school and moved out to Lemoore together. The first years of their marriage were difficult, to be sure. But they were very good with communicating and still very much in love with each other. Anyone who saw them knew instantly that they were soulmates. And most people were impressed that anyone could rein in Hangman so successfully.

After Jake went to Top Gun, they decided to start trying for a baby. Within a year, Jake’s wife got pregnant and delivered a healthy baby girl that they named Meira, which means ‘light.’ Jake missed the birth and still, to this day, beats himself up about that. It was actually the deployment that he got his air-to-air. While everyone else was congratulating him, he was in a silent, personal hell about it. He was pretty sure that he never cried harder in his life.

When he got home, he didn’t put his daughter down for seven hours. His wife had to convince him that he had to go to bed and that Meira would sleep better in the crib. He disagreed, but he listened to his wife.

Every second that he’s home, he’s spending it with his family. There’s nothing more important to him than them. He doesn’t tell anyone that he doesn’t trust about them. Coyote, however, is always around the Seresin house. Meira has a coyote stuffed animal from him that she absolutely adores. Coyote insists that he’s her favorite uncle.

When Meira turns two, Hangman’s wife finds out that she’s pregnant again. And this time . . . it’s twins. She finds out while Jake is deployed and manages to get him on a personal phone call while he’s docked in Japan. Jake is shocked before making a sly comment about his virility. His wife warns him against making jokes like that when she’s around.

He makes it back in time for the twins’ birth. Evelyn was born first and Delilah was born three minutes later. They looked identical and Jake swore that he was going to mix them up and forever ruin their lives, but the doctors assured them that a lot of newborns look the same. With time, the twins’ features came in more and it was easier to tell apart.

After the twins were born, his wife sets up a vasectomy appointment for him. And even though he goes ghost white when she tells him, he goes through with it. After watching the twins’ delivery, he knows that he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Coyote took a very hilarious video of Jake waddling out of the office after the operation, holding ice to his balls.

After the mission, when Meira is about three and the twins are a few months shy of one, Hangman introduces them to the Daggers. Everyone, save for Coyote, is absolutely shocked. But Jake is simply smug and proud of his little family.

Meira makes fun of Rooster’s mustache. Jake had never been prouder.

Phoenix [Aunt Turned Mom] [CW: Minor Character Death]

Phoenix’s ‘child’ wasn’t actually her biological child

Her older brother Oliver had a baby girl named Riley. However, after a car accident, Riley was orphaned at the age of two. Phoenix’s parents got primary custody of Riley and Phoenix stepped up to try and be there for her niece as well as she could. She wasn’t exactly a maternal figure and she knew that, but she wanted Riley to know that she was loved.

She sent Riley a postcard from wherever she was stationed and always bought her niece the funniest most-tourist-trap-like nick-nack that she could find in whatever port or town she was stationed. Phoenix’s dad eventually built Riley a display case for them. The postcards are all protected in a box in the display case as well

Phoenix doesn’t talk about Riley with anyone. Frankly, it’s hard enough seeing her brother’s face on the little girl that had to grow up without him and she doesn’t want to delve into that with anyone that’s not her family or a therapist. It took a long time for Phoenix to even approach the subject with Rooster, but he wasn’t shocked that she would want to hide something like that.

Rooster met Riley once. They got along well and Riley liked riding around in the Bronco with the top down. Rooster sends her a postcard once in a while, knowing that it means a lot to Riley to receive things like that.

After the mission, Phoenix opens up about her niece to the Daggers. Riley meets them at the ceremony for the mission and takes a quick liking to Bob and Fanboy. After that, every Dagger member starts sending occasional postcards to Riley. She has to get another box for all of them but she’s more than giddy whenever she receives one.

Bob [Adoption] [CW: Infertility]

Bob married his high school sweetheart and has a little girl

They got married after surviving college together and Bob is absolutely enamored with his wife. He knows that she makes a lot of sacrifices for him and his career. So, he always tries to send her flowers and little gifts whenever he can just to let her know that he’s thinking of her. Their relationship is very much healthy and loving.

They started trying for a baby relatively early in their marriage but it didn’t happen. Bob always felt horrible whenever his wife pulled out a negative pregnancy test and was very clearly trying to hold it together for the both of them. They saw specialists and tried various treatments, but it just didn’t happen.

And so, after some counseling and discussing their options, they decided to adopt. Bob’s wife was emotionally exhausted from trying and Bob didn’t want to push her. It didn’t stop him from sobbing about the fact that he couldn’t give his wife the life that she wanted, but after some more counseling, they were prepared to adopt a baby.

About a year later, they adopted a little girl that they named Layla. Bob and his wife fell in love with her the second that they met her. They both sobbed so hard when they finally signed all of the papers and Layla officially joined the Floyd family. They were finally parents and they were going to be the best goddamn parents for little Layla.

Bob was home for the first four months and spent every second that he could with Layla, knowing that at some point he would have to leave her. He was always on hand for a diaper change or a feeding. He’s just so happy about being a dad and his wife being a mom that there’s nothing that could bring his mood down in those days.

Layla quickly grew into a little daddy’s girl and her favorite pastime is trying to steal or mess with Bob’s glasses. Bob’s wife made a comment that Bob needed to be better about saying ���no’ to her before Layla grew up. Bob agrees, but there’s also nothing in the world that he wouldn’t do for his little princess. When Layla calls him ‘dada’ over the phone for the first time, Bob cried for at least ten minutes.

It was horrible to be away from his girls, but somehow Bob managed. He’s the type of dad to show literally everyone a photo of his daughter and his wife and give them a random update that the random person definitely did not ask for. But he’s just too damn cute when he’s bragging about how beautiful his daughter is that everyone lets it slide.

Bob always has a photo of his family in his flight suit. He treats it like a good luck charm. The one that he usually keeps in his flight suit has a note from his wife written on the back and a paint handprint from Layla, just to add to the support.

Around the time of the mission, Bob and his wife were well into the process of adopting another child. Both Bob and his wife came from big families and they wanted the same for their own family. They, at the very least, wanted to have two babies.

After the mission, Bob’s wife and daughter came out to visit him. And while they’re all having a great time out at the beach, Bob’s wife gets the call that their second child is waiting for them. The Daggers all celebrate the addition to the Floyd family and offer to watch Layla while the Floyds rush to bring their second daughter home.

Coyote [Boy Dad] [CW: Mentions of the G-LOC Incident]

Coyote has a pregnant wife and a little boy waiting for him back home.

Coyote met his wife through the Navy. She was a no-nonsense nurse that most ensigns secretly feared pissing off, but not Coyote. He asked her out and she declined him the first time, which Coyote respected and backed off. When they ended up seated at the same table at a mutual friend’s wedding six months later, however, Coyote tried his luck again. She agreed that time.

Their relationship progressed slowly, since they were both dedicated to their respective careers, but when they were both stationed in Virginia Beach for a continuous eight-month period, it quickly picked up.

While some people referred to his now wife as an ‘ice queen,’ Coyote just knew that she cared about getting the job done. And after seeing thousands of injuries and hearing bullshit responses that were covering up what really happened, she quickly grew tired. But when she was around him, she instantly warmed up. It was like night and day.

She got the shovel talk from Hangman without Coyote’s knowledge. She then proceeded to give Hangman her own shovel talk. They called a truce after that.

At the end of the continuous eight months and right before he shipped out to the middle of the Pacific, Coyote proposed to her. And she, of course, agreed. He was deployed for six months and right after he returned, they went straight to the courthouse to get married. There wasn’t a need for any pomp or circumstance. They loved each other and that was all that mattered. Hangman was their witness.

Their first child, a boy named Gabriel or Gabby as they called him, may or may not have been conceived during their short honeymoon. Coyote tried everything that he could to be there for his son’s birth but his deployment got extended and he couldn’t be there. Hangman actually stepped up and drove Coyote’s wife to the hospital when her water broke but he let other people help her during the actual delivery process.

Coyote returned home a month later and absolutely sobbed when he met his son for the first time. His wife had never seen him cry so hard and supported him through the moment. It didn’t take any conversation for anyone to see that Coyote was devastated that he missed his son’s birth. But he tried to make up for it as best he could.

Gabby was Coyote’s twin in both personality and appearance. Coyote’s mom brought over old photos of him as a baby and Coyote’s wife did at least fifteen double takes. Gabby was a daddy’s boy, which annoyed Coyote’s wife just a bit, but she was also happy to have such a clear reminder of her husband when he was deployed.

The first deployment after Gabby’s birth was horrible. But it was the deployment that Gabby understood that Coyote was leaving that absolutely killed Coyote. Gabby was screaming and crying and refused to let go of Coyote. It was a whole mess and Coyote tried to not break down in front of his son because he knew that it would only make everything worse. His CO told him to take a moment before getting in the cockpit and Coyote quickly agreed.

Around the time of the mission, Coyote’s wife was five months pregnant with their second son. Coyote tried to not think about it too much when he was in the air but after the G-LOC incident, he broke down to Hangman about it. When he calmed down a bit, Coyote called his wife and stayed on the phone with her for hours. He didn’t want to freak her out or put more burdens on her, but she could tell with one look that he was struggling.

After the mission, she came out to visit him with Gabby. Coyote was never not by her side or without Gabby in his arms. He was so clearly a loving family man that Maverick used one of his few favors with the brass to make sure that Coyote was there for his second son’s birth. And Coyote was right there in the delivery room and through the whole process.

Fanboy [Single Dad] [CW: Strained Relationships]

Fanboy is a single dad to a little girl named Natalia, or Lia as he called her.

He was in a relationship with Lia’s mom at the time that Lia was born but while he was deployed on time, Lia’s mom dropped Lia off at Fanboy’s parents’ house, told them that she couldn’t be a mom anymore and it just wasn’t the life that she wanted, and left. Fanboy’s mom eventually managed to get a call out to him and explained the situation.

On one hand, Fanboy was pissed that Lia’s mom never told him that she felt that way about being a mom. He felt completely blindsided and felt that they could have discussed options and tried to make it work before she just dropped Lia and ran. But he was at least thankful that Lia’s mom dropped her off in a safe location and cooperated with the custody proceedings. After the papers were signed, Lia’s mom left and Fanboy assumed that he would never see her again.

