#and i know she isn't doing great this last year especially the last few months

[tonytoponi]

like literally what am i supposed to do. my cat is 17 years old and all she wants to do is lay on me and sleep. i try and make her sleep on my bed and two minutes later she is standing on her hind legs next to my chair tapping me on the arm with her sad wet eyes begging to be held

[spacebarbarianweird]

I've found a few fics that hc that Astarion purrs when he's happy (Catstarion supremacy lol). Do you think he might if he felt safe enough with Tav?

I am 100% on board with that! I know that bats purr a little bit different from cats but it's not like bats=vampires.

Masterlist

Headcanons

Purring Astarion

Vampires can purr.

They purr when they are safe, happy, and content.

Like cats.

But have you ever seen a happy vampire?

Never. It's as rare as a vampire who can walk in the sunlight.

They suffer. They starve. They hate themselves.

They are tortured. Beaten. Hunted.

They are never safe enough to do so.

Astarion's life used to be hell. There wasn't a single good thing in his pathetic existence.

But he is free now. Cared. Loved.

He can do whatever he wants.

And he isn't alone. He has a person to hold, to talk to, and to share his feelings with.

Who can sit for hours playing with his curls while he trauma-dumps them about the most horrible events of his life.

Astarion learns about new ways of intimacy - bathing together, holding hands, cuddling.

One day, he wakes up after an especially bad nightmare. He doesn't remember what exactly he saw, but it was so unsettling he scratches his skin with his sharp nails.

When you return and see Astarion like that, you place him above you like a weighted blanket.

Pressing his head against your chest and stroking his back.

Your heartbeat and breathing soothe him, and he stops crying.

You lie like that for what seems like an eternity in silence.

He is happy.

At this moment, he realizes that the last six months have become a counterweight to two hundred years of misery.

Astarion relaxes and feels like falling asleep.

You hear a weird sound, as if there was a big cat beside you.

Purring.

You hug Astarion tighter and realize the purring comes from his chest and throat.

He probably isn't even aware of it.

The sound is nice and pleasant, but the very idea is hilarious, and you burst out laughing.

"What - What is this?" Astarion elbows up, staring at you. "Did I do something wrong?"

There is a weird sensation in his throat, and he shakes his head in disbelief.

"You were purring! Like a cat!"

Astarion is shocked.

It's not like he is fond of the idea that his body reacts so openly to feeling good.

(As if having an erection any time you do something playful wasn't enough to embarrass him).

But all his doubts fade into the background as he realizes how much you like it.

It's like having a big cat in your bed who doesn't try to run away if you squeeze it too hard.

And it's a good indication if Astarion really feels good or just pretends.

Sometimes, you think he feels off, only to hear soft purring from his chest.

Sometimes everything is great, but you don't hear this pleasant vibration.

And you also soon realize that if you make Astarion sit between your thighs, his back pressed against your chest, and start playing with his ears and curls, he immediately starts purring.

Safe, loved, protected. Like a happy cat.

Bonus:

You and Astarion have a dhampir-daughter

You two wonder how many vampiric traits your daughter has inherited.

Will she be able to walk on ceilings? Will she have fast regeneration?

You will find it later, but now you have a newborn girl, who isn't really fond of the idea of being pushed into this unpredictable world.

Once you finish the first breastfeeding session, the girl closes her dark eyes…

And start purring like a tiny kitten.

Tag list @tragedybunny @caitlincat-95 @tallymonster @astarionsbeloved @lumienyx @fayeriess @elora-the-slutty-songstress @veillsar @astarion-imagine-archive @micropoe10 @starlight-ipomoea @herstxrgirl @theearthsfinalconfession @ashrio20 @not-so-lost-after-all @vixstarria @wintersire @marcynomercy

[thebirthofvenusfly]

okay but i like thinking about the events of ISAT/siffrin's struggles not as them going from a party of normal people with normal struggles to "everyone essentially now has to help Sif heal from That," but as, "everyone in the party has had their own immense, long-term struggles, and this happens to be Siffrin's." like, siffrin is not just a, "problem child," or the standalone outlier in terms of angst

here me out

[major ISAT spoilers, especially for acts 3-5 btw]

siffrin doesn't know all these things in act 1, but:

Odile has had a life-long struggle with identity. Her mother abandoned her family at a young age, her father (presumably heartbroken and betrayed) has never kept any mementos or photos or stories of her and likely avoided speaking of her at any and all opportunities. For the most part, Odile loves her culture but admits she was an outlier in Ka Bue and always stood out from the texture of her hair and eyebrows. She's tried to settle before for the peace of just letting it be, but after meeting that travelling merchant, she realizes how badly she does want to bridge that gap in her identity and has now spent years travelling--all only to find that it didn't quite fix her problem and she hasn't been able to find herself entirely in Vaugarde either. She doesn't dwell too much on her mother, but I feel there is a part of her that could never forgive the hole her mother left behind.

Mirabelle has similarly struggled, though in terms of religion and sexuality. She holds herself to a very high standard of Changing and being a, "good," Housemaiden, and has gone to great lengths to learn as much as she can in efforts to reinvent herself and Change, as she feels she, "should," do, because that's what Housemaidens and diligent followers of the House of Change, "should," do. She is so adamant about this that even prior to the game, even prior to the King's reign--which was several months-a full year before ISAT begins--she is forcing herself to look into relationships to potentially date, bond, and even have children with someone and she doesn't want to do any of that it. She is distraught because she doesn't want to change that aspect. She doesn't want to become what she's not, or try to force herself to feel things she doesn't and can't feel, but she isn't being a good Housemaiden or a good member of her society if she stagnates.

Bonnie's plight primarily comes in with the King's reign, which again, has been for a few months now. They live with their older sister who loves them and cares for them tirelessly, but she is taken by the King's Curse and frozen in time--an event which presumably happens in front of Bonnie, who is encouraged by their sister's last words to just run from the village as far as they can to safety. If that isn't terrifying enough, this leads to them wandering the wilderness for days, exhausted, dehydrated, presumably starved/ill-fed, and lonely, and likely scared out of their mind. Their only saving grace is Siffrin, who happens to find them and save them. The comfort they feel with Sif is called into question when they have to watch Siffrin take a permanent, debilitating injury to the eye to protect them. While the incident seems to roll off Siffrin's worries pretty seamlessly, this is a lot for Bonnie, who by now, has recognized a pattern of the people they love being permanently hurt or altered in some way all just to protect them. They're convinced they're a recurring problem, and after the death ritual talk in the House, has to prepare themselves for the haunting reality that they might really lose everyone they love (and, again, this is a lot. Especially for a child).

Isabeau has tried Changing before, and while it did help him make leaps and bounds, he is still in a constant struggle to love himself fully. Let's be honest here: Isabeau is easily the most emotionally put-together party member, and most equipped to handle the stresses of the party in terms of feelings. This does not make him immune, however, to his own negative feelings. He even cites as wanting to become someone that Siffrin wouldn't be, "ashamed," to know. He also mentions that he is remorseful of the new image he's given himself, as an air-headed, jock type of person, which often leads people into genuinely believing he's stupid and thus treating him that way. Not to mention, as the emotional mediator of the party, I'm sure he occasionally gets stretched thin between helping everyone else manage their problems and altercations.

all this is to say: everyone in the party has their problems, and a good sum of these are not all instantly solved by the end of the story. all of them, siffrin included, are left in a space where they have plenty of healing to do but can confidently and comfortably still rely on one another.

ISAT is just siffrin's chapter of major emotional plight, and everyone else's is presumed prior to the narrative (i can also acknowledge that siffrin definitely got the worst of it though LMAO)

[messedupfan]

Chapter 20

Summary: The kids school is having it's annual end of year fundraiser, an adult only event for the parents of the school to make donations to the school fun. You bring Nebula as your date. Wanda gets a little help from Agatha. Jean and Anna decide to separate for sometime.

Dedicated to: Orange Anon 🧃 (HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!)

Warning: Some smut, a masterbation scene with fantasizing 18+

A/n: Hello!!! I have been dying to write this chapter since December!!! Glad to finally be here. Although, I haven't been able to edit much since I've been busy so major apologies for errors. Can't wait to see the comments for this one. Hope y'all enjoy!

Masterlist | All Stories Taglist  | All Chapters

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With summer break approaching, the school is constantly informing, or rather aggressively reminding parents about their end-of-year fundraiser. Wanda avoided the event last year because she was still deep in her depression and consumed by grief. The last thing she wanted to do was attend the same event her ex-husband and his beautiful young wife were at, especially at a time when she could barely get the motivation to get dressed up. Agatha tried to get her to come but she eventually gave up. Now that it's coming up, she can't help but think about the difference the possibility of meeting you sooner would have affected her life. Not knowing that you also avoided attending the event last year as well. 

“Mom!” The boys cheer as they run up to her at pick up. They give her tight hugs. It's not her week with them but Vision called her during his lunch to explain that things are tense at home and the boys have been asking to stay with her. She held back from commenting on his pattern of cheating and creating hostile environments in his own home. She doesn't need to fight with him or try to involve herself in his personal life again. All she needs to do is worry about her children. It's something that her therapist suggested and it's been helpful in these past several months. 

“Ugh, I hope you boys never grow up!” She grins as she holds them tightly. She doesn't want to see them tall and ignoring her as teenagers. She doesn't think she can handle the rejection. She likes them small and adoring her. 

“Ms. Wanda!” Rachel runs towards them instead of her mom who is standing a few feet away. She joins in on the hug. “Is Tommy and Billy's daddy on a trip again?” She says as she looks up at Wanda. 

Wanda laughs, “Something like that. Where's your mom?” She looks around the playground until she finds Jean walking towards them. 

“Hey! It's been a while since I've seen you,” she greets happily. Wanda has to pretend like she doesn't know the stunt that Jean tried to pull several months ago. The last thing she heard about your situation with your ex-wife was that things were getting better since the two of you started to focus on Rachel. Wanda thought that it was great that the two of you were getting along again, but she wasn’t quick to forgive what Jean tried to do to you. 

“Hey, Jean! It has been too long,” Wanda greets politely. Rachel steps away from Wanda and greets her mom with a hug that is just as tight. “How is everything?” 

“Oh I'm sure Y/n keeps you well informed,” Jean replies. It was true for the months that you were single and a couple of months after you found out about the weirdest kidnapping she'd ever heard of. But it hasn't been true for some time. Wanda is lucky if she can get an update on your life as it is. You have been occupying most of your time with Nebula. If it weren't for a couple of orders coming in from your online shop, she wouldn't see you at all. 

Unfortunately, even though you're working in her backyard on the weekends, the two of you don't talk much. She isn't sure if it's you pulling away or her but it hurt either way. 

“Not really,” Wanda says without her expression wavering. 

“Oh! Um, I've been doing well. How-How  have you been?” She asks as she runs her fingers through Rachel's hair. 

“I've been really great lately, yeah,” Wanda looks down at the boys with a soft smile. “I keep getting extra time with my boys which is fantastic.” She looks up at Jean again. Her eyes do a small scan of the woman. She is in her work attire but there is a coffee stain on her shirt that is poking out of her blazer. She has dark circles under her eyes. She looks tired even with a smile on her face. “We should catch up sometime,” Wanda says politely. Jean looks like she could use a friend. Thinking of it now, other than you, Wanda isn't sure that she's heard of Jean having friends. Maybe she has friends with her wife? She isn't sure. And right now, you're not in the best position to be her friend. 

“I'd like that a lot,” Jean replies. Her smartwatch starts to buzz and she sighs. “Work is calling. I have to get going. Come on love bug,” she takes Rachel's hand and starts walking towards the parking lot. 

“Are you guys ready to go home?” Wanda asks her kids and they both nod. She guides them out to her car in the parking lot. 

You are sitting alone on your couch on a Friday night thinking about Wanda. You've been doing everything that you can to give yourself some space from her. Nebula eventually asked about your friendship with Wanda during one of your dates with her months ago. The two of you were eating gelaties, a flavored Italian ice with frozen custard on top. You were enjoying the sweet flavors of mango ice combined with vanilla custard as well as the smooth textures of the treat. There wasn't a treat quite like it. Nebula was enjoying their blue raspberry ice topped with cotton candy-flavored custard. 

“So, are you and Wanda just friends?” She asked seemingly out of the blue. You weren't sure where the question was coming from. At the moment, you ran through every conversation you'd had with Nebula until that point to see if you mentioned Wanda more than you should have. But you can't come up with a number. 

“Truthfully?” You asked as you mixed the vanilla custard further into the mango ice. 

“No, lie to me,” she quipped with a slight smirk. 

“Okay, fair enough,” you took a deep breath. “I've considered becoming more than friends with her. But it was complicated. Then she made it less complicated when she rejected me.” You didn't want to lie to her the way that you were lying to Daisy. It nearly killed you during that time.

Nebula got quiet and her smirk disappeared. Even with the shop being busy with other customers ordering. Chats happened at the surrounding tables. Everything felt still in her silence. Everyone seemed to vanish completely, leaving only the two of you, sitting in an empty Rita’s alone. 

You watched her as you swirled your spoon around in your cup. She seemed to be in deep thought. You felt a slight panic tighten your chest and churn your stomach. 

“Is that a problem?” You finally asked. 

Nebula’s distinctive eyes connected with yours again. “No,” she answered. 

You couldn't tell if she was being honest or not. But you didn't question her. You just made a promise to yourself that you weren't going to allow your feelings to continue to grow for Wanda. A task that was easier said than done. 

You started small. Ignoring a text from her here and there. Well, not completely ignoring them. You just wouldn't respond as fast as you normally would. Then you stopped going by as much. Rachel's therapy appointments made it easier to stay away from Wanda’s for some time. But eventually, you began to miss her. You would call her whenever you got a chance to check-in. Then you fell asleep talking to her on the phone one night and you had to pull back on that as well. 

As fate would have it, you received two custom orders which meant you had to spend time at Wanda’s. She was excited when you told her that you had two projects to work on. The two of you embraced each other tightly. You closed your eyes and breathed her in. You missed her scent. You missed the way her body felt against yours. You missed her laugh. You missed her smile. 

You had to build more boundaries. Whenever you came to work in the shed in the backyard, you never went through the house. Even if you had Rachel with you. She would walk through the front door and you would slip in through the gate on the side of the house. You’d bring lunch and you'd leave before dinner. Wanda never bothered you. She seemed to understand that the two of you needed time apart from each other. 

