#THEY ARE VERY GOOD AT LOOKING PUT TOGETHER LONG ENOUGH TO FOOL EVERYONE ELSE

[gay-dorito-dust]

Hello! What is your opinion on Damian liking and respecting Jason's S/O?

Honestly? Love it. I love, love, love it! I don’t know whether this answered your question but I hoped that in some capacity it did.

I imagine when Jason first takes you to meet the rest of the Batfam, all of whom are quite inviting and happy to get to know you with the exception being Dick, who already had the pleasure of meeting you when he dropped by Jason’s place one time and immeditly hitting it off and becoming quite good friends.

Damian liking/ respecting you wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card. They knew how Damian was and Jason had forewarned you not to take it personally if Damian seemed a little distant and distrustful. But seeing Damian stand by you as though he knew you forever was something else entirely.

Instead of being on your ass about dating Jason, it was Jason being the one hounded by Damian throughout the duration of your visit at Wayne Manor. Making sure that he (Jason) was on his best behaviour in front of you much to the humour of everyone that wasn’t poor old Jason.

‘Why Todd?’ Damian asked you once Jason was out of earshot. This question wasn’t uncommon as Dick had asked the same thing once he learned of yours and his brother’s relationship.

‘Why not him? Jason may have scars on his heart but that doesn’t make me love him any less.’ You began as you began to subconsciously start to smile fondly at the mere thought of Jason, just like you always did whenever he wasn’t with you physically. ‘He often tells me that he doesn’t think that he deserves to be happy, that he was wasn’t born to be happy or loved. Yet I believe that he just wasn’t given the opportunity to experience pure happiness.’

Damian raised a brow, uncrossing his arms. ‘And I suppose that you believe that you can fill that void?’

You looked at him, still smiling and said truthfully. ‘No, but I would like to at least try and make the pain go away. Even if it is only temporarily.’ Damian -from what you could deduce- looked satisfied with your answer and hummed in acceptance.

‘He makes you happy?’ He then asks after a brief moment.

You didn’t hesitate to respond with a firm and confident. ‘Very.’

‘Good.’ Damian replied shortly afterwards just as Jason came back into the room to place a kiss to your temple, causing you to smile and kiss his cheek in response, making him smile as a result. Damian could see that you loved Jason unconditionally and had no feelings of shame in being with him, only pride and joy and that was enough for him.

Ever since then whenever Jason goes to the manor for anything, Damian is suspiciously always there as though he was expecting him while also asking on your whereabouts and well-being but in a discreet manner. However Jason knew that Damian had grown fond of you and would tease him that he only ever wanted to hear about you and not him; To which Damian would always be adamant that he doesn’t and it’s only out of respect that he asks about you because of how long you’ve had to put up with Jason.

Jason isn’t easily fooled by this and Damian knows it but always doubles down and at this point Jason had learn to back off whenever Damian got like that, but was secretly happy that Damian approved of you and your relationship. However in due to how long you’ve been together, the thought of getting someone’s -never-less his family’s- approval at this point in your relationship kinda felt a little redundant, but it was the thought that counted.

So Jason would go out of his way to recount the week to Damian on what you did, who you were with and so on just so he could get him off his back, only to retell the whole thing to you once he got home because he knew you held a soft spot for Damian also and he loved that for the both of you.

I’d also like to think that when Damian is on patrol and within the area, he’ll go out of his way to visit you first. He’ll never give you a straight forward answer if you were to ever ask why, you’ll only get short ones such as;

‘I’m on patrol tonight.’

Or

‘I was in the area following a lead.’

You weren’t dumb and this wasn’t the first time he’s visited you either but you never called him out on it though and just ask Dick, Barbra, Duke or anyone else in the family about this odd little routine you’ve found yourself in with Damian instead. In the end most of them would tell you that no, Damian wasn’t on patrol nor a case and that he just wanted to see you to make sure you were okay.

‘Damian won’t outright tell you he cares or even likes being in your company. No. He has a more unique way of showing that he thinks highly of you.’ Jason once told you when you wanted to learn more about his family one night as you both laid in bed. ‘And trust me when I tell ya chipmunk, Damian likes you and that’s rare for even him. So just imagine how he must be feeling throughout all this. Trust is not something that comes easily to Damian but once you have it, he’s going to be there.’ He adds on and before you could ask more about it, Jason had already fell asleep, exhausted from a really long patrol. You merely smiled and kissed his forehead before joining him in dreamland.

This maybe a little ooc but I’d think it be funny Damian texting you -don’t ask how he’d get your number, he somehow got it from Jason’s phone- about how you need to come and pick up Jason because he’s annoying and won’t stop talking about whatever, even going so far as to send pictures of Jason mid-rant with Damian’s deadpan face in the corner of the screen, looking as though he wanted someone to end him.

Moments like those never failed to brighten your day as you remembered what Jason told you about Damian and trusting someone, never taking it for granted as it seemed that Damian putting his trust in someone was a once in a lifetime thing. Especially if that someone was a crime fighter outside of the family, or even a civilian of Gotham.

I’d also liked to assume that Damian would be kinda protective over you. So when Jason wasn’t nearby to get you out of a pinch, enter Damian who is always ready to go whenever wherever. He feels as though he has a duty in keeping you safe for Jason’s sake but also his own too. He feels as though he didn’t have to act differently with you or force himself to act against his true self.

Damian expects you to have play dates with Titus. Always. No excuses.

Titus loves you to bits and will not hide his excitement upon seeing you even if it’s been less than five minutes. He loves seeing his favourite human, second to Damian of course. So spending time with the Great Dane was always a bonus whenever you got to go visit Wayne Manor.

Overall Damian liking/respecting Jason’s s/o would be a sight unlike any other but an extremely welcomed one at that as the possibilities are endless.

[livelaughlaios]

I think one of the things Dungeon Meshi is definitely about is how different people deal with being an outsider/marginalised/neurodivergent/what have you and basically what im getting at is that Kabru is TEXTBOOK "high functioning [insert diagnosis here]". Its that how they say it still? Don't care.

Basically. This man shows up and you listens to him talk and see how his party treats him and you think. Oh this is a cool guy who has his shit together. And then after like two pages you find out that he has constant flashbacks to Utaya that make him completely freeze, anxiety attacks, thought spirals, is incapable of analyzing his own feelings, is a stuttering mess when the stakes are high, has never done a chore in his life, keeps putting himself in triggering situations and re-traumatising himself, and the icing on the cake is when you read the extra material and it turns out he regularly forgets to eat and lives in a depression nest of dirty clothes and self-medicates insomnia with alcohol and also is 22. Which also kind of puts Misilril not wanting to let him go in another light - yeah for sure she's controlling and infantilising and also its not like she was really helping his issues but also she was not entirely wrong in her judgement. This man does NOT know how to take care of himself. He knows how to do the bare minimum so when he shows up at work the next day he can fool his coworkers into thinking hes got it together enough. For a bit.

He is DEEPLY unwell and he knows it but he is carried by the desperate wish to avoid another catastrophe. If he stops for a moment he KNOWS he'll collapse so he doesn't.

I also think this is why him acting nurse to Mithrun is such an important part of his arc. Its like. This person who has spent all of his adult life focused on a single objective disregarding everything else is faced with what happens when you do that for too long. And the result is a wet tissue of a creature who looks like he doesn't know where he is most of the time.

He is a man on the brink. I have no doubt he felt relieved when he decided he could trust Laios - not even in a Labru way, straight up because he knew he could not keep going like this.

But also like. Of all the characters in the manga, I think Senshi and Kabru are the most lonely ones. Except Senshi seems to be OK with solitude - for sure it's not entirely healthy to be alone for as long as he was but he definitely did well enough. He is very good at taking care of himself. Meanwhile Kabru *knows* a lot of people but can you really say he has friends? Rin, maybe, arguably, but even she does not seem to truly know him, you know? He keeps himself hidden from everyone. I think the only time we see him entirely honest is when he says to Laios that he wanted to be his friend, and hes so shocked when it comes out, you can tell he did not mean to say it. And differently from Senshi, he does NOT fare well alone. He likes people, he needs people. Again compare with Mithrun - he has like a squad of people taking care of him. If Kabru had a breakdown of that size can you say his party would go out of its way to help? Im not sure. Not because they're bad people, but because he's simply not that intimate with any of them.

Idk man it just struck me all of a sudden. Laios is weird and offputting and doesn't care about other humans the way Kabru does and YET he is infinitely more successful at building deep, meaningful relationships and taking care of himself as well. I think this is part of why Kabru is so fascinated with him as well. He can tell Laios has something he doesn't have. Wait this is turning into a whole another post I'll write this next time.

[marymary-diva17]

Our human mom

Jake x reader x neytiri + sully kids and spider

The omatacyia clan was one of the few clans that could be deemed as a rare or very strange, as they had sky people apart of their clan. When everyone else had thought the ones from the sky were all long gone or with the rda. That was not all true was you and many others are loyal to the navi and had been able to make a new life here on pandora, along with being embraced by the great mother as well. 

y/n " so you are telling us that we have to stay hidden for the gather of the clan here"

neytiri " no we don't mean it like that ma y/n we are not ashamed of you and the others"

y/n " well Jake made it seem like that jarhead"

Jake " honey bunny I'm sorry and I mean no harm but you are mostly human at times and so his half of the base, and we don't have enough time to get everyone to do the eyes of eywa"

y/n " ........"

Jake " oh come on you can't keep on ignore me I know you love me" Jake soon picked you up and was now looking you in the eyes, he gave you his usual smirk.

y/n " I understand but I hate being away from the family and clan like this"

Jake " it will be only a week some of the navi here have yet to trust humans"

neytiri " yes and they have yet to open their eyes and see that you been blessed by the great mother"

y/n " okay but put me down you fool"

Jake " what if I don't want to" Jake and neytiri are laughing at you as you looked at them, Jake soon settled you back down as you look at him.

y/n " so what is the kids reaction to this whole thing"

Jake and neytiri " ........"

y/n " don't tell me you haven't told them yet wow that wrong"

Jake " oh come on they will understand the situation"

y/n " then you are fool for not knowing our kids"

Jake " there nothing we can't handle we will tell them and they will understand"

y/n " okay whatever you say" Jake and neytiri had spent some of the day with you until they were called away, to take care of their responsibilities and what need to be cover for the gathering.

Later that day

??? " mama" you soon heard a loud voice calling you and it belong to lo'ak.

y/n " over here my dear"

lo'ak " did you hear what dad and mom are doing for the gather, not allowing you to be there along with uncle norm, spider, and max everyone else as well that human"

y/n " yes I ....."