He made his peace with the situation and simply focused on being the best dad for Lia.

Lia lived with Fanboy’s parents when he was deployed. She was a happy child, not unlike her dad, and Fanboy was always devastated when he had to leave her behind. Any opportunity that he had, he was writing emails or on the phone with her. He has a tattoo of Lia’s name and her birthday on his chest, above his heart.

Payback is super supportive of Fanboy and Lia’s favorite uncle. She always asks Payback for piggy back rides because he’s so tall and she claims that she feels like she’s flying when she’s up on his back or his shoulders.

Fanboy doesn’t hide the fact that he’s a single dad but he’s also not shouting the fact from the rooftops. He’s gotten some flack and comments for being a single dad in the past that just rubbed him the wrong way and so he’s cautious about bringing that up. He’s open about it with anyone that he’s dating because he’s not willing to compromise on his daughter. But he’s mostly just focusing on being a dad to Lia and his career. When his life got less stressful and chaotic, he could start searching again for a partner.

Fanboy is super protective over his daughter and tries to shield her from the world perhaps more than he should. He doesn’t talk about her mom in a negative light, mostly because he doesn’t want Lia to grow up with his residual anger and frustration. He would be honest with her about the situation when she was old enough to understand the circumstances, but otherwise, he just didn’t talk about her mom with her.

After the mission, Fanboy’s parents bring Lia to visit him. Payback and Phoenix already knew about her and he told Bob about her, but everyone else was mildly shocked. They were all super supportive of him and Fanboy really appreciated that. Lia enjoyed all of the attention that she was showered with from the Daggers. She asked just about everyone for a piggy back ride and no one could say no to her.

Lia’s personal hero became Phoenix after about five minutes around the pilot. And Fanboy started to do Lia’s hair like Phoenix’s (in a service bun) on a regular basis as a result.

Payback [Step-Dad]

Payback was a husband and a father to a boy and a girl.

His eldest, Benny, was technically his step-son. But Payback wouldn’t tolerate any insinuation that Benny was any less of his son. He was a father to two kids. Not one. Not one and a half. Not one and three-quarters. A dad of two. And he wasn’t afraid to correct people on that.

When Payback met his now wife, she was upfront with him that she had a son from a previous relationship. Benny’s dad wasn’t involved and Payback’s now wife was very upfront that her son came first and that if he was uncomfortable with that, then they should see other people.

Six months later, Payback met Benny for the first time.

At the time, Benny was six-years-old. Payback told him all kinds of stories about the missions that he flew on and took Benny to a Blue Angels airshow. It wasn’t always easy to connect with Benny since some of his interests weren’t anywhere near what Payback was familiar with, but Payback took the time to learn and reach out to Benny and they had a strong bond.

A year and a half later, Payback proposed to his now wife and they married seven months later when Payback returned from deployment. Benny was the best man. Payback had vows to Benny as well and his wife absolutely started bawling during the exchange.

Payback moved his family out to Lemoore and made sure to take time to check in with Benny about his new school and his new surroundings. Payback never wanted to feel like Benny couldn’t come to him with any kinds of concerns.

And after watching Payback with Benny for so long, Payback’s wife quickly suggested having another baby after they moved to Lemoore. About two years later, Emily Fitch was born. Payback was there for her birth and did well in the delivery room. Fanboy started a bet that Payback would pass out, but Payback was very proud to prove his WSO wrong.

Benny took an immediate liking to his baby sister and there was enough of an age gap between them that Benny seemed to understand well enough that he wasn’t being replaced. And just in case, Payback and his wife made sure to have separate days and events with Benny to assure him that Emily was not any kind of replacement for him.

Benny emailed Payback just about every day while he was deployed and Payback’s wife sent separate emails with photos and videos. Payback has a photo from the hospital with his family of four taped to the inside of his cockpit.

Fanboy and Benny get along well. Payback jokes that it’s because they have the same level of emotional intelligence. It’s mostly because Fanboy and Benny enjoy playing video games together. Benny always challenges Fanboy to Mario Kart races and makes bets on it. Payback’s wife gave Payback a telling off about that, since she didn’t need Benny continuously making bad bets on everything.

At the time of the mission, Payback doesn’t hide the fact that he has a family back home. Fanboy and Phoenix are already aware and everyone else figures it out. After the mission, Payback talks to Maverick about retiring and Maverick gets him in contact with Slider, who is a commercial airline pilot. Two years after the mission, Payback leaves the Navy to bring more stability to his family, which is now nearly a family of five since his wife is pregnant again.

[positivelybeastly]

Hi, new here, but very interested in what you've got going on-- I don't know a lot of active X-Men readers I can discuss things with, let alone any who are actually interested in Beast, so I wanted to ask, how do you feel about the writing for him over the last decade, taking into account the awkward situation X-Men as a whole has been in over that time (Schism+) but particularly, I suppose, how his character's been treated from then through Krakoa, and this "fresh start" we've got with From the Ashes not having memory of... really this entire time period highlighted?

Hello there, welcome! Hope you enjoy the experience, because it's liable to be a rambly one.

So . . . man, this is gonna be a long one, because I actually have to dial it back a little further and talk about Beast on Utopia if I'm going to talk about Schism and everything that came after.

I don't like Matt Fraction's X-Men run. Aside from the Greg Land art, which is an obvious problem, I'm not massively in love with what I kind of end up reading as a justification for black ops kill teams and militant, isolationist statehood, to say nothing of just. Poor pacing and messy storytelling and a lot of really confused storylines that just feel weird and jarring and full of really strange character choices.

I think that Fraction did mean for his run to be more critical, that when you read Hank and Scott arguing about preserving the soul of the X-Men vs. saving mutant lives, you're meant to come away conflicted, but I think that Fraction's Hank just kinda sucks and that he comes across as very whiney and self-centred.

Like, in the end, I don't think that a lot of what Cyclops did in this era, a lot of morally repugnant shit, actually really cost him anything, because history validated him and he was elevated to whatever the big general position was on Krakoa.

It wasn't a great feeling to see the guy who literally, textually abandoned members of his teams to torture, used bioweapons as a first resort, and basically told a kid to just kill people to solve the problem, have all of his actions be whitewashed and ignored post-Schism.

Like, Bendis' Uncanny and All-New act like the only bad thing Scott ever did was kill Charles Xavier while under the influence of the Phoenix, and I'm just over here like, nnnnnno he did a lot of bad things before that, very much in his right mind, and he never paid for any of that. He got to be the black ops kill team leader and the saintly revolutionary, and I don't think that the narrative really interrogated that contradiction all that much, it was just #CyclopsWasRight.

With that context . . .

I don't have a problem with Hank being a conscientious objector and leaving the X-Men. He's done it before, and I think he was right to do it, and it fits his character.

That being said, he was then pushed straight on to the Secret Avengers, which was, while not a kill team, very much a black ops, deniable operations organisation with team members who did kill people, and while I like some of the stories from his time with the Secret Avengers, overall, I think it was an intensely stupid move that made him look like a massive hypocrite and damaged his credibility, making it look less like he was taking a moral stand and more like he just didn't like Scott.

Which is a bad thing!!! Hank loves Scott! They've been best friends since fucking forever! Not only do you damage Hank's character by doing that, but you also reduce what was a moral conflict with nuance and dimension down to petty bullshit! It's a disservice to both characters! God!! It frustrates me SO MUCH when this conflict is boiled down to that!

God forbid that these characters actually stand for something and have actual intellectual, moral problems with one another that they can have compelling conversations about, why not let's just make them petty assholes who snipe at each other for drama?

You can do this conflict and make it good! It's possible! I promise!

This is what Schism should have really been about! And Hank was, at least before the dumb move to push him to the Secret Avengers, a character with moral legitimacy who could have made Schism work! I think there's a lot of mileage to the idea that Wolverine has progressed to the point where he wants to protect people from violence, where he wants to save kids from being turned into weapons like he was, but that's a personal motivation, and it's really, really, really hard for him to have the moral high ground.

But, in the end, Wolverine sells comics, not Beast, so Wolverine became the figurehead of the less militant side of the X-Men comics. Fine. Okay, we'll deal with it.

Wolverine and the X-Men is . . . good. It has problems, but on the whole, I like it more than a lot of what came after. I especially like Jason Aaron's moves to keep Hank and Abigail together, as well as fold Broo into a growing family unit. That's a good progression for his character, and it makes sense.

Then there's Avengers vs. X-Men, and it's. Like. Garbage, but. Whatever. I do appreciate that Hank is at least occasionally in character during it.

But then we come to All-New X-Men, and I just . . . ughhhhh.

UGHHHHHHH.

I hate it, man. I hate it. I hate Bendis' bullshit garbage characterisation of Hank McCoy, and I hold it directly responsible for everything that came after it, because it functionally replaced his prior characterisation.

Hank is a character obsessed with consequences in the 00s, he's obsessed with making the right choice, he's already learned that there's only so much that he can do to fix the world. Endangered Species (which I think is an amazing Hank story) shows us that Hank will only go so far, and that, honestly, in the grand scheme of things, he will stop himself.

And then Bendis was just like, well, fuck all that bullshit, Hank blew up the space-time continuum because he doesn't like Scott Summers.

And I hate it.

It would be one thing, if Bendis were actually interested in Hank as a character, if he was willing to examine his character and his choices and his reasons and his personality, but he isn't. He flits in and out of All-New as and when required, to be castigated for a decision made while he was dying, depressed, and dealing with multiple brain aneurysms. Ostensibly, we're meant to buy that Xavier's death was the tipping point, but we don't even see Hank react to it. It's not considered important.

Hank's grief, Hank's isolation, Hank's horror, all of it is just ignored.

There's no real emotional dimension here, there's no 'what is Beast thinking, why is he doing this, let's have him talk with characters that are his friends and try to work out where he's at mentally,' because Bendis doesn't care. "Why is Beast like this? He just is. He's just a morally hypocritical asshole who judges other people and does things without thinking." He just makes Hank look like a goddamn lunatic, and it all culminates in this.

