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quizzicalwriter · 1 year ago

Note

i really love ur writing especially with any matt dillon character <3 i feel like u improved sm with ur recent fics too (or maybe i just like the angst HAHA) but uve always been a great writer, i love how u also include canon details and like realistic details (if that makes sense) but u just r really good with expressing ur words!! id love if u wrote smut like dally bothering fem!reader working a shift at the diner or something idk nonetheless ur writing is sosososgood

Cherry

Pairing: Dallas Winston x Fem!Reader

Summary: Dallas makes everything better after a shitty day at work, most of which had been his fault in the first place.

Warnings: Smut. MDNI. Pain in the ass Dallas. Make-up sex, fingering, oral, all that good stuff.

A/N: Thank you so much for the kind words! And thank you for the request!

Word Count: 4.5k

Working at a local diner wasn't necessarily the high point of your life, working the closing shift even less so. Dealing with inebriated patrons, groups of teenagers, and the occasional male who stayed well past the hours of operation was your usual.

It was a cute thing, the diner, owned by a man who'd inherited the land from his grandfather. His wife had based the menu on her recipes, along with a few from her mother, grandmother, and so on. You'd worked there long enough to gain their trust, and if you were honest, you saw them more as your grandparents than you did your employers.

Dallas accompanied you on the busier nights, whenever he passed by and caught sight of the unruly nighttime crowd, he'd duck into the diner and give you a crooked grin before making his way over to the counter. You fed him, or gave him drinks, just as you did the remainder of the guys whenever you could get away with doing so. It was calming, and made you feel safe having your guard-dog of a boyfriend waiting by the front counter until you flipped the sign that hung on the front door.

While his presence was welcome, the attention it drew was not. Possessive streaks weren't something you prided yourself on. You trusted Dallas as anyone would their boyfriend, but you weren't blind to him either. Dallas was a man, a cocky man at that, his cockiness flared whenever a woman looked his way for longer than a second. Had he ever truly pursued someone other than yourself? No, but, you couldn't help your jealousy whenever a woman approached him with glossed lips and bright eyes.

Internally you thrived on him turning down each woman that came his way, although, much to your dismay, some women took longer to disperse than others had. Whether it was due to Dallas's charm, or their persistence, you weren't sure, nor did you have the ability to check during busy shifts, especially when a man who looked as though he'd seen conflict in the Civil War whistled from the other end of the diner.

"Miss!" He called, waving his hand higher than he had seconds ago. Truthfully, you weren't ignoring him, you'd had to run two other checks to nearby booths and had simply forgotten about him. "Miss!"

With a feigned smile, you peeled your attention from the woman all but draping herself over Dallas, her thin fingers splayed over his forearm. He smiled back at her, the sight made your stomach sour enough for you to partially crumble the bill you'd written up moments prior for the increasingly impatient man.

"Here's your bill, sir. I'm sorry for the wait, busy as all get out tonight."

Your apology was met with a gruff laugh, but he seemed to understand your plight as he followed your line of sight back toward the front counter. While he signed the bottom of the receipt, he cleared his throat, pulling your attention back to him.

"Ain't no sense in apologizin'." He responded with a lift of his hips as he retrieved his wallet from his back pocket. "I get why your attention's elsewhere."

You opened your mouth to apologize, only to be met with the raise of his hand as he placed a few dollars down on the table, enough to cover the tab and your tip. It was generous and kind enough to leave you mentally berating yourself for not having given him better service. But, you ventured by the kind, almost apologetic smile upon his face that he had been in a similar situation in his youth.

Incessant laughter bubbled from the opposing side of the diner, the noise boisterous enough to pick away at your fading patience. You pocketed the cash, inwardly begging whatever deity listening for the grace to clean up shop and kick the girl out without causing a scene.

Their conversation continued, words muffled by distance and the clatter of putting away cutlery, although you tried your damndest to overhear it all. You began your routine of cleaning up house, a wet rag over your shoulder with a bottle of cleaning solution in your left hand. As you spritzed a nearby table, her laughter kicked up a notch, yet again.

"We're closing!" You called, giving her a feigned smile as she turned her head to face you. She returned your smile, just as you had given it to her, coarse and fake. You bit at your inner cheek as she turned back to Dallas, her hand lifting to rest against his shoulder.

"Hey, we're closed!" You shouted, tone louder than before. Dallas peered at you from behind her shoulder, face a mixture of shock and amusement. You were having none of it, not her bold and brazen behavior, his cockiness - none of it. You tossed your rag toward the counter, slinging the bottle alongside it as you moved toward them.

The woman, for what it was worth, met your eyes as you approached. The sudden eye contact left you stumbling over your thoughts, but as you caught sight of her hand still lingering upon his shoulder, all sense of humility left you.

"He's taken, did you know that?" You asked as you grabbed her wrist, quickly shoving it back toward her. Her smile faltered then, her eyes flickering between you and Dallas as she backed away. "No, I suppose you didn't."

All anger you had directed toward her vanished with each step she took toward the door, instead raising and flaring at the man sitting beside you. You turned, meeting his gaze with a scowl and a shake of your head.

"Seriously, Dallas?" You asked, although you knew no response he could provide at that moment would abate the growing ache in your chest. "You're an asshole. A real - fuckin' - asshole."

Each pause was accentuated with a shove of his shoulder, jealousy seething in your mind, burning your eyes with tears you refused to let him see. You could tell from the sudden switch of emotion on his face, albeit blurred from your tears, that he hadn't meant to hurt you. His hands grabbed your forearms, holding you steady whilst simultaneously shielding himself from your jealousy-fueled tirade. You were in no mood for his touch, so you pulled away from it with a grunt.

The sooner you finished closing up shop, the sooner you'd be away from him. Those words rang in your mind as you walked away from him, repeating with each step as though it were a mantra.

It was shitty; your jealousy, his cockiness, it was a toxic mix that neither of you relished in. You had known going into your relationship with Dallas how he handled interactions with women, you knew where his loyalties were, yet some part of you continued to twist and sour with each look his way.

Maybe it was the extra shifts you'd taken at the diner, the fewer hours you were able to spend by his side, being reassured by his touch and his words. Whatever it was, you hadn't the patience to linger on it, all you wanted to do was wallow in your anger - so, you did.

"Doll!" He called, although he was met with no answer as you tossed unclean plastic menus onto the countertop. You could hear him walking toward you, swearing under his breath, yet you continued to ignore him as you snagged your house keys from underneath the counter.

"Christ's sake, I didn't say a damn thing to the broad!"

"That's not the point." You sighed, shaking your head as you spoke, fingers blindly fumbling with your keyring as you neared the front entrance. "Not the point at all, and you know it."

Once your fingers had found the key to the front door, you hastened your pace, not necessarily wishing to have an argument with Dallas in the middle of the night. Dallas, however, absolutely seemed up to the challenge. He stood behind you, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket, a heavy scowl on his face as he watched you lock the place up.

"Explain it to me then." He whispered, and for a second you believed him to be apologetic. "'Cause this attitude, it ain't helpin' your cause."

And then he ruined it.

You swirled on your heel, months of pushed-aside irritation bubbling to the surface. You weren't one for confrontation, never had been, it was a sore point for you. You quickly pocketed your keys, hands gripping the middle of your jacket, tugging it snug around your middle.

"You're an asshole, you know that?" You asked. "You could've shooed her away, told her you were with someone. And yet, you- you entertain it."

The words would've rung home for anyone willing to listen, but Dallas, with his stubborn ways, only cocked his head to the side and gave you a lopsided grin.

"I'm not interested in other women." He responded, taking a step closer to you. "I can't help who talks to me, doll. I ain't entertaining anything, you know that."

Did you? Maybe, but in your jealousy-fueled haze, you refused to admit your part in the misunderstanding. He lifted his right hand from his pocket, placing it against your upper arm, thumb gently rubbing along the fabric of your jacket.

"Do you worry about me?" He asked with a duck of his head, trying to center your attention back on him. "Worry about me talkin' to other girls?"

You nodded, and instead of snickering, he pulled you forward. You thudded against his chest, the sudden move knocking a bit of wind from your lungs. His arms wrapped around you as he laughed out an apology, the sound soft, the words genuine.

"Still an asshole." You murmured, resting your cheek on his chest as your hands grasped onto the back of his jacket. You felt him nod, chin atop your head, his hands smoothing up your back.

"I know." He replied. "At least let me drive you home, alright? Even if you're pissed."

"Not pissed." You assured, leaning back from the embrace to meet his gaze. "Might have overreacted."

Dallas clicked his tongue against his teeth, eyebrows screwing together as he nodded his head back. "No," he chuckled. "I would've done the same if some guy talked to you."

The thought made you smile, not that you hadn't seen Dallas's protective side flair. You were both territorial over each other, and there was nothing necessarily wrong with that as long as the feelings were reciprocated - which they were in their entirety.