????? " mama dad is being a complete fool a fool" soon kiri had came into the room as well and she was mad.

spider " it no fair why can't I come as well I'm a member of the clan aren't I" soon spider had followed shortly after as well he was mad as now, so now it was three mad teenagers.

tuk " mama why can't you be at the gathering with us it no fair no fair" soon tuk came into the room looking upset as well and she hate, the situation.

y/n " everyone clam ...."

neteyam " Weill you all relax you haven't given mama time to talk at all" the four kids had soon clam down when neteyam had entered the room.

y/n " thank you my son look I know we are all mad about the situation, but it need to happen for now for the safety and well b being of the clan"

lo'ak " mama"

y/n " this gather will make new alliance that will be beneficial in the end, and if I have to miss that I will do that if good for the youth of the clan"

kids " yes ma'am"

kiri " then I will have a protest and stay here with you and spider"

y/n " you are totally your mother daughter kiri I love your support, but all your kids need to attend"

lo'ak " not all of us neteyam can go and we will be good"

neteyam " hey"

y/n " no all of you are the children are the children of torku makto so you will be needed there, to stand as family until together if not for you dad do it for me"

lo'ak " okay mama I will do it for you but why are you not mad"

y/n " oh I'm mad but mostly at your dad on how she worded the situation, but that man has fail on wording stuff in situation at time but he still a good person.... look once everything is good maybe we will be at the next meeting"

kiri " yes mama"

y/n " good and I will need you all to go and report back to me as well"

spider " yeah you have to tell us everything you see as I will be bored here"

y/n " no you will not your will have task, studies, and this base to keep you busy for a week when they are gone" s

spider " really aunt y/n"

y/n " well have to play our part but you can still talk with them as well" the kids soon smiled as it seems like they clam down from their anger towards Jake and the situation of the gathering at the moment.

y/n " now when you are all away at this gather I will need you all on your best behavior"

kids " yes ma'am"

spider " haha"

y/n " I mean all of you even you young man even due you are staying here, I will need you to come home on time no sleeping outside"

spider " yes ma'am"

lo'ak " busted"

y/n " lo'ak"

lo'ak " sorry mama"

y/n " you are all going to have a wonderful time and I know you will do well"

tuk " yes mama I will make you ppruf by being a big girl and not needing a baby sitter"

y/n " I know you will baby girl" tuk had wonder off as you soon looked at the older kids.

y/n " keep an eye on her and help her"

neteyam " we will mama" The kids had stayed with you for the rest of the day before Jake had come to collect them for bedtime, a few days later they all left for the gathering after packing up their stuff. Even due they are some upset kids they soon understood it will, only be a few days until they saw their human/avatar parents and friends again. Even if you and the others were not there to be apart of the gathering the clan still, found a way to make sure you all were apart of the festivities and seen as members of the clan. While they are all away you all made sure to keep the forest and village safe from any harm.

[lokigonnakmsforbucky]

Dating Dean Winchester Headcanons <3

No one asked for this, but I am going to write about it anyway because I am THIRSTY for some Dean Winchester...feel free to send me requests for dean or any spn character. I will take a look at those asap. Also, this goes without saying but, minors dni, NSFW WILL be mentioned under. You have been warned :)

Long road trips in the impala, classic rock 24/7. You both would be singing to every single song. While Sam does anything possible to get you both to shut up.

Constant jokes, pranks, and teasing.

You guys would often make bets on what monster you would be hunting, but jokes on you both. Sam was always right.

Dean was a man that loved physical touch, as soon as you give him the A-okay. His hands never leave you... and I mean that.

Forehead kisses, cheek kisses, hand kisses... you get them ALL.

This man loves to hug you, wrapping his arms around your waist and putting his head on your shoulder no matter what you are doing or where you at. He will find a way to hug you somehow.

He loved to show his love for you in any way he could, cooking, rubbing your back, and maybe something else ;) He wanted to let you know how much you mean to him.

Baking pies together <3

Dean was an ASS man, his hand would never leave your ass in public. He would always have his hand on top of it, so everyone in the vicinity would know you were his. Don't worry he would slap it too if anyone was looking.

oh, man if anyone was looking... you were in for a treat.

"He thinks it's okay to keep eyeing you...I'm gonna prove to him your mine."

He would get jealous quick... even over something so small.

Dean is also very protective of you...he would fight, lie or even die for you, and when ANYONE made googly eyes at you. He was ready to show everyone you're his girl.

"What do you say, sweetheart, let's show this fool your mine."

"Please..."

Dean could quickly become a Dom or Sub depending on your mood, his, or the situation.

But, fucking him was a perfect combo of filthy and sweet.

This man would have his head between your legs and his fingers inside, keeping eye contact and making you watch while he fingers you.

"C'mon sweetheart, moan for me... let them all hear how good I make you feel just with my fingers... we haven't even got to the good part yet."

"Please...fuck me, Dean... stop teasing"

"Yes, ma'am"

He could spend the rest of his life making you moan for him.

But, remember when I said he was an ass man? He loves taking you from behind... holding your head back. One hand around your neck, while whispering dirty things into your ears.

"Just like that...moan out loud for me"

He also went crazy when you rode him, thrusting up into you when you went too slow or just watching your face take him.

you + him +impala = dean's in heaven, mainly when you were on top of him.

"Ride me just like that, you're doing so well baby"

He would also ensure that everyone knows that he did it if you can't walk well the next day. Was because of him

He absolutely loves aftercare too.

He would make a bath for the both of you, cook you anything you wanted, and cuddle until you both fell asleep watching any show that made you happy.

When he went out for hunts, he would always think about you. Are you eating enough, are you sleeping well, are you okay? His questions would spin in his head the entire time. For once he wishes monsters didn't exist or took a break so he could spend time with you.

He would call you at LEAST twice a day to check-in on how you were doing.

Dean was absolutely in love with you, to the point that he would rant to Sam on how much he did love you and that he was afraid you would leave one day or that he would not be there to save you.

"But what happens if I can't make it in time or if she leaves?"

"Dean, she can handle herself. Plus, she loves you and if you can't see that you an idiot."

This man was head over heels for you, he would do anything for you and I mean anything for you. He even thought of retiring from the family business and start a life with you.

Maybe some day, he will make that a reality.

[pengujoon]

A HOPELESS DEVOTION

content: oikawa x reader, iwaizumi is their best friend. angst, hurt/no comfort. none at all. cw: suicide. (not elaborated in detail but some descriptions may be triggering). oikawa and reader were best friends before things went south.

a/n: of course this was written by me when i'm almost drunk and realising that i have a crush on my friend for 4 years but knowing that he doesn't see me like that i was feeling sad and thus this story was created. as such, enjoy.

part i

Everyone in Aoba Johsai knew that there was an inseparable pair of best friends, and it was none other than you and Oikawa. 

Even after Oikawa was ostracised by his teammates of the volleyball team, you stood by him and gave him all the help you could’ve possibly gave. Even after his fangirls physically abused you to the point of hospitalisation, you still stood by him. 

Even after all these troubles you’ve gone through, no one could understand why you were so resilient on being Oikawa’s best friend -  other than you yourself, of course. Who could’ve possibly known that you’d develop a crush on the volleyball captain since an impossibly long time ago? 

This very thought was ruled out a long time ago, with the fact that you had a boyfriend when you stayed by Oikawa’s side when his closest friends left him. Apparently that was enough proof to your very own group of haters that you didn’t see Oikawa that way. 

They couldn’t have possibly known that the boyfriend that you had was just a façade you convinced a random classmate of yours to put up with to get away from their beatings, could they?

Shaking your head, you glanced at the empty cup in your hands.

You came to this party with one goal in mind: to confess to him before he left for Argentina. 

Deep down you knew that it wasn’t the right place and time to confess; being in a party with the noisiest crowd and everybody being all drunk and high on different substances just made the setting way worse than you’d expect a confession to take place in. 

But you knew that you could blame this on the alcohol if you confessed. It was basically the April Fools Privilege. You could easily get away with it and claim it as your drunk self talking. Maybe even a sleep talk? 

You came back from the open rooftop and headed down towards the kitchen to grab yourself a cup of water to clear your mind. However as you stepped onto the last few steps of the stairs, you knew that the very person that you were about to confess to was right in the kitchen with someone else, seemingly to be discussing highly confidential information with the way they whispered cautiously as though to protect their words from peering ears. 

You decided to stay by the stairs and lean against the wall to hear them properly; thank goodness they stood rather close to the entryway, but not close enough to actually see the outline of your figure. Your current location was pristine, to be frank; you figured out that even if they left the kitchen towards the living room, they wouldn’t even have noticed your very presence, and thus you stood by there trying to piece together bits and pieces of the conversation that you could hear. 

Initially, it wasn’t anything much as far as you were concerned: it seemed like they were discussing the party and how well it went, but you suddenly heard your name in the conversation, bringing your attentiveness up to another level. 

What could they even be talking to need to saying my name? You thought to yourself, looking upwards to the ceiling with hopes that it’ll be something good. 

Out of all the possible topics that you thought they could be discussing of, you definitely did not expect that the very centre of the topic was you. You’d thought that maybe it was about school in general, and talking about the friends he had. Or maybe even his heartfelt emotions towards you?

“What do you think of your best friend? You know, the one that always follow you around no matter where you go.” 

“Oh,” you heard him say, “that person.” 

Although no names were mentioned, you knew very well that he was referring to you. After all, who would have the guts to follow the famous captain of the volleyball team around like a hopeless puppy? 

But with such distaste over mentioning you? 

“I hate them.” 

To say that your heart broke was an understatement: god, no words could describe the heartbreak you felt at that moment. Was it anguish? Grief? Sorrow? You couldn’t even tell what you were feeling right there and then.

At that very moment, you have never wanted to run away this badly from a situation in your entire life before. Your rationality screamed at you to run, to leave this hell; but it was as though your body rooted itself to the ground judging by the way you stood as still as a statue. 

Maybe he was just saying it to pretend to be cool? you thought, knuckles turning ghostly white from the sheer force of you holding the railing, as though it was the only thing that grounded you to reality. That it's not a dream.

But deep down, you knew very well that it was a lie. There was literally no one in the kitchen. No one - just them both.

No one was even in the same room with them. 

There was no point for him to lie.

You knew that he wasn’t drunk, given the way he articulated his words smoothly. 

But soon you realised: did you even know him? Did he ever trust you enough for you to see him in a drunken state even after being ‘friends’ for more than half a decade? Did he even bother to talk to you if it wasn’t for you initiating the conversation every time?

“God, imagine how tired I am having to deal with my ‘best friend’.” His mocking tone reached your ears, tearing your already broken heart into a million pieces more. 

“Imagine having to be nice to the person or else your reputation will be broken. Imagine having to act like you like someone for years.” He took a breath. 

“I should get an Oscar’s award for my acting skills, don’t you think?”

