#until i realized we'd be here a while

[hippolotamus]

“I see you” tag game

Thanks for the tags @spotsandsocks for this lovely tag game brought to us by Angsty Sunshine Personified @steadfastsaturnsrings

Rules: list at least one (ideally a wip, fic idea but a finished fic will work too if you can’t think of a wip or fic idea) that someone has written/come up with that you are obsessed with. Tag the writer and link the work (if applicable) and give a sentence (or more :) ) about what you love about the work/idea!

Disclaimer: The purpose of this is to not make writers stressed out or feel obligated to finish their WIPs but rather show them that we see them and we love them and their writing so much that we still think about their works even if they may have not published in awhile. ❤️

Strap in, kids (I'm positive I'm missing some (and I'm so sorry if yours is one of them) but...)

three taps for the Lombardi (aka NFL Buck) by @wildlife4life

drag queen!eddie from @giddyupbuck

Electrostatic Attraction from my beloved @shortsighted-owl

non-verbal Buck, mental health helpline and cockwarming fic from @loveyouanyway

cupid!Buck from @tizniz

vampire!Buck prequel from @saybiwithme

fratboy au and soulmates au from my wife @bidisasterevankinard

indie band!Patrick from @stereopticons

forever obsessed with basement ghost!patrick by @filet-o-feelings

all the psych buddie rewrites from @kitteneddiediaz

fantasy au from @daffi-990 also incredibly obsessed with stuck now so long, we just got the start wrong

buddietommy ballet au, doctor au, sleepy mornings, frostpunk au from @diazsdimples

buddie couples therapy from @your-catfish-friend

obsessed with this can't be love by @prettyboybuckley

alright, cowboy, go get 'em by @thewolvesof1998

sci fi of doom wip from @thekristen999

@jesuisici33... oh, honey, where do I begin? you have my heart, incubus!eddie, bachelorette au, demon!Buck/angel!Eddie, so on and so forth

buddie pirate au from @bi-buckrights

broke my own heart from the keepers of my fragile hippo heart @elvensorceress and @eddiebabygirldiaz

nesting!Eddie and a foundation of trust and love by @lemonzestywrites

Knives To The Chest (And Into My Heart) by @watchyourbuck

Buddie NHL au from @exhuastedpigeon

HOA!Eddie from @sunshinediaz

deaf!buck au from @mysteriouslyyounggalaxy (I don't honestly know if that's still the correct url or if that author is doing any writing anymore but goddamn do I miss that wip)

If you see this and wanna play, consider this your tag 💖

[deusfoundry]

part 1 here! this can be read as a stand alone but these two drabbles are set in the same universe/timeline!

girl dad!zayne is a decade older now, and while some things have changed, most remain constant. his body is still fit, the muscles of his upper limbs still defined, but he's got a slight pudge on his belly from your cooking. he still scoffs down ungodly amounts of candies and pastries, much to your dismay. he still spends a good chunk of his time at the hospital, but you've been able to coax him into taking less shifts lately, so he's at home with you more often.

girl dad!zayne who's pleasantly surprised when his daughter's boyfriend knocks on their front door, but grows confused when he realizes he's alone.

"hi!" he hands zayne a small box containing two portions of the same cake they had for christmas a few years back. the first one he spent together with your little family. "this is for you and auntie."

"come in, son." zayne places a firm hand on his shoulder, guiding him inside the house with a smile.

girl dad!zayne who's starting to put two and two together when he shifts in his place on the dining table, almost uncomfortable and definitely nervous.

while he's visited your home by himself with just a cake and anecdotes about your daughter in tow before, zayne knows this is different.

"my wife isn't home yet, and according to her i've already hit my weekly sugar limit." he sets a plate down in front of him. ���so you better eat this with me. otherwise, we'd both get in trouble.”

girl dad!zayne who stays quiet when he asks for his daughter's hand in marriage.

zayne knew it was bound to happen, expected it from the way he stutters between sentences, the way slips up and calls him "sir" when it's been eight years since he last used the honorific.

"i love your daughter. so, so much. and i can see myself- no- i know i want to spend the rest of my life with her. if she'll let me." he ends his speech with an exhale, holding zayne's gaze with a decisive look on his face.

zayne's eyes flicker towards the tiny box in his hands.

girl dad!zayne is equally terrified and relieved. he knows he can trust him, has known it for the last decade or so. but he can't shake the small voice in the back of his head that selfishly wants to keep his daughter close forever, that still holds on to the image of when all of her drowns in his arms.

she was so small, so vulnerable to the dangers of the world, and part of him wants to protect her for as long as he can.

girl dad!zayne who gives his blessing in the form of a simple question.

"how are you planning on proposing to her?"

zayne watches the man in front of him break into a grin, tears welling up on his eyes. and before zayne knows it, he's pulled into a tight hug. the air is knocked out of his lungs as he thanks him profusely.

girl dad!zayne who lets himself be held by you. the side of his head rests on your chest, close enough to your heart that he can hear the faint but steady thud of your heartbeat. your hand runs through his hair while the other cradles his back.

"he's proposing to her." he whispers as your fingers find his scalp.

"i know."

zayne freezes. "what?"

"he asked for my blessing a month ago. i told him he can stay until you came home, but he said he still has to build up the courage to ask you."

he pries himself away from you, putting just enough distance so he can look at you in disbelief. he opens his mouth, a string of complaints forcing their way out of his throat, but as always you beat him to it.

"hey, he asked me to keep it a secret! plus i didn't know it'd take him that long to ask you. you can't blame the man though, you're scarier than you think you are, dear."

and you had the nerve to giggle at his face.

girl dad!zayne who answers a call from his daughter two and a half weeks later.

it's the middle of the night when his ringtone cuts through the silence of your shared bedroom. he reaches for his phone and groggily slides it open. he rests it against his ear without putting it on speaker mode to not disturb your sleep.

he regrets it immediately when he hears his daughter's squeals over the phone.

"daddy i'm getting married!"

zayne pulls his phone away from his ear, hissing sharply.

"r- really, sweetheart? that's great." he briefly forgets about her boyfriend- well, fiance, asking him for his blessing a few weeks ago.

"he just proposed to me an hour ago and it was the most romantic thing ever! is mom with you?"

he hums, rubbing the sleep off his eyes. "she's asleep."

"oh right! i forgot it's nighttime for you there. sorry dad, i'll just call lat-"

"no, no-" zayne can almost imagine the grimace on his daughter's face, the tiny apologetic smile he knows she dons. "it's alright, dear. tell me all about it."

half an hour later, zayne falls asleep to his daughter's voice. she giggles when she hears his quiet snores through the phone.

"i love you, dad." she whispers before ending the call.

girl dad!zayne who visits his daughter on the day of her wedding right before he has to walk her down the aisle. it takes all of his willpower to not cry on the way to her hotel room and even more when he finally enters, spotting her standing in front of a mirror.

“dad!” she brightens up when she sees his reflection on the mirror.

“sweetheart,” zayne walks towards his daughter, but freezes in place when he's finally close enough to see her.

she's stunning, white satin cascading all the way down to the carpet of the floor, make-up done just right, jet black hair curled to perfection. clipped to her hair is the veil you wore at your wedding all those years ago, and for a brief moment, he sees you standing in front of him.

“i- i have something for you.” he hands over the box he's keeping in his pocket.

she eyes it with curiosity, gently unclasping the tiny lock to reveal the heart-shaped locket nestled inside. 

“dad…” 

“your mom gave it to me on our first anniversary.” he runs a thumb over the intricate detailing where the rust has settled, time wearing down the charm. “i didn't want to put my own photo inside. so for the longest time, it was just your mom…”

he opens the locket to show a picture of you in your early 20s. the brightest smile on your face tugs at the edges of your daughter’s lips.

“until we had you.” zayne shifts it to where a picture of her as a baby resides.

he hears her sniffle in his arms, and instinctively his hand flies to her back, fingers rubbing comforting circles over the fabric.

“you're making me ruin my makeup, dad.” her voice cracks through her words.

"your something old." zayne chuckles, moving around to help her put on the necklace. he pulls her impossibly closer to plant a kiss on the top of her head, over the veil she borrowed from you. "i'm so happy for you."

girl dad!zayne who walks his daughter down the aisle with you on the other side, because she insisted on having both her parents with her.

the whole walk is a blur to him. he remembers a few stray tears falling down his cheek and you scolding him for crying so early on through watery eyes. he remembers her laughter and the almost deathly grip she has on his arms. he remembers the comforting smiles you both give her when she admits she's nervous, asks what she should do if she messes up her vows.

"you'll do great."

"he's already in love with you. i'm sure nothing like that could change his feelings."

he remembers untangling his arms from your daughter when you arrive at the altar, but his hand still lingers on hers. he remembers locking eyes with her fiance.

“take good care of her.”

he gives him an affirming nod, and zayne finally releases the grip he has on his little girl to find your hands.

girl dad!zayne who weeps halfway through the ceremony. the brave front he's been keeping up all day shatters from just one look at your tear stained cheeks. he tries his damnedest to block any thoughts of his little girl, but it's the only thing he can think of as the ceremony goes on.

he hears her laughter and suddenly, she's two years old. and the best thing in her world is her dad making tiny seals and kittens out of his evol.

he catches sight of the tears welling up on her eyes and suddenly, he's helping her nurse a scraped knee with his hand over the wound and a whole tub of ice cream for them to share.

she turns towards you two right before she says her vows and suddenly, it's the first night you spend at the hospital after giving birth. he looms over your spent figure, holding the tiny bundle of joy in your arms as she gives you the smallest of smiles.

zayne chokes down a sob, leaning down to hide his face on the crook of your neck.

girl dad!zayne who joins in on the applause, his arm linked around yours as his daughter runs down the aisle with her husband, safe in the knowledge that someone loves his little girl the same way he loves you.

not proofread!!!! im not very satisfied w this again but we Move ehrhhehe hope u enjoy this all the same chat mwaah!!

dividers by @cafekitsune

[pitchsidestories]

long story short II Fridolina Rolfö x Reader

masterlist I word count: 1170

a/n: hi, it's based off this request here, we'd love to read your thoughts on the oneshot. 🫶🏻

“Do you have photos of the two of you through the years?”

The interviewer’s question made you smile amusedly. Of course, Fridolina and you had memories together framed in pictures.

Although you were still getting used to the change to now call her your fiancée.

The warm afternoon light which filtered through the curtains of the living room let her light hair appear golden.

They the film crew were working on a small documentary about the Swedish woman. Today the topic was focused more around her personal life offside the football pitch.

“I’m sure we have some. Do you know where they are, love?”, Fridolina looked at you.

“Yes, wait here, I’ll get them.”, you nodded, before getting up to step into your bedroom. It was the coziest part in the whole appartement.

While the rest of it was very Scandinavian and chick with expensive furniture and a lot of warm lights which were carefully selected by your fiancée this was the warm heart of your home.

Your favourite pictures were all in a dedicated box, and you were pretty sure they were rested somewhere on the shelf until you realized your girlfriend, no fiancée you corrected yourself in your mind put it high up there out of your reach.

Unless you could possibly grasp it when you stood on the chair. “Uhm Frido?”, you called for her nervously.

To the interviewer the defender apologized in a polite tone. “Excuse me for a second.”

“What are you doing?!”, she raised her voice, there was a hint of worry in it too.

“You put the photos up there, Fridolina. Why do you have to be so frigging tall?!”, you exclaimed.

“I didn’t think you were that small.”, Fridolina chuckled.

“I’m not small you’re just tall.”, you protested as you lost your balance and were about to fall to the ground luckily the blonde caught you.

“Why didn’t you wait for me to get them down for you? You’re so stubborn.”, she shook her head.

“I thought I could do it on my own.”, you admitted biting your lip.

