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babyangelsky · 2 months

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Back in March when I was doing the BL Challenge (brought to us by the lovely @negrowhat), I mentioned in my post about Korn Theerapanyakul that it isn't often that we get an actual villain who isn't just a love rival in a BL. The presence of an antagonist in a story doesn't necessarily make them the villain and not every story calls for one either. That being said,

Jak is a villain.

I want to break down this shot because it tells us a lot about the dynamic at play and Jak's point of view.

There's a lot going on here. The first thing my eye is drawn to is the line between them (and how Mut is just slightly crossing it since he stepped into the lion's den). Once you see that, the differences between both sides of that line become more obvious.

Mahasamut is dressed in a dark cool color and he's in shadow but his face is catching the light. The flowers, fireplace, candles, and TV behind him feel warm and homey. Fitting for a cafe. On the other hand, Jak is dressed in a warm light color and he's sitting in the light but his face is in shadow. The windows behind him and his positioning makes it feel like he's sitting at a desk in a corner office in a high rise instead of a cafe.

I weirdly wish they'd shown us when they arrived at the table because I would bet you anything that Jak sat down first. He's the older one, he's relaxed, etc. It makes sense for him to have sat first which means he chose that specific seat and the only reason I mention it, and really the only reason it matters, is that it tells us how Jak sees himself in this situation.

He's sitting there in the light in his dad sweater telling Mahasamut about wanting to fulfill his role as Tongrak's father and that he's so sorry about his behavior in the past and wants to atone for it and it's all bullshit because look at this man's face.

It is completely shadowed, just like his intentions and his agenda whereas Mut's is completely in the light.

And the difference becomes even more stark once Jak tells Mut to break up with Tongrak.

Jak is spewing nothing but ill-intentioned bullshit and Mahasamut sees it for what it is and makes it clear that he isn't going to fall for it, which is why things devolve.

Now. Just so we can get it out of the way, yes, obviously Mut should not have agreed to that meeting. He shouldn't have engaged and should've put the baby in the car and driven in the opposite direction. I was screaming at my screen for him to do just that, as were many of us I'm sure. However, I have to point out that it is not inconsistent for him from a character writing standpoint to have agreed.

Lest we forget, he said this to Tongrak last week when he was explaining why he turned Prin down when she tried to buy him.

"But Leah the dad is so much worse how could he not see—!" I know. Trust me, I do.

I'm gonna put on my baseball uniform and go to bat for my man for a second though because I think part of the reason that he agreed to talk to Jak is that he vastly underestimated him. And to be completely fair to Mahasamut, I did, too.

If I had to guess, I would say that he was expecting to be dealing with someone cut from the same cloth as Prin. Maybe a little worse since he knows what Jak has done in the past but certainly nothing he couldn't handle. Mahasamut is not a reckless or a thoughtless man. I don't believe for a second he would've even walked in the building if he didn't feel confident that he could deal with Jak.

The problem is that Jak is very much not cut from the same cloth as Prin.

I noted in my expressions post that it looked like the only time Jak was actually feeling something was when he accepted Prin's offer to destroy Tongrak but that's not entirely accurate. Having gone back to watch his scenes, there's a second instance where genuine emotion peeks through.

There's such a cold rage in his expression when he reproaches Tongrak for choosing his mother and cutting ties with him. And make no mistake, he's not angry because he loves his son. We already know that he doesn't. He's angry because in his eyes, he lost to a woman he felt nothing but disdain for.

If Tongrak and Kwan had chosen Jak over their mother, do you think Jak would be out here causing problems? No, he would've flat out ignored them. He wouldn't bother keeping such close tabs on Rak and his relationships because he would've already won and if he's doing it now, it's because he wants to win.

This is a game to him. This is fun for him.

His son is terrified and begging him not to hurt an innocent little girl and a young man and Jak's response is, "Don't be greedy."

He tries to force his son to choose which one of the people he loves most in this world gets to be safe but the choice isn't really a choice. He says he'll choose for Rak and he already has. Jak had already had Mahasamut beaten by the time he comes to see Tongrak and we know that because Mut's injuries have been treated when Rak gets home and Vivi is already there.

Matter of fact, the only reason Jak is even here talking to his son is because his attempt to convince Mut to leave has failed and he knows that going to Rak won't fail. He knows his son is afraid of him and he knows he can use that fear to get what he wants, which is why he brings up the uncle doctor.

Although we've gotten little of Jak so far, it's safe to assume that he is not a man who makes empty threats. Tongrak knows this, too, which is why he becomes so panicked when the doctor is brought up. We as the audience don't know who this doctor is but we can surmise from Tongrak's expression that he's important enough to be used as a weapon by Jak.

Until this point I don't think Tongrak realized that his father had anything to do with whatever happened to this doctor, he looks genuinely surprised. But all Jak had to do to prove how serious he is about his threat is mention the man. That's all he does. Rak puts the pieces together himself.

And here is where I bring up next week.

If you can look at this man's face as he rips the contract and think for a moment that he's going to try to push Mahasamut away for some flimsy petty reason, I am here to tell you that you are dead wrong. If I so much as SEE the words 'noble idiocy' I'm going to kick off.

Because we know that by the time Tongrak picks up this contract to rip it, Mahasamut has already been beaten twice and that Jak made a barely veiled threat to have him killed. Rak is rightfully terrified of his father and afraid for his boyfriend's life and wanting to keep Mut safe and ALIVE is not noble idiocy.

Now is it going to work? Smart money says no, wild horses couldn't drag Mahasamut away. He loves Rak too much to take any threats lying down. But as much as I understand why Mut talked to Jak, I understand why Rak wants to keep him safe even more.

Jak didn't accept Prin's offer because he wanted to help her. He doesn't give a single shit about her agenda except to mock her for it. He agreed to destroy his son because he wants to, because doing so will allow him to win and get back at his ex-wife. The money is just a bonus.

Jak is a Villain.

#rewatching jak's scenes does not get any less brutal fyi #there are only two reasons why something is hard to watch:#because it's done poorly or because it's done well #and this was done very well #love sea #love sea the series #meta #conversations with leah

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thecherrytarot · 1 year

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𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.

how will they heal you?

pile 1 → pile 2 → pile 3

Pick the photo you feel the most drawn to and please remember that this is a general reading so take what resonates!!

listen to: love me like that by Sam Kim

𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝟏:

"you see the world in colours i view it black and white. paint me a picture, out of the lines that i live in all of the time"

They will heal you by letting you shine in your feminine energy, regardless of your gender. With them, you feel in touch with your divine feminine energy and your creative side will shine. They will help you gain strength and for some of you, it could even mean that they give you the strength and confidence to be vulnerable and show emotions. You no longer have to pretend that you are some cold-hearted person that isn't affected by anything. I just saw someone crying alone and then heard a voice say "It is okay, let it out, I am here with you" so take however that resonates. They will help you by showing you the world through a new and better perspective. You will stop looking at life through illusions and negative ways. I feel like in some way or the other they will remind you of your past self, the one that you had to leave behind in order to move forward. They will bring that version of you back and make you believe in a 'magical world' once again.

𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝟐:

"sunshine left today, got caught in the rain, all alone. can you come and pick me up from my blues? or am I late to ask you?"

This might be someone who is a foreigner and/or a long distance and for some of you, you might meet them when studying abroad (either you or them also could be both) I keep thinking about the movie "Like Crazy" where an American guy falls in love with a British student but yours is with a much happier ending. They will heal you by being there for you, life will feel less complicated and you will feel like all that you have been through was worth and now no matter what happens you will rise because now you have someone that has your back. You will get out of your bubble with them and be more sociable and childlike (i keep imaging a bunch of friends driving in a car late at night, listening to indie/alt songs and singing out loud, laughing and having the time of their lives) also instead of how will they heal, I'm getting the message of the connection feels like. There will be a strong psychic connection between you and them, the moment your eyes meet you will know and they will know that this is the "warmth" that you both have been searching for. Like when Lana Del Rey said it in her poem called The land of 1,000 fires, "I have never really fallen in love but whatever this feeling is i wish everyone could experience it."

𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝟑:

(this pile has a similar message to pile 1, so make sure to check it out in case you felt drawn to it)

"i get defensive and insecure my own worst critic behind a closing door, i'm fragile and fractured, that's for sure, i burned myself down to the ground. oh, can I ask of you to treat me soft and tender, love me hard and true? keep my heart from building walls so high, you can't get through, treat me soft and tender"

They will heal you by helping you love yourself and how you need to give importance to yourself first and that too in a healing manner instead of selfish (your old pattern) You might have thought that you knew how to take care of yourself by prioritizing yourself but still found yourself being stuck in the same old negative cycles, they will help you understand the true and the raw meaning of self-love. They help you by providing the stability that you always desired. I feel like a lot of you were abandoned in the past and after that, you put your guard up and pushed people away from you but then you come across them, and it takes you by surprise because you didn't expect to catch feelings for someone so fast. You found yourself in a dilemma because you have such strong feelings for them and yet, you feel afraid cause you don't want them to abandon you. Don't worry, they will help you get out of your old and no longer-needed mindset of resisting the change that you know will set you free.

#future spouse tarot reading #fs tarot reading #fs tarot #love tarot reading #love tarot #free tarot reading #pac tarot #pac reading #general tarot reading #tarot reading #pick a card reading #free tarot #love pac #fs pac

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tinyundercover · 5 months

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pepper & felix

part eleven

the aftermath of last night

MASTERPOST word count: 2.5k

Felix stared at the ceiling, vaguely aware of the alarm beeping on his nightstand.

It was grating to his ears. Internally, he knew that he needed to get ready for class, but the events of last night simply refused to leave his mind. Stressful memories weighed down on him like a rock, leaving him motionless in his bed.

Pepper is my soulmate.

The voice in his mind and the borrower in his walls were the same person. It was comforting to finally have an explanation for his strange feelings towards Pepper, and why he always felt so drawn to him… but at the same time, it was hard not to feel absolutely terrified.

A month ago, he didn’t even know that borrowers existed. Worry fluttered around Felix’s chest as he wondered how they would possibly further their relationship, considering their vast size difference and the uncomfortable power imbalance between them. He had only held Pepper a few times, and he had been wracked with anxiety every single time. Now, he wasn’t just putting the life of a borrower in his hands, but his soulmate’s.

…And what was he supposed to tell his friends and family?

Felix sighed heavily, drawing his blanket further to him. Part of him wished he had stayed at Alice’s place yesterday to explain everything to her, but he hadn’t wanted to keep the borrowers there any longer. Today, he would have to talk to Alice alone and explain the situation without putting Pepper and his sister in more danger.

A sleepy, familiar voice suddenly floated into his mind, disrupting his thoughts. “Your alarm is going off.”

Felix sat up abruptly, finally registering the consistent beeping that filled the room. With a flush he leaned over, shutting off his alarm, then brought his hands to his chest. “Sorry. I was thinking.”

“About me, I hope,” Pepper said sleepily. A second later he added, “Basil says hi.”

It took a moment for Felix to register who “Basil” was. He drummed his fingers over his chest, curious, wondering if Pepper had meant to share his sister’s name or if it had slipped out by accident.

His lips twitched into a smile. “Tell her I said hi.”

“Mhmmm.”

Pepper’s voice had already drifted off into exhaustion. A warm feeling swirled around Felix’s chest, and as he got out of he bed, he tried to remain quiet for his small, sleeping guests.

——

Sunlight filtered through the window, dappling the floor of the hallway in yellow. Felix waited against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, checking his phone every few minutes.

Alice had agreed to meet him here, but as time stretched on, Felix was beginning to doubt her. His stomach twisted in a mixture of fear and guilt, and he prayed that Alice would at least be willing to listen. They had been friends for almost three years. He wanted more than anything to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Hey.”

Felix glanced up, heart skipping a beat when he caught sight of Alice approaching. Her expression was empty, but Felix couldn’t help but notice the tightness of her hand around the strap of her bookbag.

“Alice,” Felix said in relief, straightening up. “Hi.”

She stopped a few feet away and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. Her blue eyes danced over his form before meeting his gaze again. She said nothing, clearly expecting him to talk first.

“Did you tell anyone about them?” Felix asked before he could stop himself.

Dark lashes blinked. “...Why would I do that?” Alice responded after a moment, tilting her head. Felix still couldn’t read her emotions. “No one would believe me.”

Relief rushed into Felix’s chest, and he exhaled, nodding. “Good. Thank you. They’re not supposed to—”

“What the hell happened last night?” Alice cut him off, exasperation seeping into her tone. “Seriously, what the fuck?”

Felix immediately faltered. He supposed that was a fair reaction, but he still wasn’t prepared for her sudden frustration. “It’s— it’s a lot to explain.”