The more you pushed yourself away from her. The more she invaded your every thought. You swore you could feel something pulling you towards her. It made nights like these difficult. Shortly after your conversation with her about Wanda, Nebula stated that the two of you were dating and non-exclusive. You were a little thrown off because you thought that she only wanted to see you. But you had to face the fact that she wasn't the only person you wanted to see. So you didn't get upset or argue. You accepted the status of the relationship. Nebula is on a date right now and all you want to do is be with Wanda. You wonder how much of her time Nebula is going to continue to waste on you. 

You open and close your phone multiple times. Hoping for a message from someone, anyone, so that you can get your mind to stop thinking about Wanda and what she might be doing tonight. That's when your mind gets stuck on the idea that she also might be on a date with someone. To your knowledge, she doesn't have the kids this week so she's available. 

You start to imagine her sitting in front of someone with her smile and it hurts. You don't want her to be with anyone else. But you do want her to be happy. You shake your head turn on the television and scroll through the streaming channels. You don't know what you're in the mood to watch. 

You throw on a movie you've heard about for years but never got around to watching. Your stomach rumbles so you get up and go to the kitchen to make something. As you start cooking, you imagine Wanda coming up behind you and wrapping her arms around your waist. It's so real you can feel it. Then you try to picture anyone else but you can't. You've had moments like that with Jean and with Daisy. But you couldn't visually remember them. You close your eyes for a second and sigh as you think about Wanda leaning her head against your back. You think about how you would lift your arm to get her to slip under and rest her head on your chest. You think about how you would kiss her as she hugged you from the side. 

The aroma of your food cooking snaps you out of the fantasy. You focus on cooking so that you don’t burn the building down daydreaming about your friend. As you sit in front of the television you realize that you left the movie playing so you start it from the beginning and pay attention while you eat. 

As you watch the movie, you start to imagine Wanda curled up next to you watching the movie with you. When you try to get rid of that image and focus on the movie, your mind wanders back to what she is doing tonight. Who is she with? Is she seeing anyone? Is she back to hooking up with random people? 

What if she was hooking up with you? You wonder. 

As the couple in the movie confess their feelings to each other you stop paying attention and start to think about being in Wanda's house. The both of you a bit tipsy from the Sokovian vodka. Her favorite because it reminds her of her parents and their culture. You're making her laugh because she gets your sense of humor. Then there's a moment when her eyes connect with yours. And nothing is holding either of you back. 

You kiss her and she holds your face to keep you close. You crawl closer to her and she falls back. You try to hover over her as you continue to kiss her but she pulls you on top of her because she wants you as close to her as possible. She needs you as close to her as possible. 

You look down at your hands as you imagine what her breasts would feel like. How firm is it? How soft? Would she prefer that you squeeze it roughly or would she like a gentle massage? You lick your lips as you imagine her nipples. How hard they would be. You think about tracing them with your tongue. You wonder what her sweat would taste like. 

You shove your hand in your pants to touch yourself as your mind continues to torture you with images of her. Your lips on her abdomen. The way her face would contort from the pleasure. Seeing how she might bite her lips to stifle her sighs. Your senses don't stop there. You start to hear her sighs. Her soft moans. Maybe she’d call out your name when you're doing something wrong. Or she'll beg you for more. You swear you can smell her now. Then finally, as you start to reach your climax, you imagine what her juices tastes like. You think about how you'd perform cunnilingus right then and there. Because there are no kids to worry about. No one to interrupt. It's just you and Wanda. 

You reach your orgasm and breathe heavily as you come down from your high. The image of Wanda fades from your mind. You sit there for a moment. Reminding yourself of where you are. Then you feel disgusting. How could you think of your friend like that? She is your friend and nothing more. You quickly get up and go to your bathroom to wash your hands. You change your underwear and replace your jeans with sweatpants. 

There wasn't a mess on the couch but you feel guilty for getting off on the couch your daughter watches her cartoons on and remove the covers on the cushions to throw in the wash. The movie’s credits roll and you flip on a random sitcom to try and lighten your mood. You sit on the single chair that matches your couch as you wait for the washer to be done. 

You sigh as you think about what you need to change in your life. Then there is a knock on your door. You check your watch as you frown. It's pretty late. You rack your brain as you consider the possibilities of people on the other side of the door. There's another knock, this one a little more rapid. You get up and shut off the television. You peer through the peephole in the door before quickly opening it. 

“Jean, what's wrong?” You ask as you let her and Rachel inside. 

“Anna and I got in a really big argument and we just couldn't stay there,” Jean says as she walks through the door. 

“Hey bug,” you smile at your confused and sleepy daughter. It was way past her bedtime and she was in her pajamas. You lift her in your arms and carry her to her bedroom. You tuck her into bed and close the door to her room. You look down at the door handle and sigh. You shake your head. You really hope this doesn't affect the progress that has been made over the last couple of months. You're going to contact her therapist in the morning after you get all of the details from Jean. 

“What happened to your couch?” Jean asks as she takes your spot in the chair. She has makeup all over her face. Her eyes are bloodshot and her cheeks are puffy. You scan her face to look for any signs of a slap or worse. You don't see any and you hope, for your daughter's sanity, that Jean didn't strike Anna. She might not be as understanding of something like that.

“I spilled something on it and threw the covers in the wash,” you sit on the coffee table in front of her. You try to keep your gaze soft and stay patient. But you really needed to know what happened and why Jean thought it was a good idea to not only leave her home in the middle of an argument with her wife but stay at her ex’s for the night. Disrupting your daughter's sleep in the process. 

She keeps her eyes locked on the stripped cushions on the couch. The corner of her mouth lifts. “Remember when we bought our first couch?�� She starts softly and you can tell that her vocal chords are exhausted. You wonder how long she was in a screaming match with Anna. “It was white because it just had to be. It was the first big purchase we made with my discount at the store. Your grandma told us to wrap it in plastic and neither of us listened. We could hardly afford it at the time, but she offered to loan her set until we could.” 

You nod as you remember exactly what memory she is thinking of. “I remember,” you say softly. “You refused because you thought it looked tacky. But Rachel was two and constantly walking and running around. That sofa was covered in so many different colors of food stains before the end of the year, it became an entirely new couch.” You start to laugh as you're reminded of how horrible the smell was. “Gosh it took us months to get rid of the smell even after we tossed the damn thing out.” 

“Oh gosh,” Jean covers her face as she starts to laugh. “Don't remind me, I still sometimes think the smell is lingering in the house.” She moves her fingers through her hair and takes a deep breath. “Anna isn't so sure that she wants to be part of this family anymore,” Jean finally admits. 

“I'm sure the two of you will work it out,” you say to comfort her. There isn't much else you can say to her about it. This isn't the first time that Anna has expressed wanting to leave Jean. A few weeks before their wedding, Anna had even disappeared for two days after an argument then came back as if nothing had happened. “Come on, I'll get you set up in my room. I'll take the couch,” you say as you offer her your hand while you stand up from the coffee table. Jean takes your hand with a small thank you. 

“The argument was really bad. I know I shouldn't have left and I shouldn't have woken Rachel up but,” tears start to stream down Jean's cheeks again. “I just had to get out of there.” You nod and once you're in your room, you pull her in for a warm embrace. 

“Jean, did you stop taking your medication when you decided you wanted a baby?” You ask softly as you continue to hold her. You don't want her to blow up at you for asking the question, so it's better to have her restrained in your arms. 

She doesn't react the way you expect. She doesn't take offense to the question. She doesn't accuse you of trying to call her a bad mother. She doesn't deny having an episode. Jean breaks down into heavy sobs in your arms as she admits that both her and Anna decided to stop taking their medications just in case you came around to the idea. You hold her until she stops crying and leave her tucked into your bed. When the cushion covers are done washing, you throw them in the dryer and watch TV until they're done so that you don't have to worry about fixing up the cushions in the morning. 

You pull out the bed that's in the couch and make it nice for yourself to sleep on. When everything is fixed up the way you like it, you shut off the TV and turn off the lights. You check the lock on the door before climbing into bed. You look at your phone one last time before you officially call it a night. No new messages. You sigh and scroll through social media for a little bit. When you land on a video you find funny, you send it to Wanda first. Then you send it to Nebula. 

In the morning, you wake up to two notifications, one from Nebula being critical about the video you sent her and the other from Wanda thanking you for the laugh. You respond to Nebula first and ask why she didn’t find it funny and a few minutes later you’re reading a novel of reasons why the video is offensive. You don’t have any idea what to respond with so you decide to make coffee in hopes that it will help you come up with something. 

But as you make coffee, Jean wakes up and joins you for a cup. You talk to her about the fight she had with her wife and she breaks down as she reveals that last night was the biggest fight but that there have been many over the months since they can't afford the other options to have a kid. You get even more side tracked when Rachel wakes up and you help Jean make breakfast for everyone. It reminds you of the past. Being a small family of three when the most drama in your life was being a young parent and spouse. 

Rachel doesn't say much about last night. Just that she was confused when she woke up in this bed and not the bed at her other home. “Hey Rachel guess what,” you say with a little smirk and you watch her take a bite of her toast. Her eyes widen as the both of you rush to say, “I love you,” first. She spits toast crumbs as she does, some land on the table and some splatter on her mom. 

“Gross!” Jean complains as she uses napkins to wipe her arm. “You did that on purpose, Y/n.” You and Rachel share a laugh. It was a little game that started when she was a toddler and learning how to speak. It began because whenever Jean was feeling affectionate, she would come up to you and say, “Guess what?” You would pretend to be clueless because you wanted to hear her say it and she would say, “I love you, you idiot.” 

Rachel began to pick up on it and she would start to say, “Baba, guess what?” In her little voice. You would smile and respond with, “I love you,” at the same time as she would. Eventually it became a competition of who could say it faster. It was endearing to hear your baby girl get frustrated while telling you that she loved you. 

It has survived all of these years and you fear the day that she rolls her eyes and reminds you that she's not a kid anymore. 

“I don't know what you're talking about,” you say to Jean as you help clean up the crumbs from the table. 

“Whatever,” she shakes her head with a light laugh. She looks at her plate of food and smiles as she is thrown back into so many good memories of being a family. “I'm sad that I forgot about that,” she admits as she looks over at Rachel who is completely focused on her breakfast now. Jean starts to comb her fingers through her daughter’s soft red hair. She recalls how excited she was when her daughter's hair started to grow out as red as her own. Rachel took after her for the most part but there is still a lot of you in her. Her smile is yours. Her nose is yours. Her ears are all you. As much as you try to pin those on Jean. 

“It's not really your game,” you say from the kitchen where you're tossing the used napkins into the trash bin. “I’d have been surprised if you did remember it.” You say as you return to your seat to finish your breakfast. 

Jean rests her elbow on the table and sets her chin on the palm of her hand as she watches you. She can't help but feel a little regretful for not working harder on the marriage she had with you. As you eat, you become aware of her gaze on you. With a confused frown you look at her and she gives you an apologetic expression before she clears her throat and goes back to eating her food. You ignore it. 

Anna is sitting in her kitchen all alone, slowly sipping her tea. She ia taking the time alone to consider if this is what she wants. She did this before her wedding day. She was getting anxious about fully commiting herself to Jean and to becoming a stepmom and figuring out where she fits into this family that she joined. So she took a weekend to run off and get a hotel room. She sat in her hotel room alone for the most part. 

At some point, she went to the indoor pool to people watch. There were little kids that needed more parental supervision than they had. She nearly had a heart attack watching a toddler fall into the deep end of the pool. She quickly swooped the little guy into her arms and returned him to the fearful mother. The woman thanked her profusely but Anna waved her off and found herself saying, “I’m a mom too. I would hope that someone wouldn't watch and let my daughter drown.” The woman got excited and wanted to hear more about the daughter that Anna wasn't sure she should commit to. Anna happily talked and bragged about Rachel and realized how easy it was. Then the woman's husband pulled her away because they had plans to get to. 

Anna was left alone again. She sat on one of the chairs and continued to watch people. There were two girls that were being bothered by a single guy. The girls themselves were single but weren't interested in him. Anna looked down at her engagement ring and knew she didn't want to be single anymore. 

Anna looks at her rings now. She still doesn't want to be single. Her chest feels heavy not having Rachel bounce around the kitchen waiting for breakfast. She misses hearing the cartoons on the television. She misses her wife's presence. She doesn't know why she is pushing away her family as much as she has been. She just feels like she didn't understand what she was signing up for. She buzzes air past her lips as she thinks about how everyone has told her that the first year of marriage is the hardest. 

She never wanted to believe them but everyone was right. Even Jean said it. Anna would just roll her eyes and remind Jean that she was a lot longer the first time around. 

As a test, she removes her rings and sets them on the counter space in front of her. She looks at her naked hand and considers leaving them off. But she quickly shoves the rings back on and grabs her keys. She needed advice and the person she sought advice from the most was her mom. 

Wanda is sitting with Agatha as they meet for brunch with their boys running around Agatha’s house. “Are you planning on going to that fundraiser?” Wanda asks as she takes a sip of her orange juice. 

Agatha rolls her eyes at being reminded of the event, “As much fun as it would be to remind everyone who the life of the party is. I was planning on going but then my mother called. She fell and sprained her wrist.” Wanda shows her concern and Agatha waves her off. “She'll be fine. She sprained her wrist years ago and when she's lonely she throws the brace back on and calls me in a panic.” She drinks her apple juice. “I don't always go but she wants to see Nick before he gets shipped off to that summer camp that his father found. So I'm going to drive up and spend that week with them.” 

“Damn, I was hoping that we could go together,” Wanda frowns as she picks at the paint chipping from her finger nails. 

“You wanted to go this year? Even with Vision and his child bride attending?” Agatha leans in, intrigued as she looks her friend up and down. “I see, you want an excuse to see Y/n.” 

“Or maybe make them jealous,” Wanda says shyly as she moves the scraps around her plate. It’s becoming apparent to her that no matter what, she wants to be with you. She made the mistake of guarding her heart and telling you to find someone else. She wasn't ready to accept that someone as genuine as you exists. In the back of her mind, she couldn't trust that you are good. She was afraid that you wouldn’t stay good once you were in a relationship with her. She was afraid that you would change the way that Vision did. 

