#didn't post your other ask since i figured it wasn't really that important i guess

[theladysherlock]

talk shop tuesday! incredible coincidence - i wanted to ask you more about your dnd OCs, and you posted a new art piece with one of them! continuing the theme: could you tell more about your dnd OCs and how they came to be?

Ohhhh you have opened Pandora's Box my friend!! I could talk about this topic all day.

Basically there's two parts to this: my approach to DnD in general, and in-depth explanations of the characters. I'm going to put this under a Read More to save everyone's Dash.

Part One: Dungeons and Dragons

So the thing I love most about DnD (and other TTRPGs) is that it's a collaborative game. I'm not responsible for the entirety of the story, I bring my character to the table and everyone else brings their characters and between us, the DM, and the dice, we figure out where the story is going. I enjoy it so much more than trying to come up with everything on my own. And I love that people can surprise me!! @mothmansbigfatass and @ahawkmet (my irl friends and in most of the campaigns I play) can attest, apparently I'm a lot of fun to watch during revelations because I always have a big reaction.

So when making a dnd character, it's important for me to know 1. What the world we'll be playing in is like, and 2. What everyone else is doing. Again, it's a collaborative game, so I want to make sure that I'm playing nice with the DM's world. AND often the setting itself will give me an idea (see Ethan: the game is set at a community college. What's a college stereotype that would be fun to play?). Ideally, the character I make would have a really hard time being plopped into a different campaign and have it still make sense. Secondly, it's more fun for me to play a class that will fill out the party. For example, if we already have a cleric, I don't also need to play a religious character. Those story beats are covered by someone else, I don't want to be competing with another person for cool moments.

Once those two things are settled, character creation is determined by what seems fun to play and what would be interesting aesthetically. I like to keep the backstory light to see what happens as we start playing, and then I can fill it in bit by bit later. Sometimes that bites me in the ass, though (see Ethan: I didn't give him birth parents and then they were incredibly important to the plot). I tend to have a general idea about who they are and what they're like, and then I always get surprised by what they actually end up acting like once we start playing. It's fun for me to figure them out along the way!

The last thing I wanna say about DnD (for now) is that I love everyone else's characters just as much. I just draw mine more because, well, they're mine. I feel weird putting their guys in situations and guessing how they'd react because they aren't my little guys. I much prefer working collaboratively with the other players (like an RP thread) to just writing a story on my own.

Part Two: Ethan

Where to even start with my boy. A bunch of my work friends got together to start a DnD game, and I hadn't played with most of them before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I also did not think the game would last very long, since most campaigns tend to fizzle out after a few sessions. So I made kind of a joke character with extremely little backstory: He's a half-orc, since I hadn't played that race before, he's a bard who is the captain of the local community college's Improv Team, he's "the kind of guy to play wonderwall at a party but you're not mad about it", and I said he's adopted by two men, neither of whom were his biological parents, and he wasn't particularly interested in tracking down his bio parents. This last point is for two reasons: one, I was trying to avoid just duplicating a Dimension 20's Gorgug, a half-orc who was adopted by gnomes and spent the whole first season trying to find his dad; and two, I was pushing an "Adopted parents are not less than biological parents" agenda.

My DM took this personally (affectionate). First session, I was given a clue about his birth parents' identities. From then on, Ethan was dragged kicking and screaming into being the unofficial main character of the campaign. His mom was one of our favorite NPCs, a kickass pirate with a truly tragic backstory who would always jump to help us out of a scrape. His biological dad was the human embodiment of Pride who had took on the form of Fantasy Harrison Ford and was an extremely famous actor in-world. Our BBEG was his uncle, the embodiment of Greed. Every plot point became very personal and it was a lot of fun. I also loved putting him through the wringer, so between me and the DM the poor guy couldn't catch a break.

Part of the dice telling the story, I rolled so bad all the time when I played Ethan. It didn't matter which dice I used, I just rolled really bad, which was not something that normally happened with me. So that was fun to incorporate into his character as we played-- he was insecure about his own abilities compared to the extremely powerful characters he was surrounded by (we had a 20 ft Earth Titan who was an extremely powerful Druid, Emeshka you will always be famous). So he became a more three-dimensional and actualized character the more we played.

He's extremely easy to put in situations and his character design is pretty solid, so I end up drawing him the most. My perfect little guy.

(Anything about him I've tagged either "Ethan" or "Big Yarr Energy" if you want to find more)

Part Three: Mina

After the campaign with Ethan wrapped up, we started a new one in a Cthulhu-inspired setting. My goal with making Mina was to do as close to a 180 as I could from Ethan. While Ethan was a friendly and charming but bad at most things, Mina is a competent and intelligent Druid who's blunt and overworked and doesn't quite know how to meaningfully engage with her party members (but she tries, bless her). Druid was one of the classes I hadn't played yet and I've been making my way through the list of available classes. The One-With-Nature stuff isn't super interesting to me as a player, but I found a homebrew subclass that was based more in Big Cities and as an Architecture Nerd that was much more my speed. Also, I hadn't played an Aasimar before, so that seemed like fun. From all that, I pulled together her whole deal: She was from a bloodline of guardian angels who were sent to protect different villages and towns, and she's gone from her mother's small town to being the guardian of a city of several million people and it's overwhelming. She's lonely and she's jaded and she's got severe Gifted Kid Syndrome and she's got her head on a swivel to make sure her party members are okay even if they don't like her very much and I love her.

I didn't give her a lot of tragic backstory because there are a lot of us playing and I wanted to have a character who could push the plot forward with her actions, instead of having a "now let's stop and talk about my life!!" moment every session that seemed to happen with Ethan. Give everyone else some time to have cool moments, you know? And by GOD are there some cool moments. My fellow players are so good at making compelling characters. Ask @mothmansbigfatass about Nelly if you get a chance.

We're still playing this campaign, although we're nearing the end of it. There's still space for some big moments for Mina in the game, though I'm hoping our DM lets me save hers for last. She's the kind of character to make sure everyone else is okay before taking care of herself, so it feels appropriate. I'm excited to see where Mina ends up. She's definitely a character I'll go back and write/draw a lot afterwards, though. Part of being in a group this size means there's a lot of stuff that just won't get covered. I'll have a lot of material to play with for my own work once we get to the next campaign.

(Anything about Mina I've tagged either "Mina" or "Cthulhu Crimes" if you want to find more)

Part Four: Jess

Jess is a character that isn't from DnD but is a TTRPG character of mine, and I like her so I'm going to talk about her too. Jess is a cautionary tale in Knowing Your Audience.

Jess is from a different group of players than Ethan and Mina. Our DM for that game is notorious for wanting to give us Big, Shonen-Style fight scenes and an insane level of power creep. Character interactions are fine, but his true passion is making us look like Goku.

Jess was... not built to look like Goku. In this world you could identify different types of magic users by their focus, and I wanted her whole schtick to be about deception. She looked like a wizard when she was actually a monk, she looked like a dumb blonde girl when she was extremely smart and good at stealing things, she's a dancer but her primary fighting style was based on capoeira, etc. Also part of why Jess sticks with me as a favorite character is the way I had her powers work was so fun and visually interesting that I haven't been able to shake it. Basically her superpower was that she could snatch bits of other people's powers and use them herself, and you could tell which ones she had because they would fill out spectral stained glass wings with specific colors.

Jess was (and still is, frankly) too complicated for the game our DM wanted to run. Immediately any hope of her being a chronic liar was dashed as her powers did not manifest in a way that could possibly pass off as being a wizard. So instead of being sneaky, Jess became very angry. She was quick to point out injustices in the world we were in. She beat up creeps, she yelled at bigots, she stole powers from macho superheroes trying to one-up her. She had to get a lot less complicated for the story we were in, but the complicated version of her still lives in my head and I like to see what she's up to from time to time.

(I don't think I have anything tagged for Jess, unfortunately)

TL; DR:

TTRPG characters are fun because they let me do my favorite thing creatively, which is bounce ideas off of other people. I typically design them based on the setting, party needs, character tropes that I think are interesting, and just general vibes. Most importantly, though, I don't have a fleshed out character without the input of the other players.

[thatoneidiotdts]

Billy Hargrove and Eddie Munson poly relationships headcannons/story idk at this point

I would say 18+ but then I would be a hypocrite so uuuhhhh 16+ ig, should it be labeled 18+? yes. but ill be a liar before a hypocrite.

A/n: hello ladies and gentlemen im officially back as it has been a full year and few days since i've posted something is here I am posting about the current crushes I have. Also make sure to comment!

Note: in some cases the reader will be either amab or afab, Reader also uses they/them pronouns in this. Ill try my best to make the reader as race neutral as possible but as a white person I might not do it in the best way so please if you see me make a mistake notify me so that I can correct it. Also reader is a hella rich person with dead parents and a giant log cabin, important to the story.

WORDCOUNT: 8.5k words /30 mins read time

WARNINGS: Bringing up past abuse, Neil himself again, bullying, blood, fights, sex, mentions of sex, Billy being a little bit ooc, emotions, breakdowns, mentions of drugs

How it started

Eddie and you have been semi dating since the summer before your fourth year. It was never anything really serious, it was more like good friends with benefits. The benefits being sometimes kissing and romantic cuddling and sex but that's it, you pay him for the last thing, he told you a million times you don't need to but you always do, because you simply can.

He did catch feelings for you but was too scared to admit them

You hoped he would pass this year but you knew all your hopes were in vain as he barely passed last year even with your help

On the first day of school you could hear a very loud car pull up somewhere in the school parking lot, probably a flashy, loud, sports car. Either a new kid joined or someone won a small lottery, you didn't care enough to look behind you.

You entered the classroom way earlier than any other student normally would and sat in your usual seat. Soon more and more students entered the classroom and filled the seats from back to front.

The bell rang a minute after the teacher entered the classroom, she started reading out all the names. She soon read out a new name, while you surely couldn't remember all the names, you were at least familiar on hearing all of them except this one.

At that someone entered the classroom, everyone looked over to see who it was, it was definitely no one you recognized. "Ah speak of the devil. Class this is our new student, would you like to introduce yourself?"

She asked and he smiled and introduced himself, William "Billy" Hargrove, moved from San Francisco and is 18 years old. You could hear all the girls melt at the sight of him, it annoyed you if you were being honest. You wouldn't deny that he wasn't handsome, but that handsome? No.

You could see the way he eyed the classroom, you could smell the fake smile on his face. Guessing from the way he dressed, he was surely a typical attention seeking bad boy, maybe someone could finally be Steve's competition.

"How interesting! There should be an extra seat next to miss/mister/mx (L/n) right over there." Of course she would sit him next to you, she expected you to help him out, like they don't teach anything in that sunny California.

After a few minutes of the class out of the corner of you eye you could see a paper being thrown on your desk. "So (L/n) huh? What's your name?"

Of course he was bored, you didn't expect anything better. You pulled out you note book from your previous year, after pulling out a paper you responded back.

"The name's (Y/n), I'll borrow you my old notebook so that you can copy it somewhere. I recommend you do. Ms. Cambell is a real devil when it comes to knowing stuff from the previous year, comes with being a chemistry teacher I guess. Don't get used to my help please, I already have enough idiots begging for it."

After putting the note in the notebook you handed it too him, the semi surprised look made it worth just a little bit. You didn't get a single note after that, he probably figured you weren't that impressed my him.

Soon the class ended and everyone gathered around his desk, asking him a million and one questions he barely have the time to answer. You could hear one of the students gasp "Is that (L/n)'s notebook?"

Oh no

Everyone looked at you with a very surprised look, god did you hate Tommy H. What a prick. "Dude what did you bribe them with? Last time I asked they didn't give me shit"

"Well I'm my defense you had time and the ability to write it down, he's the new kid so I'm cutting him some slack, you guys get enough help as it is."

Everyone groaned at your words, they knew how strict you were with your notes and other school stuff. Out of the corner of your eyes you could see Billy smirk. Smug son of a bitch, you knew he was gonna use that argument to get you too help him and you knew it will work.

After your final class was over you walked out of the school and into the parking lot, at this point you just wanted to go home, first days at school were almost always the worst, and today it seems like its the special kind of worst.

That idiotic jerk Tommy was yelling at Eddie probably for some wildly absurd thing, as you got closer you could actually make out what the idiot was saying, you should have expected it honestly. It was again about how 'demonic' dungeons and dragons was.

"Tommy I swear to whatever is playing dolls with this universe I'll never help you in spanish again if you don't let the poor guy go until he graduates"

He tried to protest you but a single look from you was enough to shut him up. You grabbed Eddie by his hand and stormed off to your car. You could feel him try to catch up to your walking pace.

"Hey you know you can slow down a bit right? your car won't run away!" he said as you continued with your fact pace. in less than a minute you reached your car.

You look him straight in the eyes, you could feel your face become warm "Do you need to be some where today?" He scratched his head in confusion "No? Why are you asking?" and then it clicked for him, his face suddenly became red, his whole body language changing. "Well why didn't you say so babe?"

He said as he got into the passenger seat, you groaned in annoyance as you got into the drivers seat, turned on the car and finally left the damn school parking lot. The road through the forest was nice, no cars in sight, no worries.

Suddenly you could feel a hand on your upper thigh, slowly going more inwards but still waiting "Color?" He asked "Green" You answered. Eddie smirked as he started to palm your sex through the fabric.

All you could do is focus on the road in front of you as best as you could, sometime you wanted to pull over and finish everything then and there but you knew he wont be all that pleased with that, you both preferred the privacy of a bedroom.

You tried your best to not let out a sound but from time to time something escaped from your mouth. Maybe you couldn't see him but you knew damn well he was enjoying himself while teasing you like this.

The drive to your place was finally over, as you parked your car the two of you quickly got out and walked over to the front doors. You didn't really worry about someone seeing you, your butlers and maids were having afternoon tea right now.

The two of you quickly walked up the grand staircase and got to your bedroom, locking the doors after yourself.

You didn't know how much time passed by now, a good while surely passed as you realized how close the sun was to the line of the horizon. You slowly got up from the bed and out of your jacket pocket pulled out a packet of cigarettes.

Your body was not surprisingly aching from the previous activities, your legs slightly shaking and your ankles and wrists sore from the rope he used.

Opening the balcony doors you put an extra pillow on your chair and sat on it, soon Eddie joined you. After he took a cigarette from you the two of you enjoyed the sunset in silence, sharing a few words here and there.

After the sun went fully down and the blue hour started you got back in and put a few hundred bucks in an envelope, you weren't paying attention of how many you put in nor did you really care. When you tried to hand it to him he quickly tried to reject it like he always does.

But after some time you got him to take it, like you always do. He started to dress himself with the clothes that were messily thrown on the floor as you plopped yourself on the freshly made bed, you knew exactly who re made it after completely wrecking you.

"If you need a drive home ask Jeremy, and please be safe" you said as he walked up to your bed and placed one final kiss on your lips and walked out off your bedroom, softly closing it after himself, you quickly fell asleep after that.

School was hell like always, the first two months were finally over and November was starting which only could mean one thing, preparations for the pre-Christmas holidays exams. This was one of the worst times of the year for you, constant begging for help and tutoring when it was obviously too late.

The semi rich kids offering to pay you, not knowing that u truly don't need the money, the popular kids promising that they'll get you into their circle, the basketball players promising you a shoutout on their next big game, it was all so annoying.

You spent so many of your lunches in one of the bathroom stalls, hoping that no one would find you here and yet they did so now you started to hide under one of the less used stairs with Eddie by your side and yet you were found again.

You almost screamed as a somewhat familiar face entered your field of view. It was Billy, he said hi to you and Eddie and sat down next to you like nothing happened. This wasn't a surprise for you, the three of you actually became friends but mostly only on the school grounds.

The three off you only went out to get food twice but you could see that he was slowly putting down the 'bad boy' mask when he was in your company, but you knew why he was here and before he could ask you something you already had an answer prepared for him.

"No I will not tutor you I have a shit tone of things too do already without counting the sheer number of people who asked for tutoring, you had your time to learn now suffer the consequences"

"I just need help with algebra and precalculus its nothing major I promise! And I can pay you." he said, if you didn't know better you would see the little smile on his face as innocent but of course you knew better. Eddie was holding back a laugh behind you.

"For the last time I don't need the money and if those things are the 'only' thing you don't know that also means that you don't know at least the last three to five lessons! It'll take me at the least 4 full hours to explain it all"

You swung your hands wildly for just a moment to emphasize how stressed out and mad you are but out of the corner of your eyes you noticed how Billy flinched, and it wasn't a small flinch at that.

You decided to not comment on it, making it seem like you didn't see it. This intrigued you, you wondered what would cause this behavior, you decided to push your luck.

