#but if there's still some you want after they're all done

[dronebiscuitbat]

Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 22)

Uzi did finally get that baby bag.

It wasn't much, a glorified swaddle made from a purple blanket that wrapped around her torso so that Tera could rest at her side without pulling while she walked around. It had been almost scary, she'd seen new mothers walk around with them all the time when she was younger.

And now… here she was, baby strapped to her side as she went home. Home as in, her dad's apartment, her apartment, or maybe not anymore, after today.

N had gone off to pick up the newly made crib early that morning, yes morning. Neither of them had needed to go outside for a least a week, and they're schedules were starting to cycle back into what other drones would consider normal.

But even then it gave them a little time to talk about how raising Tera was going to work.

Her room in her apartment was too small to raise a baby in, it was almost too small for her, with stuff just shoved unceremoniously wherever there was room. It was too messy, and dangerous! Her railgun was still in peices on the couch, and while it was broken there were still several parts that could discharge and hurt someone.

Which left N's apartment, which had plenty of room, as it was nearly empty, he'd brought in the very little stuff he owned (blankets, pillows and plush toys) but all of that easily fit in the bedroom with plenty of room to spare.

Plenty of room for her stuff.

And that thought on it's own made her fluster, they'd spent plenty of nights together, especially recently. But it had always been under the pretense that she'd be going back home eventually. That she didn't live there.

Robo-god she was about to see her dad. Her dad which had zero context for what she was about to unleash on him. That her and N were together now, that he had a granddaughter, that she was… moving out.

So much had happened this week. Hell, so much had been happening almost every week. And all of it was stressful, wether it be life threatening or just life changing, it seemed like after years of nothing happening, it was all catching up with her with everything happening at once.

“Doorman?” A voice she recognized, a voice she really didn’t want to see, preferably ever, but especially not right now, with Tera awake and babbling from her bag.

“What is it Lizzy?” She deadpanned, not bringing any attention to the baby strapped to her side even though that was clearly what caught the other drones attention, her pink eyes locked to the bag in surprise.

“Oh shit, that was actually your kid?” Lizzy immediately asked, making Uzi roll her eyes as she remembered that Lizzy was the one that had initially exposed her.

“Yup. This is Tera.” Admitting it at first felt strange, like her tongue had wanted to reject it, but it quickly settled into contentment, yeah, this was right. And honestly, trying to make Lizzy feel bad about something felt too good to say anything else.

“I had wanted to keep some things private, but somebody took a picture of us bringing her home.” Yeah she wasn't going to let Lizzy get away with that without a jab or two, she'd caused a bigger headache than what was already happening, and Uzi was itching for some revenge, even if it was just light teasing.

“Oh come on! Like you wouldn't have done the same thing.” She snapped back, although she sounded less bratty than usual, although wether that was V's influence or the fact a baby was present was unclear.

“Snapped a picture, totally, blackmail is blackmail, immediately post it to every inbox in range… No.” She replied, not wanting this conversation to last much longer than it had to, she didn't particularly like Lizzy, her being a main source of her suffering for a long time.

She just needed to get that jab in.

Lizzy just scoffed, looking her up and down and crossing her arms as if searching for something, probably something else to mock her for, Uzi found herself rolling her eyes again, turning to walk away from her and the conversation before Lizzy started talking again.

“Sorry or whatever, I thought you were just babysitting or something. Didn't think it'd be a big deal.”

Holy Shit, was Lizzy apologizing?

“Uh.” Honestly Uzi wasn't sure how to respond, she'd wanted her to feel bad sure, but she wasn't sure if that was even possible, and she'd never in a million years think she'd be hearing Lizzy apologize.

“Yeah, sure.” Is what came defensively out of her mouth as she walked away, Tera blew a raspberry at Lizzy from the bag, giggling when she got pink hollow eyelights in return.

Okay, so maybe she could keep her edginess and still be motherly figure to Tera, that hadn't occurred to her as an option, a part of her thought she'd become a different person, and maybe she was around N and Tera behind closed doors, but here? She didn't feel soft, she felt like she always did, slightly bitter, like licorice.

She passed more drones on her way, some didn't seem to notice her which was absolutely fine with her, but some definitely did, stopping and staring at the neighborhood goth carrying around a giggling baby in a cute little purple swaddle.

She could understand why they were staring, it was quite the image, but it didn't mean she had to like it.

Tera on the other hand was loving the attention, each set of eyelights on her produced another laugh and some rolling that had Uzi holding the side of the bag so she wouldn't roll out onto the floor.

One drone was a little too obvious for Uzi's liking, staring at the bag like it would suddenly come to life and harm him.

“Hey! Stop staring and mind your business!” She turned to the guy, who immediately looked scared out of his mind, his purple eyelights hollowing as he nodded.

“Yes ma’am sorry!” He raised his hands before scampering away with his tail between his legs, if he had one, that is.

She smirked a little before moving on, it was a powerful feeling, to scare someone off, and it was satisfying as well, she didn't like the way he was looking at her baby.

She finally, finally reached where she wanted to be, well not wanted, she wanted to be anywhere else. But where she needed to be.

She knocked. Which was weird because it was her door, she had the key to get in whenever she wanted. But it still felt like the right thing to do at the moment, she heard shuffling from the other side of the heavy steel, great, her dad was home.

Her dad, the one who'd left her to die, the one who left her alone to cry herself to sleep after her mother died, the main reason her core had such heavy shielding protecting the softness inside. Why her first instinct to any problem was to yell at it, or turn to science to better choose violence.

She held a lot of resentment towards him, something she'd shown time and time again, a part of her wanting to hurt him the same way he'd been hurting her. But she could never bring herself to hate him, not when she did still have memories of him being a halfway decent father, holding her when she'd have nightmares, giving her piggyback rides, being the first one to teach her about mechanics, and give her her first toolset.

“Coming!” Khan shouted, he'd been drafting of some blueprints. Not of doors, but of something for N, if he wanted it.

A cap for his tail, made out of solid steel and form fitting, so it slid right over the needle, it was just a concept for now, he didn't have the exact measurements of his tail and he wasn't even sure N would want something like that, he seemed to have good control over it. But if Khan had a tail with a stinger, he'd want to make sure his infant daughter couldn't accidentally grab it, just to be safe.

So really it was gift for Tera, but, nonetheless.

He opened the door, surprised to see his daughter of all drones knocking, she never knocked, she lived here!

“Uzi? Why'd you knock? Did you lose your key?” He tilted his head in confusion before his eyes followed the strap of the baby bag, he blinked, and tiny purple eyelights blinked back.

“I-is that?” His voice almost immediately turned warbly, he didn't hadn't ever seen Tera before, he didn't realize how much she looked like his daughter, at least when she was also a pillbaby.

“That's Tera Dad, can I- can I come in?” Her voice sounded muted, not like the fiery rebellious drone he'd come to know as his daughter, he moved out of the way wordlessly, eyes still trained on the tiny droneling at her side.

She was giggling at him, rolling madly in an attempt to escape her confines, Uzi dipped her arm into the bag and lifted her up into her arms.

“Stop squirming Jellybean, or you're gonna fall.”

Tera was just happy for the attention attempting to roll more even though she was trapped in Uzi's hands. She sighed.

“Sorry, she has a lot of energy.” She smiled warily at her dad, who looked like his core had been ejected and thrown halfway across the room.

All he could see was his wife, the first month or two they had Uzi and she was a cryer, there were no moments of silence in the Doorman household, if Uzi was left alone for even a millisecond she'd begin to wail which meant either Nori or himself would have to be with her at all hours.

And Uzi shared her mother's stress lines, looking a little bit worn out but satisfied and happy, eye's shining with so much raw affection for the child in her arms that Khan knew, without another word spoken, that he had a granddaughter.

“That's quite alright dronelette…” He managed to force out the words, hopefully without sounding too strained, he wanted Uzi to feel comfortable enough to talk to him, to tell him things. Even if she thought he didn't like it.

And a part of him didn't, she was 18, not quite even an adult yet but her birthday was coming up soon. And dammit she was still his daughter, watching her grow up this much in such a little amount of time was harrowing, and only reminded him of how much he'd missed while wallowing in his grief.

Another part of him was almost giddy, a granddaughter, a granddaughter, it was honestly something he never even hoped to have, Uzi had never been one to make freinds, much less romantic connections.

“Yeah- uh, this is Tera, N's daughter.” She repeated, obviously nervous and tired. Khan wondered if N looked equally run down. And if perhaps Tera was the same level of clingy Uzi had been.