Alice raised her eyebrows.

“They’re just people,” Felix clarified, fiddling his thumbs and frowning. “But… a lot smaller. They’re not, like, dangerous or anything. Just people.”

“Well, obviously,” Alice pointed out. “I just want to know what they were doing in your apartment.”

Felix found himself at a loss for words. How much was he allowed to share with Alice without putting the existence of borrowers in any more danger?

“They’re my friends,” he said slowly.

Alice stared for a moment, eyebrows lifting. “You’re… actually friends with them?”

Felix frowned and nodded, and Alice crossed her arms, brow furrowing again. “Oh. When they said they were your friends, I… I thought they were lying. It’s not like you’ve ever told anyone about them.” She peered closer at Felix, eyes icy. “Why didn’t you tell me? Or Breanna? Owen?”

Warmth spread through Felix’s chest, a bit flustered to hear that the borrowers had referred to themselves as his friends. He then hardened his expression as he processed Alice’s other words, the warmth fading. “They’re a secret,” he pointed out. “Humans aren’t supposed to know about them because when they do they put them in jars.”

The anger entered his voice without meaning to. Alice stepped back, hurt etched in her expression. “What else was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know– talk to them?”

“I tried to!” Alice exclaimed. “They just freaked out!”

“Alice,” Felix exhaled, momentarily pressing his fingertips to his temples, “they’re three inches tall. Just think about what we look like to them. Of course they would freak out– they were probably scared of you.”

“I barely touched them.”

Felix blinked, processing her words. Heat filled his chest, hot and angry. “Are you serious?”

“I mean– I put them in my pocket for a second, and then I put them in that jar, but that’s–”

“You hurt them!” Felix retorted before he could stop himself. Alice jumped. “Didn’t you see the bruise on Ba– on that girl’s face?”

Silence stretched between them for several seconds. Alice’s face fell, blinking rapidly. “That was an accident. She fell when she was in the jar.”

“That you put them in,” Felix objected, features sharp.

Alice stared at him, lips slightly parted, brow furrowed. Felix could sense the frustration floating off of her, and guilt instinctively crept its way into his chest past his own anger. He hadn’t meant for this to turn into an accusation.

It was hard for him to truly believe that Alice would intentionally harm either borrower beyond repair. As difficult as Alice was being, Felix understood that she was just confused about last night’s events. He couldn’t exactly blame her for acting irrationally towards the borrowers when she didn’t even know that they existed until twelve hours ago. (It’s not like his first interaction with Pepper had gone smoothly, either.)

Alice tended to maintain a tough, closed-off persona, which Felix usually found admirable. Unfortunately, Alice’s attitude meant that strangers tended to think she was cold-hearted– so Felix couldn’t even imagine how a borrower might perceive her, with every one of her actions amplified tenfold. Honestly, if Felix was three inches tall, he would be positively terrified of her.

Felix took a deep breath, focusing on Alice again. “Just… just please don’t tell anyone about them,” he said finally. “That’s all. I’m sorry you got mixed up in this.”

Alice said nothing.

—

“But did she say sorry?” Pepper demanded.

The borrower had his palms pressed to the back of his neck, pacing back and forth across the counter, mindful of the large knife being wielded only a foot away. Felix was chopping tomatoes on a cutting board, and although his eyes were focused on the knife, he was paying attention to what Pepper was saying.

“I think she feels bad,” Felix responded after a moment, brow furrowing.

“She should feel bad,” Pepper grumbled. “She could have killed us.” The memories of being shaken around a jar flashed through his mind, and he instinctively dropped his hands to hug himself, shuddering at the distant feeling of his joints slamming into solid glass.

Felix spared him a glance, eyes searching his small form, before turning back to the cutting board. “Ah… is your sister doing okay?” His voice was light.

Pepper stopped pacing and peered up at Felix. “She’s okay. She’s been sleeping all day, actually, but she’s overdue for some rest.” A miserable thought entered his mind, and he frowned, registering for the first time this evening that he was holding a conversation with a giant. “You know, yesterday was the first time she’s ever been seen by a human.”

Worry crossed Felix’s face. “Oh. That… that must have been awful.”

“It was.” Pepper nodded dejectedly, unable to sugarcoat it if he tried. “I mean, I was terrified, and I actually have experience with humans.” He gestured vaguely to Felix, who had abandoned the cutting board and was now giving Pepper his full attention. “But it was all new for her. It had to be so… overwhelming.”

The borrower sighed, gaze wandering to Felix’s hand, which was resting on the handle of the massive knife. “Being grabbed is not fun.” He shuddered at the memories of being trapped in an unrelenting grip, arms painfully pressed into his ribs. “You’re— you’re completely helpless, and when you’re against someone so much bigger than you it’s terrifying. It’s— it’s just…”

He trailed off at Felix’s wide-eyed expression. A twinge of guilt entered Pepper’s chest at the memory of their first meeting, and he shifted on his feet. “I’m really lucky that you’re nice,” Pepper added as an afterthought. Felix said nothing.

Felix remained quiet for the remainder of the cooking process, occasionally nodding or humming in response to Pepper’s rambling. Part of Pepper felt guilty for insulting Felix’s friend over and over again, but in his defense, she had literally kidnapped him.

In all honesty, it was just nice to spend some time with Felix alone.

“What are you making?” Pepper asked finally. Felix had moved further down the corner to where the stove was, turning the heat on. The occasional click or clang of Felix’s cooking equipment made Pepper a little dizzy, but he ignored it.

“Pasta,” Felix replied, holding up an uncooked piece of rigatoni before dropping it into a large pot. A flush crossed Felix’s face suddenly. “I, um, I thought these pieces might be easier for you to take home with you.”

Something fluttered in Pepper’s chest, warm and surprised. A small part of him— his defensive, primal instinct— hissed at him for taking handouts from a human.

But at the same time, it was a nice feeling to be considered in something as insignificant as dinner.

“Thank you,” Pepper said breathlessly.

As Felix stirred a wooden spoon into the pot, Pepper began his trek along the counter. Felix had moved the cutting board away after he had scraped the diced tomatoes into a pan, opening up Pepper’s path towards the stovetop.

As he approached, the heat from the humming stove was startling. Pepper had watched Felix cook for a year, but he had always been hidden away in the walls. This was the closest he had ever been to the stove while it was on.

A small gap, about half an inch long, was nestled between the edge of the gray countertop and the smooth white surface of the stove. On the burner closest to Pepper was a wide black pan, and although Pepper couldn’t see the pasta sauce within it, he could certainly smell it. Past the pan was a tall pot, bubbling with water.

The cooking process had become surprisingly loud in the last few minutes. Unable to quell his curiosity, Pepper stood up on his toes at the edge of the gap, trying to peer into the pan which contained the pasta sauce.

Felix caught his eye, and although Pepper trusted his own instincts, Felix certainly didn’t.

“Wh— hey,” Pepper objected, suppressing a flinch as Felix’s large hand suddenly approached. Alarm bells rang in his mind, and on instinct he dropped back into his heels.

Felix hadn’t touched him all day, hadn’t even tried. The last thing Pepper had expected at this moment was for Felix to grab him, especially after what happened last night.

But Felix didn’t grab him. The human barely even looked at him, blue gaze distractedly shifting from the small borrower back to the stovetop. Pepper blinked in surprise as the back of Felix’s knuckles bumped into his chest, slightly curled inward, gently nudging the borrower away from the stove. Pepper’s small hands landed on Felix’s forefinger for stability.

“Careful,” Felix murmured, withdrawing his hand and turning his attention fully back to the boiling pot of water.

Pepper blinked. His own hands floated in the air, empty and useless. He hadn’t expected the gentle touch from Felix, nor had he expected it to vanish seconds later, feeling strangely empty.

So much power resided within Felix’s hand. Pepper had felt the sheer force radiating from those fingers, each one surpassing him in height, and inwardly he knew that Felix could have done anything he wanted. Felix could have snatched Pepper up or swatted him away without even batting an eye, but the knuckles against Pepper’s chest had been soft, careful, gentle.

Felix was humming to himself, clearly not aware of how significant his action had appeared to Pepper. The borrower stared up at him, heart fluttering, suddenly in awe of the calculated way Felix was moving his hands around as he cooked.

It’s not like Pepper had actually been in danger. As a borrower, he knew better than to stand at the edge of the counter without paying close attention to where he placed his feet.

Still, as he stared up at his soulmate, he felt incredibly touched.

——

The empty jar was still sitting on Alice’s counter, sticking out like a sore thumb. She hadn’t touched it since last night.

It was hard not to stare at it. She leaned against the wall opposite to the counter, a glass of water in hand, the room silent aside from the faint hum of the kitchen light.

She couldn’t sleep.

She hadn’t been able to sleep last night, either, not since Felix had left her apartment with two tiny people in hand.

The jar seemed to taunt Alice. It was on its side, left there after Felix had tipped it to free the tiny people inside. If Alice looked closely, she could see the smattering of tiny handprints on the glass, each one smaller than her fingernail, and she could only wonder what the tiny people were doing now.

Her phone was in her hand before she could think about it, her thumb hovering over Felix’s contact, and she briefly thought back to how it had felt to hold two entire people in a fist. Her nose scrunched, and she stared down at her phone’s glowing screen, unable to move a muscle.

With a heavy breath she finally turned her phone off and slipped it into her pocket.

She’ll see Felix tomorrow at their first rehearsal, anyway.

------

tysm for reading!! <3

@smallsday @compact-katrina @satethesatelite @taters169 @entomolog-t @gtzel @gt-newbie @da3dm

#pepper & felix #g/t #g/t writing

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zonedelicious · 4 months

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In the X-Men fandom this scene is constantly brought up to call the character Noriko racist, call the entire book racist, and even call the fans and writers racist. And as a Muslim fan of Academy X I am very confused at this harsh reaction because to me it is obvious the story is siding with Sooraya.

For starters X-Men can be very VERY racist and islamophobic. I've recently been reading Claremont's New Mutants and it's painful how racist that book is to Arabs. I wanted to stop reading because of the racism.

But I do not get this reaction from Academy X, which is my favourite X-Men book.

I think a lot of people don't know what kind of book Academy X is. Academy X is a book about delinquents. The main characters are a bunch of asshole kids. The appeal to me is seeing these shitty kids grow and become better people. Yes they make mistakes that's the point. They're stupid kids.

Noriko is one of these kids. She was homeless at a young age because of the poor relationship with her family and because of this she's afraid of ever showing any vulnerability. Choosing to rather lash out at others. It's a realistic coping mechanism.

The scene with Sooraya shows this as Noriko is projecting her own trauma onto a poor girl who only wanted to be nice to her. Yes it's shitty but that's the point. We're seeing how their personalities and viewpoints clash, and how Sooraya is challenging Noriko's beliefs.

I do not see how anyone can read this as the book being racist when the scene even shows Sooraya sad. Something like this never happens when an X-Men book is actually islamophobic. Yet people never react as harshly to actually racist X-Men books as they do to this.

It's actually very similar to a scene at the start of Ms Marvel, where Zoe is racist to Nakia. We can clearly see both scenes are suppose to make you feel uncomfortable and make you side with the Muslim girl. And both Zoe and Noriko are humanized despite being bullies.

We even get a conclusion. Some say this isn't enough, but remember that Noriko refuses to show emotions, so the fact she's willing to go against her instincts here is interesting. It's more interesting to me than simply having a generic anti racism speech.

Again Sooraya is entirely humanized here. The comic is understanding of her struggle. I do disagree with the way she's drawn at times, but the writing makes her a character I could relate to. And reading this conclusion only makes me more interested in both characters.

Sadly neither character ever got a proper character arc after the comic ended. But to me that just makes me wish there were more comics of this group where we do see Sooraya and Noriko become close friends like Nakia and Zoe. It makes me think of writing my own story with them.

I love this book and what it means for Sooraya. I love seeing Sooraya's relationship with the Hellions, Jay and Laura. This is still her definitive comic, so why are we dismissing it entirely because of one scene that exists to make us relate to her?

It's very strange that this one scene, that to me is well made and relatable, is being used as a way to hate the characters, the comic, and everyone who likes it. Most hate isn't even coming from Muslims so is it just performative outrage and misunderstanding?

Or maybe this scene hits at home for some people? With the conversation being very realistic and grounded, people may see themselves in Noriko. Maybe they had a similar reaction towards a Muslim girl and are remembering it.

Noriko's stance isn't even that different from ex Muslim feminists who say similar things. The issue is how she is projecting onto Sooraya. And maybe that's what makes people uncomfortable. The complexity this conversation has in the real world.