The way they both burst out laughing after he finished that very sentence made your eyes water. Your knees felt weak, it was as though you could fall to the ground any moment were it not for your arms holding you up as it held tightly against the railing of the stairs. 

How badly you wanted to believe this was all fake - it was just a dream! A hallucination! Maybe you drank too much. That’s it! It must be the alcohol playing with your ears and mind!

But no matter how hard you try to lie to yourself, you knew it was undeniably the truth. You’ve guessed it from the very start: he hated you with every fibre of his being. He never wanted to be your best friend in the first place. 

Ok, maybe he did. 

Or maybe not. 

Maybe he just wanted someone who he could toy with, who he could tease just for the sake of passing time. Who else could he do such things to? You were the only one that stuck to him mindlessly even after others left him.

You were stupidly in love and available. 

It was just as simple as that. 

You couldn’t even remember anything else that happened after that - everything was a blur. 

And that’s why you never knew how you ended up back at the open rooftop, sitting by the very edge, your legs dangling off the building held back by nothing. 

Supposedly - unless they both knew that you were standing by the door - no one could’ve possibly known why your body laid lifeless by the pavement, bloodied with body matters scattered all over from the sheer force of your falling body hitting the concrete ground. There was no explanation for your sudden death.

Right?

a little bit of my mental illness took over me so the ending was not something i could control. but ngl i thought the ending was executed really well and i was genuinely surprised when i finished the story. i'm posting it now because i'm almost drunk (as mentioned) and i have no idea if i'm doing anything right atm. but i want to be productive.

[darksigns-exe]

All The Things Yet To Come - Nicholas Ruffilo x OFC

Paring: Nicholas Ruffilo x OFC

Warnings: Might lead to hyperglycaemia (it’s just that sweet okay), none

Word Count: 887

Nick had known for a long time that she was his endgame, call him a sappy romantic fool but when you’ve been with someone for as long as they’ve been together you just know.

Nick doesn't make a secret of the fact that he likes the more comfortable things in life. He doesn’t need a lot to be happy. Most days all he needs is his girl, a nice movie and a cozy corner in their living room.

It’s the thing he looks forward to the most after a tour. Sure he loves the boys but the calm little space they’ve created for themselves out here beats the open road by miles.

He’s got his head in Mari’s lap, her fingers in his hair and there’s no place he’d rather be. They’d spent the weekend holed up here, just coming down from all the stress of touring. Their reunion had, as one would expect, not just been lovey dovey. As a first order of business they’d consecrated the dining table and then the counter and then the sofa.

He presses a kiss to her still bare thigh, just above the tattoo he’d given her too many years ago. She’d touched it up at some point, he thinks.

Sometimes he thinks that Noah is right when he calls them an old married couple. Maybe he should ask her some time, even though he knows that they don’t really need that kind of formality. It’d be nice to make it official. Nick had known for a long time that she was his endgame, call him a sappy romantic fool but when you’ve been with someone for as long as they’ve been together you just know. And the sacrifices she has made and continues to make from them only testament it farther. She’d paid half their rent when the band went to L.A., stayed behind in Virginia and worked her ass off so that they could do this without too much worrying. From the first time they started hanging out way back when she’d fit into their little group, made sure that everyone ate, that they slept enough and put their heads back on straight whenever necessary.

Truth be told they’d pretty much been a done deal since he’d asked her out for the first time so he doesn’t really know what’s stopped him from asking her all these years. He thinks that it might have been, at least in a very convoluted way, a fear of being judged by the others. Nick knows, of course, that when Folio calls her mom it’s in pure jest and love, but sometimes he thinks that the rest of them take it all a little bit too easy.

The only one out of the four them that had any kind of grounds to relate to him was Jolly. He has the utmost respect for how long they’ve managed to go long distance. Hell and heaven know that Nick starts getting a little restless when he goes longer than a day without talking to her.

Noah and Bee are a different topic all together. He’s glad that they’ve finally managed to figure their shit out. They’re good for each other, make each other just that little bit better. And seeing Noah positively beaming is just an added bonus. The guy deserves a little happiness after the shit he’s already seen.

And then there’s Nick. He worries sometimes that the guy will end up with some girl just to have someone. He knows how much the youngest of the bunch wants the whole deal. A pretty girl, a house, a dog, big yard and all that shit. He’d spilled his guts one night on the bus and Nicholas was sure that he was one step away from breaking into tears about it.

He looks up at Mari. It clicks into place then. He wants to ask her, not because he feels like he has to but because he wants to. He wants it for them, no one else. Doesn’t matter if it’d be just the two of them there or all of their friends and family. It’d be nice to have it on paper.

Nicholas catches her hand when it passes over his chest. She looks down at him with those big brown eyes that have been his ruin since day one.

His eyes find their joined hands. There’s a little scar on her middle finger from an unfortunate accident with a knife. And then there’s one of the many tattoos he’d given her. His own skin is littered with her work.

They’ve already written their promises all over each other's skin. Another one on paper doesn’t sound so bad.

Maybe he could have planned something more, he could have actually bought a ring or put some thought into what he could say. But elaborate speeches and pretty diamond rings haven’t ever been their thing. He could probably propose with a little thing made from sticks and leaves and she’d say yes. He has none of those things, but the moment feels right.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Her thumb grazes across the back of his hand.

He draws in one final breath before the plunge. He knows her answer, but it still feels a little terrifying. Like standing on the edge of a pool and knowing that you will get wet but not knowing just how cold the water is.

“Marry me?”

The words sit between them for a second, then two and then she smiles.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

[pedriswife]

hii can i request a pedri x reader x bestfriend!gavi where pedri & y/n is in a secret relationship and only gavi knows about them. All 3 of them enjoy fooling everyone, acting like they’re all just bestfriends but pedri & y/n has been dating a long time. When someone asked them if either gavi or pedri is dating y/n all of them would answered with “no, we’re very strictly platonic”. Pedri & y/n would act like a couple as a joke infront of people but then they burst out laughing and ew-ing to eachother. Then one day one of the barca teammate found them cuddling and being “too cosy to be just bestfriend” & the said teammate took a picture of them without them realising it and send it to the groupchat. Gavi would laugh and having the time of his life after seeing pedri & y/n red faces due to the embarrassment of getting caught

you can add or change anything if you like! but just make it fluffy and funny!! ❤️❤️

𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 ☆ 𝐏𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐢 𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐳𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐳

Faking a relationship isn't easy. But neither is pretending to be just friends when in reality you're more than that. And this is your and Pedri's situation.

You have been dating for quite a while now; just around a year and the only people who knew about this relationship were your and Pedri's parents and of course, Gavi.

The two of you have mutually decided to keep the relationship private to everyone else; you didn't feel comfortable enough letting others know about it, let alone the public. Even though most people would be supportive, you knew that there was always going to be someone hateful just around the corner.

However, ever since you let Gavi into the circle, the 3 of you have been hanging out together ALL THE TIME. You developed some sort of a friendship with Gavi and made sure to include him in your plans as you grew closer, most of which was the two of you messing around and Pedri trying not to lose his head.

One day, during a training session before a match, you made your way to the stands as per usual, where you cheer on your boyfriend and his best friend. During a break, Gavi, Pedri and Ansu made their way to where you were sat.

"Hey guys, some good training going on the pitch" you started off the conversation, making sure to maintain the 'just friends' image between you and Pedri.

The three boys nodded in agreement and continued the conversation about football, with you occasionally chipping in. Their voices eventually blurred into the background as you focused on Pedri, loving the sound of him talking and how he looked; sweaty hair stuck to his forehead, rosy cheeks and the signature cheeky smile decorating his face.

Anyone from a mile away would notice the loving look etched on your face and of course Ansu picked up on it.

"Oi y/n, what's with the puppy eyes? You and Pedri got something to share with the class?" He joked, the commotion attracting other players to come around and check the tea out for themselves.

"What? NO" - you faked offence, scoffing at the statement - "Pedri and I are STRICTLY platonic" you finished off, giving Pedri the 'change the subject' look.

He picked up on your cue immediately and ushered the boys towards the changing room, telling them to cut the bullshit in the process. Gavi was the last one to go, and before he set off he had a knowing smile on his face and mouthed "close one" before turning around and leaving.

Once the rest of the boys left and Gavi caught up with Pedri, your boyfriend turned around giving you a wink and blowing you a kiss. You smiled in response, and waved him goodbye.

After the boys were finished, you joined Pedri, Gavi and Ansu on their way to Pedri's house to play Fifa.

Pedri was tasked with turning on the PS5 and was shortly joined by you, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Gavi and Ansu were in the kitchen, faffing around with snacks and cans of coke.

"Close one today huh?" Pedri said, gently putting his hands round your face and leaning in to give you a kiss on the forehead. You nodded and sat down on the couch, exhausted from the day's events. Pedri joined you, engulfing your body in a massive hug and giving you a kiss again, this time on the lips.

What the two of you didn't notice, is that Ansu was standing in the doorway holding his phone in one hand and the bowl full of crisps in the other. His mouth was wide open; he was proven right but this time he had evidence to back it up.

Finally, he entered the room and Gavi soon joined, you and Pedri making some distance between yourselves to dispel any more rumours. This was done too late however; all of you in the room got a notification from the collective group chat that you have with all the Barca players, their girlfriends and yourself as well.

As you opened the message, your mouth dropped down to the floor; there was a picture of you and Pedri sharing the quick kiss on the sofa sent by Ansu himself. As you scrolled through, you were met with other players replying with "knew about them for ages" or "finally".

Gavi's laugh was what broke the initial silence. Out of everyone, he was enjoying this situation the MOST. The looks of shock on your and Pedri's face is what did it for him. Soon enough, Ansu joined in and you looked at Pedri to see his reaction. He was looking straight at you, with a hopeful smile on his face; he extended his arm, which you gratefully took and pulling you in close.

"Maybe them knowing isn't so bad? I mean, we were really bad at pretending" he said, still smiling. You nodded, relieved that you didn't have to keep your relationship a secret in front of his team mates anymore.

Seeing you nod in agreement, Pedri took this as a cue to leave yet another kiss on your lips, this time, officially in front of his friends.

Gavi audibly gagged and Ansu covered his eyes, mumbling something along the lines of "get a fucking room".

Safe to say, they were going to see more of that in the future.

A/N: hey anon, apologies this took so long, I just didn't know how to start it off at first. It's a bit different but I hope that you'll still enjoy it🫶🏼

[impossiblycolorfulpanda]

An alternate scene of mine about the debate of Ozai's fate if Aang was separated from the gaang and was held captive by the FN right after being revived in Ba Sing Se until Zuko delivers him back to the gaang as he tries joining.

Suki: But he looks so sweet and innocent.

Zuko: Well that sweet kid grew up to be a monster and the worst father in the history of fathers.

Aang: But he's still your father none the less.

Zuko: You're going to defend him?

