#then I could take it apart to puzzle them together to make her frame

[tf-titania]

OOC-

Me: Hoo boy! Rendering metal is a lot of work! I’ll take a break to work on Sweetlight’s design for a bit!

Sweetlight: Oh? You want to work on me? That’s great! Remember I have modifications like heart shaped headlight! :3

Me: Yes, of course! Let me look up what the front of a 1958 Chevy Impala looks like so I can modify it!

1958 Chevy Impala: I have eight headlights.

Me: . . .

Me: What?

1958 Chevy Impala: Eight. Four on each side. Two on top of another two. Equals eight.

Me: . . .

Me: I’m going to stop drawing for today.

[amaranthineghost]

| DARLING, OUR STARS ARE DYING, BUT WE'VE STILL YEARS LEFT TO BURN ( lando norris. ) |

ꕥ pairing: lando x reader

ꕥ parts: 2

ꕥ summary: their relationship is dying while their love burns strong, yet they're unsure if they can save themselves.

ꕥ authors note: I have an idea for a part two, so if anyone wants a continuation of what happens, let me know :3

ꕥ warnings: it's just sad. minor implications of sex, but mostly angst and heartbreak.

SOMETHING WAS WRONG. they hadn't known what, but something was off in their relationship. for years, they'd loved each other, and no doubt they still did. they'd spent every waking moment they could with each other, but they hadn't realized their relationship had grown stale, unchanging for years.

it puzzled them because the love they had for each other still burned strong, but their relationship is dying.

they'd find themselves spending less time with their lover, more time with their friends in separate nightclubs across monaco. though their relationship lacked excitement, they would never seek it out in other people. because at the end of the day, they'd find their way home, drunkenly stumbling through the door of their apartment and back into each other's arms.

they found themselves depending less on the other for entertainment and companionship. their love wasn't dead, but their relationship felt like it.

when sitting right next to each other at the dinner table changed to sitting at opposite ends. when they'd make a mess in the kitchen to cook a dinner to share between them changed to making separate meals at different times.

though they were still young, it felt like life had finally caught them as they got entangled in their careers. he traveled the world, she stayed in the comfort of their apartment. maybe it was lacking. lacking the naivety of their youth that created the spark of their relationship.

because when he was home for odd weeks during the year, he was always out. from the crack of dawn till the sun set on the other side of the sky, he'd be out exercising with his trainer, having dinners with his team, or just clubbing.

and she'd barely attend his races now, her presence unseen in the paddock, causing numerous rumors to surface and plague the internet. because when they'd be seen in public together, which was a rare occurrence now, they wouldn't have a single touch to connect them.

the internet had realized their status before they had. nobody knew why they'd changed, not even the couple that had been through thick and thin. they couldn't imagine being apart, but it was like they were bored.

they didn't know what to do. they'd been through countless struggles together, finding solutions in the dark. but they had no flame to light their path this time.

it killed them. they wanted so badly to revive their love, but they didn't know how. they knew they needed to talk, but they were never around anymore. they didn't even sleep in the same bed as one another.

it was often they could find themselves with eyes wandering their wall with pictures framed, a few crooked that she would pester and nag him to no end to fix. he never would. the imperfect perfectness every time he looked between their faces, eyes crinkled with smiles caused a sad one to take it's form on his face.

he missed the memories between them because they were that, memories. they'd never do anything like that now. no ski trips where he'd spray her with snow with every stop, with her cursing him out all in good fun. because she'd do it right back.

no more lying on beach towels next to each other in the sun, getting tan, though she told lando he never needed to. and every time without fail, he'd take her sunscreen, squirting odd shapes onto her back that'd be displayed for weeks. she'd always slap him for it.

they didn't go out anymore. any attempts to relive what they once experienced were futile. they tried fancy restaurants, but silence with high tension plagued the air around them as they ate awkwardly.

because now it felt like they were back to square one. when he claimed to know her like the back of his hand, he wouldn't be so sure now. it was like they didn't know who they were anymore. they stopped talking to each other because they'd given up. there wasn't anything they could do.

she'd been on their couch, aimlessly flicking through countless tv channels. her eyes weren't even on the screen, and her hand was on autopilot while she channel-surfed. she'd let out another sigh, her eyes rolling over to his office door.

it was ajar, she could see movement from inside the room. she looked longing at it. she remembered when she'd distract him from his work, placing herself in different spots around the room, but ultimately ending up on his desk.

her eyes adjusted back to the tv, shutting it off and tossing the remote somewhere on the couch. she sat in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of him living in another world just ten steps away. because their relationship had gotten to the point where it felt like they were living in different time periods that crossed each other's lives.

they'd barely focus on each other because they didn't have the time. they were never alone together anymore, always in separate rooms, or surrounded by friends.

it pained her, guilt building in her body with every step. her stomach churning with every creak in the floorboards. she walked on the tips of her toes to his office. she hovered over the door handle, despite the door being slit open.

part of her hesitated because she didn't want to do this. she didn't want to leave him, to lose him, but it felt as if she didn't have a choice. remaining a couple benefit neither of them, it only hurt what remained and what remained was merely nothing.

but he was her first love, and first everything. it felt like betrayal to turn her back now, but she's afraid their backs have been turned for months because she can't recall the last time she thought of him as her soulmate. she loved him, but was love simply enough to save them?

when she pushed open that door, she knew she'd never be the same. they wouldn't be the same and part of her was okay with that because nothing's changed. she couldn't keep living like this, she was still young. young enough to meet another person to settle with, which seemed crazy to her to think about. she'd never thought about anyone but him.

"lando, can we talk?"

the hair on the back of his neck rose, dread filling his heart. he'd been waiting to hear those words for months, every conversation, they loomed in the back of his mind. though he hated how much he expected to hear it, he knew it had to happen.

he'd turn in his swivel chair, pen nervously pushed between his lips. he looked at her sadly, already feeling the words yet to leave her lips.

"I think we should break up," her voice broke, caused by the tears that streaked down her face. she hated herself for breaking down, being vulnerable when they both knew it was coming to an end. it still hurt because despite her words, she loved him. she knew he did too.

he didn't know what to say, a simple 'okay' felt too harsh, but the tears in his eyes would've spilled if he spoke any more.

so he simply nodded, muttering something completely inaudible to her, and himself.

she shook her head, gazing at him through her hazy, tear-stained vision, her voice high in a struggled whisper, "what's wrong with us?"

"i wish i knew, darling," he slowly stood, his feet dragging across the carpet on the wooded floors. he stopped in front of her, a sad look across his face as he stared down at her. he noticed how she no longer wore his hoodies, or any of his clothes.

hesitantly, his arms wrapped around her, pulling her into his chest, he knew for the final time. he bit his tongue in hopes of not showing weakness because he didn't want to make her feel worse than she already did.

"i know i promised us we would fix this, but I don't know what to do." he muttered into her hair as he shook against her, " 'm sorry i broke my promise, love."

" 'ts okay."

"but it's not."

"i know." she pulled away, wiping her tears on her hoodie. she sniffled, her nose and eyes red while she gazed up at him, "i'll pack my things, 'ts your apartment after all."

he was quick to shut her down, shaking his head, nearly breaking down as he spoke, "no, I couldn't kick you out." because what boyfriend—ex-boyfriend would he be if he kicked her out onto the blazing streets of monaco? he couldn't do that to the girl he loved so deeply, but he knew he couldn't stay. he had to let her go and he despised it because he knew it was for the best.

"I'll stay with max," he said simply, looking at her desperately with sad eyes, "please, let me just take care of you, financially at least."

"it feels wrong to depend on you."

"i know, but 'ts the one thing I can do for us."

so he left, packed his bags and drove his mclaren far from their apartment, now hers. he looked in the rearview mirror sadly, seeing her standing in the only hoodie he'd left for her. he couldn't see the tears in her eyes, but he knew they were there like they were in his.

he nearly turned around. he wanted to fix this because he didn't want to leave her. she was all he knew and it was like starting over. it felt like betrayal to leave her and find himself in a random club across the city.

but he'd been doing that for months with no issue. it only hurt now that he didn't have an apartment to go back to with her presence residing in it.

he punched the glass of his rearview mirror because it felt like the past staring him in the face. because she should've been in his future.

[evita-shelby]

Hunt

prequel to Chase and sequel to Stay

cw: implied sex, mentions of racism, intrusive fans, secret relationships, after effects of a bad break up. idk what else

@justrainandcoffee @zablife @mischievouslittlecreature @call-sign-shark @thegreatdragonfruta

He has never cared to be serious about any woman in his life, not the girl he had been arranged to marry before he seized his chance to leave Canton nor any woman that he took to his bed.

And yet Brilliant finds himself ruminating over the witch’s words.

Exclusive devotion.

One woman for the rest of his life in exchange for the entire universe.

Billy had meant it when he called Shelby a fool for not taking such a good deal.

The businessman then does something he’s never really done before: he sends the chorus girl away without fucking her. Before morning word on the street was that Brilliant Chang, the so-called Dope King, is off the market.

The girls do not give up, why would they when it could be any of them that he’s singled out for this next part of his life? They throw themselves at him even harder, hoping they are the one and the driving themselves mad to know who the lucky woman was.

And so the hunt for this mystery woman began.

The people in his entourage knew, but nothing could ever get them to reveal the identity of the woman who had captured his heart before he had even known it. It was a good game, to see how long until the fanatics hounding him would piece the puzzle together and solve it.

“Why are you so sure they won’t tell?” Eva asks sprawled over his chest as they celebrate the new development in their relationship by lounging in bed all day. The housekeeper had been surprised to learn Brilliant’s mystery woman had stayed the night and had hidden her disdain when he paid her for her silence when she brought them breakfast.

He would get a new place, hire the right help and stop the dirty looks he gets for fucking his woman in every way he wants. Billy had never considered settling down even at his thirty-five years.

It was high time he moves from a bachelor’s apartment and into one for a family. Eva rented her own home, paid with her own money, but Billy wanted to start this new chapter in their lives properly.

“They trained with a Shaolin Master just as I did. It would take more than a few wild girls to get them to break.” He answered with a smirk before pinning her under him for a post breakfast indulgence.

Chang Chan Nan could have made it as a fortune as a fighter had he not had a knack for business. The witch had seen him spar a few times in his dojo, mastering new forms from a master from Japan with ease.

Eva gets as wet as the Thames from watching him thrash his opponents, if she didn’t have her array of potions to help them, they wouldn’t be able to carry on like this.

“Sometimes I wish we didn’t have to hide it.” The witch admits in between kisses. She is as insatiable as him, compatible in ways that make the rest of the women he’s been with forgettable and dull.

“I want to enjoy being with you without the whole world harassing us every moment of the day for a little longer.” Chan Nan has never desired peace until this fucking year.

He liked the attention when he was the smooth-talking refined entrepreneur, but now he is the wicked chink seducing white girls into ‘white slavery’.

Eva had some notoriety, the rumors of sleeping with the Prince of Wales had been true and her status as the divorcee providing consulting services for things of this world and the next paled in comparison to his. She’s never been accused of murder, even her former fiancé’s suicide is framed on his father for ordering her execution.

“Please, if you didn’t run for the hills the moment you learned Tommy Shelby was my husband, what makes you think I would run the moment the whole of England learns I took you off the market?” she uses his real name to show how much she means it. “I am far stronger than you give me credit for, Chan Nan.”

He never uses his Chinese name with his women, and then Eva convinced him to tell her his name and teach her how to pronounce it correctly. She has never gotten it wrong.

“I know, it’s one of the many things Ilove about you, Evita.” Billy in turn calls her Evita, he doesn’t feel comfortable calling her Evie as that is what Tommy Shelby continues to call her. Just as he doesn’t feel comfortable in her townhouse even if Shelby doesn’t actually own it.

“Mhm, what else do you love about me?” the witch loves him, and he loves her. The words do not slip easily from their tongues as it would’ve been had they met before Shelby broke her heart, but they have and the wait had been worth it.

“Why speak when I can show you?”

It is always a chore to leave.

Carefully and through the service entrance of the home so no one can get hide nor hair of the mystery woman who’s making an honest man out of Billy Chang.

His driver would take her to Billy’s office where she’d take a cab home or to wherever her client would meet her. The only people they encounter are the housekeeper and her son who acts as a footman and even valet for the guests.

Even she had not seen the rabid young woman with the portable camera. By evening Eva and Billy are on every tabloid from London to Acapulco.

By evening she is subjected to another screaming match with her ex-husband. It always ends the same way these days.

“I could make you happy, just like you wanted me to.” His eyes are glassy from the tears he refuses to shed.

He is heartbroken, just as she was and just as Lucy was when she decided that she needed time away from Small Heath to find herself. Perhaps the thing Eva loathes of their situation is that while they have a rught to feel what they feel it is still a fucking nuisance to deal with them.

“You say that now, but the moment Lucy returns I would lose you again.” Eva reminds him, knows well enough that they would be in a worse bind than the first time around. As tempting as it was, Eva had a real chance at happiness now and she wasn’t going to squander it for a man who will only make her unhappy. “The three of us would be miserable, I would be your bitter wife who hates the two of you, you would hate me for keeping you from her and she would hate me for the woman I would become because of you.”

She could make him forget her and ensure she has that picture perfect life she saw in Brighton. Eva knows the words and the ingredients for the tonic, in fact, she nearly did when he finally gave up looking for Lucy and came on his knees to beg for her forgiveness. But she is not that sort of person, to bind him to her like that would remove his free will and make him her puppet.

“You wouldn’t lose me, not this time, I promise you.” Tommy hates being alone, cannot sleep at night without a warm body in his bed to remind him the war is over. “I will not have other women, no whores no Lucy, no one else but you.”

The words she had wanted to hear the day he told her he loved her and wanted to marry her. Too bad they came too late for them.

“But you will always want Lucy, and I will never be enough for you. I need a husband who has no space for anyone else in his heart or his bed.” If she sounds resentful of him telling her exactly what the witch once wanted to hear, it is because she is. She has every right to be, just as Lucy deserves to be angry at Tommy for putting them in this situation in the first place.