Whatever it may be, Noriko still clearly grows after this arc. We do see her become a great leader who stands up for her friends. And even if she has issues to deal with, she was slowly becoming a better person.

In conclusion I love this book because it's relatable in how it portrays its characters. I like Sooraya being a Muslim character who's also a protagonist and a big part of the story. I hope more people give this book a chance and see the charm of it that I see.

Anyway time to go listen to anime music and imagine my OCs hanging out with the Academy X kids (need to draw that one day).

#zone analysis #X-men #New x-men #Academy X #Noriko ashida #sooraya qadir

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heyidkyay · 8 months

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And I'm petrified of being alone, now |

Part Thirteen

Matty Healy x reader

Summary: She’s just trying to get by, really. What with being a single parent to her four year old son whilst simultaneously trying to kick start a successful career as a radio presenter. She’s got everything she’s ever wanted though, friends close by, a mum who’s merely a phone call away, and of course her baby boy. What else is there to wish for? But then, it’s not long before her relatively normal life gets upended and turned on its head, and she’s suddenly forced to deal with situations she’s never even thought to imagine.

What happens when one mention of a certain controversial singer on her show sends a flood of unexpected challenges her way?

Authors Note: I'm sorry it took so long!! I really struggled to write this part ngl, but once it came I just went with it:) lots of emotions this time around, AS WELL AS some healthy pining in store! So we're finally getting somewhere, finally. Anyway, thanks to @procrastinatinglikeapro for the idea surrounding Mouse's gift to Matty- was struggling with that whole concept but we're going w it now! Hopefully you enjoy, thanks for all the love on this series too, means a whole lot xx

> Just a reminder! We left the last update with a surprise knock at the door:) You can look back here if you'd like, or just read the last little snippet below!

Masterlist

Watching them was all too lovely as well. For someone with such a cool front, Matty seemed to melt around Teddy, succumbing to that of the boy’s charm and easy going nature. It was sweet to see, surprising, but endlessly sweet. Had me losing track of time, in truth. Which is why I jumped and cursed the way I did when the door finally knocked.

“Mémé!”

...

“Mimi?” Matty murmured to himself as he followed the instruction Mouse had left him with, clearing away the wrapping paper Teddy had so carelessly tossed about the room earlier in his excitement and settling the little guitar up onto the sofa.

His eyes lingered on the wooden instrument for a short second, recalling the moment when he’d first spotted it. He hadn’t thought much about what he’d been doing when he’d walked on by the shop window only to then find himself stumbling inside, spending God knows what on a little boy he’d only really met just the once. He couldn’t bring himself to regret it though, even with how nervous he’d been for Teddy’s reaction.

Speaking of Teddy though, the little boy had practically charged the front door the second it had rang a few minutes ago, jumping up and down and tugging at the handle in his obvious excitement, whilst the woman sitting opposite them had frozen completely in her seat, like a soldier experiencing shellshock.

Matty thought they’d been having a good time overall, a brilliant time even! But then the doorbell had sounded and all of her smiles and her carefree laughter had been drenched in water, washed away as soon as she had stood up to answer the knock.

“Mé. Mé.” Came a drawn out voice behind him then, obviously having heard Matty’s shoddy attempt at it and deciding to sound the word out for him.

Matty spun around on his heel to catch sight of the toddler hanging off of the living room door. The kid was like their very own little monkey, always swinging off of something. Matty raised a brow at the correction he’d been given. “Me-me?” He tried again, beyond perplexed and wondering what the fuck everyone was going on about.

Teddy giggled happily at him and then shook his head, curls flying with it, Matty briefly questioned where Squeaks had gotten to.

“Mémé.” The boy sounded it out for him again and this time Matty caught the different accent that had filtered in, it was so prominent when the boy spoke that one word.

Matty’s forehead creased. “Mémé?” At Teddy’s buoyant nod, he grinned at having finally grasped it, “And just who might that be, mate?”

Teddy glanced over his shoulder before he pushed off of the door, letting it swing slightly as he hurried his little feet over to where Matty was currently standing, bin bag in hand. The latter dropped it though to take a seat on the settee, hoisting the little man up onto his knee.

One thing Matty had quickly learned in his short time of knowing the kid, was that Teddy was clingy. Not that that was a bad thing, Matty knew he could be just as bad some days. If not worse. But having someone seek that sort of comfort from him, out of all people, in such an intimate way made him feel necessary, as though he served a real purpose.

“Go on, let me in on the secret then.” Matty prodded, jerking his chin out ever so slightly to nudge Teddy's shoulder. He relished in the soft giggles it earned him.

“Mémé’s my Mémé!”

“Oh! Well, that makes so much sense, don’t it?” Matty remarked in return, rolling his eyes fondly at the unhelpful reply before he tickled the boy’s sides, “Don’t it?”

“Stop, Matty! I tolds you, I tolds you!” Teddy squealed, laughing so hard that he nearly slipped right on out from under Matty’s hold, but the singer propped him back up all too easily.

“You didn’t.” Matty grinned, having relented on his attack of the toddler, settling Teddy more comfortably into his side. He enjoyed having someone smile back at him with no other intention than just the simplicity of enjoying his presence, with kids there was never any ulterior motives. “Where’s your mum anyway, huh?”

“Right here.”

Matty’s head shot up to find Mouse now standing in the doorway wearing a strained sort of smile, a single suitcase behind her and then, “Oh.”

“Mémé!” Teddy pointed, dragging his eyes back up to meet Matty’s weary and startled face as he bounced excitedly.

Of course ‘Mémé’ would've had to have been Squeaks’s mum, because who else could it have possibly been? Who else would have such impeccable timing?

He was fucked. And Matty knew it.

Mouse must've seen the realisation that hit him too, because she used the moment to try and disguise the utter horror dawning on Matty’s face by clapping her hands and promptly glancing back at her mum from over her shoulder. “Mam! This is Matty. Matty,” She turned back to him, thankful to find that he’d sort of wised up to the situation they’d been shafted with and shut his gaping gob, “Matty this is my mum, Anaïs.”

Matty tried extremely hard to commit the pronunciation to memory, which proved to be a little bit easier when the toddler hanging off his hip started parroting it over and over again.

“Eh, excusez-moi! It is Mémé to you, mon chéri.” The woman answered Teddy with a soft sort of smile as Squeaks stepped aside to let her mother further in, aged eyes honed in on her giggling grandson.

Matty took the moment to admire the older woman, focusing on all the things her daughter had obviously inherited, the way she held herself, and the strength of her gaze when it finally landed on him. He swallowed thickly.

“And you are Matty?” Matty nodded at her, not really feeling the way Teddy was now tugging on his fingers whilst the woman stepped even closer, gracing her daughter with a quick look that Matty couldn’t quite make out. “Ah.” She breathed before she finally smiled at him, a small thing, so different to the one he’d previously seen when she’d been teasing Teddy. “Ana is fine really, it seems you people always have a difficult time with it.”

There was humour there but Matty didn’t want to brush her name aside just for the sake of struggling, he’d get there in the end, he was sure of it. Just like how he’d gotten through a setlist full of songs edited by George, replacing most words with- well, probably best not to think of those two very separate things in the same context.

Matty struggled to control his sudden urge to grimace.

“Anaïs?” He stumbled slightly but then tried again with an apologetic smile and dipped brows, “Anaïs.”

“Mémé!” Teddy cut in with a uninformative correction, reaching upwards to poke at Matty’s slightly stubbled cheek. He was in need of a quick shave but seeing as he’d be heading up north for the holidays he’d foregone it, knowing his mum preferred him clean shaven. ‘Makes you look so much healthier, Matthew!’

The man glanced down, a thoughtless chuckle skipping out of his mouth like a rock over a lake as he shook his head closer to the boy’s own, letting his curls tickle Teddy’s tiny face. “Matty!” He laughed again, squirming before he too was shaking his hair in retaliation.

Matty couldn’t quite help his beaming smile when he looked back up at the woman, who seemed very content with just watching the pair of them. His eyes trailed over her shoulder briefly to spot the way that Squeaks was currently chewing on her lower lip, silently fretting.

“Sorry, I’ll get it soon enough.” He told Anaïs with as much genuinity as he could muster up, oddly wanting to keep the woman on side. “It is lovely to meet you though, Anaïs.” She smiled in turn at the use of her name, even with Matty’s slight wince, and then dipped her chin at him. “I didn’t realise I’d be stepping on any toes dropping by.”

“Non, you are fine.” She assured him with a slight shake of her head, waving his apology right off, “My flight was delayed. I was worried I’d be keeping them waiting, so you did me a favour.”

Matty physically felt his shoulders sag with sudden relief at the woman’s words, glad to note that he hadn’t fucked much up by stopping in without a warning. Although, he tapped Teddy’s leg softly then to get him moving, “Don’t you wanna go say hello then, monster? I’d best be off now.”

Teddy’s eyes widened at that last bit and Matty was sure he’d never seen anyone move so fast. “No!” The boy exclaimed, wrapping his chubby little arms around Matty’s neck and holding fast.

Matty’s eyes widened just as he adjusted his grip better around the kid, beyond perplexed by the sudden change. “God, little man! Tryna take me out here?” He chuckled as best he could, voice a tad bit strained by the surprisingly strong hold Teddy had on his neck.

“Teds!” Matty heard Squeaks gasp out quickly, before she was already rounding her mother in a hasty beeline to help. “You can’t just-”

She huffed when Teddy only tightened his grip and Matty couldn’t help the other chuckle that slipped out.

“Teddy.”

“It’s fine, honest.” Matty assured her, a hand splayed on the toddler’s back whilst he stared over at Mouse’s oddly harassed expression. “Teddy, mate. I’ve got to head out now, but I reckon I can promise you a visit soon though. If your mum doesn't mind much.”

The pair of them shared a look then, but Teddy didn’t take to the ruse.

Matty pursed his lips to keep his growing grin at bay, knowing it wouldn’t earn him any points with Mouse, and then moved at an angle in an attempt to see the little boy’s face that was still hidden away in the curve of his shoulder.

“Teds, look. We can make a plan, yeah? ‘Cause I proper enjoyed that last little outing we had the other day- you know, the way you went down that slide at the park was crazy! “ Matty peered in closer and smiled at the sight of a blinking eye. “Or maybe you can come ‘round mine. I’ve got lots of guitars there, reckon we could mess about with them and annoy your mum until she goes mad.”

That had Teddy pulling further away, but only by a fraction. Matty noted the way not just Squeaks, but Anaïs too, was watching him now.

“Play ‘tars?”

Teddy’s small voice snapped him out of the apprehensive feeling that had started to coil. He blinked down at the kid, “Yeah, if you want. We can do whatever, yeah? Zoo, the park-” Matty sort of frowned then and glanced back up towards where Squeaks was now crouched before them, “What else do kids like to do?”

His whispered ask was rewarded with a breathy chuckle that lit up the girl's entire face and had her giggling away to herself even as her son squirmed excitedly in Matty’s hold.

“Zoo?” Teddy questioned him with big pleading eyes, “With the ‘guins? And the tigers?”

Matty felt his face pinch, “‘Guins?”

“The cold birdies, Matty! ‘Dem ones.”

Ah.

“Yeah, ‘course the penguins will be there!” Matty nodded resolutely, then turned back to Mouse, “London Zoo has penguins right?”

She snorted unhelpfully but Teddy paid their conversation no mind at all, apparently far too excited with the sudden prospect of an adventure to the Zoo. Looking at his face, Matty knew he’d have to find a way to make it happen.

“Right, we all settled then?” He asked the toddler, raising an eyebrow down at the tyke, suddenly wondering how he’d gone from pleasing a crowd full of fans to bargaining with a four year old. How his mum had ever managed to cope with the likes of him at this age was maddening.

Teddy looked up at him then with eyes squinted from the strength of his smile, he took a long second to deliberate the whole ‘letting go thing’ and then finally released Matty from his chokehold.

“Cheers, monster.” Matty laughed softly, ruffling the kid’s curls before passing him off over into Mouse’s awaiting arms.

“Hear, mum! Hear Matty?” Teddy quizzed her immediately, bouncing on her hip as she stood.

“I heard, love.” Squeaks chuckled softly before she turned to flash a smile in Matty’s direction, both apologetic and grateful. “You wanna say thanks to Matty for your present before he goes?”

“Ta!”

A bright laugh burst from Matty at that, but he shook his head and then forced himself back onto his feet, reaching out to tickle the little boy’s leg. “Welcome, mate.”

And just like that Teddy was squirming to get down and go see his grandmother who appeared to have watched the whole scene play out from the sidelines.