When Wanda realized that Vision was never good, she was able to stop putting that fear in you. She was able to see the light and see that the only thing keeping her from her happiness is herself. 

“Oh? Please elaborate on that,” Agatha scoots closer to Wanda. 

The brunette shrugs, “I don't know. I was thinking about showing up in some stunning dress. Maybe get my hair done. Kind of go all out.” 

“Were you thinking about getting a date? You have to have a date,” Agatha suggests as she gets excited about the idea. 

“I don't know, would that be too much?” Wanda drinks her orange juice as she considers the idea. 

“Honey, Y/n will probably be there with that Nebula girl, right?” Agatha reminds her. “Why should you show up alone?” 

“I don't know, Agatha, that feels… I don't know… so high school,” Wanda resists. 

Agatha picks up her phone as she goes through her contact list. “Babe, I'm serious. I'm going to get you some serious arm candy. There's this new guy at work that just moved here from New York. He's blind, but he's cute enough. Definitely someone that will have Y/n-” 

“Hold on, did you just say he's cute enough for a blind guy?” Wanda scoffs, a little shocked by her friend's insensitivity. 

Agatha rolls her eyes, “No, he's cute enough to get the job done and he's blind. Just, don't worry about a thing. I will set up the blind date. But I'll make sure he's not blind to the setup.” Agatha snickers a bit, proud of her puns and Wanda shakes her head as she finishes her orange juice. 

On the night of the fundraiser you leave Rachel with Jean who was still staying at your apartment while she worked things out with Anna. They have talked since their big fight but they agreed to spend some more time separated from each other. You don't know why Jean and Rachel couldn't stay at the house. It was their house first. But Anna doesn't have anywhere to go so you dealt with it. Under the condition that Jean started her medication again. To your knowledge, she is taking them. You don't check under her tongue or anything but she does make a point to show you that she is taking them in the morning and at night. 

Because of this, you haven't been able to see Nebula since Rachel doesn't know that you're dating again and you don't want her knowing about Nebula yet since it was a big deal with Daisy. But she knows about tonight’s event. Thanks to her school, you're able to go on a date with Nebula. 

You knock on the door with a single flower in your hand. “Wow,” you say as you admire her beauty and her outfit. She is beautiful. “You look fantastic,” you compliment as you hold out the flower to her. 

She smiles as she smells it. “Thank you,” she sets it in her key bowl by the table. “I’ll put it in a vase later. It's supposed to rain soon.” As if on cue a loud clap of thunder rings out while she locks her door. 

“Wow, I had no idea,” you say as you walk her to your car. “I didn't see that in the forecast earlier,” I frown as I check my phone before starting the car. Sure enough gray clouds with lightning bolts and cartoon rain appear on the weather app for the next few hours. “Huh, I guess you do have to check it more than once.” 

“I told you,” Nebula says with a smile. She kisses your cheek as you start the car. “I’ve missed you these past couple of weeks.” 

“I missed you too,” you aren't lying, you're simply omitting the small detail that you've missed Wanda more. “It's been so weird living with Jean again. I can honestly say, I don't miss being married to her and actually be certain of that for once.” 

Nebula laughs and connects her phone to the Bluetooth in the car to play her music. The two of you sing along to the songs the entire drive to the venue. It starts to sprinkle a bit as you get closer to the event. 

Wanda is pacing back and forth in her underwear on a three way video call with Carol and Agatha. Her room is a mess of dresses, pant suits, and shoes. She hasn't even made it as far as accessories. “I don't know! I thought the dress I bought last week was the revenge dress but it's hideous! Y/n would never like something like that!” 

Carol puts her face in her hands and groans. “Wanda we know how to make you look hot for anyone. We don't know how to make you look specifically hot for Y/n. We like them but neither of us have tried to get in their pants.” 

“Speak for yourself,” Agatha quips. 

“Agatha!” Wanda and Carol scold her. 

“What? I have eyes don't I? Besides, that was before I knew Wanda was serious about them. Y/n turned me down every time, relax,” Agatha says. “Why don't you try the purple dress? The one you wore to that one thing that one time.” 

“Because that's helpful,” Carol mutters. 

“Oh yeah! The booby one, okay I'll be right back, one of you add someone who might know what Y/n will find attractive.” Wanda says as she runs off to her walk-in closet to find the purple dress. 

“How? How do you do it Agatha? I swear I sent her pictures and she still couldn't remember the dresses I suggested! You say that one you wore that one time and she gets it!” 

“I'm just that good,” Agatha says. 

“I only have one purple dress because Agatha got it for me for Christmas,” Wanda shouts from her closet. 

“That too,” Agatha says. 

“Who can we add?” Carol says as she thinks about who they know that knows Y/n best. 

“Jean?” Agatha suggests. 

“Ew, no,” Wanda says as she steps out of the closet in the dress. “I don't want to ask her to make me look hot for her ex.” 

“I'm just saying, they've known each other their whole lives,” Agatha reminds her friends. 

“I don't think she'd be much help because based on the stories they've told, Jean didn't have to do much for Y/n’s attention,” Carol adds. 

“Hmm, that's true,” Agatha ponders. “What about Darcy? Didn't they try dating at one point?” She suggests next.

“They did?” Wanda and Carol say in unison. 

“You ladies are so full of yourselves sometimes. You know, you girls could benefit from paying attention when people speak,” Agatha shakes her head. “Screw it, I'm adding her to the call.” 

“Wait,” Wanda tries to stop her but the call is already going through. Darcy answers in her pitch black bedroom. 

“Who the hell is - oh hi guys! What the hell is wrong with you? It's one in the morning!” Darcy groans as she turns on the lamp on her nightstand. The bright light reveals more of her setting and more of her than anyone expected to see when she turned on the light. 

“Uh Darcy, nip slip,” Carol says as she points at the screen. Darcy pulls her sheets further up and a deeper groan follows as a man's back appears in the background. “Oh, my, who is that?” Carol asks with a laugh. 

“It's your fault you called me at one in the morning on a Friday night,” Darcy defends herself. 

“In our defense, you didn't have to answer,” Agatha points out. 

“Ladies! Focus! My escort is supposed to arrive here in thirty minutes!” Wanda tries to keep everyone in line. 

“Right, Darcy! We need your help making Wanda look good for Y/n,” Carol informs Darcy of the reason they disrupted her sleep. 

“Oh, I know what could make Wanda look good,” Darcy starts, “she could find a time machine, then go back to the night she rejected Y/n and not do that.” 

“Oh come on,” Agatha says. 

“Low blow,” Carol says. 

“This was a bad idea,” Wanda falls onto the front of her bed. 

“Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I thought that I had to but I didn't,” Darcy says as she sits up and yawns. “What can I do to help?” 

“There's a fundraiser for the kids' school and I want to wow Y/n into leaving with me instead of Nebula,” Wanda explains. “But I don't know what kind of outfit will do that!” 

“Y/n is very simple to please, if you showed up in just one of their shirts and nothing else, they'd marry you on the spot,” Darcy says as if it's obvious that you're not a difficult person. 

“Yeah, like Wanda has one of Y/n’s shirts,” Agatha laughs. Wanda gets quiet and looks at the corner of her room where a shirt she kept is lying on the floor. She had been wearing it to bed lately and it no longer smells like you. But she wasn't willing to let it go yet. “Wanda! Are you serious?” Agatha shouts into the phone. 

“Calm down, I didn't steal it. I just didn't return it when I found it. But that's besides the point. I'm not showing up to a school event in a T-shirt. We have to do better than that ladies!” Wanda says as she stands up and lets the dress fall to the floor. 

“Wow so my nipples are a problem but we're getting the whole show from Wanda and no one is saying anything?” Darcy gripes. 

Carol rolls her eyes, “We're far past that by now Lewis.” 

“Whatever, do you have any black dresses?” Darcy asks. 

“Like a million of them,” Agatha moans, shaking her head, exhausted by this conversation. 

“Y/n appreciates a little black dress. I bet you anything that Nebula is wearing a red dress,” Darcy defends her suggestion.  

“No, my connection at the school sent me a picture of when they arrived. Nebula is wearing blue,” Agatha says with her phone close to her face as she sends the image to the group. 

“Wait!” Darcy says a little too loud, disturbing the man in her bed. “Shut up you big baby,” she rolls her eyes at him. “Look, do you see Y/n’s tie?” Darcy asks with her phone close to her face and the camera at a bad angle again. 

“Yeah, what about it?” Agatha questions, not really concerned about the tie as much as she should be. 

“Wait, I want to see,” Carol's view changes as well and Wanda is standing and staring at the worst angles of her friends as they look at the image on their phones. “Oh I see,” Carol says. 

“I get it now,” Agatha agrees. 

“What?” Wanda asks, growing annoyed with her friends. 

“Wanda, grab the velvet suit from the back of the closet. The one you wore to that holiday party at my work three years ago,” Agatha directs Wanda. “You're going to show up ready to match Y/n. If that suit doesn't work, then it's their loss. That suit almost turned me.” 

“I agree, that suit is magic on you,” Carol says as she remembers seeing pictures of her friend in that suit. 

“Carol, stop drooling over Wanda and get ready for dinner with my parents,” Valkyrie says in the background.

“Alright,” Carol sighs, she's not very fond of her fiancee’s conservative family. “Y’all heard the misses. I've got to go. Good luck Maximoff,” she bids everyone goodbye before ending the call. 

“I should go too, I have an early morning,” Darcy says before she hangs up. 

The screen is just Agatha with Wanda in the corner of her phone. “I should go too so that you're not distracted. Have a good night Wanda. I want all of the dirty details tomorrow,” she ends the conversation altogether leaving Wanda on her own to finish getting ready. 

It's not too long before there's a knock on Wanda's door. She opens it and is surprised by the man that stands before her. He is more than she expected, she feels a little speechless. “I'm sorry, I'm not sure if I'm in the right place. Are you Wanda Maximoff?” The handsome stranger with the red tinted glasses asks. 

“Uh, um, yes, that's me. Sorry, hi. You're,” Wanda is spacing on his name for a moment then remembers Agatha making a doormat joke about him. She clears her throat to clear her stutter. “I'm assuming that you're Matt, correct.” 

He smiles and Wanda can't help but blush at his charming grin. “Yes I am,” he says. “I'm assuming that I'm not what you expected?” His tone is sweet as he steps back from the front door. Anticipating for Wanda to walk with him to the waiting car. 

“Honestly? Not really,” Wanda replies as she locks her front door. Agatha really downplayed Matt’s good looks. 

“Ah, I see. Is it safe to assume that Agatha forgot to mention the detail that I am blind?” He extends his elbow to her when he feels her get close to him and Wanda accepts it, wrapping her hands at the crook of his elbow. She walks him towards the car while he holds his folded up guide stick in his hand. 

“No, I knew that part. She mentioned that right away. But she didn't mention how handsome you were, she said something along the lines of ‘he’s not bad looking for a blind guy.’ Plus all of the ‘blind date’ puns that she was able to work with.” Matt laughs, humored and flattered by the story about his abrasive co-worker. 

“Ah, that's interesting. I don't think I've ever exceeded expectations in that department before. I would have thought she asked me to be your fake date because of my charms and looks.” The two enter the car. “She paid for this ride by the way, she wanted me to stress that.” 

“I owe her big time,” Wanda says as she lets go of Matt's arm. This was going to be an interesting night for her. 

At the fundraiser, you walk around a biding table with Nebula. You can't donate much since you're still paying off Rachel's medical bills and the apartment complex you live in is trying to raise your rent. You're under negotiations but it's looking like no matter what, it's still going to cost you. There isn't much else that you can do other than make it look like you're going to give this school money when they hardly wanted to do anything for your daughter in her time of need. 

Nebula quickly pulls you over to the food as the line shortens and the pair of you fill your plates with as much food as they can handle. There aren't many parents that you know at the school because your daughter only hangs out with Billy and Tommy outside of school. At least to your knowledge. That left you finding a random and unclaimed table to stand at with Nebula as you tried to make the most out of the evening. 

As the band played covers of popular songs you kept your focus on the woman with you as she became the most entertaining person in the room. That was until something made your eyes subtly scan the room where they inevitably land on Wanda walking in with a man attached to her arm. She's dating? Is your first thought. Your second thought is, That is one hell of a suit. 

You quickly return your attention to Nebula but you can't focus on her. She is beautiful, of course, but Wanda is stunning. You can't help but search for her again and feel entirely captivated by her gaze as her eyes meet yours. It takes all of your strength to break the contact. 

“We can go say hi,” Nebula says as she pushes around the food on her plate that she didn't like. 

“I'm sorry, it's just been so awkward walking around here not knowing anyone,” you say to cover up the fact that you want to switch places with the man that arrived with Wanda. She's never mentioned the guy and she shows up in an outfit matching his glasses. It's unbelievable. It's infuriating. 

Wanda’s heart races nervously as she catches your gaze for a moment. She clenches her jaw when you kiss Nebula on the lips. Her pink lipstick stains your lips and she has to clean it off with her thumb. That should be Wanda smiling and removing her lipstick from your lips. She should be the one holding your hand as you walk towards her. Her eyes widen slightly as she realizes that you're walking towards her. 

“So what were you telling me about your friend again?” Wanda asks as she tries to strike up a conversation so that it doesn't look obvious that she's here on a mission. 

“Are they walking towards us?” Matt asks with an amused smirk. 

“Yeah,” Wanda shamelessly admits. She has nothing to hide from Matt. He knows what he's here for. They talked about it at length in the car because she really didn't want to take advantage of him. Matt assured her that really didn't mind. 

“So I was telling my friend, Foggy, that just because I can't see doesn't mean I can't-” 

“Hey Wanda,” you make a point to interrupt their conversation. “Who is this?” You ask as you move your hand from holding Nebula's to holding her hip. 

“Matthew Murdock,” he holds his hand out and you give him a polite shake. “Most people call me Matt. And behind my back some call me Blind Matt,” he jokes and you try to refrain from reacting to his disability. You didn't realize that he was visually impaired. Then you see his guide stick and instantly feel guilty for mentally villainizing him. 