I just. I fucking hate this issue, man. It's a long, excruciating character assassination that casually wrecks Hank's long running relationship with Abigail Brand, torches his legitimacy as an intellectual or moral individual, and portrays him as a sad, lonely old man who might as well just leave because no-one actually wants him around. It's fucking galling.

Hank just straight up would not wreck the space-time continuum to teach Scott Summers a lesson. He just wouldn't. I fundamentally reject the premise. I reject it just as much as I reject the shitty attempts to make Hank/Jean Grey a pairing.

I reject the idea that Hank is a loose cannon with no regard for rules or others, who just believes in his own moral authority and says fuck everyone else, I do what I want. That is NOT who he is, and I really do just have to wonder what everyone was smoking that no-one looked at this and went, wait, when did Hank change into this? Everyone just accepted it.

It really does just feel like people got tired of Hank complaining on Utopia, so when it came time to pile on the blame for all the problems that happened after it, no-one really cared when it all became Hank's fault. No-one was willing to point out that Bendis' characterisation of Hank doesn't make sense.

Does Hank hate Scott? Why? "He's going to cause a mutant genocide" = based on what? "He killed Charles Xavier" = under the influence of a cosmic force. I don't understand these characterisation choices. Hank knows Scott better than this.

Bendis just. Does not like Hank McCoy. I really can't come up with another explanation for why he went out of his way to do two bumper issues, All-New X-Men #25 and Uncanny X-Men #600, that are just a round robin of everyone telling him that they hate him and that he sucks and he should go die.

There are glimmers of better characterisation during this period.

Jonathan Hickman's New Avengers is - complex, and you'll often hear people gesture to that as the point at which Hank became full on amoral, but I reject that hypothesis entirely. It's a conclusion come to by people who haven't actually read it.

Hank spends most of that series being wracked with guilt, trying desperately to find another way to solve the problem that doesn't involve blowing up planets, and refusing to take a life. Which tracks with Hickman's characterisation of Beast.

"Broken him." Implying that it's not his natural state, and that there are other factors are at play. This is important to keep in mind.

For most of this time period, Hank is in a very rocky state. He's not quite with the X-Men, he's not quite with the Avengers, he's got a reputation for being a chronic screw-up, people regard him as unstable, and yet they'll still call on him to fix their problems for them.

Like, the amount of times that the X-Men call on him to help them, despite the fact that he left after their failed, garbage intervention, and he still goes back to them, is just so very tiring. Either the X-Men should stop relying on someone that they seem not to like or trust, or Hank should stop going back to a 'family' that seems not to value him or have his best intentions in mind. The halfway house they settle into is just weird and inconsistent.

Like, which is it? Do you guys actually want him around or not? Because you're kind of being massive assholes to a guy who primarily wants to help. And we're meant to be knee deep in his turn towards moral ambiguity by now, but he's still just kinda being a good dude!

Anyone who tells you that Beast's moral downfall has been a consistent slide since Threnody is a fraud, because there is nothing consistent about this period of history for Beast.

If these panels show you anything, it's that there are two Beasts running around - a guy who makes problems for other people to solve because he's an idiot, and actual Beast, who occasionally makes mistakes, but who has pure intentions, a good heart, a joke at the ready, and he's fundamentally a nice person. It's getting to be impossible to tell which one is going to turn up to your story.

The only really good writing comes in fits and spurts, and usually when he's under the care of a writer who seems to have some affection for him. Especially if Simon Williams is around.

Whenever I write this version of Hank, his tag is getting by, because it feels like his life is just perpetually on the skids and there's no real rhyme or reason as to why. He just oscillates between two extremes as and when the story wants him to be an asshole or not. Even he seems confused as to what's going on.

And then we get to Krakoa, and . . .

It's just fundamentally not the same character. It's not even the same as Dark Beast, it's just Mr. Sinister in blue fur with less jokes. Benjamin Percy just expects you to accept that Hank woke up one day and was like, y'know what? I think killing countries is fine, actually. I want to head up an intelligence agency. I should cut off Wolverine's head. Maybe torture some innocent aliens for fun.

Why?

Eh, he's just evil.

Why are you bothering to question it?

And people don't question it, because Hank is a horrible hypocrite who will do anything that falls within his narrow view of morally acceptable actions, and he's an awful person who people barely tolerate being around.

Except. He isn't that. Or is he? Because Bendis said he was like that. And as everyone knows, Bendis is the true arbiter of characterisation and continuity. Just ask a fan of Wanda Maximoff, and they'll tell you how happy they are with his definitive version of the character.

Like, I just don't buy it. Not for one bit. You can't make this character this and pass a spot check. The only reason people are fine with it is because they never particularly cared for Beast to begin with, and so this new, more 'interesting' characterisation is better. It's 'truer.' Meanwhile, people who actually have been following the character for years remember when other X-Men were saying stuff like this.

Which is it? Has every single nice thing an X-Man said about Hank McCoy been a horrible, hilariously off base misjudgement, or is Benjamin Percy a hack who can't write? Iunno, man. Jury's out.

And then we come to From the Ashes, which is . . . a little too early, to make a judgement? I'm tentatively optimistic, now that we have a Beast who isn't just. The worst. I don't love the fact that he's missing 40 years of memories, even if the storytelling opportunities of such a character beat are interesting.

I'm also on the fence about this.

Idk, I'm hoping that it'll be born out by the rest of the issue, and that Hank's characterisation here makes more sense with context, but I don't love the idea of bringing back the single most heroic version of Hank McCoy that ever existed, then side-jumping him straight into a redux of the Legacy Virus 'I can't leave the lab/I have to make moral compromises' storyline from the 90s.

I have faith in Jed MacKay, and I'm willing to give it a shot, but I'm just so used to being disappointed by Marvel and X-Men by this point.

To come back to how I feel about it all? This isn't what I would have wanted for Hank. Not even close. Bendis threw out everything I liked about Hank back in 2013, and it set us down a path that has even a hint of Hank being anything less than perfect seeing comments sections explode, saying that he's well on his way to becoming evil again.

His name is dirt in the fandom, and the reason it isn't considered more of a problem is because he never had that big of a fan base to begin with, which is mostly a result of the fact that he's not a character who gets big flashy 'I'm so cool' moments - he's a character whose storylines are often sad, morose, dark, and unhappy. People like Beast, but they won't generally go to bat for him.

The revisionist history bugs me, a lot. No, he wasn't always evil, and no, it's not been a consistent slide to villainy ever since 1993. He's just as liable to be written badly as any other character, and frankly, I think he's been a victim of it a lot more than a lot of other characters during the same time period, but whereas other characters will have that bad writing forgiven by both fandom and the writers (Emma Frost), it just. Hangs, over Hank's head, like Damocles' sword.

It's been disheartening, honestly. I left the fandom in 2015, after Bendis' runs, because I just didn't want to deal with it anymore, and when I came back a year ago, I found out it had only gotten worse. Everyone else got to enjoy Krakoa, with its big mutant pride storylines and their stories of redemption and deepening bonds and political machinations, and my character got stuck in the shitty black ops corner, acting like a James Bond villain with none of the charm. It really didn't make me feel welcome.

If it hadn't been for a good few other fans who have stuck by me since then, I probably would have left the fandom again, and while things are looking up a bit more now, I don't know if I'm ever quite going to be at a point where I'm not jaded, expecting another heel turn from Marvel.

It sucks, because Hank has always meant a lot to me. He's a character about ethical science, about body dysmorphia, about mental illness, about triumph through adversity, about second chances, about maturity, about nuance and conflict and complexity, and he just got bulldozed into being the war crimes guy.

I got invited to join an O5 X-Men Reddit the other day, and the only posts that even mentioned him both were like 'lol war crimes lol Beast killed someone,' and it just made me think, why in god's name would I want to be part of that?

Like, I have stuff to contribute. I have a lot of thoughts about Hank, and his friendships and relationships and his meaning as a character, stuff that people often haven't considered because they don't think about Beast as deeply as I do, stuff that could elevate and deepen people's enjoyment of stories they've read a hundred times before - and I just.

Why would I share it? Why would I go into a space where I don't feel welcome? Why would I share my thoughts on the deeper meaning of Hank's tendency towards performance and how it changes over 60 years of comic books, when I know that the first comment is gonna be some variation of 'lol war crimes'?

It'd be one thing if the story we got was any good, then I could at least say it was worth it, but it wasn't. That's the thing that bugs me the most. The story of Hank's heel turn could have been amazing, but the lack of care and thought to consistency extended so far that even his villain turn was bad. We sacrificed this

for this.

And it's just a straight up downgrade. There's none of what Hickman or Morrison talked about being the point or the appeal of Beast. There's no sweet man, there's no heart, there's no humanity. It's just edgy. It's just the ends justifies the means, and that's it. That's the final thesis. There's nothing more to it than that. It's just so. Simple. Undercooked, really. It feels like a disservice to the complex character that Hank McCoy is meant to be.

Final thoughts? Uh. It mostly all kinda sucks, go buy a copy of S.W.O.R.D volume 1 instead, it's really good.

[deadsetromance]

any jet star or fun ghoul content 🙏 i adore your writing

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

not my gif!

fun ghoul x gn!reader

summary: you didn’t know loving someone could hurt this much. but god, you love him so much, you’re dying

warnings: angst, hanahaki, body horror, illness, blood, gore, mentions and graphic depictions of death/dying, no use of y/n, not proofread

note: thank you so much anon ! that made my day <3 i combined two prompts here! i had sososo much fun figuring out a way to work hanahaki into the killjoy universe. hope you all enjoy :))

there was no room for love in the cruel world you lived in. if your heart hadn’t been hardened by the drugs bli pumped into you, or the fear alone, the desert sun would wither it for you.

partnerships–if they were formed at all–were purely beneficial. you’d seen  it countless times. shell-shocked, desert hardened duos, with nothing left to cling onto but each other. 

you were part of the unlucky bunch. by some cruel joke the phoenix witch played, you found yourself tumbling head over heels for one of the fabulously famous killjoys. you’d met fun ghoul during a supply run which had gone costa rica. he’d saved your life, taken you under his wing, and somehow managed to run laps around your heart.

you weren’t entirely sure when you’d fallen in love with him. maybe it was when he patched you up after a run-in with a drac, scolding you for not being careful, his fingers leaving trails of goosebumps on your bare skin. it could have been one of the times you sat together on the roof of the diner, where you both mapped out made up constellations. if you had to guess, it would have been the time he’d shown you how to fix up a part of the trans am, his chest pressed up against your back as he whispered instructions to you. 

you would have been perfectly content running with your adopted crew of killjoys, denying the extent of your feelings for a certain black haired renegade. 

but fate was cruel, and reserved no mercy for you.  