Matty dimmed his grin into a smaller smile and let his eyes linger on the girl beside him, on the love she obviously had for her son and mother both. He wondered briefly what having that much love might feel like.

“I cleared up, by the way.” He mentioned quietly now that he was watching Teddy too, leaning into Squeaks’s side a little. “Figured it was only right, seeing as I’d been the cause and all that.”

She tittered lightly to herself, then pivoted to face him. “I appreciate it, all of it.”

It was obvious she wasn’t just talking about the clean up.

“No worries.” Matty shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling suddenly self-conscious, which wasn’t new but was also not appreciated. “I’d better be off, though, got a long drive and all that.”

Her brows rose ever so slightly before she nodded, as though she’d only just remembered he was meant to be on his way. “Yeah, yeah right. I’ll walk you out.”

Matty smiled, then turned back to the remaining two. “Monster! I’ll be seeing you! Be good and keep practising those chords for me, alright? I’ll be checkin' in.”

Teddy nodded buoyantly from where he had dragged his grandmother over to the sofa to view his gifted guitar, “Bye, Matty. See soon!”

Kid was a right little charmer.

Matty grinned back at him before allowing his eyes to meet Anaïs's own. “It was lovely meeting you, have a Merry Christmas.”

Anaïs granted him with a soft smile, one that Matty had only ever really seen mimicked by his own mum. “It was. Joyeux Noël, Matty.”

He nodded quietly to himself, the French infiltrating his mind. By the time both he and Mouse had made it back out into the hallway, the living room door now closed behind them, Matty allowed himself to voice his sudden thoughts, “You never said you were French.”

Squeaks quirked a brow at him in return, already pulling his coat off the hook and handing it over to him. Matty slowly shucked it on.

“Half.” She informed, watching him now from her place by the bannister, “And there’s a lot you don’t know about me yet, Healy.”

It was teasing but Matty knew that truth rather intimately, Mouse was a maze of secrets. Her name, her son, her origin. He wondered over what else she had kept so carefully hidden, but bit his tongue when he thought to ask. Yet, she had said. Matty could deal with a ‘yet’.

“Seems so.” He hummed sarkily, although he was smiling again. He always seemed to be smiling nowadays. Then he went to double check he had everything in his pockets only to realise that his jacket still homed one last gift. “Shit.” He muttered under his breath.

Mouse’s brow dipped, “What?”

A surge of anticipation surged through him at that question, what indeed. What the fuck had he been thinking, more like.

He’d gifted presents to women before, friends, girlfriends, staff at gigs. But this one left him feeling all weird. The type of weird that you often felt getting caught with a girl at school, or mentioning a silly crush to one of your mates on the playground.

His eyes flickered up to meet hers in the dimly lit hallway, fingers dancing over the envelope he had tucked away.

“Matty?”

Matty forced up that familiar bravado of his and stepped on closer, plucking the present from the confines of his coat as if he hadn't actually had a second thought about it, and then held it out towards her with a sly grin.

“Realised I couldn’t come bearing just one gift.” He told her, widening his eyes and prodding the envelope closer so that she’d finally get the hint and take it. Her fingers grasped it carefully, like she was wary he’d snatch it back.

Then her warm eyes met his own again, “Matty.”

He didn’t think he would ever get used to the sound of her saying his name. No matter how she said it.

Matty straightened at it though, already knowing she’d try to give it on back before even opening the thing, and waved her on, “Go on, it’s right rude to deny a present, you know?”

That spurred a soft laugh out of her, ever entertained by his absurdity. But before he could cajole her a little more, her face was lighting up with a sudden realisation, “Hang on a sec.” She said to him and then darted back down the hallway, leaving Matty blinking in her wake.

It didn’t take her all that long to return, though the suspense she’d left him with had now jumped to new heights.

“Sorry,” Squeaks smiled sheepishly, the envelope still in her hand, only weighed out now by the small bag she held in the other, “Forgot this.”

Matty was back to blinking again, startled by the fact that she had thought to get him something at all, let alone in return. “Um,” He murmured, rendered dumbstruck, before her light laughter broke him free. “If there’s something dirty in there, I will be telling your mother.”

Her eyes narrowed but her lips curved, “If you can make it to her in time.”

“Ooh sending out threats now, are we?”

That smile of hers was both devious and full of amusement, “Always.” Then she pushed the bag towards his chest, “Go on, open it.”

Matty shook his head, though he still accepted the Christmas patterned bag full of red tissue paper. “I gave you mine first, so I can’t open this ‘til you open yours.” He shook the bag to further accentuate his point.

“That's how it works, is it?” Squeaks commented, eyes creasing in her mirth, but Matty was as stubborn as they came and met her stare head on. “Fine,” She relented with a gentler smile, as though she already knew she wouldn’t win this particular battle, and moved to hold the envelope between them, thumbing the seal. “But this better be something nice, Matty. If it’s stupid I will toss you out.”

He laughed at the fact that they were already standing by the door, “Already are, sweetheart. But nah, you’re alright. Just hoping you’ll like it.”

Those eyes of hers flickered between his own again, left, right, then like ripping off a plaster she opened the envelope within a blink. As she grasped at the pages tucked within, Matty felt his resolve crumble somewhat, vaguely embarrassed by the many emotions he currently felt warring within him and the fact that he couldn’t wage how Mouse might react.

But all those thoughts and feelings were immediately sidelined when he heard her gasp, this breathy little thing that echoed in the small space between them and had Matty’s mind reeling.

“Matty.”

He reckoned that if he could get away with asking her to only say his name again, exactly like that, he’d record it and give it its own side on their next album. Fuck anyone who’d argue otherwise.

Her expression was one Matty had never witnessed on Mouse before. He’d seen her surprised (that day he’d turned up out of the blue at the studio), seen her happy (messing about with Teddy on Facetime, listening to the boy ramble and rant), he’d seen her awkward and stressed (at that charity event where he’d been all but glued to her side), and he’d also seen her tired (when those late night calls of theirs had ended with bleary eyes and sweet smiles).

Matty swallowed at the heavy feeling he felt corrode his chest.

“I can’t take these, Matty.” She argued, all but pulling him back to the present when she tried to hand the gift back to him.

He swatted her arm away, shaking his head with a tiny smile. “You can take them. What the fuck am I gonna do with 'em otherwise?”

She rolled her eyes but let his hand linger on the back of her own. “It’s way too much. I mean, how did you even manage it, how’d you even know?”

Matty laughed at that, “You’re really asking how I knew? Squeaks, babe, you bring him up almost every time we talk, you sing his songs when you’re cooking on call, and you never fail to mention him on your show. Even Teddy pipes up when he’s playing on the radio!”

Mouse had the nerve to look abashed at that. “It’s still too much.”

“Of course it’s too much. But I am, if anything, extreme.” Matty snipped back, smirking.

“But it’s Billy Joel, Matty! You can’t just buy a girl tickets to go and see Billy Joel!” Squeaks immediately argued back, though Matty noticed the way her eyes shone whenever she looked down at the tickets and how her fingers toyed with the paper ever so carefully.

“You’re right,” He agreed again, surprising her, “Good thing I got you two then.”

She gave him a huffy sigh in retort, one that had him grinning. “Matty.”

“Mouse.”

Her nose scrunched then, at the use of her name or the way he'd parroted, Matty couldn’t tell. “How am I meant to compete with tickets like these?”

Matty rolled his eyes at the stupidity of that question, “You don’t, I didn’t just give you them thinking I’d get something in return, Squeaks. I want you to have them.”

He was met with a drawn out silence then, her stare drifting back and forth between the tickets, himself and then back again. “Thank you.” She finally said, looking up at him with a wonder in her eyes that made Matty question whether she’d ever just been given anything for the sake of it.

“You’re welcome, love.” The smile he wore grew when she looped her arms around his waist to pull him into a hug.

Hugs were a rare thing with Mouse, Matty had noted, unless you were four and had a mop-full of curls then you’d best not even think about offering her one. Though he had that last bit down tap, they didn't really do that sort of thing past a greeting.

Still, hugging her settled something within him, something he couldn’t quite comprehend but allowed to wander all the same.

She squeezed his middle once before they parted again and Matty did his best to ignore the slight sheen her eyes now held and the way she slyly wiped at her nose. “Really, Matty. It means so much.”

Matty felt his heart stutter at the tender look she wore, then smiled. “Just make sure you send me the odd video, alright? Or at least a pic of you all dressed up.”

She laughed when he winked but he didn’t let it deter him. He wasn’t a constant listener of Old Joe but a classic was a classic, and the man was exactly that.

“Won’t need to.” Squeaks told him firmly and when he raised a brow she grinned hopefully, “You’ll be coming with, won’t you?”

Of all reactions, it was baffling to Matty that he had not expected that.

“Me?” He asked her, needing her to clarify.

“I don’t see no one else standing here.” She snorted, but her grin dampened all too quickly at the expression that must’ve been plastered on his face. “You don’t have to, I know you’re busy and got stuff going. Just thought…”

She finished that with a needless shrug which had Matty reaching out, hand cupping her right cheek, fingers slipping gently into her hair, it was soft. “‘Course I’ll come. Nothing could stop me.”

Her eyes had widened momentarily at the unexpected touch, Matty was quick to notice, but couldn’t bring himself to pull away just yet, especially when her face softened and she leaned ever so slightly into his hold.

–

‘Course I’ll come. Nothing could stop me.

Those words played on a loop in my head for the rest of the day, taking me through into the late evening where I was currently stood in the kitchen making another round of tea. Chamomile for mam, green for me.

The words were a promise I couldn’t quite find myself believing.

Too many people had promised me things; promised to keep my secrets, promised to keep me safe, promised to be there, promised to come. But only a fair few had ever followed through.

Matty was an anomaly though.

In himself, and in everything he said and did.

It always left me thinking, wondering...

It was just as I was stirring the honey into the mug that wasn't mine that I startled at the soft brush I felt beside me.

“I was just coming.” I attempted to say, glancing over at my mum who now stood beside me at the counter, gazing out the tiny kitchen window.

She waved me off with a tender smile, taking over honey duty as she slid her cup closer. “Your mind has been elsewhere today.” She accused me and immediately I felt my hackles rise, ready to jump into defence mode, but she merely casted me a careless look. “You never mentioned this Matty before.”

The change of subject threw me, enough that I frowned and was quiet until she wandered on over to take perch at the table with both our drinks. I blinked, feeling the fight drain out of me, then followed after her.

The chair scraped against the tiles as I pulled it free and I cringed at the silence that followed, hoping it hadn’t stirred Teddy who had not long fallen asleep down the hall.

When the quiet remained, I finally took my seat, wrapping my fingers around the warm mug and pulling it in nearer. “I didn’t think to.” I told her, the lie tasting bitter on my tongue. I was quick to drown it in tea.

My mum merely hummed, sipping elegantly at her chamomile. “He seems comfortable here. Teddy likes him too.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek. Thinking about earlier, the present Matty had gifted me, the one I’d given him in turn.

I could still feel the press of his hand against my cheek. So gentle, I’d almost wanted to break.

“They met about a week ago, an accident really.”

She hummed again, staring off ahead, and so I picked up my mug to keep myself from talking any more.

It had felt wrong, not getting Matty a present, which seemed so strange considering the circumstances. On how we’d only known each other a few short months. But I still couldn’t find it in me to ignore the feeling.

I could recall his face when he’d finally pulled away to peer into the gift bag I’d handed him, he’d been chewing on lip trying to dampen the sincerity of his smile...

Wary and still reeling off of the tender moment we’d just shared, I fidgeted with the envelope I held in my hand. It looked to be black but in the light it shone blue. It felt expensive, though I could see the way it had been fidgeted with, or held, like someone had kept picking it up only to put it down again.

Matty opened the bag with the same fragility I’d shown his envelope, rustling the tissue paper inside without much fanfare.

When he pulled the woolly item out from inside I felt all too stupid. What were his concert tickets to see one of my favourite musicians compared to a simple hat? I fretted.

I fish mouthed for a brief moment when his fingers swiped over the soft material, before my eyes finally darted up to meet his honeyed brown.

“You got cold, that time we took you to the park. Teddy said it would be good for the next time we go.” I stumbled slightly, it wasn’t the whole truth, no. But I wouldn’t dare mention the hours I’d spent searching for the right one, none of them feeling anything like ‘Matty’ until I’d seen this redcurrant coloured beanie.

He stared down at the gift for a long second, leaving me to wallow in my pitiful gift and the hastily given thought behind it, before he smiled. It was kind and it was genuine and it had the air fleeing from my lungs.

