#and there are questions we need to answer the last one was if i can think of any biases i have/had

[nathaslosthershit]

New Neighbors and Interrupted Streams [Part 1] (LN4)

Read Part 2 here! Summary: Desperate for new friends, maybe it's time to revert to the tried and true neighborly American cookie exchange.  A/N: I know Lando lives in Monaco but in this he is still in the UK. Also I really love fics that have something to do with Lando streaming and being teased the entire time.

This was stupid. This was probably so stupid. But she had to do something.

Two weeks she had been in her new apartment, in a new country. In that time, she had gotten increasingly lonelier, seemingly unable to make friends.

She had moved to the UK for work but with another month till she actually began her new job, she didn’t know how to make friends in her free time.

God, why was it so hard to make friends as an adult? 

So, after a call with her mom expressing her issues with making friends, she was reminded of a good-old US custom.

Baking cookies for your neighbor.

Usually, this was reserved for pre-existing residents to introduce themselves to the new folks moving in, but after all this time she didn’t expect her neighbors to reach out, so it seemed she had to do it herself. 

After that phone call, she tried it twice with some of her neighbors. The first time, she left them at the door with a note introducing herself to them, saying she hoped they could meet up sometime. She found the cookies still in the box, with the opened note on her doorstep later that day. 

The second time, she got so excited when she saw from down the hall that her neighbor had grabbed them, swiftly moving inside his own flat with the cookies while reading the note. But a week later and no sign of any desire from the neighbor to connect with her, she gave up. 

She had one last person she could try with, the ridiculously cute boy who lived in the apartment across from her. She hadn’t actually talked to him, just spied on him a few times from her peephole when she heard him leaving his flat. Creepy, she knew, but she was far too shy to say anything.

But she was so desperate, and she could tell he was around her age… she thinks. After sitting at her table for an hour staring at the home baked goods, she finally grabbed them and knocked on his door before she could chicken out. 

Lando was streaming with Max next to him, when he got a notification that someone was by his door. Thinking it was the takeaway he ordered, he swiftly excused himself to go grab it. What he didn’t expect was the pretty girl who had just moved across from him to be at the door.

There was a beat of silence as they both stared at each other. In all honesty, she was just going to knock, wait a few seconds, then leave the cookies. She hadn't expected him to answer the door so she was unsure what to say. 

Finally he spoke up.

“Sorry, are we being too loud? We can totally quiet down if you need to.” He said while awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

She still didn’t reply, too stunned by seeing him for the first time not through a small and dirty peephole. God, he was beautiful.

Seconds of silence went by until she finally managed to get everything she wanted out.

“No, no I am so sorry. You are completely fine, that's not why I am here. I just didn’t think you'd actually answer the door. Anyway, I know this is probably strange and I don’t think they actually do this here but I just wanted to introduce myself to my neighbors, so I made cookies! Again this is probably so weird of me so it's totally fine if you don’t want them or something, the other neighbors clearly didn’t but that's okay. Anyway- Hi, I live across from you and now I am here with cookies!” She managed to get out in one breath while sticking the cookies out for him to grab.

This time, Lando took a few seconds to reply, trying to process what she said. “You’re American.” Was all he managed to get out.

She didn’t know what to reply, it wasn’t a question but felt like he needed reinforcement about that statement.

“I am.”

“I didn’t realize they actually did this, thought it was a movie thing.”

“Uh- I am sorry?”

“No. no! It's sweet, thank you for them. I really appreciate it… sorry what's your name? I’m Lando by the way” 

How she managed to not actually say her name while she spent a full minute rambling about how she wanted to introduce herself was beyond her, but after quickly introducing herself, properly this time, she finally felt the tension and awkwardness leave her body.

He took the cookies from her, promising that he was excited to eat them even though he knew his trainer wouldn’t be too happy, and took this opportunity to get her phone number. Promising to text her, he closed the door and immediately looked out his peephole, wanting to get one more look at her. He was surprised, and amused, to see she did a little celebratory dance in the hallway, before taking a breath and entering her own apartment, excited she had just made a new potential friend.

“What took you so long, Mate? And why are you so red? And why do you have cookies? Where is the food we ordered?” Max asked when Lando entered the room again, a stupid grin adorning his face.

“It wasn’t our delivery, the new neighbor just stopped by to introduce herself.”

“The cute one you kept going on about?” Max teased, earning a kick to the shin as that wasn’t information Lando wanted everyone watching the stream to know.

“Anyway- she brought cookies as a little hello. It's sweet. I've never gotten cookies made for me before.”

“She brought cookies? The hell would she do that for?”

“Like I said, to introduce herself. She’s american.”

Before Max could ask anymore questions, specifically about why Lando was smiling so much and why he was beet-red, which Max already knew the answer to, their actual takeaway came, saving Lando for the time being.

When he came back and they started eating, Lando wasn’t interrogated on the topic, at least not until he began giggling on his phone.

“Mate, what are you- Oh my god guys he is giggling and texting his new neighbor. Chat, this is unbelievable.” Max yelled as he stole Lando’s phone from his hand. Reading the messages with disgust, he added, “God, you need to work on your flirting, you sound like an absolute muppet right now.”

Lando quickly took his phone back and tried to change the topic. Throughout the rest of the stream, he tried his best to not look at the new messages she had sent in order to not be teased, as the chat seemed to still be mentioning every time he would secretly text her, trying to be stealthy as to not let Max find out.

He just hoped this whole thing stayed on the stream, and that it wouldn’t come to the press, who loved to question him on his relationships. The last thing he needed was to be asked this during media after a race.

He wouldn’t be so lucky, he soon would find out after the next race.

Read Part 2 here!

[just-zy]

Lost a letter (I)

pairing: Wednesday Addams x Fem Reader!

summary: You have a hard time trying to swoon Wednesday, but having her roommate be your friend? It doesn't always end well.. Maybe..

A/N: hello! been awhile, hasn't it? here's a little something, I've been having writers block for so freaking long, I have this pending Vada fic rotting in my drafts cuz ion kno how to finish it 😭, but I'll find the time to finish it sooner.. eventually.. Anyways! Hopefully you guys enjoy this for the meantime. (Werewolf Reader!)

Warnings!: cursing, I don't know, my writing, lemme know if I have a bunch that needs to be put on warning!

part 2 || Masterlist

It was a random Tuesday afternoon, nothing too serious. Well for Wednesday Addams, it wasn't. Considering it was her writing time, she had no care of her surroundings, no care for the world at the moment, no care at all. Unlike you, you were sprawling, whining, and succumbing into the sheets of your mattress as if it was eating you alive. Enid being with you in your room, wasn't much of a help to your problem.

"Enid! You can't just tell her that I wanna take her out on a date! That's Wednesday Addams, that'd be a total turn off for her.." I fuss with her about that fact. She knows I'm right.

Enid looks at me like I was some kind of stray, "But isn't that what you wanna do? Wednesday likes straightforward people more." The blonde shrugs with a smile. A smug one. "I wouldn't even dare say a word to her, Sinclair." I grumbled in the sheets I was in, gosh I was so done with being in love.

"You know, you have a chance with her. She likes you." I heard shuffling and thought nothing of it, I scoffed at the thought.

Feeling the bottom of my bed dip, I peaked out of the covers and saw Enid smiling at me with a raised brow. "You do know I bite, right?"

She rolls her eyes at me and begins shaking my covered foot. "Why not make a letter? Get your feelings out before asking her on a date! Seems good, no?", looking at me with such hope. I had no heart to say no.

★

"Who... can tell me, how plants convert light energy into chemical energy?"

I wasn't much of a botany student, I didn't like botany, but I do have knowledge about this class. It didn't come off as hard for me as I thought it was. So, I raised my right hand, I did expect a few to try and answer as well, although it was just us three. Wednesday, Bianca, and Me.

"Oh! Yes! Y/N, can you tell me how?"

"Uh– well, through the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a critical process that sustains plant life and provides the foundation for the energy supply of nearly all living organisms on Earth.."

As I finished my answer, I heard a few whispers. I wasn't much of a talker, much more looked like I was a student in Nevermore considering I was a loner, so it was understandable. And, uncomfortable.

"Thank you for that, Miss Y/L/N."

Though, I couldn't help but avert my attention to my peripheral vision, Wednesday's desk was just right next to me. She was looking at me.

It might've caused me to shudder, just a bit.

★

"Botany class was something.." I said, chewing on the food I was eating.

Enid sat in front of me as we ate dinner. We were currently in the Quad, she insisted I tell her how I felt about what happened at Thornhills class earlier, even though she was present in the class.

"She was looking at you! I saw that!" She presses and starts eyeing me up and down. "Enid. You were asleep, how could you have seen that?" Chuckling at the thought of Enid just peaking at us and pretending to be asleep.

"I- uh- I felt it! I just know it. Honestly, you don't take my conclusions seriously!" She huffs and starts to chomp on her food so aggressively.

"But in all seriousness.. How's the letter going?" She leans to me a little closer, whispering as if what we talked about was something illegal.

"I– I don't know. I mean, I finished it last night, what about it?" I asked skeptically, I didn't exactly like where this question was headed.

"Give it to her!"

"Are you crazy?! You said nothing about giving it to her–!" I shrieked and felt my cheeks get warmer. I knew this girl was trouble. "But it is for her, right?.." She began straightening herself up,

"Enid. Sinclair. I swear to God you won't be able to see the light of day tomorrow if you satisfy that want of yours–"

"I'm sorry! She needs to know!"

She bolted out of her seat right before me!

Being both werewolves had its perks, we were faster, and stronger, compared to mortal strength.

But that doesn't change the fact that Enid's a werewolf as well! Idiot! Run faster!

"Sinclair!"

I didn't care how loud I was, I needed to get to my dorm first before she could. I was able to catch up to her on the hallways, thanks to the adrenaline, though it didn't help that she was a tad closer to getting inside before me.

My dorm was in sight, I pumped my legs faster and grabbed the back of her vest and she slipped to her bum. "Goddamnit Y/N! That hurt!" She stays in place and looks at me so hard I could feel my face grimacing.

I turned away from her and before I could run up to my room first, I felt her seize the opportunity by grabbing onto my left foot, making me fall forward and my face flat onto the wooden floor.

"Oh, fuck! I'm sorry!"

She apologizes and leaves me here? How sweet. I knew I lost, I couldn't move my body considering the painful aching on my face. I whined and winced at the pain.

She had a spare key, which was unfortunate. Although I didn't have a roommate, it was pretty lonely sometimes. Sometimes.

I heard shuffling, lots of shuffling. Does she not see the letter that was unluckily displayed on my desk.

Quietly but quickly standing up, I didn't even care how I felt my uniform started wrinkling. I went inside and saw her standing in the middle of the room, eyeing me menacingly. "Where is it, Y/L/N."

I thought about either telling her where it was or if I'd find it for myself... I fled to my desk where my letter was. Where the letter was supposed to be. Where it's placed. Which wasn't there.

"It's not here."

"I thought we've established that already.." I glanced at her, seeing her arms crossed.

"No– It's supposed to be here! I made sure I kept it here."

Oh no.

...

I've looked everywhere and decided to finally give up and wait until tomorrow. I'm sprawled onto my sheets thinking and recalling where I had last placed that damn letter, I didn't know where it could've went or how it could've been taken. Even Enid was worried about its whereabouts, I let out every emotion I felt for Wednesday on that individual letter. What would happen if someone took it and shared it publicly? I had my initials on that letter, and as well as Wednesday's!

Fuck my life. I should have never made that stupid letter.

I felt my eyelids drop slowly, maybe, tomorrow I'd finally grasp and tear that shit apart.

I'll find it before it finds Wednesday Addams.

★

A/N: bumbumbummm wadya think? I've decided to make this a series 🙀 I guess only a two parts series kinda thing... (I lost motivation and wanted to give u guys something before I lose my mind completely.)

[fluentmoviequoter]

Stay in the Car

Requested Here!

Pairing: Tim Bradford x fem!wife!cop!reader

Summary: Tim disappears from the station, and you and Aaron have to find him. After a heroic leap of faith, you save him in more ways than one.

Warnings: this is inspired by a scene in 6x10 but there's no story spoilers, angst, implied abduction and drug trafficking, injuries, fluff

Word Count: 2.3k+ words

Masterlist | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Fandom List

It’s been a slow day in the Mid-Wilshire station. You and your husband Tim were called back to assist with a case, but so far, all you’ve done is sort through paperwork.

“I thought we had rookies for this kind of thing,” you whisper conspiratorially.

“They’re busy babysitting crime scene,” Tim replies.

You nod as you slide the last form into its proper place. Tim pushes his empty box away and sighs. Now there’s truly nothing to do.

“So, this is where the party is,” Aaron teases as he and Nolan return.

“Yeah,” you agree sarcastically. “It’s a rager, as you can see.”

The detective you’ve been assisting gathers his papers and thanks you quickly. Alone and bored again, you ask Aaron how the streets are today.

“Quiet. Not so much as a speeding ticket so far,” he tells you as he collapses into the seat beside you.

“The Q-word,” Nolan reminds him. “Make sure Harper isn’t around before you use it.”

Tim shakes his head and digs his phone out of his pocket. You tap your foot against his leg under the table, but as his brows draw together, he doesn’t look up at you.

“You alright?” you ask him.

“I have to go.” Tim stands as he speaks, and only spares a glance in your direction.

“Where?”

Tim jogs toward the door as he answers, and you can’t make out part of what he says. It sounds like laundry then, "I love you."

“What’s that about?” Nolan asks.

“No idea. Someone must’ve called for backup,” you guess.

“Probably someone at Hollywood. They’re getting calls.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Aaron nods at you as you stand. When you walk out of the station you see Tim’s truck and his shop still parked in their usual spots. You walk past both vehicles, but there’s no sign of him.