☠︎ ☠︎ ☠︎ ☠︎

you had heard of it in rumors, whispers floating around in the sand until the origin was as lost as you were. they called them desert roses, blooming after unrequited love. no one knew where it came from. some suspected it was the work of bli. others pointed to otherworldly forces, or even some twisted form of survival of the fittest. there was only one thing about it that was certain. it was fatal. 

no one really talks about how painful it is. 

it starts with shortness of breath, deathly rattling coming from deep inside your chest as roses sprout in your lungs. it’s supposed to progress rapidly. one day you start coughing up rose petals, and within a week your throat is torn to shreds. when you die, roses sprout from your throat. whether you suffocate before or after is unknown.

 after all, no one has lived to tell.

☠︎ ☠︎ ☠︎ ☠︎

you hadn’t thought much of it at first. shortness of breath and rattling wheezes go hand in hand with the coarse sand of the desert. everyone gets static-throat at least once, but it goes away after a few days. 

after the third day you began to worry. the pain working its way up your chest paired with an unfamiliar tightness was concerning. and then came the coughing. it sounded like death, shaking you violently, to the point where fun ghoul would shoot you worried looks. 

“hey, you alright?” he’d asked you after one particularly bad coughing fit, arm draped around your shoulders. 

“‘m fine.” the hacking noise you made said otherwise. you coughed into your palm, surprised when you felt something wet. blood. 

it trickled down your arm, but what scared you most was the blood spattered rose petal lying in your palm. 

“what’s that?” you were quick to hide your hand, assuring him that it was nothing. “honey…you’re coughin’ blood.” 

you couldn’t say anything more after that, the sound of the pet name leaving his lips made your chest constrict so tight you could hardly breathe. 

☠︎ ☠︎ ☠︎ ☠︎

you’d never told anyone before, but you’d seen a body once. it was in one of the villages in the outskirts of zone four. it was just…lying there, the roses spouting from the poor soul’s mouth beginning to wilt under the scorching desert sun. someone was digging a grave.

that was you, in your nightmare. your decaying body replaced the one you had seen, bloody roses sprouting from your mouth. someone…fun ghoul, was digging your grave. he turned, locking eyes with you and…

you woke up screaming. your stomach flipped, and you ran out into the sand, spitting up a mix of stems and thorns. fun had followed you out, waking at the sound of your screams. you kicked sand over the blood before he could see anything. 

“sweetheart…” at the sound of his voice you turned around again, watching in horror as rosebuds fell from your mouth. “hey. hey you’re not okay.” he was worried. you could hear it in his voice, but you couldn’t look at him. 

“i told you, i’m fine.” wiping the blood from your chin, you turned to face him. “i promise. ’s just sand in my throat…promise.” you could feel the stems creeping up your throat.

☠︎ ☠︎ ☠︎ ☠︎

you were dying. you knew you were. you couldn’t eat or drink because of the roses in your throat. you were withering away, and no matter how hard you tried to hide it from everyone, they still noticed. 

fun ghoul was ever so worried about you. by the time you realized his connection to the roses growing in your chest, you feared it would be too late. 

the sound of someone saying your name woke you up. “hi.”

“hi,” you whispered back. you couldn’t do much more than whisper at this point, your throat slowly being shredded by the thorns you would spit up. 

“i’m worried about you.” he pet your forehead, wiping away the sweat from your face.

“fun…” you could feel the tightness of your chest grow. you held in your cough. he couldn’t know. if he knew…

“you haven’t eaten, or drank, or…” his voice was shaking. or maybe you were just hallucinating. “you’re running a fever, and i know you’ve been coughin’ blood…just….talk to me. let me help you…please.”

he was pleading now, and it made you feel sick. you loved him, god you loved him so much, and he didn’t love you back, and now you were dying. that was it then. you would die, and he would never know how you felt. at least, not until it was too late.

you coughed so hard you saw spots. fun ghoul must have left the room at some point, but you didn’t notice.

you knew you were going to die tonight.

you didn’t know dying hurt so bad. you would feel yourself slip closer to death with each rattling gasp you took. you were dizzy and you couldn’t breathe, stuck in some sick limbo between alive and dead.

they say the phoenix witch grants you peace with happy memories before you die. maybe they were right, because in your not quite dead state, you saw it all. the bad jokes, and the nor so subtle flirting, and hell even the longing glances shared between you and fun ghoul. you saw the time he saved you all those years ago, and the time you scared him while he was working on the trans am. you saw yourself sparring with him, and the other killjoys laughing in the sunlight. you saw the time the both of you had got caught in the garage during an acid storm, all the times he had kissed you forehead, and the way you slept wrapped up in his arms.

you were going to die, but he had to know how you felt. 

your legs felt like jelly and you almost didn’t make it to the door. the walls spun and your body slammed into the doorframe of fun’s room. the handle wouldn’t twist bo matter how hard you tried, you were going to die outside his room and he would never know. 

you couldn’t even call his name, your voice gurgling behind blood and roses. vision going dark, you heaved one last time, your chest caving alongside the door.

it was dark, but you could still see him sitting up. he looked so…comforting, and you all but collapsed into him gasping as he stroked your face.

“hey, what’s goin’ on? wh-“

“i love you.” you were choking on the words as the tumbled out of your mouth, flowers blooming in the back of your throat. you couldn’t breathe but you had to tell him. “i love you and i’m going to die”

he didn’t say anything and you gasped, fighting to stay alive for just a little longer.

“please. i just…the flowers….say something…” your words died in your throat as a rose bloomed in your mouth, silencing you. it was over.

his panicked face would be the last thing you would see, and it would all be over…..except….“you love me…?” his voice was warm, and sweet, and tired, and it sounded like heaven. you couldn’t do anything but nod, choking on your last breath. “you love me…”

*** 

the sun was always warm in the desert. but it felt different today, kissing your skin as you curled up against fun ghoul, who had been whispering love letters to you all night. he had told you he loved you with everything he had, he had held you close as you both thought that you were going to die. but death never came. 

he had been oblivious to the way you felt…just as oblivious as you had been to him. it all meant something, the touches, and the jokes…it was all there. it didn’t matter much, you had each other now…and while your throat still burned from the rose that had bloomed over the week, the way he kissed you made you forget about it all…

he took you out to the roof that night, careful and slow and you coughed, watching as a great red rose fell from your lips, before it shriveled and turned into star dust, joining the rest of the sand that you called home.

“i love you…” his voice was soft, his fingers trailing over your skin and you couldn’t help but smile. 

you were tired, worn to the bone but you were alive. alive and perfectly in love.

[bonnieisaway]

WHICH ONE OF YOU WAS IT THAT - I KNOW IT WAS ONE OF MY MUTUALS - WE HAD A REALLY LONG CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW SEVEN ALWAYS WENT STRAIGHT FOR THE KILL IN THE PAST, AND WE GOT ON THE TOPIC OF THE GIRL IN WHITE AND YOU SAID THAT YOU THOUGHT SHE DIDN'T MEAN FOR SEVEN TO DIE BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T GO THROUGH THE HEART NOTICBLY MORE THROUGH HIS CHEST/STOMACH AND I SAID I WASN'T SURE IF WE COULD REALLY GO OFF OF THAT BECAUSE WE HADN'T KNOWN MUCH OF HER CHARACTER NOR WHY SHE DID IT BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE WE NEED TO SIT DOWN AND REDISCUSS THIS BECAUSE SEASON FOUR SPOILER THING UNDER CUT

I WENT FUCKING FERAL WHEN THIS WAS SAID because like obviously the question is when the hell did that poison get put in him because I feel like , Seven wouldn't have taken it himself? Like he wanted to move on and he was willing to fight all of Xuanwu for the girl in white but I think he would've known he had to do that face on and that poison would only, inevitably, put them in more danger?

And I can't think of another shadow killer or the leader that would want this- EVERYONE wanted him dead, Green Phoenix presumably didn't care because evidently the shadow killers DIDN'T go after him last time or were afraid to, otherwise he would've used his plan earlier, the leader NEVER gets off his ass, and there would've been no point erasing his memories if he was wanted dead.

I feel like the logical conclusion here - at least I'm assuming between the moment he was stabbed and washed up nobody else saw him, and prior to the fight he hadn't seen anybody else who'd have done this nor discussed it - is that the girl in white had it on her blade, right? Like wasn't she also wanted dead? Seven was protecting her and that's the whole reason he was wanted dead, so killing him would've gotten her killed too and I feel like this shit is waaay too much to pull a sort of long-con to get him killed, but even if she WAS supposed to kill him as some sort of long hidden plan, maybe she might've loved him anyway and CHOSE this form of mercy? Because erasing his memories would effectively 'kill' him? Or was it that they both wanted this to end so badly but she chose the impulsive way out, getting herself killed and a merciful, forgetful end for Seven that had a fighting chance of letting him live on without her?

But also the symbolism when they show it confuses me.

So this eye was a new thing in season four and it ONLY ever really is shown around the leader of the shadow killers, when he's on his being-an-eldritch-horror shit, but my thing is WHAT purpose would he have to do that to Seven? Like yeah, he ordered him dead, but HOW would he even get that done and what reason would he have? Like, it was kind of presumed the leader had gone out on a limb and chosen SPECIFICALLY Seven for some unnamed reason, to a point that even Redtooth was fuckin annoyed about it (probably because to some degree Redtooth envied him but let's pack that away for another day) so I don't know WHY this eye is here

There's also a crow here which I would assume was ALSO for the leader's spybird if it wasn't for Blackbird's whip right next to it? But like, Blackbird doesn't seemingly have an unsettled score with Seven. He wanted him to die, yes, and he said "painfully at my hands," but that's like, how everyone dies to Blackbird. And their entire fight, there was nothing brought up about something in their past or between these two, everything was only about Blackbird's past and his tramua, which almost sounded like he felt like he needed to be this anti-hero killing Seven because of the order and would let Shimen take the reward.