After letting out a sigh you gave in "Fine, but it can't be at my place. is yours ok, today after school?" You watched as his whole body became a tense. "Ah umm are you sure we can't go to a park somewhere? I just need to drop off my sister and I'm free from then"

Eddie raised an eyebrow "It is pouring outside?" His eyes darted back an forth as he broke the eye contact, he probably forgot about it. "Ooh yeah right! I guess it's my place then..." Billy sounded a little bit like a kicked puppy right now and tried his best to play it off like nothing was wrong.

You tried not to feel bad, if your concerns were really true you could help him and his sister. it will surely be a giant breach of privacy but he might understand later on. "Alright, I'll follow you with my car to your place"

After that you handed him 10 bucks "Could you go get me some snacks from the vending machine, you can also get something for yourself" He took the money and nodded, the moment he was gone you quickly pulled out your walkie talkie from your bag.

"Kimberly are you there?? over" You hoped she would respond quickly like she always does "Right here miss/mister/mx (L/n), over" You let exhaled in relief "Could you please cancel the meetings I have on 20th and move the todays ones on that date? Over"

"Of course, do you want me to pass on some excuse for you? over" You thought for a moment before answering "No need, just tell them about the change of plans, over and out" you said as you quickly put the walkie talkie back in your bag.

Eddie looked at you with a vey confused look on his face "Isn't that the very very veeeeeryy important meeting you've been stressing over for the last month or so??"

You sighed and nodded and Eddie squealed in excitement "Someone has a cruuuush!!" Your face became flaming hot as he said that "You have a crush on him too!!" You said defensively, maybe a bit to loudly too. He didn't deny your accusation and just laughed.

Not even three minutes later Billy was back with the snacks, after he sat next to you he handed you back the change and the three off you talked and enjoyed the snack until the end of the lunch break.

The bell of the final class finally hit as everybody got up to go home, you and Billy walked out together, luckily your cars were parked right next to each other today. "Will Max be late today again?"

He groaned at the thought, he truly hated when she was late, but luckily she wasn't today. In the distance you could see the little girl on her skateboard. She quickly picked up her skate board and put it in the trunk of the car.

She smiled as she said hi to you, and of course you smiled back and returned the gesture. Once Billy's parents made him take her with him when he was going out with you and since then you two became friends.

When the two of you finally drove off you followed his car all the way to his house, you tried your best not too groan at the thought of having to park on the street, a whole street down none the less, like he did but you were given no other choice. And of course you had to walk all the way back again.

The house was quiet and nice, quite minimalistic with decorations but still nice, and yet, there was no warmth in this house, not physically of course, their heating worked just fine.

There was no family like warmth in the house, hell your own home had more warmth and your parents were dead and you don't have any blood relatives that you know off. You were raised by your butlers and maids, drivers, tutors and many more, and yet, you have a house that is a home, this is no home.

Billy showed you his room, it wasn't too small nor too big, there was workout gear in the corner alongside large loudspeakers, a twin sized bed, a nightstand, a closet, rock band posters and more stuff here and there. nothing short of what you would expect from him.

You could see some damage was done to the door and to the wall, hell there was evidence of damage from different kinds of impacts all throughout the house, you wondered if all the 'fights' he got himself into were actually abuse.

He closed the door behind you as you plopped down on his bed as you pulled out your textbooks and notebooks, he brought a chair closer to the bed and sat on in. You started to explain the first lesson, it wasn't anything complicated for you, the same couldn't be said for Billy.

It took you two full hours to explain the first three lessons, he was finally catching on as you started to explain the fourth, sometimes he looked bored and sometimes he looked like he was actually paying attention but you were glad he was at the very least trying to understand.

Soon he started to take clothes out of his closet "Sorry I have a date lined up soon so I have to get ready. You can watch if you want" He smirked at you as he started to take off his shirt and unbuckle his belt.

You quickly turned around, feeling your face become extremely warm. Did you want to watch? Debatable. Did it feel like a giant breach of privacy even though he gave you verbal and clear permission? Definitely.

Lets be real if you are masc presenting he would call you a slur but its pride month so I'm making him a bit out of character

The ten minutes it took him too change were completely and awkwardly silent , at least they were for you, he probably didn't care. "Alright I'm done" You finally turned back around.

Your face became even warmer now, he definitely didn't take up the number one spot of the most handsome man you've ever seen. The tight jeans made his ass look so much better, his shirt showed just enough of his chest and that earing pulled everything together perfectly.

"You look..great" He snickered at the sight of you being so embarrassed. He suddenly stopped in his tracks, the room becoming dead silent as you became more confused by every passing second.

He quickly grabbed you by your arm and dragged you over to the side of the door "Stay here" He quietly whispered as she gently pushed against the wall. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. He took in a deep breath before opening it.

"What's wrong?" He was clearly annoyed, someone answered, probably his father. The moment they mentioned that Maxine wasn't in her room your anxiety got worse, you hoped she was ok. Billy claimed she probably went to the arcade or somewhere but that she was probably fine.

In the reflection of the mirror you could see his father move closer to him, if you could only warn him. "You were supposed to watch her" A thirteen year old? At thirteen you were signing important documents and held meetings by yourself, she was probably fine alone.

Billy gave him a good excuse, the were in fact more than three hours late. The more you listened to his fathers voice the more you wanted him to shut up. After some more arguing Billy turned of the music following it by saying that she isn't his sister.

Suddenly there was a loud bang, you almost jumped out of your own skin. There was another sound, a punch, out of the sound of your own heartbeat in your ears you could barely make out what they were saying, but you could hear him force Billy to apologize.

"Neil, really its okay-" Neil, you will remember that name for later "No, it's not okay, nothing about his behavior is okay." Hypocrite "But he's gonna make up for it, he's gonna call whatever whore he is seeing tonight" The definitely earned him another punch from you "And cancel their date"

For a moment you tuned out what they were saying and looked around yourself, there was nothing near you that you could use as a weapon, you looked in front of you, your backpack, closed, filled with heavy textbooks.

It could be useful, a good hit would surely knock him out or at least stunt him which would give you time for you and Billy to run. In that moment you realized how bad of an idea that was, for now it would solve some problems but not long-term, he could easily say you kidnaped him and Max and make the police forcefully take them away, no matter how much you wanted to you couldn't play hero in this situation.

"Isn't that right?!" The words snapped you out of your thoughts, there was some muttering you couldn't hear after that "Yes, sir" you could hear in his voice that he is about to crack "Find Max" the fuckhead said and finally left, after the door clicked closed did you finally got up.

He snapped his hand to the side and cupped his face, you could hear the quiet sobs he was trying to keep in. You slowly approached him, you made sure he knew you were in front of him before putting your hands on his forearms.

You slowly pulled them away from his face, giving him a chance too decline the gesture, the look he gave you broke your heart, he looked like a lost child. You wrapped your arms around his neck, letting him bury his face into your neck, softly crying into your shirt.

After a few minutes he pulled away, letting you go. You quickly got one of his bags and started to fill it with clothes, without shame you put in some boxers and socks alongside a few shirts and pants. After the bag was full you grabbed a two or three of his jackets in your hands.

"What the hell are you doing?" he was obviously confused "What does it look like, I'm packing your stuff, should be enough for a few days. Until he fully cools off I don't want you here, it's obviously not safe" You pulled out a piece of paper out of your pocket and gave it to him.

"On it is my address and a code, you'll need it to get in. As soon as you get max home go there, don't get back in here, I don't want to know what he will do to you. Do you want me to get Max's stuff as well? Is she safe here??"

Your worry warmed his heart "He won't hit her, she'll be fine" He said as he opened one of the windows. Before jumping out you hugged him one last time "Don't do anything rash please" you said as you let him go and jumped out, speed walking to your car never felt more stressful.

As you were driving home you stepped by Eddie's place. You knocked on his window and he quickly answered, you were right about him almost never sleeping. He quickly got out and got into your car and you drove off.

He could see that something bad happened, he decide that he would wait for you to say something. For the entire ride the two of you were quiet, while you were getting to your bedroom you were quiet and for the next hour and a half you were quiet as you sat on your bed.

After a while you started to talk about everything, about how you noticed signs, how you agreed to tutor him, how Billy's father treated his own son, how irresponsible the fucker was and then blamed Billy for his consequences, how you wanted to be a hero but couldn't.

"I'll hire some private investigators and then ask Benny to take guardianship over them, and then ill pay whatever judge to keep that twitchy little man behind the worst pair of bars America-no, the world has. I'll re open the god damn Alcatraz if I have to Eddie!"

You spewed pure venom as you paced around your room, cigarette in hand, already planning the man's painful execution "You can't just throw money at a problem you know? It may just make the things worse" You knew he was right, you hated that he was right, but he was also a little bit wrong.

"At this one I can! And I will gladly do so, that disgusting pig will be behind bars in no time! Hell in two calls or less I can order this man's death like a pizza! God I should have made my presence clear maybe then this shit wouldn't happen"

Eddie grabbed you by your shoulders and almost shook them as he looked you in the eyes "(Y/n) you are NOT above the law! Just because you can doesn't mean that you should. What if he wouldn't recognize you, not everyone knows how important you are"

He was firm with his words, he was worried you might actually order the man's death like a simple pizza just because you could which could throw you into legal trouble. You looked down in defeat, trying to make sense of what he just said.

Eddie pulled you into a hug, lightly rocking you back and forth "I know you want to help, I do to, but bribing someone may not be good for Billy or Max, have you thought that maybe they don't want him dead, behind bars sure, but dead?"

You didn't answer his question, the only thing you could do was sob and accept that by the end of the day you were just a mortal human being like he was, like Billy was, like Neil. like everyone. He gently rubbed your back as you cried.

After what felt like an eternity he pulled away and took the cigarette from your hand and extinguished it. He took your hand into his and slowly guided you to your bed, before you laid down you took one of Billy's leather jackets.

Your bed was a large Alaskan king sized bed and yet you tucked yourself to the side closest to the wall. His jacket smelled of cigarettes, cologne and his musk, it was different from Eddies but equally as comforting.

Eddie laid down besides you, letting you cuddle up to his side, nose still buried In Billy's leather jacket, Eddie could smell it too, he liked the way he smelled, he was always well groomed, used deodorant and cologne, unlike a typical highschool boy.

He decided to stay up in case Billy showed up, you did mention that you gave him the code and the address to him. Eddie hoped he was okay.

Billy opened his eyes as he tried to understand where he was, he was still on the floor, he could barely remember what happened, he found a note besides him 'I got home myself, I'm fine -Max'. He looked at the clock next to him, it hit 1AM just a few minutes ago.

He stumbled as he got up, still clearly under the influence of whatever the hell was in that syringe. He felt his pockets for his key and quickly got them. Walking felt like an entire workout, and driving was even worse.

If it was normal daytime he would surely have a car crash by now, he could barely drive straight. It took him a full half an hour to drive to his house. Suddenly he remembered your words 'don't get back in here'. He should have probably listened but he needed to know if Max was home.

He noticed that the lights in the house were on, he almost prayed for his own safety in that moment. When he stumbled into the house he could see Neil on the couch, obviously waiting for him.

Before he could say anything Billy asked him "Is Max home?" Neil said that she was but that wasn't the point now. Billy nodded and turned to walk out the door but before he could Neil stopped him by roughly grabbing him by his neck and throwing him on the floor.

Billy didn't know how many times he has been kicked and punched. it was a lot, more than usual, nose and lips bloody, traces of blood on the floor. He could barely breathe by now, his legs and arms were numb from the pain.

He could feel his hands on his neck again. Neil dragged him to the porch "Now ill give you a week to do whatever the hell you want and when you get home you will be the nice big brother to Max and you'll take your responsibilities more seriously okay?"

Billy could just nod as Neil kicked him for one final time before he got back in the house, locking the door behind him. Billy laid on the porch before attempting to get up, before he could get on his knees he fell down again, groaning in pain.

It took him three or four tries before he finally got to his feet, he slowly dragged himself over too his car. Everything was extremely fuzzy and his head was spinning, he felt like he could vomit any second.

After he started the car it took him three too four minutes too get his act together and drive off, he didn't know if he should speed off to get to the address sooner or should he take it slow so that he doesn't die on the way there, he decided that the second option would be better.

It took Billy a full half an hour to get to the address when it would normally take maybe eight to ten minutes. At first he couldn't believe that he was at the right address but the sign told him otherwise. before he could enter some guards stood before him.

"Code?" They didn't aske why the hell was he here in the middle off the night or why was he beaten to a pulp. He gave them the paper as the guards looked at each other. The guard waved to the one who was behind the gate.

All of a sudden the large gates opened and the guards motioned him to drive and so he did. There was a parking lot on the right side of what looked like a giant mansion he parked his car near yours. Getting to the front door was a pain in the ass, he was shocked when the guards just let him in.

The inside of the mansion looked larger than the outside, he couldn't believe that this was your house. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a voice behind him "You're here for miss/mister/mx (L/n) correct?" Billy nodded in confusion "My name is Benny Adams, I'm one of the butlers who work here, do you want me to show you where miss/mister/mx (L/n)'s room is or will directions be enough?"

After a moment of thinking he answered "Directions...please" The man nodded and started to explain where your bedroom was, third floor, hallway on the right, second door. It was easy enough to remember, climbing those stairs sure as hell wasn't.

He was finally at your door, he knocked lightly, not expecting you to be awake, he was surprised when Eddie opened the door for him. Eddie looked at him in shock as he quickly pulled him in. After he told him to sit down on a chair he quickly went to the bathroom.

A moment later he returned with the first aid kit and a clean towel. With the towel he gently cleaned off any cuts on his arms and face, making sure to not re open any of them, after that he used some alcohol to make sure everything was completely clean.

He was surprised when he saw how calm Billy was, he just let him take care of him. Eddie started to talk softly about something, Billy didn't really listen, he wasn't sure if he even could. Eddie looked nice like this, soft, caring, a little bit worried, he made Billy think thoughts he thought he never would.

He knew he was still very much under the drug's effect, but he just couldn't contain the feelings inside of him. He leaned in and put his head on Eddie's shoulder, almost hugging him "I like you... but I also like them.. I'm confused"

Eddie's face became red at his words, while he did feel the same now he was sure that Billy was under the influence of something, a drug probably. He placed one pf his hands on his head, combing Billy's curly hair with his fingers.

"Did you take something, some drug?" Billy shook his head but then gasped "Yeah! Max drugged me with....something? I don't know, it was in a syringe. It hurt like hell" Eddie was confused "The syringe or the effect of what was in it??"

Billy giggled "The poke, I swear like haaalff of it was in my neck" Eddie panicked at that and quickly but gently lifter his head to reveal his neck, he quickly found the entrance point and gently massaged around it, trying to feel if maybe the tip of the syringe snapped somewhere in him.

Billy definitely misunderstood what was Eddie trying to do, he completely leaned into his touch, if he could he would probably be purring right now. "look who's getting handsy" Billy said as he wrapped his arms around Eddie's waist, pulling him closer.

After a minute Eddie was sure there was nothing in his neck, he sighed in relief as he looked at the face of the man in front of him. There was an unsure look his eyes, like he wanted to do something but wasn't sure if he should.

In his mind Eddie tried to understand what drug did Billy take, until a few minutes ago he was probably also high on adrenalin, that's why he was waaay more relaxed now. it was probably some party or sleeping drug, but how did Max out of all the people managed to do this to him?

Eddie snapped out of his thoughts as he could feel someone poke him on his temple. "You think waaaay tooo much. But (Y/n) takes the number one spot in that, they also think too much, nerds" Billy giggled as Eddie stared at him in confusion, trying his best not to laugh at his words.

"Alright big guy lets get you to bed" Eddie said as he got up and walked to the bed, halfway there he realized that Billy was still on the chair, he gave him a confused look as he mumbled "I don't think I can stand"

He let out a sigh as he walked back to him, he kneeled in front of him with his back faced towards him. Billy somehow understood what he was trying to do. he wrapped his arms around his neck as Eddie placed his arms around his thighs.

Billy 'weeee'-ed like a little child, quietly as Eddie picked him up, god he was heavy which wasn't a surprise, he was a hunk of pure muscle after all. After he placed him down on the bed, before he could go to his side of the bed Billy suddenly grabbed him by his forearm.

He pulled him towards himself, holding him close, Eddie could see what was Billy trying to do. Eddie looked at him in the eyes, god he will regret this. Billy slowly leaned in, closing the space between them, pressing their lips together.

To Eddie it felt exactly like how it felt kissing you, magical and breathtaking. Eddie deepened the kiss, pulling Billy impossibly closer to him, stealing his warmth. He pulled away as Billy's head dropped down to the base of his neck.