“People tend to call me Queer Y/n when I tell them my preferred pronouns,” you retort to get a laugh out of him. “Although, Wanda made it obvious to everyone when I lost a bet and she chose to cut my hair into a mullet,” you continue and this makes Matt laugh. 

“I haven't thought about a mullet since my accident. And there's not much that I don't miss the sight of but that has to be one of the things I don't miss seeing, no offense,” he says, making the three of you laugh. 

“None taken, I was really happy when she finally gave me the okay to get my haircut again,” you say as you run your fingers through your short hair. 

“That's funny, I didn't know you had to wait for her permission,” Nebula says as she sizes up Wanda. 

“It was her prize from the bet,” you shrug as if the reason was obvious. “Of course I have to ask for permission.” 

“You didn't have to,” Wanda clarifies as she reaches out and squeezes your shoulder with a laugh, “I appreciate that you did but you're just that kind of person.” She looks over at Nebula with what you interpret as a warm smile. “You're very lucky to be dating someone like, Y/n,” she says. 

The song starts to slow down and the singer invites the couples to slow dance on the dance floor since they're all here to enjoy a night off from the kids. Nebula starts to pull you away claiming to love the song that's being performed. You look back at Wanda as you follow Nebula to the dance floor. Her expression looks a little funny to you at first. You lose sight of her as people get in the way and remind yourself that you came here with Nebula. She has your undivided attention. 

Wanda is hit with a pang of jealousy as Nebula pulls you away for a dance. She stops one of the waiters walking past her with a tray full of champagne flutes and she grabs two. She downs both of them and sets them on a nearby table. “How good are you at slow dancing?” She asks Matt. 

“Let's go,” he says as he extends his arm out to her. They make their way to the dance floor and Wanda manages to find a spot where she can watch you. When she notices that she has caught your eye, she smiles at Matt. 

You try not to show your jealousy as you lean back to gaze into Nebula's eyes. She does have very pretty eyes. You smile and she smiles back up at you. The next slow song plays and you recognize it almost immediately. It's one that your daughter likes to play in the car a lot. Your eyes find Wanda who is holding Matt close to her. 

You can't focus on the pain that small act of intimacy is causing you. It's not fair to Nebula. It's not fair to Wanda, who seems very happy. It's not fair to yourself. But you can't tear your eyes away from her. Matt whispers something in her ear that makes her laugh. Even through the loud music and the crowd, her laugh spreads a warmth in your chest. 

Wanda lets Matt spin her around during the song as she allows herself to focus on having fun with him instead. Tonight isn't the night to play games and hope that you ditch your date to be with her. She's an adult and she doesn't need to act like a child. She can have her moment with you another day. Tonight, she's going to have fun with someone that she has no ties to because Matt seems like a really great guy. 

As the second song comes to an end, Wanda ends up facing your direction because of the way Matt spun her and her heart stops. You and Nebula are sharing a kiss but it's different. Your eyes are open and looking for Wanda. Are you playing a game too? She can't do this anymore. She starts to feel overwhelmed under your intense gaze. She wants you to look at her that way but not under these circumstances. She doesn't want to be playing these kinds of games. Not with you. Everything between the two of you hasn't felt as childish as it does right now. 

“I'm sorry, Matt. I need some air,” Wanda says as she lets go of him. She helps him get off of the dance floor before she leaves the building. 

You watch Wanda run out of the event without her date and you stop kissing Nebula. The woman in your arms pulls out the red handkerchief from the breast pocket of your jacket. She wipes your lips and sighs. “Go to her,” she says as she fixes your handkerchief. 

“Nebula I-” 

“Y/n, don't apologize. Go after her. She's your person. It's okay, I knew it was never me. This was fun while it lasted.” She gives you a kind smile as she pats your chest and dusts off your shoulders. 

“You're amazing, you know that?” You say to her, at a loss for words. Not knowing how else to thank her for not making this difficult for you. 

“I do, now go!” She turns you towards the direction of the exit and gives you a small shove. You laugh as you take her advice and start running toward the exit to try and catch Wanda before she gets too far away. 

You look for her in the lobby but it's completely empty. Then you see her at the corner of the street waiting to cross. It's pouring outside but you can't care about that right now. You push the glass door open and run outside. “Wanda!” You call out to her just as a loud clap of thunder overpowers your voice. “Wanda! Wait!” You shout as you run to get closer but the cross signal has given her the go ahead to cross the street. You push yourself to run faster as the storm rages on. 

The street is empty. There are no cars waiting for her to cross. There is no one outside on the sidewalks. This time it is just you and Wanda. So you don't hesitate when you stop her in the middle of the crosswalk and grab her wrist. You spin her so that her body crashes against yours. Neither of you have a moment to process before you press your lips against hers. As you kiss Wanda, you feel her melt in your arms. You feel as though everything in the world is falling into place. You feel a little dizzy kissing her, losing yourself completely in the way her lips collide against yours. Surrendering to the emotions that you’ve been repressing for too long. You love this woman and you can't deny it anymore. 

The kiss breaks when both of you need to come up for air and a car honks at the pair of you. Wanda pulls you onto the sidewalk, across the street from the venue. “What was that?” Wanda shouts once the two of you are safe on the concrete. The rain is still coming down hard and it's not easy to hear without a raised volume.

“I’ve tried so hard to see you as just a friend,”  you shout back, “but I can’t!” Wanda opens her mouth to say something but you don't want her to reject you again. “Before you say anything. Please let me finish. I’ve tried to be with other people. You’ve seen that! But you are the only person I want to be with. I love you, Wanda. I can’t- I won’t take it back this time.” 

“Then don't,” Wanda says as she puts your hand on the back of your neck and pulls you in for another kiss. You excitedly swoop her in your arms and spin her around as you kiss her on the side walk in the pouring rain. 

She giggles as you set her back down and lean your forehead against hers. “Can I take you home?” You ask her feeling a rush of emotions that you can't express out here. You want to be alone with her in a dry setting. 

“Please,” she answers as she smiles up at you. 

Hand in hand, the two of you run across the street to grab your car from the valet. As you wait in the lobby you watch Nebula escorting Matt out and you feel relieved about not having to worry about either of them. When you get into the car with Wanda, she kisses you on the lips again before you can start the engine. You can't believe this is real. But you don't ask her to pinch you. If this is a fantasy, you want to live in it forever. 

Every red light that you hit on the way to her house, the two of you take the moment to kiss. As you drive, you have your hand on her thigh. Wanda almost regrets not wearing a dress so that she could tease you with more exposed skin. But she's also glad that she didn't because with the outfit she did wear, she managed to draw only your attention and not unwanted attention from others. That's what was most important to her. 

It wasn't about being the hottest person in the room for her. It was about being the person that you wanted to leave with.

As the two of you stumble into her home, swept up in the heightened emotions of it all, she starts to get into her head a bit. The two of you fall onto her sofa with you on top. She wants this to work with you. She doesn't want this to end before it begins. As you kiss her neck she almost gives in and allows the two of you to release months of built up tension. But she can't get out of her head now. 

“Wait,” she says as she pushes you back. “Wait, I can't do this right now.” She says between breaths. She hadn't realized how breathless she was until she could hardly catch her breath. She slips her body out from under yours and sits on the couch.

“I'm sorry,” you say as you pant and back away. “I shouldn't have gotten so carried away I thought-” you say as you stand up to leave.

“No wait,” Wanda quickly grabs your hand and tugs on your arm. “Stay, let me… let me collect my thoughts and we can talk.” Her big apologetic eyes pull you in and remove the fear and doubt from your mind. You sit next to her and wait for her to start. You give her the space to think about what she wants to communicate with you. She deserves to have this time. You can wait to hear her out as you sit by her with your fingers laced with hers. Both of you are still soaked from the rain. Her hair isn't as neat as when she arrived to the event and you're certain that you don't look nearly as put together as when you left your apartment. 

“I love you too,” Wanda states first. “I'm in love with you,” her voice waivers this time and you can see tears building up. She clears her throat. “I want to be clear about that first. And I want you to stay with me tonight. I just don't think tonight is the night that we take things all the way.” 

You nod, “Of course,” you say as you release your hand from hers and put your arm around her body. You press the side of your head to the top of hers and take a deep breath as she leans into your side. “Although, I will argue that spending the night would've been made easier if you got me out of these wet clothes. That's all I'm saying,” you jokingly point out and it makes Wanda laugh. 

“That's right,” she looks down at her wet clothes and then at yours. She bites her lips as she thinks of a possible solution but she’s slightly scared of the answer. “Do you have anything in your car?” 

“I didn't pack an overnight bag because my intention was to go home after,” you tell her and kiss her cheek. “How about this,” you start as you pull away to face her as you speak, “I get naked — hold on stay with me now — I get naked. Put the nice stuff on some hangers to air dry and I toss the things I can wear to bed in the dryer. And I hop in the shower so that you're not tempted by me until they're done.” Wanda laughs and rolls her eyes. Your tone is very light and humorous but it's a good suggestion. 

“Okay,” Wanda nods in agreement. 

“So I can sleep in my underwear?” You ask, just to take the extra step in getting her consent. 

“Yes, you can sleep in your underwear,” she stands up from the couch and pulls you up with her. The two of you are giddy and giggle as you climb the stairs together. Neither of you tried to cross a line, you undress in her bathroom with the door shut and she waits until you announce that you're in the shower to collect your clothes. She starts with putting the white under shirt and your boxers into the dryer first before she focuses on properly hanging your clothing. She gets changed into dry clothes and hangs her wet clothing as well. 

When the dryer is done she grabs a towel for you and neatly folds everything before she takes it to the bathroom. She announces that it's there for you when she leaves it. When you step out of the bathroom, she kisses you as she passes you so that she can shower and properly clean her face with her products. 

You text Jean that you're not coming home tonight but you don't tell her who you're with and let her continue to assume that you're with Nebula as you wait for Wanda in her bed. Jean sends you a winking gif then some gifs with innuendos that make you laugh. You set your phone to charge next to Wanda's and settle into the bed that you've missed sleeping in. 

When she joins you, she starts by laying on top of you to kiss you on the lips again. You're happy to respond to the kiss and hold back on growing too eager to turn it into anything more. “I love you,” Wanda says with a bright grin. 

“I love you,” you say while wrapping her in your arms. You close your eyes and sigh. “I'm going to be really mad if this is all a dream,” you mutter, which makes Wanda laugh. 

She looks down at you as her smile slowly drops and not because her happiness has faded but because she wants you to believe her. She wants you to understand that she is serious when she tells you that this isn't a fantasy. “Y/n,” she calls softly, you open your eyes and connect with her loving gaze, “this is real.”

Chapter 21

Taglist: @princessprudy @sayah13 @agaymilflover @awkwardmandalorian @bentleywolf29 @thatshyboy1998 @artisannat @thisischaismagic @wqndanat @madamevirgo @likefirenrain @tearsofglitter @feltlikethat @the-writer-arcane @natashasilverfox @karsonromanoff @aloneodi @lovelyy-moonlight @red1culous @jovialsublimecomputer @natasha-maximoff @iliketozoneout @doudouneverte @druggedduck @diealittlesometime @when-wolves-howl @lifespectator @justyourwritter69 @wandaromamoff69 @awesomelygayasf @nekoannie-chan @diaryoflife @wuwu96 @wandanats-goodgirl @sincerely-indi @blueredg52 @sisiofthemultifandom @fuzzyuniversityeclipsefriend @arcturusseer @scarlettwidow34 @chasethemoon @raven-ss @canyonyodeler @sokovianbaby @alexawynters @bittysworld @hopeless-romantic17177 @spongebobtentacles @the-ox-fan20 @shaniiwm @casualreadersstuff @neopolitan-torchwick

[ryeriy]

slipping through my fingers | lewis hamilton

-> summary: Lewis is watching is daughter slip away through his fingers

-> pairings: dad!lewis hamilton x mom!reader

-> a/n: this was a really cute idea in my head but I hope it turns out okay 😭

mamma mia series

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15 years ago, January 29th

It was just a few hours ago that little Savanna was born into this world. She had already been adored by both of her parents that loved her so much in these first few hours.

"She's quite cute isn't she?" Lewis said while looking down at the baby girl in his arms. Savanna was swaddled in blankets and being held by her father. Y/n looked over at Lewis as he held their newborn daughter. Even though y/n was very tired, she couldn't help but to slightly smile.

"Probably gets that from me." Y/n let out a soft laugh. Lewis laughed too.

"I couldn't agree more with that one," Lewis smiled at the baby in his arms that's his.

He couldn't believe that something this perfect and tiny was his. He has a child now and if felt so unreal to him still. It felt like to him it was only yesterday she was showing him the two pink lines on the pregnancy test, now he was holding his baby girl in his hands.

"I wish I could just freeze this moment and treasure it, it's so peaceful."

"Me too..." y/n agreed.

Y/n looked over at Lewis holding their daughter smiling at the sigh of it. They're finally a family after nine whole months of waiting. Their lives couldn't have been any better.

10 years ago, September 1st

"Okay, do you have everything you need Savanna?" Y/n asks as she grabs her daughter's Hello Kitty backpack, putting it onto her back.

The five-year-old nods her head and looks up at her mom. "Yes, mommy, you asked me that before we left the house too!" Savanna giggled in response. "I know, I'm just making sure!" Y/n smiled at her daughter and pulled out her phone from her pocket.

Lewis was standing next to y/n looking at Savanna and smiling at her. He leaned down to kiss her head and ran a hand through her hair. Savanna clung to Lewis hugging him.

"Okay fine...just one more picture though!" Y/n let out a soft laugh opening her camera.

"Mommy! I've got to go!" Savanna giggled again putting a smile on her face. She pulled away from Lewis standing in front of both of her parents.

"Just one more hug?" Y/n asked looking at Savanna getting down to her level to hug. Savanna ran up into her mother's arms embracing her mom. Y/n kissed her forehead and smiled at her. "Okay, okay! Just have fun and we'll pick you up after school?"

"We can even go for ice cream later!" Lewis exclaimed as he kneeled in front of Savanna. Both of them were smiling ear to ear pulling her into a tight hug.

"Yay!" Savanna exclaimed wrapping her arms around Lewis' neck.

Savanna pulled away one last time and looked around seeing other kids laughing and playing. She looked eager to go meet new kids and looked back up at her parents. Lewis and Y/n were standing next to each other. Lewis had his arm wrapped around y/n as they both had their eyes on Savanna. "Go, go have fun!" Lewis said to her and y/n smiled.