Aang: No. I know he's done horrible deeds and I know that I had to take lives at the North Temple and the North Pole to protect innocent people and Gyatso resorted to taking lives when he tried to save himself. But I don't think I can destroy the fire lord this time.

Sokka: Sure you can. You're the Avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the universe will forgive you.

Aang: Would the fire nation feel the same way?

Sokka: Yeah...?

Aang: Regardless of what he is, the fire nation idolize him. They appreciate him as their ruler, not to mention Sozin has been spreading lies about me and other nations for generations. Everyone was indoctrinated, including Ozai and Azula. We need to show them that we're the good guys.

Zuko: An admirable idea, but it's not possible. My father finds the very concepts of mercy and peace to be laughable weaknesses. Indoctrinated or not he's not gonna stop doing horrible things.

Aang: Not everyone in the fire nation feel the same way. I believe if we showed mercy to the fire lord, they'll appreciate it, Azula included, even if he doesn't.

Katara: Azula?

Aang: She's not as ruthless as her father is. She tries to be only because she loves her father. He has to live, for Azula's sake if nothing else.

Zuko: My father's a bad influence on Azula, she'll be better off with him dead.

Aang: How do you know she won't become worse than ever in the process of trying to avenge him? Can he at least live long enough until she and the others are shown the truth and reject his policies like you?

Sokka: Buddy, Azula shot you with lightning, right after Katara healed you, she held you, Suki, and my dad prisoner, she's a good enough of a liar to fool even Toph, and she was the one who inspired the fire lord to commit the same genocide as the air nomads in the first place. She's clearly evil in her own right.

Aang: She could've taken my life again in the worst of ways. She could've done the same to Suki and your dad. She could've placed me in the boiling rock next to them. But she didn't. She promised to be civil if I was civil first and she delivered. I got to spend the most time with her and I know there is good in her. I can feel it. She can be saved. She can be turned to the good side, but not if I kill her father.

Toph: Azula brainwashed you the same way Long Feng brainwashed Jet, didn't she.

Aang: No.

Zuko: I get where you're coming from. She was the one who overturned my banishment and kept quiet about my secret conversations with our uncle. She even asked me to go to the beach with her. But we may have to prepare to put her out of the way as well if she becomes a big enough problem.

Aang: You can't seriously mean that! She's your sister, she wouldn't have done any of those things if she wasn't capable of love!

Katara: Aang, we understand what your saying it's just...

Aang: Just what, Katara? What?

Katara: We're trying to help!

Aang: Then, when you figure out a way for me to save the Fire Lord, the Fire Nation, and Azula from themselves and restore their internal balance, I'd love to hear it! (Walks away.)

Katara: Aang, don't walk away from this! (Walks toward Aang.)

Zuko: (Puts a hand on Katara's shoulder to stop her.) Let him go. He needs time to sort it out by himself.

Suki: He and Azula didn't have a thing, did they?

Zuko: I don't know. But they did seem close and friendliest to each other until the war meeting, they even danced together at a party that was not too far from here before he helped us burn it all down.

[blueeyesking]

Pegasus Returns?! Duel, Kaiba-Boy! Pt. 1

[Seto and Mokuba fly over the island Maximillion Pegasus calls home, Duelist Kingdom, in the Blue-Eyes Jet. Seto is piloting.

"I can't believe we're visiting Duelist Kingdom again," Seto mutters, with clear disdain.

"Yeah," Mokuba adds, "It's got nothing but bad memories..."

"I'll make this quick, so that we don't have to be here very long." Seto assures Mokuba. They land shortly thereafter.

The Kaibas are silent as they approach the darkened entrance hall. It's eerily empty.

"Do you think anyone even still works here...? I mean, Pegasus is supposed to be dead!" Mokuba remarks. "If it really is him, we'll put him in the ground for good this time!"

Seto nods, but doesn't verbally reply.

It's not long until they come to a large room, too high up to see its floor in the dim, with their walkway suddenly cut off with a drop into the pit. Seto has to grab Mokuba's arm to keep the younger boy from walking right off the edge, as he's preoccupied looking around the room; Mokuba's fear of that near-death experience has him clinging to Seto.

"PEGASUS! Enough fooling around; show yourself!"

On the other side of the room, across the gap, Maximillion Pegasus appears from the darkened hallway, laughing to himself. He's just as the boys remember him.

"Just as annoying as always," Seto mutters.

"Oh, Kaiba-boy, where's the love? We've been through so much together! Aren't you happy to see me, after so long~?"

Seto grimaces, mirroring Mokuba's expression beside him. The younger is the first to respond.

"Shut up, Pegasus! We're not here to catch up with a low-life like you!! My bro is here to duel you, so you leave us alone for good!"

"Ohhh~? And what have I done to earn so much ire from you, boys~?"

The Kaibas grit their teeth. Seto responds this time.

"It's a long list. But you know why we're here now: you've been buying up my company's shares like cheap candy." Seto points dramatically at Pegasus.

"Not to mention- you're the only other person who could possibly have scared the world with those monster holograms."

"Is that so~? You boys know that my little arenas aren't nearly as advanced as your Solid Vision... are you sure you aren't just blaming me to hide your own responsibility for it? Maybe you're just scared about those monsters being real, hmm~?" Pegasus chuckles to himself, raising his arms in a caricature of a shrug and shaking his head. It really pisses Seto off.

"AS IF! Everything has an explanation, and monsters being real is impossible!"

Mokuba, however, picks up on something else in Pegasus's response.

"What do you mean, our responsibility for all of this?? We already told everyone KC's instruments had nothing to do with it!"

Pegasus continues to chuckle, lowering his arms. As always, he's condescending to his opponents.

"I'll tell you if your big brother can beat me in a Duel, Mokuba-boy~. But don't forget what happened last time you dueled me... and how you lost your souls~!"

Seto growls, clenching his fist, then takes a breath to steady himself.

"I don't want to hear it- you're just reminding us of old humiliations to try and rile me up before the Duel, so that I'll make mistakes. It won't work."

"That's old news, Pegasus- like you should be!" Seto brandishes his Duel Disk, and it activates, pieces swiftly moving into its Duel-ready position.

Pegasus gives them a hearty laugh, then spreads his arms in front of him. "You're right- it's time for the rematch of the century!"]

[bitchyglitterfox]

Little Dove - Aemond Targaryen x F!Reader

Warning: Smut, Slapping, Fluff, HoTD

A/n: as much as I am a blacks person I gotta show some love my greens! Since adult Aemond stepped foot onto the screen I knew this man was gonna be my fav! I hope you enjoy this and I'm sorry if he seems a bit out of character.

**************

You have been a palace servant assigned to Prince Aemond ever since I was a young girl. Presently, you were outside his door with his dinner.

    “Your highness I have your dinner,” you say softly

    “Just leave it outside, I shall fetch it when you are gone,” he says.

    “Yes, your highness” you gently lay it on the floor and begin walking away. When you were halfway down the long corridor you heard his door open ever so slightly.

    “You stupid girl! You are not to leave the food on the floor!” you look up and see the headmistress glaring at me.

    “Ma’am I-I-I he told-” you were cut off by a stinging pain on my cheek. 

    “DO NOT LAY ANOTHER FINGER ON HER!” you hear the loud voice of the Prince.

    “Y-yes your highness,” the headmistress stutters.

    “Go now before I do something far worse than a slap to the face” he warns as she runs away.

    You keep your head down as you hear the prince walking towards you .

    “Lift your head girl,” he says standing in front of me. You gently lifted it and looked into his piercing purple eye. He lifts his hand to your cheek and you flinch “don't worry I'm not going to harm you.”

He runs his thumb against your sore cheek. “Thank you, your highness”

    “What is your name?” he asks while his hand is still on his cheek.

    “(y/n)” You say gently.

    “Well (y/n), I’m not going to let anyone else hurt you from now on.”

He was telling the truth, no one ever hurt me again after that one simple encounter with the prince. 

***

“Excuse me, your highness, I have brought you breakfast,” you say while knocking on his bedroom door. 

“Come in,” he says from behind the door. You place the tray against your left hip while you open the door with your right hand.

“Good morning your highness, I hope you slept well,” you say while closing the door only to bump noses with his bare chest, “I-Your highness please forgive me” 

He lifts your chin so that our eyes lock, a blush creeps its way onto your face as your breath hitches in your throat, and your heart rate increases. He looks at you with a smirk adorning his beautiful face. He leans down to your ear, his warm breath tickles against my skin.

“Do I make you nervous Y/n?” he whispers while grabbing the tray of food from your hands, “Thank you for delivering my food.” 

You swallow hard, looking just over his shoulders fearing that if you were to speak your voice would fail you and you’d make a fool of yourself in front of the crowned prince. He pulls away, only to look at your cheek, the bruise from yesterday’s slap prominent.

“Your cheek” he whispers gently rubbing his thumb across it like he had done the night prior, “Does it hurt as much as it did last night?”

“No, not at all your highness, I-if you don't need anything else I should be on my way, I still have chores to complete,” you say looking into his big purple eye.

“Call me Aemond but very well, I should let you go on your way. One more thing before you leave Y/n. I want you to come back here after everyone is asleep tonight. Be quiet because we don't need you getting caught.” He says as he cups my unbruised cheek and leaning forward, our lips meet and fit together like missing puzzle pieces. The kiss only lasts a moment but that was enough to ignite a flame within your heart that you hadn’t known was there in the first place, “Until then my little dove.”

You walk out of his room and lean against his closed door, my fingers instinctively go to my lips, did I just kiss the prince? I think I did. 

I quickly run off to the kitchen to complete my chores for the day.

***

Soon enough all the servants are sound asleep and you put Aemond’s plan into action, you gently lay your feet on the floor, grabbing the candle next to your bed and quickly walk out of the servant quarters.

Once out in the hall, you relight the candle and make your way to the prince’s bed chambers. Soon enough you make it without alerting the guards on duty or waking anyone, you gently knock on the door. Once again you’re met with a shirtless Aemond, a smirk evident on his lips. 

“I’m glad you came,” he says with an airy breath. You place my candle on the table near his door when he pulls me in, closing the door behind us. 

“When the prince calls for you at midnight or anytime it is my duty to assist in any way possible,” I say in a voice just above a whisper.

“Then I ask for you to jump,” he says in a commanding voice. You do as told and his arms rest under my thighs as you wrap your legs around him, feeling his already hardened cock against your cunt, the thin material of your nightdress doing nothing to cover you at the moment. He walks towards his bed. You take this opportunity to press your lips against his running your fingers through his long silvery hair. He lays you on the bed without breaking the kiss, he moves his lips from yours to your neck. 

“I’ve wanted to do this with you ever since I laid my eyes on you Y/n,”  he says into your neck, changing his mood from sexual to soft. 