He let him place a few hickeys here and there before he pulled him away "You're clearly under the influence of something, I don't want to do anything to you that you might regret later" Billy whined but nodded as he got under the covers.

Eddie snuggled up besides you again, he laid on his back as he watched Billy on his side of the bed. Soon he groaned in annoyance and crawled over to the two of them and snuggled into Eddie's side and then covered all three with a blanket. It took almost no time for the two of them to fall asleep like this.

You could feel the sun hit your face before you even opened your eyes, Billy's jacket was still in your hand and Eddie was still by your side. You slowly opened your eyes and looked at the clock on your desk, it read 08:22

You slowly sat up on your bed and yawned. It was finally Saturday, you could feel and arm wrap around your waist, pulling you back to bed "Eddie I have a meeting at 10:30" you mumbled into his neck. He groaned as he let you go "Good morning as well"

You slowly got out the bed and walked into your closet, you picked out some more professional clothes for the meeting. After placing the clothes on your table you walked out on the balcony, it would be freezing if it weren't for the greenhouse instalment you hire someone to put before every winter.

Skipping the chairs you walked over to the pomegranate tree that still had some ripe fruit. Sorry if you hate or are allergic to pomegranate. After picking five of them you walked back into your room, you placed them on the tray in the dumbwaiter.

You took a paper from the notepad and wrote what you wanted to eat and drink "Hey Eddie what do you wanna eat this morning" a moment later someone responded "Waffles and hot chocolate" that wasn't Eddie.

Shocked, you quickly whipped your head in the direction of the voice. On your bed didn't just lay Eddie but also Billy, cuddled up to his side. "Billy!!" you exclaimed in joy as you jumped on the bed to hug him. "Thank god you're safe! When did you get here?"

He could barely answer your question, his head throbbing from the drug and the hits his father gave him. Soon you realized there were more bruises on him then from the last time you saw him. "He hit you more didn't he"

Billy didn't want to look you in the eyes, he could only nod "I had to check if Max was okay, ill explain everything later" He said as you looked at Eddie "Ill have the same as him" you smiled as you placed a kiss on each of their foreheads before returning to the paper.

Alongside everything you ordered a few bags of ice wrapped in kitchen towels, after putting the note down on the tray you closed the door and pressed a button so that everything can be sent in the downstairs kitchen.

You walked over to the telephone in your room and dialed a number, it took him longer than usual to respond, given it's so early in the morning. "Uh yes hello?" Ah, finally "Good morning doctor Turner. It's miss/mister/mx (L/N). I sincerely apologize for calling you this early but I will need an appointment, not for me, sometime today. What's the earliest you could be here?"

After a few moments and a few sounds off pages ruffling and the doctors grumbling you finally got an answer "The earliest I can be here is 10AM sharp, will that work with you?" You were very satisfied with his answer "Yes that would be excellent, thank you for your time on such a short notice, farewell" You said as you broke the call.

You sighed tiredly as you looked at your schedule for today. meeting 10:30 to 12:00 and then another from 15:00 till 17:00 and then you needed to work on your speech for an another event next week. You groaned as you dropped down on your bed again, whishing you could stay here forever.

After a few minutes you could hear the dumbwaiter bell ring, the food was here. "Get up guys food's here." Both of them groaned and slowly rose from the bead like some zombies. You took your food and drink with the large bowl of pomegranate seeds and placed it on the table outside.

The three of you ate in silence, enjoying the morning rays of sunshine that reflected off the horizon, the sky still having an orange pink like gradient.

After a while the three of you finished your food and sat in silence, still tying to wake up. Eddie was the first to break the silence "Do you remember that happened last night?" Billy looked in the distance, obviously deep in thought, then his eyes widen and his face became bright red.

Billy looked down, trying to hide his bright red face "Yeah..." He mumbled, for a split second he looked at Eddie's neck, the hickeys were definitely still there. Eddie was the first to admit that he liked both of you romantically, followed by the two of you admitting the same.

It took a lot of talking, the three of you discussed about the bad and good thing of a relationship like this, you discussed what you considered cheating and what not, setting boundaries, what you wanted to do with your lives and other stuff, in the end you concluded that this relationship, if kept secret, would be great.

While talking you and Eddie held the bags of ice on Billy's bruises, now that the bruises fully formed he looked worse than yesterday. At first he watched your moves like a hawk, obviously not trusting you, but soon he relaxed, not fully but it was a step to a better path.

"Never thought i would get myself into some hippie shit like this" Billy said as the two of you laughed at his joke, you looked at your watch as you almost screamed, 9:49 "Billy go get some clothes and wait for doctor Turner downstairs! I need to rush" you excused yourself as you run to the bathroom.

After taking care of some things you could hear them leave through the door "Ill be with Billy! Good luck with that meeting" Eddie loudly said and shut the door behind them, you sighed with a smile on your face as you continued to get ready.

The two of them got downstairs a minute before ten and sure enough the doctor walked in through the front door the second the clock turned to 10. Mister Adams showed them where the doctor will examine Billy.

It was obvious he had trouble walking, limping, almost hopping on his good leg. Eddie offered him help but at first he refused, almost fell down, twice, and then finally accepted defeat and let Eddie help him.

After they finally got to the room the doctor started to examine him. They did the usual stuff, taking blood samples, checking his eye movement, reflexes, sensory functions, coordination. Everything was going fine until he stared to check his leg.

Luckily he was done rather quickly as it was clear that it was beaten pretty badly, after the doctor was done he sat back into his chair and looked at his notes for a moment or two "Well the good news is that per my estimate there shouldn't be any long-term to the brain or your knee but i will order a CT and MRI scan for your head and an X-ray for the knee."

Both Billy and Eddie sighed in relief "But if you play any sports, forget about it for the next month and a half, your knee hasn't crossed the 'will never be the same' line but it will if you don't stay in bed for said time period."

Great, just great, Billy could feel like half of his world crash down. There are not one but two important big games coming up that he will have to skip. Eddie tried his best too comfort the now angry man as the man packed his stuff and left rather quickly.

After a few minutes they got back to your room, Billy decided to take a nap while Eddie sat on the balcony, as soon as he sat down the phone rang. Annoyed, Eddie answered the phone "Hiiii, this is Kimberly, their highest majesties' personal secretary, they wanted me to let you know that they wont be having lunch with you because they needed to switch up something in their schedule, Toodeloooo"

Eddie was left in confusion as the woman on the other end broke the call, Billy let out a hum, wordlessly asking him what's going on "They wont be having lunch with us, schedule switch up or something" He said as he laid down on the bed next to Billy and feel asleep next to him.

It was somewhere around 1PM when the two of them woke up, after some time they decided to order themselves lunch in the same way you did. After eating they went back to bed but neither could fall asleep again.

Eddie took Billy's hand into his, there palms resting on his chest as he traced his knuckles with his thumb. "Do you want us to help?" Billy looked at him in confusion "You don't need to stay with them Billy, I know it feels like you can't leave, but you can"

Billy looked at the ceiling, he didn't say a word "If you only heard what (Y/n) had to say about your dad! You would be rolling on the floor, out of all the things they called him a twitchy little man and a few other choice names"

He snorted at that, twitchy little man, it didn't fit his father at all, he will remember it though. He looked Eddie in the eyes, as if he's waiting for him to ask him something. He sighed as he squeezed his hand.

"Do you think you're ready to talk about what's happening at home?" His questions wasn't out of malice but out of simple curiosity. Billy looked back at the ceiling then after a minute or two of thinking he shook his head.

Eddie nodded and smiled "That's alright, when you feel like talking just know that both of us are here for you" he said as he brought Billy's palm to his face and placed a kiss on his fingers then at the base of his palm.

His hands smelled of cologne and cigarettes, nothing out of the ordinary. Billy for the first time in forever fully let his guard down. It almost felt like a trap, like its all a ploy just for you and Eddie to make fun off him. He wanted to back away, to just leave, to never see either of them again.

What will his father say when he fids out about his new relationship? He knew all hell would break loose. Maybe he should just break up with both of you and go back home to play the nice older brother like his father wanted. He probably would if he could.

Maybe his father would finally stop hitting him. He did it because he was nothing but a rebellious teenager and he needed to beat some sense into him. It was all his fault.

He flinched as a hand cupped his face, scaring the living shit out of him. "Are you ok dude??" Eddie asked as Billy finally snapped out of his thoughts. "I know you don't want to talk about it but whatever is happening to you is not your fault, normal parents don't hit and kick out their children when they are mad at them."

Billy let out a sob, one after another. He wondered how did Eddie know what to say at that exact moment, like he had read his mind. His shoulders shook with his sobs as he curled into himself, hiding his face out of shame.

Eddie sighed as he cautiously put his hand on the man's shoulder, letting him decide if he wanted his touch. Billy violently pulled away, scared of the intention behind Eddie's touch. He stared at him cautiously as he tried his best to stop crying.

He reached his hand out again, this time so that Billy can see it. First the hand cupped his face an with its thumb brushed his tears away. Slowly his hand moved on pass his jaw. Billy could feel his hand play with his curls at first.

This was it, the moment he pulls his hair like his father often does, this is the moment he yells at him for being a crybaby, for being a softy, for ever being so naive and thinking anyone would ever love him and offer him help.

But it never happens, Eddie never does anything like that. He just continued to play with his hair, softly scratching his scalp and combing his hair with his fingers. There was no malice in the nature of his actions, only the need to comfort him.

It shook Billy's worldview a little bit, the last time someone touched his hair like this was his mother. The night before she left him, it all felt a little bit too familiar.

He slowly opened up his arms and tried too say something but his own sobs wouldn't let him and yet Eddie understood him perfectly. He pulled him closer too his chest and let him cry out his pain and sorrow, and soon he started to cry too.

Thank god the second meeting was over way before it was supposed to, a whole hour earlier none the less and since you finished the speech during lunch you were completely free until Monday hits. You almost skipped out of happiness back to your room.

You slowly opened your door not expecting to see both Billy and Eddie crying their eyes out. You quietly got out of your business clothes and slipped into your pajamas. You quietly approached them and when they both saw you their eyes suddenly got a specific shine of happiness in them.

You laid down behind Billy, spooning him from behind as his face was still buried in Eddie's chest. You softly kissed away each of their tears and dried their faces with your sleeves. After you were done you kissed both of them all over their faces. When you saw that both of them have finally stopped crying you turned off all the lights and made sure both were tucked in.

Billy could feel his heart swell with love and joy for the first time in forever. He would never admit it of course but he finally felt wanted somewhere, not for his looks or charm or popularity but for simply being himself, not for the typical bad boy stereotype Billy, but for one who needed help and comfort, for the one who was simply just a little bit lost.

[todayisafridaynight]

SORRY in advance for the long ask pleeease take your time and take care, I hope you feel better + get to have a good time at the con or hanging out with your dad :( It means the world to me that you enjoy my stuff though! It did take me a while to notice you were even following me (hence. @ing you on a post you'd already seen gdjfshld) but we got there eventually...

Definitely definitely was expecting to see more of Infinite Wealth at the summit… since the tweets mentioned character introductions but didn't specify for which game, I was under the impression we'd at least be introduced to the as-yet-unidentified voices in the trailer. Gameplay would've been HUGE to include too 😩 I guess it makes enough sense though, since it's not The Upcoming Release...

I shall bide my time. I have no idea what to expect from fall summit (as intended). But if it's going to be a seasonal thing, I figure a potential "winter summit" is the latest it could be to show us gameplay for something that's suppsed to be an early 2024 release, if not just putting out trailers or other showcases and stuff independently.

LEGIT THOUGH IT JUST MAKES IT SOUND LIKE KIRYU IS LYING TO SOUND COOL GDJSKGLDS which is also Arakawa-esque… "maybe I felt like impressing an idiot kid"… If nothing else, I feel like I'll enjoy the dynamic they're going for with those two. Specifically casting Kiryu as a "big brother" figure rather than a father figure also makes me WEEP because the only "aniki" Ichi's ever had is Jo. So it's like... from Jo to Joryu...

Also I just really like the acting choices by the mocap actor for Kiryu, I feel like we've never really seen him move that… casually? His mannerisms also 100% make him look like he's lying lol like there are multiple "tells" it's so funny

I glossed over the proposal (because I expected that to be the main topic anyway, being the only dialogue scene we got) but I completely agree with everything that's been said, basically. Reverse chick magnet for life… but I do expect there's more to it than meets the eye because summit is pretty focused on "generating buzz," so the fact it feels so out of place is probably what they were banking on.

Because like, on top of everything mentioned, Ichiban is portrayed as an entirely passive participant in the romances in 7, and IIRC for Saeko and Eri he wasn't really even fully aware they were into him. So for him to not only be the one to propose but bomb so hard a seasoned hostess (as Kiryu points out in JP)--who'd rather be groped than subjected to Weird Shit--blew up at him and there was fallout from Adachi and Nanba is a huge deviation from how he's portrayed.

It's also kind of like, to me, the translation says something a little different than what was actually being said; Ichi's emphasis wasn't really on the fact she rejected him (implying he expected her to accept + placing more importance on his own feelings vs hers), but the fact she "chewed him out" (implying he should've known better in the first place than to ask).

Of course, he's apparently planning on trying again so he is hoping she'll accept eventually, and the general tone of the interaction suggests he should've known better regardless, but both say something slightly different about his characterization in this scene to me. There's also TL weirdness with Ichi saying Kiryu seems like a good dude rather than just… him explaining that he doesn't mean anything bad by saying he doesn't seem like a ladies' man, which is a bigger mistake but less consequential, I guess.

There's also Saeko's line from the original teaser, "You say that like you're proposing," so it would seem she's already caught off guard (i.e. not taking it seriously yet) and not too thrilled with the idea (provided it's the same convo). I don't really have much to go off of, but if they are in a relationship, I can only assume either she's made it clear she doesn't want to get married or his proposal method was just That Bad, or they're not in a relationship.

In the latter case all I have to pull from is other media with characters who are somewhat like Ichi, but it made me think of times I've seen characters propose for legal or financial reasons or etc. and get Totally Owned, and I'd honestly find that a believable Ichi Situation… Ichi thinking like 50 steps ahead and not explaining himself properly and just Making Saeko More Mad… I'm just musing, though.

Yokoyama and co. were--if I heard right--being pretty cagey about whether they ARE in a relationship in the first place though, which strikes me as odd compared to RGGS' openness about Kaito's ex in the Lost Judgment DLC. So… definitely not beating the red herring allegations just yet, at any rate. Especially when said DLC involves a fake-out on a proposal lmao

Putting all that aside since we can't make any definitive statements anyway, I AM going to make the definitive statement that literally every single design in Gaiden so far is indeed drippy as hell.

such is the cruel fate of being shadowbanned on this webbed site I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream etc etc ( ╯-╰ ; ) but we did get there! and i very much do enjoy what you post :]

if there's nothing for fall summit (though i'm going to hope a lil there will be since that's what. three months from now) then there'll definitely be something for winter summit. if the idea is that there's more of a focus on gaiden since its release date is sooner, then it's fair to assume- with that logic- the winter one'll have the bulk of LAD8 news and demos. either way, im excited for both to see what both of them bring us !

ignoring the elephant in the room of the proposal thing, i also really liked the vibe of it all (and ive also been trying reeaaally hard to make a joke connecting jo and joryu since that's also a bit i enjoy) (❁´◡`❁) i did like that lowkey feel and just the casualness of the atmosphere and the slight awkward/uncomfortable-but-not-overly-offended-and-even-minorly-comedic energy from kiryu lmao. cant ever go wrong with having a scene that's there to slow everythin down a bit, and it does help set up a kind of homely/familial vibe ♪(´▽｀)

i dont need to comment any more on the proposal thing either LMAO everything ima say i been repeating for the past. X asks 😩

and with that. yeah everyone looks FIRE as hell in gaiden (EXCEPT nishitani ima be 100%.... idk the loud primary colors aren't doing it for me.... points for the nails and hair though) 😩

[a-curious-little-thing]

Good morning/afternoon/evening/night (???) @worth-beyond-a-number-scale !

Genuine question. Not a callout post, or anything negative, I am literally just... genuinely curious and want to ask, but it's been two months of me trying to figure out how I'm even gonna go about this without coming across as rude so I'm just gonna try giving it a go now and hope for the best.

In this post, you said that "95% of all weight loss attempts fail, which is an actual statistic from decades of studies and not an exaggeration." I did some looking, found the site you were quoting from a different post and read it. The site you linked specifically was just one paragraph from a longer article, so I read that too. They all mention the 95% thing.