Savanna smiled at them and ran off to the entrance of the school where the other kids were. She turned around looking back at her parents, waving to them. "Bye, mommy! Bye, daddy!" She smiled and ran up to a group of kids.

Lewis and Y/n waved back and softly smiled at Savanna. They couldn't believe that she was growing up so fast. It was their daughter's first day of school and she wasn't looking back and rethinking.

8 years ago, July 25th

"You'll do great, sweetheart," Lewis hugged Savanna.

Today was Savanna's first big gymnastics competition. She's had competition before but nothing this big. There were so many other girls her age competing. It was quite intimidating, especially for a seven-year-old girl. Lewis and y/n would be there though to support their daughter even if they had to watch her from afar, they were still supporting her.

"You promise?" Savanna looked up into her father's eyes.

"I promise you, me and mom are going to be in the stans cheering you on the entire time, okay?" Lewis comforted her. He gently brushed a strand of curly hair out of her face.

Savanna hugged Lewis and y/n with a wide smile on her face. She took her water bottle and her bag with her and ran off to go with her team. Lewis held onto her hand until she started to turn away from him. Both parents were proud of their daughter and how far she's come along.

Savanna placed fourth overall in her events. Even though she didn't get first place, she still got a medal and a proud smile on her face.

"Mommy! Mommy! Daddy! Daddy!" The little girl came rushing up to her parents smiling at them. Savanna barely had her bag on her back and her water bottle hanging her tiny fingers. "Look! Look! I got a medal!"

"Oh, look at that!" Lewis looked at her and hugged her tightly. He placed a kiss on her forehead. "You did really good sweetheart."

"We're so proud of you, baby!" Y/n said as she looked at her daughter and smiled.

"Can we get some ice cream now?" Savanna looked up at Lewis and y/n with puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, we can go get ice cream now," y/n laughed softly and kissed her daughter's head.

Savanna smiled widely and let out a giggle. She was so excited to go get ice cream after a well-deserved day full of gymnastics. "Yay!"

Present Day, January 29th

"Happy birthday dear Savanna, Happy birthday to you! Blow out your candles, sweetheart."

Y/n smiled as she took a photo of Savanna, who was sitting in front of her cake with fifteen lighten candles on top of it. Lewis was next to y/n smiling at his daughter as blew out all fifteen of the candles on top.

"God, you're so old now!" Y/n joked as she smiled and looked at Lewis and Savanna.

"It's like yesterday you were in my arms for the first time and your mom was fawning all over you!" Lewis laughed and so did y/n while Savanna cringed.

"You guys are acting like it's a big deal, I'm only fifteen!" Savanna said as she looked at her parents.

Only fifteen.

That was the only thing Lewis could think of. He didn't realize it but his little girl was growing up right in front of him. He remembered thinking back on the day she was first born, when he said to y/n, "I wish I could just freeze this moment and treasure it, it's so peaceful." He wishes he still could.

[mrsoftthoughts]

Will Solace headcanons

- He's TALL

Like, really REALLY tall, at least for his age, this boy is like 1,82 ( smt like 6'0 with ⅔ of an inch I think?) at the age of fifteen and always has been the kind of kid who was at the end when the lines where from height order.

-The kind of person that gets red like a tomato

He looks like Tinkerbell whenever he gets flushed, especially but not exclusively when he is mad or has been laughing too hard.

-He is the embodiment of a social introvert

He likes spend time with his family and Friends, but he gets drained very easily, sometimes if he can avoid being surrounded by more than a few people or none at all, he isn't hesitating on taking that chance, and for that, he used to love when the cabin was empty of with just one or two of his siblings instead of the little battalion (Ofc he only could find that comfortable when the emptiness just means that all the others were at their daily activities and no that he, Austin and Kayla were the only one to fill the place until a new arrival.)

-Ok with PDA in public spaces if he's dating a girl, but sometimes he is kinda more reserved and discreet if his partner is a boy

Hear me out, he knows that there is nothing wrong with him or his relationship with a person of his same gender, but he has heard the things that some intolerant people are capable of and sees the consequences of it in some summer-only campers (and back at his home too, Remember that this boy is from Texas of all places) and he is terrified of the mere tough, so he's very wary of where or how much PDA displays towards his partner.

-His relationship with Naomi is great, but not really" Mother and son" like, but more "cool rich older friend/sister and bestie/younger brother"

None of them seem to realize or acknowledge that this isn't necessarily a good thing or that can be directly a problem due to the fact that Naomi has this little "eternal teenager" síndrome which is certainly not the best rely-on figure for an ACTUAL teenager.

-Kinda related to the last one, but he was partially/mostly raised by his grandparents

Naomi still being there, but she never quit her musical career which grew exponentially during her pregnancy, so sometimes she was out for a kinda Long time, They're this little southern older and kinda wealthy couple who absolutely love their grandson ( of which they were convinced that was the second mesias or something like a miracle at least due to his really weir birth conditions) Mr, Solace is guilty of wills star wars obsession

-This boy was literally indetectable during his ELEVEN months of gestation,

Naomi entered the hospital thinking that it was a digestive problem and ended up with a baby (that surprisedly for a newborn is pretty, like almost perfect to the point that feels beyond humanity) that looked like this guy whom she had met the past year in a trip to Austin, except that he and her cut the relationship way long before that what a normal pregnancy should be, her family end up convinced that was some kind of God's will and that's why they aren't bothered by Naomi having a child without being married or even in a relationship

- Igaf on what canon says, even if Will isn't usually a fighter, he, like any other demigod has a weapon, o well three

He has a bow, not his preferred one tough, his reaction is a bit too slow so forget about shot at a moving objective, Wich means that is useless when it comes to combat (and even in the archery range he is average or straight up sucks if their siblings are fair comparison), but that leads us to his preferred one for the last year's

Remember that shotgun that is just randomly in the armory? Well, he has his version of it, a Rifle, which is kinda restricted of in use because he can't use that thing for everything, the bullets are one-use-only which is kinda impractical and the mist wouldn't do shit to cover it up ( since that thing is already one of the disguises for the swords in this universe) and how tf are you supposed to explain that a minor has a hunting weapon in a big city?? Yeah- but his aim shines with that baby though

Sadly it has been slowly replaced while Will learns how to use his photokinesis and fulfill his dream of having his own light sable ( Why we are sleeping on the fact that this is just the best weapon to give a star wars fan capable of manipulating the fuckin light?!)

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - July 7 - Week 27

Sorry this is so late in the day, friends! I spent most of the week visiting my ailing grandfather--we know he’s got very little time left, so grabbing a chance to get to see him was really great, but it’s got all my days off and I just realized it’s Sunday! So you get six fic today as a bonus for being so late in the day. Remember to leave some comment/kudos for the authors who’s stories you enjoy! 

*

how light carries on endlessly by meidui

“I'm fine. I always heal up fine.”

“Do you?” Tony asks, two little words flaying Steve open. Steve looks up at him, and against the dusky light, Tony Stark strangely looks nothing like his father.

-

Between a near-drowning in the Hudson River, a panic attack in the middle of a mission, and a kidnapping, Steve learns to be happy.

my thoughts: ok. So. Listen. If you read one fic off the list this month, make it this one. The care in how Steve’s mental health is handled in this fic, both by meidui and Tony, is just very very special to me. I loved the twists on canon, and the slow growth of their relationship and just how broken Steve is allowed to be, because he never gets that in the MCU and dammit, he lost his whole world he should be given time to grieve and heal. ANYWAY. It’s excellent. Go read it. 

you've really missed a trick when it comes to love by meidui 

Steve thinks he’s happier than he’s ever been, or at least he should be. This is the closest he’s ever come to having everybody he loves in one place and the Compound doesn’t echo with emptiness anymore, and he’s seen more of Tony in the past few months than he has in the last seven years.

He’s still getting used to being with Tony again, this softer, older version of him, and how difficult that makes keeping his hands to himself because all he wants to do is touch him.

my thoughts: i’m a huge sucker for the way that @meidui portrays Steve and how soft she is with him, and this was just--incredibly well done. 

good enough for you by tinystark616

Steve is having self-esteem issues because he feels like he isn't good in bed. Tony finds out and decides to do something about it.

my thoughts: Steve being so worried and Tony being so incredibly satisfied with their sex is just. So good. 

Through the Dark Tide of Memory by scifigrl47

As the Human/Kaiju war drags on, with no end in sight, the occupants of the Malibu Shatterdome have come to be known, worldwide, as the Avengers. No matter how many Jaegers fall, how many battles are lost around the Pacific rim, the Avengers will always come to the rescue.

Until, of course, there's no one left...

my thoughts: Pacific Rim is my not so secret guilty pleasure, and this fusion is just so well done, I love it, especially that @scifigrl47 delves into not just the pilots, but the people who make the jagers work, and why they are so important. Utterly perfect. 

Heavy is the Head that wears the Crown by BladeoftheNebula

“Just remember, and this is essential, you call the King ‘Your Majesty’ during the first introduction and afterwards it’s ‘sir’. Queen Maria is likewise ‘Your Majesty’ and thereafter ‘ma’am’, and Prince Anthony is ‘your royal highness, the Prince of Wales’, and ‘sir’ thereafter.”

Steve was never going to remember all this. Thank god he was never going to meet any of them.

When Steve Rogers moved to London he was expecting the bad overpriced flat and the metric system.

What he never could've expected was that the heir to the throne would fall for a skinny asthmatic from Brooklyn.

my thoughts: i am picky about pre-serum steve fics, but this series does it so well, plus the royal Tony aspect is just--perfection. 

The Song Without Words by Lelantus

Everyone knew what happened when soulmates touched each other. Whether it was hands clasping together, fingers brushing across a jaw, or lips meeting in a kiss - it didn’t matter. Any skin-to-skin contact and chests started glowing with soft, white-blue light. Soul-light, it was called.

Tony woke up in a cave in Afghanistan with a hole in his chest and wires coming out of it and felt his blood run cold. He knew instinctively what it meant. He’d lost his ability to produce a soul-light. And so no matter how much he yearned for it in the secret, hidden corners of his heart, Tony would never find his soulmate.

my thoughts: i’m such a sucker for soulmates and the way that they chose each other and loved each other despite Tony’s inability to have a soulmate is everything to me. 

[kangals]

oh i forgot to write up an update on the embark situation!

if you missed my posts last month (or didnt read them because they were certified walls of text): i got kep an embark test and in addition to the expected stuff, it also flagged him as having some genes related to copper storage disease - specifically that he had 1 gene for copper accumulation, and 2 genes that make accumulation less severe, meaning he inherited copper-related genes from both parents. when i did some reading into it,i couldnt find ANY studies or resources regarding copper disease in collies - it was almost entirely focused on labradors and dobermans, with an occasional hand-wavy comment of "sometimes seen in other breeds idk." because this test only got added by embark last month, i ended up doing a new test on stellina to check and see if she also had it.

basically my thinking was: A: does the presence of these genes mean that kep is actually at risk for copper storage disease, OR B: was this an incidental finding and the genes really only affect labs and dobes.

with stellina's test results, i think i'm pretty confident in guessing that the answer is B!

stellina's results also flagged as having one gene for copper accumulation - which, since i know that kep and stellina are pretty distantly related, indicates to me that it's much more likely that the genes are widespread in the greater collie gene pool as opposed to both of them just so happening to pick up a rare and harmful gene.

and most notably, now that's been a month and embark presumably has more data, they also had this new information listed:

those are HIGH numbers - and is an even bigger indicator that the gene, for whatever reason, simply doesn't affect these breeds that much. great pyrs, for example, are primarily working, livestock guardian dogs - there's no way that 80% of these dogs are suffering from copper storage disease. and while frenchies and cavs are certainly poster children for "breed with lots of serious health problems", copper storage isn't one of them. given the extreme popularity of frenchies, if 90% of them had this disease, someone would have noticed.

(interestingly, last week when i looked at this instead of pyrs it had pembroke corgis listed in that spot at around the same numbers - i wonder how many other breeds have large percentages of this gene but embark is just only listing the top few. this is such a new test that i expect a lot of information to change)

so i'm guessing that copper storage genes are actually pretty common in dogs - especially breeds with known low genetic diversity, such as collies, cavs, and dobermans. but given that there's nothing noted in studies about breeds besides labradors, dobermans, and a few terrier breeds, it just might not affect the rest of them. similarly, i know stellina carries the gene for "saddle tan" coloration, as do a certain %age of collies - but collies don't come in saddle tan. it's suspected there's another gene needed to "'activate" the pattern that's missing from collies. i'd guess the same thing is happening here - lots of dogs have the gene, but the "activation" genetics are only in a few specific breeds.

i'm definitely still going to be keeping a close eye on it, the test only released in May so it's still very early and i imagine they're getting a ton of data from this - would love some research into if my thinking is correct. if you have a dog that's gotten an embark health test from may and onwards this year, i'd be interested to know what breed(s) your dog is and if they also carry these genes. but i think, overall, this indicates that it's more incidental than a real concern.

[skellyflowers]

Worst Uber Ever

I was 7 years old when it happened. When life as I knew it was irreversibly changed. My master wanted to protect me from the truth about the war. She used to say that she would tell me about it when I was older and that I shouldn't try to grow up too quickly. I was so jealous of her older students, they got to know her secret.

I'm starting to forget her face. My last memory of her was being shoved into a starfighter with the other kids as the clones that were with us had suddenly attacked. The ship we were in almost crashed into an incoming clone transport ship.

I don't remember much of my life a few years after that. I lived on a few different planets in my youth. Then I heard about the fall of the Empire. That's why I have stayed on Xerxen-5 for so long. I know that 5 years isn't long for some people but it is for me. The only other place I have lived long term was Palos, in a monastery.

Then I grew up and moved around again for a few years before settling on Xerxen. I only planned to stay for a year at most. But now I am part of the community. It's a nice feeling.

My walk to work is the same as usual. I leave my apartment, say hi to the neighbors, and stop at the corner store for a snack. I liked working at the music lounge. Being the front desk host isn't really hard, it helps that the main clientele rarely cause any trouble. There are a few bad apples but nothing we can't handle.