But Lucy never went against him, it was the one thing Eva can actually say she hates about the woman. A woman as free and as independent as Eva will always look absolute loyalty like that as a defect in the person. They may be friends, have some in common, but deep down they would never work.

Eva has never lied to Tommy. He knows that when he fucks up she will tell him even if it hurts and should their son or Finn or any member of their families is put in danger because of him, she will turn on him and he will regret ever making her do that.

Tommy Shelby knows not to push her to her limits, even he barely knows what she is truly capable of.

“And is Chang that man?” he responds in like, anger that now he is the one not enough for him,

Good. Now he knows how she felt every second of their marriage.

“Yes. I do not know if will be, but chances are he could be that man.” Eva loves Billy, the man he is with her, the man who treats her as his equal and does not try to constrain her in any way because his family does not find it proper she be as involved as she needs to be.

She is more herself with him than she was those scant months she was with Tommy and Lucy.

The Shelbys had their heart in the right place ---most of the time--- but they had the tendency to think her as Tommy’s wife and not their equal. Esme has no place at the table even if she is the reason the Lees are in their corner and manages the Betting Shop as good as Polly does.

Don’t even get her started at how well the family took their divorce.

They blamed Lucy for staying even if Tommy was the one who asked her to stay in the first place. They blamed Eva for being ‘too weak’ to handle having a disloyal husband and letting him have Lucy live with him and continue working for him. They blamed Tommy for allowing both women to leave and not force them to endure their awful words any longer.

Eva had refused to set foot in Small Heath even after the necessary apologies had been made, she won’t unless she has to. Too many people are not minding their own business in this world.

“I can’t let you go.” Not you too, he means to say.

“But you must. You are my soulmate in other lifetimes, just not this one, Tom. You have to let me go.

Just as I have.”

If only her words had not fallen on deaf ears.

Not that Tommy will succeed in ruining her new love, not when Eva’s willing to brave the world for Brilliant Chang.

[screams-in-writing]

Thinking ‘aloud’ again about Mr. Puzzles because I like exploring characters and their personalities/motivations/etc.

If Mr. Puzzles ends up dying, I feel like it would be a waste of the prior episodes that built up different aspects of his character, with him showing those parts of himself he doesn’t usually show when he’s around smg4 and co. Especially when he has a ‘friend’ and actually does things that friend wants him to/is protective of them. Gonna list episodes out. Gets kinda long but there’s some things/scenes that stick out to me apologies if this comes of as more stream of consciousness but I need to talk more about Mr puzzles.

Just going with episodes after the Puzzlevision movie, since mr puzzles obviously knows what he did beforehand manipulation wise, both hands on and hands off, before his tv head is catapulted off the to trash dump. But noting again that he played ‘supporting’ character most often in the Puzzlevision shows until he hosted the game show.

Mario the Exploro: shows he can get sucked into his own shoes. not much too it, apart from him being a ‘helpful’ character in the ‘show.’ Once the Puzzlevision show is over, it’s obvious puzzles has hulterior motives, but he’s. Desperate/pathetic about it and isn’t trying to take smg4 or Mario back into tv mind land and puzzles ends up being ignored. He also doesn’t do anything to stop the other two from walking away from him.

Smg4 meme factory, at the end: showing off his spying on others skills without people somehow not noticing him. makes it clear what he’s after but not directly (seemingly) confronting smg4 or his friends at this point.

Despicable mr puzzles; again shows him with a slightly goofier side (like with the Puzzlevision shows), and the ridiculousness he does to avoid being shot at while leggy laughs at him after he’s verbally threatening beforehand (but not doing anything other than holding leggy). Showcases him getting sucked into his own shows again. Delights at someone helping him out after he awkwardly tries to acknowledge he needs help/assistance and that leggy isn’t so bad. Again, awkward socializing.

Night at smg4: mr puzzles is already protective of leggy just because she helped him out (and it was just, literally opening the door for him/interacting in the ‘show’). Mr puzzles actually listening to wordless advice from leggy at first (vs bob), getting protective again of leggy after she shows a flag showing he’s number one to her (vs Luigi-again, puzzles has barely known leggy for very long at this point and he’s already going toward danger instead of away to help her-like in the previous episode’s ’show’), some shenanigans (with smg3) for them to work together, and (vs smg4) mr puzzles getting protected from smg4 by leggy while he is being dramatic about it. It fascinated me that he thought Meggy would help him when she turned back and you can tell the the rejection hurt him (which is likely the main reason why he retreated, instead of, I don’t know, taking everyone present into his tv mind thing? Unless he needs a certain amount of stars to do it willingly instead of accidentally (Mario the exploro, descipcable mr puzzles).

And what’s with Meggy’s remembering being leggy with puzzles-why show it? Why have her make that face like? Is it a surprise to her that he has a different side to him when he’s not directly in conflict with someone and is being ‘friends’ with them? Even then I doubt Meggy would forgive him easily (not even touching on the other later ep yet). This scene with her just bugs me because why show it, when she could have just been shown to have leggy hallucinations later when puzzles shows up again? Why have that little scene to begin with, when she’s in the frame by herself? Is it just acknowledgement that she kind of remembers, or that there’s more to Mr. Puzzles than she and the others thought?

Smg4: inside out- I still have no idea what to think of this ep, other than mr puzzles kinda calling out smg4 for using the controller on Mario in the gif episode by turning Meggy into leggy. And to have Meggy get up in arms at mr. puzzles at the end. And since it is a Puzzlevision ep, did he just use replicas of everyone like he did in despicable mr puzzles ep? Who’s point of view was it meant to be? Smg4? Did Mr puzzles just sneak into the castle to do another puzzlevision show? It just seems so random in the placement of the ep.

We must kill Mario- i know mr puzzles isn’t in this one but it would make sense to pull some strings to try and get Mario framed for something Marty did instead since Marty has a grudge/reason against Mario. Also I suppose to give Karen development to have her show up again more often.

Mario loses his mustache- mr. Puzzles shows that he can spy again and well enough that no one notices him there. Actually learns enough to know what he needs to rival Mario’s ‘funny’ and doing the goofy sneaking about to steal the mustache. Shows use of some mechanical/engineering putting Pedro together (kind of) and even protects Pedro even if Mr puzzles gets clocked in the face instead. And Mr puzzle’s even prevents cheating in the later face off between Mario and Pedro, as well as sticks to his word when Mario wins. No trickery. Mr puzzles is even sad that his ‘friend’ Pedro gets stolen.

Mr puzzles lowest point- this man’s so desperate he’s willing to forgo his own standards in shows. He’s that desperate for acknowledgment of his creativity that he’s willing to work with terrible content. He even goes to Karen’s house to pitch things to her kids which like. Sir. How did you get in there without Karen taking notice? And when he gets that ‘fame’ in exchange for his dignity he becomes a pathetic laughing stock. He even tries to reach out to Meggy again in kind of a silly if awkward way and is hurt by the rejection again as he runs away instead of just acknowledging that she doesn’t want anything to do with him (Meggy hallucinating leggy 1). And Mr puzzles can’t even share his scripts or creating one with people and only gets mad when all they want is the mindless content and nothing more. And he realizes it’s not what he wants in that dumpster that he’s framing shooting takes of what’s being shown of him. And when he’s back at his place, All that rejection builds up and he actually gets upset with the kids for not appreciating true art and goes off to deal poorly with his daddy issues (and cry about it all) in a very poor coping manner kinda like when smg4 got cancelled but unlike mr puzzles, smg3 came to help him out of the misery that came from it.

The parallels between Mr puzzles and smg3 &4 drove me up the wall, honestly. Poor man’s got all their issues abs insecurities AND has daddy issues on top of it.

Mr puzzles clubhouse-

Mans at his breaking point and clearly wants nothing to do with Mickey but you show him the most important place (he’s not been important to anyone in his whole life it seems) and you give an already desperate character motivation to descend deeper into madness without anyone to help steer him away from it. And Mr puzzles again shows that he can be calm and candid with someone (meggy) and even joke about the tv, but i think by now puzzles knows that Meggy wants nothing to do with him but maybe leggy will. Mr puzzles obviously can’t take another rejection from someone he views as a friend (even if it was a mishap and leggy shouldn’t have been around like that for as long as smg4 allowed it). Also what happened to all the other leggy’s?

Anyway, it sounds like either meggy gets forcefully squished into leggy, or has her head and feet ripped off and the rest of her is just. In her house. She does seem really off in the next episode. Mr puzzles may not have done it himslef but he still snapped his fingers to have someone else force leggy out. Man is so desperate for a friend that he forces it on meggy even if he only knew her as leggy for hours at best. Puzzles desperately needs help but he’s not outwardly showing it well and the desperation is making him to things he will later regret just because his need for control in his own life and his own pursuits he was told he wouldn’t he able to have is driving him forward. But he shouldn’t have done that to Meggy because it just ruins any chance he had to be at least tolerated by her, even if she doesn’t forgive him for his actions before. As mr puzzles has shown, he can be calm and actually think things through, as long as he doesn’t let his aspirations get him carried away.

Welcome to puzzles park:

Meggy aka leggy is concerning me with how off she is. Mr puzzles has basically completely lost his mind and if there isn’t the ‘we’re not so different’ to smg4 and/or 3 I’m going to scream because there are so many parallels that i know other people have pointed out. The end of the ep. My guy you need therapy and actual friends. tormenting people you think ruined things for you is not going to make you feel any better and i can only hope that leggy doesn’t get caught in the crossfire because I feel like there could be a chance for that.

TLDR: Apart from the things before the puzzlevision movie, and after taking over didny, he shows a variety of emotions and the parallels are going to drive me insane if they aren’t addressed in some way and ahh, let be in denial awhile longer I don’t want Mr puzzles to go I feel like if they give him a break (as in be a background character for awhile) he could have some kind of reconciliation even if it isn’t with everyone.

As a side note for wotfi- I’m wondering if mr puzzles might still be able to project his mind to another body that’s normal sized in the park somewhere, mainly just due to the posters shown, and him appearing in front of Mario, though it is likely just a projection of some kind. At this point I’m wondering if that’s how it would go down. Main body that has powers gets destroyed and Mr puzzles ends up powerless in a body like he had before he did that bs in the engine room. And he’d have some kind of consequences.

[starboardsquiggly]

Time In a Bottle

It wasn’t an uncommon thing for police sirens to spring to life in the middle of the night. 1920 the war had ended but through the window slits of celebration within Bigg City crime had begun to sky rocket. The nights were on lock down as police and military forces gave their hours and patrolled the streets, especially in the poorer communities nearer the less industrialized parts of the city.

Zebedee Briggs leaned against his door frame, blocking the view into the porch, he crossed his arms and nodded listening to the instructions of the shorter man standing opposed him.

Zak lent him a cigar and they smoked while he filled him in on Zero’s next gig. “It’s not even a gamble, Johnny’s went against the big man one too many times, can’t wait to see him sunk.” 

“If this goes sideways, I-“

“If this goes sideways it’ll be the last time- yadda fucking yadda, you pull this bullshit every time we have a hit and every time you sit like a good little doggy.” He spat nicotine on his boot and chortled. “We’ll see you at midnight Zeb.”

“Piss off.” He slammed the apartment door.

“Daddy?”

In a city so damned by criminals why had she been born into this? She wore a blue night dress and her hair was freshly washed and braided. Learning to do that was tricky but her giggles when her curls bounced were more than he could ask for.

He picked her up to carry her on his hip. “What are you doing up, munchkin?”

“Was that uncle Zak?”

He starred at her. The boys had played poker at his place a few times and made acquaintances with her but hearing that question threw him off balance. “Yeah- yeah it was why?”

“Why doesn’t uncle Hercules come over anymore? I liked his stories the most.”

Children, Zebedee had learned the hard way were far to smart for their own good. If she could piece together a bazillion piece puzzle as a hobby that she had asked him to glue together to hang on her wall, then he had no doubt she would start to put two and two together if he answered honestly.

He tickled her, tension in his shoulder blades dissipating with her squealing laughter.

“Let’s get you back to bed before the sun comes up, aye?”

She yawned, cuddling into her fathers chest. “Aye…”

She would be turning 5 next week. He wondered if this next job would bring him enough money to buy her a ship in a bottle. She loved to watch the large passenger vessels exit port on their morning walks, having a smaller one she could see from their home would make her smile despite the lack of a cake.

“Lizz, dad’s gotta work tonight.”

“Awe again?”

He carefully carried her up the winding stairs. “Yeah, again, baby. If I ain’t back in the morning, go with Miss Sally down the hall, she’ll see you off to school, give you breakfast.”

“But daddy!” She sat up, “she won’t take me past the boats-“.

“Darlin’, she will.” He laid her down in her bed. “I’ll tell ‘er you’ll want to see them, wave hello to the coast guard from the bridge. She knows how much you love to talk about the harbor, Bub.” He rubbed her nose with his own. “Now head to sleep. ‘Fore I make ya.”

Her eyes peeked over her covers watching him walk to the door. “love you, bub.” He grinned and closed the creaky door.

There was a chest at the end of the hall, it was locked, he pulled the key from his vest. Several varying weapons, a hat, lined with a white ribbon and a jacket consumed the inside.

He stuffed a pistol into the lining of the jacket, a blade between the belt.

[hexalianrebel-blackfeathers]

(Definitely also check out this person's take in the thread, but here I go)

I think it's important to preface that OP is correct in that Peter should have acted, just as a basic adult helping a child in a critical situation. But while the post I linked goes into why he doesn't from a few character perspectives, there's a big piece of OP's point that always stuck out and bothered me:

Peter B Parker is NOT Gwen's mentor. He never was.

At no point in either film is Peter B put in a position to even resemble a teaching figure to her. The first thing she does in her reveal scene as Spider-Woman is one-up him by saving him and Miles during the forest fight. She infiltrates Alchemax on her own and without being spotted at all while Peter and Miles are bumbling through the vents and getting thrown around by Doc Ock. At the time, in those moments, she didn't even need a mentor.