“Why did you call me then?”, the defender raised an eyebrow, she still held on to you as if you were as light as a feather.

“After I realized how high up it was.”, you answered, twirling a lock of your hair with a finger.

“Don’t ever climb on our furniture again.”, Fridolina asked you to, her voice slightly shaky.

“I promise. Thanks for catching me though.”, you replied, pressing a soft kiss to your lover’s high cheekbone.

“You don’t have to thank me for that.”, the fellow football player shrugged.

“Well, you saved my life.”, you said half joking and half earnest.

Fridolina shook her head with a gentle smile as you both walked back into the living room.

“We got the photos.“, you announced happily, presenting the photos to the interviewer.

“Sorry, took a while to get them. Someone must have placed them at the wrong spot.“, Fridolina added. You smirked at the sideway glance she sent your way.

In contrast to her, you weren’t so subtle about it. “That someone was her.“, you explained and pointed your thumb towards your fiancée.

The young interviewer just smiled politely, clearly focused on getting the job done. “It’s fine. Tell me more about the photos. How are they connected to your career?”

You rummaged through the box of photos and pulled out an old newspaper clipping. The photo showed the two of you hugging after a game, Fridolina in a Wolfsburg shirt and you in a FFC Frankfurt one.

“I love this one. It’s the oldest we have together and it’s from a German newspaper. It shows we haven’t always played for the same team.“, you explained.

Only months later you had joined Fridolina in Wolfsburg and the two of you had been inseparable ever since, hitting off your relationship fully.

The interviewer looked at the photo with a thoughtful nod while Fridolina started to look through the box of photos. She happily pulled out another one.

This one was taken on your first day in Barcelona. You both smiled into the camera in your Barcelona warm-up shirts with your arms around each other.

“I like this one. It’s our first one in Barcelona together when we just joined the team.“

You remembered that day. It was a big step for the both of you, joining one of the best teams in the world. But with Fridolina by your side even this felt easy. Looking back, you had to admit that it was one of the best decisions of your life.

“Oh yes. That was a wonderful feeling.“, you agreed.

“And the first time, we moved in together.“, Fridolina added.

You smiled at her: “Exactly.“

Your apartment was small but you loved how it overlooked the city. The balcony was just big enough for the two of you to have breakfast outside in the mornings or to drink coffee together in the afternoon but you wouldn’t swap it for anything else.

“It was a big step.“, Fridolina explained to the interviewer.

She had been the one who had asked you to move in together when you both signed for Barcelona. Shortly after, you asked the her to marry you.

You pulled the matching photo for that memory out of the box.

“So was this one.“

One of your friends photographed you kissing on the beach right after she had said yes.

Fridolinas face lit up: “That’s true.“

After the filming was done for the day and the documentary crew has left you softly tucked at your fiancées sleeve. “Frido?”

“Yes, love?”, she hummed.

“Can you the photos somewhere not so high up?”, you asked her with an innocent smile on your lips.

“Sure., the blonde paused before recognizing that another photo has been added to the box, wait that picture wasn’t here before.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be seen by the camera or the interviewer.”, you told her, your heart pondering nervously against your chest.

“So, you hid it?”, Fridolina raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, you can take a look pretty sure you haven’t seen it before.”, you requested.

Cautiously the Swedish footballer glanced at it, letting out a squeal of pure bliss and joy before clicking her tongue. “How can you put this up there?”

“Oh, you want to keep it down here with you?”, you wanted to know, eyes shining amusedly.

“I want to keep it somewhere where no one can see it. That’s only for our eyes.”, she confessed, pressing the ultrasound picture close to her heart as if the tall woman wanted to protect this from the outside world.

“Do we want to get the autumn decoration out now or..?”, you changed the topic swiftly.

“No, too dangerous. I don’t want you both to get hurt.”, Fridolina declared. The blonde made a promise to herself that she’d always be there to protect the two of you.

A new chapter in your lives has just begun. The rest was still unwritten.

[covington-shenanigans]

so I'm on this app, Marco Polo, where you stay in touch with people by means of sending video messages. (there are probably other features, but I'm a free user, so I remain blissfully ignorant of them.) mostly I use it to annoy my sister. ("BITCH WHAT IF I GOT A PHALLOPLASTY AND HAD A BABY SHOWER FOR MY DICK. WE COULD HAVE ZUCCHINI FRITTERS. DICK-SHAPED PASTA. BANANAS FOSTER. DO U SEE MY VISION")

anyway, during the Hell Year of 2020, I saw my childhood best friend (let's call her Lee) was on this app. and like.

when I say "my childhood best friend", I mean the Weird Girl next door, who saw the Weird Girl that I was. I mean the girl I played with from age five until just shy of eleven, when my family moved away. I mean the girl I played with every day, for hours and hours, making up all kinds of elaborate scenarios involving our menagerie of stuffed animals. there were multiple overlapping, soap opera-style plotlines that lasted for years. there was drama. heartbreak. glory. she was the first friend I remember having. she was the first girl I ever loved, in my five-year-old way.

well, I hadn't seen Lee in at least 20 years and I was like, "holy shit! Lee!!!" so I sent her a "hey, nice to see you here, how you been" message.

again, this was late 2020.

now, I had been on T for a scant three months when I sent the first message, so I was a mere baby child, relative to the gruff manly man I am now. no beard, my voice had only started to wobble, still had tits... you get it. keep this in mind, it'll be important later.

I never heard back from her, but we're both Old, so I was like "eh, she probably forgot she installed the app" and forgot about it. we'd exchanged text messages at some point during the Hell Year, but like many people my age she doesn't really text, and I'm not calling anyone if I don't have to, so our communication had been sporadic, at best.

well. today I got a notification that she sent me a reply on Marco Polo.

I figured, well, she's replying to me 3.5 years late, but better late than never. I have ADHD and no friendship degradation mechanic, so I'm excited! yay! friend! :D

and then I remember. "...oh shit. she doesn't know I'm trans."

so. the thing is. I'm from Mississippi, which is. very very fucking conservative. I know Lee grew up Southern Baptist. I also know she's still living in the same town where we grew up and where she eventually graduated from high school and college. last I checked she was still attending the same Southern Baptist church where she grew up and her remaining living parent is still living in Lee's childhood home.

so this is either going to be Fine or it's going to be a disaster. lol.

in thinking it through, I figure either she's seen my updated profile pic, where I have the beard etc., or she hasn't. so either she's going to acknowledge this change or she isn't. okay. these are the possibilities. so I watch the message.

...the secret third option is... she seems to not realize when I sent the message? "sorry, I missed this when I was at work!" girl. what? I mean, you probably did miss it while you were at work... three and a half years ago. possibly she meant to reply to someone else and got me instead?

whatever. who knows. doesn't matter.

because I have the opportunity to do the funniest fucking thing in the world now

[blackbirdsblackberries]

If Reader is a spider hero like Spiderman, were we bitten by a genetically altered radioactive spider? How did we get in that situation?

Did our dad take us with him on a job, before he had his voice cut out, and we got bitten by a project the villain was making? Did our dad sell us to get cash and we were a human experiment that escaped or was thought to have failed? Did we stumble into a situation where this happened? I'm so curious! (And the flash backs could be great filler.)

On another note, our Spidey Sense only works when we're in danger, right? But it didn't detect Dick and the bucket. Does that mean he had no real intention to hurt us? Only wanted us to go off the wall and hurt him? It'd be interesting if our unease with the Bat Fam is just our Spidey Sense going off. Which would mean we'd feel a spike in our sense when they try to capture us. Probably immediately after telling them we're leaving/quitting, if we do.

On another note, I'm just thinking about what would happen if we got exposed to spider pheromones and turned into a giant arachnid? We aren't destroying buildings or anything. Just trying to hide. I'm just imagining the Bat Fam and the reactions. Maybe it was a new ingredient of Fear Gas? Maybe a new big bad that was trying to mind control spiders?

Either way, it follows canon Spiderman comics. Where he was turned into a spider, the villain found out he was 'pregnant', his spider form dies, and his human body rips out of the corpse. Poor Bat Fam questioning how to turn Aranea back into a human while trying to catch her and calm her down. Finding out she's 'pregnant' and questioning if she even knew by that point. The devastation of her dying, curling in on herself and not moving. Then, hours later, the body ripping apart from the inside out to reveal a human body, face obscured from the cameras by hair and mucus, who escapes before the family come back.

Hi! Oh my god it's been a while!!

The backstory will definitely be a filler/separate chapter from the main story, but until that comes out I will say that Reader has had these powers for years now and had been quite young when the incident happened. This also ties in with the whole Spidey Senses situation, I like to think the Reader is so used to the senses warning of danger that it's just like a gut feeling people get normally (obviously intensified). Dick definitely didn't mean to harm Reader and wasn't trying to be a threat so even though there was some unease it wasn't enough to enact fight or flight.

~

As for the second part of the ask. I might make a separate mini story for it!! That definitely seems fun to write but the main things I think would happen would be:

- Batfam freaking out and trying to look for Aranea

- one of the members finding your new form

- a whole freakout ensues

- Damian believes you are now the new Man-Bat

- You, obviously, runs off and is quickly chased down by Batman and Red Hood (the others are either frozen from shock, in the cave or trying to convince Damian that just because Aranea is a proper spider doesn't mean they're now against them)

- they capture you and take you to the batcave, most would be pretty happy to finally have a reason for you to be here.

- They run tests on you before finding out you're pregnant

- Immediately they freak out once more and you take the moment to run and escape the cave.

- You run into Crime Alley and hide out there for a bit before "dying"

- the family finds you, mourns you, and is about to take you and bury you when Jason snaps and runs off with Damian to kill the villain. The rest of the family follows to try and stop them (Steph actually doesn't care whether the villain dies or not, she just wants to watch it go down)

- When they return you've already gotten out and run off. They don't realize this - thinking it was just an animal or something that caused the hole and such.

- Barbara, Batman and Tim proceed to have a heart attack when they see your comm online and see you in person a couple nights later.

~

I hope that makes a bit of sense!! I love long asks so so much and I'm sorry I've been gone for so long 😔

[tragedy-machine]

Reading this felt like being hit in the head with a cricket bat because WHAT

First of all, I have so much trust in the dbda writers and am sure this crazy combo of words would have made an amazing story to watch on the screen, even though it may be hard to grasp the vision from a single tweet, because what in gay mad libs

SECOND OF ALL, EDWIN IN HIS DATING ERA???

I'm sooo here for it, I loved him getting multiple love interests in s1 and really wanted his streak to continue so this is perfectly up my alley

I'm obviously a huge payneland shipper and strongly believe that they would have been endgame, in however many seasons the writers planned to get there, I'm sure they did

I see the potential of them having a bit of a Jim and Pam arc - they're clearly important to each other and are shown to have feelings for each other to various degrees, but due to realizing it on different timelines, other people coming into the picture and bad timing, they keep missing each other until eventually, in season 3/4 the stars allign and finally get together

The payoff would have been sooo satisfying after seasons of obvious pining and tension

Edwin exploring being out for the first time and dating cute boys he meets, while trying to get over Charles a little bit (or at least accepting that he'll always love him but that it doesn't mean he can't love someone else too, especially when he believes he has no chance with Charles), while Charles is figuring out stuff with Crystal

They would have dated but ultimately broken up, bc as much at they like each other, I don't believe they would have been endgame (if you disagree, that's fine ofc, it's merely my what could have been prediction), so imagine Charles realizing something and going to talk to Edwin at the end of the season, only for Edwin to tell him that he's just made it official with the Irish boy (whom he's bonded with over being sacrificed??? holy shit! and the potential for more jealous-and-confused-about-it charles!!)