“You lookin’ for the cop that just walked out?” a man on the sidewalk asks.

“Yes, I am. Did you see where he went?” you reply.

“Guy led him to a truck. Figured they were friends or somethin’.”

Your eyes widen as your heart rate increases. Tim wouldn’t have just left while on duty without telling you. To provide backup, sure, but not to get in a truck with a civilian.

“Did you see the truck? Where it went?” you question.

“Nah, miss. Sorry.”

You run back inside and straight to Aaron. Nolan is no longer waiting with him, but Aaron has nothing but time, and you need to find your husband.

“Did you drive to work today?” you ask him.

“Yeah,” he answers slowly. “Why?”

“We need to go. Tim just left and might need backup. He’s not on a call, though.”

“Just take a shop.”

“No, Aaron. I don’t know where he is or who he’s with, and I don’t need to spook anyone into killing him!” you exclaim.

Aaron makes no move to hand over his keys, but you need a personally owned vehicle to stay incognito. Tim has his truck keys, so you need to convince Aaron to help you; if not for you, for Tim.

“Aaron, keys!” you demand.

“We don’t even know where they’re going,” Aaron argues.

“And we won’t find Tim if we don’t do something.” You take a deep breath and run your thumb over your wedding band. “I can’t lose him, Aaron.”

“I know,” he assures. “But I’m going with you. Tim needs all of us. Whatever that text was must've been important.”

Aaron waves as he steps past you, and you follow him to the parking area. When he removes a leather key fob from his pocket and you see a Lamborghini sitting in his spot, you momentarily forget about Tim and his sudden disappearance.

“Aaron, we can’t…” you begin.

“Forget about the car. Let’s go!”

You climb into the passenger seat as Aaron starts the car with an obnoxious rev of the engine.

“Habit,” he murmurs as he pulls the gear shift into reverse. “Where are we going?”

“It’s been at least fifteen minutes since he walked out. They could be miles in any direction by now,” you reply.

“But they wouldn’t have gone anywhere, right?” Aaron asks as he looks both ways to turn. “It may have been last-minute, but they had a plan.”

“What did he say when he left?”

“That he loved you.”

“No, before that.”

“Oh, uhm.” Aaron pauses to think as he passes a truck going under the speed limit. “Something about a laundromat, I think.”

“Did he say laundromat, laundering, or laundry?”

“What’s the difference? Besides washing clothes and the illegal money trade, I mean.”

“Landry,” you realize aloud. “He said Landry as in Pierre Landry!”

“Okay,” Aaron replies. “Who is that?”

“Head toward the Hills.”

“Finally,” Aaron mumbles.

“One more favour?” you request.

“Anything, you know that.”

“Drive this car like you want to. Grey alerted dispatch that we took a POV.”

“Now that’s a favour I’d love to do.”

You sit back in the passenger seat as Aaron shifts into another gear. He swerves in and out of traffic as you think of your husband. Tim has to be safe, because you’ll lose yourself if he’s not.

“What exactly is the plan?” Aaron asks.

You snap yourself out of your racing thoughts of Tim to say, “I’ll know when I see it.”

Aaron nods to himself, but you can tell he’s not convinced. Your plan certainly isn’t detailed, probably not even smart, yet you have to trust that it’ll work. It has to work.

“Slow down,” you tell Aaron. “See the brown truck in the right lane, thirty yards ahead?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Aaron answers. “Oh.”

The back window is broken out and the driver is swerving within the boundaries of his lane, but you can’t see why. When the truck drifts toward the car in the next lane, they hit their brakes and lay on the horn. Aaron swings into the lane behind the truck and ignores the people who honk at him.

With the new vantage point, you see a gun in the bed of the truck. As you lean toward Aaron’s dash to get a better look, you see two people moving in the cab. The driver raises a knife, and then they duck down toward the seat again as he swerves toward the barrier between the lanes. The truck moves over a lane, and the surrounding traffic has given him plenty of room to wreck without harming anyone. The new bumper surrounding the erratic (and armed) truck driver provides the perfect opportunity.

“Get beside him,” you tell Aaron. “But not too close. Stay away from his door.”

He nods and speeds up to drive into the lane beside the truck. You toll your window down and unclip your seatbelt as Aaron’s car lines up with the truck bed.

“What are you doing?” Aaron yells over the wind.

You pull yourself through the narrow window to sit atop the door. “Saving my husband!” you answer loudly. “Keep it steady and fall back the minute I jump.”

“But you-“

“Thorsen!” you interrupt. “Fall back the minute I jump. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

You raise your hands to the hood of his car and carefully pull your knees up. When your right foot reaches the door, you push yourself to stand and use your hands to stay steady. You count down in your head 3, 2, 1, and then you jump. Aaron hits the brakes and the distance between you and him increases quickly.

When you hit the truck bed, you roll before you catch yourself. With a calculated movement, you wait until it swerves again to push yourself up and toward the broken back window. Pushed against the body at the back of the cab, you reach your arms inside and grab the driver’s arm. It isn’t until you push yourself in further that you actually see Tim. Tim’s eyes meet yours, and he exhales sharply as you pull the driver back against his seat.

“Move,” you tell Tim.

He pulls himself up from the floorboard and into the passenger seat. The driver finds his knife again and begins slinging it aimlessly over his shoulder, aiming for you. Tim doesn’t hesitate to move across the cab of the truck and pull the driver’s hands away from you.

“Tim!” you warn as the truck begins drifting toward the curb.

You keep your arms locked around the driver’s shoulders but watch Tim. He takes a deep breath and leans back. As he shoves his feet against the man’s side, he grimaces in pain but doesn’t stop. The momentum knocks the driver against the door beside him and his foot slides off the gas pedal. You move your left arm to his neck and hold him tightly as you reach for the steering wheel with your right.

Tim slips forward again to avoid a punch from the driver and extends his arm toward the brake pedal. He groans as he pushes it to the floor, and you use all of your strength to pull the driver back and away from Tim. The truck lurches to a quick stop and you turn so that your side makes impact with the broken window frame rather than your face or chest.

Sirens sound behind you and grow louder quickly now that you aren’t moving. The driver reaches for something under his seat, but you grab the gun that slid forward in the truck bed and aim it at his temple.

“Drop it,” you command. “Now.”

Tim groans again as he sits up, but he keeps his eyes on the man you’re holding. You loosen your grip and open the driver’s side door so the approaching officers can get him out and into custody. He takes the opportunity to roll out, but Aaron pulls up beside him before he can push himself up and run.

“That was amazing!” Aaron applauds as he exits his car.

Tim hisses in pain, and you turn toward him quickly.

“That was dumb,” he argues.

“Are you okay?” you ask him.

Tim cradles his arm but nods. You hop over the side of the bed and open the passenger door. Tim leans toward you as you lay your hand on his shoulder.

“Where’s Landry?” Nyla asks as she and Angela run toward the truck.

“Whoa,” Angela interjects. “You alright?”

“Yeah. Driver didn’t say much, but he radioed that he would meet someone at John Anson,” Tim answers.

“Get an ambulance,” Angela tells a passing officer.

“John Anson Ford? The theater?” Nyla clarifies.

You tune out their conversation as you squat beside the truck. Tim’s boots are scuffed from breaking the window, but other than the scrapes you can see and his arm, he seems relatively fine. You release a relieved, albeit shaky, breath as you stand.

“It’s not high season for the theater,” you add. “Landry could be using it as a distribution base for his new product.”

“He’ll get suspicious when reckless back there doesn’t show,” Tim says.

“We’ll send someone in,” Nyla assures him. “You’re going to the hospital.”

“Don’t,” Angela warns when Tim opens his mouth. “Argue with your wife about it.”

She winks at you as she and Nyla walk toward the other officers waiting behind you. The ambulance navigates through the crowd of police cars and officers, and you look into Tim’s eyes.

“You scared me,” you murmur, taking his hand.

“You jumped from a moving car onto another moving car, but you want to play that card?” Tim challenges.

“Are you really okay?” you ask.

“I promise. There is one thing I’d like you to do- two, maybe.”

You nod quickly, and Tim looks over your shoulder at the approaching EMTs.

“Go finish this case, and make sure it’s over.”

“Tim, I-“

“I need to know. And you do too.”

“Okay,” you agree. “What’s the second thing?”

Tim tips his chin up, and you smile before you kiss him gently. He moves his good arm toward your waist, but you step back.

“You’re sure?” you check.

Tim nods, and you demand that he keep you updated as you step back.

“I love you,” you tell him.

“I love you,” he replies. “Get Landry.”

You salute Tim and smile when he rolls his eyes. Tim will give the paramedics a hard time, but he’s safe, and that’s all that matters.

“Grey,” you call as you enter the bullpen.

“Thank goodness,” he sighs. “Everything wrapped up?”

“Detectives are closing the case as we speak, and Landry is already booked and processed. We also grabbed two distributors who already had product on them.”

“Then get out of here.” Wade smiles as he adds, “And take your husband with you.”

You furrow your brows. Tim should be at the hospital still; it’s only been a few hours since you left him with the EMTs. Wade points toward the roll call room, and you see your husband sitting against a table with his arm in a sling.

Without another word, you walk away from Sergeant Grey and toward Tim. He looks up when you open the door, and his shoulders drop when he sees you.

“We got Landry,” you say before he asks.

“I’m fine,” Tim tells you, sensing that you have a question too.

“Good. Ready to go home?”

“As long as you’ll stay in the car this time,” Tim jokes.

He stands, and you hug under his uninjured arm. You feel him relax before his wraps his arm around you and ducks his head toward your shoulder.

“You mean more to me than you’ll ever know,” he murmurs. “Thanks for saving my life.”

“I love you, Tim,” you whisper. “But don’t ever make me do that again. You walked out and then you were gone.”

“Hey.” Tim waits until you look at him to finish, “Never again.”

You kiss him quickly and then step back and take his hand. “I promise to stay in the car all the way home if we can get food on the way.”

Tim rolls his eyes, but the way he keeps you close as you walk to his truck – which you have to drive now – makes you think he really was just as worried about you as you were for him.

[atomicbland]

Just A Mirage

Hello I'm outting myself as the ──★ ˙🍓anon from @ghoulphile. Anyways they've inspired me to fall face first dip my toe back into writing and might as well share the brain rot with the class. This is my first time writing smut or anything relatively like this so any questions comments critques are welcome! I dont bite unless you want me to

pairings: cooper howard x fem!reader rating: 18+ MDNI! warnings: bondage, degradation, pet names, mentions of age gap (obviously), Cooper Howard being a jackass in general, canon typical chem use, smoking AO3 Link

You were tired, thirsty, and hungry. Your rations had been finished earlier that morning though it was not by your hand. The tall ghoul who looked like he had walked right off the set of one of those western movies with his cowboy hat, ragged leather duster, and shotgun strapped to his back had stolen the last of your food and water while you stepped away to relieve yourself. You had come back to him chewing on your stash of jerky while letting his scruffy companion, “Dogmeat”, drink straight from your water flask. You learned quickly that no matter what, he’d treat the dog better than you. He kept you on a leash, his lasso was tied around your waist and tethered to the weapon belt that might as well have been fused into his skin. Anytime you weren’t keeping pace he’d give a rough tug of the rope, causing it to bite into your belly. Argued it’s easier to keep track of you that way. 

While you lamented over the loss of your food and water and debated if hiring the old ghoul was a smart choice something catches your attention stopping you in your tracks. Along the edge of the tree line, you spot the remains of what looked like a house, bigger than any house you’ve come across. The roof and windows were still somewhat intact and something that looked like brick peeked through the vines that had taken over the structure. You felt the bite of the rope at your stomach. 

“Now, I done told you what’ll happen if I gotta tug this damn rope again…” the Ghoul threatened from in front of you.

“I saw someth-”

“You ain’t seen nothin’,” he spat. “A mirage. Just that pretty lil’ head of yours playin’ tricks sweetie.” He tugged the rope again, urging you to move along not even bothering to look in the same direction as you. 

Sweetie. Whenever he called you that you could feel the heat of a thousand rads shoot through your body, making your blood boil. 

“Maybe my mind wouldn’t be playing tricks if I still had my food and water!” You didn’t budge, refusing to play his stupid game. You were in charge, hiring him to escort you to the Old World Wall safely. 

He turned to face you, his eyes hidden by the brim of his hat but his features were twisted into a scowl. “What was that lil lady?” 

He didn’t scare you. You cleared your throat. “I said. I NEED water. You don’t get any caps or vials if I’M dead!” He stays silent, still glaring. A month's supply of vials upon arrival was on the line and he knew it. You point towards the treeline. “I saw a house over there. We're out of rations and it's getting dark. Can we at least set up camp there?” 

His answer is wordless, whistling a command to Dogmeat to run ahead to the house. He gives another tug at the rope, commanding you to follow behind him, a cautious hand at his holster. 

The inside of the house was far nicer than the outside led you to believe. While everything appeared to be overrun by nature the original bones were still there. Holey yet plush couches formed a sitting area around a fire pit that recessed into the tattered wall. The floorboards creaked and moaned under the new weight as the three of you walked around making sure the area was clear. Dusty paintings littered the walls, images nearly impossible to make out in the dim light. 

“Now smoothie,” the Ghoul started, taking a quick break to puff his inhaler, “I’mma take you off yer leash and scope the perimeter ‘fore we hunker down.” 