"Ever notice how empty this lot is at night?" He commented, snapping you from your mind with a gentle squeeze of your hip. "Hardly any cars pass by, somethin' I noticed after a few nights sittin' by the counter."

Dallas hadn't been wrong, not in the slightest. In truth, you would've been surprised if you'd caught anyone lingering in the parking lot after closing. Your town wasn't quiet by any means, but the diner had been built around, years of infrastructure hiding it amidst a cluster of run-down businesses.

With a hum, you leaned into his side. "Guess you're right." You replied, tilting your head back to give him a squinty-eyed smile, on account of the nearby flickering lot light.

"Could make you feel better." He whispered. "On account of earlier, or whatever."

You snickered, rolling your eyes at his blatant suggestion, yet for all its crudeness, you couldn't deny the stir you felt in your lower stomach.

"You're filthy." You chided, nudging his side with your elbow.

Dallas huffed out a laugh, his arm looping around your back. "C'mon," he urged as he began walking, leading you toward his car. "Ain't wasting the opportunity to make you feel better."

Mere moments had passed before you were both clamoring into the back of the Thunderbird, limbs bumping into limbs, soft laughter echoing inside the vehicle as Dallas reached over your middle to pull the door shut. As soon as the door had shut, your lips were on his, your hands blindly fumbling with the front of his jeans.

You'd just gotten the button undone when his hands wrapped around your wrists, pulling them back as he pulled away from your kiss. You were left pouting, the sight adorable and pitiful enough to pull a laugh from Dallas as he set your hands down in your lap.

"This is for you, not me. Let me make you feel good."

Dallas focusing his sole attention on you? On pleasing you, no less? How could you refuse? Elated laughter bubbled in your chest as his hands slid up and underneath your skirt, the fabric bunching up around your hips. You helped him with a gentle lift of your hips, allowing him to hook his fingers around the waistband of your underwear, before slinking the fabric down your legs.

"You're going to cum on my tongue." He stated, tone full of nonchalance as he tossed your underwear toward the front of the car. "And, I want you over me when you do."

"You want me to sit on your face?" You asked, lips quirking up into a smile as you bit back laughter, truly believing he was joking. "Is that what you're asking me?"

Dallas only nodded, and only then did the realization of his request register in your mind. Heat prickled at the nape of your neck, spreading forward until it encompassed your chest in a deep blush. Sensing your nerves, Dallas's thumbs rubbed gentle circles above your hip bones, his head ducking down to meet your avoidant gaze.

"Hey," he whispered. "Ain't nothin' I haven't seen before. It'll feel good, doll, promise."

So, you allowed him to help you into a position that didn't have both of you groaning in discomfort. Maneuvering into a position where you straddled his shoulders, in the back of an already narrow car, wasn't exactly the easiest to accomplish. Somehow, you both managed, mostly thanks to Dallas's hands keeping you steady as you moved over him.

The chill of his silver rings bit into your thighs, keeping you sunk in the present, hovered over him as he looked up at you from below. There was nothing other than pure, unadulterated lust pouring from his eyes, pupils blown so heavily there was only a crescent of color visible. His fingers tapped, once and then again, a nonverbal request for you to lower yourself.

So you did.

He met you halfway, tongue licking a fat stripe up your cunt, delving between your folds to collect your essence against his tastebuds. He wanted to savor you, that much was readily apparent by his hardened grasp on your thighs, all but cementing you atop his face. Your head fell back, eyes fluttering shut as a plethora of broken-off moans tumbled past your lips.

You begged for him, murmuring his name between praises lost on your ears, but not his. Each word, no matter how garbled by pleasure, left his hips rutting up into the air as he circled his tongue around your clit. Your hips moved in synchrony with his tongue, adjacent swirls, and he let you. He had always favored dominance, being in control of the situation, but having you atop him had him praising every divine figure he could conjure in his lust-riddled mind.

“Dallas-“ You crooned, the noise so sweet it pulled a moan from his chest, the vibration left directly against your aching cunt. You smiled, a mixture of a laugh and moan leaving you as your hands raked through his hair, tugging at the short strands. “So good, Dal.”

With an open-mouthed kiss to your clit, he pulled away. It was for a fraction of a second, needed to slip his right hand between your thighs, but you were left whining and pouting. He tutted from between your thighs, lips, and chin glistening with your cum.

“C’mon, doll.” He whispered as his middle and ring fingers pushed inside of you, delicately curling to brush against a spot that had your thighs clamping down around him. “It'll feel good, I promise.”

His left hand squeezed your hip, guiding you just as he would if you were riding him. You unconsciously followed his guidance, sliding down onto his fingers, before raising yourself, only to repeat the motion over, and over. Lewd squelches sounded from between your thighs, your cunt dripping a mixture of cum and saliva down onto his palm.

“See?” He asked through a breathy laugh, quickly resuming his position between your thighs. “Told ‘ya I’d make you feel better.”

You wanted to berate him for his cockiness, you truly did, but the feeling of his lips encircling your clit left you breathless. If anything, any ridicule would’ve turned into a garbled mess of his name.

A groan of a laugh reverberated in Dallas’s chest, yet he never pulled away. His tongue lapped at your clit, intervals of swirls and sucks following each grunt he managed to sound out. The sounds were carnal, stoking the steadily building flame in your lower stomach. Your fingers tightened their hold on his hair, pulling him closer, yourself closer. In truth, you weren’t sure if he could breathe, but neither of you moved from where you were.

“That’s it, doll.” He rasped, words hardly audible, muffled from your cunt. You managed a sighed moan in response, your hips rolling, sliding your cunt against his tongue. His fingers thrusted into you, mimicking the tempo of his eager tongue, each lap and circle of the muscle pushing you closer to the edge.

The uptake of an octave, your head rolling back as your eyes squeezed shut; Dallas knew each instinctual move of your body by heart. His eyes stayed locked on you, memorizing the sight of you coming undone above him, riding his face like a woman starved. His free hand lifted from your hip, curving around the plush of your ass, knowing he needed a tight hold on you to keep you steady.

“Dal-“

There it was, the familiar beckon of his name. His cock strained against the confines of his boxers, tip leaking precum, smearing against the now dampened fabric. His thighs tensed as his hips rolled, desperately seeking some form of reprieve as your cunt twitched around his fingers. Instead of verbalizing his reply, he squeezed the swell of your ass, wordlessly urging you to cum.

White-hot pleasure seared your veins, unconsciously twitching your limbs, tightening your hold on his hair. Your cunt spasmed, clit throbbing against his circling tongue. You cursed under your breath, eyes squeezed shut, mind solely focused on the ecstasy overtaking your body. Dallas grounded you with slow brushes of his hand along your thigh, fingers still inside of you, lips placing gentle kisses on your oversensitive clit.

“Alright?” He asked, tone rough enough to pull a surprised laugh from you. You nodded, threading your fingers through his hair.

“More than alright.” You replied. “Way more.”

Instead of hovering over his face for another second with wobbly legs, you moved yourself back, giving Dallas enough time to situate himself upright. His hands found your hips quickly after, gently guiding you back to his lap.

In an almost instinctive move, you lowered yourself to place your lips on his. His hands slid around your back, fingers absentmindedly grabbing at the fabric of your uniform as his lips moved with yours.

You braced yourself against the rear windshield, the slick condensation gathering in the palm of your hands, smearing your fingerprints down the pane as your lips moved against his. If anyone had passed by, anyone at all, they would've gathered what you both had gotten up to.

Neither of you could bring yourself to care, not when Dallas slipped his hands underneath the back of your shirt, his fingernails scraping along the curve of your back to have you closer as he sucked your tongue.

Your lips curved into a smile at the move, the lucrative, nearly addictive slide of his tongue against your own. He knew you, knew your body and how to make it tick. Your hips rocked against his lap, causing his already hard cock to twitch and pulse against the confines of his jeans.

"You're still hard," you rasped into the kiss, "I can make you feel good, too."

He groaned, his eyebrows knitting together as his hips bucked up into you. You bit at your bottom lip as you moved your hands from the rear windshield, letting your now cool skin slide down his front, keeping your eyes locked with his as you unzipped his jeans.

His lips parted in a silent moan as your hand slipped underneath the hem of his boxers, your fingers curling around the thick base of his cock. You could feel each twitch of his cock beneath your palm, the skin slick and warm, coated in his precum. You slid your hand up, leisurely pumping him, the act enough to have him grunting out your name.

You savored each lecherous moan that fell from his lips. With a shift of your hips, you centered yourself over his thigh, rolling your hips down in tandem with each stroke of his cock. You knew you were dampening the denim, soiling it, yet all you saw reflected in Dallas's eyes was the same debauchery you held heavy in your mind.