(Frankly, I hesitate to call him Miles' "mentor" sometimes. They were together for, like, 48 hours at most, and what did he really teach him besides learning to swing properly? He's an experienced Spider-Man, an adult that Miles could defer to in the crisis, and a good friend by the end of it, but a "mentor"...?)

I admit I'm biased to not liking Jessica. Her catty tone with Gwen when she messed up triggered too many flashbacks with peers and family. But the reason she's framed as the failed mentor is because she is, on several points, Gwen's mentor.

She advocated, rightly or wrongly, to bring Gwen into Spider Society as soon as she saw her skills, despite knowing Miguel would say no; and, more importantly, knowing why he would say no. Especially after what happened with Gwen's father, Jessica was the one who stepped up and took her under her wing. To the point where it is either well-known around Spider Society--or just a sarcastically thrown running joke--that Gwen is her "star pupil".

Going back to the crux of the issue, though; that being adults standing by while children are in situations they can't handle, I ask everyone this:

Why was Gwen sent to track the Spot in the first place?! Better yet: Why was she sent ALONE?!

Earth-1610 is borderline off-limits because Miguel doesn't want Miles to interact with Spider Society. Gwen is the ONE person who is most likely to screw up that piece of the puzzle. Why was she even allowed to go back? We learn later that her watch can be denied access from dimension jumping, so why can't she be blocked from certain dimensions?

Spider Society--meaning Miguel and Jessica, at the bare minimum--are aware that the Spot is multidimensional threat potential. At that stage, he could peer and reach into other dimensions through portals he was pulling off of his own body. That is not even remotely on par with knocking out one weird Vulture or Prowler.

So, given the literal hundreds of Spiders at your disposal, would you give this mission to the Spider with arguably the LEAST experience of any skilled fighter? (Pavitr doesn't count; he didn't seem to have a watch yet, probably because he didn't have all the Canon Events to make him receptive to the way Society works.)

Frankly, I am willing to blame Jessica for this. She could have sent anyone else; she could have gone herself (I don't know why people seem to think she's pregnant for the entire movie. She looks and moves differently when we see her in Pavitr's dimension; and considering how far along she was in the intro, I can almost guarantee she gave birth within the "months" after Gwen joined); Hell, if it was as big a threat as it literally is, Miguel should have been there himself! There could have been a dozen Spiders storming that little apartment, and Gwen could have had her date with Miles and been none the wiser. Blissful ignorance for both of them.

I don't care if Gwen has a B+ in English, I refuse to believe there's anything she could have been able to say that should have convinced Jessica she was safe to go on her own. Knowing her connection to Miles; Knowing she's inexperienced compared to this kind of potential threat; Knowing that she's probably still in a fragile emotional state and desperate to have a friend she can relate to.

I'm tempted to think Jessica is just soft on Gwen. She saw this poor girl nearly get shot by her own father and her mothering instincts went into overdrive. She seems to let Gwen get away with things, even keeping the secret that she went to see Miles--which we see later didn't matter, because Miguel probably already knew. And that is genuinely sweet of her, to begrudgingly care so much about her, but she is extremely complicit in the Spot getting away. She and Miguel both.

Wanna know why I don't like Peter B.?

Because when Gwen was actively forced into homelessness in front of him, he literally didn't help at all. And then it gets framed on JESS.

Gwen asks for help. And Peter says this:

Jess asks him to stop talking.

And from this moment forward, Peter makes no effort whatsoever to help Gwen.

Mind you. This is AFTER Miles' escape. After the whole 'shocked Peter' gif. Peter knows Miguel is willing to get violent.

But that line is his only attempt to help.

Even as he watches Gwen be fully restrained and physically forced into the machine. He stands there and watches.

He doesn't try to web her. He doesn't try to stop the machine or talk to Miguel. He stands there in silence. Watching Gwen get sent home to a universe he knows she is homeless in.

And the movie just lets him. Despite the fact he's known Gwen longer than anybody in this room.

Instead, Jess is the only mentor at fault. We're told to blame her.

During this scene we never pan to Peter, standing there literally motionless as Gwen gets dragged away. He's not panicking, or trying to talk Miguel out of it. We're just expected to absolve him of blame.

It's Jess' fault. Jess is her 'failed mentor' - despite the fact that Peter has known Gwen longer, is shown to have a better relationship with her, and we're given no reason as to why he wasn't her mentor to begin with.

Jess says this, and we're supposed to judge her for it. While Peter said nothing at all. At most he made a joke and then shut up when he was told.

Jess might've believed she couldn't help Gwen - but what was Peter's excuse? Standing there and watching this happen? He doesn't feel the need to do anything, say anything, or even leave the room.

For him, watching this is fine. And Gwen NEVER confronts him about it.

We're not supposed to blame Peter for letting Miles and Gwen down, repeatedly.

Even when Gwen is being physically forced into homelessness in front of him.

We're told to blame the black woman when the white man who has known Gwen longer literally stands beside Jess motionless.

Had Hobie not left Gwen the watch - We're left to assume that Peter would've just... let her be homeless in her dimension.

He watched her get sent home, said nothing, then went home to his wife and kid to ponder whether or not he was a bad mentor.

Not if Gwen was okay. Or whether he should go check on her????

That's NOT OKAY???!!!! THAT'S TERRIBLE!!!!!!! And this is the man we're supposed to be routing for? This, the dude who shows NO signs he was even gonna go and check on Gwen? The dude who lets child abuse go down in front of him TWICE and he just stands there blinking? That's our Peter Parker?

And I'm supposed to be thrilled to have him on the team??? Despite the fact Gwen had to come TO HIM. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND???? Gwen doesn't see a problem with that?????

I'm supposed to be happy he's here? Forreal???

Oh joy. Thank you so much, Humbling Reality Spider-man. We love you.

I hate Peter B. ALL MY HOBIES HATE PETER B. (Not a typo)

[hygieiapides-the-vulgar]

Fletcher thoughtfully dredged his spoon through a bowl of slowly diluting cereal and milk. Occasionally he looked up and glanced around the kitchen. There were still several unpacked cardboard boxes on the counter labeled Kitchen, Books, or Winter Clothes 2. Despite the labels, they contained dishes. Parts of the disassembled kitchen table from Ikea that they had started assembling the night before were strewn across the floor. After a few hours of puzzling over the instructions, which for some unknown reason were only given in Korean, they decided to give up and go to bed. This was also the reason why Tletcher was now eating breakfast with his bowl placed on top of several other boxes he had stacked. He guessed they would have to put the table together, but just the thought gave him the creeps. A large gray cat walked into the kitchen from the open bedroom door. She stretched and headed over to Fletcher, hoping he would make her something good for breakfast. Fetcher, of course, had no idea where the kibble was. After a few minutes of searching, accompanied by pitiful meowing, he gave up and headed for the bedroom. He leaned against the door frame and peered in.

"Mia?" The figure lying in the middle of the double bed grunted disapprovingly and burrowed deeper into the tangle of blankets and pillows. "Mia, do you know where we put Bean's pellets?" There was another inarticulate sound that sounded suspiciously like In the canned food box. Fletcher nodded and was about to leave the bedroom again before pausing at the last moment. "I hope you're not going to sleep until lunch. We've still got that desk waiting for us, not to mention the hall shoe rack. And we were going to hang the curtains, too, if I remember correctly." This time the grumble sounded almost like Get on my back.

Fletcher first meets Mia seven years ago. He's sitting at his favorite table in a coffee shop a few blocks from his apartment, quietly reading a dog-eared copy of King's It and sipping a slowly cooling cappuccino. The establishment's silence is broken only by the occasional clink of dishes. His idyll is suddenly shattered when a complete stranger sits down on the seat opposite him and grabs his arm. "Hi, I'm Mia, and the guy who just walked in here is my ex who got my name tattooed on his arm after we'd been dating for three weeks, so please, please, could you pretend for a minute that we're dating and we're terribly happy?" Fletcher stares uncomprehendingly at the hand the newcomer is clutching for a moment, then lifts his head and looks towards the bar where the aforementioned man in the leather jacket is standing. He doesn't look particularly psychopathic, but first impressions can be deceiving. It doesn't take long for him to notice them. Mia pulls her head down between her shoulders, her gaze fixed on the tabletop as if the secret of life were engraved on it. "Hello, Mia," the man greets them when he reaches their table.

"Um... long time no see, Paul," Mia replies a little uncertainly, lifting her head and smiling. Fletcher can't help but notice how insincere that smile is. "You have a date here?" asks Paul a little too casually, turning to Fletcher, who hasn't said a word yet. "Well..." Mia looks questioningly at Fletcher, her eyes screaming at him for help. "I'm Fletcher, Mia and I have only been together for a little while. And you are?" says Fletcher, giving Paul an effortless grin. "Just... an acquaintance. I won't intrude." Paul stands awkwardly in place for a moment before shrugging and heading for the exit again. With a sigh of relief, Mia lets go of Fletcher's hand and collapses deeper into her seat.

============== "Thanks. Every time I meet him, he begs to come back to me. And since I'm more inclined to ask for a restraining order, the conversations don't end pleasantly." "I can imagine. What's stopping you from asking for a restraining order?" Mia throws her arms around. "I'm too good a soul for that." She glances at her watch and, barely realizing what time it is, quickly gets up and throws her rainbow-print bag over her shoulder. "Well, it's been a pleasure, Fletcher," he says, slowly getting ready to leave. He pulls his hat and glove out of the bag as the first snowflakes begin to fly outside the window. "Likewise." Mia stops at the cash register, says something to the attendant behind the bar and hands the waiter a bill. "More coffee's on me," she calls to Fletcher one last time, waving at him and disappearing through the door. Fletcher doesn't expect to ever see Mia again, but it doesn't take a month.

"What makes a man get your name tattooed on his shoulder?" Mia looks up in surprise. It takes a moment to place Fletcher's face in the right drawer, but she finally smiles in surprise. "You know, charming personality and an unhealthily extensive knowledge of Star Wars." "Nothing brings one to their knees more than the principle of how a lightsaber works," shrugs the girl sitting next to Mia, rummaging through a pencil case full of colored markers. Fletcher suspects he's mistaking Mia for a sketchbook, because of course he notices the intricate drawings that cover Mia's arm from the back of her hand to the hem of her short-sleeved shirt. Some of it is Celtic symbols, some floral designs, some comic book characters, and what's on Mia's elbow looks a bit like Ian McKellen.

==== "Aren't you afraid of blood poisoning?" he wonders, but Mia waves her free hand. "That's just a rumor. And if not, Stephany poisoned me a long time ago." The named girl looks at Fletcher searchingly. "Wait, aren't you the handsome guy who saved Mia from Mr. Court-ordered-for-knocking-on-doors?" She asks, opening a red marker and continuing her artwork. This time, he paints a pre-drawn outline of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. "Handsome?" Fletcher wonders, raising his eyebrows in question. "Well, I have eyes, and this one asked if you were at least handsome. And of course I'm not going to lie to her." Mia tries to look innocent, but Fletcher doesn't quite believe it. Stephany finishes the drawing in a few strokes. "All done. You can go and advertise for me." Mia stretches her shoulder and rises from the bench. "So, you study here?" she wonders, because they're in the lobby of the university library. "I'm pretending to be." = "In that case, we're on the same page." Stephany puts her markers back in her backpack and as she pulls the zipper down she remarks, "How about you stop making eyes at each other in public and go to the bakery next door for a cupcake instead?" Mia turns to Fletcher with a question in her brown eyes. "What's your opinion on cupcakes?" "I have nothing against them."

They become friends. In less than two years they make a merger of their friends, so that they are both part of the same group of friends. Fletcher serves as a fake friend a few more times, but since he gets either coffee, pizza or beer from Mia every time in return, he doesn't complain. They're at the same university, just each in a different department, so they see each other almost daily. They go out for a beer at least once a week to complain about life and their horrible roommates, and generally spend more time together than they do with their other friends, so when the second year they've known each other slowly rolls around, there's no denying that they're best friends. The first time they live together is completely platonic, and it happens by sheer coincidence. Mia is awakened in the middle of the night by the tinkling of the doorbell. She struggles to roll out from under the covers and squints sleepily at the alarm clock. It reads 3:30 in the morning. Mia rubs her eyes with the back of her hand and heads for the door when the doorbell rings a second time. "I'm coming, I'm coming! And I hope whoever it is has a good reason for dragging me out of bed at this ungodly hour," she calls through the door as she removes the safety chain.

He's finally opening the door. Fletcher is standing on the threshold, looking so desperate that if it hadn't been close to four in the morning, Mia might have been moved. Unfortunately, four o'clock is just around the corner and Mia has no mercy. "Can I help you, honey?" she asks gruffly, brushing her messy hair out of her eyes and straightening the enormous concert T-shirt she's using in place of pajamas. "You know how I mentioned that my overpriced roommate is an idiot and I can't stand living with him another day?" "I vaguely remember something. I know you were so jealous at the time that my roommate decided to move out, which means I have the apartment to myself, at least until I find a replacement. More to the point." Mia folds her arms across her chest and leans against the doorjamb. She half tries to look tough and half tries to stop gravity from doing its job with them. "Well, apparently he thought so too, and after he came out of the bar at two in the morning and threw up on our doormat, we had a fight. One thing led to another and now I don't have a place to live." "YOU don't have a place to live?"

"It was a pretty complicated argument," Fletcher shrugs. "Anyway, since it's common knowledge that we're best friends, I hope you'll accept your responsibility and take care of me. After all... you're looking for a roommate, right?" Mia looks at him for a moment, and Fletcher isn't sure if she's considering murdering him. After all, Mia and involuntarily leaving his bed... that doesn't exactly go well together. "You know I'd crawl on rooftops for you if you wanted me to, but living together? When I live with someone, I gradually come to hate them. And I love you, and I'm not sure I want to risk it." "At least for a few days until I find something of my own." Finally, Mia lowers her head in defeat and steps aside so Fletcher can come in. "What I won't do for you," she shakes her head in disbelief at her own decision. "You've got it on me." "I do," Mia agrees, heading back into the bedroom. "Spread out the couch where I have a spare blanket you know and expect breakfast in bed in the morning. And you'll have to get a bed because your predecessor took his with him." "You're the best." "Sometimes I regret we ever met."