But then I visit this website (yes, I know it has nutrition in the name, I didn't realize that until just now, I'm sorry if that was a poor move on my part!) which states:

I included the "there are some people who believe that intentional weight loss is not only... [rest of it]" bit because from how you talk about it, when i read that part it really did feel like something similar to what you've said before.

Again, i cannot stress enough just how much I'm not trying to be confrontational, or call you out, or just anything like I'm implying you're wrong. I really don't want to argue. I just want to know why you hold the opinion you do, and to understand it and evaluate my own opinion and see if I need to reflect.

I tried writing a draft to this like two months ago, and I read the New York Times article then, but when I tried reading it just now it said that I need to pay a subscription. By frantically refreshing the page and highlighting as much text as possible and hitting ctrl+c, I was able to copy the entire article into my google docs! (i'm only including this bit because imo this is really the only important part of the article, the rest is just diet stuff related... :/

The whole article does do a lot of framing weight-loss as the goal of everything, which does admittedly drag my point down a bit. (I would've personally preferred a much more neutral telling, imo) But, my point is, Dr. Stunkard has stated he no longer supports his study, though it has become so widespread at this point a lot of people treat it as fact.

You also say that there's been years of research behind the 95% study, but I will be honest. I couldn't find them. It could've been that I just wasn't using the right keywords, or I skimmed them by accident, or my inability to find the right articles when doing research has struck once again, but either way I couldn't find anything besides a handful of articles supporting this study and the rest quoting this NY article.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is that I'm confused. I don't want to seem like I'm publicly calling you out or I'm accusing you of lying or anything like that. But I don't know how else to get your attention (asks closed, you said you haven't really been looking at your messages, reblogging your posts would just... get very cluttery after a certain point) and doing this seems like it'll be my best chance. I've also been mulling over this in my head since December and it's starting to bother me. Even if you could just link me more articles that support your opinion and have verifiable research behind them besides Dr. Stunkard's study (what i mean is, any other study about this that wasnt done by him) that would be great, and if I'm still confused then I'll ask more questions. Politely. If you're alright with that.

I don't know how to end this post. I hope your day has been well? I hope I didn't say anything rude or offensive, if I did please correct me. Have a good day/night.

[microphones-and-cameras]

6, 12 and 32 for either or both of you :3

6. What made you realize your current labels fit you?

I figured out I was aroace first. I don't know what about it felt right, but it was comfortable. I had always known the only thing I needed to stay okay was RJ. I didn't need anything else, and honestly, in these terms, I didn't want anything else. I just wanted to stay by my brother's side for however long we could. And everything else wasn't important to me. And then I looked a bit deeper and realized Oh. This Is A Thing. I told RJ and they were real quiet for a moment before going 'oh' and I realized that I had just also helped them.

SInce CJ's cis, derogatory, honestly... something didn't quite feeling right being a man? I had seen Host's gender thing when he was younger, and I, at one point, as CJ to try out she/her for me, but that felt. So Much Worse than he/him at the time that I just kinda went, okay, well. Guess I'm here and get to feel vaguely gross my entire life. And then I heard someone use they/them for Dark, and went OH WAIT THERES A WHOLE OTHER SET I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT. Told CJ, and it felt right ! But the actual Moment Of Truth was telling everyone else in a meeting one time. It was one of the few times I couldn't say it myself, so I just asked CJ to take over.

So I did. And told them RJ's pronouns, and settled back down for the meeting, and Dark was on top of it, didn't really let anyone say anything, not that they would, just nodded and continued on when they noted how uncomfortable RJ looked being the center of attention at the time, and just. Did the thing. I mean, we all knew that everyone would be kind about it, and use RJ's pronouns, of course but.

Y'know it's still a moment of relief? It being acknowledged and then pushed past so that I didn't have to answer any questions or deal with anything past just. This is a thing! K thanks bye !!

12. Favorite flag(s) visually?

Mine has gotta be the Pan flag, it's so good !!!

The non-binary flag. i like the contrast of the yellow with all the other darker colors.

32. Something you wish people understood about your identity?

We are still capable of loving people ! Like, I love my brothers, I love my friends, I just ! Don't wanna date anyone. Or have sex with anyone ! that's it, that's the full post.

[mormorando]

1, 6, 20 :3c

ninaaaa :3c

1. three songs that come up when you put your phone on shuffle:

polly by nirvana, sleazy bed track by the bluetones and could never be heaven by brand new (all of these fuck actually, so. shuffle made some good decisions)

6. three songs you wish you could erase from history (because they’re terrible):

omg not three more this is hard</333 i just forget music when i don't like it i guess? but yeah idfk. maybe i'd rather die by tramp stamps, swalla by jason derulo and get on top by red hot chilli peppers?

20. three songs that remind you of the person who sends this one:

ah beloved!! it's gonna be alrighty aphrodite by peach pit, the predatory wasp (...) by sufjan stevens, we are nobody else by lady lamb and pale blue eyes by the velvet underground<3 (though i could also say. hm. megalomaniac? stray bullet maybe?)

thank you for the ask angel!! luv you

[skaldish]

Been following from afar for awhile, long enough to (generally) know what you mean, even if I personally don't always agree with your wording sometimes either, so I consider myself a pretty neutral audience to all the commotion earlier... that being said, I thought it was pretty big of you to apologize and even backpedal a little on the 'bad faith' accusations because to me it did seem like two people having two wildly different debates (which screams misunderstanding to me). I get and agree with what they had to say, and I think you deciphered the issue and course corrected very maturely. However, I can't help but feel it was all very performative when your followers start flooding in after the fact validating you and villifying the opposition and you turn around, agree and encourage the messages. Apologies are empty if you continue talking behind someone's back after you've accepted equal responsibility. All that other person really said to you was (not "hey you're wrong" but) newcomers will see this post and potentially read "American heathenry" and naturally assume "as a whole." That's it. And it was clear you didn't immediately pick up on that because you glossed over their points, said they made none, and then reiterated your original statement while crying bad faith. Now in your defense and to their discredit, their argument (while not incorrect) wasn't needed, and did upon first read through sound like an argument/correction, rather than an info dump to support WHY using "American" as a generalization is reductive and harmful (and outdated now that a great many more Americans are doing proper research and avoiding early imported "heathenry"). But that's it. A misunderstanding. No one was wrong or right and they never claimed otherwise and they even accepted your compromise in the end based on what I read between you. Not troll behavior at all! Idk... a little disappointed this is still ongoing after it looked like an understanding had finally been reached. But I don't think any less of you and will continue to look forward to seeing you on my dash! Just wanted to give my two cents since your asks are starting to look like an echo chamber.

Yeah…the way I see it, it was ultimately just a lousy misunderstanding.

Honestly? I don’t always know what to do in these kinds of instances. When I react one way but a lot of people say I should’ve reacted another way, it makes me second-guess myself.

I take time to entertain all kinds of perspectives. Often I’ll do this before really truly determining what I think. But when I’m still considering things, I’ll waffle around for a while and play “yes, and—” with the perspectives that come my way.

But in light of this ask, I realized I should be mindful of doing this in settings where I have an audience, since it does look like I’m back-peddling on an apology as a result, which is bad form. For what it’s worth, my apology does stand and I’m still reassessing the terms I use because they’re causing confusion. My goal is to creat less confusion, not more.

And as for the people in my ask box? Genuinely I think we’re just seeing a “your mileage may vary” phenomenon. Not everyone runs a big blog like this precisely because discourse is emotionally difficult to handle and logically difficult to discern. People get heated. I cleared the defense-asks out of my ask box because I was getting a surprising amount and figured I should address them.

Hopefully this all makes sense. Thanks for the input.

[helloalycia]

my happy ending [one] // kara danvers

summary: your crush from work decides to make a move, but she keeps putting off telling you something that you don't realise is actually really important

warning/s: none

author's note: i'm still working on a bunch of stuff but here's some old stuff to tide you over as i do. this is part one to a two-parter! enjoy :)

part two | masterlist

I sketched out some designs at my desk, ideas for some new Instagram and Twitter marketing CatCo we were planning to do. I was in charge of social media marketing at CatCo Worldwide, so things like this were routine at work. What wasn't routine was the cute blonde, Kara, AKA Cat Grant's assistant, approaching my desk with a chirpy smile on her lips.

"Hey, Y/N," she greeted, before setting down a coffee cup in front of me.

I smiled automatically, Kara's presence instantly affecting my mood in a positive way. I glanced at the cup and quirked an eyebrow.

"Hey, Kara. Is this for me?"

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose adorably. "I was picking up Miss Grant's order and I remembered you said you loved the chocolate orange hot chocolates Noonan's do. So, I got you one."

I felt my cheeks heat up. "Oh, wow, er, thank you. You didn't have to do that."

She shrugged, and I was sure she looked as flustered as I felt. "No biggie."

I took a sip of the hot chocolate and smiled at how good it was, but mostly because of who got it me.

"So, what are you doing?" she asked, walking around my desk and sitting at the edge. She glanced at my sketches and added, "Is that the new fashion post for our social media accounts? They look amazing!"

"Just some sketches, but eventually they will be," I said, before nodding. "And thanks. I just need the photos so I know what I'm working with. Gotta ask the new guy, James... you met him yet?"

Kara nodded. "Yeah, I just bumped into him earlier."

"Can you believe he knows Superman?" I asked with disbelief. "How awesome is that?"

She smiled with amusement. "Extremely awesome."

"Keira!"

Kara lost her smile when Miss Grant called for her, before looking to me apologetically. "I should–"

"It's cool," I said, nodding for her to leave before Miss Grant tracked her down. "Thanks again for the drink."

Kara flashed me a smile. "Anytime. See you later."

I watched her walk away, waving as she glanced over her shoulder. I found myself biting my lip to contain my own smile, feeling butterflies in my stomach.

Kara Danvers, assistant to Cat Grant.

Ever since she began working here, I found myself crushing on the blonde and her cute mannerisms. We were friends, occasionally hanging out outside of work and doing things together. But that's all it was, sadly. I knew she was friends with Winn – best friends, I think – and I also knew that the tech guy was practically in love with her. I didn't know him as well as I knew her, but I knew enough to not want to get in between the two of them. So, Kara Danvers remained a silly little crush.

I got back to my sketches, managing to draft up some mock-ups on Photoshop before my day ended. I was more tired than I thought that evening, ending up falling asleep earlier than usual. Which meant that I missed the biggest news in National City yet – a mystery woman saving a plane from crashing, possibly a new superhero.

I woke up the next morning to a million and one calls and texts from colleagues at CatCo, all expecting me to get on social media to post about this mystery woman. By the time I got to work that morning, I was caught up with everything and in awe at this new superhero we had. It was pretty darn awesome!

The amazement I felt however was short lived, as Cat was all over me when I got to the office, claiming I should have been on top of our social media coverage as soon as it happened. Apparently me falling asleep wasn't a valid enough point to miss it, so I was put to work instantly, working with the photography and marketing department to find some sort of coverage on this mystery hero.

As I was lining up some posts with the limited images available of this hero, I felt a presence stop by my desk and saw it was Kara.

"Morning," she greeted, before glancing at my computer. "Oh, so you heard?"

I chuckled. "Kind of hard not to. It's everywhere." I nodded to the many TVs around the office that were playing reruns of the news coverage from last night.

"Pretty cool, right?" she asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Very, but it also means I now have a lot of work to do, especially because I fell asleep when all of this went down," I said, jokingly. "Cat has been all over me about this all morning."

Kara laughed and it was literally the best thing I'd heard all day.

"So, I was actually hoping I could tell you something," she said, an excited smile on her face as she met my eyes.

I felt a little flustered under her gaze and found myself distracting myself with my computer screen momentarily.

"I actually have a lot of things to do right now,” I said regretfully. “Maybe later?”

Her smile faded as she nodded. "Right, no, yeah, that's totally fine. Sorry."

"No, no, don't apologise," I said instantly, feeling a little bad. "I just– if I don't get this done, Cat will kill me."

"I got it, you do this, it's cool," she said reassuringly, offering me a small smile.

"Sorry," I tried, a little sad that there was nothing I could do. I really needed to get this done, despite wanting to spend some more time with Kara.

"It's fine, good luck," she said, giving me a grin and thumbs up before leaving.

I sighed, before getting back to work. Unfortunately, it was a few hours before I could get away from my desk, and I managed to track down Kara at her own desk, remembering she wanted to tell me something.

"Hey," I said, earning her attention.

She looked up from her notebook, smiling when she saw me. "Hey, you manage to get that content done?"

"Just about," I said, before offering a small smile. "Sorry again for blowing you off."

She waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine, honestly."

"I'm free now though," I said optimistically. "Maybe we could grab an early lunch? You can talk to me then?"

Kara pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she nodded slowly. "That sounds nice actually, yeah."

I felt a little relieved when she agreed. "Great. Well, I'll let you get your things and meet you by the elevator?"

She pursed her lips, suppressing a smile. "You got it."

We ended up getting lunch, as agreed, and it was nice to make it up to her. Though, I never really noticed that she never ended up telling me whatever it was that she wanted to tell me. I was so distracted by how smoothly our lunch was going that I forgot to ask her about it. Maybe if I'd asked, she might have told me the truth. Or she might have made something up and lied. I guess I would never know.

–

Did somebody say tiny umbrella drinks? #gottalovethetinyumbrellas #CatCoFoundation [image here]

I sent yet another tweet and picture out from CatCo's Twitter account, watching as it instantly got responses from everyone. I was at an event that Cat was throwing for all CatCo employees plus special guests. It was an event to raise money for Cat's foundation – a charity for children's hospitals in National City. My job was to live-tweet the heck out of the event, hoping to boost donations online.

It was a formal event, so I was comfortably dressed in some high-waisted pants and a silk blouse, it being my best attempt at 'formal' clothes.

The event wasn't too bad. There was free food and drinks, plus I got to hang out with some of my friends from work whilst doing the bare minimum. I just wasn't an evening person, I guess.

"Hey, stranger," a voice startled me, and I turned around, surprised to see Kara Danvers stood there.

I hadn't seen much of Kara in the past few months, despite working with her. She always seemed to be caught up with Winn, and she'd gotten quite close with the not-so-new guy, James Olsen. I wasn't stalking her or anything, but I began to notice when I would try to make plans with her like we used to – little things like grabbing coffee or going to watch a film after work – and she would decline or have plans already. Then I'd see her constantly being surrounded by Winn and James, so I figured she'd just made new friends.

"Kara," I breathed out, smiling as I took in her appearance. "Hey."

I hadn't seen her at all this evening and I was sure she just showed up because I definitely would have noticed how good she looked in that fitted red dress of hers.

"You look really nice," she said, looking me up and down before meeting my eyes.

"Thanks," I said, hoping my cheeks didn't look as warm as they felt. "So do you. You liking the event?"

Kara looked around, nodding. "It's beautiful."

"You did a good job," I said, giving her a knowing smile. "I know you planned it."

"This was all Cat, I just–"

"Kara, everybody knows you plan the events around here," I told her with a chuckle. "It's okay."

She smiled to herself, looking down. "Right." It went quiet for a moment before she looked up and said, "Do you want to dance?"

I was a little taken aback by her confidence, but nonetheless, I found myself nodding. She smiled as she held out her hand. I took it, feeling goosebumps from how soft her hands were.

She led me to the dance-floor, stopping and resting a hand on my waist, the other holding my hand. I nervously rested an arm on her shoulder as I focused on swaying to the music playing rather than stepping on her toes.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in a while," she said after a moment. I looked up and saw her blue eyes staring right through me.

"Well, we've both been busy," I attempted to give a reason.

She shook her head, smiling apologetically. "No, it's not that... it's my fault. I've been hanging out with James and Winn so much lately that I've been neglecting you."

I laughed a little awkwardly. "Kara, it's okay. You don't need to feel bad for having other friends. I mean, you don't have any obligations to me. They're your best friends. Of course you're gonna hang out with them."

She pursed her lips and I admittedly felt nervous as she stared at me, her expression unreadable. She was a little taller than me which didn't help with me trying to keep my emotions in check. She was extremely close to me as we swayed to the music and I could just about focus on it as she continued to stare at me.

"What if I want to have obligations to you?" she asked, and I almost thought she was joking until I realised that she wasn't.

I wanted to understand what she meant, but I didn't get to ask because she leaned forward and closed the gap between us with her lips. I was surprised at her boldness, pinning Kara for the shy type. Nonetheless, I returned the kiss, melting into her embrace and warmth.

We pulled apart soon enough, myself a little flustered from the kiss. My lips were still tingling as she met my eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"I hope that was okay," she muttered.

I nodded slowly, still surprised. "Yeah, it was."