You nod, happy to have some relief from the scratchy fibers of the rope and to get some sort of break from your freakish travel partner. Not that you didn’t hate him but the way he spoke and stole from you did wear on your nerves. All of the stupid pet names that cowboy gave you did something to you. You couldn’t place it, a warm feeling in the pit of your stomach, a milder feeling of what he did when he’d make a pass at you. And despite how much he annoyed you, you found him strangely attractive. On those sleepless night when you were sure he was sleeping, you’d study his features, imagining his strong hands around you as he pulled your hips down onto his, his cock hitting your core just right making your back arch and pulling the same loud cries of pleasure you had heard him pull from others in the adjacent room of whatever hostel would allow a ghoul and his dog. 

The smell of viscera and tobacco cloud your senses, and you feel a gloved hand around the back of your neck, ripping you back to reality. “And be good for me while I’m gone.” The heat of his breath travels down your neck and straight between your thighs. 

You watch as he slinks away, stopping at the crumbling doorway—a dark shadow masking the top half of his face. “Oh and sweetheart,” he pulls a cigarette from one of the pockets of his duster, lighting it before he continued, “be a doll an’ rangle somethin’ up for dinner. Ain’t much in the mood for ass jerky t’night.” He flashes you a smile from underneath his hat before leaving, Dogmeat happily cantering after him. 

The house is larger than it looks on the inside and despite its current state of ruin, you could see it in all of its glory, like one of those fancy houses you see in the movies. People smiling and laughing around a table piled with food, dressed in the most beautiful clothes that shimmered against the light. Women with beautifully painted faces and clean, perfectly styled hair. Those movies always made you wonder about the world before the bombs, before everyone wanted to kill everyone else, before the fear of radiation. 

You find your way into the kitchen, cracked black and white tiles decorate the floor, dingy teal cabinets matching the Atomic Queen appliances hug the walls. You take care to peek behind every cabinet door checking for any food or water that might have been missed by whoever came through here last. You manage to find some unlabeled booze and canned food tucked behind the remains of some long abandoned animal nest, while it isn’t much at least you’ll be able to eat tonight. In another cabinet you find some Sugar Bombs, the box is dented and beat up but surprisingly unopened, lucky you. 

You move towards the back of the kitchen, finding yourself in a small dark room. The smell of mildew and rot is so strong your stomach would've turned if it wasn't already empty, it's so bad you couldn't bother to examine the shelves that lined the wall. You make a mental note to ask the Ghoul to check for loot, of the two of you, he had the stronger stomach to rifle through damn near anything. Pushing through the door to the other side, fresh air greets you, a welcomed relief to your lungs. The very last dregs of sunlight shine through the windows that made up the roof, tall green trees kiss the glass in a desperate attempt to break free. If it wasn't for the roof you would've sworn you accidentally found your way outside. 

With one hand on the holster of your knife you creep with the brick of the wall at your back, slowly examining the plants in front of you. You recognized a few, Daffodils, Marigolds, even Tato vines. However a majority were new to you;  large flowers the size of your head, and plants that seemed to grow from the roof. You spot some pear and apple trees with the largest fruits you’ve ever seen further into the room. As you found your way to the perpendicular wall, you noticed that it was made of a giant window. You remember seeing building plans for something similar in a pre-war book years ago, a glass house that kept the plants inside at the ideal temperature. For whatever reason the plants in this glass house were thriving on neglect, carrying on with life as if the bombs never dropped. 

BANG! 

The sound makes you drop to the ground, covering your head. Whatever it was you just hope it was coming from the Ghoul. 

Just as you're about to get up, something catches your eye. You crawl towards the brush to get a closer look, little red fruits perched on vines decorated with white flowers cover the dirt by your feet. You pluck one, rolling it between your fingers the skin is rough, yellow dots littering the surface of the red flesh. The sweet scent of the fruit travels to your nose and entices your palate you know better than to put anything in your mouth. Instead, you procure the small tin that you use to store food from your bag and fill it with the mystery fruit. 

BANG! 

Hastily you shove the container back in your bag, whatever was going on outside had you a fair bit more concerned now that you could hear Dogmeat barking wildly. You quickly get up and make your way out of the glass house, through the dark storage room, and past the kitchen. Not stopping until you've collided with a large solid mass, sending a plume of dust into the air as your ass hits the cushion of the couch. 

“You’re ‘sposed to say ‘scuse you after runnin’ into a fella sweetheart.” 

You look up, your eyes meet the dark shadow of the Ghoul's from under his hat. Yellowed teeth show through as he grins wide. You look down to see in his gloved hand are two Rad Rabbits, in the other an unopened can of purified water. Relief washes over you, knowing that your dinner would be more than just Cram and Sugar Bombs. 

“I believe a thank you's in order.” His stupid handsome grin growing even wider. Clearly proud of himself despite him having taken down much harder prey. 

You glare at him before softening, in some way, you feel like this is his way of apologizing for earlier. Any time he pissed you off he would at least make up for it with his actions. Stolen stimpak? Within the next day, you'd find it replaced along with a bag of RadAway. A few bottle caps would find their way into your bag too, when you brought it up to him he'd deny it, telling you to keep a better eye on your shit.

“Thank you,” you pause, it just dawned on you that you didn't know his name. He was the Ghoul, the Cowboy, your escort across the wasteland. But no name to attach to him. You fish for a polite title for him, and if you knew him better you would've punctuated your gratitude with a kiss, yet the older man didn't seem like one for physical contact. “Thank you, Sir.” Is what you land on. 

His smile fades as if your gratitude offends him and he tosses rabbit carcasses into your lap.

“Make sure Dogmeat gets her fair share. She found ‘em after all.” He says, patting the mutt beside him before making his way to the firepit, and lighting another cigarette. 

[fuckyeahisawthat]

Furiosa viewing #3 for me last night and I figured something out. I have heard multiple people say that the pacing of the movie felt off or weird or even "slow," even though the plot consistently moves along at a brisk clip. But what people were noticing was not the speed of the story but the structure.

I realized the pacing feels weird because the movie has two third acts.

The overwhelming majority of movies released by Hollywood studios follow a very standardized three-act structure. This is certainly not the only way to structure a film story, but it's the most common one in the Anglophone film world, so common that you have probably absorbed its pattern without even thinking about it. The previous Mad Max movies do generally fit this structure, and Fury Road fits it like, down to the minute.

When we get to the big fight sequence at the Bullet Farm, where we know Jack has prepared everything for Furiosa to leave and they just have to get through this one last mission together, my gut story sense was like this feels like it should be the third act. The fight in the Bullet Farm and the chase with Dementus that ends in Jack's death feels like it should be the climax of the movie. And not just because we are around the two-hour mark at this point, although we are.

In terms of themes and plot arcs and story beats, Jack's death feels like where the movie should end. We start the story with Mary Jabassa telling Furiosa to leave her behind and make it home safe. I'm sure Mary knows she's on a suicide mission at this point, but maybe she can hold off their attackers long enough for her daughter to escape. But Furiosa can't leave her mom behind. So she goes back, and she watches her mom die brutally and gets trapped by Dementus.

Then, at the Bullet Farm, Furiosa has her best chance yet at getting home. She has a fully loaded vehicle, and she's outside the Bullet Farm gates while Jack is stuck inside. Jack, too, tells her to run and save herself. (While it's never spelled out, I'm sure we're supposed to intuit that the green flare means GO.) He probably thinks he's dead either way at this point, but maybe Furiosa can make it out. But once again, she can't do it. She goes back to defend Jack, and we have this little bit of hope of, maybe this time she'll be able to save the person she cares about from being killed by the same warlord who killed her mother. Whether she succeeds or fails, narratively, this feels like it should be the climactic action sequence of the movie.

But there's still another 30 (ish?? I need to watch with a timer) minutes to go after that, in which we have a whole other plot arc of Furiosa getting back to the Citadel, making her prosthetic arm, and going off on her quest to hunt down Dementus. And if this part all feels a bit grueling, it's because your brain expected the movie to end half an hour ago.

(I should pause here to say that you absolutely can write a movie in three-act structure that's longer than 2 hours--you just have to stretch all the pieces out equally or it starts to feel lumpy. And the place where our attention spans are going to be least forgiving of lumpiness is at the end of the movie.)

Well, you might say, maybe Furiosa was just not written with the three-act structure in mind. And that could be true! But I would argue that the oddness of the end of the movie comes primarily from the film not being clear on what narrative question it's trying to answer.

Because an ending that focuses on Furiosa's choice between finally getting home or going back to try to save Jack is addressing the question of, "Do you prioritize saving yourself, or do you fight for the people you love, even if you may end up in a worse situation because of it?"

An ending that follows Furiosa's revenge quest seems to focus more on, "What does seeking revenge do to your humanity?"

Both of these questions are rich territory to be explored in the wasteland, and the other Mad Max movies deal with both of them. But I would argue that the first question is very clearly set up in the beginning of the movie as a thing we expect to be exploring, and the second question, not so much.

I think the story would have benefitted from picking one or the other. And if they wanted to tell a story about the price of revenge, then highlighting this earlier--either by making revenge Furiosa's primary motivation from the beginning, or highlighting it thematically by showing how the quest for revenge warps other characters--would have made the last section of the movie feel more like a payoff and less like a sudden left turn into the desert.

[hero-of-the-wolf]

So here's a thing me and @crazylittlejester have been working on. Enjoy :)

Summary: After a difficult journey during the day full of obstacles and hard battles, Time finds himself trapped repeating the same battle over and over again. He has no choice, if he wants to save his brothers. However every time he uses his ocarina to reverse fate, he finds the price of saving his lost companion is the life of another.

or: Time loop fic where everyone keeps dying and Time is the only one who can save them all.

Someone was talking.

Already?

Time sighed, resigning himself to wakefulness and opening his eye. Warriors was leaning over him, his hand already resting on his shoulder.

“It’s your turn for watch.”

Right.

Time sat up with a groan. It felt like no time at all had passed since they’d first set up camp. And before then, they’d been stuck in a grueling battle that had burned through most of their supplies. It had been a long day.

He glanced over to see Warriors smirking at him. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.” The captain walked over to his own bed roll, no doubt excited at the prospect of a good night’s rest. “I was just thinking about how much ‘old man’ suits you, is all. I swear I could hear every bone in your body pop.”

Time rolled his eye, even though he knew Warriors couldn’t see it. “Very funny.”

“Thanks, I try.” Warriors flopped down on his roll dramatically with a sigh. “How are you doing, by the way?”

Time hummed at that. “I’m sure we’ve all had worse battles.”

“You’re not answering my question, Sprite.”

“I’m fine. Truly.” He sat down on the log Warriors had previously been sitting on. “We'll head to the nearest town to pick up some more supplies in the morning. Hyrule mentioned that we should be able to reach one by the end of the day.”

Warriors hummed in response. He fell silent after that, no doubt already giving in to his exhaustion. Good. He needed the rest. Time knew his shoulder was still bothering him, though the captain would never admit it.

He glanced up at the sky, noting the stars. They weren’t as bright here as they were at home, but they were beautiful all the same. The moon was out too, an almost sinister looking sliver of a smile. Time shook his head at the memories of a different moon with a sinister face and turned his attention to the fire in front of him. It was low already, but he was sure that it would last until morning. He took in a deep breath, savoring the peace that only being this deep in nature could bring.

A bokoblin’s horn reverberated through the previously still night air, making him jump.

“Everyone, up!” He shouted, springing to his feet. His sword was already in his hand. There was no time to put on his armor. The monsters were already pouring into the clearing.

Everyone scrambled to their feet, grabbing their weapons. There wasn’t even time to reach their shields. Time was lucky enough to have had an extra precious few seconds to grab his.

He felt Warriors’ back press against his own. He felt far too exposed without his armor. All of them did. But Warriors wasn’t afraid. He was annoyed.

“I can’t believe this,” he grumbled. “I got like, what, five minutes of sleep? Couldn’t they have waited until morning??”

Time's lips twitched up at that, despite their unfortunate circumstances. The poor captain had taken first watch. He’d gotten basically no sleep since their earlier battle, and he was prepared to make it everyone else's problem.

Time pressed harder against him, dodging the blow of an incoming lizalfos, and Warriors’ whining switched to complaining about his still sore shoulder.

Everything passed in a blur after that. Once the last monster was felled, Time hurried to do a headcount. They’d been at a serious disadvantage. He had faith in his boys, but he needed to make sure everyone was okay and accounted for.

Warriors was next to him, dusting himself off.

Twilight was helping Four back up to his feet.

Sky was sitting on the ground, looking winded but otherwise okay.

Hyrule and Legend were chatting off to the side.

That left….

“Has anyone seen Wild and Wind?”

Everyone’s attention shifted to him at that.

“I thought that they were with you,” Twilight frowned.

“I thought that they were with you,” Legend retorted.

“The last I saw them, they were over… there.”

Time looked where Sky was pointing. It was still far too dark to see clearly, so he cautiously approached, jerking to a stop when his foot almost slipped off the edge of a sheer drop. His heart plummeted straight down to his boots.

“They must have fallen down.”

The cliff was steep, but Time managed to find his way down to a sizeable ledge. The aftermath of a battle was strewn everywhere. They must not have been the only ones who had fallen. Warriors followed close behind, dropping down next to him.

By the time Time found them their bodies were still warm.

He fell to his knees, desperately checking for any sign of life. He was too late. Too slow. He—

From behind him, Warriors came to a sudden stop. A horrible keening sound escaped him, one that would haunt Time for the rest of his days. He stumbled to his side and drew the two younger boys into his arms. Time forced himself to his feet and stepped back. Almost on instinct, his hand reached down and clasped his ocarina. He could still fix this.

“Captain… it’ll be okay.”

Warriors looked up at him, distraught. Even after a whole war of losing people, the grief of death was something nobody could ever get used to. Not even the captain. “How can you say that? This- This isn’t okay.”

Time smiled at him sadly and raised the ocarina to his lips.