They end up living together for over nine months. Their friends (and especially Stephany) joke that they've finally gotten over themselves and gotten it together the way everyone has long suspected. Fletcher takes it as a joke until the day his sister comes to visit. "Why don't you ask Mia out?" Fletcher looks up in surprise from the sink where he's washing dishes from dinner. His sister Alice sits at the table, curling a strand of blonde hair on her finger and examining a framed picture hanging on the wall that Stephany painted for him as a housewarming gift. "Why would I ask Mia out on a date?" asks Fletcher, cautiously putting down his towel. "Because deep down you've been wanting to do it ever since you pretended how badly in love you were the first time you met?" Alice grins at him, pushing a chair away from the table with the toe of her shoe as if to invite her brother to sit across from her. "But I don't want to date Mia," Fletcher says, sitting down.

Alice leans her elbows on the table top and leans closer to him. "Oh, come on, don't flatter me, Fletch. You and Mia have basically been dating for almost three years. You've even been living together." "Trust me, there's nothing going on between Mia and me," he assures her, but Alice shakes her head as her blonde curls bounce back and forth. "You love Mia, and definitely not just in the friendly way." Fletcher stares at the table. He's never given it a second thought. Stephany and the others are always digging them, but he's never taken them seriously. It wasn't until his sweet, innocent younger sister, who was always and everywhere honest, said it that he wondered if she was really seeing something he, Fletcher, was overlooking. "We're just friends," he finally says, but he doesn't sound as convinced as he'd like. "Are you sure?" Fletcher suddenly isn't sure. Mia is his roommate. His accomplice. Amigo. Not someone he could fall in love with. No?

"Mia?" "Hm?" "Did you ever think that you and I could date?" "Don't you remember how we met? Of course I thought about it." "No, I mean... not just for show because of Paul... but like... normally. Just dating." Mia reaches for the remote and pauses the movie they decided to watch that night. Since they haven't been living together again since Fletcher finally found his own apartment, they've been having a movie night every Friday, a habit that started when they were roommates and they don't want to change now. "Why all of a sudden?" Mia frowns. Fletcher thinks for a moment about what to say in response when Mia speaks up again. "No, wait, let me guess. Alice." Fletcher nods. His ex-roommate lifts her legs onto the couch and settles into a Turkish sit. "I don't know. We've been friends for, what, three years? Sure, I've probably thought about it sometime during that time, but..." He lets the unfinished sentence hang in the air. There's a bit of an awkward silence. Fletcher has never experienced an awkward silence with Mia. That was the amazing thing about their relationship. Nothing awkward, just a genuine, damn satisfying friendship. He's starting to regret bringing it up at all. He's just about to sweep the whole conversation under the rug when suddenly Mia turns to face him and grabs the back of his head. ====== He didn't think he'd ever kiss Mia except on New Year's Eve or at a bottle game organized by his then very drunk friend Lucas to celebrate his birthday. And lo and behold... it's happening. Mia still has her hands in his hair and doesn't seem to be breaking the kiss. In the end, it's Fletcher who pulls away first because his lungs are screaming for oxygen. Mia can't help but notice that Fletcher is looking a bit like a doe in the headlights. "So?" he asks. Fletcher clears his throat. "It was good," he says finally. "Fine?" "Fine." Mia laughs and sinks back into the pile of pillows at her end of the couch. "Let's just stay with it."

This time there's nothing to show for it. They're gonna let the whole episode fizzle out. Nothing changes between them, and that's a good thing. Probably. But Fletcher is thinking more and more about the kiss and his relationship with Mia. The kiss? He said fine, because his brain was busy with something else entirely and he didn't get a chance to go through the lexicon of superlatives he's accumulated in his life as a literature student. It was more than fine. It was about Mia, after all. Nothing was just fine with Mia. He can't imagine his life without Mia anymore. He'd miss the science fiction lectures, the 3:30 a.m. musings on the meaning of life with a bucket of ice cream, the childhood stories about how his father wanted Mia to be a soccer star, the seances filled with playing old console games... Fletcher has no one to talk to about it, and it's kind of killing him. Other times, he wouldn't hesitate to just go to Mia. The problem is... he wouldn't be comfortable with Mia on the subject. Then Stephany comes into the picture. She'd tell him to go find his balls and just talk to Mia because they've been a couple for years. He goes through all of his friends one by one. Lucas. Gabriel. Tiffany. Elliot. Felicia. Natalie. No one is suitable. He can't talk to anyone about the fact that he's probably fallen in love with Mia, and probably a long time ago, and he just hasn't seen it, just like he's been told all the time. In the end, Mia handles it for Fletcher.

One morning, he sends Fletcher a message asking if he could go to the café, saying that Mia needs to talk to him. Fletcher gets there at ten o'clock sharp. He sits down at his favorite table, orders, and waits impatiently. It takes less than five minutes before he spots Mia through the glass window. Mia notices him too and waves him over. He's wearing a striped T-shirt, red jeans, his dark hair ruffled by the wind, and Fletcher realizes what a thick mess he's in. Mia walks into the café and sits down in the chair across from Fletcher. "Hi," she greets him a little breathlessly, smiling broadly. "What's up?" Fletcher wonders, but Mia leans her elbows on the table and smiles instead of answering. "I love you."

Fletcher suddenly has the same feeling he did after their first kiss on movie night. No oxygen again, and a surprised doe face. Mia doesn't save those words for special occasions, but this time the context is a little different. "Shall I tell you again?" Mia asks, and Fletcher can see she's dead serious. Since he doesn't answer, Mia actually repeats it. "Um... I..." Of course, now Fletcher starts to stutter. Bravo. Ten out of ten, Fletcher. "So I'll continue until you put together a coherent sentence. I love you and I want to try real walking. Screw any friendship. I've got plenty of friends and I'm not going to worry about some What Ifs here ruining our friendship because that's not going to happen to us. So... what do you say, Fletch?" Fletcher looks into those brown eyes, searching for any hint of betrayal or jest. Of course, he finds nothing. Because she is Mia, after all.

They start living together for the second time six months after they get together. This time, Mia moves in with Fletcher. "Hey, Mia?" "Yes, dear?" Mia comes out of the bathroom in Fletcher's bathrobe and with a towel slung over her shoulder. "I have a question for you and... um... it's pretty awkward, considering how long we've known each other." Fletcher puts a plate of scrambled eggs on the kitchen table and allows himself to be kissed on the cheek. "Considering how long we've known each other, it's pretty embarrassing that you think there's a question that would still be embarrassing," Mia winces, sitting down to her portion and reaching for a slice of bread. Fletcher sinks into the chair across from her, still looking like he actually has something uncomfortable to say. Mia sighs theatrically. "So spit it out? What's weighing on your little heart?" she asks, propping her chin up with her hand. = "Fine, fine... just... don't get mad, okay? It didn't occur to me until last night, and I realized that I never asked about it, and actually... never got around to the information, which is a little disturbing now that I think about it." Mia quirks her eyebrows in incomprehension. "Okay, now I'm a little worried, but still... out with it." Fletcher takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "Okay. Mia, what's your actual first name." There's a long silence. "Excuse me?" Mia asks slowly, putting down her fork. "I know, I know, it's awful, but I just never thought to ask. What is Mia short for?" "We've known each other for over four years, Fletcher! I know the name of the stuffed hippo you had as a four year old. And you don't know what my first name actually is?" "Sorry! But I've never heard anyone call you anything but Mia!" Mia shakes her head in disbelief. "Well, that can't be true. My own boyfriend has no idea what my name is." "Please, please, I look sad."

Fletcher is really looking sad and resembles a kicked puppy, which Mia, as always, can't do anything against, so she gives in instead. "Michael."

Fletcher finally got Mia out of the bedroom under threat of violence. When he finally made it to the kitchen, he looked as if Fletcher had thrown his toys down the drain.

"Sometimes I really regret that we live together," he muttered, his hands buried up to his elbows in the depths of one of the cardboard boxes, searching for a jar of instant coffee.

"You should have thought of that before we bought this place," Fletcher pointed out. Mia chose to ignore him and instead of answering, picked up Bean from the floor, who was mewing loudly for attention. "You understand me, don't you, sweetheart?" The cat nuzzled its head affectionately under his chin.

"See, this is what love looks like. And don't you dare get out of bed, or I'll pull you out of it, and believe me, you won't like it," he looked back at Fletcher.

"Oh yeah, you poor thing. Next time I'll wake you up like a princess."

"No, you won't."

"You're probably right, but you never know." Mia's expression suggested she'd had just enough of Fletcher's humor for the morning. "I've known you for over seven years. We've been dating for more than half of that time, and we've lived together on and off during two-thirds of it. I know you'll never do that." Fletcher smiled condescendingly. "Okay, I'll wait until you have your first coffee before I start teasing you because I'm awesome and we haven't yet assembled a couch for you to kick me on at night." "That's a wise decision."

[squids-comics]

Supernova Chapter Four: The Plan Falls Apart

Dyceran stared at the two figures for quite a while. He could barely see them through smoke wafting through the mine. He could only see their outlines. The heat lines radiating from the floor made them wiggle, almost as if they were doing a little dance. It was almost hypnotic.

"Who are you?" He asked, cautiously.

It was Vee who answered first, stepping forward as he did so. He ran his hand through his hair, straightening it out. 

"My name's Vouhn, but you can call me Vee. This here's Reva the revolutionary!"

Reva followed Vee, stepping into Dyceran's view. She was not very happy. Her arms were folded in front of her, and her face was curved into a slight frown. "I told you to stop calling me that."

Dyceran stepped forward next, letting out a soft chuckle that quickly turned to a cough. He coughed and heaved, expunging a cloud of dust from his lungs. When he recovered, he asked another question.

"Why are you here?"

It's Reva who answered first this time. Her frown disappeared, changing the shape of her face. It looked softer and more approachable. "We're here to save you! To take you up to the surface!"

Dyceran looked puzzled by this. "But why?"

Vee steped forward again, tugging the collar of his jacket. A yellow mining jacket. Dyceran glanced down at his own yellow mining gear. He nodded, understanding exactly why they were there.

"Alright. Can I help?"

Vee shook his head with a big, toothy grin on his face. "Nah! We've got this."

It was then they heard a voice echo down the hall behind them.

"They went this way! Keep your weapons ready!"

It was only one voice, but it was accompanied by the soft rumbling of a stampede of footsteps. Vee turned around, looking down the hall.  His grin slowly drooped off his face. "That's a lot of footsteps..."

Reva put her ear to the ground, listening intently. "Yeah... Gotta be at least 15, and they're running!"

Vee ran over to the door, fishing the device out of his pocket. "Don't worry! I'll hack the door closed!"

He pulled the device from his jacket pocket and plugged it into the door control panel, scanning through the hologram code projected above it. The code cycled through many potential codes, failing to stop on any of them. Vee pushed the button in the center anyways. The device beeped at him.

Reva looked worried. Almost as worried as Vee. "Come on Vee! Quit fooling around and get that door shut!!"

Vee gave an awkward chuckle, clearly nervous, but trying to play it cool. "Sorry! Haven't quite cracked the code! Let me try again."

Vee scanned the code again. A few symbols and characters locked in place, but the rest kept flickering. They had half a code, and no time to crack the rest. He pushed the button in the center of the device again. It beeped at him. The door stayed open.

Reva looked even more worried by this second failed attempt. "Vee!! Hurry it up!"

Vee cracked, dropping his cool demeanour. He was very clearly every bit as panicked as Reva, if not more so. "I'm trying! But nothing works on this stupid door!!"

Dyceran walked towards the door. He was the only calm one between the three of them. He grabbed the sliding door, near the roof of the doorway and with minimal effort, slammed it to the ground. Reva and Vee stared in awe. What was impossible for them, Dyceran had achieved with minimal effort. The door had a large dent in it where Dyceran had grabbed it. The hydraulics had been ripped apart, dripping liquid down the door frame. Sparks arced out of the bottom of the frame, where the door hit. Even with the proper keycards and codes, that door wasn't opening anytime soon. Dyceran slapped his hands together, dusting them off.

"Are you sure you don't need help?"

Vee looked completely flabbergasted. He smiled.

"Lead the way big guy."

The three of them took off down the opposite hallway together. While Reva and Vee were similar speeds, Dyceran had to crawl through the hall, making him much slower and a lot noisier. This was a problem for the group, as Dyceran was leading the charge. Reva and Vee followed him at an awkward half jog. Dyceran, not able to look behind him, yelled down the tunnel.

"The miners have all gone back to their quarters! They're this way!"

Reva winced a bit from the noise of Dyceran's voice. It was loud. He didn't seem to have any care to not get caught.

"Can you keep the noise down? This is a stealth mission."

Vee placed a hand on her shoulder. His usual cheerful smile was missing, replaced with a slight frown.

"His ears are probably still ringing. From the mining. Give him a few minutes."

Reva gave Vee a solemn nod, and together they follow Dyceran to the quarters. They eventually reached a hallway full of doors, each one almost touching the two doors on either side of it. There had to be at least 50 doors on each side of the hall. Dyceran began ripping down doors, revealing rooms barely big enough to stand in. Each miner was practically shoulder to shoulder with the two walls of their room. The rooms were much longer than they were wide, with a small bed on the far side of the room, a closet on the left and a toilet and sink on the right. Reva was disgusted by how small each room was. 

"Jeez, what's up with these rooms? My living quarters were barely big enough to be considered a living space, and even that was around six or seven times this size..."

Vee looked glumly forward, unable to look away from the rooms. He clenched his fist.

"The worse you treat someone, the readier they are to accept a room like this as a luxury."

"A luxury?! There's worse than this?"

"Yes. Much worse."