My stomach was doing somersaults as I mirrored her smile; the gala was merely a blur in the background as I realised Kara Danvers had just kissed me. I definitely wouldn't have thought she felt something for me other than friendship.

"I'm assuming you want this to go somewhere," I said, a little stupidly.

She laughed melodiously as she nodded, intertwining her fingers in mine. "That's the plan, yes. But actually, er..."

"Second thoughts already?" I joked, though inside I was genuinely believing she might be second-guessing her decision, judging from her sudden change of facial expression.

"No, no," she said, shaking her head. "It's just, I feel like we should talk first. I have to tell you something. Before this goes any further."

She sounded quite affected by whatever it was, so I nodded, losing my smile for a moment.

"Of course, you can tell me whatever you need to," I reassured her, giving her hand a little squeeze. "Do you want to talk now or after?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but tilted her head to the side as she grew distracted. I waited patiently, expecting her to snap back into reality, but she seemed caught up with something else.

"Kara? You okay?" I asked, growing a little concerned.

"What? Yeah, sorry," she said, shaking her head before meeting my eyes with apologetic ones. "I'm sorry, I have to go for a minute. I just realised I have to check on the desserts for the party."

"Oh, okay." I nodded, giving her a small smile. "You can tell me whatever it is afterwards then?"

She smiled, nodding. "Yeah. I'll be back after, I swear."

I believed her and watched as she let go of my hand, already in a rush to leave. I wondered what was so time-sensitive about desserts, but decided not to question it as I realised the very obvious and surprising fact that Kara liked me.

As she turned to leave, she quickly turned back to me and moved forward, pressing a haste kiss to my cheek. My face heated up as she flashed me a beautiful smile, before moving to leave.

Just danced with the most beautiful girl in the room #CatCoFoundation

I looked up and saw Kara by the door, about to leave, but she stopped when her phone vibrated. After glancing at the screen, she paused and a wide smile graced her lips. Her eyes lifted and she gave me a knowing look before disappearing. I found myself smiling like an idiot the rest of the night.

I guess I should have realised, once again, that Kara never ended up telling me whatever it was that she wanted to tell me. I was so caught up in the fact that she returned my feelings that I never remembered to ask her what it was that she wanted to say. Maybe if I'd remembered, things would have ended up a little differently.

–

Kara and I went on some dates, our relationship blossoming naturally. It was the best thing to happen to me at the time – finding someone who I thought truly understood me, and vice versa. We had inside jokes, an 'our song', a favourite restaurant we frequented; we were happy and it was amazing. I was really falling for her. I thought she was perfect. Nothing could change that, I thought. She was everything I wanted.

"What are you thinking about in that pretty little head of yours?" Kara asked, tilting her head to look at me.

It was moments like this when I was in awe of her beauty, inside and out. She was comfortable, with her hair tied in a loose ponytail and her face makeup-free. Her glasses were balanced on her nose as she stared at me with an easygoing smile and sparkling eyes. I felt a sudden overwhelming flood of love for her as she waited for me to reply.

"I'm in love with you," I blurted out uncontrollably.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, mouth agape as she realised what I said.

"I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head. "That was random. And weird. Too soon, right? I freaked you out. I'm sorry."

Kara blinked several times, straightening up as she shook her head. "No, it's not, it's..." I watched her with anticipation, as she found her words. "It's fine. It's... I feel the same way."

It was my turn to be surprised now. I raised my eyebrows, a smile forming on my lips. "You do?"

Kara pursed her lips, eyes flickering up to meet mine. "Yeah."

I breathed out. "I'm really happy to hear that, especially because I thought I freaked you out, but like, I feel like something is bothering you, Kara."

Resting a hand on hers, I squeezed it gently. She offered me a small, troubled smile and I wondered what was occupying her thoughts.

"I trust you," she said gently. "I do. I love you. And I... I want you to know that I think what we have is amazing. I've never been happier."

"This sounds like a breakup," I joked, chuckling nervously. She wouldn't break up with me right after saying 'I love you', right?

"No, no, it's not!" she reassured immediately, taking any doubt from my mind. She leaned forward and cupped my cheek gently. "I'm not breaking up with you, silly."

"Good to know," I said playfully, resting my hand on hers and moving it to my lips, kissing it softly. "What is it though? What's on your mind? You can tell me anything you know."

She nodded. "I know... I can. I will. Now."

I stayed quiet, watching as she had some inner conflict going on. What was bothering her so much?

"I want to say that I–"

But she was cut off by her phone ringing. She rolled her eyes and I offered her an approving smile as she reached to answer it.

"Alex, hey, what's up?"

I sat back, keeping ahold of Kara's hand as she listened to Alex on the phone.

"Are you sure?" Kara said, concern in her voice.

I wondered what was going on, as the blonde was scrunching her brows together with worry. Her hand slipped from mine as she stood up, pacing.

"Okay, I'll be there now," she finished, before hanging up.

"Hey, that sounded serious, is everything okay?" I asked, standing up, too.

Kara nodded, already in the process of grabbing her things. "Yeah, sorry, it's just some family stuff with Alex. I should get going and help her out." She stopped moving and turned to face me, a distracted frown on her face. "I'm sorry. I know we were supposed to spend the evening together and I wanted to tell you something, but–"

"It's fine, Kara, you can just tell me another time," I cut her off, moving forward and rubbing her arm gently. "I hope everything is okay with Alex. I'll just see you at work tomorrow, yeah?"

Kara smiled tightly, nodding. "You're too understanding. It's annoyingly admirable."

I chuckled, stepping forward and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. She had a few inches on me, so I had to step on my tip toes to reach, but seeing the little smile appear on her lips when I did made it worth it.

"Don't get stressed about whatever it is you wanna tell me," I added, meeting her eyes. "I'm sure it'll be fine. I love you and I'm really lucky to have you in my life. I don't think anything will ruin that. Just... remember that, okay?"

Kara nodded, her eyes flickering to the floor. "Thank you, Y/N."

"I'll leave you to it," I said, moving away to grab my coat and put on my shoes. "Good luck with whatever is up, and see you tomorrow."

As I was about to leave, her voice called out, "I love you, too."

I smiled widely at her before leaving, feeling lightweight because of all the love that was bubbling around inside of me. Once again, Kara managed to distract me from the fact that she had something big to tell me, as when I followed up the next day, she assured me that she just wanted me to know that she sometimes moved too fast in relationships and she didn't want me to feel like I was being rushed.

I believed her, blinded by what I thought was my happy ending, and that was that.

[ask-college-patrochilles]

Pat: It's... a long story.

The first thing Pat notices as he comes out of the shower are the voices coming from the kitchen. It isn't exactly strange considering he lived with Achilles and they'd invited Bri over for the night. He and Bri didn't hang out like they used to, with both students caught up in the senior year and post-graduation plans. It had been nice to catch up, to have Pat's two favorite people together with him at the same time.

But the second thing he realizes is how hushed they are. Achilles never mutters, always keen to shout what's on his mind, and Bri certainly doesn't whisper to Pat's boyfriend on the regular.

He knows it's wrong- they're both so important to him, he could just… walk out and ask what's up- but Pat can't help himself. Quickly, he dries off his hair and discards the towel as quietly as possible into the laundry room. There's a wall separating the hallway to his bedroom and the bathroom from the kitchen. Pat presses his back against it and strains to listen.

There's the sound of the coffee machine running, almost loud enough to drown out Bri's question. "I wanted to know how you and Pat are doing," she says, followed by the pouring of coffee into a cup.

Achilles snorts. "I would think you guys have already talked about that." Always defensive, even when he doesn't need to be. It makes Pat's chest ache.

"Yeah, but I want to hear it from you." One of the chairs scrapes against the floor, and Pat assumes Bri takes a seat. "You're your own person. You might see things differently."

Pat isn't sure why, but he holds his breath for his boyfriend's answer. Everything has been… mundane, really. Nothing special. Achilles is like an extension of Pat: they always know what the other is thinking, are always able to finish each other's sentences. More often than not they're together, Achilles leaning against him or holding his hand.

"We're good," Achilles finally replies. "Really good." Pat deflates in relief. "You'd think by now we'd be sick of each other or stepping on each other's toes, but…"

"But?" Bri prods.

"But I still always want to be by his side." Bri makes a sound, probably exasperated. "It's cheesy, yeah, but I've never felt this way about anyone before."

Pat closes his eyes with a small smile. Of course they felt the same- Achilles has his entire heart. He'd know if something was off because it would be like his own heart was breaking. There was nothing to worry about.

He's about to walk around the corner to greet them when Achilles continues. "There's just-" He pauses for a long moment. "Can you keep a secret?"

Silence.

"It's nothing bad," Achilles reassures Bri in a rush. "At least, I don't think so, but I don't really know what to think if I'm being honest. It's all so confusing and terrifying and I-"

"Slow down," Bri cuts in. "Tell me what's wrong and maybe I can help."

Achilles takes a deep breath, something Pat has had to drill into his head to do when he's overwhelmed. Hopefully, he's counting to ten in his head like Pat taught him too. They were still working on it. "I love Pat," Achilles starts again. "A lot."

"Okay."

"More than anything. More than… running or school or whatever. He's the most important person to me." The floor creaks, and Pat can only assume he's pacing around the kitchen. Achilles can never sit still when he's anxious. "I'd do anything for him. I'd… I'd eat a whole raw onion for him or fight off sharks. I'd cut off my leg- although I'd probably ask if we could amputate an arm instead since I still want to be a track star-"

"Achilles."

"Right."

Pat's heart races in his chest. He can't tell where this is going, and he hates not knowing what was on Achilles' mind. They're connected at the hip, so why can't he understand what's wrong?

"I guess I'm trying to say I don't think I could ever be with anyone else- actually, scratch that. I know I couldn't."

Bri's nails drum against the tabletop. Click, click, click. "This is all really sweet, but I don't know why you're telling me."

Achilles inhales loud enough for Pat to hear. "I want to be with him for the rest of my life."

A pause. "Okay."

"I want to marry him, Bri."

Pat's eyes widen, and he's surprised his knees don't give out underneath him.

He's always assumed he and Achilles would always be together. After all, they'd been inseparable from the moment they'd met. Even before they were partners, Pat felt whole with Achilles. Their relationship was one that was bound to last.

He just… never exactly thought about proposing or weddings or any of that. They lived together, didn't they? That was practically marriage to Pat. Splitting rent and divvying up chores wasn't for the weak of heart.

Marriage was big. Marriage meant they would spend the rest of their lives together. There'd be a certificate and everything to say they belonged only to each other. There would be anniversaries and a family and growing old together. Pat can't even fathom it- he couldn't even think about what the next week would be like! He lives his life from exam to exam, shift to shift at the hospital.

Bri seems to be on the same track as Pat. "You're both only in your twenties," she points out.

"I want to propose," Achilles says as if he doesn't hear her. "I know I do."

"Now? What about-"

"I already have a ring." Now Pat definitely wants to collapse. He covers his mouth with both hands so he doesn't gasp out loud. This was all happening very fast. The room seems to spin, and he leans his weight against the wall so he doesn't fall over.

"What?" Bri's chair scrapes against the floor. "How long have you had that?"

"A little while."

"Have you talked about any of this with Pat?" Pat could easily answer that question. His racing heart and clammy palms are as good an answer as any. He's sure Achilles shakes his head since Bri sighs loudly. "Don't you think that's sort of important? You don't just pop a proposal out of nowhere."

"You don't?" Achilles sounds genuinely confused. He probably got his entire idea of marriage from movies and television. His parents certainly didn't seem to be much help.

"You have to talk about the future first. Talk about what you both want." Achilles is quiet. He must be frustrated- he hates waiting, and he hates too much serious talk. Pat knows he prefers to wing it. After all, life seemed to go pretty smoothly for him without any prior planning. "If you guys are on the same page, then- and only then- maybe it's time."

Achilles grunts.

"You guys have all the time in the world," Bri reassures him gently. "Pat's not going anywhere. Trust me on that one."

"I don't want to lose him," Achilles says. It shatters Pat's heart to little pieces. How could he ever think Pat would leave him? They were in this for the long run no matter what. They'd grown together as individuals and as a couple, and Pat knew they still had so much more to learn.

It's what finally draws him from his corner. Pat scrunches his hair with his hands like he just came out of the shower as he walks to the kitchen. Bri sits across from Achilles at the table. As soon as she sees Pat, she kicks his boyfriend in the shin to alert him. Achilles turns, and Pat catches him stuffing something small into his pocket.

"There's coffee made if you want some," Bri says. So they didn't realize he'd been listening. Pat seems to be off the hook for now.

"Maybe later." Pat's too overwhelmed at the moment to be anywhere but with Achilles. He wraps an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders and slides into his lap. Achilles gives him a smile and starts to say good morning, but Pat is already kissing him sweetly.

Achilles doesn't kiss back at first. He's too surprised, probably since Pat is never really a functioning human being in the morning before his coffee. But it takes him no time to hold Pat's hips firmly in place and part his lips to welcome Pat's tongue inside. Pat licks into his mouth, tasting maple syrup and sugar and everything Achilles.

Pat loves him. He loves him with his entire being. If Achilles dropped on one knee right now, Pat knows he'd say yes despite any doubts or reservations he might have. Because they'd figure them out together no matter what.

Bri's groaning is what brings Pat back to reality. "Can I please just drink my coffee in peace?" she begs. "One morning where I'm not assaulted by you two? Please?"

Achilles scowls in response. "If you don't like it, don't come over."

"You invited me!"

"Then you should’ve turned down the invite!"

Bri and Achilles bicker about the logistics of sleepovers, but Pat couldn't be happier. He presses his forehead against Achilles' temple and smiles wide. His Achilles, forever.

[astro-rain]

delicate; b.barnes

chapter twelve - “it’s hovercraft time, bucky barnes”

delicate masterlist

word count: 2.4k

synopsis: neither bucky nor y/n can sleep... until they do. and the next day brings them an unexpected, but pleasant surprise.

pairings: bucky barnes x fem!reader

It was four in the morning when the psychologist and the super soldier got in their respective beds after the nightmare. Y/N laid on her side in the bunk across from Bucky, facing away from him and staring at the wall. Her body wanted to sleep but her mind kept whirring on and on, worrying about him.

It wouldn't be that bad if she could just ignore it. It wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't wide awake also thinking about how it would be utterly impossible for him to have any eye color other than blue.

She sighed. Christ almighty, just go to sleep.

About twenty minutes passed before she heard it.

"Why are you still up?" he mumbled.

She turned over to her other side, dramatically, staring at his silhouette in the dark.

"How could you possibly know that?"

"I'm a trained assassin," he said, as a matter of fact. "I can recognize breath patterns."

"Yeah, well I know for a fact that you aren't even trying to fall back asleep."

"How could you possibly know that?" he repeated her question.

"I just do," she stated before turning on her back and staring straight up.

He scoffed playfully.

"What?" she asked.

Her tone wasn't as playful. It wasn't angry or annoyed; she could never be with him. But, it was void of emotion and her usual sarcastic cadence. She didn't enjoy people reading her like that. She knew he wasn't, but it felt like she was being called out for caring so much. She wanted to rein in her own compassion, but she couldn't help the way he softened her.

"That's just code for 'I'm a trained psychologist and I know how you're gonna react to nightmares.'"

She replied with silence, desperately trying to end the conversation so she could try to sleep and leave this night behind.

"Sorry, did I- did I say something?" he asked.

"No, you're good."

Part of her felt bad for being short with him, but she needed it to be over. She needed to somehow distance herself from her own feelings.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up with the nightmare and messed with you being able to fall back asleep. I know it's... a lot."

He's sorry. He's sorry?

"Don't you dare apologize. It's not your fault, and it's not even why I can't fall back asleep."

"What's the problem then?"

"It's nothing. Just try and get some sleep."

"Yeah... about that..."

"Will you have another?"

"Not  sure. I don't wanna find out."

"I know. And I'm sorry. Sleep shouldn't be this menacing, but you should still try anyway. Your body needs it."

"So does yours."

Y/N let out an exasperated sigh. There she went caring again and he kept deflecting. Her frustrations about her own emotions came out in stubborn defiance.

"I'm not sleeping until you do."

"Guess we're both stayin' up then."

"Bucky," she gently admonished.

"Y/N I can't- that... was the worst one I've had in a while."

That was it. Any and all aggravation faded to nothing, and her cheeks were hot with guilt. To hell with it; she refused to leave him to pain. She then got out of her bunk. Carefully, she maneuvered out and kneeled on the floor, facing him. She felt bad; she didn't mean to push him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry, I should know better."