There's also a really faint hand here? I don't know what else to attribute it to other than this hand:

back in season three, which this sequence was VERY much a long allegory about Seven's nature and that he's had a very, very short time to live the life he wanted and that he's basically being fucking dragged through life at this rate, though noticeably the hand here in season four has a red, glowy texture on it (aside from the rest of the texture near it) that's seeming to me either be blood or also another sort of imagery for the poison in him

but also there feels like there's a larger image here, too? It's really hard to make out because I can't really tell if it's just the shading , or a stylistic choice, but the bottom right is noticeably a different shade and has an outline and the inside has a wood-grain like texture? But I think also this might just be a sort of outline - given where it starts on Seven's shoulder - that's supposed to look like a gaseous, poison cloud coming from him. just AAAAAAAH oh my GOD there's so much to think about from this 20 seconds alone kill me

[beyondthesefourwalls]

bob floyd

fluff

glitter

“Shut the hell up.” 

yep!! have fun!! ⭐️

Here you go, Nonny! Writing for Bob is so fun!

-----

warnings: language maybe

Swatches of Love

“Oh, Baby on Board, purple is definitely your color.” 

“No no, I think the pink is much more his shade, don’t you think?”

Bob took all of the teasing from the guys in stride, the smile on his face never slipping. If anything, his grin only widened at their remarks. He was far too happy to let them bother him. You twirled around on the makeshift dance floor in Rooster’s living room, dancing with his girlfriend and a few other friends that had come for her birthday party. You looked so happy, and when the light hit you at a certain angle, he could see the streak of green glitter across your eyelids. 

You had gotten a new eyeshadow pallet, full of vibrant shades of glitter. You had already done the rest of your makeup when he brought it in with the mail this afternoon, but you had looked so hopeful at trying out the new colors, wondering which one would go best with the outfit you had planned for the party that night. Bob had barely hesitated before holding out his arm. You had swiped color after color on his forearm, each one more shimmering than the last. By the time you were done, his entire arm was covered in a rainbow of glitter. When you selected which one you liked the best for yourself, Bob had attempted to wipe them all away, only to realize that when the box said all the pigments were smudge proof, they really meant it. Even after using your makeup remover oil, his arm still sparkled. You had looked at him with wide, panicked eyes, but Bob had kissed the frown off your face. 

“It’s fine, darlin’. It’s like we match,” he had said. He knew he would get comments from the rest of the Dagger Squad that night, and they hadn’t disappointed. 

“Nah, definitely the blue, really brings out the color of his eyes.”

“Guys, shut the hell up. You’re just jealous Bob has someone who could do that to him. I don’t see any of you with dates tonight,” Phoenix finally interjected. Bob couldn’t contain his laugh at how they all instantly quieted. 

“On that note,” he said, downing the rest of his water, “I’m going to go dance with my girl.” 

word count: 381

------

[cleverri]

Apollo Justice x reader. Head cannons for relationship

APOLLO JUSTICE x READER | written by MOD clever

warnings; A few cuss words here and there but that's it-

headcanons for Apollo Justice in a relationship...

Ace Attorney; Apollo Justice

First thing to know about this man- He doesn’t fall in love easily. But when he does? Man, he falls hard. He’s a dedicated and passionate individual, someone who isn’t open to dating someone unless he knows that they’re the right one.

You have to be someone he’s known for a long time. He’s been through a lot, and even though he continues to say that he’s fine, you need to be someone who can actually see through his facade and care for him as a person. Though he’s stubborn, he’ll be practically putty in your hands.

Apollo appreciates intellectual stimulation and enjoys engaging in deep conversations with his partner. (Taxes. /J) He enjoys being able to just have a full conversation with his partner, either it be about a trial coming up, or something random that you enjoy. With that being said, Apollo is also a great listener and a reliable source of emotional support. He genuinely cares about his partner's well-being and will lend a listening ear whenever they need to vent or seek advice. (Even if he's completely awkward at it at first.)

Dates? You mean spending time at a crime scene trying to figure out what the hell happened with Apollo's secret younger sister? Yeah- 

Seriously though, Trucy definitely has third wheeled y'all a lot. So has Phoenix. Phoenix absolutely will tease Apollo in front of you. 

"This is (Y/N), the person I was talking about earlier." "Oh, couldn't you have found anyone better?" "Mr. Wright-!?" "I was talking to (Y/N)-"

Isn’t exactly that big on PDA. He gets flustered easily, face- Hell, entire body going red at any type of affection from his partner. Grab him by the face and pepper his face with kisses. Hold his hand and shout with him that you two are fine. Let him know how much he is valued, admired, and loved so you can make his heart soar.

Leave small hand-written notes for Apollo to find throughout the day- You don’t understand how much that will brighten his mood and make him feel special. These notes could include words of encouragement, affectionate messages, or even playful inside jokes. At some point, he’ll start writing little notes back, and it’ll become a little thing between the two of you. (You two have a little jar of unopened notes for each other for whenever either of you need a pick-me-up.)

Apollo appreciates whenever his partner cheers him on in court. Though, most of the time he’ll miss the sighting of you, and ends up a bit surprised whenever he sees you after court, waiting for him- But just the realization that you had been there, so excited for him to reveal the truth and provide justice has him absolutely melting.

Loves cooking with you. Is he a bit horrible at it? … Yes- BUT HEAR ME OUT- The guy is a romantic at heart, and longs for a domestic life after everything he’s been through. He loves the idea of standing next to you and learning how to make something with you. He knows how to make everyday things, like- he knows how to make eggs and such. But anything past that is stuff he needs help with.

His siblings give him the teasings of his life whenever you’re around. Even if it’s ever so subtle- Or completely obvious- (COUGH COUGH- RAYFA-) Though, prepare to be completely confused when Apollo’s siblings start speaking Khura'inese. (Don’t worry, Apollo’s confused too- He barely knows anything in Khura’In tongue-)

Old-School kid. He has a vintage record player that he… Doesn’t use that much- He just loves it too much to give it away. He loves taking Polaroid photos and putting them into a little scrapbook (Most photos are of you but shh-). 

He tries to surprise you with dates, yet they never really seem to work in his favor due to how chaotic the people are in his life. He wants to be extravagant, yet his work schedule (and wallet-) tells him ‘Absolutely not.’ So dates usually end up with just watching random movies while helping Apollo work on an upcoming case.

You must like Mikeko. Mikeko must like you. I don’t make the rules, he does. Genuinely, he loves his cat so much, and if you aren’t willing to get along with his cat, then there will be a bit of a problem. Of course, if the two of you get along, he’s already getting the wedding ring- /J

Apollo pays attention to the small details and remembers the things that matter to his partner. Whether it's their favorite snack, a specific interest or hobby, or a meaningful memory, he shows that he's invested in their happiness by remembering and incorporating these details into their relationship. Though, he does this absolutely unintentionally. The guy doesn’t even realize he does this. Must be the lawyer in him-

Strong man /J I wouldn’t call him *that* strong, his arms are though- Has pretty buff arms- Strong upper-body strength. This is another thing he doesn’t quite realize? It’s quite funny watching him realize this over-and-over again, to be honest. That being said, he definitely will accidentally pick you up if you hug him. 

Lawyer- Lawyer business- Meaning his schedule is usually filled to the brim with upcoming cases and such. It’s a bit difficult to find some quality time with him- It gets a tad worse after the whole Spirit of Justice arc. Just be there for him, ya’ll.

Isn’t used to having someone be there for him 24/7. He’s lived a tough life, lost many people along the way of becoming an attorney, he’s used to the concept of loss. He’d be so scared of losing you as well, seeing how horrible his luck was around this certain topic. He’ll shout that he’s fine, when in reality, most of the time he isn’t. Hold him, and make sure he knows you’re not going anywhere.

[disturbedbeautywrites]

Second Time is Not the Charm - Bradley Rooster Bradshaw

"I think we should see other people." You could still perfectly remember the night that Bradley said those words to you, your heart absolutely shattering. You were too stunned to speak, not knowing where the last perfect year had gone.

You were almost sure the two of you would get married and have kids one day. Both of you were in the Navy and were stationed at the same naval base; which had to count for something, right? Or so you thought. But, as you stood in front of Bradley in his living room, you realized that didn't mean anything at all.

You felt your heart completely shatter and hit the floor as you prayed and prayed he would take it back. But, he kept his composure and just shot a look of pity at you. How could he be so okay with all of this? How could he not be hurting at all?

After standing there for what felt like an eternity, silence engulfing the two of you, you decided to leave his apartment. You picked up your broken heart and left, walking out to your car. The ride back to where you lived was dead silent as you let your thoughts fill the space the lack of music left. How could he do this?

The next few months were absolutely hell. Having to work with your ex boyfriend was definitely not something you would recommend to anyone, especially if you were still in love with them. Each and every day you got to see his stupid head in front of you and you got to hear his stupid comments to things that Hangman said. It was torture. It was absolutely torture.

"Come on, you just gotta get out there again." You sat next to Phoenix at the hard deck, two shots of tequila lined up in front of you as you quickly downed them. You heard her words and just shook your head, laying your forehead in your hands. "He was it, Phe. I saw my entire future with him down to the dog that we would own. Now I'll never get to meet Apache." Your voice was a small whimper as she put a hand on your back, rubbing it soothingly.

She looked at you for a second before she reached down and took your phone, downloading tinder and setting your profile up. She was playing on your phone for a few minutes before she handed it back to you. "There, now you're back out in the dating pool."

You had vowed to kill Phoenix then and there, and now as you sat on a date, the urge was even bigger. You were a navy pilot and you were used to action and adrenaline, so when you were listening to a guy talk about the excitement of accounting, you almost wanted to fake food poisoning to get out of it. Or, maybe you could convince Phoenix to pretend to have a family emergency to get you away.