Dyceran continued busting down the doors in the hallway, letting all the miners step out into the hall. There was a wide mix of people, ranging in race and species and age. There was a whole range of skin tones, from vibrant pinks to mellow blues. Some had two legs, some had twenty, some had zero. Some looked like they had just started working the mines, others looked as if they'd already seen decades of labour. Some had ears, others had antennae, while others still had no visible sensory organs at all. It was quite the collection of people. It was only when all of them gathered in the hall, unsure of whether to be happy or afraid, that Dyceran finally addressed them. They all listened to him intently, as if they all had a great deal of respect for him.

"Miners! Brothers! We have been through a lot over the years! We have worked together, wept together, bled together, but no more! Today we break free of the shackles that bind us to this wretched place! Today we escape! Today we are free! Today we will see the sun rise!!"

All the miners cheered, ecstatic at the thought of seeing the sun. Some remembered the sight from years and years ago, reminiscing on its warmth. Others had never even seen the sun, growing up in the mine their whole lives, only ever hearing stories. Every miner seemed to be thinking of something. The light of the sun. It's warmth. The sunrise on a bright new dawn. They were all lost in their daydreams of hope. Vee interrupted their day dreaming.

"Ok everyone! We'll draw the guard's attention further into the mines. You need to escape in that time. Take any exit you can find, main exits, side exits, maintenance tunnels. We'll work our way up from the lower layer and then meet you at the spaceport on the top layer! We have a ship waiting for us to transport you to a safe world. There, you can rest."

With another quick cheer, the miners dispersed, splitting into groups to make their travel easier. They all ran out of the mines in various directions, navigating the twisting and turning tunnels. Reva, Vee, and Dyceran ran in a direction no other miners had taken. They were heading further in.

As they ran down the hall, the ceiling raised, allowing Dyceran to stand on his feet. Finally running at full speed, he was only slightly slower than Vee and Reva. The two quickly took the lead, before the large sliding door at the end of the hallway opened, revealing five guards. Reva and Vee drew their weapons, ready for a fight. Dyceran held his hand out in front of them to hold them back. They both looked at him, slightly confused. He only smiled.

"Leave this to me."

With that, Dyceran charged down the hall at top speed. The guards, panicking, started letting off shots at him. Each shot bounced off his rigid scales, barely even noticed by him. They didn't slow him down at all. Once there were less than 20 feet between Dyceran and the guards, they stopped firing and turned to run. Dyceran continued to run, bowling his way through the guards. The guards who weren't trampled under foot were flung into walls. They were all knocked unconscious. Vee's usual joyous demeanour returned.

"I'm glad he came with us."

Reva nodded, still impressed by Dyceran's actions.

[kates-sweet-escape]

KinnPorsche - It's all a ruse (a theory)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for KinnPorsche the Series. Read at your own risk. I haven't read the novel, only bits and pieces that I've found online so this is purely based on the TV Series. Also, this post is based on the work of other amazing Tumblr creators that will all be credited within this post. Brace yourself - this is a long one.

Disclaimer: I am by no means an expert, I am just a german romance-novel writer. Also, I come from a eurocentric perspective as I was raised in Germany by a British mother and a German father.

Additional KinnPorsche Content by me:

KinnPorsche: The question of true privilege (Meta - Episode 6)

KinnPorsche: Kinns Breakdown - I can't believe you still want me (Meta - Episode 7)

Hello everyone.

I swear to god, the things this show and this fandom make me do. I usually don't share theories. Or meta. Or anything. I left the active part of fandoms a long time ago, but here I am, typing away with a facemask on and a half-empty glass of wine right next to me, cause damn I need a little self-care after watching the emotional rollercoaster that was Episode 9.

Ever since Episode 9 aired I've read a lot of opinions about Kinn, his character, and his choice not to trust Porsche. Reactions within the fandom vary from genuine understanding to absolute outrage, a fascinating mixture of empathy and cancel culture.

And ever since that devastating moment at the end of the episode I've been thinking. A lot. Maybe more than what is healthy considering the fact that this is just a TV-Show that somehow managed to take over my life.

Things didn't quite add up to me. I was caught in this weird emotional limbo of I do understand Kinn as a fellow individual with massive trust issues caused by ex-lovers that betrayed us and After what they've shown us last week and with the emotional progress those two characters have made, Kinns reaction does not make that much sense from a writers perspective.

So I went back to watch those last few minutes over and over again (and before you ask me - no, I am not okay! Porsches pleading and soft "Ai Kinn" will haunt me tonight), took screenshots, read the previous meta while trying to fit the puzzle pieces together. And then the brilliant @moerusaii posts this amazing piece of meta that convinced me to share my thoughts with you guys.

Because I have the theory that this might be an elaborate ruse by Kinn and Porsche to trick Tawan and Vegas.

And here is why:

Kinn, Tawan and that one mirror frame

This is that one frame that kickstarted it all for me in Episode 9. @luckydragon10 whom I'm very much a fan of, has talked about what mirrors signify in this post, and ever since then I've been paying a lot more attention to the usage of mirrors in KinnPorsche.

We see Tawan and Kinn alone in Tawans old apartment to retrieve the evidence of who is behind the Italians (which is probably useless anyway - and YES all the shade for this b*tch). While Tawan is "remembering" the real location of the USB stick, this shot happens. We see the real Tawan, but we only see the reflection of Kinn, probably signifying that Kinn has a hidden agenda, keeping the truth hidden from Tawan while showing a side of himself that is not real and only a mere reflection of himself.

It's only a short frame but something about it feels so deliberate that I couldn't possibly ignore it.

Maybe it also means that Tawan is only seeing an old version of Kinn, feeding into the issues he had rather than seeing the real Kinn that has maybe gotten rid of them with a partner by his side he can truly trust, all without his vicious ex-lover noticing who is focused on the reflection he is familiar with.

Kinn breaking the fourth wall

Okay, I've already mentioned @moerusai and her amazing post but I still want to add a little bit to that. (And thank you Mo for sending me a DM so I could use your gifs that looks a million times better than my screenshot!)

When I watched Episode 9 for the first time, this shot made me so uncomfortable. Kinn looks straight at the audience, no filter, no mirror, no nothing. And for the first time, I felt like I am looking at the soul of this man, bruised and bare and begging to be understood and to be trusted. It felt like he looked at me to tell me that things are going to be okay, as long as we keep our eyes on him and see past what is shown, willing to stare into the shadows until we can see everything that's hidden in the darkness.

The lighting when Vegas and Porsche are alone is not green.

We all remember this scene from Episode 7. The scene where Porsche and Vegas stumble into the bathroom. The light in this scene is green, signifying danger as the amazing @antique-forvalaka has pointed out in her "KinnPorsche and the Use of Color" Series that I will mention again later on. It has been pointed out by @yellingaboutkp in this post that Porsche faked being drunk because he already suspected Vegas being shady and wanted him to show his true colors (no pun intended). If we assume this to be true, then Vegas should remain a threat to Porsche, his light remaining green.

Now look at this:

The color in this scene is teal and not green. We've seen this color before, in episode 5, and as @antique-forvalaka pointed out in this post this specific mixture of blue and green is used when there is a danger that Porsche is able to handle. When he is not as helpless as he appears to be. When he is forming a plan.

But Kate, what does Vegas have to do with any of this? He isn't Tawan! Yes, my lovelies, you are correct. He isn't Tawan. But ever since he doubled down on the Kinn Shot His Ex Rumor, I am convinced that he's got something to do with it. Especially considering his disgustingly perfect timing and his offer to Porsche to run away together. In addition to that, we know that he will storm the compound from the trailer. So he is most definitely one of the main villains of the show and just like a snake with its beautiful and shiny green scales, he is able to slither into anything just so he can poison it in one swift bite.

We are still waiting for that handshake (Trailer)

Yes, the trailer. I am even going back that far. I am sure that this scene takes place at Yok's bar (she's a true MVP) and I think it might even be a flashback where Kinn and Porsche talked about their plan, far away from prying eyes and ears. And what could be more romantic than a date night like that? A couple that schemes together stays together!

But all jokes aside, this scene might also take place later on when the two of them have drifted apart, signified by the fact that Porsche is wearing Jeans, something he stopped doing ever since getting emotionally closer to Kinn and adapting part of his style. So I might be completely wrong about this and it's not them scheming but instead reconciling.

When it all goes up in flames - Porsche remains (KinnPorsche: The Hidden messages)

And since we are already on a trip down memory lane, I am taking you guys back to "KinnPorsche. The Hidden Messages" when it was announced that we would still be getting KinnPorsche the Series after months of thinking that it might get canceled.

We see Kinn standing in front of a banner with the word TRUST on it. It goes up in flames, revealing Porsche waiting behind it.

This could mean a great many things, especially now that they've decided to give him a phoenix tattoo that he also adapted into his name as an underground boxer. It could mean that he is rising from the ashes after Kinn burned the trust they've shared. Or it could mean that he is rising from the ashes of the trust that Tawan had broken when he sold Kinns information to the Italians. That Porsche is the one rebuilding Kinns trust from the dustry crumbs that Tawan left behind, willing to survive in the heat of the flames that lick at his skin, threatening to burn him too.

Either way, I think we can all agree that Porsche is the only one that Kinn can and should trust, and I sure as hell hope that my theory is correct and that Kinn knows that too.

[lucygraysboy]

“my koala bear. my clingy monkey,” billy muses affectionately, a breathless chuckle escaping him when lucy gray wraps herself around his frame, like a vine coiling around a fence. it comes so naturally to them, their bodies fitting together like two puzzle pieces. his strong arms instinctively slip underneath her backside, supporting the weight of her body with ease. his heart’s hammering in his chest, both anticipating and fearing her response to his offer. after all, less than an hour ago she was telling him to take things slow, and here he is, asking her to be his. “lucy gray, you’re so…” gorgeous? beautiful? stunning? divine? there’s no word in his dictionary that could do her justice, all of them seem scant and could never adequately describe what she is to him. how much he adores her. 

the world could end this very second and he wouldn’t even notice, pale blue eyes gazing lovingly into her chocolate hues, losing himself in them. like in that fairytale that they read a long time ago, she’s the fairest of them all. he leans in, the tip of his nose bumping against hers as he fights off the urge to kiss her again out of sheer happiness. the weight of the world lifting off his chest when he hears her response, he twirls them around a few times before coming to a stop again. “in heaven even, hm? sure you wanna put up with my yappin’ in the afterlife, too? well, guess i’ll change my weddin’ vows to not even death can do us part then.” a surge of sheer euphoria rushes over him as they linger in this warm embrace, surrounding him in a golden glow. 

“funny you mention that ‘cause… every time we played house, i thought about how i’d love nothing more than to have it all with you one day. remember that journal my ma bought me back in like second grade? i covered ten pages with hearts and lucy gray bonney’s.” her confession touches his very soul and elicits one out of him in return, sending a flurry of butterflies into a frenzy within his stomach, warmth radiating through his chest as he continues to marvel at her in near disbelief. she loves him? has been his girl since they were six? he’s only ever heard her say these very words in his dreams and wants to pinch himself to make sure this isn’t one of them. “written in the stars, you say? i think you’re right. there’s no other explanation for why i feel the way i feel ‘bout you. when we’re apart, it’s like half of my own heart is missin’. i couldn’t live without you, lucy gray. i know it now.” if it’s not her for him in the end, he’ll never love again. a smile spreading across his lips, he muses, “i’m yours and you’re mine, in this life and in all the next ones.” and leans in to kiss her again.

slipping out of the cart, lucy gray immediately wraps her arms around his neck and glues to his hips, wrapping her legs around his waist ensuring she’s hanging on. she squeezes him with all of her limbs and a radiant, joyous smile graces her features at hearing his voice carry the words of loving her too. those words making the little girl inside her who has been loving him more than just a friend all these years, come so brightly to life, melting and feeling like she’s suffocating on how overwhelming in the best possible way the exchange of love with your most favorite person in the world is. but the relief as well, to finally just say it like this. a smile of amusement works across her face from the same feeling…it’s left her speechless too. even if she’s glad she could win in playful revenge, that’s for kissing her last time and leaving her without things to say. watching the cold snowflakes stick to his roseate skin and quickly melt, her cold cheeks hurt from smiling at his blush. “i’ll love you too here and in heaven and for eternity.” that’s a fact, something bonded them together the first day she came wandering up on his yard and they were immediately intrigued by each other so young. that doesn’t happen everyday. a young boy and a girl doesn’t start out like that often, not unless they were just born to be that compatible. then his proposal to be his girl comes fast, and out of instinct— that annoying fear plaguing her in the back of her mind comes bothering her. this time, she was stronger than it though. “i’m yours.” what was she so scared of? since… “i already am, have been.” a confident smile pushed away the worry attempting to etch across her features. “when we were six and we held hands, i used to pretend you were my husband.” she admitted to the silly imaginative little lucy gray and her big imagination, a shy laugh sounding from her then she grew sincere again and lovingly spoke, “i’m yours and you’re mine, it’s written in the stars.”

[wolfie-bee]

uchahvia [synergy]

read it here on twitter

read it here on ao3

Kara was listening to every syllable, every hesitant pause, the flittering heartbeats, the gently rushing of blood high on Lena's cheeks, even the bit about 'science.' And yet all she wanted to say was that it had nothing to do with science, but everything to do with Lena's spirit.

The admiration in Kara's eyes is wondrous to behold and those feelings in Lena's heart stir, magic still rushing beneath her skin. A need arises to close that distance, but she resists, uncertainty rooting her to the spot as she smiles at Kara. 

"I thought about protecting you."

“I could hear.”

It may be the worst time for this kind of decision, but she is done with denial. Her senses are swirling with Lena's presence, love, and magic. Resistance is how they’d been torn asunder. But she is here and Lena is so open and- Kara gently floats closer.

"I wasn't sure if my magic would work." Lena admits, a slight waver in her voice as her fingers twist together. Kara's closeness emboldens her and she reaches out with trembling hands. "I don't know what we," she pauses, let's out a breath, "what I would have done if it hadn't."

Kara relaxes into the sensation of Lena’s palms meddling against the glyph of her household. “I have never been fearful ever,” Kara murmurs, her lips resting against Lena’s forehead. “I knew, I know...I've never doubted your abilities. I never will.” She hears Lena's heart stop.