The song was one he knew all too well. The rhythm of time slowed to a stop, then started reversing. Time went as far back as he could, before ending the song and breaking into a run. He knew where they were now. He could get to them in time.

The ledge they’d fallen down to was hard to see from up top in the predawn darkness, but he knew exactly where to go. When had they even fallen? Everything had happened so fast. He climbed down as quickly as he dared. He needed to be faster.

Wild and Wind were surrounded by monsters. Wild was already hunched over, clutching at a red stain on his side that was rapidly growing.

Time almost lost his grip when Wind yelled in pain and collapsed. No.

He dropped down and unsheathed his sword, swinging it in a wide arc. The three lizalfos in front of him were cut down before they could even blink, let alone jump out of the way. A large black moblin rounded on him next. He parried its spear and stabbed it straight in the gut. He didn't have time for this.

“Tell me about your island, Sailor,” Wild’s voice, as quiet as it was, seemed to echo in his skull. Those were dying words. But he was so close!

Everything else drowned out but the sword in his hands and the words in his ears.

“It’s beautiful,” Wind whispered. “There’s a fairy fountain at the top… top of the mountain, y’know. And a bridge… bridge’s broken, though. And my sister… and grandma….”

Another moblin.

“Champion?”

Two bokoblins.

“I’m here, kid.”

“Not a kid,” Wind rasped. The fire in his voice was fading fast. They were running out of time.

Only a lowly bokoblin was left, standing between him and his fallen brothers. Time glowered at it, leveling his sword.

Nothing was going to stand between him and his brothers. He swore to Hylia that he wouldn’t let this be the end for them.

The bokoblin charged. A fatal mistake. Time easily deflected its blow with his sword, twisting around to stab it in the back.

The last monster fell. Time sank to his knees at his boys’ side again, heaving a sigh of relief. He reached into his pouch with trembling fingers, grabbing the first bottle he could find and pulling it out. The fairy flew out without delay and circled around the two boys. Their wounds disappeared. Like none of it had ever even happened.

Wild sat up, a smile already on his face. “Hey, old man.”

Wind was still clutched in his arms, blinking up at them both. Then he smiled, too. “Took ya long enough.”

Time closed his eye, just for a moment. They were okay.

He didn’t really have the time, but he couldn’t stop himself from clapping a firm hand on both their shoulders, checking them both over with his eye for any lingering injuries before getting up from where he was crouched in front of them. Sounds of clanging swords and frustrated shouts came from overhead where the others were, and Time knew he had to get himself and the boys up there to help as soon as possible.

Wild was easiest to help back up over the ledge. The kid was terrifyingly gifted at scaling up cliffs, and only needed a bit of a boost from Time to help him get up there faster than he could have on his own. The second the champion completely disappeared over the edge and back onto the cliff top, Time turned to Wind, locking his fingers together to provide a hopefully steady foot hold.

“Ready, kid?”

Wind nodded sharply, a determined look on his face, before placing his small boot in Time’s hand and reaching up towards where Wild’s hand was extended down for him to grab. Time helped shove him up as far as he could, supporting the little pirate’s weight as much as he was able to until Wild got a firm enough grip to haul him back to safety.

Unfortunately for Time, there was no way the two younger heroes would be able to pull him up as well. The ledge was high enough that he couldn’t get a firm grip by jumping for it, not that he wanted to risk falling to his death should he lose his footing, and it was too dark to properly see how much space he had.

Warriors’s face poked over the edge, giving him a familiar crooked grin.

“Well you’ve gotten yourself rather stuck, Sprite,” his brother teased, and Time couldn’t help but instinctively cross his arms over his chest and glare up at the captain in defiance at the tone in his voice. It wasn’t his fault he’d gotten trapped down here, he was saving Wind and Wild’s lives!

The image of their bodies flashed across his mind and his expression dropped as he felt his breath catch in his chest.

He forced himself to shake his head to free himself from the sight of a fate that no longer existed.

Warriors’s hand reached down just low enough for Time to grab when he ran and jumped for it, and there was a moment when his hand clasped around his brother’s where he was terrified his weight would drag them both down over the edge, but a second pair of hands reached down and grabbed his forearm, helping the captain pull him up.

Time allowed himself five seconds to pant in the grass on his back before forcing himself to sit up, giving Sky a grateful nod for helping him before taking Warriors’s offered hand and letting his brother drag him to his feet. He looked around for Wind and Wild, squinting to make out their shapes in the dark, and spotted them with swords raised, helping Legend fight off a large group of Lizalfos. They were moving okay, they were breathing, they were fine.

He saved them, and now he had to help the others finish this battle.

They could do it, they’d done it a hundred times already. There was nothing even special about this group of monsters, they were all going to be just fine.

He hated that he hadn’t been able to go back far enough to give them enough time to put their armor on before the battle started. Time couldn’t help the surge of anxiety that blossomed when he felt Warriors’s spine press into his back when the captain’s shoulders met his, unprotected from his usual amount of armor. His brother was too vulnerable like this, they were all too vulnerable like this.

The captain groaned when Time’s shoulder slid against his.

“You okay?” He asked quickly, shifting so he wasn’t leaning too much on his brother. Warriors’s shoulder had been dislocated earlier in the day during the previous battle, and while he’d had a red potion or two shoved down his throat, Time had no doubt it was probably still sore.

“No, I’m not okay,” the captain whined, and he didn’t have to be facing him for Time to know with certainty there was a pout on Warriors’s face. “Can a man not sleep for more than five minutes without having something happen to him?? Hylia!!”

“What has the world come to?” Time sighed, overdoing it a little on the sadness he forced into his voice.

Warriors pushed against his back roughly in retaliation, grumbling something under his breath that he couldn’t hear.

They worked together to beat back the monsters that had surrounded them, and Time tried to focus on his brother behind him instead of letting his mind drift back to Wind and Wild’s bodies. Each bokoblin he cut down made him feel further and further from what he’d just seen, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of shock he’d felt.

Life was a very fragile thing. None of them were going to live forever, but those two were just kids. This was not their place to die.

“We’re so fucked, why are there so many of them??” Warriors sighed, and Time couldn’t find his voice to agree with him. Not after what he just saw. Not after what he’d erased. He refused to believe they were ‘fucked’.

He had a second chance, he wasn’t going to let anyone die, not this time. He’d already healed Wind and Wild, he just needed to keep an eye on them and all the others and they’d pull through as they always did.

Something swooped down towards their heads that Time couldn’t quite make out in the dark, and while he’d managed to duck out of its path, the thing hit Warriors square in the face.

“What the fuck!!” The captain screamed. “What was that?!”

“Keese!” Hyrule shouted from somewhere to Time’s left. He couldn’t spare a second to look over at the traveler, he was too busy trying to defend both him and his temporarily stunned brother.

“Why!!”

“Fuck you mean, ‘why’??” Legend yelled.

Time swatted at the damned keese with his shield when it swooped down at his head again.

“Just be glad you didn’t get hit by a swarm of them!” Hyrule laughed. “That one must not be from this era, my keese never travel alone!”

It took Warriors an embarrassing number of tries to cut it down, and by the time he had, Time had mostly cleared out the bokoblins around them. He took a moment to breathe and try to spot Wind and Wild in all the chaos.

“Look out!” Twilight screamed, and Time ducked, shoving Warriors out of the way as well when an axe went flying overhead, glinting in the light of the moon. Thankfully it embedded itself in a nearby tree as opposed to any of the boys.

“Thanks, goat boy!” The captain called back, brushing himself off as he got up, holding out a hand to help up Time.

He missed the concerned look Warriors gave him as he steadied Time on his feet, he was too busy looking around the clearing, counting seven hylian heads still up and moving. Once sure everyone was safe he couldn’t help but feel anger towards himself for being so distracted that he’d almost allowed himself and Warriors to get hit by a flying axe.

“Hey, everything okay?” His brother asked, kicking a bokoblin he didn’t recognize down when it waddled a little too close, bringing his sword straight down into it and ending the little creature. “You didn’t hit your head on the way down to get Wind and Wild, did you?”

Time didn’t have a chance to open his mouth before Warriors grabbed his chin and started moving his face around to check for cuts or marks where he might have been hit.

He swatted away the captain’s hands, ignoring the way Warriors raised an eyebrow at him and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“No, I’m fine,” he told him, and he meant it. He was fine, so were Wild and Wind, and so were all the others. He just had to get out of his own head and focus, this was no time or place for mistakes.

“Are you sure?” Warriors questioned, because of course he wouldn’t just drop it. “You seem really distracted and a bit out of it.”

“I’m fine,” Time repeated with an annoyed huff. He could argue with his brother later, right now he had to focus on killing monsters.

He got lucky when a lizalfos jumped down on the other side of the captain, freeing him from whatever lecture on hiding injuries Warriors was no doubt prepping to give him. It didn’t take long to deal with the monster, and in all the chaos it was quite easy for Time to slip away to another side of the clearing.

He headed over towards Four, who was singled out by a group of bokoblins. The poor young man was doing his best, but there was no one near him to help at all, and from what Time could see through the darkness, no one else was in immediate need of assistance.

“Oh Hylia, thanks,” Four wheezed when Time was able to take out a huge wave of bokoblins in one swing with his significantly larger sword.

“Any time,” he said quickly, swinging again, this time in a large arc right over Four’s head when the younger hero ducked.

Legend came sprinting past with an enraged cry, chasing after a moblin that kept bouncing out of the way of his swings.

“Fucker!!” He screamed when he missed again.

Time snorted, taking a moment to check on Wind and Wild one more time. They were a terrifying duo, with Wild dancing about and weaving between the monsters, shoving them right into Wind’s sword. Every time they successfully got another one, the pirate let out an evil little cackle, the faint light making his eyes sparkle.

They were fine, and the number of monsters was finally getting smaller as less and less of them swarmed into the clearing.

His mistake had been allowing himself less than a second to believe that they were all going to be fine.

He hadn’t even seen it happen, his back was turned, all he’d heard was a sickening crack followed by Legend’s awful scream. He felt his breath catch in his throat but he couldn’t hear anything besides that awful sound the vet was making and his own pounding heartbeat. He knew what he was going to see when he turned, he knew, and he didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t stop himself. Time whipped around to look at them, so quickly that he felt nauseous, although that might have been because of the angle Four’s neck had been twisted at, or the way his lifeless eyes were still staring up at the sky, or the horrible way his dead body was sprawled in the grass.

Time didn’t waste a second, he couldn’t bear the sight of one of his dead brothers a second longer. With trembling hands he brought the ocarina to his lips and began to play as warm tears ran down his face.

READ THE REST ON AO3!!! :)

[utilitycaster]

In what way did having Laura and Marisha on 4SD damage your view of their relationship? 100% agreed on needing Laura on 4SD without Marisha asap. Slightly off-topic, but Laura is also the only cast member who's never been on two consecutive 4SD episodes. It's frankly impressive she's been able to give any in-depth answers about Imogen with how repetitive questions for her are. It's really indicative of the questions' quality that she provides answers to them before even pulling them out.

re: damaging my view of the relationship (which to be clear - I mean im*dna, not Marisha and Laura themselves), one of my issues has always been that Imogen and Laudna have for lack of a better way to put it, acted (and been treated as) as a glued-together unit but without any glue. It's recently gotten interesting and I hope this conflict that we have continues! But until recently, they've had in my opinion a dampening effect on each others' stories; they're infinitely more interesting to me as individuals than as a couple. Therefore, the way that Laura hasn't been on 4SD without Marisha since "That's Just Right" in December 2022 (and, of her 9 appearances, has been paired with Marisha in 7), and the fact that so many 4SD questions treat them as one unit, even when it's not remotely relevant (eg, the question about FCG's death) and resist the idea of them becoming more distant even if that's where the narrative has taken them (the truly egregious "please say syke [sic]" question from last night) is a real turn off, but also, I'll admit, rather vindicating. I'd much rather have a 4SD where we can treat Imogen and Laudna as individuals with their own arcs and lives, but if we must have this pablum at least I was right that there is a noted pattern of treating them as the appendages of one another with little value outside of being half a relationship on which to project. It's unfortunate, because Imogen's had some fantastic interactions with Orym lately and I'd have loved to hear about that, though Robbie's questions were extremely good and maybe he should write the non-Dorian tankard questions for a while.

I will say the one criticism here that I think isn't really important is that Laura hasn't been on two 4SDs consecutively; I think that's almost certainly just scheduling. She's got a busy acting career and a kindergartner and a lot of the work she does for CR (merch) doesn't require being in-office, so she's always been a little less frequently on the talkbacks than some of the other cast members. Even though Imogen is extremely central to the plot I didn't expect Laura to be on 4SD too frequently; I just wish she could be asked more insightful questions. I'm not getting my hopes up but maybe the Fireside might be an option for something better.

[apomaro-mellow]

Family Planning 4

Part 3

There's a severe lack of hijinks in this chapter but I'm hoping to fix that in the next part.

Steve was caught off guard when he heard a call pull up in the morning and it was Tommy, with Carol in tow. They never picked him up, preferring Steve’s car. His dad looked over his newspaper questioningly and Steve had no choice but to go outside. Now that he thought about it, he and Eddie hadn’t made plans to go to school together today. He had just assumed, but even then he wasn’t sure why.

“Hey, what’re you guys doing here?”, Steve asked as he walked out.

“You know why Harrington, get in”, Tommy said.

He did and Tommy didn’t even wait for the door to close before asking him about yesterday. Carol interjected with her own questions. They were his friends, so he didn’t mind answering but just like his parents they couldn’t wrap their heads around Steve going through with it on his own. Clearly it was all Eddie’s influence.

“I get that he’s an alpha, but you can’t let some knot-head like that lead you around”, Carol said.

“And you know that’s all he wants right? To get that knot in”, Tommy snickered. “And he gets to pretend he’s your alpha with a pup? I bet that freak humped his pillow last night, thinking of it.”