Any other long night means I don't get out of the lounge until 2 a.m. I walk to the light rail as I always do. But tonight I decided to take a shortcut. Not a great idea. Especially when the shortcut is an alley. But I was really tired, maybe if I took a nap before work I would have noticed that I was followed.

It’s not until I hear a bottle brake that I realize two men were behind me. I recognize them, they are regulars at the lounge.I kicked them out last week for getting too drunk and grabbing a waitress. I hope they are too drunk right now.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” One slurs. “Me and Dom were looking for another drinking partner.”

“No thanks, I got an early morning.” I say, trying to get out of the situation.

“Aww, come on. A pretty little thing like you shouldn’t be alone.” Says Dom. “Besides you owe us for kicking us out that night.” 

Shit. They remember! I got to go.

Dom manages to get his arm around my shoulders. He smells horrible.

“So you get a drink with us, we see where the night takes us and then we will be even.” What he is implying makes me sick.

“No. I’m going home.” I say sternly.

“That's fine. We can skip the drink.” Says the other guy. OH FUCK NO!

I punch Dom in his ribs and he crumbles. He grabs at his side. Then he swings a fist at me, I move just enough that it misses my face but hits my shoulder. I counter with a kick, it connects but Dom holds on to my ankle. He then sweeps my other leg and I land on my back. Dom sits on top of me and gets ready to punch me. I  then do something I haven’t done in months, I reach out to the Force. Dom then is launched off me and hits the alley wall. I hear the other man yell at me. Probably an insult. I get ready for him to run at me. 

But he doesn’t. Instead after a few steps he falls on his face and is dragged backwards by his feet. I didn’t do that. Who else is here?

The one lamp post in the alley suddenly turns on. I see that the guy is strung upside down on a fire escape. In the light is a man in head to toe armor. It is all black with a gold symbol that looks like wings painted across his helmet. That looks like Mandalorian armor! That’s the last thing I need right now. When he is done securing the rope to the lamp post he looks toward me.

“Are you ok?” He asks.

“Yes.” I don’t know how much of the fight he saw. But I know I can’t stay here. I might not be able to stay on this planet.

“Good. Are you far from your home? We should leave, sooner rather than later.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“I’m here to help. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m IV.”

The guy he strung up the fire escape starts to groan. That must mean he is waking up. Then almost in slow motion he starts to yell and swing his arms.

“I SAW YOU! I SAW WHAT YOU DID! JEDI!”

IV punches the guy and knocks him out. Atleast is think he does, I am running at full speed to my apartment. I need my things and get out of here. Who knows how many other people heard “Jedi" and called the authorities. The Empire is willing to pay big money for anyone who is Force sensitive.

Back in my simple apartment I picked up my emergency bag. I always try to stay ready to leave at a moment's notice. The only thing I need to figure out now is how to get off world before the Empire shuts down the Space Ports.

When I exit my apartment IV is standing there. What does he want? I need to get out of here!

“Are you ready to go? We shouldn’t stay any longer than needed.”

“Stop saying ‘we’ there is no ‘we’! I am not going anywhere with you!” I start to move towards the Space Port.

“I was sent by Cal Kestis. He's a jedi.” That stops me in my tracks.

“What?”

“He hired me to find you and bring you off world to meet him.”

“How does he know about me?”

“He said something about a ‘pull’ I didn’t really understand.” He pauses. “He said that a few months ago he felt someone reach out asking for help.”

I think for a moment. I did have an absolutely horrid day a few months ago. A combination of little sleep, being depressed, multiple work shifts and harassing customers. I just wanted to hear my Master’s voice one more time. I didn’t think I had actually reached out to anyone. I decided to take a chance.

“Where is he?” I ask.

“He asked me to bring you to Por.” IV explains. “It’s a remote forest planet. It’s safe.”

“Ok, let’s go.” I say after a pause.

“Ok. My ship is outside the city. We should go quickly.” I nod and follow him. I can’t believe I'm going along with a total stranger.

In ten minutes IV leads me to an Omicron Attack Shuttle. I throw my bag in the storage area and sit in the co-pilot seat. IV starts the take off protocol. We get out of Xerxen-5's atmosphere. But just as IV enters coordinates on his ship's navigation a huge Empire Cruiser jumps out of hyperspace in front of us. A communication request alarm rings in the cockpit.

“Unknown ship identify yourself.” Says a voice over the Communications Relay.

“I’m just a transport vessel. I’m moving cargo.” IV lies.

“Send over your transport code.”

IV looks over at me. I can assume he sees the panic in my face. He then turns his whole body to face me.

“Put your seatbelt on. This might get rough.”

I do as asked. IV does the same. What is he going to do?

“Send over your transport code. NOW!” When IV doesn’t send a code the voice makes one last communication “Disengage your engines and prepare to be boarded.”

IV engages the ship’s thrusters to fly under the Empreal Cruiser. The cargo bay doors open up and five Tie-Fighters fly out toward us. The ships immediately open fire at us. IV begins evasive maneuvers to avoid being hit by blaster fire. I was glad he told me to put on a seat belt when he does a barrel roll and I feel myself lift off my seat.

“As soon as I can get a window I’ll get into Hyperspace.” IV says as we get hit. “Shields at 75%.”

A fighter flies ahead of us and tries to blast right at the cockpit! IV made a last second swerve and the blast hit the fighter behind us. IV shoots the fighter and it explodes. We take another shot in the side and an alarm starts to go off.

“That was a hard hit. Shields at 25%” says IV “I have an idea.”

“What are you doing?” I ask. All the spinning is going to make me sick.

“I'm going to lose them on that planet ahead of us. Hul Prime has a thick atmosphere and multiple mountain ranges. We can use that to confuse them and get a chance to get into Hyperspace.”

“Ok, at least you have a plan.”

We got shot one last time in the back left engine. The cockpit fills with red lights and alarms. 

“What does that diagram next to you say?!” IV yells.

“Left engine out, Shields at 0%.”

“Shit.” That’s not good. “We’re going to crash.” That’s really not good.

We break the atmosphere of Hul Prime. I don’t know if the whole planet is frozen over or just this part. If we weren’t being chased and shot at this place would be really beautiful. IV is doing his best to avoid hitting any mountains and being shot at.

“There is a valley with a cave ahead. I will try to crash there. Brace yourself.”

I hold on to my seatbelt and wait for the impact. The ship slams onto the ground and slides on the icy ground. The nose of the ship hits a rock wall and buries the ship in snow and ice. The whiplash made me hit my head on the seat headrest. I’m not sure how long I was knocked out. When I am fully aware I see that IV is pointing a flashlight in my face.

“What happened?” I ask.

“We crashed. The back of the ship is buried in the snow.”

“Are we still getting chased?”

“No, but a scout team might come looking for us.” He puts a canteen in my face. “Drink this, I’ll see what the damage is.”

I take a drink and wait for a few minutes. I look for IV in the ship’s hull but he isn’t there. I walk out of the ship and see IV looking into an open panel by the ship’s engine. He looks over at me once I get close to him.

“I’m sorry this happened.”

“I don’t think you did it on purpose.” His shoulders bounce once as he gets a short laugh. “What’s wrong with the ship?”

“It’s good news and bad news. Good news is that the engines can be fixed. Bad news is that I don’t have the tools to fix the hull.”

“What’s wrong with the hull?”

“Did you miss the huge hole? It probably happened when we hit the rock wall.”

“Can I help?”

“Yes, grab the flamethrower and clear the snow behind us. We didn’t slide into the cave.”

I walk back into the ship to look for the flamethrower. I noticed a flashing light on the ship's console. Surprisingly, the ship's navigation is still online, and I see that IV let out a mapping drone. I look out of the window as the drone returns to the ship. I watch as a map of the area is displayed. 

According to the map we crashed right outside of a cave system. And given that there is an ice wall, I assume this was a waterfall. I scroll around the map and see that down the tunnel there is a hole that leads outside. I wonder if that could be a way out.

“Did you send out a map drone?” I ask.

“Yes, why did it come back?”

“Yes. I think I saw a way out.”

“Really? Show me.”

We walk back into the ship and I show him the map. He scrolls around the map just as I did. After he ran a diagnostic check on the ship.

“If we can't get out of here today we will have heat for the night.”

“What if I go check? If you can get the ship online I can tell you where to go.”

He stays quiet for a little while. I don't know what he is looking at but I assume it's the ice wall in front of us. Just when I think he isn't going to answer me at all, his head turns towards me.

“Alright. Get the flamethrower and a commlink. Watch your step, and call if you need anything.”

I can't help the smile that grows on my face. I'm happy we're building trust. It's been a while since I really thought I could. Looking over my shoulder for years has been exhausting.

I grab the flamethrower and melt a hole in the ice big enough for me to pass through. Ice is only a few inches thick so if we can leave it will be easy to melt the ice enough for the ship to get past it. The tunnel is big enough for ship, but covered in ice. I follow a path down the tunnel until I see a crack in the ceiling.  

After following the crack I see a hole! I can hear the wind and I can see clouds rolling by. I'm not sure if it is big enough for the ship to fly out of but it's a start.

“Hey, I found the hole on the map.”

“Good. I'm on my way.”

After about ten minutes IV meets me in the tunnel. He looks up at the hole in the ceiling for a few moments. He then taps the side on his helmet and looks around the tunnel.

“It will be a tight squeeze, but I can get the ship out of here.”

As we walked back to the ship a chunk of ice fell from the ceiling. IV pulled me to his side just before the ice would have landed on my head. The ice shattered like glass and we both looked to the ceiling. I can’t see anything but I do hear a rumble. Then another chunk of ice falls, this one even bigger! As IV and I dodge the falling ice I see it! It’s a huge Ice Wrym! At Least 10 meters long!

“Run!” IV shouts as the creature roars at us.

As we run back to the ship I hear an explosion go off behind us. Followed by another roar. I don’t look back, it’s probably not a good idea anyway. As I see the ship, still behind the ice wall I feel IV slam into me. As I look over to him I see that he is now shooting at the beast.

“Get back to the ship and see if the cannons are online!”

I ran even faster than before to reach the hole I melted earlier. I get into the ship and see what is online. All the while trying not to get too distracted by the roaring just behind the ice wall.

The ship growls to life with lights and alarms. I check to see what systems are online. Engines, navigation and the hyperactive are active but not the guns! The one thing I need to help IV. I hope he is ok. I don't hear his blaster firing anymore.

“IV are you ok?” I ask with the ship's commlink.

“I'm holding it back with the flamethrower. Get the guns online!” 

I can't. They're not online and by the time I could get them online it would be too late. I only have one idea. I ran to the back of the ship to find my bag. I need to help IV.

I haven't picked up my lightsaber in years. It's a little small now that I'm an adult. But somehow it still feels right. I run back outside and squeeze through the hole in the ice. The Ice Wyrm is blasted by the flamethrower. IV has managed to push the beast back down the tunnel. 

The Wyrm then whips around and slams IV with its tail. It wraps its tail around IV’S ankle. The creature then climbed on to the ceiling. IV is now dangling upside down. I activate my lightsaber and the blade comes alive with blue light and a hum. It feels good to have my saber and to use it again,almost nostalgic. But I can reminisce later, IV needs my help.

“HEY! PUT HIM DOWN!” I shout. 

The beast roars in response, then charges at me still on the ceiling. I took on a defensive stance, as I started to make a plan. My first goal is to get IV free from the Wyrm’s grip. I don’t want to kill the beast, we did crash into its home, but I still prepare myself just in case. I dodge the Wyrm as it runs into one ice wall and causes a huge icicle to fall in the center of the tunnel. I use it to my advantage.

I climb on to the icicle while the Creature is recovering from the hit from the wall. IV is still being held by the ankle. I see him trying to get free. I reactivate my blade and jump down from the ice. I bring the blade down on the Wyrm’s tail and make a clean cut. The Wyrm lets out a n ear piercing scream of pain. I can help but feel a twinge of guilt as the Wyrm runs back.

Thinking that the fight was over I helped IV stand. He says he is fine, just dizzy. I start to help him look for his blaster and the flamethrower. IV finds the blaster with ease, and I see that the flamethrower is in two pieces. As I go to collect the pieces I hear another rumble. Oh no.

Further down the tunnel I see the Wyrm charging towards me again. Its mouth wide ready to strike. Razor sharp fangs ready to tear me apart. Somewhere I hear IV yell something. I took out my lightsaber one last time. As the Wyrm dived at me I used the force to lift myself over its head. I then bury the blade into the Wyrm’s head. The beast screams and flails its body before falling dead.

“You ok?” IV asks as I climb off the beast.

“Yes. I was hoping it would just leave. I didn't want to kill it.” I can feel the sting of tears in my eyes.

“You didn’t have a choice. You did it to protect yourself, to protect me too.”

The reassurance makes me feel a little better. IV gently leads me back to the ship. He works on some part of the ship to get the guns back online. Once he finishes he makes sure everything in the hull is tied down and then seals the cockpit. We start the journey by blasting down the ice wall and make our way out.

Thankfully the rest of the journey goes smoothly. I don’t think that my heart could take more excitement right now. I managed to get a nap while in hyperspace. I wake up just before we exit hyperspace. Just as IV said Por is remote, and full of thick forests. After IV finds a suitable place to land we hike to the meet spot with Cal.

I feel Cal before I see him. He and two other people come out of the trees. IV approaches first and he and Cal shake hands. IV then waves me over to introduce myself. After that Cal takes me to a cave and begins to test my abilities as I told him about my past and the journey to get to him. I feel a bit vulnerable talking about myself in front of strangers but I power through the feeling.

“You are still one with the force.” Cal says after my tests.

“What do I do now? I don’t really have anywhere to go.”

“I can train you, if you would like. You have a place here. I know it's not much.” Cal then takes a pause. “Think about it, tonight you need rest.”

I exit out of the cave and see IV still sitting outside. This is now the second time he has been waiting for me. I tell him about the tests and Cal’s offer. He agrees that I should rest before I make a decision. So I do just that.

In the morning I get more details from Cal about what to expect if I stay. Cal will do everything in his power to help me to improve my skills. Both in the force and in combat. One of Cal’s goals is to find any surviving jedi and make a safe home for them. That helps me make a choice.

After my meeting with Cal I looked for IV. He is on his ship talking to someone. I plan to wait until he is done with his conversation until the hologram of another Black armor Mandlorian tells IV I am in the room with him.