And we'd have to wait till season 3 for Charles and Edwin to get their shit together in the most beautiful payoff ever

[ashleyrosereads]

Sun Shower - Ch. 1

a Ridoc x fem reader fanfiction

I know I'm not the only one obsessed with Ridoc after Onyx Storm so I putting all my passion into a Ridoc x reader fanfiction that I hope you enjoy! also eventually this will be 18+ just be patient

The chiming of the bell announces eight o'clock, it's time.

The ringing strikes my ears and throughout my entire body as I move toward the line forming for the riders quadrant, chancing a look at the northern turret. The direction I should be heading in.

I keep my hands from fidgeting, as I wait in the long line. Fidgeting shows nerves. Shows weakness. I will not be making myself a target on day one. Heather told me everything I needed to know for the impending day. Showing nerves on day one was an easy tell of a weak cadet, she said. I trusted every word of wisdom she gave me over the summer, she has been the only girl in our village who lived to tell the tale of the riders quadrant in many years. Even if I didn't trust the information she gave me, it was the only information I had. So I clung to it with every fiber of me being.

I kept my hands on the straps of my pack as I waited, watching the world around me continue to move. There was a breeze in the air, and it was sunny for now. The darkening clouds on the horizon didn't calm any of my nerves though. I could only hope I would get across the parapet before any kind of storm hit.

A strangled sob came from my left. A mother was crying in a man's arms as her child walked into the line. Other families were scattered around clinging to their candidates. Some are sending them off with smiles while others it’s with tears hugging their cheeks. Just like her.

I couldn't help but feel utterly alone in that moment.

Of my own fault though. My dad begged to be here and see me off. But he didn’t need to see me openly defying the lifelong legacy of our healer family to become a rider. It’s better he’s in the dark, then the stress of daily life won’t become harder wondering if his daughter could die at any moment.

He would understand why, but it would still kill him knowing what I’m doing every day. Even knowing I’m doing it for mom. After her death, we'd both been inconsolable. He buried himself in the farm. And the more I thought about Basgiath, the more I couldn’t stand being in the sidelines healing. I want revenge. And I plan on getting it. So I buried myself in training.

The line continues to move and I leave my hands on the straps of my pack to hold me steady. The weight of my backpack is light, but once I get to the front of the line it feels as if I filled it with boulders as I bend over and write my name on the blank sheet before being guided into the door of the turret.

The bright light from the outside dimmed automatically in the dark column of stone. There wasn't a window in sight in the spiraling stairwell leading to the parapet above. I continued forward until I reached the cadet in front of me, about ten steps up.

He seemed to be chatting away with the guy in front of him. He wasn't the only one as there was a muttered chatter that drowned out what anyone was actually saying. I wasn't sure what I was expecting but chatter wasn't it. I assumed it would be quiet, foreboding maybe? How could anyone have light conversation at a time like this. I can’t help but keep moving forward, breathing through the nerves and closely watching each step so I don’t have to fall to a deadly fate too early.

The lack of windows mixed in with the heavy breaths of those surrounding me made for a taxing climb. The walls felt as if they were closing in, not knowing if the staircase was actually getting thinner or the anxiety of what I was doing was catching up to me.

I went to take a step, looking too closely at the stair under my foot and not in front of me. I didn't realize the line had stopped moving and walked right into the candidate in front of me. Almost causing a domino effect of tripping, if he hadn’t so smoothly caught himself on the wall of stone. The man turned toward me, his dark eyebrow lifted hiding behind his curly black hair that hung over his bronze forehead. He crossed his arms, showing off his bulging muscles.

Did all riders look like... this?

“Well hello” his sure voice purrs. “Trying to get rid of the competition early?” He says with a lilting voice.

I froze for a moment. Not sure what to say to that...Joke? “No. Just not paying attention. Sorry about that” I answer. He shrugs it off.

“No harm, good last minute balance practice” his smile hasn’t faltered, as he waited for her to do something, say something. What was I supposed to say to that? “Ridoc” he adds, holding out a hand.

“I'm not interested in making friends” I try to snap. The last thing I need is to be getting attached to anyone on the first day of death camp.

“What about the benefits?” He asks, making me scoff. What is this guy on to make him so damn lighthearted walking into the most dangerous quadrant in existence.

The line moves and he takes a step up backwards, not glancing behind him. No hand on the wall, nothing.

My confidence that he will make it across seems more sure than my own.

“You setting up your conquests already?” I ask because, well honestly, maybe the other people have a point. As the light toward the top of the turret brightens a distraction is alleviating.

“Well I’m looking to celebrate tonight, this guy here’s not interested” he gestures his head toward the blonde guy in front of him who doesn’t acknowledge the exchange.

“How unfortunate for you.” If I had this guys confidence I’d rule the world.

“Well it doesn’t have to be.” He winks. I can’t help but laugh. In the eye of death this man is cracking jokes.

I can hear the front of the line now. People giving their names before crossing and shouting outside. Is that rain too? Oh shit.

“So my room or yours tonight?” He leans against the stone wall, crossing his legs.

“We don’t get rooms until after threshing” I correct him. Heather told me that. She also told me not to get distracted by advances until after threshing, not only because then I'll have my own room but also because if someone distracts me then they can easily stab me in the back. Literally.

“Right right.” He bites his lip, contemplating “we will just have to find a nice broom cupboard then. I’m sure there’s plenty.”

“You are-“

“I know, irresistible.” I’m struck silent. Something is what I was going to say but I don’t find it in me to continue as we’re only a few people from the front. He goes to turn around but peaks back over his shoulder.

“You want to skip me in line?” He asks pointing at the spot in front of him.

“Why so you can push me off as punishment for almost getting you killed before parapet?” I ask, feeling my brow raising in question. I didn't realize it was possible for his smile to widen.

“No, there was no almost killing. You’ll have to be more inventive than tripping me on a staircase if that's your goal. I was thinking that if I follow you to the other side I’ll have more motivation to get there so I can start scoping out those cupboards.”

I let out another scoffing laugh. “Your impending death isn’t enough?”

“Not when you’re the other option” he winks.

“Name” the cadet barks from the entrance. Ridoc turns his head to the cadet. There were two there one taking names and another brooding by the opening.

And my gods they do all look like him.

“Ridoc Gamlyn” he says and the cadet scribbles the name.

“Alright. Go on.” He jerks his head to the exit of the turret. Ridoc turns one more time.

"See you on the other side Beautiful" He says before strutting out onto the parapet. The weather had worsened, there was a small spot of sun light in the dark clouds but not enough. Luckily the rain was only a slight drizzle and the wind didn't sound too relentless but making it across was still going to be a feat.

"Name" Barked the cadet, this time to me.

"Y/N Y/L/N" He scribbles it, barely looking over the parchment before waving me off.

"You're next."

[reneesghostinthelivingroom]

How about a poly!plastics where our class goes on a trip and reader gets lost or something

Lost

read part 2 here

|| poly!plastics x fem!reader

(i myself am poly)

|| Warnings; panic, reader gets lost, regina being regina

|| Summary; Ms Norbury takes some of the grade on a field trip to the mall; of course the plastics go along. Because it's the mall. Reader ends up losing her group.

Requests open!