“Eugh, gross. I do NOT want to think about Munson’s junk”, Carol said.

“Can you guys cool it? I’m the one that’s actually gotta work with him for the project”, Steve said from the backseat. Not only was it offputting, but it didn’t seem fair to Eddie. Besides the odd fashion choices and weird club, he was a nice guy.

His friends did in fact cool it, at least until they got to school and Eddie was spotted waiting by the front entrance. Without a word to either Tommy or Carol, Steve went over to him. They had to get their new sack of flour. Ms. Engels gave them what could only be called a glare and Steve had the decency to feel a little bad, but not much.

“I’ll take the little rugrat for the first couple of periods”, Eddie offered. “If you want, we can meet up at lunch to do the paperwork.”

“Sounds great”, Steve said without even thinking.

He honestly did forget about it until lunch came. And by then, he already had his tray in his hands, Tommy on one side and Carol ahead of them, going to their usual table. Steve set his tray down just as Eddie came up to them.

“Hey, you ready?”

“What’s he doing here?”, Carol sneered.

“Shit, I forgot”, Steve said. “Yeah, we can just do it here.”

Eddie’s eyes slid to the two betas who looked like they wanted to toss him in the trash. His flight response was kicking up but he knew Carol wasn’t a scrapper and Hagan wouldn’t do anything so long as he stayed on Steve’s good side. So when Steve sat down, he scooted over and Eddie slid on next to him.

“Alright first thing’s first, baby’s name. How do you feel about Gertrude?”, Eddie grinned.

Steve’s nose scrunched. “She’s not someone’s grandma. And who said it’s a girl?”

“Do you have a preference for sex?”, Eddie asked.

“Gag me”, Carol muttered under her breath.

“Hey!”, Steve scolded. “Like it or not, he’s the sire of my pup and will be until the deadline of this project. You two need to get over yourselves.” If Eddie was going to be around more, Steve wasn’t going to let those comments continue to fly. 

Carol forked her food aggressively and Tommy just rolled his eyes. “Chill out man, didn’t know you were taking it seriously.”

Steve turned to Eddie. “What about Hannah?”

“I’m partial to Isabelle myself.”

It took them about halfway through lunch to settle on Kimberly Farrah Lisbeth Odette Ursa Rebecca Munson. It was a mouthful of a name, but it all fit on the line. And Steve allowed Eddie full freedom with her middle name since he got her first name. Her last name being Munson was the traditional route. Omegas usually gave up their name when they got married.

“Hey Eddie, are you gonna spend your whole lunch here?”

Steve looked up to see one of the members of that club. Hellfire. He wasn’t entirely sure what they got up to, played some kind of game. But they were looking at Steve and his friends warily. Steve looked to the table where the rest of them were and they shared the same expressions. 

“Ummm”, Eddie turned to Steve, like he was asking permission.

“We’ve got her name and all that stuff”, Steve said. “We can figure out trade off times later.” They just had to get the papers to Engels before the end of the day. He also offered to take the flour for the rest of the day since Eddie had it in the morning.

“Well then, I guess my business is done”, Eddie said, pushing away from the table. “Goodbye little Kimmy.” He actually kissed the top of the flour sack and then walked away.

“Dude, are you actually trying this year?”

“I plan on walking that stage come spring Gare-bear”, Eddie clapped his friend’s shoulder. And if he had to do so with a bag of food on his hip, so be it.

When the end of the day came, Eddie reconnected with Steve just as he was about to walk out the doors. The moment he did, they both noticed the principal eyeing them by the exit. Eddie frowned.

“You don’t need to hover. We’re actually not doing the helicopter parent thing.”

“We said we’d stay out of trouble”, Steve said.

“Forgive me if I don’t have total confidence in the both of you. Mr. Munson especially.”

Eddie put his arm around Steve’s shoulders. “We’re gonna be the model family. Just watch! We’re gonna do so good, Steve’ll be knocked up by spring!”

Steve’s face got red and it felt like the whole hallway stopped in its tracks. Steve let out a sigh, head hung in mortification as Eddie realized everyone in a two mile radius probably heard what he just said.

“Bad timing?”

“Is there good timing?”, Steve asked. Deciding to commit, he took the sack of flour out of his bookbag and put it on his hip like a real pup. “Well sir, if you’ll excuse us.” 

He started walking and Eddie had no choice but to follow his lead unless he wanted to separate. Eddie’s van was easy to locate and it was only when they got to it did they move apart.

“Thanks for not leaving me high and dry. Sooo, how are we gonna do the trade offs?”

“I think what we did today was fine”, Steve said. Handing the baby off between breaks, giving each of them a few hours free. “Which means you get our little bundle tonight since I had her all afternoon.”

“Cool. Do you uh, need a ride or?”

Steve thought about this morning, how he’d expected Eddie to come without really communicating so. “Uhhh-”

Eddie gasped. “Steve! It’s horrible!” He opened up the passenger door to his van. “I don’t have a carseat!”

“...Okay?”

“Which means you’ll have to hold dear Kimberly while I drive!”

Steve looked around as Eddie made a spectacle of himself. Principal Woolsley was still watching from the door. Didn’t he have a life? With a sigh, Steve got in and buckled up with their pretend pup. As they drove off, the principal was joined by a custodian who gave a chuckle.

“Ain’t that project meant to discourage procreation?”

Their routine worked pretty well. Right down to who drove them each day. Whoever had the baby for the evening would be picked up in the morning. It felt like an even balance of duties. Steve admitted to himself being a little apprehensive of coming to the trailer park for the first time, but when Eddie got in, Wayne smiled at them from the door and Eddie even bid good morning to the old lady who had glared at Steve when he drove up.

Steve’s parents never came out to wave to Eddie, even when he came right to the door and knocked. Eddie didn’t come to their lunch table again, the trade usually happening either before they got to the cafeteria or after lunch was over. Tommy and Carol stopped their snide remarks about Eddie but they didn’t start singing his praises either. Which was fine.

As for the report, Steve just left the sack on his bedroom desk while he was at home. If Eddie was doing any different, he didn’t let on. But while in school, he was a doting father, calling the sack pet names and kissing it, hamming it up whenever Engels or Woolsley were in sight. 

All in all it was going well and that February deadline got closer and closer. But as Steve was crossing today off his calendar, he noticed a problem. He was about to be short on time and Eddie wasn’t going to like the reason why when he told him tomorrow.

Basketball season started soon.

Part 5 coming soon

Taglist

@marklee-blackmore @aol19 @im-really-annoying @ellietheasexylibrarian @queenie-ofthe-void

@redfreckledwolf

[atelierlili]

Katniss, Peeta, and the messy in between.

For a while I've been seeing the sentiment of blaming the distance between Katniss and Peeta after the 74th games on Peeta entirely and I think it's rather unfair. It's a messy situation involving two teenagers who are both valid in their feelings at this point in time.

There's multiple things going on at the end of book 1 in regards to Peeta's relationship with both Katniss AND Haymitch that it feel unfair to blame him, when Peeta, like Katniss, more often than not, is the last one to find out other people's intentions/plans, even from his own allies.

Now before I start, I feel like I must preface this by saying I'm not bashing anyone in this analysis so if you're gonna say something rude and mean about my babies, make that U turn cause I aint having it. Also I'm a yapper so this is gonna be really long lol.

It begins on the train tracks. Katniss and Peeta are walking along the tracks when Peeta picks her a small bouquet of wildflowers as Katniss is struggling to convey the kind of danger they are in, while also being paranoid that they're being watched. At this time, she also connects Gale to the wild flowers Peeta has picked for her and its adding her anxiety to the point where she can't even pretend to be happy at Peeta's gift. And that's something he picks up on.

When the train makes a brief stop for fuel, we’re allowed to go outside for some fresh air. There’s no longer any need to guard us. Peeta and I walk down along the track, hand in hand, and I can’t find anything to say now that we’re alone. He stops to gather a bunch of wildflowers for me. When he presents them, I work hard to look pleased. Because he can’t know that the pink and-white flowers are the tops of wild onions and only remind me of the hours I’ve spent gathering them with Gale.

“What’s wrong?” Peeta asks. “Nothing,” I answer. We continue walking, past the end of the train, out where even I’m fairly sure there are no cameras hidden in the scrubby bushes along the track. Still no words come. -THG - Chapter 27

Its not until Haymitch appears and drop the bomb and bows out that Peeta finally catches on that Katniss and Haymitch are still playing up the lover act without his knowledge.

Haymitch startles me when he lays a hand on my back. Even now, in the middle of nowhere, he keeps his voice down. “Great job, you two. Just keep it up in the district until the cameras are gone. We should be okay.” I watch him head back to the train, avoiding Peeta’s eyes. “What’s he mean?” Peeta asks me. “It’s the Capitol. They didn’t like our stunt with the berries,” I blurt out. “What? What are you talking about?”

“So, what you’re saying is, these last few days and then I guess . . . back in the arena . . . that was just some strategy you two worked out.” “No. I mean, I couldn’t even talk to him in the arena, could I?” I stammer. “But you knew what he wanted you to do, didn’t you?” says Peeta. I bite my lip. “Katniss?” He drops my hand and I take a step, as if to catch my balance. “It was all for the Games,” Peeta says. “How you acted.”

-THG - Chapter 27

The truth comes out. Uh oh. It seems this star crossed lovers act when on longer than Peeta expected. Granted, I don't recall him or Katniss ever making their status official, but somewhere between the cave and now, Peeta thought both him and Katniss were on the same page about their feelings. He's not wrong for thinking Katniss liked him back, she does, what he didn't account for is Katniss not knowing herself that she liked him back.

I think Peeta learning the truth through Haymitch and not Katniss starts them on the wrong foot. Because she isn't honest with him for a majority of the time in this scene. Yes, Katniss was worried if the capitol could hear them, but even after Haymitch lets them know they can talk freely, she's still isn't 100% honest with Peeta.

Now here comes the big question.

“It was all for the Games,” Peeta says. “How you acted.” “Not all of it,” I say, tightly holding on to my flowers. “Then how much? No, forget that. I guess the real question is what’s going to be left when we get home?” he says. “I don’t know. The closer we get to District Twelve, the more confused I get,” I say. He waits, for further explanation, but none’s forthcoming

I'd be more than happy to dump all the blame on him for being a pissy baby after the revelation if it weren't for that last part at the end.

Peeta's hurt, yes, but he can rationalize that Katniss had to play lovers for the games, but here, right now, he's asking what he should be expecting when they get home. The words aren't there, but the subtext is loud and clear.

This is a confession. I'm hurt. But I still like you. Do you like me? Will we have something when we go home and the cameras are gone?

Katniss gives him her most honest answer yet. She doesn't know. She's confused and she's getting more confused as they get closer to home. And that's it. That's her answer. But it isn't enough.

Peeta explicitly waits for more of an explanation from Katniss. He hears nothing about her thoughts, feelings, fears. He only knows what she tells him. And when he doesn't get it, there's no other way to take it as a rejection.

So now what?

“Well, let me know when you work it out,” he says, and the pain in his voice is palpable. -THG- Chapter 27-

“No, I ate at the Hob,” I say. “But thank you.” My voice doesn’t sound like my own, it’s so formal. Just as it’s been every time I’ve spoken to Peeta since the cameras finished filming our happy homecoming and we returned to our real lives. -CF- Chapter 1

The camera crews and reporters packed up and went home. Peeta and I assumed the cool relationship we’ve had ever since. -CF- Chapter 2

And this is why I feel like it's so unfair to solely blame Peeta for their distance between THG and CF. This distance came from both sides.

Peeta ends Book one asking Katniss to be honest with him once she figures her own feelings out. But she never does. She just picks up her life and tries go back to what it was before the games.

Was he waiting for an answer? How long did he wait? When did he give up and accept that whatever was the 74th was something his mind made up while he lying half dead in a cave?

Katniss has a valid list of a million things that are clouding her feelings for Peeta. We know them because we're stuck in her head. But Peeta isn't. And to be honest, I don't think he ever knows all of them throughout the trilogy.

I want to tell him that he’s not being fair. That we were strangers. That I did what it took to stay alive, to keep us both alive in the arena. That I can’t explain how things are with Gale because I don’t know myself. That it’s no good loving me because I’m never going to get married anyway and he’d just end up hating me later instead of sooner. That if I do have feelings for him, it doesn’t matter because I’ll never be able to afford the kind of love that leads to a family, to children. And how can he? How can he after what we’ve just been through? -THG- Chapter 27-

And this isn't a silly little fling for Peeta. He's liked Katniss since forever. Has there been other girls that caught his eye? Yes, maybe, but Katniss Everdeen has always been a soft spot for him.

Now, there is a part of him that now as to wonder WTF was going on in the Games, in the Cave and the Interview that followed after. You know the one, where Katniss cries into his chest, buries her face into his chest and practically sits on him the entire time.

Unlike Katniss, Peeta now has to question everything because the rug has just been pulled from underneath him. Yes, he's aware about the lover act and playing it up for the audience, but he isn't aware that Katniss and Haymitch have some crazy telepathic connection to each other that was guiding how Katniss would act towards Peeta in the games. He was even delirious half the time. How far did that go? When did it even begin? He knew that Haymitch was sending packages to Katniss instead of him.

I'm not making this shit up because it's the one thing that Peeta outwardly expresses frustration at (especially) Katniss and Haymitch.