But, as you typed SOS messages to several people in your phone, not a single person answered. You let out a frustrated sigh before finally having enough. "I'm sorry, I really am. But, this isn't going well." You laid down money for your part of the bill before you excused yourself outside, a small sigh leaving your lips. You felt awful, but you could not put up with that anymore.

As you sat on the sidewalk, you realized you had no way home. You had sent out text messages wanting someone to call and had recieved no answer from your usual friends; which left one person, Bradley. Your thumb hovered over his name as you swallowed thickly, your head hitting the brick wall behind you. This could not be happening. You pressed the dial button before you could change your mind, the tone playing as it went through.

"Hello?" You heard Bradley's gruff voice come through your phone, sleep lacing his words as you heard him shuffling around in bed. You squeaked out a greeting as you played with the strings on your dress, wishing you could disappear in this moment. "I need to ask a major favor." Your voice felt small and mouselike as you felt the anxiety building and building in your stomach.

You heard him hum and then there was silence on the other end of the line, his way of urging you to continue. It had been months since you had talked to him for this long, your conversations were few and far between. You tried to only talk to him if it was completely necessary when you were in the air. Otherwise, it was radio silence between the two of you. “I know we’re not together anymore but I’m on a date that went really wrong. Can you come get me?” Your words were rushed and shaky as you finally got them out, a shiver running up your spine.

You heard him take in a sharp breath before he finally agreed to come get you, the two of you hanging up. You sank down against the wall and pulled your knees up under you to keep you warm, your hands rubbing up and down your shins. You stayed in that position until the bronco pulled up, a very disheveled Bradley sitting in the front seat. You got inside, closing the door behind you as you buckled yourself in.

The two of you drove in silence before Bradley spoke up, his voice deep and curious as his brown eyes landed on you. "So, you're dating again?" You groaned at his question, leaning your head against the window. "Can we please skip this awkward bs? We both know you don't care." Your words came out more as a snap then you intended, your eyes narrowing at him as he held his hands up in surrender before he put them back on the wheel. "Just trying to make conversation, sorry."

He turned the radio on for a few brief seconds before he turned it off again, his gaze falling on you once more. "I actually miss you, you know." His words caused your mouth to go dry as you looked back at him, wanting to see if he actually meant it. He didn't show any sign of not meaning it as you searched his face desperately. "I miss you too, roo." Your voice was soft as you watched your house come into view, deciding to throw one last hail mary out into the universe to see if he regretted what he said.

"If you want us to try again, I need to hear you say it." You looked at Bradley, his eyes clearly showing the gears turning in his head. He thought about speaking up, but ultimately he kept silent. Regret was evident in his features and you couldn't help the silent laugh that left your lips. He was absolutely unbelievable. You just nodded your head at him once, getting out of the bronco. "Guess not. See you around, Bradley." With that you walked back into your apartment, making a mental note to talk to cyclone about a relocation.



[phoenixeclipse-lmkau]

the fact that teenager mk willingly joinged the brotherhood Makes me think that reuniting with His mom is going to look like that: XIAOXIAN : but ma! i don't Wanna go home, please this is life i wanna become a great pirate like u 😭😩

PHOENIX:no!! Pirates are dangerous and selfish bastards Who Do Nothing but harm to other, you are going back wether u like or not young Boy😡😡🔥

WUKONG/MACAQUE WHO HAVE BEEN THERE THE WHOLE TIME: were here too btw😶😑

Okay I love this! Though that's not exactly how I had planned for it to go. Instead the Brotherhood had decided to stop in a town which is how Phoenix is able to catch up to them. Phoenix runs into Xiaotian alone in the market place and Wukong and Macaque arrive halfway through the conversation a little bit shocked.

"Mom!?" Xiaotain was both shocked and excited to see his mother when she arrived.

"Xiaotain! Oh my gosh honey are you okay? I saw the wanted posters, what is going on?" Phoenix had run up to him and gripped his forearms tightly, her son being stronger than her for the last few years meant it didn't hurt at all.

"You saw the wanted posters? Am I that famous!? Awesome!!" He jumped at the news, his eyes sparkling with delight.

"Awesome?" Silence sat between them for a moment, "What do you mean awesome?"

"It means I'm pretty good at this pirate business, obviously," He explained as a matter of factually completely calm about the ordeal.

He gently pried her hands off of his arms to pull her into a big hug, his eyes looked up to scan the area as his ears twitched. He had to make sure no one was watching. He was a famous wanted pirate, he didn't want people hunting down his mother too. He had no idea that his mother had been a pirate once too and had a larger bounty than him right now.

"Don't tell me... you want to be a pirate..." She hoped he would say no, she had tried to raise him so he wouldn't act like her... like at all.

"YES!! IT'S AWESOME! They are teaching me so much like how to properly steer a ship, Captain Wukong is really laid back about it too. He let me steer it! It was so fun! Of course Mac had made sure that nothing was around to crash into first but it's a start!" He grinned happily gently pulling away to jump up and down for a moment.

Phoenix's heart pounded in her chest. Why was her son so much like her younger self? Why did she have the excitement about pirates like his dad, why did he have to get involved with them. As Xiaotain kept rambling on and on she had to stop herself from yelling.

"Enough!" His words stopped as he flinched back from his mother's anger, she never got angry like every. Frustrated? Sure a lot with how rambunctious he and Mei were especially.

"I cannot let you be a pirate, especially not with them," She was barely holding back her anger, not only did they have to haunt her sleep but now they were actively trying to put her son in direct danger.

"W-with them?" Xaiotain asked slowly as he processed her words. What was she talking about, what would she know about the captain and his mate? Was it because they were also really famous?

"Yes with them. They are selfish, arrogant, and highly dangerous bastards. I will not have you associate with them," She crossed her arms over her chest as she started shaking.

At first Xaiotain thought it was from anger making him angry too but then figured out it was something else. Something else entirely, when he looked into her eyes she looked truly terrified. He hated the expression that graced her face.

"Mom- I'm not in danger, I'm really strong remember. Besides they have also been training me other ways too! Mac has been teaching me how to use shadow magic and I can lift the Captain's staff! Still not sure why, but it's awesome! He said I couldn't have it but he'd show me how to use it. I'll be fine," He tried to console her unintentionally causing her more fear and sadness.

"They know...?" Her words were barely a whisper but her son heard none the less. Her incredibly dense son heard with his six beautiful ears that he got from who she had deemed is Baba.

"They know what?" Her whole body froze when she heard the next voice, that was not the voice of her son. Slowly she turned her head as she came face to face with The Six Eared Macaque was had his face mere inches from hers.

She blinked a few times but when she found that it wasn't an illusion she did the only thing she could think of. She clocked him in the face with her fist, his head snapped back more from shock than anything else. Grabbing Xiaotain's hand she didn't have time to run when arms wrapped around her waist.

"What do we have here?" Captain Sun Wukong asked a sigh escaping his lips as he rested his chin on her head. He was using transformation magic to be taller than her. It sent a chill up her spine.

"Hey! Let her go," Xaiotain growled. He liked his Captain he really did, but he didn't trust anyone with his mom. Not a single person. With narrowed eyes he cocked his head to the side when he saw his expression.

"Yeah, I'm not going to do that. It's been 19 years of pure torture without her, I am not letting our love slip away a second time," Sun Wukong said tightening his grip ever so slightly on the woman frozen in fear.

Love? The fuck was he talking about? They had talked about killing her and how she was so weak and pathetic. Why the hell should she trust anything that he said? No she didn't trust what he said, not a single bit.

"Love? What do you mean love? And how do you know my mother?" Xaiotain's eyes flashed with protectiveness, she same protectiveness that was a nightmare for anyone that hated or threatened his mother.

"Mother? She really is your mother?" Macaque asked slowly, shadows covered most of his face as he tried to hide the psychotic smile that graced his face. "I see there is much to talk about between the three of us."

"What is there to talk about?" Xaiotain asked whipping his head looking between the two quickly. He was so confused.

"Of course we know your mother bud~ How else would you exist? Come on you have to had realized it by now," Wukong began with a chuckle nuzzling Phoenix's dark brown hair.

"Don't you dare," Phoenix snapped trying to get out of his grip but his grip didn't budge at all.

"Fine, why don't you tell him? I mean it's kind of hypocritical of you really darling. You were one of the best pirates that there ever was and yet you don't want OUR son to be a pirate? He does such a good job at it though, and we keep him safe. Not that he need it," Macaque said his eyes twinkling as he gently cupped her face in his palms.

She was really here standing in front of him, trapped in his mate's grasp. A single thought passed through both his and Wukong's head in that moment. She wasn't going anywhere. Not this time. His heart swelled with joy, she was resisting but she had sealed her fate way before Xaiotain was even thought of.

"W-What?" Xaiotain's grip on his Captain's arm loosened from his shock. What was he talking about?

"Come on now, you have to have realized by now. You said it yourself you can pick up Wukong's staff, you have his gold vision, you have even transformed like him, you're six ears are a clear indication, you can use shadow portals, and have even summoned a shadow clone. You'll learn even more as we train you but come on you have to have realized by now," Macaque said calmly as he explained, his eyes turning from Xaiotain to Phoenix. Her face was full of fear as she started shaking with tears in her eyes. Something happened, and he would figure out what, but in the meantime.

"You are our son, and that is obvious," Wukong added giving Phoenix an ever so slight tug closer to him, he was careful not to have a painful grip but he wasn't going to let her go at all.

Honestly that should have been the most shocking part of the situation. However Xaiotain's brain locked onto a different piece of information. "YOU USED TO BE A PIRATE!?"

TADA!! This is how the convo kinda goes! Hope you like it! Thank you so much for the ask!!