Started; october 6th

Finished; october 7th

~~~

The mall seemed to be filled with more foot traffic than usual today as Ms Norbury lead the grade through the hall. She turned to face the group, clapping her hands above her head in a certain rhythm to get their attention. Normally, something like that wouldn't always work; but Ms Norbury could be a little intimidating sometimes. So she had a good hold on the students.

"Alright, listen up! We have from 11:30 until 3:00 to explore the mall as a well deserved end of year break. Take this time to relax now that your exams are over, just don't stray from your groups! I expect everyone back at 3:00. Got it?" Ms Norbury explained how this would go and there were murmured agreements amongst the students. She dismissed the group and everyone went their separate ways; with you following your girlfriends.

"So like, where should we start first?" Karen looked beyond ecstatic. She was practically vibrating from head to toe with excitement.

Regina just looked annoyed by it as she rolled her eyes and sighed," it's a mall, Karen. There's like a billion stores here. What difference does it make where we start?"

"Well, I think we'd otta go to the high-end stores. You know, get all the good stuff before it's gone," Gretchen rambled out, her arm wrapping around Karen's almost as an instinctive defence to Regina's response.

Regina turned to you for your opinion," What do you think?"

You couldn't afford the high end stuff, but you didn't want them to know that so you shrugged. "I dunno. As long as we hit the food court."

"Oo! Can we go there first! I'm hungry." Karen agreed with you, Regina thought about it and then shrugged.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go."

With Regina leading the way, the four of you headed to the food court. It was packed more than usual today, noticing that a lot of your fellow classmates had decided to hit the food court first as well. You were struggling to keep up with your girlfriends, who seemed to move through the crowd with ease.

"Regina-" You had started to ask if she could slow down, but then somebody bumped you and you stumbled to the ground. Grunting as your head hit the floor.

You stayed where you were for a moment, trying to get your dizziness under control. When you stood again, you couldn't see where your girlfriends had gone. Panic settled in and you tried following, making assumptions as to where they might've gone but to no effort. It was like they disappeared in the sea of people.

Your eyes wandered around, trying to spot them but you ended up seeing someone with a phone instead. Seeing it reminded you that you had your own phone; in your panic state you had forgotten all about it. You took it out and tried to call Gretchen, only to realize your phone was dead. Great. Perfect timing.

Putting the useless block back into your pocket, you wandered around. Hoping to find someone you knew, because you really didn't want to talk to a stranger.

It took a few very long minutes, but you managed to find Janis, Cady and Damian in Hot Topic. Janis was showing Cady a bunch of the stuff, while Cady just nodded along. Seeming very out of place.

"Cady!" You yelled, running over. She turned to look at you and waved, the two of you were decent friends. Not best friends by any means, but you got along well whenever you had to do projects together and such.

"Hey, Y/N!" She gave you a smile, while Janis just side eyed you. Definitely more wary of why you were there.

"Do you have your phone with you?" You asked, she nodded and took it out.

"Yeah, why?"

"I lost my girlfriends and my phone's dead, can I call them with yours?" You explained, Cady nodded in understanding and unlocked her phone for you.

Meanwhile, Karen was the first to notice you were no longer following them. She frowned and stopped to look around, which got Gretchen's attention and she wrapped an arm around Karen's.

"Mama, why'd you stop?" Gretchen asked, watching her with concern.

"Where's Y/N/N?" Karen replied, still searching the food court for you.

That got Regina to stop and she paused for a moment. Looking back at Gretchen and Karen," she's right-" She stopped talking. You weren't right with them. How had she missed that? "Gretchen, call her."

Gretchen nodded and quickly took out her phone, giving you a call only for it to not go through. She frowned and looked at Regina," she didn't answer."

"Call her until she does." Regina replied, arms folded across her chest.

She was about to call again when she got a call from Cady, something in her told her she should answer. So she did and put it on speaker. "Cady?"

"Y/N." You corrected, Gretchen couldn't help but noticed how panicked you sounded.

"Babe!" Gretchen relaxed, Regina did too though she was more subtle about it and Karen just seemed happy to hear you.

"Hiiii, Y/N!" Karen said.

Regina snatched Gretchen's phone and held it so she could talk to you," Where the hell are you? Why do you have Cady's phone?"

"Mine died, but I found Cady and asked if I could use hers. We're at Hot Topic with Janis and Damian, can you come get me?"

"Gross, Hot Topic?" Regina cringed, Karen looked a little interested.

"Regina," You practically whined, wanting her to focus on the more important matters.

"Okay, okay. We'll meet you there. But stay put. Got it?" Her tone was demanding, laced in authority but you easily agreed. Not wanting to risk getting even more lost.

Regina hung up and handed Gretchen back her phone, leading her girlfriends right to you.

When they got there, Karen ran over and jumped into your arms. Relieved you were okay. You stumbled a bit but managed to keep both of you up; holding the taller girl.

"Hi, baby." You had fully relaxed now and held her close, giving her neck a kiss. Gretchen ran over and joined the hug while Regina stayed off to the side, taking a photo.

She posted it with the caption,

this idiot got lost 🙄

You thanked Cady again for her letting you use her phone, then headed off with your girlfriends. Deciding to avoid the food court and hit somewhere else in the mall. Gretchen made sure you were always with them, her hand never letting go of yours.

[lavenderprose]

"Would you love me if I was a crab?"

The responses are immediate and exactly what Ed should have expected: Stede's eyes go big, he offers a wide smile and his voice goes high and indulging as he says, "Of course! I would make a special little tank for you--"

Izzy, on his other side, rolls his eyes and says nothing at all.

There are a few crabs scuttling along this stretch of beach, washed ashore by a storm last night. They're still trying to get their bearings and make their way back to sea, presumably. Ed has counted four of them as they walk. He doesn't know if they're the kind of crabs you eat. He doesn't know if there's such a thing as crabs you can't eat.

Stede is still talking.

"Of course, we would have to make sure that the water is of the right salinity, and it might be hard to communicate, but perhaps we could invent some form of semaphore involving pincers--" Here he forms his hands into two approximations of claws and snaps his thumbs against his fingers repeatedly. "Snap snap. Something like that."

"No way to live," Izzy says then, and when Ed looks at him it seems like even he's surprised he spoke. He looks uneasy with it, like the thought had escaped rather than being released. He's been walking somewhat separate, his pace matching that of Ed and Stede but several feet further up the beach where the sand isn't so damp. Stede has had his arm looped through Ed's and they've been walking in lockstep, murmuring to each other about the lovely bright morning sun and the crisp smell of the ocean, and about Stede's newly-bought swim-cover he's wearing and about lunch. Come to think, this is the first time Ed has heard Izzy speak all morning.

"What's that, dear?" Stede asks, still distracted by his own hands. He mutters something to himself that sounds like And this could mean I'm hungry as he pokes his pinched hands towards his stomach.

"In a tank," says Izzy. His arms are folded against his body, he's turned towards Ed and Stede and the calm surf washing up the beach. The sun hits his eyes and makes them look brighter, green like seaglass. "If you were a...crab."

"Say I wanted to live in a tank?" Ed mutters, feeling weirdly defensive. "If Stede wanted to put me in a tank and keep me safe--"

"No way to live," Izzy says, shrugging. "Might be nice for a little while, but you'd get bored in a tank. You'd start trying to escape, try to wedge your pincers through the lid of--" He moves his hands for a moment, almost as though to pantomime like Stede, then scowls at himself at stops. Shrugs again. "We couldn't keep you."

"Would we know it was you?" Stede asks then, like this is crucial information. Ed doesn't know why the conversation has taken this turn, even though he was the one to ask, but he feels like his heart might break a little if they can't come to a consensus about what to do with Crab-Ed.

"Yeah," says Ed, "You'd know it was me because it would be like...a sea-witch curse or something."

"Oh! Well then we would just find a way to break the curse." Stede nods, smiling sagely and confident in his wisdom.

"You can't," Ed says, hurriedly and suddenly nervous. "It's permanent. Can't break it, I'm gonna be a crab forever."

"Would you still think like you?" Stede asks. Izzy, utterly quiet, stares towards the horizon like if he glares hard enough, the sun will descend from the sky and end the conversation.

"Yeah, yeah. Ed Teach brain, tiny crab body."

"Well that complicates it--"

"Why are we talking about this again?" Izzy mutters, still squinting towards the sun like it's personally insulted him. "If Edward were a crab, he'd have to do crab things. We'd do human things. End of."

Stede frowns. "Well the question wasn't about what we would do with our Ed-crab. It was would we love him."

Izzy snorts, and Ed feels a strange spike of dread right up until Izzy mutters, "Of course," in a way that says he thinks the answer is very obvious, and the question very redundant. When he realizes that Ed and Stede are both staring at him, he shifts his stance and cards a hand through his hair. Slowly, with obvious difficulty, he says, "I couldn't keep him in a tank. Wouldn't be fair. Of all people, I should know that." His eyes flick to Ed for a snap moment. Ed doesn't know what his face does, but whatever it is it's enough to relax the line between Izzy's eyebrows. "He'd have to go. But I'd remember him. I'd hope he was...happy. Doing crab things. I'd love him."

From somewhere next to Ed, the inelegant sound of Stede's sniffles breaks the moment they might have been about to have.

"That's such a sweet sentiment, Izzy," Stede says, wiping under an eye. "I was going to say that we could ask the sea-witch to turn us into crabs as well. That way we could all do crab things together."

"There's an idea," Ed says enthusiastically. "We could make a crab house and eat crab food and have crab se--"

"I'm not turning into a crab," Izzy says, and turns back to face the direction they'd come. "Are we done with this? I'm fucking starving."

He marches off, leaving Stede and Ed to walk in his now-determined wake. Obviously trying to escape the sentimentality of his own words. Ed exchanges a knowing, saccharine expression with Stede as they follow.

"Izzy?" Stede calls up to him, paces ahead and legs pumping. Izzy barks out a vague response. "Would you love me if I was a crab?"

Izzy stops and turns completely around. There is a smirk on his face and hidden laughter in his eyes.

"If you were a crab," Izzy says, "I would have a crab fucking boil, Stede Bonnet."

[vidavalor]

Today, if you're discussing actions taken to try to prevent against the effects of possible future negative actions, you're talking about insurance. Up until an estimated sometime in the late 16th/early 17th centuries, though? You wouldn't have referred to this as insurance, even though that word also existed at the time.

For most of history, the word for what we today refer to as insurance was actually assurance.

The two words come from some very similar-sounding French root words. Adding to the confusion, the root words of insurance-- enseurer/enseurance-- actually also meant assurance, but in the sense of a guarantee or a serious promise.

Assurance also originally meant self-confident in an unappealing way, which, along with the general confusion of the similar-sounding words, is thought to be one of the big reasons why assurance fell out of fashion as a word, paving the way for insurance to eventually take over the main, original meaning of assurance.

So, why the two different words in the first place, especially when both of them were rooted in words relating to promises relating to safety and security?

Because while assurance originally meant what we'd consider insurance today, insurance originally exclusively meant a different kind of promise...

The word insurance originally referred to what we'd call a marriage engagement today.

"If it all goes wrong, I want insurance" takes on an additional layer when you consider that Crowley and Aziraphale have been on Earth since the beginning and frequently communicate using etymology (word history) to code their speech in public for safety, as they were also doing in other parts of this very same scene. They both absolutely know the original meaning of insurance.

From what Crowley said in 1862, it's clear that there hadn't exactly been a formal proposal by 1862... how could there have been, really, considering that was some 'if both the human world and the supernatural world ever were to change' pipe dream at the time?... but there was a romantic partnership with a shared understanding that, if they ever could? They would.

They'd turn The Arrangement/The Agreement into The Engagement in a heartbeat if ever things changed and they safely could.

Crowley was clearly not doing well in the 1862 scene, though...

Crowley was really seeking reassurance as much as he was seeking insurance in the modern sense. He wanted the holy water as insurance (modern meaning)-- as protection against Hell-- and he wanted it for their informal insurance (historical meaning)-- to keep the two of them safe.

While Crowley wanting holy water was a surprise to Aziraphale, Crowley's subtle reference to his and Aziraphale's understanding being akin to one of the original kind of insurance was far from a shock to Aziraphale. Neither of them were batting an eye over Crowley's dual-layered use of the word insurance.

Aziraphale just also knew that they were in the park and that ducks have ears, as Crowley himself had pointed out a moment earlier. This was too dangerous a place for this conversation and that Crowley tried to have it here showed how much he was struggling, which just validated even more Aziraphale's hesitation and fear.

Aziraphale knew that holy water could kill Crowley and it's not hard to see why he'd be reluctant to give his obviously anxious and depressed partner the supernatural equivalent of a gun.