“This has to stop. Right now. This — this — game you two play, where you tell each other secrets but keep them from me like I’m too inconsequential or stupid or weak to handle them.” “It’s not like that, Peeta —” I begin. “It’s exactly like that!” he yells at me. “I have people I care about, too, Katniss! Family and friends back in District Twelve who will be just as dead as yours if we don’t pull this thing off. So, after all we went through in the arena, don’t I even rate the truth from you?” - CF - Chapter 5 -

So what is the point i'm making here? Oh right. I think Peeta is 1000% justified in withdrawing from Katniss after the train tracks. What else is he suppose to do? This isn't something he can bounce back and recover from right away. Taking a step back is the most mature thing to do in this situation. For his sake and hers.

I dislike the notion that his apology denotes complete wrong doing on his part. He's having a human moment and he navigates it better than most would. Yes, he freezes her out, but he doesn't berate her, blame her or is mean to her. He just fucks off and deals with his own emotions and only shows up to play the perfect boyfriend. (And when he does, he never does it with malice OR resentment, at least to from Katniss' obervation.) What other alternative is there? He's genuinely hurt and I feel like expecting him to be comforting and supportive on and off camera when he's hurting inside to be unfair.

We sympathize with Katniss because we're in her head 24/7. We can get to hear her yearn and pine for Peeta after the train tracks. But Katniss also just doesn't mention her every trying to fix her relationship with Peeta between books. She lets the ice freeze over until Peeta comes back to ofter friendship instead. Yes, she has trauma and more hang ups than the average modern day person, but so does Peeta. Trauma is an explanation, not an excuse. If Katniss is allowed three books to figure out her feelings for Peeta, Peeta should be allowed the in between of Book 1 and 2 to figure out his with Katniss.

There should be more nuance when we look at this point in time where Peeta and Katniss' relationship is estranged. Peeta has a lot of reasons why he might want distance from her and I think it's unfair to blame him for it. From him questioning the games, Katniss and Haymitch's involvement with each other and Katniss non-answer of a rejection to his feelings, there's a lot of things he needs to sort out himself. Yes, she saved his life, but she also doesn't answer a lot of questions he asks of her. Katniss doesn't owe him a relationship for what happened in the games, or even her reasons why she's not ready for a relationship. But in turn, we shouldn't blame Peeta if he personally needs time to pick himself up, to figure things out himself. And this is just one thing on top of the trauma that follows both of them after the games. He also just fucking lost his leg LMAO

[grudgebird]

Deku & Shigaraki confrontation was a mess. Can the aftermath salvage it?

There were things in 424 that gave me wimpish hope that the heroes are going to address the ills of their society: Shigaraki's last words, lines about how the end of war doesn't ensure peace and how they need to go beyond to create a brighter future. It would complete the theme of new generation surpassing the previous. And it would make Shigaraki's ending a little more meaningful: His destruction brought about a new world where his people get to be happy. Even if he didn't get to be happy with them.

However, the war arc itself didn't exactly leave me with that impression. The story pulled some impressive sleight of hand by first introducing systemic issues, but then when it came time for heroes to do some self-reflection the issues turned into individual ones. When Deku and Tomura shared memories, Deku didn't learn about how the hero system he seeks to uphold led to the creation of someone like Shigaraki. The bystander effect, despite having been Shigaraki's main damage throughout the manga, got forgotten about. With Toga and Dabi I can see the explanation that their personal and individualized issues made for more exciting climaxes. And in the epilogue, the good guys will make sure that no more children have to suffer like they did. But Tomura died without anyone hearing his story - and if Deku doesn't know his story, how is he going to make sure Tenko's tragedy won't be repeated?

Even if the heroes go on to fix shit in the epilogue, I'm gonna have this nasty murmur in my brain…Why didn't someone give Shigaraki the memo?? It's just painful that Tomura didn't get answers from Deku when he ASKED "what do you seek to build?" (417). And then the story answers that question when Tomura isn't there to hear it??

Makes me miserable to think that this all could have been avoided, if only Deku had actually engaged with Tomura: Maybe the promise of change could have made Tomura have mercy upon the world. We didn't get to know! As is, Tomura's death felt so preventable it is driving me crazy!!

I guess the story could turn Deku's failure to save Tomura into a learning experience for him. But I'm afraid it's not going to, given Deku was already hailed as the greatest hero by All Might, who also assured that it's okay Deku turned Shigaraki into powder because "his heart was saved" (what good is a saved heart if he didn't get to carry it?). And how killing Tomura didn't seem to affect Deku beyond "aw shucks, anyways...". And OH brother...the framing of the punch that ended Shigaraki's life...Deku did a victory pose and the clouds parted to make way for sunshine as he fucking exterminated the man. Doesn't at all feel like the story is treating Shigaraki's death as the horrible thing that it is.

He still has to give Shigaraki's final words to Spinner (when that happens, i die). Spinner's reaction could be Deku's wake up call. It was wrong for Deku to ignore Shigaraki's words and treat him as if his inner child was the only thing about him worth a damn. Shigaraki was a whole human being!! He was loved and loving!!

Even if the epilogue by miracle ends up being some amazing fiction that addresses the problems of hero society, I'm gonna be positively surprised...But I will never forgive the series for what it did to my dearest Tomura.

[sapphicwriterao3]

🕊️ here to explain punishments that mommy has given me before. not quite sure why i’m being made to humiliate myself since i’ve been a very good girl recently, but here we are 🙄

like mommy said in her reply to my first ask, 200 spankings was one of them. although that was only on my ass and i’m pretty sure it was more than that. unfortunately for mommy i love spankings so that on its own wasn’t enough. i also had to spank my clit with a wooden spoon, and i’m 99% sure i spanked my tits a few times too?

which brings us to the next point, nipple clamps the entire time. i think i had them on for about 45 minutes? it was going to be longer, but i begged and begged and begged for them to come off, and she finally took pity on me. but not before she had me flick them for her, and also she had made me lie face down on the bed for a bit, pushing against them to make sure I really felt it.

mommy also makes me cockwarm a lot. she made me cockwarm my fingers, and when i was face down against the bed, i couldn’t help but grind onto my hand a bit, it was RIGHT THERE!! but mommy had to punish me more, because i was not allowed to touch my clit yet. she said she was going to teach me self control, and made me place a finger on my clit, but i was NOT allowed to move it at all. i didn’t want to know what would happen if i disobeyed so i kept it there, it was torturous. i could feel it throbbing against my finger, my pussy was dripping and i was whining so much.

i think that’s was around when i got to take the clothespins off. but they went straight back on, this time one on each of my pussy lips and one on my clit. it hurt. a lot. i asked mommy if i could use something other than the clothespins, and so she let me take them off. and then i had to hold an ice cube on my clit until it melted, while my pussy was stuffed with ice too. (if anyone else is going to use ice, please be very careful. it needs to be melted a little bit before you start to avoid burns, and also you should check each piece to make sure there’s no sharp edges. pain is nice but you do not want lasting injuries!!! also don’t use it inside too often, having water up there frequently can disturb your ph. stay safe!!)

anyways, i’m sure there’s details i have accidentally missed. from other sessions, mommy has been known to make me keep my panties in my mouth (and sometimes put them back on after), or to scroll through her likes and spank my clit every time i see something i like. we’ve also played with my ass a bit, but i’m pretty new to that, so it’s never really been as punishment.

oh, we also used mommy’s wheel a bit at the start. but i was having some.. issues with it so we moved in from that pretty quickly.

i hope this was enough detail mommy

-🕊️

thank you, princess.

for the record, you and I both know I'm making you do this because you love the humiliation.

does that answer your question, @catgirlinheatsquared?

[therealflickerman]

Split Lips (tasm!peter parker x reader)

Part three

series summary: Its simple hating peter parker, the cocky asshole who has made it his mission to one up you every chance he gets. In the same vein, its simple loving spiderman, the sweet masked vigilante who has made it his mission to ensure your safety. How simple will it be when the two worlds meet.

______________________________________________________________

chapter summary: Spiderman takes you for a swing and shows you why he does what he does.

word count: 4.6k

chapter contents: reader is intended to be fem! , language, a little banter and a little fluff, reader is anxious and a mess,  idk anything about school in america or school in general, small mention of injury ig

note: Ya’ll I’m so sorry that I haven’t uploaded I’ve been so sick the past few days the fanfic author curse is coming for me, also im sorry yall I gave in, I had to make the reader a little bit of a horror fan. I hope yall enjoy!!

masterlist

series masterlist

chapter one / chapter two / chapter three (ongoing!)

Your foot taps rapidly against vinyl flooring, eyes locked on the one question that you can’t wrap your brain around, it's a longer question with a few points riding on it, and you wrack your brain as to how you’re going to answer it. You’d flown through the rest of the test with confidence, yes this was partially due Peters and his perfect note taking skills but you’re choosing to ignore this fact. You reread the question before giving into your temptations, flicking your eyes to the front of the room to find the familiar mop of brown hair, Peter seems to have finished his test and now sits tapping his pen against the table softly, he looks so sure of himself, as per usual, and you suck in an anxious breath before turning your eyes back to the test with a newly found sense of determination. 

It takes you a moment though you’re now knee deep into the question, letting out a breath of relief as you write away you feel pressure drop from your shoulders. 

Finishing up the question you flip through the test, reading over your answers and editing bits and bobs where you need to. You catch the time on your watch and notice there are still twenty minutes on the clock, a small smile curls on your face. 

You notice Peter turn in his chair and you look to meet his gaze, he sends you a cocky grin and flashes you a thumbs up before turning it to a thumbs down, trying to gauge where you’re at. You send a smile with a thumbs up in return and he nods softly before turning to look back up at the board. 

The bell for lunch rings and you’re quick to grab your things, handing your test to the teacher without a word, you skip a step trying to make it past students as they pile out of the room. 

“Peter,” you yell softly across the hall and he barely catches your voice over the volume of student chatter. He turns his head, searching for whoever it was that called his name, a grin curling on his lips as he sees it's you dodging through the crowded hall. “So, how’d it go” you huff, catching up with him, “wouldn’t you like to know,” he grins stupidly and you retort with a, ‘why do you think I asked’ and an eye roll. 

“It went great thanks for asking,” his tone is teasing, “how about you”.

“I think I’ll pass,” you grin. 

He hums a laugh, “and… do you have anyone to thank for that?” He raises a brow. 

Yours furrow as you think for a second, “no one comes to mind,” he nudges you softly. 

“I wasn’t planning on giving you the satisfaction but seeing as you though saved my ass” you preface with a smile, “thank you Peter for your notes”. 

He watches you with a cocky smile, “You’re welcome.”

Your brain thinks back to the conversation you had with Spiderman last night and you swallow a nerve. “Hey I was thinking maybe we could study together some time,” you blurt out before you can stop yourself, sinking your teeth into your lips, you watch him grin. “Were my notes really that good?” he asks with a raised eyebrow and you roll your eyes. 

“Forget I asked,” you grin.

“I would like that,” he wears a smile and the both of you sit in an awkward silence for a moment.

“Well I better… I um have to print photos,” he points his camera in the direction of the photography room. 

“Course,” you nod, “I’ll see you,” you mumble. 

He gives you a wave and heads off. 

______________________________________________________________

For the first time in the past week you feel a pressure lift off of your shoulders. Humming softly along with your music you put one foot in front of the other as you walk home, a smile adorns your face as you think of Peter. You’ve had a hard time making friends, putting yourself out there and letting people in. You’ve also spent hours watching as friends study on picnic blankets, listening to the giggle of teenage girls as your mum picks you out ugly sweaters at the mall, watching friends struggle to find a lunch table that accommodates so many people. You've felt the twist of jealousy in your gut more than you’d like to admit and you’re more than sick of it. 

You push open the door to the apartment complex, letting out a huff as you start the climb to the fifth story. As much as the stairs hurt, Spiderman's way of getting around is far more frightening and your feet are grateful for their contact with the ground as you stomp up to your floor. 

You feel around in your pocket for your keys, wiggling them around in the old lock as they struggle to turn, the lock eventually gives way and you push open the door with your shoulder. 

Letting out a content sigh you head straight to your room. Ripping out your ear buds, pausing your music and flopping your phone on your bed before following your phone and collapsing face first. You lay for a second, enjoying the comfortable silence of your room, the only sounds to be heard are the hum of cars outside your window and the low buzz of the fan that you forgot to switch off that morning. 

A groan slips from your lips as your phone rings, its volume is jarring and without moving from your position you aimlessly grab for the phone that lays on the bed above your head. Getting your grasps on it you answer and bring it to your ear. 

“Hey love, I’ll be home late tonight,” your mum’s voice rings from the other end, you let out a lazy hum in response and she lets you know there’s leftovers in the fridge that you can have for dinner. Oscorp had recently  been working on a big new project, something to do with a DNA rebuilding serum, though it was ‘top secret’ and she ‘really shouldn’t be telling you this in the first place’. This meant all hands and deck in the labs, and therefore your mother had been out working hard until two a.m. most nights. 

You wish her good luck, telling her you think you did well on your test and that you would see her in the morning before hanging up the phone. 

The next few hours manage to escape you, you’re not quite sure how, though you do know what one moment you were studying quite happily, and now you’re sat in your bed with a blanket draped over your shoulders and a pillow clenched between your arms, your face contorted in disgust. 

‘The Thing’  plays on the screen and despite having seen it a thousand times it never fails to make you squirm, another body get ripped to shreds as a knock rings out from your widow and you jump, your eyes flicking to the window across the room from you, you spot a body of red and blue standing on your fire escape. 

Pausing the film and pushing your laptop to the side you jog to your window, sliding it open the old window with as much muscle as you can muster. “Do you know that you pick the worst times to sneak up on people,” you let him into the warmth of your room.

He lets out a soft laugh, “so I’ve been told,” you can hear the grin in his voice. 

Taking a seat on your bed, you give a nod, motioning for him to sit down at your desk. 