“I wanted you to meet her, since I've been spending so much time with the both of them…”

He could only bring himself to smile and nod, but wanted to freeze as Uzi came toward him and outstretched her arms, he clumsily stepped forward and took the tiny droneling into his arms, core stopping for a moment.

“She learns names pretty quick, oh, and she's a hugger, so uh, beware.” She warned, still seemingly nervous, he was sure he'd know exactly why soon, although he had a feeling he might already know.

Khan looked down at the baby, which felt like lead in his hands as she smiled up at him, weirdly silent considering all the babbling he'd just heard.

“Tera, this is Khan.” Uzi spoke softly to the baby, standing beside her father as he looked like he was about keel over. “He's my dad.”

Tera's smile grew bigger, although she didn't attempt to say his name, perhaps more than a single letter was too much for her. Instead she blew a goofy raspberry, rolling around in his arms for a moment before rolling into him, giving him a hug.

Tears sprung up in his eyes as something in his core snapped, he held her closely, and a sniffle escaped his voice box before he could stop himself.

“Dad?” Uzi sounded slightly worried for him, she'd known he'd might have some kind of reaction to seeing Tera, but this was a little more then she'd expected.

“I-I'm alright! I just-” He blinked away the tears and tried to steel himself, thoughts running a mile a minute. “I see why you warned me. Hah…”

“Yeah… you should have seen V, you could see the exact second her core melted.” Khan only could nod, the droneling now pressed up against him made a chirping noise, happy and content at any love given to her.

“But ah…that's uh, not the only reason I came here, just to… introduce you to a droneling that… that you're not gonna see often. You are gonna see her often, A-at least I hope you do, C-cause she's not just N's… she's-she's mine… too.” She rambled and sputtered as she tried to find the words to say, Khan felt himself smiling as she continued, she was expressing a want to have him around, that he wouldn't be mad. That'd he'd want to be-

“She's your granddaughter… dad.” She finished, looking more stressed then ever, like he could ever possibly tell her that he didn't want to be in her life anymore.

He winced as he remembered all the times he did indirectly. Leaving her alone so he could throw himself into another project, neglecting the one person he still had as family simply because she looked too much like Nori to look in the eye.

And she really looked like her now.

He looked back down at Tera, at his granddaughter, and felt himself begin to tear up again. She was smiling at him, babbling and cooing up at him as he launched forward and hugged his daughter with all his might.

He felt her tense, then, thankfully, she relaxed, mindful of the child as she curled up in his arms much like she did when she was little, and she'd needed comfort from a nightmare. He felt her visor press against his chest, breathing shaky, like she herself was about to cry.

How could he have left her, how? What kind of parent was he that he left his own daughter? What kind of man?

And how could she have ever forgiven him? He knew he could never forgive himself.

“I'm sorry dronelette, I'm so so sorry.” He cracked out, petting her hair, he felt some kind of pressure on his back, her hand most likely, and she almost laughed, though it sounded pained.

“I'm still… so angry at you.” She admitted, slowly, though not pulling away. And he felt more pained steel settle in his core, he deserved this… whatever she needed to say. If she needed curse at him, to hit him even, he'd deserve it, although he hoped she wouldn't in front of Tera.

“But I missed you more.”

And thats all it took for them both to sob like newborns, her face burying into his shoulder as she let years worth of coiled pain escape her, despite all she'd done, how much she'd grown, she was still 18, still much a kid herself.

And they remained like that for some time, at least until Tera got uncomfortable being sandwiched between them and began to fuss, which finally ended the long overdue hug between father and daughter.

“H-here, give her to me.” She stammered out, either slightly embarrassed or still a little emotional, and Khan did as he was told, handing daughter back to mother.

She rocked her until she stopped fussing, and Khan led them both to the couch with his hand, still recovering himself.

She flopped on the couch like she carried the entire weight of the world on her shoulders, Tera held gingerly until she was placed between them do she could freely roll around, which she did happily.

“I'm assuming that means N is my son in law now?” He chuckled out, trying to lighten the somewhat oppressive mood that had settled over them. She blushed heavily, sputtering out a surprised response.

“We're not- he's- uh… He's my… boyfriend now yeah.”

He laughed, even though he saw it coming a mile away, he thought he might be more upset about it then he was, but N had more than proven Uzi was his priority, even over himself at times.

“And you need help moving your stuff out?” He continued, smiling through the small amount of pain the thought caused him, she was growing up, but if that hug had shown him anything, she still needed her dad, and he couldn't ignore that, he wouldn't, not anymore.

[gffa]

I keep updating my feed to see if you have more opinions about the acolyte episode. I feel like this recent episode could’ve used a couple of your posts as reference when it comes to how the Jedi canonically go about acquiring [redacted for spoilers just in case you haven’t seen it yet]

Honestly, it felt like the show was trying really hard to portray the Jedi's methods as hinky, but couldn't actually do anything about it because of established worldbuilding. The Jedi of the High Republic have explicitly said they have to get permission from the parents. The Jedi of the prequels are explicitly shown as not adoption-hungry, the only time we see potential Jedi younglings, neither of them are taken from their parents, one says they'll be going later, one is just handed back to her mom, no indication Roo-Roo is going to be a Jedi at all. So, I think it's a weird situation, where The Acolyte is working so hard to create tension and mystery, but I'm not sure how it's going to shake out. I keep thinking of Torbin, like, yeah, what happened was a tragedy, but why was he specifically so torn up about it that he felt he had to die to obtain Mae's forgiveness? From what we saw in the episode, Mae set the fire, Mae ran off and the scaffolding fell and she was assumed dead, the Jedi never forced Osha to join them, Osha was the one who said she wanted to go. Therefore, unless the show is really, really poorly written, there has to be more to the mystery that we haven't yet unraveled. I feel like that's also influencing everything going on with the Jedi potential adoption, that this situation feels like we still don't have the full context. Why was Aniseya so worried about the Jedi finding out how the twins were conceived? Why do the Jedi care so adamantly, when we see in both the High Republic and the prequels that the Jedi live perfectly fine with other Force using traditions/cultures? Even if this coven was dark, that doesn't mean anything to the Jedi, they were perfectly well aware of the Nightsisters' existence and did nothing about it. Unless this show is extremely poorly written/ignoring top level canon, there has to be more to what was going on with the coven than we know about. Because what we see is the Jedi felt very strongly about these two girls for some reason, but they were clear that, while they had the right to test them, it still relied on the parents' permission. We see that they're pretty aware that Mae and Osha were failing on purpose--Mae can't fake her blood results, after all--and they don't push Mae, but they do gently push Osha because everything about her is straining towards wanting to be a Jedi. And EVEN THEN they just say she passed the test, it's Osha who talks to Aniseya and gets her to agree to letting her go, not the Jedi. The show's vibes kinda feel like there was pressure from the Jedi there, but the actual content of the episode is that the coven agreed to it specifically because they didn't want to attract attention, like they weren't part of the Republic, they specifically said they didn't have to agree, the others were willing to fight about it, but Aniseya was the one who said, no, let them take the test. Yeah, the Jedi are pushing for some reason, but it feels like it's not because that's how they operate in any other situations where we see them with Force-sensitive children, but because they know something specific about this situation. So, I'm fine with everything presented so far and, honestly, it was a lot more positive than I was expecting! Like, this show isn't just a big lore dump, it has a specific story to tell, you know? It's a situation that has its own unique circumstances and, sure, they were borrowing elements from other Jedi worldbuilding, but everything we saw in there was done with permission and they made a point to roll with what each girl seemed to want. Sol was so careful not to unduly pressure Osha, just ask her what she really wanted, gave her a little nudge because he could see what she wanted. They made sure it was her choice! That it was her mother's choice! How could I have asked for more than that?

[onboardsorasora]

Maybe you have an au that works for this— but thinking about accidental baby acquisition maxiel. Like a “life as we know it” (the movie) AU where they have to adopt a kid, live together and suddenly make it work

Oh! Oh!!

BESTIE. This is...

I don't currently have a fic in the works like this but I honestly love this trope so much. There's a fic I read in my last fandom that did it sooooo lovely.

I will say, I don't remember this film but I read the summary and my brain lit up a little. I hope I'm not like scooping the finer plot points

I imagine they met because their mutual friends are together. Maybe they met originally at the wedding years ago and they're the childhood besties of their friends and get named God parents.

Fast forward maybe 3 years and something bad happens and their friends pass. And it's when they both realize that being named God parents meant that they're responsible for their godchild. Max knew but Daniel had no idea that it was so serious. He just thought it was an honour and now he's extra special uncle Daniel.