"Your trust means everything to me," Lena whispers and the way that Kara's eyes soften with affection leaves her breathless beneath her arduous stare. That magic still humming at her fingertips rustles like a restless lion and she doesn't notice the way her hands glow with it.

A kaleidoscope. Spinning clarity, vivid patches, everything from Lena’s breath to the magic Kara senses flowing ardently in her cells. She can’t hold back the purr that grows in her own chest, something wild in her ravenous. Cocooning Lena in her arms, she shifts so their lips–

are inches apart, until they're almost breathing the same air. The way that Kara holds her is bold, wanting, and Lena wants, oh, she wants so fervently her heart aches. She spares a thought for the Team scattered within the Tower, that anyone could walk in at any moment and yet…

Kara kept them heatedly sculptured together. Only their lips untouched-Kara flowed them into one another, softly, perfectly, as if every atom, every star, every rasp, every chisel stroke of their lives has been a tidal wave waiting for the crest from this initial sealing of lips.

Lena's hands move to frame Kara's face and she moves in, slowly, pressing a chaste kiss to Kara's sun-kissed cheek. A soft breath shudders past Kara's lips, the sound making Lena weak in the knees and she's just about to do it again when the doors to the room abruptly burst open.

Kara’s every fiber had been tuned to her favorite radio station, Lena. Alas, she’d heard Brainy’s deft footfall all the same. Pulling away from Lena felt like falling into a sink hole of Kryptonite, but she did. Wanting their whisper soft reconstitution to be private and freeing.

Lena's reflexes slowed, and by the time she realizes they've been interrupted, Kara has already taken a respectable step back. It takes everything to orient herself, to prevent her body from swaying readily into Kara and she drops her hands, trying to calm her frantic heartbeat.

Kara’s grip is so hard on the medical bed that she crinkles the lip into a razor thin line.

“We think we’ve solved the puzzle of how to utilize the totem's energy.” Brainy met her eyes, clearly not aware of her and Lena’s frenzied heartbeats and the fiery moment they'd shared.

It takes a few seconds for Lena to register Brainy's words and note the quivering pulse of magic jumping at her fingertips in direct protest to the distance once again separating her and Kara. But she clears her throat, finally turning to him and the moment regrettably slips away.

It had been a busy, but successful day. Yet Kara was vibrating with a restless energy, it had been happening more frequently since her return from the Vrrosh Dokhahsh [Phantom Zone], as if her psyche had finally woken up. So here she was sitting on the tallest building in National City gazing at the stars. She had been urvish [calm, tranquil] of late, regardless of restlessness and the totem chaos. She knew this had to do with a certain pair of eyes, a specific heartbeat, a delectable pair of lips she had yet to taste with her own. The totality of what her shesur [soul] yearned for was right there.

A sweet breeze fluttered under her cape as she watched the play of twinkling stars in the ehsh [sky]. This was her zhgehv [planet] now and she had just as much right to thrive as any other zhehiod [being, living thing]. She focused her vision and watched the Aurora Borealis dancing in the distance and then she was in the air.

Directing the totem exhausts Lena and she's lovingly coerced into going home. But being back in the penthouse is strange. The walls are bland, the rooms too clinical. There's an urge to go back to Kara, to her loft, to snuggle up beneath the soft worn blanket and await her return. 

Instead, she fills her glass with a delicate amber wine and pads over to the balcony where she passes the time. As if summoned by thought, she sees her, an imposing figure high above the cityscape. There's a sharpness to her eyes and a regality to the way she holds herself as she draws near, a goddess among mortals. But the sharpness in her softens, and those otherworldly eyes hold Lena spellbound as she floats closer till she's suspended in the airspace next to the balcony.

"Supergirl." The name bursts from her lips with a reverence that makes Lena flush.

Kara lets her senses unfurl as she flies toward the one place her shesur [soul] desires. Letting go can be overwhelming, other times, like tonight, it is a canvas filled with all the colors of a palette, working in harmony. It suffuses Kara, her cape dancing in tandem on the breeze.

Her entire being seems to know what this flight means. She is the knight errant heading home - it is fitting. It is the most right she has felt since Krypton exploded before her eyes. Tuning in, she feels the magic gently flowing under Lena's skin, hears the cadence of her heart, gazes at her bent tiredly upon the railing of her balcony, then Lena catches her eye. Suddenly, her being softens, eyes never leaving Lena's, now, she understands why Krypton means 'Our Land' that is what swimming in Lena's ehl ehshov [star blue green] eyes is -her land, her haven. 

Something clicks gently into place. Kara’s powers naturally focus on Lena in a way they have never before. Every part of her inside and out from her Kryptonian soul guided by Rao [Kryptonian main deity] and the Girod [Kryptonian virtues] to her yellow sun imbued body to her dhrroshium [refugee] Kara Danvers zhehiod [being], fused together.

"Ms. Luthor." Kara replies, a soft chuckle leaving her lips though her entire body is taut, purposeful.

Stillness. Jev. [Happiness ; Joy] Urvish [Peace; Harmony; Calm]. That is what swirls on the wind, what dances on the light in their eyes, as their souls sing to one another. Kara gently floats over the railing, never stopping, Lena turns completely in sync. Wildness throbs through Kara’s body. She can taste the echo radiating from Lena. She wraps around Lena like clouds do a mountain and finally their lips are bound. Kara has never felt such uchahvia [synergy].

Lena inhales a sharp breath, Kara's mouth a warm welcoming heat as her hands desperately curl around her neck, sliding over the smooth material of the supersuit and into silky blonde curls. Her magic reacts unprompted, a sensation rising against her palms to tease at Kara's skin.

Suddenly those emotions in her heart are amplified, the intensity of her yearning reflected in the warm wet heat of Kara's mouth and the soft bow of her lips. It's a long awaited kiss, one that burns with the intensity of an imploding star as Kara's mouth parts above hers and Lena arches against her, releasing a short breath as their lips briefly disconnect. Since Kara came into her life she's been breaking down Lena's defenses, slipping so effortlessly into the pieces of her until she'd made her home there: like she was always meant to be there.

And Lena loves her, the words she's long since held back wanting to rush to Kara, to spill out in the air around them.

"Kara," Lena breathes into her lips, drawing her down again for a wet, open kiss. The kiss turns desperate, needy and Lena's heart flutters, a shiver rushing through her as those white wisps at her fingers flutter and tangle in Kara's hair.

It draws a smile to Kara's lips, one that Lena feels mirrored on her own. And she can't help that her heart belongs to this woman, this woman who had been flung across the cosmos and into her arms.

Kara didn’t need to breathe much, but she wanted to devour the scent and taste of Lena into her being for eternity. Every atom of her body was awakened, yearning to savor every beauteous curve of Lena's body, her hands already ardently caressing her hips, her back, further still.

Only fleeting moments of light have broken up the dark boulders of her shesur [soul]. But hearing the wild, deep moans Lena is releasing, her powers tangled in the strands of Kara’s hair, her stepping onto Kara’s boots to weave the molten heat of their lips and tongues even closer.

Kara feels frenzied, her heat vision eyes blending with the magic pouring from Lena’s fingertips. Their heartbeats and moans storming across her senses. She wants to consume Lena’s body with her eyes, tongue; mark her with teeth and nails, piece by piece inhaling the only sounds and flavors she ever wants to know. She is tired of restraint, this kruvush [marvel] of a woman emboldens her. The aching canyon that has been her shesur [soul] somehow every single moment of its creation makes sense - it’s her - the cosmos knew it was her for Kara.

This fragile, strong, brave person is what her shesur [soul] always needed - it’s the warmth she has never felt, the light she never understood until their body’s ravenously had caught up to what their souls already knew. The heat of Lena’s thighs tightly wrapped around Kara’s waist as she floats, no space between them, they are one.

Kara gently cups her hands around Lena’s face, bringing her impossibly closer, exposing her shesur [soul], for the first time, she pours the words into Lena’s mouth, “Zhao w rrip, I love you. Nahn rrip w khap i ehrosh, you are my life.”

She hears a sob form in Lena's throat and bends forward with the sheer force of the emotions roiling through her. Kara tucks Lena firmly against her, wrapping them in her cape, and slowly takes them closer to the stars.The stars which she was hurled across to find her true zehdh [belonging, home].

Lena's heart is a fluttery mess, a vibration that lights her from the inside as Kara's lovely words brand themselves onto her soul. The kryptonese curling on her tongue is exquisite, and messy tears spill from Lena's eyes at the love that she can feel burning against her skin from Kara's every touch. She hadn't dared dream of being the one Kara would fall in love with. But now she's not sure how she could have missed this: the adoration and want tempering their every interaction. She clings tightly to Kara, lips trembling where they press against the  underside of Kara's jaw as she closes her eyes.

"I love you too," the words pour out of her in sweet loving surrender. "I love you so much, Kara."

Her confession draws a shuddering breath from Kara's lips as they float higher in the sky and Kara holds her just a little tighter. Lena has never liked flying, never liked the swooping paralysis of nerves only eased by sedatives during flights. But Kara's strong arms hold her securely to the warmth of her body with National City as a sea of tiny dotted lights sprawling below. And she's not afraid.

Lena releases her tight hold on the woman, trembling hands shifting to frame Kara's face, pressing their foreheads together. The moon casts silvery light down upon them, making Kara's golden hair glow and her blue eyes shimmer and Lena falls just a little bit more in love as Kara leans in and kisses her. 

It quickly morphs into something hot, heavy, and Lena can't help sighing Kara's name like a prayer to Rao himself. She shivers despite the cape keeping her in the cocoon of Kara's warm embrace as the vestiges of lust tease at the fluttery notes of love burning brightly in her chest, spilling from her lips into Kara's mouth in an approving moan as the kiss deepens and her body burns. Kara is all that she can feel, taste, touch, an all consuming mark branded onto Lena's quivering heart and Lena never wants to leave her side.

“Zhao [love],” Kara moans in the short bursts between their increasingly heated kisses. Zhao Zhao Zhao echoes through her zhor [heart] and shesur [soul] on a loop.  Despite, or perhaps because of, the wild desire finally allowed to flare through her body; Kara has never felt closer to zhguzhor [imagination], to Rao. 

Pausing, Kara nudges their foreheads together once more, her heart has never felt this rhythm, and then she gazes into Lena’s eyes, she loves, but, more so, she burns. She is a flame, a falling star, but with every heated touch, wild lick, and fervid caress she is sharpened. 

It’s, as if, the only way to fully experience, fully connect with Rao was allowing herself to be both freed and marked by love. As she ardently suckles just under Lena’s chin she rolls them in the air so they are laid against one another as she flies them somewhere just for them.

Kara touches them down on a secluded rooftop across town, her arms searing around Lena’s waist, the edges of her eyes still aglow, their lips, barely apart.

“Where are we?”  Lena asks absently, her hands secure on Kara’s glyph as she floats them toward a small case. 

“I have a few of these around the country,” Kara kisses her deeply, fully.

Inside are a few essentials and Kara quickly unrolls a large sleeping bag. She holds out her hand, beckoning Lena near, and they are in one another’s arms again, lips dancing under the clear moonlit sky.

Hey everyone, thank you so much for reaching this far! This fic was inspired by the gifs above (credit to: @CSIRJen on twitter) and it was initially written on Twitter for today's Supercorp Sunday by @snowydragonscave (who wrote for Kara) and myself (I wrote for Lena). If you enjoyed it please let us know! And Happy Supercorp Sunday ❤ 💙

[acapelladitty]

can you write about the riddler being OBSESSED with the reader? pls and thank you also i love ur writing :) <3

He knew that she was the one.

From the moment his eyes landed on her as she offered him a wide smile before disappearing into the apartment block across from his own, he knew that she was the one.

It was a smile which burned itself to his memory in an instant and her mailbox gave him everything he needed to begin his courtship.

Name.

Apartment number.

Interests.

A regular supply of mail from various Gotham charities which she supported found their way into her mailbox and he could appreciate her naivety. She wanted to help this city as much as he did, even if her methods were amusingly foolish. He could forgive that. One day soon he would show her the right way to save this city and she would understand that his way was better.

This city was too far gone for charity but his work would do what philanthropy could not.

His observations of the Iceberg Lounge were necessary, every event of note itemised down in his journals, but he often found his eyes wandering to the nearby clock, ticking down the minutes until she would be due to arrive home from her minimum-wage job.

Ticking down the minutes until he could find some excuse to traverse the miserable street below in hopes of just a little interaction with her.

A simple taste to tide himself over until the next time. Her perfume was sweet, the scent not something he could easily place but it made his mouth water as he pictured tasting it on her skin.

His work was dangerous and he couldn't risk bringing her into his crusade just yet. However, that didn't seem to stop her trying to convince him to give her more of his time and he couldnt believe how desperate she seemed for his attentions.

He could see it in the way she sometimes locked eyes with him as he walked past her. The way her gaze dropped coquettishly to the floor, eyelashes batting at him as her fingers lingered on the front door to her building.

Inviting him.

Tempting him.

Despite her teasing, he was a patient man and he enjoyed playing their little game. Particularly when he got to use his surveillance equipment to take their fun to the next level when the sun dipped below the horizon.

His apartment was in a perfect position to see into her bedroom and he admired just how much performative talent his love possessed. How her fingers trailed teasingly across her clothes as she slowly peeled them off for him; exposing every inch of her perfect body in a show of sensuality which would shame any of the whores he watched crawl to and from the Iceberg Lounge only a few hundred yards away.

Only once, she had pushed him to the absolute edge of his resolve. Her hands had opened her bedroom window, an invitation he was unable to ignore as his sights snapped to her, and her naked frame had dropped to the end of her bed -the only end which he was able to view without restriction- as her hand explored her body, touching herself.

For him.

The way her fingers moved between her legs, stroking herself to a satisfaction that he would one day make pitiful in comparison as he treated her to the real thing, entranced him. He could almost picture her lips moving, wrapping themselves around his name as she moaned for him just as he moaned for her as his hand moved jerkily along his own cock.