“Fuck me.” You begged, tired of the hassle, of denying yourself the most innate of pleasures. He relented with a lift of your body, allowing his hard cock to slide along your folds, catching against you. You watched as he lowered you onto him, his cock sliding into you deliciously slow.

Thin, red lines followed his nails as they dragged up the skin of your thighs, coming to a halt at your hips where he steadied you. You could feel his cock pulse inside of you, twitching just before your cervix. You watched him with bated breath, allowing him to guide each movement of your hips, and he did so with precision.

"So tight," he murmured, eyebrows knitted together in a mixture of pure lust and concentration, as though the mere sight of you atop him would undo him if he gave into it. "So fuckin' good."

All you could muster was a moan in response, your hips rolling forward, each forward motion brushing your clit against his lower stomach. Your thighs strained, muscles burning, yet you paid them no mind in favor of the persistent push of Dallas's cock, the way his tip brushed against your g-spot with each shift of his hips.

His eyes flitted, sight torn between your breasts and the needy, desperate look in your eyes. He shifted beneath you, planting his feet against the floorboard, giving himself enough stability to thrust upward, pushing himself deeper than before.

The shift in position forced the air from your lungs, a pitiful, broken-off mess of a moan passing your parted lips as you grasped his shoulders. He whispered something to you, but whatever it was had been lost on your muddled mind in favor of the budding feeling of ecstasy coiling in your lower stomach.

"Dallas-" You whined, the urgency in your call not lost on him. He nodded, wetting his lips as he rolled his hips upward. You could feel your arousal dripping between your thighs, smearing along your skin as well as his, coating his lower stomach in your cum.

"That's it, doll." He whispered, his left hand moving between your thighs to circle his thumb around your clit, rhythm syncing with each pump of his hips. "C'mon, cum for me."

Ecstasy coiled tight in your stomach, and with each swirl of his thumb and pump of his cock, you felt it twist tighter and tighter. Your hands moved from his shoulders, fingers threading through the back of his hair where you pulled. His mouth fell open, eyebrows lifting as an expression of shock-induced euphoria crossed his face.

So, you pulled harder, the harshness of your hold mirrored in the desperate way you fucked yourself on his cock, movements so frenzied you felt your muscles burning beneath your skin.

A deep, almost sinful moan rumbled in his chest. You swallowed it with a kiss to his lips, hands moving to his jaw as your tongue moved with his. His thumb was slick against your clit, and with a gasp of his name, your cunt spasmed around his cock.

"Fuck, that's it." He groaned, words strained as he teetered on the edge of his orgasm. "Let it out, doll."

Your lips moved from his, kisses trailing down his cheek, onto his jaw, before you settled your cheek to his shoulder, simply choosing to give yourself over to the onslaught of pleasure Dallas had you wrapped up in. Dallas's hold on your hip tightened as his head fell back, his eyes screwed shut, jaw clenched as his cock twitched inside of you, each pulse filling you with his cum.

You both shared the blissful silence that came afterward, the only noises being the occasional breath and whispered praise, the brush of his hands against your skin.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, words muffled by the press of his lips against your throat. "I'm sorry."

Apologies weren't common with Dallas. To his benefit, he hadn't done much to call for one, but this - this you appreciated. You nodded, leaning into his touch, his lips, with a thread of your fingers through his hair. He continued murmuring into your skin, you drank in each word, heart slowing in your chest, calming with the promises he spoke only to you.

His hand moved from your hip, thumb, and forefinger resting against your chin, tipping your head up to meet his eyes. His eyebrows were furrowed together, skin coated in a thin veneer of sweat. His thumb brushed across your bottom lip, yet his eyes never left yours.

"You're my girl." He whispered, and you nodded. "I'd never do anything to hurt you."

You placed a kiss on the pad of his thumb, the sincerity in his words causing you to smile. He smiled in return, fingers splaying against your cheek where he held you gently.

"It won't happen again, alright?"

His words were soft, the sentiment mirrored in his eyes. You leaned forward, wrapping your arms around the back of his neck, burying your face into the crook of his neck. He met your embrace with one of his own, wrapping his arms around the small of your back, hands gently caressing between your shoulder blades.

"Good apology, been workin' on it for a while?" You joked, placing a kiss on his jaw with a soft bout of laughter. You felt him laugh, the vibration of his chest against yours.

"Nope." He admitted, turning his head to press a kiss to your temple. "You're worth a genuine apology."

"Sap." You teased, but your tone gave way to your true feelings, how much you appreciated his honesty, his words. He caught on, but never made it known, instead choosing to reply with another kiss to your skin.

"Yeah, guess I am."

A/N: Siri, play "Lover, You Should've Come Over" by Jeff Buckley, please! No, but seriously, I finished this piece with that song on repeat. Alas, I am not dead! I won't lie, I've suffered with pretty damn bad writers block. Somehow, I finished this. I hope you all like it! Thank you for your continuous support of me and my work, I value you all more than I could ever put into words! I hope this piece makes up for my time gone, see it as an early Valentine's gift!

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katblaze · 17 days ago

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Cinderella's Castle slight long post!

Something I really admire about Cinderella's Castle is how it executes getting you attached to characters so affectively within it's time restraints. Especially since, unlike w/ Hatchetfield, the audience is unfamiliar with this universe or its inhabitants. Not only that, but the show establishes it's perspective on it's relationships extremely well.

There are a few great examples of this, but one I find particularly fascinating is the fact that the first time around I completely and utterly did not care one bit for the prince kissing Ella's hand. Like, at all. I actually forgot it happened, and was suprised by the fact I didn't remember it while rewatching the second time around. The reason I think I was so shocked by this was because I was absolutely enamored, the first time watching, by the little affections between Tadius and Ella. The prince's kiss meant nothing to me because it meant nothing to the prince, we know it was hollow flattery because of his pre-established character and values. But Tadius looking at Ella like she hung the stars toward the end of the play genuinely made my heart swell.

Similarly, when Ella sat next to the prince, at his command, during the ball, their closeness had no emotional weight. Ella is uptight, straight posture, hands on lap, politely listening to the prince ramble but obviously physically displaying that she is not particularly enjoying it (again, I completely forgot they were so close in this scene the first go round). But when Ella, VIA HER OWN DESIRE, elects to sit right next to Tadius, she is undoubtedly comfortable. She slouches, sits "un-lady like", verbally opens up and speaks her mind to another person (for the first time in the show! the only other examples of her speaking her mind so comfortablely and w/o fear is to a frog and a goddess). Its maybe the most relaxed we see her in the whole musical. And that has immense emotional weight! It immediately stuck with me!

more personal review, less analysis, under cut ->

I was hesitant going into Cinderella's Castle because, knowing myself, I thought I wouldn't be that into it because it wasn't apart of the hatchetfield trilogy. I worried they wouldn't be able to endear me to the characters or plot in the time allotted, especially since I don't have any particular attachment to the Cinderella story. Boy was I so, so wrong and for that I'm very glad. For any of cc's short comings, this is something that cannot be faulted to me. Whether it was the wonderful acting or good character writing that achieved this, I do not know. But I am forever in reverence to the great writers and actors !!! (semi-unrelated but I (and my friend who is known for not crying at shows) genuinely got very emotional when we thought sir hop-a-lot was dead. teared up. fuck you nick & matt lang 🖕 /j /lh)

#ugghhh #I really liked this musical guys #cinderellas castle #cinderella's castle #ella ashmore #tadius #tadius cc #tadmore #elladius #tadella #starkid #starkid cc #team starkid #the prince cc #long post #cc spoilers #mine #ella x tadius

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mariacallous · 11 months ago

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Some prominent conservative lawmakers and commentators are advocating for ending no-fault divorce, laws that exist in all 50 US states and allow a person to end a marriage without having to prove a spouse did something wrong, like commit adultery or domestic violence.

The socially conservative, and often religious, rightwing opponents of such divorce laws are arguing that the practice deprives people – mostly men – of due process and hurt families, and by extension, society. Republican lawmakers in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Texas have discussed eliminating or increasing restrictions on no-fault marriage laws.

Defenders of the laws, which states started passing a half-century ago, see legislation and arguments to repeal them as the latest effort to restrict women’s rights – following the overturning of Roe v Wade and passage of abortion bans around the country – and say that without such protections, the country would return to an earlier era when women were often trapped in abusive marriages.

“No-fault divorce is critical to the ability, particularly the ability of women, to be able to exercise autonomy in their own relationships, in their own lives,” said Denise Lieberman, an adjunct professor at the Washington University School of Law in St Louis, who has a specialty in policies concerning gender, sexuality and sexual violence.

Before 1969, when then California Republican governor Ronald Reagan, who had been divorced, approved the country’s first no-fault divorce law, women, who are more likely to experience violence from an intimate partner, were often forced to stay in marriages. If they could not prove that their husband had been abusive or persuade him to grant a divorce, they would not be able to take any assets from the marriage or remarry, according to a study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics.