Especially when Crowley's PTSD was so bad in that moment in 1862 that he was demonstrably reactive in public to Aziraphale's attempt to keep anybody from listening to realize that they're a couple. Crowley's response just makes it all the more obvious that they are one.

Crowley's inability to have enough situational awareness in the moment to realize or care that he's putting them at risk while simultaneously being (in this case, justifiably) paranoid about them being overheard and asking Aziraphale for the dangerous thing that he's convinced himself will make him feel the safety that he's struggling to feel is a very PTSD thing. It speaks to high levels of unmanaged anxiety.

Even having this conversation in the park and not the bookshop was self-sabotaging on Crowley's part. There's an argument to be made that not doing well to a point that he's semi-consciously trying to push Aziraphale away by putting Aziraphale in a no-win situation in a place where their ability to fully discuss it in the moment is impacted by their lack of privacy.

Crowley was being self-destructive and was putting them at risk as a result, basically proving himself probably too unstable in that era to have holy water in the first place.

What he truly wanted was reassurance that Aziraphale was going to stay with him. Doubting that was the anxiety talking. Aziraphale wouldn't have had to give any indication that he was not going to do so and there's no indication that he was going to leave Crowley. I'd imagine he felt the exact opposite of that and Crowley really, at the core, knew that. PTSD and anxiety can cause levels of self-doubt and make it difficult for a person to trust their assessment of things, as we see with Crowley's struggles to trust himself and others when it comes to things like Gabriel and The Book of Life in S2.

Fundamentally, Crowley knows that Aziraphale loves him but, in 1862, he could have been experiencing a lot of anxiety, self-doubt, and feelings of shame related to the aftermath of 1827, and have really been seeking out reassurance that Aziraphale-- who had already really proven this by sticking through thousands of years with Crowley-- wouldn't leave him... even as he tried very hard to push him away.

It's not rational but emotions-- particularly, trauma-born ones-- aren't always rational. The holy water situation in 1862 is also one triggering Aziraphale's own fears that Crowley will leave him-- will one day go out the door and not come back, either from something they cannot control or because he's decided it's too much for him to endure anymore.

When both people are triggered, it's hard to really talk and even harder to really listen, and someone storming off for awhile is probably inevitable.

But it's not forever. When things calm down, it becomes easier to see what one another was saying, what it was that they really meant, and what they need.

[theidiotwhowritesthings]

IS THERE A VERSION OF JOEL MILLER I WOULDN'T FUCK?

[a case study in how thirsty i am for this man.] [aka fic recommendations]

Unfortunately, in my extensive research on this topic, I have found some pretty damning evidence against my sanity.

dad's best friend!joel miller x fem!reader

Your Summer Dream [masterlist] by @swiftispunk It is a scientific fact that if you place Joel Miller on a beach he becomes 100x hotter. I don't make the rules, I just report them.

Creep it Real! by @swiftispunk I am a puddle. I melted and I'm a shallow pathetic puddle. Cowboy and Angel. I just hnnnnnggggg. I need him to ruin me pls dear god.

*I'm realizing if i include all the DBF!JM i read this will get very long, very quickly, and i think i have revealed enough of myself on this blog to highlight my very obvious daddy issues

**speaking of daddy issues...

stepdad!joel miller x fem!reader

Don't Be Cute, Be Nasty by @cockslutpadalecki i'm pretty sure this was the first stepdad!joel miller anything i read and it awoke something in my soul. it's always fun to reach new levels of my daddy issues and BY GOD was this just 🫠

Bad Girl [part i of many] by @seventeenpins he walks in on her while she's watching stepdaddy porn and good lord it gets filthier and filthier in the best kind of way.

boyfriend's dad!joel miller x fem!reader

Lost in the Dark [masterlist] by @iamasaddie i expected to be a slut reading this but then it made me an emotional slut out of nowhere i am obsessed. there is nothing i love more than being drawn in by my thots only to be hit by an emotional bus out of nowhere.

Thigh's Out AU [masterlist] by @toxicanonymity not only is this a boyfriend's dad AU, but said boyfriend's dad is a hot and slutty. just like i like my dilfs.

father-in-law!joel miller x fem!reader

Pink [masterlist] by @netherfeildren holy fuck. that's all. just holy fuck. this altered my genetic makeup.

Help, I'm Stuck! by @nosesitter spoiler alert: he takes her wedding ring off before dicking her down and I-- 👀 send help.

***i didn't think i had a lot of significant other's father!joel miller in my repertoire, but i had to stop myself again from listing them all on this one otherwise we'd be here all day. shit, i'm learning things about myself 🤡

dark therapist!joel miller x fem!reader

Session 1 by @elvinaa i think this only highlights how badly i need an actual therapist (as does this entire list actually).

sleazy gas station clerk!joel miller x fem!reader

Meet Me in the Back (1) & The Night is Dark Enough ... (2) written by @atticrissfinch It does not bode well for me that this version of Joel Miller made me so fucking feral. In no way, shape, nor form should a sleazy gas station clerk make me feel this way AND YET HERE WE ARE.

tattoo artist!joel miller x fem!reader

Honeyed [masterlist] by @softlyspector This one absolutely hits too close to home for me, but that's probably why I'm so obsessed with it. My touch adverse yet touch starved ass ate this up and left no crumbs😌

chiro!joel miller x fem!reader

Say Yes to Heaven by @pascalisbaby i thought the medical side of my brain would cringe at the doctor/patient dynamic but as it turns out my depravity knows no bounds 🥵

frat dad!joel miller x fem!reader

The Old College Try by @proxima-writes i didn't even know this was something i needed in my life until it came into my life. blessings🙏🏼

ceo!joel miller x fem!reader

Sex on Fire [masterlist] by @macfrog i don't think i need to harp on what that sugar daddy vibes do to me🤤

mafia!joel miller x fem!reader

Divine Dynasty by @cavillscurls Remember when I said putting Joel by a body of water makes him 100x hotter? The same applies to a Mafia AU. I can't explain it. I have no sound reasoning to support my claim other than "he hot tho".

pornstar!joel miller x fem!reader

I Know it When I See it [masterlist] by @bageldaddy 🔥🔥🔥 that is all.

maintenance man!joel miller x fem!reader

Maintenance Man [masterlist] by @gracieispunk toolbelt. say less.

slasher!joel miller x fem!reader

Slasher [masterlist] by @toxicanonymity i thought for sure, FOR SURE, this would be blind, pure, detached smut that i could enjoy with no emotional ties whatsoever. and then all of a sudden i'm feeling things??? he just loves his mom so much😭 mama's boy wants to be happy. JAIL. real jail for murderer joel miller. horny jail for me. and audacity jail for toxic b/c how dare you make me feel things for a serial killer😩

as i said previously, the evidence speaks for itself. i have yet to find a version of joel miller i could not immediately fuck. i'm actually planning (i have a lot of plans and no time smh), to go through all these on my recommendation blog w/play by play commentary so everyone can know just how unhinged i am for this guy.

but now!! you guys have a syllabus for my insanity!!

now, excuse me while i go find a therapist (a real one, not a hot/dark joel miller version of one) (although beggars can't be choosers right?👀)

dividers by @saradika

[littleeyesofpallas]

Are Kyoraku's game abilities actually based on real Japanese children games? I only know about the Daruma one.

Sorry i put this off so long, i kept meaning to go dig up the old anime episodes to see if the anime added or changed anything, but never did. I'm just leaning on the fan wikia to take inventory and trusting they didn't overlook anything...

Bushogoma[不精独楽]: "Lazy SpinningTop" is the type of spinning top toy you usually see in Japan, where you wind a bit of string around the top to use like a rip chord to send it spinning; as opposed to the sort you'd spin by hand or something.

(It's similar to the beigoma tops that Beyblades are based on.)

(Oh a good thing to note here is that in the japanese version of the game we generally refer to as "tag" as well as the "it" role in it is called "oni" as in a demon/ogre. So the term in all the associated "XYZ-Oni" attacks could functionally just be translated as "XYZ-Tag")

TakaOni[嶄鬼]: "(High/Steep)Mountain Tag" is a play on takaoni[高鬼]: "High(up) Tag" a variation of tag where the tagger must be at even or higher elevation than the person they're tagging. i.e. players higher up than the tagger are considered safe. The "taka" is also a homonym with taka[鷹]: "hawk/falcon" and seems to be a play on how hawks hunt by diving at their prey, meaning they have a blind spot above them.

KageOni[影鬼] "Shadow Tag" is a variation of tag where instead of tagging the person themselves, whoever is "it" has to touch their shadow to tag them out.

IroOni[艶鬼]: "colorful/lustrous oni" is actually a pun on irooni[色鬼]: "Color Tag." Unlike in the manga the rule is usually that once a color is declared, touching anything of that color is considered "safe," so each round is a matter of chasing down players until everyone is either out or safe, then declaring a new target color.

Daruma-san ga koronda[だるまさんがころんだ] got the most attention I think of the whole line up and is the Japanese name for what I think it most commonly called "Red Light, Green Light" in English.

(Pretty notably the manga Kami-sama no Iu Touri[神さまの言うとおり] aka As The Gods Will used it as the first big game in their death game series, with a literal Japanese daruma doll. It's also what Squid Game stole its first game plot from, beat for beat.)

Kageokuri[影送り]: "Shadow send(off)" i don't know that this is really a "game" but it's when you stare at your shadow on the ground for a bit then up at the sky and can see your shadow's afterimage.

BBS adds Yubikiri[指斬り]: lit."finger beheading" as in to cut off the "head" of a finger. It's what we'd call a "pinky promise" in English, the idea being that you've sworn to keep whatever promise at the cost of cutting off your pinky if you aren't faithful to it.

...as well as Kagome kagome[囲召籠目]: "encircled basket eye" a pun on[籠目籠目]: "basket eye, basket eye." Children hold hands in a circle with an oni/it in the middle, they dance around in said circle singing while the center child keeps their eyes close, and when the song ends the oni/it has to guess who is directly behind them. The tune of the song that goes with it is extremely recognizable.

Some of the old videogames had original techniques but those were largely made before any of his actual powers were revealed so they're mostly just like wind elemental attacks and don't contribute to the theme.(ugh... goddamnit now that i went and looked for it i realize there's like zero info around most of those old games and it makes me want to download emulator files for them all and look up all their move lists... i dont want to actually do all that tho...)

Honestly I'm surprised Katen and Kyokotsu didn't have any anime original abilities in the filler arc or something...

They do have a BBS card with the move Utage-no-Ikkyou[宴の一興]: "Amusement/(Brief)Entertainment of (a) Feast/Party" which isn't really a game of any sort. at least not specifically. It would refer to something like a bit of song and dance interlude at a feudal era banquet. Admittedly a clever intersection of Katen and Kyokotsu's differing types of play -children's game vs adult entertainment.

[copinghex]

Delirium | T.S

Summary: Thomas pays a last visit to the woman he always had a thing for | dark!AU and 🔞

A/N: This makes me feel like a nasty hoe, I just wanted to write smut with a Tommy who's obsessed but not violent, if that makes sense 🥴

Warning: Tommy being delusional 

The kitchen felt warmer than it probably was, Tommy's presence scared her, especially in moments they were alone.

Of course, her husband's presence wouldn't make a huge difference, he was a humble civilian and Tommy could pull out a gun on him at any moment. She preferred to meet in public spaces, where she'd be able to call for help.

He sat at the table, sipping on his tea with disturbing peace, as if he was the man of the house.

“Tommy,” she gulped, leaning on the counter far from him, “my husband will be home soon, so if you don't have anything to say-”

‘I thought I gave this house to you,” he interrupted.

“Y-yes, but he lives here too,” 

“Lucky, ain't he?” he nodded, the glassy look in his eyes scared her, “I gave you this place in consideration for you and the baby and he gets to decide who visits,”

“We know how lucky we are for having your sympathy,” 

“Sympathy,” he scoffed.

Lowering her head, she got ready for what seemed to be another one of his episodes. After every single one, she regretted the day she stepped into his family's betting shop looking for a job. After that, she never had peace.

People said after the war Thomas chose to be alone, she saw it differently, he was always surrounded by whores and flirting with the newcomer barmaid. Every now and then, he invited her to dates. Surely he wasn't a man she'd call lonely.

By then, his behavior didn't bother her, Small Heath was full of perverts and womanizers. He was just another one of them until he started to chase her. 

Even with his aunt's insistence for her to give him a chance, she paid him no mind, thinking Polly only favored her so he'd forget the barmaid who was later revealed to be a cop. Also, she heard he had an affair with his secretary and wooed his horse trainer, all while flirting with her and promising the world if she gave in. 

When Thomas got married, she swore things would get better, he'd leave her alone and wouldn't be in the betting shop as often. What an awful prevision. In a matter of weeks, he forbade his employees from dating, although she liked to think it was only because of business, she thought the order was way too strict.

Then the worst phase came, widowed Thomas was clingy, forceful, controlling and manipulative. His sad blue eyes would convince her of anything - or almost anything, the bedroom's part, she left for Lizzie - it was when she realized that for him to forget about her, she had to leave him. A new job should be enough.

One day after she resigned, he knocked on her door, asking all the reasons why she wasn't part of the company anymore and promising he'd stop chasing her. What a fool she was for believing. Thomas didn't stop flirting. He only changed his methods. Every week, she'd find a small - or a huge - gift by her desk.