He swivels the chair and takes the seat, you watch his eyes explore your room, noticing the covers on your bed, the posters hung up on your walls, the bits and bobs that litter your desk. “Nice posters,” you let out a small laugh, “thank you”.

“So, what are you doing here?” you question with the raise of an eyebrow, 

“I told you I was going to take you on another swing” he grins, you can hear it in his voice. 

“No, no no.” You mumble with a shake of your head, “no way,” your voice is final and a laugh bubbles in his chest. 

“C’mon… you’ll like it I promise.” 

“I’m not quite sure I trust you” you tease with a furrow of your brows, 

“If you hate it I’ll take you right home,”

You sit in though for a quick second with a bite of your lip, “fine, but you take me straight home if I hate it okay.”

“Okay, you got it,” he laughs.

You pull on a pair of shoes and his hand guides your back as the both of you slip out your window. 

You brush off nerves with a shake of your hands, looking down from the fire escape, “and you’re like one-hundred percent sure you won’t drop me” you breath looking up to meet his eyes. “I’ve held a semi trailer from Queensboro bridge for half an hour, I think you're good.” 

“Show off,” you mumble under your breath. 

Letting out a nervous breath you give him a nod, “okay I’m ready,” 

“Are you sure becaus-” he starts with a stupid mocking voice.

“Shut up. I’m ready,” you nod with a determined face, he lets out a soft chuckle and places a tight arm around your waist before shooting a web. A small scream escapes your lips and your stomach drops, you slam your eyes shut and your arms shoot to wrap tightly around his neck.

“Holy shit,” your voice wavers as wind rushes through your hair and past your ears, the newly familiar feeling of plummeting to your death sends shivers down your spine. 

“Open your eyes,” you can feel Spiderman's voice in your ear. If it weren’t for his mask his breath would run down your neck. “I don’t know if I can,” you yelp, holding onto him tightly as you fall for a particularly long second before he shoots another web propelling the both of your forwards. 

“C’mon, you’re missing the view,” he coaxes you softly, raising his voice ever so slightly so you can hear him over the sound of the wind. Hesitantly, you crack an eye and you’re met with the most beautiful view of the city that you love. The lights that reflect off of building windows dance just as the stars do, it's the first thing you notice as you take in the sight, you let out the breath you’ve been holding in as your eyes look to the streets below, your stomach flipping as you notice how high up you are. 

Spidey watches you with a soft smile sat behind his mask, his eyes flick to the towers in front of him, focusing on his swinging before flicking back to watch the look that lights up your face.

You try to catch the view as you fling through the streets, your eyes flick through beautiful streets, an open park full of food trucks and people, a church lit up and seemingly holding a late night service, a string of expensive restaurants where the rich eat their meals, you’re seemingly ripped from them every second or so as Spidey swings you through each scene. 

The both of you fly upwards swiftly, he swings you both upwards towards a tall building in the heart of Queens that sits higher than its neighbours, your feet land softly against the roof and your arms slowly drop their grip on Spiderman. 

“Oh my god,” you swallow a nerve, a breath of relief escaping your lips as a big grin curls on your lips. 

“I told you you’d like it,” he watches your face as you take weary steps towards the edge of the tower. “It’s amazing,” you push the words out as you struggle to know what to say, it was like seeing the city for the first time.

“Still terrifying though,” you add with a grin, “I think I peed my pants just a little” you giggle and he shakes his head with a laugh. 

“You get to see this everyday,” you watch the busyness of the city below, the cars look like little ants in their respective colonies as they follow the flow of traffic. You can barely see the people about their everyday lives as you sit so far in the sky, though you watch business men and women sitting at desks in neighbouring buildings, all in their own small cubicles, each the same as the story below them. 

He hums with a nod, his eyes trail on yours as you watch the world go by. 

“I think I like it here where I’m not focused on falling to my death,” you tease, turning to meet the gaze that burns holes into your temple. “I can understand that,” he smiles down at you and this time he’s cursing the stupid mask that adorns his face.

The two of you sit in a comfortable silence looking down at the view, the air is filled with the distant honk of cars and chatter of people.

“I asked Peter to hang out… kind of,” you break the silence, you meet each other's gaze, “really?” he asks, putting on a smile and swallowing a pang of guilt. “Yeah… it went well enough” you nod, looking back down at the view, “I mean we have these bursts of awkward moments and I feel like I want to claw my eyes out for even starting the conversation, but I guess that's just a part of it” you shrug.

“Apart of it?” he asks. 

“Making friends, being acquaintances…I don't know what we are” you mumble and it comes out as a question. 

“You’re friends.”

“What makes you say that?”

He shrugs, “I have lots of friends, I know how it works” he teases and you roll your eyes.

You hum, “sure you do” a giggle escapes your lips. 

“I do!” he defends although it’s not entirely convincing. 

“That's why you spend all your time with some high school chick that you met on the side of the road.” you tease with a grin. 

“That’s because you’re my closest friend,” he mocks, elbowing you softly. 

“Some friends you must have,” you giggle and it draws a laugh from his lips. 

“We should get back out there,” he nods his head towards the city and you give him a silent nod. 

You shut your eyes tightly gripping onto him as he jumps from the building, dragging you down with him. 

“Web something asshole!” you shout not daring to open an eye at the velocity in which the two of you were dropping. A smirk grows beneath the mask before he shoots a web to a nearby building and the two of you glide forwards through the air, you force your eyes open and watch as you glide between cars, you send sheepish smiles to civilians as they eat their dinner outside of expensive restaurants before Spiderman slings you both higher into the sky. 

The two of you spend the next few hours swinging through each and every corner of Queens, stopping to talk and look at the view before repeating the cycle. You’ve never felt so free and a part of you finally understands why he does what he does. 

Your feet land firmly on your fire escape, and you already miss the freedom of the webs. 

“Told you you’d have fun” he grins and you roll your eyes, “yeah yeah”, a big smile spread across your face. 

“Thank you Spidey,” you nod with a sheepish smile and a wave of shyness flows over you. “Of course,” a genuine grin sits behind his voice and you smile at his words, the two of you sit in a comfortable silence for a small second before there's a soft knock on your bedroom door. “I’m home love, why are you up this late, who are you talking to?” your mothers voice is muffled through the door and your eyes widen as you place a hand on his chest, softly pushing him towards the window. “Uh, yeah mum just on the phone sorry,” you call out in the most believable voice you can muster in the moment of panic. 

“Goodnight” he whispers sweetly and you send him a quick smile, before shutting the window on his face and running to crack open your bedroom door. 

He peeps over the bottom of the window, watching as you make up a frantic excuse sending your mum a goodnight and a hug before shutting the door a little louder than you had planned. 

He cracks the window open ever slightly, "It's good you stayed calm,” he mumbles keeping his voice low. You turn abruptly and send him an eye roll, kneeling before your window you meet his face on the other side, “go home psycho,” you whisper with a smile and he laughs, “okay.” 

He sends you a look before jumping from the fire escape, shutting the window you’re conscious to leave it unlocked before you slide into bed for the night.

______________________________________________________________

When spiderman had promised to take you swinging again he had meant it, in fact you’d practically patrolled with him every night for the past week, he would pick you up from your room or your way home from work, dragging you into the cold so the two of you could explore the city and talk about anything and everything. You had to admit you felt like you were distracting a very important person from doing a very important job though that thought quickly crumbled as you stood wide eyed, watching from afar as Spiderman beat in the face of a man who had been mugging and beating young high school girls who were just trying to get home from school and work. The sickening crack of the man’s nose breaking rang out into the empty alleyway, as did his pathetic whimpered apologies, part of Peter had wondered if he had maybe gone too far that night and if it was maybe because the man's choice of victims struck a small nerve deep inside him.  

Needless to say from that point on Spidey didn’t take you out swinging so late into the night, although did make it a habit to visit you every night after patrol. 

______________________________________________________________

You tap your pencil rapidly against the plastic of the science room desks, the boy next to you, Adam you think his name is, asks you ‘what you wrote down,’ for the third time that period as the two of you complete the worksheet to go along with the practical the class completed today. You blink for a moment, finding the kindness within you and sliding your booklet his way, “why don’t you just copy it all down,” you give him a pressed smile.

Your eyes flicker to Peter's seat, it’s as empty as it was the last five times you checked and you let out a sigh.

He had been in English class that morning and you had seen him in his usual spot sat by himself during lunch, and you’re sure you’d seen him running through the halls just before this period though his seat remains vacant. 

Your eyes flick up as your teacher announces that he’s handing out the results of the Bio test and a smile curls onto your lips. 

“Good job,” Mr Khan smiles down at you, placing the test paper on your desk, “Adam, you see me after class,” he musters a smile and the boy looks up from copying your work with a shrug. 

“Um sir,” you blurt as he attempts to move on from your desk, “Peter wanted me to grab his test result for him,” you put on the most convincing smile you can muster.

He gives a knowing smile, “I’m sorry but you and Mr Parker should know more than anyone that I don't give out test results to other students, Peter will just have to wait till tomorrow to get his results.”

You roll your eyes as he passes you and you flip over your own results, you find a ‘98%’ in a big red circle and your lips curl into a small smile, you had prayed over and over for a 100% but you have nothing to complain about as you read the 49%, ‘see me after class’ from Adams results and you send him a pressed smile.

Swerving through the slow herd of students, you gently nudge past a group of particularly sluggish friends as they take their time groaning about their science grades and how ‘their parents will kill them’. It had been a long day and you simply want to make it home as early as possible, if you hurried now you’d have a chance of making the early subway and effectively cutting twenty minutes from your trip. Jogging softly you keep your eyes tracked on the ground in front of you, focused on the task at hand, you pay little mind to the quiet murmurs of students that fill the air, that is before you hear the soft spoken name of ‘Spiderman,’ your head shoots up in an instant and you clear your throat softly as you realise you look pathetically eager with your eyes darting around the buildings trying to spot him. 

Your eyes soon catch his as he swings past the school and you send him a soft eye roll as a small grin curls onto your lips. The chatter around you rises as students watch him fling through the streets before dying down as they lose sight of him, though your eyes track the direction he swings in and you slip through traffic, crossing the road and heading through the backstreets to meet him.

“You know if you keep showing up around my school people are going to find out you’re having some weird friendship affair going on with a high school student” you sneak up behind him as he stands waiting for you. 

You had spent a lot of the past week attempting to sneak up on Spiderman, though you had failed to consider his stupid ‘Spidey-Tingle’, which he had affectionately named it, and how it would pretty much ruin any and all chance you had of getting the payback you seeked. 

“Would that really be so bad?” he teases turning to greet you. 

“Well the tabloids would either paint you as a big fat pedo or they’d find out about your secret high school student identity.”

“I told you I’m not in high school,” 

A sceptical hum slips from your lips and a soft smile curls on your face, a laugh bubbles in his chest and he extends you his hand, “would you like a ride home?” “That would be great,” you grin, taking his hand before wrapping your other arm tightly around his neck. 

To say you were at ease now with swinging was an understatement, it took you a night or two to get used to it, the stomach turning feeling, the emptiness between yourself and the ground, now it was by far your favourite part of your day. It was the feeling of freedom you loved the most, it was more than your first car or the moment you turn Twenty-One, it was like flying, like not even gravity could control you, and Spiderman had chosen to share it with you. 

At first you found it a little strange that it was you he had insisted on taking you swinging almost every night although the more that the both of you had sat and talked for hours you decided that he must just be young, and lonely, and had found a friend in your company, and you had more than happily made a spot for him in your life. 

“Thanks Spidey,” you lean against the window sill of your room. 

“Just doing my job,” 

You hum a laugh and your lips curl into a smile, “I’ll see you tonight?” 

“Course,” he hums and wishes you congratulations on your test results and good luck on our study session. 

You hum along to the soft music playing from your phone, laying amongst your sheets you work on finishing up your Maths homework, your brows unconsciously furrow and a lip slips between your teeth as you think for a particularly long minute about the question on the textbook in front of you before you complete it and write it down in your book. 

There's a thud on your window and your head swiftly flicks up, a smile quickly plastering itself across your face as you push your work to the side, your homework papers get muddled together but you fail to care as you watch Spiderman slowly crawl through your window. 

“How was your night bugboy?” you ask though your smile falters as you watch him clutch his side before collapsing into your desk chair. 

“Why do you have a desk if you’re just going to study in your bed,” he teases, releasing a strained breath. 

“Are you okay?” you ask softly, ignoring his question. 

You spring off your bed and come to his side, your hands hovering over his ribs as his own grip them tightly. 

He hums in response, “there's this, big… I don't know…” his words roll over on his tongue, “Lizard guy.” His eyes meet your, you can feel his gaze through the mask. 

“You’ll see it on the news” he adds, “got me pretty good,” a soft laugh bubbles in his chest, a spit of anxiety bubbling in your own. 

“Is there anything I can do,” you feel the wideness of your eyes though you can’t seem to help it. 

You hadn’t known Spiderman long though you’d been waiting for the moment something like this had happened, and though he sits in front of you, not a speck of blood nor a tear littering his suit, promising you that he’s fine, you can’t help but feel a small sense of unease boiling in the pit of your stomach. 

“What about an ice pack?” you push. 

He hums a soft laugh, “I’m okay.”

You nod and the two of you sit in silence for a small second.

“What happened… I mean with the Lizard?” you question, meeting his gaze. 

“He was tearing up a bunch of streets, flipping cars and sending them into restaurants, he also sent me into a restaurant,” he hums another laugh and lifts his hand from his ribs. 

“Shit” the word escaped you in a soft mumble. 

“Did he get away?” 

He hums with a nod, “I was helping a kid out of a burning car, and he slipped away. He seems to have gone back home for the night but I’ll get back out there to be sure though,” 

“It’s late Spidey…” the words hang on your tongue. 