States around America gradually followed suit and passed similar laws allowing unilateral divorce until 2010, when New York became the last state to approve the practice.

Between 1976 and 1985, states that passed the laws saw their domestic violence rates against men and women fall by about 30%; the number of women murdered by an intimate partner declined by 10%; and female suicide rates declined by 8 to 16%.

Without such laws, “it’s hard to prove anything in court relating to a family because you don’t have any witnesses”, said Kimberly Wehle, professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law. “It’s very difficult to get evidence to show abuse of children. How do you do it? Do you put your kids on the stand?”

Conservative commentators such as Matt Walsh, Steven Crowder and lawmakers such as the Republican senator JD Vance of Ohio have argued that the laws are unfair to men and hurt society because they lead to more divorces.

The divorce rate in the United States increased significantly from 1960, when it was 9.2 per 1,000 married women, to 22.6 in 1980. But by 2022, the rate had fallen to 14.5.

On the increase in divorces, Vance said in 2021: “One of the great tricks that I think the sexual revolution pulled on the American populace” is the idea that “these marriages were fundamentally, you know, they were maybe even violent, but certainly they were unhappy, and so getting rid of them and making it easier for people to shift spouses like they change their underwear, that’s going to make people happier in the long term”.

Beverly Willett, a writer and attorney, argues that unilateral no-fault divorce is also unconstitutional because it violates a person’s 14th amendment right to due process.

The defendant “has absolutely no recourse to say, ‘Wait a minute. I don’t want to be divorced, and I don’t think that there are grounds for divorce. I would like to be heard. I would like to call witnesses,’” said Willett, who experienced a divorce she didn’t want because she thought her marriage could be saved. “I believed in my vows” and “didn’t want to give up”.

But Willett’s argument relies on the idea that “women are either property or that somehow men’s liberty is restrained by not allowing them to stay in a marriage with someone who does not want to be married”, said Wehle, who also wrote about it in the Atlantic. “I disagree with the idea that women are somehow property interests of their husbands. That is an arcane relic of law that has no place in modern society.”

Willett responded to Wehle’s critique by writing that “nobody has suggested a return to antiquated laws of the 18th and 19th century. Considerable reform that protects women and ensures their equality in family court has been enacted since then.”

On the argument that no-fault divorce reduces domestic violence, Willett points to data that most domestic violence occurs between unmarried couples and says regardless, with “any contract, any lawsuit, you still have to follow the constitution”.

But without such laws, victims of domestic violence would then have to navigate a court system that can be time-consuming, “very adversarial and very costly” because the plaintiff often must then pay for child care and transportation, said Marium Durrani, vice-president of policy for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

“Any sort of additional barrier that we add to the ease of legal proceeding is, frankly, a nightmare and an enormous burden for survivors,” said Durrani. “I’m not trying to be an alarmist, but it can increase death [if] a survivor of domestic violence has to prove that they are being abused in a divorce proceeding.”

Still, Lieberman does not think Republicans will succeed in their efforts to make it more difficult for people to get divorced.

“I do believe that that train has left the station. I mean, we have had no-fault divorce now for 50 years,” Lieberman said. But “I didn’t think the supreme court would overturn Roe v Wade, which we had for 50 years, so I suppose we will see.”

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daresplaining · 2 months ago

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Hello o/ I'm doing research for what may or may not become the next chapter of a Blindspot-centric fanfic, and realized that my knowledge of Stick is extremely limited (read: barebones introduction via show, which I am these days suspicous of for characterization, and a couple Elektra comics). Are there any comics you would recommend, especially around Matt and Stick's relationship? Does he.. abandon him, like in the show?

Oooh, a Blindspot fanfic! No pressure at all, but if you'd like, feel free to let me know when it's finished so that I can spread the word.

I am a huge Stick fan, he's one of my all-time favorite Daredevil characters, and I actually thought they did an excellent job with him in the Netflix shows; Scott Glenn and the writers managed to evoke that essential Stick-ness to a degree that made me very, very happy, while also finding new and interesting things to do with him. But his dynamic with Matt in the MCU was a bit different than it is in the comics, due to key backstory alterations. In the show, they chose to kill Jack off when Matt was still very young. This meant that when Stick eventually came along, little Matt latched onto him as a replacement parental figure, thus making their separation very messy and psychologically damaging.

However, in the comics, Jack was alive and well all throughout Matt's time training with Stick. While Matt eagerly embraced this training and the freedom and empowerment that it provided, and while he was able to share parts of himself with Stick that he never felt comfortable revealing to Jack (his powers, his love of risk and adventure, etc.), his relationship with Stick never moved beyond the closeness of a mentor/mentee dynamic. This is not to downplay the importance of Stick's role in Matt's life in those early days of learning to negotiate his painful new powers. But Matt already had a loving father, and so having Stick around as another (if prickly) guiding presence in his life was just a bonus.

Man Without Fear (1993) #1 by Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., Christie Scheele, Al Williamson, and Joe Rosen

The questions surrounding the nature of their separation digs into one of my absolute biggest continuity frustrations: the Man Without Fear Problem. The Man Without Fear mini-series, published in 1993, presented a new, alternate take the Daredevil origin story, drawing on previously established elements but also making key changes to the nature and order of events. And that was all well and good, but rather than being allowed to exist as its own separate, self-contained thing, some (but not all) later Daredevil writers decided to pull some elements of it into the main continuity, creating a scrambled mess of canonical vagueness surrounding what Matt's current, "real" backstory is that has never been properly clarified. For the period surrounding Matt's childhood, this isn't too much of an issue, as the events of Man Without Fear don't deviate much from the standard 616 continuity. But Jack's death is where it starts to get complicated.

Now: the only source of information we have for Matt and Stick's separation is Man Without Fear, which tells us that their training ended following Matt's vengeful attacks on the men who murdered his father, with Stick deciding that Matt was too emotionally volatile to become a member of the Chaste. In MWF, Matt goes on a brutal rampage following Jack's death that ends with him accidentally killing an innocent bystander, and this is what leads Stick to decide that he is too emotional and reckless to continue his training. In the original, standard 616 version of events, Matt did also accidentally get someone killed on his first 616 outing as Daredevil, though it was the person he was gunning for anyway, and also (arguably) less directly his fault. (He even kills the same guy the very same way in MWF; there is no version of continuity in which this death upsets Matt. Which I find interesting in itself). The Man Without Fear novelization by Paul Crilley puts forth the suggestion that it was not the violence inherent in Matt's revenge outing, but simply his decision to seek vigilante justice at all, that was Stick's main issue--which is great, because that can apply to all versions of the continuity, so let's go with that. Besides, Matt is unquestionably an emotionally volatile person who would have made a terrible member of the Chaste, so regardless of Stick's exact reasons for making that judgment...he was correct.

However, it is the other, MWF-specific death of an innocent bystander that affects Matt's reaction to Stick's leaving. Brutally disappointed by Matt's failure to live up to his hopes and expectations, Stick cuts off contact entirely. He doesn't explain anything to Matt. He just vanishes. And Matt, after having just accidentally murdered someone, goes running for Stick to seek his mentor's support and comfort but cannot find him.

Man Without Fear (1993) #2 by Frank Miller, John Romita Jr., Christie Scheele, Al Williamson, and Joe Rosen

The question is: did this death happen in the regular 616 continuity as well? And the answer is: maybe? Some writers have made the effort of dragging that plot point over into the main series and trying to make it fit (DeMatteis built a whole story arc around it), while others have stuck to the earlier version of the origin story. There is another factor worth mentioning in the difference between these two versions of events: in MWF, Matt was just a teenager when Jack died and all of this happened, while in 616, Matt was nearly out of college (or law school; don't get me started on that continuity mess). The fact of the matter is that we have never seen a 616 version of the scene above, so the exact details really do come down to personal preference.

In any case, Matt's attitude ultimately was "fine then, bye" and he moved on with his life (Elektra, in contrast, was very seriously wounded by Stick/the Chaste's rejection of her, which drove her down the path toward becoming an assassin). When Matt and Stick reunited later in life, they weren't exactly best pals, but their interactions contained an undercurrent of mutual respect. Matt appreciates everything Stick did for him and still calls upon his lessons in times of crisis, and Stick is proud of Matt, even if neither of them is emotionally healthy enough to openly admit these things to each other.

Daredevil: Ninja #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Rob Haynes, David Self, and Richard Starkings

Daredevil vol. 1 #296 by D.G. Chichester, Ron Garney, Christie "Max" Scheele, Al Williamson, and Jack Morelli

There's a great line toward the end of Man Without Fear, right before Matt and Foggy embark on the adventure of opening their first law firm, where Matt describes Stick as "a presence long-missed and never forgotten," and there are several occasions in the main series where he refers to Stick as his friend.