Let's say their friends had a son, Jack. And Max goes to the house to meet up with Jack's grandparents who ofc are grieving and don't want to give up their grandchild but Jack is supposed to be in Max's care.

He stays at the house, so Jack has some stability. Daniel comes the next day- he travelled all night. Jack runs to him when he gets inside and Daniel breaks down clutching this little boy to him.

Max offers coffee. Jack spent the night clutched into his chest and he's trying to not feel jealous that he's not clinging to Daniel.

They aren't friends. If anything maybe they didn't really get along during the wedding festivities. But it doesn't matter. They stay with Jack at the house while the grandparents plan the wakes and the funerals.

They both try to explain what it all means and argue about whether telling a 3yr old that death was like final was a good thing. They argue about a lot of things because Daniel believes in protecting Jack a little more about he harshness of the world and Max thinks that it's a bit pragmatic to not lie.

There wasn't really a will because Jacks parents were young and full of life. They couldn't have anticipated the car accident. So because of that any legal decisions made while alive count. Meaning Daniel and Max have full custody of Jack.

Daniel thinks they should allow his grandparents to take care of him. Max thinks they should honour their friend's wishes.

One pair of Jacks grandparents agree with him. Daniel figures they can agree to disagree. but they also can stay in the house with Jack for a little longer before they figure out next steps. Max is one of the executors of the estates and he has to go through all the paperwork and heavy shit.

Daniel watched Jack while Max is working. He spends a lot of time with the grandparents. Daniel moved away after uni and well, he works pretty remote so it's not a hardship to move back. At least until everything is sorted.

Max owns a business so paperwork and lawyers are things he knows. And when all is done he comes back to the house to spend time with Jack. And Daniel.

And it kinda continues like that, unconsciously. They don't like intend to become parental figures but they would do anything for Jack. And sure they still argue but they're happy to provide stability for their godson.

One of the grandparents suggests selling the house and it becomes a point of contention. Daniel disagrees. It's all Jack's known. They can't uproot him after everything.

Something something legalese that the only way to keep everything as it is now is for Daniel and Max to adopt Jack. And be his legal guardians. And the easiest way for that to happen is for them to get married.

Max agrees because fuck it. He'll do anything for Jack. Daniel agrees too because he loves the little shit. Jack is his best boy, his baby wayby. So they have a quick signing at the courthouse. No fandangles or fanfare. And they both completely move into the house.

And that's where things get dicey. Because it was fine before. When they were just friends with a mutual purpose but for some reason a title and a legal document has shifted something.

Max had always thought that Daniel was cute. But now he can't stop thinking about how lovely Daniel is while he's reading to Jack at bedtime or dancing around with him in the house to his dad's favorite albums.

And Daniel always tired to lightly flirt with Max where he could but now-- did Max's jaw get sharper? Are his eyes sparkling in the amber light of Jack's nightlights?

And there's tension and they're tripping over each other. And Jack notices something is different. And he gets worried. Cries that they're leaving him too.

And it's a tantrum of all tantrums and Jack is screaming and wailing and crying for his parents, his real parents. And it takes them hours to calm him. And he won't rest or sleep unless he's touching both of them. Clutching Max's shirt in one hand and Daniel's pinky (the one with the 3) in the other.

They're exhausted and crumbled in the main bedroom because it has the biggest bed. Neither of them sleep in there, it didn't feel right. But holding Jack there, cuddling him close, that felt right.

And maybe Max brushes some tears off of Jack's cheek and kisses him in the forehead and looks over at Daniel who is watching him quietly and Max pulls them both close. Daniel threads their fingers together and Max squeezes and kisses their palms

[judgementdayslittle]

Who do you think in the Judgment day would be most likely to get jealous when Another person starts to show y/n a Little to much attention?🩷

-Every now and then, you go to an airing of RAW with your caregivers and Dom. Which means you are often surrounded by a bunch of other wrestlers.

-Usually you stay in the club house with everyone, but sometimes little you wants to explore! What if cool stuff happens? What if the catering table has cookies?! You have to see!

-Plus they don't want you to be cooped up in the club house the whole time. They do want you to go out and make some friends outside of them. It's only healthy after all.

-So often times, one of your three caregivers take you out on a little walk around the backstage area.

-There you run into another group, Alpha Acadamy (Before Chad turned into a meanie! >:( )

-They knew about your are regression, and didn't mind at all. In fact, they thought you were so cute!!!

-At first it started off with some chatting. Then Maxxine offered you some cookies, Otis offered a piggy back ride, and Tozawa showed you his silly lil dance.

-The last straw was when this happened.

-Of course you were all decked out in Judgement Day merch. You had to represent your caregivers and Dom after all!

-"While you do look cute in that, why not represent Alpha Acadamy sometime?" Chad asked nicely. He took out a shirt that was around your size. It was bright pink and had the Alpha Acadamy logo on it.

-If Rhea is with you, she'll pick you up as she glared at them. "Thanks, but no. We're fine." She says in a snappy tone before walking away.

-"But Mami! They had fwee shirt." You say, pouting your lip a bit.

-Mami's quick to cheer you up though. Cuddling her close to her chest as she plays with your hair with her free hand. "I know, but that shirt is for another group. You're Judgement Day's little one, just like Dom. Plus you look so much cuter in this outfit that you would that shirt."

-If you accept her words, she'll promise to make it up to you by stopping for a treat after the show. If you still want the shirt, she'll eventually (sneakily) get it for you. She can't say no to you after all.

-If Damian is with you, he'll pick you up like Mami did, but he'll be a little bit more mean to them. How dare they try to get you to join them! You're his, Rhea's, and Finn's little one, not theirs!

-He won't get too mean with them since you're here, and it can be a little bit scary to see him all angry. So he just glares at them and tells them to "Back off if you know what's good for you." Before carrying you off.

-If you found that a bit scary, he'll go super soft on you. Calling you all sorts of cute nicknames, promising to get you a new toy after the show, and any shirt you want.

-If you REALLY want that shirt, he will also get it for you. But instead of doing it sneakily like Rhea, he'll straight up walk up to them, taking from their grasp, and walk away.

-If Finn is with you, he decides to distract you for a bit. Pulling out his phone and headphones, asking you to watch something nice on youtube while he has a little "chat" with the Alpha Acadamy folks.

-And by "chat", he means threatning them to never talk to you again, or else he'll beat them in the ring.

-It may be a bit of an over reaction, but he can't help it. He's super protective of you. And while Alpha Acadamy is nice to you, they're not your family, The Judgement Day is!

-Once he's done, he gently takes your hand and walks off with you.

-He already took the shirt from them, planning on ripping it apart. But seeing your puppy dog eyes, he can't bring himself to do it. So he lets you have it.

-They're protective caregivers, and they can sometimes get a little jealous, but it's because they love you and want to keep you in the family! If you ask them to apologize to Alpha Acadamy, they will. Only for you though! Because they love you so much!

[scenetocause]

hello! here to ask for max f & lando -💜 impulsive kiss, please (if that takes your fancy) :)

sorry this took me ages! i was laid low with perversions.

It's not like it used to be, when they did bits all the time. It was easy, when they were karting and then a bit more complicated when they were in completely fucking different series, a bit easier again when Max got to F3. Much easier when he dropped out and moved in.

But now they both have other people they're supposed to be copping off with and when they get time together there's so much hanging out they have to get done, on a tight schedule now, that it doesn't really come up. When you've only got 36 hours to fit in three months of best friend time then dick touching can get shoved down the agenda a bit in favour of worrying about their proper relationships and gossiping about what Tom's been up to now and did you know Ria's got a boyfriend now, mate? Bloke's fucking massive, thought a mountain had walked into the office.

He knows how Max crumples his face up in concentration when he's about to come, like he has to focus on the goal. That he really likes having his arse played with but he's touchy about it sometimes, still, gets all tense and bent up about it if Lando tries anything stupid, won't let him at all if he makes any jokes. Doesn't mind putting Lando's cock in his mouth, usually but Max'd rather lie back a lot of the time, make Lando do all the work. Likes to be held, after, fall asleep together for a bit even if it's 11am and Jon's due in half an hour.

So, yeah, it's not like they're not doing it. They could do it. It's just that they mostly haven't been, for a bit. Which makes it weird, when he wins and Max isn't there because there's fucking nothing more Lando wants to do, suddenly, than wank each other off in his hotel room so they're both all glazed before they even get to the club.