“Is that your rescuer IV?” he asks, crossing his arms.

“I’ll call you back, Vessel.” Iv says abruptly. I can’t see his face but I can feel how flustered he suddenly is. “How did it go?”

“I’m going to stay with Cal. I want to improve my skills, I owe it to myself.”

“That sounds good. I’ll be back after I get repairs on my ship. One of my friends is close to a mechanic. They are only a few systems away.”

“You’re coming back?” I ask. “I would have thought that your job was done a day ago.”

“You saved my life. I am in your debt. By creed I must repay you. You're not getting rid of me so easily.”

“You sure about that? I'm pretty good at avoiding danger, plus you just saw me kill a monster.”

“I guess we are stuck with each other.”

“I like the sound of that.”

[clazaries]

Hi 🤗♥️

I saw that you opened requests for Oscar Isaac and lately I'm in full obsession with Dune

I wanted to see if you would like to write oneshot fluff about Duke Leto x reader.

The duke and his wife have been happily married for years and have a daughter who is just 14 years old.

She is totally daddy's girl, always following him where he goes and seeing him as if her father had hung the same stars, but lately she seems more and more rebellious and distant. Defying his father every chance he gets and being a constant pain in the Duke's mind. Then he and the reader talk about it.

And the duke confesses that he has a great fear of losing his daughter, but the reader reassures him.

It can end however you want (angry or fluffy)

Hope you have a nice day (Sorry if I wrote everything wrong, English is not my native language) ❣️🤗

A small ficlet for you! Thanks for the request!!

"I just...I just don't know what to do," your Duke sighs. You know that whenever your Duke speaks plainly and shows such a lack of restraint of his emotions tells you that you know he has very limited options. "It's like she's going through this god-complex, trying her hardest to make everyone around her feel inferior to her. She has no respect, disobeys every word and lacks responsibility. How am I suppose to manage my own responsibilities when I'm having to make excuses for hers?"

For the last few months it's become common knowledge amongst all those serving under House Atreides that the Duke has been struggling to contain the temperment of his 14 year old daughter, especially those have fallen directly into the firing line of her unsavory behaviour.

As a chambermaid only a few rotations older than the Duke's daughter, it isn't common for you to discuss such matters with the Duke, let alone be in the same room as him, but recently he's begun confiding in you in a way you were never trained for, so your hesitance to help him doesn't go unnoticed. But after seeing how defeated he is sitting on the edge of his bed, looking rather unruly, you decide to chance the same luck. "May I speak plainly, my duke?"

"Please." He looks up to you as if you are the beholder of all wisdom, fingers still tracing the grain of his beard.

"You had lived many rotations before I was even born, so I cannot judge on who you were, but I can speak on who you are now. Everyone knows that you are a leader and a fighter. A good one; even-handed and compassionate. And for that, you have attained Caladan's respect and loyalty. But you are also a father. Her father exclusively. Nobody else on Caladan can share the honour of being your daughter, only her."

His eyes travel over you like he's seeing a side of you he hadn't before, adding to the profile he already has in his head. "It's so curious to me that you are only a few years older than her but yet so vastly different. Why can't I make her see it the way you do?"

Because you've pampered her from the moment she left the womb. Alas, you have more sense to remember what kind of consequences you'd face should you have spoken those words so candidly.

"By blurring the lines of being a leader, a fighter and a father. By letting her see the reason of why you are Duke of Caladan. Gain her respect the same way you did ours. Invite her to House conferences, show her how you train, show her how you handle hostile environments, make her your shadow."

The Duke rises from the edge of the bed with a sigh and saunters over to his wife's vanity, glaring at himself in the mirror. He has a narrow face full of angles and planes, with a high-bridged aquiline nose that gave him the look of a hawk, and woodsmoke in his brown eyes. Despite his intimidating looks, his outer shell doesn't quite reflect what's within. A point that perhaps his daughter has been abusing in recent months.

"I miss the little girl she used to be. I have so much love for her that I can't bear to spare the thought of her not being in my life. I'm scared of losing her. I fear that exposing her to this would put her in harm's way."

"Of course, and she trusts you to protect her as every child does. But what would innocence teach her that you coudn't?"

The Duke's face remains expressionless apart from the very small twitch of his eyebrow furrowing inwards. After a long moment of deliberating, his gaze sweeps to yours through the mirror. You begin to worry that you've stepped out of line.

"Do you think it would work?" He asks quietly.

To be completely honest, you don't know. At the very least, it would do her some good to be humbled.

"It is only advice, my Duke, not an instruction. I would never tell you how to parent your child, I would never disrespect you in that way."

The gentle nod of his head is a relief, and you feel your breath pouring from your lungs.

The Duke paces back over to you, standing just before you that you could feel the traces of his breath sweep across your features.

"Perhaps you are right. When I think about it, I learned most, if not everything from my father when I was a teenager."

A small smile spreads across your lips. "As did I."

The Duke reciprocates the smile, returning his gratitude in the way his hand gently squeezes the top of your arm. "He is a man I aspire to be. Hopefully one day I can be as proud of my daughter as he is of you."

"Thank you, my Duke. I'm sure your daughter will make a great leader one day."

He chuckles softly, "here's hoping she can survive being grouded for longer than a week."

[didalexiabreakupwitholgayet]

what are your thoughts on barça beating madrid cff 8-0 and only winning 4-1 against a bottom table team with their champions league lineup? did granada's defense do a better job of keeping barça out or were barça just lacking chemistry this match? i thought granada's keeper made a lot of great saves esp towards the end

okay, a few thoughts:

first, fun fact: granada is one of my favorite cities in spain (after barcelona, of course) but i've always had good sensations and a good time in granada (and it's so beautiful!) 😄

okay, let's keep in mind that madrid cff isn't the same team it was from last year or even to start the league. this season alone they lost striker rachael kundananji to nwsl's bayfc. she had 8 goals and 2 assists for madrid cff this year for them before she left. clearly a big loss.

the madrid cff against barça match on wednesday was probably the worst performance i have seen them put on in a long time. they looked terrible and out of sorts.

granada is not a team to be slept on. if you take a look at the recent matches granada played, even they beat madrid cff a few weeks ago by multiple goals.

the ref today was absolutely horrible. the penalty for granada was not a penalty and there were tons of other missed calls. but overall, i thought we did have good performances, especially from frido in this higher winger position and cgh. i would even argue better form from both than against chelsea. and i agree, i thought granada's gk did a good job today against our team.

as for alexia, i know we all want alexia to play, but come on. let's use our heads a little bit. there is no way alexia should be playing two 90+ minute matches back to back in less than one week. remember that this is our schedule for the rest of the month. let's not overdo it, and burn out our players before they even get to the champions league final!

and finally, things you love to see: the president of spain congratulating the girls and tweeting in catalan and real madrid conceding the title. 😄

[meianslo]

Too Late

Anthony Lockwood x Fem!Reader

warning: pure angst, second option reader, asshole lockwood :'D

word count: 1.2k

disclaimer: this isn't the best one i've wrote bc i probably forgot that i even wrote it but im just gonna post it anw hueheu

<3

(name) was walking on the pavement that leads to 35 portland row, the home of her best friend, Lockwood. Lucy had invited her to come to his house after not going there for almost a month now.

She started being friends with Lockwood just a few years ago before he even started his agency. (name) was a family friend but they got to knowing, and just clicked with each other. But for her, it was more than just being friends... or best friends. He was so much more than that to her. But she knows he'll never return the feelings.

Anyways, feelings aside, (name) has become great friends with his agency's members even though she is not a part of it. She was so excited for him when he hired his first assistant. But she remember that it didn't go that well for em' but luckily, he's now ended up with George and Lucy.

Which brings us back to (name), wondering why Lucy had invited her.

Finally arriving at the house, she knocks on their door and waited for a few until George opened up the door and greeted her.

"Hi, (name). Lucy told me that she's expecting you?" she nodded at George's confusion. George knows that only Lockwood invite her most of the times but, even if someone else did invite her, it was probably Lockwood's request (it was a demand..). And Lockwood is currently out of the house. He let her in and asked her if she wanted some tea.

"Yeah sure, that'd be lovely, Georgie." She gave him a small smile of appreciation. While waiting for the tea, (name) went up to the attic to talk with Lucy.

"Lucy? You here?" (name) shouted as she's climbing the stairs before Lucy appeared behind the railings. "(name)! You came!"

"Of course I did, you asked me to, silly. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" (name) chuckled as she finally took the last step of the stairs. "So, what's up? Why'd you ask me to come?" Lucy took both her hand, pulled her and sat her down on her bed. This made (name) smiled and just went along with her.

The brown haired girl sighed and look down on her hand. "Lockwood just asked me out a week ago," (name) smile dropped "That's great, Luce!" (name) put her smile back but this one was more forced.

"I rejected him, (name)-"

"What? Why?" (name) was so confused, Lucy liked Lockwood back. So, why did she reject him?

"I- I don't know, I just did! I started rambling about how work is a pressure for me and all — I barely remember what I said-" Lucy sighed loudly. "I panicked.. I like him, (name). I do but, I don't know what came over me. And now, there's tension all over the house!"

As much as she wished that she's the one that's getting asked, (name) know better than that will ever happen. So, she give Lucy some courage to talk to Lockwood and explain herself.

"Lucy, you have to tell him or you'll regret it." What (name) didn't know is that she might also regret encouraging Lucy, but she knows it's for the better. "Well, I'm gonna go downstairs. George is probably done with the tea," She stood up and headed for the stairs

"Alright, I'll catch up with you later!" Lucy exhaled and lay back into the bed, chest feeling heavy.

<3

"So, why'd Lucy invite you over?" George questioned. He set down the cup of the in front of the girl and sat down in front of her.

(name) took a sip and pick up the pen that is Infront of her and starts doodling on the thinking cloth. "It's nothing, just Lockwood and Lucy things, y'know?" George just shrugged at what she said. They suddenly heard a noise coming from the front door, it's probably Lockwood struggling to open the door.

George just stood up and went to the hallway to open the door for Lockwood. "Hey," Lockwood greeted him and headed for the phone.

(name) peeked through the kitchen to see what's up with Lockwood especially after getting rejected. "Anthony?" she revealed her presence and Lockwood turn to her.

"(name)! I was just about to call you, guess that'll save me some time."

"What's up? Need anything?" (name) played dumb about the fact that Lucy rejected him, trying to not break his heart.

"George, can you..? Need some privacy." Lockwood smiled thinly. George just pushed up his glasses, nodding and went back to the kitchen. Lockwood walked closer to her, five feet apart from each other.

"(name).." His gaze shifted, It's not how he usually look at her. He was looking at her with much more passion and (name) realized what's gonna happen and..

"No. Lockwood, no." She blurted out and this confused him.

"What? I didn't even say anything-" He steps closer, this made (name) take a step backward.

"I know, Lucy told me."

"I like you, (name)."

"No, you don't."

She refuses this because this is not good.

"I- Please, (name)."

"Lockwood." This surprised him, because she rarely ever calls him that. "You like her, not me. Her. And I've liked you since forever but that doesn't mean I'll accept you just because I happen to be your option!" she scoffed "You decided that you like me because Lucy rejected you, right? You're being desperate and I know you're better than that. I'd rather reject you than just be a second option for you, Anthony."

The boy sighed and massaged nose bridge. He muttered. "This is my second regret, now."

"What? Are you serious? Wow, did you really just said that? Do I really just become your second regret? Be fucking serious, Lockwood." There it is again. "You're actually admitting that I'm just becoming your second everything at this point. I'm fine not being your option at all because it'd mean I wouldn't have to hope anything from you."

"(name), I didn't mean that! I'm so sorry — I'm just being dumb and-"

"Yes, you are being dumb! And I'll just let it slide because I know what you're going through." She swerved around him and went for the door. She hesitates for a second but finally reach the door's knob.

Just when she was about to turn the knob, Lucy called out to her. "(name)!" She stood at the top of the stairs. "(name)?" she repeated looking a bit more confused. Lucy bit her bottom lip and glanced at Lockwood for a second before looking back at (name).

"Lucy.." Lockwood muttered under his breath. (name) can hear how hurt he was in his voice but it didn't excused him for what he just did.

After turning around for a second to look at Lucy then Lockwood, the heavy hearted girl knows to leave them alone and let them talk it out. (name) turn her back to them again, "Thanks for the Invite, Lucy. Tell George I love the tea.." She finally turned the knob and head out of the house.

<3

When (name) was finally far enough from the house, she sat on the kerb of the pavement. Breaking down into sobs, fingers running through her hair. She buried her head into the palm of her hands, getting them all clammy.

She didn't know whether or not this is her fault.

Because she was too late. She thought that if she had confessed sooner, maybe this wouldn't happen to her. Maybe, her heart wouldn't have to be crushed into pieces.

a/n: this almost become rusty because i forgot i have this in my draft

[sloanewashingtonappreciationweek]

We're on our very final day of Sloane Washington Appreciation Week!! It's been amazing, especially since we've seen quite a few new faces this year contributing and giving Sloane lots of love. We can't wait to see what more you all have in store for us!! 💞💞💞

Tomorrow is Day 5 - our last day - and we have two themes!!

Our first theme is about Hobbies. Think about things Sloane would like outside of her job and her special interest in science. What would she do for fun? Are there things that the MC or Hayden or the group introduce her to, that she begins to enjoy? Are there things she introduces them to??

Our second is, of course, PETS! We know she loves cats, and in time she warms up to Dipper too. So this is where you can explore what kind of pets you'd like Sloane to have, if any, and how she takes care of them 😍

As always, any form of appreciation is welcome! Fanfic, fanart, meta, edits, moodboards, playlists, headcanons, interactive media, even screenshots of favourite scenes or simple posts about your love for her!! Our only requirement is that you center Sloane in your work, and that the depiction is positive!

We also accept WIPs - we know irl can be hard and you may not always get the time to finish off stuff, so do show us a WIP of what you're working on if you're comfortable! We keep our event open even after the deadline (the deadline is mostly for our thank you video!) so you can send in your work anytime as well.

A friendly reminder that these are merely themes for you to use. It isn't completely necessary for your content for a particular day to be posted on that day only. You can post something you intended for Day 2 when Day 5 is on, as long as you tag the post for the day you meant it for.