Daredevil vol. 1 #189 by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson

Stick ended up giving his life to save Matt, a loss which moved Matt deeply (he later kept Stick's staff in a place of honor in his home gym). For many years afterward, Stick stuck around as a kind of ghost, haunting both Matt and Elektra and offering them advice or insults, depending on the situation.

Here's another post I wrote about this years ago, which goes into slightly more detail on the differences between the comics and the MCU. As for reading recommendations, here are the key issues that cover Matt and Stick's 616/MWF relationship, in (somewhat) in-universe chronological order:

Young Matt and Stick:

Daredevil volume 2 #500: This issue doesn't actually cover Matt's time with Stick, but it provides some wonderful backstory for Stick and his teacher, Master Izo (who is a Brubaker invention and a goddamn delight. I could do another reading guide just for him, but it would basically just be "read the Brubaker/Lark run"), including how Stick found Matt in the first place.

Man Without Fear (1993) #1-3

Daredevil volume 1 #225-226

Daredevil volume 1 #254

Daredevil volume 1 #349

Daredevil volume 3 #25

Also: Matty and Stick by Ty Templeton

Adult Matt and Stick:

Man Without Fear (1993) #5

Daredevil volume 1 #176-177: Stick's introductory issues!

Daredevil volume 1 #187-189

Matt and Ghost Stick:

Daredevil volume 1 #262

Daredevil volume 1 #287-288

Daredevil volume 1 #349-350

Daredevil volume 5 #609

Misc.:

Daredevil: Ninja: Stick isn't technically in this series, but it is, in essence, all about Matt's relationship to Stick's memory and legacy.

Daredevil volume 7 #13: Matt rescues Stick from Hell (why is Stick in Hell? Unclear). I'm including this mostly just for completeness, and for anyone who wants to see Stick naked (no judgement).

I hope this helps!

#Long post #cosmi-latte #Daredevil #Stick #Matt Murdock #Asks #Adventures in Continuity #Recommendations List #ID in alt text

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spnjediavenger · 2 months ago

Text

MWE

Title: MWE

Type: one-shot; matt murdock x sister!reader

Warnings: none! Just pure sibling fluff! Some run-on sentences

Spoilers: none

Notes: i wrote this in the midst of writer’s block so please be kind 🙃

As always, love and/or constructive/friendly criticism is welcome and encouraged!

Disclaimers: i do not own daredevil, its characters, or plot

Word count: 617 (pretty sure this is the shortest thing i've ever written lol)

“Matt, give it back!”

The aggravated shouts of a teenage girl and laughter of her older brother rang through an apartment in Hell’s Kitchen, New York. While Y/n cherished time with her brother, she found herself second guessing that when he decided to mess with her. They were currently in Matt’s room, the lawyer holding Y/n’s phone high above her head; and though she wasn’t that much shorter than him, it was still high enough that she couldn’t reach it.

“Why? You weren’t texting anyone right? So what’s the matter?” Matt said, unable to keep the broad smile from his face.

Briefly gripping her hair in her hands, Y/n huffed at him. She jumped, fingers just skimming her phone. After failing again, her brother laughed more. Biting back a smirk at what she was about to do, Y/n lunged at Matt’s middle, wrapping her arms around him, trying to tackle him to the ground. But she really should’ve known better than to try and fight Daredevil. Even if it was play-fighting.

Matt let out an ‘oof’ as Y/n’s shoulder made contact with his abdomen, hunching over a bit. He couldn’t help but smile as Y/n pushed against him, ultimately not even succeeding in making him move an inch. Turning his smile into a smirk, Matt pocketed her phone, bent over, wrapped his own arms around her, and flung them both backwards onto his bed, Y/n flipping over him and onto her back, resulting in an honest to gosh scream. After the shock was over, Y/n turned her head to look at her laughing brother situated behind her, jaw dropped.

“I can’t believe you just flipped me!”

“Hey! You were the one that attacked me! I was just defending myself,” he chuckled.

Y/n chortled and jumped up, turning on the bed to face Matt again. He was ready for her this time, though, and swept his feet under her, making her fall back down. The younger Murdock lunged and Matt let her knock him over, both of them laughing now. Matt positioned his feet at her hips and gently but firmly pushed up to throw her over his head once again, making her land on her back again, the impact making her bounce a couple times.

“Stohop doing that!” she said, failing to sound angry through her laughter.

“It’s not my fault you can’t keep up,” Matt laughed back, flipping around and landing over top of her.

Y/n bit her smile back and wrapped her legs around his waist, flipping him to the side. She knew Matt let her do it but neither of them said anything. She quickly tried to grab her phone she saw falling out of his pocket but he grabbed both of her hands and pushed them behind her back, making her groan.

“Not bad, you almost got past me. But still too slow for big bro.”

Y/n let out a big groan, throwing her head back. “That was bad. That was really bad,” she said.

“Not as bad as your love messages to Parker.”

“They’re not love messages!”

“But you were texting Parker though?”

“I-...Stop lawyering me!”

Y/n broke her arms free and pushed at Matt’s shoulders.

“Ok, ok, we don’t need to start this again,” Matt chuckled.

“It's the MWE - Murdock Wrestling Entertainment,” Y/n giggled.

Matt laughed. Shaking his head, he held Y/n’s phone back to her, smirking as she snatched it up and walked out of his room, panting lightly.

“Maybe you should have Spidey teach you some self-defense so you actually stand a chance next time,” he called after her

“Shut up!”

“Love you too!”

#fanfiction #fanfic #x reader #daredevil #daredevil x reader #daredevil x sister!reader #daredevil x teen!reader #matt murdock x reader #matt murdock x sister!reader #matt murdock x teen!reader #matt murdock fanfic #matt murdock fanfiction #daredevil fanfiction #daredevil fanfic #matthew murdock x teen!reader #matthew murdock x sister!reader #matthew murdock x reader #spiderman #spiderman x reader

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joshdonnas · 9 months ago

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do you have any j/d fic recs? :D

Absolutely!! This fandom is really blessed with some of the best writers I've seen, so there's a lot of really good content out there to read, but I'll list some of my favorites under the cut ☺️

FAVORITE AUTHORS 💛

I thought I'd start by listing some of my authors, I’ll also be listing some of my personal favorite fics from theirs down bellow, but any of their works are totally worth the read:

FAVORITE FICS (in no particular order) 💛

running, by andyoureturntome (work in progress, rated M): "Matt Santos is running for president. Josh and Donna are just running away. Augmented canon for seasons six and seven. Ventures into AU territory from 6x18 on." (when I say this is one of my favorite fics ever you have no idea how much I mean it. it’s honestly so good, a must read in my opinion. it’s still in progress, and it’s not updated very frequently , but it’s still so so worth it (here’s to hoping we’ll get a next chapter soon!!).

the other side of the door, by sam_writes_fics (finished, rated M): "Donna wanders out of the bathroom, baffled by how late it is for the hundredth night in a row, and she drapes her coat over a chair before moving to plug in her cell phone. The blinking light catches her attention, and she flips it open. One missed call. From Josh. Perfect. Post-ep for 7x13: The Cold." (I honestly read this one every time I watch the cold)

say you’ll never let them tear us apart, by hanyolo (finished, rated M): "what would it be like in the santos era for josh and donna to get media coverage as a couple?"

love grows (where my donnatella goes), by sam_writes_fics (finished, rated T): "the first year of the santos administration in four parts"

how i love the view when i'm beside you, by JessBakesCakes (finished, rated E): "Josh and Donna on Valentine's Day; Chiefs of Staff era J/D"

cutting me open then healing me fine, by hufflepuffhermione (finished, rated T): "Josh and Donna are in the press room when it gets shot at, and the trajectory of a bullet changes the trajectory of their lives. Evidence of Things Not Seen AU."

there ain’t no need to go outside, by mikaylawrites (finished, rated E): "A lazy, rainy morning at home."

even cnn is wrong, sometimes, by BeneathAnOrangeSky (finished, rated M): "She snakes her hand between them, high instead of low, wrapping it around his bowtie. Starts to pull. And it’s this that snaps him out of it. Because Josh Lyman isn’t a press secretary and he isn’t a communications director and he isn’t Sam or Toby and he sure as hell isn’t Will, but he’s spent enough time around enough writers to appreciate the art of analogy (at the end of the night you wanna be able to pull it open like tony bennett), to recognize symmetry (donna? my tie’s falling apart), to understand that codas don’t exist merely in cello suites or stump speeches; that life makes space for sartorial bookends, too. Like bowties being tied, then untied." (utterly obsessed with the way this author writes)

gather ye rosebuds, by thefinestmuffins (finished, rated E): "A one and done smutshot, canon-divergent from 20 Hours in LA, in which Josh realizes where his rosebuds are and goes back to his hotel room to gather them."

we've been living on a fault line, by sam_writes_fics (finished, rated T): "6x02: Josh spends five days at Camp David, and every night all he thinks about is Donna."

burning slowly, my one and only, by thotsandfeelings (finished, rated T): "I can't stop thinking about you."

sacred new beginnings, by JessBakesCakes (finished, rated G): " But now, he doesn’t need her anymore – or he shouldn’t, anyway. So she’ll go back to her apartment, and he’ll go back to work, and things will go��back to normal, whatever the hell that means. There’s something about that idea that makes his stomach churn."

an act of charity, by thatTWWgirl (finished, rated T): "A date with the White House Deputy Chief of Staff is put up for auction at the First Lady's fundraiser, and he's not too happy about it."

domestic days, by spooky_spacegirl (finished, rated G): "One day Josh and Donna look around and realize that, somewhere along the line, they have slipped into something that can only be described as Domesticated. One-Shot collection. Post-Canon." (so so so cute, never fails to bring a smile to my face)

this is the wonder (that's keeping the stars apart), by joshatella (shuuuliet) (work in progress, rated T): "A soulmate AU".