Snogging Oscar, later, is interesting - he's a bit of a perv, that Piastri. Sticks his hand down the back of Lando's suit trousers and presses a sweaty fingertip to his arsehole, like Oscar's just checking it's there or something. Reminding himself Lando's fuckable, who knows. It's not the same, though, so Lando ends up trying to jack it in bed with one foot on the floor to stop the room spinning and passing out before he makes himself come.

Then it's ages, isn't it because Max doesn't come to Monaco, either. Because he's making a home with his girlfriend and that's fine, good even, they'll probably be having kids sooner or later won't they and doesn't that make Lando feel something like vertigo. F1 race winner, dad - they're not supposed to be doing them as separate routes. They could've been both, together.

But then there's the football, yeah. And Max texts him some shit like looking pretty decent there Bob almost had me convinced you know ball and Lando's trying not to blush at his phone like an idiot or anything because sometimes, you know. It's nice, still. That Max likes him.

Obviously they have to run into fucking Oleksandr Usyk and it's a bit weird, innit, that he recognises Lando first and then Max is all in awe and trying to tell Lando who the bloke is which, right, he doesn't really care all that much.

"You'd think his face'd get more fucked up, doing all that stuff. You're looking like you've gone more rounds than him, mate-"

"Shut up." It's alright, Max taking the piss out of him. Makes him feel less self-conscious about it, really.

"Make me, then." And Max throws his fists up into some poor imitation of a boxing stance, so Lando's pretty sure he meant something else but also he's laughing and knocking his shoulder into Lando's and his mouth is pink and warm and the most familiar of any Lando's ever touched his own to.

It's not a long kiss, they're standing on a London street, in broad daylight, it'd be stupid to get all hot and heavy with it. Jesus, what if P catches them? Just their fucking luck she'd be popping out for milk or something.

But it's enough. Lando's hands closing around Max's fists to draw him close, quickly. Just a taste of each other's tongues, musky with coffee and matcha. A reminder of how they are when they're like this.

(Perfect. Lando's confident they'll sort it all out one day, just need to get the other stuff out of their systems first but they'll never stop coming back to this.)

"Didn't know boxing got you all hot and bothered, Bob." Max shoves him away a bit, only to pull them back together. It's the same way they always are.

"Nah," he feels honest, free with it, like the relief across the finish line. "Only you."

[brucewaynehater101]

Emperor Obi Wan Tim Kenobi has a different crown from each planet that is under his control, there are historians and fashion designers trying to figure out a singular imperial crown for Tim to wear everywhere in the empire instead of changing his shiny hat all the time in an attempt to be considerate and also because before Tim they were all trying to kill one another for the glory of their respective tyrants and a single crown for the united empire seems like a nice peace symbol. Prior to the C4 interfering, there was definitely a near genocide and all the planets are coexisting peacefully but that's mostly because they're all a little scared of one another and still healing from all the harm they inflicted on one another.

The problem with the singular imperial crown is that more planets keep joining and bring their own shiny hat for the emperor which makes the historians and fashion designers start all over again since it wouldn't be fair for the peace symbol/imperial crown to not include the newbies.

Any time one of the planets has rumblings of a rebellion wanting to overthrow the emperor because he's "soft" and making noise about returning to the bloodshed of the "good old days" they get very quietly nipped in the bud before their emperor gets any idea they existed. Tim has become a good luck charm and symbol of peace in the empire and they don't want to scare him off.

The lack of rebellions and general acceptance of his rule is, however, actually making Tim more paranoid rather than more comfortable. After all, he's used to Earth.

Earth is fucked, so I don't blame Tim at all. I wonder if Tim is scared that these planets are trying to hide their horrible history (as some powerful nations on Earth try to do with their actions).

Imma call Tim's hero name as Patron for this AU (feel free to hc a different one). Anyways, Patron is trying to find out what shit his newly acquired planets have done in the past, what sort of shit they may or may not be hiding, why absolutely no one is against his rule, and why there's been no rebellion. It's practically unheard of (especially on a human standard where some people disagree seemingly on principle) that there would be no dissent.

Is Tim helping them? Yes. Was he given the power instead of him taking it? Yes. Yet, there's also the fact that he's human. He (at the beginning) has no information on the culture, values, morals, traditions, etc. He doesn't know what's important to them. How can he thus lead them?

(Slight debate on the "lead" portion since he seems to be guiding them to self-sustainability rather than control them)

But you are absolutely correct that the zero dissent would freak Tim out. It should.

The idea about the crowns is adorable, though. I've got a somewhat simple idea for them, though. What if he had an elegant and simple design of some type of metal twisted on his head? Then, as decorations, little spheres of each planet is added. Whatever the planet looks like, it's added to the crown when Tim gains it. Just miniature planets that can easily be added or taken away based on how his empire changes over time.

It sadly doesn't have as strong of a tie as incorporating the essence of the planet into his crown, but it does allow each planet to be proudly displayed.

[viablemess]

modern Codywan AU idea part 1

organized crime member Cody under "mand'alor" Jango + teacher / school board nominee with a heavy past Obi-Wan. This is a beast of an idea post so buckle up and join me for the ride this took over my brain when writing another wip and would not leave me alone. I like it a lot, I hope you do too.

tw: mentions of school shootings, mentions of sexual assault, mentions of physical assault (all vague, but still)

.

.

The Fetts are a influential and very well known organized crime family in a large city, and Obi-Wan is one of three children to Qui-Gon and maybe Shmi, alongside Anakin and Ahsoka.

Boba is a student in Obi-Wan's elementary class. After most of the students are picked up save for Boba and a few other kids, there is a shooting nearby, and Obi-Wan shelters the kiddos until the shooter is apprehended. The Fett Family shows up to pick up Boba and Obi-Wan is respectful to them, oblivious to who they are, and most importantly, kept Boba and the other kids safe. As a result, Cody slips Obi-Wan a note saying "if you need anything call me, no questions asked" with his personal cell number. Obi-Wan saves it, not because he thinks he will need it, but because Anakin might, who has been involved in many illegal street races (alongside Waxer and Boil maybe whoops, they don't know the connection for most of the plot). Or, perhaps Qui-Gon will need it, because he and Shmi have been threatened by individuals and groups around their housing.

For a bit, Boba is the line of communication between Obi-Wan and Cody. He lets little stories slip and Cody hopes Obi-Wan does not call, because he seems like a gentle soul who teaches little kids, he does not belong in Cody's world. At the same time, he is a gentle soul who teaches little kids, Cody really wants to take him to dinner.

Obi-Wan texts a few times to ask about helping his brother Anakin, and Cody admits to not being able to make street race charges go away, but he will poke around, they exchange some information, and that's that.

Cody keeps working under his dad as a very respected *ahem* commander. They're looking into a new organization who might poach some buyers off of them and their smuggling deals, and to top it off, the new organization seems to break a lot of the Fett's unspoken rules of conduct. The organization's name? CIS. Of course. Rex wants to make a gender joke. The CIS are the same folks extorting the Skywalker-Kenobi family. Also of course.

And then parent teacher conferences happen because they're helpful, but Jango gets pulled into a negotiation and can't make it, surprise surprise, Cody has to go. He manages to weasel his way into dinner afterwards, and it's great. Obi-Wan is actually a snarky minx and Cody's falling fast. Obi-Wan explains that he is running for the school board because of a lot of corruption and problems in the public school district, and he wants to support the kids who have rough home lives, and Cody does some tip toeing around, and Obi-Wan picks up on what he isn't saying, because he has done his research now. Cody is so loyal, kind, and strong, and Obi-Wan is also cracking fast. It's no question these two are hooked on each other. Cody offers to walk Obi-Wan back to his car, and finds the windshield broken or his tires slashed or something. Obi-Wan manages to pass it off, and oh darn Cody needs to give Obi-Wan a ride home and it's cute.

Anakin keeps racing to earn extra money, and Qui-Gon and Shmi try to deal with things on their own. Obi-Wan goes back home to check on his parents and only sibling who lives with them, Ahsoka. Turns out someone is threatening her in a sexual manner, threatening human trafficking, and Obi-Wan flips shit. He does not tell Qui-Gon because Ahsoka begs him not too. He certainly does not tell Anakin, and so Obi-Wan goes out and does his best big brother act and tries to figure out where this is coming from. He figures out it's Maul, who has harassed and extorted his family before. A brief fight follows. Obi-Wan breaks some of Maul's ribs. Maul breaks Obi-Wan's wrist. Teaching without his dominant hand for the next few weeks absolutely sucks, and Boba definitely talks to Cody about it. Obi-Wan does not want to panic Cody, he's dealt with people like Maul before, so he tries to pass it off as clumsiness. Cody isn't buying it, but he also isn't going to push... yet.