Years went by and she moved on, Thomas became a permanent hurdle she chose to ignore. Nowadays, they were both married and with children, though sometimes he'd still remind her that if she wanted him, he'd be there.

“...do you want to talk?” she asked, perhaps with the death of his daughter he wanted consolation.

“Do I scare you?”

“No, hm,” she lied, his question surprised her, “a bit, sometimes, but mostly no,” 

“It came to me last night, perhaps I scared you, that's why you never wanted me,” 

“Tommy-”

“Y’know, some nights- many nights,” he wasn't looking at her, with his distant eyes and head low, she knew it'd be better to let him finish his monolog, “you were all I thought about, no shovels, no curses, just you, my wife,” 

“What?” she was shocked, but it didn't matter, he wasn't listening.

“We'd make love every night before going to sleep and I'd find out everything, what you like, what you don't,” he sighed, “and the rest wouldn't fucking matter, it'd be just you and me,” 

Finally, he looked at her waiting for an answer. She, on the other hand, didn't know what to say.

“Tommy, perhaps-” she started, “you know I have much respect for you, but also for Mrs. Shelby and my husband, so perhaps it's time you let go of this infatuation for me,” 

“Is this what you think it is? Infatuation?” 

“I-”

“Sometimes I thought of forcing you,” he confessed, “after everything I gave you it'd be fair, wouldn't it? To take something back, but that was the problem, I never wanted to fuck you, I wanted you to want me, sounds stupid now, eh?” 

“Why did you come here tonight?” after his speech, she was desperate for him to leave. 

“To tell you you'll finally have what you wanted, I won't bother you anymore,” he explained, “I'm sick,”

“With what?” 

“Tuberculoma,” 

All she did was stare, Thomas Shelby, the man who survived poverty, war and a dangerous career choice was killing himself from inside out. The worst part of her was relieved, the best felt bad for him.

“What about your son?” she mumbled.

“He's in good hands,” 

“Well, hm, I'm sorry,”

“Are you?”

Tommy finished his tea in a big gulp. His posture told her his objective wasn't done yet. Of course not, he always had an A on his sleeve.

“There's another reason why I came here tonight,” he admitted, “I'm gonna ask you something in good faith,” 

“Yes?”

“Grant me a last wish, all I ever wanted,” 

“What is it?” she tensed up.

“Sleep with me, as if we were husband and wife,” he pleaded, blown out eyes fixed on her.

“What?! I can't!” 

“Why not?”

“Because I'm married! We both are!” 

“Me? I'm not anymore,” 

“We can't, Tommy,”

“Please, not one has to know,” never in her life, she thought she'd see him beg, “first and last time,”

Again, she was speechless, guilty for considering giving in to him, but wouldn't it be merciful? Before she decided, he walked to her, cupping her face between his hands.

His lips met her cheek, gently kissing her, she barely believed when he started to smell her. For him, it was the best scent he ever felt.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she allowed him to keep going only to see how far he'd go. His palm was warm and easily covered half her face, his kisses went down her neck, different from what she was used to, her husband was sweet, Tommy was intense, drinking her in like a starving man.

He brought her closer, holding her waist with a strong grip. From that distance, she smelled the lingering cologne underneath the cigarette scent. The warmth from his skin gave her unwanted shivers.

Naively, she rested her hands on his back, it was all he needed to lift her to the counter, sitting her down and standing between her legs. As if she got out of trance, she pushed him away.

“Tommy,” she used a leg to create distance, foot well positioned on his chest, “we can't,” 

She expected him to retaliate, his fast breath and dilated eyes made her feel like a prey, he was the predator about to pounce. Instead, he took her foot into his hands, slowly kissing the way up her legs. She had all the time in the world to stop him, but her body froze with his affections.

Once he reached her thigh, Tommy put his head under her skirt, she felt his rough fingers undo her stockings and obliged, lifting her hips for him to pull her panties down. 

With his breath against her cunt, she held tightly to the counter, the surface was cold in her warm hands. He parted her inner lips with his tongue, making her jump slightly.

The foreign feeling brought excitement to her core, weak moans poured from her lips as Tommy sucked her clit.

Lifting her skirt, she ran a hand through his hair, he lowly hummed, burying his face further between her legs before standing up, starting a greedy kiss.

Through the desperate yearning, he was gentle, cupping her face and giving her little pecks every time she ran out of breath. She took his coat off and held onto him, from his waistcoat texture it must've been extremely expensive. 

Touching his thin body, few ribs could be counted even if she'd still consider him strong. Tommy started unbuttoning her dress and she stopped him.

“Like man and wife, you said?”

Excitement built in Tommy's chest, she'd be finally his, the idea got him hard as a rock. With a last peck on his lips, she guided him upstairs, avoiding looking at her family pictures. They made her feel bad.

Through the hallway, he stopped and stared at her daughter's bedroom's door, highlighted by the lilac color contrasting with the rest of white ones, “What's her name again?” 

“Agatha,” 

He sighed, picturing a little girl with her eyes, who'd play near the canal with Ruby, Charlie and Duke. She'd watch them from far, the three sweetest girls he ever met, that sounded like heaven, a heaven he'd never reach.

Pulling him to the guest room, she sat him on the bed, the spare, impersonal mattress that'd be ruined by her infidelity. As she straddled his lap, Tommy spread kisses on her chest, her head fell back from pleasure, body warming up to him.

As tempting as melting into his arms was, she wanted to give him an experience, something slow and intimate, between those four walls there was no unreciprocated love or unfaithfulness, only the two of them. 

She cupped his face and touched their foreheads together, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his waistcoat, “Tell me about your day,” 

“I'm glad it's already over,” he drawled, hands traveling through her back.

“Did you miss me?” she held a giggle at his unnecessary tie clip, he probably urged to show the world he could afford one. 

“I-” he gulped when she put the small golden clip between her lips, “did,” 

Fully undressing wasn't sexy like in books she'd read before, she had to stand up and got particularly shy while Tommy watched. However, she managed to get a few chuckles while taking the boots off his feet.

“I can tell,” with him brushing on her thigh, she got rid of his clothing and pushed him down the mattress. His eyes shone at the view of her on top of him, hands gripping on her dress as a silent request to take it off.

Playfully, she threw her last piece of clothing at him, a wool stocking far from being sexy. With a small smile, he pulled her back to bed, climbing on top of her in a swift move. His hands grabbed her waist while his face was buried on her neck, between kisses and bites, she could tell he was overwhelmed.

Wrapping her legs around him, she called his name in a whisper, Tommy lifted his head getting face to face with her and for a moment, it'd be foolish to deny he looked beautiful, lips swollen, hazed eyes and blushy cheeks fitting perfectly into his features.

The gray hair growing on his shaved sides caught her attention, a sign of how long he'd been pinning for her. She had seen him go from bookmaker to member of parliament, from a man who always wore the same three fancy suits to a man who could gift a house and yet, to her, Thomas Shelby was nothing but a pretty painting, something to admire, but never to hold dear.  

“What?” he noticed he was being observed.

“Nothing, can't I just look at you?” 

He squinted, lightly squeezing her cheeks together. She tensed up, realizing how vulnerable she was lying naked under him.

“Tom?” she feared some sudden change of demeanor.

His previous kindness suddenly vanished, Tommy kissed her hungrily and her body betrayed her, surrendering completely, urging to become one with him.

A tiny moan was all to be heard when he slid into her, then the bed started to crackle and the impact of his thrusts mixed with their heavy breaths. 

She tried to pull his head to her shoulder in an intimate embrace, he didn't let her, holding her hands above her head, “Want to look at you,”

The admission put a smile on her face, besides everything Tommy was sweet, certainly not like she imagined a gangster would be in bed. 

Between sloppy kisses, he freed one of her hands that she took to his back, his skin was soft, the only bumps were the scars he got in war and business, still, it was nothing she'd consider imperfections, it all added deepness to the artwork he was.

Freeing her other hand, she hugged him closer, the sudden pull disturbed his steady pace and she giggled at the surprised huff he let out.

Tommy Shelby wasn't a man to be vulnerable often, to see him make such noises or show desperate desire was more intimate than all the years she spent with her own husband. She wanted to see more.

The question crossed her lips before she could consider any further consequences, “Do you love me, Tommy?” 

He swallowed, gripping on her legs and pounding into her harder, “I do, fuck, I do, I love you,” 

Squeezing her eyes shut, her back arched from a consuming orgasm. Tommy's name filled the room in loud moans as her nails sank in his back.

After few more thrusts, he poured inside her. Tommy rested his forehead on hers and they breathed heavily. With mind foggy and his gentle caresses on her head, she didn’t hear steps on the other side of the door.

Hard knocks on the door made her freeze inside, Tommy had a tiny smirk on his face while her husband called from outside, “What the fuck is going on in there?!” 

[tonkatsubowl]

man's best friend.

how would the xianzhou boys react to you bringing home a dog?

cat version here.

"we aren't keeping it." dan heng stared at you with disbelief, given the immediate response as he saw you holding a puppy in your hands the moment he got home. pinching the bridge of his nose, you could hear the puppy whine, wiggling its tiny feet as a desperate attempt to escape to go up to dan heng.

...the attempt was a success, actually, and there would be a tiny little furball waddling up to the man who supposedly didn't want to take care of a puppy.

"wha— but why not? it clearly likes you!" now you were giving him the puppy eyes.

dan heng sighed, still learning on trying to resist that cute little face of yours. he watched as the puppy whine at him, pawing as his ankles as it desperately was begging for his attention.

"do you realize how responsible and attentive we'd have to be when it comes to raising a puppy, y/n? they are very high maintenance animals." dan heng gave you a stern look as he folded his arms over his chest, raising a brow at you.

"i'm not that stupid. i'm fully well aware how hard it is to take a puppy, but can't you just resist those (my) cute little eyes of it? please, pleaaase! i'll be fully responsible for it too!"

he really couldn't resist those puppy eyes of yours. it was working though. that was when he sighed with defeat, shaking his head as he placed a hand on his cranium.

"fine. as long as you're the one taking all the responsibility... we already have enough on our plate as it is, especially when we have missions to do."

you smile, almost wanting to squeal with happiness. "oh, great! thank you!"

it wasn't long until dan heng would begin to help you with raising a puppy. you knew this would happen too. it also wouldn't take long that dan heng would eventually take a liking to it.

"..." blade stared at you with a dumbfounded expression as you held the puppy up to his face, allowing it to playfully and timidly lick at his nose. he just came back from a mission with the stellaron hunters...and assuming he'd come home and rest immediately, he would be greeted by the sight of a "wild beast" in your home.

not surprisingly enough, blade was more of a cat person. he stared in silence still, watching as you and the puppy shared similar expressions.

"please, blade..." you murmured, watching as the puppy wiggled around in your grasp, whining a bit as though to beg your significant other to keep it.

you could hear him exhale, his shoulders slumping as he continued to look at the animal...and you.

"...fine. but i'm not picking up after him."

your lips immediately tugged to a smile as you almost squealed with joy, inclining yourself upon toes and giving blade a kiss on the cheek. worth it.

"thank you!"

it wasn't long until blade grew a liking to your new dog. he was hoping it would protect you one day while he was gone on missions. he'd probably have to train it too.

"ooh," jing yuan cooed, "don't let mimi see it. she'll get jealous."

luckily for the both of you...well, three of you, the lion of xianzhou wasn't around at the moment. she was taking a nap elsewhere, unaware of the monstrosity you call a 'puppy' home.

"i think it's a good thing that it's still a puppy. do you think she'll take care of it?" you ask, watching as the general extended a hand to pet the puppy on the head.

you hear him chuckle as he was brushing his thumb against the puppy's head, rubbing its ear with slow and gentle movements.

"perhaps. she'll be territorial of it at first, but i trust that we can keep the both of them safe from each other."

you blink. "we?"

jing yuan blinked too. "...of course, y/n. you brought home a puppy, no? we'd have to be responsible and take care of it but of course, i just hope you don't bring home an entire zoo."

you smile warmly as the puppy was now slowly being transferred over to jing yuan's grasp, allowing the little one to lick his face.

"what shall we name it? do you have any name suggestions? i suppose i'd have to redo a bit of my schedule to assist you raising this puppy."

you couldn't help but that smile of yours turn into a grin, excited that you were ready to raise a puppy with your other half! you snuggle up against the general as he laughed, letting the puppy play with the fluffiness of his hair.

"i'm not sure! i'll let you handle the names!" you exclaimed as jing yuan was holding up the puppy as though he was referencing a particular children's movie fixated on lions.

"ahaha, alright. now where should we potty train it...?"

[therookieimagines]

Not that he cares...or anything - Tim Bradford x Reader part 4/?

Summary: After going on a trip to Tim's sister's you two run into an ex of Tim's who gets way too friendly with her, not realizing his mistake until you get back to LA, Tim is determined to apologize.

warnings: worries of Tim having feelings for an ex