They had came together, his release captured by his shaking palm while she gripped her sheets with abandon, and the temptation had been so strong for him to finally go over there and give her what she truly wanted that he had bitten his lower lip to the point of blood.

After that, he decided to give her a little more of himself as he stepped their game up once again.

It was amazing, to watch her react to his little puzzles as he played his hand.

The little gasp which formed her mouth into a perfect 'o' when she discovered that her lingerie was missing as she pulled her laundry from the washing line outside her window made him smile. He saw the way her brow furrowed and her eyes crinkled with amusement as she slammed her balcony window shut, just daring him to try it again.

That same lingerie had lain clenched in his fist many evenings since as he rubbed the silky fabric along his stiff cock, every thread making him grunt as he could practically feel the warmth of her skin through it. The scent of her washing powder making his head swim with every deep inhale.

It was a perfect gift, one which she had willingly left out for him, knowing that he would be unable to resist taking it to keep her fresh in his mind even when he had, more important, tasks to do.

Even earlier that day, as he watched the locksmith departing from her apartment block, having just installed a new series of deadbolts to her door, made a warm pleasure alight in his chest. His perfect love; she knew of the dangers in this city and she went to so much effort to protect herself from them.

Keeping herself safe, for him, not knowing that he was already in a perfect position to protect her.

To save her.

Within the week, Mayor Mitchell would have received his much deserved punishment for his abandonment of his duties and with that his years of planning would finally come to fruition. He, with the Batman at his side, would see that years of wrongs were corrected with a righteous fury which would consume all in its path.

Gotham would be purged and from the ashes he would finally be in a position to put an end to the little games between he and his love and truly claim her as his own.

Fic will be uploaded over to AO3 under DittyWrites as part of my ongoing "Inevitable" series of Dano!Riddler fics 👀💦

[unadulterated-syd]

this is short but i had a bad day :/

hermoine granger x muggleborn! reader

i know she's not in my character list but you can req for her

this is meant to be viewed by non-men, there are hints at forbidden homosexual relations

this could be for anyone who would not be considered "normal" or "acceptable" for her to date. (i am a genderfluid person whom considers herself a lesbian,, you are valid no matter whom you love.)

-

Sitting in her arms was like heaven, it was a need to succeed in all endeavors for the future. Every moment with her had erased the life you once had. Every mistake you made, every scar that littered your frame, every time you'd sobbed hoping for better.

They didn't care what you looked like— nor the purity of your blood. Your friends had never cared for anything more than your heart. The love you wished to share, wished to show and give and cherish.

But, she knew how you felt. Everyone else looked down on you. Like a freak of nature, someone who could never be good enough, even if they did more than a peer of another status.

You felt cornered, weak, in their eyes, eyes that reflected ever feeling you're parents stowed upon you. Eyes that reflected how you'd always felt— scared and never enough.

A complex that led you to do more than you ever thought possible, even when it would never be good enough for them. Because you were no one to them, even if you had laid on your deathbed for them.

For you would never matter in the eyes of anyone but her. Too her you were the world, the mere essence of someone who truly understood her. Someone she would take a spell for, whom would regard her higher than her peers of another status.

She knew you well, and you the same.

Two souls intertwined, yet never truly accepted. For you stole every moment in secrecy. You danced together in the shadows of people who had already despised you, in hopes of not letting them down.

Another stolen moment was here, as you overlooked the castle. Its beauty never truly being understood by some— for they didn't have to work for a place here.

"They don't have to know you," she'd say, "Because, they'd honestly never care for you either way."

"For us." You merely promised. "They will never see your brains, nor my heart."

"They don't deserve to." She'd say simply, giving you a smile. Her smile always shone brighter than the stars. That's what you'd tell everyone, anyways.

You sighed, turning to face her, her doing the same.

"This may be our last time."

"Don't you dare do that. We will make it. We always have y/n."

"I meant—" you sighed— "that I owe so much to you. But I can only offer you this."

You took her hands, pulling her in. You looked into her eyes, ones that you'd swam in a million times. But, there was one line you'd never crossed. One that frightened you both.

You pushed your head closer to hers, your eyes flickering between her lips and eyes, a silent question of consent. She nodded, the flickering of her lashes fluttering your heart.

You pressed your lips together, the puzzle pieces pushing together.

A warmth in your heart settled. You'd love her forever, even if all fell apart.

-

if you'd like to be added to any taglist send in an ask.

i love you all, please never hesitate to come to me if you're feeling bad 🫶

[impact801]

So I disagree with both Anon & Discet here. For the sake of argument I'm just talking about Amphibia. I think applying logic from AWIW doesn't work because a it's a piece of media with a opposite goal from it's source material. So the writing decisions for both should be different from one another. And I get the vibe Anon is also just talking about the show & not the fic.

My problem with this take it that makes Marcy's viewpoint of Amphibia & the her friendship/conflict with the girls flatter.

What I liked about Marcy's arc in the show, is that Amphibia is used to explore Marcy's love of fiction and knowledge-seeking. Marcy gets to thrive in Amphibia, because her perspective of fiction fits the world she's in. However it also gets to challenge that mentality too.

For example in First Temple Marcy is so focused on the trials she isn't focusing the danger her friends on in similar to how she was too hyperfocus on games at home. Or in New Wartwood, Marcy see relationships as puzzle can be solved rather something that takes time to get to know those people.

This mentality of Amphibia plays a large part in her relationship with the girls. Since Marcy views Amphibia as this big interest she's diving into and Anne & Sasha neglected that interest in the past, it's a big change when Anne & Sasha are invested in Amphibia. From Marcy POV her desire for the love of the girls and the love of her interest to be one is finally happening.

But they don't love Amphibia for the same reasons Marcy does. Anne doesn't want to stay with Marcy in Day at the Aquarium, because she doesn't want to leave the Plantars(the main reason she's invested into this place), she's not interested into lore & adventures of the temples enough to want to do a solo adventure with her. Anne doesn't want any of the armor in Bessie & Microanglo because she isn't into roleplaying like Marcy is. Her love of this world came from accepting who she truly is rather than changing herself based on the setting or what others want.

Sasha may have embraced this world like Marcy has with her armor, but her interest in Amphibia is to gain power over others.

In fact for Sasha & Marcy's arcs I'd argue are both tied into maturing their strengths. Sasha's controlling tendency can bring some good to the world, as seen in Toad Tower. But she doesn't understand consequences of abusing her power.

Marcy's arc to me is about her maturing in her love of interests, and using Amphibia as a framing device to challenge the character. Marcy by the end of the story learns to accept that truth that Anne & Sasha do not have interest as her & she can't force them to love what she loves.

I think making Marcy's parents abusive is...okkkkkkk but it's not adding anything to that arc. Anne & Sasha being neglectful of Marcy's interest already a pretty good job of adding a lot of depth to the character, and it makes Marcy's lines in TC make more sense.

"It sent us to a place where we'd never have to grow apart, where the three of us could friends forever together!"

I think Marcy isn't just afraid of moving away, she's afraid the relationship isn't stable enough with the girls to last if she moves away.

"But look at how much fun we've had. Look at how much you've both grown."

Marcy mentions in her plea about how much the relationship has changed especially on how Anne has grown. I'd argue Marcy doesn't just want maintain the relationship, but rather she wishes it to change to fit her want of it. I'm not saying she's villainous schemer or some shit, but more so that Marcy has a goal that ties more in the character's flaws & perspective of Amphibia.

Also I think it makes Marcy going back on her promise to Anne to find a way home in Marcy at the Gates is a lot more interesting, because Anne leaving Marcy ties into her greatest insecurity of the relationship that was their even before her moving away was a thing.

So overall I don't agree Anon's take that Marcy being solely responsible is more interesting, because that never was the case in the show, Sasha & Anne are super important in her motivation. Marcy motivations being tied to the girl adds way more conflict to the story, and it doesn't excuse Marcy's actions it complicates her perspective of Amphibia.

But I think Discet's take, makes Marcy perspective of Amphibia and conflict with the girls a lot flatter. So personally I think it takes away a lot about the character I like.

With that being said, making Marcy's parents being abusive in AWIW is a HUGE SUPER DUPER MEGA ULTRA SUPREME W for the Plantars. It adds a ton to their importance to Marcy.

I read your post arguing that Marcy in Amphibia having a poor homelife is 'key to making her compelling and sympathetic as a protagonist.' But wouldn't it weaken Marcy's arc if that was the case?

I know you're positioning the argument from the angle of Marcy as a protagonist and not a supporting character as she was in canon, but Marcy having bad parents...kind of diminishes the dramatic impact of her decision to steal the box. Because it was Marcy's choice to steal the box and trick her friends. Having her actions be rationalized with 'actually, she wouldn't have done that if she wasn't living with crappy parents' cheapens that. It becomes less about Marcy making a selfish choice born out of understandable fear, and more about making excuses for her.

Marcy wasn't exactly conspiring to make her situation in Amphibia 'permanent', either. Judging by the wording in True Colors, what Marcy wanted was for her friends keep using the box to go on adventures throughout the multiverse. She seemed okay charging the box to return to Earth, so long as she knew she had an 'out' from having to actually deal with being physically distant from Anne and Sasha. Her overriding fear, at all times, was losing her best and only friends, and that alone is a totally sympathetic and understandable motivation.

I know you acknowledged having bad parents doesn't make Marcy's actions justified, and I understand why Marcy's homelife came off as poor to you, given the almost non-existent details we get from canon about Marcy's parents. But honestly, I think it makes for a stronger arc if, rather than somebody's bad choices stemming from being a victim of somebody else, said someone has to accept the fact that they alone are responsible for what they do. To quote another blogger on this site, being the sole person responsible for your shortcomings also means that you are the only one to blame for your gains, too.

Eh, agree to disagree Anon.

wouldn't it[making Marcy's homelife bad] weaken Marcy's arc if that was the case?

No, not really. I think that it along with her codependency with her friends provides a clear motivation for her actions. It provides a great deal of contrast to explore against Anne and Sasha's home lives. It also gives a different approach to explore in an Isekai protagonist.

Often Isekai either has a focus on returning to the original world (Anne for example) or has no way home and the protagonist is forced to embrace their new world. I wanted to explore a protagonist who has the option and wants to make the choice to stay in their new world without it being an escapist power fantasy.

Another big part of her arc in AWIW is breaking her out of her escapist mindset by mid season 1.

I won't disagree that it gives her a different character arc, but I don't think it weakens it.

Marcy having bad parents...kind of diminishes the dramatic impact of her decision to steal the box.(...)It becomes less about Marcy making a selfish choice born out of understandable fear, and more about making excuses for her.

Disagree. I think that it complicates it. It gives Marcy the justification to run from her home, but in no way justifies her tricking Anne or Sasha into coming with her.

Marcy wasn't exactly conspiring to make her situation in Amphibia 'permanent', either.

I mean, always adventuring is not functionally different from being in Amphibia permanently. And the True Colors page in the journal makes it pretty clear that she had no intention of ever going home. IIRC in pages she also implies that she didn't intent to have Anne or Sasha go home either, she wanted them all to stay together. So I think this is kind of a semantic argument

But honestly, I think it makes for a stronger arc if, rather than somebody's bad choices stemming from being a victim of somebody else, said someone has to accept the fact that they alone are responsible for what they do.

I mean, motivations do not happen in a vacuum. Anne having good parents isn't any more of default position that shapes her world view. One in four children in the US experience neglect or abuse in their lifetime. I don't think positioning character as having a motivation coming from that background suddenly makes their whole arc weaker.

The context of Marcy's parents being bad contextualizes Marcy's actions in AWIW, but does not excuse them. It makes both her decision to run away and desperation to protect her friendship with Anne and Sasha make sense.

I came from a good family, and like Marcy, had a lot of trouble making friends growing up. I had one really good friend outside my family who was a fairly popular extrovert. If I would have had to move, I would have been heartbroken to leave my friend, but I wouldn't have run away cause I also loved my family and would be just as hurt to leave them as my friend.

The idea that I would sooner runaway, kidnap my friend, and then half a year later would double down on that decision and conspire to permanently separate from my family is completely unrelatable to me. I would have missed my family terribly, like I did my first year of college.

IMO Marcy's character kind of breaks down if her homelife isn't at least a little complicated. Her actions just don't match up with it.

I read your post arguing that Marcy in Amphibia having a poor homelife is 'key to making her compelling and sympathetic as a protagonist.'

I would agree that this was an overstatement though. There can obviously be a lot of ways to interpret a character and make a compelling story with them. It was an essential component for me personally to build the most compelling story I could, but others mileage may vary.

[wolfstrela]

I Like Your Girl | Ronance

summary: believing there's something going on between Robin and Steve, though well aware she's in a relationship with someone else and has no right to care, Nancy wonders about being possibly jealous of her ex-boyfriend.

spoiler: she's not. just incredibly oblivious.

800 words — set in s4

A/N: Hullo! Wrote this after I heard Mabel's new song I Love Your Girl and couldn't stop thinking about it from Nancy's POV. Hope u like it :)

× × ×

Nancy knew she had no right to be jealous of an ex-boyfriend, especially considering she was dating someone else. But seeing Steve with Robin was grating on her nerves.

They had this odd chemistry, an effortless way of joking, a playfulness that had never been there when it was Nancy and Steve — back then, everything had felt a little stiff. Like they were not quite right for each other, the wrong puzzle pieces trying to fit together.

Nancy had Jonathan now, and having him felt nice. They worked well together, had their own kind of easy going on.

Well, at least they used to.

Lately, Jonathan was acting strange, distant, like he was hiding something. That thought hurt — they had always been able to talk about anything and everything. All that secrecy was tearing them apart, a chasm between them, growing ever larger.

Perhaps that was the reason Nancy felt so annoyed with Robin and Steve — any display of affection, a sour reminder of what she and Jonathan used to have. But, if she was being honest with herself, she couldn’t deny that what she was feeling was pure and simple jealousy.

While she went around town with her friends, trying to figure out what to do about Eddie's situation and all the killings taking place, Nancy couldn't help but notice the closeness between Steve and Robin. They didn't hold hands or look at each other with heart eyes — no, they acted like genuine best friends. Two dorks who were so comfortable around one another, so sure about their feelings, that they didn't have to be anything but their genuine selves.