I'm falling asleep, but will be back with part 2 soon <3

.

I do not have time to write this but I had to share the thought before I forget it. If anyone wants to write it please be my guest just credit/share

[nalyra-dreaming]

It sounds like the ep5 drop actually happened and I'm furious. There's no justification for that drop for me. I know you theorize Amel was involved and that makes perfect sense but that couldn't be explored as an explanation until much later in the series, years after people have formed their opinions on Lestat and directed vitriol at fans who continue to love him. And I was really hoping for Armand dropping him from the tower. If that still happens it's going to be seen as karma and not the tragedy it truly is. Sorry, I'm just incredibly disappointed in the show right now. I hope this doesn't ruin it for me completely.

*hugs* I get you, but...

... let's wait until this season has run.

I've said so before. They're heavily playing with "memory is a monster" and "memory is not the only monster".

We now know already that what Louis remembers... even in Dubai... is not really how it happened. Most of it, yes, maybe, but... the rest? Mhh. And the trial is in the past as well.

They... seem to stay pretty close to the book for the emotional beats, if the published book is anything to go by. So. With that in mind... Lestat tells us of that drop.

Whatever we will see at the trial... will not be all there is to it. We already got the "you cannot script a hurricane" in the trailers.

You cannot script. The "last play". Armand's little notes on the script.

These are all hints that we were given already.

I think... especially as a book fan... we might need to take a step back at this point. Because there is no way - no way - that they can resolve all we might want them to resolve at this point. They are doing the long game. Very long, it seems.

As per the vitriol... well, you are here so you probably know about some of what I got. And you're right, there's certain people that will stay with their opinion, no matter the shifts in the tale, and no matter new information.

Personally I am done with people who want to stay willfully ignorant though, or cater to the bullies.

That said... I am hopeful that some things at the end of season 2 will be crystal clear, even IF they are not yet resolved in a final way. We'll see.

But let's watch it first, alright?^^

[artdcnaldson]

not the original domestic patrick asker BUT was doing some yoga/exercise at home (gotta make do i could not hit the gym after work tday :[ ) and thinking ab bf patrick coming home to a mildly sweaty reader in like, yoga pants and a tank top, or those tiny little workout shorts, ab to take a shower bc they just finished a workout and they're all gross, hair messy, flushed, etc, and still listening to the hot girl workout playlist and patrick just. cannot wait for his lover to get clean so obv hes gonna go down on them right there against the bathroom door or wherever. like hes filthy with it, too, licking sweat off their thighs and from their chest. muttering ab "my pretty baby, keeping yourself so nice and fit for me, you learning to get nice and flexible so i can bend you in half later?"

sorry im still on the post-workout brain myself so this might be insanely incoherent but yeah :]

-kit (ps: im @/gamesetart if u want! i literally just made a sideblog dedicated to challengers so ill be on there! no pressure tho ♡)

GODDDDDD He’s just literally a dog with a bone when it comes to you.

Like you’d have to specifically time your yoga sessions around him running errands or else you’d never even make it through fifteen minutes. He’s just so fucking gross and so horny all the time that he sees you in a pose that’s mildly suggestive and he’s interrupting you— grabbing your ass, fucking cat calling you, whatever he can do to pull your attention away and back to him.

He’s almost disappointed he only got the tail end of the workout, but god, you look so pretty glistening with sweat, muscles trembling. Patrick picks you up, practically hauling you over his shoulder so he can toss you down on the bed. You’d complain about being gross and sweaty on the sheets, but whatever, you can always wash them, and that’s far from your mind when Patrick is peeling off your sticky workout clothes and laving his tongue along the trembling muscles in your core.

“You’re so gross,” you gasp, despite the fact that you’d both definitely done much worse, despite the fact that he’d done this before many times. He just grins and buries his face in your cunt.

[lexithwrites]

some gang rivals to lovers bartylus headcanons because im hyperfixating on barty rn and need to let this out:

some nsfw under the cut, they'll be in italics (everything is SSC)

the crouch family are quite new money because barty crouch sr brought back their original family business after his 'passive' father stopped it

barty is still getting used to being the son of a gang leader and having this insane respoinsibility but he lowkey loves it

he can drive nice bikes, go to clubs and bars and spend his money on drinking and weed as much as he wants

he stays away from harder drugs as his dad 'tests the product' so to speak

the crouch's product is drugs mainly so barty is usually always on jobs for his dad because the old man is rarely sober enough to do it

he has a switch blade on him at all times tucked into his shoe

the only reason he hasn't left the business is because of his mother and younger sister, they're his world

angelica crouch is five years younger than barty and starting to go out partying as well and he lowkey hates it and follows her to make sure shes safe, they get into constant arguments over this but she knows her brother is protecting her at all times

his mother is quite weak as she was born with muscular dystrophy and even though she was a sahm barty raised his sister just as much as she did

she also had barty young, 19, so they grew up together

barty's family has a lot of 'agreements' with other gangs and companies that shuttle their product discreetly but one family they don't talk to or have deals with is the black family

the crouch and black feud has been an ongoing thing for generations — pollux black and barty's grandfather almost killed each other before making a peace agreement to just stay away from one another

regulus black, the youngest member of his family, has always been shielded as his older brother and older cousins are the more aggressive ones in the family that help their parents

he tends to just spend their money and party instead of being apart of the violence or meet ups, but sometimes sirius takes him along to get him used to it

one of these meet ups ends with barty helping them as he was walking by when the hand over (the black family usually smuggle weapons as well as drugs) went wrong and the buyers tried it on with reg, barty shot them without thinking

regulus thinks he's a bit of a prick but he did save his life so he thanks him and sirius explains that as good as it was that he was there, he cannot talk to him as it goes against their agreement in the family

but then barty starts showing up where regulus is (his college, parties, pubs, his morning run etc) and even though they bicker as barty is a flirt and regulus 'isnt interested' things start to take a turn

one night regulus goes clubbing without his friends or sirius and tries to find barty himself at one of his father's clubs and some creepy guys start being weird around him and he's trying to leave but they follow him and then who tf appears from the shadows? barty

his knuckles are bloody and bruised by the time he's done and regulus insists he come back to his to try and clean him up, barty is a good fighter but those guys were twice his weight so he got hit kinda bad, and barty is reluctant but agrees

reg's bodyguards arent snitches but you know they're giving each other 'oop' looks when they see the crouch heir wandering into the apartment

reg cleans barty up and tells him to shower and then he sees how many fucking tattoos this guy has and maybe reg is turned on, maybe...

and he's trying so hard not to flirt with him or touch him but its REALLY hard okay barty is tall and hot and he's also protective as shit?

but then barty is sat on the kitchen counter in just his boxers and some short ass shorts that he borrowed from regulus and regulus is standing between his legs because they're bickering and god reg wants to touch his thighs because they're RIGHT THERE and barty knows he's staring so he just kisses him

reg instinctively slaps him and barty's like 'do it again'

they fuck like three times that night and god is it good

barty seems dominant and reg isnt into that but turns out barty is submissive but he has issues with bottoming from past relationships

so reg blows him and hes whimpering and choking himself and biting his bruised fucking knuckles to stop moaning so loud but reg is so good it hurts

and then reg rides him into the bed and chokes him and slaps him and barty is the happiest guy on the planet

plus hes really good at eating pussy so regulus gets him to do that a couple times

regulus has only been with two people before this because he doesn't wanna drag innocent people into his families life but barty is more violent than him so he doesnt care,,,,plus he makes him cum SO much its insane and he's never finished with anyone else before

his thighs are shaking every time they switch positions and the FLITH barty whispers into his ear when they fuck because he can be a little dominant sometimes when he's riled up enough and reg is just grinning the entire time because this boy might be his new favourite toy to play with

they smoke on the balcony together after one of the rounds and talk about how much they hate their families but they're staying for a few chosen people and it sucks but its how they were raised

the morning after barty has to leave but reg is like look i know we shouldnt but i wanna do that again and barty is like literally text me anytime of day and i'll be on my knees for you and reg is like bet

so they start up a lil fwb behind their families backs and they're sneaky about it but sirius and angelica get too close to catching them

this is basically all i've got so far but come on,,,,you see the vision

[yanderes-galore]

Fandom: JJBA part 4

Character: Josuke Higashikata, Okuyasu Nijimura

Pairing: Rivalry (romantic for both)

Type: Concept

I reallyyy loved the yandere Okuyasu concept you made!!!, i thought it'd be interesting to see how a rivalry between Josuke and Okuyasu would pan out. Darling could be gn or fem whichever is fine by me❤ Honestly i feel like the drama will be going from 0 to 100 real quick with these two, especially since they're best friends obsessing over the same person and that could never turn out well. Like, imagine darling being a friend of theirs or in the gang like the original okuyasu concept, shit would hit the fan😭😭

- 🥝 anon

As usual, here's an obsession that ends up tearing two friends apart since they're both insane.