“I know but if he’s still out there…” 

“You have school in the morning” you nudge him softly and he lets out a wince of pain alongside a small laugh. 

“Sorry,” you mumble with a sheepish smile and he shakes his head, “it’s okay,” he laughs. 

The two of you sit in silence, you want to say more but you don’t want to push him, he knows far more about what he’s doing than you do. 

“I better get going, I just wanted to let you know that I was okay,” he mumbles softly and you can hear the tiredness laced in his voice. 

“You go home Spidey,” you whisper 

“Okay,” he gives you a nod, “I will.”

You send him a smile and wish him a goodnight. 

He climbs onto the fire escape and returns your sweet dreams, “you lock this window okay… I know that you keep it unlocked for me,” he mumbles and you give him a small grin, “okay.” 

He gives a small goodbye and swings from the ledge. 

TAGLIST

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[fluentmoviequoter]

Lonelier in Misery

Part 2 of Lonely in Misery

Pairing: Tim Bradford x fem!paramedic!reader

Summary: After you first date with Tim, you decide to keep your relationship from Nolan and Bailey for as long as possible.

Warnings: brief angst, fluff

Word Count: 1.7k+ words

A/N: Titles are hard sometimes. This is one of those times.

Masterlist | Tim Bradford Masterlist | Request Info/Fandom List

The morning after your first date with Tim, feigning your continued misery isn’t hard. You miss him already, even though it’s been less than twelve hours since he kissed you and turned your world on its axis. He changed everything, and you never want to go back to how it was before. Now your absent smile and downcast demeanor are because you miss Tim; you miss someone rather than not having anyone. It’s a nice change, but you’re still craving another kiss.

When you arrive at work, Bailey runs across the station to meet you. She pulls you into a tight hug, and you slowly wrap your arms around her in return.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “I thought it would work out with Tim.”

“Oh,” you murmur as you realize she’s still making assumptions based on your text from last night. “Right.”

“Don’t take this as a sign or anything, though. I promise I will do better next time! Just tell me what you did and didn’t like.”

“Bailey, you don’t have to set me up again.”

“No, you need someone. I hate seeing you like this. Being lonely sucks, and with our job, we deserve to have a person to go home to.”

“I agree, but a blind date isn’t-“

“You have to give me another chance. Nolan has more friends, plenty that aren’t cops, so I can find you the right guy.”

Bailey turns when the battalion chief calls her name, and you’re left alone again. You’ll have to convince her not to set you up on another date later. The problem is that you can’t tell her why, not unless you want her to insert herself into your relationship with Tim. Bailey is great, she’s your best friend, but she meddles.

You sigh as you pull your phone out. Tim has responded to your good morning text, so you send a quick warning: Bailey wants to set me up on another date since last night ‘didn’t work out’

Tim answers quickly, and his message brings a smile to your face.

Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle all the dates from now on.

While you avoid answering Bailey’s questions, Tim is dealing with his own line of inquiries about the date last night.

“How did it go? You like her, right? I know you’ve met before,” Nolan asks quickly.

“It was fine,” Tim answers.

“Fine… Is that it? I don’t get more details?”

Tim shrugs and repeats, “It went fine.”

Nolan tosses his hands up in exasperation. Tim won’t elaborate, he already knows that, but he needs to know if he and Bailey were right about their idea that you and Tim would be perfect for one another.

“Sergeant Grey!” Nolan calls. “Bradford and I can deliver the safety brochures to the police station.”

“You want to do a rookie’s assignment for them?” Grey asks, his skepticism audible.

“Yes, sir.”

“Yeah. I know you’re just going to visit Bailey, though, you’re not smooth, Nolan.”

“Never expected to be. Thank you, sir!” Nolan turns to Tim to say, “Let’s go.”

“Why?” Tim asks.

“Because I want to hear from both of you. Fine isn’t good enough.”

Tim grumbles as he follows Nolan to the shop. “I’m driving,” he yells when he catches up.

You’re restocking an equipment kit near the open garage door when a police car parks outside. As you set your gear aside, you see Tim exit the driver’s seat. You smile at him, but he shakes his head just before you see Nolan on the other side. It’s not a friendly visit, then.

“Good morning,” Tim greets. “We are here to drop off these public safety cards.”

“Great. Thanks,” you reply as you take them.

Your fingers brush over Tim’s and you feel the same jolt as when he kissed you last night.

“Where’s Bailey?” Nolan asks.

“Kitchen, I think,” you answer.

He nods to thank you, then walks past the fire engines to find Bailey. You raise your brows and look at Tim, but he just sighs. It’s not far-fetched to assume Nolan gave him treatment similar to the one you got from Bailey.

“Alright,” Nolan calls. He returns with Bailey beside him, and you sigh with Tim this time. “Let’s get to the bottom of this.”

“What happened last night, Tim?” Bailey asks. “You get to the restaurant, and?”

“She’s not who I expected,” Tim answers. He glances at you quickly, and you immediately decide to play along.

“Exactly,” you agree. “Blind date usually implies that you don’t know the person. We’ve met before.”

“Okay, but there’s no animosity or anything. You get along,” Nolan argues. “So, why’d you leave just as sad as when you got there?”

“Because I was still lonely,” you answer.

It’s not a lie. Neither you nor Tim will lie, but you’re going to answer the questions without admitting that they were right. They’ll never let you live it down if they can take credit for your relationship with Tim.

“I just don’t understand why you didn’t enjoy yourselves,” Bailey says. “But your relationships are your decisions. And I already have another guy lined up that I want you to meet.”

You open your mouth to argue, but Tim winks at you before you speak. He told you not to worry about it, so you won’t.

“We need to get back to the station if you’re done with the interrogation,” Tim tells Nolan.

“Sure, yeah,” Nolan responds.

You wave discreetly as Tim leaves, and your internal countdown to when you’ll see him again resumes.

As you walk out of the fire station after your shift ends, your phone rings.

“Hi,” you answer.

“Hi,” Tim repeats. “Are you off?”

“I am. I’m leaving right now.”

“Then you should come over for dinner.”

“I’d love that.”

Tim texts you his address, and you smile for the entire trip to his house. When he opens the door and pulls you into a hug, you feel complete again.

“Whoa, it smells amazing in here. Are you cooking?” you ask.

“Maybe,” Tim answers. “That depends on if you have any stereotypical views that I can’t because I’m a man and a cop.”

“I think you can do everything and look good doing it,” you reply happily.

“Then, yes, I’m cooking. And thank you.”

You follow Tim into the kitchen and settle at his side as he finishes preparing the meal. Everything looks great, but you’d do just about anything as long as you were with Tim.

“I’m sorry if I pushed everything too far today. I know we don’t want them in our business, but if you want me to stop covering things up, I will,” Tim offers.

“You didn’t go too far. I thought it was kind of fun. Plus, I like being with you, even if we are lying to my best friend.”

“Lying,” Tim scoffs.

“By omission, yeah.”

Tim rolls his eyes but tugs you closer to kiss you. His hands rest on your cheeks and as you move with him, you know that it is impossible to feel sad or lonely around Tim Bradford.

Two days later, you find yourself pacing beside your ambulance. Tim texted this morning, just: I won’t answer for a while.

There hasn’t been anything on the news or the radio channels about big police operations, so you’re left to worry about him with nothing more to go on. You try to convince yourself that he’s just in a meeting or on patrol with someone, so he can’t use his phone, but then your mind wanders to a dangerous situation where using his phone could get him killed.

“Oh no,” Bailey murmurs. “Are you okay?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah,” you answer, snapping yourself out of your thoughts. “I’m just stressing. For no reason.”

“Get your stuff.”

“What? Why?”

“You need a distraction, and John Nolan is my favorite distraction. Tag along with me?”

You consider it for a moment. If you stay here, you’ll just be worried and alone. “Yes, please,” you decide.

When Bailey parks at the Mid-Wilshire station, you follow her inside and force yourself not to check your phone again. Tim will reach out when he can. Someone calls your name, and both you and Bailey stop.

“Hi, Detective Lopez,” you greet when you see Angela.

She hugs you tightly as she says, “Stop, it’s Angela. Especially now that you’re dating my BFF.”

“What?” Bailey interrupts.

Angela’s eyes widen, and she whispers, “I’m so sorry. I thought everyone knew. He told me, so I just assumed.”

Bailey says your name and points at you, ready to accuse you of lying to her and keeping secrets. Before she can, Nolan yells, “Why?!” from somewhere else in the station.

A few seconds later, he walks into the bullpen with Tim following closely behind him. Tim is talking, sternly and meanly, based on his stance. Nolan sees you and Bailey and quickens his pace.

“Bailey,” he begins.

“I know!” she replies. “They’re liars.”

“Why would you lie about that?” Nolan asks.

Tim steps to your side as you answer, “Technically, we didn’t lie. We answered your questions.”

“You just didn’t ask the right questions,” Tim agrees. “Which is part of your job, Nolan.”

“No, no, no. Don’t make this about me,” Nolan argues.

“Wait, so then are you going out again?” Bailey asks.

“And did you actually consider that to be a date? Enjoy it and everything?” Nolan adds.

Tim takes your hand as they continue asking questions, and you wave kindly to Angela as he leads you away. You smile as you follow him blindly. Once he has you away from the bullpen and the endless questions, he stops and pulls you close.

“Are you okay?” you ask. “I’ve been worried.”

“I’m sorry. I got called into a meeting to consult on a UC operation. Everything is confidential, so I couldn’t have my phone on me.”

“I’m not mad. I feel much better now that I know you’re okay.”

“It’s Friday,” he reminds you. “We have another date tonight.”

You nod, and Tim moves his hands, one on your waist and one on your jaw. He dips his chin and kisses you in the empty hallway, and you wonder what did it feel like to be miserable again?

[lloydfrontera]

In my opinion, the reason the reunion scene was skipped was because the author couldn’t figure out a way to write it non-romantically and gave up after a while

honestly. i kinda agree with you nonnie.

it just. the set up to the scene is sooooo romantic. you have lloyd being absolutely devastated at the thought he's not going to see any of his loved ones ever again and that he's been dropped back into his terrible life, to the place he admitted he'd rather die than go back to,,, and then someone knocks at the door and when he opens it this is the sight that greets him:

his best friend, the person he's closest to, the one he's spent years with, the one he promised a peaceful life at his side, the one he wanted to grow old with, the one he sacrificed everything for, the one he effectively gave his life to save, the one he thought he'd never see again, standing at his door, having crossed literal dimensional barriers to get to him, a soft and teary smile on his face as he tells him "i missed you"

like. c'mon.

i'm all for platonic interpretations, i'm aroace, i love me a good best friendship as much as the next guy, but,,,, isn't this,,, like,,, really fucking romantic??? extremely so??? am i??? reading too much into it?? because it feels really, really romantic to me.

and like you say. where do you go from there. what response could lloyd give that doesn't involve throwing himself at javier and clinging to him with all of his strength. what conversation could these two have that doesn't involve them seeing how truly devoted they are to each other. what resolution does their arc together have that isn't them spending the rest of their lives together, at each other's side, like they so dearly wanted to.

but. alas. that wasn't the story bk moon wanted to tell. and that's very much his right. i just think that if he didn't want me to assume there's no in-character and narratively satisfying version of that conversation that doesn't end with them kissing he should've at least tried to give us something. and not completely skipped it lol

but that's just my opinion too :]

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

i need to share the absolute fucking Experience i had playing minecraft tonight. i'm gonna be emotional about it for days

so me and my friends like to play on this server that's pretty much just a bunch of minigames. one of them is Murder Mystery - of a group of - i think its 13/14 people - one person is randomly selected as the murderer (spawns with a sword), the other as the sheriff (spawns with a bow). the rest are innocent. the innocents can gain a bow by collecting coins. no one knows anyone's status unless the player shows their sword/bow. i'm doing a quest where, in order to get points, i need to kill the murderer.

so as the game start countdown begins, me and my pal are checking out this Red Link skin. it's pretty neat! we're all crouching and punching at each other, as one does. i feel a connection form with Red Link. we're buddies now. we're in this together.

so we're all running around the map. every time i see Red Link, we crouch and punch at each other. the game is going fine, we're having fun. i'm delighted that i've made a one-game friend.

then my friend says that Red Link is the murderer, and i literally have a hard time believing it. Red Link? my Red Link? no, they must be mistaken. we were together at the start. they had ample opportunities to kill me. it can't be Red Link. but whoever the murderer killed was the sheriff, and i needed to complete the quest - picking up the sheriff tombstone grants me the bow.

so i run, trying to find it, and i turn the corner.

there Red Link was, standing at the end of the hall, by the tombstone, with a sword in hand. i froze. i was so upset - not Red Link! not my dear companion! i was so sure that was it.

but i walked forward anyway, thinking that maybe if i dodged around them, grabbed the bow, and turned and shot fast enough, i could get them. the thought was actually distressing! Red Link didn't put the sword away. they watched me slowly approach. we stood on either side of the tombstone, and i expected Red Link to cut me down. i was well within reach of their sword.

Red Link calmly, still looking at me, moved to the side and past me. i panicked and grabbed the bow, ran to the corner, turned and drew - Red Link was already at the other end of the hall, running away. i didn't want to shoot, but i needed the kill - who knows when i'd get an opportunity to complete the quest again. it's a tough one.

i missed, thank fuck, but man. i was in shock. i thought i was a goner.

then, after the game where awards are given - the murderer, who killed them, who collected the most coins - i went up to Red Link and crouched. they crouched back.

then they left the game.

[luck-of-the-drawings]

when i was in highschool one o my biggest coping mechanisms was drawing all the kids i hated getting killed and eaten and killed. and well. time is a slowly ascending spiral. you will find patterns.(i work as a blackjack dealer. gamblers are FASCINATING