They kept insisting there was nothing going on between them, even though Nancy hadn't really asked. Was her jealousy showing?

And although she knew deep down Steve and herself weren't meant for each other, those damn intrusive thoughts kept making her mind meander to darker places: maybe she should've tried harder with Steve; maybe she wasn't as good as Robin.

Robin.

No one could deny how pretty she was. Gorgeous, really. Her short dirty blonde hair framed her freckled face perfectly. Her ocean blue eyes — anyone in their right mind would want to dive in them. Steve probably did.

Alright, Nancy relented after she had spent some alone time with Robin doing research at the library, maybe Steve hadn't lucked out yet, but he certainly wanted to — how could he not?

Robin was such a klutz and she talked a lot, but you couldn't help but listen, because she had this pretty raspy voice. Steve probably daydreamed about falling asleep with her whispering in his ear, a soothing sound to keep the nightmares at bay. Nancy knew all about nightmares, she hadn't had a good night of sleep in months.

And she bet Robin could sing. She could picture Steve dumbly daydreaming about that, too. He probably wished she'd sing to him with her angelic voice because there was no way Robin would sound anything but angelic. She'd probably never hesitate to jump in a song with Steve, the way he had wanted Nancy to do when they were together.

She never did, obviously. She'd been afraid he would mock her if she sounded anything but perfect, because back then Steve was too caught up keeping up appearances. And, she had to admit, so had she.

Robin, however, didn't seem to give a shit about that kind of stuff. She was confident enough to at least be herself around anyone. Seeing that felt so refreshing — fake people were so tiring. It made even more sense as to why Steve looked so comfortable around her. Why he was probably working on scoring a date anytime soon, if he hadn't already.

Robin, with her bracelets and rings, her attractively shocking red lips, looked like she'd be into alternative stuff. She'd probably improve Steve's tastes — Nancy could imagine them going out to the movies to watch things ironically. Robin would make clever jokes which Steve wouldn't quite get because, though he could be sweet if he wanted to, he had never been the smartest cookie in the jar.

Robin was probably taking him on cool adventures around town and being an adventure herself. It was easy to believe so, after visiting Victor Creel at the asylum with her. Robin had dealt with the warden in such an impressive way — using her babbling nature to her advantage, her strong emotions as an asset. Nancy understood for sure then why Steve had to like Robin.

Steve had to be in love with Robin because there was no way not to. If you let Robin in, Nancy realized, sympathetically, she filled up space. And if you're someone who just happens to have a hole growing inside you, it turns out there's a lot of space to fill.

× × ×

✨ sorry about any typos and grammar mistakes ✨

× × ×

“I keep on watching you kiss her, thought it was you I was missing

But now I've realized, I think I love your girl

Wish it was me that was with her, I cut you out of the picture

I might've lost my mind, I think I love your girl

Better than you, better than you”

[I Love Your Girl by Mabel]

[praisehoes-and-runovervirgins]

Chapter 3

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

---

You hold the last box of your belongings close to your chest and take a deep breath nervously pressing the button to your new home. Wow, that sounds weird. Sharing a home with the Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight. Your chest tightens. “God, I better not fuck this up” you mumble to yourself as the pent house suite door opens. Noah stands in clear view of the door as it opens. You walk into the apartment. “Y/N'' he yells at the top of his voice. “Where were you? I didn’t see you. I was worried, '' he said all in one breath. He wraps his arms around your leg and takes a deep inhale.

You look at him confused and put the box down. You have to tear him off you so you can kneel down to give him your daily bear hug. As you do, you notice his teary puffy eyes. You look at him puzzled then suddenly, almost like something in you woke up you panic, “Are you okay baby?” you grab him by the arm and turn him around manically looking for a source of pain. He doesn’t answer. You grab his leg and pull his PJ's up to continue looking for some sort of bruise, anything physical that would explain him crying. “He was crying cause he didn’t see you” a voice said walking past you and Noah. You look up at Liam grabbing a piece of fruit from the counter. His face looked disinterested. “He woke up and he didn't see you, he thought you left,” he said, rubbing the apple on his shirt. You lock eyes for a moment as you try to read into his expression. Fuck, he’s just like his dad, so hard to make out what he’s thinking. The sniffles coming from Noah make you break your eye contact. You look at him with wide eyes. “It’s okay Y/N. I’m okay. Please don’t cry. I just thought..” he jumps on you again, this time throwing you both onto the floor. “I’m not leaving Noah” you say, squeezing him tight. You didn’t even notice when your eyes were wet before Noah pushed back on you. He wipes the tears out your eyes. You smile at him softly. A few moments with Noah went on about how he’s so excited about your room and how it’s really close to theirs. Where’s Bakugou? You look around distracted as Noah goes on. “He’s upstairs” Liam says walking towards you with a napkin. He hands it to you and turns on his heel as he takes another bite of his apple. You sit there stunned, holding the soft piece of tissue in your hand. “Did you hear what I said?” Liam says, grabbing your face with both hands and then smashing his face into your neck. “Let’s go find your dad, yeah?” you say as you start to pick Noah up.

Bakugou is on the floor, legs crossed as he’s holding a piece of your unmade bed frame. He has his phone pressed against his ear and shoulder. “I already told you I don’t want to go on another date with her” he growled into the phone. “Well, that’s not my problem. I don’t care what the public thinks about us.” he says a little louder. “Daddy!” Noah says running, throwing himself on his back. “Hey buddy” Bakugou says, ending the call in one swipe of his finger and tossing it on his lap. “What were you talking about?” he says, gripping Bakugou's neck a bit too hard. “You're trying to kill me buddy” Bakugou says, letting out a quick laugh as he releases Noah's hands off his neck. They sit there laughing for a little. I love seeing them like this. It’s so different from how the rest of the world sees him. Bakugou looks at you leaning on the door and cracks a smirk. “Are you gonna come into your new room or what?” he says, turning around to face Noah again. You feel like the wind was knocked out of you when he looks at you even for a second. I’m going to have to live with this man. You got this y/n? You steady yourself and walk over to them. You kneel down on the floor next to Bakugou, “Do you need help? I am pretty helpful with these types of things” you say taking the piece of wood off the floor. “For starters, this was supposed to go in that thing” you say giggling. “Ah fuck” he says rolling his eyes. “HEY, WATCH YOUR MOUTH” Noah scolds him. You all break out in laughter. You spend the rest of the morning setting up your new bed set. You told bakugou that you could just use the one you had in your old apartment but he insisted on getting you a new one. You can appreciate all the things he does for you, since you’ve almost moved in he’s gotten you the best of the best; everything from fancy towels to new hair products for your hair type.

“We’re off to the park” Noah screams at the top of his lungs towards your bedroom at Bakugou. He wouldn’t be louder if he tried. But then again, look who’s his dad. He usually doesn’t raise his voice around me but when he does, oh boy is that grown man loud. The walk to the near park was one of the best, Liam actually was talking to you about his classmates and how one of them has been giving him problems. You try to come up with a plan of how to deal with it. “If I tell dad, he’s going to make a big deal about it. I already get enough attention as it is.” he explains when you asked why you haven’t told Bakugou. “Well, I’m happy to hear you out. I’m not as hot headed as your dad” you laugh. He cracks a smile as you put an arm around him as you’re walking. After a few moments Noah bust between you both and yells, “are you guys done talking? I want a hug too” he says scrunching up his nose. You hug both of them. Noah pulls you close, puts his hand on the side of his mouth and whispers, “without him please”. This child is going to be the death of me. You pick him up and swing him into your arms. “You’ll have to let me go, we’re here guys” you say as you put him down. They both run off in different directions. You sit there on a bench taking in the warm sun. I can honestly do this everyday. This feels like.. You’re stopped mid thought when your phone starts to vibrate. Oh, the alarm I set for earlier. Well might as well check social media. I haven’t had much time since moving. The first thing you look at is twitter, you follow a few of your friends and some popular celebs.

“Did you hear about Dynamite and his new girlfriend?” you overhear two women say as they walk past you and take a seat on the next bench. What? “Oh my god. They look so good together. I would die to trade places with her”. You sit still for a moment trying to gather your emotions. Who is she? Why didn’t he tell me he was dating someone? I thought. I-I don’t.. You grab your phone quickly, opening it and going to twitter again. You search up, “Dynamite and” and there it is. You stare at your phone for a bit. There she is, a beautiful tall slender blonde woman arm in arm with Bakugou. You sigh in disbelief pushing your back into the bench. Why does this hurt so much? Fuck. Why do I even fucking care? He’s not even.. “Hey, are you okay?” says a deep voice. You turn your head, noticing the very handsome man next to you. “Yeah” you say, taking another breath. “You don’t sound okay” he says looking deep in your eyes. His hair is black as night and his eyes are deep purple, you can honestly get lost trying to figure out how many different shades there are in them. “Yeah, I just got some news.. I wasn’t expecting it” you say shifting your eyes down and moving some hair out of your face. “I bet. Boyfriend?” He says as he watches your face carefully for a reaction. You let out a slight giggle before letting out a breath and bite your lip, “no”. The man and you sit in silence for a minute. Fucking hell. Why do I feel like shit right now? This hot guy is next to me and all I could think about is you wrapped around another woman. Fuck this.. You lay your eyes on the man again. He’s about Bakugou’s age with a very muscular build, he has a couple white stands in his hair, he’s beautiful. “Which one is yours?” you scooch over towards him. “The little one over there” he points at the kid playing with Noah. He stretches his arm to rub the back of his head, you can clearly see him clearly stretching his muscles. You almost laugh out loud. Trying a little too hard buddy. You both make conversation for a while. It doesn’t take long before He’s asking you on a date, you accept of course. Maybe seeing someone else for a couple hours will help me get over this.. whatever this feeling is. After a few more minutes Noah comes over to you all sweaty trying to hug you. “Let's go home” you say with a smile. I feel like shit but I can’t even show it. This kid can read me like a fucking book. Okay, put on a smile y/n.

A few days have passed since you saw the pictures of Bakugou and his “girlfriend’. When you came home that day, you couldn’t even look at him. Why the fuck am I acting like he betrayed me or something. I’m just the nanny. Get a fucking grip y/n. Still, you tried to avoid him as much as possible. When he walked into the room, you would walk out, you ate dinner in your room unless Noah asked you to stay with him and you tried everything in your power not to look at him in his eyes. You were butt fucking hurt to say the least. After a few days you get the courage to talk to him. You take a deep breath before knocking on his office door. “Come in,” he says lazily. He’s sitting in his chair facing his computer typing away. He stops and cocks his head over his shoulder to look at you. You can do this. You need to do this. “Do you need anything?” he says, turning his head back at the computer with his hands still on the keyboard. “I-I I won’t be home Friday night. I don’t know what time I’ll be back” you say almost in a whisper. “Oh” you’ve caught his attention now. He turns off the monitor and swirls in his chair to face you. Fuck fuck fuck fuck “I checked your schedule and I saw you work till about 3. That gives me time to..” you say waving your hand around like a child explaining something. “Yeah, that’s fine” he says, eyeing you up and down. You look nervous, like you have something you’re hiding. “Cool” you say, taking a deep breath as you turn on your heel about to make a run for it. “A date?” he says in a low deep almost bitter tone. I was so close. I WAS SO FUCKING CLOSEEEE “Yeah.” you say turning back around to face his him. “With that guy in the park?” He says looking you up and down almost like he’s looking for a reaction. “Yeah, How did you..” you look at him confused. “When you guys came home Noah told me that you were upset about something while you were in the park and this guy started talking to you,” he said, crossing his arms. Why do I feel like I’m getting fucking scolded. “Yeah, I was pretty upset about something" you look away from him. How can I say: Hey, I was upset that you're dating a blonde supermodel because… well, I don’t know. Also, please sign my check sir without sounding like a total psycho. You quickly snap out of that thought as he stands up and slowly walks over to you. You’re still staring at the floor as he stands in front of you. “Is that why you haven’t said a word to me for days?” he says in a low tone, still arms crossed but this time biting his top lip looking for your eyes. You slowly look up at him. He’s so big and muscular next to you. He’s also wearing your favorite outfit. Those sweats and tank top combo will be the death of me. Your eyes finally meet his. In this moment you’re lost in his eyes, the intensity that’s usually there isn’t. You can’t quite put a finger on what he’s thinking or this unknown expression plastered on his face. It feels foreign but nevertheless it knocks the wind out of you. You feel your heart rate increase. “No” you say after some time staring into his eyes. I don’t believe her. “Okay” he says with a sigh. “Okay” you say back to him looking away. Tears start to form in your eyes as you walk away from the office. You take a moment to catch your breath in the hallway and turn back towards his office. Your body almost moves on it’s own. Maybe I should cancel. I don’t even- I don’t want anyone- Before you can knock on his door again you get a twitter alert. “Bakugou and girlfriend were spotted kissing in the park two days ago” it read. The pictures in the tweet were bad, you can barely even tell if they were kissing or not but It still made your chest ache. Bakugou opened the door to see you squinting at your phone trying to zoom into the picture. “Change your mind?” he said leaning on the door frame. You jump up and step back, you didn't notice how close you guys were. “No.” you say looking him dead in the eye. “Why would I? I am so excited” you say with a broken smile.

Bakugou and you don’t speak for the rest of the day. You are both noticeable in a bad mood.. “What’s wrong with daddy?” Noah says to Liam as Bakugou stomps around the house while you’re hiding in your room. “He’s jealous,” Liam says looking at Noah. “I have a plan, wanna help?” he says, smiling at Noah. Noah gives him the same devilish smile back.

Taglist: @lil-miminini @bqkuho3 @xoxo-teddybear @candybabey @butterflyhallucations @sizzlingdonutturtlemuffin @hay-leeeah @speedmetalqueen @yourfavoriteblackfemweeb @bakucumsackslut @shipchild @nanamithecute

I'm so sorry it took so long but If anyone else wants to me on the tag list for the next one lmk :)