Yandere! Josuke Higashikata vs Okuyasu Nijimura

Pairing: Romantic - Rivalry

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Manipulation, Possessive/Protective behavior, Jealousy, Minor violence, Dark themes, Clingy behavior, Murder implied, Blood, Dubious relationship.

While the two are very close friends, they no doubt have moments of tension.

I mean... When they first met they were trying to kill each other.

It would make the most sense for you to be part of the gang.

That way the two often have time around you as you're usually around the group.

For the sake of simplicity, I like to think this happened after the events of Part 4.

The two can often be seen as intimidating around you, but overall just like hanging out with friends.

Before their obsession the two always were with one another.

They are your classmates in school and often like to drag you with them on different activities around town.

The two most likely wouldn't have a rivalry until they knew the other had a crush on you.

Josuke and Okuyasu have similar views on love.

They both seem to believe in their heart when it comes to love, often following it.

Okuyasu is more perverted than Josuke at times but they both believe that their "one and only" will come to them.

So what happens when their chosen sweetheart is liked by them both?

First of all, Okuyasu would definitely be jealous since Josuke already has admirers.

So why can't Josuke give him you?

Meanwhile, Josuke is flattered by his admirers, but his heart truly yearns for you.

I'll be honest, there's a chance they could share, but they'd rather only one of them dating you.

You wanna bet they ask people for advice on how to approach you?

Both of them probably get flustered at the idea of approaching their crush.

Although Okuyasu may be bold enough to come out and be honest with you.

Josuke would do the same with time, although if Okuyasu makes a move first then he feels rushed.

The two follow you around, be it in school or outside of it.

They both refuse to see it as stalking, Josuke may even excuse it as being a "bodyguard".

After all, Kira may be gone... but other Stand Users are still around.

Imagine if they caught each other "stalking" you and confronted one another.

Maybe that's how they realize they both have a crush to an unhealthy degree.

The two would get into physical fights over you at times if pushed hard enough, or at the very least sling threats at each other.

The two are both hopeless romantics, often fanboying about you to themselves.

Everything you do is cute to them.

They both are poor at flirting but try their best.

They're both protective of you and will not give you any alone time.

Their fights with one another most likely alert you to their red flags.

You and especially Koichi can tell something is wrong.

The two tend to follow you around like puppies, competing with one another to have your attention.

They're fighting over doors to open for you, they're offering to make/buy you lunch, they're even offering to help you with a paper or other project you need done.

You're often invited over for video games by Josuke while Okuyasu wants to show you some cool spots around town.

You see, if their rivalry was harmless, it could even be cute...!

Unfortunately... These two can easily become volatile.

They both have a temper and can snap easily.

Which, if you're around, means you have to calm them.

It's a bit difficult but the two melt when you calm them down.

You're willing to do anything to stop their fighting.

They may not seem like it but they can be dangerous yanderes.

If someone gets caught in their crossfire (that isn't you) then they'll be caught in a Stand fight.

They're both easily jealous, even more so when they catch one another too close to you.

The two would probably only make a temporary truce for one of three reasons.

You seem genuinely upset about their fighting, which causes the two to snap out of it momentarily.

You're in danger and they need to work together to protect you, they both care about you obviously.

You're attracted to someone else and they need to get rid of another rival.

The two would not kill one another, they're still friends for the most part.

Plus... Josuke went through so much effort to heal Okuyasu many times before, he's jealous but doesn't want the guy dead.

They're both in this dangerous competition of gaining your attention.

The only way they'd stop conflicting with one another is if they saw their fight affecting you negatively or one of them gives up.

Even if you wanted to pick them both as your boyfriends, they'd still be competitive yet less violent.

The two grumble about the idea of sharing... but anything to make you happy, right?

I didn't realize this until writing this but they would have very similar yandere behaviors.

Clingy, Easily jealous, Volatile, Protective, Affectionate, Easily flustered, Mischievous...

Those are all traits they both share.

Granted, they have different quirks in their personality, but they both even have powerful stands.

They both just want their obsession to be happy.

In fact, your happiness may override their jealousy at times.

Their friendship will always have a bit of a rift in it... but their love for you both brings them together and tears them apart.

It's a complicated situation as they both care for each other and are romantics in some way.

Although... they both dream of hugging and kissing you...

Which brings more fighting.

Their rivalry is constantly teetering in between sharing and fighting.

It's tiring for you to deal with, especially when you begin to notice blood on their clothes.

They wouldn't stop until you force yourself away from them.

That's when they realize what they've done.

The two would probably clean up their act more when they realize they're losing you.

They never wanted to drive you away.

But you feel you have no choice as you're scared by their new volatile nature towards themselves and others.

This is another way they'd make a truce with each other, desperately trying to convince you to come back to them.

The two are willing to put their fights on pause to try and make things up for you.

They may want to fight one another deep inside themselves...

But the two care for you much more...

They'd do anything to have you back, including setting aside their rivalry just to make you happy.

[softspeirs]

eyy, could i please request, whenever you get to it, ❛ let’s go somewhere, just you and me. ❜ for ellie and bucky? — @shoshiwrites

A/N: Sho, this is so Bucky and Ellie coded. Post-war feelings, coming right up! It's a little melancholy, but so am I, these days. Thank you for always enabling me to write more of these two!

Ellie finds him on the porch, long legs stretched out in front of him as he leans back against the top step.

He looks up when he hears the clack of the screen door against the frame. Instantly, the furrow between his brows lessens.

"Hi." Ellie smiles, settling next to him, her knees level with his shoulders. His arm settles across her legs, and he presses a kiss to the outside of her knee.

"Hi." He replies. "Got a little loud in there."

Ellie hums. "I think lunch will be ready soon. Everyone kept telling me I didn't need to help, but I can't remember the last time someone cooked for me."

"They're excited to meet you." Bucky says, his eyes soft. "I just-- needed a break. Didn't mean to leave you in there alone."

Ellie shakes her head. "I don't need an explanation, John. It's all right."

The Egans are a lively bunch, that didn't surprise her. It surprised her a little to see Bucky withdraw rather than participate in conversation, though he was the one who warned her that would probably happen. He doesn't like crowds anymore, even when the crowd is made up of his own relatives.

"Let's go somewhere." He says suddenly. "Just you and me."

She laughs, expression fond. "Where?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. You've never seen Lake Michigan."

Mrs. Egan doesn't even pretend to be disappointed when her son begs out of family lunch, and insists wraps up some sandwiches and desserts in a picnic basket, handing it to John with a knowing smile. "Don't stay out too late." She says, can't help herself, even after all these years, even though her son came home after all of it more of a man than she expected.

He shakes his head, but kisses her on the cheek all the same, before grasping Ellie's hand in his and tugging her out the door. The breeze is chilly, and he shrugs off his jacket when they get to the car, pulling it around her shoulders without her having to ask.

He likes the way she looks in his clothes. Likes it better seeing the name Egan right there, stitched over her heart.

It feels strange to be behind the wheel of his father's old car. It's been sitting in the driveway for god knows how long, though their mother gets out every week to take it to the grocery store and back. Bucky suspects she can't stand to be in it very long. It still carries the faint scent of John Sr.'s aftershave.

Ellie watches as he drives, wrist propped against the steering wheel. He's tense, his shoulders tight, but the smile on his face is easy and genuine. She wonders how long it will take for him to realize that there's no danger anymore. She hopes she can help him ease into this new life they're trying to build.

There's a public park near the water, and Ellie is amazed at how blue the lake is and how far it goes. She can't see the other end no matter how long she stares.

"It's like the ocean," she marvels as they pick a spot on the grass and settle.

Bucky grins. "I love it here."

They eat in a comfortable silence and when they're done, he reaches for her hand, tracing the lines of her veins and absently stroking over a freckle on her wrist.

"There's so much I want to show you," he continues, voice low. "I want to take you everywhere. But a selfish part of me wants to stay right here. Just you and me."

Ellie's heart clenches.

"It's hard to-- to be around my family. I love them to death but they want to pretend everything is the same as it used to be." He shakes his head. "I'm not the same anymore."