I want It all or nothing, no more in between, by scarmophogoghs (finished, rated E): "Want to go to Hawai'i? With me? Please?” (huuuge Hawaii fit we all cheered)

stuck with nowhere to go, by littlefoolswritings (finished, rated E): "what if it was only Josh and Donna who'd been left behind by the motorcade? just the two of them?)" (I love this one my god)

a pathological avoidance thing, by yanak324 (finished, rated M): "Josh isn’t sure what to make of the lack of surprise on the President-elect’s face when he explains why he’s taking time off. He has bigger fish to fry though." (this one is from Josh's POV, and this one is from Donna's!)

when a woman loves a man (who loves a woman), by BeneathAnOrangeSky (finished, rated M): "“You’re sensitive. It’s sweet.” She bites back a smile at the image she’s evoked. Everyone thinks they know the real Josh Lyman. Bartlet’s bulldog, political wunderkind, the man behind Washington’s curtain. But they don’t know him like this. She brushes a sweaty tangle of hair from his forehead and pretends not to notice when he leans into her touch. No, this side of him is reserved just for her. His mouth opens in surprise, voice pitching up a notch, “I am n—” “Your system,” she amends. “Your system is sensitive.”"

of the united states, by violet_storms (finished, rated G): "Fifty states, fifty sentences, fifty snapshots of Josh and Donna falling in love on the campaign trail."

on the line, by hufflepuffhermione (finished, rated G): "Josh and Donna and a pathological inability to hang up the phone."

you can run (but only so far), by swancharmings (finished, rated M): "The room is quaint, if a bit tacky, one sad sprig of holly greeting them at the door. A fine representation of how she feels this Christmas."

love is the only thing, by mikaylawrites (finished, rated T): "The Moss-Lyman girls read Little Women; Josh has a lot of feelings."

it was like autumn, looking at her, by cmbing (finished, rated T): "His eyelids flutter open, gentler than usual. Blearily, he catches the alarm clock blinking a red 7:48 a.m. If this were five years ago, he would already be on his third cup of coffee. If this were five months ago, he never would have made it to bed in the first place. But it’s now—and he wraps his arm tighter around Donna’s waist."

it's paradise as long as I'm with you, by thotsandfeelings (finished, rated E): "Hawaii."

only bought this dress so you could take it off, by hanyolo (finished, rated M): "josh has a thing for donna in red (as he should)"

nothing that i wouldn't do (to make you feel my love), by joshatella (shuuuliet) (finished, rated T): "Josh re-arranges his priorities. A Gaza hospital fix-it fic." (I'm always thinking about this one)

hell was the journey but it brought me heaven, by JessBakesCakes (finished, rated T): "On the drive, it starts to hit him. Leah was born on the anniversary of the Rosslyn shooting. What would this mean for him? Leah deserved a father who wouldn’t be absolutely miserable on his daughter’s birthday every year. Of course, he’d love to think that her birth could erase all of the negative feelings he’s ever had toward this day, that it could make all of the anxiety and trauma melt away. But if he couldn’t pull it together on the day she was born, the day she came into the world, what evidence does he have to support the idea that next year will be better? Or the year after that?"

there ain’t no need to go outside, by mikaylawrites (finished, rated E): "A lazy, rainy morning at home."

how to say I love you in subtext, by RhapsodyInProgress (finished, rated T): "If you know where to look and what to listen for, Josh and Donna have been telling each other how they feel for years. A series of vignettes on a theme."

annus primus, by hufflepuffhermione (finished, rated T): "The first year of the Santos administration, in twelve movements."

sit with you in the trenches, by swancharmings (finished, rated T): "”So you’ve got health and strength.” “And we’ll steal the rest?” “Bet your ass.” // Four ways they did exactly that."

oversight, by thefinestmuffins (finished, rated E): "War Crimes angst + hooking up" (a MUST read!!!)

can't call you a stranger (but i can't call you), by joshatella (shuuuliet) (finished, rated T): "King Corn. The elevator gets stuck."

for a long time, by onelargecoffeepls (finished, rated M): "Seven short glimpses into Donna falling in love with Josh based on "Love You For A Long Time" by Maggie Rogers."

this is how mythology is written (or: shards; scars; and whole again), by joshatella (shuuuliet) (finished, rated T): "The mosaic of Josh and Donna." (GOD this one!!!)

where the lovelight gleams, by JessBakesCakes (finished, rated E): "Donna brings Josh home for Christmas and has some thoughts about him in a holiday sweater; takes place during Transition" (OBSESSED!!!)

the way old friends do, by mikaylawrites (finished, rated T): "Donna, Toby, Charlie, and the chaotic people they love."

the first 100 days, by BimadaBomily (finished, rated T): "100 moments in Josh/Donna's relationship during the first 100 days of the Santos Administration."

like we were in paris (we were somewhere else), by BeneathAnOrangeSky (work in progress, rated M): "Josh, Donna, and the worlds they transform together // or: an ode to Paris (Taylor's Version)" (again, the way this author writes??!!?!)

find ourselves in the winter snow, by swancharmings (finished, rated E): "It’s when he leads her to dance, holding her impossibly close and swaying gently through the upbeat tempo, that she truly doesn’t know what to expect of the evening."

please linger near the door, by cmbing (finished, rated T): "They’re definitely not dating when there is a presidential dinner and they don’t think to invite dates. Instead, they assume they’ll go with each other. Him in a black tux, her in a red dress. Their arms are interlocked as they enter the ballroom, and Donna even goads Josh into dancing with her. It’s friendly, nothing more. They’re just having sex. That’s it."

with one hello, I'll never be the same, by JessBakesCakes (finished, rated T): "Josh and Donna and how 'hi' means so much more than 'hello'."

all you ever wanted from me (was sweet nothin'), by joshatella (shuuuliet) (finished, rated T): "Donna hadn’t had a nightmare about her ex since she started dating Josh, since well before she moved in with Josh after their week in Hawaii, since her life became better than it ever has been, since she became happier than she ever thought that she could be. Which is probably why she’s so shaken when the nightmare returns. Set post-series, in the Santos CoS era." (soooo sweet)

AUs 💛

i like shiny things (but i'd marry you with paper rings), by JessBakesCakes (finished, rated T): "In the aftermath of the First Lady's birthday party, Josh, Donna, and the rest of the Senior Staff deal with the fallout of Donna's realization that she's no longer a U.S. Citizen. CJ, Sam, and Toby have taken it upon themselves to get this figured out, and it’s a good thing, because Josh’s brain can only present him with one solution: Marry Donna Moss."

my days now end as they began (with thoughts of you), by flowersinapril (work in progress, rated T): "A new neighbour moves in next door to Josh and she isn't happy with how loud and chaotic he is." (can't wait for the next chapter of this one!!!)

sometimes it's like you grew up down the street, by starsontheceiling (finished, rated G): "Afterwards, he’ll say he did it without thinking and all their friends will laugh at him in disbelief, and he understands why but it’s still true."

you came like a resolution (under a starry sky), by JessBakesCakes (work in progress, rated G): "Donna, this is my brother, Josh. Josh, this is Donna. She lives across the hall"

an everlasting love, by sam_writes_fics (work in progress, rated T): "best man and maid of honor au" (has not been updated in a while but I love the idea of this pic so so much and I think about constantly)

think i missed the gun at the starting line, by ansatz (finished, rated T): "After qualifying for the Olympics in 2016, but being unable to compete due to an injury, Donna Moss is back, ready to run, and completely focused on earning a medal for Team Canada. Enter Josh Lyman, reigning Olympic champion with a heart of—you guessed it—gold. Two countries, two sports: one chance to fall in love?"