“Well, I’ll wear it and think of you both.” Matty murmured breathily, his voice catching ever so slightly on that last word. I swallowed thickly and without thinking took his hand in mine.

He looked down at the joined pair and smiled, but our quiet moment was then interrupted by rather loud strumming that echoed out.

Shocked, we both jumped a tad at the sound but then laughed, listening to Teddy call for his Mémé to watch him play.

I went to let go and Matty almost let me before he lightly tugged my hand closer, pressing the woolly hat into my palm. “Put it on for me?”

Blinking, I grasped the beanie tighter and watched as his hand fell away. I nodded when I glanced back up at him, his eyes watching me closely, then stepped forward, fumbling to carefully place my envelope in the back pocket of my jeans before fixing the hat over the top of his dark unruly curls.

Having to tiptoe, I let my thumb skim the brim of it, just above the skin of his brow, so that I could fix it a tad. Then peered into his warm eyes once more, “There you go.”

Matty smiled, and oh did I love seeing him smile.

We didn’t speak as he roped me into another hug, arms latching around one another's middles. We didn’t share many of those but somehow they always felt right, and then when he stepped away I felt the faint graze of his lips against my cheek.

His fingers were catching the latch on the front door before I could even react, his smile still there, his eyes now shining with some sort of emotion I couldn’t place.

“Merry Christmas, Squeaks.”

I came back to then, at the feel of my mother’s hand cradling mine atop the kitchen table, my head turned to search her tender stare. “Glowing, ma chérie.” She reminded me and oddly, I felt caught.

“Maman.” I whispered, looking away, but all she did was gently pat the back of my hand before pulling back.

“Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid.” Was all that she said, throwing me back to days spent when I’d only been a little girl curled up in her lap.

Little by little, the bird makes its nest.

Slowly but surely things will change. I just had to remind myself that change wasn’t always a bad thing.

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searchingforakeythatdoesntexist · 8 months

Text

DAY 15- «On Thin Ice» Good Omens AU - Triptych Tribute, last part.

To @blairamok. Thanks for everything...!

Please, listen to this?

"Our love is..."

I, I can't get these memories out of my mind And some kind of madness has started to evolve And I, I tried so hard to let you go But some kind of madness is swallowing me whole

I have finally seen the light And I have finally realized What you mean...

And now, I need to know, is this real love Or is it just madness keeping us afloat?

And when I look back at all the crazy fights we had It's like some kind of madness was taking control

And now I have finally seen the light And I have finally realized What you need

But now I have finally seen the end And I'm not expecting you to care, no That I have finally seen the light And I have finally realized

I need to love...!

...I need to love.

Come to me just in a dream Come on and rescue me Yes, I know, I can't be wrong

And baby, you're too headstrong Our love is

...Our Love is Madness, yeah.

[Previous] [Next Day] [First Day]

Don't forget to 💕/ reblog ;-)

↓Important message below, please check the behind-the-scenes!↓

Aaaand... cut!

Hello, dear Good Omens fam ^_^

I hope you enjoyed this last fantasie of mine as much as I did. Thanks so much for reading until here. It means a lot to me. Thanks to @blairamok for blessing us with his wonderful AU! I wish you the best, dear!

I have some family duties for a few days and I'll have to travel, so I don't know if I will be able to draw/publish any Daily Challenges for a while. Maybe this is just the sign that I HAVE to go back to simple things, simple challenges, simple ideas, just like at the beginning.

That was one Hell of a journey until now. Thank you all for following me in this challenge. I am learning so much while having fun. Aaand a little bit of pressure too - because HEY ANXIOUS PERSON, that's what I am - but it's almost always a good kind of pressure.

I have drawn more in two weeks that I have ever had in 10 years. This is such a relief to be able to do it, and such a wonderful thing to share my art with you and have your feed-back. Please, please, never stop telling me what you like and what you want me to draw! l would love to read any Challenge Ideas in the tags/comments section.

As for me, I'll try to never stop drawing, ever again.

Have a wonderful day/evening, my dear GO fam.

Elenthya

Personal challenge: a simple sketch each day

Goal: forcing me to keep things simple - inking, shading, just a few sashes of colour

Improvement pursued: to get the movement, the emotion, finding how to add depth, learning how to leave things barely finished

Max time allowed: 2 hours, as usual for my Daily Challenges. or 3-4 hours because it a Tribute to - 8 hours. EIGHT. HOURS. One-shot. Yeah, I know. Time to think about my own rules. Or, no Tribute works for a while. Plus, I love their figure but Crowley face drove me mad. Ugh.

Today's theme chosen by me:

Well, the song speaks for itself, doesn't it? :-) I previously wanted to use "Glorious" because this one is my favourite above all MUSE songs - the instrumental, the voices, everything in this song transports me. But the more I was trying to use the lyrics for this artwork, the more it feels inaccurate. So... Sorry, dear "Glorious". Another time. ;-)

[Previous] [Next Day] [First Day]

Don't forget to 💕/ reblog ;-)

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neuroticbookworm · 1 year

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Parenting in Step by Step, a defense

I saw a bunch of posts about how Pat is immature and has poor communication skills, and citing his parents' divorce as one of the potential reasons.

*baffled* W H A T.

I don't have the time or energy to rant about the "poor communication skills" read, so all I'm gonna say is that Pat was busy holding his mushed up braincells together for the majority of this episode and direct your attention to @shortpplfedup's crisp and hilarious Ten Movements that perfectly summed up Pat's emotional journey. Cut him some slack, for fuck's sake.

Now, onto Pat's parents and their relationship with him and each other. I want to highlight the writing and dialogue in their scenes, because it hurts my heart to see not a lot of people talking about them.

When we first meet them, both Pat's Mom and Dad express concern about his eating habits, but the parent-child dynamics in these conversations were very different. Pat's mom says it's not good for him to eat ramen for breakfast, but she quickly accepts Pat's excuse and goes back to doting on him. When she brings up Jeng, and Pat complains that she is nagging and changes the subject, she lets him.

When Dad comes into town a few *undisclosed unit of time* later, he basically asks the same question as Mom, but this time, Pat is a little elaborate with his excuse explanation.

But Dad doesn't let him get away with his bullshit. He offers up a few solutions and wants to work on them with Pat.

After he's sure that Pat knows the need to change his food habits, he then adds levity to the conversation, and goofs around with his son. (I will forever adore the Asian Gordon Ramsey moment, more father-son wholesomeness in Asian media, please and thank you)

(did y'all notice how both Pat's Mom and Dad call him adorable with very different energies? did ya? okay, good)

Now, when the time came for Pat to let go of all his frustrations and break down in front of his parents, I was worried that the show would lean a bit too hard on the parental roles, the good cop/bad cop gambit. But no, it surprised me. It sure started out that way, with Pat offering up an empty excuse to Mom's question.

Which is immediately followed by this look:

(more on this later, I have SO MANY THOUGHTS about this)

When Dad follows up with this statement, Pat's defenses begin to crumble.

He opens up about how he feels overwhelmed and disconnected with himself, and Dad responds with this:

He brings the realities of adulthood to the forefront, reassuring him that he has also been there before and that Pat will learn to manage it. Still in line with the roles the show had previously drawn up for them. When Pat continues, Mom moves to Pat's side as soon as they realise that Pat's problems include heartbreak ("Everywhere I go, it's filled with memories") and she hits him with this:

Oooooof. That's a hell of a line. Accurate? yes. Comforting? Fuck no.

That's when Dad moves to Pat's side, and tries to soothe him. The roles are flipped.

Pat then says that maybe it would've been better, if they had stayed with him all the time. Now, this can mean two different things: I wish I didn't grow up so I could've stayed with you and life would've been so much simpler; I wish you guys did not get divorced and we could've all stayed together. Mom chooses to address the first part. She says that even if they stayed together, no one could stay with him all the time.

Dad, then acknowledges the separation and they tell him, TOGETHER, that they will always be his parents, and they never stopped loving him. And that they don't hate each other.

The TEAMWORK here, between Pat's mom and dad is executed SO WELL. They love their son, and want to comfort and reassure him, and they do it together. They don't do the "one of us do the talking and the other one hmms in the background" bullshit. They both understand his pain and give him their individual and collective opinions. They are in sync with each other's thoughts, and it shows. Remember the look between them at the beginning of this scene?

This speaks VOLUMES. They know something is weighing on him and they can't let him excuse his way out of this conversation. They look at each other, a non-verbal "let's do this", and start talking to Pat.

Being in love with each other and being good parents are not strictly inclusive. The show did not leave this unsaid, either. They show us, how two people can move on and still remain in each others' lives as someone to lean on. Someone who will always know you better than most people in this world.

How some people saw this amazing back-and-forth and thought "yeah, they're incompatible, and they traumatized their son, and he now has communication issues", I'll never understand.

TL;DR:

Stop demonizing divorce and calling it the root of all childhood trauma

SBS writers are doing some things EXCEPTIONALLY WELL, and they deserve credit for it

#step by step #step by step the series #pat phakphum #jeng kittiphong #jengpat

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onpointedfeetandbrokendreams · 3 months

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Day 7 - DBDA Week

Day 7 of Dead Boy Detectives Appreciation Week: 10th-16th June by @dbdcentral

A bit late but I did it! Thank you so much for organising this event, it's been a lot of fun! This is actually the first fic I wrote, then I got super self-conscious about it, but anyway here we are.

Also tagging @padfoot-lupin77 @jinchaeji and @lydiabop because they asked in the post.

Prompt: Memories

Relationships: Edwin Payne&Charles Rowland&Crystal Palace&Niko Sasaki

Tags: Post-canon, Slice-of-life, Alive Niko Sasaki

TW: None

Edwin approached the package on his desk cautiously, memories of flames and the Night Nurse’s sudden appearance vivid in his mind. He relaxed when he saw his name in Niko’s pretty hand-writing on the wrapping paper. If she had anything to do with it, the package could not hurt him.

He examined the box, feeling its weight on his hands and turning it over with the care one would reserve for something fragile and precious.

Charles was not there, so he couldn’t extend his hand and wait for his best friend to put the letter opener in it like he would have on any other day. The thought was sudden, and it was discarded immediately, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth. He was still having some trouble in sharing Charles with the new members of their agency.

He noticed there was a pair of scissors on the desk, Niko’s doing as well for sure if the anime characters on the plastic handles were any indication.

Smiling the soft, affectionate smile he only reserved for the girl in question, he used one side of the scissors to open the package.

There was a note inside, on a light blue card:

“A present for you, by Crystal and Niko”

There was a smiley face with heart eyes, and one with a funny scowl on the corner next to the names. It didn’t require a good detective to understand which one belonged to who.

Edwin tried to remember when was the last time he had received a present. Charles brought him books or interesting artefacts sometimes, but considering that they shared pretty much everything in their existence, none of them were entirely his.

Behind the card, he found a stiff envelope, from the weight and the size, he thought it probably contained a book. He tilted it to one side to let its content slide on his open hand.

When he saw what it was, a breath caught in his throat. There was a picture frame with a drawing of the office and the sign “Dead Boy Detectives Agency” behind the desk. The image of Charles leaning casually on the back of the chair with his charming smile, and his warm, beautiful eyes captured so perfectly that it could have almost been mistaken for a picture, if he didn’t know very well that ghosts didn’t appear in pictures. Sitting on the same chair, was a face he hadn’t seen in more than a hundred years, save for a fleeting moment, completely covered in blood in Hell. He barely recognized it.

He touched the drawing with trembling fingers, the emotion so strong it was overwhelming him. Drawn-Edwin had a satisfied smirk on his face, green eyes happier than he had ever seen them in a mirror when he was alive, he wondered if that was really how he looked like from the outside, and wished he had a way to find out.

Tears started streaming down his face, and he clutched the picture frame to his chest, like he was afraid it would disappear if he let it go.

It was in that same position that the other three members of the agency found him some time later.

Niko immediately understood what was happening, and moved to hug him from behind, her eyes teary as well.

“Oi Edwin, are you crying? Is everything okay?” Charles asked, clueless. Edwin smiled at him, to say that there was nothing to be worried about.

“I knew you would like it,” interjected Crystal with a smirk, sitting on the couch. She didn’t come too close, even if Edwin thought that he could almost hug her too in that moment.

“I-” Edwin tried. He wanted to say thank you, but he didn’t seem to find words big enough to express his emotion.

“Don’t worry, we know,” said Niko, letting go of the embrace and taking place next to Crystal.

“We found this artist online who accepted commissions,” Crystal started to explain, to fill the silence and give Edwin some more time to recover, he had never realised that she knew him so well - now he was certain he would hug her too. “It’s not been easy to make it work, because we didn’t exactly have reference pictures to show her. We told her it was for the cover of a book we were writing, and we described everything as accurately as we could. It took so many attempts, but we think she did an incredible job in the end.”