You and Tim hadn't even been together for a month before your first fight occurred, you had both ended up going out to eat while visiting his sister, it was the last night you were there and Tim wanted to take you to see his favorite spot to eat as a kid. Everything was going great until a slightly older than you woman approached the table excitedly "Oh my gosh! Timmy!? Tim Bradford is that really you?" She gawked, you turned your gaze to your boyfriend who had a soft smile on his face "Cindy? Cindy Becker? Oh my god it's been forever, y/n this was my high school sweetheart, Cindy, we were together since..what was it..ninth grade? Yea! Ninth grade until I left for the army" He smiled "Cindy this is my friend and rookie, Y/n" He said happily, not noticing the hurt, frustration, and jealousy flash across your face. Friend? Would friends make out? Have sex? Would friends look at each other with such admiration that you knew you'd follow that man until the end of time?

You were in a trance the rest of the night, not really hearing anything other than muffled voices and laughs, your last straw was seeing Tim hug her tightly as you all walked out, you took it as a sign and stormed off to his truck, climbing into the backseat, not even wanting to sit by him, slamming the door harshly before turning your back to the drivers seat. By the time Tim got in you were already laid back in the seats, your head behind his seat, desperate to keep yourself from his view, you just wanted to get back to LA and go stay with someone else. You heard him sigh as the truck started "You were rude" He teased, obviously not picking up on your feelings or reading the 'room'. "Just shut the fuck up and take me back" You snapped, he was silent for the rest of the drive, once you got to his sisters you were quick to rush to the bedroom, changing into your nightclothes hiding your body under the covers.

Tim sat outside on the back porch watching the trees in the distance move with the wind "Tim? What're you doing up so late, aren't you driving back to LA in the morning?" His sister asked taking a seat next to him on the bench "I think I fucked things with Y/n up..I knew I would..but you told me we'd be fine, I shouldn't jump to conclusions" He ranted, his sister just sighed wrapping her arms around him "What'd you do, bubs?" She asked, not prepared to stay out all night talking with her brother.

Whenever you got back to your shared home, you were quick to go hide in the bedroom, you weren't sure what to do, on one hand you wanted to leave Tim, the two of them seemed so in sync and alike, more than you and him would be yourselves, but on the other hand, you wanted to stay with him. Tim made you feel safe, like no matter what happened he'd be doing whatever necessary to save you, like every inch about you was loved, so why did he never notice your discomfort the entire 4 hours you were at the restaurant. "Y/n/n, come out here please" Tim called from the dining room where he was sat with his laptop, after a very long lecture from his sister he realized he did alot more than fuck things up, he potentially just chased you out of his life.

You debated on staying in the room, but your body started working before your mind could realize it, almost like muscle memory, with every step you felt yourself fighting back tears, this was it, you could hear your grandmothers voice telling you all of her speeches again about how you shouldn't let a man treat you badly as you stood behind him in the doorway. You watched as he moved back from the table slightly, patting his leg for a moment "Come here, I wanna talk with you" He stated, you shook your head going to sit in the chair next to him, but he caught your wrist, pulling you to sit on his lap "I realize...Last night I probably made you uncomfortable..and I'm so damn sorry..I never ever want to make you uncomfortable..yet I did, and I don't know how to apologize for something that big, or even ask you to forgive me for something that terrible, but I am so fucking sorry, y/n, I promise you I don't feel anything for her other than respect, whenever I left for the army, Cindy came out as a lesbian, during that time, she was harassed and beat almost weekly by other kids that were our age. I was happy to see her, because she's got a wife, and three kids now, we always had a deal, whoever pulled it off first, the other has to buy them free drinks for life" He explained, you heard him out, not wanting to let your stubbornness ruin something that was going so amazingly perfect. "Why didn't you tell me..or why didn't you tell her that we were together?" You whispered nervously, still trying to fight back those tears "Cindy is..well Cindy even scared Lucy and Angela and they met her as friends, and Angela doesn't scare easy, I didn't want to risk anything..I'm terrified of messing things up, of having to lose you because of something I did. I started thinking maybe we should end things-" You gulped, trying to tune out the ringing and buzzing in your ears, you couldn't stop the tears from building up in your eyes now "-Hey hey what's going on, honey?" He asked softly, turning your head to face his "Nothings happening, my love, I was saying, my sister knocked sense into me, going on a week long lecture about how it's just about me and my feelings in a relationship, and I am so so sorry if I ever made you feel like that" He continued, cupping your cheeks gently "I am a fucking idiot, and an asshole, and I don't know if you'll forgive me, you don't have to, but I need you to know, I am truly fucking sorry, I understand what I did was wrong, very very wrong, and I will never ever do that again if you decide to forgive me" He whispered, his voice becoming weaker with every word.

You sat at the table for hours, just holding onto each other tightly in a hug, neither of you uttering a word as you sat before finally Tim slowly pulled away from you "I love you, y/n" He whispered, only now did you realize the last hour of your hug he had been crying, it was your turn to hold his cheeks in your hands, using your thumbs to wipe his remaining tears from his face "I love you, Tim, even if sometimes...I wanna shoot you with a taser so bad" You whispered playfully, watching him jolt back "I just poured my heart out and now you wanna shoot me with a taser!?" He gasped holding onto you tightly to keep you from falling off of his lap. "I said sometimes! like last night!" You giggled loudly before kissing him softly, groaning whenever a loud knocking erupted from your entryway. Tim effortlessly lifted you off of his lap before leading you to the couch "wait here, I'll be back" He smiled softly, walking to the door to answer.

You both ended up spending the rest of the night visiting with Lucy and John who had stopped by after hearing of your arrival home. The next day though you were rushed back to work, going about your usual actions of the last year almost. Nobody knew about your relationship, and you both preferred it that way, now that Nyla was on maternity leave, you were assigned back to Tim as a rookie, and he felt safer that way, he could keep you from making any dumb last minute decisions, while you were his girlfriend, and he loved you more than anybody on planet earth, you were still a rookie, and unfortunately rookies made dumb decisions. As you stood at the perimeter of the scene keeping watch, you felt someone watching you from behind, but as you glanced back you only saw Tim and other officers collecting evidence, turning back around you saw something duck behind Angela's detective vehicle. Furrowing your eyebrows you slowly approached the car "Hello? This is LAPD you need to come out and identify yourself!" You shouted, silence, until you heard a growl from behind, almost a split second to late to stop the broken rebar from hitting you ontop of the skull. You struggled trying to keep the piece of heavy rusted metal in the air, you grunted as he tugged it backwards causing you to lose your balance, you groaned feeling the piece of metal smack into the side of your kneecap "Freeze!" You heard Angela shout before two gunshots fired off, you froze, scared to examine your body, the stinging throbbing pain in your kneecap was killing you, almost to the point of collapsing but you managed to catch yourself on the trunk of the car. "Y/n! are you okay!?" Angela shouted rushing towards you "I'm..I'm fine just a light hit, I've had alot worse, Detective Lopez" You assured, steadying yourself as you tried your best to have a steady walk back to your shop. Sitting down in the passenger seat you took a deep breath "Rookie!" Tim shouted walking over, trying to pull of an angry demeanor as he walked towards you until he was leaning over you, using his arm to stabilize himself over you "What happened? Are you okay?" He asked examining your body nervously "I'm okay, just ready to go" You whispered gently, he nodded before going to find who was in command on scene.

You both ended up on the couch at home, Tim sitting behind you, his arms holding you gently as an icepack sat on your knee, trying to rest it as much as possible before your shift tomorrow. "Oh, I let Cindy know about you, she said she gives it a year before the first baby is running around" He laughed resting his hands on your stomach tilting his head slightly "Tim, we've been together what? a month now?" You giggled grabbing his hands "You're already planning kids?" You teased before Tim sighed kissing your forehead "Well I mean obviously I know it's gonna be awhile, but..just thinking about having a mini you running around bossing everybody at the precinct around" He smiled "Kiddo would be a knockout" He added, it was always a thought he visited often, having kids with you, how rambunctious they'd be, and wild, it always comforted him whenever he was having a rough shift or a bad mood. "She would, but, we have to get kojo baby trained before the thought of kids appear" You laughed softly looking towards the sweet dog laying next to you both on the carpet. "what! Kojo is my good boy, and he loves children" Tim defended "Oh my god, I didn't mean that! I meant, he's very..excited whenever he knows you're excited" You giggled looking back towards him "Just cuddle me, Bradford, and let me rest" You teased yawning softly "Yea yea, Go to sleep, boot" Tim teased back kissing the top of your head gently.

--

I wanna give a huge thanks to the amazing brilliant person who requested this idea <3

Taglist:

@malindacath

@bonni-98

@ag022123

[m00nsbaby]

Already over.

Main Steven Grant x F! reader. ( + Marc Spector x F! Reader)

Part 2. Sleepwalking.

Warnings & tags. ANGTS!! Cheating kinda but not really?, hurt, and all of thaaaat.

Word count. 3.4k

Summary.

We been talking for hours About how we shouldn't talk for hours on end. Kissing after a conversation About how we'd probably be better off as friends. Same time here next weekend Say, "We won't do this again" Make me fall where I stand Only like you can.

It had been a while since Steven and you had accepted your positions in Marc's life. Both of you were external parts of something larger, like small protrusions on a road that led nowhere.

You decided to understand it when you realized the burden Marc had to carry. Khonshu had taken hold of his psyche and shattered it as he pleased, although he was aware of his dissociative identity disorder, he had started to lose control a long time ago and this resulted in Steven finding out in the worst possible way. It was as if life itself had decided to break him in every possible way.

Hadn't he suffered enough already? Steven and you weren't going to take away the last thing he had.

The love of his life. Layla El-Faouly.

You envied her in different ways. Living a life of adventures with the man of your dreams sounded like something out of a book. She was a strong woman and the first in Marc's life, and therefore also in Steven's, but if there was something that broke your heart in half, it was knowing that she was happy with him.

It would be a lie to say that you weren't happy with Steven. He gave you all of himself and loved you in a way he never tried to hide. But for years now, you had been the one picking up the pieces of two broken people and putting them back together. And then, there was Layla, who didn't even know about the existence of her husband's alter ego, enjoying the best part.

The carefree part that stood above all the atrocities of daily life, simply having a nice date or the official title of his wife, with a ring and legal documents.

"Do you miss working at the museum?" Steven's fingers traced your waistline, occasionally pausing to press on the moles peeking beneath the fabric of your short shirt.

"You have no idea how much." You could never tell him how much you appreciated that he didn't lie to you. You knew he comforted Marc by telling him that life was perfect just the way it was.

You were face to face. You admired Steven's face in front of you.

Anyone would think that once the issue of his fake sleep disorder was cleared up, he would look less tired. Although there were still hundreds of nocturnal missions, and Khonshu destroyed the mercenary's body until an exhaustion beyond description, now Steven could sleep a few more hours, the ones where he used to force himself to read until the letters danced before him.

Nothing had changed at all. In fact, you could swear that the dark circles under his eyes were becoming more noticeable.

"I love you, Steven." You said suddenly, resting a hand on his cheek. His skin had always been so soft and delightfully warm.

You brought a smile to his face, the one that momentarily makes you forget that both of you feel that time is running out.

The one that makes you forget the slight resentment you have towards Marc.

"I love you…" He whispered before leaning forward, just enough to brush his lips against yours, a gentle touch as his hand rested on your waist, and his thumb traced circles on your bare skin.

He wasn't lying; Steven never lied.

You spent the rest of the afternoon kissing and chatting about what had happened during the week you couldn't see each other. You asked about Layla as you always did, he shrugged, and you wondered if he felt the same resentment towards her that you felt towards Marc.

"The idea of vegan hot wings is stupid," you laughed as you bit into the vegetable in your hand, the one that was trying to deceive you and pass for something else.

"The sauce tastes good!" Steven laughed with you, playfully pushing you with his shoulder. To hell with sitting face to face in restaurants; if your bodies weren't close enough, neither of you were comfortable.

"It's a fraud."

"It's delicious." Seeing you take another bite was enough to feel that he was right without you explicitly saying it.

"Do you want to come to my apartment later?" You sucked your thumb to clean the sauce from it. "Yesterday, I accidentally stumbled upon a garage sale and bought the dumbest movie I've ever seen, I got it for us. It's called Rubber, and it's about a homicidal car tire."