what if i told you, i feel like i know you? but we never met., by donnatellamoss (finished, rated G): "Donna Moss meets an unfamiliar face when she knocks on Sam Seaborn’s door for their English project. His name’s Josh Lyman and he’s good at bothering people."

absolutely smitten (never let you go), by JessBakesCakes (finished, rated G): "Josh feels all the air whoosh out of his lungs when he sees the teacher standing on the other side of the door. She looks at the group standing outside her door, puzzled for a moment, until her blue eyes lock with Josh’s. Her blonde hair is tucked neatly behind her ears, and pumpkin earrings dangle from her earlobes. She’s wearing a copper-colored fall sweater, adorned with leaves around the collar that match her bulletin board. Her ID badge dangles from her neck, one of those ink pens in a bright, funky color clipped to her lanyard. “Miss Moss,” CJ says. “This is Mr. Lyman from the high school."" (always thinking about this one honestly I need more!!!)

the campaign around the corner, orphan_account (finished, rated G): "Donna Moss is working for Howard Stackhouse's presidential campaign in 1998. Josh Lyman is working for Jed Bartlet's presidential campaign in 1998. The two cannot stand each other. Little do they know the person each of them is beginning to fall in love with over email is the other." (you've got mail au!!!!!!!!!!)

everybody talks (it started with a whisper), by JessBakesCakes (work in progress, rated G): "Being the White House Press Secretary, Josh realizes, is one of the toughest jobs in the administration to begin with. But with her co-workers' propensity for going viral, CJ certainly deserves a raise. The West Wing, set 20 years later." (soooo obsessed with this one MY GOD)

darling, so it goes (some things are meant to be), by mikaylawrites (finished, rated M): "The story of rising country singers Josh Lyman and Donna Moss." (so good!!!)

ballerina, you've must have seen her, by thababes (work in progress, rated G): "It was always supposed to have been Josh and Mandy. After their successful run of Carmen, it had been expected that The Washington Ballet would stick to what worked. There was never supposed to be another audition. Company principles seemingly traveling from role to role was the usual. It had been an unusual season — schedule conflicts and last minute alternate class partners — and suddenly, everything seemed to have changed. And it had all started when he had danced with her." (I think about this one constantly)

#this ended up so big and it's still missing a lot of fics I love aaaa #it brought me physical pain not listing some fics here but like I said read all the work from those authors #hope you enjoy them as much as I do anon!#fic rec #josh x donna #the west wing #request

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loveebot · 1 year ago

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Could you do snake reader please? Thank you very much!!

thank you for the ask !! i have my four main !readers but if anyone has ideas for occasional side !readers then please send them in🎀🎀

snake!reader

“cherry bomb” by the runaways. spine tattoo. grunge makeup. silver jewelry. lowkey obsessed with monster high. sharp ass canines. ‘extra’ acrylics. tight tops with loose bottoms (tube tops/tight cropped tanks + cargo pants/baggy jeans). lovess a good smokey eye. belly button piercing. cat girl. works at hooters with kitty!reader (always starting problems with the creepy customers together). reads comic books on the low.

ㅤㅤ ㅤ۪ㅤ— ㅤ۫ㅤ๑ㅤ ۟ㅤ ˗ˋˏ 🐍 ㅤ‧₊ ♱

w/ matt — like kitty!reader, you’ve also got an oral fixation. sometimes you’ll just bite down on his shoulder while you guys are cuddling. he’ll side eye you and say “can i help you?” and you’ll just stare up at him, keeping your grip on his shoulder. he lovess your belly button piercing. a silver “M” with diamonds hangs from the ring. when he’s done eating you out, he’ll move up and just kiss it, coming up to your face soon after.

w/ chris — when i say this boy’s got scratches allllll up and deown his back from y’all’s late nights i mean it. your acrylics rough him up for sure, but it’s not your fault he makes you feel so good. he’s obsessed with your tattoo. when he fucks you from behind, he kisses up your spine, along the black snake. sometimes, he’ll do it when you guys are just plain cuddling.

w/ nate — poor guy can barely handle you at first. he doesn’t know why you chose him out of all guys, but he doesn’t really question it. eventually he starts to grow up a little more, and starts to get a little more confident. he wears the first letter of your name on a chain for everyone to know he’s yours and vice versa. you don’t usually like it when your man takes control, but he’s so good you can’t find it in yourself to care.

୭ ˚. ᵎᵎ .⁺ ⸝⸝

just me acknowledging that this is 100% inspired by multiple other writers on this app, specifically, starfxkr, princessbrunette (love her sm) and donatellawritings, and if any of the writers who use these type of !readers see this and feel that my interpretation is too close to theirs and they want me to take this down, i will.

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ismahanescorner · 3 months ago

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My Fault: London | Movie Review

Platform: Prime Video

Release Date: 13/02/2025

Rating: 7.5/10

Review:

tw//: violence, assault.

i’ll start this review with a little story on how i caved in and watched this version. so, like most people i watched the spanish og version, and while it wasn’t good by any measure, it was entertaining. but, then again, i watched “culpa mia” around the same time as “the tearsmith” cuz of tiktok recommendations and “the tearsmith” was so god awful that i might have an eschewed opinion on “culpa mia” being entertaining! 😬 anyways, a month or so ago, i watched the sequel “culpa tuya” and i was pretty disappointed with how disjointed and non-cohesive the plot line was! hence, when i saw the trailer for a london version i thought “meh, i ain’t watching!” anyways, yesterday, while on tiktok, i come to find out that the actor who plays nick in the london version is matt broome from “the buccaneers” *aaahhh! my racing heart beat still* and so i decided to check out this version to see him and i was NOT disappointed!!

after watching the movie, i immediately hurried back to tiktok to bask in the edits and gush with the girlies over how perfect matt broome and asha banks were for these roles. that’s when i was hit by the “haters brigade” ie; defenders of the og version. they kept whining in the comments about “culpa mia” being a better adaptation cuz it adhered to the books and yada yada. babes, the books are wattpad fics (not even AO3), they are shite paraliterature for us girlies to brainrot over, that’s it. the og script writers should’ve changed stuff here and there in “culpa mia” to make a good adaptation but they didn’t. well, the “my fault london” script writers learned from that mistake and changed loads and gave the audience an entertaining movie and a decent guy/relationship to lust after/root for!!

as i said “my fault london” is so much better than “culpa mia” cuz of those script changes. the plotline in this version feels like a cohesive story instead of just bad boy clichés and spicy scenes strung up together. the events flowed seamlessly one after the other, and the relationships’ bonds between the characters felt deep and better established. additionally, the acting was just better! the chemistry between the leads was off the charts even though they had fewer spicy scenes. the “london nick and noah” talked more and connected better and so when they took that step over the redline it felt proper scandalous. it literally, had me blushing, kicking my feet, looking at my walls with how hot those scenes felt!

so yeah, i quite enjoyed this version and i’m excited to see how they will subvert the storyline if they get the green-light to make a sequel. i’m also beyond happy that cuz of the leads’ good acting, more people will finally be tuning into “the buccaneers” and “a good girl’s guide to murder” our little british shows that deserve more love.

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darklinaforever · 11 months ago

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I don't really understand what Daemon's fault is.

Aemond was a request from Rhaenyra and in HOTD they made B&C an accident.

Then, what do we really blame Daemon for ?

For doing his job as a consort and acting when Rhaenyra was unavailable in 1x10 to allow their house to have defenses after Rhaenys warned that the Greens were coming for Rhaenyra and their children ?

For not wanting Rhaenyra to consider a deal that would send their sons as hostages ?

Really, this is supposed to represent Daemon re-establishing the seriousness of Rhaenyra's claim to the throne for people ?

Plus it didn't bother Rhaenyra to be accused of Laenor's murder all these years... Nor that Daemon officially acted without her word in the eyes of others (even if she gave him silent / non-verbal permission to a nod) when he decapitated Vaemond. precisely because it was for their family and their safety. Just like the concil in 1x10 and not agreeing with Otto's cardboard peace terms...)

I am confused.

Are they aware that what they write does not correspond to what they are trying to project ?

Daemon is literally Rhaenyra's greatest ally in Fire and Blood just like HOTD, but for reason the writers constantly try to make people doubt Daemon's loyalty to no avail, because they don't even understand what they're writing about anyway, nor the world they write for.

In context, there is no reason for Blood and Cheese to be a problem for future supporters of Rhaenyra, it never was for a good reason in F&B and it should be the same for HOTD.

The Greens shed the first blood of an innocent man. Who happened to be a member of their family and messenger. They committed 3 big crimes.

But apparently in HOTD we don't care about lore.

No mention that killing a family member is actually a horrible crime in Westeros, no mentions of the messenger's law, or for example the right to invite for season 1 with episode 5 where Criston Cole literally kills the lover of Laenor who was a guest. Normally, he would never have been able to keep his job and get a promotion, it's ridiculous. I agree that Viserys was stupid, but there are limits.