You cup his face in your hands “I have been in love with you for over a year now but since you are a prince you have to marry a princess and that’s just not me. I’m a servant girl, one destined to take care of you.” you say while staring into his beautiful purple eye, “Even if it’s just for tonight can we pretend that you love me too?” a tear falls from my eyes.

“I love you too, I mean that with all of my heart,” Aemond says bringing his lips to meet yours, this kiss isn’t one of lust but instead its a kiss full of love. His hand slides up your thigh, underneath your sleep dress, “Is this alright? We don't have to if you don't want too”

“Yes,” You say while he continues, his hands reach your underwear and pull them down. You pull the thin dress over your head and suddenly become self-aware and try to cover yourself with your hands but Aemond stops you. 

“Don't cover yourself my love, you are beautiful,” he says, kissing your lips then your neck, going down and kissing the valley between your breasts. He pulls up and strips himself of his sleep pants, freeing himself, “You may feel a small bit of pain before the pleasure.” 

He strokes himself while you look at him biting your lip, he lines up against your soaking cunt and gently enters. You let out a soft moan as you feel him push deeper, fully sheathing himself. He looks at you.

“Please Aemond, I want you to move and claim me as yours,” his thrusts are slow yet powerful, our moans intermingle. 

Your lips once again meet as he picks up speed lifting your thigh over his shoulders to get a better angle, “Mmm Hoetaek, yes, just right there!” you moan out as he kisses your ankle, biting every once in a while. A knot forms in your stomach as you come closer to my high.

“Me too, little dove” He says while his thrusts become sloppier, you can feel your orgasm wash over you as well as feel him release into your cunt, he paints your walls as you squeeze him dry. 

You stay in this position while you both come down from the high.

He pulls out of you, causing you both to hiss at the overstimulation, he lifts the blankets of his bed over the both of you. He turns to face you with the biggest smile on his face. He runs his hand up and down my side as you move closer to him, laying your head on his chest. 

“I love you Y/n, my little dove”

“I love you too Aemond, my Prince” 

[brandnewhuman]

Love and Mercy

Part 1

☆STARRING☆

Michael Audrey Myers

CONTENT

Tw: canon violence, major character death, mature language, mentions of toxic relationship

A/n: BROS I HAVE FINALLY DONE PART I OF MY ZOMBIE READER IDEA. I had to do a multiple parts cause it was getting kinda long. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PARTS I WILL MAKE CAUSE I WANTED TO MAKE THIS THING WITH OTHER SLASHERS TOO SO YEAH. I know I'm on a hiatus but while I'm at it I wanted to post something more than my usual garbage content. I hope you like it

Michael has never been the type to show mercy nor love. He in fact has never been able to explain why he let you live, which he can only justify by saying you were a necessary bad. Something he had to keep around in order to use it and get what he needed. He thought that one day you'd bring your life to an end by doing some stupid mistake, by giving him the single push he needs to get annoyed enough to kill you. 

With time he had to come to terms with the fact that, even if he didn't know how or why, he actually wanted you around. 

You could say, at some point, he started to feel some sort of affection. He thought of it as a very small and weak flame inside him that with its warmth just annoyingly tickled his mind from time to time when he looked at you for too long, nothing that could justify why it was so hard to actually get over with it and kill you. Against every fibre of his being the flame started to grow, but how couldn't it if you kept acting like that? Waiting for him awake, cooking his favourite meals even when you've could simply give him something like a sandwich just to make sure he was eating properly, medicating every single scratch or wound he came back with as if it was some sort of fatal injury, asking him all those questions without expecting an answer and always being content with being able to at least talk to him, just overall looking at him like you were looking at an actual human being. He has never felt so…real and alive. Being the shape was great and all but his whole life he has been treated as some sort of urban legend or myth, a ghost story used to scare the kids into being good. He always felt like he was not an actual person who breathes, sleeps, who was a kid once or that thinks and feels. But you, you made him feel like Michael was someone real that has existed before the shape and that was still there. He could've come back home after doing the most unspeakable and brutal acts, and you would still look at him with all that confusing kindness and empathy. For the longest time he thought you were just stupid but then, thinking about it and after spending time with you, he didn't mind you being this kind of stupid that much. 

It was kind of frustrating because at some point, he couldn't really tell when it all started to make him feel guilty. He may not be the best at communicating but he's not stupid and he's really good at observing people. He knew that deep inside you longed for someone to care about you the same way you were taking care of him but he just wasn't capable of it. You always said it was okay, that you felt happy with just being together but he couldn't stop beating himself up for never doing enough. Everytime he looked at you he saw reflected in your kindness, his own ugliness and all the things everyone has ever said about him. They were all right about him, they have always been but he actually managed to fool himself that maybe it wasn't true. He spent so much time under your gentle light that he, even if not for long, started to think he could actually be something else than what everyone has set him up to be. He believed every word you said, telling him that he just grew up inside the box other people put him in, that he didn't have to be evil if he didn't feel like it. 

You made everything so much better, he kind of wished you didn't. Cause if he never knew how good it felt to be loved so unconditionally and so raw he could've then lived a life without you. He wouldn't have to feel like you have left him behind to go somewhere he can't reach.  If you have been less intoxicating, making him actually fall for your lies and giving him a taste of something he couldn't really have forever, he would've been able to kill you when you needed to. 

It all started with you catching a cold, something stupid really, you weren't even that worried and you seem to be doing fine as always. Somehow that cold started to eat at you like some kind of illness, your skin full of colour and warmth started to get ghostly and cold, your eyelids found difficult to stay open more than halfway and overall your whole body seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. He had to watch how you were slowly slipping off and all he could do was just pester you into going to the hospital, which obviously you didn't even want to consider. He couldn't ask for help, he couldn't help you himself and you were too weak to tell him what to do to make it better. The situation was too much even for him and all he wanted to do was run away as far as he could and hide until everything got better. You kept saying you wanted him close to you cause he made you feel better, even though he always felt like you knew what was going to happen and you just didn't want to be alone. He wasn't able to say no either way, he could never say no to you. 

He didn't leave your side and for the first time he got to repay you all that care you have given to him. Everything he did seemed useless, not any amount of care or affection seemed to stop your body from withering away under his eyes. 

All he could think of was every what if that could've changed all of this, every single one of them ended up with always the same answer blaming him for everything. 

He didn't show how much he cared, he never gave you what you deserve and has come to take for granted that you would always be there, that you would always be just..you. 

He was actually there when it all happened. He saw everything that he liked about you, but never made it known, decayed and started to look like a really macabre replica of what you used to be. He had to look in your eyes as your very soul started to vanish into oblivion, leaving behind your body to be consumed by the virus. You initially went really cold and stiff, he couldn't even touch you part because his hands were shaking so much and part because he couldn't find the courage to actually feel your body being dead. 

He swore that for a moment the air felt so heavy he almost felt like he was drowning just by breathing. He wanted to scream but his vocal cords were so atrophied by years of silence that all he got were muffled and painful noises, his heart beating so fast that it felt like it was growing with each beat. He just crumbled to the floor and had to remove his mask before passing out, a hot stream of tears was freely bathing his cheeks and his face was contorted by pain. 

He has never suffered this much as he was now kneeling on the floor, trembling and running his hands through his hair. 

It felt like dying but not quite as peaceful, he literally felt the hand of god crushing him down and stopping just in time for him to breathe before starting all over again and again. He felt the need to rip his own heart out of his chest to make it stop, to make everything stop hurting. Or at least to squeeze his lungs enough to attempt to scream the pain out, even though he knew it was an endless kind of pain that was going to just keep growing until there was no more Michael but just the aftermath of it. 

In the midst of his own breakdown he tried to hold your hand, almost forgetting that your death was the reason for him to feel like this. As soon as your cold hand met with his barely warm one he snapped his gaze to you. 

Everything stopped, there was nothing left for him other than watching you. That was the only thing he had left and he intended to do it for hours if necessary.  

He gently brought your hand to his cheek just as you wanted him to do so many times, he kept staring at your emotionless face and his brain got more and more quiet as he took in fully the fact that he would never see you again. Sure, he could look at your corpse for eternity but it was just that, a corpse. He couldn't help to feel like he has consumed you, that your love for him after not being reciprocated has kind of poisoned your entire system. He revisits everytime he has denied you a hug or a kiss or even some comfort when you were literally crying your eyes out, all he sees is little pieces of you going bad and rotting until they all made you sick. 

He has now to live with his never given love. To feel it go sour and bad inside of him but never having the pleasure of being killed by it, just to be reminded every day forever about what he has done.

He lays next you, holding you close to him while trying to find a little bit of that warmth you always had. Hours pass by and he's still there holding you and watching, taking a few every single detail of your face to burn it in his brain so he never forgets you. 

He was never going to get over you, and for a moment when he saw your hand moving he thought that God was real. His mind was already full of energy and motivation to keep all the mental promises he has made of being the man you deserved. All those promises were about to become his doom since Michael got more than what he bargained for. 

[zoeykallus]

Tech – Thank You For Loving Me 29 – Back Home

Warnings: Strong Language /Fluff

______________

What Happened Before:

Nervous Flutter

Part 2 - Help Me To Let Go

Part 3 - Asking For Advice

Part 4 - Devotion

Part 5 - The Explorer

Part 6 - You’re The Best

Part 7 - Experimental (½)

Part 8 - Experimental (2/2) - Not Fully Functional

Part 9 - Not Alone

Part 10 - Cared For

Part 11 - Don’t You Worry

Part 12 - A White Lie

Part 13 - Hope

Part 14 - Games To Play

Part 15 - Work Work Work

Part 16 - Trouble

Part 17 - In Loving Domination (½)

Part 18 - The Game Changer

Part 19 - Wild Animal

Part 20 - Embarrassing Vulnerabilities

Part 21 - Between Hangover And Love

Part 22 - The Future Ahead Of Us

Part 23 - About Making A Baby

Part 24 - It’s Going To Be Okay

Part 25 - Returning A Favor

Part 26 - Baby Fever

Part 27 - A New Life

Part 28 - Daddy Tech

Part 29 - Back Home

When you returned home it was already quite late, so Echo and you walked quietly through the ship and you climbed very quietly into the Hope. You took a look into Amy's room and saw that it was empty. You already suspected what was going on.

Your suspicions were confirmed when you looked into your bedroom. Amy was lying across Tech in your bed. Both were snoring softly and you had to bite your fist to keep from giggling. Both of them looked like they had been knocked out. Probably Amy hadn't wanted to be taken to bed again and Tech, who was too good-natured to prevail, had made a thousand different compromises.

You nearly jumped out of your skin in shock when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You wheeled around startled and glared at Hunter who looked at you apologetically with a wry grin.

He whispered, "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

You sighed softly. Your two treasures were still sleeping peacefully.

"It's okay."