She remembers a quiet conversation with Gale Cleven right before he shipped out. How he was trusting her to make sure Bucky knew that he's loved and worth knowing. That he was worried his best friend had lost a piece of himself and would never find it again.

She grips his hand tight, her free hand finding his cheek, thumb rubbing reassuringly at his cheekbone. "No, you're not the same. Neither am I. Neither are they." She shrugs. "Doesn't mean something's wrong with you."

"Thank you for being here with me." He whispers.

"Thank you for asking me to come with you."

There's another question burning at the back of his throat, words he hasn't been able to get out yet. It's just a matter of time, they both know that, but he thinks part of him is still waiting for the other shoe to drop. Surely, her coming halfway around the world with him is a good sign, he just has to convince his brain of the same fact his heart feels.

When he kisses her there under the setting sun over Lake Michigan in his hometown, he feels the reassuring thump of her heart against his and he knows this is where he's meant to be, that everything that happened to him before he came back to England and saw her again was worth it, even if it takes years for him to come to terms with that.

She saw him in the aftermath of the worst years of his life, saw him and all his anger and his flaws and vices and is still sitting here in Manitowoc, sleeping in the guest room his mother so lovingly prepared for her. She's still here.

And that's got to count for something.

A/N: Fun fact to know and tell: I often spend summers in Ludington, MI. If you look on a map, it appears that US-10 cuts right through the Lake Michigan leading to Manitowoc. Of course the highway stops at the water, but in 2015, the ferry SS Badger between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, was officially designated as part of the highway. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials officially designated the SS Badger car ferry as part of the highway's official route, joining US 9 as the only two routes with a ferry connection. The more you know!

[sarenhale]

I'll be honest, i dont like going on a whole tangent like this about dragon age/bioware because I recognize there's still (weirdly) some people that love the game and are passionate about it, and I dont want to be the party pooper and be annoying telling you you shouldn't enjoy a game you enjoy. Do what you want.

So don't read this post if you don't want to get mad.

But at the same time it genuinely baffles me how this company (talking about EA mostly cause they're the one at fault for almost all the bad decisions) has consistently fucked their employees by firing them with no severance or heads up, for no reason that wasn't cutting costs to make more money, introduced the idea of having ad breaks IN games, fucked their fanbase repeatetly with shitty and badly made games (anthem everyone?)that weren't ready to be launched and launched regardless with a thousand bugs and promised a lot of things without ever delivering them.

After the fiasco that was dragon age inquisition and mass effect Andromeda i personally checked out dragon age/mass effect completely and I'm happy to only play the old games without acknowledging their stupid shit, but I can't help getting a bit mad when news about da4 resurface and apparently everyone has magically forgotten all the shit EA has done to its employees and players? You know, just magically?

I hope we can at least remember all the employees and long time members of the studio that were completely fucked over and fired for no reason, or all the players that took it in the ass when they bought a non functioning game and never received a refund and got treated like shit, and were promised stuff that was never delivered. I'm not saying don't play or enjoy the game, again it you're passionate about this game do what you want to do, I ain't your mom.

But at least reflect a bit on what this game was build upon, all the layoffs and bad treatment the creators of this game endured, and the fact that the vast majority of them isn't even there anymore cause they got randomly fired.

Game companies do this ALL THE TIME and apparently it's good to criticize blizzard and other companies that are 'disliked' and became the bad guy, but when it's EA creating da4, it's suddenly crickets? I'm really tired of the perpetual forgiving and ignoring the problem of a lot of people in the dragon age Fandom, I'm not saying you shouldn't enjoy the game if you want, but be for fucking real and at least acknowledge that this game was built upon lies, layoffs, bad treatment, dishonesty and horrible development.

[crime-soncloud]

Alright so Canto 3... Where do I begin (spoilers obvs)

Alright firstly, RIP Effie and Saude, I genuinely was kinda heartbroken over them both. Effies fate was grisly and really helped the themes and backstory of this canto (that's gonna be touched on more at the end). Meanwhile Saude was such a tragic and very noble death, one that neatly parallelled Sinclair. Wasn't at all expecting them to die, I fully thought they would be some light hearted rivals, but NOPE they're not returning.

In terms of the gameplay... Yall I wasn't even prepared, I ate shit on a lot of these encounters, the dungeon was a disaster at points, the first time I've lost an encounter so far, and I had to Grind. Ended up actually improving a decent bit, and finally started blocking and evading. As I said before, Kromer was a struggle, I lost like 5 times because of when she staggered you using the nails and did a bajillion damage.

In terms of the outer layer of the story, without the big moments, I liked how Don quixote consistently fucks up the plans and causes big fights. Also loved Siegfried coming in, wrecking the teams shit, don quixote fangirling, and then leaving. Honestly I would probably be don quixote, I would suck as a team member. Understand why Vergillus was such a dick, still feel really bad for Don, girlie felt broken by that. Really curious what happened before with them. Rewatching it really makes me want to hug Don, Vergillus is abelist for this (/j /silly). Also Don quixote beating up Sinclair after he goes too far was surprising but interesting as hell. Probably important to backstory

Gregor constantly acting and creating stories in these situations is amazing, and Mersault being previously employed by N corp is interesting 👀 there's something that's gonna be unpacked.

Alright then... Time to go through the main arc, that of Sinclair, and the themes. Firstly, while I am an atheist, I have had a fair amount of dealings with religion and religious people (mostly alright apart from a few). However I think the theme of religious extremism, religious hypocrisy, and guilt/responsibility are extremely well done. As I said, Saude in this canto neatly contrasts Sinclair, as while Sinclair betrayed his family out of hatred/distaste of the mechanical parts (another really nuanced and interesting theme with a lot of depth), and never came clean, leading to him feeling deep guilt over his actions, Saude betrayed the team to try to save herself and Effie, and ultimately was able to redeem herself when she found out Effie died, by holding off N corp. Speaking of Effie, to me the fact he was essentially made into a "heretic" by N corp, to me indicates the idea that they are hypocritical, calling others heretics for trying to improve their lives using the enhancements (there's also an argument for the church's persecution of queer people here, but that might not be intentional, just an interesting thought), but forcing them onto people breaking in so they have an excuse to punish and torture them inhumanely because "they're not human" (can you see the queer subtext I'm seeing?). Finally Dante is amazing this canto, in how they also grow, and manages to support Sinclair, and starts to wonder who are they? What did they do? Are they a good person? And this becomes a catalyst for them to be better, more responsible, and to support Sinclair, the things that Dante says in the final part of the story is genuinely amazing

And as for the backstory... I want to hug Sinclair. His dislike of his family for what they did, feeling as though they are colder, due to their prosthetics. And then Kromer and Demian are interesting, Kromer appearing kind and caring but having a clear air of malice, hatred, and cruelty. The way she acts is chilling, and that cg of her standing over Sinclair is Evil.

Meanwhile I have no fucking clue about Demian, he seems kinda cool but has something going on under the surface, we'll probably have to fight him eventually. Extremely curious, his wisdom, sign (that is what we collect in the dungeon), saving of Sinclair, speeches, and the fact that he is the only character so far that isn't a fixer but hears Dante?? Like okay he is important AF. Definitely very interesting.

I was told by @zebrashork that it had to take a break at points in this canto, and it was fucked up a bit, and BOY is it! I'm probably missing a few things though. Also @flextapeyeehaw sorry for tagging you here, but I wanted to say that you didn't say anything about Kromer, when it came to hateable characters, but FUCK KROMER!

Will be tackling the 3.5 chapter/canto, I expect it to be light-hearted. Probably will just rb this with my thoughts on it

[epickiya722]

I know that the hatred for Megumi started from him summoning Mahoraga in Shibuya and yeah, it was an irrational decision but...

It's not like Megumi actually took delight in it and even stated he was a part of what happened to Shibuya. The "It's our fault" bit in 144.

But also, let's not act like some other characters are still loved even though they have done equally terrible and even worse things.

In fact, if anyone deserves hate and constantly bashed for the shit they have done it should be the Higher-Ups. If there are a group of people that I hate the most in JJK it's going to be them.

They sent three children on a mission they knew was too ranked high for them just to kill one of them. Who, mind, was doing relatively good.

"But they had a point to kill Yuji because he's Sukuna's vessel."

More like cage. The plan had been for Yuji to be executed AFTER he consumed ALL THE CURSED FINGERS. At the time of that mission, he had only consumed 2. (And if you know, it's actually 3.)

2 out of 20 fingers... THAT WAS 18 MORE LEFT.

Keep in mind, Yuji was able to hold his control over Sukuna. Someone else consuming a finger meant Sukuna easily taking over their body. See how that's a problem?