He mirrored her actions, slipping out of his own bunk and kneeling on the floor in front of her

"It's okay," he didn't miss a beat. His voice was as soft of hers. "Thank you."

He was closer now, so she could see a more detailed outline of him. She never really noticed just how large he was. Just his arm looked as big as her head. He was supposed to look frightening, but... she just couldn't see it.

"If you don't wanna sleep that's okay. I'll stay up with you so you don't have to be alone."

"Y/N..."

"I'm already up, I don't mind," she countered. "Seriously. I'm wide awake now. Honestly, I don't even know if I could fall back asleep if I tried."

"I can't ask you to stay up and babysit just 'cause you feel bad."

She scooted forward, determined not to lose to deflection again. Babysit? and Cause you feel bad? How could he truly think so little of himself?

"I am definitely not babysitting. I just happened to be awake at the same time you are... and not because I feel bad."

He scooted forward a couple inches, squinting, trying to decipher her facial expressions. "I can't tell if you're joking or not just from your tone of voice."

In the very back of her head it returned: that hazy enchantment feeling that swelled from her lungs through her brain stem every time she was this close to him. It is important to note - it was in the very back of her brain, and if you ignore something long enough, you can convince yourself it's not there.

"James Buchanan, I am awake and there's not a thing you can do about it."

"Alright," he sighed. "I don't know if you're expecting some kind of entertainment, but I can't really juggle with one arm..."

"I can't juggle with two."

"Ever been to the circus?"

"No."

He laughed. "Oh man, you're missin' out."

"No, I got the clown right here."

"Wow, is that how it is?"

"Depends. You got face paint and a rainbow wig?"

"Smartass."

The air was quiet after their breathy laughs fizzled out. A few moments of awkwardness quietly passed, both unsure of what to say next.

"You know when you're in the dark, your pupils dilate to take in as much light as they can in order to see better?" Y/N asked.

"I think I knew that? I'm not sure, I might've heard it somewhere. Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. I can't see your face super well, so it made me think of it. I can barely even see your eyes."

"Maybe that's better," he chuckled. "I don't know if they're still blood shot from earlier."

"Like I'd care."

"Why wouldn't you?"

"What?"

"Why wouldn't you care? I feel like seeing someone's puffy face and post-cry eyes would be kinda gross."

"You really think I care if your eyes are red or puffy?" she questioned. "Buck, I know I'm probably not supposed to say this because technically I'm your doctor, but I honestly consider you a really good friend. I'd be more worried to see that you've been crying than be aversive to it."

He scoffed in honest disbelief.

"What?"

"I just can't wrap my head around the fact that you think that way about me..."

"What do you mean?"

"...the person I am, the things I've done, the..." he shook his head, "the horrors I've committed..."

"The horrors you've committed are not who you are. I know you see yourself in a lot of different ways because it's hard to un-learn what other people have decided you are: a monster, a ghost, an asset, a machine, an assassin, a weapon, whatever. But have you ever considered that you're just human after all? You're a man who got dealt a shit hand in life. But there is still light in him... light that never left, no matter how hard they tried to beat it out of you. You're a survivor, Buck."

Bucky took a deep breath in, contemplating, before turning and laying on his back. They both remained on the floor, Y/N kneeling a few inches away from the side of Bucky's supine figure. He stared straight up at the ceiling.

"Sometimes I think I'm a better 'ghost' than I am a human being. My mind's a mess, and even though I'm trying, I still can't help but feel like I've lost who I am."

"You haven't lost who you are. You're just different now, and that's okay."

He looked up at her. "How do you always know what to say?"

"I know everything."

Y/N smiled, following Bucky's laugh, allowing the somber atmosphere to lighten up a bit. They so easily slipped in and out of the therapy dynamic, but now it seemed more like a heartfelt conversation between friends rather than treatment between doctor and patient.

"I consider you a really good friend too by the way - closest one I've had since Steve."

"Wow, really? That's an honor."

"Not really," he chuckled. "Steve's a punk."

And there she went laughing again. In one way or another she always found herself laughing around him.

However, she found it more confusing than funny when she woke up the following morning to find herself sitting on the floor, leaning against one of the beds with Bucky's head in her lap. She found her hands resting on his head protectively, fingers slightly carded through his long hair. She woke up before him... That's a first.

Y/N looked down at him. He was fast asleep; he looked peaceful and so relaxed. It was such a rare state to see him in, so she gave herself a few more seconds to study how his face looked when it was completely tranquil before she smoothed her hand along the back of his head and replaced her lap with a pillow.

-

"Hey," a raspy voice called out.

Y/N turned around from her seat at the table, hands still wrapped around the cup of tea she made herself a few minutes prior.

Bucky was awake, sitting up, but still in his previous spot on the floor.

"Hey. You want some tea?"

He stood up, nodding and stretching his back. "Did I fall back asleep?"

"You did," she smiled. "I'm pleased. I told you you needed the rest."

He seemed pleasantly surprised. "And on the floor too. Very classy."

She raised her mug to him, as if to make a toast. "Classiest man I know."

He laughed before grabbing the kettle and realizing it was empty.

"Shoot. We're outta water."

"It's alright. We know where to find the waterfall. You want to go get more?"

"Mm hm."

"Alright, I'll just finish my tea and go out in a few minutes."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm coming too."

"You sure? You just woke up. You can take some time to just relax if you want."

"No. I'm going."

"Stubborn. I can go myself, you know. I know the way."

"Would you let me go by myself?"

Y/N was silent for a moment before sighing.

"Get your shoes."

-

"You know, there was really no reason to almost push me into the water," Bucky commented as they were making their way back to the shelter after restocking their water supply.

"I wasn't actually going to!"

"You might as well have! My life flashed before my eyes!"

"Bet that took forever. You wanna backtrack? I can do it for real this time."

"I'm throwin' you in next time."

"You couldn't throw me," she challenged.

"Like a football," he countered, smirking.

"I don't wanna test that theory."

Their banter continued as they continued walking, making sure they were in the tree line and not out in the open. Bucky was always cautious. He was able to laugh with her while still making sure they were safe. That was until his arm was suddenly around the front of her shoulders, and holding her against his chest as his back was flush against a tree, effectively hiding them both from sight. She just stared forward, barely registering how fast he swiveled both of them around.

"There's someone at the bunker. I'm sorry- didn't want us to be seen."

He removed his arm, but her feet were stuck. She had never been close to him like this before; she didn't know what to think of it. She stepped forward a bit, breaking the contact but still facing away from him. She was hyperaware of their proximity but that quickly dissipated as she registered what he said.

"What did you see?"

"There were a couple people, but I didn't get a great look 'cause I moved out of sight fast. One woman, two men? I think."

His tone and demeanor reminded her of that day Shuri told them they had to go in hiding. He was so calm and collected. She forgot situations like these were practically muscle memory to him.

"Do you think someone found us? What were they doing?"

"I only saw 'em for a second, I'm not sure. Stay still, I'm gonna look."

As soon as his head peaked around the tree, so did Y/N's, ignoring his order.

"Wait, I think that's Shuri."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. I don't know if I'd bet my life on it."

"What's that other thing?"

"The hovercraft?"

"Hovercraft? God, I love this place."

"Wait, see the crest on the hovercraft - that's the one only Shuri can unlock."

"Alright, just... stay behind me. Okay?"

"Okay."

The two slowly made their way towards the three Wakandans. Y/N actually listened this time and stayed behind Bucky. As soon as they were in sight, Shuri came running up to them.

"Y/N!" she exclaimed, immediately throwing herself into the psychologist, embracing her.

She was startled at first, arms awkwardly hanging by her sides before her brain finally caught up to her and she brought her arms up lightly, returning the hug.

"Shuri! What happened?"

"We won!" Shuri grinned. "It's a long and complicated story, but the rightful King never died. My brother has reclaimed his place on the throne. Wakanda is ours once again!"

A monumental weight was lifted from Y/N's shoulders. She sighed in relief, knowing she was no longer in danger, knowing Bucky was no longer in danger.

"That's incredible. I'm so glad everything's okay, and I'm so glad to see you."

"I'm glad to see you too, my partner," Shuri hugged her once more before addressing Bucky. "Sergeant Barnes. I'm sorry for all the trouble. I hope everything was alright?"

"We've been getting along just fine," he nodded. "Thank you."

Shuri called over the two other men - royal guards that came with her - before turning back to Y/N and Bucky.

"You've been camped out here in hiding long enough. Let us go home."

As they walked behind the Wakandan princess, Y/N nudged Bucky with her elbow.

"It's hovercraft time, Bucky Barnes," she managed to say through a face numbing smile.

delicate taglist: @bakugouswh0r3 @thefridgeismybestie @strivingforelegance

[imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl]

Love On-Set (Pt. 01 of 10)

Pairing: Dacre Montgomery X Reader

Word count: 3K

Next part (02) ->

Summary: You knew acting on Stranger Things season 3 would be a challenge, and you also knew, from the start, you'd have to work closely with Dacre Montgomery. But is wasn't a big deal for you, since this is your job and you're determined to act professionally. You had it all figured out, or so you thought, until the moment you were out face to face with Dacre. Then, this job became a lot harder than it was supposed to be, since you can't seem to focus whenever you're around Dacre. And you'll have to be around him a lot until the end of production.

{Dacre Montgomery Masterlist}

{Stranger Things Masterlist}

×

First Sight

The minivan stops right before entering the set as the driver speaks with one of the security guards. A huge structure was built around the area, and if it wasn't for the strong lights, you'd be in complete darkness. It's late at night, but yet, there are some journalists and a lot of cameras. They immediately surround the car, trying to see who's inside.

“Vicki, do you think I should go out and talk to them?” You decide to ask her first, because you're not as known as the other actors, and you're not sure if they'd want to talk to you.

“Sure. But don't take long.” She nods, touching the drive's shoulder and telling him to wait.

Taking a deep breath, you push the door open, a smile on your face as the cameras quickly find you. Running a hand through your hair, to make sure it's not messed up, you take in all the microphones and smartphones pointed at your face.

“(Y/N), could you answer some questions?” A short, dark-haired guy asks, a camera flashing.

“It depends on the question, but I'll try my best.” This seems to please them, and you wonder if the others couldn't afford a few minutes.

“Your posted on your Instagram account that you were a Stranger Things fan from season one.” A woman asks. “How was the transition from being a fan to acting on the show?”

“It was fantastic.” The first season of the show was still driving people crazy when you got the call for an audition for the role of Amy Whitehall, for seasons two and three. Vicky, you have no idea how, got in touch with some friends when she heard they were searching of someone with physical traits similar to yours. Thankfully, the audition went well and you got the job. “It's an honor to be part of this masterpiece. The only bad part is that now I have some spoilers.”

“Your character's scene by the end of season two had any interaction with Billy Hargrove, Hawking's bad boy. Does that mean she'll be in any kind of relationship with him?”

For that, you have to think, careful not to say anything that will expose the plot.

People are very interested in Billy, not sure exactly where the character will go from now on, after his introduction on season two. He stole many hearts, for love or hate, dividing opinions. And your character had a short appearance by very end of the last episode, shown in an interaction with him. On her way to the ball, to help Nancy, Billy almost runs her over with his car, after dropping his sister. They had a small dialogue, him asking her to get out of the way and her telling him to look where he was going. Then a pause, a little bit of tension, and that was it.

“I'm not allowed to answer that, but Amy's scene was just an introduction. Her character will be around throughout season three.” Offering another smile, you turn around, giving attention to someone else.

“What will be a new threat? The season finale raised a lot of questions about–”

“Excuse me, excuse me.” Vicky pokes her head out, a hand raised. “I'm sorry, but we have to get going.”

“Aright.” You mumble. “Thank you, guys. Bye.” Politely, you wave at the reporters before going back into the van.

You're soon moving again, leaving the entrance behind and driving in darkness for some minutes before more lights come into your sight until they're all around you. The set was built around a piece of the road, where you already shot earlier this week.

“C'mon, (Y/N). Hair and make-up." Vicky urgers, stepping out of the van with you.

You easily find your way around the set, chatting with people as they do your hair and put the makeup on. There will be a tiny cut above your left eyebrow, and Ron, the guy who always take care of the fake wounds around here, takes only fifteen minutes to get it done. Once you're ready, Vicky guides you to the filming area, and you sit on your chair a few feet away, under one of the many huge tents scattered around the place.

“Hi.” Someone says, and you abruptly look up from your phone, finding your co-star. The only co-star of the day, Dacre. He's already full Billy, with the mullet wig and the leather jacket. “I didn't mean to startle you. Just thought I'd come to say hello before the scene.”

You haven't properly spoken to Dacre. The single scene you made was quick, one of the last, and the set was a mess. So you didn't have the chance to talk, and ever since, you haven't crossed paths with him. But today's scene is all about your characters. Amy's first appearance on season three will have her running from something in the woods, the Mind Flayer, and she crashes her car on Billy's, while he's on the way to meet Mrs. Wheeler. That's it for today, their first meeting.

“Hi.” Smiling back, you shake his hand. “I'm (Y/N).” You decide to remind him.

“I know.” He simply says. “Do you want to go over the lines before the real thing?”

He has such a nice voice, it's impressive. You've watched some of his movies, and he's really good. It's not like you haven't acted before, but nothing so important or famous as Stranger Things. You can't help but be a little nervous. “Sure.” Blocking your phone, you stand up, leaving it on your seat.

“Alright. Let's–”

“(Y/N)! Dacre! It's time, c'mon!” The director calls, cutting you off.

“Guess we'll go straight to the real thing,” Dacre says as you start making your way to where the cars are positioned.

Billy's Camaro and Amy's light green Toyota are placed a few inches apart, the front part already wrecked and a light smoke coming off from under the hood.

“The mechanism will push the cars on each other and the rest you already know.” Your stylist comes to check on you one last time, making sure everything is perfect. When she steps away, you get inside the car.

A few days ago you shot Amy's way over here, driving insanely fast, running from the shadows creeping. Most of the scenes where Amy will be alone were already made since there weren't many. She will be around the others a lot, as the events are unrevealed.

Once you're in the car, you take your time to get into character, ignoring the orders being yelled outside. The lights are turned off, and the road before you is almost completely dark.

“Let's get it started, everyone!” The director shouts. “Action!”

At his command, the car jerks forward.

Letting your head fall on the wheel, you breathe fast, wide eyes acknowledging what just happened, the crash, the smoke, the other car that collided with yours. Looking over your shoulder, you imagine, you picture it coming, moving through the threes, growing closer.

“What the hell!” The voice yells as you try to make your car start again, uselessly. “You could've killed me!”

“Damn it.” Cursing under your breath, overcome by terror, you step out of the car, running around it and into the other one, which is still working, opening the passenger door and rushing inside.

“What do you think you're doing? Get the hell out of my car!” Dacre shouts at your face, in Billy's voice, a little deeper.

“There's something in the woods!” You yell, looking through the rear windshield. “It's coming!”

“Are you crazy or something?! You almost wrecked my car!” As he speaks, you imagine it once again, the tentacles coming from the sky, taking over the road behind you.

Then you grab his arm, squeezing the muscle underneath the jacket. He's in the middle of a sentence when he looks back too, immediately going silent as he's eyes meet the same inexistent thing you're seeing.

“What the–”

“Drive!” You burst out, and the car starts moving.

“Cut!” The director's voice reaches both of you and Dacre hits the brakes.

Relaxing, you let go of his arm.

“That was great, but I want another take. Ryan, turn those lights down.”

The scene is repeated three more times, with different lighting until they finally decide it's perfect. Then the whole set starts moving to the next scene, which is the sequence to what just played out. It'll be shot in a street Northeast from the road, and since it'll play out from the Camaro, you're told to stay in the car as Dacre drives there, following the other cars.

“You did well back there,” Dacre says as you move, taking a different turn from the other cars to reach your mark. The street has a few small houses on one side, which will have their lights on and some people moving inside and on their balconies, and tall threes on the other.

“You too. Hope I didn't hurt your arm, but Amy was terrified.” Shrugging your shoulders, you smile to hear his giggle.

“I noticed.” He says. “But my arm will survive.”

Looking his way, you're able to have a good look at him now. It's a little dark, but you can take in his features. Dacre makes the mullet look good, which is impressive since you absolutely hate the hairstyle. But not on him. Clearing your throat, you look away. “Make sure it will. You'll need it.”

Dacre stops by the mark, everyone apparently already on their positions. “Things are about to get tense for Billy and Amy now.”

“First fight.” You say, taking a look at your outfit to make sure nothing is out of place. “Enemies to lovers is quite a good arch.”

“I like it too.”

“(Y/N). Dacre. Are you ready?” The director asks and both of you give him a thumbs up, hands off the window. The crew with the microphones and cameras are already positioned, ready for the scene. “Alright then. Ready... Action!”