Hunter looked to the two of them and said quietly, amused, "Amy has been keeping Tech quite busy, she's way too smart and active for her age. She's actually a lot like her Daddy was when he was little. He was always the kid figuring everything out for everyone. How to steal ration bars, how to get out of our room unnoticed and all that stuff. She likes fooling him and is having the time of her life when she outsmarts him. But as soon as Tech plays offended she immediately comforts and hugs him. At times, the spectacle is better than any holomovie."

You smiled and felt warmth spread through you at the thought of the two of them together. You loved Tech and Amy more than anything else in the universe.

"I know, I love watching the two of them. Tech is so loving and sweet. Starting a family with him was the best decision I ever made in my life."

Hunter smiled.

"Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to meet someone with whom that will work out, too. Seeing you guys like this often gives me a longing that just can't be satisfied"

You smile at him and kiss his cheek, then say, "My dear brother-in-law, you are one of the greatest men I know and you would make a very wonderful father. Don't worry, that will happen for sure".

He laughed softly.

"Thank you, I hope you are right about that."

"Hey you sleepyhead!"

Tech blinked. When he saw you he smiled warmly and fondly.

"Cyare, are you finally back home? Whenever you're away it feels like you've been away from me for ages".

You kissed Tech's cheek.

"My charmer. I hear our little whirlwind has been keeping you busy?"

Tech sat up carefully and put the still sleeping Amy down so he could stand up.

"Well," he admitted "In a sense, it was exciting. But we got along very well. There's nothing to worry about."

You frown and ask, "Why do you say that?"

Tech looks at you and you immediately see that he feels caught and guilty.

With a sigh, you ask, "What happened, Tech?"

Tech was alternately playing with his goggles and holopad without looking at you when he said, "Amy was a little overzealous. Fell down" he hastily raises a finger and finally does look at you, "But she didn't hurt herself, she just got scared!" He grows smaller under your gaze and finally says, "She cried a little, but she quickly calmed down"

"These things happen," you said quietly, to which he let out a deep sigh of relief.

You couldn't help it, you had to laugh and kept your hand in front of your mouth not to wake Amy.

"What did you think I was going to do when I found out?" you asked, still grinning at his relief.

Tech shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, but I once saw you pull Wrecker's ears when he let her watch holofilms late at night and gave her chocolate for breakfast."

"Wrecker knew she wasn't allowed to do that and that chocolate for breakfast isn't good, that's different. Wasn't so easy to get his ears."

Tech laughed softly, "Yeah, that looked exciting. The way you took a running jump at him. You were hanging on his back like a monkey and pulling on his ears"

"Well, he never gave her chocolate for breakfast after that and didn't let her watch holo movies at night anymore" you said with a shrug.

Crosshair suddenly poked his head around the corner.

"Why is everyone on our shuttle somehow?" you asked, surprised and irritated.

The Sniper just grinned and said, "Well, if you want to get at my ears, you're going to have to do better than take a run-up and jump on my back."

You gave him a small smirk and replied, "I'll just kick you in the balls and you'll come down to height."

Crosshair grumbled, "Nasty dwarf" and backed off again.

"I'm not a dwarf, you're just a tall bastard!"

Amy stirred, and you bit into your fist in annoyance at yourself. But she just turned over and continued snoring softly.

„Let's go get ready, Rex want's to come by and see his niece later“, Tech said and finally got up.

Ko-Fi (If you feel like giving me some coffee)

@ben-is-a-hoe

@kaminocasey

@nunanuggets

@hypnoash

@brynhildrmimi

@livi-s

@ttzamara

@thebadbatchscyare

@rexandechosandwich

@mybigfatspoonielife

@clone-whore-99 @chxpsi

@the-sith-in-the-sky-with-diamond

@andyoufollowyourheart

@kaliel2310

@misogirl828

@tech-deck

@loverofclones

@thebahdbitch

@meshla-madalene

@stardusthuntress

@ladykatakuri

@ttzamara

@arctrooper69

[pesterloglog]

Harry Anderson Egbert, Vriska Serket, Vrissy Maryam-Lalonde, John Egbert, Tavros Crocker

Page 195-196

DO YOU LAND ON YOUR FEET ARE YOU TENSE WHEN YOU SENSE THERE'S A STORM IN THE AIR

HARRY: ok everyone, my dad's calling.

HARRY: if he finds out you're here then he will definitely put two and two together, so PLEASE just keep quiet and let me do the talking.

VRISKA: Sure thing.

HARRY: er,

HARRY: hi dad.

VRISKA: HI JOHN!!!!!!!!

VRISSY: Hi Mister Eg8ert!!!!!!!!!

HARRY: oh god dammit.

HARRY: um.

HARRY: so.

HARRY: i guess.

HARRY: first of all,

JOHN: HELLO SON!

JOHN: I AM

JOHN: SO

JOHN: VERY

JOHN: PROUD OF YOU!!!!!!!!

HARRY:

JOHN: PHEW, that felt good to say.

JOHN: or to yell, i guess. heheh.

JOHN: sorry about that, harry anderson.

JOHN: i just didn't think i'd be seeing your handiwork all over the news quite so soon!

HARRY: so...

HARRY: you know about it.

JOHN: yep! you think i wouldn't have recognized your school?

HARRY: right... and you're not like... mad? about the dead body and vriska and stuff?

JOHN: son,

JOHN: it looks like you tried to pull one of the biggest pranks i can think of.

JOHN: and it backfired!

HARRY: y... yeah.

JOHN: but that's ok!!!

JOHN: it could have happened to the best of us.

JOHN: ok, so maybe it wasn't the most original idea.

JOHN: and you should probably have steered clear of such a blatant nod to weekend at bernie's without seriously planning some of the logistics in advance.

JOHN: i know that they make it seem so easy in that movie, but it's important to remember that not everything on the big screen translates easily to real life.

JOHN: ESPECIALLY when dead bodies and clowns are concerned.

JOHN: but these are all mistakes that any amateur prank master has to make some time.

JOHN: and besides, you managed to keep quiet about it the whole time we were chatting earlier. i was completely fooled!

JOHN: but you had to get one up on the prankster's gambit against me someday. honestly, it feels like an early birthday present or something!

JOHN: so i guess what i'm saying is that... you should be proud of yourself.

HARRY: ok dad.

HARRY: um, thanks.

JOHN: so. you're still at your mother's house?

HARRY: yeah... i couldn't think where else to go.

HARRY: you obviously just heard, but both vriskas are here. tavros too.

HARRY: i think the girls are fighting? i don't really know. it's very confusing due to the fact that there are... well.

JOHN: two of them?

HARRY: yeah.

HARRY: i think two vriskas is more than enough for anybody.

JOHN: heh. two vriskas is NOTHING.

JOHN: when i was your age i lost count of all the vriskas i had to keep track of.

JOHN: it was probably some preposterous number.

HARRY: hahaha.

JOHN: and tavros? is he ok?

HARRY: i think so.

HARRY: he seems his, uh,, usual self,,,

JOHN: now, harry anderson, i know that you and tavros haven't always gotten along.

JOHN: but i am going to have to ask you to try and look out for him for the time being.

JOHN: your uncle jake and i... well, i'll explain later.

JOHN: let's just say that gamzee isn't the only family member jane is losing today.

HARRY: dad... if you wanted me to KILL tavros, you only had to ask.

TAVROS: (Um,,,)

HARRY: couldn't resist.

JOHN: can you see out of the window?

HARRY: yeah, i'm looking right now. the place is heaving with reporters.

JOHN: i thought so. the press didn't take long to come to the same conclusion i did. you're on the news already.

JOHN: and it's the same story here. people with cameras are crawling all over the yard.

JOHN: which means jane's secret police are there too. the drones won't be far behind.

HARRY: oh fuck.

HARRY: sorry, i mean. oh... farts.

JOHN: harry anderson egbert.

JOHN: the word "fuck" was invented for moments like this.

HARRY: haha?

JOHN: but anyway, you need to get out of there, fast.

JOHN: try to create some kind of distraction or something, and then head for the bell tower.

HARRY: you mean the one they hang the dirk strider memorial effigy from every year?

JOHN: yes, that's the place.

JOHN: i'll meet you guys up there.

HARRY: um,

HARRY: ok dad.

JOHN: oh, and harry?

JOHN: just some small pieces of advice.

JOHN: some guidelines that any budding prankster or newly fledged fugitive should know.

JOHN: don't panic,

JOHN: don't make a scene,

JOHN: and whatever you do...

JOHN: don't get caught!!

[lothiriel84]

Until Another Heart Whispers Back

Their joy in finding one another, this newfound happiness they had both long given up as unattainable, lasted them throughout their brief engagement, and the first few months of their marriage.

A North and South ficlet. Asexual!John Thornton/aromantic!Margaret Hale.

Their joy in finding one another, this newfound happiness they had both long given up as unattainable, lasted them throughout their brief engagement, and the first few months of their marriage. Margaret Hale had been ignorant and untrained in the ways of a married woman; Margaret Thornton, on the other hand, could finally put a name to the strange and puzzling feelings her husband had stirred in her from the early days of their acquaintance, way before she held him in any kind of regard, let alone the high one which he deserved.

She knew now what it was to desire; and it did not take her all that long to discover that for all his declarations of love, her husband simply – did not. Oh, he was very attentive to her every need, make no mistake; he was as scrupulously punctual in his nightly visits as in all other aspects of his life, and made a point of always enquiring after her wellbeing before removing to his bedchamber for the rest of the night. And yet, she could not get him to come to her bed more than once a week, if even that often; no amount of flirting could seem to persuade him into anything beyond tender kisses and caresses, no daring cut of her dress could entice him to seek out his wife outside what he regarded as the appointed time for marital relations.

At no point did his husbandly duties appear to elicit from him the same ecstatic joy they provoked in Margaret; he was very gentle, always, and ever so considerate, and yet she felt certain he found the reality of their union nowhere near as moving as she did. Ever since their wedding night, she had not once thought their lying together as man and wife a duty; and she resented that he might regard their nightly encounters as such, while she was left alone in her struggle to conceal her need from him, lest she expose herself as a wanton in front of her very respectable husband.

John, for his part, acted as much as a man deeply in love as ever; where his primary concern had once been his business obligations, now was the continued happiness and wellbeing of his new wife. His mind was forever contriving a thousand little acts of service which would serve the only purpose of making her life pleasanter, as well as putting a sweet smile to her face. As for the small, thoughtful gifts he kept showering upon her, they were but a poor offering in the face of what she deserved; and that was merely for being the wonderful woman that she was, let alone making him the happiest of men when she had finally agreed to spend the rest of her life with him.