“We also paid her well,” Niko added, feeling it was important to point it out to avoid him feeling guilty about inconveniencing a human in her daily job.

“Can someone please include me in this conversation?” Charles said from behind the couch. He was standing with his arms crossed, and it almost looked like he was pouting.

Edwin didn’t want to separate from the picture, but there were few things he could deny Charles, if any, so he extended his hands and let him take it.

He was rewarded by a blinding smile on his friend’s face, one which rapidly scaled Edwin’s personal ranking of his favourites.

“Mate, it really looks like you,” he said in a whisper, his eyes fixed on the Edwin in the drawing instead of the real one in front of him.

Of course Charles would know how to immediately answer the question that was burning inside him but that he didn’t know how to ask.

It started a new wave of strong emotions. Edwin knew, on some level, that he was happier in his afterlife than he had been in life, and certainly a lot more than he had been in Hell, but now he had in his hands a tangible, concrete proof to confirm it. Seeing himself from the outside next to Charles, in the office they created, looking so peaceful and serene, made him feel like he was exactly in the place where he was supposed to be. There was nothing more he could ask for.

#deadboydetectivesappreciationweek #dbdcentral #renewdeadboydetectives #dbda #edwin payne #charles rowland #crystal palace #niko sasaki #dead boy detectives agency

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tmpestuous · 2 months

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Moth to a Flame - 5

series masterlist

summary: Bucky Barnes was the love of your life, and you were his. There was no denying it. But after two years of dating, you found yourselves on different paths and decided it was best to go your separate ways. The only problem was how drawn you’d always be to him even after moving on.

pairing: College!Bucky x Reader

warnings: blackmail, angst (lots of it), awful ex boyfriend, toxic relationships, physical injuries (not reader or Bucky), hints of emotional torture/abuse

word count: 3.3k

a/n: taking quite a wild turn with this story. came up with this twist in the shower… (don’t mention it.) this is a bit of a filler chapter for plot development’s sake. thank you once again for your patience. i hope you enjoy (: expect a lot more from bucky’s perspective soon!

—

It’s almost as if you never learned your lesson when it came to avoiding Bucky. He always ended up in the same place as you, always saw you, and, of course, always approached you.

It didn’t matter if it was in the dining hall, in the library, roaming around campus, the gym, the quad. Anywhere.

It was no different now. You were here at the internship and career fair solely on business, trying to find a research assistant per advice from the company funding your research. Though you’d have no actual choice in who it’d be, the board said it’d be best for you to pick out the candidates to apply.

That’s what you were trying to do. Not to sell yourself short, you’d been somewhat successful with 3 candidates lined up so far. But given your life being nothing short of a whirlwind in the past week, your mind often drifted elsewhere.

You thought Bucky dating Sharon was the last you’d have to deal with. You wished that was the last of it. He didn’t seem all too thrilled with the decision in the times you’d seen him with her, even after you’d found out the news in front of everyone.

Nonetheless, it was the current truth. But somehow he always sought you out. His glances at you in the middle of a crowd were always soft, as if he was trying to communicate with you telepathically. Your eventual conversations were always cut short. And it had only been a week.

Bucky knew you were avoiding him, and he couldn’t entirely blame you. You were already distraught with Atlas digging your relationship into an early grave and then decided to spring news of his own relationship onto you. The truth of the matter was that Bucky had no idea why he ended up making things official with Sharon. In fact, she was the one who asked him. He was anything but prepared to take things more serious, but he hesitated then accepted to avoid the awkwardness of the situation.

He liked Sharon, but as he seemed to figure with every girl that had crossed his path in the past few months, she wasn’t you. He wished he could tell you that as he saw you in the middle of the gymnasium that he purposely came to find you in, but the universe had no plan for him to do that anytime soon.

You looked different. You felt different.

It’s only been a week. And what a fucking week it was.

You could barely look Bucky in the eye as he approached the table, eyeing the purpose and hypothesis of your research.

“Research assistant, huh?” He broke the ice, knowing full and well that the tension between you two was the last thing you wanted to speak about.

“The board wants me to get one,” you responded, avoiding his gaze and settling your eyes on the poster board that held all of your information on it.

“What do you need to sign up?”

“Bucky…”

“What?” He asked, seeming genuinely curious. “Psychology is still my minor, you know.”

“You’re here for Tony’s dad. You’ve talked about it as long as I can remember.”

Bucky’s dad may have his own business, but he was never the one to want things handed to him on a silver platter. He wanted to earn an internship, and the Stark internship was something he’d been dreaming of for months. He’d even gotten in Tony’s good graces enough to get a good word in about Bucky to his father. You knew he’d land it.

“Maybe I need a backup plan.”

“You and I both know that isn’t true, Barnes,” you shook your head.

He picked up the pen and filled out his information anyway.

In all honesty, you knew he’d be the perfect person for this job. He has the grades, the experience, and meets all of the requirements.

But he can’t get this job. You know that.

“Hey, where’d you go?” Bucky asked, his blue eyes scanning your face for answers to a variety of questions running through his mind.

You shook your head. “Nowhere, don’t worry.”

Moving your eyes to avoid his stare again, you landed on Atlas staring right at you from across the gym. Swallowing anxiously, you cleared your throat.

“Um, thanks,” you said. “For signing up. You should go to the Stark table before it fills up.”

Bucky’s facial expression held the most confusion, but you were still looking at Atlas. Turning around, he followed your stare towards him ogling your table and nodded in understanding.

“Right,” he said in defeat. “I’ll see you around. I have to find Pietro anyway.”

You snapped your stare back towards him as he gave you a slight half-smile, one that definitely didn’t reach his eyes before he walked away.

You expelled a deep breath from your lungs, though now feeling constricted. Atlas was all of a sudden at your table in seconds, but you were trying to avoid the impending anxiety attack creeping up on your throat.

“Don’t make a scene,” he said sternly, earning him an incredulous glare on your face.

“A scene?” You asked in disbelief. “How long are you gonna do this for?”

“However long it takes for you to get a grip of yourself,” he scoffed. “I tell you to leave Barnes alone and you still don’t seem to learn. And now more of your friends are getting too close.”

“What are you talking about, Atlas?”

“You’ll see,” he grinned before also walking away.

This agreement was eating you alive and it had only been 3 days.

Skimming through your recent emails, you furrowed your eyebrows at an unrecognizable one. Opening it curiously, thinking it was most likely spam, all you saw was a video file with an awfully cynical message.

| You’ll know what to do when you see this. Make the right decision or else.

Clicking on the file, your eyes widened immediately, muting your laptop before Natasha accidentally heard something she wasn’t supposed to.

You swear you could feel your heart drop to the seat you were sitting on, seeing a video only you and Atlas were meant to see. You shut your laptop immediately before packing your things to go confront the last person you wanted to see.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Natasha asked from the couch, peering up from her phone.

“I forgot something at the library, I’ll be back,” you lied straight to your teeth.

Driving to Atlas’s frat house only stressed you out even more. It was a short drive but to think you had no plan for whatever the fuck you were about to say to him.

Parking in the driveway, you rushed out of the car and towards the front door, knocking frantically.

Atlas opened the door, looking a bit disheveled like he had woken up barely thirty minutes ago.

“Y/n?” He asked, confused as to why you were on his doorstep.

“Blackmail, Atlas?”

“What?”

“You’re blackmailing me with our-” You couldn’t even say it out loud, lowering your voice to a whisper. “You’re blackmailing me with our sex tape?”

His eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

“I got a fucking email with the video that only you and I have. Why are you confused? Did you show someone? Do you fucking hate me that bad that you’d show someone that video and have them blackmail me to get back with you?”

In a matter of seconds, Atlas seemed so sure of himself.

“What did you expect? That I was finally gonna get you laid and not show anyone?”

Your chest started to ache. Atlas wasn’t perfect but he wasn’t cruel. He wouldn’t fuck around and blackmail you over breaking up with him.

Or so you fucking thought.

“You’re lucky I didn’t send it around elsewhere. I wonder how that pretty research board you work under would feel about their newest pupil being so vulgar.”

“You wouldn’t do that,” you shake your head. “Please, Atlas.”

“You know what you need to do, Y/n.”

From that point on, Atlas had you binded. You felt like a big fucking idiot, having lied to Natasha, Wanda, and Steve about everything, telling them you simply had a change of heart.

They could all smell right through your deceit but decided to let it marinate. You were kind of grateful they did, but a part of you wishes they pushed you to confess.

The past three days had you feeling like you were going to implode any damn second. Your anxiety was through the roof, you feel so alone, and the worst part is you have to play through this sick game for your own career.

What the fuck is wrong with me? You thought to yourself, trying to stifle your cries while taking a quick break in the bathroom.

After you left the bathroom, you made your way back to the gymnasium, but not before seeing a glimpse of Pietro. You’d hoped Bucky was with him, giving his mention of him earlier, but all you saw was your friend getting pulled somewhere by someone else.

As you were about to investigate, one of the event coordinators mentioned that there were a few interests in your table, meaning your presence was needed.

This day is going to be long.

—

Bucky had an incessantly short temper. It had only gotten worse as he’d gotten older, but he learned to control it.

Today, however, he was so irritated that you could feel the frustration emanating from his body.

“Should we do something?” Sam asked Steve as they stared at Bucky from a bit down the hallway.

Bucky was trying to get work done, sitting on the floor with his laptop and notebook on the coffee table in the living room.

“For once in all the years I’ve known him, I have no idea,” Steve answered, crossing his arms.

“He might break his pencil in a few seconds.”

“You know I can hear the both of you, right?” Bucky snapped as he turned his attention to his roommates and best friends.

They both raised their hands in surrender.

“You need to get laid,” Steve said, walking to sit on the couch, Sam following suit.

“I get laid,” Bucky retorted, resulting in laughs from the men behind him. “Sharon’s coming over later anyway.”

“Oh, that’s our cue,” Sam said, standing. Steve did the same shortly after.

“Where are you two going?”

“Somewhere the wench isn’t,” Sam called out as he exited the front door with Steve behind him, leaving Bucky to roll his eyes and finish his work before Sharon got home.

His irritation all day today was a result of the smug look on Atlas’s face today. He didn’t know much about what happened, but Steve had let it slip that you two had broken up. Yet he saw Atlas talk to you at your table, then leave the fair with you when you were free.

He had no reason to be irritated, but he couldn’t help it. The suspicion was intangibly clawing at his thoughts, consuming his mind that a 20-minute assignment turned into a 3-hour one. He wasn’t jealous. No. He was concerned. You looked… scared, almost. Worried that something was going to play out. Your aura was completely different from any version of you he’d seen in all the two years he knew you. It was an emotion he never provoked from you, so he couldn’t put his tongue on it.

Bucky hoped Sharon’s presence might alleviate his worry a bit, but he was in every mood but a horny one. Deciding on watching a movie together, the moment was cut short by pounding on the front door.

“That’s not scary at all,” Sharon mentioned as the pounding got louder and the horror movie on the TV didn’t make things any better. Bucky paused the movie, slowly peeking his head out of his bedroom door when the pounding happened again.

“Barnes, I know you’re fucking in there!”

Bucky recognized Wanda’s voice, rushing to the door. Opening it to see Wanda barely holding up a bloody-faced Pietro, he quickly scrambled to help settle him inside.

“What the fuck happened?” He asked the redhead next to him, who was trying not to cry for the sake of her twin brother.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, he called me and told me he was here. He was looking for you and then I saw him barely conscious on the front stairs and-”

“Okay, okay,” Bucky soothed her rambles. “It’s okay. We need to take him to a hospital. Let me put my shoes and jacket on.”

Wanda shook her head. “He said no hospital.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No,” Pietro rasped out. “No hospital. Questions.”

“Questions?”

“They ask questions at the hospital,” Wanda elaborates. “He won’t even tell me how this happened.”

“Ice. Bandage.”

“I can go get everything we need,” Wanda stands up.

“Wanda,” Bucky starts before Wanda shakes her head once more.

“He was looking for you. Can you stay with him?” She pleaded with Bucky through her eyes, earning her a nod from him in agreement.

“Y/n.”

Bucky turned his head towards Pietro. “What?”

“Y/n,” he repeated. “She- she-”

“Hey,” Bucky shushed him. “Relax, okay. I’m gonna get something from the bathroom to clean you up.”

“Y/n.”

Bucky was confused as to why he kept repeating your name, and mixed with his concern for you from earlier, it didn’t sit well in his stomach. He called out for Sharon, who came to the living room, her eyes widening at Pietro’s state on his couch.