Dacre moves the car forward, just enough to fake it as he hits the breaks. “What was that?” Billy asks, annoyed for some reason Amy wouldn't know.

“I don't know.” With a hand on your hair, shaking a little, you breathe fast, terrified. “Just take me home.”

“Now I gotta drive you home too?”

“Screw you.” The sudden outburst and the disgust in his voice makes you bolt out of the car, keeping in mind not to look at the cameras following you.

“Are you going to walk?” Billy yells, but you don't look back, walking fast, crossing your arms. “Wait.”

“Screw. You.”

“Don't be an idiot.” You roll your eyes when you notice he's coming closer. Dacre grabs your arm, forcing you to turn around. “Are you really going to walk home with that... Thing out there?”

You're confused at his change of moods, pushing your arm away. “Does it look like I have a choice? You just saw that–” You gesture at the threes on the other side of the road. “–and you still couldn't bring yourself to drive a lady home. You're such a gentleman.” Raising your voice, you put the same tone of disgust in your voice that you heard in his. The cameras move a little closer, and you know why. That's when the tension starts, when Amy stands up to Billy. Stepping forward, lifting your head to try and look him in the eye, you put a single finger in his chest. “You're far worse than what people say you are.” You don't get why his eyes make you nervous. Maybe this whole thing is more than you're used to, too big of a production for you after a few years away from the cameras. As much as Dacre's face being so close makes you feel funny, you gotta keep it cool, don't let it show. You're scared, terrified of a monster in the woods.

“Cut the bullshit and let's go.” He takes your arm again, but you refuse to follow him, standing your ground.

“Let go!” You struggle a bit on his grip, noticing how you actually need to act as if it's tighter than it really is. When he turns to face you again, as you struggle, his face comes close again, his eyes filled with Billy's annoyance.

“Get your butt–” Exactly in time, a crack reaches your ears, and both you and Dacre look at the woods with wide eyes, your breaths caught in your throats, unsure of what made that noise, but not excited to find out. “Let's get out of here.”

“Yeah.” You mumble, heading back into the car.

“And cut!” The director yells as soon as you close the door shut. “That was good, but I want another take. I want the same tension you both built on season 2, only now it's stronger, you're face to face. And Dacre, work this out because people need to be convinced Billy likes someone for something else than just fool around.”

You both nod, repeating the same thumbs-up gesture. Taking a deep breath you wait for the sign and starts moving, doing pretty much the same until you're both out of the car, but this time, when Dacre pulls your arm, you act as if the pull was stronger then it actually was, letting yourself collide against his chest before stepping away. “Are you really going to walk home with that... Thing out there?”

“Does it look like I have a choice? You just saw that and you still couldn't bring yourself to drive a lady home. You're such a gentleman.” Instead of just putting a finger on his chest, you push him away with both hands, not keeping the normal distance as doing so, and letting your eyes fall on his unbuttoned shirt for a couple of seconds before raising your them again. You feel the heat on your cheeks, and you know you're blushing. Checking him out was not the intention.

Dacre's eyes meet yours, and for a second they soften before the usual annoyance comes back. You wonder if he's trying to say something, give you a hint about something he wants to do, but you have no idea what it might be. “Cut the bullshit and let's go, princess.” The weight on the last word is different, lower, meant as in insult, an irony.

“Let go!” You whisper-yell, trying to pull away, but you stop when Dacre holds the other arm, trying to drag you to the car. His stare is intense, and the cameras move a little, coming closer, and you know they're focusing on your faces. “Let go.” You repeat, much lower this time, trying to put some distance between you and him, since your bodies are way too close already.

“Get your butt–” The crack again, the stare at the woods, and the sudden change of moods. Run now, fight later. “Let's get the hell out of here.”

Nodding in agreement, you give your arms one last push, and Drace's eyes come back to you as if remembering he was still holding you, finally releasing his grip. You both run to the car and the scene is over.

Despite saying it was perfect, the director wanted two more takes. He wants proximity, touching, anger mixed with a sudden, recently discovered passion from an unexpected connection at first sight. You're happy to hear that you did achieve that, not sure if it came from your skills or the funny feeling you had in your stomach through the scene. It's weird to have someone you basically just met so close, only inches away.

When it's all done, you take off the outfit and put your clothes back on after washing the make-up away. Then you wait for Vicky, leaning against the minivan, scrolling through your Instagram feed.

“Hi again.” You see Dacre approaching through the corner of your eyes, raising your head to look at him. “Have you checked in at the hotel yet?”

“Yes, just before coming here.” All the actors are staying at the same hotel, just so it's easier to gather everyone around when needed, and be sure of the time it gets for them to get on set.

“I came in my car. I can give you a ride there if you like.” As he speaks, you see Vicky coming, talking with the director. Which you still don't know the name yet.

“I came with Vicky, my agent.” Gesturing at her, you feel embarrassed to decline, and you hope Vicky will say something to help you out as she usually does. “Right, Vi?”

“Oh, no.” Waving her hand in a fast motion, she puts a lock of her blond hair behind her ear. “Remember what I told you? Make connections, friends. Don't stick with me during the whole production.” She reaches out her hand and Dacre politely shakes it. “I'm Victoria Klein. (Y/N)'s agent and her mother's oldest friend.”

“Dacre Montgomery.” He simply says.

“You may take her to the hotel. I have some things to do and she needs to rest. Long day tomorrow.”

You just watch as Vicky sets you up as if you're not even there to make your own call. But you're too shy to say anything else, to still refuse Dacre's kindness. “Ok then. See you, Vicky.”

“Have a good night.” She says after giving you a quick hug.

Silently, you follow Dacre through the set to the parking lot. His car is among several different trucks, some of them already leaving. “Nice car.” You tell him as you get into the passenger seat.

“It's rented.” Dacre turns the ignition and the car comes to life. “I can't be without a car. What if I need to go somewhere?”

“Fair enough.”

He drives through the huge set and you fall into a comfortable silence, not sure of that to say. It would help if you could see some kind of landscape or anything at all through the window. Then you wouldn't look like an idiot with eyes glued at nothing but darkness.

“Did you stop to speak to the journalists?” Dacre asks when you reach the exit, waving at one of the guards.

“Yes. You?”

“Yeah. What did they ask?”

“Spoilers.” Shrugging your shoulders, you give him a glance, and he does the same. “About Amy's and Billy's relationship. What can be expected after their meeting in the season finale.”

A low giggle escapes his lips. “Wait until they know.”

“But they will have to wait until next year.”

“You did well back there. You actually blushed. How did you do that?” He stops at the red light, and you feel when he looks at you. Running a hand through your hair, you meet his eyes.

You weren't trying to blush. You just did. “I'm a very good actress.” Giving him a sassy smirk, you see when his lips break into a smile. It's different from Billy's smile, he doesn't act like he's trying to hide some unknown meaning behind it.

“You sure are.” The red light turns green and you start moving again. “Uhm... There will be a kissing scene, you know.” Oh. The kissing scene. You read through it, of course, you just didn't give much thought about it. “Have you ever done a kissing scene?”

“No.” The answer is quick, you don't have to think much. “In my long list of three movies, in two of them my character didn't have any romantic interests and in the other one it was platonic.” Dacre had done it, you remember from some movie, not sure which one. Your mother insisted on watching some of his movies, just so you'd ‘get to know your co-star skills’ before actually having to work with him. But it's different. It's completely different watching a character on screen and then meeting the person behind it.

“Oh, ok. I hope I won't make you feel uncomfortable.”

“Don't worry about that.” You're a professional, and that's your job. It's just a kiss anyways, and the scene won't be shot any time soon. You'll have time to get used to the idea.

“I just think that since our characters arch is connected from now on, it would be good to get to know each other. It helps a lot when the co-stars are somehow friends.”

“Of course.” He has way more experience in this than you, so whatever he says, you agree.

When you get to the hotel, Dacre leaves his car on the underground parking lot, and, despite having his room key, he insists on accompanying you to the reception to get your card. Once you're in the elevator, you rest your back against the mirror, watching the numbers as they light up.

“We should exchange numbers,” Dacre says, turning to look at you. “In case some of us need to go through the lines or work on something.” He shrugs his shoulders, the light fabric of his white shirt moving. “It's a thing among us. You'll be invited to a lot of parties like that.”

“Sure.” Taking your phone off your pocket you unlock it and hand it over to him as he does the same. Quickly, you type your number and save if on his contacts list.

“That's my stop.” He says when you reach the 14th floor. “See you tomorrow.”

“Good night.” You mumble, waving at him as the elevator door closes again.

The first thing you do when you get to your room is kick off your shoes, already undressing to hit the shower before throwing yourself on bed. It's very late and you won't have many hours of sleep. You're halfway to the bathroom when you take your phone to put on some music. But you don't recognize the object in your hand. After a moment of confusion, you realize it's Dacre's phone.

“What now?” Stopping on your tracks, you start making the way back and gathering the clothes you left on the floor, putting them on again. Since you don't know the number of his room and knocking from door to door is ridiculous, you decide to call reception and just ask. But on your way to the landline they have near the couch, Dacre's phone starts ringing. You were wondering who would it be when you read your own name on the screen.

“Oh, hi.” You're quick to pick up. “I guess you have my phone.”

“Yeah, I got lucky it didn't lock, or else I'd have to call reception asking for your room.” His voice gets a lot darker through the phone. “Would you tell me which one is it? I'm already heading to your floor.”

“1703.” Already making your way to the door, you hear the soft beep of the elevator's doors opening.

“I'm almost there.” He's still speaking when he turns the corner, getting into your sight. You hang up, a shy smile on your face. “Sorry about that.” He hands you over your phone and you give him back his.

“It's alright. We're both tired.” You expect him to just say good night and leave, but he doesn't, shifting his weight from one leg to another.

“Have you met the others yet? Natalia, Joe, Millie...?”

“No, not yet.” You've heard they are very close, and you're the new girl in set. Saying you're nervous doesn't get anywhere close.

“I'm your only friend so far then.” Dacre states. “I'll break the ice with the others, don't worry.” He smiles again, and now, under the bright lights of the hotel hall, you can see his face perfectly. His blue eyes, a lot kinder then they were earlier today when he was Billy.

“Thanks. Guess I'll see you tomorrow then... Pool scenes.”

“Pool scenes.” He repeats. “I'll leave you to sleep now. Good night, (Y/N). Again.”

“Good night, Dacre.” Standing by the door, you watch as the walks away, towards the elevators.

You're about to head inside when, just before he turns around the corner, Dacre gives you one last look, a smile coming to his lips when his eyes meet yours.

×

@baker151910 @shinydixon @dreamin-of-dacre @hanoi15 @lickmymelanin @skykittysstuff

[thegirlisuedtobe]

sorry for beat a dead horse but with the new production premiering you think of writing your thoughts about mata hari again? I know you perspective changed since the last review

(mata hari anon) i meant your thoughts on the production as a whole! i saw your posts about it being orietalist and how you injected it with meaning etc its very different from your first review/impression so i am curious how you "got there"

I realised I should have just replied to the original one since you had to send another ask either way 🤪🤪

But yeah sure, this is going to a little all over the place bc,,, where do I even begin,,,, first of all if u havent read my 2020 essay on the 2016 production please do, I think that will give a lot of context for what problems I have with it structurally. And second, I just want to clarify that when I wrote that essay I didn't have the words/vocabulary to describe the orientalist aspect of the show so I didnt really touch on it a lot but I had always felt off, speaking as a south east asian person.

I think I'll start with my change of heart. When the new production was announced I ended up examining Mata Hari again and the last time I thought about it in detail was like 2 years ago so when I looked at it a lot of things that I could have given a side eye and kept it pushing I can't really ignore all that much anymore? Like I think because the characters were being portrayed by other Asians I deluded myself into thinking that the racial aspects of this story didn't exist because it was an all asian cast. But when you remove the actors from it and look at it from a story stand point its really just a race faking dutch woman who stole culturally sensitive and important dress/dances/ traditions to make her living off of. And its really important that those appropriated dances were sexualised by her and by the context she performed them in, isnt she the person whos attributed with coming up with the first strip tease lmao??? I'm not Indonesian so I can't say if the specific dances she took were indeed sexual but even in the show when she's explaining her backstory to Armand she says that in the height of her misfortunre she saw these women in prayer and was enlightened but what she brought back was a strip tease so???

I think specially for me personally, I'm taking a class on decolonising literature and a lot of what we're talking about in class has kind of helped me understand and reflect on the racial aspect that this show is using as a backdrop. Indonesia the colony and Netherlands (the dutch) the coloniser. When you think about a coloniser white woman stealing/appropriating indonesian dance/tradition is that not disgusting? Don't you feel the orientalism and racism dripping and oozing from the story??

Like the show was written by frank wildhorn and ivan menchell, two white men. They wrote a truly racist and orientalist show! Like what can I say?? And tbh I'm not totally sure how to address the Korean producers part in this but Korea has and still does struggle with cultural appropriation (think african american and native american cultures) so I don't think that they're in the clear either even if a lot of it is that they don't know better (which isn't really an excuse either way).

And also the way that they do use it just as a backdrop to the "love story" pisses me the fuck off LMAO Like Mata Hari being a race faking appropriator can be okay in narrative if the narrative itself refutes that and frames it so that it isnt okay to do that. But never in the show does it actually say that. Which I guess leads to my infusing the story with more meaning than it actually has. I essentially made a story about mata hari and picked and chose the parts i liked to make a show that did have that message, that refuted the figure that is mata hari in her orientalist glory, and threw away what wasn't. I interacted with it in an almost parallel world where the show was actually good, hence the title of my essay. I was engaging with the potential of the story not what the story already was. And now that I engage with it again as the story it is, I've found that in all honesty it's not a story that's worth telling.

But I feel like I've already dedicated so much time I might as well see what the new production is going to show even if begrudgingly doing so. They have another chance I guess to rectify those issues but if I find out they don't then LMAO I'll just drop it. I don't have the time or patience anymore for stories like these.

[im-in-love-with-pizza-bites]

It Takes A Village Chapter 13

Chris Evans x Pregnant!Daughter!Reader

Series Master List

Series summary: You find out that you're pregnant. After being kicked out of your mom's house you go to live full time with your Dad who you only saw once every few months. Will he react badly to you being a mom at such a young age?

Chapter Summary: You find out the genders of the babies and tell your family and friends. You also announce their names.

Series Warnings: swearing, fighting with a parent, teen pregnancy, speak of abortion.

Chapter Warnings: Teen Pregnancy

You sat in class paying attention to what the teacher was talking about. You didn't understand it but might as well listen. After school was your one of the most important doctor appointments you'll probably ever have. You were getting to find out the babies' genders. Your dad already gave you his prediction of, one girls one boy, Scott told you his last time you saw him, he thinks you'll have boys, you were hoping for boys, mainly cause the names you picked for them you fell in love with. You were gonna ask for your friends prediction at lunch which was next. You already had a plan on how to tell everyone the genders of the babies. You made it known the babies were gonna be named after Disney characters so you really just planned on sending your friends gifs with said characters then at dinner tonight since you were going over to your grandma's you'd just tell them the names. The press had also taken a break from talking about you and the babies so you were back on Instagram, not posting really you just posted stories, usually of dodger and how adorably protective of you, you also blocked you're mom as well as Jake.

You sat at lunch laughing with your friends before Leah brought up the babies. "I think it's gonna be all girls." She said.

"Yeah, both girls." Naomi agreed.

"All boys." Oscar said smiling at you.

"What about you two?" You asked Naomi and Marcus.

"Boys." Mark said agreeing with his brother.

"One boy and one girl." Liam told you

"What about you they're your kids do you have like hidden knowledge?" Oscar asked.

"That's not how it works." Marcus said.

"I'm hoping for boys so I don't have to choose who I name the baby after." You explained.

"Oh."

---

You were at your appointment. "Would you like to know the genders?" The doctor asked.

"Yes please! But can you not put them on the big screen? I don't want my dad knowing when he comes back in."

"Okay... Looks like your have two baby boys!" She announced. Your dad wasn't in the room, he left to used the restroom and you wanted him to also find out just through the names like the rest of your family.

"Really! Great, my dad and uncle both wanted me to name a baby after them." You said giggling.

"Oh do you already have names picked out?" She asked as she kept doing the check up.

"Yeah I had Ar-" You stopped talking as Chris knocked.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

"What's the genders?" Chris asked smiling at you.

"Nope you get to find out the same time as everyone else!"

"They're all healthy though." The doctor assured.

"Well that's all that matters." Chris smiles.