If anything, the Higher-Ups should have been lucky for someone like Yuji to exist.

But no. It got worse because guess what?

Gakuganji, Principal of the Kyoto school and A HIGHER-UP, assigned his students to assassinate Yuji... DURING AN EVENT.

What was the rational reason? What was it?

"Well, did Yuji let Sukuna out--"

Ah! He wouldn't have had to do that because of who did what? The Higher-Ups sending children on a mission that possibly would have gotten them killed. He was a child who made a bad decision like that because he didn't know what else to do.

Megumi did the same thing. He made a bad decision because he didn't know what else to do.

Yes, people died because of it but let's not act if Megumi didn't do it things would be better.

The time Sukuna spent fighting Mahoraga would still enough time for him to still kill people and cause more destruction even if Mahoraga wasn't summoned. What, was it like Sukuna going to stand there after killing Jogo?

Uh, no. You know damn well he would have went to do some damage to Shibuya because he would have wanted to and still would have taunted Yuji about it.

Even if he didn't, let's not act that Megumi is the sole guilty party because he isn't.

Back to Sukuna, you can not tell me some people didn't already die during that fight against Jogo. I have seen people praise Jogo for holding his own against Sukuna (props to him) but he did still kill people. That big ass meteor definitely did!!

Mahito was still running around, wasn't he? He and the other Disaster Curses along with Choso and Kenjaku were the reason for the whole incident starting in the first place!

So why is Megumi getting the most hate and continously bashed on like he's the one who started the whole thing and was the only one who did damage?

And I know that people also hate Megumi because he's "being a little bitch" right now in the manga... but that is so hard to believe that people really think he's a bitch because HIS BODY AND TECHNIQUE WAS USED TO KILL PEOPLE HE CARES ABOUT AND HIS SOUL IS SINKING INTO AN ABYSS DUE TO SUKUNA'S TOM-FUCKING-FOOLERY.

No way people are actually using that.

I feel some people just want to continue to be on the Megumi hate train and now just throwing any reason to hate him.

"I like being a hater of things."

But all the time though? All the time? That don't sound like a fun time to me. I hate sometimes, but not to be like "oh, let me follow everyone else because this is the new thing we're doing" and I don't feel like I have to express that hate all the time. Sometimes, I do like people who say things like that are just trying to hide the fact they're a part of the crowd that wants to be jerks in a fandom.

But that's just me.

[iamnmbr3]

hi there!!🫶🏻

Just a sad theory...how do you think Harry would've reacted if Draco had been killed (canon Harry ofc)?

Like how he'd react if death occurred in fiendfyre scene or after malfoy manor scene or after he couldn't kill dombledore and he escaped with snape or when he pleads to death eater but this time death eater kills him(better say each reaction of his in these situations if they make difference lol)

Think of this so much but can't find my answer...

Hello! It's always such a delight to see your questions in my inbox. They're invariably thoughtful and fascinating.

I think you're right that when Draco died specifically in canon would have huge implications for the specifics of how Harry would react. Generally though, if it occurred in book 7 during the war I think Harry would be very shaken by it and much more upset than others, or even he himself, might expect or understand. But he would try to compartmentalize it at the time.

Just like how after the Manor sequence he compartmentalizes and puts Draco out of his mind because he knows Draco may well be brutally killed as punishment for Harry's escape. He knows - and it horrifies him so much that for the first time ever he manages to block out Voldemort so he doesn't have to see it - but he has a mission to complete. All this suffering and death can't be for nothing. It just can't. Remember, following that escape there's a real turning point for Harry. He becomes single minded in his purpose to complete his mission whatever the cost and stops worrying or doubting or thinking of anything else. I think Draco's death would have a similar but even stronger effect on him.

But then the war ends. And he has time to think. And something about that particular death just haunts him even though it shouldn't really. I mean, he and Draco were never friends right? It's not like he cared for him? ... Right? And yet somehow as the years slip by he can't seem to get Draco out of his head. Wondering what could have been, whether Harry could have or should have done more? What would have happened if he'd thought to try to help him in sixth year, if he'd realized the full extent of Draco's doubts and vulnerability before that fateful night on the Astronomy tower? The years slip by and maybe Harry marries Ginny but feels that somethings's always just a little bit lacking in his marriage or maybe he breaks up with her and finds someone else, or no one at at all. But always in the back of his mind something is missing. There's some unanswered question. And whenever he goes back to visit Hogwarts he always finds himself turning to look across the Hall to meet a pair of grey eyes that aren't there.

Now, to get into the specific scenarios you mentioned:

if death occurred in fiendfyre scene

In this scenario I think Harry would feel a lot of personal guilt since he would feel that he failed to save Draco. Furthermore, he would probably also feel that perhaps Draco might have lived if Harry hadn't taken his wand. He's probably sick with horror in the immediate aftermath but pulls himself together long enough to complete his mission. And then the guilt plagues him for the rest of his life. At first he thinks that's all it is but over time he and others start wondering if there was something special about Draco, something more to him, to make him haunt Harry's thoughts so much.

Where it really gets interesting is there's also the possibility that Draco appears as one of the resurrection stone shades, which has all sorts of fun angst potential.

The other issue here is that Draco is dead when Narcissa asks about him. I think Harry probably still answers honestly but I think it doesn't change much since now she has nothing to lose and wants to avenge her son so she still lies for Harry.

2. after malfoy manor scene

So again, Harry definitely feels personal responsibility here. He also really dwells on the fact that Draco saved his life and died because of it. I think in any case where Draco dies after the "I can't be sure" sequence Harry spends a lot of time postwar thinking about what Draco did and why he did it and all the questions he'll never get to ask him and wondering whether if he'd done more earlier - during 6th year or another time - Draco could have gone down another path and been saved. Especially in this scenario though where Draco dies immediately after, essentially sacrificing his life for Harry.

Another interesting thing in this scenario is the question of whether Narcissa lives. If Voldemort doesn't kill her too then she still has her wand since there's no Draco for her to give it to. She might want revenge on both Voldemort - for killing her son - and Harry, for taking his wand and leaving him defenseless and for escaping. But also maybe part of her knows the wand might not have made a difference and that Draco surely recognized Harry and made his choice. Maybe she meets Harry during the battle and attacks him and wants to kill him but changes her mind in the end. Maybe they fight early on but then in the forest she saves his life because she knows Voldemort is the real enemy and she knows that Draco gave his life to save Harry's. Or maybe she even tries to take down Voldemort herself.

3. after he couldn't kill dumbledore and he escaped with snape

Ooh! This is interesting. I wonder how fast Harry would find out. He might discover it much later. We know he spends a lot of time worrying about Draco after the end of book 6 so this would basically be all his worries being confirmed. OR he might actually witness it through a vision from Voldemort. Since this would happen before the Horcrux hunt is really going on in earnest I think Harry would spend a lot of time brooding over it and it would give him a sense of purpose and a need to end the war before any more innocent lives are lost. Maybe Harry tells himself it's just a general feeling of responsibility, but it's also about grief and revenge over Draco in particular, even though rationally he knows Draco isn't someone he should be feeling this way about.

Of course, in this scenario a lot of other things in the story go very differently. First of all, Voldemort may become the true Master of the Elder Wand by defeating Draco (at least according to the canon version of wandlore; I think possibly he could never have mastered it because his fear of death meant it would always have chosen Harry) which means Harry might have died in the duel at the end....

Assuming he even made it that far because the Manor sequence would also go very differently. The Malfoys (assuming any of them were even left alive by that point and Voldemort didn't just massacre the whole family) might not be able to conclusively identify Harry and co right away and might have thrown them into the cells they had while they decided what to do (giving them a chance to escape) but they also might have chanced it and called Voldemort. Voldemort would've killed Harry on sight...thus destroying the Horcrux in Harry and knocking both of them out for a moment. Then Harry of course comes back to life. This means he might've had a chance to surprise everyone and try to escape (if so there's still probably a lot more carnage and death and everyone probably doesn't make it out not to mention Harry also doesn't get Draco's wand) or he might just end up getting killed a second time.

Really brings home how Draco - and his devotion to Harry - is a key part of what enables Harry to win in book 7. Voldemort really was defeated by the power of drarry.

4. when he pleads to death eater but this time death eater kills him

Harry definitely still tries to save him and feels terrible guilt over not being fast enough. Also here Draco dies right in front of him and his body is just lying there right where Harry can see it. He probably is momentarily distracted until his friends remind him they have a mission. He never gets the image out of his mind though.