“Why do you keep saying her name?”

Pietro’s eyes land on Sharon. “Later.”

Bucky furrows his eyebrows, turning his attention to the very confused blonde standing across from him.

“Can you please get me the first aid kit from the bathroom?”

She nods, rushing back down the hall while Bucky turns his attention to Pietro once more, though his eyes are now closed.

“Pietro,” Bucky taps him, waking him up. “You gotta stay awake for me, alright? I have no idea if you hit your head.”

Pietro shakes his head. “No concussion. Just punches.”

“Still stay awake, alright? Until Wanda gets here.”

Pietro nods.

What a fucking day.

—

After cleaning most of his injuries and getting him in better shape, Wanda managed to convince Pietro to go to a hospital.

Bucky accompanied the both of them, sitting in the waiting room while Wanda spoke to a doctor about Pietro’s internal injuries. It wasn’t as bad as they anticipated, but Pietro still wouldn’t fess up to telling anyone who’d want to hurt him so bad to begin with.

Bucky sighed to himself, closing his eyes momentarily before pulling his phone out and texting the one person on his mind.

| Hey, are you awake?

It was nearly 1 in the morning, so he was shocked to see you reply so fast.

Y/n: yeah. can’t sleep.

| Everything okay?

Y/n: nothing you can fix, bucky.

Ouch.

| Tell me.

| I’m worried about you.

Y/n: why?

| Gut feeling.

Y/n: i’m okay. promise.

| You just said I can’t fix the problem?

Y/n: i meant it.

Y/n: i should go to bed. goodnight.

Sighing to himself another time, Bucky texted Natasha.

| up?

Nat: why are you texting me at this hour, Barnes?

| Is Y/n in her room?

Nat: Nope. She’s at the devil’s place

Nat: why? Should I be worried?

| I don’t know yet.

Nat: ?

| Something’s not right. Just don’t know what

| Still at hospital

Nat: does she know?

| I don’t know.

Nat: I feel the same

| About?

Nat: something not being right. Something’s different

Nat: her and Atlas

| Glad we’re on the same page.

Nat: let’s talk tomorrow

| Gotcha.

—

Bucky barely got any sleep, whether it was because he was worried about Pietro or worried about you.

The doctors decided to let Pietro go after a few hours in the ER, citing that he needed rest but his injuries weren’t too drastic to keep him overnight. Icing the bruises and getting rest were the best remedies for him. Bucky had dropped him and Wanda off at her dorm, deciding it was best Pietro was with his sister.

Natasha was surprisingly awake, helping Bucky and Wanda get Pietro settled. Once he and Wanda were both asleep, Natasha joined Bucky in the living room.

“Surprised you’re awake,” Bucky said to relieve the silence.

It was a little past 4 AM, but Nat looked like her fate for the night was the same as Bucky’s.

“It’s hard to sleep when I’m the only one here,” she admitted, referring to both yours and Wanda’s absences. “Steve’s with his mom, Y/n’s with that asshole, and you know where Wanda was.”

“I’m sorry,” Bucky offered her solace with a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“You should stay,” Nat offered in return. “She mentioned she’d come back early in the morning. We could talk to her.”

Bucky sighed to himself. “What makes you so sure she’s even gonna talk to us?”

“Well, nothing,” Nat admitted. “But it’s worth a shot.”

Bucky agreed to stay the night, taking the spot on the couch in your room.

Honoring your word to Natasha, you slipped into the suite quietly around 6 AM. Much to your surprise, you found Pietro grabbing a glass of water in the kitchen.

“Y/n,” he spoke softly.

“You should be resting,” you urged him, tears springing to your eyes.

“You know this is not your fault, right?” He assured you, though you shook your head.

“Pietro…”

“No,” he cut you off, his voice nothing more than a whisper. “What does he have on you?”

Knowing who he was referring to, you shook your head once more.

“What does he have on you?” You repeated to him.

Seeing 5 of Atlas’s frat brothers beat up on Pietro while two of them, including Atlas, held you back so you would be forced to watch was some sort of psychological torture you didn’t anticipate being subjected to.

It was something you wouldn’t expect Atlas to be capable of. He had his faults and insecurities, but in your time together, he had never made you scared of him.

Now in the past week, you were terrified. Terrified of who he actually was and what he was capable of doing.

“You will find out soon enough,” Pietro assured you. “But you should trust me. I know you’re hiding something.”

You quickly spilled the contents of your ‘agreement’ with Atlas to Pietro, after a few minutes of making him promise not to tell anyone.

In turn, he had told you he’d seen Atlas doing something he wouldn’t want you to know, which was the reason behind his beating. He wouldn’t budge on telling you what it was, reassuring you once more that you’d eventually find out.

He also mentioned Bucky needing to know as well.

“This will probably happen again,” Pietro warned you.

“It can’t.”

“But it will.”

You sighed, pulling him in for a careful hug.

“You should go back to bed before Wanda wakes up.”

Pietro nodded, letting you help him walk over to his sister’s room and carefully lay down. Once he was secure, he gave you a look that let you know he trusted you. You nodded in response before retreating to your own room.

Opening the door, you found a sleeping Bucky on your couch, as if your heart strings needed any more tugging. He was in his t-shirt and boxers; you knew he hated sleeping in his jeans. You grabbed one of your throw blankets and covered him, though he quickly stirred a bit and woke up.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” you spoke softly.

“No, you’re okay,” he said with a rasp. “You okay?”

Knowing he could tell when you were crying, you avoided the conversation with a nod.

“Just need some sleep is all,” you responded while kicking your shoes off.

Bucky acknowledged your energy, knowing you weren’t up for a conversation at the moment. But he knew something was amiss.

He just hoped he could pull you out of whatever trouble you were in before it was too late.

—

Thank you once again for reading! Will try and make the next chapter a bit better.

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes fic #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x female reader

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compressedrage · 4 months

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*barges in* Your Hollow Head Siblings hc's, hand 'em over!!!! 🔫

(But fr, gotta love your thoughs, they're neat and scratch my brain juuuust right!!!)

YOU HAVE OPENED THE FLOOD GATES MY ANONYMOUS FRIEND

Keep in mind I am very tired rn so this will likely be very unpolished okay here we go–

The order of age goes Victim Chosen Dark Orange, we all know this, but I think for a long time Dark thought he and Chosen were a lot closer in age than they actually were. Chosen had to warm up to telling Dark about all the horrible things he went through, and that included the fact that he was alone for four years. (it's four years right? it might be five. I can't be bothered to look it up rn, its fine)

In between the Showdown and Wanted Orange is starting to think of Chosen as an older brother. He connected the dots to figure out that Chosen was also made by Alan and he saved them! He's so cool! This idea was only a little bit shattered when this older brother figure barged into the PC and kidnapped him and promptly got them both captured. But honestly what are older siblings for.

In canon Chosen does not let himself feel emotions enough for him to see Orange as a little brother, but the connection is there. He'll come around :)

SPEAKING OF CONNECTIONS– I recently had this idea that the Hollowheads had some sort of empathy-telepathy with each other. For example, one normal day out in the Outernet Chosen feels the exact moment Orange was created. He doesn't know what that feeling meant, and he never felt it again. Orange felt drawn to this new stick figure who saved their lives, and immediately follows him through the portal. Chosen felt something snap in his chest the moment Dark died. Orange and Victim lock eyes for a moment in the Box and feel something click. None of them talk about it, but it's there.

(that last one might qualify as an AU, who knows maybe I'll do something with it)

This one is more of a wish than a headcanon– Chosen takes Orange under his wing at some point, teaching him how to use his powers as best he can. However, since Orange's powers are rather different from Chosen's, it just results in a chaotic sparring session and setting a field on fire. The CG are not amused by the amount of bruises Orange gets, but Orange is having an absolute blast.

Orange is Chosen's "Second Coming"– surely that comes with consequences. I saw a hc where they shared portions of code and I liked that; something like Orange and Chosen have similar tastes in foods. Their eyes shine the same way when they smile. Sometimes they accidentally speak in unison because they each had the exact same thought. When stuff gets serious, they both narrow their eyes and make an expression that promises pain on their enemies.

Dark would be the best big brother and let me tell you why. Orange is often left with the Braincell of the CG. Have you seen how stressed this boy gets. He gets premonitions of his friends getting hurt. Dark allows him to mess around a bit more, in a "We might get in trouble, isn't that fun!!" kind of way. Orange has always had a chaotic streak, it just takes certain circumstances for him to tap into it. They would be able to get Red back for his pranking.

Orange would teach Chosen and Dark all about modern video games. They know video games, sure, they destroyed Angry Birds. But I think playing Minecraft would solve both of their problems. At least a lot of them.

I don't have many headcanons for Victim, I just haven't seen enough of him to get a solid enough foundation to make headcanons, but as an oldest child I can relate to him on a spiritual level. He may be gray now but with those three as younger siblings he's gonna get a whole lot grayer.

Gosh I love them so much, a house with all four Hollowheads would be the most chaotic house ever. Victim– the eldest with an actual job, no nonsense, the less-than-respected Holder of the Braincell. Since he is out of the house a lot because of Job, the responsibility falls to Chosen– older middle child, delinquent, failure of a cook and the only one Dark will listen to. Speaking of Dark– younger middle child, Chaos Incarnate, fellow delinquent and Escape Artist Extraordinaire, he is a terrible influence on the youngest– Orange. Orange is the black sheep of the family in that he is actually rather emotionally stable. He's in school, has friends, hobbies– his brothers just a bit jealous but supportive anyway. He also helps Dark prank the others; he's got great aim with water balloon catapults.

I cannot impress upon you enough how much they love each other. Their lives have been filled with isolation, suffering, rejection– but now they've found family in likewise people. None of them are alone anymore. Sure, Orange wasn't really alone to begin with, but surely he noticed how different he was from RYGB. He's not replacing them, not for a million dollars, but it is nice to have brothers who are similar to you.

#WOOO this was long!#I love these dorks so so much #this was fun #I really should write some more for them they have so much potential #if there are typos in this I will get to them in the morning #*tosses this at anon and falls back into bed*#alan becker #animator vs animation #rage's ramblings about sticks #thanks for the ask btw #it was a lot of fun <3 #stick figure headcanons

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explicit-tae · 1 year

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Freak (Mommy Issues)

Jungkook finds a way back into your world - and you let him.

Word Count: 1.260

Warning: yandere themes, angst, smut, dirty talking, mc making MORE bad decisions, phone sex, masturbation (f receiving), mommy kink, baby boy kink, mentioning of sex, cheating, fingering,

@babycandy111 @seokjinkismet @iloverubberduckiez-blog @bloodline1632 @pointofviewyugyeom @yoongixthot @taetaecatboy @ultimatebasura @jlatbh @lilliankoo @btsw1fe @bxcndd @mageprincess7

Mommy,

I miss you. I always pondered what prison would be like and if it was like the movies. I haven't witness any extravagent fights between inmates or a rebellion against the gguards - so I guess it isn't like the movies.

I hope you're well.

-Jungkook

Mommy,

How are you? How's the baby coming along? There isn't much to do in here but eat, sleep and work out. I've began to workout all the snacks I eat throughout my time here. I find it theraputic. I also have been reading a lot of books - even the one's about babies. If my calculations are correct, you should be the size of a rutabaga!

Be safe.

-Jungkook

Mommy,

It's week 28! That means the baby is the size of a large eggplant. How is it going? Do you feel sore? Do you still get morning sickness? I've read that you can find out the gender between 18-22 weeks. Have you found out or do you wish to be surprised?

Take care.

-Jungkook

Mommy,

I've decided to take up drawing again. I'm sure I have read almost every book in this facility. I have decided to draw you. I could remember each and every detail about your beautiful face. I hope you like it!

Hope all is well.

-Jungkook

Your hands trace the blue ink on the paper that was neatly folded into the envelope. You always thought Jungkook was an amazing artist by the first little doodles he'd do on scrap paper. However, sitting in prison had perfected Jungkook's craft. You're amazed with the amount of detail Jungkook drew onto the paper - all in ink. Did it take him one try or multiple?

You placed the letter and portrait drawing of you in your dresser beneath your clothing - right next to the rest of them. The stack of letters come nearly daily - and you're unsure who delivers them. You've attempted to keep an eye out for someone entering the property, but you never come close to finding out. They always make sure to deliver said letters when Jin is at work - which was all the time.

As the months dragged on and the letters from Jungkook came, you grow to expect them. You were lonely. Jin and you were married but separated. He and you no longer shared a room, and it was difficult speaking with one another outside of the concerns of the baby. He drove you to doctor visits and was present, but outside of that, Jin was always gone. You did not blame him. He has endured enough by your hands and you're only grateful that he has not yet slapped you with divorce papers.