[unhingedhousehold]

count the sheep

summary: you can't sleep and bradley passed his sweet mom's genius method to help you.

lol. omg. was scrolling through tumblr when i found this post and one of the reblogs said they used to go through alphabet and name a person they love whose name starts with each letter and... that's how i gave birth to my 2nd story lol who would've thought I'll have 2 babies!

this story is so funny in my head sffdgfgr i had so much fun writing this sfagafwfsgsgsgsgdg okay enough with the giggles

pairing: bradley bradshaw x reader (reader has hair)

warnings: mentions of bradley's parents, mentions of pineapples on pizza (lol), mentions of mint choco flavor (lol again), implied smut, a bit of marriage proposal thought (bradley is a simp), bradley saying fuck!!, my knowledge about natops and navy based on my 5 mins google research so apologize for any mistakes, english isnt my 1st language so you know the sorry for any inaccurate words and bad grammar drill!!

words: around 2k i think

i don't consent my work being translated or copied, please be respectful of someone's work!

Bradley felt like it's been hours since you've been turning and tossing on your side of bed when in fact, it's only been around 30 minutes. He already turned off the lamp, a playlist created to help both of you to sleep soundly still playing, yet you're still wide awake squirming trying to sleep. You were in his embrace earlier, but escaped because you simply just can't stop moving and shift your body a bit from Bradley's. He heard you grunt, and that's his cue to get you back to his embrace, his arms wrapped around your body and chin on your hair.

“I say this with so much love, please stop squirming or I'll have to tie you on the headboard.” He heard you chuckling and even though he can't see you but somehow, he's able to detect there would be a witty answer from your upcoming reply.

“Oh kinky, wouldn't be the first time though.”

See?! You and your smart mouth will be the death of him!

“Pervert. Seriously, what's up? You're usually the first one to go to the dreamland. Try to relax and stop thinking, okay? We had a long day; let's rest our tired body, yeah?”

You sighed, feeling guilty and trying to escape again from his embrace so he'll be able to have his sleep, “That's what I've been trying. Sorry. Maybe I should be sleeping on the cou–” he stops you with a kiss on your lips, “Nah, don't apologize,” and tightens his grip to prevent you from getting away again, "and not a chance."

You relented and hugged him back, with muffled voice, you reason, “This is why you shouldn't let Bob chose a movie. I don't do well with horror.”

“He won today's quiz from Cyclone. Phoenix would've killed me if I interfered with Bob's choice of movie. Besides, you have your eyes closed the entire time the movie is on! And you know it yourself you will never be able to say no to Bob.”

You smiled fondly at his statement, recalling the time when Bob offered you to try his mint choco flavored ice cream and you ended up liking it to normal amount (up to this day, Fanboy still convincing you you're basically having toothpaste as a dessert. Hangman as the Vice President of Mint Choco Ice Cream Lovers kicked his ass for that). “Bob is really the worst enabler in my life.”

You can feel Bradley's laughter from the way his chest grumbled. He then hummed along the song that's currently playing, usually his humming would help you sleep faster, yet it's not working.

You're tracing something on his back, from your initial to his, and mixed both of your initials when he started talking again, “You know, maybe I know a way. This is something my mom came up with when she was dealing with her insomnia.” He said it with so much ease, so different from years ago when he didn't even wanna talk about his mom. You started writing his Mom's name on his back.

“How?”

As he felt you writing the O letter, he answered, “Count the sheep.”

You stopped your movement from writing the I letter, “So I should literally counting them to thousands? I've made it past 300 only back then.”

(You remembered it because you had 3 coffees in one day thanks to back to back studying session you had to do during exam period.)

“No, you're not literally counting the sheep. It's more like you try to think of things that fit the topic you chose and count them, but don't google the answers. Just lay in bed and think of them.”

“Does it work for you?”

He answered when you just finished his Mom's name, and now you're going to write his Dad's, “Most of the times, yes.”

Bradley felt it when you're done writing NICHO, index finger about to start writing L when you quietly asked, “What kind of topic did you chose then?”

“Inactive United States Navy aircraft squadrons between 1980 to 2009. What's on NATOPS Pocket Checklist. NATOPS Emergency Procedure Basics–” before he can continue with more Navy related that you have no idea about, you looked up and kiss his lips tenderly to shut him up, “You're such a nerd.”

He laughed, kissing the top of your hair and defends himself. “Not always like that. Sometimes I think of ways to please you. My favorite topic to think about, honestly.”

You rolled your eyes, your hands that previously on his back smacked his ass lightly.

“Or you can use my mom's way, she told me to go through the alphabet and name a person I love whose name starts with each letter.” Bradley started writing something on your back, like you did earlier to his.

When you felt him writing your last name, that's when you found your voice back. “Hmm. Interesting.”

“Yeah, I used to do that a lot when I was a kid but I don't think I can do it now.”

“Why?”

“Because your letter is the only letter I can think of. I don't need to through from A to Z to think of someone I love.”

With your fist, you hit his chest lightly, “You're such a sap.”

“Only with you, sweets.”

His index finger started to write M, followed by R, S, continues with B, R, and then A. You had an idea what he was about to write, so you decide to try his Mom's method.

“Okay, I'll try.”

He just finished writing W with heart emoji in the end when he replied, “Go on. I'm listening.”

You wrote A on his chest, rocking your brain to come up with someone whose name starts with A.

“A.. I can't think of any A... Aaron?”

Bradley tensed up, the movement of his index finger trying to write the V letter suddenly stopped and shifted his body a bit to get a look at your face, “Who the hell is Aaron?”

“What? Urgh, I don't think this method will work. It's just one male name and you're already this worked up. How am I supposed to go through until Z?”

“The Aaron I know in your life was your ex-fling! You could've mentioned Ally!” Your brows furrowed, looking at him with confusion clouded your face, “She makes omelet you claimed is to die for at the diner we frequent to?”

You laughed at his goofy but correct answer, “You're unbelievable.”

You're back to his chest, writing B as the next letter. “Okay. B.. hmm...”

You both knew damn well who is the person going to be, but riling him up is your favorite thing to do so you made your voice to be the sweetest and full of hope voice that you'll certainly say one precise name.

“Oh I know, this is the easiest,” You practically can feel Bradley's anticipated eyes, smile at the ready and kisses that awaits you after you said one name, his fingers ready to write so much after he finished i love you on your back earlier.

(He's just that good with his timing, huh? You can't let him have his victory, though.)

“It's Bob! Next for C...”

Bradley released you from his embrace, fingers stilled in the air, and giving you that look when you told him you like your pizza with pineapples on it, “What the fuck?”

You showed him your innocent eyes, a kind of eyes that will let you get away with anything and everything, blinking them, “What? I'm doing it right! Bob starts with B!”

He huffed, hands covering his face dramatically, “You know there's someone else whose name starts with B.”

You taunt him, “Yeah? Who?”

Oh, he loves you so much for that.

He pouts, voice like a little kid whose mom rejected his idea to go biking with friends, “Oh come on, big elephant in the room?”

Your eyes lit up when he said that, as if you got what he meant by the elephant in the room.. because you should! How could you forget his name? A name that you're screaming to when he went down on you! A name you fervently vocalize when he's ball deep insi –

“Hmm.. Benjamin Penny?”

Shocked at your answer, his mouth goes wide open, formed a big O, “Are you kidding me?”

And what happened next was your laughter filled the room with Bradley hovering over you as he tickled you with so much force; from your waist to your sole, your stomach isn't lost on him as he blew so much raspberry on it. Not only that, he attacks you with kisses on your neck, biting the juncture between your shoulder and neck, the back of your ear tickles at how much force he puts to make you laugh that you can't say anything but laughing. When you got lost in the feeling, he's back on tickling your waist.

He's really good at memorizing your body, thanks to the amount of times he spent to explore on it. You decided you couldn't take another tease from him when you felt his right hand trying to make its way on between your closed legs, and as you tried to get away from his teasing by hitting his shoulder, an idea came up, “Stop it, Cradleeeey!” But it seems like he didn't hear you, looking at how his hands busy kneading the flesh of your thighs.

“Hey Dradley, stop it! Okay, I surrender!” He's now looking at you, confusion over his pretty face because he just registered what you just called him.

“What did you just call me?”

“Cradley. Dradley. Eradley? Bradley starts with E sounds so weird.” Both of his hands are now on your side, face inches away from yours, “Fradley is funny though. Oooh, Gradley?” You kissed his nose, and his cheeks as you said each name.

“Did you just change the first letter of my name?”

“Yeah. Now I know what you meant by elephant in the room! You said to go through the alphabet and name a person I love whose name started with each letter, right? Hradley sounds weirder than Eardley, don't you think?”

He laughed so hard at your expression and to muffle his chuckles, he hid his face on your neck. You can't help but to join him as you wrap your hands around his neck.

“Wait until we get to T.” He said after so much effort to stop his giggles.

“Oh my god! You're right. Hey, Tradley,” you giggled, amused by it and he kissed your forehead because he didn't want to interrupt your laughter and looked at you like you hung the moon (you did, according to him), “I don't think I'll be able to pronounce Xradley and Zradley well though.” You said the X and Z with struggles, and for your attempt to pronounce Yradley and Wradley next, he rewards you with a kiss to your lips, deepening it when he felt you opening your sweet lips to welcome him.

–––

And the next few weeks when Bradley was deployed and had a hard time sleeping, he chose his topic about ways on how to propose you. He woke up smiling as he vividly remembers what he came up with. He thanked his genius Mom for her count the sheep method; that's how he knows his Mom has always been, is always, and will always be with him, just like she promised.

the ending is a bit weird but whew 🥹🥲🫣 if you make it to the end, thank you for reading!

[rememberdamonn]

Well written characters have a core conflict that consists of a goal that the character wants/needs to achieve, and an obstacle that gets in the way of that goal. For Damon, that core conflict is Love vs. Fear. His goal is love - to be loved, to have love. The obstacle that gets in the way of that goal is his own fear - fear of being abandoned/betrayed/rejected, fear of not being enough, fear of letting people down, fear of losing his loved ones... in short, fear of losing love. Every majorly bad decision that Damon makes, he makes either in reaction to or in anticipation of that fear being realized. When he kills Jeremy in S2, and Aaron in S5? He does it because he’s just been abandoned and rejected by Elena/Katherine. When he hides the cure from Elena in S6? He does it because he’s afraid that if she becomes human he’ll lose her. When he feeds Elena his blood in S2? He does it because he’s afraid he’ll lose her in the sacrifice. These seeds are planted throughout the entire show. In 4x15 when Damon sires Elena to turn off her humanity (another thing he does out of fear), Stefan tells him that it was a mistake because despite Elena losing her brother, she still has Damon. Damon’s reply? “I’m not enough.”