If he had felt – oh, ever so little! – put upon by her initial reaction to his generous ministrations, he had dismissed the thought at once, reasoning that with the way her life had been up until not so very long ago, it must indeed feel strange to find oneself the recipient of loving care, rather than being looked upon as the one duty-bound to tend to everyone else’s needs. And yet, he could not entirely ignore the suggestion of uncomfortableness about her person on such occasions as he allowed himself to show the full extent of his tender feelings, or the hint of impatience that coloured her lovely features when faced with yet another of her husband's grand gestures for her sake.

That tiny seed of doubt, planted in his heart long before she could bring herself to accept him, started to grow again, taking up more of his mind with each passing day; that he was not good enough for her, and only a fool would expect such a creature to return his love at all, never mind with the same strength as it forever endured within his soul. And while he did not, could not resent her for their disparity in feelings, he had resorted to taking exception to himself instead – for allowing this marriage to take place, when no one in this world was more aware of his own unworthiness than he was.

This sorry state of affairs might have carried out much longer, had either of them been blessed with a meeker temper; as it was, it all came to a head one evening just like any other, except for the fact that the elder Mrs Thornton was away to tend to Fanny’s child in her daughter’s absence. Frustrated over yet another appearance of her courses – which kept showing up with sickening punctuality every month, despite her best efforts to change that – Margaret lashed out unexpectedly at one of her husband’s perfectly ordinary remarks about the beautiful new gown he had insisted she purchased two days before, pointing out quite ungraciously that he was perhaps the only man in Milton who would rather look at his wife in a pretty dress than take her out of it and make her his own.

Taken aback by her sudden burst of anger as he was by the crude nature of her accusation, John could only stare at her, perfectly pale at first, and then as flushed with embarrassment as a man of his temperament could be. When he could speak at all, he replied with offended dignity that while he might not be a gentleman by birth, he dared hope she did not seriously believe him as coarse as that; that she must believe he would never disrespect her in such a manner, nor sully the love he held for her by conducting himself like beasts in a field.

“Has it ever occurred to you, John, that a woman might wish for her husband to want her in that very manner you seem to find so abhorrent?” she snapped back at him, resolutely fighting the tears that were threatening to break her composure. “I wonder that you offered for me at all, if you found me so unpleasing as that.” 

“I wonder that you accepted me, madam, when you clearly have so little use for my affections as to find even my compliments offensive, and choose to take insult at every gift freely bestowed with the most honourable of intentions.” 

Her cheeks pink with fury, Margaret stormed out of the room, leaving her husband to stare gloomily out of the window for the remainder of the evening. Unbeknownst to one another, they both grieved the perceived loss of their love that night; come morning, they were as civil to the other as propriety dictated, and after that, they took pains of only addressing each other when it could no longer be avoided, and were silent the rest of the time.

Upon her return from the Watsons’ household, Hannah Thornton was most unpleasantly surprised by the strained atmosphere between husband and wife; despite her earlier reservations about Margaret, over the past few months she had come to value the young woman’s strength of character, and had witnessed firsthand how much happiness her mere presence brought to her beloved son. In her motherly anxiety, she resolved to gently probe him about the matter at hand; John looked entirely displeased by this line of questioning, and brusquely assured her that all manner of things were well, and she need not concern herself about it.

Things were far from well, that much was apparent to anyone who had eyes; still, she bade her time, before bowing to the indignity of confronting the new Mrs Thornton about the nature of her disagreement with her son. Margaret icily informed her that the quarrel was between herself and her husband alone, and she did not think it appropriate for anyone to interfere in such private matters, no matter how well-meaning their intentions. Only a few months ago, Hannah would not have borne such blatant disrespect on the girl’s part; now, however, she was struck afresh with the similarities in temper between Margaret and her son, and quite correctly surmised that she was most likely lashing out in self-defence to conceal her own wounded feelings from the world. 

And so it was that Mrs Thornton was forced to swallow her pride and resort to employing such tricks as she would have been ashamed to even consider before. She knew how her son worked late into the evening on a Saturday, and was unlikely to leave his office for tea on a good day, even less now that he appeared bent on avoiding his wife as much as could be managed; consequently, she had two separate messages delivered to the master and the mistress of the house alike, taking every pain to impress upon the servants that they ought to make it look like those same messages came from their respective spouses. After that, she retired to her bedchamber at once, taking her place at the window looking out into the mill yard, and praying that John’s temper and Margaret’s obstinacy would not prove to be unsurmountable obstacles in the way of a reconciliation.

She had to wait almost an hour for Margaret’s figure to finally make an appearance, wrapped in a shawl and with uncharacteristic hesitancy to her step as she approached the mill door; it was all in the hands of God now, Hannah Thornton thought to herself, and took herself to bed.

Mr and Mrs John Thornton, on their part, were finding themselves caught in the middle of a most awkward dilemma. Both convinced that they had lost the other’s regard, they did not dwell overmuch on how this particular meeting had come to pass; each of their souls longed to offer its love anew, and yet, they were loath to receive further confirmation of unreturned feelings in this marriage.

In the end, it was Margaret who took her courage in her hands and spoke first. They had not come this far only to allow yet another misunderstanding to come between them, regardless of how painful the consequences.

“If your – feelings for me have changed, I beg you to tell me plainly. I promise I will not hold it against you, and I will still endeavour to be a good wife to you, even if you no longer feel towards me as you once did.” 

John startled at such heartfelt a speech, pushing back his chair and striding up to where she was still standing in the middle of his office. “How can you believe so, when my every waking thought is for you, and for you alone? Have I not attempted to prove it to you, time and time again, though my every effort seems to be met with scarcely any favour on your part? I do not know how to make it plainer than that, and I am truly sorry that you should find me deficient as a husband.” 

“When have I ever give you any indication that your attentions were not wanted, husband? Heaven knows I have tried to show you how welcome you would be in our bed, and yet, nothing I do seems to please you enough for you to even consider joining me there.” 

Her husband’s brow was now furrowed in confusion. “I was speaking about my feelings for you, Margaret. What we do in the bedchamber has very little bearing on our love for one another, which is made of something purer and infinitely stronger than the mere performing of a duty.” 

Margaret recoiled as if he had slapped her. “Is that how you view our time together? Am I so displeasing to you to turn an act every other man seems desirous of into nothing more than an obligation to be fulfilled?” 

“I wouldn’t know how other men conduct themselves in the privacy of their own households,” he replied somewhat stiffly. “Nor do I pretend to be familiar with a lady’s sensibilities when faced with her husband’s most tender feelings – but Lord knows I did not expect such coldness on your part whenever I do so much as make an attempt at showing my feelings for you.” 

“I am sorry I do not know how to reconcile myself with the way you choose to manifest your feelings.” She was openly weeping now, her unseeing eyes fixed into the darkness that was quickly gathering outside the window. “I do not feel comfortable with grand declarations of affection, I never have; I can but hope you will do me the courtesy of believing me when I say that I never wished to cause you any pain, regardless of how callously I may have acted towards you in the past.” 

John was silent for a very long time, deep in thought as he was. At length he crossed the distance to place a tentative hand on her shoulder, quietly offered her his handkerchief so that she might go about making herself presentable once more. “I have been going about this all wrong, haven’t I?” he uttered after a long pause, his fingers tracing a soothing path across her upper arm. “I never thought to ask how you wished to be loved, rather than taking offence at how different how respective sensibilities are from one another.” 

“You weren’t to know,” she offered him a tremulous smile, her fingers reaching for his own. “I do not believe I knew myself, not until after we married.” 

He kissed her then, very softly, and she gladly reciprocated. “Is this acceptable to you, then?” he queried against her lips, and she put her arms around his neck in such a way he could not easily misunderstand her meaning. 

“Very,” she breathed in the shared air between them, her wanton feelings awakening all at once. “Is it so very wrong of me to wish you more like other men in their desires, that you might feel compelled to my bed much more often than you do?” 

Her husband considered her for a long moment, as if struck by a novel concept he had not contemplated before. “Is that how you wish to be loved, my Margaret?” 

She buried her face against his shoulder then, suddenly feeling ashamed of herself. “Will you think me very wicked if I admit that to your face, John? I know it is not proper for a lady, and it is very selfish of me to ask that of you when you do not – wish for it in the same way I do.” 

“I pray you do not make it sound like I am an unwilling participant in everything that happens in our marriage bed, love,” he chided her tenderly, as he gathered her more fully in his arms. “I am perfectly pleased with the way we are together there, as in all other aspects of our married life.” 

“Would you take me to bed, then, husband?” she demanded, her voice trembling slightly in trepidation. “I wish to show my love for you, in the way a married woman does to her husband.” 

“Lead the way, wife,” he all but laughed; and later, in their bedchamber, he took much joy in ensuring she felt loved just in the way she desired, and they were both of them content.

When neither her son nor her daughter-in-law showed their faces for breakfast the next morning, Hannah Thornton congratulated herself on a job well done, and instructed the servants that they were not under any circumstance to disturb the master and the mistress of the house until summoned. Then she took herself to church, leaving the young couple to enjoy their newfound harmony in peace.

[cbsghostsmetasandtrevor]

To Be Affectionate

Trevor thought that being public with Hetty again meant that they could be affectionate in front of the house the way they had been in the last twenty years, but due to the deal that Hetty initiate those touches, he struggles with not knowing if he's allowed to be his normally affectionate self. Luckily, Hetty's there to reassure him.

AO3

***

If there’s one thing that Trevor had been looking forward to when it comes to coming out to the house, it was the idea that Hetty would feel comfortable touching him in public again.  Like she used to before, as she had taken to holding onto him whenever she could after they made the deal on touch when he first died. 

            Given that he loved to touch and had realized that Hetty liked touch (no matter what Isaac said, he had noticed that she was always touching someone) while the other ghosts preferred a more hands off approach (some didn’t mind touch, though), Trevor had initially taken to touching Hetty when he first died.  Offering her his arm or standing close enough to be touching.  She had seemed to enjoy it when she initiated it, but not when he initiated it.  To the point that she often scolded him when he would.

            After a few weeks, he asked her about it, and she made him a deal – that she would hold onto him and touch him, as long as she got to initiate the touch. 

            Since they’ve had this deal for twenty years, despite the fact that they were dating now, every time he went to hug her from behind or put his arm around her, he would pause and stop because they never actually discussed that deal and whether or not he was allowed to initiate being affectionate in front of everyone.  Of course, Hetty didn’t seem to mind if he initiated things when they were alone, but that’s different.  

            He’s just not sure how to bring it up to her.   Thus, staring out the window in the upstairs den, ironically the same place that Hetty had stood right before that moment six months ago that changed their afterlives forever.  For the better, even if they aren’t affectionate in front of everyone else, sharing her room (since he and Flower had traded more than a month ago), and being with her was in private was enough.  