Jungkook's letters became longer, detailing his day-by-day activities. He sent more drawings of you - some of you and him. They were innocent at first - until they were.

Jungkook was a storyteller. In one letter he disclosed that he missed you dearly and the only way he could get the need of you out of his system was to draw them. You're disgusted with yourself for going through pages and pages of pure smut - written and draw. Jungkook had drawn both of you together in bed; his tongue between your legs, your cock in his mouth and, "his favorite" he says, you on top of him.

You're even more disturbed with yourself when you began to touch yourself. You and Jin were probably never going to be sexual again - if so, it would take longer than a few months. You were a horny emotional wreck.

Your fingers would play with your clit, eyes shut. You would pretend that it was your husband at first - but sadly, that didn't help you. You could only get off thinking about Jungkook - the way his fingers would curve inside of you and fuck you just right. It was tragic that after everything Jungkook had caused you, it is still him that you crave. You would moan his name, voice sultry and low when you plunge your fingers in and out of yourself.

Time and time you would get a new letter - one dirtier than the next - and each time you'd cum to it.

Mommy,

Do you remember how it feels to be with me? Sure, you may hate me now, but just think. Close your eyes and recall the time you would sit on my face. Your pussy was so wet and beautiful and all for me. You would grind on my tongue like a bitch in heat - and I would allow it. You'd go crazy when I shook my head side to side to deeply pleasure you until you're cumming onto my tongue. That was my favorite, Mommy. I was a such a good boy to you. I always made sure you came. Remember that one night we shared during your stay with me? The night you allowed me to fuck you until you were squirting all over the place? I cherish that night, Mommy. That was the first night you called me your baby boy. I wish I could hear your beautiful voice again, Mommy.

I love you.

-Jungkook

You reflect on the written words on the letter. You take several deep breaths before going to grab a separate sheet of paper and a pen. You never wrote Jungkook back and never thought about it until now. Maybe it was the loneliness you felt that has you writing him. While Jin worked his days away - you're positive it's to stay away from you - you remained home to your lonely. Jimin had steered clear from you, as well, only visiting once a month to what you assumed was pity. He pitied you even if he truly deserved to hate you - your actions have caused him to be expelled and without a home and pet.

You hadn't received a letter from Jungkook in a week. It was a long one; so long that you were checking every day for a new letter to not have any. You were jittery and impatient. It was as if you were slowly losing your mind.

Jimin has come the following day. He sits with you while you watch whatever show on the tv. You speak with him, asking of his days and each answer was bland. You knew of Jimin's life now. Expelled from University and no other will take him in, even if the scandal of him cheating was false. He works full time now and saves for a new apartment while staying with your parents.

Your phone sounds, startling you. It was an unfamiliar number calling and your heart beats. "I'll be back. I have to take this."

Jimin nods without taking his eyes away from the screen. You make your way into your bedroom and sigh deeply, answering the phone. The automated line speaks until suddenly you hear his voice - Jungkook's.

"Hi, Mommy." Jungkook sing-songs, a hint of mischief in his voice. "I got your letter."

You gulp. You sit upon your bed and take a deep breath. "Hi."

You and Jungkook began to speak for as long as he could every day. He asks about your day and the growing baby you were carrying. You would ask your own questions about his prison life and what he planned to do when he was released.

It felt nice to be able to speak with someone without having the lingering dark cloud above them. It was weird to think that the two people who caused said dark cloud could speak as if nothing has ever happened. It should bother you - but it doesn't.

Whore (Next)

#btswritersclub #bts smut #btsmasterlist2022 #jungkook x reader #bangtanwritershq #jungkook smut #bts yandere #bangtan smut #jungkook fanfic #jungkook yandere #freak #mommy issues #bts teacher au #btswritingcafe #yandere jungkook #btswriterscollective

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petricorah · 7 months

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i wanna start making comics but like. i dont really know how??? are there any tips that you could give me perhaps?

hi!

i've been working on trying to compile a list of resources for people (@aangsfrogs--i didn't forget!) who want to make comics for a long time. It would consist of some of my personal tips and a lot of links to other people's PDFs and youtubes. But that's...a hefty project, so if you had any specific questions for the meantime, my askbox is open!

But, for just beginning, here would be my tips:

Read comics. Read manga and webcomics and cartoons and medical comics. There is so much out there, and reading is such a big way to learn. If you see something you like, take a moment to think about why you like it. Are the expressions or colors appealing? Did it make you feel a certain emotion? Analyze what the artist may have done to get across what they did. (Is it the camera angle? the style they chose to draw in? the paneling? the pacing? the color? etc.) Doing this over time will help you recognize the tools available for telling stories through this medium, and you'll be able to put them in your own work.

Try to think about what you want to make comics about. What moves you? What topics interest you? What ideas or tropes do you love in media or think about often? What do you hate and wish was done better? What characters are you drawn to, or what characters do you want to create? (What about them compels you?) I find it's hard to create an idea out of thin air, but if you start writing down random ideas you have, you'll start thinking about them, and over time, you'll have a bank of things to pull from when you want to create.

Lastly, anatomical skill or knowledge of color does not a comic make! You don't have to know much to begin, and there aren't rules. Just start drawing what is meaningful to you!

This is just cursory and doesn't get into super specifics like paneling or scripts or plotting or colors or thumbnailing or....etc, but I'll try to expand my list of resources and get that out! And, hmu if you have any specific questions on topics!

happy drawing~

Book list under readmore:

Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics and his Making Comics. These books are taught in like, every comic class ever. While not my complete favorite, they do a good job of showing some history and fundamentals, and how easy it is to make comics even if you don't have a lot of drawing experience.

99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style by Matt Madden: Really good if you don't know how to start analyzing comics. (Also it's just a fun visual exercise.) It shows the same short story done in 99 different styles with different emphasis on different moods and points of view.

The PreHistory of The Far Side: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit by Gary Larson and The Calvin and Hobbes: Tenth Anniversary Book by Bill Watterson: Two great books with work from my two favorite cartoonists. They both have writings from the author about getting ideas, developing stories, and being a comic artist.

Uncanny Bodies: Superhero Comics and Disability, edited by Scott T. Smith and José Alaniz and Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation, edited by Sheena C. Howard and Ronald L. Jackson II: These two aren't really about making comics, but they are great collections of analysis about old and new comics alike.

By no means a complete list, but some good ones that I can think of off the top of my head.

There's also the book Webtoon School: Everything you need to know about webtoon creation and story writing. To be honest, I didn't read this completely through because it was a bit more fundamental than I was expecting, but it gives a good cursory look of how to write comics if you're just starting out! It covers some history, how to write stories and arcs, etc.

Also, look to your favorite writers! A lot of webtoon/webcomic artists do tutorials or youtube videos. for instance, velnxi has this great tutorial up I really suggest looking at here.

#how to make comics #mytutorials #comics tutorials #asks #i also want to do a post on how to analyze comics #because analysis is often talked about in english or writing classes #but most dont talk about how to analyze a comic which i think can be a bit different #if people would be interested in that lmk #can yall tell i almost went to school to teach comics lmao. i love talking about this stuff

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a-boca-do-inferno · 4 months

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when i look at you (al pacino x reader) [request]

summary: Al finds himself at a crossroads on set.

warnings: fluff, bit of angst

words: 1.0k

notes: hello guys! yes, im alive and well. just a clarification: i write for characters only, but i wrote this one thing specifically for a request that has been sitting in my inbox for a long time. at this moment requests are closed, but once they open again, it's for characters only!!! no real people. enjoy xx

NEW YORK CITY

1975

Amid the towering skyscrapers and labyrinthine streets, the movie set hummed with activity. Al was shooting his latest film and the director, Jack, a man known for his often stress-inducing standards and fiery temperament, stood at the helm. The set was abuzz with anticipation and nerves, but your figure was the only thing he could see. You had been a constant presence on set up until that point and such a vision, full of grace and quiet strength, never failed to catch his attention.

Al was well aware you grew up in the world of cinema, your father’s passion seeping into your very being, however Jack was fiercely protective, ensuring you stayed away from the darker sides of the industry. And it was quite clear you loved your father dearly, yet longed for a taste of the freedom you saw in the actors and crew around you. The lingering gaze you directed at Al himself could attest to that; he’s seen that look on a woman’s face before.

The longing for more.

Al first noticed you during a scene where he was meant to display raw emotion. He glanced over and saw you, half-hidden behind the camera, your attention locked onto him, watching intently. There’s just something in your globes—admiration, curiosity, who knows?—that struck him. For a moment, he almost broke character. It was on that day he decided he had enough.

Al approached you on the lunch break, trying to keep his tone casual. “Hey.”

You looked up, a hint of surprise in your expression. “Hey! Uh… I’ve seen all your movies, Mr. Pacino. You’re incredible.”

He chuckled. “Just Al is fine, and thank you.” He displayed a playful bow. “I’ve seen you around a lot. You work on the set?”

You shook your head. “Not really. I just like being here, watching everything come together. It’s… magic.”

Your conversation was cut short by Jack’s booming voice calling Al back to the set. As he walked away, he glanced back and saw you still looking at him, your glance filled with that something he couldn’t quite place again.

Over the next few weeks, your interactions became more frequent, always under the radar. You would steal moments between takes, sharing stories and laughter, your connection growing stronger. Al found himself drawn to your intelligence and warmth, a stark contrast to the often superficial nature of Hollywood. And you, in turn, were captivated by his intensity and passion. He treated you as an equal, valuing your opinions and thoughts, which wasn’t a dynamic you were used to.

It wasn’t long before these stolen moments began to feel like the most important parts of your day. Still, the shadow of Jack’s disapproval hung over you both. He would never approve of his daughter being involved with one of his actors, and especially not someone with Al’s reputation involving women.

One evening, after a long day of shooting, Al found you alone on the rooftop of the building where they were filming that day. “Hey”, he said softly, joining you at the edge. “Penny for your thoughts?”

You smiled, though it seemed tight. “Just thinking about how much I love this city. And how much I hate keeping secrets.”

Al sighed, reaching out to take your hand. “I wish things were different.”

You turned to face him, your eyes searching his. “What if they didn’t have to be? What if we… just told him?”

“He’d be furious”, Al replied matter-of-factly. “He might even fire me. I can’t risk that, not with everything riding on this film.”

You squeezed his palm. “I can’t keep pretending we’re just friends, Al. It’s tearing me apart.”

Al pulled you into his arms, holding you close. “I know, sweetheart. We’ll figure something out, I promise.”

Your embrace was interrupted by the sound of the rooftop door opening. You sprang apart just as Jack appeared, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. “What are you two doing up here?” He demanded.

“Just talking”, Al said quickly. “Needed some fresh air.”

Jack’s gaze shifted between you, doubt flickering in his features. “(y/n), it’s late. You should head home.”

You only nodded, giving Al a fleeting, pained look before going with your father inside. The days that followed were filled with tension. You continued to see Al in secret, your moments together a mix of stolen kisses and whispered confessions. The fear of being discovered loomed over you, but so did the hope that one day, you wouldn’t have to hide.

One afternoon, as the crew was setting up for a particularly challenging scene, Jack pulled Al aside. “We need to talk.” Al’s heart pounded as he followed Jack to a quieter area of the set. He turned to the younger man, his face unreadable. “I know something’s going on between you and my daughter”, he stated bluntly.

Al’s breath caught in his throat. “Jack…”

“I’m not a fool, Al. I see the way you look at her. And she’s been different lately. Happier.”

Al swallowed hard, choosing his words carefully. “I care about her, Jack. I really do.”

Jack’s eyes softened, albeit but a fraction. “She’s my world, Al. I’ve protected her from everything this industry can throw at her. If you hurt her, I don’t know what I...”

“I won’t”, Al stated quickly, in a single breath. “I love her.”

The confession hung in the air, heavy with unspoken emotions. Jack studied him for a long moment before sighing quietly. “I believe you” he sighed at last. “But if you’re serious about this, you need to do it right. No more sneaking around. Be honest with her. And with me.”

Al felt a wave of relief wash over him. “Thank you. I promise I’ll make her happy.”

Jack nodded briefly, then clapped a hand on Al’s shoulder. “Alright, let’s get back to work. And later, we’re all going to dinner together. That’s your second job interview.”

Al laughed in a mix of amusement and nervousness before leaving his side to try and find you. And there you were, the same vision he came to admire everyday on set; except now his eyes were the ones sparkling with something different. No more longing, though.

Only love.

#al pacino #al pacino x reader #al pacino imagine

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