There's a conversation that Stefan and Damon have in 7x22 that lays it all out neatly:

Stefan: You really think I did the right thing by taking Caroline against her will?

Damon: One hundred percent.

Stefan: You said that's how you know you love someone. And for a second there, I actually believed you. I thought that my love for Caroline was so strong that I would do anything to protect it. But then I realized, that's not love, Damon. That's fear. That night that you put yourself down, it wasn't because you love Elena. It was because you were afraid if you didn't, you would do something terrible, and you would lose her forever. And that fear was so powerful that it overrode any love that you felt for me, or Bonnie, or anybody else. I refuse to be ruled by fear. I refuse to be you.

In 7x10 when Damon is forced to face the truth while in the Phoenix Stone, he tells his mother, “Give me a chance to let you love me.” This is representative of Damon’s entire journey throughout the show. Damon doesn’t let people love him because he’s scared that they won’t. That’s why he tells Elena in 3x19 that he doesn’t want to have to live up to anyone’s expectations, and he tells Bonnie the same thing in 8x10 when he reads her his letter. Damon’s self sabotage and his insistence on pushing everyone away is a product of the fear of what will happen if he lets people love him - but by giving into that fear, he ensures that he’ll never get what he wants most.

In order for Damon to have a successful, satisfying ending, he has to 1) overcome his fears. He does this in 8x16 when he attempts to self-sacrifice for the right reasons, in direct contrast to his self sacrifice in 7x22 for the wrong reasons - a sacrifice he makes out of fear:

“There is a girl waiting outside for you, and if you go in there with me and get all screwed up, you're gonna have problems with her, and you're gonna blame me.” - Damon to Stefan, 7x22 (S7 is written to be a tragedy but that’s another post)

And 2) he gets the chance to let himself be loved. That’s why Delena has to be endgame. Damon finally getting a chance to let himself be loved is central to his character in a way that makes any other ending a tragedy for him.

So what about Stefan? Stefan’s goal is Choice. The same way that Damon has lost in love, Stefan has repeatedly had his choices taken from him. Katherine takes Stefan’s choice away when she compels him, bloodlust takes Stefan’s choice away when he becomes a ripper, Klaus takes Stefan’s choice away when he enslaves him. This is why Stefan is so protective of Elena’s ability to choose, and it’s also why narratively, Stefan’s worst crime is taking Damon’s choice away when he forced him to become a vampire. Morally, it’s far from the worst thing Stefan has done, but thematically it’s the misdeed that matters the most. That’s why it’s brought up again and again.

The obstacle that’s getting in the way of Stefan’s Choice is Vampirism. Whether it’s his own or someone else’s, Stefan can’t choose the life he wants to have or the person he wants to be without vampirism getting in the way. For Stefan to have a successful, satisfying ending, he has to 1) reconcile his relationship with vampirism. He does this by escaping his vampirism when he’s cured. And 2) he has to have the opportunity to choose. That’s why human Stefan is immediately on vervain, and that’s why he maintains the ability to choose to sacrifice himself even after Damon attempts to compel him in 8x16. Is it the best way to have Stefan accomplish his goal? Personally, I don’t think so. I would’ve preferred to see him accept his vampirism rather than escape it, and I would’ve preferred for him not to die. But in a finale where one brother makes a choice to sacrifice himself and the other brother gets the girl, it’s clear which has to be which for their arcs to resolve in a thematically satisfying way.

[auroracalisto]

more than blood

platonic!dagger squad x reader, hinted!bob x reader, 1.3k words tw: gn!reader, dad issues, kinda absent unnamed dad, so like a deadbeat dad, reader got anxiety for sure, no use of y/n, no actual romance but bob and reader definitely crushin' on each other a/n: reader's callsign: venus. also, i got really upset today over something my dad did. i wrote this in retaliation and while it's not sad at all, i cried multiple times. i hope everyone else had a better evening than i did.

It should have been easy. Go in, see your dad, and then leave. That's all you needed to do. It should have been so simple.

But standing there, the glowing sun high in the sky, preparing to set within the next couple of hours, you knew you couldn't do it. Not now. Not when you felt like your heart was about to burst out of your chest due to the anxiety you felt feasting upon everything you were—everything you had worked hard on.

What would he say? How would he act? Surely, just the same as the last time you had talked to him (and it had been months beforehand, over a simple text message, too; nothing crazy, and yet the entire time, you had felt as if you were walking on eggshells).

You took in a deep breath, your eyes falling shut. He always made you feel this way. It never failed, even if you were just thinking about the man you called your father.

He didn't even know you were outside, so it would be fine—it's not like he was expecting you. Penny wouldn't say anything if you decided not to go in (and you were grateful that she recognized the man and warned you far before you decided to leave the base and venture out for the evening).

Hell, you didn't even know why he was in California. Normally, he stayed far away from the place you made a home in. He didn't contact you. He only reached out every now and then to make it known that he loved you and that he wished he saw you more... and then continue to go on in life without doing as he said.

As you stood there, staring up at the Hard Deck, bottom lip stuck between your teeth, a strong hand placed itself on your shoulder.

Your eyes widened as you looked back, seeing Bob. Just behind him came the Dagger Squad, ready for a night of drinking and pool.

Bob tilted his head, frowning deeply.

He knew you better than you knew yourself, and at times, you wondered how he knew you so well.

"Are you okay?" he asked. His voice was low—keeping the others attention glued to whatever the conversation had been. He recalled something about Hangman and darts, but that's all he had gotten to hear before he zoned out, staring at you.

You forced a smile, placing a hand over his. You squeezed his hand, gently pushing it off your shoulder before shaking your head.

"No, uh, I think I'm gonna head back," you said.

"Ohh, Venus!" Phoenix rushed up, throwing an arm over your shoulders. "I didn't know you were meeting with us. Roo said you were busy, so I just assumed you weren't coming. I would have waited for you after training had I known."

"Uh," you hesitated. You averted your gaze, a frown forming quickly. "No, I wasn't planning on meeting with you guys. I was busy."

"Oh," Phoenix said, gently squeezing your shoulders. "What's up? You okay?"

She knew you well, too. Guess that's what happened when you spent almost every waking minute with them.

"Yeah. I need to go."

"Woah," Tasha gently grabbed ahold of your hand before you could walk away. "Hey, talk to me. What's wrong? Did someone try to pull some shit? Do I need to kick Bagman?"

"What did I do?" the man in question asked as he came up, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, worry momentarily flashing across his face at the sight of you. Had he known better, he would have thought you were about to cry. But he just chalked up your discomfort to the Californian heat. He said nothing about it, watching you curiously.

"I really don't want to talk about it," you said, looking back at your friend.

She blinked slowly, your name leaving her lips. She never called you by your real name, only your call sign (unless, of course, she was pissed—or drunk, which wasn't often). She searched your face, a faint smile forming on her lips.

"How about we go down to the beach? We could play volleyball or something. Get your mind off of whatever it is. I'm sure the water feels amazing this time of day."

You paused for a moment. A game really could get your mind off of things. And you could avoid your dad entirely—he'd leave at some point, and then you could go to the bar with your friends; something you hadn't planned on earlier, but you knew you could use it.

You began to smile. "You'd do that for me?"

Her smile only grew in response. "I could go for a couple rounds."

You glanced at Bob, the man who had fallen for over the past couple of weeks (not that he knew—of course, everyone in the Dagger Squad had already figured it out; they were just waiting for the two of you to realize you shared the same feelings).

"I'll come," Bob said, beginning to grin.

"What's going on?" Payback asked, voice loud, slinging an arm over Bob's shoulders as he grinned down at you and Phoenix.

"We're gonna hold off on the bar for a little bit, go down to the beach. How does volleyball sound?"

"Hell yeah!" Payback said, grinning. "Anyone got a ball?"

"Is the sky blue?" Hangman said, scoffing. His arms dramatically crossed over his chest. "Yeah, Penny has one inside. I'll go get it. Meet you guys down there?"

"Okay, asshole, so you don't have a ball," Payback said, rolling his eyes. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't just hear that."

Hangman scoffed, unable to hide his smile from forming.

As Payback went and told the rest the momentary change of plans, Phoenix tagged along with Hangman, leaving you and Bob alone.

He tilted his head as he watched you, concern written on his features.

The thought of your dad quickly diminished as Bob began to smile—damn him and his handsome face.

"Wanna be on the same team?" he asked.

"Thought you'd never ask," you said, grinning back.

These people—this mismatched group of pilots had become more of a family to you in such a short time than your dad had ever been. And for once, though you had imagined what it would be like for some time, the thought was welcomed. It filled that hole that had once been ripped out by the man sitting inside of the bar, unaware that his offspring stood just beyond those walls, avoiding him entirely.

Bob reached forward, taking ahold of your hand. Your eyes widened, but you didn't stop him, your smile only growing as he pulled you towards the sandy beach that awaited the soon-to-be disastrous game of volleyball.

You had often heard people (and television shows) say that family was more than your blood. It might have taken you quite some time to realize that, but you were glad that now, you understood exactly where they were coming from.

Family did not have to be your blood; it didn't have to end there, either.

Bob looked back at you as he slipped his shoes off, not wanting sand digging against his skin.

"You ready to show them who's the best?"

You grinned, nudging him with your elbow. "Who, you?"

His eyes widened a bit, a blush coating his cheeks. He'd just chalk it up to the heat, but he knew it was because of the way you were looking at him.

"Nah, darlin', I meant you," he said, smiling even more. "I bet you could beat all of them, all by yourself."

You rolled your eyes, laughing. "I guarantee you're wrong," you said, holding your shoes in one hand.

Phoenix came running up behind you, the ball in between her hands. She shouted at the two of you to hurry up.

Hangman came running after her, shouting: "Are you fucking serious?!"

You and Bob shared a haphazard glance, grins evident on both of your faces. He grabbed your hand once more, tugging you towards the volleyball court where your friends already stood, ready to play until the sun began to set, skin toasted and bellies ready for booze.