Be sure to follow these rules when you make your posts:

1. Use the tags #sloanewashingtonappreciationweek and #SWAW so we can find your posts on the tags, along with the day you intend the post for (#SWAW Day 1, #SWAW Day 2).

2. Tag @sloanewashingtonappreciationweek and hosts @sazanes and @lizzybeth1986 in your work so we don't miss any pieces!

Fan content blogs have been a great resource in terms of showcasing fan content, so we'd definitely like to explore some of them and see if you'd like to send your content to any of them. A number of them are also running some amazing Valentine's Day events, which I urge you to take a look at:

@choicesficwriterscreations - Both fic and art welcome! Check out their rules and weekly roster here!

@choicesmonthlychallenge and @choicesfebruary2024 - All types of creative stuff welcome. This month, they're doing an awesome event with the Seven Types of Love in Greek mythology as prompts!

@choicespride - All content related to LGBTQ+ characters and/or themes welcome! Check out their awesome Valentine's Day event here!

@choicesflashfics - Fics under 2500 words welcome! Find this week's prompt list here!!

@choicesholidays - Both fic and art welcome!! Check out their Valentine's Day event!!

@choicesprompts - Mostly fic-centric!! Currently they're running a round robin, for which the deadline to enter is Feb 15th!

As many of you know by now, we always keep a bonus week after the AW is done, for anyone who couldn't complete their pieces at the time. We'll be keeping SWAW open for all till 24th Feb, after which we will need to start working on our SWAW 2024 video! And don't worry if you weren't able to finish even after that deadline - we will be accepting pieces all year round! Just send it to us and we'll put it up on the final masterlist.

Can't wait to celebrate Sloane for one last day with all of you!!!

Happy Sloane Washington Appreciation Week, everyone!!

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Rumor had it...

Until someone said something...

And then another someone said something...

I won't sugarcoat it, though... I'm sure SPIDER-MAN: BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE saw something of an overhaul after it was **clear** that it was never going to make its initial 3/29/2024 release date.

This happens on many animated movies. Whole movies' worth of unused story stuff gets chucked, and ideally... That happens EARLY in production, before whole chunks of the movie are animated and finalized.

We heard all the stories of the animators being crunched on ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, stuff being changed at the very last minute on Phil Lord's whims (because of his and Miller's whole "improvisational" approach to making things, which arguably isn't conducive to huge-budget movies. See also, their time on SOLO), to the point where at least two versions of the movie ran simultaneously in theaters and even further changes were evident on the disc release.

And this was all when Sony put it out there that BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE would follow in nine months...

Really, if you're going to do a back-to-back set of movies (remember, ACROSS was going to be a "Part One"), be ready to do so. With live-action, you can film both parts pretty close together depending on everyone's schedules. With big screen animation? Uhhhh, well, again... If everything's locked and in place... But that clearly was NOT the case with BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE. The delay gives them plenty of time to actually work stuff out **before** things are animated.

I'm not panicking. The movie is nowhere near done. I have no idea what it'll be like. I'm not gonna prematurely write off the end of the SPIDER-VERSE trilogy.

I'm totally okay with stuff being figured out now than right before release date. Not everything is a last-minute miracle like TOY STORY 2, whose final year of production should've went down in history as a "Phew! The movie turned out great, BUT... Never again!" situation.

I'm saying, LOCK the picture a year in advance. It's like finishing a great clay project, now you have to put it in the kiln. The way some animated productions go, like ACROSS, like FROZEN I & II, etc.... It's like they keep shutting off the kiln, taking the halfway-fired clay project out to "fix" it, put it back in, take it out again, "fix" it, put it back in- You get the idea? It sounds like hell!!

Do like Walt Disney. Razor into the picture and tear it down WELL before anything is animated. But the current industry model seems to love this whole "Oh yeah, we can tweak and fix it while it's in production!" thing.

As for the whole "most of the movie got thrown out" rumors? The InSneider isn't a place I get my news from, and I hear it's not the most reputable place... That being said, despite Pemberton and Miller's claims, I have no doubt stuff got thrown out. It happens on productions, especially this far out from release date. The base is probably the same, the construction is probably just different, that's all. I'm sure what we'll see on the big screen a few years from now is rooted in what was planned back in 2022/23...

All I know is, production wasn't near beginning on BEYOND when ACROSS was in theaters. Approximately July 2023-ish. Hailee Steinfeld had remarked that she didn't even record her lines for BEYOND, and the Vulture expose on the working conditions on that movie said that only some test sorta stuff had been done on BEYOND and little else. A release date is usually a suggestion anyways, a number meant to whet the appetites of investors, no matter how far along the movie actually is. Animated movies of this caliber are often delayed, sometimes outright scrapped. Disney Animation, Pixar, DreamWorks, etc. Off the top of my head, outside of a sequel, a more original/untested animated movie keeping its first-announced release date post-2010 seems rather rare... Possibly a list for another day? I dunno!

So... Yeah, BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE is a long time away. No concrete release date is currently set, Sony Animation has other projects in the works (such as K-POP: DEMON HUNTERS, dropping on Netflix next year), and it's a big finale to what's already a massive multiverse epic... And I'm sure, given the current culture of leaks and rumors and info being so readily available at our fingertips, this picture will see a ludicrous amount of scrutiny before release.

If those stories never got out about ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, would the ever-so-fickle online animation fansphere have overnight shifted to "it's only half a movie thus it sucks"/"it's not very good, actually"/"ohhhh it definitely shows"? After all that gushing praise? If we never knew these behind the scenes stories, would we even tell that some of these movies had a lot of trouble coming together?

Most of our big favorites were not cakewalks. Making things is often hard! Of course, this is not to excuse crunching the animators, my larger point is... BEYOND is nowhere near being done, so... I can only hope whatever issues the story has, they're being worked out now. Or were being worked out after the film was listed as a TBD release.

... And, let's just say I dislike the movie come 2026/2027?

I'll just go watch something else. I've been disappointed by sequels before, and I'm doing okay I'd like to think lol. Fanfiction exists, your alternate "better" version is in your head, etc. When something stinks to me, I try to chalk it up to "They made decisions that they thought were right at the right time, and it just didn't work out."

[spoopydooblr]

The Ken and Stella pregnancy blurb was so good could you write one where they find out that she’s pregnant?

ive been thinking about this scenario a lot and i cant really decide how i want this to go . . .

i think a year or so after they get married (stella is like 30ish) they start to really do their research and find the best fertility clinic in the city. its been almost 20 years since kendall and rava struggled to get pregnant, but still, he's not feeling optimistic.

stella gets a clean bill of health from the doctor, but ken isn't so lucky. just as he suspected, he was the problem. again.

was it the drugs? he was clean now, but he used so much...could he have ruined his chances forever?

stella assures him that it'll be okay, but she never went through what he had to 20 years ago.

they decide on a couple of treatments. they're both taking shots every day and pills at night and its exhausting. most of the meds go to kendall, but stella has to take some too, just in case.

they begin with intrauterine insemination, which is pretty simple and painless, but stella gets her period two weeks later. its hard on both of them, but especially kendall because he knows it's him, not her.

next they try ivf, which is a lot more complicated and expensive (not that money is an issue). now they both have to do injections and stella goes in for her egg retrieval.

the egg retrieval goes better than expected and they're left with 10. ken's sample has some relatively viable sperm so they pull the trigger and try to make some embryos.

the waiting is by-far the worst part, because deep down kendall knows there's no way those embryos are going to get made with his shitty sperm. he's right, unfortunately, and they're back to square one with zero embryos and ten now-frozen eggs.

kendall suggests a donor, like they did with iverson. stella's heartbroken, but they start to look into other options.

because they have the best doctors, however, they get into a trial for a new drug that increases sperm count and viability. stella is thrilled and insists kendall try it, but it's another injection and he's not super happy about it. nothing has ever worked for him, why now?

it's nice to have a break from more intense treatments, so they agree and kendall marks his torso up with injection pricks again.

three months later, ken and stella are enjoying some time off from surgery and tiny, microscopic cells that control their lives. kendall's in new york for the week, working on some financials for their production company (i imagine them making something rival to waystar and completely taking over the media scene), and stella is holding it down in los angeles, or at least trying to.

it's flu season and she's been to so many fancy parties in the last few weeks, stella is sick as a dog. she's a little worried, but the nausea, vomiting and headaches are typical for the flu, right?

she also chalks her late period up to stress. but it's been at least a few weeks...

the day before kendall is supposed to come home, stella drives herself to the hospital after she can't stop throwing up.

"when did the symptoms start?" the doctor asks.

"a week ago, i think, but ive been feeling kind of off for a while."

"and there's no chance you're pregnant? when was your last period?"

stella's heart skips a beat.

"um, i'm not sure. we're trying, uh, but it's been unsuccessful. my period is really irregular and i've been stressed so--" she trails off. "we've been trying for a couple of years."

"and are you taking medication?"

"i did, but it's not really..." she thinks for a bit. "it's not a uterus issue, it's my husband."

"and what is he taking?"

she tells the doctor about the new medication kendall is taking. "it's only been three months, so we're still hopeful. or at least i am."

"i've heard some great things about that new drug. it's really changing people's lives." the doctor smiles, turning away from stella and writing something down. "i'm going to order some tests, but i think you're fine."

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

kendall, obviously, sprints to his jet when stella tells him she's sick. she insists she's fine, but wants him to come home as soon as he can, which stresses him out to no avail.

he bursts through the door four hours later, finding stella reading a magazine on the couch.

"stell!" he says, running towards her.

"hey baby." she hugs him, bringing him down to the couch with her. stella presses her lips to his, but kendall is confused.

"aren't you sick?" he pulls away.

her face breaks into a huge smile. "about that..." stella gets up from the couch and walks to the kitchen.

kendall looks at her quizzically, as she comes back with a piece of paper in her hands.

"i have something to show you." she says, holding the paper close to her.

"okay..." kendall smiles at her, utterly confused.

stella carefully sits next to him on the couch. "here."

kendall recognizes the picture immediately. he used to frame them when rava was pregnant with iverson.

"what is this?" he holds up the ultrasound. it's too good to be true, right? tears prick his eyes.

stella is crying already, and takes his hand. "that's inside of me."

he looks down at the black and white photo again. a fuzzy, bean-looking object sits, next to another, smaller object. he's speechless for the first time in his life.

"what is that?" he whispers, pointing to the smaller object on the page.

stella looks at him, and he really can't read her for once.

"this surprise comes with another surprise." she laughs.

kendall's crying, but he takes another look. "is that..."

"yeah."

"two?" he smiles wide.

"i'm pregnant." she finally says, putting her hands on his cheeks. "baby, we're having twins."

they both burst out into crying giggles, hugging. kendall kisses her all over, stopping at her stomach. it's still pretty flat, but he knows her body so well he swears he can see a tiny bump growing.

THIS WAS SO FUN AND LOVELY TO WRITE I LOVE THEM AND I HOPE U DO TOO

[elithilanor]

For the ask game:

what are 3 things you'd say shaped you into who you are?

what's an inside joke you have with your family or friends?

what's some good advice you want to share?

For the Ask Game!

What are 3 things you'd say shaped you into who you are?

Friends, places/locations that I've lived (California, San Francisco, etc.), and the experiences that I've had. Very cliché in a way but it's the truth.

What's an inside joke you have with your family or friends?

With my roommate: a very obnoxious fake Jon Snow vibe: "She's ma queen, I don't want it." anytime we don't like or don't want to do something a la the disastrous and just horrendous season 8 of game of thrones. I hope my fanfiction writing is never as bad as that catastrophe.

It's mostly a long list of like variant versions of back and forth echolalia with my roommate because we're both ND and that's just how we roll, honestly.

What's some good advice you want to share?

Here's some medical advice I've had to learn over the last few months through my own issues and fighting to find out what's wrong. Also shout out to the failures of the US's scholastic teachings (mitochondria is the power house of the cell lolol):

Advocate for yourself and remember that you're the only one who will. You don't know medicine maybe, but you know when something isn't working the way it should in your body.

Hydration affects every bodily function including your heart and your dry eyes (omega-3s also affect eyes). Drink water and eat your fruit and veg with higher water content (cucumbers, watermelon, etc.).

If you're a vegetarian, pescetarian, vegan, or just don't consume too many meats and animal products, check if you're vitamin B12 levels (energy) are okay. It's the only way to get them as they aren't produced in the body. Legumes and soy are all fine and dandy for protein, but not B12. B12 is a required nutrient and affects the skin, hair, liver, heart, etc.

If you live in the Pacific Northwest or other far northern climes and/or you don't get out a lot and/or you don't eat a lot of animal byproducts, please check your Vitamin D levels! Also affects heart, brain, skin, etc. Your body does make vit D naturally, but that assumes that you're getting enough time in the sun for you to produce it and that you don't have any underlying issues that affect it's production and/or absorption. Vit D levels also affect your body's calcium intake, which especially for AFAB people, can affect bone health and the likelihood of osteoporosis later in life.

Movement (as much as you can) will keep you alive and your circulation flowing. Even if it's just one part of your body, move it. Stand up and move every half hour if you can.

Sleep matters. Undisturbed sleep matters. Movement helps sleep.

Soreness is okay. Tiredness is okay. Exhaustion, constant fatigue, and long-term pain is an indication that something is wrong.

Stress will kill you.

Different fruits and veg have different nutrients and vitamins that your body needs. Don't just eat the leafy greens because they're "healthiest".

Relationships take work. Not really, "how do I improve and make things better all the time (though this can be important)", but just reaching out and saying "hi how are you" every so often.

If it took you 20 years to get to a point, it's going to take more than a couple of weeks to reverse it.

If your body is telling you to rest and you can, do it.

You spend the latter half of your 20s making adjustments and changes to the life that you've been leading. Everyone goes through this and it's normal. You're a little crazy until the 30s/40s. That's fine. Roll with it. Your life is just getting started.

Life is hard. Life is so hard. It has it's ups and downs. Enjoy that cup of coffee or that cup of tea or 5 min in the sun.

Community matters more.

Stop trying to "better yourself" all the time. You're probably a fine person with fine and great qualities. You can improve, but spend time just being or else life will pass you by and you won't have a lot to say for it.

You're doing better than you think you are.