---

You sat in the car, Chris nagging you to try and get the gender but you just shrugged him off before texting your friends, admittedly you probably should've told your family first but you were too excited. Oscar and Marcus were bragging about how they were right. Liam said he was close. The girls and Oscar were gushing over how adorable the names are. Chris was driving the two of you home to get dodger then you were going to your grandma's.

"I'll get Dodger wait in the car bubba." Chris said getting out of the car.

Soon you made it to your grandma's house. Scott was the only one there.

"Was I right?" He asked.

"Can't tell you." You said.

"It's o and n her phone! Get it." Chris said loudly as he entered the living room, laughing as you and Scott began play wrestling over you phone. Not full-on wrestling more of you pushing him away as you held your phone as far from him as possible, which was with some difficulty as he's a bit bigger than you.

"Dad!! Help me!!" You whined. Chris smirked walking over and snatching your phone. He clicked on but was quickly stopped when he realized your phone had a passcode. "Ha!" You laughed snatching your phone back.

"Come on the wait is killing us! Can you at least tell us which one of us your gonna name the baby after if it's only one boy?" Chris asked.

"Dad your acting like a child." You teased rolling your eyes as your aunt, her husband, and their kids come in. Almost immediately the kids were hugging you asking the genders. "What do you guys predict they are?" You asked.

"Girls!" Stella exclaimed.

"Boys." Ethan said. Subtly your smile grew but no one seemed to notice.

"One boy one girl!" Miles said.

"Good guesses." You smiled, looking at your aunt and uncle. "Hi!"

"Hey kiddo." Ryan said ruffling your hair before sitting on the couch next to his youngest brother in law.

"Hey n/n." Carly smiled at you taking a seat next to Chris.

"What do you guys predict? Dad thinks it's one girls one boy, uncle Scott thinks boys, grandma thinks boys. Oh and I texted grandpa and he thinks girls." You said smiling

"One girl one boy." Ryan told you. You looked at carly.

"Girls."

"Can we know yet?" Miles whined.

"Aunt Shanna isn't here yet." You said. You looked away not noticing how Chris told the kids to steal your phone so he could try to figure out your passcode or find a way go unlock it with your finger without you noticing. Ethan grabbed it handing it to Chris as the four of them messed with your phone. Scott peaked over whispering something too Chris. You turned around looking at them .

"Hey! Give it back!" You said reaching for it but Chris quickly handed it to Miles and told him to run.  Miles ran off while the other four of them held you back from running after him. Laughter filled the room as you broke free following after Miles, Ethan, Stella and Dodger behind you trying to stop you. Well Dodger didn't know what was happening he just didn't like you running.

"Woah watch it kiddos!" Your grandma said as you four ran through the kitchen, a chorus of "sorry Gramma!" Was heard before you were out of the kitchen.

"Miles please!" You whined running after him.

"No!" The four of you made it back into the living room and, Miles handed the phone too Scott who quickly gave it to Chris who tried 3000 which didn't work.

"Did you really think I did a marvel reference as my phone passcode?" You asked laughing snatching the phone back playfully glaring at the two men.

"Scott's idea!" Chris blamed. The living room was filled with laughter as you settled down Dodger found his spot on your lap glaring at you for what you could only assume was for running around.

"Can you give a hint?" Stella asked.

"N-" you began but was cut off when Shanna walked in.

"Hi!"

"Yes! Now y/n can tell us!" Miles ran over dragging Shanna over to the couch making everyone laugh. Your grandma stepped into the living smiling at her kids before looking at you expectantly.

"Okay fine, the babies are boys!" You announced.

"I was right!" Ethan exclaimed.

"So was I." Scott said giving Ethan a high-five.

"What's their names?" Stella asked.

"Flynn and Felix." You said.

"After Flynn rider!" Miles exclaimed smiling.

"They're good names." You dad said. You smiled as he pulled into his side.

"What were the other name options?" Ryan asked.

"Oh, Ariel and Aurora. I said they'd be Disney themed I meant it." You said.

"Both of your kids are named after animated characters." Ethan pointed out.

"It's only a matter of time before Tangled gets a live-action version." You said.

"They're great names... But which one is named after me?" Scott asked. You giggled.

"Flynn Scott, and Felix Christopher." You said the full names except last name as you didn't know who's last name you'd use yet.

"Cute, well dinner's done." Lisa said smiling.

You all went to the table, the table was full of laughs nothing could be much better than this. You did of course tell your grandpa the next day, but today was about this. You and your cousins were laughing and messing around at one end of the table while the adults talked at the other end. Undoubtedly the adults were looking at you four smiling.

A/n: I was gonna name one of the boys Eric after Prince Eric from The little mermaid but I'm 90% sure I know a Eric and I try my best to not name my characters names people I know have. It only failed once cause I forgot about my second cousins. So and one of them shares a name with a character in this fic. (I'm not close with my cousins or second cousins that's how I forgot.)

[anxiousnerdwritings]

hiya! it's me, the one and only knull anon!! ik you arent currently accepting requests or asks, and that's fine, but I recently written something for LexLuthor and I though I should share. this ask is in no way telling you to start posting again, or anything of the sort. remeber, mental health is always the most important thing! but I was thinking of you today and I was hoping you were doing good. so hopefully this piece will help improve your mood. again, you dont have to awnser this at all rn, only when you feel better!

ps, this has been spell checked by google so that's why it uppercase lol

~~~~~~

"How long do I have to wear this dress?"

"As long as the gala goes on, ___"

"Just call it a fancy party, or a luxurious gathering since its you-"

"Oh, do not get smart with me, ____"

Pulling at the top of your dress, you tried to loosen up the tightness of the neck area. It felt like a noose to you. Fortunately, the fabric was soft, extremely luxurious, and it covered every part of your body, excluding your hands and head.

Lex, on the other hand, was in some kind of fancy suit, that looked more expensive than the carpet in his penthouse. And his carpet was more expensive then your phone bill. Well, when you had a phone.

You didn't remember when he had found you, but you remember before. At least, bits and pieces of it. A home in a suburban neighborhood, a mom and a dad, a normal looking life for a kid like you. However, after a few months ago, it was far from normal.

You were given the finest things people would want in life, in return for… hanging out with lex luthor. It sounded weird at first, but you soon realized it wasn't a joke.

You werent treated as a prostitute, and not as a lover either: you weren't even legal. If you had to guess the relationship between you and Lex, it would have to be a father and daughter kind of relationship. Which also could explain why he wanted you to call him dad.

Back to this "gala", Lex actually would ban you from going to any party at all and left you with guards at all parts of the penthouse you were stationed at, sometimes even leaving you with Mercy. 

You didn't really know why he was letting you go out to this gala, but you had a few ideas. For starters, this gala was not just for anyone, it was for extremely rich people who had nothing better to do then sit around in a room. Which also explained the reason why everything looked the price of a liver.

Another possible reason was that a close colleague of your "dad" had seen you walking around in the penthouse. You never saw who it was but Lex advised you to stay out of sight when people were visiting.

Fortunately he didn't get as mad as you expected him to which was a good thing to be honest. He wasn't the type to tell you, more just reprimand you in a voice that just spelt disappointment. 

Anyway. It wasn't good to think of when he was angry with you. Right now you had to focus on the people who were trying to figure out who you were. 

Sticking close to Lex was easy, since he was 6 feet tall. Easily. And the fact that people wouldn't approach you when you were next to him. Only the people who you actually recognized either from voice or appearance were brave enough to even look in your direction.

The night was almost over when a man approached the two of you. At this point your feet were getting sore and when you asked Mercy for the time, she responded that it was almost 12: lex would definitely send you to bed as soon as you got home again. 

However, the man who approached the two of you was familiar. It only took a few seconds of going through your memories and seeing Lexs face turn to slight annoyance to realize this was Bruce Wayne.

He walked up to the two of you and smiled down at you. 

"Well, I didnt know Lex had a child. What is your name?"

You were about to respond when Lex interrupted you. "Their name is ____. And unfortunately, we were just about to leave. I hope that whatever you were going to ask can wait until later?"

Wayne's smile faltered a little, before it turned neutral. "Unfortunately, no, but it is a quick question. And one that I need to speak with you in private?" He looked at you, before speaking again, "No harm meant."

You were about to respond again, when Lex motioned to Mercy. "Mercy, could you take ____ back to the limo? I will be just a moment- oh, and do not let her out of your sight."

Mercy nodded, and taking your hand, she led you back to the elevator where the entrance was. All while everyone was focused on the two of you.

Wayne was the first to speak. "Shes not yours, is she?"

"____ is my daughter, and I hope you would have the decency to not spew this to the media. You dont seem the type of man to feed the media with info, especially not of a, young girl."

Wayne looked offended, and didnt even try to hide it in his face. "No. If anything, I was wondering why you, of all people, would be taking care of a child."

Lex did not seem offended. "Oh, but you have so many children, I thought it was a necessity." Lex leaned in a little towards Wayne and whispered, "And to be quite honest with you, it is none of your concern."

Wayne simply glared at Luthor before Lex started moving away from Wayne. 

"Well, I'm sorry to say but I believe I've kept ____ waiting for long enough. I'm afraid I must go."

He didnt wait for Wayne to say anything he simply stormed off to the elevator and left.

Wayne did nothing but walk over to the windows, where he was able to get a clear view of Mercy holding your forearm and opening the limo door while a few more guards stood near you. Lex appeared soon after with his own guards and ushered you in the car. 

Lifting his hand towards his ear, he commed his own children.

Whispering, he said "All of you better be following that limo when I get down there."

He heard Dick chuckle. "Oh, dont worry Bruce. I think the 4 trackers on that thing will be enough."

Bruce didnt say anything as he watched the limo drive off into the distance. Figuring it was time to dip, he left his wine glass empty at a table and left the room, and trying to figure out who was the strange girl he had just met.

~~~~~~

oof so now as I paste this here from google docs I feel like an asshole by sending you this so I just want to remind you that you can awnser this whenever you want! I might send in some more in the future but I want you to prioritize mental health over tumblr! your health matter, both physically and mentally! and dont forget it! with lots of love,

- knull anon

Sorry I didn’t see this sooner! This is really good!💖💕 I love the idea of Lex Luther and Bruce Wayne beefing over poor Reader. Having two extremely rich, intelligent and determined people duke it out just appeals to me for some reason.

Don’t feel bad, thank you for sending this in while I was gone🥰💚. It was nice.

[annetteblog]

I got a very long ask and wrote even longer reply, and now Tumblr for some reason doesn't want to publish it through asks. So I'm making a separate post, because what else can I do? 😀 I hope Anon wouldn't mind

Hi!

Thank you for such a long ask! I really enjoy replying those, although it may take some time to actually write whatever I have on my mind 🙂 However, I feel like for every question that you posed, it's possible to write its own big reply or even an essay, so this piece of mine probably won’t give them justice (but I’ll try my best.)

As usual, one big IMO.

1) Ethics, “gueer coding” and discussions

I believe I’ve already partly touched this subject here. Shortly, I think that everything the boys did (and still do) had its own purpose. They decided to put these "undertones" (or whatever one may call them) in their art. They made some statements with a very small room for interpretation. And it didn't happen once or twice. More like, it's been a consistent behaviour throughout years.

I don't buy this excuse some fans write - "oh, he just didn't know about this/didn't understand how it looked like/didn't..." So apparently, JK wasn't able to figure out shit about Troye, didn't give a damn about his GCF, didn't think how his tattoo looked like; JM didn't realize to what conclusions could lead his quite bold words about 4am or waking up and seeing JK; both of them didn't have second thoughts about the Black Swan dance; Bang PD is just a CEO who pays zero attention to BTS in general and KM actions in particular (which sometimes actually backlash, e.g. that stop gay fanservice thing after the Seoul concerts), because he clearly just doesn't care AT ALL; whatever PR service they have in BH is just asleep all the time... Etc etc etc, you got the idea

Well, if one wants to perceive JM, JK and BigHit as a group of complete morons with no brains, this "oh, they just didn't know" explanation may work. But if all of them were idiots, how would BTS become the biggest group on a planet? They are smart enough, deal with this.

And YET. KM still do what they do. It's their choice, so apparently they have their motives. You wrote it yourself too - "Jikook and BH put out all that stuff for a reason."

Keeping this in mind, I truly think it's fair to discuss queer undertones or KM's bond. It's meant to be discussed and speculated. They made it public, and they continue to make it public (and quite obvious, to be honest). Why? Well, I guess they want us to speculate.

From here comes the second point

2) Art and its interpretations

In general, I believe that any good art should allow various interpretations. That's what a good piece of art is supposed to do - provoke a thought. As well as it's quite customary to analyze and (sometimes) overanalyze art. Thousands of universities worldwide have programs which are focused on fine art, literature, theater, music, film, etc.

And why is it okay to write about Avengers or Madonna or whatever weird art you're able to find in the closest Contemporary museum (like a banana taped to a wall), but not okay to interpret BTS' songs and/or performances? Again, I strongly believe that art is meant to be discussed. Especially as cool as theirs 🙂

Actually, some popular fandom theories turned out to be true here. Since Spring Day release on Feb 2017, fans speculated about its connection to the Sewol ferry tragedy based on the song's lyrics, MV and choreo. We got this confirmation like when, December 2020? But before it was also just an interpretation.

Coming back to KM. Combining these with the idea that JM/JK/BH clearly know what they're doing and how it may look like, I don't see a problem in having various interpretation of their art. Including queer ones.

3) Escapism

Isn't all art targeted to escaping in a sense? We want to take a break from reality and/or mundane life or just gain some new experience. In this sense what's the radical difference between staring at pictures or sculptures in a museum, watching a movie, reading a book or scrolling through Tumblr reading BTS/KM centric posts? All of these are means to escape and entertain ourselves.

As for this "if they are a queer couple, is it okay to derive pleasure and 'what a beautiful love story' feelings from two members of systematically oppressed minority?" - and you would prefer doing what - ignoring them? pretending that they don't exist? 🙃 In case if they are a queer couple, I guess showing support and benevolence is even more important. Exactly because, as you mentioned, they are a part of the oppressed minority. And the hatred is/would be definitely in place.

4) Fanfiction

Oh my, what a controversial theme these days.

Firstly, some forget it was not invented in the 21st century. Even slash fanfiction (cough Star cough Trek). As for incorporating real people, it's been a part of literature for like what.. always? There are millions of different writings about emperors, nobles, military figures, lives of saints, etc. And it's not like personal opinion of people in question bothered those, who write or wrote about them. I clearly remember a scene in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, where Alexander I [Russian emperor 1801-25] after losing a battle against Napoleon, hits a birch tree with his sword while crying hard and just being kinda hysterical. Would real Alexander be satisfied with such image if he read the book? Idk 😄

About having "the right to comment on such [different from your own] experience". I suppose, if authors wrote only about what they had experienced, our literature would be 95% poorer than it is. How can one write books in historic settings if they didn't live there? How do books about future and space travel exist, if we live in 2021? Is it needed to be a part of mafia to write about mafia? What about other cultures? Should an American author write only about American people and American lifestyle or it's fine to have characters from other countries?

Writing is not about experiencing something and then making a fanfic or a book, it's more about research and compassion. If you have reliable info on your theme and are able to look at the world using different lenses, why not?

I don't perceive fanfiction as a worldwide evil. Sure, there are creepy examples as well as authors, who write fetishizing weird shit. But it doesn't mean that all fanfiction=bad and all slash fanfiction=objectification of male homosexuality. Fanfiction is just one form of fiction, it can be good or bad based on how it's written. But the label itself doesn't define anything, as well as reading it should not be a reason to accusations.

5) Jikook, shipping and politics

I'm among those, who perceive pretty much everything as a part of politics. We all exist within some political conventions and have certain political laws over our heads. And yes, it includes art. Even if an artist says something like "oh, I decided to stay away from politics, my work is beyond it". The decision to stay away from politics is also political, because apparently there was something within the political structure what made this artist say that and forced them to make this distinction between them and some institutional conventions.

And that makes me believe that shipping/supporting KM is also political. But I don't think it's necessarily bad? Basically, you decided to support potentially queer people from a country, which doesn't really approve LGBTQ+. It puts you in the opposition towards a particular government. You made a choice. You could google some SK stuff, read all that you mentioned in the beginning of your ask, and say something like "oh, that's not okay there? well, fair enough, I guess their government knows better"🤠 and forget that this KM thing even exists. But apparently you didn't

Imo, is it politics? Yes

Is it bad that it's politics? Well, no? 🙃

|

P.S. I hope I was clear enough with my ideas. Thank you again for the thought provoking ask, and I hope I'll hear from you again 🙂

And honestly, I don't think that you're problematic in any way :)