            Especially since everyone knows they’re still together – his conjugal visit mishap had brought it out again, but this time, no double dates to ruin it, just everyone knows and accepts it.  Strange though it is, the novelty wears off fast when they aren’t really any different than they were before.  

            Which is part of his little issue.  He kind of thought things would be different – maybe not all over each other, but at least as affectionate as they were before.  

            Since everyone knows, it’s not like it’s because of embarrassment or anything, but he doesn’t know what itcould be then.  Not when he knows that she does enjoy affection.  Why didn’t she want to be affectionate with him?  Was there another issue that he wasn’t aware of?  

            “Trevor, dearest?” Hetty asks, jarring his attention to the doorway.  She’s looking at him slightly concerned.  “Are you okay?”

            “Oh, of course,” Trevor states, but Hetty gives him a look.

            “You know, you were never a very good liar.  I am forever amazed that you fooled the house for so long on certain things.  However, you have gotten even worse as a liar since we have become intimate, so would you like to try that again?”

            Trevor shrugs, surprised but pleased that Hetty does know him so well, even though he knows he is an open book.  “I’m not sure how to explain what’s wrong.”

            “Does it have something to do with the fact that you keep wanting to touch me by putting your arms around me and then stopping yourself for some reason?” Hetty questions, moving closer to him.  

            Trevor’s surprised she noticed, but relieved because then he doesn’t have to explain.

            “I confess that I have been curious about why you have stopped yourself given that we have always been rather… touchy as you might say… since you died,” Hetty states, which he doesn’t answer her question with an explanation.  

            “With everything that has happened between us, I … well… I wasn’t sure if I should still be obeying our deal…”

            “Our deal?” 

            “You know,” Trevor says, but the look on her face suggests that she doesn’t quite know, despite just referring to it, and he’ll have to explain.  “You just mentioned it – since I died, we made a deal.  You’ll hold onto me – touch me since I like touch – as long as I let you initiate it.”

            “Oh,” Hetty says, clearly surprised.   She moves closer to him, reaching up and touching his cheek.  He leans his face into her hand, relishing the touch.  “Trevor, dearest, I assumed that the deal as you call is out the window.  Given that our housemates know about us, that you have always been affectionate before we began our dalliances, and that we both clearly enjoy our affections there’s no reason to abide by the deal.”

            “Oh,” Trevor says, somewhat relieved, bringing his hand to touch hers.  “I – I thought that you just didn’t want me to … be affectionate in front of everyone since you hadn’t initiated anything.”

            “I confess that I just assumed that would not need to since you have always been more open about enjoying touch,” Hetty states.  “Until I realized that you have been holding yourself back.”

            “I just wanted to respect your boundary, even if that boundary existed before we got together.”

            Hetty smiles.  “Well, I am happy to dispel that boundary – although nothing inappropriate.”

            As she says that, she smacks his ass with her other hand.  

            He gasps.  “That’s not inappropriate?”

            “Given that I have seen Samantha do the same, I would assume not, but perhaps we should experiment with appropriate or inappropriate affection around the house?”

            Trevor laughs and pulls her close.  “I think we’re going to scar the rest of the house with some experiments that I have in mind, but I don’t mind.”

            “Good.”

            With that, they kiss happily ever after.

[talenlee]

Story Pile: My Hero Academia, Season 3

Story Pile: My Hero Academia, Season 3

Finally I’m having a good time

After two seasons of finding its feet underneath it, and also burning through a positively unnecessary amount of tournament head-to-head nonsense, My Hero Academia has finally set up a season that left me with an overall positive impression. It’s very clearly a show for little kids – recaps and previews can make up about six minutes of a 26 minute run-time, and wishing it did things differently is a bit of a fool’s errand.

What this season did have that I liked was three distinct story arcs, none of which were too long or dragged out their worst elements too long. I mean it’d be nice if they didn’t have the boring bits at all, but I understand that some people see the way that Deku and All Might both solve problems by Punching The Best Way as heroically important, and therefore, my desire for them to develop more than that is not happening.

This also seems to be the point where the story tries to grapple with having villains that are more than just a vaguely cryptic shape. I like the way the new villains are shaping up here, and I especially like the way they’re used sparingly.

First up we have the woodland training arc. It’s got a good setup, something the students want to do, and where the nature of the experience keeps students spread out, gives them a lot of stuff to do and lots of different ways to express who they are. Then you throw into that training experience, which is largely fun stuff that looks at the characters and asks ‘hey, how do your powers work and how do we make them better,’ like the quirks as lived components of a character’s experience. That’s good! Then to complicate that, instead of a tournament of the characters slapfighting with one another, the story introduces some real tension in the form of an attack from villains who have a specific plan.

This is good! It’s remote, so you can have an excuse for where the support structure is, it’s reasonably safe so there’s no need for a primary focus on collateral damage and it’s big enough that people can get lost and have chunked up conflicts that give them opportunities to express themselves in a lot of different ways. The story introduces a bunch of villains ranging from the fun and interesting (Toga, Twice, Mr Compress, Magne) to the miscellaneous (everyone else). With a lot of villains spread over a lot of territory coralling a lot of students, you have a ready made opportunity for lots of different characters to try and deal with different things in different ways. This can lead to some great fights where characters work together in interesting ways – I really liked Tetsutetsu and Kendo fighting Mustard, for example, and the use of Twice to extend the reach of villains was also great!

Tell you what though this arc really reminded me that I will put up with a lot of bullshit from a character in this world if they look like they’re having a good time. This did mean that the stuff that the story thinks of as important – Midoriya vs Muscular for example – was an absolute dead end for me. It’s anti-interest; it’s not like Deku’s going to die, and he’s also not going to do anything interesting. The fight is about a dude who wins vs a dude who wins, and the dude wins until suddenly the other dude wins. The hopeful outline of it – a story where Deku learns to rescue someone, fight for them, and to think of the world around him in a fight? It’s completely dismissed in favour of but what if we punch each other really hard.

This artist has a vision of combat violence that is embarrassingly basic.

The next story arc teeters on the edge of more of that frustrating ‘I can see a better way to do this’ narrative. On the one hand, a big slugfest between two really powerful dudes who hate each other while the story flicks out to flashbacks is extremely standard, and this doesn’t elevate the form at all. Seeing some of All Might’s backstory is interesting, but it’s also done to introduce a fridged lady mentor figure, which feels a bit basic at this point? And that’s kind of everything that there is going on in this chunk of the story; it’s potential for more, but it’s very basic.

It obviously has to set up the loss of All Might; the departure of the powerhouse version of the character from the story is obviously important, and that’s a good thing to do here, and spending all the last measure of his strength on a great villain is a good way to do it. But there are … weird elements to it.

First of all, the villain has this big reserve of interesting powers, just based on what we’ve seen, and most of what he does is just ‘hit All Might harder.’ Now, I have no doubt that this is meant to chain into a later plot where this is all part of his plan, but be honest: if he beat All Might to death in this fight, it’s probably a big opportunity for a major supervilain. The idea that he fought in this really basic way for some greater, later plot is just kicking the can down the road, because if he could have killed All Might and didn’t, then whatever plan he has has to be incredibly and stupidly elaborate.

Bleh!

On the other hand, the story shows the importance of protecting and rescuing people. Deku’s ability to understand how people think, including Bakugo, is instrumental to getting them all safe and clear. Mount Lady even has an excellent moment that serves to cut the tension and give a laugh. The villains get away in an interesting (though creepy!) way. In the aftermath, All Might makes a point of now trying to make things better for Deku by teaching him things, and that’s super important too!

Then again, do you remember how I said that the sign of a shonen is how quickly it broke out a tournament arc? Well, it feels like the license exam is another tournament arc. It’s especially annoying because it’s not a good example of what a license is meant to do – you want to make sure that people are registered for the task, contactable, and have accepted public responsibility, it seems that this filtering system designed to only permit a hundred at a time would just encourage more vigilantism.

Still, despite this, there’s still two things I really enjoyed here. Another round of interesting bit-part characters get introduced – I like Tatami for example – and we’re once again introduced to an antagonist who is, at the very least, having a good bloody time. I thought Camie was interesting, but the way her character seemed to be just a repeat of Toga’s ‘hey, what about blood?’ personality seemed like a failure on the story’s part. But then that paid out, and that was pretty cool.

I also liked that a whole chunk of this license program is dedicated to explaining and demonstrating that heroes need to know how to rescue people. I’d have liked it more if this showed up beforehand, where, like, teachers might be involved, to make sure the students are prepared for this conversation, but that’s running the risk of presenting this hero high school story as featuring some high school. I have already accepted that this story just isn’t about that – it’s an ordinary superpowered shounen anime that sometimes remembers that superheroes are a genre with their own language and storytelling ideas.

This season also introduces us to a pair of trans characters, in Tiger and Magne. It’s an interesting thing because Magne is a trans woman who somehow manages to skirt a lot of tropes that I’m used to seeing with that kind of character; oh, sure, she’s not presented as attractive or desireable, and her place in the world is a villain in an underclass, but it does this without bringing up the normal things that make me go ‘oh, god, no.’ There’s a whole conversation about her, about the way that trans women who don’t pass get treated as a different category to trans people who do pass, and the whole narrative around passing privilege (and when it’s withdrawn) is a complicated, interesting topic that is well above my pay grade.

Mostly, you can tell My Hero Academia thinks of Magne as a woman because it can’t think of anything to do with her.

Tiger is a much more neutral, natural zero-point though. He’s a big buff trans dude with a shapeshifting power that lets him look how he wants and he’s part of a successful hero group that lets him take care of other elements that he may want dealt with. Basically, I suspect he got top surgery but can use his power to do anything, so I don’t know what the difference is meant to be. Still, we have it confirmed that he did go ‘to Thailand’ for that, and that’s…

Yeah, that’s one of those things that sounds like a punchline.

I am a little tired by the way that Deku’s primary power is to eat shit with regularity, but he used it to good ends in the Bakugo fight. That fight presented a great kind of emotional payoff but still without an explanation. I don’t get it, I don’t get why Bakugo’s ego is so fragile and brittle. I don’t know how someone who has been praised non-stop and has superpowers and all that can still have such an inferiority complex unless there’s something about himself that he’s hiding, that doesn’t reconcile with the rest of who he is. Maybe like if he was trans or gay, that’d make sense.

I thought for a few days there that Muscle might be Bakugo’s real dad, and that might be the tension in his family that gave him this masculine fragility, but nope, it seems that Bakugo’s just a turd. Still, we got a moment of him getting a reassuring hug from All Might, and it being the limits of what he could handle, and that’s pretty good.

There are also some great episodes of the characters just messing around! That’s great! That’s stuff that gives characters room to express themselves and show more dimensions to how they work as characters. Great stuff there. Overall, I think this is a good season to start with because it explains most of everything (most characters get explained too many times honestly) and you don’t miss much of anything in the previous stories.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

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