Under any other circumstances, Steven would have laughed with you, but he gave you that look that you already knew too well.

"I'm sorry, love." Suddenly, the fake wings didn't look so appetizing. "Marc is feeling better."

Ah. That.

That was the signal that he would be spending the night with Layla.

"That's fine." You nodded immediately, and you also felt disgusted with the food in your hand.

How much longer could you go on like this?

After a few seconds of silence, you cleared your throat. You had some time to come up with a change of conversation.

"What happened to your hand?" Your index finger touched Steven's injured knuckles.

"Marc didn't keep the suit on long enough; the larger wounds healed, but the rest didn't." He never lied, although this might be the exception. A minor injury to prevent a bigger one; he wouldn't ruin his life over a trivial matter.

You nodded slowly, planted a kiss on his shoulder, and continued with your attempt at a date, which was going perfectly until you remembered where you were standing.

The truth was that the night before, Steven had had a fight with Marc, one of those that hadn't happened since they threatened not to switch bodies back to each other.

"Are you two together, Steven?" He was about to explode, about to go crazy. This was the last thing he needed right now, adding more lies and involving more people. "I already told you, no!" Ever since you considered the possibility that Marc might find out, you had decided that if it was a panic situation, you would opt for the most efficient plan: Deny, deny, deny, deny. "Don't lie to me, not to me!" He never yelled; he was the calculating, quiet, and careful type, but even he had a breaking point, and if Steven was going to shout, then he would too. "Do you think I'm stupid, Steven?" It's funny because he hadn't had any doubts until a few weeks ago, so maybe he was a bit stupid, but he wouldn't say it out loud. "No, no, but…" "But?" "We're not together, Marc; she's my best friend." The second part was at least not a lie. He exhaled heavily and mentally thanked for being in front because dealing with anger, panic, and fear without having control over your body was a nightmare he had experienced before. Why did he ever buy so many mirrors? Marc's accusing gaze followed him around the apartment. "And you like her," Steven completed, another thing that wasn't a lie. "If I lose Layla because of you two, I swear I'll…" Adrenaline rushed through him; he lost control of his hand, which ended up against one of the mirrors, breaking it into a thousand pieces. "Marc!" The other didn't say anything, he watched from the reflection of some glass pieces as Steven's hand now bled, and tears filled his eyes. His body was used to large doses of pain, but emotionally, he wasn't used to seeing himself bleed or handling loud noises well. "We. Are. Not. Together." It was the last thing he said as he stretched his fingers and watched the blood flow between them. Marc was no longer in the reflection. He didn't want to object.

"Will I see you the day after tomorrow?" You could still see him tomorrow, but the idea of him coming to your place smelling of Layla's citrusy perfume always disgusted you. It was as if an extra day would be enough to erase any traces of her from his body.

"The day after tomorrow, without fail." Steven knew; he didn't question you. He placed a kiss on your forehead.

"I love you, Steven."

"I love you, sweetheart."

Receiving calls or visits at midnight was always terrifying, especially when you knew your partner was constantly at risk, and this time was no exception.

The strong knocks on the door woke you up, and knowing it could be no one else but him, you opened the door without hesitation. Clad only in Steven's shirt that barely covered your thighs, with messy hair and half-closed eyes because the hallway light bothered you in the darkness.

Marc's tearful eyes met yours, along with the strong aroma of whiskey that Steven had told you about before, the one that stung his nose.

"Are you okay?" It was the first thing you said as he analyzed you from head to toe. He hated you, hated that you looked so good in the middle of the night, and hated that he felt a sense of ownership just from seeing you in a shirt that was originally his.

He didn't answer, he walked straight into your apartment, and you could only step aside to let him pass.

The way he walked past the sofas to sit on the floor was frightening; you had spent time with Marc during bad moments, but you had never seen him like this. You didn't say anything, didn't press, you just walked behind him and sat down beside him on the cold floor.

Your mere presence was enough for his eyes to fill with tears again.

"I didn't know where to go," he whispered, breaking your heart into a thousand pieces with just a few words.

"Oh, Marc." You knelt beside him to have better access to his body, and within seconds, you had your arms wrapped around him, holding him close. "I'm here, calm down."

You didn't get more words from him for a while, just sobs and those annoying chest contractions you get when you try to breathe through crying. You could even feel the fabric of your shirt damp at the shoulder level from his tears.

"I'm scared." His voice was broken, trembling.

"I'm here." You repeated as you held him tighter.

He didn't have the strength to tell you. He was afraid of you. Afraid of the dreams where he saw himself with you, afraid of the way his heart raced the few times you crossed paths, afraid of losing Layla because of his feelings, and afraid of change.

He was terrified of the mere idea of his life changing completely again.

You played with his curls and stayed on your knees until they hurt, with him in your arms whimpering like a little kid.

"Let's go to bed, Marc." He didn't resist, and you led him by the hand.

Nor did he object when you helped him get rid of his clothes just so he could sleep a little better. He almost felt guilty about how comfortable he seemed to be in your bed.

You hugged him from behind, your two hands resting on his chest where you could feel the beating of his heart and the rise and fall of his breath. Your cheek enjoyed the warmth of his back.

When you woke up, there were no traces of Marc anymore.

"Meanwhile, Osiris' wife, Isis, searched tirelessly for his body and then…" The way you were looking at the ground while walking had caught Steven's attention for quite a while, but he didn't confirm his suspicions until he noticed you weren't participating in his narration as you always used to do. "Lovey?"

"Huh?"

"You seem distracted today."

"I'm sorry, I, it's just…" You cleared your throat while forcing a small smile on your face.

"Do you like it here?" He interrupted to finally point out an area in the park that seemed perfect for your plan. You immediately nodded with that fake smile, and both of you sat down carefully on the grass. You placed the book you had been carrying in one hand aside.

Steven handed you your ice cream and kept his own in the other hand.

"Can we talk?"

"Nothing good ever comes out of that, I've seen it in movies." Steven tried to joke, but hearing those words come out of your mouth made him sick to his stomach. Slowly, he rested his head on your lap.

Your hand, as if drawn by a magnet, went straight to his tousled curls. He closed his eyes and smiled; you had always compared that gesture to a puppy seeking more affection.

"We can't keep doing this to Marc, love." Your voice broke as you gave him those caresses he loved so much. "Nor to Layla, it's not fair to them."

Steven was looking at you again, with a terrified expression and a slight pout on his lips.

"And is it fair to us?" he snapped. Needless to say, both of you had long stopped paying attention to your sad ice creams; they were already melting into the grass.

"If Layla finds out, we'll ruin Marc's life." You tried to be the rational one between both of you, but with Steven's puppy eyes fixed on you, it was almost impossible to think clearly.

"And if we end… this, mine will be destroyed." Well, he had a point. "Please." His two hands went to your cheeks and pressed them gently, his forehead now resting against yours. "We can't. You can't." His lips claimed yours within seconds, and you could only respond as if life were slipping away.

Whom were you fooling? You were selfish enough to give in. After all, every night you created scenarios where Layla found out and left Marc, knowing that it would destroy him, but in your scenarios, you were there to comfort him, to prevent him from falling apart.

"I love you, Steven." You didn't get a response, but you didn't need to hear it; feeling the strength with which he held you was more than enough.

You were all he had, and he was all you had.

Life was better when you both pretended to have a life that wasn't yours. When you fantasized and made plans for a future you would both do anything to have.

"What do you think of that one?" You both looked like kids with your foreheads pressed against the glass that separated you from the kittens.

"They say the orange ones are crazy, lovey." The fact that Steven was just as interested as you in this fed your good mood entirely. "How about that one?"

"I like his or her fur." You pressed your index finger against the glass to try to get the attention of the kitty that was completely distracted playing with another.

"Love, love, love." He nudged you with his shoulder, making you laugh, so you looked at the opposite side, another part of the store.

You gasped.

"THAT ONE?" You had to cover your mouth when the tone of your voice caught the attention of other people in the place.

There was only one cat in the area reserved for senior cats. You knew it was harder for them to get adopted compared to the kittens, it was as if he was destined to be there.

"It's just a baby." You pouted slightly as you pulled Steven's hand, both walking straight towards the spot where the little cat was staring at you.

He was white, although half of his body was covered in black spots, reminiscent of a cow's fur. When you got closer, you noticed that the tip of one of his ears was missing.

Love at first sight.

"Hiya, mate." The guy next to you was as enchanted as you with the animal. "Uhm, what do you say?" He tilted his head towards the glass. The meow completed his performance. "Look how curious, he says he's looking for new parents."

You laughed, genuine happiness coursing through you. You didn't give Steven time to react before jumping into his arms; he lifted you a few inches off the ground in the middle of the hug.

You didn't care about drawing attention. In fact, having witnesses to your love made it feel more real, reminding you that it wasn't just a product of your imagination.

After he kissed your lips, you could feel the ground under your feet again. You couldn't stop smiling.

"Come on, let's fill out the form." Steven's heart was about to burst with love at any moment.

The instructions were clear: fill out the corresponding paperwork, a few days of socialization with the cat to make sure he felt comfortable with you, and by the following week, he would be yours.

"We'll come to see you, okay? And then we'll go home."

"See ya, buddy." Steven said his goodbye too. "Next week, you'll have the best home, the comfiest bed, and the best parents, I promise."

"What's wrong, Marc?" There was something scary about the idea of being alone with him without him being intoxicated or injured. You were taking off your scarf to leave it on a sofa while he watched you from his table, leaning against it with his arms crossed over his chest.

It was impossible to read his expression because Marc always seemed tense.

"She knows."

Your heart sank in seconds, and you looked at him in surprise.

"Ah?"

"She knows," he repeated. You swallowed hard, and for a moment, you thought this was one of those silly dreams that sometimes distorted your reality.

"Knows what?"

"Please, don't treat me like I'm stupid." His tone of voice was enough to make you tremble. You immediately looked at the bathroom mirror.

Steven had told you that while one had control of the body, the other could be reflected in different surfaces, but of course, that only worked between them. No matter how much you looked, hoping that Steven would appear to save you, it didn't happen.

You didn't even know if he was aware of what Marc was doing.

"I don't…" Your voice died down slowly, and you refused to get closer to him. "What does she know?"

"About you." He took a step closer, and you felt immobilized. "She thinks you're my lover, like any sane person, she knows nothing about Steven."

You swallowed the lump in your throat as tears filled your eyes.

"You have to tell her, Marc, explain to her she…" He interrupted you in seconds; the way he raised his voice made you flinch.

"'She will understand?' Is that what you want to say?" He was getting closer, and you felt like he was taking your breath away. Why were you suddenly so afraid? "Yes, I'll tell her every damn thing that's wrong with me so that you can be happy."

Ouch.

"I-I'm saying it for you, Marc." Tears were already streaming down your face, and you mentally cursed yourself for the mere idea of showing so much weakness. "She has to know, it's best for you." And it was, of course, but you were resorting to your last resort to not lose Steven too.

And maybe, not lose Marc either.

"You don't know what's best for me, you have no idea." His sarcasm cut deep as he took the last step to confront you.

"Please, please, don't do this." You pleaded through sobs; your hands ended up on his cheeks. "Please." You pulled him closer to you.

He seemed to relax under your touch, at least for a few seconds. Your heart stopped when one of his hands rested on your waist.

"Don't make this harder, you're killing me." He was also begging, even as his forehead pressed against yours.

"We can get through this, Marc." You sniffed. "I promise, we can…"

A kiss. A desperate and painful kiss silenced your words; it was the only one Marc and you would share.

"Go," he whispered against your lips, still planting small kisses on them. "Please, I beg you, go."

And that was the final nail to seal the coffin between you both.

His hand made you take a step back, a very gentle push.

"I'm choosing her." He knew you better than he'd like, knowing that you wouldn't stop insisting unless he caused you permanent harm. Besides, how could he convince himself he wasn't in love with you if he didn't do this?

You looked at him incredulously, not believing his act, but there was nothing else you could do.

This time, you begged that Steven was present to hear everything that had transpired between you both because you wouldn't have the strength to end it after this. In fact, you didn't even know if you'd have the strength to live without him.

You didn't say anything more, you didn't look back at him, and he didn't change his mind. You left his apartment, leaving your scarf on his sofa as a final reminder of your presence in his life.

sorry, i got tired of happy endings

Part 2. Sleepwalking.