It was just there to make a marriage turn bloody. Nothing more. Gratuitous violence once again.

I swear the only thing keeping me going on this purge is Daemyra / Matt Smith & Emma D'Arcy.

That's all.

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burr-ell · 3 months ago

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I gotta say, I am not a fan of C3 and even less so of the people telling me that I just 'didn't get it'. Them bringing in characters and elements from the first two campaigns just felt lazy and forced, and the manufactured drama around it was hard to watch. I gave up after Laudna had a go at Vex for her death as if it were her fault?!? Like?!?! I love Tal, but he didn't explain anything of what he was doing with Ashton. The whole thing with the Gods was wishy washy they say one thing then do another. It just felt like everyone trying too hard, which I suppose can be expected with their rise to fame there's a lot of pressure to perform. But like, these guys are voice actors, not writers, and tlovm and it's issues are proof of that. A lot of the discourse I see aound C3 is only valid if these story beats and themes were intentional, which I very much doubt. I can see what people are talking about when they mention the themes of colonialism and imperialism, I just don't think it was a concious choice of theirs. It's not that deep.

I don't have a problem with bringing in elements and characters from previous campaigns in and of itself, especially in light of how clear it is that that's something Matt really wanted to do and isn't necessarily bad. The issue is the lack of intentionality with it. They could have made every PC overtly connected to previous campaigns or with no connections at all—but if they still had a party uninvested in the setting with a plot that repeatedly gained momentum and then ground to a halt until it steadily devolved into sludge, we'd still have the same complaints.

I will say re: Ashton, while they're frustrating in the moment I think it's worth noting that Taliesin has expressed several times that he's deliberately playing a guy who sucks. At one point he called them "an amalgamation of every terrible roommate I've ever had"; in the November 2024 episode of 4SD, i.e. well into the endgame, he calls them "an idiot and a narcissist". It's frustrating and disappointing to watch and a different story would likely have served them better, but it's not unclear and they do at least have a perspective, which is if nothing else a change of pace from the rest of the party. (I'm unaware of any point at which Laudna went at Vex over her death; perhaps I simply missed something, but I feel like I'd have heard about that.)

I don't want to speculate on the cast's headspace; I think that for the most part they're at least having fun with what they're doing. But having fun making something doesn't necessarily mean what you made is good art. Ultimately, what I think is happening is that we've just run into a disconnect between what the cast finds enjoyable and fun to play and what makes for a satisfying narrative for a viewer. But the thing is, as far as the Actual Play element is concerned it seems to only be affecting Campaign 3. Watch any episode of Candela Obscura or the Daggerheart oneshots—hell, watch Downfall! None of the problems of C3 carry over, and while that could easily be due to shortform vs longform roleplay, I think the fact that they were doing session zeroes and other highly communicative prep work is the difference, and it's what smothered Campaign 3 before it even started.

#critical role #cr discourse #asks

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youmissedone · 13 days ago

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{out of smokes} Just some feelings tonight, below the cut. No point to it, just... me sharing my thoughts while I feel a bit pensive.

I'm feeling so soft about Carlos x Alice, and I've been missing the movies a lot lately. When I think about how much time and work I put into developing Carlos and Matt/Nemesis and the movie world in general, writing huge metas and AUs and all sorts of things, it makes me feel like I've fallen out of touch with it now. I used to be more immersed in it, but I've gotten away from it in recent years. I write almost exclusively crossover and game-verse things here and on Nemesis' blog, and don't get me wrong, I love that too, but the movie verse was always my strong area and what I preferred and I've just kindof let it get away from me. That makes me sad.

I know that I'm one of a very small subset of people in the RE fandom that actually likes the Anderson films, though, and maybe that's why I've branched out to write Carlos in other worlds/fandoms or to write his game verse which I'm really not as familiar with at all, because I know movie-based threads will be few and far between. I get that, I do, but I used to write a lot more movie-verse things on here in past years and I miss it so much.

For anyone who writes crossover or game-verse things with me on here, please don't think I dislike that, that's not what I'm saying. I'm more saying that I'm not sure at what point those threads became all I do on these blogs or when I let my own personal favorite verses to write in on this and Nemmy's blog just kindof fall by the wayside, but I guess I just realized now that that's exactly what I've done. And it bothers me a little, because I used to have such fun writing in movie verses and fleshing out various aspects of them.

*shrugs* Like I said, no point to this, just sharing. I guess I'm having a pensive night, heh. I'm also sad because I thought RE: Extinction was on TV tonight and I was looking forward to watching it, but I screwed up and it was actually on last night. It's not currently free on any streaming service I have (seriously, screw streaming platforms that make you pay for movies again after already paying to subscribe to the whole service, like wtf even is that, Prime I'm looking at you), and my own DVD of it seems to have gotten corrupted or damaged because it won't play anymore. So I missed a chance to see it again, and I haven't in a while, and that sucks, heh.

It's not nearly as bad an issue with Matt's/Nemesis' blog as it is here, for some reason. Matt's and Nemmy's voices seem to stay pretty constant most of the time, even when they're in a crossover verse or outside the canon of the movies. But I do still miss writing them opposite other canon movie muses and exploring the "what-ifs" of the canon plot. Carlos, though, has really started slipping for me as far as voice, and that's been bugging me a lot lately.

I guess my issue with only writing game- and crossover verse threads is that my original voice for movie-verse Carlos feels like it's no longer there. Writing him almost always in situations in which he's outside his own canon world/universe or writing his dialog in a game-verse (which, if you know movie Carlos and game Carlos, you know they speak and act very differently) makes me feel like I'm actually not hitting any voice of his correctly. I feel like I'm writing some strange amalgam of movie verse, game verse, and my own poor-sounding fudging, haha, and not hitting any one of them correctly. That's really starting to irritate me as a writer. I hold myself to very high standards when writing a canon muse and once I feel like I'm no longer hitting the mark properly, I start to lose muse for that character.

Some of this is my fault, I know, for not keeping up with the games. I was an oldschool player in the 90s and early 2000s, and I've played the RE3 remake, but I still haven't gotten around to playing anything past RE5 or the RE2 remake. And I feel like the fandom for RE now is 90% about the remakes and RE7&8, which is mostly stuff I haven't played. So I've fallen out of touch with the direction the fandom has gone in recent years, and even though I try to barely keep up by reading wikis and things, some of it I don't want to read because I do still intend to play the games and don't want them 100% spoiled, as is the case with RE7&8. Or Village or whatever they're called, see I'm so out of touch that I don't even know, heh.

So... throwing a canon character from RE7&8 at movie verse Carlos, which has happened a number of times... is just... how do I square that? They're so different, not just character wise but canon wise, like the viruses are all different, the rules have changes, there are new creatures, new families, new agencies/organizations... that neither I nor Carlos knows anything about. Or Matt/Nemmy either, for that matter. So my clueless ass is fumbling around in the dark, knowing nothing about anything, trying my best not to disappoint my writing partners, and failing miserably, heh. I hate not writing from a place of solid knowledge of my muse and the world their in. It makes my writing short, simplistic, stilted, and frankly, bad. Then I end up dropping threads I just have no clue what to do with, not intentionally, but because I keep staring at them and trying to reply but not feeling informed enough and being afraid of saying something wrong/stupid.

The last time I started feeling this way, like I was losing the feel and voice of the original muse, I put my RE blogs all on hiatus for a few years. I really don't want to do that, because I write with amazing people on here and I am enjoying the threads that I have, I just wish that I could also have movie Carlos be more of a presence here, on a blog that was originally meant to only be exclusively for that version of him in the first place. I wish I could return to that original voice, at least some of the time. Not sure how to accomplish that, though.

And with Matt/Nemmy, I just wish I could have more movie-plot threads, not necessarily following the plot exactly, but man did I have so much fun back in the day exploring all the "what-if" situations for if things had been different or if Nemesis had survived beyond where he died in canon and ended up in the canon of the later movies. I really wish I could have what I write now AND also get back the movie stuff and the original feel of the muses too, but I'm just not sure that's possible anymore.

*sighs* Well, if you made it this far, thank you for bothering to read, I really do appreciate it. I just kindof felt like I had to get this out of my system before I could starting writing tonight. And again, please don't think I'm unhappy with what I currently have, this isn't a callout post, I'm not directing this at anyone... it's more just expressing my own feelings of disenchantment with how I've just kindof passively let my muses' voices slip in the past maybe two years. But writing this all out did help and I feel ready to write now, so thank you again to anyone who bothered to read this far. And thanks to everyone who does write with me on these two blogs. You're all amazing, and I would never have had these blogs for as long as I have without all my amazing partners. =)

#{ out of smokes } ᵒᵒᶜ #{ silence speaks }#{i'm sorry for the strange... emoting post heh}#{needed to purge these feelings from my system so i could get down to business and write}

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